Chapter 466
Chapter 466
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Another Solo Play (25)
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The first time I realized that the world's imbalance was intentional—someone's doing—and became convinced it was the work of the System was toward the end of the Imperial War.
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‘What the hell is this? [A-Tomb]?’
‘....Atlasheva-nim. I think we’re too late on this one.’
‘....Yeah. You did what you could. Get out of here now. The rest is on me, no matter what happens—’
‘No, I mean we’re totally too late overall. I don’t know which genius lunatic cooked this up, but the ley lines are completely overloaded. No stopping this.’
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I’d had my suspicions.
Even back when I was wandering around with Notum, something felt off, and she agreed.
But at that point, my plan was still at the level of, ‘Something like the Mutate Queen is scheming to wreck the world again. Might need some power for the future.’ Honestly, that alone was saying the world might end again, so I’d rallied my old comrades and done my best.
But then,
After arriving at the Blue Line on the magic airship we’d hijacked from the Magic Empire.
After interrogating the captured magic engineers and learning their plans and timeline.
Even after securing the Atom with plenty of time and caution, the stray shot from the Empire miraculously pierced through dozens of layers of the Magic Empire’s shields and bombed the Atom precisely, turning it into an irreversible disaster.
That’s when I knew.
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‘....This is some bullshit rigged crap.’
‘Hm, words I can’t quite grasp.’
‘It’s something I picked up. Back in 3rd World, on Storm Hill, when that flock of letters came flying like dragons and stabbed into the hot air balloon, that’s what I thought. [This is total bullshit.] [Crossed the line into bad luck.]’
‘They said it was because the players’ world progression got too far ahead, so the System intervened on a systemic level. It forcibly twisted the world’s plausibility to steer things away from what I wanted.’
‘....The System’s capable of that. And with no players around now, there’s no reason for that kind of bullshit power to activate, so this damned magic stray shot has to be the System intervening on its own.’
‘Well, um, Hyde. Isn’t that a bit too speculative?’
‘Speculative? Where do I even start? An Empire diehard emperor loyalist knight defects to the Magic Empire just because he got snubbed for a few decades? The Magic Empire’s golden age civilization barely reaches the Empire amid a string of diplomatic and economic disasters? Master diplomats who keep sparking the worst conflicts at every summit? And finally, war breaks out between the two empires, escalating until one wipes the other out?’
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All the incomprehensible situations I’d encountered while following Notum around started converging into one conclusion.
Such a perfect ending.
Such perfect salvation.
Yet they couldn’t hold out even a few decades before becoming each other’s doom. And this was still an era when survivors of the Mutate species wars were alive?
Once is coincidence, but repeated multiple times? That’s inevitability.
And when that inevitability repeats dozens of times without finding the cause, you start suspecting the impossible, the absurd.
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‘But that’s impossible. The System independently dooming the world? Doesn’t that violate our innate duty?’
‘The status window is clearly a tool to help players, yet it shows in detail for some and not at all for others. The System judges when it helps and when it doesn’t. Probably thinks the same from the world’s perspective.’
‘And hey, what’s impossible in this world?’
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I figured out the beast’s identity and soon grasped its goal.
It was childish. A perfect System sees something impossible made possible by another existence, so it wants to claim that and become truly perfect.
‘The System awaits the Professor.’
I’m waiting too.
‘The world is complete in the way it desires.’
Not entirely. We admins and I haven’t been sitting idle.
‘Probably, the Professor will fall into the System’s hands.’
And I knew that in advance.
‘....The Professor just gets caught and hypnotically corrupted? That guy?’
I knew how vicious Professor Park was.
No way. The guy who’d proselytize the Quran in a Catholic heaven if needed wouldn’t just sit there prayerless in the System’s almighty trap.
I thought: If I were the Professor, trapped in an absolute being’s perfect trap that reads the future and manipulates the world, with nothing left but brainwashing, what would I do?
‘Endure? I can do it? No. Plans aren’t made on wishful thinking like that. At least Professor Park wouldn’t.’
Few know it, but Professor Park is negative about his own future—especially his. Part experience, part military training like ‘prepare for the best, brace for the worst.’ So I was sure he wouldn’t think so naively.
‘....A reversal. He’d aim for a reversal.’
