LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 3 Searching for Hidden Peace (2)
Lake Erun is located not far from the beginner's village.
The lake was very small, and there were no monsters at all, so only herbivores grazing peacefully around it were occasionally seen.
“There is something hidden here somewhere...”
Jaeyoung started wandering along the edge of the lake looking for something special. In order to find the oldest traces of darkness that have been mentioned in the books he has read.
However, from the outside, nothing unusual could be found on the shore of the lake. The lake is so small that you can go around it in less than 10 minutes on foot. If something tremendous is hidden in such an unsightly place, it's even more strange that it hasn't been found so far.
“There doesn’t seem to be anything unusual around the lake, so what’s left...”
Jaeyoung, who wandered around the lake carefully for a long time, concluded that there was nothing there and muttered as he looked at the center of the lake where the waves gently swayed.
“Is it in the lake?”
Jaeyoung thought about something for a while, then took a deep breath and threw himself into the lake without hesitation.
Splash - Jae
-young, who threw herself into the water creating a large splash, was taken aback by the scene inside the lake, which was different from what she had imagined.
‘what? Why is it so deep?'
At first glance from the outside, it was so short that it could be called a pond. However, inside it was so deep that it was unfathomable unlike what it looked like on the outside. Jaeyoung continued to dive towards the bottom of the pond where the light could not reach. To find the clue to the quest.
* * *
“What the hell is this? What is the main scenario?”
An emergency meeting called upon notification that the main scenario has been created. At the meeting, which started with everyone unable to hide their embarrassment at the unexpected situation, Kwon Myeong-han, the general manager of the Korean branch of Arcadia, asked.
“The Quest Analysis team is focusing their efforts on checking the situation right now. A quick report on what we've learned so far... It appears that one of the players has touched certain elements related to the main scenario of the game.”
“A specific element? How the hell could a main scenario be triggered by touching something on a continent that hasn’t even been opened for a week?”
The executive director, who had recommended the person in charge's report, asked again with a frown as if he couldn't understand at all. Then the person in charge opened his mouth as if he was embarrassed with a rotten expression.
“That's because we don't have the authority to confirm what kind of element it is... We've requested the Arcadia headquarters to read detailed information.”
main scenario.
Numerous users enjoy various types of play according to their own purposes all over the huge continent of Arcadia. However, the impact of their play is usually so small that it is limited to the town or city where they stay. It was just to deal with the surrounding monsters that harassed the villagers instead or to provide necessary items.
However, if it is judged that the user's play has a huge impact enough to change the entire continent of Arcadia beyond a simple city or country, Alice, who is in charge of Arcadia, regulates the play.
With one content called ‘Main Scenario'.
“...I’m going crazy.”
Executive Director Myung-Han Kwon, who was muttering while rubbing his forehead with his hand as if his head was pounding, pondered for a long time. Until he spoke, the heads of each department in the conference room only looked at each other, but no one spoke.
“First... let's report this matter to the boss. Each department is thoroughly prepared to respond immediately to emergency situations, and for matters that are updated and uploaded to the main scenario, report directly to me immediately. Got it?”
“All right.”
At the direction of the executive director, the department heads nodded their heads in unison and left the conference room in a hurry. The executive director, who was left alone in the empty conference room after everyone had gone out, muttered something absurd as he read the brief report in front of him.
“This is one.... The fact that the main scenario was created from the 4th day of opening. After all, it should be called Korea.....”
Considering that no unusual situation has occurred in the continent where American users play in the situation where the service started for more than 3 months, Koreans are more creative than any other country when it comes to games. He was able to realize once again that the public evaluation that he was famous for his crazy play was true.
“Besides... the ‘forgotten darkness in its infancy'. The title is also true.....”
Looking at the age of 50 now, the title of the scenario created this time is really.....
It was a childish title full of second graders.
* * *
Peaceful Lake Erun. The lake, where no one is looking for and people are rare, usually boasts a smooth and calm surface like a mirror, but today, loud bubbles continue to rise.
“Pooh.”
Jaeyoung rises out of the water and inhales vigorously. He exhaled heavily and looked at the status window that appeared in front of him.
[The skill ‘Dive' has risen to B rank.]
[You can dive deeper for a long time.]
[HP increases
by 1.] It’s filthy hard to rank up.”
It's been 3 days since I started diving in Lake Erun.
All that time was invested in diving, but Jaeyoung still couldn't see the bottom of the lake.
“What kind of lake is this deep? I think I've gone down about 200m, but there's still no bottom?”
