Shepherd Wizard-Chapter 221

Translator: Pai_

Song of the Sun, Moon, and Stars, commonly referred to as ‘SSMS’, was one of those mass-produced RPG games released in the late 2000s, during a time when such games were flooding the market.

What set this game apart from the many similar ones was none other than its degree of freedom.

Players could choose from one to four Archetypes and combine them to form complex and diverse character builds.

They could also create various items to their liking using multiple crafting skills such as gunpowder production and apply them in different ways.

Outside of certain neutral areas, players could attack and kill each other without any penalties.

It even had Hidden Classes, which were the fantasy of fantasy novel-based games at the time, so it gained a fair amount of popularity in its early days.

However, as expected, when people avoid doing something, there’s usually a good reason for it.

Due to issues like failed balance adjustments between classes and poor management, SSMS ended its service exactly fifteen years after its release.

In fact, even this was a relatively long lifespan for an RPG game.

This was partly because it was a small-scale project with low maintenance costs, and also because a few deeply addicted whales spent an absurd amount of money on it.

Considering that the game's downfall began when those ‘whales’ disappeared all at once, it wouldn’t be fair to blame the shutdown solely on the developers.

“The group disappearance of SSMS users.”

“Yeah, about a hundred people suddenly went missing starting from September 22, 2023, and when investigated, it turned out that all of them were playing that game. Honestly, if it weren’t for this, I wouldn’t even have known such a game existed. I only found out because YouTubers started making all kinds of videos about it since the incident was so mysterious.”

Just as Soo-ho said, the mass disappearance of SSMS users caused quite a stir in society.

After all, any incident where a hundred people die or go missing would naturally shake the entire nation.

Since the game had fewer than two hundred average concurrent users at the time, it was obvious to anyone, unless they were a moron, that the missing persons had one thing in common.

The real question was: why did the people playing that specific game disappear?

At first, the police speculated that issues might have arisen because friendships formed in the game carried over into real life. However, according to testimony from players who had not gone missing, many of the disappeared individuals weren’t close enough to have met each other in real life.

The only commonality was that all of them were logged into the game around 2 a.m. on September 22, 2023.

In fact, there were even bizarre cases where a parent confirmed the missing person was in their room, and due to the structure of the house, it would’ve been impossible to sneak out, unless they were abducted by psychic powers or something equally unbelievable.

“None of the missing people ever came back, right?”

“No. Not officially.”

“Hm.......”

Turan, upon hearing the explanation, became certain that the Preah God Tribe were the missing users of that game.

And also that they couldn’t return to Earth, even in death.

Soo-ho looked clearly curious as to why Turan had suddenly brought up this game, but Turan had no intention of explaining.

It would mean digging too deep, and truthfully, even Turan didn’t know everything about it yet.

“Could you also look into the people who made it?”

“Give me a moment.”

After typing on the keyboard for a bit, Soo-ho quickly found that the development company had long since gone bankrupt.

Naturally, information about what its members were doing now was far too private to be found through internet searches.

With a sigh of disappointment, Turan next requested information about the game itself.

Fortunately, even though the game had been defunct for nearly ten years, there was still plenty of related material available.

According to Soo-ho, it was thanks to something called a ‘wiki’, a virtual library where people directly recorded information.

Thanks to that, Turan could see all the job change requirements mentioned by the gods, the combinations of each job change, and the resulting skills.

Having just learned how to use it, Turan scrolled down with the mouse wheel and was deeply impressed by how this terrifying amount of knowledge was shared so easily.

‘So this is what it was.’

Of course, some of this knowledge was already known by the former gods who had once been deeply immersed in the game.

However, not many of them remembered the exact conditions perfectly.

Even if they had spent time in a semi-conscious state in soul form, remembering things precisely after spending thousands of years in that world was an absurd expectation.

In reality, there were numerous errors in the rituals the gods knew, starting from the Pyro Executioner job change ritual.

In contrast, things like gunpowder or hydrochloric acid production, which had to be done regularly rather than just once during a job change, were remembered with much higher accuracy.

Through this, Turan once again confirmed that no combination like the one he had, Shepherd, existed.

Meisa was also able to gain more detailed knowledge about the abilities of Thunder Lord, which she would need to learn in the future.

