[Main Side Quest #1 has begun!]
[All dreamers are requested to complete the Quest as soon as possible in order to continue with their Dungeon Conquering]
This side quest would indeed end so quickly. After all, Dreamers are only good at killing other dreamers.
[5 Dreamers have died!]
[Total Dreamers Remaining: 527]
See. I was right. The next moment, I took my eyes off the floating screen and looked at Anna, who was holding her sword tightly, her gaze locked on me.
"Kang Hong"
I nodded, and the floating screen appeared in front of me.
[Anna's requesting you to join her party. Do you want to join?
It wasn't a normal party. It was a party that I was never part of. Back when I went in the dungeon with Anna and others, I wasn't part of her party. I was doing everything individually at that time. I was used, abandoned just because I wasn't a part of this party.
"Don't you want to join?"
I looked in front of me, at the source of this voice. The voice of a person I knew very well. The person I wrote about all the time in my novel. The person whose life will become a total disaster.
It was the person…
"…Yeah, I want to join."
…I want to protect the most.
[You've joined Anna's party "Endless Souls"!].
[You can now communicate with other party members through the chat system!]
Hoh… I'll finally be able to text others.
Anna gave a light smile, turned around, and started walking. Towards the screams of dreamers. A real hell was being recreated here in this hunting ground.
I slightly tilted my gaze down and silently opened my mouth.
"…you can't leave me behind."
And followed after Anna.
***
Three heads lowered a bit to show respect to the person standing in front of them. They all said the same thing at the same time.
"We'll take our leave then.."
The three butlers turned into fragments of paper and vanished in the vast Hunting Ground. Kim Jeong held his gaze unflinching and continued looking at the moon.
"I might try writing something about Moon."
A voice containing the inner writer of Kim Jeong was heard by the nightsky. His gaze slowly tilted at the blood-shedding dreamers and was utterly disgusted.
It was visible from the expression he was making.
The dreamers are fighting in the forest, shedding each other's blood, killing their own comrades just to win a mere title and some amount of coins. It was all observed by the head administrator of this Hunting Ground.
"We've got a really low amount of good crops this year."
With the disappointment, Kim Jeong's eyes locked onto two people who were walking towards the bloody area. Their intentions were quite visible to Kim Jeong. The intention of massacring other dreamers was visible in their heavy steps.
An interested grin formed over Kim Jeong's lip. He lifted his finger to touch his lips in an interested manner and continued his words.
"I wonder what her blood looks like."
Specifically speaking, Kim Jeong's eyes were locked on the woman walking with the man. The woman who wore a tattered cloak and held a polished sword. The grin over Kim Jeong's face deepened more, and he bit his lips a bit so tightly that blood came out of them.
He licked his own blood and ended his words.
"I like you, Anna Eun-ha."
***
Our shoes felt the blood the moment we entered the bloodbath. With shoes soaking in blood, we continued our steps. Anna disgustingly opened her mouth, "That's a lot of blood!" Just how cruel are they?"
I willingly kept my mouth shut and looked at the dead bodies of Dreamers, torn hands lying on the ground, eyeballs soaked with blood, and weapons and armor scattered around.
The Yeouido Hangang Park incident got through my head. The first quest of my life began there. I lost Futaba, killed Han Seeyoung, and met Chaeyoung and Lee Seonyeon. I had come a long way.
But still, I was unable to change this dream—the trajectory might tilt a bit if I get my hands on that title. That little change would be the cause of the greater change in the future.
The dreamers were now visible in our sight. They were either running away or swinging their swords at each other. Anna didn't flinch a bit. She continued walking towards them, holding her gaze high.
I did the same and followed her like a loyal knight, holding my gaze high. I didn't unsheathe my sword, nor did Anna.
Now that I think about it, it's my first time seeing Anna fight. What was her fighting style in the beginning? I don't remember it quite well.
The gazes of those screaming creatures moved. Moved to us, they looked at me, then at Anna.
But for some reason, their eyes, which didn't tremble after seeing me, were suddenly trembling after seeing Anna. Their eyes locked on to her.
I gulped in surprise and looked at Anna; her eyes resembled nothing, just pure darkness. But the eyes of those Dreamers resembled something else.
Something that can only be defined by one term, and that is…
'Fear'
***
I always say that Anna fought in countless battles and saw all her companions losing their lives one by one. She suffered a lot of losses in the battles she fought.
But there was one thing that always bothered me in my head. And that was…
How does Anna survive those deadly battles? Is she overpowered, or is she a regressor?
Why was Anna the only one who survived those battles? Was it because she was the main protagonist?
