SSG 262
by CristaeEpisode 262
Yuseong moved to the nearest, relatively intact shelter from where he landed.
On the way, he encountered a few monsters and wild beasts, but none of them posed any threat to Yuseong, who had already regained his full strength.
The shelter was of a certain size. It was about as big as the first shelter Yuseong had taken using the purchase window’s map.
‘It’s a bit cramped, but I’ll have to make do.’
To Yuseong, who had already gotten used to the ways of the other world, this size was not especially satisfying.
But since he’d be spending most of his time either logged into Ark or in the other world, he could tolerate a cramped residence in this world.
Above all, Yuseong had never once forgotten his own situation.
‘Complaining about things like this can wait until I fully immigrate to that other world.’
Yuseong decorated the shelter in various ways to make it his new base.
After he finished to his satisfaction, he added the final touch: the virtual reality device.
‘I do have an attachment to the first VR unit, but I couldn’t take that across the sea.’
His base was complete.
After a brief rest, Yuseong logged in to Ark.
Having crossed the Bering Strait, the largest obstacle on the way to Savior, Yuseong thought it would be simple—now he just had to wait for his notoriety to reach the next level.
But reality was not so forgiving.
“You want me to investigate the areas that were hacked?”
[That’s right.]
When he reported having crossed the Bering Strait, Messiah gave formal congratulations and then made that request.
“There’s really no time to rest, huh.”
[Resting is what you’ll do after immigrating to this world.]
Was it Yuseong’s imagination, or did this sound similar to that classic line in this world: “You can sleep after you’re dead”?
[If Ark suffers abnormalities before your notoriety rises, it’s not good for you either, is it?]
“Yeah, that’s true. Fine, I’ll check it out.”
Yuseong immediately set off for the hacked region.
It was within demon territory—a place teleportation wouldn’t reach. He had no choice but to go on foot. The closest town was Protsenhau, so Yuseong started there.
Bang!
-Kieeek!
A monster took a round to the head and toppled over with a thud. Yuseong didn’t even bother picking up its items. Not even those brief moments when a monster’s corpse vanished and a bundle appeared could be wasted.
‘This is tough.’
He had already died five times.
The demon territory was still a place Yuseong couldn’t wander at will.
Even so, Yuseong kept trying. Though he grumbled at Messiah, he understood the necessity of investigating Ark’s hacking.
But recognizing a need and actually wanting to do something were two different things.
“Whew!”
[You sigh a lot.]
“Even if it’s in-game, I still have to investigate something related to that bastard.”
Hades. The green-eyed monster who was currently the biggest threat to Yuseong.
He remembered when he locked eyes with it.
It was only a mere glance, but it had sent chills down his spine. Even Yuseong, who prided himself on his experience, had never felt anything like that.
[But it’s absolutely necessary.]
“I know.”
That’s why he was prowling through demon territory—even dying several times in the process.
Rustle!
Suddenly, something moved in the bushes. In a flash, Yuseong ducked into the undergrowth.
-Grurk!
A monster pushed through the brush.
It was big and muscular, holding a sword that glinted sharply.
Yuseong watched from the bushes. Thankfully, the creature didn’t notice him and soon left.
[Hard to believe this is the top player in Ark.]
‘Shut up.’
The enemy was a monster of a level Yuseong couldn’t handle. Facing it head-on would have been stupid.
Ark’s top player’s pride? If he’d still had something like that, he wouldn’t have survived in that other world at his age.
Yuseong kept moving like that. These days he wiped enemies out with brute force, but he’d spent even more of his life hiding like a bug.
In a way, this sort of sneaking was Yuseong’s true area of expertise.
‘Did I get past the danger zone?’
At some point, the monsters he met started getting weaker.
Monster levels tended to rise the further you moved from a city—and then spike sharply past a certain border. This was to keep under-leveled players from leaving town.
But Yuseong, with maxed-out combat instincts, experience, and Messiah’s support, managed to cross the high-level monster zone.
He had reached the domain of a new city.
‘Now I don’t have to hide anymore.’
The monsters now were well within his ability to handle.
But soon, he ran into a problem far greater than any monster.
“…Hey, Messiah. What is this?”
Blackened trees and crumbling soil. A desolate landscape stretched before his eyes.
Sure, Ark was a fantasy game, and this was demon territory, so a scene like this wasn’t too strange.
The problem was that the scene looked eerily similar to Yuseong’s own world.
Could it just be chance?
[I don’t know. We can’t get accurate data on this area due to the hacking.]
‘Was it always like this?’
[No. It was similar to other places before, not some strange theme zone like this.]
‘Then hacking did this.’
[That’s likely.]
‘Is it you again, Hades?’
To think that bastard would make the in-game scenery identical to that cursed reality. It had already been a sworn enemy for being a monster, but now Yuseong disliked it even more.
