Chapter 657. Cheap Trick (4)
“Hehehe.”
Laughter spilled out on its own.
Did I go insane from the overwhelming pain? As if.
The reason I was laughing wasn’t because I had retrieved Gwicheol, nor because I had successfully escaped from the nameless Claudi.
“…I won.”
That’s right.
I, Lee Hoyeol,
finally got one over on Grandfell!
The moment my breath stopped in the Arcana continent.
—or to be more precise, to clear up any misunderstanding—
The moment I was logged out by the effect of [Last Adventurer].
I witnessed it.
“Your eyes were totally wide open, weren’t they?”
The confusion in your pupils.
You tried so hard to pretend you weren’t shaken, but you can’t fool me.
No matter how much you claim to be the “Source of All Evil,” you’re still just Grandfell.
This time, I burst into real laughter.
“Come on, what kind of source of all evil gets so hung up on teabagged green tea?”
I confirmed it.
That cold gaze.
That ever-calm demeanor.
It wasn’t your true self, but an act you were desperately maintaining.
“To think I uncovered something this major.”
At this point…
‘Wouldn’t my understanding of darkness proficiency have increased too?’
Of course, with the system window broken, there was no way to check.
But regardless of the status window, I just felt good.
It wasn’t simply because I’d claimed my first victory over Grandfell.
I do have a conscience, after all.
Swipe.
I brushed my hand over the area where Gwicheol had pierced my heart.
“You must’ve thought I’d let go of the system already.”
You had no idea how pathetically clingy I really am.
“Thanks to that, my acting skills got better.”
It was a bluff I could never use again—an exploitation of Grandfell’s oversight of the system.
To use your own words, Grandfell, it was a disgraceful trick with not a shred of pride.
Feeling guilty, I kept muttering to myself.
“Hmm, it’s not just that I’m happy about winning, okay?”
I’m not actually some edgy teenager.
You think I’d get all giddy over something so childish?
The reason I smiled even in that excruciating pain was simple.
“…Maybe we really are deeply intertwined, huh?”
Because now I was sure.
That when I stood before you as an equal,
I could change your mind.
‘In the end, you were desperately holding yourself together too—just like me.’
I used to worry.
That maybe I was headed toward a destination that didn’t even exist.
But now I knew that destination was real.
It was as if I’d gained a motivation greater than anything else.
“…Right, now’s not the time.”
Even though it’s a distant goal, I know now that it’s reachable.
From now on, I’ll have to move faster than even the days when I was dragged along by Grandfell.
“It’s lucky this happened just as I was losing motivation.”
With the system window shattered,
To be honest, I felt a little disappointed because there were no visible results.
But not anymore.
Like I said, I now have a clear goal.
And right away, I thought of what I needed to do.
‘As soon as the cooldown on Last Adventurer ends…’
I have to re-enter the Arcana continent.
I have to finish hunting the nameless Claudi that possessed Harkon.
Of course, there won’t be any delays this time.
Even without the system, I still have my senses.
‘I’ve definitely locked it in.’
I saw with my demon hunter eyes, and my nose clearly memorized the scent.
No matter where he hides in the Arcana continent, I’m confident I can track down the nameless Claudi.
“Then after that, Harkon…”
Just as I was setting my priorities—
Buzz.
Suddenly, my smartphone vibrated with a notification.
“Of all times…”
An emergency update? I frowned instinctively.
“Raymon Sean, seriously, you’re never helpful.”
Before checking the update, I noticed a delayed text message that had just been received, probably because I’d been in the Arcana continent.
It wasn’t from one of the usual jerks, either—it was from Branch Manager Park Minjae of AAU.
“Huh, must be something urgent.”
Muttering, I began to read the message…
“…What?”
Right from the first line, it was more than I’d imagined.
—Mr. General Manager, Raymon Sean has returned to the AAU.
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The Land of Anomaly, Seoul.
Gaon Building.
None of the three Guild Masters of the great alliance could open their mouths.
──────
The great knight of the Empire, Harkon Kingsguard, has fallen.
──────
Nam Taemin gritted his teeth.
“…Damn it.”
Raymon Sean.
No matter how much of a bastard he was, he never lied in an update log.
There were times he omitted logs entirely, but never had he included false information.
──────
The Arcana Continent mourns the passing of a great knight.
──────
The Executor of the Empire.
The Lionheart Knights.
It was from Knight Commander Harkon that they had learned sword energy.
– “You are already qualified to wield sword energy.”
– “Recall the crossroads between life and death you crossed.”
– “As expected of my disciples.”
If Hoyeol had granted them knowledge of the anomaly,
then it was Harkon who had guided them to set foot into its domain.
And now, Harkon had fallen.
Leonie clutched her head and muttered,
“…I can’t believe it. Not until I see it for myself.”
Nam Cheolmin, watching the three of them, remained silent.
Clack.
He simply reviewed the update logs over and over.
‘Raymon Sean…’
Personal feelings?
Of course he had them—strong ones.
The Nam brothers had lost their parents during the sudden collapse of a rift in the early days of the Cataclysm.
But beyond that bitter resentment, Raymon Sean’s actions were increasingly incomprehensible.
‘You wouldn’t lie about something like this.’
If his only goal was to deceive them, he wouldn’t have added this update log at all.
The summary of the update announcing Harkon Kingsguard’s death was simple:
A great hero of the Empire, Harkon, has died.
The Arcana continent shall pay tribute to the great hero.
