Chapter 74: - Nazrea, City of the Dead (5)

༺ Nazrea, City of the Dead (5) ༻

A contract with the Grim Reaper.

Just like the Precept, it was a setting that was not available in the game, and that only existed to explain stories about the boss characters. A contract with the Grim Reaper was similar to Precepts, in that they were both high-risk high-reward systems.

The moment one created a contract with the Grim Reaper, their soul would get tied to the Grim Reaper, and breaking the contract meant the annihilation of the soul.

《Do you dare try to forge a contract with death as the one who deceived death?》

Immediately after mentioning the contract, the Grim Reaper and I entered a different dimension that was separated from the real world.

“Stop putting on airs. I know you’ll take the offer.”

In fact, the Grim Reaper was a more flexible being than one would expect.

Proof of that was how it accepted Erin’s contract after weighing the possibility of circulation being broken forever in the future and 1.2 million souls leaving the law of circulation.

At the cost of giving up on 1.2 million souls, the Grim Reaper decided to choose the future. The god of death was flexible enough to weigh the differences and priorities to choose for itself.

《Interesting. Tell me what is on your mind, deceiver.》

Look – even now, despite labeling me as the deceiver of death, the Grim Reaper was still willing to listen to my words and see if the contract would be a benefit or not.

“I want the elimination of the contract you made with Erin Danua, and one of the ‘Treasures of the Underworld’ as an advance payment. It has to be in the 10’s at least.”

《And what will you do?》

“I will cleanse Nazrea in half a year.”

《...That will be impossible for you.》

“That is not up to you to decide. You just have to weigh the points on your scale. How is it; does my contract sound fair?”

—-—

In silence, the Grim Reaper contemplated and stroked its chin before opening its mouth.

《No.》

“...”

《Your reward is too little for releasing 1.2 million souls.》

“You mean...?”

《Choose a single-digit treasure. Otherwise it will not be balanced.》

That was the best-case scenario! By repeating the ‘repeat quest’ of Nazrea and having more and more of the Grim Reaper’s goodwill, it was possible to receive a legendary or an epic item in return.

As items from the Underworld, most of them would lose a large portion of their power in the middle world, but some of them were so powerful that it didn’t matter.

A single-digit treasure referred to the top 10 epic items under the possession of the Grim Reaper. There was only one chance of getting a treasure from the Grim Reaper, and in the game, those single-digit treasures required the veteran players to kill the Immortal King hundreds of times but that was only possible in the game because there was no time limit.

Even though I tried it in the last iteration, we couldn’t stay here for too long unlike how it was in the game, and thus we could only get ourselves items in the 30’s.

“Alright. The treasure I want is...”

****

As soon as I left the alternate dimension of the Grim Reaper, I found Erin looking at me with a pale face.

“W, what have you done?”

She grabbed me with a shivering voice and palms drenched in sweat.

“I made a contract.”

“What kind of contract!?”

Her eyes quivered and couldn’t stay focused, as she paid close attention to every single word that left my mouth.

“I will cleanse Nazrea in half a year. If I succeed, the contract you made with the Grim Reaper will also be eliminated.”

“Y, you...!”

Erin said with a coarse voice and a pale face. Even though she was always generous and kind, this time she was different.

“You... You must have gone insane...!”

“I am very sane.”

“Do you even... know what it means to make a contract with the Grim Reaper? You won’t even have a speck of your soul left if you fail! You are giving up on the circulation and the chance of reincarnation!”

She said while trembling with anger and confusion. When I gave her a wide smile in return, she seemed even more confused.

“Why... exactly are you doing this?”

“Because that’s what I learned from you.”

“...”

“You know, I was a little kid who was playing a hero game.”

“Nnn?”

“This world was like an amusement; everything went the way I thought. I wanted to enjoy it like a game while getting praised by everyone.”

At the start, I was definitely playing around like it was a game. Before starting to perceive this world as the real world, I was still saving people, but I became quite conceited during that process hearing all their cheers and praises.

I became a bit stronger, but also overly arrogant.

“I was still a little brat – a kid who thought of himself as a hero.”

“...”

“That was when you showed up.”

When it was the most difficult; when it was the most frightening – when I put myself in danger due to being overly conceited by my own ability, she came and created a mountain of corpses before offering her hand.

『Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?』

I was saved and met a real adult – a hero – for the first time in my life. I saw the back of an adult who stood for children with dedication without asking for anything in return.

Until the very end, all I could do was look at her back.

Being a protected kid was... bone-strikingly painful and made me feel extremely powerless.

She was someone I couldn’t protect;

A hero who died first in order to save me.

“This time, I want to be the one saving you.”

I was standing right in front of her but she couldn’t say anything in response. Instead, she just blankly stood there looking into my eyes.

“I won’t fail this time. I’m not the same as the ‘weak me’ who couldn’t even attempt anything.”

“Ah...”

You probably don’t know how big of a presence you have inside me anymore. You probably have no idea how heartrendingly painful it was to see you leave that day, and how much I blamed myself for being useless.

But this time, I won’t let that happen.

“Now, instead of chasing after your back... I can stand by your side.”

“...”

“This is not because of something splendid like saving the world. This has nothing to do with that. I...”

Because I received so many things from her.

“I’m just giving them back.”

The most revered and beloved person whom I still missed to this date... my hero.

“I’m just... giving back what I received.”

****

A few days later at Nazrea.

The life that had continued for 300 years was still going on as usual. On the third night, as always, the silver spearman defeated the Immortal King and safely waited for the new loop to begin.

What was slightly different was that she stood at the same place she had been a few days ago to gaze down at the city – at the same place where she and the boy shared their last conversation.

“...”

The silver spearman – Erin Danua – gazed down at the city.

This city was still like a pandemonium and a scene straight out of hell, just like how it had been for the past 300 years.

She had been fighting against this painful reality for 300 years.

There was no particular reason; it was simply because she was a hero.

She was one of the last survivors of the race of gods that still remained in this land. At the same time, she was the Queen of the Kingdom of Shadows, the paradise that now ceased to exist.

Erin Danua knew she was a special being and had been doing her best to fulfill her responsibilities as a special person. The choice she made 300 years ago had a similar reason.

The ‘Danu’ could live an eternal life. As the last queen of their race... she had her way of seeing things.

Humans died way too easily. In such a savage world, human life was something that was very easy to collapse.

She didn’t want to turn away from them. She wanted to protect their lives and show them how lives were sad, painful yet happy and bright at times.

That mindset was probably the reason she first wanted to become a hero.

“I completely forgot about it...”

For a long time, she had forgotten about the origin of her story. The things she had forgotten due to being exhausted from all the fights and the endless conflict were re-aroused by her disciple from a distant future.

『This time, I want to be the one saving you.』

It was her first time having someone trying to save her.

“Is that measuring machine bugged?”

Merkarva students created a fuss. Even though 499 points was enough for Group A to proceed to the next stage of the group event, there was still a matter of pride.

“Calm down. The device is functioning properly. Look.”

Kang Ryun immediately settled the students like the veteran he was and showed them the reason why Group A had fewer points.

Some Moonstones were completely crushed, and there was a bunch of powdered Moonstones inside Group A’s bag.

“It weighs a lot, but more than half have lost their value as magic stones.”

“Ahaha... I, I see~”

“See. I told you Marie. Your spells were too strong.”

Both Group 1 and Group A knew the reason why there were so many broken Moonstones.

Even when facing hundreds and thousands of undeads, Marie relied on her overwhelming mana output to wipe them out with magic, and every time she did that, the Moonstone undeads were also crushed alongside the other undeads.

“Well, at least we defeated some elite monsters.”

Isabelle commented how elite monsters in semi-Grade 1 and Grade 2 were in fact easier compared to the low-grade undeads.

In any case, the ranking was as follows.

Group 1: 558 points

Group A: 499 points

Group 3: 160 points

Group 2: 155 points

Group 4: 126 points

Group C: 98 points

Group B: 55 points

It was essentially already decided that three Purple Hawk teams and one Merkarva team would be making their way up to the next stage of the group event. Even though Group D hadn’t returned yet, the students weren’t expecting much from Group D which had lost two of its members on the first day.

“Hello everyone! Good morning!”

“Uhh, I think we’re a bit late, Mr. Korin!”

At last, the two survivors of Group D, Korin Lork and Alicia Arden returned to the hotel.

The students and professors naturally turned to the bag they were carrying and all thought the same thing. They thought it was to be expected after seeing their bag, which was incredibly small compared to the other groups.

