It seed to be the leader. It was the largest and fastest. Its fierce face and blood-dripping beak proved its hunting prowess. It was extrely fortunate that this forest was one where people didn't frequent.
'Could there have been... anyone?'
The thought suddenly occurred to her, but Esperanza deliberately shook her head to dismiss it. She had searched the entire forest as soon as the dungeon appeared but found no one. There was no point in imagining ominous scenarios.
The sound of explosions from far away, the sound of monsters being pierced and dying not far off. All those sounds had disappeared. Only the wind wrapping around the claws and wings of the strange bird she was aiming at with her gun barrel was clear. Yellow eyes filled with killing intent flickered. As if thinking the sa thing.
She counted silently. Three. Two. One.
The raptor's wings rushed forward. Her vision was instantly covered by wings. Esperanza entrusted her body to gravity and fired her gun barrel upward. As her deeply arched back straightened, she heard the sound of sothing heavy falling behind her.
She didn't turn around to check.
[Combat Mode ON]
Combat Disabled 0
Status Abnormalities 0
Deaths 35
Because she had definitely won. A smile ford at the corner of her mouth.
[You have defeated '????'.]
No na appeared? Esperanza stared at the unfamiliar question marks in the notification window. This had never happened before—had there been an error after eting Cyrus?
"...Esperanza-nim!"
Cyrus's tily voice warned of danger. As a shadow fell, Esperanza shot upward while soaring. She heard the sound of sothing rolling in the rustling fallen leaves with a low groan of "Ugh." But she hadn't missed her shot.
"I didn't know one was left. I thought they were all dead."
It was Cyrus's greatsword that severed the neck of the draugr trying to writhe and rise.
"That was dangerous."
"It wasn't dangerous."
Cyrus closed his mouth for a mont, then nodded.
"Yes."
Cyrus was exactly as Esperanza knew him. Sotis even when Esperanza insisted on sothing, he would just accept it as such. Other ga friends would see this and say, "Unni, that guy seems like a pushover," but in fact he was quite shrewd.
"Why did you co?"
"This is the forest center. I ended up coming to the center while chasing monster hordes."
There was no question about whether he was injured. They both knew well that wouldn't be the case. Instead, Esperanza asked a different question. One she could only ask when Cider wasn't around.
"You know, I saw the you from this ti period here. If you're soone who played the sa ga as , you couldn't have been here before the ga even started, right?"
"I'll explain."
There was no point in hiding it now. Magic power ceaselessly turned the machinery inside the rifle. Esperanza aid her gun toward the opposite side of the thicket and asked again.
"It's true that you were here 13 years ago, right?"
"...That's correct. The person Esperanza-nim saw was from 13 years ago. Daria and I traveled between this world using the Golden Claw's power even before the ga started."
Judging by his expression "this world," it seed he truly ca from the sa world as Esperanza.
"Did you create the ga too?"
"Yes."
A massive wolf pack appeared. Esperanza's back touched Cyrus's broad back, then bounced forward. Each ti her gun barrel spewed magic power, wolves with tough fur hides fell.
"What's your relationship with Daria?"
"Siblings."
Ah, siblings nurturing grand dreams of colonial construction together. Esperanza snorted and shot a wolf between the eyes with her heated gun barrel. The earlier ones were draugr. Then these must be fenrir?
Strong wolves shouldn't be fought with close-range attacks. Therefore, Esperanza distanced herself from the wolves to snipe, and Cyrus also gripped a pistol in his empty left hand.
The two skilled Hunters finished off the wolf pack in less than an hour. The sky seed to grow slightly darker. It wasn't just because of the ti.
[You have defeated the Fenrir Legion. The dungeon's boss recognizes you.]
Aha.
The boss would appear soon. Esperanza lowered her gun and said.
"Let's return to base camp."
Cyrus's sword opened the wolf's mouth. He grabbed the sharp fangs with his bare hands, tore them out, and put them in his inventory before answering.
"Yes."
Esperanza, who had folded her wings, ran at the sa speed as Cyrus. It was a distance that would take over three hours on foot, but when Hunters used magic power to run, it took at most 20 minutes. Esperanza roughly wiped her sweaty nape with the handkerchief Cider had given her and started questioning again.
"So, why did you co back to 13 years ago?"
"Because the Golden Claw broke. We tried everything to fix it, but all attempts failed. Esperanza-nim, we have carefully created dungeons in precisely necessary locations after much deliberation. They are, so to speak, disasters that can be overco. There is appropriate thrill and crisis, but the disasters themselves don't overturn the world's fate. Because people like 'this kind of' world."
She had a premonition she would hear words she didn't want to hear. A major premise he wouldn't speak aloud.
A sigh leaked from her tightly closed lips. Cyrus continued in a rigid tone.
