◈ Chapter 324. It Is a Natural Flow (2)
An ironclad rule of demon hunters. ‘Let’s see, could I squeeze it in around the hundredth?’ The seniors of Akshan or Granfell would probably think nothing of it. But I, Lee Hoyeol, faithful to my material desires, have not forgotten. When you slay a demon possessing something, no loot drops……!
I screamed inwardly.
[1/7]
An item dropped by one of the Seven Deadly Sins, no less.
A set item where seven pieces become one.
For now, it was good.
I still didn’t know what effect it would have when the set was completed. But through the Hexagram Brooch and the Dawn set, I knew how powerful set effects could be, so I had been looking forward to it in my own way.
But thinking about it again.
‘……Even if I gather them, won’t six be the end?’
The seat of Greed among the Seven Deadly Sins is empty!
The problem isn’t that the guy was a newly born great evil. The problem is that he fell into hell while possessing Hakuna. In the past, after barely managing to take down a great evil, I had lamented my lot because there wasn’t a single piece of loot.
‘……To think it would come back to me like this.’
As for the difference in effect between a completed set item and an incomplete one, I had already confirmed that through the Dawn set. It left a bitter taste in my mouth. But I had no choice but to shake it off.
‘Nothing changes just because you’re sad, Hoyeol.’
Besides, it wasn’t as if it was an item I couldn’t use at all, right?
Even with the Hexagram Brooch, I had only collected two of the six pieces.
Yet it had a considerable set effect.
[Hexagram Brooch 2/6]
[Set item effect is applied.]
[Currently applied set effect: 2/6]
[1. All basic stats increase by 2 points.]
[2. When attacking boss monsters, all damage increases by 10 percent.]
Looking at the information window gave me at least some comfort. Thanks to that, I shook off even the lingering regret and shifted my gaze. A demon’s item. I checked the information of the new item that had popped out of the cocoon.
[Neutral Parasitic Organism Envy 1/7]
[Grade: Legendary]
[Restriction: Unknown]
[Effect: Envy exists in three forms: Good, Neutral, and Evil, and grants the user different effects according to each form. Current state: Neutral
- Grants the user the ‘Absorb’ skill.]
[Description: A small organism of unknown identity.]
It was so small that I wondered what it was.
It was alive?
It certainly lived up to being an item that popped out of a cocoon.
Anyway…….
I quietly stared at the item. If it were Granfell’s ever-consistent attitude, his gaze should have been the same as always. But I suspect my gaze right now was colder than ever.
‘Because this isn’t the kind of item his personality would welcome.’
Even cats are avoided by Granfell because of their shedding fur.
And yet, what was it called right from the name?
A parasitic organism?!
Legendary item or not, considering his lofty aesthetic sense.
It wouldn’t be strange if he refused to even touch it.
However.
‘It can exist as good, evil, and neutral…….’
At the same time, it was an effect that could not help but stimulate Granfell’s temperament.
Who was Granfell?
To put it nicely, he was a human enthusiast; to put it badly, a flower garden of a man whose head was full of flowers. On top of that, he possessed the tenacity to make that very mental world of his a reality.
Tormented by such a Granfell, I opened my mouth.
“You left behind a fitting relic for a demon.”
I snapped at Envy, one of the Seven Deadly Sins, who had fallen into hell.
“Did you fail to understand your place until the very end?”
Good and evil.
The effects of those two states could not be known while it was currently in the neutral state.
But wasn’t it obvious just from looking?
Especially when its state changed to evil.
The item would surely manifest an effect that left a nasty aftertaste.
“Then I shall deny even your final legacy.”
That was right.
Granfell’s noble pride could not tolerate even such trickery. I reached out toward Envy, curled up small. Its appearance was like a tiny clump of snow, so it was cute in its own way.
‘What a life I lead.’
Honestly, if it had been me, Lee Hoyeol, I would have ignored an item like this because it felt unpleasant. But not Granfell. Wasn’t he the very picture of composure, never shaken under any circumstances?
‘I’m not confident about making it good, but I should at least be able to maintain neutral.’
So there was no hesitation in my actions.
Perhaps because it was an item that changed depending on its user.
A message immediately appeared.
[Due to the effect of Aesthetic Sense, the appearance of ‘Neutral Parasitic Organism Envy’ changes.]
Its appearance changed even though I hadn’t manifested Aesthetic Sense.
It was certainly ever-changing, befitting a legendary item.
Before I knew it, Envy’s form had changed into something like a transparent, sparkling jewel.
The two people and one cat watching spoke.
