Golden City Arcana
Kim Seo-yeon's face, sitting alone in the cafe, was reddened with irritation.
'Seriously, I don't know what he's thinking.'
It had been like that from the start.
They were sitting facing each other, but it felt like his soul was somewhere else.
Unlike before, when he'd focus only on her completely, Park Hyun-myung now felt like he wasn't really listening to what she said.
'He even cut his hair.'
She had cut her hair too, from long to a bob. She'd spent two hours over what outfit suited her. But he hadn't mentioned it at all.
A drastic makeover, there was no way he hadn't noticed.
-You don't look interested?
-Can I get up now?
On top of that he even declared he was leaving before her.
It wasn't some casual remark. He wasn't just pretending to stand. He really pushed back his chair to go out.
An attitude she'd never, ever seen from the old Park Hyun-myung.
Even the look in his eyes as he watched her held no emotion.
It felt like he was looking at a completely different person.
'It's not like we've never broken up before, right?'
In five years of dating, they'd broken up more than five times. But even after breaking up, he had always held on to her.
This time was different.
She had run a long distance to see him in person, yet he was cold to the bone.
It had never been like this.
'How can he do that with me right in front of him?'
Fine. She could say she understood everything above somehow.
Because it was true she'd said harsh things when they broke up.
What made her angriest was that, with her right there, he'd turned his eyes to another woman.
-There is absolutely, no relationship between us.
With her sitting right there, he denied it more strongly than anyone.
Absolutely. That there was absolutely nothing between them.
He gave her his number, took her business card, even set a date. Brazenly, right in front of Seo-yeon.
"Park Hyun-myung, of all people······."
Honestly, if Kim Hana had been ugly, she wouldn't have cared at all. She'd have snorted and told them to have fun.
But Kim Hana was being revered on YouTube as "the Divine of Justice."
Divine of Justice. Apparently it meant a righteous goddess.
What a joke. Why would a woman like that date Park Hyun-myung unless she was desperate? They'd definitely just have one coffee and split.
Park Hyun-myung had nothing going for him.
His family wasn't rich, he didn't have a decent job, and it wasn't like he was handsome or tall.
Did he have a great body, or a sense of humor that made people laugh?
Outside of working and going on dates, he was basically a shut-in who stayed home gaming all day. Who would like a guy like that? Only her, that's who, and that was why she dated him.
Bzzt—!
At that moment her phone rang.
The name saved on-screen was "Jinwoo Oppa."
Seeing it, Kim Seo-yeon smiled.
A man who contrasted Park Hyun-myung by 180 degrees, everything about him was the opposite.
He wasn't an office worker, but he ran a big business so he had money, he was handsome and tall, with a good body, tons of humor, and active, there was nothing to criticize.
Except for one thing.
"Hello? Jinwoo Oppa? What? You want me to forgive you? You don't have another secret you're hiding from me, right? You hid the fact you could 'transform,' how am I supposed to trust you? You felt like a completely different person and it scared me so much. You won't do it again? Hm, fine. This is the last time. If you do it one more time, it's really over, over. So come pick me up. The address here is······."
***
"Yo, our station's supreme Kim Won, I heard you caused trouble again?"
"··· It's Kim Hana. Please don't call me Kim Won."
Kim Hana let out a deep sigh and flopped into her seat.
She was totally drained from going in and out of the police station.
One visit should've been enough, but they said they had more to ask, and called her in again right at work the next morning.
Seo Jung-ah, sitting beside her, turned her chair sideways and asked,
"So who was it this time?"
"The director of a plastic surgery clinic."
"He must see tons of beauties, why'd he do something like that?"
"No idea, not my problem."
"Fair. Our Kim Won is a natural beauty, after all."
"Don't talk to me. I feel like I'm gonna die."
She really felt like dying.
She'd barely gotten to enjoy being hired full-time.
After "that incident," her workload at the station had increased tenfold.
"The manager left on a business trip and dumped this on you?"
"What? Ah······."
Receiving the file folder, Kim Hana closed her eyes and sighed heavily.
"Wasn't this person 'Gracia' an American? Why is this on me?"
It was a dossier about the person known as Gracia.
A superhuman hero who, the moment he appeared, split a mountain and blew away ten monsters at once.
