NoveLight ™
0.
As Seong stepped out of the capsule, the place he headed to, along with his older sister Yu Mina, was none other than the tax office.
It wasn’t for any tax issues, but for business registration.
These days, many gamers were registering as business owners due to Eternal World.
Seong was one of them.
Since he was about to receive a large signing bonus and salary from the Rapid Guild, it was common practice to register as a business owner before receiving the contract payment.
Otherwise, he'd have to pay a massive amount in taxes.
As the number of gamers increased and guilds rapidly multiplied, registering as a business didn’t take long at all.
“Hm.”
Seong glanced at his business registration certificate, looking slightly puzzled.
He never imagined he'd be registering as a business owner.
It was a career path he had never considered, but so what?
The age of making money through gaming had arrived.
And in the gaming world, his talent—or rather, his ability—was highly effective.
It would be a waste to not take advantage of it.
Seong carefully placed his business registration certificate into an envelope, along with the business bank account issued by the bank.
Meanwhile, his sister Yu Mina was busily making calls.
At home, she was quite a fool, but in situations like this, she was reliable.
“Okay, got it.”
Yu Mina ended the call briskly.
Seong, curious, looked at her.
Who was she talking to?
It didn’t take long before Seong found out.
Ding-!
A smartphone notification sounded, followed by an alarm.
Reacting instinctively, Seong checked his phone.
The notification informed him that a deposit had been made into the newly issued account.
And then—
[XX Bank Business Account - 2,000,000,000 KRW has been deposited.]
The amount was staggering, even though Seong already knew it was coming.
At this moment, Seong couldn’t maintain his usual calm demeanor.
His pupils trembled, and his mouth hung open.
How many people would receive 2 billion won at the age of 22?
Though it was an advance, additional bonuses were also coming.
He even had a salary of 500 million left.
As his level and evaluation increased, performance bonuses would follow.
On top of that, there was a 10% royalty on tickets.
‘C-Can I really accept this?’
He had been shocked when reading the contract, but now that the money had actually been deposited, he felt a little nervous.
“Hehe! Don’t be so nervous. Just keep doing what you’ve been doing.”
“Yeah, I know, but it’s still hard to believe right now.”
“Hehehe. Now you finally realize how amazing I am. Hehehe.”
Seong felt a sense of calm as he watched his sister, Yu Mina, laughing foolishly.
To think this was the 9th ranked player in the world.
Actually, since she was likely to rise in the rankings soon, he figured it should be 8th now.
Regardless, seeing his sister like that relaxed him a bit.
As long as he stuck to what he was doing, it seemed like things would go smoothly.
Seong’s in-game goal was to follow in the footsteps of Helena and Hindel.
He just had to keep going as he was.
Feeling somewhat relieved, Seong’s sister, Yu Mina, asked him:
“So, since we’re already out, should we grab some food before heading back? Mom’s out today too.”
“Hmm. Yeah, let’s do that.”
Although Seong was eager to get back to his game, he was quite hungry since he skipped breakfast.
So, they decided to go eat at a restaurant.
Yu Mina suggested a well-known restaurant nearby, and since Seong preferred Western food, he chose the menu.
When they arrived at the restaurant, the staff greeted them.
“Ah? Seong Seonghyun?”
“Huh?”
A staff member called out.
Seong briefly racked his brain before recognizing the person.
“Oh, it’s Sujeong!”
“Wow, it’s been a long time! We only saw each other before you went to the army. So you’ve been discharged?”
“Yep.”
Seong answered nonchalantly, while the staff member, Lee Sujeong, greeted him warmly.
Then, Sujeong noticed Yu Mina standing next to Seong.
Her usual carefree and goofy appearance was replaced by a more dignified, elegant presence, which made Sujeong gulp.
Seong himself was good-looking, but when he saw his sister, he realized Sujeong was a bit intimidated.
Noticing the awkward silence, Seong raised an eyebrow.
“Wh-Who… is this?”
Lee Sujeong asked cautiously, clearly misinterpreting the situation.
Seong couldn’t help but feel a little disturbed by the confusion, though he maintained his usual calm demeanor.
“This is my sister.”
“Ah! Oh, I see. Um, hello, I’m Lee Sujeong, a classmate of Seonghyun. Please sit wherever you like, and I’ll come take your order!”
“Oh, thank you.”
“Uh…”
Watching his sister speak so casually, Seong couldn’t help but shake his head in disbelief.
It was a clear confirmation that they were siblings.
As Sujeong had said, Seong and Yu Mina sat down at a comfortable table.
“Oh, you look like siblings! This older sister is quite the charmer.”
“What are you saying?”
“Huh? Don’t you two have something going on?”
“…Have you never had a relationship, sister?”
At Seong’s words, Yu Mina’s eyes trembled, and she let out a little sound of surprise.
Her younger brother was hitting a sore spot.
She had let her guard down.
“…Why are you rubbing salt in an old wound?”
“It’s obvious.”
“No, anyone can see that girl is interested in you.”
“What? No, she’s just a classmate. I haven’t seen her in a while, so she’s just being friendly.”
“…?”
Yu Mina, who had never been in a relationship, still recognized what was happening. She watched Seong and Sujeong’s interaction closely and saw that Sujeong was definitely showing interest.
It was so obvious even if you were falling from a skyscraper in Jamsil that it was a sign of affection.
Yet her clueless brother refused to see it.
It was absurd.
Ignoring Seong’s nonchalant response, Yu Mina shook her head, deciding to let him figure it out on his own.
Relationship matters were her business, not his.
They ordered the menu, and a surprise dish was served with their main course.
“This is on the house! Please enjoy, Miss!”
