Ch.392-1++

# 39. 2-1++

“I did it…!”

There were certainly some dangerous moments along the way. Repeatedly cycling between intense concentration and relaxation rapidly depleted both physical and mental energy, causing both Kutjukyeora and Saeaeks to make mistakes once each.

Saeaeks reached the midpoint between the two pufferfish, drew aggro, and escaped a bit too late, while Kutjukyeora pulled aggro too strongly, causing a third pufferfish to join the fray.

By some stroke of luck, we barely avoided being crushed to death, but it was a heart-stopping experience I never wanted to go through again.

“Human! Human! You’re amazing!”

‘Damn it.’

Hearing the voice of the “Slightly Sick Spirit” reminded me of the problem I’d been trying to forget. This wasn’t over yet.

“My pain is much better, but I’m not completely healed yet! Human! Can you help me a little more? I know you can!”

Having already entered this place, refusing to help wasn’t an option. Not because this was the Tower, but because that’s how it worked in the original game.

Because…

The spirit’s sick friend never existed in the first place, and this place had been inside the “Slightly Sick Spirit” from the beginning.

In short, the spirit had deceived us.

Because it was a corrupted spirit that had fallen from grace and now stole life force and natural energy from other living beings, despite spirits normally being able to sustain themselves on natural energy alone.

The place where the spirit originally resided wasn’t naturally desolate—it had “become” desolate because of this spirit. That happened quite a long time ago.

“Human! Human! What are you doing? Come on! Follow me! Follow me!”

“…Let’s go.”

The one who had asked for our help was nowhere to be seen while we were risking our lives dealing with the pufferfish, but now appeared to hurry us along after everything was finished. Even knowing the outcome, I felt deeply irritated… but getting angry would be as meaningless as punching the air.

“What was the second phase like originally?”

“It was a puzzle. Specifically, something like spot-the-difference or find-the-matching-picture, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. I remember there was one where you had to identify pictures containing the corrupted spirit, and another where you had to group together pictures with the corrupted spirit.”

A spot-the-difference game to identify places being corrupted in real-time.

A matching game to pair corrupted items for purification.

It was certainly a more peaceful gimmick compared to monster slaying… but still.

I remember staring at the monitor until my eyes hurt and cursing the game company when I played it back then.

“Are you seriously making us spot corruption evidence the size of dust or tiny dots? Did you even test this before patching it? Are all the developers from the Mongolian steppes?” and so on.

The game company only lowered the difficulty after separate programs were developed and used just to clear the second phase of the corrupted spirit purification quest.

I was afraid, in a different way, of how that vision-destroying, headache-inducing game would be implemented here.

“Human! Human! Follow me! What are you doing? Human! Human? Follow me? What are you doing! Human! Human! Follow me! What are you doing? Human! Human? Follow me! What are you doing! Human! Human! Follow me! What are you doing? Human! Human? Follow me? What are you doing! Human! Human! Follow me! What are you doing? Human…”

“Argh! I’m going to lose my mind!!”

“L-let’s hurry!”

“Run while drinking potions!”

By this point, the “Slightly Sick Spirit” seemed to have become impatient, unlike before when it left subtle hints.

Who would consider this just “slightly sick”?

We endured the corrupted spirit’s mental attacks and followed the whitish figure.

Hoping that the second phase wouldn’t be as vicious as the first.

**

“Hee hee! Hee hee hee hee! Human! Human! Kind and smart human! Thank you for helping! Thank you for following me again! Since you agreed to help, you’ll help again! A promise to a spirit is an oath! I believe you’ll help! Even if you don’t believe, you’ll have to help!”

“Uh…”

Though we’d somewhat gotten used to the corrupted spirit’s irritating way of speaking, we were too busy dealing with persistent headaches and nausea to complain.

If the first phase was a mix of ferocity, bizarreness, and chaos, the second phase immediately overwhelmed us with a sense of vastness and hopelessness.

[Resolve the ‘pointy and blackish things’.]

The message neither disappeared nor changed. This meant we had to find and eliminate ‘pointy and blackish things’ different from the pufferfish in this vast space.

‘They really made this game like absolute shit!!!’

It was hard enough when all we had to do was click a mouse, but now we have to wander around and search in person? In first-person view rather than top-down?

“You goddamn spirit bastard! Come out!! Come out right now!!!”

“…I suppose it’s fortunate there’s no time limit here?”

I couldn’t bring myself to calm Saeaeks’s rage. If she hadn’t expressed her anger, and if Kutjukyeora’s slightly trembling but calm voice hadn’t been heard beside me, I might have been the one shouting.

