◈ Episode 83. Are They Finally Making a Move? (2)
AAU’s official meeting.
The branch managers of each division logged into the video chat one by one.
The faces that appeared were so wretched it was hard to call them merely haggard.
It was a stretch to blame the camera, too.
Not a single one of them had any color in their face.
“Everyone, you’ve worked hard.”
The reason was simple.
They had spent a week that was, quite literally, like a storm.
But they couldn’t whine about it.
“Worked hard? The person who really worked hard is someone else.”
There was someone who had suffered more than they had.
No, there was one player.
They couldn’t measure the weight of hardship, but they could say this with certainty.
Even if they added together the efforts of all AAU employees in every region,
it wouldn’t compare to the weight borne by that one person.
“It really was a terrible week, wasn’t it?”
“I still feel dizzy just thinking about it. Honestly.”
“When I first heard the news, my heart just dropped.”
A senior mage of the Magic Tower had gone missing.
It was an emergency of the highest order.
As had been emphasized several times,
the mages of the Magic Tower were simply too powerful.
They were beings who had no choice but to remain bound to the Tower.
And a senior mage, someone counted among the strong even within that Magic Tower, had disappeared.
If, by any chance, he showed hostility toward players…
“It could have been a disaster. An absolute catastrophe.”
“I can tell just by looking at your face, Korea Branch Manager.”
“……
Maybe because it’s all over now. I can finally let out a sigh.”
That Magic Tower was located in Seoul, South Korea.
South Korea, which had achieved dazzling economic growth thanks to the Magic Tower effect.
But at the same time, South Korea was also the place where the senior mage was most likely to be.
“Seoul could have vanished from the face of the Earth!!”
It was terrifying even to think back on it. Truly.
If Seoul had become a battlefield, just as that horrifying imagination suggested,
the damage would have been immeasurable.
However.
“In the end, we were indebted to Player Lee Hoyeol again.”
That was right.
At the same time, in South Korea. In Seoul. In the Magic Tower.
There had been a player who had suffered more than they had.
Lee Hoyeol.
His performance had been nothing short of extraordinary.
Even the AAU executives, who had gone beyond being Arcana experts and had contributed a fair amount to Arcana’s worldview, could not understand Hoyeol’s accomplishments.
“To be honest, I had my doubts at first. Yes, he’s remarkable, but a position equal to the Chief Mage? Even if it’s Player Lee Hoyeol, is the Chief Mage of the Magic Tower an ordinary position?”
“And yet, it turned out to be a pointless doubt.”
“Exactly. In that absurd rift….”
The [Broken Dimensional Rift].
Recommended level: 900–1,000.
Hoyeol had cleared a rift that could only be seen as a bug, as if to show them all.
“To think he returned safely as though nothing had happened!”
“I’m still dying to know what happened inside, you know? I feel like grabbing him by the pant leg and asking.”
“Come on, it still wouldn’t work.”
Interviews are difficult.
Internal circumstances.
No matter how much they begged,
would Hoyeol’s resolute attitude budge even an inch?
But one fact remained unchanged.
“So what if he doesn’t do a few interviews? So what if he says some things he should or shouldn’t say? It’s Lee Hoyeol, not anyone else. Just this incident alone—how many times has it been now?”
Yes, Hoyeol was more than qualified to do so.
He was fundamentally different from other players who caught celebrity syndrome and failed to watch their words and actions.
Hadn’t Hoyeol shown that same unwavering attitude ever since his very first appearance?
“It’s beyond popularity. The public reaction is practically at the level of faith.”
There was a reason everyone muttered “Homen” for no reason.
It was thanks to Hoyeol that the branch managers could smile despite their bloodless faces. But AAU knew. No, they had to be concerned.
“But if we exclude Player Lee Hoyeol…”
If Hoyeol had not been there.
Could humanity, could the players, have resolved this incident?
The answer to that was, of course, “NO.”
“Honestly, the gap is far too severe.”
“Who could possibly clear a level 900 to 1,000 rift? The Chief Mage accompanied him, yes, but moving that Chief Mage was also Player Lee Hoyeol’s ability. And a personal ability at that.”
“In the end, the other players have no choice but to push themselves harder.”
The players must have felt it through this incident as well.
Their own helplessness.
In that sense, the new update was good news.
What could overcome helplessness was levels.
And what was needed to raise levels was experience.
In the newly updated rift this time,
at least experience, if nothing else, seemed like it could be gained properly.
“Predator content after all this time.”
“This is going to be a fierce war of nerves between the top-ranked players, isn’t it?”
“In a Predator Zone, a war of nerves is actually pretty mild.”
…
──────
A new rift, “Predator’s Swamp,” will be added.
