CH 25

“Hesia, why are you still playing this game?”

She always asked about it whenever she went to a computer shop to play {Nectar Electric}.

They always forced her to stop playing this game but to her, they don’t have a say on it, since she’s the one who bought it.

Some of them even followed her, saying that they were curious about what she was playing, and they never expected the level of difficulty of this game.

Who would still be playing this kind of game these days? The resolution sucks and it’s not even that fun to play with. They would rather play Minesweeper instead.

‘Just because they cannot play it well, they’ll be cranky about it.’

The sad thing about it is that there’s nothing wrong with the game.

Anyways, her friends are not even aware that a hardworking player for that game is sitting next to them.

(t/n: this is based on the FL past life when she’s still playing the RPG game.)

“Hey Hesia, come on, play with us. If you log in, we will now have 5 players.”

“Yeah, You’re one of the top 3 players. So don’t be petty and play with us. Yesterday I got unlucky and got demoted from my team.” Another player says.

“It’s because you’re so terrible at it.”

“Shut up. As if you were better than me.”

Her family doesn’t like her, that’s why she always sneaks out of their house to avoid her family’s eyes. At least she has some playmates that are good to her.

These guys who are her so-called friends are setting up their game besides her and shouting loudly.

Whatever they were talking about, Hesia just clicked the mouse and the keyboard with her eyes focused only on the monitor in front of her.

~Collect 50 Mahone Stones~ Complete!

Reward:

80G 45S

Broken Gorond’s Sword (C)

Extreme Mana Gloves (B)

Reputation +10

Ambient Reliability +5

Experience gained +1,443,241

~Training helper (1/5)~

“Oh, my God, I’m going crazy. I gave it all to you after collecting it, and it’s all over again.”

Hesia held back herself because she almost threw the mouse over.

‘Get a hold of yourself, this is not even your house. It’s a computer shop.’

They have no idea how many hours an average clear time to level up on this game.

“I’ve been playing this game for almost 2 years now, haven’t I?” Hesia asked.

“Nope, actually you started it as soon as you finished the SAT. It seems like it’s been about 3 years?”

“Aha.”

While playing the game, she gave a thumbs-up to the friendly answer of the next person to her.

Who the hell has been playing such an old RPG game for 3 years? And It’s also a single-player game.

She’s not someone who just simply plays games for entertainment, It’s just because she’s a pretty hard player.

Even though she played at least two to ten hours a day, this damn game didn’t show any signs of ending.

There are only a dozen quests to be solved after arriving in every village. And each quest is both annoying and tricky.

“Maybe the princess got tired of waiting and went home already.”

Hesia grabbed her hair from madness, she’s tired of all the quests each time she’s played it.

She can’t even ask for a strategy since no one has ever finished this game.

She went around the game community and posted, but she only got the answer, “What the hell is that?”

Hesia would bet her game life that it really wasn’t fun to play with. But that being said, it was never her goal to be the first person to clear this game.

It just happens, that somehow.

Shouldn’t we save the princess and watch the ending? That’s exactly just how she felt.

~*~

“…Devil.”

“Yes, Tina?”

“I think the atmosphere is very unusual.”

“You think so?”

Unlike Tina, who is impatient, Lucia just looked out the window blankly.

There were numerous torchlights surrounding the walls of the Devil’s Castle. And some of them were soldiers holding torches as well.

The flag of Duke Blake waved at the hands of one of the leading soldiers.

“I didn’t know that the hard mission that Haron was talking about is becoming a soldier himself.”

Lucia mumbled silently while looking outside the window.

If she had known, she would have tried to stop him somehow. But she also knows that it wouldn’t work if she has no valid reason to stop him.

However, it wasn’t until another quest that the story of the Devil was told, based on the game that she played in her previous life.

It seems that she was relieved for a while without realizing it.

After she has possessed this body, she totally forgot that everything that’s happening is progressing faster than in the original game.

“Tina.”

“Yes, Devil?”

“Why are you crying?”

“I’m just… I’m so scared. Devil.” Lucia then replied.

“It’s okay, they’ll never hurt you.”

“I’m not afraid of getting hurt!” Tina exclaimed.

Tears fell from Tina’s eyes as she looked at Lucia.

Then suddenly Tina bit her lips.

“But I don’t want anyone to hurt… you.”

Lucia hugged Tina and patted her back.

Tina then started crying while her shoulders were shaking.

“I’ll go out and talk to them. I’ll tell them that I’m fine, you don’t need to go out and protect me, so please save yourself!” Tina said

“Well, I don’t think that they’re going to go back.”

“Then, I’ll get rid of those soldiers. And if you’d like I’ll have them to kill me as well!”

“…Oh, um. Do you really think that I can bear with that?” Lucia answered.

Lucia quickly grabbed Tina in bewilderment because of her sudden outburst.

No matter how bad the story ending is for her, it’s still too much to let the princess kill the Warrior, just because of her.

“And no matter how dangerous my life is, I will never tell you to kill someone. Never.”

Lucia then hugged Tina to comfort her, and she said.

“It’s better to kill them than letting the Devil die.”

