What Kind of Trash Game Is This?
What kind of trash game is this?
Rough ripples stirred in Marquis Weiser’s eyes.
Serengeti had set out on the Great Expedition with five hundred knights. Though she was his daughter, she was his only child—and a Transcendent who had consumed a Star. How devastated he had been when he saw that daughter return bound to a horse, her lower body severed. He had tried everything to wake her. The city’s granaries stood empty, and he could no longer remember the last time he had slept properly. And still, Serengeti had not awakened.
“Oh… Serengeti……”
Focus returned to his daughter’s eyes. The time that had stopped began to flow once more. Serengeti, who had opened her eyes beneath the Star’s blessing, looked at him. Marquis Weiser’s eyes grew moist. He would reach out and embrace her fiercely. For all these years he had been too cold a father—a pathetic father who had forced her to swing a sword without rest every single day.
Sensing her father’s heart, Serengeti forced open her closed mouth with difficulty.
“Hudson……!”
……Who?
For a moment Marquis Weiser doubted his own ears. Hudson? Who was that? Surely the first word out of her mouth should have been “Father,” or at the very least “My Lord.”
“Serengeti!”
From behind, a man who until now had possessed no presence whatsoever rushed forward and tightly grasped Serengeti’s hand. He was one of the two who had entered with the Knight King’s successor. Had he not been a mere attendant?
Serengeti still wore a look of utter disbelief.
“This isn’t a dream, is it? How… Hudson, how are you standing in front of me……”
“It’s not a dream. I’m here. I’m sorry I’m late. I… I thought you would never wake up…… Ah…”
Hudson burst into tears. Holding Serengeti’s hand, his entire body trembled. He had intended to become a councilor in the Golden City of Arcana and return. After that, formally receiving permission and holding a wedding had been Hudson’s goal. But then he had heard the news that Serengeti had returned from the Great Expedition as a cripple. Hudson could not go.
As long as she’s alive, I thought it would be fine.
As long as she lived. If he became a city councilor as quickly as possible and returned, the Marquis would acknowledge him. If she had lost her lower body, he would simply become her legs. Even if she never woke, it was fine. As long as she lived, he would care for her for eternity.
If I had been just a little later……
Looking back, he regretted it. It had been foolish. He should have come even if it meant forcing his way. The thought of going only after preparing everything had been nothing but his own arrogance and greed. Serengeti’s once sturdy body had grown gaunt. She who had once lifted him with one hand—now he felt he could lift her instead. If he had been a little later, she would not have been here. And they would never have been able to meet again. The Duke would have kept her like a trophy in a space only he could see.
I settled the casino, obtained a spirit, and returned here. If not for Lord Randolph, I would never have seen her face again.
Hudson looked at Randolph. Though he now had no regrets even if he died, he could not erase the thought that all of this had been Randolph’s plan. From the moment he first appeared at the casino and caused a ruckus to draw him out, he had precisely seen through Hudson’s desire and made him settle the casino. He obtained the spirit’s egg and gained confidence. He had even climbed the Spirit Tower and become the master of a spirit! Now there was nothing he could not do. He could do everything he wanted—even if it meant throwing himself off a thousand-foot cliff.
“I will give you twenty million gold.”
Hudson straightened his back stiffly and turned around. Marquis Weiser was staring at him with a flustered gaze.
“Give Serengeti to me, Father.”
“Fa…ther? What nonsense is this madman spouting right now?”
“Are you not short on money? With twenty million gold, you can put out the city’s urgent fires.”
Shing!
Marquis Weiser drew his sword himself. Aiming it at Hudson’s neck, he said,
“What are you that you dare?”
“I am……”
How should he explain himself? There was no way to describe who he was. He was no longer a councilor, and he had sold the casino. An ordinary human. A Player. He could not say such things. Hudson looked at Randolph.
“I am His loyal servant.”
Marquis Weiser’s face twisted like a demon’s.
“A mere servant dares to take my daughter away?”
Hudson spoke calmly.
“He is one who gazes upon the Stars and communes with them. One who receives the respect of nature and the forests, the successor to the Knight King, and one who will shine even more brilliantly than the Knight King himself. How could I, who follows such a person, be a mere ordinary servant?”
“That silver tongue of yours right now……”
“Stop.”
What are you doing right now? I clicked my tongue softly and stepped between them. Come to think of it, Hudson was a merchant—he was skilled at packaging things. But now was not the time for that.
