＜ 24. Goinmul is too good at mangkae (2) ＞
Khalissis pierced her own chest with the staff in her hand.
The floor was stained with blood as he groaned, and drops of blood ran down the cane. Emilia involuntarily took a deep breath. It was a wound close to a fatal wound.
Callices smiled helplessly as she looked at Andrea and the others.
“Ugh, it can’t be an obstacle… blocking your path. Step on Jim’s corpse and move on.”
In an unexpected situation, the party just stood there, not knowing what to do. However, Andrea’s face did not reveal a hint of confusion. On the contrary, he was looking at Khalisis with eyes filled with certain conviction.
“Andrea. Um, uh… what should I do?”
Emilia’s question. Since the boss chose to die on his own, it could never be bad for Andrea and the others. However, since the target was the alter ego of the god Andrea worshiped, it was impossible to be happy.
Andrea quietly turned her head toward the party. And said in a very low voice.
‘Everyone stay still. Don’t move until I give you a signal. And Emilia… use ‘that card’ when I gesture.’
I don’t know why, but I nod my head as if I understand. Andrea then took a card in her hand and slowly made her way towards Khalisis.
Although it was only a short moment, Andrea almost came to understand the situation.
It was Khalicis who had helped Andrea with the best of his abilities, both mentally and physically. It was not at all unnatural for him to choose his own death to help Andrea on her way to become the Administrator.
However, Andrea did not forget the essence of Calisis. In fact, the narration that came out as soon as I entered gave me a big hint.
‘…If I tried to read the numbers recklessly, I would end up being helpless.’
As Andrea thinks, Khalisis was testing him.
She is the guardian of tricksters and the god of secrets and intrigue. He must have thought that if he was his own apostle, he should be a trickster rather than a trickster.
In order to take advantage of an opponent’s trap, you must first pretend to fall into it. Andrea, who arrived next to Khalisis, put on a mixed expression of gratitude, astonishment, and bitterness.
“Thank you, Callices. Even though you’re just an alter ego, you sacrificed this much for me…”
“Ugh…don’t worry about it. You don’t mind the burden… you just have to walk your way with honesty.”
“And sorry. Because I can’t be fooled.”
Andrea erased the expression she was acting on. Callices raises her eyebrows and smiles crookedly. Andrea summoned the card in her hand, ‘Polar Dawn’, and threw it at Khalisis.
The sword cut through the air. The form of Khalisis dissipated like mist, and then she reappeared on the throne. As if to prove that the appearance just before was false, there was no penetrating wound, and he looked fine.
“great. To suspect even Jim and not be vigilant until the end.”
“Whose apostle am I, do you mind?”
The corners of Khalisis’ mouth rose high. It was the biggest smile I had ever seen. But soon, he straightened up again, erased his expression, and gave strength to the hand holding the staff.
“However, if you do not have the strength to face the enemy, even that keen insight will be meaningless. How are you going to block Jim’s next attack?”
Kung-!
As Khalissis slammed the floor with her staff, the air split from the ceiling and charred fireballs began to fall. Andrea hurriedly sent a signal to Emilia.
“Emilia, now!”
“yes!”
Thanks to the effect of the Legend-grade equipment ‘Necklace of the Chosen One’, Emilia was able to find the card she wanted immediately. As soon as she received Andrea’s signal, she played the card without delay.
“The Origin of Invincibility!”
Kwagwagidae – !
bang!!
A brightly shining translucent orb-shaped protective shield surrounded Andrea and the others. The fireballs that touched the shield caused a violent explosion, but never hit the inside. In fact, any attack would not be able to harm Andrea and the others.
‘[Legendary] Origin of Invincibility ++ (3 cost): Makes one ally invincible for 10 seconds.’
Because Andrea and the others were completely invincible right now.
Originally, only one person could be invincible with this card, but now the entire party could benefit from the effect of the artifact “Forty-Fingered Grasp” owned by Emilia. The black fireballs did not even reach Andrea and the others, causing only empty explosions.
Moments later, Khaleesis struck the floor again with her staff, and the split air closed, ending the attack. At the same time, the protective shield disappears. Callices looked at Andrea in wonder and stroked her chin with her free hand.
“To react so promptly. Did you expect Jim to attack you?”
“…I thought that if it was Calisis-sama, he would be able to do that.”
“There is nothing wrong with it. Yes, the pointless test will suffice. With your wisdom and strength, you will surely… be able to stab the Administrator with a dagger.”
If that was the case, I would be extremely satisfied. Khalicis just wondered how Andrea would stand up to him without the power bestowed upon him. With the Administrator’s authority, it wouldn’t be a matter of erasing the blessings he bestowed upon him.
And Khalicis had to admit that he had overlooked one fact. Andrea’s most powerful weapon is not the power she gave her, but the wit and quickness to find a way out in the face of any crisis.
Read from noble mtl dot com
Now it was the clever apostle’s turn to get out of the way to face the Administrator.
Khalisis stabs herself in the chest with her staff again. The staff pierced the heart, and red blood was splattered over the throne. A crescent moon smile still hung on his lips.
The scenery was similar to the previous one, but there was a crucial difference. Andrea knew. This time, it wasn’t an illusion, but that Khalisis really chose death.
“…you’re just an alter ego anyway, so I’ll try not to feel too guilty.”
Khalisis leaned back on the throne and nodded slowly.
“Yeah, that’s how it should be. But in the cold, deep abode of rest… I will wait for you to return with good news…”
The alter ego of Khalisis turned into black smoke and then rose and dispersed into the air. Still, a part of the god she worshiped had disappeared, so Andrea briefly bowed in silence, at least formally.
After a while, a translucent window appeared in front of Andrea’s eyes.
