◈ Episode 161. Elves (1)

Regular updates.

New update details

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A new region is coming soon.

We’re adding a new region, Battlefield: Agony Mountain Beasts vs Elves.

However, depending on your choices, your relationship with certain factions may become worse.

New named monsters will be added.

‘Agony Mountain Beasts Boss’: Lv.900

‘Agony Mountain Beast Adult’: Lv.700

‘Agony Mountain Beasts Hatchling’: Lv.500

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Reactions were not too divided.

“It’s been a while since I’ve had a regional update…… . what?”

“Battlefield?”

“Is this the same Battlefield I know?!”

[Labyrinths], [Dungeons], and even [Battlefield] were created in the real world?

When Arcana was just a game.

For players, a battlefield was a windfall.

“All you had to do was join a faction you thought you could win.”

“Even if you got quest rewards based on your contribution to the battle. First of all, your reputation increased just by participating, so there were some players who only sought out battlefields, right?”

“Yes, especially mercenaries!”

The battlefield, or in other words, the place full of loot.

It was the mercenaries who were more familiar with battlefields than anyone else.

So it was only natural that attention would be focused on the Shadow Mercenaries, one of the strongest mercenary organizations.

Kingdom of Yusra.

Golden Crown Tavern.

BANG!

The source of the roar was once again Rockid.

“Battlefield, battlefield! Weren’t you getting a little tired of it already, everyone?”

His voice rumbled like he was speaking into a loudspeaker.

It drew a few glances from the members of the Shadow Mercenaries.

Starting with the Explorers Federation who had been pounding the table for information earlier.

Informants from prominent guilds, even nettubers.

“‘As expected, Rockid. You never disappoint.”

“You’re really hurting my eardrums, but thanks…….”

“Hold on, guys, shhh, I think we’re getting to the point.”

As if they didn’t care about the stares.

Ugh!

The head, Kichi, emptied her glass.

Then she glared at Rockid.

“Hey, stone head.”

“……?”

“Stone. You fucking stone head!”

“!!!”

Eventually, Kichi exploded.

It was a rare occurrence, but everyone in the Shadow Mercenaries knew how violent the aftermath could be. Slowly. Some, including Alkari, left early.

Kichi’s eyes snapped back to Rockid.

“You, you don’t think I’m a talking stone?”

His usual drunkenness seemed to smolder.

There was an unmistakable life in his gaze.

Sharp enough to cut, just by looking at it.

…… gulp.

Rockid swallowed dryly.

Indeed, she seemed to be the one who made this mighty Rockid join a mercenary group. It’s truly a miracle. It is worthy of being called the dagger of the sky.

‘It’s a feeling I haven’t felt in a long time.’

Kichi didn’t have a weapon in her hand.

Still, he could feel the pressure of a blade against his uvula.

He hadn’t felt it in the Colosseum, not even in life and death.

But the Rockid forced a smile.

“Okay, now that’s the kind of boss I know.”

“Shit.”

…… excited.

Kichi was brought back to his senses by Rockid’s taunts.

Damn, now that she was awake, there were too many eyes.

Kichi scattered the flesh.

“Sorry, I had a lot on my mind and couldn’t hold it together as usual.”

There really was a lot to fucking care about.

Thinking about it made my head spin.

Why would I want to get involved in such a big deal?

‘It’s not like it’s a battlefield, it’s a holy war.’

It was.

The Shadow Mercenaries would be joining the holy war.

Anyone who knows them well would say this.

The pride of the shadow mercenaries remains.

It was true.

Pride wasn’t the reason Kichi joined the Holy War.

‘……Fucking big mouth!’

It’s always been about the mouth.

Kichi was formally approached by Hakuna, the king of Yusra.

Are you willing to participate in the holy war?

Kichi answered the king’s question slyly.

-“All of the mercenaries, for a ransom.”

A ransom for the Shadow Mercenaries?

I think most mercenaries would shudder at the thought.

