Chapter 106

Chapter 106. This Isn't Easy

Bang!

My fist, wrapped in chains, struck the translucent body of the Void Beast and blew a huge hole straight through it.

I had definitely swung with all my strength, but the feeling of actually hitting it was far too weak.

The sensations in this game had always been a little lacking compared to how realistic everything looked, but it had never been this bad.

Could it be because I wasn't wearing my usual equipment right now and was dressed in a suit instead?

Did I get carried away with looking cool and make a mistake...?

Damn it. If I'd known this would happen, I would've changed clothes before coming!

I thought it looked like a slime... but was it actually a slime?

The Flow, which I had thought was absurdly simple, was still moving steadily without any disturbance.

That meant my attack hadn't affected the creature at all.

Judging from its appearance, it felt like it would collapse if I disrupted its Flow...

And if you scratch along the lines of its Flow, it collapses?

That setting sounds strangely familiar.

Heh.

I can see the lines!

"Gurgle?"

The creature finally reacted to the sound and stretched a tentacle toward me.

I stepped back for a moment and avoided it.

If physical attacks didn't work against this thing, then it would be a rather difficult opponent for the mice.

But if I suddenly said something like, "Ah! Physical attacks don't work!" and backed off right now, wouldn't the mice panic?

Without meaning to, I'd become such an important existence to them.

Most of the time, that made things easier and more convenient.

But situations like this were troublesome.

Clatter!

I shot out my chains and bound the creature.

I'd once tied up Mallang before, so I already knew that even liquid-like creatures could be restrained by my chains.

Just as expected, the Void Beast began convulsing in surprise when chains suddenly wrapped around its body.

My own chains didn't hurt me, so I had no idea what it actually felt like to be wrapped in them.

Would they feel insanely hot?

Would the chains pinch into your flesh?

Ah!

This is bad!

The setting here feels way too modern, so it's hard to get immersed!

If I'd had just a little more time, I might've been able to seriously immerse myself in this battle against the Void Beasts!

Ugh...!

I understand that the game is trying to show me worlds with all sorts of different appearances.

It's not like I especially dislike modern settings, either.

But because this game has such insane realism, something about it actually breaks my immersion instead.

"Gurgle... Bang! Pop! Pop!"

The creature had originally been moving slowly, as though reacting to sound.

Once I wrapped its body in chains, it squirmed and twisted as if trying to escape.

When that didn't work, its reaction became much more violent.

Bubbles began pouring out from the heart inside its body, producing sounds like bursting water droplets.

To me, that was all it sounded like.

But apparently, the mice behind me were hearing something very different.

The mice had already been trembling in fear from the moment the Void Beasts appeared.

And when the creature began spewing bubbles, several of them actually fainted.

Apparently, something terrifying was happening.

"Is there any curse in this world more horrifying than that?"

"What? That's what it sounds like to you?"

"Yes."

So there was a reason the mice had been completely frozen even though these things just looked like bubbling blobs making weird noises.

In that case...

Since I was practically a god to these creatures, I probably needed to defeat this thing easily and give them some confidence.

I'd given speeches like this plenty of times during our battles against the Tree, so I had at least some confidence.

"Do not be afraid, warriors! Do not let yourselves be shaken by the meaningless cries of such insignificant creatures!"

The mice who had already fought alongside me once erased the fear from their eyes and let out powerful roars.

Seriously...

I think I've actually gotten used to speaking like this.

Not too long ago, even trying to say something like this would've made goosebumps rise all over my body.

"I stand before you! I will illuminate the path ahead of you! So do not fear these insignificant creatures that dwell in darkness!"

Squish! Bang!

After drawing the mice's attention toward me, I pulled the chains with all my strength.

The chains caught hold of the heart inside the creature's body.

And I ripped it straight out.

A sticky sensation spread across my hand, followed by a shocking heat.

My immersion was slowly coming back.

[Heart of a Void Beast 1/10]

"Do not listen to their words! They are nothing more than meaningless noise! Never forget whose soldiers you are, whose children you are, and for whom you fight!"

[The pseudo Lion's Roar mixed with faint Madness awakens the minds of the mouse soldiers!]

Huh?

I didn't even use a Domain skill.

