Chapter 138

(1)

1.

Sunday morning.

Since morning, someone had been looking for Ulan’s room.

Long black hair cascading down and blue eyes that seemed a bit tense.

It was Noa Darshen.

“Hoo.”

Standing in front of the door.

Noa took a deep breath.

A way to ease the tension clinging to her entire body. After biting her lips, she knocked on the door with a determined look on her face.

Knock, knock!

The knock echoed in the quiet hallway.

A moment later, with a click, the door opened. Soon after, a girl with turquoise hair peeked outside.

“Oh, you came?”

The next Saintess, Laurea.

Faced with her star-like sparkling Reflective Eye, Noa nodded silently.

The moment she entered the room.

A desolate scene filled her vision.

Aside from the furniture provided by the Academy, the space contained nothing else. On the untidy bed sat a massive man.

He happened to be looking at her too.

“You’ve arrived at my sight.”

“Well, we made a promise, didn’t we?”

She was going to reveal the secret she had kept hidden.

After a calm response.

“Huh?”

Noa looked puzzled.

She had thought everyone would be gathered, but only Ulan and Laurea were in the room.

“Um, where are the others…?”

“I didn’t call them.”

“Huh? Why not?”

Noa’s eyes widened slightly.

It was unexpected.

At that moment, Laurea spoke up.

“Well, Ivella and Delia don’t know that Ulan remembers his past life.”

Ulan came from the future.

Noa knows some part of the future.

Lastly, Laurea has the power of Reflective Eye, which discerns truth from lies.

Today’s conversation takes place with all these facts understood. However, Ivella, Delia, and Ian are unaware of it.

But what if Ulan and Noa’s secret were to leak out in this situation? It was certain that a huge confusion would ensue.

“So once today’s discussion is wrapped up, I plan to arrange a separate meeting later.”

“Oh, I get what you mean.”

Noa finally understood.

At the same time, she felt a bit relieved.

It was one thing to keep secrets from Ulan and Laurea, but confessing to the other colleagues wasn’t something she was ready for yet.

“Alright, let’s hear the story now.”

With silken calm crimson eyes.

With piercing yellow eyes that see through essence.

Locking gaze with the two pairs of eyes, Noa swallowed her dry saliva.

“…I understand. I will speak.”

The story of Player Yoomina.

Having made up her mind, Noa began to confess the secret she had kept hidden.

“I came from another world.”

A completely different place from here.

A world without monsters, magic, or threats from the Abyss. With a nostalgic expression, Noa continued softly.

“And in the place where I was, this world existed within a game.”

A single-player virtual reality game.

The goal was to level up by playing various characters and to fend off the Abyss.

Commonly referred to as Chronicles of Arsen Continent.

Maybe because she had organized her thoughts overnight?

The story flowed without a hitch.

But at that moment.

“Wait a sec!”

Suddenly, Laurea interrupted the story.

With a flustered expression.

“I don’t quite understand; what exactly do you mean by ‘game’?”

“Well, to put it simply, it’s similar to chess.”

Of course, the scale is vastly different, but using this analogy would make it easier to grasp.

After finishing a simple explanation.

Laurea finally had a faint understanding. Once again, Noa’s story continued.

“And I was a player.”

“A player…?”

“It means the person who chooses one of the pieces on the chessboard and moves them.”

Living a new life while having all the memories, powers, and talents of another.

In plain terms, she was possessed.

Laurea’s eyes widened again. It was a story hard to believe.

‘But…’

There was no way to avoid believing it.

Because there was no falsehood in the response reflected in the Reflective Eye. Meanwhile, Noa continued her tale.

“Of course, that doesn’t mean I can possess every character in the continent.”

The playable characters, including hidden ones, total ninety-nine. And that includes the seven heroes.

Just, except for Ulan.

The moment she heard this answer, Ulan tilted his head in confusion.

“Why am I excluded?”

“I don’t know the exact reason. I only have a few guesses.”

“Can you tell me?”

“Of course.”

Just after she nodded readily.

Noa’s explanation followed.

