10. Arcana Online

10. Arcana Online10. Arcana Online

"I guess it's time to leave the village now."

About two weeks have passed since I started living in the starting village, Cradle.

If I clear a few more quests, I'll reach level 15 and be able to leave the village.

Every day, I received training from Uncle Charles and helped Bell unni with the inn work.

On top of that, I also accepted and cleared quests from the villagers.

If I could have hunted, I would have graduated in a few days, but because I couldn't hunt, it took ages.

Well, living in the village wasn't bad, and above all, I was happy to have Yong-yong by my side.

Today too, after receiving training from Uncle Charles and helping Bell unni finish the inn work, I finally returned to my room.

Lying on the bed, I was looking up at the starry night sky visible through the window.

Numerous stars were shining, creating a beautiful spectacle. When was the last time I looked up at the sky?

In reality, I was always too busy surviving to look up, always walking with my eyes on the ground, but now I'm living while looking at the sky. It feels strange somehow.

While admiring the night sky, I looked at Yong-yong beside me.

Our cute Yong-yong.

It's eating the magic stones I received as quest rewards. Is it really that delicious?

"Do you like magic stones that much?"

At that moment, something unexpected happened.

"Kyuung."

I thought I heard wrong.

Yong-yong, who hadn't said a word until now, spoke for the first time.

And with such an incredibly cute sound.

Thinking I must have heard wrong, I sat up abruptly and asked again.

"W-what did you just say?"

"Kyuung?"

I felt a pain in my heart and clutched it, and Yong-yong looked at me with surprised eyes.

For the first time while playing the game, I almost died.

If there's a final boss, wouldn't it be our Yong-yong?

I want to tell the whole world about this cuteness, but I couldn't because of the stalker.

It's because of the vivid memories of the past, even though they're not my own.

When I recall those memories, my hands and feet tremble, my heart feels like it's going to burst, and I break out in a cold sweat.

Suddenly, with a warning alarm, the game shut down.

[The game is forcibly terminated due to the traveler's health abnormality.]

*

*

*

My contractor fell asleep.

I was startled when they suddenly collapsed on the bed, but I was relieved to see them sleeping peacefully.

Relief, huh.

Have I already grown attached?

Just as I was about to enter my sleeping contractor's embrace.

I turned my head and looked outside.

Something was approaching.

And a lot of it.

How dare they. Are they trying to disturb my contractor's peaceful sleep?

At that moment, an anomaly occurred in the village.

Numerous humans who didn't exist until just now appeared.

As if they had been there from the beginning.

[Sudden Quest: Stop the monsters invading the village.]

Numerous monsters are approaching the starting village 'Cradle'.

The monsters, as if entranced by something, are attacking many villages as if looking for someone.

Players and villagers are requested to join forces to protect the village.

Success: Experience, magic stones, and item rewards based on contribution.

Failure: The starting village 'Cradle' turns into ruins, and the residents scatter.

[Channels are integrated due to the sudden quest.]

Invasion quests are very important to players, unlike regular quests.

If failed, the village disappears, causing inconvenience for hunting or raiding.

Moreover, if the starting village 'Cradle' disappears, where will the fresh newbies be received?

Welcoming new newbies is always a virtue of veteran players.

This news spread through the community, and numerous players began flocking to the starting village.

From high rankers to regular users, they were gathering one after another.

Players preparing for battle in perfect order.

Massive walls were erected in the previously open city, and numerous players stood guard, hiding their excitement.

One large event can be the stepping stone for a semi-ranker to become a ranker.

That's how big the rewards were.

And then the sound of a throbbing heartbeat.

The players who climbed the walls upon hearing the heartbeat were enveloped in silence the moment they saw the approaching monsters.

A monster army was approaching, enough to make one want to run away.

From goblins and orcs to wyverns, drakes, golems, and undead types like ghouls, dullahans, and liches were visible.

The living and the dead cannot mingle.

The fact that undead monsters like ghouls, liches, and dullahans are together with living monsters doesn't make sense.

In this situation, one fact that can be inferred is that something with enormous power is controlling the monsters.

Just as everyone was gripping their weapons tightly with tense hearts, preparing.

A large shadow fell over the brightly lit village.

As everyone looked around in confusion, alert, something huge revealed itself.

From the rear.

The front was arranged with tanks and DPS, while the rear was set up with mages and healers.

No, more importantly, they had never seen a monster of that size before.

