Chapter 24

“Whew...”

A tense sigh echoed down the hallway.

KNOCK, KNOCK.

Clutching his papers in both hands, Hajun knocked nervously on the door. He had checked his reflection in the hallway window several times, apparently feeling awkward in a neat suit instead of his usual shaggy-haired, plaid-shirted look.

The badge on his chest no longer identified him as a developer. It read [Administration Team Two, GM Han].

'Ha... I'm not in trouble, am I?'

Sighing like a student summoned to the teachers' office, Hajun stood before the door.

[Administration Team Two: Team Leader's Office]

'Ugh... In trouble? What am I, a kid? If I get chewed out, I get chewed out...'

“Come in.”

As the door opened, he immediately bent into a ninety-degree bow.

“R-reporting, Team Leader!”

“Why don't you come inside first?”

“Pardon? Oh...! Yes!”

Hajun nodded hastily and closed the door.

He gulped.

An unkempt beard that looked several days overdue for a shave. Eyes sunken with exhaustion. On the desk, amid stacks of coffee cups, he thought he could even see an ashtray and liquor bottles.

'Smoking and drinking in the office...?'

It was unthinkable, yet the man before him was allowed to do it.

Team Leader Go Juncheol.

Hajun swallowed again. Facing the man known as the “Mad Dog” not just in administration but throughout the company only heightened his nerves.

“I hear you met Khan in the game?”

Hayul flinched involuntarily under Team Leader Go's gaze.

“No need to be nervous. I didn't call you here to reprimand you. I actually feel bad about asking so much of someone from development rather than administration.”

“N-not at all!”

“But we needed the manpower. There's been so much talk about him... We needed someone like you, who could observe him without prejudice.”

It was strange. There was an odd sense of trust in his voice. This was a team leader notorious among the employees for being terrifying...

Yet those few words somehow made Hajun feel valued, and his shoulders lifted a little.

'Still a child.'

Naturally, Juncheol noticed his reaction.

'If anyone else had pulled this crap, I wouldn't have let it slide...'

SLURP.

He lifted his cup, frowning faintly.

'What the hell is Director Han thinking? We'd already selected everyone for surveillance, and then she tells us to change the list...?'

Director Han Miho was one of the two pillars overseeing [Evil Tale].

'I looked into him. Apparently, he's her younger cousin.'

Was she trying to plant a mole?

Go Juncheol regarded Hajun with displeasure.

“Let me ask you something. Did he use the administrator-call function?”

Juncheol briefly considered hauling his subordinate downstairs over the coals, then clicked his tongue and questioned Hajun instead.

“No, sir.”

“Then?”

“... Pardon?”

Their eyes remained locked for a moment. Juncheol downed his cold coffee and asked again.

“I'm asking how you met him.”

“Oh... Well... I thought I needed to check something.”

“Check what?”

“I reviewed his history. He'd completed a time attack at the Goblin Nest with an absurd record.”

“And?”

“Honestly, looking at that record, I couldn't understand it as a developer, never mind as an administrator. I was there when we designed the Dark Forest's three major dungeons.”

“You mean the record was impossible?”

“Yes. And he happened to be in the Alchemist's Laboratory. So...”

“You sneaked into the dungeon and spied on him.”

“Haha.”

“... Haha?”

BANG!!!!

Juncheol slammed the papers down on his desk in anger.

“Are you kidding me? All I assigned you to do was monitor Khan's actions! What if word gets out that an administrator was casually stalking a player?!”

'Director Han, are you trying to screw me over? Foisting this thoughtless kid on me... We should be investigating in secret, and he's practically advertised that the administrators are watching.'

Pressing his fingers against his throbbing temples, Juncheol sighed.

The player Khan.

Ever since the logout incident, he had remained a topic of conversation in the [Evil Tale] community, for better or worse. If this ever got out, countless hyenas would seize on it and tear them apart.

“Nine minutes, forty seconds.”

“... What?”

“That's how long it took player Khan to clear the Alchemist's Laboratory.”

The team leader's eyebrow twitched.

“Nine minutes? You're certain?”

“Yes. He cleared it right in front of me.”

“Fucking hell...”

Juncheol let out a disbelieving laugh at Hajun's report.

“What on earth happened to him? This was the man clinging to my trouser leg in Moretti's square, crying for help...”

Hunting the hidden monster at the Orc Citadel with a pilgrim of Mha was one thing. But smashing the records of two separate dungeons defied all common sense.

'Kerga's record was impressive, but it's several years old. Someone could have overtaken him.'

But this was far too much.

'How did he do it?'

He wanted to know. Yet no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't find an answer.

“How on earth did he do it?”

“Strange, isn't it? That's why I went to see for myself.”

“Enough. Are you saying that justifies what you did?”

Hajun gave Juncheol's glare a sheepish smile.

“But he couldn't have cleared the Alchemist's Laboratory alone, could he? It requires elemental attacks.”

Juncheol clicked his tongue as he questioned Hajun.

“Well... It seemed he'd hired a mercenary.”

“A mercenary?”

Juncheol nodded at his answer.

“I suppose so. If he wasn't forming a party, hiring a mercenary was his only option.”

“But...”

“What?”

Hajun cautiously gauged his mood, then moistened his nervously parched lips.

