The Final Boss Appears Way Too Early
The waves of the Yangtze River crashed endlessly against the hull as a stiff, formal message floated up in the Quest Window.
Forewarning — (Unknown)th Crisis
You stand before the downfall of the Waterway Fortress.
Cheong immediately slammed the window shut.
Once bitten, twice shy. She had zero interest anyway. No matter how grandly it talked about influencing the fate of the world, she wasn’t falling for that crap anymore. What did “influencing the world” even mean? Just breathing took one less piece of trash off the face of the earth, so technically she was already doing her part.
Besides, she’d rather do whatever she wanted than commit a few more acts of pointless good karma. Master, your disciple is living like this… I wonder how our middle-school girl is doing these days.
She ignored the quest window, but it popped right back up again. Cheong’s temper flared.
What the hell? You wanna go? You’re gonna keep floating there until I read it?
She was about to show off the skip technique she’d honed across countless second playthroughs when a brand-new message appeared in a completely different format.
End of the Nine Provinces Blood Calamity — Final Chapter. The Last Crisis.
After a long pursuit, you have finally come face to face with the true mastermind behind the cruel conspiracy. It is the destroyer of every living soul beneath the heavens, the end of the world itself.
Eliminate Eon Yeonyeong for the sake of the world.
※ Massacre all living beings alongside the Corpse-Blood Poison Person, Eon Yeonyeong.
The fate of the world rests upon your shoulders.
The wording was completely different from before. The format itself was something she had never seen. As Cheong read down the window, her eyes flicked toward Eon Yeonyeong.
Final chapter. Last crisis. The destroyer of all people and the end of the world.
So she’s the final boss?
Wait, why is the last boss showing up already? The window literally said “after a long pursuit.” Is this bugged?
Suddenly, Cheong felt rather cheerful.
All she had wanted was a delicious dinner and, while she was at it, a little blood-splattering fun. Somehow she had drifted here like a boat without a helmsman—along with an actual boat that had lost its helmsman.
She knew nothing about any conspiracy. She hadn’t even known a mastermind existed, let alone chased anyone. Yet here the game was, unfolding some grandiose scenario without her input.
Quest? That shit doesn’t mean jack.
If this was the result of some dumb calculation triggered by a specific condition, then there was no need to pay it any mind.
“Hey. Yeonyeong. Eon Yeonyeong.”
“Oh my. Are you calling for me?”
“Yeah. What, you don’t like it?”
“Goodness. How suddenly bold you’ve become. I quite liked the way you used to tremble so adorably.”
“So is that a yes or a no?”
“No. I like it very much. Does this mean… you’re opening your heart to me a little?”
Eon Yeonyeong smiled sweetly. Cheong smiled right back and asked,
“You said you’d protect me, right?”
“Of course. As long as I am here, you are the safest person in the world.”
“But if there’s a need to protect me, doesn’t that mean there are things dangerous enough to require it?”
“There are roughly three Blood Jiangshi and quite a few regular Jiangshi. Above all, the Cannibal Demon Lord has stepped forward personally. A delicate young lady like you, Seomun Sojeo, wouldn’t last more than a few exchanges.”
“Cannibal Demon Lord? That name sounds familiar.”
Cheong muttered the title a few times, but nothing came to mind, so she gave up. She must have heard it in passing. Still, Cannibal Demon Lord? Wow, that nickname had zero maternal love. It basically screamed, “I’m the bastard who ate his own parents because he was hungry.”
But there was something far more important.
Cheong asked in a sly, drawn-out tone, “So, do you like me that much?”
“More than words could ever express. You probably couldn’t even imagine what you mean to me.”
“Is it because my constitution is special?”
Eon Yeonyeong’s eyes widened into perfect circles. It was a dramatic shift from her usual elegant expression.
“You knew?”
“I just found out. Anyway, if someone else with the same body shows up, then I won’t be needed anymore, right?”
Eon Yeonyeong smiled with that exact same face—the one that said she found Cheong unbearably cute.
“Oh dear, Seomun Sojeo. You must understand just how miraculous, how wondrous that body of yours truly is.”
“Miraculous?”
“It would take counting to one hundred billion, then repeating that one hundred billion times before it could possibly happen again. That is what you are.”
“So I’m the only one in the world?”
“That’s right. Only you.”
Cheong nodded, thinking, Man, she really has zero charm. At the very least, if you want to get close to someone, you should at least throw in a few empty compliments. Who in their right mind would grin happily after being told straight to their face, “I’m only after your body”?
Still, this meant she could act as shamelessly as she wanted.
Cheong’s tightrope-walking senses shoved Eon Yeonyeong all the way to the far end of the “total pushover” category. This is all because they made the character too well.
By the way, strategy writer, is it you again? If things somehow loop back that way, I’ll reward you handsomely. Thanks to you, I’ve saved my life multiple times.
Some call us bandits. Others curse us as parasites clinging to the water. But is that truly so?
There was indeed a time when it was so. When we were nothing but savages robbing on the river, I witnessed plunder, I witnessed flowing blood, and in the sorrow and hatred that followed, I lost my master.
Because my father was a thief, even my mother was treated as stolen goods. The only things a child learned from that were hatred and twisted murderous intent. My father was ashamed, and his child loathed him.
It was this very pain that changed us!
But we have changed! Who established law and order on the Yangtze? It was us. Because we are the true masters of the Yangtze! Because we have become proud fathers and mothers, heroes envied by those on land!
