Episode 181
“Forget everything about the world and
be happy together…no, with Lily.”
I wanted to save him. I hoped he wouldn’t suffer. He realized
that his actions, hoping that he would remain a ‘hero’ by the side of the man he loved and supported his ideals,
had ultimately put him in this hell.
Decisions to change the world for the better.
The International Players’ Union and the Player Weaponization Convention were no longer good.
Because no decision can change the world for the better, and it only taught me the painful lesson that the world will not change.
Maria raised her head.
A broken hero sat on a throne, with another monarch guarding his side.
The lord of the game and a saint of despair.
I finally understood.
She was her future right here.
And at this moment, that future has arrived.
All the warnings she had told me came true, and all the resolve and oaths I had shown before her were shattered.
There is nothing that can be changed in this great destiny.
Therefore, there was only one answer that Maria gave.
“…Please, Yoosung.”
Please don’t be a hero and just stay by my side.
Maria spoke and a brief silence fell.
“The hero…
After a moment of silence, the star who sat on the throne of the overlord answered.
“I wanted to be.”
It was a very bitter voice.
“But when I touched the twinkling star, I realized that it did not shine as bright as I thought…”
continued the Lord of Heroes.
“I just realize that those who achieved their dreams before me and became heroes were right.”
It wasn’t worth it.
As the Jester Lord and Broken Hero said, as the Game Lord and Despair Saint said, they were right.
“The dream I had that day was ultimately nothing more than the reckless decision of a child who had no idea about reality, and this is the end.”
Bitter self-deprecation flowed out. I was able to understand after hearing those words.
For nearly five years since that day, he had been carrying the pain alone that Maria did not know about.
As the lord of heroes and the god of artificial intelligence, who protects the world endlessly right here.
“Why…
That’s why Maria answered.
“Why didn’t you tell me that sooner?”
“…Because I didn’t want to give up.”
At this very moment, the cracks I had been holding in were cracking open and on the verge of breaking apart.
He was enduring it alone.
“Why?”
Maria asked back, and the Lord of Heroes did not answer.
“Because we were there.”]
Instead, another ‘desperate saint’ and the lord of the game who stood by his side answered.
Why do you give up on being a hero?
Yoosung wanted to be a hero from the beginning.
The conversation the young saint had with the despairing saint five years ago that day.
“Unable to understand the despair we will experience in the future, we have no doubt that we are stars… Because you were the one who believed in and supported us as heroes until the end.”] We are by no means stars
.
You will not understand my despair, young and immature saint.
But one day you will understand.
Jun-gyeol does not give up on his dream of becoming a hero and supports his determination to become a hero.
This is the result of kindness, supporting the ideals and determination of a loved one and believing in him until the end.
Reality finally came, and Maria swallowed her breath in a feeling of suffocating despair.
There’s no need to be a hero.
Maria was now saying that they should abandon everything and live for their own happiness.
Just like the despairing saint in front of her said five years ago.
“Is it too… too late?”
[“is it so. That was the answer you should have given me five years ago.”]
[The Lord of the Game whispers sadly as he looks at his ‘desperate self.’]
“Now it is too late, and we will repeat the same foolishness again.”]
5 Years ago, there was a young saint who did not understand the despair of today.
Five years ago, there was a hero who carried out his ideals without any understanding of the despair of today.
And again, the young hero and the saint will appear in front of the two people there, carry out their resolution, support the hero’s ideals, and repeat the same foolishness endlessly.
A thousand times, a thousand times, a thousand times, a thousand times… up to a thousand times.
Just thinking about it made me feel nauseous.
…….
[“Now it’s your turn.”]
With those words, the Game Lord took off her hood.
And there was nothing under the hood.
There was just empty darkness, and soon Maria realized.
That darkness exists for you right now.
Sigh!
Immediately after, something emerged from the darkness.
It was a chain.
And those chains soon wrapped themselves around Maria and swallowed her whole being.
Amid the suffocating pain, I had the feeling that the world I was standing on was collapsing.
The new Lord of the Game was there.
Dressed in jet black robes similar to those worn by the Lord of the Game. Underneath the hood, the shadow wriggles like a living creature.
Following the ‘desperate saint’, there was another despairing saint who repeated the same foolishness endlessly.
