Chapter 242

Only now did Do-Jin finally understand what the Empty Key was for. He had obtained it when the Dimensional Link Event first began, then spent the entire event feeding it dimensional power until it was full.

[Filled Key]

Do-Jin took the key out of his inventory. Just like before, and just like now, the frighteningly transparent cube resting in his hand released a clear, radiant glow. In response, a transparent outline briefly appeared and vanished at the spot where Sion’s window had been. It was a door that only the owner of the key could see and open.

[The Archmage Who Vanished Beyond the World]

Grade: Fate

Objective: Track the whereabouts of Archmage Sion Grace

Reward: ???

Archmage Sion Grace has disappeared. It would be no coincidence that the Rift Overrun Incident began at the same time the Archmage who governed dimensions went missing. She has likely vanished beyond the world she once observed, and you must find her.

The core quest item Filled Key has limited uses, so this quest must be completed solo.

It had been a long time since a proper quest window like this had appeared. After reading through it, Do-Jin shoved the window aside.

Yeah, that’s easy for you to say. Do it solo, my ass.

It was as if anyone reading this would think he just needed to pop into the next room and politely ask the Archmage to come back. Still, there was no other option. If he had to deal with this mess alone, then he would deal with it alone.

Letting out a shallow sigh, Do-Jin turned on the messenger function.

They’re probably all still asleep. They’ll see it when they wake up.

He decided to leave a message for his party members, who were almost certainly still passed out in dreamland. Some Rift Dungeons completely cut off external communication, and there was no way the outside world would be any better right now.

Do-Jin: You’ll find out when you wake up, but shit’s gone completely sideways. It looks like this is related to a quest item I have. I wanted to go together if possible, but the quest is solo-only. It’s probably going to be a pain in the ass, but I’ll handle it somehow on my own. I’m leaving this side to you.

After sending the same message to three people, Do-Jin turned back toward the seven mages. One was crying openly, another was staring blankly into the air, and another had their eyes squeezed shut.

Some of the elders were busy trying to steady their emotions over Sion Grace’s disappearance. The rest had their eyes fixed on Do-Jin with intense curiosity. It was only natural given that he had just shown up out of nowhere, claiming to be the disciple of a woman they didn’t even know existed.

“Are you... no, forgive me. Is it truly true that you are Lady Sion’s disciple?” In the end, one of them couldn’t hold back and asked.

They had already seen the proof, and Albert had even confirmed it, but it was still far too sudden to accept as reality. Once someone had spoken up, the others focused their attention as well.

Among them, Albert let out a sigh and nodded. “He is her disciple, at least officially. That was her decision.”

It had really happened by pure chance. He didn’t think he had actually learned much of anything, but in name alone, he was her disciple.

It honestly feels like she registered me on a whim, like handing out a free Elthomagia pass.

Even so, the amount of goodwill he had received didn’t feel trivial at all. And that made the whole thing even harder to brush off. As those thoughts crossed Do-Jin’s mind, the Purple Rank mages were about to bombard him with questions.

Before they could ask, Do-Jin spoke first. “I don’t know why she accepted me as her disciple.”

He was talking about Sion Grace, of all people. Trying to make sense of her decisions was a waste of time to begin with, which meant there was really only one answer.

“Would it not be best to ask my master directly?”

At Do-Jin’s words, the seven elderly mages widened their eyes.

“What are you saying right now?”

“She left this world. Are you saying there is a way?”

“From what we have investigated, the path leading outside was sealed by Lady Sion herself. Unless Lady Sion chooses to return on her own, there is nothing we can do.”

“She is Sion Grace. She could open a path at the boundary and stabilize it. If half-baked mages like us tried to punch a hole through it, the consequences would be—”

The mages all spoke differently. Their tones, expressions, and attitudes were all over the place. But their conclusion was the same: there was nothing they could do with the time they had. Even the taciturn mage who had remained silent until now clearly shared that view.

Do-Jin had no intention of convincing them. Trying to explain this shit would just be a waste of time.

Even now, the world was groaning under rifts in real time. If more time passed, the damage they were seeing now would look like a joke compared to the catastrophe that was coming. Right now, time mattered more than anything else.

Do-Jin checked his inventory and noticed he was carrying less than usual because he had logged out immediately after finishing his last hunt.

It’s ok. It’s still enough.

He always carried consumables in obscene quantities, so he had more than enough to work with.

Before I head out, I need to check one more thing.

Do-Jin manipulated the in-game interface and logged into Lotranet. He didn’t post it to a specific channel because he wanted as many people as possible to see it.

“All set.”

After posting on Lotranet and finishing everything that came to mind, Do-Jin turned back around. The Purple Rank mages tried to speak again, but he ignored them.

“I’ll bring her back.”

There was nothing more to say to people who insisted something was impossible.

Albert, who had already accepted Do-Jin as Sion Grace’s disciple, was the only one who responded. “Do you have a way to bring her back? If that is the case, then I—”

“I’m sorry, but it only seats one.”

It would have been nice if he could bring more people along, Do-Jin thought as he reached out his hand. The transparent cube resting in his palm passed through the spot where Sion’s window once was, the very door she had used to look outside and leap beyond the world.

The space in front of Do-Jin shattered into hundreds of transparent cube fragments. They collapsed in an instant, and the boundary opened.

“Gah—”

“What in the world is this?”

“You can’t just open it like that—!”

The elderly mages instinctively tried to rush forward, but an invisible barrier blocked them completely.

