◈ Episode 232. Karma (1)[You have entered the dungeon, ‘CODE-009’.]
Raymond Sean’s hideout.
My first impression was that it wasn’t unfamiliar.
Enough that even someone who wasn’t a player could recognize it.
The concept was that clear.‘This is just a laboratory, isn’t it?’Considering that a rift was a space where reality and the Arcana Continent were mixed half-and-half……. Did that mean a laboratory like this had existed beneath the desert? Truly, if you had enough money, there was nothing impossible in this world.‘Let’s see.’First of all, there were CCTV cameras everywhere.
This was inside a rift where even smartphones worked properly. The CCTV must be capturing me just fine, and Raymond Sean must be hiding somewhere, watching me.‘To be honest, if I went by how I felt…….’I wanted to do something about the CCTV immediately.
After all, hadn’t I declared it proudly?
That I hadn’t accepted his invitation, but had come to dispose of him.
And as if that weren’t enough.
I had satisfied the conditions and entered the rift through what was practically a threat.‘It feels extremely unpleasant.’However, Granfell’s pride.
There was no way it would tolerate my, Lee Hoyeol’s, petty commoner way of thinking.
I indifferently passed by the CCTV.
“Even if you observe, nothing will change.”
Still, couldn’t it change even a little, Granfell?
How are you still stuck in that era, in that sensibility!
My plea lasted only a moment, and as expected, a familiar sight greeted me.‘No matter how I look at it, that’s an elevator.’A message kindly appeared before my eyes.[B1
-Lobby][B2
-Laboratory][B3
-Research Lab][B4
-Deep Laboratory][B5
-Deep Research Lab][B6
-Control Room]…….
Laboratories and research labs.
It certainly suited Raymond Sean’s hideout.
Meaning, it was very much like an engineering student.
At the same time, though, it made me wonder.‘What on earth did he experiment on and research?’Fortunately, my curiosity didn’t last long.
Actions rather than words.
All I had to do was confirm it myself.
“Is this consideration?”
If an elevator counted as consideration, then it was consideration.
I should have been impressed by his meticulousness toward a visitor.
As expected, the problem was the other party.
Hadn’t I clearly said it?
Raymond Sean, I would refuse every bit of your hospitality.
“Then I shall refuse this as well.”
Crrrrunch!
Without hesitation, I manifested magic.
The scenery changed in an instant.
A staircase leading underground rose beneath my feet.[Pentagram of Pure Knowledge]
Its effect.
With all knowledge regarding minerals, the search process was omitted.
This time, even the interference process was more than familiar, allowing for rapid manifestation.‘I used stairs so many times, after all.’The past came back to me vividly.
Why, hadn’t I been someone who only looked impressive on the outside?
In order to gain as much experience as possible, I had needed contribution toward kills.
I had gained quite a bit of kill contribution with stairs.‘Thanks to Harkon, it was pretty profitable.’Old sayings were never wrong.
They said hardship should be endured while young.
To think the pitiful struggles from back then would help me like this.
The staircase rose, arbitrarily remodeling the dungeon’s structure.‘Now I’m used to dizzying sights, too.’The scenery beneath my feet was distant and dizzying.
But it couldn’t compare to the Magic Tower.
Even now, when I come down from the top floor of the Magic Tower, my knees still go weak, you know?‘By the way, I didn’t expect something like that to be here.’Just like the message that had appeared.
The place I arrived at was [B1
-Lobby].
Since it was called a hideout, I thought it would be bleak.
But it was unexpected.
Because I could see an employee guarding the lobby.
“Player Lee Hoyeol, we have been waiting for you.”
Even after seeing me descend by stairs, he showed no sign of surprise.
No, perhaps that was only natural.
In any case, I immediately conveyed my business.
“I wish to meet Raymond Sean.”
Unexpectedly, the answer came right away.
“He is on his way to the lobby as we speak.”
He was coming out to greet me of his own accord.
That saved me the trouble of looking for him.
Then, while waiting, should I run a simulation in my head?
