◈ Episode 145. To Preserve Our Pride (1)
The [Authority] function is formidable, but it is not omnipotent.
It means I cannot issue quests as I please.
Well, minor quests might be possible. Something like an errand quest that most players could complete without difficulty.
‘Of course, only within the bounds that this one’s pride permits.’
And besides, at a moment like right now.
A quest appearing as a message to all players in the Yuseura Kingdom, Frost, and Myuon—no matter how much I flaunt my Authority, that is impossible.
For the first time in a while, I opened my mouth in earnest.
“I am glad that I may stand alongside you all.”
Truly, thank you for not uttering a single word of complaint…!
Honestly, I was not too worried.
Hakuna, Hareukon, and even Tarim.
They might not be on Geurangpel’s level, but they all had ill-fated ties with demons.
Hareukon was the most eager among them.
“It seems the time has come to rehone my dulled blade, yes.”
Hareukon, who had been staying in Frost carrying out the role of acting lord—a poor fit for his disposition.
It seemed his body was already itching for action. Of course, more important than that was likely his loyalty to the Empire.
“My lord, could you tell us once more of the continent’s situation?”
Hareukon asked.
Hakuna and Tarim also looked as though they were simply waiting for my lips to part.
I spoke the truth without holding anything back.
That what adorned Arcana’s night sky was not the Milky Way but the pupils of countless demons—Demonic Eyes (魔眼). And that the millions of demons I had felled were merely a drop in the bucket.
“Benefactor, I am relieved you have returned safely.”
Hakuna opened his mouth with a relieved voice.
……
I had died once; could that really be called returning safely?
Anyway, Hareukon and Tarim assessed the situation from a knight’s perspective.
“Thousands of Demonic Eyes float in the sky… They must be observing the entire war situation clearly.”
“Effectively, there must be no blind spots on the continent.”
“Meaning that no matter where one hides, they remain in the palm of the demons?”
“And according to my lord, millions of demons gathered in mere tens of minutes… It may not be an exaggeration to say that those millions are but an extremely small portion.”
……
I had told them because they asked, but.
It was a situation so bleak they might wish they had never heard.
The reason the three were speaking so seriously was simple.
It was overwhelming.
Even if they recruited adventurers and players through quests, how many could that number possibly be? The gap between them and the demons occupying the Arcana continent…
They need look no further than when a Demon Lord appeared in reality to know.
‘Even felling Decarabia, the lowest-ranking Demon Lord, had been overwhelming.’
In that sense, I could not help but admire him once more.
Wielding merely a crossbow and a single sword.
To think he had leaped into the midst of millions of demons.
Just how much of his fear had he lost, that Geurangpel?
Truly, an age of storm and stress.
As expected of that time when he believed, without the slightest doubt, that he was the center of the world.
But thanks to that.
The fact that even after entering the Arcana continent and witnessing its utter despair, I could still think of the next move with my usual composure—all thanks to you.
“But it is fine.”
Of course, this one’s blabbering is also all because of you.
“?”
At my declaration, the three men stopped speaking.
In the brief silence, I opened my mouth calmly.
“Because this is not our fight alone.”
“……?”
But truly, we are not the only ones.
The Arcana continent, including the dwarves—they too are struggling with all their might. At the moment of death, I could not forget the message that had appeared.
[Your achievements resound across the Arcana continent.]
[The lives of the Arcana continent speak of your sacrifice.]
Yes, if the emergence of the new World Tree was the beginning of the true counterattack.
Then my sacrifice must have served as the nutrients for that counterattack.
Of course, given that I had come back to life.
Calling it a sacrifice might be rather grandiose but…
‘Well, there’s no rule saying you can only give nutrients once, is there?’
The first time is always the hardest.
From the second time onward, it gets easier.
Because I now know the [Last Adventurer] effect is active. If I only knew how to approach the Arcana continent, I could provide such nutrients every single day.
‘Offering my own body turned out to be a far more profitable deal than expected.’
Even if I had to shoulder Arcana’s massive death penalty.
I had gained far more than that.
