#055

‘He slept for that long?’

Just how tired was he?

Or is he just the type who can’t wake up once he falls asleep?

Suddenly, the “Athanas sleeping anywhere” meme came to mind.

In Die Heretic!, ‘sleep’ functioned as a save point, so players put Athanas to sleep at every possible opportunity.

Since Die Heretic! had absolutely no auto-save feature, it was crucial to save immediately before and after defeating a boss.

Wouldn’t it be devastating to struggle through a boss fight only to die by mistake and be sent back to the time before the fight?

However, simply pressing the rest button didn’t trigger a save; the save only occurred once Athanas performed the animation of falling asleep, which led to widespread complaints from players.

It’s common for many games to make saving impossible unless you’re in a safe state, so that wasn’t a big deal.

But did they really have to include a sleeping animation for every save?

The five seconds wasted watching that animation were annoying enough, but the fact that he fell asleep just anywhere severely broke the game’s immersion.

Imagine the protagonist falling asleep right after defeating a boss, while drenched in blood and surrounded by scattered chunks of flesh.

Of course, the animation wasn’t him sprawling flat on the floor, but rather sitting with one knee up, head bowed, taking a quick nap. Still, falling fast asleep in five seconds anywhere and waking up immediately was plenty strange.

Users protested to ST Games numerous times, begging them to fix this idiotically designed save system, but ST Games refused to change it.

As a result, people started clipping Athanas falling asleep in the most absurd situations and turning them into funny memes…

‘That’s where the “Athanas sleeping anywhere” meme came from.’

Athanas falling asleep while listening to an incredibly important conversation.

Athanas, whom everyone thought was dead, but had actually just nodded off.

Athanas taking a quick nap during the time it took for the Plague God’s apostle to undergo their final transformation…

The meme became so popular within the fandom that in game crossover parodies, Athanas was always depicted as a lunatic who would be fast asleep, suddenly bolt upright shouting, “Heretic! Heretic! Where is the heretic!” while swinging his Divine Hammer, only to suddenly drop back into a deep sleep.

At first, people laughed, thinking it was a way to turn a garbage system into a joke, but eventually, the meme became tedious because people wouldn’t know when to stop.

It got so annoying that for my fifth playthrough, I tried a no-save clear… but since I didn’t have the skill for that, I played with a concept where Athanas only slept in proper lodgings…

‘I only succeeded in experiencing why regressors develop mental illnesses.’

After repeating the same day n times, I reached a point where I just wanted him to sleep anywhere, regardless of the bed.

Anyway.

I used to curse the game company for making Athanas’s character weird by choosing such a trashy save method…

‘Does the real Athanas actually fall asleep easily anywhere?’

At least he doesn’t have insomnia.

“Yes. I was worried because you seemed to be sleeping for too long, so I woke you. Are you alright?”

“How… long did I sleep?”

“Uh, I think it’s been a bit over five hours.”

Athanas quietly pressed his hand to his forehead.

A lot could be felt in that silence.

‘…Should I have woken him up sooner?’

Maybe he missed a training schedule or something?

Athanas rubbed his dry face several times and looked back and forth between me and the window.

He seemed unable to believe that it was already getting dark outside.

‘I don’t know what it is, but he’s screwed.’

“Did you have some kind of schedule?”

Instead of answering, Athanas gazed at me blankly.

His expression held a very complex set of emotions.

‘Why is he looking at me with that face?’

When did we even become close?

‘Is he perhaps resentful that I didn’t wake him up sooner?’

How absurd.

“…Yes.”

But he had at least a minimum amount of shame; he didn’t pour that resentment onto me.

Athanas righted the fallen chair and flopped down into it.

A sense of emptiness radiated from his entire body.

Standing before him felt incredibly awkward.

It felt like looking at a student who arrived late on the day of the national exam and was hovering in front of the closed test center.

‘I feel bad for him… but is there anything I can actually do?’

