True Glory
The strongest man on Earth, Gracia.
He strolled down a street in Eunpyeong District late in the evening.
A place where several buildings had been smashed apart by a Giant Mantis.
And in this place, Hydragon had appeared as well.
I don't know them.
During the interview, reporter Kim Hana answered right away, saying she had no connection with Hydragon's master.
In the end, there was no way other than for Gracia himself to come to the scene.
'I have to find them.'
What he was looking for wasn't Phantom.
He was searching for a player who was said to have possessed Hydragon's soul in the past, back in Pangaenia.
No, to be more precise, he was looking for Hydragon's soul.
'No matter what, I must find it, and recover Hydragon's soul.'
Suaaah!
Golden light shimmered and surged upward.
A pale mist and crackling electricity swirled around his entire body as he descended.
Soon, thousands of swords appeared in the air and lined up in perfect order.
All of them famed blades worthy of being called treasures.
Whoooosh!
With a sweep of his hand, the thousands of swords spun through the air.
Gracia grabbed one among them.
'True Abyss Tracker's Sword.'
If a title at the level of an ultimate art was tied to proficiency, or to a limit-breaking option,
then a title named "True" maximized a piece of equipment's special performance.
The Abyss Tracker's Sword was a sword taken by killing one of the rulers of the abyss. It was strengthened to the extreme and elevated in rank.
And so, this sword could pierce even 'Safe Zones' and track any target.
Of course, you needed a clue to track.
A hair, or a fingernail, something like that.
The more concrete the clue, the farther, the more precisely it found the target.
'Wish Orb.'
An orange orb with a white star drawn on it floated in the air.
This too was taken by killing an Imoogi right before it became a dragon.
It was an orb that granted the user's wish by making it as concrete as possible.
If the wish was simple and trivial, it granted it for sure, but if it was complex, or likely to become complex, it had the drawback of being unable to concretize it.
For example, instantly killing a target of level 10 or below right in front of you.
A simple 'wish' like that was a treasure it could easily fulfill.
It took a month to charge a single wish, but this wasn't a time to be sparing.
"Find everything around here related to the man in this photo."
Gracia pulled out a photo of the one presumed to be Hydragon's master.
He planned to find evidence with the Wish Orb, then plant that evidence into the True Abyss Tracker's Sword to locate the target.
Before long, the Wish Orb flared red, then—bang!—it burst.
Whiiik! Whiiik!
The star that shot out of the Wish Orb began to spin around the area.
"Hmm..."
No matter how much time passed, the star couldn't find anything.
But this was the scene of the incident.
Even the tiniest clue should have come out. If nothing else, there should have been footprints.
It was extremely rare for the Wish Orb to fail to find even a speck of evidence despite such a plainly simple wish.
'They weren't in a transcended state from consuming stars.'
When the target of the wish was a transcendence.
In that case, the Wish Orb couldn't touch even a single strand of hair.
But Gracia could distinguish between those who had transcended and those who had not.
Hydragon's master, from the video, was clearly not in a transcended state.
If they weren't a transcendence yet still couldn't be targeted by the Wish Orb, it meant they were likely avoiding it by some other method.
'A super high-grade skill that evades tracking, or privileges similar to a guardian wall.'
Even that possibility was vanishingly low.
No one would train a tracking-evasion skill to the highest grade just to avoid being tracked.
Privileges that made someone 'immune' to everything below a certain level, like a guardian wall, were the same.
Still, even a guardian wall only went up to level 10.
To not be a target of the Wish Orb, you had to be transcended, unless the guardian wall was level 11, it was impossible.
Even after using a precious Wish Orb, he couldn't find a single mote.
'...If I evaporate all of Eunpyeong District, the bastard should show himself.'
Gracia's eyes turned cold.
That was when it happened.
[The hall of fame ranking for Main Quest 4 has been updated.]
Gracia frowned.
If the ranking didn't change, this message wouldn't appear.
And lately, Gracia had already seen this message for the fourth time.
There was only one culprit.
<1st, ??? points. Randolph>
<2nd, 200 points. Gracia>
<3rd, 191 points. Mintchocoisdelicious>
<4th, 180 points. Black Jade>
<5th, 170 points. Barmush>
....
<
"...Phantom."
