Hyper Luck

<Circuit Master> was in full swing due to two incidents.

Considering that Circuit was a game with so many incidents, not many issues were raised unless it was very special and it was clear that these incidents were very serious.

The first one was,

[Information] <Emergency> All Search! Finally Discovered a Sacred Treasure! [2584]

The 'All Search', an exploration team ambitiously founded by the Information Guild, found the ‘Sacred Treasure’ after 3 months of exploration which is 9 months in Circuit time.

The  <All Search> was a team that was composed of about 20 players and 100 NPCs, created for the purpose of collecting and sharing knowledge to study numerous data in the game in order to clear designated dungeons.

In fact, at this time, <Circuit Master> players were too busy with the topic of what to do with NPCs due to the simultaneous occurrence of 'Prince of Rebellion', ‘Dark Blade', and 'Flames of Karma' quests which were later called the ‘trolling patches’ of each continent of Asparagan, Lang, and Tikris.

And by the time that topic had calmed down, <All Search> had finally obtained the long-awaited artifact after a long adventure.

It was only natural that this discovery would become a topic of discussion since it was around the time that a lot of interest in <All Search> was going down.

The artifact that they found was,

“Eye of the New-Mankind”.

The fossilized left eye of Ortupus, a giant who was called the great prophet in the past.

It was an artifact containing information about the “new mankind” who would visit the continent in the distant future that he predicted.

And the new mankind mentioned here was us, the players. Therefore many other players showed their interest as they focused their attention on this Sacred Treasure.

The Information Guild opened specific information free of charge to each branch located in the capital of each continent.

“It reveals all the lives of players.”

This was the one and only sentence of information that was revealed. And with this just one sentence, <Circuit Master> began to be filled with all sorts of speculations, and nonsense posts.

Amidst all kinds of nonsense on the threads, some people were busy following <All Search> and reviewing the live broadcasts in real-time.

[I just found AS team lol. Do you see that parade of people? There are so many players behind’em!”]

[They just passed the Lowtza gates. They’re going to be at the Asparagan gate pretty soon.]

[Y’all should go follow after them just in case. You might be able to unlock some achievements or honor stats.]

Even in this storming discussion of topics, the main unit of the <All Search>, the exploration team formed by players and NPCs, was calmly carrying the Sacred Treasure.

And the second biggest topic in <Circuit Master> was,

[Information] Regarding the new drug 'Vanetic'. [2628]

It was 'Vanetic'.

Cases of damages caused by the new drug that was starting to get popular in Azharus, which was a popular place for players to visit for touring purposes, had finally come up to the surface.

Nobody knew who or where the drugs were being produced. Moreover, it was very difficult to find the first distributor because it was distributed by small disconnected local groups.

In addition, it was difficult to entrust the quests to the problem solver groups of a specific continent due to the geographical characteristics of Azharus.

Not to mention the attitude of the representatives of Azharus, who were reluctant to confide their political issues to the outsiders.

If Vanetic was not re-inhaled within 24 hours of circuit time after the first usage, a strong poisoning debuff accompanied by seizures was applied.

NPCs were able to die from this 'withdrawal symptom’, and the players could not avoid these symptoms which caused a great level of pain even though they were immortals.

This debuff could not be removed by antidote potions nor even the dispel potions.

There was information circulating that only the alchemists who had reached the rank of ‘Alchemists who create the sound of water’ which required a very high proficiency in alchemy, or magicians who had learned the magic related to the ‘Karscanny Detox’ could remove this debuff.

Of course, it was almost impossible to find someone that matched those requirements, since there were only an extremely low number of magicians among players due to the very high difficulty of quests to become a magician.

And to find an alchemist, which was the other option, most of them belonged to a guild or were sponsored, so the price to hire them was off limits.

And because of this unremovable debuff, the number of players who had no choice but to keep purchasing the drug was increasing by the day.

And with that, the number of players who wanted to remove the debuff also started to diminish.

This was due to the tremendously addictive nature of Vanetic.

Victims became slaves to drugs which provided extreme pleasure to its users.

