Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: Raoul's Second Essence
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Dr-r-rk—.
As he slid open the door and stepped into the shop, it was bustling with customers.
"Ha-jun! Over here!"
Spotting the man waving from a table in the back, Kim Ha-jun nodded and made his way over.
"Whoa, you look sharper since heading to the management team."
"Sharper, my ass... It's been a living hell."
"Still better than the dev team, right? Honestly, I'm not even sure we're developing the game anymore. Nothing gets done without Ethan's approval from start to finish..."
The man who sighed heavily while offering Ha-jun a shot of soju the moment he sat down was Choi Kyung-tae, Ha-jun's high school classmate and former colleague on the dev team.
"Have a shot."
His massive build and thick hands made the soju bottle look tiny.
"Better...? All I'm doing is cleaning up after other people..."
"Huh?"
"Nothing. Forget it."
No matter how close they were, Ha-jun couldn't admit he was surveilling a specific player.
"I still don't get it. Why'd my sister send me to management?"
"Huh? Director Han Mi-yeon?"
"Yeah."
Kyung-tae had been friends with Ha-jun since high school, so he knew Han Mi-yeon well too. The two had grown up next door like siblings.
"That's surprising. Wasn't she the one who pulled you into Evil Tail's development? And now she suddenly transfers you to management?"
"Well... like you know, we've had differing opinions since the early dev days."
Her insistence on using the AI [Ethan] as Evil Tail's main administrator clashed with Ha-jun's belief that humans should handle it—a legendary story known throughout the dev team.
"True, but... that was ten years ago. Why now, all of a sudden?"
"Exactly."
Clink—.
Ha-jun clinked glasses and downed his shot in one go.
"Oh, right—that thing you asked me about before. Khan, was it? You wanted me to check out the weapon he's equipped with."
"Yeah. It was something I'd never seen. Did you find out?"
Ha-jun leaned in eagerly at Kyung-tae's words.
"But there was a little issue during the check."
"...What kind of issue?"
"When I tried accessing his character status with admin privileges, Ethan treated it like a bug scan."
"Bug scan?"
Ha-jun's face paled at Kyung-tae's explanation.
"No way."
"Yeah. He got logged out for a moment."
Bam—!!!
"Dude!!! Why are you telling me this now?!"
Ha-jun slammed his soju glass down on the table and shouted.
"Calm down. It was nothing."
"Nothing?! How is this nothing?!"
"It was like one or two seconds at most. And everyone knows bug fix scans happen randomly sometimes."
Keruga had revealed this after conquering Labyrinth Tower's 8th floor in an interview. It wasn't common, but not unheard of either.
"If it was a problem, there'd be complaints by now. Nothing happened. Plus, wasn't he the guy who made a fuss about logouts before?"
Kyung-tae refilled Ha-jun's glass as he spoke.
"If anything, this proves logouts work fine, right?"
"...We already confirmed that. He has prior logout records."
"Oh? Then it's even less of an issue."
"Ugh..."
Ha-jun shot Kyung-tae a dissatisfied glare, clicked his tongue, and grudgingly picked up his glass.
'No word from management means it probably blew over like he said...'
Still, a nagging unease lingered.
"Anyway, can't query characters anymore. Ethan handles all that data. Even admins need approval for privacy laws."
"I know."
Ha-jun sighed and nodded.
"So? What was the weapon?"
"Yeah. Raoul's Dragon Slayer Sword."
"...What's that?"
Ha-jun frowned slightly. Even after ten years on Evil Tail's dev team, he'd never heard of it.
"Wouldn't expect you to know. It's tied to the third update."
"Third? He got a third-phase item?"
"Yep. The guy who broke Keruga's records? Makes sense. It has a unique skill attached."
"Unique skill...? How'd he get something like that?"
"Dumb luck?"
Kyung-tae poured himself a shot, shrugging it off.
"Luck...? A weapon with a built-in skill just drops like that?"
Ha-jun glared again, irked by his casual attitude.
"It's not impossible. It was in Dark Forest originally."
"Dark Forest...?"
"You know the server has all third-phase data pre-loaded."
"Right."
"Not just data—some items are already instantiated in-game. Easter eggs, kinda?"
Kyung-tae popped a skewer into his mouth and continued.
"I skimmed the third update scenario out of curiosity. The sword's owner dies in Dark Forest, burying it there."
"Even so... This isn't a package game. Planting easter eggs like that? By your logic, the owner hasn't died yet."
