Editor : Amethyst00



The sudden incident plunged the entire Colosseum into chaos.

“What on earth is going on?!”

“Instructor Verga! This is bad! Lord Aaron’s Hero's World has opened!”

“What?”

Verga’s face stiffened.

He too knew that the phenomenon that had just occurred was a sign that a Hero's World was being constructed.

But even so, he never imagined that a true Hero's World would actually open.

To open a Hero's World, one needed either the hero themselves or an object imbued with a powerful connection to them.

In this era, it was nearly impossible to find such relics—let alone pages belonging to the Great Heroes.

Most of the pages that had never opened before were expected to remain sealed forever.

And yet, one of them had just opened.

“Is it a rampage?”

“It seems that way!”

For whatever reason, the fact that Aaron’s World had opened was, in itself, remarkable.

Even if it had become a dungeon due to a rampage, clearing it would allow one to inherit Aaron’s power.

The problem lay with the ones who had entered Aaron’s World—his daughter, and the son of his old comrade.

Still young, still green.

‘Can those children really conquer Lord Aaron’s World?’

Clenching his trembling hand, Verga gritted his teeth.

bl

“If this really is Lord Aaron’s World, then that means… this is the Age of Calamity, right?”

“Looks that way.”

When Leo replied after taking his eyes off the sky, Aru’s expression hardened.

“Why did the Hero's World suddenly activate?”

“Not sure. Let’s try communicating with the outside first.”

At that, Leo pressed his joined index and middle fingers to his temple.

A faint blue light shimmered as he focused.

“This is Le… no, Kyle speaking. Can anyone hear me?”

In a normal Hero's World, external communication should still be possible.

But despite Leo’s attempts, there was no response from outside.

He glanced at Aru—who wore a similarly frustrated expression, having failed to connect as well.

A Hero Dungeon born of a rampage? Then why? There had been no records of the Prologue page ever opening in thousands of years.

As Aru frowned deeply, Leo looked down at his own hand.

The sudden rampage of Aaron’s page… he had a faint idea what it meant.

‘When I touched my own Hero Page—both in Hero Studies class and in Velkia, the Hero's World opened.’

Recalling when he met Lysinas and Luna, Leo’s expression turned grim.

‘But those were my pages. This one is unmistakably Aaron’s.’

[Objective: Find Aaron in Raysar.]

Just then, a message appeared before Leo and Aru.

“An objective? Then this isn’t a Hero Dungeon, right?” Aru said brightly.

Hero Dungeons didn’t have objectives.

If there was a defined objective, as Aru said, that meant it wasn’t caused by a rampage—it was a properly opened world.

“Then why can’t we reach the outside?”

“W-well…”

Even Aru couldn’t come up with a clear answer to that.

“Maybe because it opened too suddenly? To control a Hero's World, you need the key that governs it. Whoever opened it probably didn’t have the key.”

“The key, huh.” Leo’s eyes narrowed.

“Well, if our goal is just to find Lord Aaron, this might end easier than we think?” Aru said optimistically.

Leo sighed deeply.

“Do you really think finding Aaron in Raysar will be that simple?”

Raysar.

The refugee city that had existed during the Age of Calamity.

Its size was beyond imagination, as it housed countless races.

“Still, he’s Lord Aaron. Shouldn’t he be easy to find?”

“Aaron only became famous after he left Raysar to join the Erebos Subjugation Party.”

“Well, yeah, but still! The records say he was already pretty well-known even before that! Lysinas and Luna both sought him out in Raysar because of his reputation!”

‘Right… that’s what people of this era believe.’

But recorded history and actual history were different.

In truth, during this time, Aaron wasn’t famous at all.

Only Leo—who had lived through that age—knew that fact.

‘We’ll have to rely on old records to clear this world anyway.’

Leo scratched his head and sighed.

‘Even if I tell Aru what really happened, she probably won’t believe me. Maybe she needs to experience it herself.’

“Let’s split up and gather information about Lord Aaron!”

“This is a Hero's World. We can’t just split up carelessly.”

“Hmm, true! Then let’s search together!”

Excited at the thought of meeting her idol Aaron in person, Aru enthusiastically began asking around.

“Excuse me! Do you happen to know someone named Lord Aaron?”

“Aaron? Who the hell is that? Don’t bother me!”

“Um, I’m looking for someone called Lord Aaron?”

“How should I know some random bastard’s name?”

“Hey, you there! Beastkin! You’ve heard the name Aaron before, right?”

“Not at all.”

