Chapter 112 - The Last String (3)
All users who had reached Iluna had died by that point!
Salon, who has the last survivor, was appearing on different streaming platforms throughout the world.
He was running somewhere accompanied by a girl wearing white clothes.
Some of the viewers didn't even know about Asrian.
They'd entered the stream just because it was on the popular tab or they were people who’d found out about it while changing channels on TV.
But even they couldn't tear their eyes away from the screen.
"What movie is this...?"
Some people didn't even realize they were watching game footage.
There was a sense of excitement that went beyond that of an average game.
Not only that, but the solemn atmosphere was overwhelming.
The reason was that Salon’s expression contained a strong focus on protecting the girl.
There were a few users who, without knowing it, were clenching their fists.
They had also assimilated into the feelings of the protagonist.
After the two members of Stardust died, ‘The Gamez’ focused only on Salon.
- Was Salon always this good? I knew he was skillful... But he's just too good now!
- I'd heard that he's been practicing a lot, but this is just too crazy.
Most users had their mouths wide open.
—Professional gamers had the same reactions.
Professional gamers focused mostly on PvP, So most of them kind of ignored combo Thieves.
But after looking at Salon's footage that day, they were forced to change their opinion.
"Amazing... Without talent, he wouldn't have been able to carve his own path in such a polished way!"
"I think he could have perfectly good results in PvP... But it seems like he isn't interested in that."
‘The Gamez’ was using four cameras to record Salon.
The one who first noticed the approaching Reaper was a drone of ‘The Gamez’.
Even Kim SooYong, who had been praising Salon, sighed.
"Oh... That's too bad. A Reaper has appeared. It seems like this is the end."
He was one of the few users who knew about the dangers of Reapers, so he was sure that Salon was going to die.
Im SeungJun asked back just in case.
"If it's the current Salon, wouldn't he be able to beat a Reaper? He still has the Heavenly Being's buff left!"
But Kim SooYong just shook his head.
A Reaper wasn't a monster you could beat with luck.
"No, it's a monster with approximately 800 physical damage resistance! That means there isn't any user capable of dealing damage to it right now!"
Kim SooYong started to explain in great detail.
He even brought up the formula from which how much damage you dealt was calculated.
To be able to deal damage to a Reaper, your base damage had to be at least five thousand.
If your base damage was lower than that, you would have a hard time dealing effective damage against it, even if you received buffs.
The reason was that the opponent's defense reduced attacks that’d received buffs by a bigger percentage!
"The damage calculations of magic-related jobs are calculated differently. So if Salon were a Magician, maybe he would have a chance... The problem is that Salon is a combo Thief, a job that deals mostly physical damage!"
Salon couldn't deal damage against the Reaper, but one attack from it could kill him.
It was obvious who would win.
After hearing the explanation, Im SeungJun couldn't help but feel bad for Salon.
"I see... Well, I guess just being able to come this far is impressive enough."
The battle flowed as Kim SooYong had expected.
Salon didn't counterattack but focused on dodging the Reaper's attacks.
He dodged the demonic energy and fought against monsters to maintain his combo count…
But it was obvious that even that would end up reaching its limits.
"Hmm...?"
While Kim SooYong was commenting, he suddenly sensed something strange from Salon.
It was when he saw his eyes…
Those weren't the eyes of someone that had lost hope, but they were the eyes of someone waiting for an opening—that was what his experience as a professional gamer was telling him.
Right at that moment…
Paf-!
Salon's body disappeared.
Hyun had used «Invisible» and «Biorhythm Acceleration» simultaneously.
'Wait, what was that?'
Kim SooYong thought that something had appeared from behind the Reaper.
But that figure immediately disappeared.
At the same time, he saw something so amazing he couldn't believe it was happening.
The Reaper, out of nowhere, had turned around and swung its scythe.
It was as if it were trying to pull something off of its back that was bothering it.
A shadow had appeared for 0.1 seconds from behind the Reaper and disappeared.
The only one who noticed that was the Support's body was Ain.
Hyun had «Disassimilated», appeared behind it, and immediately used «Assimilation» again, only leaving a brief shadow on the Reaper’s back..
—It was to divide the Reaper's attention.
Hyun's excited expression appeared on Salon's face.
He'd been waiting for that opening for a really long time!
While using «Invisible», all attacks ended up as critical hit damage.
All of the conditions to increase the skill's effectiveness were perfectly met.
«Rhythm Control»!
Tens of lights poured down the Reaper's neck.
Salon's invisible figure couldn't be seen through the screens.
Despite that, people couldn't take their eyes away from the scene.
They felt that, although they couldn't see it, something was happening.
A horrifying scream spread over Iluna.
The scream of the doll that had lost its neck gave chills to those watching the show.
Demonic energy poured from the Reaper’s neck.
Salon saw a pitch-black bomb explode in front of him.
"Ugh...!"
The darkness became a sharp awl and cut into Salon's body.
[You've received 48172 damage!]
[Someone who's receiving the protection of a Transcendent doesn't die easily!]
[You've become invincible for 3 seconds!]
Thanks to the effect of Hyun's «Pray» skill, Salon was able to survive.
The Reaper was still moving while grabbing its cut neck.
Pff-!
Louise, who had been holding her breath underwater, appeared.
—Hyun had changed the target of «Assimilation».
"It isn't dead yet!"
Salon came back to his senses after hearing the girl's voice.
Please, try to finish him. It's going to heal itself soon!"
Just like Hyun said, its head was being regenerated.
After Louise shouted that, she created more distance and was already running far away.
Translator - Daniel Shin
Proofreader - ilafy
* * *
Then Salon finally understood that Hyun had asked him to become a decoy.
While he was dumbfounded, the three thousand combos reset.
