Arcana Online
As soon as I stepped into the City of Stars, the murmur of people never seemed to stop.
When I looked up, skyscrapers rose so high they seemed to touch the sky, standing tall and gleaming above me. Brilliant signs caught my eye from every direction. The streets tangled together like a maze, and if I’d been here alone, I definitely would’ve gotten lost.
Like some country bumpkin who’d just moved to the capital, I was looking around in every direction when the guard, walking me along, lowered his voice and warned me, “When you’re sightseeing, never go into the back alleys.”
“Why not?”
“They’re extremely dangerous.”
Where there is light, there is always darkness.
Somewhere in the city, a shadow was waiting.
The rotten stench drifting up from the piles of trash in the alleys stabbed at my nose, and I could feel someone’s gaze on me.
How long had I followed the guard? Before long, I saw a building so grand it couldn’t even be compared to the others.
When I went inside, I found myself in a hotel lobby packed with people, with a glittering chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
“This is the best hotel in the City of Stars, Luna.”
The guard went past the other guests to speak with the clerk at the front desk, and then the clerk turned to stare at me with a look of pure shock.
I thanked the guard uncle, who said he was headed back now, and he smiled before leaving.
As I stepped up to the desk clerk, he handed me a key at once.
“How much is the hotel fee?”
“Since a VVIP guest has come to visit us, it’s free, of course. Please use everything as freely as you like.”
“Huh? But still…”
“Please, use it!”
I thanked the clerk, who looked like he was about to throw himself on the floor and beg, then hurried out of there.
This was the first time anything like this had ever happened to me, and it was weirdly stressful.
To get to room 1904, which was written on the hotel key, I took the magical device up to the nineteenth floor. The moment I held the room key against the door, there was a sharp click, and it swung open.
Inside was a room I’d never seen the likes of in my life.
The interior was so spacious it made a suite look modest by comparison. It had an antique design and luxurious furnishings.
The huge bed looked big enough for me to roll around in, and the blinds on the windows opened automatically, revealing the whole city at a glance.
From up high, the neighborhood below looked beautiful.
So this was the famous night sky, huh?
Still, I was hungry.
Wondering if there was anything to eat, I rummaged through the drawers and found a familiar refrigerator. Inside, it was packed with food.
As I pulled out a sandwich and ate it while admiring the city view, I heard a cute little sound from beside me.
“Kkyu-ung.”
“Oh, right. Just wait a little.”
I took out a Magic Stone and handed it to Yongyong, who happily munched on it with obvious delight.
He was so cute that I stared for a while before checking the Magic Stones left in my inventory, only to find there weren’t many.
I was really going to have to get more Magic Stones soon.
Which meant I’d need to do quests, right?
They’d told me not to go into the back alleys earlier, but something about that warning smelled suspicious.
I remembered reading about it in a novel before—back alleys were packed with event quests.
On top of that, there were assassination guilds, information guilds, and even black markets.
There were tons of events there. How was I supposed to resist that? No way I could.
Still, I was tired today, so I’d visit tomorrow.
After sitting in the chair right in front of the window, I stared blankly up at the sky.
The sunset sky quickly darkened into night, and countless stars began to appear.
I was getting all sentimental while gazing at the beautiful night sky when I heard another cute sound.
“Kkyu-ung.”
“You’re already done?”
I took more Magic Stones from my inventory and gave them to him. He gobbled them up happily, and I thought that if I was going to keep our Yongyong fed, I’d have to work hard.
Starting tomorrow.
*
*
*
Early the next morning, I logged into the game and sat up in the hotel bed, only for Yongyong to ask for breakfast in his adorable voice.
He happily ate the Magic Stones I took out of my inventory, and I was suddenly in serious trouble.
I didn’t have a single Magic Stone left.
“Yongyong. Daddy will work hard and make sure you’re full.”
“Kkyu-ung?”
“Huh? You’re asking why not Mommy? Well, that’s… because of some circumstances…”
“Kkyuuung?”
“I’ll explain later. Let’s go for now.”
To earn enough for Yongyong’s food, I left the hotel and headed for the back alleys.
The moment I entered, the reek of filth hit me, and I could feel eyes staring at me.
Just as I was about to go deeper inside, someone spoke.
“Go back.”
I turned toward the voice and saw an old man crouched there with a sword in hand, staring at me.
“Are you worried about me?”
“It isn’t too late. Turn around and leave.”
With that, he rose to his feet and drove off a thug trying to creep up behind me.
