Light of Arad: The First to Walk - Chapter 70



Only Noblemtl

070

Of course, that was also nonsense.

Wouldn’t this only be possible if there was a true self possessed by Arad and a true self playing the game Dungeon & Fighter beyond the monitor?

Moreover, Jinseong’s own ‘real time’ is ultimately just one moment, one experience.

‘Even at this very moment… … At this very moment, when the Heavenly Envoy – Marlene Kitsuka – has just set foot on Arad… … Some users will already be in the Demon Realm, some users will already be in the Heavenly Civil War, and even a significant number of users will be playing in the Heavenly Realm.’

The progress of the main scenario quest will be different for each user.

There are probably many users who have already gone through the same situations and incidents that Jinseong is currently experiencing ‘several years ago’.

At that time, Jinseong himself also played the game as just one user.

There is no way that I could be possessed by Arad and give Sharan any clues.

So, it is impossible for Sharan, who appears out of nowhere and provides clues to solve various cases, to have been caused by Jinseong himself.

‘Not me… … Besides, this is the first case like mine. Nemer said it too. It hasn’t been long since the appeared and began to act, planting contaminations here and there in the users’ quests and twisting the flow. I was actually the first one to be possessed by Arad as a .’

Jinseong had been developing his thoughts continuously, but soon that flow was interrupted.

Because Sharan, who heard the truth, nodded and started muttering.

“Hmm, that’s true. I guess I’ll have to break through the magic circle made by Bakal to get to Heaven. But according to Kiri-sama, Bakal must have died a long time ago… And even the Heavenly Envoy doesn’t seem to know. What should I do?”

She was looking at Jinseong.

Deep blue-green eyes, do they know the answer, or are they trying to extract the answer from Jinseong?

Jinseong’s mind was wandering between the thoughts he had heard a moment ago and Sharan’s eyes, but at least one thing was certain.

‘… … I don’t know right now. I’ll think about it on my own.’

Ultimately, it means that there is not much difference in the way of thinking about who is the .

There’s no way to know without thinking about it right now.

Rather, if you imagine things on your own, you may become more obsessed with things that are not the right answer, and you may end up missing the essence.

So, Jinseong was able to snicker and add a word to Sharan’s monologue.

“Is it possible that only Bakal can break Bakal’s magic circle?”

“……What are you talking about?”

“Well, the magic circle isn’t like biometrics or face ID.”

Jinseong shrugged his shoulders.

Sharan tried to pry openly as usual.

“Huh? Face, what did you say?”

“No, but anyway, shouldn’t we think about whether Bakal himself is the only one who can break the magic circle he created?”

And Jinseong, as usual, didn’t give her all the answers.

A thought that occurred to me a little while ago, the belief that Sharan’s role as a problem solver could be possible without Jinseong’s own intervention.

In other words, it may also be because of the serious attitude towards Sharan as a user of the game Dungeon & Fighter.

“……Oh, so that’s how it’ll turn out? Okay. I’ll do the research from now on.”

“Hehehe, cheer up, Sharan.”

Jinseong smiled and made a fighting pose toward Sharan.

“Ah, anyway… You seem like a annoyingly grateful person.”

Sharan looked at Jinseong with a disgusted expression, and eventually burst out laughing and had to leave the office.

“Oh, by the way, I’ve organized the things that Jinseong talked about last time, so do as you wish. Do it or not.”

Then he blurted out a word.

It was only when Sharan’s back disappeared that Jinseong realized the truth.

“Huh? What… Huh!? Really? Thank you, Sharan!”

Jinseong shouted his thanks to her and immediately took out a teleportation potion.

It will still be some time before we can board the Magata that ascends to Heaven.

‘It won’t make much of a difference right away, but… Hehe, for now, it’s a spec upgrade!’

Gulp, the place where Jinseong appeared after swallowing a sip was Hendonmyre, the capital of the Duchy of Bel Myre.

More specifically, it was in front of Lady Kiri, an NPC from heaven.

