episode_0004

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In most games, the concept of time is rare. This is because applying real-life time concepts to games, except for a few games with special concepts, makes the system configuration too complicated.

Therefore, the occurrence of events in the game is based on progress rather than time. For example, if you receive a quest to catch 10 slimes, whether it takes 10 days or 100 days, you must catch 10 slimes to move on to the next step.

But even though this world is different from what I knew, it is a stark reality. In progressing a story, time is as important as events. Just because you leave the building doesn’t mean you can move on to the next event.

Therefore, I decided to stay in this town until the game’s opening event started.

So to speak, it’s like an additional tutorial period. There were quite a few things to prepare before starting the full-scale adventure. Such as learning common sense about this world or learning the knowledge necessary for long-term travel.

What you are doing right now is a type of training.

“Haaaab!”

Ludger’s fist flies out with a loud cheering sound. Although its physique and strength were nothing compared to Ogre’s, the pressure felt from its fist was much more vicious than that.

Just as I literally slaughtered the ogres as small as a rat, in this world, what is felt from the outside does not necessarily match the actual danger.

What makes that possible is the existence of mana. This is commonly expressed as MP in games. Just as I swung the sword with the mana in my body, Ludger would also strengthen his fists with mana.

Moreover, unlike Ogres who simply moved physically, Ludger’s movements also included complex techniques. The blow coming now was aimed at the gap that had been created after several steps. Moreover, there appears to be a move to consider blocking this.

Well, you could say it’s useless at the point where everything is visible.

[Counter Sword]

A skill that nullifies an opponent’s attack while in a defensive stance and deals damage in reverse. It’s a cumbersome skill to use because you have to keep the timing right in the game, but when you actually try it, it’s an incomparably difficult skill.

But it is just as effective. What I thought showed a gap was the paint. When Ludger returned to his collapsed posture, Ludger’s fist split the air in vain.

“Pfft!?”

Could it be that I didn’t expect him to escape from that position? As much force was applied, Ludger’s center of gravity collapsed.

Even if it collapses, it only lasts for a moment. Ludger immediately recovered his outstretched fist and returned to a defensive stance. But just that brief moment is enough.

“Queu!”

With a short, loud scream, Ludger was struck in the collarbone and fell to the ground.

“It’s my victory this time too. Do you actually like losing? Is that what you like?”

“Noisy! The girl is so ignorant and thin… !”

Ludger’s gaze turned grim at the winner’s provocation, but it was just funny to see teardrops forming at the corners of his eyes. The first few times I was scared of his scary appearance is over. Now that I have won all of the sparring matches, I am completely superior.

As proof, no matter how much I teased Ludger, he just made an angry expression and couldn’t say anything. In order to reverse the situation, they apply to spar again, but the result is the same.

Thanks to this, I was able to properly acquire a sense of combat over the past two weeks.

“How many consecutive losses was this? Have you lost about 100 games in a row?”

“Don’t talk nonsense! It’s only number 87!”

“Well, I see… .”

I got a bit sick of the number of answers I threw out as bait, which was a lot bigger than I expected. It goes without saying, but it is impossible to spar as much as I did in just two weeks. This means ‘it was like that’ including before I came.

This guy is so broken, yet he’s taking on the challenge well. Geunseongman was a little impressed.

“Damn, I need to go outside quickly. Isn’t it time for revelation to come out?”

“So they say there’s nothing wrong with going outside.”

“How do you know that, you monster bitch? I’ve never been to a map before. Just wait and see. Because I’m not going to be a gorilla like you, I’m going to seduce some really pretty city women.”

“Yes, yes. Work hard.”

A rambunctious country youth who yearns for the city. That’s Ludger’s character in the game.

However, if nothing else, there was a high probability that there would be no significant gain when it came to women. Even if I were second to none, I could count on one hand the number of girls on the entire continent who are as true and pretty as Bluebell. This is especially true when you think about the area where Ludger will go.

Ludger left the training ground one step ahead, leaving behind a declaration that would never come true, saying that next time he would definitely win.

Judging from the fact that he was holding my shoulder until the end, it must have really been quite painful. … Is it really broken? Then I feel a bit sorry.

“Can I ask you one thing?”

“… I’m surprised. Seraph, when you come out, please come out where you can see me.”

As I was warming up with a moderate amount of stretching, the manager—Seraph—climbed on my shoulder as if taking turns with Ludger, who had left.

