Can't Just Stand By (2)
This wasn't a story to be exchanged on parchment.
Clink—
"This aroma was sorely missed."
Nor was it something so leisurely that we could sit across from each other, passing teacups back and forth.
Yet decorum and etiquette were of utmost importance.
Marcelo savored his tea before continuing.
"As you may have surmised, the Quirnburk Mechanical Tower is indeed a dwarven construct."
……To drop such a bombshell so casually!
Yes, the brilliant technology embedded in the Quirnburk Mechanical Tower—that was the handiwork of dwarves.
……For real?
Dwarves.
From the days when Arcana was merely a game up to now, they had been the stuff of legends.
Elves at least had sighting reports.
But dwarves? Not even a glimpse.
Right, just the legends passed down mouth to mouth.
Like how dwarven gear was priceless, even for billions.
Or their tech rivaled magic.
So they got nerfed for balance patches.
……Looking back now, none of it was wrong.
The tower's tech rivaled the Mage Tower.
And Marcelo wasn't one to spout nonsense.
So the Quirnburk Mechanical Tower was undoubtedly dwarven-made.
"Indeed, such technological prowess is exceedingly rare."
Far from surmising it.
I'd been shocked by the sudden emergence of the dwarven race.
But naturally, I didn't show it.
Marcelo nodded, affirming my words.
"The dwarves' technology reaches heights comparable to magic. It merely differs in direction from the Mage Tower's pursuits. I can well understand their relentless honing of craft."
If they pursued magic for truth.
Then dwarves pursued technology similarly.
Marcelo's words hinted at some kinship, but only briefly.
"Might I inquire what transpired at the Quirnburk Mechanical Tower?"
His inquiry was polite and formal.
Satisfied by his demeanor, I replied.
It began with the rifts.
Or rather, the quests.
"In the Realm of Anomalies, the Arcana Continent, I beheld."
"……!"
"As you suspected, demons run rampant."
"Such……!"
A reaction confirming fears turned real.
Marcelo sighed deeply, then pressed on with difficulty.
"I cannot even lift my head. To be able to do nothing."
The Mage Tower and its hidden backstory.
I still didn't know the full details.
But this reaction solidified my certainty.
They want to intervene but can't. That's clear.
The situation must be gravely serious.
Even the Mage Tower's true power, Chief Mage Marcelo, was bound.
So motivation surged anew.
Through quests or whatever.
If I could resolve the Mage Tower's plight……!
That means gaining an immense ally in the Mage Tower.
A colossal reward, truly.
Of course, I couldn't resolve it right now.
Hadn't I said it? It was a matter even Marcelo couldn't resolve, let alone voice.
As always, I would graciously bide my time.
Clink—
I set down my teacup and continued.
"Yet I also witnessed possibility."
For the self-reproaching Marcelo.
There was solid comfort to offer.
Hope flickered across Marcelo's gaunt face.
"……Possibility, you say?"
"It means interference with the Arcana Continent via the rift."
"……!!"
Of course, the next rift might not reveal the Arcana Continent.
Or allow interference.
But it wasn't wrong.
I didn't omit the specifics.
"The Quirnburk Mechanical Tower shall hunt demons as Akkshan's ultimate weapon until its pride is fulfilled. Acknowledging the dwarves' prowess, Marcelo—you ought to shed some guilt."
Talk of Akkshan arose naturally.
No reason to hide it.
And even if I wanted to, could I?
Grandfell Claudi Arpeus Romeo's lexicon held no shameful deeds.
Marcelo seemed to need time to process.
"……My thanks for your wise words."
No wonder, with so much poured out.
Preparing tea had been a masterstroke.
Otherwise, my throat would've parched mid-speech.
"Oh."
Clink—
As if sharing the sentiment.
Marcelo lifted his empty cup, then set it down with a start.
I said graciously,
"Shall I pour another?"
"No, I cannot impose further……."
"From green tea to mugwort—your preference?"
The neatly arrayed teabags on the table.
Or rather, the clearance-shelf collection steeped in incorruptible taste.
Marcelo's large eyes darted, then he spoke.
"……Then barley tea for me."
"An excellent choice."
"My thanks."
"Take this tea as well. Its aroma was fine."
"Such generosity shames me. You even informed me of that 'rocket delivery' last time. Yet I was unprepared to embrace new knowledge."
Prepared for new knowledge, he says.
Probably just smartphone basics.
How to shop via app, maybe.
"Is that so. Ask any questions anytime."
Acting like it's some grand favor.
"Ask away," I say.
The more I think, the more audacious it gets…….
…….
Office.
Marcelo paced the office endlessly.
His mind was a whirlwind.
He couldn't sit.
He bowed his head.
"Tower Master, what should I do?"
He knew no answer would come.
But he had to voice it, or his head would burst.
Arcana Continent's state? As suspected, no great shock.
Impotence to act? Not new.
He could bear it.
Plus, there was possibility.
To save the Arcana Continent.
Hoyeol had witnessed it.
No, that wasn't why his mind churned.
"……Akkshan, of all things."
Yes. The name from Hoyeol's lips: Akkshan.
Thoughts tangled.
The Quirnburk Mechanical Tower was Akkshan's ultimate weapon. For demon hunters. And Hoyeol activated it to save Arcana……
Finally sorted.
The implication was simple.
Hoyeol was a demon hunter.
Marcelo smiled bitterly.
"……Why must you burden me with yet another debt?"
Akkshan. Demon hunters.
The Mage Tower already owed them an unrepayable debt.
Marcelo groaned.
"And I, oblivious……!"
Unaware of that debt.
Yet indebted to Hoyeol again.
His chest tore—not mere impotence, but true guilt.
Grind—
Marcelo gnashed his teeth.
"No, I lack even the right to lament……."
