Chapter 55
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Dialogue - Solitude
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[Akhan of Freezing has taken 800 damage from ‘Ru’! Critical Hit!]
Akhan of Freezing.
The powerful 8-star monster with the Absolute attribute.
[Akhan of Freezing is annihilated!]
In the end, it was annihilated by Ru at the castle gate.
It was, quite literally, a one-sided battle.
Its freezing claws never reached the phoenix, while Ru's flames burned it from its very core.
The focused attacks from the other monsters, now able to bypass its Absolute attribute, also played a part.
[Sto...rm before the...!]
Bweep! Bwoop!
Engulfed in red flames, the blue, crystalline Akhan vanished with the crude sound effect typical of a pixelated game.
A futile end that made one feel sorry for the meticulously crafted pixels.
An 'entrance cut,' as they call it.
“At this point, I almost feel sorry for it.”
The Freezing attribute only deals 50 percent damage to the Flame attribute.
And in return, it takes 50 percent more damage.
On top of that, Ru, with its Divine Beast trait, had a permanent 20 percent damage reduction effect active.
And its Absolute attribute was even nullified.
I even learned after encountering it that Akhan was incapable of aerial attacks.
Thanks to all that, the 8-star monster was annihilated without leaving so much as a scratch on Ru.
The creature was unlucky.
I, on the other hand, was lucky.
Of course, that luck was accompanied by the effort needed to seize the opportunity when it came.
[Congratulations. You have cleared the 703rd wave.]
This was the result.
Not only had I defended against the wave more easily than ever before, but I had also set a new record for the fastest clear time.
[Exiting 「Monsters Are Blocked by Monsters」 play mode.]
As the victory message appeared, the restrictions that had been weighing my body down also vanished.
I stretched out refreshingly and checked the status window.
[Calculating rewards.]
[Special perk activated. All spoils of war are doubled.]
The special perk for the 703rd wave was an increase in the amount of loot.
Well, it looks like our prospective eunuch is about to get even busier.
Yesterday, when I handed over that huge batch of potions, he looked like he'd lost his entire country. His face this time should be even more of a sight to behold.
A smile playing on my lips, I continued scrolling through the information window.
[703rd Wave Reward Calculation]
[You have repelled the frigid legion from the north! Even Akhan of Freezing, which rose from the deep abyss, burned away to nothing. Now, everyone has begun to watch the lonely castle on the frontier. But remember, drawing everyone's attention is not always a good thing.]
Now I was even growing curious about the entity leaving these comments.
Perhaps it was because my interest in the world where the Lord's Castle existed, beyond the status window, had grown.
But before my thoughts could deepen, a long list of rewards appeared.
[The Dream Lord's Castle has acquired spoils of war. Spoils Acquired: Ice Essence x80, Harpy Wing x30, Snail Mucus x40, Elk Antler x30, Essence of Freezing x1, Fusion Aether x1]
“Wow, this is on another level.”
This wave had quite a few enemies.
And their average star rating was on the higher side.
Thanks to the special perk, a whole heap of decent loot came pouring in.
“Let's see, these are ingredients for ice resistance potions. This is for a freeze-clearing scroll. Snail mucus is for wound healing potions, so I'll set that aside.”
While I was sorting the items according to the recipes in the workshop after activating the MonMonMak screen.
“What are these for?”
Two items remained.
Essence of Freezing and Fusion Aether.
They were byproducts left by Akhan of Freezing.
These were the only ones that didn't have a recipe in the workshop.
“Aether...”
For a moment, something crossed my mind, and I stroked my chin.
Aether is a byproduct that also exists in the real world.
It's a substance that comes from spiritual monsters like ghosts, appearing as clumps that seem to be a mixture of liquid and gas.
‘It's used to craft high-end equipment.’
It was an ingredient used to make the equipment Hunters use.
It's practically essential for crafting A-rank or higher mana guns or special Hunter suits.
Which means.
“Can I craft equipment in the Lord's Castle too?”
The workshop only produced structures or consumable items.
It definitely wasn't a place for making wearable items.
