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＜ 12. Into the Rift (13) ＞
“… How did you avoid Bloody Armageddon ?”
Though he couldn’t say anything, Andrea read Bagratu’s eyes. His eyes full of questions about why his attack didn’t work .
“ I took precautions in case you got blind. Do you know what this is ?”
Andrea pulled out an amulet that had yellowed from use. Bagratu’s eyes widened as he recognized what it was .
An amulet of blinking, an item that allows you to teleport to the attached location only once .
Bagratu realized what had happened. Andrea intentionally released the shadow concealment and provoked it, and then leisurely teleported the moment Bagratu activated the skill .
It was an incomparable ploy. Andrea would never have been able to avoid the attack if he had found the amulet and destroyed it when he opened his eyes .
However, Andrea made it impossible to find the talisman with a clever psychological warfare. I deliberately dusted the floor so that I could look at my location, and then I deliberately released the shadow concealment so that I could not turn my attention to anything else .
Bagratu laughed bitterly inwardly. Looking back, Jung-hyeon always fought battles like this. Even knowing that, it was entirely his fault .
‘… I thought I would be able to crush them even if they met with leveled abilities in the rift, no matter what tricks they used… I guess I was arrogant .’
Andrea opened her mouth as if she had seen through him .
“ I never thought I would lose. Because you are overwhelmingly stronger than me in every way .”
Andrea paused for a while and looked straight into his eyes .
“ But, as you know, I have far more experience fighting opponents who are overwhelmingly stronger than I have experience fighting weak enemies .”
“…”
“ Of course, if we had met outside the rift, we wouldn’t have been able to win… If you climbed to the 160th floor, wouldn’t your strength be close to 300? If it had been outside, wouldn’t it have died if we had just blown it away as soon as we met ?”
Andrea added a laugh to his own words. At the same time, he secretly observed the reaction of the other side. Bagratu’s eyes were glazed over with defeat, but they were still filled with humiliation and anger .
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Now that you’ve done everything you can to explain, it’s time to break down Bagratu’s misguided hatred .
“… Do you really think that the reason you had to suffer so continuously was entirely because of me ?”
“…”
“ It is a sin to harm someone without even knowing it. But I really didn’t have the slightest clue that you were actually in the game and suffering .”
“…”
“… In the first place, it’s something I can’t understand with the common sense of the world I came from. If I had known that fact at all, I would have stopped playing the game right away .”
short silence. Bagratu wanted to cover his ears and ignore everything Andrea said, but against his will, his head chewed through every word .
“ Don’t you think that, in this case, the root of all the fault is the one who created the situation in the first place? You wouldn’t have known that either. It’s just… you didn’t have the strength to reach that person, so you must have turned your anger on me who was easy enough .”
“…!”
“… If you are a true Atala warrior who knows honor, I think you should feel ashamed of that part at least .”
Bagratu blinked his eyes, then gnashed his teeth, then put on a bitter expression. Confused emotions swirled inside. He could never deny that .
Andrea looked at it, then suddenly lowered her head .
“ Nevertheless, I am really sorry. Now that I, too, have to climb this dungeon… I know how desperate your journey has been. Even when you die, you forget what kind of journey you have taken …”
“…”
“… There is a saying among the Atala people that an apology spoken only in words is more fleeting than a ephemera’s life. So instead of just apologizing, let me swear an oath .”
Andrea raised her head again and took a step forward .
“ If you meet the person who created this dungeon, pushed you into the bridle of pain, and brought me into this world, I will definitely give you a shot. Whatever way it is .”
After Bagratu heard that, his eyes widened, but then he closed them and did not open them again. This one-sided conversation was making me miserable .
What is honor, and what is a proud warrior of the Atala tribe? He realized that he was nothing more than a small man who, upon encountering an enemy he could not help, was terrified and turned an arrow of resentment at others .
On the contrary, he who does not give in to any formidable enemy, apologizes for his wrongdoing even if it was not his intention, and swears to take responsibility for his actions .
Of course, saying that doesn’t make the moments when Bagratu was treated like a toy disappear. However, looking at Andrea’s sincere attitude, I could feel that what she said earlier was by no means a lie .
If I had known that fact even a little bit, I would have quit the game right away .
. . .
That was enough. The eyes of Bagratu, who lifted his eyelids, did not contain the same hatred as before .
That is, until he looked at the object in Andrea’s hand .
“ I’m sorry, but I have to take this. I used up all the rift stones preparing to face you.”
A subspace pouch that stretches heavily and makes a creaking sound whenever you touch it .
It was a subspace bag that Bagratu used to contain the rift stone .
‘… When the hell did you steal it ?’
