The D-Rank Guild Master of the No. 1 Guild

The boy’s body trembled violently, his fists clenched so tightly that his nails left marks on his palms.

[“Calm down! Steady your mind! That’s a fake.”]

Rudel felt a deep frustration at being in a state where her clone couldn’t shield Akata’s eyes or hug him.

No matter how logically she assessed the situation, that face was the perpetrator who had caused Akata immense pain.

Of course, Akata was liable to have a panic attack—

[“…!”]

Rudel’s eyes widened as she observed Akata’s expression.

She had always seen him as a boy who would just take any abuse directed his way, but now, Akata was expressing a murderous intent towards his opponent.

It was the first time she had seen Akata angry.

His frail body emitted an unstable and sharp aura, as if he might shatter at any moment.

If Rudel had thought Akata remembered Ispan as an object of terror, she was mistaken. She had momentarily forgotten the resolve in Akata’s awakening speech.

‘Do what you will to me, but you are the one who harmed Rudel…’

[“Akata, don’t use the flames now! Your body can’t handle the output!”]

But it was too late. The flames, having been released into the world, climbed excitedly up the boy, wrapping around his body.

While Rudel’s fire followed its master’s commands, Akata’s flames were like a living, breathing dragon.

[Life Force] 88

[Life Force] 86

The living flames devoured even Akata’s life force.

The character mimicking Ispan on the opposite side, upon seeing this, turned and began to flee.

Thud, thud, thud-!

[“Akata! Stand still!”]

If one didn’t know the context, they might think Akata was running away from Rudel.

But it was the exact opposite.

‘Akata is chasing the enemy!’

This was a sight Rudel had always hoped to see, but not under these circumstances.

[“Don’t chase! It might be a trap!”]

Finally regaining his senses, Akata abruptly stopped. However, this sudden action caused him to stumble.

Thud-!

At that moment, a hand reached out from behind the rocks in the cave.

Already off balance, Akata was helplessly pushed.

As his body fell, a dizzying sense of falling overtook him. He plummeted into the chasm beside him.

* * *

Dim, firefly-like lights flickered around the boy, illuminating his surroundings. His flame-red hair occasionally vibrated slightly.

Surprisingly, Akata miraculously survived the fall from that height. He wasn’t forcibly returned to the fortress and managed to endure in the field.

Thanks to constantly consuming health potions as soon as their cooldowns reset, his injured body gradually returned to its original state.

Akata, who had briefly lost consciousness, dreamed.

* * *

The smell of old wooden furniture lingered in his nostrils.

“Why is there a name written on the dining chair?”

“It’s not a person’s name; it’s the name of the company that made it.”

Aria knew everything. But she rarely answered his questions.

Looking back now, it seemed like there were many things he shouldn’t know, so she intentionally avoided answering.

Moreover, she never revealed anything about herself or about who he was.

He didn’t know if Aria was her real name, or why he had to live with her in a secluded space.

At that time, the boy believed that only Aria and he existed in the world.

“A character that can survive in the real world… confirmed.”

Hearing Aria mutter these words while jotting something down in a journal, he wondered what ‘reality’ was but couldn’t reach any conclusion.

Since Aria didn’t teach him anything, the boy lost his curiosity.

Instead, he preferred to spend that time nuzzling his forehead against Aria’s shoulder.

The hands that stroked his hair. The soft whispering voice. Warmth, blinking eyes, and twinkling lights.

Why did such kind things have to remain in the past?

Why did he have to part ways with her?

“Akata, if something happens in the future… never tell anyone about me. If you do, then I will die.”

He vaguely remembered hearing such frightening words in the middle of the night, but he tried to forget them. He wanted to forget.

However, the very next day, Aria abandoned him.

The moment his head was thrown onto the chair that held so many memories was dizzying.

The boy roughly resisted the hands trying to drag him away, but the more he resisted, the more forceful and brutal the hands became.

His translucent skin turned red from struggling.

“Stop. Follow these people.”

More than the force of the mysterious men in black clothes, it was those words that pushed him into deeper pain.

