Light of Arad: Forerunner

Chapter 54

Jinseong, too, was hearing Diregie’s voice, and he had to bite down on his lower lip.

‘Yeah… That’s it. One of those things that left players stunned in Dungeon & Fighter.’

Diregie had never done anything with intent.

He simply existed.

He couldn’t even control the power of the pathogen with his own will or abilities.

‘He fell into North Myre the same way. Diregie didn’t choose this place. He didn’t come here because he wanted to. He was originally in the Demon Realm.’

While living in the Demon Realm, Diregie was suddenly transferred without his knowledge by Hilder.

One day, he just suddenly dropped into North Myre.

Of course, this wasn’t something that only happened in North Myre.

‘As far as I know, even in the Demon Realm, Diregie was ostracized to the point of persecution by other Apostles because of his influence. He was pushed into some remote corner and went through what was almost humiliation, according to the lore.’

Even the Apostles of the Demon Realm felt both repulsion and threat from the spread of Diregie’s disease, so they drove him away.

In such a situation, Diregie was merely quietly exiled, curling up in the corner of the Demon Realm.

‘From Diregie’s perspective, it’s absurd. He was just quietly living in the corner of the same house, suffering the scorn of others, only to suddenly be expelled—and even in the place he was abandoned, he just wanted to stay quiet, but now, creatures keep swarming in, trying to kill him, saying his mere existence is a nuisance.’

Throughout all of this, Diregie did nothing on his own.

That is to say, if you think about it rationally, there’s no reason to hate him.

If you had to point something out, it would be that he’s simply too powerful.

The plague that spreads merely from his existence is abnormally dangerous.

Does he have to die just because of his inherent nature?

How many would truly accept such absurdity?

He was already furious just from being transferred here by Hilder.

On top of that, here in North Myre, at the place where he resided, he faced humans who came to point fingers at him, accusing him of being the bad guy.

“I’m also quite angry that I ended up in this place.”

By now, it was only natural that Diregie would start to boil over.

The dark purple haze slowly emanating from his back was gradually intensifying as evidence of that.

His growling wasn’t just because he resembled a dog.

“What the hell is that…?”

Michelle mumbled.

Diregie responded immediately.

“What’s the point in speaking? You will all simply melt away in agony.”

Step, step, step…

Taking a few steps, his maw opened wide.

“If I cover this land in darkness, maybe that will ease my fury.”

That was the signal.

Currently, the ‘Character Adventurer’ Female Ghost Knight user and the Sixth Apostle, Diregie of the Black Disease, had finally begun their battle.

* * *

Jinseong instinctively raised his arm to cover his respirator.

But his eyes remained sharp.

Jinseong stared at Diregie, who was recklessly scattering dangerous pathogens, more seriously than ever.

‘As expected, the patterns are different from those in the old dungeons and main scenario quests. They’re still just as threatening, though.’

So, how does Diregie fight?

Relatively recently, when he was leveling up an alternate character and going through the main scenario quests, he defeated Diregie so swiftly that he didn’t even have time to observe all of Diregie’s attack patterns, leaving Jinseong’s memory with a clearer impression of ‘the Diregie of the past.’

Naturally, there was a reason why Jinseong was meticulously observing and analyzing Diregie’s attack patterns.

‘So far, the card hasn’t appeared, so in the end, the contamination… it has to be Diregie. Considering the case with Lotus, it’s likely to be that. And perhaps—’

There might come a time when Jinseong himself would have to confront Diregie.

The silver lining, if any, was that it wouldn’t be right now.

‘-When Diregie is weakened… that’s when it’ll happen.’

Apostle Lotus also began showing symptoms of contamination only after being attacked to some extent by the adventurer.

The behavioral pattern of the contaminated, that is, those trying to deviate from the flow of Dungeon & Fighter’s main scenario quest.

If we assume that figures as powerful as the Apostles can’t trigger the contamination when they’re first encountered and fully capable, then perhaps Diregie, like Lotus, would need to take significant damage before the contamination becomes evident.

‘So, when you think about it… is contamination a kind of parasitic action? Attaching something to a host beforehand, then triggering it under certain conditions, something like that? Hmm…’

Although Jinseong still couldn’t fully analyze the algorithm of how the contaminates whom and by what means, that wasn’t the most pressing matter for him right now.

What was crucial was dealing with the contamination before him and safely acquiring the [Card].

‘Then I can go find Nemer… or maybe Nemer will appear unexpectedly. When that time comes—’

He would present the contaminated card for purification.

And then?

‘-Receive the reward. Now that I understand the scope of what I can do, I can extract more rewards, more suitable for my current self.’

Though he couldn’t immediately negotiate for a return, that was just the story for now.

After facing Diregie and perhaps completing a few more missions, there might be a chance for such negotiations.

‘Nemer is undoubtedly a Transcendent. But my very involvement could cause significant imbalance and distortion! If the other Transcendent, the , doesn’t stay idle, well, I could potentially string things together and make a compelling case.’

Although Jinseong harbored almost fanciful hopes, which were enough to leave a faint smile on his lips, his eyes were not smiling.

The current situation, where he might have to directly confront the Sixth Apostle, Diregie of the Black Disease, was not something he could afford to take lightly.

