You Can Clear It
The moment I got back, this is what I walked into. The Agent, who had been utterly silent and still before, was now attacking without mercy, and Yena was throwing herself into the fray with no regard for her own life. Every time something sharp swept through the air, Yena went down in a spray of crimson particles.
"So... you're telling me Yena's in the middle of a hidden quest right now?"
AAARGH!!
She died again. Revived, Yena clutched the Green Hermit and charged back in at full speed. She was fighting so hard she didn't even spare this side a glance.
Checking the time, roughly twenty hours had passed since the trial began — in other words, she'd been stuck inside it for about a full day.
"You've really been through the wringer. You could've taken breaks, you know."
Filling in for my stream for an entire day couldn't have been easy, yet here she was, grinding away without so much as a pause. I had asked her for the favor, sure, but a little rest here and there would have been perfectly fine.
"Huh? Why not?"
I'd asked for the favor, but I never told her not to rest. I asked, puzzled — and the chat drowned itself in an endless flood of lols.
Kagang! With a screech of grinding metal, Yena was flung backward and collapsed face-first at my feet.
"Wow. That is one insane bas... Lily? You're back?"
"Good work out there."
"Lily!!"
Yena sprang to her feet to greet me. If her joy was any measure, she looked even happier now than she had when she'd first gotten her hands on the Green Hermit. Chuckling, she slipped up beside me in an instant.
"Please, please help me out here!"
"? You, Yena?"
"Yes! I suddenly got saddled with that hidden quest, and, well, the thing is, the condition—"
'Are you giving up?'
The multicolored robe billowed as a tall, slender woman stepped in front of us. Perhaps the robe's concealing effect had weakened considerably, because her silhouette was now faintly visible beneath it. And for some reason, she felt... familiar.
'It would trouble me if you gave up…'
"No, it's not that I'm giving up... it's just flat-out impossible. Honestly, I can't land a single hit on her, and I can't exactly stay locked up in here for the next thousand years—"
"A thousand years? What are you talking about?"
"Uh, that's..."
Glancing back and forth between the Agent and me, Yena explained everything that had happened. She'd started out hosting a talk show, and things had gotten fairly lively for a while — but when no amount of waiting produced any sign of me, she'd decided to fight the Agent instead. Using the technique she'd learned from me as a foundation, she'd actually managed to strike the Agent... which had only provoked her, and now she was trapped in a hidden quest she couldn't leave without clearing.
"You landed the technique?"
Storm Slash?
"Yes! No, wait, that's not the point — the problem is I can't get out of—"
"That is the point."
Storm Slash — a technique that mimicked the Spear's Roar, cleaving the world with seven rotating slashes. It was the technique Yena had been drilling steadily ever since enrolling at the newly reopened academy, and she'd had plenty of help from Rasty and me along the way. The risk was so enormous that I'd assumed it would take her ages to complete. I never dreamed she'd actually pull it off.
Looking a touch sheepish, Yena scratched her head, Green Hermit still in her grip.
"Oh. Uh, really?"
"Of course. I honestly didn't think you'd ever manage it. Guess it was worth teaching."
"Heheheh, that's Yena for you. This much is just the basics."
"So how exactly did you land it? No, never mind — I'll need to watch the replay. It actually performed, right?"
"Duh! The risk's honestly scarier than I expected, but it totally slapped."
Yena nodded along with an approving hum, then shot a sideways glance at the Agent.
"...Though it only worked once, to be fair."
'It is a remarkable technique. You've piqued my interest.'
"Could you please stop it at 'interest'?"
'I'm afraid not.'
"See? This is what I'm dealing with. Somebody please save me."
Yena pleaded desperately against the Agent's flat refusal. And truly, chipping away thirty percent of the Agent's health did look like a lost cause. I hadn't seen Yena's technique in action yet, but it clearly wasn't something she could spam — and the Agent hadn't taken so much as a scratch. If anything, a familiar energy leaking out from beneath the robe was spreading outward, razor-sharp.
"I don't even know what the Path of the Divine Cat is, but if this keeps up, I might genuinely be stuck in here for months."
"...The Divine Cat."
"Yeah. It seems to be the Agent's power, and with the Great Cataclysm coming, getting locked up in here alone just doesn't work for me."
