141 – The Sun And The Moon -1
The Tower of Trials content has officially ended. This is because all resources had to be diverted to the TRPG that was about to open.
Numerous martial artists had to be simulated, and above all, it cost a lot to operate the new module. That’s why participation was limited to one person. It seemed like two people would overload it.
What is the new module?
It’s called the ‘Enlightenment Assist Device’.
Martial arts require enlightenment. It would be a shame if there were no main characters who realized and moved forward. However, isn’t enlightenment something that can be done at will?
The stage could be created at any time.
The day before the public duel with the black curtain, where he risked his girlfriend, honor, pride, and destiny, creating such a situation was easier than turning over his palm. But what if… the player doesn’t get any significant enlightenment at that point?
It’s not like the black curtain can win and then have a bad ending, but if Deus Ex Machina suddenly appears and ends all the events, that would be very disappointing.
So I created a module that boosts enlightenment. It doesn’t support many functions because it’s in its early stages, but…
For now, it’s just a matter of displaying the estimated time until the user overcomes the next wall, the appropriate stimuli needed, the level of understanding for each herbivore, and recommended martial arts.
Based on that analysis, I just have to prepare the appropriate events.
By the way, the Enlightenment Assist Device cannot calculate allegories.
In fact, I originally tried to create an allegory assist device. But if I tried to calculate that, my head would probably explode. The human mind has endless variables.
I can push them, but no one knows what the result will be.
The modeling is done, and I have a rough idea of the concept.
The Battle of the Righteous Demons ended with the masters of the righteous faction becoming one with the Heavenly Demons. The Demonic Cult returned to their home base, the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, and the Righteous Faction survived, though they were badly wounded.
Broken buildings, family elders who disappeared without passing on their martial arts, evil forces thriving in the midst of the chaos… many storms followed, but what was the point of saving their lives?
If they had not stopped the Heavenly Demons, the name of the Righteous Faction itself would have been erased.
Thus, twenty years have passed since the Demonic Cult disappeared into the back alleys of history. The Righteous Faction has found its own stability. A new order has come. However, strange rumors begin to review from time to time.
It was a ghost story that the Demonic Cult had reappeared.
In the midst of all this, the player meets a beautiful woman being chased by the remnants of the Demonic Cult in the forest…
Okay.
Now all I have to do is open it. If Envers is the player, I can go with the basic scenario, and if Luna is the player, I can go with the scenario that ‘the Demonic Cult wasn’t that bad after all’ .
So I hope the player gives me an answer soon…
Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump.
My legs were shaking on their own. Yesterday, I asked her if she wanted to play TRPG, and Luna backed away, saying that she would think about it slowly with Envers. In her previous life, this meant ‘no’ with a 50% probability.
Was it really a subtle roundabout rejection?
No, no. They… seemed to be very interested in martial arts. A tour of a different world called Murim, where people use martial arts on a daily basis. I thought it was tempting, but was I the only one who thought so?
Was my sales pitch lacking? Should I have pulled more aggro by giving her more information about Murim? Would it have been different if I had given her a spicy treat by telling her that she would be wearing a very nice cheongsam?
I explained that it was an illusion magic recreated based on the data extracted from the Heavenly Demons, but did I put too much MSG in it? Should I have just said that it was a virtual experience created from my imagination?Or did I not add enough MSG? Should I have made it like the Bennetts, where I firmly grasp the concept and tell you that you are needed to prevent the destruction of the martial arts world?
Should I have just said that I’m opening a tower climbing item?
Pingvalez tapped my shoulder, which was shaking as I became a human vibrator. Was she trying to comfort me?
“Why are you trembling so much? If the students don’t do it, open the dungeon for me. Crazy wizard. I’d like three heroines.”
It wasn’t comfort, but a pursuit of personal desires. I raised my voice at Pingvalez’s bold harem declaration.
“You’re a pure-hearted person, but you’re a demon!”
“Isn’t it fantasy magic? In the end, it’s data. Just like you don’t use only one cup because you’re pure, I don’t intend to pursue purity even for things that aren’t human. Please prepare heroines by breast size.”
“…If the martial arts session explodes.”
“Yay.”
Pingvalez was absorbing modern artifacts at a terrifying speed on the modern map. Yesterday, I woke up in a panic when she said, “Oni-chan, if you don’t wake up now, you’ll be late.”
Even if she’s not strong in combat, if she’s backed by a deep understanding of various genres, how can I fight her? Is it really the only way to lose to Pingvalez?