What was certain was that I needed to exchange words with Raymond Sean.‘Though it will all be nothing but excuses.’Because I would be able to obtain information even from those excuses.‘Perhaps even information on how to return to Arcana.’Of course, I didn’t expect him to obediently spill that information.
They said you could know ten things from seeing one.
You could tell just from the tricks he played at the rift entrance, couldn’t you?
Ding─Soon, the elevator arrived.
I stared at the doors as they slowly opened.
Still, let’s think positively.
Let’s have a constructive conversation together, Raymond Sean.
Of course, only within the limits of Granfell’s patience.*Time passed.
Seong Hyeonjun cautiously opened his mouth.
“……May I ask just one more thing?”
Park Minjae and Yun Sugyeom, the two men, nodded.
“I’ve never seen him in person, so……. Does Raymond Sean look exactly like his photos in real life, too? How should I put it, when I think of his image, it feels unexpected?”
“You mean it doesn’t suit him?”
“Ah, yes.”
“Right, his face is far too ordinary compared to his actions.”
The worst war criminal in human history.
At the same time, the only person who knew the truth of the Cataclysm.
Considering that, Raymond Sean had an excessively good impression.
Park Minjae let out a bitter smile.
“People whose outside and inside are different are common in society. Of course, I don’t think that’s wrong. A moderate amount of pretense and acting is necessary in a harsh society, if only to avoid hurting one another. However.”
Park Minjae clicked his tongue.
“That bastard isn’t on that level.”
Park Minjae prided himself on having seen all sorts of human types while clawing his way through society, but Raymond Sean was an existence even he couldn’t explain in words.
“It’s not that words didn’t get through to him, but more like our words didn’t mix? We were clearly exchanging a conversation on the same subject. But something about him was unpleasantly alien.”……
Wait a moment.
At the time, I hadn’t known why.
But thinking about it now, I felt like I understood.
Smack! Park Minjae struck his knee.
“That’s right! That bastard didn’t feel human!”*Roll, roll─Raymond Sean’s head tumbled across the floor.……
No, if I put it that way, there might be room for misunderstanding.
To kindly add a detailed explanation.
Transformation magic.
The head of a mannequin overlaid with Polymorph was tumbling across the floor.
It was a possibility I had suspected the moment I saw the lobby.
Why, I realized it when I saw the employee who greeted me.
That he was fake.
The reason I was able to see through this petty trick was, in any case, largely due to the Tower Master’s influence.‘There are days when that cat actually helps.’Any magic I witness even once, I understand perfectly.
There was no way Granfell’s genius talent would simply watch the Tower Master’s transformation magic and move on. Search, interference, manifestation. Since I had also grasped its structure perfectly, seeing through it wasn’t difficult either.‘Actually, even without that.’I could feel something was off just from the employee’s reaction.
I had not only broken through the ceiling, but also ignored a perfectly fine elevator and deliberately manifested stairs with magic to descend. Did it make sense for someone to see a person like that and not be astonished?
Why, it was the same now.
The head of the self-proclaimed Raymond Sean had rolled across the floor.
Yet there wasn’t the slightest sign of surprise from the employee.
What that meant was simple.
That thing, too, was a fake wearing Polymorph, just like Raymond Sean.
I recited.
“However, that is not a reason for it to be unable to harbor pride.”
Granfell’s theory of pride was far more complicated than it appeared.
This was Granfell, who even determined whether a green tea bag had pride or not. In other words, he wasn’t simply dismissing it because it was a doll, because it was fake.
A scathing remark flowed out calmly.
“It simply must not have learned it from you.”
In simple terms, it meant you raised it poorly, Raymond Sean.
More importantly, if you thought you could deceive me with something like this, you were mistaken.
I don’t know where you’re hiding while putting forward a fake.
But as for where you are.
I can start searching slowly from now on.
As if I were truly attacking a dungeon.
Crrrrunch─Wasn’t it bothersome?
No, rather, it was exactly what I wanted.
I had been wanting to confirm it with my own eyes.
The Cataclysm.
Reality and the Arcana Continent.
