Light of Arad: Forerunner

Chapter 39

Jinseong’s task in Hendon Myre was simple.

It involved following users who were dressed in avatars and bothering them persistently.

“Excuse me, hey, excuse me, sir, please wait a moment.”

It didn’t matter who the person was. As long as someone reacted, that was enough for him.

Wearing an avatar to a certain extent meant that they weren’t complete beginners, and that also meant they could understand what Jinseong was saying.

“Why?”

“Sorry, but could you buy me a megaphone from the auction house? I’ll give you the money.”

“Auction house? Why don’t you do it yourself?”

Of course, he had expected such a reaction.

There was no need to go through the hassle of following people around when he could just handle everything from his seat with the keyboard. So why was he doing this?

‘Because I’m someone who’s possessed in Arad, and I can’t use systems designed for convenience that are unrelated to daily life.’ He couldn’t say such things, so Jinseong had already prepared an excuse.

“I’m on a mission, so I can’t use the auction house.”

It was a somewhat brazen statement, but it wasn’t entirely incomprehensible to gamers.

Moreover, considering how active the streaming community for *Dungeon & Fighter* was nowadays, it was an excuse that most people would understand.

“Oh, are you a streamer, lol? Heartbeat or Super?”

“What’s the price for each?”

The sends a message to all users on every server and every channel.

Naturally, Jinseong would get the best results from it, but it was expensive.

Next would be the .

It could send a message to all users on the same server and all channels, but there was one concern—on which server did Jinseong’s character belong?

‘Would it be based on the server where I created my character…? I didn’t get any clear answers from Nemer on this, which makes this really frustrating.’

In *Dungeon & Fighter*, systems like parties or the auction house are shared across all servers, but megaphones follow different rules. Caution was needed, but Jinseong had no other choice for now.

“The current price for Heartbeat at the auction house is about 118,000. Super is 730,000.”

“Ah… Then please get the Heartbeat.”

For now, with his limited funds, the Heartbeat Megaphone was the only option he could afford.

If there was any silver lining, it was that the price was slightly lower than he remembered.

‘There were times when Heartbeat went over 120,000. At least it’s dropped to the high 110,000s… But still!’

Jinseong had to clear his throat.

Even though what he was about to say would show up as text in the chat, he still needed to gather himself mentally.

“Excuse me, sir.”

“Yes?”

“I only have 110,000 gold right now. Could you lend me the remaining 8,000? I swear I’ll pay you back, even with a contract if necessary.”

Jinseong’s heart began to pound.

It wasn’t because he felt embarrassed or ashamed asking for money.

The 8,000 gold he needed wasn’t even enough to cover repair costs for most users.

But what about for Jinseong, who was now living in Arad’s reality?

There was a clear reason why he added, “I’ll definitely pay you back, even with a contract.”

“Lol, no need for that. Is this being streamed live?”

“No, it’s not live.”

“Then just make sure to add subtitles thanking me when you upload the video later.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll definitely do that when I post it.”

For Jinseong, this was both a relief and a cause for concern.

The person’s request—cutting off 8,000 gold in exchange for something—was something Jinseong could handle.

But it wasn’t something he could do immediately.

‘Someday, maybe I can fulfill it. But how long do I have before it’s due? If I return to the real world and upload a video featuring this person’s nickname, does that settle the deal? If that’s the case…’

Would he be safe?

Would this not violate Nemer’s warning?

The rule was to avoid receiving one-sided help from , though cooperation was allowed.

Would this transaction with the player be considered permissible?

Even if the exchange seemed ambiguous, for *Dungeon & Fighter* players, 8,000 gold was a negligible amount that could be earned by selling a few junk items. Perhaps it would be overlooked.

Still feeling nervous, the player told Jinseong, “Good, lol, send the trade.”

The player was asking him to initiate the trade, but Jinseong couldn’t use such systems.

So he simply picked up the pouch containing 110,000 gold and handed it over to the player.

Moments later, the player handed him the orange megaphone.

But then, to Jinseong’s surprise, something happened.

While he hesitated, the player casually snatched the gold pouch from his hand!

‘Ugh. He took it without giving me a chance to resist. Well, there’s no point in trying to hold back now, right?’

If this situation were an extension of *Dungeon & Fighter*’s reality, there’d be no room for a scam where the player could take the gold and not provide the item, given the system in place.

“Done, lol. Oh, by the way, what’s your YouTube channel name?”

“I haven’t… uh… decided on one yet.”

“Oh, I was wondering if you were that YouTuber, Baek Jinseong, who does those educational videos for engineers, lol.”

That one comment froze Jinseong.

There were words and phrases bubbling up to his throat, but he didn’t say them.

“I… hope I can become as famous as him.”

“Lol, you know him, huh? Well, I hope you become a big YouTuber too. Take care~”

The player left without showing any further interest, leaving Jinseong standing in Hendon Myre, dazed.

The bustling noise around him, and the player he had just traded with, would never understand.

Only Jinseong could sense the vividness of this world.

In a situation that could easily feel terrifying, Jinseong thought to himself:

‘…Yes, I just need to wrap everything up safely and go back. Why get all gloomy? Everything is going smoothly.’

It wasn’t pure optimism.

But looking at it practically, things were going well.

