MDPS 31

Episode 31

My Dark History is Too Strong

The Colosseum of Twilight (3)

All employees of the Tower of Records went on emergency standby.

Because today was the day the Colosseum of Twilight opened.

Information about the new boss would be revealed one hour before the event started.

To quickly analyze the boss details and notify the adventurers, Team Leader Lee Jeong-yul and team member Park Tae-gyun were also on standby.

“Team Leader. It’ll be nothing special this time too, right?”

“We don’t know that.”

“The Colosseum of Twilight was always the one event where we could breathe a little. It even became a kind of showcase for guilds to flex their power.”

“There’s no guarantee it’ll be like that again this time.”

The belief that this event wouldn’t be too difficult wasn’t just Park Tae-gyun’s opinion.

The overwhelming majority of staff thought the same. After all, it had always been that way until now.

But Lee Jeong-yul felt that inertia was starting to collapse.

Especially after the announcement of the new episode.

The sudden labyrinth patch, for example—it gave the impression they were forcefully raising the difficulty before the update.

She furrowed her finely arched brows when—

BEEP! BEEP-BEEP! BEEP-BEEP!

A piercing alarm rang throughout the Tower of Records.

It was the sound announcing the update.

Every employee stopped what they were doing and turned to the large display.

On the flashing screen, information about the event boss began to appear.

《A new challenger enters the Colosseum of Twilight.》

《Stop the challenger from dominating the Colosseum.》

《This challenger’s body… is very hot!》

“…This looks bad.”

“Don’t tell me it’s a debuff-type boss?”

Groans naturally escaped the employees.

Even if it were another fire-type boss, they wouldn’t describe it like that if it were just spitting flames.

The wording focused on something else—on the suffering.

《The challenger’s steps will blaze with fire, and flames will ignite upon contact.》

《The rising fire will run rampant in the challenger’s hands.》

At those words, the staff squeezed their eyes shut.

“Team Leader. We’re right, aren’t we? Debuff type.”

“Yes. That’s very likely.”

And then the next announcement made them cover their faces with both hands.

《This time’s challenger in the Colosseum of Twilight is ‘Athenica, the One Wreathed in Ashes.’》

《Time left until suppression: 96:59:54》

《If suppression fails, Athenica will invade Earth.》

《The suppression threshold for this participant is 4,000 points.》

“Four thousand?!”

“What kind of number is that?!”

“Up until now, the highest was three thousand!”

South Korea’s highest record in the Colosseum of Twilight was 3,200 points.

Now the threshold was 4,000.

The country was facing an unprecedented crisis.

But one person—Team Leader Lee Jeong-yul—was already looking beyond the crisis.

* * *

Chaos erupted across communities and the media.

[Hell of Debuffs Arrives… Athenica Joins the Colosseum of Twilight! Can 4,000 Points Be Reached?]

[Who Can Withstand ‘Athenica’? The Colosseum is Already Burning.]

Just reading the headlines felt like a national apocalypse was imminent.

The online communities weren’t much different.

-Does this make sense? 4,000 points? Is that someone’s dog’s name?
└Even the U.S. would sweat with that score;
-Looks like it’ll be stuffed full of debuffs.
└The country’s screwed lol
└How can you laugh right now?

But for me, this chaos was the perfect opportunity.

The more fear gripped people, the higher my stock would soar—because I already knew Athenica’s strategy inside and out.

So, what should I do at this moment?

‘What else? Leveling.’

…Of course, part of it was because my leveling wasn’t complete yet.

But even aside from that, I intended to delay the raid as long as possible.

Until the voices crying out for a ‘hero’ grew even louder.

Until the moment my performance would shine the brightest.

With that thought, I was about to re-enter the tower when—

BZZZ—

A call came from an unregistered number.

The message “Safe Number – Tower of Records” appeared alongside it.

‘The Tower of Records? Calling me?’

Worried it might be a contract issue, I picked up.

—Ah! Thank you. Thank you so much!

“…Excuse me?”

—Ah! This is Team Leader Lee Jeong-yul from the Tower of Records. Adventurer Oh Hyun-woo, are you available to talk right now?

I remembered seeing her during my meeting with the Guildmaster. She had shown me around the Tower as well.

Judging from her voice, this must be something urgent.

“Yes, I’m available. What’s this about?”

—Would it be possible… to ask you a favor?

“A favor?”

—We would like your help in writing a guide for the Colosseum of Twilight.

A guide? For whom?

Guilds capable of meaningful records would make their own raid strategies anyway.

Ah, I see. So that’s what this is.

“You mean you want me to make a distribution guide?”

—Yes! If possible, please make one that uses low-grade summons as the core, so more adventurers can participate in the raid.

Note that phrase: ‘as many as possible.’

It seems the Tower wanted to make this event into a kind of nationwide training ground.

