NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 129
Silia Online is a game that’s globally popular.
Thus, there have been countless streamers making it their main content, including Pineapple Pizza, the guild leader of the “Pizza Is Always Hawaiian” guild…
Abbreviated as ‘Pine’, he was one of those streamers.
As a comprehensive game streamer, the moment Pine logged into Silia Online, he was utterly captivated by the charm of this new world.
The realism that felt as real as the actual world. A system that didn’t force anything. A sense of immersion as if he had become part of the world.
Though he had played numerous games, none had given him such a strong feeling until now.
Commonly referred to as the “life game.”
Pine was convinced that Silia, this game, would become his life game, and it was only natural for him to evolve from a comprehensive game streamer to a dedicated Silia streamer.
For players who began Silia, countless crossroads of choices lay before them.
They could become a Blacksmith wielding a hammer, an adventurer bravely facing monsters with weapons, or a farmer tending to crops in a peaceful countryside.
What Pine chose was the path of a mercenary.
While there were attractions to being a Blacksmith, a farmer, or a restaurant owner, what he considered the essence of RPGs was uniting with allies to defeat powerful foes.
Thus, Pine gathered companions to form a guild and adopted a raid as his main content, challenging bosses.
The thrill of overcoming repulsive foes after repeated trials was indescribable.
The greater the challenge, the brighter the feeling of achievement shone, so Pine didn’t give up, even on raids that seemed impossible to clear.
However, even with his fighting spirit, there was one boss that made Pine give up on the clear.
A Gravekeeper, the boss known as “Canaria Grasis.”
Complicated patterns were okay.
Even the brain-twisting patterns could be mastered with enough tries, becoming solvable.
But Canaria was a boss that was worlds away from that.
“What kind of joke is this?”
Standardized patterns? Such a thing didn’t exist.
If anything, it targeted the rear row first, but knowing that didn’t help much with the strategy.
It was spice that was just overly stimulating instead of spicy in a tasty way.
As Pine gradually lost his enthusiasm from the tongue-lacerating spice, he witnessed Canaria literally slice the Empire’s Knights in half and gave up on the strategy entirely.
“That thing isn’t meant to be caught.”
There should be some sort of angle to work with, but how can one expect to catch a monster that splits the ground in half with one strike?
Regret about failure?
There was no room for regret when there was absolutely no chance.
Having given up on the raid, Pine merely received the occasional news about Canaria, not paying much attention to that NPC.
He surely did it until—
“…What’s this?”
Pine stared blankly at the system message that appeared before him.
“A subjugation order? What is this? Has anyone seen this before?”
-????
-??
-Guild meeting? Is it really a meeting?
-I’m scared;
-I have no idea either;
-ㄴㄴㄴㄴ
-Of course, with quests being analog, there’s no way we would have seen something like that.
The viewers’ reactions were not much different from Pine’s.
The system of Silia Online is high on freedom, if you say nicely, and leaves players unattended, if you say harshly.
While there is a basic interface, the basic stance is not to force or encourage anything.
But the message now floating in front of Pine clearly contained the meaning of ‘suggestion’.
[Subjugation Event Activated!]
Under that name began a message announcing a crisis had befallen the Ardina Continent and that if the crisis weren’t resolved, a great calamity would occur.
“Anyone can see it’s telling us to do it.”
-Does that not just mean it is what it is?
-Didn’t they show a message just to tell you that? Your reading comprehension is awful (this message was deleted.)
-Why are you so angry?
-They say there’s something bad going on at home~
Usually, Pine would have happily exclaimed, “Wow! Big event!” but right now—
-But why does this guy look like that?
-For real, anyone would think he’s chewing on shit.
-Oh; who talks about curry when I’m eating shit?
-?
As the viewers commented, Pine’s complexion wasn’t good.
Upon seeing the name in the system message and the poster, he couldn’t greet it joyfully.
“Canaria…”
Why is that name showing up here?
Pine found himself rubbing his forehead unconsciously.
“…Can someone explain this to me?”
Chat messages flooded in.
Thanks to the viewers’ help, Pine understood how this predicament had come to be.
“So… after that ascension ritual or whatever ended, it suddenly disappeared, and when they found it in Ardina, it was out of its mind?”
-ㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇ
-ㅔ
-That’s accurate ㅇㅇ
-Exactly
“Hoo… Joanie must be going through a tough time.”
-People said Joanie immediately re-spawned to look for Kana.
-I thought it was Joanie from that.
-So what are you going to do? Gonna try?
-Let’s go for revenge~
“…No, I’m not going to do it.”
But just because he understood the situation didn’t mean courage would magically appear.
To hunt a boss that splits the ground with basic attacks and carelessly slices through a house-sized dimensional creature?
If he hadn’t been hit, it might have felt different, but after being beaten mercilessly already, he had little enthusiasm.
-?
-?????????
-What?
-Is this guy scared? Is this guy scared? Is this guy scared? Is this guy scared?
-You’re disqualified from being a man…
-Doesn’t that make him a woman? All the better.
-What the hell is this guy doing?
-Ugh;
But that was Pine’s concern; the viewers didn’t give a hoot.
Even if he closed his eyes and covered his ears, the criticisms pouring down on Pine showed no signs of stopping.
Eventually, Pine raised the white flag.
“Ugh, fine! I’ll ask the guild members! But if even one person says no, we’re done. Got it?”
-ㅇㅋㅇㅋ
-Good ㅋㅋ
“If you’re the guild leader, can’t you just push through it? Hmm…”
“Each guild has its different methods.”