“……That is a rather unusual item.”
“Indeed, only you could handle such a magic tool, sir.”
“To think it turned into a jewel. That guy catches on fast, meow.”
As if it had originally been a jewel crafted as an ornament.
I looked at Envy, which blended harmoniously with the Dawn jacket. Would the color of the jewel change depending on its state, good or evil? Of course, as long as Granfell kept his two eyes sharply open.
“Consider it an honor.”
That would never happen, though.
[You have learned the skill, ‘Absorb.’]
Whatever the reason, I had acquired a new skill.
So let’s forget the disappointment over the set effect and check what needs to be checked. A skill gained through a legendary item, no less. Still, hoping for performance on par with Gwicheol would be shameless, wouldn’t it?
‘I’d be happy if it at least pulls its weight.’
With a faint expectation.
I checked the effect.
And then I immediately drew up my magic power.
The sun had already set.
And the location, too, just happened to be the top floor of the Magic Tower.
According to Procedure.
I had manifested the portal leading to the Arcana Continent.
Baek Iseol was visibly startled by the surging magic power.
“So this was the phenomenon that appeared above the Magic Tower!”
Well, among players, there weren’t many who knew about it. There was no need to go out of my way to silence her. Baek Iseol was not the type to go around running her mouth lightly.
I stated only the main point.
“I will return before I am late.”
Marcelo lightly bowed his head, and Baek Iseol quickly hid her surprise and bent at the waist. As for the Tower Master, well, he was licking his fur with his tongue. And I, Lee Hoyeol, was pounding with excitement.
A feeling hidden from the outside.
From dawn, I had been tormented by the curse and by Baal.
In the afternoon, I had been tormented by Gremory.
Time had been delayed by unexpected incidents.
It might have looked like I was hurrying my steps to keep to Procedure.
But that wasn’t the whole reason.
‘……Somehow, it seemed far too large, even considering its size.’
The effect of the skill I had acquired, [Absorb].
It was giving off such an overpowering scent of fraudulence that I couldn’t bear not to check it immediately!
*
Humanity’s forgotten sense of crisis was revived.
-No, seriously, that was actually a grave situation
-For real, I suddenly got chills;;
-I thought it was just a quest??
The cause was that it strayed from Arcana’s common sense.
High-level monsters invading low-level areas?
It was something that could not happen, either before or after the Cataclysm.
Of course, if it were only one or two monsters, they could have brushed it off as nothing.
-No;; can’t you just see the appearance message and run away??
However.
-What are you talking about? I was there, say something that makes sense, damn it
-Why
-Think about it. Even when a single appearance message pops up in front of your eyes, your ass is suddenly on fire and cold sweat runs down your spine, but the appearance messages wouldn’t stop??? Where are you supposed to run in that situation?
It was not an exaggeration.
Not only the guilds active in the Zero Mountains, but with a dragon dwelling at its summit, the Zero Mountains had not escaped the world’s attention and surveillance for even a single moment after the update.
Twenty-four hours a day.
Drones and helicopters flew above the Zero Mountains.
Thanks to that, the panorama of the Zero Mountains had been filmed from countless angles.
Watching the recorded footage, the anchor clicked his tongue.
“Viewers, can you see it as well? The monsters truly were moving toward a specific region like a flood. According to the measurements, within a radius of a full 300 kilometers…… In other words, all the monsters in an area equivalent from Seoul to Busan were afflicted with a status abnormality!”
Thanks to the vivid footage, humanity came to feel it even more keenly.
-There really is no limit to the demon race, damn
-They can even charm mobs? So it wasn’t enough to just take care of my own mental strength
-By the way, wasn’t Zero Mountains seriously about to be shut down?
The danger of demon-type monsters.
-Where did all the guys telling the Holy War Alliance not to make a fuss go?
-The way they ran off so cowardly, they’re obviously demon worshippers, aren’t they? lol
-For real, I’m telling you we can’t let our guard down
-Those guys are probably all part-timers from Cheonha Tongil. Check their IPs and you’ll know lol
They are needlessly creating a sense of crisis.
They are using a great cause to expand their own power.
Isn’t that behavior instead strengthening the demons’ power……?
Thanks to that, the large and small criticisms directed at the Holy War Alliance died down as if they had never existed. But there were those being reevaluated even more than the Holy War Alliance: Akshan.
-Holy crap, look at that style
-I’d only heard about them, but I can see why people fell for it lolololol
-For real lol look at their outfits, they look like they could take down every demon alone
-Are they filming an action movie by themselves? That wire action is insane lolol
A woman with flesh-colored hair presumed to be a demon.
