Overgeared

Tak... Tak tak tak.

His hands were trembling because of excitement. It was hard to press the capsule operation button, which he had been pressing every day for years.

Ttalkak.

After a minute of wandering, his fingers settled down. The lid of the capsule opened with a mechanical sound reminiscent of the sound effects in sci-fi movies. This was his haven, the unique space where he could be freed from the reality that was worse than hell.

“Luna...” 

Agnus staggered as he sat in the capsule.

‘Soon... It is coming soon...’

Agnus had been forced to stay logged out after the two consecutive deaths from the day before. He couldn’t sleep all night due to intense exhilaration and emotions. His reunion with his lover...

His only heart’s desire would soon be fulfilled.

‘..In this world, I will see you.’

Along with the hollow promise, Agnus’ consciousness was transmitted to Satisfy. Waiting for him to wake up in the depths of hell was...

-Are you finally starting?

It was Baal leaning against the throne. His face was obscured by a dark shadow, and Agnus couldn’t see it. Even so, he seemed to know. This person was smiling. He was laughing at Agnus. Baal was present, ready to ridicule and taunt Agnus. Despite knowing this...

“Deceased Creation.” Agnus used a skill.

It was an ultimate skill, like Grid’s item creation and Kraugel’s swordsmanship creation. Agnus went through the process of several system inquiries. Finally...

“I... Luna Caroline...”

Strength entered Agnus’ dry hands that were holding the portrait of his lover. His vision was blurry, and he was unable to speak. The answer the system required wasn’t ‘resurrection’ but ‘creation.’

Yes, the system kept informing him, ‘You aren’t resurrecting your old lover. You are just creating a body that borrows the image of your former lover. They are completely different. There will be no memories in the body. Her body and mind will be cold. It will be rotten filth—not hot blood—that flows through the body. It will be hatred—not affection for you—that circulates through the heart.'

‘Keep this in mind. The two are different.’

The warning struck Agnus’ heart.

“I… Luna Caroline… ...I will make her,” Agnus struggled before linking the words.

At his words, a miracle occurred. On the altar, the Stone of Life, the body of the dark elves, and the blood and bones he had collected were swirling together. A black light exploded. Death was born.

“Ah... Ahhh...” Agnus’ mind went blank for a moment. His rationality changed. He only hugged the dead body that looked like the lover from his memories.

“Luna...”

“...”

[There was a degraded item among the materials used for the creation of the dead.]

[The deceased you created will be rated lower than the usual standard.]

[The deceased you created, ‘Luna Caroline’, has a rare rating.]

[The low rating has resulted in ‘Luna Caroline’ having poor intelligence.]

[The low rating has resulted in ‘Luna Caroline’ having a body that is easily damaged.]

All types of notification windows popped up. They all had unpleasant contents. Still, Agnus didn’t care.

‘His Luna’ was the most precious thing in the world.

How could her worth be discussed?

-Humans really run away easily.

Baal laughed bleakly on the throne.

***

Creepy and bizarre tentacles soared from the ground. The autumn leaves fell out of season and exploded. The flowers emitted a terrible stench that numbed many senses.

“Disperse if you don’t want to be dragged by the tentacles! Spread out!”

“However, we have to stick together if we want to block the arrows!”

The Sword Knights invaded the forest of the world tree at Lightning God Kyle’s command. They suffered a crisis from the beginning of the forest. Hundreds of hiding elves didn’t stop shooting arrows, so they had to wield their shields and swords without a break.

“Pant... Pant...”

Resh, who was only the rank and file, was already seriously injured. The distinction of ‘high ranker’ was common among players. He had cleared the hidden quests thanks to Grid and Coke, and his level rose rapidly. Resh reached level 367, but he was still just sewage in this place. The elves, who were hiding in the giant tree while shooting a rain of arrows dense enough to cover the sky, mostly had a level similar to or higher than Resh.

‘The standard of the main army is different. At this point, Kyle must be panicking.’

Resh barely blocked an arrow that flew at his eyes and looked around him. He could see his colleagues being forced on the defensive. Even the talented knights of Dulandal were helpless in front of the world tree’s forest, which formed an ideal fortress.

‘We can’t break through.’

Thorny vines surrounded the forest area while bushes blocked the march. There were also the towering giant walls which were created after thousands of years. The beasts crawling from the walls were larger than monsters, and the elves perched on the walls were marksmen. Who could break through here with force?

‘The former emperor didn’t lock up the elves in here.’

It was more appropriate to say the empire hadn’t invaded this place. Even the Red Knights knew that invading here was an act of suicide. Resh’s mouth curled up.

‘You’re in trouble, Kyle.’

Kyle’s judgment that the elves should be trampled on with force was a foolish misjudgment. They were much stronger and more demanding opponents than the senior knight he had killed. He would be punished for ignoring the conventions. Dulandal would learn about his failure and...

Yes, everything would flow in the right direction. The moment Kyle failed, the elves’ power would be revealed to the world. The other kingdoms would no longer try to subjugate the elves. Instead, they would communicate with the elves and achieve true unity.

Resh, who became a knight to defend justice, believed and hoped for this. He hoped that the enemy he had to cut down in the future would only be evil. He honestly didn’t want to fight these beautiful elves any longer. However—

Resh didn’t give his life to the elves’ arrows. He wielded his sword and shield with all his might. Although he might not want to fight, he was determined to survive to the end. He had to film Kyle using brute force and the knights who were victimized by him as much as possible.

Then it was only for a moment. A stream of electricity swept past Resh’s cheeks and caused a giant tree to explode.