What’s even scarier is that I…
I’m starting to accept that losing to Pingvalez is a daily occurrence. After being gradually pushed back in the power struggle, we were on the verge of establishing a superior-subordinate relationship.
This can’t go on. Where on earth is the starting point for a reversal?…?
I asked the person who knew Pingvalez best with a serious face.
“Hey, Pingvalez. Don’t you have any weaknesses?”
“Are you asking me that?”
“You know your own weaknesses best. This isn’t me asking about your erogenous zones.”
“I’m weak to tickling. It’s not about my erogenous zones.”
While we were chatting.
BAM!!
My lab door opened with a loud bang. Red hair fluttered. It was Selvier, the Red Tower’s wizard and master of drying clothes, who showed up with a spoonful of rudeness.
She had an expression that was 30% suspicion, 10% anger, 40% frustration, and 20% of some unknown emotion.
“You!!”
“Oh, Red Tower is here. What’s wrong? Your face is pale.”
“Envers has become an alcoholic! After seeing something that was either a celestial horse or a dark horse…!! Did you do something strange?! Niored too-“
“No, my player──!!”
I jumped up from my seat and screamed.
Are you saying that my martial artist has become a drunkard? I can’t accept such a future. I put on my hood upside down and went out of the lab.
“Guide me! And explain the situation in detail…!”
“…?? Okay, for now. So, um, going back, there’s this black market in the academy…”
Selvier muttered about things outside my field of vision.
—- —-
After the Tower of Trials content ended.
The entrance magic circle had been demolished, but the building space itself remained. So the Envers party often visited this place to meet.
As they climbed the tower, they became quite close and became friends.
Selvier brought a basket of deliciously warmed bread and beamed. Luna was practicing martial arts, and Envers was nowhere to be seen. Selvier narrowed her eyes and asked.
“Where’s Envers?”
“Drinking.”
“Again?”
“Again.”After witnessing the Heavenly Demon, he began to suffer from lovesickness.
At some point, he began to carry a bottle of alcohol by his side and started drinking heavily. Selvier had seen someone like that on the rooftop. Someone who had hit a wall in their talent and was frustrated.
And then, a few days later, his whereabouts became unknown. It was easy to guess where he was wandering. Either a bar or the academy black market.
Oh dear. Selvier let out a deep sigh.
“I really don’t understand.”
“I agree.”
“Isn’t it a good thing to hit a wall? You can keep trying and break it someday. Just the act of challenging it should be meaningful!”
“I agree, but only half.”
Luna shook her head. Selvier and Luna were the type of people who didn’t get discouraged easily even when they saw a wall, but there was a slight difference between the two.
Selvier had learned from his childhood friend not to be afraid of walls. He said that as you go through life, you will always encounter walls, but that doesn’t mean they define you.
He had heard that as long as you don’t stop knocking on the wall, you can always be a cool person. So──Selvier never stopped challenging himself.
He was like a runaway train that would keep hitting the wall, whether it broke or not.
Luna was a little different. She enjoyed the wall itself. She would pick up a brush and paint a picture on the wall, or scratch it to make a sculpture, or mark how tall she was.
To her, the wall was no different from a large canvas. If she kept at it, she would eventually find a handhold to grab onto, and before she knew it, she would have chased over it.
For those who enjoy it, there is no stress.
Selvier and Luna put their heads together and pondered. How could they solve Envers’ possession?
“First, we need to get him to stop drinking. We need to make him understand that he can’t think straight, and that it’s better to do something than to just sit around and brood.”
“Resume the strategy. Give him a challenge. That’s the answer.”
The sun and the moon gave slightly different answers to the same question.
—- —-
The Mad Mage crossed his arms and shook his head.
“So you’re saying you’re going to the black market?”
“Yes. I think he might be there. We need to get him out of there first.”
“The environment is important⋯⋯ That’s right. A healthy mind comes from a healthy lifestyle. It’s best to start by getting him to stop drinking, eating well, and sleeping well.”
“I know, right?”
Even a normal person can go crazy in an unhealthy environment. Nara must have thought so too. The Mad Mage thought so to himself, and inwardly increased his affinity for Selvier by 3 points.
It was like, well, what was it like?
“And by the way, that… black market place. I don’t like the feeling of it.”
“Feeling?”
“Yes. It smells like my hometown.”
“…Hometown, you say? Hmm.”
