◈ Episode 235. Did you think you could get away with it?
It wasn’t just Park Minjae.
Each of the branch offices and their leaders froze.
Those who remembered the beta test of Arcana froze.
The faces of the branch leaders were suddenly mesmerized.
“Mr. Baker, are you okay?”
“Um, nothing.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re okay, and by the way, this is the General Manager again!”
AAU London Branch Leader.
Baker nodded wordlessly.
“Of course, it’s a surprise.
[Prototype model: D].
A prototype from the beta testing days.
It was a fake, but it was a dragon.
The power of that breath must be beyond imagination.
‘You have neutralized the dragon’s breath with your sword.’
The moment the sword and Breath met.
The Breath turned to dust and scattered into the air.
If I had’t seen it in person, I would’ve doubted my eyes, but it was posted on Arcana’s official website.
But I was convinced.
‘It’s Mr. Lee Hoyeol, the general manager, not anyone else.’
So I was mesmerized.
There was another reason.
It was the existence of the prototype monster itself.
AAU Korea Branch.
Park Minjae muttered to himself.
“……I’m pretty sure he said that.”
The conversation with Raymond Sean in my head.
-“There’s no point in interfering with something that’s already finished.”
Back when Arcana was just a game.
Back then, it was understood to mean that you couldn’t touch Arcana that was already in service.
But you only see what you know. After the Cataclysm, when settings that were only in development were realized and burst through the rifts.
Only then did Park realize the hidden meaning.
“It was already a completed world…….”
Cosmo didn’t develop the Arcana continent.
It meant that the Arcana Continent had already been completed.
But I couldn’t believe it.
It was my experience in beta testing that would prove me wrong. I had seen the incomplete version of the Arcana Continent in beta testing, and I had seen it in action.
I couldn’t believe what Raymond was saying.
“Why did the prototype suddenly……?”
Then, the prototypes, the proof, burst out of the rift.
‘No way……?’
Park Minjae’s pupils fluttered.
‘Are you saying that the beta tests were all fake?’
Fake is another word for illusion.
If the Arcana Continent was really a world that existed from the beginning. That the beta test was simply a play to fool us. That Cosmo, AAU, had been playing right into Raymond Sean’s hands all this time.
“You son of a bitch.”
Ta-da!
Park Minjae gritted his teeth.
I thought I couldn’t understand the inside, but I never thought it would be like this.
I really felt completely defeated.
“……?”
“Hold on, I’m just getting over the upset stomach.”
“Oh, yeah!”
It’s already a damn rebellious temperament.
It’s like he’s been slapped in the back of the head by someone he can’t stand.
This is why he is so agitated in front of his subordinates.
But Park Minjae managed to change his expression.
“Whoa, that’s enough.”
Was it because he’s been socializing for a while?
No way.
Park Minjae had lived a life of bashing people if he couldn’t understand them. To put it mildly, he was even less confident in his social life than Sung Hyunjoon, so how did he suppress his anger?
If anyone asks, Park Min-jae will point to the monitor.
“……Thanks to you, General Manager Lee Hoyeol.”
And so it was.
The bitterness in the back of his head from being beaten by Raymond Sean.
No one else but Hoyeol was about to pay him back.
Someone shouted.
“This is the last floor. That’s the control room!”
Park Minjae raised the corner of his mouth.
“Feel what it’s like to get your ass kicked, asshole.”
*
friendly competition.
It was a close call.
hegwin seemed to be unable to tolerate losing streak after training his body, and was chopping up the giant prototype with his quick sword. It was defeat that took away my attention.
‘I understand, though.’
I heard the sound of an illusion breaker.
How could I not turn around and learn?
Kugugung-!
The giant prototype collapsed with a loud crash, and a message popped up.
[You have leveled up].
[You’ve leveled up].
[You’ve leveled up.]…….
There are so many that it’s dizzying.
