◈ Episode 364. Benefit All
If possible, I had wanted to hide it until the very end.
Even if the name “Cloudy” was known throughout the world, how many epithets do I have? I thought that if I simply didn’t mention them, they would naturally be forgotten.
“After all, just until a moment ago.”
Tianwaitian.
Thanks to my muttering under my breath, yet another epithet had been added to my collection. I’ll say it again—this was not an invitation I wanted. Even if others don’t know, I know. I was so ashamed I felt like I could die.
Who in the world would want to lay their dark history bare before others?
“As the Lord of Cloudy, I welcome you all.”
But would our Lord Granfel, overflowing with pride as the family head, tolerate that? Of course, inviting the Players to the Cloudy Territory was, in a way, the best decision.
“Since it was chaotic enough as it is.”
Thanks to the Omen having spat out those it had swallowed.
The Arcana continent was in a state where various time periods were tangled together.
Conflict arising from that?
If Liu Aojunchun’s thoughts were right, it would be no different from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods.
But then, adding Players into the mix on top of that?
“Just imagining it is exhausting, truly.”
In that sense, the Cloudy Territory was a kind of fence.
Arcana continent and Players.
Maintaining the bare minimum distance between each other.
Are you saying I can’t trust the Players?
Well, I don’t know what some starry-eyed optimist with flowers in their head might think, but people are not so easily trusted.
Is the current Arcana continent just any ordinary continent?
How many buffs are currently active that would make any Player’s eyes roll back with greed? If such buffs appeared before the eyes of Players unable to quell their excitement?
“Even I would want to go solo.”
But the Cloudy Territory was a hidden piece, so it lay outside the buff’s area of influence.
There was no place more suitable for settling the Players’ excited hearts.
“How cruel, my predicament.”
It was a hospitality filled with such unavoidable circumstances of mine.
If you exclude Nam Taemin’s group, that is.
Everyone seemed to find my attitude extremely unfamiliar.
“Or else they were surprised by the lord’s declaration.”
Of course, I was beyond awkward—practically embarrassed.
“‘Lord’ my ass!”
Cloudy’s invitation.
I had already experienced a similar situation through it. Standing before those who knew me as Cloudy and standing before those who knew me as I Hoyeol were entirely separate degrees of shame.
“So how am I supposed to talk my way out of this?”
A full name with Romeo as the finishing touch?
A fusion-style name equally bizarre.
Is it I Hoyeol Cloudy?
“…I don’t know where my rambling will dart off to.”
However, fortunately, there seemed to be no need to make a decision immediately.
No one had asked me for my name.
After all, who would even think that I’m hiding such a ridiculous full name?
“If they were curious about anything.”
It would be how an ordinary Player like me came to possess such a territory.
Sure enough, my prediction was accurate.
Clack—as I came down the stairs, someone from the crowd of Players asked a question.
“If you don’t mind, could you explain about the Cloudy Territory? The modifier ‘hidden piece,’ as well as how in the world you obtained such a vast and dignified territory…?”
I, I Hoyeol.
Naturally, I did not want to answer.
Above all, I couldn’t answer with the truth.
“How am I supposed to say it’s because my dark history actually existed?!”
But Granfel’s work principles.
Had proper formality been observed?
It was a question more than worthy of that.
“If only it hadn’t been for the compliment about it being a dignified territory…!”
I ended up answering willingly.
“It is not something I newly obtained.”
“…Pardon?”
“It was merely hidden, that is all.”
Of course, in Granfel-style rhetoric.
Once started, my motor-mouth was not easily stopped.
I continued speaking amidst the focused gazes.
“Therefore, I hope you do not lose decorum while in the territory of Cloudy. What applies in this land is neither the laws of reality, nor the laws of the Empire, nor the common sense of the Arcana continent.”
This is not a threat, but the unvarnished truth.
One could call it my weak point and my home ground.
The reason I could invite an unspecified number of Players to the Cloudy Territory?
It was because in the Cloudy Territory, the command of Cloudy’s Lord, Granfel Cloudy Arpheus Romeo, wielded absolute power.
Thus, I finished my words.
“Take it to heart. In this place, my words are the law.”
*Shining mana stones.
As they were high-level Players.
They instantly recognized their value.
“To think mana stones of this size are embedded all throughout the territory. Didn’t even the imperial capital, Antonium, lack these? I Hoyeol, just how much money do you have…?”
