Chapter 123

A sinister aura enveloped Aisha. Her breathing, once calm, grew rapid. Evident from her face, a deep fatigue gradually started to overtake her, as she began to lose the vitality that she had always taken for granted.

"It's still okay," Aisha reassured herself, enduring the ordeal.

The once vibrant elf girl willingly surrendered her youth to the entity before her.

And it was effective.

The being, once an elf but now hardly recognizable as such, began to revive, drawing life from her.

Like peeling off layers of grime, the black mass slowly disintegrated and fell away, revealing slender arms and extending legs.

And in the dark mass, a head, but it wore no expression. It was Legia.

Legia had been shrouded in the impurity that had accumulated over the years.

"Legia," Aisha spoke aloud, hoping she could hear.

Now Legia's face was visible, although her eyes remained closed. Aisha persevered a bit longer.

As the elf girl's allotted time rapidly dwindled, the black substance covering Legia's body completely fell away. Four centuries had passed, but not in real time. In but just an instant, Aisha had lost four hundred years of her life.

"It's okay. It's still okay," she comforted herself, though unsure if it truly was.

Four hundred years weighed heavily on her, blurring her vision. Saying it was 'okay' meant she was barely hanging on.

Time passed again. Legia was now an elf again and had all the appearance of one, apart from the long eyelashes resting over her closed eyes. Her even breathing made it seem like she was asleep. Aisha could feel the end nearing.

The end meant two things: the end for Aisha. And for Legia, regaining nearly all of the time she had lost.

Twenty-nine more years passed. Aisha had one year left.

Then eleven more months passed.

She had one month left.

It was then, finally, after twenty-nine more days, with only one day left of her thousand-year allotment.

"Aisha?"

Aisha stopped biting her lip.

"Aisha? Is that you? Why are you here… ?" came a groggy voice.

Her eyes were wide in surprise, reflecting Aisha's own image back to her. A face once so familiar, yet now impossible to face, was before the girl.

"Legia," she called out. Legia blinked in response, not understanding what had happened, the time she had lived through, why Aisha was there. And therefore, "Did you sleep well?" was all Aisha could manage to ask.

* * *

<Siphon> cannot be resisted

Aisha's lifeforce plummets.

Aisha's lifeforce …

<Siphon> has lifted.

Aisha's lifeforce: 0. 00027%

Aisha's lifeforce has reached critical point

The hidden event progresses to the next stage.

Hidden Record: Across a thousand years, for just one day.

* Aisha achieved her goal. Legia, her friend who had fallen into corruption centuries ago, had finally awoken. The price was Aisha's life. She willingly gave up her life to satisfy her friend's hunger. Due to their Bond, Aisha did not resist the siphoning of her life and fully succumbed to it. Her lifeforce was transferred to Legia.

* Total life transferred: 829 years, 11 months, 29 days.

* Remaining life of Legia and Aisha: 1 day.

"It's done."

In front of the cave Aisha entered.

From the system message that popped up, Seojin could clearly grasp what was happening.

'So, it was like this.'

Legia, through Syphon, steals time from living beings. Those stolen from resisted, and in the end, only managed to steal half the time from a being that was already dead.

'But Aisha didn't resist.'

The girl sacrificed her remaining years for Legia. Her complete, unexperienced time was transferred to Legia.

'Aisha is 170 years old, and Legia fell… 829 years ago.'

It meant that Aisha had made up for the thousand years that should not have existed in the first place.

As a result,

Hidden Event: <Desperate and Desolate> has been deleted.

Hidden Event: <Gesture of Death> has been deleted.

Hidden Event: <Turbulent Desert> has been deleted.

Hidden Event: <Rising from Sacrifice> has been deleted.

Numerous events disappeared.

The battles, disasters, and 'escort' missions that would have occurred had they faced Legia just as they were.

But by meeting Aisha, all of these had become things of the past.

"Can this be…?"

A sigh-like muttering came from Bigfoot. Kiri, a beat late in understanding, widened her eyes in surprise.

"Bro, is this…"

"It's as you see."

Merhen just stood with his mouth agape as if trying to find the words to speak, then fell silent again. There was nothing to say.

"If we had faced these…"

"We'd all be dead."

Below the deleted events, there were descriptions of what the events would have entailed.

Legia'slevel was said to be in the 300s. The Named Monstersshe could summon were in the late 200s.

Until now, it was the elves escorting the adventurers, but to face this, even a level 200 elf would be at a disadvantage, vulnerable to death at any time.

"… So that's why 'escort' was in the quest objectives."

If even two elves died, the quest would fail.

No monster in the Sleeping Desert could harm them, but the moment Legia stepped in, it was a different story.

Merhen still looked at Seojin with a dazed expression.

"Did you know?"

"Not this. I just speculated that this had to be the way."