This is the dungeon I entered to meet Raymond Sean in the first place. I wasn’t expecting to level up or loot or anything like that, but……. The human mind is different from the mind when it comes in.
I would have felt bad if you didn’t give me experience.
Instead of dropping loot, the prototype spit out a significant amount of experience.
I had gained a whopping nine levels before I even took down the giant prototype. So I was pretty excited and checked my status…….
I was more than pleasantly surprised.
[Level: 680]
……680 levels?
[Points: 59].
Wait, level 50 on one of those?!
That means I’ve gained experience up to the system limit.
Fifty levels in one fell swoop.
That’s a lot of experience, more than I’ve ever gotten from the Kernberg Machine Tower.
Naturally, I had a question.
‘What the hell is that hunk of machinery……?’
Of course, there’s no reason to doubt that good things are good things.
I didn’t spit out any loot, but I’m genuinely satisfied.
A level is a level, but there was a more important harvest.
I’ve unlocked my second Transcendent achievement.
[Transcendent: Your transcendent state is enough to be called a transcendent. – Current achievements: Circle (all magic expression power increased by 1,000%) / Sword of Pride (currently liberated path: 1st path) / None / None…….]
It’s called the Sword of Pride.
‘……That’s a pretty big deal, man.’
The name alone is a grandiose achievement.
However, the effect was much different.
I’ve dug countless holes in my flesh.
I now have the upper hand against any enemy.
‘Following my sword path.’
My companion, Gwicheol, also changed its name.
……No, it’s not the name that matters.
It’s about form and effect.
The potential is endless.
Currently, only Path 1, the Illusion Breaker, has been liberated.
However, the other paths will be discovered as they are explored.
Just as it always has.
It was a moment of realization.
The Illusion Breaker said.
-Atlas is willing to admit defeat.
Really?
I looked at Shegwin, still stunned by his words.
There was so much more to say, so much more to say.
But what a tragic story the Sword of Pride has to tell.
It wasn’t Grandfell that needed to be explained in detail.
He simply said.
“At last, the distraction is gone.”
[B5-Deep Lab]
“Onward, Shegwin.”
The Deep Lab was waiting for us, but the prototype was nowhere to be seen at the bottom of the stairs. It’s just a bunch of monitors, living up to its name.
If you just pass by and go down, you will find [B6-Control Room] at the end of the deep section.
That’s where you’ve been watching everything on CCTV, Raymond Sean.
What, you want to talk to me?
‘there’s nothing that can’t be done.’
I have a lot of questions I’d really like to ask you.
But before that, all we have to do is make the calculations clear.
So do I and Shegwin.
You owe us a little something, don’t you?
I regain my motivation and go down the stairs.
jijijig─
Suddenly, a noise pierces my eardrums.
“!”
Thud!
Shegwin reflexively grabs the Atlas.
A dungeon, a place where no one can say for sure what will happen.
But I recited in the same voice as always.
“There is no need to be on guard.”
Because that crackling sound was so familiar to me.
It was noise.
It is correct to refer to the white noise that appears if the frequency is set incorrectly.
“?”
But Shegwin didn’t immediately let his guard down.
Perhaps he had reason to be.
Nothing could be more foreign to an Arcanian.
I’m curious, by the way.
‘Did you suddenly turn on the radio?’
I ask Raymond Sean, looking toward the source of the sound.
[B5-Deep Lab].
……Wait a minute, a bunch of monitors start crackling.
I am used to the cat tricks of the tower master.
I recognized it.
He’s at it again.
‘Do you think I’ll give you eyes?’
I was the one who casually ignored the quests that players could only fantasize about.
I stare at the crackling monitor.
I can’t stop stomping my feet…….
‘……hat?’
But regardless, I stood frozen in place.
The screen on the crackling monitor caught my attention.
It was familiar.
If not every day.
I log on at least once a week, so it should be familiar.
It was definitely the official Arcana homepage.
If it was just the homepage, I wouldn’t have stopped.
