313. [A quest to converse with Daji, the Great Hero of the Chaldea Empire, has been created!]
313. [A quest to converse with Daji, the Great Hero of the Chaldea Empire, has been created!]
***
*
————
Would you like to view the Additional Information?
[Y/N]
————
*
Serin placed her hand on Y.
Then a hologram appeared in the air right in front of her and began to embroider itself in golden thread.
*
————
A new Moon Dancer has appeared, and the balance between the factions that had been maintained for so long will begin to crumble.
————
*
Serin blinked blankly as she stared at the characters embroidered in golden thread, glowing brightly.
The Moon Dancer seemed to refer to herself, but she couldn't quite understand what was meant by the balance of factions.
The information was so fragmentary that I wondered if this really was a rumor about me.
"What does this mean?"
She muttered to herself and glanced at the chat window, just in case.
[??????]
[what is this]
[If it says a new Moon Dancer, isn't it talking about Rin?]
[Is it some kind of hidden quest?]
[If it's additional info left directly by a hero, it can't be meaningless]
[Am I the only one who doesn't get it?]
[Feels like something's about to happen?]
[Hidden quest? This has that exact vibe]
The additional information was displayed on screen just the same. The chat window, full of all sorts of speculation about it, didn't seem to know much either. Except that, like one of the comments said, it might be a clue to a hidden quest. Her heart couldn't help but lean toward that.
'If it's a clue, it's definitely possible.'
In Black Ark, hidden quests had often begun from clues or small pieces of information like this.
But among all those countless quests, this kind of phrasing was something she had never seen before, so it was utterly unfamiliar.
In Black Ark, she had even known of rulers who wielded influence, but among them there had been no existence called a hero or great hero.
She found herself staring at the text, deep in thought.
Ding!
[Great Hero of the Chaldea Empire. The Conversation with Daji quest has been created!]
Along with a golden cluster of light, a new notification appeared.
"...What in the world."
She had no choice but to hurriedly open the quest window.
*
————
[Great Hero of the Chaldea Empire. Conversation with Daji]
At the end of the long war, the representatives of each faction aligned their views, and the pact that had long been maintained between the factions developed a small crack when the Great Hero of the Chaldea Empire, Daji, made the first move.
The repercussions have already reached each faction, and Daji now wishes to speak with you.
(You have already completed your class advancement as a Moon Dancer! The quest will proceed forcibly)
—In 7 days, 0 hours, and 2 minutes of real time, an invitation allowing you to travel to the Chaldea Imperial Grand Banquet Hall will be created for you.
[Reward: Merely speaking with Daji grants you an enormous additional adjustment to all Dancer Class skills]
[Penalty: If you do not log in on that day, the Moon Dancer Class will be permanently revoked]
————
*
"......"
Serin, who had been reading through the contents carefully one by one, found her mouth hanging open blankly when she reached the penalty.
'...What kind of quest is this?'
She could tell that something was happening now, as if everything she had experienced so far had piled up layer upon layer and burst out all at once.
But every word felt far too grand in scale.
Starting with that vague talk about the balance between factions.
The blatant quest name stating that Daji directly wished to speak with her was one thing.
And while the reward of additional adjustments to all skills was quite substantial, the penalty was beyond absurd.
The terrifying quest failure penalty of 'Hidden Class Revocation' was a penalty she had never seen before, even after completing hundreds of quests in Black Ark.
'No matter what... Hidden Class Revocation.'
The quest failure penalties she had experienced in Black Ark had all been close to brutal.
Pain she never wanted to feel again, or a sense of powerlessness that temporarily restricted the strength she possessed—for as short as a few days or as long as several months. They made her pay the price for failure.
But a penalty that permanently took back or revoked what had already been given was something she had never heard of or seen.
They were going to reclaim the hidden class. It was truly an absurd penalty.
"A hidden quest... that I have no choice but to do. Something like that, right?"
I muttered uncertainly and immediately calculated the date.
If it was seven days from now, today was Friday. It would be next Friday.
The fact that they were giving her time rather than having her meet Daji right away seemed oddly significant.
[Whoa what?]
[Is something huge coming...?]
[fr feels like something insanely huge is coming]
[Starting with that line about the peace between factions breaking, what is this lololol]
[Whoa what even is Rin lolololololol]
[I knew it, getting a hidden class that easily was sus]
[lololol no but what's this about a forced quest after giving you a hidden class]
[They even wrote the penalty right out in the open, so you definitely have to do it;]
[Something huge is here!]
[Is the condition to progress the main quest that's been blocked finally unlocking?]
[You have to stream this!!!]
[How am I supposed to wait until next Friday...]
[Looks like quests related to the Great Hero are getting unlocked]
[Isn't the main quest condition unlocked because of Rin?]
[I'm looking at it and I still don't get it;]
I stared blankly at the chat window, which was just as confused as I was, and soon my eyes landed on a few unusual comments.
Main quest, unlocking quest conditions.
'Is there something story-related going on?'
Honestly, I had seen the end of the main story in Black Ark, but I didn't actually know anything about Another World's story.
