Dungeon Predator

In the times of the Altein Empire, there was a caste system.

However, the Tower cared little for one's class, and picked mages based solely upon their ability and talent.

Fortunately, Aerd wasn't talentless, which allowed him to enter the Tower and undergo training.

However, Aerd was totally disinterested in the mighty, destructive elements such as fire, water, or wind. 

Instead, illusion magic caught his fancy!

He was sure that illusion magic was the key to making people happy.

Aerd became engrossed in the study of illusion magic.

But this was a time when illusion magic wasn't considered 'actual' magic; it was considered support magic instead.

Furthermore, others called him the 'Clown Mage' because he had been a clown before.

Despite that, Aerd didn't give up on illusion magic and through continuous training, was able to reach a certain level of mastery.

Then, he left the Tower and spent the rest of his life using his illusion magic to entertain people.

In his later years, Aerd finally mastered illusion magic and created an arcane spell called 'Illusionary Projection'.

Illusionary Projection was an arcane spell, one which created an illusion more real than reality itself. 

But because Aerd didn't have a successor, he had to think of an alternate way of passing down his craft.

Ultimately, he instilled the essence of his arcane magic into three grimoires, and hid them across the continent.

The first of these books was hidden within the Grancia Forest, and the theme he had chosen was as follows:

"A mysterious animal that appears within an animal-less forest and plays hide-and-seek with people sounds like fun. Though it probably won't ever get caught."

Aerd had created the monkey via Imaginary Projection, and had made it so that the monkey would only appear in the cardinal points of north, south, east, and west.

He hid the grimoire, however, within the central region.

He'd set it up so that only an individual who saw through the illusion that was the monkey, and had ascertained that there was something unusual in the central region would obtain the grimoire.

"It's no fun if I stop there."

At the same time, Aerd made a joke to throw people off.

Aerd in reverse was Drea. Adding "An" to it would make it Andrea.

The adventurer, Andrea, who'd seen the mysterious monkey that uses invisibility in the Grancia Forest was, in fact, Aerd!

Aerd, disguised as Andrea, spread the rumor that a mysterious life form resided within the Grancia Forest.

He'd then placed this adventure journal at the Altein Central Library, which gave people false information.

"Whoever can see through the lies and the illusions, and find the truth should be good enough to inherit my arcane magic."

The illusion of the giant monster monkey attack was Aerd's final test, meant to ensure that whoever obtained the grimoire was worthy. 

He left the first volume of his arcane magic in the Grancia Forest and left to hide the rest of his books.

Kang Oh could see where Aerd had chosen to hide the rest of his grimoires.

However, it was too unclear, so he couldn't make them out. No other detailed information came out either.

Then, the recording ended.

* * *

"To think that Andrea was, in fact, Aerd."

Eder looked like he'd been completely caught off guard.

"Wow, I was completely fooled."

To think that someone would go so far as to spread false information, saying that the monkey created with illusion magic was a monkey that used invisibility. What an idea.

"Mm. Not seeing the monkey because of the Asta Guild's interference actually turned into a good thing. We followed that false information and came here looking for the monkey too," Kang Oh said.

If they'd encountered the monkey, then they would have assumed that it used invisibility too.

Since the idea that it was 'a monkey that uses invisibility' had been deeply ingrained in his head.

If that were the case, then he would've guessed wrong. Just like the Asta Guild.

'Of course, I have my Hyper Intuition, so I still would've found it in the end...'

Whatever the case, Aerd's trap was truly impressive.

"Indeed. We should really be thanking the Asta Guild."

Eder smiled impishly.

"If you really want to thank them that badly, then go ahead."

"I'm just saying. By the way, may I see that book?"

"No! You'll damage it."

It was a grimoire containing a portion of the workings behind arcane magic.

"How cheap."

Eder pouted.

"Go home."

Kang Oh decided to use the 'you can go home early' card.

His lips slightly receded and he extended his hand.

"My pay."

"Here."

"Tch."

"Take care!"

Kang Oh placed 3 gold into Eder's palm and let him go.

"Hehehe," Kang Oh laughed whilst thoroughly examining the book.

"I wonder how much this will go for..."

Kang Oh carefully placed the book into his inventory and headed for the Tower.

* * *

You go to a pharmacist for medication, and a doctor for medical treatment.

Then what about appraising a grimoire? Obviously, you'd go to a mage.

Of course, any random mage wouldn't do; he needed a mage with a certain level of status, since it was a text on arcane magic!

Fortunately, Kang Oh knew of one such mage.

"Mr. Kang Oh."

"Mr. Grano."

The two of them met at the Tower's second floor cafe.

"Have you been well?"

"Of course. How about you?"

"Me too."

The two of them discussed how they'd been first. 

"Have you come here to ask about Modune?" Grano asked.

"There's that too, but I came here for a different reason. What's been happening with Modune?"

"Our negotiations with the Arabas Kingdom are breaking down."

"As I thought."

"If our negotiations completely break down, then we'll ransom off Modune and the insect mages."

"That ransom will go to me, right?"

"Yes."

"Hehe."

"Now that you mention it, you said that you had other business with me, yes?"

"Yes. I came here for this."

Kang Oh took out the arcane magic grimoire from his inventory.

Grano thoroughly examined the grimoire, and soon looked surprised.

"This is an arcane magic grimoire."

"Yes!"