Even if you brought a thousand gold, there were only two or three of them at most, so it was a sort of blunt refusal.

-‘A holy war against the demons? They don’t even offer ten thousand gold for that. Really.’

But the kichi was overlooked.

Yusra.

Why this ancient kingdom was called Treasure Island.

“Really.”

It was too much to refuse.

Ten thousand gold, if that wasn’t enough, a hundred thousand gold, if that wasn’t enough, a million gold. The wealth of the Kingdom of Yusra was beyond Kichi’s wildest expectations… even by a long shot! Kichi patted his snout.

“If I had known it would be like this, I would have called it hundreds of millions of gold… … !”

A worrisome shift in mood.

“……Kichi, are you drunk?”

“I think you can forget about what I just said, I think I was drunk.”

“You’ve been drinking since broad daylight, and you’re already blacking out?”

Everyone watching could only assume she was drunk.

But Rockid knew.

Just a moment ago, she’d meant it.

Still, there was no backing down.

“I think it’s time to warm up before the holy war.”

“Warm up ……?”

“I’m just here to observe, Leader. Why don’t we all just be honest, and be honest about it?”

“?”

“I wonder how elves came to be.”

“……!”

Kichi looked into Rockid’s eyes.

The sparkly one doesn’t look like he’s about to give up, that one.

Besides, he wasn’t necessarily wrong.

‘……Elf.’

If dwarves were a rare race, elves were the stuff of legend.

In all the requests the Shadow Mercenaries received, I’d never seen a single one involving an elf, not even one that had been passed down from generation to generation.

That alone showed how mysterious the elves were.

‘Well, there must be a reason for their sudden appearance.’

Hmm, information is always important to a mercenary organization.

Kichi nodded at Rockid’s words.

Okay, then.

“In exchange, no fighting.”

“……What?! No fighting on the battlefield? You’re talking nonsense. Leader, are you worried about me? If so, that’s a little touching!”

“Fuck touching. I’ve been paid in advance! You think you own your own body?! Try getting hurt and falling out of the holy war. I’ll throw up on you instead of paying you!”

*

Magic Tower.

Yugweed, the only elder wizard, spoke up.

“Elf, this is news I wouldn’t believe if it weren’t for the words of our chief, so the question is, how do we approach those cheap bastards…….”

… … Cheap? The elder used vulgar language from the beginning.

I looked at Yugweed with a grimace.

‘I’m not new to this.’

Yugweed’s mouth hung open, despite her mild exterior. By this point, I was convinced.

Senios was right, mages were never to be judged by appearances.

‘Don’t trust first impressions.’

Except for Marcelo.

He’s still as skinny as ever.

But he’s not as lifeless as he used to be.

It’s worth all the hard work I’ve put in to break his curse.

“Elves are a big variable at this point.”

Well said, Marcelo.

You have a way with words, Marcelo.

Indeed, not like me, the parachutist.

Knowledge and experience worthy of a chief.

Marcelo spoke up.

“In the midst of a holy war. There must be a reason for their appearance on the Arcana continent from their homeworld of Sisley, but we cannot predict how it will affect us.”

……Wait, this.

That’s a lot of high-level information flying by in the blink of an eye, isn’t it?

Elf.

In fact, the moment I saw those two letters in the update history, I thought, oh no, another fucking decade and years of gaps are going to catch up with me.

But the selfishness of civilization.

I opened the internet and searched for elves.

I found no more information about elves than I had in years past.

This meant that players hadn’t even figured out if elves were a legend or if they even existed.

But.

‘As if they weren’t already cheap enough. Elves are from Sisley?’

From the mouths of Marcelo and Yugweed.

Information that none of the players had figured out was spilling out of their mouths!

I crammed the real-time information into my head.

Of course, I wasn’t surprised.

“What do you think?”

Marcelo asked, and I replied with a smirk.

“Indeed, their intentions are unclear.”

Why an elf would take on a demon.

I have no way of knowing the story.

