◈ Episode 120. Wavelength

A trio of demonic stars appear in a regular update.

Concern over the alarming update history.

However, my worries were all for naught.

” ……, Soo-gyeom, what am I looking at?”

Lee sprang into action.

Within 10 minutes, it was all over.

Park Minjae, AAU Korea Branch President.

The boss. No, it was a question from his heavenly boss.

He didn’t have the presence of mind to answer Yoon Soo-gyeom.

A pinch.

First of all, it’s not a dream because my pinched cheeks are sore.

I realize it’s real.

Then.

“I’m trying to be as reasonable as I can, sir.”

I had to admit what had happened.

But it wasn’t easy to believe.

Yoon barely managed to speak.

” ……I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and say that the power of the Magic Tower’s was much stronger than our estimates, because it wasn’t just the senior mages of the Magic Tower who made the move, but the Shadow Mercenaries as well.”

Just them?

The Paladins of the Goddess Church.

And the Empire’s Knights of the Lionheart.

It was the Demon King Rift, the place where the most powerful forces had entered.

Sung Hyun-joon, who was also listening, shook his head.

“That’s right, just like you said. I can understand the Demon Castle of Rhyme and the Demon Castle of Indulgence, but I can’t understand what happened to the Demon Castle of Hunting at the end……!”

The Demon of Rhyme, about ten thousand.

The Demon of Indulgence, approximately one hundred.

But there were only three of them in the Demon Castle of Hunting.

It was only three.

“This is insane.”

AAU employees, all of them former Arcana developers.

I could tell just by looking at the update history.

To compare the difficulty.

The fact that the Demon King of Hunting is a lot harder than the other two.

You can only see what you know.

I couldn’t help but be shocked.

Sigh─

Park Minjae spat out a weak laugh and wiped away the cold sweat.

“……What kind of level are you, Lee Ho-yeol?”

It wasn’t just about strength and level.

Soon, a subtitle popped up on the monitor.

──────

Crushing The Demon King!

──────

This wasn’t just a victory, as the media would have you believe, this was a slaughter.

Before the demons could even squirm their filth.

Before they could even dream up their dirty tricks.

How was it possible?

“Something like this is not possible by force alone.”

“You’re right.”

“After all, neither the collapse nor the speed of the rise was a joke…….”

As if he knew the existence of the Demon King beforehand.

No, to be precise, it should be called Demon Kings.

Yeah, like we knew there would be three Demon King Rifts.

As soon as the regular update came to mind, he acted without the slightest hesitation.

“Especially with those Arcana All-Stars at the controls.”

A performance that, even in retrospect, seems ridiculous.

Park Minjae was dumbfounded.

‘……Surely, I’m not dreaming?’

I’ve been pushing myself too hard lately…….

I still mistake reality for a dream.

I’m not a clean person.

It’s such an unbelievable incident.

Park Minjae started to pinch Yoon Soo-gyeom’s cheek, but stopped.

“No, no. No.”

On the monitor.

Ho Yeol’s face was captured by the angles of the netizens.

He looked the same as usual.

It was telling me this was real, not a dream.

-“I’m not taking any questions.”

Even his sassy demeanor.

“……How could a person do that?”

“If it was me, I’d give him a good squeeze on the shoulder. I’d probably scare him off.”

“‘Cause he’s a hero, don’t you think he’s just being a hero?”

*

Crushing the Demon Kings.

A warning and declaration of war against the demons.

The first place the effects of the victory were felt was on the continent of Arcana. On the Airship, Iron Castle. The leader of the dwarves, Chainwalker, looked down at the ground.

“This is unbelievable.”

The last of the Demon Hunters.

That he was an adventurer.

It wasn’t enough that he recognized the existence of demons in a world completely different from the continent of Arcana.

That he even had a plan to hunt them down. And the fact that he executed that plan to perfection!

“The time when they appeared before us. I didn’t realize that we were dealing with two demon kings at the same time, and we were on the same continent of Arcana and didn’t even realize it…….”

Naturally, it was Hoyeol’s assistant, Hiel, who found out.

The Chainwalker bit his lip tightly.

If only they hadn’t gotten caught in the bad weather…….

“I would have been able to see you face to face.”

But it was a good thing.

According to Hiel, the Spirit, a reunion was possible if the time and place were right.

Of course, Chainwalker couldn’t stop marveling so easily.

‘I never realized you had such a grasp on this natural disaster.’

The dwarves considered the rift an irresistible force of nature.

