◈ Chapter 201. But Before That (1)
The lofty Zero Mountains.
Even so, as they were mountains, I vowed to climb them as one should climb a mountain.
What I needed was preparation.
Thorough preparation for mountain climbing.
“A mountain, is it? One need only ascend it as though climbing stairs.”
Excuse me, Mr. Granfell.
Good grief. Anyone listening would think I was the one in the wrong.
No matter how you look at it, you’re the strange one here, okay? ‘I knew it from the stairs of the Magic Tower.’ What kind of person climbs a mountain wearing shoes that go click-clack?
And your outfit, too.
I’m not even asking for functional hiking gear.
No matter how much the [Warmth]
and [Blessing of the First World Tree] buffs are in effect.
This isn’t some hill behind the neighborhood. Isn’t a suit a bit much even in the Zero Mountains?
In that sense, I should check.
The new armor the dwarves were supposedly forging for me.
I’d set aside some of my worries that my fussy aesthetic sense might reject it.
If none other than Hiel had inspected it, it shouldn’t be to the point that I couldn’t wear it.
The forging of Gwicheol had just ended, too.
By now, they should be in the final stages of work on the armor as well.
Speaking of Gwicheol, there’s something I need to address.
Gwicheol’s abstruse item information window. [?][Grade: Legendary][Restriction: Unknown][Effect: Unknown][Description: An ego sword with a noble self.]
The reason its name is a question mark.
It must be because I, its owner, have yet to give it a name.
“Naming, is it.” ……
Please, Granfell, don’t recite that so meaningfully.
I’m seriously worried about what kind of name you’ll attach to Gwicheol. ‘As for why the restriction is unknown, well, I can guess.’ It’s a [Legendary] item, even more precious than a precious [Epic] item.
Thanks to the effect of my [Achievement: One Who Writes ‘Legend’]
I knew that affinity was required to use a legendary item, but others wouldn’t be able to guess the usage restriction. They’d think it was unknown, just as it said. ‘Then lastly, the effect…….’ Gwicheol’s words suddenly flashed through my mind.
—Do not dare try to measure this body, whelp.
It definitely said that to Shegwin. ‘It is unknown because its power cannot be measured…….’ That’s the only thing I can think of right now.
Well, in reality, too.
Gwicheol’s performance was beyond even my ability to measure. ‘It let me overwhelm Shegwin, after all.’ With sword against sword, no less. [Natural Enemy Relationship]
had been activated, yes.
But if it hadn’t been for Gwicheol, it wouldn’t have been strange for Shegwin to have cut off my breath at any moment. His lightning-fast movements were difficult enough just to follow with my eyes.
If I judged it coldly.
I only managed to defeat Shegwin after relying not only on my natural enemy advantage, but even on my gear advantage.
On top of that, Shegwin hadn’t even been able to release sword aura.
Once again, I came to realize my own weakness.
But I won’t lament.
Now that the stage called the Zero Mountains has been set.
Levels are something to be seized.
Indeed, after the Zero Mountains update.
The levels of the top-ranking players had been rising steeply.
Among them, especially the trio. ──────Skarl: Level 525Rox: Level 524Liu O Junchun: Level 523──────A difference of one level each.
Even for me, who didn’t have much of a connection with the three of them.
It was a rivalry dynamic that made things a little exciting.
But this is a bit unexpected.
—But…… what is Skarl even doing now?—Yeah?
—No;; the other players are hunting all day in the Zero Mountains, so what the hell is Skarl doing? Isn’t he the only one standing still??—For real. At this rate, won’t Rox overtake him?
—Why Rox? He could get caught by Liu O Junchun too.—lol say something that makes sense
The United States and China.
Shining and Heavenly Unification.
Perhaps because Rox and Liu O Junchun were involved.
Keyboard battles never ceased all over the community.
Normally, it would’ve been a story that had nothing to do with me.
Even if I was curious, I wouldn’t have been able to pay attention because of the flood of work.
However. ‘Skarl’s activity has definitely dropped off, hasn’t it?’ [World Quest: Evil Dragon Hunter].
For the quest.
And also for one very small possibility.
I had planned to talk with Skarl.
You could say this was an extension of my work as well.
Before long, I murmured.
“It is not good to be fixated on numbers.”
That damned stubbornness.
I wondered where Gwicheol had learned to say things like that.
So it was all from you, Granfell.
Still, I could understand it to some extent. ‘From now on, it isn’t the time to be fixated on levels.’ Levels in the Arcana system?
One point is given with each level-up. It wouldn’t be wrong to see 1 level as being worth 1 stat point.