And if the megaphone in his hand worked without issue…

‘I may be someone possessed, but that doesn’t mean I have to live this world as though it’s only reality. This place is both reality and a game. I’m neither an NPC who has lived here nor a user. I need to fully understand and grasp this unique position I’m in.’

It wasn’t just about [My Info] or [Inventory], or even [Skill Window].

Like how he indirectly used the auction house through another player earlier, he needed to explore every detail of *Dungeon & Fighter*, the game that had been his entire life, and find new approaches to it.

Clutching the megaphone tightly, Jinseong drank a teleport potion.

* * *

“Jinseong! H2H2!”

Jinseong flinched at the sudden call near Linus.

He barely suppressed a scream, perhaps because he had already experienced this once before and was used to it.

‘A whisper? And this voice…’

But he couldn’t relax just yet.

He recognized who had sent him the whisper!

“I saw your megaphone, lol. What’s with the sudden Lotus?”

“Where did you get that item? I’ve never seen it before. The design is pretty cool.”

“Lol, but seriously, what do you mean by saying the concept is cute and the weapon is funny? Lol.”

The barrage of whispers rattled his brain, leaving him momentarily flustered.

How should he respond?

With so many questions thrown at him, it felt overwhelming, and this was a player who wanted to communicate through whispers.

‘Since the megaphone worked by speaking into it… judging by *Sunsujikgi*’s reaction, the game system must have applied.’

It wasn’t just about carelessly mentioning the item’s name.

If the game system had linked the item to the chat, allowing players to click on it and view its details, then…

‘It’ll work…’

After a moment of deliberation, Jinseong cupped his hands over his mouth.

Linus, standing nearby, tilted his head at the strange gesture, but for Jinseong, this was another great challenge.

“To *Sunsujikgi*, did you click on the item?”

Jinseong said, attempting to mimic the whisper system of *Dungeon & Fighter*.

The awkwardness of it didn’t matter; Jinseong was thrilled.

“Lol, you don’t need to add that to whispers, lol. And yeah, I clicked it. I’ve got a few Ghost Knight characters too, lol.”

He confirmed that the system worked as expected.

‘It works?! Of course, it works! I shouldn’t have doubted it!’

Jinseong clenched his fist in victory.

But with success came an immediate challenge.

“By the way, why didn’t you list it in the auction house and use a megaphone instead? Don’t you know how the auction house works?”

*Sunsujikgi* was a player who seemed to have a habit of being overly nosy.

Given his past interactions, the excuse of “I’m recording for an internet stream” wasn’t

likely to work here.

So, Jinseong took a different approach.

“Well… I think it’s better to trade face-to-face with people.”

“Lol, true, true. Kids these days don’t have any sense of community.”

Of course, Jinseong couldn’t know that *Sunsujikgi* was laughing so hard he was almost hitting his desk.

All Jinseong felt was relief that his nonsensical excuse had worked.

“Where are you right now? Which channel?”

“In front of Linus. *Sunsujikgi*, could I ask—”

Jinseong stopped mid-sentence.

He felt it.

‘…So this is what it feels like when whispers stop working. It’s like something just… fizzles out.’

The whispering had stopped, which meant that *Sunsujikgi* had suddenly logged out.

Jinseong instinctively knew what this meant as he prepared to say, “If you have your main character, come check out the items.”

In the distance, a male Ghost Knight dressed in the full set of the avatar was approaching.

“Hello, hello.”

Seeing the nickname *Sunsurasura* floating above the character’s head, Jinseong guessed that this was likely *Sunsujikgi*’s other character from the Asura class.

“Hello, *Sunsurasura*.”

“Lol, just call me *Sunsura*, lol. *Sunsurasura* is just too funny, lol.”

Even the dog costume’s avatar was grinning, and *Sunsura*’s voice was so bright and cheerful that Jinseong could tell he was in a good mood.

So it felt a little confusing.

Why would *Sunsura* come all the way here just to chat happily like this?

‘We’ve bumped into each other a few times in passing, but there was no real connection… Or was there?’

When *Sunsujikgi* first whispered him, Jinseong had thought it was just a casual chat.

Maybe a bit of small talk.

But now, something in his gaze had shifted.

“Yes, *Sunsura*. But could I ask—is that weapon…?”

Because the weapon *Sunsurasura* was holding was glowing with a deep pink aura around its edges.

Of course, Jinseong knew what it was, and several of his own characters had held the same item before.

“Lol, isn’t it stylish? +13 enhancement, lol.”

The slang term “pink flair.”

When a weapon is enhanced to +13, it gains a special pink effect.

Jinseong’s eyes widened.

“+13? Did you say +13? Enhancement?”

“Lol, it’s just a mining character, lol. But still, if you’re going to run +11 amplification and +13 enhancement, you might as well make it look good, lol. Most of my main characters have the golden flair.”

*Sunsura* answered.

*Sunsura*’s main characters all had the golden flair of +15 enhancements, which was even higher than the pink flair of +13.

But that wasn’t the part that surprised Jinseong.

‘An Asura is a reinforcement, high-damage character, and he’s enhanced it? Not amplification, but enhancement? Just because… he thought the pink flair looked cool? That it seemed stylish?!’

With that one comment, Jinseong had a clear understanding of what kind of person *Sunsura* was.

‘This guy is insane!’