Chapter 119

'Very neat.'

Seojin was kept informed about the situation in real time since he had spoken with Flappy.

'She always acts grumpy and all, but has a heart of gold.'

Flappy was worth every coin of the 1. 2 billion won Seojin had invested, and she was exceeding even Seojin's already high expectations.

'I wonder how many skills she still has up her sleeve.'

When Seojin first checked her status window, most of the details were displayed as question marks, but now…

Flappy

* High-grade Spirit.

* Available Skill Element: Almighty.

* Available Skills: Stealth (☆☆☆☆☆) / Flight (☆☆☆) / Telepathy (☆☆☆☆) / Engineering (☆☆) / Loremaster (☆☆) / Language - Elvish (☆☆☆☆☆)

…The skills that were revealed in Shahav already matched her class.

'I knew she was good back in Churai, but I didn't expect her to be this good. She saved me a lot of time.'

It seemed that both Kiri and Bigfoot would benefit greatly from Flappy's abilities.

'Well, let's see. On this side…'

Seojin closed the status window and passed through the door next to him.

"It's all right, Aisha. It's okay. It's not your fault."

"I should have stopped her."

"No, it's not your fault. You're not wrong. It's all right."

The room was filled with quiet, gentle voices and trembling weeping. In the middle of the room sat Aisha, the key NPC of this quest, surrounded by some of the elves.

Merhen was also kneeling in the corner of the room, his sword stuck in the floor. Seojin approached him quietly.

-How is she?

-A lot better. It was hard to even watch her before. She was filled with terrible guilt… this is just a game, right?

-It is. Don't get too invested.

Seojin could sense Merhen's remorse for Aisha in his words. It was understandable since he had witnessed her suffering from the beginning until now.

-How about your mana? Can you maintain your blessing like this?

-Don't worry. The necklace you gave me, it's truly legendary gear. My mana doesn't run dry.

-That's a relief.

Defender Frey's necklace greatly enhanced the efficiency of the paladin's "protection" skills, allowing Merhen to cover the entire narrow room with his blessing.

'Divine class players make this game so freaking easy.'

Seojin glanced at the quest window.

Unofficial World Quest: Sleeping Desert

* Aisha fell into a deep sleep when she was a hundred and seventy years old due to Legia. You found Aisha, woke her up, and helped her face reality.

* With Aisha's assistance, the quest will become much easier.

* Aisha can locate Legia through their bond.

* To use Aisha's bond, all the wounds in her heart must be healed.

* Current Progress: 94%

The quest message indicated the progress made in convincing Aisha. Things had gone much faster than Seojin had anticipated, thanks to Merhen's blessing and the elves surrounding them.

'I knew this would happen.'

All the elves surrounding Aisha possessed the skill…

Sympathy

…which could alleviate the mental trauma of the target. The only downside was that it caused significant fatigue to the user, but they managed it by rotating among themselves.

'Just a little longer, I guess.'

Seojin remained there as well. He knew he wasn't much more than a bystander when it came to healing Aisha, but he felt obligated to keep an eye on her.

Time passed.

Quest progress reached 100%

Aisha appeared different as the message popped up. She was no longer struggling to breathe or showing signs of distress. Her eyes were calm, and she had stopped biting her lips.

"This wasn't what I wanted. It's not my fault," Aisha declared.

The change started with denial. She needed to free herself from the burden of self-blame.

"I just fell asleep because Legia told me to. I never imagined what would happen after that."

"You didn't know what Legia would do, and that was why you couldn't stop her. It's not your fault."

"If only I had known…" Aisha said, clenching her teeth.

"I would have stopped her. I wouldn't have let her go down that path. I would have persuaded her to face the inevitable, and… and I would have promised her that we would meet on the other side."

It wasn't a regret she expressed but rather a sense of sadness for her friend who had made the wrong choice.

"When my time was up, then we would have met each other on the same…"

The room was filled with raw emotions, causing the elves using their sympathy skills to lower their heads, tears streaming down their faces.

Merhen also looked away, finding Seojin's advice to not get too attached not particularly helpful.

On the other hand, Seojin wasn't affected at all.

"Thank you, Aisha."

The elves surrounding her cleared a path for Seojin as he approached before kneeling down to meet her gaze. When their eyes met, he spoke to the girl who had managed to rise above her despair.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, knowing how this would ultimately end. He knew that all of this was only a temporary measure, and she was destined to face an even greater, deeper wound in her heart.

And yet, Aisha held out. She stood up bravely, looking directly into Seojin's eyes.

"… I'm done crying now. I hope it's not too late, is it?"

"It's not your fault."

"I'm not seeking to correct my mistakes. I want to teach Legia a lesson. That has always been up to me."

It wasn't just about the years they had lived. For young Aisha, Legia was someone she could rely on.

So now, and perhaps for the last time,

"I must help Legia."

It was Aisha's turn to help Legia herself.

* * *

Unofficial World Quest: Sleeping Desert

* Aisha didn't crumble. By healing the wounded girl's heart, you have gained new possibilities.

