◈ Episode 349. From This Side and That Side, Too-too-too-too.
Kiko Armin, senior of Enchantment Studies, hurried up the stairs of the Magic Tower. Apparently, filling her magic tool—a subspace pouch—wasn’t enough. With both hands full and an armful of refining tools clutched to her chest, she climbed.
“Oh?”
A voice called out to Kiko.
“Senior Kiko?”
“Um… I’m sorry, but who might you be?”
“Well now, who could I be?”
A nasal voice.
Whoever it was, they were mischievously disguising their voice. Kiko struggled to turn around, craning her neck to look toward the owner of the voice, but even that wasn’t easy.
Swoosh—then, her view suddenly opened wide.
“As an apology for teasing you, I’ll carry this.”
When half the luggage blocking her sight disappeared, what entered her view in its place was a head of lush green hair. Relief spread across Kiko’s face.
“Senior Bellier!”
Bellier, senior of the Healing School.
Kiko climbed the stairs of the Magic Tower with her. The reason they were hurrying was simple. Bellier and Kiko, the two of them, had to head for the Arcana Continent tonight. Right now.
“I was worried I might fall, but you saved me.”
“You must have been in quite a rush, Senior Kiko.”
It was obvious she had roughly wet her hair and tried to tidy it.
Bellier gently smoothed down Kiko’s stray strands.
Then she spoke.
“I heard the news. You must have been frantic.”
“……
The rumor has already spread to the private rooms?”
“Yes, though without any distortions, of course.”
“Sigh. Those skilled mages, honestly. All they’re good at is chattering……!”
If it was a rumor, it was undoubtedly about how Chief Lee had entered Garnet Hall and, out of the blue, asked her about her schedule for the evening. Kiko still felt dizzy thinking about it. Even setting aside the trivial misunderstanding.
“He did say that he intended to enter the Arcana Continent through the Dragon Heart, but I thought it had nothing to do with me. And yet, so suddenly……!”
To think she would set foot on the Arcana Continent!
Would the Armin family be safe? What about the laboratory I hid in the family territory? Just how devastated has the Arcana Continent become? And the magic tools I left in the Antonium Empire’s warehouse…….
Thanks to that, Kiko’s mind was a complete mess.
She shook her head to clear away the stray thoughts.
Then she asked Bellier.
“Are you all right, Senior Bellier?”
“Me?”
“Yes, you seem more composed than I am.”
“Composed, you say.”
Bellier gave a small laugh.
“I had been keeping it in mind, in my own way.”
From the moment Yunaxus collapsed, Bellier had expected that the day she set foot on the Arcana Continent was not far off. At Bellier’s meaningful answer, Kiko’s eyes sparkled.
“As expected of you, Senior Bellier……! Could you perhaps give only me a little hint? Since I already made an unnecessary misunderstanding in Garnet Hall once, I’d like to prepare myself this time.”
Tap.
The moment she finished speaking.
The two of them reached the top floor of the Magic Tower.
Bellier smiled and answered.
“I’d like to, but even so, wouldn’t it be better to hear it directly from Chief Lee? As it happens, with us, it seems everyone has gathered.”
“……!”
At Bellier’s words, Kiko poked her head out.
And indeed, those selected for the advance party had gathered on the top floor of the Magic Tower.
Harkon, seated in a chair with wheels
—a wheelchair
—.
The four adventurers supporting him.
Seniors Matisse and Bangrit.
Elder Mage Yugweed.
And lastly.
“With this, all are present.”
Chief Lee Hoyeol himself.
“Gasp.”
I was terribly late because I was rushing to pack magic tools……!
Realizing that, Kiko hurriedly joined the group.
Bellier followed after her.
Only after confirming that did Hoyeol open his mouth.
“The reason I summoned you is simple.”
A palpable tension.
Nam Taemin swallowed dryly.
At first, he thought Hoyeol was merely trying to keep the words he had spoken.
But contrary to what he had said, the number of people in the advance party was different.
The current advance party had only ten members, half of twenty.‘It might not be the time to be happy just because I was chosen.’There had to be a reason Hoyeol had made that decision.
