#126

“Do you know me?”

“…Yeah.”

How could I not?

Atanasanatagaskides.

This lunatic, who used a nickname meaning ‘I love Athanas,’ was famous even before Conclude was released.

‘True madness, that is.’

Generally, people who flaunt crazy behavior are ‘fakes.’

Their goal isn’t the madness itself, but rather the reaction of the people watching.

Especially the antics of streamers; they were fundamentally rooted in entertaining their audience.

But ‘Athanasuki’ was different.

He had a recording account where he uploaded entire gameplay sessions without even adding the ‘Heretic Slayer’ tag.

Whether he wanted them to be searchable or not, the videos—which had nothing but the play date in the title—were completely unedited.

The length easily exceeded an hour, and there wasn’t even an explanation of where he was in the game or what he was attempting.

However, there are always people on the internet with too much time on their hands.

Someone happened to click on a gameplay video and immediately noticed something ‘strange.’

‘Athanas’s face is visible throughout the entire gameplay.’

The camera is the player’s perspective.

As an action RPG, ‘Heretic Slayer’ proceeds from a ‘third-person’ perspective, following slightly behind Athanas.

This means that normally, you spend the entire game looking at the back of Athanas’s head.

‘That’s so you can see the enemies.’

But what if you rotate the camera 180 degrees?

You wouldn’t be able to see where the enemies are or what attacks they’re making.

Instead, you can see Athanas’s expressions.

The camera obsessively captured Athanas running, attacking, and getting beaten.

Naturally, since he couldn’t monitor the enemies’ movements, he would die pointlessly before making much progress.

‘The discoverer posted the video link to the community, and soon many people started watching this bizarre challenge.’

The view counts and comments exploded, but ‘Athanasuki’ showed no reaction.

He simply continued to upload gameplay videos steadily every day.

Athanasuki’s skill improved faster than expected.

Some speculated that he had modded the game to install a second camera, but users who dug through his previous uploads found a simpler answer.

What had Athanasuki done right before starting this challenge?

The answer was ‘blindfolded play.’

He had memorized the game so thoroughly that he could reach the ending with his eyes closed, which is why he was able to adapt quickly even with the camera turned around.

‘The process of figuring that out was just as insane.’

It wasn’t easy to determine what goal Athanasuki had while playing.

He didn’t have a facecam in the corner of the screen, nor did he explain what he was doing.

One had to figure out what he was doing based solely on the gameplay footage.

‘Still, no-hit runs were easy to distinguish.’

A ‘no-hit clear,’ where the goal is to reach the ending without taking a single hit, is a common challenge for hardcore gamers.

Since he stubbornly dodged attacks even when taking a hit would have been more beneficial, it was easy to spot.

However, when his skill suddenly seemed to reset and he started stumbling, opinions were divided on what he was attempting.

Some said he was playing with his feet, some said he was blindfolded, others suggested he had intentionally introduced screen lag and was playing by prediction.

Because there were actually hardcore players who cleared the game doing such things, the guessing was even harder.

‘Then someone posted a question asking why on earth he was playing with a sliver of health.’

He wasn’t wearing any items that increased damage when health was low.

So why go out of his way to get hit by a mob just to maintain a sliver of health whenever it tried to recover?

The answer came surprisingly quickly.

Isn’t it so he can hear the panting sounds when he’s near death?

From that moment on, ‘Athanasuki’ was regarded as true madness—the ‘real deal.’

A level of madness that would make even the fanatical cultists who loved Athanas like perverts take a step back.

‘I figured he was the kind of guy who would press “Yes” without a second’s hesitation if offered possession in the Dark Realm….’

I never imagined I’d actually meet him.

‘Atanasanatagaskides’ blushed.

“It’s a bit embarrassing…. I made that nickname when I was in middle school.”

‘…Heretic Slayer is an adults-only game.’

If he was in middle school when Heretic Slayer was released, is he barely twenty now? Twenty-one?

“To think you know who I am, isn’t this destiny?”

‘Yeah, there isn’t a single person who doesn’t know you.’

Even in Conclude, where lunatics are everywhere, if you post ‘What’s that guy up to these days?’, the comments are filled with your current status.

“…What is that unit’s wish?”

“Huh?”

“If it’s a Cult Leader Unit, there’s usually a background setting for the contract. That guy must have sold his soul to the Distorted One too. What is that body’s wish?”

I decided to divert the Prophet’s attention for now.