"But if we lose control of the dungeons, Osdern will quickly perish. Hunters won't be able to arrive at dungeons in ti to clear them, and civilization will collapse. That would be failure."
He spoke as if he had truly beco a god. But she couldn't sense the madness typical of those who think themselves gods. Rather, he was terrifyingly calm. And then he said.
"No one would want to play such a ga."
What expression should one make when sothing they didn't want to believe turns out to be true? For instance, if you're running so you can neither squeeze your eyes shut nor turn your head completely away?
Esperanza didn't know the answer, so she stopped.
"A ga, right. A ga. ...The ga we were playing was real from the beginning, right? Not a similar virtual world?"
Cyrus asked back as if surprised she hadn't guessed.
"Didn't you already feel before that the ga world moved and lived exactly like this world?"
She had felt it. It was an ominous thought she'd had since seeing Daria and Cyrus from this ti period. And when she t Cyrus from the original ti again, she was almost certain. That's why she turned away and pretended not to know. So if that world had been real from the beginning...?
'How many people have I let die until now?'
People she actually killed? Were there any? It seed like there might not have been. Please let there not have been... No. There definitely were. She just knew. Because Esperanza was also an ordinary Hunter who easily gave up human lives when deed necessary for dungeon clearing.
Esperanza, leaning against a tree trunk, caught her breath. She lowered her head and hid her expression.
"Esperanza-nim?"
"So that's how it was. We've been enjoying this world as a ga all along."
Killing, destroying, enjoying violence and thrills in the process. There was no room for excuses.
"Because that was easier than creating a ga that resembled this world."
'Golden Claw' was excessively detailed and realistic compared to other gas of the sa era. It was popular because the NPCs each user t were all different yet lifelike and designed like real people. Even people who didn't prefer combat content could enjoy the worldview in various ways, which was the selling point.
Of course it had to be realistic. Because it was an actual existing world. Because they were real living people!
She had suspected it. Vaguely thought it might be so, knew it. It shouldn't be shocking news, but certainty was truly frightening. All the transgressions she had pushed aside and ignored poured down at once.
"It really was a colony. Why?"
"Esperanza-nim will despise for saying this, but it was to make money."
"...Ah. Really?"
"Yes. That's all."
Cyrus knew Esperanza well. No, anyone with a functioning mind would have shown the sa reaction. Still, the coldly burning contempt hurt.
Esperanza, forcing herself to breathe in, asked again.
"I thought you were soone who tried not to kill people, even in gas."
"Esperanza-nim, I'm not a psychopathic murderer. I'd prefer not to do things like killing people if possible."
"But you kill when necessary?"
Understandable. A hollow laugh escaped.
"You are a psychopathic murderer."
Cyrus fell silent with sunken eyes, and Esperanza staggered ahead without looking back.
The ground in front of the laboratory was deeply pitted. Esperanza, avoiding the holes as she went ahead, entered the password and opened the door. Cyrus, who had quickly followed, hesitated at the entrance.
"What are you doing? Co in."
After throwing out the cold words, she headed to the study to find Cider. She ran up the stairs and encountered Cider coming down. Her wavering eyes forced a smile. Fortunately, Cider didn't seem to notice her suspicious mood and smiled back.
"You're back."
"The boss battle seems about to start, so I wanted to rest briefly in the anti. How are things outside?"
"There was an attack. Nothing serious. Solved it quickly. Any injuries?"
"Seems like it. You look fine. I'm fine too."
The chimney was blocked and the windows were closed. It would be safe enough for a brief rest. Esperanza let out a sigh of relief and embraced Cider's waist.
If she showed her face any longer, he might discover what she was thinking. She hoped Cider wouldn't know what she had done in the past, how much blood was on these hands.
Cider, who had unconsciously embraced her back and stroked her head as she ca into his arms, spotted Cyrus at the bottom of the stairs. They made eye contact and examined each other briefly, then looked away as if nothing had happened.
Cider lightly patted Esperanza's back and asked.
"What's wrong? Did that man do sothing?"
At the unexpected words, Esperanza montarily forgot her seriousness and giggled while shaking her head.
"If he had done sothing, would I be sitting here quietly like this? I would have killed him. It wasn't like you were there—it was just Cyrus and ."
Cider, who had been nodding quietly while listening, frowned. Listening to this quietly...
"Ah, so if I had been there, I would have beco a hostage?"
"I don't think so?"
"No."
"Want to bet?"
Eyes filled with laughter sparkled. Cider answered without hiding his exasperation.
"No."
As expected. Esperanza buried her nose in Cider's chest again and giggled. She had thought she desperately needed to hide it, but her mood improved even without trying to hide it. It was more magical than the giant gun and iron wings.
When she ca down the stairs and made eye contact with Cyrus, her expression hardened briefly, but she calmly turned her head away. But unexpectedly, Cider spoke to Cyrus.
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