* * *

I’ve passed by it a few times in the past when heading to the West Coast from Hendonmyer.

And that’s not all.

‘I saw it when I was spending the last… … with Lenny. Hmm.’

Jinseong took a deep breath and shook off his depression, recalling memories that had now become regrettable.

Even in Hendonmaier, where there are many white buildings, the reason Kiri’s shop and home stand out is probably because of the blue tiles on top of the building.

‘I’m telling you, the blue tiles are perfectly placed, which is a perfect concept. As an NPC from heaven, a building with a strong sense of old Korea, which is a setting of heaven, must have been built right here in Hendon Myer. It’s a house with blue tiles, so blue tiles… … Ahem, ahem.’

Jinseong stopped his thoughts and coughed.

Because I instinctively felt that it was something that should not be done to associate such a term with an NPC that most users would never have positive feelings towards.

‘Anyway, even aside from this unique background, this is what really stands out.’

What made it impossible for me to indulge in such thoughts any longer was the huge machine placed in front of Kiri’s store.

Perhaps this is the very reason why most users of the game Dungeon & Fighter are still not interested enough to wonder, “Was there a blue tile on top of Kiri’s house?”

Puuuuuuuu─────… … !

Just then the machine began to whine and emit steam.

Blue and red lights flashed rapidly from the attached lamp, and the machinery shook and shook as if it was about to explode.

It was something I could understand even if it wasn’t the real thing.

‘Is that what that person is saying, sitting in front of the monitor with that expression on his face? If he’s that desperate… … .’

A male ear test user was looking into the machine with his eyes wide open and his hands clasped together in a prayerful posture.

It didn’t take long for that desperation to turn to anger.

The lamp’s light, which had been flickering along with the man’s curses, went out.

And then push… … black smoke poured out from the machine.

“****”

The user who let out a curse looked frozen in place.

His appearance suddenly disappeared.

‘Tsk tsk, you logged out because you were shocked… … You ran it without even using the protection rights. I don’t know about other things, but here- when dealing with that human… … It’s a must-have.’

Jinseong shook his head without realizing it and looked at the tall woman next to the machine.

Kiri the Lady, an NPC who doesn’t even blink an eye even when people disappear right in front of her, and instead seems to be smiling.

One of the people who currently possesses an all-purpose equipment processing system that can handle all of the equipment strengthening/amplification/re-forging in the game Dungeon & Fighter.

‘The most evil in DnF… … Hmm, it may not be his personality, but anyway- I too! I can’t even count how much gold Kiri has sucked!’

Perhaps the NPC that receives the most hate from users in DnF.

Kiri smiled as she looked at Jinseong, as if she didn’t care about the person who had disappeared.

“Hello, my name is Kiri.”

Then he said hello.

“Oh, yes, hello.”

Jinseong also nodded and greeted him.

Perhaps she took it as a signal? She said, pointing straight to the machine next to her.

“To survive stronger, strengthening your equipment is essential! What do you think? Would you like to give it a try?”

“Oh, there’s something I’d like to tell you about that. I-”

“Even though it’s an old enhancer, it boasts a 100% success rate up to +4 enhancement! And it’s surprisingly cheap, so there’s no burden at all!”

Kiri spoke with a bright smile, but Jinseong found her bright expression rather scary.

There is definitely no burden up to +4 reinforcement.

There is no problem with upgrading to +12 or +10, as long as you have enough gold, until the point where the equipment is destroyed and loses its penalty.

‘… … How many users shed tears of blood after being fooled by such sweet words? I saw in the drama that this is how they take money from fools!’

However, users who are really enjoying the game will not be satisfied with +12 enhancement.

‘Even back in the days of Golgorion, there was chaos, chaos, chaos… It’s the same in all games where people’s eyes turn when there’s an amplification event.’

When you think about pouring hundreds of millions of gold, or even billions if you’re unlucky, just to get to +13, +14, or +15, it doesn’t really matter whether the success rate for upgrading to +4 is 100% or not!

