Chapter 18.1
Chapter 18.1
“If you wish. But that doesn’t make this place real.”
It was heartbreaking. Understanding her obsession with the game, given her strength, was easy enough. She could achieve things here, things she couldn’t in reality.
But it was still just a game.
That fact remained unchanged, no matter what she did.
“Is that so? Then who proves that where you are is the real world?”
“What are you trying to say?”
“Don’t delude yourself into thinking you know everything. Just because a god created you for amusement doesn’t make your reality a game.”
“Interesting analogy, but I’m afraid not. The existence of a god is uncertain, but the programmers who made this place are real. I can leave here right now and contact them. You seem to be seriously addicted. Let’s end this negotiation. I should have known when you started calling monsters people.”
The instant he finished his sentence, a metallic clink sounded, and something moved swiftly.
The next moment, Eric raised his head, feeling the barrel of a gun pressed against his forehead. Adeline, perched on the table, was aiming directly at the center of his head.
“¡Dios mío! (Oh my God!)”
Bruja, the first to be stunned, leaped from her seat. Adeline didn’t even look back, simply gesturing with her chin.
“Don’t move. One step, and I’ll blow this guy’s head off.”
She was crazier than he thought. Eric stared at her with cold eyes. This was the first time since the game’s early days that someone had tried to attack him so recklessly.
“…Can you?”
Eric retorted coldly. Simultaneously, he flicked his finger.
[Skill: Zeus’s Touch – Astrape (Level 1) activated.]
Geto let out a groan. He rose, seemingly to intervene, but it was too late. Crack! A thunderbolt struck without warning, descending from the sky. Adeline quickly rolled off the table and onto the floor. Where she’d been was instantly reduced to ashes, buried in dust.
“Fast. That video wasn’t faked after all.”
Eric, rising from his seat with a sigh of annoyance, looked at Adeline. The number two ranked player, facing a player whose level he couldn’t even see, a paradoxical player whose name wasn’t even on the top 100 ranker list. Only he and Shade would know her level was suspicious. Eric smoothed his disheveled collar and asked the question he should have asked long ago.
“What is your identity?”
“Well, a character?”
“What did you say?”
Adeline laughed aloud. Even in this tense situation, Eric was momentarily captivated by the woman’s bright laughter. Her laughter was unique; joyful yet tinged with sadness.
“I thought your first impressions were similar, but you’re completely different.”
“Who are you talking about?”
“The man I like.”
Eric momentarily stopped breathing in surprise. His startled blue eyes blinked, fixed on Adeline.
“That man wouldn’t talk like that, even in the same situation.”
The gun in Adeline’s hand blurred, gradually becoming transparent.
“He may seem cold, but he considers others first.”
Eric, standing dumbfounded, looked at Adeline’s pale hand. Pale skin, as if it had never seen sunlight. The weapon that had threatened him was gone. She hadn’t intended to harm him; she’d wanted to see his reaction, to gauge his character.
He nervously ran a hand through his disheveled blond hair, annoyed by his own anxiety. He didn’t have time for this. The conversation had long strayed from the topic at hand. Yet, he continued.
“Thanks to you, I’ve been reminded of something important. You don’t need to give information to other guilds.”
“What do you mean?”
“You need guild members for the raid, right? I’ll join that raid. In place of your other valuable guild members.”
Geto coughed violently at the sudden shocking statement. Eric narrowed his eyes. Join the raid instead… that meant…
“You’re saying you’ll join our guild?”
“Yes, if you’ll allow it. Come to think of it, I have personal reasons to participate in that raid.”
Eric stared at the woman’s calm face. He’d heard Rahul had already offered her guild membership. Permission wasn’t even necessary. The publicity alone of such a famous player joining would be enough profit.
But what he was considering now was…
“First, I want to thank you. You said you’d fight for Leon, despite my rudeness.”
“No. You simply pursued your own beliefs.”
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