The Healing Solaris Cleric-Chapter 441: New Game

Ten years was enough time to change the shape of rivers and mountains. However, that time still wasn’t enough to change the lives of modern people who busily lived out each day.

[Aeon Soft’s Life of a Lord market share holding at 0.7%, still failing to pass the 1% mark.]

[Hellfire’s new game WooWa abandons monthly subscription, finally declares free service.]

[Countless virtual reality games released over the past few years, yet the wall of the winged horse Pegasus remains too high.]

[The success factors and secrets behind maintaining popularity for Pegasus’ sequel to MID Online, Fantasia Online.]

[Pegasus’ Fantasia Online surpasses 60 million simultaneous users, total registered users reach 1.3 billion.]

[Beloved maps from MID Online, now a service that has ended.]

On the day of the final battle, Kai defeated Muldine and the game’s main scenario came to an end. There was still Demon Realm content left but players cleared that too before two years had passed. At that point, Pegasus simply announced the service termination. Of course they didn’t shut down immediately, it was three years after the announcement.

It had already been five years since the game’s service had ended. After that, the so-called second MID Online and second Ramus targeting the niche market hurriedly poured out. However, those games all failed to produce good results.

The reason was simple. The ones who made the new super A.I.s were geniuses but not on the level of Dr. Jim. The new super A.I.s were smart but not as smart as Ramus. It wasn’t for nothing that Dr. Jim was called a once-in-a-century genius.

“In that situation, Fantasia Online came out.”

The map and story were dozens of times larger than the previous game and the system was even more advanced. MID Online at most had continent-level maps but Fantasia Online boasted a size comparable to a planet.

“Well, it’s popular because it’s fun in the first place.”

As Han Jung-Woo sipped coffee early in the morning, the bedroom door opened and a beautiful woman walked out.

“You woke up earlier than usual,” Yoo Ha-Rin said with a hair tie between her lips as she tied her hair.

Ten years was enough time to turn a child into a young adult and enough to make that young adult someone’s husband.

“Yeah. I woke up early today for some reason.”

“That’s strange. You haven’t gotten up this early since you retired from gaming.”

“Well I don’t know. I guess we live to see days like this as well.” Jung-Woo approached Yoo Ha-Rin with a gentle smile. “And you? How did you sleep?”

“I also slept wel... ouch, that hurts!”

When he kissed her lightly on the cheek, Yoo Ha-Rin made a disgusted face and ran far away. When genuine annoyance appeared on her face, Jung-Woo showed a dispirited expression.

“Wow, now that's harsh. This is emotional damage. A wound to my heart.”

“Well, that’s why I told you to shave every morning...”

“In the past you said you liked me no matter how I looked.”

“I didn’t think you would turn into such a sly middle-aged man at the time.”

“You’ve changed. It feels like someone stabbed my heart with Flood of Blades,” Jung-Woo pouted as he grumbled.

He slightly rubbed his chin and it was indeed rough.

“My beard seems to grow thicker the older I get.”

“Saying things like that really makes you sound like a middle-aged man. Thirty-three-year-old man.”

“True. At thirty-three you’re practically a middle-aged man or woman. Right, noona?”

When Han Jung-Woo brought up her age with a sly grin Yoo Ha-Rin glared. “Teasing me about my age again, huh? I’m only a noona at times like this, aren’t I?”

“I’m not wrong though. You are one year older than me.”

“You really are sly.”

They finally got married after five years of dating. Already in their fifth year of marriage Han Jung-Woo and Yoo Ha-Rin no longer felt awkward like before. But that didn’t mean the excitement or affection from back then had faded. Just being together made them feel at ease, and they were still a loving wife and husband.

“Come to think of it, you’re filming today right?”

“Yeah, I should get ready.”

Yoo Ha-Rin still had a face and figure so beautiful and refined it was hard to believe she was in her thirties, and she still had a solid fan base. As a side note, her fan club that existed ten years ago had already become a global community with members not only from Korea but from all over the world.

“Let’s see, if it’s Tuesday... Today's show is Ranker Moms?”

“Right. A talk show where married women who used to be rankers gather and chat.”

“That’s pretty fun these days. But don’t you just miss the days of wandering around with a sword after going to the studio all the time?” 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

“Hehe, those were good times.” Yoo Ha-Rin slightly lowered her gaze as if recalling a distant past, and a bright smile appeared on her lips. “Still, Fantasia Online doesn’t seem to give me that same thrill as back then. Is this what they call a nostalgia filter?”

“Well, MID Online was pure innovation at the time.”

“I hope I can feel that same excitement again someday.”

After taking a sip of the coffee Jung-Woo had made, Yoo Ha-Rin asked, “Are you going to work early today?”

