The Spirit Realm enjoyed warm spring weather throughout the year. Puffy white clouds floated lazily across the sky beneath a gentle sun, and the temperature remained a pleasant twenty-six degrees Celsius. It was truly a paradise; not too hot, not too cold.
Laghaim stood before a full-length mirror, admiring her reflection. She wore a new white dress, lovingly crafted stitch by stitch from Yala’s thread over the course of a week. After examining her appearance for a while, Laghaim spun in place. The skirt of the dress fluttered gently.
Someone entered the Spirit Realm, a man exuding no energy or presence whatsoever. He scanned his surroundings and moved toward Laghaim, who stood in the middle of a green field in front of the mirror.
“Ah, hello, Master,” Laghaim said, deliberately tugging at the hem of her skirt before letting it go.
She blinked at Do-Jun with an innocent smile that carried a hint of expectation. After staring at her for a moment, Do-Jun took a seat in a chair.
Laghaim hoped to show off how beautifully the dress had turned out, but she felt a bit let down. She let out a small, disappointed sigh and sat across from him. That’s when Do-Jun placed a fresh strawberry shortcake he had brought onto the table.
“What’s this?” Laghaim asked him.
“A cake. Didn’t you say you wanted to try one before?”
Laghaim’s sulking expression instantly brightened, and she smiled like a child as she examined the cake from every angle, eliciting a small chuckle from Do-Jun.
“Is there anything I can do to help with your Core exploration?” she asked.
Laghaim knew that Do-Jun was about to enter the fifth floor of the Core. She thought that no matter how strong Do-Jun was, advancing that far alone would place a heavy burden on him. The fact that he had reached the fifth floor from the Tutorial Zone in less than a year was astonishingly fast, undoubtedly requiring significant effort. Perhaps he was pushing himself too hard.
“I’ll let you know if I need anything,” Do-Jun replied.
“Alright. If anything comes up, please don’t hesitate to let me know. Oh, by the way, Master, what color can you unlock up to?”
For adventurers entering the Core, a tutorial was available to help them adapt to the Core. During this stage, they received a Status Window Snake to help them begin their journey in the Core.
The Core, divided into seven floors and the Deep Realm, allowed adventurers to access different levels of power depending on the color of their snake. For instance, an adventurer with a green snake from the tutorial could only utilize green-level power, even if they advanced beyond the fourth floor.
“Black,” Do-Jun replied casually.
“I see, black—” Laghaim paused abruptly, and for a moment, tilted her head in confusion.
“That’s the first time I’ve heard of that color,” she said after a long pause.
A month ago, the atmosphere of the Deep Realm felt like the calm before a storm, but now it had eased. At that time, only one planet remained to be transferred to the Core: Earth. The powerful entities of the Deep Realm believed the transfer would go smoothly, igniting a resurgence of the great war that had taken place thousands of years ago.
However, against all expectations, the Encroachment stopped, raising many questions. Some of the strongest beings sent to investigate Earth never returned, their names erased from the ranking boards.
Finally, the Encroachment was put on hold, and the Deep Realm entered into a brief period of rest.
A man with overwhelming strength pushed open a massive iron door. The grating sound reverberated through the cave, revealing an empty space.
Murmu, the second-ranking Transcendent, also known as the “Three Moons,” examined the scale in his hand. It was the Tracker’s Heart, an artifact of the Deep Realm. The sharp needle of the scale pointed forward, scattering light. Suddenly, the light illuminated the entire space, and a massive, curled-up red dragon appeared in the empty void.
As Murmu’s eyes met the dragon’s, a shiver ran through his body. Thankfully, the vision disappeared like smoke after a fleeting moment.
This dragon was none other than the being that had once ruled the Deep Realm—the Dragon Lord, Izaas, the undebated supreme ruler of the Deep Realm.
Murmu gulped involuntarily.
The Tracker’s Heart revealed the activities of its target. From the brief vision, it seemed that the Overlord had been here for some time. Determined, Murmu activated the artifact’s tracking function once more.
[Locating the target.]
Light emanated from the scale once again.
“If...” Murmu didn’t finish the sentence.
If he succeeded in locating the target, what should he do?
Rumors about the existence of the Overlord and other dragons circulated throughout the Deep Realm. Some claimed they were in a state of slumber, which was considered the most credible theory. Others speculated they were extinct or dead, a wishful fabrication created by their enemies.
“If they are hidden somewhere in the Deep Realm...” Before he could say any more, he heard a notification.
With a clink, the scale shifted, and Murmu’s gaze followed it upward. The vibration of the scale was the only sound in the otherwise silent room. Sweat trickled down Murmu’s tightly clenched fist.
Meanwhile, in the Plains of Despair, Deep Realm.
This was a region known for Headless Knights and a place where Kiriel hunted to level up his Status Window. From the brittle grass, a skeletal knight emerged on a black steed. Fully clad in plate armor, it wielded a lance over four meters long.
As Kiriel drew Gungnir’s string, mana gathered to form an arrow. Even without physical arrows, Gungnir enabled the user to generate them by converting magical power. Kiriel released the string, and with a thunderous twang, the arrow shot toward the horse’s head.
