◈ Episode 7. Class Quest (2)
[Name: Grandfell Claudie Arpheus Romeo]
[Class: Demon Hunter]
[Level: 67]
[Stats]
Strength: 23 / Dexterity: 28 / Magic: 18 / Luck: 2
[Points held: 0]
Luckily, Grandfell’s brilliant brain had remembered the numbers from before.
Thanks to this, the changes in his stats were easy to see.
[Stats].
strength: 25 / agility: 30 / hp: 18 / luck: 2
[Points held: 0]
My strength and agility have increased by a whopping two points.
…… Can I get this?
I’m tempted to say yes, this one.
A four-point stat increase.
That’s like a four-level increase.
But it’s not as simple as that.
“I’m still the same level.
I’m four levels above the same player.
No, I was getting ahead of them.
Consider the price of a stat boosting item.
‘They used to cost millions of dollars for just a one-point boost, and then they were all over the place.
Maybe this is the kind of compensation I could have brought home with me from my day job.
But that wasn’t the end of it.
I stared at the quest window and frowned.
─Train your weakened body. (Repeat)
The quest that increased my stats was a recurring quest.
Of course, there’s no guarantee that the quest’s rewards will be the same.
But if you can increase your stats through training by even one point……!
This was a quest that you had to do over and over again whenever you could.
At that point, it made sense.
The mere fact that I’d started a class quest meant that I’d be writing articles about it, and I’d have a shot at the top of the rankings.
I looked at the quest window.
Defeat the Demon. (Success)
─Train your weakened body. (Repeat)
‘This is the reward for the first quest…….’
What kind of rewards are waiting for the linked quests?
A human could only expect that.
‘No.’
But I didn’t.
This was not the influence of the Grand Prix, but my own will.
Great expectations lead to great disappointment.
Yes, we shouldn’t forget to stay on topic.
……But for now, for this moment, can I be purely happy? The after-effects of the past week’s gruelling training still lingered in my body.
However, I didn’t show the slightest bit of emotion.
My shirt and slacks were drenched in sweat.
My legs felt like they could give out at any moment.
But without a moment’s hesitation, I rose from my seat.
My current appearance was the most appropriate representation of me, Lee Ho-yeol, and the black history of the Grand Prix.
What is pride? I wonder what I can’t express honestly.
I thought about it, but gave up because it was too much to think about.
It’s all part of adolescence.
.
.
.
My stats went up.
It didn’t have the side effect of making physical fatigue disappear.
So…….
Back at home, I could only prepare my meal with trembling hands.
The menu was impeccable.
Chicken breast and fresh vegetables.
A very good quality meal with rye bread.
The problem was the knife.
Ding-ding.
I stared at the jaggedly sliced vegetables.
Then I said shamelessly.
“It’s not bad to be a little unconventional sometimes.”
He held up an unusually jagged piece of carrot.
“This one looks like a star in the night sky.”
I can’t believe it.
I feel like I’m getting more and more brazen.
This was another thing I had to get used to.
Like I said, what else is there to do but spit in my face?
……But at least have an excuse.
This is a dish I would have whipped up in five minutes in the old days.
Slice a piece of rye bread in half and put a chicken breast salad inside.
It would have been a simple sandwich and a quick meal.
But I was eating a very elegant meal with a fork and knife in each hand.
My forearms were shaking and I spilled the chicken breast salad on the table.
“……poisoned.”
My pride wouldn’t let me make a small mistake.
“There must have been some pesticide left on it.”
I couldn’t help but think seriously.
“……What about the excuse of a head injury?
It’s not like I’m doing stand-up comedy!
After all, wouldn’t a sympathetic gaze be better than looking like a madman?
After the meal, thank goodness I don’t have eyes to see.
I immediately picked up the stack of papers on the table.
It contained a concept of magic that I had scribbled down while watching a Netflix video.
I wrote it down, but every time I look at it, it’s ridiculous?
‘I’m more surprised that it makes sense than anything else.
──────
Magic is not about creating something out of nothing.
It explores things.
It interferes with things.
“It’s about manifesting.
Most magic is based on exploring and interfering with mana. Mana is heavily influenced by its ability to be explored and interfered with…….
──────
It makes sense.
It’s not just a ‘skill’,
I wonder if there really is a concept of 『magic』.
It made me wonder.
‘Well, I don’t know if I understood it correctly.
I had understood the process of “exploration” and “interference” just by watching the video.
However, I have yet to manifest my magic.
Even though I had invested stats in magic power, it was not enough to manifest magic in the Netflix video,
it was not enough to manifest magic.
‘That wizard was nearly level 300.
It stands to reason that your magic power should be similarly high.
Of course, it could be a simple lack of power.
Or was it a defence mechanism to protect their pride.
I had no way of knowing at this point.
But it was also unconscionable to hope that my magic would rise to the level of that mage.
In the end, I had to settle for something easier, something that would allow me to explore,
“and interfere with easier magic.
‘Studying the Unseen…….’
The time it took to analyse the magic in the video was three days.
The thought of analysing another spell made my head spin.
But regardless of my feelings, I didn’t hesitate.
I played the video on Netflix again.
Immediately, I started scribbling on a blank sheet of paper.
“Once I get the hang of it, it will take less time.”
I hope this confidence is not a bluff.
Fervently praying that I could keep my word.
*sigh
8pm.
Anti Arcana United, an international organisation.
The lights have not yet gone out in the office of the Korean chapter of AAU.
“…… to eat, Thursday.”
The overtime had been happening every Thursday.
Sung flopped flat on his desk.
Every Thursday, he was nostalgic for the past.
The days when Arcana was still just a game.
“Where is it? My work-life balance!”