"The Divine Cat... the Divine Cat."
I turned my gaze to the Agent — still hiding her identity behind that robe. But through the gap Yena had reportedly sliced open, a wisp of faint pink fur was visible.
"If you help me, Lily, I swear I'll find some way to repay you—?!"
KAAANG!!!
In an instant, I struck at the Agent with the silver weapon in my hand. Against an ordinary monster, a blow that sharp would have cut it down before it could even react. The Agent calmly blocked it. Sharp claws came into view.
"How fun."
'......'
"How much longer will you last, I wonder…"
"Huh?"
"Keep challenging her."
I lowered my sword. The Agent likewise withdrew her claws and took a single step back, while Yena — the only one present who hadn't grasped the situation — asked,
"Huh?"
"Don't give up. Keep challenging her. You'll definitely grow stronger."
With the Agent's power, Yena could rise to the point where Storm Slash would be simple to use. Which was exactly why I couldn't interfere. This was Yena's fated opportunity. Not through anyone's help — she had to seize it with her own two hands.
"No no no. What are you even saying, Lily?"
"It's the Path of the Divine Cat, remember? Acquire it, and it will absolutely help you use Storm Slash. Your specs will skyrocket from here on out, too."
"There's no way I can clear it before the Great Cataclysm!"
"You can clear it."
She could do it. If the Agent was the woman I knew, she was more than capable of raising Yena to that level in the time remaining. About two months left, wasn't it? November was just around the corner, so it would probably come down to the wire.
"Two months is plenty."
"But the guild can't run without me."
"I'll look after the guild. With its master gone, someone might try to attack it, after all."
Ilmacheonwang had just joined, and if he moved, fending off player raids would be trivial. He wouldn't even need to step in personally — summoning two elite soldiers would handle it on its own.
"What about my stream?"
"The stream? Well, you'll just have to run a sparring broadcast."
She even planned that far ahead?
To grow stronger, something inevitably has to be given up. That was how it had gone for every player who'd ever obtained a hidden class or something special — and now it was simply Yena's turn.
"Oh."
"This?"
I tilted the silver sword in my hand — a blade radiating an aura markedly different from before. Even while clutching her head in despair, Yena's eyes were drawn to it.
"...Hold on, isn't that the Silver Purifier?"
"It is. I stopped by and asked for an enhancement."
The Masterpiece I'd chosen was the Silver Purifier. There were several reasons, but the biggest one lay in its authority: Purification. From here on out, I'd be running into demonkin and other monsters wielding strange powers, and this power would prove its worth against every last one of them. Placed in the hands of someone reasonably skilled with a sword, it could cut down even low-tier demonkin.
Granted, they'd have to survive the demonkin's cursed weapon first.
The Black of Destruction and the Yellow of Plunder had their uses, but a sword was the safest all-rounder, with little difficulty in handling. Besides, I hadn't brought the Green one along at all.
"When I cleared the trial of the creator of the Light of Heritage, he offered to enhance two of my Masterpieces. So I had the White and the Silver upgraded."
"What was the trial?"
"Slaying a vampire and a whole horde of magic beasts. As it happens, I brought one back with me — care to see?"
I opened the Void Space and reached my arm inside. I was reaching for the Life Vessel I'd tossed in earlier, but for some reason, it wouldn't come out.
"?"
"Lily?"
"One moment."
Why won't you come out?
I stirred my True Blood. The True Blood dwelling in my heart dragged at whatever was lodged inside, and out into my hand came a single mysterious girl, clinging on for dear life.
Huh?
"Hi, Unnie."
"Rasty? Then where's the Life Vessel?"
"That? So you were the one who sent it, Unnie."
I never said any such thing.
Rasty emerged from the Void Space holding an orb wrought of blood. Apparently she'd finished sorting everything out in the meantime — Ilmacheonwang's Life Vessel had been remade entirely from Rasty's blood.
"This new one doesn't act up like the last one did. Sweet kid."
"I softened him up a bit beforehand."
"You didn't have to."
"Did you settle on a name?"
We'd agreed that "Ilmacheonwang" was a bit much and decided to change it — surely she'd come up with something by now? Rasty's crimson eyes blinked.
"Ilmacheonwang's fine, though?"
"?"