Time to enjoy a cup of tea.
This would either take a long time or a short time.
I had too much going on.
Its hard to maintain formality, really.
I had overlooked it.
Grandfels love for tea time!
Drinking terrible tea mixed in was impossible in Grandfels dictionary. I had no choice but to drink a cup of tea brewed with snowflowers and burning sunflowers one by one.
And then the pain began.
[The effect of the elixir, Eternal Snow Flower is activated.]
[Ice attribute affinity increases significantly.]
[Ice magic power increases significantly.]
[Status abnormality, chill occur.]
I was prepared, but it was more than I imagined.
The cold wind of Siberia?
The fierce cold of Hokkaido?
This was a level of chill that couldnt be compared to that.
If I had to compare it with something, I would have to mention Senios ice magic.
It was enough to make me reconsider.Findd new 𝒔tories on nov/e(l)bin(.)com
Shiver.
But I spoke brazenly.
The cold is nice.
Bullshit, someone is freezing here!
I couldnt just freeze to death like this.
I immediately steeped the scorching sunflower leaves and sipped it.
And I regretted it once more.
[The effect of the elixir, Scorching Sunflower, is activated.]
[Fire attribute affinity increases significantly.]
[Fire magic power increases significantly.]
[Status abnormality, high fever occurs.]
It was perfect in my mind.
Was it different in practice?
I really felt like my body was going to break apart from the pain.
Clink
If it had been more extreme, I would have just lost consciousness and dropped the teacup on the floor.
It was a side effect that I couldnt overcome even with formality.
I realized that I really had done something crazy.
But I didnt survive because I was strong.
I was strong to be able to survive.
In the end, I endured it and opened my eyes, so it was enough.
I made such a fuss, that was unlike me.
At this moment, I couldnt be happier with this big mouth.
By the way, I realized it once again.
The effect of [Blessing of the first World Tree]!
[The blessing of the first World Tree rejects chills.]
[The blessing of the first World Tree rejects high fever]
Chills and high fever were also of their own nature.
If it wasnt for the blessing of the World Tree.
Before I could even get to the scorching sunflower.
I would have been stuffed into a museum as the worlds first human being to freeze to death while drinking tea with a teacup in my mouth
The warm buff wasnt enough to stop it.
The same was true even after drinking both elixirs.
Yes, it was true that the effect was neutralized.
The problem was that it was neutralized in my body!
[The blessing of the first World Tree rejects internal injury.]
I felt like I saw an eerie message in my hazy consciousness.
Anyway, I didnt welcome Grandfels bluffing for no reason.
[The effect of the title, Transcendent is activated.]
A message floated below.
Thump
And most of all, I welcomed this heartbeat.
I thought a lot about what I should check first.
I raised my mana first.
The mana that flowed out surrounded the broken teacup.
Anyway, I cant stand seeing this mess.
Crack
I manifested reversal magic.
The teacup, which fell to the floor and shattered, regained its original appearance.
But, wait a minute.
It looked similar, but it seemed different from before?
It looked more expensive but I didnt know how it happened.
Reversal magic was literally just a reversal.
I just put it back to its original state.
I didnt even add anything to the interference process.
This was like a change that happened if the [aesthetic] stat was activated.
There was only one thing I could guess.
Its the effect of the circle.
The elder mage, Yugwid, had said.
There were ten times difference between the power of magic before and after forming a circle. I thought she was just talking about the power, but that didnt seem to be the case.
Then, its versatility is no joke.
I was amazed once again.
Its not at the level transcendent for nothing.
All right, lets check the exact effect.
I soon opened the title in the status window.
I confirmed the unlocked effect of [Transcendent].
[Transcendent: Your transcendent state is enough for you to be called a transcendent]
Somehow it felt familiar right from the first sentence.
I wondered where I had seen it.
It had the same tone as [Noble], didnt it?
[Noble: Noble One, the Arcana Continent remembers you.]
Could it be that, like Noble, I had to experience the effect by encountering it directly? I was worried. But that wasnt the case. The effect of the title of transcendent was not that short.
[Transcendent: Your transcendent state is enough for you to be called a transcendent. Current achievements reached: Circle (1,000% increase in all magic manifestations) / None / None / None]
The fact that it wasnt short was a problem.
Current achievements reached? Its not just the circle?
Well, it was natural that there were many different states.
The Arcana classes alone were countless.
Sword and circle.
I had reached the states of swordsmanship and mana.
But checking it with my own eyes was different from knowing it from the system.
It meant a lot to me, to Grandfel.
Indeed, my path was the right one.
My path.
As many holes as possible.
I dug so many wells.
It wasnt in vain.
With Grandfels personality, even if it was just to fill the blank space.
I would never be lazy.
Now, I couldnt use tricks under the excuse of efficiency anymore.
It was me who was dying because of Grandfels words!
Lee Hoyeols life is really unlucky and harsh.
But I had no intention of whining again.
As you can see, the effect of the achievement was great.
I continued.
Its definitely difficult to call it an achievement just yet.
Thanks to going between the crossroads of life and death.
No, thanks to just dying once.
Although I skipped the intermediate process, I passed the examination.
It would be difficult to call it the level of a transcendent yet.
Even Harkon had a clearer sword aura than I did.
I have to be at Shegwins level at least.
How many elixirs I would have to take in the future No, how much effort did it take to reach that point? I couldnt even guess it now.
I spoke calmly.
However, a sword without pride is weightless.
Yeah, it was truly comforting.
Being confident is great, Grandfel.
Anyway, I checked the last message that appeared.
Since I had confirmed the effect of the transcendent.
I thought there wouldnt be any more surprises.
You seem to overlook a lot of things these days, Hoyeol.
