WKOC Chapter 6

When I opened my eyes, I was still lost in the memory pack, unable to pull myself out.

Selena, the former leader of the Holy Knights, had for some unknown reason assassinated the previous Pope during a mission and then defected. When she resurfaced, she had accepted Druidic magic and transformed into a centaur. Later, she formed the Free Alliance, a third force on the continent alongside the Church of Light and the Dark Church, with their base located in the Greenleaf Forest.

— I have to admit, the Church of Light’s succession process is far too one-on-one. The game’s developers clearly didn’t think this through. If Hilier dies in the storyline one day, the next Pope will inevitably be the Holy Son of Light. And after my plotline death…

Wait.

After my plotline death, who’s going to be the next leader of the Holy Knights?!

I suddenly understood why the developers hadn’t scheduled my death yet—they can’t afford for me to die, as there would be no one to replace the Holy Knight leader. They’d have to create an entirely new character from scratch. So, they’re keeping me alive for now to buy time for the writers and artists!

But this raises another question: when I was just an R-card, who was originally the leader of the Holy Knights?

Before I could figure it out, a face split into two squares appeared before me.

That face turned away and joyfully called out, “Lady Selena, he’s awake!”

I finally realized I was lying… inside a cage?!

This cage was temporarily constructed with Elven magic, essentially a mutated tree, so there were still leaves and flower buds growing on top. It was over two meters wide and cushioned with a layer of soft straw. Two deer were pulling it forward. Walking on either side of the cage were Elves, likely from the Free Alliance.

I sat up in confusion and realized my hands and feet were tied together.

…Hands and feet?!

I looked down at my wrists, bound together by soft vines—below the vines were layers of bandages, and above them were rolled-up sleeves. Dried bloodstains covered the original color, and the model and textures were incredibly detailed, far from the crude hand armor I was used to.

Is this… a new model?

That’s right, every SSR has three different body models for various plotlines, and a few even have four. I had seen my childhood and teenage models in the memory pack, so adding an adult model was normal. The artists must’ve pulled an all-nighter to finish this three-piece set…

I curiously flexed my newly articulated fingers. Without the familiar scraping of metal, it felt a bit strange.

The sound of hooves approached. Selena’s beautiful face appeared outside the cage. She smiled sweetly and asked, “Little Al, how are you feeling?”

“…”

I stared at her face, recalling the scenes from the memory pack, and found myself momentarily speechless.

“Be good. Once we reach our destination, Teacher will let you go.” Selena avoided my gaze, bending down to lift an Elven girl and placing her on a deer’s back. She gave her instructions, “Lily, keep an eye on him.”

Lily, the Elf girl I had seen upon waking, nodded seriously and flashed a bright smile at Selena. “Understood, Lady Selena! I won’t let him escape!”

Selena trotted off toward the front of the group, moving as quickly as if she were fleeing.

Lily watched her disappear into the winding trees, then propped herself up on the deer’s back and gracefully turned around to sit backward. The smile vanished from her face the moment she looked at me. She scrutinized me warily before sternly asking, “Are you the leader of the Holy Knights?”

I nodded.

She huffed, “How could Lady Selena have such a cruel and heartless disciple like you!”

“…”

I began to search through my memory pack, wondering if there was any codex storyline indicating a deep-seated grudge between us.

Before I could find anything, she bared her teeth at me with a menacing grin. She curled her finger, and the vine binding my wrists suddenly tightened, much more than before. As if that weren’t enough, a light flickered along the vine, and it sprouted small thorns. The thorns weren’t long or particularly sharp; they didn’t pierce through the bandages but sank in just a little.

She snorted smugly.

I silently watched as single-digit damage notifications continuously floated from the thorns. Each time one appeared, another layer of battle damage textures stacked onto my model, and soon there were enough layers to trigger the bleeding effect. Fresh blood soaked through the bandages, dripping down the vines—drip, drip, drip, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!!

“…”

Her face twisted with horror. She quickly dispelled the magic and cast a healing spell on my wrists, restoring several hundred points of health. Once the bleeding stopped, she finally sighed in relief. Glancing nervously in Selena’s direction, she glared at me angrily, “You, you, you… did you do that on purpose?!”

“…”

I glanced at my status screen—still the same familiar five 1s—so why did the developers have time to give me a new skin and three new models but not time to tweak my stats?!

“Don’t think just because you’re injured… you can… you can…” She glanced at my wrists again, quickly looked away, and gritted her teeth. “This is repayment in blood! Hmph!!!”

I couldn’t find any storyline involving a grudge, so I thought for a moment and asked her, “Do we have a vendetta?”

She glared at me fiercely. “You eat young Elves! Lady Selena said you’d snatch away any young Elf who doesn’t sleep at night and eat them!”

“…”

She raised her head, her gaze shifting nervously. It was obvious she wasn’t confident. “But, but I’m already grown up! I’m an adult Elf now! You can’t eat me!”

“…”

I raised my bound wrists and clapped like a seal.