New monsters will be added.
“Mad Wolf”: Lv.450
“Berserker Blood Goblin”: Lv.460
“Sky Blade”: Lv.500
“Patchwork Fighter”: Lv.520
…….
──────
Thursday.
A real new update, not a bug.
With the update details released, the community erupted into commotion.
—The recommended level is insane, seriously???
—Looks like everyone except Lee Hoyeol needs to stay on their toes? lol
—But doesn’t something feel kinda weird?? The mobs have no consistency;;;
From the days when Arcana was a game until now,
there had always been consistency among the monsters that appeared.
In a [Gnoll Habitat],
it was only natural for gnolls to appear, and in a [Goblin Habitat],
only similar-looking goblins appeared.
In that sense, this rift was a little strange.
[Predator’s Swamp].
Judging by the name “swamp,” crocodiles or lizardmen seemed likely to appear.
Yet race, and even habitat environment—just as some comments pointed out, there was no sense of consistency among the monsters appearing.
If one had to find something similar,
perhaps it was their levels?
But in all things, one saw only as much as one knew.
“This is the first time it’s appeared as a rift, right? A Predator Zone.”
“Right. If it had appeared before, the comments wouldn’t be reacting like this.”
“It showed up at just the right time.”
The Nam brothers of Gaon exchanged words.
Naturally, the two of them belonged to the group of those who knew.
Nam Taemin raised the corners of his mouth.
“It’s been a while since we could fight to our hearts’ content. Don’t you think so, hyung?”
Predator Zone.
The explanation was simple.
As the name suggested, it referred to an area where predators gathered.
That was also the reason there was no consistency among the monsters that appeared.
It was a place where creatures called predators from nearby regions had gathered.
So, if one were to kindly add the reason they had gathered…
“It means the predators fight one another over the spoils that exist in the swamp.”
Hisagi spoke to the guild members.
Yes, they understood up to that point.
The spoils within the swamp.
A place where strong monsters gathered in order to seize those spoils.
That was the Predator Zone.
The rift that had appeared this time, [Predator’s Swamp].
But there was one question.
“Does that mean the monsters fight each other as well?”
“Hey, you little—! Is this your first Predator Zone?”
“Yes, it is my first……?”
“What, it really is your first?!”
Ahem, if it’s your first time, I suppose it would feel unfamiliar.
Perhaps feeling sorry for snapping at him right away,
the man with the shaved head cleared his throat and continued.
“Yeah, in a Predator Zone, even the monsters fight each other. They don’t just fight; they kill each other. I told you, didn’t I? They’re originally from different regions. It means they won’t care about blood ties or local ties.”
That was right.
A Predator Zone was a place where battle never ceased, not for a single moment.
Naturally, the level of the monsters that appeared was more than just their level.
To appear in a Predator Zone meant they had survived a continual series of desperate struggles.
“Perfect timing. Those predator bastards.”
“……
Yeah, perfect timing, sure. But, unnie.”
“What?”
“Are you really okay?”
“Will you shut up? How many times do I have to say I’m okay?”
No, she was not okay.
She was in a state of being fucking furious.
Leoni’s protruding lips represented her true feelings.
Anyone could guess the reason.
“Unnie. That’s why we’re always telling you to sleep early……”
Recommended level 1,000.
Hoyeol had entered such an absurd rift?
‘Even if I’d known, nothing would have changed…….’
Even if she had joined him, far from being any help, she would only have become a burden.
But knowing that fact and finding out only after waking up from sleeping like a log were as different as heaven and earth……!
‘I really feel like an idiot.’
It was hard to explain, but……
What should she call it?
An emotion different from helplessness.
A sense of self-loathing that went beyond helplessness, perhaps.
But she understood exactly what she had to do.
“Just all of you shut up. From now on, I’ll sleep when I’m dead.”
Predator’s Swamp.
She would raise her level in the new rift by fighting anything and everything.
A Predator Zone where battle never ceased?
For a berserker who grew stronger the more she fought, there was no hunting ground more suitable than that.
Of course, Leoni was not the only one thinking that way.
“Our first goal is nothing more and nothing less—exactly ten levels.”
“The top priority of our Unification Under Heaven is the spoils of the swamp.”
“We’re going to get a ton of Nettube-worthy moments here too, aren’t we?”
Even if their purposes differed,
if they were predators,
if they were the strong, they had no choice but to gather in [Predator’s Swamp].
Yes, because they knew that fact,
even if each of them held different thoughts,
all of them could not help but think of the same person.
Yes, Hoyeol.
“Even if catching up to Hoyeol-ssi is impossible, we have to try harder.”
