Chapter 286
Chapter: 286
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 286
>Chapter Title: Impulse Soft (6)
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-Pangea Chronicle Free Board
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>Just Witnessed a Demon Summoning Site!
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>-You all know those Silent Villains, right? The ones who don't dye their gear or do high-level enhancements, but are weirdly strong. Their IDs don't even show above their heads, so at first everyone was confused whether they were players or NPCs.
>Today, for some reason, those guys showed up in a theme dungeon. They went in dragging along a little sheep. At first, I thought it was just a player with a weird skin. Like, another weirdo joined the ranks.
>But what these guys did in the dungeon... when they came out, that sheep had a demon possessing it! Black demonic energy was billowing off its body.
>Above all, those brutal eyes were definitely not from something sane. Just looking at it, murderous intent was pouring out—I swear my legs went numb.
>(A blurry photo is attached, taken from a distance of a small animal's back. It's shrouded in black smoke and out of focus, so the exact shape of the animal can't be made out.)
>But that's not the end of it.
>That demon-possessed sheep straight-up demolished two guilds right there, without even using any special skills!
>That sheep wasn't a normal player, that's for sure. Unless it was a major NPC or high-rank summon with AI, no ordinary person could move that calculated against a crowd.
>What the hell is its true identity?
>So I talked it over with my party members, and we think it's that demon from the initial background explanation in Pangea Chronicle. You know, all those foreshadowings about the Heavenly Demon War happening in the main story?
>(A photo is attached of a user's forehead with a petal-shaped dented wound.)
>Here's another piece of evidence that it's a demon. Check out the mark it left on that player. Doesn't this look just like one of the 'Demon Runes' sealed in the basement of the Grand Library? We all probably skimmed past it in the main quest, but this unique shape stuck in my mind for some reason.
>So the conclusion is, this demon summoning incident is Impulse Soft's stealth update preparing for the Heavenly Demon War.
>If anyone has a different opinion or other info, please share.
>-Demon summoning lol, if you're gonna fake it, at least Photoshop properly. Can't tell shit with that blurry focus.
>└ Was there as one of the eyewitnesses. To be precise, it was a mountain goat, not a sheep.
>└ PEP and Glamping got wiped. They're not some weak-ass guilds.
>└ Haha, another fake post turning out true.
>└ Gold-digger with a sickness.
>-But demons appear in the Pangea Chronicle background lore? Why don't I remember that?
>└ Everyone skips it.
>└ Really? I looked up the intro video after reading this, but it was just a fleeting background explanation. Hasn't come up since. Is that even proper foreshadowing?
>-Maybe it's a new skill? If the Silent Villains are players, doesn't that mean other players can do it too? Any summoner skill updates?
>└ Even if they're NPCs, same deal. Demons newly appearing in Pangea Chronicle is proof of a stealth patch underway for the Heavenly Demon War.
>-I think I've seen a similar summoning skill. That goat's a summoner, probably made a high-rank summon descend on itself.
>└ Yeah, looks exactly like a player with a skin summoning their beast.
>└ Passing summoner here. You can have a summon descend on your body after job change, but it's just temporary stat boosts or buffs, that's it.
>└ So it is possible?
>└ I'm saying movements like that aren't. Summons don't move in your place. Better to just summon and fight together than waste it as a buff. No real efficiency, so hardly anyone uses it.
>-If they've got time for stealth patches, tell them to fix item drop rates! What about job change items
>└ lol same. This job change is gonna shake up server rankings. Whoever grabs the Ice Heart first becomes Pangea's new king.
>└ Ugh, screw king, Impulse-nim, please patch the Ice Heart supply
>* * *
>Tweet tweet tweet.
>As usual, listening to the cheerful birdsong, Sungjin blinked vacantly.
>'What the hell am I doing right now?'
>A wave of fatigue crashed over him alongside a strong sense of doubt.
>'Pulling all-nighters for games at my age...'
>No, it wasn't just the game.
>The real issue was whether this pointless grinding would even help in the end. Could playing this game together really solve Owen's long-term runaway problem?
>[You went to that dimensional world again? Pangea Chronicle?]
>Flopping over in his listless body, the Demon King perked up and asked.
>'Yeah.'
>[I see.]
>Even though his body had slept, the aftereffects of his mind staying awake all night were intense. He felt zero recovery from the fatigue.
>How the hell had Owen maintained this lifestyle for so long?
>[Ah, sounds fun. I wanna go there too...]
>Ignoring the childish Demon King's whining, Sungjin got up.
>Then, his eyes caught the silver disk he'd left on the bedside table last night.
>The Lycanthrope race key.
>'Keeping Owen from doing anything stupid is important, but separately, I need to look into the connection between Impulse Soft and Pangea Chronicle. And find a way to completely pull him out of there.'
>But contrary to his urge to head straight to the forge, Sungjin had no time to spare. He had an official title: 'Monster Task Force Advisor.'
>It was about time to show his face properly at the task force office.
>'Not long ago, I could spend all day training with nothing else to do.'
>That time, just a few months ago, now felt like distant history.
>Feeling an inexplicable nostalgia, Sungjin began his morning with his usual meditation.
>"Long time no see, Your Highness. I heard you were a bit under the weather in the Sigismund Territory—feeling better now?"
>Hiss!
>Visiting the administrative annex after months, Sungjin—lost in sentiment and momentarily off-guard—opened the task force office door and was immediately hit with Jibril's enthusiastic welcome.
