◈ Episode 298. It’s a living hell……! (2)
Spirits are naturally playful.
Just look at the words floating around the Arcana continent.
──────
Since most humans can’t hear their voices, spirits use pranks as a substitute for words. Do not be angry, traveler, if your hat is blown away by the wind. The wind spirits just want to talk to you……..
──────
In the past, Hiel was a forest spirit, but has now been reborn as a {unique spirit}.
Just as position create people, it also create spirits. Therefore, although nobility can be found in recent Hiel, playfulness cannot be found.
As if that weren’t bad enough, she’s been influenced by Hoyeol.
Hiel swallowed hard.
‘What should I do, my lord?’
In her heart, she wanted to pick on those five adventurers.
The five adventurers.
When Hiel think of how they tried to slander her lord unsuccessfully, she honestly wanted……. to bind them limb from limb with plants, but Hiel hadn’t forgotten.
“……I apologize for this, my lord.”
The formality that Hoyeol emphasized.
Hiel did not forget her position.
She remembered that her actions could bring her master’s high honor into disrepute. She looked at them again, this time from Hoyeol’s point of view, and the answer came.
“What should I do about this…?”
Chainwalker was at a loss.
Dwarves are basically indifferent to others.
The reason dwarves are currently helping the empire is purely due to the influence of Akshan and Hoyeol.
Chainwalker looked at Hiel again.
“You are more knowledgeable about adventurers than we are, aren’t you?”
Who does it resemble?
Despite the harsh tone and treatment, Hiel nods her head proudly.
Her voice is as firm as ever.
“You know, Chainwalker.”
“What are you talking about?”
“About my lord’s homeworld, the World of Adventurers.”
“Hmm, well.”
Chainwalker stroked his beard.
As it turned out, he really didn’t know much about the Adventurer’s World. He was too busy paying attention to the Arcana continent. Besides, it was Hoyeol’s homeworld, not anyone else’s.
Chainwalker scratched his head.
“I don’t know what it’s like, but it must be better than the current Arcana Continent, with Lord Hoyeol still there.”
Hiel shakes her head.
“The demons that crossed over from the Arcana Continent to the Adventurer’s World have something in common. They favor the Adventurer’s World over the Arcana Continent, even in the presence of my lord.”
“Is that true?”
Chainwalker was stunned by the unexpected statement.
Then he turned his gaze back to the adventurers on the ground.
Chainwalker’s eyes narrowed sharply.
“……Is it because of the adventurers?”
Chainwalker did not forget.
This is a holy war.
They have Akshan on their backs. So he finalized his decision. If adventurers are useful to the demons. They might as well show them the cold shoulder.
“It’s a more fundamental problem.”
“If you say it’s a fundamental problem…..?”
“Because there is no end to negative emotions in that land.”
A chill ran down Chainwalker’s spine.
‘Such a world truly exists?’
The Arcana continent alone is horrifying.
Sometimes the very sight of it sends chills down his spine.
Chainwalker couldn’t help but admire Hoyeol once again.
‘Even in such a world, Lord Hoyeol is still strong?’
Of course, that feeling didn’t last long.
So.
Chainwalker checked again.
“What shall we do with those adventurers?”
“Do you know what the opposite of mercy is, Chainwalker?”
“Well……. Is it disposal?”
“No.”
Hiel’s eyes turned cold.
“It is indifference and turning away.”
Dawn.
The red insignia, Heavenly Unity.
They were enemies of the Lord.
Naturally, no warmth of the Lord’s would shine upon them.
You don’t even want to look at them.
Hiel thought one step further for Hoyeol.
‘There is definitely a reason.’
Ignoring the rules established by the lord.
A reason to set foot on the Arcana continent.
Hiel planned to report to Hoyeol without missing their every move. The nature that exists on the Arcana Continent and the spirits that govern it.
With the [Blessing of the First World Tree], Hiel was reborn as a {Unique Spirit}.
She had the power to command them.
Which means.
There was no reason to watch them.
Hiel’s gaze fell on the Five Stars of Heavenly Unity.
“We shall move at your pleasure, Chainwalker.”
“I understand.”
Thud-thud-thud!
A giant airship flew across the sky.
It was a sight to behold.
It was enough to make the five players despair.
“This is ridiculous.”
“If it’s an NPC, it should be welcoming the players!”
“Bastards, can’t you come back?!”
But.
It wasn’t the Iron Castle that answered the cries.
Gumtul─
It was a demon race monster that roamed the Arcana Continent.
A system message flashed before Wu Sheng’s eyes.
[Demon Scavenger Centipede: Lv.700]
Demons are basically unable to understand subjects.
There are more demons who can’t see than there are who can.
However, even if you call it a lousy demon.
It’s level 700.
Even if you are fully prepared.
Would a player around level 450 be able to deal with such a monster?
They knew better than anyone.
“No, no, no! This is suicide!”
All the confidence he’d shown in front of the connector was gone.
Hang in line.
One after another, everyone shouted.
“Log out!!!”
……But nothing happened.
Hadn’t he told us?
From the beginning, Hoyeol had warned.
-“You can’t come back to the real world through the connector.”
They just didn’t believe him.
-“I believe you have not forgotten your goal. We must tell our masters exactly what is happening on the Arcana continent.”
Finally, Wu Sheng realized.
“……?”
Wasn’t the reason the Lord allowed us to use the connector…….
Was it simply to find out what Hoyeol meant?
Someone shouted with a scream.
“Aaahhh, I can’t forgive you, Liu Zunqun!”
.
.
.
What is a monarch like?
A monarch must think ahead of his subjects.
If a subject can fathom the will of the monarch.
It is a sign of disqualification as a monarch.
Sigh.
