"Huff! Huff! Huff!"
Panting hard, I hid myself behind a boulder.
A massive avalanche swept across the entire snowy field.
"Thank goodness! It's passed!"
Kancho pressed a hand to his chest, gasping.
Momo, who had been watching him, shot her hand up.
"Momo has a question!"
"What is it?"
"Kancho didn't even run, so why is he out of breath?"
Kancho's ears twitched as he stared blankly at her.
Normally, he would've scolded her to be quiet, but not this time.
"Now that you mention it, you're right. I just thought the Captain would feel lonely being the only one struggling."
"Then Momo wants to do it too! Huff! Huff! Huff!"
"Good idea! Now it really feels like we all sprinted with our eyebrows flying!"
Jinhyuk gazed at Kancho and Momo with misty eyes.
He was the one whose eyebrows nearly flew off from running, yet… why were they panting?
The thought flickered briefly, but their effort to join him was touching enough to let it go.
"Alright then. Shall we go look for traces?"
"Let's gooo!"
The snowfield had gone quiet, as if the avalanche had never happened.
Crossing it and heading downhill, a large cave appeared.
A cavern made of ice, reflecting the falling sunlight like a giant crystal.
Seira approached and reached out toward the cave.
"I know this place. When enough harsh cold accumulates, a monster awakens here — Zergan, the Frost Nest Serpent."
"A nest? Sounds kinda dragon-like."
"It's not dragon-class, but it was strong enough to dominate this entire region. The Black Knight Order came to subjugate it once."
Seira lifted Tarkan.
Jinhyuk drew Ganjangmakya and Salamanca, following behind her.
Not a dragon, yet strong enough to have a nest.
It might even breathe some kind of frost breath.
"I don't feel any signs yet."
"It's a deep cave. It may still be asleep."
"If it's sleeping, I'll shove a huge lump of explosive clay right up its nose. No matter how strong it is, if it explodes inside its nostrils, it'll be easy as eating pudding!"
Ugh. Explosive clay in the nose?
Just imagining it painted a horrifying picture.
But it wasn't a bad strategy.
With Kancho's stealth and suppressed presence, the monster would never notice him.
Even if it didn't kill it outright, it'd deal a serious blow.
"The cave is pretty!"
Momo stroked the icy wall.
Being inside a natural ice cave felt like standing inside a sparkling jewelry box.
"A little further in and we'll reach the nest."
"Wait a second. Kancho and I will go ahead first."
"No need to worry, Seira. I will protect the Captain!"
They hid their presence and slipped inside.
Soon, a wide chamber opened before them.
Jinhyuk pressed himself against the wall and checked the interior—then released his stealth.
"Come iiiin!!"
Moments later, Seira and the others arrived.
Contrary to their worries, there were no monsters.
The only thing there was the skeleton of some enormous creature, long dead.
"The bones really do look like a small dragon."
"I think it would've been super scary!"
While Kancho shivered, Elia approached him.
"You should be scared. You guys would've been nothing more than a single bite."
"Huh?"
Kancho froze on the spot as Elia walked past him to Seira.
"You guys subjugated this one, right?"
Seira examined the bones briefly and shook her head.
"Back then, we took the corpse with us. Everyone wanted Zergan's body."
"Then this one is…?"
"It means someone else subjugated it. Not once, but multiple times."
Seira pointed to the ground.
There lay hundreds of sword marks.
She traced them one by one, then spoke.
"The Order was disbanded. No one had any obligation to come back here."
"The Black Knight Order did this?"
"One of the knights. Also the owner of one of the three swords."
A faint smile formed on Seira's lips.
His name was Sein Ardan.
Sein was always quieter than others—when someone joked with him, he would only smile gently and say nothing more.
A knight who couldn't overlook injustice and never passed by anyone in need.
That was why, Seira thought.
Even after the Order disbanded, even without being hired, he came here time and time again to slay Zergan.
Jinhyuk stepped inside the huge bones of the creature.
After a moment of searching, he noticed an object casually lying deep within.
Part of a sword hilt—its shape very familiar.
He took out his phone and opened his gallery.
'Identical.'
Old and worn, but its shape and color matched the sword in the picture exactly.
Ping!
[You have discovered a fragment of Raven, the Thunderbolt Sword!]
[You have cleared Floor 7 of the Mythic Tower!]
[Condition to enter Floor 8 of the Mythic Tower: Obtain one of the Three Swords.]
[An old memory is replayed.]
Light seeped out of the sword hilt, enveloping Jinhyuk and his party.
First to appear was a small, childlike Zergan.
"Scary!"
Jinhyuk gently patted Momo, who covered her eyes.
"It's okay. It's fake."
Soon, footsteps echoed through the cave.
A middle-aged knight appeared—Seira's eyes widened.
Of course they did.
It was a comrade she hadn't seen in so long.
"Heh. Revived again? Aren't you tired of this?"
There was no fierce battle.
Lightning flowed from the sword—then in the blink of an eye, Zergan was cleaved clean in two.
Time within the memory skipped forward.