It’s not my fault…

“Uh, I’m sorry to hear that.”

“……”

“Please don’t be too discouraged. I don’t know what you missed, but opportunities to make up for it will come in life.”

“…Do you truly believe so?”

“Of course.”

No matter how important whatever Athanas forgot today was, it probably wouldn’t have a huge impact on his future career.

‘After all, in Die Heretic!, he became a Holy Knight with quite high divine power.’

Maybe he missed an important exam and his induction was delayed by a year, but he’d pass the next time.

Athanas looked up at me with a gloomy expression.

“Then, would you help me?”

“Huh? With what?”

“…Making up for it.”

‘Why is he asking me for help with that?’

“Shouldn’t you be the one working hard at that? I’m just a passerby; what could I possibly do to help…?”

“I am Athanas.”

‘And your point is?’

“Yes… I see.”

“…What is your name?”

Why is he asking that?

Is he planning to argue that once we exchange names, we’re acquaintances and therefore he can claim I’m no longer just a passerby?

I had absolutely no intention of getting entangled with Athanas.

Even if this was a fresh Athanas without the memories of Die Heretic!.

‘The Church might be keeping an eye on Athanas. Even if today’s meeting was pure coincidence, if we meet and interact often, I’ll be suspected too.’

The kind of suspicion that wonders if I have the memories of a player and approached him with ulterior motives.

Of course, I wasn’t a fanatic who thought it would be fine if Athanas killed me.

I’m not a snake crawling toward a snake-eating eagle…

‘But it would look weirder to specifically refuse to give my name.’

After some deliberation, I answered in a reluctant tone.

“…My name is Fabio.”

“Fabio. That is a fine name. A name meaning harvest… Did your father give it to you?”

“Huh? Yes, that’s right.”

“Your father must have believed in Egus, the God of Abundance and Earth.”

“No, it’s not that; he just gave me the name so I’d become a wealthy farmer. Uh, I was a serf, and my parents were serfs too.”

“You went from being a serf to a Chanter? May I ask what occasion led to that?”

‘Why is he digging into my personal history?’

Is the atmosphere here actually one where people do a lot of small talk?

Am I supposed to ask him things to this extent?

“…Didn’t you ask for help because you have something to make up for? If what you missed today was important, it might be better to go and handle it immediately. Perhaps they are still waiting for you. That seems more important than listening to my story.”

At my answer, Athanas’s expression became a bit more gloomy.

“Actually, there is something I wish you would help me with. But it’s a bit embarrassing to ask a stranger who knows nothing about me…”

‘If it’s embarrassing, don’t ask.’

“I suppose my shallow ploy was obvious. But truly, there is no one else I can ask for help. Would you listen?”

“No, would you promise to help before knowing what the request is?”

“Do you intend to come here tomorrow as well?”

‘This guy really doesn’t listen to others.’

I frowned.

“If I do, what are you going to ask?”

Athanas was silent for a moment.

‘What on earth is it that makes him hesitate like this?’

“…Please wake me up.”

“What?”

“If I am asleep, please wake me. Once I fall asleep, I simply cannot wake up on my own…”

‘Am I some kind of alarm clock?’

I was speechless at the request, which was far more trivial than I expected.

Why ask a passerby for something like that?

I felt like I had comforted a distraught student in front of the school gates, only to be asked to give them a wake-up call for next year’s exam.

“…I know I am being shameless. A knight, who should follow Order and punctuality more than anyone, asking such a thing of another… I must seem pathetic.”

‘Beyond pathetic, this feels like a character collapse.’

The Athanas of Die Heretic! never entrusted his side to anyone. This was because anyone could be infected by the Plague God and turn into his follower, and he was no exception.

Athanas always slept while gripping the hilt of his weapon, waking up and swinging it the moment he sensed the slightest presence.

And yet, that Athanas…

‘He’s so troubled by the fact that he sleeps so deeply he can’t wake up unless someone does it, that he’s asking some random heretic passerby to wake him up.’

