abcnovels
349 - 7? 'Frenzied' Orlando (Continued)
349 - 7? 'Frenzied' Orlando (Continued)
349 - 7? 'Frenzied' Orlando (Continued)
TL/Editor: raei
Schedule: 5/week
Illustrations: Posted in discord
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That is dangerous.
As ruler of the empire, with lightning-grasping talons and the highest-soaring wings... and the fierce sense of crisis detectable by the beastly instincts still lingering in her flesh, the Harpy Empress inexplicably posed a question to her fourth daughter, Podarge, who stood with the humans.
"Mother! You must finish off that monster with your own hands! Quickly, use the heavenly lightning!"
"Podarge-!"
However, the response was not what she desired. Though born late and pushed down the line of succession, she had thought Podarge a clever child. But this was not cleverness on display, rather madness masquerading as such.
Unable to understand her fourth daughter's behavior, she turned to question the human vermin beside her instead.And those became the last words the Harpy Empress could leave for her daughter as the empire's leader.
As she glared fiercely at the humans around her, demanding an answer after scolding her daughter, the blunt teeth of a human suddenly sank into the Harpy Empress's nape.
Though flatter and duller than a carnivore's fangs... when those teeth overflow with red aura, it's a different story entirely.
Orlando, who had emerged from underground and torn the monster to shreds to create mana stones, had leaped silently and clung to the empress's back.
"Huh, huuh?"
"The monster is dead! Mother should have struck it down with lightning!"
The Harpy Empress thrashed about like a victim in a monster movie. Her massive body and wings, far larger than other harpies befitting a boss monster, flapped helplessly.
Watching as a spirit, it was like seeing a huge pigeon caught by a predator smaller than itself.
As red feathers fluttered and the Harpy Empress's screams and spasmodic lightning burst forth, Han Se-ah began to run without hesitation.
The chat flooded with question marks and lols as she suddenly bolted, abandoning the Harpy Princess who muttered like a genuine psychopath about needing to kill the monster with lightning to save face with the ancestors in front of the dying empress.
"Where are you going, Hanna?! And what about that? Why is Roland acting like this?"
"I don't know either, so let's grab the boss loot first and then figure it out!"
"Huh, huuh?"
-Is it normal that she looks more like a rogue than a mage at times like this?
-Well, considering how she uses bombs and commits terrorism, you could say she's basically an armed robber
-lolol run like hell, it's obvious that once the Harpy Empress dies, you're next
-Shouldn't we send back the stone dwarf first? They'll probably turn into a sand dwarf soon
-Betting points on whether Teacher Roland will split Han Se-ah's head open or not?
The mission money piled up at a terrifying rate, already surpassing three thousand, and there were even overseas tycoons repeatedly donating 9.99 million won due to the 10 million won donation limit... but who could focus on that right now?
A monstrous figure completely enveloped in bloody aura was killing the boss by biting, not with punches or strangulation.
The one silver lining was that unlike the tentacle monster whose tentacles were severed and innards exposed, the Harpy Empress who hastily took flight and twisted her body seemed like she might hold out for a while. Having preserved her health by flying in the sky without taking a single hit, she looked like she could endure for quite some time.
"Aaaaargh-! Let go, I said let go! Insolent human!!"
Of course, hearing her screams and the thunder, it didn't seem like she could last long. Still, seeing her fly up and struggle while wrapping lightning around her body, it seemed she might have over half her health left.
The frightening part was that he clung to the thrashing Harpy Empress's body, relying solely on his bite force and absorbing the lightning with his body.
'When will this wear off...? At this rate, will Han Se-ah's body get sliced up next, leading to a game over and reset to morning?'
Han Se-ah tried to loot while fleeing, the Harpy Empress struck herself with lightning, my body refused to let go of her nape, the stone dwarf slave fled in panic back out of the imperial palace, the psychopathic princess circled the Harpy Empress, and the chat descended into chaos.
"Human adventurer! Don't do this! Grant Mother an honorable death instead!"
"Aaaaargh-! You mad bitches and bastards!"
"Surely you, a human, won't devour the heavenly lightning too?!"
Amidst this mayhem, I slowly sorted through the situation.
If there's one thing I misjudged, it's about the awakening skill. I thought you only learn it after becoming 7?, but it's the opposite. You temporarily awaken to 7? when you use the awakening skill under certain conditions.
So it was an awakening skill because it makes you awaken... What an absurd balance.
Seeing how he's withstanding the lightning strikes, it seems his health has refilled too. A tank that transforms into a full-health dealer when at low HP?
If I hadn't drawn this character and possessed him in Heroes Chronicle, I'd probably be the king of the arena for a mere million won by now, savoring the wails of the doormats in the Heroines Chronicle gallery as they search for the game developer's parents and my parents beyond the clouds.