Indeed, from the perspective of the theory of pride, if you got half right, that was enough.
Nam Taemin’s prediction was accurate.
“Because the convulsions of the Evil Fruit will begin from now on.”
The convulsions of the Evil Fruit…….
Yunaxus, who had swallowed the Evil Fruit.
Could he mean that Yunaxus’s appearance was merely the beginning?
“No way……!”
Shock spread across the faces of those who understood what he meant.
Among the advance party.
Only Bellier maintained her composure.‘I suspected as much.’No, Bellier was quietly burning with resolve.
At this moment, she felt a heavy sense of responsibility.
Purifying the Evil Fruit.
That was the first thing Chief Lee had asked of her.
But as could be seen, she had failed to accomplish it.
And what had been the result?
The Magic Tower lost its Tower Master, and Harkon lost his legs.‘If only I hadn’t been lacking.’Starting with the Shadow Mercenary Corps.
She did not want to make excuses and say that she had been robbed of time treating injuries great and small.‘I’m sorry, Chief Lee.’Compared to Chief Lee’s toil, her work was merely something she ought to have done.
And so Bellier clenched her fists tightly.
“Furthermore, regrettably, the experience of facing Yunaxus will not be of much help. Yunaxus, rather, had been desperately suppressing the convulsions of the Evil Fruit.”
“……!”
“With the heavy sense of duty he bore.”
The five who had faced Yunaxus.‘That was him desperately suppressing it……?’Harkon, along with Nam Taemin, Hisagi, Leoni, and Skal, once again felt the gap between them. However, their hearts did not break so easily. They, too, bore a duty.
“We cannot expect the same pride from the other dragons as we did from Yunaxus. From this moment onward, not only the Arcana Continent, but even the reality in which the Zero Mountains exist, cannot be considered safe from the dragons. After all, they are beings who freely cross dimensions.”
“……!”
Only then did the advance party realize it.
Why the number of advance party members was only half.
Because no one could guarantee when or in which world an evil dragon might appear.
It must have been to prevent all their fighting power from being skewed toward a single world.
Harkon nodded.‘It is a flawless judgment only Sir could make.’Yet one question still did not leave him.‘……
But why me, in this state.’He had lost both legs and could only move with another’s support. Of course, equipment existed both on the Arcana Continent and in the adventurers’ world that could make up for the loss of a body part.‘Even if I wear it and grow accustomed to it.’Had he not been told that he could not roam the battlefield as he once had?
But Harkon did not ask.
It was because of his trust in Hoyeol.‘Even so, Sir must have a meaning in all this.’If there was a use even for someone like him.
Harkon resolved that he would gladly follow.
That faith of Harkon’s was answered immediately.
Goooooo—soon, a portal manifested on the top floor of the Magic Tower.
Beyond the darkness lay the Arcana Continent.
The advance party stepped toward the portal with tension.
Only after stepping through did the thought occur to them.
So where is our destination?
They had vaguely assumed it was the Arcana Continent, but in truth, the continent was far too vast. Would they open their eyes in Antonium, the capital of the empire that had begun its reconstruction?
In their own ways.
Just as each of them was thinking that.
A sight no one had imagined unfolded before their eyes.
“!!!”
What appeared in the advance party’s view was.
A vast panorama of the Arcana Continent.
A view as though they were looking down from an immensely high altitude.
“W-We’re not in free fall from the sky, are we?”
Including Bangrit.
A few who anxiously looked around flinched.
Because sounds had begun to reach their ears.
Chik—!
Clank—!
Chik—!
The sound of mechanisms interlocking.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sound of metal striking metal.
That was right.
What welcomed the advance party was the flying fortress, Iron Castle.
Harkon let out a hollow chuckle.
“I had only heard about it from the Commander-in-Chief…….”
Harkon had heard news of the empire through Hoyeol. Thanks to that, he immediately recognized this place as the interior of the dwarves’ Iron Castle, which had docked at Antonium and rendered no small amount of aid to the empire.
But it was still too early to be surprised.
“We have been waiting, Black Dark Dragon.”
The dwarves greeted Hoyeol with great courtesy.
