Light of Arad: Forerunner

Chapter 19

Reni stood near the expected crash site.

If the airship were to crash as it was, she would be caught in the massive impact.

If it were merely a shockwave from an explosion, she could handle it with potions or other means, but if by any chance she were to be flung outside the sky castle, which had no railings…

What awaited was a free fall to the distant ground below.

“Reni!? Move, run!”

Jinseong shouted with force, despite fumbling.

If there was any silver lining, it was that the distance between Jinseong and Reni was slightly closer than the distance between Jinseong and the player at the topmost level.

Of course, his voice must not be heard by the player.

He had to be careful not to let his own chat suddenly appear in the player’s ‘chat window.’

“Reni, Reni!”

Jinseong urgently called Reni a few more times but had to stop soon after.

Reni must have heard his voice.

“Ah, ah…?”

She had heard him but couldn’t react, as she was instinctively paralyzed with fear, unable to comprehend the situation. Her large eyes, wide with terror, were clearly visible to Jinseong.

The airship, which had been just a dot falling from Behemoth, had grown rapidly as it approached the sky castle.

Jinseong, seeing Reni still standing frozen in place, glanced again at the falling airship.

How long would it take? It would be at most a matter of minutes.

At this rate, Reni would die.

And Jinseong, well, any Dungeon & Fighter player knew that.

Reni wouldn’t die here.

‘Should I jump down now to save Reni…? No, no.’

But at most, he had 60 seconds. Could he save Reni in that time?

It might be possible, given his current physical condition.

As a Dark Knight, he could acrobatically descend one or two levels within 60 seconds to save Reni.

The problem was that simply preventing Reni from dying wasn’t the only concern.

‘I need to… make that airship… the Dornier, crash in front of the player’s eyes!’

Simply put, Jinseong had only one task.

He had to tilt the rapidly descending airship, “Dornier,” to a gentler angle so that it would crash near the topmost level of the sky castle, preferably near the player party, the “Adventurers.”

In doing so, he could save both those on board the airship and Reni, who was near the predicted crash site, ensuring that the main scenario quest continued on its original course.

‘Damn it!’

The question was whether Jinseong could actually do such a thing.

What methods were available to move a large object falling at high speed?

Countless thoughts flashed through Jinseong’s mind.

‘I don’t have the skills. If I were a Mage, I could use something like the …’

Could he do what another class could do?

What good would that be?

As a Dark Knight?

Stop something falling from the sky?

‘I don’t even have a holding skill!’

There was a skill that could temporarily stop a target.

Jinseong hadn’t learned it because of his lack of ‘level,’ and even if he had learned it, it was a close-range skill that could only be activated by striking with a weapon. If he could solve these two issues, he would have done it already.

Jinseong had instinctively and subconsciously come to these conclusions in his mind.

“Ugh, come on, come on!”

He was already rummaging through his [Inventory].

Since he had bombs like firebombs and thunderbombs, if he could harness their explosive power, he might be able to alter the airship’s trajectory.

‘But in the worst-case scenario, if the timing is off by just a second or two…’

There was a possibility he could make the situation worse.

The airship could get engulfed in flames, or he could destroy the remaining power source, causing it to plummet vertically.

In that case, he might save Reni, but those aboard the airship would surely die.

‘…No, that would be the end. So, please! Come on! Hurry!’

The main scenario quest would no longer progress properly.

**** would end in failure.

* * *

A man wearing glasses was munching on snacks while staring at the monitor.

The screen showed the game Dungeon & Fighter in ‘window mode,’ but it was clear from his expression that the game wasn’t his main focus.

The dialogue windows of the main scenario quest, which could be skipped by pressing the space bar, waited for his input, but he didn’t seem to be in any hurry, preoccupied with another internet window.

“Is there any nice *Yggdrasil avatar* look-up?”

He was browsing various avatars that his character could wear.

After scrolling through a few, he finally remembered that he had a game quest in progress and refocused on the game.

“Oh, right. I finished the sky castle.”

Given that Dungeon & Fighter encouraged multi-character play, it wasn’t unusual for some players to repeat quests multiple times, while others, like this man, rushed through them.

‘I already know the story anyway. The airship crashes next, and then… huh?’

The man haphazardly tapped the space bar, skipping the NPCs’ dialogue, when he suddenly furrowed his brow.

Although this was a scenario he had experienced several times while leveling up multiple characters, something felt different from his memory.

“Wait… was there always… that effect?”

He thought he saw some effect bursting in midair.

To be specific, it wasn’t a fire or anything, but a force that looked like transparent wind, something like the aftermath of an explosion, happening repeatedly near the airship?

‘…It should have just flown over and crashed, just like that… I think.’

Seeing the airship’s trajectory accompanied by these additional effects, he tilted his head.

It felt like some artificial force had been applied.

However, even as he thought this, the man shook his head.

‘What nonsense. It’s probably just a graphics glitch… Or maybe it was always like that.’

Could such a thing even exist?

He let out a small laugh at his own absurdity and finished off the snacks he was eating.

“Playing so many characters makes you see all kinds of things.”

As the crunching sounds of his snack echoed, his monitor displayed the ongoing dialogues of various NPCs.

[Whoa, what was that? Something flew over and crashed!]

[Could this… be another of Bakal’s spells?]

He quickly skipped over the startled remarks of Ban and Aganzo, moving on to Sharan’s reaction.

[It’s not magic, that’s…-.]

