Chapter 79
Chapter 79
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter Title: Desperate Prayer
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"Cough. Cough."
Yeriel coughed while covering her mouth. With the cough, wet blood soaked her hand.
"......"
She stared blankly at the blood profusely staining her hand, then rose from the bed to wipe it off. In that instant, a sharp pain stabbed her lungs, making her body sway.
"Ugh."
Yeriel's face twisted in agony.
Her condition was deteriorating day by day. Her stamina and mental strength were wearing away endlessly.
Yeriel grabbed the glass from the bedside table and irritably hurled it at the wall.
Crash-!
The glass shattered, and the water inside trickled down the wall, soaking the floor.
"Haa...."
Yeriel exhaled an anxious breath. She slumped to the floor, buried her head against the bedside, closed her eyes, and steadied her breathing.
How much time passed like that? Yeriel clutched her throbbing head and opened her eyes. Perhaps it was her imagination, but her condition felt slightly improved—though still far from good.
Riiiing- Riiiing-
The rotary corded phone in the corner of the room began to ring noisily. Yeriel staggered to her feet and picked up the receiver.
It was the Association President. He sounded utterly startled, his flustered voice quite striking.
"......I'll head out right away."
With a voice cracking harshly, Yeriel barely managed the reply before setting down the receiver. She entered the bathroom and turned on the faucet at the sink.
Splash- Water gushed out, slowly filling the basin.
She scraped off the hardened blood scab stuck rigidly to her palm, washed it clean, and gazed into the mirror. There stood a woman with golden hair radiant as the sun, thoroughly disheveled.
'...The barrier has broken.'
Even after deploying additional heroes, whether they had been overpowered or some other variable had intervened, the barrier had ultimately shattered.
Yeriel leaned her head against the bathroom wall and sighed. Reason urged her to rush out and assess the situation at once, but the faint stabbing pain in her chest and her foggy mind clouded her judgment.
"Huu...."
Yeriel began tidying her disheveled hair. She couldn't let others see her in such a disarrayed state.
She neatly arranged her hair, smoothed her pain-grimaced face into an expressionless mask.
Straightened her trembling legs, and stepped out of the bathroom. But as she reached to open the door and exit the room,
She froze at the signal transmitted through her authority.
"......"
Finally.
Finally, it had fallen. The one who had halted was now plummeting.
What to do.
Yeriel blinked slowly, weighing her options.
What was the situation on-site? The Association President had only mentioned the barrier breaking—he hadn't said magic beasts had entered the city—but it was no leisurely affair regardless.
Should she seize that soul's freedom right now and turn it into a puppet? If she willed it, she could do so immediately. Her soul was linked to Yeriel's.
Anis Harper had nearly regained her power. In her current state, she would undoubtedly provide significant combat strength. Yet there was clearly a gap between her fully restored self and now.
Yeriel pondered, then shook her head.
Not yet. Unless the worst had arrived, it was wiser to wait a little longer.
It wouldn't take much time for her to recover all her power. Even with a midway pause, a fall inevitably accelerates.
Grasping the precise situation took priority now.
"Cough."
Another dry cough escaped. Fortunately, no blood this time.
Yeriel opened the room door and stepped outside.
They say misfortune has a fixed total amount.
The theory that each person is allotted a total quota of misfortune and happiness, so unending calamity can't persist forever.
Further, that humans weren't created to fail, that though they may be defeated, they never perish.
Fervently praising humanity's infinite potential to overcome negativity and seize the future.
That every misfortune has a clear reason, and if endured and overcome, one's desires can be claimed.
Ode to Humanity!
Just hearing the name stirred the heart—a sublime philosophy.
And simultaneously, a unrealistic law applicable only to protagonists in fiction.
I wasn't some novel protagonist.
I didn't know the reason for this inexplicable misfortune that suddenly assaulted and pummeled me.
I wasn't resilient enough to nonchalantly endure, overcome, and press on silently.
I was just an ordinary human.
A powerless, passive one, scrambling just to handle the crisis before my eyes.
Someone, please tell me.
If that damn misfortune total theory holds true, just how much happiness am I supposed to get later to endure gathering every ounce of misery like this?
Ring- Ring-
My phone blared again. It had rung so noisily before—why wouldn't that suffice?
Crunch!
I stomped it flat, and finally, silence.
"......"
I stood still, staring at the ground. I blankly gazed at the phone lying on the cold earth, its screen shattered.
I was lost. Nothing remained for me. Everything I'd desperately yearned for had turned to ash and vanished.
The light had turned its back on me, and the flame that once illuminated me, I had extinguished with my own hands.