The answer actually lies in the 3rd chapter of Desired End. The answer was pretty simple, yet the author highlighted it way too much. I couldn't understand why, but now I can understand why he highlighted it.
Because that one incident changed the whole trajectory of this endless dream. The incident that changed Anna's life to hell.
***
The words of Chapter 3 flooded inside my head as Anna took some steps forward and slowly unsheathed her sword.
「Kim Jeong's laughter was heard as he slowly ripped out Anna's arm.」
The Pain I wrote.
「Blood started flowing from Anna's mouth as she screamed more and more.」
The Dreamer's trembling voice could be heard now.
"Hey! "Isn't that Anna?"
"I-It's A-A-Anna!"
"I-It can't be!"
They slowly started taking some steps back as Anna took some steps forward. Eventually, they started running away from her by screaming for help. Soon their images disappeared into the woods with their voices.
But did Anna stop? She didn't.
She silently looked back at me and opened her mouth.
"You stay here."
"Why?"
It was unexpected. Anna wanted me to not accompany her in the battle? Why was she doing something like that?
Anna looked at the night sky, thinking about her next words. She suddenly changed after encountering those Dreamers… something must have happened with her.
The words inside my head continued. The words of the forgotten pages of the Novel "Desired End" written by me.
「At that very moment, Anna wondered if it was the end of her life.」
The first pain felt by Anna.
「She screamed inside her head that she doesn't want to die, that she wants to live.」
The will to live was present in Anna.
「Even God doesn't know what sight truly was; a whirlpool was made over the sky, devouring each and every cloud, including the light of this world.」
The presence of a mysterious being was felt by Anna.
「Kim Jeong grinned in frustration and started leaving, but before he was able to do so,」
Kim Jeong's...no, The Demon Mansion's greatest nightmare.
「He got struck by lightning, a really shocking one, which caused him to fall on the ground with a thud.」
The head butler lost the battle with only one lightning strike.
「At that very moment, Anna felt it, heard it, or saw it. Even she doesn't know.」
Anna felt the same event in three different ways.
「But she was able to clearly see it rather than feeling or hearing the same thing.」
「The hand of a person, reaching towards her, trying to help her stand up.」
After a bit of thought and looking at the sky, Anna lowered her gaze at me and continued her words.
"From this point, there's something that you can't see."
"What is that something?"
"You'll die."
…death? It was a word that meant nothing to me at this point. I had already died countless times; I know the pain of dying more than anyone in this endless dream.
I didn't give a reply, nor did Anna decide to continue her words. A silence surrounded the area, and that very silence seemed like an answer to me.
My silence represented my fear of death; that's what Anna interpreted. So in response to that silence, Anna started taking steps towards the woods where the Dreamers had run off to.
She continued her incomplete words.
"I don't want to put you in any danger."
"…I've been facing off countless dangers, Anna."
And with that, I started pouring out my emotions, my feelings, to the main protagonist of my novel. The words from my novel started floating around my head like it was waiting for me to break my silence.
「The man asked Anna if she wanted to live.」
"…Even then I've survived up to this point."
「Anna nodded her head in complete confusion.」
"Do you want to know why?"
「"I want to live."」
"Because I wanted to live."
「"I want to face all the dangers of this dream."」
"I want to face every single danger."
Anna's eyebrow twitched a bit. A certain past triggered inside her head. The past, which began her life as the main protagonist of Desired End.
"I'm not scared."
"I'm not scared about anything that happens to me."
Anna was now looking at me strangely and slowly raised her hand in order to ask me something, but she didn't. She just lifted her hand down.
"Lend me your strength."
"Lend me... Let me stay with you in this. I'm a party member after all."
That line was the end of Chapter 3. Later, in Chapter 4, we got to see what that strength that Anna got was. That very strength helped Anna to survive every time, meanwhile everyone around her just kept dying.
Chapter 4 was the chapter the one which gave her the title of Main Protagonist of this endless dream.
Anna gave a small laugh and looked at me with a small curve on her lips. She said.
"Your words were quite a bit similar to something."
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
Anna's eyes, which showed nothing but pure darkness, were now back to their usual lights. It made my heart feel at ease. I was a bit worried about her.
She turned around and continued her words.
"Aren't you coming?"
This girl… she can be influenced by that?
I smiled a bit and walked before her. Our steps, which were slow at first, turned faster, and in just a span of time we were running, chasing after the Dreamers.
The running bodies of three dreamers were now visible in front of us, Anna, and I unsheathed our swords.
"I'm still telling you, you're going to put your life on the line here!"
"I can survive!"
