novelraw Chapter 195: Perseverance (1)
Chapter 195: Perseverance (1)
Translator: Dreamscribe
Jinwoo enjoyed Erosion Insect dishes at the inn for a while.
The major guilds seemed to be doing good business and made bold investments in inns. A singer who debuted in Arsilan performed, and idols even got up on the stage in the center of the inn, creating a club-like atmosphere.
The first-generation Arsilan idol produced by his older sister’s agency achieved tremendous success and became a dimensional Star, surpassing even a world star. She was enjoying great popularity not only on Earth but also in Arsilan.
Recently, she held a concert at the Alusion concert hall, and the audience exceeded a staggering ten million. Considering it was a paid performance, it was an incredible achievement. As the space of the concert hall overlapped, everyone could watch the concert in comfortable seats that were virtually no different from VIP seats.
‘Did they call them inn-dols?’
It sounded strange, but there were now many idols called inn-dols. After the first-generation Arsilan idol's success, these were idols who traveled around inns or hotels with concert halls and performed. Mostly idols from small to mid-sized agencies lived the inn-dol life to build up their reputation. Armed with countless concepts, they satisfied the tastes of the Heroes.
‘This really is Arsilan Saga.’
Every corner of Arsilan was full of joy.
When it was time for the raid party to depart, Jinwoo left the inn. The scale of the raid party was quite large. There were thousands of high-level Heroes over level 150. It could be considered the vanguard party.
The Boss Room had overlapping space, so many raid parties could challenge it at the same time.
The vanguard party included many Named Heroes.
Along with Haebyul, LifeHunter and NorthernGrandDuke were also seen. Comfortable, who had set his character on auto-hunt, was smiling gently and chatting with various Heroes.
Comfortable had opened a counseling center in Romance Territory, and it was so popular that appointments were fully booked.
‘He’s become a bit too famous...’
Wouldn’t there be an opportunity to make use of that later?
“We’re departing! There’s no information on the boss, so be careful on your own!”
Since everyone was an experienced Named Hero, there was no need to give special instructions. They had reached the level where strategies were formed in real-time during battle, and they could move their bodies accordingly.
Jinwoo stood at the rear end of the raid party and followed along.
The Boss Room was located very deep down. Just like escaping an Erosion Insect nest, they had to move along a long corridor for a while, then continue descending through a large hole in a wide space.
The mages glided down by blowing wind with magic, and the agile Heroes descended quickly by gripping gaps in the wall. Many tankers simply trusted their durability and jumped down recklessly.
UruBear was among them. Of course, it wasn’t entirely voluntary.
A million-won mission had been placed to make him jump into the hole, but he ignored it.
UruBear was preparing a rope while looking down into the hole when Haebyul and the Romance Heroes grabbed hold of his body. As UruBear tilted his head in confusion, Haebyul grinned.
“There’s an elevator right here?”
“N-no way...”
The Romance Heroes rode UruBear and plummeted downward.
“Uwaaahhh!”
As they screamed and fell, the ground came into view, and in a hurry, he pulled out his shield and activated a skill.
KWAANG!
A shockwave burst from the shield, slowing his speed, but since the fall was so fast, he still crashed into the ground. Fortunately, UruBear was unharmed thanks to his extremely high durability stat. The other Romance Heroes were unscathed because Comfortable had cast a Protection Spell on them.
“...Ha, haha! Th-that was fun!”
Though UruBear’s eyes were reddened, he forced a bluff. In any case, the moment they arrived at the bottom, a Hero's Flower bloomed. Jinwoo watched the entire scene, then slowly descended holding the rope.
“This is fascinating.”
“It’s just like it said in the information post.”
A black space spread before them. There wasn’t a single speck of light, yet strangely, they could see each other’s appearances clearly. They already knew this through the information post, so they weren’t surprised.
Without hesitation, the Heroes advanced forward.
There was something different from the information post. The Hero who had uploaded the information said that after walking through the black space for a long time, a door appeared.
But perhaps because the raid party had so many members, a different scene unfolded.
[Traces of Despair are felt.]
A large Information Window appeared in front of the Heroes. It felt almost like an obstacle preventing them from moving forward.
As the Heroes passed through the Information Window, it shattered like breaking glass and fell to the floor in pieces.
[The Earth’s wail echoes.]
From far away came sounds of something collapsing and being destroyed. The sound was muffled as if coming from beyond a wall, but a massive vibration could be felt throughout the body.
“Huh?”
“That is...”
A space torn apart as if something had ripped through it came into view. When the Heroes approached and touched it, the ground cracked, and a Dimension Gate rose up.
[A Dimension Gate has been created in the Despair Space.]
[You can travel to Arsilan through the torn space. Would you like to move?]
Beyond that space, it was connected to Arsilan.
