Ch.68Radaniya

# 68. Radaniya

[Who is this Ayor?]

I’m not good at writing in a structured way, so I’ll use informal speech for convenience.

I’m a newbie who just entered Ayord. Getting past the watchman at the gatehouse wasn’t a problem.

But the moment I entered Ayord.

(Screenshot of a woman with long black hair and a pair of black cat ears on top, smirking)

Instead of seeing the Ayord title appear with the Ayord-specific BGM playing and the Ayord landscape showing up, suddenly the screen darkened and this Ayor appeared.

(Screenshot showing a dialogue box with the woman’s greeting)

As you can see in the second screenshot, she approached me while talking and laughing to herself, but her name is shown as “????” so I don’t even know who she is.

I don’t know her name and she’s not mentioned in any guides, so I even tried image searching, but she doesn’t appear anywhere.

Based on her cat ears, she seems to be an Ayor, and her appearance is actually my type, but I can’t progress any further from here. No dialogue options appear, and the conversation doesn’t just end either. I don’t know what else I’m supposed to do.

Just in case, I force-quit and restarted the game, but it’s still the same.

If anyone else has seen this Ayor or has any information about her, please let me know.

[Comments]

DulahanHeadIsSoccerBall: ??? This seems too detailed to be made up

↳(Original Poster): Not making it up, seriously not making it up. I even contacted the game company and they said it’s not a bug

↳DulahanHeadIsSoccerBall: So that Ayor is an official NPC? Is it some kind of hidden event?

InheritanceInProgress: I’ve never seen her before

↳(Original Poster): If the Inheritance master had seen her, wouldn’t he have written a guide about it already???

↳InheritanceInProgress: Lol, but the illustration and modeling are gorgeous

↳(Original Poster): Maybe…?

↳InheritanceInProgress: But if this isn’t made up and is real, how astronomically rare must this be? In a game with tens of thousands of concurrent players lol

[Who is this Ayor? (2)]

I’m the person who wrote [Who is this Ayor?].

(Screenshot showing the Ayor’s dialogue)

Since I couldn’t progress in the game, I rage-quit, and when I logged in the next day, the dialogue had changed. Based on the dialogue, she seems to be a character quite connected to the story (I don’t know the Ayord story well yet. She could just be a MacGuffin).

Her name still isn’t shown.

Still can’t progress.

Trash game.

[Comments]

InheritanceInProgress: One of my acquaintances saw her too. That person said dialogue options appeared and they could continue the conversation.

↳(Original Poster): ??? Is this newbie discrimination? lol

↳InheritanceInProgress: Lol I don’t think so. There are too few cases to compare, but there seems to be some specific condition. I found out who that Ayor is, but it’s kind of spoilery so I’m hesitant to say

↳(Original Poster): Can I send you my username and you tell me through whisper?

↳InheritanceInProgress: OK

**

‘Ah.’

Vibrant black hair, a face that was alluring yet marked with a trace of a scar, a nimble and flexible physique, and pointed, cute black cat ears standing up.

I remembered.

The extremely rare encounter event in the Ayord story.

The “Legendary Ayor, Radaniya” encounter event with the builder of Ayord.

The Ayor before me wasn’t a ghost or a hallucination.

Radaniya, who was believed to be dead, had actually survived and was living in seclusion somewhere, and whenever someone with a certain “feeling” came to Ayord, she would secretly visit them to talk—that was the event.

Because it occurred with an extremely low probability, and only when visiting Ayord for the first time, the vast majority of people didn’t know about this event. Naturally, I hadn’t experienced it either and had only learned about it through an acquaintance.

As you’d find out only after completing the entire story, Radaniya was in a state similar to an earth-bound spirit, unable to leave Ayord.

Having long exceeded the lifespan of an Ayor, Radaniya had managed to survive through some method, but as a consequence, she became bound to Ayord and had been constantly searching for someone who could free her.

Whether that freedom meant liberation from “life” or from “Ayord” would depend on the gamer’s choices and abilities.

The rewards were substantial, which caused resentment among the absolute majority of users who hadn’t been able to encounter Radaniya, but the complaints subsided after the game company clarified that it wasn’t purely random but required certain qualifications.

‘But why me?’

I was wondering why Radaniya, whom I had never seen before, appeared before me. Did my party members who had been with me all along not qualify to see her?