* The result is up to you. Solve the problem of Legia, and if possible, resolve the issue of Belial as well.

"… Oh!"

Bigfoot let out a surprised sound upon seeing the sudden message.

"Seojin must have done something!"

"It must be true that he was just giving us a chance. All he gave us was a mere optional objective."

The goal of their quest was to neutralize Legia, and in order to do that, they needed to find Aisha and succeed in persuading her.

Seojin had pulled that off without any help from the two of them.

"…It's only a matter of time until there's more work to do. We need to pick up our pace, too."

He understood that their value, in Seojin's eyes, would hit rock bottom if they failed to complete the optional goal.

"It's okay. We're almost done too, right, Sir Spirit?"

Only if you concentrate and stop chatting like that.

"Sorry! Wizzy, let's go again. Are you done with that part?"

"Yep, it's done."

"I'll wrap things up."

If the spirit was right, their work was also nearing its end. Bigfoot tightened the screw on the main power source and attached the remaining bits and parts to complete the machine, resembling a cannon.

'Honestly, we couldn't have finished this so quickly without the help of this spirit.'

Without the spirit's assistance, they would have likely engaged in constant quarrels, causing delays in their progress.

"…We're finished," Bigfoot announced as he heard a click, indicating the completion of their work.

The power source emitted a low growl, accompanied by a heavy vibration.

"Are we done?"

"Yeah. Right, Sir Spirit? Is there anything else to fix?" Bigfoot inquired, but there was no response.

"…What? Where did it go?"

"Sir Spirit?" Kiri called out, receiving no answer either. Flappy, witnessing their confusion, covered her mouth to suppress her laughter.

'Yeah, I'm amazing!'

After years of being treated like a mere radar, Flappy felt acknowledged and recognized for her abilities.

'A cool spirit should leave at this point. A mysterious spirit suddenly appears out of nowhere and saves the day!'

…And that spirit was also competent and didn't even ask for anything in return! Flappy imagined how others would perceive her and couldn't help but smile at the thought.

-Seojin, we're done here too.

However, she maintained her composure. A really cool spirit should always act like they didn't care about what others thought.

-I expected nothing less from you! I'll be there soon, my amazing spirit.

"Haha! Of course I'm amazing! Now he sees how great I am!"

Of course, the need to act humble didn't apply when no one was looking at her, and Flappy flew wild in excitement.

Meanwhile, after some contemplation, Kiri and Bigfoot contacted Seojin.

"Good work, both of you," Seojin commended.

Soon enough, Seojin arrived at their location, accompanied by a group of elves.

* * *

"Maya's group remains here. The first wave should gather around Jin. You must obey him under any and all circumstances."

"How about…?"

"Berg, you stay too."

Seojin took control of the situation, organizing and directing around a hundred elves. He divided them into two teams with distinct roles.

The combat team would follow Jin's lead and utilize his ability of conditional foresight to minimize casualties while fighting monsters. Jin's ability would help them navigate potential dangers and avoid a tragic outcome.

The other group's mission was to…

"Stick to your role whatever happens. Don't forget, the success or failure is up to Aisha."

… provide emotional support to Aisha. Each member possessed abilities similar to sympathy, enabling them to offer comfort and solace. Hunting down Belial would not necessarily require that type of support.

Seojin recalled the hint given in the quest preview.

'The preview said it's up to my choices.'

That suggested there were multiple possible outcomes for the quest, not just a straightforward victory

"Let's begin. Which one of you will take this on?"

"Respectively, I'll handle it. It's a machine, after all," Bigfoot declared confidently as he stepped forward.

Seojin glanced over at his side as Bigfoot walked off. Surprisingly, Kiri seemed unfazed by his usual banter.

'Did something change in that short amount of time?'

Normally, the two of them constantly bickered over magic and engineering.

'Well, there's no harm in getting along.'

"Start it now," Seojin commanded. The cannon-like contraption swung back and forth violently, but there was no immediate reaction.

"Is it working?"

"I assure you, I've spent my entire life covered in grease."

Seojin simply nodded. And then, in the next moment…

"It's here!"

Something soared through the air and lodged itself into the muzzle of the cannon. Instantly, a flurry of messages flooded in.

Additional Objective Encountered

* Belial, the spirit that led countless elves to death, appeared right before your eyes.

* Deal with Belial by any means necessary.

Amidst the chaos of the messages, Aisha took a step forward.

"Belial!"

"Aisha, wait…"

"Release him! He's hurt! Please!"

Seojin swiftly made a decision in response to her sharp and desperate plea.

"Bigfoot!"

Upon his command, the machine released the spirit, and Belial poked its head out from the muzzle. At that moment, Seojin could finally see Belial's appearance clearly.

"It's a spirit," Seojin remarked. There was no other way to describe Belial—a round black body with short arms hanging at its sides and red eyes that were not menacing. One could even consider it cute.

"Be careful!" someone shouted, reminding everyone that Belial had caused the deaths of countless elves. However, Seojin acted differently.

"Everyone step back, except for Aisha. Right now."