Inside the Carriage (2)
"But isn't Egenoa on the eastern continent?"
Se-jin, who had been listening quietly through the brief lull in conversation, asked.
"That's right. The undersea city of Egenoa surfaced along the coast of the eastern continent."
"Huh? But the Egenoa city-state was originally on the northern continent..."
"It was, originally. By the time it was found, though, it was over on the eastern side. It probably drifted that way after sinking into the sea..."
"So things like that can happen..."
Yeon nodded with a strangely convinced look, then tilted her head.
"Wait a second, though. Egenoa, Sirpa, Sehibne — they're all on the northern continent. Is there a reason for that?"
"The place where the demonkin lived was close to the north. Let me sketch a quick map for you."
Ho-jin said this as he set his quill in motion.
"We departed from Lucifen, passed through Yelloy Barrier Fortress, and are heading for Nateera. This whole stretch, including those places, is called the Yelloy Region."
He roughly sketched a circle labeled Yelloy Region, then drew a much larger one around it.
"And the nation this Yelloy Region belongs to is the Ram Kingdom. It sits on the southern continent, and it was one of the countries that suffered almost no damage during the Human-Demon War. That's why it's now called the hegemon of the continent — and also why it's where we are right now."
"The Ram Kingdom..."
"Then there's the eastern continent — the Six-Zhao Allied Kingdom, a union of what used to be six nations. That's where the undersea city of Egenoa I mentioned earlier is located. They took such a devastating blow that one of the allied kingdoms was completely destroyed, then barely managed to claw its way back. That's why people sometimes call it the Five-Zhao Kingdom, practically speaking."
Ho-jin tapped the circles labeled Ram Kingdom and Six-Zhao Allied Kingdom, then kept moving his quill.
"Now only the west and north remain. These two regions were on the front lines during the Human-Demon War, so they're in pretty rough shape. The demonkin's territory sat right above their heads. That meant the demonkin had to punch through every nation in these two regions to advance onto the continent — which is why so many Forbidden Zones ended up in the north and west."
He pointed a little above where the northern continent sat, wrote "Demonkin," and went on.
"Anyway, now for the western continent — the Nezir Kingdom."
"...That circle's pretty small, isn't it?"
It was a markedly smaller circle, not just compared to the Ram Kingdom but even to the Six-Zhao Allied Kingdom. When Yeon tilted her head and asked, Ho-jin drew a larger one — about the same size as the Six-Zhao Allied Kingdom — and explained.
"The actual territorial size is about this. But everything except this small circle is uninhabitable desert, so it might as well not exist."
"Desert?"
"Originally, this entire vast territory was fertile, green land. After the Human-Demon War, though, it became barren earth where not even a single blade of grass will grow. On the plus side, the hunting's excellent. Just walking around is enough to make monsters leap out of the sand on their own."
Is that supposed to be a good thing? Yeon thought, breaking into a cold sweat. Whether he noticed or not, Ho-jin moved his quill toward the remaining northern continent.
"And last of all — the northern continent, which held the front lines during the Human-Demon War, and home to Al Fantasia's only non-human nation: Lefhel."
"A non-human nation?"
"Beastkin, to be precise. You get the general idea, right?"
Ho-jin flicked a glance in Choco's direction, and Yeon quietly nodded.
"It was already a barren country that made its living off mercenary work, and after the Human-Demon War the population plummeted and still hasn't recovered. That's everything I had to explain. Any questions?"
"Why did the humans and the demonkin fight?"
"I don't know that either. But players like me tend to think of it this way."
Ho-jin pointed to the small circle he'd drawn at the far northwestern edge, labeled Demonkin.
The people of the Arina Continent only knew that the demonkin had suddenly launched a surprise attack on humanity. But players from the modern world, who'd read every kind of history book imaginable, looked at the land that had been allotted to the demonkin — a region now called the Deadlands — and said:
"The land was filthy cramped. It couldn't hold all the demonkin anymore, so they spilled out."
"Ah, yeah — it is way smaller than the human territories."
"Well, there's that, but it was already a harsh environment, so they might've just wanted to push into somewhere better. Or maybe they attacked simply to wipe out humanity, the way the NPCs tell it."
There was no official lore on the subject. It was probably something the players were meant to discover themselves, so the swirl of speculation was only natural.
"The lore is a lot more interesting than I expected..."
"Right?"
Ho-jin smiled with satisfaction at Yeon's nodding. Explaining lore to a complete newbie really was the best.
That's right. This is how a newbie ought to react. Not sitting there looking bored because they already read it all on the forums.
Just look at this carriage, for instance. Besides Ho-jin's own party, there were six other people pretending not to listen while they eavesdropped. The same people who'd pricked up their ears at Egenoa's backstory had gone completely disinterested the moment he started talking about the continent's political landscape, as if none of it had ever happened. Even the boy who'd jumped in with comments here and there was now propping his chin on his hand, looking bored and staring off elsewhere. Newbies these days just didn't have that adorable spark.
Ho-jin clicked his tongue inwardly.
For all that long-winded talking, the carriage was still rolling along. The ride from Yelloy Barrier Fortress to Nateera took about an hour, and even after Ho-jin's lengthy explanation, an awkward fifteen minutes still remained before they arrived.
