Chapter 123: Monologue (6)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 123: Monologue (6)
Time to piece this together.
After Dorothy restored my color, she succumbed to the side effects of intervening in a different worldline and was forcibly sent back.
Immediately after, a system window appeared. It stated that an external variable, Dorothy, had heavily influenced the Trial of Sandstone, and as a result, the Obsidian Blade would readjust the trial.
Then, without warning, the world began to fracture under the weight of the Evil God’s magic, and an unidentifiable monster emerged in the distance.
The system then issued a new directive: Survive until initialization is complete, as the Evil God Nephid has triggered the end of all worlds.
Now, a loading bar was ticking upward, aiming to initialize... something.
Given the state of this ruined world, "initialization" likely meant a regression to the past.
...But when, exactly?
Ugh, my brain was scrambled.
Why is this happening now?
In the first place, what does any of this have to do with my trauma?
Isn’t the core purpose of these trials to overcome one's past?
...Whatever. I had to focus on the present. The ground was collapsing and the Evil God’s rain of fire was pouring down; I’d have to save my questions for later if I wanted to have a "later."
Either way, the goal was crystal clear: survive until the initialization finished loading.
Before long, this world would meet its absolute end. There was nowhere to run. No matter where I went, death was certain.
The problem was... the initialization was loading way too fucking slowly. At this rate, the world would be gone long before the bar hit 100%.
"Agh!"
A stray spark of black flame streaked toward me and latched onto my left arm. Even with my reflexes, it was impossible to dodge every single ember in this chaotic downpour.
The black flames incinerated my hand instantly and began racing up my arm.
Kwaaaaa────!!
I didn't have time for hesitation or fear. Betting everything on the hope that my magic would work, I detonated a crude [Frost Explosion] against my own shoulder before the flames could reach my torso.
The blast of ice mana tore my left arm away. As the limb tumbled through the air, it was devoured by the black flames, reduced to nothing but ash and dust before it even hit the ground.
"Keuuuk...!"
It hurts. It hurts like hell.
An agonizing, searing heat throbbed at my shoulder. Thanks to the ice freezing the wound solid, I wasn't bleeding out, but the pain was white-hot. I bit my lower lip hard enough to draw blood, the metallic tang filling my mouth as I forced myself to keep running.
Fortunately, the effects of [Frozen Soul] allowed me to maintain a shred of rational thought. The only drawback was that it made me feel the pain even more vividly.
Think fast...!
I had to survive until the loading finished, but the apocalypse was moving faster than the system.
Is there any way to survive this?
"..."
Suddenly, the gargantuan entity releasing those dark blue ripples caught my eye. Though it was shrouded in static, the noise couldn't hide its entire form. Through sporadic gaps in the interference, dozens of alien eyes—eyes that didn't belong to this world—stared back.
"...!"
A realization struck me.
How did I not see it before?
That monster was the hint. I didn't know where it came from or what it was, but the phenomenon surrounding it gave me the answer.
I ran desperately until I reached my destination.
Kwaa─!
The studio apartment.
I didn't even have time to fumble with the lock. I blew the door off its hinges with a small [Frost Explosion] and burst inside.
Since the city was being erased from the top down, my semi-basement room had yet to disappear.
I shoved aside a stack of books taller than myself and lunged for the game console tucked into the corner of the cramped room. As always, the disc for ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱ was already inside.
The screen was a mess of static and noise. Ignoring the flickering, I grabbed the controller with my remaining hand and sat down.
"I knew something was off."
The noise. That goddamn static. Because it only emitted the sound of white noise, I had assumed ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱ was unplayable.
But if the noise was covering my sight, there was no reason it wouldn't deceive my hearing as well. Back at the internet cafe, the information was censored when I searched for the game, but the screen itself had been fine.
Right now, that same noise was clinging to the monster that had appeared in the Republic of Korea. Despite the interference, the monster was physically there.
In other words, ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱ was still there, too. It would still work.
I don't know if this is the right answer, but it's the only one I've got.
Chieeeeeeek...
The noise was gradually losing its intensity. Holes opened and closed in the static on the screen, and every time they did, the opening cinematic of ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱ flickered through.
If the monster was the source of the noise, then it was losing its grip.
I didn't have time. Drawing on years of muscle memory, I hammered the buttons on the controller. Even without seeing the screen clearly, I knew the timing. Right about now... it should be the title screen.
"...Huh?"
As the noise weakened, the title screen finally flickered into view, looking like a cracked mirror.
On the screen, the [Continue] button was active. I pressed it, and a single save file appeared. It was nothing like I remembered. The text was fragmented and glitched, but the save point was unmistakable.
Bad Ending N.49 「Demise」.
