Arcanshan's Legacy (2)
Back when Arcana was just a game, traps were a familiar sight to players.
“Finally, the treasure……!”
“Hey, wait! Don’t touch that chest!!”
“Gahhh! What, what is it?! The chest is moving?!”
“You idiot!! It’s a mimic!!”
From mimics disguised as treasure chests to the deadly traps lurking in every corner of dungeons.
There were explorer classes with skills to disarm them, and even nettubers who turned trap-solving into content.
“Pfft? That? That’s nothing for me~”
So when traps started popping up in the Quirnburk Mechanical Tower, trap specialist nettubers rushed to go live.
“I’d love to head there right now, but alas. What a shame.”
They sounded disappointed on the surface.
But this was a golden opportunity to draw viewers. Just broadcasting the relay coverage more than made up for it—hell, it was pure profit.
However.
Separate from that, the Quirnburk Mechanical Tower’s traps were no joke.
Especially those patterns. They were on a whole other level from anything they’d seen before.
“If you jump here, you can clear it easily……?!”
“No, arrows come flying from all directions at that exact timing?!”
“……Guys. Sorry, but I can’t crack that either.”
Was the tower’s technology infused into the traps themselves? They were so intricately designed it felt downright vicious.
Players were dropping like flies, kneeling to the traps.
“Ah, if you hesitate here!”
“Yeah. You turn into a porcupine instantly.”
“Record’s out of reach now.”
“At least no major casualties. That’s a relief.”
The silver lining? Despite the high difficulty, the traps didn’t seem to pack much lethal punch.
Thanks to being made entirely of silver.
It's definitely a competition content.
The Quirnburk Mechanical Tower wasn’t built to take players’ lives.
Just as the quest objective suggested, it was confirmed: content designed to pit players against each other and reward them accordingly.
“They’ve practically laid out the whole stage.”
“Telling players to prove their worth!”
“Let’s see who claims first place!”
The moment that certainty sank in, interest in the Quirnburk Mechanical Tower skyrocketed.
And amid that massive attention.
Finally, Hoyeol made his move.
And the shock began—
“Wh-what the hell?”
“What am I even seeing right now?”
“H-ha, the traps didn’t break, did they?”
Didn’t they just say it? The tower’s traps were more precise than anything ever seen.
They knew there was no way they’d glitch out like that……
Yet an incomprehensible scene unfolded before their eyes.
Whoosh—! The trap veered off course.
Swish—! It wasn’t Hoyeol dodging.
Step—! He was just casually walking.
That’s right.
The traps were avoiding Hoyeol!
As if an invisible barrier surrounded him.
Every trap headed his way simply missed.
That astonishing sight naturally demanded commentary.
The chat exploded.
But these were trap expert nettubers, after all? Explaining an unprecedented phenomenon like this was impossible.
“I-I’ve never seen a strategy like that before!”
“……Just walking through traps like it’s nothing.”
“What have I even been doing all this time, guys?”
“……I’m suddenly thinking of retiring.”
Was that a skill?
If so, where in the world did a skill like that come from?
What class even used something like that?
In the end, just the usual barrage of questions chasing Hoyeol.
Amid the shock.
Hoyeol reached the portal on the opposite side.
Time taken: just over a minute.
And that was walking, not running.
The chat exploded again.
Just hoemen……!
* Exploration, interference, manifestation.
Of those three stages, the trickiest by far was exploration.
Exploration was truly the first button of magic. Button it wrong, and you couldn’t even proceed to the next stage.
Even if you did, the magic’s efficiency would plummet.
Of course.
Why, even Mage Tower’s chief mage, Marcelo, couldn’t fully eliminate the waste in exploration.
But for me—no, for Grandfell—that didn’t apply.
Innate magical talent allowed him to mimic most spells just by seeing them.
Whoever made up that setting.
It was an embarrassingly overpowered talent.
Thanks to it, I could walk through the traps.
Of course, only because they were all silver.
I could skip the most crucial exploration stage.
No matter Grandfell’s talent, scouting unfamiliar targets—especially multiple at once—was impossible.
If the traps weren’t silver……
I’d have had to run through, dodging like everyone else.
Letting some pass, evading others.
Anyway, the result wasn’t bad.
Didn’t expect first place.
The gap to second was huge too.
Probably because the traps were so tough.
“Whoa. These traps are no joke. Hoyeol?”
Nam Taemin arrived, panting.
No record broken, so outside top three, it seemed.
He wiped his sweat and said,
“Huff, just 10 seconds short.”
Even Nam Taemin was impressed by the difficulty.
The tech was unreal.
Which made it even harder to believe.
……Is this really Akkshan’s ultimate weapon?
I checked the quest window again, but nope.
The Akkshan base I knew barely had anything beyond free rye bread for meals.
For that Akkshan to have built high-tech doomsday weapons across the continent……
I’ll uncover the truth, believable or not.
To do that, I had to progress the quest.
With that in mind, I eyed the portal.
A portal manifested via mechanical device item.
Tech beyond anything Akkshan ever showed.
One step closer, and a message appeared.
First up: recommended level. A whopping 450.
But no prior worries this time.
It’s not scaled for players.
Right. The Quirnburk Mechanical Tower was forever Akkshan’s doomsday weapon against demons.
Built to fight demons.
The traps proved it.
