2 – Replay

“….”

Jang Yu-ha. She smoothed the bangs of the beautiful woman lying neatly on the bed.

Two days had already passed since the battle with the Death Knights.

She stayed by Amel’s side, nursing her.

Yuha asked in a listless voice.

“I saw it, and it was terrifying.”

The battle footage.

Yuha received the battle footage from Amel.

That was the agreement, after all.

She checked last night and saw the battle footage uploaded in the group chat with Amel. That meant she had woken up last night and fallen asleep again.

She had a [Premonition], but she could only feel relieved after actually experiencing it.

[Premonition]s aren’t always 100% accurate, so even 2% was a significant proportion to her, even if others didn’t know.

It meant that out of 100 [Premonition]s, 2 would be wrong.

Anyway, she received the battle footage and watched it, and her relieved heart was nowhere to be found.

She was dominated by bewilderment and astonishment, and she worried about what to do.

‘What to do? Upload it, of course.’

The original purpose was to overturn Amel’s evaluation and lead the negotiations with the Emperor favorably. She couldn’t change it now.

Before uploading.

Yuha went through the videos she was going to upload one by one.

The video of her fighting the Succubus.

The video of the nuclear explosion.

The video of her fighting against the [Dream].

The video of her fighting Chocolat.

The video of her experience in the Demon Beast Garden.

The video of her subduing the Pibslo Knights.

The video of her fighting at the Altar of Blood.

The video of her fighting Jua in the Duel Arena.

And this video of her fighting and winning against the Death Knights this time… If she uploaded it, she could guarantee that the repercussions would be enormous, just as she had [Premonition]ed.

She had been [Premonition]ing it.

She couldn’t even guess when she was just [Premonition]ing, but after seeing it directly, she understood why.

‘Amel, why aren’t you dying?’

That was the question she had throughout the video.

There were many other things she wanted to ask.

Was your ability S-class?

Why did you turn blue?

What was that speed at the end?

Turning blue must have been a smaller version of the technique she showed when fighting Jua or the [Dream].

She didn’t know it would enable such high-speed combat.

What kind of technique is it?

Yuha knew that Amel was Anonymous, but this time, she exceeded her imagination again.

She expected that Anonymous would surprise her by growing this much again, but the Death Knights were even stronger than that,

And Amel became strong enough to defeat the Death Knights, as if she were using cheats.

It was far beyond the expected margin of error.

‘Does Amel even have the word “gradual” in her dictionary?’

There’s a limit to everything in the world.

She ignores that word.

There’s a limit to talent, too.

How is that possible?

The stronger you become, the more understanding and learning you need, but how… She couldn’t even guess what the driving force behind that growth was.

Especially the last Death Knight, who seemed to be easily over level 80.

At least stronger than any Monster that appeared in the level 80 Tower walkthrough videos.

It wasn’t just the last Death Knight.

So was the Death Knight who created the hurricane.

So was the Death Knight who scattered Flying Sword Style Sword Energy.

So was the Death Knight who used the strange ability to take the sword out of Amel’s hand.

They were definitely not ordinary.

And if you add the Death Knight she defeated at the Altar of Blood, that makes five.

If you add Chocolat, that makes six.

She had faced six Death Knights in just a few days.

Yuha, who had climbed the Tower up to the 81st floor and faced as many Monsters as the number of raid members, could only name two Death Knights who were similar in class.

Chocolat was one.

The Death Knight she defeated at the Altar of Blood.

Those two.

She wondered if she should include the Death Knight who used Flying Sword Style Sword Energy, as he fought evenly with Chocolat, but the Flying Sword Style Sword Energy he showed at the end had more than enough power to wipe out the raid party in an instant.

Among the Clan members, only Chris or Hong Joo-ah could defeat the Flying Sword Style Death Knight.

Truly overwhelming.

That’s how strong she [Premonition]ed them to be.

Probably, except for the two above, they were very likely to be over level 80.

“Wow…”

After analyzing the strength of the Death Knights like this, it was truly absurd.

She didn’t have rose-tinted glasses on.

She tried to look at it as objectively as possible.

Because she’s amazing.

Spreading exaggerated information about someone who is already amazing would only pollute the truthfulness and credibility of the information, which would be foolish.

But the more objective she was, the more she doubted whether this was realistically possible.

‘I’m not misunderstanding something, am I?’

Yuha knows herself well.

So, one more time before uploading.