As you can tell from my title, I have become a bit closer to Seraph during that time. Of course, it’s not like we’re friends, but it’s about building trust as a helper and player.

He often pops out on my shoulder as if he likes it, but I wish he had told me in advance through telepathy or something. Unfortunately, that request never came through.

“Why did you provoke him?”

“A provocation, you mean Ludger?”

“He is a useful force. Even if you try hard to be liked, it’s not enough, so why do something like that… .”

It seems that Seraph seemed very uneasy seeing me making fun of Ludger. In fact, Ludger was in the top three in terms of strength among the NPCs you could have as a companion, so there was no need to buy him or be hated.

So if you’re asking why you would do something like that, well… . Because it’s fun?

Originally, in fighting games, body kicking is basic, and in AOS, sealing is basic for the entire chat. Because there’s nothing more fun than a provocation after hitting an opponent.

But unfortunately, there is a trend in the world criticizing the act of enjoying such deserved content. And looking at Seraph’s personality, which I have been observing for the past two weeks, it was clear that he would not like my true feelings that much.

Is there no good reason?

“… Although there is certainly no need to be hated. In other words, there’s no need to be liked, right? There is no benefit to raising your favorability anyway.”

The last level of affinity skill has great performance, but in my system, the gender is female. And I have absolutely no intention of going to the lover stage with a man.

Even if the benefit of the pre-lover stage is just a small buff, and you’re not going to get the skill anyway, it doesn’t make much difference how you deal with it.

When I said that, Seraph shook her head at the fastest speed I had ever seen.

“It’s dangerous to do that. This world is different from the game. If you incur the other person’s hatred, you may become hostile, or in the worst case scenario, you may betray them at a critical moment.”

“ek… Well, no, that’s true. I wasn’t that harsh just now, right?”

In fact, I think he deserves praise for holding back from teabagging.

“If you look at it just now, it could be so. Think about it. Did the main character in the game you know do something like that?”

“Main character? no way. To begin with, the main character barely has any lines.”

“That’s it. No matter how you act, you can’t act exactly like the main character. But how are the people around you reacting?”

“That’s… , I didn’t think about it that deeply.”

If you think about it properly, it is definitely unnatural. I am acting as I please with no memory of what happened two weeks ago, but not only my colleagues but also the village people treat me as if they have known each other for a long time.

Anyway, I was just thinking about leaving the starting village soon. If you ask why, there is no way you will know.

“The possibilities for how you will act are endless. So, so that it doesn’t matter what kind of person you are, we have set it so that what you do now appears to be ‘your usual self’.”

Seraph explained that if I had been quiet since I came here, then TS would have been a quiet kid since childhood, and if he had been killing people since he came here, he would have become a crazy killer since childhood.

The same goes for Ludger just now, who recorded dozens of consecutive losses that I don’t remember. Because I have competed with and defeated Ludger so many times, it has become a setup that I have been competing with and winning against Ludger since before.

So, the fact that there were several provocations in that match means,

“I have always been treated with such provocations… ?”

“In addition, according to the current record, there were 108 consecutive losses before the 87 consecutive losses, and before that, there were 79 consecutive losses.”

“How much did you lose, you guy!?”

Considering that the losing streak has ended, it looks like there was a rare win. How on earth did I resolve the old resentment at that moment? No, in this situation, there is a greater possibility that it would not have been solved. Anyway, I know that as it is, it’s perfect for getting stabbed.

Fortunately, the event has not started yet. If you treat Ludger kindly from now on, there will still be a chance to change the settings of the past.

“Ah, TS. You were here. The bishop told us to gather right away. I have something important to say.”

And the moment I made that promise, I heard the news of a time limit.

ah. This won’t work.

***

The Prana Church is a religious order that is worshiped only in this area on the entire continent. Although it is registered with a religious association, only a few people know of its existence. The limit would be to barely be treated as a heretic in areas outside the village.

However, the power of the Prana Church is completely opposite to its popularity. Just look at this chapel right now and you will see it. The altar and chapel, decorated so extravagantly as to hit the cheek of the imperial capital’s cathedral, went beyond the limits of polygon graphics and evoked a sense of mystery and awe.

The same goes for power. The former Holy Knights have the strength to defeat even dragons when they gather together. However, except for the knights who are replaced by each generation, there is a restriction that they cannot leave the village, so they are not on guard.

