Chapter 20 - The White Throne
From a gameplay perspective, if falling equals certain death, then a long falling time is completely pointless and only serves to needlessly stress the player.
This is even more true for Arcadia, a VR game. It’s hard to believe they would implement a feature like a prolonged fall, which could be traumatic for some people.
From that flash of insight while falling, I had theorized that there might be some kind of lower-level stage beneath the main cliffside path. For example, I had anticipated a route back to the upper level, or perhaps a secret, hidden route of some kind…
“I see… so that’s why it came from below the cliff.”
Before me was a giant nest—the kind anyone would imagine when they hear ‘bird’s nest,’ formed from branches and other debris.
“And the size of it…”
It was absurdly huge. It brazenly occupied one of the stone bridges that crisscrossed like a spiderweb, easily spanning over five meters wide. Considering the massive size of that great-winged bird, the scale made sense.
The nest’s owner was absent, but given its obvious appearance, I could be sure. I had a rough grasp of this area’s structure and design now… but there was one problem.
“Where am I supposed to go from here…?”
As I muttered this, I was currently on the top tier of the mesh-like stone bridges. Conveniently, there was a groove where the ends of the bridges met the rock wall, which I was able to use to climb up.
I made it up… but it looked like a dead end. I checked both sides, but there were no more grooves to climb higher. I couldn’t find any cave-like holes either, so a route back to the upper cliff path seemed unlikely.
“Don’t tell me I have to go down… there isn’t a secret boss, is there?”
There totally is. The flow of events practically guarantees it—and not just any boss, but one far more vicious than the main route’s, clearly above this field’s appropriate level.
I’d bet on it. It’s ab-so-lute-ly not balanced for a low-level player to challenge solo.
“Haha, a journey to my death, huh? Hilarious.”
Damn it. I survived by pulling off some ridiculous moves, so I’d like to get something out of this…
“In any case, I have no choice but to go… down, I guess.”
It’s a lot easier than climbing. I can jump down one tier without taking any damage if I land right… wait, if I miss my footing and fall, I’ll die for real this time. My sense of danger is getting numb.
◇◆◇◆◇
Inside the thick clouds, the scenery changed surprisingly quickly. After a few minutes of jumping down the tiers of stone bridges, descending about a hundred meters, the ground came into view.
“…Seriously?”
It was a rocky floor with the same texture as the walls. Having gotten so used to the narrow cliff path and stone bridges, the wide-open ground felt almost out of place.
“No, seriously… does that mean what I think it means? No, but, haaah…”
I had been under a misconception—or rather, I had been deceived.
“What ‘sky bridge’?”
The white that still enveloped me—it wasn’t clouds, it was fog. The name ‘Sky Bridge’ had made me mistake the expanse below the cliff for clouds, leading me to believe the stage was set high up in the sky.
If this rocky floor was the ground, then it was nothing more than a two-hundred-meter-high cliff. I mean, that’s still pretty high, but the name suggesting a path in the sky, the fog disguised as clouds—it was a masterful misdirection.
“The designer has a pretty twisted sense of humor… or maybe I’m just overthinking it.”
In any case, it was safe to assume this was where the secret stage truly began. Depending on the difficulty, it was highly likely I wouldn’t even be able to stand up to the regular mobs, let alone the boss…
“And this fog… isn’t it a little too thick?”
It’s so dense I can’t even see my fingertips when I stretch out my hand. That’s bad, right? If there are mobs lurking in this fog, I could be one-shotted in a surprise attack before I can even fight back.
Due to my STR issues, I can’t keep the great axe equipped. My broken straight sword now has ‘(Broken)’ added to its name and its stats have plummeted, but it’s better than nothing for peace of mind.
With my tragically maimed beloved sword in hand, I advanced into the blinding fog. With literally zero visibility, I kept to the wall, but I might miss any forks in the path this way.
If this area was a maze like the Rocky Wasteland, there was a chance I might never reach the goal.
“…If I walk for ten minutes and find nothing, I’ll reconsider my options.”
Mainly, how to kill myself and respawn.
◇◆◇◆◇
And so, about ten minutes later—just as I was starting to ponder methods of suicide, it appeared before me.
“—, huh, what…”
At eighteen years of age, I think I just experienced being ‘at a loss for words’ for the first time.
The dense fog parted rapidly, with a force that made me imagine the sound of a receding wave. With my final step, an indescribable sensation fiercely informed me that I had entered.
My vision exploded open with a dizzying breadth. The spreading vista was a crater so vast it made me lose all sense of distance.
A circular depression, likely several kilometers in diameter, was encircled by walls rising three hundred meters high. Cracks ran across every surface, and I had apparently emerged from one of them.
And rendering all of that insignificant was the overwhelming visual information—the white that lay in the center of the crater had my eyes glued to it.
