Mythic-grade.
Annihilating Thunder Hunter.
He was a character I made half as a joke, to check whether this bloated game company was really running the game.
Compared to how it started as a prank, I poured a lot of effort into him, but since he was basically a so-called “troller” incarnate, he went around doing every kind of nasty thing across the entire continent.
For example, stealing from named NPCs, or joining a city at war as a mercenary and looting his own side’s supply lines, or robbing priests of the Goddess Church.
‘That much was just cute.’
Yet when no sanctions came down at all, Annihilating Thunder Hunter’s actions grew bolder.
He cut off every resource heading into a city, assassinated the city’s key figures, then froze the warp and triggered a monster wave.
It was recorded as the first monster wave ever caused by a gamer, and in the end an entire city sank into the abyss, but…… again, there were no sanctions.
‘Back then I figured the company had just abandoned the game.’
Why make such a good game and then not advertise it?
I fretted over and over as I watched the steadily shrinking concurrent user count.
……Now that I think about it, it feels like people were being summoned into the game in numbers matching that count, but there was no way the me of that time could have known.
If I had, it would’ve been a horror game all on its own.
I was literally watching people vanish one by one in real time.
Anyway, after that, I couldn’t help but go on a rampage like, “Fine, let’s do this.”
As a result, I couldn’t even log in as Annihilating Thunder Hunter anymore.
……Because there wasn’t a single place on the continent without a bounty on him.
‘It’s been about a year since I last logged in.’
And yet, here is the character I left alone for a year.
Of course, I’d spent a full half of that year playing only Wilhelm to prepare for the great expedition to the Demon Realm, so most of my characters had been neglected for at least half a year anyway.
Those neglected characters were moving around freely.
As if they’d become NPCs.
‘So this is where you hid.’
Kramdel, the city of monsters.
If you hid here, then no matter how desperately they searched across the continent, they’d never find you.
A pretty wise choice.
“Meeting a half-dragon here, caw. Isabella, isn’t it been 150 years, caw?”
“……Yes. It has been 150 years since I last met my kin.”
Maybe because she’d gone through all sorts of things in such a short time.
Now Isabella wasn’t flustered by sudden happenings.
She even had the composure to match my rhythm.
‘She’s grown.’
Isabella, who had been trapped in the desert, was learning about the world.
“150 years?”
Isaac was startled.
One hundred fifty years.
Humans can’t live that long.
And besides, right next to him was me, the Corpse Crow King. With me, a monster, directly testifying, the credibility of the words rose.
If Isabella truly became a half-dragon because of me.
Then Isaac was still a fake, pretending to be a half-dragon.
And this place was Kramdel.
The moment it was discovered he was human, he would die.
Inside Kramdel’s fortress, there was nowhere to run.
I saw panic flicker across Isaac’s eyes.
“Still, it’s strange, caw. I’ve seen cases where humans pretend to be half-dragons, caw?”
“Yes. There were humans who used the weapons of the glorious Celestial Dragons and pretended to be half-dragons.”
“What did you do to those humans, caw?”
“……We killed them all.”
Swoosh!
Isaac sprang up from his seat.
With only a small towel covering his important parts.
Even so, his wings remained, and the reason was simple.
‘He used an equipment transparency potion.’
Since Isabella was using the same thing, I was sure.
With an ‘equipment transparency potion,’ he had hidden the appearance of his gear.
[Michella’s Helm]
[Michella’s Sword]
[Michella’s Armor]
[Lightning Flash Shoes]
[Lightning Guide Ring][Tempest Guide Ring]
[Annihilating Thunder Dokkaebi mystery]
Even so, to my eyes, every piece of gear Isaac wore was clearly visible.
‘The items are the same.’
It looked like the treasure-grade items I’d set up long ago were still intact.
Soon, hesitation settled into Isaac’s eyes.
‘He’s debating whether to run.’
But this was Kramdel.
Even if Isaac had covered himself in treasure-grade items at level 10, once you entered, it was impossible to leave at will.
The moment Medusa’s eyes found him, he’d be turned to stone.
Medusa’s eyes swept over all of Kramdel 24/7, 365 days a year.
There are no warps inside Kramdel, and you can’t use a Teleport Book either.
So, running away was only possible in dreams.
Isaac wouldn’t not know that.
