ã€ŠClosed Beta That Only I Playedã€‹


 Chapter 1

    <h4>Chapter 1: Prologue & 1st Closed Beta (1)</h4>

    I love to y games.

    Yes, I love them more than anybody else, so much so that I wish I could have a traffic ident.

    I thought I would be better off with every part of my body including both hands alright, except for my two legs that I wish could be disabled.

    In such a situation I could y games as much as I wanted without being conscious of anybody, and I¡¯d even gain sympathy from people around me.

    When I could not get any better grades despite my hard efforts day and night, I particrly felt obsessed with that kind of thinking more strongly than ever.

    Of course, my understanding or memory or concentration might not be as good as that of an ordinary person.

    When I was very frustrated and disappointed with theck of any tangible progress in my grades despite the enormous efforts and time I had given, I first experienced the so-called MMORPG (massively multiyer online role-ying game), an online video game that allowed multiple yers to y in the same space simultaneously.

    It was a new world to me because I got rewarded for all the efforts I made in that game.

    In other words, when I created the characters to rece me and killed the monster with the entry-level weapon in the game, I always received EXP or experience points for that.

    It was not the kind of stuff that required me to make the enormous efforts to recite English words hundreds of times to memorize them, but I received a certain amount of EXP in proportion to my performance.

    I saw my level going up and stronger than before in the game because of my repeated actions.

    And surprisingly I continued to level up, which was something quite opposite to the situation where I found myself trying hard to recall the English words that I had managed to memorize but soon forgot.

    Of course, I sometimes had bad luck when I had to drop items after hunting monsters, but it was okay anyway because I could keep hunting until I found the item that I wanted.

    And all the efforts that I continued to make until I secured the item I wanted were never wasted like my studying in vain.

    Obviously, there was something I earned in the process of obtaining the item, which was none other than experience.

    I also obtained other items that proved useful to me, even if they were not what I wanted.

    Over time I forgot everything I tried so hard to memorize, but I never witnessed my level, experience points, and items decrease or disappear in the games.

    And I didn¡¯t have to worry about it from the beginning.

    Naturally, I was supposed to be hooked onto the games, but I wasn¡¯t.

    In fact, I failed to do so because of my parents who wanted me to study hard and my elder brother and sister who were smarter than me.

    As they say, there really were people who never masturbated, but none masturbated only once in their lives.

    That could be applied to me in the games.

    Once I came to know the games, I often thought about them while I was wrapped up in studying.

    So, I purchased the second-generation popr VR interface adapter without my parents¡¯ knowledge.

    Although it was a used item, I paid over five million Korean won ($5,000) for it. But I had no problem buying it because of my handsome allowance.

    Right after I purchased it, I didn¡¯t ess the MMORPG that opened a new world for me because I was not sure if I could get out of it once I essed it.

    Anyway, I am a student at the moment, so I¡¯m not foolish enough to forget my ce.

    To be honest, I was more scared of my father¡¯s scolding.

    That¡¯s why I began to search for the kind of game that I could y with all my heart before stopping once and for all.

    Of course, there were some games that I was looking for, such as the strategic simtion games like ¡®Star Wars.¡¯

    But such games had fatal shorings that didn¡¯t draw my attention.

    Namely, theycked sustainability and continuity.

    After all, I found one while I was trying to find role ying games.

    It was a game I yed in closed beta. In other words, it was a role ying game in closed beta where any specified user could enjoy the given content for a certain period of time.

    As the game in closed beta suggested, it was a game which was not yetpleted.

    I liked it better for that reason because I once wished I could lose interest in the game after getting sick and tired of it. I needed to concentrate on studying.

    Anyway, the gamecked sustainability and continuity because of its closed beta attribute, but it was the type of game that satisfied my tastes most. So, I surfed the inte immediately and searched for a closed beta version at the earliest date, and I finally found one.

    Then I entered my email address and mobile phone number in the closed beta participation form, namely the role-ying game called Forgotten Legend.

    ***

    Ring, ring.

    ¡°Ugh?¡±

    I heard a message beep on my mobile phone while I was sitting on a chair blindly memorizing math forms that I could not understand. Since I turned off all my chat room notifications including the open ones, I lifted my mobile phone and double checked it curiously. And I confirmed it.

    It was a message informing me that I was picked to participate in the ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ game that would be yed in the first closed beta.

    ¡°Oh! I made it!¡±

    Of course, I didn¡¯t bet everything on this particr game.

    That¡¯s why I applied to participate in all the closed beta games for fear that I might not be picked for ¡®Forgotten Legend.¡¯

    But I waited for the results because it was this role-ying game that would proceed with the closed beta as quickly as possible.

    I slightly checked the time. It was 8:30 PM.

    ¡°Why did they send out a message in the evening?¡±

    I waited for the next message while grumbling a bit.

    At 9:00 PM, the housemaid was supposed to bring me some snacks and a bowl of herbal medicine that would allegedly stimte my brain. Of course, after bringing them to me, she would immediately report to my mother about what I was doing.

    ¡°Dang it! The second-generation popr VR interface adaptor can¡¯t download programs by itself.¡±

    The 2nd generation popr VR adaptor.

    When I checked the production date on it, it was produced almost 12 years ago.

    Compared to the 3rd generation VR adaptor these days, it must be junk.

    Of course, I¡¯ve got the 3rd one which is more expensive and iparably more efficient than the 2nd one and an unpopr high-end one.

    But I don¡¯t use it because the 3rd one is equipped with a highly efficient AI helper, unlike the 2nd one that only allows mechanicalmandnguage. Besides, it basically reports the users¡¯ usage history to their parents if they are a minor.

    That¡¯s why I had to buy the 2nd generation VR adaptor for 5 million won.

    Anyway I idled away, waiting for the housemaid.

    Exactly at 5:00 PM, I heard her footsteps outside the door.

    ¡°Juyoung, can Ie in?¡±

    ¡°Yes, pleasee in.¡±

    It¡¯s been already five years since she started working at my house, so she was not just an ordinary housemaid to me. So, I replied gently.

    In no time she came in and put down the herbal soup chongmyongtang and some snacks and fruits by the desk.

    ¡°Studying is tough for you these days, right?¡±

    ¡°Well, not really. I have to do it anyway as a student.¡±

    ¡°I see. If you need anything else, let me know.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    She left after that, and I opened the wardrobe quickly.

    Then I took out the helmet-shaped 2nd generation popr VR adaptor, rather crudepared to the 3rd one.

    ¡°I hope it works well.¡±

 Chapter 2

    <h4>Chapter 2: 1st Closed Beta (2)</h4>

    In fact, it was the 3rd VR adaptor that I essed for the first time. I¡¯ve never touched the old-style 2nd one, let alone the popr VR adaptor.

    While ncing over the manual provided by the seller, I connected it to theputer.

    ¡°Hum. I need to download it directly?¡±

    After connecting it, I switched to theputer and essed the homepage of ¡®Forgotten Legend.¡¯

    As soon as I essed it, I clicked the first closed beta execution ba, then entered the meaningless twelve alpha-numeric number that came along with the message.

    When I was done, I clicked the 2nd generation popr VR adaptor at the lower end of theputer screen when asked which VR type I wanted, and started downloading the 2nd one immediately.

    ¡°Wow, this is indeed a piece of junk!¡±

    I could not help butin because it took more than seven hours toplete downloading it. The 3rd generation VR adaptor that I had would take only ten minutes, and I wouldn¡¯t need to hook it up to theputer like this.

    Since the closed beta of the game ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ would open at 10:00 AM tomorrow, I didn¡¯t care too much about its long download.

    So, I confirmed the downloading time with my eyes, then surfed the homepage of ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ here and there.

    What about the studying that I was busy with until a moment ago?

    Well, I already forgot about it because I was so thrilled with the new game that even my heart pounded.

    9:50 AM the next day.

    ¡°rm set at 12:20 PM.¡±

    <You have set the rm at 12:20 PM.>

    My lunch time is always 12:30 PM.

    So, I set the rm ten minutes before it because I should not let anybody catch me ying games.

    Then Iy on the bed at 10:00 AM exactly and put on the 2nd VR adaptor on my head.

    I vowed one thing, though.

    ¡°It¡¯s vacation time anyway. Only two weeks of the closed beta of Forgotten Legend. For the two weeks, I¡¯llpletely devote myself to ying the game so that I won¡¯t think about it again during the remainder of the vacation.¡±

    Fortunately, I was in a good situation because it was verified that my private tutoring or going to a private academy didn¡¯t produce good results. Of course, I might have to receive private tutoring if my grades were not good because I had no private tutoring. In that case, I should be ready to fill my free time with tutoring except for my eating and sleeping time like I did before.

    Anyway I opened my mouth quietly whileying on the bed.

    ¡°Execution.¡±

    <The VR adaptor is now in execution mode.>

    In no time I heard the mechanical voice in my ears.

    At the same time, a new screen appeared, which was a white background with no high ceiling that I had seen a moment ago.

    ¡°It¡¯s set to default, but nothing¡¯s here. Change the background.¡±

    <Background has been changed.>

    Since I didn¡¯t like the white background, I chose a different background.

    Now there were ten avable backgrounds, so I chose an ind background.

    Although it was blocked by water everywhere, it was lush with green grass and trees inside.

    ¡°Hum. This one is better than the others anyway.¡±

    When I made the selection, the white background quickly turned into an ind, which I liked.

    But I quickly turned my eyes elsewhere because I had already enjoyed thendscape through the 3rd VR adaptor more than enough, whose resolution was much clearer and more varied than this one.

    <Confirming your downloading details.>

    <This is the downloaded details that you own.>

    [Forgotten Legend (Execution avable)]

    It was the only download created as a result of the default setting.

    ¡°Execute Forgotten Legend!¡±

    I immediately shouted ¡°Execution!¡± because I would not have enough time to y the game for the next two weeks, aside from my eating and sleeping time.

    <Forgotten Legend is now in execution mode.>

    The ind background quickly disappeared and a huge battlefield appeared, along with dozens of burning castles and numerous people who looked like ants.

    But I immediately shouted, ¡°Skip!¡±

    I didn¡¯t have to know about the background of Forgotten Legend, nor was I curious about it.

    Even one second mattered to me.

    Then the giant battlefield disappeared and the blue sky and a giant wheat field emerged.

    A message appeared before my eyes.

    <Thanks for participating in the first closed beta of Forgotten Legend. The first closed beta of Forgotten Legend will be open for two weeks, and you will see part of the Valten Empire, the Forest of Peace and part of the cursednd. You will be restricted to only a few skills and items that are released here, and your maximum level is up to 100.

    If you send us any ideas on the improvement in the closed beta at the end of the two weeks, we¡¯ll take them into ount for our future direction. Thank you.>

    There was a message about the uing opening of the second closed beta.

    Then the game started immediately.

    <User Juyoung Hong, recognition of your body, iris and thought has beenpleted.>

    <You can set up your character.>

    ¡°Basic.¡±

    Anyway this game will reset to the default after two weeks, so I didn¡¯t change my appearance as created by body recognition.

    ¡°...¡±

    I used to use my real name Juyoung Hong when I was engaged in the role-ying games because the character in the game was my alter ego that reflected me in the real world.

    I felt so proud of the character with my name in the game as it kept growing, but it sometimes put fetters on me...

    In the game world where the yers enjoyed indefinite freedom called anonymity I sometimes could not do it as I pleased because I alone was bound by reality.

    That¡¯s why I created the type of ID that could not be separated from me, Juyoung Hong in the real world. Just like Dr. Jekyll and Hyde.

    But the new ID had an opposite character because I wanted to shine very brightly in the game, which was the opposite of me in the real world.

    ¡°lumen.¡±

    <The ID of your character has been named ¡®lumen.¡¯ Do you want to continue?>

    ¡°Ugh?¡±

    The Latin word lumen meant light, sparkle, shine and brightness.

    The reason I chose this ID was because I felt I could not be a brilliant man, nor was I sure of it in the real world. So, I wished I could shine in virtual reality.

    <The starting point is the Cotum Region of the Valten Empire. Have a pleasant trip for the next two weeks.>

    Then I felt I sunk into the ground, but I didn¡¯t care because I felt the same thing in various games. I was rather excited about what kind of world I would find myself in.

    ***

    Tok, tok.

    I lifted my feet and strongly trampled on the ground, then folded and released my fingers repeatedly.

    ¡°Hummm. I was worried because it was a 2nd generation popr interface adaptor, but it¡¯s not that bad.¡±

    I didn¡¯t feel awkward whenever I trampled on the ground and sped and unsped my hand.

    Of course even the 3rd generation interface adaptor felt a bit different whenpared with a more high-end adaptor.

    ¡°Good. Let me start surfing.¡±

    When I was downloading yesterday, I roughly confirmed some of the information on the ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ homepage. And I decided on some sort of upation that I could take on in the first closed beta.

    Well, there is only one upation that I always choose in almost all role-ying games, let alone ¡®Forgotten Legend.¡¯

    It¡¯s none other than a character that can carry out a distant battle or heavily arm itself with that skill, because I feel that the best attack is the prerequisite to winning the battle.

    Besides, such a character can give the opponent a bashing first, if possible.

    So, I usually yed as elemental wizards. ordingly, their physical build was not strong enough. But I didn¡¯t care because I was not the type of gamer that got a kick out of challenging strong monsters or opponents.

    ¡°Check status bar.¡±

    I opened the status bar first.

 Chapter 3

    <h4>Chapter 3: 1st Closed Beta (3)</h4>

    <Name: lumen

    Level: 0

    Title: None

    Health: 100/100 Mana: 100/100

    Strength: 10 Agility: 10 Stamina: 10

    Willpower: 10 Intellectual power: 10

    Remaining Stat Point: 0

    Remaining Skill Point: 0

    Trait: None >

    ¡°It looks simr!¡¯

    The status bar of Forgotten Legend was not that different from other MMORPGs that I yed.

    So, I was satisfied with that because this method, which I didn¡¯t see in the real world, clearly expressed my capabilities in specific numbers, such as force, agility, and physical strength, etc.

    So, if the numbers increase, I will be strong proportionately.

    ¡°Open inventory.¡±

    Since I was almost done with checking the status bar, I opened the inventory right away.

    <Entry-level light club.

    50 crumbly bread

    50 soft drinks

    1000 golden rings.>

    The inventory had only four items, including the sum of 1,000 golden rings whose mary value I didn¡¯t know at all.

    I took out the entry-level club that looked like a stick, and it was too slim to be called a club.

    ¡°Item confirmed.¡±

    <Entry-level light club (general)

    A light club that anybody can use easily.

    Striking power increased by three times

    Durability: 50/50 >

    ¡°So, I need to increase by 5 levels with this club, right? Then I should grow by mastering the skills that I want.¡±

    Since I read something about it on the homepage of Forgotten Legend before I essed it, I immediately grabbed the club and moved to the training field where there was a scarecrow.

    When I was about to move, I saw the users participating in the same closed beta appearing around me. But I didn¡¯t care about them and moved quickly by lighting up the vige map.

    I kept wielding the entry-level club at the scarecrow. Just like the mole rat-catching game, I wielded it toward those red spots. The more sessful my attack was, the quicker the red spots appeared and disappeared. Then I finally lost the red spots.

    <You hit the red spots seven times in a row. Additional EXP has been rewarded to you.>

    Currently, the maximum number of consecutive hits I could achieve was seven or eight.

    When I seeded with suchbos several times, I heard a message beeping.

    <You have leveled up.>

    <You have achieved Level 5. The EXP you can receive has dropped with your attack against the scarecrow.>

    <You can attain skills because you have reached Level 5. Three initial skill points have been rewarded to you.>

    A message appeared after I reached Level 5.

    I stopped wielding the club at the message because my original goal was to achieve Level 5.

    Then I left the other users who were busy attacking the scarecrow and moved on to learn the skills.

    ¡®By the way, there is nothing like restriction because the status bar doesn¡¯t show any upation section.¡¯

    Usually, there is something like an upation in most MMORPGs at the start of the game.

    For example, fighter, assassin, archer, wizard, shaman, etc.

    So, there were predetermined characteristics, skills, and avable items befitting each upation from the beginning.

    But there was nothing like that in Forgotten Legend.

    The fighting style was determined by the way you marked your stat points or what kinds of skills you achieved.

    ording to the exnation as described on the homepage, any user could develop their own characters and even develop them into hybrid characters.

    Of course, there was ament by somebody that said, ¡°The hybrid character ends up being erased at the end of the day,¡± to which there were a huge number of ¡®likes.¡¯

    And I agree with thement to an extent because I¡¯ve been ying games for quite a long time.

    When I think about the synergy effect in particr, it¡¯s much more effective to gather more people in the area in what they are good at.

    But I¡¯ve been soloing all along.

    And that¡¯s why I liked the Forgotten Legend system. I wanted to make up for what I wascking one by one, even though I might end up making a hybrid character.

    Nheless, this character had the basic fighting style of exchanging strong blows, representative of elemental wizards

    That¡¯s why I mainly yed with lightning-type fighters or wizards in the games that I had yed before. And I happened to encounter this ice-type wizard.

    I could not help but get hooked on it because of its additional frostbite damage.

    There were games without additional frostbite damage, but most of the games usually had debuffs that limited the frostbite moving speed.

    Since I had to attack from a distance, I could enjoy the maximum effects of the debuff.

    So, I had always chosen ice-type wizards since then.

    The impact of its damage was certainly less than that of the games with fire or lightning, but I waspetent enough to make up for that.

    I¡¯m going to try that again this time because I already confirmed that frostbite would give the debuff to the opponent stochastically.

    I slipped out of the scarecrow training field in no time and approached a huge tower in the center of the vige.

    ¡®I can attain skills here, right?¡¯

    Even when I didn¡¯t touch the tower in person, I heard a message when I approached it.

    <This is the tower that keeps the records of forgotten heroes. Attaining the skills is restricted by your abilities.>

    ¡°Search for the ice-type wizard abilities!¡±

    Since I didn¡¯t want to confirm the enormous amount of skills here, I used the search function right away.

    Then a message appeared before my eyes.

    <Ice-type wizard abilities are currently avable.>

    -1 Level Ice Ball (Active, 1 skill point and 100 golden rings are required.)

    : It can throw a fist-sized lump of ice toward an enemy within ten meters

    : Attack range and damage scale with intellectual power

    : Can be upgraded to Level 2 and Level 3 Ice Ball

    -1 Level Ice Shield. (Active, 1 skill point and 100 golden rings are required.)

    : Installs a thick ice shield before its user

    : The thickness of ice increases in proportion to intellectual power and willpower

    : Can be upgraded to Level 3, Level 5, and Level 7 Ice shield

    -1 Level Ice Weapon. (Active, 1 skill point and 100 golden rings are required.)

    : It can inflict additional damage to the opponent by freezing the weapon

    : Additional damage increases in proportion to intellectual power

    : Can be upgraded to Level 2 and Level 3 Ice Weapon

    -Minor Frostbite urrence. (Passive, 1 skill point and 500 golden rings are required.)

    : If all ice spells are applied to the opponent, it can cause minor frostbite with a constant probability.

    : It can be upgraded to useful frostbite once you umte levels and EXP.

    There were five skills on disy, along with their summaries, which was not impressive at all.

    Since I had already experienced Ice Storm and Blizzard in other games, I felt they were shabby, but I didn¡¯t care because I was a basic Level 5 beginner.

    ¡°Level 1 Ice Ball, Level 1 Ice Bolt, and Level 1 Minor Frostbite urrence.¡±

    I attained three skill points after achieving Level 5, so I chose the offensive Level 1 Ice Ball, Level 1 Ice Bolt and Minor Frostbite urrence to back them up.

    I didn¡¯t feel any use for Ice Shield or Ice Weapon because I was thinking of attacking from a distance.

    <You have chosen Level 1 Ice Ball, Level 1 Ice Bolt and Minor Frostbite urrence.

    ¨C You need a total of 3 skill points and 700 golden rings.

    ¨C Do you want to attain these three skills?>

    ¡°Yes, I do.¡±

    There was an instant message that showed that I attained Level 1 Ice Ball, Level 1 Ice Bolt, and additional Minor Frostbite urrence.

    Then I turned back from the tower for an actual try.

    I was now standing outside the castle gate.

    ¡°It¡¯s only natural that I see them here because this area is for beginners.¡±

    Outside the castle gate, there were oaks and goblins that could be called the typical monsters at the lower level. Of course, there were other characters besides the monsters.

 Chapter 4

    <h4>Chapter 4: Closing of 1st Closed Beta</h4>

    ¡°Fire Ball!¡±

    ¡°Power Shot!¡±

    ¡°Pushing Shield.¡±

    Outside the castle gate, there were some others who had already begun hunting ahead of me.

    They were overusing their skills as if they were showing off.

    Seeing that, I immediately began to attack the oak close by.

    ¡°Ice Ball.¡±

    Then I moved to the oak up within the attack range of Ice Ball, then threw a lump of ice toward it.

    Bang!

    Just like a monster for a beginner gamer, the oak was hit on the back of its head.

    Screaming, the oak copsed at my single blow.

    Of course it wasn¡¯t killed without any resistance.

    <You have earned 450 EXP.>

    It was a message confirming that I attained EXP.

    Yellow golden rings fell on the spot where the oak disappeared.

    ¡°Hahaha.¡±

    This was a very simple game, and that was a very low-level monster.

    But it was interesting because the way to get stronger was very clear, something I could not find in the real world where I could never get anywhere no matter how much I studied.

    Smiling in satisfaction quietly, I picked up the 1 golden ring that the oak dropped while dying, then resumed hunting by throwing Ice Ball and Ice Weapon alternately toward other oaks and goblins.

    ***

    Puk! Puk!

    <Your level has been upgraded.>

    ¡°Good!¡±

    Equipped with some pration, Ice Bolt pierced through the heads of a couple of oaks with a single blow.

    Of course, it didn¡¯t perform well from the beginning.

    ¡°Check Status.¡±

    <Name: lumen

    Level: 11

    Title: None

    Health: 1200/1200 Mana: 1200/1200

    Strength: 10 Agility: 10 Stamina: 10

    Willpower: 10 Intellectual power: 10

    Remaining Stat Point: 0

    Remaining Skill Point: 0

    Trait: none >

    Every time I leveled up, I gained 100 health and mana respectively, although I didn¡¯t invest all the stat points in stamina and willpower. The basic 100 in health and 100 in mana changed to 1,100 when my level went up to 11.

    Every time I leveled up, I gained 10 stat points, and I invested not only the 100 intellectual power up to Level 10, but also the additional 10 that I gained with my level up to 11 a moment ago.

    This was an extreme case in which I totally relied on the power of the magical attacks.

    So, I didn¡¯t step away from the castle gate, even though those who came after me made it to level 8 or 9 before venturing outside.

    Was I concerned about others getting ahead of me? Not at all.

    To me, the game is kind of a ce to rest, not a ce for newpetition.

    Contrary to those thoughts, however, I have a small hope for others to look up to me just like my ID lumen, which means light and brilliance.

    Anyway, I was about to move outside the castle gate, relying on the damage that the magical attack would bring about, when I heard a message.

    <It¡¯s 12:20 PM.>

    ¡°Dang it!¡±

    I was getting a kick out of the game at the moment.

    Besides, I was determined to tackle stronger monsters when the message rang, so I frowned in spite of myself.

    I needed to calm myself down in order to log out in a ce other than the safe zone.

    Then I decided to immediately shout logout.

    It was my first day ying this game, and I had only spent a few hours on it so far.

    So, I had no intention to stop here.

    ¡°Log out.¡±

    <Forgotten Legend is now closed.>

    In no time I removed the 2nd generation popr VR adaptor from theputer and stood up.

    Then I had lunch with my mother at the dining table.

    My father went to work, and my brother was assisting him with his work to inherit hispany as the next owner.

    My sister, a college student, was out having a fling.

    While eating, my mother looked at me wistfully and caressed my hair.

    Like I did always in the past, I smiled at her, then returned to my room to y the game again.

    ***

    Two weekster, I essed ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ right after breakfast.

    ¡°Check Status.¡±

    <Name: lumen

    Level: 100

    Title: none

    Health: 45200/45200 Mana: 42600/42600

    Strength: 42 Agility: 67 Stamina: 284

    Willpower: 236 Intellectual power: 1319

    Remaining Stat Point: 0

    Remaining Skill Point: 0

    Trait: none >

    I increased by 100 in health per 1 stamina, and 100 in mana per 1 willpower.

    And I achieved Level 100, the max level in the first closed beta, early on.

    I was now equipped with good weapons and shields.

    And I hunted the wounded Richie of the cursednd, the boss monster of the first closed beta. It was time for party hunting, but I didn¡¯t initiate to form it, because I was not that type.

    But there were guys who came to me.

    When I was still wrapped up in hunting even after achieving max level early on, they told me that they needed a strong damage dealer to initiate a raid on the wounded Richie, the boss monster in the first closed beta.

    That¡¯s what I wanted, because when I first essed the Forgotten Legend, I was determined to devote myself to ying this game for the time being so I could never look back at the world of games, and I kept my promise.

    Although I didn¡¯t mean it, my name was listed on the user rankings.

    Anyway, the boss raid went on smoothly partly because I participated or partly because I was a bit dumb.

    So I achieved max level and I enjoyed all the contents provided by the first closed beta, except for the contents of the fighting fields where the users were fighting among themselves such as the final boss Monster Raid.

    I concluded, ¡°It was interesting. Very interesting.¡±

    There were some users who gave a harsh review of this game, but I didn¡¯t feel that way even today, thest day of the first closed beta.

    As today was thest day, all the users except for me tried to add more items or mix various skills by using up all their golden rings to search for the optimal skill tree in the uing 2nd closed beta or the main game.

    But I was still engrossed in hunting.

    ¡°Giant Ice Ball, Ice Spear!¡±

    Bang! Bang!

    I continued to y the game, even though I could not increase my level or even 1 EXP by catching the monsters.

    For me, today was thest day, and everything that I achieved would be reset to the defaults. However, I didn¡¯t want to waste all the items which I earned by working hard.

    If I had to participate in the second closed beta and got a chance to y Forgotten Legend again, I would use the current ice-type wizard, so I didn¡¯t need to trybining new skills.

    So, like I did yesterday, I was absorbed in the hunting as if today was not thest day.

    I continued to y until the first closed beta of Forgotten Legend was closed at the designated hour.

    At the exact designated hour, I was forcibly moved to the space where I first encountered the blue sky and vast wheat field.

    And then a message appeared.

    <The first closed beta of Forgotten Legend hase to an end. Thanks to the users who participated in the first closed beta of Forgotten Legend. After sessfully wrapping up the first beta testing , we¡¯ll try to reflect your feedback and ideas for improvement more than anything else. The exact timeline of the second closed beta has not been determined yet, but we are going to present a broader range of contents than the first one. We will send those users who participated in the first one an invitation to participate in the second one. Thank you.>

    ¡°Whew!¡±

    I let out a long sigh at the closing message on the first closed beta because I wrestled with this game alone for the past two weeks, so much so that I could be included in the users¡¯ ranking list for the first time since my debut in the world of games.

    To be honest, I regretted that I had to stop here because the character I cultivated dearly and all the golden rings and items that I collected doggedly were reset to the defaults.

 Chapter 5

    <h4>Chapter 5: Chapter 5</h4>

    I was aware of it already, and now I blew everything away with a sigh.

    And I shouted, ¡°Close VR ess.¡±

    <your ess="" to="" vr="" is="" now="" closed.=""></your>

    I took off the crude 2nd generation VR adaptor from my head and stood up from my bed.

    Of course, I could y other games because I also applied for lots of other closed beta games when I initially applied for ¡®Forgotten Legend.¡¯

    Three days ago, I received a message that I was chosen to participate in a new closed beta game.

    However, I pulled out the wires of the 2nd generation VR adaptor, put them back in a box, and stuck it in the closet.

    I clearly made the vow that I would concentrate on studying after frying myself to y the game for two weeks.

    And I actually did, so I didn¡¯t think of gaming at all.

    I soon sat down at the desk and recited the math form that had gotten me nowhere since then.

    I suddenly felt that I could understand the form and seemed to memorize it better than before. Of course, I might be mistaken.

    Anyway I got ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ out of my mind and focused on studying, losing track of time.

    One evening three days before the vacation was over, I received my report card.

    ¡°Wow, son, your grades went up a lot!¡±

    ¡°I think so.¡±

    I was always daunted before my father because of my elder brother and sister who were smarter than me, but this time I replied with a smile, squaring my shoulders fully.

    As confirmed in my father¡¯s surprised look after confirming my report card, my grades really went up.

    ¡°It seems that Juyoung studied very hard.¡±

    ¡°Right. In fact, his problem was that hecked the fundamentals of each subject. So, we developed a curriculum to help him master the fundamentals to get better grades, which was effective. Of course, we can¡¯t deny that he himself put in the effort.¡±

    That¡¯s what the famous private academy instructors in the Daechidong area south of the Han River told my father.

    I received one-on-one private lessons from them until thest vacation period, but I didn¡¯t get good grades like before. Of course, it was probably not their fault.

    If they were not top-tier instructors, they would not be here with my father.

    After all, it was me who was responsible for my poor grades until now.

    ¡°Thanks for your great job. Well, the way Juyoung studies¡­¡±

    My father had issues with my way of studying because I told him I would study by myself this vacation instead of receiving private tutoring.

    Aside from the fact that their one-on-one tutoring for me was not effective, I couldn¡¯t put up with the despicable expression on their faces when they looked at me, unable to fathom how I did not understand even the basics as a high school student.

    Then the instructors eagerly opened their mouths one after another.

    ¡°It seems that Juyoung is more effective in studying by himself than having somebody help him.¡±

    ¡°You bet. Each student has his or her own learning environment. For example, some students get better grades with more scolding, while others study better with encouragement and praises. Of course, Juyoung doesn¡¯t belong to either of them, but given the grades this time I think it is much better to let him study alone instead of giving him private lessons or having him study with hispetitor.¡±

    ¡°I agree.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm. Do you think so?¡± said my father, nodding at them.

    And his nodding meant that he decided to let me study on my own from now on because he was a very rational man.

    ¡°Good. Then let¡¯s make sure he continues to study the way he used to during vacation.¡±

    ¡°Sure, no problem.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll make sure he gets admitted to a college in Seoul.¡±

    The instructors tried to curry favor with my father by paying lip service.

    To be honest, I wanted to give them a piece of my mind.

    I wanted to tell them that it was not because of you, but because of my concentration or memory that I cultivated. Before I knew it, my grades had gone up.

    However, I remained quiet because I could not tell them about it.

    Anyway, the instructors left after that, and I had a great dinner with my father in the evening.

    The atmosphere was very amicable, and he cheered me up by giving me a handsome allowance.

    That night I essed the ¡°Forgotten Legend¡± homepage on theputer after sitting at my desk.

    ¡°Hmmm¡­Maybe not. To put it bluntly, who could not aplish anything if I really got good grades thanks to my vow?¡±

    I had vowed that I would focus on studying for the remainder of the vacation after being absorbed into games for two weeks when the first closed beta was going on. And I kept that pledge.

    I never thought that I could memorize English words or math forms well even if I focused on studying like I pledged.

    But this time I made it.

    Although I could not do it in the past no matter how much I tried, I memorized them so well this time just like a sponge. Or like the game that rewarded me with EXP or items for my efforts.

    Pat-pat-pat.

    <have you="" experienced="" something="" different="" after="" ying="" forgotten="" legend?="" for="" example,="" your="" concentration="" or="" memory¡­=""></have>

    I stopped typing while writing a post on the Forgotten Legend forums.

    ¡°Hmmm¡­do I need to tell them about this?¡±

    If the game did any harm to me, I should duly take issues with it, falling short of reporting it.

    But I didn¡¯t suffer any losses at all.

    Rather, I benefited from the game.

    At that very moment, I erased everything Iposed on the forum post.

    For whatever reason, I didn¡¯t have to reveal it.

    When I erased it, I was distracted by something else this time.

    It was none other than the second closed beta.

    But there was nothing about it when I surfed everywhere on the Forgotten Legend homepage, including the bulletin board.

    ¡°Well, the first closed beta only ended a month ago.¡±

    I might be thinking of another game to y by now, but after I experienced ¡®Forgotten Legend,¡¯ I no longer thought of other games, including one that I experienced for the first time in my life but could not ess because I was not sure if I would ever get out of it.

    Six months passed after that.

    ¡°Whew!¡± I let out a long sigh because the end of vacation meant the end of it all.

    My concentration and memory were all gone as if they were an illusion or a dream.

    But there was something that I didn¡¯t forget, which was what I studied at the time.

    Except for that, I was back to where I was when vacation was over.

    Like before, I often forgot English words or math forms several days after I memorized them.

    So, I had to rely on what I crammed in my head during vacation.

    That was why I always wished for the second closed beta game.

    ¡°When do they begin the second closed beta?¡±

    For any updates on it, I essed the Forgotten Legend homepage every day after vacation was over six months ago.

    But I didn¡¯t see any messages on it as if the homepage was no longer functioning.

    ¡°Vacation starts tomorrow. Back then, they proceeded with the first closed beta as soon as vacation began.¡±

    Of course, I knew it might be my wishful thinking, given that it would take a lot of money to proceed with a closed beta.

    But I could not understand why they didn¡¯t announce anything about it.

    ¡°Whew¡­¡±

    Letting out a sigh, I wrestled with a chemistry equation on that day too.

    The next evening, I suddenly heard an rm.

    ¡°Uh?¡±

    It was an rm that informed me of the sudden arrival of a message.

    I got goosebumps at that because I had heard the same rm back then.

    I immediately turned my eyes toward the clock in one corner of the desk.

    <8:30 PM>

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The rm went off exactly at this hour then.

    I clicked the message on the disy of my mobile phone very cautiously.

    And I confirmed the message.

 Chapter 6

    <h4>Chapter 6: 2nd & 3rd Closed Beta (2)</h4>

    The message was about the start of Forgotten Legend¡¯s second closed beta. It was the kind of notification informing all users who participated in the first one could do so without submitting another application.

    Of course I can¡¯t say I cultivated good concentration and memory because of ying Forgotten Legend once, and there was no hard evidence to prove it.

    So, I concluded by intuition that I could do so because of Forgotten Legend.

    That was why I had been anxiously waiting for Forgotten Legend until now without ying any other game.

    I immediately took out the popr 2nd generation VR adaptor that I had stuck in the closet and hooked it up to theputer.

    Then I essed the homepage and entered the new 12-digit alpha-numeric ess code, which came along with the message.

    Since I had been there already, I could quickly proceed.

    Like before, it took seven hours to update the game.

    The opening of the second closed beta would be at 10:00 AM, the same time as the first one.

    But I was much more thrilled this time, which I didn¡¯t feel when I participated in the first one.

    I had been waiting for this second for more than six months.

    With thrill and anxiety, I watched the slow updating process of Forgotten Legend.

    Of course Ipletely forgot about the chemistry equation that I memorized a moment ago.

    10:00 AM the next morning.

    ¡°Set rm for 12:20 PM.¡±

    I set the rm ten minutes prior to my lunch time at 12:30 PM because I didn¡¯t want to let anybody know that I was ying the game.

    Then Iy on the bed after putting on the 2nd generation popr VR adaptor that had just finished updating.

    ¡°Execution!¡±

    <VR adapter is now on.>

    The small ind lush with green grass and trees that I had set up when I essed the first closed beta came into my view. Not caring about it, however, I shouted quickly.

    ¡°Confirm downloaded details!¡±

    <These are the downloaded details that you have now.>

    : Forgotten Legend (Execution avable)

    ¡°Forgotten Legend Execution!¡±

    Since I was already wearing the VR adaptor, I shouted loudly.

    Then an intro video before my eyes, which was different from the one the first closed beta.

    The video showed monsters ranging from the very low-level ones like oak and cobolts to giant monsters like ogres, trolls, basilisks and drakes charging at the long walls defended by humans.

    It was a jaw-dropping scene, but I immediately skipped the intro video because I was impatient.

    ¡°Skip!¡±

    Then that vast wheat field that I saw in the first closed beta appeared again.

    Glossing over the description of the second closed beta like I did in the first, I essed it right away because there was little difference between the two.

    Of course, there were more areas than before, which required more monsters, items and skills.

    The level restriction was increased to 200.

    However, there was one thing inmon between the first and second closed beta, namely the two-week duration of the game.

    I skipped that too, because it was not important.

    And I made the vow like I did before that I would be totally absorbed into it.

    Was it because of the memory and concentration that I suddenly gained while ying this game?

    Nope. It was part of the reason, but I had another reason.

    Namely, it was interesting, so much so that I didn¡¯t want to pay attention to other games.

    I was so into it that I didn¡¯t even want to waste my time eating or sleeping or going to the restroom.

    ¡°Shoot three Ice Arrows in a row!¡±

    Three ice arrows urately pierced through two giant spiders.

    A message instantly popped up.

    <You have leveled up!>

    ¡°Hm.¡±

    Since I became stronger than before, I should be happy about it, but I just murmured because I was in doubt.

    Two weeks of ying the second closed beta was the same as the first one, but there was one difference. Unlike the first one, the max level was 200 in the second one.

    At first I thought that there was a prepared monster for the user to take advantage of to attain EXP easily or level up quickly.

    As a matter of fact, the EXP I could attain was increased because higher-level monsters than the ones in the first closed beta were released this time.

    But it didn¡¯t do me any good. Along with leveling up, my EXP, which was needed to move up to the next level, also increased.

    However, I soon had a smile on my face because it was too easy for me to attain Level 100, the max level of the first closed beta.

    I liked this level of difficulty because I had a goal that I could achieve.

    I became more and more absorbed into hunting, imagining myself to be much stronger than before.

    ¡°Ice Field!¡±

    <You dealt damage to the giant spiders by using the 20% speed reduction debuff.>

    Although the damage was not huge,pared to other ice spells of the same level, Ice Field could reduce the moving speed of the opponent by as much as 20%.

    So, I used it often, especially when I hunted those monsters moving in groups like the giant spiders. Then I used the strongest skills that I owned at the moment.

    ¡°Downpouring Hail!¡±

    The hail pellets were a bit smaller than my fist. They rained down on the giant spiders who had to slow down because of the Ice Field.

    As my skills were intended for a wide range of different monsters, the damage dealt to the giant spiders was not as big as my single-target skills.

    But I invested in intellectual power all the remaining stat points I earned after I leveled up in the first closed beta, and chose the items mainly useful for increasing intellectual power.

    As a result, the giant spiders copsed even withouting near me after avoiding the Ice Field and the hail.

    ¡°Lol.¡±

    I could not help but smile, watching the giant spiders falling one by one, dropping EXP, golden rings, and sometimes misceneous items on the way.

    I smiled because it was interesting to say the least.

    While other users wereining about the second closed beta, saying it was difficult to level up, I was absorbed in hunting monsters, even cutting my sleeping time.

    Two weekster, I got a message.

    <The second closed beta of Forgotten Legend has closed. Thanks to all the users who participated in the game.>

    Then the message went off, taking me back to the wheat field on the start-up screen.

    I was triumphant because I reached Level 200, the max level of the second closed beta.

    Almost half of the users gave up reaching level 200 in the middle, but I attained it faster than anybody else.

    In other words, I enjoyed the hunting a lot.

    I could not understand how the other users that I met in the game became tired of hunting.

    Why? Because the character I chose, which was like my alter ego, became stronger and there were no drawbacks even if I hunted monsters. Besides, I unconditionally received EXP, golden rings and misceneous items, although the number of the points differed ording to the level of the monster.

    Sometimes I received items that I never expected.

    In any case, I always received the benefits without incurring any losses.

    So, I could not understand why other users became tired of it and evenined it was boring.

    It was such an interesting and thrilling game.

    Besides, there was the level of difficulty called Level 200, the max level that made my heart beat excitedly.

    Anyway, I didn¡¯t intend for it, but I could have my name on the ranked list again. I was not just in the upper, but the highest rank.

    So, I received lots of requests for helping them with monster boss raids or teaming up with me in the dueling field.

    I epted their requests except for the dueling field and enjoyed all the contents just like I did during the first closed beta.

    And I was much more satisfied with this than the first one.

    I soon closed ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯pletely and turned off the 2nd-generation popr VR adaptor.

    Then I cautiously approached my desk.

    ¡°Whew¡­¡±

 Chapter 7

    <h4>Chapter 7: 2nd & 3rd Closed Beta (3)</h4>

    After sitting at the desk, I quietly let out a long sigh.

    Then I repeated the chemistry forms, looking at the chemistry form notebook because only memorizing them was the best way. In fact, I got nowhere in my chemistry learning for the past two weeks no matter how much I tried.

    Of course, I kept praying deep down that another miracle would happen.

    A smile crept up my face in less than three minutes because I could memorize the chemistry forms so easily, which I found so difficult to do before.

    I memorized them well like a sponge absorbing water.

    Several days before vacation was over, I was greatly praised by my mother this time.

    Even my father, elder brother, and sister as well as several private tutors heaped the praise on me.

    This time they praised me much more than before because I didn¡¯t study effectively back then.

    Back then I was excited to find that I could memorize the math forms and English words so I dabbled in other stuff than studying.

    I don¡¯t think I am smart, but I¡¯m not foolish enough to look childish, so this time I studied more intensely and systemically than the games I yed for the two weeks to yield maximum results.

    I especially focused on the subjects that required lots of memorization. So, I crammed all the important points into my head and the questions, just like memorizing everything in a textbook. Of course, I experienced some adverse effects in the process such as having a nosebleed and almost passing out.

    Sometimes the consequences of my overzealous learning were so great that my head throbbed, and that affected my concentration.

    But the next day I was able to get back in shape after a good rest.

    At least my father, mother, brother, and sister were impressed with my improvement by leaps and bounds, which made me really proud of myself.

    Initially, my goal was to be admitted into one of the universities in Seoul, but now the private tutors were saying I could aim for one of the top three schools. Thus, I got even more excited.

    That night I reassured myself, ¡°Now it¡¯s 100%.¡±

    Of course, there were only two samples, but that was enough for me to turn my skepticism into conviction.

    And I had one more thing that made me smile because I was looking forward to the 3rd closed beta.

    Just like the message that said I should expect the second one after the closing of the first beta, there was clearly a message about the uing third one when the second one ended. So, I was agonizing over one thing.

    ¡°Hm. Do I have to tell my father that he should take over thepany that is developing Forgotten Legend?¡±

    If I feign madness to pressure my father to do so, he could really buy thepany.

    When I roughly checked thepany¡¯s background, I found that it was a startuppany that didn¡¯t develop or market anything else other than Forgotten Legend.

    However, I know that excessive greed brings about disaster, which, in turn, can kill the goose thatys the golden egg.

    So, I decided not to tell my father about it until the third closed beta began.

    Six months passed by, but I didn¡¯t get nervous.

    Given that the first and second closed betas took ce during vacation, it was highly likely for the third one to also take ce during vacation.

    Above all, I didn¡¯t worry about my grades at all because I studied a lot during the remainder of my vacation right after the second closed beta was over.

    ¡°Whew! Only ten minutes left.¡±

    The message always arrived at 8:30 PM.

    A normal gamepany would never choose such a ridiculous evening time to send a message.

    Yet, I didn¡¯t care because the unusual benefits I got from Forgotten Legend were simply too big.

    Nheless, I could not help but tremble a bit with excitement.

    So, I looked at the clock eagerly, thinking that one second was so slow as if it was one day.

    The rm rang when the hand of the clock stopped exactly at 8:30 PM.

    Ring, ring.

    When the rm rang, I lifted my mobile phone and confirmed the message.

    ¡°Hehehe.¡±

    In the message was the same type of meaningless 12-digit alpha-numeric code that I always received, along with the proceeding of the third closed beta.

    I immediately connected the 2nd generation VR adaptor, which I prepared in advance, to theputer.

    Then I essed the ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ homepage and entered the 12-digit code. The VR adaptor began updating automatically just like it did in the second closed beta.