Seven demon hunters surrounding her.
That battle was recorded in full through the body cameras of players who had fallen into the status abnormality. Whether players had known Akshan or not, none could stop themselves from marveling.
-The demon hunters I knew only ran quests every day
-No, I actually raised one myself, you know? Demon hunting, my ass, they only made me do physical training quests, so I quit!! If I knew this would happen, I would’ve held outㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
-Even if it’s thanks to their Natural Enemy skill, that’s no jokeㄷㄷ
-Aren’t they basically late-game monsters at that point?
Lastly.
The fact that the demon hunters had swung their swords at players was actually part of an exorcism ritual. As the hidden truth became known through the players saved by Akshan, interest in Akshan heated up even more.
[Real-Time Popular Video Rankings]
1. Akshan Battle Footage
2. Demon Hunter Weapons
3. Zero Mountains Player Live Footage
4. Whereabouts of the Vanished Demon Hunters……
Akshan.
Their underestimated legend, at last.
Just as someone had boasted, was regaining its honor.
And there was a name echoing alongside Akshan.
-But how did the fallen Akshan come back??
-For real, they’d disappeared without a trace
-Didn’t you see the rumor going around? Lee Hoyeol was Akshan’s leader lol
The name of the man who had dragged Akshan back into the world.
-Could it be that this was all part of a bigger picture……?
-Then Akshan wasn’t destroyed or deleted, they were just waiting for the right time? Did he predict that the demon race would run wild and lie in wait to strike from behind?!
-It’s Lee Hoyeol, of all people. He’d totally do that
-Shout Homen
Another legend.
For the person concerned, who had stepped into the Arcana Continent, a completely different world, according to Procedure, it was a new legend he would not know about for some time, swelling in size……
*
The Arcana Continent.
As I headed beyond the portal, I thought.
It has been a while, but there shouldn’t be anything too surprising.
I had a rough grasp of the news from the Arcana Continent through Hiel.
The many factions whose very existence had vanished and who had poured out from the Bad Omen.
Naturally, I had not expected everyone to get along well from the very beginning.
‘Even in a small country, there are regional conflicts just over one mountain, and a ten-year gap creates generational conflict. If you compare an ancient kingdom with Akshan alone, how many years apart are they?’
They were factions that had been deleted and swallowed by the Bad Omen for different reasons in different eras. If you took into account language barriers and even differences in appearance, wouldn’t it actually be strange if they got along?
I had no intention of meddling there.
‘That’s what a world where people live is, after all.’
Because the Arcana Continent that players knew had been exactly such a world.
So without even any expectations.
I calmly stepped onto the Arcana Continent.
Was that why?
Messages flickered in my vision without pause.
[Experience gain increases by 50 percent.]
[Item drop rate increases by 50 percent.]
[Magic manifestation power increases by 30 percent.]
[Proficiency acquisition for all weapons increases by 30 percent.]
[Romantic Explorer Lorenzk wanders the continent, spreading knowledge.]
…….
I nearly fainted at the messages that appeared……!!
No, what kind of buff is this?!
It wasn’t just the buffs that appeared; there were specific backgrounds attached to them.
But there were so many that they didn’t even enter my eyes.
And that wasn’t all.
Every single effect was ridiculous!
If I could, I wanted to make use of the buffs right away.
Wasn’t I someone who had dug more holes to survive than anyone else?
Thanks to that, I could make better use of the effects of the buffs than anyone.
But I could not put my inner thoughts into practice.
‘!’
The final message that appeared.
Even back in the days when Arcana was merely a game.
It was a world message I had witnessed many times, and it seized my attention.
[The war for continental supremacy begins.]
It certainly felt nostalgic, like the Arcana Continent from those days.
‘Right, it was land-grabbing every other day.’
As I said.
I had no intention of intervening in their fighting among themselves.
Because that was the original form of the Arcana Continent.
But this was a different case.
[Maxima of Gold declares war on the Empire.]
[Yugrik of the Forest declares war on the Empire.]
[Cansel of Valor declares war on the Empire.]
[Akamond of Tremor declares war on the Empire.]
Maxima, Yugrik, Cansel, Akamond.
How could I forget those names?
The Four Houses.
Living witnesses to my dark history, impossible to forget even if I wanted to.
Soon, my lips spat out cold words.
“Freedom and self-indulgence are clearly different things.”
This was, in the strictest sense.
A declaration as the head of House Claudi.
Absolutely.
“It seems I must tighten their loosened leashes.”
It was not because I feared my dark history running wild……!