The Wailing Mountains that extended north of the Canal Mountains were the end of the northern territories shown on the map of the Ruben Empire. However, land existed beyond them. It was an area called the Blackfield, or the Black Coffin.
“Hundreds of years ago, the first archmage to build a Magic Tower on this land isolated that area with a large-scale magic seal.”
“What’s there?”
“I don’t know. No one knows.”
“You don’t know? Even with our guild’s information capabilities?”
Kim Woo-Joong was slightly surprised. The Silent Moon Guild’s information capabilities were at the top even among the Big 6. 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘭．𝑜𝘳𝘨
“It’s difficult to find out more even with our information network. I don’t know why, but the imperial family is also sensitive about this.”
“Hmm.”
According to the ancient book, the future generations were repeatedly warned that the seal should never be released. This was all that had been revealed to the public about Blackfield. Every commoner and noble knew about this.
“Then is there no other way but to meet and ask the Schumern Saintess?”
“Normally, that would be the case. We must know what’s happening before we go to the imperial family.”
“It sounds as if we can’t meet them right now…”
“We’re talking about the imperial family. They have already recruited the Schumern Saintess and have ordered the conscription of many guilds, including the Big 6.”
Conscription—In exchange for providing convenience to the Players of the guilds in the Ruben Empire, they had the authority to summon the Players in case of emergency and use them as soldiers of the Ruben Empire. On the surface, it was a ‘request,’ but even children knew that refusing such a request would make one’s future rough.
“Just what did the Saintess find that the usually unmoving imperial family has become so active?”
“It’s an S-grade commission. You better focus.” Son Chae-Won got up from her seat and grabbed her white coat. With a pipe in her mouth, her eyes looked like those of a lioness about to get into battle. “I guess we’ll find out when we get there.”
***
Leiark, the Capital of the Ruben Empire…
The conference hall was located in one of the many huge palaces in the castle.
“…”
“…”
Dozens of Players quietly greeted each other and exchanged information. If a reporter was here, they would have screamed in joy until they collapsed. In addition to the Big 6, the masters of the big guilds and some of the Nine Heavens were also present. The conference hall had become a place where a reporter could receive a ton of year-end bonuses just by taking pictures.
“Is Sir Thunder God going to be absent again?”
“Since he is not a member of any guild, the imperial family can’t just summon him here.”
“Hmm.”
A man with clear eyes lightly nodded as he looked at the faces within the conference hall. “This is definitely an impressive lineup. It’s almost scary at the same time.”
“Huh? Hyung-nim, you’re so… What are you so afraid of when you’re so powerful?”
“Don’t be dumb. That’s why it’s even scarier.” The light in the older brother’s eyes subsided as he sighed at his immature brother. “This means that the imperial family has decided that this request could only be resolved by gathering these people.”
“…!”
The younger brother finally realized the gravity of the situation, and he belatedly showed an ashamed expression. Then, a middle-aged man with burning-red hair approached them.
“Hmm, is this your younger brother? There has been a lot of talk lately.”
“It’s been a while…”
“Well, there hasn’t been a chance for us to meet since the youngins don’t really come to find me that often.”
“I’ll visit you next time with good alcohol.”
“Good.”
The middle-aged man put on a satisfied smile and looked at the younger brother. His eyes were filled with pride as he looked at his junior.
“Cha Min-Woo, the rising star of Cheong-Hae. It must be nice to be young. I’ve heard rumors that you’ve been active without taking a break these days.”
“T-Thank you. I often hear of the Scarlet Tower Guild that you’re leading, Blood Sword-nim.”
The Cheong-Hae Guild and the Scarlet Tower Guild were guilds that belonged to the Republic of Korea. They were world-class guilds.
“Hmm, by the way.” Blood Sword, Choi Tae-San lowered his voice. “Did you hear that rumor?”
“By that rumor… Ah! Are you talking about the rumor regarding Player Seo Jun-Ho?”
“That’s the one…”
It was a hot topic that Players brought up every time they gathered these days.
