Light of Arad: Forerunner

Chapter 15

In the game *Dungeon & Fighter*, all characters under one account shared cube fragments, so there was nothing to worry about.

This wasn’t a concern for Jinseong, who possessed not only colorless cube fragments but also tens of thousands of multicolored ones.

“Kyaaaaa-!”

“Hey, why are you guys so mad? It’s not like I only have this one combo-.”

For Jinseong, this was such a basic aspect that it had become a blind spot.

He was momentarily flustered when something unexpected tripped him up, but it was only for a moment.

“!”

*Pachuchut───…….*

Wielding his weapon infused with dark energy with both hands, Jinseong shouted.

Although the skill combo, which he had planned to use as his mainstay, had been unintentionally sealed, Jinseong didn’t just have a combo corresponding to the A-key.

“-!”

After executing , he quickly changed the direction of the sword’s downward slash and swung it upwards.

The energy, which surged from the floor of the Sky Castle like a kind of sword aura, pushed back the hordes of Minius and Mirkius.

And Jinseong wasn’t one to just watch the staggering monsters.

He immediately linked the attack with a jumping strike technique he had previously used in ‘Dungeon: Dark Thunderland.’

“, -.”

Slashing through their sides as he passed by and then turning back to perform a triple stab from the rear.

Then came the fifth and main skill of the second combo.

Jinseong drew his sword back, fully extending it behind him, and swung it down while shouting.

“-!”

Though similar to in that it was a downward strike, it wasn’t just about cutting the enemy with the sword.

The real attack was the sword aura that shot out from the blade.

The crescent-shaped sword aura, scraping along the floor of the Sky Castle, was enough to shred the bodies of all the Minius and Mirkius.

“Phew…….”

Jinseong exhaled.

How many more floors had he climbed since encountering the Dragonkin?

The breath he released wasn’t just because he had secured a safe turn.

“……There’s nothing.”

It was due to the natural dissatisfaction he felt as he looked around.

Despite having defeated quite a number of monsters, all he could see were their corpses.

‘I can understand the lack of gold. If this is reality, it makes sense that monsters carrying money is just a game setting. But… shouldn’t there at least be items sealed with magic or holy relics? Could it be that when I’m hunting alone, nothing drops at all?’

It wasn’t that Jinseong was a hardcore *Dungeon & Fighter* player.

The equipment he was still wearing was at the level given automatically when creating a character.

‘This is troublesome. The more diverse the monsters become, the more patterns I have to pay attention to. I need to defeat them as quickly as possible, but… surely they’re not expecting me to tear off parts of monster corpses to use, right?’

This wasn’t even about worrying about facing a boss monster in the distant future.

Compared to the large and slow Dragonkin, other monsters had begun to appear, and small dragon-shaped monsters flapping their wings started to surround Jinseong.

He realized that even just the increase in the number of these so-called “trash mobs” was becoming a burden.

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Though they were small dragons, their size was comparable to that of large birds of prey.

“Still, it’s better than before. Back in the days of running around Sky Castle, statues were spewing fire and ice like crazy-.”

Even as he tried to manage his tension by finding a positive side, Jinseong knew it wasn’t easy.

“Kiiiieeeek!”

“Kkiik, kkiik, kkiik-!”

The sound of their wings flapping to support their large bodies, combined with their incessant wailing, was overwhelming.

“!”

To deal with the surrounding small dragons, Jinseong immediately used a skill.

His plan was to infiltrate the gaps left by the small dragons with a combo and then sweep the monsters with a combo, including , to the left and right…

*Shiiiiiit-!*

But Jinseong quickly realized that distinguishing the sound of wind tearing amidst the chaotic noise wasn’t easy.

“Ugh!”

As soon as he felt something crash into his back, Jinseong grimaced in pain.

‘What the-. It’s like getting hit by someone on a bicycle, gah-.’

However, he couldn’t just wallow in pain.

Despite the frown on his face and his disrupted posture, Jinseong instinctively swung his weapon behind him to push the enemy away.

*Kaang……*

But all he heard was an absurdly loud grinding noise.

Jinseong quickly turned around to check.

The monster that had blocked his sword with a hard skull, despite its scales being shattered and its skin torn, wasn’t a boss monster.

It was a blue baby dragon, Rus Cerimalion.

“Stuck? Ugh, dragon heads are this tough-…… Come to think of it, I remember this pattern being super annoying when I used to run Sky Castle.”

His level 1 weapon couldn’t even penetrate its skull, so the headbutt attack, accelerated by its flight, was beyond imagination.

While Jinseong secured a safe distance with , he observed his surroundings.

The wide formation of baby dragons wasn’t just an instinctual encirclement but a strategic positioning to maximize their high-speed headbutt attack.

‘Just as I thought……. I knew it when I got scratched by Lugharru. It was going to be like this.’

What worried Jinseong most was the memory of how the male Ranger had dealt with monsters before Jinseong possessed him.

‘The pain is too severe. It hurts more than I thought.’

Even though he was wearing the 1st level armor called “Worn Ring Mail,” Jinseong wondered if it wouldn’t hurt even if he were equipped with high-level armor.

He shook his head.

‘There’s no way.’

This situation meant only one thing.

Jinseong would have to show a different playstyle than other *Dungeon & Fighter* Dark Knight players.

Enduring hits while dealing massive damage with combos would be virtually impossible.

He would have to create his own combos, prioritizing his survival and minimizing the pain over dealing damage.

‘So in the end-.’

Deal damage without getting hit as a Dark Knight?

