The Ruined World Was Mistaken for a Game-Chapter 140: Turning Point (1)

The Ruined World Was Mistaken for a Game-Chapter 140: Turning Point (1)

Translator: Dreamscribe
What is this?
What on earth just happened?
The heroes were dumbfounded at the scene before them. They couldn’t believe it. It was such a cruel nightmare.
A sharp tentacle pierced through Mary’s chest. It was a massive tentacle that blew a gaping hole right in the center of her chest.
Swiik!
The tentacle ripped out something in the shape of a jewel from inside Mary’s chest. It looked like Mary’s heart or rather, a part of her soul. The grotesque being that had spewed out the tentacle gulped down the wavering, ash-colored jewel.
“Ma, Mary…! Mary!”
The Empress caught Mary’s collapsing body.
As Erosion endlessly flowed from Mary’s gaping chest, the Empress frantically tried to cover it with her hand. Her skin melted away, but she didn’t remove her hand.
Mary looked at the Empress with a faint smile.
“Unnie…, I missed you.”
“Don’t talk! I’ll heal you, I’ll fix you, somehow….”
Mary shook her head.
“Thank you…, for not forgetting me….”
The Empress’s tears fell onto Mary’s face. Each time a tear touched her, Mary’s pale face seemed to regain its color as if it were being washed clean.
The Empress gripped Mary’s hand tightly.
What could she say?
What should she say?
“N, no. No! No! Mary, please! Please….”
All that came out from her lips were cries of anguish.
She couldn’t let go.
She would never again let go of the hand she held so tightly. That’s what the Empress swore, but once again, she lost Mary’s hand. Because Mary’s hand crumbled and turned to ash.
“I’m sorry, unnie.”
Mary gave one final smile as she looked at her screaming sister. The Empress held Mary’s vanishing body in a tight embrace. The Mary she had finally gotten back crumbled to nothing in her arms all too vainly.
And thus, she became ash.
“Aaaaaaaaah!”
The Empress howled.
The heroes came to their senses at her cries, filled only with pain and sorrow.
Hatred and rage boiled up simultaneously.
The Lord of Greed, who had created this tragic scene, simply floated silently in the air.
The Lord of Greed looked like a cloud made of tentacles.
He licked up what he had stolen from Mary, letting Erosion drip to the ground. It was as if he was sucking on Mary’s soul, using the sorrow as his appetizer.
“You fucking bastard!!!”
“Aaaargh!”
“Fuck!”
The enraged heroes launched full-force attacks at the Lord of Greed.
But none of their attacks could harm him. The tentacles scattered and then reformed, just like that. It felt like a mirage.
[Hehehe! For a useless bitch, she was quite tasty. She did anything when I played dad with her.]
Rather, the Lord of Greed mocked the heroes and Mary.
“…….”
The Empress, who had been bowing her head, silently stood up. She reached to the side and created a scythe made of darkness. A massive current of dark energy surged from her body.
The Empress raised her head.
“You… Mary…!”
She unleashed all of her dark energy toward the Lord of Greed. The dark magic that filled the sky rained down on the Lord of Greed, but he casually devoured it.
Jinwoo also radiated light with the Holy Sword, but it was blocked by Erosion.
[Not a bad performance.]
A massive eyeball emerged from the tentacle-covered body. The eyeball narrowed as it stared at the Empress.
[Let me enlighten you.]
The Lord of Greed spoke as though bestowing mercy. All of the heroes’ attacks froze as if time had stopped, then dissipated into nothing.
[The Dark Priest was one of my minions. She belongs to me and can be resurrected anytime. Do you think it’s possible for a mere slave like you to take the power of darkness from such a Dark Priest?]
As the Lord of Greed lightly moved a tentacle.
“Guhk!”
The Empress coughed up blood and collapsed to the ground. She tried to swing her scythe, but the scythe refused her.
[Mary was a toy I spent a long time crafting. But after inflicting pain for so long, she became numb and boring. So I staged this little performance.]
Clap clap clap!
The Lord of Greed clapped his tentacles.
[The suffering of you livestock is so delicious! Give me more, more delicious pain.]
At that mockery, all the heroes gritted their teeth. Every hero present was enveloped in overwhelming rage and glared at the Lord of Greed.
Jinwoo watched their reactions with satisfaction.
‘Excellent.’
The Lord of Greed was an illusion created with Illusion Magic, and all his lines were controlled from the Magic Tower.
