Chapter 187 - The Day Real Life Invaded the Game (2)

The community boards were still in an uproar because of the History Quests.

It didn't seem like the video’s effect would die off quickly.

A few rankers even tried the real-difficulty quests while using the same movements.

After the dungeon that appeared in the 1st episode was located, a few users started to explore it.

'I guess a day should be okay.'

There was one day before time began running again in Asrian.

It was the weekend, so Hyun could stay with Ain for the entire day.

Hunting, raising skill proficiencies, or dueling experience…

There were numerous ways to grow your character in Asrian while time was stopped… but Hyun didn't want to focus on character growth at the moment.

'Yes. Let's take a break today!'

He just wanted to hang around with Ain.

He just wanted to wander around with her without worrying about anything else.

Ain usually did what he wanted to do, so he left things to her.

Time was stopped, and the duel arena was probably full of people, so they decided to do a friendly match, and then they walked through the neat night streets of a big city.

Ain was surprised by Hyun's sudden change in attitude.

"What happened? Did you suddenly want to have a date with me?"

"I'm not sure… Hmm… Yeah, maybe that's true."

"Really~?"

As Hyun started reciprocating what she said, Ain began making mischievous jokes.

"Hyun, it seems like you're under abnormal status."

"Abnormal status?"

"You know. What happens when you eliminate the adult filter…"

Usually, he had to cut those sorts of jokes short, but Hyun let them be for the day.

Hyun remembered his conversation with JaeHoon.

Suddenly, he asked Ain a question.

"Ain, what are you going to do once you become an adult?"

"Huh? Without the filter? Wh-why are you asking something like that…?!"

"I'm not talking about that. For example, are there any jobs you want to do?"

"Jobs?"

“Hmm.” Ain remained silent for a while and then answered.

"I'm not sure. I still haven't decided if I'll go to university or not… I mean, there's no need to think about that, right?"

"Then what are you going to do after graduating?"

"I'll probably just hang out with you like I'm doing right now."

"Like now…?"

"If it's us, we're okay even without a job, right? Also, you could say that we're YouTubers."

Paf!

Suddenly, Hyun scattered away into the light and entered Ain's body.

Ain jumped in surprise, but she soon calmed down.

After a short while, Hyun laughed in disbelief.

「You really live carelessly, huh?」

"Then what about you, Hyun? Is there anything special you want to do?"

「Hmm… being a YouTuber? No, not really? I'm not thinking of doing that long-term.」

"Then you’ll be unemployed?"

「I'm still a student.」

Hyun logged off at the same time as Ain on that last day before time resumed.

It wasn't intended, but he felt a bit relieved thanks to her.

* * *

The next day, at five in the evening in Korea.

Asrian’s patch was finally done.

[Logging into Asrian!]

Hyun got inside the capsule just in time.

NFM’s logo appeared and then disappeared, and the world loaded on the screen.

Then, instead of the login screen, a new screen appeared.

A story video that anyone that had done the History Quests should be able to follow appeared in front of them.

'The flow didn't change that much compared to Asra.'

Of course, those were all things Hyun already knew.

Videos that explained the situation of countries and factions appeared in front of him.

A story from five years before began.

[As Darkness rose to the surface, her underlings became stronger.]

The number of devils on the surface increased, and a few territories of humans were wiped out by the devils.

Among the weak nations, there were some that had collapsed.

{Light became angry. Thanks to the underlings of Light, the situation on the surface calmed down.}

Light gave an oracle and took control over the chaotic surface world.

The sculpture of Truth lost its center position, replaced by Light thanks to the increase in her followers.

[Darkness again went into hiding.]

The situation on the surface hadn't completely calmed down.

According to the video, the devils had scattered away and were still on the surface.

As the figure of what he thought was Louise faded, the video ended.

The scenery in front of him changed, and Hyun looked around.

He was in the lobby of Shade Guild's private room.

Hyun was expecting that maybe a grown-up Louise would greet him, but there wasn't anyone else inside the room.

'Ah?'

Instead, Hyun found something on top of the table.

There was a piece of paper on top of the table where there hadn’t been anything the day before.

'This… it… reminds me of that day.'

After looking at the writing, Hyun realized that it was a letter from Louise.

He remembered that the 10-year-old Louise had also left a letter to him.

She'd left a letter and the items he'd lent her at the dungeon's secret shop from which the History Quest was created.

Hyun read the letter as he recalled the past.

「I wasn't able to keep the promise once again. No. This time, it was you who didn't keep it, right? At this moment, three years have passed.」

It seemed like Louise had kept her promise but ended up leaving because three years had become five.

「I'm kind of feeling nostalgic here… Hyun, just like you said, I wasn't someone destined to live a calm life.」

Did something happen once again? It seems like an incident had once again swept Louise away.