'Maybe it's similar?'
I had only thought about it on a gut feeling. I had never felt the need to look into it specifically.
In the first place, I wasn't the type to care much about or focus on a game's story.
I was a gamer who skipped through the long text displayed on screen and took pleasure in farming and growing my build as quickly as possible.
Except when all of that became the narrative of Black Ark that I actually experienced—then I had no choice but to recall it in order to survive.
"Honestly, I don't really know what's going on or how this is progressing either. For now, I'll go straight into the chicken event for the level 66 event. If everyone enters their email address in chat, I'll draw a total of 50 people and send them chicken gift cards."
As the situation grew complicated, I felt the need to look into Another World's story, and decided to proceed with the event I had mentioned first.
Soon, countless email chats flooded the chat window.
"Stop."
With a light word, I applied the chat window's random drawing system.
Soon, the chats of the 50 winners began to be displayed on screen in a long list. I displayed those nicknames for a moment as if making an announcement, then continued speaking.
"Congratulations to the 50 winners. I'll send the gift card codes within two days at the latest."
Along with a brief congratulatory message, I told them that the menu would be standardized to golden olive chicken, then glanced at the time.
7:58 PM.
'So I've streamed for about four hours now.'
It was a little short, but I wanted to end the stream here today.
The joy of reaching level 66 by achieving the leveling I had been grinding at all week was great. But the unexpected encounter with a hero was one thing, and with Daji, with the newly created quest related to her, my thoughts kept multiplying, and I couldn't help but feel mentally exhausted.
"Today's a little early, but a lot of things happened and I'm tired... and I have family-related things tomorrow, so I think I need to start getting ready too."
With a stream-ending message, I slowly began preparing to wrap up.
[Come on Rin, you're not serious, right?]
[No... starting tomorrow it's a weekend hiatus]
[You're ending the last stream before the weekend as a short stream?]
[Rin pleaseeeee]
[Rin, at least do a radio stream a little longer!]
[So disappointing]
[Stream a little more!]
The chat window was full of complaints and disappointment. But I smiled faintly and continued speaking.
"I'm disappointed too, but I'll rest up and come back with a more fulfilling stream next week. I pushed myself too hard with the hunting streams this week, so I'm too tired. Well then, everyone, I'll see you next week. Have a good evening."
A few donations came in right before the stream ended, expressing disappointment, but I quickly ended the stream by thanking them.
Afterward, Serin left the dungeon and only then let out a long-held breath.
"Haa."
She stared blankly at a spot in her field of vision.
—Accumulated user fatigue has been detected. Your Another World connection will end in 10 seconds.
Just then, a warning message and a connection termination countdown appeared, and Serin smiled faintly and terminated the connection before the countdown finished.
......
After blinking a few times, she saw the inside of the capsule in reality, not the background of Another World.
"Ugh... Reality really is worse."
I let out a small groan and lifted my arm. It felt heavy, as if sandbags had been stacked layer upon layer on top of it.
"Is it because I drank yesterday?"
She muttered to herself blankly, leaning back against the capsule seat.
Unlike inside Another World, where she felt no physical fatigue, now her whole body felt incredibly heavy and her head was foggy—she seemed to be feeling far too much fatigue compared to her streaming time.
At the end of an ordinary grinding session for leveling, an unexpected duel with a hero.
The quest being created was good, but right now she just... didn't want to think about anything.
"Hoo."
It felt as if her body was refusing to think, as if it had been overloaded.
"I do need to tidy up at least a little before Seoyun comes tomorrow."
And on top of that, she had to do her allotted exercise for today.
"Pfft..."
A laugh escaped her as the things she had to do kept surfacing belatedly.
Just moments ago, she had been crossing blades with a hero named Aizen, pouring her focus into a duel—it felt like a lie.
Now that she was back in reality, other thoughts kept coming one after another.
She lifted herself out of the capsule and shook her head slightly.
Sometimes getting too lost in thought wasn't good either.
In most cases, actually doing something was better.
"I guess I just need to do a little cleaning and set up the bedding set I ordered."
Knowing Seoyun's personality, she'd probably handle things fine on her own. Still, she was her only family, so she wanted to prepare at least a little.
Clack.
With that, Serin left the room and began taking care of her tasks one by one.
***
September 4th, Saturday. 1:16 PM.
Seoul SN Air Center.
Rrrrr.
A woman pulling a luggage bag smiled brightly, then looked up at the harshly beating sunlight and let out a small laugh.
With short black hair and a petite frame blending cute and Western features, the woman's appearance had a distinctive yet lovely atmosphere.
Even people passing through the center found their eyes unconsciously drawn to her smile.
Her name was Han Seoyun.
"I should've used this a long time ago."
Just as her sister had said, using a flight ticket was comfortable and cut the time down drastically—she wondered why she had been taking the train all this time.
The cost wasn't even much different, so she wondered why she had foolishly taken the train for so long.
Seoyun moved with light, graceful steps, smiling with anticipation for what lay ahead.