Unfortunately for Kutjukyeora, who was trying to respond rationally and calmly, this time was different.

“There’s no explicit limit, but unlike the first phase, we should assume there is one. In the first phase, hiding in a safe zone wouldn’t end things, but it wouldn’t solve anything either. Survival itself was dangerous. But in the second phase, if we stay still, the ‘corruption level’ rises until the game ends. Later on, the corruption will spread faster than we can identify and eliminate it.”

“Ah… I didn’t remember that far. What should we do then?”

Let’s think. Since it’s still very early, the corruption probably isn’t spreading that quickly, so let’s think calmly.

We managed to figure out the gimmick and solution for the first phase, which seemed impossible at first.

While the quest details might differ between the original game and the Tower version, the fundamentals remain unchanged. It didn’t make sense for three people to blindly search this vast area, so there might be separate clues or items to find.

Alternatively, there could be markers indicating traces of corruption, or places where signs of corruption are particularly visible.

Whatever the case, we needed to move.

“In the first phase, corruption and holy power were opposites, so Seyeon, try moving with holy magic active. And Yuri, have you calmed down?”

“…Yeah. I’m fine now. And sorry.”

“No, it was refreshing to hear you curse for me. Anyway, Yuri, since your senses are good, can you try heightening them as much as possible while we move?”

Kutjukyeora with holy power that counters corruption.

Saeaeks with senses sharp enough to perform crazy acrobatics among vicious pufferfish.

Plus my buffs to complement their abilities, however slightly.

Hoping to catch something, we left a mark at our starting point and began moving quickly.

“This isn’t working. Let’s split up.”

“Are you sure about this?”

“I don’t mean completely separate—just far enough that we can still hear each other if we shout really loud.”

With no better options, they followed my suggestion. With me at the center, Kutjukyeora went left and Saeaeks went right, combing the area thoroughly like a minesweeping team.

‘Is this right?’

I grew increasingly anxious. I thought I’d always made the best decisions, but now I was having doubts. I even wondered if the Tower was punishing us for having it too easy in Albrant.

‘If only Backdoor or Wateranswer were here…’

Even I recognized that Veritas was nearly a perfect raid team, and I constantly felt that lack now that I didn’t have a complete team.

Of course, both Kutjukyeora and Saeaeks were doing their absolute best… but at times like this, I really regretted not being a combat-focused class.

‘I don’t know how much time has passed, but if it’s been about a week, things must be pretty chaotic out there?’

Other raid leaders were probably kidnapped too (otherwise it would be truly unfair), and since someone who logged in daily suddenly disappeared without contact, plus I took two others with me, the remaining raid members must be worried about what happened.

‘Yebeop is probably cursing me out right now, isn’t he?’

Backdoor and Wateranswer would probably be sending sad emoticons asking what I’m doing, and Mulchi would likely say something a bit bitter.

‘You guys might not know what I’m doing, but your raid leader is suffering trying to find mines (corruption) right now.’

So if you’re cursing me, could you please stop, even if just for a moment?

While lost in these thoughts and looking around for a long time, I finally heard a shout of discovery.

“Raid leaderrr–! I think I found something–!”

“W-a-i-t! S-e-y-e-o-n! C-o-m-e h-e-r-e!”

“G-o-t i-t!”

Kutjukyeora ran to me after my relay call, and then we both ran to where Saeaeks was.

When we approached, an excited Saeaeks pointed at the ground beneath her feet and asked:

“What do you think? Does this look right?”

It did seem right.

Because the area around where Saeaeks was pointing was noticeably darker and less vibrant.

“Yeah. Just to be sure, Seyeon, could you try stabbing it lightly with your sword infused with holy power?”

Sizzle-

Kutjukyeora’s sword penetrated with a burning sound, far too easily.

This confirmed it was definitely corruption.

“Well done. Really well done!”

“Heh, so we just need to get rid of this?”

“Wait.”

Was this corruption part of a spot-the-difference puzzle, or a matching picture puzzle?

We couldn’t tell yet. But we couldn’t risk leaving it alone to look for other traces of corruption, as it might disappear or spread.

‘Then it makes sense to eliminate it, if only to see what happens.’

Having made my decision, I nodded.

Kutjukyeora immediately pushed her sword all the way in. The blackish thing presumed to be corruption disappeared with a terrible sound. Simultaneously, the surrounding ground regained its original color and vitality.

And then nothing else happened.

We all let out a collective sigh of relief.