◈ Episode 465. Hide and Seek
Clack.
I set down the teacup.
I survey my surroundings.
Perhaps because duels are forbidden.
Everyone is quite docile.
For now, my decision to set foot in the social hall wasn't bad. ‘Attention has been scattered.’ Though focus had been drawn to me because the bounty on me is unusually high.
Even the VIPs were glancing at one another; they hardly looked to be on good terms.
But more than that.
“It is not to my liking.”
No matter how much I despise the social hall, it is at times like these.
Should you not give thanks for its very existence, Granfel?
Anyway, that stubbornness…….
I clicked my tongue as I looked at those sending heated gazes my way.
And the messages that popped up along with them.
But.[Current Bounty: 3 Karma][Current Bounty: 1 Karma][Current Bounty: 1 Karma]....
What are these adorable numbers?
‘No, I knew it was coming.’
I had been told it was an unprecedented bounty.
Thanks to that, I had guessed.
That there would be quite a large gap between the bounties on other visitors to the Shadow Corridor and the one on me. But... even so, a thousandfold difference is too much, isn't it?! ‘Frankly speaking.’ If I added up every bounty on the VIPs here, wouldn't the total still be lower than mine? Even as I was dumbfounded, my eyes casually rolled, and so I spotted Kichi. ‘The only being whose identity I know.’ Leader of the worst criminal organization, the Shadow Mercenaries.
If I checked the bounty on a big shot like Kichi.
I could guess what kind of value the karma placed on me held.
Then, a message appearing beside Kichi.[Current Bounty: 1 Karma]......
Really?
A big shot like Kichi only has a measly 1 karma.
I belatedly admitted.
I wasn't mobbed for no reason, huh?
‘You really pushed your luck in that situation, Hoyeol.’
So this is why they say you die when you do things you don't usually do.
My wounds had already been healed by the [Blessing of the First World Tree].
But considering the bounty on me.......
If Granfel's talent hadn't awakened.
I might have crossed the Yellow Springs from the relentless assault.
It was then, as I swallowed a sigh of relief.
Ssk.
An attendant approached and spoke.
“A gift sent by a VIP.”
A box small enough to fit in one hand rested on the tray.
I looked in the direction the attendant pointed.
At that table sat a man staring holes into me. ‘His gaze is fierce.’ No, beyond fierce, he was haggard.
As if he had been tormented by something until just now.
Of course, first impressions aren't what matter.
It goes without saying, but I replied coldly.
“I refuse.”
I believe this is the first time since my days as Greed of the Seven Deadly Sins that I've been grateful for my integrity. Covert combat is still permitted. Hell, who knows if this is really a box containing a gift or a mimic disguised as a box?
“But in exchange, will you relay a message?”
I continued boldly.
“If he desires something, tell him to seize it himself.”
A social hall where duels are forbidden.
Thanks to that, I boldly ran my mouth.
At my words, the attendant politely bowed.
“I shall relay those words clearly.”
And.
Now was the time.
I sat facing the man. ‘So the shadows aren't just puppets after all?’ To think they possessed enough consciousness to sit face-to-face and converse like this?
Well, they had consciousness to begin with.
So they must have been aiming for my bounty, but.......
Clack.
Anyway, I alone tilted my teacup with poise. Don't ask how I can sit across from someone without offering them a cup of tea; I simply can't live without etiquette. ‘If it were any other tea.’ To Granfel of all people, the green tea carefully kept in the inner pocket of the Jacket of Daybreak was a treasure so precious that he would have to resolve himself greatly to offer it even to Marcelona Harcon. ‘By the way.’ I didn't let my guard down.
Covert combat is still permitted.......
There would be plenty of ways to cut my throat without making a commotion. ‘So what's the angle?’ I'm curious, but I don't show it at all. At times like this, brazenness helps. An attitude that seems to lack nothing lets you gain the upper hand in conversation.
But I, Hoyeol.
Gaining the upper hand in conversation, my ass.
Because the moment the man opened his mouth, I was shocked.
“You are an Akshan.”......
That's right!
The word that popped from the man's mouth, Akshan.
Only then did I understand why his complexion was such a mess. ‘One hundred percent.’ It was because of that damned stamina training, wasn't it?
It was purely thanks to the effects of the [Blessing of the First World Tree] that I could remain unscathed. The Akshan seniors all made those kinds of energy-drained expressions......!
I immediately changed my tune.
“I'll take it.”
“What?”
“Your goodwill.”
By goodwill, I meant the gift, the box the man had offered.
......
Ahem.
Changing my words like flipping the palm of my hand is embarrassing.
Was that why the man asked again?
“Did you not hear from the attendant? In the Shadow Corridor, no one's words can be trusted. Moreover, the bounty on you is an unprecedented amount. Can you say you will not regret your choice?”
Asking if I can not regret it?
Well, I don't know about regret, but I can be certain you're an Akshan Demon Hunter. That prickliness in your tone is exactly the same as those Akshan NPCs from back then.
Tap.
The man extended the box before me again as he spoke.
He must mean for me to open it if I trust him.
It goes without saying, but my hand moved without hesitation.
I opened the box.
Then my vision flickered.[Class Quest: For Akshan Nonetheless]
As expected, my instincts weren't wrong.
Since a class quest had appeared, it meant the man before me was truly an Akshan Demon Hunter. But as I tried to read the quest contents, I couldn't help but hesitate. ‘......!’ The man's name specified in the class quest was familiar.
Over ten years and then some had passed since Arcana was merely a game. Mountains and rivers change in ten years; but that wasn't enough—a great upheaval occurred and the world was turned upside down.
Over those long years, though other players may have forgotten, I, Hoyeol, could not.
