Chapter 10: King Of Forgotten

The voice that spoke was incredibly affectionate and gentle, resembling a spring breeze from a day long forgotten.

[…]

‘It’ slowly turned its body.

‘Why doesn’t it disappear?’

‘It’ tilted its head.

Normally, it would have vanished immediately.

There was no reason for that ‘light’ to speak to it.

The change was so strange that ‘it’, with its gaze fixed on the intruder held gently in the ‘light’s’ arms, asked.

[What is?]

“The chance for this child to come and meet you.”

The ‘light’ regarded the dead one in its arms with a very affectionate gaze.

[…I see. So, what is your intention in telling me such a story?]

“At that time, you will have to choose.”

With those words, the woman’s body turned back into particles of light and disappeared.

Eventually, only ‘it’ was left there alone.

[…]

‘It’ mulled over the woman’s last words for a moment before turning and returning to its place.

Thud!

A moment later, the door opened as if it were a matter of course.

Its impassive gaze moved naturally.

As if not tired of it, ‘it’ pondered as it watched the intruder, who had hidden its presence again, enter.

If it were to launch an indiscriminate attack like before, it could easily catch the intruder as if by chance, but… for some reason, it didn’t want to do that this time.

Was it because the story the ‘light’ had told was bothering it?

Maybe its feelings had changed because it was said that this was the last time.

So ‘it’ waited.

It was also curious about where and what it would do this time.

After a short while, a presence appeared right next to it.

[…]

When it moved its gaze, it saw a small head sitting neatly next to the chair it was sitting on, with its knees drawn together.

It thought it was really something else.

When its eyes met the intruder’s, the intruder’s round eyes widened a little more before smiling softly.

And it closed its eyes.

Watching that, ‘it’ suddenly had the thought of wanting to talk to this intruder for the first time.

‘Yes, if this is the last time, it wouldn’t be bad to have a conversation for once.’

So ‘it’ gave up on attacking the intruder and knelt down on one knee in front of it, waiting for the intruder to open its eyes.

The thought that its actions were the opposite of what they had been until now crossed its mind.

“…?”

[…]

When it didn’t attack even after a long time, the intruder cautiously opened one eye.

Wrinkling its smooth brow as if in doubt.

Then it found it and fell over in surprise.

Watching that, ‘it’ slowly opened its mouth.

[…I will not kill you. For a moment, let’s talk.]

***

Of course, Paul was flustered.

What was this sudden change?

He knew that the basic motto of <Arcana Chronicles> was that ‘all beings can think and act for themselves’.

He also knew that the same applied to monsters.

But being flustered was being flustered.

Isn’t that right?

Wouldn’t anyone be flustered if a boss monster suddenly started talking to a player in the middle of a fight?

But before that.

‘The voice is amazing.’

It sounded like it was echoing in a cave, and it also sounded like a language from a completely different world.

As if representing his current feelings, Paul’s ears kept twitching up and down.

His ears tingled and his body trembled… anyway, it was so good!

‘…But I have no idea what he’s saying.’

The language the boss monster spoke was of a kind he had never heard before in his life.

Although each race had its own unique language… the only ones Paul could speak were [Arcanan], the common language of the game, and [Goblinish], which he had learned through a quest.

“Umm!”

After pondering for a moment what to do, Paul cautiously called out to the boss monster in front of him.

“Excuse me…”

[■?]

‘I think I get this one. It must be an onomatopoeia like ‘um’ or ‘ah’.’

“Do you understand what I’m saying?”

[■■, ■ ■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■?]

“Oh my gosh, I think he understands…!”

[■ ■■ ■■■.]

No matter how he looked at it, it seemed like he understood what he was saying.

‘He even nodded his head slightly! That’s so unfair, he understands but I don’t…!’

Paul’s ears drooped and his face contorted as if he were about to cry.

He wanted to know what he was saying too!

Covering his reddened cheeks with both hands, Paul fell into thought again, not knowing what to do.

‘…Actually, looking at the situation now, isn’t this, honestly, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? I thought I would just take a few screenshots and be done with it, but I never imagined I could have a conversation like this. Wow, no way.’

