Chapter 30
Status Effect Parry.
On our side, we usually shortened it to Imaginary Parry.
It was a bug that exploited an in-game hit-detection error.
A “status effect” inflicted on a character was judged to be an attack.
By making minute adjustments to the parry, it was possible to strip the status effect from the character.
‘It was a method my past self used all the time.’
It was quite useful.
Using the bug saved on potion costs.
Most ordinary problems could be solved with a single tap of Parry.
‘Of course... there were some status effects that couldn't be dealt with using Parry.’
Still, it worked on more than half of them.
It dramatically reduced the potion costs that had been piling up for the characters.
I still remembered the community's reaction at the time.
Everyone had gone wild.
[Title:Today's Bug Discovery]
[Author:PlaysGamesToFindBugs]
Today's bug discovery.
I'll tentatively call the bug [Imaginary Parry].
I've attached a recording at the bottom of the post.
[Here comes my porn]
-> He's brought something amazing again lmaoooo
-> How the hell do you even find things like this?
-> PlaysGamesToFindBugs) I discovered it while playing baseball with characters using Parry.
-> Holy shit lmaoooooooo
-> Playing baseball with Parry, seriously lmaoooo
-> What the hell does this guy even do by himself in the game? lmao
-> I can't even begin to imagine what “character-parry baseball” is lmao
-> But the fact that I can't imagine it is fucking hilarious lmao
[BugFinder! BugFinder! BugFinder! BugFinder! BugFinder! BugFinder! BugFinder! BugFinder! BugFinder! BugFinder! BugFinder! BugFinder!]
-> He's a god!
[This one's actually useful, isn't it? If you use it well, you won't even need potions]
-> Nope, you still need to use potions. Apparently it doesn't work on quite a few things.
-> Still, it'll cut potion costs way down compared to before.
Bug-finding uploads posted at regular intervals.
For something I uploaded as a hobby, it received a surprising amount of love.
[Title:Review of Trying Imaginary Parry]
[Author:Anonymous(110.12)]
The bug BugFinder found
He found another insanely good one this time lmao
I was trying to clear Purgatory Floor 75, but I ran out of potions in the middle of the boss fight.
Veterans will know this, but the Floor 75 boss is a debuff-focused boss, right?
So I was wondering whether I should just reset and try again,
when I suddenly remembered BugFinder's post from yesterday.
(Recording attached)
It was harder to control than I expected, but thanks to it, I cleared Floor 75 easily lmao
[Wow, that's amazing lmao]
-> From a newbie's perspective, I can't even tell what kind of controls you're using.
-> The controls on this are pretty difficult, though.
[Every time you parry, one status effect disappears from an ally character]
-> Blindness, fear, bleeding, suppression...
-> Does one disappearing at a time mean they're each individually judged as attacks?
-> Yeah, the principle behind Imaginary Parry is that status effects are treated as attacks.
-> Regular Parry only deflects one attack at a time too. I guess that's it.
[But this looks like something you really have to practice hard]
-> Yeah, that thing is fucking difficult.
-> It's only because BugFinder makes it look easy; if your timing is even slightly off, it won't activate.
-> I guess you need to get used to it before using it in actual combat.
[Anyway, thanks for finding a bug like this]
-> Seriously, it's pretty damn useful.
-> I spent way too much on potions last month, so at least I should be able to save a little now.
‘Honestly... I uploaded the bug thinking it would be patched soon.’
When I first discovered the bug, I thought a fix would be implemented right away.
Because from the game company's perspective, it was a fatal bug.
A bug that reduced users' potion purchases...
If customers were closing their wallets, how could they not fix it?
‘They really should fix it.’
Neugme.
(meaning Lanne & Grandia Academy: The Märchen)
It was a game that had tolerated countless bugs until then, but I thought they wouldn't let this one slide.
I also thought that was the right thing to do.
‘But...’
In the patch notes the following month, there wasn't a single mention of the bug.
They hadn't even left an announcement that a fix was planned, let alone fixed it.
At the very end, they had even written a line like this.
[Shout out to PlaysGamesToFindBugs.]
Seeing that, I thought, These guys really are fucking insane.
An official account giving a shout-out to the user threatening its own cash flow...
Thanks to that, the game company became legendary, securing an image as the Great Euphoric Mountain's likable GOAT game company.
‘Anyway, what a relief.’
If the bug had been fixed back then, I never would have had the chance to use it in reality like this.
I look down at the warmth nestled in my arms.
A boy who looked barely ten years old.
Until just moments ago, he had been trapped by [Ghoulification], but...
‘This really works.’
My Imaginary Parry had restored him to normal.
He had regained his original form without a single scar left on his body.
‘I was a little nervous.’
To be honest, I had been half convinced and half doubtful myself.
It wasn't as though I knew everything or was certain of every action I took.
Well... with people crying out from all around me, it had been a what-the-hell, let's-try-it attempt.
‘I never even tried anything like this in-game.’