“Ah, thank you.”
“…Is this okay?”
“What do you mean?”
“Ah, never mind.”
Seeing Yu Mina’s indifferent reaction, Seong looked at her strangely.
Most college girls would act that way, so Seong couldn’t have known that it was a sign of affection.
After a leisurely meal, they returned home without any particular incident.
Well, there was one unexpected event.
[S-Class XX University Classmate Lee Sujeong—Seonghyun! Our group is meeting this weekend, will you be coming? I think everyone will be happy if you come!]
A surprising text arrived.
1.
The second village, Sekhan Village.
Sekhan Village wasn’t particularly remarkable, aside from the gloomy atmosphere following the loss of the former village chief, Gwen.
Like other second villages, it had a lot of dungeons due to its tendency to half-force party play, but that wasn’t anything special. Other second villages were the same.
Even though the village didn’t have any particular features, it still had quite a few NPCs and a good number of users gathered there.
At the entrance of Sekhan Village, the village guards doubted their own eyes for a moment.
Caw—! Caw—!
“Ugh, there are so many crows today.”
“Yeah, right? Was there always this many crows around here?”
The crows, which weren’t usually around, began to gather in large numbers at the entrance of the village. They started appearing from all directions, and the guards only thought it was a strange occurrence. It wasn’t something special, just crows, after all.
But as their numbers grew, turning into tens, hundreds, and thousands, the guards realized something was wrong.
The crows gathered, and dark clouds began to form. An ominous aura filled the sky, and the unsettling atmosphere grew.
The guards began to tremble with fear.
“Should we... tell the village?”
“Tell them? About the crows???”
But because the threat was only crows, they found themselves paralyzed, unsure of what to do.
At that moment, a massive crow flew in from afar. Thousands of smaller crows began to rush toward this large crow.
Caw—! Caw—!
The crows began to gather and, like shadows or darkness itself, they formed into a single shape.
As more and more crows gathered, they began to thicken, forming a smooth, massive mirror made of thousands of crows.
But it was a mirror of pure darkness, with nothing reflecting on its surface.
It wasn’t until the guards realized something was wrong that they tried to ring the alarm bell.
But they couldn’t even move a finger.
‘What... is this?!’
‘This... this doesn’t make sense!!’
The guards, unable to even swallow their saliva in fear, looked at the black mirror.
Suddenly, ripples appeared on the black mirror.
Like a single drop falling into a calm lake, the ripples spread outward across the mirror.
And then, as if it were natural, three figures walked out of the mirror.
The black mirror vanished after spitting out three people, and the ominous dark clouds that had once filled the sky dispersed, revealing a clear, bright sky.
As the sun illuminated the world, the guards could finally see the attire of the three figures.
The massive man standing in the center wore a mask resembling a crow’s face—or was it more of a crow-like helmet? It was hard to tell, but his identity was hidden behind it.
On his right stood a man so pale that he seemed to be a corpse. The stitched-up marks on his body were so grotesque that he looked like he had been pieced together.
On the left of the man with the crow mask stood a woman. Her eyes were like a bottomless abyss, exuding no emotion, and she held a doll of a little girl in her arms, clutching it tightly.
The guards couldn’t help but swallow dryly as they saw the unusual figures.
There was nothing ordinary about them, and it wasn’t until they noticed the symbol on the robes they wore that they realized the significance.
On the black robes was a shining crown—a symbol that only one entity in the world could bear.
“Oh, Ohberpalace!!”
“Oh, the Lion of Ohberpalace!!”
Clang! Thud!
The infamous tower of dark mages, Ohberpalace, had arrived in Sekhan Village.
Looking at the terrified guards, the man wearing the crow mask stepped forward and spoke softly.
“Do not fear. We will not bring harm to your village.”
His voice, though soft, carried an undeniable force.
For some reason, despite the softness of his tone, the guards could only nod in response.
Should they report this to the village chief immediately?
The man shook his head as he watched the guards wrestle with the thought.
“We will do what we must. You do what you must. We have no need for a grand reception or ceremony.”
With those words, the three figures disappeared like a mirage, leaving behind a wave of black.
The guards, as if they had just woken from a nightmare, swallowed nervously, their hands trembling.
To think the Lion of Ohberpalace had come to the village.
“I can’t believe it.”
“Right? I mean, the fact that Ohberpalace is here means there’s definitely something in this village.”
The guards muttered to each other, picking up their dropped weapons and returning to their posts at the entrance.
As the man with the crow mask had said, the three of them, observing from the rooftops, turned their attention away from the guards.
The guards had never been a concern.
Their sole purpose for being here was clear.
“This is the last village where we felt the presence of the Lord. After Persville, this was the next stop.”
“Hehehehe! Ah, I can feel it! I can feel it so strongly!! The Lord’s power is thick in this village!!”
“...”
The man with the crow mask spoke, and the corpse-like man let out a strange laugh, bending over slightly. Meanwhile, the woman holding the doll showed no emotion but tightened her grip on it.
Though this was an unusual reaction, neither the man nor the corpse man paid it any mind. It was understandable.
The man turned to speak to the others.
“Spread out and search for the Lord.”
“Hehehe! Yes! Yes, let’s go!!”
“...”
The corpse-like man, grinning in excitement, nodded slowly. The woman, without a word, also nodded and disappeared into the air with a flicker.
The man with the crow mask snapped his fingers, and countless crows appeared, spreading in all directions.
How long had it passed?
The man had linked with the crows and was thoroughly searching the entire village.
Finally, his eyes met one of the crows, and with a calm, expressionless face, he muttered:
With a quiet murmur, the man declared, “I found it.”