Epilogue: Our Own Paradise

Neutral Zone – ‘Cherry Blossom City’ Dowongyeong.

Just like its name, peach blossoms are in full bloom here, and cherry blossom trees are vibrant all year round.

I was pacing back and forth under the cherry blossom path, waiting for someone.

“Ah, Radugan! Over here!”

As I waved happily at the silhouette visible in the distance, a man clad all in black approached me.

I gave a bright smile at the sight of him, whom I hadn’t seen in a while.

“…Shinbi. I am going to leave Dowongyeong.”

However, at the words spat out just like that day, I gasped and covered my mouth.

“This time, leave with me.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Radugan.”

I even made my hands tremble to express my utter disbelief.

“The Valta no longer loves you.”

“…No, Karvan loves me. I am his mate!”

“No, he doesn’t love you. Do you still not see it?”

Striding forward, Radugan was suddenly standing right in front of me. His somehow awkward yet sheepish gaze drew closer.

“He, you… Ke-kehook.”

An ice spear abruptly sprouted from his chest. Simultaneously, a bright red liquid sprayed everywhere.

“Know your place. How dare you.”

Swoosh, Karvan appeared along with the mist that enveloped the surroundings and pulled me into his arms.

“Ke-keugh, I, I will… surely return alive.”

Glaring at the two of us with bloodshot eyes, Radugan’s head lolled back as he collapsed.

And I.

“…The Valta Outcast, ‘Black Mane’ Radugan!”

I whipped my head around, turning toward an Observer who had its mouth wide open, and shouted quickly.

“The new boss is arriving soon! Pre-register right now!”

At that moment, the Observer, which had been emitting a bright light like a projector while keeping its mouth agape, snapped its jaw shut and spoke.

[…’Trailer’ filming has concluded….]

“Cut, cut, cut! Wow, that was truly perfect! It felt so real!”

With Tegen’s excited shout, the Suras, who had been diligently following us around holding circular reflectors, gave us double thumbs-up along with the “Cut!” sound.

At the same time, Radugan, who had been lying face down, stood up with the help of the Black Manes. The sweet smell of ketchup wafted from his chest.

“Radugan, good job.”

“…I can’t believe I have to do this every single time.”

He grumbled with an annoyed face while tearing off the icicle that had acted as the ‘Ice Spear’ attached to his chest.

“In exchange, you got your own residential district, so let’s call it even.”

“Still, it’s unpleasant. Doing this fake clown act every time….”

“If you dislike the role of a fake clown, shall we proceed with a real-life situation instead?”

“…No. I was just venting a little to the Valtael.”

I smiled at Radugan’s immediately polite reply, and Karvan, with an expressionless face, pulled my waist tight and held me in his embrace.

After Midvalen became Dowongyeong and the ruling race changed to the Varg, many things were discussed internally regarding the treatment of the Black Manes.

“No matter what, he’s the one who killed the Valtael! We can’t just leave him be!”
“Still, he played a major role in the usurpation of Dowongyeong. He gave us the tip so we could enter.”

Some argued that Radugan, who killed me, couldn’t be left alone, while others said his contribution should be recognized since he revealed Dowongyeong’s location, allowing the Suras to provide quick support.

“I have no intention of staying either. I’ll return to Bahalgras.”

Amidst the noisy debate, Radugan said he would return to the snowy mountains, the old city of the Vargs.

“Bahalgras is already dangerous because the cliffs have crumbled.”

Then, unexpectedly, Tegen opposed him.

“Even if we restore it, the ground is weakened and we don’t know when it’ll collapse again. Why not just swear loyalty to the Valta and live nearby, pretending you’ve been defeated?”
“Why do you care about that?”
“Because even though you’re a jerk, you’re still our ‘family’.”
“…What?”
“Didn’t you hear the Valtael’s speech on the day we took Dowongyeong? She said that even if we hate and annoy each other to the point of wanting to kill, in the end, we are one family. Beings who must guard each other’s side when lonely and reach out a hand when things are hard.”

I smiled as I recalled their conversation, and Karvan, who was using me as an armrest, glanced down at me as if asking what was so funny.

[NEW! New Field Update – ‘Black Thorn Thicket’ released!]
[NEW! New Boss Released! ‘Valta Outcast’ Radugan!]

