377. A Single Commonality
377. A Single Commonality
***
Bloody Night.
[If my question seems strange right now, you can just chalk it up to me being tired. So, anyway. Plea, do you happen to feel strangely wide awake right now? For me, the more time passes, the clearer my head seems to get... I was wondering if I'm the only one feeling this way.]
After checking the message, I froze, staring blankly at my smartphone.
Yujeong's message drove a wedge into what I'd already been half-convinced of.
-Tired, yet unable to sleep.
-A strange sense of being awake.
-A feeling of my mind growing clearer as time passes.
All of it perfectly matched the symptoms I was experiencing right now. Even though I'd been drinking, at some point my mind had started feeling completely clear.
As if I hadn't touched the wine at all.
'How can this be happening?'
The moment I let out a deep sigh, I realized my hands were trembling.
"...Ah."
I brought my hand to my chest, shaking my head over and over.
No matter how I looked at it, I was blowing this situation way out of proportion.
"......Right. That's all it is."
Just as I said that, the video playing on the screen caught my eye.
...
Clang! Clang! Crash!!
The ground wasn't just being torn up—it was being carved away by immense force, over and over. And the video centered on two women moving frantically through the devastated space, trading offense and defense.
The screen captured the two of them as the space shifted without a moment's rest, vividly conveying the urgency of each instant.
And when I realized this was footage recorded from my own point of view, a strange resonance washed over me, like memories overlapping.
A red-haired woman so beautiful she could be mistaken for an angel. As Zervallua used her wings to surge through the space even more erratically than before, Serin's figure, standing against her, immediately filled my vision.
Serin was drenched in blood. No—beyond that, her body was in a wretched state, covered in wounds everywhere, her entire form stained crimson, in an extremely dangerous condition.
So precarious that even a graze would likely mean death.
Yet Serin's eyes shone without a trace of retreat as she met every one of Zervallua's razor-sharp attacks head-on.
As their fierce exchange continued, three figures slowly closing the distance came into view beyond them. Arianne, Belua, and Yujeong.
In a situation so perilous that an unskilled person couldn't even dare to intervene, their approach felt like an inevitability.
Anyone could see Serin was in a state where she could die at any moment. She was barely managing to block Zervallua's monstrous onslaught.
In a way, the sight of Serin enduring and holding on was itself unreal.
The gap in power was overwhelming enough to feel just by watching.
Zervallua's human form was certainly something I'd never seen before, but I could feel at once that she was stronger than any being I'd encountered in my years of playing Another World.
"...Even watching the video, I don't think Jeanne d'Arc could handle this."
Watching the footage as if entranced, the words slipped out before I knew it.
The best Another World player. The pro gamer at the very peak.
Yoo Eunha. She came to mind instantly, but honestly, I had my doubts.
Having faced her a few times in the Arena before, I knew exactly how she existed on another dimension entirely.
Her skill—no, her talent—was beyond comparison even among fellow rankers or those at the top of the leaderboard. The fact that she'd held the number one spot alone for years already put her in a different realm.
But even if it were Jeanne d'Arc—if she were in Serin's place right now, would the situation change? Could she display the same miraculous, godlike prowess Serin was showing in this video?
I found myself unconsciously shaking my head.
Vaguely, I couldn't help thinking that Serin, as she was right now, might actually be stronger.
As I was thinking that—
THOOM!
Serin, who had only been blocking, suddenly kicked off the ground with force.
Holding her sword straight, dyed in jet-black as she cut across the air, her figure overlapped with her wildly billowing silver hair, looking utterly mystical.
And even though I knew what scene would follow, I could only watch as if spellbound.
In an instant.
A stillness settled, as if even sound had vanished.
And before I knew it, Serin had appeared close enough to Zervallua that their breaths could touch.
Each impaled by the other's sword, exchanging a single blow.
"...Ah."
Even now, it made my chest go cold.
And the fact that Serin, who appeared to have allowed the sword into her chest, had actually avoided a fatal wound by sacrificing her left hand to the blade—that too.
At that moment, the three who had reached a certain distance began to launch themselves forward in unison. As if they'd coordinated beforehand, they split into three directions, moving so fast it felt like they'd moved simultaneously.
Arianne, radiating a blue aura, came from the left. Belua, shrouded in another darkness, from the right. And from behind Zervallua, Yujeong thrust her hand, submerged in blood-red crimson, deep into her.
——————!!
And just as they were about to make contact, a massive surge of blood-red demonic energy erupted.
Zervallua created a barrier of immense power, as if blocking their approach outright.
Serin, who was closest, was sent flying by the shockwave, while Arianne and Belua, who had surged in from either side, were shoved back as if they'd slammed into a wall of force.
