Episode 160
“You win.”]
The sword of the winter night was swung, and the tomb of heroes and the clown monarch laughed. Leaving behind the scars of emptiness engraved on the colored suit.
“We won.”
Heroes wearing hundreds of masks, filled with comedy, tragedy, joy and sorrow, were watching their fight.
And the shooting star was also recognizable.
“A child with a thousand faces and a thousand talents.”]
The scars he had inflicted on the Clown Lord were possible because of the foundation of cracks built up by broken heroes repeating the same thing endlessly.
“You have become a real hero.”]
[The Clown Lord welcomes the ‘Lord of Heroes’ with open arms!] The
Clown Lord wearing the mask of “The Clown Who Doesn’t Smile” said. Leaving behind the chill of the apocalypse that slowly ran down his chest.
“Everyone needs a hero.”
Looking at that scene, Yoosung answered calmly. Even they themselves were no exception. Therefore, the broken heroes who were repeating the same thing endlessly
yearned for a ‘hero of heroes’ who would save them.
That is why the King of Heroes was there.
“He is an imitator of my shadow hero. Now you are our ‘first’.”]
The Clown Lord twisted his wounded body and burst into laughter.
Tuk.
It was right then.
One of the broken heroes watching the two dropped his mask to the floor.
The clown masks, each with its own face and a mixture of comedy and tragedy, fell to the floor and before we knew it, there was nothing left in its place.
[Skill 《Masquerade (only in mythology)》 has been acquired!]
And at the same time as one mask fell, a system message appeared.
Immediately after, another mask fell and the message appeared again.
［You have acquired the skill 《Masquerade｝!］
［You already possess 《Masquerade〽. Would you like to strengthen it with Masquerade (★★) through skill synthesis? Y/N]
［Skill《Masquerade》…］
［Already used that skill 1］
［Skill…］
One, two, three, five, eleven, one hundred, two hundred….
When the broken heroes there drop the clown masks. Each system message was engulfing Yooseong’s field of vision, like a spam pop-up.
They overlap and overlap to the point where you can’t even read the letters properly.
“Wow, the stars are spinning before my eyes.”
Immediately after, the messages that blocked the shooting star’s view began to disappear one by one again.
When the messages that had encroached upon my vision to the point where I couldn’t see anything disappeared, it was no longer the place where Yoosung had set foot just before.
And Yoosung knew the name of that place.
Throne at the End Spire of the Throne.
It seemed as if the Clown Lord’s laughter was echoing from afar. But it was just a shooting star’s illusion.
There was no longer a monarch who could look down on the King of Heroes and burst out in laughter.
Likewise, the monarchs on the throne at the end could no longer look down on the shooting star.
The 999 transcendents who look down on this world and the seven great feudal lords who stand at their peak.
[Player Kang Yoo-seong sits on the ‘Jester Lord’s Seat’!]
The Lord of Heroes was there.
“Kang Yu-seong, the king, player, and monarch of heroes.”]
[The Lord of the Game solemnly warns!]
[“The game is not over yet.”]
The Lord of the Heroes was there.
Likewise, the Lord of the Game, who reigns at the top of the throne, was also there.
The Frost Lord who bestowed the power of the winter night on the meteor The Shadow Lord who took over the seat of the Great Empress from the Lord of Nightmare In addition, the monarchs who sit on the seat of the ‘Great Prince’ and the monarchs who are silent right below them The monarchs who broke the silence Countless beings were watching the King of Heroes.
But it was no longer a one-sided look down. Rather, it was the opposite.
“Yeah, it’s not over.”
“Welcome, warrior.”]
[The Lord of Witches bows to the Lord of Heroes.] [“
…Now I don’t even know what to call you.”]
[The Lord of the Desert bows to the Lord of Heroes.
[He smiles bitterly.]
Nevertheless, as the Lord of the Game said, the game is not over yet.
The Clown Lord’s laughter no longer resonated.
And what was there was no longer a being, a shadow, or an imitator repeating the same thing endlessly.
“I am the one who wants to put an end to this game.”]
[The Lord of Heroes responds.]
“Wow, since I became the Lord, I also have a messenger function.”]
“The Lord of Heroes and the player Kang Yoo-seong.”
At the same time, a silhouette wearing a seven-horned robe spoke to the shooting star there.
“Do not forget your role as a player.”
It was no longer a voice echoing from the sky. It was a voice uttered while looking at oneself as an equal at the same eye level.
“Do not forget the mask you are wearing, King of Heroes.”
“It’s a mask.”
As he said that, Yoosung smiled bitterly.
After spilling, he snapped his fingers without saying a word.
The black business suit that Yoosung had been wearing until just moments ago had now been reborn as a pure white coat with a blood-red cross engraved on it.