“Aria… don’t leave me.”

Tears streamed down his face as he desperately pleaded. He begged her with his tear-filled eyes to let him stay there.

But it was useless. Coldly abandoned, he had to wander through places he didn’t know.

And then, the moment he finally settled down after finding Rudel.

He saw the black-clad figure who had taken him away in the living room of the guild’s fortress and was so shocked that he collapsed to the ground.

It turned out that the black-clad figure was not a real person but a system administrator. There were countless identical figures.

Aria had never told him, but then the boy realized it himself.

He had settled in a place inside a game.

* * *

[“…Kata.”]

[“Akata!”]

[“Can you stand up?”]

This person resembled Aria very much.

The more they lived together, the more differences he saw from Aria, but still, she was the only one keeping Akata breathing at the moment.

Akata placed his hands on the ground and stood up, spitting out the blood that had pooled in his mouth.

His body ached, but there were no significant obstacles to moving.

“…Yes, I can move.”

Can you really move? Why? How can you find the will to live without Aria by your side?

Despite being abandoned by Aria, had he dared to muster the will to survive?

Ignoring the self-deprecating questions echoing in his head, Akata took one step, then another.

His pace quickened.

* * *

Akata had fallen right into the enemy’s trap.

He had wasted time lying at the bottom of the chasm, and in the meantime, more than ten players had already exited through the escape route.

How quickly one reached the exit and how many potions one used were critical factors reflected in the score.

If only Akata had heeded Rudel’s advice not to chase, a better result would have been possible—

But instead of blaming Akata, Rudel raised her voice, hovering around him to ensure he wouldn’t blame himself.

[“It must have hurt a lot. Thank you for holding on. I should have done better…”]

[“Ah, but don’t be disappointed. It might actually be for the best. The path below this chasm is closer to the exit. We might end up reaching it faster!”]

It was strange.

The more Akata stayed with this person who resembled Aria, the more he began to forget her, even though he initially remembered her more vividly.

“Stop, follow these people. I can no longer stay by your side.”

He had dreamt of seeing Aria, but her final words felt less soothing than Rudel’s voice beside him.

“…”

Rudel couldn’t see the dark expression on Akata’s face. As they got closer to the exit, Rudel remained silent.

She had to be. Rudel was busy not only guiding Akata but also keeping an eye on Lilith.

She seemed preoccupied, constantly switching between her two clones.

Soon, Rudel’s voice echoed again, indicating she had returned her focus to Akata.

[“Akata, there’s been a slight hitch. Can you stop and wait for a moment?”]

The exit was now within reach, but Akata complied with Rudel’s instructions.

Initially, Akata and Lilith were positioned at opposite ends of the massive cave.

Despite this, Rudel had calculated everything: the cave’s structure, the movement routes of other players, and the speed of both Akata and Lilith.

Her plan was to ensure that, although they started from different points, they would meet at the exit.

However, something went wrong on Lilith’s end, and Akata reached the exit area first.

Their debut mission required cooperation.

Especially since the frail Akata needed Lilith’s newly discovered unique ability to evade the enemies’ interference.

[“I’ll come back once Lilith’s situation is resolved. Under no circumstances should you proceed to the exit before I get there! It’s dangerous!”]

Left alone, Akata placed a hand on his chest.

Thump, thump.

After recalling his final moments with Aria in the dream, he felt his heart beating more vigorously than ever before.

Then he softly murmured toward the place where Rudel had vanished.

“Rudel, thank you… for giving me a life.”

Unbeknownst to him, the omniscient viewers heard this soliloquy.

In the next moment, the boy, who had been standing still, started moving.

Contrary to Rudel’s instruction to wait quietly, he stepped away at a steady pace.

The cold, damp cave gradually widened, and he saw light shining ahead.

“Argh!”

“That damn tentacle monster!”

As he reached the entrance of the exit, he heard the shouts and stomping of other players fighting the tentacle monster.

Simultaneously, the cave walls glimmered with the light and heat from the battle.

Without thinking to hide, Akata crossed the threshold.