The War Has Begun
The war had begun.
“—The third update is the enhancement of Unique Traits. Everyone gets one unique ability when they first start the game, but they’ve never really stood out, have they?”
“—That’s right. Unique Traits are support-oriented by design, so they’ve always taken a back seat to classes and skills.”
“—But with this update, the base performance of every Unique Trait is getting a massive boost, and brand-new traits are being added as well. And with more new continents than ever before, there are bound to be more hidden classes too, wouldn’t you say?”
“—I imagine quite a lot of users will be wanting a hidden class.”
“—Of course. It’s the only class in all of Deoen that a single person can ever advance into. Its performance is relatively superior to a regular class, so there’s more than enough reason for people to want one.”
“—But you don’t need to treat hidden classes as the be-all and end-all! Nearly half of the rankers out there are nothing more than regular classes, and in practice they perform every bit as well as any hidden class. Hero Sword God and Hero Leo, sitting at ranks one and two, are perfect examples.”
“Except they both do have hidden things, though.”
“That is true.”
Their classes—Swordsman and Spirit Shaman—were perfectly ordinary ones, yet Sword God had broken free of the user mold through a hidden weapon, and Leo through a hidden race: the Nymph.
“But Sword God lost that hidden sword, so these days he’s effectively hidden-less, isn’t he?”
“Hmm... so does that mean Sword God can’t beat Leo anymore?”
“That remains to be seen.”
It was true that hidden classes outstripped regular ones in base performance and efficiency—but in the end, it was people who wielded them. Just as a child handed the finest blade in existence could never draw out even a fraction of its worth. If a Sword God armed with a wooden stick fought an average player draped in a hidden class and hidden items, the Sword God would win. Every time.
“So it all comes down to the pilot, then?”
“Unless the gap is truly absurd, it’s never a hundred percent. Of course, with Leo’s talent, who’s to say.”
In the end, everything got settled in a fight. For the record, devils and demonfolk were born with their ‘talent’ guaranteed, so even their children were beyond all comparison.
“—Most of all, with the new 4th-tier advancements added this time, regular classes will grow tremendously powerful as well—every bit the equal of hidden classes. Regular class players have plenty of room to become strong too!”
“—So in the end, hidden classes simply represent the diversity of classes! They’re not a completely overwhelming difference, is that it?”
“—You could put it that way. And beyond that, there are all sorts of updates even we haven’t been told about. Now, what’s the subtitle of this update again?”
“Hidden Truth!”
“—That’s right! The Great Cataclysm: Hidden Truth. Which means there are a great many updates that even we haven’t been briefed on. You’ll discover those for yourselves through your adventures and growth going forward!”
“—We can hardly wait ourselves. Isn’t that right?”
“—Absolutely! Just what will unfold in this massive update returning after a whole year?! With anticipation running high, for our final segment—!”
Sraaak—!
The electric billboard split down the middle. Through the dividing crack, deep darkness came pouring out, and within it gleamed the silhouette of a demon crowned with two horns.
A demon whose mere sight sent a chill crawling up the spine.
Everyone swallowed hard at its majesty and fell silent, and a hush settled over the entire stadium. Only when the anchor seized the microphone and shrieked “WAAAAAAH!” did a truly colossal roar erupt through the stands.
The demon remained shrouded in darkness, glaring down at us.
“—2023! The flower and the highlight of the Great Cataclysm update! The assault of the new World Boss!”
‘Demonfolk...’
In raw power, it was a mid-tier demonfolk. An entity that, as I was now, I could pin down but had no means of killing. For someone in my position, with the Kraken looming, it would be an extremely troublesome enemy—but whether that demonfolk lived or died rested with the Empire.
Hwangyeolgong wielded power of an equal caliber, so he would almost certainly manage to hold it off.
The real problem, though...
“What do we do if the Empire stabs us in the back?”
The possibility of the Empire’s betrayal. To be fair, the Empire and I had never been on the same team to begin with, so ‘betrayal’ might be a stretch—but if it was Hwangyeolgong, he could well use the demonfolk to put me in a bind. At the moment he kept a careful eye on me and showed no sign of it, but if the board ever tilted in his favor, he’d do it without hesitation.
“Well then... I’ll simply make him pay the price.”
For those of Heaven, there is no second time.
“—Along with the demon’s appearance, two more World Bosses will reveal themselves in Deoen. One demon is terrifying enough, and there are two more besides... That’s going to be extraordinarily difficult, won’t it?”
“—The Cataclysm isn’t called a Cataclysm for nothing. But I believe the heroes can manage it! Now, if you look here, the second boss to appear is one known as the Kraken—”
11:55 PM. Five minutes until 2023. The official broadcast’s showcase had drawn to a close, and now all that remained was to wait for the New Year countdown.
In five minutes, the new year would begin, and the Great Cataclysm update would come for us.
I was quietly staring at the screen when White Autumn, returning with a fresh round of food, asked, “Are you nervous?”
“A little.”
I was nervous. How would they appear? How would they move? Would all three move at once? If they moved separately, who would strike first? And if they didn’t strike first, should we be the ones to launch a preemptive attack instead? Countless worries gnawed at my mind.
It had been the same in the past. Whenever a monster appeared, I would run through dozens—hundreds—of assumptions and conclusions for its disposal. I hadn’t only planned the subjugation, either; I’d had to think through the cleanup afterward as well, which was precisely why the thinking had to be so intricate.
The only difference between then and now was this: back then it was war. Now it was a game.
“...Still, it’s a far better situation than that. No need to worry too much.”
“If you beat the Kraken, what should we get you?”
“Obviously it’ll have to drop a Kraken spear, won’t it?”
“Maybe they’ll give out a title?”
“A hidden class! Something like Octopus Handler—they’d give that out, right?”
Everyone was so giddy they were chugging the kimchi broth before the rice was even served.
And then—
23:59:00.
A blue 60 flared into being across the stadium sky and burned away into a 59. It burned again—58.
The crowd began shouting the dwindling numbers aloud, and the Rildongbu crew beside me shouted right along with them. This was the hour everyone had been cheering for, waiting for.
I quietly let the roar of the crowd wash over me.
Soon, now.
“—Alright, everyone, let’s count it down together!”
“—10!”
“9!”
8
[7]
[654]
“3!!! Come on, Boss, count with us!”
“2!!!!! Yes—go, go, you can do it!”
“1.”
‘0.’
2023.01.01
00:00:01
The world was swallowed by darkness.
[The Great Cataclysm update is uploading...]
[Numerous special species will be added with this update.]
[Connections to other dimensions are deepening. More class advancements are now available.]
[The gates of the ‘Altar’ have opened.]
[World Quest, ‘The Truth of Light and Darkness’, has been granted.]
[The stability of Unification has been increased. Side effects may occur if Unification is advanced too far.]
[Multiple new continents have been discovered.]
[Some stats have been adjusted upward...]
.
.
.
Buuuuooong—
A ship’s horn bellowed across the world. Hand in hand with the cry of the apocalypse’s trumpeter, the heavens above dyed black, and beyond that distant sea horizon, vicious waves surged mountain-high.
Above the deserts of the continent, bizarre monsters the likes of which no one had ever seen came bursting forth.
The war had begun.