The chilling cold accumulated again, and Zergan revived.
Soon, Sein appeared again.
Enough time had passed since the first subjugation that even Jinhyuk could tell.
As before, he slew Zergan and left the cave.
Then again. And again.
And the final visit.
This time, the battle dragged on.
Sein was visibly older than before.
Crack.
Perhaps the sword had aged along with its master.
Right after defeating Zergan, a fissure spread across the blade.
Then, the Thunderbolt Sword, Raven, shattered into pieces and fell to the ground.
Sein picked up the fragments and wrapped them in cloth, smiling bittersweetly.
"I suppose this is the end of our long feud."
He chuckled, then stood.
A part of the hilt slipped out from between the cloth without him noticing.
Leaving the fallen Zergan behind, Sein walked out of the cave.
And that was the last memory.
Judging from the way the bones lay, Zergan never revived after that.
'So even until the end… you remained a knight of the Black Order.'
The others didn't notice, but Seira saw it clearly.
From the first appearance to the last, he wore the cloak bearing the Black Knight Order's insignia.
[You are exiting Floor 7 of the Mythic Tower.]
A few days later.
[You have cleared Floor 54 of the Tower of Despair!]
Jinhyuk stretched as he stepped out of the tower.
Another effortless clear today.
'Man, my level really isn't going up anymore.'
Current level: 75.
Four floors cleared, and barely one level gained.
The dopamine rush he got from the Imoogi achievement had drained significantly.
'Well… this is normal.'
He scratched his head.
Players who reached Floor 54 were usually in their early–mid 50s.
Coming in at mid-70s meant experience gain would naturally be low.
"Let's finish packing!"
"Hurry, hurry! Momo's clothes too!"
Kancho and Momo dashed to their rooms excitedly.
"Hm. Should I wear a kimono? And wooden geta sandals?"
Elia hummed in front of the mirror.
"You have a kimono?"
"Not yet… but I'll have one soon. Right?"
A blatant request for him to buy it.
Jinhyuk rubbed his chin.
"We're going to Kyoto, so they'll sell plenty of pretty ones."
The Matsuna clan was based in Kyoto.
According to NewTube, Kyoto even had tourist spots where you could rent kimonos and walk around.
Since they'd be there anyway, he figured they could all get dressed up in a secluded area and enjoy the scenery.
"Nice, nice. I'm looking forward to it."
"I also found a hot spring. It's great for your skin."
"Oho."
Elia rummaged through her bag and pulled out a reddish potion bottle.
"And if I add a gloss-enhancing agent to this, the effect will be perfect."
"What's it made of?"
"Finely ground basilisk poison fangs."
"Confiscated."
He quickly snatched the bottle and stuffed it into his inventory.
No way was she going to turn Kyoto's natural hot springs into a toxin bath.
"Seira, Dark—are you guys packed?"
"Everything. I only own three outfits anyway."
"I have two."
Jinhyuk swallowed hard.
They hadn't said it with any particular intention, but somehow he felt guilty.
"Let's buy clothes in Kyoto. Lots of them."
"I want something like this."
Dark pointed at a flamboyant Hawaiian-style shirt one might only wear in Southeast Asia or Hawaii.
Still—if he liked it, Jinhyuk would buy plenty.
Ding-dong.
The doorbell chimed brightly.
Everyone scrambled, shoving luggage into Momo's inventory.
He pretended not to notice chips, cheese snacks, or spam rolling in.
He opened the door.
Jin Seo-hee removed her sunglasses and greeted him lightly.
"Good morning."
"Good morning. Are you ready for Japan?"
Jinhyuk, carrying nothing more than a single large backpack, nodded.
Seo-hee blinked.
"That's all you're bringing?"
"Yeah. I don't have much to pack."
He had packed "lightly," meaning a 28-inch suitcase.
People really were different.
"Shall we go?"
"Let's."
After checking his passport once more, he stepped outside.
He'd deal with the Raven hilt fragment using the Yordle Compass after returning from the exchange event.
Inside the elevator, Seo-hee let out a quiet sigh.
"You remember my older sister, right? She's coming to this exchange event too. If she says weird stuff, just ignore her."
"You two aren't close?"
"Not at all."
Her eyes widened, radiating raw sincerity.
He made a silent vow not to joke about the subject.
"Oh? Seo-hee, did you change cars?"
A luxury SUV waited outside her building.
Last time, she'd driven a sleek sports car.
"That? No, that car's always been around."
"How many cars do you have…?"
"About seven, give or take."
"Oh."
She said it so casually that Jinhyuk was reminded once again.
People like her lived in a completely different world.
'Maybe… one wouldn't be a bad idea.'
Sinking into the soft seat, he pondered.
He had enough money now—maybe he should buy himself a car.
His father insisted a tractor was all he needed, but he couldn't exactly drive one through Hannam-dong.
With a heavy growl of the engine, the car pulled out of the parking lot.
Sunlight poured down, and fresh air drifted in through the window.
A perfect day to head to the exchange event.
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T/N:
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