Chapter 671 – Arranged World (2) #PART1

Thud.

‘Looks like the numbers really aren’t a joke.’

The Great Alliance.
All the executives of Gaon guild.
Yoon Sehee extended a slender sword and stabbed forward.
Sharing the same thought, Gaon’s executives nodded in agreement.

“To reach the destination, we still have to run for another two hours… If the trouble starts even here in this mountain valley, the area near Hesias is bound to be worse. It’ll be nothing less than a battlefield.”
“We just wanted to get together after a long time, and this is what happens.”
“Seriously, those damn demons never get tired, do they?”

Nam Taemin’s former class quest.
Gaon’s executives had some expectations.
Wasn’t Nam Taemin too busy to even meet face-to-face after the great alliance’s launch?
Yoon Sehee said curtly to Nam Taemin,

“So, please make some time, Guild Master. Moving forward is good, but you should also occasionally look back to see if everyone is keeping up. Don’t make us feel neglected.”

Their connection dated back to when Arcana was just a game.
Yoon Sehee and Gaon’s executives sincerely trusted and followed Nam Taemin.
Maybe that’s why they noticed the unusual aura faintly visible on Nam Taemin’s face.

“Alright, I’ll do that from now on.”
“What? That was a really half-hearted answer.”
“Huh? Did I say something wrong?”

Yoon Sehee and the executives shook their heads unanimously.

“Guild Master, are you hiding something from us?”
“Yeah, Nam Taemin, you’re the kind to deceive those who trust you, huh?”
“You haven’t been focusing on the battle for a while now.”

…Flinch.

Nam Taemin seemed struck in the heart. His grip on the greatsword was loose.
To be lost in thought before a battlefield — impossible in the past, but now it happened.

“Did you regret quitting the former class quest midway? We know better than anyone how much you cared for your Barbarian class…”

As the Barbarian leader, Nam Taemin’s sense of responsibility was deeply understood by the executives following him.

But to bring up the Barbarian’s gloomy troubles…

‘Enough, everyone.’

Yoon Sehee was about to hush the chatter of her comrades.

“There might be some truth to that. But…”

Nam Taemin spoke seriously.

“I have a stranger feeling.”

To put it precisely…

“I smell something.”

Entering the realm of the [Anomaly].
Nam Taemin’s body was developing day by day.
The most changed was his sense of smell.

He didn’t realize it himself, but his keen nose had already sensed the difference between Hoyeol and Grandfell faster than anyone.
The complete collapse of the Demon World was obviously a critical crisis.

“What kind of feeling?”

Nam Taemin answered softly.

“Like no matter what happens, I won’t lose.”

…What?
At that, Yoon Sehee and the executives sighed with relief.
They’d expected something serious, but…

“Our Guild Master sure is confident, huh?”
“Taemin, if you say it like that, we better step up too. There are people doubting our skills in the great alliance, saying Gaon is just Nam Taemin’s one-man guild…”
“I don’t like it, but they aren’t wrong.”
“…Even you?”

As the banter went back and forth, Nam Taemin forced a smile.

‘No need to make them worry.’

Of course, he wasn’t expressing pure confidence.
What he wanted to say was a sense of unease.
The collapse of the Demon World was a crisis greater than the Great Cataclysm.

‘Why is it… that I have this vague feeling of not losing?’

As Gaon cut down fleeing monsters and pushed forward, Nam Taemin’s beastly developed vision caught sight of something.

[Parasitized Harvester Reaper : Lv.???]

“!”

Nam Taemin’s pupils dilated instantly.
Manifestation of [Anomaly] beyond the category of mere [skills].
No message appeared.

Swift as lightning.

Nam Taemin’s body moved faster than ever.

‘There’s no way to survive meeting something like that!’

Second Sun, part of the Holy War Alliance.

They had heard from Schreig that Second Sun had gone on an expedition to the nearby city of Hesias.
Schreig wasn’t the type to abandon a city facing such a monster.

“Support immediately…!”

Thanks to gritting his teeth, he sprinted ahead.

“Faster than expected, Nam Taemin?”

Contrary to expectations, Nam Taemin met Schreig unharmed.
More precisely, it felt as if he had anticipated the complete collapse of the Demon World.

“Dwarves? Is that Wallswail?”

They had joined the Holy War Alliance guarding the fortress.

“Surprised? You have a reason to be.”

