Chapter 62
Chapter 62
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 62
>Chapter Title: One Step to the Truth
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Chapter 62
>62.
God Ose proudly boasted a vast world befitting its title as another world.
>It was filled with countless quests, hidden fields, and artifacts, all of which were recorded in the Book of Adventures once discovered.
>The beauty of God Ose was something no aspect of reality could ever fulfill.
>In their words, once you got a taste of this adventure, you'd suffer from an intense dissatisfaction that no real-world trip could satisfy.
>These players focused more on adventure than leveling up—they were the casual enjoyers, not the hardcore grinders.
But reaching the top in any field naturally brings fame.
>Even in the realm of adventure, hitting the peak could make you as famous as any celebrity.
Adventure King, Barion.
>He was the epitome of that.
>Among adventurers, his obsessive zeal was unmatched.
>A man more devoted to Avtartel's world than anyone.
>His near-maniacal obsession with uncovering anything recordable in the Book of Adventures made the title "Adventure King" feel entirely deserved.
>That obsession had granted him the most complete Book of Adventures anyone possessed.
>At least on the known continent, the rumor went that Barion had found everything there was to find.
But even Barion had failed to uncover one thing.
- The Main Quest.
The cornerstone and essential element of any RPG, directly tied to the world's lore—it was the most important quest of all.
>No God Ose player would ever stop searching for it.
>Countless users had hunted for the Main Quest, including Barion himself.
-Everyone asked me about it. From open beta to a year and a half later. It was a short time, but I'm certain from everything I've explored.
And so, he could state it with conviction.
-There is no Main Quest in God Ose. Or maybe it hasn't unlocked yet... Either way, at this point in time, you can't obtain it.
No Main Quest existed.
>Whether it hadn't unlocked or whatever, at least right now, forget looking for it.
His interview, delivered with a shit-eating grin, spread across the world in an instant, and players could only nod in agreement.
-If the Adventure King couldn't find it, it doesn't exist.
>-The Adventure King's having a meltdown like that? First time seeing it in my life. He must've really turned everything upside down.
>-If Barion says so, I believe it.
The man who never knew defeat, Adventure King Barion, had that kind of reputation.
-Is the Adventure King a god or something? Just because he couldn't find it doesn't mean it isn't there.
>-Exactly lol. What does Barion matter? Virtual reality or not, it's an RPG. No Main Quest makes no sense.
>-Kids these days get brainwashed the second someone hypes him up. Tsk tsk...
Of course, skeptics existed, but their voices were quickly buried.
>Barion's infamous obsession made sure of that.
-You've never even seen the Adventure King actually adventure, have you? The guy's not right in the head;;
>-For real. First time in my life seeing someone swim naked through minor elephant shit just to find a Book of Adventures clue.
>-That's tame. Remember when he caught every bug in sight, tore them apart bit by bit, and ate them to log a hidden recipe?
>-Oh yeah, I saw that stream. Green goo came spewing out of the Adventure King's mouth—scared the hell out of me.
>-Fuck... I'm eating;;
>-Okay, okay, I believe you. Please stop, guys. My bad.
And without needing to trust Barion or not, even the Top 10 Guilds had searched and found not a single clue about the Main Quest.
>When the greatest players in God Ose banded together and still came up empty, what could regular users say?
The Main Quest simply hadn't unlocked yet.
>That was the accepted truth in God Ose by now.
'Yeah, that's right...'
It was basic knowledge even for new players, so Do-hyun had never even considered hunting for it.
>More precisely, he hadn't had the time.
>He needed to head to the Empire first and try something—at the moment, he barely had enough time just for leveling.
But...
[Job Quest 'One Step to the Truth' has begun. Hear the erased history of humanity from him.]
...
[You cannot refuse this quest.]
>[Quest success will unlock the Main Quest tab.]
'...It pops up here?'
The Main Quest? Right here?
>And he hadn't even been looking for it—just clearing a job quest, and he stumbled into it.
>This job quest was a newly discovered hidden route, no less.
'Whoa, so if I'd taken the standard route, I'd have missed the Main Quest entirely?'
Thinking that, it really had been the perfect choice.
>Playing it safe with the old route, and he'd never have glimpsed even the 'M' in Main Quest before God Ose shut down.
>A decade shaved off his life, but honestly, no regrets.
'What kind of Main Quest links to a job quest?'
No wonder players couldn't find it no matter what.
>You had to recruit the hidden god Kashyar, then take a hidden route on the follow-up job quest.
>Hell, to even find a hidden god, you needed Eyes of Truth—which meant beating the Bound Iron Blood Wyrmspawn in the tutorial...
