Chapter 93
Chapter 93
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: 26-4. Christmas Carol Echoes
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Hospitals grow chillingly quiet at night.
'In the end, the time has come. Lee Soo-hyun.'
I slipped out of my hospital room and ran. In the end, someone had to be sacrificed.
The white corridor, the pristine ceiling. Passing the slope shrouded in deepening twilight,
"My life's final Christmas... right here."
I arrived at the place that would mark the finale. The auditorium, where I'd just met that boy Youngmin and encountered Santa.
I looked up at the massive tree on the stage. Adorned with tiny bulbs of every color, topped with a glittering star.
Once you're in this place, there's no escaping. I already knew that in my head. Clutching the cold steel, I refastened the lock.
I didn't know why the boy Youngmin had been here in the past.
"Just in case... I'll lock the door too..."
Maybe he wanted to see Santa one more time, or perhaps he'd waited here hoping to spot Rudolph, like the lie I'd made up.
Seeing the door ajar sent chills down my spine. If it had been properly locked, it might've been fine.
Fate may seem light, but sometimes it comes crashing down in cruel forms like this.
And its victims are almost always
'people unprepared to accept it.'
But if it meant taking that tiny child's life,
wouldn't it be better to take the worthless life of a coward who'd already tried to throw his away once?
Youngmin hadn't even gotten to eat the hamburger he wanted, or play with the transforming robot he'd just received.
"..."
Sacrificing my life to protect that child's smile and happiness? A bargain at twice the price.
The guilt of failing to save someone was immense. If I hadn't met the Saintess, I'd probably still feel like I was wallowing in the mud.
"It's a bit chilly. Must be the winter weather."
That was why I'd offered Mardol Granasia empty comfort.
Apologizing now would just be a coward's excuse, a blunder for not gauging her pain,
but what could a child even do against a demon king like Magic Hat? It was absurd to begin with.
Wolf King's bloodline or Ten Heroes' descendant or whatever, everyone has weak moments.
The harsh reality of being powerless. She'd probably felt guilty and wretched about her own helplessness.
It might be cheap pity. Or forcing my own issues onto her without truly understanding.
'Pathetic, Lee Soo-hyun.'
Didn't matter. Deep wounds, like my burn scars, fester and rot if not treated in time.
People can lean on others. I'd learned that from the Nameless Saintess.
I wanted to fill Mardol's empty heart, like glass. Call me a hypocritical cliché if you want.
'...Didn't expect it to end like this.'
I collapsed beside the Christmas tree. The fresh outdoor air tousled my hair for the first time in ages.
My shrunken hand caught my eye. Back when I first possessed this game body, it'd shrunk like this too. Looking back, so much had happened.
"Met Drunken Dennis."
The protagonist of [Knight Heart], which I'd only known from the game. The first game's hero.
A drunken man with blue hair and striking white eyes.
I knew he'd suffered a tragedy at the demon king's hands.
After all, in the original story's finale, I'd partied with Dennis to fight Head.
The omniscient demon king who references the player's save file and prepares in advance.
That's why I'd tipped Dennis off about the 3D Magic Circle ahead of time. In case the academy faced an assault like today.
Sudden enemy invasions were common events in the game,
and in a world where anything could happen, I had to do my best.
'I hope Master White Magnolia makes it through without me.'
The Eastern dragon with brown hair and deer antlers,
who wandered as a human woman via polymorph,
and my second master, with the bold backstory of a Heavenly Demon from another world summoned as a hero.
She was Dennis's lover, but erased from memory via Oblivion, leaving no trace in the world.
'Well, not exactly... It was ambiguous to find.'
The demon king's power wasn't perfect; traces of the Heavenly Demon as a Ten Heroes lingered here and there, but only Dennis longed for her desperately.
'I still remember Dennis's dying words in the bad ending.'
Dying to Head, unable to recall his lover's name, merely yearning for the spring season.
'He still seems to be growing those revenge flowers.'
The golden flowers in the clubroom were a clear foreshadowing. Called Fortune Longevity Grass.
Highly toxic; touching unknowingly causes poisoning. Dangerous.
The name sounds like vengeance at first glance.
'...But it's not.'
Fortune (福) and longevity (壽). Like the Heavenly Demon's name, Magnolia, it blooms in spring.
I remembered from the setting book that Dennis cherished them, protected by barriers, a gift from her long ago.
'The flower language was... something.'
Yellow blooms from the snow.
A plant mirroring Dennis's fate: enduring winter's hardships for spring's arrival.
Catch Head, and their happy ending is guaranteed. In the sequel, Dennis stayed by her side like a sunflower, no other routes.
"The heater's busted too."
My thin patient gown let the cold, silent hospital air pierce my lungs. I huddled under the bundled Santa suit nearby.
"Come to think of it, I even tried raising Kainel and Ariel's Love Meter."
The protagonists of the sequel [Black Heart].
Childhood friends, honest about everything but their feelings.
Like they'd crammed every trope from 2000s rom-com manga.
Tsundere girl who teases, oblivious blond popular guy with zero game.
'Still, both have good hearts.'