    As always, it took seven hours toplete the updating process.

    As soon as I confirmed it, I put the VR adaptor beside theputer andy on my bedfortably because I felt the max level of the third closed beta was highly likely to be Level 300. Of course, that was just my pure spection.

    I thought even though the max level was increased to 300, it¡¯d be tough for it to be just like the second closed beta.

    ¡°Let me reach the max level unconditionally.¡±

    Of course, the closed beta of ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ didn¡¯t give me anything like a quest to achieve the maximum level.

    However, I achieved the max level in the first and second closed betas, so I felt momentarily that such an eerie phenomenon happened because of that. And I came to believe it just like I believed superstition, even though there was no basis for that.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t want to achieve the max level only because of that.

    Hunting was interesting to me, to say the least.

    And I knew I had be stronger because of that.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go to sleep then.¡±

    I would probably have little sleeping time starting tomorrow, so I hit the sack early even if I didn¡¯t want to.

    10:00 AM the next day.

    ¡°Whew!¡±

    I slipped on the 2nd generation VR adaptor with thepleted automatic updates.

    I didn¡¯t even set an rm like I used to do because I didn¡¯t want to be disturbed by anything or anybody, given that my vacation this time was very important.

    If I had not improved my grades by leaps and bounds during vacation, I would not have dared to y games. But since I proved that my grades went up twice, nobody including my father had problems with me ying games.

    So, I confidently shouted, ¡°Execution!¡±

    <Your VR adaptor is now in running.>

    ***

    It had been one week since the third closed beta began.

    ¡°How can the participants decrease drastically like this?¡±

    Obviously, there were lots of users on the first day. I bumped into them wherever I went.

    Over time, however, I could feel that there was a drastic decrease in the participants.

    Thinking the third closed beta was notmercially sessful, I could not help but be concerned that the gamepany might go bankrupt.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t stop hunting in the meantime.

    As I expected, the max level of the third closed beta was 300, and the duration of the game was only two weeks.

    So, I only had five minutes to eat and reduce my sleeping time to less than two or three hours. Otherwise, I believed I could not achieve the max level within two weeks.

    ordingly, I was burnt out because of my intense concentration for one week.

    But there was a reason why I could not stop.

    Was it because my concentration and memory went up miraculously during the remainder of my vacation when the two weeks of the closed beta game was over?

    Nope.

    I had a bigger reason than that ¡ª the game was so interesting.

    ¡°Lol. Ice Field! Rain down, hail pellets!¡±

    While ignoring most users¡¯ints that it was so hard to level up in the third closed beta, I was wrapped up in hunting, shouting just like that.

    One hour before the closing of the third beta¡ª

    ¡°Oppress my enemy, Ice Prison!¡±

    Bam! Bam! Bam!

    <I¡¯ll kill all the humans.>

    <Anybody who steps into this forest won¡¯t leave alive.>

 Chapter 8

    <h4>Chapter 8: Ruined Game Company</h4>

    ¡°Huh! Let¡¯s see who can get out alive. Ice Field, throw thin ice!¡±

    I stepped inside the cursed forest that would give me the most EXP in the third closed beta.

    And I randomly fired the ice-type magic at the cursed ants as their main fixture was here.

    It was a hunting ground more geared toward fire-types than ice-types, which was my favorite.

    But it was not a big deal because these cursed ants were so slow.

    Besides, they were much slower because of the frostbite effect of the ice.

    Soon I threw more AoE skills like hail pellets over the ants locked up in Ice Prison and the slow-moving ants.

    At that moment, the cursed ants helplessly copsed with a screech.

    Then a message appeared that I had been looking forward to.

    <You have leveled up.>

    Obviously I was absorbed in hunting until a moment ago while staying alert all along.

    I finally copsed helplessly because it was the message that announced that I had reached Level 300.

    ¡°Whew!¡±

    I let out a long sigh.

    One day? No, two days?

    For the past two days, I didn¡¯t sleep at all because I was close to achieving the max level.

    So, I became more and more devoted to hunting with total concentration.

    If I had given it up from the beginning, I wouldn¡¯t have felt any regret. But I would have felt a great regret if I only achieved Level 299 or 298 in the third closed beta.

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    I stood up and tightened my knees because the cursed ants would soon respond forcefully.

    So, I quickly left the cursed forest.

    When I came out of the forest, the hunting ground was quiet.

    Of course, I could understand there were no users in the hunting ground because the third closed beta would end in less than an hour.

    But there were no users even in the city.

    Obviously there were lots of users before the end of the first and second closed betas who tried to strengthen their items to test their luck or those who were trying to search for the most efficient skill trees.

    ¡°Confirm game users!¡±

    <Currently there is only one confirmed user.>

    ¡°...¡±

    Just one user. Since I knew who that user was in this system, I could not help but keep silent.

    Then I opened my mouth quietly, ¡°Phew, I¡¯m afraid this game is going to fail even before it is introducedmercially.¡±

    As soon as I said that, I was taken back to the wheat field.

    At the same time, the message rang that the third closed beta had ended.

    <The third closed beta of Forgotten Legend has ended. We would like to thank again all the users who participated in it.>

    A message about the uing closed beta usually appeared at the end of the first and second closed beta, but there was none this time. In other words, the third one was thest.

    Of course, if this was a normal game, the formal opening of the game would be next.

    But I was very bothered by the message indicating that there was only one user in the game.

    It would be unreasonable to market this kind of game with few users.

    Soon the small ind blocked by water ording to my setup appeared.

    ¡°Close the VR adaptor!¡±

    <Your VR ess is now closed.>

    I ended the ess because the closed beta was over anyway.

    Then I raised my body from the bed, drank a cup of water on the side table, then flung myself back onto the bed.

    Can I use my memory and concentration that I cultivated while ying the game?

    However, I felt too sleepy to think about it now.

    For the past two weeks I slept only two or three hours every day, and two days before the end of the game I didn¡¯t sleep at all.

    Zzzzz...

    I fell asleep like that, wishing earnestly that the Forgotten Legend game could open normally.

    ***

    Several monthster, there was the SAT test for the ss of 20xx.

    All the questions were easy.

    Of course, there were some questions that required creative thinking to solve them, but I could manage to solve them with what I memorized in my mind.

    I chose Russian as my second foreignnguage because it was the most difficult one with the least applicants.

    I memorized not only the Russian dictionary but also the English, Arabic, and Chinese ones entirely. So, I could choose Chinese or Arabic for my secondnguage, but I chose Russian because I wanted to stand out. After all, the other students dreaded and avoidednguage.

    Of course, the main reason why I could do this was because I prepared for the SAT after the second closed beta was over, so I had lots of free time during the third closed beta period.

    Therefore, I turned my attention to foreignnguages.

    I knew there was nothing as cool asmanding a foreignnguage fluently.

    Anyway, I not only solved all the problems faster than any of the other students, but I also finished the foreignnguage test before going back home.

    Back home I made provisional marks by myself.

    No wonder I scored 100% on the SAT because I memorized all the exam questions in the textbooks and the famous workbooks prepared by the star lecturers of the prestigious private academies in Daechi-dong south of the Han River in Seoul.

    But I wasn¡¯t just happy, for the ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ homepage itself disappeared now.

    ¡°Hm. Should I have done something to prevent it in advance?¡±

    The past me would not have dared to do so, but I was now in a very strong position.

    Thanks to my excellent performance on the SAT, I was now influential enough to ask my father to buy that gamepany.

    Billions of Korean won (millions of US dors) was only a small amount of money to my father.

    However, there was a saying that curiosity would kill the cat.

    I could not recklesslyy hands on it for fear that what I had earned until now might disappear with my involvement.

    Besides, my priority at the moment was the SAT exam just around the corner.

    While I was hesitating, the gamepany in question went bankrupt even before I came to its rescue. It was right after the third closed beta ended.

    Of course, it was fortunate that what I had memorized until then didn¡¯t disappear.

    ¡°Whew, good. Let me look into it againter.¡±

    It was a secret.

    I was not sure if this phenomenon happened to me alone or someone else too.

    Besides, I was not in a position to tell others about it.

    If I asked about it, lots of people around would be willing to find the answer.

    Then I joined the business administration department of the most prestigious Seoul National University at the top of its ss.

    Until then, I thought I was perfect at everything, namely my enormous knowledge and my mastery of several foreignnguages.

    But it didn¡¯t take long for me to realize that it was my misjudgment.

    ¡°Adam Smith is called the father of economics and the author of The Wealth of Nations, which has be the foundation of ssical economics. He tried to switch the observation area of economics from the interests of the ruler to the interests among the sses.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    I stared at the professor on the tform nkly, forgetting the time.

    I btedly realized that it was already the end of the ss.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to lecture aboutnd and capital in the next session. Please read the chapters on that topic before attending ss.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±

    My ssmates responded cheerfully to the professor¡¯s request.

    But I didn¡¯t because I could not understand his lecture even though I was admitted to the department as the top student.

    Thump!

    At that moment, I dropped my head on the desk with a thud.

    ¡®I was stupid. How stupid am I! The second foreignnguage doesn¡¯t even matter!¡¯

    Given my family¡¯s situation and my brother and sister¡¯s social status, it was natural for me to choose business administration as my major.

    In that case, I should have prepared for it, but I didn¡¯t.

 Chapter 9

    <h4>Chapter 9: Revival Legend (1)</h4>

    Instead of racking my brains to prepare for the SAT exam and the second foreignnguage, I should have studied business administration which I was supposed to major in.

    But I failed to think that far at the time because I thought that if I scored well on the SAT exam, everything would be okay.

    Never did I realize back then that such a new world like this would unfold before me.

    ¡°Hey, Juyoung, let¡¯s go eat.¡±

    ¡°Right. It¡¯s lunchtime. What are you thinking about?¡±

    A popr man.

    I¡¯m quite popr on campus because I belonged to a very wealthy family.

    Besides, I entered Seoul National University at the top of the ss.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ve got something to think about. You guys go first.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Okay. Hey, take it easy man. You don¡¯t look so good these days.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, I heard you!¡± I said,ughing heartily at them who I made friends with after entering the university.

    After letting them go first, I sat in my seat for a long time, thinking about something.

    In particr, the midterm exam was just around the corner, so I was nervous.

    Obviously, my secret will be revealed anyway.

    ¡®Damn it! Damn it!¡¯

    I cursed in spite of myself. At the same time, I searched for ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ on my mobile phone.

    Just once. I needed just one more chance to y the game.

    Then I would be able to cram all the necessary knowledge into my head.

    But I couldn¡¯t find anything about the game, so I stood up helplessly to take time off from school.

    I could not take the midterm exam in my current state.

    ***

    I joined the army.

    Given my physical build, I enlisted in the Marine Corps which was notorious for their tough military training.

    Of course, I wanted to avoid reality when I decided to go to the army.

    Fortunately, nobody in my family stopped me because every man born in South Korea had an obligation to go to the army. It was something they could never avoid.

    In particr, people naturally paid their attention to a man like me who was born into a wealthy family, apany chairman¡¯s son.

    But I had a problem. What was I going to do after I was discharged from the army?

    I could not bring myself to go back to school because I had to take the midterm exam that would expose my weakness to the world.

    And when I refused to go back to school, my family members including my father naturally called my motivation into question.

    They were persuaded when I decided to join the army even withoutpleting my freshman year after entering the Seoul National University business administration department at the top of the ss, but I could not find any usible excuse for not going back to school after I was discharged from the army.

    As expected, my father threatened to cut off any financial assistance if I didn¡¯t go back to school immediately.

    And my father carried out his threat, warning my mother, brother, and sister not to help me at all.

    To be honest, I felt assured at that time because I would be better off not returning to school other than letting everybody know of my dirty secret.

    Of course, I was not expelled from the house empty-handed.

    My mother got me a rented one-room house near Seoul National University, hoping I could return to school someday. It was the smallest room I ever saw in my life.

    The room was a mix of a kitchen, a living room, and a bedroom in one space, which I experienced for the first time in my life. And the restroom was also extremely tiny.

    My mother wept, saying she was sorry because she could not find a better room.

    But I told her I was fine because I knew my father was aware that she would get me a room.

    But that was the Maginot Line that my father approved.

    My mother brought some baggage and gave me five million won before going back.

    She didn¡¯t forget to say she loved me, asking me to call her by all means once a week.

    So I started my life in the so-called one-room office that I had never heard of before.

    And I had to do several kinds of part-time work that I had never experienced in my life.

    ***

    Three yearster, a group of men, seated around arge table, were talking inside the office of the highest building in Manhattan, New York.

    ¡°They seemed to have smelled a rat in Europe and China?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Although they took pains to hide it, their noisy movements were spotted everywhere.¡±

    ¡°Hm¡­ Well, I think they concealed it for a long time,¡± the man seated at the head table said, nodding at the brown-haired man¡¯s reply.

    Then he looked at the man at the other end of the table.

    ¡°If those in Europe and China begin to move, I think people all over the world will hear about it very quickly.¡±

    ¡°You bet. People from our Strategy Department feel the same way.¡±

    The man at the end of the table cautiously replied when the man at the head of the table spoke.

    As soon as he heard his reply, the man at the head table asked back, ¡°Then, how many have we scouted who achieved the max level?¡±

    ¡°Well, a total of 1,089. We hired 1,042 who reached the max level in the first closed beta, and 47 in the second closed beta.¡±

    ¡°What about their grades?¡±

    ¡°Except for a few, most of them fall into the C grade. The end of the first and second closed betas meant they had to reset from the beginning, so after they reached the max level, they didn¡¯t hunt monsters anymore. Besides, they wasted the items they earned while trying to strengthen them. Most of them also removed their skills and wasted their golden rings while trying to research new skill trees.¡±

    ¡°Whew, that¡¯s inevitable. By the way, there is a huge difference between those who achieved the max level in the first closed beta and those in the second one.¡±

    ¡°Yes, the level of difficulty between the first and second closed beta was very big.¡±

    ¡°Good. Let me buy that. By the way, have you still not found the man who achieved the max level in the third closed beta? Or did nobody reach the max level in the third one?¡± the man at the head table asked with a displeased look.

    Those who achieved the max level in the first and second closed betas were very important, but the one who reached the max level in the third one was the most important one from his perspective.

    As if he read the boss¡¯s displeasure, the man who just replied cleared his throat and cautiously said, ¡°Well...there was a guy who was absorbed into hunting who achieved the maximum level easily in the second closed beta. After that, he participated in the third one, of course. But I heard that no matter how hard he hunted, he didn¡¯t go over Level 250. Besides, there was a cutoff point in the third one. In other words, those who failed to reach a certain level every day were forcibly removed from the participant pool.¡±

    ¡°So what?¡±

    ¡°Well, taking that into ount, the Strategy Department believed that nobody achieved the max level in the third closed beta.¡±

    ¡°How about the US government and the Shaipe guys?¡±

    ¡°Well, I hear they haven¡¯t yet scouted the guy who achieved the max level in the third closed beta. We shared relevant information with them for themon strategic interests, but they also concluded that there was nobody who achieved the max level in the third one.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    The man at the head table let out a sigh as he interlocked his fingers and rested his chin on his hands. Then he opened his mouth.

 Chapter 10

    <h4>Chapter 10: Revival Legend (2)</h4>

    ¡°Good. As of today, let us close our research on the man who achieved the max level in the third closed beta. Focus on other stuff instead. Do your best to find more of those who achieved the max level in the first and second closed betas. Try to tell them we will give them whatever they want as long as they find the guys who achieved the max level in the second closed beta in particr. I can¡¯t stand the Shaipe guys taking away these max-level achievers in the second closed beta aside from the US government. Of course, I can¡¯t allow Europe or China to recruit them either!¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    ¡°If you can¡¯t cajole them in the end, just kidnap them. If you can¡¯t do it¡­ then just kill them.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±

    The meeting went on for a long time.

    Before the meeting was over, the man at the head table cast a nce at the participant list again and said, ¡°Last but not the least, tell those who achieved the max level in the first and second closed betas, who we manage especially, and all of those under our control that they should not be killed in the games. If they are, there will be EXP drop as a penalty and they will be denied ess for 24 hours. Besides, the addition of further killings to their status bar can bring about another penaltyter.¡±

    ¡°Got it. I¡¯ll give them clear instructions about party hunting in all of the dangerous hunting grounds.¡±

    ¡°Good. Keep it in mind that everything in the future will be decided by ¡®Revival Legend.¡¯ So, focus all your resources on ¡®Revival Legend.¡¯ Got it?¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±

    The meeting of Holdredge, cited as one of the three major forces along with the US government and the Shaipe group, finally ended.

    ***

    A cafe located in the remote ce of Mt. Kwanak in Seoul¡ª

    ¡°Hello, wee.¡±

    I greeted a couple with a smile as they were walking into the cafe.

    Of course, at first I felt it was rather awkward and hard to serve customers.

    But as time went on, I got used to it and became more natural at it.

    Soon, the couple approached the counter.

    ¡°What would you like to order?¡±

    ¡°Two cups of Americano, please.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    As soon as I took their order, I naturally got the coffee machine up and running.

    As the cafe was located in a remote ce, I had to take care of everything ranging from receiving orders to making the coffee and serving.

    I could do it all together because there weren¡¯t many customers.

    Soon I approached the couple, holding two cups of Americano coffee.

    When I got closer to them, I could overhear their conversation.

    ¡°Hey, what the heck is that game that keeps stopping you from attending ss?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a very interesting one.¡±

    ¡°How are you going to graduate like that? This is not an ordinary college. It¡¯s Seoul National University! You will never be able to graduate if you keep ying like that.¡±

    ¡°Well, if I can¡¯t graduate, I can quit.¡±

    The girl frowned at her boyfriend¡¯s confident attitude.

    I nced at the man with mixed feelings because he reminded me of the old me that was addicted to games.

    Anyway, their conversation continued as I ced the two cups of coffee on the table.

    ¡°So, what¡¯s the name of the game?¡±

    ¡°Revival Legend.¡±

    At that moment, I flinched because the name of the game he mentioned was unusual. Obviously it reminded me of ¡®Forgotten Legend.¡¯.

    But the man now mentioned ¡®Revival Legend.¡¯

    Of course, it might not be the sequel to ¡®Forgotten Legend,¡¯ but I couldn¡¯t help linking the two together. I wanted to confirm it on my mobile phone immediately, but I didn¡¯t because I was afraid that the two games might not be rted.

    In the past, I used to search the ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ homepage in the search engine every hour.

    But the extinct homepage never came back. On such asions, I sometimes thought of posting about the strange things I experienced from Forgotten Legend on the inte.

    In the end, I didn¡¯t post them because I felt it still ufortable telling others like I did back then.

    As time went by, I no longer paid attention to it because I fell into the abyss.

    If I had not achieved so much, I would not have felt the impact of a harsh downfall.

    To be honest, as someone who found it hard to enter a provincial junior college, let alone a four-year college in Seoul, the bar was too high for me to even enter Seoul National University (SNU), the nation¡¯s top school. Nheless, I was still admitted.

    The fact that I entered SNU at the top of the ss gave me an air of enormous conceitedness.

    A media outlet even wrote a report about me.

    That was why I worked at this remote cafe to avoid others¡¯ attention as much as I could.

    The hourly rate was low at the cafe, but I didn¡¯t care.

    Then I suddenly came to hear about ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ from the campus couple.

    I found myself torn between the desire to confirm it right now and my possible disappointment to find that the two games were not rted.

    I could not help but tremble beyond my control.

    Still, I cautiously turned on my mobile phone and surfed the inte about Revival Legend.

    Then a homepage appeared immediately.

    ¡°Oh, maybe it¡¯s not that one? Well, I don¡¯t think it is.¡±

    My heart was pounding hard at that moment.

    I had not searched ¡®Legend,¡¯ for a long time, ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ because it was the only way for me to recover from the shock of having fallen into the abyss.

    Anyway, I clicked on it with my trembling fingers, then the homepage screen appeared.

    The first screen was different from that of the Forgotten Legend homepage.

    Not caring about it, I examined it here and there because I could not make a proper judgment, based on the first screen.

    How long did I spend surfing every nook and cranny of the homepage?

    My body trembled more violently than before because I realized that although its name was different, it was the same game I had yed.

    ***

    That night when I returned to my one-room apartment, I connected the 2nd generation VR adaptor to theputer which I had never used since then.

    Then I essed the homepage of the game whose name changed from Forgotten Legend to Revival Legend.

    But I stopped immediately because it suddenly urred to me why I was at it again.

    It was a closed beta game after all.

    All the strange experiences that I really could not exin easily originated in the closed beta.

    But the new game called Revival Legend was open to the public, and it was currently operating normally. It had been open for more than three years.

    Besides, there was nothing like a service closing like the closed beta.

    Not only the game itself, but even thepany changed hands.

    ¡°Let me try it anyway.¡±

    I was absorbed into MMORPG games, so much so that I even wished to have a traffic ident to disable my legs so that I could concentrate on ying games.

    When I came to live alone like this, I had a natural environment where I could turn into a game addict.

    But I didn¡¯t be a game addict. To be honest, I failed to because it was not interesting to me anymore.

    Even the very game that made me wish I had a traffic ident didn¡¯t interest me anymore even though I thought I¡¯d never move on from it.

    I didn¡¯t know why.

    But I just guessed that the unusually strange and strong experience I had while ying Forgotten Legend made me feel like all the other games were banal.

    Even without such experience, I found Forgotten Legend to be very interesting.

    I was into it so much that I slept less than two or three hours a day to concentrate on the game religiously with the goal of achieving the max level.

    ¡°Lol. I might be a game addict this time.¡¯

 Chapter 11

    <h4>Chapter 11: What I really wanted to do</h4>

    I finished connecting the adaptor to theputer with a self-mocking smile.

    Then the adaptor began downloading. At that moment, the bar showed that it was updating, not installing a new program.

    I could conclude clearly that the two games were of the same family because if they were not the same, there was no reason for Forgotten Legend to be updated as Revival Legend. And the update time was seven hours as always.

    ¡°Whew! I have to do part-time work tomorrow¡­¡±

    Of course, I didn¡¯t have to if I wanted thanks to my sister.

    My sister, who used to tease me for my stupidity and harassed me one year ago told me with tears in her eyes that I went crazy because I studied too hard as a dumbhead. Sheined that my father was responsible for it because he pressured me too much.

    My sister even threatened to leave home and go to the mountain temple after shaving her head if he let me uncared for.

    She was smart, but at the same time she was stubborn.

    To be honest, she was more masculine than my elder brother.

    Although she said she was generous enough to y with me when we were children, I felt harassed from my point of view. Anyway, she kept her promise that she made.

    So, my father relinquished some of his anger.

    He even told me toe back home first, saying I didn¡¯t have to go back to school.

    But I refused because I thought I would be confined to the house for the rest of my life if I went back home like this.

    Anyway, I took back the credit card that I had forfeited when I was expelled.

    Besides, my sister who cried for me gave me a hefty allowance every month.

    So, I didn¡¯t have to do part-time work, but I kept on doing it.

    I had no job if I didn¡¯t do part-time work.

    But now I had something to do, and that immediately took over.

    ¡°What if I tell the cafe owner I¡¯m going to quit tomorrow¡­¡±

    ording to the cafe owner, he had no applicants for as many as three months until I applied because of the low hourly pay. If I tell him I will quit immediately, it will cause a big headache for him.

    In fact, when I started working, I told the owner that I would work at least six months and that if I had to quit, I would tell him about it at least one month in advance.

    I was agonizing about it when the phone rang.

    It was a call from the cafe owner.

    ¡°Hi, boss.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­Juyoung.¡±

    The cafe owner had a cheerful character, but he was hesitant to say something to me, which suggested that he was going to bring up something bad.

    As expected, the news he had was not good.

    ¡°I have decided to close the cafe. As you know, business is so slow¡­¡±

    ¡°When?¡±

    ¡°Immediately. So, you don¡¯t have toe to the cafe starting tomorrow¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine!¡± I replied quickly.

    Although he might have felt sorry for announcing the closure of the cafe, I was thankful for his decision anyway.

    ¡°Really? Thanks for understanding my situation. I¡¯m going to deposit your pay as of today into your ount tomorrow morning. Thanks for your work.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    After hanging up the phone, I looked down because I felt the timing and the situation was perfect for me. It was as if they wanted me to focus on ying games.

    So, with this asion, I made the decision to be a game addict.

    I stood up right away, went to the restroom to brush my teeth, and flung myself onto the small bed that was morefortable than the one I used back at home which was more than twice the size.

    It would take about seven hours for the VR adaptor to finish updating, so I needed sound sleep to start the game with a fresh mind.

    Early next morning, I had a quick cereal mixed with milk, theny on the bed and put on the 2nd generation VR adaptor withpleted updates, vowing that I would bring the 3rd generation VR adapter after visiting home during the weekend.

    Just like I vowed at the start of the first, second, and third closed beta games to focus on studying during the remainder of my vacation after putting everything into games for the two weeks until the closing of the beta testing, I made another vow.

    ¡°Okay, let me be a game addict this time so I will never look back at games for the rest of my life! There are so many things I can do even after I¡¯m done with games.¡±

    I was clear about one thing: I had a wealth of knowledge.

    While dealing with a variety of people in the army and after I was discharged, I knew it.

    I was also aware of it during my short campus life before I joined the army.

    For example, I scored 100% on the SAT exam, which was the sum of my 12 years of studying during my elementary, middle, and high school years. Besides, the famous private high school that I attended made me forcibly read books in various fields and submit book reports under the pretext of developing our ability to think. I also mastered not only my nativenguage Korean, but also English, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Arabic, and Spanish, the most usednguage after Chinese.

    This was an impossible task even for a genius student, but I made it.

    That was why I never experienced any difficulties inmunicating with foreigners.

    Of course, it was no problem for anybody to get a job in Korea if theypleted the courses up to high school. But I went far ahead of them.

    And the real problem was whether I could graduate from Seoul National University, the top university in the country.

    Unlike high school, the sses at the college required deep and specialized knowledge in one major field.

    So, I tried to catch up desperately because even though my learning level was that of a high school student, I had an enormous amount of knowledge stored in my head.

    In some respect, I already exceeded the high school level.

    And I thought that my storage of knowledge would help me get ess to a new area of study.

    But I was mistaken.

    ¡®It didn¡¯t help me at all. Besides, I already experienced a very strange phenomenon three times, so I didn¡¯t like the meaningless studying that bound me to my desk long enough to get me a rash on my butt.¡¯

    But it didn¡¯t work out as I wished.

    So, I made the decision to be a game addict and put everything in the game just like I did in the first, second, and third closed betas until I was sick and tired of gaming.

    After that, I decided to do whatever I could, like getting a job as a trantor or an interpreter because I had a goodmand of foreignnguages.

    ¡°Good. Let me take the plunge into the world of games like I did before!¡±

    Vowing once again, Iy down on the bedfortably and hooked up the 2nd generation VR adaptor.

    ***

    ¡°Activate!¡±

    <Your VR adaptor is now running.>

    Soon, I saw the small ind blocked by water everywhere.

    ¡°...¡±

    It was the same background that I had seen when I started Forgotten Legend in the first closed beta in high school, although its name had changed.

    It felt a bit awkward because I hadn¡¯t essed it for a long time.

    So, I opened my mouth quietly, ¡°Change the background.¡±

    <Background has changed.>

    Soon, ten backgrounds embedded in the 2nd generation VR adaptor came into my view.

    And I chose one of them without any hesitation.

    It was a vast and endless grasnd.

    ¡°Hm. Has my taste changed?¡±

    Obviously I liked the ind in the past because I felt a sense of stability from the isted ind.

    But this time, I liked the endless grasnd.

 Chapter 12

    <h4>Chapter 12: Three rewards (1)</h4>

    Of course, I turned my eyes elsewhere because what was important was not the background.

    ¡°Confirm the download details.¡±

    <Download details: Revival Legend (Avable)>

    ¡°Run Revival Legend.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t tense or nervous till this morning, but I was now.

    Even though they changed the name of the game, it was obvious that Revival Legend was Forgotten Legend that I used to y.

    <Revival Legend is now running.>

    In no time the intro video appeared.

    It was different from the first one about the fierce fighting among humans, the second one about the invasion by numerous monsters and the third one about the restoration of the ruinednd by humans.

    At that time, I skipped the intro videos quickly because I didn¡¯t have time to watch them leisurely because of the two-week time frame.

    But I didn¡¯t skip them this time.

    Since it was formally opened, it had no time restriction like the closed beta. Besides, it was in service for more than three years, so I didn¡¯t have to worry about a wider gap just because I spent several minutes watching the intro videos.

    ¡°Hm.¡±

    I was not sure if the current intro video was connected to the previous ones, mostly because I saw that the humans were done with restoring the ruinednd energetically.

    It was a period of cultural renaissance.

    But the period in the video didn¡¯tst long because of the emergence of those monsters who awakened their special abilities.

    If one had power, it was human nature to want to show it off.

    That¡¯s what they did in the intro video.

    Humans rose up, resisting crackdowns and oppression, which led to war.

    And the battle spread like wildfire with the sharp increase in those who gradually woke up to their new power, then it ended in mes.

    ¡°Great. It¡¯s been made well.¡±

    I liked the intro video a lot, which I watched from start to finish because it was more colorful and magnificent than any other video.

    Then the same wheat field I had always seen in the first, second and third closed betas unfolded in front of me.

    ¡°Oh, this has not changed!¡±

    <Recognition of user Juyoung Hong¡¯s body, irises, and brainwaves has beenpleted. You can now create a character.>

    Soon my figure appeared like a hologram before my eyes.

    ¡°Um¡­¡±

    I was a bit hesitant because in the first, second, and third closed betas, the system created a character that looked like me.

    Besides, I didn¡¯t need to decorate myself because it would be reset in two weeks anyway.

    Of course, the character must be me even if I change it a little bit.

    But for some reason, I didn¡¯t want to change it.

    Since I decided to be a game addict, I thought my current figure was the best for the job.

    ¡°Good. Just basic! Even if I choose ¡®just basic,¡¯ nobody will recognize me.¡±

    Except for the boss monster raid, I always yed games alone, and I chose my current figure without any reservation because it changed ording to the items I wore.

    ¡°Lumen!¡± I said it quickly because it was like my alter ego.

    It reflected my wishes to be a shining figure even in the game world, not reality.

    <Your character ID has been set up as lumen. Do you wish to proceed?>

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Ipleted creating my character and choosing an ID.

    When I closed my eyes, preparing for the next move in a moment, a series of messages popped up.

    <You have been recognized as a user from the closed beta. We have your achievement records of reaching the max level during the first, second, and third closed betas. You will receive rewards for that. (This reward will be awarded to the max level achiever.)>

    ¡°Oh!¡±

    Sometimes some small bonuses were granted to users who participated in the closed beta.

    Actually, I experienced it in other games, too.

    So, I slightly uttered hooray because the reward was given to those who achieved the max level only, and I achieved the max level in the first, second, and third closed betas.

    It was a petty reward, but I happily waited for the next message.

    <You were a max level user in the first closed beta. You have been awarded one trait as a bonus, but that trait determined by the grade you achieved through various factors is as follows:

    Number of monsters (including the boss monster) you killed in the first closed beta: SSS grade

    Number of users you killed in the first closed beta: F grade

    Item grade you had at the closing of the first closed beta: S grade

    Golden ring grade you had at the closing of the first closed beta: S grade

    Skill grade you attained at the closing of the first closed beta: A grade.

    Lumen¡¯s final grade in the first closed beta is S grade. You have been awarded the following trait: Iceman.>

    ¡°...I thought they would give me a title to raise my stat points or a useful item for beginners.¡±

    Fairness or bnce.

    In my opinion, they were two important factors in games.

    So, I thought it was going to be a petty reward, which was prevalent in the game world.

    But the message that appeared before my eyes was very systematic.

    In particr, the attribute named ¡®Iceman¡¯ didn¡¯t lookmon.

    So, I shouted right away, ¡°Confirm Iceman trait.¡±

    <Trait: Iceman. The essence of ice will be embedded in the human body.

    Doesn¡¯t feel cold.

    Complete immunity to frostbite.

    Increases ice-type skills by 30%.

    Increases the probability of damaging the opponent when you attack with Ice Weapon.

    Reduces iing ice-type damage attacks by 30%.>

    ¡°...¡±

    I yed the first, second and third closed beta games, and I only used ice-type wizards.

    That¡¯s how I knew how absurd it was for the performance of all the ice-type skills to increase by 30%.

    It meant that Iceman was the most extraordinary trait among the many ice-type wizards. For example, between two yers at the same level with the same equipment and skills at thest stage, the 30% gap will bring about a huge difference. The 30% was not to be reckoned with as the other yer wouldn¡¯t be able to catch up

    For example, if my strength was 100, the addition of 30% will only increase it by 30, but when the number goes up to 1,000, 10,000, 100,000, or above that, the 30% will increase the skills exponentially.

    Besides, reducing all ice-type wizard damages by 30% will make me their natural enemy or predator by turning the same ice-type wizard into a rat before a cat.

    ¡°...Is it because I only chose ice-type wizards in the first, second, and third closed betas?¡±

    I could not find any other reason when I wondered why I received the trait called Iceman.

    So, Iughed unconsciously because I still nned to use ice-type wizards even now when they changed the name to Revival Legend.

    While I was smiling at that, another message rang.

    <You were a max level user the second closed beta. You have been awarded one trait as a bonus, but that trait determined by the grade you achieved through various factors is as follows:

    Number of the monsters (including the boss monster) you killed in the second closed beta: SSS grade

    Number of the users you killed in the second closed beta: F grade

    Item grade you had at the closing of the second closed beta: S grade

    Golden grade you had at the closing of the second closed beta: SS grade

    Skill grade you attained at the closing of the second closed beta: A grade

    Lumen¡¯s final grade in the second closed beta is S grade. You have been awarded the trait ¡®Mutual Growth.¡¯>

    <Confirm Mutual Growth trait.>

    As I had already experienced it, I immediately shouted out loud.

 Chapter 13

    <h4>Chapter 13: Three Rewards (2)</h4>

    <Trait: Mutual Growth

    : Growing together

    Select one parent stat among Strength, Agility, Stamina, Intellectual Power and Willpower.

    After that, you can choose two stats that can grow together with the parent stat.

    The first stat to grow together will grow with the parent stat at 100%.

    The second to grow together will grow with the parent stat at 50%

    Example: If you choose the parent stat and set up the first Mutual Growth stat with Stamina, and the second Mutual Growth stat with Agility, then invest 100 stat points in Stamina, the first Mutual Growth stat¡¯s Stamina will grow by 100 stat points, and the second Mutual Grown stat¡¯s Agility will grow by 50 stat points. But the two stats belonging to the parent stat as Mutual Growth won¡¯t go over the maximum limit.

    The two stats belonging to the parent stat as Mutual Growth are not affected by skills or items.>

    <If you do not choose a potential parent stat and the two stat points that will grow together with it, you won¡¯t receive EXP. Once set, the stat is impossible to change.>

    ¡°...¡±

    I was surprised when I received the ¡®Iceman¡¯ trait as a bonus for my achieving the maximum level in the first closed beta.

    Well, I could not help but be surprised.

    In fact, the bonus was too much for me, even though there was a condition for the bonus that said the potential recipient should not only participate in the closed beta, but also achieve the max level.

    But the bonus for my achievements in the second closed beta made me think twice because it was much more than the first bonus.

    ¡°I wonder if it¡¯s okay for them to give me all these bonuses.¡±

    Slowly reviewing the trait of ¡®Mutual Growth¡¯ once again, I murmured to myself.

    I questioned it because even those who didn¡¯t know much about games could immediately identify the huge benefits that the Mutual Growth trait would bring about.

    To put it simply, 100 stat points would grow into 250. In other words, 150% stat points were additionally awarded with the Mutual Growth trait.

    Of course, if the stat point is not 100, but 1,000 or 10,000, the increase will be huge proportionately.

    But I turned my attention to other stuff because I needed to im another bonus.

    The third closed beta was so difficult that I could barely achieve the max level. I made it only one hour before it was closed.

    <You¡¯re the user who achieved the max level in the third closed beta. You will receive one trait as a bonus for achieving the maximum level. But the trait is determined by the grade you attain ording to the following factors:

    Number of killed monsters (including the boss monster) during the third closed beta: SSS grade

    Number of killed users during the third closed beta: F grade

    Grade of items you attained during the third closed beta: SS grade

    Grade of golden rings you attained during the third closed beta: SS grade

    Skill grade you achieved at the closing of the third closed beta: S grade

    Your final grade in the third closed beta is SS. You have received the ¡®God of Strengthening¡¯ trait.>

    ¡°...¡±

    I was extremely busy during the third closed beta, so much so that I could not find time to use the golden rings I had worked hard to earn or the numerous items that I had earned by hunting.

    For my only goal was to achieve the max level.

    So, I could understand why the grade of the items and the number of golden rings I had at the closing of the third closed beta were SS, not SSS in the first and second.

    That¡¯s why I felt sad.

    I received the F although I didn¡¯t kill any users, or mount any attacks not only in the field of honor but also in the fields from the first, second and third closed betas.

    At a nce, I could easily see that ¡®God of Strengthening¡¯ was a ridiculous trait.

    Maybe I would have received a more ridiculous trait if I had received an S or an A for killing other users in the field of honor.

    But I could do nothing about the given trait for my achievements.

    So, I pulled myself together and confirmed the ¡®God of Strengthening¡¯ option when another message rang. It didn¡¯t ring in the first and second closed betas.

    <You are the only achiever of the max level in the third closed beta. You will receive the following bonuses:

    Three additional remaining skill points

    1,000 additional remaining stat points

    100 million golden rings>

    <You achieved the max level in the first, second, and third closed betas in a row. You will receive the following special bonus:

    Title: The only closed beta max level achiever.>

    At that moment, my mind was blown by the series of messages, for I knew how ridiculous the above-mentioned bonuses were as someone who already yed the games. However, I could ept the title, ¡®The only closed beta max level achiever.¡¯

    Copse or destruction of bnce.

    I could understand three remaining skill points and 100 million golden rings, but given the ¡®Mutual Growth¡¯ trait that I received in return for my max level achievement in the first and second closed betas, the 1,000 stat points were not just simply 1,000. They were 2,500.

    So, I could not help but look at the messages nkly for a long time.

    The bonus given to a max level achiever like me was simply too ridiculous.

    Then I opened my mouth quietly because I needed to confirm something.

    ¡°Confirm Trait. God of Enhancement.¡±

    <Trait: God of Enhancement

    : There is no failure for strengthening in my dictionary.

    Attempting to strengthen after activating the God of Strengthening will be 100% sessful. But it can require additional golden rings and EXP, depending on the grade and item options.

    After a sessful strengthening with the activation God o Enhancement, the cooldown will depend on the grade and item options. You cannot activate God of Enhancement during the cooldown.>

    ¡°Wow¡­¡±

    I anticipated it because of the term itself ¡®God of Enhancement¡¯.

    Of course, there were some restrictions such as a cool time.

    But without these kinds of restrictions, the God of Enhancement would be really an absurd power, so much so that it would ruin the game itself.

    To be honest, I thought the game was already ruined to some degree because of the time.

    After all, time would resolve the restrictions set by cooldowns.

    ¡°Is this really OK?¡±

    Even though I participated in the closed beta and achieved the max level with hard efforts, each of the bonuses was really enormous, ranging from ¡®Iceman¡¯ and ¡®Mutual Growth¡¯ to ¡®God of Enhancement¡¯ this time.

    Possession of only one of these traits could be called ¡®fraudulent.¡¯

    If I found out that any gamer, not me, possessed one of the three traits, I would have given up these games, cursing at the game operator andpany for their sloppy operations.

    But I chuckled myself before I knew it.

    ¡°Hhhhhhhm.¡±

    Yes, all three of those were mine.

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think the bonuses will be given to me alone.¡±

    In fact, the message clearly mentioned that the bonus was given to the max level achiever in the first, second, and third closed betas. And I¡¯d seen those who achieved the max level.

    I participated in the boss monster raids with them.

    Looking back, achieving the max level in the first closed beta was not that easy.

    I would say it was very easy.

    The level of difficulty went up, starting with the second closed beta.

    As for the results of the third one, the message already confirmed that I was the only max level achiever. That¡¯s why I received a huge bonus.

    The only thing was the grade, but there was one thing I was sure of.

    In other words, I was probably the only one who didn¡¯t stop hunting monsters even after I achieved the maximum level. Besides, I possessed rare items and the greatest number of golden rings even before the system reset itself.

 Chapter 14

    <h4>Chapter 14: Three Rewards (3)</h4>

    Of course, I regretted the number of other users that I killed in the field of honor or in the field, but I was confident that my S grade in the first closed beta, S in the second one and SS in the third one would be in the highest or top ranking group.

    Actually, it¡¯s probably safe to say that I am No. 1 gamer rather than vaguely putting myself in the highest ranking group. I was the only max level achiever in the third closed beta ording to the message which gave me a huge bonus.

    Iughed at that moment because I could see the possibility that I could shine very brightly in the world like my ID ¡®lumen.¡¯

    ¡°Whew! Good. Confirm the title for thest time.¡±

    <Title: The only closed beta max level achiever.

    This title is only given to a user who has achieved the maximum level in the first, second, and third closed betas.

    Health increased by 300,000.

    Mana increased by 300,000.

    All stat points increased by 500.>

    ¡°Ugh? What the heck is this?¡±

    As soon as I confirmed the title, I shouted unconsciously because there was something ridiculous there.

    When I achieved Level 300 right before the closing of the third closed beta, my maximum health was less than 150,000. It was because I invested most stat points including items in intellectual power, so I depended on the extreme ice-type wizards that mainly depended on attack power.

    But this time, I gained 300,000 health as soon as I began.

    Besides, I gained 300,000 mana and a total of 2,500 stat points as a result of adding 500 to each stat.

    I was taken aback by the huge bonus benefits.

    I pinched my cheeks with my fingers unconsciously and felt a slight pain.

    Of course it was a virtual pain caused by my brainwave recognition.

    ¡°By the way, why are they so generous?¡±

    I was so happy when I obtained Iceman and Mutual Growth as bonuses.

    But when I obtained the ¡®God of Enhancement¡¯ trait and the title of ¡®The only closed beta max level achiever, I could not help but think that the bonuses were excessive.

    It was as if the gamepany was trying to do away with the bnce of games.

    Of course, I was not the only one who received the bonuses.

    There were lots of max level achievers in the first and second closed betas aside from the third one where I was the only max level achiever.

    ¡°Hm.¡±

    At that moment, the intro video I watched right after I essed the game came into my mind.

    The video mentioned those who woke up to power.

    ¡°Are they the users who achieved the maximum level in the first, second, and third closed betas?¡±

    I thought they might be.

    But I wondered whether those who didn¡¯t participate in the first, second, and third closed betas or those who participated but didn¡¯t achieve the max level were now participating in the new game without receiving any bonus traits.

    After all, inequality at birth among people existed in the real world.

    But in the new world of games, everyone invested because of the conviction that everybody had the same starting line.

    Of course, there were people like me who yed games because they were given a bonus for their hard efforts.

    Anyway, the bonus I received was absurd given the principles of fairness and equality in the game world.

    But I didn¡¯t question it for long because it was not something I had to go through the trouble of agonizing over.

    And I possessed one too many bonuses.

    I was not good enough to bring up the issue of the excessive bonus unfairness.

    While I was sorting out myplicated thoughts, another message rang.

    <Awarding the bonuses for the users who participated in the first, second, and third closed betas is nowplete.>

    <You are now being transported to the Kotum region of the Balten Empire, or the starting stage.>

    When the message disappeared, I suddenly felt like I was sinking into the bottom that signaled the real start of the game, and I smiled broadly at that feeling because I was confident in shining so brightly that others could not evenpare. Yes, iparably.

    Thud!

    Soon I felt like I had set foot on real ground like I did in the real world.

    It was a thrilling moment that I experienced through virtual reality after a long time.

