Season 2: Chapter 174: Rule (1)
Who exactly was Luna?
"In both games and reality, women are unfathomable. Sigh," Ju-Hyeok murmured while lost in thought watching the game.
He grew curious about Luna's identity too.
He went on LIL Pro to find out about Luna and intended to capture community reactions as references to send to Ji-Ah anyway.
It would be problematic if Almond read the spoilers, but Ju-Hyeok wouldn’t be affected.
"Huh?"
He didn’t need to search for it specifically because of the top post on Big Pro.
Big!: Why surviving without choosing Luna is legendary
Surviving without Luna isn't just a simple case of being lucky. To understand, you need to know this first. Luna is aware of the player. Do you remember this line from Luna?
"I've never seen this before. Did a particularly difficult one come in this time?"
This. Luna is aware that players keep entering the body of a certain Mr. A playing story mode.
Here's a question. Huh? Then why does Luna say she's never been refused before? How many have refused her? You might wonder about this.
Let me tell you. Why? Because if you refuse, you die and start over! Lol The player goes back in time to start over and when they return, they eventually accept her proposal.
Luna doesn't realize the player dies and goes back to the past. For Luna, all the players who have come have accepted her proposal.
There's more to the story, but it's a spoiler. I'll skip it.
The important thing is that Almond might be remembered as the first person to have refused Luna's request. Ok?
TLDR
1. Almond is the first person to ever refuse her
2. Luna Lip Thief title acquired
— Already spoiled it lol
— Long post, so LIL zoom
└ National average
— Which NPC can distinguish that??? It’s just an Easter egg, probably?
└ Nuh uh, you'll see
└ If you don't clear with 3 stars, it's just an Easter egg lol
— Luna even knows Korean, national pride kyah
└ Ah, that thing Ben said lol lol lol
└ Lol, that's hilarious
└ Different dialogues for each country, but Korea is filled with national pride lol
— The summary is weird, isn't it? Lol
Ju-Hyeok was astounded by what he read.
"Huh. Luna is aware of players coming and going? What's with games these days giving me the creeps."
The NPC knew that she was living a repetitive life and recognized the continuous change in players. It felt odd.
"It's kind of sad, isn't it?"
How boring would it be if the world kept repeating infinitely? If the writer of the post was right, Luna's primary goal would naturally be to escape that place. She would do anything to break free from the cycle.
'A cycle...'
Ji-Ah had said something like this before.
"The wheel isn't the problem. The problem was realizing I'm on the wheel."
This once came out while she was talking about herself and her previous company.
Could a sentient being who realized the world around them was just a giant wheel endure it?
Her answer was no.
***
"Everything is repeating?"
"Yes. Like a hamster wheel."
Luna nodded as she walked ahead.
Splash. Splash.
She walked without hesitation over the damp marshland.
"The problem is that I'm the only one among all the participants here who realizes it."
"Why only you?"
"I can't say. I don't fully trust you yet."
"..."
Almond had nothing to say. He didn’t fully trust Luna either. Instead, he decided to ask another question.
"By repeating, you mean you know the future?"
"Yes, but it doesn't repeat exactly the same every time. There are always variables."
Variables existed? She probably only knew the major future events. Then, there was something strange. Wasn't there?
"So you always end up reaching the sanctuary, right?"
"... Yes."
Luna seemed to be bothered by something and averted her gaze.
"How can that be? You don't seem to have such abilities. There are always variables."
"What?! What do you know about me to say that!? I've done this so many times. Of course, it's normal for me to always reach the end!"
Luna was incensed by the comment on her lack of ability. Almond decided to set that aside for now.
"But—" Almond abruptly asked a critical question, "Why are you telling me this? That you're the only one aware of this regression. This kind of information is dangerous, isn't it?"
This was a question that Ju-Hyeok, having read the community post, could have answered.
Almond was still unaware and asked.
"..."
