◈ Episode 511. The Shortest Week (3)
The Arcana Continent, once plunged into the pit of ruin.
—Can you believe it, everyone! This place is the Arcana Continent!
There were those who had fearlessly set foot on that land, a land even players had not dared to approach. Yes, they were lunatics. Broadcasting station bastards lunatic for ratings.
Chew, chew.
Hyeon Yongseok chewed his gum with a displeased expression.
—The Arcana Continent, where no other program dared to venture, will be exclusively covered by our Close Coverage Live Arcana production team……
What was playing on the monitor.
It was TQBC’s “Close Coverage Live Arcana,” a program whose ratings, compared to his own Today Arcana, couldn’t even amount to the gum he had chewed up and spat out.
“You’re overreaching, and this badly at that?”
“Today Arcana isn’t exactly easy prey.”
“Fine. Go ahead and flounder all you want.”
The monologue he spat out was frighteningly intense.
Camera director, Yun Jongjin.
Beside him, he simply kept his mouth shut. ‘I’d rather not have sparks flying my way for no reason.’ Still, those guys really had no fear. ‘No matter how desperate they are for ratings, how could they even think of setting foot on the Arcana Continent? It’s a land where no one can guarantee your life.’ If they went on like that, forget demon-type monsters.
What if they simply ran into an ordinary monster?
Just imagining it sent a chill down his spine.
“They must really have lost their minds.”
It was the moment Yun Jongjin muttered without realizing.
“Jongjin.”
“Senior, please don’t call my name in that sly tone.”
“Huh? What’s that all of a sudden?”
“Just try telling me to go. I’ll hand in my resignation right now……!!”
“Jongjin, no matter how crazy I am for ratings, I’m not going to throw myself into a deathtrap. Besides, those bastards crossed the line, and properly at that. Look, there’s already a backlash, isn’t there?”
“……
A backlash?”
Swipe.
SNS feeds updated on the smartphone screen Hyeon Yongseok held out.
Regardless of the soaring ratings.
The viewers’ reactions were properly hitting rock bottom.
—No;;; what the hell are they doing???
—What are they going to do if a monster pops out, are they insane
—For real, what a massive nuisance lolololol
—Those cunning opportunist bastards
As sharp-tongued as ever, our dear viewers.
Hyeon Yongseok chuckled.
There was no word that suited them better than opportunists.
“When it comes to incidents happening on the Arcana Continent, players are already delivering more than enough information. To put it bluntly, if you turn on NetTube right now, you’ll get a whole lineup starting with Bak Hwigang.”
“Right? A sense of duty as the press and the public’s right to know, my ass.”
“They call themselves real journalists? When an actual sense of duty was needed, those bastards were cowering in a corner. Now that good news is coming in, they’re just wracking their brains to snatch up whatever crumbs fall their way.”
Hyeon Yongseok let slip the smile of one who was already ahead.
“And with reactions like this, as if advertisers would stick to them. Even if they do, it’ll spread into a boycott. I don’t know what they were thinking, but this was a bad move, TQBC.”
“Senior, at times like this, you really do seem like an expert.”
“You’re the only one who says that to me, Jongjin.”
Well, whatever.
Why was he raising their ratings when there was nothing to like about them? They weren’t even competitors, just a production team whose instincts were completely dead. The moment Hyeon Yongseok picked up the remote control.
Suddenly, the anchor’s urgent voice continued from the screen.
—Ah, just as I say that, there are players over there!
Then, a sudden zoom-in.
Instead of a sneer, a sigh escaped Hyeon Yongseok’s mouth.
His head shook on its own.
“Wow, incredible. They’re planning to throw ash on everything until the very end, aren’t they?”
“I know. Those players look insanely busy at a glance.”
“Forget it. What would those fledglings know?”
Before and after Seoul had been overlaid with the colors of the Arcana Continent Chronicle.
Humanity had overcome crisis after crisis.
And yet the aftereffects had not even properly faded.
—Ah, hold on. That’s…… the Great Alliance!
TQBC, those bastards.
It seemed they were determined to become a burden to the players, who were already busy dealing with the aftermath. More importantly, the Great Alliance. At that point, Hyeon Yongseok ground his teeth.
“Of all people, the Great Alliance.”
