The Return of Arka
Congratulations! You've cleared the boss!
For a while, I couldn't tear my eyes away from those words. It didn't feel real. The fact that I... no, that we had actually defeated the boss seemed like something out of a dream.
But I was breathing.
My stamina bar had bled into a dangerous red, yet I could feel my heart beating, the cool breeze brushing my skin, and the undeniable truth that I was still alive.
“We won...”
More than the thrill of victory, what hit me hardest was relief. With the deep satisfaction of having pulled it off, I let my body collapse fully into the grass.
That was when I heard footsteps approaching from the side.
“You worked hard, Ian.”
It was Emily. She looked down at me and let out a soft chuckle.
“You look like absolute hell. Anyone who saw you right now would swear you were a corpse.”
I couldn't argue. If I wandered around like this, people would probably mistake me for a ghost.
Still, I didn't even have the strength to speak, let alone wipe away the blood. It would be a nightmare once it dried and caked on, but right now I genuinely couldn't move a finger.
“Though I have to say... you look a lot better with the hood down. What do you think about keeping it off from now on?”
“No thanks.”
“Aww, what a shame.”
Shame? It wasn't like I was playing this game to show off my face.
Next time I'd have to buy something sturdy that wouldn't rip or get yanked off so easily.
Anyway.
Now that it was just the two of us, there was one question I needed to ask her.
“Emily. Did you really believe I would last?”
Watching her command the party in the middle of battle, she had seemed like a cold and calculating leader.
I refused to believe someone like her would shove me into a suicide mission based on nothing but a hunch.
I stared at her, almost accusingly.
She simply shrugged.
“Who knows? You probably wouldn't believe me no matter what I said. But without you, Ian, we wouldn't have cleared the boss today. We might have been completely wiped out. So I want to thank you. No matter what anyone says, the greatest contributor to today's raid was you.”
“Flattery.”
But I closed my eyes.
Looking at it coldly, her decision had been correct. Someone had to draw the boss's aggro. It just happened that the person chosen for that role was me. That was all. I decided to leave it at that.
“So how many died?”
“...Ten.”
“That's a lot.”
Even so, the bitterness in my mouth was overwhelming.
In a raid with no proper strategy, losing a quarter of the team could be called a light price. But human lives could never be weighed on a scale. Most of them had been strangers I'd only met today, yet my chest felt crushed under a heavy stone.
That was when it happened.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Sudden applause.
Like an audience praising a magnificent performance, a voice full of admiration rang out.
“That was truly wonderful! I never imagined you'd clear it in one go. Humans really are amazing, aren't they?”
It was a voice I knew all too well.
No player trapped in this world could ever forget it.
Emily's smile vanished in an instant, her face twisting into something fierce.
“You... you...!”
There stood a girl.
White hair flowing all the way to her legs. A fluttering blue dress. An ethereal aura that spread softly like an angel descended from heaven.
We all knew exactly who she was.
“Now then.”
April 5, 2038.
Even now, the memory of that day remained as vivid as if it had happened yesterday.
Because that was the day Arcadia was released to the world, and the day this cruel death game began.
It would be more accurate to say it was impossible to forget even if I wanted to.
A crucible of chaos and screams. The one who had appeared then was the very girl standing before us now—Arka.
Originally, Arka had been the guide NPC who taught new players about this world upon their first login to Arcadia Online.
People usually called it a tutorial. She was meant to help players adapt by teaching them how to handle weapons, use consumables, and everything else. As Arcadia's only multi-purpose NPC, that had been her role.
So when she appeared in the sky, everyone assumed it was some event prepared by the game company.
The inability to log out of a virtual reality game was a common cliché in fiction, so they thought it was just a special prank for the world's first full-dive MMORPG.
But the Arka from back then had greeted the players with the same elegant bow she used now.
"Welcome to the death game, players."
With those words, hell had begun.
For an entire month after that, Arka had not shown herself before the players.
No one knew whether she had disguised herself as another NPC or was hiding among us.
So why had she appeared now? Was she really here just to congratulate us on clearing the boss?
At that moment, a voice rang out beside me.
“Arka!”
“E-Emily?”
She had completely lost her mind and was already leveling her shield at the girl.
“Die...!”
Before Emily could charge, I desperately grabbed her arm.
“Get a hold of yourself!”
“Let go!”
“Do you have a death wish?”
“You...”
It was fortunate that Naira and Mugi realized what was happening and came running. If it had been only me, I might not have been able to stop her.
She was overflowing with rage, and that rage had turned violent.
Of course I understood how she felt. Even I wanted to punch that obnoxious face. If I could, I'd do it every single day.
But we knew what would happen if we turned against her.
The memory of her making those who threw tantrums demanding to be released disappear with a single gesture was still burned into my mind.
Besides, she was nothing more than an NPC. Emily's outburst was just pointless venting.
Ten people had already died. We couldn't afford to lose Emily now.