And as proof, the system—which does not lie—declared:
[Mourning the Hero: The Arcana continent mourns the death of a great hero. A “Mourning” buff will be activated across Imperial territory.]
[Mourning]
They had experienced this back when Arcana was still “just a game.”
He still vividly remembered the time he received a buff that drastically increased item drop rates just for observing a moment of silence at the funeral of an unknown lord.
But none of the players would mourn Harkon just for the buff.
Because Harkon, more than an Imperial knight, had fought at the front lines of humanity’s battle against the rifts.
Leonie held back her emotions as she spoke:
“I’ll never forget that gleaming prosthetic leg.”
“…!”
“That’s why I kept telling him to let it go already…”
The great knight of the Empire hadn’t protected just the Empire.
He had fought not only demons, but dragons as well—head-on, for the sake of all of them.
Everyone knew the weight of what he had done.
Breaking News: World leaders express their condolences…
Even before the facts were confirmed, some were offering official condolences.
As he stared at his smartphone, Hisagi suddenly spoke:
“What is the AAU doing right now?”
“The AAU? Why bring them up?”
Nam Cheolmin’s reply was obvious.
The AAU hadn’t played a practical role in a long time.
Hadn’t it been proven time and again that Arcana could no longer be managed by old databases?
Surely Hisagi knew that too.
“…What’s going on?”
But there was a gleam of killing intent in Hisagi’s eyes.
Enough that even Nam Taemin picked up on it and asked.
Hisagi shared a message with the others.
[Tokyo Branch Manager]
“…!!!”
The sender was the head of the AAU’s Tokyo branch.
The message was brief and simple:
Raymon Sean has returned.
Thud.
Nam Taemin stood up from his seat.
“Good. Perfect. If that bastard’s back, then we can grab him by the collar and ask everything—whether Master Harkon really died…!!”
Whether the Cataclysm was orchestrated.
All the suspicions they’d held.
Nam Cheolmin felt the same.
As mentioned, the Cataclysm had taken their parents.
But Nam Cheolmin thought rationally.
“There must be circumstances preventing the AAU from acting recklessly.”
“How long are we supposed to be patient with their excuses…?”
“Would Branch Manager Park Minjae hide something like this from us, Taemin?”
Nam Taemin hesitated.
Branch Manager Park Minjae wasn’t like the usual bureaucrats.
His passion for Arcana surpassed that of most players.
“…Yeah. He wouldn’t be that kind of person.”
Even when interaction between the AAU and players was limited,
Park Minjae had maintained open dialogue with Gaon.
Suddenly, his words came to mind:
– “Once all of this is over, I plan to retire and head to the countryside.
If possible, even a remote village in the Arcana continent sounds fine.
I’m sure of one thing—I hate people.
The more I look at them, the more they disgust me.”
He never used his position as branch manager to lord over others.
The reason he continued in his post was simple: guilt.
– “I still regret it, to this day.”
– “Regret what?”
– “That I didn’t manage to kick Raymon Sean out of Cosmo back then.”
Back in the days of Cosmo, AAU’s predecessor,
rumors said Park Minjae was known as a mad dog.
They said he once charged the CEO as a mere employee.
Even barbarian players who respected hierarchy were shocked,
saying his temper was not ordinary.
“But that’s exactly why we have to find out, right?
Why Branch Manager Park couldn’t tell us anything.
We need to know the reason…”
“Yeah, yeah—but seriously, can you do something about your face first?”
“…My face? I washed it.”
“No, I mean that look in your eyes, Nam Taemin.
Like you’re about to go cause real trouble.”
It was in that very moment, as Nam Taemin started striding toward the AAU Korea branch across the street—
“Hey—hey!!”
Nam Cheolmin, who grabbed his brother’s arm to stop him,
Nam Taemin, who kept moving even with Cheolmin hanging off him,
Hisagi and Leonie, who had been watching the two brothers with cold stares—
All froze on the spot.
A new screen had appeared on the monitor.
“…The Kingdom of Yusra?”
Yes.
The Kingdom of Yusra.
The Golden Palace.
A familiar sight they had seen dozens, hundreds of times—
But something new had entered the frame.
Something unfamiliar.
Or rather, unfamiliar in an unusual sense.
“…Harkon?”
Harkon was there.
Or to be more precise—
A statue of him, radiating a light even more noble than he had in life.
“When did someone even have time to make that…?”
And standing before the statue, holding white flowers,
was someone with silver hair fluttering in the breeze.
The atmosphere that radiated from that back alone was enough to make even the most ambitious reporters hesitate.
It was because of that—
Click.
Hoyeol’s voice was captured on the broadcast.
– “You’ve done well, Harkon.”
Hoyeol laid the flowers at the statue’s feet.
– “You fulfilled your duty until the very end.”
He finished his words.
– “Now, you may rest.”
“…!!!”
An update log that does not lie.
And something even more credible:
The moment Hoyeol declared Harkon’s death.
.
.
.
Naturally, legends were bound to stir.
.
.
.
[A legend spreads across the Arcana continent: ‘The Noble Knight, Harkon Kingsguard.’]
Demons that do not die to demon hunters can resurrect.
Leaseheartz was living proof of that.
The Claudi legacy carved into the Arcana continent.
‘As the head of Claudi family, I will guide you to the right path…’
Just as Leaseheartz began to regain his identity through that divine radiance,
his ego began to split.
The lion began to growl.
“…I see.”
Harkon Kingsguard.
He raised his sword.
A sword aura more noble than ever pointed at Leaseheartz.
“This must be the final mission my lord has entrusted to me.”
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