Even If Your Ears Itch (2)
You have entered the top floor of the Spacetime Salon.
The top floor. What could the scenery be called? Bizarre.
……Not that kind of bizarre.
The grotesque kind. It was completely different from the first impression of the lower floors of the salon, where most transcendents gathered, or the upper floors permitted only to a select few like the Four Families.
Unlike the lower floors that lived up to the name of the salon, the top floor's scenery was so unrecognizable as a salon without the message that it was hard to believe.
It felt just like looking at a rift. One that was utterly chaotic.
If a rift was a place where the Arcana Continent and reality—two completely different worlds—coexisted……
This place looks a bit like a patchwork rag.
It seemed like countless worlds were jumbled together. Each piece individually showed the splendid appearance of the salon, but clumped together, it was like baffling modern art.
No wonder, then.
"Anything in excess becomes a fault."
Even Grandfell's aesthetic sense delivered a cold verdict.
And among it all, the highlight was the countless clocks matching the jumbled scenery. They came in all shapes and sizes, but one thing was certain: the second hands all pointed to different times.
Anyway.
For now, in this absurd place, I decided to check if the salon system still worked.
◈ Restriction: Transcendent
◈ Effect: Usable as currency in the Spacetime.
◈ Description: Gold coin valid in the transcendents' domain, the Spacetime.
I took out a single gold coin from my inventory.
Then I ordered.
"Green tea, please."
This was the Spacetime where transcendents from the Arcana Continent—not reality—gathered. As I'd grumbled on my first visit, an environment where green tea couldn't possibly exist.
Yet soon, the gold coin pinched between my fingers evaporated.
You have paid 1 gold coin.
Steam rose gently.
A teacup filled with green tea had appeared in my hand before I knew it.
That confirmed it. The top floor of the Spacetime Salon was no ordinary place, indeed.
"Hm."
As I swallowed the green tea, my head felt clearer, sharper—as if my thoughts were spinning faster and more keenly. At this rate, I was no different from an office worker addicted to Americano.
Still, thanks to it, I'd grasped the situation.
This top floor seemed like……
……time zones were all mixed up.
It could even be that entirely different worlds were jumbled together. The fact that green tea was orderable, unlike the lower floors, was proof enough.
"Not bad at all."
Even Grandfell, who would be displeased unless it was loose-leaf green tea rather than bagged, approved of this brew.
Suddenly, a hypothesis struck me.
……Could it be?
The reason there was no menu unlike the lower floors. Probably because almost anything could be bought with gold coins?
The moment I realized it, vulgar greed bloomed in my chest.
Because the food available at the Spacetime Salon all had cheat-like effects.
Even plain water was like that.
Who buys water with gold coins? you might say.
But the salon's water had effects rivaling a high-grade elixir. If water was that good, the food's effects went without saying.
The heads of the Four Families didn't rule the continent for nothing, holding banquets in the upper salon every day.
Then elixirs and such should be orderable too, right?!
Elixirs. Even a thousand years might not be enough for spirit herbs to grow without a spirit's blessing or an elf's care.
But if anything could be ordered, maybe even precious elixirs.
And it's not limited to consumables.
Part of me wanted to experiment with the remaining 99 gold coins.
But I couldn't overlook it.
Having tasted the pinnacle of wealth, Grandfell could remain composed even before rare treasures……!
Clink—
I set down the teacup and murmured.
"This suffices for today."
……Yes, yes, utterly unchanging as always.
Thanks to Grandfell dousing my heated excitement with cold—or rather, green—tea water, my senses returned.
I could visit the top floor again; it wasn't just today. Impulsive spending just to confirm wasn't wise.
Besides, these are gold coins I earned through hardship.
The Spacetime duel. I'd claimed victory over Arcana's sword saint, Shegwin.
……Well, technically Gui-cheol won, but anyway.
The hundred gold coins I'd acquired.
Now that I knew new uses for them, I'd need to earn them diligently.
Above all, it was like a cat discovering a fish market.
"Remember my choice."
This green tea addict would always order the same, after all.
Let's see, factoring in gold coins for future green tea……
I need to check it out quickly.
The top-tier Spacetime quest I could now undertake.
Of course, I'd long known about Spacetime missions, but never had time for them.
But no more delays.
I'd finally grasped my place.
I'd thought I'd grown somewhat, only to realize I'd just reached a level where I could converse with upper demon kings.
I need to struggle with every means necessary.
So, how did one undertake the top Spacetime quest?
No, first off—what was the system for receiving Spacetime requests?
The question slipped from my lips.
"I shall undertake the request."
Of course, in Grandfell's ever-dominant phrasing.
At that instant, the top floor of the salon changed.
Tick-tock, tick-tock—
The countless clocks' second hands began rotating clockwise or counterclockwise.
Then, one single clock stopped moving.
Tick……tock—
As I approached, the clock's background rapidly expanded.
The background engulfed my vision.
A message appeared.
Defy and Ascend
"!"
Due to the rapidly shifting scenery, I couldn't read the details clearly.
But even that single line was enough.
A Mythic-grade quest.
What kind of quest was this……?
It transcended Arcana's common sense in ranking.
The highest in Arcana's system was World-grade quests.
Of course, I was undertaking Main-grade and Warring States quests too……
But World and Main were incomparable in hierarchy.
Yet here was Mythic.
Just the grandiose name let me intuit it.
This is no ordinary quest.
As if proving my guess, another message appeared.
Without warning.
My shameful full name……!
Even World quests blared the name across the entire world.
This was even higher—Mythic.
And I wasn't the only one on the Arcana Continent right now.
