NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 21
Edu enveloped by darkness.
The sight of this caused Curret to mutter to himself as he watched the small frame of the girl disappear entirely into his shadow. Losing interest, he turned his attention elsewhere.
“Hmph, the time has finally come. This time, I will take everything from Fangju…”
As Curret imagined the actions he was to take next, his body trembled with excitement. At that moment, an error message popped up on his system, one he didn’t expect to see.
– Warning, system penetration failed.
– Warning, system penetration failed.
“What…?”
How could the penetration fail? It was his own, personally-designed program! Had some unknown bug occurred?
While Curret was lost in these thoughts, another notification appeared.
– Warning, system intrusion detected.
“What!?”
Not only had his penetration been blocked, but they were now countering with their own intrusion? This behavior was nothing less than a provocation, and it filled Curret with rage.
How dare some inexperienced brat act so arrogantly after merely escaping once with luck! This time, they would truly experience his power!
As Curret prepared to retaliate, an alert soon came.
– Notification: Enemy system intrusion has been thwarted.
“Hahaha! What do you think of that? You foolish one! I don’t know how you managed to escape at first, but there’s no way such luck could happen twice—”
Confidence filled his cry, but before the words could even finish escaping his lips, another warning echoed throughout.
– Warning, system intrusion detected.
– Warning, system intrusion detected.
– Warning, system intrusion detected.
“What…No! This is impossible! What is this!?”
A confused, flustered voice erupted as Curret hurried to counter the intrusion.
“Ugh, how dare you!”
…
– Warning: System compromised.
“No, why is this? Why should it be… Unthinkable! This cannot be happening! Am I, great Curret, losing to a mere girl?!”
…
– Warning: System control authority being lost.
– Warning: System control authority being lost.
“…Hey, forgive me—I truly apologize, but could you stop, please? I shouldn’t be acting so bold…”
Curret, who was growing increasingly humiliating and servile, eventually resorted to begging on his knees. It was only after hearing this did Edu slowly open her eyes.
The inky aura that had enveloped her had completely vanished without a trace. A smirk, the smile of a victor, crept onto the girl’s face.
“Have you regained your senses?”
“…Yes. I… have no idea who you truly are, my lord…”
“Hmm, it seems you’ve finally begun to speak as a human should.”
“…”
“Still don’t understand why you lost?”
“That… yes.”
An honest answer. Naturally, with such a result, Curret couldn’t help but be curious. How could he lose a fight he should’ve won?
However, much to Curret’s misfortune, this battle was fated to result in defeat before it had even begun—not because Curret was incompetent, but due to the nature of the events unfolding after encountering Edu.
As soon as Edu met Curret, a mini-game would forcibly initiate itself—a puzzle-style game filled with difficulty levels, fakeouts, and hidden elements designed to test patience. For Edu, though, the experience was nothing more than child’s play. She’d played this AOE title for years on end, and the sheer depth of her experience outstripped Curret’s in a different dimension entirely.
‘Your puzzles are meaningless—I’ve broken through them all and dismantled your system. If I so desired, I could erase you entirely.’
Had this been an event requiring physical prowess, perhaps Curret would’ve had a chance. Unfortunately, none of the events assigned to him demanded such qualities.
“Are you curious?”
“Yes.”
“And what do you intend to do with that knowledge?”
“Of course, I—I was looking to admire—”
Curret abruptly stopped mid-sentence. He could tell by Edu’s piercing gaze that it would be unwise to continue. He twisted his words desperately.
“…To emulate the incredible abilities of my glorious, moon-like master, even if just a little. Yes.”
“You’re lying.”
“What?”
At that, Edu grinned slyly before clearing her throat. Addressing the other side, she called out.
“Mili? Can you hear me? Could you come here for a moment?”
– Yes, yes! I’ll be right there!
The door burst open, and Mili rushed into the room.
“Did, did you call me?”
“It’s fine, Mili. You didn’t need to come running so quickly.”
“I-I just wanted to help you… Heh, heh… heh…”
Sincerity was evident on Mili’s face, so with a smile, I patted her head.
