novelraw Chapter 132*: The Real*
Chapter 132*: The Real*
*Chapter 132. The Real*
In the darkness where the hole had disappeared, a substantial number of messages appeared.
[ Childhood Friend Ending: The End of Corruption ]
- (omitted) ...swallowed by Barbatos and became a child god. Immediately after, Lena fought with Saint Meriel for two days and ultimately perished. -
- Lev, born in the village of Demos, had a happy childhood. Though he lost his mother early, he grew up with his excellent hunter father... (omitted) ...as Barbatos took over Lev's mind. After killing all the humans in Nevis and his father, he headed to the Holy Kingdom of Jerome to retrieve Lena. Regaining his senses after Barbatos took over Lena at the central church, Lev, cursed and transformed into a thorn tree, was burned to ashes by Saint Meriel. -
[ Engagement Scenario Ending has been changed. ]
[ Lena Ainar ]
[ Final Job: Great Warrior of the Ainar Tribe, Knight ]
[ Marriage Partner: Engaged to Leo ]
[ Leo Dexter ][ Final Job: Knight ]
[ Marriage Partner: Engaged to Lena ]
[ Engagement Ending: Massacre ]
+ Lena Ainar, born in the castle of Avril, had a happy childhood. She grew up with her father, the great warrior of the Ainar tribe... (omitted) ...After successfully hunting the beast with Leo, she became a great warrior. Following Leo's wishes, she left for the Holy Kingdom of Jerome to train. While staying at Bidorinin Castle and learning swordsmanship from Sir Brian, she joined the expedition to hunt down the evil god at the behest of Baron Berger Agata. However, she was killed by Lev on the Anatolea Plains. +
+ Leo Dexter, born in the capital Barnaul, had a happy childhood but lost his mother early. Growing up with his father, a knight of the first order in the Kingdom of Astin... (omitted) ...was killed by Lev on the plains. +
[ Beggar Siblings Scenario Ending has been changed. ]
[ Lena de Yeriel ]
[ Final Job: Shoemaker ]
[ Marriage Partner: Santian Rauno ]
[ Leo de Yeriel ]
[ Final Job: Unemployed ]
[ Marriage Partner: Unmarried ]
[ Orphan Siblings Ending: Failed Rebellion ]
+ Lena, born in the royal castle of Lutetia, had an unhappy childhood. Led by people, she hid with Leo in a vast field and woke up to find it filled with corpses. After that, Lena followed Leo... (omitted) ...Upon reaching the port of Noyar, she learned of her status as a princess but was of little help to her brother, who was preparing for a rebellion in Lutetia. The rebellion failed. Leo de Yeriel, who had gone to capture Prince Eric, never returned, and Lena, with the help of her guardian knight Jenia Zachary, fled to the Kingdom of Bellita. Returning to Orville, Lena sought out Cassia. Persuaded by Jenia, she gave up avenging her brother and lived quietly making shoes with Cassia. Eventually, she accepted Santian Rauno's confession, married him, and had two sons.
+ Leo, born in the royal castle of Lutetia, had an unhappy childhood. Led by people, he hid with Lena in a vast field... (omitted) ...Upon reaching the port of Noyar, Leo de Yeriel met Sir Bart and led five knights to Lutetia, the capital of the Kingdom of Conrad, to prepare for a rebellion. However, with the second and third orders dispatched to subdue the evil god under the command of Cardinal Verke and Prince Eric de Yeriel hastening his coronation, the desperate Leo attacked the coronation hall through the secret passage of the royal castle with the barely gathered first order knights. Though he briefly succeeded in capturing the royal castle, Prince Eric escaped. Struggling to break through the siege of noble knights and the royal guard summoned by the contracted wizard, Ristad Jegan Doroff, Leo was killed by a stray arrow.
Three photos appeared.
The first photo showed Lena, half-naked, lunging at the saintess against the backdrop of the central church covered in thorn trees and burning white.
Lena, with her eyes glaring red and devoid of pupils, had red trumpet patterns densely engraved on her naked body, and she too was burning white.
The second was a photo of Lena Ainar abandoned in the thorn forest. Her heart pierced, her face was a mess of punctures and scratches, and Leo Dexter lay collapsed in the upper corner of the photo.
The last was of Lena de Yeriel, his sister.
Sitting on a round wooden stool, she spread various types of leather on the table, contemplating which to use for the uppers.
The background was a small workshop.
It looked like Lena's shoemaking workspace, with her two sons playing behind her. The cheerful children, with curly brown hair and bright golden eyes inherited from Lena, sparkled with intelligence.
And, though easy to miss, through the slightly open window, the intricately intertwined buildings of a mansion were visible.
The three photos and lengthy texts slowly faded upward. As always, the next scenario message was about to appear...
But Minseo wasn’t thinking about anything.
In his mind, the desperate pleas and cries, the desperate shouts and agonizing screams of the civilians he had ruthlessly murdered echoed.
An old man, bleeding from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, begged to spare his grandchild, hugging his dead granddaughter and weeping. He was decapitated with a dismissive “Quiet.”
Two young sisters, hiding in a small shop, trembled and wiped each other’s blood with tear-streaked faces.
“A... Uncle, p-please spare us.” ─ they said, so he generously turned away. They would bleed out anyway; it didn’t matter.
Harie Guiden, free from the enchantment, covered in blood, questioned him upon returning to the mansion.
“What have you done? And did you kill Philas? Answer me!” she demanded, seemingly unafraid of death.