After committing unforgivable acts in both worlds.
What exactly had he been doing, holed up in a place like this?
I felt I wouldn’t be satisfied until I confirmed it with these two eyes.
Click─I descended the stairs.
My field of vision changed.
A message appeared.[You have entered B2
-Laboratory.]
At the same time, a warning blared noisily.
Yes, would the phrase dungeon rift have been attached for nothing?
Since monsters appeared, it was a dungeon rift.[Prototype Model E-89 : Lv.1,000]…….
As expected of the guards of a hideout, their levels were quite splendid. Even if they were ordinary monsters, they were level one thousand, the highest level among the monsters I had faced so far.
And there were hundreds of such mannequins.‘If this had been the old days, I would’ve been terrified.’But experience didn’t vanish anywhere; it accumulated.
Now that I knew level wasn’t everything.
I could objectively assess the opponent’s combat strength.‘I can handle them with magic alone.’If you thought of this hideout as your own home turf, you were mistaken.
Underground.
To me, who could broadly search minerals.
A place beneath the earth like this was no different from home ground.
Prototypes.
Befitting their name, the unfinished mechanical dolls creaked as they approached.[Blessing of the First World Tree]
As long as it existed.
I didn’t care about mana efficiency.
Mana surged from my body.
“So now it is a group welcome.”
Crrrack─!
Then the mannequins collapsed in various places.
Whether those things had been made in reality.
Or whether they had been made on the Arcana Continent didn’t matter.
In any case, the key point was that they were minerals.
“However, this too.”
Click─I manifested magic while walking down the stairs at an unchanging pace.
In the order they charged at me.
The prototypes collapsed.
“I shall refuse.”
Thud!
As if worshipping my entry, they sank to their knees.
Of course, I didn’t think this was the end.
In the first place, what level I was at.
You, who have operated Arcana until now, should know that well, shouldn’t you?
With mere monsters.
You must have known you couldn’t stop me.
As if answering my question, a message appeared before my eyes.[Quest: Route Selection]
Intruder.
In order to proceed forward.
Choose one of the two branching paths.─B401
-Deep Laboratory (Select)─B402
-Deep Laboratory (Select)
So the modifier “deep” wasn’t attached for nothing.
It seemed the structure became more complicated the farther down it went.
By the way, to shove a quest at me.‘How fitting.’At the present point, the sole operator of Arcana.
Raymond Sean’s greatest weapon would likely be the system.
Perhaps Raymond Sean and players were natural enemies with the worst possible compatibility. Why, just like back when Arcana was nothing more than a game. Players couldn’t defy the operators at all.
But, ironically enough.
Though I was one of those players as well.
There was something I had been saying habitually since long ago.
Levels, stats, everything was nothing but numbers.
I might be one thing, but Granfell had practically been a system skeptic from the beginning. Raymond Sean, even if you shoved the system at me, the answer would always be the same.
“Did you think something would change if numbers became letters?”
Of course, the scathing remark that poured out was also consistent.
“How truly foolish.”
With this, it became certain.
It seemed, Raymond Sean.
You and I would not be able to have a friendly conversation. Whatever your circumstances may have been, I felt I would have to land a blow first before we spoke.
Naturally, I didn’t choose any options.
“A path is something one carves out for oneself.”
More importantly, since I had seen your hand.
I should show you mine as well, my “reliable backing.”
I reached into my inventory.
What I took out was the [Torch of Hell].
Raymond Sean. I still did not know with what intention he had brought about the Cataclysm. Therefore, I had no choice but to dispose of him only for the charges that were certain. That was Granfell’s complicated and heavy pride.
So I hope you do not intend to make excuses.
“Is that not so?”
As if answering my question.
The Torch of Hell burned fiercely.
I continued.
“From this point onward, this is a battlefield for you.”──────Akshan’s Legacy: Summon an Akshan demon hunter from the fire of hell.──────Raymond Sean.
The outstanding experienced new recruit.
Whom you turned into a spectacle is coming out.
“Shegwin.”[Sword Saint Shegwin answers your call.]