That's right.
In the days when Arcana was merely a game.
The Akshan ditch dragon who was treated as worthless.
Because the one and only Named NPC of Akshan stood before my eyes.
I called his name.
“I know you, Gabriel.”......
So that manner of speech doesn't spare even a legendary senior, huh?*The Shadow Corridor.
The gazes of the social hall attendants were fixed on one man alone—Granfel Claudi Arpheus Romeo. They recalled the karma he possessed, his bounty.
A whopping one thousand (一千) karma. The attendant wiping glasses, the attendant tidying tables, and the attendant withdrawing lethal poison from his bosom couldn't help but swallow their drool.
How on earth.
The reason a mere human could possess such karma was unknown. But they understood. Because he was such a being. The master of the corridor must have personally opened the corridor's door for him.
“......”
The more they watched, the more they understood. ‘He effortlessly overcame a VIP's attack.’ VIPs.
They are strong.
That is precisely why the attendants do not aim for the VIPs' bounties.
Unlike Granfel Claudi Arpheus Romeo.
The VIPs are all contractors of the Shadow God.
Each of them was also one who could be counted among the strong on the Arcana continent.
But there was a separate reason to be wary of the VIPs. ‘They are beings in whom only instinct remains.’ Because they are shadows without substance.
They lacked control.
Moving solely according to instinct.
Beings who could not die even if they wished to—that was them. ‘It is the same now.’ The VIPs were aiming for Granfel Claudi Arpheus Romeo's life according to their innate evil instincts. It must not have been for nothing that they caught the Shadow God's eye and formed a contract.
The attendants bore in mind. ‘There is no need to go against the VIPs' moods.’ Only Granfel Claudi Arpheus Romeo was sufficient. Because he was the only being in this sordid Shadow Corridor who couldn't throw away formality and dignity.
Hadn't they confirmed it just moments ago?
He generously forgave the attendant who had aimed a dagger at him and took his seat in the social hall. Despite keenly grasping the danger of poisoning enough to use his own glass, he left only a single word to the attendant who had attempted to poison him.
“It is far too insufficient to entertain me.”
With that, the situation ended.
The attendant wiping the glass thought. ‘......
Is that not an attitude beyond that of a noble, as if he were the master of the corridor?’
But he immediately cast off such profane thoughts.
As I said.
The Shadow Corridor was a merciless space where nothing remained but contract and fulfillment. ‘That paltry pride will eventually seize him by the ankle.’ If a VIP requested conversation with formality, he would accept.
Indeed, he practiced exactly what he had said.
The attendant could swear. ‘The moment he finishes the conversation and rises from his seat.’ Granfel Claudi Arpheus Romeo.
The VIP seated across from him would quietly and secretly.
Move to take his life.
No, from the start, opening the box he passed over without any doubt was a mistake in itself. A contractor of the Shadow God who governs all schemes, artifice, and sordid treachery.
Taking an opponent's life with a palm-sized box? Just from the scenes glimpsed over the shoulder as an attendant, dozens, hundreds of methods came to mind.
And the development flowed as expected.
Ssk.
He did not even make a sound scraping his chair against the floor.
Granfel.
He rose from his seat with poise.
Sssst.
For a moment, the teacup he held scattered into the air.
Groooh.
“......?! ”
A tremendous amount of mana began to erupt from his body.
To the point where they could not even remember their previous lives.
The attendants bound to the Shadow Corridor for so long.
So it was natural they had no magical knowledge.
Yet they could feel it.
That Granfel's mana flow was unusual.
They hastily opened their mouths.
“Lord Granfel Claudi Arpheus Romeo, have you forgotten the rules?”
No, perhaps he hadn't forgotten. ‘Could he have already fallen for it?’ He who had faithfully observed the rules.
After opening a box from a VIP, he suddenly broke them?
They could swear.
The box.
Inside it.
Something that would drive Granfel into a rampage was contained.
......
Gulp.
Dry saliva was swallowed.
Surprised by the cruelty of the VIP stabbing the opponent he had been conversing with until just now? No. They knew well that the VIPs were such beings.
There was another reason everyone in the social hall flinched.
Suddenly, the attendants' gazes turned toward the air.
Someone stuttered.
“I-it's coming down.”
A being that expels rule violators from the corridor.
No, a being that erases them.
Because soon, 'that thing' would reveal itself in this social hall.
Fear dwelled on their faces hidden beneath black veils.
They had no choice.
It was not a being of this world.
From its very appearance, it was impossible to describe using the language of this world.
From the distant ceiling of the corridor.
Fwoosh.
Fwoosh.
Fwoosh.
The chandeliers on the ceiling illuminated ominously, one by one.
The VIPs rose from their seats.
They appeared reluctant to abandon the bounty, but they didn't want to get caught up in it.
It was then.
Shrrring.
Toward the descending being.
Granfel Claudi Arpheus Romeo.
He raised his sword.
And spat out incomprehensible words.
“Shatter the illusion.”
Words the attendants could not understand even if they chewed on them their whole lives.
“Illusion Breaker.”...
It had always been a question.
Among those who had entered the realm of the Other were the dragons of the Arcana continent and the high demon lords of the demon realm. Then where was the culprit of the Great Upheaval, who so clearly had entered the realm of the Other, and the developer of the Arcana continent's chronicle?
Where is Raymon Syeon now? ‘I didn't know I'd find the answer like this.’ I looked at the flickering message and declared.
“Hide and seek is over.”[Prototype, 'The Omen That Devours God' has appeared.]
“From this moment, I will begin the Exorcism Ritual.”...[The Demon Hunter, 'Gabriel,' is watching you.]