Although they say you can communicate with high-level monsters with high intelligence, it was a very rare occurrence for Paul.

In the first place, could a lion converse with an ant?

But to think he’d be having a conversation right in front of him like this!

…Even though he couldn’t understand a single word of what was being said.

‘Damn it, does it have to be this one-sided? Doesn’t a conversation usually require both sides to understand the language? System! Give me a translator!’

Paul fell flat on the floor and wailed.

[■ ■■■ ■■? ■■■…….]

The boss monster said something, seeming a little flustered by Paul’s actions, but he really couldn’t understand a thing.

“I’m sorry… I can’t understand you at all. Sob, I really want to know what you’re saying…”

[…]

When he looked up with a teary face, the boss monster flinched for a moment.

‘Nah, it must be my imagination.’

Paul clicked his tongue, feeling a sense of regret.

There would never be another chance like this.

If he left the dungeon like this, wouldn’t the boss monster forget him?

That was a very likely possibility, so the thought that he had to at least find out its name on this occasion flashed through his mind.

He had to try to talk more, no matter what…

[…？]

But he couldn’t expect body language from the boss monster.

It wouldn’t suit it, it would be out of character!

Just imagine.

That noble atmosphere and the powerful presence!

The languid yet sexy vibe from its attire, obviously cool at a glance, its height two heads taller than him, its beautifully tanned dark skin, and that sensual body making such gestures…

‘I don’t want to see it!’

Paul tore at his hair.

Then he paused.

He stealthily rolled his eyes and looked at the boss monster.

‘Or… maybe not? It might be kind of cute?’

It was when he was leisurely having such thoughts.

Ding!

Along with the notification sound, system messages popped up one after another before his eyes.

[System: Achieved an amazing feat!]

[System: The ‘World’ is influenced by your actions!]

[System: Congratulations! A hidden condition has been met, and a new quest reveals itself!]

Bababam!

□ [King of the Forgotten] (NEW!)

With a loud fanfare, a translucent, antique scroll appeared before his eyes, scattering glitter.

Paul was surprised.

He knew very well what this sound effect and this scroll were.

There was a special system in <Arcana Chronicles>.

It was a quest called the ‘Unique Quest’, a special quest that was most necessary for the player at that moment or could be linked to the main story, based on the quests the player had carried out so far and their subsequent choices and actions.

‘Creator God Noah is always watching us.’

It might sound a bit scary to say it like this, but since this entire world could be called ‘System Noah’, there was probably no more accurate explanation.

Anyway, this quest was, as its name suggested, a one-of-a-kind quest.

There might be quests of a similar nature, but a completely identical quest did not exist.

Paul had already received a Unique Quest once before.

The reward he received for succeeding in that quest was the [Title: Friend of the Goblins].

As the name suggested, it had the effect that goblins would feel favorable towards him, and he wouldn’t be attacked first by them.

Ah, he could also talk to goblins.

However, unless the goblins learned Arcanan, communication was almost impossible beyond simple exchanges…

Thanks to that, Paul had also learned Goblinish at the time.

‘It’s all memories.’

After reminiscing for a moment, Paul looked at the antique scroll that was continuously sparkling as if urging him to check it quickly, then glanced back at the boss monster.

It was just tilting its head, looking at him blankly, unable to understand why he was surprised and flustered.

At that, Paul covered his mouth and turned his head away.

That sight was just too cute.

“A-Ahem! Here, sit here. Make yourself comfortable~!”

Paul said, patting the empty floor next to him.

The boss monster used the throne he had been sitting on just a moment ago as a backrest and obediently sat down next to him as told.

The sight of it then just turning its head to look down at him made Paul’s heart pound.

Fearing that his face would break into a goofy grin if he relaxed his expression for even a moment, Paul slapped his own cheeks with both hands.

Slap!

A loud sound echoed, and red handprints appeared on his pale white skin, but Paul didn’t care.

It was the boss monster, rather, who was concerned about it.

‘It’ was a little taken aback watching the intruder suddenly slap its own face.

‘I told it to sit next to me, and it did, so why is it suddenly self-harming?’