◈ 506. [Free Exploration] Kill me (3)
“… No, Ash.”
The stuttering voice let out a dejected laugh.
“Isn’t that possible? My country is the main culprit in all these tragedies that are producing monsters.”
“… .”
“That cannot be possible. In my country, I don’t deserve that.”
“no. there is.”
I grabbed Nameless’s weary shoulders and slowly got up.
“If you hadn’t stopped the monsters here for the past five hundred years, the population would have perished long ago.”
“… .”
“You are not only the rightful heir to this country, but you have also taken on responsibilities that no one else has asked you to do… He is a prince of morality and conviction.”
It is clear that producing monsters is not the will of the Lake Kingdom, but the will of the darkness that engulfed the Lake Kingdom.
By the will of the Demon King, the Lake Kingdom has been turned into a colony that produces monsters, but the people of the Lake Kingdom with wills are still resisting the darkness.
The living proof is the nameless right in front of you.
I nodded vigorously.
“Your last five hundred years are your qualifications. You and your country deserve this alliance.”
“… .”
“I beg you, nameless. join my alliance I will ask you as your friend.”
At those words, Anonymous’ eyes trembled violently.
“Friend… ?”
“is not it? But I thought we’d gotten quite close while fighting together in this darkness.”
“Friend… la.”
Anonymous laughed bitterly and shook his head.
“Either way, it’s like a dream.”
“I will not force you. But if you’re thinking about it… … If you intend to put your name on the international scene for the sake of the Lake Kingdom in the future.”
I stood next to her
“Visit me at Crossroads. I will receive you as a state guest this time.”
“ash… .”
“Come on, let’s go back to the base camp and rest. You came to rescue me, how can I leave you alone here?”
I helped the nameless, and the nameless, hesitant at first, eventually started walking in step with me.
Is it an illusion?
It felt as if the dark chains around her limbs had loosened a little.
Myung and I stood leaning on each other and dragged behind us the chains that stretched like shadows as we walked back to the base camp.
***
My party members were all waiting at the base camp.
All of them were pale, perhaps because they were swept away by the curse of darkness, but it was because all the members brought this time had suffered the same curse in the past in ‘Road of the Losers’. It seemed to have survived safely.
“Lord!”
“Seniors!”
“Prince!”
“majesty!”
Oh, and there are various names that call me. I was comforting the four of them running at me like a dog that had found its owner.
“I’m sorry, lord. All of us were under the curse, so we couldn’t afford to go out in search… … .”
“At that time, Mumyeong unnie was perfect! show up! What’s the point of saying ‘I’ll save Ash!’ in a cool way? We decided it would be better to leave it alone and recover so that we can deal with the next situation.”
nameless sister?
I was taken aback by Evangeline’s first grotesque title, but when I looked back to see what the person concerned was, Anonymous was already far away from me.
We stood by a large bonfire in the center of the base camp, but the retreating cotton was buried in the shadows.
“… Thanks for the suggestion, Ash.”
Her face, covered in a robe hood, was no longer visible.
“I will positively consider joining your alliance.”
“I’ll wait for you, nameless.”
I whispered, hoping that the truth would be conveyed.
“Please come.”
“… .”
Anonymous smiled faintly, staggered, bit his body, and disappeared into the darkness of the dungeon again.
Looking at the back seat where Nameless had disappeared, I turned my head to Coco, who had come and stood next to us.
“Grandma Coco.”
“… .”
“Anonymous ‘fate’… … What is it?”
“There is only one fate for those who bear the crown.”
Likewise, Coco, who had been watching from afar where Nameless had disappeared, slowly opened her mouth.
“To shoulder the karma of the subjects instead.”
“up… ?”
“Whether it be sin, pain, or darkness… . Ignorance could no longer stand by and watch his people suffer.”
It was a puzzling question, but one thing was certain.
It started.
The process of transforming into the final boss – ‘The Lake Princess Who Can’t Sleep’ has already begun.
I clenched my fists tightly.
“I want to save you.”
“how?”
“Somehow.”
I muttered with a promise.
“Nameless Island and this Lake Kingdom… I will save them all.”
Coco clicked her tongue.
“You have too grand a dream, little prince. You must be in a hurry just to protect your world.”
“If you’re going to save the world, it’s not that big of a deal to include a small country in it, right?”
I smiled at Coco.
“How can we talk about the world without this level of ambition?”
“… .”
Coco’s eyes, like beads of glass, flashed an unknown strangeness. After bowing briefly to the witch, I turned to my party members.
“let’s go!”
Today’s free exploration ends with this.
“We need to devise a strategy to deal with the next nightmare corps commander.”
The moment when the course of the monster front was decided was right in front of me.
***
[End of Free Exploration!]
[Level Up Character]
– Ash (EX) Lv.53 (↑1)
– Lucas (SSR) Lv.55 (↑1)
– Evangeline (SSR) Lv.55 (↑1)
– Damian (EX) Lv.54 (↑1)
– Jupiter Jr. (SSR) Lv.60 (↑1)
[Dead and Injured Characters]
– None
[Acquisition Equipment]
– Past Future (SSR) < Robe >
– Other 11 Species < Expand list >
[Acquisition items]
– All 30 species < Expand list >
***
Manor house.
After completing the free exploration and ordering the party members to take a break, I looked in the mirror in my room and was lost in thought.
‘There are two big challenges facing us.’
To put it in a game-like way, there are about two main quests.
The first one is [Branch Quest].
‘Treatment of the midnight sun.’
The Corps Leader White Night and the Mage Tower Master White Night. Which side will you take and which side will you eliminate? And how do you use the leftovers?