>"..."
>This was awkward. She was worrying while doing this, so he couldn't even get mad.
>Sungjin, caught off-guard and reeking of nostalgia, wrinkled his nose for a moment before asking Jibril.
>"...The scent's changed a bit?"
>From a nose-piercing harsh fragrance to something a tad softer but still potent.
>Jibril the physician beamed and replied.
>"Do you perhaps remember that latest paper I mentioned? The one about how scents from bulb plants have effects like rose fragrance on fevers."
>"Ah, yeah."
>Both were equally useless anyway.
>"So, to save on budget too, I switched to a cheaper freesia scent."
>Jibril grumbled that rose fragrance was pretty pricey for bulk purchases.
>"Budget? What budget?"
>"The perfume reimbursement. The Liora Plague Society's perfume costs come out of the administration's official annual budget, you know."
>"What?"
>That snapped him alert.
>"You...!"
>Worthless Liora quacks—fire them all now!
>Sungjin barely swallowed the outburst rising in his throat.
>These perfume terrorists were leeching off the empire's treasury?!
>"What's wrong, Your Highness?"
>Jibril blinked innocently at Sungjin's suddenly darkened expression.
>"...No, nothing."
>Sungjin forced a smile at Jibril, pressing his forehead to compose himself.
>Though inwardly, he was grinding his teeth.
>'Just wait till Bertrand & Lee's business gets on track. I'll clean house starting with you Liora Plague Society bastards!'
>For now, though, he had no other options. With Owen's situation and all the unfinished business piling up.
>"First, the collusion between Milo Merchant Company and the Shadow Church, and Merchant Lord Giacomo Milo's demon worship charges."
>Gathering in the office for the first time in ages, the task force members reviewed their progress so far.
>"Giacomo Milo is still at large. We're searching with all we've got, but no sign of him anywhere."
>"He's probably holed up with the Penance Church."
>Sir Valery nodded at Sungjin's response.
>"That's what the Heresy Tribunal thinks too. But properly searching the Shadow Church hiding underground will be quite difficult."
>Barring Giacomo Milo's absence, preparations for the trial were proceeding smoothly.
>The raid on Milo Merchant Company had gone off without a hitch, piling up blatant tax evasion evidence alongside assets for the treasury.
>Add in testimonies from Penance Church remnants and evidence of demon summoning rituals.
>That alone was enough for Giacomo Milo to face the empire's highest punishment under holy law.
>'But the path of Lofroom egg distribution remains unclear. To connect the Gray Plague and Penance Church, we have no choice but to track him down.'
>If possible, it'd be better to grab the unpredictable Sigismund Margrave and interrogate him.
>But the links between him and Milo Merchant Company were too flimsy to justify hauling in a border noble.
>They'd ransacked his study multiple times, but the ironclad Hendrick Sigismund had left zero evidence tying him to the Shadow Church.
>For now, blocking the drug trade would have to suffice. Sungjin tapped the armrest and concluded as much.
>"Anyway, right now, our only faint hope is Belinda. She's still a diocesan bishop managing the Ortona Southern Branch area, after all. Her eyes suggest she has some inkling about Giacomo Milo's whereabouts."
>The red-haired inquisitor added with a somewhat impressed look.
>"By the way, she's truly remarkable. Even for the Penance Church, accustomed to asceticism, Belinda's endurance is something else. Truly befitting qualities of a faithful servant of the Lord."
>A fairly friendly attitude from an inquisitor who normally wouldn't reason with heretics.
>Sungjin eyed Sir Valery's strangely unfamiliar face.
>"A faithful servant of the Lord? She's a sinner who abandoned the Lord, isn't she? Is it okay for a Heresy Tribunal holy knight to say that?"
>"Haha, why not? A heretic is a heretic—unchanging. But in truth, she's just another lost lamb of the Lord who took the wrong path. So can't we humans show respect for her steadfastness?"
>As Sungjin frowned without replying, Valery grinned.
>"It's amusing to say this to Your Highness of all people. But I've always been like this. Even for those who've committed irredeemable sins, if I glimpse a human side, I can't help but be drawn in. Lately, I've been quite taken with Belinda."
>"..."
>"So ideally, I'd hope she cooperates with the investigation, repents soon, and returns fully to the Lord's embrace."
>Valery then added an even crazier remark.
>"That's what baffles me, though—what's the problem? We're inflicting the same pain in the Heresy Tribunal, so why won't she ever yield? Is the Penance Church's suffering somehow special?"
>...Dude, is that what you call talking?
>Dumbfounded, Sungjin voiced a sudden question to Valery.
>"Then, if Belinda repents and is moved, can she safely walk free from prison?"
>Valery stared blankly back.
>"No way. That's not it. We'd just stop healing her body for further torture. Then she'd enter the penance phase to atone for her sins."
>Even if they repent for once, nearly all prisoners die in that penance phase.
>It had to be that way. They'd only kept them alive before by periodically infusing holy power to endure torture. No way damaged prisoners could survive intense penance.
>"If you're gonna kill them anyway, why bother converting them? Can't you just cleanly end their lives?"
>"As Your Highness knows, death isn't the end for humans, is it? Even if the flesh dies, a repentant soul goes to the Lord's arms. Her soul would be happy in paradise forever."
>You crazy religious nut!
>Finally losing it, Sungjin heard the Demon King—who'd been silent in his head—mutter.
>[How sane do you have to be to get called crazy by this lunatic?]