◈ Episode 478. The Quest of Anomaly – Presentation (2)
Instance Dungeon.
The dungeons that players encountered were different, but the perceived difficulty was the same. No one would be able to clear the dungeon easily unless they were of a different level.
Hisagi, a magic spearman, faced the worst of it.
“There’s no place for the tip of my spear in here.”
[Lv.650: Armored Puppet of Slaughter]
There wasn’t even a seam in the armor.
But there was no hesitation.
The dungeon was a torturous place.
More and more monsters confronted me.
It’s best to kill them one by one, regardless of the means.
Hwoaruk.
Triggers the magic spearman’s skill, Magic Spear Technique.
A swirl of flame swirls around the tip of Hisagi’s spear.
The intense heat melts the opponent’s iron armor, neutralizing it.
But Hisagi, the aspiring sage, thought of a way to make amends.
Chiik.
The problem was, that this was a dungeon.
It’s also Raymon Sean.
A dungeon he designed with impure intentions.
Drip.
Water dripping from the dungeon’s outer walls cools the heat.
The moisture prevents the flames from spreading.
Swak.
The flame-enhanced spear heated the creature’s iron armor red, but that was all. Hisagi quickly closed the distance. He thought of his next move.
Fajijijik.
Lightning Bolt Magic spear technique
If the dampness of the dungeon was the problem.
I’ll use the dampness as a detonator.
Hisagi’s judgment was once again for the best.
However.
[Armored Puppet of Slaughter is out of condition, resisting ‘electric shock’.]
And even then, it’s within Raymon Sean’s estimated radius.
Oh, well, if it’s equipped with status abnormality resistance…….
Hisagi said.
“Maybe the magic spear technique may not have much effect.”
Magic Spear technique is like a game of rock-paper-scissors. Its various attributes give it an edge. But I never thought it would have resistance to so many different status abnormalities.
Hisagi raised a brow.
“A trap to catch a snake.”
I had expected that.
Isolating the players.
It would mean that he was confident that he could roast them.
But in another sense, I felt bad.
“Doesn’t this feel like my struggle is being denied?”
Pushing the limits was not taken into account at all.
A dungeon blatantly designed to test your limits.
That is.
To put it another way.
It meant that if I broke the limit, I could clear it.
“Huu.”
Hisagi prepared for the manifestation of magic, not skill.
Even if he used it generously, it wouldn’t reach the level of an apprentice mage.
It’s a shame, but it can’t be helped.
Exploration, interference, manifestation.
Not to mention application.
It was a daunting concept to follow.
‘But.’
I could at least add ‘something’ to the interference process.
And then, a ripple of air from the tip of Hisagi’s spear.
It was Anomaly.
Gooooooo.
Adding Anomaly to the interference process.
The recoil would be extreme.
It’s probably because I haven’t fully mastered anything, be it magic or sword skills.
Thud.
This is, of course, the reaction.
Blood rushes to my throat.
But Hisagi didn’t spew blood.
Gulp.
I swallowed the blood again.
“Bitter.”
Like a snake devouring its prey.
At this moment, Hisagi was forcing himself.
To digest a [Anomaly] that was bigger than his vessel.
Literally.
He was determined to become a snake.
Yes, a boa constrictor to swallow the elephant.
juleug.
Soon, blood trickles from the tip of his lips.
“……Who am I?”
I am Kazuma Hisagi.
I am the Snake of Tokyo.
To live up to my name, I must be digested.
Even as Hisagi struggles to digest Anomaly.
Time was passing.
Crash.
Just as I feared.
Monsters began to swarm from all corners of the dungeon.
From the point of view of the Arcana Continent VR, the attack was a failure.
But.
“…… it worked.”
Hisagi had managed to digest the anomaly.
From the narrow perspective of Arcana’s Continent Biography.
It was impossible to evaluate the situation from now on.
As you can see.
Swoosh.
Just by throwing out the spear.
Disregarding the opposition.
I sharply cut through the armored puppets.
seug.
Hisagi wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
“Still, since we’re allied, shouldn’t we go together, Taemin-kun?”