Anyway, that’s why Radugan ended up living with the Black Manes in the ‘Black Thorn Thicket’, a forest a bit away from Dowongyeong, in exchange for taking the individual title of ‘Valta Outcast’ externally.

…In return, they had to record an ‘illusion’ to convince and attract the interest of the Awakeners.

Meaning, they had to produce a ‘game trailer video’.

[New boss arriving soon! Pre-register right now!]

“Kyah! Our Valtael is so pretty! Very good. Good!”

Huddled together, the Suras were competing to express their excitement as they looked into the illusionary orb provided by the Observer.

“Shall we submit it like this? Won’t Sirin be satisfied with this much?”
“This is a guaranteed million views!”

Since they recently learned the concept of ‘view counts,’ they had even started caring about the official Legacyth Chronicle iTube channel.

“…Hmm, I see myself here too.”

The Maha elders, who initially opposed this as a ‘vulgar clown act’ that would lower the prestige of the race, were now secretly hoping for cameo appearances.

[…Arriving soon! Pre-register right now!]

“Oh! You winked! Shall we watch it just one more time?”
“Aack! Stop watching it already!”

Usurping Dowongyeong…. I’m not sure if ‘usurp’ is the right word.

Anyway, after the ruling race of Dowongyeong became the Varg, many things changed.

[The existing neutral city <Midvalen> has been remade into the new cherry blossom city, <Dowongyeong>.]

In place of red rose bushes, various cherry and peach trees appeared. The area around the city, which was always shrouded in gloomy mist, now had spring weather all year round. The sharp, Western-style spired buildings were completely replaced with Hanok-style palaces like those in Bahalgras.

[Lord <Baalzeph von Bloddyhen>, who was loved for a long time, and the Empire race have had their category changed from ‘NPC’ to ‘Vampire Monster’ after the 2.57 patch.]

After Baalzeph von Bloddyhen was stripped of his position as the Governor of Midvalen, the Empire vampires were classified as ‘Vampire Monsters’ and scattered.

‘Hey, human. You should come with me.’

The Skollcat, who only came out of his room with scruffy fur after everything was resolved, was scolded by Sirin and sent back to his shrine.

“I’m sorry, I’ll come visit occasionally instead.”
‘Do you really like that wolf bastard better than me?!’

The Skollcat had grown quite attached to me and threw a tantrum, asking me to go with him. I had to barely talk Karvan out of trying to ‘test’ his fully granted ‘Power of the God Slayer’ on him.

‘Then who is going to pluck the stems off my fruit now?!’
“Anyone can do that!”
‘No! I haven’t seen anyone as dexterous as you! Also, you have to wake me up every morning! You have to come as soon as I call!’
“Oh, how about taking me instead, Great Cat God.”

And Loktis, who intervened at just the right time, got that opportunity.

‘Not this one! Bring me something more sour, nya!’
“Ahah. Come to think of it, today is the day for sour fruit.”

While the Skollcat was keeping his distance from me, Loktis attended to his needs in my stead, and in that time, he had become a superb ‘cat butler.’

He still couldn’t understand the Skollcat’s words, but he had reached a level where he could intuitively match what the cat wanted.

[Patch Note: Greenery Shrine – The bug where ‘Divine Outcast’ Skollcat was missing has been fixed.]
[Patch Note: A new NPC <Loktis> has been added to the Greenery Shrine. You can perform Skollcat-related quests.]

I finished my brief recollection and skimmed through the ‘Patch Notes for Awakeners’ and ‘Transcendent Announcements’ that Sirin had sent for review before closing them.

“Are you finished.”

“Yeah.”

Then, the man who had been leaning against a tree with his arms crossed as if not wanting to disturb me took my hand.

A walk along the path in Dowongyeong’s Full Moon Garden.

The continuous sound of rustling cherry blossom petals piled high under our feet could be heard. As we passed a pond where water droplets fell, the reflections of Karvan and me were visible inside.

I was now wearing the same kind of clothes as him.

No longer the modern attire of a ‘Player,’ but a white robe like the one from the Full Moon Ceremony.

“What’s so good.”

“Huh?”

Turning back at the man’s sudden words, I saw him looking into the pond just like me.

“You’ve been smiling for a while now.”

