◈ Episode 388. Your Everything
I also happen to have a deep connection with wills written in blood.
Why, even the demon worshiper imprisoned in Mugan.
He had squeezed out the last of his strength and left behind a [Curse]
in blood.‘But this isn’t a curse.’Unlike the demon worshiper, who had been an elder mage, the president had been an ordinary person and possessed no ability to leave behind a [Curse].
A will was merely a will. Joshua, the head of the Western Branch, opened his heavy mouth.
“When I first heard the news, I wondered if I was still dreaming. But it wasn’t a dream. So I thought, perhaps His Excellency took his own life out of guilt. But the moment I confirmed that will……”
His gaze was shaking violently.
“I am honestly afraid. Of this situation.”
The United States had overlooked the Magic Tower.
More than that.
The world might have completely forgotten the existence known as Raymon Sean.
The head of the Eastern Branch, Eugene McCain.
He also opened his mouth.
“Even from my perspective, as someone ignorant of Arcana, Raymon Sean was someone who needed to be guarded against. Because the influence he possessed seemed greater than anyone else’s.”
Don’t feel slighted that your influence has been pushed back, Granfell.‘Honestly, it’s only natural.’Raymon Sean.
The one and only administrator of Arcana after the Cataclysm.
Joshua corrected Eugene’s words.
“As an expert, allow me to say one thing, Eugene. Even Raymon Sean could not fully control the Rifts. The emergency updates are proof of that. However, there is no denying the immense influence he possesses. Humanity has relied on Raymon in many ways, whether knowingly or unknowingly.”
Joshua was right as well.‘That was why we couldn’t be wary of Raymon from the start.’The reason players leaped into Rifts, those death grounds?
The biggest reason was money.
The enormous Rift clear reward paid upon clearing a Rift.‘Of course, my case was different.’That damned incorruptible integrity……!
At the same time, with this kind of temperament, there was no way I could continue in society. So I had reluctantly chosen the life of a player, but other players had a clear reason called wealth and glory.
My loose tongue unnecessarily added.
“However, it is an influence like a bubble.”
“……?”
At my words, Joshua and Eugene.
And the high-ranking officials of the United States government focused their gazes on me.
If I had been Lee Hoyeol, what could I have said in this situation?‘At most, I would have strained myself to express regret.’The situation was far from ordinary.
The president of the United States had taken his own life.
Leaving behind only a will densely filled with the words Raymon Sean.
It meant that, aside from the fact that Raymon Sean’s hand had reached into this incident.
There was still nothing else that could be guessed.
But Granfell’s perspective was different.
“No matter how deeply it has taken root, a weed is still nothing more than a weed.”
Raymon Sean.
It had been long since I concluded that he was no different from a demon.
Yes, to Granfell, demons were beings lower than weeds.
Even if Raymon Sean exerted tremendous influence on reality.
There would be no exception.
At my statement, one of the government officials opened his mouth.
“A weed? Do you truly think so, Player Lee Hoyeol? We cannot be certain how far and wide his reach has extended. To put it bluntly, someone among those here may still have a connection to Raymon Sean.”
“……!”
A strange silence flowed.‘Perhaps it’s only natural that they’re tangled up in something filthy.’It was not something to be dismissed.
This was different from the case of demons.
Raymon Sean was an existence who had been active in reality even before the Cataclysm. The possibility that he had used mannequins to build countless connections since the Cosmo era? It was more than enough.
“And perhaps His Excellency was also……. one of those entangled with him. I am not trying to blame anyone. I am saying that is how deeply, so deeply that we cannot even dare to imagine it, Raymon Sean has taken root!”
Now their gazes poured toward me.
It seemed everyone was waiting for my reaction……
I slowly nodded.‘There’s nothing wrong with what he said.’Granfell.
You wouldn’t sympathize, but money is important. In that sense, Raymon Sean was light and salt to players. The Rift clear rewards paid to players by the state were a small sum for the price of one’s life.‘I know because I’ve received it myself.’By contrast, the rewards paid by Raymon Sean were in the “hundreds of millions.”
