The Player Hides His Past – Chapter 7 – Class Quest (2)

Author: LyraDhani

[Name: Grandfel Claudie Arpheus Romeo]

[Class: Demon hunter]

[Level: 67]

[Stat]

Strength: 23 / Agility: 28 / Mana: 18 / Luck: 2

[Point: 0]

Fortunately, Grandfel’s brilliant brain accurately remembered the previous numbers.

Thanks to this, I could see the change in stats at first glance.

[Stat]

Strength: 25 / Agility: 30 / Mana: 18 / Luck: 2

[Point: 0]

Strength and agility increased by as much as two points.

…Can I take this?

It’s a huge deal.

A 4-point increase in stats.

It was as if my level had risen by 4 steps.

But it wasn’t something that could be calculated so simply.

‘Because the actual level remains the same.’

I was four steps ahead of players of the same level.

No, it was possible to go further than that.

Let’s think about the price of the item that could raise the stats.

‘Even if I raised it by just 1 point, it would be millions of won. After that, the price per point escalated.’

Even if I brought all my salary from my days as an office worker, it wouldn’t be enough.

But it didn’t there.

I was startled while looking at the quest window.

– Train your weakened body. (Repeat)

The quest that raised the stats was a repetitive quest.

Of course, there was no rule that the reward of the quest would be the same as it was now.

However, if I can raise my stats through training even if just one point…!

This was a quest that had to be done over and over again whenever possible.

At that point, I understood.

Just because a person started the class quest, articles poured in, and it was said that they could aim for the top of the rankings.

I looked at the quest window.

– Kill a demon. (Successful)

– Train your weakened body. (Repeat)

‘The reward for the first quest is this much…’

What reward would be waiting for the quest chain?

People had no choice but to have expectations.

‘I can’t.’

But I had no expectations.

This wasn’t Grandfel’s influence, but my will entirely.

Great expectations can lead to great disappointments.

Yeah, don’t forget what you’ve grasped.

…Even so, wouldn’t it be okay to be purely happy at this moment? I worked so hard! The aftereffects of the hard training of the past week still lingered in my body.

However, I didn’t show any emotion.

Sweaty shirts and slacks.

Two legs on the verge of collapse.

But I got up without any delay.

The current appearance was the most appropriate expression of Lee Hoyeol’s dark history as Grandfel.

What the hell is with this pride? Is it impossible to express anything honestly?

I thought about it, but I quit thinking because it was also a problem.

That’s just how adolescence is. Well.

The stats went up.

There was no such thing as a side effect that made the body’s fatigue disappear neatly.

Therefore…

Returning home, I had no choice but to prepare the meal with hands shaking like tremors.

The menu was impeccable.

Chicken breast and fresh vegetables.

A very good meal with rye bread.

The problem was the cutting.

Drip–

I looked at the diced vegetables.

Then I had the audacity to say.

“Sometimes it’s not bad to trim it differently.”

I held an unusually crooked piece of carrot and continued to talk.

“It looks like a star in the night sky.”

Go figure.

I felt like I was getting more and more brazen.

This was also something to adapt to.

Like I said, all I could do was spit in my face.

…Still, let’s make up excuses.

In the past, it was a menu that would have been done within five minutes.

Cut rye bread in half and put chicken breast salad in it.

Because I could eat a simple meal with a sandwich.

But I had a very elegant meal with a fork and knife in each hand.

My arms trembled and I spilled chicken breast salad on the table.

“…It’s poisoned.”

My pride didn’t allow even a small mistake.

“There must have been pesticides left in this area.”

I couldn’t help but think seriously.

‘…What about the excuse that I hurt my head?’

It’s not like I’m doing some kind of stand-up comedy!

After all, wouldn’t it be better to look pitiful than to look like a madman?

After the meal that fortunately wasn’t seen by anyone.

I immediately picked up a bundle of paper on the table.

It had the magic concept that I had written down while watching Nettube videos.

It was me who had written it down, but it looked ridiculous every time I see it.

‘Above all, it’s even more absurd that I can understand this.’

──────

Magic is not about creating something out of nothing.

『Explore』the object.

『Interfere』 on the object.

To 『Manifest』 it.

Most magic starts from exploring for and interfering with mana. Mana has a significant influence on exploring and interfering with that mana…

──────

It was plausible in its own way.

It was simply not classified as a ‘skill’,

The concept of 『magic』 really existed.

Enough to make me want to do it.

‘Well, I don’t if I understand it correctly.’

I understood the process of 『exploration』 and 『interference』 just by looking at the video.

But I hadn’t done the『manifestation』 of magic yet.

In the Nettube video, even if I had invested stats in mana,

It wasn’t enough to manifest magic.

‘Because the mage was close to 300.’

Evidently, their mana should be at a similar number.

Of course, is it simply because of the lack of mana.

Or is this also a defense mechanism to protect pride?

There’s no way for me to know now.

Even so, wishing that my magical power would rise to the level of that mage would have been unreasonable.

In the end, the easier magic 『explore』,

And『interference』, I had no choice but to dig to this level.

‘Studying that I haven’t done in my life…’

The time it took to analyze one magic in the video was three days.

My head was already pounding as I tried to analyze another magic.

But apart from those feelings, I had no hesitation in my actions.

I played videos on Nettube again.

Immediately I began to write on a piece of paper.

“Once you get used to it, the time it takes will also be shortened.”

Please, I hope this confidence is not a bluff.

I earnestly prayed that I could keep my word.

It was 8 pm.

International organization, Anti Arcana United.

The lights at AAU’s Korean branch office hadn’t been turned off yet.

“…Fuck Thursday.”