It was not because he hated the Great Alliance.
The problem was that he liked them too much. In the filthy, sordid broadcasting world, where anyone would be offended to be called second-best at slander, the fact that there were no people tearing down the player Nam Taemin said enough.
His stomach slowly began to ache.
Chew, chew.
Hyeon Yongseok chewed his innocent gum with even greater fervor.
“Beginner’s luck. That’s exactly what it is.” Those TQBC bastards might be lucky enough to land an interview.
If it was the Nam Taemin he knew.
He would respond to an interview in some way.
But perhaps there was no such thing as absolute in this world.
“……
Huh?”
That Nam Taemin.
Nam Taemin, who was famous for being gentle.
The moment he looked at the camera, he spat out coldly.
—You people, return to Seoul immediately.
At those cold words, Hyeon Yongseok’s instincts twitched.
“Whoa, I’ve never seen Taemin speak that frighteningly before.” Does he have some bad blood with TQBC?
Anyway, serves them right, bastards.
He spoke to Yun Jongjin, who had been watching the fire from across the river.
“Jongjin. Get ready.”
“Yes? Ready? Ready for what?! No, senior, I really will resign……!”
“I’m not saying we’re going to the Arcana Continent.”
Hyeon Yongseok’s expression became quite serious.
“Because it seems that aftershock might flow backward into Seoul.”
*
The Great Alliance.
Nam Taemin.
And the two executives formerly of Gaon wore grave expressions.
Nam Taemin asked.
“Did you confirm they went back?”
“Yeah, when you got angry, they ran for their lives.”
“I’m going to get an earful from Cheolmin hyung.”
“No, this time, even Cheolmin hyung will acknowledge it, won’t he?”
“Yeah, they crossed the line.”
The reason Nam Taemin had been able to build a gentlemanly image?
More than ninety percent of the credit belonged to his older brother, Nam Cheolmin. Especially at official events, Nam Taemin had practically recited the lines Nam Cheolmin wrote for him as they were. But this time, Nam Cheolmin was not there, and he could not hold himself back.
“They might feel disappointed, but……”
It could not be helped.
Because messages that neither ordinary people.
Nor camera lenses could capture were telling them so.
[The great star that illuminated the Arcana Continent is setting.]
[The future of the Arcana Continent grows uncertain.]
An incident had occurred.
A great star.
There were not many figures in Arcana who could be called such a great star.
Thanks to that, they had sensed it, if only faintly.
The final message drove the nail in.
[The Hidden Piece, “Pandora’s Attic,” is closing.]
“Did we fail to find him in the end……”
The Great Sage, Rise.
On the day the great beast ran wild, his whereabouts had become uncertain, just like the elder mage Yugweed. The Great Alliance had scattered across the Arcana Continent in order to search for that Great Sage.
And yet, to think Rise had passed away.
Nam Taemin continued.
“Even if we want to turn away for now because we have no face to meet the Commander-in-Chief…… this is a major incident that will inevitably shake the Arcana Continent.”
Because the broadcasting station’s reporting team could not see system messages.
They had probably set foot on the current Arcana Continent so fearlessly.
But every player, including himself, must have felt it.
“……”
The messages that had been flashing without rest all stopped at once.
More specifically, it meant that the activity of the Commander-in-Chief of the Holy War Alliance.
Hoyeol’s activity, which had been updating without pause, had momentarily stopped.
As if in silent prayer for the Great Sage.
Clench.
That was why Nam Taemin clenched his fist.
Even if the Great Sage had already passed away.
At the very least, he wanted to properly uncover his final actions.
“We have to know what happened to Rise.”
As always, he would surely show nothing on the outside.
But he must certainly be sunk in deep sorrow.
For the sake of Commander-in-Chief Hoyeol, too.
*
Claudi Territory.
‘It’s finally a little quiet.’
Because it was a Hidden Piece.
News from the Arcana Continent did not reach here.
Which meant I did not have to suffer those embarrassing system messages for the time being. ‘Seriously, why are there so many damn legends?’ Starting with Dark Dragon Lee Hoyeol, the legends I knew about were not all of them! I tried to understand that exaggeration was inevitable whenever a story passed from mouth to mouth, but…… ‘It’s exhausting to mention them one by one.’ Anyway, if I say that a world message about me popped up at a rate of about one per second, you can roughly imagine it, right? In that sense, I once again swallowed my admiration.
