Chapter 716 – Top Secret (3)

Slow and steady!

“Let me be perfectly clear. I’m not going to the Demon Realm.”

With 13 million subscribers, the popular net-tuber player Jellin made his declaration without hesitation.

“Seriously, what reason do I have to go there? I’m damn satisfied with my life right now. Sure, I want EXP and loot—but even if there is something good, won’t it all just go to the Holy War Alliance’s higher-ups anyway?”

The reason a not-particularly-outstanding player like Jellin had secured the position of top net-tuber?
His dazzling way with words played no small part.

-He’s not wrong lol

-Jellin’d just be dead weight anyway ㅠㅠ

-This guy’s mouth is doing all the work againㅋㅋ

-Stop the sour grapes

-So what now then?

Reading the reactions, Jellin clicked his tongue.

‘Are the viewers—and players—collectively insane?’

Did none of them value their lives?!

It wasn’t like he’d never done reckless things himself. Just recently, when Agares appeared in Seoul, he’d rushed out in a panic, grabbing every piece of equipment he owned to stop him.

‘Forget pride—I was about to lose money I bled for!’

People say famous players just print money, right?

That used to be true. Not anymore.

Raymon Sean—that guy, did he actually die or something? As if the system breaking wasn’t bad enough, they’d even stopped paying out rewards for Rift clears.

-Jellin, do you even realize how much you’ve earned?

-I alone donated a crazy amount to you

-Thinking about it pisses me off—no more donations from today, bye

Money’s something you always want more of, but Jellin still had a conscience. Considering how much he’d taken from viewers, he wasn’t about to blame Raymon Sean.

The real problem was debt.

‘Who was it that told me to buy a building in Seoul…?!’

The Land of Anomalies—Seoul.

Its value was astronomical. Land prices there were literally “whatever the seller says.” Jellin had been swayed by that talk. He recalled something fellow net-tuber player Park Hwigang once said.

—“There’s a saying, you know.”
—“A saying?”
—“In Seoul, they’ll steal your nose while your eyes are closed.”

Back then, he’d thought, What kind of saying is that?

—“Seoul citizens are so nice—does that really apply?”

Sure, people had seemed oddly indifferent to a famous net-tuber like himself, but he chalked that up to them being used to seeing named players frequent the Magic Tower.

Only after getting burned did he understand what it truly meant.

Amid the flood of chat messages, Jellin slowly closed his eyes.

‘I wasn’t trying to persuade anyone!’

The biggest obstacle in buying the Seoul building—the first-floor restaurant—came to mind. What was it called again? ‘Harmonious Dumplings’? How many concessions had he made to sway the middle-aged couple who owned it?

—“Alright, let’s do it. Our son’s a player too.”
—“You must’ve worked hard.”
—“Thank you! Really, thank you!”

And the result?

Just renovating the building to Arcana Continent Chronicles standards costs an absurd amount. You had to hire production-class players.

—“You know how scarce production labor is these days, right?”
—“Huh? I’m paying—why’s that a problem?”
—“Everyone ran straight into Behemoth’s Maw.”
—“W-What? Why?!”
—“Dwarves are teaching skills for free. Why wouldn’t they go?”

To summarize that long story in one sentence—

“Anyway, I don’t have the capability to go to the Demon Realm!”

He had loan interest to pay!

Which meant he needed new content—not the Demon Realm.

“But don’t be disappointed, everyone.”

In terms of content that could suck up massive view counts, this was actually fortunate. As he’d said, Jellin had talent.

“Even if the system window’s busted, I didn’t forget.”

-What is it

-Spit it out already

-He’s stalling for donations again

…How did they know?

“Ahem. That’s not it.”

Clearing his throat after being hit right on the mark, Jellin continued.

“Do you remember the Myth-grade quest?”

He smiled inwardly.

‘While everyone else overlooked it, I never forgot.’

The Great Sage’s Myth-grade quest.

When it first appeared, it caused a massive stir. A Myth Quest—clearly ranked above even [World Quests] and [Main Quests].

“You remember, right? The Great Sage’s Final Prophecy. That one!”

-Rehashing dried-up content again, damn

-No one’s progressing that anymore

-Just go to the Demon Realm already, Jellin

As viewers said, there’d been no progress.

[Myth Quest: The Great Sage’s Final Prophecy]
Trace the final prophecy of the Great Sage.
If you wish to be recorded in history…
—Trace the traces of the vanished Great Sage. (In Progress)

‘At least the quest details are easy to find.’

The system window was broken, but since it’d been such a hot topic, a quick search brought up the full text. Matching the character count with the broken window confirmed the progress hadn’t changed.

Jellin thought—

‘Do they really think I’m the only one with ulterior motives?’

Let’s be fair.

The Holy War Alliance? Honestly, they were cool. Overflowing with pride.

But—

‘I don’t want to go that far.’

Not every player wants to stake their life on pride. High-level players could shine in the Demon Realm, sure—but Jellin soothed the angry public with careful phrasing.

“Let’s be honest. Players with low levels like me can’t do anything in the Demon Realm, right? True or not? So what I’m saying is—we should band together too, just like the Holy War Alliance!”

-What kind of bullshit are you planningㅋㅋ

“Bullshit? That hurts. Acquiring clues for a Myth-grade quest isn’t a prideful act too? I’m not saying I’ll clear it alone and carve my name into history—”

Wasn’t it obvious from the quest description?

