◈ Episode 193. Can You Follow Me(1)

The Zero Mountains existed even when Arcana was just a game.

It’s unlikely that mere discovery will bring a message.

[Achievement: Lighten the Shadows of the Zero Mountains].

[Effect: Slightly increased chance to drop items in the Zero Mountains].

[Duration: 23 hours, 59 minutes].

Initial Achievement.

It was a message from before the Cataclysm.

No wonder.

The Zero Mountains are the first place I’ve seen an update to a region that actually looks like a real region.

‘Maybe it didn’t show up because the Rift is a strange place.’

Well, welcome back, achievement.

It’s modest in effect and duration.

This is it.

Opened the circle.

Greatly increased magic manifestation.

I was able to cast basic and light magic with little effect on my power.

Illuminating the entrance to the vast Zero Mountains shouldn’t be too difficult.

Dudongsil─

‘One wrong word and this is what it is, really.’

Even if it’s not hard.

I wondered if it was even necessary.

At least the achievement effect makes me feel better.

Of course, Grandell was, as always, on point.

“Wealth and fame are just an illusion.”

I must be so immature, that integrity and innocence!

Even if that is the case with Grandfell.

You need to keep your eyes open, Hoyeol.

There’s a lot to take care of in the Zero Mountains.

When the [Map of All Things] was still in effect.

I’d asked the Map all of the superficial information I knew in order to extract the main powers. Among them, the most important were the information about the elixir and the Sixth Sight Brooch.

That’s right.

Somewhere in the vastness of the Zero Mountains.

There was a [Sixth Sight Brooch] and an Elixir Herb.

And not just any elixir either.

In the days of the Ancient Kingdom.

They were rare elixirs that had already disappeared from the Arcana Continent.

‘Thanks to the dragons.’

No matter how desirable the elixirs were, how many people in the continent’s history would have been able to climb the Zero Mountains where the dragons slept.

As I said, even the Explorer Federation had given up on the Zero Mountains before reaching the halfway point.

I opened my mouth to speak.

“You’re living up to your role as watchman.”

The strongest creature.

Don’t call a dragon a house dog, Grandfell.

I’m afraid they’ll wake up to some ridiculous nonsense…….

I grimace and run the information through my head.

‘There’s nothing I can get my hands on right now.’

The elixirs lived high up in the Zero Mountains.

That’s where the untouched places would be.

Well, that was to be expected.

That would be the problem with the Sixth Sight Brooch, by the way.

“A cave without light.”

At the time, I thought I could find a cave in the Zero Mountains.

Now that I know about the 100,000 caves.

I couldn’t have felt more stuck.

‘No, there’s no light in a cave, right?’

Because it’s impossible to search through 100,000 caves alone.

Okay, fine.

Let’s look at the forest, I’m not alone, right?

It can be any of the players.

If any of them found the Cave of No Light, entered it, and got the [Sixth Sight Brooch], I could buy it for a fair price.

‘I’m not greedy for money. It’s not like I don’t have money.’

But I blurted out again.

“I’m no stranger to darkness.”

Please refrain from misleading words, Grandfell.

I sighed, as always, and climbed the Zero Mountains.

Floating─

Spheres of light with each step I took.

I thought of Light.

The Zero Mountains, where you never know what monsters might appear.

‘Isn’t this like advertising that I am here?’

I wondered, but it didn’t matter.

The light was like a ball of magic.

Wherever a monster appeared, it would immediately interfere with the light.

I could manifest magic to respond.

“Not a bad night’s walk.”

Grandfell may look carefree.

I’m trying not to sink.

I’m still racking my brain nonstop. …….

*

China, the only country on Earth not to be a member of the AAU Agreement.

The emergence of the Zero Mountains.

Immediately, China went into action on its own.

The move was not hard to spot.

“China’s fleet is sailing to the Zero Mountains!”

“I’ve never seen such a radical move before.”

” …… What the hell are they up to?”

Despite not being a member of the AAU, China hasn’t been doing anything out of the ordinary.

China didn’t join the AAU because it wasn’t ambitious, but simply to protect its power structure.

