Chapter 19: The Sacred Sword of the Sun God

The moment I arrived at school, I began a massive reorganization of the raid team.

Early in the morning, before heading to school, I sent gold via mail and removed users who kept dealing mediocre damage from the raid list.

Despite their lack of activity, they couldn’t even match the tanks in damage.

That was proof they had no talent.

When I brought up the issue in the raid chat, most agreed with my decision, though some expressed a strong desire to stay.

I showed no mercy.

One must be firm in making decisions.

Cutting them off decisively resulted in half the raid members being dropped.

“What are you working on so intently?”

“Oh, Sohee.”

When did she come over?

I thought I’d arrived at school pretty early, but Sohee was already wandering around the classroom.

I smiled slightly and tucked my phone into my pocket.

“It’s just… some issue I had to deal with.”

“Hmm… Want me to help?”

Even though she had no idea what the problem was, her immediate offer to help showed just how kind-hearted she was.

It wasn’t a bad feeling.

In fact, it was a bit heartwarming.

“I’m fine.”

I shook my head.

Since it was a game-related issue, there was no way for Sohee to get involved.

She tilted her head at my response, then handed me a candy.

This time, it was a large grape-flavored candy.

Perhaps the late-night study sessions with Harang were paying off because I was starting to feel like I could vaguely keep up with math classes lately.

Seeing the notebook filling up with dense calculations gave me a sense of satisfaction.

At 5 PM, school ended, and I arrived home shortly after.

That marked the beginning of my Deron login time.

Since I had returned to the capital city in the morning to send gold via mail, I once again found myself waking up in the heart of the capital.

With my helmet pressed down securely, I moved cautiously.

It wasn’t intentional, but I had been broadcasted.

Not every player might have been watching, but being cautious wouldn’t hurt.

After the raid ended, I checked the items I had obtained.

The [Heart of the Warrior] necklace, purchased for 3,000 gold, would remain a best-in-slot item until the next season.

While the item’s stats were excellent on their own, the key feature was the [Berserk] skill attached to it.

During its duration, it increased attack speed by 50% and reduced the cooldown of all skills by 50%.

Although its short 20-second duration was a drawback, any physical DPS player who acquired this accessory would transform into a terrifying juggernaut capable of tearing through damage charts.

Assuming item stats hadn’t changed, items in this world should have the same effects.

However, the necklace wasn’t the most important thing.

[Right Fragment of the Sun]

[Left Fragment of the Sun]

The Fragments of the Sun series.

Who would’ve thought both pieces would drop in the very first raid?

When the final boss dropped the remaining counterpart, my heart nearly leaped out of my chest.

I struggled to hide my trembling lips and the wildly fluctuating expression on my face.

While replenishing the raid members was still a task, I had some time left.

Today, I had firmly refused Harang’s demands, determined to focus entirely on a hidden quest.

Without hesitation, I equipped the ring and headed for the Lunariss Shrine.

The quest began with a priest NPC standing deep inside the Lunariss Shrine.

“Adventurer…? I can sense another divine power emanating from your body.”

The priest NPC carefully observed me and continued speaking.

“It is a divine power… but it feels familiar somehow. Would you like to hear the story?”

When I nodded, the priest NPC continued.

“There is a place far away from the Lunariss capital city, a snow-covered mountain range. That’s where I’m from. The elders of my village often spoke of it. They said the mountain range was once filled with a warm energy.”

“You mean it’s no longer that way?”

“Yes, that’s correct. They said the god who watched over the mountain range disappeared. However, traces of that god remain. The divine power emanating from the ruined shrine deep within the mountain range was proof of that.”

“Are you saying that the divine power in my body feels similar to that?”

“I can’t say for certain, but the divine power I felt back then is reminiscent of the one now emanating from you, adventurer.”

As the priest finished speaking, a translucent message window appeared before my eyes.

[Traces of the Vanished Sun]

You’ve heard a story about a god that is no longer present.

To learn more, you must head to the snowy mountain range the priest spoke of.

With those words, the priest fell silent.

This meant there was no more information I could gather from him.

I quickly exited the shrine and stepped into the portal leading to the snowy mountain range.

The Snowy Mountain Range.

As its name suggests, the entire massive mountain was blanketed in snow.

The monsters that appeared were beast-type creatures ranging from levels 22 to 25.

It wasn’t a popular hunting ground due to the map’s annoying debuff called [Bitter Cold].

This debuff reduced movement speed and drained health periodically, making it a hassle.

On top of that, the snowstorm that obstructed vision was enough to frustrate many players.

Stepping out of the portal, I was greeted by the tranquil surroundings.

I noticed a few players near the base of the mountain working on quests, but there wasn’t a single person visible higher up the mountain.

Without delay, I began climbing into the mountain range.

At that moment—

[The power of the sun envelops your body, repelling the cold.]

The two rings I was wearing began to glow, and the biting chill that had been swirling around me dissipated instantly.

Who would have guessed such a detailed feature was hidden?

With a startled expression, I began crossing the mountain range.

