Transcendence

"Think Randolph will take first place on the next main quest too?"

Someone floated the question from the rooftop of a building in Gangnam, at the newly established headquarters of the Hero Alliance. But it was a question every Player in the world was asking.

Could Randolph — presumed to be Phantom — claim first place on Main Quest 5 as well?

Phantom, the legend of the gaming era at the height of his glory. The knowledge he possessed might well exceed that of every other Player combined. Yet those who knew anything about Mysteries remained skeptical of the outcome.

"There's a chance, but it's slim."

"Mysteries are mostly for show to begin with."

Window dressing. The prevailing consensus held that Mysteries themselves offered little practical utility beyond looking impressive.

"Well… if it were a Ruler-class Mystery, there might be a possibility."

"True. The Mysteries held by the rulers of major cities are top-tier, and they come with possession effects."

"So Randolph, who just finished Main Quest 4, becomes a city ruler? Even Transcendents struggle to take a city."

"It's possible if you force it with sheer numbers the way Master did early on. But Phantom doesn't have a faction, does he?"

That was the reason they were certain Randolph wouldn't take first place. Obtaining a top-tier Mystery required either overwhelming personal strength or a faction behind you.

Push into a city with raw force, become its ruler, and you received the Mystery City Ruler — one of the most formidable Mysteries in existence. But Phantom had no faction. A solo Player. A lone wolf who had always operated alone. Acquiring a Mystery that way was impossible.

Then was Randolph a powerhouse on par with a Transcendent?

Not even close.

Of course not. Phantom had only been summoned as a Player a short time ago. Even if knowledge and cunning had carried him to first place through Main Quest 4, obtaining a top-tier Mystery was an entirely different dimension of problem.

"Even if he somehow became a city ruler…"

"Yeah. Breaking Master's record would still be tough."

Master commanded the largest faction among all Players. He had been operating in the shadows for three years, and now ran the Other-dimensional Community, drawing worldwide attention. Officially, a little over fifty Players stood with Master — but unofficially, their numbers were said to exceed a hundred.

Gracia at least paid lip service to a greater cause and made some effort to live by it. Master, by contrast, was infamous for quietly erasing anyone who wasn't his or on his side. He even ran an assassination corps, stopping at nothing when interests were at stake.

"There's plenty of talk about him among Players, but Master is still the owner of Rundela…"

"Come to think of it, why is the owner of Rundela's Mystery different from the other city rulers'?"

"Because Rundela is a Ruins City. It's in a completely different league from ordinary cities."

The Mystery Master obtained upon becoming Rundela's owner was of a different caliber entirely from those of other city rulers. That was why Master held an iron grip on first place for Main Quest 5 — a record so overwhelming it was still talked about.

"Fifty points ahead of second place. That says it all."

Everyone nodded. Even the legendary Phantom would struggle to claim first on this quest.

"Hmm. Might be better to just clear this one quickly and move on."

"Still, he's Phantom. He'll at least try for a ranking spot."

That was when it happened.

"What the hell? Why won't the Golden Rule Shop open?"

One of the Alliance members frowned and spoke up. The Golden Rule Shop wouldn't open? What kind of nonsense was that?

"Huh? Mine won't open either."

"No, why isn't this working?"

"Wait. The Secret Auction House won't open either."

"What about the others?"

"Everything else… seems locked too."

It wasn't just the Golden Rule Shop. Every shop acquired through special privileges had gone dark — as if the doors had been forcibly sealed. If it were one person, it might have been coincidence. But every single one of the dozen-plus Alliance members gathered here was experiencing the same thing.

"Contact Players in other regions."

"I'm trying. Everyone's saying the same thing — total blackout."

"What about Players overseas?"

"Same. Exactly the same."

"Strange. It happens occasionally with individual shops, but every shop at once…"

Every face in the room tightened. Something was happening — somewhere they couldn't see, in a situation they didn't understand.

"…What the hell is going on right now?"

I was being watched. Voyeuristically, even — by the Constellations of the Hall of One Hundred Constellations, no less.

They were the ones who raised quest reward grades, so drawing their attention wasn't a bad thing in itself. But no matter how I looked at it, they seemed to be enjoying watching me suffer. Every last one of them.

"Damn it, caw! Void type, caw!"

I was being hunted — by ten thousand skeleton soldiers. At a glance it looked no different from the first trial, but there was one critical difference: every single skeleton soldier carried the attribute of Void. That very Hidden Trait that granted opposing elemental properties.

Shiiiiing!

Charrarararak!

Have you ever seen arrows of light raining from the sky? Tens of thousands of them were falling like a downpour, all aimed at killing me alone. Skeleton soldiers — and they were using light-attribute skills.

Information added upon advancing to the next stage. Ten thousand skeleton soldiers now possessed the Void attribute. It looked trivial at first glance, but this was a "trivial" you could not afford to overlook.

Void granted opposing elemental properties — in other words, it eliminated weaknesses. Separately, my Corpse Crows were curse-attribute. I myself carried the Void Hidden Trait, but that didn't extend the characteristic to my skills. My summoned Corpse Crows had been slaughtered in an instant by the arrows of light.

Wait. Why am I running?

