Clearing the Game at the End of the World

Some say that as the ashes of the old days blow in the wind like sand, this is the era of fire.

Some say that as the fake masks of the past all burn away and only leave the bare face of all, this is the era of purity.

And most people on Community agree on this: it is now an era in which people cannot trust others and do not meet as a natural outcome; thus, the only alternative for lonely people in their shelters when the moon is high and the heat is blistering is either their left or right hand—the era of beasts.

Those kinds of people found the affectionate exchange between Gyosu and Anaya too stimulating, setting fire to the whole Area 47 chatroom.

However, like a tsunami, the immense fire spread in numerous directions…

- Soygaybar : Traitor! Traitor! Traitorrrrrrrrrr!!!!

- Paran0ia : I, I’ll kill you! H—how dare you walk the path of pure romance right in front of our faces! I will make sure you die! I’ll track you down and castrate youuuuu!!!!

- Gujji : I feel so lonely. Ahh, I’m going to die alone in this cold dingy shelter…… I’ll write your name with my blood if I die….

- Numb3rtree : Professor, sir. You have crossed the line by about 20 million meters.

- Nutriagena : You really made me come all the way to this pod. I was just going to watch it on my screen while I was working, but this is too much. F*** you.

- DORitas : #@&@#&)()(((#&^&*!!!

- xhxmsjavos : #((^&^hot %[email protected]%&*!!!!

Those are the lonely souls burned up into ashes by Professor and Anaya’s overly sweet affection.

- Kilfer : OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! ANAYA! ANAYA! ANAYA!!!!!!!!

- allday_allnight : +_+ The meeting of two tragic lovers during the end of the world! The times split them apart, and they promise to meet again with a kiss for the seal! This… is a 10/10!

- Holli : It’s such a beautiful story… I can’t stop the tears from flowing out of my eyes….

suspiciouslyrichman : We, in the 18+ community, actively support Mr. Professor’s traditional romance route. We pray for that day.

- Noru_is_druig : Thanks Prof. I clipped it. This is the stuff for today, no, for a while.

- uiyt5443 : (@#&()!(^&^#^%&@!!!

- KeitLome :[email protected]@@^&&^^(+)@%!&@!!!

Above are those that were melting happily from the romance…

- Speedwagon : The desert…… anyone knows anything about this field?

- Mukaba : Like there’s anyone that would know something you don’t.

- Guns_N_Blood : An acquaintance with an important figure in a geographically distant kingdom. That should have some benefits diplomatically.

- Jokass : There isn’t much information about the Hero Unit Anaya either. This guy’s the first one. Well, there is definitely a lot less known about World 3 compared to World 1 and 2. And no one has ever touched the desert area, either.

- Speedwagon : Unlike World 1, 2 cleared by Rabbit Princess, Emperor Qianliu just bulldozed through World 3 with only his controls. He didn’t even try to find the lore. He just cut down everything that was in his way. Thanks to that, there’s almost nothing left in World 4, which is why all the Rankers are rolling around in the mud.

- Jokass : That might have somethin to do with why so many people are coming to Prof’s stream. It’s ridiculous, but if he keeps collecting Hero Units in this way and clearing the world, then this is an astronomically better world-clear seed compared to the one from Emperor Qianliu.

And lastly, those who had already reached a point above everything other than GG discussed how the current situation would affect the future.

“Uh……huhhhhhh……”

- Soygaybar : Look at that guy pretending to be a cherry. That won’t work on us anymore!

- Noru_is_druig : That’s his skill. He pretends he’s innocent and doesn’t know anything to trigger a woman’s motherly love. That’s the leader of BDSM for you! He’s on another level!

- Guns_N_Blood : Note… when the BDSM Caravan comes in town….. hide the women and children…

Within all of this cheer and jeer from the viewers, Gyosu just sat there dumbly, reliving the last gaze and breath he shared with Anaya before she disappeared.

Rumble- thunk!

Murmur murmur—

Whisper whisper—

The thing that made Gyosu regain his senses was the progressive increase in sound as the first floor of the inn started to fill up.

‘For now, I should start moving first.’

From all the surrounding noises, he could feel a few sharp gazes caught by his radar. The inn Anaya brought him to was a run-down one in a back alley on the city’s outskirts. It was the perfect place for a criminal on the run to come, but that also meant bounty hunters were prowling around.

‘There’s about a 15 grand bounty on Escapee Professor. Since the mage told everyone that I’m not much of a threat, those bounty hunters that are tight on money or those alleyway lackeys will have an eye out for me. I will cause a scene if I stay here any longer.’

Of course, he had enough strength to flatten those kinds of guys in a single hit, but there wasn’t a reason to cause a scene, especially when the entire city was tensed up because of the mage tower incident. Especially when he was wanted by the Light’s Order, and the actual culprit they were looking for.

Professor quickly stood up and headed outside. He saw a few people stand up to follow him, but they seemed to lose interest once they saw him walking out to the main street.