Then he started coughing, and blood came up with it.
“Are you sick?”
“I’ve lived long enough. Don’t worry about me. Worry about yourself.”
When he finished speaking and started to move on, I grabbed his sleeve. He turned and looked at me.
I took out one of the potions I’d received as a quest reward.
Cures all manner of diseases and status ailments.
Effect:Restores the body and removes all illnesses and conditions.
“Please drink this. It’s good for your body.”
“Th-this is…”
“It’s my thank-you gift for saving me! Goodbye!”
I placed the potion in his hand, bowed politely, and hurried off.
*
*
*
The red potion the little girl had placed in my hand.
It was the Elixir I had searched for all my life.
They said it was made from dragon’s blood, but that wasn’t true.
In the end, I had despaired and was ready to give up.
It seems the goddess of fate still needs me after all.
The instant I opened the Elixir and drank it, a change began in my body.
The core that had been frozen by the curse started to move.
As the core stirred, magic surged through my entire body, and a new world opened before me.
The wall that had blocked me at Master level crumbled, and all the things I’d been unable to feel until now came rushing in.
And at that very moment, one of the gangs that controlled the back alleys appeared.
Trash who specialized in human trafficking.
“Hey, old man. You hear we’re being messed with?”
They pointed a sword at me and tried to threaten me, so I drew the sword I hadn’t been able to unsheathe in a long time.
Rarity / Grade: Holy Sword
Effects / Properties: A blade that punishes the wicked with the light.
The trash around us scattered like dust.
“A debt of gratitude that even a lifetime couldn’t repay, huh.”
I took a crystal from my clothes and crushed it.
With their filth blown away and no one else left in the alley, a line of knights emerged, cloaks fluttering black to symbolise the Black Knights.
They were an order with enough military power to rank among the most formidable in the Avalon Empire. The knights sank to one knee and pledged loyalty to their lord.
“All members of the Black Knights greet Duke Adonis Ether!”
As I slid Durandal back into its sheath and looked toward the direction where the girl had disappeared, I spoke.
“Let us return.”
“Sir!”
The moment Duke Adonis Ether, the owner of the holy sword and one of the ten Sword Masters, returned to the Avalon Empire.
*
*
*
“You have bestowed great kindness upon Duke Adonis Ether!”
“If you visit House Ether, located in the capital of the Avalon Empire, you will be able to receive a reward.”
“House Ether will become your steadfast ally for all time, Traveler.”
“Now what’s this?”
While I was wandering through the back alleys, a message popped up.
I didn’t understand what it meant, but it wasn’t important right now.
No matter how much I searched, I couldn’t find a red door or a blue door.
Even if I say so myself, I did have some experience from reading novels, and in most of them, red or blue doors were the information guild’s hideout.
After wandering around for quite a while, I finally found a red door and knocked.
Knock, knock.
When I knocked twice, then twice again in quick succession, the door opened.
“What do you want?”
“Information.”
After I gave the password, while he gave me a once-over, the door opened, and a rough-looking uncle told me to come in.
Once I went through the door, he guided me down a staircase leading below.
As I went down the stairs, I thought, How is this working…?
I was following exactly the same scene I’d read in The Youngest Daughter of an Assassin Family, so why the hell was this actually happening?
At the bottom of the stairs, there was yet another door.
It was made of thick iron, and the uncle struggled to open it.
When the door finally opened and I stepped inside, I saw a beautiful older woman with a voluptuous chest and a sultry air around her.
“What can I do for our little lady?”
“I need work.”
“Why don’t you sit down first?”
As I took the seat opposite her, warm tea and cookies that looked delicious were brought out.
I took a sip of the tea, and it had a lovely fragrance.
Effect resisted by Protective Instinct.
The moment I drank it, a message flashed up.
That meant…
“Was there poison in the tea?”
“My, how did you know? It should have been completely tasteless and odorless.”
The beautiful older woman looked at me with a bright smile.
Her looks really were the whole argument for causality…
“Ahem. I’ll let it slide this once. You’re a guest, after all.”
“Our guests don’t come in through the same route the executives use, though?”
“……”
It looked like I’d made a huge mistake.
But that’s how it happened in the novel!?
“I’ll ask you straight out. Who told you?”
Her face, which had just been smiling so brightly, was now looking at me with icy eyes.
The atmosphere said that if I answered wrong, I was done for.
Grandpa, I’m sorry!
“An old man in the alley told me.”
“Well, that makes sense.”
Huh? That makes sense?