Chapter 26: Deducting 0.5 Points Is to Keep You from Getting Too Proud
The sensation of weightlessness rushed in alongside the howling wind in his ears.
Rast adjusted his posture mid-air, and the next moment, the icy touch of seawater swiftly engulfed him.
At the moment of impact with the water, Rast felt both his hands and feet go numb.
In previous loops, he had trained in swimming—while he wasn’t as skilled in it as with firearms, he was at least proficient…
But the sea at dusk was stormy and raging; even the most seasoned fishermen wouldn’t dare enter the water under such weather, and Rast’s physical condition wasn’t particularly good to begin with.
The impact from falling dozens of meters into the water shattered the bones in his hands and feet, and after the serum's effects wore off, the side effects and aftershocks of the beast medicine began to manifest.
A wave of weakness swept through his limbs and bones, his internal organs searing in pain—if it weren’t for the healing crystal Shiltina had used earlier to prolong his life, Rast might already have died from organ failure due to the aftereffects of the drug.
He had lost all strength to struggle, his body sinking ever deeper, like falling into an abyss.
The light in his vision gradually dimmed.
The glimmering sea surface was no longer visible; only a faint shimmer pierced the dark waters, illuminating this silent world.
The sea in late autumn was frigid—cold to the marrow.
All of Rast’s senses rapidly faded away, eventually returning to nothingness.
Rast had died many times in previous loops.
Compared to being incinerated by molten iron at the steel mill, torn apart by Iron Crosses, or exploding from an overdose of beast medicine…
Drowning in the sea was a relatively peaceful way to go—and one he’d rarely experienced.
But just then, Rast felt a slender hand grab the collar of his clothes and begin pulling him toward the surface.
Seconds later, Rast once again heard the crashing of waves and saw the sky dyed crimson by the setting sun.
“What score do I get now?”
Someone spoke beside his ear.
“What?” Rast’s mind was still foggy.
“Remember what you said to me when we first met? About the eight-point ballet lead in black stockings and the beautiful councilwoman.”
“You said that my face without makeup could rival theirs. So, what about now?”
Shiltina’s voice echoed amid the crashing waves: “What score now?”
Rast blinked as the mist faded from his vision, and only then did he clearly see the girl before him.
The seawater had washed away her disguise, revealing her true appearance.
Her carefully braided princess hair had come loose, chestnut strands clinging to her cheeks, dripping with water.
Only now did Rast realize why he had found Shiltina inexplicably familiar when they first met…
He had seen this beautiful girl on the cover page of the game design draft for Snowmoon Crest.
That draft hadn’t included her name, only a title meant for the future—
「Silver Sword Saint」
A distant explosion thundered through the air—it was the timed bomb Shiltina had set.
The steam boiler was the first to rupture in the blast, and the released high-temperature steam ignited tens of thousands of tons of gunpowder, coal, and nitroglycerin scattered throughout the port.
Flames dozens of meters high surged into the sky, engulfing the entire port district.
To the Iron Crosses in the area, it was hellfire from the underworld.
From afar, though, it resembled a sun rising amid the dusk, and within that sun burned Deep Blue Port.
Shiltina stood in the sunrise-like firelight, with the shimmering sea beside her—radiant and indescribably beautiful.
The city was reflected in her pupils, like a yellow-hued starry sea.
“Nine point five,” Rast said softly, his voice swallowed by the explosion’s roar.
Deducting that 0.5 was just so she wouldn’t get too proud.
Seconds later, the shockwave from the port’s explosion reached the sea, stirring up waves nearly ten meters high.
Shiltina gripped Rast’s arm tightly, holding onto him as they rose and fell with the wild waves, never once letting go no matter how violently the sea churned.
No one knew how much time passed before the surging tide gradually calmed and the sea returned to its peaceful state.
Shiltina found a piece of floating driftwood on the water’s surface.
She placed Rast on it—his body now suffering from hypothermia and nearly all his bones fractured—while she stayed in the water to stabilize the makeshift raft.
Rast’s expression froze. “I had a feeling something was off with the protagonists’ script.”
“If you’re expecting it to follow a movie script, you’ll be disappointed,” Shiltina smiled. “I’m not some fragile male lead from a movie. I won’t just lose strength and sink into the ocean like that.”
She looked into the distance where Deep Blue Port still burned. “So we actually made it, huh…”
“We successfully rewrote one timeline and prevented the Descent of the Evil God at Deep Blue Port.”
Rast slightly shook his head. “The momentum of history isn’t that easy to change.”
“That fisherman just happened to fish up the evil god’s sculpture while working—none of this was mere coincidence. It was all predetermined by fate.”
“What we did, at most, was to make a slight deviation in a worldline that had already been decided by those big players.”
“Even so, it’s already a remarkable feat.”
Shiltina chuckled. “In all the Nightworld Remnants I’ve entered, this is the first time I’ve seen history change.”
The two drifted aimlessly on the sea, chatting idly.
The watches they carried had been lost or damaged during their escape, so neither knew how long they would continue drifting.
In the distance, the sun slowly dipped below the sea, and its reflection joined with the half-submerged orb to form a perfect circle.
The last afterglow ignited the clouds in the sky, turning them the color of flame.
When the final ray of sunset faded from Shiltina’s eyes, night fell.
Like a veil, the soft night wrapped around Rast and the broken world, gently embracing them.
As the darkness deepened and his consciousness faded, Rast saw lines of azure text flash across his mind.
【Nightworld Quest — "Resonance of Deep Blue Port" Cleared】
【Current Quest Rating: EX】
【New Nightworld Candidate Detected. Generating New Information Panel and Traveler Identity.】
【Your Arcana Sequence Title: "The Tower"】
【Your Position Rank: 19 (First Tier)】
【Matching new Nightblade based on Soul Origin and Mental Landscape】
【Detected existing Nightblade bound to Traveler’s Mental World. Matching process aborted, initiating reconstruction of existing Nightblade】
【Nightblade Reconstruction Complete】
【Your Nightblade: "The Fool’s Library"】
【Quest Rewards Distributed】
【As your level has reached the current tier’s cap, sequence experience has been stored】
【You have obtained Inherent Skill: "Heart of Steel Forging"】
【You have obtained Emblem Attire: "Iron-Woven Moon", "Sevenfold Perspective"】