The Red Beam

Colt had gained one more thing from this quest.

Credit. He didn't take the 1000 gold in cash.

He was already rich, so he didn't need the money.

What he needed was credibility.

So, he took the reward as credit deposited into his hunter account, which functioned like a bank card system.

The only difference was that he could use his hunter license instead of a debit card.

After all, a nobody like him wouldn't normally have access to that kind of money.

So, this way, even if he spent large amounts, no one would question the source.

His card also displayed his rank as C-1 and the card itself was gold colored.

Prolt had offered to promote him straight to A rank, but Colt declined.

C rank was more than enough for his goals.

If he ever wanted to, he could reach S rank at any time.

And now that the final boss was dead, he was finally free.

Of course, there were still side bosses left to deal with, but they weren't going to revolt or try to take over the world.

This also meant there wouldn't be a game called EVR on Zerion, his home planet.

A part of him wished the game would still launch.

It would be the only way to see his old friends and family.

But deep down, he knew everyone would be happier if it never existed. So he had to suck it up.

In the meantime, Colt was thinking about his next destination outside the guild when the inevitable event began to unfold.

The group of five, the so-called Wise Lions, were secretly trying to surround him.

Naturally, Colt knew this but still let them. They were clearly unfit to be hunters.

"Yo, newbie! We meet again. Now that we're not hunters, we're not bound by the rules!" Lionel said.

Why would they call themselves the Wise Lions if they were this dumb? Colt wondered.

"Look at him, he's frozen," the mage said with a smirk. "Don't worry, there's no way out for you. Since you cost us our licenses, you can pay us back with that 1000 gold you got."

The fhrem just stared at him with blank eyes.

Fhrems were an orc-like race, long and burly, but their minds developed much slower than other races.

Before the age of 100, a fhrem was basically still a child—and the one standing there was no more than 30.

Colt looked at Lionel. "Sigh... You still haven't learned anything, have you?"

"Shut it. Give us the money, or we'll take your life."

"Then take my life," Colt said mockingly. "You won't get the money if I'm dead. It's in my hunter account. What will killing a low-level guy like me even accomplish?"

The fhrem tilted his head slightly, as if he was starting to think Colt made sense.

"Then we'll torture you until you give us the money."

Now Colt was really enjoying himself. "If you torture me, they'll see the injuries when I try to withdraw money."

This time, even the other party members looked at Colt with hesitant, almost approving expressions.

Realizing they couldn't win this exchange with words, Lionel's rage reached a boiling point. He couldn't hold back any longer.

He drew his sword and charged.

Colt didn't flinch. He simply raised a hand and stopped Lionel's sword between two fingers.

The fun was over. Now it was just annoying.

"Next time... No, never mind. I don't have any advice for you," he said, and all five members of the Wise Lions collapsed to the ground.

Everyone fainted—except Lionel.

He was dead.

The world didn't need people like him.

---

In the previous timeline, Colt hadn't actually been in Arte.

Zeno, the gaming capsule created by EVR, allowed players to log in using a body modeled after their real one.

But it wasn't his actual body—just a copy.

Also, while using the capsule, players didn't need to eat, though they could still taste food when they did.

So Colt only ate during dates or when sharing meals with his "NPC" friends.

Now, he could eat with his real body, though with his current level, he no longer needed to.

His body had evolved beyond that point.

Still, he decided to spend a few days alone.

During that time, he flew around and had fun, trying different foods wherever he went.

He visited the one place that had been praised endlessly in the former timeline.

This dish tastes exactly like it did in-game, but now... it makes my stomach full. Somehow, that made it lonelier.

Not that he changed his route just for that.

His real goal was something else.

The red beam...

It was a phenomenon on Arte.

Or rather, it didn't seem like a natural one.

When players logged in for the first time, everyone saw a red beam stretching into the sky.

No matter where they were on Arte, it was visible.

But whenever they tried to approach it, they couldn't.

The pressure kept them from even getting within 100 kilometers of it.

Then, a few months after the game launched, the beam disappeared.

But now, seven years before the launch, the red beam was still there.

Of course it was. He had learned from some of his "NPC" friends that the red beam had existed for over 200 years.

No one knew where it came from, but it had always been there.

So this time, Colt would go.

He didn't know what it was.

But he had the power to find out.

So, after the last place he wanted to visit, his voyage toward the red beam started, unaware of the fate he had changed.

---

Colt flew at a casual speed for a full day before entering the range of the red beam.

It was coming from the top of a mountain. So, he needed to go up.

At first, he didn't feel anything. Unlike the time the game was launched, the pressure didn't affect him because of the level difference then and now.

But as he got closer to the source, the pressure began to build.

Still, he was confident he could push through, since it had only started around 10 kilometers out.

When he got within a kilometer, he couldn't fly anymore. But he could walk the rest of the way.

The final stretch was a flat, open area with nothing in sight except a cubicle-shaped building at the center.

The red beam was coming from it.

Colt was now sure—it wasn't possible to get any closer without being at least level 300.

Thankfully, he was level 337. He made it to the cubicle. The source of the red beam was definitely this oddly shaped building.

There was a door in the middle, so he entered slowly.

The interior was dimly lit, but he could still see everything clearly.

It was empty. Just a bare floor. Nothing else.

He looked around to be sure. The red beam couldn't be seen from inside.

Where is it coming from? Did I miss some—

Before he could finish the thought, a sword came at him from the left.

Colt jumped back and looked in that direction. But no one was there.

He was about to cast a spell when he felt cold metal touch the back of his neck.

How? He was supposed to be the strongest. How did someone get behind me?

"Who are you?" came a hoarse voice from behind, as if the speaker hadn't spoken in years.

Colt turned around slowly and saw a young man with bright blue eyes.

But those eyes were too familiar.

"Sir, I'm called Colt. I don't mean any harm—I just wanted to find out where the red beam came from. So I came here to—"

The young man cut him off.

"I'm not asking about that. There shouldn't be anyone like you on this planet. If there were, I'd know. So... who are you?"

What do you mean, I'd know? Only then did Colt realize why those eyes looked so familiar.

"Sir, are you... perhaps from the Yatin family?" Colt asked quickly.

"Ooh? You know my family?" The young man slowly lowered his weapon.

He already knew Colt had no way to defeat him.

"I really want to know who you are now. My family isn't supposed to be famous or anything at this point."

Colt understood everything now.

In his past life, when the players entered the game and discovered it was real, they also learned that the NPCs were real existences.

Some players befriended them, and some, like Colt, became much more than just friends.

So they also had to learn about the world itself—its countries, the royal family, the noble houses, and the influential families of Ostines, as well as the other countries.

Ostines had a nobility system with a king on the throne. But not all influential families belonged to nobility.

The Yatin family had become one of those influential families right after the beam vanished.

And at that time, no one thought they were related.

But Colt now knew that they were.

So, he had to ask now, "Sir, are you perhaps the seer of this time?"