Light of Arad: Forerunner

Chapter 13

There were many famous NPCs, but if one had to pick an NPC that particularly stuck in the memories of *Dungeon & Fighter* players, Lenny was someone who would be mentioned with a fairly high probability.

Lenny fiddled with her beret, which seemed like it might slip off, and said,

“Commander Van Balschut of the Empire is tarnishing his reputation by cooperating with adventurers like you! How could you be so slow in your work? Hey, you there, hurry up and say something too!”

Even though her sharp voice alone was enough to draw attention, the reason Jinseong was surprised wasn’t because of that.

No matter how much he tried to recall, all he could do was shake his head.

‘Lenny here? Well, sure, she does accompany you briefly during the Sky Castle quest, but this isn’t the place.’

He didn’t remember every line of the quest, but if he had figured out when and where Lenny accompanied him, it was natural that Jinseong’s gaze would narrow.

‘This… This isn’t how the original scenario is supposed to go.’

Lenny never followed Seria and the player to the Moonlight Tavern.

In the end, this was a deviation from the correct flow.

‘How does this look to the female Fighter player, anyway? I probably just seem like an ordinary user standing in the Moonlight Tavern. But Lenny—’

Unless there was some special interaction, Jinseong’s ‘actions’ or ‘attitude’ wouldn’t be visible to the player, as he had already confirmed in Elvenguard.

He had even tried raising his arms in celebration, but the player gave no reaction.

So what about Lenny?

‘……Judged as not having entered the Moonlight Tavern? Maybe because she’s just ‘leaning against the door,’ it doesn’t count as full involvement? A new player might not notice, but if it’s a player leveling an alternate character, they would quickly pick up on something strange.’

Either way, Jinseong himself had no way of knowing.

Not unless he could peek at the player’s monitor screen.

In any case, if there had been an issue, the player would have logged out immediately and contacted Neople’s customer service.

“I have a somewhat special magic stone.”

The player hadn’t noticed anything strange, and the scenario was progressing.

If Shusia was taking something out and handing it to Seria, the scenario was proceeding as intended, so there was no visible problem for the player.

‘What Seria is holding is a fragment of the Grand Magic Circle obtained in Sky Castle. To purify it, Shusia must use that magic stone…. Yes, if that’s the case, then probably—’

At that moment, Jinseong tried to gauge how far along the quest had progressed.

Crunch-!

With the sound of the magic stone breaking, Seria hurriedly bowed her head.

“Oh! I’m sorry, the magic stone….”

“It’s alright, the magic stone can be replaced. But look, you did it! The crystal has been purified and restored to its original form.”

Shusia’s comforting and encouraging words to Seria were understandable to Jinseong.

“If we’re done here, let’s get moving! The Commander is waiting!”

However, Lenny’s line, urging them to hurry, was just as baffling as ever.

Jinseong glanced at them, trying to predict what would happen next.

‘Now we meet Iris? Anyway, I’m sure of one thing: there’s something wrong with the Grand Magic Circle, and we’ll head up to Sky Castle…. We’ll meet Zieg Hart there. But Zieg Hart doesn’t die. He’s still being supplied with magical power from the floating fortress…. Huh?’

As Jinseong reviewed the general flow of the scenario quest in his mind, something struck him.

Fundamentally, how did the story in the ‘Sky Castle’ area proceed?

There was the inexplicable contamination of the Grand Magic Circle created by Grand Magician Meyer, the assumption that it was affected by something similar to a transfer phenomenon, and the purification through Seria.

During this time, discussions about confirming the existence of Apostle Bakal or the reality of the Celestial Realm would take place, but fundamentally, the player’s task was to confirm the Grand Magic Circle at the topmost level of Sky Castle and restore it to its original state, moving together with Seria.

By the time Jinseong recalled all this, his mind had naturally filtered out everything else.

He focused on just two words.

‘Contamination… and purification.’

Jinseong now watched Seria, the female Fighter player, and Lenny as they moved out of the Moonlight Tavern.

And he realized.

‘This time, it’s something I have to do. I don’t know where or how things went wrong, but…’

If the *Main Scenario Quest* of *Dungeon & Fighter* was being shaken by the .

