Ch.86Return to the Beginning (11)

Alreina’s corruption is essentially like the revival of a demon lord.

The developers created several routes that branch based on Alreina’s choices, and one of them is the corruption route.

For this purpose, they established that while Alreina has high stats in other areas, she’s extremely vulnerable to mental attacks.

In the original story, the corruption route is triggered by consecutive betrayals from humans and the disillusionment that follows.

Typically, the path diverges around the demon army quests, and whether she falls to corruption depends on the choices accumulated until then.

If she becomes corrupted, Alreina kills the demon army commander and takes the position herself, ultimately bringing ruin to the continent.

That’s why I created a strategy guide to help avoid all situations where she might be betrayed.

Fortunately, Alreina had avoided the branching point by annihilating the demon army, and all that remained was to safely complete her adventure.

But then she misunderstood that I had died, and suddenly turned toward the corruption route.

City promotion, doppelganger, expedition departure, underground station in the south—none of these elements existed in the original story, and I never imagined they would lead to Alreina’s corruption.

However, Alreina’s corruption is now certain and irreversible.

At this point, with these monsters appearing, Alreina has become completely evil and will eventually bring an end to the world.

That’s why I must go.

All of this happened because of the butterfly effect caused by my possession, and only I can bring it to an end.

After hearing my explanation, Liberone remained silent for a moment.

“So… it has already begun.”

“Yes, Liberone. You should turn back now. I’ll continue alone from here. We seem to have almost reached the point mentioned by the surviving adventurer…”

“I’m not turning back.”

Liberone cut me off.

“From what you’ve said, even if I go back, I’ll die if you fail. But if I continue with you, the chances of your failure will decrease.”

“I suppose so.”

“Indeed. So let’s go together. If I had intended to turn back, I wouldn’t have come this far.”

Liberone mounted her horse first and extended her hand to me.

I looked up at her for a moment, then smiled and took her hand.

* * * * *

Fortunately, we didn’t encounter any more monsters after that.

They were probably not the main force but a reconnaissance detachment.

Though they look like beasts or monsters, they’re well-organized among themselves and move systematically like a human army.

They don’t just charge forward recklessly, which is what makes Alreina’s corruption even more frightening.

As a veteran player, I’ve played through all of Alreina’s routes.

While the others feel like typical RPGs, the corruption route has a Dynasty Warriors concept.

It literally sweeps everything away.

“Jack. I think we’ve been here before.”

Liberone spoke as she slowed her horse.

Looking where she pointed, I saw a familiar pile of stones.

We had deliberately created it to recognize if we were going in circles, since the surrounding terrain looked identical.

“How many times is this now?”

“Probably the third time.”

I looked around, but there was nothing but a vast expanse of dry earth with no similar landmarks.

This pile was definitely made by us.

“We’re going in circles.”

“Yes.”

“Let’s keep going.”

Liberone spurred her horse forward again.

After riding for a while, we encountered the stone pile again.

“I’m keeping track. Let’s continue past it.”

I noted in my notebook the times we encountered the stone pile.

So far, a total of four times.

Even though we’re going in circles, time seems to flow normally as the sun is setting in the west.

Based on the horse’s steps and the sun’s movement, we’re encountering the stone pile at regular intervals.

It’s exactly like reaching the edge of an unimplemented map in a game and falling into a bug.

This means the southern region is an area that shouldn’t be accessible yet.

Beona’s expedition must have triggered the bug.

Perhaps the sudden activation of the subway was also related to this.

The decisive factor that led Beona to form an expedition to the south was our city’s promotion.

And the city was promoted because of my possession.

To put it somewhat dramatically, was my possession what led Alreina toward corruption?

I even gave her a strategy guide to prevent corruption, but my very existence became the branching point toward corruption.

How ironic.

* * * * *

By the time we discovered the stone pile for the fifth time, evening had fallen completely.

It seems we should set up camp for the night.

Like yesterday, I lit a campfire, sat down, chewed on some jerky, and looked up at the sky.

A night sky with stars pouring down madly.

But strangely, the constellations look exactly the same as those seen from our city.

This place is completely unimplemented.

This is definitely a place we shouldn’t have entered.

“Jack.”

Liberone spoke quietly.