Their brilliant minds could not even guess at the cause.

But there was one man who could predict the Rift’s appearance with some degree of certainty, and he was the last survivor of Akshan, the last demon hunter.

“Hiel, the Spirit.”

Chainwalker called Hiel’s name respectfully.

His eyes, filled with emotion, turned to the ground.

Chainwalker’s voice trailed off.

“On our behalf, tell the survivor of Akshan every last detail of this situation. That your actions have turned the tide of the Arcana continent.”

At the urgent request, Hiel’s eyes took in the scene on the ground.

Overnight.

No, even that was an exaggeration.

Ten minutes in real time.

A few tens of minutes in Arcana’s time.

On that scale, it would be a blink.

In an instant, the Demon Stars had disappeared without a trace.

One of the three demon kings, Flauros, had ceased to exist.

He had been cast into a hell from which he could not descend by any means.

The shocking event was a horror to the demons.

It gave courage to those who resisted them.

Chainwalker spoke.

“Can you see it?”

“In the end, the remnants of the Empire defended the town.”

“Akshan’s battlecruisers have retaken the great city of Saxony.”

“The waters of Lake Piranhity have been restored to their former glory.”” …….

One victory after another.

An unbelievable butterfly effect.

But it was also one of the reasons Ho Yeol had defeated the Demon King.

Hiel only replied nonchalantly.

“He saw it coming.”

Of course, the dwarves couldn’t possibly know that.

“……What, what?! Is that true?”

I couldn’t help but be shocked again.

.

.

.

The rift between the continent of Arcana and reality.

As long as the rift existed.

Changes in Arcana were bound to affect reality.

Naturally, the players were the first to notice the changes that came from the Arcana Continent.

-……Am I the only one who feels that way?

Player community site.

The message boards were filled with similarly nuanced posts.

-No, it’s been a little quiet lately???

-No I don’t encounter any rifts either ;;;

-No, I don’t have to worry about buffs, it’s gotten easier for me…….

-Demons gone, I never thought I’d feel so much better.

Those damned Status Ailment triggers.

I could only think of one reason why I didn’t see any demon-type monsters.

I could only think of one reason.

-It’s just because the demon king was crushed.

Lee Ho-yeol!

He defeated the Demon King, the Demon King.

He must have literally crushed three demon kings.

Considering the time when the demon-type monsters stopped appearing, the guess was more credible.

“This is just overwhelmingly clearing the impregnable rift, great, I’m curious about that level. It’s not something to end with a question like that.”

“Is there a reason you’re saying that?”

“You can see it now, can’t you? The ripples caused by player Lee Ho-yeol clearing the Demonic Rift. The Demon Race monsters, which were the most troublesome of all, have disappeared!”

This has encouraged players to enter the Rift more aggressively.

Players leveled up as a result. Humanity can now build up the strength to resist rift erosion…….

All sorts of programs were talking about its effects.

Beep─

Beep─

Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep.

No matter where you turn the channel up or down.

At the sound of the remote, Nam Tae-min finally spoke up.

“Hey, are you trying to break something?”

“Shut up.”

“Why are you so upset? I don’t even know what it is.”

“Fuck you.”

Even though I said that.

Leonie was right to be grumpy.

The Demon Castle Rift appeared.

The factions and forces that moved in tandem with it.

And they weren’t among them.

It was only natural.

A bitter pill to swallow.

Hisagi spoke, adjusting her alter ego’s spear.

“Inazuma, Berserker, Gaon. Even if our three guilds were united. It would have been suicide to enter the Demon Castle Rift with a decent level of 800.”

Exactly.

Nam Tae-min nodded his head.

He coldly looked at his own power.

“Thanks to Mr. Ho Yeol, I’ve been able to focus on growth, but it’s still not enough.”

The alliance of the three guilds.

The synergy was indeed great.

Of course.

“……By the way, what’s with the sequence of your words?”

“?”

“Inazuma, Berserker, Gaon? Why are we last?”

“I didn’t mean anything by it. It’s a habit.”

“What?! Habit? You think you can just blabber on and on about it.”

As you can see, we didn’t have perfect coordination.

Still, it’s only a small step, and I’ve gained more experience and easier rifts than before.

“That’s why I was so motivated…….

Leonie bit her chiseled lips.

The Demon Castle Rift had made them realize once again.

The gap between them and Ho Yeol.

But there was no discouragement.

“That’s right …….”

The goal was to stand with Ho Yeol.

Not to catch up to him.

They had a clear goal in mind.