That was why items with stats attached in Arcana were traded at astronomical prices.
But after experiencing it myself, I learned.
Rewards from physical training. The effects of elixirs. Stats could be raised through other methods as well. Of course, that might only apply to me.
Even so, my thoughts don’t change.
From now on, rather than levels, I need to grow my fundamental ability, my vessel. In truth, I had felt it for a long time.
Even if I didn’t realize it, I could tell just by looking at demon-type monsters.
“Rank is not something that can be overcome by mere numbers.”
Just as ordinary mobs and boss mobs of the same level are different.
Ordinary demons and demon kings differed from the very weight they carried.
In that sense, I couldn’t help but be concerned.
Great Evils.
Just what kind of strength do those bastards possess?
Thinking that makes me feel rather uneasy. ‘They are definitely different from the demon kings.’ Starting with Decarabia, all the way to Yula, who had eaten away at the Simuard family. The demon kings each showed their own movements.
From Granfell’s point of view, should I say they acted far too arrogantly? ‘Except for Greed, who was reborn…….’ In contrast, the Great Evils were far too quiet.
Whether the high-ranking demon king Gamigin had been thrown into hell or not.
From the beginning until now.
Continuously.
That’s right.
That was the reason I couldn’t keep lamenting my lot forever.
If the current peace was the calm before the storm……
Then for me.
No, for humanity and the Arcana Continent, there wouldn’t be much time.
Well, from that perspective, I suppose the level system can’t be said to be meaningless either.
As you can see, it can serve as motivation for players in the form of competition.
I opened my mouth.
“Raymon Sean.”
Is that it, Raymon Sean?
Is that why you overlaid the Arcana system onto the players?
As I am now, as Lee Hoyeol, I cannot know.
However.
“I do not need arrangements.”
Like I said, you’ve been firmly marked by Granfell.
“Do not dare try to measure me with numbers.”
Of course, that’s Granfell’s business.
As for me, I have to make full use of the system I’ve been given.
It means I need to produce maximum efficiency with minimal investment.
In that sense, first, let’s try raising even a single level. [Tenacity: Converts mental strength into stats. Each time Tenacity rises, the converted stats increase further.]
Even if only to calculate the efficiency of Tenacity. ‘My fate, honestly.’ In that sense, life really is unpredictable.
Back when I was an office worker.
Even while getting chewed out by the department head.
I never got dragged out for weekend hiking, but now I’m about to go, Hoyeol……
*
The Iron Castle.
The survivors of Dreadsen Village safely settled in Antonium.
Thanks to that, the once-crowded Iron Castle had become quiet.
A flowing silence—was it because dwarves were a taciturn race by nature?
As if.
What dwarves lived with as much as metal was alcohol.
Once alcohol went in, what never failed to follow was hearty laughter. To sum it up, there was a reason for the current silence.
Bang!
“……What is this, all of you?”
A battle of pride against Gwicheol.
The greatest blacksmith among the dwarves, who had finished that contest.
Wallsweil had been bedridden for several days.
Though short, dwarves boasted thick, sturdy bones.
As if that weren’t enough, wasn’t forging as familiar to them as breathing?
Even Wallsweil himself was amazed anew by how much heart and soul he must have poured into forging for such exhaustion to come over him.
And yet.
“No, why is everyone sprawled out like that?”
All the dwarves, including Chainwalker, had collapsed on the cold floor of the Iron Castle. One young dwarf, who at least had enough strength left to respond, raised his head and said,
“……Lord Wallsweil, you’ve awakened?”
“That I have. More importantly, what in the world happened to you all?”
“Well…… We burned ourselves white.”
“Burned yourselves white? Doing what?”
“We finished the forging while you were resting.”
That was right.
While the exhausted Wallsweil was resting.
The dwarves poured all their strength into making Hoyeol’s defensive equipment. Hammering without rest, cutting jewels, and even sewing.
“What?”
So Wallsweil couldn’t help but flinch.
As for the Gwicheol he had forged, its material was so rare and so damn…… no, so unusual, that it could be excused. But wasn’t there no element in the armor that required enough painstaking effort to compare with Gwicheol?
Of course, that didn’t mean the quality of the materials was poor.
Platinum of mana.
High-purity magic stones.
Navy butterfly thread……
It was equipment for Hoyeol, who would stand against a dragon.
In the past, when the Arcana Continent was whole, if even one of those materials had been released onto the continent, its value would have rivaled that of most territories.
In other words.
“Just how hard did you all push yourselves?”
It simply meant they had exerted all their strength to the point of collapse.
Wallsweil wanted to see the result with his own eyes immediately.