At the same time, he felt uneasy. What was the point of turning the game landscape into a copy of the real hell?
‘What is Hades after?’
[I don’t know.]
‘It’s definitely not for anything decent, is it?’
[That, for sure.]
On that, at least, Yuseong and Messiah were in agreement.
Yuseong went a bit deeper in. As he was taking down another blocking monster—
“Huh?”
“Hm?”
He met another player.
Startled by this unexpected encounter, Yuseong stared wide-eyed. The other guy also looked pretty shocked.
“Hey, Willy! What’s going on…!”
A player with a massive hammer also pushed through the brush. He, too, froze when he saw Yuseong.
A moment of silence.
“…This is an awkward way to meet, but let me ask something.”
Yuseong shook his gun.
“Are you picking a fight again?”
Willy shook his head.
“No.”
Mad Hammer, behind him, snorted in irritation.
Yuseong, Willy, Mad Hammer.
The three, who had quite a bit of history—most of it bad—stood awkwardly, looking at each other.
They’d confirmed that nobody wanted a fight, but still couldn’t fully let down their guard.
“…How did you get here?”
Willy spoke first.
“I walked.”
“What kind of bullshit is that?”
“Mad Hammer.”
Willy tried to restrain Mad Hammer, who didn’t stop.
“No, seriously, what kind of nonsense is that.”
He didn’t seem to want a fight either, but unlike Willy, he wasn’t going to be polite to Yuseong.
“You walked here? So you’re telling me you came from another city, passing through those monster-infested zones? Am I wrong?”
“No, you’re exactly right.”
Since it was true, Yuseong answered without hesitation.
“Hah, exactly right? What a load of crap! Does that make any sense?!”
“Hmm.”
Even Willy couldn’t outright deny Mad Hammer’s point. It did sound unbelievable.
“See, you think so too. The guy’s lying. He’s always scheming, so there’s some rotten plot for sure.”
“You have a point, but…if he were really lying, wouldn’t he make it more convincing? He is clever and cunning, after all.”
That was why Willy couldn’t deny Yuseong’s claim.
“Well…”
Even Mad Hammer trailed off, finding some merit in that.
“So you really crossed the high-level monster zone all alone?”
Willy asked again.
“Absolutely.”
“You’re high enough level to take on those monsters solo?”
“No.”
“Then how did you…”
“I hid, crawled, and ran whenever I ran into a monster.”
“……”
“……”
“I’m confident in one thing—hiding like a bug.”
The Yuseong they knew was the embodiment of power and a sinister schemer. No matter the foe, he’d crush them with wisdom or brute force—a towering wall of a man. That he slunk around hiding, like a bug, and even claimed that as a point of pride?
Was he mocking them? But Yuseong looked dead serious.
“…Ah, dammit.”
Mad Hammer scratched the back of his head. Maybe his resolve wavered a little.
“So you just happened to show up here?”
“Yes.”
That wasn’t entirely true, but that’s what he said.
“Then what are you two doing here?”
Willy and Mad Hammer looked at each other. They weren’t sure if they should say, or how much, if at all.
In the end, it was a pointless worry.
“Are you on the quest for demonification, by any chance?”
Willy and Mad Hammer looked completely flustered.
“I thought so.”
“You bastard, how did you know?!”
Mad Hammer exploded again. This time, Willy didn’t try to stop him.
“It was a natural guess. After the last war, there was no news of you or the major revolt forces in C.O.T.S.”
On the contrary, most people wondered where the hell those guys had disappeared to after all that chaos.
“Most people assumed you just quit, but from what I know, you’re not the type.”
“Damn right.”
Mad Hammer nodded.
“So, what’s left? You’re still playing the game somewhere off the radar. Like, say, demon territory.”
“We have cities too, you know.”
“Sure, you could be holed up there. But you’re not now, are you?”
“…This could be our city, for all you know.”
“Then you’d have tried to kill me. This would be your last stronghold—you couldn’t risk being discovered.”
Yuseong shrugged.
“And you don’t seem to be stalling for time to call allies, either.”
“……”
“……”
“Plus, I expected demon race players to show up. And the most likely candidates to side with the demons would be you two.”
“…This bastard, seriously.”
Mad Hammer muttered in exasperation.
“Of course, all this was just speculation until you both reacted like that.”
“Ugh.”
“Hmph!”
Both men made pained noises or coughed, unable to help themselves after being so easily agitated.
‘Shit, like I could expect that bastard to just pop up here.’
In a place where other players absolutely couldn’t be, and of all people, to have Yuseong—the one they dreaded most—show up.
[You’re quite a talented liar.]
‘I got a lot of practice crossing between worlds.’
While Willy and Mad Hammer shuddered at Yuseong’s sharp deductions, Yuseong and Messiah casually chatted about things that would have left those two dumbstruck if they’d heard.