A trap meticulously crafted on a world scale by an overwhelmingly superior foe. Falling into it is inevitable. He probably anticipated becoming the System’s puppet.
If avoiding the trap is impossible, maybe hide inside it and stab the hunter when it comes for its prey?
‘....How? How to escape voluntarily when fully gripped by the System?’
Took about three days, I think. Rifling through Professor Park’s memories without eating or drinking, pondering what he’d think.
‘Ah.’
There it was. A sure chance for reversal.
‘Impossible.’
At the same time, I realized it was a gamble leaning on the slimmest hope.
‘Assume the System manifests in 4th World to securely claim the Professor.’
‘Assume it didn’t abandon its machine intelligence duties but obsessed over them, leading to this.’
‘Assume what it prepared by shattering worlds itself was the authority to repair it and a vision of the future.’
Assumptions upon assumptions upon assumptions.
After considering every uncertainty, the conclusion was simple compared to the process.
‘I gotta go all-in.’
‘If the Professor’s pulling off a true final reversal, he’ll need some time. A moment when the System, fixated on him, averts its eyes.’
‘....I need to become a massive obstacle in its plan.’
Same conclusion as the pre-Imperial War plan.
An opponent with terrifying power wants to reshape the world, so I build power to stop it.
Ottoman. Lucilla. Aldrich.
The three could help.
.
.
.
.
Hopefully not going as far as Aldrich.
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Doooong!
‘My eardrums are gonna burst.’
The deafening gong like hammering a church bell snapped me alert.
Daydreaming mid-battle? Unless I wanted to die, it had to be the curse mist dulling my head.
Kwaaaang!
Ears ringing. Why’s this guy in such thick armor?
『You.... won’t even touch dust to His Majesty....!』
Smoke leaking from the armor joints, the knight charged with shield forward.
‘If that hits, I’m dead?’
Some fail to infuse aura into a sword their whole lives, but this guy coats an entire massive tower shield in aura even after death. World’s unfair.
‘Dodge.... Nah, that’s what he’s aiming for.’
Drrrrrrumble!
The shield’s edge tilted slightly toward me. Right now, the brute-force aura was grinding the road to dust, but the moment I dodged, he’d retract it. Shield gripped to the stone pavement killing momentum, he’d pivot instantly and slash with his left-hand shortsword.
Simple, solid, precise.
A shield knight using full-power attack as bait to strike unexpectedly.
‘A named knight, maybe.’
Instead of dodging, I advanced.
Eyes fixed on the gleam in the cracked pavement as I stepped.
『Evade. Not—!』
Thud-crack!
The footing failed; pavement split. In an instant, the metal wall closed distance, aura-wreathed, smothering me.
Boom!
Right before me, the knight’s footing exploded, crumbling his balance. Aura grazed my forehead, singeing bangs as I burrowed in.
Slash!
He slammed his exploded ankle into the ground and swung his sword.
Clang!
Light. A feint in this situation?
Doooong!
Right gauntlet. Wrist might be sprained.
Ching!
Kaaang!
Crunch, kwajik! Kakak!
Ultra-close brawl. He wouldn’t yield distance despite lost ankle; for me, other reasons.
‘Here, forward.’
Subspace potion recalled, knee-strike damage calculated. Right ribs crack, but recoverable enough to move.
Kwajik!
“Urk!”
Hideous sound, blood surging up as I launched. Toes hooked his sword-arm passing by, using kickback to spin acrobatically—
Slash!
Head off. In that one instant, as his knee dug my side. A normal person’d think the neck severed the moment I got hit, or sword caught by fluke.
“Or the dumbest swordplay in the world. Urgh.”
Impact worse than thought; couldn’t stand steady. Staggering vigilant, saw severed head roll through smoke, wilted flower under ear, and lowered sword with a sigh.
“Got another.”
Eighteenth cursed knight since passing palace gates.
The same cursed knights that gave me and Frau trouble. Imperial Guard, so stronger than those.
Closer to palace, each tougher than last. Gods. Paving the dumbest path in my Pathfinder life.
“Ugh, urgh.... Honestly, if His Majesty hadn’t screwed around and just mass-deployed knights, I’d have died easy here?”
