Episode 4: Sacrifice That Overcame Sloth
“How did I end up here…?”
The goddess gazed with a dazed expression at the dark and gaping entrance of the cave, which resembled the throat of a dragon with its jaws wide open.
She had been attending a strategy meeting but suddenly found herself as part of a special unit in her past life, tasked with subjugating the queen.
“I’m sorry for dragging you into such a dangerous battlefield so abruptly.”
Knight Ren, the leader of the special unit, approached her, perhaps thinking she was frightened.
“However, this mission is of utmost importance—it determines the very future of humanity. If we lose this chance, unlike them, we humans, who cannot replenish resources or troops, will face annihilation. That’s why we need the cooperation of a strong warrior like you. Please, fight alongside us.”
Though her rank was high enough to command with force, Ren chose to plead instead.
Her past self, who had once shown the figure of a hero…
The goddess longed to reclaim what she had lost.
“…Fine. Let’s give it a shot.”
She wanted to change herself—the lazy, incompetent version of her that even the apostles scolded.
“Thank you so much!”
The Goddess entered the cave with Knight Ren, who was delighted by her response.
‘…In my past life, I entered this underground cave with ten special forces members.’
In reality, during her previous life, she had defeated the queen with the support of ten heroic companions who assisted her.
But now, due to the game-like nature of this situation, the main protagonist-focused event dictated that only the two of them could enter. The goddess, however, was unaware of this.
‘It must be because the historical records were incomplete.’
She felt a tinge of unease, knowing that the comrades who had fought alongside her, clearing the path to the queen and sacrificing themselves, were not remembered in history.
‘Or maybe it’s because I failed to pass down their deeds to future generations that I’m the most at fault.’
The goddess reflected on how misguided her life had been until now.
-Roaaar!
-Screeech!
The goddess and knight Ren slashed through countless monsters as they advanced.
Even though the kingdom’s army outside was desperately diverting the attention of the main monster force, the queen’s elite guards swarmed endlessly to protect her lair.
Cutting through hundreds of monsters, they finally reached the bottom of the cave.
-Kirrk.
-Kirrk.
Three Elder Guardians emerged.
‘Even after killing one outside, there are still three left!’
In her past life, there had been only three Elder Guardians in total.
The influence of the Abyss seemed to have drastically increased the difficulty.
Clang!
The two charging Elder Guardians were blocked by knight Ren.
“I’ll handle these two! The last one is yours!”
“The last one, huh?”
The goddess faced the remaining Elder Guardian with her sword.
She had to kill this one as quickly as possible to assist knight Ren.
Compared to her past self, who had all her limbs and wielded her original sword, she appeared overwhelmed against two Elder Guardians.
Clang! Clang!
With transcendent swordsmanship, the goddess dodged the Elder Guardian’s blade.
-Kirrk!
Taking advantage of the creature’s moment of frustration, she sliced through its blade.
Crack!
Without giving it a chance to retreat, she swung her sword again, finally severing the Elder Guardian’s neck.
As she reversed her grip to finish off the decapitated body,
Wooong.
A blue light began to emanate from the Elder Guardian’s corpse, surging toward the goddess.
“What the…?”
Startled by the unfamiliar phenomenon, she tried to evade the light, but it moved too fast even for her to react. It penetrated her body.
Thump!
A small ripple spread within her.
Thump! Thump!
The ripple grew stronger, until finally—
Bang!
When the ripple completely overtook her psyche, a pair of wings sprouted from her back.
“Elder Guardian’s wings?”
The essence of the Elder Guardian had been absorbed by the protagonist.
“So… that’s how it happened.”
No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t understand.
Why were so many players able to clear this episode, despite the dire situation of having to defeat the queen with just two people, without the ten special forces members.?
“If the absorption of essences is possible, that changes everything.”
The [Acceleration], [High-Speed Flight], and [Resilient Vitality] traits of the Elder Guardian were activated in the form of an essence, enhancing the goddess’s avatar.
Although it was still far from her true self, at a human level, the overwhelming power wrapped around her entire being, making her feel almost omnipotent.
This was a special ability unique to the protagonist of the game [Akashic Archive].
Boom!
The goddess kicked off the ground and lunged toward the two Elder Guardians pushing back Knight Ren.
Crash! Boom!
Using the instantaneous speed granted by [Acceleration], her sword strike shattered the two Elder Guardians.
“Huff… huff… That power… what in the world…?”
Knight Ren stared at the goddess’s avatar, now clad in armor and wings derived from the Elder Guardian’s abilities.
At a glance, she could easily be mistaken for a monster or an spy of the Abyss.
“No, no, that’s not it. Thank you for saving me. Without you, I would’ve been in danger.”
Knight Ren brushed aside her thoughts and continued.
“Now, all the obstacles are gone.”
Knight Ren flicked her sword clean, adjusted her chrome arm, and began walking forward slowly.
“And beyond this point lies our final target—the mother of those creatures. The one who will end this war and save everyone.”
Ren glanced back at the goddess with a grin.
“Thanks to you, we’ve made it this far. You have my gratitude. Now, it’s time for the final step. Are you ready?”
The goddess nodded silently.
“Good. Then let’s go. For the sake of humanity.”
***
Boom!
Screeeeech!
The monstrous queen, large enough to be combined together from four ogres, let out an ear-piercing wail as it collapsed.