When he snapped his fingers again, pitch black darkness descended on the pure white circus. I snapped my fingers again and was back in my original business suit.
Vampire Lord’s business suit.
Before we knew it, the accessories that Yoosung was wearing were scattering five-colored lights and sprinkling brilliance.
The Secret of the Clown and the Magician The only skill of the Myth level is Masquerade.
Moreover, it had been reborn as a force that could not even be compared to when it was obtained by the meteor of the past.
A thousand faces, a thousand talents.
“I know very well what mask I am wearing.”
Yoosung wordlessly moved his hand to his face, and before he knew it, he felt the presence of an unfamiliar mask on his face.
It was neither a laughing clown nor a non-smiling clown. I wasn’t crying or laughing, I was crying and laughing at the same time.
It was a mask of all things that intersected with joy, anger, sadness, joy, and immeasurable comedy and tragedy.
《Masquerade》.
The Masked Lord was there.
“Now, my military friends who are always kind to me are probably pricking their conscience.
“Should I quickly embroider and find the light?”
『I thought of it because it was so bright…”]
[“….”]
In addition, just as the monarchs no longer looked down at the shooting star, the shooting star also no longer looked up at them.
The monarch in the hero and clown mask looked down, and there was also the monarch looking up at him.
[“Respect the rules, Lord of Heroes.”]
[The Lord of the Game warns the Lord of Heroes.]
And there was also a Lord who was facing the shooting star at equal eye level.
“Oh, I see. Should I also listen to that great rule?”
Yoosung asked back calmly, and the Lord of the Game remained silent without answering.
“In the life you believe is yours, how many decisions do you
think you have made of your own will? “Lord of jesters.”]
After silence, the Lord of Games sneered. Underneath the thickly draped robe, a ‘transcendent’s mockery’ flowed that even the current shooting star could not understand.
Nevertheless, Yooseong didn’t care.
A brief silence fell.
“If everything in this world is predetermined and nothing is ‘our will,’ why do you mock me?”
After a moment of silence, Yoosung asked back.
“There would be no decision or choice that should be ridiculed.”
At the same time, laughter came out from behind the mask of all things he wore. It was a very familiar sound of laughter.
[“….”]
And the Lord of the Game could not laugh.
“Mr. Yoosung?!”
I heard Maria’s voice and looked up. It felt like waking up from a dream.
“Oh my goodness, saintess. Long time no see.”
“……yes?”
Maria tilted her head at the words Yooseong said without thinking. And finally, Yoosung realized that the events that he felt had taken eons were actually just ‘a fleeting moment.’
“I wanted to see you.”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?!”
Yoosung wordlessly moved his hand towards his face. The skin on my face touched my hand. I looked around.
There was no longer another meteor or clown lord who bowed to the hands of humans. There were only shooting stars and Maria…
and the humans who kneeled down on the shooting stars of the future were wearing the military uniforms of the UNPKF, a multinational executive force directly under the UN Peace Security Council.
“Your life is not yours.”]
[The human monarch warns the overlord of heroes.]
“Prove your loyalty as a hero by following the call of humans.”]
[The human monarch warns the overlord.]
Yoosung looked around in silence. And Maria, who felt something intuitively, stood next to Yoosung in silence.
“Either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become a villain.”
That’s why the Lord of Heroes looked around with a wry smile. He looked around and then snapped his fingers.
“Saint.”
“yes?”
Maria didn’t even have time to tilt her head before a message came to mind following the voice.
“Would you like to dance a song with me?”]
[The Lord of Heroes exercises ‘influence’
…]
“…
It was the signal for the Lord of Heroes, wearing the mask of all things, to raise the curtain on the dance. It was
also a signal for the human monarchs to raise the curtain on their never-ending puppet dance
.
[The human monarch exerts influence as the overlord!]
The humans of the ‘peacekeepers’ there at the Tower of the Future have moved. And two men and a woman moved against them.
The influence of the Lord of Heroes. The ‘masks’ draped over her face were giving her strength.
The power of being a saint that she remembers from her early days. There was a ‘saint’ who stood at the forefront of the battle line, supporting and protecting the allies and giving them all kinds of buffs.
At the same time, there was a woman who received the divinity of Thorn and spread blood and darkness as a vampire.
And I realized that I was willingly fighting against humans for the ‘King of Heroes’ there without any doubt or hesitation.
The sea of blood flowing beneath my feet. My face reflected along the surface of the sea of blood.
‘Oh, I see.’
After realizing, Maria smiled bitterly.
From the moment she kissed the man she loved that night, she realized that she was no longer a ‘human’.
And what the two shared that night was not proof of humanity.
It was proof of a monster.
The hero was no longer a hero for humans, and the saint was no longer a saint for humans.