[You have cleared the challenge ‘Skilled Challenger, Andrea’. (Condition: Clear the 100th floor of the dungeon in level 25 of the ordeal as Andrea)]
[Achievements: 286 / 287]
[You have cleared all the challenges except the last one, and have met the conditions to see the ending.]
[The portal to the ‘source’ is opened.]
It was a very disconcerting sight. Even though I know in my heart that this world is a world within a game, there has never been a case where the game-like part of this world has been revealed so directly. The moment when you realize that this is really the world inside the game.
But, on the other hand, it was also familiar. Park Jung-hyun’s memory inside Andrea had seen this window every time he cleared a challenge one by one.
‘Now it’s really time to see the end.’
blah blah blah blah-
Parching!
The air cracked as if a window was cracked, and a large portal that had never been seen before appeared. Golden streams raging like a storm. Beyond that was an unknown space that even Andrea had never been before.
When I looked to the side, all of my colleagues were already approaching. They gazed at the great portal in a half-dreamlike mood. It looked like it would get sucked in if you just stared at it.
Meanwhile, Trisha suddenly came to her senses and looked at Andrea.
“Andrea, Calisis-sama’s alter ego is…”
“Yes, it destroyed itself.”
“Then what is this portal…?”
“It must be a portal to the space where the administrator is. I’m not sure, but I think it’s called ‘source’.”
Source. It could have been an appropriate name. Since this world started with dungeons and administrators, it wouldn’t be too wrong to say that the space he lived in was the source of this world.
“Nu, it’s dazzling. What is this…”
Mimic reached out toward the portal as if possessed. However, the portal repelled his hand as if resolutely denying Mimic entry.
“Ah!”
“oh! Are you okay, Mr. Mimic?”
Emilia asked in a worried voice. Mimic waved her hand in a sign that it was okay.
“Wow, it’s okay. However, it seems that the Mimic cannot enter.”
“… I guess that’s the same for me.”
Trisha also tried putting her hand into the portal, but it bounced out of her own accord. The same goes for Emilia, who belatedly tried it. Except for Andrea, no one in the group was able to enter the portal.
‘…Actually, it’s not obvious. The entry condition is to clear all the challenges, but I’m the only one who did that.’
Andrea explained to the group that they would have to go alone. The group could not hide their embarrassment at the unexpected situation. Trisha and Emilia look at each other with concern.
Tricia let out a deep sigh and carefully opened her mouth.
“Are you okay, Andrea? To have to face the manager alone…”
“Because it is unavoidable. I have to do my best now And······.”
Maybe this will be the last time. Andrea studied Trisha, Emilia, and Mimic for a while.
Colleagues who always believed in me and followed me, even when I made reckless plans or did absurd things. I felt like I would regret it forever if I didn’t say thank you to them.
“Thank you so much for all of you who believed in me and followed me this far. I would never have come this far without you all… I’ve been through a lot of incredibly unlucky things all the way up the dungeon, but I think I’ve been lucky enough to meet good friends. I’m not here right now… including Marco.”
Silence passed. Trisha, who had been staring blankly at Andrea, hurriedly rubbed her eyes as if she was filled with emotion. Emilia blushed at the same time. Mimick flicked his tongue as if he was embarrassed by this atmosphere.
As time passed and her emotions subsided, Trisha threw a tantrum for no reason. His voice was still wet, though.
“No… why are you like someone you’ll never see again? Such a greeting, come back after all the journeys and do it again. Officially.”
“…Tricia unnie is right. Andrea, you must come back safely… if you don’t come back… I won’t let you go.”
Andrea smiled bitterly and nodded. I don’t know how he didn’t let me go when I couldn’t come back, but it didn’t feel too bad to have people worrying about me. I couldn’t promise that I would be able to return safely.
It was time to leave, but before that, I had to prepare a few more things. A plan conspired with the developer to kill the manager for real, not pretending to kill. The key preparations for that plan would lie under the treasure chest on this floor.
As expected, Andrea was able to find a heavy subspace bag under the treasure chest. After putting it into her arms, Andrea walked towards the Mimic.
“Mimic, before we leave, there’s something you can help with.”
“Keureuk, just talk, Master. what’s going on?”
“Wait, can you stand in front of me without moving?”
Andrea pulled out an item from her subspace pocket. It was a reward obtained by killing Ose before.
‘[ ] (cost): .’
A card with nothing written on it.
Andrea naturally thought it was some kind of card, but David, the developer, told him the truth.
It was a relic. An artifact that can be converted into a usable card under certain conditions.
‘If you use it on a mimic, you’ll get the most important card in our plan. Mimic actually met Andrea-san to create that card.’
‘…then how should I use it?’
‘All you have to do is bring it to the Mimic. then···.’
Andrea brought the card to the Mimic as David instructed. Then, a brief flash of light burst out of the card for a moment, and letters began to be engraved quickly as if someone was typing. Mimic just stood there with a puzzled look on his face, not knowing what was going on.
Andrea finally reads the effect of the completed card. This, too, was as David explained. Andrea took a deep breath, calmed down, and put the card into the deck.
“Enough, Mimic. .
Andrea moved towards the portal. I could feel the eyes staring at me from behind.
Even if the farewell was short, it didn’t matter. Whether this plan succeeds or fails, they will share their fate anyway. However, fearing that if she looked back, she would fall into sentimental thoughts without her knowledge, Andrea stepped into the portal, looking only forward.
Tricia wanted to say goodbye one more time, but Andrea was leaving in a hurry, so Trisha was delayed by a beat. The words she hadn’t been able to convey escaped from her mouth like a lament.
“You must come back alive, Andrea…”
As if Emilia was going to be okay, she held Tricia’s trembling hand tightly.