Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The Reason I Must Not Fail (3)

“Thanks for the meal.”

“It was nothing.”

“I told you yesterday too, but get some rest today.”

“That was the plan.”

“Not you. I meant Theo.”

“…Ah, yes.”

After finishing the meal, I chatted with Cream for a while.

It started as casual small talk, but several heavier topics found their way into the conversation.

“The demonic beasts have been expanding their range of activity. You'll need to be even more careful whenever you leave the village. Especially.”

Cream's gaze shifted toward Theo.

Theo, who had been eating dessert, tilted his head.

I recalled yesterday's Quest. We had only avoided disaster because luck had been on our side. I had almost lost Theo for nothing.

If a demonic beast stronger than a rabbit had appeared, even I would have been in danger.

'I need to be more careful.'

I decided to stay more vigilant.

According to Min-gyu—and after putting together the information from the players' Comments—

'The difference between the Tower and the field was whether mercenaries recovered.'

As long as you cleared a dungeon, every injury was healed. Even mercenaries who had died would come back to life once they left the dungeon.

But if a mercenary died in the field, that was the end.

That was why there was a [Game Over].

'And eventually, I'll have to enter the forest too.'

The forest was overflowing with demonic beasts far stronger than the ones outside.

If I wanted to survive on that brutal battlefield, I had to steel myself. Perhaps Cream noticed the look on my face, because she chuckled.

“What?”

“Scared?”

I forced down the urge to snap back and answered,

“I'm just worried about Theo. We'll have to enter the forest someday.”

“You don't need to worry about the forest. There's someone there who's far scarier than any demonic beast.”

“Someone scarier?”

“You don't need to know. It's not someone you can meet just because you want to.”

Then why bring it up?

After making me curious only to shut her mouth, Cream stood up.

“Tomorrow, go pick up something from Sorenche. It should be finished by this evening, so if you go as soon as it gets light, you'll be able to collect it right away.”

“…Sorenche?”

“What?”

“It's nothing.”

“Anyway, don't be late coming back.”

As she said that, Cream added one more thing.

“It's your second Quest.”

[Quest!]

Quest: Collect an Item [Chain Quest]

Objective: Retrieve the item that Cream left in safekeeping.

Difficulty: ★

Reward: ???

Still somewhat dazed, I nodded.

“See you tomorrow.”

“Take care on your way back, Senior.”

Watching Cream's figure grow smaller in the distance, I couldn't help letting out a quiet sigh.

Sorenche, the alchemist of Beginning Village.

He was the first Field Boss that players encountered.

*

“A bed!”

After taking a walk to help digest our meal, we returned to the room, and Theo threw himself onto the bed.

“Theo, are you sleepy?”

“Nooo.”

That's what he said, but his eyes were already drooping.

It wasn't surprising. Theo's Health couldn't exactly be called good.

He had gained one point of Health while completing the Quest, but even then it was only 4.

His Mana might have recovered, but the physical fatigue remained.

If anything, it worked out well.

“You can rest until tomorrow. Sleep comfortably.”

“But the fun thing…”

“If you sleep well, I'll make sure you have a fun dream.”

“A fun dreeeam.”

Theo, who had been nodding off while lying on the bed, soon settled into steady breathing.

That finished the preparations.

Thinking there was no need to delay, I took out the [Entry Ticket].

[Entry Ticket]

[Would you like to enter?] [Yes/No]

'The mercenary…'

[There is a mercenary available for deployment.]

[Theo – Available for Deployment]

Now that I had confirmed I could bring Theo with me—

'Let's go.'

Light burst forth at the same time.

When I closed my eyes and opened them again, I was standing in the Square.

The same eerie silence still hung over the place.

This time, however, I wasn't alone.

“Ah.”

I turned toward the voice that came from nearby.

Theo stood there with wide eyes, looking startled.

I spoke before he could.

“So? This is the fun thing I told you about. Amazing, isn't it?”

“The fun thing?”

He looked bewildered for a moment before breaking into a bright smile.

“Hyung, did you do this?”

“So? Do you like it?”

“I love it!”

Theo wandered around excitedly.

Even though we were the only two people in this enormous city

“Amazing! There are so many people!”

There were definitely only the two of us

“Ah! That big sister just passed right through you, Hyung! She must be a ghost!”

…Don't say something like that so cheerfully.

It made my blood run cold.

There were definitely only Theo and me in this vast Square.

Yet Theo's sparkling eyes as he looked around made him seem like a country boy seeing the big city for the first time.

'No way.'

Swallowing hard, I opened my mouth, hoping I was wrong.

“Theo.”

“Yes!”

If what I was thinking was really true—

“Could you possess me?”

I wasn't trying to accept his soul.

There was simply something I wanted to confirm.

Because I had begun to think that I might not actually be alone.

Assuming my guess was right.

“Yes!”

Theo nodded without hesitation and ran over to me.

Then I watched him concentrate as he prepared to use his ability.

Holding back a slight tremor, I kept my eyes fixed on the ability Theo was activating.

[Theo casts 'Spirit Possession'.]

And the moment I stepped into a world I could neither see nor touch—

'…Ah.'

I was overwhelmed by indescribable exhilaration.

───!

The noise was so deafening that it made my ears ring.

The castle that had been empty was now filled with people.

Unlike the horrifying ghosts I had seen in the field, they all looked completely normal.