    But I opened my mouth right away because there was something more important than such feelings.

    ¡°Confirm Status!¡±

    I was so curious about how it would appear.

    <Name: lumen

    Level: 0

    Kills: 0. Deaths: 0

    Title: The only closed beta max level achiever

    Health: 350,000/350,000 Mana: 350,000/350,000

    Strength: 510 Agility: 510 Stamina: 510

    Willpower: 510 Intellectual power: 510

    Remaining stat points: 1,000

    Remaining skill points: 1,000

    Traits: Iceman, Mutual Growth, God of Strengthening.>

    Obviously, my level was 0.

    In other words, I was like a beginner, but my records were too brilliant.

    Even this expression ¡®brilliant¡¯ was not sufficient enough to describe my status.

    In other words, the status bar that appeared before my eyes was a far cry from basicmon sense in the game world.

    In particr, I have already experienced the first, second, and third closed betas where I achieved as high as Level 300.

    I was dumbfounded by the status bar all the more because Level 0 was simr to Level 300.

    Of course, when the Strength, Agility, Stamina, Willpower and Intellectual Powers werebined, the total was much higher than Level 300.

    Aside from level, the number of stats increased when I put on the item fit for that level at that time.

    But I still had 1,000 remaining stat points to allocate.

    And this number was not just 1,000, but 2,500 because I had the ¡®Mutual Growth¡¯ trait.

    Aside from that, however, my Health and mana were much higher despite my Level 0 status.

    So, I stared at the status bar for a while because I was far from tired of watching it.

    Besides, it fit my ID lumen which meant ¡®shine¡¯ or ¡®light¡¯ so well.

    It¡¯d been 30 minutes since I essed ¡®Revival Legend.¡¯

    ¡°Hm.¡±

    Of course I didn¡¯t spend 30 minutes just nkly looking at the status bar.

    Just like I did in the first, second, and third closed betas, I had to decide on something before taking out the stick from the inventory and start beating scarecrows.

    I had to choose the stat that could be the parent of Mutual Growth, the first stat that would grow with the parent stat by 100%, and the second one that could grow by 50% because I could not obtain EXP unless I set up Mutual Growth.

    Of course, the answer was already there because I had the ¡®Iceman¡¯ trait before I received Mutual Growth.

    The trait had the power to increase the performance of all ice-type skills by 30%. So, it would be really foolish of me to give up this power.

    In other words, the stats that would be the parent stat of Mutual Growth was Intellectual Power.

    Obviously, the fighting style was only for ice-type wizards.

    Nheless, the reason why I was agonizing so hard was because I hadn¡¯t yet chosen the first stat and second stats that would grow with this Intellectual Power.

    In particr, my possession of ¡®The only closed beta max level achiever.¡¯ title, 350,000 health and 350,000 mana at Level 0 made me even more troubled because that was twice the maximum health and mana I had in the third closed beta.

    So, I imagined choosing Power for the first stat that would grow by 100% with Intellectual Power as the parent stat, and Agility for the second stat.

    In that case, the attack from ice-type wizards will inflict huge damage thanks to high Intellectual Power and Iceman. In addition to that, the physical attack with the same power as Intellectual Power would also show an enormous impact, just like a master archer or assassin.

    Then my framework will beplete as the emergence of the so-called Wizard Swordsman which was once very popr in the first, second, and third closed beta.

 Chapter 15

    <h4>Chapter 15: Settingpleted</h4>

    There is a lot of spection about the Wizard Swordsman, with someining about its authenticity, so this time it¡¯s going to be the perfect Wizard Swordsman with real magic as well as physical attack power.

    ¡®Hmmm...do I really need to show it?¡±

    To be honest, the Wizard Swordsman is really cool.

    With the sword in one hand and ice, fire, or electricity in the other, the Wizard Swordsman can draw people¡¯s attraction quickly.

    That was why there were lots of such characters in the first, second and third closed betas.

    Even I was slightly captivated by its attraction.

    So, I¡¯m willing to boldly try the Wizard Swordsman if I didn¡¯t have this ¡®Iceman¡¯ trait because I¡¯ve got this unique ¡®Mutual Growth¡¯ trait with which the Wizard Swordsman can fully demonstrate its capabilities.

    But as much as 30% increase in the performance of Iceman has already pushed my specialized field toward the wizard.

    The more I level up, the better skills and items I have, and the stronger I be, this 30% increase can make me disy the type of capabilities that are fundamentally different from others.

    In fact, I felt regrets about my health that was a little over 150,000 despite my achievement of Level 300, the highest in the third closed beta.

    And my mana also left lots of room for improvement because of my concentration on Intellectual Power and Willpower which were much lower than Physical Strength.

    Of course, that was the typical feature of all the ice-type wizards.

    So, I was really careful about hunting and the boss monster raid because if I were killed by mistake, I would not be able to ess it for 24 hours even though I was given only two weeks in the closed beta.

    I am not the type of person who voluntarily sticks my neck out or takes the risk. Nor do I enjoy the thrill of it.

    That¡¯s why I wanted health all the more as well as skills and mana that I could use freely.

    So, I kept agonizing because I didn¡¯t have to decide hastily.

    Even if I drag my feet here, there is nothing that will make the gap wider than now.

    It had been one hour since I was into the game.

    ¡°Hm. I guess that¡¯s better.¡±

    Generally speaking, there were three types of fights across all games.

    Namely dps, tank, and support.

    In my case, I have no other choice but to take the dealer position because I y alone almost always. I need to hunt monsters first.

    What the dps needs most in terms of capabilities is attack power.

    So, I asked myself if Icked attack skills since I was not only a damage dealer but also an ice-type wizard.

    And I concluded that I was notcking.

    Given that I obtained various bonuses including Iceman, I had more than enough attack power, and overwhelmingly more than that of others.

    That¡¯s why I thought I didn¡¯t need any more attack power, let alone a physical attack, which was much less effective than the magic attack supported by the buff called ¡®Iceman.¡¯

    ordingly I had no choice but to turn my attention to Physical Strength because the more health I had, the better.

    Health was something like a barometer that guaranteed absolute safety whether I was on the hunting ground or dealing with any boss monster or used the field of honor that I had never experienced.

    From my safety-first perspective, the next most important consideration after Intellectual Power was stats. Of course, I was not the only one who thought like that.

    Whether one was melee or ranged, health was essential.

    That was why I put more emphasis on Physical Strength rather than Willpower aside from Intellectual Power. Almost all wizards were on the same page.

    I had a painful experience with respect to this.

    In high school I studied various subjects superficially, but in college I had to specialize in a specific field. That¡¯s why I failed because I didn¡¯t know it.

    No, I didn¡¯t think as far as that.

    ¡®OK. Let me just stick with one thing. I need to pay attention to lots of stuff if I am going to act as the Wizard Swordsman.>

    It¡¯s true that if I fight in closebat, I need more health and defense because I will be in great danger. Besides, depending on the use of different skills, they would be inevitably divided into two because the Wizard Swordsman wouldn¡¯t only wield a sword.

    So, I made the decision to stick with just one thing with unparalleled determination.

    And if I reach that level, I won¡¯t have to wield weapons like a sword at a close distance.

    I opened my mouth right away.

    ¡°Set up Mutual Growth.¡±

    <Trait: ¡®Mutual Growth¡¯ has been activated.

    Please choose the potential parent stat.

    Once set, the stat cannot be changed.

    : Strength, Agility, Stamina, Willpower, Intellectual Power.>

    ¡°Choose Intellectual Power.¡±

    After all, the potential parent stat had to be Intellectual Power, so I didn¡¯t hesitate to choose it at all.

    <You have chosen Intellectual Power as the potential parent stat.

    Please choose the first stat that will grow with the parent stat by 100%.>

    ¡°Stamina!¡±

    Since I agonized over it for almost one hour, I replied immediately because Stamina would affect not only stamina and fatigue but also defense as a whole aside from the increase in health.

    ¡°Willpower.¡±

    Willpower was also important because higher Willpower would help mana recover more quickly, and it would effectively defend against various debuffs that increased cooldowns, magic defenses, and abnormalities.

    So, I had to pay more attention to Willpower if I had to y alone.

    Aside from monsters, when I had to confront an enemy party of seven or more, there was always somebody who used debuffs as a support in the party, even if there were none who professionally used debuffs.

    <¡®Mutual Growth¡¯ trait has been set up.

    Parent: Intellectual Power

    The first stat that will scale with the parent stat by 100%: Stamina

    The second stat that will scale with the parent stat by 50%: Willpower

    Setupplete. You can level up by obtaining EXP.>

    I was finally off to a start after I debated for more than one hour.

    ***

    Tramp, tramp.

    Tightening my legs, I was walking toward the training field with hundreds of scarecrows because I had solved the biggest headache.

    I was in a happy mood while heading for that ce because I was not a beginner in the game world.

    ng! ng! ng!

    The training field was filled with exactly 300 equally-distanced scarecrows and users beating them as usual.

    Although this game had been avable for more than three years, there were still lots of people in the field.

    Watching them, I had no choice but to smile because before I knew it because it suggested there were lots of people enjoying this game, and that I was highly likely to take the position they looked up to greatly, just like my ID lumen.

    Soon I moved to a remote ce and brandished the stick at the scarecrow randomly.

    I aimed at the red spot on its body.

    ng! ng! ng!

    Then the stick that I randomly brandished was exactly stuck in the red spot.

    ¡®By the way, was it so easy to hit the red spot from the beginning?¡¯

    I had a vivid memory of the scarecrow because the first, second and third closed betas always started with the scarecrows.

    So, I realized that it was very easy for me to attack the scarecrow.

    Of course, it was probably because I possessed the extraordinary stats: Strength 500, Stamina 500, and Agility 500 at Level 0.

    While I was hitting the red spot on the scarecrow lost in such idle thoughts, a message popped up.

    <You have seeded in hitting the target ten times in a row.>

    I knew it because I already had the same experience three times.

    7th or 8th hitting was my Maginot Line.

    That was the Maginot Line for not only me but also anybody with Level 0 as their status.

    Of course, it was a message I could quickly ignore.

    But I know that the message appears when I miss the target.

 Chapter 16

    <h4>Chapter 16: Destroyer of Scarecrow</h4>

    Although I failed tond abo on the 7th or 8th try, the message said I would still receive additional EXP for my series of sessful hits up to that point, just like I did in the first, second, and third closed betas.

    ng! ng! ng!

    Not caring about it, however, I kept hitting on the red spot on the scarecrow¡¯s body.

    I didn¡¯t know it then, but now I realized I was hitting very slowly.

    <You have seeded in hitting the target 20 times in a row.>

    <You have seeded in hitting the target 30 times in a row.>

    <You have seeded in hitting the target 40 times in a row.>

    ng! ng! ng!

    I didn¡¯t care about a desire to win at first, but when I hit more than 20 times, 30 times, and 40 times, I became more and more eager to hit the target.

    Of course, the message mentioned nothing about a bonus for my sessfulbos, and I¡¯d never heard about it either.

    But the bonuses that I earned via hard work were far from small.

    For example, I earned Iceman, Mutual Growth, God of Enhancement and even the title, ¡®The only closed beta max level achiever.¡¯

    So, I didn¡¯t give up. I revealed myself much faster than before and wielded the stick at the disappearing red spot even though my right hand felt numb.

    And when I hit over 40 times, the red spot appeared and disappeared instantly.

    From now on I needed to rely on my intuition, not my eyes, to hit the target.

    Iughed at that because I felt rxed. I did my best on my own, and the only thing left was luck.

    So, I hit the scarecrow¡¯s head with a smile, prepared to ept my failure humbly if the red spot didn¡¯t appear.

    At that moment the red spot appeared above the scarecrow¡¯s head, which I predicted urately.

    ng!

    I seeded in hitting the target for the 41st time.

    Those users who yed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ for the first time or removed their existing characters and recreated them took their eyes off the scarecrows they had been hitting and looked elsewhere nkly.

    ng! ng! ng! ng! ng! ng! ng!

    They were hitting the scarecrows with the sticks endlessly.

    ¡°Does it make any sense?¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s supposed to be impossible in my opinion¡­¡±

    ¡°Is that guy high-leveled? Maybe he is doing it because he is too bored.¡±

    ¡°Hey, the maximum level user who can enter this training field is Level 9. Anyone Level 5 and above will see their EXP decrease, and if you reach Level 10, you¡¯ll be automatically kicked out of the field. Look at his stick. He¡¯s using the same one as us. In other words, he¡¯s only a beginner.¡±

    ¡°Then, what¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    While talking loudly at his friend¡¯s rebuttal, the guy shut his mouth because he also agreed that it was impossible beyond description.

    Not only the two but about 50 users who were bashing scarecrows in the field saw me wielding the stick frantically with their eyes open wide.

    ng! ng! ng!

    Prediction sess! Sess! Sess!

    While wielding the stick, I got goosebumps before I knew it.

    I was wielding the stick based on my intuition because the red spot appeared and disappeared so quickly that I could not even think about it. My hunch was right ten times in a row, and a message showing my 50th sessful hit appeared.

    And the scarecrow made a noise different from before. It sounded like bang! instead of kang!

    At the same time, the scarecrow, which boasted of its toughness, turned into dust and scattered on the ground with the following message:

    <You have seeded in hitting the scarecrow 50 times in a row.

    You have achieved the impossible record.

    You have obtained 200 remaining stat points.

    Title: Scarecrow Destroyer.>

    <You have achieved Level 10, the highest you can obtain by hitting scarecrows.

    With Level 10 you can obtain Skill

    3 Skill points will be given initially.>

    <You have reached Level 10.

    You will now be kicked out of the training field.>

    At that moment I felt dizzy, but I was not surprised by the situation because I had been there before.

    In fact, I had more rming stories than this.

    Now, I, Juyoung Hong, disappeared from the training field.

    ¡°Oops!¡±

    ¡°The scarecrow has been¡­¡±

    ¡°Smashed?¡±

    Watching the smashed scarecrow, they opened their eyes widely in shock.

    They have never heard of or thought that could happen.

    ¡°Damn it. Isn¡¯t the maxbo at seven or eight?¡±

    ¡°Nope. As far as I know, you can hit the target up to 15 times in a row if you are Level 9 and invest all your points in Agility, Physical Strength, and Stats.¡±

    ¡°15 times? I saw that guy hitting the scarecrow more than 30 times.¡±

    ¡°I saw 40 times.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    They were silent because they really saw me hitting the target more than 30 times.

    ¡°By the way, did you see that guy¡¯s face?¡±

    ¡°No, I was so fascinated with his stick fighting that I didn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t, either.¡±

    ¡°Dang it. You should have checked his face! He must be a master gamer if he really smashed the scarecrow.¡±

    ¡°What did you do, then? Did you see his face?¡±

    A guy next to him talked back.

    Then the other man who got angry at him opened his mouth, blushing, ¡°Well, I was also absorbed in his ¡­¡±

    Although Juyoung Hong had already disappeared, the noisy argument among the users in the Kotum Castle training field did not subside easily. They were nkly looking at the spot where the scarecrow in question was standing among the other 299 ones spaced at regr intervals.

    ¡°Confirm title. Scarecrow Destroyer!¡±

    As soon as I was forced out of the field, I shouted out loud right away.

    <Title: Scarecrow Destroyer

    Title reserved for the user who has destroyed a scarecrow

    : Health increase by 100,000

    : Mana increase by 100,000

    : All stat points increase by 200.>

    ¡°...¡±

    Compared with my title as ¡®The only closed beta user with max level achievement, the new title is much lower in rank, but I still felt like it was too much for me.

    It dwarfed my favorite titles ¡®King of the Field of Honor¡¯ or ¡®Waterproof Gatekeeper¡¯.

    Except for the title as ¡®The closed beta user with max level achievement,¡¯ this new one called ¡®Scarecrow Destroyer¡¯ was as powerful as the two mentioned above.

    I destroyed the scarecrow that those between Level 0 to 9 could defeat.

    But I thought a little further too.

    ¡°Am I wrong? It¡¯s impossible that nobody below Level 10 is as good as me, and it¡¯s sheer luck that I hit the target thest ten times.¡¯

    Thinking of it again, I felt it might be more difficult to obtain this new title than ¡®King of the Field of Honor¡¯ or ¡®Waterproof Gatekeeper.¡¯

    The stronger I was, the more likely I could earn the two titles. But there was a restriction on the ¡®Scarecrow Destroyer¡¯ title because only those below Level 10 could earn it.

    In other words, those above Level 10 were denied chances to challenge the title.

    I smiled in satisfaction because I obtained as many as 200 stat points thanks to my 50 sessful hits, in addition to the enormous gains from the ¡®Scarecrow Destroyer¡¯ title.

    With the Mutual Growth trait, the 200 stat points would increase to 500.

    ¡°Confirm the status.¡±

    With all smiles on my face, I opened the status bar.

    <Name: lumen

    Level: 10

    Kills: 0, Death: 0

    Title: The closed beta max level achiever, Scarecrow Destroyer.

    Health: 471,000/471,000 Mana: 471,000/471,000

    Strength: 710 Agility: 710 Stamina: 710

    Willpower: 710 Intellectual Power: 710

    Remaining stat point: 1,300

    Traits: Iceman, Mutual Growth, God of Enhancement.>

    ¡°...¡±

    Five minutes? Ten minutes?

    My level changed from 0 to 10 during that short time span.

    It was only a difference of 10 levels, but not much had changed.

    If the word ¡®level¡¯ was missing here, nobody would think it was a level change.

    ¡°By the way, isn¡¯t it time for me to start investing?¡±

 Chapter 17

    <h4>Chapter 17: Terrific move (1)</h4>

    I didn¡¯t know there was such a bonus hidden in the scarecrow.

    That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t think of investing stats in Power, Agility, and Physical Strength.

    Even if I had known it, I would not have done so because I already chose Intellectual Power as the parental stat for Mutual Growth.

    Anyway, I had the remaining bnce of 1,000 stat points that I earned in return for achieving the max level in the third closed beta. Besides, I had another remaining bnce of 1,300 stat points, which I noticed in one corner of the status bar.

    And I invested all of them in Intellectual Power. All 1,300 stat points.

    When I did it, I found a couple of stats that increased drastically. They were Stamina and Willpower. Of course, Willpower increased by 50%.

    <Name: lumen

    Level: 10

    Health: 601,000/601,000 Mana: 536,000/536,000

    Strength: 710 Agility: 710 Stamina: 2100

    Willpower: 1,360 Intellectual Power: 2,010>>

    ¡°...¡±

    I can dere confidently that I¡¯ve never seen anything more beautiful than this.

    I could not think of any other word to express my joy when I noticed the numbers on the status bar.

    I was impressed by the numbers of Physical Strength and Health in particr because I thought I could never achieve those numbers while ying lots of elemental wizards, including ice-types. And that was the fate and limits of DPS wizards.

    Of course, a pdin that focuses on shield series such as ice shield, fire shield, stone shield, and mega shield generally has higher Stamina and Health than ordinary wizards, but the mainstay is Intellectual Power.

    The strength of those shields is only influenced by Intellectual Power alone and a bit of Willpower.

    Anyway, my confidence soared when I noticed my Health was more than 600,000 and Stamina with more than 2,000, aside from Intellectual Power with more than 2,000 because I would not die easily or in vain because of high Stamina and Health.

    And the fact that I would not die easily meant that I could take heavy magical attacks for a long time by investing the ¡®Iceman¡¯ trait and all the remaining stat points I would get in the future.

    ¡°Hhhhhh.¡±

    Without hiding my uncontroble smile, I turned toward learning skills this time.

    I was excited when I thought about using six skill points which were twice as many as what others would receive.

    A huge tower was located in the middle of the Kotum Castle square.

    When I approached the tower, the message rang as it always did in the first, second, and third closed betas.

    [This a tower with the records of heroes¡¯ abilities.

    -There are limitations based on an individual¡¯s abilities.]

    ¡°Search Ice-type magic.¡±

    I spoke out without any hesitation because the moment I got the ¡®Iceman¡¯ trait, it was safe to say that my path was already decided.

    [Currently, there is ice-type magic that you can obtain.]

    -Level 1 Ice Ball. (Active, 1 skill point required, 100 gold rings required.)

    : Throw only fist-sized ice balls at an enemy within 10 meters.

    : Attack range and damage will scale with Intellectual Power.

    : Upgrade to Level 2 and Level 3 Ice Ball is possible.

    -Level 1 Ice Bolt. (Active, 1 skill point required, 100 gold rings required.)

    : Throw ice bolts with slight pration power at an enemy within 10 meters.

    : Attack range and damage increase scale with Intellectual Power.

    : Upgrade to Level 2 and Level 3 Ice Bolt is possible.

    -Level 1 Ice Shield. (Active, 1 skill point required, 100 gold rings required.)

    : ce a thin ice shield in front of the user.

    : The thickness of the ice shield increases ording to Intellectual Power and Willpower.

    : Upgrade to Level 3, Level 5 and Level 7 is possible.

    -Level 1 Ice Weapon. (Active, 1 skill point required, 100 gold rings required.)

    : Put cold ice on the weapon to inflict additional damage.

    : Increases additional damage caused by ice, depending on Intellectual Power.

    : Upgrade to Level 2 or Level 3 Ice Weapon is possible.

    -Minor Frostbite urrence. (Passive, 1 skill point required, 500 gold rings required.)

    : Casting all ice-based magic at the opponent inflicts Minor Frostbite at a constant rate.

    : When Level and EXP are umted, it can be upgraded to usable Frostbite.

    [Please click Skill for detailed descriptions of each skill.]

    It was the same skill list as the one I obtained after achieving Level 5 during the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd closed betas. But I wasn¡¯t puzzled because no matter how high my ability was, I would stay at Level 10 anyway. It¡¯s not a big dealpared to Level 5.

    So, I opened my mouth casually and said, ¡°Level 1 Ice Ball, Level 1 Ice Bolt, Level 1 Ice Shield, Level 1 Ice Weapon, plus Minor Frostbite urrence.¡±

    I still had lots of usable skill points. Besides, I had not only mana that could keep the Ice Shield and Ice Weapon 24 hours a day, but also Ice Balls and Ice Bolt.

    And I had more than 100 million gold rings.

    So, I chose to obtain everything because if I didn¡¯t need it or needed a skill pointter, I could delete it even if it required 5 times as many golden rings to acquire the skill.

    [You have obtained Level 1 Ice Ball, Level 1 Ice Bolt, Level 1 Ice Shield, Level 1 Ice Weapon and Minor Frostbite.

    -A total of 5 skill points and 900 gold rings are required.

    -Do you want to acquire 5 skills?]

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    I need an Ice Weapon, but I may not need an Ice Shield at all.

    With over 2,000 Stamina and 600,000+ Health points, my stats were greater than that of Level 100, 200, or even 300 tanks.

    I checked the message that said I acquired 5 skills and turned around.

    However, I soon stopped in the spot before going further because I still had 100 million gold rings avable.

    So it was possible that I could wear a top-level item instead of an entry-level item, and a full set at that.

    But I thought a little further.

    ¡®Hmm... I think I can level up quickly. So, I don¡¯t have to waste time buying and reselling that low-level item.¡¯

    I am confident that I can level up very quickly.

    So, I didn¡¯t feel the need to wear expensive beginner items with good options because even without such things, I was more powerful than the Level 300 ice wizard that I achieved during the third closed beta.

    Of course, my Intellectual Power is slightly lower, but I¡¯ve got things that I didn¡¯t possess at the time other than ¡®Iceman,¡¯ which increases the performance of all ice-types by 30%.

    So I turned back to head for a weapon and armor shop in order to purchase some basic equipment that I could buy cheap and resellter after using them rather than wasting time searching for auction ces.

    Of course, it¡¯s not because I want to save golden rings, and I don¡¯t need to because I¡¯m a son of a very wealthy family.

    So, I can use golden rings freely, but there¡¯s no justification that I should waste them.

    In fact, I had experience doing part-time work for the first time after I was kicked out of the house half-willingly.

    Moreover, I never failed to pick up the drops from the monsters, even if it was a bit of an obsolete misceneous item or just one golden ring because they were all by-products of my time and effort aside from their value.

    ***

    Kotum Castle Armor Shop.

    ¡°All set. 3700 gold rings are required.¡±

    ¡°Here you go.¡± I bought gray nondescript leather gloves and leather boots.

    Naturally, the only option I had was to add a few stat points, or increase the weak health and mana points, but I didn¡¯t care because they were cheap throwaway items.

    Soon I left the armor shop and moved to a weapon shop. I purchased a wooden wizard wand, the most basic weapon that would boost Intellectual Power at Level 5.

    And this time I boldly stepped outside of Kotum Castle because everything was ready on my end.

 Chapter 18

    <h4>Chapter 18: Terrific move (2)</h4>

    I was walking on the road that would take me outside Kotum Castle.

    ¡®Hmm. Did they need to make a fuss over that?¡¯

    I forgot it. In fact, I could not help but forget it because so many surprising things happened for me to even think about it.

    But it seemed that other users could not easily forget it.

    That¡¯s why I could hear a lot of chattering near the square while I was moving out of Kotum Castle. They were chattering about the guy who smashed the scarecrow at the training field. ¡°It¡¯s real! You saw it too. Just like a missing tooth in your mouth, one scarecrow was missing in the ranks of scarecrows spaced at regr intervals.¡±

    ¡°I know. Calm down. You¡¯re right.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m saying it because you don¡¯t listen to me seriously.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because you are saying the same thing over and over again.¡±

    ¡°Whew¡­ If you were there, you would be more excited than me. It was amazing, man. Especially the guy brandishing the stick...¡±

    As if he was disappointed by his friend¡¯s lukewarm reaction, the man who was haranguing spoke with a sigh.

    ¡°By the way, was the guy really a beginner?¡±

    ¡°Of course he is. Basically, the training field is off limits to those Level 10 or higher. And there is evidence. He destroyed the scarecrow and disappeared as if he evaporated. Think about his level. He achieved Level 10 immediately. That¡¯s why he bounced out of the field.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. More than 50 people witnessed the scene, but none of them saw his face?¡±

    ¡°If you watch him wield the club, you will be so fascinated that you won¡¯t have time to see his face.¡±

    ¡°You bet. Of course, if you invest stat points at Level 100 or 200 in Power, Agility and Physical Strength evenly, you can wield the stick as good as him, but only those below Level 10 can enter! Below Level 10!¡±

    While those who witnessed the scene in person were engaged in a heated argument, I saw another man behind them opening his mouth carefully.

    ¡°... I think I saw him.¡±

    ¡°Really? His face?¡±

    ¡°No, not his face¡­¡±

    ¡°Then, what?¡±

    ¡°Well, it looked like he had white hair and white eyebrows.¡±

    ¡°White hair and white eyebrows?¡±

    ¡°No, what I mean is not the gray hair from aging¡­ Oh yes! He had white hair and white eyebrows as if snow had piled up on his face.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­ did he? If he had had white hair, he would have attracted lots of attention.¡±

    ¡°You bet.¡±

    They were half in doubt while listening to him.

    Then the man, who said that he seemed to have seen the guy¡¯s white hair and white eyebrows, quickly murmured and opened his mouth, ¡°I¡¯m not sure either. I mean he looked like the guy at first nce.¡±

    Tramp, tramp.

    I walked away, ignoring their chattering noise from the square. Then I lifted my hand and pulled out a strand of hair from my bangs to confirm. It was ck, as expected.

    ¡®What the heck is he talking about? My hair is so ck.¡¯

    When the character was created by body recognition, iris recognition, and brain wave recognition, I didn¡¯t make any changes or corrections, let alone the color of my pupils. Therefore, my hair must be ck.

    I actually confirmed with my own eyes that it was ck.

    So, I couldn¡¯t help butugh at the man who said out of the blue that he seemed to have seen me with white hair and white eyebrows, for he would never know that the guy was me.

    Of course, I had no intention of hiding my identity, and I don¡¯t have to.

    But for the time being, I will because I¡¯m a beginner who has just started ying the game.

    Moreover, I¡¯m not just a beginner, but one with enormous potential in the days toe.

    So, I don¡¯t want to invite their possible obstruction or check because as they say, a protruding nail is a friendly touch.

    So, if I decided to show up, I wanted to do so in a situation where nobody would dare challenge or touch me.

    Moreover, the protagonist is supposed to show upter.

    So, I made up my mind like that and quickly moved to the outskirts of Kotum Castle.

    Of course, there was a destination I had already decided to go to.

    It was the golem habitat that users left deserted because of insufficient EXP for the level of difficulty during the third closed beta.

    But it would be a very good ce for me now.

    The golems here upied a fairlyrge area and one dungeon.

    Of course, the golems would pop out of that one dungeon into the habitat.

    ¡°It¡¯s quiet, as expected.¡±

    During the third closed beta, it was first released as a hunting ground for those at Level 250, but it was immediately discarded.

    I also avoided it for a slightly different reason because my goal at the time was to achieve the max level in two weeks unconditionally. Therefore, I had no choice but to care about my EXP first. However, it had no merit as a hunting ground because of the stingy EXP for the hunting of Level 250 monsters.

    In other words, it was a worthless hunting ground for me.

    So, I hunted there for a bit, then skipped it right away.

    But now it¡¯s perfect for me to start hunting here for the first time.

    So I escaped the Teleport Zone of Kotum Castle and the Teleport Zone that connected the golem habitat here.

    ¡°I¡¯m a spirit element with the spirit of fire. I¡¯m looking for a party.¡±

    ¡°Regardless of elemental wizards above Level 220, we ept everybody. So, hurry up.¡±

    ¡°We buyrge and small amounts of 5 golden rings for each Stone Golem.¡±

    ¡°Let me bless the equipment you are wearing. Since you¡¯re dealing with the stone golem, go get buffs. It is alreadyte when you areining that your equipment is not durable. I only get 10 gold rings for my blessings.¡±

    Of course there were other users in the safety zone around the Teleport Zone who were conducting business, resting, or seeking party members. And their activities were fully understandable because this game, renamed ¡°Revival Legend,¡± was not a closed beta with time limits.

    Soon I passed by other users and moved into the golem habitat.

    Then, the stone golems showed up immediately.

    I was d to see them.

    And the five stone golems that approached me, sniffed here and there, weing me. So, I opened my mouth right away pointing to the stone golem walking at the forefront.

    ¡°Ice Ball.¡±

    Obviously the target was its legs. More precisely, the joint part of its knees because it was the standard way of hunting so that I could slow the creature.

    For people like me who preferred fighting at a distance, this kind of attack was ideal.

    Soon, a huge lump of ice popped out of my hands and was shot at the stone golem¡¯s knees.

    Puk!

    The hitting sound was not that loud, but its effect was awesome.

    At first I thought it would be better to slow the stone golem even more by just casting a slight frostbite, but the ice lump smashed its knees.

    Thud!

    And the golem, whose knees were smashed, swayed and copsed to the floor.

    Of course, it was not dead yet, but it was almost dead.

    In other words, one Level 1 Ice Ball had smashed a Level 250 monster.

    ¡°Wow, is this the power of Iceman?¡±

    Over 2,000 Intellectual Power. It is definitely high.

    Especially considering its Level, the level was unimaginable.

    However, this figure was slightly lower than when I reached Level 300 in the third closed beta.

    At that time, since I was also a wizard fully devoted to Intellectual Power, all the items I chose to equip focused on Intellectual Power.

    However, the Iceman trait I had this time made Ice Ball much more powerful than that since Iceman increased the performance of all ice-type skills by 30%.

    ¡°Huhhh.¡± So, Iughed like a viin.

 Chapter 19

    <h4>Chapter 19: Terrific Move (3)</h4>

    Then I fired magic towards the stone golems.

    ¡°Ice Ball! Ice Bolt!¡±

    Puk! Puk! Puk! Puk!

    It was Level 1 skill at best and exercised 1,400 Willpower.

    So there was almost no cooldown time, and I didn¡¯t have to worry about theck of mana because I could use it freely.

    Since I have to learn these skills early on, normally their power is low. But whenever Ice Ball and Ice Bolt hit the stone golems, they left huge wounds.

    The Ice Ball tore off the stones that made up the stone golems¡¯ bodies, and the Ice Bolt also leftrge holes.

    [You have leveled up.]

    [You have leveled up.]

    [You have leveled up.]

    [You have leveled up.]

    A series of messages announced that I had leveled up.

    ¡°...Is it supposed to be this easy?¡±

    It was so easy to hunt because without moving at all from my spot, I just spammed skills to hunt the monsters. I didn¡¯t even need to use the Ice Shield which was the only defense skill.

    In particr, except for the 1st closed beta, I had to deal with the same level or a considerable number of monsters at once to achieve the maximum level.

    So, I had to be apprehensive because my Physical Strength and Health were not high, and my Willpower and mana pool were lower than my Physical Strength and Health.

    However, after a long time, I didn¡¯t feel tense or nervous at all.

    Iughed unconsciously because I always dreamed of hunting like this.

    Of course, some people may say that this is boring because it doesn¡¯t require any effort.

    In games, challengers and adventurers can be resurrected no matter how often they perish, but I could not understand why they had to take such risks and adventures.

    The character in the game is my alter ego, which is also a projection of me in the real world.

    Of course, that doesn¡¯t mean I won¡¯t take on challenges and adventures forever.

    I will as long as I receive appropriatepensation and rewards or if somebody blocks my way.

    ¡°Huhhhh.¡±

    Laughing like that, I stepped forward to collect the misceneous items like the golden rings and manastones that the stone golems dropped because they were by-products that I acquired through my time and effort.

    So, I put all of them in the inventory and took a lighter step than before.

    ¡°Good. Let me y the game seriously!¡±

    ***

    Shanghai, China.

    In a small meeting room in the 117-story Yanghwa Group¡¯s headquarters, one of the top business groups in China, there was a meeting going on with the group¡¯s top executives led by Chairman Jiang Chianglin.

    Bang!

    ¡°Shit! I didn¡¯t spend money to see you guys doing nothing like a retired old man in the back of the room!¡±

    Briefed by the group¡¯s Strategy Department, Chairman Jiang Chianglin hit the table with a fist, fuming with anger because he had gotten a series of problems in and out of the group these days.

    Of course, the biggest problem was the crackdown by Xi Weiping, the President as well as the leader of the Crown Prince Party.

    From Jian¡¯s standpoint, President Xi¡¯s crackdown in the name of rooting out anti-corruption really put his group in jeopardy.

    The head of the Strategy Department, Guo Ching, opened his mouth with a faint voice, ¡°Well, President Xi¡¯s strongly driving the anti-corruption campaign targeting the whole Shanghai Clique.¡±

    ¡°Fuck! So you want to copse like this? If you get paid, you have to stick your neck out to pressure them to move! Or you shouldvish more money until they can¡¯t breathe because of the money stuck in their throats!¡±

    There were three major powers that made up the Chinese Communist Party: the Crown Prince Party, the Communist Youth League and the Shanghai Clique.

    As a member of the Shanghai Clique, Jiang could rapidly expand his group under the protection of the giant power of the Shanghai Clique as one of the top business groups in China.

    But his good luck didn¡¯tst long because the Shanghai Clique which had been his strong protector. It was targeted by President Xi, the leader of the Crown Prince Party, who had built absolute power.

    Besides, since Jiang Zemin, the head of the Shanghai Clique, lost his core position to President Xi, Yanghwa Group¡¯s Jian virtually lost thest shield that could protect his group, which made him so nervous that he could hardly sleep at all these days.

    Indeed, his aplishments could disappear in an instant.

    At that moment, Shu Lan, the only woman who attended the meeting and the group¡¯s chief officer of external affairs, said, ¡°Isn¡¯t that what President Xi wants?¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    When she said that, everybody was silent in the conference room.

    But Jian¡¯s angry voice broke the silence in no time.

    ¡°Xi Weiping! Greedy pig-like bastard! Why is he taking it out on me and going after my group when he lost our talent to the American bastards? Why is he targeting my group when he is not touching the Communist Youth League and other business conglomerates?¡±

    There were suspicious activities from the U.S. government and America¡¯s leadingpanies. Besides, the unusual movement was from the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agents and the scouting of talent by giant USpanies¡¯ operating in China.

    At first they didn¡¯t understand it because their suspicious movements were not aimed at military secrets or exceptional scientists or technicians specially managed by the Chinese government and corporations.

    That was why they btedly noticed Revival Legend.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it because we have the most talent in China while keeping it a secret from President Xi?¡±

    ¡°Fuck! Then do you think I should have informed him about the information that I dug up with all my time and efforts?¡±

    Jiang Chianglin asked back sharply at her exnation.

    But she opened his mouth, staring straight at him without avoiding his angry eyes.

    As always, she spoke gently, ¡°No, what I mean is you didn¡¯t make a mistake because you didn¡¯t tell him, but because you were caught by him. President Xi believes that he is really China¡¯s emperor now.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    At that moment, Jiang stopped being angry, unable to respond properly.

    In the end, he murmured, ¡°Fuck! It sucks!¡±

    Then there was silence again in the conference room.

    Ten minutester, the top executives led by Chairman Jiang made the decision.

    Anyway, it was a losing game from the beginning.

    ¡°How many max-level users with max traits have we scouted until now?¡±

    ¡°There are 855 people who achieved the max level in the first closed beta and 46 in the second closed beta. We concluded that there was no max level achiever in the third closed beta.¡±

    ¡°Fuck! Damn American bastards! Why are they running around here to scout talent?¡±

    Jiang hurled abuses at the United States when briefed about the talent scouting status.

    Ever since he first caught wind of US efforts to scout game talent in China, he started to acquire talent in his own country faster than anyone else.

    So, he came to realize that lots of the max level achievers in the first and second closed betas already got scouted by the United States after their persistent efforts to cajole them.

    That¡¯s why he had no choice but to swear abusively, fuming.

    After thinking for a moment, he frowned, ¡°50%. Send 50% of our talent to President Xi. I can¡¯t approve more than that.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±

    The top executives of the group were exhausted by President Xi¡¯s pressure and crackdown, so they didn¡¯t refute Chairman Jiang¡¯s instruction. In their opinion, he could get out of the current trouble by donating that much.

    A depressing atmosphere dominated the conference room.

    ¡°And listen carefully!¡±

    As if to dismiss that atmosphere, Chairman Jiang opened his mouth with a voice full of dignity, not with an angry tone like before, ¡°Although I am donating half of the power I have built up until now, this is not the end. Only the traits that they obtained by achieving the max level in the first and second betas are not all we have. We just got the chance to get a few steps ahead of others! If we can¡¯t beat them by quality, we can win by quantity. How many users are we taking care of now?¡±

 Chapter 20

    <h4>Chapter 20: Terrific Move (4)</h4>

    Quickly reading his mind, top external affairs manager Shu Lan said, ¡°Well, a little less than 400,000 people.¡±

    ¡°400,000 people¡­ Increase them to 500,000 by the end of this year. And 600,000 next year! It does not matter how much money you spend. Even if they don¡¯t have the traits, recruit them if they are somewhatpetent, and support and grow them!¡±

    Although the Shanghai Clique was outmuscled by the Crown Prince Party and their leader President Xi, in particr, there was a time when they once controlled the Chinese Communist Party by overpowering the Crown Prince Party and the Communist Youth League.

    Of course, they umted a tremendous amount of wealth at that time.

    Moreover, Jiang Chianglin, the real power of the Shanghai Clique, couldy his hands on it.

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±

    ¡°I will carry out your order!¡±

    Jiang¡¯s men responded right away.

    But Shu Lan cautiously raised her hand to say something.

    ¡°Go ahead!¡±

    Since herpetence had already been verified, Jiang immediately pointed to her.

    She said, ¡°Why can¡¯t we do the same thing as the US government did?¡±

    Jiang and other top executives opened their eyes wide at her words.

    Confirming their surprise, she immediately continued, ¡°Don¡¯t we have a good ce to scout talent? It¡¯s right next to China.¡±

    All of them knew the good ce that she mentioned, which was very close to China.

    ¡°Good. Do it immediately.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Chairman!¡±

    When the chairman okayed it, everyone responded with a loud voice.

    ¡°And finally, we shall strengthen the monopoly of the boss monsters we have secured and the workshops we currently manage. We should not lose any one of them. I can¡¯t even follow President Xi¡¯s order as far as that is concerned!¡±

    ¡°Got it! I will make sure they carry out your direction..¡±

    The meeting led by the top executives of Yanghwa Group led by Chairman Jiang ended finally.

    ***

    ¡°Ice Ball! Ice Bolt!¡±

    Puk! Puk!

    Two stone golems¡¯ knees were smashed and pierced through by my Ice Ball and Ice Bolt.

    Bang! Bang!

    Since one knee supporting the body was smashed, the stone golems inevitably fell.

    Of course they were not dead. In other words, I needed another attack to kill them.

    ¡°Ice Ball! Ice Bolt!¡±

    However, I used them to target other guys rather than the fallen golems.

    Puk! Puk!

    I moved to the first two stone golems that fell first, while my skills targeted the other stone golems.

    Then I jumped after using an Ice Weapon on a long sword that I obtained while hunting a stone golem.

    Soon, my long sword was stabbing the stone golem¡¯s back. But I didn¡¯t watch to the end because Ice Ball and Ice Bolt were on cooldown.

    So, I immediately used my skills for another guy. And as soon as I used it, I pulled out a long sword with an Ice Weapon and hit the stone golem again.

    Puk! Puk!

    It sounded like digging mud, not stone.

    At first, the long sword without an Ice Weapon did not prate the stone golem like this, even though it cut its body slightly. But the Ice Weapon was more powerful than I thought.

    It not only stabbed the stone golem¡¯s body, but prated it. Obviously, it was the effect of the ¡®Iceman¡¯ trait.

    Of course, at first, I didn¡¯t intend to hunt like this, and I had never done it like this before.

    However, after I allowed the stone golems to attack me as a test, I knew that I could still survive after being bashed by these guys several times.

    So, I changed my hunting style slightly.

    Namely, as soon as the cooldown was over, I used the Ice Ball and Ice Bolt immediately while I mounted a close-range attack by using the Ice Weapon that the stone golem dropped, dying.

    This kind of hunt was unthinkable in the first, second, and third closed betas.

    I didn¡¯t even think about it even after choosing the wizard ss not only in the third closed beta of Forgotten Legend three times but also in other games.

    Of course, it would be better to set Intellectual Power, Power, and Agility as Mutual Growth, but there was only one reason I chose to fight this way.

    Namely, it was my confidence that even if I¡¯m attacked several times, I would be fine.

    I didn¡¯t regret setting them as Mutual Growth because I mounted this type of attack confidently.

    ¡°Ice Ball! Ice Bolt!¡±

    Puk! Puk!

    My main power was still magic, and I was wrapped into hunting like that, forgetting the time.

    ***

    ¡°Check the ess time.¡±

    -7 hours and 47 minutes have passed since you essed the current game.

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s why¡­¡±

    I felt like peeing a bit. And I was hungry.

    Of course, the VR adaptor itself had a built-in program that indirectly affected one¡¯s physical activity such as urinating, bowel movements, or digestion, but it was not universal.

    So, to logout, I turned toward the safety zone which was the starting point of the Golem Habitat.

    Of course, I fired Ice Ball and Ice Bolt at the stone golems I met along the way.

    When I soon entered the safety zone, I moved to a remote ce.

    And I just opened my mouth in a low voice.

    ¡°Check status.¡±

    Before logging out, I was curious about the status.

    [Name: lumen

    Level: 50

    Kills: 0, Deaths: 0

    Title: The only closed beta max level achiever, Scarecrow Destroyer.

    Health: 605000/605000 Mana: 540000/540000

    Strength: 715 Agility: 711 Stamina: 2010

    Willpower: 1360 Intellectual Power: 2020

    Remaining stat points: 400

    Remaining skill points: 1

    Trait: Iceman, Mutual Growth, God of Enhancement.]

    I came here exactly at Level 10. And in less than 8 hours, I had reached Level 50.

    It was a whopping 40 level increase.

