Chapter 59
Chapter 59
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: My Own Way - 2
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"...This is dangerous."
The party's atmosphere changed after Chapter 3 of the main story.
No, it probably started after Chapter 1 ended. When I first said I'd join the hero's party, the three original members were pretty worried about me.
And they had good reason. After all, Claire, Leventia, and Evangeline were official hero's party members, blessed with divine protection as they went about their journey.
But I had no such thing, so it was natural for them to worry I'd suffer during the harsh travels.
That's why the three of them went out of their way to accommodate me, and in the process, I thought we'd built a decent relationship.
That's why I was happy to support them, and in between, I could work on my achievements.
Things went wrong in Chapter 3. After the incident in Baek Eun Village.
Once we passed the Pale Moon event, Leventia started getting jealous of me, and Evangeline began looking down on me more and more.
Of course, I had anticipated something like this when I first joined the hero's party.
I was originally the fourth member who shouldn't even exist.
Even in the game, if you used a glitch to add an extra party member, that added member's affinity would drop quickly.
As if reflecting that, cracks started forming between the party members.
In the game, it was the player's job—the hero's—to cover for that, but only players who'd seen multiple endings could handle it skillfully.
This was basically my first playthrough, and with Claire being so mentally fragile, it was natural she struggled to mediate the party's relationships.
Normally, if discord like this arose, party members would just leave.
But from my position now, what would happen to the hero's party if I did that?
"Ugh..."
No need to guess. I recalled the mid-boss in Chapter 5.
Before I learned AoE heal, I suggested we wait until I did, but the hero's party charged into the fight anyway.
Without a proper healer, they got cornered by the mid-boss, and if I hadn't barely rejoined after learning AoE heal just in time, it might've been game over.
Even after that, they ignored my suggestions multiple times, leading to similar issues, and as the journey dragged on, the party's mood plummeted.
The problem is, I'm human too.
No matter how prepared I thought I was, constantly getting chewed out and blamed—especially when they ignored my correct advice, made bad choices, caused damage, and then lashed out at me like this—it was driving me insane.
And yesterday, I finally couldn't hold back and snapped.
"Ahh. Damn it."
I knew it wouldn't be easy, but not like this. I clutched my face.
If Claire hadn't desperately stopped me yesterday, I probably would've grabbed Leventia or Evangeline by the collar and fought them.
Sigh.
Anyway, this can't go on.
I'm human too, so my emotions could wear down and my mind could break.
Especially in this harsh world. With stress piling up and the constant anxiety of dying mid-journey, I needed to do something.
-Knock knock.
"Come in."
"Um... Hyunwoo. You okay?"
Claire came in through the door. She glanced around cautiously, forcing a smile, but she must've been really worried.
But in my current unstable mental state, even her concern just sparked irritation and anger.
She's the hero and the party's leader.
If problems arose between members, she should mediate and resolve them. But Claire's inexperienced leadership was already overwhelmed just keeping the journey going, and that grated on me, the veteran.
In the end, the burden from the party falling on me was largely her fault.
So her behavior irritated me inevitably.
But I couldn't say that.
Blaming her here would only hurt her, and that would deepen the party's rifts even more.
Demon King subjugation? Forget it.
"Yeah. I'm fine."
"Um. We decided to take a break for a while."
"...What?"
"Leventia too, and Evangeline... Everyone seems mentally drained. And you look exhausted too."
What the hell?
Hurry up and go kill the Demon King already. Or grind levels if not. Taking a break now?
No. Can't.
Dangerous.
Anger surged again.
I looked at Claire and nodded.
Yeah. Time for me to take some risks and prepare.
"So I was thinking, maybe we could go to a resort together..."
"Perfect timing. I have somewhere to go anyway."
"Huh?"
Claire's eyes widened in surprise, and I smiled at her.
"B-But."
"It's fine."
I patted Claire's shoulder reassuringly. I knew what she was worried about.
Her heart might be soft, but she's not stupid. She knows how big a risk it is to the party if I leave now.
But staying like this is even more dangerous.
In the worst case, I might end up killing them all myself.
I told Claire to pause the journey until I returned. No matter what Leventia or Evangeline said, absolutely don't move.
With that much said, even soft-hearted Claire wouldn't dare act rashly.
After telling only her and leaving the party, I recalled the game's memories.
This game was half a battle against stress, emphasizing mental health that much.
Too much stress led to frequent status ailments, which could develop into mental illnesses.
Among them, some controlled the body, others the emotions.
Based on that, what I needed now was a way to avoid stress from negative emotional transfers.
Fortunately, the game had a related mental illness.
The top-tier one, 'Wall of the Heart,' was exactly it.
It literally built a wall around your heart, completely blocking others' emotional approaches—a real headache even in the game.
As you progressed, stress from party member discord, bad NPC dialogues, or petty misunderstandings affected your stats big time.