That left only two options.

‘-The advantage of being a Dark Knight disappears entirely! I’ll be just a Dark Knight who’s merely dodging attacks!’

Would he become a glass cannon that shatters when hit while delivering strong close-range damage?

Or a slingshot, ineffective at hitting targets and just flitting around the enemy?

There were jobs that, despite being close-range, could quickly evade enemy attacks while dealing massive damage thanks to numerous evasion and movement skills.

There were also jobs that converted all the pain into attack power, even possessing skills that made them virtually invincible for a significant time.

There were even long-range jobs with cannon-like attack power and range.

And now, all of that was irrelevant to Jinseong.

“Kkiik?”

“Die first! , , -!”

Perhaps from the moment he possessed the Dark Knight, Jinseong had this premonition and instinctively yearned for other jobs with more evasive and survival skills.

Jinseong could only pour out his growing frustration on the monsters of ‘Dungeon: Tower of the Dragonkin.’

How many monsters had he killed?

How many times had he experienced his body being enveloped in a shimmering golden light?

“Stop!”

“Huh?”

“Freeze, if you move, you will be considered an enemy!”

As he continued to slay monsters while climbing the Sky Castle, Jinseong finally realized it.

That the De Los Empire wasn’t just guarding the entrance to the Sky Castle.

While Jinseong was momentarily confused by the encounter with their forward base in the midsection of the castle,

Someone pushed through the lower-ranking knights and approached him.

“Who are you? How did you get to the Sky Castle?”

Jinseong immediately recognized the man holding a long spear threateningly.

‘……Hartz. Hartz von Kruger.’

Thus, he had to suppress a strangely complex feeling.

‘Hah! Tsu! Hartz! The main character……!’

Perhaps the only NPC in *Dungeon & Fighter* history to be uniquely patched.

* * *

Officially, he was the vice-captain of the De Los Empire’s Iron Wolf Knights, but that wasn’t why he was famous.

‘Before the patch… if you asked players to name the most memorable NPCs, Hartz would have been near the top for sure.’

Looking at Hartz’s face brought back memories for Jinseong, but now wasn’t the time for that.

“If you don’t answer, you’ll be considered an enemy of the Empire-.”

“No, I’m not an enemy! I got a pass from Roger Levin. I’m an investigator.”

Jinseong had anticipated a situation like this.

As a player, he had encountered NPCs who received passes from Roger Levin during scenario quests, so if he met relevant figures in Sky Castle, he planned to bluff his way through.

Entering Sky Castle implied passing through the guards at the entrance, so Jinseong thought this excuse would work.

It would have likely worked with most NPCs.

“Roger Levin? Show it to me, I’ll confirm.”

But not with the overly meticulous NPC, Hartz.

Although his annoying personality or disdain for people was patched out, his nitpicky, rule-abiding nature remained.

“Uh… where did I put it….”

Jinseong moved slowly, pretending to search his body while hiding his face.

Of course, he couldn’t find a pass that didn’t exist.

Noticing the wrinkles forming on Hartz’s brow and sensing the tension, he also noticed the lower-ranking knights of the Iron Wolf Knights subtly moving to surround him.

‘Ugh, Hartz and I really don’t get along.’

In the end, Jinseong had to make a choice.

After pulling something out of his [Inventory],

‘From then until now!’

He threw them to the ground.

The first item hit the ground with a clink.

“-What!?”

“W-what is-.”

The glass bottle shattered, scattering a black liquid on the floor of the Sky Castle.

Before the NPCs could even realize it was ‘oil,’ Jinseong had already thrown another item.

───────────!

With a loud explosion, flames suddenly erupted.

“Krragh!? Explosion-.”

“F-fire! Fire!”

“What the hell, damn it, a bomb-. Hey! Over there!”

Though the bomb didn’t directly affect the Iron Wolf Knights, the flames mixed with the oil were nothing to scoff at.

Flames roared, quickly forming a barrier between Jinseong and the knights.

“Wait, over there-. Where did he go?! Damn it! That bastard!”

Hartz called out to Jinseong even as he recoiled from the heat.

Or at least, he tried to.

By the time Hartz realized Jinseong was already far away, all he could do was curse.

A faint smile appeared on Jinseong’s face as he descended the stairs.

‘Hehe, it might be considered junk these days, but this used to be a well-used item. It was a bit pricey, though.’

The combination of the ‘Oil Flask,’ which he had bought for 300 gold at the Moonlight Tavern, and the ‘Flame Bomb,’ which cost 510 gold, produced results far exceeding his expectations.

“Chase him! Chase that-.”

“V-Vice-Captain! The fire is spreading! The fire is spreading along with the oil!”

“-Chase…… Damn it, put out the fire first!”

Hearing the commotion behind him, Jinseong was certain.

The Iron Wolf Knights would have to deal with the fire in the midsection of the Sky Castle first, so they wouldn’t be able to chase him.

Of course, Jinseong couldn’t just laugh in relief.

‘Tch, I guess I should consider the path of climbing up alone blocked. So now-. Huh?!’

As he descended a few more floors, collecting his thoughts, Jinseong hurriedly hid.

He had sensed someone coming up to the floor he was on from the opposite side.

Seria and the female fighter.

The NPCs accompanying them: Aganzo and Van Balschut.

And even Lenny.

Seeing them, Jinseong thought,

‘As expected, Lenny is still…’

He didn’t know where or how things had changed, but it was clear that the ‘corrupted’ main scenario quest was starting.

Jinseong had to swallow hard.