Hyper Luck

Countless videos poured from crystal spheres installed in many places on the street every step. And if any of them overlapped with each other,

[You cheeky assholes you, Sheraff smiths! You’re supposed to put the walking pace into calculation before you put your advertisement!

[Piss off! Take a look at where he’s standing! He’s clearly in our area of advertisement!]

The people in the video began to fight each other.

Their verbal battle was so intense that I wondered if it was a necessity for their businesses to take a separate video to fight off the opposing company.

As we walked past the fighting videos into the next street, the sky suddenly darkened like midnight. 

The street was filled with darkness in an instant, and a shining galaxy appeared and illuminated the entire street in soft lights.

[We are the famous light-crafting family blessed with the light of Velluce, Lineil Industry will be your new light to illuminate your way.]

A phrase spoken in a very soft tone by a woman soothed my ears.

And as soon as the voice ended, the dark street brightened in an instant and restored to its original state.

Khea and I stopped walking for a moment, just staring at the blank space. We were only able to return to our senses after a while and realized that there were countless people walking by us in the streets.

The people in the streets looked at us with curious eyes as they seemed to find our reaction to the everyday-life fresh.

I noticed my cheeks and ears were getting red and started to walk quickly, and so did Khea’s footsteps.

[We are the famous light-crafting family blessed with the light of Velluce, Lineil Industry will be your new light to illuminate your way.]

The same female voice from before started playing, but this one was a different version.

In the midst of this, people in the streets were casually laughing and chatting with each other or looking at the products on the stalls.

Lundebarun was a completely different city from Asparagán, which was full of medieval, rugged-style buildings, and Azharus, a green city that seemed almost one with nature.

In terms of splendor, the closest city was maybe Tikris. However, since Lundebarun’s splendor was almost unrealistic, it was impossible to even compare the two.

“I’m getting dizzy from this.”

“I’d rather look straight at Bellica with my bare eyes than this.”

About halfway through the street, Khea and my eyes met naturally, and at about the same time she and I let out the same kind of complaint.

“If Sharan is really here, then it will be very difficult for us to find her.”

I said to Khea, at about the time when we passed through the street and entered the large square.

She seemed mesmerized by the new spectacle in the square.

“It’d be hard to find the Information Guild building right now.”

In the middle of the round square, a stream of water like a waterfall dripping from the tip of a huge icicle floating in mid-air wet the fountain.

There were people around the fountain just standing there spaced out from each other. And after a while, the floor on which they were standing began to spin.

“That is called the ‘Bypass’.”

“Ahh!”

I was staring blankly at the scene, then suddenly I heard a voice whispering in my right ear. I was startled, and I took a step back.

Then, a man with a soft smile came into view as he looked at me with his head slightly bowed.

I couldn’t feel his presence at all.

Since I couldn’t sense his presence with my stats, Khea must’ve not felt it also.

Just by looking at her genuinely surprised expression, it seemed that my speculation was correct.

“Oh my. Sorry if I startled you. You see, it seems that a lot of people nowadays are having trouble with finding the Lundebarun Information Guild.”

He had very narrow eyes like the ones you’d see in a manhwa... No, he was literally closing his eyes.

He wore small gold earrings on both ears with his eyes closed. His hair, which was lighter and brighter than the color of his earrings, was very neatly trimmed and short.

At first glance, he was a very unique character.

Unlike the other NPCs who looked very realistic, his outward appearance really looked like he came straight out of a video game.

“My name is ‘Zaire’. I was sent from the Lundebarun Information Guild to help those who are experiencing such inconvenience.”

As soon as he finished his introduction, a phrase appeared on top of his head.

In red,

And burning fonts, it was written,

<Lv. 141 Zaire>

He was very strong.

As strong as Lidornn.

I couldn’t help but swallow an empty gulp at suddenly encountering such a high level.

My body reacted first due to the sensitivity which the higher stats I had provided, than the intimidation given by the number itself.

Khea also seemed to be on guard at Zaire’s appearance.

She didn't seem aware of what she was doing right now.

That she had already placed her hand on the rapier on her waist.

“The Bypass is the portal device that allows you to quickly move through each area of Lundebarun. Because of this, people who visit Lundebarun for the first time often run into people who just appeared out of nowhere while walking down the street.”

Still, Zaire seemed unbothered by her action. With a smile on his face, he walked through between me and Khea and turned to look at us with his arms open.

“Now, could you follow me? You are looking for the Information Guild, correct?”

“Why should we trust you?”

Khea struck back with a direct question at Zaire’s attitude.

In a very firm voice.

Zaire moved his head as if he was looking at Khea, even with his closed eyes, and continued his speech keeping a smile on his face.

“Haha, you probably should trust me.”

Khea seemed a little dismayed at his undistorted appearance, keeping the smile on his face.

“You don’t get to decide if we trust you or not.”

I intervened in that tense atmosphere.

