◈ Episode 493. The True Upheaval, AAU.
The branch heads and executives from all over the world headed for the capital of the Republic of Korea.
Seoul.
When the Magic Tower first appeared in Seoul, they had thought it was a simple coincidence.
“At this point……”
Inside the limousine headed for the Magic Tower.
The United States branch head, Jim Joshua.
He muttered in all seriousness.
“Should I start learning feng shui even now?”
Reality and the Arcana Continent had been permanently connected. The collapse of the unstable prototype rift. On top of that, the field formed when the Fusion Intelligence Yugweed self-destructed had connected the two worlds like a bridge.
“I’m not sure. Personally, I think it’s superstition.”
“You’re so serious.”
“Was that a joke? I’m sorry. There’s just so much information pouring in.”
Katrina, who was riding with Joshua, had no mental energy to spare on feng shui or anything of the sort. What she was focusing on was deducing the current situation from the limited information available.
The screen on her tablet switched rapidly.
“As expected, the remaining half of the Fusion Intelligence appeared on the Arcana Continent. They say it self-destructed there as well, just like in reality, and formed a field. Still, perhaps it was something like a final gift left behind by an elder mage who had once been a member of the Magic Tower.”
“Katrina, could you not say anything too serious?”
“……
Pardon?”
At Joshua’s exaggeration, Katrina looked toward the back seat.
Only then did she see it.
The deep fatigue etched across her boss’s face.
“We’ve gone through an especially large number of ups and downs today.”
“……!”
From rock bottom, to heaven, back to rock bottom, and then again……
Literally.
It had been a day where their emotions had surged and plummeted as though they were riding a roller coaster.
Joshua clenched a trembling fist.
“To be honest, I still can’t believe it. Just the fact that the Yusra General Manager, who fell in battle on the Arcana Continent, returned alive still feels like I’m dreaming. And yet……”
An unbelievable sight began to appear outside the window.
“To think something like this came along as a bonus.”
The forest of buildings in Seoul.
If one went by the setting of Arcana Continent Chronicle.
The spirits, which an ordinary person like him should never have been able to see, entered his eyes.
Wind spirits, forest spirits, water spirits……
If it had been a sight only he could see, Joshua might have thought, So you’ve finally gone mad, and gone to a psychiatrist while lamenting his fate.
But the anchor’s voice flowed from Katrina’s tablet.
—This is a sight that is hard to believe even as we watch it. Spirits that revealed themselves from the Arcana Continent are participating in the restoration efforts at the disaster sites in Seoul. We now go straight to our correspondent on the scene……
That was right.
To the eyes of others.
To the camera lenses as well.
The spirits were vividly visible.
Katrina added information on that matter.
“The Players say that the ‘Age of Purity’ has opened on the Arcana Continent. It may be an era that can’t be explained by the common knowledge of Arcana Continent Chronicle up until now.”
Joshua nodded.
“In a sense, this must be the true Cataclysm.”
As if it were not enough that a road permanently connecting reality and the Arcana Continent had been laid, the buffs of the Arcana Continent were also effective in Seoul, as though the two had become one……
Joshua muttered.
“It’s bizarrely astonishing.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a smile appeared at the corner of Joshua’s mouth.
Was it because the surreal scenery of Seoul, where spirits frolicked, was so beautiful?
More than that, it was because of the excitement filled with tension.
The general manager who had brought about this upheaval.
It was because of his anticipation of reuniting with Hoyeol.
Soon, Joshua’s group entered the Magic Tower.
Swoosh.
In front of it, he lifted his head once.
“It was definitely in ruins.”
No matter how he looked at it, the fact that it was perfectly fine seemed completely seamless.
He had only a moment to newly realize the greatness of reversal magic. Joshua headed for the Crystal Hall of the Magic Tower. He pushed through the barrage of flashes from the reporters who had crowded into the Magic Tower lobby for only a short while.
The moment the doors of the Crystal Hall opened, Joshua had no choice but to be shocked. A sight even more unbelievable than the forest of buildings where spirits frolicked was unfolding before his eyes.
Katrina barely managed to open her mouth.
“……
Th-this isn’t the Testing Room, is it, boss?”...
I answered.
“It is not.”
“Y-you startled me……?!”
“G-General Manager!”
Joshua, and what must have been his AAU subordinate.
“I am truly glad you are safe……!”
I gazed into Joshua’s eyes, which looked as if they might spill tears at any moment. Damn it, I simply wanted to look away. But avoiding someone’s gaze was something that could not exist in Granfell’s dictionary.