Naturally, the conversation drifted toward Choco, whose appearance had changed so dramatically.
"More importantly, why is Choco wearing an outfit like that? That's not her style at all."
"Ahaha... well, about that..."
Yeon glanced around at the other passengers and spoke awkwardly. Well, of course. There were plenty of listening ears, and she couldn't be sure whether it was something she was even allowed to tell others. It had been a thoughtless question, to put it bluntly.
Ho-jin realized his mistake a beat too late and bowed his head.
"Ah, I'm sorry. That was a really thoughtless question."
"N-no, it wasn't a question you shouldn't have asked."
He was one of the few people who knew Choco's true identity. If someone who'd been wearing perfectly ordinary clothes just a few days ago suddenly showed up in something that lavish, curiosity was only natural.
"A lot of things happened, more or less... You can just think of that outfit as the result."
"Just what kind of things would lead to an outfit like that...?"
"You probably shouldn't say that in front of Choco. She'll definitely get mad."
That much was obvious. Back when they'd met at the waystation, just saying the clothes suited her had made Choco's face go red as she trembled with indignation. If it weren't for the law that anyone who used violence inside a town — regardless of severity — would be locked in jail for six real-world hours, she definitely would have hit him on the spot.
Not that he hadn't said it on purpose, knowing exactly that. With that thought, Ho-jin asked Yeon:
"Well, of course. More importantly, have you been leveling up a lot? We gained eight levels in two days and hit forty-five."
"Uh, well..."
Yeon hesitated for a moment, then said quietly:
"...seven."
"Sorry? What was that?"
"Fifty-seven..."
"...Excuse me?"
For a moment, Ho-jin thought he'd misheard. He wondered if it was because they'd been talking across Se-jin in the middle, but her eyes had gone wide with shock too — she'd heard Yeon just fine.
"F-fifty-seven?"
Yeon answered with a nod instead of words. Ho-jin let out a breathless huh and thought.
When the four of them had parted ways, they'd all been level 37. He'd logged out that same day, written a forum post, then received a message from Se-jin around that time and formed a party. They'd hunted three or four real-world hours a day, and they'd even kept hunting after night fell in Al Fantasia, so their leveling speed had been fast — especially considering they'd only played a few hours a day over two days.
But fifty-seven? Even if those two played all day long, that number was ridiculous. It wasn't like they were skipping meals and sleep to game.
Seeing his incredulous expression, Yeon hurriedly added:
"Well, we went into the boss room. The staff we got from clearing the Kobold colony last time suddenly rolled away, and then this hidden dungeon popped up..."
"A hidden dungeon?"
"Yeah. It was a room with a witch named Gejina..."
"Gejina? As in Gezina's Forest?"
Her reaction is exactly the same as Choco's, Yeon thought, nodding.
"Urgh... so a named monster, huh..."
Ho-jin let out a groan. If a named monster had appeared, the reason for the explosive leveling wasn't hard to figure out. A player who was hunting in Grape Cave in the first place had almost no chance of taking down a named monster. If it happened at the same time as a boss fight, it was basically impossible.
The only reason they'd been able to take it down was because Choco had been there. A mage known as Gumiho's successor — wait, was she even a mage? The question flickered through his mind, but he dismissed it. Wondering wouldn't give him an answer anyway.
Still, it was a shame. Not because he hadn't been there — for a different reason entirely.
I should've gotten that staff instead of the Thorn Club!
If he had, they would've been the first ones to encounter it. Ho-jin and Se-jin had gone down to the boss room and killed the Queen Ant too, so if they'd been carrying the staff, they probably would have run into that witch Gejina Yeon mentioned. Of course they wouldn't have succeeded in defeating her the way those two had, but a different outcome might have been possible. Becoming Gejina's collaborators, for instance.
Without the Thorn Club they wouldn't have leveled this fast, but Ho-jin still couldn't shake the regret.
Leaving him to his thoughts, Se-jin asked:
"Was she strong? That witch, Gejina."
"I honestly don't know. While Choco was fighting her, I was dealing with the Armor Ants. A whole lot of them."
"They're going to haunt my dreams at this rate," Yeon muttered, shuddering.
The soldier ants they'd killed that day alone numbered in the triple digits. She never wanted to look at another ant again.
"Anyway, with a level gap this big, I guess we can't hunt together..."
"It's a shame, but it can't be helped. More importantly, did you know?"
"Hm? Know what?"
"I heard it from Ho-jin — Nateera is in the middle of a festival right now."
"A festival?"
Yeon tilted her head at the unfamiliar news, and Se-jin continued.
"It's a festival praying for safety in the mines, apparently. It lasts three real-world days, and today is the last day."
"The last day..."
"So I was thinking — want to go look around together?"
"Yes!"
The answer came without a second of thought. But a festival — for Yeon, who had never been able to enjoy anything like one even in the real world, the word itself sparked every kind of curiosity.
"A festival? Then we won't have enough time to hunt."
"It's only one day. Besides, it's not often we all get together like this."
"Well, if you put it that way..."
Ho-jin muttered this as he gazed at the city walls visible in the distance. Even in the gathering dusk, the sight of a city bustling with festival energy was beautiful even to his eyes.
"Not bad at all."