187
“Tch. You really made a mess of things.”
Kra-krrr—!
Kiede walked east and used her magic on the collapsed rubble nearby.
A purple sphere slightly different in shape from before.
The debris drawn into it crumbled as though collapsing in on itself.
This distinctive magic utilizing gravity was the kind rarely seen anywhere.
Fwoosh—
The purple sphere that had been pulling rubble in both directions was now gone.
The ground, now clear, showed nothing at all.
“Don’t be surprised.”
Slide—
Kiede lowered herself and pressed a hand to the floor.
And the moment rectangular lines were drawn on all sides—
Whorl—!
The ground they were all standing on flipped in reverse.
“Whoa!”
“Yeaah!”
The twins jumped in surprise as their vision suddenly went upside down.
Before they could even make sense of it, everyone had arrived inside a run-down hideout.
“I don’t usually let guests in.”
Kiede walked forward and let out a sigh.
Then she glared at Helvo and said:
“This is what happens when you go out there making a scene for no reason.”
“You told me to go get money…”
“Would you rather sit around doing nothing?”
“Well, you do that too, so——Ow!”
Helvo’s words were cut off by a kick that flew in.
Kiede, looking at her subordinate with exasperated eyes, turned her head.
“We’re both busy, so let’s wrap this up. Of course, the little ones get tested first.”
She went to the bookshelf in the corner and pulled out two books.
Then she came back to Hanbit and held them out.
“You’re just giving them to me? No test?”
“Who do you take me for? It’d be a waste of time. Just take them.”
Kiede tossed the books and strolled back to her seat.
At the same instant, an alert sounded.
Ding—
[Quest complete.]
[Kiede’s Technique Manual received.]
[Kiede’s Spellbook received.]
[50 Stat Points granted.]
[Experience points increased by 5,000,000.]
A hidden quest completed on the spot without any special verification.
What she had seen on the surface had been more than enough to clear Kiede’s standard.
Hanbit held the two books and flipped open each cover in turn.
The by-now-familiar gold-bordered hologram window appeared.
[Use? (Yes / No)]
Click—
He immediately touched ‘Yes’, and the hologram vanished.
Pop—!
The book disappeared in a puff of smoke.
A message appeared immediately after.
[Hidden Skill: Shadow Step (Rank 4 — Epic) added.]
[Hidden Skill: Shadow Concealment (Rank 5 — Epic) added.]
[Hidden Skill: Shadow Bind (Rank 6 — Epic) added.]
A chain of skill registration messages.
The shadow-themed techniques held considerable value.
More precisely, it was a skill called Shadow Double that would be learned in the survey team’s domain that truly mattered.
Having checked the contents, Hanbit immediately used the other book as well.
[Hidden Skill: Gravity Field (Rank 5 — Epic) added.]
[Hidden Skill: Gravity Collapse (Rank 6 — Epic) added.]
‘Just right.’
The two gravity magic techniques he had come here to learn.
Once something fell within their range of influence, they were a variety of magic notoriously difficult to deal with.
“Little ones, follow me.”
Kiede moved into the spacious area deeper inside.
“We’ll be back!”
“We’ll be back.”
The twins said their goodbyes to Hanbit and followed after her.
It would probably take about four hours.
‘Come to think of it, there was no First Clear title.’
The wind spirit skills — the first hidden skills he had obtained.
When he cleared the quest for those, a First Clear title hadn’t been attached either.
In fact, apart from the elemental manifestation, it had never happened once.
There were too many suspicious details to simply chalk it all up to other players having gotten there first.
Even giving every benefit of the doubt regarding the wind swordsmanship — the spellbook corrected by Icis had been obtainable through the Ifrit episode progression.
If someone had followed the same path as Hanbit, a person who had reached the truth of the episode should have appeared long ago.
‘Did they do this deliberately?’
The question of why the world of RP was created had been resolved.
But many aspects of how this world was put together remained uncertain.
Michael Welton, who founded the Record Project game company.
His youngest daughter, who served as the company’s representative.
And the developer, Team Zero.
He still knew nothing about any of them.
‘They said divine power was used too.’
The goddess’s power that had made building the RP world possible.
Hanbit recalled the contents he had seen in the Black Dragon’s journal.
「The Goddess of Turmoil, having heard the terms, accepted the proposal on the condition that she could use a portion of her divine power. The Goddess of Stillness knew it was groundwork for change and chaos, but gave her quiet agreement.」
Reading this passage, both goddesses had been involved in the construction of the world.
The problem was that the invading Goddess of Turmoil and the Goddess of Stillness who sought to stop her had completely different natures.
Since they were aggressor and victim to begin with, that was only natural.