Randolph. That guy was definitely Phantom.
If not, there was no way he could keep dragging him down like this in a row.
'Question marks?'
But the score was strange.
??? points. He'd never seen a score displayed like that before.
Was it so high that it couldn't even be confirmed?
Just how many points did you need for your score to show up as question marks?
'What in the world are you doing?'
Ding! Ding!
That was when it happened.
The sound of bells ringing.
When Gracia turned his gaze, skeletal reapers in black cloaks, holding scythes, were approaching while shaking black bells in the air.
"...To chase me even outside Pangaenia, it looks like a 'fissure' really is about to open."
They were reapers.
Persistent bastards that hunted down 'players' to kill them.
They'd only appeared in Pangaenia until now, but they had come crashing into reality too.
It had to be the influence of the coming 'fissure.'
Gracia brought his hands together in prayer.
Huaaaaaaaang-!!
Thousands of swords merged, raising a colossal pillar of Light.
***
Serengeti closed her eyes again.
The vicious curse of the Demon King was activating once more.
Hudson clenched Serengeti's hand tightly until the end. And beside them, Marquis Weiser watched the two with an expression so complicated it was hard to describe.
"...Void."
It was a feeling he couldn't put into words.
He had heard directly from Serengeti's own mouth that she'd even held a secret engagement ceremony with that guy who looked like nothing.
He barely managed not to collapse while clutching the back of his neck.
"Marquis. To rebuild and stabilize the warp, we'll need at least five million gold."
Hudson's eyes glittered.
They were at a dead end anyway. There was no retreat left.
"You're telling me to sell Serengeti for twenty million gold?"
"Weren't you already trying to sell her to Duke Cyan?"
"That story is over. It's not something that can be undone. If Duke Cyan finds out, you'll disappear without a trace."
He'd already promised Duke Cyan.
The power of Duke Cyan, who held three major cities, was second only to the king.
A mere merchant with some money couldn't stand against Duke Cyan.
And if he learned about the secret engagement ceremony, neither Marquis Weiser nor this city's safety could be guaranteed.
"Does the duke have 'Maxim' under him?"
I cut into their argument.
A completely different topic, but still.
Hudson answered.
"Do you mean Maxim, one of the Eight Heroes?"
"Yeah."
"He likely inherited one of Duke Cyan's territories and is training as a successor now."
Maxim?
'He rose high.'
Called one of the Eight Heroes, training as Duke Cyan's successor. Becoming master of a major city, what greater rise could there be?
'A mere mercenary, now the master of a major city.'
A mere mercenary.
Maxim had been the leader of the mercenary corps I hired during the great expedition. I paid a fortune, and he was the first trash to run away.
And now that guy was strutting around as one of the Eight Heroes, catching Duke Cyan's eye, and even becoming master of a major city.
'No idea what the criteria for the Eight Heroes is.'
Maybe it's in order of who ran away first?
But among the Eight Heroes, 'Gracia' was included too.
Gracia didn't even participate in the great expedition. If he had, there was no way I wouldn't know. He'd been the number one target for recruitment.
I want to cut off the wrist that sent him a love call thinking he was a named NPC.
Anyway, even so, Gracia was openly going around calling himself one of the Eight Heroes.
Even in reality.
Was he trying to provoke me?
'Maybe he wants me to show up.'
There was no way I'd buy that nonsense about holding hands and 'cooperating.'
When I played as Wilhelm, Gracia's route had never overlapped with mine even once. Meaning he'd deliberately avoided me.
And that Gracia started spouting nonsense the moment Wilhelm died.
He talks about cooperation, but there's more than enough chance it's a scheme to suppress me now that I just became a player, or to kill me.
The ones who defile Wilhelm's achievements, the glory that should have been shared with the great knights.
Even the guy who ran away first in the great expedition, and the one who didn't even participate, are doing that.
If it had been the five hundred knights enshrined in the monument, I could have understood. If only that were the case, it would've been fine even if Wilhelm's name wasn't in that seat of glory.
'They're bastards I inevitably have to beat down.'
No matter how I think about it, even if I concede a hundred, a thousand times, it doesn't change the fact I have to beat them down.
'The easiest among them is Maxim.'
The most pathetic of the Eight Heroes is Maxim.