“What state is Alreina in now?”

“She’s become an extremely evil entity.”

“If we meet her, is there a way to resolve this?”

A way to resolve this.

Even I don’t know that.

The story itself doesn’t allow for reversing the corruption.

Once corrupted, that’s the end. The continent is doomed.

But there is one possibility.

That’s a player possessing an NPC. Me.

There are exceptions to everything, and I need to make that happen this time too.

“You’ve always been lucky, so I’m sure you can succeed.”

As I watched Liberone slowly nodding, I suddenly felt something strange.

Behind Liberone’s shoulder, not far away, stood a mountain.

I had seen mountain ranges in the distance when we first entered the southern region.

But they weren’t close enough to reach within a few days, were they?

Liberone followed my gaze and turned her head.

“There’s a castle…”

What stood like a mountain in the darkness was a castle.

High walls surrounding tall, pointed towers.

I’ve seen this castle many times before.

It’s Alreina’s residence after she became the demon army commander.

It seems to have been built on the subway station after driving out the mid-boss Genevieve.

But why are there no attacks when it’s right in front of us?

If this is the main castle, the area should be swarming with monsters.

Let’s put out the fire first.

I kicked out the campfire, and the situation ahead became clearer.

“Gasp!”

Surprisingly, there were countless monsters in front of the castle.

They kept moving as if patrolling the castle, but even though they were only meters away from us, they seemed not to see us.

“Do they lack eyesight?”

“I’m not sure…”

After observing their movements quietly, I concluded that this must be some kind of bug.

The southern region is an unimplemented area, and Alreina’s corruption route has completely different branching points and triggers.

Perhaps these overlapping errors and bugs are why they can’t recognize us.

It’s like in games when mobs sometimes don’t see the player and just spin in circles, or suddenly die without fighting.

Whatever the case, this is clearly advantageous for us right now.

“Let’s avoid them and enter the castle.”

Leaving the horses behind, we slowly moved forward, avoiding the moving monsters.

Since they weren’t naturally created beings, their movement patterns were consistent, making them not too difficult to avoid.

“Look at that, Jack.”

Liberone pointed somewhere.

There stood enormous monsters almost as tall as the castle towers. And there wasn’t just one or two.

“Those are siege engines. They’re the ones that step right over castle walls during siege battles.”

“Incredible. It seems the claim about bringing ruin to the continent isn’t an exaggeration.”

Suddenly, a heavy horn blast echoed from the castle.

Looking up at the castle wall, I saw a humanoid monster blowing an enormous horn with all its might.

Simultaneously, hundreds of flying monsters rose from the castle, and the siege engines that had been standing still like terrain features slowly began to walk forward.

KUUUUNG-!!

As the ground-shaking vibration made us stagger, Liberone grabbed my arm.

Are they already beginning their march?!

But something seems off.

The siege engines, which look like they could advance several meters in a single step, are walking in place without moving forward.

The other monsters are the same.

They make strange noises as they try to run, but they just flail about as if underwater.

This place is full of bugs.

It seems there’s a conflict because a new route opened in an unimplemented region.

Let’s hurry. This is an opportunity given by heaven—no, by the system!

“Liberone. Let’s go quickly.” “Understood.”

* * * * *

Meanwhile, at the highest tower of the castle.

Alreina, flickering with black flames, was looking down at her army that couldn’t advance.

There was something a creature she had fought in the castle basement had told her recently.

That this was a very strange place. That it was a place one couldn’t leave or re-enter.

At first, she thought it was nonsense, but seeing her army going in circles now, it wasn’t complete nonsense after all.

Alreina exerted her will to push her army harder.

To sweep away the entire continent, the main force needs to leave this wasteland and head north.

She doesn’t remember exactly, but it seems the continent has done her a great wrong.

And those who do wrong must be punished.

That’s when Alreina noticed something strange.

Two humans approaching the castle, cutting through her army.

One was a female knight with blonde hair and armor, with a faint golden glow suggesting she was a Holy Knight.

The other was a pale man with brown hair.

With no weapons and only a bag, he seemed to be the knight’s attendant.

How did they move all the way here without any interference?

Alreina became curious about this.

She extended the black sword in her hand, and the two humans who had just passed through the main gate were lifted into the air.