The Oblivion Pill
The first time I saw it, I thought the Oblivion Pill would only be useful as an emergency recovery item in a crisis. But now I’d finally figured out the most effective way to use it.
The pill’s effect was simple: it could reset your memories to twenty-four hours ago, or restore your body to the state it had been in twenty-four hours prior. And the most crucial detail was that we had entered the team battle less than twenty-four hours ago.
A large number of constellations are watching the Star Who Likes to Adventure.
The Star Who Likes to Adventure waves its hands frantically, insisting this wasn’t what it expected.
Judging by the reaction, the constellation that created the Oblivion Pill was apparently the one with “Adventure” in its name. Moreover, even the constellation that had given me the pill as a tutorial clear reward clearly hadn’t anticipated a situation like this.
‘I didn’t plan it this way, but…’
I had gained unexpected information. Constellations might be overwhelmingly powerful compared to players, but they weren’t omniscient. It wasn’t immediately relevant in our current crisis, but it was something I would need to keep in mind as I continued climbing the Tower.
The Star Who Likes to Adventure watches you with anxious eyes.
Ding!
Oblivion Pill (A+) is consumed.
Your state is reset to 24 hours ago.
My body, which had felt oppressively heavy, suddenly became incredibly light. A surge of euphoria rushed through me, as if I could accomplish anything. The moment I sensed the dense mass of magic power rising from my dantian, the pitch-black storm of magical energy in front of me finally came into sharp focus.
A large number of constellations glare at the Star Who Likes to Adventure.
The Star Who Likes to Adventure lets out a scream.
---
Fighting Spirit (A) activates.
Enemies weaker than you lose their will to fight.
“W-what the hell!”
“……Huk!”
“Ugh…!”
At the activation of Fighting Spirit, every player charging toward us froze in place. Some dropped to their knees as their legs gave out. A few with weaker mental fortitude collapsed entirely, foaming at the mouth.
“Fuck! What kind of bullshit is this?!”
“What the hell just happened?! Why can’t I move?!”
The sudden reversal left the man who seemed to be their leader pale-faced and cursing violently. I would have liked to savor the satisfying sight for a moment, but we weren’t in any position to relax. Even if the enemies had stopped moving, the attacks they’d already launched were still hurtling toward us.
I need to end this quickly.
A message only I could see appeared.
A large number of constellations, dissatisfied with the current situation, attempt to impose restrictions on you out of concern that the team battle’s balance will be destroyed.
The constellations unhappy with the current state of affairs were trying to restrain me. There was no telling when they might strip my power away. I assumed a middle stance and stared intently at the incoming storm of magic power.
The Celestial Council begins.
📍 Topic: Player Kim Siin
📍 Topic: Oblivion Pill
📍 Topic: The Star Who Likes to Adventure
The council had begun. No matter what verdict they reached, I had to resolve the situation before any abnormalities affected my body.
More than ten mages had combined their power. The resulting black mass of energy hurtled toward us with a ferocity that made it impossible to believe it was cast with only Lv.15 magic power. Although the enemies’ pursuit had stopped, despair bloomed in the eyes of my companions as they faced the deathly violet magical storm.
There it is.
Even so, I could faintly see a way through. Because so many mages had joined forces, the quantity of magic power was enormous, but the balance was distorted. The magic on the far left and right was dense and solid—probably to prevent the spell from dispersing midway. But the center was comparatively weak.
I lowered my stance and let my sword hang behind me, aiming precisely at that spot.
“Huu…”
A technique that compressed sword energy vertically and launched it forward to bisect the opponent. It still lacked mastery and consumed a great deal of mental strength, but it was the most suitable form for piercing such a wide-area attack.
Magic power began compressing along the blade held behind me. It was incomparably more solid than when I used New Moon or Ecstasy. My fingertips grew so heavy that I felt I might drop the sword if I didn’t grip it tightly.
The storm of magic power was right in front of me.