‘By the way, they sent a fleet to the Zero Mountains, where we don’t know what dangers might be lurking……. And it’s carrying Liu Zunqun and other members of the Heavenly Unification Guild.

AAU Branch Leaders Meeting.

Park Minjae, the leader of the Korean branch.

He frowned as he studied the relevant documents.

“This is quite an early departure time, isn’t it?”

“You’re right. To be precise, it’s……. It looks like they left as soon as the regular updates popped up, right? That’s quite a risk they took.”

“The movement is certainly odd.”

When the Chinese fleet set sail, it was at a time when everyone was talking about the destruction of humanity due to the rise of the Zero Mountains.

If it weren’t for the last-minute intervention of Magic Tower, the world would have been destroyed.

‘It wouldn’t be strange to be swept away by a tidal wave. You took all the members of the Heavenly Unification Guild and headed for the Zero Mountains……, not even considering the possibility of a coup or infighting?’

In fact, it could be seen as a game changer in a way.

China, a country that hadn’t joined the AAU.

At the same time, a country that hadn’t joined the Holy War.

There was only one option for them to solidify their position.

The Zero Mountains.

‘But the China I know wouldn’t have done that.’

Their behavior after the cataclysm was telling.

They were content to rule China.

Because they didn’t reveal their ambition to rule the world.

But at this moment, the tide had turned.

“Maybe something has changed inside China.”

I didn’t know exactly what that change was.

But I could guess.

The AAU, the once-creators of Arcana.

“……!!!”

The branch leaders.

No one spoke, but everyone was thinking of one person. Yes. The [Monarch] class holder who could only rule, the Guild Master of Heavenly Unification.

Park Minjae spoke up.

“Liu Zunqun. I guess we’ll have to keep an eye on him in the future.”

*

Portal of the Magic Tower.

The players also heard the news of the Heavenly Unification.

“Wow, their livers are really sticking out of their stomachs.”

“Dmitry, you look like your stomach is sticking out……? The only thing you have to show for it is muscle. What happened to you, did you go on a binge over a broken heart?”

“……How did you know that?”

“You posted a tearful selfie yesterday~”

Why do I pick on things that women hate?

Bickering.

Camila and Dmitry have a brief spat.

“Should I compliment him on his quick feet?”

Rox muttered.

The Shining and the Heavenly Unification.

Rox and Liu Zunqun.

As rivals, they know each other’s way of thinking.

He was confident that he knew better than anyone else.

And from the days when Arcana was just a game to now.

Weren’t they the two men who hadn’t come from the bottom of the ladder?

“The Heavenly Unification was a gambit.”

“A gambit? What makes you think so?”

“He must have decided that the effects of his first achievement were more important than the dangers of the Zero Mountain Range. Liu Zunqun’s [Monarch] class can maximize the effect of the achievement.”

[Monarch].

It wasn’t a hidden class, but it was one of the rarest. No, among Ranked players, Liu Zunqun was the only one with the [Monarch] class.

It was probably safe to say that it was a hidden class.

Dmitry shook his head.

“Surely, if it’s a class effect of the [Monarch]…….”

The [Monarch] gained some of the experience gained by those under him.

That experience included experience points.

It also included buffs and other achievement effects.

From that perspective alone, the Monarch was a fraudulent class.

But.

“It’s amazing that he even raised it to that level~”

Monarchs were also a class that was considered impossible to raise in the modern world. Players who pledged their loyalty to a Monarch were at a one-sided disadvantage.

Dmitry pouted his lips.

“That bastard was just born into a good country.”

“So you envy him?”

“Don’t be crazy. I’m a free spirit.”

“So you’re free to be different~?”

Back to the bickering.

Aside from being loud, Rox would have agreed.

If it weren’t for the support of the state.

Liu Zunqun would never have been able to break through the level 500 barrier.

‘But there was no movement this blatant.’

Leading a fleet to the Zero Mountains.

It was a troubling move in more ways than one.

Rox looked around.

Two men’s heads towered above the crowd.

And even though you can’t see it, there’s one person who will be by your side.

“You’re thinking the same thing, aren’t you?”

