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quazartranslates · 3 years

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Welcome to the Nightmare Game II - CH43

**This is an edited machine translation. For more information, please [click here]**

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Chapter 43: Star Death Reality Show (XXVI)

Just like watching a poor lamb trapped in a hunter's snare, wailing would not arouse the compassion of a seasoned hunter. On the contrary, the hunter would only be excited about the delicious food dying.

Looking at Qi Leren who had been struck by lightning, Su He said faintly, "I know many ways to avoid contracts, but it’s not easy to do. Most of the methods are one-off skills or items, or there is an extremely long cooldown time. Even if you don't have one… It’s best to be careful."

Qi Leren gawked at Su He, as if he had been drained of all his strength. He didn't say a word for a long time, and his lowered head did not show anger. Only his eyelashes were shaking, as if he was almost unable to bear such a failure, and he was crying.

This long silence was not ridiculous, but sad.

It was like watching a gambler at the end of his rope, piling up all the chips on the gambling table and then losing everything.

Everything that followed seemed to be a mechanical repetition. Qi Leren once again signed his name on the parchment with no facial expression, and the signed letters were distorted by his shaking. At the moment when he put down his pen, his spine seemed to be knocked out section by section, slumping on his chair and silently watching the sunrise.

A rising sun that would never rise.

"Can I leave now?" Qi Leren asked softly, looking deeply tired.

"Anytime, but I suggest you stay a little longer or even get some sleep. Anyway, I have adjusted the time flow rate in this area for you, so you won’t be delayed too long." Su He, like a considerate friend who fully thought of him, gave him friendly advice.

But Qi Leren didn't want to stay any longer. He was willing to face the monster in the institute, and didn't want to face Su He. So he stood up, and the chair rudely dragged a harsh sound across the ground.

"I'm leaving," Qi Leren said stubbornly, his tone carrying the anger of being deceived.

"If you insist, go ahead." Su He wasn’t reluctant, anyway. His purpose had been achieved.

The Witch of Lust looked at Qi Leren curiously, because his attitude was disrespectful. As a native devil accustomed to the hierarchical atmosphere of the underworld, she didn't quite understand the relationships between human beings. Sometimes a worm could say "no" to an elephant, which was really interesting in her eyes.

To be fair, Su He was not a strict leader. If the object of comparison was the Devil of Power who had a strong desire to control, then he was an easygoing boss. If you wanted to compare him with the Devil of Slaughter, then he was a perfect boss—at least he wouldn't go crazy and dare to kill anyone, leaving him in his current state of lying half-dead under lava. The Devil of Fraud was quite tolerant of his subordinates, sometimes even almost deliberately indulgent towards them. He seldom pointed out your mistakes, but every time you made a mistake, he would remember it, but he would not show it. This attitude made people feel that he didn't care about them. This slightly malicious indulgence contributed to the weakness and self-deception in human nature, and he watched and waited with great interest until you finally crossed the boundaries he set for you...

Then you would find that you had lost everything. Even if you knelt at his feet and kissed the tips of his shoes and begged him to give you another chance, he wouldn't look at you again.

This extreme gentleness and extreme coldness combined to form a contradictory and complicated person. The witches favored him and feared him. Even the Witch of Lust, who was famous for her debauchery, was much more disciplined in front of him. At least when she appeared in front of Su He, she would pick clothes from her closet that didn’t show her off. When Su He told her to dress properly to entertain guests, she would always find a dress that wrapped her from head to foot. However, in order to express her dissatisfaction, she didn't mind expressing her protest in a small way by means of excessive obedience. Her boss didn't care about this level of protest.

He was really unpredictable sometimes.

She had thought that trying to deceive the Devil of Fraud would make people lose his favor and even irritate him, but Su He's reaction was just the opposite. It seemed that he had added ten points in his heart to this audacious human being.

The Witch of Lust yawned a little and watched the poor man hesitate by the chair. She looked at Su He's face and asked politely, "Shall I take you out, baby?"