'What should I do now? Nothing happens even if I overlap... Should I just wait 5 or 10 minutes like with the holy sword?'
My body, which took less than 5 minutes to slice and kill one boss, was now mauling one in seconds. Just in case, I flew up and tried overlapping with my body, but the flapping wings and flashing lightning only hurt my eyes without returning me to my body.
As I floated in the air, pondering what to do, the hologram window that had been flickering finally stabilized.
[Streamer 'Help Han Se-ah']
[Help Han Se-ah]
[With the awakening skill]
[Use the awakening skill to deal with the boss 1/1 CLEAR]
[Reward: Interview]
---
Raei Translations
---
Ah, an unfamiliar ceiling.
Actually, there's nothing that could be called a ceiling, and I've been here once before, but suddenly I felt like muttering such words.
Ten years into my adventurer life after possessing a game character. I may have grown accustomed to bloody battles with worms bursting through the village square at night, but I could never get used to out-of-body experiences, dimensional travel, and encounters with transcendent beings.
Beyond my blurry vision, as if a self-mosaic had been applied to my eyes, I saw brilliant golden hair. So long it seemed it would be inconvenient to walk, trailing on the floor like the train of a bridal gown.
"G-Goddess?"
"Shall we proceed?"
At least her voice came through clearly.
This is the Goddess I saw in the fragment I received as a reward for the quest to help Han Se-ah before. To be precise, it was the Goddess praying to someone for some reason.
Truth be told, I thought I'd have a lot to ask if we ever met. Whether you brought me to this world, or possessed me to save someone who died, whether you want something from me or just pitied me and inserted me here out of boredom. What I should do, and why I should help Han Se-ah like this, or if it wasn't Han Se-ah but another gamer, would I have had to help them the same way?
But when a transcendent being who can manipulate souls actually appears before me, my mind goes blank and I can't even recall the satisfying insults I memorized from the gallery.
"You, I mean, you are...!"
"I know you have a lot you want to say and ask. But it's still only the 50th floor."
I felt a strange pressure as our eyes met through the blurry vision, whether she was a Goddess or not. Not the pressure of facing a formidable enemy like an ogre...
More like the feeling of a child standing before their parents after doing something wrong.
No matter how I thought about it, I was the victim here, so why should I feel guilty? As indignation welled up, I started to doubt whether the Goddess before me really was the one who forcibly sent me to this world.
What if the one who sent me to this world was an evil god who plays with souls, and the Goddess before me was comforting me out of pity? Was that why she gave me the internet window, changed the quest conditions, and made the failure penalty just an internet usage ban?
"Yes, yes. I know you're confused."
"I..."
"But we don't have time, so let me tell you what you need to know first."
The Goddess approached me with a bright smile. Her fair feet floated in the air as she glided towards me, her long golden hair billowing like a fairy's dress. Though my blurry vision still prevented me from seeing her face clearly... at least she seemed to wear a beautiful smile.
Speaking gently like an adult educating a child, her tone was similar to Irene's.
"Roland, or rather, the 'Paladin' Roland designed as a born 6? in Heroes Chronicle, does indeed transform into a 7? when using his awakening skill. Hmm, and when he uses the awakening skill, his maximum HP increases in proportion to all stats including defense and resistance..."
"No, that's not what I'm curious about..."
"Max HP damage? Hmm... Ah, HP percentage damage. He deals pure damage proportional to maximum health to enemies. Meanwhile, his defense and resistance don't decrease..."
However, the Goddess's manner of speaking aside, the information flowing from her lips wasn't what I needed. I could figure out that kind of stuff on my own as a gamer, so why was she telling me this during this precious time?
How many floors the tower had, what quests I needed to do next, if trap floors would block my progress... I completed a quest and met the Goddess, so shouldn't she tell me that level of future knowledge?
Unable to speak properly out of frustration, I floundered about. Seeing this, the golden-haired Goddess smiled. Not the benevolent smile from earlier, but one full of mischief.
"No can do. You've already received my help twice, so you need to accept this much of a... penalty."
"Did you just say penalty-?!"
"If we delay any longer, Miss Han Se-ah might reset, so I should send you back now. Ah, what a shame."
Following her gesture as she smiled brightly, a familiar hologram window appeared in the air. On the screen showing Han Se-ah's stream, my body had gone berserk and turned both the tentacle monster and the Harpy Empress into mana stones.
With both the tentacle monster and Harpy Empress dead, where would my rampaging body head next? As I pondered this, I felt an incredibly soft hand gently push my back, shoving me into the screen.
"Farewell, Roland. I'll be looking forward to our next meeting."