Hmm...

Don't tell me my Madness has reached the point where it leaks out even when I don't use a skill?

That's still a little troublesome.

Even so, the effect was undeniable.

Led by the ten mice who were on the verge of evolution, the mouse soldiers' eyes snapped wide open.

They screamed—or shouted—or whatever that shrill sound was, then charged toward the Void Beasts.

"Village Chief, are you just going to watch?"

"Hoho! Sounds good! I was already itching to join in!"

Clack! Ratatatatatata!

The Village Chief went wild with a minigun in each hand.

Their rate of fire was far higher than ordinary machine guns.

At this point, he seemed completely convinced that the creatures were attracted to sound.

As the ear-splitting roar of his miniguns echoed through the area, more and more Void Beasts began gathering toward us.

And yet...

The Village Chief continued spraying bullets everywhere while laughing heartily.

He looks just like Rambo.

So cool...!

Firing something like that until the ammunition runs dry must feel incredibly refreshing!

Pie also stepped forward, probably to relieve some stress.

The Void Beasts, which apparently had been spewing all sorts of curses, ended up dying under all kinds of curses themselves.

"Father, could you let me borrow that heart for a moment?"

"Why? Do you need it?"

The purple heart looked like an oddly shaped pearl.

It was somewhat different from a human heart.

A sticky substance similar to the Void Beast's body leaked out through the many tiny tubes covering its surface.

Rather than a human heart, it felt closer to the core of a golem from a fantasy story.

In a way, it was the source of the creature's life force.

Jayeon had been born after absorbing the Tree's life force, so maybe this object felt familiar to her.

"...Hmm. If we use this properly, I think we might be able to store the overflowing souls of those mice inside it."

"...Oooh...!"

At that moment, several images appeared in my head.

A monster walking around with purple spheres floating around its body.

A monster dragging a giant tube packed full of these hearts behind it!

A dark fantasy filled with grotesque monsters...!

If Jjikjjik had a pure white feeling to him, then these creatures would probably become monsters with a pitch-black feeling.

I loved it.

"You can do it, daughter!"

"Ah! Yes! Leave it to me!"

Jayeon smiled brightly at my encouragement and immediately began studying the heart.

Meanwhile, the mouse soldiers and the Village Chief continued rampaging like mad.

Pie, apparently satisfied after doing enough, quietly returned to my side.

The two of them were dependable, and my daughter and son were the same.

It's great that none of them take after their dad.

To think I have so many dependable people around me...

This dad is getting emotional.

"Master, the soldiers' morale has reached its peak. Creatures like the Void Beasts will no longer be a match for them."

"Don't let your guard down. Even an Administrator at the level of a Great Hero couldn't do anything about this place. The Void Beasts themselves might not be anything special, but this is definitely a difficult place to survive."

"Yes! I will remember your words. If I notice even the slightest abnormality, I will report it immediately!"

Good.

This should be enough.

Now we could leave this place and wait for the mice to return after becoming stronger.

We also needed someone to manage this place, so we'd better move quickly.

It would be troublesome if we took too long and all the mice ended up dying.

"Village Chief! We're heading back up now!"

"Hahaha! This was a wonderful experience! I believe this is the first time I've ever fired every last bullet I had!"

The Village Chief returned while sweating happily.

I might have Administrator authority that let me freely move around, but he really had gone all-out without thinking about what came afterward.

Before returning to the entrance of the Maze Forest, I picked up several more hearts from the ground.

We needed about ten of them anyway.

"All right~! We're moving! Brace yourselves!"

Whoosh!

In a game where portal functions practically didn't exist, being able to create portals myself and zip around like this gave me a strangely complicated feeling.

So this is what authority feels like!

Somehow...

I was starting to feel like I was becoming something completely different from an ordinary player.

Almost like I was becoming a bugged player.

...Wait. Wasn't my character fundamentally like that from the beginning?

I'd brought over a character from my tester days, yet here I was complaining that I felt like a bugged player.

That's pretty shameless of me.

We escaped the darkness and returned beneath the blazing sunlight of a clear day.

I frowned at the sudden brightness and naturally stepped into the shade.

Fortunately, we hadn't been sent somewhere far away.

