◈ Episode 12. This Is the Limit of My Patience (2)
The reporters swarmed in.
“It truly came down to a hair’s breadth. Congratulations on the first clear!”
“You’ve claimed the first-clear title that no one expected. How do you feel?”
“Was there anything different about this rift compared to usual?”
The guild master of Berserker.
Leonie answered briefly.
“No comment.”
The reporters flinched at her reply.
“……
Pardon? Wh-what do you mean by that?”
Because that answer wasn’t just kicking away a blessing that had rolled right to her feet—it was smashing it with a baseball bat and sending it over the fence!
The level of attention focused on this new rift was, quite literally, enormous.
A single word from Leonie could shake Berserker Guild’s stock value.
It could even shake the prestige of her homeland, Germany.
“Don’t you understand English? I said I have nothing to say.”
And yet, no comment.
On top of that, her expression was unusual.
Her brow was furrowed, making her look like an angry Pomeranian.
With Leonie acting like that, the reporters had no choice but to back off.
It seemed they would have to get an interview from someone else.
“Unnie, I get how you feel, but……”
“This is seriously fucking bullshit.”
“Boss, still, you could’ve at least said it nicely……”
“Ugh, you idiots!!”
Leonie howled at her guild members’ words.
She didn’t like the current situation.
After all, Berserker hadn’t earned the first-clear title of the new rift through their own abilities alone.
Even thinking about it again, she really couldn’t understand it.
Leonie asked the guild member following behind her.
“That guy didn’t have any accessories or anything, right?”
“Nope. If he’d been wearing earrings or rings with that suit, they would’ve stood out right away.”
“Insane. Then how the hell was he fine?”
The reason Berserker had managed to get the first clear?
It was all because of that man.
Because that mysterious man, whose class they couldn’t even identify, had drawn all the aggro from the demons!
And what kind of bastards were demons?
They were the sort who constantly inflicted status abnormalities whenever they got the chance.
“How did he withstand all that without even relying on equipment?”
Illusions, auditory hallucinations, hallucinations, and more……
Without buffs from priests or equipment that raised mental strength, you would quickly fall prey to status abnormalities.
And yet that man had drawn the aggro of hundreds of demons without any of those things and remained completely fine.
“……
Damn it. Anyway, sorry, everyone. I acted like a total idiot.”
Leonie apologized to her guild members.
If that man hadn’t drawn the aggro,
there would surely have been quite a number of casualties in the guild by now.
All because of the charge order she had given.
“Unnie, we’re berserkers. Crazy bitches.”
“To die on the battlefield. That’s our motto, isn’t it?”
“Boss, don’t try to act all cool for no reason. It doesn’t suit you.”
Right, thanks to the way they talked, she felt a little better.
Leonie, who had been blaming herself, came back to her senses.
“……
By the way, where did that guy go?”
“As soon as he came out, he talked to the reporters and then just left.”
“……
Huh? He just left?”
This was truly unexpected.
Leonie had naturally thought the man would act arrogant in front of the reporters.
After all, wasn’t he the man who had worn a suit and dress shoes even in the middle of battle?
With a concept like that, she had assumed he would naturally welcome the flood of attention.
‘And he did make a contribution, too…….’
No comment.
The reason Leonie had kept her mouth shut about the first clear was also because of that man.
In truth, if he hadn’t been there, they would still be fighting for their lives inside the rift.
So, in good conscience, she had yielded the spotlight to him.
“……
But he just left?”
As her questions only grew,
one of the guild members raised a finger.
“Uh, over there. He said something to those people and then left.”
There stood a group of reporters with their shoulders drooping.
“Haa. My senior is seriously going to kill me.”
The cameraman kept sighing deeply.
Tap, tap—
Suddenly, someone tapped him on the shoulder.
“?”
When he turned his head, he nearly screamed.
What the hell, is she a goddess……? No, it’s Leonie?!
She definitely said she wasn’t doing interviews earlier, didn’t she?
‘I don’t know what’s going on, but…… good. I’ll at least get an interview with Leonie. An exclusive interview! Instead of getting chewed out, I might actually get praised.’