“I’m not going to die.”

Lucia smiled brightly, pulling up the corners of her mouth.

“Tina, I’m not going to die. It’s okay.”

“…Really?”

“Yes.”

Tina looked at her suspiciously in the midst of her tears. Is she such an unreliable person?

Oh, she keeps forgetting that she’s no longer a normal person.

Tina rubbed off her tears from her eyes with her sleeves.

“Okay, I won’t cry anymore. Devil, if you need anything, please let me do something. I’ll do anything to help you!”

“Thank you so much, Tina.”

At that moment, as if to mark the beginning of everything, a bell began to sound at midnight from the bell tower located far away.

At the same time, visible cracks show on the barrier of the castle with loud sounds.

“Tina.”

“Yes?”

Tina looked back at her with slightly swollen eyes. She’s just so cute even if she’s crying.

Lucia giggled and slightly wiped off her tears with her fingers.

“Happy Birthday Tina.”

“Ah.”

She calculated the date by opening her mouth in circles, counting through her fingers.

Today was her birthday.

“Shall we eat strawberry cake tomorrow afternoon?”

“…..Okay. Devil!”

~*~

Lucia gave Tina some simple instructions and asked Deran and Derakal to escort her.

[You’re not even giving me a chance to protect you, until the very end.]

“Because this won’t be the last.”

[Don’t die. I won’t ever forgive you if you die, Devil.]

“Yes, I won’t.”

With a confident smile, the two demons followed by, escorting Tina out of the castle.

After they disappeared, Lucia sat down in her room and stared quietly through the window.

[What are you looking at fake?]

“I’m just thinking.”

[Not afraid, are you? There’s no one to protect you now. After the little ones left, everyone will abandon you.]

“I still have Deran and Derakal with me. If the other guys admit me, I would still come back.”

[Before that happens, I don’t think your life will ever surpass today.]

Sagna flapped her wings and sat gently on her shoulder.

[Your magic is not even the same as the original Devil, you only manage to unseal 2 of your powers. How can you ever beat those soldiers?]

“Right. How should I win this?”

[You mean to tell me that you don’t have any plans?]

“Why don’t you just run away now instead of being on the shoulder of a helpless woman?”

[Huh. I was the Devil’s precious servant. Fake, the body that you’re using belongs to the original Devil. That’s why I’ll be staying with you until the end.]

“Don’t you resent me? I may destroy the body of your precious Devil.”

[What can I do? The Devil has already disappeared. Nothing will change even if I get mad at you.]

Sagna breathed a short sigh.

Even so, he must be a loyal servant. Lucia brushed Sagna’s feathers slightly with her fingers.

Suddenly, the sounds of the drums outside the window began to resonate strongly.

There was a crack in the barrier. The moment that it is completely broken, they will attack the Devil’s Castle.

Lucia slowly got up from her seat and picked up the mask of the Devil that she had put aside on the table.

A monotonous mask made of silver and black.

The original Devil was using this in the last battle of the game.

Every step she took, could be heard in an empty hallway.

‘It’s definitely a huge disadvantage for me.’

At least in the game, the Devil’s servant gods dealt with all the soldiers and a one-on-one battle between the Devil and the Warrior.

But now she’s in a very disadvantageous situation where she had to deal with all of the soldiers and the Warrior on her own.

[You… why are you so relaxed, are you hiding something?]

Sagna stared at Lucia suspiciously.

‘I believe in myself. It’s not like I don’t have one at all.’

Lucia slightly raised the corner of her mouth.

Sagna doesn’t know it, but her plan was already working.

“Sagna.”

[Yes?]

“How many times have they fought with the Devil?”

[What are you talking about, fake? How can they even fight the original Devil?]

“Is that really true?”

Lucia grinned and walked down the hall. At the end of the corridor was a wide, huge hall.

On the stairs in the middle of the red carpet, where the Devil’s throne was layed…

“I’ve tried it.”

Lucia muttered as she walked along the long carpet up to the throne.

“I’ve been fighting with the Devil before.”

[What? Don’t be ridiculous! How did you…]

“A thousand times.”

With each step, the hem of the Devil’s black cloak stretched out.

“I’ve challenged the Devil a thousand times before”

[…]

“I lost 999 of them.”

And every time she lost, she attacked with a new route and new methods.

But then she died.

Again, again, and again.

Each time she dies, the Devil will become even stronger with a penalty to the player.

“Actually I’m weak, I really don’t know much about it, on how absolute the Devil’s power is.”

Lucia fought a thousand times, but the Devil’s abilities weren’t clearly visible, that’s why she always avoided her.

The Devil, who didn’t even show her face properly, showed a hundred skills in the final battle. And she was also getting stronger every time they met.

Even if I live as the Devil for 100 or 1000 years, or even just for 10 years, will I ever have that ability?

“But you know.”

She suddenly stood tall in front of the Devil’s throne.

Fortunately for Lucia, she had experiences that no one ever had.

“…I know very well about the Warrior, who I had played a thousand times before.”

That’s right, no matter what happens, he will always end up here at the end.

What do you think? Warrior.