The damage spread tremendously and at a quick pace due to those who only treated this matter as ‘part of a game’ and took it lightly, continuing to indulge themselves in this pleasure. This incident quickly became the hottest topic in the community.

***

"It was last night. Sheira and Pharah excitedly said that they got an invitation from the Troll Tongue. The place just opened recently, and it's already become a venue for top-class bards to perform in Azharus."

The old elf spoke with a faint empty smile.

“Pharah loved that bard named ‘Thorntree Leaf’.”

His eyes were filled with despair and emptiness. A single drop of cold tear ran down his cheeks and fell to the floor helplessly.

“I was worried because Azharus has been very unsettled lately, but I allowed them to go since they were going with so many friends. It was going to be their birthday in a few days too...”

The sound of his cries in despair resounded again.

“They came back home much later than the time they promised. And when they did they both seemed exhausted and almost unconscious. “

They were as pale as phantoms... And below their eyes turned blue...”

Lorad opened his mouth to speak.

“It’s Vanetic.”

“I couldn’t even sing the song of farewell for them. I’m afraid that child is going to be lost in the afterworld...”

Khea carefully embraced the old man who seemed to be suffering in endless despair.

“Dra - A - Furahau - Sika, Pharah.”

Then, in a language with an exotic accent, she began to speak as if singing with a melody. The crying elf smiled and caressed Khea's cheek.

“Thank you, Khea. Pharah will not lose her way.”

Khea carefully nodded her head as she looked into his eyes. Then she got up from her seat. As soon as I confirmed her determined gaze, I fixed my sword on my waist and walked out of the house.

“What did you say to him?”

“It was the song of farewell. It’s a song that only half-elves who were sold as slaves learn. It’s a song we sing when one of our friends is dying. This song is said to help us, half-elves, find rest.”

Khea answered quietly.

“I thought I’d never have to sing that song ever again.”

I could feel that she was definitely holding uncontrollable anger within her.

“Let’s head to the ‘Troll Tongue’ for now.”

Khea nodded at my suggestion.

“According to Lorad, they especially approach half-elves often.”

“I heard that too.”

She answered shortly.

“Khea, there’s no need to run into danger by yourself. This is a matter that we can solve together.”

I cautiously tried to comfort her. Of course, I wasn’t sure if this was enough to comfort her. Before we left, Lorad told us many things about their relationship.

Sheira and Pharah had been close friends with Khea ever since they were little. Due to the homogeneity which they shared for being half-elves, that bond was incomparable to that between her normal friends.

The anger Khea was feeling after she had lost one of her friends in vain, was more than justified.

Much like the wrath of Lidornn.

“Mose, All I want right now, is to rip the bodies of those who are responsible for my friend’s death, even if it means selling my soul to the cursed devils of chaos.”

She answered coldly. All I could do was follow after her without a word.

Then we arrived at the Troll Tongue, located in the heart of a busy downtown.

On a street filled with handsome men and beautiful women in fancy dresses with happy smiles, we were the only people with burning fury in our eyes, ready to battle at any time.

When I arrived at the entrance to the troll tongue lined with luxurious vehicles, Khea and I were stopped by two men at the entrance.

“You may not enter because we have a VIP inside for the day.”

“VIP?”

The man nodded at my question.

“He rented the entire building for a day.”

So he was saying that the VIP had rented this gigantic tavern for an entire day. However, there was one thing I couldn't; help but notice, and it was the fact that those two were players.

And at the moment we decided to go back, one of the two men came out from the entrance and grabbed Khea’s hand.

Khea immediately shook off his hand and the man opened his mouth with an awkward smile on his face.

“But! Any half-elves can use our facility free of charge for the day. This too is a rule set by our VIP.”

“I’m a company of hers.”

“Sorry, but that is the least of our concerns. You’re not a half-elf.”

The man who immediately killed off my question was looking at Khea with his arms crossed again. Khea willingly turned her steps forward after hearing his answer.

“Khea,”

“Don’t worry. I’ll go in and investigate by myself.”

“What if something happens?”

