Chapter 236 – As of This Time, You Are Prey

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Clank

The sound of metal was heard.

I realized it even without having to turn my head.

It was the sound of Shegwen putting Atlas into its scabbard.

What those words meant was simple.

The Sword Saint’s intuition.

It must mean there are no more threatening presences here.

Thinking like that, it makes me feel like I did something unnecessary.

To feed a punch to that son of a bitch, Raymon Sean’s face.

I manifested the [Anomaly of Reversal] in a cleared rift.

‘Does it mean the physical body wasn’t even there from the beginning?’

I have to search the control room even if just out of unfairness.

The effect of the [Blessing of the First World Tree] is still active.

However, magic power is not sufficient. Because I was forcefully holding onto the rift that was trying to close even at this moment. But, manifesting a single Light shouldn’t be too much of a strain.

Floating

The sphere of light, Light, illuminated the control room.

I thought ‘no way’, but it’s really not here?

Of course, I didn’t make an appointment, and I was the one who entered the hideout half-forcefully.

So it’s not like I have anything particular to say but…

‘Didn’t he have no intention of meeting in the first place?’

Well, he was the one who put forward a mannequin layered with polymorph. It seems he intended to deceive me this time too, just like he did before. In that sense, should I be thankful I wasn’t played?

Of course, whatever the case.

“You are not proud until the very end.”

I wouldn’t know.

But to Granfel, that side’s evaluation, Raymon Sean, has hit the bottom.

Well, it means he’s practically on a level no different from a demon.

The voice of the Illusion Breaker is heard.

-His aura blade became sharp. Is he a hopeless greenhorn.

These were words directed not at me, but at Shegwen.

As for me, even if I’m trembling inside, it didn’t show on the outside.

Unlike me, Shegwen was fully expressing his emotions.

Tch.

He looks genuinely regretful about the fact that he missed him.

Actually, I can’t show it, but I feel the same, Shegwen.

So we should look for any clues at least.

‘The Control Room.’

Information would be left behind in some way.

When a rift is cleared, no one can guarantee what form this place will take.

Right now, when I’m preventing the rift’s clear with the anomaly of reversal. It means this might be the last chance to find traces of Raymon Sean.

So I look around but…

‘!’

A familiar ‘something’ entered my eyes.

Actually, Shegwen was the one who discovered it first.

Poke poke

Shegwen poked that something with his scabbard.

Then he lowered his head and carefully brought his ear to it.

He stares at me intently.

-He asks if it is a beast’s egg, greenhorn.

A beast’s egg.

It might look like that in the eyes of an Arcana-in.

But to me, it wasn’t.

Let’s see, the last time I saw it was over ten years and several more years ago.

I couldn’t forget.

Attached to that something.

Because the red sticker remained vividly in my mind.

Back when Arcana was merely a game.

The dedicated access device for Arcana Continent Chronicle.

It was Cosmo’s VR capsule.

That access device which commanded a hefty price of ten million won each.

In the control room illuminated by the Light, nothing existed except the access device. There were no traces, nor items that could be called rewards. Then what that means is.

That access device right there is.

Raymon Sean’s purpose for inviting me and.

The clear reward of the dungeon.

I finally realized.

It was dark right under my nose.

Immediately after release.

It was the virtual reality game, Arcana Continent Chronicle, evaluated as being decades ahead of humanity’s technological prowess. Yeah, you only see as much as you know. Thinking about it now…

It means that technology was definitely close to an [Anomaly].

I recited.

“So that was it.”

That dedicated access device that looks like an egg is exactly.

The path leading to the Arcana Continent.

The moment I realized, a message popped up before my eyes.

[World Quest: The 10 Adventurers]

The 10 prototype access devices hidden in the CODE rift.

That is the only path to return to the Arcana Continent.

Adventurers, Arcana-ins.

Seize the opportunity to grasp everything in a continent fallen into chaos.

-Discover the CODE rift. (Success)

-Clear the rift and acquire the access device. (Success)

-Enter the Arcana Continent through the access device. (In Progress)

You really are playing cheap tricks until the end, Raymon Sean.

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As can be seen from the quest content.

The quest did not just pop up for Ho-yeol.

The players watching the video flinched.

“!!!”

The moment they recognized it was an access device.

Because a message popped up before their eyes.

