Chapter 93

First, I decided to do the newly added quest.

Leore isn’t a dumb company, and if there were any issues with the current situation, they would’ve already posted a notice and restarted the server for maintenance.

The reason they’re not doing that is because this situation was created by Leore.

Leore always marks where to go for quests if there’s a main quest left.

This time, there was none, so I didn’t know where to get the quest. But then I noticed I had a new mail.

When I opened it, it wasn’t from a Leore friend but from a guild in Ardea, the country I’m currently in.

As I opened the mail, a letter appeared in front of me. I tore it open, and as soon as I checked the contents, a quest window popped up.

The quest, written in simple sentences, asked me to come to the guild immediately.

It was a quest format I’d never seen before.

In Leore, quests are usually categorized as main quests, sub-quests, or major quests, but this time it was a mandatory quest.

Other users seemed to have noticed the quest too, as they started informing each other and heading toward the guild.

“Let’s go for server integration!”

Even running to the guild took some time because Ardea’s capital city is huge. But guess what? I have something special.

I have a flying mount, which is extremely rare in Leore.

I opened the settings and clicked on the Ancient Dragon I received from a recent competition. A massive Ancient Dragon was summoned from the sky.

It looked similar to the Ancient Dragon from a monster hunt I did before, but this one was way cooler. As soon as it appeared, I jumped on it.

“Wow… a flying mount. Amazing.”

“Arang, you’re so cool!!!”

The Ancient Dragon was so huge that it instantly drew everyone’s attention.

A sleek black Ancient Dragon, a pretty girl, and the title of Korea’s first WFK.

I waved at the users staring at me and was about to fly quickly to the guild on my dragon when…

“Whoa, is that also a flying mount?”

“No way, it’s that big? Wow, that one’s way cooler!”

“Does the size difference really change the vibe that much?”

A massive dragon flew over me. The problem was, it was the same type of flying mount as mine. Meaning, it belonged to someone who participated in the same event competition as me.

Okay. If it ended here, I wouldn’t have cared. But the Ancient Dragon that flew over me was clearly much bigger than mine.

Almost twice the size.

Even I could tell that the dragon that just flew by was way cooler, more intimidating, and more impressive than mine. Compared to it, mine looked like a baby dragon.

I hadn’t ridden many mounts before, and while I’d seen flying mounts, this was my first time owning one, so I didn’t realize the difference.

“Wait, does Leore adjust mount size based on the user’s physique…?”

Thinking about it, equipment and costumes all adjust to the user’s physique. So, mounts probably do too.

Looking at the dragon I was riding, it was indeed a baby dragon compared to the one that flew by.

Why does my dragon have to be a baby…!?

This needs to be fixed.

==

The guild building, though smaller than the king’s castle in the capital, is the second-largest building.

Countless users come and go, and since most quests—daily, weekly, and more—happen here, it’s built to be grand and impressive.

The quest starting point was immediately visible.

Even at 4 AM, people were gathered in one spot. In Leore, when too many people gather in one place, they become ghostly and translucent to avoid physical collisions.

That’s why, even in a crowd, you can do your thing without any discomfort.

I got off my dragon and went to accept the quest.

The quest giver was none other than the Guild Master NPC. Among Leore’s NPCs, the Guild Master always ranks in the top 10 in popularity.

When I first reached max level and came here, I expected the Guild Master to be a tall, middle-aged man with a commanding presence. But I was wrong.

The Guild Master is a female elf.

With a large chest, a voluptuous figure, and a curvaceous body, she’s not your typical skinny elf.

Even though Leore is popular worldwide, it doesn’t have many female players.

Meaning, the male-to-female ratio is higher, which is why the Guild Master NPC is so popular.

“Hello.”

“Welcome, Arang.”

As soon as I greeted her, the quest acceptance sound played, and all the surrounding users disappeared.

‘Straight into story mode, huh?’

The quest continued from the last Abyss Raid.

After defeating the maggot boss, we discovered a massive sinkhole leading to the Abyss Zone, where we raided and defeated the monsters.

This time, after achieving Korea’s and the world’s first WFK in the Abyss Raid, I defeated the final boss, a Cordyceps-themed monster.

Now, the remaining sub-quests involve clearing out the remaining monsters in the Abyss Zone.

“The adventurer party discovered an anomaly while exploring the Abyss Zone.”

“An anomaly?”

“Yes. They said it felt like the space was breaking apart.”

“The space is breaking apart…!”

This is clearly a server integration quest.

Instead of just merging servers, they’re telling a story through quests to explain the server integration.

As soon as the conversation with the Guild Master ended, I headed to the quest’s designated area.

The Abyss Zone, with its vast sky visible even underground, always leaves me in awe.

It’s a shame that I’ll have fewer reasons to come here after the next season’s update.

When I arrived at the quest area, the already majestic Abyss Zone became even more breathtaking.

The beautiful sky, like something out of space, and the mirror-like water reflecting it made me go “wow” just by looking. But the anomaly in front of me surpassed even that.

The atmosphere alone felt like a massive pressure weighing down on my entire body.

The sky, seemingly shattered, looked like someone had smashed a beautiful piece of glass with a hammer.

The already space-like sky, now broken, reflected countless stars, creating a dazzling light.

“Wow… this is insane…”

I couldn’t help but marvel at the scenery in front of me.

I’m sure I’ll never see anything more stunning in my life.

I can’t even imagine how they designed or created this.

The developers’ wrists must be completely gone by now.

“Alright! Let’s clear this quest!”

After admiring the sky for a while, I checked the quest range on the mini-map and started exploring.

“Huh? What’s this?”

I leaned closer to the line in front of me.

I tried to touch it, but my hand just passed through.

“Is this the same as the broken sky above?”

The anomaly that was only in the sky now appeared right in front of me. Trying to touch it felt like touching a cracked phone screen.

It’s really annoying.

*Ding.*

The quest completion sound played, and another quest window appeared.

[The situation is more serious than expected. You must report the current situation to the Guild Master immediately.]

As I was about to use a return scroll to teleport back to Ardea, a clear, crisp sound rang out.

*Clang!*

Right behind me.

I turned around and saw that the crack in space had now turned into a massive hole, pulling me in.

“Uh oh?”

I tried to move away, but the pulling force was stronger than I expected.

This must be part of the story, so I stopped resisting and let myself get sucked into the hole.

Inside the broken space, it was pitch black, with no light at all. And in front of me was a woman.

“This is insane. What is this?”

The woman’s appearance was like an NPC designed to hit all my preferences.

A female NPC wearing a black dress that matched the dark space.

She had a slight smile, her eyes closed, looking like a goddess. Her pure white hair, contrasting with the black dress, flowed past her waist.

If it ended there, she’d just be another NPC, but her dress was incredibly alluring.

Her ample chest was exposed, her curvy thighs visible through the dress, and her stockings with a garter belt peeked out, setting my heart on fire.

And finally, those black wings.

They proved that the NPC in front of me wasn’t ordinary.

An NPC that perfectly matched my taste. The problem was, her name was [???] and it was in red.

Meaning, she’s an enemy.