Chapter 4: Underground Arena (3)
It happened 11 years ago.
Back when I had only been playing Lost Elder for a year—a total newbie.
I received a quest from an NPC.
『…Undying One, please listen to our plea. You’re the only hero who can bear this burden.』
Ding—!
[A new quest has been registered.]
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【Quest List】
-
NEW! Assassinate “Karayan, Leader of the Ruins Syndicate.”
━━━━━━━━━━━━
It was a request to assassinate Karayan, the leader of the Ruins Syndicate.
“Oh, a new quest.”
At the time, I didn’t really know what kind of guild the Ruins Syndicate was.
All I had was the scant bit of information that they ran the underground arena.
Fueled partly by a desire for revenge after dying in the tutorial, I casually embarked on a journey to assassinate Karayan.
“Damn it… Why is this so hard?”
But unlike my lighthearted start, the difficulty of the mission was absurdly high.
I mentioned it before: the underground arena is a place you can’t escape by any means.
That also meant it was nearly impossible to infiltrate.
Getting past the high-level guards stationed everywhere and reaching Karayan, who was hiding in the arena’s top floor, was no easy feat.
“Fine. Let’s see who wins.”
Click, click—.
Driven by stubbornness, I refused to give up.
After hundreds of attempts, I finally managed to sneak into a critical facility.
Eventually, I faced the final boss of the assassination quest—Shadow Knight Loren—and spent a long time analyzing his patterns and mechanics.
After endless effort…
Thud!
…I killed Shadow Knight Loren and plunged my sword into Karayan’s heart as he sat, masked, on his throne.
[Quest: ‘Assassinate Karayan, Leader of the Ruins Syndicate’ has been completed.]
“Haah… Finally cleared it…”
It took exactly fifteen days.
That’s how long it took me to complete the quest to kill Karayan.
Grinning at the quest completion message and reward, I felt my struggle had finally paid off.
“So, what should I do today?”
A few more days passed.
I completely forgot about Karayan.
With all the other game content to enjoy, I didn’t have a moment to think about him.
“…Huh?”
Until I saw Karayan alive and well at an illegal auction.
“What the hell? Why is he alive?”
At first, I thought it was a bug.
Otherwise, how could the NPC I killed be walking around like nothing happened?
But other players dismissed the idea of a bug.
[StrawberryLatte]: Come on, there’s no way a game as polished as RoEL has bugs.
[KongiAbom]: True that.
“…Hmm.”
They had a point.
RoEL (Realm of Eternal Legends) was a game with exceptional polish.
Anyone who played for even an hour could attest to that.
After hearing them out, I reconsidered.
Rather than writing it off as a bug, maybe this was a hidden plotline.
Click.
So I dropped my current quests.
Half-doubting, I started tracking Karayan and the Ruins Syndicate again.
“…Huh?”
Before long, I discovered something shocking.
Every time Karayan appeared in public, his build under the robe was slightly different.
…It wasn’t until years later that I learned the truth about Karayan’s “real identity.”
Yes.
Karayan usually disguised herself as a maid.
Who would suspect the leader of a criminal syndicate to be in a maid’s outfit?
A simple trick, exploiting the fact that the most hidden things are right under your nose.
But such petty deception doesn’t work on me.
After all, I had played this game for 12 years.
Shhhh—.
A chill lingered in the air of the top floor.
Everyone in the room eyed me warily.
Some even slowly reached for their waists—getting ready to draw weapons.
“…”
Every servant here was above level 60—superhuman.
Among them was Shadow Knight Loren, one of RoEL’s named NPCs.
Compared to that, I…
I glanced at my MP bar.
[MP: 0 / 1]
My mana pool was still at zero.
With only 1 point in mana regeneration, it was painfully slow to refill.
I wasn’t even holding a sword—
【Soul of the Swordmaster】
(Unavailable)
…Naturally, I couldn’t use any skills.
“…”
A high-tension moment where one misstep could get me killed.
Surrounded by high-level enemies, all I had was my pathetically weak body—with all stats averaging at 1.
And yet, I could remain calm, even cocky, for one reason:
I killed the man-slayer, Barba, in a single strike.