There were many other things worth investigating as well.

For example, the backstory that served as the setting of the game.

Among the souls of fallen gods, there was no one who could properly explain or accurately recall this.

After all, not many people take the story seriously when playing a mass-produced RPG game.

However, for someone to whom that world was no different from reality, it was not something to be ignored.

Through this, they learned that the Enril Desert used to be called the “Devastated Land” during the game era, and that the reason there were many jewels in the reclaimed southern lands was because there had once been many jewel monsters there.

Perhaps, in that other world, monsters did not exist, so only the jewels remained in the form of veins.

In contrast, there was no mention of other races, which seemed to imply that they had not crossed over from "SSMS" like the players had, but had originally existed in that world.

Though perhaps even those might have crossed over from another world through some other medium.

“There’s way too much content here; we should write some of it down. Do you have anything to write with?”

“Here.”

In truth, the most reliable way would be to ask the Librarian, who had perfect memory, to read it. But unfortunately, on Earth, spirit forms couldn't go outside.

Because of that, the two of them brought out the bundle of parchment, quill, and ink they had been carrying around for the first time in a while.

“Here you go.”

As the ink had hardened from disuse and made things difficult, Soo-ho, watching them struggle, handed over a notebook and a ballpoint pen.

They accepted with thanks, and after a quick lesson on how to use them, both of them couldn’t stop exclaiming in amazement at the smooth paper and the incredibly easy-to-use ballpoint pen.

In their world, paper made from wood or reeds did exist, but it was of such poor quality that parchment was still widely used. The paper here, however, was on a whole different level.

“Seriously, you just press it down and it writes so smoothly.”

“I wish we could take some of this with us. Is it expensive?”

“Not really. I could buy a few more and bring them.”

“Yes. Actually, now that I think about it, it’d be even better if we could learn how to make this.”

At Meisa’s words, Soo-ho’s eyes widened in surprise.

“You’re allowed to do that? I thought, because of wizard regulations or something, you couldn’t use scientific technology.”

“There’s no such thing. The problem is just that natural laws, meaning scientific principles, are applied somewhat differently than they are on Earth.”

Then Soo-ho asked them to wait a moment and started manipulating something on the computer.

Before long, with a whirring sound, the large machine next to the computer started making noise and spat out paper.

Turan picked it up and was impressed to find tightly packed printed letters already set in ink.

“The handwriting is quite good. Did you prepare this in advance?”

“No, I just printed it now... The principle is complicated, so let’s skip that part. Just knowing what’s in there should be very helpful.”

What Soo-ho had printed out was a collaborative research document compiled for modern humans, in other words, Earthlings, who had fallen into a fantasy world.

The types of knowledge included were truly diverse.

From architecture to military science and mechanical engineering, physics, mathematics, medicine, agricultural methods, and even high-level electrical technology.

The concept centered around knowledge for ordinary people who had fallen into a fantasy world to survive, so the perspective was slightly different from that of Turan and Meisa as leaders, but even so, the potential for application wasn't just sufficient, it was overflowing.

“This is... seriously, this is incredibly helpful.”

Meisa stared at the document Soo-ho had printed out with a half-entranced expression, reading through it again and again.

Just like with gunpowder production, some parts of it might not work in their world, but even with that considered, there was far too much that could be of help.

In other words, it was as if they had received a clear blueprint for how to develop the future human community.

All that remained was to adapt it appropriately, taking into account the existence of wizards, magical beasts, and other races.

It was a level far beyond the vague knowledge held by the surviving Preah God Tribe members after the fall of the old empire.

Among them, almost none possessed proper scientific understanding, and even fewer had been prepared for the possibility of suddenly crossing over into another world.

Turan lowered his head slightly toward Soo-ho, who was watching them with a somewhat anxious expression.

“To be honest with you, Soo-ho ssi, this is far beyond what we had hoped for. If there’s any form of repayment you desire, I’ll do my utmost to fulfill it.”

“Th-then, could I possibly learn magic too!?”

This was the very desire Soo-ho had been harboring ever since he first began hosting them.

Any human who had witnessed the transcendent power of the first wizard would naturally dream of the same.

