Chapter 157. To Become Stronger
Late at night.
At a time when he would normally already be asleep, Ingwang entered the game.
It was a night when the moon hanging in the sky did not look beautiful.
A night when his thoughts were so unbearably tangled that he could not bring himself to say a single word.
The distinct sensation of World Gate’s wind brushed against his skin.
The commotion of players logging in late at night filled the streets.
Even the NPCs he had grown accustomed to added their own voices to the noise.
“Our Ingwang~ What are you doing heeere~?”
“Ah, Dorfin.”
Through the bustling crowd, Dorfin staggered toward Ingwang with a bottle of alcohol in one hand.
Ever since the incident with the Dorfin in reality, Ingwang had felt strangely awkward and had been avoiding her.
So he expected the apparently drunk Dorfin wobbling toward him to make him uncomfortable.
Instead...
Her presence strangely put him at ease.
“....”
“Hmm? Whyyy~?”
A life where everything was false.
A life where effort went unrewarded.
A life that refused to change no matter how desperately he struggled.
A life that only the Chairman, with his overwhelming power, could alter.
And within that life...
Dorfin had shown Ingwang affection for no particular reason.
She had expressed that affection again and again.
Without realizing it himself, Ingwang had come to rely on her.
Even after nearly being devoured by another version of that same person...
Looking at the Dorfin in front of him now brought neither fear nor anger.
“...Does it huuurt?”
Was it because he now understood that the Dorfin in reality and the Dorfin inside the game were completely different people?
But he also knew that the Dorfin in reality was aware, to some extent, of what the game’s Dorfin was doing.
On top of that, hadn’t the Dorfin in reality recently attacked Super Real?
‘Maybe it was the opposite of what happened with Pie and Aien.’
‘Maybe the real Dorfin stole the NPC’s body.’
Was it really safe to show weakness in front of this Dorfin?
If this Dorfin’s body had already been taken over by the Dorfin from reality...
Then shouldn’t he avoid showing any weakness?
Those thoughts slowly pushed Ingwang further into a corner.
He already had nowhere to lean.
“Oh dear~ That naaaasty old demon granny must have given our Ingwang quite a fright, hmm?”
Ingwang was accustomed to being alone.
But he was not someone who could truly remain strong alone.
His relationship with Pie had awakened the indomitable desire inside him not to collapse.
No matter how difficult things became, just a few words from Pie were often enough to make him stand again.
By spending time with NPCs like Aien, the Village Chief, and Mallyangi...
He had learned how precious relationships were.
And how much happiness those relationships could bring.
While acting as their dependable support...
He himself had also been leaning on them.
“What did that old hag say to you, hmm?”
Dorfin smiled.
“Should Grandma go punish her for our Ingwang?”
But every one of them looked at Ingwang with admiration, respect, and love.
They were not people who stood beside a fragile Ingwang and allowed him to lean his back against theirs.
More precisely...
They did not know how weak Ingwang really was.
He had hidden it beneath jokes and never shown them.
And whenever they gave him even the smallest push from behind, he always managed to handle the rest on his own.
Ingwang himself had never really tried to rely on them either.
Until now, he had considered that natural.
If he whined a little, he usually felt somewhat better afterward.
But when unbearable truths kept pouring down on him one after another...
Even Ingwang gradually began to feel powerless.
Why did absolutely nothing go his way?
“I’m sorry~ Grandma, you see~?”
Dorfin’s voice softened.
“I should have told our Ingwang ahead of time.”
“But I didn’t say anything because I thought our Ingwang might be disappointed....”
“Disappointed about what?”
“Wouldn’t you have been disappointed if I told you that this Grandma doesn’t exist in reality?”
“....”
An adult who had never become an adult.
An adult who had never been allowed to become one.
Someone like that still needed an adult they could rely on.
The NPCs in the game were not enough.
Aien was someone he needed to protect.
Pie was someone he wanted to stand beside as an equal.
No matter how much strength those women gave him...
The more precious they became, the less he wanted to depend on them.
“Our Ingwang~ You’re fragile, aren’t you~?”
“...If you knew that, why did you hide it from me?”
If he had known from the beginning that the Dorfin in reality and the Dorfin inside the game were completely different people...
He never would have approached the Dorfin in reality so easily.
Even if he had approached her...
He would never have called for her in an emergency.
On the day she learned all of his secrets...
He would never have summoned Dorfin without even the slightest caution.
“Oh dear~ You must have been very scared~?”
“...I was.”
An overwhelming, absolute existence.
Someone capable of erasing him simply by existing had reached out to devour him.
Of course he had been afraid.
He had barely escaped an unexpected death right before his eyes.
There was no way he could have been fine afterward.
But more than the fear...
The sadness of being betrayed was even greater.
She had been an adult he trusted enough to call in a moment of crisis.
“Ohhh, my poor baby. What am I going to do with you~?”
Dorfin gently wrapped her arms around Ingwang.
Normally, he would have panicked and pushed her away.
This time...
He simply accepted it.
Her warmth no longer felt like something tightening around him.
Instead, it came gently...
Like a hand softly stroking his head.
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”
“Hehe. Hasn’t that aaalways been the case?”
“My feelings are completely decided.”
Ingwang’s voice sank.
“I’m going to completely screw over the Chairman.”
“But I can’t actually do it.”
He was not asking for an answer.
He simply wanted to empty some of the frustration piling up inside his heart.
This was different from his usual playful complaining.
It was a lament filled with genuine sadness.
The kind of childish complaint he had not made since that distant childhood when his parents were still alive.
A childhood he could barely remember anymore.
“Are you impatient?”
“...I’m worried about whether I can actually do this well.”
Ingwang gently pushed Dorfin away.
Then he looked up at the sky and began walking through the streets with a troubled expression.
Dorfin quietly followed behind him.
She simply waited for him to speak.