We had arrived near the door we'd originally opened to enter the Black Market.

The Village Chief was here.

Pie was here.

And Jayeon was here too, staring intensely at the faintly glowing heart while touching it over and over.

Everyone who was supposed to come had arrived safely.

"Phew. Jayeon, how about studying that after we get back to the room?"

"Yeees."

"...Jayeon?"

"Ah, yes! I'm sorry, Father."

I smiled as I watched the child, whose eyes looked similar to mine, move her tiny hands and carefully stuff the monster's heart into her clothes.

I've never particularly liked children.

Honestly, I even find them somewhat troublesome.

But starting with Modak and now Jayeon...

After spending time with them, I'd developed emotions that were difficult to put into words.

This is bad.

I'm not even married yet.

I don't want to start feeling this kind of parental satisfaction already.

The game's insane level of realism.

The data inside this game that might one day truly become reality.

I thought I'd already overcome the confusion I'd felt when dealing with Pie.

Yet now those emotions were returning.

I wasn't seeing them as simple possessions or toys anymore.

I was beginning to feel something for them as actual people.

And this time, the thought that I might truly meet them in reality one day made it even worse.

Back when I could simply look at NPCs as game characters, everything was easier.

This was this.

That was that.

There was a clear line between the two.

My heart had been much more comfortable back then.

...Jayeon isn't going to suddenly appear in reality someday too, right?

I couldn't believe that Lucy Lowell was the only tragic case like that.

There was no way the Chairman, who had played around with someone else's entire life, hadn't known about the researcher who stole his technology and secretly experimented with it.

Maybe he'd deliberately leaked the technology.

Maybe he'd deliberately prepared bodies whose souls had already disappeared.

Thanks to that, I'd finally escaped the question of whether the feelings I had toward Pie were right or wrong.

But now...

Thinking that my imagination might actually become reality sent chills down my spine.

"Phew... Shall we head to the inn?"

"Does that mean we have no other activities planned for today?"

"Well, if we feel like it, we can look around the village. Oh, right. You gave the kids some spending money, didn't you?"

"I gave them so much that even I felt it might be excessive."

Come to think of it...

Would Aien, Mallang, or Levi even know how to spend money properly?

Levi was an elf.

Mallang was a slime.

And hadn't Aien lived in a training center since she was little?

What if we gave a huge amount of money to children who had no concept of money, only for them to get ripped off somewhere and come back after learning the cruel realities of society?

If someone did that...

I'd throw the bastard straight into the Abandoned District.

How dare they mess with our kids?

"But Village Chief, after the mess we caused in the Black Market, aren't you going to have trouble doing business there from now on?"

"Hoho. If the Administrator has even a shred of pride, he will keep this incident a secret. He could have simply made a proper deal with us, yet he fell for a petty provocation and ended up handing over the Abandoned District. If it were me, I would be too ashamed to even raise my head."

Well then.

I guess we could spend our money without worrying.

Maybe we should return to the inn for a bit and get ourselves organized...

No.

That's a bad idea.

Once this lazy bastard who hates wandering around goes back into his room, there's no way he'll come back outside again.

If there was anything worth looking at, it would be better to explore right now.

Once I decided that, I changed back into my adventurer clothes.

They also covered the mark on my chest where I had inserted the remaining Fragment of the World.

Then we headed toward the marketplace.

"Let's go shopping! Shopping!"

In reality, I'm too scared that my money will suddenly disappear, so I barely spend a single coin.

At least inside the game, I'm going to live generously!

"Ah! Ingwang-nim!"

"—is what I was just thinking... Eh, whatever. Hey, guys~!"

Where were Levi, Mallang, and Aien?

Levi wasn't the kind of kid who would leave the others behind and wander around by herself.

And that expression on Levi's face...

Something had happened.

It was a serious expression I didn't want to see.

The kind that slammed anxiety straight into my heart like someone driving a fist into my chest.

Levi was only a short distance away.

It looked like she'd been searching everywhere for me.

Sweat poured down her face as she ran toward me, breathing heavily.

Then, struggling to catch her breath, she spoke.

"I-Ingwang-nim...! Miss Aien... she was taken away!"

"...Huh? What?"