Ever since Arcana flooded into reality, the Magic Tower became the symbol of Korea.
"Yes, I am currently standing right in front of the Magic Tower!"
"Whoa. How tall is that thing? How could something that massive just appear overnight?"
"Wait, aren't those the Supernovas? The ones said to threaten top rankers?!"
The Magic Tower.
A holy land for all mages.
A place that played a crucial role back in Arcana as well.
Ever since it sprouted in the middle of Seoul, the impact has been beyond words.
[Magic Tower Effect? Rankers Swarm to Korea]
[Mages of the Magic Tower: "We seek only knowledge. We desire friendly relations."]
[Magic Tower Tourism Booms… Tourist Numbers Surge 3,000% Year-Over-Year]
"Why did we come to Korea? Because of the Magic Tower, of course. From long-distance teleportation to enchantments, the services offered here are unmatched. That's why our Shining Guild plans to stay in Korea for the foreseeable future."
The world's top guild, Shining, established a branch in Korea.
In Shining's wake, major guilds from all over the world followed suit.
The astronomical amount of taxes they would pay was just the baseline.
With players overflowing, the damage caused by monsters naturally plummeted.
South Korea's future was looking brighter by the day!
But the Magic Tower wasn't the only thing that crossed over from Arcana.
Where there is light, there is shadow.
"Damn it. Am I still stuck as an extra even after becoming a player?"
"I wanted to be successful like that too!"
"I'm so damn jealous. So much so that I swear I could kill them."
Demons lurked within that dark shadow.
"I had a hard time adjusting at first, but the more I see of this place, the more I love it! It's way easier for us demons to move around here than back on the Arcana continent. Envy, jealousy, pessimism… the negative emotions just never stop flowing!"
In an environment like this, becoming a high rank demon was only a matter of time.
"Someday, I too will be like the demon kings…!"
Imp—a low rank demon—licked its lips with an ecstatic expression.
It spotted its prey: a group of five players.
"Let's go with those guys this time."
It recalled the bastards it had played with and killed yesterday.
Their desperate screams had been absolute music to its ears.
And this new group?
They looked even greener than the last batch, making them seem like easy targets.
* * *
Including me, there were exactly five of us.
I guess that's a relief.
After all, there was no law saying only high-level players could awaken.
The online community was full of recruitment posts searching for players at similar levels.
Going solo was simply too dangerous.
Besides, this was reality now.
Dying wasn't a game over; it meant actual, permanent death.
"There it is. The rift."
A finger pointed toward a subway exit.
Since it was still morning rush hour, there was quite a crowd.
If I hadn't submitted my resignation letter, would I have been over there too?
Lost in thought, we arrived at the exit before I even realized it.
…So this is what players see.
Blocking the subway exit was a rift, a shimmering barrier that only players could see.
Office workers passed right through that barrier, heading down to the platform.
As expected, ordinary people were unaffected by the rift.
That was probably why society could keep running like normal.
Gnoll's Cellar
Recommended Level: 35–40
Collapse Progress: 19.8%
I can even see the rift information.
Once Collapse Progress hit 100%, the rift would rupture, unleashing a horde of monsters.
In the early days after the Great Cataclysm—when both players and knowledge were scarce—rifts collapsed frequently, spilling monsters into the world.
The resulting casualties were too tragic to even speak of.
Thanks to those sacrifices, current players could raid rifts without much restriction.
A rift was a ticking time bomb.
And the only ones who could approach it were players.
"Looking at the progress, another party might have entered before us. Still, let's do our best! Right, I'm just going to smoke a quick cigarette. We'll head inside in five minutes."
…Am I a little nervous?
I couldn't help it.
After all, I had been an ordinary office worker until just a few days ago.
Hunting real monsters was definitely not on my to-do list.
Being nervous was only natural.
But that was only how I felt on the inside.
At times like this, I guess it's a good thing.
My body didn't display the slightest tremor.
An impeccably upright neck.
Shoulders that didn't shrink back in the slightest.
Even a sharp gaze overflowing with confidence.
…Well, look at that. A grand aristocrat has graced this subway with his presence.
No one looking at me would ever take me for a player entering a rift for the first time today.
Let's think positively. Nothing good comes from being nervous anyway. Besides, didn't I join this party precisely because it was my first time?
Recommended Level: 35–40
My current level was 55.
Even if a Demon Hunter had mediocre stats, there was still a 15-level difference…
There was no reason to panic.
"Alright, shall we head in then?"
"Looking forward to working with you!"
"Let's give it our all together!"
Five minutes passed in a flash.
The party members hyped themselves up.
I have three older sisters.
What's more, all three were born a year apart.
I've spent my whole childhood walking on eggshells, just trying not to get caught in the crossfire of my sisters' endless warfare.
It was that very experience that helped me stay on my superiors' good side at work.
So I opened my mouth to liven up the atmosphere.
But in a thoroughly elegant voice…
"While I stand among you, there is naught here worthy of your fear."
…Wait, who is worrying about whom?!
I couldn't take back the words that had just slipped out.
"…Pardon?"
Damn it, I can see the party members cringing. Seriously, I'm going to die of embarrassment at this rate. Grandfel, my damned dark past.
There was a saying that staying quiet keeps you out of trouble.
I better keep my mouth shut as much as possible.
That was the conclusion I came to.
Soon after entering the rift, transformed scenery met my eyes.
Even though it was the same subway station I had seen every day during my commute, it felt strangely foreign.
