Chapter 2015
“H-Hold on! Don’t back down!”
Most cultivators had a clear advantage over players. The cultivators’ s.h.i.+elds neutralized most attacks, so the players didn’t deal any damage to them.
A s.h.i.+eld was created by concentrating spiritual energy. It was so simple to create one that it was hard to cla.s.sify it as a technique.
Every cultivator took their s.h.i.+eld for granted. This was why low-level cultivators could fight in the front lines.
But—
“Hngh!”
“Uwah....”
s.h.i.+elds weren’t unbreakable.
s.h.i.+elds consumed spiritual energy every time they blocked an attack, and there was a limit to that. The cultivators were very vulnerable if an army of tens of thousands launched long-range attacks toward them. The color of the spiritual energy varied according to the technique that the cultivator had learned. So when the colorful protection of the cultivators was broken one by one and scattered like stars...
“Good! We’re breaking through!”
The Overgeared Guild’s elite forces succeeded in breaking through the s.h.i.+elds of the cultivators. Disgusted, the cultivators tried using mystical arts, but to no avail. They were almost out of spiritual energy. Even if they completed a mystical art, it wouldn’t deal enough damage to threaten the elites of the Overgeared Guild.
“Destroy all visible formations.”
The elites of the Overgeared members weren’t in any rush to enter the Full Moon Fortress. Following Jishuka’s orders, they went around the fortress and focused on destroying anything that looked remotely suspicious, such as mysterious rotating mystical texts, unknown stone statues, a forest that shouldn’t be floating, and soaring waterfalls gus.h.i.+ng upside down. All of these collapsed following the Overgeared Guild’s involvement.
“N-No...!”
The cultivators’ faces paled. The things the Overgeared members were destroying boosted the strength of the fortress. Some were traps that would harm enemies, some were s.h.i.+elds that blocked attacks, and some were power sources that would devour the enemies and turn them into spiritual energy, but now they were either malfunctioning or destroyed.
The secret arts provided by each sect to protect the last bastion were now gone.
“That girl...! Get rid of that red-handed girl first!”
The cultivators looked at where Jishuka was as they dodged the arrows and magic bombardment of the empire’s soldiers and magicians. She was a legend and a Transcendent. She had acquired a bit of King Daebyeol’s divinity, so her firepower stood out even among the elites of the Overgeared Guild. Every time she fired her bow, the formations set up by the cultivators collapsed disastrously. She was a top priority target.
“Protect Jishuka!”
Of course, being an archer had clear disadvantages. Jishuka had a wide field of view and powerful attacks, but low survivability skills. This made fighting solo almost impossible. This was why Vantner was almost always by her side.
“Be careful.”
This time, however, Faker was the one protecting Jishuka. The moment the cultivators unleashed a series of attacks, Jishuka’s shadow spread out like a curtain and swallowed up all the projectiles. This was the use of the skill Greed. Before he knew it, Faker had gotten used to protecting someone else.
“How can you be here?”
Jishuka’s eyes widened. She had no idea that Faker, who was supposed to be trapped in the Tomb of the G.o.ds along with the high-level cultivators, would suddenly leap from her shadow.
“I moved according to your strategy.”
Faker had escaped from the Tomb of the G.o.ds at the same time that Jishuka died. He had moved to where Knight was and melted into Jishuka’s shadow when her soul was summoned.
“Good idea using Knight’s ability. There is a reason that arrogant Lauel entrusted you with full control of the battlefield.”
“At best, I am just a pinch hitter.”
They had no time to chat. The situation was urgent. The number of high-ranking cultivators escaping the Tomb of the G.o.ds was increasing one by one. Jishuka, who was already under heavy fire, was met with powerful attacks that she had never seen before.
“We still have two hours until Lauel logs in. If you die before then, people will lose their composure again. Why don’t you retreat for now?”
It was impossible for even Faker to protect Jishuka by himself. The skills of the Transcendent cultivators were formidable.
Jishuka nodded and sent a whisper to Chris.
[Whisper from Jishuka: I’ll leave the command of the front line to you, Chris.]
[Whisper to Jishuka: Sure. Let’s try to destroy as many of the remaining formations as possible.]
Chris sounded confident. Since when did the immature young master, who used to only trust in Zirkan’s abilities, become so trustworthy?
Jishuka smiled as she recalled the time she first met Chris. She suddenly became proud of Grid. It was because of Grid’s help that everyone present, including herself and Chris, had become as powerful as they were now.
‘Grid, this is your guild. Please rest a.s.sured and rest well.’
Grid needed to leave enemies of this level to his guild members...
Feeling hopeful, Jishuka expanded her field of view and prepared for the final blow she would strike.
Arrow Shower was one of an archer’s ultimate skills. This was an ordinary AOE skill that devastated a certain area. However, Jishuka had a satellite-like vision and sniping-related pa.s.sive skills. Once Jishuka used it, it was reborn as a completely different skill—an AOE sniping skill.
The white arrows of divinity fired like machine guns at the hundreds of cultivators and dozens of formations that Jishuka could see.
“That d.a.m.n girl is attacking us even now...!”
The cultivators gritted their teeth, but they couldn’t do anything. Faker used the shadow movement technique and escaped the battlefield with Jishuka.
