I Can't Just Stand By (1)
The first quest to blink was from the Mage Tower, Marcelo's quest.
Access to 『The Strange』 (In Progress)
📍 ● Conquer the rift. (Repeatable)
📍 ● Witness the Arcana Continent. (Success)
📍 ● Conquer the rift.
Conquer the rift. A new quest objective had appeared below it.
The word [Success] was telling me once again.
Quirnburk Mechanical Tower. That place visible outside was the real Arcana Continent.
The Arcana Continent in my memory was from a whopping 12 years ago. Back when Arcana was just a game.
Yeah, even if the river changes course, it's only natural it'd have changed a few times.
'But.'
This wasn't just the river changing course, was it?
Blazing forests and earth. Smoke blanketing the entire area. Villages trampled without a trace. Walls collapsed in ruin.
It all screamed that the cities were no different.
But more than anything.
'Demons everywhere the eye can see.'
I'd expected it to some degree.
In that short time, considering the influence demon monsters had on reality.
The state of the Arcana Continent couldn't be better than reality—it had to be worse, if anything.
'But even so, this seems pretty serious...'
The exact state of the Arcana Continent? Of course, I had no way of knowing.
Why? Because the landscape of the Arcana Continent I was seeing now only showed the area around the Quirnburk Mechanical Tower.
But it was more than enough to grasp the severity of the situation.
'Think rationally.'
I was startled by the unexpected sight, but once again, Grandfell's setting kept me from overreacting.
I could think calmly and logically without panic.
'What matters most is always reality.'
『The Strange』 itself. As long as rifts exist, connecting the Arcana Continent and reality.
The crisis on the Arcana Continent is essentially a crisis headed for reality.
'I can't rely on patch notes anymore.'
I wasn't saying to distrust all patch notes. They were made to help players in the first place.
It was all because of the demons, rising to the climax.
With them hiding their true nature and possessing 'something'.
The likelihood of them flooding into reality through rifts had increased.
"How utterly cowardly."
Now that I knew the truth, Grandfell's pride wouldn't stand for it.
Monsters were one thing, but demons strutting around in reality? Unthinkable in Grandfell's dictionary.
'No choice but to get serious about conquering rifts.'
With the pursuit of 『The Strange』 not enough, now even his pride was at stake.
In the end, it'd be me and my flailing legs paying the price...!
It wouldn't have been strange to wrap up my thoughts there.
"I cannot tolerate this landscape either."
I continued anyway.
Yes, there was still work left for me. No—for Grandfell.
As I said, demons strutting about? Now that I'd witnessed it, I couldn't just leave it be.
Even if it was happening on the Arcana Continent!
Interfering with the Arcana Continent from reality was impossible.
But in the space of 『The Strange』—the rifts?
'I might be able to interfere with the Arcana Continent.'
As if to prove that possibility, another quest was blinking.
The beacon of survival has been clearly delivered. Last demon hunter. Reclaim your legacy lost to evil.
📍 ─ Train your weakened body. (Repeatable)
📍 ─ Investigate the ultimate weapon Quirnburk Mechanical Tower. (Success)
📍 ─ Activate the ultimate weapon Quirnburk Mechanical Tower. (In Progress)
Activate the Quirnburk Mechanical Tower.
The moment I confirmed the new objective.
Mechanical ascent lever engaged.
Clank—! Shiiieek—!
The mounted mechanism slowly came to a halt.
Soon, a grand vista unfolded before my eyes.
Gigantic gears and mechanisms interlocked with each other.
Searching for the [Quirnburk Ascent Lever].
I'd thought I'd grasped the tower's structure roughly, but.
This massive device was designed with circuits far more complex than any mere lever.
"Like a heart itself."
A murmur of admiration escaped me.
At the same time, a message appeared.
You have entered the Quirnburk Mechanical Tower - Top Floor.
This was the top floor of the mechanical tower.
Anyone with eyes could tell.
That activating the ultimate weapon Quirnburk Mechanical Tower would happen right here, on the top floor.
I didn't hesitate.
Click—
I approached the massive mechanical heart.
Anyone watching might worry and ask.
If it was okay to touch it recklessly. If fiddling with it wouldn't break it.
A perfectly valid concern.
As I just said, the mechanical heart was composed of such esoteric, complex structures that even Grandfell's talents couldn't grasp it at a glance.
