The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage - Chapter 209

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 209
209
6.
True to the warning message, the second phase was considerably more difficult than the first.
After Narisha fell, Berto—still wearing that cat disguise—moved with far greater complexity than before, and now armed with both fangs and razor-sharp claws, he became a far more formidable opponent.
Yet paradoxically, I found myself fighting far more comfortably than in the first phase.
Because I wasn’t fighting alone—I had my Minions fighting alongside me.
It was only natural to feel at ease.
My Minions’ coordination was remarkably seamless.
Since Yoo Sung-hyun had expended most of his powerful skills, he was merely providing support and covering fire.
I decided to observe the situation calmly.
Then I noticed something peculiar.
Several strands of black shadow extending from behind Berto’s back—if I could even call them that.
Thin as thread, these black shadows were unmistakable.
“Hm?”
Yoo Sung-hyun watched with a puzzled expression as the battle raged on.
After roughly ten minutes had passed.
Only then could Berto finally collapse, his health completely depleted.
Looking back, it was only after those thread-like black shadows had vanished.
Had I been mistaken just now?
As I entertained that thought.
Berto spoke as he fell.
“Beware… the darkness… be careful….”
As he collapsed.
Berto’s eyes now held a strangely peaceful gleam.
Watching this, Yoo Sung-hyun tilted his head in bewilderment.
Beware the darkness?
But the diary clearly instructed me to enter the darkness, didn’t it?
The cat told me to enter the darkness, and the dog agreed.
Now, at this moment, he warns me to be careful of the darkness?
There’s definitely something more to come from this.
The moment I grasped that much.
A message materialized before my eyes.
[You have vanquished the Hidden Raid Boss, 『Narisha and Berto』.]
[This is an exclusive Hidden Raid Boss for 『Overlord』.]
[Rewards will be replaced with special compensation.]
[You have cleared the 『Overlord』 Story Quest, 『The Missing Cat and Dog』.]
[You obtain your reward.]
[You gain an enormous amount of experience points!]
[Level Up!]×5
[You have reached Level 165.]
[Narisha and Berto return to Helena’s Diary!]
[You can replay ‘Diary Memory 1’ as an execution reward.]
[Playing ‘Diary Memory 1’ will lead to the next Quest.]
[You obtain ‘Aura of Darkness’, a Legendary-grade material item, as an execution reward.]
There were no other notable rewards.
Besides the massive experience points, there were only two rewards of significance.
An item called Aura of Darkness and a reward allowing me to view an event scene called Diary Memory 1.
‘Interesting.’
So this is how it all connects.
I realized now why Helena’s Diary had been given to me.
The story unfolds through this.
Where will this Story Quest lead?
Helena would know, of course.
“What does Helena say about it?”
Yoo Sung-hyun asked his other servants, just to be sure.
-H-Helena said you could call her if you w-wanted to…
-Krahaha, I have prepared my heart completely, I assure you.
-I-I heard about it too.
“I too have heard the same, my lord.”
It seemed Helena was finally ready as well.
She had asked me not to call her for a while, like a moody teenager.
But it appeared her mental preparation was complete.
After all, it was a diary written when she was so young.
There was no reason to feel embarrassed about it for so long.
Still, Yoo Sung-hyun shook his head.
‘I shouldn’t ask.’
It wasn’t solely out of consideration for Helena.
There was some thought of being considerate, certainly.
But that wasn’t the main reason.
Yoo Sung-hyun didn’t particularly enjoy spoilers either.
It felt awkward to press someone to tell.
If it were a regular Quest, it would have been fun to process it using the memories of ghosts.
But this was a Story Quest, wasn’t it?
It might even lead to a Main Quest.
So I decided not to ask.
‘It doesn’t seem like a new servant, does it?’
There were servants among my ranks who were lost in sorrow.
But Helena’s diary had been created far too long ago.
Even longer than when Helena had been active as an Overlord.
The other Minions showed no signs of recognizing Berto or understanding anything about him either.
So it couldn’t be something related to the Minions.
And.
‘The fact that Overpalace gave this to me….’
It definitely meant there was something extraordinary, rivaling the Minions themselves.
Considering how they had held back until handing over the diary, seizing opportunities without triggering the system—
It had to be at least an Almighty-tier Quest, didn’t it?
A story Quest leading to the Almighty tier.
What could possibly await at its end?
Yoo Sung-hyun gazed down at the diary with considerable anticipation in his eyes.
Then he thought.
‘Let me replay it.’
Wondering if there might be some clue, I replayed Memory 1 from the diary.
The surrounding landscape melted away like snow.
In an instant, everything transformed.
Then it began from when young Helena was drawing pictures in her diary and playing.
The owner of this memory was not young Helena.
Narisha and Berto.
It was those two.
“The kitty is Narisha! The puppy is Berto!”
The first memory that surfaced began when Helena gave them their names.
Narisha and Berto were merely drawings.
But once they received names from Helena.
They became able to move and live.
As the drawings came to life.
Helena played with them all day long like a god.
Not at this Playground, but in the fields, on the Hills, and in the flower gardens, young Helena and they played happily together.
And when evening came, Helena waved her hand saying she would go Home and that they should play again tomorrow, then left.
It was a delightful sight to behold.
‘It’s quite remarkable how they come to life just from being given a name.’
Of course, it was also a part where I could sense Helena’s tremendous power.
Just by giving them names, the drawings came to life.
It was actually nonsensical.
But this was a game.