[Warning: This space restricts access from entities without passage authorization.]

Why the fuck are you showing this to me? You should be showing that to the people standing out there.

Do-Jin looked at the mages, who were staring at him in pure shock. At this point, no sound carried over as everything had been cut off.

“I’ll be back,” he mouthed.

After meeting Albert’s gaze, Do-Jin took a single step beyond the world. His presence vanished from Lostania without a trace.

***

Lotranet was losing its mind right alongside the Rift Overrun Incident.

[Why you’re better off not hunting at all]

[Upvote if you think Möbius is run by braindead fuckwads]

[LMAO I kind of want to punch holes in Möbius employees’ houses too]

[Do these assholes not understand moderation or what?]

No matter what refreshed at the top of the trending list, everything was negative. The popular posts flipped rapidly in real time, and every single one of them was angry, bitter, or outright hostile.

Then, all of a sudden, one post bulldozed everything else and shot straight to the top. It was the post Do-Jin had left just before leaving Lostania.

[This is Do-Jin.]

[By sheer luck, I found a clue related to the Rift Overrun Incident. I’m heading out now to deal with it, but I can’t stop worrying about Lostania. I’ll keep this short. The Rift Overrun Incident that began right after the Dimensional Link Event wasn’t a coincidence. If we want to stop something far worse from happening, we need to suppress the destruction of Lostania as much as possible. However, don’t push beyond your limits. Only defend areas that are actually safe for you. Please close as many Rifts as you can. I’ll take care of the rest.]

└ What the hell? Is this like a warning sign for a world-level incident?

└ And of course it is Do-Jin again.

└ Is that not obvious? He is probably already pushing mainline quests at the very front of the meta.

└ The first-mover advantage on this guy is actually disgusting as fuck.

└ I was planning to play it safe to avoid bleeding out, but this post is making my blood pump again.

└ If I had to guess, he is probably going in to close some absurdly huge main Rift. Like, massive or insanely strong. He probably left the post in advance because it is going to cut off outside access, like when Tanto got trapped last time.

└ I’m with you on that. Big rifts always spawn smaller ones nearby. If some massive ultra-class rift caused this mess, the math checks out perfectly.

└ That kind of dungeon would be straight-up suicidal. Did he seriously leave this message because he was worried about the outside before going in? That is actually really cool.

└ God, I’m tired of all the dickriding. This is obviously just for his rep.

└ Rep my ass. People who have been watching from the start know this. Fans dragged him into streaming. He never liked exposing anything beyond the videos in the first place.

└ But seriously, it is just a game. Is there really a reason to act this dramatic? He honestly sounds like a game addict.

└ Calling him an addict is crazy work. Do you even know how much money Do-Jin makes in a year?

└ How much does he make?

└ I don’t know exactly, but it is a fuck ton.

└ The comment above is insane. People are still pulling the game addict card in this day and age. Virtual reality worlds and even the characters inside them feel more human than reality sometimes. How are people not supposed to get immersed? Honestly, if anything, mocking that just shows how fucked reality has become.

└ Stop reading into it too hard. Anyone who watched him from the beginning knows the truth. Do-Jin genuinely hates seeing NPCs, no, people die and their worlds get destroyed. That is just who he is.

Unlike channels filled mostly with Do-Jin fans, Lotranet was packed with people holding wildly different opinions. Even so, the post Do-Jin made created a clear direction.

└ I fucking hate Möbius and want to punch someone over it. But I love LOST. I love Lostania too. I have NPC friends there. When I actually think about it, I have way too many reasons to protect this world. I’m going in. I don’t give a shit if I die. I’m fighting until this whole thing calms down.

└ Death penalty my ass. I can respawn. The Adventurers’ Guild receptionist dies for real. I would rather fucking die myself than see her get killed. I am not watching the girl who smiles at me every quest turn-in disappear.

└ If dying scares you that much, just go close low-level rifts way below your level. This is our playground. If we don’t protect it, who the fuck will?

The same players who had been screaming that they would rather quit the game than accept death penalties now stepped forward to defend Lostania. Once the player base started moving, streamers and large guilds who couldn’t ignore public opinion followed right after.

This wasn’t a fight for growth or rewards but the beginning of a fight to protect something, and that made all the difference.

***

[You have crossed the boundary and entered the Void Dimension that exists within the dimensional Rift.]

[The power of the “Filled Key” is protecting you from the Void.]

[You will be exposed to danger once the charge is fully depleted.]

[Estimated remaining protection time: 71:59:52]

[Warning: Minimize charge consumption.]

[Warning: Logging out within the Void Dimension will consume all remaining charge.]

The Void resembled outer space. It looked like an extremely dark universe with only a sparse scattering of stars.

I rushed in because I didn’t have time, but what the hell do I do now?

Floating alone in the middle of the ocean would have been terrifying enough, but this wasn’t even space. It was an utterly empty void, and he had no idea how he was supposed to find Sion here.

As Do-Jin scanned the darkness, something caught his eye.

That is a trace of magic.

A familiar color of mana lingered in the air like footprints. When he increased the activation level of Silent Night, the traces became even clearer. They were magical remnants left behind by someone who had moved while blocking interference from the Void Dimension itself. Because of that, even the leftover resonance of the magic hadn’t been swept away by the power of the Void and remained intact.

I don’t have another option, so I’ll have to follow this.

There was no room to overthink anything. The timer was steadily ticking down, and that ticking clock didn’t care about his hesitation.