CHAPTER 58: THE SHATTERED SWORDMAIDEN [2]

[Warning: This Chapter contains some scenes which might not be suitable for some readers.]

Haru had never been interested in reading stories before. Most of the books he had read until now were either technical or political.

Beyond that, he only had a vague idea about how a novel actually began.

Even so, Haru had given his utmost best to shape the game’s lore. Hiring professional writers and editors to further improve the lore of [Rebirth of the Fivefold Calamity] had been a brilliant move at the time.

After the game’s beta release, Haru’s company [Arcane Legacy] had gathered valuable feedback and bug reports from beta players, which were compiled and reported back to the core development team to address all the issues.

At that time, Haru had millions of dollars from investors in his company, so money was never a problem for him.

Carefully noting the issues in the game’s lore, Haru hired a group of professional scriptwriters to refine the story to peak perfection.

Starting with the lore of side characters and extending to the main cast, [Rebirth of the Fivefold Calamity] successfully created something the world would soon be praising.

It was the revolution that would further evolve the gaming industry.

A masterpiece, crafted and led by the youngest billionaire in the world.

"Achoo!"

Alice sneezed delicately, wrapping both arms around herself as her petite frame shivered.

"Iz’s swo cwold, heree!"

She attempted to speak normally, but only broken, adorably cute fragments managed to escape between her chattering teeth and quivering lips.

But the coldness that was enveloping them was not cute in the slightest.

She, alongside Leon, had finally entered the storybook, where a vast snowfield awaited them.

Alice had to squint through the haze to examine her surroundings.

Turning to her left, she found Leon standing nearby. But unlike his previous confident expression, his face had now shifted to display unmistakable terror.

Leon was simply staring into the empty air before his eyes, his pupils darting left to right, widened as if he had just read some kind of death sentence.

Alice found it disturbing, shook him by his shoulder.

"Hey!"

Her force knocked some sense into him, making his eyes finally shift towards her.

"What happened?"

"Hm?" Leon tilted his head in confusion.

"No, nothing," he replied casually.

"..."

"Anyway," he said, gazing at the snow below his feet, "all of this looks so real, don’t you think?"

Snow slowly dug beneath their feet, and the feeling of coldness hit their skin.

Everything looked and felt all too real.

"You’re right," Alice agreed, stomping her feet on the snow. "Oh, we also have different clothes too."

Leon wore a white shirt with black pants, and Alice wore a simple top and skirt. They both looked like commoners from afar, but with how refined their facial features were, anyone could tell that both of them were nobles.

"Achoooo! Ahhhchoooo!" Alice was clenching her body even more, "ugh! For fuck’s sake!"

The weather was indeed harsh right now.

Curiously, Leon finally asked Alice the question he had wanted to ask for so long.

"How the heck do you catch a cold when you’re not even in your real body? That’s kinda... pathetic if you ask me."

"You think I’m doing this on purpose? I just can’t withstand cold weather. That’s it," she hissed.

It had been only ten seconds since Leon and Alice had entered this world.

But before entering, Leon had seen several system warnings flash before his vision. Some of them were alarming, but a few caught his attention and have been bothering him ever since.

[World System: Disconnected]

[Searching for a nearby data bank]

It took Leon a few minutes to decipher the meaning of these commands.

When his actual consciousness left his real body, his system had stopped responding. It was as if it had never existed.

Leon tried to activate his old status window, but nothing popped up.

"Weird?" He muttered.

But before he could test out other methods, Alice’s stunned voice came from his right.

"What the—there’s some kind of projection in front of my eyes..."

Leon’s head instantly turned to her.

’A system window?!’

"How?" Leon asked.

"What do you mean?" she replied.

A minute later.

A yellow window, similar to his system in the real world, popped up and was now hovering with a single line of message flashing on it.

[Warning: Due to unauthorized access, the administrator may attract the attention of System Root.]

This line alone was enough to send chills down Leon’s spine, because it was his first time hearing that name.

[System Root]

’What is that? No... who is that?’

What did that "may attract attention" message mean?

’Is there someone who’s been watching me, or...’

Leon seriously contemplated the message, but he soon found it too difficult to think further.

After the message vanished, a new piece of information rewrote the previous statement.

