#1
Whenever he closed his eyes, he still remembered.
The screams, the nauseating stench, the vast tide of corpses, the figures smiling sinisterly behind it…
When everyone else fled, Lucas and his comrades ran in the opposite direction.
His family died.
His comrades died, too.
By the end, Lucas alone remained standing, sword in hand.
When he opened his eyes, those dreamlike memories vanished like smoke.
Instead, there were undead and a dark mage he could kill with his own hands.
‘A knight must not vent his personal feelings. But…’
Lucas tightened his grip on his sword.
His blue aura turned gold, infused with his awakened power.
This was why he had been called the Knight of Light.
So long as he wielded this golden aura, those consumed by darkness would fall before the light.
[In the Name of the Light]
[All stats +3]
[Stats doubled when facing unholy enemies]
[Aura turns gold.]
[Ignores 20% of the enemy’s defense.]
[Attack power adjusted by the sum of Strength + Stamina + Agility]
A skill on an entirely different level from those he had possessed as an apprentice knight.
Against the undead, he had to be stronger than any other knight.
To protect the fleeing people.
To protect a world falling to ruin.
“Begone.”
Lucas’s sword cast a streak of gold.
The undead surrounding him turned to ash all at once and vanished.
Golden aura surged from his shining blue eyes.
The other summons smiled broadly at the sight.
‘Now I have my comrades and my Master.’
Lucas looked at Eyas, toying with the enemy with her fluid movements.
Then at Jina, providing dependable fire support from the rear.
And finally… at Master, who always watched over him with unwavering trust.
“I’ll take the front. Jina, fire support!”
“Got it! Leave it to me!”
Hwanung smiled fondly as he watched his summons work together.
Yes. This was it.
Wasn’t this the real joy of being a summoner?
A glance behind him revealed Climbers whose faces now looked like (6ỏ6).
With an audience watching, he ought to put on a show.
Hwanung gave the orders to begin their assault in earnest.
“Only Jina will deal damage to Saxen himself. Lucas, intercept his spells. Eyas, draw the attention of the monsters around him.”
“Understood!”
“You think I’ll let you? Die!”
The summons answered as one and moved.
Enraged, Saxen gathered mana again and cast a spell.
[Dark Spear]
A black spear shot out in a straight line.
Its target was Jina, who was in the middle of casting.
Even with the attack aimed at her, Jina never lost focus, continuing her chant to the end.
Because she trusted her dependable comrades to protect her.
“Not a chance!”
KABOOM!
Trailing golden aura, Lucas raced over like lightning.
His sword swept out gracefully, splitting the Dark Spear cleanly in two.
An explosion erupted, but Lucas raised his sword again without so much as a scratch.
“First, I’ll clear away this filth.”
His eyes flashed as he looked at the Abomination.
Time to settle the score, wasn’t it?
[UOOOOOOH!]
The oblivious mass of corpses simply charged at him like a moth to a flame.
#2
“Fucking awesome.”
“That’s a summoner? Seriously fucking broken.”
“He’d turn the whole scene upside down if he went pro.”
“You think they’d let him in? They’d make some excuse about fairness and turn him away.”
The watching Climbers murmured among themselves.
Early in the battle, they had seen the front line being pushed back and thought it was hopeless.
But combining the separate summons into one had turned the tide.
They had seen that sort of thing often enough to recognize it.
“To think he could even evolve them…”
“Now this was worth seeing.”
“No kidding. I wonder which Climbing Club he’ll join.”
“Same. Maybe he’ll join the Association directly?”
Having witnessed Lord 93 fight firsthand, they could guess.
Things like this would happen wherever he went.
He would bring changes so profound that ‘seismic shift’ was the only way to describe them.
They were witnessing the birth of a legend.
Most were filled with admiration, but some were trembling in fear.
Those were the members of the Chilseong Gang Climbing Club, which ran the farming operation.
They had come here hoping for revenge after hearing their underlings had been taken down.
Yet the target of that revenge was putting on a far more powerful display than they had expected.
“B-boss, that bastard’s no joke.”
“Ahem. Hold on. If it weren’t for that summon, we might stand a chance…”
“He’s a summoner, remember? They had those back when we used to fight archdemons. What was it, a summon necro?”
“Damn it. This is going to make us look bad.”
The Chilseong Gang’s enforcers smacked their lips as they watched Hwanung fight.
They operated strictly in the shadows. They couldn’t come out into the open to make their money.
Those who had come to supervise the farming operation knew their circumstances well.
“Boss, how about this? We don’t have to make an enemy of him, do we?”
“We don’t?”
“Right. We stay on decent terms and pick up whatever scraps come our way! This could be our chance to go legit!”
“Hmmm. You think so?”
They were already counting their chickens, while the man they expected to feed them hadn’t even given it a thought.
Then again, in the towers, avatar abilities were everything, and skills were power.
The way the Chilseong Gang’s thugs looked at Hwanung changed.
Meanwhile, the battle was drawing to a close.
Every one of the dark mage’s spells had been blocked, and every one of his summons wiped out.
There was nothing left he could do.
KABOOM!
Struck by the basic non-elemental spell [Mana Cannon], Saxen went flying.
“Guuugh!”
“Whew… It’s over.”
“Good work, everyone.”
Hwanung glanced at the drone filming from various angles, then approached Saxen.
He had quite a few questions.
Saxen was slowly turning to ash.
There wasn’t much time.
“Any last words, dark mage?”
“How did you end up like this, Lord Saxen?”
