Translator: Dreamscribe

Jinwoo recalled the past.

There had been almost no conversation with Helby. As soon as Helby saw him, she would cast a spell or curse him in all sorts of ways. Of course, thanks to the special anti-Helby final weapon, he never actually got cursed.

[...I must have misspoken a little in surprise. Rejoice, mage. I shall grant you the honor of my beautiful time.]

Before the Erosion came, Helby had been the embodiment of greed, trying to steal the golden light spread across Arsilan by the goddess Ella and possess all the treasures of this land.

She was the trial itself bestowed upon Arsilan.

And now, such a great being as Helby had become like this.

"Has the Erosion's energy penetrated all the way to her head?"

[Hmm, that’s quite a rude remark, but I shall forgive you.]

Flinch.

Jinwoo stepped back.

A dragon forgiving someone?

If it had been in the past, it would have been something recorded in legend. Helby’s eyes were still solely fixed on Jinwoo.

[Yes, you said you wanted to talk? Then I suppose a human form would be more suitable.]

"Didn’t you dislike humans?"

[I only disliked the ugly ones. Most humans are ugly.]

As Helby tried to use magic, Jinwoo raised his hand to stop her. He pulled out the setting book from subspace.

It was a character he had first conceived back when he was a game director. He had drawn it using Illusion Magic while considering adding it to Arsilan Saga.

"If possible, could you transform into this appearance?"

Was it too unreasonable a request?

Helby stared at Jinwoo intently. When Jinwoo smiled faintly, Helby’s large pupils trembled again.

["I-I'll specially bestow this mercy upon you."]

Helby raised her gigantic body and transformed. She became a girl with horns, in human form.

"Oh..."

"Hmph."

When Jinwoo expressed amazement, Helby proudly looked at him arrogantly. Though it wasn’t exactly like the original setting due to that expression, the character’s personality came alive.

"Mage, have you finally come to understand the greatness of this body?"

"Amazing."

To transform so perfectly was an extremely difficult task. On top of that, she had created the outfit flawlessly. Jinwoo could have done it if he concentrated, but not so effortlessly, as if breathing.

Truly fitting for a magic dragon.

She was a remarkable talent.

‘With magic...’

The word came to his mind, but he pushed it aside for the moment.

"A-hem!"

When Jinwoo sincerely praised her, Helby’s ears turned red. Then she puffed up with pride. She looked at Jinwoo with an even more arrogant posture.

"Do a spin."

"Hmph!"

"Perfect."

Clap clap clap!

When Jinwoo clapped while saying it, Helby did a spin.

He thought he could understand a little of how Tia and Tiris must have felt.

Helby looked absolutely delighted.

"Follow me. I shall specially show you my lair. Let’s continue our conversation inside."

As Helby reached out her hand, a massive door surged up.

It was a door so beautiful it looked like a piece of art. Jinwoo followed Helby and entered.

Inside was a grand temple.

She had taken an entire beautiful temple from Arsilan and made it her lair. At the time, many had grieved over it, but because of that, it had not been consumed by Erosion.

'Could this be considered preservation of cultural heritage?'

Though that was only in hindsight.

As they moved deeper inside, countless statues came into view. They were statues in human form, all in a state of agony.

Emperors, kings, nobles, and even the pope.

Knights, soldiers, warriors.

There was a wide variety.

"They’re not statues, are they."

They were people of Arsilan turned into statues by a curse. At Jinwoo’s words, Helby let out a light chuckle.

"Humans always desire more than they deserve. And they collapse without overcoming the trials they should rightfully endure. Do you see that one?"

"The pope?"

"Yes, that one wished for immortality that Ella had not permitted. So I gave him a trial: to sincerely move the hearts of ten high-ranking clerics."

Helby turned her head and looked at Jinwoo.

A chilling smile spread across her lips.

"The pope diligently did good deeds and even shared rare treasures in his efforts. But the result...."

Helby tapped on the stone head of the transformed pope.

"Not a single person followed him. Who would follow a pope who wished for eternal life at the cost of breaking doctrine? I acquired this temple at that time. Everything that belonged to that wretch became mine."

The quest reward had been enormous, but since he failed the quest, he was turned to stone. It was just like a magic dragon, a true adversary to Ella.

"Filthy and disgusting. To prove and erase such filth is the true beauty."

That was her authority, and the root of her greed.

