The Forbidden Card
The SSR skill was something beyond imagination.
Handled carelessly, it could shake the very foundations of this game labyrinth.
A way to wield this absurd 'power'. In that instant, Ryu Hwi drafted plan after plan in his head.
A method to erase Linzea — no, even just one of them, Linpel Darius, would do.
"This SSR is my trump card for taking down Linpel."
Until then, he would keep it sealed, using it as little as possible. It wasn't something to be flashing around in front of others.
It was an SSR that dangerous.
Forest of Beginning — the place every gamer inevitably arrived upon first connecting to World of Phantasm.
But once you left, you could never return.
Ryu Hwi faced his enemy with a short sword and wooden shield in hand.
A monster of bare human bones, wielding a sword and shield of its own.
The creature he'd fought countless times in simulation — a Skeleton.
He steadied his breathing with the monster before him.
[HO-KYAK-KI-AH-GI!]
The skeleton, which by all rights should have had no vocal cords, shrieked an unearthly cry and lunged. Ryu Hwi didn't even consider dodging — he simply waited.
The instant the skeleton swung its sword—
"Hah!"
With a short burst of exertion, Ryu Hwi knocked the blade aside.
The sword deflected, the attack interrupted—
—but that wasn't where the effect ended.
The moment he deflected the strike cleanly, every nerve in his body snapped into razor focus.
The skeleton's movements suddenly looked slow.
Ryu Hwi moved his sword without hesitation.
In one fluid motion — the exact technique he'd drilled in simulation — he cleaved the skeleton in two.
[Kasha... ...]
The skeleton vanished, and small gem-like things scattered across the ground.
Battle Report:
⊳ Victory
⊳ Skeleton ×1
⊳ 10 EXP acquired.
⊳ Converting EXP to RP (Random Box Points).
⊳ Skeleton's Magic Stone ×1 acquired.
World of Phantasm was, at its core, an RPG.
You defeated enemies for experience points, and experience points meant level-ups.
But for Ryu Hwi, the concept of levels didn't exist. Every point of experience he earned converted straight into RP — Random Box Points.
One spin of the Random Box cost 150 RP.
He'd have to kill fifteen skeletons just for a single pull.
Terribly inefficient.
Ryu Hwi checked the skill he'd just activated.
Equipped Skills:
SR — Sword Mastery Lv1
⊳ Increases swordsmanship proficiency.
⊳ Enhances all abilities while a sword is equipped (Lv1).
SR — Parrying Lv1
⊳ Triggers upon deflecting an enemy attack.
⊳ Attack Break (Lv1).
⊳ Temporary reflex boost (Lv1).
"So Parrying actually works."
Parrying triggered whenever he deflected an incoming attack — and it had no cooldown whatsoever.
It was the kind of skill that could only exist in an 'action' genre, not in a traditional RPG like World of Phantasm.
Clear proof that YggON simply ignored the system constraints of game labyrinths.
Especially when he'd seen that final SSR from the 106th multi-pull — that was when Ryu Hwi truly understood just how terrifying the YggON system was.
He was certain of it.
With this, he could turn World of Phantasm completely upside down — no, he could shatter the very balance of Yggdrasil's game labyrinths.
"Alright, then..."
Hunt Monsters — 9/10
🎁 Reward: YggON Ticket ×1
Spin the Random Box — 1/1 (Complete)
🎁 Reward: YggON Ticket ×1
Acquire Monster Drop Items — 8/10
🎁 Reward: YggON Ticket ×1
Clear All Daily Missions — 1/3
🎁 Reward: YggON Ticket ×2
"If I'm lucky, one more kill finishes it."
The daily missions were one of the YggON system's signature features.
Completing them alone netted five YggON tickets a day.
Ryu Hwi set off in search of his next prey.
The skeleton let out a dying shriek and collapsed.
When Ryu Hwi confirmed it had dropped a small gem as its loot, he spat out a curse. Because the skeletons had refused to drop items, he'd been forced to hunt four more of them.
"That makes three days. RP earned so far: 1,500."