Piece by piece, it was a convergence of every opportunity in the world.
'What the fuck was the dev thinking making it like this?'
Do-hyun had only gotten this far thanks to insane luck—who else could possibly discover the Main Quest this way?
>No wonder after a year and a half, not even a hint had surfaced...
'All that suffering back then was worth it.'
If he hadn't beaten that tutorial monster, he wouldn't have all these traits, and he never would've reached the Main Quest.
>The thought filled him with pride, his heart pounding.
>He'd be the only one in God Ose tackling the Main Quest solo.
>That fact alone set his chest racing.
Emotions he'd rarely felt since Demlok turned into a dead game were hitting him every moment since starting God Ose.
>This must be why everyone called it a god game.
But now wasn't the time for excitement. Something had to come first.
"Successor? Have I made you uncomfortable in any way?"
>"No, not at all. I was just lost in thought."
>"I see. Then may I now share the story you must know?"
>"Yes."
>"Please, have a seat here, humble as it is. You two as well."
-Kiruk! Yay.
>-Riza riza!
Now, a tragedy that had failed to fill even a page in history and been torn away.
"This tale is Lord Kashyar's life story, and the truth of the now-erased history. I shall tell it from the beginning. What humanity was like in the past, how prosperous and fierce they were..."
It was time to hear the truth of forgotten human history.
* * *
The story dated back 1,456 years.
>As the Last Adventurer had explained upon first drawing the god, ancient humanity was vastly different from now.
>Humanity had received all of Avtartel's blessings.
Dwarves excelled at handling fire and iron.
>Elves surpassed all in affinity with nature and craftsmanship.
>Orcs boasted superior breeding rates and sturdy constitutions...
Compared to other races born with just one or two talents, humanity was gifted with exceptional potential in every field—what else could you call that but blessed?
'That's why I can use skills from every class.'
Even with short lifespans, it was why humanity had built the mightiest empire of all.
>Their explosive potential more than compensated for that flaw.
>One of them had even claimed a Throne—only five existed—as Avtartel's master. That spoke to their ancient power.
>Especially since one Throne holder was the progenitor of magic: a dragon.
But that raised a question.
'Then why is modern humanity so different from the ancients?'
Why had that mighty race weakened compared to others?
>Why no talent across all fields?
"Humanity was truly mighty, and the title of one of the five Throne holders was no exaggeration. Given just a bit more time, they could have risen even higher. Yes, if only they'd had the time."
Humanity had the vessel to become apex predators, but time had betrayed them.
>They'd barely secured their Throne when 'they' invaded, leaving no chance to consolidate.
"'They' being...?"
>"You've probably guessed by now. The loathsome bastards who rule by commanding otherworlders... the ones called 'gods.'"
"Ah."
Do-hyun barely reacted to the bombshell, but Zihad freaked out.
'Gods? The masterminds are gods?'
'Riza riza!?'
'No way... Gods mean those constellations shining in the night sky, right? So the constellations are the enemies, master?'
'Riza...!'
Shocked, Zihad kept gaping, while Eliza nodded along with the exact same expression beside him.
>Then they glanced at the impassive Do-hyun and grumbled in exasperation.
'Master's not even surprised!? As expected of a demon... no, a legend.'
'Quiet down, let me focus.'
'...Okay.'
'Riza...'
Do-hyun sighed at Zihad zipping his mouth like a zipper and Eliza mimicking him.
Do-hyun wasn't unshaken.
'The stuff from the job description.'
He'd just already seen a summarized text version during his first job change, so it was easier to accept.
>Still, hearing it spoken aloud hit different.
"The Great War Ragnarok ended only when all divine realms were destroyed. Homeless gods then turned their eyes to Avtartel."
"..."
"Who knows where these unknowns rolled in from, demanding worship as gods? No race would bow. Countless opposed them, and war broke out."
Hearing it spoken scaled up the magnitude beyond mere text.
>It wasn't just war with humanity—it pitted all of Avtartel against the gods, including the five Throne holders.
But the gods were strong.
>The centuries-long war extincted countless races and ravaged a third of beautiful, vast Avtartel.
"But their losses were severe too."
Six myth-making gods perished, and droves more followed.
>Other races aside, the five Thrones' power even gods couldn't ignore.
This war—now called the Millennium War—inflicted massive casualties on both sides, but the gods still held the edge.
>Unlike the five Thrones, losing ground and strength, the gods faced no spatial limits—time favored them.
Avtartel's fall seemed inevitable.
"As the saying goes, heroes are born in times of chaos. That's when one man appeared."