    Of course, the EXP required for leveling up would increase steeply over time.

    And my leveling up would also be slower.

    When I hunted a group of 5 stone golems, my level went up by seven, namely one or more levels per one stone golem. But when I passed Level 20 and Level 30, my leveling up was noticeably slower.

    Of course, I wasn¡¯t really worried because I could say with certainty that even the current speed of my leveling up was also faster than that of anybody else¡¯s, and sooner orter, I nned to move to a ce with more powerful monsters.

    ¡°Then what about investing all these?¡±

    I invested all of the remaining 400 stat points in Intellectual Power without hesitation.

    Then, Intellectual Power now showed a figure of 2420. Of course, Physical Strength also increased to 2410. The difference of 10 came from the items I currently wore.

    The increase due to the item did not apply to Mutual Growth.

    Anyway, after confirming that Willpower had changed to 1560 after increasing by 200 right after Stamina, I logged out smilingly.

    Then I went to the bathroom and enjoyed myte lunch with various side dishes delivered from my home, thinking of getting back to the game.

    Five dayster, I woke up exactly at 7:30 in the morning.

    Then I washed, had cereal for breakfast, and went straight to the game.

    After ying the game until 1:00 PM, I logged out. I had lunch, and took a nap for about 30 minutes to an hour for a break.

    Then I continued to y the game in the afternoon. I logged out exactly at 6:00 PM.

    Then I did an hour of exercise or jogging before I ate dinner and surfed the Revival Legend homepage once again, and essed the game again. And I yed it until 1:00 AM the next day. Then I logged out and went to bed immediately.

    Of course, I vowed that I would be a game addict, so much so that I would no longer look back at games in my life after that.

    That¡¯s why I just blindly yed the game until 5 or 6 AM on the first, second, and third day.

    Then I fell asleep after confirming that the sun was rising.

    I thought that was the right attitude as a game addict who had to y the game properly.

 Chapter 21

    <h4>Chapter 21: Arrival of Boss Monster</h4>

    I realized in three days why I needed a n to get the best efficiency out of any work.

    Since I liked games, I wanted to y more and more, even though I had been ying a lot already.

    But I was not a machine. I had to eat, pee, poop, and sleep.

    Since I had to reduce even the minimum amount of sleep, my fatigue continued to umte. So, I could sleep only on the third day.

    On the first day, I yed the game for over 20 hours, almost 19 hours on the second day, and less than 10 hours on the third day because I was exhausted. The time I spent sleeping was valuable.

    But I knew that I could not be a game addict only with my determination.

    I needed a schedule to be a wise and efficient game addict.

    So, I made a better regr schedule than the one I made when I was in the Marine Corps. And I was satisfied with it because it showed the typical model of a game addict who devoted most of their day gaming.

    By drawing the schedule like that, I could say confidently in the future that I did everything I could as a game addict.

    Anyway, after dinner, I surfed the Revival Legend homepage before essing the game, mainly focusing on things about Forgotten Legend.

    I soon realized that whenever anything about Forgotten Legend was posted on the forums, it disappeared in less than a day. Sometimes it disappeared in less than an hour.

    ¡°Hm. Does the homepage host delete it?¡±

    Of course, the first thing that came to mind was the man who managed the homepage.

    But I shook my head quickly because this game was already notorious for the host¡¯s negligence.

    And if he needed to delete the post quickly, all he had to do was make it impossible for anybody to submit posts with keywords like Forgotten Legend.

    ¡°If the host is not responsible, then it must be the users whoposed such posts.

    Then why do they delete their posts immediately after spending so much timeposing them?¡±

    Of course, there were not many posts on the bulletin board.

    I could only confirm three posts about Forgotten Legend with my eyes.

    Moreover, the posts were not worth mentioning either.

    All of the posts were about boasting that they yed Forgotten Legend, the closed beta version of Revival Legend.

    They also mentioned their experiences, so I could confirm their EXP.

    The maximum level I achieved was Level 300, which I obtained in only two weeks during the third closed beta.

    Originally my goal was to achieve Level 300 in a week. And I wanted to boast this time because I was too different from the old me back then.

    I thought I could easily reach Level 300 in a week.

    In fact, on the first day of Revival Legend, I achieved Level 56 after all, all told.

    However, the required EXP increased tremendously starting at Level 51.

    I could not help but be puzzled by that.

    But I could understand it after checking out the article by a man who yed Forgotten Legend in that situation.

    About 10 times. ording to the man, there seemed to be a tenfold difference.

    Of course, his point was quite understandable.

    Forgotten Legend was a closed beta with a time limit in the form of a test, while Revival Legend was an open game with no time limit.

    Moreover, based on my EXP at the time of the closed beta, I could really reach Level 1000 or more in a few months.

    Of course, my EXP didn¡¯t really matter.

    I can confidently say that my speed is faster than anyone else.

    In any case, I put aside an empty coffee cup and closed the Revival Legend homepage, because it was time to start again. And this time, I¡¯m going to achieve Level 100.

    ¡°Execution!¡±

    Lyingfortably on the bed, I ran the VR adaptor. I set the rm at 1 AM to continue being a wise game addict.

    ¡°Check status.¡±

    [Name: lumen

    Level: 98

    Kills: 0, Deaths: 0]

    ¡°I think I can achieve Level 100 before I log out today.¡±

    I felt like I could achieve Level 100 easily because I had more than five hours until 1 AM.

    Of course, I could hunt right now on the hunting ground that gave more EXP than this Golem Habitat because the coboration between Iceman and Mutual Growth greatly boosted my abilities.

    As my level would not make a big difference in a couple of hours, I just decided to take Golem Habitat as the hunting ground.

    Anyway, my goal in the Golem Habitat was Level 100.

    ¡®Shall I start then?¡¯

    So, I majestically stepped into the Golem Habitat. And whenever I met stone golems, I fired Ice Ball and Ice Bolt. Naturally, I stabbed stone golem bodies with the long sword Ice Weapon in my right hand for speedy hunting.

    How much was I into hunting after I achieved Level 99?

    [Quoooh!]

    A fairly loud voice was heard not far away. As soon as I heard the voice, I knew immediately that the boss monster in the Golem Habitat had appeared.

    Of course, I had never confronted it before.

    During the third closed beta, I avoided only the boss monster in the Golem Habitat, but also all the other boss monsters because it was pretty tough for me to achieve Level 300 and the number of users decreased as time passed.

    Eventually, I was the only one left in the end.

    In other words, I couldn¡¯t afford to enjoy the contents of the boss monster raid in the third closed beta, unlike the first and second. But now the situation is different.

    ¡°Huhhhh.¡±

    I immediately turned to the ce where the noise came from.

    Of course, I had no intention to hunt it by all means. There was no chance that I could hunt it alone because no matter how great abilities I had, I would use all the items I earned at Level 99, short of Level 100.

    But I could throw Ice Ball or Ice Bolt at it from a distance, ready to use Ice Shield that I had not used until now, just in case of an emergency.

    In that case, I thought that I could obtain lots of EXP or my share of items if I was lucky.

    To say the least, my Ice Ball and Ice Bolt were not a mere Level 1, just like how I was not amon ice-type wizard at Level 99.

    ¡°Stand back, everybody!!¡±

    ¡°This is a boss monster managed by our Sungchang Guild!¡±

    ¡°Attacking the boss is the same as attacking our guild!¡±

    Anybody who hunts first owns it.

    This is the general game rule I know of because there are no monsters that appear with a name tag, crying that they are owned by somebody.

    But that was not observed here.

    Of course, I saw some users stopping others from approaching a hunting ground with special items called ¡®Control¡¯, or a hunting spot with good EXP experience, and hunting only among themselves in other games.

    However, I only saw it. I¡¯d never experienced it personally.

    When I actually experienced it, I could not help but frown.

    Moreover, only three were yelling at the surrounding people and discouraging other users from entering it when they did not even scream and attack the boss monster at all. They were telling other yers not to touch it as if it were theirs.

    ¡°Damn it, son of a bitch!¡±

    ¡°You bet. Did they rent the hunting ground? Why are they just yelling at us, iming the boss monster is theirs whenever it appears?¡±

    ¡°You know the ce where the golden wolf, the bonanza boss monster owned by Sungchang Guild, appears, right? I heard they lost it to Daesung. After that, the Sungchang guys came as far as here to im their ownership of the boss monster.¡±

    ¡°Really? It looks like Daesung is seriously trying to gain the upper hand.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Since Daesung has moved, crap guilds like Sungchang have to stay put.¡±

    ¡°Wow. I want to enter Daesung too. But why is argepany like Daesung Group investing in games like this?¡±

 Chapter 22

    <h4>Chapter 22: Somebody owns it yet?</h4>

    ¡°Well, I hear they are actively developing the area of virtual reality. I don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°Hey, Daesung is in the same boat anyway. Daesung is doing the same thing that Sungchang is doing.¡±

    ¡®Daesung?¡¯

    Some began to whisper behind me. I¡¯d never heard about the Sungchang Guild, but I was sick and tired of hearing about Daesung because it was one of the top business groups in South Korea, along with Myongjin Group where my father was the chairman.

    Of course, they might have only taken the name for their guild because there were so many people who used celebrity names as their IDs.

    However, their dialogue clearly referred to Daesung Group in the real world.

    So, I was a little surprised that argepany like Daesung Group was running a game workce.

    At that moment, a group of people appeared rapidly with loud voices.

    ¡°What are you doing?! You have not cleared the surroundings yet?¡±

    ¡°Get out! The Giant Stone Golem Boss is owned by our Sungchang Guild.¡±

    ¡°Everyone entering a 20-meter radius of the Giant Stone Golem will be regarded as an enemy.¡±

    ¡°Get the fuck out of here instead of hanging around!¡±

    The first three from the Sungchang Guild cleared and controlled the surroundings, using honorifguage. But the 20 people who appeared now did not.

    They bluffed and treated the other party very roughly.

    Strangely enough, those who tried to enter the hunting ground began to retreat as if they were terrified by the bluffing. Obviously they didn¡¯t want to get entangled with the Sungchang Guild.

    Anyway, when the surroundings were cleared, the 20 people who appeared got in formation. Four tanks were located in all directions to catch the boss monster¡¯s eyes and ten damage dealers were spread all over the ce. Behind them were six more who looked like tank helpers and supporters at a nce.

    Since Iunched the boss monster raid in the first and second closed betas, their formation with 20 people seemed quite solid.

    Indeed, they were tough and very systematic as if they had worked together for a long time.

    ¡°My body will be an iron wall!¡±

    ¡°Soar, pir of fire!¡±

    ¡°The power of the earth!¡±

    ¡°Power Shot!¡±

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    It was not only me who felt reassured about the movement of the 20 who would stage the raid because even those who hurled abuses at the Sungchang Guild were now admiring the guild.

    ¡°Wow... It seems that the Sungchang Guild is in the 2nd or 3rd major group, not the 4th or 5th minor.¡±

    ¡°You bet!¡±

    ¡°Well, they give us a clear sense of stability. It seems that the Sungchang Guild has upgraded their boss monster raid team because a bigpany like Daesung emerged. Obviously, lots of people pay attention to the boss monster raids.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not the end of the story, I think. After the raid, I think they will post a raid video on the Sungchang Guild homepage to publicize that they can easily handle boss raids. I think that¡¯s why they have moved to the 2nd and 3rd major, not the 4th and 5th.¡±

    ¡°I agree. If you look at the Sungchang Guild homepage, they even have a banner asking for sponsors or guild allies.¡±

    ¡°I think they¡¯re desperately trying to survive. Now that argepany like Daesung has jumped in a game workce, they can¡¯t survive by running a small-scale workce like a local PC room.¡±

    ¡°Sungchang is not small like a local PC room, man.¡±

    ¡°Well, if not, whatever.¡±

    Judging from what they said, thepetition between thepanies with vested interests seemed to be fierce.

    Of course, regardless of that, the boss monster raid proceeded well.

    The four tanks faithfully served their roles, which included taunting, while the ten damage dealers constantly attacked the boss monster. And the remaining healers and supporters cast recovery and powerful buffs to all ten DPS and four tanks.

    And exactly before 20 minutes passed, there was a big noise.

    Thump!

    The Giant Stone Golem, whose size was about more than four times the size of a regr stone golem, copsed without resisting any further. All 20 people who mounted the raid were not wounded much.

    ¡°Shit! Let¡¯s go. We¡¯re getting out of here not because we are scared but because this ce sucks.¡±

    ¡°Sure, let¡¯s go.¡±

    Including me, those who watched Sungchang¡¯s boss monster raid left, swearing at them as if they felt it was a pity that the Sungchang guys emerged unscathed.

    However, I did not move and I watched them nervously.

    During the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd closed betas of Forgotten Legend, I never punched, let alone used skills, toward other users even in the field of honor as well as the field.

    If there was friction, I avoided it first. I didn¡¯t even give them any excuse to cause any trouble.

    ordingly, given my experience, I was supposed to step back without saying anything.

    To be honest, it waste even now.

    I would have gotten out of there without any regrets when the three Sungchang Guild guys began to clear the surroundings.

    Do I have any regrets about my losing the boss monster? Not at all.

    It wasn¡¯t mine from the beginning.

    ¡®It¡¯s not theirs either.¡¯

    But the Sungchang Guild posed as the owner and became the real owner.

    ¡°Haha.¡±

    At that moment, Iughed before I knew it.

    For the first time, I had a displeased and annoying feeling. It was like I¡¯d lost something while ying the game. As such, the game had been a haven and a resting ce for me. It was also a ce of refuge because no matter how much I invested my time and effort in reality, I didn¡¯t see any returns. The game was a reasonable space where I got rewarded for my investment.

    When I invested one, I received one or sometimes more.

    Therefore, I was notpetitive or greedy in the game world.

    But this time I felt greedy.

    That¡¯s why I felt annoyed and upset because of the feeling that something I prized in advance was stolen by someone else.

    But the problem was that this kind of strange feeling, which I first felt, was not necessarily bad.

    ¡®Good. Let me change my goal! Let me try to be the top game addict instead of the type of game addict that just sticks to games for a long time so I can move to a position where I can have everything I am greedy about.¡¯

    Of course, I was a little surprised to know why now I felt what I had not felt before.

    There were some clues I could recall. In other words, I knew what prompted me to feel this kind of feeling.

    Like they say, clothes make a man.

    In the past, I used to be one of the numerous game users, just one of them with no special talent. Of course, in the real world, I was special because I was born to a very wealthy family.

    But I¡¯m not an ordinary user now.

    I have three traits, ¡®Iceman,¡¯ ¡®Mutual Growth,¡¯ and ¡®God of Enhancement¡¯ and two titles, ¡®The only closed beta max level achiever¡¯ and ¡®Scarecrow Destroyer.¡¯ Just one of the two titles is enough to make the owner be included in the top 30 or even top 10.

    In other words, I have a very, very special position in the game world.

    Tramp, tramp, tramp.

    Soon I also left the ce, promising toe back again. Showing my abilities right now would be very, very stupid.

    I¡¯m confident that I can be stronger than others, superbly and quickly.

    Watching the Sungchang Guild celebrating the sessful boss monster raid, I vowed that I would pay back the Sungchang Guild for letting me know that I had this kind of greed. For example, I could pay back by hunting back the boss monster they already had hunted.

    ***

    ¡°Ice Ball! Ice Bolt!¡±

    Puk! Puk!

    Ice Balls and Ice Bolts had already pierced through the stone golem¡¯s back, which fell on the ground with its knees smashed. That was it.

    [You have leveled up.]

    ¡°Good!¡±

 Chapter 23

    <h4>Chapter 23: Enhanced Quest (1)</h4>

    I shouted for hooray at the message informing me that I had reached Level 100, an indication that I was not one of the mass number of users who got Level 100.

    That¡¯s why another message rang.

    [You have acquired three skill points by achieving Level 100.]

    I¡¯ve attained three new skill points.

    Of course, I can learn new skills before Level 100 because although three skill points are given when I achieve Level 100, the skills are released step by step per level.

    But I didn¡¯t bother to move because I didn¡¯t feel like I wascking.

    Of course, I¡¯m going to move now because I¡¯m thinking of moving to a more powerful hunting ground.

    At that moment, a message rang, something that obviously didn¡¯t ring during the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd closed betas.

    [Congrattions on achieving Level 100.

    -Enhancement Quest limited to Level 100 yers only has been given.]

    ¡°Enhancement Quest?¡±

    I didn¡¯t see it in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd closed betas.

    So, I felt a bit bewildered about it at first.

    But I didn¡¯t feel it either, because I felt rather excited in no time.

    I already had the ¡®God of Enhancement¡¯ trait.

    So, I shouted immediately, ¡°Check Enhancement Quest!¡±

    [Level 100 Enhancement Quest

    This is a special bonus for users who struggled to achieve Level 100.

    : Only one item can be strengthened free of charge for this quest without a weapon or armor enhancement stone. However, it is limited to general grades, and only items that can be worn up to Level 200 can be strengthened.

    : For this quest only, the failed item will not be broken even if strengthening fails.

    : When the enhancement fails, the item¡¯s enhancement value will be determined as one before the failure.

    : Items that attempt to be enhanced belong to their actual users. (Users cannot trade or exchange them. Sales at stores are allowed.)

    : The special bonus will be given ording to the maximum enhancement achievement.

    : Enhancement quest will disappear when you don¡¯t strengthen or when you level to 101.]

    ¡°Special bonus?¡±

    While checking the contents of the message, my pleasant excitement disappeared because an item with a level limit of up to Level 200 in the general category was meaningless to me.

    It was not worth my time trying to strengthen it.

    But my excitement surged again at the exnation at the bottom because it said I would receive a special bonus depending on the maximum enhancement achievement.

    In other words, I was confident in achieving the highest enhancement level that nobody had ever achieved before.

    ¡°Let me log out first!¡±

    Looking back, I felt good memories about having earned the title, ¡®Scarecrow Destroyer,¡¯ which increased health and mana by 100,000 respectively, and all stat points by 200. So I felt like I needed to gather a little more information.

    I thought lots of Revival Legend users who alreadypleted the Level 100 Enhancement Quest must have posted lots of articles about it.

    I essed the Revival Legend homepage and searched Level 100 Enhancement Quest in the forum search box.

    As expected, quite a few posts appeared. Then I clicked on the article that received the most rmendations.

    [How to navigate the Level 100 Enhancement Quest.

    If you have reached Level 100, you must have received the Level 100 Enhancement Quest.

    Of course, only items that can be worn only up to Level 200 in the general grade can be strengthened. They may be useless to those who buy items with cash, but excellent to those users who don¡¯t if you are lucky.

    Let me go back to the main topic.

    First, choose weapons over armor. Basically, the weapon enhancement stone is more expensive. Assuming that you will use it up to Level 200, weapons with higher reinforcements are more efficient than armor, whether it is long range, short-range, or a physics-type or magic-type.

    Second, make Enhancement 3 in advance. Basically, all items are 100% sessful until Enhancement 3.

    However, this Quest breaks from Enhancement 1. Therefore, it is rmended to strengthen it up to 3 before challenging. By the way, it is just up to 3. Items with more than Enhancement 3 that is, 4 or higher, cannot be registered.

    Third...]

    I¡¯d been looking for the special bonus for achieving the maximum Enhancement level, but it was missing there.

    It only contained tips on how best to use the Enhancement Quest.

    So, I started to look for other articles, then I found an eye-catching title.

    [Bonus for the Level 100 Enhancement Quest.

    You guys must have received this quest when you reached Level 100, right? Honestly, it¡¯s important only to those users who buy items with cash, but useless to those who don¡¯t or those who are already supported by the guild because they already bought items with cash or got better items with the guild¡¯s support.

    But ording to the description, you will be given a bonus depending on the enhancement achievement.

    Some of the people I know have seeded in getting Enhancement 9.

    Unfortunately, one of them failed to reach 10, so his item was confirmed with 9.

    But do you know what the bonus is?

    He received the title, ¡®The man who failed to strengthen to two digits.¡¯

    As you might know, it is a title that gives a yer 50,000 Health and 50,000 mana.

    So, you get the hang of it, right? What do you think will happen if you seed in strengthening the two digits?

    Of course, you may want to take another attempt to strengthen, but it¡¯s only a quest that you can get by trying the enhancement.

    You guys may have seen Enhancement 10 items on the market, but those who seed in strengthening don¡¯t get any titles.

    So, this quest is very important. As far as I know, only have two seeded with Enhancement 10 in the Level 100 quest. Of course, there may be more.

    There probably is Enhancement 11, but the bonus for it is unknown.

    I guess it¡¯s tremendous, and that¡¯s why they can¡¯t release it.

    So, don¡¯t regard this quest as just a tiny one. If you are really lucky, you will be rewarded with a tremendous bonus, which can clearly set you apart from others.]

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    It was exactly the type of information I was looking for. It exined why I should do my best to strengthen by using the ¡®God of Enhancement¡¯ trait.

    So, I immediately closed the Revival Legend homepage and went to bed to wear the 2nd-generation VR adaptor because the ¡±God of Enhancement¡¯ trait had a cooldown.

    ¡°Execution!¡±

    Stone golems were visible from a close distance as soon as I essed it.

    Normally I should have fired an Ice Ball or an Ice Bolt in this situation.

    However, ignoring the stone golems, I quickly moved to the starting point of the Golem Habitat where the Teleport Zone was located. Then I moved straight to Kotum Castle using the Teleport Zone.

    I went to visit a cksmith in Kotum Castle.

    Bang! Bang!

    The closer I got near the cksmith, the nging grew louder.

    Of course, I had used this ce a few times.

    During the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd closed betas, I made all wearable items up to Enhancement 3 because the sess rate was 100%.

    Sometimes I challenged myself for further enhancements, but I didn¡¯t feel like it was significant because I didn¡¯t like the way the golden rings and items I obtained by investing my time and effort disappeared because of just one element called luck.

    However, I honestly envied those users who carried high-enhancement items because there was no other way than to wear the items and grow faster.

    So, when I received the God of Enhancement trait, I didn¡¯t shout hooray because I was bewildered, but I was very happy deep down. I was much happier than when I earned the Iceman and Mutual Growth traits.

    Anyway, the area around the cksmith was quite crowded with those trying to strengthen items. I also mingled with them.

    Then the message rang.

    [Please select the item you want to strengthen.]

    It was a message that rang automatically when anybody approached the cksmith.

    The ringing was familiar to me because I heard it several times during the first, second, and third closed betas. But soon an unfamiliar message popped up.

 Chapter 24

    <h4>Chapter 24: Enhanced Quest (2)</h4>

    [You have the Level 100 Enhancement Quest.

    -If you use the red Enhancement window on the right rather than the original Enhancement item window, you can proceed to the Level 100 Enhancement Quest.]

    At the moment, a red item window was created next to the only item window before my eyes.

    However, ignoring the red item window, I put a longsword, one of several items I obtained by hunting stone golems, into the original item window. Although I had the God of Enhancement trait, I had to do this first because I had no problems getting Enhancement 3 at all.

    [You have chosen a strong longsword.

    -To challenge Enhancement 1, you need 3 weapon enhancement stones.

    -Would you like to strengthen it?]

    I¡¯d been ughtering stone golems almost like I did orcs.

    Thanks to that, I already have 14 weapon enhancement stones in my inventory, so I opened my mouth without regret.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Then I saw the effect of somebody hitting a strong longsword on the anvil with a hammer.

    Soon a message rang, along with a small firecracker that only I could see.

    [Enhancement 1 strong longsword sess!]

    Anyway, I was 100% certain I could reach Enhancement 3, so I calmly attempted to strengthen it and made a strong Enhancement 3 longsword.

    And all that was left is the main game.

    In the red item window on the right, I ced the +3 strengthened longsword. Then, a message other than the one that sounded when attempting to strengthen rang.

    [You have selected a strong +3 longsword for the Level 100 Enhancement Quest.

    -Once selected, the item cannot be changed.

    -Would you like to choose the strong Enhancement 3 longsword?]

    ¡°Uh, no!¡±

    The moment I almost finished my selection, one thing suddenly came to my mind.

    So, I shouted ¡®selection cancetion¡¯ right away. Fortunately, my cancel order worked, and the strong Enhancement 3 longsword was still shining in the red item window.

    As soon as I finished ordering, I quickly recovered it from the red item window.

    Feeling greatly relieved, I opened my mouth.

    ¡°Confirm ¡®God of Enhancement¡¯ trait!¡±

    [Trait: God of Enhancement.

    : There is nothing like enhancement failure in my dictionary.

    -After activating the God of Enhancement, enhancement attempts have a 100% chance of sess. However, depending on the grade and option of the item, additional golden rings and experience may be required.

    -After achieving enhancement sess by activating the God of Enhancement, there will be a cooldown before reuse ording to the item¡¯s grade and options.

    -During the cooldown, it is impossible to activate the God of Enhancement.]

    Before I chose the strong Enhancement 3 longsword as the item for the Level 100-only Enhancement Quest, it urred to me that there was a limitation to the ¡®God of Enhancement¡¯ trait. It required additional gold rings and EXP depending on the item¡¯s grade and options. And there was more. Namely, when the enhancement was sessful, the cooldown time would be generated for future reuse depending on the item¡¯s grade and options.

    And here the limitation of the cooldown was very important because this quest was a Level 100-only quest.

    So, I confirmed directly that when I reached Level 101, the limitation would automatically disappear even if I did not perform this quest.

    I needed a way to receive no cooldown time or receive less even if I receive it because I had to proceed with Level 100.

    To do this, I needed an item with no options at all, or an option that was almost useless at the basic level.

    Of course, a strong longsword was not a valuable item, but it was the best item I currently had because all the items I was wearing right now were those items that I used and threw away.

    I wore such items deliberately, and I found the most worthless among them, namely the light stick given to beginners when they created a character.

    So, I opened the inventory straight away and yelled, taking out the item in one corner.

    ¡°Confirm item!¡±

    [Beginner¡¯s Light Stick (General)

    -It is a light stick that anybody can easily use.

    -Increases physical attack power by 3.

    -Durability 50/50]

    ¡°....¡±

    It was an item that could be used by anyone with no level restrictions. Moreover, it was this item that existed solely for the purpose of striking the scarecrow rather than hitting the low-level monsters like orcs or kobolds.

    In other words, given the cooldown time which is generated ording to the item¡¯s rating and options when using the ¡®God of Enhancement¡¯ trait, I had no other choice than this item to minimize the cooldown.

    ¡°Whew! I almost made a mistake.¡±

    Feeling greatly relieved, I breathed a sigh of relief. Otherwise, I would have plunged into the dilemma between challenging the high-level enhancement while staying at Level 100 for a long time because of the cooldown and giving it up to focus on levelling up.

    Of course, even a light stick for beginners could have a cooldown time. The higher the enhancement level, the higher the cooldown time.

    But one thing was certain: it was going to have a faster cooldown time than a strong longsword.

    I immediately put the light stick for beginners in the existing item window.

    [You have chosen a beginner¡¯s Light Stick.

    -One Weapon Enhancement Stone is required to challenge Enhancement 1.

    -Would you like to strengthen it?]

    I checked the message and nodded right away because I had three strong longswords. 1 meant that the value of the item was low.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    I immediately started strengthening, then increased the Light Stick to Enhancement 3.

    ¡®Is this the case of the tail wagging the dog?¡¯

    When I looked at the Enhancement 3 Light Stick, I couldn¡¯t help but think that way because a beginner¡¯s Light Stick had no value for a single gold ring. Even the weapon enhancement stone was worth hundreds of gold rings.

    In any case, I ced the Enhancement 3 Light Stick on the red enhancement window.

    [For the Level 100 Enhancement Quest, you have selected the +3 Light Stick for beginners.

    ¨C Once selected, the item cannot be changed.

    ¨C Would you like to choose the +3 Light Stick?]

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Since there was no item lower than this, I proceeded straight away.

    Then a small hammer icon was created next to the red enhancement window.

    Now came the main game. At the moment, I thought of challenging Enhancement 4.

    But I thought twice in no time.

    ¡°Let¡¯s y safely. Yes, safely. I only have one chance. Activate the ¡®God of Enhancement¡¯ trait.¡±

    [Activates the ¡®God of Enforcement¡¯ trait has been activated

    -100% chance to seed.

    -Enhancement Target: +3 Light Stick for beginners.

    -Additional requirement for enhancement: None.

    -Cooldown time for sessful enhancement: None.]

    ¡®Oh, this is how it works.¡¯

    It was my first time using the God of Enhancement trait.

    I nodded at the clear message, particrly at the message that said there was no cooldown time. Anyway, after setting up the God of Enhancement, I clicked on the small hammer icon next to the red enhancement window.

    Then the +4 Light Stick appeared, along with the effect of a beginner tapping the +3 stick with a hammer.

    [You have seeded in achieving Enhancement Level 4.]

    ¡°Activating the God of Enhancement.¡±

    My goal was to strengthen it by at least two digits.

    So, ignoring the message about the +4, I immediately activated the God of Enhancement.

    [The God of Enhancement has been activated.

    -100% sess chance.

    -Enhancement target: +4 Light Stick for beginners.

    -Additional requirements for enhancement: None.

    -Cooldown for sessful enhancement: None.]

    ¡®Hahaha.¡¯

    Iughed at the no cooldown time message because it meant that my decision to choose the beginner¡¯s Light Stick was very good.

    So I tried to strengthen itfortably, and the message that I seeded in Enhancement 5 rang, then came the message about Enhancement 6.

    [The God of Enhancement has been activated.

    -100% sess chance.

    -Enhancement target: +6 Light Stick for beginners.

    -Additional requirements for enhancement: 115,000 gold rings.

    -Cooldown time for sessful enhancement: None.]

    It was the moment I challenged Enhancement 7 with the +6 Light Stick for beginners that I witnessed the first change. Namely, I needed 115,000 gold rings.

    Of course, since I had over 100 million gold rings, I was a little uneasy because I could not be sure if there would be no cooldown in the next enhancement.

 Chapter 25

    <h4>Chapter 25: Nice job! (1)</h4>

    However, I stopped worrying and immediately attempted to strengthen it.

    Either way, I had no cooldown time now.

    [You have seeded in getting Enhancement 7 for the Level 100 only quest.]

    Now I needed only three more attempts to get to the two-digit enhancement, my minimum goal.

    So, I immediately activated the God of Enhancement again.

    [The God of Enhancement has been activated.

    -100% sess chance

    -Enhancement target: +7 Light Stick for beginners.

    -Additional requirements for enhancement: 238,000 gold rings.

    -The cooldown time for sessful enhancement: 17 hours.]

    ¡°Ugh.¡±

    I hoped I could get the cooldown time aste as possible. But it was no use because cooldown time won¡¯t disappear or decrease even if I wanted it.

    So, I clicked on the hammer icon next to it.

    [You¡¯ve sessfully achieved Level 8 in the Level 100 Enhancement Quest.]

    [In order to activate the God of Enhancement trait, you must wait for 17 hours for the cooldown]

    As soon as I confirmed a series of messages ringing, I immediately turned because I didn¡¯t have any Enhancement +3 item, a safe enforcement number, regardless of the 17 hours of God of Enhancement cooldown.

    ¡®Hmm. Anyway, hunting is banned for 17 hours?¡¯

    In the meantime, my primary goal was to raise my level because the level was the barometer of strength. But this was forbidden for 17 hours! Of course, it was not a big deal if 17 hours was just a one time only thing because I can make up for itter by hunting hard.

    But my goal was not to stop at Enhancement 9, which would be generated after 17 hours.

    In the meantime, I was going to go somewhere. My destination was a huge tower right in the center of the square.

    In the status bar, I confirmed there were a total of 4 skill points, including 3 skill points that I gained by achieving Level 100 in addition to the original 1 skill point, as if they asked me to use as soon as possible.

    Then a message rang.

    [It¡¯s 1:00 AM.]

    It was an rm sound signaling that it was 1:00 AM. I stopped at the rm sound.

    It was also the bedtime I marked on the daily schedule, but tomorrow was the day when I was supposed to visit my home once a week.

    Of course, I had some expectations of acquiring new skills right away, but at the same time I felt disappointed because even if I acquired a new skill, I would not have a chance to use it for the time being.

    I can only hunt to 99% of Level 100, showing off the powerful skills that I have gained.

    However, I don¡¯t want to bring attention to myself because if I identally reach Level 101, I¡¯m going to regret it for the rest of my life. So, I opened my mouth quietly.

    ¡°Log out.¡±

    I logged out right away because I was in the safety zone, namely Kotum Castle. Then I brushed my teeth in the bathroom andy down on the bed.

    ¡°Steadily. Let me keep going without stopping. That¡¯s enough.¡±

    I fell asleep, dreaming of the beginner¡¯s Light Stick, which would change into Enforcement 9 after 17 hours, and Enhancement 10 after that.

    ***

    In arge mansion located in Hannam-dong, Seoul,te at night, a group of people were having a discussion while sitting on a luxury sofa in the center of arge library. Chairman Sangman Hong, the owner of the mansion and the head of Myongjin Group was among them.

    ¡°This is the report that our US branch chief Albert sent us this time?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Dongyoung Ahn said, pointing to the document that he received in less than 5 minutes.

    ¡°It seems like Albert is doing lots of work. Pay him dearly for his work so he won¡¯t feel sorry.¡±

    ¡°Sure. In fact, we¡¯re taking special care of him.¡±

    It was less than five months that the top executives led by Chairman Hong and his close aides received the first secret document from Albert, the chief of the US branch of Myongjin Group.

    After checking the document, everyone there felt the same way. Namely, Albert, who was appointed as the US branch chief, went crazy or got confused that today was April Fool¡¯s Day.

    However, his character andpetence were duly recognized by thepany¡¯s top executives while he worked for Myongjin Group for more than 10 years, and as such, he was dispatched to the United States, arge market, as its local branch chief.

    It was almost impossible to confirm the movement of the US government and other business groups representing US interests, but fortunately there was a way to confirm it from the outside. ording to Albert¡¯s urgent report, they were actively working to locate and find one game user globally, including South Korea, Chairman Hong¡¯s home country.

    So, Chairman Hong secretly instructed the group¡¯s intelligence unit to start the investigation, and he could get the clue without difficulty. Namely, he realized that the US Intelligence agencies and America¡¯s majorpanies had already moved to scout game talent.

    After confirming it, Chairman Hong made the decision finally.

    ording to the document sent by Albert, Myongjin Group was alreadyte in thepetition, and further dy meant that the Myongjin Group would be pushed out of thepetition forever, no matter how ridiculous it might sound.

    That¡¯s why Chairman Hong immediately created a secret department within the group on that day and appointed his most trusted man as its chief.

    Anyway, Chairman Hong picked up the document he received from Albert in less than five minutes.

    Then, he checked it line by line and immediately passed it to chief secretary Ahn.

    Afterwards, Ahn, Kiyoung Hong, the chairman¡¯s eldest son and his sessor, and Insu Sok, the chief of the secret department, took turns reading the document.

    When they checked out Albert¡¯s document, Chairman Hong said, stroking his chin, ¡°Quest¡­¡±

    There were several things in the document, including some minor details, but the most important was ¡®quest¡¯. Albert pointed out that the only way to reverse the current unfavorable situation was to secure the coins by focusing on the quest.

    When Chairman Hong mentioned the quest, Insu Sok, the chief of the secret department, replied immediately because he was in charge of that matter, ¡°There are a lot of quests in Revival Legend. And there are a myriad of bonuses, depending on each quest. For example, it can be EXP, an item, or a golden ring. However, some things that are given aremon. One of them is the coin. Starting with one coin quest, there is allegedly a quest with several thousands, but what I confirmed directly was a quest with 555 coins as the bonus.

    ¡°What about the exchange?¡±

    As soon as Sok finished, Hong immediately asked because when he read the document, exchanging the coins or not was the most important thing.

    ¡°Exchanging the coins is impossible,¡± said Kiyoung Hong, the chairman¡¯s eldest son and his sessor. In fact, he was not only a member of the secret department, but also the captain of several hundred in the department thepany hired after a very selective screening.

    When his son mentioned it, Hong said with a frown, ¡°Impossible¡­¡± because it meant

    meant that the coins were to be owned by an individual, which, in turn, would increase the individual¡¯s power, not the group¡¯s.

    At that moment, Kiyoung continued as if he had more to say.

    ¡°But I don¡¯t think you have to make a conclusion right now because the coin owner may donate to the guild or organization he belongs to.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s right. This game has so many variables that I think it is rather imprudent of you to make a decision in advance,¡± Ahn chimed in, supporting Kiyoung¡¯s argument.

    Chairman Hong nodded at that and opened his mouth, ¡°Good. Anyway, I don¡¯t think we will lose money by collecting the coins, so let¡¯s add one more in our course of action. It is none other than a quest. Make sure that if the guild members receive quests, they should focus on solving the quest. If they find it difficult to solve it alone, they need more support.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    They kept discussing how to tackle Albert¡¯s document like that.

 Chapter 26

    <h4>Chapter 26: Nice job! (2)</h4>

    The next day, I didn¡¯t deliberately set an rm when I fell asleepst night.

    As usual, I woke up at 7:30 and had a little breakfast. As I found nothing special about Revival Legend these days, I decided to go to bed untilte in the morning since I had to take a break anyway. It was something I would not have again in the future.

    So, when I got up, the clock disy showed that it was 11 AM. I got up and moved to the bathroom to quickly wash and got ready to go out. I promised to have lunch with my mother during my call with her the other day. And I also promised to have dinner with the whole family, including my father, brother and sister.

    After washing, I went out of the one-room studio and moved to a nearby bus stop. I took a city bus, now familiar to me, to Chongdamdong near my home, then took a taxi there.

    ¡°Wee, son!¡±

    As soon as I got off the taxi, my mother was waiting for me in front of the big gate.

    ¡°Why are you waiting for me here, Mom?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because you were almostte.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because...¡±

    I could not bring myself to tell her that I sleptte.

    ¡°Never mind. Let¡¯s go in.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    I had a good rtionship with my mother. She was not as coercive as other women from wealthy business conglomerate families, and she always looked at things from my point of view.

    Anyway, led by my mother holding my hand, I moved straight to the kitchen table where all kinds of delicious food were ready. There I found an unexpected person, who was none other than my older sister.

    ¡°There you go. Can¡¯t youe earlier? Do I have to go hungry because of you?

    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you having a date today on the weekend, Sis?¡±

    Even during my school days, she was always busy, especially during the weekend.

    Crossing one leg over the other, she raised her head and opened her mouth as if she was reminiscing the past, ¡°Lol. I love those days. I could meet boys freely without any worry.¡±

    p!

    ¡°Ouch! Mom!¡±

    ¡°Watch yournguage!¡±

    ¡°Did I say something wrong? It¡¯s no wonder I was popr as I was the daughter of a business group and I was a beauty. If you want to me me, you should have not delivered a pretty baby girl like me! You¡¯ll never know how annoyed I was because I was too pretty.¡±

    I knew my sister¡¯s personality, so I sat down quietly after washing my hands.

    Then I had lunch with my mother and sister while chatting about various stuff after a long time.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Daddy and Brother?¡±

    ¡°Working at thepany.¡±

    ¡°Even on the weekends?¡±

    ¡°Yep.¡±

    ¡°Wow, they must be busy.¡±

    ¡°You bet. I am also so busy that I can¡¯t even remember when Ist went on a date.¡±

    ¡°Even you, Sis?¡±

    ¡°Of course. You know I¡¯m beautiful, but at the same time I¡¯mpetent.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡±

    I did not refute her statement because it was true.

    After a nice lunch in an amicable atmosphere, I moved to my room, which was still being cleaned, because I had to pick up something. It was none other than the 3rd generation high-end VR adaptor.

    Knock, knock!

    At that moment, I heard somebody knocking on the door, which soon opened.

    ¡°Are you ying a game now?¡± my sister asked.

    ¡°...¡±

    Of course, the scope of VR applications is endless, such as education, videos, calls, conferences, medicine, business, etc. It was easier to find a field where it is not used. However, VR¡¯s biggest application was for games.

    ¡°Yeah.¡± I replied cautiously because I felt a bit awkward if she thought I was ying games after I was expelled from home. Besides, she even went as far as to protect me, threatening my father by holding a hair trimmer to shave her hair.

    ¡°Which game?¡±

    However, my sister asked back casually as if she didn¡¯t care.

    ¡°Revival Legend.¡±

    ¡°Revival Legend?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°What is your game type and your level?¡±

    As far as I knew, my sister didn¡¯t y anything like games. But she now mentioned my game type and level naturally, so I corrected my posture and said, ¡°Ice-type wizards and Level 100.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. Level 100 for ice-type wizards. I guess it took two or three weeks for you to get there. Oh, if you achieved it without any support, it would have taken you a month and a little longer, I think.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­I guess so.¡±

    Five days, no, more precisely, it took me four days and ten hours. However, I didn¡¯t feel the need to correct her, so I glossed over it with a vague answer.

    ¡°Good job.¡±

    I didn¡¯t want to show my mother I was ying games because I didn¡¯t return to campus after being discharged from the army when I entered the most prestigious Seoul National University.

    But I confided to her about it because she was my sister. I still had a fond memory of her threatening to shave her hair with a hair trimmer to protect me from my father. Since I never expected her praise, I could not help but ask back, ¡°Good job for what?¡±

    ¡°You did a good job. I mean you did well when you chose Revival Legend among many other games. Just send me a message about your ID and your location in Revival Legend.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    At the moment, I couldn¡¯t ept her response properly because I had the impression that she was also ying games. But she didn¡¯t say anymore and turned around as if her mission was over that evening.

    ***

    Dinner time for the whole family didn¡¯tst long because my father and brother didn¡¯t sit at the table for long, pretending to be so busy.

    Of course, I wanted to ask my father or brother if they knew about Daesung because if it was true that Daesung was really operating a game system, it was something serious.

    But I didn¡¯t have the nerve to ask because if I did, I might end up publicizing to my family that I was hooked onto games. At that moment my sister opened her mouth as if she misunderstood my concern about my father and brother.

    ¡°Try to understand them, Juyoung. They¡¯re really busy as bees these days.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    Of course, since she was ying ¡®Revival Legend,¡¯ she might know about Daesung, but I didn¡¯t ask her either because I felt a bit ufortable mentioning the game right now when my father and brother were not present.

    Then my mom said, ¡°Son, it¡¯ste. Sleep here tonight.¡±

    ¡°Sorry. Mom. I have got something to do today.¡±

    ¡°You mean this evening?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    17 hours of cooldown. I had to go back for that.

    ¡°Got it. Let me wrap some side dishes for you. Wait a minute.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°Dang it! Why don¡¯t you sleep here?¡±

    My sister rebuked me while my mother was busy packing some food for me.

    ¡°Next time.¡±

    ¡°Never mind. By the way, send a message to me. Let me head out first then. I¡¯m busy. See you next time.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    As if she was pretty busy, my sister quickly left the kitchen with quick steps.

    I grabbed the food that my mom wrapped for me and went out of the house.

    She saw me off at the door.

    ¡°Son. Don¡¯t forget to call me often.¡±

    ¡°Sure, Mom. Goodbye.¡±

    ¡°Let me see you leave first.¡±

    ¡°You know our family driver always gives me a ride back.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care.¡±

    Although I took a bus and taxi to go home, our family driver always gave me a ride back to my ce. I gave my mother a hug, got into a luxury sedan and moved to my one-room studio.

    While driving to my ce, I texted my sister a message about my ID ¡®lumen¡¯ and my ce in Revival Legend, namely Kotum Castle.

    ¡°Execution!¡±

    On the way back home, I downloaded ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ onto the 3rd generation high-end VR adaptor. As soon as I got home, I hurriedly put it on because 17 hours had already passed. That is, the cooldown time had ended.

 Chapter 27

    <h4>Chapter 27: Unwanted, but necessary</h4>

    There wasn¡¯t a big difference between the two VR adaptors, but the 3rd one was a little faster than the 2nd. However, I ignored it because that was not what mattered to me now.