“Breaks like this rift aren’t bad every now and then.”
Natural to think like Nam Taemin.
The traps’ damage was negligible.
Even players who failed to dodge weren’t badly hurt.
So everyone saw it as a chill competitive quest, a breather.
But I knew better.
It was serious.
No compromises……!
What fool hands over their legacy?
Didn’t expect much, but hated losing it to others.
Quest rewards included.
So I headed quietly to the portal.
“I’ll go first.”
“Huh? Oh, I’ll come too!”
Nam Taemin hurried after.
Through the portal, messages popped up.
Conditions met.
Reward granted.
Team assigned based on ranking.
……Wait, team battle after traps?
I flinched.
More messages followed.
You recorded ‘1st place’.
You shattered the record overwhelmingly.
Team member count based on rank/record: ‘1’.
Searching for appropriate opposing team…….
“!”
Wait a sec.
Indignation surged as I read.
Team battle. Solo……?!
Blame the huge lead.
Still!
What kind of bullshit rule is this?!
Team battle? I’d felt relieved deep down.
Nam Taemin was with me.
But passing through the portal split us somehow.
No Nam Taemin in sight.
Clank—
The machinery whirred to life.
Platforms shook, spewing steam.
Separate from my outrage.
This body, obsessed with formality and procedure, accepted it.
“If procedure demands it, I must comply.”
……Don’t accept this crap law, Grandfell.
Well, what could I do? Couldn’t undo the messages.
I checked the quest window.
Platforms move based on wins/losses. Secure 30 points first to reach the top.
📍 Current Points (Win: +3p / Loss: -2p)
●1st: None
●2nd: None
●3rd: None
Clank— So that’s why the platform rattled.
Win: up. Lose: down.
Still.
30 points? That’s insane.
3 per win meant……10 straight victories.
A single loss eats into your hard-earned points.
Worse: I was solo in a team battle.
……So lonely.
Only machinery clanking around.
Missing chatty Nam Taemin……
If I’d known, I’d have slacked off, rewards be damned……
……Right! Quest rewards!
Maybe they’d help in battle.
I opened inventory to check.
……What’s this?
* The broadcasting station knew how to pull ratings.
Studio was already in full recording mode.
“Tournament-style! Whoever designed this tower deserves praise. Where else could we watch players clash like this?!”
“Exactly. Back when Arcana was a game, Coliseum was the only place for this. Thanks to the Quirnburk rift, we get front-row seats.”
“And right now…… Look, the opposing teams are appearing!”
Clank— Machinery groaned.
Players atop them faced off.
The host’s voice rose excitedly.
“Players passing portals are converging in one spot. As you see, from different rifts, but same team now?”
“Fascinating system!”
“Both sides: 3v3. The objective……”
The machines the teams rode.
A massive gear hovered dead center.
Anyone with sense could guess.
“……Seizing that gear?”
“Snag the gear first and slot it into your machine to win, looks like!”
“Slotting it makes the machine ascend. Slick staging.”
“And already, mind games between teams?!”
As the panel predicted.
Tension hung thick between the machines.
No wonder.
“Average levels look even.”
Properly matched opponents.
Their averages identical.
No room for rash moves.
“……Hey, hold up.”
Beep— Sudden audio mute.
Panelists blinked.
What the hell at this crucial moment?
“Why mute the TV, you psycho?!”
“Hear me out. It’s huge!”
“What now? You’re overreacting again.”
“No! It’s Lee Hoyeol!!”
“Lee Hoyeol? Why him suddenly?”
Tournament quest.
Teams face similar-level foes.
So opponents’ averages reveal Hoyeol’s level……?
“We might finally learn Lee Hoyeol’s level!”
……Hoyeol’s level?
Topic drawing eyes worldwide.
Viewers gulped, awaiting Hoyeol’s entrance.
Players inside the tower felt it too.
Clank— Gear slots in, platform rises.
Shining’s guild master, Rocks, checked his quest.
Five straight wins. 15 points.
Tied for first.
Another team hit 15 first.
Rocks knew who.
Lee Hoyeol.
Dominated traps too.
Leading here was natural.
But Rocks had confidence.
This is team battle, not solo. Lee Hoyeol.
With balance system.
Higher his level, weaker his teammates.
Target the weak links.
We’ll meet eventually.
Only two at 15 points.
No avoiding clash.
Clank—! Machinery halts.
Come on.
Opponents atop their machine.
Rocks’ face twisted in shock.
“……!”
Regrettably.
His guess was half-right.
Five wins. 15 points peak.
Hoyeol was there.
But alone.
So his overflowing confidence.
Turned to unease.
……Five straight solo wins?
Impossible! How?!
It was absurd!
* Truly absurd luck.
Clank— Approaching machine.
Message rises.
Searching for appropriate opposing team…….
I thought inwardly,
Free wins end here.
My level: a measly 295.
Solo too.
No “appropriate” foes for me.
Flip side: I wasn’t appropriate for same-point teams.
So excluded from matches, racking free wins.
One team at same points exists.
No escaping now.
Only one other at 15 besides me.
So now.
3v1.
Against much higher-level players.
But doable.
They’re battle-worn.
Plus, I had quest rewards.
Still, this was competition, not deathmatch.
Observing formality.
I gave a light greeting.
“I have awaited thee.”
“……!!!”
……Did I say something wrong?
Why those faces?