Sure, that was only possible thanks to the ★12 skill, 【Soul of the Swordmaster】…
But they don’t know that.
That ignorance was my weapon.
I exuded relaxed confidence, trying to appear as powerful as possible.
My expression turned emotionless, as if uninterested in the likes of them.
It’s called bluffing.
Fortunately, the act was working.
The tension in their faces proved it.
“Who are you?”
Karayan, disguised as a maid, finally spoke.
“How do you know who I really am? More importantly… why have you come to the underground arena?”
I replied without a second’s hesitation, delivering the line I’d rehearsed:
“This isn’t something to be discussed with so many ears around.”
“…Pardon?”
Karayan’s eyes widened.
“Are you asking to speak with me alone?”
I nodded silently.
The reaction was immediate.
“That’s impossible, Master!”
The man in the eagle mask—Karayan’s stand-in—stood up in alarm, voice trembling.
“You can’t be alone with him! Who knows what he’ll do—”
Chhk.
Karayan raised a hand.
At her silent command, the eagle mask man shut his mouth.
Staring at me, expression unreadable, she finally spoke again.
“My subordinate is right.”
“…”
“Speaking privately with you is dangerous—especially if you’re truly the one who killed Barba in one strike.”
Her voice had a faint tremble.
“So prove it. Show me that I’ll be safe alone with you.”
I nearly laughed.
Prove she’d be safe? What nonsense.
No matter what I said, she could simply claim not to believe me.
Of course, I do have a way to change her mind…
But I’d save that ace card for a bit later.
For now, I had to keep up the strong act.
Dominating the conversation was key.
“Prove it, huh?”
I scoffed.
Casually, so it looked natural.
“I believe I’ve already proven myself enough.”
“…What?”
“Are you deaf?”
Karayan frowned slightly, confused.
I continued in a cold, detached voice.
“If I wanted to harm you, I would’ve already killed everyone here.”
“……!”
“……!”
Flinch—
As soon as the words left my mouth, everyone in the room visibly stiffened.
The atmosphere turned suffocating.
Looks like it worked.
Of course, it was a bluff.
In my current state, I couldn’t even beat Karayan, let alone Shadow Knight Loren.
But as I said—they don’t know that.
And even if it’s all talk…
If the speaker is the one who killed Barba in one blow—
“…”
“…”
“…”
…No one could afford to ignore such a threat.
That should be enough flexing for now.
With the momentum firmly in my hands, it was time to pull out my hidden card.
Karayan.
According to the story, she had long been searching for someone.
As a child—drifting through uncharted lands filled with monsters—she and her father were once on the brink of death.
A robed traveler appeared and saved them.
Slash—!
The beast threatening them was cut down in one blow.
『You alright, little miss?』
『Ah… ahh…』
That memory was seared into her young mind.
Since then, she had vowed to find and repay her mysterious savior.
But that was no easy feat.
His face had been hidden, and even his voice had faded over the years.
Of course, I’m not her savior.
But…
Why not pretend to be?
“Leah.”
“…!”
“Leah de Karayan.”
Flinch—
Karayan’s eyes flew wide.
She was visibly shaken—a stark contrast to her earlier calm.
“H-How do you know my name…?”
Leah de Karayan.
That was her full name.
Only a few in the world knew it.
Karayan herself.
Her parents.
Her mysterious savior.
And lastly—
『My name isn’t “little miss,” mister.』
『It’s Leah de Karayan.』
『I may be a worthless girl wandering the frontier now, but ten years from now, I’ll rule this world.』
『So if you ever need help, come find me. I’ll repay my debt.』
…I had played the game for 12 years.
Of course I knew her full name.
“Think about it, Karayan.”
“…”
“Why would the one who once saved you and your father now come to harm you?”
Exactly.
I wasn’t her savior.
But there was no rule saying I couldn’t pretend to be.
And with no consequences to fear…
According to the original story, the person she was searching for was already dead by this point.
There was no downside to impersonating him.
Sorry, old man…
…I was going to take credit for what he did.
Dragged into this game world against my will, I was going to survive by any means necessary.
