Chapter 25

Chapter 25
## Chapter 25: What Sort of Garbage Game Is This?

—

What kind of absolute trash game is this? [End of Volume 1]

A storm of turbulent emotion flickered within the gaze of Marquis Wyzer.

Serengeti, the warrior who had led a massive crusade alongside five hundred elite knights.

She was his flesh and blood, his sole heir, and a “Transcendent” who had reached a higher plane by consuming a star.

When she had finally been brought back to him, lashed to the back of a stallion with her lower half missing, his heart had shattered into a thousand pieces.

He had exhausted every possible resource to bring her back to consciousness.

The treasury of the city had been drained to the last coin, and he had forgotten the sensation of a full night’s rest.

Despite his desperate efforts, Serengeti remained trapped in her slumber.

“Oh… Serengeti…”

Suddenly, the haze cleared from his daughter’s eyes.

The stagnant flow of time finally resumed its course.

Serengeti, aided by the Star Blessing, pulled her lids back and looked directly at him.

The Marquis felt a stinging heat behind his eyes.

He lunged forward, his arms trembling with the urge to hold her tight.

He had been a cold, demanding father for far too long.

A failure of a parent who had forced a blade into her hands and demanded perfection every single day.

Gensing the heavy emotions radiating from Marquis Wyzer, Serengeti fought to move her parched lips.

“Hudson…!”

…Who?

The Marquis froze, certain he had misheard.

Hudson? Who on earth was that?

Logic dictated she should be calling for her “Father,” or perhaps addressing him as “My Lord.”

“Serengeti!”

Suddenly, a man who had been standing unremarkably in the background bolted forward. He lunged to the bedside and gripped Serengeti’s hand with desperate strength.

He was one of the two companions who had arrived with the heir of the Knight King.

Had he not been introduced as a simple servant?

Serengeti’s eyes widened, shimmering with a mix of shock and hope.

“This… this isn’t a hallucination? Is it really you, Hudson, standing right here…?”

“It’s real. I’m here. Forgive me for taking so long. I feared you would never wake… Oh god.”

Hudson collapsed into a fit of weeping.

His entire frame shook as he squeezed her hand, refusing to let go.

His original ambition had been to return as a high-ranking councilor of the radiant city of Arcana. He wanted to ask for her hand with the dignity of a nobleman—that had been his dream.

But then the news reached him: Serengeti had returned from the crusade a broken, mangled shell.

Hudson had been paralyzed by his own shame.

‘I told myself that as long as she breathed, it was enough.’

Just staying alive.

He believed that if he could just secure his seat as a councilor and return with status, the Marquis would have to accept him.

If she could no longer walk, he would carry her.

Even if she remained a vegetable, it didn’t matter. As long as she was in the world, he would devote his life to her care.

‘If I had waited even a moment longer…’

Regret washed over him like a tide.

He had been a fool. He should have sprinted to her side regardless of the circumstances. Waiting for the “perfect moment” to establish himself was nothing but his own ego and greed talking.

Serengeti’s once powerful, athletic frame had withered away. The woman who used to be able to hoist him up with a single arm was now so fragile he could likely lift her himself.

A few more days of delay, and she would have faded away.

He would have lost his chance to ever see her eyes again.

The Duke would have treated her like a trophy of war, hidden in a dark corner where only he could witness her decline.

‘I liquidated the casino, secured a spirit, and fought my way back. If it wasn’t for Randolph, I would have never seen her again.’

Hudson cast a glance toward Randolph.

He felt he could die happy now, yet he couldn’t shake the eerie feeling that everything had unfolded exactly as Randolph intended.

From the second Randolph stepped into the casino and started a riot to smoke him out, the man had seen through Hudson’s soul, forcing him to walk away from his business.

He had acquired a spirit egg and found his spine.

He had even conquered the Spirit Tower and claimed its throne!

The impossible felt mundane now. He felt capable of anything—even leaping off a precipice if required.

“Two million gold. That is my offer.”

Hudson stood tall, his spine snapping straight as he turned to face the room.

Marquis Wyzer stared at him, his expression one of utter bewilderment.

“Grant me Serengeti’s hand, Father.”

“F… Father? What kind of lunacy is this wretch babbling about?”

“You need the capital immediately, don’t you? Two million gold will extinguish the financial fires threatening this city.”

*Shring!*

The Marquis didn’t hesitate. He drew his own blade.

He pressed the cold steel against Hudson’s windpipe and hissed,

“What gives a bottom-feeder like you the right to speak her name?”

“I am…”

Hudson paused. How could he define himself?

He was no longer a politician, and his casino was gone.

A commoner. A player. Those titles meant nothing here.

Hudson looked toward Randolph for strength.

“I am the devoted subordinate of that lord.”

The Marquis’s face contorted into a mask of demonic fury.

“A common lackey thinks he can claim my daughter?”

Hudson’s voice remained unnervingly steady.

