"...This is the cave from yesterday."
Looking around, it was right. I felt the soft straw my body was on and recalled the vivid feeling just now. It wasn"t a dream? I wished it was a dream. Then I could"ve shaken off this heavy burden on my shoulder. However, my mind and my memories were clear. Then a message window appeared in front of me.
[The Star Coffee House is gone.]
s.h.i.+t, it wasn"t a dream. I felt strange because the coffee house that was like an actual coffee house had disappeared. Then another message came up.
[A gift from Prometheus has arrived.]
A gift? What was this? I opened the gift box straight away. At this moment...
"Kuaaack!"
Huge sparks splashed above my head and my entire body was trembling. My eyes rolled as a tremendous amount of memories flashed through my head. W-What was this? My brain seemed like it was going to burst. A great amount of memories entered my mind and I couldn"t hold on as I sank to my knees.
It wasn"t until 30 minutes later that I could barely shudder. My entire body was covered with sweat.
[Prometheus" memory upload has been completed.]
"P-Pant..."
[Apostle Skill: Keen Insight has been enhanced.]
[Apostle Skill: Insight has been enhanced.]
It was a good thing that the skills were strengthened but I could feel better. It was due to the mysterious memories pa.s.sing through my mind like a panorama.
"What the h.e.l.l is this?"
Unknown knowledge and letters hovered in his mind, bright and clear. They obviously weren"t my memories. These were Prometheus" memories. I didn"t know how many years he had lived. Then flames swirled and Solar appeared. it seemed to be Prometheus based on the blue eyes. Yet how did this happen? I didn"t even summon...
"Old man, you"ve struggled."
"You. What is this?"
I glared at him like I could kill him.
He told me, "Relax. This is a gift."
"Is there such a gift?"
"Haha. You seem very angry."
"You b.a.s.t.a.r.d."
Prometheus smiled with Solar"s face before he opened his mouth, "I"m sorry but this was one of Gaia"s requests."
I stared at him and grabbed my chest. "Sigh, do you have any more gifts?"
"No, there are no more."
I checked the skill window and saw that the usage time of Keen Insight was increased to 10 minutes. Then I opened the information window for Insight.
[Insight (Active)]
[Rating: Legend
Magic Power Consumption: 10. Cooldown Time: None.
You can see through the essence of a subject.]
...I thought it became worse. I glanced at the instructions and frowned. What exactly did it mean to see through the essence? Well, I would know eventually. Soon, Solar was gone.
[The first apostle, "Prometheus," is smiling with satisfaction.]
This jerk...
I remembered his smiling face and was furious. I quickly shook my head and stepped out of the cave. Gorba was waving in the distance. "Chwiik, I hope you slept well Brother."
"Yes, it is thanks to you."
In fact, I didn"t sleep well.
"Kulalala! No. By the way, when are we going down to Windia? I have already gathered the orcs. Chwiik!"
Ah. Come to think of it, we were supposed to go down to Windia today...
The sooner this was finished, the better. I told Gorba, "Let"s go now."
"I understand. I will bring the orcs."
The giant orc chieftain, Gorba gathered his men together. Their loyalty to him seemed great when I saw the orcs moving at a single word from him. I rode on Gorba"s shoulder. A chief was a chief. His height was ridiculously tall. He was twice as tall as the orc warriors. Well, he should be at least this strong if he was to be the leader here. I was curious about this guy"s stats.
"Insight."
[Insight Information]
[Name: Gorba Level: 200
Affiliation: Chief of The Blue Tooth Tribe
Strength: 170 (+0) Agility: 230 (+0)
Fitness: 320 (+0) Knowledge: 80 (+0)
Skills:
-Steel Skin (Heroic)
-Survival Instinct (Heroic)
Weaknesses: Vulnerable to magic attacks.
*He is interested in you.
-Current goodwill: 50% (can be recruited as a companion at 100%)]
Um? There were no question marks? All the previous question marks were gone. It was probably because the skill had just been enhanced. I felt numb when I saw Gorba"s stats. I couldn"t believe I had fought this guy. I clicked my tongue when I saw Steel Skin and Survival Instinct. This was why he didn"t die even when I hit him. Steel Skin was a pa.s.sive skin that alleviated 80% of physical damage while Survival Instinct was a skill that recovered 10% of health and increased his survival ability once his health fell below 50%.
This was when Gorba shouted, "Depart!"
"Whoo! Whoo!"
The orcs raised their weapons and beat on their chest like they were cavemen. It was the first time I had seen this but it gave me a familiar feeling for some reason. This was all due to Prometheus" memories. My head throbbed again. "Kuek..."
In my mind, memories of the orcs appeared. It was their habits and what happened in the past. They were those who took part in the Ragnarok War 500 years ago. Despite my headache, I looked ahead. The backs of the moving orcs were quite manly. Wait, this wasn"t the way to Windia...?
"Shouldn"t we be going out that way?"
I pointed to the door I first entered through. Gorba glanced over and laughed. "Chwik, that"s the back door. It is a place we don"t go out of often because of the spiders. We will go through the front door proudly."
I remembered it at first glance. There was a huge door made of a large tree and decorated with skulls. At that time, I had to quickly complete the map and leave so I didn"t think much about the door.
