Chapter 1 – Granfel Claudi Arpheus Romeo

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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……I must look like a crazy person.

But it cannot be helped.

After much agonizing, I opened my mouth.

I spoke to myself, reflected in the mirror.

“……Who am I. What is my name?”

Right, my name is Lee Ho-yeol.

‘Ho’ for great, ‘Yeol’ for joyful.

Three daughters.

My name was given by my grandfather, who rejoiced greatly upon seeing me, the youngest son born into a family of daughters.

However, completely contrary to my thoughts, a completely different name popped out of my mouth.

“……Granfel Claudi Arpheus Romeo.”

And I do not even know which country’s noble name it belongs to.

It is a bizarrely long name……!

Did I suddenly awaken to my past life or something?

“It would have been better if that were the case…….”

No, I know that this is not such a fantasy-like development.

My reflection in the mirror was telling me so.

Oddly sharpened eyes.

A noticeably more sturdy physique.

And finally, the letters floating before my eyes.

This was an Awakening.

It meant that I had become a Player.

Right, I could understand up to that point.

The problem was my appearance as a Player and the bizarre name.

“No matter how I look at this, this is from about 10 years ago…….”

[Name: Granfel Claudi Arpheus Romeo]

Exactly 12 years ago.

So that means I was 15 years old.

Around the time I was suffering from eighth-grader syndrome.

It was definitely a character I had raised.

I muttered without realizing it.

“……It seems I am deeply screwed.”

Speaking elegantly, as if I had become a noble.

***

Pour, trickle

I was ruined.

Contrary to those feelings, my actions overflowed with composure.

I took out a teacup from the cupboard that I had never used.

I brewed green tea, which I usually do not even touch.

Then, I sat down at the table and savored the green tea.

“The fragrance is not bad.”

……It is not like I am filming a historical drama.

Even though I am the one speaking, my manner of speech is incredibly uncomfortable.

Anyway, I could intuitively feel it.

That both my actions and speech had changed due to the influence of the Awakening.

Player Awakening.

I thought it was a term that had nothing to do with me.

Because I had completely forgotten about it.

“……Well, it was an event from over 10 years ago.”

Chronicles of the Arcana Continent.

13 years ago.

A virtual reality game that had never stepped down from the top since its release.

No, the game that was called another life beyond just a game.

[Unidentified structures appear worldwide…… Is it related to Arcana’s service termination?]

That Arcana became reality.

[Unidentified creatures appear all over the world…… Netizen A says, “It is definitely an Arcana monster.” Controversy spreads rapidly]

And Arcana’s monsters appeared in that reality.

[Emergence of a new human race? Knocks down unidentified creatures with bare hands…….]

And the ones capable of hunting the monsters of that reality.

Players who Awakened the abilities of Arcana characters also debuted.

Even after that Cataclysm, several years had passed up to today.

To think that the Chronicles of the Arcana Continent became reality.

When I first heard the news in the military, I flinched.

-Ha. If I had known this would happen, I would not have quit.

I used to have such imaginations while standing on night watch duty.

Why, you ask?

Because Players were literally heroes.

[Player, ‘Golden Flash’ defeats the Named Monster ‘General, Sekir’!]

[The Rift clear compensation alone is approximately 5 billion won…….]

[Close Interview: Player who prevented a catastrophe, ‘Nam Tae-min’ edition]

But that was all.

-In truth, even if I awakened, it would not be a big deal.

Because I quit playing the Chronicles of the Arcana Continent after barely a year.

Realistic problems played a major role in that.

The price of the connector alone was a whopping 10 million won.

And the monthly subscription fee reached hundreds of thousands of won.

“……Kids, I am sorry.”

“It is okay. Father. You do not need to feel sorry towards us.”

“Sob, sob. Mom also lacks the face to see you.”

“Ah, really, Mom, why are you being like this too?”

“We and Ho-yeol are all grown up. What is there to worry about.”

Around the time I entered high school.

After the day a seizure notice was attached to our house.

I had lived completely turning off my interest in games, let alone the Chronicles of the Arcana Continent.

That stood true even after going to high school.

Like it or not, I inevitably focused solely on studying, and the result was my current self.

A pretty decent job and a decent studio apartment.

A leisurely daily life of going back and forth to my parents’ house every weekend.

It is not wealthy, but since I have no great greed, it is a tolerably decent life.

“……But, what is the meaning of this?”

My head is throbbing.

I forcefully try to tilt the teacup.

First of all, let’s put the damn historical drama tone aside.

The important thing is that I Awakened as a Player.

About 10 years ago, exactly 12 years ago.

It means that the character [Granfel Claudi Arpheus Romeo], whom I had nurtured in the Chronicles of the Arcana Continent, was overlaid onto me, Lee Ho-yeol.

I had commonly seen such interviews.

-If you talk about the biggest change after Awakening…… Is it the feeling of having synchronized with the character? Really, I feel like the real-life me and the in-game character have fused into one. Roughly speaking, should I call it possession?