Luna walked across the stepping stones over the swamp as if she hadn't heard the question. It was still too difficult for her to answer.
Then…
Kwoong—!
A heavy boom echoed out.
"Uh..."
Luna, walking on the stepping stones, staggered. No, the entire world seemed to sway.
Flap— Flurk.
A giant bird passed over them in the sky.
'A bird...?'
It was quite large and almost the size of a person. No, was it a person?
Ping!
Suddenly, the screen went dark and more than just Almond’s sight disappeared. His hearing, touch, and smell also disappeared. Everything was gone. There was nothing left. Even the sound of his heart disappeared.
Only complete darkness remained. Then, brightly shining letters appeared.
Chiiik…
Deprived of all senses, this became the sole thing that existed and his eyes were involuntarily drawn to it. The letters were driven into his mind.
[The entrance to the next floor has been created inside a randomly chosen person.]
Swoosh.
The letters soon disappeared and the next sentence appeared.
[The exact number of people who can enter is 20.]
After the second sentence disappeared, the next sentence appeared. This was the key.
[If you kill the person with the entrance, you can reclaim the entrance.]
It was etched firmly in his mind. Moments later—
"Huh...!"
With a gasp, all his senses returned.
"What the…?"
— Dddddd
— Is this a horror game??
— Super scary
Almond looked around in confusion when Luna explained.
"It's the rule of the abyss."
"Rule...?"
"Yes. Each floor has its own unique rule, but we never know what rule will come up on which floor."
It meant the rules were generated randomly.
'Is this why the past doesn't repeat exactly?'
No matter how many times Luna repeated this abyss, there were such variables.
— Random elements, huh??
— Not a returnee but more like a repeater lol
The viewers were right. She didn't exactly know the future even if she had regressed, making her a repeat student of the abyss.
Abyss repeater Luna pointed to the ground.
"This rule is relatively benign. At least we can find the entrance quickly. You'll see a route created by light on the ground."
Indeed, it appeared like in RPG games that indicated the quest route. A path was drawn on the ground.
"If we follow that, we'll find the person with the entrance. This way, even if our stealth is broken, we won't be tracked."
She smiled and pointed up. The veil of stealth provided by the rune of stealth had disappeared. Now, the reason for Almond to accompany Luna had also disappeared.
"So, what will you do now?" Luna stopped walking and asked.
Chick.
"You've heard my story. Now that the rune of stealth is gone, there's no need to stay with me."
She was giving him a choice.
"Have you thought about staying with me for a bit?"
Luna nervously licked her dry lips, wondering what his response would be.
'What to do?'
Almond asked the viewers, "Looks like I have to go with her this time, right?"
Refusing Luna's request meant death. Almond managed to survive, but the game was designed that way. Regardless, this meant that he had to go with her for the story to progress. Even if it meant being betrayed later, he didn’t have much of a choice.
— Yeah, let's go
— To hell with it, let's go!
— FakeNapoleon is praying for you to refuse now lol
— Gggg
"Alright. Fine. Let's go together for now."
Luna's expression brightened.
"You've made a good choice."
She led the way with an excited stride and Almond momentarily forgot the question he had been pondering.
***
Finding the entrance was obviously not difficult since the light on the ground clearly marked the way. Moreover, Luna was also an expert in abyss exploration.
"Some people use the fact that they're the entrance to set up traps, so you can't just look at the ground and follow blindly."
They proceeded smoothly.
— Wow, the expertise of a repeat student of the abyss
— Lol, do you have the solutions to 4 point problems by year?
— The theory king lol
— The veteran of the repeater school
— Stop teasing the repeater lol
While viewers teased Luna as a repeat student, she casually asked Almond a question.
"So, what exactly is your level now?"
"I won't tell you."
— ???
— Is it a state secret lol
— Good move lol
— Stingy Almond
"Tch. I was trying to find monsters that match us..."
"You know where the monsters are? They change every time."
