Pioneer of Destiny
“…Hidden achievement unlocked?”
Staring at the message window that had suddenly popped up before his eyes, Yujin found himself frowning without meaning to.
Come to think of it, a window like this had appeared back in the tutorial too — the moment he’d taken down Ariandel.
What was it called again… [End of Childhood]?
Still not fully at home in virtual reality games, Yujin wasn’t particularly fond of these things barging into the middle of play just to announce that he’d unlocked some achievement or other.
They shattered the immersion, for one. And at the end of the day, a game achievement was nothing more than clearing a condition the developers had set in advance.
In his mind, a true achievement was something no one else had ever managed — and no one else ever would. Something utterly without precedent.
Like the way he had crushed the Demon King and the Four Heavenly Kings in the other world, and brought peace to that land at the end of it all.
So even after unlocking a brand-new achievement called [Pioneer of Destiny], Yujin wore nothing but a thoroughly unimpressed look.
Of course, Winter and the viewers watching the scene were another story entirely.
“P-Pioneer of Destiny? An achievement given to those who carve out a new fate? So that means…!”
As if taking down Ariandel in the tutorial hadn’t been enough, he had now opened a Hidden Route that not a single person who had ever played Nightfall had known about.
This was only his second stream — yesterday and today — and every time he went live he was hitting back-to-back home runs. The viewers had every reason to lose their minds.
While the excited chat flooded the screen with wild guesses about the Hidden Route’s entry conditions, Winter said nothing at all. She simply stared at the message window, lost in thought.
“Hmm… this is only my theory, but maybe the reason the achievement for unlocking the Hidden Route didn’t appear right after Ariandel went down — and only showed up now — is because every condition finally got fulfilled?”
“The way I see it, the trigger is probably the Puppet accepting the Hunter as her second master. The achievement message popped the second she grabbed Oppa’s hand and swore to serve him.”
“Anyway… Oppa, how did you even figure all this out?”
“…How did I figure it out? What are you talking about?”
“I mean, neither I nor the viewers even thought to bring up Ariandel with the Puppet in that situation. What made you just casually start that conversation like it was the most natural thing in the world?”
At Winter’s question, Yujin blinked before he could stop himself.
“Well… in that moment, it just felt like the right answer?”
“…What?”
“The Puppet. From what the viewers were saying, she seemed to play a pretty important role on the original route. So even if this was a Hidden Route, I didn’t think she’d just dump her sob story on me and exit stage left.”
“…So, to summarize: she felt shady, so you poked at her?”
“I’d prefer you put it as acting on a flash of instinct.”
“Master, allow me to greet you once more. From this moment on, I am your faithful servant — the Puppet.”
As the Puppet offered her greeting with the most graceful of manners, Yujin’s body began to move of its own accord again.
Another forced event cutscene had kicked in.
“Alright. So from now on I just call you Puppet?”
At the Hunter’s words, the Puppet looked at him for a long moment, then gave a slight shake of her head.
“How you choose to address me is entirely Master’s prerogative. However… if it is not too presumptuous, there is one request I would humbly make of you.”
“…A request? What is it?”
“I hope that Master will call me by my true name. The single name given to me in the very moment this being was created. Should you do so, I will be able to travel at Master’s side and offer my aid throughout the journey ahead. Will you grant me this?”
The true name of the Puppet — a secret wrapped in mystery until now — was about to be revealed!
On top of that, a character who on other routes merely helped the player level up without ever involving herself in the story had just declared she would aid Yujin. The viewers’ expectations began to swell to the bursting point.
“Then what is your true name?”
At the Hunter’s question, a faintly distant look crossed the Puppet’s face. Then, in a voice like a whisper, she answered.
“My true name is… Yuria. Yuria, Master.”
“Yuria. Alright. From now on, I’ll call you Yuria.”
As the Hunter murmured the name, looking at the Puppet — no, at Yuria — a series of mechanical clicks began to sound from somewhere inside her body.
“Thank you, Master. By calling me by my true name, the contract is hereby complete.”
“…Contract?”
At Yuria’s words, the Hunter’s brow furrowed.
He didn’t understand. A contract? What was she talking about—
But Yuria seemed to have no intention of giving him a proper explanation. In a low, quiet voice, she began to speak.
“Master, did you know? Originally, you would have strengthened yourself through ‘Paradise.’ And at the end of that path, you would have been swallowed by fate and reduced to a plaything of the Rulers — just as Ariandel was. Power received from the Rulers could never have been used to strike them down…”
What the puppet doll — no, what Yuria — was describing was the ending of the other routes.
There were differences here and there, but the ending the Hunter met on every route was much the same.
Unable to overcome the power of the Rulers who dominated Arkham, he would collapse into frustration and despair.
Because, just as Yuria had said, “Paradise” was ultimately a space created by the Rulers’ authority — and power received from the Rulers could never be used to destroy them.
In a way it was a thoroughly miserable bad ending, but Powell Software had always preferred endings that lingered over happy ones, so no one had ever found it strange.
“But without borrowing the Rulers’ power, purging the beasts that fill Arkham is exceedingly difficult. That is why, from long ago, the hunters of this city made extensive preparations to slay the Rulers with human strength alone. Truly extensive preparations…”
In the next instant, pure white light began to pour from Yuria’s body.
The light was so bright that the Hunter squeezed his eyes shut without thinking—
“…Hm?”
When he opened them again, Yuria was gone from before him without a trace.
And in the place where she had stood, a single sword was driven into the floor.
A blade that looked utterly sacred at a glance — yet at the same time radiated a destructive presence, two opposing auras bound in one weapon.
“Don’t tell me this sword is—”
[That is correct. My true form is humanity’s final holy sword, forged to slay the Rulers — Omega (Ω).]
The holy sword planted in the floor slid free as if acknowledging him as its master.
"[My great Master, final Hunter of Arkham. I beg you — use me to purge every nightmare that fills this city.]"
"[And at the end of that path, from this world overflowing with nothing but despair, please save us — no—]"
"[…Please save humanity.]"