◈ Episode 432. Listen to the arrangements (1)
VBC station.
Today Arcana is canceled.
Signboard producer Hyun Yong-seok watched the transmission monitor.
Subtitles flowing.
-Disaster warning: residents in the area should quickly…….
It was a long-awaited break, but it wasn’t a pleasant one.
Hyun Yong-seok’s gaze turns to the office building’s car window.
Through the forest of buildings, armed troops stroll down the street.
The scene is both familiar and unfamiliar.
“Senior, have some food.”
“What is it?”
“Green tea.”
“……Not coffee, but green tea?”
“I don’t know what it is, but green tea is all the craze these days.”
“Really? Whatever.”
A green tea tea bag waved.
Hyun Yong-seok took the paper cup and thought again.
“Oh, what is this green tea for……?”
Yoon Jong-jin furrowed his brow.
“By the way, what do you think it is, a scoop?”
“No, I’m just dazed.”
“Really? That’s strange, Hyun Yong-seok?”
In short, a crazy person.
Or, more accurately, a broadcasting nutcase.
Hyun Yong-seok’s passion for Arcana is well known to Yoon Jong-jin, the chief camera director, who is suffering from it more than anyone else. He spits out something out of place.
“It’s serious, right?”
The gravity of the situation sinks in.
“It’s not just breaking news, it’s a disaster warning.”
It’s not the time for Today Arcana to chase ratings.
The damage had already been inflicted.
The expected damage was enormous.
Of course, Hyun Yong-seok was a maniac who had no blood or tears in front of the camera. If he had a favorite subject. he might have risked criticism and organized an emergency broadcast of Today Arcana.
But.
“We don’t have any news to report right now.”
Manmaangbog.
It was an event that even the mighty Raymon Sean hadn’t expected. The urgent update would only come after the event broke out and the players who had escaped from the rift reported back.
Yoon Jong-jin opened his mouth cautiously.
“I wonder if we shouldn’t have been so happy that the portal to the Arcana Continent was opened. To put it another way, the scope of our concern has doubled from Earth to the Arcana Continent.”
Are the repercussions already showing?
“Well, the good news is that the Explorers’ Federation has moved from the Kingdom of Yusra to spread the word to the Arcana Continent…….”
” Jong-jin, do you think you can afford it on the continent?”
“Ah.”
The emperor of the empire has died.
Lee Hoyeol.
Now that he had abdicated the throne, the powers that wanted to take over the empire would only be looking for an opportunity to take advantage of it. There had been a lot of world quests about him. …….
Yoon Jong-jin slapped his chin.
“This, I don’t think there are many players who can cross over from the Arcana Continent? From what I know about players’ temperaments, they’re probably just looking out for each other…….”
“That’s right. If we leave, the quest won’t be able to progress in any direction, especially considering the time difference between the real world and Arcana.”
“We’d be four times as far behind.”
That was why Hyun Yongseok didn’t move.
“I don’t think we can expect much help even if we send the news. We may literally have to deal with this situation on our own.”
“Is it possible?”
The Magic Tower, the Goddess Church, the Kingdom of Yusra.
There were some great Arcana powers.
When it comes to conquering rifts, high-ranking players will be more skilled than them.
Bang─!
“It’s a surprise!”
At that moment, gunshots began to be heard.
“Looks like the Euljiro side of the rift has collapsed.”
“Empire, demon, what’s going on with all these simultaneous explosions……!”
“We’ll just have to wait and see.”
It was a moment when Hyun Yongseok struggled to maintain his composure.
Suddenly.
A thought popped into his head.
“……What about China, by the way?”
“China? Wait, I didn’t think of that!”
“They’re more of a problem than any other country.”
This is China, a country whose entire existence depended on the Heavenly Unity guild.
Now that the Heavenly Unity has been disbanded.
They can’t afford to deal with the simultaneous collapse of the Rift.
“I can’t believe they didn’t call for help. Did they lose their internet?”
Tadadak.
Hyun Yong-seok went online to look for information about him.
And he found it.
China had been so quiet.
“……Holy War Alliance?”
