Light of Arad: The First to Walk - Chapter 157



Only Noblemtl

157

Eton, a large island located east of the Ispins Archipelago, where the capital of the Celestial Jiben Empire is located.

It is also home to a power station, which is a collection of several power plants, and an industrial complex has also been created to maximize the use of the generated electricity without loss.

As there is an industrial complex where numerous mechanics work, commerce is also developed, and before the transfer of Apostle Anton, most of the manufactured goods and materials distributed in the heavens were produced and distributed here, so it can be said that this is Eaton, the place that supports the machine civilization.

There was chaos in the beginning when Apostle Anton was transferred, but now that Anton has distanced himself from the power station, the threat to fatality has disappeared.

However, although direct and indirect threats still remain, it means that the level has recovered to a certain extent compared to before… … .

“oh my god…….”

In the middle of such a fairly active central commercial complex, in front of a fairly tall high-rise building, the chili shrimp is smiling with a proud expression.

It was much lower than the Tower of Despair or the Sky Castle, but it was surprising to Jinseong that this was not a special space like that, but a regular residential space like an apartment.

“Arad has this kind of business? Business? Hehe, this is what I like about machine civilization. The elevators are also well-made.”

“It’s a shame Anton wasn’t destroyed when he was transferred.”

“This side is a bit far from the industrial zone. Anyway, what Anton wants is an energy source… The people who used to live here probably wouldn’t be interested. Even knowing that, the celestials living here wouldn’t be able to endure it. If it were normal, they could’ve just lived here for free. Oh. I wonder if he ran away with all the registers or something… Anyway, everyone knows that Eaton has the best view. Han River view? Namsan view? Seoul Forest view? None of that is necessary-.”

Ding-!

The elevator stopped about 20 floors high.

As soon as the door opened, the spacious living room was visible, and the arrangement of the windows, furniture, and structure gave off a subtle feeling of being in a pre-Pyeong-hwa state, but now I couldn’t be surprised by that.

The view outside the living room window, the view that the chili shrimp was talking about, was what made Jinseong feel tense.

“-Anton View, yikes!”

The higher you climb, the farther you can see.

Even in the distant sea, Jinseong could not have failed to notice that spot where the sky above was particularly dark and gloomy.

Anton was already so intimidating that black smoke could be seen even from the ground level of the Eaton Industrial Complex, but now that he has reached the 20th floor, Anton’s overwhelming appearance is noticeable across the board.

“You see that black smoke in the distance? That’s Anton. After a day’s work, I look at Anton’s back and have a glass of wine. That’s my pleasure these days. What is there in life?”

Chili Shrimp threw himself onto the soft sofa, saying things that were completely out of place with his youthful appearance of being between the ages of 15 and 18.

The fact that you are not hesitant about inviting strangers into your home.

The fact that he showed such a blatant appearance of letting go without even taking any action such as confiscating Jinseong’s own weapon in advance.

‘A display of confidence. The feeling that this kind of work has been done to the point of being worn out, and on top of that… … .’

I’m talking to the people who visit here.

No matter what you do, I can suppress your chaos right here, right now, in this position.

Chili Shrimp struggled and got up from the sofa.

Then he took out a bottle of wine and a glass from a fancy display case and poured some.

Should we say that it is a kind of show-off effect that follows after showing off one’s leeway?

“You must have had a hard time getting here. Have a drink. Oh, and by any chance, weren’t you possessed when you were a minor?”

“……In my opinion, it seems like Chili Shrimp-nim is the body of a minor.”

“Ta-da!?”

The chili shrimp squinted one eye and struck another odd pose.

It was a really creepy feeling for me.

Eventually, I couldn’t hold it in any longer and tried to say something, but it didn’t happen.

“And by the way, I wanted to ask you something earlier, but before you go in-”

“Shh. Let’s just talk about important things. Business-related stuff.”

Who created an atmosphere where business-related discussions were impossible?

Jinseong’s words were on the tip of his tongue, but he had to swallow them along with the wine Chili Shrimp offered him.

The chili shrimp also emptied the glass in one gulp.

“Phew, it’s a shame there’s no soju. Beer is also secretly hard to find in heaven-.”

“Didn’t you say we should only talk about business?”

“-Hmm? Phew, right, right. Let’s see, then where should I start talking about… the price?”

“price?”

Chili Shrimp spoke while spinning the wine glass around by the stem.

The fact that the first topic brought up is price means that Chili Shrimp has already recognized Jinseong as a ‘great customer’.

“Anton, the price is awesome. As I said, how could I have bought this house, no matter how cheap it was? It was possible because I received enough ‘awesome value’ from the people I’ve been possessed by so far. Oh! If you don’t have gold right now, something else will do. You can give it to me as an item~ Or, if you have a special ability, you can help me with that ability. Like make me something.”

The expression that it was cheap, but only compared to the market price, and not a cheap house, was ultimately meant to say this.

Although the price of gold given and received to receive ‘superpower’ within the game Dungeon & Fighter is relatively fixed, it will not apply in the current situation.

These are people who literally risk their lives.

For the countless possessed people who barely made it this far, they would have pooled all their money and offered it if they could get help from just one person, especially a skilled possessed person.

Jinseong pretended to think for a moment and then shook his head.

“……No, I’m fine.”

I didn’t come here to talk about things like that in the first place.

Jinseong himself was curious about something else, and Chili Shrimp tilted his head as if he couldn’t understand.

“You won’t accept it? It won’t be easy. It’s almost like a raid for the possessed people to catch Anton and move on. It’ll be hard without my help.”

“Even so, isn’t this the person who has been here the whole time?

The wine glass that had been spinning leisurely stopped moving.

Jinseong’s words were more like an attack than a question.