"This isn't anything like any obstacle you've faced till now! You'll definitely face de—"
A 'bam' sound filled the whole forest. In an instant the number of gunshots increased as Anna got shot more. Anna was shouting at me till now and was falling in front of me. She was dying.
She coughed up blood, a lot. I couldn't believe that such a thing was possible because she was the main protagonist. She can't die with only gunshots.
I had stopped my steps and was looking around the forest in order to see a little bit of a hint to know where the bullets came from.
Guns are still used, huh?
This wasn't normal in this endless dream. Guns should have been vaporized by now, but they were still here in their original form.
A sheer silence had engulfed the whole forest, and some footsteps were now heard coming towards us. It wasn't just one. There were more than 20.
[Skill Infinite Lives Lvl.??? Has been automatically activated!]
[The body will regain its life in 2 minutes!]
Infinite Lives… a skill that helped Anna survive till the end of Desired End. Anna wasn't strong, nor did she have that many great skills. She only had one thing as her trump card, and that was the skill to regain her life countless times.
She fought in battles, died, and then fought again. As we already know, everyone has to die one day in this endless dream. But this rule wasn't applicable to Anna. She was basically immortal.
Back then in the dungeon, Anna died a lot against the Dungeon Boss, but in the end, the victor was the one who stood till the end.
And with that, the countless amount of thoughts inside my head came to a halt, and the footsteps stopped with it. The dreamers were standing in front of us, surrounding us. We basically played right into their trap.
"Is she dead?"
"Seems like."
"She's a monster, but I'm sure she can't survive this many gunshots."
I gritted my teeth in frustration as I took some steps forward. These guys must have some past history with Anna; otherwise, there would have been no way that they would create a trap for her like this.
They looked over to me and pointed all their 20 guns at me, right at the head.
[The Void- Need help?]
...
[Kang Hong- No]
I took the surrendering stance and dropped my sword on the ground, which caused them to smirk.
"Such a scardy bastard."
"Aren't you giving up way too quickly?"
"It's not over yet, man!"
…
…
…
I just ignored their voices and looked at the still body of the main protagonist on the ground. Will she wake up?
I knew that she would, but I was just really nervous because that skill is the one that began all her suffering. I couldn't bear to watch that sight unfold right before my eyes.
All the things that Anna suffered from within the 1855 chapters of Desired End floated around my head. She was just a mere character who got an overpowered skill. But that skill changed her life forever. She became the main protagonist and eventually almost touched the end of this endless dream.
***
The dreamers started taking their steps forward towards the unarmed Kang Hong while still pointing their guns at him. They muttered.
"I've never seen you before. Are you new?"
"We're military soldiers! You can join us if you want."
"Are you with her?"
Kang Hong, in frustration, just kept his mouth shut. No, he did open it, but after some time.
"I may or may not be with her, and that's none of your business."
As if it was waiting for those words to end, Anna's body suddenly stood up, and a thud caused the soldiers to look at her surprisingly, and she took some steps back.
"Huh?!"
"What?!"
"It can't be!!"
…
…
[Skill Infinite Lives Lvl ??? Is currently active!]
[Body's revival has begun!]
Kang Hong made a smirk and picked up his sword and pointed it quietly at one of the dreamers.
"You're doomed."
[Total Dreamers Remaining: 345]
With the ending of those words, Multiple Bullets which were fired at Anna shot out of her body at the speed of a gunshot. They hit the Dreamers, causing some of them to fall on the ground or on their knees. Those who didn't get shot staggered back while gasping in surprise.
***
The blood flow had stopped, and Anna was standing still without showing any sign of movement. Her gaze was towards the moon and then eventually shifted to her bloody hands. The blood on the hands eventually got sucked inside her body. She then looked at me with trembling eyes, like she knew what she had done.
I was looking at her with a darkened expression. She raised her trembling hand towards me; she seemed to move her mouth a bit, but I couldn't understand what she was trying to say.
In the end, a small yet painful curve formed over my lips, and my cloak danced with the flowing breeze.
She gritted her teeth in frustration; she started to take some steps forward with regrets. The regret of taking me this far, the regret of making me see a sight of her like that. A regret of...
[You've seen something that you weren't supposed to see!]
[The death penalty will be applied!]
Finally, the final words of the floating screen showed up, and I couldn't help but laugh at them. Because I couldn't laugh at them from now on.
A new sensation flowed through my head, and the hairs on my skin started standing up. It felt like the earth was breaking apart, and with those sensations, several solid, pointed spikes came out of the earth and pierced my body.
A regret of losing her comrade.
[You've died!]