The place where the Heroes were standing was deep enough to say they had reached the end of the earth, so hearing that it was connected to Arsilan was naturally confusing.
The raid party crossed the torn space through the Dimension Gate for now.
“Oh!”
“It’s the Boss Room door!”
A massive Boss Room door came into view.
It was so huge that just the door itself looked like a building.
“It looked big in the photos and videos too…”
“But seeing it in person, it’s no joke.”
“Will this even open?”
Just by looking at it, it was clear the boss wouldn’t be ordinary.
The Heroes looked around. The space where the Boss Room was located was wide, but there were no passageways. All directions were blocked off, and the door was embedded into the wall. However, strangely, the surroundings were extremely bright.
“Huh?”
“This light is...”
At the far end of the ceiling, a beautiful light was shimmering. That light was very familiar to the Heroes.
“Magic Barrier...”
“Looks like a Magic Barrier?”
A Magic Barrier was surrounding the ceiling. As always, it shimmered with beautiful light, denying the entry of all harmful things. This place was outside the Magic Barrier.
“I measured the coordinates. This place is incredibly deep.”
“Wow! Even digging for over a hundred years we wouldn’t reach here!”
It was an underground space far too deep to be reached with current Magitech Engineering.
The Magic Barrier protected Arsilan, and its energy extended to the boundaries of the reclaimed lands and spaces. And that included the underground of Arsilan.
Something was off.
-This doesn’t seem like a normal boss?
-If it’s outside Arsilan, then is it part of the Erosion zone?
-It’s outside the Magic Barrier, but it still feels like it’s part of Arsilan?
-I’m scared…
Named Heroes each had their broadcasts turned on. Since they were the first vanguard to attempt this, the number of viewers was immense.
The raid party set up camp in front of the Boss Room door. Since the battle could be long, they installed basic facilities for maintenance.
Now it was time to go inside.
Everyone approached the door. The surface of the door was covered with countless depictions of people screaming. Just looking at it was enough to send chills down the spine, it was eerie.
[Turn back before you witness Despair.]
Such a phrase was also inscribed.
Was the boss Despair itself?
The Named Heroes began to laugh aloud. The Lord of Despair, who once symbolized Despair, had been defeated in Arsilan and fled into the Great Rift. So something like Despair could no longer stop Arsilan.
When the Heroes placed their hands on the door, a massive vibration rang out and shook the surroundings.
[Would you like to enter the End of Arsilan?]
The Heroes raised their morale and accepted entry. Then the gigantic door began to open slowly.
“Let’s go!”
“Whether it’s the Queen of the Erosion Insects or whatever, let’s beat it and hit the jackpot!”
“Sounds delicious!”
As the raid party entered, Jinwoo followed after them.
It was a boss that FS Games and Jinwoo had prepared with considerable care. The reaction of the Heroes was something to look forward to.
The Boss Room was vast.
The walls and floor were sharply carved, and at the end, a massive figure was positioned.
The boss’s appearance was different from what the Heroes had imagined. They had assumed that the Queen Erosion Insect would be sitting there laying eggs, but it looked completely different.
“It’s huge. But its shape is weird.”
“Does it even have eyes?”
“Looks like it has spikes, and something else...”
It had a strange form.
The end of its long body was attached to the wall and was covered with a thick shell. The body had multiple segments, each of which could bend in all directions.
Guguguguk!
When it sensed intruders, the segments bent and the body lifted. Sharp spikes protruded from the shell, and the end, which looked like a head, split open to reveal a massive mouth.
The sharp scars on the floor, ceiling, and walls.
It was clear that enormous mouth had caused them.
-Doesn’t really look tasty...
-Probably no meat in that thing.
-Never seen a boss stuck in the wall like that. Is the real body inside?
Many Heroes began analyzing the moment they saw it. Sharp teeth began to emerge from its body as well. It wasn’t the form they had expected, but regardless, it was a boss. The raid party initiated the battle.
Jinwoo pretended to fight while watching the reactions.
“Uwah!”
“Guhk!”
As the body attached to the wall swung at near-sonic speed, countless Heroes were flung away and crashed into the wall.
Thud, thud, thud!
The Heroes embedded in the wall fell to the floor. Even tankers who had heavily invested in durability stats showed clear signs of struggling to endure.
Multiple body segments twisted freely and began to accelerate.
Paaang!
It easily surpassed the speed of sound and swept through the area. The segments stretched like rubber bands, making the body more than twice as long.
They had no choice but to struggle.
The whip-like attacks from the multiple jointed segments made it nearly impossible to predict their trajectory.
“Guhk!”
“Aaagh!”
“This thing’s fucking strong!”
The Heroes were wiped out several times.
Jinwoo was satisfied watching it unfold.
If they were crushed here, it would create a perfect picture. If the vanguard party, composed of thousands of Named Heroes, gave up, it would surely send a huge shock through Arsilan.