"......"
And I could already guess how this moment would end.
A sinister blood-red membrane bloomed over Zervallua's body.
Yujeong broke through what Serin and the two Stars couldn't withstand, and reached her.
At first, I'd doubted my own eyes. Then, the screen clearly captured Yujeong's bewildered expression along with her hand piercing deep into Zervallua's body.
Immediately after, Yujeong's head lifted unnaturally.
I let out a small sigh.
Just talking about it brought back the sensation of that moment when Gluttony had taken me.
The eerie feeling that made my entire body break out in goosebumps despite there being no pain at all.
Knowing that Yujeong had experienced it too made me feel strange.
Whoosh!
Then, as the blood-red demonic energy enveloping her faded away, all that remained in that space was a small pool of blood, marking where she'd been.
Yujeong was nowhere to be seen.
At first, I'd thought she'd been taken out without a chance to resist.
But when Zervallua tilted her head on screen and turned with such innocent eyes, Yujeong was standing there, barely.
Her left upper body was almost entirely gone, dyed in translucent crimson, breathing shallowly.
That was when I realized.
She'd used the Vampire Class's unique evasion skill—its absolute, invincible survival technique.
That was how Yujeong had escaped Gluttony in that instant.
Even while looking at Yujeong, Zervallua made no particular move. Instead, she glanced around at the beings surrounding her, even showing a kind of leisure.
"You survived."
Just one line.
No surprise, no curiosity. Just an "oh, is that so."
After speaking in a tone as casual as remarking that it was raining, Zervallua immediately fixed her gaze on Serin, far in the distance.
Even watching this scene again, I found it strange.
"From Zervallua's perspective... Serin is more of a threat than the Stars?"
After being eliminated, I'd become a bodiless presence, so I couldn't feel the momentum or energy of that moment. Nothing at all.
But the way Zervallua regarded Serin with more hostility than Arianne and Belua was utterly baffling.
Even now, the two beings called Stars had taken Zervallua's demonic energy almost head-on and hadn't been pushed far, while Serin had been knocked back noticeably farther.
Just from that alone, the difference in their power was clear. In Another World, when you're outmatched in total energy and power, even a simple attack's shockwave hits you much harder.
In PvP, maybe not, but in PvE, that was exactly why gear mattered so much.
Stats like attack power and defense were important, but beyond that, invisible forces like momentum and energy undeniably existed too.
Slither.
As Zervallua's wounds began healing in an instant—perhaps an effect of Gluttony—the sight was simply grotesque, no matter how beautiful her appearance.
Something that wasn't human.
Zervallua had always been a demonic beast, but even in human form, it was glaringly obvious.
Tap.
I pressed the spacebar and paused the video. Checking the time, more than ten minutes had already passed since Yujeong sent her message.
"When did the time..."
I hurriedly typed a reply.
Me.
[I'm almost exactly the same as you, Yujeong. Really tired, but my mind feels completely clear... that's the feeling, right? So, anyway, Yujeong. Is there anywhere on your body that hurts or anything?]
I felt sorry for replying so late, but I was also worried something might be wrong with her body.
If she was actually in pain, this wasn't something to brush off as just strange. She might need to go to the hospital right away.
BaTalk!
Bloody Night.
[Yes. Nothing hurts in particular. It's just that my mind is strangely wide awake. But since you said you're the same as me, Plea, maybe it's really nothing after all. Maybe some days are just like this.]
As soon as I read it, I felt a small sense of relief.
At least it didn't seem like she was in any direct pain.
"'Nothing after all,' huh..."
Even as I said it, I felt a moment of temptation. Maybe it really was just like Yujeong's last message said—maybe some days were just like this.
Maybe I was overthinking it, and after a day or so, everything would be fine.
My gaze drifted to the paused video. I decided to let it go, just a little.
Click.
I closed the video and gradually pushed thoughts of the raid out of my mind.
My thinking tilted toward the idea that I was being overly conscious of it. After all, my body wasn't actually in pain. I just couldn't sleep.
Swish.
I ran a hand through my hair and got up.
Fwoomp.
I threw myself onto the bed, and as the bedroom lights dimmed with me, an exquisite softness enveloped my entire body.
"...Let's not think about it."
The more I overthought it, the more it felt like I was blowing it up in my own head. Just don't think, and relax.
Right. Just rest comfortably.
My body was tired, and forcing myself to kill time with this and that was ridiculous anyway.
...
And so, Sua sent Yujeong a message saying, "Still, I think you should get some rest," then slowly lay down in bed and steadied her breathing.
"...Tomorrow, everything will be back to normal."
But she couldn't quite hide the faint unease in her voice.