It really hit me how peaceful the Dark Realm still is.

“That’s… a bit much.”

“…I am glad it is not too much.”

‘This Athanas is kind of funny…’

Was he always like this?

“Then do you plan to sleep here tomorrow as well?”

“…Yes.”

“Why do you sleep here instead of elsewhere? If you slept in the dorms or the training center, it would be easier to ask a colleague or peer to wake you.”

“When I sleep in those places, there are people who insist on waking me up even during free time to make me do something.”

‘…So in the end, he comes here to hide?’

I was flabbergasted.

Isn’t he still a low-ranking member?

In an apocalypse scenario, he might have gotten a special promotion because the higher-ups were all dead, but right now, they should all be alive.

Even if he’s not a private, he’s probably around a private first class.

And a private first class is looking for a place to hide because he doesn’t want to do what others tell him to?

‘What a slacker…’

Are you at a rank where you can ask a passerby, “I’m gonna crash now, wake me up later”?

Get a grip, seriously.

“…All I have to do is wake you up?”

“Will you do it?”

“Well, I’ll be reading a book here tomorrow anyway… it’s not that difficult. But if you don’t wake up after I try a few times, I’m just going to leave you be.”

“Thank you!”

Athanas bolted upright again and grabbed both of my hands.

“Fabio, you are truly kind!”

“No, I mean, calling me kind over this is a bit…”

“No, anyone else would have refused.”

‘That’s because it’s absurd for a private first class to make such a request.’

I only agreed because it was a hassle.

I’m coming here tomorrow anyway, and if I find him, he’ll just ask again.

It’s better to deal with it once than twice.

Besides, waking him up isn’t exactly going to create a deep bond between us…

“…Fabio. May I ask more about you?”

“Huh?”

“I wish to talk with you more.”

I frowned openly.

“Is there a need for that? I’ve already agreed to your request, so there’s no reason for us to become any closer.”

I slid my hands out from Athanas’s grip.

Athanas immediately looked crestfallen.

“…I am sorry. I got too excited.”

“Do you usually try to get close to people you stop on the street?”

“No, I am not usually like this…”

Athanas seemed to be gauging my reaction before continuing.

“…I suppose I have been very lonely lately because my relationship with my peers has soured.”

“Ah, I see.”

‘Why are you telling me this?’

“At first, we got along well. But as the number of times I won in sparring increased, their attitudes gradually grew cold…”

‘So he’s being alienated because he’s too good.’

A common occurrence.

“It’s fine while we’re training, but being there during free time is torture. I can feel them ignoring me openly. No, I’d be lucky if they just ignored me; they even harass me under the guise of mistakes. Like spraying vinegar on the oiled cloths used for cleaning weapons…”

‘Wow, harassing Athanas.’

Where do they get the nerve?

Of course, those peers don’t know what Athanas is like in Die Heretic!.

‘I feel like I’m hearing an anecdote about how Lu Bu was introverted because he was bullied as a child.’

“Even at night, they wake me up saying it’s time to switch the Night Watch, even when it’s not my turn. When I say it’s not, they brush it off as a mistake, but it’s impossible not to know it’s intentional. If it were a mistake, they wouldn’t make the same mistake every single day.”

‘So that’s why he was lacking sleep.’

“…I don’t particularly care about such cowardly acts. It only shows that they are small-minded. However, it was very lonely to have no one on my side.”

Hmm…

I see.

That’s a sad story.

‘Of all people, why did he bring this up to me?’

How many people are there in the Church of Order?

Out of all those people, he spoke to me—the one person who has absolutely no intention of becoming friends with Athanas.

‘He should have asked if I could listen to a worry before just dumping it on me.’

Then I would have firmly said no.

Specifically, I wish people wouldn’t unload heavy personal histories without warning when they don’t even know me.

Because I don’t know where to cut them off.

“…That must have been very difficult for you.”

Chapter 56