MDPS 29

 Chapter 29

My Dark History Is Too Strong 
The Arena of Twilight (1)

Go In-su was the brightest gem of an adventurer I had ever seen since the Cataclysm.

Yesterday’s incident at the room café was nothing short of astonishing.

– Hyung, I studied a bit on my own.
– And?
– Looking carefully, the summoned beasts of the Legend Seven are designed to counter one another.
– Right. Each summon has its own weakness.
– But I found ways to cover those weaknesses! Using weapon set effects and artifacts, we can not only make up for weaknesses, but also eliminate them entirely. But rather than erasing weaknesses, I think it’s better to strengthen their strengths so the weaknesses never get exposed in the first place!

Damn. This kid already figured that out?

Ever since the Cataclysm, all adventurers have been obsessed with the “Gale” set, which boosts speed.

But there are summons like Hertia that don’t need speed at all.
Or ones like Iron, whose potential shines much brighter when combined with artifacts.

Most adventurers don’t know this.
Or more precisely—they don’t even try to know.

They just assume the information released by big guilds or the government is the answer.

By blindly following “official strategies,” they’ve lost the ability to think for themselves.

But Go In-su was different.
He judged with his own head, backed by solid reasoning.
He had the essential quality of a true deck maker—the ability to read the meta.

“…Ah… this person is…”

Well, Son Tae-ha in front of me looked completely flustered.
Understandable—it’s hard to believe, especially since the kid’s so young.

“In-su will be personally taught by me. I’ve already taught him quite a lot.”
“I see… Then, has he awakened as an adventurer yet?”
“Of course. In-su.”
“Yes, sir!”

Go In-su handed his adventurer registration card to Son Tae-ha.

Only then did Tae-ha nod in acknowledgment.

“Yes. Confirmed. I’ll look forward to working with you, Go In-su-nim.”
“Yes, I’ll do my best!”

They shook hands, and then Tae-ha turned back to me.
His expression hardened slightly as he spoke.

“But… are you sure about this?”
“About what?”
“The major guilds are preparing to strike back. Most likely because of the strategies we’ve been distributing. The higher we reveal floor strategies, the more severe the pressure will get.”
“Pressure. What kind?”
“Usually, they protest by cutting off strategy support, reinforcement materials, crafting resources, and refusing to sell high-grade summons, equipment, or artifacts. But that’s not the real issue.”

Tae-ha paused, took a breath, then continued quietly.

“The real issue is the upcoming boss event, ‘The Arena of Twilight.’ They’ll use any means necessary to crush you and your company there.”

* * *

Somewhere in Seoul, in a luxury hotel conference room.

There, executives from the top ten guilds of Korea had gathered.

The host of this meeting was none other than Deathside Guild’s master, Seon Seong-tae.

And the reason he summoned them all—was me.

“First, I thank everyone for making the time to be here. Since we’re all busy, let’s get straight to the point.”

Guild master Seon Seong-tae projected a screen.

“As you can see on this graph, major guilds have been suffering losses lately.”

At his words, the guild masters shifted uncomfortably.

“Ever since the Association released revised strategies for the lower floors, sales of high-grade summons, equipment, and materials have sharply declined.”

Everyone silently agreed.

The once best-selling Gale set—both its completed products and crafting materials—had started falling in price.

This happened right after a “new strategy” was released that didn’t require those items.

“Worse, I hear Ascend is about to release their next strategy. Supposedly, it allows for far wider summon combinations.”
“Tch. How pathetic. To cling to unproven information like that…”

Sighs filled the room.

To think people were blindly trusting the strategy of some rookie barely playing around the 50th floor.

Being swayed by a no-name upstart was simply disgraceful.

“That’s exactly it! Verification, credibility! That’s where we’ll strike back.”

Seong-tae switched the slide.

[The Arena of Twilight]

“As you all know, the Arena of Twilight is a boss-raid style event that takes place before major updates. If we fail to clear it in time, it causes a dungeon break.”

Because of its importance, every guild in the country participates in this event.

As a result, it also became a kind of “show” where guilds displayed their prowess.

“This time, we’ll crush their arrogance during the Arena of Twilight. If we expose Ascend Management and that adventurer as nothing but smooth-tongued frauds—”

Seong-tae paused, meeting the eyes of every guild leader.

“Then they won’t be able to act out any further. Their strategies will lose credibility. That’s why I propose we share full information for the Arena of Twilight.”

The screen turned off, and Seong-tae sat down.

