Chapter 125

“Older Sister! My body… my body…?”

It was the moment I defeated Baaljebub.

My head spun, and the world went dark as if I were experiencing anemia, and my legs became wobbly.

I felt like I’d experienced this before, but when was it… right.

It felt just like when I was in the capsule, neglecting my health and pushing myself too hard, and was thrown out of the world.

Only Adella’s voice faintly reached me.

What is she saying?

“Ugh, what is this… why can’t I grasp it… Uugh, aaaaah!”

Adella kept flailing her arms, but frustratingly nothing caught in her hands.

I had defeated the pesky flies, and now I just needed to defeat the final boss…

I seemed to have overlooked the story too much. I had thought casually that a boss would come out in some way even if Adella was alive.

Of course, I should have prepared for the possibility of there being no boss.

But how?

The boss isn’t just going to appear out of nowhere, so how do we clear it? I had exceeded the realm of what I could prepare for.

Adella’s figure gradually faded like a stone falling into a pond.

A familiar scenery unfolded before my eyes. It was a small room with a bed, a table, and a blackboard.

Before I knew it, my body was leaning back in a comfortable chair, but I immediately got up and turned on the login screen.

I couldn’t connect to Waroa again.

[Access denied for User No Name#3947292]

[Error Code: 75015]

[Please refer to the system event log for more details.]

“Why? I haven’t run out of time!”

It was still 10:24 AM.

– There are people in the game!!!

– What the hell!!!!

– Why is the story stopped in part 4?

– Open the path now! Before it sweeps away!

– ????

– Maintenance hasn’t even started yet.

The viewers were feeling bewildered, unable to enjoy the joy of clearing.

[Access denied for User No Name#3947292]

[Access denied for User No Name#3947292]

[Access denied for User No Name#3947292]

No matter how many times I pressed the World Tree icon, the result was the same.

[‘HotIce’ donated 1,000 won!]

– Why doesn’t it work even if I run it with admin privileges?

“Nothing seems to work…”

[‘richardsilver’ donated 1,000 won!]

– For now, let’s try reconnecting the capsule account and press it again.

Even following their advice to dig into the account again, and even turning the broadcast off and back on, the Waroa icon remained silent.

“Everything seems useless… Haah… really…”

– T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T

– Is the host crying…?

– Her voice is really shaking.

– I’ll kill the WareSoft that made No Name cry. That was all I could think since the beginning.

– How can this even happen?

– There are only 20 minutes left until the emergency maintenance…

– Adella, pleaseㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

– Forest Guardian, doesn’t this feel familiar? Huh, why are there tears…?

└ Don’t provoke me like thisㅠㅠㅠ

└ T-T-T-T-T

└ That was really bad.

– You have to give us a chance to clear! What is this all of a sudden!

“I won’t cry over something like this. But, haah…”

[‘ㅇㅁㅇ’ donated 1,000 won!]

– For now, let’s keep our mental state and contact customer service.

– Yeah, that sounds better.

– Since this is an extraordinary maintenance, WareSoft probably doesn’t have a clue either.

– We’ll submit a query together. Host, do you have the Open World seed you wrote down?

“I think it was Q39Z487YO166ML4338JA. Thank you for helping.”

– Is that real?

– How can you memorize that, damn it?

– D-D-D-D-D-D-D

– You’ve got to be kidding me.

– At this point, the host is starting to get scared.

The ticking time kept passing.

I kept turning around in the same spot, and my limbs were growing numb; it felt like I was hit by a sudden muscle ache.

More than anything, I was overwhelmingly tired as if my whole body had been wrung out like a dishcloth. If I lose my focus here, I’d probably be expelled from the capsule as well.

What am I supposed to do now?

It’s when I feel powerless that I become the most pitiful.

When I’m completely trapped in the capsule, I feel like I’m a nothing.

It was 10:55.

A response from customer service was, of course, not coming.

I would probably receive one at 9 in the morning tomorrow.

I suppressed my urge to tear my hair out and took a deep breath.

Still, nothing changed.

After repeating this once, twice, dozens of times.

Ding—

The sound signaling 11 PM echoed.

I retrieved the tab I had set aside.

[ipfs://worldofarceria.waresoft.com/ko-kr/]

The announcement window only displayed the emergency maintenance schedule that the viewers had mentioned earlier.

Numerous people set fire to protests in the comments, but there was still no sign of a response from the operators.

Returning to the homepage, the Waroa trailer began to play automatically.

The dense forest scenery passed swiftly, revealing the resplendent Imperial Capital and Rement Academy.

Students in uniforms were sword-fighting and practicing magic, and upon discovering the camera, they broke into bright smiles.

Bats flew out from the entrance of Retiskaya’s cave, which was quickly cleared to catch Lunton, and a startled Luna Pavilis stumbled.

The screen quickly transitioned again, and the heroes visiting the Sacred Nation reunited with Remy and Daniel, and the seemingly kind Pope came to assist their baptism with holy water.

These were scenes I would have seen had I chosen normal difficulty.

There had been ample opportunity to choose the difficulty again.

But the reason I didn’t was my stubbornness.

It was also true that I wasn’t greatly moved by the fact that it was Nightmare difficulty.

