Chapter 112
The sudden incident threw the entire Colosseum into chaos.
“What’s happening!”
“Instructor Verga! This is serious! [Arron’s Hero World] has opened!”
“What?”
Verga’s face went rigid.
Even Verga knew that the phenomenon just now was a sign of [Hero World] being established.
But he never imagined that a real [Hero World] had actually opened.
To open a [Hero World], you need either the hero themselves or an item deeply connected to them.
In this era, not only are items related to the great heroes all but gone, but even their pages are almost nonexistent.
That’s why most of the unopened pages were expected to remain forever sealed.
But now, one of them had opened.
“Is it a rampage?”
“It seems that way!”
No matter the reason, the fact that [Arron’s World] had opened was an exciting event.
Even if it was a rampaging [Dungeonization], as long as it was conquered, Arron’s power could be inherited.
The problem was with those who had entered [Arron’s World].
His own daughter and the son of an old friend.
Still just kids, hardly even worth calling fledglings.
‘Can those kids really conquer [Arron’s World]?’
Clenching his trembling hands, Verga grit his teeth.
—
“If this is [Arron’s World], then that means this is the [Age of Calamity], right?”
“It seems so.”
When Leo answered after taking his eyes off the sky, Ar put on a serious face.
“Why did [Hero World] suddenly activate?”
“I’m not sure. For now, let’s try contacting the outside.”
With that, Leo brought his index and middle fingers together and placed them at his temple.
Focusing, a faint blue light shimmered.
“Le… No, this is Kyle. Can you hear me?”
Normally, in [Hero World], you should be able to communicate with the outside.
But despite Leo’s call, there was no response from outside.
Leo glanced at Ar.
Ar also looked dejected, apparently having failed to contact the outside as well.
A rampaging [Hero Dungeon]? But why? In thousands of years, there’s never been a record of the prologue page opening.
Watching Ar’s grave expression, Leo looked down at his own hand.
The sudden rampage of [Arron’s Page].
He had a guess about the cause of this incident.
‘During [Hero Studies], and when I touched my own [Hero Page] in Verkia, [Hero World] opened.’
Leo recalled when he met Lysinas and Luna, and his face grew troubled.
‘But those were my own pages. This is clearly [Arron’s Page], though.’
[Conquest Objective: Find Arron in Reysar.]
At that moment, a message appeared before Leo and Ar.
“Conquest objective? Then this isn’t a [Hero Dungeon], is it?”
Ar spoke in a bright voice.
[Hero Dungeons] do not have conquest objectives.
The fact that one had appeared, as Ar said, meant this wasn’t a rampaging [Hero Dungeon].
“If this world opened properly, why can’t we reach the outside?”
“I—I don’t know.”
Even Ar had no answer to that question.
“Maybe it’s because it opened so suddenly? To control [Hero World], you need a key when opening it, but I guess the key wasn’t found.”
“A key, huh.”
Leo narrowed his eyes.
“Either way, if the conquest objective is to find Arron, maybe this will be simpler than we think?”
At Ar’s words, Leo sighed deeply.
“Do you think it’ll be easy to find Arron in this Reysar?”
Reysar.
A refugee city that existed during the [Age of Calamity].
It had taken in so many races that its size was unimaginable.
“Arron is famous, so it shouldn’t be hard, right?”
“Arron only became famous after leaving Reysar to join the [Erebos Subjugation Force].”
“That may be, but he was still very well known even before that, according to the records, right? Lysinas and Luna both came to Reysar after hearing of his fame.”
‘Well, that’s what people nowadays think.’
Written history and real history are different.
In this era, Arron wasn’t famous at all.
But only Leo, who had lived through that era, knew this.
‘When it comes to conquering [Hero World], all I can do is rely on old records.’
Leo scratched his head and sighed.
‘From Ar’s perspective, even if I pretend to know about this era, she probably won’t believe me. Maybe experiencing it herself is best.’
“Let’s split up and gather information about Arron!”
“This is [Hero World]. It’s not safe to split up carelessly.”
“Oh! That’s true! Then let’s search together!”
Excited by the thought of meeting her idol Arron in person, Ar began asking around enthusiastically.
“Excuse me! Do you know anyone named Arron?”
“Arron? Who’s that? Quit bothering me and beat it!”
“Excuse me, I’m looking for someone named Arron?”
“How should I know some nobody like that?”
“Hey, beastkin! You’ve heard of someone named Arron, right?”
“Not at all.”
All day long, Ar went around asking people about Arron.