「You shouldn't trust anyone. Even if that someone belongs to the Abyss! Ain is okay, but you should be wary of everyone else.」

Hyun frowned while reading Louise's warning. He couldn't help but think something bad had happened.

「That's why I've sealed my 'Empathy.' You shouldn't worry even if you cannot feel me. Oh, yeah, you probably don't know how I look right now.」

Hyun smirked after looking at Louise's figure drawn on the letter.

A beautiful woman wearing a white robe was smiling while making a smug expression.

「How about that? This is how I look right now. Don't you think that I’m around Ain’s size now?」

The atmosphere he could see from Louise's drawing was clearly different from before.

Was it because her Ego became stronger? Her fearful eyes were full of confidence.

Considering that Louise was 10 years old when they first met. She was probably around 20 after the time skips… About the same age as him.

If she wasn't able to fully become a demon, her body should have aged the same way as a human's.

「This time, I'm going to find you, so just wait. You're my Shadow, so I can figure out where you are whenever I want to.」

The letter ended there.

After reading the letter, Hyun lowered his consciousness and prayed to Darkness.

At that moment, he felt another person's emotions getting mixed with his. Although it was weak, it was definitely Louise.

She seemed to be in her usual condition.

'Eh? Didn't she say her Empathy was sealed?'

In the letter, it said that… Had the seal been broken?

No, Hyun shook his head.

He remembered what had happened in Darkness's land—Louise had struggled after empathizing with the devils’ emotions.

By sealing Empathy, maybe she meant she was blocking the emotions of those that served her from getting mixed with her emotions.

'Now that I think about it, I could «Pray» to her from the first time I met her.'

Hyun could feel relaxed after remembering that.

Although it was one-sided, he could see how she was doing through «Pray».

Paf-! At that moment, Ain had logged in. She looked at the paper that was in Hyun's hand.

"Is that a letter from Louise?"

"Yes. Our meetings are never on time."

"I want to read it, too!"

The tips of her mouth went up after reading the letter.

After all, it didn't have the content she was worried about.

"As expected."

"What?"

"Hyun, you were disappointed Louise grew too much, right?"

"…?"

After calming down Ain, who was saying some weird things while making a mischievous smile, Hyun began making preparations to leave.

"Anyway, it seems like Louise isn't here, so let's leave."

"To Demonia Gorge?"

"Yes."

He'd told Ain his plans the day before.

He’d mentioned maybe having to fight users, but that had just excited her.

«Assimilation».

They went to a place using the teleporters that was forbidden the day before and rented a carriage to the place they'd arranged to meet.

'Good. It seems like everyone arrived on time.'

There were four workers and one Theologian.

Was it because he said he wouldn't pay them if they were late? Everyone arrived early.

After taking a glimpse at the group of users, Hyun saw a female user wearing a robe that looked like a Theologian’s. After seeing something unexpected, he asked something dumb with Ain's Assimilated voice.

"Eh?"

"Huh…?"

The face of the theologian was very similar to Ain's. It was as if they were twins.

The two Ains looked at each other while everyone was confused.

It was Hyun who opened his mouth first.

"Are you Ain…?"

「What are you saying? Hyun, you're «Assimilating» to me!」

"No. I'm just a fan, but…"

The girl, who looked like Ain, exclaimed in surprise.

"Are you the client? You look more like Ain to me!"

In Asrian, you could change your appearance through magic, and that included not just facial features, but also build and height.

Although you couldn't completely change it, you could modify it in a range between 0 and around 10%.

Basically, as long as you had a similar physique, you could modify your character so it looked like another person.

Her role in the History Quests became known, so she'd become some sort of mascot for Asrian.

Ain had become more popular than most professional gamers among Korean users in particular, so it was understandable that people imitating her would appear.

It didn't take Hyun long to realize the situation.

'Is she okay?'

Hyun suddenly became worried.

Except for the hairstyle, Ain looked exactly like her character in real life.

「Hey, don't you have any problems in your daily life?」

「I have ways to get over it.」

「Hmm…」

Hyun thought there wasn't a need to reveal Ain's identity there.

If it became publicly known where she was, users might gather around Demonia Gorge, and he also felt bad at the thought of Ain becoming a public figure.

"Where did you get this armor? I wasn't able to get it!"

"It's called Recard's Devil Armor… It's rare equipment."

"Woah, not only the equipment, but you also have a similar height, and your face is exactly like hers!"

At the Theologian's overreaction, Hyun realized he was looking up at her.

Only her face was similar, and her height seemed to be between his and Ain's.

'It seems like she wasn't able to imitate the height.'

Customizing your body was very expensive, even in Asrian.

Even if you had enough money, taking into consideration Korea's average adult female physique, it would be hard to become exactly like Ain.

"Okay, then let's go. We must hurry, after all."

After a short conversation, everyone got on top of the carriage.

The leading horses were trained so that, if there weren't any special indications, they would run forward.

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