Kainel and Ariel were tied to the demon king too. His selection as Light Hero and scorn, the World Tree Forest's burning—all of it.
"...Hero Cult."
Tracing it back, it was the heroes who'd fallen to demon kings.
NPCs who thought, "Holy sword holders? Cut 'em down before they turn demonic," were common.
"Truly the axis of evil, huh."
I believe "hero" is a title earned through worthy deeds. Chosen by the goddess, hearing the holy sword's voice?
'Doesn't prove you're qualified.'
A true hero charges to save people when everyone else flees.
A bit cringy, but I'd etched that in my heart. A smile tugged at my lips.
Last time, ignorance cost lives, but this time I succeeded. I touched my smooth face, recalling old memories.
The scar on my face from the backdraft flames.
Hearing screams, rushing back into the hospital. Grabbing a doorknob searching for Youngmin who'd been trapped—boom. Flames poured out, scorching my face.
Now the whole body would burn, but maybe this atones. I sighed softly.
As Christmas neared its end, around midnight.
"Evacuate this way!!"
"Hurry!! To the stairs!"
"Patient, you need to get out now!"
Contradicting the "silent, holy night," the hospital was chaos.
Acrid black smoke billowed, flickering flames devouring the pristine white building.
"Licht..! Where the hell are you!"
Pine Granasia ran, long platinum hair flying. Opposite the evacuating crowd, she pushed through the panicked masses.
"Cough, cough! What's happening..!"
"Where's the fire..?!"
Deeper in, toward the hospital's heart, the Platinum Wolf pressed on.
"I don't see Soo-hyun hyung! Soo-hyun hyung..!"
"Youngmin, let's go. It's dangerous here!"
"He's probably in the auditorium! He said he'd show Rudolph!!"
She encountered a boyish youth in a wheeled chair.
"Santa sis!! At least you save our Soo-hyun hyung!!"
The red-hatted boy, led to safety, shouted toward Pine.
"..You can see me?"
Her sharp eyes caught it, sensing something off. Seeing her in this nightmare meant he was important.
"Yeah! You're Santa sis, right..? Hair's white too..!"
Without her Masterpiece helm or glass armor, smoke had numbed her senses.
Pine had to decide. Trust the boy and head to the auditorium?
'Lee Soo-hyun..? Licht..?'
She was certain. If it was the Licht she knew, he'd be there alone, saving kids. Her experience told her so.
"Cough, the auditorium's that way! Sis..! So please bring Soo-hyun hyung out!"
"Got it."
The pained boy in the red hat smiled as he begged her.
Evacuating, she nodded gratefully at Youngmin pointing the way.
"..I'll definitely save Licht. Little one."
Only that fool would stay behind in this mess.
She ran that way. Legs aching without mana circulation.
'Hold on. Not like this..!'
Ash filled her mouth with bitterness, lungs burning like fire, throat already scorched.
"Licht!!"
But she didn't care. No matter the pain, saving Licht suffering in this nightmare outweighed it.
Pine faced massive iron doors. Clearly the end of the boy's directions.
"Cough, hack."
Dry coughs wracked her. She pushed the handle—clank. Locked.
"Licht!! You in there?!"
Pounding yielded no response. This didn't match what she'd heard.
'No reaction. Wrong place?'
She'd heard screams drew him back, causing burns. Not here?
"No, Pine Granasia."
Flames approaching from behind spooked her briefly, but she slapped her cheeks, steadying herself.
The man in the Black Knight helm.
Stronger than anyone, yet sometimes weaker.
He'd awakened emotions in her icy glass heart, eased her guilt.
A lone wolf piling lies to avoid hurting others, fighting solo.
Innocently blushing at her figure, clueless with women. Adorably pure.
"This man... is here."
Her instincts howled like a wolf: the man who'd gifted her all these feelings was beyond that door.
The fire alarm had blared long ago; now smoke seeped through door cracks.
"Looks like I won't see our Saintess to the end."
I'd thought no regrets at life's close, but pathetically, one lingered.
Not meeting the woman with snow-white hair, wolf ears, and tail.
'Couldn't describe her features, fearing Head's detection.'
When fighting Servi, I'd heard Head could find her. Terrifying.
Solve the omniscient demon king issue, and half the problem's solved. As the first game's final boss, no risks to her.
Game forums yielded nothing on the Saintess's past or name.
Even imperial record divers found no Platinum Wolf mentions.
'If there's a next life... maybe we'll meet.'
Flames neared; cold sweat from trauma unbroken.
Wall clock neared midnight. No Christmas miracle, huh.
The moment I closed my eyes, accepting all—
"Licht!!"
The iron doors blocking the auditorium entrance exploded outward with a boom.
Not backdraft. What just happened?
"Knew you'd be here..!"
An anxious voice called my name. At its source stood the woman I'd just imagined,
"..Saintess?"
In a form slightly different from memory: academy uniform of pure white.
'Height, voice... just like I remember. How?'
Platinum hair to her waist, twitching white wolf ears and tail, golden irises gleaming.
No Hero Cult attack like Servi, no mimic. I recognized her instantly as the Nameless Saintess.