"That it would turn out like this?"

"Because this is what Aisha wanted."

That was all.

The quest message gave Seojin a clue, but it was put into action entirely because Aisha had wanted to do it.

"It's troubling."

"Bear with it."

"Not in that sense."

Merhen clicked his tongue wearing a complex expression and finished the rest of the conversation through chat.

-I saw Aisha recovering, but the damage wasn't as severe as I thought. No matter how real it seems, in the end, it is still just a game huh?

-That's obvious.

-I wonder why I was so nervous until now.

-But you seem the same, since then and even now.

-Actually, while playing Asgard, I used to see stories like this often.

He smirked as a light chuckle escaped.

His chuckle was a welcome sound, but this was not a topic for immediate conversation.

-Let's finish up first. We'll talk later.

In the distance, the elves of the Guardians of the Balance observed Seojin anxiously.

Kiri and Bigfoot, thinking it not their place to intervene, remained silent.

The only NPC present, Jin, leader of the Guardians of the Balance, was waiting for Seojin's word.

"It's over, Jin. The forest will return soon."

"Soon as in…"

"Not right this moment. It will take a day or two."

"If the adventurer says so, we shall wait. Will you tell us the reason?"

"Of course. You have Belial restrained right now, right? First, please release him."

He needed to give him some time. It would be the last day he could converse with his master after all these hundreds of years.

But Jin was troubled.

"Adventurer, that won't work."

"With the elves?"

"Because you revealed Belial's true intentions, the spirit ceased to be an enemy. But Legia is different. Even now…"

He glanced over at the members of the Guardians of the Balance. The elves were restless, grinding their teeth, anxious about when they could enter the cave.

"… They grow restless. I do not, but the Guardians of the Balance seek vengeance."

"Vengeance."

It was understandable.

Even if Berg's incompetence was the reason, Legia was the actual cause of their pain.

But it couldn't be allowed.

Hidden Event in progress.

Lasts for 24 hours.

If the event fails, the deleted events will be regenerated, and the difficulty will increase by one level due to <Legia Regained Her Sanity>.

"About 30% of them can be controlled by you, right, Jin?"

"Of course. I lead the Guardians of the Balance, after all."

The moment Jin took over Berg's position, an ability was added to Jin's character information.

Firm Leader

*A firm attitude is one of the virtues of a leader. Jin can forcibly control 30% of the members of the Guardians of the Balance.

"Start with those who have the most influence. I'll handle the rest."

"Adventurer… Understood."

Jin returned to the group of elves. Joy lighting up their faces, expecting to finally be able to charge forward.

But Seojin had other plans.

Stance Shift: Immature Threat

Necklace of Divine Power

Noble-looking clothes

He shifted his stance. The divine power in the necklace burst into light. And due to that light, Seojin, adorned in his purple clothes, appeared as if a halo had formed behind him.

-Flappy, now. You got it.

Flappy deactivated his stealth.

To the elves, the absolute 'goodness' revealed by the spirit would be clear.

-Bigfoot. Kiri.

-Understood. Turning it on now!

The engineer and the mage stepped forward.

Effectiveness aside, like a lizard spreading its frill, they revealed 'visual effects' that could dampen the elves' spirit.

Seojin slowly moved forward, in front of the unsettled elves.

He had captured the atmosphere. It wasn't just level that affected skill effects.

The situation, attitude, and even the words that came out of his mouth.

All these elements were what Stancewas about.

"I have a question."

With a cold gaze, SeojJin scanned the elves of this land, the Guardians of the Balance.

"What do you really want?"

* * *

Hailstorm Co. , Korean Branch.

Kim Jeonsu, head of the Strategy Planning Department, was delivering a lengthy, worried speech to Jeong Seyeon.

"So, what I'm worried about is…"

The same story, heard a million times, repeated again.

About how much effort had been put into SeojJin, how much his reputation had risen, and how great the loss would be if this event failed.

But Jeong Seyeon's mind was as clear as a placid lake.

'How could he possibly fail?'

Of course, she didn't know exactly what an unofficial world quest was.

The same goes for what kind of person the developer was, and the content of the statement sent out at the time.

But what did that matter?

It was Seojin was doing the quest.

Her prediction was…

Bang!

"General manager!"

Baek Chahyun, the team leader, rushed in, his expression confirming it.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

"An update is scheduled! The continental map of Salevania has changed on the official website!"

"An update? All of a sudden? ! What do you mean by a change in the map?"

General manager Kim rushed over, and team leader Baek, bewildered, explained the situation.

However, Jeong Seyeon remained calmly sitting in the swirl of confusion.

Because just showing an appropriately interested attitude as a courtesy to her superior was enough.

'I knew it. I knew he couldn't fail. We are talking about Seojin after all.'