“A dra, gon…?”
Despite existing in the center of this massive crater where all sense of scale was lost, its body was so colossally different that I could make out its details with the naked eye.
Its color was pure white. Its features were generally reptilian, and with its large wings and long tail, it had a form that made you unconditionally accept, “Ah, that’s a dragon.”
But there was a reason for the question mark in my mutter. There were three distinctly bizarre parts.
One was its head. It was flat and oval, like a catfish, with a mouth so enormous it took up most of its face. It was closed now, but if that thing opened wide, it could easily swallow a house whole.
Second was its abdomen. It was like a swollen grub, lying heavily on the ground. It had legs that matched its overall scale, but I couldn’t imagine it walking with that grotesque form. Its wings were also huge and didn’t seem atrophied, but could it even fly?
And third was its head. I’m not repeating myself because it’s important; I mean its second head. Attached to the tip of its long tail, like the snake tail of a chimera, was a distorted head—
“—”
Our eyes met. With it, which exuded a strange horror, like a human face contorted in agony.
No, its eyes were closed. But I knew, with absolute certainty, that I was being “watched.” The tail, like the main body, was lying on the ground, but from the face turned this way—a gaze.
This is bad.
I can’t move.
This isn’t on the level of being scary or feeling intimidated. It’s a violence of information from a transcendent being that invades my thoughts so deeply I can’t even issue commands to my body.
This is a game?
That thing is a construct of data created in a virtual space?
Don’t be ridiculous. That thing is—
“—?!”
Suddenly, it was right in front of me. The one who moved was—me.
I was frozen in place, yet I was pulled toward it as if grabbed without a care. I hadn't moved a single step, yet I had been instantaneously transported before the white thing.
Before it—more accurately, before its reclining tail.
My virtual avatar broke out in a cold sweat. The straight sword I unconsciously tried to grip slipped from my right hand, which had lost all its strength.
A clatter echoed on the rocky ground. And then—a massive tremor.
“Hh… ha, hh…!”
The choked laugh I tried to force out became an ugly sob. My legs, instinctively trying to retreat without conscious thought, were tangled up by an earthquake of a level I’d never experienced before.
As I fell onto my rear, the white thing stirred before me—and this time, it raised its main head and looked at me.
On either side of its flat head were two giant eyes, milky white like cataracts.
Why isn’t my HP decreasing? Even though this thing is so heavy.
It’s like a human and an ant having a staring contest—if an ant had feelings, is this what it would feel like?
Neither I nor the white thing moved. Ten seconds, twenty seconds—the standoff, which felt like it could last an eternity, came to an end with my voice, as I finally caught my breath.
“—Hh………………………… kuhah.”
—Yeah, okay, you win. My total defeat. I was seriously so taken in I couldn’t even move a fingertip. Panicking like that in a game at eighteen years old… damn, it's so… pathetic!!!!
“You’ve got some nerve, virtual world… Yeah, I guess things had been going a little too smoothly, and I was getting cocky. For a moment there, I even thought, ‘I’m so cool.’”
To think it would so suddenly break my spirit with a big surprise like this is just—an unexpected blessing.
“Ah, I’m speechless. Could this be any more awesome? There’s nothing else to say. This is the best, Arcadia…!!”
I hadn’t looked up any information, but I had let my imagination run wild.
I imagined the greatest adventure, imagined the greatest encounters, imagined the greatest battles.
And at the end, I always added a caveat—I hope it’s as amazing as I’m imagining.
A virtual reality world I had dreamed of. But it was a virtual reality world that had been made real. I didn’t know if it would overlap with the dream worlds that exist in fiction.
I kept wishing—please, let it be at least a step short of my dreams.
I kept telling myself—I’ll surely be satisfied even with that.
Let me be clear. I had underestimated Arcadia.
I remember the moment I first dived into this virtual world—a landscape indistinguishable from reality, the textures were overwhelming.
I remember the battles I’ve fought—the experience, the excitement, the elation of victory that I could never have in reality.
I remember the adventures I’ve taken—that time, this time, every single moment I was completely absorbed in this world.
—In those moments, did I ever perceive this ‘world’ as just a game?
“And to top it all off, there’s you.”
An encounter like this, like a punch to the head—it’s made the ‘best’ I had imagined seem so small.
“Whoops… excuse me?”
I picked up the straight sword I had so shamefully dropped.
I gripped it, gave it a light swing, and held it straight out in front of me.
Who am I showing it to? To the magnificent being who’s been looking down on me this whole time, of course.
“So, can you be beaten?”
Is it even an enemy? I don’t know.
“Assuming it is an enemy, its majesty suggests it’s a raid boss that says no to not just solo players but even full parties. What’s the deal with that?”