    As soon as I felt like I stepped on the ground, I started running to the cksmith. I needed to save even one second to use the ¡®God of Enhancement¡¯ trait even in the future.

    As soon as I entered the cksmith, a message rang.

    [You have Level 100 enhancement quests.

    -Current Enhancement: 8

    -You have the opportunity to enhance to a higher level safely.]

    As soon as I checked the message, I took out the Enhancement 8 beginner¡¯s Light Stick from the inventory and put it in the red enhancement window for the quest rather than the original one. And I immediately opened my mouth, hoping the cooldown time wouldn¡¯t increase, though I didn¡¯t care about the increase or decrease in golden rings.

    ¡°Activate the God of Enhancement!¡±

    [God of Enhancement has been activated.

    -Enhancement sess rate: 100%.

    -Enhancement target: Enhancement 8 beginner¡¯s Light Stick

    -Additional requirement when attempting enhancement: 495,000 golden rings.

    -Cooldown time generated upon sessful enhancement: 23 hours.]

    Going from Enhancement 7 to 8 required 17 hours of cooldown and needed approximately 240,000 golden rings. And it took 23 hours and about 500,000 golden rings to go from Enhancement 8 to 9.

    ¡°Whew!¡±

    I let out a sigh of relief briefly because I could manage it at this level.

    In fact, I was so nervous whileing back home, concerned that I might have two or three days of cooldown.

    Anyway, I tried enhancement to reduce the cooldown time even by 1 minute and 1 second. Soon, with the hammering effect, a message popped up with a firecracker going off more loudly than ever before, perhaps because I seeded in Enhancement 9.

    [You have seeded in reaching Enhancement 9 for a Level 100 only quest.]

    [In order to activate the God of Enhancement trait, you have toplete 23 hours of cooldown first.]

    ¡°....¡±

    A couple of messages rang in a row, but I didn¡¯t care about that because the item for Enhancement 9 appeared before my eyes.

    The item was a Light Stick for beginners that even a passing dog didn¡¯t care about, but I felt good because Enhancement 9 was generally regarded as the ultimate Enhancement.

    Soon, I took out a +9 Light Stick for beginners from my inventory.

    [You can set the effect ording to the level of Enhancement.

    -ON / OFF]

    ¡°OFF.¡±

    Items of Enhancement 9 or higher would have a red glow.

    So, I chose OFF because I was going to catch other people¡¯s eyes.

    And I opened my mouth quietly.

    ¡°Check items.¡±

    [+9 Light Stick for beginners (normal)

    -It is a light stick that can be easily used by anyone.

    -Increases stamina by 191.

    -Durability: 17,990/17,990

    -Item is reserved for the user.]

    Originally, the physical attack power at Enhancement 0 was 3, and Durability was 50/50. However, the two now had increased significantly. Of course, it could not be denied that the item in question was a poor option due to its intrinsic limitationspared to Enhancement 9.

    But a smile was on my lips before I knew it because I felt satisfied with possessing the +9 item, regardless of its performance.

    While I was indulging in it, a message rang.

    [You¡¯ve got a friend request from super beauty.]

    Her ID was not familiar to me, but I thought I knew who she was because there was only one person I revealed my ID to today.

    ¡°ept.¡±

    In order to whisper to each other, I needed to be a friend of hers, so I epted her friend request first.

    [You have epted super beauty¡¯s friend request.

    -You can now whisper to her.]

    [Super beauty: Where are you?]

    [lumen: Is this your ID, sis?]

    [Super beauty: Not impressive, right? It doesn¡¯t reflect my beauty at all, right?]

    [lumen: ...]

    At that moment, I was speechless at her question. But I woke up in no time and whispered to her.

    [lumen: I¡¯ll be in a cafe called Lazy Afternoon on the right side of the central square of Kotum Castle.]

    [Super beauty: Okay. I¡¯ll be there soon.]

    [lumen: Sure.]

    I turned around first because I was curious as to why my sister wanted to see me.

    Two hours ago, when I left my home in Chongdamdong, my sister Suyoung Hong moved to a room toorge to be a basement to talk to my father. Then, she approached him who was reviewing documents without wearing a VR adaptor. Of course, she knew that he was not wearing it at this time.

    ¡°What brought you here?¡±

    Puzzled by her unexpected visit, he asked first.

    ¡°I saw Juyoung ying a game.¡±

    ¡°Game?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Revival Legend.¡±

    ¡°Hmm...¡±

    He put down the documents in both hands and groaned, with his chin resting on his hand.

    Then he immediately opened his mouth, ¡°Ex-chairman and your grandpa were very strict to me, let alone Kiyoung and you. But¡­¡±

    ¡°I know. He always doted on Juyoung. I still don¡¯t know why he loved Juyoung so much,¡± she interrupted, crossing her arms.

    In fact, it was Juyoung that her grandfather doted on more than her, and he was pampered too much. She even felt jealous when she was around him and Juyoung.

    ¡°You bet. So, out of curiosity, I asked him why he doted on Juyoung alone. In fact, Kiyoung and you were perfectly nice and pretty, and even smarter than your peers.¡±

    ¡°So, what did he say?¡± she asked, leaning forward, because she had never heard it from her father.

    ¡°Well, he said Juyoung would be a big shot in the future.¡±

    ¡°Without any reason?¡±

    ¡°Nope.¡±

    ¡°Oh my god. I can¡¯t understand Grandpa,¡± she said, shaking her head at his reply.

    Confirming her expression, he immediately opened his mouth, ¡°By the way, I don¡¯t think you came here to say that, right?¡±

    ¡°Well, it seems like it¡¯s been a little over a month since Juyoung started ying Revival Legend. And he says he is a Level 100 ice-type wizard.¡±

    ¡°So what?¡±

    ¡°How about giving it to him? It¡¯s something you want to keep but don¡¯t want. But it will be a motivation for him as an ice-type wizard. It¡¯ll make him more passionate about games.¡±

    At her suggestion, he was lost in thought while pondering over it. Watching him agonize over it, she continued as if she didn¡¯t care, ¡°You were nning to make him y Revival Legend anyway, right? That¡¯s good for him! As you know, forcing him to do and his voluntary participation is like night and day.¡±

    ¡°Got it. Like you said, it¡¯s something I don¡¯t want anyway. It¡¯s not that bad to give it to him. Okay then. Give it to him, along with 5 million golden rings from the guild vault. I think that¡¯s enough for the time being.¡±

    ¡°Daddy, please be generous! As the chairman of arge business group, you can give him more. 5 million golden rings are simply not enough. Besides, he is your youngest son, not someone else.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    He could not help but be dumbfounded by her strong response. Of course, he knew her personality and he was used to it, but her announcement now was rather surprising.

    Not caring about his embarrassed expression, she said while walking, ¡°Let me take out 10 million golden rings from the guild safe. I¡¯m leaving now, Dad. I¡¯ve promised to see him in the game a littleter.¡±

    Taking his eyes off from his daughter who just left the room, he focused on the documents he had been reviewing. But he put down the documents in no time and said quietly, ¡°Hmm. Juyoung is ying Revival Legend...¡±

    ***

    ¡°Hey, Sis, right here!.¡±

    Her dark red hair that hung down to her waist and her unusually tall height were different from her in reality. I knew right away that she was my sister.

    ¡°Howdy, Brother.¡±

    As soon as she saw me, she also noticed me right away and sat down before me.

    ¡°By the way, you didn¡¯t change anything.¡±

    ¡°Nope. I didn¡¯t feel the need to change,¡± I said, nodding at her because unlike my sister, I didn¡¯t change anything.

 Chapter 28

    <h4>Chapter 28: What about me?</h4>

    She suddenly nced up and down over me with a sad eye and said, ¡°By the way, it looks like you must have had a hard time¡­¡±

    ¡°Ugh?¡±

    I was embarrassed by her unexpected words, but I knew immediately she reacted like that because of the items I was wearing. In fact, the items I was currently wearing were quite inadequate for a Level 100 user to wear, no matter how poor I was.

    On the other hand, my sister was gorgeous. Even at a nce, I could see she was wearing expensive items.

    ¡°Well....¡±

    Of course, my sister misunderstood my position. I had enough money to match the best items befitting my level, but I just didn¡¯t feel the need to do that.

    ¡°I wish you had told me about it early on.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ I didn¡¯t feel like it was that inconvenient.¡±

    My conscience stung a bit due to her sympathetic response. But if I showed her the 100 million-plus golden rings I had, I also had to show her my status bar and other stuff. Then, I would have to tell her about the bizarre experience I had during the closed beta period and vacation. So, I kept it to myself.

    At that moment, my sister, who seemed to have misunderstood me a lot, grabbed my palm as if she shook hands with me, and said, ¡°Exchange.¡±

    [Super beauty has requested an exchange.

    -Would you like to ept it?]

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°ept it quickly.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ ept.¡±

    I had no other choice but to ept it because she misunderstood me so much that I could not reject it.

    [Super beauty has given you 10 million golden rings.]

    ¡°Uh?¡±

    10 million golden rings were quite a lot. But she did not end there.

    [Super beauty has given you 8.45 million golden rings.]

    ¡°Daddy has given you 10 million golden rings, and let me give you 8.45 million golden rings.¡±

    I was surprised by her 845 million golden rings, but I was even more surprised by my father¡¯s 10 million golden rings. So I had to ask back right away, ¡°Dad?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. After you went back, I talked with Dad. I told him you¡¯re ying Revival Legend.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but feel my heart sink at her words. I didn¡¯t want to be caught ying games by not only my mother but my father in particr. As if she read my mind, my sister said, ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry. He rather likes that you are ying games, especially Revival Legend.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    I was dumbfounded by her unexpected reply because I could not understand for the life of me why my father would like me to y games.

    ¡°That¡¯s enough. You don¡¯t need to know the details. But I would like to tell you that not only Mom and Dad, but also your brother and I fully support you ying games, especially Revival Legend.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    I had no choice but to ask back in a loud voice because I could not understand how my family members including my father could support me ying games fully, aside from them liking it.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to know about the details yet. You will find out in due time. So, do your best without caring about us. If you need anything, tell me.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    I was still puzzled by her reply, but I felt good anyway because I didn¡¯t have to be bound by my secret vow that I would devote everything to the game until I reached the point where I wouldn¡¯t look back at allter,pletely sick and tired of it.

    And then a message rang once more.

    [Super beauty has given you the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.]

    It was an item I had never heard of. The name itself felt unusual.

    ¡°You won¡¯t be able to wear it for the time being, but I brought it to you because I want you to be motivated to work hard. Of course, it¡¯s a problematic item. It¡¯s an ice-type weapon, but it¡¯s rather cumbersome for a wizard to use. Um...I would call it a necessary nuisance.¡±

    After that, my sister let go of my hand and said, ¡°How about shopping with me?¡±

    ¡°Oh, no thanks. Let me check and match it one by one.¡±

    ¡°Good. I¡¯m leaving now. My team members are waiting for me.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    She got up from her seat, then walked a few steps. She looked back at me and opened her mouth, ¡°By the way, Dad is ying this game, too.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Not only Daddy, but Brother and Mom too.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± I was more surprised.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to know. So, do your best. You can¡¯t be left behind. Not only my family, but also a lot of people rted to us have a stake in this game.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    At that moment, Daesung came to my mind. Since Daesung was already doing this game business, it was no wonder that Myongjin Group, led by my father, would also show interest in it.

    ¡°One more thing. If you get a quest, don¡¯t ignore it and try to solve it by all means. If you don¡¯t have one, try to find it. I¡¯m really leaving now. Call me sometimes regrly.¡±

    Then she left the cafe. I didn¡¯t leave because she confirmed that not only Daesung, but also Myeongjin Group, my father¡¯spany, paid lots of attention to this game.

    ¡®Is there any hidden agenda here?¡¯

    I was puzzled at the moment, but I didn¡¯t think about it too long because no matter how worried I was, I didn¡¯t think I could get the answer.

    So, I first checked the items I received from my sister.

    ¡°Check items.¡±

    [Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword (Myth)

    -A sword that reflects the final determination of Emperor Asirante, the ice owner who fought against the God of Sun Morotu who burned and evaporated everything in the world.

    : Avable to Level 700 and above

    : Avable to owners with at least 7,000 Pure Intellectual Power.

    : Avable to owners of at least 10 ice-type skills.

    -Effect.

    : The performance of all ice-type skills increased by 10%.

    : Cooldown of all ice-type skills reduced by 10%.

    : Inflict 10 times more damage with 1% probability on the opponent hit by an ice-based skill.

    : Level 3 Ice Weapon will be applied to Guardian Sword at all times. (It oveps the user¡¯s Ice Weapon magic. For example, if the user has a Level 1 Ice Weapon and uses it, the power of the Level 4 Ice Weapon will be applied.)

    : Inflict frostbite on the opponent hit by the Guardian Sword with 20% probability. (If the user possesses a frostbite-rted skill, 20% will be added additionally. However, the 20% frostbite is applied only when directly hit by the Guardian Sword, not a skill.)

    : The God of Sun also has 20% damage reduction and superiority over all fire-based skills due to the determination of the Ice Emperor.

    : Increase in Strength by 500.

    : Increase in Agility by 300.

    -Safety enhancement: 0

    -Physical attack power : +8,999.

    -Magic attack power: +899

    -Durability: 7,500,000/7,500,000]

    ¡°...¡±

    Each item had a grade. Five grades in total. Namely, General-Rare-Precious-Legend-Myth, in that order. And the highest-grade item I owned was preciousness, which I obtained during the 3rd closed beta.

    At that time, I was told that several legendary items were avable, but I had never seen it with my own eyes. But right now I possessed a Myth-grade item with a tremendous number of options, which I had never possessed or seen.

    However, while checking the details, I noticed something strange. Obviously, the ice-based skills are wizard skills of fire or wind elements that are mostly affected by Intellectual Power. That¡¯s why the use of the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword was limited to 7,000 or more pure Intellectual Power, regardless of the level or the number of skills. In other words, the weapon was reserved for ice-typed wizards with Intellectual Power as their main stat.

    Regardless of the other options of the Guardian Sword, the options for increasing the stat were Strength and Agility, which I understood well.

    However, I was puzzled by what was written at the bottom.

    Namely, the physical attack power of 8,999 and magic attack power of 899.

 Chapter 29

    <h4>Chapter 29: Time still flows (1)</h4>

    At first I thought the numbers were wrong.

    In other words, I thought 899, not 8,999, was the correct number, but it was still 8,999 when I checked it two or three times.

    ¡°Is it because it¡¯s a sword?¡±

    The Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword, not cane, to which a Level 3 Ice Weapon is always applied, and the 20% chance of frostbite increase only when the opponent is hit with the guardian sword. Obviously, the weapon was designed for a close-rangedbat.

    At that moment, I remembered what my sister had said to me.

    [Of course, it¡¯s a problematic item. It¡¯s an ice-type weapon, rather cumbersome for a wizard to use. Um¡­ I would call it a necessary nuisance.]

    A necessary nuisance¡­ unfortunately I knew its meaning in high school when I yed ¡®Forgotten Legend,¡¯ the predecessor of ¡®Revival Legend.¡¯

    However, it didn¡¯t look like a necessary nuisance in my eyes because I knew a way to increase the level.

    ***

    ¡°Huuuuuuuuh.¡±

    I spent as much as 30 minutes sitting in a cafe and looking at the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword with a smile. I was there partly because I was forbidden to hunt for a while due to the 100 Level only enhancement quest.

    ¡°By the way, is this the right weapon for Level 700?¡±

    Of course, I can use it at exactly Level 700 as long as I invest all stat points in Intellectual Power only at Level 700. But it¡¯s impossible because investing 7,000 stat points in Intellectual Power alone means that the rest of my Strength, Agility, Physical Power, and Willpower will have 10 stat points, which I had when I first created my character. Of course, it is possible to increase it with items or skills, but the number of the initial stat points increased by the items or skills is not big.

    During the 3rd closed beta, there were only 50 to 100 stat points at most even for the ¡°precious¡± grade items. Moreover, what was needed was Physical strength and Willpower. It was impossible to keep only the items with the options and number ??that one wanted among the numerous items.

    Considering all of this, I thought I would reach at least Level 800 or Level 900 if all things go well.

    But I smiled at myself before I knew it because I could use it at exactly Level 700 with overflowing health and mana. That was because my Physical Strength with the same level as Intellectual Power and Willpower would be able to disy enormous figures.

    This time, something else caught my eye, namely 500 Power and 300 Agility.

    At first, I felt sorry that I had no Intellectual Power, but I felt better when I thought about the increase in Intellectual Power with items because Mutual Growth was not applied.

    Of course, Physical strength and Willpower don¡¯t increase due to Mutual Growth, but it¡¯s true that if Intellectual Power increases by 100, so does Intellectual Power.

    So, of course, it would be nice if I had it because my main stat is Intellectual Power anyway. But I felt that I didn¡¯t need to keep Intellectual Power for the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword because I nned to invest all of the stat points to be gained by leveling up only in Intellectual Power.

    Of course, there was a main option for the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword, which was increasing the performance of all ice-type skills by 10%. But given the item itself, it was not that impressive because I had no increase in Intellectual Power to add its 10%, and my magical attack power was only 899.

    Level 899 was slightly higher than the precious grade Enhancement 3 Stick I gained during the third closed beta. In other words, it was too low to be regarded as a myth grade item. But I had the ¡®Iceman¡¯ trait that increased skill performance of all ice-type series by 30%, although the numbers were different. So, the 10% addition here meant a total of 40%, which was more than enough.

    If I added the magic attack power of Level 899, I would not stay at that level forever because I had the ¡®God of Enhancement¡¯ trait.

    Moreover, since I often surfed the ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ homepage here and there while ying the game, I knew that Safety Enhancement 3 was applied to General, Rare, Precious and Legend grade only. In other words, the Myth grade was set at 0 from the beginning. So, overwhelming the Legend item with Enhancement 3 was like an Enhancement 0 Myth grade item.

    At that moment I felt goosebumps at the images of myself holding a Myth-grade weapon with a red glow, well beyond Safety Enhancement 3, 4, and 5. Of course, it will take me some time to reach that point.

    I stood up right away because I couldn¡¯t hold back the sense of exaltation when I just imagined it. So, I moved straight. Although I was forbidden to hunt for now, I had some other things to do, namely acquiring skills immediately. I moved straight to the huge tower in the central square.

    [This is the tower where heroes¡¯ abilities have been recorded.

    -There are limitations on acquiring things ording to individual ability.]

    When I approached the tower in the central square, the message I always heard rang.

    As it was familiar to me, I naturally responded.

    ¡°Search Ice-based skills.¡±

    [Obtainable Ice-type skills are currently avable.]

    [Upgradeable Ice-type skills are currently avable.]

    -Level 2 Ice Ball. (700 golden rings required)

    : Throws ice cubes at enemies within 15 meters.

    : Attack range and damage increase depending on Intellectual Power.

    : Upgradeable to Level 3 Ice Ballter.

    -Level 2 Ice Bolt. (700 golden rings required)

    : Throws ice bolt with slight pration at enemies within 15 meters.

    : Attack range and damage increase depending on Intellectual Power.

    : Upgradeable to Level 3 Ice Boltter.

    -Level 2 Ice Weapon (700 golden rings required)

    : Puts frost on the weapon to inflict additional damage to the opponent.

    : Additional damage by the ice increases based on Intellectual Power.

    : Upgradeable to Level 3 Ice Weaponter.

    What came up on the skill window were the upgradeable skills I attained, namely Level 1 Ice Ball to Level 2 Ice Bolt and Level 1 Ice Weapon to Level 2 respectively.

    But I skipped this because I already decided what to learn first, which was the AoE skills. Moreover, if the skill points were insufficient, I needed to delete instead of upgrading them.

    So, I skipped the list of upgradeable skills and started looking for the AoE skills.

    -Level 2 Ice Field (Active, 1 skill point required, 25,000 golden rings required)

    : An area of 10 meters in radius will be made of thin ice to inflict damage to everyone in the area.

    : urrence range and damage will constantly increase depending on Intellectual Power.

    : Upgradeable to Level 5 or 7 Ice Field.

    -Level 2 Hailstones (Active, 1 skill point required, 56,000 golden rings required)

    : Create hailstones to attack an area with a radius of 10 meters.

    : Hail area, the size of hailstones, and hail amount will increase depending on Intellectual Power.

    : Upgradeable to Level 4, 6, and 8.

    ¡°Acquire Level 2 Ice Field and Level 2 Hailstones.¡±

    Both of them were my favorite skills during the third closed beta. Of course, I used even Level 3 Thin Ice Creation at that time.

    [You have chosen Level 2 Ice Field and Level 2 Hailstones.

    -A total of 2 skill points and 81,000 golden rings are required.

    -Do you want to acquire 2 skills?]

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    I chose to acquire them immediately because I thought of learning them before I came here.

    ¡°Hmm. Is there any AoE skill that I can learn at Level 2 other than these?¡±

    I still had a surplus of skill points. If they were insufficient, I could acquire them by deleting Level 1 Ice Ball. Then, I noticed the AoE skills that I missed during the first, second and third betas.

    -Level 2 Ice st (Active, 1 skill point required, 33,000 golden rings required.)

    : sts ice randomly, causing damage to nearby enemies. (It does not take effect if there is no ice nearby.)

    : Depending on Intellectual Power, it affects the size of the st, which increases the range and damage of ice scattering in all directions.

    : Upgradeable to Level 4 or 6 Ice st.

 Chapter 30

    <h4>Chapter 30: Time still flows (2)</h4>

    Of course, this was a skill that required ice as the basis.

    However, it seemed to be sufficiently connected to the Ice Field.

    Given my Willpower and mana, I could use the Ice Field infinitely after the cooldown, so I reserved Ice st and started looking for something else.

    Since I already found 3 AoE skills, I searched for a single skill this time.

    -Level 2 Multiple Ice Arrow (Active, 1 skill point required,19,000 golden rings required.)

    : Fires 3 Ice Arrows at enemies within 15 meters.

    : Increases the striking range and damage and Ice Arrow by up to 7 shots, depending on Intellectual Power.

    : Upgradeable to Level 3 and Level 5 Multiple Ice Arrow.

    ¡°Acquire Level 2 Ice st and Level 2 Multiple Ice Arrow.¡±

    [You have chosen Level 2 Ice st and Level 2 Multiple Ice Arrow.

    -A total of 2 skill points and 52,000 golden rings are required.

    -Do you want to acquire 2 skills?]

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Shortly afterwards, I scrolled through the message for the first time, which announced that I had acquired Ice st and Multiple Ice Arrows. Then the first upgradeable skill list was shown.

    ¡®I think I should keep the Ice Weapon with me.¡¯

    Originally, the Ice Weapon was on the top list of the skills for deletion.

    However, the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword had been equipped with this Ice Weapon, and Level 3 at that, which was the maximum. ording to the description attached to the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword, this weapon was supposed to bebined with the Ice Weapon acquired by the user.

    So, it was possible that the Level 3 Ice Weapon would change to Level 6 Ice Weapon.

    ¡°Upgrade Ice Weapon...and Ice Ball and Ice Bolt.¡±

    [Do you want to upgrade Level 1 Ice Weapon, Level 1 Ice Ball, and Level 1 Ice Bolt to Level 2?

    -A total of 2,100 golden rings are required.]

    ¡°Upgrade.¡±

    There was nothing else I liked in other ice-type series at Level 2, so I tried to upgrade both Ice Ball and the Ice Bolt because even if I delete themter, 3,500 golden rings, which was 5 times 700 golden rings, would be enough to back them up. And I know that blindly upgrading things was not always good since I already experienced it during the first, second and third closed betas.

    Upgrading the overall power, including damage and range, was apanied by the increase in cooldown time for immediate reuse. So, it was important to mix them properly, otherwise I would bungle the games with endless cooldown times.

    But even if I upgraded them to Level 2, I could still use them just like Level 1skills because of my Willpower that had a certain influence on the cooldown time. After making my decision, I turned from the tower in the central square.

    ***

    It had been 23 hours since I challenged the +9 Light Stick for beginners, starting with 8.

    I now stood in front of the cksmith. Then a message I had already seen a few times rang.

    [You have a 100-level only enhancement quest.

    -Current Enhancement: 9.

    -You have an opportunity to safely upgrade to a higher level.]

    In the past I vaguely knew what it meant when they said they were itching to achieve Enhancement 9, but this time I felt it keenly. So, originally I would have put the +9 Light Stick for beginners in the red window for the event, but I didn¡¯t do so this time because there was something I wanted to check first. I wanted to find the cooldown time needed or how many golden rings were required when I used the God of Enhancement for the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword, the Myth-grade item. So I put the sword in the original enhancement window rather than the red enhancement window for the event and opened my mouth.

    ¡®Activate the God of Enhancement.¡¯

    [God of Enhancement has been activated.

    -100% sess rate.

    -Enhancement target: +0 Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword.

    -Additional requirement for attempting enhancement :850,000 golden rings

    -Cooldown time generated upon enhancement sess: 14 days]

    14 days with 850,000 golden rings. I thought that it was rather long to go from 0 to 1 enhancement with the required golden rings and cooldown time because the item I was trying to enhance was a Myth-grade item, not ¡®Precious¡¯ or ¡®Legend¡¯ grade, with Safety Enhancement of 0.

    Anyway, as soon as I finished checking the golden rings and cooldown required for the first enhancement with my eyes, I removed the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword from the enhancement window and put the +9 Light Stick for beginners into the red enhancement window for the event.

    ¡®Activate the God of Enhancement.¡¯

    [God of Enhancement has been activated.

    -100% sess rate.

    -Enhancement target: +9 Light Stick for beginners.

    -Additional requirement for enhancement: 175,000 golden rings, 1,370,000 EXP.

    -Cooldown time generated upon enhancement sess: 16 hours.]

    ¡°?¡±

    At that moment I thought the number was not correct because previously 17 hours was needed to move from Enhancement 7 to 8 with about 240,000 golden rings. But this time the required number of golden rings as well as the cooldown time to go to 9 from 8 decreased instead.

    Of course, other conditions were created in addition to the existing ones, such as 1.37 million EXP.

    I smiled before I knew it because it was time for me to devote myself to hunting. Since I learned new skills, it was really stressful for me to be forcibly banned from hunting.

    Even so, it would be very stupid if I gave up here because I had already achieved Enhancement 9, and if I gave up, I would be forfeiting of a considerable number of EXP, given my Level 100 and EXP of 1.37 million.

    So, I immediately leveled down. Even if I did, I would stay back at Level 100 because of the Level 100-only Enhancement quest. But I felt good about it anyway because I could freely hunt now. Besides, the cooldown was only 16 hours.

    ¡®By the way, when I reach Level 101, the quest would allegedly be forcibly closed. Well, I wonder if it also affects my level down.¡±

    No matter how hard I thought about it, I could note up with any educated guess.

    So I stopped for a moment. After logging out, I essed the ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ homepage and googled the possible creation of quests due to my deleveling. However, there wasn¡¯t a singlement about deleveling.

    Of course, I could understand it because there was little chance I would forcibly level down while proceeding with the enhancement quest, unless I deliberately leveled down. So, I reassessed the game and closed my eyes tightly, saying quietly, ¡®Enhance.¡¯

    I don¡¯t intend to stop here anyway. I also have no intention of neglecting the God of Enhancement and just rely on sheer luck for enhancement. So, I closed my eyes and activated the God of Enhancement and tried to enhance.

    Then a message rang in no time.

    [You have achieved the Level 100 only Enhancement Quest 10.

    -Congrattions. You have seeded in enhancement by two digits.

    -The special bonus given ording to the enhancement level has been upgraded.]

    [In order to activate the God of Enhancement trait, you mustplete 16 hours of cooldown time.]

    Then another message rang.

    [Your Level has decreased by 3 with a decrease of 1.37 million EXP.]

    As soon as the message rang, I opened the quest window.

    ¡°Check the quest window.¡±

    [Current quest (1)

    -Level 100 only Enhancement Quest. (In progress.)]

    ¡®Whew!¡¯

    Anyway, I had no choice but to try to enhance now.

    So, I went ahead and did it, but I was a bit afraid that my Level 100 only Enhancement Quest would disappear. In that case, I would have to start over to reach Level 100. Besides, I would have to choose another item instead of the 10+ Light Stick for beginners.

    But I felt relieved after confirming the ¡°In progress¡± message on the quest window.

    Then I was thrilled with another feeling this time, namely the joy of hunting again.

    I quickly left the cksmith shop and ran straight to the Teleport Zone outside Kotum Castle.

 Chapter 31

    <h4>Chapter 31: Time still flows (3)</h4>

    ¡°The mobile desert ant cave.¡±

    I earned 23 hours of cooldown by enhancing from 8 to 9 before attempting another enhancement this time.

    During that time, I spent my valuable time doing various things such as smiling at the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword for 30 minutes and acquiring various skills. Nheless, I still had a lot of time left. So I surfed the ¡°Revival Legend¡± homepage and set my heart on the future hunting ground in advance, trying to find one where I could maximize the efficiency of the newly-learned Ice Field, Hailstones, and Ice st skills. And I found a ce called an ant cave in the desert.

    Although it didn¡¯t exist in the third closed beta, it was a hunting ground for those between Level 300 and 350. Monsters there were supposed to move in groups of at least 20, and when they were caught off guard, they would be surrounded by more than 100 ants at any time.

    I confirmed that it was not rated as an attractive hunting ground because not a lot of EXP was given because of the grouping, and the misceneous items and golden rings they dropped were not good, either.

    But it was clear that it was a hunting ground to quickly level up.

    Even though the EXP per animal was small, the number of monsters that appeared was huge, to say the least. Anyway, a safety zonerger than the safety zone in the Golem Habitat soon appeared.

    But there were some users who were taking a break, and as a group at that. However, there were no so-called traders in the Golem Habitat or buff traders who supplied buffs for money.

    Although the set safety zone wasrger than the Golem Habitat, only a few users were there.

    So, I could see at a nce that it was not a very attractive hunting ground.

    Since I came here because of EXP, I didn¡¯t care. Soon I stepped toward the ant cave.

    Then, I heard some small voicesing out from a party of 11 people who were resting a little distance away.

    ¡°What? Are you alone here?¡±

    ¡°I think so.¡±

    ¡°It would not be easy to hunt alone here. Is he Goreb?¡±

    ¡°With that outfit?¡±

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re right.¡±

    ¡°Leave him alone. We don¡¯t need to intervene because he is anxious to die anyway.¡±

    My current outfit also made my sister misunderstand me.

    Not caring at all, however, I headed to the ant cave. Of course, after I hunt here and find something iscking, I¡¯m willing to get more items because there is a big difference between Level 0 and Level 100 as well as Level 100 and Level 200.

    Anyway, as I kept walking forward, ant caves soon showed up.

    Five appeared in front of me this time.

    ¡°Hmm. There are differences in the level of difficulty in that order, I guess.¡±

    The entrance to the No. 5 ant cave was thergest, which was also the ce where the boss monster, the queen ant, was living.

    So, I went into the No. 3 ant cave, which was mid-sized because my hunt this time was also a test too.

    Crunch, crunch.

    It wasn¡¯t long before I walked into the No. 3 ant cave that I began to hear something crunching.

    Then, waving their ck feelers, the ants appeared.

    ¡°Well... I think they are not just ants, but need some ¡®giant¡¯ modifier.¡±

    The ants that appeared and waved two feelers wererger than expected, so much so that they went up to my knees. The keratin around their bodies also looked solid.

    As if they found me, the ants charged at me, shaking their feelers back and forth quickly.

    They were opening their sharp teeth wide as if to break me in half.

    Watching it, I also rushed to them and immediately shouted when they were within my striking range.

    ¡°Ice Field!¡±

    Crunch, crunch.

    I spread the Ice Field on the road where the ants rushed to me.

    [The ants¡¯ movement speed while entering the Ice Field is reduced by 20%.]

    Of course, 20% was the most at this point, but the ants, which were apparently moving faster than expected, were significantly slower than before. And I used the linkage skills on them that I used the most during the second and third closed betas.

    ¡°Hailstones!¡±

    ¡°Kehek!¡±

    ¡°Kek!¡±

    ¡°....¡±

    A hundred times or a thousand times? I really used that much.

    So I knew that they were very powerful because the ants couldn¡¯t get out of the Ice Field perhaps because of my Intellectual Power, which was much wider than the original 10-meter area of effect. Their hard skin, which seemed to protect them from the pouring hailstones, was smashed. Of course, the Ice Field itself inflicted some damage on them.

    Besides, the ants in front of my eyes were the strongest monsters in the Level 300-350 range.

    ¡°Hahhhhh.¡±

    At that moment Iughed dryly because I was worried that I had stayed at my current level for too long. Moreover, I did not know how long I had to stay in this state.

    But as the most powerful monster I¡¯ve ever faced was easily beaten by one of my skills, that kind of anxiety disappeared.

    ¡°Good. Let me use Ice st this time!¡±

    I didn¡¯t use the skills during the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd closed betas. I was curious about the power of Ice st. So I ran forward with a smile. Naturally, I was collecting the golden rings and misceneous items like feelers and dead skin cells.

    **

    Crunch, crunch.

    The ants were rushing to me, waving their antennae.

    However, I ran in the opposite direction instead of confronting them.

    Run away? No, I wanted to collect more items. And in less than two or three minutes, I discovered that the description about the desert ant caves on the ¡°Revival Legend¡± homepage was 100% true.

    With over 100 ants chasing me from behind, I stopped right away and turned. And I used one skill towards the charging ants.

    ¡°Ice Field!¡±

    Originally, Ice Field could affect an area of ten meters in radius, but the scope of its application was not fixed. The scope and damage by Ice Field increased depending on the user¡¯s Intellectual Power.

    Those were the general characteristics of Ice Field, but I have one more, namely the ¡®Iceman¡¯ trait. This trait increases the performance of all ice-type skills by 30%. And its performance didn¡¯t include just the damage.

    Ice Field spread before my eyes with an area of almost 17 or 18 meters in length and width, where more than 100 ants were trapped, struggling to get out.

    ¡°Kihek!¡±

    ¡°Kek!¡±

    ¡°Kehek!¡±

    The ants were screeching violently in the Ice Field. Hearing that, I discovered that the Ice Field itself had a great potential of inflicting considerable damage, in addition to its speed reduction power. This was the potent trait of the Level 2 Ice Field, aside from Level 5 or Level 7, which could be upgradedter, and I experienced it again and again while using Ice Field during the 2nd and 3rd closed betas. The ants trapped in the Ice Field were now struggling to get out of it, making painful screeches while giving up charging at me.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t stare nkly at the ants struggling to flee from the Ice Field.

    So, I shouted for the first time, with a lot of expectations, ¡°Ice st!¡±

    Puk! Puk! Puk!

    ¡°Kiheck!¡±

    ¡°Kehek!¡±

    I often saw argeke covered with ice during winter in a movie. The huge ice covering the wholeke smashed instantly when a small crack in the ice spread quickly and broke the whole ice. That happened before my eyes now. However, the ice broke and began to scatter all over the ce instead of breaking and sinking under theke.

    Pieces of ice that were sharply thrown away while cracking poked the hard skin of the ants, piercing their heads and chests and other parts of their bodies.

    [You have levelled up.]

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    Of course, it was clear that Ice Field also inflicted some damage. Nevertheless, I couldn¡¯t help but admire the power of Ice st that killed more than 90 ants, except for the ones lying on the outskirts because it was more useful than I thought.

 Chapter 32

    <h4>Chapter 32: Time still flows (4)</h4>

    ¡°Pouring Hailstones, Multiple Arrows.¡±

    Soon I used Hailstones toward the rest of the ants clustered together, then approached the ants running around separately to use Multiple Arrow.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t have to use the Pouring Hailstones, but I did because I had enough mana to use the skills freely.

    Shortly afterwards, I got rid of the ants and picked up the golden rings and misceneous items that they dropped, and at the same time, I opened the status bar for fear I might level up to 101, which was thest thing I wanted.

    [Name: lumen

    Level: 98

    Kills: 0, Deaths: 0

    Titles: The only closed beta max level achiever, Scarecrow Destroyer.

    Health: 701,000(now) / 701,000(max)

    Mana: 581,442(now) / 591,000(max)

    Strength: 715 Agility: 711 Stamina: 2910

    Willpower: 1810 Intellectual Power: 2920

    Remaining Stat Points: 10

    Remaining Skill Points: 0

    Traits: Iceman, Mutual Growth, God of Enhancement.]

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    After I achieved Level 100, I didn¡¯t open the status bar for a while because I didn¡¯t have to check the change in my level.

    Since I didn¡¯t allow any single blows, my Health was full while mana decreased a bit because of my random firing of magic.

    Nevertheless, I could not find the change that I duly expected.

    ¡°Why are the remaining stat points only ten?¡±

    I was leveled down by 3 at Level 100, namely Level 97. But when I went up one level, my level should be 98, and the status bar also confirmed it. Everything would be okay if the remaining stat points were -20, not 10 because going down to 97 would give me the additional benefit of 30 stat points. So, it should be -30. And now, it should be -20 because I achieved Level 98. This was normal. And this was what I experienced not only in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd closed betas on Forgotten Legend, but also on Revival Legend that was formally open to the public.

    First of all, Strength 5, Agility 1, and Intellectual 10 should be removed because those increased due to the items.

    I double-checked whether what I invested in Intellectual Power stats was also removed. First, I achieved 1,000 stat points as the only maximum level at the third closed beta, and another 200 by destroying the scarecrow, regarded as an impossible goal.

    And I gained 1,000 stat points by achieving Level 100.

    I invested all this in Intellectual Power, so I had 2,000 Intellectual Power.

    In addition, since I gained 500 stat points by earning the title of The closed beta maximum level achiever and another 200 with the title of Scarecrow Destroyer, my stat points increased by 700. Thus, everything was correct.

    My Intellectual Power, which I started with 10 in the beginning, was 2,910 in total, and except for an increase by 10 with the addition of an item to Intellectual Power, my Stamina was 2,910 and my Willpower was 1,810. In other words, my stat points were exactly the samepared to Level 100.

    ¡°Huh...¡±

    On the off chance, I invested 10 remaining stat points in Intellectual Power, my hand slightly trembling.Then, Intellectual Power increased by 1.

    After all, I invested ten of them, and my Intellectual Power was 2,930. I gained 10 for free. In fact, I gained 10 in Stamina and 5 in Willpower thanks to Mutual Growth, so I gained a total of 25, not 10.

    ¡°If my level went down by 3, it¡¯s supposed to be 75 in total. Then why?¡±

    I had a question. I had to wonder why all this happened. Of course, there was something suspicious. I thought Mutual Growth was to me because my level was down by 1, so in a normal situation, I can do -10, but it was messy because 10 was 25 to me.

    ¡°Huhhhhh.¡±

    Iughed in spite of myself. When I got here, I was thrilled with the joy of hunting, but at the same time I had some other things to think about. Namely, it was a dark situation because it was like running a rat race. It was a meaningless hunt with me moving from Level 100 to Level 97 and then back to Level 100.

    Of course, I could acquire misceneous items like golden rings, but I could define it as a meaningless hunt because itcked the most important factor, namely bing stronger by levelling up. Besides, I was not sure whether I might have to be at a standstill for a longer period than before when the God of Enhancement cooldown time was over.

    But it turned out that I hadn¡¯t marked the time. It was not a meaningless but useful hunt instead.

    ¡°Good! Then let me reach Level 100 quickly and make the God of Enhancement.

    Huuuuh. I wish my level went down by 10, not 3.

    Well, I wish my level could go down to 1.¡±

    Right now I wanted to be Level 1 because I was confident of reaching Level 100 in four or five days. I quickly closed the status bar and ran again to hunt ants.

    Then ¡®Death: 0¡¯ in the status bar caught my eye, but I ignored it because my priority was achieving Level 100.

    Two hourster I saw a message.

    [You have levelled up.]

    Actually I already confirmed a message earlier that I levelled up. So, it was the second message that told me I had achieved Level 100.

    I opened the status bar right away and confirmed 20 remaining stat points.

    So, I quickly invested all of them in my Intellectual Power for fear I would lose them.

    Shortly afterwards, I felt relieved after confirming that there was an increase in Intellectual Power by 20, Physical strength by 20, and Willpower by 10. I was satisfied with this much anyway.

    ¡°By the way, I still have six hours of cooldown time for the God of Enhancement left¡­¡±

    It was a huge bonanza. Of course, I had another way to make use of it, namely, dying right away. If I die now as soon as I achieve Level 100, my level will go down to 99.

    In addition to losing the EXP through the God of Enhancement, it¡¯s the easiest way to level down. But there was a problem.

    ¡°Hmm. I did it before, so the number of deaths...¡±

    During the 1st, 2nd, and third closed betas, I never died. I tried really hard not to die because I was denied ess for 24 hours as a death penalty.

    Besides, I should never die in order to achieve the max level during the two weeks of the closed beta period. And that was true even now.

    On the other hand, the number of Kills was zero during the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd closed betas.

    ¡°Um¡­¡±

    I was worried. Of course, from amon-sense point of view, I had to die unconditionally because there was no chance to get it with 10 or 25 stat points with limited items, skills, or very precious titles. Not right now of course. If I die right now, I will not be able to ess the game for 24 hours, in which case I won¡¯t be able to use the ¡°God of Enhancement¡± in six hours either.

    However, after the God of Enhancement is over, I must die infinitely. Roughly over 1,000 times. No, as many times as I can. Then something really ridiculous will happen.

    I felt really ufortable about artificially raising the number of Deaths, aside from all other things.

    ¡°Come to think of it, I leveled down by 3, but the number of Deaths did not increase...¡±

    To level down, there must be something inevitable, which is death. So, I agonized over it.

    But I didn¡¯t agonize for long because the ants were regenerating.

    So, I turned my steps to the outside because I didn¡¯t intend to die anyway right now.

    Of course, I got hampered by the ants that had been regenerated along the way, but I used Ice Field as much as possible to get rid of the ants. And only after I got out did I hit myself on the head.

    ¡°What an idiot I am! I should have had more EXP reduction at Level 98, not Level 100, so I can level down more!¡±

 Chapter 33

    <h4>Chapter 33: Chapter 33 Finally?</h4>

    Even if EXP was the same, there was a big difference between Level 98 and Level 100 in terms of leveling down. Yes, two levels of difference. But I didn¡¯t think about it when I was Level 98 because I was blinded by gaining free stat points.

    Anyway, I moved to Kotum Castle, hoping that my level could go down by as much as 10 through the God of Enhancement.

    ¡°Good. There is a way to level down without increasing the number of Deaths, so let me wait.¡±

    I decided to stick with that decision for now.

    ***

    [You have a Level 100 only Enhancement Quest.

    -Current Enhancement: 10

    -You have the opportunity to safely increase enhancement to a higher level.]

    I had heard it too much, so much so that I could repeat and write it down without any mistake.

    I frowned slightly because giving up now would be very silly when I knew there was a way to go safely, unlike others. Moreover, this was the only chance where I could get a bonus by enhancing.

    But there was something I didn¡¯t like if I had to go on without giving up. It was none other than cooldown time and the resulting suspension. That was why I was frustrated with the status quo situation, which made me frown helplessly.

    But it¡¯s all past history now.

    With a broad smile, I put the 10+ Light Stick for beginners in the quest enhancement window that was still glowing red, instead of the original enhancement window.

    ¡®Activate the God of Enhancement.¡¯

    Reciting it in a low voice, as I did as always, I prayed and prayed that my EXP could be drastically taken away so it could go down to Level 1.

    [The God of Enhancement has been activated.

    -100% sess chance.

    -Enhancement target: 10+ Light Stick for beginners.

    -Additional requirements when attempting to enhance: 715,000 golden rings, 2.35 million EXP

    -Cooldown time generated upon sessful enhancement: 89 hours]

    ¡°...¡±

    It was a drastic increase. Not only golden rings and EXP, but also cooldown time.