"Timeline-wise, it's about fifty years from now. Probably not even born. Maybe that's why it was possible—no owner."
"Ugh—."
Only one entity would pull something like this.
Not a person.
"Ethan's doing?"
"Yep."
Ha-jun scowled.
"Damn it... Then what's the dev team even for?"
He knocked back his shot irritably.
"Devs pull pranks too. Lucky it's Ethan—no mix-ups from an AI."
"Ugh, you're too chill. How's it make sense we don't know our own game?"
"Can't be helped. We built most of the first scenario, but only about 30% of the second and third updates."
Kyung-tae gave a wry smile.
Evil Tail's development took about ten years. Excluding core systems, seven years went into the first scenario alone.
Building the second on that foundation was projected at ten years. The massive scale demanded even more for quests and details.
But [Ethan] finished the second in two years, the third in three more—and stored them on the server.
Not just that. It crafted a world dozens of times vaster than anticipated.
[Ethan] generated quests accounting for thousands of player choice branches—impossible for humans.
Ha-jun knew this all too well, so he held his tongue.
"Unique skill... So that's why he's so strong."
Khan's overwhelming prowess in Alchemist's Lab still burned in Ha-jun's mind.
"Strong. I dug into it—the sword's owner is one of the third-phase main scenario protagonists."
Gulp.
A chill swept over him. Ha-jun eyed Kyung-tae tensely.
'He's got Luen Pirbas—a second-phase protagonist—as a mercenary.'
Second-phase ally, third-phase weapon. Coincidence?
"Potential rank S-grade weapon."
"What? S-grade?! Highest naming item so far!"
"Not exactly. Keruga's weapon is S-grade potential too."
"Keruga's the top player conquering Labyrinth Tower's top floors! Same as a Dark Forest newbie?"
"Exactly why no worries. Remember? Upgrade stones can't upgrade items with higher potential."
Upgrade stones ranged from C to A.
Higher stones worked on lower items. But special naming items—unique in the server—had potential ranks.
Even if current rank was low, higher potential blocked upgrades.
It meant meeting conditions first. Thus, owners used stones to check potential.
Keruga's [Thirst for Blood], a B-rank dual sword from Labyrinth Tower 7's boss Gladiator Taiman, failed A-upgrade—confirming A+ potential. Now his main.
"S-grade item. Max upgrade stone's A—how's he upgrading?"
"Who knows? Devs don't know everything. Maybe an S-stone's hidden somewhere."
"Fine even if he upgrades. Won't boost the unique skill rank."
"Why?"
"To upgrade Raoul's essence, need three B-rank quests cleared. B-ranks are rare even on Central Continent."
Kyung-tae chuckled reassuringly, raising his glass.
"How's a Dark Forest player knocking out three B-ranks?"
Rattle—rattle—.
The box that had swallowed the sword began shaking violently.
Psssh—!!!
White smoke billowed from the box.
[Upgrade failed.]
Creak—creak—.
The box's lid jittered.
"See? Told you."
Chalson wafted away the room-filling smoke with a smirk.
"Not called the Devil's Box for nothing. Can upgrade S-grades, sure... but 10% chance? Who'd risk high-end gear?"
He smacked the lid.
"D-rank weapon—no big loss. But greed got the better of him."
Screech—screech—.
"...Hm?"
Then, an odd noise came from the thrashing box.
Thud—thud—boom—!!!
The box went berserk.
"W-what?!"
Chalson stumbled back in shock.
Whoosh—!!!
Unlike before, black smoke erupted, and the lid popped open weakly.
"W-what the...?"
[D → C]
"What was that about greed?"
Woojin pulled the sword from the box and eyed Chalson.
Attack power had tripled from 50. Woojin examined the sword with satisfaction.
"...?"
But one more change caught his eye beyond the attack.
"...2nd Essence?"
[Your Raoul Essence rank is too low.]
▶ Upgrade essence to unlock 2nd Essence.
"Hmm..."
Woojin smacked his lips regretfully at the red warning.
Ding—.
Then—
"...Huh?"
He pulled a trembling object from his pocket.
The [Dead Man's Oblation] from Kolson.
Grasping the quivering, glowing coin shifted the alert.
[B-Rank - Hellgate]
[Quest completed.]
'Right—this one.'
Genesis Unit's quest.
"...!!"
The sword in his hand glowed with the completion message.
Shwaaaa—!!!
In that instant, blinding white light filled his vision.