Chapter 24 – Someone’s Guiding Light (3)

&R;e&a;d̃ ​ｏn ​K‌a&t;Ｒeａdi‍n&g;​&C;a‌fẽ

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ㄴ”I’ll be here, so you don’t have to worry.”

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In the end, I had no choice but to refuse Serpina’s offer. Me being the administrator of my own fan gallery? That’s just weird.

Even if others don’t know, I’d cringe too much to do it myself.

It was like being a woman for years but still being too shy to wear a skirt. It was a matter of preference.

And I couldn’t accept the idea of just having the administrator title and doing nothing.

After all, the fan gallery and I are in a symbiotic relationship.

They need to thrive for me to thrive, and filling an administrator position, which is crucial, with a scarecrow who doesn’t do anything is inefficient.

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ㄴ”Not even greedy for points?”

ㄴ”Not at least for now.”

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The points Serpina offered were the same.

As she said, the points would be used for me anyway. There’s also a fee, and if I, who can’t use them, intercept them, it’s a creative loss.

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ㄴ”There’s another reason. The number of times you’re inevitably mentioned within the gallery is increasing.”

ㄴ”Don’t worry, I won’t engage in cliquey behavior.”

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Lastly, I promised to be moderate and careful about my own name recognition, which Serpina mentioned.

It’s not like I’ve never been on internet communities. I knew well about groups that collapsed due to internal cliques.

From the start, I had no intention of getting close to any user, as I need to hide my identity.

‘Community activities, huh.’

The sudden one-on-one conversation with Serpina ended there, but it left me with something to think about.

Until now, I’ve been using the gallery only to peek and ask simple questions, mainly to adapt.

However, the massive community Fate Road, which exists in the hidden world, is more closely connected to us and has a greater impact than I thought.

Besides being active in the Tower, shouldn’t I pay more attention to that place to gain more?

Even if I refuse, they might continue to watch me anyway.

“Reina-nim. That is…Sylvia’s message has arrived. It’s strange to deliver this message as soon as you wake up, but I can’t keep her waiting.”

“Come to think of it, there was still something left to do.”

Kim Ji-eun approached me with an awkward expression after I woke up.

I chuckled as I remembered something I had forgotten for a moment.

When I first received the challenge, I was determined to win and humiliate Sylvia, but somehow that anger and desire have lessened now.

When you think about it, both Sylvia and I are just cute little chicks compared to the countless people watching us.

But seeing them get heated up over the chicks’ fight and even gambling, it wasn’t something to take lightly.

***

“I heard you were badly injured, but you seem to have recovered.”

“…You too, for that matter.”

The reunion with Sylvia was calm and quiet compared to before.

She came to our guild headquarters alone and showed no emotional turmoil, as if she had already made up her mind.

In the quiet room where even Kim Ji-eun had retreated, leaving only the two of us, Sylvia put down the teacup she was holding and opened her mouth with a trembling voice.

“I have admitted defeat, so I will not break my promise. However, answer one question.”

“What is it?”

“I have already heard the news that you went down to the 30th floor and pioneered a new path after the last failed attempt.”

Sylvia hesitated and began to speak with difficulty. Then, she suddenly stood up and knelt down in front of me without hesitation.

Unlike me, who wears anything comfortable, she didn’t care that her clothes, even the elaborate and elegant dresses she usually wears, were crumpled and dirty.

“So please, tell me, even if it’s just a little. The enlightenment you gained. The path to break through the blocked blood vessels…”

Sylvia bowed her head so low that her chest, which was larger than mine, was pressed against the ground and her forehead touched the ground.

As promised, she was doing what she would have made me do if she had won.

As I blankly looked down at her kneeling at my feet, her slender shoulders, which were fully exposed, trembled.

It was a tremor mixed with various emotions, including humiliation and shame.

‘Have they seen enough?’

I crossed my arms and deliberately didn’t say anything, just looking down at her for a while.

It wasn’t that I was trying to enjoy Sylvia’s humiliation. I felt a bit relieved, but the intense emotions that would make me torment her on purpose were long gone.

Sylvia probably thinks that no one but me is seeing her humiliation, but she’s wrong.

Her humiliation will be preserved and will circulate on Fate Road forever.

The reason I’m doing this is for my fandom, which has been suppressed and ignored all this time.

I’m sorry to Sylvia, but anyway, she won’t see or hear it.