It must have popped up for everyone under the heavens.
Even for other players, this damned message……!
Raymon Sean, you bastard.
I ground my teeth inwardly and took a deep breath.
Steadying my unexpectedly heaving chest, I focused on the shifting vision.
This was my first top Spacetime quest—and a Mythic one.
I couldn't afford to let my guard down, not knowing what would happen.
In that sense, my unchanging composure was my reliable anchor.
"……."
Thanks to it, I could face it with my usual expressionless demeanor.
"……K-Kh, kh, kh, Claudi?!"
The orc, who gasped in shock upon seeing me.
*
Kichi let out a yawn.
"Honestly, I couldn't care less about your long-winded tale."
"What?"
Ullichu looked hurt, but was that her problem?
The only reason she'd listened quietly until now was because it involved Claudi.
"I wondered what profound revelation you had after all that buildup."
The orc auction master and orc chieftain, Ullichu, said.
—"The great sage Rise, who foresees the future from Pandora's Attic. I witnessed his end through the attic's window crack……!!"
He claimed to have seen Hoyeol's end with his own eyes.
Kichi found it unbelievable.
Then who was the Claudi she'd met?
But she couldn't just dismiss it.
Having experienced both the completely different worlds of Arcana and the adventurers', Kichi knew.
Claudi can't be an adventurer.
Knowing that, she'd even wondered if Hoyeol wasn't born in the adventurers' world.
From their first meeting to now, his actions had always felt more like an Arcana native than an adventurer.
Kichi shook her head.
……No, he definitely existed in that world.
But he had perfect knowledge of information only adventurers would know.
And there were blood relatives living openly in the adventurers' world.
Kichi's gaze turned to the silver hair on the table.
……Unlike Claudi.
Damn, no answers from agonizing over it.
Her mind grew more tangled the more she thought.
Ullichu clicked his tongue at Kichi's reaction.
"As expected, you don't believe me."
Seeing her attitude, Ullichu resolved himself.
He'd have to explain the full story between the orcs and Claudi in detail.
"Kichi, do you know about orcs?"
"What? Of course. Starting with your smashed faces."
"……Pretend you didn't hear that."
"Why the sudden posturing?"
"It's about our true nature. As Shadow Mercenaries, you've probably encountered my uncivilized kin a few times on requests?"
Requests involving orcs.
As a leader who'd undertaken countless missions, Kichi had.
Passing out drunk after was routine, so memories weren't perfect……
"How could I forget those monsters."
The savage orcs who rejected civilization. Memories of facing them were deeply etched.
The explosive strength from muscles on another level from humans. She'd struggled against that raw power.
As the images resurfaced, Kichi stuck out her tongue.
"Of course, they were so blind with rage that a bit of strategy was enough to take them down. So why bring up your kin now? Feeling blood ties pulling you after all this time?"
Ullichu flashed a rotten smile.
"Pfft! Kin? I can stomach the insult of 'smashed faces,' but equating me with those irrational brutes is displeasing, Kichi. They're still utterly ignorant. Survival of the fittest in this day and age."
"……Is that something you should say?"
Orc Auction. As underworld tycoons, it brimmed with items unobtainable legally.
High prices were natural, but Ullichu was infamous for gouging humans especially.
For such words to come from his mouth.
Kichi ticked off on her fingers.
"Let's see, just reciting the rumors I've heard: Lending gold at insane interest to humans blinded by skyrocketing auction prices. Hyping warehouse stock as 'once-in-a-lifetime' opportunities. And……"
"Ahem, slander unworthy of pride. Where'd you hear such nonsense?"
Thud—
Ullichu, disliking the topic, hurriedly placed a book before Kichi.
She might've checked the title, but books were distant from her.
Knowing that, Ullichu explained promptly.
"Don't look away this time, Kichi. It's the memoirs left by the founder of Orc Auction, the first Ullichu. Our encounters with Claudi are detailed; I've read it cover to cover multiple times."
"Huh?"
Not believing, so now evidence?
Kichi shot Ullichu a sharp glare in disbelief, but he brazenly opened the book.
"Of course, lately I've been too busy to open it. That Diamond Guild Garfield fellow kept offending me. Anyway, it starts here……"
Flip—
Kichi still looked utterly uninterested.
But Ullichu steadfastly traced the text with his thick finger.
"……?"
Yet for some reason, Ullichu's complexion rapidly changed.
Tremble, tremble—
Like an orc who'd seen something he shouldn't.
Pale-faced, Ullichu spoke.
"……Kichi, what did you say earlier?"
"What, that you're ugly?"
"No!"
Ullichu asked in an agitated voice.
"Claudi's name in the adventurers' world……!"
Kichi answered nonchalantly, wondering what it was.
"Name? Lee Hoyeol……"
At Kichi's reply, Ullichu was speechless for a while.
Because where his finger pointed.
It was clearly written.
『Claudi family head, Lee Hoyeol Claudi.』
Back then, he'd just thought it peculiar and moved on.
Ullichu sighed.
"H-How is that name from the distant past? Does that mean the adventurer impersonating Grandfell Lord has existed since ancient times? Then who is the current Grandfell Lord……? What in the world is this madness?!"
*
Mythic-grade quest.
Its influence could be summed up in one word: simple.
It transcended spacetime to alter the past.
Shall I explain with a familiar magic analogy?
Yes. Interfering with the past to manifest a new reality.
In other words……
"My name is Lee Hoyeol."
I wailed as I gazed at the感動 orc.
"Lee Hoyeol Claudi……! I shall remember it clearly!"
Please don't attach a family name before and after my name……!!