Departure for the Night Hunt
"Alright, preparations are complete. Let's head out."
"Aren't you coming with us, Kael?"
"I'm no longer a hunter—I'm a watchman now. I've been retired for ages, and night hunts are for hunters only."
The moon was climbing higher into the night sky. The five hunters, excluding me, bowed politely to Kael and prepared to depart.
"Kawara here is one of our tribe's most capable hunters and guides. Follow him, and you should reach the bulwark without any trouble."
The man standing at the forefront of the five nodded lightly toward me. His face was mostly hidden beneath thick furs, but his pitch-black eyes alone marked him as a skilled fighter. Yet, despite his imposing presence, he seemed surprisingly young.
I glanced up at the name floating above his head. Kawara Han, written in blue, with Lv. 55 beside it. A Rare-grade elite NPC. He was certainly a far cry from Kael in both level and rank.
Overall, the NPCs here are around level 50. Hmm... Their levels seem low compared to the reputation requirements. Is this really just a simple event?
I tilted my head, recalling the monster's face that had come to mind before leaving the tool shop.
To take on that thing, you'd need an average of at least level 100... Maybe it's possible because hunters from other tribes will join? Or perhaps it's an event unrelated to it entirely. That beast didn't appear on the continent until a few years later, after all.
The moment I'd heard "full moon," a certain monster from my memories had surfaced.
"Everyone...!! Depart!"
Unaware of my concerns—or perhaps ignoring them—Kawara raised his recurve bow high overhead. I quietly fell in behind the group.
"Come on, snap to it! Any major news while I was gone?"
In the situation room, where monitors overflowed with graphs tracking quest progress from around the world, Team Leader Han Se-hyun rallied his exhausted subordinates.
"You're back. How'd it go?"
One team member monitoring the screens turned and greeted him. It was Manager Jung Ki-taek, Han Se-hyun's direct subordinate who'd been with him since Dimension World 1.
"Eh, more or less figured out the outline."
"It's barely been open, and we're already scheduling patches... Impressive or too soon? Hard to say."
Han Se-hyun chuckled at Jung's remark.
"Dimension World isn't some regional game for Asia or Europe—it's global. To patch without shutting down servers, we need precise scheduling and incremental data feeds."
"Got it. Chairman Choi already planted the Easter eggs for this. Just needs the trigger, and updates roll out automatically, right?"
"Yeah. He said there'd be three major updates. The first one's already programmed in before launch."
"Incredible."
Jung spoke with genuine admiration. Countless experts had claimed no VR world could surpass Dimension World 1, only for Blader's chairman and developer, Choi Hyuk-su, to release Dimension World 2. But what truly shocked people was that he'd built this vast continent-spanning world entirely alone. No other developers meant only Choi Hyuk-su knew its secrets.
"Since only the chairman knows, we can't predict how patches will unfold. Top-notch secrecy, at least."
"As fellow devs, it's a bit demoralizing."
Han Se-hyun gave a wry smile at Jung's words.
"So Dimension World 2 launched with the next patch already baked into the servers?"
"Exactly. We just fine-tune the timing. Too fast, and balance crumbles."
"Hmm... Any rough estimate on the next patch?"
"Normal games shut down for updates on fixed dates. Chairman hates that—players can't log in, miss the world's evolution, and just jump into a changed one."
"...Operators must never play God, nor aspire to."
Jung murmured unconsciously, echoing the words.
"Right. Chairman's mantra. Players shape the world; we just prepare the crossroads."
"You know 10 billion users are playing Dimension World? Predicting their path and prepping variables for it..."
"Means crafting countless futures."
"No wonder he's called a genius."
Han Se-hyun shrugged lightly.
"Anyway, anything else noteworthy?"
"We're monitoring the eight major clans with dedicated GMs. Rerto Karen of Los Clan pushed Kartinin Family rep to 'Highly Favorable.' At this rate... perfect trust in a week."
"Divine Knight goes to Rerto Karen, then."
"Likely."
"No surprises, huh..."
Han Se-hyun looked a touch disappointed, though he'd expected it.
"One oddity: A sub-quest of the Kartinin Family—female-only starter quest—has been discovered."
"Female-only?"
"Yes. About the founding family head's lost great-granddaughter."
Han Se-hyun frowned slightly.
"The hidden class Descending Dancer..?"
"Spot on. Los Clan might snag two hidden classes. Their sub-master, the woman Morian Lee, was a Saintess class back in the day."
But contrary to Jung's hope, Han Se-hyun smirked bitterly.
"No worries there. It only fully unlocks post-Renaissance Patch. They can start, but won't finish."
"What happens then?"
"Stalls as incomplete. Diehards might wait without class-changing... but with no patch ETA, most'll quit."
"Harsh quest. Can't even complete it."
"Right now, only the Church provides healers via priests. Renaissance sparks religious reform, unlocking new classes."
"But patches depend on player progress, you said?"
"Yep. Tied to major world quests—continent-shaking events. Their resolution triggers reform. That's our 'updates' and 'patches.'"
Jung nodded.
"So no world quests cleared, no next patch."
"Could be a year... or ten. Wanna hear something fun?"
"What?"
"How long was Dimension World 1 live?"
"Five years."
"Right. Chairman built the patch system there too. Guess how many updates in five years?"
Jung pondered.
"DW1 had religions set: Eto Church for spirit shamans, main Church for clerics, Astronomy Church for astrologers."
"True. The '43-Day War' between Los Clan and China's ANA guild?"
"Massive, sure, but just player turf wars—no continental impact."
Jung furrowed his brow.
"Updates aren't solo player puzzles. The continent has NPCs too."
"Meaning..."
"They include NPC-driven change."
Han Se-hyun chuckled.
"In five years of DW1? Zero updates."
"...!!!"
Amused by Jung's shock, Han shrugged and continued.
"So Descending Dancer might as well not exist. Even top clans couldn't clear a world quest in five years."
"Could stall forever?"
"That's why we operators exist—to nudge continental change."
"Ah."
"Chairman wants updates within five years. Meeting announced starter world quests to kick it off."
Jung nodded.
"If no signs in a year, GMs trigger the northern low-pop Night Hunt world quest starter. Force world quests over five years."
"Um..."
A staffer at the desk spoke up cautiously as Han leaned on it.
"What?"
"That Night Hunt quest... isn't this it?"
The staffer turned their monitor toward Han.
"It's already started."
"Come on, that's impossible. World quests have brutal prereqs just to snag the starter. Need tool shop secrets to trigger—and that takes a year minimum..."
Han laughed off the claim, peering at the screen. His laughter died.
"...Holy shit."
The words slipped out.
"They've got the powder?!"
"We're here. Let's rest a bit."
Upon reaching the northern cliff amid the blizzard, Kawara murmured softly and set down his pack.
"Hoo..."
I finally exhaled, collapsing to the ground. My legs trembled from the grueling climb; I'd barely held out.
If I hadn't leveled up in the Sword Graveyard, I'd have collapsed en route and game overed.
I gave a wry smile at my razor-thin stamina bar.
I've really come here...
It looked like barren wasteland, but stepping foot here stirred fresh emotions.
Lang-a's Bulwark.
This was where I'd met that monster.