Arcana Online
How had things turned out like this?
“How’s the food? Does it suit your taste?”
“It’s delicious.”
“I figured our guild would suit you too.”
“Huh!?”
Leia, the guild leader of the Frey Guild, was laughing at me as if it were all a joke.
She had insisted that I call her Leia Eonni with all the affection in the world, so that was what I’d been doing.
But how had I ended up eating dinner here in the first place?
The reason was that I’d been kidnapped this morning.
*
*
*
I woke up at my usual time.
In a world where I didn’t know a single person, I got out of bed and checked my phone out of habit, only to find a text message waiting for me.
I thought it was spam and was about to delete it when I opened it and saw:
[I wanted to treat you to a meal, sister. Are you free today?]
For a second I thought it had been sent to the wrong number, but when I checked the business card I’d gotten last time, the same number was written there.
I spent a long time wondering how to refuse, and then my phone rang.
Flustered, I hit the call button before I could think.
“Hello?”
“Hello...?”
“I’ll be at your place in thirty minutes. Can you come out?”
“What!? Thirty minutes!?”
“I’ll buy you something delicious!”
And with that, the call ended, and I realized.
That it hadn’t been a suggestion. It had been an order.
No—more importantly, how did she know my address?!
I didn’t have time to stand there panicking.
So I hurriedly washed up, pulled on a hoodie and a cap, and went outside, where I found a red sports car parked in front of my place.
The pretty older woman I’d seen on MuTube stepped out of that flashy vehicle.
“Hello.”
“It’s been a while. Have you been well?”
“Yes. I’ve been doing fine.”
“Then shall we go?”
She opened the passenger door for me and told me to get in. It was my first time ever riding in a sports car.
My heart pounding, I climbed inside, and everything felt new.
The pretty older woman even buckled my seat belt for me, all very kindly, and then the car pulled away.
Where were we going?
“I booked a restaurant that only opens in the morning. Sister’s going to buy you something really good.”
“Thank you.”
“If you’re grateful, will you join our guild?”
“Huh!?”
She smiled brightly, clearly joking, but it was bad for my heart.
I didn’t know how things were in the game, but in the real world, I guess you could say...
I had a bit of social anxiety, so dealing with people was hard.
The car sped along and turned into a quiet alley, then entered a public parking lot. After parking, we got out.
The pretty older woman laughed and told me the restaurant was just a one-minute walk away.
When we entered what looked like an ordinary house, the interior had been decorated in the kind of lavish style you’d expect from a royal palace.
Following the staff’s guidance, we were shown into a private room and took our seats, where the dishes began arriving one by one.
Starting with appetizers, light breakfast-friendly dishes came out in sequence, and while I ate, I chatted with the pretty older woman.
“Can I call you Leia Eonni more casually?”
“Yes. Leia Noona.”
At my words, Leia Noona stared blankly for a moment, then nodded.
“So that’s how it is... I’m sorry.”
“What!? No, it’s fine! You don’t need to apologize!”
She suddenly started tearing up and apologizing, and I was losing my mind.
No, I’d lived my whole life as a man. How was I supposed to start calling someone “sister” overnight?
Even if I’d inherited this body’s memories, my mind still resisted it.
After wiping away her tears, she spent time with me talking about ordinary daily things and, of course, the game.
“So you went back to Cradle Village?”
“Yes. I’ve been staying there for a bit because I wanted to see the villagers.”
“And you even gave the monsters around there magic stones?”
“Yes. They’d done me a favor, so I paid them back.”
“I knew it...”
She nodded as if she’d expected as much, muttering to herself. What was that supposed to mean?
“Have you been to Death Valley recently?”
“How did you know?”
She clenched her fist and cried, “I knew it!” What on earth was going on?
Then, all of a sudden, she took my hand with a serious look on her face.!
Th-this was the first—no, the second...? Maybe third? Meeting each other, and this kind of sudden leap in progress was...
“You really don’t want to join our guild? I promise the best possible treatment.”
Only then did I realize what ridiculous thoughts I’d been having and bowed my head.
I was embarrassed.