-Well, even if you call it possession, I was still the one playing the in-game character. Nothing much would change even if the character I played possessed me.

-Still, isn’t it thanks to that that we don’t get scared even when seeing real-life monsters? That’s what I think.

The difference was that my point of play was a whopping 10 years ago.

And another difference would be that the me from 10 years ago was ‘severely’ immersed in the character named [Granfel Claudi Arpheus Romeo].

“It is delicious.”

Even to the point where my taste buds changed.

……I am seriously going crazy.

Is this also thanks to the Arcana character information being overlaid?

I started to remember the forgotten settings of [Granfel Claudi Arpheus Romeo].

Naturally, the massive settings created by me when I suffered from eighth-grader syndrome.

『Granfel Claudi Arpheus Romeo.

His exact age is unknown.

He was the successor of a great family, but the family collapsed due to a demon.

Granfel Claudi Arpheus Romeo, the only survivor of the family, hereafter referred to as Granfel, walked the path of a Demon Hunter to take revenge on that demon.

His distinguishing features include long silver hair and a handsome appearance, and he normally uses speech that exudes the nobility of his status.』

Why make such useless things so detailed……

It really drives me crazy, the bastard that was my past self!

Just recalling it was a setting that made my hands and feet curl up.

Naturally, even if I created the settings, not a single bit of it was reflected in the game.

Because the settings were just scribbled in a notebook or memo pad.

So isn’t it written in the settings as well?

A fallen noble.

Since he started from Level 1, as a beginner who owned squat.

I just slapped on a plausible-sounding setting that he had fallen into ruin.

Right, there is only one truth in that long setting.

That he ended up walking the path of a Demon Hunter.

[Name: Granfel Claudi Arpheus Romeo]

[Class: Demon Hunter]

However, the past me was so immersed in the setting that I played Arcana that way.

To put it simply, it meant I acted out the life of Granfel in Arcana.

Thinking about it now, there’s no one crazier than that……

But at that time, I was a middle schooler, and an eighth-grader at that.

So I could consider it a memory to laugh off now.

“……A memory. I long for it.”

But that memory I wanted to forget has become a reality.

Damn it, my migraine is getting severe.

I am worried that someone might see my embarrassing state.

……No, wait.

I have to go to work right away tomorrow?!

Let’s think calmly.

Would I be able to go to work and handle my business normally?

Uhm, social life, that is.

It is not easy.

Incidents where one must bow one’s head and discard one’s pride occur several times a day.

But me, whose taste buds even changed due to the influence of Granfel’s settings.

Can I truly survive even a single day in this harsh society?

『Granfel Claudi Arpheus Romeo is noble. Whoever the opponent may be, he never bows his head. His pride is peerlessly heavy and unwavering. Even if he were to sink and drown beneath that weight.』

……It would be a relief if I did not throw coffee in the Department Head’s face.

It might turn into an incident where the settlement money costs more than my salary.

At the end of an elegant teatime, I reached a conclusion.

“I cannot keep bowing my head forever.”

My words slipped out again, but anyway.

Simply put, it meant I was going to quit my job.

I had decided to live as a Player from now on.

If someone else saw this, they might wonder if it was a sudden decision.

But I simply made a rational judgment.

Think about it.

In this state, it was obvious that I would only cause a nuisance, no matter what workplace I went to.

In the meantime, my bank account balance would visibly shrink.

Damn noble taste buds.

Even the cost of a teatime, which I never enjoyed before, was going to be added to my expenses.

Thus, living expenses became even more urgently needed.

Ultimately, it meant that I had no choice but to live as a Player to make a living.

Of course, I do not have high ambitions.

As I grew older, I naturally learned how to grasp my own standing.

The eighth-grader syndrome patient who overly immersed himself in Granfel,

who believed without a doubt that he was a special person,

no longer exists.

Just enough to make a living.

Then wouldn’t working as a Player be free from life-threatening situations?

For now, let’s do some searching.

I knew too little about the world of Players.

Because I hadn’t really lived admiring them.

I was too busy making a living to pay much attention to it.

Still, making a lot of money, that was the one thing I was jealous of.

“……Hmm.”

Hundreds of thousands, millions, billions.

Articles about Players literally making non-stop exclamations of millions and billions.

But even as I read the articles, I was apathetic.

『To Granfel Claudi Arpheus Romeo, wealth was a fleeting thing. Born as the successor of a great family and having tasted the peak of abundance, there was no reason for him to obsess over wealth and glory.』

This must also be the influence of that damn setting.

Still, should I say it was a relief?

It did not seem like I would risk my life blinded by greed.

But there was a severe problem before that.

“……I am weak.”

……With this, would I even be able to properly hunt a single mob?

Could I even squeeze myself into a party, I worried first.

The level of the monsters appearing in reality was no joke.