Confused after killing his father, he silently pierced her chest.
And,
And...
And......
Minseo's mind fragmented.
Consumed by guilt and terror, Minseo's mind turned blank, like a faded photograph. These scenes were not something a modern person with a comfortable life could endure.
He couldn’t even think of reading the texts; he simply stared blankly into space. The ending credits slowly faded away.
If Minseo's mind had been intact, he would have noticed that the message indicating the start of the next scenario appeared much later than usual. After a long period of silence in the darkness, the message finally appeared and pushed the dazed Minseo into the next scenario.
[ You did not clear "Raising Lena." ]
[ Leo, you worked diligently as Barbatos's apostle. As a reward for your achievements, you are granted the {Bracelet of Barbatos}. ]
[ Restarting. ]
A scene of a blizzard sweeping through the mountains unfolded. The perspective moved over jagged gray rocks, past the thick walls of Avril Castle, and skimmed through a small town.
It then arrived at the home of Lena Ainar and Leo Dexter. In the backyard, where Lena was practicing with her sword, she suddenly turned her head.
"Leo! Are you listening to me?"
- Clang
"Huh, what? What's going on?"
Leo Dexter dropped his sword. He quickly approached Lena and pulled her into a tight hug.
[ Achievement: '14th Leo' - The player's synchronization with Leo increases slightly. ]
[ 14/22 ]
[ True name unknown. ]
Leo’s sudden action left Lena blushing and at a loss.
Why is he doing this all of a sudden?
Then, she heard a sob close to her ear. Startled, she pulled back to see that Leo was crying.
"Leo? Why are you crying? Did something bad happen?"
Leo shook his head.
But he didn’t let go of her, leaving Lena unsure whether she should hug him back or ask him to let go.
Confused, she scratched the ground with her foot, while Leo repeatedly apologized in his mind.
'I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry...'
Though he wasn’t the one who did it, the memory of trying to break off their engagement in the last scenario made him feel guilty. Unable to bear it, he held Lena tightly and sobbed for a long time.
After a while, thinking he had cried enough, Lena cleared her throat and tried to pull away.
Feeling somewhat calmer, Leo let her go without a word. Lena awkwardly cleared her throat, then led him to a chair in the backyard.
"Hey. Something happened, right? Tell me. I'll listen. Do you want something to drink?"
"...Yeah."
Leo waited while Lena fetched a jug.
The jug was filled with steaming 'Odre' tea. Lena’s mother had made a large batch around this time of year, though she wouldn’t remember that.
"Okay, tell me."
Lena sat on the edge of the chair, pouring him a cup and leaning forward as if ready to listen.
How should he explain this? Leo hesitated, then began to speak.
"Actually, I had a really bad dream last night......"
But as he started, he realized he didn’t know what to say.
He couldn't just tell her about the various deaths they faced in different scenarios. Telling her about their broken engagement or the times he tried to leave her wouldn’t help either.
Seeing Leo struggling to continue, Lena interrupted.
"Really? Hmm... Oh! I’ve had something like that too. Like... um... hmm..."
But she seemed at a loss for words and began to fidget, avoiding eye contact.
Despite his serious mood, Leo couldn’t help but chuckle.
There she is, same as ever.
Nothing had changed.
Even though she said she had nightmares, Leo knew that Lena slept soundly and woke up refreshed, at least in his "experiences." She was always far from being someone who had nightmares.
"Ahem. Well, if it’s just a dream, there's nothing to worry about. I thought something serious happened... Wait, what's that?"
Feeling embarrassed, Lena averted her gaze and suddenly pointed at something.
For a moment, Leo thought she was referring to his in-game item (the sword), but she wasn’t.
Lena was pointing at the bracelet on his wrist.
It was something he didn’t recognize, but then he realized what it was.
‘It must be an item reward from the scenario.’
It was a simple leather bracelet with three crimson beads. As he identified it, the purpose of the bracelet appeared in his mind, confirming it as a reward from the previous scenario.
Of course, he wasn’t interested.
Lena pouted and spoke up, seemingly having forgotten about the counseling.
"Hey! You bought this from the merchant yesterday, didn’t you? It’s not fair to buy something for yourself! How could you!"
"Merchant?"
"Yeah! Hmph. You said you were broke... Where's mine?"
"...Sorry. I didn’t have enough money yesterday, so I just got mine. Do you want to go together later? I’ll buy you one."
Leo had no choice but to lie. He couldn’t remember anything from this morning.
But, a merchant? If his memory served, no merchant had ever come to Avril Castle in all previous scenarios.
This memory couldn’t be wrong because when he responded to Lena’s initial question, “Leo! Are you listening to me?” she would usually prattle on about wanting to buy something when a merchant finally arrived. Something must have changed.
But Leo wasn’t very interested in this either. He would find out soon enough...
"Really? Hmm~ So you had some hidden money. Hehe, I’ll make you spend it all today. Get ready!"
Lena laughed, exclaiming, "Let's go now! I’ll change my clothes; you get ready too!" and hurried into the house.
Leo sat still for a moment. Finally alone, he drank the now-cold Odre tea in one gulp. As soon as Lena disappeared, anger bubbled up, and he muttered to himself.
"Damn it... They really messed up my life."
He wasn’t Minseo.
With Minseo’s mind shattered, Leo’s true personality emerged, unsynced and unfiltered.
He truly loved Lena Ainar, was full of self-love, and had resolved, 'I will never leave this Avril Castle!'
He was the 'real Leo.'