“Yeah, because it feels like a dream.”

As I muttered that, I felt Karvan staring at me intensely.

“I believe I told you it is reality.”

“It’s a metaphor, it means it’s that good.”

“If it’s good, say it feels like reality.”

“…Then it doesn’t have the right vibe!”

He really won’t let me say anything. Feeling a surge of stubbornness, I flapped my long sleeves against him while shouting.

“Ah! It feels like a dream! Being with you!”

“Reality.”

“Dream!”

It’s a dream, you punk, a dream! I tapped his arm like an angry penguin, then seeing the man’s brow furrow, I quickly started running away.

“Ugh, alright. Reality! Reality!”

Of course, I was caught in no time.

Turning into mist and flying over, he snatched my waist and hugged me, leaving me completely arrested.

“Do you dare try to escape from the ruler of Dowongyeong?”

“It’s unfair that only you can use skills. Release mine too.”

“No.”

“Why!”

“If I release them, I wonder which guy you’ll engrave your stigma on next.”

“You mean imprint! …Oh? You said it right.”

I shut my mouth awkwardly, and the man laughed lowly, burying his head in the crook of my neck.

“It’s snowing.”

Snow had begun to fall lightly before I knew it.

Perhaps because Karvan was the ruler, Dowongyeong’s weather was fickle. While it was always warm like spring, sometimes a blizzard would blow in like a sudden cold snap.

The cherry blossom tree trembled in the blizzard that blew through the silence.

Flutter. Snatching something falling from the tree, Karvan slowly opened his palm.

“…….”

Inside was a pink cherry blossom petal, exactly like the shape of my stigma.

I took it carefully and placed it near my collarbone.

“Now I’m the same as you.”

I said playfully while tapping his exposed neck.

As if he understood my meaning, he lowered his eyes and stared at me for a long time.

“…Yes, we’ve become the same.”

Finally, with a smirk, the man stepped toward me without hesitation.

Two luminous full moons drew closer, and our vivid, hot lips met.

Cherry blossoms and snow were falling softly over our heads, mingling together.

[WhiteHairIsEnough-nim! Welcome to Legacyth Chronicle.]

On a quiet holiday, WhiteHair logged into Legacyth as usual and checked the new announcement that popped up.

[Accounts inactive for over one year will have their nicknames collectively changed to ‘Unknown’ to prevent nickname hoarding, and a ‘Name Change Voucher’ will be issued upon return.]

‘Hmm, to prevent rare nicknames from being locked up? They should’ve done this sooner.’

Nodding his head, WhiteHair looked through his friends list and stared at the ‘UNKNOWN’ nickname marked as ‘Inactive Account Offline.’

‘…Class, Plunderer? Ah, this person hasn’t logged in for over a year already.’

‘But what was the nickname again?’

[…Valta Outcast ‘Black Mane’ Radugan! New Boss Arriving Soon! Pre-register right now!]

‘My goodness, it hasn’t even been that long, yet my memory is already fuzzy. Is it digital dementia?’ Smacking his lips, WhiteHair clicked on the new ‘Awakener Patch Notes.’

[New NPC <Karvan Baharga> has become the new ruler of ‘Dowongyeong.’ The arrogant and aloof Karvan does not speak directly to other races. Please perform related quests through his mate and Varg interpreter, <Shinbi>!]

[New NPC ‘Valtael’ <Shinbi> is added. (※ Valtael: A term referring to the one and only mate of the Varg chief, ‘Valta’)]

[You can receive Dowongyeong-related quests through Valtael <Shinbi>. Try various conversations with <Shinbi>! Gaining her affinity will earn the favor of the Vargs. Find the <Elite Suras> located throughout Dowongyeong and perform various quests!]

[Fixed a bug where Boss <Ganev> used excessive slang.]
[Fixed a bug where Boss <Janus> dealt abnormally high damage.]
[New armory quest content will be updated soon.]

[The wolf beast-kin <Varg>, who were banished to the remote regions of the Legacyth continent long ago, appear as the new ruling race of Dowongyeong. Welcoming their return, leave a comment saying ‘Varg! Be my family!’ to enter a draw for 300,000 Legans.]

We will continue to be a developing Legacyth Chronicle. Thank you.

• GM Sirin

<Stop Abusing Skills – The End>