At the Mysterious rchant’s words, Kim Hyunwoo recalled Loria, who had not woken up since her heart was pierced yesterday and black smoke escaped from her mouth.
He recalled the image of Loria, one of the heroes of Lartania, as described by the Mysterious rchant.
However, unfortunately, despite hearing about it from the Mysterious rchant, Kim Hyunwoo could not recall any mory of Loria.
“Actually, I’ve been aning to ask… Is it true that Loria is one of the heroes I raised?”
Kim Hyunwoo asked the question, and the Mysterious rchant nodded without a mont’s hesitation.
“It’s true. The reason you can’t rember is because of the contract.”
“What kind of contract is it…?”
The Mysterious rchant began to continue the story she had started a mont ago, along with the explanation.
“As I ntioned earlier, originally, when the ga failed, it was certain that this world would collapse, as it had beco too weak to withstand the incoming Celestial Realm and Demon Realm. But at that mont, one of your heroes, ‘Loria’, made a contract with another world. No—”
The Mysterious rchant made a slightly bitter expression.
“To make it easier for you to understand, would it be better to call it a ‘bug’?”
“…A bug?”
“Yeah, you know, the bugs that sotis appear when playing a ga?”
As Kim Hyunwoo nodded, the Mysterious rchant continued.
“Of course, this world is not a ga but a reality, yet when it cos to expressing beings from another world, there is no better term than ‘bug’. That’s because the other world we’re talking about contains things that I couldn’t create.”
“…What does that an?”
“It ans this: in ga terms, it’s like dummy data.”
The Mysterious rchant continued the explanation.
“As you know, Arteil was launched as a ga. Even though many players flock to it initially, the number of players decreases over ti. Why is that? You probably know the answer.”
“…The developer’s BM issue?”
At Kim Hyunwoo’s words, the Mysterious rchant made an uncomfortable face and continued.
“I’m painfully aware of that, so stop hitting with it…it hurts… Anyway, players eventually consu the content in the ga, and when the content ends, they get bored. So, content needs to be consistently provided.”
“…And that other world is where the content you started to create for the users is lying dormant.”
“Exactly. I packed as much Ether as I could to create it. Over there, it might feel like a ga, but since this is the real world, creating things here requires a huge amount of Ether.”
Kim Hyunwoo silently closed his mouth, as if inviting her to continue, and she resud her story.
“Anyway, originally, the bugs I had left unfinished were not supposed to have any power. I had thrown them into an empty void. But then—he appeared.”
“…You an him?”
“The one who made the contract with Loria. I call him a ‘bug’. He was sothing that should never have existed.”
“……”
“Funny thing is, when I had no power at all, he had an imnse amount of power. That’s because he absorbed all the Ether from the void, which I had used for content for the users. Ironically, he beca stronger than . And with that newfound power, he made a contract with Loria.”
“What exactly was that contract?”
“To summon you in exchange for giving up Loria’s body.”
Kim Hyunwoo, who had been pondering the words of the Mysterious rchant, soon spoke.
“Honestly, I don’t really understand why such a contract was made.”
“I regret to say that I don’t know what Loria was thinking when making the contract, but I knew the purpose of the bug.”
She continued with a bitter expression.
“…He probably wanted to beco whole.”
“…Beco whole?”
“Yes. Whole.”
“So, Ether is that all-powerful force that can grant any wish, right?”
“That’s true, but it’s still not enough. If Arthur, the one you faced, had that amount of Ether, it might have worked, but that guy was literally just a collection of aningless thoughts born out of nothingness.”
“So that ans—”
“He wasn’t an entity I created. He was a naless being, literally a bug. He had a lot of Ether, but that alone couldn’t make him whole. So—”
The Mysterious rchant casually gestured to Kim Hyunwoo and spoke.
“He tried to kill you and steal your Ether.”
“…My Ether? But I don’t have any power.”
“That’s only on the surface. Look at the benefits the heroes connected with you are receiving. Can you still say you have no power?”
“…Correction value?”
“Exactly, that’s not even about gas. It’s literally a privilege you have as a higher-dinsional being to exert influence on this dinsion. Well…it can only manifest in limited ways though.”
