3.
One of the locations often referred to by players as the Twelfth Fortress.
To NPCs, however, it was known as Calibaron, the Citadel of Knights.
This ironclad stronghold, renowned for producing countless knights, was built around a towering spire that seemed to pierce the heavens. From this spire, the fortress expanded outward like a blooming flower.
Inside this spire, an elegant young man radiating a composed energy and a boy with an ambiguous appearance, who could be mistaken for either male or female, were engrossed in conversation while holding an old, tattered notebook.
"So, Hero Luke, you're saying this is Hindel’s diary? But isn’t reading someone’s diary, even a deceased person’s, a bit... improper?"
"...Plinky, if anyone heard you, they’d get the wrong idea."
"Ooooh! Would they really?"
The boy, called Plinky, feigned innocence and smiled brightly.
Luke, the handsome young man addressed as the "Hero," looked at him with obvious disapproval.
But what could he do?
Scolding his younger companion wouldn’t change anything. Besides, this wasn’t the time to bicker over trivialities.
"Ahem. For the record, this isn’t a diary—it’s a journal. It was written by the former Hero Hindel while he pursued the one known as the Demon King."
"Ooooh! So it’s from the time when Hindel was chasing the former Overlord! No wonder you brought me here after I mentioned Seong. This is what you wanted to show me!"
"...Please refrain from making misleading statements."
Plinky, finally piqued with genuine interest, directed his attention to the journal.
Among its contents, Luke pointed to a specific entry and spoke.
"This location seems promising."
"Oh ho! The ‘Dark Citadel,’ is it? Fascinating!"
"I knew you’d catch on quickly."
"Of course! After all, I am the descendant of the Sage! By the way, isn’t Seong currently in the village of Serdin? That’s what the outsiders call the third village, right? And this Twelfth Village—or rather, fortress—seems connected. And the Dark Citadel, which was in Sermas, is also considered the third village, right?"
Plinky’s words made Luke nod in agreement.
Exactly.
He had wanted to head directly to Serdin to meet Seong.
However, the influential figures of Calibaron had blocked his path to Serdin entirely.
Considering the possibility that Seong might have already moved elsewhere, Luke thought he’d missed his chance.
But upon reading the journal, he deduced that Seong was likely heading toward Sermas instead.
"Hmm, you seem very interested in Seong."
"I can’t help it. After all, the one who killed my ancestor, Hindel, was the Overlord. I need to see what the successor of the Overlord is like."
"Hmm. Are you planning to kill him?"
Plinky’s tone and voice were casual, yet Luke, who knew him well, sensed a clear hostility hidden beneath his words.
Did Plinky suspect Luke harbored thoughts of vengeance against the Overlord?
Perhaps.
But—
"I’m not sure yet."
"Oh?"
"However, I have a duty to uncover the truth of Hindel’s death. From the final tomes I’ve read, there’s something suspicious about Hindel’s death and the deaths of both the former Overlord and the Demon King. I want to know the truth."
"For now, right?"
Plinky’s words were met with a nod, unfiltered and sincere.
Satisfied, Plinky returned to his usual demeanor.
"Well, that’s fair enough."
"Then we’ll head to Sermas. Even if Seong isn’t there, we might uncover traces of Hindel."
"Sounds perfect!"
Their journey decided, the two prepared to set out.
Unbeknownst to them, a translucent, turquoise-tinged ghost shook its head in frustration behind them, mumbling to itself.
"Oh, dear, why are you heading there, young ones...? You should stay here and train quietly... No, and why are you using your sword like that? Instead of training, you wander around all day. Goodness, it’s maddening. Are all youngsters like this nowadays? Well, maybe not, since the Sage’s descendant, Plang, turned out well... Sigh. What sin did I commit to deserve this? Oh, wait, I did commit some sins..."
The ghost’s ramblings were long-winded and full of exasperation.
4.
Sermas.
A mysterious village where three stars perpetually hovered in the sky.
Yet no one seemed to care about the stars.
Players visiting the village had only one goal.
The Canyon of Despair.
For some reason, this area overflowed with dark magic.
Unlike naturally formed canyons, this one bore marks that seemed as though some massive, powerful force had violently ripped the earth apart.
Some players speculated that the canyon was the remnant of a mythical entity from the game’s lore.
When Seong arrived in Sermas, he found himself thinking along similar lines.
"Wow..."
Was this truly the result of Helena tearing out the Dark Citadel?
Could a human even accomplish something like this?
The canyon stretched for several kilometers in width and at least ten kilometers in length.
Knowing it was artificially created didn’t make it any easier to believe.
"No wonder she was treated like a Demon King."
Even with Helena’s memories and experiences within him, Seong couldn’t help but think that way.
It was terrifying.
Regardless, he needed to search the area.
But the sheer scale of the canyon made the task daunting.
"Finding this is like looking for a needle in a haystack."
Although the size of the area meant players were scattered and attention wasn’t focused on him, it didn’t make the task any easier.
As Seong sighed in frustration, his inventory suddenly opened on its own.