“If I don’t come out in 2 hours then you may do whatever you would like to. But for now, I just want to do this my way.”

I carefully took a few steps back after looking at Khea’s upright expression. After all, she was a Sworder just like me.

Perhaps I was overly concerned about her who was a part of such a fearsome group.

Khea took her steps towards the entrance and the two men blocked her once again.

“Weapons are prohibited.”

Khea turned back and handed her rapier to me.

“I’ll be back soon, Mose.”

I whispered to her as she turned back to head to the entrance

“Truth be asked only to the blade.”

Just before she entered, she turned around and smiled softly toward me.

“Truth be asked only to the blade.”

The entrance completely closed after she entered. Honestly, I wanted to make this place a burning hell, but there were way too many innocent people who were unrelated to this matter around here.

Besides, this is her hometown, Azharus. I couldn’t risk losing someone dear to her once again.

All I could do was walk around the Troll Tongue holding her rapier in my arms.

* * *

Red lights illuminated the room and glow worms hanging from the ceiling by the thread flashed colorful lights everywhere.

Khea received a very unfamiliar impression from the lighting of this tavern. To the best of her knowledge, no other place in Azharus had such promiscuous lighting.

Many people were dancing mindlessly on the stage.

And on top of that, there were musicians playing their instruments frantically. Some instruments were equipped with improved amplifiers to amplify the sound. The music was turned on so loud that it was almost deafening.

There were a few people sitting around the table enjoying their drinks while watching others dance on the stage.

Khea quickly grabbed a seat around her, sat down, and looked around the room slowly.

She looked especially close to the center stage where people were dancing.

And she was able to see it. Capturing the scene with her incredible visual acuity was very easy.

A man who was clearly a player approached the dancing woman with a marble in his hand. Then, he started to dance close to the woman, and the man began to roll beads on the woman's exposed body part.

Naturally, as if passing by, slowly, like a viper hunting for its prey.

The opposite situation could also be seen commonly. Three females, who appeared to be players, approached the half-elf male and rolled their marbles at the same time.

As Khea had to watch these sneaky promiscuous actions, she wanted to flip the table and get out of the building.

However, she was able to barely endure it for the sake of Pharah, who had left, and Mose who trusted in her.

“Did you come here by yourself?”

A moment later, a man with piercings all over his face approached Khea.

Even amidst the crimson lights, Khea could clearly see the blue under the man’s eyes.

“Yeah, I came here by myself and realized this place sure is interesting.”

She showed innocent acting so much that Mose would have been horrified if he was to see it.

“Ah~ Is that so? This place is going to be changed pretty soon. Even fancier! Anyways, if you’re here by yourself, could I tell you a thing or two about this place?”

“Oh my, I’d appreciate it if you could. But you’re not gonna do something weird to me or anything, right?”

“Nah. I’m not sure what kind of rumors you heard about this place, but I wouldn’t do anything like that. Do you mind if I take a seat beside you?”

“Hm, you can sit on the other side of me!”

“Ahaha, sure thing!”

At her crafty acting, the man seated across from her began to glance at her to scan her.

“Wow. I really mean it when I say this, you’re really pretty!”

“Yeah, I hear that a lot.”

“I’d assume so. You’re really beautiful!”

The music was so loud that Khea and the man had to almost yell in order to have a conversation.

“By the way, I heard half-elves have very different palm creases from players, would you like to compare them?”

“Is that true?”

Then the piercing man carefully spread his palm.

“Sure, let’s take a look.”

Khea also spread her palm as the man did. The man started to put on an act, in an environment where it was impossible to see the palm creases due to the intense lighting. At least in Khea's eyes, it was painfully clear that he was putting up an act.

“Yeah, see? It really is different! You’ve got a line over here!”

And the man put his other hand over Khea’s naturally.

His hand was making an unnatural movement while holding something in it.

Khea grabbed his hand with unnatural movement and pulled him toward her.

Taken by surprise, the man opened his eyes wide and stared at Khea.

Khea opened her mouth to speak.

“How are you doing? We’re about to do something really fun from now on.”