Light of Arad: Forerunner

Chapter 42

The road to the temporary camp of Alpreira was already bustling.

This was because the defensive forces dispatched from the Duchy of Bell Meyer were on the move.

‘Well, at least the camp itself should be fine. The Black Elf forces would still be gathered in the capital of the Kingdom of Pennes, “Underfoot”…’

Jinseong knew that things hadn’t escalated to the point where the forces would clash with each other.

That’s why his expression was somewhat tense.

‘If corruption breaks out there, it’s going to be a headache.’

This time, they hadn’t yet figured out whose quest, or which part of it, had been corrupted.

When it came to the conflict between the Duchy of Bell Meyer and the Kingdom of Pennes, the role the players—known as ‘Adventurers’—would play could be broadly divided into two parts.

‘One part is the Dragon Spirazzi. It gradually breaks its seal and then—bam!—when it awakens, the undead rise, and all hell breaks loose. That elven hero… what was his name? He rides a unicorn and wields a spear… Anyway, he awakens too.’

The reason Jinseong had already predicted that there would be no involvement of corruption in the part related to Spirazzi was simple.

He knew the nature of the Dragon Spirazzi.

‘There’s no need to do anything special. Just the fact that Spirazzi awakens and exists in that place exerts influence. Something like the Elven hero not awakening due to corruption can’t happen. Spirazzi will awaken with the mere influence of the seal being partially broken.’

Spirazzi didn’t need to plan or scheme anything.

Its presence alone was enough to spread the aura of the Dragon, and if things got worse, they would only get worse; the situation could never shrink.

‘Besides, the probability of things getting worse is low. If it had gotten that bad, the Black Elves would have noticed by now and taken action. Spirazzi can only operate within a specific balance—affecting the area enough to not be noticed by the Black Elves of the Kingdom of Pennes but still exerting some influence.’

The chances of a problem arising, in other words, the likelihood of corruption occurring, were slim.

As such, Jinseong had been targeting the second part from the beginning.

‘The Black Plague’s Diregie. More precisely, Diregie’s specter. Could there be a problem in that area? But even there, it won’t easily break out. After all, the Grim Seekers are involved.’

Due to the aura of Spirazzi, the dead, the corpses, would rise again.

And the minds of those corpses would rapidly deteriorate. This was because of the plague’s aura emitted by Diregie’s specter.

‘It’s hard even to get close to Diregie. It’s not just about bacteria or viruses; it’s something that erodes the mind itself. In a way, it’s even more intense and dangerous than Luke’s or Ozma’s . Even if the actual power of the entity is weak, the negative influence it exerts on its surroundings is unmatched.’

This was something even the main storyline of *Dungeon & Fighter* hinted at.

And for Jinseong, who not only knew the in-game story but also the broader lore and background, it was something that kept him on edge.

‘Based on the information I got from Lotus, the likelihood that Diregie is the is low. But…’

Diregie was undoubtedly the most dangerous entity if it went rampant.

And the fact that all of this was caused by a mere specter, not even the true body of Apostle Diregie, made it even more important to remain cautious.

As the number of humans dwindled and the figures of Black Elves began to appear more frequently, Jinseong knew.

Among the Black Elves, there was one with particularly sharp ears.

Someone who cautiously watched the humans with a solemn expression, yet drew closer to them than any other Black Elf from the Kingdom of Pennes.

‘Klonter. So this is the Alpreira camp.’

The NPC Klonter.

Jinseong quietly approached him and said, “Hello, I’m Jinseong, dispatched from the Mage Guild of the Duchy of Bell Meyer. You are Klonter of the Kingdom of Pennes, correct?”

“…How do you know who I am?”

With a tone more wary than surprised, Klonter spoke. Jinseong responded.

“Guildmaster Sharan of the Mage Guild of Bell Meyer informed me.”

The confidence in his voice came from the fact that he wasn’t lying.

As a member of the Emergency Response Committee of the Mage Guild, Jinseong lowered his voice and spoke.

Klonter had no choice but to look shocked.

“Lady Sharan?! It hasn’t even been a few days since Knight Robato and the Adventurer arrived from the Duchy. How did Lady Sharan manage to send someone so quickly—”

“As you likely know, given you’re from the Kingdom of Pennes, Lady Sharan has a remarkable eye, not just for magical talent but for the bigger picture.”

Jinseong spoke nonchalantly.

For those who knew Sharan’s position during her time in the Kingdom of Pennes, no further explanation was needed.

“Well, yes, that’s true… But still… Lady Sharan…”

Watching Klonter mutter to himself, Jinseong cleared his throat.

Perhaps because he wasn’t used to playing a serious role, his tone felt awkward.

“Indeed. So, I wanted to ask… Where are Knight Robato and the Adventurer now?”

Though his manner of speaking was stiff, Klonter quickly pointed somewhere.

“They’re at Shallow Keep. They’ve gone to investigate the place where my friend Morgan lost contact during his research… It’s been a while since they left, though…”

He trailed off.

But that was enough of a clue for Jinseong.

One of the dungeons in the Alpreira region: *Shallow Keep*.

Morgan, who had become the dungeon’s ‘boss monster’.

This was still the early part of the current scenario.

‘The Adventurer, or rather, the player, has been here for a few days now in “real-time”. Morgan must already be infected and done for. The real quest will begin once they bring back his research journal…’

Jinseong had already calculated everything in his mind.

The task at hand was simple.

“I, too, will head to Shallow Keep. I’m sure nothing will happen to Sir Robato and the Adventurer, but as a member of the Mage Guild’s Emergency Response Committee, I must check personally.”

Jinseong himself would also enter the Shallow Keep dungeon.