“What do you think? Would you like to give it a try?”

Kiri urged with an almost genuine enthusiasm.

As soon as he felt a sense of crisis that he might get caught up in something, Jinseong had to introduce himself right away.

“That, that’s-. Ahem, hello, Kiri-sama. Let me introduce myself again. My name is Jinseong, an emergency committee member of the Magician’s Guild.”

It was a polite greeting.

However, from the perspective of the receiver, it just didn’t feel that way.

“Ah… I’ve heard a lot from Lady Sharan.”

Kiri said in a voice without even a hint of business humor.

What about that bright smile from a little while ago?

What about the smile of the celestial being who recommended reinforcement with a bright face?

“I, I see, haha.”

Even Jinseong himself has been enjoying the game Dungeon & Fighter for so long, but he has never heard of such an attitude or expression!?

Kiri just nodded indifferently to Jinseong’s words.

Jinseong, who was so embarrassed that he almost couldn’t even begin the main topic, barely managed to start the story.

“Excuse me, Kiri-sama? I heard that Sharan-sama… spoke to Kiri-sama about this and that.”

I don’t know exactly what they talked about, but Sharan said that she had already done something to fulfill Jinseong’s request.

And Sharan did her best.

“Yes, well… Lady Sharan came and said in person. Asking for the convenience of a man named Jinseong.”

“I, I see? Then how… what is the content of that convenience-”

“I’ll give you up to +8 enhancement for free. Considering the amount of resources required for each part, it’s definitely not a small amount.”

Surely Sharan would have had to say quite a few things to Kiri, who was her own disciple, and although she didn’t tell Jinsung himself, she would have even promised to cover some of Kiri’s strengthening costs with the Magic Guild’s funds.

‘It’s a tearfully grateful thing… … but… … .’

Free enhancement up to +8.

It was clearly a picture that had something in common with what Jinseong himself had wanted, but Jinseong knew.

Kiri also knew.

“Anyway… it seems like you don’t have any epic equipment that’s worth challenging for +12 enhancement. And you don’t have any equipment with otherworldly energy that could be used for amplification either… so it doesn’t matter, right?”

At the current true level and item level, strengthening doesn’t have much meaning.

Jinseong glanced at Kiri, who was speaking bluntly.

‘It’s true that strengthening doesn’t really help me right now… … I have to say it myself, human! Kiri, it makes me mad when you say it!’

Of course, for Jinseong, who has become a reality, a very small difference in attack power or defense power may make his life come and go.

But that wasn’t what was important to Jinseong right now.

‘More than anything, I have Nodaji. I don’t need money. Rather than the concept of giving up to +8 for free… … .’

Jinseong examined Kiri’s complexion.

Her expression as if she had nothing more to say, as if she was not interested.

Perhaps, the reason Jinseong acts like that is because he thinks of himself as nothing more than a ‘free guest’?

“Ahem.”

“Are you going to strengthen your equipment now?”

Kiri looked at Jinseong, who was coughing in vain, and asked straight away.

Jinseong shook his head.

“No. Free reinforcement, no need.”

“yes?”

“You can pay all the reinforcement costs. I’ll pay for it too.”

Then he said in a strong tone.

Rather, it was Kiri who was embarrassed.

“Now, wait a minute. Yes? Are you serious? It’s free? It’s free, I said.”

“No need.”

That was understandable.

What does it mean that Jinseong doesn’t provide free reinforcements?

Isn’t this the result of Kiri, the disciple, not properly listening to Sharan, the master who taught him magic?

“No need… No, Lady Sharan said something-.”

So Kiri tried to tell Jinseong.

“So, would you like to listen to what I have to say?”

That was the real ‘bait’ that was bitten.

[Keep kek kek… … Another poor human being will become a sacrifice. Aren’t you better at infecting and ruining your surroundings than I am, Jinseong?]

Heukgu’s words were exactly as he said.