Arcana Online

Countless wyverns were flying through the sky.

To drive out the chicken-headed vermin and seize the gorge for themselves, they had gathered an army of their own kind. The day of final battle. From this day forward, the wyverns would be the rulers of the gorge.

And yet something felt wrong.

The scouting party had been sent out, but none of them had returned. It was unthinkable that they’d been taken out, so were they just slacking off somewhere?

They’d take the gorge first. They could purge the useless ones later.

"Brothers! The day of final battle is upon us."

Countless wyverns split the heavens in disciplined formation and flew toward the gryphon nest, but something was wrong. My instincts, the ones I had relied on all my life, were telling me one thing.

If I got any closer, I’d die.

I forced ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the thought aside and approached the nest anyway, only to finally see the gryphons—and something was terribly off. Where were the gryphons smaller than themselves? In their place stood many huge gryphons, each one massive beyond reason.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Then I heard the screams.

As I looked around, I saw countless members of my kin being hunted down by the gryphons. My mind couldn’t keep up with the situation, and just as I stood there, dumbfounded, a voice reached me.

"Welcome. If you’ve come looking for a grave, you’ve found the right place."

I looked up at the sky and saw a gryphon whose massive body set him apart from the others. I broke out in a cold sweat and was just about to spit out an excuse when the world turned upside down.

My last glimpse of the moon was beautiful, and then everything went black.

*

*

*

Hmm. Is it really that bad?

"Leader! Did you check the community!?"

"I’m looking at it right now."

Information was money, and information was power.

To maintain our position as one of the top ten guilds, we had to monopolize more information than anyone else.

The other guild members had either gone off to complete quests or were out party hunting, leaving only Shasha and me behind.

There was no choice but to send Shasha out.

"Shasha. Please go and come back."

"Hiiiing. Okay."

She always grumbled, but she followed my orders well.

As soon as I tore the scroll I’d taken out of my inventory, she disappeared in a flash of light.

While I gathered other information until Shasha returned with news, my communication crystal suddenly rang with an alarm just as I was taking a sip of tea.

The color of the alert indicated importance.

Red.

That meant an emergency.

"What is it?"

"I-it’s crazy here! Aaaah!"

The connection cut off with a scream.

Clutching my throbbing head, I pulled a scroll from my inventory and tore it open.

In an instant, the scenery changed, and Death Valley came into view.

I took a sword from my inventory.

A sword I had obtained by chance through a hidden quest because of my unique trait.

The item that had made me a high-ranker.

When I entered the gorge and climbed the steps, I saw countless gryphons.

They were at least twice as large as the gryphons I’d seen before.

And among them was one especially enormous gryphon.

It towered over the others with overwhelming size.

"A named monster, huh."

Shasha, who had been running for her life far in the distance, spotted me and immediately sprinted straight toward me!?

"L-Leaderrr, save me!"

"Don’t come this way!"

I nearly lost my mind when Shasha, dragging the gryphons’ aggro, came barreling toward me with an absurd number of them in tow.

I could handle luring a few dozen gryphons at most, but hundreds was impossible.

And then there was that named one.

Judging from the ominous aura coming off it, it wasn’t just a regular named monster.

I drew my sword from its sheath and swung.

Three-foot blade sworn to heaven, mountains and rivers quake.

With one sweep, I scour all away, and blood reddens the mountains and rivers.

At the warning strike I unleashed, the gryphons recoiled, and Shasha hid behind my back.

"Haaah. Haaah. I-I thought I was going to die."

"Honestly. Try to be more careful."

Then, in that moment, a giant gryphon emerged from among the hundreds surrounding us.

"Humans. Are you thieves who came to steal our eggs?"

It could talk. So that definitely made it the named one.

"No. We came to investigate the gorge. Sorry, but could you tell me if anything unusual has happened recently?"

"Nothing. Go back. This is your one warning."

We got utterly shut down, so I backed off with Shasha in tow.

And then I revised the information.

The Death Valley that had once been recommended for level 60 players no longer existed.

Now it would take a mass of high-level players just to hunt there at all.

But the gryphons’ spoils weren’t anything special.

Once you factored in the cost of the potions used for the hunt, it would actually be a loss.

Was this good news for the gryphons?

Once we were out of the gorge, I gave Shasha one order.

"As leader, I’m giving you an assignment. Find out whether Yuna has ever come to Death Valley."

"Huh? Yuna did this? Is that even possible?"

"It is possible. There aren’t many people who’d pull off something this ridiculous."

"Mhm. Got it."

Shasha headed off to the City of Stars for an investigation, and I turned back to look at Death Valley.

An old story I had heard back when the game was still young came to mind.

The gorge’s original name had been Gryphon Gorge.

The whole place had once been a peaceful nest where gryphons lived together.

But after players slaughtered them, the name had changed at some point to Death Valley.

"Will it get its old name back?"

*

*

*

Erika Nun stroked my hair with a bright smile.

"What’s wrong with our pretty girl, turning down my offer so coldly?"

"Um... is there any other work ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠available?"

The place I was in now was the Information Guild request room.

There were far more gryphons than I’d expected, and I’d used up every Magic Stone I had, which meant I was back to having to work for a living.

While I nervously watched the expression of Erika Nun, the head of the Information Guild, I took a scroll from the subspace pocket and handed it over.

"This should be a good fit."

"Thank you!"

When I unfurled the scroll, a blue window appeared.

*

*

*

On the way back to the hotel after leaving the Information Guild, I thought about how many things had happened today. Now that I’d received a new quest, I should move out tomorrow.

"Kkyu-ung."

"Are you hungry?"

When I handed Yongyong the advance payment Magic Stones from my inventory, he looked delighted.

Thank goodness they’d given me an advance. If they hadn’t, I might’ve been in serious trouble.

Back at the hotel, I threw myself onto the bed, only to find an unread message waiting for me.

Up until now, I’d only ever gotten passive skills, but this was the first time I’d gained an active one.

And if the mana cost was zero, could I use it too?

My mana was sealed because of the Ring of Sealing, so I wasn’t sure whether it would even work.

For a moment, I wondered if I should try using it right away, but then I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠shook my head.

I remembered the last time I got Commune and shouted at the top of my lungs. That memory alone made me feel embarrassed.

Besides, I only had one summon anyway—Yongyong.

I briefly wondered whether I even needed this skill, but I was too exhausted for my brain to function properly.

"Yongyong, see you tomorrow, then."

"Kkyu-ung."

[Log out]

After taking off the gear and spacing out for a while, I got up, took care of what I needed to, grabbed a triangle kimbap from the fridge, and checked the community again. I’d been doing that steadily since I’d gotten used to the game, just to keep collecting information, but what the heck was this?

The board was completely flooded with gryphon posts.

I returned to my room, turned off my phone, and lay down on the bed.

I know nothing about this.

---