However, there was a video playing on the homepage.
An observer’s eye view.
Silvery hair.
Overly colorful jackets and clothing.
And in his hand, a sword that looked out of place.
That was me.
“……!”
The angle of my reflection in the distance brought Shegwin up on the screen as well. Live streaming, an experience Shegwin would never understand.
Pavak!
Shegwin turns his head and looks around.
Shegwin’s face appears on the screen in real time.
I say nonchalantly.
“You shouldn’t be surprised.”
Of course, it’s not what it sounds like.
Because.
Because now I was breaking out in a cold sweat!
A memory flashes through my mind.
The CCTV cameras I saw as I entered the rift.
‘Is that CCTV footage?’
I tried to calm down and organize the situation.
The CCTV footage is currently being broadcast in real time on the Arcana official website. I’ve seen countless CCTVs like that since I entered the rift.
‘…… So you’ve been watching the whole time.’
Also bringing the prototype to its knees.
The one where I just raised my sword against a giant prototype.
And the illusion breaker I’m holding……?!
When I think about that, the words I said come to mind.
-“Are you ready, Illusion Breaker?”
That’s stuffed on the official Arcana website?
Holy shit!
Talking to a sword should be enough to make you look insane, let alone a sword named Illusion Breaker. I stared at the monitor in disbelief.
Raymond.
What the hell were you thinking?
I don’t know if he was broadcasting my every move.
I turned to Shegwin and finished.
“This puts me in the same position as you.”
How dare he make me a spectacle?
I take back what I said about owing you ‘some’ money.
For threatening my life with shame.
I’ll make sure you get what you deserve.
My vision shifts from the monitor.
I turn to the staircase that rises toward the basement.
There is no more hesitation.
Ttogak-
[B6 – You have entered the control room].
The control room.
I’m in the core of the dungeon.
I step into the core of the dungeon, where I know Raymond will be watching everything.
My footsteps echoed through the control room for a moment.
My eyes flashed open.
What, you’re not going to give me another quest?
As I said, I’m a snob, but I’ll take the bullshit.
There was no shaking at Grandfell.
“That’s not funny.”
First of all, it was said coldly.
But, wait a minute…….
This is not a quest message.
[You have fulfilled the condition].
……Conditions?
The first thing that came to mind was the quest objective, but there was no quest objective to be fulfilled by entering the [B6-Control Room]. Then, one message after another.
It was…….
[Reward has been issued].
The reward message came out of nowhere.
[You have cleared Rift ‘Dungeon: CODE-009’].
……I get it.
‘You’re sending me away like this?’
I ask.
Me and Shegwin, both highly intoxicated.
You’re gonna kick me out of the rift?
But I made it clear.
You owe me a favor.
I’m going to make sure you get the price of my life.
So you can’t just close the rift and walk away, Raymond.
I raised my magic power with all my might.
Gooooo!
A vast amount of magic power that even the [First World Tree Blessing] can’t regenerate!
The place where that magic power is used is the anomaly space, the rift.
I will reverse the clearing of the rift at this moment.
Is such a thing possible?
‘You never know until you try.’
And whether it’s possible or impossible.
Raymond.
Until I punch you in the face.
I mean, I’m never going to get out of the rift.
[Magic power is too low].
In a flash, a message pops up, warning me that I’m about to run out of magic.
But it doesn’t stop.
Chirp-chirp-chirp!
I stare clearly at the crumbling landscape.
In my head.
A pedantic search, a interference, a manifestation.
!─And so on.
The collapsing rift reversed once again.
My eyes flicker.
[B6 – You have entered the control room].
“You thought you could get away with it.”
My voice echoes through the now silent control room.
“I’m sorry about that.”
I say coldly.
“I’ll add bribery to your list of punishments.”
So show yourself, Raymond Sean.
-Come forward. Master of illusion.
My sword, the illusion breaker.
My fist wet with shame.
For my pride punch is crying!