The Limits of Patience (2)
A crowd of reporters swarmed.
"It was really by a hair's breadth. Congratulations on the first clear!"
"You've earned the title of first clear, which no one expected. How do you feel?"
"Was there anything different about this rift compared to the usual ones?"
The Guild Master of Berserker—Leonie—answered curtly.
"No comment."
The reporters flinched at her response.
"...Excuse me? W-What do you mean by that?"
That kind of response wasn't just kicking away a stroke of luck—it was like smashing it with a bat and hurling it over the fence.
The attention this new rift had drawn was enormous.
One word from Leonie could have sent the stock value of the Berserker Guild soaring. Even the prestige of her homeland, Germany, could have risen.
"Don't you know English? I said I have nothing to say."
And yet—"no comment"?
On top of that, her expression was unusual.
Furrowing her brow like an angry Pomeranian, Leonie gave off a visibly irritated aura.
With her acting that way, the reporters had no choice but to back off. They figured they should try getting interviews from others.
"Unnie, I get how you feel but..."
"This is seriously messed up."
"Leader, still, you could've at least sugar-coated it a bit…"
"Ughhh, damn it!!"
Leonie cried out in frustration at her guildmates' remarks.
She was clearly displeased with how things turned out.
Because the truth was—the first clear title wasn't achieved solely through the Berserkers' abilities.
No matter how many times she thought about it, it made no sense.
Leonie asked one of the guild members who had followed her.
"He didn't have any accessories or anything, right?"
"Right. If he had earrings or rings on that suit, we'd have noticed right away."
"Then how the hell was he completely fine?"
The reason Berserker achieved the first clear?
It was all because of that man.
A mysterious man, of unknown class, had drawn the aggro of every single demon.
And what kind of monsters were demons?
They constantly inflicted status effects at every opportunity.
"How the hell did he endure that without any gear?"
Hallucinations, delusions, illusions—without the buffs from priests or gear to bolster your mental resistance, you'd be down in no time.
Yet the man, unarmed and unarmored, took the aggro of hundreds of demons and came out completely unharmed.
"...Damn. Anyway, sorry guys. I was really being an idiot."
Leonie apologized to her guildmates.
If that man hadn't drawn the aggro...
There probably would've been considerable casualties in the guild—because of the reckless charge command she gave.
"Unnie, we're Berserkers. We're crazy."
"Dying on the battlefield—that's our motto, right?"
"Leader, don't try to look cool now. It doesn't suit you."
Still, their words helped her bounce back.
Leonie pulled herself together.
"...By the way, where did he go?"
"He chatted with some reporters after we came out... then just left?"
"...Wait, what? He just left?"
Now that was unexpected.
Leonie had assumed the man would be showing off in front of the press.
After all, this was the guy who had been wearing a full suit and dress shoes in the middle of battle.
With that kind of concept, surely he'd bask in the spotlight.
'Especially since he actually did something worth bragging about...'
"No comment."
Leonie's silence about the first clear was also because of him.
Truthfully, if he hadn't been there, they'd probably still be fighting in the rift.
Out of conscience, she had yielded the spotlight to him.
"...But he just left?"
As her suspicion deepened...
One of the guild members pointed.
"Oh, over there. He was talking to those people, then left."
There stood a group of reporters, their shoulders slumped.
"Sigh. I'm so dead when I get back to my boss."
The camera director sighed heavily.
Tap tap—
Suddenly, someone tapped him on the shoulder.
"?"
He turned—and flinched in shock.
Wait, is that a goddess... no, it's Leonie?!
Didn't she say earlier she wouldn't do interviews?
'I don't know what just happened, but this is perfect! I can get an exclusive with Leonie! Maybe I won't get chewed out after all!'
But in a twist, it was the camera director who got interviewed instead.
Leonie asked in English:
"Nationality."
"Eh? M-Me?"
nods
"Uh... I'm Jongmin Yoon from the Korea VBC News Network."
...Or is it Yoon Jongmin? He wasn't sure how to phrase it in English.
He replied in halting English.
Times like this, he envied players.
Players could communicate freely—because Arcana's characters came with built-in translation abilities.
'Do I need to somehow conduct this interview in English...?'
As Jongmin Yoon fretted—
Leonie turned to leave.
Jongmin panicked.
If he let her go too, he was done for.
He gave it everything he had and called out:
"Please! Just a few words! Please!"
Maybe his desperation got through.
Leonie turned and replied:
"So Gaon's not the only one in Korea, huh?"
"...Huh? What do you mean by that?"
Leonie just shrugged.
The Count Ascura raid had only just begun.
'I don't want to get on that guy's bad side.'
She had a good reason for not doing interviews.
Saying the wrong thing and creating friction could be dangerous.
...Though the way that sounded, it could be taken the wrong way.
'No, wait. It's not like I want to get close to him or anything—'
It's just that with a monster like that, turning him into an enemy was not an option.
So Leonie held her tongue.
"No comment."
At Gaon's base camp.
Steam rising from cup noodles—
[So Gaon's not the only one in Korea, huh?]
Taemin and Cheolmin Nam, the Nam brothers, were watching Leonie's interview.
"What the hell? Is she mocking us or something?"
Nam Taemin was fired up.
After all, it really had been just by a hair.
With Nam Cheolmin joining the party and analyzing the rift, Gaon had rapidly cleared through it.
Unlike Shining, none of their guildmates fell to status effects.
They genuinely thought they had a shot at the first clear.
And then—
"Berserker gets first clear? What the hell?"
They really wanted to hear how they pulled it off.
