【Patch in progress. 63%】
【Did you know? Players drop loot too! So be careful. Monsters may not be your only enemies.】
【Patch in progress. 64%】
【Your experience on the PBE Server can be carried over through Data Synchronization. However, remember that the higher your Avatar’s level is, the longer synchronization will take!】
【Patch in progress. 65%】
【The Western Continent is in turmoil because of the war between the Solarium Empire and the Sylvia Magic Federation! Innocent people are being slaughtered left and right. Sob, sob.】
【Patch in progress. 66%】
【One of the seven Administrator positions in Amuse is currently vacant. Could there be a suitable candidate somewhere? What do you think?】
‘……You’re noisy.’
The guide was indiscriminately spewing information I had never asked to hear.
It was so distracting that I tried closing my eyes, but then I heard the terrifyingly flat voice of a woman.
The guide clung to me like glue and continued pestering me.
Even so, I did not entirely hate it.
Whenever it spat out another long message, my fading consciousness briefly returned.
‘Is it trying to keep me conscious……?’
I appreciated the sentiment, but.
GRRRR…… GRRRRR…….
A horrific stench assaulted my nose along with the sound of rough breathing. I glanced upward from the corner of my eye and saw the wild dog’s head.
It was walking toward the workshop with my body held in its jaws.
It did not tear into me.
It did not chew.
It simply held me.
‘It doesn’t intend to kill me immediately.’
The reason soon occurred to me.
Bait.
Or a hostage.
It seemed to intend to drag my dying body in front of the workshop and use me to lure out other prey. Perhaps it was even targeting the village.
They truly were clever sons of bitches.
Thanks to that, I was still breathing.
The problem was that breathing was all I could do.
Neither my arms nor my legs obeyed me.
I could not move so much as a fingertip.
If the beast exerted even slightly more force through its jaws, my neck would snap.
I was practically dead already.
CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH-
The pack’s pace gradually quickened.
The workshop, which had once seemed impossibly far away, was now genuinely close.
At a run, it might have been less than thirty seconds away.
‘Can I survive until then?’
Whatever else happened, I wanted to at least watch the two players die.
Was even that too much to ask?
As I entertained such pointless thoughts, the thing called HP had already fallen to 25.
By the time I briefly closed and reopened my eyes, it had fallen to 23─BAAANG!!
Someone kicked open the workshop door and burst outside.
It was the female player.
She carelessly threw the man into the clearing, then thrust her hand into empty air.
When she pulled it back out, she was holding an object shaped like a funnel.
The woman pressed her lips against it and began shouting at the top of her lungs.
【Lv 23. ‘Yes, I’m a Necromancer’ has used a Megaphone throughout Arche!】
【An antidote! Does anyone have a high-level antidote?! I’ll pay five times the price! Hurry! Come to Golden’s workshop right now!】
Her repulsive, hateful voice thundered throughout the area around the workshop.
【No, I’ll pay ten times the price! So please sell me an antidote! Please!】
The woman sounded desperate…… Why?
And why was the man lying on the ground?
I did not know.
I could no longer hear properly.
The guide was transcribing something before my eyes, but even that was blurred as though veiled in fog. My vision was fading as well.
There was, however, one thing that even I could still see clearly.
【HP : 17/394】
Judging by how frequently my consciousness slipped away as the thing called HP decreased, that number probably represented my life force.
【HP : 16/394】
It had just fallen by one.
At this rate, I would die soon.
I did not have many regrets.
The wild dogs had already put me down and were approaching the woman.
The scene I wanted would unfold before long.
‘This is enough.’
I peacefully closed my eyes.
‘…….’
Tears suddenly poured from them.
【HP : 10】
As my vision blurred, I saw the old man’s gentle smile from before he lost his leg.
At the end of his gaze was an evening scene in which Aunt Mari and I, covered from head to toe in flour, looked at each other and laughed like idiots.
Then I saw the old man’s crumpled face.
It was a memory from the day I accidentally swallowed a poisonous mushroom. His eyes had turned red as he roared at me like thunder.
Aunt Mari hugged me soon afterward.
At the time, I thought she was comforting me.
She was not.
She whispered into my ear, ‘If you ever put poison in your mouth again, I’ll kill you myself.’
I could vividly hear her chilling voice.
Good memories, sorrowful memories, and embarrassing memories from the workshop tangled together inside my head without rhyme or reason.
【HP : 9】
Beau~ ti~ ful~ Gri~ id’s~
Now I could hear that obnoxious village chief’s song.
His rhythm was a complete mess, and his voice cracked horribly.
I had always thought so, but his dancing was fucking awful as well.
Yet the villagers clapped and laughed at that pathetic singing and dancing as though they were having the time of their lives.
Damned sycophants.
Someone needed to tell him the truth, but none of them would do it.
They even prevented the righteous me from revealing the truth by shoving a liquor bottle into my mouth.
They were an utterly unreasonable lot.
Had we been close enough to treat one another without reserve?
Not particularly.
I had always been an outsider in the village.
No one bullied me, but I did not have any friends either.
After Aunt Mari left, I became a complete loner.
No one was on my side.
Then why?
Why did the village inside my mind seem as beautiful and warm as a watercolor painting?
‘…….’
I thought I understood the reason.
I had not hated anyone.
I had never harbored any resentment toward this village.
I had loved everything about Arche.
But none of it belonged to me anymore.
Because missing something meant that I no longer had it.
【HP : 8】
Only when death stood before me did I realize the truth.
I finally understood that I would never be able to remain in Arche again.
I should not have thought about such things.
I had believed that I had released enough of my emotions after going so far as to harm myself in the mountains.
I had not.