"Thank you," Qi Leren, who was worried about how to leave, said quickly.

Su He’s left hand on the armrest of the chair supported his cheek. He asked without warning, "Who gave you the necklace around your neck?"

Qi Leren's cold sweat came back again. In these past few minutes in the field, he had experienced great ups and downs, and his nerves were over-stressed. He had become a frightened bird. He was just glad that he had successfully crossed the border, and he was ready to keep this state and leave quickly. Who knew that Su He would come out with something else?

Fortunately, Su He hadn't found it.

He hadn't found that when he signed his name for the first time, he hadn't used any skill cards at all.

No, he hadn't.

He had made a wonderful deduction—he had successfully deceived Su He once, using an item of unknown origin as the laptop. So this time, under almost the same precondition, would Su He still fall for it? Would he believe that he had honestly signed the contract and was ready to fulfill it? He was not an obedient man in Su He’s eyes.

The best way to dispel Su He's doubts was to make him feel that he had seen through him, expose him personally, watch him suffer, despair, and collapse, and then watch him give in.

So he had had a bold plan, and he had decided to take a gamble. Then he had succeeded.

He was so ecstatic that he had to lower his head to hide his inner secret and fanatical joy and let that passion explode as fireworks in his heart.

However, he also had to consider that this decision would bring him great risks in the future—when he was really raised to a half-field, how should he explain it to Su He?

This concern slightly diluted the excited mood, and even the last resort was shattered by Su He’s sudden question, which made Qi Leren tremble with fear.

"This aura... It’s the Prophet’s?" Su He asked, raising his eyebrows.

Qi Leren did not say yes, nor did he say no. He asked, "Do you know the Prophet?"　　

As if they could never talk well, Su He also threw out a rhetorical question: "Don't you think that the Village of Dawn is too similar to the Village of Dusk?"

Qi Leren was stupefied. So, it turned out that this field was not a "field that imitates the scenery of the Village of Dawn" as Su He had once said, but was the real Village of Dawn.

But if the Village of Dawn was a field, then the Village of Dusk...

Qi Leren suddenly understood. The Prophet who slept beneath the Courthouse and spent most of his time in the cold ice pool, it turned out that he had been silently supporting the Village of Dawn that sheltered mankind. As a player, he did not know how to escape the sanctions of time. He had even spent more than 20 years completing compulsory tasks, and had survived to this day.

"A naive idealist inherited Maria's will, created a box of time with the belief of protecting, and fixed the newly established refuge under dusk forever. His original force was 'time'. Originally, he was the one most likely to evade mission sanctions, if he had not lost to the box." Su He's expression was full of compassion and tenderness.

The Prophet’s original force? Qi Leren seemed to understand. He knew that some of the higher demons had original forces, such as jealousy, lust, despair... They were getting stronger and stronger while approaching the original force. At the level of the three Devil Kings, they had almost merged with the original force.

But did the Prophet, a field-level human being, also have his own original force?

His force, was it time?

Qi Leren's heart was full of curiosity and doubt, but Su He had no intention to solve his doubts: "Go, don't challenge your limits with your life, you’ll never know what kind of miracle you will create. Although 99.9% of people end up dead through this process, I sincerely hope that you are the exception, because I have some expectations for you.

"Qi Leren, today's adventure is only the first step. I am waiting for the day when you complete the transformation," Su He said.

The beautiful Village of Dawn began to become blurred, and even Su He's voice gradually drifted away, as if separated by a dream.

When Qi Leren came to his senses, he still stood in the corridor on the lowest level of the institute, and only a few seconds had passed.

It was the fourth day of the game... No, the zero hour had passed, and it was the fifth day. He didn't know if the army’s ship could arrive. He had reason to suspect that it wouldn't come too quickly. After all, the rescue was always late after all the problems were solved.

Su He said that he had released the octopus in the underground glacier, which was definitely more difficult than the ones he had encountered before. He needed to upgrade his equipment, such as finding a rocket launcher like what Mark had used against him.