But you could escape crises through cheers or party events—unless you had Wall of the Heart, which forfeited all those benefits.
In my current situation, emotional transfers were only harming me, so better to build the Wall and focus purely on clearing the main story.
I clenched my fist, steeling my resolve.
The way to get Wall of the Heart in-game was surprisingly simple, and there was even an achievement for it.
So no need to worry.
Sure, as a top-tier illness, curing it was a pain, but no issue.
The only problem was getting stuck in this dangerous world forever.
So.
"Alright. Let's do this."
Mental illness collection challenge: 100 types.
Starting now.
Catch a mental illness, cure it. Repeat.
Finally, after the 100th one and curing it.
[Achievement: Comprehensive Mental Hospital unlocked.]
[Acquired 'Wall of the Heart.']
I could view myself objectively.
Finally got it.
One of the top-tier mental illnesses in the game: Wall of the Heart.
Nearly a month of suffering, but worth it.
When I returned after achieving my goal.
In the village I'd left, Leventia and Evangeline greeted me with sour faces.
"Where the hell have you been? We've wasted a whole month because of you!"
"Hmph. Human. Feel good wandering alone? You're hopeless. Follow me. I'll train you properly to match this Evangeline."
The moment I returned, the berating and mocking began.
But thanks to Wall of the Heart? Their insults didn't hurt at all anymore.
Just in one ear and out the other.
This thing's performance is solid!
"Um, Hyunwoo..."
After a long session of mocking and insulting me—like they were venting the stress built up while I was gone—the two stormed off roughly, and Claire approached.
"You okay...? Your face looks so worn out. Where were you all this time...?"
Off to battlefields, grabbed some achievements along the way. Soloed dungeons too.
Did every damn thing to catch mental illnesses.
Pretty fulfilling time. Got Instant Teleport, one of the most efficient achievement rewards, out of it.
"Huh? B-But. Um..."
I smiled at Claire, who looked at me worriedly.
She must've thought I'd quit the party since I left without contact.
"No big deal. Don't worry about it. No reason for me to leave you guys."
Yeah.
No reason to leave.
Until the Demon King was defeated.
"St-Still. You okay? I did talk to the others... From now on, they'll treat you nicer..."
Claire stammered excuses, defending them, but I shook my head.
Before, their unreasonable abuse would've hurt, but now? No emotion at all. Astonishingly so.
Just felt like it was someone else's problem.
.
.
.
"...What are you thinking about?"
Veronica's words snapped me out of the flashback.
The Wall of the Heart was still with me.
It didn't deny human relationships entirely, so daily life was fine.
Lots of conveniences, so I left it untreated.
Well, couldn't deny putting off the time and effort for a cure.
"Gathering my resolve."
"...Why?"
"Heh. Friend. I'm a guy too."
I lifted my hand from Veronica's back. The oil dripping neatly onto her smooth skin and rolling down was pretty alluring.
"R-Really?"
"If I get down for five minutes and show you, will you believe? It's standing firm."
"...Wh-What are you saying?!"
She'd been doing seductive stuff until a second ago, yet now she was irrationally angry.
Her shamelessness didn't hurt me a bit; I just turned away.
"Handle the front yourself. Or call a staff member."
"...Mmm."
Guess she couldn't ask me to do the front after all. Veronica replied hesitantly, and I capped the oil bottle.
"...Master."
That's when it happened. Lucille called me in a slightly subdued voice. Squinting, biting her lip, she squeezed her eyes shut, hesitated, then shouted.
"M-Me too! Please apply it for me!"
Call a staff member, you two.
But if they ask, no harm in doing it. I applied oil to Lucille's back too, then we took a short break.
"Shall I do yours, Master?"
"Nah, I'm good. More importantly, shouldn't we study soon?"
"Ah... Yeah, right."
Lucille started chattering about the duel earlier. What she felt, her mistakes, and more.
After listening for a while, I nodded.
"Yeah. If your desired card doesn't come when you want, combos get tough."
"Yes... That's a headache. It's the biggest weakness of magic decks too."
Lucille thought for a moment, then smiled brightly and grabbed me.
"So... You always draw the card you want, right Master?"
"Uh... Yeah?"
"Can you teach me that?"
"....Well. Um."
A true duelist should draw what they want when they want, but...
Can't teach her bottom-dealing with heart, no matter what.
"Don't rely on cheap tricks like that. Practice more."
"Yesss..."
As Lucille nodded regretfully, I turned to the gaze from behind.
Veronica was squinting at me, and I smiled.
I knew what that look meant, but thanks to the Wall, no hurt at all.
Guess even medicine helps if used right.
Author's Note
Hello! It's Malmulmalmul!
Hope you had a fun Chuseok! Was supposed to upload illustrations today, but my illustrator friend said November earliest, and good ones are similar ㅠ
So illustrations later, daily updates first ㅎ
Enjoy the rest of your Chuseok holidays, see you tomorrow! Bye~