However.
"To hunt demons, knowledge is not what's needed."
Yes.
Complex or a culmination of immense technology, whatever.
In the end, the Quirnburk Mechanical Tower was Akshan's legacy.
An ultimate weapon made to hunt demons.
"Ritual, perhaps."
So I didn't hesitate.
I placed my hand on the mechanical heart.
And began the ritual unique to demon hunters.
The 'Quirnburk Mechanical Tower' has been selected as an offering.
Skill, 'Exorcism Ritual' has been activated.
Clank—!
The mechanical heart began to pulse.
Screech—! Chiiiieeek—!
The massive mechanisms interlocked, and the entire tower began to vibrate.
The Exorcism Ritual to slay demons.
The Quirnburk Mechanical Tower as its offering.
The tower, offered up, would hunt the demons rampaging across the Arcana Continent until its operation ceased.
The Quirnburk Mechanical Tower has begun operation.
Ku-gu-gu-gu-woong—!
The vibrations and shaking intensified.
In my shaking vision, a message appeared.
You have cleared the Quirnburk Mechanical Tower rift.
Cleared. Soon, the space of 『The Strange』—the rift—would close.
When my vision cleared, I'd open my eyes in reality.
But I knew.
"Akshan's legacy."
No, I believed without doubt.
"Fulfill your pride as an ultimate weapon."
That the Quirnburk Mechanical Tower would hunt demons on the Arcana Continent until the very end.
As if to confirm my faith wasn't misplaced.
In my fading vision.
Messages scrolled up one after another.
─ Activate the ultimate weapon Quirnburk Mechanical Tower. (Success)
[Conditions fulfilled.]
[You have uncovered the secret of the Quirnburk Mechanical Tower.]
[The ultimate weapon Quirnburk Mechanical Tower begins its counterattack.]
[Experience accumulates on the ultimate weapon Quirnburk Mechanical Tower.]
[Fame accumulates on the ultimate weapon Quirnburk Mechanical Tower.]
[Acquisition rights to the accumulated experience and fame...]
……
You have cleared the Quirnburk Mechanical Tower rift.
……Hoyeol did it. In the end, Lee Hoyeol cleared the rift.
That message appeared to everyone—to all players in the Quirnburk Mechanical Tower.
Once again, an achievement that left them speechless.
More than that, this was a clear speed no one could have imagined.
"No way, how'd he fill 30 points in one go?"
"It was definitely 21 points last I checked."
"A-And anyway, why is this thing shaking like this?!"
Ku-gu-gu-gu-gung—!
Isn't it gonna collapse?!
The tower was shaking enough to make them panic.
Their questions and curiosity only grew.
"What happened up there?"
"He cleared the rift so fast, maybe there wasn't much after all?"
"Even so, no way it's got a self-destruct or something, right?"
"Ugh, this is frustrating! Doesn't Lee Hoyeol wanna do a stream or anything?!"
They were so curious it made them want to lash out unreasonably!
But that atmosphere didn't last long.
Soon, messages appeared to the players too.
Someone has uncovered the secret of the Quirnburk Mechanical Tower.
The ultimate weapon Quirnburk Mechanical Tower begins its counterattack.
"!!!"
This time, they knew right away.
That someone was Lee Hoyeol!
Hoyeol had truly uncovered the secret of the Quirnburk Mechanical Tower in this short time.
But wait—ultimate weapon?
The players' faces began to change.
"……Begins its counterattack? Counterattack? What counterattack?"
"So this shaking now? It's not collapsing?"
"No way, is it like a transforming robot or something?! This thing?!"
Shock upon shock—pure astonishment.
But they couldn't stay shocked forever.
Rift cleared. Just as the system message said.
When they opened their eyes again, reality's scenery greeted them.
In this dazed moment.
The players who'd entered the tower through the rift generated in the Yusra Kingdom thought.
'……Oh right, Lee Hoyeol!'
'Where's Lee Hoyeol?'
'……If I can snag even one answer from him, jackpot!'
They looked around frantically.
They were determined to grab his ankle and cling on.
Really, those messages that had stormed in like a typhoon.
What happened up there?
What was the secret of the Quirnburk Mechanical Tower?
Counterattack started—what was it counterattacking?
Ultimate weapon—what kind of bait was that?