“Ha-ha! A half-dragon of my caliber, seeing kin after so long, I got a bit flustered. You said Isabella, right? I’m Isaac.”
Giving up on running, Isaac laughed heartily and offered his hand.
Isabella just stared blankly at it.
“Something’s off, caw. Shaking hands isn’t a half-dragon greeting, is it, caw?”
“Yes. It’s a human way.”
The instant Isabella answered, the surroundings erupted.
“What, human?”
“He transformed into a human?”
Especially the snow maidens who were with Isaac.
Snow maidens with translucent skin and two horns on their foreheads were among the monsters that hated humans the most. If they learned Isaac was human, they would tear him into hundreds, thousands of pieces.
As suspicious looks continued, Isaac’s laughter began to thin.
“Ha-ha…… sorry. I lost my parents young, so I never learned a proper half-dragon greeting. If you teach me even now, I’ll try to do it exactly.”
His words flowed like water.
As expected, an Annihilating Thunder Conman.
Even the way he said he’d lost his parents carried a long, aching sorrow.
A bitter expression, a self-mocking gesture.
He was the character I’d raised, yet it seemed his old behavioral habits remained exactly.
But when you approach a conman knowing he’s a conman, there’s no easier opponent.
“Just kidding, caw.”
“…….”
“Go on and shake hands, caw.”
“…….”
Isabella took Isaac’s hand.
Isaac was staring at me with foggy eyes.
Whatever, I slowly sank my body into the hot spring.
Honestly, I was curious.
Why evolved monsters clung so hard to Kramdel’s hot spring water.
‘Mm.’
The moment I dipped in, I understood.
<With the low-grade ‘Goddess’s Tears’ effect, your whole body relaxes and stabilizes.>
…It feels incredibly stable.
Like it would be fine to stay in this hot spring forever.
Evolved monsters, made unstable by evolution, could probably regain their calm just by soaking in this water.
That was when it happened.
<The ‘Hand of the Blind Goddess’ begins searching for you.>
Kurooong! Kururung!
“Caw?”
Kwaaaaaaah!
Shuaaaaaaah!
……The hot spring exploded.
***
Because of the suddenly bursting spring, "Sincerity Hot Spring” had no choice but to close for the day.
Taking advantage of that gap, Isaac tried to run, but not a chance in hell.
“Annihilating Thunder Isaac, caw.”
“……You know me?”
Outside, at the mouth of an alley, Isaac froze.
As if he’d never expected to hear that name here.
I shrugged.
“Don’t think about running, caw. The moment you try to flee with ‘Lightning Flash,’ I’ll report you to the Owner of the Gate, caw.”
“……!”
The Owner of the Gate, Medusa.
You can’t escape her.
And even if you got out of Kramdel, you’d die.
Because those hunting Isaac wouldn’t just let him go.
“So you approached me on purpose from the start. Then are you both humans?”
“I’m a Star Bearer, caw.”
“Star Bearer? A guide of stars?”
I nodded.
It wouldn’t be a day or two since Isaac had entered Kramdel.
And since that habit of his wouldn’t go anywhere, he’d be extremely well-versed in Kramdel’s affairs.
“Do you know the rumor about the thirty-third star that occurred here, caw?”
“……I do, but.”
That was when.
<‘Medusa’s’ eyes are sweeping the area.>
Medusa was looking this way.
Because the spring exploded?
‘Looks like only I can see it.’
Since neither Isaac nor Isabella reacted, it seemed only I could perceive Medusa’s gaze.
If we said or did anything that drew suspicion, Medusa would carve a curse.
Especially with a sensitive subject, she’d watch even more closely.
We needed to move.
Oblivious Isaac opened his mouth.
“That star is…….”
“Caw! What’s this sudden mess, caw! We should go to another hot spring, caw!”
“……?”
Isaac blinked in confusion.
I immediately walked out, grabbed Isaac, and started moving.
“W-what are you doing?”
“Shouldn’t half-dragons reminisce together, caw! You come with us too, caw!”
***
I needed to learn more about the star.
The words that the Hand of the Blind Goddess was searching for me.
And the hot spring containing Goddess’s Tears.
Everything felt related to the thirty-third star.
“Here is……?”
Dragged along, Isaac looked around.
A plain underground storage room.
But there was no safer place in Kramdel than here.