The man quickly tapped the space bar again.

As a result, he missed something.

[-An airship?]

He didn’t notice that Sharan’s image changed subtly between the moment she guessed it wasn’t magic and when she mentioned the airship.

He also missed Sharan’s expression as she subtly observed the lower parts of the sky castle.

* * *

Bombs were out of the question.

At the same time, the force needed to alter the airship’s trajectory had to be substantial.

Such an item generally didn’t exist.

That is, if this weren’t the world of the game, Dungeon & Fighter.

‘Found it—yes!’

Jinseong, rummaging through his [Inventory], pulled out something with a clatter and set it down on the ground.

At first glance, it looked like a tropical fruit.

It was green, thick enough to require both hands to hold, and was made up of grape-like clusters, though each cluster was the size of a tangerine, and the fruit was slightly larger than a coconut.

‘Phew, I just need to hit the target. The effect will activate upon impact…’

Jinseong gripped the items in both hands.

If a user had only recently started playing Dungeon & Fighter, they probably wouldn’t recognize this item even if they saw it.

But for a long-time player, someone who had enjoyed the game in the past, it was not only a well-known item but also one infamous for the episodes it caused due to its usage.

‘Here goes—!’

With a silent shout in his mind, Jinseong began hurling them wildly.

Even if a few fruit-like objects hit, it wouldn’t alter the airship’s trajectory.

But what exactly was the item Jinseong was hurling, and continuously throwing, as fast as his hands could grab them?

You could deduce it from the official description in the game, Dungeon & Fighter.

[It doesn’t hurt when it explodes, but it’s a strange fruit that sends you rolling far away. Be careful, it works on party members too.]

In other words,

Jinseong was throwing the that he had purchased from Shusia at the Moonlight Tavern, an item that could push both allies and enemies without causing any damage when it landed near the target.

‘Each of these costs 60 gold!’

Now that Jinseong had become a Dark Knight, his physical strength was no longer ordinary.

Throwing the fruit with his hands and shoulders, he had more than enough strength to hit the front lower part of the falling airship.

────, ────, ────, ────!

How many times did the explode in succession?

While some flew off into the void, most of the dozens of fruits Jinseong had thrown hit the small airship, Dornier, several times on its intended target.

Whooooosh─────…!!!!

“It’s… done.”

Jinseong

saw it.

Finally, the airship Dornier, having corrected its course, raised its nose towards the upper part of the sky castle, aiming higher than where Jinseong himself stood.

And something fluttered, falling from the airship Dornier, just before it crashed into the sky castle.

He didn’t even need to think about what it was.

‘…A card! Damn it!’

Jinseong ran to the edge of the external staircase, which had no railings, and barely managed to catch the card that was fluttering in the wind toward the sky castle.

[The Dornier (Contaminated)]

As soon as he confirmed the words written on the card he grabbed, a loud explosion sounded above his head.

“Whoa, what was that? Something flew over and crashed!”

“Is this… another of Bakal’s spells?”

At the same time, Ban and Aganzo’s voices were heard.

Jinseong panted heavily.

Was this enough?

Was it over?

‘Anyway… for the player Adventurer… from that user’s perspective…’

The main scenario quest should proceed without any issues.

However, Jinseong himself couldn’t say that everything was exactly right.

“…”

“…Ah.”

Unconsciously, Jinseong turned his head toward the direction of the intense gaze he felt.

Standing frozen on the spiral staircase below him, staring blankly, was none other than Reni.

Reni, with eyes wide as a rabbit’s, trembling, was trying to make sense of the situation. Jinseong locked eyes with the lower-ranked knight with red hair and found himself at a loss for words.

What could he even say?

Reni, too, seemed at a loss for words, unsure of what to say to Jinseong.

The only thing left in the now quiet sky castle was the commotion at the topmost level.

“It’s not magic, that’s… an airship?”

After hearing Sharan’s voice, seemingly suspicious of something ‘below,’ a new voice finally reached Jinseong.

“Ah, here—. You are… Please, help us…”

It was a plea for help from someone who had been aboard the airship.

The moment he heard that voice, Jinseong lost all strength in his legs and collapsed.

“You’ve lost consciousness. The wounds aren’t too severe, but you seem very exhausted.”

Seria spoke to the person who had been aboard the airship.

But it was Jinseong who nodded.

‘Yes… I’m so, so tired… exhausted to death.’

In the midst of the chaos, there was one clear thought in his mind: relief.

Relief that the dungeon area: sky castle had ended safely and that the next scenario would proceed without any issues.

Leaning against the outer wall of the sky castle, Jinseong let out a sigh.

It was a sigh of relief, literally drawn from deep within his lungs.

“Oof.”

Even as he sighed, he had to squint his eyes because of the golden light that poured down on him.

Though the situation was still absurd, Jinseong felt a subtle sense of happiness at the reaction.

‘Even from this… I’m gaining levels. I’m different from regular players.’

It was typical of Jinseong to compare his reality with the game Dungeon & Fighter and reflect on it like this.

Jinseong opened [My Info].

His level was exactly 23, and his Adventurer fame was still 17.

It was a ridiculous ending, but at least one thing was clear.

There would be no more ‘contamination’ in the dungeon area: sky castle.

‘At least not for a while. And…’

Aside from his growth, it was certain that he had gained a lot from completing this .

“Hey, you! Are you okay—?”

He could tell just by looking at Reni, who was now running toward him.