I slowly turned my back and headed out the door.
Then Hudson asked,
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to hold a proper memorial ceremony."
"Pardon?"
"Five hundred knights. Compensate their families ten thousand gold each."
"...Me?"
"The servant's money is the master's money."
"No, that's... huh?"
Does it work like that?
Hudson was dumbfounded at the attitude, like I'd already deposited money with him.
But what could he do?
"...."
There was no point saying more to someone who was already gone.
Besides, he'd said what he'd said.
"...."
***
"...They fought bravely. Back to back, they never retreated even an inch against the ruthless demon race."
In front of the monument.
The people of the city gathered to mourn.
I lifted a worn old book.
"This book is the memoir left by the Knight King. In it are the records of the great expedition. He left, without missing a single word, the greatness of the knights whose names are engraved here."
A memoir left by the Knight King.
Of course, something like that didn't exist.
"James, Noah, Lucas, Jacob..."
I recited the five hundred names one by one.
Without a single exception, I had them all memorized and spoke them aloud.
"And up to Zion. Their glory must be passed down to future generations. The true heroes are not those called the Eight Heroes. These, who quietly held their ground even without anyone recognizing them, are the true heroes."
"Zion...!"
An old woman clutched her chest and wept.
May. The woman I had carried to the shelter.
To her, who couldn't accept her son's death, I coldly delivered reality.
"As the successor of the Knight King, I offer my condolences for their glorious deaths. For the eternal rest of heroes who will never return, I will bury them forever in my heart."
I bowed deeply toward the monument.
But what was this raw ache rising in my chest?
'James, Noah, Lucas, Jacob, Zion....'
Once again, I repeated the five hundred names one by one.
Etching them deep into my mind.
"Five hundred knights enter eternal rest."
"Honor has increased by 50."
"Achievement 'True Glory' has been attained."
"The hatching rate of 'Heavenly Spirit Egg' increases."
"A waypoint for 'Garden of Knights' has been created in the 'Teleport Book.'"
***
"...I was glad to see you again, my friend!"
"Next time, I'll come visit you."
"Haha! A friend is welcome anytime!"
I hurriedly saw off the High Dryad and the Dryads.
Even though they'd only stayed in the city for a day, they looked utterly worn out, like they might die any moment.
After sending the Dryads away the next day through the Teleport Book, I finally turned my attention to the new 'privileges' that had appeared.
"'Secret Auction House'"
"'Golden Rule Shop'"
Two commands that let me buy something.
I opened the 'Golden Rule Shop,' the one on the bottom.
"The Golden Rule Shop has opened."
"The remaining time of the Golden Rule available in the shop is 140h 36m."
"The number of 'lists' you can view changes depending on your hall of fame rank."
"1st place is granted 10 lists, and down to 5th place the lists decrease by one each. From 6th to 10th place you can view 5 lists, from 11th to 100th place 4 lists, and outside the top 100 you can view 3 lists."
"The Golden Rule Shop refreshes every 30 days, and refreshing consumes 10h of Golden Rule."
"By the right of 1st place, you can view 10 lists."
A shop where you could buy something using Fragment of the Broken Golden Rule!
'140 hours.'
Thanks to the 'large fragment' I got from clearing Main Quest 4, my remaining time was well over a hundred hours.
I wouldn't be able to spend it all, but honestly, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited to see what I could buy.
I narrowed my eyes and focused on the Golden Rule Shop lists.
"An egg of an unknown mythical species 300h (remaining stock: 1)"
"A blessing-infused top-tier elixir 30h (remaining stock: 9)"
"Omni Core 50h (remaining stock: 4)"
"Great Cataclysm Talisman 60h (remaining stock: 5)"
"Moonlight Butterfly Talisman 40h (remaining stock: 3)"
"Golden Branch 100h (remaining stock: 10)"
"White King's Fang 1,000h (remaining stock: 1)"
"Eldritch's Cursed Black Grimoire 600h (remaining stock: 1)"
"Holy Grail of the Earth God 500h (remaining stock: 1)"
"Dragon's Heart 2,000h (remaining stock: 1)"
"Cough! Keheok!"
The instant I saw the list, I choked.
For a moment, I doubted my own eyes.
'Why is that here...?'