Light of Arad: The First to Walk - Chapter 76



Only Noblemtl

076

She was shivering, hiding behind a tree.

‘It’s been two years. After two years, I finally… … I finally made it to heaven.’

The weapon she held in her hand, an automatic pistol, was covered in scratches, which were evidence of the hardships she had endured so far.

It was a weapon that didn’t look like much at first glance.

As for the level limit, it would probably be around 20 or 30.

Above all, if a gunpowder weapon was handled so roughly, it could explode with just one pull of the trigger, but she held her weapon tightly without a care.

‘That’s okay. There wasn’t much for me to do in Arad, but… …if something is given to me, I will definitely-.’

Taaaaaaaang-!

‘-Heeeeeeek?!’

At the sound of a single gunshot, she immediately crouched down.

She was so scared that she couldn’t even think about using the gun she was holding or figuring out what was going on outside.

In a way, it was natural.

“Kwaaaaat-!”

“Run away! The cartel is coming!”

“Bentink is causing trouble again! Call the garrison!”

The various noises coming from afar were enough to make her mind confused.

It was not just gunfire, it was also the sound of cannons, and the sound of something boiling and bubbling was something that could be explained.

In a normal situation, in a world she knew, in a place of chaos where screams were added to sounds that she would not have been able to hear easily, all she could do was hug her body and hide.

“Beep.”

“Shh, shh!”

She quickly snatched up the small drone-like robot floating over her shoulder.

He didn’t care that he might get hurt by the rotor spinning rapidly on top of the robot.

Because she was that desperate.

‘I’ve definitely caught Bentinck… … but why is Bentinck acting up all of a sudden here! Please, please, please! Don’t make me feel like I’ve wasted over two years! I can’t die just as I’m about to connect with Seven Shards!’

There is no magic in the celestial world.

This is because the Dragon King Bakal, who once ruled the heavens, abolished all magic in the heavens and completely controlled it so that no knowledge or information could be passed on.

Under such domination, the celestials were eventually forced to develop their civilization in another direction instead of magic, and that was science.

Even in the celestial empire of Jiben, where only science has developed without magic, the most outstanding research group is called the ‘Seven Shards’.

A group of scientists and engineers, literally consisting of seven people, each with overwhelming scientific and engineering achievements in their respective fields.

What she wanted was contact with Seven Shaz.

More specifically, the things you can obtain after encountering Seven Shards.

‘Now that I have the AT-5T, I’m sure there will be more things I can do. Yeah, if I think about the things I can fix or add – it’ll be much better than skills that are inconvenient to use. It would also be nice to meet Seven Shards and get the authority to create something new.’

She pushed up her glasses, thinking of that small hope.

How much effort did you put in to get here?

Memories of the past two years began to flash through her mind like a revolving lantern.

‘I, who couldn’t even kill a bug… … How much suffering did I have to endure to get here? I’m still not used to directly attacking people, though… … .’

The effort she had put into reaching heaven was by no means easy, but the work she had to do there was no easy task either.

It had been an hour since anyone would have gotten used to it, and it was actually one of the things she hadn’t gotten used to yet, even though she had been doing it for quite some time.

‘It’s okay. But now there will come a time when you won’t have to do such… such things in front of your eyes- huh?’

It was then that she heard a strange sound as she was barely calming down while recalling the hardships of the past.

“Wh, what?! What happened? My arm, no, my baton!”

“What’s your name, Fireball? It’s so rustic. Anyway, follow me.”

“Ah, ahh, ears! Ears!”

‘Huh? That just now… Wasn’t that something I didn’t have to do? Wasn’t that something the user didn’t have to do?’

Someone is seen dragging arsonist Bentinck away by his ear.

Not only was he instantly subdued, but his sword skills were already so clean that he was able to detach Bentinck’s flamethrower?

One thing that we can be sure of right away is that it was not a user who subdued Bentinck.

She also knew that there were very limited paths that users could take in the vast map of the zodiac, so anyone who walked outside of the ‘paths that users took’ could only be seen as an NPC or a resident of Arad.

So she quietly revealed herself and followed him.

‘A person… … No, an NPC? But there was an NPC like that? Oh man, I wasn’t interested in stories or quests… … .’

Who is the one dragging Bentinck away now?

Who is the man who confidently speaks in front of the guards while transporting him to the prison of the zodiac?

She has very little knowledge and information about the main scenario quest of the game Dungeon & Fighter.

Even the general flow of events is barely recognizable.

‘It’s not the Zodiac Guard. Even though I don’t know the story of DnF, I know one thing for sure.’

Still, she could be sure of one thing.

Because his heterogeneous appearance was the evidence.

‘Dark Knight… …There was no dark knight among the NPCs.’

Normally I would never have moved.

Safety first. She lived cautiously for three years before ascending to heaven, so there was only one reason why she started chasing him.

‘If I’m neither a user nor an NPC, then that Dark Knight… … .’

Intellectual curiosity and instinctive intuition.

She saw him following another female gunner.

‘It’s a dungeon. I haven’t been to the dungeon near the Ghent East Gate yet. Should I do it too? I cleared up to Bentinck, but when do I have to clear this dungeon?’

Now, I knew that the place I was entering was a dungeon area, but I had literally no knowledge of when these dungeons would be entered and what quests they would be given, so all I could do was chase after them.

