Chapter 17

◈ Chapter 17. A Drop in Class (1)

Shining and Heaven's Unification.

The clash for the title of the world's strongest, taking place in the Rift.

The victor was Shining.

[Shining, successful raid on 'Count Ascura's confidant'...]

[Player ranking 2nd, Rox, finally reaches the 400-level mark... just 2 levels behind the 1st-ranked, Scare.]

[Experts daily, "Jesse Hainess played a significant role."]

What determined the victory or defeat of the two guilds was Count Ascura's confidant.

A demon monster of no less than level 390.

Due to the characteristic of demons to inflict status ailments,

there were few players who could stand up to Count Ascura's confidant.

Shining, which had four players in the top 10 rankings, had resistance against it, but Heaven's Unification, with a relatively lower average level, did not.

"Hmm."

Shining, who had defended the title of the world's strongest.

However, the guild master, Rox, showed no sign of joy. After all, what awaited him upon escaping the Rift was a completely unexpected turn of events.

"What is that? What do you all think?"

Base camp, master's room.

There, four people, including Rox, were gathered.

A project screen filled the wall.

A black man watching the video said,

"I don't know, Rox?"

Player ranking 8th, Dmitri.

He found this precious time to be a waste.

Just an hour ago, he had been rolling around in the Rift.

Suddenly, a meeting?

"Rox, a man like you, with a line of women, can't understand my desperation. How did I manage to get this date? How did I catch up on lost time in my busy life? You're going to ruin all that hard work for some guy?"

Dmitri's frustration was directed at the man in the video.

A man in a long coat with silver hair.

When the man gestured, walls and pillars sprang up in the square.

Player ranking 7th, Camilla, spoke.

"Well~ I can't tell even if I look at it~"

She twirled her long, red hair.

Then she got up from the sofa where she had been leaning.

"Do you really think he's that impressive to make us pay attention? Really?"

Rox didn't answer.

It wasn't because the man was impressive.

It was just annoying.

"Maybe it's jealousy?"

"Jealousy? Our leader is greedy~"

"Rox, it's common. The media hyping up some no-name newbie. It's all about ratings and views. They're obsessed with creating stars."

Dmitri was right.

There were countless players who had appeared like comets and then disappeared without a trace.

Just those who had died in the Rift, thinking they were something, must number in the hundreds.

'But why on this particular day?'

Well, it was a surprising debut.

Starting with his attire.

But that was all.

It was to be expected.

Player ranking 2nd, Rox.

Ranking 1st, Scare, and he had seen far more monstrous things than this.

Still, a sword that changes shape... that caught his interest.

"If there's nothing else, I'll go?"

At that moment, Camilla and Dmitri got up.

"I booked the entire hotel lounge today. No refunds. I need to make this date work, really."

"I'll check it out too~ Leader~ Don't be so sensitive~"

Goodbye, our pretty one.

While Rox was distracted, the two of them bolted.

Now only one person remained.

Player ranking 4th, Jesse Hainess.

"......?"

Rox tilted his head. Jesse Hainess was staring intently at the man in the video, a look he had never seen before.

Yes, just a few hours ago.

Even when hunting monsters in the Rift, he had never seen that bright, focused gaze.

Rox asked cautiously,

"......Why? Do you know something, Jesse?"

"......It's really interesting."

"Interesting? It's more surprising that you're saying that?"

Is there something to pay attention to?

He asked, wanting to know the reason.

But there was no answer.

Jesse was too absorbed to respond.

'What kind of skill is that?'

Class: Mage.

One of the most common classes, but Jesse was special.

Among players of the same class,

he was the only one who could undertake the class quest.

Jesse was in the middle of the Mage class quest.

Through this quest, Jesse had felt, understood, and learned countless Arcana spells. But the magic displayed in the video was...

'Something different.'

It was definitely different.

The biggest difference was that no incantation was used.

Of course, he could cast spells without incantations too.

But the efficiency was much lower.

The mana consumption increased, and the effect weakened.

But the man in the video...

'There's none of that!'

Or maybe it was the opposite.

If the efficiency was low but still produced such an effect,

how high must his mana be?

Jesse's eyes sparkled with curiosity.

It irritated Rox even more.

"......?!"

At that moment,

a subtitle about the man flashed across the screen.

[Mysterious player, "It's too informal... I won't answer questions."]

...Did he really say that?

Rox was shocked.

Even someone as arrogant as Rox, who would be second to none in arrogance,

had never even imagined such a haughty statement.

'...What kind of lunatic is this?'

Not only did his victory and 400-level achievement get overshadowed,

but Jesse was showing interest.

And his personality was so outrageous that even Rox was speechless.

There were more than a few unbelievable points.

.

.

.

Yes, it was a shocking debut.

The appearance of the mysterious player, Ho-yeol, was nothing short of shocking.

-Is this real lol The scale of the magic is insane

-Check out 7:10, he just stands there lol

-His gaze... I'm trembling just watching him

What caused the biggest buzz was Ho-yeol's actions.

There were even programs analyzing every move he made.

"Here, you can see he's completely unarmed."

"Really, he's wearing a suit under the long coat?"

"Can't see any accessories on his fingers, neck, or ears."

"So he cast that magic completely bare-handed?"