‘It’s ambiguous.’
In a situation of mutual hostility and competition, there were two ways to use power.
The first was to create advantages that one’s own side could use.
The second was to prepare elements that could inflict harm on the opposing side.
‘Which way did she go.’
Several guesses surfaced, but the detailed inner workings remained deeply uncertain.
To begin with, even how the Goddess of Turmoil intended to use the Holy Nation was vague.
People who had gone through regression at her hands would also be participating in RP as players.
From the two starting cities to reaching the Holy Nation, one would need to be at least a survey team candidate.
If divine power was used to accelerate that timeline, it would be a significant variable in many respects.
‘I need to move faster.’
Once this episode was over, his range of activity would expand.
Things that hadn’t been visible until now would likely begin showing their outlines one by one.
Beings that couldn’t even be compared to Ranger, the Nesto Guild, or Adventurer A.
In that case, preparation in multiple directions was necessary on his side as well.
Fwish—!
Kra-krrr—!
Just then, sounds reached him from the distance.
The twins’ verification was in progress.
Slide—
Hanbit put the gear into standby mode and sat at the desk.
Then he began quickly organizing the walkthrough to post on the channel membership.
‘So this is what it’s come to.’
Building up a membership was not simply about money.
What was ultimately hoped for here was the existence of people who supported him.
The point was to show how many of them there were — people who paid and participated.
Even if their motivation was simply wanting to read the walkthrough, that was fine.
Because to someone looking on, ‘numbers’ would be the thing that hit hardest.
Tatak—
The speed of his typing gradually increased.
After about three hours of that work, Hanbit put the gear back on.
“Black Dragon!”
“We learned everything!”
The moment his vision returned, the twins were right there.
It seemed they had passed verification an hour earlier than expected.
Haneul had learned the shadow skills, and Noeul the gravity magic.
“Where did you find these kids? They’re monstrously talented.”
Kiede, standing with her arms crossed, let out a hollow laugh.
Then she looked at Hanbit and said:
“If you want to learn the next techniques, try going to Oasis No. 6 in the desert region. It’s a restricted area that requires being a survey team candidate to enter. Anyway — if your business is done, get out.”
Whoosh—
Kiede turned and disappeared deeper inside.
Information she only passed to those in whom she saw potential.
Hanbit watched her retreating back, confirmed the exit that had appeared to one side, and said:
“Now let’s head to Edelen.”
“Yes!”
The three came straight out of the hideout and summoned the carriage.
Their destination was the spirit’s domain at the foot of the cliff northwest of Edelen.
Clatter—
The carriage traveled for about thirty minutes and arrived on the outskirts of Edelen.
The forest required traveling on foot, but it didn’t take long to reach the destination.
“We’ve come again, Master.”
“…?”
Aslra, who had been sitting in meditation, made a puzzled expression.
The fact that his disciple had come looking for him meant wanting to move on to the next stage.
But the timing was far too soon.
The rate of growth was incomparable to even his own past.
Having once possessed Aslra, Hanbit could read what was going through his mind with ease.
“…Haneul, you have also come to learn the next stage?”
A question asked on a vague hope.
But the young disciple smiled and answered with spirited confidence:
“Yes! Please teach me!”
“….”
Aslra, rendered speechless by the sight of his exceptional students.
He felt a vague urge to reach for a bottle.
“Is this also what the spirits desire.”
He had been staring into the distant air, but slowly rose to his feet.
Then he looked at his two disciples and said:
“There is nothing to be done. We will begin immediately.”
* * *
A five-story building in Yeongdeungpo, Seoul.
In a conference room on the upper floor of a company with the sign SR Gaming, two people were in conversation.
“The American friends are raising a fuss again about handing over Black Dragon’s information?”
Vice President Park Seongho rubbed his brow as he listened to the report from the head of the Global Partnerships team.
“Yes. Now they’re invoking the alliance relationship and making stronger demands.”
“Well, that figures.”
Park Seongho let out a brief sigh.
This place, wearing the shell of an ordinary game company, was the National Game Strategy Center.
In plain terms — an unofficial agency directly under the president, dedicated to clearing the Record Project.
More precisely, striving to make that extraordinary game the possession of the Republic of Korea, or its citizens.
In that organization, Vice Director Park Seongho lived as a vice president, and the head of external affairs before him as the head of Global Partnerships.
“There hasn’t been a quiet day anymore.”
“It was a fixed course the moment a figure like Black Dragon appeared. If anything, we’re only able to make excuses about having no information thanks to RP’s security.”
State-level movements had also taken various forms in other countries.
Most operated secret agencies similar to Korea’s, but there were cases where symbolic figures like prime ministers or royalty had stepped forward to dive into the game themselves.