“… .”
Suddenly, I looked at my face in the mirror.
Even if I twist my expression strangely for no reason, the me in the mirror naturally imitates it immediately.
– If you look in the mirror and the me in the mirror moves differently than you do. Wouldn’t that be very unpleasant?
Baekya, the magic tower lord I met before, said this.
– I must be unique. If there’s someone else who can replace me, there’s no reason why I should exist, right?
– That’s why I have no choice but to kill another me like me.
For this instinctive reason, the cloned White Nights are trying to kill each other.
and… Baekya, the corps commander I met this time, said:
– More than anything, you can understand us, right?
– You’re fake too. player. A fake copy of someone else’s personality.
“… .”
My face in the mirror hardened coldly.
That’s what it says. I am a being who copied and overlaid the personality of a classic virtuoso from another world on Ash’s body.
It’s just a bunch of pieces that are ugly and ugly struggling to find the possibility of attack until the end.
… If a real classic fan sees me like this.
What will he think of me
And if I ever meet a real classic fan.
what do i think of him
We are like those two white nights… … Would you like to kill each other?
“after.”
I shook my head and let out my thoughts.
Anyway, this branch quest still has a little more room for thought. Let’s discuss it with our subordinates.
‘And the second main quest… … .’
I’ve never done it in the game, so let’s call it [Hidden Quest].
‘Salvation of obscurity.’
What should I do to keep the unknown from turning into the final boss?
I was feeling it intuitively. For the ‘true ending’ that the director guy asked me to do, I had to seek anonymity.
But this true ending has already been far from my goal.
Regardless of that, I want to save everyone within my reach with my pure will. The same goes for ignorance.
‘But the final boss of the unknown has already begun.’
Chains of darkness that bound her limbs.
I don’t know the identity… … uh… To put it bluntly, it was advertised as a corrupt or blackening character! It’s a classic cliché!
‘Can I stop it? can i get it back? Maybe it’s already too late?’
Bad thoughts arose in a lump, but I have one iron rule.
It’s not over until it’s over.
don’t give up until the end If there is even the slightest possibility of attack, they dig in and cling to it.
‘But it would be nice to have a hint on exactly where to start digging… … .’
I was thinking so when suddenly there was a knock on my door.
Who is it? Is it Lucas or Evangeline?
“come in.”
Without thinking, the door opened and a man with tangled gray hair and glasses with bangles poked his head out.
“Ah~ you’ve worked hard, my lord. You look troublesome, would you like a cup of coffee?”
“Oh good. But after a while, I decided to have a late-night snack with the kids. then please… … .”
How about answering naturally? I wanted to look towards the door.
Laughing awkwardly… … I saw the fucking director bastard.
“No Ader?!”
“Haha yes. I’m back!”
You damn director bastard! I guess he wasn’t dead! Where the hell have you been stuck, and now you’re out!
Although he is an unlucky child, he is my helper anyway. I rushed in front of him and, unknowingly, I was delighted and grabbed Ader’s arm
.
There was a strange noise.
“… huh?”
“oh.”
Let’s see where the sound came from… … Ader’s arm had turned into whitish particles and was fluttering. like burnt ashes.
“… .”
“… .”
As I was trembling with my mouth wide open involuntarily at this terrifying phenomenon, Ader smiled haha and waved his other hand.
“haha! no no it’s not a big deal Don’t worry too much.”
Then, after diligently collecting the ashes-like particles scattered in the air, I attached them to my arms… … Then the wobbly arm reattached itself.
“Voila! As you can see, if you collect it hard like this, it will recover again!”
Pasasac!
As soon as I said that, my arm fell off again.
Now I’m on the very floor… … .
“… .”
“… .”
Embarrassed, Ader picked up the arm again, pressed the separated parts together and let out a sigh.
“I will tell you directly, my lord.”
Then he smiled and talked brightly.
“That expiration date is over!”
What kind of preserved food are you that has an expiration date?!
***
Manor house. restaurant.
While Lucas and Evangeline ate my toast, Ader and I sat across from each other with a cup of hot coffee.
Ader This bastard doesn’t seem to have the strength to make coffee, so I had to make coffee in the end… … Where in the world is this lord’s aide?
Ader, who was just looking down at his coffee cup, opened his mouth shyly.
“Did you see the state of my soul in the spirit world before?”
“okay.”
I remember. The cracks in my soul had gone, not to the point of being shattered, but on the verge of turning to dust.
“I have reached a critical point in holding on like that.”
“So like this… Are you saying it’s turning to ashes?”
“Yes. Puffy!”
Ader’s body, which responded calmly, was still dusty. Is this a self-proclaimed god?
I was dumbfounded, so I looked at it and asked.
“… Is there any way to fix it?”
“yes?”
“Is there any way to fix it? I will help you.”
“Ahaha… You really are a nice person, lord.”
Ader laughed in vain and turned away.
“… There is one reason why I came to see the lord today after I had been hiding for a while.”
“say it.”
“You want to save Nameless?”
At Ader’s words, I closed my mouth and spat out.
“… You are too.”
Ader and Mumyung realized that there was something related to each other when the two met before.
I don’t remember Anonymous and Ader didn’t tell me, so I don’t know the past of the two at all… … .
It was clear to me that the reason why this goddamn bastard director in front of me was going to end up like this was to save this world, and that the unknown was included.
“… I will tell you one thing, my lord.”
Ader gave me a clear voice.
“The reason why I asked for the true ending but never told or hinted at a specific way to reach the true ending is simple.”
“What is the reason?”
Ader smiled.
“It’s because the road the Lord is walking right now is the road to the true ending.”
