Chapter 62
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: The Red Lotus Knight's Shadow
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Shwaaa...
She accepted the inevitable with calm resignation. That composure chilled Kang Seol's heart instead.
'How... she spared his life.'
It was nothing short of a miracle.
Galifa's corpse night, and Karuna and Jamad buying them time—it had allowed the last-second reversal to take full effect.
'No, if Karuna had really wanted to, he could've killed her. This is the outcome she intended.'
It wasn't mere survival; mercy had been granted.
Of course, if Karen had gone all out, Kang Seol would've countered in kind. In the end, neither side had given their all.
'That aside, what insane power.'
Jamad and Karuna would've been overwhelming forces in any other adventure, yet they'd been powerless before Karen. The gap in their stats must've been astronomical.
Thud...
Limping from the impact of blocking the Red Lotus Slash, Karuna approached her.
"Karen..."
Shwaaa...
Yet the demon who had incinerated the surrounding forest suddenly sheathed her blade.
Kang Seol wasn't fazed. He'd anticipated she had her own endgame in mind.
"...What the hell is this? Why lower your weapon?"
Karen replied with a casual lilt, amusement in her tone.
"No time left. I'm done with this."
"Hmph! Backing off now that it's—"
"Jamad! Don't provoke her further."
"Fine, fine. Ha... The uninvited guests will withdraw."
Jamad sensed the situation had concluded and returned to Kang Seol's side.
Kang Seol figured he'd observe since she was marching to her own death.
Shwaaa...
Rumble!
She gazed at Karuna through the downpour.
"Karuna, my brother."
"Sister."
"In the time I have left... I want to talk."
"...As long as you need."
In this powder-keg moment where Kang Seol's life hung by a thread, the scene unfolded in the most unforeseen way.
Karen sought answers from Karuna.
"I'm still trapped on that day. ...What about you?"
"Karen."
"What happened? No—let me rephrase. No time."
Karen's body was rotting away.
The battle, plus her brief drift as an ownerless undead, had wrecked her form.
"That day... did you really come back?"
"I was on my way there."
"I see... You wouldn't break our promise. Of course not..."
"Karen, I'm sorry. For failing you that day."
Karuna drew closer.
She could no longer hold up her decaying body.
Thud...
Karuna caught her gently, laying her down with natural tenderness.
"But why... did you become a shadow?"
"I died."
"Haha... You? Dead? Ridiculous."
"Someone sealed my power. Don't know the details."
"Figures... You're invincible, Karuna. Stronger than me."
Fsssh.
Half her face crumbled into rot.
The two pressed on undeterred, as if it were irrelevant.
"Why serve that ruthless-looking human? Has Jin vanished from your memories?"
She meant Kang Seol.
Karuna shook his head.
"Jin remains my emperor. But now, I serve another."
"Someone who looks leagues below Jin... Kgh... guh..."
"He's a good man."
"...Really? So not a good king, then."
"Following him led me to you again."
"Kahaha... In that light, a... splendid master."
Karen's body shuddered.
Her fleeting life ebbed away.
"Hey... what was the outside world like?"
"Beyond the empire?"
"Yeah, the world you chased after."
Karuna closed his eyes, reminiscing.
"There was an ocean."
"Ocean? Bigger than a lake... full of water... ugh..."
"Yes. I saw it. It was real."
"Haha... So that's why you went so far. Tell me—do waves exist?"
"Of course. Water rushes in, then retreats. I ate sardines reeking of brine, smoked cigars. That's how they lived."
"Boring existence. Still... I wanna see it."
"Them?"
"No, the ocean, idiot."
Fsssh...
Her lower body melted.
A foul stench rose briefly, soon washed away by the rain.
"Ka—Karen!"
"Karuna... Still a knight to someone."
"Come with me, Karen. We'll see the ocean together."
"Can I? Body and soul—burned to ash. What's left? A knight without a lord? Just a monster..."
"You're no monster, Karen. My one and only sister. We'll go together! Now we can!"
Karuna's voice grew frantic. Karen, by contrast, grew serene.
The one clinging, the one departing—their crossroads ached.
"No, I can't. Your king... he's weak. Can't take me along."
"No... no..."
"So... this is it for me, Karuna. Urgh..."
Splurch...
The gruesome sound of guts piercing skin. Kang Seol and Karuna knew death closed in.
Karen stared blankly ahead, eyes dimming to colorless voids.
"Karuna, you there? Hold my hand."
Karuna clasped it tight.
To affirm his presence.
"Yeah... nothing. Dying's always terrifying... Hey, Karuna."
"Karen... Don't die... Stay with me!"
"Truth is... even like this, I hoped you'd take me..."
"Kareeeen!"
Tok.
No dramatic farewell.
