MTLNOVEL Chapter 147
Shortly after, from within the mist, the gigantic wolf that had instilled fear in everyone during the raid appeared. Ranked first in the Switch category, the red-eyed wolf was specialized in resisting unique abilities and physically overwhelmed almost all ordinary people. Especially for a boy whose body was weak and slow.
When the phoenix that Akata had summoned with a grimace collided with the wolf’s body, it shattered into pieces. In an instant, the boy’s frail body was pinned under the wolf’s paw.
“Slash!”
If there had been any onlookers, they would have screamed at that moment. The boy’s delicate face was brutally torn apart by the wolf’s claws. Although a wolf, and likely lacking human intelligence, it seemed intent on ‘disfiguring’ its opponent’s face.
“Haa, haa—”
After pinning the boy underfoot, the crazed wolf momentarily paused. Its large red eyes seemed to stare at its prey. Akata did not lose consciousness. Swallowing his painful groans, he spoke with difficulty.
“I think I understand why Unahar is doing this to me. It’s because we both love the same person. Isn’t that right?”
His bloodstained eyes looked up.
“Even if we fight, it’s not like Rudel will choose one of us.”
Of course, the wolf didn’t respond. It couldn’t possibly understand Akata’s words.
Nevertheless, Akata poured out the thoughts he’d been holding in his heart.
“I quite like you. So, please, look at me just a little.”
What should he do now? The boy desperately sought a way to escape from the wolf. In his moment of despair, something faintly white caught Akata’s sight.
“A white bird? It looks just like my phoenix.”
A white bird, whose origin was unknown, circled around Akata. In his semi-conscious state, Akata didn’t realize his hair had grown long and was trailing on the ground, nor did he notice his body had grown larger.
Instead, the wolf’s face came into view. Forgetting the pain, Akata’s eyes widened. His voice trembled with shock.
“Unahar, I… I can see it now. The source of your madness.”
At this moment, countless strange characters overlapped on the translucent body of the wolf. Though he couldn’t read the language, Akata instinctively understood upon seeing them.
This was the rule that created this world. A realm that players could never trespass.
The white bird that had been circling its master now perched on Akata’s hair. Together, they watched the crazed wolf atop Akata.
Unahar, your madness is—
“Something that can never be changed, no matter how hard you try.”
Akata struggled to free one arm from beneath the wolf’s paw.
Then, as if drawn by an irresistible force, he reached out toward the wolf’s eyes.
“Stop living so absurdly. Right now, I’ll help you. I’ll fix you.”
For the first time, the young boy defied this wide yet small world.
“I can’t bear it if I don’t do it now.”
Immediately, light burst forth from the white bird’s eyes. The form of the white phoenix expanded explosively, soon engulfing even the wolf in that light. Akata squeezed his eyes shut.
“…”
After some time had passed—
“Akata, get a grip!”
Someone was shaking him roughly awake. Akata’s eyes flew open. Recognizing his savior, he was greatly surprised.
“Kanel? How did you…?”
Kanel’s black hair was disheveled, as if he had run all the way here. He had dashed into the center of the arena, pulling the blond man off the boy and examining the injured Akata.
“You left me a note, remember? You asked me to come find you if you weren’t back at the fortress in thirty minutes! What on earth happened? And what about Unahar?”
Ah, right. His memory slowly returned. Akata tried to get up but groaned at the sharp pain.
“Don’t move. Thankfully, I have some healing potions on me.”
Kanel quickly healed the cuts on Akata’s face and the internal injuries on his body, then wiped the blood from his face with a cloth. Akata got up with his support.
“How could Unahar do this to you?”
Kanel, having assessed the situation quickly, rarely showed such anger on his face. He shuddered as he looked down at the unconscious Unahar.
The last time Kanel had been hurt was clearly an accident. But this time, anyone could see it was deliberate. Regardless of who suggested the PK, Unahar knew the danger of the wolf and still engaged in the duel.
“I will report this to Rudel. No matter how valid the excuse, intentionally harming a comrade is inexcusable!”
Shocked by Kanel’s stance, Akata quickly waved his arm over Unahar’s body.