“Medusa was watching near the hot springs, caw.”
“……!”
Isaac’s eyes twitched.
If we’d kept talking there, what would’ve happened afterward was horrifying to imagine.
“How did you notice Medusa’s eyes?”
But there is no being that can sense Medusa’s gaze.
At least among the monsters he knew.
“For a Star Bearer, nothing is impossible, caw.”
“……Ridiculous. Then is this place safe?”
“It’s a place Medusa’s eyes can’t examine, caw.”
“In Kramdel there’s a place you can hide from Medusa’s eyes?”
Isaac asked in genuine shock.
Not only here. There were a few places her eyes couldn’t reach.
But there was no reason to tell him that.
“Talk about the star, caw.”
“Why should I?”
Isaac, now back to his senses, was getting prickly.
Even so, Isaac was Sun Wukong on Buddha’s palm.
“I know where the ‘appearance transformation potion’ is, caw.”
“……You think I’d want something like that?”
“Don’t you want to roam the continent freely, caw?”
Just like Isabella, Isaac would have desires too.
Isabella wanted to lift the Queen’s Curse and leave the desert.
Likewise, Isaac would want true freedom.
The common point was that both of their lives were constrained by my playstyle.
As if my guess was right, a subtle change began to form on Isaac’s face.
“...It has to be a top-tier appearance transformation potion.”
A top-tier appearance transformation potion.
A potion that changes not just your appearance, but even the name carved into your soul.
Just changing your looks wasn’t enough to avoid trackers.
Observation-type skills, and methods to track precisely via names and looks, or via evidence, were overflowing in Pangaenia.
The only way to evade all of that completely was a top-tier appearance transformation potion.
The moment you use it, it’s like being born anew.
But that’s how hard it is to get. No, getting it is basically impossible.
Because the ingredients are insane.
‘Wish Orb, Scales of Valhalla, Giant’s Finger…….’
Each one a top-tier treasure.
It’s like they’re saying, “Don’t make it.”
But I know where the continent’s only top-tier appearance transformation potion is.
“Of course it’s that. Want to trade, caw?”
“Why would I trade just because you say so? You could be lying.”
“Whether you believe me or not is your choice, caw.”
“...Nice to meet you. Let’s not bump into each other even by accident.”
That was his immediate answer. Isaac turned to leave.
I slowly opened my mouth.
“The ‘Mining City’ was a place that needed to disappear, caw.”
“……!!!”
Isaac stopped.
Rough ripples surged in his eyes as he turned back. As if he’d never imagined I would know that too.
“If I’d left it alone, more people would’ve been kidnapped and died in the mines, caw.”
“I don’t know where you heard that, but don’t act like you know.”
“The corrupt priests of the Goddess Church, the city lords who forced wars to fill their own pockets…… weren’t they all acting for their own reasons, caw.”
“…….”
Isaac’s eyes wavered.
Annihilating Thunder Hunter had been an outlaw with principles.
At least early on.
Not that he didn’t commit evil, but he had his own rules for it.
He later went berserk, but there was no need to bring that up.
“Serve me for one year, caw. After that, I’ll find you true freedom, caw.”
“Serve? Ha, I don’t move without payment.”
“Then here’s an advance, caw.”
I pulled an item from my pocket.
Seeing what I handed over, Isaac’s whole body trembled slightly.
“……A Great Cataclysm Talisman?”
“If you’re lucky, an option like ‘Complete Transformation’ might come out, caw.”
Great Cataclysm Talisman!
One bought from the Golden Rule shop.
A talisman that randomly changes all options, and with a brutally tiny chance, it could roll the ‘Complete Transformation’ option.
It’s brutally hard to get, but for me, I could just buy another from the Golden Rule shop.
Pulling Isaac to my side was the priority.
When I casually handed over something so brutal, Isaac asked with suspicious eyes.
“Why give me a Great Cataclysm Talisman? What about me do you trust?”
“I trust everything about you, caw.”
Since he was a character I raised, if I didn’t trust him, that was a contradiction.
Isaac stared into my eyes.
‘What the hell is this guy?’
He couldn’t understand the situation.
A feeling like I knew everything about him.
But a mere Corpse Crow King, even if a Star Bearer, knowing all that was impossible.
‘A very low probability, so low it’s practically near zero, but…….’