And now, our great cause is being shaken! Madmen who wish to drag us back to the age of plunder and cannibalism have revealed their true nature! They threaten our main fortress, our families!
As usual for a speech given right before battle, the message was simple: We are the good guys, they are the bad guys. Think of your families. Let’s fight. For something more important than life itself.
That uncle’s really good at talking, Cheong thought as she listened. No wonder he’s the boss. Not just anyone can be a leader.
She looked at the warriors burning with fighting spirit, then glanced at Eon Yeonyeong, who was busy answering questions from the side.
She kind of wanted to shout, “She’s the mastermind! She did it all!” but it probably wouldn’t do any good. After rescuing the boss’s son, she was being treated like an honored guest. If she said something now, they’d just call her a crazy bitch.
A very useful, homicidal maniac.
That must have been why the “long pursuit” part was in the quest. Cheong smirked and walked over.
“The weakness of Jiangshi is that they have none. You must sever the neck or cut off the limbs to neutralize them. They are monsters that can only be wounded by someone who has reached the realm of harming others with external energy. As for the Blood Jiangshi, I can weaken them with my sorcery, so…”
So this was some kind of strategy meeting. Sitting the enemy leader down and asking her for the enemy’s weaknesses was clearly just playing into her hands.
Cheong poked the side of a familiar face. It was Janggang Ilcheok, Pabonmu.
“Mister.”
“Seomun Sojeo? What is it? We’re rather busy right now.”
“Give me back my sword. You said you’d return it later, right?”
“Later. We’re about to fight, so just stay somewhere safe.”
“How am I supposed to stay safe without a sword in my hand? Do you think the enemies will avoid me if my hands are empty? Should I just yell that I’m not involved?”
“Ah, that’s true. Hey, Juhyeong. There’s a sword under the bed in my room. Bring it here.”
And just like that, Cheong had the Wolgwang-geom (No. 8) back in her hands!
Not long after, a single island emerged from the fog. It was the main base of the Yangtze Waterway Fortress, the very island known as Water Fortress City.
The dock was packed with people, but their attitude was clearly not one of welcoming home their returning family. Standing in a long line with spears and blades at the ready was, to anyone’s eyes, a clear signal that they wanted to throw down.
While Cheong gripped the railing and watched the scene, red arcs suddenly painted the sky.
“Fire arrows! Raise shields! Prepare fire-suppression teams!”
Hundreds of flaming arrows. With a thunderous rattle, they slammed into the deck and hull, refusing to extinguish as they continued to burn brightly. It was absolute chaos. Arrows kept raining down. People stamped out flames, scattered sand, and sometimes got hit by arrows while doing so. Others were struck while dragging away the wounded, or ran around screaming with their bodies on fire.
But to Cheong, the massive ship that looked more like a fortress was barely hindered by any of it.
“Bring the ship in! Brace yourselves!”
It was a rather rough and hot-blooded docking method—ramming straight into the sandy shore. The collision sent a tremor through the beach like an earthquake. The stern opened, and warriors poured out onto the white sand. The high-level experts leaped from the deck and joined the fray immediately.
As arrows rained onto the beach, people began dropping one after another. There were no guns, but it was still a fairly intense landing battle. From an observer’s perspective, it made for excellent entertainment.
Then someone called out to her.
“Seomun Sojeo, you can wait here, yes?”
“Huh? I thought you were going to protect me?”
“These children will protect you.”
At the same time, human-like figures popped out from behind Eon Yeonyeong. They looked about ten years old—actual children. Their eyes had no whites, only pitch-black sclera. It was incredibly creepy. These kids clearly weren’t normal either.
“These guys? Not you protecting me?”
“Oh, despite how they look, they are called Heavenly Jiangshi. They are incredibly powerful children. Each one is a reliable friend capable of facing a Super Peak expert.”
“Whoa.”
So they were basically the final boss’s bodyguards. They probably would have appeared as mid-bosses or something.
“Then, let’s meet again once this is over. You.”
Eon Yeonyeong waved her hand.
Cheong smiled brightly and answered, “No thanks.”
“My, my. Sojeo? This isn’t a request.”
Cheong shook her head. “You said the Cannibal Demon Lord is the strongest, right? You also said you’d protect me, so let’s keep our promise, yeah?”
“What…”
Cheong ignored her and leaped down lightly. A refreshing free fall. The soft sand of the white beach caught her descending body. She circulated her true qi to the soles of her feet. Her master had once said her internal energy was already peerless. With that vast amount of qi propelling her forward, it felt as if the entire world was rushing backward past her.
Cheong grinned.
The final boss of this world said she’d protect me. What do I have to be afraid of?
She already gave me a clear answer, didn’t she?
Cheong took a deep breath and shouted,
“Hey! Cannibal Demon Lord! Sorry for being rude on our first meeting! But I heard your mom got absolutely wrecked! You son of a bitch who was so hungry you ate your own parents!”
Immediately after, a massive roar resembling a lion’s bellow shook heaven and earth.
“What bitch dares—!”
The rage was so intense she could feel it clearly even from afar. Cheong glanced behind her. She saw Eon Yeonyeong running over with a thoroughly flustered expression, followed closely by the five children.
She said each of those kids is on par with a Super Peak expert.
Cheong raised her voice again.
“I am Seomun Cheong! Let’s have a fair one-on-one fight!”