Insanely-Talented Player

Episode 174:

A man was crossing the desert.

It was an endless, barren desert.

A blood-red twilight burned beyond the burning land of the martyrs. Soon, the pale light of the night sky

spread along the desert ridge.

The desert night is cold. However, the man was wearing a neat dark suit, holding a sword in his hand that was colder than the cold of any night.

It was a being made up of powers and masks bestowed by heavenly monsters, vampires, magicians, and other transcendental beings.

He wore a clown's mask on his face, showing all kinds of emotions, not laughing, not crying, not expressionless.

bang!

At that moment, a gunshot rang out in the distance.

A silhouette followed closely behind the man and pulled the trigger of a .45 caliber revolver.

He was a ‘Gunslinger'.

The gunman's shot was aimed squarely at the man, and the man swung the sword in his hand. The blades and bullets collided, sending out bluish-brown lines.

After that, the man started running through the pale desert that spread out in front of him without even looking back.

As the man dressed in black fled across the desert, the gunman gave chase.

The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed

When I opened my eyes, a familiar light flowed through my eyelids. When I turned my head, a familiar-looking woman was lying on the same bed.

“Maria.”

“Are you awake?”

Yoosung called her name without hesitation, and Maria, who was lying down, smiled silently. That's why Yoosung also silently stretched out his arm and brushed away her golden hair. Beyond her hair, the pure white nape of her neck was shining in the pouring morning sunlight.

“...I had a dream of being chased.”

“Who are you being chased by?”

“Gunman.”

Maria tilted her head for a moment in response to Yoosung’s answer.

“Gunman...?”

Because she couldn't understand what that meant.

However, Yoosung was also unable to understand what he was saying.

“...It’s a strange dream I have sometimes.”

Nevertheless, Yoosung smiled and shook his head as if it was no big deal.

Why was the person in the dream running away across the desert? Who is the gunman who was chasing him? Why did you assume he was a ‘gunman’ in the first place? I couldn't figure out anything.

Five years since escaping from the endless labyrinth.

It has already been 11 years since the world became a game, and the pouring morning sunlight was very bright.

That day the human monarch fell. However, humans still did not disappear and were longing for a hero who would endure their ordeals.

That's why the meteor was still there.

As a hero who will not give in to any defeat, will not break or die, and can endure any ordeal.

As an artificial god who will not fall at the hands of any assassin, will lead any war to victory, and will willingly bear this ordeal on behalf of humans.

At the same time, as the monarch who defeated the human monarch that day and sat on the vacant ‘Overlord’s Seat’.

The game is still not over and the player's role is to protect the world.

And when the 11th season began, the players were repeating their mission as always.

For the noble mission of protecting the world, for the wealth and fame that the player can bring, or for extremely personal reasons.

The same was true for all the random players gathered there.

“There are too many numbers!”

“How on earth did this happen? How can that be in this tier...”

“You bastard, while you’re talking nonsense, use even more magic!”

An army of monsters was gathering around the triple fortress, engulfing the horizon from end to end.

“You guys really look disgusting and hideous!”]

[The monster lord exerts influence over the servants in the tower...!]

This game is by no means merciful to humans. Therefore, when the several players there faced the pouring horde of monsters, they could only be shocked.

Absolutely hideous, heterogeneous beasts that are far beyond human common sense.

The players' armament was very shabby in the face of the rushing monsters, armed with a vague hatred for humans and equipped with strange tentacles and twisted hooves.

Even if the player's abilities were fully mobilized, which was the greatest blessing this game had given them, there would be no difference.

They did not have the ability to endure this ‘ordeal'.

“If I fail this time, a tower break will occur!”

“But that doesn’t mean it’s the same if you fall here...!”

In the confusion, the army of monsters reached the bottom of the castle wall and began to move in and out of the steep wall on their tentacles like they were at home.

This was not an ordeal that humans could endure.

Because that was their fate.

It should have been so.

At that very moment, a silent message occurred to me. A form of silence. It was a message that could only be explained that way.

[The Overlord exercises his influence....]

After the silence, another message emerged.

“Great Overlord!”

“The Overlord has moved!”

And as soon as they saw that message, hope appeared on the faces of the players, which were filled with despair.

Overlord.

A monarch above monarchs and the most absolute being among the transcendents who look down on this game.

No player knows the identity of the Overlord, let alone his real name.

However, at some point, that existence began to appear for ‘humans.’