The chili shrimp looked at Jinseong.

The red pupils characteristic of the female wizard profession were placed within the large whites of her eyes, and the contrast between them was even more intense as they were directed at Jinseong.

“Speaking of abilities… If you’ve managed to get this far, you’re probably around level 75, right? Ahem, maybe I should’ve mentioned that first? Just know that I’m a lot higher than that.”

Back in the days when Anton Raid was the most difficult challenge in the game Dungeon & Fighter, the ‘max level’ at that time was 85.

Since then, the ‘max level’ has gradually increased with patches, such as 86 and 90, as the next region opens, the next raid is revealed, and further on, the true awakening is revealed, and the ‘max level’ has gradually increased to 100, 110, and beyond. This has been the trend up until now.

‘If we were to guess the patch version at the time of the ice spell, it wouldn’t be ‘a lot’ different from my level 75. However, we can’t just say it’s a bluff. We’re still not sure how the system is applied. Anyway, looking at the house he has and his attitude towards NPCs, it doesn’t seem like Anton’s being a jerk is a lie… … .’

Considering that it uses skills that were removed in the 2017 patch, or that it doesn’t use skills that were newly added in the renewal patch, I thought that the game system of the version that was possessed was applied to Chili Shrimp.

It was Chili Shrimp’s remark that made us put all those hypotheses on hold for the time being.

The summoner spoke, beginning to swirl the wine glass again.

“And you can trust me when it comes to the strategy. I’ve actually been through this a few times while playing games… Ahem, I know it sounds like I’m bragging, but I wonder if you know this.”

“What?”

Chili Shrimp said, glancing at Jinseong’s expression.

“I’m the first person to successfully use Anton as a 2-person player in DnF.”

It is to reveal that he is a person who will literally go down in the ‘history of awesomeness’ of the game Dungeon & Fighter.

Of course, Jinseong could not have not known.

‘Chili shrimp… … Now that I think about it – the two people Anton used to be Summoners with were Elma. It’s been so long that I can’t remember the nicknames exactly, but it was a name that sounded like something fishy? Food?!’

Jinseong was a die-hard user even at that time.

Jinseong is also the one who ran some training colleges in Anton Reid.

I don’t know the details because Jinseong and the so-called ‘jeollers’ who did it for money were, so to speak, people who couldn’t become close even if they tried, but there was one thing I knew for sure.

‘Money-crazy!’

It is unknown whether he is the person Jinseong remembers.

But if we assume that’s true, and remember that up until now, we’ve only talked about money, from the slingshot to real estate?

“I see you do. Of course the nickname is different, but do you understand? Why would I buy a house here with Anton Zorro-”

“Ahem, but… it’s a bit disappointing. This house is nice, though.”

There is a method that occurred to Jinseong as well.

“-Hmm? Hehehe, even if you say that, I won’t give you a room, so don’t be greedy-.”

“No, no, I’m just saying that because I really feel bad. I wonder if this house will last long… Ugh, it looks like you bought a lot of expensive furniture and other luxury items. It breaks my heart to think that it could all turn to ashes-.”

Shhhhhhhh!

“-Yes!?”

Jinseong almost pulled out his sword without realizing it while speaking.

It was because of the chili shrimp’s movements that rushed from the sofa in an instant.

“What… that sound? What does it mean? What does it mean?”

The summoner blinked quickly and closed the distance.

Jinseong answered with a relaxed shrug.

“No, I’m a bit worried about two aspects.”

“Worried? What are you worried about?”

If chili shrimp is a money maker.

If you are someone who is so obsessed with money.

“Well… First of all, it’s people, right? Children are afraid of ghosts, monsters, and such, but adults know what the scariest thing in the world is. After seeing this house, the possessed people who ‘personally’ helped Chili Shrimp advance to the next level… What stance will they take when they run out of money~?”

Because Jinseong knows that the mere mention of the possibility of losing it will have an effect.

The chili shrimp’s eyes widened.

The eyes rolled quickly from side to side, but soon the summoner spoke in a confident voice.

“Wow, what are you coming for? Even if you come, you can’t take my money. I’m not someone who can be easily defeated. Even though you didn’t specify the level-”

“Are you confident that you can beat them even if they’re over level 100, level 110, and have both ‘Awakening’ and ‘Custom Epic’? Like someone like your clone Kashiyas?”

“-…….”

Clearly, up until now, the chili shrimp must have been aware that they were the strongest among the icebreakers.

But that is only the ‘present point in time’.

At best, it is only for the time being to go and subdue the Apostle Anton.

“Obviously, for in-game users, the terrain will change and new NPCs will appear as the timeline of the epic quest changes, but can you guarantee that for us, Mr. Chili Shrimp?”

What happens next?

This could be the only weakness of a summoner who is trying to seize the initiative and shake it.

No matter how it is applied in the actual system, there will inevitably be limits to the knowledge or information that you actually have.

“Well, even if you overcome that, there’s a second problem. That’s really important.”

“……What is it?”

Jinseong opened his mouth, judging that there was a high probability that the chili shrimp would not know.

The flow of the main scenario, including completion and some modifications since the first update in 2018, was completed in 2022.

“There will be a civil war in the heavens. And the Commander-in-Chief of the Eaton Area Army here… is about to make a very delicate choice. Hehe, I can’t tell you what it is right now, but I think you can probably guess. Ahem, when that happens… what will happen to this house, this area~?”

The story line of [Heavenly Chronicles] was what Jinseong used as a weapon against Chili Shrimp.

“…War? Civil war? Ethan- My house is under attack?”

If the chili shrimp had been just a young squirrel, I wouldn’t have thought of it, but now I can guess who is inside that young body.

It was only natural that the summoner’s voice would become faint.