novelraw Chapter 158 : Even Deceit Has Its Class (2)
Chapter 158 : Even Deceit Has Its Class (2)
Even Deceit Has Its Class (2)
The path was determined by the fortune from the dice.
As Lee Gyeongbok walked through the passage, he thought.
'There's really nothing here.'
Contrary to his expectations, he sensed nothing in terms of divine energy—not even a positive aura or a sense of threat.
- Why is it so quiet, huh?
- Did he just hit some boss-fight shortcut right away?
- LOL, k-possible, incoming
- Compared to "Manhae," getting a third of the challenge is nothing, lol
- Even luck is "perfect" for Godple~
Viewers expressed similar feelings. With neither enemies nor traps in sight, maybe this really did go straight to the boss fight.
It was when people had loosened up that the cutscene began.
'Something's coming.'
The moment Lee Gyeongbok lost control, he sharpened his instincts at the sensation.
'There's quite a number of them.'
The threat itself was weak, but the mass of whatever it was, was unusual. He could sense something squirming inside the cave walls.
And then the source of the threat appeared.
"... Spiders?"
Durante furrowed his brow.
From the cave walls, swarms of small baby spiders burst forth like a flood.
- Aren't those the spiders from Fake Saint's body?
- Ugh;; that's so gross
- Crazy! Am I the only one getting goosebumps?
- What are y'all doing! Hurry and call Kesko!
- Quick, get the flamethrower!
In an instant, the cave glowed green. The spiders' bodies were filled with a green fluid that glowed like phosphorescence.
And then all at once, the baby spiders fired thin, green webs.
"Is it poison?"
With a stiff expression, durante drew his pistol and opened fire. The gunshots burst through swarms of spiders, but there were simply too many.
- Debuff with poison before the boss fight?
- Of course the unlucky path is Matjji
- But for Godple, isn't this actually good?
- Yeah lol, probably likes the added difficulty
- So that means he picked right, lol
- Huh? What's up?
- The webs are dissolving by themselves?
Strangely, the webs stretched long and then began to dissolve as if melting away. Soon, as if they couldn't withstand the gunfire, the spiders vanished back into the walls.
It seemed the situation had been resolved, but Durante's expression remained hard.
"There's no poison?"
As he subtly glanced down, he saw a layer of green smoke rising up to his ankle.
- Did the web dissolve into smoke?
- It's green but not poisonous?
- Is it shock damage, maybe? Ugh... my head hurts...
- WA! You've played Kingablo!
- Belial is also a lord of lies, lol
- Wrong game guys~
- Whatever, that can't be good!
But, contrary to worries, there were no further symptoms. Even Lee Gyeongbok's divine energy didn't register the mist as a threat.
Which only raised more questions for him.
'It must have some purpose.'
Meanwhile, durante advanced through the smoke. Before long, the end of the passage was in sight.
But it wasn't what they had hoped for.
"A corridor...?"
A moment ago, the passage was a cave, but suddenly it opened into what looked like a hallway inside a house.
- The heck? What's this?
- Haha, that's gotta be an illusion, come on
- The green gas must cause hallucinations
- But I swear I've seen this somewhere...
- Devil boomers, getting forgetful already?
- Hey! You think you're never getting old!?
- Hey, lolololol
The viewers soon figured out the reality. Durante, too, immediately caught on.
"An illusion, huh."
He scoffed, lifting his pistol.
"Doesn't matter what comes out."
His meaning was clear, and the chat filled with laughter.
- Ultimate manly response, what?
- The gun knows the answer!
- Sure, keep getting mesmerized—just shoot 'em all, it's over!
- Devil bastards are doomed, lol
- Nothing can beat Perante!
Viewers expected gameplay would resume, but the cutscene continued.
As Durante entered the corridor, footsteps sounded.
- Still a cutscene?
- Are we about to see what kind of devil appears?
- ???: Watching from a prepared marksman!