Given the vastness of this area and its colossal size, I can’t even begin to imagine tackling it by myself. I’m almost certain that’s the case.
“I wonder, is it a cleared boss that can be fought multiple times, or could it be an undefeated champion that’s been unbeaten for the three years since the service started?”
I’m confident that even with a hundred of me, I couldn’t even leave a scratch.
“Can you even hear my voice? No reaction, you a good listener? Not even a hint of a response, so I can cross off ‘dragon NPC,’ right?”
I’m at my limit, so it’s okay, right?
What limit?
It’s obvious—the limit of holding back from taking a step into this violent excitement, that’s what!!
“Feel free to wipe me out—I swear I’ll be back for revenge one day!!”
—Just one hit is all I need. I’ll dodge whatever comes my way.
—Just one hit is all I need. I’ll land a blow, even if it doesn’t leave a scratch.
Contrary to my blazing excitement, my thoughts grew cold enough to burn. Remember the teleportation. This thing is very likely a cheater that can manipulate space. Don’t be fooled by its sluggish movements. Whatever its attack is, don’t think for a second that my low-level, weak-spec self can react after seeing it.
Predict. Imagine. What action would an overwhelmingly powerful being take to swat away a speck of dust that has lost its mind? Or will it just ignore me? No, if it’s an enemy, it can’t possibly ignore a hostile act from a player. It will definitely take combat action.
If I were the designer, what opening move would I want for this thing? Dragon, giant, appearance, slow, big mouth, human-faced tail, fog, teleportation, stillness—thinking conventionally,
“Ngh—!!”
I was already running.
Even though it was right in front of me, the scale was too different. The distance between us was about fifty meters on flat ground.
The closest part was its left foreleg, planted firmly on the ground—the white thing moved.
It was a one-shot gamble. My thoughts, catching up to my pre-emptive action, delivered the conclusion.
The white thing’s first move is a sweeping attack with its long tail..
No time for questions—it’s too late to react after seeing it. Do it!!
I leaped straight up with all my might. My current max jump height with my AGI is over three meters—but it’s not enough!!
The white thing’s attack is coming. Its movements are sluggish, but because of its size, it’s slow yet super-fast. A giant white wall, looking like a bridge or something, is closing in at tremendous speed.
From the trajectory of the tail gouging the ground as it approaches, a three-meter jump isn’t enough to escape—that’s why,
“—`Quick Change`!!!”
I summoned the great axe, crouched down as much as possible—and extended it below my feet, into my outstretched palm.
I’ve used this skill to death; its properties are burned into my senses. Call it an exploit, I don’t care. If my prediction is correct—it should be possible!!
I focused the impact into the briefest possible moment. The handle of the great axe appeared in my palm—and without gripping it, I kicked off it with all my might.
The feeling of pushing off a thin, but definitely solid, foothold. I soared another three meters up, no different from a full-power jump from the ground—a roar.
A total of nearly seven meters. My forced mid-air jump carried me through the air, and just below me, the white thing’s tail shot past, whipping up a terrifying wind pressure.
Buffeted by the aftershock, but unharmed—three seconds and a bit, cooldown over.
“Tch… `Quick Change`!!!”
Next up, the straight sword—I don’t have time to fall naturally!!
Using the straight sword as a foothold just like the great axe, I jumped a third time. I landed on the ground with the force of a crash—and ran, then `Quick Change`.
The straight sword left behind in the air vanished, and I summoned—the pickaxe gifted to me by the buff old man, and then,
“I don’t care if it does no damage…! —Take this, you son of a biiiiiiitch!!!!”
My first and best all-out effort since throwing myself into this world.
I closed the distance to zero and, at the foot of the white thing, so close I could count every scale on its snout, I—sank my utterly minuscule fang into it.
◇You have encountered ‘Tsarkalv of the White Throne’◇
◇Titles Acquired◇
・‘One Who Aims for the White Throne’
・‘One Who Follows Through with Recklessness’
◇Skill Acquired◇
・Embodied Protection
“—Annnnd I’m dead, hell yeah!!”
With a shing, I revived. At the familiar fountain respawn point, I let out a roar before the light effects even faded.
The veterans chatting and passing by all flinched in unison, but with my excitement still boiling over, I had no time for them.
I shoved the encounter, the titles, and the skill all into a ‘pending’ folder in my brain and furiously tapped the system window I had summoned.
I finished my flurry of typing by slamming my fist on the logout button, and the light of return to the real world enveloped my avatar.
“Just you wait, Arcadia—from now on, I’m getting serious.”
From this moment on, I will tackle this VRMMO with everything I have.
So, what’s the first thing to do?—There’s only one answer!!
“I hereby unseal the Fountain of Knowledge (the walkthrough sites)!!”