◈ Episode 220. With my own two eyes

Holyeong (command).

Not Hoyeol, but Holyeong.

To be precise, Gwicheol was commanding the Zero Mountains.

I hold it in my hand and wield it.

If you ask me if there’s a reason to say that, as if I’m a swordsman from another house.

-Hahaha! Good, rampage harder. Wild!

I was too embarrassed to reveal that it was mine.

With each swing, words pour forth.

I’m tempted to post a question to the community.

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Q. Are all ego equipment this talkative?

──────

Then you’ll get an answer like this.

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A. Ego equipment? There’s no such thing as ego equipment.

──────

What does that even mean?

It means it’s a problem that can’t be solved.

Shouldn’t we just tell the guy to shut up?

I wish I could.

But I have to be able to.

“A wildness that never gave up until the end. You were honorable enough.”

That damn mouth!

As you can see, Grandfell and Gwicheol’s sensibilities were a match made in heaven. The only one who suffers because of it is me, Lee Hoyeol, who is suffering on both sides.

Still, let’s think positively.

‘……It’s better than the old days.’

I had just awakened as a player.

I was just trying to teach manners to Gnolls.

Now I had a good reason to defend myself to anyone who caught me like this.

Why, the mob I’d just defeated was a level 700 monster.

[Name: Grandfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo]

[Title: Last Adventurer, Sublime, Transcendent]

[Class: Demon Hunter]

[Level: 601]

[Stats]

Strength: 141 / Agility: 139 / Magic: 517 / Luck: 12 / Aesthetics: High / Tenacity: 2

[Holding Points: 0]

An extra day’s work.

It was the fourth day of steady monster hunting in the Zero Mountains. I’ve broken through the level 600 barrier and gained another level, but it’s not the levels that matter.

It’s the fundamental abilities that matter.

How much I’ve increased the abilities I have.

I started focusing more on that.

In that sense, I’ve made some progress.

First, I avoided using magic against monsters as much as possible.

That would be imbalanced, right?

It’s a magic whose manifestation is amplified by the effect of the circle. Since I had already reached the level of a Transcendent, hunting monsters with magic would only fill up my experience points pointlessly.

“Efficiency is everything.”

Time is an afternoon tea…….

No, no, no, not this.

It’s like gold.

Besides, experience can be found on the Arcana continent, at the Quernberg Machine Tower. Legacies are the best.

From now on, hunting in the real world would be more than just about gaining experience.

Hmph─

Not to mention working on my incomplete sword skills.

Or practicing marksmanship with a crossbow.

In so many ways.

Like a demon hunter.

Focusing on developing fundamental abilities.

‘In case it turns out to be an anomaly.’

Sure.

It’s the kind of development that players would be shocked to learn about.

They’ll say, I’m just buying it and suffering.

To which I would reply.

“Sometimes you have to slow down to see things.”

No, I didn’t have to be so romantic about it, because…….

-That statement is absolutely correct. my master.

Don’t go back on this again, Gwicheol.

Anyway, I called up the biggest accomplishment of the four days.

Hiel and Diend.

For the first time in a long time, I had a good idea of their powers at any given time.

I opened my mouth.

“Hiel, Diend.”

“Hiel answered my lord’s call.”

“You called, my lord.”

Why, they say you die when you meet your doppelganger.

Hiel, Diend, Gwicheol.

That’s three doppelgangers in one.

I’m starting to feel dizzy, but I’m going to hold it together.

‘First of all, Diend is as good as I expected.’

I’ve never seen Diend’s power with my own eyes, but I’ve always known it was strong.

This dark spirit, Diend, had been making Senior Spirit Magic Feiyan’s contract spirit Fire Drake nervous since his first appearance. Even if I not sure, I expected it to be a high-level spirit level.

‘But I overlooked Hiel.’

I will admit, it was due to prejudice.

I was aware of his past, so I overlooked it. That Hiel would still be as flashy as she was in the predator swamp.

‘She could stop an elf in its tracks.’

But Hiel was a spirit of its own, blessed with the [First World Tree] along with me.

