◈ Episode 6. Class Quest (1)
Arcana’s status system was on the simpler side.
All initial stats began at 1 point.
Each level-up granted 1 point.
Players simply had to allocate points to the stats they wanted, according to the characteristics of their class.
I looked at the status window.[Name: Granfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo][Class: Demon Hunter][Level: 67][Stats]
Strength: 21 / Agility: 26 / Magic Power: 11 / Luck: 1[Available Points: 12]
Naturally, Demon Hunters did not have a class-specific stat.
As if that weren’t enough, my stats had been invested all over the place.‘There was nothing I could do about that.’Back then, there hadn’t been any established way to raise a Demon Hunter.
Setting performance aside, the absolute number of players was low, too.
As befitted such an ambiguous class, I had no choice but to invest in every stat ambiguously.‘Though, even now, nothing has really changed.’This wasn’t because I didn’t know better, but because I wanted to leave possibilities open.
Since there was that difference in mindset, it should be fine.
I invested the points.[Stats]
Strength: 23 / Agility: 28 / Magic Power: 18 / Luck: 1[Available Points: 1]
Two points each into Strength and Agility.
After investing 7 points into Magic Power, which had been relatively low, I had 1 point left.
Originally, I had intended to invest that last point into Magic Power as well.
But for some reason.
The Luck stat, which had only a single point, kept bothering me.『Granfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo, the sole survivor of his house—hereafter Granfell—walked the path of a Demon Hunter in order to take revenge on that demon.』“……”
Why did that setting suddenly come to mind?
It was merely a setting I had written for Granfell however I pleased, but still, what rotten luck.
His life was so unlucky that it made me wonder if he had suffered such hardships because his Luck was only 1 point.
It wasn’t that I felt guilty about it.
Wouldn’t it be stranger if I did?
After all, the one shouldering Granfell and his setting was me.
So this was closer to pity.[Available Points: 0]
Pity for myself, who would suffer from now on.
And while I was at it, pity for Granfell’s ill-fated life.‘For pity, this is a pretty big investment.’After all, the Luck stat was not treated very well in Arcana.
That was because Luck wasn’t a stat you could intuitively feel, unlike stats such as Strength.
As people commonly put it, its cost-effectiveness was poor.
Only non-combat classes—and even then, extremely limited ones—paid attention to Luck.
And even for them, I remembered that it wasn’t a core stat.
Luck: 2It was only 1 point.
But wasn’t it all a matter of how you thought about it?
Let’s think of it as my luck having doubled.
Of course, even if my rotten luck doubled, I wondered if it would even be noticeable…
However, the effect of that doubled Luck was revealed immediately.
And clearly, at that.
The next dawn.
“……?”
As I opened my eyes, a system message appeared.[You have met the conditions.][A quest will begin.]……
A quest?*Back when Arcana was a game.
Quests were common.
“Ah, another trash quest.”
“Just reject it. The reward’s not even that good, right?”
“My affinity will drop. Do you know how hard I worked to raise it?”
“Even if you go all the way to the linked quest, all you get is a few potions. If it were me, I’d spend that time hunting instead. One good drop would earn more than the potion money.”
They were so common that players picked and chose which ones to do after weighing the rewards and difficulty.
But now that Arcana had become reality.
Quests had become a privilege of high-level players.
The reason was simple.
There weren’t many NPCs in reality who gave quests.
At the same time the Magic Tower rose up.
The mage NPCs who resided within it appeared in reality as well.
Just like that, Arcana’s NPCs existed in reality.
“How on earth did this happen……”
“I never thought I’d experience something like this in my life.”
“So this is the world of the adventurers. The things sparkling in the darkness are beautiful.”
Like us, the NPCs adapted to the Cataclysm.
“We cannot simply stand by forever.”
“Rifts! No matter how I look at it, those are the cause of this problem!”
“We can no longer cause trouble for the world of the adventurers.”
In other words, they gave players new quests suited to that environment.
However, only high-level players could carry out those new quests.
“Hmm, no matter how I look at you, you seem to lack training.”
“I’m afraid this may be too much for you, Adventurer.”
“Another adventurer has already accepted that request……”
Quests in reality made the gap between top players and lower-ranked players even firmer.
Because of that, it was only natural that players became sensitive about quests.
-Hey, they say a sudden quest popped up in a rift?!-For real? Where? I’m going right now too
-It’s depressing that we’re in a position where we have to rush to sudden questsㅠㅠ-If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve quit my job and only played Arcana. Sigh. High-level players are clearing linked quests and rankers are starting to touch main quests, so what the hell are we??……
Right, that was the new common sense.
I checked the quest window again.[Class Quest: Prelude to Counterattack]
“……
A class quest.”
What is this?
A class quest.
I had no information about it.
At a glance, it seemed like a quest related to my class, Demon Hunter……
Exorcism, training, meditation, and so on.
Suddenly, I remembered the quests I had carried out at Akshan.‘No, those were ordinary quests.’They hadn’t had the grand modifier “class” attached to them.
Naturally, I didn’t hesitate.
I immediately searched “class quest.”
-Rank 1 among Paladin-class players, “Guyver.”
Begins class quest……
Will the Paladin class enter the top 10 player rankings for the first time?
Expectations growing……
It wasn’t hard to find information about it.
Class quests.
Among the countless players who shared the same class.
They were quests given to only a single person.
The contents of those quests differed, so there was no way to know them.
But I could understand.
Why that grand quest had appeared for me.