Pine, scanning the chat, couldn’t help but let a slight smile creep onto his face.
His words to save face were genuinely effective.
And of course, the guild members who shared the pain wouldn’t disagree with this idea, so it was effectively a blank check.
‘Just as planned.’
However, Pine was unaware.
That contrary to his expectations, the guild members would agree unanimously.
Had he known that, he wouldn’t have suggested it, but unable to see into the future, Pine merely hid his true feelings and kept smiling.
Pine was smiling….
*
A massive silver barrier.
Pine stood before it, voice laced with regret.
“…Why am I here?”
-That’s ‘the promise’, you see.
-Nods.
-Unlike some, it’s nice to see you keep your promise ㅎㅎ
-Oh no, that can’t happen;
While streamers can’t live without their viewers, sometimes they can be more annoying than a sister-in-law trying to stop them, and this was exactly one of those times.
Since it was him who brought it up first, he couldn’t say anything to the viewers.
Pine, inwardly groaning, randomly snapped at a guild member.
“You really are swift. Wanna die again?”
“How have they changed, I’m just curious.”
“I’m just going for a trip to reminisce.”
“Blackened Kana… how do you endure this?”
Pine shook his head at the diverse answers that reflected each personality.
Who on earth chose such characters to gather?
‘Oh, it’s me.’
I should have assembled more normal people.
While Pine was regretting, Lemony, the healer of the Pizza Is Always Hawaiian guild, inspected the barrier with curious eyes.
Not only observing, she even poked it with her fingers.
“What’s got you so curious?”
Unable to contain his curiosity, Pine asked while watching her actions.
“What? Ah… I was just thinking this feels like a real raid. Previously, it felt like some field boss scenario…”
“Hmm.”
Pine nodded at Lemony’s words.
That was certainly the case.
It wasn’t merely about having an open or closed stage.
Previously, the place where they confronted Canaria became the boss room, so honestly, there wasn’t much of a serious vibe about entering a battlefield.
But being in a place where inside and outside were clearly divided, somehow increased the tension.
“But if you’re going to fix it, shouldn’t you fix things like this too? Why keep the limit of one party entering at a time?”
Weren’t Demoninus supposed to be working?
Even after arriving as quickly as they could, Pine’s guild was stuck waiting because another party had already entered.
“Are you not getting bored, Lemony?”
“Well, I’ve done a lot of open runs, so…”
“Aha.”
“It’s opening up now!”
As they chatted, the boss room opened, revealing that the previously entered party had been wiped.
“Is everyone ready to take the hit?”
“Woo! You’re not even thinking about breaking it! The guild leader lacks spirit!”
“Real for real. At this rate, can we trust you?”
“If you’re ready, just go in quickly. We’re going to get cut in line.”
Ignoring the shout of “The guild leader is leading the guild members into danger!” Pine shoved their backs.
As soon as they passed through the entrance of the barrier and entered the boss room, the air changed as if they had entered a different world.
The sky was dark, and the ground was even darker.
Pine gulped as he took in the scene that felt like the environment of Raxia he’d seen on his stream.
Just as the guild members were looking around anxiously to tighten their nerves, one abruptly yelled.
“Whoa?! Shit! A dot damage is coming in!”
“What?”
Startled, Pine checked his HP.
Just as he had said, his HP was indeed decreasing gradually.
Also, the ‘Mana Poisoning’ debuff floating above him.
“Should I heal?”
“No, it’s not enough to die, so for now let it be. When it’s down to about half, please use a full heal.”
“Yes.”
“Definitely feels different from before…”
What stood out as the biggest change was something else.
“The attacks… aren’t coming?”
Even though they had entered the boss room, there were no incoming attacks.
Of course, that had happened before, but this time was fundamentally different.
Back then, they had clearly recognized them, thinking, ‘Okay, let’s see you perform,’ but now it seemed like they were oblivious to the fact that anyone had walked in, sitting there vacantly without giving them a glance.
A pink girl surrounded by black mana, slumped down.
One of the guild members gasped at the sight.
“Wow, the atmosphere is amazing.”
“That’s what you think looking at that?”
“Huh? Isn’t it cool?”
“Ugh….”
Pine was about to say something when he recalled that this guy was the one who had mentioned ‘Darkened Kana,’ and he fell silent.
In truth, he understood it to some degree as well.
“‘A character that was once a hero turns into a dark entity and appears as a foe; what a cliché. This is gourmet.’”
“…Don’t whisper strange things in my ear. Also, Kana isn’t even a hero.”
“Embrace the truth…”
Pine shook off his ears and drew his sword.
“You all remember the basic tactics, right? Self-survival is key. Healers, focus on shields from maximum distance.”
He didn’t think they could hunt it.
From the very beginning, having fought together as allies against the Empire, his motivation to hunt wasn’t strong.
Pine had actually come just to spectate, so his enthusiasm was at rock bottom.
“Pull, please.”
Feeling no spirit whatsoever in Pine’s command, a man with a shield stepped forward.
“Huuh! Battle Cry!”
With a short yet intense battle cry, sword energy flew towards the girl.
While the attack power was weak, with a long range and high hatred increase, it was a skill often used to initiate combat.
‘She’s bound to dodge that.’
Pine watched the sword energy fly without much expectation.
If she would have been caught by such an attack, they would have succeeded long ago…
Thump!
…Wrong?
“…?”
…Did I see it wrong?
Something seemed to touch the sword energy?
As Pine rubbed his eyes at the unexpectedly whimsical sight,
Flicker—
The girl, who had shown no movement, slowly stood up.
Her pink eyes, shadowed, turned toward them.