Among them, one dwarf who appeared quite advanced in age approached Harkon. He looked at Harkon’s lower body with a grave expression, then spoke without warning.
“Tell me what you want.”
“……
What do you mean by that so suddenly?”
“If you have any requests for me, Walsweil, the greatest blacksmith of the dwarves, say them as much as you like. I will grant every wish within the realm of possibility.”
“……!”
Only then did Harkon understand what he meant.
Dwarves.
Among those with legendary craftsmanship.
Walsweil, said to be the greatest, was saying he would make him new legs. There could be no other reason a dwarf, blunt from the way he spoke, would extend such tremendous goodwill to someone he was meeting for the first time.‘Could it be that, for this, he chose me for the advance party……?’Sir must have asked him.
Harkon turned his head and looked at Hoyeol.
Hoyeol was no different from usual.
As though it were only natural.
As though he had no intention of receiving words of thanks.
“According to the information gathered thus far…….”
He was merely receiving reports from the dwarves.‘……
It is not as if I can interrupt procedure, of all things.’Harkon simply bowed his head toward Hoyeol’s back.
Even so, his emotions did not settle easily.
He had no choice but to let those surging emotions spill outward.
The venom that had disappeared from Harkon’s eyes blazed once more.
“I want legs that will not break.”
“Easy. If it is with the minerals we use…….”
“And I want legs that are light.”
“Well, that is not a difficult request either.”
“Lastly, I want legs that surpass the limits of humanity.”
“……
What?”
“Only then will I be able to chase after that man.”
To chase after that man.
Walsweil looked at Hoyeol, then shook his head.
No matter what, that would not be easy.
“I understand how you feel completely, but the limits of humanity…….”
It was the moment he trailed off.
“Um, I think there may be something I can help with.”
Kiko, senior of Enchantment Studies, stepped in between the two of them.
Walsweil’s gaze turned toward Kiko.
A mage?
A breed I can’t stand the sight of.
Just as he thought that to himself.
His gaze shifted to the refining tools Kiko set down.
“……
Wait, are these not refining tools? How is it that you, a mage, are carrying such things around? I doubt there would be any reason to swing a hammer in a place called the Magic Tower.”
“Oh, you’ll hurt my feelings if you put it that way.”
“What? Then do you perhaps know about magic stones as well?”
Magic stones.
The dwarves were already using magic stones in various ways, including in Iron Castle.
However, they could not say for certain that they were drawing out one hundred percent of their effects. Dwarves were not particularly skilled at handling mana.
Kiko answered proudly.
“Magic stones are such rare minerals on the continent that all I’ve done is handle ones set into magic tools. Still, I’m confident in dealing with them. They’re stones infused with mana, aren’t they? I’m a senior of the Magic Tower. I should be able to do at least that much.”
“Oh-ho. You there. It seems your dream may come true.”
“……
Truly?”
It was a situation where Harkon’s excessive wishes might not only be realized, but surpassed. It would not have been strange for his disciples, who had worried about Harkon’s condition more than anyone, to jump for joy.
And yet, for some reason.
“…….”
Nam Taemin, Hisagi, Leoni.
And Skal, at this moment, could not say a single word.
A view that only players, not Arcanaians, could witness.
Because a message had risen before their eyes the moment they entered the Arcana Continent.[The one who saved the Arcana Continent as it fell into despair was a single man. He breathed new hope into the Arcana Continent.]
The “man” who had saved the Arcana Continent.[From this moment on, the Arcana Continent shall sing of that legend. The cold winds blowing across the Arcana Continent cease, and the frozen earth melts, trembling with vitality. : Experience gained increases by 50%.]
A buff that had appeared thanks to that man.
Its effect made no sense.
From the days when Arcana was nothing more than a game, up until now.
“What is this?”
Skal had never once lost his place at the peak. Even if not quite to Skal’s level, the other three had never fallen from the highest ranks. So what they felt could only go beyond shock and become horror.
“……
A-am I seeing this right?”
