Chapter 141
Chapter 141
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 141
Chapter Title: Sun and Moon -1
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The Trials Tower content had officially come to an end. All resources needed to be poured into the upcoming TRPG session.
It required simulating countless martial artists, and above all, activating the new module came at a high cost. That was why participation was limited to just one player. Two seemed like it would overload the system.
And what was this new module?
It was called the Enlightenment Assistance Device.
Wuxia stories needed enlightenment. A protagonist who achieves realization and presses forward was essential—otherwise, it felt lacking. But enlightenment wasn't something you could just force at will.
Creating the stage was easy enough.
A public duel with the black幕 antagonist the day before, staking his girlfriend, honor, pride, and fate—it was simpler than flipping one's palm. But what if... at that moment, the player failed to achieve any meaningful enlightenment?
Having the antagonist win and trigger a bad ending wasn't an option, nor was suddenly introducing a deus ex machina to resolve everything, which would feel utterly hollow.
So, he'd created a module to boost enlightenment outright. It didn't support many functions yet, being in its early stages...
For now, it displayed estimates like how long it might take the user to surpass the next wall, the appropriate stimuli needed, their understanding of each technique, and recommended martial arts.
All he had to do was prepare suitable events based on that analysis.
By the way, the Enlightenment Assistance Device couldn't calculate transcendence.
Honestly, he'd originally tried making a transcendence assistance device. But calculating that seemed more likely to make his head explode first. The human heart was an endless variable.
You could give a push on the back, but no one knew how it would turn out.
The modeling was done, and he'd roughly conceptualized it.
The Great War between Righteousness and Evil had ended with the orthodox sects' masters perishing alongside the Heavenly Demon. The Demonic Cult retreated to their stronghold in the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, while the orthodox sects survived, albeit gravely wounded.
Collapsed buildings, elders of families who passed without transmitting their arts, minor evil sects thriving amid the chaos... Numerous upheavals followed, but surviving was something to be grateful for.
Had they failed to stop the Heavenly Demon, the orthodox sects themselves would have been erased from history.
Thus, twenty years passed since the Demonic Cult vanished into the annals. The orthodox sects found some stability. A new order emerged. But then, strange rumors began to circulate sporadically.
Tales that the Demonic Cult had reappeared.
Amid this, the player encounters a beautiful woman being chased by Demonic Cult remnants in the woods...
Perfect.
Now he just needed to launch it. If Envus was the player, go with the standard plot. If Luna was, steer it toward "Actually, the Demonic Cult wasn't all that bad." That should work.
So, it was about time the player gave an answer...
Tremble tremble tremble tremble.
His leg was shaking on its own. Yesterday, he'd casually asked if they wanted to do TRPG, and Luna had taken Envus along, saying they'd think about it slowly before backing off. In his past life, that had a 50% chance of meaning "Nah, pass~."
Was it really just a roundabout rejection?
No, no. They'd seemed pretty interested in martial arts. A tour of an otherworldly martial world where people casually wielded kung fu. He'd thought it was tempting, but maybe only to him?
Insufficient sales pitch? Should he have hyped the martial world more to pull aggro? What if he'd shoved some spicy cheongsam fanart at them, saying everyone wore that great outfit?
He'd explained it was Illusion Magic recreated from data extracted from the Heavenly Demon, but too much MSG? Should he have just called it a virtual experience from his imagination?
Or not enough MSG? Like Bennett, go all-in on concept, say the wuxia world's doom needed them?
Should he have just announced it as a tower-climbing story...?
Pingbalrez patted his quivering, human-vibrator shoulders. Was she trying to comfort him?
"Why the fretting? If the students say no, open a visual novel for me instead, you mad wizard. Three heroines, please."
Not comfort—selfish desires. He raised his voice at Pingbalrez's bold harem declaration.
"You're supposed to be a pure love fanatic, you punk!"
"It's Illusion Magic, right? Just data in the end. I won't limit myself to one cup size for purity's sake, and I have no intention of pursuing pure love with objects instead of people. Prepare heroines by bust size."
"...What if the wuxia session flops?"
"Yahoo."
Pingbalrez was devouring modern culture at terrifying speed on the modern map. Yesterday, she'd said, "Onii-chan, if you don't wake up, you'll be late~" and he'd jolted awake in horror.
She was already combat-strong, and now backed by encyclopedic genre knowledge. How was he supposed to fight? Was inevitable defeat to Pingbalrez his only path?
Even scarier, he'd started accepting defeat to her as normal. After gradually losing strength contests, a hierarchy was forming between them.
This wouldn't do. Where was the key to reversal...?
He asked the person who knew Pingbalrez best, with a serious face.
"Hey, Pingbalrez. Don't you have any weaknesses?"
"You're asking me that?"
"You know your own weaknesses best. This isn't me asking for your erogenous zones."
"I'm weak to tickling. Not that that's relevant."
As they chatted idly—
Thud!!
The lab door burst open with a bang. Red hair whipped about. Entering with a dash of rudeness was Selbia, Crimson Tower mage and drying expert.
Her face mixed 30% suspicion, 10% anger, 40% frustration, and 20% inexplicable emotion.
"You!!"
"Oh, Crimson Tower, come on in. What's got your face looking like death?"
"Envus has turned into a drunken mess! Ever since he saw that Heavenly Demon or whatever...!! Did you do something weird to him?! Niore too—"
"Wait, my player—!!"
He shot up from his seat, screaming.
His wuxia champ had gone nuts? He couldn't accept that future. He yanked on his hood and bolted out.
"Lead the way! And explain the situation in detail...!"
"...?? Alright. So, uh, going back a bit, there's this black market at the academy..."
Selbia calmly recounted events from beyond his sightline.
