How Have You Been?

How have you been?

"…Is Randolph really Phantom?"

Three people had gathered at a café near Gangnam Station — two identically built, burly men and a strikingly beautiful woman. They sat at a corner table, sipping coffee, carrying on their conversation even as the place buzzed around them.

"I'm certain. Even if you set Main Quest 1 aside, scoring higher than Gracia in the Class category is impossible without encyclopedic knowledge of the game."

The woman spoke with conviction. She was right — the highest-tier Classes couldn't be earned on skill alone. You needed overwhelming luck, and knowledge that surpassed even that luck. No one but Phantom could make that score make sense.

"So the five-year Ghost Player Phantom has finally shown himself. Things are about to get chaotic."

"Think we can make contact first?"

The two lookalike men spoke in heavy, measured tones. The woman only shrugged.

"How? We searched for years and never found him."

"That was because Phantom wasn't a real player back then. Now that he is, there has to be a way."

"Then how about a little 'fishing'? The Secret Auction House should be open by now."

"Fishing, huh…"

"If he wants first place in Main Quest 3, he'll need a mountain of gear. Of course he'll use the auction house."

Fishing. Player slang. You listed high-quality items dirt cheap on the Secret Auction House, attached a Talisman's "Twin" ability, and used it to track the buyer. Twin Talismans let you know each other's location no matter how far apart you were. Beginners who didn't know better snapped up the bargains and got tracked — killed or robbed, in the game and in reality both.

"But isn't that the kind of cheap trick scum like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Haksal use?"

"If it's Phantom, he'll have every Talisman option memorized. There's no way he wouldn't notice."

Both twin men voiced their opposition. Fishing was a low-rent method used by beginner-hunters like Haksal. Even if they tried it, Phantom would never fall for it. The only people who got caught were first-year Pangenia rookies who didn't even know the Talismans by name.

The woman clicked her tongue.

"You still don't get Phantom? This is the guy who went to cut off the Demon King's head. He failed, sure — but didn't you see the sheer force of will it took to launch the Great Expedition?"

Plenty of people had already decided that character — Wilhelm — was Phantom. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠And Wilhelm had been completely insane. Despite endless interference and the collapse of entire factions, he had still raised the Great Expedition. He'd failed even while carrying eight Unique items, but Wilhelm's achievements would live on forever in Pangenia's history. A living myth.

"If there's a fishing item on the Secret Auction House, he'd buy it just for the fun of it. 'Come at me if you want — anyone who shows up dies.' That's the Phantom I know."

Her eyes lit up.

Phantom fangirl.

Thinking the same thing, both men scratched their heads in unison.

"And once we make contact?"

"We invite him into our guild, obviously."

"Would Phantom join a guild with nothing going for it?"

"We work for it. Sure, Phantom's probably someone incredible in real life too… but we're still better than the other lunatics out there."

Most Pangenia players were unhinged. They couldn't tell game from reality and committed murder as casually as eating lunch. After the previous "Collapse" event brought monsters into the real world, a few of them had managed to scrub their images clean. But the roots never really changed.

"I wonder what he's like, though. A chaebol CEO? No — a rich heir, right?"

The woman let her imagination run wild, eyes sparkling. The two men shook their heads at the sight.

The moment I finished circling the Sanctuary with Dramut and hit 100% exploration, the sub quest completion notice rolled in along with the rewards.

"Whoa."

I couldn't help but marvel at what I'd gotten. A Teleport Book and a first-clear achievement. When I picked up the thick blue tome, its description appeared.

It was a book that let you return to any dungeon or location once its exploration rate hit 100%. Warps existed for regional travel, but they were limited, couldn't drop you precisely where you wanted, and cost a fortune. This Epic-grade item solved all of that cleanly.

It'd fetch a million gold easy.

A million gold — enough to buy a mansion in Pangenia. If I listed it on the Secret Auction House, demand might be pretty solid. Ranking in Main Quest 2 had unlocked the Secret Auction House, where every player could trade anonymously. I had no intention of selling, but I couldn't help wondering what kind of bids it'd draw. The Teleport Book was an ultra-rare item with fewer than twenty in existence.

And then there's the achievement…

Earning an Achievement meant crossing every kind of trial and hardship — doing something worthy of being celebrated across Pangenia. Once recognized, your Honor skyrocketed. Higher Honor meant titles, and the chance to build rapport with Named NPCs who only responded to those who held specific honors.

More importantly—

Level 3.

I was finally Level 3. One level per Main Quest cleared, essentially. But it wasn't fast. If anything, it was painfully slow.

The system scales required experience based on talent. Right now, my exp requirement has to be at least ten times the average.

Normally, clearing Main Quest 2 put you at Level 4 minimum — Level 5 if you were doing well. Still being stuck at 3 meant my required experience was absurdly high. Too many talents, that was the problem.

On the flip side, the max values got broken open. The per-level gain is locked at 12 instead of 10. Probably thanks to a Hidden Trait…

There were upsides, of course. Upsides so outrageous that the inflated experience cost barely registered.

Status.