“Though, sure, it would be nice if I could.”

A Myth-grade quest that let you leave your name in Arcana’s history—
that implied unimaginable rewards.

And Jellin’s prediction was spot-on.

Ding. Ding. Ding-ding-ding.

SNS notifications rang nonstop.

“See? I’m not the only one thinking this.”

Players unaffiliated with the Holy War Alliance—and who hadn’t entered the Demon Realm—began contacting him in droves. Named players among them were far from rare.

‘This might actually be doable.’

Lack of progress so far had mostly been circumstantial. When the quest first appeared, Arcana had been a complete mess.

But now?

The Empire’s reconstruction was well underway. Villages and cities suitable for rest dotted the land like in the old days.

More importantly, demon-type monsters—the greatest threat—had vanished.

The Ten Thrones had been hunted down.

‘Maybe we should thank the Source of All Evil?’

The Silver Evil Eye.

Because it monopolized all negative emotions, other demons’ power had weakened. That was probably why far more players were gathering than expected.

Everyone thinks it’s worth a shot.

Jellin clenched his fist.

“Then let’s not waste any time, everyone!”

The first objective was finding traces of the Great Sage. His whereabouts had gone missing when the Great Monsters of Calamity rampaged.

“Then we search there.”
“Huh? Didn’t we already?”
“No. That was when the Great Monsters of Calamities were active.”

Great Monster of Calamities—
boss monsters over level 1000.

Considering the rampant malice back then, their difficulty had been at least double.

“Things are different now.”
“We won’t know until we go.”
“And if it doesn’t work, we retreat. Right, Jellin?”
“…!”

Were they asking him for an opinion?

‘Even for me, this kind of treatment is unfamiliar.’

The weight of everyone’s gaze pressed down on him. Just looking at their gear was intimidating.

Why were rankers biting on his flimsy bait?

As if answering that question, someone spoke.

“Demon Realm base construction’s almost done anyway. Nothing better to do. Setting aside rewards, exploring a Myth Quest before deployment isn’t bad.”
“Wait—then the other Holy War Alliance units too…?”
“Yeah. Even Second Sun should arrive soon.”

Crap.

‘Why are they so fast?!’

He’d expected it once the Demon Realm was added to Magic Tower portals—but the Alliance moved way too quickly.

Jellin clawed at his head internally.

‘At this rate, my long-term content will end instantly!’

Especially if Lee Hoyeol moved?

Views would go to Park Hwigang.
The Myth Quest would go to Lee Hoyeol.

‘…I have loan interest to pay.’

Snapping back to reality, Jellin shouted,

“Then all the more reason to search faster!”

Northern Empire territory, Arcana Continent.

Thankfully, no Great Monster of Calamity was in sight—but it was only a small mercy.

The man who’d delivered news of the Alliance nodded.

“Crimson-Eyed Dune Warriors joined the reconstruction. Looks like they wiped out anything that could interfere. No Calamities—no monsters at all.”

“You saw the Dune Clan yourself?”
“I did. Allies or not, they were spine-chillingly strong.”

A chill runs down my spine too.

‘We need to find something, fast!’

If Crimson-Eyed Warriors—or worse, Lee Hoyeol—were deployed here, he’d get nothing.

Perhaps his desperation reached the heavens.

“Oh—oh?!”

In a forest ravaged by a Great Monster of Calamity, Jellin found something unusual.

Was the system too broken to show a message?

He couldn’t get exact info, but—

“Doesn’t this look like something the Great Sage would wear?”

A long, plain robe.
A staff steeped in age.
Even an old pointed hat.

“!”

A jolt ran through Jellin.

“Wait—was I the only one who saw a message flash?”
“I saw it.”
“Me too.”

Only then did Jellin feel certain.

‘I did it. First quest objective cleared.’

He’d found traces—loot—of the vanished Great Sage.

Carefully, he reached for the robe.

Surely it’s not so bad it doesn’t even count as an item…

‘Though, was it strange for the Great Sage to rely on gear?’

More importantly—

“So what now, Jellin?”

That was his question.

‘Shouldn’t it at least show a new objective?’

But the shattered system window showed no signs of returning.

Jellin could only stare at the items, reading the room.

‘They all gathered because of my words…’

He’d seized an incredible opportunity.
Achieved the objective.
Yet now he might have to give up—because he didn’t know the next step.

‘That can’t be happening!’

Frustrated, Jellin picked up the robe. Not tearing or throwing it—just rolling it up once, as if shaking it out.

Maybe desperation worked.

Thunk.

“What was that?”
“Something fell out, Jellin.”
“Was this your target? Impressive—for a net-tuber.”
“Haha. Basics.”

What they handed him was a straw doll.

Naturally—

Jellin had no idea what it was.

“You said the Holy War Alliance would be joining soon, right?”

So he got greedy.

“Then let’s keep this clue between us. What do you say?”

.
.
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—Trace the traces of the vanished Great Sage. (Success)
—Recover the incarnation of the Ten Throne Vassago, Rise. (Success)

●Worship the incarnation of the Ten Throne Vassago. (Optional)
●Burn the incarnation of the Ten Throne Vassago. (Optional)