*
Spacetime Social Hall.
The Lightning Child.
And the Warrior of Sunrise checked the parchments.
No, he read the parchment again.
“Nam Taemin, Hisagi, and Leonie…….”
The Spacetime Social Hall had allowed three people to qualify.
And they were all adventurers.
The Warrior of Sunrise arched a dark brow and turned to the boy.
“Has there ever been another case like this?”
“I doubt it. Just one arrives and there’s a fuss!”
“Three at the same time.”
Even if heroes were born in a chaotic world.
It didn’t make sense.
It wasn’t a qualification for Transcendence that could be claimed simply by being strong.
‘Moreover, they are adventurers.’
That was hardly enough to qualify them as Transcendents.
But his doubts didn’t last long.
The Lightning Child looked at the application with a sullen expression.
The boy was surprised to see it.
“……Wait, what’s this, this, this long name?!”
Long name?
The three adventurers didn’t have long names.
Nor were their accomplishments very long.
“No. Here, at the end, at the end!”
With those words, Sunrise Warrior looked at the examination paper he was holding.
And there it was, a really long name.
A name he could never forget.
──────
Reviewed by: Grandfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo
──────
“Grandfell……!”
The man who had been the first unanimous inductee into the Spacetime Social Hall.
At the same time, only a short time ago.
The man who had disbanded his Transcender Alliance.
“Hey, why is he listed here?!”
The Lightning Child shuddered as soon as he saw the name.
Letel, House of Acamond, one of the Four Houses.
She still hadn’t gotten over the humiliation she’d felt from him.
If only.
“……Wait, you can’t be listening from above, can you?”
She stammered, glaring at the chandelier above her.
“Why would Grandfell be here and not him……!”
Of course, Sunrise Warrior had his doubts.
As a relative newcomer to the social hall, he hadn’t seen many applications. He couldn’t even guess why the man’s name was on the application for Transcendence.
Nevertheless, I try to understand the intention.
“Review…….”
Luckily, it wasn’t hard to guess.
I told you I was suspicious even if I wasn’t.
Adventurers.
How could they?
How they had risen to the ranks of the Transcendentals in such a short time.
“……No way.”
“No way. Did you figure something out, sloppy brother?”
“Something like that.”
“No, don’t keep it to yourself!”
kkug.
Sunrise Warrior’s hands sweat in spite of himself.
“Grandfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo, that man is Nam Taemin, Hisagi, and Leonie. He led the three adventurers to the ranks of the Transcendents. That’s the conclusion I’ve come to.”
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
The Lightning Child was dumbfounded.
“Do you seriously think such a thing is possible, big brother? Ever since that day, a mere mortal has become helpless…….Has it changed too much? There are degrees of overestimation……!”
“I don’t lie.”
“What?”
Sunrise Warrior waved the parchment.
“You know that what’s written on the parchment is the truth, without a shred of falsehood. That is why I voted in favor during the evaluation of Grandfell’s transcendent qualification.”
“……That, by the way!”
“It’s clearly stated on that parchment, the existence of a man.”
What that meant, then, was simple.
“Well, thank goodness…….”
Just by being himself.
This was Grandfell who could lead others to the ranks of the Transcendent.
If he didn’t have mercy on himself…….
‘I’d be cowering in fear right now.’
In that sense, his thoughts turned to Oxidin.
What could he possibly be up to?
I couldn’t figure it out when I first met him.
I couldn’t guess now.
‘To be exact, from the moment he was reborn as a monarch.’
The pondering warrior stood up from his seat.
The three sheets of Transcendents.
He slammed them all down on the table.
“This is not something I can evaluate.”
“What? Why? I’m against it!”
The Lightning Child was being a child of his age.
Stubborn beyond belief.
He was trying to take out his anger on the adventurers.
The Sunrise Warrior spoke as childishly as one would deal with a child of his age.
“You’d better remember that you’re not the only name on that screening form, and if you try to disgrace Grandfell with your stubbornness, you’ll be…….”