To talk about that reward would take another eternity.
Besides, right now the priority was resolving the three men’s questions rather than the reward.
I continued speaking.
“There are those on the Arcana continent who are also participating in the Holy War.”
“……!”
“The dwarves. Quernberg, the war machine tower that inherits the pride of Akshan. And all those of the continent who fight against the demons while upholding their pride even in despair. It would not be wrong to say that they are all participating in the Holy War.”
“……I see, indeed.”
“Your lordship’s words are correct.”
From that perspective, it might be that we are the ones who are late. Therefore, since we have joined the Holy War late, we must shake up the war situation in earnest.
That was what the quest was for.
“As you all know, there is no material reward at the end of the Holy War.”
Not out of damned integrity.
Had this been a war waged for rewards and spoils.
It would never have been called a Holy War.
This is not about taking. It is for the continent and reality.
A war to protect two worlds.
“But pride remains.”
Because at the same time, it was a war to preserve pride.
Let us shift perspective here.
Let us look from the extremely practical viewpoint of a player.
How many would gladly start a quest with no rewards at stake? It is not the war from the days when Arcana was merely a game, but a real war where one must wager their life.
Well, I did not expect much, but would it not be even fewer than expected?
But there was one thing I could guarantee.
“A pride that will not break before any ordeal.”
Those who would join such a Holy War quest without any reward.
Would not fear any demon.
Why, just like me, who carries out the Demon Hunter class quest more diligently than anyone despite it having no special reward.
Therefore, what I must do is simple.
Simply, how many players like me are there.
It is merely a matter of watching and waiting.
In that sense, let us take it easy.
Click—On the golden round table.
I picked up the proffered teacup and opened my mouth.
“It would be best if everyone partook before it gets cold.”
“……Ah, I had forgotten.”
“I have never seen green tea before.”
As always, a 300-won green tea bag swayed.
*[Quest: The Unending Holy War (聖戰)]
From the Arcana continent to reality.
The Holy War against the demons is not yet over.
At the end of this war, neither rewards nor spoils exist.
All that remains is pride alone.
Prove your own pride.—Prove your worth in the designated region. (In Progress)
Designated region.
A quest that arose in the Yuseura Kingdom, Frost, and Myuon.
Even in the days when Arcana was merely a game, war-related quests were not common.
For such war quests to arise simultaneously in three regions?
Naturally, it was bound to spark rampant speculation.
-WTF, so that’s why demon mobs were pouring out for no reason;;;
-No;; how the hell were we supposed to know a Holy War was happening
-Is Raymond Sean starting to tie up all that foreshadowing now???
-By the way, I’ve never seen a quest on this scale lolololol
The demon-type monsters that had been pouring out abnormally.
If a Holy War was taking place on the Arcana continent, one could understand that mystery to some extent. And also why Holy War-related quests had arisen for the players.
AAU Emergency Meeting.
“Is the UK side absent again today? Well, very well.”
Given the situation.
Greetings are omitted.
The meeting immediately moved to the main topic.
“It is a Holy War, a Holy War! A Holy War we knew nothing about.”
“Does anyone have any idea?”
“……I cannot say.”
“Even a little, no, anything. Even the smallest clue will do.”
Someone opened their mouth in the silence that filled the room.
“First, it seems certain the Goddess’s Church is involved, no?”
“That must be it. That is why the quest arose in Myuon as well. Well, I can understand Frost too. It was nearly completely devoured by a Demon Lord. It is a matter of vengeance. But the Yuseura Kingdom?”
The Yuseura Archipelago might be one thing, but was not the Yuseura Kingdom an ancient kingdom revived in reality?
Park Minjae, director of the AAU Korea Branch, pressed his lips tightly shut.
‘It must be I Hoyeol again.’
If they used their heads, they could easily infer it.
I Hoyeol. He was the player who activated the [Authority] function in the Yuseura Kingdom. For the Yuseura Kingdom to participate in the Holy War, I Hoyeol’s consent would have been absolutely necessary.
‘If that is the case, I have no choice but to pretend I do not know even more.’