This was in the institute’s armoury, but Qi Leren hadn’t taken it since he hadn’t expected to use it. He decided to double back and look for it. In addition, we should find a NPC that was still alive, and take them to the instrument that could detect whether they had become a host, and he hoped to meet Dr. Lu and Du Yue along the way...

Qi Leren returned to the stairs and began to go up. When he passed the power room, he went in again, restarted the power supply, and restored power to the whole underground research institute.

With the light, he was feeling much better. Qi Leren finally recovered from the frightening meeting just now, stopped thinking about Su He, and absorbed himself in preparing for the next challenge. According to game logic, there must be a restock of supplies before the war. Unfortunately, the copy world did not necessarily come according to game logic, so he had to rely on himself. He didn't want to rush unprepared into that horrible boss battle.

Suddenly there was a noise in the corner of the power distribution room. Qi Leren suddenly looked towards it and raised the gun in his hand, shouting, "Who?"

"...It's me." He Yi stood up. His condition looked worse than before. He was emaciated and almost withered. "Mark came in, I met him!"

Qi Leren was taken aback and realized that what he said was in reference to when Qi Leren had wanted to leave the institute through the laser corridor before, but He Yi, who had made an agreement with him to cut off the power supply, did not cut off the power in time—because at that time, Mark had moved the debris in Annie's basement and had entered the institute to attack He Yi.

"I’ve taken care of him, and Annie, Xue Jiahui, and Francis; all four of them were parasitized," Qi Leren said calmly.

He Yi looked at him in astonishment: "How did you do it?"

If it weren't for the enemy at present, Qi Leren would still use the rhetoric of "an apostle of God" to fool him. Unfortunately, now that his Prophet's Heart skill was cooling down, he didn't need to continue acting. He simply said: "It's a long story. Let's talk about it when we have time. Right now we’re in danger..."

"I know." He Yi leaned wearily against the wall and smiled bitterly. "It’s come out."

"What?" Qi Leren became nervous.

"That monster..." He Yi looked desperately at the ceiling above his head, as if he were an outlaw being chased by troops behind the cliff ahead, and murmured in a low voice, "We can't escape."

"Do you... Do you know something?" Qi Leren finally asked the question that lingered in his mind.

For a long time, He Yi's attitude had been a bit strange. Qi Leren hadn't thought much at first, but with the discovery of the plot, he had to face up to this problem—He Yi, he was an insider.

"Why is there an amphioctopus here? Why did I happen to find a basement when I was kidnapped by Mark? Why am I able to blow up the access to the research institute accurately but I am safe and sound? Why can this institute’s power supply, which has been off for many years, still be used? Why do I know where there are weapons and how to use the equipment? Have you thought about these questions?" He Yi asked, one question after another.

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Editor’s Notes: To clarify, the “forces” mentioned in this chapter are along the line of forces of nature but on a more human scale, ie. the “forces” the witches and demons have as their titles. A closer translation would have been to use “power”, but I wanted to make sure it was distinct since “power” is already used in several other contexts in this novel.

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myssthyss · 6 years

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Angel

Strap in. This one’s gonna be a doozy. #7 - Also on AO3

It takes them another hour or so of envisioning their future before they reach the edge of the Aeroport, the final destination in their journey. After a quick inspection of the area, the pairs’ Ghosts suggest taking an entrance on the west side of the building in order to have the best chance of finding a ship or two. They find such an entrance in the form of a gaping hole in three stories of glass, and make their way inside.

It’s a minor maze initially, following signs through the old passenger area and towards the central hangar, but eventually they find their way. The walls begin to show signs of rot, and there’s a hard gunky buildup on the floor as they close in on their target.

Both Hunters suddenly get the feeling that this won’t be an easy “grab and go” mission. They pull down their masks, pull up their hoods, and ready their weapons.