When I thought about it, there was a point where I guessed. The feeling of something passing behind you when blinded. At that time, I thought I was mistaken and swung the axe, but I just avoided the axe, and it seems that I really came back and stole it at that time .
‘… There’s no such thing as a thief class .’
He was angry for a moment, but soon calmed down. Anyway, he is now unable to come or go. We’ll have to stay here until the rift closes and space collapses. If that’s the case, it would have been better to hand the crack stone to the person who said he was going to ‘take a shot’ .
However, something unexpected came from Andrea .
“… It will take some time, but there is a way out of there .”
“…!”
“ But before I tell you, I have a question. If you answer all the questions correctly, I’ll show you how. It’s probably hard to say, but you should be able to move your mouth .”
Bagratu moved his mouth as Andrea said. Although it felt like I was forcibly squeezing my paralyzed facial muscles, it wasn’t impossible to move .
“ First of all, what is the identity of the person you met on the 100th floor? Is that person really… the dark master who orchestrated everything that is happening in this world ?”
Bagratu kept his mouth shut. The look of concern was evident. Andrea waited patiently .
After a while, Bagratu began to move his mouth unnaturally. Andrea hadn’t learned how to read her lips, but she focused her senses and tried to interpret what was being said .
‘ Is n’t that… that ?’
“ What, then who the hell did you meet on the 100th floor ?”
‘ I can’t speak… I can’t .’
“ Why ?”
‘… because it could be harmful to that person… ‘
It was something I couldn’t understand at all. If you knew the truth about this world, you would at least be someone who was deeply involved in this world, but just giving out your name could harm you ?
I repeatedly asked him to tell me what he was talking about, but Bagratu kept his mouth shut after that. A stubborn attitude that doesn’t seem to speak even if it dies. Andrea had no choice but to ask another question .
“ Yes, ha, aside from that… Next question. Why did you bother to lock me in the rift? Wouldn’t it have been much easier if you killed me outside or, no, even here? Why did you go through the cumbersome process of kidnapping Priest Emilia and killing all the NPCs to keep me alive ?”
Certainly, as Andrea said, there was something strange about Bagratu’s actions. To have a rage that would kill you right away, but take the relatively benign solution of never killing you and locking you in the rift? All I could think of was that there was a reason .
Bagratu opened his mouth again after a long time .
‘ Because killing… has no meaning .’
“ What ?”
‘ That’s all… that’s it… The pain I felt when I was abandoned in the rift… I wish you had felt …
Andrea tilted her head for a moment, but then agreed. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Bagratu just wanted to repay Andrea for the pain he had suffered in the game .
When he hadn’t grasped the rift yet, Jeong-hyeon had left Bagratu in the rift for a long time .
It was a waste to erase something, but it was too weak to go around breaking quests. At that time, Bagratu was like Gyereuk. So, Andrea just left Bagratu in one of the character slots .
‘ As expected… No matter what happens, you won’t forget your grudge and grace .’
Although the most important question was answered in an ambiguous manner, Andrea was fortunate to receive a proper answer to even one of them .
If the rest of the questions could have been answered by threatening not to tell her how to get out, Andrea would have done so .
However, the opponent was a person who did not work for such tricks .
“ After ….”
Can I really tell this person how to get out of the rift ?
The answer given by reason was, of course, ‘no’. Bagratu didn’t even answer the question properly, and there was no guarantee that he wouldn’t hurt himself again. It is a case of releasing a tiger that was captured with great effort without any countermeasures .
If he later came face to face with Bagratu outside the rift, he would not be the only one in danger. I would definitely face it with my party, but if that happened, it was clear that everyone would be involved in the battle .
The results were not difficult to predict. It is undoubtedly a massacre. Outside the rift, there was no way to defeat Bagratu at all costs .
However, the unknown feeling of debt and the intuition that it would be okay continued to urge Andrea. The sense of indebtedness also stemmed from the fact that Bagratu was partly responsible for this. Even if there was no intention, it can’t be helped that the mind is disturbed after seeing the victim anyway .
Intuition stemmed from the fact that Bagratu was an honorable warrior, fully aware that his hatred had gone astray. There was no clear guarantee, but Andrea thought that even if he freed Bagratu here, he wouldn’t suddenly attack him .
In these situations, Andrea usually followed the rational solution without hesitation. But this time, the worry was long. Reason and intuition in a tight confrontation .
After a long time, Andrea finally made up her mind .
“ The promise was obviously to tell you how to get released if you answered all the questions correctly, right? I will keep my word .”
In any case, it was an enemy who tried for his life once. Even if the possibility was extremely low, I couldn’t leave behind any regrets because of my petty sympathy .
It was a triumph of reason .
＜ 12. Into the cracks (13) ＞ End