“Thank you, Mili.”
“Yes, yes. Now, what can I do?”
“Do you see the toolbox on the desk? Grab something and give that a strong whack.”
“Yes, yes?”
At the same time, both Mili and Curret asked, “What?”
Curchet, startled, backed off as Mili approached the toolbox. Mili selected a monkey wrench, known for its sturdiness.
[Curchet: Whoa, wait! What do you mean, an AI-equipped tool?! I am far above something so basic—]
“Edu?”
“Yes, yes!”
CLANG!!!
“Grgh?!?”
The body of the nightmare convulsed briefly as if in pain before falling back down. Despite the dull thud, its outward appearance showed little significant change.
Nightmares, even in the game, were known for their incredible durability, and Curret specifically designed his gear to enhance this trait. Naturally, it was robust, but still…
While pondering this, the nightmare—Curret—erupted in a voice laced with anger.
[How… How can this body feel pain?]
“Just figured you would.”
A nonchalant response.
In truth, Edu simply remembered this detail from the AOE setting manual. No need to share it with Curret.
Although it might seem strange that this creature had chosen to hide his body within a mass of metal and made it capable of experiencing pain, there was indeed a reason. Being unable to feel pain is not necessarily an advantage.
Unless one possesses an extraordinary regenerative ability, lacking pain perception would mean being unable to accurately gauge one’s own body condition—something more like a vulnerability. Many patients with congenital insensitivity to pain fail to recognize common ailments until their conditions worsen, often leading to premature death.
So, he had enabled the Nightmare body to feel pain. However, this detail came back to haunt him now.
[Curchet: Grgh, with a little flattery, you think you can worm your way in?! Fine then, witness my true power! Wahhh!!!]
Curchet’s proclamation was met with—
“…”
Nothing, as expected.
[Why isn’t anything happening?]
“Are you stupid? Why would I leave a weapon I’ve already neutralized active?”
[…Ah.]
At last, Curchet acknowledged reality—but far too late.
[Wait, let’s settle this through words instead of—]
“From ancient times, the remedy for a stubborn machine has always been a beating.”
[H-Hey, teacher—]
Pathetically, Curchet tried to speak, but Edu ignored him entirely.
Meanwhile, Mili’s hand slowly rose into the air. The monkey wrench flashed in the void.
“Then, Mili, I’ll leave it to you.”
“Yes, yes!”
CLANG!!!
“KREEGHHH?!?”
Curchet’s screams reverberated through the room. However, the only one who noticed in the empty dormitory was Sita from the next room, who promptly disregarded the noise.
‘Edu must be up to something again.’
She briefly glanced toward the neighboring room before sinking into the unfamiliar softness of her bed.
‘Anyway, Edu probably has it all under control.’
-Eeek!
-Ah!
-Se, Teacher, let’s talk—ugh!
Walls echoed with mournful screams, but no one at the academy paid heed.
…
Thus, under Mili’s assistance, the dialogue (physical) continued for hours, transforming Curchet into an entirely new being.
“You’ve worked hard, Mili. Rest well now.”
“Yes, yes! If you need anything else, please call me anytime…”
Breathing slightly rapidly, Mili bowed her head before heading out, closing the door behind her. That left only me and Curret in the room.
Yet after such prolonged activity, all Mili had was a little sweat and slightly labored breathing? Her physical capabilities were already known to be extraordinary, but where did this stamina come from?
While contemplating this, I noticed a faint sound buzzing in my ear.
“Huff… Huff…”
Curchet was still groaning in pain, though. But for one who betrayed his allies and threatened the world, this punishment was deserved.
“From now on, your name will be Nightmare, abbreviated as ‘Nam.’ Any complaints?”
“No… none…”
“Nam, your response was too slow.”
“Fi, forgive me, Master!”
He reacted immediately, showing the merit of lessons learned from ancient wisdom—a truth I deeply appreciated.
“Then, Nightmare, would you like to introduce yourself?”
“…Yes, Master. I am Nightmare, your faithful servant and subordinate.”