And just then, as if on cue.
*Ting!*
A sound effect rang out from the direction of the Audience Chamber.
I turned my gaze and saw a yellow exclamation mark floating above the Lord.
Just like an NPC with a quest available.
Looking at it this way, it really does feel like a normal pixel-art RPG.
[You waved a greeting.]
[Thank you, Lord of this World. Thanks to your efforts, we were able to safely fend off this invasion.]
At some point, the female knight had started calling me the 'Lord of this World'.
I waved my hand dismissively at the grand title and replied.
“It was nothing. I didn't do much.”
My little ones, the monsters protecting the castle, did all the work.
Right after the simple greeting, a choice popped up.
[What topic would you like to discuss?]
1. Equipment Crafting
2. Ru
One was a systemic choice meant to explain the Lord's Castle.
The other was a choice that clearly hinted at the Lord's curiosity.
I decided to satisfy my own curiosity first.
[You asked about crafting equipment using spoils of war.]
The Lord answered immediately.
[Occasionally, when you defeat a high-grade monster, you can obtain byproducts that can be used for equipment crafting. You can use these to craft equipment at a blacksmith.]
Just as I thought.
But there was something I needed to clarify.
“So, is the equipment crafted at the blacksmith the same as the items from the premium gacha?”
[Equipment crafted at the blacksmith is inferior in performance to the artifacts obtained from the 'Divine Box'.]
It seemed the Dream Lord called the random boxes 'Divine Boxes'.
What's so divine about a random box?
It's nothing that grand.
It's just the Pandora's Box that drove countless MonMonMak players away.
“Inferior performance, huh... Still, crafting equipment is a definite advantage.”
Unlike the uncertain gacha, crafting has the advantage of guaranteeing an item.
That alone was reason enough to build a blacksmith.
I used the Spatial Development Permit I got from sending Ru to the castle to bring up the construction list.
However, there was a problem.
When I tapped to build the blacksmith, the Lord's speech bubble suddenly popped up.
[Unlike the workshop, the blacksmith requires a dedicated blacksmith. If there is no being that meets the blacksmith's requirements, it will not be activated even after construction.]
“A dedicated blacksmith...?”
Well, one thing did immediately come to mind.
In fantasy, the go-to race for blacksmiths is the dwarf.
But ironically, 'dwarves' don't exist in reality.
In the age of the Great Cataclysm, all sorts of absurd monsters and dungeons have appeared.
But the short folk who love beer and forging remain a product of imagination.
Then where on earth am I supposed to find a blacksmith?
[You should be able to find a suitable being among the elemental-type monsters.]
“An elemental?”
I asked again, but the Lord said no more.
An elemental.
If there really is a being among the elementals that meets the requirements, the difficulty of finding one would be next to nothing.
There are quite a few famous monsters, starting with Ifrit, the boss of the 'Flame Steelworks' in Pohang.
And there are quite a lot of tamer-class Hunters who handle elemental spirits.
In other words, elementals themselves are monsters familiar to the public.
‘I'll have to look into this properly later.’
For now, I stored the information the Lord had given me in my head.
If I have enough time before the next wave, this is the monster I need to bring in first.
[I hope the information I have provided is helpful.]
The Lord's speech ended there.
Now, only one choice remained.
[You decided to talk about Ru.]
As I tapped the remaining option, the Lord's mechanical tone began to liven up.
[The phoenix you brought this time, Lord of this World... I would like to hear its story. Would that be alright?]
“Of course, it's alright.”
This option hadn't appeared until after I'd defended against the 703rd wave.
The Dream Lord had waited patiently until the urgent matter was resolved.
[Recording voice input...]
Soon, the familiar voice recognition pixel window popped up.
And I began to tell my story to this curious Lord, a story that would last through the night.
The story of the beings who had finally broken through their shells and taken flight.
The Dream Lord listened in silence.
At certain moments, a speech bubble with '...' would appear, like an exclamation.
And so, after several hours, the long saga came to a close.
[Lord of this World.]
Once again, the female knight asked a question.
