The Silver Knight's Despairing Truth
She was the sole member of the first—and only—party to challenge the boss of the 8th layer.
The common tale was that the party had been utterly annihilated, with her alone surviving to return to the city. But Yustia, better known by her epithet the Silver Knight, knew that wasn't the truth.
Yes, the party had suffered near-total losses against the 8th layer floor boss, but they had ultimately defeated it. Yustia's final strike had felled the beast.
What appeared before the sole survivor—and successful conqueror—Yustia was none other than the truth of this world.
She had cleared the game. And as her reward, she was given the choice to proceed to the next cycle.
That was the reality of this ephemeral world. It existed solely for the purpose of clearing the labyrinth. Once achieved, time simply rewound, forcing a repeat of that hollow act in an endless, closed loop of fate.
There were no secrets, no possibilities for the future. Looking back, the inconsistencies were everywhere. No one cared what lay beyond the city walls. They knew something was out there, but it remained mere abstract thought. In reality, no one ever tried to leave—and the one time Yustia had, she was blocked by an invisible barrier.
If she slipped into the mist beyond, she somehow ended up back in the city, as if the attempt had never happened. Days turned to nights, children grew into youths, plants and animals aged and died, but nothing ever disrupted this repeating cycle.
And around that time, she realized it. This world had already looped countless times.
She had found the diary left by her party leader, Mael. The man who was usually so foolish yet occasionally displayed eerily sharp insight—the fool she loved so dearly—had uncovered his secret.
He had tested every possibility: everything Yustia had done, and everything she hadn't. And every path led to the same conclusion.
"Only one survives."
Even that ending was predetermined. Since only one could receive the choice to advance to the next cycle, under the absolute rule of what was called the System, it was impossible to prevent the party's annihilation, no matter what.
So Mael made his choice. He chose to let Yustia live.
His smile just before death, and his words—"I'll leave the future to you"—held that meaning.
Once she knew the truth, Yustia wept for the first and last time. Not out of longing for her lost love or old comrades.
But because she knew that promise could never be kept. And Mael had known it too.
One day, an "External Presence" approached Yustia, left only with despair. The visitor called herself from the Ark.
The Ark was an infinite space capable of containing any world, a repository of records. Yustia's world was also recorded there, she said.
She proposed to Yustia: cooperate according to the Ark's will.
In exchange, she promised to give this world a "future."
Yustia accepted, becoming the Ark's champion.
"Yustia."
In the late afternoon, as she finished her duties and headed back to the commander's quarters, a cloaked woman approached and spoke to her. Though her face was hidden, an extraordinary aura emanated from her—like something from another realm, mystical and otherworldly.
It had been ages ago now, but Yustia had encountered this peculiar mana exactly once before. At the moment her fate had begun to flow down a different path.
"You're in danger right now."
The Ark's manager said it out of the blue.
"What're you talking about?"
"No time to explain in detail. I can't stay connected here long. Someone's hacking this world right now. If they succeed, the link between you and the Ark will be severed."
Who? For what purpose? The questions flooded her mind, but Yustia recognized they weren't relevant to immediate action and held them back.
"What do I do?"
"The virus hacking this world has entered somewhere in here. The best way is to find and remove it, but it won't go down easily. If you can buy time, I'll search outside for a way to block the hack."
"Got it."
With that, she vanished.
Alone again, Yustia looked toward the distance. The first person who came to mind upon hearing she was being targeted was none other than Elia.
The sole value she'd found in this world with its imperfect future. The moment she thought Elia might be targeted too, her body was already racing toward the Adventurer's Guild.
Fortunately, the guild hadn't closed yet. Though late, the inside was sparsely populated.
As Yustia burst in, the receptionist at the counter looked at her with startled eyes.
"What brings you here?"
"Is Elia upstairs?"
Normally she'd use a title, not the name, but urgency made her overlook it.
"Y-Yes... The guild master is in, but..."
"I'll go see her."
"Then wait here? I'll let her know—"
"No. I'll tell her myself."
Yustia brushed her off and climbed the stairs.
"W-Wait, you can't just barge in—!"
Ignoring the receptionist's troubled voice, she entered.
"Elia. It's me. Got something to discuss, so I dropped by."
Yustia knocked on the guild master's office door and announced herself. A faint sound came from inside.
Curious, she pressed her ear to the door. It sounded like groaning in pain.
Having lived as a virgin for as long as her disciple, Yustia didn't recognize it as the sound a woman makes during deep intimacy and took it seriously.
"Elia? What's wrong? Damn it!"
Thinking perhaps her disciple had been targeted first, Yustia pounded urgently, then broke the doorknob and burst in.
"M-Master?"
Unexpectedly, Elia stood there unharmed, looking flustered at Yustia's rough entrance.
"Why'd you break the door...?"
"You okay? I heard a weird noise from outside and thought something was wrong..."
"Weird noise? Hmm..."
Elia stood in an awkward pose, feigning ignorance. Yustia sensed she was hiding something.
"Who's this?"
Someone interjected. Turning, Yustia saw a shady-looking, stubborn-faced man in the corner. It was Kyle, an executive in the Alchemist Consortium.
"Ah, Papa—no, Kyle. Let me introduce her. This is my mentor, Yustia."
"Ah... The Silver Knight..."
Kyle's eyes turned cautious. They'd met at public events before, but she'd always worn a helmet and armor, so he hadn't recognized her.
"Why were you two together?"
Yustia demanded. Elia glanced at Kyle and replied,
"We were discussing the healing potion price adjustment. Trying to reach a mutually satisfying deal."
"You've rejected the governor's requests for public talks until now?"
"Well... Minds change, you know."
Yustia eyed Kyle suspiciously. Like her disciple Elia, she didn't like him. He had deep ties to the Hunter Guild, was morally corrupt, and tangled in all sorts of bad rumors.
The only reason he hadn't faced justice was his massive influence in the Merchants' Guild. That's what she'd feared would happen in a crisis like this.
And here it was, despite not jailing him.
"Well, since you're here, let's talk it out."
Kyle suggested.
"I have nothing to discuss with you."
Yustia refused coldly.
"That's a shame. I thought if you joined in the governor's stead, we could reach a conclusion to calm the current city unrest."
Kyle said. Elia chimed in supportively,
"Please, Master. Or, Yustia. Help us."
After agonizing, Yustia squeezed her eyes shut, let out a deep sigh, walked to the sofa opposite Kyle, sat, and glared at him fiercely.
Go on, spit it out, her eyes demanded.
"Shall we resume then?"
Elia said, sitting beside Kyle. He began explaining the reason for raising healing potion prices. It was a rambling, tedious monologue, circling far from the point as if deliberate.
Yustia's patience wore thin. As irritation boiled and she opened her mouth to snap—
Bloodsucking Authority
A chilling resonance, utterly unlike Kyle's voice, echoed in her ears. Then, suddenly, a fog descended on her mind, blurring everything.