Normal adventurers wouldn’t play a major role in clearing the event, but the rewards weren’t only for first place.

The more adventurers who participated and earned rewards, the stronger South Korea’s adventurer force as a whole would become.

That must be why they came to me with this request.

Not a problem for me to do… but still, shouldn’t I get something in return?

—…We’ll do our utmost to meet your expectations.

Judging from her words, I could probably ask for anything.

But honestly, I’d already prepared everything I needed for this event.

There wasn’t much else I wanted from the Adventurers’ Guild.

In times like this, there’s nothing better than the simplest request.

“I’ll take money.”

—Understood. How much…?

“This much.”

—…I-I’ll try to prepare it.

Some time later—

BZZZ—

I confirmed the deposit in my personal account.

“Send me your email address. I’ll forward the guide shortly.”

—Thank you! Thank you so much!

Even through the phone, I could hear the bow in her tone.

I was only doing a job for money, and I’d also stockpiled the summons needed for this strategy—so her gratitude felt excessive.

But one thing did make me curious.

“May I ask you something?”

—Of course. Please go ahead.

“Weren’t you worried about this Colosseum of Twilight?”

When everyone else was focused on the immediate trial, she alone was preparing for what came after.

Encouraging as many adventurers as possible to participate when the country was panicking over destruction?

She seemed unusual, so I asked lightly—

—I am worried. But…

“But?”

—Someone always has to prepare for the next step.

* * *

At the Tower of Records—

Thanks to Oh Hyun-woo’s help, Lee Jeong-yul was able to publish the guide on time.

As she reviewed his strategy, she couldn’t help but be impressed.

Three different budget decks, each with its own operation method.

Summon setups and situational countermeasures, all neatly explained.

‘Truly, what a relief.’

As for the payment Oh Hyun-woo requested, she had already approved it under the principle of “act first, report later.”

Having received full authority from Guildmaster Jeon Myung-il, she went ahead with the payout and only filed the report afterward.

Approval would come by the end of the day anyway.

The amount was… no, very burdensome.

But if this guide significantly raised Korea’s adventurer strength, then it would be a bargain beyond belief.

As she thought this, Park Tae-gyun spoke up beside her.

“Team Leader. It should be starting to show now, right?”

“Yes. The first scores should be coming in soon.”

The Tower staff all pressed their hands together, gazing at the display.

What they were waiting for were the scores from the Colosseum of Twilight.

Each participant had three attempts. Only the highest score would count toward the ranking.

So the first day was usually a trial run.

A time not for high scores, but for analyzing patterns and weaknesses.

Thus, big scores weren’t expected today…

‘But for top-ranking adventurers, it was a different story.’

Thanks to their overwhelming power, vast experience, and strong guild support, rankers often scored close to the suppression threshold on their very first try.

Then, with shared information and refined strategies, they would usually hit the threshold on their second attempt.

On the third attempt, they competed among themselves for the highest record.

In other words, the first attempt was still an important measure of whether success was even possible.

After some time, the first challenger’s score appeared on the display.

《Guild Geomgye’s Jo Jung-hyun scored 1,231 points in the Colosseum of Twilight.》

“Wh-what?!”

“Jo Jung-hyun? Only 1,231? Last event he scored over 2,700 on his first try!”

“If even a top-30 domestic ranker with a major guild’s support is at this level…”

“Still! He’s just the first challenger. Let’s watch a little longer.”

But things only grew worse.

《Guild Geomgye’s Lee Min-ah scored 857 points.》

《Guild Hwasin’s Jeon Soo-bin scored 1,054 points.》

《Independent adventurer Bae Young-min scored 593 points.》

It was disastrous.

Promising rankers from major guilds—yet none of them broke 2,000.

Still, one hope remained.

South Korea’s number one ranker, Seo Joo-hyun, had yet to attempt.

“Seo Joo-hyun will be different!”

“Right. She’s always come close to the threshold. She can do it this time too!”

“Please, please! Seo Joo-hyun, you can do it!”

Finally, Seo Joo-hyun’s score appeared.

《Guild Hwasin’s Seo Joo-hyun scored 1,543 points in the Colosseum of Twilight.》

In an instant, the office sank into despair.

The scoreboard was public—shown in real time through the news and on streaming platforms.

As a result, watching these miserable results unfold sent the nation into panic.

-Thank you for loving South Korea until now.
└Even now, jokes? Might as well hold a funeral.
└No funeral needed. We’re doomed anyway lol

-Isn’t this seriously bad? If the #1 ranker’s only at that level, even the third attempt won’t come close.
└Whatever~ I live in the U.S., not my problem~
└Ban this clown already ffs

But there was one person.

One person smiling as the rankers floundered.

‘The atmosphere’s ripe enough now. Time to make my move.’

The rookie with everyone’s eyes on him—Oh Hyun-woo.