Arcana Online
I shut off the alarm, which had been blaring so loudly, and lay there in bed for a long while, dazed.
Morning really was a disaster for me. I used to be fine, but ever since this body changed, I’d been like this. Was it low blood pressure or something?
With great effort, I hauled myself up, raided yesterday’s leftover lunchbox in the kitchen for breakfast, and then made a quick stop in the bathroom. After that, I went back to my room, put on my gear, and logged into Arcana Online, where Yongyong greeted me.
“Kkyuuung!”
“Sleep well?”
“Kkyuuuuung!”
I handed over a magic stone, stretched, and climbed out of bed to pack my things.
It was time to go.
I still needed to stop by the guild headquarters and report in. And I had the favor I’d been asked to do as well.
Last night, Kraken Grandpa had asked me for something.
He was worried because his youngest daughter had run off and nobody had heard from her since. He wanted me to look into it.
Investigate the Whereabouts of the Runaway Youngest Daughter
Reward: Experience, Affection
Once I was ready and stepped outside, I found a crowd of sirens waiting for me.
The Siren Queen bowed her head to me, which startled me, and then every other siren did the same.
“Savior. Once again, thank you for saving our tribe. We of the siren clan will walk this path alongside you.”
Companion of the Sirens
After the greetings, she handed me a little sphere.
Map of Talisa, the Commercial City
It looked like a marble, but it was actually a map.
When I used it, a familiar voice flowed out.
Route guidance will now begin.
*
*
*
The moment I set foot on land, I was overwhelmed with emotion.
How long had it been since I’d last seen solid ground?
But the feeling only lasted a moment. I pulled a teleport scroll from my inventory and tore it open, and in a flash of light I arrived in Talisa, the commercial city.
Teleport scrolls could only be used on places you’d already visited, and while they were expensive, they were undeniably convenient.
“I’m back!”
I opened the door to the guild base and stepped inside, only to find no one there.
My voice echoed through the empty interior, and there wasn’t a soul in sight.
Had everyone gone off to do quests?
I flopped down onto the sofa in the living room, sinking into its soft cushions.
I was fooling around with Yongyong when the door opened and Shasha noona came in.
Her beastkin ears twitched, and I suddenly had the urge to reach out and touch them just once.
“My little baby! When did you get here!?”
“Just now.”
“You came early because you were excited for the party tonight, right!?”
“Huh? Party?”
We stared at each other in confusion, and then Shasha noona asked if I really hadn’t known.
What party was she talking about?
“You didn’t hear from the leader? She said she sent a text.”
“A text? I didn’t get anything.”
Shasha noona thought about it for a while, then pulled a carrier pigeon from her inventory and sent it off. A little while later, Lea noona’s reply arrived.
“She says she sent it, so maybe there was a mix-up. Still, you made it back on time, so I guess that works!”
Smiling brightly, Shasha noona patted my head.
Our first meeting had been as a stalker, but she was a good noona.
“But, baby.”
Then, all at once, Shasha noona turned to me with a serious look.
“Why don’t you call me Big Sister?”
“Uh, Big Sister?”
“Why do you keep calling me noona!? Say Big Sister! Big Sister!”
She tried to force me to say it, but I exercised my right to remain silent.
At first she was pushy, but after a while, when she saw I still wouldn’t budge, she started pleading.
Just once. Just call her Shasha Big Sister.
“Shasha noona is Shasha noona!”
“What on earth does that even mean!?”
“The fact that you have to ask means you’re not acting like a noona!”
“That still doesn’t explain anything!”
Our argument went on and on until Lea noona finally came back and stopped it.
“Lea noona! Shasha noona is bullying me!”
“When was I doing that!?”
Lea noona smiled sweetly and drew her Double Dragon Sword, and I yelped and ran for it.
“If she bothers you again, tell me anytime.”
“Okay!”
So this was what having a guardian felt like.
I felt safe.
But more importantly, she’d said there was a party tonight, right?
“What kind of party is it tonight?”
“It’s a regular get-together party.”
The guild mostly worked on individual jobs, but they held these gatherings regularly so everyone would be ready when they needed to operate as a team.
As we set up the party by arranging the food we’d bought in the shopping district, guild members began arriving one by one.
And among them were two I was meeting for the first time.
