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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Hudson's Secrets
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Those bastards.
'At this rate, I'll have to hand the casino over to the council.'
Hudson.
A Merchant by class, he had settled in Arcana here with rough ambitions.
But contrary to appearances, he was currently facing a severe financial crisis.
'Raising taxes under the pretext of the great expedition? While still pocketing bribes!'
Damn Arcana. Damn city council!
The council had raised taxes on entertainment businesses and imposed back taxes on unreported amounts.
But Hudson couldn't accept it.
He hadn't reported taxes precisely because of the council's lobbying. So the council had turned a blind eye despite knowing.
Yet suddenly slapping him with 'tax evasion' charges felt utterly conscienceless. Even if Arcana was a city where money bought everything, the council had crossed the line.
No matter how you looked at it, Hudson had become the council's periodic prey. No different from hunters devouring their own hounds after the hunt.
There was only one way out.
'I'll get so filthy rich I become a councilor myself!'
To become a member of the city council.
Hudson's desire to reach level 10 was beyond imagination.
"······ What do you mean by 'speak only the truth'? Are you saying I'm not truthful?"
Perhaps a god had finally heard Hudson's wish.
A miraculous opportunity at the perfect timing.
But after hearing the Star Awakener's proposal, Hudson could only tilt his head.
"The stars do not heed those steeped in lies. If you truly seek qualification, you must shed all falsehoods."
"I am truthful."
"A lie."
"What exactly is the lie? Is even my name Hudson a lie?"
"A lie."
"······."
Even the casino name boldly displayed was Hudson, yet the Star Awakener called that a lie too.
Of course, he couldn't argue.
His real name wasn't Hudson, after all.
'Does he know I'm a player? Is he a hunter pretending to be a Star Awakener?'
There were NPCs that specialized in hunting players.
They called players 'sinners' and executed them on the spot if discovered. Countless players had died by their hands.
Their approaches and detection methods varied wildly, so all one could do was stay cautious.
Though he'd just vowed to accept any proposal, he still felt uneasy.
If this man before him was a hunter masquerading as a Star Awakener...
"Serengeti."
"······ Wait. Just wait a moment, please."
The moment that name emerged, Hudson's face drained of color.
He quickly scanned the surroundings and pressed hidden buttons in sequence.
Shutting off power to everything under real-time surveillance and eavesdropping.
As if no one must ever see or hear.
Then, still pale-faced, he asked,
"H-How do you know that name?"
"The only daughter of the Wyer Marquess family of the Valan Kingdom, the White Knight Serengeti. We held a secret engagement ceremony."
"······?!"
He even knew secrets no one else did.
The engagement with her was a secret known only to the two of them.
He'd never told a soul. Nor would she have leaked it.
How could the Star Awakener know a secret unknown to the world?
Shocking enough to shake heaven and earth, yet the Star Awakener's words continued.
"The casino is just a facade. What you truly want is to rise to councilor openly and propose to the marquess family, isn't it?"
"······."
"Perfect timing. Serengeti lost both legs in the great expedition and became a cripple. A city councilor from the golden city Arcana would be impossible for the marquess family to refuse. They'd welcome you with open arms."
"······."
"But... what to do. Hudson, neither level 10 nor a councilor, holds no value to the marquess family."
Hudson's eyes flickered with complex emotions.
And the reason I knew all this was simple.
I was the final gamer—and once the game's strongest character, Wilhelm.
Naturally, no one knew more about the great expedition against the demon realm than I.
-Wilhelm. Most honorable Knight King, who never knew defeat. If the expedition succeeds, please protect Hudson. Deliver this and my words. Sorry for going first······ I truly loved him.
Serengeti.
She was a key figure in the great expedition. Called the White Knight, she led five hundred knights into battle.
And when I fell into the demon army's trap, she bravely took my place. Back then, I thought it was some special event...
I desperately saved her, but her legs were already severed. A powerful curse left her unable even to use her hands.
Just before fainting, Serengeti entrusted me with a necklace. Inside, I found a photo of her engagement with Hudson.
'That shouldn't be possible. Impossible.'
By my knowledge, Serengeti had no promised future love.
No such setting existed.
Hudson was merely a casino owner in the great city of Arcana—how could he promise a future with the only daughter of a distant foreign marquess family?
Two people with no connections, living worlds apart.
Unless Hudson was a player.
'A player and an NPC in love.'
To Hudson, this wasn't a game.
It was reality. How could such fervent longing be mere gameplay?
Stunned, Hudson asked in half-resigned tone,
"What truth... do you desire?"
"Everything."
"Everything...?"
Where to begin.
Hudson likely knew much of what I needed to learn.
About this world, players, the Eight Heroes.
But pinpointing those would only raise suspicion.
I had to maintain the attitude of 'I know everything about you.' That mystique would make him believe I was the Star Awakener.
"From the beginning. Where you were born, how you lived."
So, let's hear it.
Hudson's story.
His true life story.
*
Slash slash slash.
The knife sounds were deafening.
The surrounding chatter was loud, yet only the cutting pierced my ears.
'······ Is she pissed?'
Listening to Hudson's tale had made me late for our appointment.
Who knew he'd recount it in such detail.
I couldn't very well tell him to stop midway.
Thanks to that, I learned the names of those claiming to be the Eight Heroes, erasing Wilhelm to play heroes...
They were likely the traitors who'd hindered me most. Enemies we could never share the same sky under.
"Is the steak to your taste?"
"Yes. But isn't this place expensive?"
After a long silence, conversation finally began.
The problem was the location.
A Cheongdam-dong steakhouse.
I'd promised to treat her to 160,000-won-per-person steaks, but I ended up late.
For a moment, I wondered if I'd have to foot the bill...
"You got rid of my stalker. This is hardly enough, really."
Kim Hana smiled.
Stalker. Definitely not right in the head.
"It was the right thing to do."
"No. Only someone truly brave could do that."
Stepping up when someone's threatened is never easy.
The threat could turn on you.
Honestly, I was a bit surprised myself.
If I hadn't fused with Randolph, could I have stepped in?
Probably not. I'd want to, but my body wouldn't follow.
Leaning forward, Kim Hana cautiously said,
"But... isn't that woman in the back the one from before? She keeps glancing over."
······ Kim Hana had noticed too.
That the woman at the table behind us was Kim Seoyeon.
'No coincidence like this.'
Kim Seoyeon was there with the boyfriend who'd briefly lowered his profile.
A wealthy businessman. The guy from her rebound breakup.
Her current boyfriend screamed luxury at a glance. Draped in designer brands, Rolex on his wrist.
Unlike me.
I'd been pretending not to notice, but apparently Kim Seoyeon had been watching us too.
"Don't worry about it. We're really nothing."
"Mm, got it."
Kim Hana sensed something odd but didn't pry. She knew meddling in others' love lives only brought headaches.
"Park Hyun-myeong?"
······ If the guy hadn't approached and spoken, I might've let it go entirely.
"You didn't seriously follow our Seoyeon all the way here, did you?"
"······?"
What fresh nonsense was this?
"Stop clinging already, punk. It's embarrassing me."
"O-oppa, stop it."
"Seoyeon-ah. You're too nice, that's the problem. You have to spell it out for trash like this to get it. He's deluded and clinging because you don't. Like a stalker. Some nobody."
What bullshit were these bastards spewing right now?