“More than that, just how vast is it? To think he’s even manifested portals with mana stones? Maybe it wasn’t for nothing that such a grandiose modifier as ‘hidden piece’ was attached to it.”
“Shut your mouth for a second—shouldn’t we be heading out soon too?”
The Players’ greatest realistic problem.
Their lodging and meals in the Arcana continent had been solved.
This was because Hoyeol had permitted them to stay in the mansion to their heart’s content.
“I am a bit worried about what that ‘law’ entails, but… I’m grateful beyond words!”
The Players did not know what the law was.
Because they did not know, they could burn with pure motivation.
For now.
“How long has it been, this?”
Soon, a magic circle rippled above the mana stone, and the light of a portal poured down.
The Players opened their eyes upon the Arcana continent.
The scenery that unfolded was unexpected.
“Huh?”
From those who had departed early.
To those who had moved through the portal just minutes before.
Everyone had stopped in their tracks.
“…!!!”
The reason was immediately apparent.
Their vision flashing without rest.
Messages rising up.
[Your experience acquisition increases by 50%.]
[Item drop rate increases by 50%.]
[Magic manifestation power increases by 30%.]
[Proficiency acquisition for all weapons increases by 30%.]
…
A shock as if being struck in the head.
“Wh-what is all this?!”
Of course, it was a shock in a good sense.
Any single one of them was a cheat-like buff the likes of which they had never seen. To the point that they had to stand dumbstruck and check. Because the rising buffs did not cease.
But one thing was certain.
“…If it were me, I would have monopolized something like this.”
A typical Player, that is.
They would not have told anyone about the existence of these numerous buffs.
Moreover, they would not have shared them with anyone.
“Of course. No, that’s the natural thing to do. It’s a chance to get ahead.”
In fact, Hoyeol had the capability to do so.
If it weren’t for the Dragon Heart that Hoyeol had acquired, the Players would not have been able to set foot on the Arcana continent.
But Hoyeol had not only given up his own territory, the Cloudy Territory, but even shared such buffs. It was a move that made even the excited Players fall into thought.
“…What could be the reason for going this far?”
The reason.
Was it because of the weight of being the Supreme Commander of the Holy War Alliance?
Or was it because of the confidence that he could cheerfully share even these buffs without issue?
No one could know.
So they could only rack their brains.
“The reason he shares everything with us, who are complete strangers…”
“Could our Supreme Commander really be something like a reincarnation of a god, in all seriousness?”
“I mean, he’s too proud for a mere human.”
Reincarnation of a god my ass—it’s all because of my dark history…!
If only the person himself, who was hiding that very name, had heard it.
Evaluations that would make him scream internally were pouring out.
And they were spreading widely among the Players.
As if heralding the beginning of a new legend.
*Outer city of the continent, Rang’eri.
He came to realize.
That surviving in a harsh world was something only those harsher than the world could do.
Drip, drip—blood stained the floor.
Liu Aojunchun recalled his memories as he looked at the face of the dead Rang’eri Lord.
They say time in the Arcana continent flows four times faster than reality.
Indeed, it was true.
“It seems the little piglet succeeded the later generation.”
When Arcana was merely a game.
The piglet who resembled his father seemed to have become a fine adult.
He seemed to have inherited the lord’s seat.
It was a moment that could have been deeply moving.
But Liu Aojunchun stopped reminiscing there.
“Not a very pleasant memory.”
Before the Great Upheaval.
During the time when he had yet to qualify as a monarch, Liu Aojunchun had suffered countless humiliations. In the past, his becoming the Lord of Rang’eri had been one such humiliation.
The position of lord was nothing more than a target for arrows, so it was only natural he was treated worse than a scarecrow.
Liu Aojunchun spat a brief sentiment toward the corpse.
“But I praise you. Your viciousness, so like your father’s, seems to have protected Rang’eri, which was once my territory, until now.”
Tremble, tremble…!
Rang’eri’s vassals trembled as they looked upon Liu Aojunchun.
It was a moment of shock at the unexpected return of an adventurer.
They had easily leaped over Rang’eri’s castle gates and infiltrated the lord’s castle.
Thud.
They had cut off the lord’s head just like that.
“…That prowess is no different from a murderer’s.”
Even if they realized it.
There were no measures they could take.
Support from nearby territories that could be called Rang’eri’s allies?
Thanks to the whims of the lord who was now a corpse, they had long since fallen and passed into the hands of demons.