{Nature} abilities, even if not specialized for combat, were beyond the reach of ordinary monsters.

I could see the evidence.

All the beast-type monsters were bowing down to Hiel… … ! They weren’t gentle.

There was even a herbivore, a [Warmonger Reindeer], in the mix that would have killed a beast if it were aggressive.

So, to put it simply…….

‘You were educated too, Hiel.’

Perhaps because she resembles someone, it would be fair to call him an instructor.

As I was looking at Hiel like that, I started to understand.

Why the archmages in the cone hats cringed at the sight of me.

‘I think I know why.’

I was just as surprised as they were.

Hiel, the spirit chosen by the First World Tree.

The noble iron that overpowered the Sword Saints.

Until the end.

Even if you put aside my bubbly self.

Who can handle all three of them at once?

That fact alone would be enough to leave anyone speechless.

In that sense, it was very reassuring.

I should have nothing to fear in this world.

At this moment, my mind was far from calm.

“I preached my master’s theory of etiquette to the animals in the forest.”

Because of Hiel, who now speaks for herself without me having to say a word?

“I will imitate you, my lord.”

If not, then for Diend, who watched and learned from the tribulations?

-Of course……!

If not that, then Gwicheol, who marvels at the grotesque scenery?

Yes, under normal circumstances.

This alone would have been enough to cause me emotional damage.

But in my head right now.

I had the intention of making this a minor incident.

Yes.

It was the story Skal had told me.

The news about the Great Family, to be precise.

[Class Quest: Gathering of All Dragons]

The old dragon shouted.

The Great Family has returned to the Arcana Continent.

All dragons want to find out the truth of what happened.

─Witness the dragons gathering on the Continent. (Optional)

Skal shared the Dragon Knight class quest with me.

The moment I saw it.

I became dizzy with excitement.

『Great Family』.

There was a setting overlaid on those words.

『The heir to a great family, but the family was destroyed by a demon.

The sole survivor of the family, Grandfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo, hereafter Grandfell, has taken up the life of a demon hunter in order to avenge that demon.』

Why, of all the titles in the world.

And this is a ‘great’ family!

I thought with as much cold, common sense as I could muster.

Claudi.

Just like Grandfell.

It was a fictionalized family that I made up when I was suffering from second year of middle school disease.

It couldn’t exist on the Arcana continent.

‘It must be another family.’

After all, that great family has returned.

‘At least I’ve kept my past, and my name, well hidden.’

I tried to reassure myself.

Still, it didn’t ease my mind.

He must be feeling it too. I’m feeling it now.

Grandfell setting, taking all the good stuff and putting it together!

‘Of course, the scale is different.’

Let’s see…….

I vaguely recall the Claudi family’s setting.

Back in the day, I was the one who labeled it ‘great’.

In other words.

It’s comparable to Grandfell.

It was full of settings that made me cringe, seriously.

……Seriously, just in case.

What if these settings came true?

What if there’s still a trace of Claudi Family remaining on the Arcana continent?

I guarantee it.

At the very least, I won’t be able to hold my head up high on Arcana.

So maybe we shouldn’t make it happen.

Why?

[Grandfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo]

I name this damn thing.

On the Arcana continent, of course.

Because I have no intention of revealing it to the world.

“Especially not if anyone even knows it’s really……!

I had declared to Skal.

-“I won’t believe it until I see it with my own two eyes.”

That’s not what I meant.

I didn’t mean it, and I spat it out cold.

I apologize to Skal, but I hope you understand.

This was a life-or-death situation!

*

After the creation of the AAU Yusra Branch.

Interaction between the branch offices has increased.

Not only between branch leaders, but also between employees.

This means that the interaction is much more frequent than before.

Yoon Soogyeom waved lightly at the camera.

“Hey, how long has it been since I’ve seen you?”

“What’s up, Tom? Katrina’s still here.”

“You haven’t called me in a while, and now you’re waving.”

“Hey, you know who our boss is.”

“You’re probably dying under Mr. Park, right?”

Park Minjae, head of AAU’s Korea branch.

The man who went toe-to-toe with CEO Raymond Shen.

