99. Lookalike

99. Lookalike

Why did the tremor in Eleanor's mana feel so familiar?

I yearn for death, but Eleanor wished for life. She never let go of a single desire I had discarded.

Her eyes always looked up at the distant stars, and her mouth always spoke of dreams.

Race, gender, personality, habits, self—every part of her was the complete opposite of me.

Then why had Eleanor's appearance become so familiar, as if she'd turned into a walking corpse like me?

Non-player character, NPC.

There was no need to overthink it. Eleanor had been dead from the beginning, and I had only just realized it.

"My people had already died long ago. They never had even a single day when they were alive. What does it matter if I die now?"

Eleanor pressed close against me and continued in a choking voice.

"That snake is surely part of the ordeal you face, the final enemy of your quest, isn't it? Then if we take it down, isn't that the end of it?"

I never knew she'd make such a face, say such things, or cry like that.

"The lives of us tin cans end together with that thing. Is it so strange to want to throw everything away and at least hope that I can live?"

Eleanor shouted. A dull ache throbbed somewhere in my chest.

It was pain I knew, but because I didn't know its name, I couldn't even call it that.

So I could only endure it, pressing down on my chest and bearing with it.

"I... know. No matter how hard you try to deny it, I can tell because I saw your mind. You love me."

"It may not be the same way I love you, but you suffered because we were not alive. There must have been some kind of love there."

"Give up the quest and choose me. Then we can be together until the very end. It's your decision."

Eleanor once again thrust before me the choice I had agonized over countless times and forced myself to look away from.

A chance to pick back up the desires I'd thrown away, perhaps even my last chance—a chance to find my happiness.

Was there any temptation as sweet as this? After all, despite all my efforts to avoid it, I definitely—

"You plan to die once you leave the tower, don't you?"

The words that followed felt like a blow to the head. Eleanor understood me better than I had expected.

"You have always longed for death, but because you had the goal of meeting your mother, you couldn't go through with it. Then isn't it obvious?"

"Once you leave the tower and meet your mother, you plan to die."

"But even so, didn't you still want to be happy? There must have been a desire you couldn't throw away. It has to be here."

Eleanor's hand pressed against my chest, the place where that nameless dull ache kept flaring up.

"Pull out the stake tormenting you. Be happy with me. In a world that belongs only to the two of us."

In the end, Eleanor buried her face in my chest. Slowly, I raised my hand.

If I wrapped my arm around Eleanor's shoulders right now, that would be the end of it.

The final, irreversible choice—if I chose Eleanor, could I be happy?

Living with Eleanor would certainly be fun. Just the brief time we spent together on the 7th floor had caused me this much hesitation.

Even if something painful happened, we could surely get through it together. No matter how exhausted we were, if we were together, we would surely be able to laugh.

But that would be the path of abandoning my mother. She would surely be hurt. There was no way trash like Seo Jin-hyuk could be forgiven.

And yet, even so, wouldn't that be the same even if I left the tower? How could I ever forgive myself?

"I..."

After agonizing for a long time, I—trash, idiot Seo Jin-hyuk—reached out to put my arm around Eleanor's shoulders.

**

The outstretched arm froze just before it completely wrapped around her shoulders.

A little farther. One centimeter. But this idiot still couldn't make the choice at the very last moment.

This is me. A pathetic shut-in NEET piece of trash—Seo Jin-hyuk.

Afraid of the result of the choice I'd agonized over, I chose not to choose anything. The rest was Eleanor's decision.

If Eleanor moved on her own, if Eleanor took one more step toward me, then I would surely accept it.

At the very end, I shoved the decision over to her. And Eleanor answered.

"Yeah, I see."

Eleanor looked at my wavering hand, smiled with a bitter expression, and took one step back.

"That final hesitation is your choice, then. One hundred and twenty years ago, I could have been satisfied with just that hesitation."

Saying that, she took two steps back. Leaving me to my hesitation, Eleanor chose to give up.

Of course. She wouldn't want to live with such an indecisive, pathetic fool. That was only natural. It was the wise choice.

"Don't misunderstand me. I was no different from you, after all. After a hundred more years of living, it seems I've ended up resembling you."

"No, I'm the idiot here. What part of me do you think resembles you?"

"I was the weak one, forcing such a hard decision on you, wasn't I? Asking you to choose between your mother and me—I went too far."

Clear tears spilled from Eleanor's eyes as she stepped back three paces. She spoke as though nothing was wrong, but her expression was honest.