We descended the mountain.
"This is the east gate."
I could see the shattered walls in the distance. This was the collapsed east gate. It was the place where the market used to be... it made me a bit sad to see it look like this. Gorba muttered, "We made it like that..."
"It wasn"t your fault, Gorba."
"I know that but I still feel strange. I knew what this place was like but..."
He seemed to be feeling guilty. However, it couldn"t be helped. It didn"t change the fact that he had destroyed this place, even if he had lost his sense of reason. Perhaps Gorba would suffer from the guilt until he died. I couldn"t give him any comfort.
"Let"s go."
Gorba moved without speaking and it was the same for the other orcs. We were slowly approaching the devastated east gate when my super sensitivity was triggered.
"This...?"
There were people and they were also users. Why were so many of them gathered? I scanned them with my enhanced vision. Based on the situation, they were likely the ones who rushed over to save Windia. I was wondering why they were still them when I remembered something.
"Grandfather, one day in Arcstar is six hours in real life."
This was what Jeongdo had told me. Come to think of it, only 12 hours had pa.s.sed since I came here. Perhaps this might be a bit troublesome. The users were watching me and the orcs approaching. I could hear the users yelling. "Orcs! The orcs really came!"
"What is the camera team doing? Go and shoot it!"
"Who is that person?"
"A person is riding on the orcs!
"Really? Where?"
...d.a.m.n. I thought it would be like this. I quickly wore a mask because people were running to film me. Something like a crystal ball was hovering in the air and anyone could tell based on the context that it was a camera.
"If I knew this, I would"ve met the lord first using the return stone."
However, the water had already been spilled. All the users were looking at me and some were taking photos. I sighed and noticed the knights running in the distance. I could see a familiar face in the lead.
"Don"t let people come near!"
"Yes, Captain!"
Fortunately, Kerenos" quick response prevented people from coming closer. Before I knew it, we reached the east gate and I came down from Gorba"s shoulder. Kerenos approached. "You have worked hard."
"What hard work? Didn"t I tell you not to leak my story?"
"Of course."
"My name and ident.i.ty shouldn"t be known. Once again, it is a nuisance. Do I have to say it twice?"
Kerenos smiled. "I will instruct the guards to set up a boundary that is as hard as iron."
"Yes. By the way... why are you speaking in honorifics?"
"It is the order of the lord."
"This useless thing... tsk tsk."
I shook my head as I clicked my tongue.
Then Gorba opened his mouth, "What should we do, Brother?"
All the users around me were stunned.
"What? Brother?"
"An orc is calling him brother now?"
"How did he get an orc chieftain to call him brother?"
"Hey! Is the camera shooting this?"
"Yes! I know! It is broadcasting live!"
...d.a.m.n. It was a live broadcast. Many questions echoed around me. Their expressions were filled with surprise but I didn"t look at them. "All of you should wait here."
"I understand. Chwiiik."
I opened a portal using the return stone. The surroundings erupted once again.
"Return stone?"
"How expensive is it?"
"Who the h.e.l.l is this person?"
Tsk tsk. Pathetic. I shook my head as I entered the portal and a familiar landscape emerged. I arrived at the entrance of the lord"s castle.
"Have you been well, Ralph?"
"Hah! Did you come to see the lord?"
He suddenly raised his hand to salute me. I habitually returned the greeting but I felt awkward from his att.i.tude.
"It is an honor to see the hero who saved Windia!"
...Ralph knew. However, it would be strange if he didn"t know when he was a soldier. Maybe the rumor had already spread among the soldiers. I showed him my access card.
"You are the hero of Windia and don"t need the pa.s.s to enter and exit. The lord is inside so please enter."
This meant there was no meaning in getting the access card...
"Kuek. Thank you."
After a while, I could meet the lord.
"Once again, thank you so much, Jackson."
"No need. I just did what I had to."
"You really don"t want to be my knight?"
"Yes, that"s correct."
Edward looked slightly upset at my resolute words. I returned the pendant as he was looking sulky. Edward looked at the pendant for a moment before returning it to me. "Jackson, I want you to take this."
"Huh? This is your father"s keepsake..."
"That"s why you should have it even more. It is for Windia. My father would"ve done this if he was still alive."
Had I been thinking of him as too young? I watched Edward, who had a deeper mind than expected, and was immersed in many thoughts. Perhaps he had grown up too early.
"...I understand."
I talked to him for five more minutes. I asked him to send an architect who could help reconstruct the buildings at the east gate and Edward readily agreed. I was also asked to repair the east gate, which was a fairly difficult quest. After that, I headed back to the east gate. Then...
"It"s that person!"
"...They"re really tenacious," I muttered.
The players who seemed to be from broadcast stations came running with the camerlike crystal b.a.l.l.s in the air. They turned on the camera flash and stuck out items that were like microphones.
"You are a user, right? What"s your cla.s.s?"
"What is your relations.h.i.+p with the orc chieftain?"
"What is your name? Please take off your mask!"
The quick knights rushed to stop them but the flashes continued to burst out. I was a bit annoyed by the endless barrage of questions.
...It was blinding. These d.a.m.n b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. Thus, my first broadcast debut started with a hot topic.