Lily looked confused. “What does that mean?”

Nothing, just that you’ve restored my confidence in my 1-point intelligence stat—turns out I underestimated the developers. Who would’ve thought some NPCs could have negative intelligence?

Lily, puzzled, mimicked my clapping gesture and asked the other Elves nearby, “Do you know what this means?”

The Elves, who had been silently letting her mess with me, all shook their heads, murmuring among themselves before one by one passing the action along. I watched as a group of Elves began clapping like seals, each one’s face full of curiosity.

“Maybe it’s some kind of evil spell?” one Elf guessed.

“But he’s from the Church of Light.”

“Then maybe it’s a prayer gesture?” another Elf speculated.

“I’ve got it!” Lily suddenly realized. “He’s trying to trick us into worshipping the God of Light!”

“…”

The Elves immediately became more cautious. The Elf leader turned to me and said seriously, “Please don’t do anything unnecessary!”

“…?”

The group continued forward in silence for a while, but then a commotion arose from the rear. An Elf went to investigate and quickly returned to report to the leader, “It’s the Inquisitor from the Church of Light; he’s caught up with us.”

Lily was surprised. “He still hasn’t given up? We’re already inside the forest’s borders.”

The group wasn’t large, but the forest’s winding paths made it impossible to see the front or the rear. I could vaguely hear sounds of fighting coming from the back, mixed with wild laughter—that was Cooper’s signature voice line. His voice was so loud and penetrating that even here, I could hear him shouting—“Hand over Alvin!”

Lily sighed, “I didn’t expect someone would be willing to risk their life to save a guy like you!”

Just as she finished speaking, the wind carried Cooper’s roar—“I’m going to kill him!”

Lily: “…”

Me: “…”

“Should we notify Lady Selena?” one of the Elves asked.

“Lady Selena has much more important things to do; dealing with him would be a waste of time!” Lily quickly replied, rolling her eyes at me. “Isn’t he just chasing after this guy to kill him? Just tell him that Lady Selena already killed him!”

“…”

The Elf leader thought for a moment, then nodded in approval. The Elf went back to deliver the message, and soon, the sounds of battle abruptly stopped.

Lily proudly raised her chin.

The next second, Cooper’s deranged scream pierced the sky, “Aaaaaahhh! Die, die, die!!! I’ll kill you all—!!!”

Lily shivered.

The Elf leader sighed helplessly. “…I’d better go notify Lady Selena.”

I watched him disappear down the winding path, then turned to look toward the back of the group.

Evening had begun to fall, and the sky was darkening. Yet it seemed as though another sun had risen there. Blazing white flames shot into the sky, and a black figure leaped into the air, twirling a spear in a full circle before slamming it down. The ground trembled with explosive sounds, mixed with the howls of some unknown species.

In that fleeting glimpse, I saw that Cooper’s health bar was down to half and rapidly declining, while his mana bar was rising in reverse—Cooper was a Berserker card, a class best known for trading health for power. Once his mana bar was full, he could unleash an ultimate skill. In the original second chapter plot, it was this move that had one-shot the dragon Selena had stabbed to death…

While I was thinking, the sound of urgent hooves approached. Selena dashed past me like the wind, rushing to the back of the group. Moments later, Cooper’s broken scream echoed, “Se-lena—!!! Die!!!!!!!”

“Eep…” Lily bit her fingers in fear.

The loud crashes of impact came one after another, and each time one sounded, Lily would flinch. She finally realized she was in trouble and nervously asked, “Hey, what’s the deal with that Inquisitor? Does he want you dead or not?”

“…”

I wanted to know, too.

I closed my eyes and searched for the newly loaded memory pack. There were three related to Cooper—one codex storyline titled [Alvin + Cooper], another titled [Alvin + Hilier + Cooper], and a personal storyline unlocked at favorability level 4 simply called [Cooper].

In the game, players could increase favorability with their Spirits by interacting, gifting, or fighting alongside them, unlocking past memories of the Spirits. This should be the part containing most of my own memories, so I opened the one called [Cooper] first.

…

To my surprise, I once again found myself in that sunlit courtyard. It looked almost the same as before, except the trees had grown taller. Even the figure practicing in the yard seemed to overlap with the younger Alvin. But this boy was taller than Alvin, about eleven or twelve years old, and instead of a sword, he wielded a spear. His gray hair was tied messily, with many strands already fallen loose due to his vigorous movements. Yet he didn’t care, executing each move with fierce intensity, as if venting his emotions.

There was a noise at the gate, and a young Alvin entered.

His once long braid had been cut, and he was no longer wearing armor but a white uniform instead. He seemed to be lost in thought, his brow unconsciously furrowed, leaving two shallow creases at his brow, making him look serious.

“Alvin, take this!” The young boy charged at him like an arrow, thrusting his spear forward.

The young knight instinctively reached out to grab the spear.