Instead, he was suppressing his mounting fear with hopes for the future.

“Plague Wind.”

Diregie swung his front paw, unleashing his dark purple energy.

Jinseong pressed his arm harder against his respirator and furrowed his brow.

“Lord Louise, behind my shield!”

“Tch, there really isn’t a moment to strike! Adventurer, are you alright?!”

“The adventurer won’t even have time to respond right now. We have to create an opening to attack Diregie somehow—even if it’s with my psychokinesis…!”

And then Jinseong had to witness once again the sights he could never see himself.

It wasn’t just the player who was suffering from Diregie’s attack.

Naturally, the NPCs who accompanied the adventurer were also targets within the attack’s range.

‘Back when I watched through the monitor, I couldn’t see anything other than my character, so I didn’t realize… Of course, this makes sense. But at that time, these NPCs weren’t even visible as APCs to the player. That’s why dialogues like that weren’t displayed as scripts. This isn’t contamination.’

The fact that adventurers and their allies fought against Diregie wasn’t contamination.

It was just that the player couldn’t see them on their monitor screen.

This means that such dialogues could occur in even more situations, not just now.

‘Then the important thing is me. What will happen to me?’

Therefore, Jinseong had no choice but to think deeply.

In the contaminated dungeon area of North Myre, the only remaining possibility was Diregie.

It was already certain that contamination would appear in Diregie.

If the symptoms of contamination appeared and the situation diverged from the flow of the main scenario quest that Jinseong knew.

‘Can I step in?’

If fighting alongside these NPCs before him was unseen on the player’s monitor but was a ‘real event’?

Could Jinseong’s involvement be hidden in the same way?

‘During the Lotus encounter, Aganzo and Ban were visibly present next to the player character. If I had intervened then, I probably would have been seen. But now, it’s different. Now… only the player character and Diregie are visible on the monitor.’

Jinseong felt his heartbeat gradually quickening.

He needed to be prepared.

‘If Diregie suddenly tries to kill Azelia, or tries to kill Louise, if ‘contamination’ appears in that form, just like how I blocked Lotus’s attack, I can step in, dismantle Diregie’s attack patterns, and quickly retreat—’

From Jinseong’s perspective, the best outcome would be for the player to deliver the final blow.

As if to realize Jinseong’s imagination, the Female Ghost Knight user’s skill pierced Diregie’s flesh.

Diregie flinched and stepped back, speaking.

“The poison in this place is still weak. It’s hard to unleash my full power. But…”

KA-BOOM──────!

Then he struck the ground and roared.

“The disease will never vanish until I consume your world!”

It wasn’t just about raising his voice.

Diregie’s energy was also amplifying as much as his volume.

“How on earth…”

“Ugh, at this rate… My shield won’t hold!”

Louise and Azelia also seemed unable to withstand Diregie’s rampage and stepped back.

Michelle approached the two and muttered.

“He’s weakened enough. But without a way… if we don’t find something, we’re all doomed!”

When Jinseong heard Michelle’s statement, he realized it.

That it was the moment when the three NPCs would

once again become visible to the player.

‘Systematically, this is Diregie’s defeat judgment. Now the player’s monitor will show all the scripts, it’ll be visible… Then—’

What about the contamination?

Did all the scenarios that Jinseong had analyzed until now end in failure?

‘Only one option remains. The rift… Since Diregie himself doesn’t know how to die with his immortal body, if there’s no rift—’

As Jinseong swallowed nervously, the space behind Diregie began to crack.

Like a crack forming in glass, the space split with a shattering sound.

“This is—Hilder, you wretched—! So this was your plan all along!”

Diregie shouted, hastily turning around.

He struggled briefly to escape.

Diregie continued speaking, as if he already knew.

“Kuhuhu, yes, if it’s a dimensional rift, it might tear me apart completely. I will remember this moment! I will survive and I will definitely…!”

That was the end.

His very cells split and scattered, and Diregie’s body was sucked into the fissure in the dimensional rift.

And seeing that, Jinseong’s expression stiffened.

‘…This is the ending I know. It’s the original flow.’

Everything was progressing according to the main scenario quest that Jinseong remembered.

Despite things going well, why did his expression darken?

When you think about it, the answer was simple.

“…Is it over?”

Louise murmured.

As she said, everything should have ended now. Except for one incident.

Jinseong anxiously observed the space where Diregie had been sucked in.

The space, which had cracked like glass, had already returned to its original state.

‘…No, damn it, come out! Diregie!’

That space had to crack once more.

Through his final outburst, Diregie needed to briefly reopen the dimensional rift that had sucked him in.

And he needed to take the adventurer—the player—along with him.

‘The player’s first awakening quest! That’s the first awakening story, so you have to get there—’

The reason that hadn’t happened yet.

Why the card hadn’t appeared in the contaminated quest flow.

Jinseong’s guess was correct.

Diregie had been contaminated.

However, it wasn’t the kind of contamination where Diregie changed his target of attack.

The fact that the dimensional rift didn’t reopen. If that was the contamination.

‘The rift… I have to open it. Myself.’

Hooooooo…

Jinseong steadied his breathing.

At that moment, all the restless thoughts that had been plaguing him until a moment ago disappeared.

With a single space and a single goal, all of Jinseong’s focus was now concentrated.