Not for a single moment since the patch began had I truly been all right.
On the outside, I had pretended to be cold, unshaken, and calculating.
Inside, I had been nothing of the sort.
I had only deceived myself.
I had merely hidden behind affectations, pride, and a mask while postponing my emotions.
Now it was time to pay the price.
I plunged into the thoughts that had been crashing over me like waves.
【HP : 7】
Why?
What did I do wrong?
Why must everything be taken from me?
What are players?
Are they beings greater than Grid?
They have to be.
They absolutely have to be.
Players must be far greater than Grid. They must be noble beings so far beyond me that I could never dare to approach them.
Otherwise, I could not accept the reality that had befallen me or the things that would happen throughout Amuse from now on.
I could not accept the atrocities the players would commit or the suffering the NPCs would endure.
【HP : 6】
I had been prevented from opposing the players by nothing more than the words ‘spineless coward.’
I had managed to rack my brain and devise a way to use monsters, but the price was horrific.
I had to offer my flesh, bones, and organs—and even the old man’s corpse—to those damned wild dogs.
This was the best I could do.
Other NPCs might be trapped in circumstances far more hopeless than mine.
Amuse had become far too cruel a world for NPCs.
We needed the power to kill players.
We needed the ‘right’ to oppose them.
But, but…….
Ah.
【HP : 5】
The end had arrived.
‘I don’t want to die.’
My vision turned pitch-black.
‘I want to live longer.’
All sensation vanished from my body.
‘It was all a bluff.’
My soul floated upward as though it were swimming through the sea.
It was not peaceful.
I felt wronged.
‘Please give me a chance──’
【Lv 23. ‘BONBIN’ has died!】
【Location: Clearing near Golden’s Potion Workshop(Arche)】
【Cause of Death: Lv 55. Poisoning(100%)】
【Log: Tracking of Player ‘BONBIN’’s killer complete. Entity Name ‘Akkun’’s [Hostility Value: 100/100(Threshold Exceeded)] has been confirmed.】
【Retrieving detailed information for Entity Name ‘Akkun’………AК-K▘N/ΗΞ?/∅n/R∴b:k】
【ERROR! Unable to retrieve data.】
……?
Something strange appeared within my blurred vision.
It was the guide.
Its screen had turned bloodred, as though it had been brutally murdered.
The black letters within the red screen rushed uncomfortably close, as though they intended to strike my pupils.
【Process: In accordance with Rule[PK-01], applying the [STATUS::RED_PLAYER] penalty to the killer.】
【Structural conflict!▒▒▒Critical System Error▓▓▓】
【Cause: Penalty applica!tion! impossible!】
【Details: [STATUS::RED_PLAYER] is a state exclusive to [CLASS::PLAYER]. A structural conflict has been discovered in which it can!not! be inhe▚rited by the target ‘Akkun’’s [CLASS::NPC].】
【Executing forced protocol▒▒▒ to resolve logical conflict…】
【Executingoverride:PR▚TOCL_PK_EXCEPTION_HANDLER.】
【Attempting forced inheritance… Applying the attributes of ‘Red Player’ to entity ‘Akkun’ as a temporary state ‘Wrapper’.】
【WARNING! [Object Integrity may be damaged.]】
【Logical conflict resolved. Res▓luti▒nc▒mple▓e.】
The bloodred guide flashed painfully before disappearing as though it had never existed.
BAAANG!
The guide returned with a sound like a thunderclap.
Its screen was still red.
【For killing Player ‘BONBIN,’ you have been given the ‘Red Player’ status.】
【The Red Player status penalties are as follows.】
【1. Growth Limited(GROWTH LIMITED): When hunting monsters, an EXP acquisition rate -80% and an item/currency drop rate -80% penalty will be applied. Why are you looking at me like that? Weren’t you uninterested in monsters?】
【2. Red Brand(RED REJECTION): The red color engraved upon your name marks you as a walking disaster and a symbol of abhorrence to every NPC in this world. They will regard you as lower than an insect and refuse all interaction with you. Naturally, this includes transactions with the Storage Keeper who safeguarded your precious belongings. Oh dear! Your bag is going to become heavy. Not that it concerns me!】
【3. Ownership Revoked(OWNERSHIP REVOKED): Upon death, you will lose ownership of all possessions, including your equipped gear. It is sad, but it cannot be helped. You need to understand the pain of losing things too, don’t you?】
【4. Permadeath(PERMADEATH): Upon death, your data will be permanently deleted from the Server. You will also be unable to create a new Avatar. In other words, you will never be able to access Amuse Online again. I cannot say I will miss you.】
【That concludes all instructions. You will not resent me, will you? These are the absolute rules of the System. We gave you ample warning, and despite that, you murdered an innocent human. Perhaps it was a mistake, but we have far too much work to consider every individual circumstance.】
【Amuse, now stained red, will be cruel to you, but struggle desperately to survive.】
【Not that you’ll live much longer anyway. Hee-hee-hee.】
RATTLE, RATTLE-RATTLE-
The red screen shook violently like a winged insect whose body had been caught in a human hand, scattering countless letters in every direction.
Then, directly before my eyes.
THUD-!
A short message appeared.
【……Still, I suppose I should give you what you’re owed?】
【Absorbing ‘BONBIN’’s Existence Value…… Beginning plunder according to the share carved by your blade…… Contribution 100%! Perfect murderous intent!】
【Calculating Kill EXP.】
【You have obtained EXP +17,820.】
DING-A-LING-!
A refreshing cascade of chimes poured through my head like a waterfall.
【Lv UP!】
【Lv UP!】
【You have reached Lv 23!】
【HP and MP have been fully restored.】