A female gunner who is ahead.

The dark knight in pursuit.

She herself is following behind.

‘Huh…? That’s strange. No matter how much I think about it, it’s strange.’

It wasn’t a feeling of discomfort anymore.

He is moving within the dungeon area.

He also follows the female gunner while maintaining a certain distance, as if trying not to be caught, and just observes her.

‘It’s different from any other case I’ve ever encountered. I’ve met a few people over the past two years, but I’ve never encountered anyone like that.’

She recalled several encounters from her memory and compared them.

There were certainly a few special cases, but nothing like this one.

‘It’s different from my experience, but… … it’s clear.’

She watched his behavior.

As the female gunner left the dungeon, he also saw her quietly turn around and leave.

And that was the moment.

TMH Signalman, a cartel classified as a monster, appeared with a rustling sound in the grass where they had been hiding.

And that type of monster has been defeated by female gunners so far.

‘There are monsters left? Didn’t you get a dungeon clear? Why are there monsters left-.’

She could tell what was going on, even though she still didn’t quite understand it.

Above all, the dark knight she was chasing had his eyes wide open, pulled out his sword, and was about to rush towards the monster.

The urgency of someone who had been hiding and watching until just a moment ago?

It was definitely a strange situation.

Was that why?

Despite her usual tendency to like to analyze, she did not try to understand the situation.

The first thing that instinctively moved was the hand.

She aimed the automatic pistol she was holding and pulled the trigger.

Taaaaaaaang… … !

The signalman fell forward straight away.

“uh?”

The Dark Knight had a puzzled expression on his face.

She revealed herself and walked towards him.

Thud, thud, thud… … .

“A female gunner? Huh?”

At the point when she saw the man who had discovered her looking surprised, she was sure.

“… … Are you also a possessed person?”

She said.

* * *

Jinseong couldn’t say anything.

What is this woman saying out of the blue?

The first thing to confirm is that Jinseong himself is not the user who was originally following her, the female gunner.

‘That female gunner earlier was a ranger. And this female gunner is a mechanic, judging by the ‘Servant of Marbas’ floating next to her. A female mecha. Judging by the gold-rimmed glasses she’s wearing – has she truly awakened?’

As soon as he saw its appearance, Jinseong inferred several pieces of information.

If you look at the small drone-like robot floating around with its rotor spinning, it is a mechanic among the female gunner professions.

From the platinum blonde hairstyle to the blue eyes with gold-rimmed glasses, it is very similar to the ‘Female Mechanic Jin Awakening Illustration’ that Jin himself remembers.

‘But since it’s Jin-gak, there’s no G-operator… … ‘

If you only look at her face, it is clearly the same as Jinseong’s memories, but in a situation where there is no trace of her having completed her true awakening after reaching level 100, Jinseong stared at her, who was about 180cm tall, similar to himself.

So where on earth did this female gunner in front of me come from?

And then I realized that it didn’t matter whether she was a mechanic or had truly awakened or not.

‘Hey, you don’t have a nickname… … It’s not working!? Huh?’

Because the information that should have been shown to the user was not visible to Jinseong’s own eyes.

The female gunner asked the bewildered Jinseong.

“Ah, answer me. You’re a possessor… right? You’re not a normal user or NPC, right?”

Only after hearing her ask again did Jinseong realize.

It was a fact that I could have inferred from her question from the beginning, but I was so flustered that I momentarily missed it.

“……Wait a minute. You asked ‘also’……”

I didn’t ask, “Who are you? Are you a thief?”

She used the expression ‘you too’ from the beginning.

Then there is only one answer!

‘Ah… … No way.’

Jinseong remembered.

There was something that happened before I became a nerd.

‘Ranger… … That Ranger user, no, that person I thought was a user.’

Now that I think about it, there was someone who wasn’t a typical user.

I didn’t have many conversations with him, but one thing was certain.

It is clear that the person existed before Jinseong, and that such things have continued to happen.

‘I see. Nemer used to call me a ‘crane’ and possess me… … . Yes, he said that the methods he had been using up until now were not right.’

He said it wasn’t easy because there was an obstacle called the “causer of pollution.”

He said he had to take a slightly different approach to achieve his goals.

And that ‘method’ was to bring about true nature.

In order to correct the flow of the main scenario quest that was distorted by , that is, to carry out .

The purpose was clear.

‘Because have to follow the right flow. So they have to be naturally trained. And… … The reason why they had to do that… … .’

Couldn’t it be said that it was a kind of test through the ‘game’?

Could it be said that the purpose of this is to select those with outstanding skills while remembering the overall flow as a ?

In any case, it was clear that Nemer had been doing something like that all along.

“Right? You’re an adventurer too, right?”

Jinseong was able to clearly understand through her speaking again.

Ultimately, what was the reason for training character adventurers and selecting the outstanding ones among them?

One who was possessed by Nemer because he was judged to be qualified to become a [true adventurer] ‘before’ Jinseong himself.

“How many possessed adventurers have you met so far, but they’ve all left… When were you possessed? What year is it outside? How long did it take you to get here? What were you originally famous for in Dungeon & Fighter?”

Strictly speaking, she is saying that there were and still are ‘adventurers’ in Arad who are candidates to become ‘the one and only forged blade’.

Finally, Jinseong could feel her blue eyes filled with anxiety.