The footage was insane. It looked so unreal you'd think it was a movie. The part where he fused thousands, tens of thousands of sword-shaped flashes into one and fired it off was especially breathtaking.
Monsters that guns and bombs couldn't stop, taken down in a single strike.
So why was someone like that suddenly in Korea?
"They said he wants to meet you."
"Me? Why?"
"Maybe he fell for you at first sight."
"Stop joking."
"I don't know. Anyway, because of that it's a huge mess. Even the U.S. is watching, so they say it'll be treated like a state visit, at least."
"······ I really don't want to do this."
There was no way someone freshly hired full-time like her could interview a figure this huge.
The most watched person in the world right now.
There were rumors everywhere that even other Dimension Warriors respected Gracia.
The final boss dropping in and saying he wanted to see her.
"Then what about that guy, your boyfriend?"
Seo Jung-ah tilted her chin toward a photo on Kim Hana's desk.
In the photo was a man.
More precisely, the man's back.
A warrior with a solid, muscular build. Kim Hana had taken the picture herself, capturing the back view of the man who subdued a monster in an instant and vanished.
Kim Hana puckered her lips and snapped at Seo Jung-ah,
"He's not my boyfriend. He's more like a good-luck charm."
After that day, everything went well. To Kim Hana, that man was practically a luck-bringing amulet.
She didn't know his name, where he lived, anything, all she had left was that one photo, but that was fine.
"That good-luck charm sure looked like you were kissing and cuddling him every day."
"No, it was dusty so I wiped it down, why make it sound like that?"
Seo Jung-ah chuckled.
Kim Hana was a junior with real bite.
"The entertainment reporters invited me out for drinks tonight, you in?"
"I've got plans."
"With a guy?"
"Yes."
"Oh wow. The guys' drinks are gonna taste sweet tonight, sweet as can be."
Seo Jung-ah shook her head like she genuinely couldn't believe it.
But she was curious, too. Kim Hana had turned down countless love calls without exception, so why a dinner date with a man all of a sudden?
Whatever. Kim Hana focused on her work.
If she didn't want to get buried alive, she had to clear what she could while she still had the mind for it.
***
"Kill the traitor!"
"Kill that wicked snake princess!"
When I opened my eyes, Isabella stood there covered in blood.
Corpses lay scattered around. All of them were Faisalmer's soldiers.
The battle was still raging.
When I turned my head to look behind me, the Warp was active.
Even though she could have crossed long ago, Isabella had kept her trust with me.
'The Queen's Royal Guard.'
A pursuit squad that included Great Warriors.
If we'd been even a little late, we'd have ended up on the road to the underworld.
"Is your 'communication with the stars' finished?"
"Yeah."
The one saving grace was that the Queen herself wasn't visible.
If the Queen had come out personally, even Isabella wouldn't have been able to hold on for long.
It was sheer luck.
But we couldn't rely on luck forever.
"I'll open a path."
Dozens of warriors blocked the route to the Warp.
Isabella was exhausted to her limits as well.
[Lv.6]
The Great Warriors' levels were nearly 6.
If Isabella had been in normal condition, killing them wouldn't have been hard, but she had already endured this state for about half a day.
She'd managed to hold out, indefinitely, while protecting someone.
Asking her to carve us a way through now would've been shameless.
'Star Scratch.'
The main offensive skill I gained after becoming a Successor of Stars.
The skill I hadn't used even once finally activated.
<
<
Countless starlights seeped into my fists. Then, as if I'd put on claws made of starlight, sharp blades sprouted over my knuckles.
For a moment, I felt like Wolverine.
Star Scratch was a wide-area skill that, true to its name, could even rake through stars. I could use it like this, sure, but the duration was too short for that.
"Kill the wicked traitor and the faithless heretic!"
"It is the will of our great Queen!"
The wicked traitor was Isabella, and the faithless heretic was obviously me.
I threw my fist with all my strength toward the warriors blocking the path to the Warp.
And then—
KWAHHHHHHH—!
WHOOOOSH—!
An explosion loud enough to hurt my eardrums erupted, and a pillar of fire shot up. Except it wasn't real fire, it was made of starlight.
The Great Warriors inside the starlight pillar were all vaporized.
"······."
"Go."
I said to Isabella, who was staring at the star-pillar speechless.
Once fired, it became a pillar of stars that lasted for 41 seconds.