“First, the most plausible guess is because of the talents and penalties given to Ulan.”

Powerful strength, perfect physique, and so on.

The talents Ulan possesses as a warrior are indeed extraordinary.

Finding someone as powerful as Ulan among all the playable warrior characters in the original would be quite tough.

‘Hence…’

It’s speculated that for game balance, he was intentionally designated as an unplayable character.

The penalty is for a similar reason.

‘Ulan’s penalties are twofold.’

Thick-headedness and Berserker.

Among them, the thick-headedness is a notably strong penalty. All abilities to acquire knowledge drop to the lowest value.

‘But if he were to become playable…’

This penalty would become meaningless.

No matter how low a character’s intelligence is, it can’t lower the player’s intelligence.

Noa summarized all the information she just thought of in an easy-to-understand manner. In response, Ulan frowned and replied.

“I can’t agree with that guess.”

“Huh? Why?”

“My head isn’t that solid.”

“…”

A moment of silence descended.

Laurea, who had been silently listening beside them, nodded quietly.

“Um, I just clearly understood what you meant by thick-headedness in that response.”

Ulan’s rebuttal was thus overlooked.

The discussion resumed.

“Next is the guess that Ulan’s fate is already predetermined, so he cannot choose.”

“Huh? Predetermined fate?”

“What does that mean?”

With both of them asking simultaneously, Noa responded with a slightly stiff face.

“I have played this game countless times, experiencing various incidents. This applies to other players too.”

Depending on the choices a player makes, situations change fluidly. However, there are things that cannot be changed no matter what.

“That’s what we call a predetermined fate.”

A fate that cannot be altered by any means.

For instance, knowing that the Lord of the Abyss, Giant King Rargtan, set a trap, one still cannot help but fall into it.

This is why the hero party ends up in a predicament, leading to Ulan’s death, all part of a predetermined fate.

“To get back to the point, Ulan’s predetermined fate is death in battle.”

Ulan’s end was always the same in the original.

He stays behind to buy time for his injured comrade to escape, fighting alone in the enemy territory. Then meets a glorious end as a Berserker.

“No matter how hard he struggled, it was all in vain. Ulan always died in the same place.”

This is his fate.

The mission assigned to the character Ulan, an unavoidable death.

After all the explanations were completed.

“…”

The room fell into a heavy silence.

Particularly, Laurea’s face had hardened. It was a harsh story that one couldn’t escape death no matter what they do.

On the other hand, Ulan’s reaction was different.

“That’s a relief.”

“…Huh?”

The moment she heard those words.

Noa questioned her ears.

How could not escaping a fate of death be considered a relief? She couldn’t understand.

Laurea felt the same.

“No, what’s so relieving about that…”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

Leaving the baffled Laurea behind.

Ulan responded stoically.

“Dying in the same place means I’ve never run away.”

Both girls were left speechless.

Who would have thought he would take not escaping death that way? Watching the two girls dumbfounded, Ulan quietly smiled.

“In all those repeated lives, I fought without running away and died honorably. There is no more glorious thing for a warrior than this.”

Even if he could only remember past lives.

Just then, a suddenly constrained voice interrupted.

“…What exactly is glorious about that?”

It was Laurea’s voice.

She grabbed Ulan’s hand and looked up at him. Then said firmly.

“If you’re going to fight, fight together, and if you’re going to run, then run together. I won’t let you die alone. Absolutely!”

Strong will reflected in her golden eyes.

It was a heartfelt response.

Seeing her expression, Ulan awkwardly smiled, while Laurea continued to speak seriously.

“Don’t smile, just promise.”

“Promise what?”

“That you won’t ever do that.”

She seemed determined not to back off until he promised.

After a nod, Ulan gently patted her shoulder and replied.

“Don’t worry. This time will be different.”

Ulan remembers his past lives.

And based on that, he took a much quicker step into the realm of Master. Furthermore, before the Gate of the Abyss opened, he had already defeated two Lords.

‘So even if…’

No matter how predetermined his fate was, he was confident this time he could overcome it. Meanwhile, Laurea still looked unsatisfied.