But instead, the cameraman was the one who ended up being interviewed.
Leonie asked in English.
“Nationality.”
“Pardon? M-me?”
Nod—
“I-I’m Yun Jongmin from VBC News in South Korea.”
……
No, should he have said Jongmin Yun?
Yun Jongmin answered in halting English.
At times like this, he envied players.
Players could communicate freely with one another. Since Arcana’s characters had been overlaid onto them, it was only natural that they would also possess Arcana’s translation ability.
‘I’ll have to interview her in English somehow, right?’
Just as Yun Jongmin was agonizing over it,
Leonie turned as if she were about to leave.
Yun Jongmin panicked.
If he missed Leonie too, he was really dead.
Using every bit of strength he had, he rolled his tongue and said to Leonie,
“Could you please give us even one word! Please!”
Did his desperation reach her?
Leonie turned her head and replied.
“So Korea doesn’t only have Gaon.”
“……
Pardon? What do you mean by that?”
Leonie shrugged.
The raid on Count Ascura had only just begun.
‘I don’t want to get on the bad side of that suit-wearing guy.’
There had to be a reason he wasn’t giving interviews.
If she said the wrong thing for no reason and ended up ruining relations with him, that would be a big problem.
……
Putting it that way made the nuance a little strange, didn’t it?
‘No. I mean, it’s not that I want to get close to him.’
That monster.
If she made him an enemy, she wouldn’t be able to handle it.
So Leonie kept her words to herself.
“No comment.”
*
Gaon’s base camp.
Steam curled upward—
Heat rising from a cup of instant noodles.
[So Korea doesn’t only have Gaon.]
Taemin and Cheolmin.
The Nam brothers were watching Leonie’s interview.
“What the hell is she? Is she making fun of us?”
Nam Taemin was thoroughly pissed off.
After all, it had really come down to a hair’s breadth.
With Nam Cheolmin joining them and using his analysis, Gaon had cleared the rift at a rapid pace.
Unlike Shining, none of their guild members had fallen into status abnormalities either.
So they had truly thought they could compete for the first clear.
And yet.
“They got the first clear, so what the hell is she talking about?”
Berserker Guild, out of nowhere.
He wanted to hear their secret, if nothing else.
So he had watched the interview……
“So Korea doesn’t only have Gaon, huh……”
“They say that’s all she said. She didn’t even look happy.”
“There’s definitely something there.”
His older brother, Nam Cheolmin, who was comparatively quick-witted, continued.
“It looks like she met a Korean player in the rift.”
“……
What? Who? Could it be those Shinhwa bastards?”
World rank 5, Gaon.
World rank 41, Shinhwa.
The gap between the first and second-ranked guilds in South Korea had clearly widened.
If she had really said that while referring to Shinhwa, things would get complicated.
Nam Cheolmin shook his head.
“No, Shinhwa is still in the middle of raiding the rift. They went in late. They had to bring along the player they hired as a mercenary.”
“Yeah? That’s a relief…… no, it’s not! Who the hell is she talking about, then?”
“Exactly. That’s what I don’t know.”
Her nuance definitely suggested that she had met a Korean player inside the rift……
And yet she had given no comment on the most important part.
But that was only Berserker, Leonie’s position.
Nam Cheolmin lifted a mouthful of instant noodles with his chopsticks.
“With this much attention on them, do you think they’ll just stay quiet?”
“True. Their mouth will be itching so much they won’t be able to stand it.”
“What we have to do is simple. When that player reveals their identity, we offer good terms and bring them in. I think they’re more than worth the investment.”
Berserker Guild, which had claimed the first clear of the new rift.
A Korean player acknowledged by that guild master.
Nam Taemin added one more thing.
“And to the point where she brought up Gaon?”
Whether it was an individual or a guild,
it was certainly best to draw them in as an ally.
The brothers reached that agreement and moved their chopsticks.
Slurp—
“Wow. By the way, it was damn cold out there, hyung.”
“How do you think I felt, just sitting outside? I thought I was going to freeze to death.”
“No, that was the first time I ever wanted to go home because it was too cold during a raid! Honestly, even now, I really want to take the portal back to Korea.”