A biography of the world’s best virtual reality game, Arkana Continent.
When I got a job at Cosmo, the company that developed Arkana.
I felt like I had the world at my feet.
Who is Cosmo?
The CEO, Raymond Sean, is a big believer in work-life balance.
They pay the best salaries in the industry.
It was every developer’s dream job.
But when the CEO went missing, everything changed.
Arcana was no longer a game, but a reality.
It was only a matter of time before Cosmo closed its doors.
From the top to the bottom to the janitor.
All of Cosmo’s employees, except for the missing CEO, had been in and out of courts around the world.
After a lengthy trial, the verdict was insufficient evidence.
And now.
“……Real Rayman, you’re going to die in my hands.”
Sung was forced to take a job with the AAU Korea chapter.
Yes, he’s grateful.
In these times of unemployment, it’s nice to have a job in a public company.
He could use his experience to contribute to international peace.
But gratitude and resentment were two different things.
Sung Hyun-joon asked the senior next to him.
“Senior, do you think there will be any new updates by the end of this week?”
“I hope so.”
“If there’s no announcement by 8 o’clock, there won’t be, right?”
New update.
It’s a different way of saying Arcana’s erosion of reality.
Arcana overlaid on reality.
There’s no better way to describe it than a new update.
Of course, there was no way for Sung and his colleagues to know if the update was coming.
“Not them, they’re too fickle.”
Only Rayman would know.
I can only guess.
Because he wouldn’t be dead.
The proof was Arcana’s official website, which was still up and running.
Thanks to Arcana’s website, the world knew the levels and rankings of its players.
We could see which players had cleared which rifts, and we could reward them through it.
The world could roll because of that website.
What the hell was he thinking.
Sung scratched his head in frustration.
“Rayman, that guy is……. No, I don’t know if he’s human, but whatever. What the hell is he doing this for? He’s a stinker. Working overtime every Thursday. I feel like I’m still servicing Arcana.”
But even the grumbling didn’t last long.
There was nowhere to turn.
Sighs erupted around the office.
“Ha! There’s an update!”
“Oh, no. I wrote my annual leave tomorrow.”
“Oh, no. I’m handing in my resignation and going after Rayman.”
Yeah, because there hadn’t been an update in almost a month.
I kind of expected it.
Sung slowly got up and went to the official Arcana website.
As his colleagues had said, there was indeed an update on the homepage.
The author was, of course, Rayman.
“…… Is this crazy?”
“Hey, is this a true story?”
“No, Rayman, are you out of your fucking mind?!”
Those who read the update were stunned.
This was an update that made no sense.
“A new demon is coming to your side.
A new Rift, the Count’s Citadel, will be added.
New Named Monster, ‘Count Ascura’ : Lv.430
New Rift, ‘The Count’s Estate’ is added.
New monster is added.
‘Count Ascura’s Henchman’ : Lv.390
Count Ascura’s Knight: Lv.350
Count Ascura’s Soldier: Lv.300
Added a new rift, ‘Outer Rim of the Manor’.
New monsters will be added.
‘Bloodstained Beasts’ : Lv.220 – Lv.250
“Bloody Bandit” : Lv.230″
“You’ve already brought out Count Ascura?”
It was a level 430 Named Monster.
The current player ranked first, Skar, was only level 401.
A gap of 30 levels.
Moreover, Count Ascura was a demonic monster.
An overgrown monster.
Out of control.
If you consider the characteristics of a Demon Race released into the real world…….
“……Senpai, you didn’t update this to clear it, did you?”
The new rift will never be cleared.
“That’s right, this is just a finger-sucking exercise.”
It didn’t matter if this was the update history of the game.
I asked the players, “How do you do a balance patch?
I’m going to get some flack.
After all, players would die dozens and dozens of times and find a way around it.
But this was reality.
If you die, you’re done.
And if you didn’t get through the rift, you’d release that horrible demon into the real world.
A terrible reality.
Follow me.
Calls rang out from all directions.
But no one picks up the phone.
They’ve all realised the gravity of the situation.
“Do you think it’s going to be difficult for …… to work together?”
“Only time will tell, but it won’t be easy. As you know, the demons aren’t something that can be defeated by sheer force of numbers, are they?”
“Even with the help of the NPCs in that demon tower……?”
“I’m sure they’ll be up to the task. In the setting I know of, the only time the mages in the tower move is when there’s a crisis in the tower, whether it’s the end of the world or something else. As long as the tower is intact, they won’t move, they won’t move.”
Sung said.
“Okay, leaving the Count aside for now. What about the other mobs?”
“The guilds, we’ll have to unite to even try.”
“I suppose there’s no solution at all. Hunt the mobs on the outskirts or in the fief rift and level them up. We can challenge the citadel rift where the earl is!”
“I don’t know, do you think you’ll have time? I’m guessing the rift will collapse sooner rather than later.”
“…….”
Sung Hyun-joon was at a loss for words.
Really, there’s no way?
What will happen to us then?
Follow me─
“First, let’s answer the phone.”
At his senior’s words, Sung Hyun-joon picked up the phone in a daze.
An excited reporter’s voice came through the receiver.
But he couldn’t concentrate.
“……I’m sorry. I don’t have anything to say right now.”
*sigh
Early morning.
“?”
My vision flashed as I sat at the table, filling in the paper.
“!”
[Class Quest: Prelude to a Counterattack].
Last of the Demon Hunters.
Let the demons know that the time for counterattack has come.
─Defeat the demons. (Success)
Train your weakened body. (Repeat)
Hunt a vampire. (Ongoing) ▼
A vampire.
I put down my pen.
“An inferior race interrupts our precious time.”
Nazimak hissed.
“I will hold you accountable and punish you severely.”