And a World Quest at that.

“What is this suddenly, this atmosphere?”

Yusra Kingdom.

Golden Calf Tavern.

Rockid looked at the tavern where silence had fallen.

Those adventurers, their expressions were unusual.

He gulps down a whole barrel of beer and gauges the situation.

‘The way they are rolling their eyes is exactly…’

Aren’t those the eyes of people only thinking about stabbing each other in the back?

Because Rockid had gone through all sorts of hardships, he could notice.

The strange tension flowing among the adventurers.

It was unavoidable for the players.

‘An access device?’

‘Does it mean we can enter the Arcana Continent if we just have that prototype access device?’

‘Just entering the Arcana Continent might be a crazy stunt but… There’s a quest. And a World Quest at that.’

Even a Class Quest gives massive rewards.

There were plenty of rankers who were tens of steps ahead of others just by carrying out class quests.

But what if they could carry out a World Quest rarer than those Class Quests?

‘This is an opportunity!’

The reward would be beyond imagination.

The players gauged each other’s reactions.

Since Ho-yeol discovered one access device, there are only nine left.

Naturally, there was no one who thought of snatching Ho-yeol’s access device.

‘Touch Lee Ho-yeol like a crazy person?’

‘It’s something you couldn’t even imagine in your right mind.’

‘And no matter what, if you are a human…’

How much had they received from Ho-yeol all this time?

Moreover, it was also Ho-yeol who discovered this World Quest. Therefore, the players had no choice but to engage in a battle of wits over the remaining nine spots.

The news was also delivered to the AAU.

“Haha…”

Park Min-jae let out a hollow laugh.

How much had he wracked his brain and agonized over this?

Ever since the Mage Tower soared in the middle of Seoul, the capital of South Korea.

He truly meant he had thought about it not missing a single day.

How to return the Arcana-ins.

Back to their Arcana Continent.

It wasn’t just humanity’s concern.

Because the Mage Tower had also clearly declared it.

-“The Mage Tower’s objective is returning to the Arcana Continent.”

Both humanity and Arcana-ins worked desperately.

To return to the life before the Great Cataclysm.

But as if mocking those efforts.

“You really make people look like fools until the end.”

Raymon Sean smoothly presented the answer.

And as an Arcana Continent Chronicle access device at that.

A VR capsule that was more than familiar to Park Min-jae.

Yoon Soo-gyeom asked Park Min-jae.

“General Manager, do you happen to know?”

“Know what?”

“The shape of the access device is slightly different from what I know.”

“If it’s that, it’s nothing much.”

Park Min-jae desperately suppressed his anger and continued his words.

“Beta test days. Because it’s a prototype access device. That thing.”

“…!”

“He really saw us as idiots, Raymon. To begin with, Arcana Continent Chronicle was merely a means to him. It means everything was just a build-up for the Great Cataclysm.”

It was true.

Everything was fake for the Great Cataclysm.

The beta test, the dedicated access device for Arcana Continent Chronicle, the Arcana service, everything was merely a preparatory work for the Great Cataclysm. A damned sense of helplessness crushed his body.

‘Then, what on earth have we been doing it for all this time?’

They were dancing on his palm from the very beginning.

‘What do you think that bastard thought looking at us?’

How ridiculous must it have felt to him, seeing them act like they knew something, establishing the AAU and making a fuss about responding to the Great Cataclysm. Park Min-jae gritted his teeth.

‘…But I can endure it.’

It’s the fault of the one who was fooled.

It means he could endure it by putting forward his rebellious temperament.

However, the problem was that Raymon Sean’s deception wasn’t over yet. Even if everything was an act and an illusion, there was the experience of servicing Arcana Continent Chronicle.

AAU South Korea Branch in shock.

Park Min-jae opened his mouth.

“I want everyone to pay attention.”

The buzzing commotion subsides.

By the way, their faces are a real spectacle.

As he said, because they had the experience, the future was drawn vividly.

“To summarize the situation, to just ten players… No, General Manager Lee Ho-yeol should be excluded. It’s a situation where massive rewards are given to only nine players.”

Naturally, fierce competition would follow.

However, the problem was that it wasn’t just a competition among players. The ones who want to return to the Arcana Continent more than anyone else would be the Arcana-ins who fell into reality.

