Nightfall - Hidden Route (2)
With the game officially starting, Yujin finally understood that he had become the hunter’s body once more.
“Ugh… mmm…”
Eventually, the hunter’s body let out a groan and raised its upper body.
“Where…?”
When he opened his eyes, the hunter found himself lying in a place he had never known.
This was a cabin.
A cute cabin overflowing with an adorable, fairy-tale atmosphere, as if it had stepped straight out of a children’s book.
“Have you woken up, Hunter?”
At that moment, a soft voice came from behind him.
He turned his head and saw a woman with silver hair and crimson eyes wearing a gothic dress, staring at him.
As for other features, it was simply that her face was so breathtakingly beautiful that one might wonder if it wasn’t carved by some artificial hand.
- Puppet sister has arrived!!!
- Nightfall’s real heroine, puppet sister is here
- Still crazy gorgeous
With her appearance, the viewers erupted in cheers, praising her sculptural looks.
“…And you?”
“I am a puppet. An artificial human who serves the First Hunter, Ariandel, and cares for you in the paradise… I suppose that’s what I should say.”
“I should say? Why the past tense like that?”
Yujin frowned at the puppet’s way of trailing off with past tense.
So that was it. Why did she speak in the past tense like “I should say”?
“Noble Hunter. Because you killed my master, the First Hunter, Ariandel, I have been stripped of the role I was supposed to fulfill in the paradise.”
“…You were stripped of the role you were supposed to fulfill?”
“That is correct. I was originally a being like a bubble that could only live inside the paradise. I guided you on the path you had to take and strengthened your power. Originally, I was supposed to only watch over you until you hunted every beast in Arkham. Originally, that is.”
The explanation was incomprehensible, but Yujin, who had quite a bit of knowledge about this, understood the puppet’s words and nodded.
“I see. Because I killed Ariandel, you can no longer help me.”
“Puppets are originally beings that are subordinate to their master and devoted to them… a puppet without a master is nothing more than a worthless thing. So currently, I cannot help you. I am truly sorry, O great Hunter…”
- LOL LOL LOL I only played Nightfall up to round 3 and I’ve never seen such event cutscenes lololol
- Now I see that even after killing Ariandel in the tutorial, all the events were prepared lololol
- Puppet sister Yuna never says such lines normally
- Wait, could you only hunt Ariandel in the tutorial, not for other humans?!
- Nightfall hidden route (only one person in all of humanity could unlock it)
- The way she phrases it sounds cool lololol
- my thoughts exactly
- The puppet sister Yuna’s lines are so meaningful, is there something to it? I don’t know anything about it??
- Winter, you said you pre-played the hidden route, so how do we proceed?
- Winter’s feelings… why Did she really think that of us???
- God tier! God tier! God tier! God tier! God tier!
- Winter, who suppressed her curiosity until the end for communication with viewers… thank you so much…
Meanwhile, the viewers, unaware of the behind-the-scenes details, cheered for Winter.
“From here on, I also know nothing like the viewers. So, shall we all think together about how to enter the hidden route?”
- Group intelligence ON
- When we add up all our IQs, it’ll top 10,000, and the answer will come quickly
- Humans were actually connected by blood lololol
- Does anyone have a good idea? It doesn’t matter what, just say your thoughts first. I’ll never get angry at anything strange you say.
- She said she wouldn’t get angry, but her face says she’ll remain silent if it’s nonsense.
- ??? : Oppa! Am I weird today? (In my opinion, today’s my appearance doesn’t sit well with me, but oppa’s eyes will definitely not see it as such. Answer in descriptive subjective format of 500 characters or less, logically.)
- LOL
- PTSD ON
- Without a girlfriend, where does PTSD even come from lol
Most viewers were busy teasing Winter with comments, but surprisingly, several viewers genuinely delved into their deductions.
- First, we should explore the cabin and look for anything suspicious, like a screaming doll.
- A screaming doll? Ah, the key item for the route to hunt the Bishop of Lucis? I actually tried to do that too, but I couldn’t find the doll. Probably in the hidden route, the doll isn’t inside the cabin.
- Or maybe we leave the cabin and move to a specific location? While wandering the city, a forced event might appear.
- But this is inside Hunter’s Haven. Originally, Ariandel was supposed to oversee the entrance to the haven, but I couldn’t find a way to leave of my own accord.
As Winter and the viewers huddled together discussing how to proceed with the game, Yujin blinked his eyes while watching the situation so far.
