X
“No special clues. No pearls, either.”
“Will we find out once we leave the tower?”
Instead of an answer, I only heard a heavy breath. He seemed deep in thought. Watching Sephiroth like this, I couldn’t help but think that if this weren’t a hidden quest, I would have posted it on a community board to get some help from the “collective intelligence.” Of course, I’m not stupid enough to go around blabbing about a hidden quest.
“I think… we’ve been played.”
After a long silence, Sephiroth leaned against the wall with his left arm. Tilting his body at a crooked angle, he spoke in a languid tone.
“Played? What do you mean?”
“I won’t know for sure until we’re out, but I don’t think Ignas is on our side.”
“Then whose?”
“Well, according to the lore, our enemies are the Fallen Gods. She probably has some sort of connection with them.”
Now that he mentioned it, I did remember something like that. Some of the gods who ruled the world became corrupted and turned into Evil Gods. The towers were supposedly places where those gods sealed away the powers of heroes. That’s why clearing a tower granted you a hero’s power… or so the setting went.
“The fact that one of ‘Ignas’s Children’ is a goat—a classic symbol of a demon—is ominous from the start. Rats and snakes aren’t exactly holy images, either. If Ignas simply considered them enemies, why would the quest be titled Children of Ignas?”
Every word he said made perfect sense.
“Then… should we have left the goat alive? But then we couldn’t clear the tower, and the quest would have failed.”
“Let’s assume for now that killing the goat was the only way to progress.”
“Right. It’s almost certain we’ve been betrayed by the story. To find out if there’s more, we have to get out of here first.”
“Yeah.”
Nodding in agreement, I stepped into the tower’s warp gate with Sephiroth. The moment we left, our rewards would be calculated. But today, instead of the usual excitement of waiting for loot, an ominous premonition echoed in my head. The mysterious gate, glowing with a mix of purple and yellow light, swallowed me whole.
When I opened my eyes again, a stream of system messages flooded my vision.
[You have perfectly cleared the Tower of Ignas.] [The Curse of Ignas is applied as a penalty.] [You have achieved a Great Feat.] [Hidden Title: ‘The One Who Discovered the Cursed Tower’ granted.]
“…What is this?”
The flashing notifications flickered before my eyes, grating on my nerves. A curse as a penalty? I discovered the Cursed Tower? What on earth does this mean?
“What the hell…”
Sephiroth, apparently having checked his own penalties, had the same reaction. Well, of course. We worked ourselves to the bone to clear this place, and for what? A penalty?
Sephiroth rested his hand on his forehead. Moving with a natural habit, he brushed back his helmet and muttered, “Looking at ‘The Curse of Ignas,’ it’s confirmed. She stabbed us in the back.”
“I thought only the story would be depressing, but the actual reward is a penalty?”
I let out a hollow laugh.
“Discovering the Cursed Tower for the first time in the server… what a wonderful reward.”
Usually, first-clear rewards are bonuses, aren’t they? Who gives out a curse as a first-clear bonus? I couldn’t accept this ridiculous situation, but whether I accepted it or not, the curse wasn’t going away.
I stared blankly at ‘The Curse of Ignas’ icon dangling from my status bar. As I focused on it, the detailed description popped up.
[The Curse of Ignas] The Mermaid Princess Ignas could not forgive those who made her this way. Her rage spread like a wildfire, eventually reaching the Evil God who was fleeing after losing his power. The power of the Pearl, used to curse the world, helped the Evil God create the Cursed Tower, where he planted fragments of the curse. Is there a way to break it?
– Skills Disabled – Recovery during combat disabled – Attack Power decreased by 20% – Movement Speed decreased by 10% …
How thorough.
Among the debuffs was a reduction in movement speed—a stat Sephiroth had said was almost impossible to change. 10% wasn’t a massive drop, but it wasn’t small enough to be unnoticeable either. I could deal with the attack reduction or the skill lock by just spamming basic attacks, and the lack of healing just meant I had to not get hit. But there was no clever way to counter a flat movement speed reduction.