She asked all day long.

And by the time the sun was setting—

“Why doesn’t anyone know about Lord Aaron?! Wasn’t he already famous before joining the Erebos Subjugation Force!?”

As Aru shouted in frustration, Leo folded his arms.

“Seems the real history and the written records don’t match up.”

“Ugh!”

Aru winced at his reply.

Meanwhile, Leo organized what he’d learned through his inquiries.

‘The current year is 1462 of the Altegra Calendar.’

That was twenty years after the Age of Calamity began.

‘At least I don’t have to start from scratch finding Aaron.’

“Let’s find somewhere to rest first.”

“In a city like this? Can we even find a safe place?” Aru said worriedly.

After a full day wandering the streets of Raysar, one truth had become clear.

This era was fundamentally different from their own.

People were rude and violent by default, and fights broke out everywhere like daily meals.

It wasn’t merely a matter of good or bad law enforcement.

Everyone lived in primal fear that the world might end at any moment.

A world utterly unlike their own.

“We’ll have to look for somewhere decent. Sleeping outside would be dangerous.”

“Then let’s find an inn.”

‘An inn won’t do.’

Leo gave a wry smile.

Even back when Kyle came to Raysar, he had struggled terribly to find a place to sleep.

‘There wasn’t a single decent inn here.’

As the largest refugee city in the world, Raysar was overflowing with people—among them, plenty of criminals who committed atrocities like breathing.

Those kinds didn’t act during the day. The city guards worked tirelessly to maintain order then.

But once night fell—

Fear blanketed the streets.

Crime erupted in every alleyway, and murders were common in the poorer districts.

In the past, it had taken Kyle’s group a full month of wandering to finally find a safe haven.

‘That’s where we need to go.’

And that place wasn’t just safe—it was special.

“Let’s try over there,” Aru said, pointing to an inn nearby.

Leo followed her inside.

Ding– ding–

As the door opened, the first floor was packed with customers.

For a moment, everyone’s gaze turned toward Aru.

Startled, she spotted the owner at the counter and exhaled in relief.

The owner, though his face was full of scars, was an elf.

Seeing that, Aru relaxed slightly.

Elves were prideful, but fundamentally a good-hearted race. Surely, he wouldn’t do anything unsavory.

“Excuse me, do you have any rooms available for tonight?”

“Nope. All full. Though… if you don’t mind sharing my room, that could be arranged.”

The owner’s sly grin made Aru’s expression freeze.

She hadn’t expected an elf to make such a blatant advance.

Seeing her expression darken, Leo quickly grabbed Aru’s hand and led her out of the inn.

“Doesn’t seem easy to find a decent place.”

“Yeah…” Aru’s face dimmed.

‘The common sense of this age is completely different from ours…’

Even after more searching, they found nowhere that looked safe.

‘Can we even find anywhere to stay?’ Aru followed behind Leo, looking discouraged.

Meanwhile, Leo, pretending to wander aimlessly, subtly guided her toward a certain destination.

‘Almost there.’

He stopped walking.

Lost in thought, Aru halted as well and looked around in confusion.

‘When did we end up somewhere like this?’

They were standing in the middle of a desolate, lifeless street.

Whoosh!

A sharp sound of wind cutting through the air.

Sensing killing intent from beside her, Aru’s eyes flashed as she threw a punch.

Grab!

But her strike was effortlessly caught.

Even so, Aru didn’t falter—she extended her claws, channeling aura into them.

Seeing that, Leo shouted urgently,

“Wait, Aru! Don’t fight!”

But it was too late—the sparks had already ignited.

Crack!

Aru’s claw, charged with aura, struck the opponent’s chest.

Yet her attack didn’t go through—it was blocked by an aura armor.

Gritting her teeth, Aru tried to break free from his grip.

But the opponent moved faster, grabbing her by the back of the neck.

“Urgh—?”

“Who are you people? Why have you trespassed here?”

Grinding her teeth, Aru tried to raise her aura again—

—but the feline beastkin frowned and slammed her to the ground.

“Gah—!”

As her consciousness faded, Aru managed to gasp weakly,

“Black Rabbit… run…!”

Leaving the unconscious Aru where she lay, the cat beastkin turned his sharp gaze to Leo.

“Why have you entered this district?”

“I was told to come here.”

“By who? This area is restricted.”

He was right—this place was known as the Cursed Quarter, a forsaken district.

Taking a deep breath to calm him, Leo raised both hands and said seriously,

“Coward Aaron told us to come here.”