It was clear that Winter was trying to find a way to open the hidden route by discussing it with the viewers so they wouldn’t get frustrated.
And precisely because of that, the current situation was even more incomprehensible to him.
- ‘Why is she trying to make the game this complicated?’
Of course, based solely on experience playing virtual reality games, Winter was far ahead of Yujin.
Winter or the viewers watching this broadcast had quite a bit of experience in this area, so if left alone, she would eventually find a way to progress the hidden route.
But to Yujin, that seemed far too inefficient.
- ‘From the very beginning, the answer to this situation is staring me right in the face.’
Yujin wasn’t as knowledgeable about virtual reality games as Winter or the other viewers, but as a hero, he had twenty years of experience under his belt.
Considering it, listening to people’s worries and solving them as a single hero, or receiving quests and progressing the game in virtual reality, weren’t they basically the same?
He decided.
Then he stood up from his seat, approached the puppet who was sitting upright on the chair, and spoke.
- Huh?
- What the hell is SM master doing?
The viewers were startled by Yujin’s sudden impulsive action, but he paid no heed and addressed the puppet.
“Hey, your name is puppet, right? A puppet who served Ariandel in the past, weren’t you?”
“Yes, that’s right, Hunter.”
“And because Ariandel died and you were stripped of your role inside the paradise, you said you couldn’t help me at all.”
“Yes.”
“My master, Ariandel, died at my hands. He tried to kill me, so I had no choice but to kill him. So am I the enemy of your master?”
Yujin’s words made the puppet look at him blankly before shaking his head left and right.
“That is not true, O great Hunter. It is true that Ariandel was my master, but he was also a traitor who forgot his duties as the First Hunter. He was nothing more than a heretic who accepted the Ruler’s power despite being a hunter who should have hunted beasts.”
“But from what you said, you seemed to have helped Ariandel inside the paradise while he was alive.”
“As long as Ariandel was alive, he was my master. But the reason he created me in the first place was to hunt every beast in this city and eliminate the source of the nightmares. So now that he is dead, I can fulfill my original purpose.”
Yujin let out a snort at the puppet’s answer.
“After regaining freedom, you’re using the excuse that you’re just a doll and can’t move on your own?”
“…”
“Ariandel said before he died, ‘I entrust you to end the nightmares of Arkham and slay its culprit.’ Yet you’re the one who was supposed to serve him and now just sigh helplessly because you can’t help me at all.”
“Th-that’s…”
“I am leaving here. And as Ariandel asked, I will hunt every beast in the city and end this nightmare. While you sit there hesitating because you can’t do anything.”
“H-Hunter…”
“Then I’ll go. After all, it seems there’s nothing more to discuss with you.”
- He’s going to leave already?
- What is SM master even doing?
So saying, Yujin stood up and began walking straight toward the exit door.
Completely ignoring the pitiful look the puppet cast at him.
Klink.
And just as he grabbed the doorknob to turn the door beside him, with no lingering attachment left, something happened.
“W-wait! Please wait a moment, Hunter!”
- Caught!
Yujin smiled inwardly, but on the outside maintained a cold expression as he turned back.
“What is it. Do you have anything left to say to me?”
“What you said is correct. My mission is to defeat all beasts and end the nightmare surrounding this city. But I was trying to avoid fulfilling my duties by claiming my master had died…”
- So that’s why she’s acting like this?
- God tier! God tier! God tier! God tier! God tier!
- Winter, who suppressed her curiosity until the end for communication with viewers… thank you so much…
- my thoughts exactly
- The puppet sister Yuna’s lines are so meaningful, is there something to it? I don’t know anything about it??
- Winter, you said you pre-played the hidden route, so how do we proceed?
- Winter’s feelings… why Did she really think that of us???
- God tier! God tier! God tier! God tier! God tier!
- Winter, who suppressed her curiosity until the end for communication with viewers… thank you so much…
After saying that, the puppet stood up from the chair and knelt before Yujin with a thud.
“My essence is an artificial human created by human hands. I exist to devote this body to someone and serve as their help.”
From that position, the puppet grabbed Yujin’s hand tightly, as if it were his only lifeline.
“Ah, therefore, I humbly beg you, Hunter. Please become the second master of this useless puppet doll. And guide me, who was abandoned by my master, to the correct future…”
With that, the puppet kissed the back of Yujin’s hand.
And in the next moment.
The moment the hidden route opened officially, the one everyone had longed for and waited for.