< Players Hide Their Past – Bethesda >.

◈ Episode 1. Grandfell Claude Arpheus Romeo

……I know I look like a lunatic.

But I can’t help it.

I hesitantly opened my mouth.

I spoke to my reflection.

“……Who am I. What’s my name?”

Yes, my name is Lee Ho-yeol.

Ho-yeol Lee.

I have three sisters.

Named by my father, who was overjoyed to see me born as the youngest son of a daughter-rich family.

But unlike in my head, a completely different name comes out of my mouth.

“……Grandfell Claude Arpheus Romeo.”

A nobleman’s name from a country I don’t even know.

The bizarrely long name was ……!

Did I suddenly realize I had a past life or something?

“I wish I had never…….”

No, I know it’s not that fantastical.

My reflection in the mirror was telling me.

My eyes were strangely sharpened.

A noticeably tighter physique.

And finally, the words that flashed before my eyes.

It was an awakening.

It meant I had become a player.

Yes, I could understand that part.

The problem was my appearance as a player and the ridiculous name.

“No matter how you look at it, this was over a decade ago…….”

[Name: Grandfell Claude Arpheus Romeo].

Twelve years ago, to be exact.

I was 15 years old.

I was in the middle of my secondary school.

The character I had created was obvious.

I muttered to myself.

“…… must be really fucked up.”

As if I were a nobleman.

***

Tsk-tsk.

I was fucked.

In spite of my feelings, my behavior was relaxed.

I took out an unused teacup from the cupboard.

I brewed a cup of green tea, something I normally don’t even touch.

I sat down at the table and sipped the tea.

“It doesn’t smell bad.”

……It’s not like I’m filming a historical drama.

I know it sounds like I’m saying it, but it’s a little awkward.

Anyway, I could just feel it.

I could tell that my behavior and tone of voice had changed under the influence of awakening.

Player awakening.

I thought it had nothing to do with me.

I had forgotten about it.

“It was more than a decade before …….”

Arcana Continent Biography.

Thirteen years ago.

A virtual reality game that had never come down from the top since its release.

No, not just a game, but another life.

[Unidentified structures appear around the world…… Are they related to the shutdown of Arcana?]

Arcana has become a reality.

[Monstrous creatures appear in various parts of the world…… Japanese netizen says, “I’m sure it’s an Arcana monster.” Controversy erupts]

In such a reality, Arcana monsters have appeared.

[New species appear? Monstrous creatures defeated with just bare hands…….]

Monsters from such a reality can be hunted.

Players awakened to the abilities of their Arcana characters.

Many years have passed since that cataclysmic event.

The entire continent of Arcana has been turned into a reality.

When I first heard the news in the army, I was dumbfounded.

-Ha. I wouldn’t have folded it if I’d known.

I once imagined such a thing while standing guard.

Because.

The players were literally heroes.

[Player defeats “General, Sekir,” a monster named “Flash of Gold”]!

[Rift clearing rewards alone were roughly 5 billion won…….]

[Close-up Interview: ‘Nam Tae-min’, the player who prevented a catastrophe]

But that was it.

-In fact, it wouldn’t be much of an awakening.

I quit Arcana Continentals after less than a year of playing.

There were a lot of practical issues.

The connection alone cost 10 million won.

The monthly fee was close to hundreds of thousands of won.

“……, kids, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Dad, you don’t have to apologize to us.”

“Black and white. Even your mom can’t stand to look at you.”

“Oh, really, what’s wrong with my mom?”

“We’re all grown up. Don’t worry about it.”

I was entering high school.

After the day my house got a foreclosure notice.

I had completely turned off my interest in Arcana Continent biographies and games.

That didn’t change in high school.

Whether I liked it or not, I was forced to study, and here I am.

A pretty decent job, a pretty decent place to live.

Traveling back and forth to my hometown every weekend.

I have a decent life, not much, but I’m not greedy, so it’s okay.

“……But what does this mean?”

My head is throbbing.

I sip my tea with effort.

For now, let’s just say that I’m not talking about the damn historical drama.

The point is that I’ve awakened as a player.

Ten years ago, twelve to be exact.

The character I created in the Arcana Continent Biography, Grandfell Claude Arpheus Romeo, was imprinted on me, Lee Ho-yeol.

Such interviews were common.

