[Your mother has been waiting for you in Wilhelm Village all this time. I’ll take you there.]
Little girl Luri transformed into a massive Holy Dragon in an instant.
The threads of mana flowing from Luri’s horn gently wrapped around the party members’ bodies.
Her size, larger than an ordinary cathedral, soared above the land.
“You’re the dragon who mysteriously vanished with the witch a week ago, right?” Hibris asked.
[That’s correct.]
“Are you originally a Black Dragon? Because I think your scales were red back then.”
[My mother told me to disguise as a Red Dragon when doing something bad.]
“Whoa. Such a secret…!”
“Wow, Na-me Unni, that’s really naughty.”
Na-me tried to avoid Adella’s gaze, which was fixated on her.
“You’re the one who curses in the game and calls yourself Chinese. It’s pretty much the same thing…”
Black Dragon Luri dashed across the map that Na-me and Adella traveled over the past seven days.
If any demon beasts were on the route, she blasted them away with her breath.
In the blink of an eye, they had returned to the Starting Village.
At the desolate atmosphere of the village entrance, a woman with her face smeared in blood approached gracefully.
“The witch…”
“Hey. Did you enjoy your vacation?”
She grabbed the tail of a mid-sized demon beast that was unconscious on the ground and threw it outside the fence.
The corpses of demon beasts were piled up like a mountain.
“Did you take care of all of this, Lady Witch?”
There were surely over a thousand demon beasts visible to the eye.
The witch washed off the blood dripping from her body with Clean Magic.
“You really used a lot of your powers. If you’d summoned more demon beasts than this, I would have personally come to kill them myself, regardless of erosion rampage.”
The witch sneered.
The party members, who couldn’t understand what she meant, looked baffled.
Na-me explained in her stead.
“Hibris’s ability to control emotions pulls in demon beasts just by using it. This is also a condition that can lead to a bad ending.”
“What? You mean they just pop out like they’re ordered?”
“Just remember that an easy power always comes with a price.”
Every time they replaced the demon beast they would use for transportation or summoned one that could fly, dozens and hundreds of demon beasts poured into Wilhelm Village.
If they got too complacent and misused the time given to them by the witch, they could meet an untimely end before the deadline arrived.
“Splitting the dimension, huh? What do you think, Luri? These kids are cornering me.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“Not declining, huh? Alright, let’s give it a shot.”
[▶Legendary Mission Unlocked: Dimension Split]
[▶The possible worlds where Hibris exists only exist as probabilities. Ramp up erosion to defeat dark energy clusters and safely split the dimensions.]
“Have you heard the saying that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts? When you divide the whole into parts, the lost information gets converted into energy. What you’re going to encounter from now on will be the closest thing to the unknown entity we call erosion.”
*
They were summoned to a space of nothingness.
Adella poked a floating light in the air with her finger.
[▶Entering Boss Battle.]
[▶Progress is automatically saved.]
“What!”
The small light instantly spread, filling the void of nothingness.
Wind blew and Adella’s hair flew around.
Under the blue sky, a meadow filled with the scent of flowers.
It was far too peaceful to be the space where a boss battle would unfold.
Tap tap—
There was a child poking her thigh with tiny fingers.
Was she four? No, maybe three years old.
The green-haired baby with a flower crown hung onto Adella, pouting.
“Waa?”
“Head. Head this. Uh, again again.”
“The crown broke, huh? Can I make it again?”
“Uh-uh! Not this! Waaaaah!”
The baby cried out at the top of her lungs.
Dududududu—
It felt like the world was crumbling.
The ground split open, and hot lava erupted from the cracks.
Monsters with hideous shapes began to crawl out from the depths below.
In the sky, black clouds gathered and formed the shape of an armored angel.
[The Truth: Arrogance]
The gigantic angel looked down at the dragon.
“Are we really supposed to face that…?”
There wasn’t even time to be surprised.
The angel raised the spear of lightning high into the sky.
“Adella! Watch out!”
Hibris shouted.
Kwaaarrrrum-!
Countless bolts of lightning struck the ground from the sky.
Hibris commanded the demon beasts to jump over Adella’s head.
“Kuueeeek!”
“Grahhh!”
Dozens of demon beasts were fried, becoming electric skewers indiscriminately.
Witnessing this, the angel threw a trident wrapped in electricity.
Pong-!
At the end, a sonic boom occurred as it darted towards them at incredible speed.
[Spell: Extreme Coordinate System Assignment]
Blocking her path was Na-me.
“How long are you going to just space out? Are you not going to conduct a proper test?”
Na-me handed Adella a magazine.
[Anti-Matter Bullet ×1000]
“You’ll ride Luri to snipe the angel from above. In the meantime, the witch and I will keep it busy down here. The hit detection is delayed, so it won’t be too hard.”
“Got it! Leave it to me!”
With trembling hands, Adella accepted the magazine.
She jumped atop the dragon, and Luri immediately soared into the sky.
From the heights, the chaos below was surreal.
Hibris dropped the incoming demon beasts back into the lava while Brooks protected her, relying on a sword.
Tududududu—!
The first magazine was emptied cleanly.
It was clearly visible that the angel’s blood decreased slightly.
Na-me had somehow snuck behind the angel and uttered the incantation.
[Spell: Arabesque Knot – Gold]
A massive net of light manifested from the sky.
The net enveloped the angel’s entire body.
[Spell: Glacius Astar]
Kuugggg-!
Simultaneously, 40 ice stakes hanging from the net plunged into the ground.
“It’s working perfectly! Na-me Unni, nice!”
Adella cheered.
It was too early to be surprised.
The golden-eyed witch walked forward, hands clasped behind her back.