“If only to repay the debt we owe from Hokkaido.”
“……
Surely Lee Hoyeol won’t show up, right? I mean, he already cleared a level 1,000 rift. If he tries to get his hands on this rift too, that’s just too lacking in business ethics!”
*
Whoa.
This rift is brutal, isn’t it?
The monsters that appear are level 450 at minimum.
Above all, it’s a Predator Zone.
To put it simply, it’s a colosseum where only monsters obsessed with battle gather.
I tilted my teacup and opened my mouth.
“It will be exceedingly noisy.”
No, beyond noisy, it’s far too harsh for me……!
My level was only 296, after all.
Above all, a rift where battle never ceased.
‘I won’t have any mana left.’
Thanks to the effects of the Hexagram Brooch and Duke Swallin’s treasured item, I had increased my mana regeneration quite a bit……. But because of my low level, it was true that my absolute amount of mana was insufficient.
‘I’m not a predator.’
The interrogation of the demon worshippers wasn’t even finished yet.
If I were being honest,
I wanted to ignore such a sinister rift.
─Approach to Qi (In Progress) ▲
● Conquer a rift. (Repeat)
● Witness the Arcana Continent. (Success)
Not only did I have a repeat quest telling me to conquer rifts,
I had also learned that rifts were connected to the Arcana Continent, hadn’t I?
Going further, I had even learned that demons were running rampant on the Arcana Continent.
This damned pride of mine would not be able to stay still.
“Perhaps they may require education.”
……
Yes, that exhausting personality that would rather die than abandon formality wouldn’t be able to stay still either.
In that sense, it was fortunate I had dug many wells. Even if I ran out of mana in the midst of continuous battle.
‘I have quite a few things I can use, despite how I look.’
First, there was black magic.
And though I had never had the chance to swing it properly, I had trained in swordsmanship.
Even if that training period had been short, I had Grandfell’s talent, and on top of that, I had been taught by an excellent teacher: Harkon, captain of the Lionheart Knights.
“Bitter, yet fragrant.”
And there was also the tea made from elixir herbs, which I had been sipping for a while now.
‘Even if it tastes bad.’
I can feel the reward of devouring books about elixir herbs while preparing for the regular conference. Even just drinking them as tea, elixir herbs had a fairly meaningful effect.
[Health regeneration increases slightly for 3 hours.]
And lastly.
There was still one thing left to confirm.
I opened my inventory.
What I took out was a small five-pointed star fragment.
It was the [Pentagram of Impure Knowledge], which I had purified through an exorcism ritual.
Yes, it was time to verify my hypothesis.
I did not hesitate.
I immediately checked the item’s information.
[Pentagram of Pure Knowledge]
[Rank: Epic]
[Restriction: None]
[Effect: When equipped, acquire knowledge of all minerals and all plants of the Arcana Continent.]
[Description: A magic tool containing an immeasurably vast amount of knowledge.]
……
See? I had a feeling.
As expected of an epic-grade item!
Its effect alone is tremendous.
To think I would acquire knowledge of all minerals and plants on the Arcana Continent!
I had expected it to some degree, but I had not allowed myself to hope for fear the disappointment would be great.
‘This is beyond my expectations, isn’t it?’
I don’t know about other players,
but for me, there could be no effect I could use better than this.
Acquiring knowledge of all minerals?
That means the efficiency of magic that uses minerals as a search target increases.
Acquiring knowledge of all plants?
Naturally, all plants include knowledge about elixir herbs as well.
Yes, so what if it’s a Predator Zone where battle never ceases?
I have the [Pentagram of Pure Knowledge]……!
My confidence surged to the point that it wouldn’t have been strange for me to run straight to the rift.
However, there was a procedure to everything.
I rose from my seat.
Yes.
Even if I was going to enter the rift,
I had to finish what I was doing first.
─The Weight of a Chief (Repeat) ▲
● Conduct verification in the Topaz Hall. (Success)
● Successfully conduct the regular conference. (In Progress)
…….
I straightened my disheveled attire.
This was the pride of the host of the regular conference.
...
Two elder mages.
And the Chief Mage, Marcelo.
They looked down at the Crystal Hall.
To be precise, at Hoyeol, who was attentively listening to Bangrit’s presentation.
Marcelo opened his mouth.
“A decision is needed. At the same time, this is an opportunity to set everything right. The unforgivable sin the Magic Tower committed against Akshan and the demon hunters. And with that, it will be the first step toward repaying the debt we owe Sir Lee Hoyeol.”
The elder mage, who had been listening silently, let out a low groan.
“Surely the Tower Master is thinking the same as you.”
Then he nodded.
“We will approve your proposal, Marcelo.”
“……!”