-What’s the biggest change since your awakening……. It’s the feeling that I’ve assimilated into the character. Really, I feel like my real life self and the character in the game have merged into one. I guess you could call it possession.

-Well, it’s not really a possession because I was the one playing the character in the game, so I don’t think it would have made a difference if the character I was playing was possessed.

-I think that’s one of the reasons I’m able to see monsters in the real world and not be scared of them.

The other thing is that I played that game over a decade ago.

And the difference is that I was “deeply” immersed in the character [Grandfell Claude Arpheus Romeo] 10 years ago.

“This is delicious.”

It even changed my taste buds.

……That’s really spinning.

Is this the result of Arcana’s overlaid character information?

I started to remember the setting of [Grandfell Claude Arpheus Romeo], which I had forgotten.

Of course, it was an extensive setting that I created when I was sick with a severe secondary school syndrome.

“Grandfell Claude Arpheus Romeo.

His exact age is unknown.

Heir to a great family, the family was destroyed by the devil.

The sole survivor of the family, Grandfell Claude Arpheus Romeo, or Grandfell, has taken up the life of a demon hunter to avenge his family’s demise.

He is characterized by his long, silver hair, his handsome appearance, and his manner of speech reflects the nobility of his position.”』

So much for being so specific about something so useless…….

God damn you, you old me!

It’s a setting that makes me shiver just thinking about it.

Of course, even if I made the settings, none of them were reflected in the game.

The only settings I had were scribbled in a notebook or notepad.

So it’s not even in the settings?

A fallen noble.

You start at level 1, beginner, with nothing.

I just gave him the Fallen Noble setting to make it look good.

Yeah, there’s only one truth in that long setup.

That I was destined to be a demon hunter.

[Name: Grandfell Claude Arpheus Romeo]

[Class: Demon Hunter]

But back in the day, I played Arcana because I loved the setting.

In other words, I was living Grandfell’s life in Arcana.

Now that I think about it, it’s kind of crazy…….

I was in middle school, second grade.

I could look back on it as a memory to laugh about.

“……Memories. I miss them.”

But then the memory I wanted to forget became a reality.

Damn, my migraine is getting worse.

I’m afraid someone is going to see me flush.

……No, wait.

I have to go to work tomorrow, right now!

Let’s think about it soberly.

Will I be able to go to work and function normally?

You know, have a social life.

It’s not easy.

There are many times a day when I have to put my head down and let go of my pride.

However, my tastes have changed due to the setting of the Grandfell.

Will I be able to survive in this harsh society?

『Grandfell Claude Arpheus Romeo is noble. No matter who he faces, he never bows his head. His pride is heavy and unshakable. Even if it means sinking and drowning under its weight.”

……You’ll be lucky if I don’t throw coffee in your face.

The settlement might be worth more than my salary.

“How long can you keep your head down,” I concluded after a dignified teatime.

“I can’t keep my head down forever.”

Well, I was wrong again, but whatever.

In short, I was quitting my job.

I was going to be a player from now on.

To some, this might seem like an unreasonable decision.

But I was making a rational decision.

Think about it.

I was going to be an embarrassment at any job I went to.

In the meantime, my bank balance would be noticeably lower.

Damn aristocratic tastes.

I’m going to have to add the cost of a tea party I don’t even enjoy to my expenses.

The need to make ends meet became even more pressing.

In other words, I have no choice but to be a player in order to make a living.

Of course, I’m not greedy.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve developed a natural sense of subject matter.

I used to be obsessed with the Grandfell,

and believing in myself as a special person,

I don’t have a secondary disease anymore.

I can just survive.

So being a player doesn’t put your life in danger?

First, do some research.

I knew very little about the world of players.

I didn’t really aspire to be one.

I was too busy making a living to really care.

But I did envy them for making a lot of money.

“……hmm.”

Dozens, hundreds, hundreds of billions.

Literally billions of articles by players who were making billions.

But I was also deep in thought as I read the article.

“For Grandfell Claude Arpheus Romeo, riches were fleeting. Born the heir to a great family and having tasted the end of affluence, he saw no reason to obsess over glorified wealth.”』

I guess that’s the effect of the damn setting.

I guess I should be thankful for that.

I wouldn’t have to risk my life for greed.

But first, there was a serious problem.

“……I’m weak.”

…… and wondered if I’d ever catch a single mob.

I wondered if I could even get a hunchback to join the party.

The level of monsters in the real world was unbelievable.