She checked the battle footage.

‘I’m a fan of Anonymous. There might be parts that I’ve interpreted or understood in an exaggerated way that I don’t know about. Amel is amazing even without exaggeration.’

She watched it again, but,

“….”

Really, why isn’t she dying?

She was shattered to pieces, wasn’t she?

‘At this rate, who’s the boss Monster?’

Yuha couldn’t close her mouth.

“….”

Amel was fast asleep in bed.

She checked her face for any injuries, but the Saintess had healed her well, and there were no scars.

She had barely made it through the crisis after treating her day and night.

The Hero can be resurrected even if they die, but Yuha was grateful to the Saintess for not letting her die, taking that into account.

The Hero can be resurrected even if they die, but the more they die, the more they lose their immortality as a Hero.

There have even been cases where they ended up as NPCs, so it’s best to avoid death as much as possible, and as a result, people are expressing their intention to quit being a Hero in droves.

Does Amel know?

Or did she do it without knowing?

Either way, seeing that pretty body cut and broken into pieces like that.

And even her neck was cut off, in a video, raw and unfiltered by anonymity, the shock was immense.

What on earth is driving Amel so hard?

It’s a game, and she says she doesn’t die, but enduring the pain is no easy task. The pain is pain, and her Focus is no joke.

For fun?

That could be it.

But people can’t push themselves to their limits without any purpose.

Amel is probably unconsciously hoping for something.

“Haa… Amel is truly an amazing person.”

The video…

…She decided to upload it.

She attached the videos one by one to the text she had already written and set a price for the videos.

1000 Gold.

‘I should have uploaded it for 5000 from the start.’

She had no choice but to make it available for viewing for 1000 Gold for today only.

Before pressing [Register].

Her index finger trembled.

She [Premonition]ed that this moment was Amel’s turning point.

Deciding the fate of others was something she often did in reality,

But this one was on a different scale.

She had that [Premonition].

Ugh… Just before [Register]ing. It was the first time she felt so frustrated because she couldn’t see the future as clearly as today.

Haa… Haa… The more she thought about the unpredictable future, the rougher Yuha’s breathing became. She didn’t seem to realize her excitement for the future to come.

Nabi was staying in Gospel as Skilla’s attendant.

She was waiting for Skilla to come out of the Trial Square.

She was sitting on a bench in the square, leisurely reading a book.

Nabi had graduated at the top of her class from the Magic Academy, but she didn’t intend to end it with graduation. The book she was reading was a difficult Magic book.

Magicians become stronger through theory.

If you only know the theory, you can use the terrain to deploy large-scale Magic.

If you become proficient in theory, you can even disarm installed Magic.

Magicians were imaginers, but the more knowledge they had, the richer their imagination became.

“1000 Gold?”

“That’s so expensive.”

“Who would watch something like that?”

“I’m going to watch it, can you lend me some money?”

While she was reading the book.

The surroundings became noisy.

Heroes gathered in small groups, floating something in the air and muttering.

The words she mainly heard were 1000 Gold.

And Anonymous.

‘Anonymous…!’

Her ears perked up.

Nabi knows Anonymous’s identity.

It’s none other than Americano.

Nabi may not be a Hero, but she was in the same party as Americano and had climbed the Tower with her.

It was an honor.

At the time, she couldn’t be sincere in front of others because of something called Geass,

But Americano had proven that she was Anonymous.

She hadn’t heard from her since she defeated the Death Knight, but since the opponent was a Death Knight, she was probably recuperating after the fight.

She eavesdropped on the Heroes’ conversation.

“She uploaded a video just a few days ago, how many is this?”

“She fought almost once every day or two?”

“What’s with the Succubus and the nuke? A nuclear bomb?”

“What’s a Dream Demon? And the final boss of the Dream Demon? Estimated level 100 first reveal?”

From what she heard, Americano fought a Succubus, a nuclear bomb-like thing exploded during the fight, and she fought the final boss of the Dream Demon.

…That’s what it sounds like.

Since she wasn’t a Hero, she didn’t know what the Heroes were watching.

But she couldn’t easily dismiss the word “level 100.”

Besides that, she fought the Death Knight again, or she cut down Demon beasts in a garden swarming with Demon beasts, or she beat up mid-ranking knights with her bare hands without Magical Power.

With her bare hands without Magical Power?

Even mid-ranking knights?

No, a group of knights?