And with every ounce of strength I possessed, I swung my sword upward.
Moonlight Sword Art Fourth Form
Half Moon Slash
Swish!
Right after a faint sound like the air being sliced, a noise like the atmosphere itself being sucked into the path of my blade followed.
For a brief moment, time seemed to stop. A crescent-shaped blade of sword energy hung in the empty space where my sword had passed. It began small, but the sound gradually took form, and the aftermath soon unfolded a result that surpassed my imagination.
KWAAAAAAAANG!!!
It shot forward. The brilliant blade of light tore through the black magic power with ferocious intensity. The storm that had seemed ready to swallow us whole split cleanly in half, creating a spectacular sight.
Ding!
The Celestial Council has ended.
📍 Verdict: The excessively elevated stats are judged to have broken the trial’s balance. Your stats will be reverted shortly.
📍 Compensation:Oblivion Pill will be reissued.
📍 Bonus: Due to constellation intervention, the mission completion reward grade will be increased.
The stats that had briefly returned began to fade away. My body was reverting to a state close to total exhaustion, but at least we had somehow overcome a crisis that could have ended in annihilation.
The black mages who had fired the spell were now collapsed on the ground, vomiting blood. The magic power that had flown toward us split left and right, crashing into the enemies who had tried to surround us. They ground their teeth in frustration at bodies that had finally decided to obey them again.
KWANG! KWAGWANG!
But then a new problem arose. The ground near the cliff where we stood must have been brittle; when the deadly mass of magic power struck it, a massive tremor shook the earth.
“Whoa?”
“The ground…!”
The earth began to tilt. More precisely, a huge fissure formed exactly at the boundary between us and the enemies, splitting the ground apart.
“Run! Jump!!”
“That way! Toward the fissure!!!”
People turned deathly pale and scrambled desperately to escape the cliff that was about to break away. More than half the enemies were already down; if we could just get out of here, we would clear one dangerous hurdle.
“Gale!!!”
Namgung Cheonho urgently formed hand seals and sent a powerful gust of wind toward those who had started running ahead. People who had already crossed the nearly severed ground tumbled across the floor. A few who had been leading the group leaped after them.
“Gamin, grab my hand!”
“Unnie!”
“Cheonho!”
Those who had crossed first reached out to pull the others still trying to make it over. But they had forgotten one thing.
“Huk, huk… I’m fine… huh?”
“Damn it! Siin!”
When Namgung Cheonho and Park Jocheol turned their heads, I was naturally nowhere to be seen. In that brief moment I had drawn far too much magic power to the very bottom and fallen into exhaustion. I couldn’t even take a single step.
People screamed and covered their mouths. Others watched me slowly sink with devastated eyes. But it was already too late for them to take any action. I tried to give my body orders it could no longer obey, desperate to survive somehow.
Damn it!
Not even a twitch. No matter how hard I struggled, my legs refused to move. Frustration turned into pure rage.
Finding the loophole in the fixed abilities during the team battle had been my own achievement. I had remembered the Oblivion Pill that even the constellations had forgotten and forced it down my throat despite the risk of losing my memories. When death loomed, my mind had made a lightning-fast decision.
But now my head was filled only with dizzy, painted-over memories of the past. No suitable method to overcome the current situation came to mind.
Finally the cliff tilted completely. A weightless sensation engulfed my entire body. There was no longer any ground or foothold.
That was when I resigned myself to leaving the rest of this team battle to the others.
……!
“Huh?”
At first I thought the violent sound of wind was a hallucination. An urgent voice slammed into my ears. Even as I fell, I strained to lift my head and look toward the source.
“Ughhhk!”
Someone was gritting their teeth, falling alongside me.
“Got you!!!”
A girl with an unusually small frame and fluttering blonde hair had finally caught my falling hand. Han Gamin, eyes squeezed tightly shut as she stared at our landing point, pulled me with surprising strength. Together we plummeted rapidly toward the dark forest below.