    Of course, this time it was a two-digit enhancement unlike before. So, I could understand it up to a point, but I couldn¡¯t help but flinch at the 89 hours of cooldown time. However, my agony didn¡¯tst long because I had to do it. It was too precious for me to give up now.

    ¡®Enhance.¡¯

    I proceeded with enhancement, and my enhancement was sessful.

    [You have seeded in enhancing the Level 100 only Enhancement Quest to Enhancement 11]

    [89 hours of cooldown is required to activate the God of Enhancement trait.]

    There was no announcement that congratted me on achieving the double-digit enhancement like before, let alone not mentioning an upgraded bonus. But I didn¡¯t care because I would go all the way to the end.

    And there was a message that I found ratherforting.

    [Your level has decreased by 8 because of the drop in EXP by 2.35 million.]

    My EXP dropped about 1.7 times more than before. That¡¯s why my level went down by 8.

    Of course I felt sorry about it because I wanted to drop as much as 10 levels.

    Deep down, I wanted a further drop. But I shook off such thinking because no matter how sorry I felt about it, there was nothing I could do.

    So, I opened my mouth in a lower voice.

    ¡°Log out.¡±

    Hunt? Achieving Level 100 again? I won¡¯t repeat it because the higher the level, the higher the required EXP, which is themon characteristic of all games. That is, the umted EXP is different. In other words, if I achieve Level 100 again and activate the God of Enhancement, I would expect a drop of between 13 and 15 levels at most, given that I would lose about as much as 1.7 times EXP. So, when I assume the maximum loss of 15 levels, I would gain a total of 23 bybining it with my current 8 levels.

    However, if I lose the same EXP at Level 92, down from Level 100, I will see a further drop than 15 levels because the starting point of losing EXP at Level 100 and Level 92 is different.

    So, I may experience a drop of more than 20 or even 25 levels. With this method, I can get a total of 28 levels by taking 8 levels and then at least 20 levels. Of course, the difference between the former and thetter is 5 levels. In terms of conversion, it can be said that there are only 50 remaining stat points, but for me, it is 125. So, I chose this method. As for the level, the stronger I am, the faster I can catch up to that.

    89 hourster.

    While I was spending my 89 hours, I keenly felt that I really didn¡¯t have friends.

    Of course, there are quite a few who I can call nominal friends.

    For example, I can point out those who didn¡¯t like me as a person, but liked me because of my family background.

    As such, I made acquaintances with them by wandering around at parties and banquets as a high school boy, something totally unfit for me as a student.

    Looking back, I made more friends during the first semester after I entered Seoul National University because the public rtions office of Myongjin Group, led by my father as its chairman, inted my capabilities and publicized me everywhere.

    From the perspective of Myongjin Group, I was a good PRmodity because as the son of the chairman. Even though I got poor grades in school, I focused on studying so intensely and finally got perfect scores on the SAT exam in less than two years of studying, which was unprecedented as a high school boy in Korea.

    Obviously, the fact that I neglected to study was fabricated by the PR office. Besides, my fluency in several foreignnguages, in addition to my perfect SAT scores, inted my name all the more. But lots of people suspected me because I was the son of arge businesspany, but their suspicion subsided quickly because no matter how maliciously they tried to nder me, it was true that I acquired an enormous amount of knowledge back then.

    It was as if I locked the knowledge into a secret room made up of dozens and tens ofyers, so nothing I learned coulde out of it.

    Anyway, at that time my dad took me to lots of ces. He had me meet a lot of people, including famous figures and the sons and daughters of the owners ofrge business groups.

    That¡¯s why my father was so angry and disappointed in me when I decided not to return to school after I was discharged from the army, so much so that he kicked me out of the house.

    But my mother was so worried that she got me a one-room house.

    When I looked back now, I thought it was me, not my father, who pushed me out of the house.

    Obviously I could do something else, but I chose a remote cafe for a part-time job, where few customers stopped by, refusing the calls from my family members.

    ¡°Whew...I feel all kinds of thoughts running through my mind as I don¡¯t have anything to do at the moment¡­¡±

    Shaking my head from side to side, I immediately essed the game.

    Of course, I could aim for a direct level down by deliberately dying for about 4 days. Unfortunately, my EXP was 65.74% at Level 92. It would be impossible to reach Level 91 even if I die once or twice. Besides, a 24-hour ess ban penalty urs if I die.

    Even after dying every four days, levelling down was a long way to go, so I gave it up in the first ce because unless I got 0% EXP right after I levelled up, it was impossible to level down.

    Anyway, I was at the cksmith where I logged out 89 hours ago.

    As soon as I essed it, a message rang.

    [You have a 100-Level only Enhancement Quest.

    -Current Enhancement: 11

    -You have the opportunity to safely increase enhancement to a higher level.]

 Chapter 34

    <h4>Chapter 34: Level 100 again</h4>

    At this point, I had this love-hate feeling, but I can feel it properlyter.

    I immediately used it after putting the 11+ Light Stick for beginners in the red quest enhancement window.

    ¡®Activate the God of Enhancement.¡¯

    [The God of Enhancement has been activated.

    -100% enhancement sess.

    -Enhancement target: 11+ Light Stick for beginners.

    -Additional requirements when attempting to enhance: 815,000 golden rings, 6.12 million EXP.

    -Cooldown time generated upon sessful enhancement: 271 hours]

    ¡°....¡±

    I raised my hand and rubbed my eyes, thinking I read something wrong. But it was the same number no matter how often I checked it. Going from Enhancement 10 to 11 required about 420,000 golden rings and 2.15 million EXP, and 89 hours of cooldown time. At that time I was surprised by the drastic increasepared to the previous one. But when I checked it now, those numbers weren¡¯t surprising at all because I was even more surprised this time.

    ¡°Whew!¡±

    I sighed quietly. I can¡¯t retreat here.

    ¡®Enhance.¡¯

    Soon I saw the effect of me hitting the 11+ Light Stick for beginners with a hammer. And the colorful firecrackers were only visible to me, but I didn¡¯t care about it because of 271-hour cooldown.

    [You have seeded in enhancing the 100-Level only Enhancement Quest to 12.]

    [You mustplete 271 hours of cooldown time to activate the God of Enhancement trait.]

    271 hours seemed unusually long. And then there was another message.

    [Your level has decreased by 42 levels with 6.12 million EXP.]

    I saw a drop of 42 levels which was three times the amount of EXP that far exceeded the expected 1.7 times. It wasforting to me, though, because I could get as many remaining stat points increasing from the dropped level, and double at that.

    Then a message rang.

    [Congrattions.

    -You have achieved the maximum level of the 100 Level-only Enhancement Quest for the 5th time.

    : Maximum Enhancement: 12]

    ¡°....¡±

    I nkly looked at the message because I hadn¡¯t seen it before. The Revival Legend homepage had zero information about the end of this Enhancement Quest as well as the bonus.

    In other words, this was an unfathomable situation, but I had to do it unconditionally because I had the ¡®God of Enhancement¡¯ trait. It would be stupid for me not to make use of it no matter how long it took.

    ¡®I wonder if it will be two weeks.¡¯

    It took me about 2 weeks for me to ess andplete this quest. I felt it was pretty long.

    Of course, unlike me, it would have taken less than an hour or a few minutes for those who had no choice but to do it by sheer luck.

    ¡®Good. Let me see how good a bonus I can get.¡¯

    I stared at the message intently, vowing that if the bonus was trifling, I would search the guy who made this quest and grab him by the cor.

    **

    [You have seeded in enhancing to the maximum of 12 in the Level 100 only Enhancement Quest.

    -You will receive 200 remaining stat points.

    -Regardless of the grade, level, and current enhancement number, the user receives the one-time right to seed 1+ with a 100% sess rate. (It cannot be exchanged or sold as it will be the user¡¯s exclusive item in their inventory, but it can be deleted.)

    -Title: ¡®Have you enhanced as much as me?¡¯ ]

    200 remaining stat points and a title. Because I received so many stat points, I didn¡¯t think 200 was big enough, coupled with my deleveling these days. In fact, I had 500 stat points, not 200, thanks to the Mutual Growth trait. Besides, I was not sure of the performance of the new title because I didn¡¯t check it.

    Nevertheless, I could see at a nce that what really mattered was written in the middle of the message. In other words, regardless of the grade, level, or current level of reinforcement, the chance to seed in Enhancement 1 unconditionally was a priceless one.

    The problem was that it only applied to others instead of me. So, I had no choice but to frown because I had the God of Enhancement trait.

    Although I have some conditions and the problem of cooldown time, it was only limited to the Level 100-only Enhancement Quest. As it was the quest that only existed for Level 100 yers, leveling up itself was impossible. On the condition of the prohibition of levelling up, I would have achieved Level 200 by now. So, I confirmed the title first.

    ¡®Check the title.¡¯

    [Name: Have you enhanced as much as me?

    -This title that can be obtained only by those who have reached the maximum level of 12 in the Level 100-only Enhancement Quest.

    : Health increase by 100,000.

    : Mana increase by 100,000.

    : All stat points increase by 100.]

    It was a title worse than Scarecrow Destroyer because the 100,000 increase in Health and Mana were the same, but all the stat points increased by 200 in Scarecrow Destroyer. In other words, the primary bonus for this quest was the one-time right to enhance any item by one, aside from the 200 remaining stat points.

    That¡¯s why I felt a bit sorry about it because what was valuable to others was not worth anything at all to me. Oh, of course, it was not totally worthless because there was no restriction like the ¡®God of Enhancement¡¯ trait.

    At that moment, I had a bittersweet feeling because I really wanted this quest to end as soon as possible. At the same time, I also wished it couldst longer than now because the longer itsted with increasing difficulty, the greater the bonus would be.

    So, I turned to the cksmith first because I had as much as 271 hours of cooldown to try to strengthen the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword to transform it into a massive weapon at Level 700. When I felt that I had finished everything, a message rang as if I was not done yet.

    [You have seeded in the Level 100-only Enhancement Quest.

    -12,000 coins have been issued as an additional bonus. ]

    Coins? There was none when I participated in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd closed betas. At that time there was nothing worth calling ¡®quest¡¯.

    At that moment, I recalled what my sister said. [Let me mention ¡®quest¡¯st. When you get a quest, don¡¯t ignore it. Try to solve it. If you don¡¯t get one, you have to find it.]

    Did she refer to ¡®coin¡¯ when she told me to even search for the quest? Of course, if I solved the quest, I would receive EXP or an item or golden rings as a bonus, but she would not have told me to take the pains to search and solve it. In other words, there must be something different.

    I immediately found out that she asked me to do it because of the coin.

    ¡®Is this much enough?¡¯

    Since it was my first time gaining coins, I did not know whether 12,000 coins were big or small. But soon I ignored it because I had them anyway.

    Then I left the cksmith and entered a cafe called Lazy Afternoon in the central square at a leisurely pace. I ordered a soft drink and sat on the sofa because I felt a bit drowsy.

    Of course, I was surprised by my current persona because I had vowed numerous times that I would only focus on levelling up as soon as this quest was over. But when the quest was over, my determination also disappeared.

    ¡°Here you are.¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡±

    Soon I opened the status bar, drinking the beverage in drowsiness.

    [Name: lumen

    Level: 50

    Kills: 0 Deaths: 0

    Title: The only closed beta max level user and two others.

    Health: 814,000(now) / 814,000(max)

    Mana: 702,500(now) / 702,500(max)

    Strength: 815 Agility: 811 Stamina: 3,040

    Willpower: 1,925 Intellectual Power: 3,050

    Remaining Stat Points: 200

    Remaining Skill points: 0

    Traits: Iceman, Mutual Growth, God of Enhancement.]I could not help butugh after checking the status bar because my level went down to 50 from 100.

 Chapter 35

    <h4>Chapter 35: 4G VR adaptor (1)</h4>

    Of course, there was no substantial weakness because only the drop in the remaining stat points, not the invested ones, changed to minus, so normally nothing should also be enhanced in this case. And the situation would go on until it returns to the original level.

    But I have be stronger even though I went down 50 levels.

    If others were in the same situation as me, I would have to level up to 100 without any gains, but I have them. One example was 500 more remaining stat points for a total of 50 levels, which would change to 1,250.

    I could not help butugh in this situation. So, Iughed, but as furtively as possible because of the people around me.

    ¡®Not bad!¡¯

    Therefore, I had an overall review of the current situation.

    Obviously the right to use Enhancement 1 was not that useful to me ¡ª I still liked the 200 remaining stat points and the title, ¡®Have you enhanced as much as me?¡¯

    I had stumbled upon something tremendous, just like Columbus¡¯ discovery of the new continent.

    Of course, if I died, I wouldn¡¯t be able to do it as fast as I wished because of a 24-hour ess ban.

    But I still liked it because it was tremendous that I could gain stat points affecting direct enhancement with methods other than the limited items, skills, and titles.

    And then a message rang very unexpectedly.

    [You have achieved a title.]

    ¡°?¡±

    I did nothing. I just had a soft drink on the sofa. So, I was baffled by the message that I had earned a title all of a sudden.

    But another message rang, regardless of my embarrassment.

    [You have earned the title, ¡®The man who doesn¡¯t drop.¡¯]

    ¡°Check the title.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know exactly what didn¡¯t drop, but there was something suspicious.

    It was the only thing that had seen me dropping these days. And I was thinking of dropping it even a little while ago.

    [Name: The man who doesn¡¯t drop.

    -Limited title is awarded to lumen.

    : Health increased by 10,000.

    : Mana increased by 10,000.

    : Level is not allowed to drop in any case. (Even if the man levels up and dies at 00.00% EXP, he cannot delevel.)]

    ¡°....¡±

    It was an obvious penalty which was disguised as the title that would make me boast and show it off because it¡¯s so precious.

    At that moment I felt really annoyed, but I didn¡¯t express it or hold it for long because I was not foolish enough not to know that this kind of phenomenon caused by my deleveling was not normal.

    I didn¡¯t obey the rule tantly; I abused it instead. I know sanctions could be imposed on me right away. For example, they could revoke my titles. However, I know that there is no strict enforcement of rules in Revival Legend, so much so that it allegedly doesn¡¯t even have a host.

    Pinning my hope on such ax discipline, I thought to myself, ¡®Did I enjoy the benefits of a total 53 levels bybining 50 levels now and 3 levels a moment ago?¡¯

    Although I received the title, there was no additional message about what to do, even though I waited for 10 minutes nervously. In other words, the only sanction against me was the awarding of the title. That was it. And I don¡¯t intend to get deeply involved in it. It would be a lie if I said I had no regrets, but I certainly received benefits. And I felt it was ufortable to get more greedy at this point.

    I stood up from my seat because there was no way for me to make the best use of the Mutual Growth trait although I was in denial deep down. And my goal was the ant caves in the desert.

    I already had a lot of gains there. Even though I fell to Level 50, I was confident of hunting more easily because I became stronger. For example, I could hunt not just 100 monsters, but more than 200 with a power hunt.

    However, I stopped on the spot after taking a few steps because I forgot I had something to do, namely, the investment of 200 remaining stat points I received from the Level 100-only Enhancement Quest. I immediately invested all 200 stats in Intellectual Power.

    So, I moved again after confirming the new Intellectual Power which was changed to 1,350 at Level 50.

    One day and seven hours have passed since then.

    ¡°Ice Field!¡±

    Although it was not tangible, its scope was definitely bigger than before, along with the increased damage. For this reason, more than 150 ants that had been chasing me eagerly changed directions instantly and started to struggle to escape the Ice Field. However, since I did not intend to tolerate them, I used the skills that I enjoyed a lot these days.

    ¡°Ice st!¡¯

    Puk! Puk! Puk!

    ¡°Kiheck!¡±

    Ice cracked and shattered instantly, and then scattered everywhere.

    A message rang at that moment.

    [You have levelled up.]

    ¡°Whew! Finally I¡¯ve recovered.¡±

    Level 100, which was my original maximum level. I wanted to recover it by all means.

    ¡°Check the time.¡±

    [Current time is 16:00.]

    It¡¯s four o¡¯clock in the afternoon.

    ¡°Ugh.¡±

    As soon as I checked the time, I moaned and immediately moved out of the desert ant caves because today was the day I went home once a week. However, unlike me who was moving urgently, the ants that were regenerated stood in my way.

    ¡°Ice Field.¡±

    Firing Ice Field at the ants, I moved quickly.

    ***

    I arrived at my house in Chongdamdong south of the Han River in Seoul.

    ¡°Son!¡±

    ¡°Mom!¡±

    It¡¯d only been a week since my motherst saw me, but the way she weed me made it seem like she hadn¡¯t seen me for several months, so I responded ordingly, unlikest week.

    In fact,st week I felt frustrated because I was forbidden from leveling up, so I felt a bit guilty about not going back home for the shallow reason of busying myself with games. Of course, my gloominess and frustration went away this time.

    ¡°I wished you hade earlier to spend time chatting with me.¡±

    ¡°Sorry. Mom.¡±

    I came just in time for dinner, and hurriedly at that.

    ¡°Where is Dad, Brother, and Sister?¡±

    ¡°Of course they¡¯re all here.¡±

    While my mother led me into the house, I asked her about this and that.

    ¡°By the way, are they still busy these days?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Aside from your father, I can¡¯t even remember thest time I had a long conversation with Kiyoung or Suyoung.¡±

    She told me about small details like that. Honestly, there was something I wanted to ask her.

    I wanted to know if she was really ying the game too. But I felt that it was ufortable and awkward to ask her about it. As if the mother who had raised me for more than 20 years had read my mind, she first said, ¡°Son, I hear you are ying games too. Right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Did you hear it from Sis?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Suyoung told me.¡±

    ¡°But are you really ying games, Mom?¡±

    ¡°Suyoung insisted I should. These days she even forces me to spend some time ying games.¡±

    ¡°Oh my¡­¡±

    I felt she could do so, given her strong personality.

    ¡°Son, I¡¯m a proud good healer. If you encounter danger, let me know. I¡¯lle running to you immediately.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    She spoke as if she was proud of it. I never thought I¡¯d have this kind of conversation with her ever in my life. So, I couldn¡¯t respond at that moment. While chatting with her, I had already stepped into the house.

    ¡°Wee, son,¡± said my elder brother.

    ¡°Hey, my younger brother, wee!¡± said my sister.

    My father just nodded his head while sitting on the sofa in the living room, and my brother weed me calmly. But unlike them, my sister weed me back, waving her hands violently.

    She always did that to me, so I nodded back to her, returning her wee.

    ¡°Okay everybody, go and wash your hands.¡±

    While I was exchanging greetings with them, my mother spoke before going to the kitchen to prepare the food. My father, brother, and sister all stood up.

    Everybody was quiet at the dining table from the beginning.

 Chapter 36

    <h4>Chapter 36: 4G VR adaptor (2)</h4>

    I can¡¯t exactly remember when, but I think it was like that ever since grandfather was alive.

    So, I didn¡¯t feel awkward about the silence.

    Then my father who ate first stood up after he was done, ¡°Juyoung,e and see me downstairs before you leave.¡±

    ¡°You mean your basement study?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    I was a little embarrassed because his basement study was a ce where only VIPs likepany executives could enter. Sometimes my brother went there.

    ¡°Sure,¡± I replied anyway.

    After he left, my brother opened his mouth, ¡°Juyoung, I hear you¡¯re ying games.¡±

    My brother is exactly 10 years older than me. So, I sometimes felt he was like my father, not my brother.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± I replied, casting a nce at my sister because I felt like she told him everything.

    ¡°Good job! To be honest with you, I was thinking of even forcing you to y games sooner orter. Hmm... I think you have a very good sense. Anyway, y hard. And if you have any difficulties or run into trouble or need help, just call me.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    I heard him praising me after a long time. Obviously his praise felt different from my sister¡¯s because she never gave me empty words, while he did.

    ¡°Hey, brother. So, did you level up a lot?¡±

    When my brother left the room, my sister asked me, pushing me gently.

    ¡°Well, I think so¡­¡±

    Of course, my level was the same as before, namely Level 100, but I leveled up a lot in terms of quality.

    ¡°Really? But your main base is still Kotum Castle, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Well, that ce is one of the starting points for beginners, so there aren¡¯t many people and there are rtively few areas where you can move to the Teleport Zone. What do you think? Will youe under me? I¡¯m quite a good gamer, believe it or not.¡±

    She spoke smilingly, shrugging her shoulders. Rather than immediately responding to her suggestion, I made a serious expression and said, ¡°Sis, you are not ying Revival Legend personally, right?¡±

    I don¡¯t think I¡¯m smart. More precisely speaking, I don¡¯t think I am wise, even though my knowledge is abundant. But I¡¯m good at catching wind of what¡¯s going on.

    I don¡¯t know much about the other big groups, but it seems that when Daesung Group and Myongjin Group are involved where even my father, brother, sister, and mother are ying that game, they are not doing it for personal pleasure. The reason I felt that way was because I already had a very special experience while ying Revival Legend, or more exactly, Forgotten Legend.

    It was a game that is hardlymonsensical. Of course, there was only one reason why I didn¡¯t touch it because I was worried that what I gained would go away if I dug more deeply. I¡¯ve often seen excessive curiosity and questions sometimes taking away a lot from people.

    ¡°Well, you¡¯re right. Of course I started like that, but I¡¯m enjoying it personally now, and very much at that.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    At my question, she looked around quickly. Then she whispered, with Mom present, ¡°This is what I heard. In other words, how much we have and how long we can keep stuff in the future depends on Revival Legend. Even our personal status and prestige too.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    Normally I would respond cynically, refuting her ridiculous praise of a mere game. Yes, I was supposed to respond like that, but I didn¡¯t because I had experienced it. So, I didn¡¯t respond or refute her im.

    ¡°So, y games well, Juyoung. Who knows, maybe you¡¯ll be a big shot like Grandpa said? Of course, right now I know you are not persuaded because I felt the same way. You can ask Dad if you want to know more when you see him a littleter. Okay, let me go upstairs.¡±

    Having said that, she stepped out of the kitchen.

    ¡°Sorry, son. I know something is going on here, but I don¡¯t know the details. Let me ask him anyway.¡±

    ¡°No, you don¡¯t have to. I think I can size it up¡­¡±

    What my sister said was enough to shake off my doubt and give me conviction.

    I knocked on the door of my father¡¯s basement study 30 minutester.

    ¡°Come in.¡±

    I slowly opened the door and went in at his voice. When I stepped inside, I saw him reviewing things like documents. But there was something that caught my eye. It was the 3rd generation high-end VR adaptor. It was right there in my father¡¯s basement study.

    ¡°Sit down.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    I sat down on the sofa in the middle of the study. Dad stood up from the desk, approached me, and sat down beside me.

    ¡°I hear you¡¯re ying Revival Legend. Is that right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Nice job.¡±

    Not only my sister and brother, but my father also praised me.

    ¡°Thanks,¡± I replied awkwardly.

    Then he continued right away, ¡°I think you are curious as to why I am ying the game, praising you, and urging you to try harder.¡±

    Even though I wasn¡¯t that curious, I was puzzled until only a moment ago.

    But my brief conversation with my sister made me realize again that this Revival Legend was certainly extraordinary and unusual, although I was holding back my curiosity and questions as much as possible.

    At that moment, he spoke with a low voice.

    ¡°Nobody knows.¡±

    ¡°Pardon?¡±

    ¡°Nobody knows who created this game and where the server is located, let alone who is operating this game. Hacking the game? No one¡¯s been sessful. Even the US government is no exception.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    Tuduru.

    Obviously, the name of thepany that ran the closed beta was Tuduru.

    I remembered it because I had a very strange experience and I even thought of asking him to buy thepany. But I remained silent because my father was not done talking.

    ¡°As you know, the original technology of the first, second, and third VR adaptors is owned by apany called ¡®Vten¡¯ in the United States. And they have released upgraded products every 5 year, upgrading from the 1st to the 2nd and then the 3rd. Of course, there was a difference between the popr type and the high-end type.¡±

    I knew a lot about thispany called Vten because it raked in the world¡¯s biggest profits by collecting royalties.

    But I discovered something strange in his words. He said they produced the VR devices every five years, but they hadn¡¯t yet released the 4th generation VR adaptor despite the fact that it had been over 5 years since the 3rd one was released.

    As if he read my mind, my father continued, ¡°Thepany has disappeared instantly. Of course, nobody knew it because its disappearance was shrouded in secrecy.

    You know why? Vten only possessed the original technology, but they did not produce the VR adaptors themselves. Then a strange rumor started circtingter.¡±

    While he was speaking, he interlocked his fingers and continued in a serious voice, ¡°The rumor is that the 4th adaptor will appear in reality, not in the form of a VR adaptor. Of course, even this rumor spread only recently because the United States has kept it a secret.¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    At that moment I didn¡¯t understand exactly what he said. I had to look at him with a surprised expression. He continued, ¡°Yeah, this is ridiculous and absurd. But not only the US government, which first discovered Vten disappeared and kept it a secret, but also those business groups much bigger than Myongjin Group are banking on this game called ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ for their survival, keeping all the secrets to themselves.¡±

    ¡°I wonder how this kind of fact could be kept secret until now¡­¡±

    If it was true, our society would fall into great turmoil, but everything worked fine as if nothing happened. Regardless of whether this was true or not, the fact that Vten disappeared would be enough to shock the whole world.

    ¡°They disappeared because they were too greedy. Those who have a lot will keep the secret and what they have. Meanwhile, those who barely found out just a bit of the secret will get a little more than others who are still kept in the dark. Just like a Mobius strip.¡±

 Chapter 37

    <h4>Chapter 37: First experience (1)</h4>

    I had nothing to say at the moment.

    ¡°As soon as we found out, we immediately followed suit like they did because there were too many who said ¡®Yes¡¯ for us to say ¡®No¡¯ tly.¡±

    I would not have believed it if my father had not told me about it in person. But I had no other choice but to believe it because I experienced it myself. He continued to tell me more as if he wanted to reveal everything to me.

    ***

    One hour? No, it was clear that less than an hour had passed since I talked with my father.

    But I felt like several hours had passed because what he told me was very shocking.

    When he was almost done, he changed the topic.

    ¡°By the way, I hear you¡¯re ying the game with an ice-type wizard?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It suits my taste.¡±

    ¡°What is your level?

    ¡°Level 100.¡±

    At that moment, I could see my dad¡¯s face slightly hardening. With his expression rigid, he said with a slightly lower tone than before, ¡°I know you were also the same levelst week.¡±

    That¡¯s true. I was Level 100st week and Level 100 two weeks ago. My level went down to 50 in between.

    ¡°Well...I had some things to do¡­¡±

    At that moment, I had a lot of things on my mind.

    Of course, I thought I would tell him about what I had experienced until now.

    Not only the current Revival Legend but also the first, second and third closed betas of the previous Forgotten Legend before it was renamed Revival Legend.

    Watching him clearly be disappointed in me who didn¡¯t level up by one during thest week, I said something silly, torn between the desire to tell him everything and the desire to make some excuses for not leveling up. It was just like the past as I felt like someone inferior, sandwiched between my proud brother and sister.

    ¡°Got it. Work hard. And there are still those who don¡¯t want all of this to be revealed yet. So, never leak it outside. They still have power.¡±

    Having said that, he stood up from the sofa and went to the desk to sit down.

    Then he started to browse through the documents he had in his hands before I came as if he was done talking to me. I paced up and down for about 1 minute before leaving the basement because I was sorting out some words to ask him something.

    I didn¡¯t say anything, though. When I was about to turn back, he said, ¡°Be ready toe back home from now on. If something goes wrong, it will be a big mess. So, don¡¯t be stubborn like you used to be.¡±

    ¡°...Yeah.¡±

    Responding to him quietly, I left the basement study.

    After that, I couldn¡¯t remember how I returned to the one-room studio where I lived because

    I was very shocked

    Of course, I guessed it and even expected it. But guessing and anticipating did not reduce or relieve my shock because the truth was so enormous to make my guesses and expectation amiss.

    I turned on theputer right away and googled thepany ¡®Vten.¡¯

    I saw the ¡®Vten¡¯ homepage clearly. Its bulletin board contained posts as of yesterday.

    And there were even replies to the question on the bulletin board.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think my father is ying into somebody¡¯s hand.¡±

    That was certain.

    But it was ridiculous that not only Myongjin Group but also Daesung was crazy about Revival Legend. And what I experienced firsthand in that game was far from ordinary.

    At that moment, fear suddenly washed over me because I got a glimpse of the true picture of the game, although I vaguely concluded it was not a general game.

    So, I didn¡¯t ess the game. I just turned off the lights andy down on the bed.

    Then all kinds of thoughts about the game came to my mind.

    I really enjoyed ying the game until this afternoon. I was just overjoyed with the thought that I had overwhelming strengthpared to my level, and I would continue to do so.

    Although I was dissatisfied with the status quo of my level due to the Level 100-only Enhancement Quest for two weeks, I had a great hit in other areas as if I should not be discouraged by my level. The biggest among them was the double increase in my stat points because of my deleveling.

    Reflecting on that, I smiled to myself because I went through a total of 53 levels twice, including Level 50 and my first Level 3, which got me a total of 530 more remaining stat pointspared to others. The stat points grew to 1,352 thanks to Mutual Growth.

    Including the title I earned this time, ¡®Have you enhanced as much as me?¡¯ I already have two other titles: ¡®The only closed beta max level achiever¡¯ and ¡®Scarecrow Destroyer,¡¯ in addition to three traits.

    When I thought as far as that, I raised myself from the bed right away and blurted out, ¡°Why should I be afraid? Why should I be scared? That¡¯s other peoples¡¯ business, not mine.¡±

    I had gotten so many things. It was clearly a penalty, but I got as much as 10,000 mana and health, plus the titles that increased them by 10,000.

    I¡¯m in a position to wee all these achievements fervently because I can climb as high as I want in this game world.

    In no time I got up straight and turned on the lights. Then I wore the 3rd generation VR adaptor because I could not afford to take a break.

    ***

    While Juyong was essing the game, his father, Sanman Hong, put down the documents he had been reviewing in the basement study of his house in Chongdamdong.

    Then he uttered with a sigh, ¡°Oh my...damn crazy Chinese bastards. They don¡¯t know ¡®moderation.¡¯ No moderation!¡±

    Compared to China, America was much better because it cautiously moved to search for the max level achievers during the first and second closed betas of ¡®Forgotten Legend,¡¯ the predecessor of ¡®Revival Legend.¡¯

    Since Washington monopolized the secret, it was afraid other countries would get wind of it. But China tantly showed its ambitions. Beijing didn¡¯t hesitate to search for them around the world, dangling the highest scouting premium. So, Chairman Hong was distressed by this development these days. Because Beijing offered a considerable amount of money, the max level achievers of the first and second closed betas, who Myongjin Group had secured with lots of hard efforts, seemed to sway their minds. In fact, some of them asked to renegotiate theirpensation, mentioning Beijing¡¯s offer to them.

    So, Myongjin Grouppiled a ¡®Prime Member List.¡¯ The list included those who had an extraordinary talent in games and needed to be tied to the Myongjinpany name, including the max level achievers in the first and second closed betas. It was natural that Myongjin was fully ready to support those included on the list. In addition, Chairman Hong put his son¡¯s name ¡°Juyoung Hong¡± on the list. His brother Kiyoung and sister Suyoung were already included on the list early on.

    ¡°Well, one¡¯s efforts as well as one¡¯s interest can be called talent.¡±

    Chairman Hong secretly thought of putting Juyoung¡¯s name on the list or pushing ahead with including his name with his authority, but he didn¡¯t. He knew that if he did so, he could be in big trouble in the future. He knew that he had to be prudent because the sries of the max level achievers with the traits from the first and second closed betas were soaring due to China¡¯s crazy scouting efforts.

    As their sries went up, they wanted more. Of course, Chairman Hong could ept their demands without difficulty because he thought that if they werepetent enough, they should deserve more. But some of the gamers argued that because they had more special traits than others, they should receive more money.

    After all, Chairman Hong drew a long line to Juyoung¡¯s name and said with a sigh, ¡°Oh my...I¡¯m afraid I have to marry Suyoung to the 40-year-old crazy gamer.¡±

 Chapter 38

    <h4>Chapter 38: First experience (2)</h4>

    His name was Sunghan Kim, and he achieved the maximum level in the first and second closed betas. Chairman Hong regretted scouting Sunghan. Hong wished he had not epted the man because he was like a cunning viper coiled up in the grass, looking for an opportunity.

    Moreover, Sunghan was quite clever at instigating people, so even before Hong began to do something about him, more and more max level achievers of Myongjin Group followed him day by day, so much so that it was difficult to separate him from those that thepany took special care of. At this point, it was very likely that those who achieved the maximum level in the first and second closed betas, who thepany had scouted by investing lots of money and time up until now, would leave Myongjin to follow him.

    Sunghan already began to show his true colors. He demanded that his daughter get married into the Hong family, and threatened to take his max-level followers to China or Daesung or any other ce if he didn¡¯t ept his demands.

    ¡°Sunghan Kim is more of a problem than the Chinese guys.¡±

    Chairman Hong¡¯s agonies deepened like that. He knew that he needed to remove rotten pus like Sunghan, but there were so many things at stake that he could not put the scalpel onto so easily.

    ***

    Desert ant caves.

    Since I decided to dere this my main hunting ground for the time being, I moved freely from Kotum Castle to this ce using the Teleport Zone. And I ran into the No 3. ant cave.

    Of course, when the boss monster came out, I thought of the No. 5 ant cave, but I changed my mind after I levelled up to 100 because there were many more than I thought.

    Some of them even checked out the appearance of the boss monster. So, I got out immediately because I could not drive the hunt freely. My immediate goal was not the boss monster anyway.

    Crunch, crunch.

    As if they discovered me, the ants showed up, waving their antennae dly. I also waved back at them. I even forgot that I was scared about the game itself until a moment ago.

    Then I began to move here and there like I used to. In fact, I felt the number of less than 20 ants was not big enough for me to handle. When I moved around for 2-3 minutes like that, there were almost 150 ants chasing me. So, I turned immediately and used the skills that had never let me down.

    ¡°Ice Field!¡±

    Crunch, crunch.

    I saw and of ice being created instantly before my eyes. And the ants on the icend screamed and struggled to get out of the ice field.

    ¡°Pouring Hailstones!¡±

    Watching the ants struggling to get out, I used Pouring Hailstones. Of course, I could use Ice st, so I used both of them alternately. Whatever I used, it would deal a fatal blow to the ants.

    Then I attacked the remaining ants outside the caves with other skills.

    ¡°Multiple Ice Arrows. Ice Ball. Ice Bolt.¡±

    Moving a little bit, I used those skills one by one. That was it.

    A message rang almost as if it were announcing the end.

    [You have levelled up.]

    That message always pleased me.

    At that moment, I heard some noise while picking up golden rings and other misceneous items that the ants dropped. It was the sound of something breaking through the wind. More precisely, it was the sound of something flying.

    Puk!

    An arrow was shot into my ribs gently. Of course, it didn¡¯t hurt.

    Aside from Health, the arrow was too weak to hurt me since I had 4,000 Physical Strength. And then I heard a voice.

    ¡°Brother! That son of a bitch is over there! That bastard who gathered all the ants and damaged our party!¡±

    I slightly turned my head to the ce where I heard the voice.

    And I could confirm the party of eleven who gossiped about me while looking at my outfit when I was moving to the ant caves at first.

    I gently pulled out the arrow stuck in my ribs and looked down at it.

    I had never been attacked by users like me, including the monsters in all the games I yed, including Revival Legend or Forgotten Legend before it was renamed, because I didn¡¯t make any room for conflict from the beginning and I apologized first or avoided it if I saw any signs of physical conflict.

    At that moment, all sorts of thoughts came into my mind. I also thought about what I should do when faced with this unexpected situation.

    In the meantime, the eleven users surrounded me.

    ¡°You bastard! You¡¯re the guy who was hunting inside the No. 3 ant caves, right?¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    One of them shouted at me, raising his voice. I didn¡¯t respond because I was still at a loss about what to do. Then another guy, who seemed to be his friend, opened his mouth, ¡°That¡¯s right! I saw him clearly. I can¡¯t forget that outfit of his!¡±

    ¡°You bet. He¡¯s the same guy! After he ran away, apparently nearly 300 ants appeared. So, we really had a hard time beating them as well as another 100 ants that we were hunting.¡±

    I carefully thought about what they said, and nodded slightly because I really had done what they just said. I fired the threatening Ice Field at the charging ants, determined not to allow even a single EXP that I had been seeking for my deleveling.

    ¡°Is this guy dumb? Why is he silent?¡±

    The guy holding a shield who was apparently a tank approached me threateningly and quite rudely.

    ¡°Sorry. At that time, I couldn¡¯t confirm if somebody was near me.¡±

    I apologized to them first, like I used to. But this time I felt different; I felt a sense of defiance.

    I¡¯d never felt such feelings before. While ying games, I never felt defiant or shameful when I apologized first and gave it a pass even if it was unfair.

    Moreover, in this case, it was obviously my fault because I did them damage when they were hunting. But this kind of ill-mannered thing happened too often in games.

    Despite that, I felt annoyed.

    If they had been soft on me, I would not have felt it. But they first picked a fight with me even before I spoke.

    ¡°Huh? Do you think just saying sorry is enough?¡±

    ¡°It looks like this man thinks it¡¯s okay to say sorry after he kills somebody. He thinks life is so easy.¡±

    I apologized to them for the kind of bad manners that lots of users disyed so often in hunting. However, these guys made a big fuss by making a mountain out of a molehill as if they wanted to fight with me.

    Of course, I was not foolish enough not to notice their intention. So, I raised my head and stared at them one by one to figure out their intentions exactly.

    Sugil Chung, the healer, as well as their captain, was suspicious of me. Someone like me with items only beginners could wear, came in and out of the ant caves freely. Of course, people like me wearing nondescript clothes and a sword showed great performance in the martial arts or fantasy genre. In some cases, they even appear with one stick.

    But unlike them, this was a game. So, it was possible that I could demonstrate abilities that were significantly different from before, depending on each item I wore. Therefore, Sugil could not understand why I was wearing poor low-level items on purpose.

    Besides, these were ant caves where Level 300-350 monsters came out in droves.

    In other words, even for a man in a shabby outfit, he would have to be at least Level 400 to challenge the cave alone. But what if a man at Level 400 gained golden rings just enough to wear rags? Above all, Sugil was puzzled by this.

    Of course, Sugil had seen people deliberately wear corresponding items, pretending to be low-level hunters. They usually appeared in party hunts, hid their levels, and wore items that befitted their levels to move along with their party.

 Chapter 39

    <h4>Chapter 39: First experience (3)</h4>

    When they were faced with a dangerous situation, however, they showed their abilities, condescending as much as they could be. In other words, they were nothing more than crazy freaks vying for others¡¯ attention.

    But the man dressed in rags in front of them was me alone. I didn¡¯t look like a pervert who wanted to get excessive attention from others. So, Sugil made a party member pick a fight with me, just in case. How trifling it was, sometimes such an act damaged the other party in question in the past. So, he was willing to scout me if I waspetent enough. Sugil didn¡¯t even bother when his party member rode roughshod over me because they belonged to Daesung, and I probably would not decline their offer even if I was treated poorly.

    What if I was far frompetent? Sugil didn¡¯t care because killing one user was not a big deal. Actually it happened very often.

    ¡°Hey, Mister, do you think just saying sorry is enough?¡±

    Now, the guy was acting arrogantly.

    Finally, I opened my mouth, ¡°What do you want me to do?¡±

    ¡°Well, you shouldpensate and apologize more politely.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    Compensation and a more polite apology?

    At that moment Iughed by myself, which seemed to provoke their anger.

    ¡°Damn it! This bastard isughing at us when we demand he apologize for his mistake!¡±

    ¡°Are you crazy?¡±

    But I recalled what my father told me at home yesterday, rather than their anger.

    [Don¡¯t die. It hasn¡¯t been revealed yet, but the fact that there are a number of deaths on your status bar will likely result in a penalty in the future. On the other hand, kill others if you can. This may also result in your futurepensation.]

    ¡®Kills ¡® and ¡®Deaths¡¯ didn¡¯t exist in the closed beta. My father mentioned directly that I could kill other users, but I should not be killed. I don¡¯t know why his warning suddenly came to my mind because I¡¯d never attacked other users, let alone kill them, in my life.

    ¡®Check Status.¡¯

    I opened the status bar first because I had something to do. I wanted to invest the 10 remaining stat points I gained by leveling up a moment ago.

    [Name: lumen

    Level: 101

    Kills: 0 Deaths: 0

    Titles: 3, including The only closed beta max level achiever.

    Health: 884,000(now) / 884,000(max)

    Mana: 737,500(now) / 737,500(max)

    Strength: 815 Agility: 811 Stamina: 3740

    Willpower: 2275 Intellectual Power: 3750

    Remaining Stat Points: 10

    Remaining Skill Points: 0

    Traits: Iceman, Mutual Growth, God of Enhancement.]

    ¡°Hey. I¡¯m asking you a question. Are you crazy?¡± said the tank holding the shield. He came closer to me and pushed my shoulder as if he was about to attack me immediately.

    But I ignored him and invested 10 points in Intellectual Power.

    Then I turned off the status bar and spoke to him informally, staring at the man, ¡°Well, it¡¯s my first time here.¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    ¡°What the fuck is he talking about?¡±

    Not only the tank, but the other ten members that stood some distance away all looked at me with puzzled expressions. But I kept speaking, not caring at all, ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know what to do. You might not notice it, but my heart is pounding very fast now. In fact, I never thought I would experience this kind of thing in my life.¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    Clearly the eleven users, or my enemies, were very much embarrassed by what I said.

    ¡°Therefore, let me apologize to you first if I am mistaken. As this is my first time, I might not be able to control it. So, be careful. Ice Field!¡±

    Generally speaking, the reason why I always went for the ice-type series, aside from the ice-type wizard, in all games was for just one reason. It¡¯s because the first attack guarantees victory, guaranteed victory with the first strong blow.

    I could carry it out as a wizard, and at a long distance at that. Of course, I was now at a close distance, unfortunately. And, I was close to dealing with a total of eleven yers. But to my surprise, I was fine with it this time because I could stop them from fleeing.

    Crunch, crunch.

    Thend was covered with ice instantly.

    ¡°Ugh! Be careful!¡±

    ¡°Fire Shield.¡±

    ¡°re up, me that never goes out!¡±

    ¡°Summon the Spirit of Fire! Spirit of Fire! Spirit of Fire!¡±

    ¡°May the power of curses weaken the enemy! Weakness!¡±

    Puk! Puk! Bang! Bang!

    It was my first time using all avable skills. But I knew that the party of eleven had enough experience. They were not confused about my surprise attack ¡ª they responded immediately.

    They inflicted debuffs on me in the meantime.

    [You have be weak.

    -The other party¡¯s Intellectual Power does not show much difference from lumen¡¯s Willpower.

    -The influence of Weakness has been greatly reduced.]

    ¡°Damn it! Who is that son of a bitch? Howe the effect of Weakness is so lowpared to his Willpower?¡±

    The guy who inflicted debuffs on me started blurting out loud without hiding his embarrassment, but I didn¡¯t care. I still had a lot of other things to care about.

    ¡°Attack!¡±

    ¡°Attack!¡±

    ¡°Steel Shield.¡±

    ¡°Slow Shot!¡±

    ¡°Spirit of Fire, attack!¡±

    The tank at the forefront began to attack me by using the giant shield, followed by the torrent of arrows and the Spirit of Fire. Of course, they didn¡¯t just attack because my Ice Field was far from ordinary.

    ¡°Fuck! So much damage because of this Ice Field!¡±

    ¡°Blood is oozing out from me, man!¡±

    ¡°Heal!¡±

    ¡°Mega Heal!¡±

    Watching them in confusion, I immediately used the next skill.

    I ignored their barrage of attacks against me.

    ¡°Pouring Hailstones!¡±

    Puk! Puk! Puk!