Liu Zunqun’s cold gaze swept over the connector.
Everyone had disappeared into the Arcana Continent.
This was the twentieth person.
“I will not forget your sacrifice for me.”
The guild members who had fallen to the Arcana Continent.
Whether they blamed themselves or not.
It didn’t matter.
Such was the nature of the [Military Lord Relationship].
A message appeared in Liu Zunqun’s vision.
[Skill, ‘Military Lord Relationship’ is activated.]
[Acquire experience points accumulated from subject].
[Gain experience from a subject].
[Gain experience from a subject]……..
A cruel voice rings out.
“So die proudly.”
Liu Zunqun’s quest window flashes.
[Class Quest: Path of the Tyrant]
*
AAU.
“What a dream job, really.”
Before the Cataclysm, even in the days of Cosmo.
After the Cataclysm, when Cosmo became AAU. Sung was known among his friends as the Blessed One. In all conscience, he’d been sucking honey for a while.
For a while.
Hororok─
The hollow-eyed Sung Hyunjoon is prolonging his life with an Americano. He hadn’t had proper sleep in days. All because Hoyeol, the general manager of the Yusra branch, dropped a bombshell.
“As if the great evil wasn’t enough, conquering 100,000 caves at the same time and the legendary item, Excalibur? Just thinking about answering to the real media makes my head spin, senior.”
Yoon Soogyeom’s situation was no different.
The reason is simple.
Thick, grasping hair.
“Excalibur, that’s not supposed to come from there……?”
Excalibur.
As players and media speculated, it was the highest tier item in the Arcana system. Even if it wasn’t the kind of item that would appear in the days when Arcana was just a game, its location and coordinates were clearly set.
Yoon Soogyeom muttered with a complicated expression.
“Of course, it’s good that the General Manager has mastered it……. Why is that in Hundred Thousand Caves in the Zero Mountains? shit. How devastated the Arcana Continent would be……!”
“Senior, why aren’t you answering me?”
“You don’t think its original location is buried in the ground, do you?”
“……What the hell, can’t you hear my voice?”
A pause.
Sung Hyunjoon pinched his cheek with a nervous hand. There’s no pain, no flesh to touch, no hand to reach through the desk. I don’t think he collapsed from overwork and had an out-of-body experience…….
The two men start talking at the same time.
“Is it really foreshadowing that the goddess is over there?”
“No, no way. Is my senior dead?!”
“Damn, damn Arcana!”
“Senior, look at my face!”
Literally, total mess.
It’s been three days since he haven’t been able to get off work.
Maybe it’s a strange thing to stay sane.
But the real mess started now.
“Emergency!!!”
Tada-tada-tada.
Busy footsteps.
Who else could be screaming at the top of his lungs in the AAU Korea branch, but Mr. Park Minjae, the branch leader. Park Minjae calls out to the two with a white face.
“Yoon Soo-gyeom, Sung Hyunjoon. Emergency, emergency!”
An emergency?
The real emergency is when you are distracted during work hours.
Isn’t this the boss rushing towards you in a hurry?
The spirit that ran away from home returns in an instant.
“What’s wrong, Mr. Branch Leader?”
But Park Minjae wasn’t making a fuss.
Because there were worse emergency situations than that.
Words flowing out between trembling lips.
“The branch manager Yusra is visiting.”
“……Now?! Here?!”
“Yes!”
Excalibur, the goddess, the great evil, and now a visit!
How is it that the general manager doesn’t even give us a chance to breathe? Before asking the reason, let’s first look back at the way we dress. Everyone asks each other
“What, do you want me to do a quick shave right now?”
“No, get that tie right first.”
“How is my face?”
…… Park Minjae’s face doesn’t look like it’s going to get any better by checking.
He nodded.
The three of them hurriedly walked back to the branch office.
It was almost time for the appointment.
“So, what brings him here, anyway?”
“There’s a setting he want to check.”
” ……Settings?”
He was puzzled.
No wonder.
From magic, to demons, to the recent interaction with Akshan, who we thought had been erased forever. Shouldn’t the General Manager know more about the Arcana than they did?
Park frowned.
“Do you see now why I called it an emergency?”
It’s not just the three of them.
The AAU Korea branch.
No, all the members are well aware of Hoyeol’s hard work.
They’ve been waiting for a chance to give back.
‘I didn’t feel so bad at the time.’
Because it was Park Minjae who willingly bridged the gap with the president at Hoyeol’s request.
But this time, he wasn’t so sure.
The erosion of arcana continues.
Wasn’t it the AAU that had already let go once in the middle of it?
Sung Hyunjoon spoke up in a somber voice.
“I see……. We’re the ones who have a lot of questions. Do you think our AAU can answer the General Manager’s questions?”
As you know, the AAU database is not omnipotent.
Unless it’s a setting that’s been set in stone since the days when Arcana was just a game, there’s no simple way to predict how it came to be.
Park shrugged.
“Still, we’ll just have to do our best.”
“Then we’ll be outside cheering you on.”
“Huh? Speaking of outside, we should go in together.”
“……?”
Despite my best efforts.
He still hasn’t taken off his goofy t-shirt.
Park Minjae says playfully.
“Why, shouldn’t we get some green tea on the side?”
The exchange of jokes lasted only a moment.
Goooooooo-!
“……!!!”
The appointment time arrives, and a portal opens in the branch leader’s office.
Hoyeol appeared without missing a beat and took a seat.
He quenched his thirst with the green tea Sung Hyunjoon had prepared for him and opened his mouth to speak.
Then Park Min-ae’s face lit up.
“If this is the setting of the Magic Tower……!”
Park Minjae felt like he could live up to Hoyeol’s expectations.
“Please leave it to me!”
It was finally time to pay for the meal.