Chapter 68

Chapter 68
Even up until the instant my consciousness faded, my physical form had felt broken and battered. Waking up to experience nothing more than a mild thirst felt bizarre on its own.

Even stranger was the tremendous energy surging within me the moment my eyes flicked open.

I figured that strange power was directly connected to the Eye Giant core shoved down my throat right before I passed out—and to the moonstone cat that had forced it in there.

If that creature was responsible, it certainly knew the true nature of this strange strength. Yet it remained completely silent no matter how many times I called out. It had only revealed itself when I hovered on the brink of death, so responding to such a minor summons would have been absurd.

Left with no alternative, I resorted to something a bit childish…

The non-player character sealed inside this ring only ever reacted to the Commander. When the Commander drew near, a quiet sorrow resonated through it; when the Commander faced peril, an urgent yearning emerged. If I entertained any hostile thoughts toward the Commander, it would protest; if I acted in a way that contradicted the identity of Haydam, it would scorch my finger as though warning me to pull myself together. Therefore, this entity was bound to respond to my private mutterings.

“What would happen if I went to the Commander and declared that I am not Haydam?”

No!

The second I threw out that provocation, a youthful voice echoed from the moonstone. A brilliant flash erupted, and a small white shape popped out, landing directly in my lap.

A snow-white kitten, no larger than an infant.

So I hadn’t imagined it after all.

Back then, the situation had been so chaotic that I half-persuaded myself I had hallucinated the whole thing. Yet the cat sitting right in front of me was identical to the creature I had seen prior to blacking out. I had always assumed an ordinary non-player character dwelt inside the ring. Never once had I guessed that a non-human entity was sealed away in there.

The kitten that had leaped out of the ring started scolding me immediately.

You broke your vow! You promised first—you promised first that you would treat me like a father and keep me from dying!!

“Decided to finally show your face, huh.”

Treat me like a father and keep me from dying… That was the oath I uttered at Luna Moon’s grave. Ah—back then, the entity existed in the form of a ring, so naturally, it had overheard the pledge I made to Luna Moon as well. Was that why it had cooperated with me all this time?

Even so, a few details still did not add up…

You… are you actually going to go tell them that you aren’t Haydam…?

Just as the creature noted, it knew I was not the authentic Haydam. A non-player character tied to Luna Moon ought to have been furious that I was impersonating him. Yet its demeanor implied it wanted me to keep up the charade—no, more than that: it wanted me to embody Haydam completely.

You cannot do that… It would make them so, so sad…

What on earth was this cat?

Because the ring reacted whenever the Commander was close, I initially wondered if Luna Moon’s soul resided inside it. But the emotions filtering through during those moments never mirrored those of a lover.

And if the cat truly were Luna Moon, it would have no reason to be uncooperative with me, a fellow player. Judging by its speech and behavior, it was clearly not a player. Even so, it had to be a non-player character deeply linked to Luna Moon. Nothing else would beg so desperately to spare the Commander from sorrow.

Tears began welling in the kitten’s eyes, prompting me to speak quickly.

“All right.”

All right?

“I mean I will keep living as Haydam.”

Really?!

“Yeah. Really.”

If it had been watching from inside the ring all this while, it should already understand that I had personal reasons for maintaining the identity of Haydam. Such a naive little thing—just as youthful as it appeared.

Then do not break your promise this time!

“Have I ever broken a promise? I rescued them exactly the way you wanted. I nearly died for real pulling the Commander out of there, you know.”

That is…! That is why I gave you the Eye Giant’s core as well!

Ah. So because I saved the Commander, it had forced its way out to assist me even when I hovered near death?

It has a temper, but it is cute enough.

I leaned closer to the cat and asked,

“So… who are you?”

The response that came back caught me completely off guard.

You cannot call me ‘you’!

Cannot call it “you”?

“I do not know your name, so I have no choice but to address you as ‘you’.”

It is not ‘you’! I am your big brother!

“…How do you figure?”

A kitten that looked every bit an infant was claiming to be the older brother. Did felines measure age differently? I vaguely recalled that a single cat year equaled roughly ten human ones. My real body was past thirty, but in this creature’s eyes, the current me probably looked like a ten-year-old child. Even so, the thing itself only looked about six months old.

Then it delivered an unexpected reply.

I was born before you, so I am the big brother!

So it intended to insist it had been born first.

“Then… you are telling me you were born more than ten years ago?”

Yeah! So I am the big brother!

Hmm. I initially assumed it was just being stubborn, but it looked entirely serious. Well, it was a monster—perhaps only its physical appearance remained young.

Call me big brother! If you do not call me big brother, I will not answer you!

Its mental age still seemed quite young, however…

“Fine. So who is this big brother, then?”

It was not particularly difficult, so when I smoothly addressed it as big brother, the creature puffed out its chest with satisfaction, tilted its head up slightly, and declared,

I am the beginning and the end of all things.

“…What?”

And your big brother.

I somehow doubted conversation with this fellow was going to proceed smoothly.

“Are you… like Luna Moon’s pet or something?”

I am not a pet! And stop saying ‘you’!!

“Then why was big brother inside Luna Moon’s ring?”

