Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: This Place is Reality
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"The Happy Attack Squad? What a name. Hahaha! Anyway, back then, World of Warthunder was the only raid game with that level of polish! I started this game as an old man for nostalgia's sake, but I can't play like I used to when I was young. I just admire the scenery, check out dungeons, and dabble in crafting. It's perfect for passing the time."
"Haha... I've heard of that game."
Cherni played along with the customer's trip down memory lane, following behind Rain and Chris.
A glance.
Rain's eyes, slightly hidden by her white hair, turned toward Cherni.
Cherni flinched and avoided her gaze. Rain's eyes, deep as obsidian, seemed to pierce right through his thoughts, sending a chill down his spine.
"Hah."
Cherni sighed heavily, feeling as if he were sitting on pins and needles.
"Heh."
A cute smile played on Rain's lips as she checked the gold she'd received. Cherni, who had been watching her from a short distance, found Chris suddenly standing beside him.
Chris grinned and nudged Cherni in the ribs with her elbow.
"What's with you today? I brought you along instead of Beimerung, but you've barely said a word, and you're keeping your voice low like you don't want anyone to hear. Did you do something wrong?"
"Well, you see... Ah! What am I supposed to do in a situation like this!"
"What...? Did you fall for our Rain or something? Lee Jae-wook, you're dead meat, you hear me?"
Facing Chris's venomous glare, Cherni frantically waved his hands in denial.
"What are you talking about! I'm into older women! Don't you remember I hit on you during the freshman orientation and got shot down?"
"Heh heh, you must be pretty desperate to deny it if you're bringing up your own embarrassing past. So what's going on?"
"Chris, have you ever heard of people with disabilities in their legs or arms playing virtual reality games?"
"Hmm...? It's not unheard of. But their synchronization rate would be extremely low. There's bound to be a disconnect with their real-world body. Still, moving parts of the body in VR that are immobile in reality can provide some psychological therapy. In very rare cases, people with acquired disabilities can show quite a high synchronization rate."
"You mean when they can't accept their physical condition as reality. I've heard about it in a lecture. That the VR synchronization rate is influenced more by psychological factors than one's current physical state."
"Well, it's still a variation within the system's control. But why the sudden question?"
"It's about Rain. Her synchronization rate must be high, right?"
"You can tell just by looking, can't you? It's like she's on a high-speed connection while everyone else is on dial-up. Her synchronization rate must be close to the system's limit."
Chris seemed to sense something was off, too. Her eyes grew profound as the conversation turned to Rain.
Rain was still counting the gold she'd earned today, beaming.
Seeing her open an interface, raising and lowering her hand, it looked like she was browsing the auction house, deciding what to buy.
Chris, who had been smiling at the adorable sight, pressed Cherni again.
"So, is there some kind of problem with Rain?"
"Before that. If you were to meet Rain in real life, what would you do?"
Chris's eyes widened. Then her gaze turned dreamy, and she began to stammer.
"R-Rain? I-In real life? Ah...! What would I do? What should I do? Just seeing her up close in a VR game makes me die of happiness, but... to actually touch her would be insane, right? Holding... holding her hand... M-m-maybe I could ask her to live with me? If her parents agree, I'd want to take her home and raise her!"
Cherni shook his head from side to side.
"Hah, this won't work. Please forget what we just talked about."
"What, Lee Jae-wook! You got my hopes up! What is it! What is it!"
*Thwack, thwack!*
*
"W-woah! Rain! I-I-I really hate high places!"
"I'll hold your hand from above."
"Eheh?! O-okay! I'll do my best!"
The rocky mountain region, home to the Demon Army's Forward Base. Following the path between the peaks leads to the next area.
The next stage of their adventure, located between the Roselia Plains and the rocky mountains, was the 'Sylva Plains.' Though I think it had a different name back when I was active.
But my destination today wasn't the Sylva Plains. I was climbing a rugged, rocky mountain with Chris.
I pulled Chris up by the hand and let out a deep sigh.
"You're the one who said you'd follow me...?"
"O-o-of course! Anywhere is fine as long as I'm with Rain!"
Chris, whose face had turned deathly pale as she glanced down the cliff, did not look fine at all. But she stubbornly insisted on following me.
"If I fall from here, it's certain death... Where would I respawn? It'd take forever to get back."
I giggled, tightly holding the hand of a muttering Chris, who was vigorously shaking her head.
Chris really is a funny person. She usually seems so brave and confident, but sometimes she shows an unexpected side.
The users, called adventurers from the stars.
Astria Online, a game that demands growth from them without any set main quest guide.
You could say it has a high degree of freedom, but it's an utterly unforgiving game.
Even so, there were lore enthusiasts who delved into the world's story, completing minor sub-quests with paltry rewards and recording every detail on information sites.
For me, it was enough to just feel the familiar scenery and the sense of reality here, to revel in the thrill of adventure.
I'd used money as my justification. After all, I didn't want to leave my impoverished life and broken body as they were.
I'd turned a blind eye to exploring this world, but now that my life had become a little more stable, I felt the need to do so.