Want to boast a little?
Schreig, knowing more, began explaining.
Pointing to Quernberg Fortress.

“That’s right. The greatest dwarf blacksmith Wallswail led the early fortress construction to counter the Demon World’s collapse. And look up at the sky.”
“?”
“The flying figures are the Explorer Federation.”

The astonishing news wasn’t over.

“Schreig! What, Nam Taemin’s here too?”
“Just arrived. How’s the situation in Hesias?”
“Long story short, Gaon almost didn’t need to come…?”

We almost didn’t have to come?
Nam Taemin gave a suspicious look, flicking his blonde hair.

“Monsters near Hesias are moving.”
“…Monsters moving? Isn’t that dangerous?”
“Listen to the end. They move, but they don’t draw aggro.”

Aggro — a term from the Arcana Continent’s earlier days referring to monster attention.
Put simply… Schreig asked again to confirm if he heard right.

“Are you saying monsters aren’t hostile to us?”
“Yes, exactly!”
“If that’s true…!”

Schreig glanced sideways at Nam Taemin.

“You really didn’t have to come, huh?”

Monsters near Hesias started at level 500. From when the passage ‘Behemoth’s Maw’ to the Demon World existed until now.

“Most probably survivors from the demons.”

Nam Taemin thought much the same.

“After all, elves and dragons have joined the holy war.”

Maybe that was why.
Nam Taemin vaguely felt he wouldn’t lose.
Of course, the battle wasn’t easy at all.
The completely collapsed Demon World was spewing monsters nonstop.
Nam Taemin immediately charged to the front lines.

[Crushed Creature of the Collapsed Demon World : Lv.???]

Thud.

Though the level was unknown, Nam Taemin also entered the [Anomaly] realm beyond measurement.
Surrounded by dozens of flesh creatures, he did not back down.

In fact, he welcomed the situation.

Thunk-thunk-thunk.

With just one swing of his greatsword, dozens of enemies fell.
Watching from Quernberg Fortress, Wallswail spoke.

“I’m not the only one suffering, huh?”

If I’ve been pounding the hammer nonstop,
they’ve been continuously hardening their bodies.
Wallswail nodded.

“Hardening always yields honest results.”

Looking at the situation through the eyes of a blacksmith.

The more you temper, the harder the metal.
The more grueling and boring the process, the greater the certainty of the final product.

In that sense,
Wallswail tried to rationalize his feelings.
Clenching his fist, he whispered endlessly to himself.

“It’s only natural, it’s only natural.”

The unease felt since earlier —
just like Nam Taemin —
the certainty of ‘we will surely win.’
He vowed not to doubt it.

Screech.

“?!!”

With a chilling sound, something fell from the sky.
A small falling dot.
Wallswail narrowed his eyes, and at the same time…

Splash.

Nam Taemin dashed toward the direction of the falling dot.

‘An Explorer was down.’

Is that the boss monster of this wave?

Nam Taemin knew.
Victory came with sacrifice.
After the Great Cataclysm,
he’d lost precious family, comrades, brothers by blood and almost lost them again.
Maybe because of that experience.

‘…So if I can save them, I have to.’

Knowing well the pain of losing someone precious.

Nam Taemin rushed toward the explorer who might be precious to someone.
Despite the flesh creatures desperately clinging, he paid them no mind.

Clang.

A spear tip flew suddenly.

“You owe me.”
“Got it.”
“Leave the rear to me and go.”

Hisagi and Inazuma Guild had arrived at the battlefield.

“Glad to hear that…!”

No need to check Berserker’s side. The battlefield smelled of blood — Leonie was surely rampaging.

‘I can see it.’

Nam Taemin’s speed surpassed that of normal humans and typical players.
He was even faster than the tumbling wyvern.
But his gaze had long left the wyvern behind.

‘There’s no hope.’

Screech.

The eerie sound was no coincidence.
The fallen wyvern had lost its head.
So Nam Taemin’s eyes quickly searched for the explorer who had ridden it.
Honestly.

‘I’ll only do what I can.’

He didn’t expect much.
In such a complicated battlefield, finding a fallen player?
Unless he knew their appearance, it was impossible.

But.

“?”

This time was different.

“…!”

Nam Taemin’s pupils expanded further.

Yes.
The falling explorer was
all too familiar to him.

“Park Hwigang…?”

*

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