Chapter 140: The Contract of Regression (3)

“Ugh…”

I threw the water bottle in frustration, making it bounce on the floor of my small studio apartment.

I sighed in relief as I looked at Eutenia on the screen.

Eutenia had come back.

She had disappeared like the other characters, but she had returned to the screen with the help of an item.

The [Contract of Regression] that was stuck in a corner of my inventory had returned Eutenia to me, along with a causality penalty.

“I’m so glad… I almost quit the game.”

If I hadn’t had any resurrection items left in my inventory, I would have quit the game right away.

And for a while, I probably wouldn’t have launched this game again.

Eutenia was the main character that I had spent most of my playtime on.

If she had gone for good, I wouldn’t have had the confidence to play the game anymore.

It would have been like playing a game that had lost most of its content, leaving only ruins behind.

In fact, I had quit other games in the middle of playing them when my enhanced items were destroyed.

“Who would have thought that spending 2 million won back then would pay off like this…”

It was thanks to the [Contract of Regression] that I had drawn that I could get Eutenia back.

What I had thought was a misfortune turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Besides, I had won the lottery and recovered most of the money I had spent.

It was an experience that I could now cherish as a good memory.

As I watched Eutenia praying on the screen, I felt satisfied and leaned back on my bed, touching my forehead.

“When I think about it, this is really a trash game.”

Suddenly, the top boss appeared and knocked down Eutenia and ran away.

What kind of game designs its balance like this?

It was not an event that could be understood by common sense.

But then again, this game was one that showed nothing but actions that defied common sense.

It was stupid to expect common sense from this game.

Of course, I was the most stupid one for playing a game that was beyond common sense.

“But I’m an idiot for getting attached to the game and not being able to quit.”

But now it was too late to quit the game. I had come too far.

I had to see the end of it, one way or another.

I had been through many hardships, but I really loved this game.

It was a game that I liked.

I didn’t want to quit the game for some weird and unreasonable reason.

Eutenia, Evan, Estasia who did strange things, and now those who suddenly disappeared. They were all characters that would hurt my heart if they were gone.

This must have been a scheme by the game company.

They wanted to make me attached to the characters and prevent me from quitting the game. That was their scheme.

“But what can I do when I’m already attached…”

Things that were impossible to replace tended to have strong fandoms, even if they were small in scale.

I had already become a fan of this trash game.

Yes.

A fan.

The Life of a Passionate Gamer Who Checks His Karma Every Day

I was living the life of a passionate gamer who logged into the game every day and checked his karma number.

It had become a part of my daily routine that was deeply ingrained in my life.

“I can’t take it anymore. I need to do a gacha to clear my mind.”

To soothe my restless mind, I decided to take a drastic measure.

Gacha was the best thing to do when I felt uneasy.

As I stared at the items that emitted light, I forgot all the thoughts that came to my mind.

Tap.

I touched the <Paid Currency Shop> button on the top of the screen and logged into the game.

As I entered the shop, a message greeted me as usual.

-Welcome to the <Paid Currency Shop>.

-The <Paid Currency Shop> sells various items for a smooth gameplay.

I looked at the 10-pull gacha button that had become too expensive for me.

The button that shone brightly tempted me to press it right away.

I put aside the thought of resisting the temptation and moved my finger towards the provocative gacha button.

Press.

As soon as I pressed the button, a text message came and took away a hefty amount of money from me.

“Please, give me one more contract.”

It was an item with a penalty, but it was the best item to ensure the safety of the characters.

I wished that the gacha would give me one more contract for insurance.

The gacha screen started to emit a brilliant light along with my wish.

The items that were printed one by one passed by my eyes in a blur.

-[Demon Doll]

-[Demon Doll]

-[Demon Doll]

The first ones were [Demon Dolls] in a pile.

It was a trash game after all.

-[Demon Doll]

-[Demon Doll]

-[Demon Doll]

“Ah… trash game.”

The next ones were also [Demon Dolls].

It felt like this was not a gacha but a doll machine.

-[Demon Doll]

-[Demon Doll]

-[Demon Doll]

“Bro.”

The next ones were still [Demon Dolls].

I didn’t hope for a contract anymore, but I wished they would at least give me one magic book.

And at least be fair and disclose the gacha rates.

As I flipped the last item with a nervous heart, a strong light burst out of the screen.

-[Magic Book: Voice]

The last item that came out was a magic book.

The name of the item was [Magic Book: Voice].

It was an item that was hard to guess what it was by its name alone.

I flipped the item confirmation window with a mix of regret and relief.

I was a bit disappointed that I didn’t get a contract, but getting a magic book wasn’t such a bad thing either.

“Voice… what kind of magic is that?”

After finishing the gacha, I stroked my beard and looked at the screen.

It was time to check the contents of the magic book I had drawn.

Tap.

I touched the screen to zoom in on the details.

And then I started to read the contents slowly from the top.