“You look like you’re wondering who I am, what’s going on, what the situation is? I was hoping to see you more confused. It would have been quite cute.”

“I know who you are, but I was wondering how this happened.”

“Huh? You know who I am?”

“The Legendary Ayor, Rada—”

“Nyaa!”

As I was about to mention her name without hesitation, her composed demeanor vanished as she made a cat sound and threw a nyan-punch. My shoulder almost dislocated… This must have been her holding back. According to the lore, Radaniya was also a formidable warrior.

But with this, my 99.9% certainty became 100%.

The Ayor before me, with her appearance and voice that didn’t match her age, was indeed Radaniya.

“How could you suddenly say my name like that!”

“You asked if I knew who you were.”

“I asked if you knew, not to say it out loud!”

“I thought you’d only believe me if I said it.”

“Ugh!”

Despite having just met, it felt like dealing with a much older (really much older) little sister. My speech naturally flowed into a casual polite form rather than formal honorifics.

The image of Radaniya was already vastly different from what I had seen in the recording left by my acquaintance.

Radaniya, probably thinking she had made a fool of herself, was trembling her ears and whiskers. It was strangely cute, unlike her initial seductive and haughty impression.

“Anyway, it’s a great honor as an adventurer to meet the legendary Ayor I’ve only heard about in stories. But I came here with my companions, so I’d appreciate if you could tell me quickly why you called me and send me back to my original position.”

“…I called you because I had a feeling, but you really are an unusual human, aren’t you?”

“Haha….”

For reference, the conditions for Radaniya’s appearance were unknown then and are still unknown now. There were too few cases to analyze.

“Tch. Well, this makes the conversation faster, which is good. Alright. The reason I called you, a human I’ve never met before, is.”

Radaniya gently extended her hand over my chest. Near my heart. Though I knew she had no hostile intent, my whole body almost curled up for a moment.

“I want to be free, at last.”

“Free? From what?”

This part was just as I had seen in the video.

The first branch point.

Whether she wanted to be free from life or from Ayord.

This was closer to Radaniya arbitrarily choosing based on the character’s conditions, rather than the gamer deciding. It was possible to reverse the choice with the gamer’s effort and ability during the second branch point later in the story.

“You might think I’m senile, but… my dream was to be an adventurer like you. Builder of Ayord, Legendary Ayor. It’s nice to have such grand titles, but… I’m getting tired of being the guardian who protects Ayord from the shadows without dying.”

It’s lonely too.

Radaniya added self-deprecatingly. I was so surprised internally that I missed the timing to respond.

‘Not life but the Ayord route? At the first branch point? Me?’

I want to be free from life.

If Radaniya had said this, it would have been easy unless one tried to reverse the choice.

All you had to do was go to a specific place, place your hand on her heart, and call her name 9 times over 9 days, and that would be it.

But for the Ayord route—that is, if Radaniya said she wanted to continue living—something much more complicated was needed (I’m guessing).

“You can’t leave Ayord?”

“No. I’m bound here.”

“Um… but I’m just an ordinary adventurer, so I don’t know how I can help you.”

“No. You can do it because I had that feeling—pop!—about you.”

“What exactly is that feeling?”

To my question, Radaniya answered with her obsidian-like eyes gleaming.

“Someone who has the heart of a beast.”

“…Excuse me? Me?”

“Yes. You.”

Maybe if it were Saex, but me?

Me, who needs to make plans or look up guides before doing anything to feel at ease, and whose mind becomes a mess of worries when that’s not possible?

“I can ‘feel’ that you, a human whose name I don’t even know, have the heart of a beast more than anyone else. I’m not sure exactly how to put it, but… Yes! A hunter who persistently targets prey. That’s the first virtue of a beast. I feel that strongly from you.”

I did tend to dive deeply into one thing when I became fixated on it. Recently, that had been this game, and here, it was reaching the top floor.

If that’s how Radaniya felt and interpreted it, I had nothing to say.

The problem was…

“So, what do you want from me?”

“Take me out of here!”

“I mean, how? How am I supposed to take out a legendary Ayor who can’t leave on her own?”

I really didn’t know.

My acquaintance had gotten the life route and didn’t try to reverse it, simply helping Radaniya pass on.

“Carry me in your heart and take me outside Ayord!”

“What did you say?”

Um… is she really senile?