***
There seemed to be a hole in the sky. It had been raining for hours now. The rain droplets had been hitting the exterior wall of the gla.s.s-covered mansion without stopping.
s.h.i.+n Youngwoo was rarely staring at walls. His greasy hair was matted, and he was lying lethargically on the sofa. He hadn’t looked like this in years.
Normally, he showered as soon as he logged out of Satisfy and took care of himself by meditating and exercising, but he didn’t even lift a finger today. He even postponed eating.
This was because he was losing his mind. He had been in a lot of pain while fighting Hanul and Garam, and he became very afraid of the prospect that reality might change soon. Would he have to endure this type of pain in real life? Mortal flesh was weak in reality. How could a human endure what he had gone through lately in the game?
Grid had no choice. He only had one life in reality. He was terribly anxious thinking about this. Because his mind was restless, he couldn’t afford to take care of his body. He was stuck in a vicious cycle.
“...Ow.”
Youngwoo scowled. Just as he was about to get up, pain flashed through his body as if he had been stabbed. He was experiencing pain in all the areas where Garam had stabbed him with the Annihilation sword.
Youngwoo frowned as he took off his clothes and stood in front of the mirror. He didn’t have a single scratch on his skin. It wasn’t until he saw this with his own eyes that the pain tormenting him slowly subsided.
“Am I experiencing some sort of trauma? Me?”
Youngwoo’s eyes widened in fear as he realized this was a mental health problem he was having. He was used to all types of pain while fighting against strong enemies, so why was he experiencing trauma now?
He didn’t want to admit this was happening to him. This was like confessing that he was scared of Garam.
‘...No, Garam doesn’t matter at all. The vague uneasiness that the world will change is making me way too anxious.’
Youngwoo focused on calming down. He a.n.a.lyzed the source of his trauma, and his anger subsided. He was still afraid, but he felt more at ease.
After taking a shower, Youngwoo changed into a set of new clothes and ate. He turned on the TV and saw the Overgeared Guild struggling. The remaining cultivators had gathered at the last bastion. Yes, they were the last ones.
Cultivators were cla.s.sified as NPCs, not monsters. If they died, that was it. There was no coming back. Immediately after the update, a few thousand cultivators appeared in the game. If the last two Full Moon Fortresses failed to connect the dimensions and were destroyed, the cultivators would disappear from Satisfy.
The game world would go back to normal, but the history and techniques of the cultivators would remain.
“...Wait, aren’t there two Fortresses left?”
Youngwoo’s expression darkened as he thought of the Full Moon Fortress that the demon cultivators were building in Asgard. Of course, the Full Moon Fortress of the demon cultivators hadn’t been included in the Stop the Erosion Ritual quest because its construction started relatively late. It would take the demon cultivators at least a few more weeks to complete it. Meanwhile, the Stop the Erosion Ceremony quest would end in a few days.
A Full Moon Fortress that was separate from the quest still remained. Youngwoo couldn’t allow that. If new cultivators gathered at that fortress, the Erosion Ritual quest might trigger again one day.
Youngwoo had to put an end to this. However, it bothered him that the demon cultivators were cooperating with the G.o.ds.
‘Dominion, Metatron, Asura... It will be quite hard dealing with them.’
The memories from fighting Garam flashed through his mind. He once again experienced the pain he’d buried deep down.
Youngwoo gasped as he held his chest. He fell forward onto the table. The wounds that were engraved in his mind were making him feel intense pain and shock. It took a long time for him to slowly get back up, his back drenched in sweat.
“d.a.m.n, this is absolutely terrible.”
Youngwoo had to admit it. Agnus proved that the world had changed. Youngwoo became nervous and anxious. The fear that was deeply engraved in his heart wouldn’t go away easily.
“It would be better to log into the game.”
Lauel had encouraged him to get plenty of rest. Youngwoo agreed, but his mental state was too poor for him to relax. He lay down in the capsule, but he immediately became frustrated.
[You cannot log in due to unstable vital signs.]
[Take a good rest and try again later.]
“Ah...”
Come to think of it, he hadn’t been able to sleep lately. He had spent almost a day in a daze since logging out. There was no way Satisfy would allow sleep-deprived people to access the game. Youngwoo was furious, but he remained optimistic.
‘I am irritable because I couldn’t sleep. Once I wake up after a good night’s sleep, I will no longer be so anxious.’
Youngwoo headed to the bedroom. That night, a terrible nightmare haunted him. In the dream, Agnus, who signed another contract with Baal in reality, invaded Seoul with tens of thousands of undead soldiers.
“Hey, wouldn’t a necromancer be incredibly OP in real life?”
Every time an undead soldier stabbed him, Youngwoo would bleed profusely and almost die. Meanwhile, Agnus would stay very far away as he destroyed the players and the army without lifting a finger. In his dream, Youngwoo was so jealous that he shed tears at the sight of Agnus not getting a single scratch on him at the end of the battle.
Youngwoo was jealous. Jealousy turned into him feeling inferior, and inferiority ate at his self-esteem. Youngwoo was regressing to how he used to be. He was once again an idiot who couldn’t do anything. Both Yura and Jishuka were disappointed with him, and they left his side.
Youngwoo woke up breathing heavily and gritted his teeth.
“That will never happen.”
The nightmare served as a good reminder. The unique venom contained in the individual who had written an unprecedented successful myth slowly blossomed, pus.h.i.+ng away the anxiety and fear in his heart.
Youngwoo overcame his trauma in just two days.