To the point where the current me absolutely could not deal with them.

-Wow, that was really close lol

-Is it a party with an average level in the 200s that barely managed to clear it?

-Look at the level getting higher over time shudder

-Wouldn’t the rankers actually like it? They give a lot of experience points.

It was a comment on a video.

They said the average level of the Player party was a whopping 200.

I checked my status window.

[Name: Granfel Claudi Arpheus Romeo]

[Class: Demon Hunter]

[Level: 55]

Only Level 55.

My level was exactly the same as it was 10 years ago.

At that time, even if I wasn’t a ranker, I was still on the fairly high side……

Time is truly cruel.

Well, there was also a saying that even rivers and mountains change in 10 years.

“Why did I spend such vain time……”

I briefly spat out a self-talk that needlessly set a solid mood.

I suddenly searched ‘Demon Hunter’ in the search bar.

“Wait, I had forgotten.”

A way to foster a Demon Hunter……!

It had been so long ago that I had completely forgotten about it.

The fact that at that time, a Demon Hunter could only be fostered in a limited way.

Unlike other classes that raised their levels through hunting, a Demon Hunter had to raise their level through quests.

』Skill』

Natural Enemy

Silver Mastery

Shooting Mastery

Simultaneous Shot

Exorcism Ritual

The majority of the quests involved exorcising demons.

There, the limits of the Demon Hunter class were significant.

───────

Natural Enemy: Combat power significantly increases when engaging in combat with the Demon race.

───────

They boast overwhelming majesty when facing demons, but if not, their stats lack a screw or two. So, they were a class that could not even present a business card at an Recommended Level hunting ground.

That was the reality of a Demon Hunter.

Then wouldn’t hunting demons be enough?

If someone were to ask.

I could answer that demon monsters did not exist in Arcana at that time.

The only time a Demon Hunter could encounter a demon was when performing a quest.

Because of that, the Demon Hunter was an unpopular class even back then.

“But that is only the past.”

Yes, it was 10 years and 2 years.

It was a time when a new method of fostering a Demon Hunter would have more than enough time to come out.

Now that Arcana had become a reality, applying the fostering method directly to reality would be unreasonable.

But at least I could use it as a reference.

Good.

My head, which had been throbbing since Awakening, gradually began to clear up.

……Is it because I drank tea? Just maybe.

Anyway, it’s fortunate that I was born in the Information Age.

To think I can find the information I want just by moving a finger.

I typed ‘Demon Hunter’ into the search bar.

As I browsed the search results……

“……What is the meaning of this?”

Search results completely different from what I expected popped up.

“The Akshan Base was annihilated? To think everyone died.”

What exactly happened in Arcana over the 10 years?

.

.

.

Akshan Base.

That place was the headquarters of the Demon Hunters.

The Akshan Base was the place where they carried out their job change quests, went through training quests, and were reborn into the Demon Hunter class.

But they said the Akshan Base was destroyed for some reason, and even the NPCs were annihilated.

Therefore, changing jobs to a Demon Hunter became impossible.

“And it happened so long ago?”

……Wait, then what about me?

Where is the new method of fostering a Demon Hunter!

As I scoured various communities, I realized.

“Could it be.”

-I miss the old days, there used to be a class called Demon Hunter back then.

-For real? First time hearing it.

-Haha, do you know how trash a Demon Hunter character was back then?

-I also raised one, then deleted the character and raised a new one lol.

-It just looked cool but the performance was garbage lol.

The more I searched, the more that ‘could it be’ became a certainty.

It seemed that there was not a single Player with the Demon Hunter class right now.

No, since I Awakened as a Player……

I seemed to be the only one.

“This cannot be.”

I resented the past me and my tastes.

No matter how chuuni I was, living and dying by coolness.

Would it have killed me to think about performance even just a little?

“My head aches.”

It must be because I suddenly accepted too much information.

It seemed I needed a rest.

Just as I thought that and was about to put down my smartphone.

Suddenly, a post caught my eye.

-But if I knew this would happen, I would have kept raising my Demon Hunter.

“?”

What kind of story was there?

For them to post something like that.

Out of curiosity, I clicked on the post.

And I flinched.

“Demon race was officially added with a new update, and since then, the difficulty of Rifts skyrocketed. If only there were no Demon race, real-life Players would not be losing their lives……?”

What, Demon race added?

Those demons are now wreaking havoc in reality too?

‘Perhaps this could be……’

Possibilities arose in my mind.

But I didn’t say them out loud.

High expectations bring great disappointment.

Above all, it seemed that players with levels much higher than mine were also struggling because of the Demon race.

But contrary to grasping my own status.

I ended up muttering.

『Contradictorily, Granfel Claudi Arpheus Romeo’s pride soars the highest when standing before a demon.』

“Consider it an honor.”

『No temptation, deception, or ordeal from any demon could leave even a scratch on Granfel’s noble pride.』

“Since I shall shove you into hell.”