One was a noona with black hair, ruby-like eyes, and an assassin’s outfit with a mask covering her face.
Behind her came an old man dressed in a knight’s formal wear, his age written in every line of him.
I’d never seen either of them before.
The masked noona, who had been studying me closely, suddenly lifted me up.
“Hi. My name’s Luna. Nice to meet you.”
“Hello. My name is Yuna.”
Luna noona stared at me, dangling in her arms, with unblinking intensity. Just when I was feeling awkward, the old man stepped in to save me.
“Does the newcomer make you uneasy?”
“Shut up, Grandpa.”
“Who are you calling Grandpa!? Must you attack the elderly when you should be respecting them!?”
“Boomer.”
The two of them started trading insults, and I really wished they’d leave me out of it.
The old man’s face turned bright red as he introduced himself as Richard.
“You may simply call me sir if you like.”
“Do you really want that from someone young enough to be your granddaughter?”
“Then what would you have me say!?”
“Your dentures are rattling.”
It was only thanks to Lea noona’s intervention that they stopped before actual swordplay broke out.
“Those two are always like that, so don’t worry about it.”
Lea noona took me away from Luna and set me back down on the floor.
“Leader, that’s mean.”
“And do you think I enjoy this!?”
“Honestly. Are you really going to keep this up in front of the newcomer?”
By then all three of them were bickering at once, and it was a complete mess.
Still, thanks to Lea noona rescuing me, I’d managed to get away.
When I went into the party hall to finish helping set up, I found someone already eating the food.
A pervert with his shirt off. No, Balac hyung.
“We’re still setting up the party. What do you think you’re doing?”
He glanced at me, grabbed a doughnut, and walked over.
What now?
“Hup!”
“Now the baby’s an accomplice too.”
The evil man forced the doughnut into my mouth and whispered that I was now his accomplice.
He was indecent, shameless, and a total exhibitionist.
“Mmph—mmph!!”
“There, there. Eat up.”
I waved both arms in protest, telling him to stop stuffing me, but just as he was still laughing and forcing more in, he took one look at the Double Dragon Sword in Lea noona’s hand behind me and bolted.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m full...”
My stomach was so swollen from doughnuts that I could only rub it and groan, and Lea noona told me to rest.
I sat on the sofa and tried to recover, and before long, as if it was time, the guild members began gathering one by one, starting with Shasha noona, who had apparently returned from wherever she’d gone.
Guild Leader Kathlea.
Fighter Shasha.
Mage Hecate.
Berserker Balac.
Nun Aria.
Assassin Luna.
Knight Richard.
Summoner Yuna.
All eight members of Frey Guild were finally together in one place.
We started with Lea noona’s toast and then spent the time talking about all sorts of things.
“By the way, is it forbidden to talk about your unique trait in this game?”
“Yep! That’s why the baby got kicked out when she went on stream.”
No matter what the game company itself did, it was strangely the one thing they refused to allow anyone to discuss: unique traits.
If you posted about them in the community, they’d get deleted within a second, so unless you met someone in person, there was no way to know anything about them.
“A unique trait is what shows that every human is noble and special.”
“That’s why there’s only one rank, too.”
“Huh? There’s only one rank?”
Even gear had all sorts of grades, but unique traits only had one?
“This much I can say. The rank for unique traits is the same for every player. EX-grade.”
It was the first time I’d learned that.
Listening to Lea noona, I realized that although countless people existed in this world, no two were exactly the same, even if some might resemble each other.
The game company had also posted an announcement saying that all players—travelers, in other words—were special and noble, each with limitless potential. So why hadn’t I seen that?
Because I hadn’t looked, obviously.
“How you use your unique trait is entirely up to the player.”
After hearing Lea noona out, I thought about it carefully, and she was right. I’d used my unique trait to earn favor and then strengthened myself with magic stones.
Even a low magic stone was worth 100,000 won, and a supreme magic stone was basically priceless.
If I’d converted all of them into cash, I could’ve built several buildings with that kind of money.
But instead, I used every last one on monsters.
To save the monsters who were living in suffering. And beyond that, to create a world where they could live in peace.
For that, a revolution was necessary.
Shasha noona, smiling, asked me what my plans were from here on out.
“I’m going to wave the banner of revolution!”
At my words, everyone looked startled, then laughed it off as a joke.
It wasn’t a joke, though.