They were lines Jinwoo had personally scripted. Even Jinwoo himself felt a bit angry, this fake Lord of Greed before him was the worst. But this wasn’t the end. The story was now headed into a depth even worse than ‘the worst’.
The Empress staggered to her feet and desperately approached the Lord of Greed.
Something felt off.
The Lord of Greed looked at the Empress and gave an ominous smile. Jinwoo swung the Holy Sword, but the Lord of Greed easily blocked it with a tentacle.
Instead, due to the Erosion that filled the surroundings, the wound on Jinwoo’s shoulder burst open and became tainted with Erosion.
Haebyul quickly approached and supported Jinwoo.
As the wound worsened, the Lord of Greed was sucking away his strength. It became clearly visible to Haebyul and the heroes that Jinwoo’s power was being drained and absorbed by the Lord of Greed.
“Attack him!”
“Kill that fucking bastard!”
“Pour everything on him!”
-….
-Aaaargh!
-That motherfucker’s a piece of shit!
Countless heroes unleashed their attacks, but it was useless. He devoured everything deliciously and only grew in size. Eventually, the heroes had no choice but to stop attacking.
[Let me show you something more entertaining.]
The Lord of Greed spoke ominous words.
[With the power of darkness I personally implanted, I can do even this.]
“Gah!”
The Empress, who had been rushing toward the Lord of Greed, suddenly lost strength and collapsed to the ground. The heroes tried to approach her, but they couldn’t.
KWA-AAAAANG!
A current of darkness erupted from her, blowing away all the heroes nearby.
“U-uaaaagh!”
The dark energy ripped through the Empress’s body. Her body began to swell and grow larger, then shattered and released a massive force.
“This is…”
“Fuck! Stop it!”
“No!”
-Wh-what the hell!
-The Empress…
-No way…
The heroes’ reactions were inevitably intense.
The Empress had just lost Mary. All of this had been orchestrated by the Lord of Greed, and she was nothing more than a toy.
At the end of that cruel reality, what remained was.
“RAAAAAAARGH!”
The Empress’s end.
Dark energy clumped together and formed a massive body. It grew as large as a Giant, becoming a gigantic statue. It was as beautiful as Ella’s statue, but soon became tainted with ugliness.
The Empress shed bloody tears, screamed with her gaping mouth, and thick black fluid oozed from her entire body.
“Uuugh!”
“Kh!”
The Legion of Vengeance also knelt and groaned in agony.
Jinwoo quickly raised the Holy Sword, and it disintegrated into particles of light that settled upon the Legion of Vengeance. That barely prevented them from becoming enemies.
[How foolish. To share the power of the Holy Sword with slaves.]
Having exhausted the Holy Sword’s power, Jinwoo lost consciousness and collapsed. At the same time, the Empress, now a massive statue, began to move. In one hand, she held a gigantic scythe, and in the other, Mary’s face contorted in pain and screaming.
[Kyaaaaaaaah!]
[Kyaaaaaah!]
A scream full of sorrow poured out.
The Lord of Greed looked on in amusement and then floated up into the sky.
[Enjoy yourselves in my pasture with my livestock. I hope you create things worth eating.]
The heroes realized it.
The Empire of Evil, the nobles, all of it had been just food. The Lord of Greed, floating in the sky, laughed at the heroes and returned to the capital of the Empire.
‘Was that a bit too much?’
Feigning unconsciousness, Jinwoo glanced at the condition of the heroes and thought that to himself. But since all the resentment would now be directed at the Lord of Greed who would descend to the surface soon, he considered it a good outcome.
The Empress’s body, which had been about to attack the heroes, briefly paused.
[Kill… me. Make sure the power of darkness doesn’t fall into the Lord of Greed’s hands….]
The Empress barely regained her sanity and spoke those words.
The heroes fell silent.
Many shed tears, others collapsed to the ground.
All those heroes, together, became of one heart and one mind. They thought they had grown used to tragedy after the Great War, but that was arrogance.
Was this a scenario?
Was it a predetermined ending?
No, it wasn’t.
Arsilan Saga was a world created by everyone together. Everything they had done up to this point proved that.
A truly tragic sad ending.
It was the first time they had faced a sad ending in such a major scenario. Of course, it wasn’t real, but the heroes believed it was.
“We’ll set you free.”
“Leave that fucking bastard to us.”
“We’ll definitely avenge you… kuhk!”
-I’ve never been this pissed off before.