Anyway—
“He thought that if he just summoned you, he would be able to draw Ether from you sohow. And with the body of a 5.5-star hero, he probably thought it would be even easier to beco whole. As you can see, he failed and was even erased.”
“…He was erased, right?”
“Well, strictly speaking, he wasn’t really erased. But at least he won’t be able to wield any power as long as you’re alive. Perhaps he won’t ever be able to again. There’s no more Ether left in the void, and even the Arthur I was creating has already used up what he drew.”
“…So Arthur ended up like that because the creation was left incomplete.”
As Kim Hyunwoo recalled the half-completed sword and Arthur wearing mismatched armor, the Mysterious rchant nodded and said,
“That’s about right. I think I’ve explained everything with this.”
“Wait a minute.”
“What is it?”
“I just suddenly thought of sothing, and it’s a bit strange… If he needed Ether from soone like , wouldn’t it have been better to just summon soone else?”
At Kim Hyunwoo’s question, the Mysterious rchant understood and replied,
“You’re asking why he specifically chose Loria, right?”
“Exactly.”
“It’s simple. Ether is the power to fulfill wishes. But the wish needs to be clear.”
“…That ans.”
“Originally, the bug, having no connection with the lord, could not draw a higher-dinsional being here without borrowing soone else’s wish.”
Kim Hyunwoo nodded as he listened to the Mysterious rchant.
“Now, I suppose all your questions are answered?”
“Mostly, yes. So, what happens to now?”
“Hmm, you’re asking if you can go ho, right?”
“Well, if you want to put it that way, yes.”
At Kim Hyunwoo’s nod, the Mysterious rchant replied.
“You can go ho. Whenever you want, anywhere.”
“Oh.”
“And you can co back as well.”
“…Really?”
“Why?”
“Well, usually in situations like this, you can go back, but you can’t co back… That’s usually how it goes.”
At Kim Hyunwoo’s words, the Mysterious rchant lightly brushed her hands and spoke.
“Oh co on, where does that happen? It’s true that going back and forth is hard, but for you, I’m sure you could go back and forth thousands of tis without much trouble. Do you know how much Ether you have right now?”
“…Is it a lot?”
“It’s not just a lot. Who saved this world? You might not realize it, but right now, your surroundings are completely filled with Ether to the point where you can see radiant light around you. With that amount, even if you go back and forth until the day you die, you won’t be able to use it all. To put it more concretely…”
The Mysterious rchant paused, then said:
“It’s like having 10 billion won, but only being able to take a 1300-won bus and having to spend all your money on that.”
“…Now that you put it that way, it makes perfect sense.”
“I do explain things well. Anyway, don’t worry, I’ll prepare your return to reality soon. I’ll also give you a little gift.”
“A gift?”
“You still haven’t found your mories of Loria, right?”
At the Mysterious rchant’s words, Kim Hyunwoo nodded, and she began gathering radiant light in her hands, accompanied by a gentle smile.
“It’s natural that you can’t rember Loria. Even after the contract ended, Ether doesn’t disappear. But sothing like Ether tied to such bindings—”
She smiled softly.
“If I use just a little bit of your Ether, I can release it right away.”
“Wasn’t this sothing you were going to undo with your own power?”
“I would like to release it with my own power, but I’m still empty-handed. I’ll have to work hard and gather it from now on.”
“For an ascended being, you’re quite humble.”
“Because I’m humble, buy so stuff. The more Red Stones you use, the more Ether gets replenished.”
With those words, the Mysterious rchant clenched the gathered light into a fist and burst it out.
Whoosh!
A burst of light exploded and spread out in all directions.
“Your mory will start to co back in about a day, so don’t rush to rember it. I’ll be leaving now.”
“…Already?”
“Yes. I have things to do. And above all…it seems like you’re about to face hardship.”
“…?”
Kim Hyunwoo frowned in confusion at the Mysterious rchant’s words, but she disappeared after leaving behind a cryptic
“Good luck~”
As Kim Hyunwoo raised two question marks above his head,
“…Report for today… My Lord…”
Elena entered.
“Today, report…sniff… starting…”
“Eh, Elena…?”
Elena, who was crying.
Seeing that, Kim Hyunwoo finally realized what the Mysterious rchant had ant…
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