“Chainwalker!”
“……Hm? You’ve woken up?”
“Where is it? The equipment you all forged!”
“Ah, as for that, Lady Hiel has already gone to deliver it to Sir Hoyeol.”
“What? Already?!”
Shake, shake!
To think he couldn’t satisfy his curiosity.
Wallsweil expressed his regret by grabbing Chainwalker by the collar and shaking him. Chainwalker, who barely escaped his grasp, laughed.
“Uhaha. There is no need to worry.”
“……?”
“We forged armor that is not inferior to the ego sword you forged. I guarantee it. Though we may not be able to match your handiwork……”
Chainwalker’s eyes gleamed with determination.
“We truly did our best. Trust us.”
“…….”
“Besides, we wanted to be of help to Sir Hoyeol too.”
“……!”
The title of greatest blacksmith among the dwarves had not followed Wallsweil for nothing.
The fact that he had engaged in a nerve-racking standoff against Gwicheol for dozens of days without yielding an inch also meant he had not merely been acting out of pointless pride.
But this time, Wallsweil broke his stubbornness.
“I see. If you say so, then it must be so.”
Chainwalker let out a sigh of relief.
“I was worried what I would do if you gave me an earful as well.”
“You as well? Why, did someone else say something?”
“It seems you truly slept as though you’d fainted.”
“?”
Chainwalker whispered.
“It was like looking at Gwicheol.”
“……What do you mean by that?”
“I am speaking of the two spirits.”
Chainwalker once again recalled them.
Hiel and Diend, whose voices lingered in his ears.
The two spirits’ demanding requests, which rivaled Gwicheol’s.
—“It is insufficient to express an endlessly deep darkness.”
—“It seems a little more splendid workmanship is needed.”
—“Then it must be endlessly splendid.”
—“I am of the same opinion.”
Saying they had burned themselves white was no lie.
As if to prove it, Chainwalker’s face was deathly pale.
At that reaction, in Wallsweil’s chest.
The curiosity he had barely suppressed began to well up again.
His rough hand seized Chainwalker by the collar once more.
Shake, shake!
“Just what did you make, and how?!”
“I’m begging you, could you stop shaking me?”
“Explain! Tell me at once!”
“……I am seriously getting nauseous. Ugh!”
Indeed, dwarves are a race overflowing with excitement....
The Hundred Thousand Caves.
If you think they’re scattered all over the Zero Mountains just because there are a hundred thousand of them, you’re mistaken.
Its area is comparable to Australia. Its height is majestic enough to easily pierce through the stratosphere. ‘Meaning, if you don’t know the location, it’s hard to find.’ As proof, the players hadn’t found even a single cave among the Hundred Thousand Caves yet. Even though they had received the same information from the AAU as I had.
Of course, that doesn’t apply to me.
Because I had 「Magic」.
The Light I had manifested to practically cover the mountain range.
I searched through that mass of mana. ‘If I add shared vision during the interference process…….’ I can pinpoint it like this.
The location of a cave.
The portal’s coordinates were in front of the cave I had found.
Ooooooh— I immediately manifested a portal and entered.
This sounds extremely easy when put into words, but it was a manifestation of magic that would make even Marcelo blanch if he heard about it.
To begin with, the shared-vision interference process itself had come from an idea I got from the [Telescope of the Demon Eye]
after all. ‘To think I can manifest not only magic, but even imitate the effects of items to some extent.’ Once again, the Circle really is impressive.
By forming the Circle.
I finally feel as though I’m properly using Granfell’s talent.
With Granfell’s personality, he might have become smug at this point.
But this wasn’t the atmosphere for that.
The message that appeared as I stood before the cave. [Dungeon: Lava Siren][Recommended Level: Lv.800][Collapse Progress: 0%]
As expected, the cave was treated as a rift.
The difference was that the collapse progress remained at 0 percent.
It was probably thanks to the fact that the Zero Mountains were already practically in a collapsed state. ‘A level 800 dungeon without Natural Enemy Relationship, huh.’ If it were simply monsters, there would be no need to worry.
I had experienced the dangers of dungeons in London.
Considering the variables of a dungeon, it might be burdensome alone.
But who said I was alone?
I have comrades more reliable than anyone.
No, three alter egos.
Hiel, Diend, and even Gwicheol.
The problem is that no matter where I bring them out, I feel slightly embarrassed……
I immediately entered the cave.
Then, first, I called Hiel’s name.
Before long, Hiel appeared in midair.
But what’s that you’re holding in your arms?
Could that be my new armor, Hiel?
No, but wait a second.
What kind of armor is that dazzling?!