Since entering World of Phantasm, Ryu Hwi hadn't gone anywhere else — he'd done nothing but hunt skeletons the entire time.
A day had turned over in the meantime, but that was no problem.
The time dilation between the labyrinth and the outside world was different.
Time inside the labyrinth flowed nearly ten times faster than outside.
Even spending ten days in Yggdrasil amounted to barely a single day back home.
"Now, then..."
[It's Random Box time!]
YggON abruptly materialized out of thin air.
[1,500 RP! The sheer grit it took to save up enough for a 10-pull while still in the tutorial zone — duly noted. Let's spin it. A 10-pull! Random Box! Random Box!]
"......"
[Random Box! Random Box!]
Ryu Hwi ignored the machine and called up the UI.
SR — Sword Mastery Lv1
⊳ RP to next level: 700
⊳ + Level Up Available
SR — Parrying Lv1
⊳ RP to next level: 700
⊳ + Level Up Available
Acquired skills could be leveled up with RP.
Without a moment's hesitation, Ryu Hwi pressed Level Up on both Sword Mastery and Parrying.
[AAAAAAAHHH!!]
YggON's voice rose to a shriek.
[What are you doing?! What are you DOING?! What are you DOING?! Was that not a Random Box moment?! Unbelievable. YggON doubts whether Master is in his right mind!]
"Shut it. I don't trust the Random Box."
[And this from the Master who pulled this UR YggON from the Random Box? Are you denying YggON's very reason for existence?]
The vacuum cleaner's lens eye flickered red.
"What are the odds of an SR?"
[N: 70%. R: 27%. SR: 2.7%. SSR: 0.3%.]
"So pulling two SRs and one SSR out of 106 pulls was a miracle, huh."
Ryu Hwi shuddered at the horrifying numbers.
[Precisely! Even in 106 pulls you didn't land a single SSR! Besides, Master is the lucky man who pulled a UR. So instead of wasting points where they don't belong, let's spin the Random Box. Hurry, save up your points and spin the Random Box!]
"You support the skill level-up system yourself, and you still treat it like a waste of points..."
[Random Box! Random Box!]
The machine's obsession was genuinely unsettling.
Ryu Hwi ignored YggON and checked his skills.
Equipped Skills:
SR — Sword Mastery Lv2
⊳ Increases swordsmanship proficiency.
⊳ Enhances all abilities while a sword is equipped (Lv2).
SR — Parrying Lv2
⊳ Triggers upon deflecting an enemy attack.
⊳ Attack Break (Lv2).
⊳ Temporary reflex boost (Lv1).
Sword Mastery's all-ability enhancement and Parrying's Attack Break had both improved.
World of Phantasm strengthened skills through skill points earned on level-up, but with YggON, everything ran on RP.
As for the results of the five YggON tickets from the daily missions...
Ryu Hwi swore an oath: he would never, ever waste RP on the Random Box.
"Time for a short break, then back to the hunt."
[Master, why haven't you left this forest? The monsters here have terrible EXP efficiency.]
YggON's question was a fair one.
"Not yet. Still a long way to go."
Ryu Hwi knew the ins and outs of World of Phantasm like the back of his hand.
More than that — he had a thorough grasp of the information on every famous game labyrinth currently existing in Yggdrasil.
Even after falling from H-Rank to Unknown, even after having his name stripped away, Ryu Hwi had never stopped tracking labyrinth intel.
"I'll be staying here at least a week. A week in, the login bonus should give me a guaranteed SR ticket, no?"
How far could he get with no level or stat bonuses?
As it happened, he had the perfect test opponent in mind.
Ryu Hwi resolved to strengthen his skills to a suitable level first before fighting that opponent.
"If I play my cards right, it'll make for one successful debut."
ALERT!
⊳ YggON system login.
⊳ Login Bonus Day 7 — YggON Ticket ×1.
⊳ 7-Day Consecutive Login Bonus — Guaranteed SR YggON Ticket ×1
One week had passed since he entered the game labyrinth.