Even if I had [Telescope of Evil Eye], given the passage of time and the cooldown……. I guess it would be unconscionable to want the elf to look like he got caught.

One thing is clear, though.

“But we can know the demons’ intentions.”

Indeed.

It’s the demons, not the elves, that matter to Grandfell’s noble pride.

By the way, that’s one hell of a level.

Level 900.

Isn’t that about the same level as the giant demonic monsters I saw on the Arcana continent?

Of course, level isn’t everything.

Even if it was a level 950 monster, it was nothing more than a named monster or a named demon. This means that there is a difference in weight class from boss monsters such as the Demon King or a great beast.

‘Even in my humble opinion…….’

A new level of sword force.

Moreover, with the [First World Tree Blessing] still in effect.

‘Shouldn’t I be able to defeat it by myself?

Of course, there was no need for that.

“So, we’re just going to do what we agreed to do?”

Yugweed asked, and Marcelo replied.

“Yes, sir. Senior Matisse, it’s his turn to go.”

All according to procedure.

From Magic Tower, the Kingdom of Yusra, Frost, Muon, and the Shadow Mercenaries. It was a pre-agreed order of entry into the rift.

Yugweed looked at me.

“By the way, our chief never takes a day off, does he?”

No days off.

If only my boss at work had said that.

I may have been wondering if you were making fun of someone or if you were really trying to make a big deal out of it.

This was also self-inflicted by my big mouth……!

In a word, I was a slacker.

This means that I am guaranteed the ‘right’ to enter the rift regardless of the procedure or established order. If you’re a demon, you can’t just ignore this pride, it’s so tiring, really.

But I couldn’t let my pathetic state of mind show.

“We’ll talk more about this at the roundtable when we get back.”

Yeah, it’s hard to have too much regret in hindsight.

Accept your fate, Hoyeol.

By the way, before entering the rift, I needed to be clear.

‘Why was there a battle between the two factions?’

Elves have only recently emerged from Sisley into the Arcana Continent, so it’s unlikely that demons would have challenged them first.

The demons had the Demon War ahead of them.

They’re busy fighting amongst themselves.

They had no reason to mess with the elves.

‘So the elves started the fight?’

It was a battle of attrition.

Just like Grandfell did.

If the Elves made their move because they couldn’t bear to see the continent of Arcana overrun by demons, it was too little too late. Obviously, there’s another reason…….

‘… … They were definitely a cheap race, right?’

I never realized how much Yugweed’s words meant to me.

In that sense, it was fortunate that Matisse was accompanying me.

Look at the others, especially Bensch.

‘You won’t even notice when the rift attack is over because you’re nagging me, right?’

I headed for the office.

I immediately brewed a pot of tea.

Not for leisurely tea time, but for herbal doping.

Elves are a variable now.

The more prepared I am, the better.

Sweet tea.

Soon, however, I put down my teacup.

A message popped up on my smartphone.

Breaking news.

[BREAKING NEWS: New area, battlefield combat appears to be over……!]

[Player says, “The battlefield quest has been cleared.”]

[No players appear to have participated in the battlefield quest…….]

The battle was over even before the players jumped into the battlefield.

What that meant was simple.

Elves and demons.

The battle between the two factions was over faster than expected.

“You don’t even give me time to enjoy a cup of tea. Impatient.”

Whoever the winner was.

Elves and demons.

One or the other was going to show up in the real world.

.

.

. . .

Rockid looked at the battlefield.

Then he saw it.

Long, floppy ears.

A sculpted appearance.

An unusual aura.

That was the elves.

I wonder if he’s noticed me.

The elves looked at Rockid.

He spoke in a cold voice.

“Do you know where our blessing is?”

“……Blessing? What kind of bullshit is that?”

“Foolish, you don’t even know what a blessing is.”

The elves raised his sword.

“After all, you are both demon and human.”

“……?”

“You’re not even worth fighting.”

“……!”

Kwakwakwak!!!