“I have... a very bad feeling about this place.” Seraph comments as the weight of Darkness falls upon their shoulders. The pairs’ Ghosts light the way as they continue their trek into the old Aeroport, sticking closer than usual as a precaution.

Myss is looking down the scope of her scout, waiting to pop any head that enters her vision. While concentrating, she almost misses the guttural clicking sounds that begin to surround them, and the squishing noises their footsteps now make. She spots three glowing eyes ahead, pops a bullet into them without thinking, and hears screaming.

{[Hive!]} Casper and Lumo exclaim at the same time.

Seeing the large number of oncoming foes, Myss fires her Shadowshot at the horde’s feet, tethers them all, and makes easy targets of them. The two Hunters fight them - Thralls, they learn - rather well, the pair almost in sync as they threw blow after blow at them. There’s no time to revel in their abilities however, as they’re greeted by several larger Hive, and a floating one as they enter the next room.

The pair waste no time in attacking the larger Hive, but they don’t manage well. Trading blows just means they get hit twice as hard, and the brawl eventually leads to Seraph falling to a Knight’s blade.

[Guardian down!]

When her partner’s not back after a few seconds, Myss begins to panic, and dodges away from the Acolyte she was currently engaged with to assist her. After the dodge, she finds the Hive are all mildly confused for a moment, which gives her just enough time to revive Seraph, who thanks her before returning to combat. They fight for another several minutes, each falling two or three times, and each helps the other up every time.

“I don’t - I don’t know if we can do this, Seraph!” Myss shouts, dodging away from a Knight’s swing. “We should leave, and find another entrance.”

As soon as she suggests that, a toxic fog blocks their exit.

Seraph manages to knock down the last of the Knights on her side, and fires on the one Myss is left with. “We can do this.” She states confidently, standing firm beside her partner.

The floating Hive - the Wizard - releases a deafening screech, prompting another wave of Hive, as well as a floating ball in a conical cage - a Shrieker - that reminds Myss of what her Super looks like.

The pair exhales sternly in unison, doubts forming as they steel themselves for the next wave.

The pair die a few more times - revival always aided by the other - before Seraph decides that enough is enough and pops her Super, taking aim at the Wizard. She fires once, which its enough to break its shield, but misses the other two shots as it manages to move out of the way just in time.

“Dammit!” Seraph knows she won’t have another chance like this again. Myss used her own Super when they entered, and she probably doesn’t have it back yet. Every time they eliminate a wave, another comes rushing in, and they can’t avoid them for long enough to be able to focus on putting a dent in the Wizard. They’re out of options.

She can tell Lumo’s reaching his limit, which means Casper probably is too. They need to do something crazy, and Seraph has just the idea for that. She’s not sure if it’ll work, and there’s only one way to find out.

But there’s something she has to do first, just in case.

In the brief calm before the next wave, Seraph pulls Myss aside. She drapes her own cloak over her partner, rips their helmets off, and smiles at the other’s puzzled expression. Wasting no time, she pulls herself up to press her lips against the taller Hunter’s. Myss is shocked and confused, but melts into the kiss immediately.

And then it’s over.

“Get ready to run.” Seraph orders, putting their helmets back in place.

“What?!” Myss yells, grabbing onto the other’s shoulder. “No! I’m not leaving you!”

“You’re not. I’ll be right behind you.” Seraph assures Myss, wanting so desperately to believe that it will be true.

After a breath, Myss moves her hand from Seraph’s shoulder to the top of her head, bringing their helmet-clad heads together with a light thud.

“You better be.” She orders, then releases her partner.

Myss trusts Seraph with whatever crazy idea she has to get them out of this hell, believing that she’ll come out unscathed.

Seraph runs towards the center of the horde, and ultimately towards the Wizard. Myss hangs back by the door, but still fairly inside the room. She’s ready to run like hell once Seraph gets clear, but is also ready to help if she’s needed.