"I have my duty too. The duty I inherited when I put on this crown. Even if I'm nothing more than a soulless tin can... I have to protect my people."

"Thanks to your hesitation, I came to my senses. I ended up being selfish toward my people and toward you too."

"I, bound to the tower, tried to bind you to it too. Even though I knew I shouldn't, I still said it out loud once."

Eleanor roughly wiped away her tears with her sleeve. Yes, we really are alike—because we share the same wound.

A vow never to stop, no matter how painful or difficult it became.

Eleanor's mana, with the exact same vow engraved in her heart as queen, was surging in the same shape as mine.

"You... have to go meet your mother."

After the same agonizing deliberation, we made the same decision—we chose to part ways.

**

I couldn't have been more grateful that my mana reinforcement was just item power thanks to the pendant.

Mana is swayed by the heart, so it was only natural that I couldn't use mana reinforcement in this state of mind.

Having wiped away her tears, Eleanor returned to being the Dark Elf queen. She would now give everything to taking down the snake dragon.

I had to answer that resolve as well. Let's not let our hearts make us hesitate to fight. I'll fight with everything I have.

[Time until World Boss Raid resumes: 00‘06’24]

Six minutes remained until the snake dragon resumed activity, and all the weapons and other preparations were complete.

-Bwoooooo!

At the sound of the horn announcing the start of the operation, the deployed artillery units and mages all sprang into action at once.

"Fire!"

With multiple layers of buffs piled on, magic bullets and ballistae were fired at the snake dragon, which still had five minutes left before it reawakened.

A raid doesn't have to begin only when the countdown reaches zero.

By preemptively striking the boss while the mobs are still guarding it, you can start the fight whenever you want.

And with this much bombardment, we could open by landing a powerful blow right from the first shot.

As advised by the community, we had to hit first with maximum firepower at the point where five minutes remained.

-Bang! Ka-krash! Ka-boom!

The weapons fired in unison mercilessly battered the snake dragon's entire body. The snake, woken from slumber, screamed in pain.

So firepower really is worth securing, after all. It was even more effective and powerful than I'd imagined.

Now it was my turn to move. After confirming that the item I had prepared in my inventory was there, I stepped onto the magic circle.

"Good luck."

At the teleport mage's words, I nodded, and with the spell activating, I was hurled into the sky.

It wasn't just me who was teleported into the air. Mercedes and the elite high elf knights.

And the kingdom army's elite troops and corps commander, along with the Dark Elf scouts' aces—and Eleanor as well.

We had become a special assault unit tasked with directly attacking the snake dragon's vital point.

But I didn't think we'd be able to safely land on the snake dragon's thrashing body like this. The operation had better go well.

-Kiriirirring!

Then, from the ground, a huge chain shot up amid an immense torrent of mana. It was a spell from our side prepared in advance.

Dark Elf shadow magic leans more toward support spells like binding than toward direct combat.

As such, if you deliberately specialize in that branch, it ends up performing incredibly well. That too had been verified by the community.

Many challengers had run all over the place and found the shadow-type skill with the best binding effect.

I spread the word about that skill, so the mages could reinterpret it and build it up into a large-scale ritual.

Normally, it wouldn't be something that could be done in such a short time, but we made up for the missing parts by dumping in absurd amounts of materials like magic stones.

Of course, those materials came from my inventory. It was a one-time binding spell fueled by a ridiculous amount of resources.

I had worried whether it would work against a world boss, but thankfully it seemed to be working. All that was left was to land.

-Graaaaaah!!

The snake dragon, bound by the chains, screamed. The mana contained in its roar spread outward, crushing the surrounding terrain.

But the elites here were the best of the best—strong enough to shrug off an attack of that caliber.

-Ting! Ting!

They deflected the black mana bullets fired from the snake dragon's body in their own ways, then landed on its body.

Eleanor had given up her own happiness and declared that, even if she was nothing more than a hollow shell, she would protect her people.

I knew better than anyone how painful that choice was, because I'd made the exact same choice.

So I'll support that choice in whatever way I can.

I may be an indecisive, ridiculous piece of trash, but because of that, there's one thing I do well.

"The goal is a perfect clear."

Never stopping, crushing whatever stands in my way, tearing enemies apart in extreme situations.

Since I swore I'd part ways with you and climb the tower, I'll make sure of that much.

-Kwoooorrrr!

After activating mana reinforcement, I drove my sword into the snake dragon's thick scales.