The guild masters began pondering his proposal.

It wasn’t a decisive blow to kill Ascend, but the idea of branding them as “all talk, no substance” was tempting.

Besides, it wasn’t illegal, so there was no risk to them.

But among them, one person—Lightbringer Guild’s master, Yoon Hae-jun—smiled faintly.

“If Ascend is a wave we can’t stop, wouldn’t it be better to cooperate with them instead?”

Seong-tae exploded.

“What? Cooperate with those scammers?! You’re saying we should accept that brat lording over us?”
“In the end, we all rely on information from abroad anyway. Wouldn’t it be better to align with a domestic company we can actually talk to?”
“Don’t be ridiculous! Maybe Lightbringer wants to cover for Ascend since you’re in the same circle, but the rest of us don’t! This could harm guild management!”

Yoon Hae-jun let out a deep sigh.

“Very well. If the other nine decide, Lightbringer will follow. Since I’ve made my stance clear, I’ll be leaving now.”
“Wait! Master Yoon—!”

But Yoon Hae-jun ignored him and walked out.

Seong-tae clicked his tongue in irritation.

‘That arrogant bastard.’

Still, he suppressed his anger.

After all, to crush Ascend, they needed the information Lightbringer held.

‘This is only the beginning. To uphold His honor, I’ll do whatever it takes.’

* * *

Once Son Tae-ha and Go In-su left to finalize contracts, I was alone in the office.

I browsed the marketplace in preparation for the Arena of Twilight, but found nothing worthwhile.

Even checking the adventurer community only turned up nonsense posts.

– Hey, did you see the news? Seems like they’re plotting something.
└ Isn’t it obvious? It’s because of “Jeongbulmo.”
└ What’s Jeongbulmo?
└ “Mysterious Adventurer.” The guy giving away free strategies lol.
└ They held a meeting just because of him? Why?
└ Why else? Free strategies don’t help them make money, duh.

Ah. So they’re already moving.

I skimmed the headlines.

[Ten Major Domestic Guilds Hold Secret Meeting in City]
[Undisclosed Agenda Raises Industry Tensions]

That meeting was obviously about crushing me.

Most likely something like “embarrass Oh Hyun-woo and Ascend Management during the Arena of Twilight.”

Not exactly deadly, but enough to cause trouble.

‘This is why you need to play in the big leagues.’

It hit me again—I was in the spotlight now.

Right now, “Adventurer Oh Hyun-woo” was at the eye of the storm!

If I were still just an unawakened “strategy writer,” I would’ve been quietly erased without a trace.

‘So what are you gonna do about it, huh?’

Now that I had proper sponsors and public attention, they couldn’t afford to pull anything illegal.

Hooray for fame!

‘Anyway… I should get ready too…’

The Arena of Twilight.

It’s basically the classic “boss damage competition” event you see in collection RPGs.

But since the game became reality, failing to hit the required score in time caused actual dungeon breaks.

Each server—i.e., each country—gets ranked, with rewards distributed accordingly.

And this time, I wanted a high-rank reward.

‘The Mystic Crystal… it’s about time I got one.’

Mystic Crystals raise the skill level of summons’ unique abilities.

For the Legend Seven, skill levels are absolutely critical.

They can completely change the tide of battle.

They’re so rare you can’t even buy them for ridiculous prices.

But the problem: to participate in the Arena of Twilight, you need at least two parties.

And right now… I only had one.

So I was scouring for new summons to form a second party.

The problem was, the event boss hadn’t been announced yet.

Each Arena of Twilight features a new boss.

And their abilities aren’t revealed until the day before the event—making preparation nearly impossible.

‘Well… except for me.’

You could call it a kind of future sight.

Because the bosses appeared in the exact same order as they did in the game.

I was the only one who knew this.

[Athenica, Wreathed in Ashes]

She was the next Arena of Twilight boss.

That’s why I was desperately searching for summons that could counter her.

But…

“Damn, the market’s bone dry.”

I sighed as I scrolled through the empty auction house.

I stood, wondering if I should head to the actual market instead—

SLAM!

“Hey! You bastard! The most beautiful lady in the world is here, and you don’t even bow your head to greet her?!”

The office door burst open, revealing an entirely unexpected person.

A woman with long, straight hair, dressed to impress.

I remembered her from the society pages.

Son Tae-yeon… granddaughter of Taepoong Group’s chairman. And… an adventurer of Lightbringer Guild!