“I heard he’s an ice elemental user. Do you have any more information?”
“I thought the Scarlet Tower’s information was one step ahead of Cheong-Hae…”
“I don’t deny that, but isn’t your brother somewhat familiar with Seo Jun-Ho?”
“Mmm, do you mean Min-Woo?” The Guildmaster of the Cheong-Hae Guild, Cha Won-Woo, had a troubled expression. “I knew he has been in a Gate with Player Seo Jun-Ho, but I am not sure about him being familiar with—”
“We’re close, really.” Cha Min-Woo snorted, and his eyes gleamed. “On top of that, Seo hyung and I cleared the Wild Forest together, guarding each other’s backs.”
“I heard Player Seo Jun-Ho did everything.”
“I-I was also a great help. He told me that himself.”
After quietly listening to the story, Choi Tae-San asked, “How do you feel after seeing him in person?”
“He is a giant,” Cha Min-Woo immediately answered.
“A giant? Is he that tall?”
“No, he is about 185cm tall… He is big, but not that big.”
“Hoh.” The word ‘giant’ could be interpreted differently then. “He’s a big guy… Isn’t he your age?”
“He is two years younger than me. But when I met him, I realized that age is just a number in this industry.”
“Is it to that extent? I really want to meet him.”
Upon noticing that Choi Tae-San seemed to be in a good mood, Cha Won-Woo asked, “Sir Blood Sword, are you close with Seo Jun-Ho?”
“I haven’t met him. But I have a favor I need to repay one day.”
“Favor…? Ah.”
Cha Won-Woo looked like he understood. Choi Sun-Hee of the Myungho Group, whose Nine Yin Severance Syndrome had been treated by Seo Jun-Ho, was the younger sister of the Scarlet Tower Guild’s Guildmaster, Choi Tae-San.
“He’s an eye-catching Player.”
“It’s a wonder. In a small country called Korea, it’s fascinating how there are always such outstanding Players.”
“Well, aren’t the people there used to competition since childhood?”
“Yes—by the way, Sir Blood Sword, what do you think of this time’s matter?”
“You’re referring to Blackfield.” Choi Tae-San crossed his arms and shook his head. “I don’t know. There’s not one source that knows anything, so I can’t even predict anything either. Do you have any idea?”
“It is the same for us. Listening to the conversations earlier, it did not seem like the Big 6 were very certain either.”
“It’s a big problem. We’re about to fight, and we don’t know anything about the enemy…”
The expressions of the three turned dark. At that moment, the door of the conference hall opened coolly, and an old man in a robe entered. Of course, he wasn’t the emperor, the prince, or the princess.
“There are faces here that I haven’t seen in a long time, and there are faces I’ve never seen before.” Sitting naturally at the head of the table, he nodded. “My name is Halo Agrim, the head court mage of the Ruben Empire.”
He was the head court mage! Toward the very high-ranking figure, the Players lowered their heads.
“Lift your heads. Let’s start the meeting.” As the Players sat down, he took out a magic crystal ball. “It would be faster to look at it than to explain it with a hundred words.”
When he injected magic into the crystal ball, something like holographic images appeared in the air. The location depicted in the images was an ordinary burial chamber. The body lying there had dried up like a mummy. Not a trace of life force could be felt from the body, and it was no different from a skeleton.
[Is this the dead body found near Blackfield…]
[The Schumern Saintess’s treatment has also failed.]
[It appears that it has been about a day since it died.]
The healers and priests surrounding the corpse looked at the chart containing the patient’s records. All of a sudden, the corpse moved.
[Gweeeehk!]
The corpse’s chest swelled, and the corpse jumped up before vomiting something. The Players watched the video with narrowed eyes.
“Is that… an egg?”
“It looks like an insect’s egg, or like a fish egg.”
“We’ll have to watch more if we want to find out.”
The corpse in the video staggered and got up.
[How can a c-corpse!?]
[Undead! It’s definitely an undead!]
[Ask the knight outside the door for help first!]
