I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 399

When five months had passed since I started the ‘Subway to Hell’ challenge.

After the 741st game failed, I cursed and turned off the broadcast, collapsing into sleep, only to wake up the next day.

“……”

It was well past noon when I finally opened my eyes.

A terrible fatigue pressed down on me from my head to my shoulders. I gritted my teeth and raised my upper body.

‘I’m so tired……’

I had poured everything into the challenge for the past five months, yet the game showed no signs of being cleared.

741 game overs.

I had been unwavering in my determination to continue the game, but after so many failures, I was starting to feel the strain.

‘Should I just give up?’

The thought crossed my mind.

Honestly, I’ve done enough, haven’t I?

Even the viewers told me to rest if it was too hard.

If I donated the amount I received to the children’s cancer foundation, I could still fulfill the original purpose.

The important thing is sincerity. Who would blame me?

No one has ever cleared it before anyway.

Let’s compromise.

Yeah, let’s just give up here and play another game—

Buzz, buzz.

Just then, my phone vibrated on the bedside table.

Startled, I quickly picked up my phone. The caller’s name was displayed on the screen.

“……!”

A bad feeling ran down my spine. I quickly answered the call.

“Hello?”

***

“Thank you for visiting and supporting my child so much.”

In the cafe on the first floor of the hospital.

The little one’s mother bowed deeply to me, having rushed over after receiving my call.

After a moment of silence following the greeting.

She hesitated for a long time before slowly opening her mouth.

“We’ve decided to let our child go in a month.”

“……”

“His body has become too weak… and realistically, there’s almost no chance he’ll come out of the coma.”

The doctor had advised it.

His vital signs were too weak, and it was no longer feasible to wait any longer. They had to make a decision soon.

“My husband and I are exhausted, but more than anything, I think my child… is the most exhausted.”

She managed a smile. Her eyes were puffy from crying so much.

“We’re going to let him go peacefully while he’s sleeping.”

“……”

“I’m so sorry to you, Goduk. You supported him so much…”

I bit my lower lip. I clenched my fists tightly on my lap.

“……You said one month left, right?”

“Yes.”

“For the remaining month, I won’t give up.”

“Huh…?”

“I’ll support him in my own way. So.”

I squeezed out all the courage I had and spoke.

“So… please, don’t give up either, Mother.”

“……”

“I still believe he’s fighting. So…”

Even though I knew it was irresponsible.

“……Let’s not give up. Us.”

After saying that, as if speaking to myself rather than her.

I fled the cafe.

As soon as I got home, I turned on the broadcast. The viewers who had been waiting rushed in.

– Goduk, hi~

– The guy who rage-quit yesterday is back lol

– You rage-quit and now you’re back so early today

– Please play another game, please, just do a cam show instead

– Give up… there’s no other game here…

– Are you going to play Protect the Empire again?

– Ugh!!! Get out of the Imperial Occupation!!!

The viewers were also getting tired.

Many were suggesting that I quit the challenge and play another game.

The terrible difficulty of the long and grueling game had caused my viewership to drop to less than half of what it usually was.

But, I didn’t care.

“Just one last time.”

I launched [the game].

“This is really the last game.”

– Real last? Real last? Real last? Real last?

– Real real real real real real real x106 last game, let’s go~

– The discipline is crazy lol I’m out, peace

– Are you still watching?? Are you still watching?? Are you still watching??

– Goduk’s tenacity is insane lol

– What’s insane is the speed at which viewers are leaving lol

– Stop, Goduk!!! That path leads to hell!!!

I pushed the clamoring chat window aside.

I took a deep breath, widened my eyes, and grabbed the mouse.

This game is terrible. The Hell Ironman mode is even worse.

But the pain I feel now is nothing compared to the pain that kid has endured in the hospital room all his life.

‘I know that me playing this game has nothing to do with that child waking up.’

But.

I’m a streamer, and that child is a viewer.

This is how we’ve communicated over the past time.

‘I hope my support reaches you.’

Staring at the tutorial stage unfolding, I repeated to myself.

I don’t wish for you to suddenly recover from all your illnesses and miraculously wake up.

I want you to win the desperate battle you’ve been fighting your whole life, by your own will, and no one else’s.

Just.

‘Just as there was someone who supported me, I want you to know that there is someone who supports you.’

Just as your support gave me the strength to move forward.

I hope that my insignificant support will give you even a little bit of strength to fight.

That is my simple wish.

That is all I wish for.

***

《…….》

In the ruins, Salome opened her eyes.

It seemed she had dreamed again of a part of Ash’s memories she had read a few days ago.

《……Ha.》

She let out a laugh of disbelief. Salome pressed her hands hard against her eyes.

How foolish—how foolish a wish.

A small, insignificant, even childish wish.

‘To make a wish for a complete stranger just because you heard a word of encouragement….’

The motive was absurd, but the content was even more ridiculous.

‘What? You want to send encouragement back? Is that really your wish? Is that really all?’

