Chapter 90 - Ain's Transformation (2)

"That guy was being searched for being an assassin… Even if I had left him alone, he would've been executed soon."

"Hmm…"

Even after listening to that explanation, it took Hyun a while to calm down.

The face of the soldier who took his own life in the Virtual Historical Battle came to mind.

Just before he was ripped apart by the undead, the expression he had while piercing his own stomach with a sword was as if…

"Hyun…?"

Ain asked after seeing that Hyun's expression had darkened.

"It's nothing, don't worry."

After listening to Ain's voice, Hyun came back to his senses; then he smiled while shaking his head.

* * *

Iluna.

It was a land you couldn't reach unless you crossed space.

You couldn't even reach it with teleport.

To move across space, you needed a new magic called «Warp», but that wasn't one you could easily encounter.

The second best option after «Warp» was using a shuttle.

Even though you could use the Shuttle to move through space, at that point of the game, that was something reserved only for high-ranking NPCs.

The reason was that the ticket was too expensive.

Maybe things would change in the future once inflation devalued the price of gold.

It would be a completely different story if he used real-life money… But Hyun had no intentions of doing something so crazy.

'But it isn't like there's no way.'

Hyun, master of tricks, once again found a hole.

'If I can use a Heavenly Being…'

A Heavenly Being was someone who belonged to the sky.

All people that belonged to the Heavens looked up to and worshipped the Heavenly Beings.

With the help of a Heavenly Being, obtaining a shuttle ticket would be easy.

'It would be great if the title worked… But I guess it's still too early.'

The problem was that they weren't strong enough at the moment to be perceived as Heavenly Beings by NPCs.

In fact, one NPC had referred to Ain as someone whom a Heavenly Being had recognized.

What they needed at the moment wasn't the title 'Heavenly Being,' but the strength of one.

Thankfully, Hyun had a triumph card: his knowledge of Asra.

He knew the best places to hunt, all kinds of hidden pieces, Asra's history, and the most important NPCs, among many other things.

But more than that, he had the most relevant information about the Interloop saved in his capsule's memory.

Hyun was planning to use all that to reach Iluna.

"It really suits you."

Ain had changed her appearance just like Hyun had asked her to.

If she refused, he was planning to search for another way to do it, but Ain accepted it without hesitation.

The face and body size remained almost the same.

But since her hairstyle had changed to a round bob, her atmosphere had changed quite a bit.

"So… How does it look?"

"It looks good."

Hyun brushed off Ain's reaction and logged into the capsule's hard drive.

On the image taken from the hard drive, there was the image of an NPC that resembled Ain.

'They look almost identical.'

Not only was their outer appearance similar, but the clothes were very alike too.

Because she was wearing white clothes, unlike the black robes she usually wore, Ain looked like a novice Priest apprentice.

"Who is she? I remember seeing her somewhere."

"Huh? She's an NPC from Asra."

"Hmm… I'm glad she isn't a user."

Ain was looking over her shoulder at Hyun's image.

While trying to ignore her, Hyun used «Assimilation» and hid inside Ain's body.

For some reason, he felt awkward looking at her.

Ain also didn't question Hyun, and she remained calm, so nothing else happened.

'So it's here.'

After walking for a while, Hyun and Ain reached a place.

—The Forest of the Giants.

In that place where everything was big, the trees were so tall that they seemed to pierce the sky.

That place, which was as if it was forbidden for humans to enter, was a land ignored by both the Heavens and the Abyss.

No one knew the reason why everything there was so big.

They only knew that place as somewhere where giant monsters lived.

In terms of level, monsters around the area were at a range between 200 and 300. But because they had the characteristic of being very big, they were stronger than other monsters of the same level.

Despite that, they didn't give more experience, so the place was bad for hunting because of the poor effectiveness. Except for a few users doing quests, most users didn't come around that area.

There was one reason why Hyun had gone there:

The Forest of Giants was one of the few places where you could meet a 'Heavenly Being.'

'«Powerless Wave», «Impact Amplification».'

While assimilated, Hyun used both skills.

Two auras began spreading around Ain.

Because he'd used two buff skills on top of «Assimilation», Ain's damage output had increased around three or four times.

After finishing the preparations, Hyun explained the plan to Ain.

「You remember, right? From now on, everything will depend on your acting skills.」

「I just have to grab the attention of the Heavenly Being, right?」

「Exactly.」

The way Hyun was planning to do that was by fishing.

But rather than catching a fish, they were planning to catch a Heavenly Being.

The reason Hyun had been the number one in Asra by an overwhelming difference wasn't only because his gaming sense was good.

He knew how to use even tiny information most users would've missed.

There probably weren't many users that knew so much about the main NPCs other than him.

According to his expectations, the Heavenly Being would end up falling for the trap.

'He probably… Won't be able to ignore it.'

While holding his breath, Hyun was waiting for something to happen.

Stomp- Stomp-!

Soon, the sound of huge footsteps could be heard along with the rumble of the ground.

The monster that had appeared in front of them was a giant wolf.

Just at first glance, it seemed bigger than four meters. Imagining how big it was once it stood up would frighten anyone.

「Ain, I'm going to leave it to you.」

Hyun just looked at Ain from the inside.

The reason why they'd gone there wasn't to gain experience. After all, that place was lackluster in terms of hunting efficiency.

'It would be better if I stayed still, right?'

He'd clearly felt it the other day in the Knight's Hall.

His acting skill was horrible compared to other people.

From there onward, he had to leave things to Ain.

Fwoosh-.