It was a save file created during a Bad Ending. I knew for a fact I had never made a save like this.
Hwarerereuk───!
"...!"
The black flames had begun to devour the ceiling. Wind and ash rained down on my head. There was nowhere left to run.
I took one last, deep breath. I had no idea what would happen next, but I was out of options.
I jammed the button down.
At that moment...
Chieeeek...
Click.
My vision was swallowed by white noise, and every one of my senses went dark.
◆◆◆
The Academy Adventure Cruel Fairy Tale RPG, ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱.
This game, despite its mouthful of a title, had received massive critical acclaim upon release. It featured a fairy-tale aesthetic for its UI and cutscenes, a vast open world that rewarded exploration, and deep interactions with the environment.
The setting—a prestigious academy—made it easy for players to immerse themselves. Moreover, the soundtrack was so iconic that players nicknamed it "BGM Knight."
It was inevitable that I would fall for it. It was exactly my type of game.
"...ac...!"
I couldn't even count how many times I had tried to defeat the Evil God Nephid on Hell difficulty. Consequently, I had seen that specific Bad Ending more times than I cared to remember.
Bad Ending N.49 「Demise」.
The condition for triggering it was losing the Evil God Subjugation Battle, the final act of ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱.
The ending itself was brief. Ian Fairytale would fall to the Evil God, meeting his death, and the world would be reduced to a wasteland by the Evil God’s magic.
In the aftermath, the Evil God would become an absolute monarch and reshape the world into a realm ruled by demons. The entire epilogue was told through a series of grim, fairy-tale illustrations.
I had no idea what happened in the gap between those two points in time. However, humans likely couldn't survive in the dystopia the Evil God created. The reality was undoubtedly horrific.
"...saac...!!"
My mind felt wrapped in a thick fog. A faint voice echoed in my head, though I couldn't make out the words.
Everything was pitch black. My body felt broken, reminding me of the state I was in after defeating the Floating Island.
Slowly, my senses began to return.
A humid, musty smell—even worse than my semi-basement room—permeated my nose. I could hear the rhythmic dripping of water.
Am I in a cave?
"Isaac!"
"...!"
The shout of my name rang out like a thunderclap.
My eyes snapped open. Consciousness flooded back.
I was in a dismal, damp cave. I could feel the cold, hard stone against my back; it seemed I was leaning against a wall, hidden away.
I had no strength left. A piercing pain, like thousands of needles, pricked every inch of my skin. The parts of my body that had turned to stone had long since lost all sensation, which was a small mercy.
Where was I? I didn't remember a cave like this anywhere in ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱.
"Isaac... thank god."
A soft, beautiful voice came from beside me. With a monumental effort, I turned my head. A girl in a school uniform was sitting next to me, watching me intently.
Her uniform was tattered, little more than rags. Her skin was stained with dirt, and the ends of her hair were singed. Yet, her eyes still shone like the blue ocean.
She was the last person I expected to see here.
"Luce...?"
It was Luce Eltania.
Even in the dim light of the cave, the purple brooch on her uniform stood out. It was the emblem of a 3rd-Year.
What the hell was going on?
"I thought you'd left me, you idiot."
"Luce, what is this...?"
"Yeah. I'm wondering that, too. You wouldn't know since you fainted... Galia sacrificed himself to protect us. Everyone else... everyone else is dead."
Luce leaned her head on my shoulder. Her voice dropped to a whisper, thick with exhaustion and unshed tears.
I had fainted. Galia was dead. Everyone else was gone.
As the information settled, my mind began to churn. Like someone pounding on a locked door, buried memories fought to reach the surface.
[Status]
Name: Isaac
Lv: 178
Gender: Male
Year: 3rd
Title: Cool-Headed 3rd Year
Mana: [※ Mana Depleted] – Mana Recovery Speed (S)
"Ah..."
As the status window opened, the memories hidden behind the fog came rushing back. I couldn't remember every tiny detail, but I recalled everything that had happened in this world up until recently.
I had fought the Evil God Nephid—and I had lost.
Luce had somehow managed to drag me to safety, but the Evil God’s magic had already descended, ending the world as we knew it. According to her, Galia had given his life to buy us time.
Outside this cave was a world ruled by demons. The Black Flame Legion and the Apocalypse Dragon-Azhi Dahāka would be prowling the wastes, while Angra Mainyu watched the world burn.
I looked at the loading window floating in the air. It was at 73%.
Finally, I understood what that window represented.
"Initialization" meant being sent back to the moment I first possessed Isaac.
In other words, the moment I thought I had first entered this world... wasn't actually the first time.
"..."
I couldn't find the words. It felt like I’d been struck by a physical blow to the back of my head.
I had already faced the Evil God once before.