Dragon Qualia

It was not Noel's usual bright, energetic voice delivering the announcement, but a noticeably stiff, mechanical one.

The same broadcast repeated itself several times over.

To sum it up: the Night World was still mid-update, it was dangerous, and no one should recklessly set foot inside. Anything that happened to you after entering was entirely your own problem as a Gamer — that was the gist of it.

It was a thoroughly responsibility-dodging broadcast, but under the circumstances there had been no alternative. The Night World couldn't simply be sealed off, and Gamers driven by curiosity kept ignoring the warnings no matter how many times they were issued.

Even so, the warning that pain suppression would not function seemed to have had some effect, and the number of reckless challengers had dwindled considerably.

Night.

A single step, and the world around you was swallowed in darkness.

Ryu Hwi stood in the forest that had turned to night, gazing up at the tower visible in the far distance. Its shape closely resembled the Tower of the Demon God in World of Phantasm, yet it carried an air that was somehow more sinister, more spectral.

Thanks to S.E.N's seal, Nox had mistaken her own role for something else — and had built this 'Tower', ruling over Legend of Lambda as its final boss.

Even now, Nox would be waiting at the very top of that tower.

How long that arrangement would hold, however, no one could say.

"Wait for me, Nox."

Turning his back on the tower's shadow looming out of the dark night, Ryu Hwi set off.

A strange rumor began to circulate.

The story went that an incredible treasure lay hidden somewhere within Legend of Lambda.

According to the rumor, a 'massive Yggdrasil Item' had appeared inside the labyrinth, and whoever obtained it would, in a single stroke, acquire power and influence on par with a Platinum.

As with every tale drifting through the communities, its source was impossible to trace. But the string of bizarre incidents occurring one after another in Legend of Lambda of late had planted a seed of doubt in people's minds — what if it's true?

Jucheongwang had identified the situation early on, and a second rumor followed close behind: the S.E.N monsters had been created to keep Gamers out and monopolize the treasure for themselves.

Other rumors bloomed as well, but every last one of them took the existence of the 'treasure' as its starting assumption.

In response, Jucheongwang issued an official statement: no such treasure exists; please refrain from spreading unverified information.

Doubt only breeds more doubt.

Those who had begun to suspect Jucheongwang continued spreading slander without pause. The company held events and kept up its broadcasts in an effort to calm public sentiment, but every time, the chat window would be flooded with messages about the 'treasure'.

Ironically, all the fuss surrounding Jucheongwang and Legend of Lambda seemed only to sharpen public curiosity — every broadcast of The Gacha King shattered its own all-time viewing records.

And then, into that tinderbox, someone dropped a match.

GA-ES had announced a brand-new system to compete head-on with JYS — the GA-ES Master System.

Seven laid out its outline for the assembled press. The core of the announcement was that it employed a source module more advanced than JYS, promising a superior development environment. He went on to boast brazenly that GA-ES had built a new 'dev room' that surpassed even Jucheongwang's fabled 'Dev Room' itself.

Alongside it came a slate of new game labyrinths: the action-genre Double Tiger, built on the GA-ES Master System, the self-proclaimed new RPG Fantasy Planet, and more.

Following Rider-On, GA-ES was once again flaunting a provocative stance toward Jucheongwang.

But the real problem wasn't any of that.

At the very podium where he unveiled the GA-ES Master System, Seven raised his voice and shouted.

"Jucheongwang has deceived countless people! All of you watched the broadcast when the S.E.N monsters were added to the update. The stream was cut off mid-transmission due to a 'sudden accident', wasn't it?"

Jucheongwang's official explanation had been that the labyrinth itself had destabilized from an incomplete update, causing the incident. Because it happened at the height of the hype, the communities had been in an uproar for days.

"According to information we have obtained under strict secrecy, that broadcast ended for an entirely different reason."

And what reason was that?

Seven turned to the crowd and laid bare why Jucheongwang had been forced to cut its transmission short.

"The treasure!"

An unverifiable rumor drifting through the community boards. And now Seven was speaking it aloud with his own mouth.

