Nightfall - When Gods Are Slain (2)

"Alright then — time to fire up Nightfall!"

The moment the words left Yujin's mouth, the space around him began to shift and reassemble at breakneck speed. When the world finished putting itself back together, he found himself standing once more in the place called Paradise.

Unfortunately, the scenery around him was something that could no longer, by any stretch of the imagination, be called paradise. The scars of his blood-soaked battle with the Star-Gazer remained everywhere he looked, completely untouched.

"Uh… this place is a total wreck."

Yujin clicked his tongue as he took in the utter chaos surrounding him. Once upon a time, this place had lived up to its name — a cozy, storybook landscape straight out of a fairy tale. Now it was exactly what he'd said: a complete disaster zone.

The ground was pocked with craters as if it had been carpet-bombed, courtesy of the Ruler thrashing about and slamming its tentacles down. The little cottage that had looked like something lifted from a picture book had been obliterated without a trace. And the garden that had once flaunted its beauty had been reduced to a perfect wasteland, as though a hurricane had torn straight through it.

"The Ruler did all this, huh? Could've dialed it back a little… this is seriously overkill."

"You've returned, Master."

And then she was there. Yuria, who had been sitting on one of the few benches in the area that still looked intact, spotted Yujin and came scampering straight toward him.

"You may have won the battle, but I simply cannot let this pass without a lecture. You were far too reckless. A Ruler is not something you can just take down with a single sword, Master."

Even as she grumbled, Yuria settled back onto her usual perch on Yujin's shoulder and pointed a finger at the half-ruined cottage.

"Master, inside those ruins you should find various items that would be of use in hunting a Ruler. Please check them."

"Items that would help?"

Yujin tilted his head and started rummaging through the wreckage of the cottage. Sure enough, in one corner of the ruins, a distinctly unusual-looking chest caught his eye. He opened it to find a beautifully gleaming necklace and a ring nestled inside.

"The necklace is called Memento Mori, and the ring is called Requiem. Had you been wearing these while fighting the Ruler… the battle just now would have gone rather more smoothly."

At Yuria's words, Yujin pulled up the information on each item.

"…Ah. These."

Yujin stared at the item descriptions with a look of pure disbelief — but the viewers, on the other hand, lit up and started spamming the chat.

That was the truth of it. The Nightfall development team had assumed that only players who had already cleared at least one full run would be able to enter the hidden route — and so they had made that route dramatically harder than the standard path.

But assumptions were one thing, and design was another. The developers had concluded that beating a Ruler with nothing but a single holy sword was simply impossible. To defeat a Ruler, you had to accurately locate and destroy its heart — its one true weak point. And trying to find the weak spot of a Ruler larger than a mountain while your Insanity meter skyrocketed and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you could barely keep your own body upright was not something humanity was meant to accomplish.

So the team had planted Memento Mori, which shielded the player's mind from Insanity, and Requiem, which revealed the location of the Ruler's heart, right here in the vicinity.

Of course, Yujin had fought the Ruler without knowing any of that.

"If I'd known, I would've listened when Yuria told me to fall back. Could've skipped that whole nightmare…"

"Hmm… but I don't really feel the need to equip these. So I won't."

"Because equipping stuff like this would make the game way too easy. I want to fight fair and square, that's all."

The sheer audacity of declaring he wouldn't equip items specifically ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠prepared as essentials for fighting a Ruler left the viewers momentarily speechless — and then they erupted in pure hype. This was the kind of play no other streamer on earth could ever pull off; the kind of play only Yujin was capable of. And it was exactly that quality that had turned them all into his most devoted fans.

"…So in the end, you won't wear the necklace or the ring. They are essential for fighting a Ruler, and yet… truly, you are a terribly disobedient Master who never listens to a word I say."

Grumbling, Yuria lifted her tiny hands and began weaving a series of intricate mudras. A gate blooming with brilliant light bloomed into existence before them.

"Shall we head to Arkham first? Now that the Star-Gazer has fallen, we ought to see what changes have come to the city."

At her words, Yujin hurled himself through the gate — and in the next instant, found himself standing in the heart of a gloomy, gray, gothic city. He had finally escaped that cursed Paradise and returned to Arkham once more.

"…So what am I supposed to do now?"

Dropped smack in the middle of the city like a lost child, Yujin muttered the question under his breath without meaning to. Until now, Gyeoul had been at his side feeding him tips, so progressing through the game had never been particularly hard. But taking the lead and driving the story forward on his own was a first — and it left him feeling more than a little stranded.

And that was when it happened.

"Hmm. Judging by the getup, a hunter? Curious, though. A hunter who just pops out of thin air."

"Eh, he probably just came back from seeing the old man in Paradise. Look — he's got a puppet-looking familiar with him."

"A newcomer, then. I figured there weren't any humans left in this city besides us."

Behind him, three men dressed in outfits not unlike Yujin's own were looking him over. Judging by the chat, they were among the handful of hunters still surviving in Arkham.

"Whew… at least that's a relief. To be greeted by humans rather than beasts the moment we return to Arkham. I know these hunters by face, as it happens. Since it has come to this, it would be wise to ask them about recent events—"

"Hmm… yeah. Not sure I'd recommend that."

But Yujin only gave a short snort of laughter at Yuria's suggestion and started walking straight toward the cluster of hunters.

"Want to talk with us, do you? Fellow hunters exchanging information isn't a bad idea. Good to meet you — I've been working as a hunter here in Arkham for five years. Name's Ka—"

Unfortunately, Yujin would never learn the man's name.

Shhk—!

Because before the man could finish speaking, Yujin had already drawn the holy sword from his hip and taken his head clean off.

"I didn't kill him. And they're not dead yet."

And then it happened.

Pwahk—!

The man's body suddenly contorted in a grotesque spasm. His chest split open with a wet crack, and several writhing tentacles burst out, thrashing wildly. That man had long since stopped being anything that could be called human.

Well. It wasn't exactly something he could explain by saying he'd fought countless things that weren't human but wore human faces, back in another life.

Yujin just shrugged at the viewers' questions and gave them a suitably vague answer.

"Eh. Just didn't like the look of them."