Shwaaa...
Only rain to cleanse it all. Forest-burning ashes, grudge-filled corpses.
Her finale was to empty herself.
She'd menaced Kang Seol, Karuna, Jamad—but spared them. Still things to purge.
Yet she couldn't finish.
Her final words echoed through the Great Forest.
As if she lived on.
Resounding in their ears.
Though only bleached bones remained.
[Defeated Red Lotus Knight Karen.]
[Achievement: 'Overcoming the Unsurmountable Gap' unlocked.]
[Acquired special title 「Challenger」.]
[Additional rewards granted.]
[Adventure concludes upon time limit expiry or reward selection.]
As always, the notifications popped up upon enemy defeat.
Kang Seol ignored them, eyes fixed on Karuna.
He was suffering.
"No, Karen! Don't go! How... after we met again..."
[Karuna's status is unstable.]
[Karuna's loyalty has decreased.]
[Continued loyalty decline may trigger unpredictable events.]
"Unpredictable events," it said here—but Kang Seol knew exactly what that meant. He'd seen players lose summons from irreparable loyalty drops before.
'So it came.'
Shwaaa...
Rain poured as if the sky had a hole.
"Ahh... Ah..."
In the rain-soaked forest, Kang Seol faced the unluckiest chain of events yet.
'About time for this.'
Failed to find Chao, ensnared in a secret ritual and nearly died in a mental space—then threatened anew by the awakened Karen.
And now, even steadfast Karuna hung in the balance.
'Travel luck finally strikes.'
[Travel Luck die rolled a 2.]
[Considerable misfortune ahead.]
Dismissing it as "just dice" felt wrong—these bizarre misfortunes synced too perfectly.
"I... I..."
"Karuna."
"My sister... my sister..."
Nod.
Kang Seol stepped forward, raising his hand high.
Before speaking, her words echoed.
- No, I can't go. The king you serve... is weak.
A slur on Kang Seol, Pandea's achievement hunter.
Grind.
He rummaged in his pouch for the item prepared long ago for this very scenario.
"Figured something like this might happen someday."
"Master...?"
Kang Seol pulled out what looked like a small bean and popped it in without hesitation.
Black aura immediately seeped from his body.
Swoooosh...
[Enjoyed an excellent meal.]
[Cloudy Day Jelly special effect triggered.]
['Miracle on a Cloudy Day' volatile ability available for 1 hour.]
Perfect for this torrent.
Groooowl...
Black energy coalesced in his palm, filling it like thunderheads.
A still-frail, nascent king.
Kang Seol bellowed.
"Serve!"
Rumble!
Lightning crashed somewhere in the Great Forest.
His final gambit activated.
[Using volatile ability: Miracle on a Cloudy Day.]
[Forcibly shadow summoning Red Lotus Knight Karen.]
Crackle... Crackle...
Black lightning engulfed her corpse.
Vast power visibly surged within.
No awaited message yet.
Kang Seol observed stoically.
Then...
Crackkkkle!
[Miracle on a Cloudy Day succeeds.]
[Commencing soul awakening.]
Clench.
Kang Seol balled his fist triumphantly.
Viewers recoiled in shock.
Crazy;; No way?
Tell me it's not;;
It is
Saw this coming all the way?
Insane;; Thought game over, but he flips the script?
Madman! It works!?
Her corpse lifted, wreathed in black lightning.
Kang Seol.
For 17 years, he'd rolled every dice variant.
The trickiest? The d6—the standard cube.
Its gaps were vast.
1 and 2.
3 and 4.
5 and 6.
Seemingly close numbers.
But play Eternal World, and the illusion shatters fast.
4 Travel Luck: occasional ups.
3: random good and bad.
2: outright misfortune—sometimes spiking adventure difficulty.
Some bolted regions yielding under-3 rolls.
Kang Seol differed.
Toppling the overwhelming Red Lotus Knight, claiming her here—he'd warred with dice forever.
Turning 3s to 6s.
2s to 6s.
1s to 6s.
Always for peak outcomes.
Ever bracing for the worst—that birthed this.
He'd transcended the hexahedron.
"Serve me, Karen!"
Beyond dice, he strode seven steps.
[Achievement: 'Dice Are Just Numbers' unlocked.]
[Acquired special title 「Outlaw」.]
Rumble!
Black lightning raged, enshrouding her.
Sparking yet another shift.
Crackkkkle!
"Ugh... Aaaaaah!"
"Karuna?"
The lightning around Karen's body surged outward—devouring Karuna too.
"No! Karuna!"
"Maa... ster..."
His voice vanished into the storm. Kang Seol stood alone.
Shwaaa...
Now only rain companioned him.
Along with one final message.
[Karen's linked soul activates.]