And by sunset—
“Why does nobody know about Arron! Wasn’t he already famous before joining the [Erebos Subjugation Force]?!”
Ar shouted in frustration, while Leo crossed his arms and spoke.
“Looks like actual history and recorded history are different.”
“Ugh!”
Ar flinched at Leo’s reply.
Meanwhile, Leo organized the information he’d gathered while asking around.
‘The current year is Altegra 1462.’
It was twenty years into the [Age of Calamity].
‘At least I don’t have to find Arron from nothing at this point.’
“For now, let’s find a place to stay.”
“Do you think there’s anywhere to stay in a city like this?”
Ar asked worriedly.
One thing they realized after wandering the streets of Reysar all day—
The era they lived in and the [Age of Calamity] were fundamentally different.
People were basically unfriendly and rough, and fights broke out everywhere as if it were nothing.
It wasn’t just about public order being good or bad.
Everyone was consumed by the primal fear that the world might end at any moment.
It was literally a different world.
“We have to find a good place. Sleeping on the streets is dangerous.”
“Then let’s look for an inn.”
‘An inn won’t work.’
Leo gave a wry smile.
Even Kyle had suffered greatly trying to find a place to sleep when he came to Reysar.
‘There wasn’t a single proper inn.’
As the world’s largest refugee city, countless people had flocked to Reysar.
Among them were plenty of vile people who committed crimes as naturally as breathing.
Of course, such criminals didn’t act during the day.
Those keeping the peace in the city did their best to maintain order during daylight.
But nighttime was different.
As soon as the sun set, the city became filled with fear.
Crimes happened in every alley, and in the worst districts, even murders occurred frequently.
In the past, it took Kyle’s party a whole month of wandering before they finally found a safe place.
‘I need to go there.’
Moreover, that place wasn’t just safe.
“Let’s check there.”
Ar pointed to a nearby inn.
Leo followed her.
Ding-a-ling—
As the door opened, the first floor was full of customers.
In an instant, everyone’s attention turned to Ar.
Ar tensed, but sighed with relief when she saw the owner sitting at the counter.
Though his face was covered in scars, the owner was an elf.
Seeing that, Ar relaxed a bit.
Elves were proud, but fundamentally a good-natured race.
So she figured he wouldn’t try anything funny.
“Excuse me, do you have any rooms for tonight?”
“No. No rooms left today. But you can have my room, if you want.”
Ar flinched at the owner’s sly smile.
She hadn’t expected an elf to hit on her so openly.
Seeing Ar’s face turn cold, Leo took her hand and left the inn.
“Looks like it won’t be easy to find a decent place.”
“Yeah.”
Ar’s face darkened.
‘Common sense in our era and this era is completely different.’
After that, Leo and Ar continued searching for a place to sleep.
But nowhere seemed safe.
‘Are we really going to find a place to stay?’
Ar followed Leo with a gloomy face.
Meanwhile, Leo pretended to wander aimlessly, guiding Ar to a place he knew.
‘We’re here.’
Leo stopped walking.
Lost in thought, Ar stopped and looked around in confusion.
‘When did we get here?’
They had arrived in the middle of a desolate street with not a soul around.
Whoosh—!
Suddenly, the sound of something cutting through the air rang out.
Sensing a murderous intent nearby, Ar’s eyes sharpened as she threw a punch.
Grab—!
But her attack was easily blocked.
Even so, Ar didn’t panic and sharpened her claws, infusing them with [Aura].
Seeing that, Leo urgently shouted,
“Wait, Ar! Don’t fight!”
But it was too late to stop the fight now.
Crunch—!
Ar’s sharp claws, filled with [Aura], struck the opponent’s chest.
But her attack didn’t work—it was blocked by the opponent’s [Aura Armor].
Gritting her teeth, Ar tried desperately to shake off her opponent’s hand.
But he grabbed her by the back of the neck even faster.
“Gah?”
“Who are you? Why did you trespass here?”
Gritting her teeth, Ar tried to counterattack with [Aura].
The cat beastkin narrowed his eyes at Ar and slammed her to the ground.
“Ugh?”
Feeling herself losing consciousness, Ar barely managed to speak.
“Black Rabbit, at least you should run…!”
Leaving the fainted Ar, the cat beastkin turned a murderous gaze toward Leo.
“Why did you come into this district?”
“We were told to come here.”
“By who? This is a restricted area.”
He was right.
This place was called the Cursed Land, a place forsaken by all.
Trying to calm the situation, Leo took a deep breath, raised his hands, and spoke seriously.
“Cowardly Arron sent us here.”