The boy hadn’t put much force behind it, so when it was caught, he let go and ran forward a few steps, grabbing Alvin’s leg and looking up at him with crescent-moon-shaped eyes. “What did you bring me to eat today?”

“All you ever think about is food…” Alvin stuck the spear into the ground. His expression softened as his features relaxed, and he reached out to tug at the boy’s messy braid. “Let go.”

“No! Where’s the food?” the boy demanded loudly.

“What do you want to eat?”

“Uncle Sam’s secret roast chicken! And Aunt Kelly’s pie!”

“…You’re certainly not shy about it!”

The boy started to climb up Alvin, using both his hands and feet. “Teacher, you’re the best teacher in the whole wide world! Please take me out to eat, pleeeease—”

Before Alvin knew it, the boy had climbed onto his back, prompting him to reach up and pinch his face in exasperation. “You only call me Teacher when you want something!”

“Mmhmm—mmhmm—”

“Watch your language!”

“I didn’t say anything!” The boy hugged Alvin’s neck, his fluffy head rubbing against his face as he repeatedly pleaded, “Poor Cooper is going to starve! If you don’t take me out to eat, you’re going to lose your favorite disciple!”

“You’re still grounded…”

“I don’t care, I want roast chicken! I want pie! And I want to drink sweet juice!” Cooper shouted loudly. “If you don’t take me to eat, I’ll… I’ll bite your ear!”

“Don’t you dare!”

Cooper opened his mouth wide and pretended to bite. “Ah—”

“You little rascal…” Alvin couldn’t help but laugh, eventually giving in. “…Just this once!”

“Hehehe!” Cooper grinned happily but then noticed something on the back of Alvin’s neck. He reached out and touched behind his ear.

Alvin tilted his head. “Now what?”

Cooper wiped a thin streak of red onto his fingers and sniffed it. Something flashed in his eyes. He held his fingers up to Alvin’s face. “You didn’t clean the blood behind your ear!”

Alvin froze and raised his hand to cover his ear.

“Alvin, killing people without taking a bath is so gross!” Cooper complained loudly.

“…”

Alvin took a deep breath, exhaled, and couldn’t help but smack the back of his head. “Get down!”

“No way!” Cooper clung to his neck, whining, “I’m exhausted, my arms can’t even move anymore. Please carry me!”

“You’d better—”

“Te-ea-cher—”

“…”

“Cooper’s fa-vor-ite teacher!”

“You…”

“Teacher, teacher, teacher—”

“…Shut up, this is the last time!” Alvin finally gave in.

Cooper nodded eagerly. “Mhm, mhm, mhm, the last time! Let’s go, let’s go! I’ll treat you to roast chicken, we’ll each get our own!”

“Where are you getting the money? Did you sneak out again…?”

“No!”

“Don’t lie!”

“…I-I’m not lying, and I didn’t sneak out either! I climbed out!”

“…”

The two of them disappeared into the sunlight.

The wind blew, leaves rustling down as the empty courtyard gradually darkened, eventually fading into black, leaving a few lines of text.

【Cooper is my disciple】

【He will become an excellent knight】

【I hope he will become an even better… leader of the Holy Knights】

…

In the Church of Light, the only high-ranking figure around the same age as the Holy Son of Light was Cooper. I knew the Holy Son was the Pope’s disciple, but I had never considered that Cooper might be the disciple of the Knight Commander. And judging by the memories, their relationship seemed quite good.

Or rather, it used to be good.

—I haven’t forgotten the kidney shot he gave me. My model is in heavy armor, and getting skewered from front to back resulted in over five digits worth of damage when it happened!

So, what happened after that…

I stared at the remaining two codex storylines, suddenly hesitant to open them.

While I was searching through the memory pack, the battle at the back of the group had ended. Selena returned, carrying someone trussed up like a dumpling on the tip of her spear—it was Cooper. His health was down to a quarter, his face was covered in blood, and his heterochromatic eyes glared at Selena like a wild animal, breathing heavily.

Selena deliberately avoided making eye contact with me. She tapped the top of the cage with her hand. The intertwined branches opened, revealing a gap. Tilting her spear, she let the fully bound Cooper slide into the cage with a thud.

“Take him with us.” Selena gave me a quick glance before immediately looking away. “Send a secret message to the Church of Light, telling them the Inquisitor is a guest in Greenleaf Forest and will return in a few days, so there’s no need to storm the place!”

“Yes!”

Selena quickly turned and left, not giving me a chance to ask questions.

After Cooper hit the bottom of the cage, he immediately flipped over and sat up on his knees, ready to lunge. But when he saw me, he froze. He blinked a few times, staring at me from head to toe before rasping, “…You’re not dead?”

“Mhm.”

His eyes suddenly lit up.

At that moment, the joy and hope in his gaze overlapped with the memory of the little boy who used to cling to me and beg. I couldn’t help but call out, “Cooper…”

“Don’t call me that!” His expression turned cold, teeth clenched, and he spat out his words through gritted teeth, “Commander! Please! Call me! Inquisitor!”

“…”

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