*
……
It was so cold I couldn’t possibly endure it.
“Move.”
Just as I had said to the reporters.
“This is the limit of my patience.”
I truly couldn’t take it anymore.
From Russia to Seoul, to the Tower of Mages.
As soon as I came out of the portal, I headed home.
‘There’s a reason land prices in Seoul have gotten so expensive.’
The total time it took was only about twenty minutes.
The Magic Tower really saved me.
It wasn’t as if I could warm myself at the base camp like other players. If I had suffered in that cold even a little longer, my toes might have gotten frostbite.
Shaaah—
After showering in warm water, my frozen body loosened up.
If I had my way, I wanted to collapse straight into bed.
But my body wouldn’t listen.
I opened the refrigerator, prepared the ingredients, and set the meal.
What, was it that muscle loss was unacceptable no matter how tired I was?
In any case, after I finished eating, my mind finally came back.
……
That was dangerous.
The outskirts of the territory.
In that rift, I realized my shortcomings.
It was good that I hunted monsters using highly efficient 『Magic』.
But no matter how efficient it was, there was a limit to my amount of mana.
‘My mana regeneration was absurdly low.’
Of course it was.
Demon Hunter, a class with nothing outstanding.
Not only did I have no skills related to mana regeneration,
I also didn’t possess any equipment like that.
In the end, I had run out of mana in the middle of battle.
‘If the other players hadn’t been there, things could have gotten bad.’
If I had known who they were, I would have thanked them.
But there was no way a player returning after twelve years would recognize other players.
Still, I once again felt that the world was still worth living in.
Thanks to that, my level too—
[Name: Grandfell Claudi Arpeus Romeo]
[Class: Demon Hunter]
[Level: 86]
[Stats]
Strength: 25 / Agility: 30 / Magic Power: 31 / Luck: 2
[Available Points: 6]
‘I can’t equip it right away, but.’
I also acquired new loot.
[Shoddily Forged Saber]
[Grade: Magic]
[Requirement: Lv.180]
[Effect: None]
[Description: It was a fairly excellent weapon in its own right, but thanks to being shoddily forged, its edge has instead become dull.]
However, the fact that my abilities were lacking had not changed.
And yet there was no reflection either.
『Humility was an emotion that did not exist in Grandfell. If he was underestimated, he proved otherwise. If he was overestimated, he would make that overestimation a reality in the end. That was the kind of man he was.』
Yes, in order to protect that lofty pride.
A pitiful guy who had no choice but to suffer through hardship of his own making.
That was me.
I checked the quest window.
[Class Quest: Prelude to the Counterattack]
Last Demon Hunter.
Inform the demons that the time for counterattack has come.
—Slay a demon. (Success)
—Train your weakened body. (Repeat) ▼
—Hunt the vampire. (In Progress) ▲
● Announce that the hunt has begun. (Success)
● Make it feel the fear of being hunted. (In Progress)
Make it feel the fear of being hunted.
That objective was still in progress.
Count Ascura.
It meant my performance had been insufficient for that bastard to feel fear.
Since I had realized my shortcomings, I could understand it well enough.
So……
My eyes turned toward the repeat quest.
—Train your weakened body. (Repeat) ▲
● Run 20 km. (In Progress)
● 1,000 push-ups. (In Progress)
● 500 pull-ups. (In Progress)
● 300 burpees. (In Progress)
I would have to grind myself down.
On top of that, now that the raid on Count Ascura’s rift had begun,
I had no time to spare.
So I needed to do things in parallel.
Using my body and my brain at the same time.
A research subject suited for that—
I had witnessed it with my own eyes today.
The players who had swung their weapons among the bandits.
And among them, the one who stood out the most
was, as expected, the player who held swords in both hands.
I moved my body while recalling her movements.
『Grandfell’s talent was not limited to a single field.』
“However, no matter how urgent the matter, cleaning up comes first.”
Clatter—
……
First, I’ll finish the dishes and then start....
The next day.
I had no choice but to be grateful for my exhausting personality.
The anchor’s urgent voice flowed from the speaker.
—Breaking news just in. The collapse rate of the new rifts generated in Russia has……!