In other words, to put it in layman’s terms, it is a ‘strong and strong’ denomination.

“Our long-awaited time has finally arrived… .”

When four people, including me, gathered, the bishop at the altar spoke. As a bonus, he also serves as the village chief.

First of all, based on the setting, this person is also one of the strongest men on the continent. At first glance, the middle-aged woman appears to be a nice person, but from the outside you can see that she is forcing a solemn expression.

“A long time ago. The continent entered an era of great war. The great war in which all races were mixed eventually reached a turning point by bringing in the demon king of another world through great magic that broke the taboo in the land of wizards. The Demon King tried to destroy everything in this world, including the wizards who summoned him, and as a result, numerous warring forces stopped the war and united to defeat the Demon King’s forces… .”

However, strength and speech are two different things, so the slow, long talk was extremely boring. Even more so because it was a story we already knew.

If I were to summarize it in three lines, it would be this. The hero was unable to kill the Demon King and sealed him away. The seal is about to be released. So you guys have to reseal it. end.

“… To prevent evil people from breaking the seal, the hero divided the key to the seal into five and spread them around the world. During these three years, our church made every effort to find the whereabouts of the keys by mobilizing all the sacred power we possessed, and the whereabouts of all keys were now known.

If this is left as is, it is inevitable that the Demon King will break the seal and come out, staining the world with darkness again. You will now have to go out into the world, obtain those keys, and use the power in your blood to once again push the devil into the other side of darkness… .”

I wonder why they bothered to spread it after making a key. Throughout its long history, the denomination must have experienced many things. Obviously. Maybe the production company created the map and added the settings later.

After talking to that point, the bishop’s face finally lost all strength. After the forced solemnity disappeared, I felt even more like a local lady.

“I’m really sorry for entrusting you with such a heavy burden… . Really, I wish the seal had been weakened during my generation. But it is also true that the church’s secret wish is right in front of us. It may be difficult, but try your best.”

“Yes! I will definitely seal the devil again and come back!”

“Yes, I only trust you guys. Everyone heard about the location of the key, right?”

At those words, all four of us, including me, nodded. I heard it so many times right before coming here that I couldn’t forget it.

First Key, Valley of Chaos [Abyss Valley]

Second Key, City of Discord [Divid Dominion]

Third Key, Street of Desire [Imperial Underworld]

The 4th key, the battlefield of protection [Fortress Maginot]

Although they are called keys, they are actually weapons that the Demon King used before he was sealed. Go to the area, obtain the key there, and seal the devil. That is the normal ending of this game, and it was also the ending I was aiming for to clear this world.

“I would like to have you all go together, but… . There is no way to know how much time remains until the seal is lifted. Fortunately, you are all of the greatest talent in the outside world, so the decision was made to send one person to each location.”

After saying that, the bishop’s eyes first turned to me, the commander of the knights. Although it wasn’t said verbally, I knew that I had to choose a location based on the atmosphere.

In a way, this was the most important part. Although I was a little nervous, I said the name of the area I had in mind in advance.

“I will go to [Abyss Valley]. Since it is the closest to the village, you can finish it quickly and go help other people.”

“Yes, I wanted to ask for that too. Next is Ludger. Which do you prefer?”

“Then I’m going to [Fortress Maginot]. I think that one can fight without thinking the most.”

“Oh. Then I go to [Divid Dominion]. Because I can’t use magic easily on the streets of the Empire.”

“Well, I’m going to [Imperial Underworld], I’m going… ! That place is my specialty… Can be saved… .”

My prayers seemed to have worked as my colleagues found themselves in the optimal position, just like in a game. If there was a problem here, it could have been annoying because there was no reason to persuade, but fortunately, I think I could get through it without any problems.

Once that was decided, the bishop let out a long sigh with an expression that it was all over.

“Phew… . Well then, this is pretty much it. Let’s take a good rest today, pack our bags, and leave tomorrow. Don’t forget to say hello to people you know.

Still, keep this in mind. Keeping the mission is important, but the most important thing to us is you. If you don’t think you can do it alone, don’t overdo it and just go to another area or wait for a colleague. Once again, you should think of your body first? Moreover──”

I thought it was finally over. Next, a sermon on taking care of yourself as a village chief, not a bishop, followed. My heart is happy… , Honestly, it’s annoying!

In the end, after well over an hour, we were barely able to leave the church.

If a game without a skip button is a manga game, then this reality is definitely a trash game.

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