"Are you interested in the lore of Astria Online, too?"
"I just like running dungeons and doing raids."
The path had become a little easier, and Chris's complexion had mostly returned to normal, as if she was feeling better. Yet she still hadn't let go of my hand, holding it tight.
"Ah, sorry. Was I holding on too tight? Hehe, I have a bit of a fear of heights."
Noticing me staring at her hand, Chris flinched and quickly let go.
Leaving a somehow disappointed-looking Chris smacking her lips behind me, I started climbing the rugged mountain path again.
"There should be a temple just around this peak. Probably."
"Wow, how do you know that, Rain? C-could it be a hidden quest with a huge reward...!?"
"I don't think so...? I'll have to see for myself."
The main temple of the Supreme God's faith.
The place where the Hero of the Astria Continent, Rain, had once visited to meet Saintess Elena.
The temple, said to be built in the place closest to God, stood atop a high, rugged mountain.
If my memory served me right, when I rounded this mountain peak...
"Ah."
It's there.
The temple is there.
But it was very different from my memory.
The stone pillars at the front were weathered by time, crumbled in places.
Looking at the entrance, which was overgrown with vines, it seemed as if no human hand had touched it for at least several hundred years.
How much time had passed? How many generations had even the long-lived races, who live for over 200 years, gone through?
On this Astria Continent, where the only traces of nations that had persisted since the lost records were the two empires founded after humanity pushed back the main forces of the Demon Army...
A very long time had passed since the Hero Rain defeated the Demon King.
"Hidden quest reward! A legendary item!"
"Chris..."
Chris's eyes sparkled as she looked around the ancient temple. Was it a mistake to bring her?
According to the lore enthusiasts, the history of the Astria Continent, the setting for the game Astria Online, had been properly recorded for several hundred years.
However, there were no records from before that.
Even in the Alpharion and Betarion Empires, which had maintained their histories for a long time, records from before a certain point in time were nowhere to be found.
I'm sure I only spent a year back in the modern world. Why has so much time passed on the Astria Continent?
There was no god to answer me.
All too obviously, this world was just a game.
It was simply set in an era nearly a thousand years after the continent I knew.
"Oh, Rain! Look at this! Could this be an ancient language?"
Chris, who had been looking around, seemed to have found some characters carved into the wall. I walked over to where she was.
"......."
Unlike the in-game books, which were written in proper Korean, the temple walls were inscribed with the sacred script used a thousand years ago.
[...We felt that God had vanished.]
[The line of Saintesses was broken. The priests, too, all lost their divine power.]
[How does the history of a world, severed from the thread of God, flow?]
[If an unprecedented threat were to befall the world again, who would be there to save it?]
"A game with no healers."
If there is no god, of course there are no priests.
I thought a game without healers was a fresh take on the fantasy genre, but it was historically accurate.
Why did this world lose its god? He was talking to me just fine until he sent me back.
Why did this world appear before me in the form of a game?
I grumbled lightly.
"My head hurts."
"Hah, so there was no hidden quest after all."
"I told you there wouldn't be."
I felt needlessly cranky and snapped at Chris.
Chris looked like she was about to cry. Feeling a little sorry, I took her hand.
"Gasp!"
Chris's face was once again painted with happiness.
Such an easy person to read.
Still, I had to accomplish my goal for coming here, so I walked toward the cliff behind the vine-covered temple.
"I don't know what you expect from me now, after I've lost everything, but there is one thing I'm grateful for."
"Huh?"
Chris looked confused, probably wondering about my incomprehensible muttering.
"Look here. This is what I came to see."
"Oh."
The view of the Sylva Plains from the top of the cliff was truly breathtaking.
It felt like standing at the edge of the world.
The grasslands stretched out endlessly, and the sea of green met the blue sky, as beautiful as a painting.
A strong wind blew, gently rustling my hair that covered one of my eyes.
"Honestly, this is all I need."
The scenery viewed from a cliff on a mountain I climbed with my own two feet.
The feeling of the wind on my body there. The scent of grass it carried.
The beautiful Astria Continent that I loved.
Even if it was set long after my time, with only minor changes, those things were still here before me now.
Chris's expression was still strange.
She didn't seem to be pondering the meaning of my careless words, so why was she staring at me with her mouth agape?
"Your expression right now is hilarious."
I let out a small laugh.
*Swoosh.*
Suddenly, Chris's fingers brushed against my bangs.
I flinched slightly.
Realizing she was just trying to fix my hair that had been ruffled by the wind, I quietly let her.
"There are lots of scenic places in the real world, too. I'd love to go see them with you someday, Rain. ...Ah, forget I said that! I'm happy just being here with you!"
"......."
For some reason, I feel like I reveal too much of myself in front of Chris.
I haven't been able to make friends for a while now, but the interest she shows me doesn't feel so bad.
But she still doesn't know anything about me. And I can't reveal my outside-world self.
My world outside is just a dreary, one-room apartment a few square meters in size.
To me, this place is reality.
For a while, Chris and I looked down at the scenery below the cliff together.