Before he could react, a message appeared.
[The ‘Unknown Note’ wishes to leave your inventory.]
"Huh?"
The note wanted to leave the inventory?
Clearly an event-related message.
When Seong took the note out, it began to glow and folded itself.
Slowly, it took the shape of a paper bird.
Flapping its delicate wings, the paper bird floated into the air and gestured with its beak, pointing toward a specific direction.
Was it guiding him somewhere?
"Oh."
Fascinated by the sight, Seong immediately used the flight ability tied to his Anemore Slayer title.
He avoided using Anemore itself to avoid drawing attention.
As the paper bird flapped its wings, guiding him, it wasn’t long before nuisances appeared.
"Kehehehehe!"
"Kikikiki!"
Winged imps with membranous wings started to chase after him.
Seong hesitated, then smiled.
It was the perfect chance to test Fiora.
"Fiora, think you can handle them?"
Fiora, now fully corporeal, appeared from the void, landing on Seong’s shoulder.
"H-Huh? Y-Yes! I-I’ll try my best!"
Despite her timid voice, Seong knew better.
Behind her hesitance lay overwhelming skill.
Fiora transformed her form, and droplets of liquid launched at the imps, spinning at high velocity. Only Seong could track their movements.
With a faint "Pew! Pew!", the attack struck.
[Critical Hit!] ×2
[You’ve gained experience points!] ×2
A death notification appeared.
In an instant, the imps that had been cackling gleefully dropped lifelessly, their eyes losing all light as they plummeted from the sky.
It all happened in the blink of an eye.
As the imps fell—
"Kikik?"
"Kik?"
"Kehk?"
"Kerehk?"
The other imps observing the scene looked on in confusion.
What exactly had just happened?
The two had confidently flown forward, laughing obnoxiously, only to lose balance and crash down.
From the perspective of the remaining imps, that’s all they saw.
Unaware of what had caused this, the rest of the imps began crawling out one by one.
Spreading their wings, they left the forest and flew toward Seong.
The sight was reminiscent of a swarm of locusts.
The sky quickly darkened as countless imps filled the air, forming a massive black horde.
But amidst the swarm, something bright streaked through the air at incredible speed.
Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!
Tiny sounds echoed here and there.
And with each sound, imps began raining from the sky.
Even Seong, who had a front-row view, couldn’t help but be astonished by the spectacle.
The sheer number of experience points flooding in was surprising enough, but watching the imps fall like rain was even more shocking.
"Is this... okay?"
If other players saw this, wouldn’t they find it suspicious?
The ability was so powerful that even Seong himself started to worry about how it might look.
There were no visible traces or effects of an area-of-effect skill.
Yet the results were unmistakable.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud.
Imps kept falling in droves, crashing to the ground.
Their descent resembled an all-out assault.
The players below couldn’t help but curse aloud at the chaotic scene.
"What the hell!? Who’s the crazy bastard flying in the sky!?"
"Did they use a flight skill? Here, of all places?"
"Ugh! If they want to pull aggro, they should do it alone! Why’d they make all the imps fly up and target us too!?"
"For real! Should we just kill that guy too?"
Annoyed players vented their frustration as the imps swarmed toward them.
But something seemed... off.
Normally, the imps would have been cackling and laughing obnoxiously as they attacked.
But they weren’t.
Their approach felt strange.
"Th-that’s weird."
"Huh? Wh-what?"
"W-wait a second...?"
"??????"
It didn’t take long for everyone to realize something was wrong.
The imps weren’t attacking.
Instead, their lifeless bodies rained down, hitting the ground with wet thuds, leaving bloodstains behind.
Each one had a tiny hole in its head.
The imps hadn’t been alive when they charged.
Was it even possible to make so many imps fall like rain?
At first, the players thought it was the work of an overconfident idiot with a high-level job class.
And to an extent, they were right.
But when they saw how this person handled all the aggro alone—
"...????"
"W-what the hell...???"
"D-did we just witness that???"
"I-is that even possible at our level???"
"I don’t f*ing know!!! If I knew, I’d be doing it too!!!"**
"Hey, weren’t you the one who said we should kill that guy earlier???"
"P-please shut up."
The players who had witnessed the scene stood in stunned silence, unable to process what they had just seen.
Curiosity flickered in their minds—how much experience did he gain from all that?
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But none of them dared approach.
Unaware of the lingering shock among the other players, Seong smiled in satisfaction, pleased with the hefty experience gains.
[Level Up!] ×3
[You’ve reached Level 78.]
That was more than enough.
"Fiora, good job."
"Heheh."
Seong lightly patted Fiora on the head, rewarding her for her outstanding performance.
Satisfied, he turned his attention back to the paper bird fluttering beside him.
"Shall we get going again?"
Flap-flap-flap-flap!
At his question, the paper bird nodded vigorously, flapping its wings even more fervently than before, as if it were trying to appear more polite.
"Why is it acting like that?"
Seong wondered briefly but didn’t dwell on it.
All that mattered was that it led him to his destination.