Once upon a time, there was a man who lived an uneventful school life.
His family was harmonious, he had enough wealth to last a lifetime, and his relationships with friends were solid.
Just like everyone else, he graduated from elementary and middle school.
Now, just like any other examinee, he was on the verge of taking the KGSAT and graduating high school when a major trial was thrust upon him.
[This is the scene of the Banghwa Bridge bombing incident. In an unprecedented terrorist attack in the Republic of Korea, there have been 57 confirmed deaths and around 480 injuries reported as of now. The injured are being treated across 38 hospitals in Seoul…]
The man glanced at a picture frame hanging on the wall that held photos of his family.
Father, mother, brother, younger sister.
And among them, there was no photo of himself.
He felt as if he were still dreaming in this surreal situation. Strangely enough, no tears came.
There were many guests and journalists at the wake, but none managed to catch his eye.
As evening fell, he headed to the study room out of habit.
He picked up a pen and began solving a Korean language problem.
Choose the speaker’s feelings that fit the situation.
Grief, sulk, lament. None of the options seemed right.
So he opened the next workbook. Math.
Find the length of the next secant line.
The length of the Banghwa Bridge is 2,559 meters, and if the car’s speed is 60 km/h, if it had happened just 150 seconds earlier or later, he wouldn’t have been involved in the accident. Again, none of the options provided an answer.
His frustration boiled over, and he threw all the workbooks out of the window.
Only then did the man realize that those workbooks had been freed from the narrow confines of his life.
He then felt drawn to the Han River. Any bridge would do.
By chance, he found himself at Mapo Bridge, a well-known suicide spot.
The man gripped the railing tightly with both hands.
Just as he was about to lift one leg over, he heard a meow.
“Ahaha… Did I interrupt something…?”
A girl with a silver cat in her arms appeared.
She scratched her head with an embarrassed expression and blurted out whatever came to her mind.
“Um… How about we go watch a late-night movie together?”
It was at that moment that the man began to cry sorrowfully, like a lost young child.
The feeling of her hand patting his back was as warm as a mother’s.
The man had many friends.
But it didn’t take long for him to grow closer to the girl than with them.
Going to the movies became their routine, and on the campus where cherry blossoms bloomed, they sprawled out together, feeling the gentle breeze while taking a nap.
The cat she raised eventually gave birth to five kittens.
They shared laughter and tears like a family, relying on one another, enjoying fun and happy days that everyone envied.
And the man, who thought this would last forever, was met with shocking news when the girl burst into tears and confessed.
“I… I’m actually terminally ill…”
The girl who had saved him by the Han River revealed that she too had come there to end her life.
With trembling voice, she thanked him for the unforgettable memories he gave her, and apologized for the unforgettable pain she caused him.
“Carry the memory of my existence in your heart. I hope you can find happiness without me.”
Another life extinguished in vain.
As the main beam that supported the tower the man had built over his lifetime collapsed, his life plummeted alongside it.
He locked himself away, living a life like a hermit.
Crying all day, laughing all day.
He starved for days, and gorged himself until he could hardly breathe.
Then, his eyes fell upon an outdoor advertisement for a virtual reality game.
The girl had truly loved a game called Wagal.
The man, who had never liked games, had never understood her hobby until the moment she died.
He lamented his fate for finally being pushed into playing the game after her death.
There wasn’t anything special about the journey to clear it.
He jumped straight into ranking matches and brutally killed anyone he could find.
For just a moment, his heart felt a little lighter, but that was all.
He didn’t dwell on wins or losses; he only cared about slaying enemies, yet his rank kept rising.
Soon feeling limitations in his account, the man found himself naturally drawn to Nightmare.
What welcomed him there was a cat beastman.
He briefly imagined what it would be like if the silver cat she raised and the girl were combined.
With a mischievous expression, Adella ignited a fire in the man’s heart.
If he couldn’t save her in reality, he wanted to bring her back even within the game.
After hundreds of attempts, he thought he would manage to complete Part 1 with Adella, but at the end, all that returned was her suicide.
Was it a trick of fate? Adella’s last words were similar to what the girl had told him in life.
There must be a way to save her. No, he absolutely had to save her.
If he couldn’t even save a single game character, then his sense of worth would be forever lost, and he gritted his teeth.
However, as he repeated cycles, he realized that Adella was structured to inevitably meet her death, and that suspicion turned into certainty in the VIP room.
The obsession with Adella, born from his romance, had escalated to madness; yet the man had no strength left to even express anger.
Recalling the beloved he lost, while clumsily spending time with Adella as usual, one day a savior appeared before him.
[I want to save Adella.]
Those who attempted to save her were already all over the world.
Thus, at first, he couldn’t believe the streamer’s declaration.