“That man communes with the heavens. He is the ward of nature, the true heir to the Knight King, destined to surpass the legend himself. How could the servant of such a figure be considered ordinary?”

“Silence that pathetic tongue before I—”

“That’s enough.”

Honestly, what is wrong with these people?

I clicked my tongue in annoyance and stepped between the two posturing men.

I had forgotten that Hudson was a merchant at heart. He was a professional at “polishing” the truth to make a sale.

But we didn’t have time for this melodrama.

“I realize everyone is feeling very dramatic right now, but the Demon King’s curse hasn’t been fully broken yet.”

“…What?”

Marquis Wyzer slowly returned his sword to its sheath.

He was right. Killing this delusional fool Hudson could wait. Saving Serengeti was the only priority.

“She will likely only remain conscious for the remainder of the day. To permanently shatter the curse, we have to locate another ‘star.'”

The only way to bolster holy energy was to gain levels or find stars.

When Knight King Wilhelm fell, five stars were scattered across the world.

One was back in our possession; four were still missing.

If they stayed out there, the memories embedded within them would start to degrade.

‘It’s the hidden perk of the Star Successor class. If it grants me access to the previous owner’s experiences, we have to move fast.’

Before the data was corrupted or lost to the void.

While Wilhelm’s essence was still intact, we had to retrieve them.

If another person claimed ownership, those memories and techniques would be erased forever.

“Everyone out. Now. I need to speak with her privately.”

I made a shooing motion with my hands, ushering them toward the exit.

Hudson and the Marquis traded a few more icy glares before finally stepping out of the room.

The air felt like it was about to ignite, but I couldn’t care less about their petty squabble.

“And you are…?”

Now that we were alone, Serengeti turned her weak gaze toward me.

“I am the one who inherited the mantle of Knight King Wilhelm. I’ve come to learn the truth about his final moments.”

“…He left no heir.”

Serengeti was blunt. Her suspicion didn’t waver for a second.

I expected nothing less from my most loyal comrade.

I knew the “Successor” lie was a bit thin, but I knew she, of all people, wouldn’t buy it.

After all, her own star hadn’t fallen from the sky yet.

“Isabella. Secure the perimeter. No eavesdropping.”

Outside the door, Isabella moved instantly.

She was a professional killer. With her on watch, not even a ghost could get close to this room.

Once I was certain of our privacy, I looked Serengeti in the eye.

“Relate the details of my final struggle to me. You were the only one there; you know what happened better than I do.”

“…!”

She knew she was the lone survivor.

But she could have written that off as a lucky guess.

So, I hammered the final nail in.

“I am certain I struck down the Demon King.”

I knew for a fact I killed that bastard.

Yet, in the end, I was the one who ended up in a grave.

Why?

“I drove the ‘Path of Light’ directly into its essence. My aim was perfect. But immediately after, my vision went dark, and I perished. What happened in those seconds in between?”

Serengeti’s eyes flooded with absolute terror and realization.

“Holy shit, yes! I did it! It’s over!!!”

I leaped out of my computer chair, punching the air.

The Demon King was dead!

I had taken his head and pierced his heart. I couldn’t even count how many hours I’d spent staring at the screen, micro-managing every movement just to reach this point.

My hands were cramping violently. My joints felt like they’d been put through a meat grinder.

I had been at this for at least twelve hours straight.

But victory was mine. I had navigated every bullshit phase and boss mechanic, finally burying the ultra-rare “Path of Light”—the ultimate anti-demon blade—right into the core. Not even the King of Hell survives that.

I watched as the Demon King’s soul began to leak from the core, just like every other raid boss.

A win five years in the making.

The game promised a wish upon completion.

What should I ask for? A hundred billion won?

I doubted this developer even had that much in the bank.

“Wait… what? No, no, no! What is this? Why a blue screen now?!”

The monitor suddenly flashed a vibrant, sickening blue.

I pounded on the side of the screen, but it stayed frozen.

Ten seconds passed.

When the image finally flickered back to life, the Demon King’s mocking laughter filled the room, and the words “Game Over” stared back at me in cold, digital ink.

“Are you kidding me?”

I sat there, paralyzed by the absurdity.

I killed the boss, the game glitched out, and then I was dead?

-Muhahahahaha!

The laughter continued to loop through the speakers. Was he still alive?

‘Oh, I see. They made it impossible to win from the very beginning.’

That blue screen wasn’t a glitch. The developers had programmed a hard-stop so nobody could actually finish the quest.

‘What an absolute piece of shit game.’

They must have been terrified of actually having to grant a wish.

I sank into my chair, feeling hollowed out. Five years of my life, gone.

But the loss of time wasn’t what hurt the most—it was the realization that the goal was a lie.

My great ambition. The one thing I was going to achieve to prove my life had meaning—it was a rigged carnival game.

‘It was never meant to be beaten…’

The system was stacked against me from the start.

Damned developers. I should have known.

Even as I tried to process the betrayal, the words escaped my lips with visceral frustration.

“God damn it, what kind of trash game is this?”