Chapter 170
Chapter 170
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 170
Chapter Title: Wish Village, Ideaya Peninsula (3)
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5.
“Nickname…… Edelweiss?”
It was strange.
Jeong-cheol had quite a few nicknames.
Some were so well-known among veterans that everyone knew them. So why this one?
“Hyung, did you have this nickname too? Something from your newbie days?”
For a moment, a shadow of sorrow passed through Jeong-cheol’s eyes.
“Edelweiss…… This is the flower my mother loved.”
“……!”
“A pure white flower that blooms only in high mountain ranges like the Alps. Do you know what its language is?”
When I couldn’t answer, Jeong-cheol didn’t bother explaining. I asked something else instead.
“Hyung, but…… while playing the game…… didn’t you feel something off?”
“……?”
“You know the NPCs…… something’s weird about them. Like they’re not NPCs?”
“……….”
“They used to feel real like people before…… but there were limits. But now──”
I couldn’t continue.
With a harsh scrape, Jeong-cheol shoved his chair back and stood up.
“──The true nature of the NPCs or what this world really is…… none of that matters in the slightest.”
Jeong-cheol gave me a quick glance.
Then, with a resolute expression, he donned his helmet shaped like an eagle’s head.
“The language of the edelweiss flower is [precious memories].”
“Precious…… memories?”
“You said it earlier, right? That I was pushing too hard from the start.”
That was when Jeong-cheol grabbed my shoulder with his gauntleted hand.
“Yeah! That flower──I’ve been sprinting full speed all the way here just to pick that one flower. Without rest. Day after day, killing and slashing and killing again.”
“Hyung, it hurts, hyung! Let go!”
“No matter how high or treacherous the mountain, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter at all! I…… I will pick it, no matter what.”
Jeong-cheol’s grip tightened, and I had to kick back from my seat to shake him off.
“So anything blocking that path…… I’m prepared to kill and cut down, no matter who it is.”
For an instant, Jeong-cheol glared at me.
I swallowed hard. His eyes…… gleamed with an eerily chilling light.
“Shin Tae-yeop. What about you? Surely you’re prepared for that much?”
I don’t know why.
At that moment…… I couldn’t answer Jeong-cheol’s question.
Whirr, whirr, whirr, whirr.
An inexplicable sense of unease echoed in my head.
What is it?
What the hell is this feeling?
6.
Post-Richard Hou.
He was a psychopath who gave chills down the spine, but no one had the right to condemn him.
We.
Each of us craving our own wishes.
Players who had come to this Wish Village.
A divine being whose name we didn’t even know.
Wanderers of the apocalypse who believed only in that being’s promise, destroying the world to fulfill it.
Magic and miracles.
The alien evil gods, [The Forgotten Kings].
The unknowable benevolent gods, [The Warm Ones].
No matter how much this world was a game.
No matter how perfectly it mimicked reality.
Richard Hou’s actions still felt like inhuman atrocities.
But.
At the end of this tale.
For wishes to bear fruit.
Wasn’t there something that someone had to do?
“Wait, hold on a second.”
I shuddered and closed the diary.
What did I just say?
That line just now…… it sounded almost like.
To win this battle royale.
You had to become something less than human.
“L-Leader?”
Someone knocked on the dorm room door then.
“Everyone’s gathered. It’s the strategy meeting. You should come.”
Already midnight?
I started to flip the diary open again…… but a queasy feeling made me snap it shut.
“Are you feeling unwell?”
“No, I’m fine. Just…….”
I rubbed my temples as I walked down the dim corridor.
Damn……
My head was starting to feel off too.
- What about you? Surely you’re prepared for that much?
As I left the corridor into the courtyard, brilliant moonlight poured down from the night sky.
“Ah.”
A world with four moons.
Truly…… a world with a beautiful nightscape.
“Hey, Bell.”
“Yes?”
“Hypothetically, just suppose. If this place wasn’t a game…… what would you do?”
Bell, the companion I’d had from the start, tilted her head.
“I-I’ve never even thought about it. That couldn’t be, right?”
It couldn’t be…… I gave a hollow smile.
“Yeah, it couldn’t. I’ll go on alone from here.”
This was the fortress city, <Summerport>.
Originally ruled by a human lord, it had been reduced to ruins by Richard Hou.
The player alliance had taken it over and was using it as an outpost.
“Oh, there you are?”
Passing through the tall, sturdy iron gates.
Entering the vast chapel interior, Jayenne waved.
“Look at those sunken cheeks. Didn’t get a wink of sleep?”
I sat down next to her.
This was the human player representatives’ section.
“What? How can you tell I didn’t sleep?”
“……?”
“Back then, it was just shown as fatigue stats and stuff.”
“Seriously. What’s going on?”
Naturally, across from us sat the fairy player reps, potbellied Howard and Tang Yan.
It had been seven days since Jeong-cheol officially joined the player alliance.
The day of the final battle was finally approaching.
“Everyone’s here, so let’s get started.”
That was when Jeong-cheol entered.
He carried a large leather map, which he spread out on the table. It was a map of northern Ideaya.
“This is the raid map for [Bryuka’ruk’s Forest].”
Shin Tae-yeop let out an involuntary gasp.
Wow.
He memorized and drew all this vast terrain……?
In simple terms, it looked like this.
[A]…………………
[Devoured Temple: Rein Hall]
………………………[B]
“The raid boss Bryuka’ruk is located in [Devoured Temple: Rein Hall].”
Jeong-cheol pointed to [A] and [B] in turn with his left index finger.
“To subjugate it, other teams need to hold the [Abyssal Barriers] at these two points.”
I knew this already.
I opened my mouth to yawn, but Jeong-cheol shot me a look. Tang Yan asked.
“So we split into three teams?”