[The overlord's ‘shadow' has descended...!]

— Nyaaang.

The intangible vortex was shaking and a sound like a cat meowing could be heard from somewhere.

Just as they thought they were crying, the entire fortress they were standing on was engulfed in darkness. As if an indescribably gigantic being was casting a shadow over the entire area from the sky.

And from within the shadows, a shadow appeared.

It was a shadow of a human holding a sword.

From afar, something similar to a cat's cry was heard again.

At the same time, the shadow swung its sword at the monsters that were surrounding the fortress and flocking from edge to edge of the horizon.

It was one sword.

The sword was swung and the players there had no idea what was happening.

It was just a breeze.

As soon as I thought the wind had blown, the shadow's sword, which should have been swung in the empty air, was cutting down the monster.

All the monsters out there. Without leaving a single one behind.

Sigh!

The monsters' bodies were torn apart, flesh, blood, and bones scattered, and disgusting slimy blood began to gush like a fountain.

The sword was swung, and before I knew it, the shadow holding the sword had disappeared.

And there was nothing left there.

Players were simply greeted with a ‘system message' indicating that they had conquered the tower in silence.

It is the headquarters of the Hero King's guild ‘Circus' and an independent diplomatic territory as a UN direct organization within the territory of the Republic of Korea.

Now, over the years, the place is better known as the new headquarters of the United Players' Union (UPN).

The Lord of Heroes was sitting there in his private room.

Just like the ‘human monarchs' who once sat on the throne of the Peace Council, it was as if that place were a throne for themselves.

And he was no longer a recognizable player.

Just like that, the King of Heroes opened his closed eyes and raised his head. It was right then.

“......dad.”

The girl and her father were there.

With the passage of time, she was a girl who was shedding the pretense of those days and becoming a full-fledged lady.

The most innocent girl in the world who was once saved from the Flame Church and the Nightmare Lord.

“Why are you doing this, Lily?”

That's why Yooseong called her name. The most innocent name in the world that I gave for her.

No one in the world can imagine it.

How could it be that the King of Heroes of the world could have such a sweet and adult smile?

And Lily did not answer Yoosung's question and remained silent.

“Magic is not good.”

After silence, Lily opened her mouth.

The worst witch and the Walpurgis Witch. Those words that cannot be easily imagined coming from the mouth of a girl who has closer to magical powers than anyone else.

“...so.”

“Q” Yoosung

asked and Lily nodded.

The child, who was as adult as always, was facing Yoosung with his adult eyes as always.

“Did you have a good time at school?”

That’s why Yoosung asked back, and at those words, Lily puffed out her cheeks.

Do you really have to go to the bridge?”

Finally, the immaturity befitting a child of that age was revealed.

“Can’t I go?”

“That’s right. “I also kicked out all of high school.”

Lily asked back and Yoosung shrugged his shoulders and answered.

“But in front of the whole world, I just spread rumors around the neighborhood that me and your mom adopted you as our daughter. “Lily, just close your eyes and go to middle school.”

Yoosung spoke and Lily remained silent again. That's why Yooseong asked back. With a fatherly smile so immature that those who know him can't even imagine.

“Isn’t school life very fun?”

“Yeah, it’s not fun.”

“Yes, that’s how the world is.”

Yoosung shrugged his shoulders and answered Lily’s words. There was no need to tell what kind of school life Lily, who was not ordinary no matter how hard she tried, was having.

“It’s boring, there’s nothing to do and there’s no content.”

“It’s like that in all manga games.”

“But if you miss school even for a day, your homeroom teacher will make a fuss and make a fuss in all directions to the media. “You know, right?”

Yoosung said with a bright smile, and Lily puffed up her sprain again as if she was disapproving.

“Why won’t you let me into the tower?”

Lily asked after puffing it up.

“I too... want to be a source of strength for Mom and Dad.”

Lily is also not an ordinary human being. It was like that in the past. However, like Yoosung and Maria, she was already ‘something’ that was far removed from human standards.

Therefore, even Yoosung himself could not understand the meaning of this act of restraining her with human common sense.

“Not yet.”

“Then when is it?”

Lily asked back as if she couldn't lose to Yoosung's words.

“When Lily grows up.”

“Lily is all grown up.”

Lily said and Yoosung shrugged his shoulders and answered.

“The characteristics of children who say they have grown up are actually not all grown up.”

After speaking, Yoosung inadvertently remembered the proverb that a frog cannot think like a tadpole.