“Ack!”

Three elves died in an instant.

“...?!” Resh looked back and was stunned. Kyle stood behind him with no signs of agitation. He had anticipated the strength of the forest that was like a solid fortress.

“I want to save my strength, but I’ll help you out a little bit.”

A current was emitted from Kyle’s entire body. The waves of electricity, reminiscent of Magician King Goldhit’s great magic, stretched out in all directions and penetrated the entire forest instantly. The beasts fighting with the knights, the plants wielding bizarre tentacles, and the elves firing arrows from the giant trees were all electrocuted and fell to the ground. The large-scale skill cased mass paralysis. It was reminiscent of the blue dragon summoned by Grid. No, it was much faster and more efficient than the lightning that struck down from the sky.

“Why do you look like you’re watching the sunset?” Kyle urged the blankly staring knights as hundreds of elves fell from the tree. “Isn’t it easier to kill them while they are paralyzed?”

“Cough...” The knights hesitated as they approached the fallen elves. As knights, they were reluctant to aim their swords at those who couldn’t resist.

‘They are enemies.’

‘If we don’t kill them, we will die.’

It was ridiculous to talk about reason in a war. The knights had no choice. They grasped their sword while avoiding the poisonous gazes of the fallen elves. It was the prelude to a massacre. At this moment...

“A knight must act fairly!” Someone shouted a verse from an old chivalry vow. “Knights, you must not kill those who can’t resist! It is the same on the battlefield!”

These were the shouts of Knight Resh.

“...”

Many of the passages in the chivalry vows weren’t realistic. Chivalry was an ideal created by knights who died and lived by it, so it was safe to say that it contained the extremes of inefficiency and was unrealistic. That’s why people laughed at the chivalric code. However, most knights became knights because they were fascinated by the chivalric code.

“...”

Resh’s shouts stopped the hundreds of knights from acting. However, it was only for a moment. It lasted for less than a second.

“Kyaack!”

“Keok!”

“Ugh...”

The knights hesitated for a moment before starting the slaughter. They stabbed, cut, and killed the elves who couldn’t resist. 

A long period of time had passed since they became knights. Reality was more precious than their ideals. They had experienced not eating and had gone through dozens of experiences, and they had families to protect. More than anything else...

“The master’s command is higher than the chivalric code.”

The last verse of the chivalric code gave them an excuse to compromise with reality.

“Ah...”

The death throes...

Red blood soaked the land and the trees. Tears and hatred encroached on this mighty forest.

Resh stared blankly at the horrific carnage.

“Resh! Wake up! We will die if we don’t kill them!” The knights forcibly pushed a sword into Resh’s hand.

Resh was an upright person. They didn’t hate the youngest knight who still shouted about justice, just like them on the first day. Rather, they often wanted him to stay the same. However, the knights had to compromise with reality. They had to force Resh to slaughter the elves. If Resh didn’t change his attitude, he would be executed by the furious Kyle.

“Resh! Hurry!”

Kyle was getting closer and closer. His blazing gaze was staring straight at Resh’s back. The anxious knights urged Resh, but he was still in a daze. He felt a deep sense of skepticism. 

Shit, he couldn’t understand why he was here doing something wrong. He started Satisfy because he wanted to experience the lives of the knights in the movies he had longed for since he was a kid. Additionally, Satisfy was a game. Games were a means of entertaining people. So why? Why did he have to go through this X thing every time?

‘Should I just quit?’ Resh gritted his teeth as Kyle came up behind him.

Kyle’s hand, covered with an electric current, was pointed at Resh’s neck.

“After a heretic, it’s a traitor? This is an organization that needs reform.”

“Shut up!” Resh’s fury exploded as he recalled Kyle’s senseless murder of Geon, the senior knight who had taken care of him for many years. He cried out with all his might, squeezing out his power and swinging his sword back. Of course, it was useless. It was clear that Kyle, who was beyond the dukes, wouldn’t allow the attack of one player to reach him. Kyle lightly avoided Resh’s sword and released an electric current.

“Weakness is sin.”

It was a fact that no one knew about, but Kyle was a follower of the war god. Kyle took the logic of strength for granted, and Resh felt it.

‘Grid might’ve been able to expose this guy’s weak side...’

Originally, it was a thought that couldn’t continue to the end. Kyle would shoot the electric current, and Resh should’ve died.

“...?”

Yet he was still alive? Resh was perplexed.

Then he saw a strange and unfamiliar back. It was a woman with white hair down to her waist. She wore full plate armor, carried a large shield, and held a sword in a solemn posture. The woman was also a knight—a knight more virtuous than anyone in this place.

“Mercedes...?”

“Your conviction—it is wonderful,” her beautiful voice echoed through the forest dyed with a red film. The electric current flowed through the shield while the legendary knight wielded the White Tiger Sword, cutting off Kyle’s hair.

“You...!” Kyle was about to counterattack when he suddenly stopped at the sight of the red armor from two generations ago which was now an antique. Three armed knights and a blond man in a blue cloak fell to the left and right of Mercedes.

“What, what? Did you want to say hello to the world tree while passing by? Then what are these enemies?”

“Little Mercedes. Did you do this deliberately?”

“It’s a coincidence.”

The knights in red armor had a normal conversation in the middle of the battlefield. There was no fear or nervousness. Rather, Kyle was the one who was a bit nervous. It was because of one thing.

“Electric Eel Kyle. You’ve grown a lot since the last time I’ve seen you.”

“Asmophel...!”

They were the former Red Knights who led the empire’s golden age—the single-digit knights.