novelraw Chapter 181: The Afterlife of Heroes (3)
Chapter 181: The Afterlife of Heroes (3)
Translator: Dreamscribe
Arsilan Saga Episode Side Story, the story of the afterlife began in earnest.
The heroes, guided by Airi, entered the Garden of Dreams to say their final farewells. Jinwoo, together with Airi, made meticulous efforts to ensure that every hero could fully say their goodbyes.
There was no such thing as a satisfying farewell. Farewells were always sad and left regrets. And that was why one could long for the next meeting.
But parting by death was a different story. That sorrow remained deeply engraved in the soul, shaking a person’s life to its core.
Jinwoo used the Light of the Holy Sword to enhance Airi’s authority.
It would be able to offer at least some comfort to the hearts of the bereaved families.
[Entering the dream, as per the settings you have set.]
A message appeared in front of the hero Lamp.
There were many people to say goodbye to. The family members who had cared for him until now, the guild members he had adventured with for nearly three years, and even the staff of FS Games who had supported him through the medical aid project.
Many people came to mind, but fortunately, he was able to say farewell to all of them. There were no limits on the number of times or time spent.
‘Creator God, thank you.’
Lamp gave thanks in his heart to the Creator God.
Lamp first entered his mother’s dream. As soon as he entered the dream, the preset environment was layered on. The scene of space being assembled like a giant puzzle was so spectacular it could leave one dazed.
“Isn’t this place good?”
“It’s nice. Isn’t it expensive?”
“I’ve got a lot of money.”
He had his first meal out with his mother in the dream.
In a healthy state, he spoke of all the things they hadn’t been able to talk about and ate delicious food.
He had always felt sorry that because of his illness, he had never even been able to take her out for a proper meal. After FS Games started providing nutritional blocks, the family refrained from eating tasty food. They did it so that Lamp wouldn’t feel left out.
“Eating out like this is nice.”
“Right?”
“Yeah, I’ve always....”
He had dreamed of such a time.
While talking with Lamp, his mother suddenly paused. Then, her eyes welled up as she looked at him.
Lamp’s mother had realized this was a dream.
A healthy son and joyful conversation.
It was a scene she had always dreamed of.
Such a happy moment couldn’t possibly be real.
Lamp looked at his mother holding back tears and nodded.
"I didn't want to send you off, but if you seem so happy..., how can I hold you back."
“Haha, the afterlife’s actually pretty nice.”
“Your friends..., a lot of them came today.”
She was talking about the funeral.
“...Take care.”
“I will. Don’t worry. After all, I’m your son.”
Bright light came in through the window.
The scenery outside the restaurant had changed into a beautiful heaven. Under the blue sky, the spreading white clouds were gorgeous. In the distance, a rainbow could be seen, and even a giant whale swimming through the air.
His mother felt relieved, thinking her son was going to a good place.
As they looked out the window, they shared all the conversations they had been unable to have until now.
Lamp always thought his mother was like a lamp. In the pitch-black despair of darkness where nothing could be seen, she always lit the way for him.
Lamp stood up from his seat.
“Are you leaving now?”
“Yes, thank you for everything. I will always be your son.”
“Alright....”
Lamp tightly held his mother’s hand. He looked at her silently for a moment and then smiled brightly. His mother finally burst into tears. Wiping them away quickly, she smiled and let him go.
“Always stay healthy.”
As Lamp stepped out of the restaurant, the space changed.
He headed straight into someone else’s dream.
It was the dream of the hero he was closest to. He used to follow Lamp around calling him hyung, and by now they had grown so close he could be called a brother.
Lamp treated him like a real younger brother. The hero’s name was BigHead.
‘Hyung, once you’re discharged, let’s go hiking sometime?’
‘Come on, even if I miraculously recover, I won’t be able to walk properly.’
‘I’ll carry you on my back to the top!’
He remembered BigHead once saying that if he got better, they should hike Mount Bukhan together.
“Is this a dream?”
BigHead tilted his head.
The night view of Seoul from the peak of Mount Bukhan was beautiful. The moon in the night sky was bright, and the starlight seemed as if it would pour down at any moment. BigHead quickly realized it was a dream.
Lamp approached him.
“Huh? Hyung? I’m currently....”
He had been at Lamp’s funeral.
While standing watch at the funeral hall with the guild members, he had dozed off for a moment.
BigHead had a blank expression on his face.
Because for a dream, it was far too vivid. It felt as if he had stepped inside Arsilan Saga.
Lamp clung to his back. At that moment, a staircase leading into the sky appeared.
“BigHead! Run!”
“...Yes, hyung! I’ll carry you all the way to the heavens!”
BigHead sprinted up the staircase toward the sky with Lamp on his back. The stairs were steep, but strangely, it wasn’t tiring. Well, it was a dream after all.
“You’ve got great stamina!”
“Right? Hehe!”