Had I not possessed knowledge of the past, I would have headed to the village within the mountains to gather information.

But I already knew everything about this quest.

Therefore, I skipped the intermediate steps.

If I followed the standard quest progression, I’d have to travel back and forth between the Lunariss capital and this mountain range countless times.

Instead, by heading directly to the gorge where the ruined shrine was located, I could bypass that tedious process.

[Growl!]

As expected of the snowy mountain range, monsters camouflaged in white suddenly appeared.

A snow leopard with white fur charged toward me and swiped its claws.

Dodging lightly, I swung my sword in return.

Bright red blood splattered across the pure white snow.

The white surroundings made it difficult to detect the monsters’ approach.

“Phew—”

A white puff of breath escaped my lips.

My gaze, calm and focused, scanned the snow-covered surroundings.

It seemed impossible to reach the destination easily.

The number of monsters approaching from the surroundings was excessively high.

Because this was an area rarely visited by players, the monster population in this map had reached its maximum capacity.

I removed the helmet that restricted my vision and immediately swung my sword.

Pushing through the waves of monsters that poured in, I continued moving forward.

Progress was slow.

The sheer number of monsters was overwhelming.

After spending a full hour carving a path, I finally reached the mountain peak, my destination.

At the summit was a small shrine buried under snow.

The snow was so thick that I might have passed it by without noticing if I hadn’t looked closely.

As I shook off the snow covering my body and approached the shrine, something happened.

A brilliant light burst forth from the rings I was wearing, instantly melting all the surrounding snow.

What was revealed was a trace of the summit’s past.

Judging by the scattered ruins of buildings nearby, this place must have once housed a grand temple.

[The Light of the Sun Shall Guide You.]

A faint voice emanated from the broken shrine that had absorbed the light.

At that moment, the shrine emitted a bright beam pointing toward the base of the mountain.

It was as if it was directing me to head in that direction.

Following the light, I descended the mountain range.

After traveling downward for some time, I reached the edge of the map.

At the edge stood a massive block of ice, and something faintly visible was encased within it.

The light that began from the mountain peak pointed directly at this ice.

As I approached the enormous ice block, the rings I was wearing glowed brightly and began melting the ice.

A gentle golden radiance started to seep out.

This light, which warmed the surroundings, possessed an entirely different quality from the moonlight of Lunariss.

When the ice had fully melted, a sword that had been slumbering within it slowly floated out and stopped before me.

[Solar, the Sacred Sword of the Sun God]

Strength +30

Health +30

• Increases maximum health by 10%.
• Increases attack speed by 15%.
• Attack power +300, Defense +70.
• Once per day, activate [Sanctuary of the Sun God].
• 20% chance on attack to trigger [Cloak of the Sun], enveloping the user.

[Sanctuary of the Sun God]

Declares a large area around the wielder as the sanctuary of the Sun God.

During the effect, all stats increase by 25%, and health regenerates at a rate of 1% per second.

Duration: 60 seconds.

[Cloak of the Sun]

The powerful energy of the sun surrounds the wielder like a cloak.

Summons the Cloak of the Sun, which deals continuous damage in a small area around the user and reduces incoming damage by 10%.

Duration: 10 seconds.

Even though I already knew about it, the sword’s specs were truly incredible.

An item I had only seen in the past but could never obtain was now in my hands.

As I extended my hand and grasped the sword, something unexpected happened.

My body moved on its own, and I fiercely slashed through the empty air.

Whoosh!

A brilliant light burst forth from the sword as it was swung.

The light spread in all directions, melting away the snow covering the mountain range.

I stood there, dumbfounded, watching the spectacle unfold.

I had seen videos of this hidden quest being completed before.

At the final moment, a scene like this had indeed appeared, but in the game, it was just a cinematic cutscene that didn’t affect the map.

In this world’s version of Deron, the hidden quest’s visuals were excessively upgraded.

As the melted snow began to evaporate, even the clouds that hung in the sky disappeared.

The moment the brilliant sun, hidden behind the clouds, revealed itself was breathtaking.

[[Solar, the Sacred Sword of the Sun God] has been unveiled.]

A server-wide message, typically used only during maintenance announcements, appeared.

I hastily used a return stone item to teleport back to the capital city.

Every player currently playing Deron saw the message.

Curious players flooded the game company with inquiries, but no concrete answers were provided.

The only reply was that it wasn’t a bug or a mistake by the developers.

[Deron Online Gallery]

[Who is the Sun God Solar?] [2]

[Isn’t this just the start of an event?] [5]

[The Sacred Sword of the Sun God exists. It’s just an item drop, right?] [7]

[Seems like it’s related to the Snowy Mountain Range.] [21]

[Maybe the Sun God’s just hiding like a schoolgirl ninja, so we can’t find them.] [11]

Numerous speculative posts flooded the forums, but ordinary players couldn’t uncover anything concrete.

The Snowy Mountain Range briefly gained attention, but as time passed, the map returned to its original snow-covered state.

And so, people’s interest began to fade away.