Cheolmin Nam, the party leader walking ahead, clicked his tongue.
"The escalator is rusted, so we'll have to walk. Ah, there are quite a few stairs here… Let's just treat it as a warmup and head down!"
Hearing that, I looked over at the escalator.
Sure enough, the steel was completely rusted over.
As expected, the rift's influence had utterly transformed the subway station.
A damp, foul stench wafted up from the depths below, carrying with it the occasional, echoing howl of a beast.
Is that a gnoll?
Only players could enter the ruined subway station.
Of course, if the rift collapsed, the real-world subway station would turn into something like this too.
"Get your gear ready."
"Looking at how quiet the entrance is, another party must have entered before us."
"That definitely seems to be the case. But hey, no need to worry. This is a transfer station, so it's pretty huge. As long as we pick our route well, we can hunt without overlapping with other parties."
Joining a party really was the right choice.
If I had come alone, I would have been completely lost.
I opened my inventory and checked my equipment.
…Should I consider this a good thing?
Level 55.
Right now it might be considered low-level, but back then it was quite high.
Which meant it wasn't easy to get equipment back then.
But who was I in the past?
An edgelord who lived and died by style.
Faint memories resurfaced of pouring my allowance into buying cool gear.
Anyway, thanks to that style-over-substance attitude, my current gear was on the remarkably luxurious side.
Masterpiece of an Unknown Blacksmith: Silver Dagger
Rank: Rare
Level Restriction: 50
Effect: Deals additional damage to undead and demonkind.
Description: A masterpiece made by a blacksmith who possessed outstanding skill but lacked fame.
I remembered this dagger in particular—specifically, the absurdly high price I'd paid for it at the auction house…
As the description stated, it was crafted by a promising blacksmith player at the time.
Whoever it was, if they kept playing Arcana, they would surely be a world-famous blacksmith by now.
But that's not what's important… Is this literally the only weapon I have?!
The situation didn't look good.
Silver weapons were infamous for their abysmal durability.
I vividly remembered watching their durability drop with every hunt, forcing me to dump absurd amounts of gold into repair costs.
Back then, it was just in-game currency.
Now?
That meant actual, hard-earned cash straight out of my real wallet.
I did have a bow, but I only had five arrows.
And all of them were silver arrows, too.
When I was already stressing over repair costs, firing off precious silver ammo was completely out of the question.
I made a quick decision.
I need to fight as little as possible. At least until I can get a new weapon.
You have entered Gnoll's Cellar - Food Storage.
The only new weapons I could scavenge here were the crude clubs and daggers used by gnolls.
Even so, using those was far better than wasting precious silver weapons.
Besides, there's a level gap after all.
Having made that call, I regretted it as soon as the battle began.
God, Hoyeol, you idiot! No matter how cool silver weapons looked, was it really that hard to pack at least one practical weapon?!
"Grrrr!!"
Dog-men, gnolls.
They were much faster and smarter than the ones I had seen in Arcana.
As if they had adapted to the subway station, they ambushed us by making clever use of its complex layout.
Swish!
An arrow flew in from a blind spot.
The mage, Jeongyeon Seo, narrowly dodged it and yelled out.
"Gnoll archers! They're hiding behind the vending machine over there!"
Somehow, the monsters' teamwork was better than our party's.
I looked over toward Cheolmin.
…Is this how people hunt in parties these days?
Though I hadn't heard it directly from him, Cheolmin's class was obviously a tanker.
His huge shield and plate armor proved it.
But for some reason, instead of protecting the party, Cheolmin had broken ranks.
I don't know what's going on, but things aren't looking good.
In a situation where I couldn't pull my weight, the mage was our party's only ranged damage dealer.
Following Jeongyeon's warning, I turned my head toward the vending machine.
Sure enough, two gnoll archers were crouched behind it.
They're reloading. Is this my chance?
I racked my brain.
It was now or never.
Gnoll archers were notoriously terrible in close combat.
Taking them down meant I could loot their arrows for myself.
But isn't my combat capability just as terrible? Besides, it's been over ten years since I last fought in a battle like this.
Tap—
Yet, making a complete mockery of my inner panic, I strolled forward leisurely.
My stride overflowed with composure.
As if the gnolls couldn't even dream of approaching me, I walked confidently toward the archers without hesitation.
Yes, my brain was frantically weighing every variable and threat.
But my body was being brutally honest.
I wasn't nervous at all.
Or rather, to be exact—Grandfel's towering confidence, superimposed upon my very soul, was simply far too grand for me to feel intimidated by a mere pack of gnolls.
"W-wait! Stop, it's dangerous! You're going in completely un—"
Jeongyeon's voice reached my ears, but I didn't hear the end of it.
Whether I was already too far to hear the rest, or she had simply trailed off, I wasn't sure.
"Grrrr!!"
Baring their fangs, the two gnolls openly unleashed their hostility.
Tap—
After lightly closing the distance between us…
Tap—
I struck the bridges of both their snouts with my fists.
That sequence of movements held a dignity that went beyond mere composure.
My vision didn't waver in the slightest.
"It seems you haven't been properly disciplined."
The words came out as naturally as if scolding a hunting dog I had raised myself.
"I take no pleasure in it, but given the circumstances…"
It was the imperious demeanor of a true noble, looking down on them from an immeasurable height.
"…Chastisement, I am afraid, is unavoidable."
"Y-yip!!!"
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