They had a truckload of questions.
The viewers watching—no, the whole world—must be the same.
So if they could get even one answer.
"……Alright."
For the world's right to know, they'd step up.
The players steeled their resolve.
Finding Hoyeol in the crowd? Not that hard.
That silver hair for starters. His presence was impossible to miss.
And not only that, this time Nam Taemin, the muscle mountain, was beside him.
But.
"……Gasp."
Right to know, resolve, whatever.
The moment they faced Hoyeol.
Their lips froze and no words came out.
They remembered.
The cold attitude Hoyeol had shown the public so far.
More frightening than the viewers' angry chat.
They weren't players, after all?
Like in the Quirnburk Mechanical Tower rift.
There was no guarantee they wouldn't run into Hoyeol again.
But if they somehow got on his bad side...?
'……Damn, I'm crazy.'
Suddenly, memories of Hoyeol's exploits in the tower flashed by.
Passing traps with noble grace.
Ten straight wins in a tournament where one was a struggle.
They'd witnessed it firsthand.
'I'm the crazy one!!'
They couldn't approach him like clueless reporters.
Yes, seeing is knowing.
Because they knew Hoyeol.
They couldn't bring themselves to grab his ankle and cling.
"I'll head out first."
At Hoyeol's single word, the crowd parted.
So amid that vast crowd.
Hoyeol left without a single wrinkle or speck of dust on his clothes.
"……Phew."
Finally, sighs escaped.
Excuses poured from the remaining players.
"No, I couldn't help it!"
"You saw that icy expression? He really doesn't care about us...!"
"Cancel sub? Go ahead. Hell, do it a hundred times!! Views, comments, dislike raids, whatever. Lee Hoyeol's way scarier!!"
*
I headed straight for the portal.
Arrived at the Mage Tower.
Climbed the stairs and opened the door to the lab.
Click—
Only after closing the door did it sink in.
……No matter how I think about it, I feel like I hit the jackpot.
The final message I'd seen on the top floor of the Quirnburk Mechanical Tower.
[Experience accumulates on the ultimate weapon Quirnburk Mechanical Tower.]
[Fame accumulates on the ultimate weapon Quirnburk Mechanical Tower.]
[You have acquired acquisition rights to the accumulated experience and fame.]
Acquisition rights to experience and fame!
And not just any—the Quirnburk Mechanical Tower's.
A thing with the grandiose title of ultimate weapon.
On top of that, I'd confirmed its technological prowess with my own eyes.
……Maybe I don't need to blame my level anymore?
The ultimate weapon Quirnburk Mechanical Tower, now counterattacking.
It'd accumulate experience hunting demons on the Arcana Continent, and fame through its feats.
'And I'd swallow it all...'
My heart could've burst from anticipation, but as expected, I was calm—nay, brazen.
Clink—
Before I knew it, I was tilting my teacup.
"Great power comes with great responsibility."
Hard to even set the mood with this personality.
Really.
Of course, thinking calmly, it was too early to celebrate.
I'd only acquired 'acquisition rights.'
'Not acquired it.'
So the experience or fame accumulated on the Quirnburk Mechanical Tower.
Either way, I had to 'acquire' it to make it mine.
I had no way of knowing how right now.
Since the Quirnburk Mechanical Tower existed on the Arcana Continent.
Clink—
So for now, best to calm this excitement.
Yeah, think of it as a savings account. Forget it and live on.
So I can stand tall before my level.
So I'm not pathetic anymore.
Savings for the future.
Scribble—
Of course, my hand paid no mind to such mental gymnastics and kept busy.
A quill pen etching letters onto parchment.
The recipient, naturally, the chief mage Marcelo.
[Marcelo's Research], quest objective achieved.
I'd learned new facts in the Quirnburk Mechanical Tower too.
'Gotta talk to Marcelo about that.'
The state of the Arcana Continent witnessed in the rift.
The possibility of interfering with the Arcana Continent.
The true nature of the Quirnburk Mechanical Tower.
I'd uncovered quite a bit, so plenty to discuss.
Scribble—
Soon, Marcelo's reply appeared on the parchment.
I'd said there was plenty to say, but.
"……!"
The first line made me lose my words.
Quirnburk Mechanical Tower.
I'd thought its tech was extraordinary, but.
……That 'race' shows up here?!