The only difference from the field was that they couldn't perceive me.

Like NPCs, they went about their own lives within their own society.

'But they aren't NPCs.'

The reason I could be certain was because of the names floating above their heads.

[VitaminHaechwihada]

[MulcupNeokjanh]

[JjadaMuriAemiya]

I vaguely remembered seeing some of those names in the library.

While I stood there staring at the people in bewilderment, a voice spoke as someone approached.

“Welcome.”

I hurriedly turned my gaze.

The body was definitely Theo's. But the atmosphere was completely different.

His softly glowing gray eyes were filled with nothing but emptiness, and I recognized those eyes.

“…Theo Homer.”

The Tower Keeper Banished from the Tower.

Theo Homer smiled brightly.

“Welcome to the Tower, last player, Kim Iseo.”

It was our second meeting.

*

I walked down the main street with Theo Homer.

“Unfortunately, I can't stay for long.”

He was the Tower Keeper Banished from the Tower.

If he had been banished, that meant there were those who had cast him out.

“The demons?”

“Yes. If they find out I've awakened, I don't know how they'll act.”

He said that, for now, he needed to focus on recovering his strength.

Even revealing himself like this had required taking a certain amount of risk.

“…There are so many things I want to ask.”

I had thought that meeting him would answer all of my questions.

Perhaps my disappointment showed plainly, because Theo Homer smiled.

“I thought you would, so I forced myself to come out. I wanted to answer at least some of your questions. That would help me as well.”

Countless thoughts swirled through my head.

But if I could ask only one question, it had to be this.

“What I want to know most is why I'm trapped inside this game.”

By the time we reached the castle gate, Theo Homer turned around.

Looking at the souls of the players, he spoke quietly.

“There is something called World Force.”

Worlds that fell within the domain of the World Force were called the Inner World.

Worlds that existed outside the domain of the World Force were called the Outer World.

“All worlds within the World Force take part in 'Matches.'”

Matches.

A type of game played between worlds.

“The energy gained through those games is what sustains each world.”

There were many different kinds of games.

Some were confined to a single world.

Others were played through alliances with different worlds.

Or worlds could compete directly against one another, or even wage invasions regardless of any Match.

“Then Earth…”

Theo Homer looked at me.

“The place you came from. Earth is no different.”

Earth was a world that belonged to the Inner World.

Long ago, it had become part of the Inner World after a Match called the [Total War].

However, after that, it failed to achieve any meaningful results and eventually fell into ruin.

“A fallen world has no future.”

If a world could no longer continue participating in the games, it could no longer sustain itself.

Its ability to defend itself declined until it could no longer withstand plundering by other worlds.

Eventually, it would be torn apart piece by piece and absorbed as nourishment for other worlds.

The moment every last fragment disappeared completely was the true destruction of that world.

“It's only natural that you don't know about the World Force. Earth had already lost most of its energy and had become a world approaching the Outer World.”

The inhabitants of a world didn't even know what the Matches were.

That was also the greatest reason they could no longer continue the games.

“But!”

I couldn't accept it.

Even at the very moment I logged into the game, Earth had looked perfectly fine.

“Really?”

Theo Homer asked me.

“Was it really?”

“What do you mean…?”

“Think carefully. Was the Earth you remember truly fine?”

I searched my memories.

The Earth where I had lived.

I knew nothing about the [World Force] or [Matches].

But then the news reports came back to me.

“When a world begins to lose the energy source that sustains it, the first thing to collapse is nature.”

Massive earthquakes and wildfires.

Snow fell in the middle of summer with increasing frequency.

Cities were submerged by torrential rains that had never been forecast.

Endless wars, famine, inequality, and greed

Countless people lost their lives.

As I stood there unable to answer, Theo Homer continued.

“That was only the beginning. A world on the verge of destruction is one without dreams or hope.”

Theo Homer stated without hesitation that Earth had been heading toward destruction in real time.

He said there was no method capable of restoring it.

I wanted to argue.

But the words wouldn't come.

“What in the world does that even…”

How was I supposed to accept something like that?

I had intended to play this game so I could return home.

'But now you're telling me Earth is doomed?'

As my mind descended into confusion, Theo Homer's voice reached me.

“Pull yourself together.”

“But Earth is already—”

“I said it was on the verge of destruction. I never said it had already been destroyed.”

“You also said it couldn't be restored by any means.”

Theo Homer raised a single finger.

“There is one chance. A world on the brink of destruction is given a single opportunity to recover.”

In other words—

A repechage.

“The repechage has one and only one rule.”

After taking in the entire Square and the castle, Theo Homer spoke.

“Save a world that has already fallen.”

“…Save the world?”

Suddenly, I recalled the fundamental premise of Mercenary Company Management.

A world on the brink of destruction.

Demonic beasts roaming across the continent.

Demons blocking every floor of the Tower.

A player overcoming every hardship and climbing the Tower.

“Every player besides you has already tasted the bitterness of failure.”

I looked toward the castle gate.

I thought of the countless players who had passed through those gates.

The hardships they had endured after being dragged into the game before me and climbing the Tower.

“Do you understand now? The true meaning of being the last player.”

Theo Homer spoke.

“Your failure will mark Earth's true end.”

The sentence I had once written as a joke had become reality.

I really had become Humanity's Representative.