-I’m going to level up and definitely go kill that asshole.
-I’m taking time off work.
-Even my boss got so mad he sent everyone home.
They had become fierce.
The atmosphere had turned extremely grim.
The massive rage burning inside the heroes surged across Arsilan, even shaking the Soul Gate.
The heroes moved Jinwoo, who was pretending to be unconscious, to the rear. Then they headed straight for the battlefield.
[Th…ank you…]
The Empress tried to hold onto her reason, but she couldn’t. The thick black liquid dripping to the ground turned into tentacles and burrowed into her head. Her tears of blood became black fluid, and her face contorted grotesquely in a scream.
The tentacles that reached her head became a horridly shimmering black crown.
KUGUGUGUG!
That was no longer the Empress.
It was a massive statue spewing black tentacles.
A boss monster rampaging with the power of darkness. The saddest boss raid in Arsilan Saga’s history had begun.
“End it in one blow, without pain!”
When NorthernGrandDuke shouted that, the heroes summoned every last bit of their strength. They unleashed all their attacks at the Empress’s body, now grown as large as a Giant.
KWA-GAGAGAGAGANG!
Cracks spread across her body, and black liquid gushed out like a waterfall. And the more it flowed, the more her face, once filled with pain and resentment, regained peace.
Every time the Empress swung her scythe, thousands of heroes were killed at once, but the heroes didn’t stop. They pressed forward, blocking the rain of dark magic.
The Empress tried to swing her scythe, now charged with immense dark energy, but then she halted. It seemed the Empress herself was resisting.
“Throw everything you’ve got!”
“Aaaaaah!”
“Don’t hold back!”
The boss raid continued without pause.
The pattern itself wasn’t difficult. But the occasional screams and cries of regret from the Empress tormented the heroes. Finally, as her body broke apart, the Empress’s real form was revealed inside the statue.
The heroes rushed toward her.
The Empress, her eyes void of light, stared at the sky.
“Ma…ry….”
Could she see Mary?
The Empress reached out to the sky, trying to grasp her. But her hand could not touch Mary.
“I miss… you….”
And just like that, she turned into ashen particles and scattered into the wind.
In the place where the Empress had stood, red flowers bloomed.
Srrrk-
Flowers of vengeance.
For the heroes, in her final moment, she gave everything, her entire soul, to bloom the Flowers of vengeance. Though she lost the power of darkness, Mary’s grudge and hatred brought the flower back to life.
Her soul did not find rest. It drifted toward the distant capital.
[Main Quest ‘Princess of Erosion’ has been completed.]
[To Arsilan] Capital
With the disappearance of Mary, the Princess of Erosion, the path to the capital has opened.
The Lord of Greed awaits you in the capital.
Participants: Unlimited
Reward: ???
Along with the quest completion message, the quest window popped up. The description was brief.
TUDUDUDUDUK! SWAAAAAA!
Rain fell.
Soaked to the bone, the heroes couldn’t move from their spot for some time.
“Ah….”
“Hrk….”
-It ended like this?
-What do we do now….
In the battlefield, filled only with sorrow, the heroes clenched their fists tightly.
“In the capital….”
“That fucking bastard’s waiting for us?”
“Ha, hahaha!”
Some heroes let out hollow laughs as they stared at the quest window. All 30 million-plus heroes harbored endless hatred toward the Lord of Greed.
“UAAAAAAAH!”
“We finally met again! And now…!”
And then an uncontrollable rage surged through their entire bodies.
Jinwoo felt the heroes’ anger on his skin and broke into a slight cold sweat. He was afraid of himself, of the fury and hatred he had created.
Luceren (Elvens Village Chief): This is truly the pinnacle of tragedy.
Garsha (Lunatie Village Chief): The greater the tragedy, the greater the happiness to come. In the end, a happy ending will surely arrive, won’t it?
└Tiris (Mary): (Emoticon: Elf shouting “I don’t know!”)
Helby (Guardian Dragon): A trial, indeed.
└Tia (Author): Helby-nim, did you cry? Your eyes looked swollen earlier.
└Helby: No
[Mia has donated 5 Platinum Coins!]
Mia (Fish Shop Owner): They just met again… this is too much.
└Tia: Originally, the scenario was Mary regaining her memory the moment she killed the Empress, then screaming and turning into a monster… but I toned it down a bit.
Leviathan (Sashimi Shop Owner): Heroes are crying while eating sashimi.
