Chapter 191
Chapter 191
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 191
Chapter Title: 55-3. Powerlessness Breeds Powerlessness
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Actually, there was a reason Pine had made that monstrous dish.
The food they'd eaten at the Tar Dune temple.
A spicy stew packed with meat, vegetables, and fish.
Like pork kimchi stew mixed with canned tuna.
Pine had wanted to recreate the dish Lee Soo-hyun's mother had made for him.
But since she didn't know the exact recipe...
"More, please. Pine."
"Yeah... Got it."
And so, a dish straight out of a demon from the depths of hell had been born.
Pine herself had given up on even tasting it, thanks to its creepy appearance, flavor, and stench that made her skin crawl.
Yet the man before her forced a smile as he refilled his empty bowl. The stew vanished in seconds.
Pine could tell it was awful from the hero couple's reactions—or just by sniffing that nose-stinging, fishy reek.
...So why on earth.
Licht was hoovering it down without a hint of complaint.
He'd clearly said he hated bitter things. But when he asked like that, she couldn't exactly refuse.
'Is he... just that kind...?'
Reading his expression, he really seemed to be enjoying it. Tiny tears even welled in the corners of his eyes.
That small act of kindness kept making Pine uneasy. A sharp prick, like a needle jabbing her heart.
"Thanks for the meal. It was amazing."
Licht smiled as he stroked her hair. Their distance had grown so intimate it felt awkward now.
Pine felt like she could get addicted to the touch of that burly man's hand caressing her.
She turned her head away in her own little act of defiance, but Licht just responded with an eye smile.
'Ah, now I see—he's got nice eyelashes.'
Pine appraised his brown eyes, sculpted like fine jewelry.
His top button undone, unlike his usual style.
Wet strands of hair, droplets trickling down to his collarbone—Pine gulped, her throat bobbing.
With looks like that, no wonder the noble ladies had been giving him those sticky stares earlier.
The thought that if Licht had just a bit more luck, he could've caught another noble's eye and become their servant—it unsettled her.
A Licht who never met her.
Chatting with someone called the Nameless Saintess about stories she knew nothing of...
'Why do I keep feeling like this...'
Lately, Pine had started fearing this man who felt so different to her.
Licht understood Pine so well, but she felt woefully inadequate when it came to truly knowing him.
Pine placed a hand on the chest of her armor, complaining of the stuffiness.
"Pine, are you hurt somewhere?"
"N-No, I'm fine. It's nothing."
Pine bit her lower lip without realizing. The occasional chest pains were starting to grate on her.
"...Want something sweet? You look like you pushed yourself too hard cooking."
Whether he sensed her mood or not, Licht promptly fetched a green fruit from somewhere.
"What's... this? Licht?"
"Watermelon. I chilled it in the stream to keep it cool."
Watermelon—if it was the one she knew, it was that gross-looking fruit with no edible flesh.
"This is the watermelon I know?"
"...Weird. Helmet Girl."
But the one he brought was exceptional. Split in half, it was packed solid with red flesh, no hollows.
"There's a trick to picking good ones."
Another world.
Sometimes heroes from other civilizations introduced new items or techniques.
"...Wow, it's sweet!"
"Unbelievable..."
"Cool... sweet... like candy."
A crunchier texture than crisp. Pine held the slice with both hands and ate.
Her snowy white tail inside the armor lost control and wagged.
Once again, Licht left none for himself. Once should've been enough.
"...You eat some too, Licht."
Snap—Pine broke off a piece from her slice and popped it into Licht's mouth.
The hero couple froze mid-bite at the natural flow, like a mother bird feeding her chick.
"Ah, thank you."
Licht grinned like an idiot as he ate the watermelon she'd given him.
Was it really that good?
"Little lambs! Gather 'round for the campfire!"
Pine had been staring fixedly at Licht right up until someone called his group.
Flames danced under the night sky.
A campfire blazed where logs were stacked high. Academy students sat around it, chatting amiably.