“Understood. If Lady Sharan sent you, then… Please, go ahead. I will inform the Black Elves.”

“Thank you.”

Thanks to Klonter’s instructions, the Black Elves from the Kingdom of Pennes did not interfere with Jinseong’s movements, and he easily made his way into the dungeon area.

Of course, he had no intention of observing the players or getting too close to Morgan.

The only reason he entered Shallow Keep was simple.

It was to clearly sense the changes within himself.

—

In addition, Jinseong had one more objective—a small hope that perhaps there would be some items left behind that the player hadn’t picked up.

But maybe because he wasn’t moving with the player…

‘Either they took everything, or it disappeared with time. Or…’

Since it wasn’t considered the same dungeon instance, perhaps Jinseong couldn’t even see those items himself.

Whatever the case, the lack of loot left him slightly disappointed.

“Even though, unlike the players, I can directly obtain things from the monsters’ corpses…”

Jinseong knew there were things he could do that the players couldn’t, things only he, being bound to Arad, could accomplish.

Despite this, there was only one reason Jinseong felt a bit down.

Rumble, rumble…

The ground started shaking, cracking in various places.

“Groan, urgh.”

“Waaaagh…”

“Yeah, the problem with undead like this is that there’s nothing valuable left to loot.”

Since the Shallow Keep dungeon was a place where undead monsters like ghouls appeared, Jinseong had already anticipated that there would be little to gain from the corpses.

‘At least they give experience points—take this!’

“Gaaah!”

A ‘Skull Thrower’ among the monsters hurled a bone it had picked up from the ground.

Jinseong saw the incoming skull flying at a fairly high speed and blocked it with his shoulder.

Thud! With a dull sound, he felt a considerable impact.

Jinseong’s expression briefly twisted, but he nodded instead.

‘Shoulder check. The Steel Series armor is no longer effective.’

He had intentionally taken the hit on his armor to confirm that his old level-5 Adventurer gear no longer provided sufficient protection.

Since the Skull Thrower’s attack had landed, a ghoul approached Jinseong and slashed its arm toward him.

These weren’t just ordinary rotting corpses.

Struck by a corpse warped and twisted by Diregie’s influence, the impact couldn’t be good.

“Graaargh!”

“Hup!”

Jinseong lightly raised his left arm and blocked the ghoul’s claws.

As the ghoul’s nails collided with Jinseong’s wrist, there was a faint *ping* sound.

“Graah?”

Seeing the ghoul’s confused reaction, Jinseong’s lips curled into a smile.

Jinseong had conducted numerous experiments on monsters, known as ‘trash mobs’, testing the equipment he wore and figuring out techniques unique to himself, different from the effects regular players

experienced.

“. Normally, it raises magical defense.”

He had discovered a new approach.

Though the accessory’s effect was supposed to enhance magical defense, Jinseong’s outward appearance remained unchanged.

Even though the bracelet was equipped on his arm, no titanium armlet was visible on his wrist.

‘But it’s working. Just because I can’t see it doesn’t mean it isn’t there. When I struck down Lotus, the fact that I felt a flutter in the wind wasn’t just my imagination.’

There was no hindrance to his movements.

There was no visible change.

But that item clearly existed, surrounding Jinseong’s body!

“Graaaa…”

“Graawr!”

Just this alone gave Jinseong more flexibility in his item choices.

‘I’ll secure physical defense by maximizing my movement…’

By prioritizing better options with a focus on magical defense and skills, Jinseong found he could also prevent unexpected hits.

‘And if I block those potential hits!’

The reason he mainly equipped cloth-based gear like the , , and , items left behind by the Female Archer User in the *Behemoth* dungeon, was precisely because of this.

“Take this! !”

Splat!

With a single, powerful dark-attribute slash, Jinseong swiftly cut through both the ghoul and the Skull Thrower.

Thanks to his current armor’s special properties, which increased the skill level by two, had now become powerful enough to dispatch ‘trash mobs’ in one blow.

“Graaaa!”

Additionally, items like the , which had a level 40 requirement but was worn due to the reducing the level by 10, boosted Jinseong’s total HP, HP recovery rate, skill attack power, and damage considerably compared to his earlier days.

‘The difference is clear even in numerical terms… But just looking at my fame score alone shows it.’

When Jinseong first entered the Sky Castle, his Adventurer Fame was at 6.

Now, compared to back then?

His fame had increased by 443 just from equipping new items.

“Grroan.”

“And when I add you…”

The boost from the creature was 315.

Although Jinseong complained that its only value was its cuteness, the pet was priced at around 7 million gold among players for a reason.

In total, with both the item and creature effects combined, the Fame of level-31 Jinseong had reached an impressive 758!

“Graaagh!”

“Graaargh!”

Watching the ghouls still rushing at him, Jinseong shook his head.

“They don’t even bother looking behind them, huh?”

“Graa?”

The weapon Jinseong was currently using was a unique-grade one, .

Not only did it affect his attack power, stats, and skill cooldowns, but it also had an additional effect.

Adventurer Fame: 63

.

.

2% chance to summon Lotus’s leg upon attack.

From where Jinseong had felled the monsters, a wriggling tentacle suddenly rose up.

The reddish tentacle was intimidating enough to overwhelm any undead corpses nearby.

Shwaaash—!

And it carried considerable strength.

As the resurrected corpses were crushed again by the tentacle, a golden radiance poured down on Jinseong’s body.

“Level 32… Okay.”

With his already tenfold strength boost due to his Fame, the monsters within Shallow Keep would serve merely as good experience fodder for Jinseong.

‘Just three more levels to go until I learn new skills.’

With that small goal in mind, Jinseong began to run rampant through the dungeon.