There were tons of posts about players claiming to be part of the Holy War Alliance and doing well in China. As Hyun Yong-seok played the video, Yoon Jong-jin leaned in close.
From Russia to the Yusra Kingdom.
The snowflakes that had been chasing every rift shone through.
“Huh? That’s a level 400 monster, right?”
“I recognize it, yes, it’s a Harpy.”
“Is there a player left in reality who can hunt that thing?”
As I said.
Most of the veteran players had to be on the Arcana continent or in the Zero Mountains. Players from China, the self-proclaimed Holy War Alliance, showed no signs of slowing down in the face of level 400 monsters.
“It’s impossible to grow like that by just attacking the rift…….”
Hyun Yong-seok said in disbelief.
“Could it be the remnants of the Heavenly Unity?”
“What?!”
“It’s China, not anywhere else, so it makes sense.”
Hoyeol’s decree for the Heavenly Unity.
Because of this, the Heavenly Unity could not use the portal of the Magic Tower. In fact, they had entered the Arcana continent, as well as the Zero Mountains during the Zero Mountains update, on an aircraft carrier.
But regardless of that, the power of Heavenly Unity was real.
They didn’t stay at the top of the guild rankings for nothing.
Yoon Jong-jin was stunned.
“So you’re saying……. You’re saying that the remnants of Heavenly Unity are calling themselves the Holy War Alliance, that they’re no better than cultist thugs, and that they’re rushing into the Collapse Rift for the sake of civilians?!”
At the center of such a Holy War Alliance was an elf.
Not just any elf.
Elsidor, the elf who guarded the flower garden of Hoyeol.
Hyun Yongseok realized right then.
“Even China hasn’t overlooked it?”
This was also Hoyeol’s arrangement.
But it was too early to be impressed, for the news of the disaster was echoing loudly not only in Korea but around the world.
That’s right.
There are many disasters that have not yet been solved.
It means that there are still unrevealed arrangements.
One by one, they raised their heads.
The first to make their presence known
Master and disciple.
“…….”
Two men stared blankly at the monitor.
Hyun Yong-seok and Yoon Jong-jin.
Before anyone could say anything, they opened their mouths.
“Arc, Arch, Archmage!!”
*
The pure-blooded Mage Clan.
Descendants of the Twilight.
Mary.
“huu─”
Mary was holding a cigarette-type electronic cigarette in her hand.
“Thanks, but it’s not good.”
It was a gift from her only disciple, concerned for her health. She couldn’t ignore it, so she put it to her mouth, but the flavor and aroma were still unfamiliar.
“Still, I’ll try.”
The damn withdrawal symptoms weren’t going away, but I didn’t care.
Goooo─
France.
An urban center somewhere.
Mary trampled on a monster flooding out of a rift.
“!!!”
No further description was necessary, or even possible.
A transcendent with access to a spacetime social hall.
More than that, she could access the upper floor.
“Gone! No sign of the monster!”
“……What the hell?”
“Is this the magic I heard about?”
The army besieging the Collapse Rift was dumbfounded.
With just a single flicker of violet twilight magic.
The catastrophe in France had been stopped.
“This is it.”
Mary was the cause of her being called a witch.
She leapt stiffly onto her broom.
She looked at the people cheering her on.
She muttered softly.
“I wish they’d cheer for her instead of me.”
The student’s lesson was over.
What it meant was simple.
Disciple, Jesse Heinness.
She had completed the Archmage’s class quest.
Mary gave a small laugh.
“It’s a small stage for a debut.”
Still, Jesse would do her best.
“Especially now that Claudi is away.”
*
kwang─!
New York City.
Near Central Park.
Monsters pour down from a tall building.
The AAU Western United States Branch Leader.
Joshua took charge of the situation from the helicopter.
Anyway, you damn businessmen.
Joshua gritted his teeth.
“Looks like General Manager Yusra’s hunt for the Seven Deadly Sins of Greed has become meaningless. There were some arrogant bastards here, and they’ve got something to hide. What, you’re going to fake a rift collapse map?”
A rift is one thing if it’s inaccessible to players.
A rift on the verge of collapse is a different story.