They quickly climbed the stairs all the way to the clouds.
Lamp got off BigHead’s back and jumped up from the staircase onto the cloud. BigHead hesitated for a moment, then tightly shut his eyes and jumped onto the cloud as well.
He felt a soft sensation.
From between the clouds, Seoul could be seen at a glance.
“BigHead, thank you for everything. Here, take this.”
“Huh?”
Lamp pulled out a letter and handed it to him.
“I told you last time that I’d check out the afterlife and send you a letter, right? Hmm, delivering it in person like this feels a bit weird.”
A door appeared beside BigHead. Lamp waved to him, then opened the door and went inside.
BigHead opened the letter.
[The afterlife is seriously insane content! Look forward to it! If I had to give you a tip, live a good life! Play Arsilan Saga hard and fill up those Contribution Points!]
It was Lamp’s afterlife info!
After reading the letter, BigHead woke up. He blinked with a blank expression, then let out a deep breath.
“Afterlife content....”
BigHead thought it was just like hyung.
He was glad he got to see hyung one last time.
***
Having said all his farewells, Lamp calmed his heavy heart and entered the “Gate of Reincarnation” that appeared before his eyes. The moment he stepped through the Gate of Reincarnation, his body vanished and became a sphere of light. He had turned into a pure soul, no longer bound to any physical form.
A pitch-black space where nothing could be seen spread out before him. At the same time, an information window appeared.
[Hero Lamp, would you like to begin your reincarnation? You may return to the Garden of Dreams at any time.]
Thanks to finishing all his goodbyes, Lamp started his reincarnation without regrets. As soon as he accepted, the black space rippled, and the Grand Temple appeared. Light burst forth from Ella’s statue and entered into him.
An information window to create a new name appeared.
He recalled the day he first logged into Arsilan Saga. The excitement from that day was still with him. The hero name he had used before couldn’t be reused due to duplication.
He tried to create a new name, but the input window suddenly locked and became unresponsive.
‘What’s this?’
He hadn’t entered a name yet, but the information window disappeared and moved on to the next step. It didn’t seem like a bug or an error. Since Arsilan was reality, there was no way such things could exist, he thought.
So he decided to continue for now.
‘Oh, attributes....’
He couldn’t choose the appearance of a dragon, but a space to select his attributes appeared.
After thinking carefully, he chose the Red Dragon. First of all, red looked the coolest, and when it came to dragons, it had to be fire.
Judging by the phrase "Selection Available" it seemed like the number of slots was limited. Fortunately, he was the very first hero to reincarnate as a dragon.
[All records of Hero Lamp have been stored in the Celestial Realm. You can view them at the Grand Temple of the Celestial Realm.]
[You will reincarnate in Arsilan as a Red Dragon.]
An irresistible drowsiness washed over him. At the same time, his consciousness began to be drawn somewhere.
How much time had passed?
Awakening from a deep sleep, he slowly opened his eyes and looked around.
[A cave?]
He hadn’t opened his mouth, but a voice came out. He lowered his head and looked at his own body.
[Oh, ooh!]
His limbs were short, and his belly was round.
His body was covered in red scales that looked like beautiful rubies.
[This is crazy.]
He had reincarnated as a Red Dragon!
His body was still young, so his perspective was very low. There were wings on his back, but he couldn’t move them properly yet.
He opened the status window for now. Fortunately, it opened exactly the same as before.
[Lv.1] Nameless Hatchling
Race: Red Dragon
Title: -
Attribute: Fire
[Traits List]
[A] Red Dragon
A dragon that wields the authority of fire.
The flames of a Red Dragon can melt nearly all substances in existence. Immune to all fire attacks, and as it grows, it can naturally wield all magic related to the fire attribute.
[A] Mana Heart
A heart that can store pure mana.
Its size increases as the owner grows.
[B] Rapid Growth
Can rapidly grow the body through leveling up. 1.5x experience points is always applied, and additional stat bonuses are received each time level increases.
[C] Attribute Overcoming
Can partially overcome elemental weaknesses.
*Due to the effects of the Attribute Overcoming trait, you can now learn low-grade ice-attribute magic.
He was amazed as he looked at the status window. Even though he was only level 1, the trait list was incredibly impressive. He was especially pleased with the C-rank trait he bought for 10 Soul Light Points.
He closed the status window and looked around.
The cave he was in was quite deep. It was filled with Magic Stones, and there were even some fairly rare minerals. He wanted to mine them, but his short limbs made it seem impossible.
He waddled along on his short legs, following the light toward the cave entrance and stepped outside.
[Wow....]
The Starlight Grand Canyon spread out before his eyes.
He was at such a high place that if he fell, it felt like he would never be able to return. Maybe because he had become a dragon, his eyesight had improved dramatically; from far away, he could see heroes observing the canyon.
He hesitated, stepped back, and returned into the cave. He still didn’t know what to do next, or how to grow.