Normally, when one said status effect, one meant a debuff like [Blindness] or [Bleeding].
‘I knew [Ghoulification] was one of the status effects, but... who would have thought Imaginary Parry would apply to it?’
In-game, there was never a situation where I had to parry against a ghoul.
Besides, Imaginary Parry didn't succeed every time...
Divine Pressure, Instant Death, Baptism, and so on.
In the case of advanced status effects, Imaginary Parry didn't work.
The difference from ordinary status effects was probably that these only activated in special circumstances.
Since that was the case, the accepted theory was that the developers had taken care to create them so no anomalies would occur.
‘Honestly... I was worried [Ghoulification] might be that kind of effect too.’
Fortunately, Ghoulification seemed to belong to the “normal” category.
The card I'd thrown in with a “come what may” had come back as a jackpot in the gambling den.
I carefully set the child down.
“Son... our—ah, my, my son...!”
“Huh? It's Mommy!”
Pat-pat-pat-.
The child broke free of my arms and flung himself into his mother's embrace.
The woman hugged that moving warmth and sobbed her heart out.
Perhaps she couldn't believe this reality.
“Ah... Jerry, Jerian...”
“Mommy, why are you crying...?”
She hugged him again and again, pressed her face to his, and touched her forehead to his...
The tingling in my heart made it a truly heartwarming scene of maternal love.
I smiled beside them.
I tilted my head, pleased.
“Little one, is there anywhere that hurts?”
“Hmm...? What do you mean?”
“I'm asking whether your body hurts or anything like that.”
“I'm fine, though? Nothing hurts... More importantly, Mommy is crying. She's crying lots.”
“Don't worry. She's crying because she's so happy. You must be a child who is deeply loved.”
“Yes! Mommy is my favorite person in the whole world!”
“What a good boy. Give your mother a big hug.”
I reached out and lightly ruffled his hair.
The child's eyes were simply sparkling.
There wasn't even a scar visible on his body.
‘I see...’
The recoil from stripping away Ghoulification.
Vampires and ghouls basically possessed regenerative abilities.
As long as they continued receiving blood, they steadily recovered from their wounds.
Of course, if the damage exceeded a certain threshold, even that would become useless...
‘His wounds healed because he went through Ghoulification. I applied Imaginary Parry while he was in that state, so he returned to a clean form without a single wound.’
Who would have thought it could be used like this?
I organized this new piece of knowledge.
“Thank you... Thank you, oh my God. My God...”
The woman kept muttering it over and over.
She held her child tightly in her arms and wouldn't let go.
“Thank... sob, gasp, ugh...”
Her pronunciation was thoroughly mangled by her sobbing.
As though I understood everything, I gently patted the woman's back.
Her tears bloomed like irises.
“Ugh, hhh...”
As I listened to her thanks, several people who had been watching the scene approached.
The first to speak were two people.
“Victo... Ah, no. Captain Garuric?”
“C-Captain Garuric...?”
Carmilla, Kantas.
The two stood there with their eyes wide.
Carmilla's expression was especially something to see.
“H-How...?”
How.
As a vampire, Carmilla understood how utterly impossible the scene moments ago had been.
“Y-you turned a ghoul back into a human? There has never been a record of anything like this in vampire history! Even the True Ancestor, who vanished in ancient times, never performed such a miracle...”
“Haha, it seems you were quite surprised.”
“How could I not be surprised!”
“That is true.”
“How did you do it? Is it perhaps related to that strange power you always display?”
“I'm afraid that's a trade secret.”
“I-I can't believe this...!”
Carmilla froze as though she had been struck by a shock.
To calm her, I lightly patted her head.
“Ahem.”
I cleared my throat a few times and drew everyone's attention.
Carmilla, still dazed, and Kantas.
Behind them stood the other people, who had gathered at some point.
“W-what... What happened?”
“The child who was definitely a ghoul turned back into a human...?”
“Is that possible? You can turn ghouls back?”
“That's impossible...”
“Really...?”
“Is it possible...?”
Their muttering voices were choked with tears.
They had been the ones crying in front of the pit just moments ago.
“Everyone.”
All eyes turned toward me.
Only.
Eyes looking solely at me.
““......””
Their eyes glistened as though filled with hope.
Tears gathered, blurred, flowed, and cleared.
Hot streams traced their cheeks several times over.
As though begging me to answer right away, they hoped for an answer to a question they had not asked.
They were that pitiful.
Thus, I understood their pleas.
“Would you all help me?”
And,
I had no intention of betraying those pleas.
“We should all go back together.”
The pit.
To the lives trampled beneath it, and the broken offshoots beside them.
And to you who had to suffer again and cry.
“I promised you, didn't I? That I would get every one of you home safely.”
May my misconception be a blessing.
May this moment remain an encounter with a miracle, rather than a curse.
“Now, then.”
The orphanage.
The teacher.
My friends.
Burned.
The salvation that had never been mine.
“Would anyone be willing to grab a ghoul and toss it to me?”
Such a prayer.