◈ Episode 513. Not a Pleasant Thing (2)
Not just any VIP, but VVIP.
‘Cause I’m the only one.’
I have access to the top floor of the Spacetime Social Hall. But even so, it is. Is it really necessary to play such grandiose music……?
“The chords of the strings are sweet.”
What, the chords of what instruments?
“The wind instruments are expressive.”
The wind instruments are expressive……?
What the hell do you know, Grandfell?
Forget it, what can I say?
‘……Just shut up and go upstairs.’
I wonder who’s listening, I’m scared.
Who was currently in the Spacetime Social Hall was private information that not even VVIPs were allowed to know. But I, Lee Hoyeol, was confident that I would blush with shame if I had to face whoever it was.
In that sense, it was a good thing.
“But this is not a pleasant hospitality.”
The Grandfell of Heaven does not like socializing.
So I skipped the lower and upper floors and went straight to the top floor.
[Enter the top floor of the Spacetime Social Hall].
The view is dazzling.
Even so, it’s a gorgeous Spacetime Social Hall.
The top floor was incomparably more colorful than the lower and upper floors.
‘Now is not the time to be distracted.’
Isn’t he a nice guy, by the way?
‘Compared to Claudi’s Abyss, this place is humble.’
I didn’t hesitate, thanks to my heightened senses.
I immediately approached the scroll floating in the air.
『Top-level Spacetime Mission』.
In other words, it was a scroll with a list of quests that could be performed at the moment.
‘Scrolls exist in the lower and upper levels as well.’
However, the types of quests that could be performed were different. They were of a different level than the normal spacetime quests, such as hunting a certain monster or investigating a certain place.
‘Look, they all have big names, right?’
[Mythic Quest: History of the Empire]
[Mythic Quest: Reversal of Evil]
[Mythic Quest: In Search of the Source of Magic]…….
Each and every one of the quests on the scroll was a massive quest that could travel back in time and change the course of the Arcana continent in the present.
So I scanned the list with serious eyes.
‘Let’s go with the least important ones.’
We don’t want any unnecessary butterfly effects, right?
For better or worse.
The Arcana continent was chaotic enough as it was.
‘Besides, there’s a real purpose.’
-Witness the intact House Claudi. (Ongoing)
Why the sudden push for top-tier spacetime quests?
For something we can’t currently see.
To witness the intact Claudi House.
‘Let’s see.’
Let’s sort the rewards in reverse order, so that the lower the reward, the lower the difficulty and impact of the quest. One such quest caught my eye.
[Mythic Quest: First Walk].
I skimmed the quest description and decided.
‘…… This is it.’
Exactly, this is what I wanted.
This quest would be easy to complete.
The original objective shouldn’t be too hard to accomplish, right?
*
……A dry needle.
Armor worn loosely.
Hair flowing down.
Crumpled shoes.
Without realizing it, you will be trimming your outfit.
But that’s not all.
Even Leonie’s unyielding stance was broken.
Slowly.
Leonie got down from the table she had been sitting at.
The three Guild Masters of the Great Alliance exchanged a glance, stunned by the unexpected message.
Hisagi asked.
“VVIP, do you think it could be the Great Sage?”
“No, the system message doesn’t lie.”
“Right, but what did you see? You said it was the end of the world.”
Hisagi continued, unperturbed by the duo’s questioning.
“Then who could it be?”
~♩♬♩♩♬♪~~
A person entering the Spacetime Social Hall with such a grand welcome. However there was one person who immediately came to mind in this situation…….
Hisagi quickly shook his head.
‘The Commander-in-Chief doesn’t enjoy such occasions.’
A distant past.
When Hoyeol first rose to prominence as a player.
Inazuma had done a lot of digging to recruit him.
-“Excessively clean, Captain.”
-“He doesn’t even have a speck of dust on him.”
-“The only people he considers close to him are his family…….”
What we learned along the way.
Unlike other players.
He didn’t have any contact with the social world.
Politics, entertainment, the underworld.
‘Because of that, I never had a single conversation with him.’
Hisagi, on the other hand, had all sorts of contacts.
As a result, Hisagi was skilled at navigating these social circles.
And it didn’t take long for him to put that knowledge to work.
“He must be some kind of Giant Star.”
” …… A Giant Star?”
“The VVIPs of these social clubs.”
That’s right, everything has to be balanced.
Jinglang.
Hisagi flicked a spacetime gold coin with his finger.
“You must be overwhelmingly wealthy.”
“……What, you said you didn’t have a dime?!”
“Hey, Hisagi. I want you to pay for my life water for her.”
I can’t believe they were thinking about that even in this situation.
Although he admired them both in a different way.
Hisagi had gotten used to it.
seug.
He quickly put the gold coins into his inventory and spoke.
“In that sense, I’m curious.”
“What else?”
“There’s only one way to get gold coins in Spacetime, isn’t there?”
“……!!”
At that, Nam Taemin suppressed his anger at Leonie.
Both of them, too, had fulfilled spacetime quests.
“You mean to tell me that he’s completed so many difficult quests that he’s called a VVIP? You’re definitely right, Hisagi. He should be called a Giant Star in every way.”
I should definitely look him in the face. As the three of them steeled their resolve, they turned their attention to the doorway of the social hall, from which a vaguely familiar head peeked out……?
A pointed conical hat.
“……?”
Blond hair flowing underneath.
A bewildered voice.
Leonie asked before anyone else.