└Heina (Captain of the Knights): I feel a bit sorry.
└Hallon (Aspiring Actor): This must also be a trial of light.
After defeating the Lord of Greed, there would be an ending waiting for the heroes. Whether that ending was sad or happy, it all depended on the heroes.
‘…Just as planned.’
Everything had gone according to plan!
And once again, Arsilan Worlds exploded with activity.
* * *
The story arc of the Empress of Vengeance and the Princess of Erosion had ended in a sad ending.
Arsilan Worlds was in such chaos that FS Games was afraid to even look at the community response. Curses toward the Lord of Greed filled the Best section, and posts mourning Mary and the Empress continued to flood in.
“Uh…, what did I just…?”
Airi, back at the royal palace, looked dazed. Then she suddenly flinched and looked around. The Succubus Queen mode had been released.
Clap clap clap!
Jinwoo and the people of Arsilan applauded as they looked at her.
“That was great!”
“Amazing performance.”
Tia and Luceren praised Airi as they looked at her.
“Not bad.”
Even Helby, whose eyes were slightly puffy, offered rare praise to Airi. Airi stood there in a daze, and when she finally remembered what she had done, her face turned bright red.
“Kyaaak!”
She ran straight out of the royal palace and teleported to the church in Evanth. She dove into her bed, buried herself under the blanket, and squirmed in embarrassment.
It would take a while for her to recover.
Jinwoo looked at Tiris, who was currently in Mary’s body.
“Unnie…, where are you…?”
When Tiris said that with emotion in Mary’s voice, the nearby Arsilan citizens were overwhelmed and burst into tears.
“Sniff.”
Helby sniffled, then turned her head and disappeared when her eyes met Jinwoo’s. Tiris, who had moved the hearts of the Arsilan citizens, looked at Jinwoo and flashed a V sign with her fingers.
“Yes, well done.”
Tiris had perfectly carried out the role of Mary.
Jinwoo couldn’t help but praise her.
“Then, as planned, I’ll spread the rumor that His Highness is on the brink of death.”
“I’ll help with that.”
When Hasman said that, Heina stepped forward enthusiastically.
Hallon casually approached Jinwoo.
“Ahem, is there any role left for me?”
“I’ll look for one.”
“I’ll give it my all! Ah! This is a token of my sincerity.”
Hallon glanced around and discreetly handed Jinwoo a set of luxury sweets that were trending in Marogo. Jinwoo accepted the gift and looked at him.
“…Is a priest even allowed to do this?”
“I’ve retired. I’m an actor now. I’m sure Ella-nim will understand.”
He was the former Pope.
“Ahem.”
Jinwoo cleared his throat and discreetly stored the luxury sweets in his subspace. Then he patted Hallon on the shoulder, and the man smiled brightly. Jinwoo would consider giving him a more significant role.
There was a wrap-up party at the royal palace, but Jinwoo quietly slipped away and headed to FS Games.
“Haa.”
“Huuh….”
The staff in the situation room looked gloomy.
Some had even taken vacation days. That was how big the impact was.
Han Yong-seon also let out a quiet sigh.
“…Our first sad ending.”
“Well, it couldn’t be helped.”
At Han Yong-seon’s words, Jinwoo shrugged as he replied.
After the story ended in a sad ending, Jinwoo quietly revealed several pieces of foreshadowing he had hidden in advance.
Title: Why It Became a Sad Ending
The advance party found a new clue while exploring the southern underground labyrinth.
They discovered something called an ‘Unknown Record’, and it says they found a way to purify Erosion. Apparently, that information was left somewhere?
(Photo attached: contents of the record)
If this is real, wouldn’t it have worked on Mary too? We should have found this first.
Anonymous1 (KR): Ah….
Anonymous2 (US): So there was another ending prepared.
└Anonymous3 (UK): If we had just been a bit more careful, would the outcome have changed?
Anonymous4 (JP): I heard Leon-nim isn’t doing well either….
└Anonymous5 (CA): Looks like we entered the worst possible route.
Clues suggesting a happy ending had been available all along! There were hints not only for purification methods but also about dark magic. If everything had been thoroughly prepared, the ending could have been different.
Once the heroes learned this, they became even more devastated.
Of course, it was all made up.
“Hmm….”
Anyway, it’s you guys’ fault.
You should’ve done better, shouldn’t you?
Jinwoo thought that as he smiled.

.
!
Chapter 140: Turning Point (1)