“Myss! Get out of here!” Seraph yells when she notices her partner lingering inside the room. “I’ll hold them off!” She gets to the Wizard’s side and, just as she’s about to attack, Lumo’s pained shrieks ring out through the room, causing the two Guardians to freeze in panic.

{It-It’s got me! Seraph!} Lumo cries as he’s pulled from Seraph and towards the Wizard, the Light visibly draining from his optic. {Seraph! R-Run... Go! I can’t...}

“NO!” Seraph wails as her Ghost is sapped of his Light, catching his empty shell as it fell. “No! Lumo!” Tears stream down her face as she clutches his body to her chest.

Myss is frozen in place, and can feel that Casper is too, having never imagined they would see something so painful in their entire existence. She quickly realizes what this means for Seraph’s fate, and tears begin welling in her eyes. She has to save her partner from that Wizard before it kills her, so she begins running towards them.

“No!” Seraph points at Myss. Bright, pained orange eyes meet her own, melting with her tears. “Get to the City!” She orders, voice breaking. “Live!” The Wizard’s making hand motions again, similar to the ones it made when it took Lumo, and she knows this is the end for her. “I l-”

But those last words never get out, and are instead replaced with her screams as the Wizard performs its ritual.

Myss’ face drops in absolute horror and disbelief as she watches her partner transform - murdered - before her.

“Seraph...?” She quietly calls in desperation, her tears now flowing violently.

“Seraph!” She tries again, her eyes refusing to believe what they saw.

“Seraph, no...” She weeps, falling to her knees as a purple crystal takes her partner’s place, beginning to glow bright with her stolen Light.

“NO!”

The Hunter releases one last angry defiance before hopping up and firing her Shadowshot directly at the Wizard, who disintegrates into violent violet energy with a scream. The remaining ball tethers to the horde of Hive that surrounded its victim, trapping them all where they stood.

The Wizard’s death somehow destroyed the structural stability of the crystal, and Seraph’s stolen Light - Void Light - is exposed and tangible. Myss knows what she has to do.

Wasting no time, she rushes up to where her partner fell, grabs Lumo’s empty shell, tucks Seraph’s Light under her arm, and makes for the exit. Thankfully, the fog on the door has dissipated - likely also controlled by the Wizard - and she’s able to run out the way she came.

Like when she discovered her Super, Myss allows her instincts to guide her out of the Hive-infested Aeroport, as she’s currently incapable of coherent thought. She makes it out after a few minutes, not stopping until her legs give out.

Whether it's the sheer devastation, or the effort it took to summon that small amount of extra Light to call upon her Super, she collapses when she reaches the forest.

Myss never releases the ball of Light that once belonged to Seraph, keeping it tight against her chest. She lets her despair ring out through the forest, wailing in grief for several minutes, rocking back and forth as she holds on to the ball as if her life depended on it.

“S-S-Seraph...” Myss whispers with an extreme shake in her voice. “Y-you id-iot-t-t... W-we.. We we-r-re sup-p-p-osed to...” She can’t bring herself to finish the statement.

“Th-th-thank you-u-u.” She finally resorts to saying, pushing any regret to the back of her mind. Holding the ball against her chest burns, but she ignores it. “Thank you f-f-for s-saving m-m-me one-one last t-time.”

“I l-” She starts, though is unable to complete the heavy statement on the first try. “I lo- I-I l-l-love... l-love you t-t-too. S-so m-much. I-I’ll miss-s-s-s you-u-u.”

Myss knows it’s not the same, but - in lieu of more stuttered words - she places her lips on the ball of Seraph’s Light. It burns, but she welcomes it.

Over the next few moments, the Hunter can feel the size of the ball slowly shrinking, but it never feels like it’s gone. Seraph’s Light still feels the same, though the burning is increasing and concentrated over her chest, directly above where her jewel pendant rested on her breast.

“W-what’s hap-p-pening?” She asks her Ghost, who appears in front of her.

