Heavenly Dragon Wings

A presence no one could dare approach.

Shhhraaak!

Dragon wings tore free from his back and unfurled. It was the set effect of Michela's gear — Heavenly Dragon Man.

The effect only activated when all three pieces — the sword, the armor, and the helm — were assembled. In the early game they were as rare as stars in the sky, but he had purchased them through the secret auction house.

Lucky I already had Michela's sword — the hardest piece to find.

Compared to the sword, the armor and helm were relatively easier to come by. That was why, even without the blade, both pieces had been listed on the secret auction at an instant-buy price of two hundred thousand gold each.

Plenty of trap items with Twin Talismans attached, too.

The Twin Talisman. A pair of talismans that shared each other's location. Buy one without knowing, and you handed your position straight to the seller. Some of them even hid the Twin Talisman's name under the label "Secret Scroll." They were mostly attached to gear meant for levels one through five, priced cheap enough to snare any beginner who didn't know better.

No matter how I look at it, I can't shake the feeling they're hunting for me.

He couldn't dismiss the thought that those "phishing" listings were aimed at him. The Hall's rankers would already know he had cleared Main Quest 2, and they would have figured out that finishing Main Quest 3 with a strong grade required a lot of gear. They were listing exactly the equipment he needed at rock-bottom prices, fishing for his location so they could kill him.

It might have been overthinking — but caution never hurt. Still, the fruits of the secret auction were far too sweet to abandon.

…To think I'd actually get this.

Looking down at the ground below, he allowed himself a faint smile. Luck had been on his side. He never expected to find it at this exact moment.

Related information flickered before his eyes.

An extremely rare Epic-grade item with a socket. It accepted a talisman, carried a stat bonus, and even came with a skill — a true all-rounder. The equip requirement alone would normally have locked beginners out completely.

All Stats 50. Even with decent talent and a solid class, you would need to hit level 8 before you could meet that threshold. Primary stats climbed the fastest; secondary stats barely budged.

But every time he leveled up, all of his stats rose by twelve. On top of that, the Fairy Queen's Tears had slashed the equip requirement dramatically.

A little underwhelming if I waited until level 8 to wear them — but for me right now, there's nothing better.

More than anything, Hermes' Shoes paired perfectly with Michela's set effect, Heavenly Dragon Man.

— I'll melt every last one of you.

The Chid Mamba belched a dense fog of poison. Acid venom that corroded and dissolved everything it touched.

Flap!

Whoosh!

But the acid fog never had a chance to spread. The wings of Heavenly Dragon Man combined with Swift to whip up miniature gales, and the poison was shredded apart before it could settle.

Whoooosh!

The gales didn't just scatter the poison mist — they blasted the Chid Worms away in an instant. The Chid Mamba scowled as the fierce wind slammed into it.

— Wind magic? Then try stopping this!

The Chid Mamba uncoiled ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a tail it had kept hidden. Like a scorpion's, the tip was coated in lethal venom. It launched at a speed no eye could track — impossible to dodge by sight alone.

But.

Right side.

If you already knew which way it would fire before it shot, dodging was more than possible. Before launching its stinger, the Chid Mamba twisted both hands. There were exactly twenty-six twist patterns, and each one shifted the trajectory by a subtle degree.

Roll.

He rolled, flew, and ran — weaving past every single venom dart the Chid Mamba threw at him.

— You rat bastard!

The Chid Mamba was seething. But with neither its poison fog nor its stingers landing, it was helpless.

He sprinted forward. One clean cut to the Chid Mamba's neck and it would be over.

Halt.

He poured every ounce of strength into his thighs and brought his entire body to a dead stop.

In that instant—

Shhhrrrk!

Countless spikes erupted right in front of his face. Venom needles buried in the ground.

— Y-you even dodged that?

Shock flooded the Chid Mamba's eyes.

Charge.

Having exhausted every pattern, the Chid Mamba fell into a brief state of Confusion. Only a moment. Fail to finish it in a single blow, and the longer the fight dragged on, the stronger the Chid Mamba would become.

Zzzak!

He raised his greatsword and expanded every muscle in his body. Charging, he closed the distance on the confused Chid Mamba with deliberate steps.

Swift.

In a flash, the speed of his thrust surged higher.