"Haha, where exactly did you find this?" Grano asked.

Kang Oh gave a report on how the grimoire had come into his possession.

"Aerd... I thought he was just an eccentric who only studied illusion magic, but he was actually a great man who reached mastery in his craft," Grano said politely.

[A high-ranking figure from the Tower has gained in-depth information.]

[The Tower is now aware of the fact that Aerd mastered illusion magic.]

[The Clown Mage, the Eccentric Mage, and the Wandering Mage, Aerd, will now be judged appropriately.]

[Aerd's posthumous fame has skyrocketed.]

[Quests regarding Aerd will pop up all across the continent.]

An Illusion Master had been revealed to the world.

"How much would it go for?" Kang Oh asked.

"You can dictate the price."

"Oh!"

Kang Oh beamed.

"If you can collect the rest of them, that is."

"Then..."

Kang Oh's face stiffened instantly.

"Illusion magic is an unpopular craft and the grimoire is incomplete, so it'd be hard for you to get the right price for it," Grano said calmly.

"Hmm. How much would this 'wrong' price be?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but it'd probably be about a few thousand gold."

"What if I find all of them?"

"As I said, you can sell it for however much you want. Whatever price you name, the Tower will match it."

"So I should keep it with me for now and not sell it."

Kang Oh didn't need money right away, so he didn't need to get rid of the grimoire yet.

'Who knows? I may find the rest of them sometime.'

"That'd be for the best."

Grano passed the grimoire back to him, and Kang Oh carefully returned the grimoire back into his inventory.

After that, Kang Oh and Grano chatted about unimportant matters.

They discussed how the Dalla #13 was going, how Eder was doing, how Grano thought he'd definitely succeed this time around, how Dala #1 was already 10 years old, how he was saddened at the thought of marrying off his daughters eventually, etc.

"Shall we get up now?" Grano asked.

"Yes."

Kang Oh and Grano said their goodbyes and went their separate ways. 

* * *

A week later...

Jae Woo raised his phone and checked his inbox.

[The Named: Oga will air at four o'clock.]

Jin Cheol had sent the message.

<The Named: Oga> was the name of the program showing Kang Oh's fight against the raid boss, Caraco, as well as his fight against Arumode.

[I won't miss it.]

Jae Woo sent a brief text back and glanced at the clock.

2:30.

"Just enough time to exercise."

Kang Oh left his house and ran through the neighborhood.

A while later...

"Phew. That was refreshing."

Jae Woo, who'd finished taking a shower, checked the clock.

3:55.

The program he was featured in would start in 5 minutes.

Jae Woo sat on a sofa in the living room and changed the channel to GBS.

"It's starting."

<The Named: Oga> was finally starting.

The MC was neither Kang Seol Hee nor Jeon Seong Gook.

"Hello. It's time for The Named, which introduces you to the hottest players in Arth right now!" a beautiful female announcer greeted brightly.

"Today I, Seo Yoon Ha, will introduce one of Arth's hottest players today!"

Seo Yoon Ha's voice was nice and clean, and the atmosphere around her wasn't bad either.

"Now then! Let me introduce you to the player for today's program. He cleared the impossible quest, Fight Against 100 Men quest and is known as a Dungeon Conquering Man. It's none other than Oga!"

As soon as she was finished, the screen immediately cut to a video introducing him.

Bam!

Jae Woo's in-game character, Kang Oh, was forcefully fighting against gladiators in order to clear the Fight Against 100 Men.

Of course, it was just a highlight video, not the whole thing, and was edited with CG as well, making it more exciting. 

Whack!

The video ended with Kang Oh's finishing blow on Darion.

"Wow. This is a legendary clip of someone clearing the impossible quest, Fight Against 100 Men!"

Seo Yoon Ha raised her voice and slightly turned her head, focusing on the camera.

"We at GBS have acquired some recent play footage from Mr. Oga. Are you all excited?"

Seo Yoon smiled.

"Let's see it!"

The screen changed once more.

"Let's see how it turned out."

Jae Woo raised the volume.

It showed the footage of Kang Oh, Eder, and Sephiro taking down Arumode first.

The Immortal King, Arumode, who used Cursed Ground's Domain, and the three warriors who fought against it!

It was really exciting. Not only that, but GBS had edited in CG and sound effects at just the right times.

'They made it look good!'

Jae Woo smiled pleasingly throughout the video.

As expected of GBS!

Soon enough, the battle was approaching the end.

A timer ticked down on the side of the screen. His heart pounded as the timer went down.

Kang Oh gritted his teeth and attacked Arumode as if it were an act of desperation! While Sephiro continued to shoot arrows at it!

Lastly, it showed Eder, who had been instrumental in defeating Arumode at the time.

Rattle. 

Eder eyes lit up while casting his bone magic! Solemn music resounded from his screen.

In the end, Arumode was forced to his knees and the recording ended with him dropping his shield.

Seo Yoon Ha appeared once more.

"Wow. Wasn't that a breath-taking, exciting fight?"

Her cheeks were red as if she were actually excited.

"But there must be some people that are thinking, 'Mr. Oga didn't really do that much?'. Hoo, hoo. Please don't worry."

Her eyes glinted.

"If you see this next clip, then you'll change your mind. You'll become an Oga fan, I guarantee it! Now let's see the next clip!"

Finally, they transitioned to the main dish, his battle against the Lightning Hunter, Caraco.