Chapter 60

**Magi**

In “Woloua,” magi was used in a slightly different sense than in previous lives.

Here, magi were the driving force behind monsters and mazaks. It wasn’t entirely incorrect to say that monsters were born from magi, but considering how vulnerable the mazaks were to magi, it was quite amusing.

In the prologue, the setting of the game’s “magi difficulty” depends on whether the quest to defeat the Hydra is achieved. The higher the magi, the more ferocious the monsters become, and black magic turns more brutal. However, clearing the game at high magi difficulty grants bonuses to attack power or spell power later on.

Next comes exploration.

The Labyrinth of Incomprehensibility was short enough that when I proceeded with Lara, it took only an hour to break through. I thought that the overall difficulty of the game was easy, but it turned out that it wasn’t even official content to begin with. Similar to magi, the higher the exploration difficulty, the lower the drop rate for field items and weapons. The final character receives a health bonus.

Finally, there is infamy.

During the confrontation with the commander of the Order that we encountered in the capital, Lara achieved a perfect overwhelming victory. The higher the infamy, the fewer NPCs can form alliances, and opponents in player-versus-player combat exhibit stronger characteristics.

The infamy sub-option later granted bonuses to character growth in terms of qi or mana. Each option made characters stronger, but the cost was not trivial.

And the most important matter was

[‘JumpingSixthCameraPress’ donated 10,000 won!]

– Nightmare sub-option 10/10/10 hahaha

It was the fact that I had entered the Nightmare phase.

[I will enter through the formal procedure. / We don’t have much time.]

[▶ We don’t have much time.]

“Was the choice of the past truly a turning point?”

At a pub belonging to the Abyss branch of District 15, after carefully drawing curtains and thoroughly setting up mana barriers, the chief explained the Academy invasion operation to us.

I paused the story briefly to check the chat.

“What is different about nightmare difficulty?”

This was definitely information I needed to know while playing the game.

– If you play nightmare, you absolutely cannot die.

– A no-death clear is essential.

“So dying means game over… is that what it means?”

– No, not game over.

– It’s not game over, but it sends you back to the beginning point of each main story. Part one is right now at the checkpoint,

– and all the characters will become ridiculously strong.

– It becomes nearly impossible to clear.

– Both normal and boss monsters seem to have subtly changing patterns?

– Right, except for puzzles, the pattern strategies don’t work, so the difficulty increase is noticeable.

– So if you die, just delete your account and create a save point during the prologue chief quest to return.

– I really don’t know why they made it so annoying; it’s the same as resetting anyway.

– I’m getting really mad doing the three sub-quests for the options again, feels like I’ve killed the Hydra a hundred times?

– Wasn’t the intention to have people memorize the patterns and not just clear them?

– Not a chance, ‘Again!’ haha

[‘FistKingPriest’ donated 1,000 won!]

– In Woloua, you constantly need to improve your combat power based on your initial stats through equipping weapons or accessories, unleashing circles, skill releases, etc. In nightmare, though, you start with a penalty to stats every time you die. This means that in the final boss battle, your combat power must be at least 10,000, but if you start with a deduction, you can never reach that stat since most growths are multiplicative. Nightmare is even stricter.

And since I chose nightmare to receive superior combat power, if my stats are halved, the purpose of my choice is negated.

That certainly made sense.

In Woloua, growth doesn’t mean health increases from 1,000 to 2,000 to 3,000, but rather from 1,000 multiplied by three, resulting in 3,000.

So when starting from 500, tripling it yields only 1,500.

If I go to an area where the minimum combat power requirement is 2,000, the chance of dying is high.

“I understand.”

The “Nightmare” difficulty was also a form of consideration from the company for arena users.

It aimed to drastically shorten the story, extracting only the most important essence while minimizing growth time.

Every time I had to level up a character again, it alleviated the burden of rewatching the same story.

However, it also imposed the precondition that users must come equipped with the corresponding qualifications. It wasn’t possible to clear through mere perseverance and pattern learning.

The number of deaths allowed is at most only one or two.

[Resuming the game.]

“Alphalion and Sisiella are waiting at the Academy Alumni with six members.”

The old knight and the young bear beastman nodded solemnly.

“And you, Unspecified Gender, will not be assigned any difficult missions. You are still a beginner and have not been deeply involved with our Abyss. Do you understand?”

The chief’s strategy had no gaps, even to someone like me who was unaware of the circumstances.

“What do I need to do?”

“Just go to the back gate of the Academy, attract the soldiers’ attention, and then flee.”

But once again, the choice was presented.