That's why they'd watched the interview...
"'So Gaon's not the only one in Korea'..."
"That's all she said. Didn't even look happy."
"There's definitely something going on," said Cheolmin, the sharper of the two.
"Seems like... she ran into another Korean player in the rift."
"...What? Who? Could it be one of the Myth guys?"
World Rank 5, Gaon.
World Rank 41, Myth.
The gap between Korea's No.1 and No.2 guilds was clearly widening.
If those words were truly about Myth, then it was enough to make one's head spin.
Nam Cheolmin shook his head.
"No, the Myth side is still working on the rift. They got in late. Took some time dragging along a player they recruited as a mercenary."
"Really? That's a relief—no, wait! Who are you even talking about?"
"That's the thing. I have no idea."
From the way he spoke, it sounded like they encountered a Korean player inside the rift...
Yet he offered no comment on the important part.
But that was from the perspective of Berserker Leonie.
Nam Cheolmin lifted a bite of cup ramen with his chopsticks.
"Now that we're getting this kind of attention... can we really just sit still?"
"True. No way that guy can keep his mouth shut with how much it must be itching."
"Our job's simple. When that player reveals themselves, we offer a good enough deal to bring them over. I think they're well worth the investment."
The Berserker Guild that secured the first clear of the new rift.
A Korean player acknowledged by that guild master.
Nam Taemin added a remark.
"And they're saying it was enough to bring up Gaon?"
Whether it was an individual or a guild—
Clearly, recruiting them as an ally was the best move.
The brothers shared the same thought and resumed eating.
Slurp—
"Man. It's freezing out there, bro."
"Yeah? Try just sitting outside like me. I thought I'd freeze to death."
"No kidding. It's the first time I ever wanted to go home mid-raid just because of the cold! Actually, even now, I'm dying to hop through a portal and get back to Korea!"
...It was too cold to bear.
"Out of the way."
Just like I told the reporters:
"This is the limit of my patience."
I really couldn't take it anymore.
From Russia to Seoul, to the Mage Tower.
The moment I came out of the portal, I headed straight home.
'There's a reason why land prices in Seoul are so high.'
Total travel time: just under 20 minutes.
Thank goodness for the Mage Tower.
It's not like I could warm myself at the basecamp like other players. If I had endured that cold any longer, I might've ended up with frostbite on my toes.
Whoooosh—
A warm shower melted my frozen body.
Honestly, I just wanted to collapse into bed.
But my body didn't listen to my mind.
I opened the fridge, prepped ingredients, and made a meal.
No matter how tired I am, I won't forgive muscle loss, apparently.
Anyway, after eating, I finally felt sane again.
…It was close.
Outskirts of the territory.
That rift made me realize my shortcomings.
It was fine hunting monsters with the efficient use of magic.
But no matter how efficient it was, there was a limit to my mana.
'My mana regeneration was ridiculously low.'
Naturally.
I'm a Demon Hunter, a class with no exceptional traits.
No skills to regenerate mana.
And I didn't own any equipment to support that either.
In the end, I ran out of mana mid-combat.
'If other players hadn't been there, I would've been in real trouble.'
If I knew who they were, I'd at least say thank you.
But it's been 12 years since I played—no way I could recognize anyone.
Still, it reminded me that the world isn't so bad after all.
Thanks to that, I also leveled up:
[Name: Granfell Cloudy Arpheus Romeo][Class: Demon Hunter][Level: 86]
[Stats]Strength: 25 / Agility: 30 / Mana: 31 / Luck: 2[Available Points: 6]
'I can't use it yet, but—'
I also obtained a new loot item:
[Roughly Forged Sabre][Grade: Magic][Requirement: Lv.180][Effect: None][Description: Once a decent weapon, but due to sloppy forging, its edge has dulled instead.]
Still, my lack of ability hasn't changed.
But I have no regrets, either.
『For Granfell, humility was a nonexistent emotion. He met underestimation with proof, and turned overestimation into reality.』
Yes—just to maintain that towering pride.
I had no choice but to suffer voluntarily.
Because that was me.
I checked my quest window:
[Class Quest: Prelude to Counterattack]
Oh final Demon Hunter.
Declare that the time for retaliation has come.
─ Slay demons. (Completed)─ Train your weakened body. (Repeatable) ▼─ Hunt vampires. (In Progress) ▲● Announce the start of the hunt. (Completed)● Instill fear of being hunted. (In Progress)
"Instill fear of being hunted."
That objective was still in progress.
Count Askura.
Guess my performance wasn't enough to make him feel fear.
It made sense, since I recognized my own shortcomings.
And so…
My gaze shifted to the repeatable quest:
─ Train your weakened body. (Repeatable) ▲● 20KM run (In Progress)● 1,000 push-ups (In Progress)● 500 pull-ups (In Progress)● 300 burpees (In Progress)
Time to grind.
And now that the raid on Count Askura's rift had begun—
I had no time to spare.
So I had to multitask.
Train both body and mind at the same time.
And today, I had found the perfect subject for research.
Players swinging weapons among bandits.
But the one who stood out most—
Was a dual-wielding player holding swords in both hands.
I moved my body while replaying her movements in my mind.
『Granfell's talent was not confined to a single domain.』
"But no matter how urgent things are, cleanup comes first."
Clatter—
…Let's start by doing the dishes.
Next Day.
I couldn't help but feel grateful for my annoyingly diligent nature.
A tense anchor's voice flowed from the speaker:
"—Breaking news just in. The collapse rate of the new rifts in Russia has…"