Shhk!

As smooth as flowing water, he severed the Chid Mamba's neck clean through.

The moment the Chid Mamba's despairing eyes hit the ground—

"Kyaaaaah!"

Kim Seoyeon's scream finally snapped Kim Hana back to her senses.

Blood pooled across the floor. Jung Jinwoo's severed arms. And then…

That man from before.

The man who had saved her from the Giant Mantis was standing right there — wearing a helm and armor she had never seen, reddish-brown wings rising from his back. He looked a little different from last time, but it was unmistakably him.

"Ah… aah…"

Kim Seoyeon had collapsed where she stood, her whole body trembling. A formless terror pinned her in place. She couldn't move.

Slap!

"Snap out of it!"

Kim Hana struck Kim Seoyeon's cheek and shouted. Staying here was dangerous. The ones who could still live needed to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠live.

Hauling the slumped Kim Seoyeon onto her shoulder, Kim Hana rose and scanned the surroundings.

Come to think of it — where is Hyunmyung?

Park Hyunmyung. He was nowhere to be seen.

Did he run…?

A deep furrow cut between Kim Hana's brows. She hadn't even sensed him leave. He had been right beside her when the insects appeared — then vanished without a trace the moment that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠female-form monster showed up.

Better to run than stand there dazed and die, sure. But still — to abandon them and flee alone?

Kim Hana grunted as she dragged Kim Seoyeon along. Getting as far from this place as possible was the priority.

"The back door is swarming with monsters too! Get up to the second floor!"

A staff member on the second floor shouted as Kim Hana tried for the rear exit. Outside the building was already overrun by giant insects.

"Somebody help me!"

At her cry, several people from the second floor came down.

Whoooosh!

Rattle! Rattle!

A gale slammed through the building. The man had blasted away the poison fog the monster was spewing in a single sweep. Kim Hana barely held on to the railing, then turned her eyes back to the floor below.

Ah…!

The monster was firing venom darts — so fast they were invisible to the naked eye. If the man failed to kill it, the creatures would slaughter everyone left in seconds. There was no way out. All anyone could do was clasp their hands and pray.

"Please, please…!"

"He's a Dimension Warrior too, right? He is, isn't he?"

"Y-yeah, but the other Dimension Warrior attacked us! It's too early to feel safe!"

People swallowed hard, watching the first floor in tense silence. That man was their last line of defense. But the other Dimension Warrior — Jung Jinwoo — had suddenly gone mad and turned on them. There was no guarantee this one was any different.

"It's all right. He's on our side."

Kim Hana reassured them. Letting panic spread in a situation like this would only make things worse.

Every time a venom dart launched, people flinched — terrified the man might take a hit and go down.

Shhhak!

But the man dodged the darts with an ease that made their worry look foolish, then severed the monster's neck in a single stroke.

The instant the monster's head hit the ground, something else changed.

"D-did he win?"

"The monsters are melting!"

"W-we're alive!"

People erupted in cheers. With the queen dead, every other insect monster dissolved and vanished.

"…"

The man turned his gaze up toward the people clinging to the second-floor railing. Then—

Flap!

He threw a cloak over himself, and his figure vanished without a trace.

"Where did he go?"

"He just disappeared?"

It felt like they had seen a ghost. Could a person really evaporate like that?

The thought barely had time to form.

"Are you all right?"

At the familiar voice beside her, Kim Hana turned — and frowned.

"…Hyunmyung? Where were you?"

"I was in the restroom."

In the restroom?

Blood…?

Kim Hana had a sharp eye. Between Park Hyunmyung's ankle and the top of his foot, where his sock had rolled down just enough to show bare skin, a single small droplet of blood was stuck fast.

Of course, blood on someone in a situation like this wasn't strange. And it wasn't his ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠own — it had spattered from someone else. The only person who had been badly wounded and bleeding was Jung Jinwoo. And Park Hyunmyung had already hidden himself before Jinwoo ended up like that.

If he had been in the restroom, he shouldn't have come into contact with anyone. So whose blood was that?

No way…?

On top of that, the timing of the "man's" appearance lined up uncannily with Park Hyunmyung's disappearance — and the timing of Park Hyunmyung's return lined up with the "man's" vanishing.