But even that uncertainty was enjoyable.
His adventures as a hero had become an excellent compass.
First, he decided to figure out what he could use right now.
[Soul Link app is....]
The Soul Link app worked as usual, and he could freely use all its features. Even all his previous purchases had transferred over.
He discovered that the group chat was still alive. When he entered it, he found the conversations from right before death had been fully preserved.
And that wasn’t all.
BlazingMan (Spirit Realm): Oh! Hi! Anyone here?
[-]: By any chance, are you SayGoodbyeWell?
BlazingMan (Spirit Realm): That’s right! Who are you?
[-]: It’s Lamp.
BlazingMan (Spirit Realm): Oh! But what’s with your name?
[-]: I don’t know. The name field was locked.
BlazingMan (Spirit Realm): Really? That’s strange. How’s the dragon body?
[-]: My limbs are still short, so it’s uncomfortable, but the physical specs seem amazing. How about being a spirit?
BlazingMan (Spirit Realm): It’s awesome. I’m only level 1, but I can already use D-rank fire!
Erumelu: Hello! This chatroom’s still alive! I’m DreamofLongevity! I became a turtle. Feels like I’ll live forever.
[-]: You’ve achieved your dream.
One by one, the first-generation reincarnated heroes found the group chat and joined the conversation. Everyone was completely satisfied with their newly started lives. Since they all started with good traits, their futures looked bright.
The chat was immensely fun.
Especially now that death, a topic that had always come up, was no longer relevant.
‘But why can’t I choose my name?’
He was pondering this question when.
Starlight shimmered before him, and someone appeared. It was Helby.[Helby nim?]
As a hatchling, his body was so small that he had to look up at Helby. Helby reached out and lifted him by the back of his neck.
“So you’re a Red Dragon.”
[Yep!]
“Not a bad choice.”
Helby walked deeper into the cave.
Deep within the cave was a space equipped with impressive facilities. Helby placed him down there.
“From now on, you are a proud dragon. All of Arsilan’s enemies will fear you. So always maintain your dignity.”
[Ah, understood!]
Helby examined him closely.
For now, he just looked like a cute and harmless creature. With that appearance, he would probably be very popular if released as a pet.
[I’ll do my best!]
Helby nodded and met his eyes.
“I shall grant you a name.”
[Oh, ooh! A name! Is Helby nim going to name me personally?]
“Yes.”
Because a dragon’s name had to be given by Helby, the naming option had been locked. With shining eyes, he looked at Helby.
He was filled with anticipation about what kind of cool name he’d receive.
"Hmm, Lucky? Fluffy? Um, Reddy?"
[...Um, Helby-nim? You're joking, right?]
But Helby’s expression was deadly serious.
It didn’t seem like a joke.
“The name Whitey is cute. Since you're red, maybe we can call you Reddy....”
He shook his head furiously.
[Are there no other names? Like..., names that were used in the past....]
“There was once a Red Dragon leader named Ignis. But still, rather than a plain name like Ignis....”
[Ignis! That sounds great! Kya! As expected of Helby nim, your naming sense is the best in Arsilan!]
“Is that so?”
Apparently pleased by the flattery, Helby smiled in satisfaction and nodded.
“From now on, you are Red Dragon Ignis.”
[Red Dragon Ignis has been born!]
*All fires in Arsilan respects the name of Ignis.
*Having been recognized by Helby, you can now use ‘[A+] Dragon Speech’.
The moment the name was given, immense magic power filled him. His stiff wings grew larger, and he transformed from merely cute into a perfectly-formed Red Dragon hatchling.
[Grrrr?]
When he opened his mouth, fire naturally burst out and melted the ground.
Helby looked surprised. A dragon born from a hero’s soul possessed far greater potential than she had imagined. Perhaps the “Dragon of Destruction” that would eliminate enemies for Arsilan might appear sooner than expected.
[The Creator God blesses your new life and begins the Burning Event! (30 Days)]
*EXP gain increased by 200%!
*Drop rate increased by 200%!
*All stats increased by 10%!
*Reincarnated Hero Starter Pack granted!
A burning event had begun for reincarnated heroes!
The group chat exploded.
Helby checked the status window, nodded, then grabbed Ignis by the back of his neck and carried him out of the cave.
“I’ll make sure you can at least carry your own weight. Let’s start with flight training.”
[Huh? W-wait a second!]
Without hesitation, Helby threw Ignis toward the Great Canyon.
[Uwaaaagh!]
Dragons don’t die easily. As long as they have magic power, they can quickly recover even from severe injuries. So it was fine to be this rough with them.
Thus began an incredibly brutal training!
BlazingMan (Spirit Realm): I’ve become a low-grade spirit.
Erumelu: My body’s gotten bigger. Leaves come out of my mouth!
Ignis: I can fly now.
And just like that, the reincarnated heroes began their new lives in Arsilan.