The Underworld Arena (3)
It happened eleven years ago.
Back when I was a total newbie, having played Lost Elder for barely a year.
I received a quest from an NPC.
"…Immortal, please grant our request. You are the only hero who can shoulder this task right now."
Ding!
A new quest has been registered.
[Quest List]
NEW! Assassinate Karayan, Guild Master of the Ruin Merchant Guild.
...
It was a request to assassinate Karayan, the Guild Master of the Ruin Merchant Guild.
"Oh, a new quest."
At the time, I didn't really know what kind of guild the Ruin Merchant Guild was.
The only meager bit of information I had was that they ran the Underground Arena.
With a light heart, and eager to avenge my death in the tutorial, I set off on a journey to assassinate Karayan.
"Ah, damn it… Why is this so hard?"
But contrary to my initial lighthearted approach, the difficulty of the mission was absolutely brutal.
Didn't I mention this before?
That the Underground Arena was a place you could never escape from, no matter what you did?
Reversing that logic meant it was also an incredibly difficult area for a player to infiltrate.
Slipping past the high-level guards stationed everywhere to reach Karayan, who was hidden on the top floor of the Underground Arena, was no easy feat.
"Fine. Let's see who wins."
Click, click.
Of course, being as stubborn as I was, I refused to give up on that damn quest.
After hundreds of attempts, I finally managed to squeeze my way into the core facility.
When I finally faced the Shadow Knight Lauren, who could be considered the final boss of the assassination quest, I spent ages studying his patterns and mechanics to figure out how to defeat him.
And after all that effort...
Stab!
...I defeated the Shadow Knight Lauren and drove my sword straight through the heart of Karayan, who sat loftily in a chair wearing a mask.
You have completed the quest: 'Assassinate Karayan, Guild Master of the Ruin Merchant Guild'.
"Whew, I finally beat it..."
Exactly fifteen days.
That was how long it took me to complete the assassination request.
Checking the completion notification and rewards, a wide grin spread across my face. It felt like all my suffering over the past few days had finally paid off.
"What should I do today?"
A few more days passed.
I completely forgot about Karayan.
I was too busy enjoying the game's other content to spare a thought for him.
"Huh?"
...Until I spotted Karayan, alive and well, standing right there in the illegal auction house.
"What the hell? Why is he alive?"
At first, I thought it was a bug.
Otherwise, there was no way an NPC I had personally killed would be walking around completely fine.
But when I brought it up, other players dismissed the possibility of it being a bug.
"Hmm..."
Right.
Just as the other players said, Lost Elder was an incredibly polished game.
That was an undeniable fact that anyone who had played the game for even an hour could agree on.
Hearing their opinions, I calmly thought it over once more.
Instead of just writing off Karayan's survival as a bug, it made more sense to assume there was some hidden lore or setup behind it.
*Click.*
So, I abandoned the quest I was currently doing.
With half-doubting expectations, I began tracking Karayan and the Ruin Merchant Guild.
"Huh?"
It didn't take long for me to notice a shocking detail.
Every time Karayan appeared in public, the build of the figure beneath the robe changed ever so slightly.
...It was only a few years later that I finally discovered the "true identity" of Karayan, the Guild Master of the Ruin Merchant Guild.
Yes.
Karayan usually disguised herself as a maid.
Who would ever suspect that someone as powerful as the Guild Master of the Ruin Merchant Guild would go around dressed as a maid?
It was a simple trick that exploited the blind spot right under everyone's noses.
Of course, such cute little tricks don't work on me.
After all, I was a veteran player who had dedicated twelve years of my life to this game.
Sssss—
The air circulating the top floor was freezing.
Everyone in the room stared at me with wary eyes.
Some of them slowly reached toward their waists.
As if preparing to draw their weapons at a moment's notice, just in case.
"..."
The servants currently in the room were all superhumans exceeding level 60.
Even the Shadow Knight Lauren, one of Lost Elder's named NPCs, was mixed in among them.
On the other hand, I...
I glanced at my MP bar.
My mana pool was still at zero.
Because my mana recovery stat was a measly 1, my MP recovered at an agonizingly slow rate.
Furthermore, I didn't even have a sword in my hand...
[UNUSABLE]
...Naturally, the skill was unusable.
"..."
It was a touch-and-go situation where a single wrong move could cost me my life.
Surrounded by high-level enemies in this crisis, all I had was this weak body with average stats of 1.
Yet, there was only one reason I could act so brazenly and put on such a bold front.
I killed the Human Butcher Barb in a single strike.
Of course, behind that feat lay the 12-star mythic skill, Soul of the Sword Master...
...But they don't know that.
I just had to exploit that fact to the fullest from here on out.
I exuded an air of easy confidence, trying to look as powerful as possible.
I wore an expressionless mask, acting as if I had absolutely no interest in trash like them.
It's a bluff.
Fortunately, my bluff seemed to be working.
The proof was in the servants' faces, which had stiffened with tension as they stared at me.