Like Khea, I looked at his eyelids as hard and fierce as I could since we weren’t able to know what he was thinking.

Then he moved his head to focus on me as if he was looking at me with his eyes closed.

“Honestly speaking, I’d love to provoke you a little more, but that may prove to be a difficult thing to do right now. There are a lot of people here.”

After a moment, Zaire began to suddenly laugh softly as he waved his hand.

“I committed such presumptuous rudeness because I wanted to see your demon-like swordsmanship. I would like to apologize.”

All of a sudden, the air around him became so terribly relaxed that my tension was relieved

***

“I’d like to properly introduce myself once more. I am the ‘Inquisitor’ of the Information Guild, Zaire. This title may sound very brutal, but there’s really nothing to it. The title was named to mean ‘someone who interrogates the world to obtain information’.”

Zaire bowed his head with one foot back and one hand on his chest. Then immediately focused on me and began to show a very wide smile.

“You must be the ever famous Mose, correct?”

“Is my face that famous?”

“Not quite. This is the first time I’ve ever seen your face. You see, I was ordered to wait here for you and Khea by superiors.”

“Order from the superiors?”

“Thanks to both of you, the corruption that was deeply rooted in the Information Guild of Tikris was exposed. Since the whereabouts of ‘Virens, the Runaway’ has been almost completely identified, it is only a matter of time before we find him.

Anyways, it was all thanks to you that we were able to cut off the rotten part, so I believe we cannot let you go unrewarded.”

Zaire, who had naturally leaned against the fence of the building to give explanations, hurriedly raised his body and started walking towards us slowly.

“It is a very well-known fact that a player named Mose is a Sworder, so it wasn’t that difficult to find you two who were equipped with the Seal of the Sworder.”

“So the superiors ordered you to help us?”

“Well, yes, somewhat like that. Though it’s more like patronage.”

“Understood. Could you guide us to the Information Guild then?”

“Of course! Please, follow me! Allow me to explain the Bypass for you two!”

As soon as he heard a positive reply from my mouth, Zaire took the lead and started walking quickly, seemingly very excited.

Khea, who was silently watching, naturally came close to me and whispered to me.

“If an Inquisitor was dispatched from the Information Guild, then something must be up.”

“Are you sure?”

Khea intentionally nodded a couple more times to answer my question.

“The Inquisitor is a term used to refer to the ‘combatant’ of the Information Guild. Among the mercenaries, they are known to interrogate even demons and phantoms for information.”

“Are all Inquisitors at around that level?”

“No, this one must be one of the top performers among the Inquisitors”

Khea still harbored a wild vigilance in her heart.

“Have you ever met an Inquisitor before?”

“Yes, I have... A long time ago. That one was as strong as that man over there...”

“What happened...”

“Now! I hope I explained it well. In conclusion, it is the super-giant ‘Spacial Crystal’ buried in the basement of Lundebarun that drives the enormous portal device called the Bypass!”

Zaire turned back to face us before I could even finish my question.

While he was preoccupied with the explanation, we barely managed to have a whispering conversation by being extremely focused, but that was it.

“Alright, then! Could you come to stand right next to me?”

We, too, were standing at the edge of the fountain, like those who stood around the fountain in the middle of the square, and Zaire hurried out and pulled me and Khea to his sides.

After a while, I started to feel a gentle vibration from deep in the basement, and then green text appeared with a smoke on the floor tiles we were stepping on.

<Information Guild>

The text suddenly flashed and disappeared.

And soon,

My two ears started to pop.

There was an awkward silence with no sound whatsoever.

I carefully took a look around.

As if looking through the window of a train moving at full speed, the surroundings seemed distorted, making my eyes dizzy.

Then at some point, 

All the surrounding landscapes began to find their place, and my ears were instantly relieved, and small noises began to be heard.

And right after that,

“Guh...Guegh...”

I started feeling very nauseous. As if I just got off a very violent ride in an amusement park.

“Thank you for your patience. Alright, we’re here. Welcome. This is the Information Guild of Lundebarun.”

After patting my back a few times, Zaire quickly took the lead and stopped in front of the stairs.

When nausea had settled down a bit, I raised my head toward him.

A completely different scene greeted me.

Instead of the wide square, a tall green mossy building in front of my eyes appeared in front of me.

After looking at the surroundings for a while, I heard a familiar voice next to me.

“Uueh... Guegh...”

Khea was still trying to get herself together from nausea with her head facing down.

“That was the worst... I’d rather shove myself down the throat of a troll...”

Khea complained in a muffled tone, as she barely stood up with my support.

“Hah!”

She let out something like a battle cry, still slightly mixed with some groans, looked around busily, and looked at me with her green eyes that seemed to contain the galaxy.

“I will never take the Bypass in this place. Ever. Again.”

That was the first time I received Khea’s grumble. 

Light, but sweet.

Like cotton candy.