Sirbert’s luxurious room, located directly beneath the Headmaster’s Office in the main building of the Imperial Academy.
A large window.
Standing in front of it, looking out, always put him in a rather pleasant mood.
The peaceful night view spread before him, people moving busily below.
Looking down at it all from above gave Sirbert the feeling that he had truly proven his own success.
That was why, after sunset, he enjoyed standing here, gazing out the window.
‘…Though this is only the beginning.’
In just two years, he had risen with great prestige to become a full professor at the Imperial Academy, the most renowned institution in the Empire.
But all of this was only preparation for the calamity that was about to unfold.
It was drawing near.
Bzzzzz—
A vibration from Sirbert’s inner pocket shattered his thoughts.
A relic from the ancient era of magic.
A mysterious Artifact that allowed free communication between its owners.
Sirbert took it out, and familiar characters lined up before his eyes.
[User 1: Is it tonight?]
[User 3: Sirbert, you’re fully prepared, right?]
Sirbert replied.
[User 4: I’m ready. This is the best I can do.]
[User 3: The Abyss is about to open… but that guy still hasn’t shown up.]
[User 1: That settles it. Jijoncheonma has lost his power.]
This was a question that had been consistently raised ever since the four rankers, excluding Jijoncheonma, had gathered.
‘Why did Jijoncheonma never reveal himself?’
The strength of a Bingija directly corresponded to their fame.
The four rankers, Sirbert included, were so renowned that no one failed to recognize their names.
But nowhere in the Empire was there any famous figure suspected to be Jijoncheonma.
[User 3: He was just a game addict, that’s all. When it came down to reality, he was useless.]
[User 4: You never know… Maybe there’s some circumstance?]
[User 3: Hmph. What circumstance? Sirbert, you know just how great the benefits are for the top 10 rankers.]
[User 4: That’s true… It’s honestly ridiculous.]
Legendary Artifacts, or Legendary Weapons.
Some received high-level skills from the start, and there were even benefits that allowed them to change their traits.
With that much advantage, unless you completely lacked prior knowledge, it was harder not to become strong.
If those ranked 2nd to 5th received such benefits, how much more did Jijoncheonma, who was 1st, receive?
They had waited, bearing with it, thinking that way, but not a single name similar to Jijoncheonma ever appeared.
[User 1: Over the past two years, it’s been confirmed that most who rose to fame were Bingija. But none of them stood out enough to surpass us four.]
[User 3: It’s obvious. He messed up his traits, got scared, and went into hiding. To think the first-place reward went to such a guy…]
The rankers within the top five had all been active until the very endgame, and so they knew better than anyone the strength and decisiveness of Jijoncheonma.
That’s why they had hoped and looked forward to him, but what came back was only silence.
No matter how hard they tried to think positively, the fact that he hadn’t made a name for himself in two years simply couldn’t be explained.
Other than Jijoncheonma being so frightened by this world-turned-reality that he went into hiding.
The greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.
[User 3: Anyway, enough about that. Sirbert, I heard you even mobilized the knights just to bring one kid?]
[User 1: I heard as well. You even forced Eos to come. Why did you suddenly do that? Must’ve cost you a fortune.]
Sirbert’s eccentric behavior a month ago had become quite the topic among the powerful.
Sirbert, who was on a political upswing, suddenly mobilized all his connections with the royal family and noble houses to rush off somewhere, then returned.
And after all that commotion, all he brought back was a pretty little girl.
Naturally, rumors began to spread.
[User 4: She’s worth it. To the point where I wonder how no one noticed her until now.]
He had only known Claire for a month, but in that short time, what she had shown was so outstanding that a mere month felt meaningless.
She possessed intelligence, talent, and decisiveness, and never neglected her efforts.
Moreover.
The only person who knew Jijoncheonma’s true identity.
That alone made Claire’s value immeasurable.
‘Still, I can’t say anything yet.’
If Sirbert had never met Claire, he would have thought just like the other rankers.
That Jijoncheonma had lost his power.
[He was strong. Almost like a god.]
At first, he thought it was just the impression of a naive country girl, exaggerating Jijoncheonma’s minor skills.
To say he felt as powerful as a god—it sounded like something only a country girl would say.
But in the month since Claire had arrived at the Academy.
That was more than enough time for the clever Claire to grasp how wide the world was.
The Academy was filled with strong people like stars.
Honorable professors, famous figures he’d only seen in the papers, and students bursting with talent.
With her broadened perspective, Sirbert subtly asked again, expecting her evaluation of Jijoncheonma to have changed.
But Claire was unwavering.
[The people here are amazing, but compared to him…]
To say there’s no comparison, no matter what—
Even accounting for some bias, it was a strange thing to say.
That’s why Sirbert remained cautious.
[User 4: Anyway, I’ll look into Jijoncheonma separately. Let’s discuss the plan going forward.]
[User 3: Hmph! No use looking further. In the past two years, no one’s become more famous than us, right?]
[User 4: Maybe he’s not hiding, but among the people we know, and we just missed him…]
[User 1: If that’s all he can do even with the first-place benefits, it’s even more disappointing. That’s all he was—a guy who can’t do anything in reality, even with great abilities.]
He could understand why they spoke so harshly.
The greater the expectation, the sharper the sense of betrayal.
Still, he couldn’t reveal what he knew.
Doing so would mean explaining about Claire, and even if he was careful, information about her could leak out.
And above all, Jijoncheonma himself did not want that.
Sirbert tried to forcibly steer the conversation elsewhere.
[User 4: Anyway, let’s move on…]
But there was no need.
[The Abyss is appearing]
A message about the Abyss’s appearance popped up before every Bingija’s eyes.
[Clear Abyss -1F within the time limit]
[If you fail, monsters tainted by evil will be released]
And the lively conversation among the rankers abruptly ceased.