“Even so, it is a familiar weight to me.”
Beyond shameless.
It makes me wonder whether you even possess something called a conscience, Granfell……!
But right now, I had no time to bicker with Granfell. ‘Even at this moment, time is flowing.’ One week in real-world time.
In terms of the Arcana Continent’s time, I had several times more leeway.
But considering the situation, I absolutely could not relax. ‘Because I can’t predict what those bastards are thinking in the slightest.’ The Ten Thrones, Paimon.
The Great Evil, Pride.
Even when I tried to see through their true intentions with the intuition of a demon hunter, I could not; and the actions of those two demons were nothing but contradictory. If those two truly joined hands…… ‘It’s horrifying, truly.’ That was why my feet had no choice but to move without hesitation.
[Heavenly Demon Sovereign Step]
Thanks to taking a step with it.
With a single step, the scenery changed.
At the same time, lines from a notebook surfaced in my mind.
『Those things were in the humblest place in Claudi’s territory. For Granfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo, that was the first command of the new family head.』
A shameful past.
Was it something one could not forget even if one tried?
Seeing as I remembered even these detailed settings so vividly. ‘……
Next time I stop by the family home, I really should retrieve it.’ It must certainly be shoved somewhere in a storage room.
But who knew?
If anyone discovered the notebook containing my shameful past……
I, Lee Hoyeol, was genuinely confident I would die of shame. ‘I think I’ll only be at ease if I at least shove it into my inventory.’ Along with that resolve.
Click.
I headed toward the place where those things were.
The humblest place in Claudi Territory.
A corridor in an annex as vast as the grand mansion.
Even after passing fork after fork in that corridor for quite some time.
At last, a large door came into view. ‘Truthfully, no one would call it humble.’ It was simply that the Claudi grand mansion was so extravagant that the relatively plain annex looked ordinary. Even so, the restriction placed on this door was by no means humble.
『Whoever stands before it must offer something precious to themselves as a sacrifice. Without that level of resolve, they are not qualified to face those things.』
Those things being mentioned from earlier.
Of course, they were Claudi’s legacy.
On the day it was destroyed, Claudi Territory had already collapsed once.
Reversal magic was not omnipotent. I could not guess how much of a legacy remained…… but even if only a few of them were left, they would be an enormous help to me right now. ‘In fact, my equipment level has been stagnant for quite a while.’ Well, that was because I could not find better equipment.
I racked my brain.
Let’s see, something precious.
What should I offer for it to gladly open the door? First, Yunaxus’s legacy was absolutely out…… Even as I, Lee Hoyeol, agonized, my troublesome mouth expressed its displeasure exactly as it was.
“It is an illusion I do not wish to face.”
Honestly, your incorruptible integrity treats riches and glory as less than stones.
It is not anything else, but the legacy of the Claudi family, Granfell.
It belongs to you anyway as the family head, so there is no need to hate it.
Did my plea reach him?
“However, this too must be my weight.”
Or had he grown sick of my whining? In the end, after breaking Granfell’s stubbornness, I was able to take one more step closer to the door. Then, a message truly appeared.
[Head of Claudi, offer something precious in order to face it.]
And I could guess why Granfell had hesitated while making up all sorts of reasons. Swoosh— The hand that moved with a hesitation unlike Granfell’s headed straight for.
The inner pocket of the Dawn Jacket. ‘……
You were like this because of this?’
The single remaining green tea teabag.
Indeed, to you, there could be nothing more precious than this.
But yield just this once, Granfell.
Next time, no matter how expensive the green tea is.
I’ll order as much as you want through rocket delivery. ‘I’m probably the only person in the world trying to coast through a Hidden Piece that requires you to offer something precious to enter by sacrificing just one green tea teabag……!’ However.
Regardless of my inner jubilation.
Cold words sprang from my lips.
“May it prove worthy of this valuable investment.”
……This is a valuable investment?
Your shamelessness has truly gone too far.
You’re making even me, who was happy for no reason, embarrassed, Granfell!...
[You have entered the Hidden Piece, “Claudi’s Abyss.”]