The charging steed collapsed instantly, throwing its rider to the ground. When taking down mounted enemies, targeting the horse first was common sense. Smirking, Kiriel fired several more arrows at the Headless Knight as it struggled to rise.
Each arrow struck true, finishing the knight. Its plate armor shattered, and with a soft pop, a mastery stone dropped from the corpse. Without hesitation, Kiriel fed the stone to the snake on his wrist.
“Kyeeeeh!” the Status Window Snake screeched, then emitted a bright light as it consumed the mastery stone.
[Mastery has increased.]
[Status Window (Navy) 43.6631% → 43.6632%]
“Man, it barely goes up. Seriously, this is ridiculous... Hm?” The grumbling Kiriel suddenly noticed a man leaping toward him.
He was topless, revealing skin that resembled the scales of a lizard. Kiriel greeted Murmur as he approached.
“Are you here to grind mastery too?” Kiriel said.
“Yeah, something like that. How about you? Did you make much progress today?”
“This great Kiriel managed to raise it by 0.0028 percent.”
Both Murmur and Kiriel had navy status windows, though Murmur’s mastery was about twenty percent higher than Kiriel’s.
“You don’t look so energetic today, Murmur. What’s wrong with you?”
A shadow fell over Murmur’s face. Seeing that, Kiriel grew concerned and asked, “Hey, something’s really up, isn’t it? Why don’t you talk to me about it? I’ve got a big heart; I’m great at giving advice.”
Murmur hesitated. Could he really tell this idiot the truth, a secret as mindblowing as this? But keeping it to himself wouldn’t solve anything, so he decided to come clean.
“Listen carefully, Kiriel. What I’m about to tell you is the absolute truth.”
“Yeah, you’re not one to lie.”
“Alright. A few days ago, I acquired the Tracker’s Heart.”
“What! T-the Tracker? Where did you get that?”
Among the relics of the Deep Realm, the Tracker’s Heart was one of the rarest and most valuable. The Deep Realm was so vast that if someone wanted to hide, finding them was nearly impossible—unless the seeker had the Tracker’s Heart. If such a relic were to fall into the hands of a Demon King or Imfelheim, their enemies would live in constant fear.
“That’s a secret. Anyway, that’s not the important part,” Murmu said.
“T-that’s not the important part? What’s more important than that?” The fact that something more significant than obtaining the Tracker’s Heart existed piqued Kiriel’s curiosity.
“This is... a secret you can’t tell anyone.”
“The Overlord is alive.”
“What? That’s your reaction? I just told you that the Overlord is alive!”
“And even more shocking, the Overlord’s location is none other than—”
“Earth, no?” Kiriel’s casual reply left Murmur stunned.
“How...? How do you know that?”
“Because I met him not too long ago.”
“What...?” Murmu stammered in disbelief, grabbed Kiriel by the shoulders, and shook him. “W-why didn’t you tell me that? How did you meet him? What’s the Overlord planning on Earth?”
“I run into him sometimes when I visit Earth.”
“Visit Earth...? Like, for leisure...?”
Kiriel nodded. “I was actually planning to go again soon. Want to come? You could meet the Overlord, too.”
“Do you realize what you are saying...?”
“Oh, you don’t want to? Suit yourself.” Kiriel shrugged nonchalantly.
Do-Jun explained how he obtained the black Status Window. Earlier this year, he entered the Core’s Tutorial Zone, and in the fourth stage, he defeated a monster named Ouroboros, earning the black Status Window Snake.
Listening to Do-Jun’s casual explanation, Laghaim was taken aback. “Wait, you can actually fight that thing? How did you even think to try?”
“It looked like a monster, so I hit it.”
“Master... your thinking is beyond comprehension. Oh, what’s your mastery at now?”
“Not much, about three percent.”
Mastery was excruciatingly slow to increase. If he hadn’t defeated a few monsters classified as “Mythical” or “Catastrophe,” he would probably still be stuck at zero percent.
“But isn’t three percent considered quite high...?” Laghaim asked.
“Maybe. Anyway, that’s where I’m at.”
Was this man even aware of how extraordinary he was? Laghaim was at a loss for words. She sighed softly and decided to change the subject to someone they hadn’t seen in a while.
“Is Izaas doing well these days?”
Do-Jun took a sip of the tea Laghaim had brewed and nodded. Glancing at his watch, he noted it was past 2 PM.
Recalling Yong-Yong’s daily routine, Do-Jun smiled. “By now, I’m sure he’s....”
In the living room of unit 301 in Changshin Villa, Yong-Yong, Karsiel, and Byeol huddled together. In front of them sat a cup of steaming hot instant ramen, filled with boiling water.
“When do we eat?” Byeol asked, almost drooling.
On top of that, her stomach rumbled loudly, clearly hungry. “Hungwy...”
“Byeol, to enjoy instant ramen at its best, you must wait,” Karsiel said.
“Does it become more yummy if we wait?”
The timer next to the instant ramen went off. Exactly three minutes had passed since the hot water was poured. Yong-Yong peeled back the lid, releasing warm, fragrant steam.
“Now eat?” Byeol asked.
“You bet! Pass your bowl, Byeol,” Yong-Yong said enthusiastically.
Watching the two, Karsiel smiled. Perhaps this is what happiness feels like.