After the Trials Tower content ended.
The entry magic circle was dismantled, but the building space remained. So the Envus party often dropped by for meetups.
They'd grown close climbing the tower, becoming friends.
Selbia arrived with a basket of nicely warmed bread. Luna was practicing martial arts, but Envus was absent. Selbia frowned and asked,
"Where's Envus?"
"Drinking."
"Again?"
"Again."
Ever since spotting the Heavenly Demon, the kid had been listless.
At some point, he started carrying a bottle under his arm, blowing sad tunes on it. Selbia had seen that exact behavior in the tower once—from someone crushed against a talent wall.
A few days later, they vanished. She could guess: tavern or academy black market.
Sigh. Selbia let out a deep breath.
"I really don't get it."
"Agreed."
"Hitting a wall's a good thing, right? Keep at it and smash through eventually. Just challenging it has meaning!"
"Half-agreed."
Luna nodded slightly. Selbia and Luna weren't the type to crumble easily at walls, but they differed subtly.
Selbia had learned from her childhood friend not to fear walls. Life throws them up eventually, but they don't define you.
As long as you kept knocking, you could stay awesome forever. So Selbia never stopped challenging.
A runaway train that'd ram regardless of breakage.
Luna was a bit different. She enjoyed the walls themselves—painting on them with her brush, carving sculptures from scratches, marking her height growth.
To her, a wall was a giant canvas. Eventually, handholds would form, and she'd vault over before noticing.
Those who enjoyed faced no stress.
Selbia and Luna huddled, pondering how to snap Envus out of his mental breakdown.
"First, cut off the booze. Keep him from muddled thinking, make him engrave that doing something beats sulking."
"Resume攻略. Assign challenges. That's the answer."
The Sun and Moon gave slightly different answers to the same question.
The mad wizard crossed his arms and nodded.
"So he's heading to the black market?"
"Yes. Probably there. We gotta drag him out, right?"
"Environment matters... Spot on. Healthy mind from healthy habits. Start with sobriety, good food, good sleep."
"I know that much?"
Even normals break in toxic environments. He'd have judged the same. The mad wizard inwardly upped his affinity for Selbia by 3 points.
She thought just like him.
"And... that black market. Gives off bad vibes."
"Vibes?"
"Yeah. Smells like my hometown, kinda."
"...Hometown, huh? Hm."
The mad wizard seemed deep in thought. Floating in his mind: suspicious evidence from his homecoming trip, like human trafficking hints.
High chance it wasn't a normal village. If the black market smelled similar, it was probably shady too.
Even fateful vibes. The wizard gripped his dice, steeling himself.
Watching, Selbia asked worriedly,
"...But seriously. No need for other professors? I get not wanting trouble, but what if they attack or something."
"It's fine. I'm... strong!"
"Didn't you say you can't transcend?"
"Thinking transcendence decides all combat is outdated..."
The wizard was prepared. And insured, of course. A butterfly fluttered unnoticed nearby.
Selbia eyed him skeptically but let it go, figuring he had something up his sleeve. He'd shown endless weirdness in class.
The pinnacle of Illusion Magic that made even transcendent students flail.
His skill was proven over time, sparking rumors like "He transcended ages ago and's sandbagging."
They walked the damp tunnel.
The wizard twitched his brow. No reason for such moisture unless artificial—traps came to mind.
"Uijimundeok or whatever."
"Pardon?"
"Nothing."
Splash splash. After long echoes, a narrow cavern opened up, revealing shabby secret buildings and facilities.
In the secret tavern, a hooded woman greeted nasally. Her sly gaze scanned the wizard.
"My, with a guest this time...?"
"Hey, Envus... the boy from last time. Seen him?"
"Hmm, nope."
"......"
Selbia felt confused. Suspected a lie, but the woman was too calm—no tells.
The mad wizard snapped his fingers.
"Liar."
"...Liar? I would never..."
"I can hear heartbeats from 30 meters. No haggling—tell me straight. Where's my backup player?"
"...He requested it. The boy didn't want visitors. Had to white-lie. Understand?"
The mad wizard brushed past without reply, climbed to the second floor, and soon returned shouldering a flushed, passed-out Envus.
Ignoring the owner, he said,
"Let's go."
"...Yes, Professor."
"Waiting for your next visit... sir."
No response; the wizard left. Selbia glanced between them, then followed.
The proprietress watched their backs intently... and smiled.
The trap was set. The boy couldn't escape.
Damn it.
"Agh, succubus. Not a strong one."
"What?!"
Selbia gasped, clapped hands over her mouth, then peeked back fearing tails.
He reassured her.
"Succubus, no pursuit, and he's... charmed. Obvious method. Slipped suggestion while he was wasted. Guess I didn't catch everything."
"...What's going on at the academy?"
"Heard some bastard's prepping a summoning ritual. Crimson Tower, report any suspicious magic circles."
"...Summoning ritual...?"
She seemed shocked by the academy's dark shadow. He was too. What academy had secret underground bases?
Likely black mages. No way a pure crazy succubus was just bartending down there innocently.
He could flip it now.
But it'd just cut tails; better leave slack. That succubus marked him chemically—like Thousand-Li Tracking Scent from wuxia.
Probably planning dream invasion at night—that'd end her life. Come at him, then.
Squeeze every drop of intel, uproot 'em.
Exiting the tunnel, he dumped Envus on an outdoor academy bench and told Selbia,
"Leave him here. Got something to handle. Mind mental care? I'll compensate."
He'd planned hands-on, but stuff came up, and friends handled this best.
"...Was gonna anyway."
"This note has his full backstory. Reference it."
"...???"
Selbia's face went blank. How do you know that?
He didn't answer.