[I understand that the phoenix is inherently an immortal monster. Is there a reason such a creature would risk eternal annihilation to bear a chick? I do not understand.]
This was a little unexpected.
I had expected the Lord to ask about the phoenix's maternal, or paternal, love.
About the phoenix's actions to protect its young.
[Why would the phoenix try to create another being exactly like itself?]
But the question went back even further than that.
I already knew one fact through the Sage's analysis.
A phoenix has the ability to conceive without mating, by infusing its own life force into a womb.
Ru's chick was the result of this.
A being created by consuming its own life force—in simple terms, it was like a clone.
[What would make Ru choose to do such a thing?]
The Lord was asking this again.
Unlike before, there were no choices for this question.
The pixel window was still recording my voice.
“Hmm.”
But the words didn't come easily.
It was a difficult question to answer.
Only Ru, the phoenix currently sleeping in a corner of the Audience Chamber, would know the details.
If I were to venture a guess.
“Perhaps it was because of solitude.”
As she said, Ru is a being that can live forever, barring any special circumstances.
Even if the ogres' sanctuary had become a dark elf dungeon, it would have survived.
“Living immortally for hundreds, thousands of years like that would only mean more time spent alone. Maybe it needed someone to be by its side.”
The ogres who worshipped the phoenix were endlessly insignificant and short-lived beings.
Even dragons do not live an immortal life like a phoenix.
In the end, even if surrounded by countless beings, it would be alone.
A phoenix is reborn from the ashes.
But the beings who were with the phoenix return to ashes forever.
An eternity that no one else could know.
Perhaps Ru had grown tired of standing alone for such a long time.
[I see.]
The Lord's speech bubble appeared.
“That's just my personal opinion. Only Ru would know the real story.”
It would be nice if I could talk to Ru.
Unfortunately, the Sage couldn't interpret Ru's cries.
Thinking about it, this guy seems to fall a little short when it really counts.
[The Sage is deeply shocked! (ó⌓ò)]
Just kidding, you.
The Lord, who had been silent for a moment, finally spoke.
[Being alone seems truly frightening.]
“It is.”
Being left alone is like that.
If there hadn't been someone who cheered me on without giving up, despite my many failures.
If the six viewers I met by chance hadn't been with me.
I would never have made it this far.
Having a pillar to lean on and a companion to laugh and talk with is just that important.
[Thank you, Lord of this World.]
After a long silence, a speech bubble appeared above the Lord.
[I will ponder and think on it some more.]
A good attitude. There's a certain satisfaction in teaching someone something.
But the farewell pixel window hadn't appeared yet.
[Lord of this World, do you have parents?]
Was it because we had just been talking about Ru?
The Lord asked about my parents.
No, in this case, I should say she asked *if* I had parents.
“I do.”
Though one of them passed away a long time ago.
But I didn't bother to say that out loud.
[They must be very good people.]
“They are.”
At least, my mother certainly is.
So my father, who is no longer here, must have been a good person too.
The Lord, who had been silent for a while with an ellipsis, brought up a new speech bubble.
[It seems there will be no invasions on the Lord's Castle for a while. This might be a good time to visit your parents. If you wish to, Lord of this World, of course.]
That was the last of it.
[The Dream Lord bowed their head in parting.]
The farewell pixel window appeared, and I left the Lord's Castle without another word.
It seemed to have been another fruitful conversation.
[The Lord's Affinity has increased by 5.]
[You have helped the Lord in their 'Value Formation'.]
[When the Lord's Affinity reaches 20, you can receive a new skill. - Current Affinity: 16]
Seeing these messages pop up before me.
“Hmm, yeah. I should go visit my family home for the first time in a while. If not now, I don't know when I'll have the time again.”
As I nodded, mulling over the conversation with the Lord, new pixel windows suddenly appeared.
[Affinity has reached 15 or higher, allowing you to view partial information on the next skill provided by the Lord!]
“Huh?”
[Upon reaching 20 Affinity with the Lord, you will be provided with one Summoning-type skill.]
...A Summoning-type?