After pulling myself together, I refused her offer.
I was satisfied traveling with Yongyong.
No matter how good the offer was, I had no intention of joining.
“I’ll support you every month, from High Magic Stones all the way up to Supreme Magic Stones.”
“......”
“Low Magic Stones and Medium Magic Stones will be unlimited!”
“I’ll join!”
That was too good an offer to refuse.
If my Yongyong could eat his fill of Magic Stones, then joining a guild was nothing.
“Good thinking! Then I’ll send you a guild invitation! You’re already level 50, right!?”
“I’m level 40.”
“Pardon?”
We stared at each other in mutual disbelief. Why?
“You can only join a guild starting at level 50... No, more importantly, you’re still level 40!? Then how did you survive Death Valley and come back!?”
“The gryphons let me go.”
“......”
*
*
*
After the meal, she drove me home. We agreed that she’d send the friend invitation first, and once I reached level 50, I’d join then.
“When you join the guild, I’ll throw you a welcome party! Our guild is small, so we don’t have many members, but everyone’s a high-ranker, so I’m sure they’ll be a huge help. See you then!”
Leia Noona waved goodbye and left.
After that whirlwind of a day, I went home and collapsed onto my bed.
Staring blankly at the ceiling, I put on my gear and started the game.
And then Yongyong chewed me out.
“Kkyuung!”
“I’m sorry.”
Yongyong was angry because I’d woken up too late.
Even when he was mad, he was adorable.
After appeasing him with a High Magic Stone, we went down to the first floor together, where Bell Noona was standing at the counter with a troubled expression.
“Bell Noona. Is something wrong?”
“Well, we’re short on materials, but the merchant isn’t scheduled to come for a while yet.”
“Then should I go get some?”
“Really!? Thank you so much!”
Collect the Kkwing-Kkwing Mushrooms growing in Giant’s Cave.
Reward: Experience, gold.
She handed me a map and asked me to gather the “Kkwing-Kkwing Mushrooms” growing deep inside the cave.
The cave was twisted like a maze, so she also gave me a pouch of stones and told me to mark the floor as I went.
“I’ll be back soon!”
“Be careful on your way!”
*
*
*
“Kkyuung!!”
“I’m really sorry!”
I succeeded in harvesting the mushrooms Bell Noona had asked for.
But then a problem arose.
I was lost.
When I’d entered the cave, I’d told Yongyong to just trust me, and this was the result.
The paths were twisted like a maze, so I should have been marking them as I went, but I’d trusted myself a little too much.
I’d heard somewhere that if you got lost in a maze, you could just follow the right wall...
I apologized to Yongyong, who was angry with me, and started looking for a way out, but nothing good came to mind.
If I’d known this would happen, I should have bought a Teleport Scroll.
After wandering around for a long time, I finally spotted a light in the distance and headed toward it. There, in a wide open clearing, stood countless tombstones.
As the eerie atmosphere sent me turning back to leave, a voice rang out.
“Have you lost your way?”
I flinched and spun around, only to find a headless knight staring at me.
Or rather, to be precise, he was holding his own head tucked under one arm.
When I babbled in confusion, he soothed me and told me to calm down and speak slowly.
“It’s dangerous for a human to be here. I am a knight who has lost his lord, but I have not lost my code. Trust me and follow me. I’ll guide you to the exit.”
“Th-thank you.”
As I followed the headless knight, I noticed people all around us with rotten skin, or missing one arm or one leg, staring at me.
Some of them were even shouting in strange voices, and then someone standing nearby smacked the back of the shrieking person’s head and said something to him. What was that about...?
Then, all at once, something enormous manifested with a flash of light.
The headless knight who had been guiding me panicked and moved to hide me.
“Damn it! Of all times, it had to appear now! Hurry and hide behind a tombstone!”
“Y-yes!”
I crouched behind a tombstone just as he said, and he blocked me from view with his bulky body.
I watched something that looked like a gigantic gate, and then something began walking out of it.
A massive being in armor emerged.
Its body was human, but its head was monstrous, vaguely resembling an orc.
“How are the invasion preparations coming?”
“No problems.”