Chapter 69

[▶Chat Room – ON]

-??

-Huhuhuh

-Is the chief okay??

-Are we going to keep progressing like this?

-The -15% penalty is really painful. We barely cleared the first run, after all.

-Can’t we just lower it to 888 or 777? It would still be a new record with a priest anyway.

I feel like there’s some fact about this game that I’m missing.

I opened the chat room to try and trust the collective intelligence.

“I want to save Adella.”

-Adella’s death in part 1 is a certainty from the beginning…

-Considering Adella’s specs, she can’t win against Professor Cronicle who has possessed her in a one-on-one fightㅠㅠ

-Can’t we grow her properly in some way?

-Absolutely impossible. Before the firewall on WalOa was set up, the Chinese players had already ripped the story up to part 1 with a hack, so all the boss specs are detailed and there’s more than a tenfold difference in all specs.

-If you think of it in terms of what you know from LoL, it’s like a level 1 fighting a level 10?

“What’s different about the second run?”

It’s definitely not the same world.

If I can uncover the secrets of the world, I might be able to save Adella.

-First of all, the overlapping penalties where all stats are lowered is the biggest issue.

-Yeah, you have to reach the checkpoint for the initial state to be reset, up to 5 overlaps.

-5 overlaps, so it’s -75%?

-No, you’re really good at math.

-With 5 overlaps, even clearing with debuffs of 1/1/1 is extremely difficult.

“Not that. You mentioned that the bosses’ patterns change, right?”

-That’s not known?

-I think since the damage is low, they might show different patterns because the fights drag on longer?

-No, there are mobs whose patterns change from the very first one.

-To be honest, we reset it every time, so we don’t know eitherㅋㅋㅋ It’s already frustrating enough with our stats lowered; there’s no reason to do it.

Most viewers had never even experienced Nightmare difficulty.

In the end, there was no choice but to find out myself.

“Although it seems like there’s only one Rement Academy in the central capital, there are actually several buildings outside. To the south is the Observatory, to the east is the Guard Barracks, and to the west are the Material Warehouse and the Admission Management Office.”

Daniel explains the operation without missing a single detail like before.

The Gestalt chief listened to his strategy with his arms crossed, not moving a muscle.

In the meantime, Adella and I both sat side by side on her bed.

Seeing a crescent-shaped comb on the table, I decided to untangle Adella’s messy hair.

I first showed her the comb so she wouldn’t be surprised, and then slowly ran it down from the ends of her hair, neatly making it tidy.

Swish- swish-

“Hey No Name? What are you doing with my hair?”

“Why? Don’t you like it?”

As soon as I stopped combing, Adella’s ears drooped.

“No, it’s not that I don’t like it… Rather, I like it, but it’s kind of sudden since we just met…? Is it normal for elves to do this to people they’ve just met?”

“Yep.”

“How interesting! It’s not that I dislike it.”

[‘Njangsterol’ donated 5,000 won!]

-Can this really be happening? I want to!!! I’m going to go comb Adella’s hair too!!!

Suddenly, viewers started leaving in droves.

The chat room shook significantly again.

-Wow, that’s some neck shapeㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Why have I spent half my life in a nightmare without dreams or hopes, and never once thought of combing Adella’s rough hair until it’s soft and shiny? I want to kill myself.

-No way, you’re joking, right?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-No way, you evil spiritㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Adella’s ears are cheating!

“Dad, why is there no soup today? I’m sorry, son. Our butterfly has to take a detour for a bit.”

“Adella, you’re really something. Tonight’s going to be crazyㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ I’m going to show Onii-chan’s earnest power of petting!”

[▶Chat Room – OFF]

“What are you all talking about?”

“Hmm?”

“No. Should I comb behind your ears too?”

“Ah, don’t go there! Hah… Ugh, that tickles…”

I tossed the harmful chat room back into the abyss once again.

I hated having someone else comb my hair, but conversely, having someone’s hair in my hands gave me considerable psychological stability.

Adella seemed to be a little ticklish, twisting her body every time my fingers touched new areas.

It seemed she was trying her best to hold back.