If someone was trying to disrupt the flow and block the path to becoming a ‘true adventurer’—the ‘blade’ that could possess Arad—by refining it.

Then he had to stop it.

As the hammer that would temper the blade.

“Then, right away—”

Jinseong hastily stood up and tried to follow them.

But someone blocked his path….

“Leaving without paying, customer~?”

“Huh?”

“You need to pay. Just because you drank a glass of milk doesn’t mean it’s free.”

“Oh, right, payment, um, how much is it?”

Jinseong hurriedly rummaged through his pocket.

Linus had given him a total of 3,000 gold as travel money.

Although he hadn’t needed to spend any of it so far, as he was free from basic physical needs, now it was unavoidable.

‘Tsk, I used to have billions of gold in each account, and now I have to worry about this… Wait a minute.’

As Jinseong counted his gold, something occurred to him.

“Lady Shusia, you sell other items here, right?”

“Of course. We’re primarily a tavern, but… this is the back alley.”

Listening to Shusia’s cryptic reply, Jinseong nodded.

He only had 3,000 gold.

If it wasn’t enough to buy proper armor anyway?

“Heh, may I see the list of items for sale?”

It was only natural for Jinseong to purchase the item that would be most beneficial to him.

* * *

Jinseong ran.

It wasn’t to track down the female Fighter player who had brought Lenny to the Moonlight Tavern.

He couldn’t predict who had been contaminated or what incident would occur, but at least he could guess ‘where’ it would happen.

‘Even if I follow that player, there’s a limit to what I can do. Just from the combination of the words contamination and purification, there’s a very high chance that something will go wrong in Sky Castle. So what I need to do right now is—’

He needed to meet the conditions to enter Sky Castle.

This was not something Jinseong didn’t know how to do.

‘The only NPC who can issue the pass to enter Sky Castle is Roger Levin.’

Recalling his time as a player, controlling the ‘character adventurer,’ Jinseong naturally knew the next steps.

Unfortunately for Jinseong, even though he knew where to find the NPC Roger Levin, it would take time.

Roger Levin was in West Coast, a trading hub city east of Hendon Myre, the capital of the Duchy of Bell Meyer, and there was also an entrance to Sky Castle there.

‘Urgh, West Coast is supposed to be a simple one-click map transfer!’

In other words, as Jinseong had become a real person in Arad, he had to run until he was drenched in sweat to reach West Coast.

The silver lining was that it wasn’t too far, as West Coast was right next to Hendon Myre.

More importantly, Jinseong’s body was on a different level from that of a regular person.

It didn’t take long for Jinseong to leave the bustling capital, crowded with people.

‘As expected, I can’t use the convenience functions provided by the system.’

Jinseong didn’t waste his travel time.

He was identifying the similarities and differences between controlling a character in *Dungeon & Fighter* and being a real person in Arad, as they seemed to share the same rules and situations.

‘I can’t use a portal to move to Seria’s Room or anything like that. No Auction House, no Cera Shop, no minimap… Well, I didn’t expect it to work, but it’s still a bit disappointing.’

All the convenience features accessible in the game by pressing ESC, like the encyclopedia, adventure mode, guilds, avatar market, and so on, were naturally off-limits to Jinseong.

‘What did I expect? If those were usable, the male Ranger user I met wouldn’t have lived that way.’

While it might be understandable that he couldn’t use the features designed for in-game convenience, there was another disappointing aspect for Jinseong.

The information he could access through [My Info] was severely limited.

‘All I can see is my Fame? It would be nice if I could check my critical rate or something. Same for HP and MP….’

The only thing he could see was his adventurer Fame.

Moreover, to Jinseong’s eyes, even this Fame was absurdly low, so much so that he wondered if it was even possible in theory.

‘Given the state of my equipment, I suppose it can’t be helped. Worn-out Ring Mail? Training Saber? These are literally the items automatically equipped when you create a character at level 1 and never use again. If it weren’t for Yaiba, I’d be in big trouble….’

The five basic armor

pieces and one weapon he had were each worth 1 Fame.