Walking through the city that was still moist from water, Professor thought.

“Thinking about it, Anaya was certain that the Light’s Order wasn’t looking for the Crimson Mute, so that means she knew about it from the start. Then why did she say she didn’t know?”

[ That must have been how much she wanted to go to Takclan with you. ]

“Arghhhh…”

Hyde’s satisfied voice that rang through his head left Professor at a loss for words. As someone with a severe lack of experience with women, he didn’t know how to react to this kind of affection. Anyhow, if the Light’s Order was not looking for him because of the mage tower incident, it would be worth going there and seeing what was happening. Since an escapee wasn’t some kind of abhorring criminal, he probably just had to do some chores or donate a little money. If he received forgiveness and returned to his ordinary mercenary status, he should finally be able to start playing the game as intended. He’ll catch some dark mages to make money and fame, maybe find an ally to party with, and things like those normal events needed to clear the world.

Grgrgk- Thunk!

“Hey! The ropes are set up now, pull!”

“Huap!”

Rumbleee—

On his way to the shrine, he witnessed that the city in front of him was still recovering from the aftermath of the flooded river. There were several shattered signs and enormous heaps of other stuff washed up in the water. Seeing people struggle to remove the debris and reconstruct roads made Professor feel a little guilty. Whatever happened, the fact was that he created the mess at the mage tower to make money.

“One more time! Pull!”

“Huappp!”

Thump–

The men grabbing onto the ropes pulled with all their might, but the wooden trunk stuck between the buildings didn’t even budge.

“Damn it! We need more people! There must be something stuck at the end that has gotten between the buildings. It’s not even moving an inch!”

“Ahem, may I lend a hand then?”

Since he was passing by and wanted to get rid of this guilt he was feeling, Professor approached to help out. At first, people flinched back from the unfamiliar voice but soon brightened once they saw his large physique and massive arms.

“Oh! You seem to know how to pull your weight, alright! You’re more than welcome! We need to pull out that trunk over there to clean up the rest of the stuff, but that thing isn’t budging no matter how much we pull on it!”

“It must be rough, with the flood and all.”

“Well, it’s common when you live in this city.”

The man who handed Professor the ropes leaned closer to him and lowered his voice, as if he were about to say something confidential.

“You might not know since you’re a foreigner and all, but the mages here are some cranky bastards. Every time those mage bastards raise the ‘water usage fee,’ they intentionally flood the river like this to quiet the people! It’s their sort of threat that they’ll turn this entire city into an ocean if they don’t like what’s happening!”

“Shhhh! Gilliam, I told you not to say those things! If someone associated with the mages ever heard what you said….”

The plump man, Gilliam, flinched at the skinny man’s words, but then replied confidently with an even louder voice.

“Hmph! Let them hear it. See if I care! We’ve stayed quiet until now because they were in control, but that’s all over now! Don’t you see that over there?”

When the skinny man and Professor turned to where Gilliam was pointing, their eyes fell on the half-collapsed mage tower and the Void Stone sticking out of the side. The structure attracted more attention from the people because the Void Stone stuck out at an oddly nice angle. It was quite a sight to see.

“Last night, a bright light started coming out of the mage tower after some kind of big sound, and then I woke up in the morning, the rivers dried up, and the tower was in that state. I don’t know who did it…”

Flinch!

“…But those mage guys sure had it coming for them!”

Looking at the man who excitedly swung his arms around, the skinny man shook his head.

“Sigh, you don’t need to listen to that Gilliam guy. He has a lot of beef with the mages. He actually had a pretty big merchant family business, but he went bankrupt after getting on the mage’s bad side. Since then, he always takes the chance to curse those mage tower guys whenever someone brings up the topic. If his mouth were even half as heavy as his weight, he would have had a much easier life.”

“Hwack-tu! I’ve lost my business that’s been running for three generations! My wife died! My children left the house to follow the mercenaries, saying they could not bear to live in this city! Do I have a reason to be scared of them? And is it not obvious that there is a reason why I have enough courage to say all of this?”

“A reason? You?”

“Yeah! Those weird priests were right! That the talking mute is going to save us! Everyone knows that the Crimson Mute was the one that defeated the knights and mages, so they were right! I went to those monks or priest people and got baptized the moment I heard the rumors. I’m a Savior’s Order believer now! If those mages start to get all high and mighty again, then the Great Selectors will come to save us and teach them a lesson!”

Craaack!

Boom!

“Ahhh!”

“My goodness!”

Professor, who was pulling the ropes with a satisfied expression, accidentally put pressure on his arms when he heard the last part of what Gilliam said.

Crumble—

The wooden pillar stuck in the alley was pulled out in an instant, and the debris tangled up in a mess was floating through the air.

That unbelievable sight changed the people’s views of Professor as just a kind-hearted foreigner.

“A–are you perhaps… A knight?”

“Then, h-he’s a noble?”