The moment I thought it, a parchment unfurled before my eyes.

Every single time I leveled up, every stat rose by exactly twelve. Anyone who saw this would start screaming about cheats. Numbers like these were flatly impossible through normal play.

I get that having every talent maxed means every level-up pushes stats to the ceiling. But that ceiling should still be ten.

Stats rose randomly on level-up based on your talents and experience. The individual cap per level was ten — only by reaching the absolute pinnacle could you hold 100 in a single stat at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Level 10. Going beyond that required Transcendence.

And yet I was gaining twelve. In every stat.

Hit Level 10 and I'll be sitting on two-star-grade stats.

Stats you were supposed to earn only by consuming a star twice and Transcending — mine at Level 10. Broken didn't even begin to cover it. On top of that, the Class trait "Star Possession Effect" had already boosted every stat by five. In five years of playing Pangenia, I had never seen anything like this.

Once is coincidence. Twice is inevitability.

One of the Hidden Traits I've never seen before is tied to this.

I stroked my chin thoughtfully. Thirteen Hidden Traits, three of which were completely new even to me.

【Glutton】, 【Great Sage】, and 【Heavenly】.

I didn't know exactly what they did, but one of them was almost certainly responsible for what I was seeing now. I'd have to figure them out the hard way — by living them.

Either way, I'd taken everything this Sanctuary exploration had to offer.

Shadow Cloak. Fairy Queen's Tear. Teleport Book.

Just looking at them made me smile. Not one of the three was disposable. All of them were Raid Boss drops with abysmal rates. The Fairy Queen's Tear in particular was an essential Talisman — an extremely rare item that bestowed special options on equipment.

"A monster!"

"A giant sea beast has appeared in the Sanctuary!"

Maybe I'd spent too long exploring. Warriors were filtering into the Sanctuary one by one and spotting Dramut.

"We need to leave before the Great Warrior and the Queen arrive."

Isabella's expression hardened. The number of warriors was climbing by the second. We had to get out before the Sanctuary was sealed off.

"Dramut. Run wild."

A low, rolling hiss answered. At my command, Dramut moved. It didn't want to — but a master's order left no room for refusal. As the great serpent began thrashing, I calmly lifted the Shadow Cloak.

"We'll share it."

"Pardon?"

"We need to leave the desert before a pursuit unit forms. That means getting out of here without being seen."

"Ah."

If we wanted to slip away quietly in the chaos, this was the only way. If the soldiers spotted Isabella or me directly, things would escalate fast. She stepped inside the cloak.

"Closer."

"…Yes."

Isabella's eyes trembled faintly. Then she pressed in tight, and together under the cloak, we began quietly leaving the Sanctuary behind.

The warp out of the desert region. It would take about half a day to activate.

"Don't worry. The curse is broken."

Because of the curse, Isabella had been unable to use warps — trapped in the desert forever. But with the Star's blessing, she could use them now.

"I… trust you."

Isabella nodded. At the desert's edge, the far side was a sheer black cliff, filled with darkness that had no bottom. Looking out across it, her eyes held a mixture of longing and desperation. A warp was the only way to reach the next region. That much was the same as the game — the regions weren't connected to each other.

Going back was already impossible for her anyway. By now the Queen would have noticed and dispatched search parties and trackers.

"Until the warp activates, I need to commune with the Star."

"I will stand guard."

Isabella understood what I meant and shifted into a watchful stance. Communing with the Star — logging out. But this wasn't a safe zone. Log out, and any beast, monster, or pursuit unit could close in. I was placing my safety entirely in Isabella's hands.

If I'd chosen the Guardian Amulet instead of the Fairy Queen's Tear, I could have set a safe zone. I didn't regret it. The Fairy Queen's Tear was too fine a Talisman to pass up.

A promising start, all things considered.

A golden carpet stretched ahead of me, and beyond it the Royal Road unfurled. Thinking about the link to reality, growth in Pangenia was critically important. If more of Pangenia's monsters invaded Earth in the future—

…The Demon King. He could descend into the real world.

A monster even Wilhelm couldn't defeat might appear in reality. That bone-deep, shuddering Ruin.

I sat down, drew a deep breath, and closed my eyes.

Log out.

Water roared from the showerhead as I shaved. When I finished, I toweled off and dried my hair.

"Hah. That feels good."

How long had it been since I'd last showered and shaved? The long-overdue wash was so refreshing I almost wished I'd cleaned myself up sooner.

…I really have been living like a shut-in.

I stepped out of the bathroom, took one look at the state of my room, and sighed. Well — I'd spent over a month cut off from the outside world, barely cleaning, just existing. Transforming and going out when the Giant Mantis attacked hardly counted as leaving the house.

A shut-in. But I couldn't keep moping and rotting ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in this corner forever. I'd quit my job, sure, but I couldn't keep living like this.

"Time to clean up."

I'd just steeled myself to start when—

Bzzzt.

My phone buzzed on the desk with a text notification. I picked it up, checked the message, and my face twisted before I could stop it.

…It was a text from my ex-girlfriend — the one who'd broken up with me because I had no future.