‘Since it’s hard, they should suffer a bit.’
It wasn’t to torment the Heroes.
There had been times when the Heroes completely shattered Jinwoo’s expectations, or even forced the deletion of painstakingly prepared content, but he didn’t feel any emotion about that.
Yes, this was for mental fortitude training!
All of it was for the Heroes.
Jinwoo had hidden the raid hint on the massive door of the Boss Room. A Sealing Tool made from various materials that existed in Arsilan could bind and weaken this boss’s movements.
But it would be a bit hard to find!
Jinwoo clenched his fist as he watched the Heroes get knocked away by the massive body.
‘That one was for the staff!’
He could never forget the day a piece of content developed over three months was erased. Revenge for the FS Games staff...
“Ahem!”
In any case, the intent was never to torment the Heroes.
It was just a coincidence that the purpose for the Heroes and his personal desires aligned.
Anyway, the boss raid required a Sealing Tool.
The cutscene that played when crafting that Sealing Tool had been meticulously produced by the FS Games staff. Numerous quests were also prepared.
Jinwoo nodded with a satisfied look.
The Named Heroes next to him silently stared at him. Everyone wore serious expressions, but since Jinwoo alone was smiling, he stood out.
“Hey, you?”
“Ah, sorry. Um... the boss attempt is just really fun. But maybe, we shouldn't give up now....”
Jinwoo quickly tried to explain himself.
After hearing his response, the Named Heroes exchanged looks.
“Pfft! Yeah! That’s what a Hero is!”
“You’re a true Hero, man.”
“All right, let’s do this again! We’re not leaving until we succeed in this raid!”
The Heroes suddenly burst into flames of determination. That atmosphere began to spread like a virus.
-Keeping your head down and charging in, that’s Romance.
-Ordered chicken. Cheering you on.
-I posted an analysis thread on the strategy board! Please check it out!
Unexpectedly, the mood shifted rapidly.
An endless cycle of attempts had begun.
The boss’s attacks were still impossible to predict. Its speed made it difficult to respond.
“Push through with pure grit!”
“We only need to succeed once!”
“Just keep headbutting it until we get the feel!”
The chances were low, but all they needed was a single forced success. Surprisingly, that moment came quickly.
Tankers who had undergone Third Class Change stood at the front line, watching the wildly flailing body, then instinctively raised their shields. Even the slightest mistiming would lead to immediate failure.
They had failed dozens of times already.
Because they had to match timing, speed, and direction perfectly, the odds of success were nearly zero.
It was hopeless.
Without the Sealing Tool, even trying for an entire month wouldn’t bring victory. There were things that couldn’t be overcome by grit alone.
This would be a great lesson for the Heroes...
“Deflect it!”
“Haaap!”
[Light Parry is activated.]
...but it wasn’t!
They just succeeded!?
This!?
A tremendous shockwave erupted from the tankers and wrapped around the boss. It was the Third Class Change skill, Light Parry, which could withstand even massive weight if timed right.
Though the cooldown was long, its power was absolute.
Kuuuung!
The boss’s body staggered from the impact and collapsed to the ground. The Heroes unleashed their attacks all at once.
“Uwaaaa!”
“Kill it!”
“Let’s gooo!”
“Aim for the joints!”
Skeletons summoned by a Necromancer swarmed in, and Heroes under Spirit contracts poured out spirit magic. As the level 150+ firepower concentrated on the boss’s joints, the shell shattered, and inner flesh burst out with bodily fluids.
-Wow! They actually pulled it off.
-Did they seriously deflect it by instinct?
-I did a rough calculation, and this is basically like deflecting a supersonic needle with a 30 cm ruler in real life. Also, the direction is random.
-Thought there’d be some kind of gimmick, but who cares if it worked!
-Don’t you get it yet? The answer to every gimmick is ‘grit’.
Jinwoo stared blankly at the scene.
Ding!
A message arrived from Han Yong-seon.
Han Yong-seon: Boss, we’re screwed.
Jinwoo: Mm...
Han Yong-seon: I’ll start working on ways to repurpose the content. Looks like we’ll be pulling some all-nighters.
Jinwoo: Good...
Jinwoo tightly closed his eyes, then opened them and sent a short reply.
As the joints that controlled the boss’s body became damaged, its movements visibly slowed. It showed the resilience expected of a boss, but it couldn’t endure for long.
Fwoosh!
The boss’s shell completely shattered, and it slumped to the ground.
“We won!”
“This is it!”
“Wow, that took a while.”
The boss was defeated, but the quest completion message didn’t appear. The Heroes found that strange, but for now, they began tearing apart the boss’s body to collect materials.
“There’s not much meat, but it’s pretty sturdy.”
“Looks like it’ll sell for a high price.”