.

.

.

Nam Taemin’s blood boiled.

“No, you’re going to hit him like this?”

Heavenly Unification……!

The AAU hadn’t even officially announced the appearance of the Zero Mountains. Even if they didn’t join the AAU, it’s still cheating!

“No, you don’t have the moral character of a fellow player.”

It was Hisagi who stopped the sulking Nam Taemin.

“Even Heavenly Unification would have taken a risk.”

“Risk? What risk?”

“That the Zero Mountains that appeared in reality would be different from the Zero Mountains on the Arcana Continent.”

“……?”

The title Rival.

Only with the modifier ‘well-meaning’ added to it.

To have Hisagi explain it to him.

It was something his pride wouldn’t allow.

But no matter how hard he racked his brain, he couldn’t come up with anything.

‘……You mean the dragon? No, because Hoyeol sealed it properly, and it shouldn’t be any different from the one on the continent of Arcana.’

Eventually, Nam spoke up.

“Wait, let me tie my shoelaces and talk.”

“……Where are the shoelaces in that armor?”

“No, that’s what it says.”

Under Hisagi’s cold, snake eyes, Nam Taemin crouched down and squatted.

Then he lifted his head.

He pouted at Leonie, who looked grim.

“……, what are you talking about?”

Leonie thought seriously.

‘Should I kill him?’

Why, I don’t feel any malice, which makes me feel even more drugged?

She always felt that way when she looked at Nam Taemin and Hisagi.

Even when they weren’t bending over like that.

‘I can see and hear them. You big assholes.’

Leonie shot him an icy glare that said just that.

Nam sighed.

“That’s it. What kind of brain does a berserker have in a barbarian?”

“?!”

……Should I really punch him?

That urge is rising, but let’s hold back.

I made a promise to myself.

I’m going to have some dignity.

Leonie opened her mouth to speak.

“Since it rises out of the sea, everything below the Zero Mountains, where relatively low-level monsters appear, must be submerged in the sea, right?”

“……Wa, are you a genius?”

“Even your brain isn’t muscle, why don’t you use it?”

The conversation was far from formal, but Leonie was pleased with herself. She hadn’t spat out any expletives, which was a huge improvement by her standards.

Hisagi nodded.

“It is, yes. Everything we knew about the Zero Mountains before the Cataclysm is useless, because all the low-level areas would have been submerged in the Pacific Ocean.”

……What, were you all listening?

Nam Taemin pretended not to notice and stood up.

“You certainly have a point.”

The Zero Mountains rise above sea level.

Indeed, it seemed that the level could only be determined by entering and facing it.

In that sense, the Heavenly Unification was right to gamble.

“We need to be nervous.”

Level up, of course.

Even though I had become stronger with the help of the Knights of the Lionheart and other Arcanians, I couldn’t be complacent. I still had a long way to go before I could do my part in the Holy War.

Soon, players entered the portal.

As their vision changed, they were greeted by a light.

“What is this?”

Whether it was jet lag or the Zero Mountains rising so high as to block out the sun, only the light, a glowing orb in the darkness, was more clearly visible.

“Is this the work of the gods?”

No. Who are they to judge?

It couldn’t be.

Besides, no matter how many lights I saw, there were too many.

To manifest this much light.

Even if all the mages in the world poured their magic into it, it wouldn’t be enough.

With that, his thoughts flowed naturally.

Strong enough to enter the Zero Mountains.

A heart big enough to lighten the darkness for others.

Magic Power enough to manifest light on a large scale.

All of that.

I could only think of one person who had all of those things at the same time.

Were they thinking the same thing?

Nam Taemin, Hisagi, and Leonie.

Their eyes met.

“…… Hoyeol?”

.

.

.

[A small change occurs with the effect of the sublime].

……What?

What other sublime things have you done without my knowledge?

Tell me the whole truth, Grandfell.

But also to my sanctification.

Grandfell lazily murmured to himself.

“Are you following me, my light.”

And it moved on.

“Then I, too, will move on without concern.”

[Skill, ‘Natural Enemy’ triggers].

To a place where the demon’s presence can be felt.