The Price of Fame

=YggON SYSTEM ON=

All twelve skill slots were filled, and rider skills were treated as a separate category, allowing up to four more to be equipped on top.

The skills currently equipped were nothing more than temporary placeholders. Once he'd pushed Heavenly Demon Divine Art all the way to YGG, he planned to hoard his Exp until something came along that could truly complete his combat style.

[Master, it is time for the Deck Shop to open.]

Once per day by ⟨Human Realm⟩ standards — once every ten days in game labyrinth time — he could buy a pack of three cards from the Deck Shop. He gave the Shuffle Gun a light tap, and a 'Deck Shop!' menu bloomed into view like a hologram.

He bought the card pack (3 cards).

[For once, a usable card has appeared. The first two are duplicates, of course.]

He'd pulled Magic Hand and Magic Cardboard Box not long ago. This Deck Shop spat out duplicates far too often for its own good.

The deck he could currently assemble held 25 cards. He looked over everything he'd drawn so far and rebuilt the deck from scratch.

"This should hold me for a while, right?"

Fire Sword's performance was mediocre at best, so he'd converted the Knight's Sword he'd just drawn into a card in its place. The Knight's Sword carried the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠powerful special effect ⟨Cleave⟩, which made it far more useful than Fire Sword could ever hope to be.

[And what will you be doing now, Master?]

"Same as always."

He'd grind through the newly opened game labyrinths, stockpiling points and tickets. For the time being he'd focus on City of the Demon God and aim for the ceiling. With no telling when S.E.N might pull something or what they'd pull, preparation had to be thorough.

City of the Demon God had an actual 'village' implemented within it. Gamers made their preparations there before challenging the stages — that was the flow of the labyrinth. The village let gamers mingle and interact with one another, and stages could be attempted solo or with a formed party.

And a village existing meant that 'residents of the game labyrinth' existed too. Not a single labyrinth since the 1.0 era had come with residents living in it, so their current circumstances weighed on his mind.

Fortunately, the atmosphere wasn't as hostile as it had been in World of Phantasm — though he couldn't quite call it good, either. The residents treated gamers with cold professionalism, and the gamers for their part refrained from meddling with them. Back in the old days, most of them would have been dismissed as mere NPCs, but in game labyrinths that had adopted Jucheongwang's JYS, a warning message automatically appeared.

There was no concrete enforcement mechanism behind it, but apparently the warning alone had some effect. The important thing, as 5555 put it, was making people understand that these were not mere NPCs.

"Oh?"

"Hm?"

He was startled to spot a merchant selling goods right out on the street. It was a face he knew well.

"You're from Pong World, aren't you—"

"A gamer who remembers our faces? Now that's a rare thing indeed."

It was one of the labyrinth residents he'd only exchanged a few words with back in the village where the Bloodthread Bandits incident had taken place — and he hadn't forgotten them.

"Did you come straight here after World of Phantasm?"

"Why the sudden interest in us? What's it to you? After World of Phantasm collapsed, we went to a place called Waterland."

"Water...land?"

There had been a game labyrinth by that name?

He remembered every Yggdrasil game labyrinth built on the 2.0 framework, but the name Waterland was new to him.

[Data search complete. It is a game labyrinth that predates World of Phantasm.]

What on earth is going on? They went to a labyrinth from even further in the past?

[There is no reason to be alarmed. Yggdrasil's concept of time diverges wildly from the ⟨Human Realm⟩'s. Thinking in Human Realm terms is best avoided.]

Yggdrasil's concept of time. It already ran at nearly ten times the difference of the Human Realm, so treating the two as equivalent was a mistake to begin with. Yggdrasil simply could not be measured by human common sense.

"If you're planning to challenge the stages, prepare thoroughly. The 'difficulty' of this world, as you people call it, seems rather high."

"Thank you for the advice."

With his preparations done, he headed straight for the village gate that led to the stages. Near the entrance, a crowd of gamers had gathered, recruiting temporary parties.

Even this labyrinth's population of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠gamers has exploded overnight.

Until recently it had still been fairly quiet — there had been plenty of complaints about the difficulty, after all. But then posts kept appearing about how it got more fun the deeper you went, or how clearing a stage gave you an incredible sense of accomplishment, and the gamers kept coming.

He had no intention of recruiting a party, so he made to head straight for the next stage.

"Wait, isn't that person—"

"Ryu7017... no, it's Ryu Hwi!!"

The area by the gate, already noisy with party recruitment, erupted into even greater commotion. Gamers came swarming from every direction.

"Ryu Hwi! Party with me! Please form a party with me!"

"I saw him first!"

"Ryu Hwi, an autograph — please, an autograph!"

He was caught slightly off guard by the reaction. He'd had plenty of experience with people whispering and pointing from a distance, but this was the first time gamers had come charging at him like fans mobbing a celebrity out of nowhere.

What is even happening right now?

[You have been neglecting your community checks lately, Master. Shall I display them?]

Various community posts floated up into his field of vision.