This is bad. Really bad. Especially the part where they lured us in with tower rewards just to trap us.
“But… now that I think about it, this penalty isn’t so bad?”
A strange voice came from beside me.
I snapped my head toward Sephiroth. That annoying black-armored man was stroking his chin with his thumb and index finger shaped like a ‘V’.
“What’s ‘not bad’ about it?”
“The game just got harder.”
“The game got harder, so how is that okay?”
Faced with my utter lack of comprehension, Sephiroth replied, “Doesn’t a high difficulty level make your blood boil? Don’t you feel that urge to conquer it no matter what?”
…Oh.
It sounded like nonsense, yet it was strangely persuasive, while simultaneously still being nonsense.
“I feel like I’m half-persuaded and half-not.”
“You’ll be persuaded soon enough.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“Because you and I are similar in some ways.”
“Me? Like you?”
If there was ever a statement that warranted a lawsuit for defamation, this was it. Of all the people in the world, he says I’m like him?
Of course, it wasn’t entirely false. Sephiroth and I did have a certain chemistry when it came to gaming. The way we get more competitive as things get tougher, the way we pursue a perfect strategy even if it’s exhausting, or the way we go to any lengths for a fast and efficient method.
But even so, I cannot accept the claim that I am like Sephiroth. It’s Sephiroth. The man’s personality is… well, it’s Sephiroth. I, Chae Eon-ha—who may not be called a saint but has never been called a villain—am like Sephiroth?!
“You look significantly offended.”
“No, well…”
“You really don’t want to be like me, huh?”
“Well…”
I couldn’t say “Yes,” but saying “No” felt like a lie that would hurt my conscience. My stammering served as its own answer. Sephiroth gave a cold snort and crossed his arms.
“Fine. If our ‘Pretty Boy’ is going to keep being so uncooperative, I have my own plans.”
“You’re the one making me uncooperative!”
“Mmhmm. Sure.”
He wasn’t listening at all. He looked resolute, as if he had made a major decision.
“What are you going to do?”
“Who knows?”
“If you’re planning something weird, I’m reporting you.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t do anything report-worthy.”
“That makes me even more worried.”
A low chuckle vibrated through the air. Sephiroth, who had turned his head away as if lost in thought, spoke again.
“By the way, we should check out that event thing from earlier.”
“Ah, right.”
Now that he mentioned it, there was that surprise event announcement when we entered the tower. The shock of the quest and the penalty had made me completely forget.
I quickly pulled up the internet window. Opening a browser within Zelpia immediately brought up the official homepage. In the patch notes section of the announcements, a post titled ‘March 31st (Thu) Surprise Event Update Details’ had been uploaded.
<March 31st (Thu) Surprise Event Update Details> Play Reality! Zelpia
Hello. This is GM Sabrina, your guide to Zelpia. Were you surprised by the sudden event announcement? For our Heroes who are working tirelessly to protect the world, the Zelpia team has prepared a special event.
— Surprise Event: Protect the Battlefield of Ignas! — A new event begins in the 6:6 battle map, “The Battlefield of Ignas.”
[Check Event Battlefield Rules]
[Event] Protect the Battlefield of Ignas! [Event] Ignas, Protect the Last of the Weak! Hidden quests can be performed during the event period.
Win battles during the surprise event to collect ‘Ignas’s Rage.’
Unused ‘Ignas’s Rage’ will be deleted collectively after the maintenance on 04-30 (Sat).
Win battles during the surprise event to collect ‘Ignas Battlefield Points.’
Event Tiers are applied separately from existing Battlefield Event Tiers.
[Check Event Reward List]
Zelpia is always cheering for your journey. GM Sabrina will be back with the next event update! Thank you.
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Read : What’s It Like Playing Matchmaker for Your Ex?
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