[The Shattered Swordmaiden]

Genre: Romance, Sword Art

Difficulty: ★ ★ (2 star)

Player needed: 2 - 4

Progress: [0%------------------]

It was the description of the book that they had both entered.

"That’s pretty handy," Alice commented, probably reading the same message in her own window.

"Let’s find a warm place first," Leon suggested, taking note of the weather.

It was getting worse with each passing second.

Covering their ears from the biting cold air, they both moved ahead.

"Where are we going exactly?" Alice asked Leon, since he was the one leading her. "Please tell me you’re not one of those ’trust me, I know what I’m doing’ guys who ends up getting everyone killed."

"Just wait and see," he answered smugly.

"Oh for fuck’s sake! That’s exactly what those guys say!" Alice groaned. "Next you’ll be telling me to ’stay calm’ while we’re being eaten by some horrific monster!"

"Okay, fine. I’m like 90% sure I know where we’re going," Leon admitted.

"Ninety percent?! What about the other ten percent?"

Leon remembered playing this portion in the game, and as far as his knowledge went, there should be a cave nearby.

Ethan had been able to find it, so he would too.

"That ten percent is the part where we wing it and hope for the best." He replied.

"...Look," Alice’s tone became serious, "I’m already freezing my ass off in this winter. If your ten percent fuckup gets me in trouble, then forget about the research; I’ll make you wish you never crawled out of your mother’s womb."

’Classic Alice.’

Leon blinked at her words.

In the game, Alice had been one of the most popular characters among players. Her brilliant research papers, her adorable reactions when flustered, and even her tsundere-like personality had made her a fan favorite.

But if it hadn’t been for her foul mouth, she probably would have topped the popularity charts.

As for Haru... it hadn’t really mattered to him. Throughout his entire career as both a gamer and a developer, he had never felt any sentiment toward any character he had played or designed. For him, they had all been simply... characters whose fates had already been coded.

Glancing at Alice as she followed behind him, he thought wryly.

’I wonder how many of those fans would survive meeting the real Alice Nightson in person.’

After trudging through the snow for several minutes, Leon still hadn’t spotted what he was looking for.

’It should be here...’

That was weird. Leon was certain it was situated somewhere nearby, but this place had nothing of the sort.

As he walked deeper, he recalled the game’s story.

’Ethan was able to meet the swordmaiden right after he found a cave to stay in... I just need to find the cave.’

Leon was also considering the possibility of the swordmaiden confronting them first.

But that would only happen under special circumstances.

’Shit, this psycho will end me if it fails.’

"Haaah..."

Thinking back to Alice’s reaction, Leon understood that she was just being cautious.

After all, everyone feared death, and she was no different. Given the fact that she wouldn’t actually die in this two-star book if she got killed, the worst that could happen would be only a couple of months or maybe even years of paralysis.

Leon noticed that Alice was simply walking behind him with crossed arms, puffing her petite cheeks, following him like he was her only source of guidance. Which, in this case, was true.

It was Leon who had chosen the book, and it was he who had given his word that he knew what he was doing.

Sighing, Leon began to speak.

"Look, I know it—"

MUNCH—! MUNCH—!

"!?"

"!?"

His steps halted. Every hair on his body stood on end as a disgustingly foul smell reached his nose, followed by a munching sound as if someone was biting through rock.

It was coming from his left.

Both Leon and Alice stood side by side. They both wanted to turn and look, but their bodies froze.

Gulping, Leon forced himself to turn.

What he saw made him question whether this was the same game he had created.

It was a human girl... Maybe calling it a human would be too much.

The left half of her skull was caved inward, exposing brain matter where pale maggots writhed and crawled through the grey tissue. Her skin hung in rotting strips from her frame, revealing blackened muscle.

She was completely naked.

The creature was hunched over the mangled corpse of what appeared to be a large dog; her jaw was constantly tearing chunks of meat from the dog.

When the creature sensed their presence, it stopped munching. She slowly turned her head toward them, making a sickening wet sound.

Her remaining milky eyes fixed on Leon and Alice.

Drool dripped down her mangled mouth.

Leon felt his stomach lurch.

Alice, despite her usual bravado, could only manage to whisper.

"...See, that’s what your ten percent lead us to."