My eyes stopped in the middle of the description as I read the details of [Magic Book: Voice].

“Wait, is this…?”

I smirked at the unexpected content as I checked the skill description.

A familiar figure came to my mind.

The new translator.

The amazing guy who changed my sentences into elegant tones whenever I entered them.

***

A small village in the northern part of the continent.

A boy holding a divine device leaned against the wall, facing the fallen Cloud investigators.

The hero of order, Philrun.

He was a hero who had received the name of a hero, but he moved alone without joining the holy land.

There was one reason why he didn’t join the holy land and wandered alone in the northern part of the empire.

It was because the mission given to Philrun was not accepted by the holy land.

The investigators who fell to the ground were those who chased after Philrun and met their death by his hand.

“Do you mean I don’t have to worry about being attacked by the followers of the evil god for a while?”

Philrun, who leaned against the wall, looked at his divine device, Clawsolas, and asked.

It was because of what he had just heard from Clawsolas.

Clawsolas dimmed his light and emitted a faint vibration as he heard Philrun’s story.

Right after that, Clawsolas’s voice flowed into Philrun’s ears.

-“The evil god made a contract with Heaven. For a while, his followers won’t be able to touch you.”

“Is that so? Then wouldn’t it be easier for me to go and kill them?”

If the followers of the evil god couldn’t touch Philrun, he could use that to kill them.

Philrun’s story came from that thought.

But the answer he heard from Clawsolas was somewhat different from what he had in mind.

-“They are stuck in the church for a while and won’t come out. You’ll only waste time trying to find them.”

“But isn’t it worth it if I find them?”

-“And our important task is not to find those guys from the church. It will be annoying if we mess up with the holy land or Cloud by making trouble.”

Philrun clicked his tongue as he looked at the investigators who were bouncing on the ground.

The Cloud investigators were a nuisance to him as well.

Just today, he had been attacked while eating and had to deal with a difficult situation.

He had to put down the bread he was tearing and face the Cloud investigators.

The bread he found after the battle was hard and covered with dust.

“Surely… it’s troublesome when the Cloud bastards come in droves.”

Philrun said as he recalled the bread that flew away in vain during the battle.

He was not invincible just because he was a hero.

Besides, Philrun was in a situation where he had not been a hero for long.

It was obvious that he would be in trouble if other heroes or Cloud’s high-ranking officers came looking for him.

“I might lose if I fight them.”

He might even end up being dragged away by them after losing miserably.

He still needed to train himself continuously.

And for Philrun, his mission was a great help for his training.

The experience of killing something was quite important for those who wielded swords.

Especially if they were those who resisted with their weapons until they died.

“I should learn how to handle the sword better by killing some more.”

-“Be careful not to attract too much attention.”

“I’m careful. That’s why I set the number of kills per day to one.”

Thud. Thud.

Philrun punched the wall he was leaning on and talked.

Even though there was a loud noise from behind the wall, no one came out of the house.

That was natural.

All the residents in this village had been dealt with by Philrun himself.

“And I can’t go around killing people in several villages in one day.”

But no matter how much Philrun was a hero, it was impossible for him to move around and fight in several villages in one day.

He had tied the horses that the Cloud guys had ridden to a pole, but he was not yet skilled at riding them.

Philrun expressed his regret and tapped the back of Clawsolas’s blade with his hand.

The blade shook and made a clear sound around him.

“If you were a little more useful, it would have been possible.”

Did Philrun’s words not please him?

Clawsolas vibrated his blade and spoke to Philrun.

-“If you harvest more lives, it will be solved.”

“That’s the problem? I have to be stronger to kill more, right?”

-“There is an order to everything. Don’t go against the natural law.”

“You’re so picky for something that the goddess of order gave me.”

Bang.

Philrun slammed the handle of Clawsolas that he was holding against the wall.

He didn’t like Clawsolas complaining to him.

Philrun grinned and spoke to Clawsolas as he stuck his divine device to the wall.

“I’m an apostle of the goddess of order, what’s wrong with breaking some order?”

-“Stop talking nonsense. There is only one being in this world that can withstand going against the natural law.”

But Clawsolas gave him a serious answer regardless of Philrun’s words.

It was a boring answer. It was not what he had expected either.

Philrun looked at Clawsolas with a dissatisfied face and asked him.

He was the only hero chosen by the goddess of order.

Who else could get away with breaking order?

It was a hard story to accept for him.

“Who is that?”

-“The god of regression. A god whose existence itself is contradictory.”

“The god of regression? I’ve never heard of it. Is there such a god in this world?”

Philrun recited the names of the six gods in his head.

Honor. Knowledge. Order. Hunting. Abundance. Harmony.

There was no being called the god of regression.

From the start, his name seemed far from the world’s providence.

When Philrun asked again without fully understanding Clawsolas’s words, Clawsolas turned off his light and spoke.

-“You wouldn’t know. She is the being that human history books call an evil god.”