Chapter 69: Game Synchronization! The Death Soldiers Descend!
Cheng Lixue. That was a name Siegfried wouldn't soon forget.
Back then, she had been the greatest wall standing between him and Cecilia. She was simply too strong; compared to other A-Rank Valkyries, she operated on an entirely different plane of existence.
To put it into perspective, during Otto's grueling trials, Siegfried had spent an entire year clawing his way up, defeating countless B-Rank and even a few A-Rank Valkyries. Just when he thought victory was finally within his grasp, when a sliver of pride had begun to bloom in his chest, Cheng Lixue had appeared and shattered his burgeoning confidence like glass.
Facing her then, he'd had no room to resist, no chance to even fight back. The pride he'd so painstakingly built was ruthlessly ground into dust beneath her heel.
He spent the entirety of his second year training tirelessly, singularly focused on overcoming the mountain that was Cheng Lixue.
It was said that if not for certain circumstances that had clouded her Sword Heart, causing her strength to stagnate for years, she might have been a warrior on par with Cecilia herself...
And during every single one of his bouts with her, she had used the Cun Xin Fist Style.
The feeling of those impacts, the unique way the force penetrated his defenses—it was exactly the same as the blows Rovel had just landed on him.
"I've never met Cheng Lixue," Rovel said, pushing himself unsteadily to his feet. "But it seems we practice the same martial art."
"Just as I thought..." Siegfried let out a long, weary sigh.
Rovel's combat prowess had far exceeded his expectations. Given that Siegfried owed a debt of gratitude to Cheng Lixue for her guidance in the past, and seeing that Rovel shared her lineage, he didn't feel right about striking the boy down too harshly again.
Well, even though he already had...
But the fact remained: Rovel had proven he possessed the strength to protect Kiana.
Only twenty days had passed since the game launched, and he had already reached this level. If he were given more time...
Siegfried sized up the young man before him. Rovel was undeniably handsome, with a unique, composed temperament that set him apart.
Yet, no matter how he looked at him, the boy was a complete eyesore.
Perhaps it was because he was looking at the very pig who was most likely to steal his precious cabbage. That casual, infuriating "Father-in-law" really grated on his nerves.
But his time was running out. The Honkai beast factor was frantically eroding his body from the inside out, and he still needed to find Theresa and explain the situation. He could only afford to stay here for another day or two at most.
"You'd better not make my Kiana sad," Siegfried warned, his voice a low growl. "Or else... you get me, right?"
He cracked his knuckles, the sound of popping joints echoing in the quiet clearing. The twisted, arrogant expression on his face was somehow undercut by a slightly comical air, like a father trying too hard to be intimidating.
"Don't worry, Father-in-law," Rovel replied with a solemn nod.
"Hey...! You're testing my patience..." A vein pulsed on Siegfried's forehead as he lunged forward, ready to teach the kid a proper lesson in respect.
However, before his fist could even get close, Rovel's eyes rolled back and he collapsed, his body hitting the ground with a soft thud.
"Hey! I didn't even touch you! Are you trying to frame me?!" Siegfried yelped, leaping back and holding his hands up defensively as if to prove his innocence.
A moment later, the soft, even sound of breathing rose from the ground. Siegfried stared, dumbfounded, realizing Rovel had simply fallen into a deep sleep.
The mental burden of wielding the Tai Xu Sword Intent was immense. It was a miracle he had managed to stay conscious this long before finally succumbing to the exhaustion.
"...Seriously," Siegfried muttered, scratching his head. He looked down at the unconscious boy on the ground and sighed.
What a complete mess.
Helpless, Siegfried could only slump down against a nearby tree and take a moody swig from his flask, pondering what to do next.
Before long, however, Rovel's body began to shimmer, slowly fading until it vanished from the spot entirely.
...
When Rovel opened his eyes again, the first thing he registered was a heavy, warm weight on his chest.
"Good morning, my dear brother."
Yuki was perched on top of him in a rather precarious position, leaning forward with a mischievous glint in her eyes as she looked down at him. She was wearing only a thin, sea-green nightgown, and with the top three buttons undone, it offered a view that would have sent any other man's blood pressure soaring.
Rovel's mind was still a foggy mess.
"Yuki... why are you here? Wait... why did I log off...?" He rubbed his throbbing temples, struggling to piece together what had happened.
"It was a forced logout. As long as a player is in a safe zone and not in combat, the system allows for it," Yuki explained patiently. "Last night, I called you 171 times, Brother, but you didn't wake up. I figured something might have happened, so I rushed over here as fast as I could. So? Are you moved?"
To emphasize her point, she intentionally bounced twice on his chest.
"I 'dare not move'," Rovel replied, rolling his eyes. "In any case, it's about time you got off me."
"...You have a reaction? Honestly, Brother, you're such a siscon," a sly smile played at the corners of her mouth.
"Drop dead," he said flatly.
...
"By the way, Brother, did you run into someone dangerous last night? For you to actually fall unconscious... Could it be!"
A bold, dramatic guess suddenly formed in Yuki's mind.
"Someone drugged you unconscious, and then... Brother's chastity, could it be gone?!" Yuki shouted, her eyes wide with theatrical grief and indignation.
"Don't just invent scenarios that couldn't possibly happen," Rovel said, lightly flicking her forehead. "According to modern medical knowledge, it's basically impossible for a male to... perform the act you're imagining while unconscious." He gave his sister a crash course in basic physiology.
"Phew, that's good then. Brother's virtue is still intact." Yuki let out a long, dramatic sigh of relief. She had been scared to death.
"You..." Rovel's eye twitched in annoyance.
"Oh, right! Brother, did you feel it when the update logged you off?" Yuki asked suddenly, her tone shifting.
"Feel what?" Rovel was still confused.
"Your strength! Your body! It's increased! According to the initial calculations, this game update synchronized one percent of our game data to reality! It even allowed some people with paralyzed lower bodies to walk again!" Yuki said, her voice buzzing with excitement.
"One percent isn't much," Rovel commented. He hadn't felt a thing, likely because his body had already begun synchronizing with the game on the very first day the servers opened., his own synchronization rate far exceeded a mere one percent. He hadn't calculated the specific value, but he estimated it was at least ten percent, maybe even more. Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain how he could shatter world records with a casual jog.
"It's not much, no, but... what if the players who became Death Soldiers in the game were also synchronized?"
Yuki's expression suddenly turned grave.
"Death Soldiers? At most, their attributes would double. One percent of that is still nothing," Rovel said, not quite grasping her concern.
"Hmm? Didn't you check the forums, Brother? People who become Death Soldiers in the game... their personalities warp. They become tyrannical, fierce, unable to control their desire for slaughter... and those traits are being synchronized into reality, too!"
She leaned in closer, her voice dropping to a near whisper.
"In other words... Death Soldiers are about to appear in our world."
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