She used magical circles as stairs to keep climbing higher.
And when her gaze met that of the fallen angel, she extended a white arm from within her robe.
“You’ve got your eyes set higher than me. Quite displeasing.”
Wooong-
Eight circular magical circles manifested.
Inside the magical circles, numerous intricate runes began to be drawn simultaneously, ultimately closing the circles to complete a closed circuit.
[5th Circle Spell: Chain Light Amplification]
[6th Circle Spell: Hellfire]
[4th Circle Spell: Le Kaizen Familia]
[6th Circle Spell: Hemoglobin Explosion]
[4th Circle Spell: Gravity Coefficient Adjustment]
[4th Circle Spell: Rapid Cooling]
[3rd Circle Spell: Wind Cutter]
[5th Circle Spell: Arabesque Knot – Blast]
Destructive rays pierced through the angel’s body, flames surged from the holes.
Mana beast spirits leaped in to widen the wounds, and the monsters’ blood penetrated, causing a chain reaction of explosions.
The thrashing angel’s limbs were stuck deep in the ground, and the cold chill bound her body tightly.
Invisible blades sliced through flesh, and explosive whips mercilessly battered her.
The transcendent casting of octa-casting reached its peak.
Those beautiful yet brutal spells tore the angel’s body apart.
The boss’s health gauge turned red.
Amidst the swirling chaos, Adella loaded the Anti-Matter Bullet.
She twisted the mana like a rope and connected it to the magazine filled with antimatter bullets.
“Whew, I can do this…!”
[Spell: Extreme Coordinate System Assignment]
Bang-!
“Highly advanced bullets cannot be distinguished from bombs!”
The bullet with the magazine attached sank into the angel’s chest.
Doon-!
Dozens of anti-matter bullets exploded simultaneously.
Kwaaaagghhh-!
With the explosion, Adella’s body lost control.
She panicked but knew exactly what that meant.
Game clear.
The Open World transitioned into a cinematic scene.
“Waaah! Waaah!”
From the mouth of the building-sized angel came the cry of a baby.
Adella stared at it with a serious expression.
Ku-gu-gung—
The ground’s fissures began to close once more.
Lava seeped back into the ground like water.
Drip-drip—
And then, cracks formed in the angel’s body.
Soon, the green-haired baby they had seen earlier emerged from within the angel’s body.
“Waaah! Daddy!”
The baby continued to wail dramatically, as though she were the ruler of the world.
A ghostly figure approached her and knelt down.
It was Brooks’ appearance.
“Hibris. Why are you crying here?”
“Daddy! The flower you gave me got torn apart!”
“Daddy brought a new crown. Wanna try it?”
“Hic… Yes!”
Daddy placed a new crown on Hibris’s head.
The baby stopped her cries and began to giggle adorably.
The angel vanished, leaving behind that sight.
“The crown Daddy made… I still remember… It was so beautiful…”
Hibris whispered while wiping her tears.
“Hic… Will I ever get to see my father, who remembers the most precious memory of my life?”
“Stop whining.”
Slap—
The witch slapped Hibris’s cheek hard.
Her body soared through the air and tumbled onto the muddy ground.
“Hibris!”
At that moment, a man leaped out, calling her name with longing.
It was Brooks, who had joined their party earlier.
“Hibris, are you okay? Let me see. Is your head alright? If you’re not okay, hurry and tell Daddy!”
“Oh, I’m fine… Father…? Daddy…! Daddy, do you remember me now? Is it true?”
“Of course, Hibris!”
“Not Marigold?”
“Our daughter’s name is Hibris!”
“Hic… Why did you only realize it now? It’s too late, Daddy… Waaaah!”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for forgetting you, my daughter. Everything from the beginning to the end is my fault. Leaving you alone in the village. All of it.”
“Hic… I’m sorry too. I should have hidden just as you told me to…”
Seeing the touching reunion between father and daughter, Adella couldn’t hold back her tears.
She wiped her eyes roughly and muttered in a grumpy tone.
“Such a forced, sentimental moment. Hic… not a bit plausible. Tsk…”
Having returned from catching a few minor bugs, Na-me cuddled into Adella’s embrace.
“The true ending is something I just made up.”
“Don’t say you just made it up! Hibris is alive!”
“Got it. But an implausible happy ending is better for you, right?”
Nod, nod—
Adella couldn’t bring herself to deny it.
“So, I’d like some feedback on a couple of things. Can you speak frankly for a moment?”
“The story is good, and the difficulty wasn’t too hard. I thought I would never be able to clear it considering your personality.”
“I don’t like difficult games.”
“…?”
“Really.”
Na-me felt genuinely wronged.
Given her nature of disliking failure, it made sense that she wouldn’t enjoy games that required trial and error.
“Still, the last true ending felt a little excessive. An angel, antimatter bullets… Is this even SF? It doesn’t match the atmosphere at all. Apart from that, everything is perfect.”
“Got it. I’ll take that into account. But it’s too late to revise the assignment now.”
“Oh, and one more thing. The travel time between regions is too long. It would be nice if you could reduce that a bit too.”
“That’s not easy. Thanks for the feedback.”
In an otherwise clear sky, three letters floated in HY font.
[-END-]
“Change that font.”
*
Open World Engineering time.
“Let’s all give a round of applause to NoName Student!”
While it’s impossible to predict everything in the world…
I never anticipated my project would be evaluated like this.
It wasn’t harsh criticism.
In fact, the professor seemed very pleased.
The score was an A+.
The reason was that it placed first in the SF category.
And by the way, I was the one who created the SF game.
‘Isn’t this not an SF genre?’
I could only awkwardly smile and watch the applause of the students for a while.