Right now, without exception, all of them were demanding Black Dragon’s information through every channel available.
‘Everything changed after that day.’
About a month ago.
A player called Black Dragon appeared in the Record Project.
Appearing through Roper’s stream, he was first spotted by the situation analysis team.
But before a detailed picture could even be formed or a plan drafted, Black Dragon had shaken the world of RP in a major way.
The world message that appeared at the time had been a sight too shocking for the center’s staff.
“It’s a shame we still haven’t been able to make contact.”
“There’s no helping it. The director… I mean, the center director, was away at the most critical moment…”
Ryu Seongryong — center director of the National Game Strategy Center, president of SR Gaming, and upper-tier vanguard on top of all that.
The person who should have been here had been abroad for a month.
The United Kingdom, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Argentina.
An itinerary with no discernible explanation for the movements.
“Wouldn’t it have been better for you, the vice director, to manage this place from the start? The director is more capable than anyone, but he’s such an unpredictable sort…”
“Without him the center couldn’t have been established to begin with. There are almost no people crazy enough to point a finger in the president’s face.”
About three months after the game launched.
The South Korean government, which had been responding lukewarmly to RP, underwent a change.
It was because Ryu Seongryong — the youngest minister in the Ministry of Science and ICT at the time — delivered a passionate speech, complete with a finger pointed at the president, during a presidential dialogue.
The Record Project was one of humanity’s most important assets.
The country needed to take the lead in making an effort at the national level to clear the game.
At the very least, it must not be allowed to fall into the hands of another nation.
That was roughly the gist of it.
And it wasn’t all empty words either — the expertise and evidence were solid enough that he had photocopied a stack of papers and research, including classified materials, and scattered them across the conference room.
Of course, the president who quietly listened to that mad speech and made a decision was no ordinary person either.
For various reasons it had become a private-entity-disguised, undisclosed organization — but still.
“And after its founding, didn’t the director pour himself completely into gameplay?”
“It’s not hard to understand. You’d need to at least be a vanguard to carry any weight in conversations with players. Of course, no one told him to go all the way to the upper tier.”
The director had shown rapid growth through extraordinary play.
He would bury himself for months at a time without emerging — no one could belittle that effort.
He also knocked out paperwork the moment it arrived and caught every single numerical error, so finding fault there was impossible too.
Remarkable for someone only thirty-two years old.
“Regardless, let’s focus on what we need to do. What’s the recent status on Black Dragon? His home address is the same?”
“Yes. He’s still residing in the house he moved to. He seems to be remarkably perceptive — tracking him from a distance has been difficult, apparently.”
Around when Black Dragon had cleared the second episode, Park Seongho had ordered his place of residence to be identified.
The reason that decision was made, despite the potential legal issues, was one thing.
The pressure from overseas had been growing far too intense by the day.
Considering the possibility of forced contact or threats from foreign parties, there was no choice but to opt for the player’s protection.
“For now, tell the overseas channels to keep making excuses as before. Players’ information isn’t provided in RP anyway.”
Those from across the sea who had been contacting Black Dragon and DD Studio appeared to have not received any proper answers.
Which was why the undisclosed agency, bound by mutual confidentiality agreements, was being approached by other nations through every available channel begging for information.
Though good results wouldn’t come from contact through any of them.
“Understood. But what are you going to do about making contact with Black Dragon yourself? Even other companies, and individual players at this point, have been showing up at his door uninvited.”
“That’s exactly what worries me. People who’ve gone directly to Black Dragon and gotten good results? Someone who had something he needed, or a promising vanguard like Liwei or Luna. So what happens if we show up unannounced? Especially if we reveal it’s the National Game Strategy Center?”
“…SR Gaming alone isn’t appealing enough, and the center side might actually put him on guard.”
“Right. A government agency badge doesn’t exactly radiate trust. Properly understanding this person before the director returns is the best we can do.”
Park Seongho was a cautious man.
The speed of change was a concern, but he had no intention of acting rashly and ruining things from the outset.
What mattered was a first impression.
At minimum, they needed Center Director Ryu Seongryong — a player who could speak on equal footing.
“What about Adventurer A? Any movement?”
“Nothing significant yet. Perhaps after taking such a beating, he’s suppressed his behavior somewhat?”
“No, that’s not how that person operates.”
For some reason, Adventurer A showed strong hostility toward Black Dragon.
Despite his recent crushing defeat, he wasn’t the type to break at that.
There seemed to be some secret between the two, but hasty speculation would only poison things.
In that case, looking into it directly was the answer.
“Make contact. Tell him we’ll give him information he’s been looking for, and ask to meet.”