“I don't know if it's just a coincidence... but the NPC he chose as a mercenary concerns me.”

“What is that supposed to mean? What's wrong with the NPC? All the mercenaries you can hire in the Dark Forest are low-level anyway. Was there anything special about them?”

“You probably wouldn't know about this, sir. It's not something anyone outside development would think of.”

“Well, now! Are you trying to draw battle lines between administration and development?”

“Of course not. That's not what I mean.”

Strangely, Hajun's voice had gained conviction, though he had seemed so inept just moments earlier.

'Hmm?'

The change piqued Juncheol's curiosity.

“Ruen Firbas.”

Hajun enunciated every syllable of the name.

“She is the main character of [The Resurgence of Uldin], one of the scenarios in the upcoming second major update.”

“... The second update? I've never heard of anything like that.”

“That's only natural. Even development has merely created it. We don't know when it will go live.”

“What do you mean?”

“Major updates are set to begin at [Ethan]'s discretion.”

“Hmm... That AI again.”

Go Juncheol clicked his tongue in displeasure.

“Fine. Then when you say you've created it... you mean development on the update data is complete?”

“Yes. By the time [Evil Tale] launched, development was already complete through the third update.”

“The third?”

Juncheol's cheek twitched at those words.

“And all the scenarios and data through the third update are already installed in the game's cloud.”

“Then an update could happen at any moment?”

“In theory, yes... but I don't think it'll be that easy. We can't initiate updates ourselves, but we can estimate how close we are to one.”

An [Evil Tale] update was no mere bug fix.

“The game itself will change completely. It would be fair to call it an upheaval.”

Accordingly, an enormous number of conditions had to be met.

“One of the minimum requirements is clearing the thirtieth floor of the Labyrinth Tower. Five years after Evil Tale's launch, players are only just attempting the tenth floor...”

The development team expected it to take at least as much time again.

“At least five years...”

'That should give the players plenty of time to grow stronger.'

“She may be a major NPC in the next update, but with that much time left, it shouldn't pose a problem.”

Go Juncheol nodded.

“All right. Anything else to report?”

“Uh, no, sir.”

“From now on, don't go sticking your neck out. Just observe quietly. Understood?”

“... Yes. I'll keep that in mind.”

CLICK.

“Whew...”

After closing the office door, Hajun released the breath he'd been holding.

“Whew... I thought I was going to suffocate.”

He had heard how terrifying the man was reputed to be in administration, but still.

Hajun shuddered, as though trying to shake off the memory of Go Juncheol's gaze.

“Should I have told him about that too, though?”

He lingered outside the office, hesitating.

'Nah, no. We still don't know how she'll develop. No need to mention it.'

Hajun muttered under his breath.

When they were developing the second update, [Ethan]'s scenarios had given Ruen Firbas seventy-two possible class changes.

From a mercenary, as she was now, to a hunter, adventurer, or spirit mage—even villains such as thieves and wanted criminals...

Her future class would vary enormously depending on the route she chose.

“Whatever she chooses, she'll play a major role in the second update, but...”

Among them was one particular class.

A class that only she could attain.

Namely...

Queen of the Elves.

* * *

“... Your Majesty?”

Woojin couldn't hide his bewilderment.

“This is the man who protected us from the collectors.”

Before the bowing Goun stood a woman. The elf placed a hand over her chest and dipped her head in greeting.

Woojin stared at her blankly.

'... That's Ruen, isn't it?'

Was it because so much time had passed?

The woman before him looked distinctly mature, unlike the youthful girl he remembered.

'And her hair isn't quite golden anymore. It's a pale lemon color...'

Above all, her aura was different. Even Woojin, who couldn't wield mana, could sense the unfamiliar power emanating from her.

'Ruen has become queen of the elves...'

What on earth had happened?

'That's a surprise in its own right.'

“Please don't strain yourself.”

Several elves supported her. Her face was pale, and she looked seriously unwell.

'Was she never cured... of Mana Vessel Disease?'

“Could you give her this? I don't know if it'll help...”

Woojin took a [Common Potion] he'd obtained from defeating Sig Elric out of his pouch and handed it to Goun.

“Something so precious...”

Goun's eyes widened at the sight of the potion.

'This is precious?'

In this world, gray wolves dropped runes he'd never even seen in the game. Yet a mere common potion, not even a high-grade one, was considered precious...

Woojin couldn't understand it.

“I heard potions have no longer been produced since the Alchemists' Union was wiped out fifty years ago... To think you still had one.”

'So that's why.'

Just because this was the future didn't guarantee that everything from the past still existed. Apparently, something commonplace in the game had become a rarity in this world.

'I'll have to stock up on potions at the marketplace next time.'

Woojin, who hadn't expected to return so abruptly, silently nodded at Goun's words.

“Thank you.”

Cradling the potion Woojin had given her in both hands, Ruen drank it in small sips.

“May I ask what happened?”

His question brought a sudden tension to the air.

'Did I make a mistake? Is it something too sensitive to discuss?'

No. If that were the case, they wouldn't have invited him here in the first place. Goun bringing him here must mean they needed his help.

He couldn't let the atmosphere cow him into backing down. If anything, he needed to press harder.

“Please, tell me.”

At that moment, Ruen's lips parted.