Even as I fled, a sudden doubt struck me. Didn't I possess the Giant's Magic Resistance? Even taking a direct hit, shouldn't I be able to nullify skill damage? Tens of thousands of arrows or not, they were only low-grade Arrow of Light skills — ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠attacks from Level 4 skeleton soldiers with barely any mana behind them.

…Giant's Magic Resistance blocks things made of mana. It doesn't block physical phenomena generated by mana.

My mind snapped clear. If I took those tens of thousands of arrows head-on, my body would be pulverized — not by the light arrows themselves, but by raw physical force. Using a skill meant adding physical force to mana. Giant's Magic Resistance ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠erased mana-based impact, but it wouldn't erase the physical phenomenon of tens of thousands of light arrows tearing through the air. Stand still and take them, and my flesh would be shredded to pieces.

So how did I break this situation?

The skeleton soldiers are simple. They're pouring everything into killing me.

Even with intelligence, skeleton soldiers weren't particularly smart. They were dumping light arrows at me in a frenzy. A few had landed, but the damage wasn't significant. In that case—

Just drain all their mana.

Void attribute or not, their mana wasn't infinite. They're only Level 4. How much mana could a Level 4 skeleton soldier possibly have? Even assuming a maximum of 40 mana points by level, twenty or so Arrows of Light would be their limit.

Two hundred thousand Arrows of Light.

Conversely, if I could force them to expend two hundred thousand light arrows, every last one of them would be no different from an ordinary skeleton soldier. But running like this would never burn through two hundred thousand shots. I'd die first.

Every skeleton soldier has me locked. Within 10.45 meters they don't fire skills, but the moment the distance opens beyond that, they start shooting Arrows of Light.

The aggro was already drawn. As I fled, I was calculating their exact recognition range. Ten meters, forty-five centimeters. Open any more distance than that and the skeleton soldiers began firing Arrows of Light. Conversely, beyond fifty meters they ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stopped using skills entirely — because that was the absolute limit of the arrows' range.

To make all ten thousand skeletons dump light arrows simultaneously, I had to maintain that 10.45-meter gap while pulling every single one of them inside fifty meters. But no terrain existed that could satisfy those conditions.

They're simple.

As simple as any game AI. I had to use that.

The center of their formation.

The surest way to meet the conditions was the heart of that army. Dive into that killing ground where tens of thousands of arrows rained down, and I could drain every last shot. Even a steel-nerved fighter wouldn't attempt it. But that was fine. I had no intention of walking there.

"Lift me up, caw!"

Seven newly summoned Corpse Crows clamped their talons around my entire body and beat their wings. My main body rose into the air. All that remained was to precisely exploit the distances I'd calculated while fleeing.

"Hold, caw!"

I soared boldly between the skeleton soldiers and stopped at roughly 49.8 meters. The skeleton soldiers aimed skyward at me.

Shik!

Shishishishishishik!

"Higher, caw!"

I climbed past the fifty-meter range of the Arrows of Light. The arrows the skeleton soldiers had fired lost power just short of reaching me and evaporated into nothing.

That was it. This was the distance.

I endlessly repeated a delicate tug-of-war with the skeleton soldiers' range. One by one, skeleton soldiers drained of mana began standing around blankly.

If the skeleton soldiers' level had been higher, this method wouldn't even have been a dream.

A higher level meant higher mana and higher skill levels. The range of endlessly fired Arrows of Light could stretch to hundreds or thousands of meters. They might even use skills far superior to Arrow of Light.

No matter how I look at it, this trial wasn't designed to be cleared.

To break the Mythic Mystery Pavilion, two conditions were required. First, like me, you needed every talent maxed out so that the experience required was absurdly high — high enough that killing same-level monsters wouldn't level you up no matter how many you slaughtered. Second, you had to be overwhelmingly strong relative to your level.

Beyond that, unyielding courage, rapid situational judgment, and a deep understanding of the game were all necessary. How many beings in existence possessed all of that comprehensively?

I'm the only one who can clear this.

No matter how I thought about it, only me. And even I would have failed if I'd challenged the Mystery Pavilion at Level 7 or 8. Should I call this heaven-sent fortune?

"Round two starts now, caw!"

Gazing at the blank-eyed soldiers drained of all mana, I plunged into the heart of the skeleton army.

Caw!

Caaaw!

The Corpse Crows ravaged the skeleton soldiers — linking more, fusing more, growing larger still as they overwhelmed the ranks. And I deliberately took my time dealing with the skeleton soldiers. Because one thing had become certain.

I need to raise my skill levels first.

Before advancing to the next stage, I had to max out every skill level.

Skill Transcendence!

Skills that weren't mere proficiency types sometimes transcended upon reaching Level 10. If I'd been an ordinary Corpse Crow, this phenomenon wouldn't have occurred — but I was the King of Corpse Crows. That more skills would chain and transcend was only natural.

Perhaps because I'd waged ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠war against ten thousand Void-attribute skeleton soldiers, a Mystery called Pinnacle of Void had appeared — following Overlord. And Ultimate Myth-grade? I'd never seen a rank like this before. One thing was certain: it was a higher-tier Mystery than Overlord.

But it was too early to be satisfied here.

I'd gotten a feel for this trial by now.

…Let's see this through to the end.