No way…

She shook her head hard. It was absurd. Kim Hana looked back and forth between the spot where the man had disappeared and Park Hyunmyung himself.

"Is there something on my face?"

"No, it's not that…"

…Right. It had to be a coincidence. There was no way Park Hyunmyung was a Dimension Warrior.

But if — one in a million, one in ten million — Park Hyunmyung was a Dimension Warrior? If he was the man in the photograph she kept like a charm?

Kim Hana's eyes tangled into a complicated knot as she looked at him.

The next day, the world plunged into chaos once more.

A second wave of attacks from another dimension — already the second time. Dimension Warriors had stepped up again and held the line, but the intensity of the assaults was climbing. Some Dimension Warriors warned that the attacks would keep coming and argued that coordination with the government was essential.

But not every Dimension Warrior — not every Player — shared that view.

"Isn't this guy Randolph?"

Inside a dark sealed room, roughly ten people were hunting for Randolph. More precisely, they were hunting for Phantom.

They were combing through every video uploaded to social media and YouTube. Exactly one hundred seventy-eight videos of "Players" had been posted from Korea — more than one and a half times the previous count of around a hundred. People who had been hiding were starting to show themselves.

Randolph might be among them.

Right now, a computer screen displayed a steakhouse in Cheongdam.

"Hermes' Shoes. The equip requirement on those is brutal, isn't it?"

"If he only just cleared Main Quest 2, there's no way he can equip Hermes' Shoes."

That was true. The equip requirement on Hermes' Shoes was far beyond what a beginner could meet. Someone who had only just finished Main Quest 2 would be level four or five at best. It was far too early for Randolph to be wearing those shoes.

"But those wings — isn't that Heavenly Dragon Man?"

"Even if you can get the helm and armor from the auction, how the hell did he get Michela's sword?"

"Looks like the same character that had the Hydragon last time."

Even if it wasn't Randolph, the questions remained. Michela's sword dropped at an absurdly low rate — an ultra-ultra-rare item with maybe ten copies in circulation at most. And the Hydragon's Soul? It was practically gospel that only one person on the entire server owned it. No one knew who the owner was, but rumors that it belonged to a Game Master were everywhere.

"So you're saying that guy is a Game Master?"

"Look at how he hunts the Chid Mamba. He's dodging every single pattern by a paper-thin margin."

"…You're right. Has anyone ever dodged with patterns that precise? Anyone who could replicate that?"

"…"

All ten of them in the room could kill a Chid Mamba. But none of them could read every pattern and clear it by a hair's breadth the way the man in the video did. The Chid Mamba's patterns were notoriously vicious — nothing like the Hydragon or the Giant Mantis. That was why no one actually mapped every pattern and cleared it clean. Better to level up more and come back later.

And yet the man in the footage was doing all of it perfectly.

"Damn."

It was insane even on a second watch. Truly a paper-thin margin. He baited the patterns, dodged them, forced the Confusion state, charged, and finished with a single stroke — every motion flowing like water. Not a single wasted movement.

That's genuine artistry.

It was art, pure and simple. Watching it left their jaws hanging. Anyone who didn't know better would have sworn he was reading the future.

Clap clap clap!

The man at the computer applauded as he spoke.

"Still our number-one recruitment target."

"Number zero is MintChocoIsDelicious."

"Mm. Rank doesn't matter — both of them are talent our Alliance needs. That's certain."

"Either way, the other groups are moving too. We need to put out a statement as soon as possible, before the first Rift opens."

They were the Player Alliance of Heroes. What set them apart from other Player alliances was that they genuinely intended to prepare for the Rifts. In a situation where no one knew what would come pouring out, the most critical factor was whether Phantom existed. With him, every scenario became manageable.

But other Player alliances were already stirring beneath the surface. If Phantom and MintChocoIsDelicious were poached by another alliance — or lost entirely — it would be a devastating blow to an alliance that claimed the name of Heroes.

So they had to find them. The one small comfort was that both were likely Korean.

The man at the center, wearing a black mask, spoke in a heavy voice.

"Start by searching the area around that place."

"Cough!"

Hudson sprayed the coffee he had been drinking. Then he stared at me with desperate eyes, praying he had misheard.

"…S-so… you're saying you… used the Fairy Queen's Tears?"