[That’s a reasonable statement; I accept. / Is the operation proposed by the bald guy just that level?]

“…?”

What is this again?

I was drawn to a choice that would make me look like a personality-destroying character.

Before selecting an option, all the NPCs distinctly paused their movements, awaiting my response.

– No matter what you choose, it doesn’t affect anything haha just pick anything

– Suddenly, I’m so mad, I’m going to refund the game

– Well, it’s free anyway

– What’s the revenue model of Woloua anyway?

There are choices that don’t affect the story.

This complicates things.

I hesitated and retracted my hand from the right option and reluctantly spoke the left choice.

“That’s a reasonable statement; I accept.”

“Good to see you made a swift decision. Tonight, you’ll go with Adella. It’s a simple decoy operation, easy enough, right?”

The chief pointed to a small cat-eared girl standing alone by another pillar.

She glanced at me, and we exchanged looks.

“The details of the operation will be conveyed to each group by me and Male. In the meantime, you can at least introduce yourselves.”

* * *

The first floor was a pub, with the second and third floors as an inn, and the only place for us to meet was outside our rooms.

Since we decided to carry out the operation from the start, everyone here couldn’t leave the building until nightfall.

However, Adella hurried up the stairs before the chief had finished speaking, missing the opportunity to join us.

Thus came the quest, “Find Adella’s Room.”

It seems the game indeed includes every little detail as a quest.

I decided to grab someone and have a chat.

“Alphalion?”

“Oh, aren’t you the Forest Guardian of Arseria I’ve heard about? So, do you have business with me?”

“I’m looking for Adella’s room.”

“Oh, that girl? You’ve been assigned a tough task from the start. Unfortunately, I don’t know where her room is.”

The old knight responded with a dry, automated reply.

I then turned to the bear beastman next to him.

“Do you know what room number Sisiella’s room is?”

“How would I know her room? She’s the type to hide away in some corner, so her room probably has to be in a corner too.”

No one seemed to know exactly what her room number was.

Moreover, Adella was not well regarded within the Abyss either.

Despite that, various clues began to surface from different people.

Third floor, corner, next to the stairs.

Without hesitation, I knocked on room 302.

“Come in.”

A sharp voice came from beyond the door.

The room’s structure was identical to mine.

However, from the entrance, underwear and trash were scattered, making it cumbersome to step inside.

“Adella.”

I called for her, but still received no response.

Eventually, I had no choice but to go in.

I had no idea where she got it from, but Adella was lying down, drinking beer since morning.

Her gray hair was matted with black grime, creating a gloomy atmosphere.

With a bored look in her eyes, she upside-down glanced at me from her bed.

“Ugh. I’m drunk.”

Then she blinked her seductively split eyes.

Are all appearances lies?

No, appearances are science.

Not some pseudoscience; it was real science.

Otherwise, I couldn’t already feel the overwhelming sense of the missions ahead.

I see; you are the nightmare.

* * *

“Adella.”

“…”

“Adella.”

“…”

The interactivity of this game is surprisingly unhelpful.

– Hahaha

– Adella’s personality is already coming out haha

– Seriously, Woloua has great characters, great story, but the early filtering is just too harsh

– It’s simply revulsion

Originally, I don’t know if NPCs don’t react to my words, or if Adella is particularly like that, but she seemed to lack the will to respond.

I was already starting to dislike the game.

I missed ‘Liri,’ the fox beastman who sold old boots and potions in ‘Legacy of Legends.’

It was so cute to pet her fluffy fur while she twitched her body saying ‘hoeee.’

Adella, in comparison, had absolutely nothing favorable about her.

Her hair was dirty and coarse; her face was somewhat cute, but it was stained red from being in a drink binge, making it impossible for me to show any affection even if I tried.

Viewers also seemed to understand that Adella was just such a character.

“What’s your name, Forest Guardian?”

Finally, Adella spoke.

“Unspecified Gender.”

“Whoever named you gave you a terrible name.”

Adella carelessly dug at her nose.

“What did you say?”

“…”

“Say it again.”

I felt the mana energy surging out uncontrollably.

I clenched my fist, trying to control my emotions, but the internal anger was revealed through the trembling of my lips and fierce breaths.

‘Do I have to treat this as just a game character?’

The trash in the room began swirling around as if caught in a whirlwind.

Unintentionally, I launched a punch at her face, or rather almost did.

However, I managed to stop just a paper’s breadth away, and she still remained completely unfazed, downing the remainder of her beer.

[‘Randoseru’ donated 5,000 won!]

– This person has good reactions.