“It seems I truly am the only one left.”[Class Quest: Prelude to Counterattack]
Last Demon Hunter.
Let the demons know that the time for counterattack has come.─Slay a demon. (Success)
Right, because I was the only Demon Hunter.
That impressive class quest had appeared for me.
Judging by the quest window, it seemed the quest had begun because I had defeated a demon, an imp.……
Looking at this makes me greedy.
Though I had only skimmed an article.
The reward for a class quest seemed obviously incredible.
Considering the fact that an article came out just because one had begun, and people were making such a fuss that it could let someone enter the top 10 rankings.
However, that desire was never expressed.
Wasn’t it obvious?
To Granfell, all of this was entirely natural.
Slaying a demon.
Becoming the protagonist of a class quest because of that.
Even the reward he would seize after succeeding in that class quest.
Granfell……
No, I was accepting all of that as a matter of course.
Far from pounding with excitement.
My heartbeat, beating no differently than usual, was proof of that.
I shook my head slightly.‘My extremely ordinary, small-citizen values are changing.’As if I had truly become the heir of a great house.
But I had no choice but to accept it.
In order to live as a player, and furthermore as a Demon Hunter, Granfell’s setting was essential to me.
However, let me keep just one thing in mind.
“……
I am still too young to be trapped in the past.”
The fact that Granfell was nothing more than my dark past.
Yes, a dark past was not something to immerse yourself in, but something to overcome.
As I made that resolution, the quest window in my vision flickered.
“!”
A new quest objective had appeared.─Train your weakened body.
Memories from the Akshan base suddenly came to mind.‘……
Wait, this quest couldn’t be…?’This was that vicious and painful quest that had made countless Demon Hunter players delete their accounts, wasn’t it?!
I sighed.
It seemed the effects of Luck had already worn off.
However, that emotion, too, did not show on the outside.
“……I should have invested one more point.”
Poor Lee Hoyeol.
As expected, the only one suffering because of this damned setting was me.*Akshan Base.
The garrison of Demon Hunters.
If you put it that way, someone who didn’t know would think it sounded incredibly impressive.
I, who had once been obsessed with looking cool, had also been fooled by that and chosen the Demon Hunter class.
But experiencing it myself, the reality was truly shocking.
Terrible facilities!
Job-change quests no different from pure labor quests!
And NPCs who, far from increasing motivation, did nothing but bark at you!
Of course, a plausible reason had been tacked onto all of that.
“Demons constantly prey upon human greed. Therefore, Demon Hunters must always remain incorruptible.”
“A strong mind dwells in a strong body. Do you wish to become a Demon Hunter? Then first, you must build a strong body!”
“When living as a Demon Hunter, it is common to lose your life unexpectedly. Demons also prey on the sense of loss left behind in those who remain, so excessive bonds are poison to Demon Hunters. Do not try to become close to me.”……
Thinking about it after growing up, it was a ridiculous setting.
It wasn’t unpopular for no reason, you know?
However, upon hearing that setting, the past me had become even more captivated by the Demon Hunter class.
In other words, I endured all sorts of irrationality and ultimately seized the Demon Hunter class.‘……
I really was a severe case of chuunibyou.’Since I’m suffering like a dog, all kinds of thoughts come to mind.
“Hoo─”
I continued doing push-ups.
My forearms felt as if they were going numb.[Class Quest: Prelude to Counterattack]
Last Demon Hunter.
Let the demons know that the time for counterattack has come.─Slay a demon. (Success)─Train your weakened body. (In Progress) ▼‘Shouldn’t something change, at least?!’It’s called a class quest.
They said only one person could carry it out, didn’t they?
So how is it no different from the quests at Akshan Base right from the start?!
On top of that, this wasn’t virtual reality, but true reality.
Which meant I was the one who had to bear the aftereffects of the training volume.─Train your weakened body. (In Progress) ▲●Run 20 km (Success)●Push-ups 1,000 times (In Progress)●Pull-ups 500 times (Success)●Burpee test 300 times (Success)
Today marked one week.
That quest objective had been updated every day.
Which meant I had been completing that training volume every single day for a week without skipping once.
No wonder my muscle pain showed no sign of disappearing!
However, my complaints merely lingered in my head before vanishing.
As if I had been someone waiting for this quest all along.
I diligently continued accomplishing the objectives.『Granfell’s lofty pride did not come from the background of his house. It was innate. A nature truly bestowed by heaven, one that did not change before any trial.』That was why I had no choice but to be diligent.
I didn’t remember ever giving Granfell a setting that said he was sincere or hardworking.
Wouldn’t it be strange in its own way if a chuunibyou patient were sincere and hardworking?
Everything was only to protect that oh-so-great pride.
Tremble─The weather was clear, without a single gust of wind.
Even looking at my arms shaking from pain.
“The wind is quite strong today.”
I could shamelessly say something like that.
But one thing was certain—if I hadn’t had this pride.‘……
I absolutely couldn’t have done it, right?’I wouldn’t have lasted even a single day.
I probably would’ve given up during the run long ago.
“This is the last one.”……
In any case, well done, me.
You diligently carried out the grind quest again today.
Then, a message different from usual appeared before me.[You have met the conditions.][A reward will be granted.]
At those words, I opened the system window.
My inventory was…… the same.
Instead, the status window was flickering.
I checked the status window.
“!”
My level was the same, but there was a change in my stats.……
Class quests really were worth making a fuss over, weren’t they?