A body immune to bullets, lightning strikes that collapse buildings with a wave of the hand, shooting down jets and missiles, who wouldn’t covet powers like a superhero from a movie?

Judging by what he’d seen, the young man and woman standing before him, who had come to capture such a powerful wizard, must be similarly skilled. He hoped that maybe they could share that power.

But Turan shook his head with an awkward expression at the suggestion.

“I’m sorry, but that’s not possible. People of this world don’t have magic power.”

“Ah... Th-then, what about acquiring magic power through training?”

“That’s also impossible. Even in our world, there’s no way to make someone without magic power into a wizard.”

Even the ordinary people in their world had at least a minute amount of magic power, unlike Earthlings, so it was out of the question.

Since it wasn’t something they wouldn’t do but something they couldn’t do, Soo-ho couldn’t even protest. He simply lowered his head in disappointment.

Turan’s heart ached as he looked at him.

He had been taught that one must return what is received, and yet here he was, having received such a great gift without being able to give anything back.

If he could have shared magical power, he would’ve gladly parted with some of his abundant reserves.

Even just a small fragment of Turan’s current power would be enough to grant someone knight-level magic, which in this world would make them a superhuman capable of taking down a bear with bare hands.

But magic power couldn’t be shared like that, could it?

Just as the mood had begun to sink, Turan suddenly recalled something and let out a quiet exclamation.

“It’s not much of a substitute, but I’ll give you this.”

“Huh? Turan, that’s...”

Meisa, standing beside him, widened her eyes as Turan took off the bracelet he always wore.

Wasn’t that the Guardian magic artifact crafted by Ashiz's older brother Melo as a token of gratitude for saving Ashiz in the past?

Although it had become less useful now that Turan had inherited the Lavitas bloodline ability and Meisa had created several high-performance defensive magic artifacts, the bracelet still held great symbolic value.

“This is called a Guardian magic artifact. It becomes stronger when magic power is infused into it, but even without that, it grants the wearer the defensive power of the Guardian bloodline. I’m not sure if an Earthling can use it, but let’s find out.”

Turan fastened the bracelet to Soo-ho’s arm, then casually grabbed a kitchen knife from the kitchen, held Soo-ho’s hand, and gave his hand back a light jab.

Soo-ho screamed reflexively, but quickly realized that instead of pain, all he felt was a faint pressure on the spot where he’d been stabbed.

“Try it for yourself.”

“Okay, let’s see... Whoa. Is this real?”

Soo-ho lightly poked his own hand several times, then began stabbing harder and even slicing with the blade, letting out exclamations of awe.

Far from bleeding, his skin had become so incredibly tough that the kitchen knife's blade ended up damaged instead.

Likewise, when he punched the wall with all his strength, it didn’t cause any damage to the wall, and his fist also didn’t hurt at all, like he had struck something soft and cushiony.

Watching the scene silently, Turan estimated that Soo-ho’s defensive power while wearing the magic artifact was somewhere between an ordinary knight and a noble.

Unless he were attacked in areas like the eyes or inside the mouth, any exposed parts of his body would be almost impossible to harm even with weapons, if the attacker had the strength of an average human.

At that level, he probably wouldn’t be injured even if attacked by a beast like a tiger.

Of course, who knew how likely he was to face such attacks here on Earth, but still, better safe than sorry.

On their way here, Turan had seen massive hunks of metal called cars constantly moving along the roads. If Soo-ho were ever hit by one, what would normally crush his entire body and kill him would now result in little more than a light bruise.

In a way, it was like gaining an extra life.

“This is about all I can do for you.”

“You brought it out so casually, but that’s not something we can just hand out in our world.”

Worried that Soo-ho might underestimate the value of the magic artifact, Meisa clarified that even in their world, this was one of the highest-grade magic artifacts, and very rare.

It was something only a skilled crafter could make after pouring energy into it for a month and then spending half a year in a crippled state to recover.

Feeling burdened, Soo-ho tried to return the bracelet, but Turan firmly refused.

“Considering the value of the information you’ve given us, I don’t think this is an excessive price. If it wasn’t impossible, I truly would’ve wanted to give you some of our magical power.”

True to his belief that one must repay what they receive, Turan didn’t regret handing over the Guardian magic artifact.

