I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 505

“……No, Ash.”

Myeong, who had been stammering, let out a hollow laugh.

“There’s no way that’s possible. My country is the one producing the monsters, the main culprit behind all this tragedy.”

“……”

“There’s no way that’s possible. My country, and I, don’t deserve it.”

“No. You do.”

I grabbed Myeong’s tired shoulders and slowly helped her up.

“If you hadn’t been stopping the monsters here for the past five hundred years, the human realm would have been destroyed long ago.”

“……”

“You’re not only the rightful heir to this kingdom, but also a king who has taken on a responsibility that no one asked you to… a king with morality and conviction.”

It’s clear that producing monsters isn’t the will of the Lake Kingdom, but the will of the darkness that has swallowed the Lake Kingdom.

By the will of the Demon King, the Lake Kingdom has been reduced to a colony that produces monsters, but the people of the Lake Kingdom who still have a will are still resisting that darkness.

The living proof of that is Myeong right before my eyes.

I nodded firmly.

“Your past five hundred years are your qualification. You, and your country, are more than qualified to join this alliance.”

“……”

“I’m asking you, Myeong. Please join my alliance. I’m asking you as your friend.”

At those words, Myeong’s eyes trembled violently.

“Friend…?”

“Am I wrong? I thought we’d become quite close while fighting together in this darkness.”

“A friend…”

Myeong smiled bitterly and lowered her head.

“Either way, it’s a dreamlike story.”

“I won’t force you. But if you have any intention… if you have any intention of putting your country’s name on the international stage for the sake of the future Lake Kingdom.”

I stood next to her.

“Visit Crossroads. This time, I’ll welcome you as a state guest.”

“Ash…”

“Now, let’s go back to the base camp and rest. You came to save me, how can I leave you here alone?”

I supported Myeong, and after hesitating at first, Myeong eventually began to walk in step with me.

Was it my imagination?

The dark chains wrapped around her limbs seemed to have faded a little.

Myeong and I leaned on each other, dragging the shadow-like chains behind us, and walked back to the base camp.

***

My party members were all waiting at the base camp.

They all looked pale, as if they had been swept away by the curse of darkness, but all the members I brought this time had experienced the same curse in the ‘Path of the Defeated’ before, so they seemed to have survived safely.

“My lord!”

“Senior!”

“Prince!”

“Your Highness!”

Oh my, the titles they call me are so diverse. I patted the four of them who came running like puppies who had found their owner.

“I’m sorry, my lord. We were all hit by that curse, so we were in no condition to go out searching…”

“Then Myeong unnie just appeared! And said so coolly, ‘I’ll go get Ash!’ We decided it was better to leave it to her and recover so we could respond to the next situation.”

Myeong unnie?

I was taken aback by the bizarre title that Evangeline had just blurted out for the first time, and when I turned to see how the person in question was doing, Myeong had already moved far away from me.

We were standing next to the large bonfire in the center of the base camp, but Myeong, who had moved away, was already buried in the shadows.

“……Thank you for the offer, Ash.”

Her face, hidden under the deep hood of her robe, was no longer visible.

“I will consider joining your alliance positively.”

“I’ll be waiting, Myeong.”

I whispered, hoping my sincerity would reach her.

“Please come.”

“……”

Myeong, who gave a faint smile, staggered back and disappeared into the darkness of the dungeon again.

After looking at the spot where Myeong had disappeared, I turned my head to Coco, who had come to stand next to us.

“Grandma Coco.”

“……”

“What exactly is Myeong’s ‘fate’…?”

“The fate of one who bears the crown is only one.”

Coco, who was also staring blankly at the spot where Myeong had disappeared, slowly opened her mouth.

“To bear the karma of her people.”

“Karma…?”

“Whether it’s sin, pain, or darkness… Myeong could no longer just watch her people suffer.”

It was a cryptic Zen riddle, but one thing was certain.

It had begun.

The process of Myeong transforming into the final boss – ‘The Sleepless Lake Princess’ – had already begun.

I clenched my fist tightly.

“I will save her.”

“How?”

“Somehow.”

I muttered with determination.

“I will save Myeong, and this Lake Kingdom… I will save them all.”

Coco clicked her tongue.

“You have an excessively grand dream, young prince. You should be busy enough just protecting your own world.”

“If I’m going to save the world anyway, adding a small country to it isn’t that big of a deal, is it?”

I smiled at Coco.

“How can I talk about the world if I don’t even have this much ambition?”

“……”

A strange light flashed in Coco’s glass-like eyes. I gave a short bow to the witch and turned back to my party members.

“Let’s go!”

Today’s free exploration is over.

“We need to come up with a strategy to face the next Nightmare Legion Commander.”

The moment when the path of the monster front would be decided was right before our eyes.

***

[Free Exploration Ended!]

[Leveled Up Characters]

– Ash (EX) Lv.53 (↑1)

– Lucas (SSR) Lv.55 (↑1)

– Evangeline (SSR) Lv.55 (↑1)

– Damian (EX) Lv.54 (↑1)

– Jupiter Junior (SSR) Lv.60 (↑1)

[Deceased and Injured Characters]

– None

[Acquired Equipment]

– Past Future (SSR)

– 11 others

[Acquired Items]

– 30 total

***

Lord’s Manor.

After finishing the free exploration and ordering my party members to rest, I was in my room, looking in the mirror and lost in thought.

‘There are two major tasks at hand.’

To put it in gamer terms, it’s like having two main quests.

The first is the [Branching Quest].

‘Dealing with Baekya.’

Legion Commander Baekya and Magic Tower Lord Baekya. Which side should I take, and which one should I eliminate? And how should I use the remaining one?