Contrary to its appearance, this filthy deep Lake Erun, as if it were a Maria or a trench, was not as easy as Jaeyoung thought. After 3 days of only diving, the rank went up to B beyond creating skills, but the end was still not in sight.
“Should I just give up.... If you give me a reward like a piece of shit after doing this, I'm really losing a lot.”
Others are hunting for one damage, focusing on leveling up, and working hard to take the lead in the early days of the opening. However, Jaeyoung was wasting time diving at that important time. It was an even more important time in his situation, where he had to develop his character to the point where he could afford to pay 920,000 won in monthly capsule installments within six months, not anyone else.
However, Jaeyoung could not easily give up on this quest. This clue hidden in the beginner's quest was easy, but maliciously designed so that most ordinary people have no choice but to skip it.
Ordinary people don't want to know the fictional history that happened in the game. I just thought about breaking the quest and getting the reward, so I just flipped through the book and left. So Jaeyoung could be sure that it was the first clue he found and that it was a hidden quest hidden in the game.
“Besides, even the librarian said that no one had asked about the second volume until now...” Although he
wasn’t sure exactly what quest it was related to yet, Jaeyoung could feel it. The intuition that his natural talent for games keeps sending him that he should never give up.
So, Jaeyoung felt a little nervous thinking about the capsule price of 30 million won, but thinking that he had already come too far to give up, he took a deep breath and went into the lake.
Jaeyoung, who continued to swim down into the blinding darkness, made a promise to himself. If the reward is nothing compared to the hard work, I will one day fill this lake with soil without a trace.
* * *
Silico.
One of the three giants that developed Arcadia and the chairman of the world's leading biopharmaceutical company was none other than 15-year-old Jenica Paul.
After her grandfather, Silicoff Paul, the first president of Silicoff, collapsed from aggravated illness, Jenica literally triumphed over the executives who scrambled to take his place in a bloody conspiracy and secret plan. And after taking the throne of his grandfather, he developed numerous innovative medicines with strong charisma and matching research skills, and his ability was recognized by the public.
However, apart from her ability, people who knew her words and ways of thinking, who grew up rough, would talk behind her back. “The second craziest guy in the world.”
After receiving the report from Korea, she entered the laboratory with a disheveled hair and asked.
“The main scenario was created in Jack Korea. What do you mean by that?”
To Jennica's question, a boy who looked her age in the monitor picture answered with a funny expression.
[A Korean user found a clue to a hidden class that was hidden in the Beginner's Village. As a result of Alice's analysis of the related aftermath, she decided that it was highly likely to lead to the main scenario.]
“When did we put an element that had such a big impact on the beginner's village?”
Zenika opened her eyes narrowly as if she couldn't understand and checked the relevant data, and immediately frowned. And seeing her like that, Jack smiled.
[It was not put in by us, but by ‘that guy'.]
“That bastard...”
Jenica gritting her teeth as if she'd get a fever just thinking about it. She murmured impatiently.
“I really will one day infect that damn bastard with a mutant AIDS virus. Somehow, the other day, he said he wanted to participate in the main scenario, and this kind of modification...”
Zenika carefully checked what elements ‘that guy' made while scrolling down, and then said as if it was absurd.
“A wandering song in the hidden class turmoil? What the hell is this?”
[The guy said it was a job he designed himself. It's a job with a very unique concept, but I think the play will be different depending on who acquires it.]
At Jack's words, she tilted her head as if she didn't understand.
“According to what is stated here, there is no concept of level and no attack ability at all... Can I play this game?”
[There is a special ability instead.]
“Special ability? Wait a minute... such crazy...!”
Jennica read the description at the end of the document and involuntarily spat out curse words. After that, his expression continued to change.
“No, what kind of character direction is this... like a dog. no. If that bastard made it, it's really just right.”
Jack asked with a smile as he looked at Jenica, who mumbled something nonsensical but then nodded as if she understood.
[how will we do it? Are you planning to intervene?]
“I don't like it... but I should let it go. A promise is a promise, even if it's a promise with that bastard.”
Jenika, who got up from her seat with a face full of annoyance, muttered to herself.
“It seems like a job that you can't even play normally unless you're a crazy bastard like that bastard.”
At Jenica's words, Jack smiled strangely and looked down. The image of Jaeyoung, who finally reached the deep bottom of Lake Erun and slowly rummaged through the bottom.
Jack's eyes were shining with anticipation and interest, compared to her muttering all sorts of annoying curses about making a promise to a madman.
[Well... I'm also curious about what kind of play he will show.]
With anticipation for the story that will be written in his world, which will be created and changed by this one player.
As Arcadia's chief developer and creator.