Chapter 179
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 179
Chapter Title: A Past to Overcome
Fwoosh!
The blue light that filled her vision faded away.
Distant, dreamlike colors unfolded like a landscape painting, and within it, a silver light flickered and passed.
Along with those magical lights.
Chris returned not to the past or the future, but to the present, to this moment.
"......."
Chris stared blankly at the unchanging scene of the small study spread before her.
"Mmm."
For some reason, Chris's voice was hoarse.
Humans of the present cannot see the past.
Because they are bound by the absolute flow of time.
But today, Chris had seen the past.
She had watched the life of the Hero named Rain, at least from the sidelines.
Within someone's memories.
Suddenly, Chris opened her interface to check the time.
It opened as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"A game."
Chris's mind, which had been deeply immersed in Rain's past, reconfirmed the fact that this world was a game.
Chris had entered this study around morning in real-world time. But the current time already indicated late night.
It wasn't long.
She couldn't see everything.
For what purpose was this game made?
Was it someone's design?
Was this book created by one of Rain's companions to remember her?
There was still so much Chris didn't know.
She had only seen a fragment of Rain's past from a third-person perspective.
"......."
The story of Rain recorded in this book ended here.
But.
Flip.
Chris turned the page.
The book's contents were not yet over.
After the final battle, the Alpharion Empire and the Betarion Empire were founded, and humanity's recovery and reconstruction began, centered around the two empires.
The first emperor of the Alpharion Empire, Bernhard von Alpharion, dedicated his entire life to the revival of humanity.
Chris quietly took in the entire life of Rain's companion, Bernhard.
And then, the final chapter approached.
At the end of decades of peaceful records, there was one incongruous entry.
[Imperial Year XX]
[Suddenly, 'it' appeared.]
A potential threat to the empire.
The reason the empire, even after a thousand years, reacted so sensitively to the anomaly in the eastern gorge was written in this book.
It was a record of a strange Death Knight called the 'Blue Overlord.'
The strength of the Death Knight that suddenly appeared in Erin's Gorge, in the eastern part of the empire, was reminiscent of the corps commanders in their prime.
But the empire had also grown stronger over time.
The Alpharion Empire of that time possessed an excellent order of knights, capable of fending off a single corps commander without the help of the Hero and her party.
The fact that such a being had appeared in this era, after all the corps commanders had been defeated and their pinnacle, the Demon King, had vanished, made the entire empire tremble in fear. However, the empire managed to drive out the Death Knight by mobilizing all its forces.
The strange thing was that in that world-shaking battle, not a single knight died.
It was as if it didn't want to destroy all of this with its own hands. The Death Knight only swung its sword to protect itself.
And, the blue sword energy that the Death Knight emanated.
It was distinctly different from the death knights they had faced before, who wielded violet or deep dark energy.
A blue power like that of an absolute overlord.
Humanity, with a mix of awe and fear, called him the 'Blue Overlord.'
It is said that at the very end, the Blue Overlord unleashed a colossal sword energy toward the ground, incomparable to what he had used to shake off the knights.
A massive scar on the earth, carved into the depths of the gorge as if to split the continent in two.
The Blue Overlord vanished into that endless cliff.
[Ah.]
[I know.]
[A being forgotten by all.]
[The savior of humanity.]
[Oh, master.]
[Oh, noble spirit of my master.]
[Why.]
Chris closed the book.
And then, she left the study where precious memories slept, filled with unforgettable moments and undeniable gratitude.
*
Chris approached Rain, who was in her wheelchair on the terrace, looking down at the view below.
Rain's eyes were fixed intently on the scenery spread out beneath her.
Seoul.
A forest of artificial buildings.
A great river cutting through it.
Of course, it was very different from the nature of the Astria Continent that Rain had loved.
But.
Reflected in the girl's obsidian-like eyes was the vivid night view of the city.
Rain was doing her best to take in the sight of this Earth, of this city, with her own two eyes.
To move beyond the past.
The place where she would have to live from now on.
"Chris."
The girl's clear voice, the same as always, called her name.
The girl, with eyes like pure white snow yet shining silver, looked at Chris and smiled brightly.
Although they had been together for nearly a year, Rain's wounds had not yet fully healed.