Someone opened their mouth.

“…But isn’t the General Manager here?”

Park Min-jae nodded.

“Right. As long as the General Manager is here. Large factions like the Mage Tower, Lion Heart Knights, or Mu-on. Even the Shadow Mercenaries won’t make a move. But you know they aren’t everything, right?”

Like the factions mentioned.

While there are those who harmonized with reality.

“Just taking the Carpen Rebel Army or the Red Wing Warriors as examples.”

There were also those who couldn’t.

If they were to hear this news…

“They will gladly jump into the competition.”

Park Min-jae could guarantee it.

“Raymon really screwed us over, a very big screw over.”

The harmony between humanity and Arcana.

To shatter the new discipline established by Ho-yeol’s sacrifice.

Raymon Sean put forward the reward.

A reward that neither players nor Arcana-ins could ever overlook.

Park Min-jae swallowed dry saliva.

“We don’t know what kind of ugly scenes will unfold from now on.”

What happened in the face of competition.

Couldn’t they check it recently in the Zero Mountain Range?

Advancing with their nation’s aircraft carriers at the forefront.

World Unification, which is conquering the Zero Mountain Range, can be given as an example.

“It means the target of the naval gun fire could shift from monsters to players or Arcana-ins. Starting anything is hard, but the moment an incident erupts even once? I believe everyone knows what will happen.”

Moreover.

“I believe you also know that Liu Ouzhunchun won’t hesitate to start it. Since the days when Arcana was merely a game, his infamy has been widespread, right?”

Class, Monarch.

Overwhelming violence.

Liu Ouzhunchun was the one who rose to his current position as a tyrant.

It’s the same even after the Great Cataclysm.

No, it would probably be worse if anything.

World Unification remaining in the Arcana database.

You can notice just by looking at the abnormal level distribution of the guild members.

“He forces the sacrifice of others for his goals.”

In World Unification, the number of players whose level growth has completely stopped was innumerable. Would that situation have changed after the Great Cataclysm?

“Monarch is a class with tremendous potential, but it has a huge drawback of not being able to level up easily. But, how is Liu Ouzhunchun? Rather, after the Great Cataclysm, he sharply climbed the rankings. Building a three-way rivalry with Skal and Rox.”

Park Min-jae let out a rotten smile.

“It’s not just Liu Ouzhunchun. Some of the infamous players including Supernova. And even the Arcana-ins. Raymon Sean set the stage for such dangerous guys.”

He’s a bastard no different from a demon, inciting fights.

So now that they realized his hidden intention, there was no time to hesitate.

Park Min-jae said.

“The only one that can stop World Unification is the nation after all.”

“…Are you talking about the Chinese government?”

“Yeah, the whole world has no choice but to step forward and try to persuade them.”

The moment Liu Ouzhunchun pulls the trigger, chaos begins. If they can suppress Liu Ouzhunchun even for a while, they can feel relieved for the time being.

“A branch director meeting for that will start now.”

Park Min-jae looked at the monitor.

Accurately, at Ho-yeol appearing on the screen.

Ho-yeol was just blankly staring at the access device.

Park Min-jae clenched his fists.

‘This time for sure, we will share the burden you possess.’

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Raymon Sean.

The level of his cheap trick is no different from a demon.

Is it thanks to performing many quests more than others.

The hidden meaning contained in the quest was clearly visible.

In a word, it means to fight over the ten access devices.

Just as Granfel said, it was a Great Cataclysm that would be hard to deal with even if united with pride. But instead of helping, he’s planning to sabotage like this?

I recited coldly.

“Is this an imitation of the battle for the Demon King’s throne.”

If you just change the access device to a throne, it would exactly look like the battle for the Demon King’s throne, wouldn’t it? In that sense, Raymon Sean, any room for conversation left with your side has disappeared as of this time.

I declared.

“If so, I too shall consider you as prey.”

Of course, that doesn’t mean I will.

-Enter the Arcana Continent through the access device. (In Progress)

Play along with the quest objective.

With mere letters.

To that side’s cheap trick.

If you think I’ll play along, you’re mistaken.

Because to my eyes that have entered the realm of Anomaly.

It was visible.

The structure of the prototype access device.

What those words mean?

It’s simple.

It means I too have come to be able to tear dimensions like the dragons.

Woooosh!