“……Oh!”
Finally, the Lightning Child followed the Warrior to his feet.
“Then I’ll abstain for the time being, just like you! So, where are you going? Did something come up, or do you just not want to play with me?”
Sunrise Warrior nodded.
“Both.”
“Both?”
“Because we don’t get news from the continent here.”
Time passes so slowly in the social hall that it could be said to have stopped flowing. Which means we don’t know what’s happening on the Arcana continent.
“We’ll have to wait and see, won’t we?”
Oxidin.
To see what he’s up to.
With that, the Sunrise Warrior left the Spacetime Social Hall.
“……!”
Suddenly, I snapped back to reality.
And I felt strange.
Why.
It rattled.
“Am I in a carriage?”
Apparently, he was being accompanied by the same Transcendent, Pocom the universal merchant……. It was at this point that Sunrise realized that his memory was not complete.
“……Wait.”
Sunrise Warrior looked out the carriage window.
He could see Pokom on his pony and Top following him.
Pocom had no reason to lead now that he was out of business for the time being.
Where are they headed?
Scared to ask the question.
A magnificent landscape comes into view.
“Is that……?”
It’s a city wall.
There weren’t many walls of that size on the current Arcana continent.
I recognized it immediately.
Pocom’s top was heading towards Antonium, the capital of the Empire.
‘There was no reason to stop in Antonium.’
That was the end of Sunrise Warrior’s worries.
A moment in the reality of the Spacetime Social Hall.
He didn’t know what had happened.
He had no intention of getting Pocom involved in a situation he didn’t understand.
Chuck.
To prepare for unexpected situations.
The Sunrise Warrior reached out his hand toward the sunrise sword
His hand flinched.
“!”
It was sticky.
His hand was sticky from the blood that had been soaked into the handle of the sunrise sword.
In that moment, he realized.
“Oxidin……!!!
The Tyrant’s brainwashing hasn’t been completely undone.
*
Ptera, the Great Monster.
Oxidin surveyed the battle from atop the ancient pterodactyl.
“I didn’t even expect anything from a beast.”
The Great Monster was a deception, after all.
The real thing, at this moment, was disguised.
The Transcendents were entering Antonium.
“Don’t blame yourself. You were good, Lee Hoyeol.”
Oxidine thought of Hoyeol, the man who had unbrainwashed the Transcendents.
It was an admirable improvisation.
But you were unlucky, and I was lucky.
Oxidin chanted.
“Not even death could quench my desire.”
The moment the crown was placed on his head, things changed drastically.
Oxidin’s name was updated in the player rankings.
His level increased.
Why did this happen?
The culprit was revealed here.
Oxidin.
No, the Tyrant’s crown.
Liu Zunqun’s thought opened his mouth.
[Succession of Tyrants (Master): A true Tyrant will not allow anyone to usurp his throne. Even at the end of his life, a Tyrant’s will to power will never be broken. Current successor: Oxidin]
“Find them, and slay them.”
The tyrant gives the order.
“Starting with Long Shenglac, the traitor of the Heavenly Unity.”
.
.
.
Sunrise.
In front of the speed of the rising sun.
I didn’t dare utter a word.
“Ss……?”
A snap.
The body and head of the Long Shenglac separated. Blood gushed out of the tavern. The man who struck Long Shenglac’s head, the Sunrise Warrior, fled the tavern without saying or doing anything.
As if he had accomplished his goal.
“Kyaaaaaah!”
“Hey, grab that bastard now!”
“Crazy bastard, why don’t you stop?!”
The man sitting across from Long Shenglac was covered in blood.
But he wasn’t shocked.
Even at this moment, his head was spinning rapidly.
This is a murder motivated by resentment.
Long Shenglac had bought someone’s grudge.
Long Shenglac was a reformed man.
There was only one person he could buy a grudge against.
There is only one person.
“……Liu Zunqun.”
The former Five Stars of the Heavenly Unity.
Baek Seongryun.
He wiped away the blood and ground his teeth.
“The debt you owe him will be paid with your life.”
Sreung!