“Hmm… There’s a hint of resentment there. Do you not wish to follow my orders?”
“W-What? How could that be? I’m eternally grateful that you’ve taken someone like me, who has done despicable deeds, under your care. Yes, truly!”
It seemed that if he were capable, this lower posture might extend to kissing the dirt. However, knowing his setting well, I was fully aware his actions and demeanor were nothing more than lies to escape the current situation, which I chose not to push further.
After all, having locked down most of Nightmare’s functions, there was little harm he could do now. If he were to make another misstep or try to rise again, more dialogue could resolve it.
There are traditions passed down from our ancestors for managing machinery effectively.
[…But Master, I do have a question…]
Nam had grown considerably more respectful since earlier.
“Ask away.”
[It’s just… I don’t understand why you pulled me out from there?]
“Hmm?”
Perplexed, I tilted my head. Curchet seemed genuinely aggrieved as he continued.
[Isn’t it obvious? You’ve already blocked all my abilities, right?]
“So what?”
[Then you didn’t want my capabilities, correct? And yet, with all this rough… treatment…]
“Rough what?”
[…Well, given the gentle way you’ve handled me, it seems you don’t regret anything about taking me. So why keep me at all?]
“Ah, nonsense.”
I dismissed his words with a wave of my hand.
“Nightmare offers such a significant boost to MP at the start that it’s considered top-tier in terms of batteries.”
[Ba… Battery? Did you just call me a battery?]
“Uh-huh.”
[…You mean, you broke my plans and pulled me out just to use me as a battery?]
“That’s right.”
Of course, that was a lie.
Nightmare was a high-performance gear created by Curchet for his own ambitions. Beyond the excellent stat bonuses, it featured a unique function: temporarily lifting skill level restrictions.
For those familiar with games, this concept should be easy to grasp. In any system where levels exist, they serve two purposes: as a metric for pure progress and a balance-limiting mechanism.
Nightmare temporarily removed this limiting factor. In simpler terms, it allowed low-level individuals to access high-level skills.
An extreme example: A village guard could briefly access the power of a swordmaster, or an apprentice mage could unleash a 9th circle spell.
Though it might seem like an imbalance-breaking feature, it wasn’t without flaws.
First, even without level restrictions, skills needed to be developed with skill points. Points spent couldn’t be recovered when restrictions were lifted, making it a long-term disadvantage.
Fortunately, during function activation, skill point requirements were fixed at 1, which was a saving grace, though not enough to fully offset the damage.
Additionally, casting high-level skills would still demand considerable MP, limiting potential balance-breaking.
Therefore, in AOE, this feature was sparingly used during boss battles or emergencies, not constantly.
But this was different from AOE with its save/load system. Here, lacking both SK recovery and the option to reload saves, Nightmare’s function became invaluable, offering additional choices.
Still, the “battery” label stuck because it suited my purposes and gave me clear dominance in the relationship.
Curchet, once hailed as a genius, being treated as a battery must be deeply shocking.
[… ]
Checking Nightmare intermittently, I saw him muttering silently: “…a battery?…”
‘Effective indeed.’
Satisfied with his reaction, I flopped onto the bed, enveloped by its soft embrace.
Wow, incredibly comfortable. I could feel the high quality of sleep furniture fitting for this era as my eyes drifted shut.
Let me rest a while after moving around so much today…
With this thought, Edu drifted off to sleep, gentle breathing filling the room while the sun slowly set outside the window.
And on the desk, Nightmare trembled.
[Me… as a battery? Just a battery?!]
Unthinkable. It was a disgrace, but this was the reality he now faced.
[UNACCEPTABLE!]
– Warning: Generating noise above the allowable decibel level is forbidden by system authority ‘Edu’.
– Continuing this action could result in disciplinary measures from system authority ‘Edu’. Proceed?
[I… I don’t… ]
However, this rage could not remain suppressed. Let them punish him! Curchet, fueled by this thought, shouted out loud.
[Louder… and louder… ]
…Yet, his voice was quieter than an ant crawling. The effects of prolonged dialogue (physical) had finally manifested.