Not at the spot where he was looking up at the Overlord and the Lord of the Game, but on the throne where the Lord of the Game had his feet on just moments before.
Before we knew it, Maria was by Yoosung’s side.
There were two lovers who became gods.
And the Lord of Heroes sitting on the throne spoke.
“Now I can barely remember what the ‘better world’ we hoped for was.”
“I only hope that people will realize their foolishness and realize the importance of heroes.”
Protecting the world is by no means a task that should be taken for granted or even a right that should be enjoyed.
How harsh were the sacrifices and trials that heroes bore for humans.
“He is my shadow.”
Yoosung spoke and a shadow appeared in front of the two people.
“At the same time, it is also a mirror that reflects ‘us’ here.”
Like Maria, she was a monarch dressed in dark robes, with a living shadow writhing beneath the robes.
I was able to intuitively understand his name and identity.
The hero’s mirror and shadow.
When the demon lord took off his hood, what was behind it was a very familiar face.
The shadow of an unforgettable man who once wanted to be a hero.
But at the same time, the eyes and expression were unfamiliar and cold and dark.
“The Demon Lord…
He was not a hero. He was just a demon lord.
A being born only when a despairing and broken hero no longer loves humans.
Just as heroes are born from human longing, the broken heroes longed for the devil.
It is unknown since when the ‘Devil King’ existed. But he has been there since the heroes were endlessly broken and repeating the same destruction.
He endlessly advances the hero’s sword, imitating and imitating even the hero’s despair and frustration.
Shadow Simulacrum.
“From now on, my shadows will prepare trials for humans on my behalf.”
The Lord of Heroes spoke calmly, as if looking at himself in a mirror.
“So that they can realize their foolishness.”
That was a decision filled with malice made by a broken hero and lord of heroes.
And in the world of humans, there are no more heroes to fight for them.
Because the hero was broken and the saint was in despair.
There was only the Demon King.
Maria couldn’t say anything.
Because she is a saint who has thrown off the bonds of humanity and despaired, and has also been reborn as the ‘Lord of the Game’.
“Is it too… too late?”
Yooseong fell silent at Maria’s words.
“It’s all… my fault.”
What the Lord of Games said was right. And now, Maria, who had been reborn as the ‘lord of the game’ by repeating the same foolishness, sneered in despair that was constricting her neck.
“Please… get ready for the next game.”
The Overlord spoke to the mocking Lord of the Game.
Next game.
And as the lord of the game, she had a duty to manage and control the game.
As we have done so far, we will continue to do so in the future.
“What are you… going to do from now on?”
At those words, the Lord of the Game asked quietly.
“I’d like to… rest a little.”
The tired and broken hero answered. I rested my chin on the throne and closed my eyes.
“is it so.”
At those words, the Lord of the Game smiled sadly.
The sight of him with his eyes closed, as if tired, was that of a man whom Maria knew well and loved.
And the man has just fallen asleep.
“Sleep well, Yoosung.”
That’s why Maria whispered in a sweet voice.
Once upon a time there were two lovers named Hero and Saint.
At the highest point in the universe, the two most powerful transcendents reigned supreme on the throne, taking possession of all the stars shining in the night sky.
Two men and women who will be crushed and crushed to death in the gigantic gears of fate, leaving no shape behind.
When the King of Heroes appeared again in the human world, he was not even a hero who did not love humans.
A true monster born after being betrayed by humans, disappointed by them, and endless despair and frustration.
One game ended and the next game came.
《The End of Peace）.
A cruel ordeal that humanity cannot bear °1 came before them.
Everything was the same as then.
Just as one day, the world suddenly became a game and an ordeal that humans could not handle came upon them!
Humans did not have the strength to endure that ordeal.
That’s why humans longed for heroes.
Superhumans who were created to bear trials on their behalf that they could not bear.
At the same time, a victim who is deprived of his life and has no choice but to sacrifice everything for humans until the very end.
However, there were no more heroes or saints left to fight for humans.
The prayers did not reach and the hero did not appear.
Only the devil existed.
The man was dreaming.
In the dream, the man was crossing a barren desert.
And then a gunshot rang out from a distance behind me.
A silhouette followed closely behind the man and pulled the trigger of a .45 caliber revolver.
He was a ‘Gunslinger’.
As the man dressed in black fled across the desert, the gunman gave chase.
The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed.