- Is this some sort of shooting training, lolol
- Oh! Here it comes!
A tense mood as the gun muzzle was raised, finger on the trigger—but it didn't move.
Rounding the corner in the hallway, a child appeared.
The child's innate silver hair and youthful features still retained familiar lineaments.
- ?
- Isn't that Durante as a child?
- Huh? What's going on here?
The innocent-faced child dashing towards them was none other than Durante himself. But that wasn't all.
"Hyung! Wait up!"
Another child ran after him—also silver-haired, with a mischievous, short-cropped style.
This child called Durante "hyung."
"Durante! Ali! I told you not to run!"
At a woman's voice from further down the corridor, durante's eyes shook.
"... Mother?"
The two children froze and glanced at each other.
"Ali, it's because of you."
"No, hyung, you were louder!"
The two bickered as they went through a door and disappeared.
Once the door shut, quiet fell.
But the chat was anything but quiet.
- Wait? Is this...?
- What the—console-version story?
- What's happening, what's happening!?
- Does this mean it shares the background lore as the console-version?
- Nah, if it's a reboot, shouldn't the setting be different?
- But this is exactly like the plot summary?
Veteran viewers and most of the chat had brushed up on the console-version's story. So they immediately recognized the hallucination as a scene from that version.
"So much for the lord of deceit. This is pretty crude."
Meanwhile, durante clicked his tongue. On screen, his face was full of displeasure.
"Making up a non-existent younger brother, really."
He started walking again. When he stood by the door the children had shut, voices came from within.
"Are we just supposed to put up with this?!"
The voice was deeper but still Ali's.
"Our parents risked their lives fighting devils, saving those people! And this is how they repay us?!"
"Ali, calm down."
"Hyung! Look at those ungrateful humans! Not only have they locked us up, they're pointing weapons at us!"
Durante looked back at the door.
"Ali. They're just..."
Another voice—his own—from inside.
"They're scared."
Durante reached for the door handle, but suddenly the door was gone and replaced by a wall.
And then, the wall began to burn.
"Ali! Ali?!"
Hearing his own desperate voice, durante turned. There was his grown self, running through a burning corridor.
"Damn it, ali! Answer me!"
He was searching for his brother. But nowhere was there an answer.
- This is straight-up console-version plot!
- Yeah, but like, compressed like the summary
- This is when Durante and Ali got separated
In an instant, the corridor was charred black, ashes scattering along the floor. With a hardened expression, durante moved forward.
The background shifted again.
"Now this is..."
Walls and floor of deep red veins and bloody membranes—a place pulsing like the inside of a living organism.
- Whoa, yeah... that's straight from the console-version
- Yup, that's the console-version's hell design
- What's with this? Why is this showing up?
Confusion filled the chat. But the cutscene only raised more questions.
"Ali? You're alive?"
In the hallucination, durante faced his brother again in hell. But Ali's outfit had changed dramatically.
"Long time no see, hyung."
"How did...? And that uniform, it's from the Church..."
"It's a long story if I explained it all."
Ali was clad in the uniform worn by Holy Knights of the Divine Agency.
Their reunion didn't last long.
"That blood—it's not devil blood."
Durante stared grimly at Ali's sword. Ali sneered, showing off a blade dripping with blood.
"Hyung, do you know what I saw while working for the Church?"
"You..."
"Experiments. Sometimes torture, massacres, or just venting rage. To them, devils were just tools."
Ali's smile disappeared.
"Our parents were only used by them in the end, too."
Slowly, ali circled around Durante.
"So this time, I used them. I earned faith by joining in the hatred and slaughter of devils. That's how I got here."
"Ali."
"It's fine, hyung. I've tidied it all up. When someone's no longer useful, you just deal with them. That's Church policy."
Ali chuckled, reaching a hand toward Durante.
"You know, right? Devils and humans aren't all that different. Only their environments make them so. If we connect hell and reality, there won't be discrimination anymore."