“That’s right. The problem is Ikilras’s army too……”
Ikilras’s army?
What’s Ikilras? Jeong-cheol waved his hand lightly as if he’d misspoke.
“……No, the point is that Richard Hou knows this strategy too.”
Richard Hou.
A chill swept through the room at the name. The shutters on the high windows creaked eerily.
“Brother, this is endgame──whether Richard gets here first or we subjugate Bryuka’ruk first, right?”
Howard chuckled proudly, but Jeong-cheol shook his head.
“I’m not planning the strategy on that kind of gamble.”
“……?!”
“Richard Hou is a summoner. With elite contracts, he can command huge numbers of summons…… Ikil……”
Jeong-cheol paused there, as if he’d said something wrong again, and caught his breath.
“……Anyway, he can command an enormous number of summons. That’s Richard’s strength.”
Jeong-cheol directed attention back to the map. [Devoured Temple: Rein Hall].
“This raid boss Bryuka’ruk? It’s a monster second to none in swarm warfare.”
Swarm warfare……?
Hold on. Shin Tae-yeop let out a breathy laugh.
“Hyung, no way.”
“Yeah, exactly that. We lure Richard and Bryuka’ruk out and make them clash with each other.”
Not a single executive didn’t gasp at that.
“Use the raid boss to take on Richard Hou?!”
Holy crap.
Even elite players who knew the game like the back of their hand wouldn’t have imagined this.
“My elite team, including me, enters [Devoured Temple: Rein Hall] and pretends to subjugate Bryuka’ruk to draw it out.”
Jeong-cheol pointed to himself and Shin Tae-yeop, then pointed to Jayenne.
“Human team takes Point A. Go all out. Make it look like we’re subjugating Bryuka’ruk.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Fairy team takes Point B. Unlike A, B is a defensive quest. Richard might come there.”
Howard and Tang Yan nodded in turn.
“Don’t worry, brother. With my magic weapons alone, Richard’s nothing.”
“While Richard Hou is dealing with Bryuka’ruk’s horde…….”
Jeong-cheol slammed his fist on the table. The lantern flames flickered.
“……I’ll kill him. I don’t need any help here.”
An icy silence.
Tang Yan finally spoke up.
“But…… what’s the estimated casualty rate for this plan?”
Casualty rate.
The air in the room grew heavy.
No one…… said a word.
Maybe around 30%?
No, generously, 40%?
That’s what I thought, but Jeong-cheol casually lied through his teeth.
“Don’t worry. Based on my experience, it’s just about 10%.”
“…………!”
“The dangerous tasks will all be on my end. No need to fret.”
What…… the hell?
Lying like that…… so effortlessly……
“Departure at 0500 hours. Strategy briefing ends here.”
Ignoring my dazed stare, Jeong-cheol left the chapel.
10%.
Even selling snake oil…… isn’t this too much?
“10%?”
“It’s not impossible. Using the raid boss to catch him. He’s got something up his sleeve.”
“Man, being on the same side as elites really feels different right from the start.”
I watched the executives optimistically celebrating victory in a daze, then bolted outside.
“Hyung, hyung!”
Jeong-cheol was heading toward the dorms through the corridor. I quickly blocked his path.
“Hyung. Why’d you lie?”
Jeong-cheol carefully scanned the surroundings at my question. Checking for eavesdroppers?
“If I told the truth, no one would join the operation.”
“Still, cutting 40% down to 10%? That’s not right!”
Jeong-cheol flinched slightly.
Not guilt, it seemed. Was he hiding more?
“What about the people who’ll die tomorrow going in lighthearted? What about them?”
“…….”
“But you packaged 40% as 10%──”
“──It’s not 40%. It’s 50%.”
Half die?
I felt the blood drain from my body.
“50%? No way.”
“40% if Richard doesn’t interfere. 50% if he does.”
“Hyung…… why go through with this hellish plan? Wouldn’t it be better to scrap it? It’s not like you.”
“Not like me?”
Jeong-cheol snorted at that. I shouted.
“Yeah! Not like you! How can you be so calm?!”
“What?”
“Tomorrow, nearly half our people die. Not NPCs, players. People!”
Jeong-cheol quietly furrowed his brow.
Maybe he thought I was too loud. Screw him.
“They’re allies, not enemies! How can you look like it’s just natural?!”
“Allies?”
Jeong-cheol mulled it over, then replied with a sneer.
“Sure, for now. But they’re all rivals.”
“……?”
“Good thing. Best to take out all the elite knights with them this time.”
This madman……?
As I opened my mouth to retort, Jeong-cheol pressed his index finger to my lips.
“I told you back when I taught you raids. Strikers can’t be soft.”
“……!”
“Even if it means sacrificing the entire raid team, the striker who finishes the boss is a great striker, right?”
Jeong-cheol added with a sigh after that.
“Think of it as the same situation.”
“But hyung, you taught me this too!”
“……?”
“You said not to drive raid members to their deaths. That’s the raid leader’s top rule!”
“………….”
“You said that! How can you change like this? Hyung, I just can’t──”
“──This isn’t a game.”
His words stopped me cold.
“Wake up already, you naive punk! This is a battle royale, not a game!”
“……!”
“There’s no such thing as eternal allies. Anywhere.”
“………….”
“Except you and me…… Keep that in mind.”
Jeong-cheol shook me off with a flat tone and walked down the corridor again.
“Hyung……?”
I just stared blankly at his back, unable to muster the nerve to follow.
Everything Jeong-cheol said was right.
This isn’t a game.
It’s a death game, a battle royale wagering lives and wishes.
I need to think that way too……
That’s the only way to save Dad.
I knew that, so why…… did a sigh escape my lips?
“Hyung…… you’ve really…… changed so much……”