"That day, for reasons unknown, a treasure of Yggdrasil manifested inside ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Lambda labyrinth! It was an information volume that a third-rate game labyrinth like Lambda could never hope to contain — and a catastrophic bug erupted as a result!"

The journalists began murmuring among themselves, trading glances. None of them had expected GA-ES to actually utter something as fantastical as a 'treasure of Yggdrasil'.

"To monopolize that treasure for themselves, Jucheongwang has propped up a flimsy excuse and barred access to the very region where it lies. Those of you who visited the zone transformed into night have seen it! The enormous tower standing beyond the darkened horizon!"

Before Seven, an image of the 'Tower' rose up like a hologram. Against the bleak, darkened landscape, the Tower was unmistakably there.

"The treasure of Yggdrasil sleeps in that place!"

Reporters threw their hands up in a frenzy of raised arms.

What, exactly, was the treasure of Yggdrasil? Did GA-ES actually know what it was?

In answer to their questions, Seven revealed only a single name.

"NOX. In a tongue from the distant past, the word means 'night'."

GA-ES had even uncovered the name of 'Nox' itself.

Then Seven turned his declaration directly toward Jucheongwang.

"Jucheongwang, I know you're watching this broadcast. Things will not go the way you want. Our GA-ES will be dispatching a guild into Legend of Lambda as well!"

GA-ES was moving to claim the treasure with its own hands.

"Nox belongs to us!"

The words sent shockwaves through the industry. The 'treasure of Yggdrasil' — until now dismissed as mere rumor — had finally revealed a sliver of its true face.

Whatever the treasure of Yggdrasil actually was, no one could simply sit back and watch from the sidelines any longer.

Countless Gamers began flooding toward Legend of Lambda.

Toward the tower beyond the night. To take the treasure within it — Nox — for themselves.

After the press conference ended, Seven let out a long, solitary sigh in the waiting room. Then he immediately placed a call to someone.

The person Seven had contacted was Ryu Hwi — CEO of Jucheongwang himself.

"What the hell were you thinking? True or false, that rumor was bound to smear Jucheongwang's image. There was no avoiding it."

⟪That's our problem to handle. And as for 'Nox' — we proceed as we discussed. Asea, that cursed woman, is inside Legend of Lambda right now.⟫

"I see..."

Aside from the GA-ES Master System announcement, everything had been a staged performance negotiated in advance with Jucheongwang.

Asea was in Legend of Lambda. That alone was reason enough for GA-ES to move.

⟪S.E.N and Nox — everything we can share, we've shared. What you do with the information is up to you.⟫

"And what about you? You can't honestly expect me to believe you'll just stand by and watch us act."

⟪...⟫

Ryu Hwi was silent for a moment.

⟪You know we launched a new game labyrinth recently, right?⟫

"For something thrown together out of nowhere, the reviews rave about its polish. I honestly can't figure out where you found that kind of development talent."

⟪A team assembled on short notice helped with development. And I intend to pour myself into that labyrinth for the time being.⟫

"You're just going to leave Legend of Lambda to rot?"

⟪I'll still run the broadcasts. But that's all. The me of right now can't beat 'Nox'.⟫

The data on Nox had already been shared. Ryu Hwi had confirmed just how terrifying a monster Asea had become. Stronger than expected — but his resolve to save her had not wavered in the slightest.

Ryu Hwi was preparing a way to confront S.E.N and Nox both.

And the way to raise his own power was, as always, the Random Box.

That was the purpose of the 'new game labyrinth'.

⟪I'm going to deal with S.E.N and Nox in a single stroke. That's what the labyrinth is for.⟫

Seven cast a sidelong glance at the information on Jucheongwang's newly released labyrinth. If anything, its polish exceeded Legend of Lambda's — it certainly wouldn't fall short.

Where Lambda leaned heavily toward 'action-adventure', the new one carried a distinctly 'RPG' flavor.

After cutting the call, Seven rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a cigarette.

"Asea. Wait just a little longer. I swear I will save you."

