A period of stagnation or an ice age—this was what some people called the present state of Arena.

-What a bunch of nonsense!

-Arena is an immortal game.

-There is no way it is going to be ruined.

-The upward curve hasn’t been broken yet.

Some people countered that it was nonsense. Arena had steadily increased its number of subscribers, and it had now surpassed one billion. It had risen to an unprecedented position for a virtual reality game. Nevertheless, the controversy continued. Part of it was caused by famous streamers and journalists.

-The growth engine has already stopped.

-It has been a few months since no new content appeared.

-Repetitive leveling up through only hunting and quests is possible in any virtual reality game.

It was the absence of new content that they took issue with. Arena had started releasing content at an unprecedented speed after Alley Leader appeared—or to be precise, after Hyeonu returned. Akin to the wheels of a stalled cart that started to roll, the main scenario continued relentlessly, and new areas such as the different species, the demon world, and the divine world were revealed...