"Monsters have habits. Based on the terrain, you can tell who will appear."
"Then just deal with them when they appear."
"What if a level ten monster shows up?"
A level ten monster would be several levels above Almond. He probably couldn't hunt it.
"Then we run."
"What if it's too fast?"
"It's okay. As long as I run faster than you."
"..."
— Lol
— Lol
— The problem-solving skills of a talented med student
— Luna's going to be mad lol
"You're the most annoying one I've ever seen."
The most annoying one she had ever seen. Hearing that phrase triggered a thought.
"Now that I think about it…"
Almond was about to ask something.
"Ah. A monster. It's coming."
Almost simultaneously, the trees in the jungle forest on the other side snapped.
Bang!
Out jumped a gigantic shadow.
[Woodslasher Lv. 7]
Kiiiiing...!
The level seven woodslasher monster was a giant troll with a chainsaw.
"Kiiiiyaaaaaaah!"
It started to laugh bizarrely, blinking its eye and cutting down trees.
Thump. Thump.
It didn’t seem to have noticed they were there yet.
Considering the magma bear was level six and they hunted it with Swift's party of ten people, hunting a level seven monster would be difficult with just the two of them.
The repeat student decided to run.
"Hm. It’s a woodslasher. It's still too much for the two of us to handle. It's noisy, but it will just pass by if we don't hit it first—"
Bang!
Almond already released his bowstring.
"Hey!" Luna yelled and asked what he was doing.
— Lol, Luna getting angry is cute
— How does a repeat student understand a current medical student?
— If you don't solve problems and just skip them, that's why you don't improve Luna~
— Among all NPCs, she gets angry the easiest lol
Luna was furious when the arrow pierced the woodslasher's solar plexus.
Thunk!
"You idiot...!"
Hitting the woodslasher there was useless. It only agitated the creature further.
"Kiiieeek!?"
The woodslasher turned around, craning its neck toward them. Its single eye within the mask from a B-grade slasher horror movie gleamed with madness.
The troll looked quite bulky and wielded a chainsaw.
Kiiiiing!
The sound alone could tear ears apart. It was the embodiment of terror.
"Kiyaaaaaah!"
With a bizarre scream, it began to charge toward them.
Thud! Thud!
Nothing worked despite it being hit by arrows in the neck continuously.
Almond finally asked Luna, "How do we kill this thing?"
Luna's jaws dropped.
"You're asking that now!? I told you not to shoot!"
— Trait: Shoot first lol
— Lol
— Barbarian-style damage exchange lol
— ??? : Trolls? One-hit in Kingdom?
"Quick, tell me its weakness."
"The eye! The eye!" Luna shouted as she desperately ran away.
— Luna's running away lol
— Speedrun lol
— Is she really a returnee lol
— Mock exams speedrun
She added after gaining some distance, "But to hit that high, you'd need a flying rune—"
Thunk!
A blue arrow pierced the woodslasher's eye. The arrow had entered through the single hole in the mask.
Gurgle.
Blood streamed down.
"Grrraaaaaaaagh!"
The woodslasher writhed in pain, spinning around on the spot.
Ku-koong!
As a result, the surrounding trees turned into firewood.
— Kyah, the lady and the woodcutter
— Sssss
— Precise as expected dd
"!?"
Luna stopped dead in her tracks in shock.
"How, how did you…?"
She looked up again at the woodslasher's head. The head was high above and hidden behind the mask covering its eye. He hit such a target in a single attempt.
"How did you hit it in one try...?"
Luna turned to Almond while murmuring.
"He's completely different from anyone I've seen before."
— Ah, this look in her eyes......
— Luna's expression just a second ago
— ??? We all know where this is going.
— Luna's helicopter on standby
— Luna~ Let's meet boys in college, shall we?
***
[Beginner Tip: Where does the mysterious power of the sanctuary come from? Nobody knows. Could it be your passionate enthusiasm!?]