Thanks to countless attempts, he only knew that certain conditions would allow him to interact with Adella in various ways, but even NoName couldn’t possibly save Adella.
Or so he thought…
[Nyangster Call donated 100,000 won!]
– Adella, can you hear my voice…?
“Ah! You startled me! I… I can hear you! Do you know who I am?”
– Is this a dream or reality?
– You’re saying you can interact with the streaming service? An NPC?
– Did they actually torture aliens to make this at Wearsoft!!!!!
– Damn, this tech is insane…
– Look at this donation queue, lolololol
└ Everyone’s just trying to talk to Adella, haha
└ We’re in the final boss battle right now!!!!!!!
– Looks like stocks will rebound?
└ You’re amazing for even thinking about stocks at a time like this
└ There was some loser who shorted earlier, how ironic haha
Nyangster Call powered down the capsule and struggled to lift his slumped body off the floor.
Meow
Before long, the kittens were scratching at the door, pleading for food.
He embraced the silver cats and let out a gentle smile.
“I’ve blamed the heavens so many times for why all the people I love leave my side. I thought there couldn’t be anyone more miserable than me at least a few times each day.”
Although he could no longer directly meet Adella as a viewer, looking at the cat-eared girl who seemed flustered brought waves of overwhelming emotion.
“Carrying you in my heart, how can I also be happy at the same time? Back then, I didn’t understand what you meant at all… but now I think I may understand a little.”
He no longer needed to watch NoName’s streams.
If it were her, she would definitely defeat Mephistopheles and save Adella.
Nyangster Call, Lee Hyun-seo, exited the capsule and immediately called his cousin.
The first person to rush over and worry when his family had the accident. He felt guilty for ignoring the recent calls from him.
So many people had been left in the dark because he’d been holed up in his room.
It was his first step back into society.
[Imir – 010-XXXX-XXXX]
*
Adella, who had instantly become a popular star, was not in a position to be having fan meetings right now.
As the black fog gradually cleared, Mephistopheles appeared.
“Looks like you’re starting to have a mind to make a bet?”
Mephisto’s appearance was reminiscent of a cold, northern nobleman.
With a prominent jawline and sharp, aristocratic features, his silver hair fell to his waist, and his piercing violet eyes glinted dangerously as he brushed a strand behind his ear.
Dressed in a black suit and gloves, the only contrasting color was the white shirt, from which he unbuttoned the top button and murmured softly.
“The history of mankind has been a continuous struggle. To get what they desire, humans fight, steal, and ultimately kill. There’s neither eternal victors nor eternal vanquished in this struggle, how wasteful is a life that fails to cultivate meaning?”
As the foul mist dissipated, a blue sky emerged.
However, with each step the demon took, the foliage withered and ultimately crumbled.
“I shall become your god. I will grant the world eternal peace and rest. So, hand over Yggdrasil to me.”
With a polite tone, Mephisto extended his hand.
The chilling gaze of his eyes fell upon nothing but the laurel crown on my head and the rings and necklace woven from laurel.
On the other hand, a black, ominous bracelet adorned his outstretched hand.
[Please choose the laurel to give to Mephistopheles:]
[▶ Laurel of Reincarnation – MP +5,000]
[▶ Laurel of Life – HP +10,000]
[▶ Laurel of Diligence – AD +750]
[▶ Laurel of Creation – AP +1,000]
Only here, if I handed over all the laurels, I would not lose the growth stats stored in each laurel. Instead, it was a gimmick that granted bonus stats.
In other words, it operated on a system where additional stat corrections were received for the number of laurel given away. Naturally, giving them all away would lead to an immediate game over, so caution was advised.
Handing over a laurel would strengthen Mephisto’s abilities, but for those wishing to achieve high combat power, it would be a sort of challenge.
Yet, not being able to use intermediate circle magic was fatal for me, who had reached this point through battles akin to a wizard rather than a healer.
[▶ I did not hand over the laurel.]
Thus, I lightly shook his hand instead, using it as a substitute for a gift.
The demon’s expression turned blank, as if he couldn’t comprehend.
“What is this…?”
Mephisto opened his palm to inspect the item I had given through the handshake and frowned.
– What is that?
– Why is it a rock?
– Is it for him to munch on? lololol
– Honestly, I don’t need those growth stats; I’m strong enough already
What he picked up was not the green leaves he had secretly anticipated but rather a drab lump of metal.
His expression was about to reveal disappointment.
[Casting: Sodium Explosion (Na)]
Kaboom!
“Gah!”
The demon’s right hand was blown clean off, spraying white smoke.
“It’s sodium, but it won’t taste salty because it’s not ionized.”
Isn’t it an ancient tradition in the North that the battle begins the moment our bodies make contact?
First, it’s always crucial to confirm whether the enemy regenerates or not.