Isaac looked down at the Great Cataclysm Talisman in his hand.
Tiny, but this talisman was possibility.
The hope he’d searched for so long.
“……Damn it. You’re a guy I can’t make sense of. Fine. As long as we’re in Kramdel, I’ll help.”
That alone was enough motivation to get Isaac moving.
He didn’t even ask the details. Whatever it was, he’d help for now.
Isaac was a strong one, level 10, covered head to toe in treasure-grade items.
If he helped, my future schedule would speed up too, so this investment wasn’t a waste at all.
***
Rumors about the thirty-third star began when the star guardians visited Kramdel.
Already more than ten star guardians had gathered here in Kramdel, and I’d also heard they were investigating the hot spring water.
It seemed deeply related to Dramut’s appearance as well.
‘I need to find mystery first.’
So we needed to set priorities.
There were lots of things I wanted to know, but the most urgent was mystery.
《You have satisfied the entry conditions for the ‘Mystery Hall’.》
《In the ‘Mystery Hall’ you can obtain special mystery.》
《Main Quest 5: ‘Obtain mystery’ has begun.》
《This quest ends the moment you obtain your first mystery.》
《Reward: Scaled payout depending on the mystery obtained.》
《TIP: You can also purchase mystery from the city’s mystics.》
Mystery Hall.
That is the name of the gigantic tower located here in Kramdel.
True to its name, nothing is known about it. Among gamers, there was zero related information.
‘Only non-human races can enter the Mystery Hall.’
Since humans couldn’t even meet the entry requirements, that was natural.
In the first place, Kramdel was an untouched city for humans. Even among gamers, Kramdel was spoken of like a legend.
A tower built there would be even more obscure.
‘There are the strongest mysteries you can only get in the Mystery Hall.’
Only I knew that the kinds of mysteries called the strongest could be obtained from this Mystery Hall.
It couldn’t be helped.
You barely get the qualification by transforming into a half-dragon using the Michella set.
Among the set, the difficulty of obtaining Michella’s Sword is brutal.
And there are even fewer humans willing to risk their lives to enter Kramdel.
Only someone like Wilhelm would even think of coming in.
‘When I played as Wilhelm, I didn’t know you could only get one mystery.’
But even with Wilhelm, I couldn’t obtain the strongest mystery.
Because of another hidden damn condition.
That you can obtain only one mystery from the Mystery Hall.
If I’d known that condition, I would’ve gotten a better mystery, obviously.
It was a mistake born from too little information.
I just took the first mystery I was given.
‘So later I beat the ground and regretted it.’
I climbed the Mystery Hall again and again, but I couldn’t obtain another mystery.
Like having a bowl of delicious seolleongtang in front of you and not being able to eat it.
Even now, thinking about it makes my teeth grind.
‘That won’t happen anymore.’
Once was enough.
I would never repeat the same mistake.
With that firm resolve, I stepped into the Mystery Hall.
《Entering the ‘Mystery Hall’.》
《Hidden Tip: Depending on racial score, the state of the hall you enter may differ. Humans are excluded.》
《The races of confirmed entrants are Emptiness (10), Giant(10), Druid(10), Heavenly(20), Corpse Crow(5).》
《Racial score 55 points. You have achieved the tower’s hidden final condition.》
《A ‘Hidden Quest’ has arrived from the Owner of the Hall.》
《Hidden Quest: Clear the ‘Mythic Mystery Hall’.》
《Will you accept the challenge?》
《If you do not accept, this quest will disappear and you will enter the normal Mystery Hall.》
‘Hidden Quest?’
Seeing content I’d never seen in my life, I couldn’t help but freeze.
Was there a condition like this?
The names set as my races also felt strangely familiar.
It seemed all related hidden traits had been applied.
‘Mythic.’
If I had to choose the single most important thing that came to mind, it would, without question, be the Mystery Hall named mythic.
Every quest tied to myth is of unimaginable difficulty.
A name you can’t dare to cross, a name you can’t dare to look at.
……But there was no need to hesitate.
《Entering the ‘Mythic Mystery Hall’.》
This adventure here was the light of my life, the fire of my body, my very soul!
《Achievement ‘Adventurer Who Challenges Myth’ has been completed.》
《All Constellations of the Pantheon begin to watch you.》