The Mad Mage seemed to be thinking deeply about something. In his mind, he could see the suspicious circumstantial evidence he had found on his way home. Like the human trafficking situation.
It was highly likely that it was not a normal village. If it smelled like that village, then the black market place must be something out of the ordinary.
He even felt a strange sense of destiny. The Mage clenched his fist around the dice and made up his mind.
Seeing this, Selvier asked with concern.
“…But isn’t it okay to not go with the other professors? I mean, I understand that you don’t want to make a fuss… but what if they attack you?”
“It’s okay. I’m⋯⋯ strong!”
“You said you couldn’t tell a fable.””The idea that the fable determines everything in a battle… is an outdated way of thinking.”
The wizard was prepared. And of course, he had insurance. Wasn’t there a butterfly flying quietly around?
Selvier glanced at the crazy wizard suspiciously, but he thought he must have something prepared. He had shown countless strange things in his class.
The students who reached the fable were also amazed by the extreme of illusion magic.
His skills had been proven enough over the past hours, so some people suspected, ‘Did he actually do the fable and pretend to be out of breath?’
Walking through the damp tunnel.
The wizard frowned. There was no reason for it to be so humid and damp. If this was an artificially created environment, he could think of a few traps.
“Like Eulji Mundeok.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Thump, thump. After the sound of footsteps echoed for a while, a narrow cavity appeared and the view opened up a little. Several dilapidated buildings and facilities were quite secretive.
As he entered the secret tavern, a woman with a hood over her head welcomed him with a nasal voice. Her subtle gaze scanned the wizard.
“Oh my, you came with a guest this time…?”
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“Hey, Enbus… the guy I was with last time. Haven’t you seen him?”
“Hmm, I haven’t seen him.”
“……”
Selvier was a little confused. He suspected it was a lie, but she answered so calmly. He couldn’t read any signs of a lie in her eyes.
On the other hand, the crazy wizard snapped his fingers and said.
“Lie.”
“…Lie? I, that’s…”
“I can hear your heartbeat from 30 meters away. I don’t want to fight, so tell me honestly. Where is my spare player?”
“…It was the guest’s request. That boy asked not to meet anyone. So I had no choice but to tell a white lie. Please understand.”
Without a word, the crazy wizard passed the landlady and went up the stairs to the second floor. And a moment later, he came down carrying Enbus, whose face was flushed and who had fainted.
The wizard said to the landlady without even looking at her.
“Let’s go.”
“…Yes, Professor.”
“I’ll be waiting for your next visit… guest.”
The wizard left without answering. Selvier looked at the landlady and the wizard in turn, and soon followed him.
The landlady watched the three people leaving and… laughing.
The trap was set. The boy wouldn’t be able to escape.
—- —-
Plague.
“Eww, that’s a succubus. It’s not strong.”
“What?!”
Selvier was startled and asked back, then covered his mouth with both hands. And he kept looking back, wondering if something like a dark stalker was following him.
I told him to relax.
“It’s a succubus, there’s no pursuit, and this guy… seems to be under some kind of charm. The technique is obvious. He must have given a subtle hint when he was drunk. After all, I didn’t catch everything .”
“…What the hell is going on at the academy?”
“A tough guy is preparing something like a summoning ritual. Red Tower, if you see any suspicious magic circles around, report them.”
“…Summoning ritual…?”
She seemed a little shocked by the evil shadow cast over the academy. I was shocked too. What the hell, is there a secret underground facility in the academy?It seems like the work of a dark wizard. There’s no way a succubus who’s just plain crazy would be selling alcohol in the academy’s basement.
I could have turned it upside down right now.
However, I decided to leave some room for it, as it seemed like it would only end with my tail being cut off. That succubus girl… She put a chemical mark on me. It’s similar to the ten-thousand-mile tracking Incense in martial arts.
Perhaps she intends to invade my dreams in the middle of the night, but that moment will be the end of her succubus life. Just you wait.
I’ll squeeze out every last drop of information and pull out her roots.
I came out of the tunnel, threw Envers on the academy’s outdoor bench, and said to Selvier.
“I’m leaving this here. I have some work to do. Instead, please take care of her mental health. I’ll give you a gift.”
I was going to take charge of Envers’ mental health myself, but I just had some work to do, and it’s more efficient for a classmate to do this.
“…I was thinking of doing that anyway.”
“Here, this note has all of her family history written on it. Refer to it.”
“…??”
Selvier’s expression changed awkwardly. It seemed like she was asking why I knew that.
I didn’t bother to answer.