"Who are you?"
Before long, the real Karayan, disguised as a maid, spoke up cautiously.
"Who are you to know my true identity? No, more importantly... what exactly did you come to the Underground Arena for?"
Without a second of hesitation, I spat out the answer I had prepared.
"This isn't the kind of conversation to have with so many listening ears around."
"...Excuse me?"
Karayan's eyes widened.
"Are you asking to speak with me in private?"
I nodded silently.
The reaction from the Ruin Merchant Guild was immediate.
"Absolutely not, Master!"
A voice rang out from behind.
The Eagle Mask, who had been acting as Karayan's double, stood up in a hurry and spoke in a trembling voice.
"Who knows what he might do if you are left alone with him...!"
Karayan raised her hand.
At her gesture for silence, the Eagle Mask immediately shut their mouth.
After staring at me with a blank expression for a moment, Karayan slowly spoke again.
"My subordinate is right."
"..."
"It is dangerous to meet with you alone. Especially since you are a powerhouse capable of killing the Human Butcher Barb in a single strike."
Karayan spoke with a hint of tension in her voice.
"So, prove it. Prove that you won't harm me when we are alone."
I scoffed inwardly.
Prove that I wouldn't harm her when we were alone?
What an absurd demand.
No matter what I said, she could just claim she didn't believe me, and that would be the end of it.
Of course, I have a surefire way to change her mind...
But I would save that crucial card for a little later.
For now, I had to project strength.
In a situation like this, seizing control of the conversation was more important than anything else.
"Proof, you say."
I let out a smirk.
Making sure to lace the chuckle with easy confidence.
"I believe I've already provided more than enough proof."
"...What?"
"You're slow on the uptake."
Karayan knit her brows slightly, wondering what I meant.
But paying her no mind, I continued in a calm, flat voice.
"I mean that if I intended to harm you, everyone in this room would already be dead."
"...!"
"...!"
*Flinch.*
The moment my threat-like words left my mouth, everyone in the room flinched.
A suffocating silence weighed heavily on the air.
...Did it work?
Of course, I was just putting on an outrageous bluff.
In my current physical state, let alone the Shadow Knight Lauren, who was the strongest here, I probably couldn't even beat Karayan, who was basically a civilian.
But as I said before, they don't know that.
And no matter how bluff-heavy the words were...
If the one saying them was the person who had just slain the Human Butcher Barb in a single strike...
"..."
"..."
"..."
...No one could afford to ignore my warning.
Well, I guess that's enough acting tough.
Now that the initiative was entirely in my hands.
I figured it was about time to play the card I had prepared.
Karayan, Guild Master of the Ruin Merchant Guild.
According to the game's lore, she had been searching for a certain person for a very long time.
During her childhood.
Back when she was a vagrant, unable to settle in any city, wandering aimlessly through the Wilderness teeming with ferocious monsters.
There was a savior who had rescued Karayan and her father from the brink of death.
*Shring!*
A traveler cloaked in a robe had appeared and slain the beast about to devour Karayan and her father in a single strike.
"Are you alright, little lady?"
"Ah, a-ah..."
That memory had been seared into the young Karayan's mind.
From that day on, Karayan wanted to find the mysterious traveler who had saved her life and repay the debt, no matter what.
But it was by no means an easy task.
The traveler's face had been hidden beneath a robe, and even his voice had grown faint, buried under the passage of time.
Of course, I am not the savior Karayan has been looking for.
But...
That didn't mean I couldn't utilize the "information" I possessed.
"Lea."
"...!"
"Lea de Karayan."
*Startle.*
Upon hearing my words, Karayan's eyes went wide.
She was visibly shaken.
It was a stark contrast to her previous attempts to keep her emotions hidden.
"H-how do you know my name...?"
Lea de Karayan.
That was the full name of the Guild Master of the Ruin Merchant Guild.
There were only a few people in this world who knew her full name.
Lea de Karayan herself.
Her parents.
The mysterious savior who had saved her life.
And finally...
"My name isn't 'little lady,' mister."
"I am Lea de Karayan."
"Though I'm just a worthless girl wandering the Wilderness right now, in ten years, I will definitely become a powerhouse who rules this world."
"So if you ever need help in the future, please come find me. I will make sure to repay this debt for saving my life."
...And me, who had played the game for twelve years and knew the lore of every major NPC inside out, also knew her full name.
"Think carefully, Karayan."
"..."
"Why would the savior who already saved the lives of you and your father once come back now to harm you?"
Yes.
I was not the savior Karayan was looking for.
But that didn't mean I couldn't impersonate him.
Especially when I don't even have to worry about the consequences.
According to the original lore, the savior Karayan was looking for was already dead by this point in time.
Which meant there was absolutely no risk in me impersonating that NPC.
I feel a bit sorry for that character, but...
...I will gladly take credit for the deeds of the deceased.
Since I had been dragged into this game world against my will, I intended to survive by any means necessary.