Miraculous breakthrough owed much to emperor. Empty Guard armors scattered everywhere beyond those I killed, filled with ash-like remnants—curse reclaimed and vanished by emperor, probably.
....Cough!
‘....Should’ve grabbed more holy water.’
Body’s a mess. Throbbing wrist, bloody throat tang. Gut-kneed knee still hard to breathe; deep shoulder and side slashes worst. Potions or not, trauma like this doesn’t heal quick.
Hyde, aspiring palace terrorist, realized post-gates how insanely hard.
Contrary to Aldrich’s prediction, plenty cursed knights left; curse-sensor armed ones homed on my breath alone, demanding enforced emperor loyalty.
‘Seventy-two. Seventy-three. Seventy-four.... Including scattered, eighty, ninety-ish used.’
Still planted bombs though.
Expert pathfinder Hyde pushed here because body caught up to old swordsmanship matching Guard blades.
‘I used the sword like this originally.’
No-holds-barred swordplay. Beyond that—‘Is he suicidal....?’ levels of using body as shield, charging wildly.
‘Difference in mindset?’
[Must block even if die. Until Professor arrives, somehow.]
That was my old-life problem-solving.
[Must succeed somehow. Die now, it’s over.]
This life’s way.
Battle approaches totally different. Old me moved to accomplish even dying; now with Professor here, no-death mindset.
Naturally opposing styles; deep survivalism rejected such reckless swordplay, couldn’t use properly.
Just basic draw techniques for forms.
‘Scared, huh. Pre-memory recovery, survivalist; post, valued life more, so body and sword acted apart.’
‘Early education’s scary.’
Looks like flesh-trading bone-taking fights learned from Professor Park’s brutish fisticuffs. Seen him swing regrown arm for severed one in first two years post-birth.
He’s got insane regen for that; I hung around, picked bad habits, now struggle with bombs, magic tools, minimizing damage, patching with potions.
‘....This is the answer, huh.’
Whiiiing—
Sadly, Pae-san Sword in hand rippled clear white aura vividly.
Not newbie just-grasped level. One-shotted thick knight armor and similarly tough cursed flesh.
‘....Fuck my life.’
Hated admitting, but peak-era swordsmanship return, white flame flowing now, screamed accepted truth.
‘I’m dying. Me.’
Aura. Unchanging values. Meaning of ‘Hyde’ I defined past.
It came startlingly calm, that realization.
Just now, end of our verbose ‘plan’ I recalled.
‘Professor rescue plan. Incomplete, huh.’
Even crossing generations, 200 years back, future unknown.
Met Professor Park this life first time.
First learned System processes him that way.
Thus, endless preparation without action.
‘Had to sync steps.’
What happened to Professor Park. How he’d move.
Sharing his mind, thoughts once, I could read, decide moves.
This life, Pathfinder-Hyde met Professor Park.
Knew he became monstrous Shardknight puppet, memory-empty shell.
So this time, completed the plan.
Memories’ myriad assumptions, predictions. Piled case-by-case each life end, promising next—hoping never that one.
‘....Final final. There it was.’
I punctuated long plan.
Professor Park probably returnable.
Clear skies, celebrating crowds—no spot for me.
That’s the plan I completed.
Didn’t mind. Could be. World’s way.
.
.
.
.
Exhaust every effort to die, rally all I know, 30% prayer-luck reliance to reach here—and it’s a suicide plan.
Crunch—
Hand gripping palace door trembled.
‘Can’t do this.’
Right beyond, emperor devouring capital whole.
....Twitch-twitch.
‘Laugh here, look like total weirdo.’
.
.
.
.
Hiiiyuk—!
Pathetically, couldn’t hold.
Recalling that plan.
Deeming high-probability till now.
Only remembering at literal end to survive.
Yet standing here anyway.
All that—brag-worthy to Professor Park upon meeting, foolish grin burst.
Clunk!
Door opened. Ahead, thick bloodmist and curses, ominous worse. Far deadlier than 18 cursed Guard knights. Body far from peak, optimistic view.
Still, forward.
“Emperooor~ Came for grandma’s entrusted item~”
You can’t kill me.
Already set that seat by my hand.
Thud.
Entered; door shut as if waiting.
Mist enveloped; one step in.
Fwaaaah—
I faced the great tree.
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