Clang! Clang! Clang!
Crisp scraping sounds rang out from every direction.
The rhythm wasn't regular. That was because they weren't working methodically—they were just smashing ice wherever they could.
I gripped a pickaxe in each hand and swung like my life depended on it.
Nearby, there were explosive crashes—KWAANG! and KWA-GA-GAK!—as Seira and Dark shattered ice with brute force.
When I glanced to the side, I saw Kancho with his ears perked up, staring like he wanted to join in.
Thank god I assigned him to guard duty.
If I'd let him participate, he would've started blasting everything in sight.
At this rate, the meteorite might've ended up sinking into the ocean.
"Hmm…"
Off to one side, Teacher Momo was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, like some kind of meditating monk.
He claimed he was sniffing out treasure.
Kuuuuul!
"Teacher Momo?!"
"It's fine. It's fine."
What do you mean it's fine?! You looked like you were napping!
Momo stretched shamelessly, then suddenly snapped his eyes open.
"I smell it!"
I felt a tiny flicker of doubt.
Was he smelling treasure… or something from his dream?
"It's here!"
Momo scrambled down and pointed at a crack in the ice.
I hurried over and swung my pickaxe.
The crevasse crumbled fast.
Claaang!
One more strike, and the ice wall shattered into fragments and collapsed.
And then it appeared.
A black chunk of ore, lodged dead center inside the ice.
So this is the Helios meteorite?
I swallowed hard and reached out.
Sssss…
The instant I touched it, a liquid like black paint spilled out of the meteorite.
In a blink, it wrapped around our entire group, dyeing the surroundings in darkness.
After a moment, tiny points of light began to sparkle between the shadows.
"Stars…"
The lights multiplied, filling the darkness until it was packed with constellations.
A true feast of stars.
"Woooow! It's so pretty!"
Momo squealed in delight.
Even I couldn't help smiling.
This was the first time I'd ever seen so many stars at once.
"That one… that must be Helios."
Dark pointed.
Among the white, glittering sea of starlight, one lone star radiated pure black.
It flickered once—then began to fall.
The black star streaked across the Milky Way, leaving a long, dark tail behind it.
"Uh—why is it getting darker?!"
Momo was right.
Every star along Helios's path lost its light.
More accurately, Helios was devouring the light around it.
And just as Helios became a falling meteor, the curtain of darkness around us peeled away.
Ding!
[Among countless stars in the Milky Way, the lone black star—Helios! From the moment it was born, Helios possessed the power to harvest and take in something from the world!]
[You have obtained the Meteorite of Helios!]
Ding!
[Materials for crafting the Transcendent-grade one-handed sword "Soul Reaper" have been updated!]
On the recipe list, the previously grayed-out material—"Fragment of Helios Meteorite"—lit up and activated.
Nice!
I threw an uppercut into the air.
One down—two to go.
That once-distant Soul Reaper was finally starting to feel real.
"Hoo… fascinating. Truly fascinating. A black star…"
Even Elia, the Star Alchemist, looked amazed as she rotated the fragment again and again in her hands.
Fwoooosh…
Camelia stepped through a puff of smoke, then examined the shard closely.
"This will need to be used carefully."
"Why?"
"It's sealed inside for now, but the energy in it is no joke. Depending on what it's fused with, it could become something dangerous."
I nodded.
Soul Reaper.
It sounded cool… but also terrifying.
It wasn't going to start sucking souls the moment I touched it, right?
"Let's just make it first."
After climbing out of the crevasse, I stretched my back.
The cold air must've helped—despite all the pickaxe work, I hadn't broken a sweat.
Either way, we were done here in the Transfer Zone.
We'd completed the temporary clear condition that replaced the "wipe out the yetis" objective.
Ding!
[The 63rd Floor Transfer Zone has been cleared!]
[The Transfer Zone will now disappear!]
The snowfield that had been generating a vicious blizzard dissolved rapidly.
Camelia snapped her fingers, dispelling her barrier.
I sent a message to Jin Yoonho.
Transfer Zone cleared.
Then I climbed onto Duram No. 1.
Thanks to the cold-weather cover, it was in perfect condition.
As I started it up and prepared to slide down the ice path like I had on the way in, a reply came.
Great work. Mr. Jinhyeok—if you're free, may I visit your home? I have something to show you.
Before leaving Cheongsanga, I'd asked Jin Yoonho to look into something regarding Maredo's box.
It seemed he'd discovered something.
Sure. I'll be waiting at home!
I pocketed my phone and started the engine.
What could he have found?
Jin Yoonho and Yoon Miri entered my house.
"Would it be alright if we use your TV?"
"Of course."
The moment we finished greeting each other, Yoon Miri connected the laptop she'd brought to my TV.
This was the first time the TV was being used for anything other than Kancho and Momo's games.