He has to shake off the shock in order to answer his Guardian. [I-I think...] Casper begins, chirping in disbelief. [I think you’re absorbing her Light, Myss - her Void Light.]

“What? H-how...? How is that... am I d-doing that?!” Myss asks as she watches the ball continually shrink.

[I’m not... not sure.] Casper begins a scan of his Guardian, floating a step backwards in confusion. [I... I feel more Light within you than usual, more than what I gave you.] He blinks, his back half spinning as he thought. [I think... The only thing I can think of is that Seraph’s Light must have known it was being held by you, and knew it was safe - that it’d be safe with you and your Light.]

Myss’ tears, though they never stopped, now flow with a new vigor. The Hunter is blinded by the ocean of grief that floods her eyes, but now it’s overwhelmingly mixed with joy, pride, euphoria, and love. Her arms wrap tightly around her torso as the last of Seraph’s light is merged with hers, and the ball disappears. The burn from the process remains in the now glowing crystal that rests on her breast, which she clutches in her hands.

“Thank you, Seraph.” Myss sniffles. “For staying with me.”

A moment passes in which the Hunter breathes deeply to centre herself, but instead she feels a new fire within her, one she hasn’t felt before. She gets to her feet and lifts her head, cocking it in a motion that beckons her Ghost to return to her backpack.

Casper doesn’t question his Guardian, knowing her nerves have steeled and that her mind is clear as they head back towards the Aeroport. She’s determined to succeed, and she will.

Myss returns to the dreaded room calmly and quietly, and is greeted with a chorus of screeches and wails. She can feel a smaller energy - a much hotter burn - form in her palm, and she pitches it towards the oncoming horde, which bursts into bright orange flames on contact.

She relishes in their pained screams and, a few moments later, the horde is dealt with. The Wizard fell at her hands earlier, which means now the Shrieker is the only obstacle she has between her and a ship.

Her Light is making her fingertips burn, and she smiles knowingly. Myss thrusts her arm to the sky, and a brilliant, familiar, flaming pistol forms in her hand.

Her first Golden Gun.

Without missing a beat, Myss aims all shots at the Shrieker’s cracked eye, and it disintegrates into millions of burning embers.

With all the Hive in the room cleared out, Myss can clearly see the entirety of it, and spots a couple ships in the very back of the room - behind where the Shrieker was floating.

They were so close.

Myss clutches her necklace, and approaches the ships.

[This one’s in the best shape.] Casper states of an angular ship after scanning the lot. [Let’s go home.]

The Hunter takes a moment to return to the empty husk that once held Seraph’s transformed frame, and brushes a hand gently along it. She removes her own gray cloak and places it on the shell, her vision going blurry. Myss allows the second wave of grief to take her, wrapping her arms around herself as her tears flow fresh.

Several minutes pass with the Hunter crying quietly next to her partner’s remains, which Casper lets Myss have. He wouldn’t say she’s earned it, but the pair deserved to have a proper goodbye.

The Hunter’s sobs soon morph into a broken, melodic tune, one that Casper was familiar with.

“You’d wink... You'd stare... You’d stop my heart cold. You’d make me feel young, and we’re only days old...” A sniffle, her voice turning thick. “There were so many things we planned to be... And all of you, was loved by me...”

If a Ghost could cry, Casper would. He could feel how heartbroken and devastated his Guardian was, and he wished there was a way he could cheer her up. He knew there wasn’t, at least not right now, but he would try his best with the memories he’d collected over the past few weeks.

But he’d try that another time. The Hunter appears to be calming down, and his highest priority now is getting her safely to the City.

Just by looking at her, by seeing the extra Light she now possessed, he knew Myss now had an angel to watch over her as long as she lived. Well, other than him, of course.

Myss stands a few seconds later, holding Seraph’s gifted cloak tightly, and turns towards her Ghost.

“Let’s go home.”

#destiny #destiny the game #destiny fic #destiny fanfiction #guardian oc #character death #[fic]#[meta]#[taleofmyss]

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