"... You opened the Gate of Hell."
"We could control both devils and humans together. Then we'll all understand each other."
Ali's grin deepened.
"Just like our parents did."
Instead of a reply, durante lifted his greatsword—as the vision changed again.
"I always felt like this..."
Sometime after the fight began, ali was collapsed. Speaking in a voice tinged with laughter.
"You're... still ridiculously strong..."
But Durante couldn't smile. He just looked at his brother with a bitter expression.
"But it's too late. The connection... can't be stopped..."
With that, ali breathed his last. The grim-faced Durante and the vision of hell faded away like smoke.
- Uhh, the console-version spoilers are real!
- Are you blaming people for spoiling an old game? LOL
- Who cares, nobody even owns the console anyway
- Watching it again, console-version was fun
- But why are they showing this?!
While the veterans reminisced, durante moved.
"I just don't get it."
Despite witnessing the illusion, his voice was rock-steady.
"A younger brother? Why show something so obviously false?"
He still denied his brother's existence, leaving viewers confused.
- So, is Ali real or not in this story?
- There's no way he's real, right?
- LOL, check that rhyme
- He's canonically got a brother in the console-version, though
- If he's saying this much, maybe there really isn't one here?
- But Durante lost his memory, didn't he? There's always a chance!
- That's what's driving me crazy, I swear
- Writers really know what they're doing, haha
Durante walked on, expecting the hallucination to end as they returned to the cave.
'No, there's more.'
Lee Gyeongbok sensed an approaching threat, stronger than before, from ahead.
"Long time no see, hyung."
Emerging from the darkness was Ali, the same as the dying vision a moment ago. This time, he actually spoke directly to Durante.
Before viewers could even react, durante pulled the trigger.
"The set design is ridiculous. The 'dead' brother comes out again, huh."
He stared calmly down the barrel. Despite the surprise attack, ali dodged the bullets.
- Wait, he was alive?
- So was this a sequel, not a reboot?
- No way;;; seriously, even for a sequel, this makes no sense
- No, no—Ali's character is complete because he died!
- This goes beyond adaptation, this is butchering the original!
- They might have to delay release at this rate, lol
The explosive arrival of Ali had viewers going wild. Still, the story's direction remained ever uncertain.
But what happened next surprised everyone.
"Yeah, an illusion."
Came the reply from Ali's lips.
A line in which he called himself an illusion—chat instantly filled with question marks.
"But it's not a lie."
"... What?"
As Durante questioned, ali gave a faint smile.
"This is the domain of Deceit. Do you know what punishment awaits all sinners who come here? They are forced to relive their greatest regret over and over."
Just like before, ali slowly circled around Durante.
"Sinners get to correct their regrets inside the illusion. The moment they find happiness within the illusion, it shatters, and everything vanishes. No matter how hard they try, nothing remains—nothing ever changes. That's what they realize."
To endlessly repeat an irreparable regret. In this punishment, sinners experience false hope and true despair.
"So I'll ask you."
Ali stopped dead and looked back at Durante.
"If you regret it so much, why did you kill me?"
At that, durante closed his eyes. Taking a short breath, he answered.
"It's perfect for a dog lover like me."
He opened his eyes with a scoff.
"Your bullshit is top grade—seriously, you'd get along great with a pet dog."
The smile disappeared.
"And I don't have some 'brother' like you, either."
- LMAO, trash talk even here
- That's Durante, all right!
- So is it really a reboot, then?
- Then why show all the console-version story?!
- Haha, just enjoy the show!
Meanwhile, Lee Gyeongbok felt himself regaining control.
"I'm not sure if that's really his brother, but looks like it's time to fight."
It was time to battle the illusion.
As expected, ali shook his head and grabbed his weapon—dual swords.
"In that case, I'll just have to make you realize."
With those words, the distance between them vanished. The clash of steel rang out with sparks.
- WTF, why is he so fast?!
- Did they copy over his specs exactly from the console-version?