The Trial of Light that Hallon spoke of, its origin came from Helby.

Helby stared intently at Jinwoo.

She slightly furrowed her brow at his calm demeanor.

"Well, I suppose this is just a boring story to you."

"No, it was actually pretty good. A story with a moral."

"A-hem! This way."

Helby's dragon tail twitched in an odd way.

'Oh.'

Jinwoo felt like he had figured out how to deal with Helby!

Helby led him to a room further inside at a slightly faster pace. It was a room with a graceful feel. He had expected something extremely flashy, so it was unexpected.

"There are many forms of beauty."

As if reading Jinwoo's mind, Helby said so. When Jinwoo sat on a chair, she sat across from him and looked at him. To be sitting face to face with a magic dragon, what a long life it had been.

Jinwoo fell into thought for a moment, then opened his mouth.

"Is it because of that body?"

"It’s... it’s just a whim. I simply felt like it today. We've only fought, we've never really had a conversation, have we?"

When Jinwoo stared at her, she cleared her throat and met his gaze.

"Then, state your business concisely."

"Concisely?"

"Yes, as concisely as possible."

Jinwoo nodded and parted his lips.

"I’ve awakened. To save Arsilan from the Erosion, I summoned the Heroes. But... a few problems came up, and I was hoping you could help."

"Heroes..."

Jinwoo stated his business concisely.

At the mention of Heroes, Helby gave a sneering smile.

"And you think mere Heroes can save Arsilan?"

Her eyes flared sharply.

"Immortal Archmage. A transcendent who gained eternity in a mortal body."

But deep in her fierce eyes, there was fear.

"You saw it, didn’t you? After Ella vanished, countless mythic beings fell into agony and became slaves to Erosion."

"I did."

"Even you, after dying thousands, tens of thousands of times, you found no other way but to endure. And you think mere Heroes can save Arsilan?"

"It's been going smoothly so far."

"You truly believe that? That mortals from outside can do something about it?"

Helby's voice carried no strength as she asked.

She too was withering away in despair, dying slowly. All she could do was curl up in fear and terror, awaiting the hell that was to come.

How much pain must a being like her endure before being devoured and corrupted by Erosion?

Perhaps for an eternity.

"So, will you help?"

When Jinwoo asked, she looked into his eyes for a while.

Helby's brow twitched.

That mage always had that same look in his eyes.

Even when she fled in disgrace after facing the Erosion, the mage in front of her had looked at it head-on with that gaze. It was as if he was saying this was a trial that could be endured, which she didn't like.

Maybe she had been jealous, thinking he possessed something she could never have.

Grrrk!

Her teeth clenched.

She wanted to defeat that mage before Erosion did.

She wanted to prove he was no different from her.

That both the one struggling and the one who ran, were the same in the end.

‘Yeah...’

It was because of these deep thoughts. Definitely not because of his face that she felt like agreeing!

"Then, mage. Let’s make a wager."

"A wager?"

Helby leaned back against the chair and crossed her legs.

"If I win, you become my slave. If you win, I’ll grant you anything."

As Jinwoo looked at her as if to say, "Go on", Helby formed a fierce smile at her lips.

"I will personally test the Heroes. I’ll give them a trial they cannot resist, inflict fear and despair upon them, and see with my own eyes whether they can overcome it."

"Hmm."

At her words, Jinwoo nodded.

Altering the later part of the story a little didn’t seem like a bad idea. Though quite a lot needed to be revised, it was still worth doing.

More than anything.

‘A Quest Generator!’

Helby was a perfect quest generator!

In the game, trials were just quests.

Extremely difficult quests stirred a player’s sense of challenge and passion, delivering a powerful sense of achievement.

Currently, quests were given through the Adventurer’s Guild or NPCs, but there was a lack of diversity. Since it wasn’t a game but reality, there were limits to how many different types of quests could be implemented.

Players praised it for its extreme realism, but to Jinwoo, it looked like a patchwork barely holding together.

It was something that could become an issue once the official service launched.

“If a Hero dies while undergoing the trial, well, there’s nothing that can be done. A weak Hero wouldn’t be able to withstand the Erosion anyway. If you’re okay with that....”

“Fine.”

“Huh?”

Helby blinked.

“Fine? You’re okay with losing a Hero you barely managed to summon after awakening?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you serious?”

Without hesitation, Jinwoo nodded.