[Of course, it is also full of hate. Your name recognition and popularity are overwhelming at the moment, Master. At this rate, won't you reach Gold rank in no time? Master, why are you trembling so violently?]

He wasn't trembling. He was doing this because he was going to die of cringe.

Hostile stares he could brush past without a second thought, but these sparkling eyes brimming with reverence were pure poison.

"Ah, I generally prefer to play game labyrinths solo, so... an autograph? I'm not really big enough to be signing things... no, that's not humility, I mean—"

The gamers closing in from all sides were killing him.

[It seems you require your Disguise MOD once again. How impressive. Shall I attach "sir" to your name as well, Master ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sir?]

Shut your mouth, you cursed machine!

Even as he ground his teeth inwardly, he fought desperately to keep his smile in place. As the CEO of Jucheongwang, he couldn't afford to act carelessly.

[And why, I wonder, did you insist on doing only the most conspicuous things possible?]

Shut UP!

For the first time in his life, he genuinely respected the celebrities and star gamers who handled mobs of fans with poise. After a struggle lasting over an hour, he finally managed to squeeze past the gate and make his way to the next stage.

He was exhausted before the labyrinth had even properly begun.

"What is even happening right now?"

[Oh my, a new post has just gone up. 'Ryu Hwi spotted in the City of the Demon God game labyrinth!' Replies are piling up at an alarming rate.]

"......"

[And how do you intend to exit once the stage is over?]

"The D-Disguise MOD, I'll—"

[Come to think of it, word spread back during World of Phantasm that Ryu7017 traveled in disguise. I've also found a post titled 'Let's Find the Man Presumed to Be Ryu Hwi.']

Is this for real? What is going on?

Could it be some new scheme by S.E.N?

[Most likely, you simply never noticed before because you've only been playing labyrinths where encounters with other gamers were rare.]

He contacted 5555.

⟪What? I'm busy right now.⟫

"I don't care if it's now — how about quitting as CEO of Jucheongwang?"

⟪No.⟫

And she hung up on him immediately.

Fine, that's how you want to play it? Then I'm going to work you to the bone like never before!

[And as a result, Jucheongwang succeeds yet again and Master's fame accelerates. Since becoming famous was one of your goals, isn't this a good thing?]

He couldn't argue with that. His ultimate goal, after all, was to climb up over the backs of all the other trash out there so that no one could ever trample him down again.

[Best get accustomed to it. If Diamond is the target, Master sir, this much you must simply laugh off.]

"You're enjoying this, aren't you, you damned machine!"

He stepped onto the Stage Select Zone. Selectable stages floated up into his vision — choose one here, and you were transported directly to that location.

That's it. I'll test out my new skill builds and vent every last ounce of this stress!

He selected a stage immediately. He was still in the early-to-mid stretch of City of the Demon God, and monsters of grotesque design came to greet him.

"Die, you damn vermin!!"

[And where, pray tell, did you sell the Trickster?]

The combat style Ryu Hwi aspired to remained a dream far, far away.

[Oh, and a word of warning, Master. By the policy of Capsule Entertainment, this game features something called 'Spectator Mode.']

"Huh?"

Ryu Hwi, deep in combat with the enemy horde, turned to look at YggON as if to say, what are you on about?

[Right now, at minimum, several thousand people are spectating your play.]

"......"

[I am simply green with envy at your fame, Master sir.]

Is quietly enjoying a game labyrinth from now on just not in the cards for me?

[Well, you ARE a UR-grade Master, so this much is only— wait. It hurts. It hurts. Master, do not step on me. It hurts. And this moment is being broadcast as well. Rumors will spread that Master suddenly went berserk. Ah, do not throw me. YggON is a delicate instrument. Master? Master?]

In the end, he had no choice but to give up on clearing the stage. He'd never imagined a trap like Spectator Mode even existed. And when he emerged from the stage, the gamers were lying in wait there too, so he snuck his way out using his newly acquired Magic Cardboard Box.

How was he supposed to enjoy game labyrinths in peace from now on? As he was mulling it over, 5555 called.

"The CEO position is yours whenever you want it!"

⟪Don't just shove the CEO job at me out of nowhere. There's something more important.⟫

"Did something go wrong?"

After a brief hesitation, 5555 spoke up.

⟪I think I know what the keyword for the 'experiment' S.E.N mentioned is.⟫

Even Latia isn't the root of it.

Follow the stem all the way up, and you'd arrive somewhere unexpected.

And that keyword would be something the 'partner' would know.

When she'd mentioned it before, Wolya had seemed not to know.

⟪I was running a routine maintenance check on 00 for the first time in a while, and it suddenly came to me out of nowhere.⟫

"What on earth is the keyword?"

⟪Divine Comedy.⟫

Divine Comedy — what could it possibly mean?

Then it came to him. A certain game labyrinth floated up in his memory.

With the transition to Yggdrasil 2.0, nearly all the older-version labyrinths had shut their doors. But among them, a small number had never been closed. Game labyrinths that produced no resources and had no gamers — and yet, for reasons unknown, were never terminated.

And the name of one of them was...

"Divine Comedy's Asgard."