It would not be wrong to say that was the source of Raymon Sean’s influence.
However.
“Even so.”
“……Even so?”
“I can set it right.”
“You can set it right……?”
I was looking down even on that tremendous influence.
To be more specific.
I intended to completely deny Raymon Sean’s influence.
Joshua cautiously asked.
“Chief, may I ask what you mean by that?”
How did I plan to deny that enormous influence.
And Raymon Sean himself?
As I said, Raymon Sean’s influence came from immense wealth.‘When I think of Arcana’s murderous usage fees, it’s not strange.’Back in the days of Arcana Continent Biography.
Ten million won for a single access device.
Hundreds of thousands of won in monthly access fees.
I had experienced all of that.
Yet even knowing that, I said.
“I will replace all of it myself.”
The reason I could say that was simple.
Just “where” was I the chief of?
In the vast Arcana Continent, I was the chief of the Yusra Islands, called a legendary treasure island. That was right. I intended to use the financial power of the Yusra Kingdom to gradually suppress Raymon Sean’s influence.‘If I had been the petty bourgeois Lee Hoyeol, I would never have even dreamed of it.’But our incorruptible Lord Granfell, who regarded wealth and glory as mere stones, was with my tongue. So I could shamelessly open my mouth.
“And I will hunt Raymon Sean, that abominable demon.”*Yusra Kingdom, Golden Calf Tavern.
I will hide nothing from the world.
Thanks to “someone’s” decision.
The will of the American president was revealed to the world.
He had taken his own life because he had something to feel guilty about.
No, he had made a decision while bearing responsibility……
Thanks to that, the endless speculation subsided.
“What a shitty mood.”
Bang!
“Why is everyone so gloomy? First time seeing someone die?”
Rockid muttered as he set down his glass. If one asked why he was drinking from a glass instead of downing an entire bottle as usual, it was because he had begun to feel the need to manage his body.
“You have learned restraint, Rockid.”
“What are you saying, old man? It’s just that the liquor doesn’t taste good.”
“Well, either way is fine. We do not know when we may enter the Arcana Continent, so please do not get dead drunk. Your drunken habits are far too loud. I am too old to stop you.”
“Tsk. Maybe because you’re old, you’re full of needless worry.”
Alkari, the Seventh Seat of the Shadow Mercenary Corps, chuckled.
Now that entry into the Arcana Continent had become possible.
The Shadow Mercenary Corps was only waiting for the order of their leader, Wolf.
“Well, fine. Normally I’d ignore you, but this time I’ll at least pretend to listen, old man. If I get dead drunk and fail to recognize Kichi even when I see her with my own two eyes, that’d be a problem, wouldn’t it?”
The Shadow Mercenary Corps had a clear objective: secure the deserter, Kichi.
Therefore, until the leader’s mark dwelling in Wolf, the 『Brand of the Shadow God』, guided them. The members of the Shadow Mercenary Corps were waiting for the proper time.
Chew, chew.
Rockid, who had been chewing jerky, fiddled with the remote.
“But why is it the same thing no matter where I turn? Boring.”
News of a nation’s king dying was quite common on the Arcana Continent. Moreover, the Shadow Mercenary Corps had been closely involved in the deaths of such people before.
“Suicide, my ass. No matter how you look at it, that bastard called Raymon Sean or whatever must be involved. Doesn’t seem like an ordinary bastard, does he? Seeing how he blatantly let his own name be left behind.”
Rockid’s booming voice.
Thanks to that, the players in the tavern whispered among themselves.
“……Doesn’t this feel fucking unsettling?”
“What does?”
“No, it was already strange, wasn’t it? Raymon Sean, I mean.”
Raymon Sean’s actions were contradictory.
When he regularly updated with patch notes no one could handle, it seemed as if he wished for humanity’s destruction. Yet if he truly wanted humanity to perish, he would not have displayed the update notes in the first place.