Thus, I had no goals left. Once more, I was adrift alone in the vast ocean, passing time in a daze.
God.
Until now, I'd thought those who prayed to gods were all broken, shattered wrecks of humanity.
But no. People who prayed to gods were just idle jobless bastards with nothing better to do.
Having nothing. With nothing, they lose their way. Losing their way, they forget what they once aimed for.
Having lost even the will to move forward, they were nothing but leisurely humans sitting idly on a rudderless boat adrift in the vast sea, staring blankly at the horizon.
No oars to row, so plenty of time yet nothing to show for it—boring. So they mumble to the heavens.
"O God, show me the path—"
Devout believers were utterly bored vagrants with not a penny to their name.
The Lord said: lost lamb.
I was a lamb.
A lamb who lost the light named Yoon Na-rin, whose hero aspirations vanished, whose very desires grew hazy—alone atop a tattered, worn-out rudderless boat.
Yes! This wanderer Anis Harper was a penniless beggar, a jobless layabout with endless time and lost purpose, and at the same time, a devout believer!
Even an atheist who denied and mocked gods more than anyone would, upon losing everything and purpose, be left only with bored madness, muttering prayers to the sky!
...How ridiculous.
So I prayed! Staring at the glass shards jutting from my shattered phone screen!
Gazing at the faint glimmer reflected in those shards, I recited a bloated prayer laden with every flowery phrase to the heavens!
Hallelujah to You, the faithful and true witness, the foundation of creation!
Here stands Anis Harper! The city's top S-grade beauty, nurtured on Your flesh and blood!
Behold the barrenness and anguish within me, drive away my wild ambitions, fill me with Your Holy Spirit, and restore what is irretrievably lost!
Count me righteous who believed in the eternal covenant, revive this old boat sunken in darkness, and grant me once more the grace to reclaim light and rest!
If You truly pity the misfortune of this romantic, cute beauty forged by customization tools, a bit of pay-to-win, and sturdy mouse clicks!
Turn back time, restore my lost torch, dark spear, and snow-white chainmail! Turn the helm of this shabby little ark and guide it back to the proper course!
And show me the way! Let me hear those glorious words said to reach even me at times, and lead me on the righteous path!
I offer my limbs, head, waist. Grant me patience to endure.
I seek no excessive happiness. Make me moderately miserable.
Just moderately. Amen.
God didn't answer. Even if pretty, no girl content? Clearly hates gender swaps. Must be a fierce advocate for female-only theology.
I shouted again. Aaaaamen!!! Metsiel!!! You bastard, status screeeen!!!
What a total asshole.
His conversation with Yoon Na-rin had made Han U-sol realize many things.
He would apologize to her.
For arbitrarily imposing his ideals on her until now, for not seeing her as she truly was, and for wounding her—he would apologize.
And he would tell her.
That he wouldn't demand purity and nobility from her anymore. That he wouldn't be selfish any longer.
That no matter what kind of person she was, he would love her as she is.
That regardless of what others say, he would believe in her, always take her side. That in any situation, he would protect and save her.
He would say that.
Not thoughts befitting right before a battle with magic beasts. Yet if he didn't tell her now, he felt he'd regret his pathetic self forever.
'...Where's Anis?'
Han U-sol looked around frantically for Anis. She'd been nearby just moments ago, but now she was gone.
With all of District X's heroes gathered, the area in front of the barricade entrance buzzed with quite a crowd. Perhaps they'd gotten separated amid the throng.
As he scanned the surroundings, a thick, intense magic beast stench assaulted his nose.
'This is...?'
He froze for a moment and shifted his gaze beyond the barricade.
In the distance, magic beasts were swarming.
"Magic beasts incoming!!! Battle stations!!!"
One of the heroes in the front line bellowed. The heroes, who had briefly relaxed, hardened their expressions and began scrambling.
'...Anis, where's Anis?'
Amid the bustling crowd in motion, Han U-sol's eyes darted busily. At least, if danger struck, he needed to tell her to flee to him.
But he couldn't spot Anis in the end.
"Everyone to your positions!!!"
Pushed by a booming male voice, Han U-sol was swept back to the rear lines.
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The magic beasts drew ever closer.
Han U-sol grew anxious.
Yoon Na-rin glared, burning with hatred.
Reisi gripped her spear shaft tightly, uneasy.
Fergus cast aside hesitation for the moment, focusing on what lay ahead.
Acelica swore not to let the sacrifice be in vain.
―――Krrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!
The magic beasts, now nearly upon them, roared.
And Anis Harper prayed.
"Amen. Metsiel. Status window!"