“No matter how good the money is, that’s true. It’s a feat to be able to twist something that would otherwise end up just by hiring a few players. Where did you say it was an affiliate? If I can, I feel like I want to get rid of everything through a tax audit……!”
Things couldn’t get any worse in America.
The Shining, of course.
The core power of the American guilds had entered the Arcana continent. As a result, the players who entered the field were inexperienced with the Collapse Rift.
I don’t mean to blame anyone.
‘All that’s left is a generation marinated in peace.’
After Lee Hoyeol’s appearance.
Players enjoyed an unprecedented peace after the Cataclysm.
No threatening new rifts, no responsibilities, no unwanted attention.
All thanks to Yusra General Manager Lee Hoyeol.
A voice on the radio.
-Joshua. So what are we supposed to do?!
-We’re not inside a rift, we’re in the real world!
-…… Are you sure we can just hunt them down? There’s a demon-possessed player in the mix? No, this is my first time dealing with a possessed player in that collapse rift!
In my bewilderment, I remember Hoyeol’s words.
“Levels are just numbers.”
He didn’t say that for nothing.
I can see now what the General Manager meant by emphasizing experience.
But in this moment, the General Manager’s salvation is not only in the future.
I couldn’t have asked for more support from Shining and the other rankers.
“You have to have some sense of shame, everyone.”
Manmaangbog.
The rampage of the possessed players and the subsequent collapse of the rift was clearly a major accident. Still, it was nothing compared to the adversity the General Manager had overcome.
“It’s only fair that we take care of this from our end.”
Of course, it wasn’t as easy as I thought.
Even if you are prepared, it doesn’t mean you will have real-world experience that you didn’t have before.
The accident occurred immediately.
-Joshua, we’ve lost contact with the advance team……!
My fist automatically clenched.
“I told you we didn’t have to go inside.”
Going inside a collapsed rift is risky.
The moment the rift flows back.
Named monsters that would normally be deep inside.
Or the traps that often spilled out along with it.
Furthermore.
“Eight pupils. Have you captured the whereabouts of the Evil Eye?”
The Eight Pupils were the cause of the current situation.
The possibility that the pupils had been flooded with reality could not be overlooked.
Joshua got to the point.
“Okay? For now, we need to focus on keeping them tied to the rift.”
He emphasized that it was best to surround the rift and wait for the Magic Tower to reinforce them.
The players’ inexperience caught up with them.
Soon, Joshua’s plea was answered.
-We’ll search it ourselves.
“No, what did you say, get out of there?”
-But……!
“Think rationally, it’s almost dark.”
Night was falling.
It was getting dark around them.
Joshua weighed his options.
“Right now, we need to minimize the damage.”
It was a tense moment.
Once again, the simultaneous crackle of the radio pierced his eardrums.
Joshua frowned.
The pilot called out.
“Joshua, Branch Leader……? Do you copy?”
“Pilot, what are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“Ha, in the sky……!!”
Where the finger pointed.
Gulp.
A giant Evil Eye floated in the night sky.
Eight pupils moving in unison.
The primordial beings of the Demon World had begun to reflect reality.
“Evil Eye……!”
I had heard that there was a Evil Eyes floating on the Arcana Continent.
I wasn’t surprised to see the pictures taken by players.
Even if it was an unrealistic landscape.
It was understandable if it was Arcana.
It was a completely different world.
But Evil Eyes in the reality was different. Beyond the bizarreness, just looking at it filled me with fear. The pilot was no different from Joshua.
wiiing.
Trembling hands.
The helicopter began to shake violently.
In the midst of the unreal spectacle, Joshua mumbled to himself.
“……Am I dreaming?”
He couldn’t help but wonder.
Evil Eyes wasn’t unbelievable enough.
Perhaps even more unexpectedly, a figure appeared out of thin air.
“It’s big.”
Blonde hair fluttered out from under Evil Eyes.
“But I’m going to try!”
Unique accent.
“Seriously?”
Humanity’s secret weapon, blossoming to its full potential.
Hidden class, Archmage.
Jesse Heinness.
Kugung……─!
“Come down.”
Jesse’s Jesse’s great magic began to pull Evil Eyes down.
“Sky above the sky, that’s Chief Lee’s seat.”