Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Off to Steal Again Today
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Meanwhile, at Rover Company headquarters.
The operations division was in an uproar.
"Damn it all, the records server was running fine until yesterday, and now it's completely down. And on top of that, the entire system is crashing. Fine, whatever with the workflow disruptions, but what the hell are we supposed to do about the data backups? I'm seriously losing my mind here."
That was right.
The operations team one was already suffering from the EMT-1004 incidents.
And as if that wasn't enough, the records server and the main system went down simultaneously, turning not just the ops team but every department upside down.
The tech team was finally stepping in to fix things, but even if they restored everything, the aftermath would still be a nightmare.
'The lock release request we sent up the chain ages ago is still being ignored.'
They weren't even explaining why user codes were getting locked.
'We haven't even figured out the root cause of the quests popping up.'
All they could do was log the changes and submit reports.
Maybe that's why.
Gwangho's sighs showed no sign of stopping in the control room.
Was time dragging on like that?
"T-Team leader!"
"Ah, don't call me. I know. Another problem. I get it."
"You still need to come see!"
"Oh, God."
"Team leader!"
"Damn it, fine. I'm going!"
Sang-sik, who had been urgently checking the old data in the records room, was calling for Gwangho.
"Please tell me it's not getting any worse, Sang-sik."
"Stop whining and look at this!"
Sang-sik pointed at the monitor.
These were the codes logged right before the records server crashed.
"......What the hell are these error codes? Judgment impossible, modification impossible. Final judgment by the self-aware AI Agas?"
The logs cut off after that.
The final record codes.
The moment he saw them, it was clear the server crash was tied to this.
Gwangho shoved Sang-sik aside and pored over the previous codes.
'......'
His face froze.
His mouth went dry.
He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
The code was highlighted so prominently on the screen that it was shocking.
"My God, another trigger condition stage 3?"
Even Sang-sik beside him gasped at the familiar code format.
But it wasn't stage 3 like he thought.
'Trigger condition stage 4.'
It was actually a higher hidden scenario code.
What did that mean?
Simple.
Something far more serious had happened than the previous EMT-1004 incident.
'Minimum emergency alert level 1.'
Gulp!
It was enough to throw the entire ops team into chaos.
'This isn't something we can fix with a few late nights.'
A trigger condition stage 4 could upend the game's entire flow.
It was the key to the main storyline.
But for such a hidden scenario to pop up without any precursors?
'......No way.'
His mind reeled.
Gwangho denied it amid the pounding headache.
'Yeah, just a glitch. Hidden scenarios don't trigger like this.'
Right.
The server crash was probably just from those errors...
"Team leader. Tech team says it's fixed... Oh, and the record codes are coming back up."
"Uh, yeah."
Gwangho snapped out of it at Sang-sik's report.
He let out a sigh of relief and peered at the screen again.
Weeeeng!
Suddenly, emergency alarms blared through the entire records room.
Codes related to trigger condition stage 4 started flooding the screen.
'Not a glitch after all?'
The hidden scenario was still progressing.
Gwangho plunged into deep confusion.
Triggering a quest without precursors?
As ops team leader, he'd never heard of such a thing.
But the shock didn't end there.
"P-Park, team leader!"
"Park team leader, did you see that code just now?!"
Ops team two and three leaders burst into the team one office.
Another code floated up before the dazed Gwangho.
The precursor quest for stage 4 trigger condition, which they'd thought was skipped, had just triggered in Starting Village.
Right in the middle of the hidden dungeon.
'......Two players tackling the quest?'
His mind went blank.
"So..."
At that moment.
In the problem spot itself, Starting Village.
Shark had finally managed to get inside the chief's house by showing Hamilton the bow, and now he was scratching his head.
"This is that Pa-je or Gu-je or whatever hunter's bow?"
"Ten Emperors."
"Anyway, so one of those Ten Emperors was this huge hero who saved the continent way back when?"
"Hahaha, that's right."
"And the First Hunter, one of those heroes, is your ancestor, old timer?"
"Correct."
The story was coming together in his head.
Ten heroes who saved the continent thousands of years ago.
People called them the Ten Emperors, and he'd gotten the bow of one—the First Hunter.
That summed it up.
'Ten Emperors, huh? Never heard the name in two years of grinding this game...'
Was this really a hidden scenario?
He might be a bit dense, but he'd been a top ranker once as a dark gamer, and even Shark didn't know this.
"You couldn't even imagine the feats he left behind."
"Feats?"
"Yes, the primordial hunter. Our ancestor German was the one who started it all."
The chief of Starting Village.
And descendant of the hunters, Hamilton, began proudly recounting German's tales.