Even high rankers who had seen dragons had never seen a monster of such enormous size.

A monster in the form of a dragon that looked like it could appear in Eastern mythology was looking down at the ground from the sky.

A size so vast it was impossible to gauge.

Suddenly, a dignified voice was heard along with a huge roar that shook the earth.

[Inferior creatures. Who dares to disturb one's peaceful slumber.]

Players and NPCs alike covered their ears, crying out in terrible pain.

Just one word, and their HP had fallen below half.

A desperate situation.

When dying in the game, you lose experience, so a few players tried to run away, but it was useless.

[Logout is impossible due to the sudden quest.]

As they were looking up at the dragon with eyes full of despair, an anomaly occurred.

Something began to gather in the massive mouth.

A beautifully shining blue light was gathering, c-could it be a breath attack!?

"Everyone who can use barrier magic, gather! Use all shield items!"

"Tanks! Quickly move to the rear!"

"Priests, raise buffs! Mages, prepare to attack!"

Numerous players followed orders in perfect unison, preparing, but their eyes were full of despair.

Can we block this?

But an anomaly occurred.

Along with the blue light gathering in the huge dragon's mouth, the large breath flew not towards the village, but in the direction where the monsters were approaching.

And then, a mushroom cloud blooming with a massive explosion as if a nuclear bomb had fallen.

How powerful must it be for the impact to reach the village when the breath fell at such a distant location?

At that moment, a message appeared.

[Congratulations! You have cleared the sudden quest!]

Rankings based on contribution are being measured.

Please wait a moment.

No.1: Yong-yong

No.2: Undecided

No.3: Undecided

No.4: Undecided

No.5: Undecided

Rewards will be given based on contribution.

[Channels will normalize in 1 minute after the quest ends.]

People were looking at the blue window with dumbfounded faces.

So the name of the dragon that just appeared is Yong-yong...?

No matter how crazy one is, they wouldn't name themselves Yong-yong.

After 1 minute passed, the players scattered to their respective channels.

The huge dragon also disappeared in an instant.

Then there's only one conclusion.

The dragon that just appeared is someone's summon.

This news is shocking enough to cause an uproar in the community.

*

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*

I was sitting dazed on the bed after being forcibly logged out.

Just thinking about it makes my hands and feet tremble, my heart pound, and cold sweat flow.

To calm myself down, I turned on a secret broadcast and played a video of Yong-yong on my phone that I had recorded.

The sight of our cute Yong-yong tilting its head and looking at me.

I lay down in bed while watching the video.

Our lovely Yong-yong.

I miss Yong-yong.

[Ding ding ding! What's for lunch! Ding ding ding! Rice rice rice rice rice...!]

The alarm sound that was ringing before I knew it.

I must have fallen asleep while watching Yong-yong's video.

I got up, stretching, and went down to the kitchen to fill my empty stomach.

I opened the fridge to see what was inside, but it was even poorer than I thought.

Only some leftover water remained, and nothing else was inside.

I opened the drawer in desperation, but was dismayed to find not even a single packet of ramen in this reality. S~eaʀᴄh the nôvel_Fire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

The weather was nice today, so I didn't want to go out.

I put on a hoodie and hat and headed to the nearby convenience store.

While I was choosing ramen and triangle kimbap at the convenience store, someone tapped my shoulder.

Startled, I looked up to see a familiar face.

"Oh my, what a coincidence? Do you remember? We bumped into each other before."

"Ah, the unni I bumped into that time."

"Unni? Oh, I see."

The pretty unni, who was muttering to herself, said she wanted to talk for a moment.

Normally, I wouldn't follow a stranger, but somehow it felt okay.

I used to criticize dramas for their lack of plausibility, but now I understood.

Appearance is plausibility, trust, and credibility.

After finishing the payment and leaving the convenience store, the pretty unni was waiting.

I followed her and sat on a nearby park bench, wondering what this was about.

"I've been thinking about where to start explaining, but I'll just start from the beginning."

The pretty unni introduced herself as the leader of 'Frey' guild, one of the top 10 guilds in Arcana Online and an elite small guild.

And she said that one of the guild members had accidentally seen me broadcasting.

She talked about what had happened so far, how they had been searching for me in the starting village for over a week, changing channels, and so on.

After 30 minutes of explanation, she made a proposal to me.

"What do you think? Would you like to join our guild?"