And Helena had become a Transcendent.
It was a passage that showed well how extraordinary she was from childhood.
Thus, parted from Helena, Narisha and Berto waved their hands endlessly, seeing her off.
The two of them remained.
Gradually the sunset faded and darkness descended.
“I’m looking forward to tomorrow too.”
“I’m going to play with Helena.”
“Tomorrow, we’ll be it.”
“Right. Right.”
Narisha and Berto continued their conversation like this.
Waiting for Helena.
As dawn broke tomorrow, they grew excited talking about how they’d play with Helena.
They could play well even in the darkness.
But Helena had to return home, so it couldn’t be helped.
They waited for morning to arrive even a moment sooner.
But what came to them was not morning.
【I shall take you under my wing.】
An ominous voice rang out.
Dense darkness enveloped Narisha and Berto.
“N-no!”
“G-go away!”
Narisha and Berto resisted.
But they could not resist the dense darkness.
The darkness swallowed them whole.
And in that place, a single torn note remained.
『You can find us if you come into the darkness!』
The note, seemingly left by Narisha herself, was discovered when morning broke and Helena arrived.
Helena tilted her head, gazing at the Dark Forest visible in the distance, and spoke.
“Narisha?”
The diary’s memory ended there.
As the event scene ended, the ghostly state I had taken on returned to normal.
And as the original scenery came back to life.
A message appeared.
[You have obtained the keyword 『Darkness』.]
[You have obtained a clue regarding 『Darkness』.]
Yoo Sung-hyun fell deep into thought.
‘Hmm.’
Playing in the darkness wasn’t the cat—Narisha—after all.
At the same time, I had obtained both a keyword and a clue about darkness.
In other words.
‘There’s something that controls darkness.’
The thread of darkness I saw from Berto at the end, and Berto’s final warning to be careful of darkness, all aligned.
Something that controls darkness is targeting Helena?
That’s how I had to interpret it.
‘It must be after Helena’s exceptional power from childhood.’
The clues revealed so far were still scarce.
At least the motive is certain.
After all, wouldn’t anyone feel the same?
By merely giving it a name, I brought the drawing to life and made it breathe.
If such tremendous power resided in a child, any person with even a hint of ambition would want to seize it.
Of course, as long as Helena is unharmed.
‘They must have failed.’
Considering that this Quest continues.
There must be some trace of it, or perhaps Helena struggled when she was younger?
Yoo Sung-hyun examined the item he’d obtained as a reward while pondering these thoughts.
『Essence of Darkness』
→《Legendary》
→Material Item.
→Quest Item.
→A dark crystal formed from the concentrated essence of darkness belonging to an unknown entity.
→The power of darkness remains intensely present.
A Legendary material item, no less.
And simultaneously a Quest Item.
I’ll have to wait and see for now.
Let me do everything I can right now.
Helena’s diary in Yoo Sung-hyun’s grasp began to glow.
And a page that hadn’t existed before materialized.
The torn drawings of Narisha and Berto were restored.
As the page following them appeared.
I could read the diary entry written on that page.
『It’s so dark! Even when I call out “Where are you! Where are you!” I can’t see anything!
Did I get lost in the Dark Forest?
It’s like hide-and-seek but it’s so hard!
Kitty! Puppy!
Oh where are you?
It’s so dark I can’t see, but an Uncle spoke to me from far away!
“The puppy and kitty went that way.” The Tall Thin Man! When I said “Thank you!” he waved his hands up and down excitedly!
It’s so dark! So dark!
Goodbye to the Face Man hanging from the tree too!
The Forest has so many interesting things!
Kitty! Puppy! Wait for me, I’ll definitely find you!』
‘Ugh.’
What on earth is this?
After reading that diary entry, Yoo Sung-hyun’s mind grew hazy.
What is this content supposed to mean?
The Tall Thin Man?
And Face Man?
It really does feel like something straight out of a horror film.
Yoo Sung-hyun could tell from looking at it.
That he needed to go to the Dark Forest.
After Yoo Sung-hyun finished reading the diary and lifted his head.
Another exit had appeared in the Playground, where there had originally been only the entrance.
And the message that came to mind.
[Overlord Story Quest, 『Dark Forest』 has been generated.]
『Dark Forest』
→Head toward the Dark Forest.
It seemed like going that way would lead to the Dark Forest.
This Playground had originally been a small Hill where Helena played with Narisha and Berto.
The direction itself matched where the Forest was from what I saw in the diary’s memories.
‘Should I go right now?’
I wondered what the Tall Thin Man and Face Man could be.
With a hint of anticipation, Yoo Sung-hyun headed toward that place.
0.
The Forest, densely packed with trees grown tall enough to blot out the sky, was extraordinarily dark.
Yet it was strangely dark in a way that couldn’t be attributed to the trees alone.
A Dark Forest where darkness itself lay spread out as if alive and breathing.
There were countless things hanging elongated within it, resembling fruits.
And as if tending to those fruits, something thin like a needle moved about, piercing one of the fruits and bringing it to its mouth.
A Spider with a human head, its form elongated and slender.
If one looked closely at what the Spider was eating—those fruit-like things—one could discern they were human heads.
The Spider crunched down on the human head and grinned widely.
Soon, sensing someone entering its domain, it began to move slowly.
Then it murmured as if speaking to someone.
“My Lord, an intruder has arrived.”
Upon hearing that murmur, the darkness stirred for a moment.
Then vanished.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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