‘……
I don’t even know how many times this makes.’
Only after the Fusion Intelligence raid had completely ended did I notice.
The moment when I had thrown away my life on the Arcana Continent.
Had been captured in reality beyond the prototype rift as well……!
‘I can understand it well enough.’
Whether it was the effect of [Last Adventurer] or whatever else.
The fact that I had died was true. I couldn’t simply dismiss my resurrection as nothing more than a baseless rumor. But from that point on, rumors that were wrong—very, very wrong—had spread, hadn’t they?
Headlines I glanced at while researching the strange.
—Lee Hoyeol Uses the Miracle of Resurrection!
—The Spirit King Bows His Head! The Appearance of the Spirit Emperor?!
—Subduing Monsters with Words? A Hoeon That Surpasses Dragon Tongue!……
Dear reporters. Your ability to make things sound so grand and plausible is starting to resemble someone, isn’t it? Especially that last one, Hoeon—what even is that?
‘Homen is already burdensome enough.’
They had taken the Ho (浩) character from Hoyeol and coined a new word.
‘If only I didn’t have my track records with reversal magic and construction magic…….’
I could have given them a proper scolding. But when it came to shouting down the flood of rumors and misinformation, I myself had committed far too many sins. In that sense, I had no choice but to continue.
“From now on, everything you see is the truth.”
Why had someone mentioned the Testing Room, something that should have existed only back when Arcana was nothing more than a game? I could guess the reason.
At this moment, gathered in the Crystal Hall were beings who, by the common sense of Arcana Continent Chronicle, could never have gathered in one place.
The Tower Master’s seat.
Suddenly, Marcelo, who had been seated, rose from his place.
He must have noticed my appearance.
As usual, he offered me a polite bow.
‘……
Come on, between us.’
But I didn’t even have time to return the courtesy.
They must have noticed my presence through Marcelo’s actions.
The murmuring subsided.
Following Marcelo, people began to rise from their seats.
At once.
The senior mages, of course.
At once.
The Great Alliance.
At once.
Argentress and the elves under his command.
At once.
The Spirit Kings disguised in human form……
At once.
Even while they were dazed by the unbelievable sight.
The AAU branch heads, who stood up by reading the mood, could not be left out.
Before those burdensome greetings, I thought.
‘……
If only those two weren’t beside me.’
I would have been unable to hold back and let out a sigh. Seriously.
‘Well, they can gather at the Magic Tower as much as they want. No, it’s only natural.’
Reality and the Arcana Continent had been connected.
Not through a temporary portal, but permanently, through the formation of a new field. It was an unprecedented situation. Both reality and the Arcana Continent needed to grasp the situation.
‘I’m the only one who can answer their questions.’
I understood that much, but……
‘There’s no need for every single one of you to stand up, you know?’
But the center of the world was none other than himself.
The path he walked was, in itself, the center.
That was our Lord Granfell.
Click.
Leaving behind Joshua’s group, who were at my side and equally unsure where to put themselves, I walked toward the podium of the Crystal Hall. Then, upon stepping onto the podium, I thoroughly savored the pouring gazes and attention.
Perhaps thanks to that.
‘Their expressions are mixed with various emotions.’
I could feel the emotions of those present.
Expectation.
And confusion even greater than that.
‘If I had my way…….’
I wanted to give them only pleasant, flattering words.
But I couldn’t.
As I said, this was the reality we faced.
‘To put it metaphorically…….’
The World Tree.
Like the Fruit of Good and Evil borne by the mother of all things.
It was the beginning of an upheaval that held both hope and danger.
After organizing those thoughts, I spoke them in Granfell’s manner.
“At this moment, a new path has opened before us. It is a path no one has ever trodden, so it is only natural that no set direction exists. However, the footprints we leave behind shall become milestones for those who come after us.”
Wasn’t this a manner of speaking that did not consider the listeners’ position?
I, Lee Hoyeol.
As the representative of ordinary small citizens.
Just hearing words like this would make the sense of burden come crashing down.
Fortunately, however.
‘The people gathered here aren’t like me, so whatever.’
There did not seem to be anyone here who shared the same thoughts as me, Lee Hoyeol. That was right. Every one of them had been fighting the Fusion Intelligence that had appeared in reality and on the Arcana Continent with their lives on the line until just now.
Because I knew that, I continued.
“I have no intention of letting the fertilizer Yugweed scattered go to waste.”
The departed did not speak.