Star Scratch burned all star power at once, and for its duration it prevented intrusion over a wide area and annihilated anything that tried.
A true absolute domain.
'Far beyond what I imagined.'
Honestly, I was shocked.
Even if it was a single-use burst, for a level 1 skill this effect was insane.
I couldn't even guess how terrifying it would become once I hit level 10 and it evolved.
"Follow me. Those who are blessed can cross this 'pillar of stars.'"
When I crossed first, Isabella swallowed hard and stepped through the pillar of stars.
But the other warriors couldn't cross it and were vaporized down to the bone.
Only after more than ten of them died did they finally abandon the pursuit.
Now all that remained was to cross the Warp.
Isabella's eyes began to tremble violently as she looked at the active Warp.
"Isabella. Even now, if you want to go back, I won't stop you."
Freedom she'd dreamed of for so long.
She had always prayed and wished to cross the Warp and head to another continent.
But when she was about to leave the desert where she'd lived her whole life, every emotion crashed into her at once.
Still, even so—
"··· No."
"Then, this is the moment of liberation. Be glad."
"Yes."
Isabella chose freedom.
With an awkward smile.
"'Warp' has been activated."
"The Warp at the 'Starting Point' is free."
"Isabella's 'Limit Curse' is being nullified by 'Star's Blessing.'"
"From the 'Kaltzman Desert,' there are 12 connected cities you can Warp to."
"You have selected 'Arcana.'"
"Beginning Warp."
***
"You have Warped out of the 'Kaltzman Desert' to the 'Central Continent.'"
"Welcome to the Golden City 'Arcana.'"
"Tip : 'Arcana' is a city where materialism has reached its extreme. Without gold on the level of a great tycoon, we recommend you not even set foot here."
The moment we crossed the Warp, countless people came into view.
People wearing golden turbans, riding in golden carriages, moving about.
The next Warp location connected to the Kaltzman Desert was the great city, Arcana.
'One of the major cities linked to the Starting Point.'
Every Starting Point is connected to multiple cities.
Arcana was the richest of them all.
'And a place the Queen can never follow into.'
The Queen's pursuit squad wouldn't give up. She might even come herself to kill Isabella and me.
But Arcana was a city that had an exceptionally bad relationship with the desert city of Faisalmer.
If the Queen and her guard set foot here, it would be enough to spark a war on the spot.
So the fact that a Warp route still existed between them was ironic.
"The city is······ incredibly dazzling."
Isabella looked around in a daze.
She was overwhelmed by the towering buildings and foreign architecture.
She'd never been to any city outside the desert, so it was only natural.
"In Arcana, gold makes everything possible."
"I did bring some gold."
Isabella pulled out a leather pouch.
Judging by the weight, about 300 gold.
It was what she'd scraped together for the sake of reaching the Central Continent.
"With 300 gold, you'll be done after one night of food and lodging."
It was plenty of money for beginners, but in Arcana it wouldn't even buy a crust.
Isabella spoke, face full of disbelief.
"T-that can't be. In the desert, with 300 gold you can buy ten slaves······."
That's because the Kaltzman Desert is a Starting Point.
To begin with, the desert runs on barter. Slaves you can buy with gold there are basically only hunting slaves.
"Look over there."
I stretched out a hand and pointed to the sign in front of a bakery.
"Bread······ one loaf is 50 gold?"
"It's made with the finest wheat offered to a king. That's why they're advertising that even 50 gold is cheap."
"I'll sell my dagger."
A dagger set with a gemstone. If she sold it, she'd get tens of thousands of gold.
Her willingness to even sell her beloved blade was admirable, but I shook my head.
"No need. We'll multiply that 300 gold."
"··· Multiply it? You mean you're going to do business with this money?"
"A gambling hall."
"······ What?"
Blink, blink. Isabella looked at me as if she'd misheard.
I repeated myself.
"We're going to a gambling hall."
"W-what do you mean······?"
Isabella stared in shock.
To multiply money by gambling, she'd have to be insane!
More than that, a Star Bearer, the symbol of piety, gambling?
That was exactly what her eyes were saying.
But I had something to rely on.
[Golden Grace].
One of the thirteen hidden traits!
"I'm pretty lucky, so don't worry."
"······."
Isabella glanced at me with eyes that said she was worried to death.