The torn and tattered heart hidden behind Rain's bright expression felt especially palpable to Chris today.
Now. Even in this moment.
Embracing wounds that could not be erased.
Rain was doing her best to move forward.
For some reason, Chris's eyes welled up.
It felt as though her eyes and Rain's, which had always seemed to be looking at different things, were finally seeing the same thing.
Whoomph.
"...? Sis?"
Rain tilted her head cutely, chirping in a small voice.
Chris held Rain's head to her chest and trembled.
The little Hero.
A child who was strong, yet as delicate as fragile glass.
A child who had tried so hard in a strange world, just to be loved.
Was it perhaps a blessing that Chris hadn't witnessed the horrific scene from back then?
The final battle with the Demon King.
There, everyone must have died.
Rain must have lost the legs that allowed her to move freely.
The girl's delicate mind must have been brutally shattered.
And so Rain had come to this world, which in some ways might be unfamiliar, as if fleeing the land where all her loved ones had vanished.
Why had Rain acted like a child upon returning to the Astria Continent?
Chris could understand now.
Rain had simply wanted to be childish.
On the familiar continent of her memories, where she had lived with all her might.
Trapped in the past.
In the arms of her beloved companions.
And now, the girl who had lost everything...
...had to strike down a companion she had loved.
What a cruel fate.
"Rain, Rain, Rain."
"Sis... ack! I can't breathe! ...Are you crying?"
In Chris's blurry vision, Rain's worried face was reflected.
Chris roughly wiped her eyes.
And said.
"Let's go meet them together."
"Meet who...?"
"Your companion."
Rain's eyes widened.
*
That day, Chris held me in her arms and cried for a long time.
Why?
Did I do something to hurt her feelings?
The day after being held and stroked for a long while in the arms of a sobbing Chris, still lost in confusion...
Whoooosh!
Chris and I stood facing the massive scar on the earth that cut the gorge in half.
"Melissa is down there."
"How did you..."
My mouth fell open.
How could she have known?
Chris grabbed my shoulders and met my eyes.
"Let's go together this time."
"B-but, you're the raid leader who's supposed to lead the Red and White Guild's attack squad."
"It's fine. We got a few more guild members, right? The Red and White's 12-person squad will be maintained. And Death of Death agreed to be the raid leader for this one."
Chris winked at me with a mischievous expression.
"'I'll become the king of humans? Then, you all live, too.' You sure knew how to say cool things, didn't you?"
Fwoosh!
My face flushed beet red.
"H-h-h-how."
I stammered badly.
How does Chris know those words?
Aren't those the words I said to Leoner and Bernhard when I was little?
"I saw it. How hard you tried. ...Though not everything, of course."
"Hic, hic."
I covered my eyes and whimpered.
How on earth did she see it?
Where in this world could something like that have been left behind?
My face was so hot I felt like it would explode.
It felt like my most embarrassing secrets had been exposed.
Chris laughed heartily.
"I know everything now, you see? All the hardships you went through."
"......."
She was so proactive.
Chris had wandered through this world, now a game, searching for traces of my past.
"Trust your companion. You called me your companion, didn't you?"
"Companion."
The word resonated, sinking deep into my heart.
For me, the word 'companion' held more meaning than any other.
"It means you don't have to grieve alone, or try to overcome the past by yourself."
Chris's sympathetic expression made my heart flutter.
I said in a small voice.
"Um, I'm a solo player."
"You're solo-play *oriented*, right? Doesn't mean you *have* to play solo."
"Ahaha!"
I couldn't help but laugh.
Party play recommended.
Solo play oriented.
It's just a play on words.
Today, for the first time, I decided not to play solo.
Wiping away the tears that kept welling up for some reason.
With my beloved companion, Chris.
I looked down below the cliff, at the massive scar on the earth.
At the past I had to overcome.
[You have discovered the Raid Dungeon, 'Blue Overlord's Resting Place']
[Entry Level: 55]
[Raid Dungeon (12-Player Recommended)]
[Blue Overlord's Resting Place]
[In 29 days, 23 hours, and 59 minutes, the seal on the cliff will disappear.]
[In 59 days, 23 hours, and 59 minutes, the Blue Overlord, resurrected from the abyss, will begin his conquest of the continent.]