After all, the monsters and enemies that showed up were like pyramid-level.

Because of that pathetic pride and obstinacy of mine, this disaster occurred.

The uneasy feeling had crept in the moment consecutive error messages appeared, but it was too late to turn back now.

I not only had to protect the memories I shared with her, but now I also had a solid reason to be sure to talk with her.

Because I definitely had a memory of having seen Adella somewhere.

In a previous life.

* * *

“Adella…”

A soft, gentle voice called her name.

I shivered from the somewhat cold air, and her long eyelashes slowly rose.

“Um, where is this…?”

“The Gwainyar Inn in the Third District of the Capital.”

“Uuuh… I see… Huh? Wait, did you say the Third District?”

Adella hurriedly tried to get up, only to tumble out of bed.

Hitting her head on the floor, she let out a cute sound of surprise, then lowered her body down and looked around.

“Did No Name really… do it?”

“Yeah. We retrieved both laurel leaves, the Abyss comrades are safe, and most importantly, you’re alive. You don’t have to die anymore, Adella.”

“Ugh… Huhaaaah! I see, we did it… sniff… do you know how scared I was…! Haaah…”

She immediately dashed to the blonde woman.

It’s warm; my heart is beating. Adella wept tears of joy and didn’t drop her embrace for a while.

“You’ve had a hard time, Adella. Dying so many times.”

“That’s something I should be saying to you! What in the world were you thinking!? And what was the regression about…? Could it be the power of the laurel tree?”

“No. It’s not the laurel tree. There’s something even more high-dimensional, Adella.”

“Anyway, I’m so glad you’re back… I’m really glad… why did you go so far for me…?”

“Because I know you better than anyone else.”

“You know me? You know me?”

“Yeah. Maybe I know you better than you do yourself.”

“That’s another lie… I can’t believe you anymore.”

Adella abruptly turned her head.

Seeing that, the blonde woman wrapped her arms around Adella’s body, pulling her closer.

Taken aback by the sudden physical contact, Adella gasped.

“W-What is this…?”

“Pet pet.”

The hand stroking her head gradually traveled down her back and stopped at the base of her tail, lightly tapping.

Every time a light vibration occurred, her eyes widened.

With her nerves on edge from the overwhelming sensation, Adella swallowed a moan.

“Stop now…”

But the hand relentlessly tugged at her silvery tail, caressing it from root to tip all at once.

“Eek!”

Adella accidentally let out a sound, gripping the woman’s shoulders and shaking them as she protested.

“Are you crazy? Do you know how sensitive the tails of our beastkin are?!”

“It’s strange. I clearly enjoyed it.”

“Whether it was good or not, it’s rude to touch without permission!”

That was the first encounter between Adella and Night No Name.

Although it technically wasn’t only at night (since their first meeting was during morning hours), it turned out to be quite fitting for her personality.

“You shouldn’t take your clothes off anywhere!”

“Adella? Can you put some ointment on me?”

“Are you not a child? You can do that yourself… huh?”

Adella, who was covering her face with her palms, gasped in shock when she saw the Forest Guardian’s white back through her fingers.

“What happened to these wounds…? Who did this?!”

From deep cuts as if slashed by a knife to wounds that looked like she was stabbed by something sharp.

Dozens of large and small scars were evenly distributed across her body.

Every time Adella spread the white cream thinly over her back, she bit her lower lip hard.

“Were you perhaps a slave in the past?”

“Good inference. It’s similar but a bit different.”

“Did it not hurt…?”

“I don’t have consciousness of the past. I just remember it.”

She explained to Adella about the Arseria Forest and the true nature of the Laurel Tree.

Filled with anger at the empire’s brutal and shameless actions, Adella realized that all the young slaves without ointments were sacrificed for Wigrasil’s growth. And if she had been a little less fortunate, she too would have been part of it.

Having uncovered the secrets of the world, Adella wiped away her tears again.

Her current goal was to return the soul of the Laurel Tree, known as Wigrasil, back to its original place in order to seal the fragments of the devil forever.

“But why did it have to fall to you to undertake something that no one acknowledges?”

Her answer was simple yet profound.

“For you. And for the clear. And this is where I stop. If you want to meet me, keep defeating Mephisto.”

Not understanding those words, Adella welcomed another morning but couldn’t see Night No Name from her thereafter.

“Goodbye, little cat.”

Now in a state where she couldn’t even remember her name. But she knew roughly.

First and foremost, her mission was to defeat Mephisto alongside Day No Name.

Although there was a slight dispute regarding the disposition of Day No Name and Daniel, Adella eventually succeeded in turning her heart.

The power of the angel truly knew no bounds.

She dispelled the polymorph magic that had been cast on Remy and cured her incurable illness in an instant, and even when the great demon was summoned, she didn’t flinch and sealed it in the ground forever.

It should have been a perfect day.

It surely should have been.

She dangerously perched herself on the edge of a cliff, gazing into the sky.

[This World is currently under Maintenance.]

[Error 3003]

The phrase, similar to when No Name died but different, filled the sky.

The world was painted in black and white, and the edges began to slowly crumble.

“Hehe… Am I dreaming? If so, I hope to wake up soon…”

Even if it’s a dream, this is too scary.