The Demon Castle Rift.

There were others who stood with Ho Yeol there.

At least to the same level as him.

Don’t you think you have every right to be frustrated?

“Okay, that’s it.”

In that sense, what they needed to do was simple.

Find a rift.

Knowing that.

Leonie couldn’t help but frown.

“……Why did you defeat the Demon King to put the demons to sleep?”

In order for us to grow faster.

To allow us to grow faster……?

No way…….

Of course, Leonie’s tone was quite blunt.

Namtae-min and Hisagi were unnecessarily bright-eyed.

“What do you mean, that? Tell me more.”

.

.

. .

An isolated building somewhere.

No lights were needed.

Everyone knew each other’s faces no, their identities.

“It’s been a while since we’ve all been together.”

“You’ve all gotten a little more vicious.”

“Well, it’s a good world to live in, isn’t it?”

The only thing shining in the darkness were the black eyes.

They were staring at a monitor.

On repeat was the clear shot of the Demon Castle Rift.

Someone spoke up.

“What an antiquated idea and behavior.”

“Ugh! Be careful with your words. Our Demon Kings will listen.”

“Well, let them hear, if they can hear.”

Cackle.

There was a moment of dark laughter.

Then he spoke again.

“You know too little about this world, don’t you? That old trick might have worked on the continent of Arcana, but it won’t work here.”

“You’re making a fool of yourself.”

“I don’t know if our demon kings can handle demons. They really don’t know how to deal with humans. It’s been a while since you’ve been breathing the world’s air, isn’t it?”

Possession.

Living in the mountains in human form, I’ve come to recognize it naturally.

What the humans of this world fear.

is not that primal fear.

“You should use your heads. What an ignorant thing to do.”

“Well, at least it’s good news for us.”

“It is. We don’t have to worry about being tossed from one demon king to the next.”

The way he disparaged the demon kings was enough to tell.

There is no true unity or loyalty among demons.

Even here, gathered together for the first time.

How do they stab each other in the back?

They’ve been thinking about it.

And they know it.

We’ve been avoiding meeting.

There was a reason they were gathered here today.

“So, why don’t we all play nice for a while?”

The appearance of a being that could unite even such demons.

It was.

It was because of Ho Yeol.

“Even if they’re ancient beings, they’re still demon kings. There’s no doubt that they’re powerful, but they were trampled in just ten minutes by the forces led by Lee Ho-yeol.”

“……Surely we need to be on our guard.”

“No, we don’t need to be.”

“?”

“We just need to go about our business as usual.”

Lee Ho-yeol?

Magic Tower?

The Shadow Mercenaries?

No matter how strong they were.

They were only a problem when faced as enemies.

“We’ll just have to use the masks we’re wearing.”

They wouldn’t recognize themselves in human form.

It’s just a matter of getting out there and setting it up.

As long as they didn’t arouse suspicion, the flow was to their advantage.

“Let’s stay hidden and build our strength.”

Silence.

No dissenting voices were raised.

But for a moment, all eyes were on the same place.

“Would you be embarrassed to look at me? I understand enough.”

Black eyes glinted in the darkness.

“Well, are you afraid that I’ll say it’s a supernova?”

Supernova.

Players who do whatever they can to become stronger. It was an ideal bowl for a demon.

That was why Desqui, the Named Demon, had possessed this man.

Desqui threw a hand out of the darkness.

“Crazy. I know what I’m doing.”

This is Lee Ho-yeol, the man who sent three demon kings to the goal.

It would be suicide to target him.

But I couldn’t help but be curious.

“How strong is he?

Desqui clicked his tongue.

“Well, I’ll keep a low profile. I’ll just watch from a distance, that’s all.”

*.

The appearance of demons has decreased.

I’m sure it’s a temporary effect of the Demon King’s crushing, but…….

I sincerely hope so.

Lesser demons, true demons, whatever.

I want no more than three of them to appear in front of me.

The reason is simple.

Demon, Amdusias.

Demon, Kimaris.

Demon, Flauros.

Demonic items, loot from the defeat of the three demon kings.

I am deeply curious about the effectiveness of those three [Epic] ranked items.

Moreover, the [Pentagram of Pure Knowledge] is something that I, who have been enjoying the benefits of demonic loot, would like to see……!

“Afternoon tea is like gold.”

……It’s not like an apple in the morning, either.

Of course, this cringe-worthy saying is always true.

I was sipping my teacup nonchalantly as usual.

With a calm gaze, I checked the information, the demon loot.