I was a bit surprised.
‘What’s wrong? Why?’
Adam was usually a serious character, and I knew that it was very rare for him to snort and laugh at others.
⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋
― [GM Jinu] : Is throwing a glass bottle to
wake someone up considered humane?
It’s barbaric.
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Moreover, I recalled the chat message of that sarcastic kid for some reason, and I was frowning before I knew it.
‘Then why don’t you come up with a better idea…!’
Suppressing the urge to say what I really wanted, I shrugged my shoulders.
“Wouldn’t it be better than being stoned?”
Creak―
As if my answer was not worth responding to, Adam abruptly stood up from his seat.
“Follow me.”
My plan to give him the potion and leave shattered into pieces, and I ended up trudging along with him.
– ̗̀ ˚ ·* ༊*·˚ ˊˎ-
Adam and the aide led me through a secret passage to an old tower located north of the Count’s estate.
After continuously climbing stairs that seemed to be at least ten floors high, we finally reached the top. This was where the protagonist, [The Lord of Nightmares], was imprisoned.
Adam, still uncertain, stood in front of the thick iron door and asked.
“How many potions did you prepare?”
“About a thousand.”
“…What?”
He looked at me with a shocked expression.
It was understandable.
He probably didn’t expect me to have made that many potions in such a short time.
Besides, in the game, a hundred potions would have been sufficient.
“The more, the better.”
I confidently replied, and Adam, who had been momentarily silent, asked.
“…Have you ever heard of the Lord of Nightmares?”
“No.”
It was still early in the game, and the infamous reputation of [The Lord of Nightmares] hadn’t spread widely yet.
With my response, Adam nodded as if to say, ‘I see,’ and explained the quest.
“Your only task is to keep that prisoner awake for three days by any means necessary. If you succeed, you’ll be rewarded with 100,000 gold coins.”
I was already rich in coins, so 100,000 gold coins felt like a pittance, but I nodded in agreement.
Since I was an NPC, no system window popped up, but I instinctively knew that the quest had started.
“Bill, prepare a room in the manor where the apothecary can stay.”
“Yes, my lord.”
After a brief explanation, Adam handed me a large key.
“It’s the key to the prison door. The prisoner is bound with enchanted chains, so the possibility of escape is very low. But just in case, be sure to lock the door when you come and go.”
“Thank you, Sir. I’ll do my best.”
As if that was all he had to say, Adam turned on his heel and left with his aide.
I stood in front of the iron door, clutching the key he had given me.
‘Come to think of it, have I played this far before?’
I realized that I had played much less than I thought.
Of course, I had watched numerous highlight videos uploaded by the players, so I knew the subsequent game events well…
‘But now, I’m seeing the protagonist behind the door in person, not through someone else’s gameplay.’
It felt a bit strange.
Most players who hadn’t spoiled themselves didn’t know that [The Lord of Nightmares] , who was trapped in the tower, was the protagonist.
Therefore, posts filled with astonishment from the players who belatedly discovered the identity of the protagonist would periodically appear in the community.
As an operator, I knew about spoilers and everything, and I knew the identity of the protagonist better than anyone else.
But now that I was about to face him directly, my heart was pounding for no reason…
‘There’s no use in getting nervous. Let’s get it over with and log out.’
I coldly shook off the strange feeling and inserted the key into the lock.
It was then.
“Hey.”
I heard a voice calling me from behind.
When I turned around, Adam and his aide were still there, looking at me intently from a few steps below.
“Yes?”
“I have something to ask you.”
‘Did this kind of situation happen before?’
The game had so many variables that I couldn’t remember everything.
I replied somewhat hesitantly.
“Please feel free to ask, my lord.”
Upon hearing that, Adam seemed hesitant for a moment, but soon made up his mind and spoke.
“There are rumors going around that the lizard horde that appeared in Dover Village… has been wiped out by an apothecary.”
“…”
“Is that rumor true?”
I was genuinely surprised.
‘There were rumors like that?’
As an NPC without achievements or titles, I couldn’t understand how such rumors were spreading.
I was about to deny it when someone else spoke up before me.
“My lord. With all due respect, it seems like a ridiculous rumor! How could someone like that be capable of such a thing? Just by coming this far, you can tell…”
The aide glared at me contemptuously from Adam’s side.
‘He’s calling me names just because I looked at the chandelier and followed him a little late earlier.’
Although annoyed, I suppressed my urge to retaliate and affirmed his statement, concealing my frown below the hood.
“The aide is correct. How could someone like me do something like that?”
There was nothing good in revealing that a lowly apothecary had powers surpassing a Hero’s strength.
There was no point in letting the AI start doubting things, as it would only create more variables.
I didn’t want to enjoy the situation and achieve feats; I just wanted to speedrun the game and log out.
Adam remained silent for a while after my response before asking again.
“…Then who took care of the monster horde?”
“I heard that some brave Heroes joined forces to fight them and then left the village.”
It felt a bit bitter to pass the credit to those I had banned, but I had no choice.
“Do you know where they went?”
“No.”
“…I see.”
Finally convinced, he started descending the stairs.
「 [Adam Hailey] is slightly disappointed by your response. 」
‘How the hell am I supposed to get along with such a stubborn guy…?’
As I looked at his receding platinum hair, I realized the true difficulty of the game.
My target time to reach the game’s ending was 8 hours.
In the game world, it was an incredibly short period, about a year or so.
After Adam left, I immediately opened the prison door with the key and entered.
The inside of the prison was just as I had seen in the game.
A dark, cold, and gloomy room, with an old, unidentified sword stuck in the center.
「 [Lv.??? Broken Greatsword, Bereft of Light.] 」
– A sword used by the ancestors of the Hailey family.
It has been embedded here for a long time, and no one has drawn it until now.
Even if it could be pulled out, it is nothing more than useless scrap metal since the sword’s lifespan has already expired. 」
It was an item that could only be obtained by progressing through the main quest of [Count Hailey].
I ignored the description of the sword that automatically came to mind and headed towards a corner.
There, I saw a large figure that was lying on the ground and chained up.
Since I had seen it countless times already, the sight of the man lying down didn’t surprise me.
“Hello. I am Shari Azrael, the apothecary.”
Even so, I approached him cautiously.
Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the man was naked and covered in tattered wounds.
Some of them were still bleeding as if they were new.
It looked like he intentionally inflicted the wounds to prevent himself from falling asleep after being imprisoned.
It made me think that the potions thrown by players or myself might have been truly useless.
“You’re not sleeping, right? Excuse me for a moment…”
I cautiously reached out my hand and turned him over, laying him down.
His body, composed of solid muscles, felt as cold as ice.
Gradually, under a faint glow, the man’s face was revealed.
‘Wow. As expected, he’s incredibly handsome.’
Jet-black hair, as if carved out of obsidian, and skin as flawless as white jade, with a well-toned physique. Exquisite features.
The man was the epitome of decadent beauty.
Even though I had seen his face dozens of times before, I couldn’t help but admire him once again.
[The Sinner, Lord of Nightmares]
Cassell Ludwig.
He was the protagonist of the game, the one who could save the world and also bring about its destruction.
And then, it happened.
Thud―!
Along with a dull sound…
“Get… lost. If you… don’t want to die…”
The protagonist violently pushed my hand away, his crimson eyes flashing as if he wanted to tear me apart.
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