“Yeah, I have to. Work piled up like crazy again while I was sleeping,” Jung-Woo looked at the holographic interface projected above the watch on his wrist and sighed.

“Good luck, my love.”

Han Jung-Woo let out a chuckle at his loving wife’s encouragement. “My queen, shall I escort you to the broadcasting station?”

“Mm-mm, no. Hye-Jung is waiting downstairs.”

Hye-Jung was Yoo Ha-Rin’s manager.

“Ah, so are you leaving now?”

“Yeah. There’s only an hour and a half left until filming time.” Yoo Ha-Rin approached Han Jung-Woo, kissed him on the lips, then waved her hand. “I set out some side dishes so make sure you eat breakfast.”

“Alright. Good luck with the broadcast.”

“Good luck with your game too, my king!”

After Yoo Ha-Rin left the house, Han Jung-Woo let out a big yawn and prepared breakfast.

“Alright, then...” He looked at the reports piled up overnight and shrugged. “I should also get to work.”

***

A car glided over the road and came to a stop at the entrance of Pegasus’ Korea branch.

“Welcome, sir.”

When the subordinate who had been waiting took the car keys and went to park, Han Jung-Woo entered the building.

“I read the report. What happened this time?”

“What else would it be? Everyone is desperate to become the next Unknown.”

It was not about following the scenario set by the system and the developer but about breaking it and creating one’s own ending. As a great figure who had marked a milestone in gaming history, Han Jung-Woo was the subject of great admiration among gamers. Naturally there were many players who wanted to imitate his playstyle.

“Damn, that’s a headache. Why would they want to copy that?”

“Well... because you’re their role model, sir?”

After joining Pegasus, Han Jung-Woo took over as head of the Korea branch when Kang Min-Gu retired. His work wasn’t very demanding. He monitored and used his past experience to stop variables rankers might cause in advance. Of course that wasn’t all.

“Wow, that’s a bit serious.”

“There are some like that. Malicious PKers who only try to copy the... massacring part because they think you looked cool doing it.”

“What about the company’s contracted gamers?”

“They’re all on missions. As you know, we only have a few hundred contracted gamers, but incidents like this happen thousands of times a day...”

If someone committed indiscriminate murder near a village, even the guards would be dispatched, but PKers these days were clever. Very clever. They only slaughtered beginners in places where they could never be caught, then quickly left. Then they edited the footage to make themselves look as cool as possible like Unknown, and that was what gave them pleasure.

“Well, what can we do? I’ll go in.”

“Oh, you’re going to handle it yourself?”

“You said the others are all on missions, didn’t you?”

“Yes, but... You haven’t even leveled your character much, sir.”

“I’m Kai,” Han Jung-Woo replied arrogantly, roughly loosened his tie, and stepped into a capsule set to one side.

***

“Where is this...?”

The moment Helik sealed herself, she fell into a white space. There was no scent, no objects, and no living things in the pure white space.

Rashya stayed in a place like this for hundreds of years...?

She felt like she understood why the once mischievous girl had matured.

“Hmm.”

Helik was bored. At the same time, she began to worry about Kai who would be fighting Muldine.

“Please don’t die... my apostle.”

Helik clasped her hands tightly and prayed, then blinked her large eyes. Then a light sparkled above her head and she clapped her hands.

“I shall write a diary!”

She firmly believed that Kai would defeat Muldine. Kai was absurdly outmatched in terms of power, but he was always the man who made the impossible possible. He was always the one and only envoy who spread justice under her name. In a few days he would surely wake her as if nothing had happened.

“I’ll show him the diary I wrote all at once when that day comes.”

He would probably be proud of her and give her delicious snacks and candy. He might even pat her head, and if he was deeply moved, he might buy her a delicious split.

“Hmm. First day of being sealed...”

Helik summoned paper and a pencil into the empty space, lay down, and began diligently writing her diary. Then again the next day, and the next, and the next again.

On the hundredth day she wrote, she thought something was wrong. Even so, she continued writing her diary. 300 pages, 500 pages, 1000 pages... When she could no longer tell how many days had passed, when she began to think something had gone wrong and she had been trapped in this place, she cried out loudly. After crying until she was exhausted, she fell asleep and did not wake for a long time.

***

“Mmm...”

When she opened her eyes, a clear sky came into view. She felt drowsy, like after waking up from a light nap.

Helik rubbed her eyes with both fists and slowly got up.

“This is...”

It was her garden. She instantly knew because nothing had changed.

“Hm.”

Feeling slightly dizzy, Helik grabbed the statue of the Solarian God beside her. It felt like the ground was a bit farther away. Had she grown taller? Tilting her head, she slowly walked toward the edge of the island.