- Aren't illusions supposed to get nerfed?
- He was the final boss last time, after all, lol
- He deserves some respect, honestly
- No way he can handle Perante, though, right?
- Wow, using greatsword and pistol together—sick
To counter Ali's dual swords, Lee Gyeongbok drew his own greatsword in one hand and a pistol in the other.
Ali's swordplay was dazzling and fast, but Lee Gyeongbok countered every strike perfectly.
Viewers didn't doubt his victory.
At least, not until Ali's figure suddenly vanished.
- ???
- What the fuck?
- Behind him, out of nowhere?
- Did they just give the illusion teleportation?
- Are you KIDDING me?!
The Ali he fought vanished from in front, only to reappear behind for a sneak attack. Anyone would be caught off guard.
But Lee Gyeongbok wasn't anyone.
"Oh, this is actually interesting."
Without turning, he swung his greatsword backward and blocked the strike. At the same time, he fired from his pistol at hip-level.
- He reacted to that?!
- How did he even know?!
- (Kemalcon)(Kemalcon)
- ???: "This is fun."
- Haha, that means the difficulty's high
- ???: "If it's hard, I actually like it." (composition)
- Whoa, but Ali just teleports away from even those counters
Unfortunately, Lee Gyeongbok's counter didn't land. Just like in the cutscene, ali used teleportation to evade.
Viewers were both in awe of Lee Gyeongbok's skills and frustrated at the unfairness of the fight.
- Godple's reaction time is inhuman, what are we supposed to do! LOL
- If you can't defeat him, just make it a cutscene!
- Haha, just be careful with the official release, for real
- Good thing this was just a test build
- Yeah, if this was a release demo stream, there would've been a meltdown
Lee Gyeongbok calmed them in an unexpected way.
"I can attack him."
That one line quashed any dissent.
- Eh?
- How do you catch teleportation?
- Even Midas beam didn't work, right?
- Ajax's shield? But that's for defense...
- It's an illusion, so obviously the whip won't paralyze him
- See? If Godple says he can do it, he can!
- Faith comes from the heart!
Instead, chat was now full of question marks and anticipation.
As another teleportation attack came, Lee Gyeongbok blocked it and explained.
"I was just letting him show his attack patterns for everyone to analyze, but I'm done now. Let me show you how to beat him."
With that, he fired again. Ali, of course, evaded via teleportation.
But before Ali could reappear, Lee Gyeongbok swung his greatsword at another spot.
And amazingly—
- ?
- What?
- Whoa, how could he predict that?
- Does his teleportation have a pattern?
Ali appeared right where the blade sliced through. With no time for another teleport, he was cut down.
Ali—revealed as just an illusion—was split in two.
Victory was decided in an instant.
"Well-designed gimmick. There were no repeating movement patterns."
At Lee Gyeongbok's comment, the chat went wild.
- No repeating pattern?!
- Then how did you predict it!
- Was it just a guess?
- How can anyone guess that LOL
- If it was Manhae, maybe HOXY?
- Just tell us already! The suspense is killing me!
With all the urgent requests, Lee Gyeongbok paused the game.
"You really can't predict Ali's movements just by watching him. So you have to look elsewhere."
He glanced down at the green mist on the ground.
"So I watched the mist. Each time he teleported and was about to appear, the mist would ripple at his next spot. You can see it in the replay."
The viewers' minds lit up at this explanation.
- That's crazy—I get it now!
- When Ali teleports, the location is set and the mist object shifts first!
- Yeah, there's no other way than that
- But you could SEE that?
- That's literally instantaneous teleportation!
- Seriously, the reaction window must be like 0.00001 seconds
- He could block and counter all that? Parbababak?
- Ah, that's what "perfect-play" is (nods)
- What is this? Another legend? (changing my diaper now)
In awe of this, chat could only marvel.
['CAP Company_kor' has donated '10,000' won.]
