Chapter 4-5
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VOLUME 2
Chapter 4: The Penglai Emperor’s Resurrection
Part 5
Jun pulled on Kasumi’s hand, and they followed the Penglai Emperor into the temple.
Candlesticks lined the walls in the passageway beyond the entrance, their flames swaying.
Far ahead, the Penglai Emperor’s red garments seemed to flicker in the darkness.
Alice said that this quest existed back when Sky World was still an MMO. The event should have too.
This had been on his mind the whole time. The penalty for failure being death made this quest clearly unique.
Back in the MMO age, the punishment for death was a stat debuff for a certain amount of time. Since this debuff would stack, even having died twice would make the quest very high risk. Having to collect a Phoenix Blood, a raid item, made it all the worse. And the time limit for the quest was only ten days.
Maybe I’m still missing something.
He thought about it a bit. In general, there wasn’t much variation between quests in MMOs. Since many players were interacting with the same world at the same time, quests that could bother others were scarce.
For instance, during a quest, what would happen if a shopkeeper for a very popular store disappeared?
It would be a great shock.
Maybe it cause such a problem if it were a store, since there were others elsewhere. However, what if important NPCs like the monks in Dragon Quest [1] were to disappear?
With this in consideration, designers limited quests’ potential effects on the world. Large-scale events that could influence the game world itself would have to be harshly vetted.
However… was this one of those carefully chosen special events?
Coercion. That word floated through Jun’s mind.
It was a harsh — no, an exceedingly harsh penalty. Players would, naturally, work to avoid penalties. So basically, the designers of this quest coerced people into completing it.
The developers wanted to make the quest move forward any way they could. It seemed that they put in the imminent death penalty to force the quest-starter to go to this temple. And if that wasn’t enough motivation, another death loomed ahead.
Jun didn’t know much about quests that could have consequences on the server itself. In the early days of the 3D MMORPG, there were pre-loaded events that involved unsealing horrid dragons. After releasing these cursed dragons, part of the server and the world itself would change completely. Events and items would also be scattered throughout the new world. Along the same vein, this quest event could do the same to those who possessed good items pre-upheaval, maybe. At once, the server might be split into two warring factions, those who supported the great bouleversement, and those who did not… But that’s beside the point.
Will this quest rewrite the world?
What would happen to Lao Thai, the island where Jun and the others stayed currently on? And to the rest of Sky World itself?
If it happens…
“He stopped.” Kasumi’s voice pulled Jun back from his profound thoughts.
The Penglai Emperor had stopped moving in the center of the large hall. An enormous altar stood in front of the old man. On the altar was a candlestick that burned bright, reminiscent of a magical cauldron.
The Penglai Emperor lifted his hands into the air.
Immediately afterwards, hellfire spilled out of the candlestick and scorched the ceiling.
‘The time has come! Phoenix, come to me!’
His loud voice echoed in through the temple.
The pillar of flame grew wide. Jun realized that it was simply the Phoenix spreading its wings.
The flames of the immense wings flickered. From the hellfire emerged a crimson beak, purple eyes, and a bird head. Then, finally, the phoenix’s large body appeared, bathed in flames, on top of the altar.
“The… Phoenix.” Jun groaned. The undying bird. The raid monster that was not supposed to reappear for another three hours.
The Penglai Emperor’s words had summoned the Phoenix.
“… It’s a triggered spawn, huh?”
Were they to engage it in battle? At that moment, many things went through Jun’s head. They would not stand a chance. Everybody had been exhausted from the battle with the Illusionary Brigade, and everybody was scattered across the battlefield. It would take a ton of time just to reassemble everybody. Retreating there…
“Wait a moment, please.” Kasumi stepped in front of Jun. “Please don’t fight the Phoenix. Battling it is not necessary.”
“Kasumi…san”
Jun looked at Kasumi, then fixed his eyes onto the Penglai Emperor.
The Penglai Emperor drew a thin sword from his back and approached the burning physical incarnation of fire. He ignored the great damage he would receive from simply being nearby, he brandished his sword…
Strike.
The colossal Phoenix fell face up.
“He … defeated it?”
With just a single strike, he brought down the mighty Phoenix. Though, it was probably a special attack that was meant to take it down in one shot. As players found watching NPCs slowly hitting each other hardly making much progress at all, tedious, Jun liked to think that the developers took that into consideration with this event.
Speaking of which, this guy… he can’t be…
The old man entered the flames to pick up some blood, and smiled.
Walking towards the fallen Phoenix, he stuck out his arm.
Isn’t there plenty of data about this special character being configured…?
“The power of invincibility, become mine! Now is the time to take back what is rightfully mine, the world!”
Just as the Penglai Emperor touched the Phoenix’s dead body, it disappeared. A red stone appeared in the Penglai Emperor’s hand. The strange red stone pulsated like a heart.
The Penglai Emperor opened his mouth, and prepared to swallow the stone.
“Hand that over!”
A boy who had hidden himself in the room rushed over to the emperor.
He swung his large axe down at him. The Penglai Emperor was sliced into two.
“What!?”
Flabbergasted, Jun and Kasumi watched the blood trickle down the Penglai Emperor’s body as he slowly collapsed.
He was the event’s special character. Potential event disruptions were not accounted for, so his HP had been at the lowest value possible. He was effectively a wooden doll.
Back when Sky World was still an MMO, there were restrictions on what player characters could do, and so the Penglai Emperor couldn’t have been hurt.
For this reason, he didn’t need anything. So, the lowest HP and stats possible were fine.
“You…”
The boy who forced himself in the event took the red stone.
He was not an NPC, but an adventurer. And he was one that Jun happened to know.
“Zakka, why in the world are you here…”
“Huh, the battle got dangerous, so I came here seeking shelter. Then your event began. You were only thinking good thoughts and not paying attention to anything else. I wanted to break this shitty event.” The Illusionary Brigade’s low-leveled bandit warrior grinned and laughed. “What? … a Phoenix heart? Sounds like an interesting item… What should I do? Should I use it? Well of course, your opinion doesn’t matter. Naturally, I’d use it…”
“Stop it, that thing is…!”
“Shut up! I picked it up, so it’s mine!”
“You’re wrong. Judging from the quest description, that is…”
“Don’t tell me what to do!” Shouting pridefully, Zakka grasped the stone firmly in his hand.
He selected YES on the option window…
“Aaaaaggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
A mind-numbing shout filled the room…
Immediately after, the temple ceiling collapsed.
TRANSLATOR’S NOTES
[1] – In Dragon Quest, monks were an essential part of gameplay, as player characters could only be revived with their assistance, and they also functioned as save points.
(NanoDesu) A Translation of the Sky World Light Novel 