In the corner of Seven's vision, the contact UI lit up with a name: 'John Doe'.

Arti Gracia of Midgard brought Ryu Hwi up to speed on S.E.N's current movements.

The moment Enuma Elish — the empire of the entertainment district's powerbroker, Tiamat — began to stir, the Platinum-backed mega-corporation Ouroboros started moving in lockstep with it. Orange, the corporation run by Quetzalcoatl, better known as Q, was also exhibiting strange behavior.

Compared to other members of S.E.N, Tiamat and Quetzalcoatl wielded enormous influence over the Human Realm. With both of them moving at once, Midgard had one hell of a headache on its hands.

And then there was the 'enemy within' — the movements of Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Midgard's own head of the organization, which also demanded constant vigilance.

Trapped in the absurd position of having her own organization members surveil their supreme leader, Arti Gracia vented her frustration.

Arti sent Ryu Hwi an image of that 'bug monster'.

An unidentified creature clad in armor stained red like fresh blood.

The creature was Linpel Darius — fallen into the ranks of the ᚨᛒᛇᛋᛋ.

Before ending the call, Arti remembered one more matter.

Something deeply unsettling was stirring in the shadows.

The situation surrounding Jucheongwang had grown tangled and complex.

Game companies occasionally announced their intentions to migrate from JYS to the GA-ES Master System — and yet company 763 pledged to stay with JYS.

"Having grown accustomed to JYS, an abrupt change in our development environment would only sow confusion. The Master System is undeniably more advanced in many respects, but in our view, there's no compelling need to switch."

Jangsanbeom, attending the meeting in person, laid out the reasons for staying with JYS simply and plainly. An eminently pragmatic and reasonable justification.

Ragna, present at the meeting as a game developer, let his gaze drift toward a man standing rigidly at attention behind Jangsanbeom.

A face he'd seen somewhere before.

Agos?

It was Agos — the man who had once made his name as a Phantasma back in the World of Phantasm days. His whereabouts had been quiet of late, and here he was, of all places.

"By the way, where is your CEO? I'd hoped to greet him."

Jangsanbeom glanced around the room, searching for Ryu Hwi.

Wolya, who had been attending to Jangsanbeom, said nothing — only pointed silently at a poster for the newly developed game labyrinth.

The moment Jangsanbeom laid eyes on it, his eyes lit up.

"Yes — that's it! This! I'd been dying to know how on earth you managed to create a labyrinth like this out of nowhere. Honestly, seeing this is what made up my mind to keep working with Jucheongwang going forward."

"Strictly speaking, 'XENIX' built it, though."

Wolya gave a wry smile.

Printed clearly on the poster, alongside Jucheongwang's logo, was the mark of XENIX.

XENIX — the game development studio that had appeared out of nowhere like a comet. That its true nature was a subsidiary studio built from Jucheongwang's newly recruited team members was already common knowledge. The open question was where such development talent had come from, but upon verification, the members all turned out to be 'Gold rank' — a terrifyingly stacked subsidiary studio.

"Let me be clear about one thing. This labyrinth is remarkable. In terms of raw scale and content volume it pales beside other game labyrinths, but the fundamental design itself is nothing to scoff at."

Nurture it properly, and it would spark a new revolution in the 'RPG' genre — a genre that had stagnated ever since World of Phantasm.

Listening to Jangsanbeom's lavish praise, Wolya felt a quiet discomfort gnawing at her.

This labyrinth had not been built with Jucheongwang's technology alone. Without the aid of 'XENIX', it would have been impossible.

XENIX was known to the public as a subsidiary staffed by Jucheongwang's fresh recruits — but the reality was something else entirely.

They were a gathering of people she would have preferred never to associate with at all. Individuals that Wolya, above all, wanted nothing more than to never lay eyes on again.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

It had been a genuinely humiliating concession. But in keeping with her CEO's policy — exploit anything that can be exploited — Wolya had swallowed her pride and, with the feeling of being gutted alive, begged for their help.

A new game labyrinth, created as a joint development between XENIX and Jucheongwang.

And the name of that labyrinth was...