[Still amazed every time at your historic performance! Purple-nim always gives us unpredictable moments! By the way, upcoming cutscenes are all multi-run content! Originally, it only proceeds if you let Ali attack or run away, but...]
The developer's donation came at an opportune time, but its content was unusual.
- LOL, so this was multi-run only
- Catching Ali is new game plus content, huh
- ???: "You have to get hit to finish it? Why?
― ???: "Why run away? You can actually win?
― God-tier standards are so high!
- I don't think ordinary players can catch him even in multi-run LOL
- That was too much even for NG+, honestly!
- Should probably nerf this in the final release
- Multi-run-only cutscene (revealed on first run)
- This is ridiculous, but Godple does it all anyway LOL
Another round of laughter at newly revealed hidden content.
But the tone shifted with the next donation.
['CAP Company_kor' has donated '10,000' won.]
[The next cutscene is a hidden content with a reward included. Yes, it's supposed to be hidden...ㅠ But at least there's no impact on the story! It's a gift for those who've played enough to defeat Ali!]
A cutscene—not just a cutscene, but with a reward.
"Oh? There's a reward too? Good thing I beat him then."
Lee Gyeongbok spoke with a laugh in his voice.
- Can't resist a hidden reward, lol
- Congrats to those who've played longer (on first run)
- Please, keep the standards reasonable for mortals
- Hyung! Hurry up and check it!
With anticipation from viewers, Lee Gyeongbok resumed the cutscene.
Durante approached the fallen Ali. He thrust his greatsword into Ali's chest.
A close-up of Durante's face—his widened pupils reflected Ali's smile.
"I think... I'm starting to remember now?"
"It's just déjà vu."
His face soon returned to normal, but Ali's smile didn't fade.
"There's only one way out of this punishment..."
Clutching the greatsword in his body, ali spoke.
"Regret... can't be fixed. You accept your mistakes, acknowledge them."
Durante's gaze moved to where Ali held the blade. An outline engraved on the blade caught his eye.
"Stop lying to yourself."
Ali's hand dropped from the blade. As it did, the outline began to separate.
The chat filled with question marks at the sight.
- ?????
- Whoa, what now?
- There was another sword hidden inside?
- Is this a "buy one, get one free" event?
- Wait, isn't that one of the swords Ali used?
The sword that slid out from inside the original was identical to one of Ali's dual blades.
"I've always been by your side."
With that as his last words, ali's illusion faded to dust. The green mist that had covered the ground vanished as if it had never existed.
All that remained were Durante and two swords.
"So it wasn't a lie... just something forgotten."
Durante's line that followed.
It snapped the viewers to attention.
- What the—he really had forgotten!
- Whoa, they actually give you Ali's dual blades!
- Now that's legit!
- So does the story connect to the previous game?
- Whoa, so it was a sequel after all!
- Turns out this is Demerc 6, huh?
- Then what happened in between?!
- We HAVE to get the lost memories! No matter what!
- I knew this would be the biggest twist!
The "Demon Must Cry" released for consoles was Durante's sixth tale.
"Wow, those who know the previous games must really feel something special. But even for newcomers like me, the story is easy to understand. I see why they suggested playing without any background knowledge."
Lee Gyeongbok added with genuine admiration.
"We'll probably find out about the lost memories in the deepest part, right? Let's go get the last Demonheart now."
He restarted the game.
- The domain lord of deceit, bring it on!
- The ending really feels close, lol
- Saint nuna, just wait!
- We'll get to see Unique Sword dual wielding, right Matjji?
- Dual swords are usually a sign of defeat, but
- In Godple's hands, it's different
- Dual blades, that's the dream!
- Instant hype, I'm reserving my popcorn!
- [Breaking] Korean Beekeeping Association: "Ceasing all honey sales this year—one streamer bought it all for his broadcast"
― LOL, godple's stream isn't just sweet, it's pure honey!"
Viewers focused even more on the stream. Now, it was time to take on the domain lord of deceit.