“You kneel and submit more easily than I thought.”

“Do you think I’m being cunning? But I’m just trying to keep my word. The strong deserve respect. I’m a loser, so…I’m just paying the price.”

After I opened my mouth, Sylvia, still with her forehead on the ground, began to answer in a voice that had calmed down a bit.

“There are various reasons for pursuing growth. Some people, even at this moment, are pushing themselves with a noble and sublime heart to save the world, trying to become endlessly stronger, but some small-minded women try to become stronger just to win someone’s heart.”

“Have you been feeling a limit recently?”

“…I thought everyone would be feeling that way.”

It’s not just me who’s struggling. Sylvia, other Rankers, and even Jung Chan-soo are worried and impatient about the increasingly slow growth.

The root of all that was the unknown future.

What will happen now? What kind of enemies will come out if we go higher?

Even Jung Chan-soo, the regressor, was just an insignificant pawn in his first life.

Even he doesn’t know what’s at the end of the Tower.

He’s probably feeling the pressure of the regressor’s knowledge gradually dwindling. That’s what happened in the story.

The only one who can be free from that pressure is me, who can now peek into the Fate Road gallery.

“It seems like I can only say one thing. There’s no secret. All I got from the 30th floor were a few low-level abilities that can create unique synergies with myself.”

I chuckled and knelt down, stroking Sylvia’s head to make her look up.

Sylvia’s emerald eyes widened as if she couldn’t believe it. Did she think I was going to stomp on her head?

“But we still have a chance. For me, and for you. Does what I’m saying sound like I’m just spouting nice words? I’ve already proven it, haven’t I?”

“That’s…”

“I don’t think your path is wrong. You can keep going as you are. It’s funny to say this, but trust me.”

In fact, Sylvia becomes much stronger than she is now and is one of the people who survive to the end and reach the top of the Tower with Jung Chan-soo.

Although I can’t say that outright right now.

‘Winning Jung Chan-soo’s heart depends on how you do it.’

Of course, it was a harem ending in the story, so it might be difficult for Sylvia to have Jung Chan-soo’s heart all to herself, which she secretly desires.

“…I never thought that a competitor’s words could be so resonant. Yes, you’re right. You’re a strong person who has proven yourself, so I can’t doubt your words.”

Sylvia put her hand on her forehead and chuckled, the corners of her lips slightly raised.

Now, there was almost no hostility or wariness in her eyes.

Now, I could finally see a bit of the charming heroine I had seen in the story.

“Thank you for the merciful treatment and advice given to the loser. But whether we like it or not, we will continue to compete in the future.”

“That can’t be helped.”

“It would have been nice if you joined our guild.”

On the way out, Sylvia, who had been dragged in like a cow to the slaughterhouse, left the headquarters with a lighter step, muttering as if she was genuinely disappointed.

Knowing her personality, I chuckled.

If I joined Jung Chan-soo’s faction, or rather, his harem, Sylvia would likely take care of me diligently.

‘That’s not going to happen.’

But it was the same before and now. I had no intention of going under Jung Chan-soo.

At first, it was because I was wary of him for judging me as a variable and trying to eliminate me, and now it was because I didn’t want to be helped by him, who was the benchmark I had to surpass.

The Constellations of Fate Road are, in any case, people who don’t exist in front of me right now.

On the other hand, Jung Chan-soo is in front of me. He was an essential existence for me.

“It ended better than I thought? Did you show mercy, by any chance?!”

As Sylvia waved goodbye and got into the carriage, Kim Ji-eun, who had been watching, ran up to me, making a fuss.

Unlike the other guild members who didn’t know why Sylvia had come, Kim Ji-eun knew the inside story and was angry at Sylvia’s rudeness.

“I didn’t show mercy. I just ended it well.”

“I wanted to see it too…that high-nosed elf kneeling under Reina-nim and kissing your shoes.”

“It didn’t go that far.”

“That elf probably came prepared for that much. Her looks are definitely decent, so it would have been a good sight, keuheu.”

I flinched at Kim Ji-eun’s fantasizing.

Could it be that this kid has that kind of taste?

Author Note

A/N (Author’s note):
Thank you for reading.

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
Bullying an annoying noob who lost is fun and all, but all that time could be used for more efficient grinding, yes.

Oh yeah, technically, couldn’t this be considered NTR? Instead of the noob generic ass regressor edgelord, she now follows the more consistent guide page.

Heh.

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