“Guh… Hehehe…”
Saxen laughed, blood trickling from his mouth.
He spoke haltingly as his life ebbed away.
“What… do you think… this place is?”
“…”
“Remember. The tower is…”
Fsssh.
Leaving those few words behind, Saxen crumbled to ash and vanished.
There wasn’t even time to mull over what he had said.
A fanfare sounded, followed by the tower’s congratulatory announcement.
[Congratulations!]
[New record: Avatar No. 19930211]
[Rewards: …]
One piece of Intermediate Lux.
Numerous pieces of Lowest-Grade Lux.
And the wand Saxen had left behind.
Its details were as follows.
[Oak Wand]
[Mana +2]
“This one’s for Jina.”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
“As for the other equipment… Nothing much.”
“That’s a shame.”
There wasn’t much in the way of equipment, but that was fine.
He had captured some incredible footage and gained an SR-rank summon.
He had meant to take it easy, but somehow ended up getting serious.
‘And I heard something that’s been bothering me.’
He would think it over at home.
Hwanung retrieved his drone as he waited to be transported out of the tower.
Meanwhile, familiar faces approached him.
They were the people who had clashed with Jina in an earlier stage.
“Mr. Summoner! Haha, a pleasure to meet you!”
“We heard our boys were terribly rude earlier! If you wouldn’t mind—”
[Transporting you out of the tower.]
“…?”
Of course, Hwanung was transported outside before they could have a proper conversation.
In any case, this climb had been a success, too.
#3
Hwanung made it safely home.
On the way, he had seen some rough-looking people roaming about.
He decided he absolutely must not acknowledge them and got home without incident. The first thing he did was check the footage.
He connected the drone to his computer and transferred it straight over.
More than three hours of video.
The prospect of editing it left him utterly at a loss.
“Do I need… an editor?”
Between the proceeds from selling Lux and the money he would receive from Tete, he could probably afford to hire someone.
Video editing was pure grunt work.
Hwanung needed to climb towers every day. He wasn’t confident he could manage it.
‘I should contact Tete.’
In the end, he had no choice but to call on his connections.
Hwanung sent a DM through the app.
The contract was handled through electronic signatures anyway, so there was no need to meet in person.
Even if they did meet, the other party had plenty to lose.
A risk was only worth taking when the benefits outweighed everything one stood to lose.
Even if Hwanung revealed his face, what if he invoked strict restrictions, Tete’s credibility, and even the Baldhead Climbing Club’s reputation?
They wouldn’t step out of line lightly.
‘I’ll have to hope they don’t.’
With that thought, Hwanung began chatting with Tete.
[Tete, are you available?]
[Yes! Hello! Congratulations on launching your channel! And congratulations on fifty thousand subscribers!]
Huh?
What was this out of nowhere?
Fifty thousand?
Subscribers?
[Uh, my channel has fifty thousand subscribers?]
[Yes! Haven’t you checked yet? It’s blowing up right now!]
[I went straight into a tower after creating it… Oh, you’re right.]
It was a bare little channel without a single video, but its subscriber count told a different story.
How on earth could an empty channel have fifty thousand subscribers?
[That’s amazing.]
[Incredible, right? That’s just how incredible you are, Lord 93!]
[As it happens, I recorded some footage, but I think I need an editor. You mentioned it last time, so I thought I’d ask.]
[Oh, you got some footage? Then would you like to try my editor? I can send you a contract, and you can read it before deciding.]
[All right. I’d appreciate that.]
[Sure! Just give me a moment!]
Despite the late hour, Tete was happy to help.
About five minutes later, an electronic contract arrived.
It prohibited the editor and anyone else involved from infringing his copyright or leaking or disclosing any of the video’s contents.
There were no hidden traps in the terms, so he signed electronically and attached the contract.
Before sending the footage, Hwanung needed to buy himself time to make a decision.
[I’ll send the footage after one final check.]
[Wow! This is such an honor. ㅜㅜ We’ll make sure it looks fantastic!]
[How long will it take?]
[Two days should be plenty! We’ll edit it into a great video around ten minutes long and upload it for you!]
[Thank you.]
Tete had been very accommodating.
Hwanung replied that he would be sure to repay the favor, then thought back over the day’s events.
Saxen.
And his summons.
They had clearly known each other.
Hwanung sank into thought as he slowly replayed the footage.
Information.
This was information.
It seemed nothing about Saxen and Jina had been posted on the community forums yet.
‘What should I do?’
Share the information, or leave things as they were?
After a moment’s deliberation, Hwanung made a few changes to the footage.
He altered several scenes that appeared to connect his summons to the towers.
He deleted scenes where Jina recognized the Mage Tower or knew the terrain and landmarks.
“That should do it.”
Revealing just a little previously unknown information would show how special he was.
As long as he kept the truly important information to himself, it shouldn’t cause too much of a stir.
After some thought, Hwanung pressed send.
[I’ve sent the footage.]
[Yes, received! I’ll contact you when the editing’s finished! Oh, and if you add an email address to a community announcement, you’ll get plenty of advertising and sponsorship offers!]
[Oh, thanks for the tip.]
Tete was certainly helpful.
If he kept growing through what she taught him, the day would come when he could handle everything on his own.
‘I’m looking forward to the video.’
Before going to bed, Hwanung added his email address and a brief introduction to a community announcement.
Without knowing what waves it would make.
An empty channel.
But one growing faster than any other.
0 Comments
Sign in to join the discussion
Sign In