Memories flooded back.

Hiasen and I used to comb Niobe’s hair from either side with her in the middle.

She had a lively personality just like Adella, so it was rare for her to come with dust and grass in her hair.

The difference was that Niobe was truly the embodiment of purity.

She was a girl made from only the white sand picked and piled at the beach.

A girl like the sea breeze that sweeps away life’s turmoil just by approaching.

She was also my eternal friend who shared my childhood in my previous life alongside Hiasen.

The combing paused for a moment.

I found myself missing Niobe dearly…

Even though she was a person completely unrelated to the present me, and even though I tried to push these feelings away, they didn’t easily disappear.

Even if it meant receiving the Demon Lord’s curse again, I wanted to return to the time when she was alive.

“Rumble… No Name? Why did you suddenly stop? If you don’t comb it all the way, it’ll get tangled in the middle.”

If I stop combing halfway, the hair tangles and I have to start over from the beginning.

If a button on a school uniform is fastened wrong, everyone has to unfasten it all and start over from the beginning.

It was all just common logic.

“I’ll do it from the beginning again, Adella.”

* * *

[YOU DIED]

[All stats will be readjusted.]

[Current penalty (3): -45%]

[No Name (No Name)]

[World of Arseria – Priest Nightmare 10/10/10]

[Broadcast Time – 5:01:47]

[Number of viewers – 5930]

“Hah… Hah… Hmph.”

The ceiling patterned with butterfly motifs, it was the Abyss Inn bed.

The second run ended with the same conclusion as the first.

The only difference was that the boss clear time was shortened from three hours to one, and at the end, Adella chose to take her own life with a happier smile than before.

Adella was still weak.

The third run started with a -30% penalty.

Even memorizing all the routes and optimizing the experience points, we were caught during the escape from the Academy due to a lack of stamina.

Adella was still weak.

-Now it really won’t work.

-Seriously.

-What a pity.

-I have to hit three times instead of two to catch it, so I’m too vulnerable to consecutive waves.

-If 50 chase after us, there’s literally no answer.

-Still, I maxed out the sub-options with penalties, and it’s really an hour cut, right?ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-I just came and saw, but isn’t the physical level totally pro level?

-If it’s one-on-one, maybe, but in that kind of chaotic fight, even pros can’t do it.

-No, everyone is misunderstanding. The chief’s job is a priest.

-Is it really something that requires such desperate fighting?

-Adella is dead… let’s just let her go now.

Unless Adella becomes stronger than Professor Cronicle, she could not be saved.

However, the experience gained from hunting the guards was limited.

The more experience points I gave up for her, the weaker I became in return.

And as I moved past the 6th run, I would have to endure a -75% penalty.

From then on, it would be meaningless for me to struggle.

Instead, Adella would be the one who had to protect me.

My head was spinning.

I failed the 3rd run, and I couldn’t walk the same path in the 4th run.

But I couldn’t come up with a method.

Was she really destined to die systematically?

I headed to Adella’s room once more.

“Knocking without knocking and bursting in like this is rude. By the way, Forest Guardian, what’s your name?”

“No Name.”

“Ooh, that’s a name that sticks in the mouth.”

“…?”

Adella said calmly.

The lines have changed, but it didn’t seem like there would be a huge difference to reach here, would it?

“Why?”

“What are you talking about?”

“My name, doesn’t it sound weird?”

“Not particularly? It feels more familiar, actually? After living for a long time in the system, you encounter all sorts of silly names, so something like Forest Guardian is quite decent.”

Bang bang—

Adella gulped down the remaining beer.

“Adella.”

“Why?”

“Adella.”

“Why do you keep calling me? It’s embarrassing. If you have something to say, just say it!”

I wasn’t mistaken.

Now, I could find no sense of discomfort in her behavior.

In the last run and the run before that, did our bond somehow embed itself into her memory?

Another reason not to abandon Adella had just emerged.

[‘Njangsterol’ donated 10,000 won!]

-How did you get Adella to let you pet her? She wouldn’t let me! ㅠㅠㅠㅠ