Chapter 915

EP.915 Part 3 Chapter 3 Scene 000: Blazing Phoenix Revival

“Ho ho ho! You’re finished now!”

The witch’s laughter echoed in all directions.

The woman resembling a hydra cackled as she swung the staff in her hand forward.

Guruguru.

A giant made of earth, towering over fifteen meters tall, thrust its fist forward.

The dark steel blue monster known as Phoenix extended both arms toward the giant’s punch.

Kagagang!

Phoenix caught the giant’s fist with her hands.

Pouring all her strength into her wings behind her back, she spread them wide and began to wrestle with the giant.

But it was clear to anyone watching that this battle between the grounded giant and the flying entity was at a disadvantage for Phoenix.

“Phoenix Sir!!”

A blonde woman screamed Phoenix’s name.

Despite slowly losing the wrestling match against the giant, upon hearing her name called by the woman, Phoenix increased her magic power and pushed back harder against the giant’s fist.

Kagagang!

The clash of fire magic and earth magic caused a magical disturbance.

Those nearby scattered in all directions while observing the duel between Phoenix and the divine official.

This battle would decide the fate of the Kingdom of Gaia…!

“Ho ho ho ho! It’s useless! No matter how hard you try, this is underground! The territory of Gaia! There’s no way you can defeat me, the divine official of the earth, on this land!”

[True, it’s difficult to win when you’re stuck to the ground.]

Kwa-ang!

Phoenix finally repelled the giant’s fist.

Though the giant staggered backward, it managed to regain its balance by extending its foot behind.

[Thus, I won’t hold back anymore.]

Phoenix raised one hand toward the sky.

[Blazing Phoenix Revival.]

Though the technique had its usual name, her stance was different from before.

When Phoenix clenched the hand she had extended, streams of blue flames began to seep out from her entire body.

Goo-oo-oo-

The blue flames quickly engulfed her entire form.

Not only covering her but growing larger and larger.

Until she transformed into a ‘torso’ of the same height as the giant.

[It’s been a while since I’ve shown you this form.]

“What, what is this?!”

The divine official trembled at the sight of the massive ‘spirit’ shining with blazing flames.

“I’ve never seen or heard of something like this!”

[From this moment on, it will forever remain etched in your memory.]

“What exactly are you?!”

[Ultimate Form.]

The blazing giant, Phoenix, extended both hands forward while floating in midair.

Her black armor containing the blue flames sparkled with golden outlines.

[Divine Official of the Earth. I shall liberate the earth spirit you have sealed.]

“No, it’s impossible! Could it be that you…!”

[Blazing Strike.]

Phoenix pulled one arm back.

[Receive the overwhelming baptism of blazing flames!!!]

Phoenix’s burning fist pierced through the massive golem’s stomach.

[Blazing Phoenix Revival.]

Whooshhhhhh!!

The world turned blue with flames.

* * *

“Hmm, perfect.”

Mr. Cho, the president of Kikryu Corporation, once again watched the edited video with a satisfied smile.

“This is what compositing is.”

Under Mr. Cho’s relentless demands, the editing team produced new footage.

The scene of Phoenix battling the colossal rock monster isn’t real.

It’s CG work.

Although the CG felt quite distinct compared to previous works, since no modern video medium could replicate such realism, Mr. Cho was extremely pleased.

“President, what should we do? Should we approve it?”

“Why? Isn’t this the final version?”

“There’s an issue where the practical team seeks your decision.”

“Let’s see.”

Mr. Cho frowned as he received the document on a smart pad from his secretary.

“‘Isn’t the final strike supposed to be ‘Fire Punch’?'”

“Yes.”

“Eh, whatever.”

“What? What did you say?”

“It’s nothing. Hmm…”

Mr. Cho dismissed the file with a flick.

“Let’s safely go with ‘Blazing Phoenix Revival.'”

“Understood, President.”

“And, is there another form besides ‘Ultimate Form’?”

“The original is called ‘Ultimate Form.'”

“Then mix it up a bit so it doesn’t stand out too much. How about ‘Ultimate Phoenix?’ What do you think?”

“……”

The secretary silently accepted the smart pad.

“Tch. So heartless. Tell him that if he keeps fighting like this, we won’t be able to pay the agreed-upon 20 million won per scene. The CG costs are going to exceed that.”

President Cho muttered curses under his breath.

“Damn it. Fight more stylishly. Don’t always choose the easy way out. He’s practically immortal now, yet why does he keep resolving things so carelessly?”

“That’s because it’s the easiest and fastest way.”

“Damn! I don’t want to see sex! I’ve already seen plenty of that guy’s sex scenes! Huh?! Do you think I’m living like this just to watch him have sex with heroines?”

“But don’t you want to see his sex scenes with her?”

“That’s true.”

A look of sorrow settled on President Cho’s face.

“Tch tch, poor girl. Having her partner taken away, getting criticized for being involved with other men in alternate timelines. It’s truly pitiful.”

“But didn’t some timelines have her route?”

“That one got cut halfway through.”

“Huh?”