In other words, if things were normal, the total Fame of all the items Jinseong could equip would only be 6.

In this situation, the presence of Yaiba, a weapon that alone increased his adventurer Fame by 12, was incredibly reassuring and reliable.

Even before he could truly feel the difference in attack power, the difference in adventurer Fame alone was a comfort to Jinseong.

‘……Until I reach the Grand Magician’s Dimensional Corridor, um… No, I shouldn’t look too far ahead. For now, I should tackle what’s right in front of me, step by step, one thing at a time.’

If he had to reach an adventurer Fame of 38,095 to meet Nemer whenever he wanted.

In a situation where negative thoughts nearly overwhelmed him, Jinseong shook his head.

He didn’t need to be overly optimistic, but he should stay realistic and as positive as possible.

How many successful raids had he led with the ‘Training Engineering Team’ that seemed impossible?

‘Yes, at least [Inventory]… It’s convenient, like a three-dimensional pouch I can access whenever I want, and I can see the performance of items clearly! If it weren’t for this, when I pick up an item later—would I have had to carry it all over, hanging it on my back and holding it under my arms?’

Although there were more inconveniences compared to when he enjoyed *Dungeon & Fighter*, this was reality, and such things were naturally part of the experience.

It might be better to be grateful that there were some aspects of in-game convenience that Jinseong could utilize in reality.

“Phew… I made it.”

After running for some time, Jinseong finally arrived at West Coast.

The strong scent of the sea, something he couldn’t sense when controlling a character, filled the air, making it clear that this was distinctly different from Hendon Myre.

Of course, there was no time to enjoy such leisure.

Jinseong immediately moved toward the bustling area of West Coast.

‘Roger Levin is a merchant NPC. According to the setting, he’s based in West Coast, Duchy of Bell Meyer, but travels to various countries, so if I head toward the largest commercial district—’

Then he heard it.

A voice that was particularly loud while wandering around West Coast.

“Hey, fancy gentleman! I’ve got a tempting offer for you. Care to listen?”

“Joan Ferrero!”

“Hm? Someone who knows me—”

Recognizing the owner of the voice, Jinseong immediately ran toward it.

However, he simply passed by without engaging, as if he had no interest in interacting with the person.

‘Alright, I’m almost there. Next to Joan Ferrero… I see it, the Golden Carriage!’

A golden carriage pulled by a completely mechanical horse.

It was practically a symbol of NPC Roger Levin, and seeing it made Jinseong’s lips twitch, though they didn’t form a full smile.

“Huh…? Roger Levin?”

It was because Roger Levin wasn’t in front of the golden carriage, nor the much larger mechanical horse.

Jinseong looked around and muttered.

It was the woman near the golden carriage who responded to Jinseong.

“Mr. Roger is busy these days. He won’t be coming to West Coast for a while.”

“……Daphne.”

“Do you know me?”

Daphne, Roger Levin’s assistant and aide, who had taken many players’ emblems and gold, was tilting her head as she looked at him.

Jinseong waved his hand while still scanning the surroundings.

“Oh, no, I don’t really know you, it’s just….”

Daphne was also an interactive NPC.

In other words, if there were players around here, what Jinseong said might be fully exposed to them.

Jinseong, slightly anxious and not wanting to draw attention, didn’t have much time to waste.

“Excuse me, Lady Daphne. Is it possible to get a pass to enter Sky Castle? I do have some valuable items with me. Though it’s not a Platinum Emblem….”

The female Fighter player was likely progressing through the quest even as Jinseong spoke. If the ‘timing’ wasn’t right, he wouldn’t be able to fulfill his role as the hammer.

“Sorry, but Mr. Roger handles all the investments in people personally. I don’t have the authority to do that.”

Hearing Daphne’s firm refusal, Jinseong had to think.

How would he fulfill his role as the hammer in the future?

If he couldn’t get the pass from Roger Levin, there was only one option left.

‘I’ll have to sneak… into Sky Castle.’

At West Coast, even if you craned your neck, you couldn’t see the end of the towering Sky Castle, reaching up to the Grand Magic Circle in the sky.