    Soon, numerous hailstones rained down on their heads. Naturally, like Ice Field, this had the added bonus with the ¡°Iceman¡± trait, so I had never been disappointed by its effects. And in the meantime, they resumed attacks against me with Slow Shots and the Spirit of Fire, let alone the pointed shields.

    Puk! Puk! Puk!

    ¡°?¡±

    My Physical Strength and Health points were too high to evenin of pain or feel threatened, so much so that I didn¡¯t need to use Ice Shield at all, let alone my Willpower.

    [You have been hit by a Slow Shot.

    -Lumen¡¯s Willpower is overwhelmingly higher than the other party¡¯s Intellectual Power.

    -You are not bound by Slow Shots.]

    ¡°Hey, idiot! Weakness doesn¡¯t work. Just use Power Shots!¡±

    ¡°Okay, got it!¡±

    The enemies also seemed confused. But the archer with the bow couldn¡¯t keep up with what he said because he copsed right after he was hit by the hailstones on the head. He was the first to copse.

    ¡°Fuck! What the hell is this damage?¡±

    ¡°Damn it! The Fire Shield has been broken!¡±

    ¡°Even the Spirit of Fire is being recalled!¡±

    The enemies were in chaos. So, I cast more skills to make them even more confused, which I have enjoyed a lot these days.

    ¡°Ice st!¡±

    As always, there was an immediate crack in the Ice Field.

    Puk! Puk! Puk! At that moment, Ice Field was smashed to pieces, ice fragments flying everywhere.

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    ¡°Fuck!¡±

    The party of eleven, barely fighting with several Fire Shields, Mega Shields, and the Spirit of Fire, was ughtered at once.

    Of course, there was only one left, namely the tank who was close to me.

    ¡°Who are you?

    ¡°Me? Well, you should know this. I¡¯m actually the operator of this game. Multiple Ice Arrow.¡±

    He asked me who I was, but I had no intention of revealing my identity. So, I just said something off the top of my head, firing myst bit of magic, Multiple Ice Arrows. And then the tank died.

    And my first battle against users like me ended like that.

    ***

    Since it was my first battle against other yers, I thought I would be shocked or maybe I would experience a change of heart.

    No matter how often this kind of killing and being killed among users happened in games, at least I had been absent from it until now. But when I experienced it directly, I was not shocked at all.

 Chapter 40

    <h4>Chapter 40: Preparation for the next step</h4>

    Rather, I felt some regrets. Regrets about the fighting?

    No. I didn¡¯t feel sorry about this fight because I did everything I could.

    So, I won without taking much damage. But what I felt sorry for was my past.

    Sadly, I didn¡¯t have this experience during the first, second, and third closed betas.

    At that time, I didn¡¯t deal a single blow at other users in the field, let alone the field of honor, so I got an F grade because of zero kills. Unlike the number of monsters killed, items, golden rings, and skills, I got at least an A in all of these.

    Of course, I am 100% satisfied with the three traits. But I was a little curious about which traits I would have received if I had gotten an A or B at least.

    ¡°Lol.¡±

    At that moment, I giggled in spite of myself because I found myself boasting like an expert after scoring a PK (yer kill) for the first time. Then I recalled what I said to the tankst.

    ¡°Operator...¡±

    I unwittingly mentioned it to the tank who asked about my identity. Of course, there was a reason why the word ¡°operator¡± suddenly came out of my mouth. Yesterday my father told me that it was highly likely there was no operator for Revival Legend. Even if there was one, there was little chance for him to even intervene.

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a big deal. By the way, I think I have to get out of here.¡±

    Yes, I needed to escape because the eleven users that I killed might just forget about what happened today quietly like a puppy curling up its tail, but there was a good chance that they would harm me. I often saw small fights grow into big ones. In particr, if they belonged to a guild, they often relied on the guild for help.

    I didn¡¯t want to hunt, feeling nervous that they might mobilize dozens or hundreds of guild guys. They might call me a coward, but it¡¯s better to be called like that because I didn¡¯t have any intention of being stubborn or demonstrating my bravado because I could get stronger after several hours since I was Level 101.

    So, what I need now is time. I didn¡¯t want to waste my time on fighting. And if I had to fight, I wanted to do so after growing a little more. Although I showed enormous power now, I would do so with an overwhelming gap then.

    So, I turned back because although they were banned from essing the game for 24 hours as a death penalty, they might have called up their guild andined about me.

    The fourth branch of Daesung Guild.

    The ce called the 4th Daesung Guild, mainlyposed of those at Level 300~450, operated inside and outside the game, namely in the real world, like other branches.

    Therefore, Daesung was paying a lot of attention to this game. Of course, thepensation was not much, but Daesung paid monthly sries to those up to the third branch. Management of the fourth branch differed greatly from that of the first, second, and third branches. So, there was intensepetition among members trying to move up to the third branch from the 4th.

    Anyway, the phone in Daesung¡¯s 4th branch real-world office rang.

    ¡°Hello, this is the Daesung Guild 4th Branch Office.¡±

    ¡°Hello. I am Sugil Chung, the leader of the 27th party of the 4th branch.¡±

    ¡°Hold a minute.¡±

    The employee working at the 4th branch office checked out the directory of the 4th branch stuck on one side of the desk. Then he checked the 27th party and confirmed that its captain was Sugil Chung, then replied right away, ¡°Yes, please go ahead.¡±

    ¡°A little while ago, all members of the 27th party were killed.¡±

    ¡°All killed?¡± the employee asked back.

    In the words of Jeongsu-gil¡¯s annihtion, he asked for an employee guarding the office.

    ¡°Yes¡­¡±

    ¡°You know that if all eleven people were killed in the game, you have to submit an ident report, right? If it turns out that you made the mistake, you will be penalized. In that case, that will result in disciplinary action, such as retracting our support.¡±

    ¡°I know. But I called you quickly to report something.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°I think I met the operator.¡±

    The employee momentarily thought he heard wrong because he knew there was no operator of Revival Legend, or if any, there was no interference by the operator. He knew it because as a member of the 4th branch, he was ying Revival Legend himself, so he heard lots of rumors about the game. That¡¯s why he had to ask back embarrassedly.

    ¡°What did you say?¡±

    ¡°I said I seemed to have met the operator.¡±

    ¡°Please gather all eleven members here at the office immediately. Everyone!¡±

    Of course, it might not be true. However, the employee instantly knew that it was not something he could take care of, so he summoned all eleven members before reporting to his supervisor.

    ¡°Okay, got it.¡±

    After hanging up, the employee called his immediate supervisor at the fourth branch.

    ***

    Teleport Zone located in Kotum Castle.

    ¡®Hmm. Where should I go?¡¯

    Originally I intended to hunt in the desert ant cave for Level 200 and above. Maybe more.

    I liked that cave so much because it was a perfect hunting ground for the drive hunt.

    I could get almost 200 ants chasing me if I moved up and down for a few minutes.

    So, I felt really sad about the fact that I was forbidden to use the hunting ground against my will. While I was missing the desert ant cave a lot, something soon caught my eye, namely the items I currently wore.

    ¡°...¡±

    Since I could level up more quickly than others, I didn¡¯t feel the need to obtain items suitable for that level by wasting time or golden rings. In fact, it took less than 5 days for me to level up to 100 from 0. And that was also true when I easily hunted at the desert ant cave at Level 100. So, I decided to obtain the right item when I went over Level 200 at least.

    ¡®Can I obtain the rare wizard set item equivalent to Enhancement 3?¡¯

    I had a change of heart. Right. When I fought the other yers today, they were obviously weak. They were probably less than Level 300. It was proven by the fact that as many as eleven formed a party on the hunting ground for Level 300~350.

    However, I felt like I would have lots of regrets if I met people stronger than them and got defeated by the skin of my teeth just because I umted the golden rings but didn¡¯t use them to obtain the matching items.

    ¡®Good. Let me buy good items, if not excellent.¡¯

    After deciding on that, I went into Kotum Castle. Then I moved to the auction ce in the shopping mall because I had to obtain the enhanced items that were sold and bought among users. I was now inside the auction ce.

    ¡°Damn it! I identally subtracted 0 before bidding! And some asshole won. Fuck!¡±

    ¡°Idiot! Confirm it before bidding.¡±

    ¡°Shit. It took less than a second for me to cancel. It seems like the traders are living here for a whole day! How can they win it with a nk?¡±

    ¡°Hey. There are not only one or two merchants sticking around at the auction ce for a whole day. There are not only those who are trying to buy low and sell high, but also a team of professional traders managed by the guild these days.¡±

    ¡°Damn it! I¡¯ve lost everything I¡¯ve worked hard for during the past month!¡±

    The auction ce was morous with biddersining about their bad luck.

    It was always noisy during the first, second, and third closed betas.

    So, I went further inside, ignoring them.

 Chapter 41

    <h4>Chapter 41: Grey hair (1)</h4>

    Then a message rang.

    [You have entered the auction ce.

    -You can¡¯t sell or purchase your items.

    -When you seed in selling, you have to pay 1% of the sales price. You don¡¯t pay the fee when you buy items.]

    ¡®Item search.¡¯ I had already used it before. So I immediately started searching for the items because I had nothing to sell for now, except for the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword.

    I have no intention of selling it. Every time the cooldown for the ¡°God of Enhancement¡± is over, I will try to enhance it again. I n to equip the guardian sword after achieving Level 700, and the Myth grade weapons that might have already turned into 3+ or 5+ despite Safety Enhancement 0. I smiled, thinking like that. Then a message rang.

    [Item search]

    When the search bar appeared, I entered Level 100 and chose main stats in Intellectual Power, ¡®rare¡¯ in grade and 3 in the minimum enhancement, then started the search. Several items were searched. So, I chose the items with the highest trading frequency rate for sellingter.

    [+3 Cydin¡¯s Robe (Rare)

    -This is an item set created for beginners who are newly introduced to the wizard by Cydin, the chief craftsman of the Cydin Magic Workshop.

    -The set consists of a robe, pants, gloves, and boots. There are additional effects when you wear it with a set.

    : 2 sets: additional increase in Intellectual Power by 5.

    : 3 sets: additional increase in Intellectual Power by 10.

    : 4 sets: additional increase in Intellectual Power by 15.

    -You can wear the set when you are Level 100 and above.

    -Effect.

    : Intellectual Power increases by 12.

    : Willpower increases by 5.

    : Health increased by 2,000.

    -Physical Defense: increases by 77, Magic Defense: increases by 165.

    -Durability: 11,700/11,700]

    [+3 Cydin¡¯s Pants (Rare)

    -This is an item set created for beginners who are newly introduced to the wizard by Cydin, the chief craftsman of the Cydin Magic Workshop.

    -The set consists of a robe, pants, gloves, and boots. There are additional effects when you wear it with a set.

    : 2 sets: Additional increase in Intellectual Power by 5.

    : 3 sets: Additional increase in Intellectual Power by 10.

    : 4 sets: Additional increase in Intellectual Power by 15.

    -You can wear the set when you are Level 100 and above.

    Effect.

    : Intellectual Power increases by 10.

    : Willpower increases by 4.

    : Health increases by 2,000.

    -Physical Defense: increases by 45, Magic Defense: increases by 131.

    -Durability: 9,600/9,600]

    [+3 Cydin¡¯s Gloves (Rare)

    Since I was above average in the Status bar, I was not that satisfied with the item sets of Cydin. But I bought them all because they were excellentpared to my current items.

    [To purchase four items, a total of 293,600 golden rings are required.

    -Would you like to buy them?]

    I immediately clicked on the purchase option. Then I left the auction house right away.

    Buying weapons? I thought about it whileing here, especially the weapons that I would useter. Although I didn¡¯t mean it, I decided to use the sword to get used to it anyway.

    And a sword was in the inventory, which was the +3 strong longsword.

    After exiting the auction house, I stopped by a grocery store and disposed of the misceneous items I collected in the Golem Habitat and ant caves.

    ¡®Then, am I ready now?¡¯

    I moved to the Teleport Zone with a lighter heart than before to hunt monsters again.

    ***

    Late at night, several VIPs led by Chairman Junghan Kim of Daesung Group gathered in one ce because of the report they received today. After checking the report in hand, sitting at the head table, Chairman Kim opened his mouth, looking at the participants sitting on both sides.

    ¡°Is this for real?¡±

    ¡°It seems that the report is true. All eleven members have made consistent statements. Of course, they might have been duped by someone falsely iming he¡¯s the operator, but what¡¯s written in the report is all true.¡±

    Sokju Han, the 4th branch manager, responded immediately. Actually, he had interviewed the eleven for almost five hours, as they imed they were all killed by the operator.

    Chairman Kim asked back immediately, ¡°Did you record the incident?¡±

    ¡°Well, they stated that they were so absentminded that they couldn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Eleven of them were there, but not one of them recorded it?¡±

    ¡°No, sir.¡±

    ¡°Tut, tut. How stupid!¡±

    Clicking his tongue, Chairman Kim looked back at the report that he put down. Whatever the reason, he could not ignore the appearance of the operator lightly, even if it was a fake or if they were a scammer.

    ¡°They couldn¡¯t identify the face of the alleged operator because he was wearing the ragged clothing befitting beginners¡­¡± Chairman Kim repeated in a low voice.

    Hearing it, the 3rd branch manager who interviewed the eleven with Han stated,

    ¡°I think the guy was quite powerful, so much so that except for the tank, the others could not survive his triple-threat. Besides, even the tank could stick it out not because he was strong, but because he was outside the attack range.¡±

    ¡°Well, the eleven are between 290 and 350 in levels anyway. Is it difficult for a strong yer to beat them all?¡±

    ¡°Well, if the guy is exceptionally strong, he can beat them easily. However, I want to tell you that there are very few strong yers who, wearing such items as ragged clothing, hang around the Level 300 hunting grounds. Actually, there is no such strong man as far as I know.¡±

    ¡°Then is that guy really the operator?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s more likely that he is not. But what the alleged operator told them was very significant,¡± the 3rd branch manager said.

    ¡°Are you talking about the first part of the report?¡±

    Since Chairman Kim already read the report, he knew which part of the report was significant.

    In fact, Kim himself felt that section of the report was very unusual.

    ¡°Yes, sir. I think if he is that strong, he must have lots of experience. Perhaps he is an old user who participated in the closed beta.¡±

    ¡°You bet. He might have lied when he said it was his first time, but based on the intelligence unit¡¯s reconstruction of their interviews with the eleven from the beginning, they have produced a hypothesis,¡± Chairman Kim¡¯s chief secretary Insu Jang said, following up on the 3rd branch manager¡¯s words.

    Looking at Jang, Chairman Kim asked, ¡°What hypothesis?¡±

    ¡°The hypothesis is that the guy is the real operator and he has been using that character from the beginning.¡±

    Jang paused for a moment and checked the expressions of the participants including Chairman Kim, and then continued, ¡°He even apologized at first to the eleven who acted quite rudely to him. He also bowed to them, although what he had done was ungentlemanlike, it¡¯s prettymon in this game. Do you think his behavior ismon?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    Several participants stroked their chins after hearing Jang¡¯s exnation. Obviously, the alleged operator¡¯s behavior was notmon.

    ¡°He is a strong yer. With 3 AoE skills, he killed the users at Level 300 all at once.

    To be honest, he used only two, not three. I haven¡¯t seen a strong yer be so polite to the weak until now.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Not only Chairman Kim but also the other participants didn¡¯t refute Jang¡¯s statement because they agreed with him. Given that the phrase ¡°power dominates all¡± is regarded as the truth in the gaming world, Jang¡¯s words could not be more true.

    ¡°Of course, it¡¯s a hypothesis with a low probability, but I still think it¡¯s not bad to keep it in mind.¡±

    ¡°Good. Take the eleven idiots and search for that man. A guy with white hair is notmon. If he really is the operator, it¡¯s not bad for us to approach him first. We might obtain a hidden card.¡±

    ¡°Sure, sir.¡±

    ¡°Let me follow up immediately.¡±

    With everybody nodding, Jang looked at Chairman Kim as if he had something to say.

    Sensing it quickly, Kim said with a nod, ¡°Just go ahead.¡±

 Chapter 42

    <h4>Chapter 42: Grey hair (2)</h4>

    ¡°Sure. The ce where the man first appeared was at the ant cave famous for power hunting for users Level 300~350. And the skills he used were mostly AoE skills. So, I think he¡¯ll most likely be in a ce where he can enjoy the drive hunt.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    Kim groaned, stroking his chin while hearing Jang¡¯s prediction. Then, he immediately nodded, ¡°Good. Search for him at the drive-hunt ces, if possible.¡±

    ¡°Sure, will do, sir.¡±

    Daesung Group started to search for the man secretly, using the clues about the man in ragged clothing and white hair as described in the report.

    ***

    The next day.

    I bought a set of Cydin armor with Enhancement 3 and then logged out right away because it was already past 1 PM. Then I woke up early in the morning, had cereal for breakfast, and essed the game immediately. After that, I stood in front of the Teleport Zone here at Kotum Castle, when I vividly recalled the memories of the battle from yesterday.

    ¡®Will they search for me?¡¯

    I was afraid they might search for me not only at the ant caves but also other hunting grounds.

    Of course, given the fact that I¡¯m so worried like this, it would have been much better for me to kneel down and pay the price they wanted rather than simply bowing to them, but the atmosphere at that time was certainly threatening. They clearly showed their willingness to attack me as if they were an absolute strongman, suggesting that killing one user was not a big deal.

    That¡¯s why Iunched the attack first because I had no intention of being attacked foolishly when the situation was so clear.

    ¡®Dang it! Let me y it safe. I better stand it a little more as things have gotten messed up.¡¯

    Originally, I thought of other hunting grounds where I could enjoy the drive hunt like the ant caves because Level 3 AoE skills featuring Ice Field, Pouring Hailstones and Ice st were optimized for power farming.

    However, in case of an unpredictable situation, I chose a general hunting ground, not the drive hunt ce. Despite that, I was confident in leveling up faster than others.

    ¡°Let me move to the Smander Habitat.¡±

    It was a hunting ground ideal for ice-type wizards, or a wider range of water-type wizards because the water series was supposed to be superior to the fire series by nature.

    Of course, I do not know exactly how superior it is because I can¡¯t find any relevant information on the Revival Legend homepage. But the fact that only 1% is superior to the fire type, the Smander Habitat must be an attractive hunting ground for ice-based wizards, just like how fire-type wizards like the ce where the cursed Ent, or the wood monster, appeared.

    Of course, this only applied to monsters, so it didn¡¯t matter to the yers.

    Stronger yers prevailed among others because they do not control their characters like monsters with water or fire abilities only, which also applies to the users¡¯ skills. When water-type skills and fire-type skills sh, the stronger one wins no matter how small the difference between them is.

    That¡¯s why the eleven enemies yesterday used fire-type magic blindly against me who used ice-based magic.

    Anyway, the Smander Habitat soon emerged.

    ¡°We ept ice-type wizard parties with Level 350 or higher.¡±

    ¡°I am a Level 370 water-type wizard. I have a lot of Level 3 skills. I can hunt for more than 10 hours.¡±

    ¡°We buy all the mes, scales, and the me tails of the smanders.¡±

    The ce was crowded and noisy. Honestly, this was something all the hunting grounds I used had inmon.

    In other words, it was not a very popr hunting ground. Of course, I deliberately chose this kind of hunting ground to hunt more monsters because I was confident.

    But I wanted to follow the words, ¡®Hide the tree among the forest,¡¯ like they said.

    This was a hunting ground where only ice-type wizards were around me. So, I liked it first.

    Soon, I forced my way out of the traders and those looking for a hunting party, and moved to the Smander Habitat.

    ¡°Ice Arrow!¡±

    ¡°Water Shot!¡±

    ¡°Ice Spear!¡±

    Unlike other hunting grounds that I used, this ce was crowded with those who hunted smanders from the beginning. In the distance, I saw some people who organized a party, using the AoE skills after upying a certain area as if they imed it as their exclusive territory.

    ¡°Whew!¡±

    I sighed before I knew it. I expected it to some extent, but there were too manypetitors.

    But I already decided on this ce, so I headed deeper inside.

    Then smanders, Level 400 monsters, showed up one by one.

    Obviously I was dissatisfied with the crowded users only a minute ago. But when I saw a monster, however, my dissatisfaction disappeared right away. Instead, I was curious about how my attack would affect this monster at Level 400. Besides, my official level was only 101.

    Anyway, the three smanders quickly charged at me as if they didn¡¯t care about my level.

    So I used the skills right away.

    ¡°Multiple Ice Arrows. Ice Ball. Ice Bolt.¡±

    Puk! Puk! Puk!

    The lizard-shaped smanders seemed to move fast, but my attacks were faster.

    ¡°Kiheck!¡±

    Two of them at the forefront were killed on the spot when hit by Multiple Arrows with the power of seven shots, and Ice Ball repeatedly. And the remaining smander in the back had its right leg pierced by Ice Bolt, turning into cold, gray ashes. The attack was more effective than I expected.

    ¡°Great. That¡¯s why they say to hunt monsters with matching weapons.¡±

    In fact, I¡¯m over Level 400 given my stats, let alone my matching weapons.

    Combined with Intellectual Power and other stats, my level is doubled. Besides, I had the Iceman trait too. Anyway I felt good because at Level 101, I could kill Level 400 monsters.

    ¡°Ice Ball.¡±

    However, I could not afford to admire my own achievement yet, because I had to kill the remaining smander by firing Ice Ball. Then I picked up the misceneous golden rings.

    ¡°Hahaha. Good. Let me hunt here for the time being!¡±

    I liked this ce, though there were not enough monsters. So, I went deeper into the habitat in satisfaction to hunt more monsters.

    ***

    ¡°Ice Field!¡±

    The patch of ice was created before my eyes in an instant. Watching it, I used one more skill, namely the Pouring Haitstones that perfectly matched with Ice Field. Like I used to, as always, I used the two skills simultaneously so multiple attacks were made up and down in one space, with tremendous damage caused by the Iceman trait aside from Intellectual Power. I smiled at the fantastic power.

    But there was only one thing I didn¡¯t like. Namely, there were only three monsters inside the ice.

    ¡°Kiheck.¡±

    ¡°Kuh.¡±

    ¡°Kehek.¡±

    I could not help but feel disappointed because I could kill not only 100 but also as many as 200 monsters with the most recent drive hunt. Besides, it was very ineffective to use AoE skills for only three monsters here, let alone an excessive waste of mana.

    But I always had surplus mana when I used Multiple Arrows, Ice Ball, and Ice Bolt. That¡¯s why I also wasted AoE skills because there were no users near the smanders. Of course, there were not many smanders there either.

    ¡°By the way, I¡¯ve got two more days to go.¡±

    In fact, I decided to hunt here for only one week, and then do whatever I wanted without caring about others. While I spent five days in the Smander Habitat, I felt like I was too scared.

    I had no choice but to feel like that back then because of what I heard from my father.

    I could not think of Revival Legend as a simple game anymore. Besides, I was in a situation where I was like a monster serpent with a Cintamani in my mouth. The Cintamani had my three traits and several titles that others coveted so much. What I needed now was to fly into the sky and allow time for growth. So I was more scared.

 Chapter 43

    <h4>Chapter 43: Grey hair (3)</h4>

    Usually, the monster serpent would fail just before its ascension into the sky. Besides, I felt a bit pressured because it¡¯s obviously stupid that I could not get to the top with the three traits and several titles.

    However, as time passed, my horizons expanded. The world of Revival Legend was vast.

    Even if they wanted to, the probability of them finding me is extremely low. Besides, there is a huge number of ice-type wizards. Above all, I¡¯ve got very crucial support, namely Myongjin Group where my father is the chairman.

    My father told me clearly that hispany was putting everything on ¡®Revival Legend.¡¯ In other words, I didn¡¯t have to even worry about the big guilds, which I stupidly had forgotten until now.

    At that moment the rm rang.

    [It¡¯s 1:00 AM.]

    ¡°Is it already one o¡¯clock in the morning?¡±

    Soon I had to turn back because I learned from experience that I could spend the most time on games when I was leading a regr life.

    Ten minutester I moved quickly, taking care of the smanders that appeared on and off because they were rare monsters.

    While I was moving, I found one of the eleven users that I killed in the center of the Smander Habitat where most users were located. Beside him were two other users. Obviously what they did was far from hunting. At that moment I slowed down and moved slowly, passing by them.

    ¡°White head, white head, white head.¡±

    ¡°Hey, not white head, but white hair!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the same, man. Dang it, so boring. How can I find the man with only clues of his white hair and ragged clothing? Fuck! The 4th branch really sucks! I think I have to move up to the 3rd branch as soon as possible. I really can¡¯t stand it.¡±

    ¡°Wait a minute. It seems like management wille up with some measure because they also realized they could not find the guy.¡±

    ¡°Stop it. By the way, do you remember anything specific about the guy? Because you were there, you should know better than us.¡±

    ¡°Damn it. I fell after a couple of blows, man. It didn¡¯t take more than a few seconds for me to die.¡±

    ¡°Damn it, shit!¡±

    Tramp, tramp.

    Even though my eyes met his clearly, he did not recognize me. He just looked elsewhere as if he was tired of everything. But there was one thing that bothered me more than him.

    ¡®White hair?¡¯

    It was mentioned again. Yes, white hair. They mentioned white hair when I destroyed the scarecrow. At that moment, I reached out and pulled my hair. What I got was definitely ck hair.

    ¡®What the heck? It¡¯s so ck, but why do you keep calling it white?¡¯

    I ignored it when they mentioned it first, but I inevitably got curious when I heard it again.

    But before I became more curious, I was now more attracted to their conversation.

    ¡°It¡¯s Daesung, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Daesung.¡±

    ¡°My friend said that he saw Daesung for something on the cursednd like now.¡±

    ¡°I also saw them in another ce by myself yesterday.¡±

    ¡°What the hell are they looking for?¡±

    ¡°Well. But I hope I can¡¯t find it. Lol.¡±

    ¡°Me, too. Lol.¡±

    ¡°Was it Daesung?¡±

    Their conversation clearly showed who they were. In other words, they were talking about Daesung Group, one of the top five business conglomerates in South Korea like Myongjin Group. They were so near and yet so far from each other. That was the rtionship among thergest business groups, for I had met their chairmen and sons. For example, I have met Chairman Junghan Kim of Daesung Group and his grandson Cholmin Kim who was the same age as me.

    Anyway, I passed all of them and entered the Safety Zone of the Smander Habitat where the Teleport Zone was located. Then I immediately whispered to my sister who was registered as my only friend here.

    [lumen: Are you there, Sis?]

    [Super beauty: Uh. Why?]

    She replied quickly as if she was ying the game at the moment.

    So I asked right away.

    [lumen: What color was my hair when you saw me before?]

    [Super beauty: Your hair color?]

    [Super beauty: ck. You haven¡¯t changed anything, including the color of your hair.]

    [lumen: It¡¯s ck, right?]

    [Super beauty: What the heck! What¡¯s wrong with you?]

    [lumen: Oh¡­nothing. Thanks.]

    [Super beauty: You¡¯re wee.]

    I quit whispering to her. She confirmed it¡¯s ck. Besides, if my hair had been white, they would not have let me go. One of them even met my eyes when I passed by. In other words, my hair color must be ck.

    ¡®Why?¡¯

    I still questioned it. Obviously my hair turned white when I destroyed the scarecrow back then, and they again mentioned my hair was white because they saw it.

    ¡®Is it because I used Iceman?¡¯

    The first thing that came to mind was the Iceman trait. But I couldn¡¯t figure out why my hair turned white only then.

    ¡®Hmm. I don¡¯t think my hair color changes just because I use skills.¡¯

    When I destroyed the scarecrow, I didn¡¯t use a single skill. I just wielded the stick the best I could. I really concentrated because the red dot on the scarecrow appeared and disappeared faster and faster.

    ¡®Best? Concentration?¡¯

    At that moment, the word ¡®best¡¯, as well as ¡®concentration¡¯, bothered me because I did my best this time too. I really concentrated because it was my first time PKing. I had never thought of it before, even in my dream. The game was more boring than I expected, but I really did my best to concentrate while I was at it just like how I destroyed the scarecrow.

    Of course, I concentrated when I hunted, but it was more fun because I was thoroughly rewarded for my efforts, such as EXP or misceneous items whenever the hunted monsters fell one by one.

    Anyway, they would not have found me. The items I put on changed, and the color of my hair, which was supposed to stand out most, also changed. Then I logged out with a smile because I had to go to bed now to do my best to y the game again tomorrow.

    The next day I got up to the sound of my rm at 7:30, had a quick breakfast, and then essed the game right away. Despite the early morning, the Smander Habitat was already crowded with users, and its Safety Zone caught my eye.

    I opened the status bar first because I wanted to wrap up hunting today instead of dragging it on for the next seven days as originally scheduled. I also wanted to check my performance so far.

    [Name: lumen

    Level: 131

    Kills: 11, Deaths: 0

    Title: The only closed beta max level achiever and three others.

    Health: 893,000(now) / 893,000(max)

    Mana: 738,000(now) / 738,000(max)

    Strength: 810 Agility: 810 Stamina: 3,750

    Willpower: 2,280 Intellectual Power: 3,817

    Remaining Stat Points: 300

    Remaining Skill Points: 0

    Traits: Iceman, Mutual Growth, God of Enhancement.]

    Thanks to the Enhancement 3 Cydin defense armor set, Intellectual Power increased by 67.

    Of course, there was also an increase in Willpower, but unfortunately not all of it was applied because Mutual Growth, Stamina, and Willpower were not affected by items as they were subject to Intellectual Power.

    Anyway, I raised 30 levels for 5 days. It could be said as a lot on the one hand, but too little on the other. Of course, it was ridiculously fast from a general point of view. But I made it because it was me. At Level 100 I hunted 400 Level monsters, and I never took a break during the game because my Stamina was too high.

    Anyway, I invested all the 300 remaining stat points I obtained by leveling up 30 levels in Intellectual Power. Then, with a satisfied smile, I turned my feet after checking my status bar that changed more colorfully with an increase of 300 Intellectual Power. Of course, I also noticed I had 11 Deaths in that process.

    ¡°Move to Desert Scorpion Forest.¡±

    I thought about going back to the ant caves, but I felt a bit shameless to do so.

 Chapter 44

    <h4>Chapter 44: Stop Scorpion King (1)</h4>

    So, I decided to move to the Desert Scorpion Forest where the monster called Scorpion showed up. It was the same desert, but it was located in a very far ce. But the real reason I chose it was because it was not popr.

    As a result, I could see monsters on the hunting ground everywhere. Besides, the monsters here were the same 400 Level monsters like the Smander Habitat, so it was perfect for me.

    I fully enjoyed the drive hunt there after a long time when it soon appeared. It was none other than the Safety Zone of the Desert Scorpion Forest.

    morous noise sounded here and there. Contrary to my expectations, it was very crowded and noisy, so much so that it was rowdier than the Smander Habitat.

    And then a message rang.

    [You¡¯ve joined the 79th Defense Unit for the following quest: ¡®Stop the Scorpion King.¡¯]

    ***

    ¡°?¡±

    I was embarrassed by the morous atmosphere of the safety zone, which was clearly different from what I was used to, but I was even more embarrassed by the quest before my eyes.

    And my embarrassment subsided a bit when I heard the conversation among the users there.

    ¡°All of them failedst month, right?¡±

    ¡°Yep. At that time, Level 200 beginners, not to mention Level 300, all participated and failed.¡±

    ¡°Then, this time we can expect those close to Level 400, right?¡±

    ¡°I guess so. Aside from Level 300 yers who can participate in the regr quest avable for up to Level 400, even Level 200 users participated in the quest, but it ended up in a great fiasco.¡±

    ¡®Regr quest?¡¯

    As always, I got information about the Desert Scorpion Forest on the bulletin about hunting grounds on the Revival Legend. But there was no mention at all about this Desert Scorpion Forest¡¯s quest. There were only things like, ¡®It¡¯s just a hunting ground for Level 400s,¡¯ ¡®There is a huge number of monsters,¡¯ and ¡®It¡¯s not popr at all.¡¯ Besides, the modifier ¡®regr¡¯ before the quest meant that the quest recurred on a regr basis.

    ¡®Damn it. I wish they mentioned even a single line on it.¡¯

    Level 400? How ridiculous. That¡¯s why I came here even though I was Level 131.

    [79th Defense Unit.

    -1st Participating user 1 (ID not disclosed): Level 400.

    -Melon: Level 387.

    -Lonely Warrior: Level 395.

    -4th Participating user (ID not disclosed): Level 377.

    -Makta is mine: Level 384.

    :

    -30th Participating user (ID not disclosed): Level 131.]

    I showed up as the 30th user. The 79th Defense Unit wasprised of a total of 30 people.

    And among those 30 was a number in dark red that referred to me. Namely, as a user who registered as the 30th user at Level 131.

    Hearing the users¡¯ conversation, I discovered that Level 400 was the maximum, so the regr quest was intended for those users striving to level up to 400.

    Butst month there was none who seeded because Level 200, not Level 300 users, mainly participated in it.

    However, I was sure that I could do better than anybody else. The problem was, others didn¡¯t know it because the barometer of strength here was based on one¡¯s level. The higher the level, the more various items you can wear. The higher the level, the more stat points you have, let alone skills.

    So, there was nothing that clearly revealed one¡¯s strength more clearly than the level.

    In this regard, I had nothing to say even if the 29 members of the 79th Defense Unit hurled abuses at me for my low level. In fact, they did.

    [Lonely warrior: Damn it. Level 131? Are you kidding?]

    [27th Participant (ID not disclosed): He is crazy.]

    [Breath: Who the hell is that guy? He has no conscience.]

    [BIG: He¡¯s causing trouble for us, man.]

    The lowest of the 29 except for me was Level 364.

    Of course I had something to respond to theirints: ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡±

    I wanted to tell them that even though I didn¡¯t know what quest this was, I was confident of leveling up to 400 or more.

    But I know that even if I say that, they won¡¯t believe me, for my level was too low for me to promise it proudly. So, I responded like this.

    [30th Participating user (ID not disclosed): Sorry. I¡¯m in the wrong ce here in the Desert Scorpion Forest. I will exit immediately.]

    I didn¡¯t have any intention of participating despite theirints. And I was not so desperate as to participate in this quest.

    [13th Participant (ID not disclosed): Oh my God! This guy hase to the wrong ce without knowing anything.]

    [LIGHT: Excuse me. 30th Participant, can you log out first? You probably can¡¯t. You know why they failedst time? Because 200 Level users could not log out even if they wanted to, so they reluctantly participated and failed after all.]

    I didn¡¯t know it at all. On one hand, I felt sorry about it because if this was the kind of quest that forced even first-time users like me to participate without offering any exit, the host should have posted a notice on this to potential participants, or should have stopped those below Level 300 from using this Safety Zone at least during the regr quest, ¡®Stop Scorpion King.¡¯

    However, they let anyone participate in the regr quest without any restrictions, then shifted the responsibility to the participants. I was annoyed by this kind of practice.

    I tried to log out, but couldn¡¯t.

    [Currently, the quest ¡®Stop the Scorpion King¡¯ is still ongoing.

    -You can log out when the quest ends.]

    Honestly, this was ridiculous because the participants were forced to remain regardless of their will. As far as I know, there has never been anything like this, including games and VR applications.

    But I gave it a pass because this was not a normal game. Even if somebody took issue with it, it would not be disclosed openly anyway.

    [30th Participant (ID not disclosed): Got it. I¡¯m really sorry.]

    So I posted ament expressing my regret in the conversation window of the party.

    I don¡¯t know if I could cause trouble to other participants, but right now they were troubled by the fact that I was only Level 131. But I was willing to show them how brilliantly I could perform soon.

    At that moment a message appeared.

    [Quest ¡®Stop the Scorpion King¡¯ starts in 10 minutes.]

    Then there were morements in the party message window.

    [1st Participant (ID not disclosed): Please be prepared, everybody.]

    [LIGHT: Yes.]

    [ughterer: I¡¯m ready.]

    The 1st user was the only Level 400 yer in the 79th Defense Unit. So, other users responded quickly.

    Of course, I also got ready by wearing the Enhancement 3 Cydin robe over my head and tightening it. And I also put on the prepared mask, which was literally useless unless I raised the stat points for defense power.

    If my level had not been revealed, nobody would have doubted me even if I pretended to be Level 100. Rather they would have examined me closely without doubting me at all, wondering how I could have put on such excellent items.

    Of course, I would not have cared at all even if they had discovered my identity because I had a very strong supporter: Myongjin Group. Of course, I didn¡¯t have any intention of revealing it.

    Just like I decided on it from the beginning, I nned to hide my identity for as long as I could.

    Of course, I could not help it at all if they found out at the end of the day.

    ¡®Good. Anyway, my sister and my father also asked me to solve it if I had a quest, and so I¡¯d still go for it even if I didn¡¯t find one.¡¯

    At that moment a message rang.

    [Regr quest ¡®Stop the Scorpion King¡¯ has now begun.

    -Each defense unit will move to their own defensive position, and if at least half of the total members are sessful in blocking the Scorpion King¡¯s troops until for a total of 6 rounds, everyone participating in the quest will win.]

    [79th Defense Unit will be located on the No. 12 defense line in Region C.]

 Chapter 45

    <h4>Chapter 45: Stop Scorpion King (2)</h4>

    Swoosh! With that message, I felt my body moving to another ce.

    And I soon met the other 29 users.

    ¡°Hello.¡±

    ¡°Uh, I met youst time, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Luckily, I met you again.¡±

    A total of 30 people, including me.

    Just like the regr quest, it was led by those who had several experiences of participating in the quest. A man with a huge shield, who looked sturdy at a nce, started speaking.

    ¡°Hello. This is User No 1. I¡¯m participating anonymously. Just call me number one.¡±

    He was the only Level 400 yer of this unit.

    ¡°First, let¡¯s quickly divide the members. Tanks please stand here, DPS on the right, healers and supports on the left, please.¡±

    ¡°Oh, let me stand here as I¡¯m a damage dealer.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a healer, so let me stand over here.¡±

    Thanks to the quick action of the pack leader called No 1. and some other experienced users, the members including me were quickly sorted out. I also moved to the right where the dealers gathered.

    ¡°Hmm. 6 tanks and 21 damage dealers. 3 healers and supporters. Too many dealers, I think,¡± said the No 1. user.

    Like he said, there were too many DPS yers. Simply too many.

    ¡°In this case, the damage dealers have to attack as much as possible, but you have to survive on your own because three healers and supports have to focus on two tanks each.¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    ¡°Absolutely.¡±

    Most of them nodded at No 1. user¡¯sment. And their conversation didn¡¯t end there.

    One of the DPS on my side shouted, ¡°What if there is a person who doesn¡¯t attack because he wants to survive alone, or if he just runs away?¡±

    Of course, he didn¡¯t single out any particr person, but I felt like I knew. Well, everybody including me knew because they turned their eyes at me all at once. I was such a nuisance in their eyes. But I didn¡¯t refute or beg them to trust me, because I should not. So, I remained silent. Besides, no matter what I say in this situation, they would regard it as a mere excuse.

    ¡°Okay, folks. Let¡¯s have a good game. We¡¯ll get at least 5 rounds, and if we advance to the 5th round, we¡¯ll get the proper bonus when we get to the 6th round. It might be impossible for us to get the boss monster Scorpion King, the real bonus.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    So, they decided on their roles like that. There were three parties with two tanks, one healer and support, and seven DPS. I was included in the third party without giving me any chance to meddle in. Anyway, about five minutes passed, and a message rang.

    [Round 1 has started.

    -The wounded Scorpions will now appear.]

    ¡°Okay, do your best in your role! Even if the tanks block them, it is impossible to stop them all. So, DPS must deal with monsters quickly ording to the chief dealer¡¯s instructions.¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    In the 3rd party where I belonged, the archer at Level 387, the highest, was the chief dealer. And we decided to quickly kill the monster he first targeted. But he excluded me because I was ssified as a non-main member. In the meantime, bull-sized scorpions broke through the sand at the front and appeared, shaking their sharp ws and tails high in the air threateningly.

    Then they charged at us immediately.

    ¡°Now, be ready, everybody! This is only the first round. They look formidable, but they have been wounded already, so they¡¯re like wild apricots with good color.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    Hearing it, I also got prepared slowly. Did I want to humble their pride after ignoring me? Nope.

    I could understand them. If I were in their shoes, I would act like them if someone at Level 131 came into my group because I didn¡¯t have any foresight. I did it purely for myself. Namely, I wanted to do more and contribute more, so I could get more EXP and bonuses than the others.

    ¡°We¡¯re going to kill the monster closest to us first! Target my shot! I¡¯ll put a red dot on it!¡±

    ¡°Great! Summon the Wind Spirit! Wind Spirit!¡±

    ¡°Soar, Pir of the Earth!¡±

    ¡°Ice Spear!¡±

    They fired several skills simultaneously. Of course, among them was an ice-type wizard like me.

    ¡°Multiple Ice Arrows.¡±

    I also warmed up by using light skills beside them because the real game hadn¡¯t started yet.

    ***

    Puk! Puk!

    Bang! Bang!

    Like user No 1., implicitly recognized as the leader of the 79th Defense Unit, said, these scorpions were like wild apricots with good color. As the name wounded scorpion suggests, they were easily exposed to our attacks despite their hard-looking outer shells. Besides, there were not many of them now.

    Of course, it was only round 1 out of 6, so the first round was very easy.

    ¡°As you know, each roundsts 10 minutes, with a total of 1 hour for the 6 rounds.

    We can¡¯t afford to take a break in the middle, so we don¡¯t have time to refill mana. Please distribute your resources properly before attacking.¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡±

    The wounded scorpions fell even beforeing near when attacked by 21 dealers including me. So, the atmosphere was good.

    ¡°Ice Arrow. Ice Ball. Ice Bolt.¡±

    And I used all three skills endlessly. It was true that the cooldown time increased a bit when I upgraded not only Ice Arrow to Level 2, but also the other two skills at Level 1. But I didn¡¯t have to worry about it because my Willpower, estimated at 2,500, covered all of it. I also didn¡¯t have to worry about the consumption of mana from the beginning.

    However, it seemed to be trifling in other users¡¯ eyes because of my fast attacks.

    ¡°Oh, he is firing randomly like a very low-level wizard!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because they¡¯re Level 1 magic, and one Level 2.¡±

    ¡°User No. 30, if you fire your skills randomly and waste mana, are you going to sit idly in the 2nd and 3rd rounds? Save your skills. They can¡¯t evene near us because of our attack.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Of course, I didn¡¯t want to deny that I was a low-level wizard. Nevertheless, it was clear that my attack speed was very fast. I knew that because I was the same ice-type wizard that used the same skills that I used now during the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd closed betas. So, these users who mocked me now were one of the two groups, namely one that looked down on me or the other one that thought that I was inexperienced. Of course, it seemed that they were prejudiced against my low level.

    In the meantime, there was one more thing I felt bad about. Namely, they used all the same skills at the same time. So, I could not figure out whose attack inflicted more damage on the scorpions. I just guessed. And in their estimates, the damage caused by my attacks was minimal. However, I continued to attack endlessly because they would judge my contribution by the final results. So, the first round passed by very easily without me running into the six tanks even once.

    ¡°It looks like the DPS have better firepower than I think. Maybe we can get a higher score than I thought. Don¡¯t be so excited yet. Just keep up the good work!¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    As none of them were attacked by the scorpions, their performance could be called ¡°Perfect.¡± Naturally, their atmosphere could not be better. With such a good atmosphere, another message announcing the start of the second round rang.

    [Round 2 has started.

    -Cursed Scorpions will now appear.]

    Now, the modifier ¡°wounded¡± was reced with ¡°cursed.¡± In other words, it meant that just like round 1, the emerging scorpions were like wild apricots with a good color, not normal scorpions. That¡¯s exactly what I expected.

    ¡°As you know, rounds 1 and 2 are a piece of cake. So, cheer up.¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    As soon as user No 1. said that, the scorpions appeared through the sand from the front.