Park Minjae looked around the monitors once.
AAU.
An international cooperative organization established to respond to Arcana’s encroachment.
But that was nothing more than a grand objective on the surface.
Beneath it, the interests of each country were complexly entangled.
“What is Director Park Minjae’s opinion?”
Thanks to that, he could guess the intention behind the question.
‘Are they sounding me out?’
They must be arbitrarily assuming that I have a close relationship with I Hoyeol.
Well, they say you only see what you want to see.
They are generalizing their own relationships.
‘Damn it, even if I wanted to, I would have to be able to.’
Park Minjae had no desire to pretend to be clean.
Because he had rolled around in society’s muddy waters for far too long to do so.
But he had not the slightest desire to splash that dirty water onto I Hoyeol.
‘Because he never needed my help in the first place.’
It was not just him.
Was not Hoyeol always several steps ahead of even the AAU’s intelligence?
Thinking that the cooperation of a mere AAU branch director would help was surely an overestimation of himself.
But even if he acknowledged that.
‘That does not mean I will just stand by and watch.’
The way they try to throw filth at I Hoyeol.
Did they think I would just watch?
As he said, his own clothes were already dirty from rolling around.
A few more drops of muddy water?
It would not matter in the slightest.
No, he could roll openly on the ground if need be.
‘Please, I am telling you not to interfere.’
I Hoyeol. He was different from the other players.
Because he pursued neither material gain nor honor.
The path he had walked was but a single path.
‘I am telling you not to get in the way of the path he walked for humanity.’
Starting with the rift of the [Broken Dimensional Rift].
To the rift of the [Demon Lord’s Castle].
Neither the AAU nor any great power had been able to present a solution; he was the one who had resolved those rifts in solitude.
Yes, the path I Hoyeol walked was truly a sublime hero’s path that no one could encroach upon.
Therefore, Park Minjae resolved.
‘If I cannot walk with him, I must at least cut down the interlopers.’
Because that is my role.
Such a Park Minjae opened his mouth.
He struck right at the heart of the matter.
“I know nothing, nor can I guess anything. But one thing is certain.”
“……?”
“Player I Hoyeol. It would be best not to interfere with the path he walks. If you mean to help, that is one thing, but if you even think of holding his ankle…”
That was a clear warning.
“You must likewise be prepared to have your own ankle grabbed.”
…
AAU Meeting Adjourned.
“He has grown so much.”
After the Great Cataclysm.
The Magic Tower appeared in Seoul, the capital of South Korea.
South Korea had grown rapidly by seizing that opportunity.
As if fortune were not enough, even the appearance of an out-of-standard player named I Hoyeol. Thanks to that, South Korea’s influence in the international community had soared to the extent that it did not pale even in comparison to America or China.
“But this time, he is sorely mistaken.”
Director Park—had he not said to be prepared to have one’s ankle grabbed?
Unfortunately, there was not even a need to grab the ankle.
In this quest, there was give and take.
Because there were no conflicting interests.
“He is overestimating the animal called man, yes.”
Hiss—the man took in smoke.
Humans are foolish yet cunning creatures.
Players are no different.
Wagering their lives on something with neither reward nor spoils?
Pride, humanity’s peace—none of them are reasons enough to move.
Hoo—“Pride? Ha, utterly ridiculous.”
Smoke scattered amidst the scorn….
“……?!”
But the man’s scorn could not even last until he finished a single cigarette.
Breaking news appearing on the monitor.
As if it had been waiting for just this moment.
What revealed itself was.
An emerging power threatening Shining, the pride of America.
The great alliance of Gaon, Inazuma, and Berserker.
“Is the great alliance joining the Holy War?”
“You have made a swift decision; is there a special reason?”
“What is the reason for joining a quest with neither reward nor spoils?”
Amidst the countless pouring questions.
Nam Taemin, guild master of Gaon, raised his fist.
Thump, thump—he beat his chest with his fist.
He spoke as though they were asking something exceedingly obvious.
“To preserve the pride in my heart.”