“Cut. Like a heroine route that got deleted during development, like Sun Gyeoul, the daughter of Sun Icheol.”

President Cho shook his head.

“It’s unlikely she’ll meet again in Tera. It’s really regrettable.”

“If you truly feel sorry for her, why don’t you help her?”

“Help? I’ve tried my best, but it’s his fault for not being able to seduce her with those assets.”

President Cho’s voice grew increasingly sorrowful.

“Sigh. Fine. Let’s watch the dream realm of Tera.”

“Ah, speaking of which…”

The secretary closed their eyes tightly before speaking.

“Isn’t that the auto-check defense game we released yesterday?”

“So what?”

“He’s currently only playing that.”

“What?”

President Cho’s eyes widened.

“What, why?!”

“It’s because the female version of Phoenix was revealed for the first time.”

“……”

President Cho slapped his forehead.

* * *

“Shin-ra, you’re too weak.”

“It’s a game. Don’t get too immersed.”

“What if you keep paying but still stay weak?”

“But you’re strong in bed, right?”

“It’d be nice if you were strong inside the smartphone too.”

Game Over.

Once again, I experienced defeat.

“Should I call? Why is Shin-ra so weak?”

“It’s not that she’s weak; it’s that your control isn’t good enough, right?”

“Admit it. I’m bad at these kinds of games. Still, it’d be nice if she had skills like 2nd or 3rd abilities.”

“What are those?”

“When paired with a female character, stat boost; when next to a male character, stat debuff.”

“That sounds damp and musty, sir.”

Shin-ra told me it was damp and musty.

How shocking.

“Youna, Raon, Nuri, and others are so strong, so why are you so weak? Just having Nuri makes you skip several waves at the start.”

Ssssh, sssh ssh.

There aren’t many characters available anyway, and combinations are limited to six members. If you don’t draw them early, you get overwhelmed by the hordes of enemies.

“Do you understand the sorrow of getting three Shin-ras and getting a Game Over on the third wave?”

“It’s not that I’m weak; it’s because I’m a character who applies debuffs. You know this, so why ask?”

“Because the characters come from gacha!”

“Gacha has been a long-standing tradition since the days of random draws.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I’ve tried everything. Puhuhu.”

Shin-ra placed her hand on her chest and shrugged.

“I’m proud of it. It’s wonderful that I can show myself to everyone this way. It’s great to spread how lovable I am far and wide.”

“Yeah, performance equals love, right? But since her performance is dog-like, people avoid using her instead of loving her.”

Seok Harang, who was playing the round beside me, chimed in.

“Poor performance leads to fading affection.”

“Are you picking a fight?”

“Calm down, Lady Shin-ra. There’s a saying about guys like him.”

Yuna calmed Shin-ra down while giving me a thumbs-up.

“Lovebug.”

“That doesn’t sound like a compliment.”

“I’m a Shin-ra lovebug.”

After hearing Yuna’s words, something clicked in my mind.

“If no one uses Shin-ra because her performance is lacking, then I’ll use her even more.”

“Sir…”

“If everyone else replaces Shin-ra with other characters, I’ll carry her all the way to the end.”

As long as the character isn’t deleted, I’ll stick with her until the service ends.

That’s because she’s my favorite character.

“If the performance is insufficient, we can improve it.”

“Don’t we need shards to enhance the character’s stats?”

“We can also obtain shards through gacha!”

Gacha!

“But don’t you ever think it would be better if her performance improved?”

“……”

“Wouldn’t it be better if she came out named ‘Chang-yeom’ instead of ‘Hassinra’?”

“No, that’s not right.”

I completely rejected Seok Harang’s suggestion.

“Hassinra loves only one person here, ‘Bluebird.’ I’m satisfied.”

“What’s ‘Bluebird’?”

“It’s your account name, sir.”

“Ugh…”

Seok Harang genuinely shook their head.

“To be honest, I have no complaints. My expectations were high, so I’m slightly disappointed with the specs not meeting them. But what bothers me most is this.”

I looked at my watch.

It was already 75 minutes into the game.

“One round taking 75 minutes is cruel for someone like me who has nothing but time.”

While regular people might consider this a casual game to play during breaks, for someone like me who can play day and night, this cycle is too long.

“I can’t let this continue. I’ll have to buy play tickets using cores.”

“Wait, are you crazy?”

“Really? Who spends money on that kind of thing?”

“Think again. Sir, they didn’t make it to sell tickets.”

“No, it’s not like that.”

I showed him the smartphone screen.

“It’s set up so you can buy it for just 300 cores. That means they want you to purchase it.”

Without hesitation, I tapped the smartphone screen.

“I’ll grind Hassinra to max level.”

“What about Tera?”

“Tera?”

I shrugged.

“Even without me, it’ll run fine for a few days, right?”

“Hmph…”

If the world would collapse because I played games for a day or two, it would have fallen apart long ago.

* * *

“What are we supposed to observe if you go do that?”

Suddenly, the team collecting data on Tera was forced to take a break.

“What should we do, Team Leader?”

“In this situation…”

The team leader opened their smartphone.

“Let’s order some rice cakes.”