‘If time runs out, the Helper will lower the Affinity on its own.’

Athanas said he hadn’t seen any strange people yet.

A noble who can even manipulate Andrea, yet he’s never come to see Athanas?

That means he can normally restrain these twisted desires.

‘Or he would have already achieved his dream by dying at Athanas’s hands.’

If Athanas doesn’t have high resistance to mental interference, he would easily fall prey to ‘Distortion.’ The reason such a situation hasn’t occurred until now is that the ‘Helper’ must have intervened to some extent.

Even if they have no intention of winning the game, they wouldn’t want their turn to end too prematurely.

“The name of this physical body is Reyes. He’s from the Floren family….”

‘What is this unheard-of family?’

“…His wish is probably revenge.”

“Revenge?”

“He thought the person he loved had died, but after discovering the truth that they were trapped in his own family and suffered a terrible fate, he made the contract.”

It’s a strangely familiar story.

‘Could the person he loves be Perpetua?’

Since there are likely many people who suffered a fate like Perpetua’s in the Dark Realm, I couldn’t be certain, but….

‘Well, regardless, it doesn’t matter.’

Because right now, I am ‘Fabio.’

“Then wouldn’t it be over once he takes revenge on that family? Why does he want to become the leader of a new cult?”

“Hmm…. Because the Order Sect limiting the number of Divine Bloodlines was the root cause?”

“That’s a stretch.”

He probably developed such a ‘distorted’ wish after contracting with the Distorted One.

Since the Distorted One’s goal is to devour the Dark Realm.

“Then what about your wish?”

“…Mine?”

The boy’s face turned red.

“It-It’s a secret.”

‘It’s obviously related to Athanas.’

I didn’t bother asking.

Because if you gaze into the abyss, your sanity drops.

“Anyway, that hasn’t been fulfilled yet, right? If you kill me now, it’s Game Over for you, and if I kill you, it’s Game Over for me. Are you okay with dying without fulfilling that wish?”

The Prophet looked at me with wide eyes.

‘…He’ll probably snap out of it once he remembers his wish.’

Dying satisfied in the hands of a goblin he’s seeing for the first time instead of Athanas—thinking about it again, he might realize this isn’t right.

And this is ‘Atanasanatagaskides’ we’re talking about.

The moment he recalls his obsession with Athanas, he should think about resisting the Quest….

“A-Are you worried that I might die without fulfilling my wish? I was trying to push you into terrible agony! How… how could you be so kind? Love? Is this love?”

‘No, for fuck’s sake.’

“You love me too!”

“I don’t, so get away.”

“You said those words even though you don’t love me? Guilty! This is definitely guilty. Life imprisonment—no, death! This is a capital offense!”

The boy reached out, trying to grab my neck.

‘Is he planning to strangle me?’

If so, he should have gone for a chokehold.

His hands aren’t even that big, yet he’s trying to strangle me with both hands.

‘What an idiot.’

I twisted my body to the left to slip away and grabbed the boy’s arm, twisting it in the opposite direction.

“Ack!”

Though his raw strength was greater than mine, his small frame made him easy to overpower.

Above all, this bastard was incredibly clumsy with his body.

‘Total scrub.’

He might have raised his strength and endurance stats, but it was clear he had never actually fought.

‘This is what happens when you rely too much on Distortion.’

I slammed him against the wall with his arm pinned behind him.

In this position, there’s nothing he can do except squirm….

Crack.

‘…Crack?’

I didn’t push him hard enough to dislocate a shoulder.

Feeling an ominous premonition, I looked down.

A face full of anticipation was looking up at me.

“Are you going to kill me just like this?”

‘Holy shit!’

Horrified, I let go and leaped back.

The boy staggered, ‘stepping backward’ toward me.

“What the hell are you!”

“What do you mean?”

“Normally, people die when their neck snaps like that!”

“Eh? Is that so? If I were to die, I just hoped I could die while looking at your cute face….”

Thinking about it, it does look a bit unsightly. The boy said this as he grabbed his own jaw.

With a crack, his neck rotated 180 degrees back into place.

‘…Is that kind of thing possible with the Divine Power of Distortion?’

Of course it is, damn it!

If he can turn a person into a monster, twisting a neck is nothing!

Whatever that thing is, I decided I never want to wrestle with it.

“D-Did I ruin the mood?”

The boy fidgeted with his fingers, gauging my reaction.

“Can we do it again? I’ll die quietly this time.”

Chapter 127