A legendary figure in many senses.

His half-bone temperament has been around since AAU was Cosmo. Tom and Katrina were among those who expressed their condolences when they heard that Park Minjae had been promoted to chapter leader and Yoon Soogyeom’s boss.

“But I still envy you sometimes.”

“Are you crazy? You envy me? Why?”

“Well, you’re kind of close to Lee Hoyeol.”

“I agree.”

At the mention of Hoyeol’s name, Katrina turned to the camera.

Yoon Soogyeom must have a closer relationship with Hoyeol than they do.

Katrina spoke eagerly.

“There will be no contact or interaction, so what’s this information about Mr. Lee that only the Korean branch knows? I promise I’ll keep it to myself. I’ll get Tom out of there if I have to.”

Questions like that after doing something?

They’re asking for nonsense.

Yoon shook his head in disbelief.

“Do you know what pride is?”

“Pride? You know, the word that General Manager Lee Hoyeol lives by.”

“So, would there be such a thing as special treatment for someone like that?”

“Oh…….”

The two of them were instantly convinced.

After all, Hoyeol’s behavior over the years…….

There is no such thing as discrimination for Hoyeol.

He wouldn’t even tolerate the sacrifice of the small for the great.

He was a fair and honest man.

The three lit up and got down to business.

“So, we’re going to reminisce about old times, huh?”

“Exactly. The good old days of storytelling.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but does that mean anything?”

“Tom, please. If you’re sorry, don’t say it.”

“Katrina, just punch him in the side.”

The three of us were bickering, and it was like being back in those days.

But I couldn’t help but laugh.

I couldn’t go back to those days.

Tom, who was smoothing his beaten side, opened his mouth.

“Let’s get something out of the way, shall we? Maybe Arcana has been out of our control since it was a game, so let’s start with that premise.”

“Admitted.”

“Okay. Well, only you know the answer to that.”

Tom was always pessimistic, but he was good when he had to be.

“When I think of it like that, I shudder to think how many mountains we’ll have to climb. Why, the Arcana continent was still pretty peaceful before the demons showed up, wasn’t it?”

“I suppose you could say that. I mean, there were some big events, like the Imperial War, but they were child’s play compared to this holy war. So what’s your point, Tom?”

“The point is simple.”

And it was sharp.

“That there must have been a reason for the long peace.”

” ……There was a reason for the long peace?”

“You’re saying it wasn’t simply a mess because the demon got updated?”

Tom shrugged.

“The premise is that everything was always there. That there’s a setting we don’t know about that’s always been there. A good example of that would be the Magic Tower, not so long ago.”

“The reason demons didn’t appear wasn’t because of the setting…….”

“So there was some sort of circumstance that didn’t manifest itself, like the absence of a tower master?”

“Yes. That’s why…….”

Tadak-

A line of text appeared as Tom tapped on the keyboard.

[There was peace on the continent of Arcana for a reason].

And then he added a word.

“And there is a reason why that peace has been broken.”

.

.

.

The Space-Time Social Hall.

Black hair.

The morning when the sun rises first.

The Sunrise warrior from there lacked knowledge about the Arcana Continent. It was thanks to the ‘Demon World Perceptual Upheaval’ that he was able to set foot on Arcana in the first place.

Naturally, he didn’t know about it.

“How brave of you to mention that name.”

At the words of a transcendent, the Sunrise Warrior nodded.

The Witch of the Southern Sea.

I couldn’t forget her reaction.

The look on her face.

It was so different from the lethargy he’d seen in the social hall.

It was so different from the lethargy I’d seen in the social hall.

So the natural question was.

What was that name, and why was it so…….

But the Sunrise Warrior had nothing to say.

“From the second coming of the legend to subdue the great evil.”

“Even ‘the incident’ that was reported in your hometown.”

“Warrior from the East, can you believe it?”

“That a single family was behind all of it.”

“That’s right. Claudi.”

“It is because of Claudi that the continent has remained at peace.”

“And now that Claudi has disappeared, the continent looks like this.”

“……!!!”

A past that was so shocking that it left me speechless.