"Does that make sense? Mr. Park Nam-bong?"

Because his shabby armor didn't match the formality.

He simply didn't wear accessories because he didn't have any.

"His ability to assess the situation is also outstanding. He recognized the problem with the enemies' mobility and immediately changed the terrain."

"Looking back, it was a close call."

"His quick judgment saved Gaon and Inazuma."

He had no intention of saving anyone.

To the extent of applying the law of action and reaction.

He just did his best.

"Furthermore, here. From here, he just stands and watches. This is definitely consideration. Gaon and Inazuma, go ahead and fight properly. That's the feeling."

"Consideration? In the Rift?"

"Yes, it's an action that can't be explained otherwise. This is."

It wasn't consideration but mana exhaustion.

But only Ho-yeol knew that.

Even a standout ranker couldn't tell.

At the base camp of the guild, Berserker.

Swish─

Leoni threw the blanket she was covering herself with into the air and shouted,

"Damn! Didn't I tell you? I said he's not ordinary?!"

"Sis. I get it. Calm down and cover up. You'll catch a cold."

"But what about this? Do I have no eyes? Damn, should I flip everything over?"

At the guild, Inazuma.

"That silver-haired guy is Korean...?"

"In this situation, we must bring him to our side."

"Hisagi Kazuma. I will carry out the mission."

Even the Nam brothers of Gaon.

"He should have convinced me by grabbing my collar."

"Phew─ Yeah, it's my mistake. Not recognizing such potential."

"......But even when I look again, he's informal, isn't he?"

"That's right. This isn't an interview, it's a market."

"Your eyebrows are trembling, you must have held back a lot. I almost misunderstood. I thought you were saying he's informal because you're a barbarian."

"......That might not be entirely wrong."

"What? Even you, bro?!"

The trembling of his eyebrows was also a symptom of mana exhaustion, but...

no one would notice that.

In any case, interest in Ho-yeol seemed unlikely to wane anytime soon.

Especially in Korea, no matter which channel you tuned to, the talk was all about the mysterious player, Ho-yeol.

And such an atmosphere...

was the best time for the devil to move.

[The Castle of the Ascura Family]

[Recommended Level: Lv.400~450]

[Collapse Progress: 100%]

"......What, what? It was definitely 90% just now?!"

"Everyone, get away!!"

"Stay as far away as possible!!"

The collapse progress reached 100%.

The Rift collapsed, and the castle appeared in reality.

The vampire, Count Ascura.

He had revealed himself in Russia.

It was a sudden collapse.

The screen immediately switched, and the anchor reported the breaking news.

When the new Rift was updated,

the most feared scenario came to pass.

"Guilds from around the world are gathering around the castle. Shining's guild master, Rox, has announced that he will enter the castle without delay..."

But Ho-yeol had anticipated such a development.

-Vampires can share their powers through blood. Of course, they can also收回已分享的能力。所以，不要掉以轻心。

-所以，他没有掉以轻心。

汗湿的身体。

再次堆满桌子的纸团。

甚至状态窗口。

[名字：Grandfel Claudius Arpeus Romeo]

[职业：恶魔猎手]

[等级：100]

[属性]

力量：27 / 敏捷：33 / 魔力：51 / 幸运：2

[可用点数：0]

证据随处可见。

为了保持高傲而不沉沦，

天鹅从不休息它的腿。

*

日夜苦读。

我努力积累关于阿卡纳的知识。

毕竟，我有12年的空白期。

但即使是我也能轻易察觉到情况的严重性。这是常识。在攻城战中，防守方有优势。

……更何况这在心理上也会让人感到压抑？

阿斯库拉伯爵家的城堡。

光是看着就让人感到宏伟的规模。

“如果迷路了，那可就麻烦了。”

“先派侦察队如何？”

“……不，对手不是那么轻易就能对付的，我们不能分散主力。”

那扇城门大开着。

仿佛在欢迎入侵者。

因此，大多数玩家都在入口处等待。

咔哒─

然而，我正向前走去。

被那宏伟的气势压倒了吗？

幸或不幸，这并没有发生。

毕竟，我黑历史中的克劳迪家族宅邸，

比这城堡还要广阔得多。

我环视着城堡内部，说道：

“连躲藏的地方都显得狭小。阿斯库拉。”

我更加自信地补充道：

“然而，这对你来说已经太过分了。”

仿佛听到了我的声音，

嘎吱─

花园中的一座雕像开始移动。

……很大。至少有10米高。

那巨大的怪兽雕像活了过来，向我走来。

然而，我没有逃跑或躲避。

只是笔直地站在原地，

仔细观察着雕像的表面。

我随即开口说道：

“无论是材料、质感、深度，还是形态，都是劣质的雕像。你竟然把这种垃圾雕像当作骄傲，放在花园里。”

格兰德费尔挑剔的审美观如此说道。

是的，我也有同感。

虽然其他方面我不太懂，但“材料”这一项，

“我建造和摧毁的墙壁和柱子有多少？”

用石头雕刻的石像。

对我来说，这再普通不过了。

这意味着使用「探索」和「干涉」不需要特别的努力。

咔嚓─!

（Note: The last part of the translation was cut off due to the original text being incomplete. The last sentence should be: "The statue began to crumble."）