“No, I’m no—”

Thump!

“Oh my! Oh, holy knight, sir! Please forgive this lowly idiot’s words! This damned tongue! I don’t harbor any ill will against the mages, sir! It’s just my own problem! Forgive! This! Damned! Mouth!”

As Professor looked at the pudgy man, who was suddenly lying flat on the ground, slapping his own face, he sighed. A lot of the mages in the tower are nobles. So from their perspective, they had just basically mocked the nobles.

Professor gently pulled the man back up as he spoke.

“I think there was a misunderstanding. I’m a mercenary, not a noble. My name is Professor, just an unusually strong mercenary.”

“H–Huh? Mercenary?”

The man scanned Professor up and down with a very doubtful expression. He was intently looking at Professor’s fancy leather pants that Anaya provided and a shirt on the verge of exploding. His clothes were clean and neat, but the bag he slung across his back looked like it was a cloth made for nobles, and above all, there wasn’t a single mace or sword in his possession. Those knights were always known to have a weapon, no matter what.

The man gained certainty in Professor’s claim and stood up, brushing his wet clothes with a slightly reddened face.

“Ahahah! I thought I went and chewed off the nobles in front of a noble, alright!”

“Hahahah. It’s my fault for butting in without introducing myself.”

“Aw, you don’t need to say it like that. It’s all because of my darned blabbermouth.”

After calming the man down, Professor pulled the wooden pillar out to the side and spoke again.

“By the way… You said something about some weird priests a bit ago. Can you tell me more about that?”

“Hm? Ahh, that. I see why not. Even just this morning at the market…”

The man who had just been talking about his big mouth once again started to chatter on, and the words that left his mouth progressively darkened Professor’s expression.

When Professor made plans within this game, he sometimes thought of the process like he was playing chess.

The mutes attacked Touran, so he blocked that. The other kingdoms don’t understand the graveness of the situation, so he increased their alertness to increase security.

Read the situation, predict the enemy’s movement, choose the battles, and be advantageous. It was what Gyosu had done in Special Ops Squad 14 to compensate for his relatively weak physical strength, predict where the battles would happen, and create an environment that would benefit their side.

Intentionally showing up at the mage tower as the Crimson Mute and acting aggressively was part of a plan. The talking mute that defeated the strongest knight in Rodrick, and now there was a talking mute that killed a Level 6 mage and destroyed a mage tower in the middle of the city. Even without directly attacking them, this was enough of a warning to other nearby kingdoms to consider the mutes a threat and should decrease the disputes that would happen later on when creating allied forces against them.

This was also part of the objectives he had with this tower-jacking. Pay off his debt, repay some ‘favors,’ and scare the nearby kingdoms a little bit. It was all going pretty smoothly, but these Savior’s Order guys were getting in his way.

It was the opponent’s next move, changed by his own.

‘They turned a rumor that was supposed to spread fear into a cult’s doing and expanded their influence. There’s definitely someone that’s reading the situation and moving accordingly.’

In Professor’s mind, he imagined someone sitting across from him in front of the chess board and moving a piece.

‘The Savior’s Order, and the Light’s Order… There must be a reason why the two of them started moving at the same time.’

Professor’s footsteps quickened as he walked through the damp roads.

The opponent had already made their next move. If he were too slow in responding to it, he would get tangled up in the Order’s sticky trap.

In the distance, he could see the Light’s Order’s representative white building.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

In the far north, the Permafrost Lands of the North reject the access of any living creature.

Deep within the mountains, a laughing voice came from a large cavern.

“Ahh, right. I see. Isaac. That mage has died. That’s a shame. He could have been used to cause a bit more chaos.”

Driip. Drip.

The steady noise of water dropping down an icicle told me that this place was warm enough for ice to melt. It was an unusually warm place for the north.

Gurrrrgle—

In that place, there was a massive round cocoon. From within the massive cocoon, which seemed to be emulating the other giant cocoons encircling the Queen’s nest, where pulsating red veins surrounded a clear green liquid, a voice was listening to the world’s events via those connected to it.

After listening for a moment, the being responded to the familiar command that rang through his mind.

“Oh, Mother. Do not fret. It could not be helped, as ‘he’ had moved. This is no disruption to the plan. Yes, of course. Mother, unlike those useless lifeforms, have I even once disappointed you?”

“…”

From the satisfactory ringing in his mind, the voice became joyful. Once he felt his mother’s consciousness fading away, the voice resumed monitoring the situation in Tobrune with a pleased expression.

“Please, struggle more—my dear enemy. To become the most valuable reward of this entire battlefield and to see Mother more joyful than ever when she receives it. And therefore make her realize that I am the most valuable offspring of all, not those idiot brothers and sisters.”

Gurgle— 

The voice closed its eyes again.

The battle has begun, and his enemy has started to move.

The third child of the Queen, Palkatus, awaited his meeting with ‘him’ as he sank back into the consciousness of his people.