Even in her past life, Ren had only defeated the queen by collapsing the cave and accepting her own death. Yet now, the monster was no match for the goddess’s avatar, enhanced with the essence of the creatures.
‘…If I had possessed such power in my past life, would things have been different?’
Perhaps that’s why, even though she had defeated the queen so easily, her heart felt unsettled.
“Haha… hahaha!”
Covered in blood, Knight Ren laughed heartily.
“It was a truly heroic feat! A warrior clad in black armor, flying through the air to slay the queen of monsters! Your name will go down as a legend in history!”
Her laughter suddenly ceased, and she looked puzzled.
“Come to think of it, I never asked your name. How rude of me! …Let me ask again. What is your name?”
The goddess had so much she wanted to say.
That she was another version of herself from the future. The events that had unfolded in that future.
As she struggled to decide what to say, her avatar opened its mouth to speak.
Ding.
[Ending viewing session.]
The world faded into darkness, as if the film reel had run out.
“Well done. I’ll give you 9 out of 10 for your first trial.”
When she opened her eyes again, a black-haired boy—the Administrator—was standing in front of her.
[Exiting the game.]
Flash.
The goddess returned to her usual room as the virtual reality session ended.
“……”
She had known all along.
That place wasn’t her past but just a world inside a game.
A mere imitation of a distant past she could never return to.
“Sloth…”
Her Constellation name is [The Sacrifice That Fell To Sloth].
//Perhaps because she became a Constellation through after death deification rather than actively transcending herself, she was famous for being a passive Constellation.
Despite her vast power and the faith directed toward her, she was known as a quiet god who neither used her power nor left her sanctuary.
“I feel like I’ve woken from a deep slumber.”
Why had she lived that way?
Her companions who had fought alongside her weren’t even remembered by the continent. Yet instead of honoring them, she had been lazing around, confined to her chamber.
It wasn’t like her at all.
A strange sense of alienation, as if something had interfered with her consciousness, filled her mind.
But now, things were different.
Even though it had been a false dream, through it, she felt as though she had been freed from the deep slumber that had consumed her reality.
Thanks to it, she could return to her senses.
Now, she finally understood.
What it was she needed to do.
“First, I should go express my gratitude.”
The power that implemented the game [Akashic Archive] was the power of dreams.
And if it was a god of dreams, there could only be one person:
She recalled the little goddess she had met long ago.
***
Ding.
[The Sacrifice That Fell To Sloth sends her gratitude.]
“…Pardon?”
The Goddess Ren’s thanks transmitted in the form of a Constellation’s message, like those from our Constellation.
Faced with such a confusing situation, I could only sit there dumbfounded.
[The Storyteller of Dreams nervously says she didn’t reveal anything about her Apostle’s identity!]
It’s fine, really. You can reveal my identity if you’re that scared.
I mean, I’m your apostle, after all. I don’t know why you’ve been so hesitant about sharing my identity from the beginning.
At first, I thought the goddess had stormed in, enraged that we had used her likeness in the game without permission. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case.
On the contrary, she expressed her gratitude.
So she contacted my Constellation asking for my contact information to thank me, the game creator.
Gratitude, huh.
Was it because I had made her story so impressive?
In hindsight, I was glad I didn’t include any negative depictions of the character [Knight Ren] when we sold her as a limited-edition character.
If I had made her look foolish or painted her in a bad light, both my Constellation and I would likely be facing divine judgment right about now.
Just the thought of it sent chills down my spine.
[The Sacrifice That Fell To Sloth asks if it would be alright to make a small request.]
“Oh, of course! Anything! You’ve allowed us to use your story, so please, speak freely!”
As the key character in our game’s most important tutorial, I would gladly comply with any request she had, even if it involved something trivial like raising her nose slightly or adding a halo effect in key scenes.
However, her request was completely unexpected.
[The Sacrifice That Fell To Sloth asks if you could include the names of the 10 special forces members in the game.]
“The special forces?”
After hearing the full story from Goddess Ren, I understood what her request was about.
The special forces that had entered the underground cavern to defeat the Abyssal Queen alongside her.
Each of them had made significant sacrifices at critical moments, ensuring that Ren could reach the queen and ultimately succeed in her mission.
However, because Ren and the entire squad had perished in the cavern, there was no one left to tell their tale. All that remained was the fact that the queen had been defeated, causing the abyssal creatures to die.
Since there was no one to recount the details, history recorded only Ren’s story, as she had been a renowned figure and the leader of the the special forces.
While the soldiers who had drawn the attention of the creatures outside had their stories passed down to future generations, the The special forces’ sacrifices were forgotten.
Goddess Ren’s request was simple: to preserve their story, even if only within the game.
“Don’t worry, Goddess. From now on, everyone will know the names of those 10 heroes’ names.”
The tutorial is one of the most memorable parts of any game.
If I made sure they were deeply ingrained in the tutorial, her wish would be fulfilled.
The [Abyssal Queen] was already planned as the final boss of the tutorial and the first weekly boss in our content updates.
I could incorporate the elite squad as supporting characters in that weekly boss battle.
From then on, players hunting the queen every week to earn resources would also honor the memory of those 10 heroes.
When I told her about the changes to add them as heroic figures in the game and that the Monster Queen would die tens of millions of times at players’ hands, the Goddess smiled.
[The Sacrifice That Overcame Sloth smiles brightly.]
With a smile so radiant that the emotion could be felt even through the Constellation’s words.
Thank for the chapter
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