“Wow...”

The lower world had changed a lot, but something felt strange.

“The continent is bigger, and there are eight more...? Is that possible?”

The light above her head gloomily flickered. It didn’t seem right, there shouldn’t be eight more... Could it be that far more time had passed than she had thought? So much time that no one she knew, and no one who knew her, remained?

But Kai is human...

Humans weren’t able to live too long.

Suddenly frightened, Helik gave up looking down and turned around.

“My garden...”

It was clear the garden had been left unattended for at least several years. When she walked toward it, the fresh grass tickled her bare feet.

“Huh?” Helik gasped without realizing it as she walked on the grass.

It’s wet.

The grass was wet.

But it doesn’t rain in the Celestial Garden.

With her head tilted back, Helik blankly stared up at the sky. Had it started raining here while she was sealed?

“The sky is clear.”

Lowering her head again, Helik walked slowly through the garden. Then her gaze trembled when she spotted something.

“This is...”

Luxurious frames were laid out in the garden. Inside the frames were the messy crayon drawings she had made. The moment she saw the picture of herself, Rashya, Kai, and Yoo Ha-Rin smiling happily, she began to walk again. Her careful steps became bolder and then quicker. Before she knew it, she was running.

Arriving at the flower garden in an instant, Helik panted heavily. The flowers she loved were in full bloom. Not a single one was withered, and the garden was filled with the scent of flowers. As she admired the flowers, Helik noticed something and tears streamed down her cheeks.

“My tree...”

The cacao tree she had planted with Rashya. The last time she saw it, only fresh green sprouts had poked out. But she knew for certain that the huge tree before her was the cacao tree. She remembered how she and Rashya had giggled over an encyclopedia, deciding to name it when it grew this big, and how the librarian had scolded them.

“Helik.”

A familiar face peeked from behind the cacao tree. A girl with a short blue hair cut just below her shoulders. It was Rashya.

The tears running from Helik’s eyes entered her mouth, making it hard to speak. “Rashya... I... I...”

“What, why are you crying, silly.”

Even as she tried to comfort Helik, Rashya cried as well. It was the outburst of sorrow from not seeing her only friend for several years.

“I tried to come back quickly... I wanted to...”

“Don’t say anything, silly. You came back. That’s all that matters.”

“Waaaaah... I thought I was late... I thought there was no one left...”

“There’s no way that would happen, silly.” Rashya wiped Helik’s tears as she sniffled and forced a bright smile. “Come, there’s someone waiting for you.”

Someone was waiting for her. There was no need to say who it was. Helik wiped her tears and nodded energetically before walking down the path. While walking, Helik suddenly stopped. The familiar cleric robe, the familiar hood. Her lips trembled from a mix of joy, sorrow, and relief, while tears streamed down her face, but her eyes curved gently like crescent moons as she smiled.

“You woke up far too late,” the cleric who approached her said in a gentle voice. “I’ll overlook it just for today.”

“Mhmm... I overslept, sorry.”

Although it had been a very long time since they met, they did not exchange many words. They knew the other would return. They had trusted the other would be waiting. For a moment, they simply looked at each other with smiling faces.

Then Helik asked, “My dear, why are you sweating so much?”

“Oh... I hurried over after giving a bad guy a beating.”

“I should calculate your Benevolence points.”

“It’s fine. You don’t need to do that anymore.”

Fantasia Online had no Benevolence stat. Naturally, being a different game, there was also no Solarian Church. Even so, Kai still thought of himself as a Solaris Cleric.

“The world has changed a lot,” Helik said.

“Yes, because it is a different world.”

Kai felt there was so much he needed to tell her.

You wake up to find the world changed... Where should I even begin explaining this?

Before fighting Muldine, Dr. Jim had visited Korea. At that time he had made Kai a proposal. Once Muldine was dead, the game would soon end its service. Until then, he asked Kai to work as part of Pegasus’ management team.

In return for accepting the offer, Kai had set one condition. He wanted the data of NPCs he was close to, and of the Celestial Realm, to be transferred to the new game. After long consideration, Dr. Jim had accepted that condition since Pegasus had a debt to repay Kai, after all. But for now, he didn’t want to talk about such heavy matters. He just wanted to spend time together as if nothing was different, just like this for a little longer.

Kai gently stroked Helik’s head, who now looked like she was around fifteen or sixteen, and asked, “Helik, I have a lot to tell you. Would you like to have snacks and cake with Rashya?”

Helik nodded without the slightest hesitation and smiled brightly. “Yeah!”

It was a bright and cheerful voice he was hearing again for the first time in ten years.

The End of The Healing Solaric Cleric.