Nabi, who had seen many knights, knew how ridiculous it was to beat a knight with her bare hands without Magical Power.

‘Americano, you’re really doing absurd things so casually.’

That’s why she was proud to be acquainted with Americano.

She was happy as if it were her own business.

“It looks like a fabrication.”

“Isn’t she just using Anonymous to attract attention and rake in money?”

“No, even so, would she fabricate it so ridiculously?”

“Just watch it yourselves… Even if it’s a fabrication, it’ll be worth watching…”

A Hero who had purchased the video directly explained, and said to his colleagues who were reacting differently, with a hollow laugh, to purchase the video directly.

‘I wish I could watch it too.’

But Nabi wasn’t a Hero.

At that time, red armor came out of the Tower.

Crimson armor.

Skilla.

The princess of the Raptica Duchy, whom Nabi serves.

The crimson armor she was wearing was damaged in places, showing that the battle had been very fierce. She had always been defeated and resurrected in the Temple, but this time she came out of the Tower.

She succeeded in climbing.

“Lady, congratulations on the climb.”

“Uh…”

“What’s wrong?”

Skilla’s mind is elsewhere.

“Did Anonymous upload a video?”

“Uh. She uploaded it. But it’s too…”

Her voice trembled.

Her face was hidden by her helmet.

But Nabi, who had been with her for a long time, could see what kind of expression Skilla was making as if it were in her hands.

She usually maintains a solemn expression, but when no one is watching, she makes a fierce face.

“She must have been absurd again.”

Just hearing the word “level 100” made it easy to guess that she was doing something unimaginable.

Level 100 is that, right?

The one at the top of the Tower.

That thing of the end.

It means she found a Monster that seems to be on the same level as that.

“It’s not just absurd. You can’t even imagine it, no matter what you imagine.”

“What did she do?”

“First of all, on the surface.”

“On the surface?”

Skilla held up six fingers.

“She fought and caught three Death Knights at the same time.”

“….”

“Considering that she caught one that infiltrated the castle right before that, that’s four.”

“Four Death Knights.”

It definitely exceeded the scope of imagination.

Were Death Knights that common?

Even one would be a major event recorded in history, but there were four.

The King of Death is said to have 13 Death Knights under his command, and she caught four of them.

“It’s not just any Death Knight either. The first Death Knight to infiltrate the castle created a huge whirlwind and flew up.”

A whirlwind.

“You can’t get a sense of how big it is, even if I say it’s big, right?”

“Yes.”

“It was big enough to cover the entire Gospel.”

“…Here?”

She asked back in surprise.

Skilla looked up at the sky, saying yes.

Nabi also looked up, following her gaze.

The entire Gospel.

A whirlwind covering it.

It was hard to get a sense of it.

Americano, who defeated such a huge Death Knight, how much stronger has she become in just a few days? It seemed more reasonable to think that she had been hiding her Strength, but she knew that wasn’t the case.

“Certainly, I can’t imagine it.”

“Well… the really surprising thing is something else.”

“Not the whirlwind?”

“That was surprising too, but there are two more. Anonymous, how should I describe her? Just. What is it. That. What is it. Haa. She just didn’t die.”

“..?”

Skilla told Nabi, who didn’t understand, one more time.

“She didn’t die even when her head flew off. She didn’t die even when her body was shattered to pieces. Usually, you die, right?”

“Yes…”

Skilla grabbed her helmet with both hands as if covering it with a scary face.

“But she didn’t die.”

“….”

Seeing Skilla’s appearance, Nabi recalled the day Americano had short hair.

She had a wound on her neck.

Had she said that her neck was cut off and reattached?

“How can she do that even when her whole body is burned and only her head is left?”

Skilla mixed fear into her voice.

How do you kill her?

She thought from the enemy’s point of view.

Anonymous had done such a thing, and she imagined the fear and anxiety that the enemy must have felt.

“Even though she can be resurrected, how can she do that? If that’s the secret to how Anonymous can become strong in an instant…”

“Lady.”

“…I’m going to try it.”

Skilla trembled.

“I’m going to do it. I had to be prepared to that extent to overcome the end.”

“….”

Nabi couldn’t bring herself to tell her Anonymous’s identity.

Americano, what on earth are you doing?

The Lady has made a strange resolution.

Should I tell her?

Should I tell her?

She can’t bring herself to do it.

Without being able to tell her Anonymous’s identity, she asked what kind of videos they were.