Nor could they hope for help from the territory’s residents.
“…Damn it.”
They’d probably be glad that the vicious lord had finally kicked the bucket.
What reason would they have to throw away their lives to avenge the lord?
They had none.
“It’s a complete mess with no equal.”
As you can see, Rang’eri was a territory in complete shambles.
Yet how had it remained safe until now?
If asked, the vassals could not easily answer.
“How could we speak the truth!”
They were accomplices of demons.
They were worshippers of demons.
How could they confess that Rang’eri had remained intact because of that…!!
“Speak the truth.”
“…?”
Liu Aojunchun asked the vassal who was swallowing his indignation.
“How has Rang’eri remained safe?”
“…!!”
Liu Aojunchun.
“I do not know that adventurer.”
The inner thoughts of the man who seemed acquainted with the lord were even more impossible to fathom. But what was certain was that Rang’eri’s demon-worshipping acts would not be forgiven by anyone.
“…I do not know.”
So the vassal firmly shut his mouth.
“Even if it means I die…”
He resolved to keep his mouth shut for the sake of his wife and children.
But.
[Monarch]
No.
“Speak.”
[Tyrant]
did not tolerate silence.
“If you do not wish for your three generations to be annihilated.”
“!!!”
Then the vassals’ mouths opened regardless of their will. A status abnormality occurrence message rose in Liu Aojunchun’s field of vision, but the vassals themselves could not see the message.
“How was Rang’eri able to survive? Rang’eri’s lord offered humans to the demons. In fact, he was no different from a demon, so it could survive.”
“There is an altar for demons beneath the lord’s castle…”
“Men, of course, but without discrimination toward women and children…!”
From the truth of the incident to the process of demon worship.
Only after confessing everything in detail to Liu Aojunchun could they close their mouths again.
The vassals shut their eyes tight.
Shiver!
“It’s over now, everything is over!”
It wouldn’t be strange if their heads were severed immediately.
“?”
However, contrary to their resolve, the vassals’ heads did not fly off.
…Slowly.
When they opened their eyes, they instead saw the man’s lips curving in an arc.
At that point, they intuited.
“He is someone greater than the lord…!”
Paying no heed to the vassals swallowing their shock.
Liu Aojunchun was lost in thought.
On how to utilize Rang’eri.
“If it’s this place, I can grow my power stably.”
Liu Aojunchun admitted his own weakness.
But the only one he admitted it to was none other than I Hoyeol.
In other words, he had no intention of being caught from behind by other Players.
In that sense, the Arcana continent would become a new battlefield. It was not bad. If he seized Rang’eri, he would stand at a starting line far ahead of the Players other than I Hoyeol.
“Not a bad answer.”
Liu Aojunchun’s gaze turned toward the vassals.
Because he now knew the reason Rang’eri had remained safe.
Would it not have to remain safe going forward as well?
At the very least, to maintain the current gap.
“I shall grant you lot the glory of serving this seat.”
Liu Aojunchun, who had already seated himself in the lord’s chair.
But he did not know.
At this moment.
His and the Five Stars’ vision, their status windows.
Were incomparably shabby compared to those of other Players.
[Currently active buffs: None]
Experience acquisition.
Item drop rate.
Magic manifestation power.
Weapon proficiency…
The cheat-like buffs, of course.
Not even the most trivial buff appeared for Liu Aojunchun and the Five Stars.
The reason was exceedingly simple.
[All of this was the Black Dragon’s arrangement.]
Because the true master of the continent had not permitted him.
*Let’s see, was it since the red tag was attached?
When worries piled up, she would read novels. There was a time she frequented rental stores, but… The world has truly gotten better. New novels are uploaded once a day.
I Yerim muttered.
“I spent way too much on cookies this month…”
How immersed she must have been in reading that she even missed the start of the live broadcast of Today Arcana, which she watched every day just to tease Hoyeol.
I Yerim belatedly turned on the TV with the remote.
“Huh?”
She rubbed her eyes at the screen that appeared.
…Was it because she had stayed up all night reading novels?
Why was a word she had seen in a novel floating up as subtitles?
“Huh?”
But no matter how she looked, it wasn’t a hallucination.
The area around I Yerim’s eyes, which had been filled with fatigue, began to regain color in her previously dark complexion.
“Ti-Tianwaitian?! He said it with his own mouth?!”
Her one and only younger brother was writing a martial arts novel in real life.