Chapter 4
Chapter 4
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Tutorial Boss (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1.
It had been half a year since I became the character Cyan.
Surprisingly, the tower had plenty of daily necessities.
The Exile Tower had rooms on each floor identical to the one I'd woken up in, complete with beds, mirrors, and all sorts of decorative furniture—pretty much everything you could need.
"...Ah."
Morning sunlight filtered in.
And waking to the songs of the forest's only living creatures, the birds—that was how my day began.
It was a bit lonely, though.
"Already morning?"
I rose and stood before the mirror.
The spotless glass reflected the bare silver-haired woman in all her unguarded glory.
To be precise, I was wearing underwear.
I didn't know who they belonged to, but the room had a wardrobe stocked with neatly stored clothes. At night, I'd strip off my gear and change into those.
My usual equipment wasn't particularly heavy.
But the chains and metal accessories on the outfit got in the way when I tried to sleep.
And this long hair was a nuisance too. I'd once tried cutting it with scissors from the room, but they shattered without even making a clean cut. I'd given up long ago.
"Time to wash up."
Over the past half year, I'd learned a lot about this body.
For starters, it had no human physiological needs.
No hunger, no thirst—none of those essentials for living creatures.
Yet it had breasts, genitals, arms, and legs like any normal human...
Probably a trait unique to the Demon Race, though I wasn't sure of the details.
Either way, it was more convenient than inconvenient, so I didn't mind.
"No shampoo is a shame, though."
And one more important thing.
I'd managed to recover some of the magic Cyan used in the game.
The most convenient was this 'Teleport.'
Simple to use: as long as certain conditions were met, I could go anywhere I'd been before, anytime.
In the game, it involved setting coordinates to move to specific stages.
Mana cost varied by distance, but even jumping from Seoul to New York wouldn't drain much.
Of course, bad weather made it tricky.
No idea why.
"Off to the valley first."
I closed my eyes, then slowly opened them.
-Rushing water...
This was a valley about twenty minutes from the tower, hidden by trees.
Took some effort to find at first, hidden by the forest canopy, but now I used it often.
No clue where the water came from, but it was crystal clear, colorless, and flowed endlessly.
And bathing here washed away fatigue along with the dirt.
Definitely not ordinary water.
-Splash.
"Haa."
Not that I really needed to wash.
But without something like this every day, the endless boredom would drive me insane.
No purpose in existing, I guess.
No people, no internet—just half a year alone in this place.
Honestly, it was a miracle I was still sane.
Or was I already crazy? Could anyone stay compos mentis isolated in an empty forest?
Who knows.
"...Such a hassle."
As I washed, I touched the horn on my head.
Pure white, even whiter than my silver hair.
It always snagged when I washed my locks.
Still, I felt better afterward.
"Pretty, though."
I gazed at my reflection in the water.
Beautiful.
Undeniably stunning—no one could argue otherwise.
Sharp eyes made her a bit intimidating, but even accounting for that, flawless features.
And a figure in perfect golden proportions, without an ounce of excess fat. What man wouldn't be tempted?
...Me.
At first, curiosity led me to experiment.
But all I got was shame and emptiness.
If I were a man ogling this woman up close, it'd be thrilling. But becoming her? Not so much.
"Hah."
Now it was routine.
I washed for another ten minutes, then stepped out and donned my usual clothes.
This had felt embarrassing at first too.
Bathing naked outdoors—in a woman's body, no less—gave a strange thrill initially.
But with no one else around...
Once that sank in, it was nothing.
In this endless forest, it was just me.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ ~Hidden Stage~ Exile Tower, 31st Floor Sector -Boom!
"Sit there a sec—needed a chair anyway."
I smashed the Giant Guardian to bits and plopped down on the wreckage.
The guardians in this Exile Tower reformed the next day, no matter how thoroughly destroyed.
Not just them.
Even if I leveled the whole tower, it'd restore itself after a day.
Thanks to the 'Transcendent' who built it—its authority kept the place intact, or so the scattered books claimed.
The world-weary Transcendent severed himself from it entirely. He created his own little dimension to spend his remaining days.
"Transcendent stuff again."
Transcendents.
Beings beyond dimensions, between the creator gods who made this world and the spirit kings below them.
Novel Online featured three.
【Time's Transcendent – Diavela】
【Space's Transcendent – Cresia】
【Fallen Transcendent – Delatros】
I'd only met Delatros.
Transcendents were forbidden from meddling in the world, so no encounters with the others.
Just prophecies they left—items marking key locations that pushed the main story along.
Lots of repetitive grinding for them.
"And Cresia made this place."
The other two Transcendents searched the back world for the missing Cresia but never found her.
Both mobilized over one disappearance? Must've been popular. The women's clothes here suggest Cresia was female.
Delatros was male, for the record.
If Cresia were a guy, it'd be creepy.
Spending his days in a solo world crafting women's underwear? Yeah...
"...Not that I can talk."
I muttered, glancing at my body.
Silly thoughts.
But a decent distraction. Bathing, sleeping, reading these dull books—that was all there was to do.
"In...truder... de...tected."
"Still kicking?"
-Crunch!
And smashing these soulless guardians.
If they were beasts or monsters, maybe I could've tamed them. But they charged to kill on sight—no chance.
And they were pathetically weak. No fun in fighting.
Even letting them hit me just broke their axes. Passive indestructibility or what?
"Haa, how'd I end up like this?"
I slumped on the stairs.
This mighty body of Cyan's housed a fragile mind.
Makes sense—I wasn't Cyan.
Just a human puppeteering her via monitor. Nothing more.
I'd guided her journey, but that didn't make me her.
Memories fuzzy.
Last thing: quitting the game, deleting Cyan to live for real.
Was that the trigger?
Dunno.
『Now, it's time to wake from your sweet dream.』
What did that even mean?
Sweet dream—what was the dream?
"Can't exactly ask the one who said it. Frustrating."
I sighed and stood.
The tower mirror showed only Cyan staring back.
Now it felt like me.
Half a year alone blurred my old self.
What was my name again...?
-Flash!
"?"
Suddenly, lightning outside—or something.
I rushed to the window, scanning the forest.
What was that?
Torrential rains, sure, but never lightning.
If it struck, fire risk—so the Transcendent must've prevented it.
Definitely not lightning.
Then...
"No way...!"
Faint presence.
The first living aura in half a year.
A player.