I was no match for them.

-Wow, that was a close call.

-Average level 200 party barely made it through, right?

-You’re getting better as you go.

-Rankers love it. It gives them a lot of experience.

This was a comment on a video.

The average level of a player’s party was a whopping 200.

I checked my status.

[Name: Grandfell Claude Arpheus Romeo]

[Class: Demon Hunter]

[Level: 55]

Only level 55.

My level was the same as it was a decade ago.

Back then, I was still pretty high on the axis, if not a ranker…….

How time flies.

It was said that a river changes in 10 years.

“Why did I waste so much time…….”

I spit out my self-deprecating words.

On a whim, I typed “demon hunter” into the search bar.

“Wait, I forgot.”

How to raise a Demon Hunter……!

It was so long ago that I had forgotten about it.

At the time, Demon Hunters could only build their characters in a limited way.

Unlike other classes that could level up through hunting, Demon Hunters had to level up through quests.

《Skill

Natural Enemies

Silver Mastery

Shooting Mastery

Simultaneous Shooting

Demon Ritual

The majority of quests were about exterminating demons.

The Demon Hunter class was very limited in that aspect.

───────

Natural Enemy: Increases your combat power by a massive margin when fighting against demons.

───────

A class that boasts overwhelming power when dealing with demons, but otherwise has stats that are missing a screw. A class that can’t even show its business card in a decent hunting ground.

That was the reality of a Demon Hunter.

So, shouldn’t you just hunt demons?

If someone asks.

The answer is that there were no demonic monsters in Arcana at that time.

The only time a Demon Hunter could encounter a demon was when they were on a quest.

As a result, being a demon hunter was an unpopular profession even then.

“But that was in the past.”

Yes, it was two years into a decade.

That’s plenty of time for a new Demon Hunter to come along.

Now that Arcana is a reality, it would be difficult to apply the recipes to the real world.

But we’ll have to live with it.

Good.

My head, which has been fuzzy since my awakening, is starting to clear up.

…… Maybe it’s the tea, maybe not.

Anyway, I’m glad I was born in the information age.

I can find anything I want with a snap of my fingers.

I type “demon hunter” into the search bar.

I’m browsing the results and I see…….

“What the hell is this ……?”

The search results were not what I expected.

“Akshan base wiped out? Everyone dead.”

What the hell happened to Arcana in the last ten years?

.

.

.

Akshan Base.

It was the headquarters of the Demon Hunters.

It was the place where you could fulfill career quests, complete training quests, and become a Demon Hunter class.

However, for some reason, it was destroyed and the NPCs were wiped out.

As a result, it was no longer possible to switch to the Demon Hunter class.

“That was a long time ago?”

……Wait, what about me?

Where are the new Demon Hunter quest?

After scouring all the communities, I realized.

“No way.”

-I miss the old days. Back then, there was a class called Demon Hunter.

-Lol? Never heard of it.

-Demon Hunter was such a trash character back then.

-I raised him, killed him, and raised him again.

-Only the liver was bad, not the performance.

The more I searched, the more I was convinced.

Apparently, there wasn’t a single player with the Demon Hunter class.

No, because I awakened as a player…….

I was the only one.

“No way.”

I curse my past self, my tastes.

Even if I’m a double-deader for style.

If I had thought about performance at all, it would have been fleeting.

“My head hurts.”

It’s probably because I took in too much information all of a sudden.

I needed a break.

I was about to put my phone down when I realized that I needed a break.

Suddenly, a post caught my eye.

-I should have kept my demon hunter.

“?”

I wondered what the story was.

I wondered if he’d posted something like that.

Curious, I clicked on the post.

And I was stunned.

“The new update officially added the Demons, and that’s when the difficulty of the Rift skyrocketed. If it weren’t for the Demons, real players wouldn’t have lost their lives……?”

What, demons were added?

The demons are running rampant in the real world?

“Maybe this is…….

The possibility flashed through my mind.

But I didn’t say it out loud.

If you have high hopes, you’re bound to be disappointed.

Especially since players with much higher levels than me were also struggling with the demons.

I muttered to myself.

I muttered.

“The pride of Grandfell Claude Arpheus Romeo is, ironically, most exalted in the presence of demons.”

“Consider it an honor.”

“All the devil’s temptations, deceptions, and trials can’t make a dent in Grandfell’s noble pride.”

“I will condemn you to hell.”