Chapter 46: Morning Star

Chapter 46: Chapter 46: Morning Star

A female voice, worn out from screaming, echoed throughout the scenario as the flame soared into the sky amid the storm: white, brilliant, and visible from so far away that Victor came to an abrupt stop when he saw such a dazzling star.

A second later, the flame exploded. Its light spread everywhere like a shockwave, pushing back and hurting all the Penitents of the Mist, forcing them to retreat into the dark pits they had emerged from.

The Elder Penitent tried to resist and invade Victor’s mind, just as that other Penitent had once done, but its body wasn’t strong enough, and it was forced to flee back into the darkest alleyways.

Victor, on the other hand, shielded his eyes with his forearm. The light felt as warm as a campfire, which left him rather confused.

The phenomenon lasted only a few seconds. By the time it ended, Victor was standing in the middle of the darkness, staring at the sky as if something were missing. The mist remained unchanged, as did the loneliness of this place. Then...

’What... what the hell was that?’

That voice... It was a woman’s voice! It definitely belonged to another participant who had managed to reach this scenario! But a power capable of illuminating everything... From Victor’s perspective, that was just ridiculous. Completely unfair.

’How is that even possible?! It makes no sense!’

A few firearms were nothing compared to that flash in the sky. Did that mean this person had enough power to survive this scenario? What kind of bullshit was that?!

In any case, Victor collapsed onto the ground. Sitting in the dust, he brought a hand to his head, which was aching. That’s when he noticed the storm gradually dying down. Curious, he raised his hand and touched the dust drifting nearby. The breeze was now quite gentle, like a caress against his palm.

[The god "Serpent That Bites Its Own Tail" laughs excitedly.]

[The god "Fisher of Opportunities" believes this is the opportunity you’ve been waiting for.]

[A nameless god nods in approval.]

[The gods are waiting for you to figure it out!]

’Figure it out? Figure out what?’ Victor thought as he raised his gaze.

His breathing stopped for a moment. There, in the sky, a small sphere of light floated motionlessly above the scenario. Immediately afterward, a message appeared in the System window.

[The event "Morning Star" has been activated by a skilled participant!]

[The Morning Star shines brightly over the gloom of the Kingdom of the Black Veil.]

’No way...’

[From now until the event ends, ordinary Penitents of the Mist will be much weaker. However, the infamous Golden Bone Penitents will also begin to appear, and their magical power will increase as time passes.]

[During the twenty-four hours in which this event remains active, Golden Bone Penitents will be capable of dropping items that may prove useful to participants.]

From the deepest darkness, the Wendigo lowered its forearm from its eyes. It looked at the light of the Morning Star, then at the message in its System window.

"And here I thought this game couldn’t get any more fun. Don’t you think so, little goblin?" it said, glancing to the side.

Bound to the wall by what appeared to be ghostly hair wrapped around each of her limbs, Brika frowned and clenched her fists with every ounce of strength she had left. She struggled to break free, but none of it worked.

Near her foot lay a piece of chalk, and on the same wall she was tied to was an unfinished drawing of what appeared to be the outline of a firearm.

Noticing that she wasn’t going to answer, the Wendigo let out a dry laugh as it approached. It reached out and placed its thin, emaciated fingers on top of Brika’s head.

"Let’s have a little fun while Goggles gets here, shall we?"

Brika’s eyes widened in horror. She shook her head, still unable to say anything, but the Wendigo dug its nails into her scalp, and the goblin’s eyes turned completely white.

"Just a little. Just a little," the beast whispered, its eyes glowing brightly inside its cow skull.

△▽△▽△▽△▽△▽△▽△▽△▽

Victor stood up and adjusted his backpack.

’So that’s why that Penitent appeared. It was one of those Golden Bone ones, but why did it show up before the event was announced? Could there actually have been some of these bastards wandering around, and I just hadn’t run into one until now?’

Whether it was a coincidence or not, that didn’t change the fact that there were other participants in this scenario. It was only common sense to assume that sooner or later he would run into someone besides the Wendigo, but he had never imagined it would happen like this.

Now that a star in the sky was casting its faint light over the scenario, he could finally make out some of the houses’ architecture and their surroundings. There was also that strange feeling of being in a place that seemed to have been inhabited by people until quite recently.

It was as if he were surrounded by a constant cloud of black dust. That was the mist, the Black Veil of this kingdom. The story behind this place? Victor didn’t care, especially since he had just received a rather nice message in the System window after entering one of the houses.

[You have a Daily Summon available.]

That, along with the extra coins he had earned from killing the Penitents a while ago, was ready to be put to use.

’Everything that happens in this place is unpredictable. The participants, the monsters, the gods... Even this gacha. All I ask for is something that will help me survive.’

His bad luck was his curse, but once again, he chose to hold on to hope—for his life, and for Brika’s.