“It’s strange, but it’s definitely true that what Lee Hoyeol said was right! If the culprit behind this incident is Raymon Sean……. Then Raymon Sean, that bastard, is no different from a demon, is he?”
As could be seen from the will.
If the one manipulating the United States from behind the scenes really was Raymon Sean.
Then Raymon Sean undoubtedly wished for humanity’s ruin.
If Hoyeol had not stepped in to mediate the situation, the Meteor Strike manifested by the Magic Tower might have struck the United States. Several people let out sighs.
“Still, he really is an evil bastard, isn’t he? Even after we learn this truth, he’s making us, the players, agonize over it. A truly devil-like bastard……”
It was a natural reaction.
It would not be wrong to say Raymon Sean held the players’ lifeline.
Without Raymon Sean, players could not immediately cover the cost of their equipment. Even if they realized Raymon Sean’s intentions were impure.
“Even if it’s filthy and unsettling, if we don’t have the clear rewards right now……”
Everyone dreamed of becoming a shining star player, but not everyone could shine. It meant that the majority of players had survived day by day on Raymon Sean’s Rift clear rewards.
Frustrated, they drank down their innocent beers.
“……Damn it.”
They knew clearly what was right and what was not.
Just as one could instinctively distinguish good and evil.
Good and evil were clear in this incident as well.
However, it was vicious.
Raymon Sean’s hand was.
“No matter what, we have to feed ourselves first, don’t we?”
It made humans torment themselves with guilt.
At the same time, it increased their dependence on him.
Even knowing it was a demon’s temptation, they had no choice but to be swayed.
However.
The negative emotions spreading through the Golden Calf Tavern did not last long.
Soon, it appeared.
It was a new decree proclaimed in the Yusra Kingdom.
“!!!”
The players’ vision flickered.[Quest: Under Yusra’s Rule]
Close the Rift and claim your rightful reward.
The legendary ancient kingdom of Yusra shall grandly commend your efforts.
However, upon receiving Yusra’s reward, your Rift clear record will disappear.─Clear the Rift. (In Progress)
“W-Wait a second. This?!”
A quest that could cut away Raymon Sean’s hand had appeared.
However, the players were level-headed.
They carefully examined and compared the quest’s clauses.
“So……. If you receive a reward from the Yusra Kingdom, it means you can’t receive the Rift clear reward paid by any other side. That probably includes the reward paid by Raymon Sean too, right?”
Among them were those whose timing matched perfectly, witnessing the message the moment they cleared a Rift. Such people gathered one after another at the Golden Palace of the Yusra Kingdom.
“……!”
And they witnessed it.
“I have been waiting.”
Yusra’s king, Hakuna.
“Yusra shall provide you with spoils worthy of you.”
The imperial palace archive of Yusra, fully opened to them.
“We can ch-choose our reward?!”
The news spread quickly.
Were items not treated as more precious than cash by players?
The player communities began to burn first.
-There’s no way any suckers got ripped off by Raymon Sean all this time, right???
-If you don’t know, just memorize it. If you go to Yusra, your merits get duplicated?!
-Even if you only take gold, it’s crazy profit fr lol-How much is one don of gold these days??
From the days when Arcana was nothing more than a game until now.
The hand Raymon Sean had painstakingly extended.
Was being cut away in an instant.
Rockid snorted.
“I told you, didn’t I? Why be so gloomy?”
Rockid’s gaze turned toward Hoyeol on the TV.
“When that man is alive and kicking, why worry about crap like that?”*I recited in a more solemn tone than ever.
“There was something I needed to tell you anyway.”
The person on the other end of the call was none other than my detestable enemy.‘My life.’Don’t set off celebratory fireworks on your own, Yusra Kingdom. For me, the person actually involved, there is still something more important left than dealing with Raymon Sean……!
I ended my words meaningfully.
“I will come to the main house now.”