Vision several times that of a normal human.
Archery that could hit foes hundreds of meters away.
Agile movements navigating forests and mountains like his own home.
And dagger skills rivaling his archery.
That was the baseline spec, and next came German's feats.
"He was the first to unite all the hunter tribes of the Great Forest."
"Not content with single-handedly repelling the Void Beasts that invaded elven territory."
"Later, he slaughtered the northern invaders, ensuring no one dared cross the forest, proclaiming it to the entire continent."
"And that's not all. Though it wasn't a full adult, he once hunted a dragon himself and earned the rare Dragon Slayer title on the continent."
"Plus..."
Once he started, the feats of German poured out endlessly.
Just listening made it clear how incredible he was.
So maybe that's why.
Shark's heart raced at German's even greater prowess than expected.
'This is bigger scale than I thought.'
A hidden scenario tied to a continental hero.
One of the ancient heroes no one had uncovered yet.
'Yeah, this was the right call. Hesitating on a chance like this? What an idiot!'
Yoo Seokwoo's face naturally came to mind, the one who'd advised him.
His best friend who gave him the push when he wavered.
He felt even more grateful to Seokwoo.
'Thanks, Seokwoo!'
He'd seize this chance and crush the top ten guilds' noses.
Shark made that vow inwardly and looked up.
The chief was wrapping up the feats.
"And finally, alongside the other heroes, he defeated the Shadow Lord, called the Demon King."
"Demon King?"
But the last term mentioned felt ominous.
Demon King.
The ultimate boss in typical fantasy settings.
To think it appeared here too.
"Some call it the Night King. The lord of shadows ruling the world of night. It was the root of all evil. That's why the Ten Emperors couldn't stand by and decided to repel it."
"So what happened to that Night King?"
"It spent life in prison on a life sentence and eventually met its end. Justice prevailed."
"Ooh!"
A hero who'd even taken down the Demon King.
He was even more drawn in.
"Chief, please teach me! How can I unseal this bow and inherit his will?"
Thud!
Shark dramatically dropped to his knees.
Chief Hamilton looked down at him with a serious gaze and explained.
"Whether you can inherit our ancestor's will. As a descendant of the ancient hunter, I'll test your worth myself."
"I beg you!"
"Of course. Good form. Then, your first task!"
"Yes!"
At that moment, Shark smirked with his head bowed.
'It's just Starting Village. How hard can it be?'
But the next words wiped that thought away.
"First, bring back 1,000 squirrels!"
A chill ran down his spine.
Glowing red eyes.
Green energy boiling around it.
The skeleton crawling from the ground looked dangerous at a glance, staring right at him.
'Estimated level 85.'
Thanks to the soul possessing the skeleton body?
The estimated level was lower than expected.
The issue was that the opponent was one of the Ten Emperors, the First Hunter.
And that he himself was the successor to the Night King that the Ten Emperors had defeated.
'Who'd have thought the hidden scenario involved the Ten Emperors.'
Now it made sense why the ancient hunter set was in the chief's safe.
The map marker was the First Hunter's tomb, so of course it'd have his gear.
'What kind of insane coincidence is this...'
It felt like a prank from the gods.
That was when.
-Hoh, you're calm.
German, possessing the skeleton, praised him in an impressed tone.
-As expected of a hunter come to inherit this body's will.
"......"
-Better than those loudmouth idiots. You must know by now, but I despise the unskilled. Don't disappoint me.
Did the first impression go well?
He spoke with subtle anticipation.
'What?'
Luke was baffled by the scene.
'Doesn't he know I'm the Night King's successor?'
That tone.
That dialogue.
That expectant vibe.
It was like he was seeing him as just another hunter.
Maybe because possessing the skeleton had weakened him so much.
The Night King's successor was right in front of him, yet he was completely oblivious.
'Maybe I can just grab the ring and bolt...'
That was when.
Bang!
The iron door slammed shut.
At the same time, the ring floating in the pillar of light went into German's hand.
And German donned the exact ancient hunter outfit as Luke.
-Don't be surprised. Just preparing to test you.
"Preparing..."
-To inherit my will, you need to know me well. So I'll give you a chance to experience it firsthand. The power of the one called the First Hunter.
In other words, he'd fight as a hunter with equal gear.
'But that ring bothers me. No idea what it does, so charging in blindly is risky.'
He didn't have that ring.
Without knowing its power, rushing was iffy.
-Now, let the test begin...
German's eyes gleamed as he nocked an arrow—heaven knows when he'd drawn it.
And then.
-Hm?
He looked down at his empty hand in confusion.
-......Where's my bow?