When it comes to wishes, shouldn’t they be much bigger, grander, and more greedy… something like that?

At the very least, you should give that child an indestructible body or bestow upon him a blessing of invulnerability. It should be on that scale.

Only encouragement?

Just because you want him to get up on his own? Just encouragement and that’s it?

‘To fight in another world, risking your life for such an insignificant wish…?’

It really doesn’t make sense.

Compared to such a ridiculously small wish, the risk he bears is absurdly large. No matter how much I think about it, it doesn’t add up.

‘Isn’t he a complete idiot?’

That’s why I thought I should stop him. No matter how I look at it, this is too much of a loss for Ash.

More than anything, considering the ‘secret’ I discovered while examining Ash’s soul, there seemed to be even less reason to risk his life for such a wish.

– That wish of yours. Is it really ‘your’ wish?

So, I provoked Ash.

To make him ask himself who he really was, what he really wanted.

To make him quickly give up on such a small wish and find something else.

To pursue a goal that was more for himself.

《…….》

But, why?

Just now, as she was synchronized with his memories, licking the surface of his emotions, Salome felt like she was about to cry.

That simple sincerity.

That movement of emotion that could not be understood through understanding, reason, or calculation.

The taste of a real heart that she could never have—it hurt her chest.

《Why…….》

Because the senses of a nightmare are volatile, they do not understand human emotions.

So, they vicariously experience human emotions through the dreams of others, inferring the forms of joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure.

They crave emotions more than anyone else, absorbing the dreams and essence of others for them. But they only lick the surface, never reaching the core. That is a nightmare.

《Why does it hurt?》

Salome clutched her chest.

For the first time since she was born, her insides ached.

She had lived for hundreds of years, acting as if she perfectly understood and replicated human nature on the outside, but the inside of the succubus queen was essentially empty.

Somewhere in that emptiness throbbed.

Why?

《…….》

Salome bit her lip and raised her hand to slap herself on the cheek, smack! smack!

Thud. Thud-thud.

The sound of rain pattering on the ground could be heard. Salome poked her head out of the ruins.

Black rain was pouring down.

The time of the flood had come.

***

“If we wait a few more hours, we can depart!”

The Sword Demon and Spear Demon, who had dragged a small boat to the sewer entrance, nodded.

Black rainwater had already gathered in front of the sewer, forming a ditch. If it rained a little more, enough water would gather to float the boat.

“This path ain’t gonna be easy either, so be prepared! There’ll be monsters, the smell is awful, and most of all, you gotta fight the darkness!”

I nodded in agreement.

I was prepared for all of that. It wouldn’t be any different even if we went by land.

There are monsters on the ground route too, the smell is awful, and you have to fight the darkness. If it’s going to be hard anyway, it’s better to take the route that takes less time.

Looking around, the rest of the temporary party members were also showing up one by one.

Mason was staggering, as if his body was uncomfortable, and sat down below the ruins. Salome also appeared out of nowhere and stood next to him.

《…….》

Salome glanced at me with a sulky expression, then turned her head away.

I stared at her, dumbfounded. What’s with her? When did she become so clingy? Why is she acting like that?

“Are you leaving?”

Then, a voice was heard.

I turned around and saw the usual kid… the older brother. You know, the villager who shared fruit with us and talked about various things.

His blurry eyes stared at me through his disheveled hair. I smiled back at him.

“Yeah. I’ll come again next time. With lots of fruit.”

Then, the older brother scoffed.

“All the guests who fall into this village say that. And then no one ever comes back.”

“……”

“What good memories would you have in this hideous trash village to want to come back? Don’t.”

The older brother waved his hand and walked towards the village.

“Live happily in the sunny world.”

“……”

“The fruit was delicious. Goodbye.”

The older brother disappeared into the rain.

My heart became complicated. I sighed deeply and looked up at the rain-soaked sky.

If it rains a little more, I think we can leave now.

Soon, I’ll be able to return to Crossroads…….

“……?”

That’s when it happened.

Through the pouring rain, something of a different shape was flowing down the cliff….

It looked like a writhing fog, or a swarm of insects….

“What is that?”

Almost at the same time as I muttered blankly,

Thud! Thud-thud-thud!

‘It’ poured down like a shower in an instant.

A terrible stench and a chilling malice spread everywhere. I held back my nausea and stumbled backward.

This, could it be…?!?

《A…sh…….》

A voice echoed.

It sounded like thousands of crows flapping their wings, or like tens of thousands of insects gnawing with their pincers.

《I’ll… rot you…!》

From within the vague form, emitting a clear hostility.

《Everything…! This world, along with you, everything…!》

The master of the plague.

Black Plague One.

The one who opens wounds, the pain that has form, the pus that screams—

Raven, the 4th in command of the Nightmare Legion, let out a scream that seemed to tear apart his very soul.

《I’ll burn and melt everything—!》

Immediately after, a rain of plague poured down on my head.