“……”

I suddenly looked at my face reflected in the mirror.

Even if I deliberately made a strange expression, the me in the mirror would naturally follow it immediately.

– If I looked in the mirror, and the me in the mirror moved differently from me. Then that would be very unpleasant, right?

The Magic Tower Lord Baekya I met before said this.

– I must be unique. If there is another me to replace me, there is no reason for me to exist, right?

– So, I have no choice but to kill another me who is the same as me.

It’s said that the replicated Baekya try to kill each other for this instinctive reason.

And… the Legion Commander Baekya I met this time said this.

– More than anything, you would understand us, right?

– You’re a fake too. A player. A fake with someone else’s personality copied into you.

“……”

My face in the mirror hardened coldly.

That’s right. I am a being who has copied and pasted the personality of a classic otaku from another world into Ash’s body.

I’m just a shattered piece, struggling pathetically to find a way to clear the game until the very end.

…If the real classic otaku saw this me.

What would he think of me?

And, if I were to meet the real classic otaku.

What would I think of him?

Would we want to kill each other like those two Baekyas?

“Hoo.”

I shook my head to clear my thoughts.

Anyway, there’s still some room to think about this branching quest. Let’s discuss it with my subordinates.

‘And the second main quest is…’

I’ve never done it in the game, so should I call it a [Hidden Quest]?

‘Myeong’s salvation.’

What do I have to do to prevent Myeong from turning into the final boss?

I had a gut feeling. I had to save Myeong in order to achieve the ‘true ending’ that the director had asked of me.

But it’s been a long time since that true ending was my goal.

Regardless of that, I want to save everyone within my reach with my own pure will. Myeong is the same.

‘But Myeong’s transformation into the final boss has already begun.’

The dark chains that were tied to her limbs.

I don’t know what they are… but… to put it bluntly, it was advertising that she was a character who was going to fall or turn dark! It’s a classic cliché itself!

‘Can I stop it? Can I turn it back? Or is it already too late?’

Bad thoughts were swirling, but I have one rule.

It’s not over until it’s over.

I will not give up until the very end. If there is even a sliver of a chance to clear the game, I will dig in and cling to it.

‘But, it would be nice if I had a hint as to where exactly I should start digging…’

As I was thinking that, there was a sudden knock on my door.

Who is it? Lucas or Evangeline?

“Come in.”

I said without much thought, and the door opened slightly, and a man with messy gray hair and round glasses poked his head in.

“Yo~ Good work, Lord. You look troubled, would you like a cup of coffee?”

“Ah, sure. But I was planning to have a late-night snack with the kids later. Can you do it then…?”

I was answering naturally when I thought, ‘Huh?’ and looked at the door.

There was the awkward, grinning… the damn director.

“No, Aither?!”

“Haha, that’s right. I’m back!”

That damn director! So he wasn’t dead! Where the hell has he been hiding all this time!

He’s a jerk, but he’s still my helper. I ran towards him, and without realizing it, I was so happy that I grabbed Aither’s arm, but,

Fwoosh.

A strange sound was made.

“……Huh?”

“Ah.”

When I looked at where the sound came from… Aither’s arm had turned into white particles and was scattering. Like burnt ashes.

“……”

“……”

I was so shocked by this terrifying phenomenon that I opened my mouth wide and trembled, and Aither laughed and waved his other hand.

“Haha! No, no, it’s nothing. Don’t worry too much.”

Then he diligently gathered the ash-like particles scattered in the air and attached them to his arm… and then the dangling arm was reattached.

“Tada! As you can see, if I gather them diligently like this, I can recover!”

Fwoosh!

As soon as he said that, his arm fell off again.

Now it was completely on the floor….

“……”

“……”

Aither, looking embarrassed, picked up his arm again and pressed the fallen parts together, then sighed.

“To be direct, Lord.”

Then he smiled brightly and said cheerfully.

“My expiration date has expired!”

What are you, some kind of preserved food, that you have an expiration date?!

***

Lord’s Manor. Dining hall.

While Lucas and Evangeline were happily gobbling down the toast I had baked, Aither and I sat facing each other with a cup of hot coffee each.

Aither didn’t even seem to have the strength to make coffee, so I ended up having to make the coffee myself… Where in the world is there a lord’s aide like this?

Aither, who had been just looking down at his coffee cup, opened his mouth awkwardly.

“You saw my soul state in the spirit realm before, right?”

“Yeah.”

I remember. His soul was cracked all over, and it was about to turn into dust, not just shattered.

“The limit of how long I could hold on like that has been reached.”

“So that’s why you’re becoming… crumbly ash like this?”

“That’s right. Crumbly!”

Aither, who was answering so calmly, was still scattering dust from his body. Is this what they call a god?

I was so dumbfounded that I asked.

“……Is there a way to fix it?”

“Huh?”

“I’m asking if there’s a way to fix it. I’ll help you.”

“Ahaha… You’re really a good person, Lord.”

Aither laughed hollowly and changed the subject.

“……The reason why I, in this state, have been hiding and came to see you today is one reason.”

“Tell me.”

“You want to save Myeong, right?”

At Aither’s words, I pressed my lips together and then blurted out.

“……You do too.”

I realized that Aither and Myeong had some kind of relationship when they met before.

Myeong doesn’t remember, and Aither didn’t tell me, so I don’t know anything about their past….

But I was certain that the reason why this damn director was trying to save this world, even in this state, included Myeong.

“……I’ll tell you just one thing, Lord.”

Aither spoke clearly to me.

“The reason why I asked for the true ending, but never told you the specific way to reach it or gave you any hints, is simple.”

“What’s the reason?”

Aither smiled brightly.

“Because the path you are walking now is the path to the true ending.”