Even the 50 percent increase in experience gained was only the beginning.[The Spirits of the Universe greatly rejoice at the reversal of entropy. Their playfulness has greatly twisted the causality of the Arcana Continent, but no one will blame them for it. : Item drop rate increases by 50%.][The pure-blooded magic race, the Descendants of Twilight, scatter violet mana across the Arcana Continent. The mana concentration of the Arcana Continent grows denser. The dawn of the Great Age of Magic begins. : Magic manifestation power increases by 30%.][The master of martial arts, the Weapon Master who had vanished without a trace, has returned. Every weapon on the Arcana Continent worships him, holding a keen edge in order to surpass him. : Proficiency acquisition for all weapons increases by 30%.]…….
Messages rising without end.
Buffs that were, literally, insane.
And then, adorning the finale.
A single line of text that turned conjecture into certainty.[All of this was the arrangement of the Black Dark Dragon.]
“……
Just what kind of achievements did he accomplish on the continent all this time?”
That alone was enough, merely by daring to imagine it.
To send chills crawling over one’s entire body…….
No.
“They were not achievements. He was writing a new legend.”
It was enough to make them tremble.*The top floor of the Magic Tower.
Marcelo shrugged.
“Still, I do feel a little disappointed, sir.”
Marcelo understood Hoyeol’s intentions better than anyone.
He had no choice but to.
Why had only half of the advance party been selected?
Because Marcelo had heard the meaning behind it.
The words Hoyeol had left behind were still vivid in his ears.
-“Because I can entrust my world to you.”
As expected, he was the sir I knew.
Thanks to that voice, Marcelo had been able to shake off the concern he had felt when he saw the long-haired Hoyeol facing Yunaxus.
“More importantly, considering the time difference…….”
He would return to reality by tomorrow afternoon at the latest.
But as Sir had said, they could not afford to let down their guard.
From now on.
The evil dragons could appear anytime, anywhere, and it would not be strange.
“…….”
Marcelo looked around the silent top floor.
It was unbearably idle. There was no fur drifting through the air. There was no voice thick with obvious laziness. The Tower Master no longer existed. He had tried hard not to show it, but.
It was not easy.
“I am certain you would have caused quite the commotion.”
It would not have been strange for the Tower Master to grumble all day, asking why he had not been taken to the continent. But Marcelo’s recollection ended there.
A sudden presence.
“Ah, hello! Chief Marcelo!”
Jesse Heinness.
She had come to the top floor.
Marcelo gave a light nod.
“Miss Jesse. If you have come to find Chief Lee……”
“No! That’s not it. I have something I absolutely must tell you, Chief!”
“Something you must tell me?”
He wondered if perhaps it was a message from Lady Mary.
But it was not.
Jesse adjusted her pointed hat and continued.
“Yes, it’s regarding the Tower Master’s will!”
“……!”...
The Magic Tower.
The lobby was packed with players.
Among the crowd was the explorer and Nettuber player, Park Hwigang.
Park Hwigang whispered toward his chat window.
“We don’t know when the Arcana Continent will be added as a destination for the Magic Tower portal, but shouldn’t we be several steps ahead of everyone else? For that, camping out is the least we can do.”
-But will there even be a signal on the Arcana Continent?-lol the stream’s gonna get force-ended, gg-What if our Hwigang just suffers and can’t even collect donationsㅠㅠPark Hwigang waved his hands in denial.
“Come on, since when did I earn that much anyway? And don’t you all know I’m clean and incorruptible? Donations or whatever, I don’t care if I can’t stream. I just want to set foot on the Arcana Continent. You know, back when Arcana was still a game……!”
And so began his back-in-my-day speech.
However, Park Hwigang’s trip down memory lane did not last long.
The players gathered in the Magic Tower.
“……?!”
A message had suddenly appeared before everyone’s eyes.
First of all, it was not a message saying a portal had opened.
It was an unexpected quest message.
But the quest name, somehow, was anything but ordinary.
Its contents were even less ordinary.
Park Hwigang read through the quest window.
His eyes went wide, and he stammered.
“Everyone, super, super huge breaking news……!! Ho, Hoyeol-nim has……!!”...[Quest: Election for the Next Tower Master]