Naira, Mugi, and I held her back with everything we had.
Watching us, Arka burst into laughter.
“That was a good decision, unni. It's a little disappointing for Arka, but today Arka only came to see unni's face anyway.”
“What?”
Who are you calling unni? There was no time to say it out loud. Arka had appeared right in front of me as if she'd sprouted from the ground.
While everyone else froze in shock, her lifeless hand grabbed my chin.
“Ugh!”
“Hehe... So this is what you look like? What a mess. That won't do, unni. A girl should always stay clean and pretty.”
Arka snapped her fingers, and water droplets formed in the air.
They swallowed me whole in an instant, washing away every trace of filth on my body.
Everyone present, myself included, was stunned into silence by the surreal sight.
The first thing she did after showing up for the first time in so long was greet us for Area 2 and give me a bath. Had the NPC finally lost her mind?
By the time it was over, my body felt cleaner than it had before we set out. The droplets finally released me and vanished with a soft pop.
Arka, satisfied with my appearance, took a step back.
“Well, that's all for today. See you again in Area 2, everyone!”
She waved like a friend saying goodbye and disappeared on the wind, as if she'd never been there at all.
Yet none of us could move from where we stood.
“What the hell was that about?”
Someone's hollow mutter simply drifted away on the breeze.
By the time we made it back to the village, the sun had completely set.
We had originally planned to head straight into Area 2, but the brutal raid had left everyone drained, so we chose to return to the safety of the village instead.
We held a small banquet at the same restaurant where we'd gathered that morning, both to celebrate our clear and to mourn those who had fallen.
The food was the usual plain fare, paired with bitter liquor, but the atmosphere wasn't bad. It was good enough that even I, who normally kept to myself, stayed and joined in.
Maybe it was because Arka had singled me out. Or maybe because word had spread that I'd faced the boss alone.
“Oh! So you're Ian? I'm Shaula. I use a sword too.”
“I'm Paris. I fight with a spear. Nice to meet you.”
“I'm Wang Mei. Let's get along from now on.”
Thanks to the news of my performance today, I couldn't avoid drawing attention.
And they kept pushing drinks on me. Even in a virtual world, my stomach felt like it was turning.
Still... honestly, it didn't feel bad.
Until now people had only approached me because of my looks, but this time it felt like I was finally being recognized as a real member of the raid party.
That must be why I ended up accepting every drink they offered. Ah, I'm so full I could die.
“The life of a popular person really is something. You must be exhausted.”
“This isn't what I wanted at all. Sigh... I just want to go back and sleep.”
I clinked glasses with Naira as she sat down beside me.
The banquet was nearing its end, but her face hadn't flushed at all. She was still brimming with energy.
“Where's Mugi, by the way?”
“She's always been shy. She already went to bed.”
“Makes sense.”
We stared blankly at the lively crowd for a while.
It had been a brutal day, but everyone—including Emily—looked bright. The noise of chatter, singing, and drinking was a pleasant sight.
Then Naira's voice came from beside me.
“You know what? Honestly, I thought I was going to die today.”
“Yeah?”
“Hey, I might not look it, but I'm actually a huge coward.”
“Sure, we'll go with that.”
Naira grumbled, but I understood how she felt. There had been more than a few moments during the raid when I was certain I was going to die.
I'd resolved to try taking the boss down alone, but if I really had been by myself, I would have been the one who died.
“So I think what you did today was really incredible. It was basically like you beat the boss all by yourself.”
“You're giving me too much credit. We beat it together.”
“I'm glad you see it that way.”
Naira took a sip and looked at me. The intensity of her gaze made me instinctively turn away.
It wasn't a confession or anything, so why was she staring at me like that?
Feeling awkward, I tried to take a drink.
Before I could, Naira spoke again.
“Ian.”
“What?”
“Will you become a hero?”
“...Huh?”
What had she just said? My mind went completely blank at the sudden verbal ambush.
I had no idea what to say. I couldn't even imagine what kind of expression I was making.
Time seemed to stretch out.
All I could do was open and close my mouth uselessly.
For someone who'd lived their entire life as a perpetual solo player, this situation was far more difficult than the boss fight.
I had never learned the right words to say to a woman when there were no good choices available.
At that moment, Naira burst out laughing.
“Pfft! Look at your face! I'm just kidding. Why are you getting so flustered?”
She patted my back, but even then I couldn't look away from her.
Whether I stared or not, Naira stood up.
“Ugh! I'm tired. I should head to bed soon too.”
She smiled and waved, then turned toward the stairs leading to the second floor where her room was.
My short-circuited brain wasn't recovering easily. All I could do was watch her back as she walked away.
Then, just as she was about to head upstairs, Naira suddenly looked back at me.
“By the way, you're seriously pretty. How about just walking around with your face showing from now on?”
Only then could my mouth finally move.
“J-just look for yourself.”