“Stop dodging the promise and just swear it.”

“I get it. I swear on the name of a warrior.”

Finally getting him to promise, Laurea’s expression finally relaxed. It seemed like she was a bit relieved by Ulan’s assurance.

Once the conversation wrapped up.

Noa’s story began again.

“Anyway, while playing the game, I lived the lives of numerous characters. And three years later, an anomaly occurred.”

When she opened her eyes, she found herself in the game.

At first, she thought she had simply logged in normally. However, it wasn’t long before she realized that this wasn’t the case.

The interface that should have existed in a game was nowhere to be found. Plus, even the logout button had vanished.

“The moment I realized I couldn’t return to the original world, I understood.”

From now on, she had to live as Noa Darshen, a Named Character in Chronicles of Arsen Continent, not as Player Yoomina.

At the same time, she instinctively sensed.

To return to the original world, she had to defeat the final objective of the original game, the Abyss.

“This is my secret I’ve kept.”

Once the lengthy tale concluded.

The room was once again filled with silence.

A heavy atmosphere pressing down on them.

Noa’s expression stiffened. Though relieved to have finally confessed her hidden secrets, she felt a pang of fear.

Now that all truths had been revealed, she feared how their gazes and attitudes toward her might change.

After a not-so-short while, a voice broke the silence.

“Um, to be honest, this story is even harder to believe than Ulan’s.”

It was Laurea.

However, she expressed her doubts in words only, not doubting Noa’s confession itself. For there was no falsehood in her words as seen through the Reflective Eye.

‘And one more thing.’

The question that had been on her mind was clarified.

Why did Noa have two souls within her?

As she processed these thoughts, a memory suddenly crossed her mind. It was something she heard from Noa previously.

“Ah, so you mean knowing the future too…”

“That’s right. I said I knew because I had already experienced those situations countless times.”

Noa nodded repeatedly.

However, she couldn’t confidently assert she knew every future. Many variables emerged once Ulan enrolled in the Academy.

While she was continuing to respond, Ulan suddenly dropped a significant remark.

“Like a god.”

“Huh?”

“What do you mean all of a sudden?”

“Well, the only beings who can manipulate a person’s fate as they wish are gods, right?”

Laurea’s expression froze at his retort.

It wasn’t due to blasphemy.

The moment she heard Ulan’s words, a memory suddenly surfaced.

‘…The Genesis Bible.’

There were passages in it similar to what Noa had just mentioned. Laurea recalled the verses without missing a word.

『The divine light that came down from the heavens created this world and countless creatures, then transformed back into starlight and vanished into the night sky.

However, when chaos descended upon the world, they borrowed the human form and descended, bestowing countless knowledge and wisdom.

Once their human life ended, the gods transformed back into stars and returned to the night sky.』

The gods who had borrowed human forms and descended to the earth were later worshiped by many believers as star gods.

Once she remembered those biblical lines.

Laurea’s expression grew serious.

‘Until now, I thought it was just one of the records in the Bible…’

But hearing Noa’s story changed her perspective.

She found similarities between the player and the divine being. Most notably, the aspect of borrowing a human body stood out.

Meanwhile, Noa exclaimed in shock.

“A g-god? That can’t be true!”

After all, gods are depicted as perfect and omnipotent beings. Yet Noa didn’t know everything, nor was she omnipotent.

If she truly were a god, she wouldn’t have stayed here but would have returned to the original world immediately.

“Anyway, that is all my secret.”

Noa finished her rebuttal with a sigh.

Weariness was evident on her face. However, knowing the story wasn’t over yet, she looked at the two of them and asked.

“If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. I’ll answer as best as I can.”

“Then I’ll ask right away.”

No sooner had Noa’s words ended than Laurea raised her hand high.

“Actually, there’s a passage in the Bible that reads like this.”

She recounted what she had just thought of.

The verse from the Bible, along with the question about the similarities between divine beings and players.

After all the explanations had concluded.

Noa provided an unexpected answer.