"Ha... Haha!"
Salon began laughing.
Although that act may’ve looked cold-hearted, Salon didn't blame Hyun.
He was going to die anyway, after all.
Thanks to Hyun having used «Assimilation» on him, he'd learned lots of different things.
Salon opened his friend list while smiling.
'I guess he'll accept it?'
[You've sent a friend request to 'Hyun'!]
Salon looked at that message expectantly.
Numerous drones filmed the smiling Salon.
That was the sight of a hero sacrificing themself for a girl.
* * *
'There's enough time!'
Hyun rejoiced.
He had successfully gone through the undead area.
Next, he would be able to cross the plains safely.
When he thought about it, he'd been really lucky.
If he hadn't met the weird Priest Rutia, he wouldn't have been able to learn some important information.
Thanks to that, he’d learned that darkness had been planted inside Louise. And thanks to her, they'd been able to cross the Symmetrical World and quickly reach the last magic circle.
Thanks to Ain, he could delay the change in Iluna's orbit. Thanks to having met the user Salon, he was able to go through the Reaper.
He'd also received help from Jini and Practice.
Louise would've died if even one of them hadn’t been in the right place at the right time.
As he thought of Louise's destiny, he started to feel frustrated. Hyun shook his head and started to move even faster.
They'd soon reach where Radiette was.
Radiette wasn't someone cold-hearted.
Hyun felt bad, but he was going to use that weakness of his.
He'd think about what he'd done after having saved Louise.
「I have a bad feeling.」
As they were getting closer, Louise's voice started to tremble.
「What are you talking about...?」
「Isn't it too quiet around here...?」
Louise kept saying things he couldn't understand.
Hyun started to feel anxious too, but he did his best to calm down.
He talked to Ain to check out the direction.
LeeSeoHyun: Ain, how much farther do I have to go?
AIN: Hmm... You see...
Somehow, Ain was also mumbling like Louise.
Hyun started to feel anxious, so he asked again.
LeeSeoHyun: Did I make a mistake on the direction?
AIN: No, the direction is okay. But...
「Hyun...」
Louise started to talk again.
「I hope you don't get too disappointed.」
Hyun's heart started to beat faster.
They'd clearly reached their destination.
If Radiette had still been fighting, there would’ve been some noise around, but it was silent.
The only things he could see were some monsters in the distance.
They didn't charge toward them but just watched Louise pass by.
Hyun already knew what had happened.
Even a Heavenly Being would have difficulty surviving if Iluna's Unexpected Event happened.
The reason why he had ignored that possibility was that he hadn’t wanted to discourage himself.
AIN: You've reached your destination...
Before Ain finished talking, Hyun's steps stopped.
He had finally found the one he'd been looking for.
"Radiette?"
He could see a figure looking over at him in the distance.
His body, which was surrounded by Reapers, was almost destroyed.
It was amazing that, even though he didn't have a fourth of his body, he was still alive.
"The... Priestess...?"
Radiette lifted his head with difficulty.
Thanks to his senses, he'd heard a familiar voice from a distance.
Hyun and Louise couldn't hear what he said next since his voice had become too weak.
"Maria... Your last wish... That's too bad."
Before Hyun could approach him, he became light and scattered away.
Hyun and Louise saw the silver particles being scattered away.
Did he die, or was it the effect of a magic that made him return to their original place?
Hyun wasn't sure, but something was clear.
—Radiette had never had enough strength to send Louise back.
Louise's destiny had never even been close to changing.
A feeling of hopelessness drained the strength out of Hyun's hands.
The Reapers turned their heads around to Louise.
There were four of them in total.
Could they escape or not…? That didn't matter.
Hyun could see the light approaching.
Iluna's eclipse was coming to an end after a few thousand years.
"..."
Louise was lost for words.
She breathed, trembling.
Hyun quietly looked at the sky.
To most people, the sun was a source of life, but for Louise, it was death itself.
「If it's the last time, I want to see it for as long as possible.」
「...」
Hyun was out of breath.
«Assimilation» made you share sensations—you couldn't read the other person's thoughts.
But Hyun somehow felt that he knew what she was thinking about.
That's why he couldn't say anything.
「I think that I'm lucky to be able to see my only sun with you.」
To be honest, the time he'd spent with Louise wasn't that long.
—One day when they were being chased, and one day in Iluna.
It had only been two days.
But could he say that the place Lousie had taken in his heart was only worth two days?
Louise had such a wide variety of emotions that it was hard to think of her as an NPC.
Was there an NPC with feelings?
Not fake feelings that were inserted into an NPC, but real emotions that were a product of her own thoughts?
Hyun believed that there was. What he could feel because of «Assimilation» was proof of that.
By how the emotions fluctuated, Hyun was able to read Louise's thoughts.
Louise had accepted death.
It didn't matter what he said. Nothing would change.
The sun’s light was already near.
As a result of that, their surroundings were colored in a bloody red hue.
It was like the Symmetrical World... But the sun, instead of darkness, would shine over things.
While looking at the sun driving away the darkness, Hyun suddenly shouted.
'Ah...!'
Lightning struck inside his head.
How hadn't he thought about that?!
'The Symmetrical World!'
The regular world wasn't the only place where they could hide from the sun.
After realizing that, Hyun quickly shouted to Louise through the soul.
「Louise, pray!」
「Pray...?」
「Right now! Pray to a demon!」
That's right. The Symmetrical World was a place where the sun couldn't reach.
It was because the sky there, instead of light, was covered by darkness.
If it were that place where there was only a dark sun, he would be able to guarantee Louise's safety.
But if a demon descended, couldn’t the Heavens be devoured by the Abyss?
It wasn't the time to think about that!
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