“I understand you all can’t contain your emotion, but the Demon King’s curse has not been completely lifted.”
“……Then?”
Marquis Weiser sheathed his sword in the scabbard at his waist. Certainly he wouldn’t mind killing this absurd fellow named Hudson right this instant, but lifting Serengeti’s curse came first.
“At best, she will only keep her eyes open for today. To completely lift the curse, we must find another ‘Star.’”
The only ways to raise holy power were leveling up and finding Stars. The five Stars shed by the Knight King Wilhelm upon his death. One had been recovered, but four remained. If they fell into another’s hands, the Star’s Memory would be damaged.
The secret effect of the Star’s Successor class. If it is possible to read the memories of the Star’s previous owner, we must recover the Stars as quickly as possible.
Before the Stars were damaged or contaminated. While they still held the memories of the Knight King Wilhelm, they had to be reclaimed. If someone else became the owner of those Stars, Wilhelm’s memories—his skills—would never be recovered.
“So all of you, get out. I have words I must hear from her.”
Shoo, shoo. I waved my hand, urging them to disappear from the room at once. Soon Hudson and Marquis Weiser left through the door with complicated expressions. The atmosphere felt as though a storm was about to break, but that was none of my business.
“You are……?”
With only the two of us left in the room, Serengeti spoke to me.
“I am the successor to the Knight King Wilhelm. I have come to hear of his final moments.”
“……He has no such thing as a successor.”
But Serengeti was certain. She did not erase her suspicious gaze. Indeed—my closest confidant. I had already expected that such an absurd lie would not work on her, even if it worked on others. Because her Star had not yet fallen.
“Isabella. Make sure no one can hear.”
Immediately Isabella, who stood outside the door, began to move busily. She was an Assassin. Once Isabella stepped in, not even a single rat could approach nearby. After the surroundings were thoroughly cleared, I looked at Serengeti and opened my mouth.
“Tell me of my final moments. As the sole witness, you would know the situation at the time better than I.”
“……!”
She knew she was the last witness. But this much was within the realm of inference. Thus, I drove the stake in.
“I clearly killed the Demon King.”
I clearly killed the Demon King. But the one who actually died was me. Just why?
“I definitely thrust the Path of Light into his core. But after that my consciousness flew away, and I died as well. What on earth happened in between?”
Serengeti’s eyes filled with shock.
“Whoa, fuck! I killed him! Finally!!!”
In front of the computer I cried out in triumph. I killed the Demon King! I cut off his head and thrust my sword into his heart. I didn’t even know how many hours I had been controlling the character to kill this bastard. My fingers hurt like crazy—like the joints had come loose. It seemed like half a day had passed at least. But I killed him. Having overcome every boss pattern and phase, and thrusting the Unique-grade sword Path of Light—poison to demons—into his core, even Grandpa Demon King couldn’t come back to life. Indeed, the Demon King was dead and his soul was flowing out from his core. It was the same appearance as when Raid Boss monsters died.
A feat after five years. Clearly they had said that if you cleared it, they would grant a dream. What dream should I wish for? Should I ask for about ten billion? Though I didn’t know if this unknown company behind such a trash game even had ten billion.
“Huh……? What? No, no no no. Wait a minute. Why suddenly a blue screen?”
Instantly the screen turned blue. Even hitting the monitor didn’t bring it back. After about ten seconds like that, when the screen returned, along with the Demon King’s laughter, the very familiar letters floated above the monitor.
You have been defeated.
“What the hell is this?”
It was absurd. I clearly killed the Demon King, but a blue screen popped up and I died.
—Hahahahaha!
Moreover, that Demon King’s laughter coming through the speakers… Did that mean the bastard was alive?
Ah. So this was set so it couldn’t be cleared from the start.
The blue screen was also somehow strange. It seemed the game company had set it so the Demon King couldn’t be killed.
Fucking trash game.
They must have really hated granting the wish. I sat in the chair dejectedly. Five years of effort had all gone up in smoke. But sadder than it going up in smoke was the fact that it couldn’t be cleared. The grand goal—that goal of finally achieving something in my life—had been lost.
Anyway, it can’t be cleared……
It wasn’t a game made to be cleared from the start. Damn game company. I knew it would be like this. But no matter how much I tried to understand, I couldn’t do anything about the words that naturally came out.
“Ah damn, what kind of trash game is this.”