59 - Remote-Controlled Murder Weapon [NoName(NoName)] [World of Arceria – Priest Nightmare 10/10/10] [Broadcast Time - 0:36:08] [Viewers – 1931]

After shoving a knife into the observatory keeper's throat, the headache-inducing quest windows all vanished. I dove into the settings and turned off every annoying option.

The chat window was no exception. During fights, those bizarre emoticons like [●▅▇█▇▆▅▄▇] and grotesque ASCII art spamming the screen had nearly cost me my focus—and my life—multiple times.

My view cleared up. The only things reminding me this was a game were the HP and MP bars in the bottom right corner. Excluding the NPCs' asocial interactions, I could almost believe this was reality.

I couldn't turn off donations. Sure, there was no real reason not to earn money, but the game devs had designed it so the sponsorship window was physically impossible to close. At least I could mute the TTS voice—that was a small mercy.

"Where to next?"

"The materials warehouse—"

"Guide me."

To me, Adella was nothing more than a guide beyond that. I'd realized it in the observatory fight: her combat sense was zero. Sure, compared to a normal person, she was leagues ahead, but on Nightmare difficulty? Utterly useless. I had to treat her like she didn't exist—or worse, dead weight—and plan for the absolute worst to survive.

"Forest Keeper, you got lucky at the observatory. Be grateful the keeper wasn't awake at that hour."

Adella whined and grumbled despite doing nothing.

"But the materials warehouse has explosives like magic stones everywhere, so it's guarded 24/7."

"I don't wanna hear it. Just shut up for once."

"Joint attack! I'll sneak onto the roof and take out the warehouse keeper first. You stall at the front gate meanwhile."

"Make some sense."

Adella was obsessed with glory. No skill, but she'd grab the biggest spotlight for herself. Dumb and diligent—the worst combo. In a war, she'd be first on the execution list. No wonder Abyss members like Sisiela despised her. And as an NPC, she wouldn't even listen.

Was I talking to a person or a damn cat? My stomach boiled.

"Fine, wait here! I'll climb the wall real quick and—"

Her claws scraped the wall with a grating screech. Any hope of seeing catgirl prowess shattered instantly.

Crash!

"Nyaaah!"

"Intruders! Grab 'em!"

Elite guards poured out, as expected. Priests couldn't wield swords, spears, bows, or thrown weapons—massive penalties. So what did we fight with? Staves, tomes, relics, censers. Items that traded mana for powerful curses or healing reduction skills.

That's why they force Adella into your party for solo play. Priests had no attack options; clearing was impossible without her. The devs clearly intended her as main tank and DPS.

Body enhancement auras cost "qi" instead of mana here, but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠non-tanks took a 50% penalty. Healers' only perk was fast HP regen for perfect clears—everything else hindered progress.

Trust Adella? Hell no. Entrusting my life to her was suicide.

I pulled out the relic from the observatory.

Rubbing shoulders with dozens of sweaty guys at the observatory taught me one thing: in World of Arceria, weapons weren't bound by virtual reality limits. Weird. Normally, weak metal wears against strong. But here, swords and arrowheads never dulled or broke unless I willed it.

Coding limits? Or Wearsoft's mercy, saying "don't sweat item durability"? Fair—full realism would make it trash, not god-tier.

But that wasn't the point now. What if I smacked them with a relic?

Sliced blade edges stabbed into the relic like thorns. Mana drained fast. Crude and ugly to my untrained eye, but a perfect mace was born.

Smash it into armor like a bowling ball; graze a joint for deep wounds. Best part? It ignored physics, floating freely.

Squeezed every last drop of mana to max mass. Then hurled the iron clubhead like a scene from that Pokémon anime.

Iron Clubhead from the Mario series? Whatever—point was, they couldn't block it. Dodge or die.

* * *

"Gaaah!"

A guard's arm shredded by the spinning relic. Soldiers scrambled for their lives, roles reversed in an instant.

The spiked relic flew, bashing helmets.

Guards fled in panic to avoid the relic. Adella slipped through the warehouse front door unnoticed. Then, as expected, she dragged out every last enemy inside.

Remnant Academy's observatory and warehouse were familiar spots for World of Arceria gamers. The observatory had an infiltration event to grant Ice Knight Luna Pavilis's wish while foiling the keeper's plot. The warehouse—shady client aside—unlocked the quest to awaken illegal mage Giselle Phoenix. Don't skip the subquest ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠freeing caged monsters and slaves; great XP for the level.

Normal mode: wholesome episodes building academy friendships. Nightmare: compressed into "Academy Invasion," forcing a blitz clear.

The keeper was a non-combat honorary prof, sidelined by age—easy compared to other bosses. Wearsoft's one and only mercy before endless despair.

Once exploration healing RPG World of Arceria gets the Nightmare tag, it morphs into a hopeless soulslike.

"What's the commotion? You little rats!"

An extra most normal-mode players forgot. So why the fear? He looked like a subway groper from hentai. Solid HP, low damage—potions make him a joke. Tanks tank, DPS burst, even healers survive lucky dodges as Luna and Giselle carry.

But true WoA gallery vets had PTSD. Most guide posts written for this midboss: Valrum Venaons. Nicknamed "Potbelly Fuckerum" by hundreds of thousands.

"I'll stuff you all in the warehouse!"

Nightmare-exclusive gimmick. The first despair for gamers vowing "no deaths." The beast roared.