The priests and the healers facing the moving corpse were thrown into an uproar. After barely returning to their senses, a few priests chanted holy spells. However, the corpse remained unscathed despite being hit by holy spells.
[It’s not an undead!]
[Well, then how is a confirmed corpse moving—]
[Gwaaaahh!]
The corpse snatched the wrist of a nearby female healer.
[Ow, it hurts! Let me go!]
The healer begged with tears in her eyes as she was dragged by the corpse’s rough grasp. When the priests and the healers were running about wildly—
Crack! Crack!
[Kyaaaaak!]
The corpse directly bit off and ate the healer’s neck. The healer screamed and fainted. The knights ran in, split the corpse in half, and the video ended.
“…”
“…”
A heavy silence fell upon the conference room. Son Chae-Won of the Silent Moon Guild barely managed to open her mouth to speak, “What was that just now? What… A zombie or vampire? Is it something like that?”
“No, it’s not.” Halo shook his head. “We call it a host.”
“Host? The host of what?”
“Bees.”
“…Bees?”
Murmur.
The Players looked at each other, and their expressions revealed the situation’s absurdity. Shin Sung-Hyun of the Goblin Guild raised his hand lightly. “As far as I know, bees don’t have the ability to infect other creatures like that.”
“That’s correct for the usual bees, but they’re different.” Halo’s expression distorted. He looked like he was having trouble explaining all this. “Originally, those bees are not creatures of this world.”
“Do you mean they are alien creatures?”
“In the first place, orcs, dwarves, elves, ogres, goblins, kobolds… They weren’t all creatures of this world. They’re from the Gates.”
“I see…”
The Players understood and nodded their heads. If that were the case, the ‘bees’ currently isolated in Blackfield should also be considered from beyond a Gate.
“The first archmage discovered their dangers early on. He tried to eradicate their existence… but he failed.”
“Are they that strong?”
“Beyond mere strength and weakness, they are tenacious and persistent. They have an extraordinary attachment for the living.” Halo shook his head with a tired look. “From now on, every word that comes out of this meeting is forbidden to be spoken outside. If this is violated, it will be regarded as a violation of an imperial order. Be prepared to be pursued by the Empire.”
Gulp.
The sound of gulping could be heard everywhere. What on earth was he trying to say that he had to scare them so much?
“Their stingers have various effects. There’s an extreme poison that instantly kills the target, and as we saw in the video, there’s also the ability to lay eggs in living things and manipulate them as hosts.”
“How atrocious…”
“The good thing is that their population is very small. A hundred at the most.”
“Thank god…”
The moment the Players showed a look of relief, Halo continued, “According to ancient books, it was like that hundreds of years ago.”
“…”
It had been about four hundred years since the first archmage established Blackfield. No one knew how many of those bees were born in the meantime.
“In addition, Blackfield is not a small area. During these hundreds of years, they must have turned the entire area into their turf. The monsters and creatures beyond the Wailing Mountains should be considered to be under the bees’ control as well.”
The situation got worse the more Halo spoke. As soon as everyone fell silent, Kim Woo-Joong asked, “How large is the crack in Blackfield?”
“We have dispatched the imperial knights and several thousands of soldiers to block it as much as possible. It’s at the size where an adult man can crawl through on his stomach.”
“It’s small.”
“Yes. The bees are three times the size of an adult male, so they can’t cross over it. The man in the video is believed to have crawled into Blackfield out of curiosity, and he barely managed to survive.”
“Then how can we seal the crack?”
“…”
Despite having answered all the questions so far, Halo’s mouth was tightly shut this time. He closed his eyes with an expression that looked like the end times had arrived.
“I don’t know.”
“…?!”
“That’s the objective in the commission given to all of you. Find a way to stop the crack from spreading, and seal it.”
Based on common sense, there was no way there was a method that the imperial family hadn’t done yet. However, there was still one thing they hadn’t done so far.
“They’ve done everything but go inside Blackfield…”
It was going into the unknown.