Akkshan. Demon hunters. And the Holy War.
Considering Hoyeol's past trials, he dared not…….
In that sense, Marcelo marveled anew.
"How can you remain so composed?"
How did Hoyeol not waver?
Even imagining himself in that position was incomprehensible.
Marcelo gazed at the teabag in his hand.
—Take this tea as well. Its aroma was fine.
And thought,
……If I were in his place.
Could I show such mercy?
Marcelo doubted it.
He couldn't fathom Hoyeol's vessel.
But one thing was certain.
"I can no longer endure, Tower Master."
No more debts to Hoyeol.
No answer came, but Marcelo was sure.
"Now knowing his origins, you would decide as I do."
So no hesitation.
The reconvened Round Table Conference.
He'd drop a bomb there.
Justification aplenty.
Why, hadn't Hoyeol revealed the rifts' potential?
Creak—
Marcelo opened a drawer.
"I lack even the right to accept mercy now."
He placed the teabag in the spotless drawer—no dust, no items.
Who knew when he'd open it again.
But one certainty.
The Mage Tower's flow would change.
Marcelo murmured low.
"The elders should prepare."
*
Quirnburk Mechanical Tower rift!
From start to clear.
It unfolded in ways no one foresaw.
No one—including the AAU.
"Senior, I'm thinking of just quitting."
"Quitting? What's this sudden talk of resignation?"
"There's a limit to the torment!"
Seong Hyunjun felt wronged.
AAU wasn't all-powerful.
Even back when Arcana was a game, when he was on the dev team.
"Come on, how much could we possibly know?!"
Arcana had always been profitable as a game.
Info on it was money.
So content security was ironclad.
Even devs didn't know everything.
Unless it was the missing CEO, Raymon Sean…….
Anyway, everyone knew that, yet.
"Why keep asking me?! The innocent one!!"
Scratch scratch—
Seong Hyunjun clawed his hair.
Empathizing with his plight.
Yoon Sugyeom replied indifferently.
"They're frustrated. How curious must they be?"
"I don't know either! I'm dying of frustration too! They call at dawn……."
"Then quit. Not much freedom anyway."
"Too cold, senior. I'm hurt. So hurt."
"Instead of whining, look at this."
"What now."
"What else? Lee Hoyeol."
"Argh, even you, senior?!"
Lee Hoyeol.
A name he heard more than his own lately.
Roll—
Seong Hyunjun grumbled, pulling his chair.
Hoyeol appeared on the monitor.
"What, you subbed to Park Hwigang too?"
"His Lee Hoyeol fan edits are killer. Anyway."
Not the point.
The background: Quirnburk Mechanical Tower.
Mouse cursor circled it.
"See it?"
"Yeah. Quirnburk Mechanical Tower. No idea what."
"Spot on."
As Seong Hyunjun said.
Knew it, but not what it was.
AAU's info limits.
Powerless, but unavoidable.
"Supposed to be way later."
"Yeah. No clue how it'd be used."
"Raymon, that bastard knew. That scum……!"
"Anyway, player testimonies."
Player testimonies.
At rift clear.
The messages that appeared.
Someone has uncovered the secret of the Quirnburk Mechanical Tower.
The ultimate weapon, Quirnburk Mechanical Tower, begins its counterattack.
Seong Hyunjun bristled.
"Yeah! I nearly died because of that! Obviously Lee Hoyeol. I asked nicely, he answered kindly. But he already knew. Then why call?!"
Why call?
Yoon Sugyeom moved the mouse.
Cursor on the second line.
Seong Hyunjun ranted again.
"That's what I'm dying to know! Don't know what the tower is, or what ultimate weapon. You get my pain, right senior?!"
"Not that."
"Huh? Not the ultimate weapon?"
Cursor pointed further.
"……Begins its counterattack?"
Yoon Sugyeom spoke meaningfully.
"System messages don't lie. They're promises."
"True."
"So that message is fact."
Begins its counterattack.
Seong Hyunjun read it repeatedly, then startled.
"……Wait, senior. Counterattack means?"
"Right. Not our reality—the counterattack starts in Arcana Continent where the tower exists. Hyunjun, you know what that means?"
"O-of course!!"
Arcana Continent's state?
Couldn't witness, but could infer.
Time flows 4x faster than reality.
Demons grow, expand faster than time.
Fallen Frost proved it.
So.
Seong Hyunjun spoke cautiously.
"If the system isn't wrong……."
"In Arcana Continent, near hellish. A meaningful counterattack even the system acknowledges has begun. Thanks to that 'someone'—yes, Lee Hoyeol—uncovering the tower's secret."
"……Senior. This isn't ordinary, right?!"
"No, it isn't."
Perhaps what Hoyeol achieved was.
"Humanity's first counterstrike against this shit situation."
The first, across reality and Arcana.
World might not know yet.
But protagonist Hoyeol surely did.
In that sense, they could only marvel.
"If it were me, I'd shout it from the rooftops……."
Shake shake.
"No, rooftops? I'd broadcast worldwide! Lee Hoyeol's character is unmatched. Sometimes attention-seeker, sometimes……."
"Hyunjun. Internet calls that blasphemy."
"……Huh? Blasphemy?!"
"Why else 'Hoyeolmen'?"
"Can't even joke about Lee Hoyeol properly. For real."
Seong Hyunjun sighed, glaring at Yoon Sugyeom.
"……You aren't one too, right senior?"
Yoon Sugyeom teased.
"Hoyeolman?"
"Seniieeer!!"
*
……My ears itch fiercely.
I wanted to dig in my ear.
But couldn't.
Click—
Mindful of time and place.
I'd just entered Frost Castle.
Yes, maxed relations and influence in Frost.
To check the activated [Authority] function.