“Are there any eggs?”
"If we find a core, let's roll dice for it!"
The boss’s body was so large that there was more than enough for all the Heroes to take a share. The byproducts were also of a very high rank. Since materials two tiers above those from a large Erosion Insect had dropped, it was hard not to be pleased.
And so, all the Heroes wore bright smiles as they busily dismantled the boss’s body.
‘...Well, it can’t be helped.’
The next Episode’s release would have to be moved up by about two weeks, but it wouldn’t seriously affect the storyline progression.
With his thoughts settled, Jinwoo looked at the Heroes and grinned. There was a reason the quest completion message hadn’t appeared. It was because the Erosion Insect boss wasn’t dead.
It was the boss that marked the beginning of Episode 5.
A boss like this wouldn’t die so easily.
“The part embedded in the wall has the largest circumference.”
“Maybe there’s a core inside?”
“Looks like there’s a joint... Let’s try separating it first!”
It was just as the Heroes were trying to dismantle the massive joint embedded in the wall.
KUUUNG!
The body detached from the joint and fell to the floor. As it separated far too easily, all the Heroes turned to stare at the joint.
Kkiriririk!
The massive joint began to move.
“I-is it still alive?”
“Phase 2?”
“P-prepare for battle!”
It was Phase 2!
After all that suffering, they had only just cleared Phase 1! The Heroes’ hearts pounded. They were excited to see how incredibly it would transform.
Jinwoo smiled deeply and drove his legs into the floor. There was a reason for that action.
The rotating joint came to a stop, and then.
Kuguguguguk!
It began to retract inward. At the same time, the wall where the joint had been attached tore away.
A massive hole opened in the wall. And beyond it was space.
“Huh?”
“Waaah?!”
“Kyaaah!”
The nearby Heroes were sucked into the enormous hole. The surrounding area also began to collapse, and the debris disappeared into the void beyond.
“What is this!”
“Ughhh!”
UruBear quickly drove his legs into the ground like Jinwoo and held his ground. The Romance Heroes clung to UruBear’s body.
“Kyaaah!”
UruBear barely managed to grab hold of Haebyul, who was about to be pulled beyond the hole.
-What the hell!
-Space?
-Why is there space all of a sudden?
No one had predicted that space would appear. When the wall where the joint had been collapsed entirely, even UruBear could no longer hold on.
“Uwaagh!”
He was pulled away along with the torn-up floor and sent flying into the depths of space. In what had once been the Boss Room, only Jinwoo remained.
‘This is what I came to see.’
Jinwoo had joined the raid party just to witness this scene.
It was a little disappointing that the middle phase had been skipped, but even so, the impact of this cutscene was powerful. With a deeply satisfied smile, he watched the Heroes disappear into the distance.
It was a painful truth of Arsilan, but Jinwoo had turned even that into content for Arsilan Saga. Even pain would one day become joy.
Haebyul, who had been flung into space, couldn’t come to her senses for a while. She hurriedly summoned the spirit she had recently contracted, but even the spirit was shocked to see the vast space.
[W-what! What is going on?! Aaaagh?!]
The Wind Spirit flailed in space along with Haebyul.
Haebyul tried to speak, but there was no air, so no sound could be transmitted. Fortunately, the Wind Spirit could communicate with her via telepathy.
‘Just help me stabilize myself first!’
[Got it!]
The Wind Spirit released a gust of wind to stop Haebyul’s spinning body.
Many Heroes who barely managed to regain balance looked behind Haebyul. All of them had dazed expressions.
They were rapidly losing stamina due to the lack of air, but behind Haebyul was something so overwhelming it made them forget everything else.
Haebyul and the Wind Spirit turned their bodies at the same time.
‘Uh…’
[Ah….]
-Holy…
-What the fuck is that.
-Uh...
-Wait, this is that thing that got spoiled last time...
-That thing... it was eating it...
Before Haebyul’s eyes was an Erosion Insect so massive that its size couldn’t even be estimated. That Erosion Insect was devouring the core of the planet where Arsilan existed.
The boss monster the Heroes had defeated was nothing more than the tiniest leg of that enormous Erosion Insect.
‘It’s devouring Arsilan!’
So much had already been consumed that the core was exposed, and large parts of the planet had vanished.
Though Haebyul had seen this scene before in the leaked photo, she had never expected the Erosion Insect to be this enormous.
It was enough to render her mind blank.
When the photo had leaked, various analysis posts came out, with most people believing it showed the future state of Arsilan or some alternate setting. That made the shock even greater for the Heroes.
Kwa-deudeudeuk!
The gigantic Erosion Insect that was devouring the planet slowly turned its head and looked at the Heroes.
[Haebyul... I think we’re fucked.]
‘...Yeah.’
Haebyul fully agreed with the Wind Spirit’s words.