“Unahar was in pain, both physically and mentally. And I knocked him out too, so it’s mutual fault. Please, don’t tell Rudel.”
Fortunately, the white bird had disappeared while Akata was unconscious. Since everything was over, Kanel had no way of knowing what had just transpired in this PK match.
He was unaware of Akata’s other form or the miraculous change that had occurred in Unahar.
In the midst of this, as the victim Akata pleaded earnestly, Kanel’s anger slightly subsided. He stared blankly at Akata for a moment before speaking.
“…Alright. I’ll hold off on reporting to Rudel for now. But this is a designated comment area, so even if we stay silent, the celestial comments might say something to Guild Leader Rudel. He’ll find out anyway.”
At this, Akata looked around anxiously, unsure where to look, and finally gazed up at the sky.
“Please, don’t write any comments. I don’t want Rudel to find out.”
Kanel looked at the boy as if he were crazy and snorted.
“Do you think comments will just disappear like that?”
“It’s better than not trying at all.”
***
In the Real World
…As a result, the PK between Unahar and Akata was not mentioned in the comments of the Agasa Guild.
It wasn’t because the viewers all kept silent as Akata wished. The PK video wasn’t released to the users in the first place.
Even though the label [Live] was attached, the characters’ stories being disclosed to the world was entirely at the GM’s discretion.
In other words, if the content was deemed dangerous, the GM could conceal parts of the story.
In a real-world company meeting room, several people were gathered: GM Yoon Seol, GM Hwang Jun, GM Kim Woo, and others…
They used nicknames formed by combining the initial of their surname and a syllable of their name as their titles within the company.
“…So, you’ve all reviewed the 11th PK arena from this morning, and now we’re in the meeting.”
Among them, GM Kim Woo succinctly presented the meeting agenda.
Although the atmosphere wasn’t overly rigid, everyone focused on him due to the gravity of the situation.
“Ugh, Akata is causing problems again. More overtime because of Akata. We should’ve seen this coming from the headhunting battle.”
“He’s had multiple errors even before being deployed. And now, he’s still a bundle of errors. This PK incident was seriously problematic. He even realized his own errors and altered Unahar’s abilities.”
“This is why high-intelligence characters are troublesome. They’re too smart.”
“We shouldn’t have used such an unstable character! If only the caddy hadn’t been picked so perfectly.”
“Look at this. Akata practically paid our tech team’s salary. Do you know how much sponsorship he brought in?”
“Hey, I’m just saying.”
After a long while of chattering, silence fell.
“So, how do we handle this situation?”
“….”
While the GMs were silently contemplating, someone raised a hand to speak.
“By the way, besides dealing with Akata, there’s another character I’d like to discuss.”
“Who?”
“Rudel.”
When initially created, Rudel was designed to be a character who died on the first day in the simulation. She had an average appearance, low stats, and a unique ability that, while rare, had unimpressive stats. Her personality and character traits were unremarkable—she was a so-called ‘neglected character.’ During the selection round, 97% of the viewers bet on her death, but due to her high intelligence, she survived the 3% chance and is now a guild leader and ranker.
“There was a lot of talk among us early on about whether Rudel was a bug. But there were so many variables with the characters, and since Rudel was bringing in good revenue, we let it slide… Recently, after seeing Akata, I reran Rudel’s initial simulation.”
Even after running it 1000 times, he died on the first day every single time.
She argued that the current Rudel character either had some kind of bug or was deviating from the traits developers had originally embedded. Surviving against all odds and thriving was proof of that.
“Did the planning team add settings arbitrarily?”
“There’s no record of such changes.”
While the workload increased, furrowing the GMs’ brows, one finally proposed a viable solution.
“It’s fortunate that the Champion Challenge round hasn’t started yet. We can use Taggiros.”
Once an idea opened the floodgates, progress was swift.
“Can we make it so the users don’t notice?”
“We’ll have to make it as seamless as possible. Guide the situation.”
“So the goal is… to use the Champion Challenge to retrieve Rudel and Akata, review their memories, delete anything unnecessary, and release them back. Depending on the situation, we might even consider permanent deletion this time.”
“Understood.”