No matter how easily such things could be obtained on Earth, in their world it was a treasure that not even several great noble houses combined could acquire.

Perhaps trying to lighten the burden he felt from the immense value of the gift he had received?

When Soo-ho went so far as to organize and print out the entire lore and content of “SSMS”, Meisa gathered and enchanted the papers with preservation and reinforcement magic.

Since the material was paper, this was to prevent any damage from normal blades, heat, humidity, or time.

Not only would they review the information multiple times after returning, but it was knowledge that might have to be passed down through generations, so this much was necessary.

After confirming that all the materials were in order, Turan gave Soo-ho a slight bow and said his farewell.

“Then, it’s about time for us to head back.”

“Huh, already? At least stay and have dinner before you go.”

“That’s a very tempting offer, but unfortunately, we don’t have that kind of leisure.”

In truth, the two of them could’ve stayed in this world for a few more days if they wanted.

If they had, they would’ve had the chance to taste Earth’s food, the food that the fallen gods praised and missed so dearly.

But lingering here with nothing to do only made them more anxious as time passed.

Though they suspected it wouldn’t be the case, what if something went wrong and, by the time they returned, several years had already passed?

That would be a nightmare.

From the giants running rampant in the Enril Desert to the vanished Monarch, the world was filled with unresolved problems.

If the two of them were gone for years, there was no guarantee their noble houses or loved ones would remain unharmed.

At their polite refusal, Soo-ho looked disappointed but nodded in understanding.

“Well, I suppose there’s no helping it.......”

“There’s no guarantee we’ll return to this exact location if we ever come back to this world, so if you could leave a strand of hair, we’ll use that to find you again.”

“That’s possible?”

“Yes.”

Even though Earthlings didn’t have magic power, they could still be targeted by tracking magic.

In truth, even trees without magic power could be traced by picking a leaf and tracking it back to the tree it grew from, so it was only natural.

With Soo-ho's permission, Turan and Meisa collected a handful of his hair, and lastly swept various objects from his house that might be useful for scientific research into their large-capacity pouch.

Then, the moment they held hands and broke the barrier surrounding their spirit forms, their bodies vanished like phantoms, just as Badal had done in the past when he caused trouble on Earth.

“Wow.......”

Seeing that, Soo-ho felt like he had just woken from a dream, but looking at the now even emptier house made him realize it hadn’t been a hallucination. He thought about pinching his own cheek.

***

The process of returning from Earth to their original world was the reverse of how they had left.

Expelled from the pale blue dot, they passed through the solar system and galaxy at speeds far beyond light, reaching a point where the entire Laniakea Supercluster could be seen at a glance.

In an instant, they had exited the universe, and once again, the two of them saw the glowing white ellipse approaching from afar, riding the gray roots.

It was the very world where they had been born and raised.

“It really feels like we’ve been dreaming.”

“Though, looking at the clothes we’re wearing, we can at least tell it wasn’t a dream.”

They were still dressed in the outfits the clothing store clerk had recommended.

It was a fashion far too foreign for their own world and would need changing, but Turan thought Meisa looked even more enchanting in Earth’s attire.

As they passed through the void and submerged into the glowing white substance, Turan felt something in the distance glance their way.

Something with a slightly pointed head and long, complicated horn-like features.

‘A deer?’

Just as he squinted to see more clearly, they suddenly found themselves standing side by side in the space where they had originally used the key.

Standing precisely within the narrow circle.

“We’re back.”

“Yeah.......”

It felt almost like they had briefly traveled into a dream world. That dazed feeling didn’t last long. Turan first picked up the key, now deactivated and powerless, and stored it separately, then quickly exited the building with Meisa.

Though it had been bright when they entered, outside was now pitch black with not even the moon in sight, but for him, a member of the Zahar bloodline, this posed no obstacle.

Of course, Meisa had to conjure a sphere of light to follow behind him.

Upon finding a yeti corpse, Turan brushed off the frozen layer, and Meisa, in a slightly anxious tone, asked from behind,

“How is it?”

“It hasn’t been long since the body and blood started to freeze.”

In other words, time was flowing similarly between Earth and their world.

The time they had spent there amounted to no more than a few hours here as well.

The two of them let out a breath of relief, neither one waiting for the other.

*****

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