“What the hell, are you Jesse Heinness?”
“Oh, hi, I see you all here!”
“You, you, were you a VVIP here?!”
Are you really trying to be unlucky?!
Leonie was about to snap.
Jesse threw up her hands.
“No, that’s not possible, I was just reading a magic book in the Magic Tower when a message popped up, saying that a VVIP had entered the Spacetime Social Hall!”
……A message?
Wait a minute, what an amazing person.
He even popped up a message for Jesse in the Magic Tower?
But the trio’s flirtation didn’t stop there.
One by one, the Transcendents, led by Jesse Heinness, filed into the social hall, including the entourage of the Commander in Chief, who was in Antonium, the capital of the Empire.
The Four Families.
House of the Shivering Acamond.
Letel Acamond.
She greeted the three of them first.
“It’s good to see you here, little-chick adventurers.”
“Ah, yes…….”
But the three of them couldn’t even think of a proper response.
What a VVIP. So many transcendents had gathered in the Spacetime Social Hall like this? They swallowed dryly again.
“I need to get my head out of my ass. This is so different.”
So I squinted.
I don’t know when, but it was coming.
The VVIP would show up at the social hall.
Nam Taemin’s gaze scans the social hall.
“I’m sure they’re all thinking the same thing as us.”
~♩♬♩♩♬♪~~
Contrary to the sweet rhyme.
A strange tension seemed to flow through the Spacetime Social Hall.
*
The objective of the quest was simple and straightforward.
─Escort the target. (in progress)
No troublesome conditions or anything.
Just escort the target without showing yourself.
In that sense…….
I looked at my outfit.
‘This outfit is going to be too much.’
Self-luminous.
Maybe my light-emitting Dawn Jacket would be too noticeable.
But to undress for that reason would be unacceptable to Grandfell.
So I made a decision.
‘……I really don’t want to.’
I pulled out something dark from my inventory.
[Akshan’s Cloak – Unfinished]
[Rank: Rare]
[Limit: Lv.500]
[Effect : None]
[Description: The uniform of the resurrected Akshan.]
That’s right.
I am now Akshan, having recruited a new group of demon hunters called the Shadow Mercenaries. I sent word to the dwarves to have Akshan’s uniform made, as we needed a distinctive outfit for our demon hunters.
‘And Diend brought me this.’
Why it was Diend, and not Hiel, who delivered the cloak with such joy, I did not wish to know. Since I will definitely be shaking my snout, my alter ego number 2……!
Unfinished.
It has no armor, except for the dwarven dexterity of the dwarves, and is merely a replica of my old, raggedy demon hunter outfit.
But our steadfast Grandfell.
“Unfinished, but still not bad.”
He has the same taste.
He gladly put on his cloak.
Dawn’s jacket, Akshan’s cloak, or any other shameful thing.
‘Let’s just settle for something less noticeable.’
ttogag.
Soon, I stepped forward with [Heavenly Demon Reign]. I try to synthesize the information I see and hear from the passing scenery. First of all, this must be the distant past, before the cataclysm.
‘No sign of demons.’
There’s no overt demonic presence.
If it was before the demonic overrun.
It was likely before Claudi was exterminated.
‘If you feel like it, do it right now.’
I wanted to open a portal to Claudi’s territory.
But first, I need to find the quest objective.
I looked in all directions, but when I pointed in a certain direction, a message flashed.
‘This way.’
I followed the shimmer.
I had an innocent question.
The quest is called [First Walk].
‘Is this the target’s first time outside?’
It was a Mythic-level quest objective, which, regardless of its difficulty or reward, meant that the target was someone whose mere existence would have a butterfly effect on the Arcana continent in the future…….
‘He must be some kind of great family brat.’
It wasn’t long before I felt a strange sense of discomfort.
Wait a minute…….
Am I on the right track?
seug.
I gently lifted my cloak and looked around. It was a familiar direction, no matter how I looked at it. Yes, it was. My steps were now heading toward Claudi territory.
‘Is my body not listening to me anymore, or what?’
I was dazed, but I was not mistaken.
As I said, I was using the blinking quest objective as a compass, and it just so happened that the path was the same as the one leading to Claudi.
As I thought about it, one possibility popped into my head.
‘…… Wait.’
A person going for a walk for the first time.
Someone who will have a huge impact on the Arcana continent in the future.
And that’s where they are.
In the same direction as Claudi……?
Me, Lee Hoyeol.
I couldn’t help but be dumbfounded.
‘No way……?’
But I didn’t let my astonishment get out of my mouth.
……seug.
The cloak pressed deeply once more.
{Nature} My abilities hid me in the forest, unnoticed.
I caught sight of a group engaged in meaningful conversation.
I recognized their attire.
A hammer emblazoned in gold.
That was the emblem of the Maxima family, one of the Four Great Houses.
The pride of Maxima, the golden elite, they whispered.
“……Do we really have to do this?”
“We have no choice. This is the way we live.”
“Why did the head of the family get involved with such a person……!!!”
Head of the family, such a person, the Maxima family.
The information was coming together in my head.
I could feel the ‘target’s’ movement through the forests of the Claudi territories.
“…… is here.”
Then, Maxima’s private soldiers held their breath.
Sereung, they drew their swords from their belts.
And at the same time.
-Escort the target. (in progress)
The quest objective flashed intensely.
I, Lee Hoyeol.
I made a short and simple statement.
……Grandfell, you were cute when you were younger, weren’t you?