Two giant claws appeared on Ain's hands.

The claws, which were so big that they seemed grotesque, looked like weapons that were designed to fight a giant from the beginning.

Now she could use «Efreet's Claw» without using her ultimate attack.

On top of that, she'd gotten a new skill.

«Latent Potential Increase».

Ain's HP instantly dropped to 20%.

A bloody atmosphere spread throughout her entire body.

It was a scene that happened as the Elemental Berserker's Magical Power exploded.

In that state, Ain looked at the giant wolf.

The wolf immediately began attacking.

The moment its claws whipped through the air, Ain's claws hit its body.

[Critical Hit! You've dealt 59291 damage!]

'Hmm…?'

Hyun blinked after reading the system message.

'She can deal around 60,000 damage in one hit…?'

Usually, the giant monsters were very resistant to hits, so it was hard to damage them with an average attack.

After making some calculations, he understood why the unreasonably high damage had occurred.

'It's because of the buffs.'

The monster's ability to take hits came from its high defense.

But thanks to «Powerless Wave», its defense became 0, so its biggest strength had disappeared.

On top of that, there was the buff of «Impact Amplification», which doubled the attack, and the Elemental Berserker's own buffs. All of that made the damage output incredibly high.

Boom-! While Hyun couldn't hide his surprise, intangible energy came from Ain's body.

Thanks to «Vitality Absorption», she kept recovering HP, and thanks to that, she could keep using the «Latent Potential Increase».

2nd overlap, 80% Magical Power increase!

Boom-!

3rd overlap, 120%!

Even after the Magical Power had increased at its maximum, her specs kept changing.

Ain had two types of «Latent Potential Increase». One was the one that increased her Magical Power, and the other one increased her Agility.

She could increase her Agility up to 30%, 60%, and finally 90%!

In just a few seconds, she overlapped her skills six times.

Ain was soon covered by thick, bloody energy.

The scene of her slaughtering a wolf while covered in a mad aura really made her look like a Berserker, the mad warrior.

「I'm asking just in case, but you know we didn't come here to hunt. Right?」

「Oh, yeah…!」

「…?」

Ain almost deviated from the original plan. But she soon remembered the goal and stopped her momentum.

According to Hyun, the first step was staging a crisis.

Ain kept making noise until a large group of monsters gathered.

It didn't take her long before a group of predators surrounded her.

If she were an average user, death would be imminent.

'It's kind of strange…'

Hyun's eyes narrowed.

Although they were surrounded by monsters, he wasn't feeling any sense of danger.

He soon understood the reason.

Because Ain's Agility was too high, she couldn't fake a scene as if she were in danger.

The weakest point of the giant monsters was their mobility.

But Ain didn't allow them to attack, so a dangerous situation didn't come.

「Try to act as if you are in danger…」

「There's no way I'd be in danger with just this.」

「That's why I said just act as if you were in danger.」

「Well, I'll try it.」

After saying that, Ain suddenly stopped moving.

She didn't dodge the incoming attack.

After receiving an attack from the tail of a giant anaconda, her body flew into the air.

[You've received 9159 damage!]

After receiving a huge hit, she flew about 50 meters, and then she hit the tree and rolled on the floor.

Cough! Even the scene of vomiting blood was perfect.

—Even though a user wouldn't receive such a realistic wound.

「What's that…?」

「Tomato juice. I saw it being sold on the market.」

「…」

「Perfect, see?」

Because of «Assimilation», Hyun could taste the flavor of the tomato juice.

While he was tasting it, he began feeling uneasy.

Maybe her acting skills were worse than his?

Maybe she'd been lucky at the Knight's Hall when she’d convinced the guards. Perhaps it would have been better if he'd played this role.

While he was thinking that…

Whish-!

All the monsters froze in an instant.

After a while, the monsters became icy dust and scattered away.

A man's footsteps could be heard from inside the forest that had recovered its peace.

The moment Hyun saw his face, he subconsciously clenched his fists.

"So you didn't die."

The man mumbled while looking at Ain.

He was very tall. Even though he was only wearing a robe with white and blue colors, he looked very dignified.

It was their first time meeting him since they’d started playing Asrian.

* * *

All the people who belonged to the Heavens served the Angels and looked up to the Heavenly Beings.

The Angels were Transcendents—they were above humans.

But the Heavenly Beings, except for their life span and physical abilities, were very similar to humans.

The Heavenly Beings ate and drank just like humans. Not only that, but they also felt human emotions and formed families.

It was the same for the Heavenly Being Radiette.

Radiette's past was famous among Asra users.

The reason was that Radiette's side story had appeared once as an event quest.

<Radiette's Lover>

According to the story, Radiette's lover was surprisingly a human that belonged to the Abyss.

And she wasn't a normal human, but a Duke.

That was obviously a forbidden relationship.

After the Heavens decided to have her executed, Radiette rebelled against the Heavens but ended up being sentenced to 100 years in prison.

At first, he’d received a 150 years sentence, but he had always been someone very dignified and had achieved many things for the Heavens, so they’d reduced his sentence.

After that, he’d gone to the Giant's Forest, a place where something like forces didn't exist, and that is where he lived for another 100 years.

But one day…

A scene melted his feelings that had been frozen.

'What's up with this noise?'

The senses of a Heavenly Being transcended the ones of a human being.

Was a dull human trying to cross the Giant's Forest again?

At first, he’d planned to ignore it.

But he was surprised after looking at where the noise was coming from.

The person in the middle of the monsters was a young girl.

The girl resembled someone from his past from hundreds of years ago.

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