[The release location is both connected worlds]
They realized the meaning of the final message.
If they failed to clear the Abyss, Abyss Monsters would appear in both worlds.
One of those connected worlds was clearly here, the Vental World.
And the other was their home, where they had already achieved so much.
It could only be Earth.
[User 2: Kekekekekeke! This… this is huge!]
The true beginning of the calamity.
[The Abyss is appearing]
About three weeks had passed since that message.
Abyss.
***
The decisive culprit that led to the downfall of the Vental World.
At first, it seemed like just another type of content.
A new space called the Abyss suddenly appeared, filled with even stronger monsters.
If you failed to clear a set floor within the time limit, those monsters would be unleashed into the world.
It was fun clearing each floor, and the fact that stronger monsters appeared outside if you failed was refreshing.
But that was the true start of the disaster.
The release of Abyss Monsters wasn’t such a big problem.
The world was full of strong people, and there were plenty of players desperate for fame.
The real problem was the strange and unknown curse that came with the monsters.
The horrific Abyssal Curse.
That mysterious energy ate away at the minds of normal NPCs, making them waste away until they eventually died.
That wasn’t all.
It seeped not only into people, but also into plants, animals, and even the land itself, corrupting everything. In the end, a world that never found a solution was doomed to destruction.
‘For now… let’s not worry about it.’
It had been about three weeks since the first Abyss notification appeared.
Hio was still living in the Magician’s House.
The early stages of the Abyss were easy.
At some point, the difficulty would spike, but for now, there was still time.
[The Abyss is appearing]
So even when such a message appeared, he could remain calm.
The other rankers would take care of it for now.
‘So I need to get stronger as quickly as possible in the meantime.’
Magic was like Hio’s own skill warehouse.
Even if he filled up his endurance, he’d still need to keep finding Skillbooks… Honestly, it felt overwhelming, but as long as he could keep learning magic, there was no need to go searching for Skillbooks.
‘And if I’m right, even if I lose them as a penalty, I can just recreate the skills.’
Even if a skill disappeared as a penalty, as long as he knew how to use it, he could just recreate it and register it again.
If one day he committed violence and lost the ‘Fire’ skill as a penalty, as long as he knew how it worked, he could trigger it again and register it. That was Hio’s idea.
If that worked, he wouldn’t have to worry as much about penalties.
‘Still… it’s not easy.’
The more you know, the more you see.
The deeper he delved into magic, the more he felt the vastness and endless depth of it.
The meaning of a single rune could change depending on what other runes it was combined with.
Depending on the properties he wanted to create, the combinations changed again.
It was already complicated enough, but if he dug into ancient magic, it would only get harder.
“You really are studying without grumbling these days.”
As Hio was groaning over his studies, Berga appeared behind him.
With a kindly smile.
“What’s the occasion, old man? Did you finally finish a Skillbook?”
Hio asked, since Berga should have been holed up in his underground lab, but Berga just grinned.
“I made something similar. But more importantly, my disciple, I’m hungry.”
“…Huh? So you just came up because you were hungry?”
“Ahem!”
Berga coughed awkwardly.
Hio chuckled and got up from his seat.
“Go downstairs. I’ll stop by the garden.”
“Heheheh! Good, good.”
“Why are you in such a good mood today? Did you really finish a Skillbook?”
“Ahem! I’ll show you later, disciple.”
Berga always laughed heartily, but today he seemed to be smiling even more than usual.
‘Did he really finish a Skillbook?’
Of course, since he’d played the game, Hio knew that Berga would eventually finish one.
But now, he was Berga’s disciple himself.
‘Just how deep was Berga’s magical knowledge, to create a Skillbook?’
This frail old man suddenly seemed quite impressive.
“Ahem! And after we eat, let’s try learning your second spell.”
“…What?”
“It’s been almost two months since you learned your first spell, hasn’t it? It would be a waste to let such talent go unused when you can learn just by watching.”
“Really?”
“Hehehe. But you still have to keep studying. Geniuses like you tend to rush ahead and neglect the basics.”
“Wow! Of course, old man! Don’t worry!”
“Heheheheh. I told you to call me Master, you rascal. Hahaha.”
“Anyway, go downstairs! I’ll get ready quick!”
Hio dashed out of the house and ran to the nearby garden.
It had been almost two months since he learned the basic spell ‘Fire’, and he hadn’t even glimpsed another spell yet.
Still, he’d enjoyed learning new things and felt his magical foundations growing, so he had no complaints.
But nothing could compare to the thrill of learning a new spell.
He was practically giddy with excitement.
‘Such a good old man—I should cook him some meat soon.’
Maybe he’d find and hunt a small wild rabbit or something.
His endurance was almost zero anyway, and he wanted to experiment to see if magic kept registering as skills.
‘Maybe I should stop by the village, too?’
That didn’t sound bad.
He’d grown fond of the village, after all.
He could easily get some meat or simple food there.
Hio arrived at the garden and began picking small, well-grown fruits and vegetables without hesitation.
‘That frail old man, acting like he’s about to die. I can’t feed him this stuff forever.’
Berga, who had looked so pleased, as if he had finally solved a long-standing problem.
Hio’s own good mood was probably influenced by Berga’s smile, too.
Berga had achieved his long-held wish, and Hio was about to learn a new spell he’d been longing for.
So far, it was the most perfect day in the past two months.
[Failed to clear Abyss -1F]
[Monsters tainted by evil will be released in both dimensions]
Until an impossible message appeared.
[Logout is starting]
A foreboding red message filled with dread.
Before he could fully grasp its meaning, Hio’s consciousness began to fade.
“What the…!”
Leaving behind only a moment of shock, he vanished without a trace.
Goddamn