The overtime shift continued every Thursday.

Sung Hyunjoon lay flat on his desk.

Every Thursday he missed the past.

The days when Arcana was still just a game.

“Where did it go? My work-life balance!”

World’s best virtual reality game, Arcana Continent Record.

When he got a job at ‘Cosmo’, which developed the Arcana.

He had felt like he had the whole world.

What kind of company is Cosmo?

CEO, Raymond Shen, a believer in work-life balance.

He gave the highest annual salary in the industry.

It was a dream job for every developer.

But everything changed when the CEO went missing.

Arcana was no longer a game but a reality.

It was only a matter of time before Cosmo closed.

From the executives to the cleaners.

All Cosmo’s employees, except the missing CEO, went in and out of courts around the world.

At the end of that long trial, what was handed down was insufficient evidence.

And back to the present.

“…Seriously, Raymond, you know you’ll die if I have you in my hands.”

Sung Hyunjoon was forced to work at the Korean branch of AAU.

Yeah, he was grateful.

To get a job position at a public company in this era of job shortages.

It was also a job that could contribute to international peace by making use of his experience.

But gratitude and unfairness were separate emotions.

Sung Hyunjoon asked the senior next to him.

“Sunbae, there won’t be any new updates until this week, right?”

“I hope so.”

“Looking at the fact that there is no announcement until 8 o’clock, it must be true that there is no announcement, right?”

New update.

It was a different way of expressing Arcana’s erosion of reality.

The images of Arcana being overlaid on reality.

There was no better expression than a new update.

Naturally, a colleague in the same situation as Sung Hyunjoon couldn’t know whether an update had been made or not.

“Beats me. It’s so fickle.”

He wondered if Raymond was the only one who knew.

He guessed so.

Since Rayman couldn’t be dead.

The proof was the official website of Arcana, which had been operating normally so far.

Thanks to Arcana’s homepage, the world was able to know the level and ranking of players.

They could see which players cleared which rifts, and the reward was paid to the players through it.

Because of that homepage, the world was able to roll.

What the hell is that person thinking?

Sung Hyunjoon scratched his head.

“Raymond, that person… … . No, is he actually a person? Anyway. What the hell is he doing this for? It’s unpleasant. Overtime work every Thursday. It’s like I am still doing Arcana’s service.”

But even that grumbling didn’t last long.

There was nothing to say.

Sighs erupted from all over the office.

“Sigh. Updates are out!”

“Ah, seriously. I am going to write down my annual leave tomorrow.”

“I can’t. I’m going to write my resignation letter and get that bastard Raymond.”

Yeah, there hadn’t been an update in over a month.

They were kind of expecting it.

Sung Hyunjoon slowly got up and accessed Arcana’s official website.

As his colleagues said, the update history was really uploaded on the homepage.

The author, of course, must be Raymond.

“…Isn’t this crazy?”

“Is this for real?”

“No, Raymond, are you out of your mind?”

Those who were reading the updated history were shocked.

This was a ridiculous update.

『A new demon will come to you.

A new rift, ‘Count’s Citadel,’ is added.

New named monster, ‘Count Ascura’: Lv.430

A new rift, ‘Count’s Estate’, is added.

New monsters are added.

‘The henchmen of Count Ascura’: Lv.390

‘The knights of Count Ascura’: Lv.350

‘The soldiers of Count Ascura’: Lv.300

A new rift, ‘Territory’s Outskirt’, is added.

New monsters are added.

‘Blood-stained beast’: Lv.220~Lv.250

‘Blood-stained bandit’: Lv.230』

“You’ve already brought out Count Ascura?”

It was a 430-level named monster.

Skal, currently player ranked no.1, was only at level 401.

A whopping 30 levels gap.

Count Ascura was a demon-type monster, at that.

Growing monsters.

Outrageous status abnormalities.

If you consider the characteristics of the demons released in reality…

“…Sunbae, this update isn’t here to be cleared, is it?”

New ruptures would never be cleared.

“Right. It’s saying you can only suck your fingers and watch.”

It didn’t matter if this was an update history from when it was a game.

How do you balance the patches to players?

They cursed a bit.

In the end, players would die dozens and hundreds of times to find a strategy.

But this was reality.

If you died, it was over.

Furthermore, if you failed to attack the rupture, that terrible demon would be released into reality.

To turn it into a terrible reality.

Ring–

There was a flood of phone calls everywhere.

But none of them answered the phone.

Because everyone realized the seriousness of the situation.

“…Would it be difficult for rankers to join forces?”

“They’ll have to try, but it won’t be easy. As you know, it’s not an opponent you can knock down with numbers alone.”

“With the help of the NPCs of the tower…?”

“Those NPCs know their move well. According to the setting I know, the mages of the Mage Tower only move when a crisis comes to the Mage Tower. Whether or not the Earth perishes. As long as the Mage Tower is intact, they won’t move.”

Sung Hyunjoon said.

“Then put aside the Count for now. What about the other mobs?”

“The guilds can try it if they move as a union.”

“It’s not like there’s no solution at all. They can level up by hunting trash mobs in the outskirts or fissures of the estate. All they have to do is challenge the rupture where the Count is!”

“Well, will they make it in time? I think it would be faster for the rupture to collapse.”

“…”

Sung Hyunjoon was speechless.

Is there really no other way?

Then, what would happen to them?

Ring–

“For now, let’s answer the phone first.”

At his senior’s words, Sung Hyunjoon answered the phone with a blank look on his face.

A voice of an excited reporter came over the phone.

But he couldn’t concentrate.

“…I’m sorry. I have nothing to tell you at this time.”

Early morning.