That was Yggdrasil time, of course — barely a day would have gone by outside.
Ryu Hwi checked his skills.
Equipped Skills:
SR — Sword Mastery Lv3
⊳ Increases swordsmanship proficiency.
⊳ Enhances all abilities while a sword is equipped (Lv3).
SR — Parrying Lv3
⊳ Triggers upon deflecting an enemy attack.
⊳ Attack Break (Lv3).
⊳ Temporary reflex boost (Lv2).
He'd spent every spare moment hunting monsters, which was how he'd raised Sword Mastery and Parrying to Lv3.
YggON had flared up in protest every single time, but Ryu Hwi hadn't paid it the slightest attention.
Naturally, the RP cost of each level-up had climbed higher and higher.
He'd judged that staying here any longer would be a waste of time.
He wanted to say he was at full battle readiness — but he still wasn't.
What remained was...
[It's Random Box time!]
YggON materialized like a demon, having scented the moment perfectly.
[You've obtained a Guaranteed SR ticket from the 7-day login bonus. Shall we spin the Random Box right now?]
"Sure."
In the end, the last stretch always came down to luck.
It was SR guaranteed, so nothing strange could come out of it.
Ryu Hwi used the Guaranteed SR ticket to spin the Random Box.
SR guaranteed — or rather, guaranteed SR or higher — so with good luck an SSR was possible too, but...
Watching the golden meteor streak overhead, Ryu Hwi let out a long sigh.
And then...
Seeing what actually came out, this time he could only laugh at the sheer absurdity of it.
"They said it was a World of Phantasm pickup, and yet all I get is completely off-theme junk?"
[A pickup is merely a pickup.]
Just carrying this thing into a fight would cause an uproar.
And for good reason...
◈ A weapon in the form of a blade mounted on a firearm.
◈ Harnesses cylinder energy to amplify the blade's power.
◈ Can also be fired as a gun.
An item that utterly demolished World of Phantasm's setting had just popped out of the machine.
Ryu Hwi gripped the SR Gunsword's hilt. Perhaps because it registered as a 'sword,' Sword Mastery's effect activated.
He test-cut a nearby tree.
The thick trunk toppled over in a single stroke. Even factoring in Sword Mastery's buff, the power was frankly excessive.
As a weapon, it wasn't even comparable to his R-rank short sword.
"With this, I can do it."
The preparations for battle were complete. All that remained was one final confirmation.
"YggON, what happens if I die in the labyrinth? Since I've converted my body over, would I actually die?"
[Even if Master dies, revival is possible through Yggdrasil's backup system. However... ...]
"However?"
[It will hurt enough to kill you.]
Ryu Hwi snorted.
Pain was an old acquaintance. As long as he didn't die, there was no problem.
"YggON, is there a function to record my gameplay?"
[Affirmative.]
"Good. Then record everything from this point on. Miss nothing."
[Understood. Do you have a preferred file name?]
File name?
Ryu Hwi answered without a moment's hesitation.
"Call it Unknown's Deep Sea Escape."
Ryu Hwi moved forward.
The Forest of Beginning.
Latia had designed this place strictly as a starting point — little more than a tutorial zone.
But Yggdrasil did not simply reproduce the information it absorbed.
It was said that the more intricate the source material, the more elaborate the game labyrinth Yggdrasil produced.
By popular judgment, games built on Latia's IP were all mediocre, shallow, cookie-cutter mass productions.
Perhaps because of that, Latia games frequently turned into jumbled, chaotic game labyrinths.
World of Phantasm was Latia's flagship title — one of the few that had come out more or less properly...
And yet plenty of sections had been implemented in utterly preposterous forms.
For instance...
The appearance, in the tutorial zone, of a mid-boss-tier monster that could absolutely never be defeated.
A knight's figure came into view — blackened armor, a greatsword in hand.
The Chaos Dark Knight.
The calamity that stood in the way of every gamer starting World of Phantasm.
Ryu Hwi planted himself in the path of the monster's overwhelming presence.
"Experiment begins."