That is…

The arrogant little creature suddenly drooped both ears, looked dejected, and hung its head.

I cannot say…

“Cannot say?”

Seeing it so thoroughly deflated, it appeared there really were circumstances it could not discuss, so I decided to drop the subject for now. After all, I had not summoned it out of curiosity regarding its identity; I needed answers about the unknown power settled inside me.

“Then I will ask something else.”

Something else…?

As if feeling guilty over its inability to answer, the moment I mentioned asking another question, it raised its head and looked at me happily.

“Why did you feed me the Eye Giant’s core?”

That I can tell you!

It bounced up and down on my lap, padded closer, and pressed a soft, jelly-like front paw directly against my chest—right over the spot where that mysterious power had been thrumming for a while now.

You lot are vessels capable of holding cores.

“You lot?”

Kids like you!

Did “you lot” refer to players? While I was still turning that thought over, the cat continued.

Cores contain a monster’s power. Absorb a core, and you gain the ability to wield that power.

This creature spoke more like a non-player character than any I had encountered thus far.

Absorbing a core allowed someone to use a monster’s power. The entire atmosphere had suddenly shifted into something resembling a supernatural ability battle story. What on earth was the actual genre of this insane game?

“So what you are telling me now is—”

Nyaang!

“—Big brother is saying I absorbed a monster’s power?”

Yeah! The reason your body recovered so rapidly is because you absorbed the Eye Giant’s regenerative ability precisely as it was.

So that was why not a single scratch remained on me when they found me? Yet for it to be mere regenerative power, the force I felt inside was far too vast—something so close to omnipotence that I felt I could achieve anything simply by reaching out.

Naturally, what you absorbed was not restricted to regenerative power alone. You inherited the most special trait.

“The most special trait?”

Exactly the supernatural ability of the Eye Giant. The power to manipulate the weather.

The power to manipulate the weather. That very force which had whipped up blizzards and summoned lightning was inside me now?

Not quite omnipotence, then.

Still, the claim proved difficult to accept at face value. Boosting regenerative power through the consumption of a monster core… that much sounded plausible. Players genuinely possessed the ability to heal by eating. But absorbing a core to acquire a monster’s actual supernatural ability? That mechanic had never appeared even once throughout the game. Yet dismissing it as nonsense proved difficult when I could genuinely feel that power thrumming within me.

“If that is true, I want to test it. How do you utilize this power?”

How to use it… proves difficult for me to explain as well. A supernatural ability functions much like your arms and legs. When you are first born, even rolling over is a struggle, but eventually, you begin taking steps. Now that it forms a part of your body, you will master it eventually.

“Eventually, huh.”

Even the Eye Giant required years to grow accustomed to controlling the weather, so a human like you will need time.

So I could not wield it immediately. If mastery came naturally with time, that was acceptable. More importantly—

You can absorb a monster’s core and acquire its power…

What if I acquired cores from decent large-class monsters and fed them to Taejeong and Bang-guseok Yeobo?

Legendary-class monsters possessing supernatural abilities were hardly common, but even large-class cores should make them noticeably stronger. The concept of reinforcing one’s body via cores was a mechanic that never existed within the game. Other zones remained oblivious to this information, meaning our zone could pull far ahead.

With that thought, the little creature suddenly felt exceedingly cute. I had no idea how it acquired such knowledge, but it held information I lacked. And above all, that capability to easily extract cores even from legendary-class monsters would prove invaluable. If I could eventually secure a flying monster’s core and gain the power of flight on top of everything else, that would serve as the ultimate advantage.

“If I absorb a flying monster’s core, can I fly?”

If it happens to be a monster possessing flight capabilities. Merely consuming a core from a creature equipped with wings does not grant the ability to fly. Humans lack wings.

So absorbing a flying monster’s core would not cause wings to sprout. Well, even if they actually did, that presented an entirely separate set of problems.

And even if you ingest a core from a monster possessing that type of flight ability, you still cannot utilize it.

“Why?”

You can only hold one core ability at a time.

“Ahh…”

As I listened, a chill travelled down my spine. What if I had remained ignorant of this and crammed some random monster’s core into my mouth? Of course, I had always understood monster cores strictly as items to smash, so that scenario likely would not have occurred…

Yet the fact that the very first core I absorbed belonged to a legendary-class monster… could that really be a coincidence?

I had a strong impression the board was being stacked far too favorably in my favor. This little brat insisting on acting as my big brother was involved in that as well.

“But how do you possess all this knowledge?”

Because I am the beginning and the end of all things.

What nonsense was that beginning-and-end declaration supposed to signify.

“Do you not possess something like a name?”

A name… I have one, but it does not belong to me right now.

You have one, but it is not yours right now?

At those words, a realization flashed through my mind. Someone connected to Luna Moon. Someone who held a name that no longer belonged to them. An entity born slightly earlier than the players, all of whom uniformly started at exactly ten years of age. And family members who wished to prevent Commander Hayden from experiencing sadness.

Exactly one such non-player character existed, didn’t there?

“You… do not tell me…”

I questioned the creature in a trembling voice.

“Are you… Haydam?”