Also… they seemed unusually serious.
Even a little urgent.
After a while of quick, practiced setup, the screen lit up, and Yoon Miri began.
"Just like you said, there were a lot of unnatural points. First, Maredo—the box that traps souls. It only ever dropped in Korea."
No wonder there hadn't been that many souls inside.
"I contacted other countries' hunter agencies too. Every single one said they'd never heard of it. It's not the kind of item anyone would have a reason to hide, so it's unlikely they were lying. And second—why was it never reported in Korea even once?"
"Yeah. If someone dies in the Tower of Despair, they're treated as missing. But with this, they wouldn't wake up. The box would've been sitting right next to them."
"Exactly. I spent all day searching for similar cases. Missing-person reports, news articles—anything. There were actually quite a lot of filed reports. But strangely, there were no related articles at all. Or rather…"
On the monitor, various news outlets appeared.
"Nothing stayed up. Not a single article. They were all deleted. None lasted even an hour—most didn't survive thirty minutes."
I swallowed.
That pattern was familiar.
I'd seen it plenty of times in crime thrillers—when someone doesn't obey, their ads get pulled. If that doesn't work, they vanish quietly.
"So I made some calls. The Player Hunter Administration has a decent amount of pull. But I couldn't reach the people responsible for those decisions. Not one. They were all on vacation, sick leave, or overseas business trips."
"That's shady as hell."
"Beyond shady. And the shadiest part is…"
A photo appeared on screen.
"This is a reporter I'm close with. Absolute bulldozer type. If his boss tells him not to publish something, he posts it on his personal SNS instead."
"Sounds like a legend."
"He is. But… he's not answering. We can't reach him."
Now I understood why she'd seemed so anxious.
Given everything we knew, there was a strong chance he'd gotten dragged into something dangerous.
"The good news is, he disappeared two days ago. It's recent. Our situation room and search teams are working together to find him."
Yoon Miri leaned back on the couch and let out a long sigh.
I'd thought things were wrapping up after the people trapped in the box were freed.
But now it was obvious.
This had only been the beginning.
Ding.
She checked her tablet.
No clues found near his home. CCTV is completely down as well. No data worth retrieving.
Yoon Miri frowned deeply.
Without anything to work with, even her abilities couldn't do much.
"Can I see?"
"Of course."
I crouched beside her and read the tablet.
Hours had passed since the search began, and still there wasn't a single solid lead.
"Can you give me the address? It might not help, but… just in case."
Yoon Miri's expression brightened noticeably.
Jin Yoonho let out a small breath, as if relieved.
They'd stopped by on their way to the scene, but clearly, they'd been hoping for this.
Even a small chance that Runner Yoo Jinhyeok could help.
"We were just about to head there ourselves. Let's go together."
"Sure. I'll follow on my motorcycle."
"Understood. Then…"
"Let's go now. We don't have time."
I smiled.
Whether they belonged to the Player Hunter Administration or not didn't matter.
They'd helped me more times than I could count. If I could return even a fraction of that, I'd do everything I could.
And besides… I was curious.
Maredo's box came from the Tower of Despair.
But this incident was happening in the real world.
Nothing had been confirmed yet, but if these two events truly connected…
What did that connection look like?
What was the goal?
Were the Tower of Despair and reality really completely separated worlds, except for Transfer Zones?
Questions began stacking up in my mind.
At the top of Seoul's Namsan Tower…
A man sat, gazing down at the glittering nightscape.
"Beautiful, no matter how many times I see it."
A faint smile tugged at his lips.
"And yet, so unstable. One light breath, and it would all go out. Don't you agree?"
He lifted his gaze.
Below the observation deck, people were hanging—dangling precariously in midair.
Their faces were drained white as they cried out desperately.
"C-CEO Kang Woojin! Haven't we done everything you told us?! Why are you doing this now?!"
"We did it all! We stepped down when you said, we changed things when you told us to! Please!"
"Don't speak as if I did you a favor. Who was it that dragged you up from the gutter and put you where you are now? Have you forgotten?"
"How could we forget?! That's why we pledged loyalty! While we live, Raksha—"
Crunch!
A head flew into the air.
Kang Woojin caught it casually so it wouldn't fall.
"You were told never to speak that name aloud. Not with the filthy mouths of creatures like you."
At his icy stare, the remaining people sucked in breath, trembling.
Blood splattered from the severed neck, but no one dared even blink.
That was how terrifying the man before them was.
"Haa…"
Kang Woojin exhaled and looked up at the sky.
Useless rabbits.
Not only had they failed their mission, they'd even created an unwelcome variable.
Still… I'm curious.
Who was it that took the game away from Maredo?
A smile full of interest spread across his face.
Since things had turned out like this, he wanted to see it.
No—he intended to see it, no matter what.
Talented beings were always welcome.
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T/N:
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