[Youve acquired Transcendents unique skill, Social Gathering of Time and Space.]
It had a title.
It had a tremendous effect.
It set specific goals.
Now, it even had its own unique skill.
It was too generous.
So I was starting to doubt it.
I checked the unique skill with full of doubt.
Then I opened my mouth.
I dont believe in coincidences.
Really, I spoke shamelessly.
Rather than waiting for a coincidence, I will move forward.
*
AAU South Korea Branch.
Click clack!
Yoon Sookyum continuously tapped the keyboard.
Sung Hyunjoon, who was watching, sneaked in.
He put a coffee on his seniors desk.
When there was still no response, Sung Hyunjoon grabbed a passerby and whispered.
Do you know what is going on with Yoon sunbae?
Oh, Hyunjun, you took a leave of absence, didnt you?
Yes, I returned today The atmosphere is different from usual.
Lee Hoyeol had taken a leave of absence.
That was an excellent excuse for office workers.
Sung Hyunjoon also followed Hoyeol and used up his overdue leave of absence.
He tried all sorts of things during his few days off.
Wait, this posture seems to be wrong.
He followed Hoyeols hobby of tending the flower garden by watering the flower pots, and he even got slapped in the back by his mother who asked him how he could water a cactus like that.
He returned to AAU with so many things to talk about.
Yoon Sookyum had been in that state since morning.
He was so focused that it felt awkward to talk to him.
It seems he got contacted for the first time in a long time.
He got contacted? By whom?
By his teammates from Cosmo.
Oh!
As interests between countries became intertwined, AAU had fewer exchanges between branches.
However, with the launch of the Yusra branch, exchanges between each branch became active like in the early days of the Cataclysm.
Me and Sookyum too. Everyone cant help but get busy. Everyone must have felt indebted. To our Yusra branchs general manager.
Yusra branchs general manager.
It was Hoyeols position at AAU.
I thought something might come out if we gathered the information that was scattered due to the cut-off of AAU. Even if that didnt happen, our team also obtained some useful information. Well, its about the dragon
Dragon?!
No. Ill tell you this later when I make certain of it.
Ah
Anyway, Hyunjoon, work hard.
Saying that, the man passed by Sung Hyunjoon.
Ah, yes! Good luck, sunbaenim!
Sung Hyunjoon sat quietly.
He waited for Yoon Sookyum to take his hands off the keyboard.
And an hour later.
Clack!
When the opportunity finally came, he quickly opened his mouth.
Sunbae, heres a coffee next to you!
Coffee? Ah, thank you.
By the way, what kind of meeting did you have?
Sparkle.
Yoon Sookyum laughed at the look in Sung Hyunjoons eyes.
Its not as great as youd expect.
Is it a secret?
No, its not a secret, its really nothing.
Yoon Sookyum pointed his finger at the monitor.
Blink
The text being written caught his eye.
A sigh came out of Sung Hyunjoons mouth.
Wow, why didnt I think of this?!
Ultra-high level player content.
That was the fate of all game developers.
It reminded him of his time at Cosmo.
Its the still same now, but every Thursday was a war, wasnt it?
Yes, there was an uproar because the weekly updates were nothing special.
We really had to grind our bones. In particular, the tenacity of our Korean gamers is truly How could they wrap up content that would take at least a month to complete in just one day?
Back when Arcana was just a game.
The speed at which players consumed content was truly beyond imagination.
Thanks to this, they recorded any ideas for ultra-high-level content during meetings. That was why Yoon Sookyum contacted team members from each branch.
Are you looking for those ideas then?
Yes, I thought it would be worth digging.
Youre right, sunbae. The demon kings and dragons. It was all content that was still in the planning stage. It appeared in the rupture as if it had existed from the beginning.
Likewise, the ultra-high-level content that remained only in ideas might already exist in the Arcana Continent.
The reason we need that information right now.
At that moment, Sung Hyunjoons eyes widened.
Thats right, Ill deliver it to General Manager Lee Hoyeol.
I dont know about other players, but It might definitely be helpful to the General Manager! No, dont you think he might already know everything?
Either way, Im going to try to scrape together as much as I can for now.
As expected, it wasnt the atmosphere to talk about getting hit in the back after watering a cactus.
Moreover, Sung Hyunjoon still had more questions to ask.
Sunbae, can I ask you one last question?
What is it? I was bored because there was no one to talk to, so Ill listen to you.
Yes.
Creak
Sung Hyunjoon continued, dragging a chair.
So, among the ideas youve collected, what information would be most helpful to the General Manager? The deep city you were typing just now? Or, the Hundred Thousand Caves in the Zero Mountains?
Lets see.
Yoon Sookyum stroked his chin.
Its all important, but that kind of content wont help right now, right? No matter what it is, the information will be delivered only when the rupture related to it appears.
In that regard, if it existed.
And if Hoyeol met the conditions.
The content that could be useful right now was.
Its probably [Stagnant Water[1]The word Stagnant Water here is also slang in the gaming community referring to people who played a game for so long that they become an expert at it. Community].
*
It was more luxurious than Yusras Golden Palace.
A space with a more unrealistic structure than the Mage Tower.
At least on the Arcana Continent, such a place didnt exist.
Yes, this was the Social Gathering Time and Space.
In the language of the other world, it was the [Stagnant Water Community].
Only transcendents were allowed to enter.
It was a space of consciousness.
A social gathering place allowed only to a very few people.
?
It had been a long time since they felt an unfamiliar presence there.
Everyone turned their attention to the place where the presence was felt.
Sword Saint Shegwin did the same.
Soon, the presence grew closer and closer.
With an unmistakable clear sound.
Tap tap
1. The word Stagnant Water here is also slang in the gaming community referring to people who played a game for so long that they become an expert at it.