“You were fairly late, Student Korin. Student Alicia.”

“59 minutes. Right on the dot, sir.” said Korin.

“That’s why I told you we should have breakfast later.”

“It would take ages for us to have time to sit down again after leaving the city. I can’t wait for that long.”

“Student Korin. Bring me your bag. Let me assess your points.”

Even though it would probably be meaningless, Kang Ryun still did what he had to do.

“Yes sir~. It’s right here.”

Korin took out a single Moonstone from his bag.

– Kung!

A large chunk of Moonstone landed on the desk, which gathered the eyes of everyone nearby.

That Moonstone, which gained its name for being a stone that harbored moonlight, had a brilliant silver light that made it literally appear like the moon.

It was top-notch! That was a perfect Moonstone, both in size and color, that no one could argue against.

“T, two hundred and fifty points...”

The students couldn’t help but feel stunned after seeing the number on the display screen of the measuring machine.

With just a single Moonstone, their group sky-rocketed all the way to 3rd place. What kind of elite monster did they have to defeat to gain such an enormous Moonstone?

“Uun? Korin? Weren’t we prohibited from going to the center of the city?”

Marie tilted her head, seemingly puzzled after seeing this Moonstone which was clearly from the danger zone.

“They said it was dangerous, but there was no rule stopping us from going there.”

“I see!!”

‘I should have gone there as well!’ said Marie while bringing her hands together.

“Hmm... Group D. You have 250 points and have come 3rd place...”

“I have more though?”

“T, they have more?”

Korin took out two more Moonstones. The students were shocked after seeing how they looked similar to the one before.

“Korin and Alicia, these guys. How far deep did these guys go?!”

“The center of the city... Maybe they killed the 3 great bosses of Nazrea or something?”

“Holy shit...”

The two following Moonstones equaled 246 and 272 points.

“Now, this is the last one we have.”

And the last one Korin took out was in a completely different ‘league’. It had a red luster that was ominously different from the other Moonstones. It seemed so inauspicious that it didn’t even look like a Moonstone anymore.

“1,000 points.”

Everyone was struck speechless.

Group D: 1,768 points

Group 1: 558 points

Group A: 499 points

Group 3: 160 points

Group 2: 155 points

Group 4: 126 points

Group C: 98 points

Group B: 55 points

As such, the four teams that would be proceeding to the next stage of the group event were decided.

****

On the way back from Nazrea, I looked at the City of the Dead through the window of the house hanging on the monster carrier.

Erin, the one who separated from my master like a clone 300 years ago, was still inside that city.

“That was very eventful.”

“I know.”

Sitting by my side, Alicia handed over the potatoes steamed by Marie.

“You’ll be going there again right?”

“I need to.”

Alicia seemed to have realized that I would be going back one day to save the imprisoned Erin. Would she get mad... if I told her I made a contract with the Grim Reaper?

“Please go together with Senior Marie and me when you are going there again. I don’t know what you are thinking, Mr. Korin, but let us help you.”

“Thanks.”

Her willingness to help was so commendable that I rustled my fingers through her hair and made it into a mess. She went, ‘Uhk! Ehk! Uhk!’ but that was okay.

“The next group event is more important. You have to get to work immediately after going back, Alicia.”

“...You’re really driving me around like a servant. By the way, don’t we have to do the doubles event as well after going back?”

“There’s that too.”

Kang Yuhua and Sa Jinhyuk should be participating in a team for the doubles event. Originally, Sa Jinhyuk was attending the individual event so he wasn’t going to participate in the group event but...

Kang Ryun had some tricks up his sleeve. Well, I’ll let him do what he wants for now though.

“Let’s take a rest for now. We’ve been working too hard.”

I had to think of ways to make use of the power I got from the Grim Reaper as well. Obtaining a Treasure of the Underworld was slightly unexpected but if everything went well, the ‘Orb of the Grim Reaper’ might act as a nice hidden card for the 3rd Arc.

“I wonder what Hua Ran is up to right now.”

Thinking about the girl that was at the core of this main scenario, I felt a bit concerned.

.........

......

...

The day I returned to Merkarva, I heard some shocking news from Lady Josephine.

“Student Hua Ran is in confinement.”

.........Already?