Though I did not truly know Yugweed’s intentions, I said something plausible. However, if it was the Yugweed I had seen, I believed he surely formed the field with such intent.
—“Then I leave the Magic Tower in your care, Chief Lee.”
Just as he had trusted us and left the Magic Tower.
This time as well, Yugweed had trusted us.
And I believed he had become fertilizer and scattered himself.
“There is something I must say regarding that……!”
“Wait, we have the recorded footage here.”
“So what exactly happened on the Arcana Continent at that time?”
Soon.
Various opinions were exchanged in the Crystal Hall. The information each person knew and the things they guessed would all be different. To reach a conclusion, an active exchange of opinions would be necessary.
In that sense, a question that I could no longer avoid was finally directed at me.
The ones who asked the question were, as expected, the spirits.
Among them was the Spirit King of Flame, Phoenix.
“Blessed one.”
At that word, blessed one, those present began to murmur.
“……
Blessed one? What does that mean?”
“Is it a newly acquired title?”
“Well, Chief Lee has been blessed in many ways.”
Seriously.
You know my name perfectly well, so why do you insist on that title?
Though I grumbled inwardly, I allowed Phoenix to continue.
Then, as expected, the anticipated question came.
“While giving thanks that you are safe and at peace, please forgive me for being unable to suppress the question that wells up within me. I clearly felt your sacrifice dwell in this insignificant body of mine……”
Phoenix trailed off appropriately.
But it was enough to focus everyone present.
First, there were probably those who were surprised by his extremely respectful tone.
‘He’s still a Spirit King in name, after all.’
The way Phoenix acted before me.
As though the absurd rumors spreading through the world were true.
He was treating me like some kind of Spirit Emperor.
But what made those present flinch even more than that.
Was the word sacrifice.
It must have meant whether I had truly died, just as the rumors that began at the AAU claimed. There was even multiple pieces of evidence. From the AAU’s recorded footage to the aura of the Spirit Kings, which had become so much denser than before that it could not even be compared.
At this rate.
‘I can’t even gloss over it convincingly.’
In truth, even if I made up my mind to gloss over it, this was our Lord Granfell, who concealed absolutely nothing. Since Phoenix had asked with due courtesy, it meant I had no choice but to answer in kind.
My lips moved.
“Phoenix, your words are correct.”
I drove the nail into the gazes that still wondered, surely not.
“I have already experienced death.”
Very properly.
“To the point that I have grown accustomed to it.”
“……!!!”
*
The Today Arcana production crew.
“It feels like a dream, a dream. Jongjin!”
PD Hyeon Yongseok looked around, unable to believe the scene before him. Even then, he couldn’t believe it and pinched his own cheek. Was this really Seoul, which had been turned into a complete mess only a few hours ago?
Yun Jongjin kept turning the camera angle.
“Wow, sunbae. Look over there. There, the spirits wriggling around! No, so the mages were the only ones seeing something that cute? Seriously, that’s so unfair it’s absurd.”
The corners of his mouth showed no sign of coming down.
Normally, being on an outside shoot with Hyeon Yongseok would have made him shudder.
But Yun Jongjin was not tired in the slightest.
He moved the camera here and there and even joked around.
“How did the buff end up affecting us too?”
“You, instead of overreacting, check the camera film……”
Hyeon Yongseok, who had been about to nag him as usual.
Stopped short.
Because big shots had begun pouring out of the Magic Tower.
“What are you doing? Everyone, move!”
Magic Tower.
They must have discussed the current situation inside.
What kind of discussions had taken place during the meeting?
This was an opportunity to deliver that to the world before anyone else.
“Run toward the Great Alliance, the Great Alliance!”
As a representative broadcaster and producer of the Republic of Korea, it was also a scoop he could not miss.
Did Hyeon Yongseok’s desperate will reach the Players as well? If not, was it thanks to Nam Taemin, the barbarian who was gentle unlike his class?
“Player Nam Taemin, may we ask you a question?”
The Today Arcana team was able to broadcast live.
A scoop no one had expected.
Because of that, however, someone’s mind went completely blank……
Thud.
The smartphone fell from a hand that had gone limp.
Crack.
The screen shattered on the asphalt. But she did not notice. At this moment, what had broken far worse than the smartphone was the true feeling she had been desperately ignoring.
“……
Even I, who’s only been watching, have reached my limit now.”
Whether he had died and come back to life.
Whether it was a miracle of resurrection.
Whatever it was……!
No words entered her eyes or ears.
Lee Yerim’s eyes reddened.
“Hoyeol, are you really okay……?”