"Mind if I hold your hand, Mardol?"
Cold sweat dripped. But now, being near Pine made it bearable.
"Hic."
She jerked again, starting to hiccup.
Still, how long had it been since they'd gathered like this in peaceful bliss? She'd been tense hearing about the kuer.
'It's a docile beast. Should be fine.'
Originally a monster that protected weak wild animals in the forest. Even if made of mana.
There were types that didn't harm if treated normally.
"Licht."
Pine spoke as she squeezed and released his hand. The surroundings were already noisy, drowning voices.
"Do you... miss your original world, Licht?"
"...Why the sudden question?"
"Just... curious..."
Was she anxious I'd leave? Come to think of it, Dennis and the Heavenly Demon were exceptions.
Dennis had no need to return to gate-ravaged Korea overrun by monsters.
And Heavenly Demon Baek Mok-ryeon would prefer this world over her kill-or-be-killed one.
Pine might be wary of such things.
Otherworld heroes were supposed to return home after completing their mission.
That was why my status window reward was 'Return to the Real World.'
"I do miss it, but..."
He spoke while gently holding Pine's hand.
A pang of bitterness hit seeing her back in the glass helmet amid the crowd.
"...I've still got things to do. Won't go back till they're done."
No reason to return yet. Game world or not, the pain and death here were real.
I wasn't leaving until I made our Pine happy. No family or relatives waiting for me anyway.
If anything resembled family now, it was the grandparents who'd taken me in from the village.
'...Pine, probably.'
He cautiously thought the white wolf gazing at the campfire beside him might be it.
"Catching the Demon King...?"
"More complicated than that. Probably harder, too."
Completing the Grand Route by linking all the characters' love lines.
There were couplings I didn't know, like Drake and the sage. Time to step it up.
Maybe catching that Demon King called Black Cloud would yield something.
"What's that? Sounds weird."
Laughter burst from the glass helmet then, and Pine playfully tapped his shoulder as if there was no need to worry.
Pine's curt demeanor had faded a lot lately. She even used polite speech occasionally.
What on earth had made her the Nameless Saintess?
From what he'd pieced together, it seemed tied to the Hero Cult's Demon King.
A power that overlaid lies to erase her name and existence, ignorance to make those around her forget.
'And the power of powerlessness to render immense strength impotent...'
Then why was she so clumsy with holy power?
A saintess's abilities were potent, like Sharutineth Saintmarriage purifying vampires at the social hall.
"..."
A sudden flash of insight.
The sensation of slashing the Demon King of Powerlessness had been off.
Like cutting a paper puppet—hollow inside.
Its name wasn't Infinity, but Phain. Magic Hat had tracked it, so danger lingered.
Uneasy.
The flames flickered ever smaller. The boisterous chatter sounded like stretched tape.
The wind-swayed trees moved sluggishly, as if time had frozen.
Flicker, flicker, roil.
Frowning at the blurry afterimages, he glared.
"Mardol, something's wrong—"
Even the words spilling from his mouth slowed, like a slow-motion video.
Only one thing could cause this.
'...Apostle of Sloth.'
Looking up, a blinding white moon shone. Inside it, a ring of slightly different hue.
Like a loading screen, but not quite.
In the Knight Heart trilogy, loading screens showed a white dragon-like glow biting its own tail.
But this had no wings or horns. Sleek, serpentine form.
Ouroboros. A demi-dragon, distant kin to the loading dragon.
Apostle of Sloth. Hainel.
It inflicted slow debuff on players while letting surroundings flow normally for attacks.
Amplifying or inverting the target's sloth, that was the gimmick.
Why was a Hero Cult apostle in Callisium Valley?
He tried to yell for everyone to evacuate, but his sluggish body wouldn't respond properly.
Then, a cold sensation touched his shoulder.
Shhhhhh—
Torrential rain suddenly poured, and the nearby stream swelled in an instant.