    They were not much different from the wounded ones in the first round, but they were exuding ck haze all over their bodies. Round 2 didn¡¯t seem that much different from Round 1.

 Chapter 46

    <h4>Chapter 46: Stop Scorpion King (3)</h4>

    Of course, it was a little tougher. The tanks, who just warmed up in Round 1, charged at the wounded scorpions and blocked them easily. Of course, there was little damage. So, Round 2 also ended very easily.

    [Round 3 has started.

    -Scorpions will now appear.]

    Finally, real normal scorpions, with no modifiers like ¡°damaged¡± or ¡°cursed¡±, appeared.

    ¡°Okay, now is the real beginning. Wizards, please make sure toy the grid down in advance. Way to go!!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go get them!¡±

    Now, those who were rxed until now because of their prior experiences began to feel tense and adjusted their posture.

    Of course, I know the grid that user No. 1 mentioned because I heard it frequently during the closed beta. It referred to AoE skills such as Ice Field. They called this a grid. Like user No. 1 asked, several grids began to spread ahead.

    ¡°Fire Field!¡±

    ¡°I will let the ignorant enemies enjoy the fear of death. Death Field.¡±

    ¡°Create a swamp!¡±

    ¡°Ice Field!¡±

    Although seven damage dealers were assigned to each party, there were a total of 21 dealers here anyway. So, there were various skills that could be called grids. I also spread Ice Field on the spots where the Scorpions charged so that it could touch the Ice Fields from the other ice-type wizards.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Scorpions soon moved over multiple grids, inflicting damage on the way. Then several skills were poured over the scorpions. Unlike round 1 and 2, this time they used AoE skills, and I joined them right away.

    ¡°Pouring Hailstones!¡±

    The scorpions were slightlyrger than bulls, so they were open to our indiscriminate attacks which ranged from their heads to backs and tails.

    Then another wizard used the same skills as me.

    ¡°Pouring Hailstones!¡±

    It just so happened that the hailstones were pouring in the same area where I had already used the skills, so it was difficult to determine who used what skill. Of course, I could figure it out because the hail produced by my Pouring Hailstones were a bit bigger, and only mine decisively crushed the scorpions¡¯ hard shells. There were two types of hail, namely one that could inflict damage powerful enough to crush even the scorpions¡¯ outer shells, and the other one far inferior to the former.

    Besides, mine had a wider range than the others. Anyway, AoE skills were fired at the scorpions on various grids, but some of the scorpions were approaching the tanks resisting them at the forefront.

    ¡°Engrave it on my body! Indomitable will!¡±

    ¡°Impregnable Shield!¡±

    Soon the tanks also used their skills to block the scorpions. And then close-range damage dealers that used weapons such as swords and bays began to move.

    Puk! Puk!

    Bang! Bang!

    Healers and supports helped the tanks hit it off together, perhaps because all of them were close to Level 400. Even though they met here for the first time for this quest, they could beat the scorpions without any damage. Round 3 then ended.

    ¡°Wow, Taichi. I was really impressed by your ice-type skills.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m sure Taichi¡¯s grid was a big hit. In my opinion, the scorpions that passed over it died the fastest. Some of them died on the spot without even getting out.¡±

    The Level 384 wizard named Taichi was the same ice-type wizard as me. He would certainly know that it was not his skills that killed the scorpions because the skills he witnessed far exceeded those he used to know until now. If he didn¡¯t realize it, he must be an idiot because he must have used such skills a lot so far.

    To my surprise, Taichi didn¡¯t deny the other users¡¯ praise of his skills. He even waved his hand, saying humbly, ¡°Haha, I¡¯m ttered. I think I did not contribute much. I got them because everyone here worked together.¡±

    At that moment I could not help but giggle secretly because I knew that he lied right in front of me. But nobody seemed to notice his lies. Of course, I could understand them because the gap between Level 384 and Level 131, which was well over 250, was big enough to hide the truth. Then one healer shouted, ¡°Wow! We¡¯re currently 3rd ce!¡±

    At the healer¡¯s shouting, everyone¡¯s gazes to the sky. So did I.

    [Current defense scoreboard.

    -1st ce: 24th Defense Unit (455,781 points)

    -2nd ce: 116th Defense Unit (452,911 points)

    -3rd ce: 79th Defense Unit (449,699 points)

    The 79th Defense Unit was the unit I belonged to. And the score gap between the 1st and 3rd ce was not big.

    ¡°Wow! If we do well, we can eat the bonus Scorpion King! Way to go!¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    Everyone was full of high morale.

    Then a message rang.

    [Round 4 has started.

    -Scorpions will now appear.]

    ¡°Round 4 is not much different from Round 3 except that there are more monsters. You can just keep doing what you did in Round 3.¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    Certainly, there was no special modifier for these scorpions. However, the scorpions, which seemed to be twice as many as before, were approaching through the sand. And they wereing at a formidable speed. Of course, they didn¡¯t stand idle, looking at them. They spread grids everywhere and used all the avable skills to block them.

    I also used my skills immediately, ignoring the Level 384 ice-type wizard Taichi who was checking my expression at the moment.

    ¡°Ice Field!¡±

    Ice Field spread wide in front of our third party. And then another voice followed.

    ¡°Ice Field!¡±

    It ovepped mine again on purpose, and Taichi furtively did it. I shot a nce at him.

    As if he was conscious of me, he said to me right away, ¡°If the Ice Field oveps, the effect of slowing them down will not increase, but the damages caused by the Ice Field itself will increase.¡±

    He had a point in that respect, but I felt it was ridiculous. I was not foolish enough to discern his lies. Without responding, I just smiled at him, then looked straight again.

    After all, my efforts here will be materialized into scores anyway, and he would know then that he made a big mistake by bringing trouble onto himself.

    ¡°Multiple Ice Arrow, Ice Ball, Ice Bolt.¡±

    In the meantime, I used single-target skills constantly. Of course, I had one more, namely the AoE skill called Ice st. But it was a bad move to break the current Ice Field that was working very well. So, I didn¡¯t use it. But I used one more faster than anyone else.

    ¡°Ice Field!¡±

    I spread another Ice Field next to the one I had already cast. Until now I never used more than two Ice Fields because I didn¡¯t need to. In fact, the link between Ice st and Ice Field or Pouring Hailstones or Ice st was more than enough to kill the monsters that I confronted until now. But this time I used it because the situation was different.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Already?¡±

    Some who felt something strange about my skills looked at me. Of course I knew this because even though I used the Level 2 Ice Field, there was a big obstacle called a cooldown in order for me to use it again.

    Ignoring their attention, however, I used the Pouring Hailstones on the Ice Field that I spread on my own.

    Ssh! Ssh! Ssh!

    They were focusing on me for a moment. There was the noise of the scorpion¡¯s thick shells being smashed by the Pouring Hailstones I used. And that noisested quite a long time. Of course, there were quite a few scorpions facing death amid the noise, for which I could only im credit for. While using Pouring Hailstones, I didn¡¯t stop firing Multiple Ice Arrows, Ice Balls, and Ice Bolts. Then I slightly turned my eyes to the side and told them looking at me nkly, ¡°Aren¡¯t you attacking the scorpions?¡±

    ***

    ¡°Soar, Pir of Fire!¡±

    ¡°Oh, Earth, shake ording to my will! Shaking Earth!¡±

    ¡°Power Shot!¡±

    ¡°Triple Shot!¡±

    ¡°Summon, Spirit of the Wind!. Spirit of the Wind!¡±

    ¡°Giant¡¯s Strike!¡±

    So far, their n worked out smoothly, including their attack, defense, and rear support.

    Although more than twice as many scorpions as Round 3 charged at them, not one of them broke through the tank¡¯s tight defense.

 Chapter 47

    <h4>Chapter 47: Stop Scorpion King (4)</h4>

    A huge number of scorpions copsed even beforeing near the defense wall. And Round 4 also ended easily without taking any big damage.

    They were supposed to shout hooray like they did after Round 3, but there was silence this time.

    Some looked at me. Obviously I didn¡¯t show off, but obviously I yed a decisive role in winning Round 4 because of the damage of the magic I used, aside from the speed of my magic that seemed to have no cooldown time.

    At first, it was difficult for them to feel their own power because all kinds of skills were mixed to attack the scorpions indiscriminately. Moreover, my level on the surface was only 131, so I had to be treated as one with little influence.

    However, this time, they clearly discovered that it was me, the only Level 131 who demonstrated amazing power that even the 21 dealers could not dare to do. In other words, no one could deny that I caught the most scorpions and kept up the sustained damage byg even using the sealed Ice st.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t use the Ice Field that spread out in front of the team as the sacrifice for Ice st because it had to be kept all the time for tanks. So what was the sacrifice? It was the Ice Field that I spread the second time.

    Of course, spreading the grid to block the scorpions that kept breaking through the sand was highly effective in many ways, but I didn¡¯t need to because I could use it again. When others could not do anything because of their cooldowns, I could reuse the skill at an overwhelmingly high speed. 2,500 Willpower? It¡¯s true I had very high Willpower that even a wizard at Level 400, let alone Level 131, could even dream of.

    But I have one more, namely the Iceman trait, which increases the performance of all ice-type skills by 30%. Initially, I limited the range of its performance to damage because it alone was tremendous. But soon I knew that the performance included not only the damage, but also the range and coverage of the skill. It was vaguely expressed as ¡®performance,¡¯ but its effect was huge. However, there was more that was implicit in the performance. For example, cooldown time.

    Iceman allowed for a 30% cooldown reduction, although it was only applied to ice-based skills.

    Anyway, when others could not do anything because of the cooldown obstacle, I could freely fire various ice-type skills, even if they were AoE skills with a rtively long cooldown time. Of course, this alone was not perfect.

    No matter how freely I could fire skills with no cooldown time, I could not do it without mana. But I basically had too much mana. Even though I fired skills for ten minutes without any breaks, I still had enough mana to use for several hours like I did a moment ago. Thanks to my Willpower which was close to 2,500, my recovery rate was very fast.

    And then the sound of deafening the silence was heard.

    ¡°Oh my¡­we are 1st ce!¡±

    That was the healer¡¯s voice who first announced our 3rd ce rank before.

    At his voice, everybody raised their heads into the air again.

    [Current defense scoreboard.

    -1st ce: 79th Defense Unit (797,341 points)

    -2nd Prize: 24th Defense Unit (775,883 points)

    -3rd ce: 116th Defense Unit (729,980 points)

    Now we climbed to first ce, while the 24th and 116th units were pushed back by a gap of over 10,000 points, not 1,000 like before.

    Tramp, tramp.

    While everybody¡¯s heads were pointed towards the sky, somebody was walking away.

    So we lowered our heads and turned our gaze to where he walked.

    Then I saw who he was. He was user No. 1, who participated anonymously and led the unit during this quest. And he stood right in front of me, reciting something.

    ¡°Identity setting. Disclose it.¡±

    As soon as he said that, the name ¡®1st Participant (ID not disclosed)¡¯ changed to Sokyoung Chong. Sokyoung Chong was his ID, and it looked like his real name.

    Just like me in the past. And it wasn¡¯t unfamiliar to me because I knew the man with that name in the real world. As soon as he disclosed his ID, he leaned towards me and said with a low voice, ¡°I wonder if you know Koosan Group.¡±

    Of course I knew it because it was a big business group like Daesung Group and Myongjin Group. How could I not know? I also knew that Sokyoung Chong was a bit older than me as the grandson of Kusan Group¡¯s chairman, but I remained silent.

    ¡°If you know it, I think it is Kusan Group in the real world. Could you still give me a moment after this quest is over?¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m a bit busy.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha. I think so. If you¡¯re still interested in Kusan, I¡¯ll treat you as a VIP if you stop by Ph Tansung and give them my name.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I didn¡¯t answer. He also raised his face away from me as if he didn¡¯t expect my answer, and again shouted in a loud voice, ¡°Hey, everybody! Luckily enough we have a tremendous strongman in our unit! I think we can win the remaining rounds. And I think we can get the special Boss Monster Scorpion King bonus. So, rx everyone! As you know, all of us are in the same boat, and we share the fate of the 79th Defense Unit, right?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, you¡¯re right!¡±

    ¡°Wow, that¡¯s why that Level 131 guy is participating in this quest for Level 400s.¡±

    ¡°You bet!¡±

    User No. 1, or Sokyoung Chung, certainly seemed to have the aptitude for leadership, just like my brother.

    So, the icy atmosphere melted. Of course, there was one who couldn¡¯t hide their embarrassment. He was no other than the ice-type wizard called Taichi at Level 384.

    I could clearly see he was very embarrassed with his face flushed. He trembled like a leaf as if he was nervous. I could rebuke him enough to make him feel extremely shameful because there were a lot around me who were ready to join me in ming him.

    But I didn¡¯t look at him, nor did I speak to him because I didn¡¯t want to make enemies.

    I know that it is not necessary to kill the opponent¡¯s parents in order to make him one¡¯s sworn enemy. People can make sworn enemies to each other over trifling things. There are quite a few who only recall what they have suffered, not what they have done to others.

    Of course it was trifling for me to make him ashamed of what he did to me, but it would be impossible for him to get even with me because of that. Why? When he takes one step, I will take ten steps forward, and if he starts to run, I will be flying. However, I don¡¯t have any intention to make unnecessary enemies here and there because such a gap exists. Besides, I¡¯ve taken no actual damage because of him anyway.

    So I spoke aloud to wrap it up.

    ¡°Hi, everybody! We¡¯re not done yet. Let¡¯s do our best to the end. Taichi, I hope I¡¯m in your great hands. I think it¡¯s really easy to hunt monsters because your skills that ovep mine really increased the damage.¡±

    By saying that, I clearly indicated that I would not take issue with what he did to me. There was silence at the moment. Some opened their eyes wide without hiding their embarrassment. Somehow they seemed to be ready to join me in ming him who lied as soon as I did. However, it didn¡¯t happen.

    As a result, the atmosphere was also good since I didn¡¯t find any faults with him.

    Of course, I saw Sokyoung Chong¡¯s angry eyes glistening, but I didn¡¯t care.

    And then a message rang.

    [Round 5 has started.

    -Brave scorpions will now appear.]

    Unlike the scorpions in Round 3 and 4, the scorpions in Round 5 had the modifier ¡°brave.¡±

    The Level 387 archer, who served as the chief dealer of the third party I belonged to, approached me and said, ¡°Can you serve as the chief damage dealer of our party?¡±

 Chapter 48

    <h4>Chapter 48: Quest closed (1)</h4>

    ¡°No. Let me do it as I did before,¡± I said, gently shaking my head at his offer because I felt morefortable about my current role. Besides, I wanted to hunt more monsters by myself.

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    Round 5 started. Obviously scorpions with the modifier ¡°brave¡± appeared, but we all began hunting in a better atmosphere than before.

    ¡°Ice Field!¡±

    I quicklyid the grids down first in harmony with the others. And I continued to fire Multiple Ice Arrows, Ice Balls, and Ice Bolts, starting with Pouring Hailstones. Then, I used the Ice Field for the 2nd party, whose cooldown was so quick that the others were very surprised. Obviously it would be of great help to the 2nd party because although the main effect of Ice Field was to reduce the moving speed of the opponents, my Ice Field¡¯s damage was bigger than usual.

    However, I could not necessarily conclude that it was because of my outstanding performance that we won Round 5. Either way, we stopped the brave scorpions without exposing any weakness or incurring any single casualties, and we scored much better than before to boot.

    [Current defense scoreboard.

    -1st ce: 79th Defense Unit (1,367,552 points)

    -2nd Prize: 24th Defense Unit (1,135,287 points)

    -3rd ce: 116th Defense Unit (997,426 points)

    ¡°Hahaha. I didn¡¯t expect we would win the first ce by participating in the quest for the third time, but we¡¯ve made it!¡±

    ¡°You bet. Even though a giant guild has pre-configured a party to win first ce, they can¡¯t because the defense units are formed randomly. So, I really didn¡¯t expect we would win either.¡±

    ¡°Well, I think we have to give the credit to user 30.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me, user 30. Can you take off your mask or tell us your ID?¡±

    ¡°Sorry.¡± I said no when they asked for my ID, let alone taking off my mask.

    ¡°Hahaha. I understand. I think you must have a reason for not disclosing your ID.¡±

    The guy who asked for my ID scratched his head as if he felt a bit embarrassed.

    Soon Round 6, thest one, began with the appearance of the scorpions whose modifier was changed from ¡®brave¡¯ to ¡®violent.¡¯

    ¡°Now, now, this is thest round! If you seed in stopping these scorpions, the bonus boss monster Scorpion King will be ours. Let¡¯s do our best to the end.¡±

    ¡°Way to go!¡±

    There was already a big score gap between 1st ce and the other two. So, the atmosphere was good. Then Sokyoung Chong approached me and said, ¡°Do you have enough mana?¡±

    Of course he might be curious because I used lots of mana in the previous rounds. By now, any wizard would have been left with little mana. That wasn¡¯t the case for me though.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve got enough mana.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    He smiled at me in satisfaction.

    So Round 6 began with the appearance of the violent scorpions.

    Ten minutes passed. A message announcing 1st ce rang.

    [Congrattions. The 79th Defense Unit has sessfully stopped the Scorpion King with the highest score.]

    ¡°Wow, hooray!¡±

    ¡°We won!¡±

    And the message did not end there.

    [Boss Monster Scorpion King appears before the 79th Defense Unit with the highest score.]

    The boss monster called Bonus was said to be very weak. It was weak enough for us, whose stamina was reduced by a lot due to our intense hunting in previous rounds, to catch it easily. Yet its bonus was huge. In a happy mood, we waited for the bonus.

    ***

    All the scorpions, including ordinary scorpions as well as the wounded or cursed ones, or those with the modifiers ¡®brave¡¯ or ¡®violent,¡¯ appeared, breaking through the sand. It was not awkward at all for the Scorpion King to emerge from the sand.

    However, it was so spectacr that unlike the other scorpions, the Scorpion King appeared and scattered sand more than ten meters everywhere amid a giant sandstorm.

    Everybody eximed, ¡°Wow! That¡¯s why it¡¯s called the boss monster!¡± I ttered myself with the thought that these guys, who were almost exhausted by Round 6, would not have hunted the boss monster without me.

    ¡°Oh, they¡¯re cute,¡± I murmured.

    All the scorpions before the Scorpion King were at least as big as a bull. The scorpions that appeared with the modifier ¡®brave¡¯ and ¡®violent¡¯ in Round 5 and Round 6 were bigger than bulls. But their appearance was not as spectacr as that of the Scorpion King. In other words, the Scorpion King boasted of its massive body, dwarfing all other scorpions in the previous rounds.

    As if he anticipated my reaction early on, Sokyoung Chung, who decided to disclose his private ID, came toward me.

    ¡°They¡¯re small, right?¡±

    Like a Level 400 guy who had experienced this quest a couple of times already, Sokyoung spoke very calmly.

    And I replied, nodding to him quietly, ¡°Yeah, they¡¯re smaller than I thought.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because it¡¯s a reward for your efforts up to Round 6. And 1st ce at that. Anyway, would you like to attack first? Just do what you want to do.¡±

    He encouraged me to attack first. Soon, the others also followed suit.

    ¡°Yes, please. Go ahead, user 30!¡±

    ¡°Then you¡¯ll know why we are not worried at all although it is the boss monster.¡±

    When they said that, I turned my head towards the Scorpion King.

    Dudududu.

    The Scorpion King was running through the desert, quickly trotting with its small feet. Although it was small, the way it was charging fast seemed to show its anger as if it was ignored by us. But that was it.

    It was so small that I didn¡¯t feel overwhelmed at all.

    Of course, I know that judging everything by appearance is very dangerous, but I felt like I could do so this time. Anyway, I shot one skill towards the Scorpion King charging toward us.

    ¡°Ice Field.¡±

    And of ice spread across the sand in an instant. Then I confronted the Scorpion King that was running hard on the Ice Field with its little legs.

    Puk!

    ¡°Kiheck!¡±

    The Scorpion King screamed as soon as the first right of its eight legs stepped on my Ice Field. And its scream became itsst scream because it slipped and copsed in the same position that it was running on the Ice Field.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    As the boss monster, its death was in vain.

    Of course, I heard repeatedly that the Scorpion King was weak, so much so that we could easily hunt it even though we lost lots of stamina while fighting up to six rounds. Nheless, it was simply too easy. However, a message rang immediately as if my reaction didn¡¯t matter.

    [Thanks to user No. 30 (Private ID)¡¯sst attack, you have seeded in the ¡®Stop the Scorpion King¡¯ quest.

    -Additional points have been given to user No. 30 (Private ID) for their contribution.]

    Now I knew why user No. 1 asked me to attack The Scorpion King through the message window that not only I but also other members of the 79th Defense Unit could see. It was because of the additional points I obtained for my decisive contribution.

    And the messages continued to pop up.

    [Your contribution to the ¡®Stop the Scorpion King¡¯ quest has been calcted.

    -1st Prize: User 30 (Private ID)-854,382 points.

    -2nd ce: User BIG-287,441 points.

    -3rd ce: User 13 (Private ID)-284,330 points.

    -4th: Sokyoung Chung -281,951 points.

    I dominated the scoreboard. Except for 1st ce, the score gap from 2nd to 30th was not sorge. Of course, they couldin about my points, but nobody did because the 79th Defense Unit I belonged to was obviously aiming for first ce from Round 3. In other words, the unit members didn¡¯tpete with each other, and they were more enthusiastic when I showed my brilliant skills.

    And then another message about the true bonus rang.

    [Bonuses are given ording to each user¡¯s contribution.]

    [This is the bonus for user No. 30 (Private ID).

    -Considerable amount of EXP.

    -17.5 million golden rings.

    -500 coins.

    -Obtain the Scorpion King¡¯s ring.]

    [You have leveled up.]

    [You have leveled up.]

    [You have leveled up.]

    :

    :

    [You have leveled up.]

 Chapter 49

    <h4>Chapter 49: Quest closed (2)</h4>

    I received it quite a lot. However, I couldn¡¯t pay much attention to it because I was so excited about a series of messages about the increase in my level. At first nce, the message said I leveled up more than 20 times for clearing just one quest. Of course, the 79th Defense Unit I belonged to was the winning team, and I ced first within the unit.

    ¡°Wow, I¡¯ve got 200 coins.¡±

    ¡°Me, too.¡±

    ¡°The 3 million gold rings also came out!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve obtained as many as three million golden rings!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve leveled up by 4.¡±

    ¡°Me, three levels.¡±

    Soon, they began to talk about their own bonuses in an amicable atmosphere. Compared to them, I realized how much more I was rewarded because I got almost three or four times as much. Besides, I also received items.

    But then another message rang as if I had yet to get more rewards.

    [You have exceeded the maximum contribution level that an individual can make.

    -An additional bonus has been given to user No. 30 (Private ID).

    -200 remaining stat points.]

    ¡°!¡±

    The user¡¯s contributions were disclosed to all, but their rewards were private.

    So, they talked about how much rewards they received. I tried hard to hide my joy because the 200 remaining stat points were far from ordinary. And this was not the end of the story. All the rewards they got so far were for their contribution to clearing the quest.

    But they had another bonus, which was the items that the Scorpion King dropped.

    So, all of them moved towards the Scorpion King, then stopped exactly a few steps away.

    ¡°User No. 30, you can go ahead first and pick up the item. Then, the rest of us will divide the remaining items. What do you think, everybody?¡±

    ¡°Sure, no problem.¡±

    ¡°Me too.¡±

    ¡°I rmend for user No. 30 to pick up the essory!¡± Sokyoung Chung suggested.

    Nobody balked at his suggestion. Even one of them actively rmended the items that I should pick up. He was none other than Taichi, an ice-type wizard like me.

    I also smiled gently at him, and he smiled back at me. I didn¡¯t wave my hands at their suggestion, nor did I decline because I didn¡¯t have to. Moreover, I know that concessions are not a virtue in the gaming world. Obviously their positive response was the fair price for my hard efforts in this quest game.

    I ignored the golden rings first. I also ignored the 200 coins. Of course, my dad and my sister asked me to pay attention to coins, but I got a whopping 12,000 coins by participating in a single quest before. At that time I didn¡¯t know if 12,000 coins were a lot or a little. But I now know that it was a huge amount. I was the fifth to obtain that many coins this time. There were four more who got 12,000 coins. So, I didn¡¯t have to be greedy for 200 right now because I¡¯m going to clear all the existing quests.

    Anyway, with everyone watching me, I picked up one item without hesitation. It was the Scorpion King¡¯s earrings, which Taichi also rmended. I knew that the essory was very precious after participating in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd closed betas. It was so precious that even the auction house didn¡¯t list it. In that respect, I monopolized the most precious item in this quest. But nobody called me out ¡ª they just took it for granted.

    ¡°Then let me buy the armor and helmet of this Scorpion King at the current price. Of course, if any of you have enough golden rings, you can buy them too,¡± said Sokyoung.

    Only I knew about his identity here. He was the grandson of the chairman of Kusan Group, one of the top five business groups in South Korea. So, he quickly went ahead with distributing the items among themselves, except for me. Of course, I didn¡¯t watch them nkly because I had something to do. I opened my mouth silently.

    ¡®Check the status window.¡¯

    [Name: lumen

    Level: 156

    Kills: 11, Deaths: 0

    Title: The only closed beta max level achiever and three others.

    Health: 923,000(now) / 923,000(max)

    Mana: 692,355(now) / 753,000(max)

    Strength: 810 Agility: 810 Stamina: 4,050

    Mind: 2,430 Intellectual Power: 4,117

    Remaining Stat Points: 450

    Remaining Skill Points: 0

    Traits: Iceman, Mutual Growth, God of Enhancement ]

    I was Level 131 before starting this quest. But my level increased by 25 in an hour. Thanks to the additional 200 stat points, I had a total of 450 remaining stat points.

    I burst into a smile in spite of myself.

    Now I seemed to know why my dad and my sister asked me to participate in the quest by all means, for the rewards were huge. Of course, what they really wanted me to do was to focus on getting coins.

    Soon, I invested all 450 remaining stat points in Intellectual Power since I had no intention of investing elsewhere. After checking my Intellectual Power that changed to 4,567 and the simultaneous increase in Stamina and Intellectual Power due to Mutual Growth, I closed the status window.

    And then a message rang.

    [ ¡®Stop the Scorpion King¡¯ quest has ended.

    -Move to the original position.]

    At that moment, someone quickly spoke to me.

    ¡°Please remember my ID BIG, user No. 30, and contact me if something happenster. I am a member of the giant guild, and my brother is a guild executive, so I can help you.¡±

    ¡°Me, too!¡±

    ¡°I can help you, too!¡±

    They approached me instantly and spoke like that.

    ¡°Sure, thanks,¡± I replied half-heartedly.

    With that, I felt myself being moved back to the first ce, the Scorpion Desert Forest.

    ***

    A small meeting room at the Kusan Group Headquarters.

    Sokyoung Chung used the memory marble, a valuable item that saved what he saw with his own eyes in the ¡®Stop the Scorpion King¡¯ quest. He used it starting in Round 3 because this was the third time he had participated in it. So, he knew how to hunt the monsters faster than he thought, even though there was no particr member on his team.

    Of course, he could ignore the item, but because of his level restriction, this was also hisst quest. Therefore, he decided to use it. Besides, the monsters copsed unusually fast, which he couldn¡¯t understand well. After all, he felt it was more beneficial to use the memory marble than to live with queries. Of course, he had enough items at hand.

    So, he transferred the recorded video to theputer and yed it for everyone to see in the presence of not only his grandpa, the chairman of Kusan Group, but also the top managers taking care of Revival Legend.

    ¡°Super talented.¡±

    Chairman Unki Chung, who watched the video from start to finish,mented at the end of the video. It seemed that it was not only the chairman who felt it.

    ¡°It is impossible to describe the guy¡¯s abilities, no matter how much I extol him.¡±

    ¡°I agree. He was clearly beyond the generally eptable range. Ourmon sense can¡¯t exin it.¡±

    Managing Executive Taesan Lee, the top manager of Kusan Group¡¯s Revival Legend team, and Chief Secretary Suman Ham chimed in.

    Looking at Sokyoung, the chairman added, ¡°I wish you were more aggressive enough to make friends with that guy just instead of disclosing your identity to him. I think you truly felt it more than anybody else.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I agree, sir.¡±

    Grandpa was rebuking him lightly, but Sokyoungughed it off as if he didn¡¯t care.

    Then he said immediately, ¡°There was a passage in a book I read when I was young. Humans cannot sense anything beyond their perceptible limits.¡±

    Sokyoung paused for a moment and sipped his tea before continuing immediately.

    ¡°Level 400. If he had been Level 400 like me, I would have even doubted he was a bug because no matter how highly I rated his capabilities, I could not give him more than Level 400. But he was only Level 131. Because he was Level 131, I could not think that he was a bug at all. I just thought he was a low-level participant.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

 Chapter 50

    <h4>Chapter 50: Chapter 50 Traces</h4>

    Everybody was silent when Sokyoung said that quietly.

    But Taesan Lee, the general manager of the Kusan Guild of Revival Legend, broke the silence, ¡°Maybe it could be him.¡±

    ¡°Who? Do you have any idea who it is?¡± Chairman Chung immediately asked back.

    ¡°Yes. As you know, before the game was renamed Revival Legend, the first, second, and third closed betas were conducted under the name Forgotten Legend. And, ording to their various achievements, including maximum level in the closed beta, the participants received different traits.¡±

    What Manager Lee said was not new. But nobody in the meeting urged him to skip it because they knew that he was not talking nonsense.

    ¡°The traits are the basis for gamers to get ahead of others. So including the United States and China, we had no choice but to look for those gamers with traits. However, the way to find them is the same. In other words, we have to do the legwork to find them because hacking is impossible. Not only we, but also China and America did the same thing. Yet it was impossible to obtain any information about the details of the game and the users who yed the game.¡±

    As if he was thirsty, Manager Lee picked up his tea and drank it.

    ¡°So the only way to find them was to track down the traces left on the Inte by those who yed the game, just like the United States and China did here in this country. Sometimes they hit a jackpot because you don¡¯t y games alone, but with friends or guild members.¡±

    Obviously, he had a point. Chairman Chung experienced it in person because he received the relevant reports immediately when thepany secured those yers with traits. In particr, he got wind of when thepany scouted several yers with traits before.

    Manager Lee continued, ¡°And of course, I ask them for any information about other max level achievers because they know what¡¯s going on better than anybody else. And then I got one piece of good information.¡±

    ¡°Information?¡±

    ¡°Yes, tips about the man who is crazy about hunting.¡±

    ¡°Good. Go on!¡±

    ¡°Sure. Yeah. The six guys we hired at the same time said that during the first closed beta, they didn¡¯t have sufficient damage dealers to proceed with the boss monster raid, so they hired an additional dealer to their party, an ice-type wizard. The wizard in question was so crazy about hunting that he not only achieved the max level, but he also wore quite a few items. So, they seeded in the boss monster raid without facing any big difficulties.¡±

    ¡°So?¡±

    ¡°So they invited him to join their guild, but he allegedly declined their offer. Of course, after that, they asked for his help a couple of times. Anyway, they got acquainted with the guy. I heard they asked him in passing what game he yed usually.¡±

    ¡°What did he reply?¡±

    ¡°They were told he was hunting monsters, always.¡±

    Now everybody showed more interest in his remarks.

    As if to satisfy their curiosity, he continued, ¡°Fortunately, they met him during the second closed beta. He was still the same ice-type wizard as before. All six yers we recruited said the same thing about him. Namely, he might be the one who achieved the maximum level faster than anybody else because they only achieved Level 100 on average, but this ice-type wizard had already achieved Level 200, the max level of the second closed beta.

    They also said they noticed something very unusual. ording to them, a few hours before the second closed beta was over, the ice-type wizard still focused on hunting with a smile while other yers used the newly-earned items and consumed their golden rings.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    A brief silence fell in the small meeting room, then Chairman Chung broke the silence by saying, ¡°What happened during the 3rd closed beta?¡±

    ¡°As you know, unlike the 1st and 2nd, the 3rd had a cutoff. So any yer who failed to reach a certain level every day was denied ess to the game. Moreover, since it proceeded without any notice, lots of yers dropped out. So, any one of the six we hired has seen that ice-type wizard in the 3rd closed beta. We assume there was no max level achiever in the 3rd one, but if there was, the ice-type wizard in question seems to be the most likely. So, we really tried hard to find that man, so much so that we even went to see anyone who posted a line or two about the 3rd closed beta. But we could not find him. And that was a few years ago.¡±

    ¡°Hmm,¡± Chairman Chung murmured to himself.

    Then Chief Secretary Suman Ham added, ¡°I think what Manager Lee said is highly trustworthy. Don¡¯t you see the overall picture? That ice-type wizard who achieved the maximum level in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd closed betas has started the game now. Moreover, when those who achieved maximum level werecent, asionally essing the game for pleasure, he was still absorbed in hunting monsters. Of course, with continued hunting, he must have collected more golden rings and items than others. In other words, I think he might have already obtained lots of A grade traits, beyond B and C grades. That¡¯s why he showed such a remarkable performance when he was only Level 131.¡±

    Everyone present at the meeting nodded at the chief secretary¡¯s observation.

    Given his analysis, the puzzle about this ice-type wizard was correctly put together.

    ¡°By the way, the fact that he wore a mask and a robe means he also knows he is not ordinary.¡±

    ¡°I guess so. I¡¯m sure he knows he is extraordinarily talented in gaming, and given that he doesn¡¯t brag about it, he seems to be a very prudent person.¡±

    ¡°Furthermore, he didn¡¯t take his conflict with the guy named Taichi seriously. Considering his attitude, I think he has very broad knowledge and he is very reasonable in his judgement. If I narrow down the scope of possible figures, he must be older than we think, broadly experienced in life, or highly educated.¡±

    After hearing Manager Lee and Chief Secretary Ham, Chairman Chung rose from the sofa, ¡°Hmm, the thing is whether we, the Kusan Group, can attract him.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think he wille to us if he is interested in Kusan even a little bit? I mean, the Phtan Castle.¡±

    They exchanged further opinions, based on what Sokyoung briefed them.

    Perhaps that guy might be the only user in the world who achieved the maximum level in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd closed betas, with his traits over A grade.

    ***

    The Safety Zone of the Desert Scorpion Forest the next day.

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    As soon as the quest waspleted yesterday, I immediately moved into the Scorpion Forest for hunting, of course. Right before that, I was in a fierce battle without a break for an hour. But I was fine because my physical strength was too high for me to feel tired at all, so much so that even a good damage dealer could not outmuscle me.

    And I was satisfied with the oues. Of course, the number of monsters I hunted here was far lower than I did at the ant caves where more than 100 ants gathered instantly when I moved around there for a few minutes. But I received more EXP per monster here.

    So, I satisfactorily hunted all the way until 1:00 AM, then logged out for sleep from one corner of the Safety Zone in the Scorpion Forest that all users ebbed away from quickly.

    As always, I woke up early in the morning, had a quick breakfast and then quickly essed the game, imagining the empty scorpion forest and numerous monsters.

    Contrary to my expectation, it was already noisy and crowded with lots of users.

    Obviously there were no users when I logged out a little past 1 AM. In other words, when the regr quest was over, they went back to the unpopr and quiet hunting ground that I used to know. But now there were quite a few users. Of course, they might be permanently there for hunting or they might be there for a brief break.

 Chapter 51

    <h4>Chapter 51: Rediscovery of ¡®God of Enhancement¡¯ (1)</h4>

    It was a fat chance for the hunting ground, which had been unpopr until now, to suddenly surge in poprity. Besides, given their outfits, they didn¡¯t seem to be there to hunt because I saw them rolling their eyes constantly as if searching for somebody.

    Obviously they were looking for me.

    ¡®Well, that¡¯s understandable.¡¯

    Except for me, there were a total of 20 damage dealers close to Level 400. But I knew that very few of them were not even close to my level. Of course, some of them might be close to me in terms of damage, but more crucially they did not have enough mana to constantly spam skills for one hour like me.

    ¡®Can I just reveal my ID?¡¯

    When not only the ant caves but also the Scorpion Forest here were crowded with people searching for me like this, I was torn between the desire to reveal my ID and the desire to grow more strongly enough first so nobody could dare to beat me.

    But I soon decided not to disclose my ID. I knew the answer from the beginning. That¡¯s why I put on the robe and wore a mask. I slowly moved. Of course, I took off the mask and changed into the ragged clothing I initially had bought. Then I moved to Kotum Castle. Originally I was going to hunt for a while because today was the day when the ¡®God of Enhancement¡¯ cooldown was over. So, I could finally enhance the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword by one.

    ***

    Kotum Castle. I did not move straight to the cksmith because I had exactly 31 minutes and 49 seconds left before the God of Enhancement cooldown was over. So, I was going to hunt in the scorpion forest briefly, but I didn¡¯t.

    Tramp, tramp.

    I moved to a cafe called Lazy Afternoon in the central square, which I stopped by several times recently to sort things out for about 30 minutes. Then I ordered some soft drinks and sat down.

    ¡®Hmm. I can¡¯t keep doing this.¡¯

    I escaped not only from the ant caves but from the scorpion forest this time. They were very attractive hunting grounds for me, no matter how others thought about them. I really felt sad that I could not hunt there anymore.

    Of course, I have no regrets in confronting the eleven people who found fault with me at the ant caves, and that I scored brilliantly by participating in the quest this time, for I could not be more stupid if I just stood idle, doing nothing.

    In particr, my participation in the quest proved that I made the right choice because I received tremendous rewards. When I thought as far as that, my gaze turned to the ring on my right ring finger.

    ¡®Check the item.¡¯

    [Scorpion King¡¯s Ring (Precious)

    -Avable to the yer who outperforms others in the regr Level 300 ¡°Stop the Scorpion King¡± quest only.

    -It consists of a ring, an earring, and a ne. Additional effects ur as a set.

    : Two sets: Increases all stat points by 20.

    : Three sets: Increases all stat points by 50.

    -No wearing restrictions.

    -Effect.

    : Increasesbat power by 3% in desert terrain.

    : Reduces the damage from sand-type skills by 5%.

    : Reduces the damage due to poison-type skills by 10%.

    : Intellectual Power increases by 30.

    : Agility increases by 30.

    ¨C Physical defense increases by 50 Magic defense increases by 50.

    -Durability: 470,000/470,000]

    I also got one more item that came as a set. I got it from the Scorpion King directly.

    [Scorpion King¡¯s Earring (Precious)

    -Avable for the yer who outperforms others in the regr Level 400 ¡°Stop the Scorpion King¡± quest only.

    -It consists of a ring, an earring, and a ne. Additional effects ur as a set.

    : Two sets: Increases all stat points by 20.

    : Three sets: Increases all stat points by 50.

    -No wearing restrictions.

    -Effects:

    : Increasesbat power by 3% in desert terrain.

    : Reduces damage by all sand-type skills by 5%.

    : Reduces the damage by all poison-type skills by 10%.

    : Intellectual Power increases by 60.

    -Physical defense: increases by 50. Magic defense: increases by 50.

    -Durability: 470,000/470,000]

    There were 30 points each in Strength and Agility, and the Scorpion King¡¯s earrings with 60 Intellectual Power. It was said that the ne had 30 Physical strength and 30 Willpower, but the rest of the options were the same.

    ¡®Hmm. Mutual Growth is good, but not in this case.¡¯

    All growth is good, but it¡¯s a pity this time.¡±

    Except for the ne, all the stat points increased by 20 as a set option, but the stats increased only in Strength, Agility, and Intellectual Power. Unfortunately, none of the Stamina and Willpower stats increased.

    Of course, my current Stamina and Willpower were very high due to Mutual Growth. So, I didn¡¯t have to care about such a small increase. Moreover, it was impossible to increase as many stats now without Mutual Growth even if I invested all my items in my Physical Strength and Willpower. Still, I had some regrets because even a single figure was very valuable to me.

    ¡®By the way, I think I have to participate in the ¡®Stop the Scorpion King¡¯ quest once more.¡¯

    I had no ne. Although the Stamina and Willpower boosts that came with the ne were far from useful, the other options were attractive enough.

    In particr, the increase of all stat points by 50 as a set was even more so. Anyway, 30 minutes passed quickly while I was checking the two newly-acquired essories and pondering over the hunting ground. So I got up and moved to the cksmith right away, a bit excited.

    ng! ng! ng!

    As I frequently stopped by this ce because of the enhancement quest, I found the sound of hammering very friendly now. When I stepped further inside, a message that could only be heard here rang.

    [Please select the item you want to enhance.]

    With the message, a window appeared for the enhancement item. I looked at the enhancement window for a moment, because until a little while ago, there was always a red enhancement window right next to it. And I had mixed feelings about that. Of course, I don¡¯t see it anymore.

    Anyway, I shook my head slightly from side to side, then put the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword in the enhancement window. Then I quietly said, ¡°Activate the God of Enhancement.¡±

    [The God of Enhancement has been activated.

    -100% sess chance.

    -Enhancement target: +0 Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword.

    -Additional requirement when attempting enhancement: 850,000 golden rings

    -Cooldown time generated upon sessful enhancement: 14 days]

    In the past, I attempted to activate the God of Enhancement for a test instead of actually enhancing it, so I didn¡¯t pay attention to the requirement and cooldown time because I knew it.

    Then I was about to enhance it casually when something came to my mind.

    ¡®Test it?¡¯

    At the same time, I turned my gaze unconsciously toward the Scorpion King¡¯s ring that I had confirmed at a cafe called Lazy Afternoon. It was a rare essory not even registered at the auction house. Obviously, the essory enhancement stone was as precious as a weapon or armor enhancement stone. It was extremely precious because the essory enhancement stone, unlike other enhancement stones, was dropped by only the boss monster.

    In other words, it was an essory that ordinary yers could not even attempt to enhance unless anyrge guild made a determined effort. Besides, since there were no essories registered at the auction house, it was impossible to find enhancement stones. And the essories consumed within guilds were insufficient.

    That was one of the reasons why famous guilds were eager to hunt boss monsters, and it was always the case with the 1st and 2nd closed betas, except for the 3rd one. Anyway, I didn¡¯t have an essory enhancement stone. Nheless, I found myself attracted to the stone because my ¡®God of Enhancement¡¯ didn¡¯t include the enhancement stone in the requirements. Instead, what was required were golden rings, EXP, and cooldown time.

    I raised my hand and withdrew the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword from the enhancement window. Then I put the Scorpion King¡¯s ring there instead.

 Chapter 52

    <h4>Chapter 52: Rediscovery of ¡®God of Enhancement''(2)</h4>

    ¡°Activate the God of Enhancement.¡±

    [The God of Enhancement has been activated.

    -100% chance to seed.

    -Enhancement Target: +0 Scorpion King¡¯s Ring.

    -Additional requirements when attempting enhancement: 45,000 gold rings.

    -Cooldown time generated upon sessful enhancement: None.]

    As expected, there was no cooldown time. At that moment, I got goosebumps because I was so happy.

    ¡°Attempt Enhancement.¡±

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Soon the hammering screen only visible to me appeared, followed by the Scorpion King¡¯s ring. Of course, there was a message that indicated that enhancement 1 was sessful.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I sometimes doubted the God of Enhancement because the effects of ¡®Iceman¡¯ and ¡®Mutual Growth¡¯ were so good, even if it made the enhancement 100% sessful up to 12+.

    I felt that way because only I earned the trait of the God of Enhancement in the 3rd closed beta that I found was the most difficult.

    But I think I now know why the ¡°God of Enhancement¡¯ was given to mest. However, my excitement had to wait untilter because I needed to put the +1 Scorpion King¡¯s ring back into the enhancement window quickly. And I opened my mouth, hoping I would not have cooldown time.

    ¡°Activate the God of Enhancement.¡±

    [The God of Enhancement has been activated.

    -100% sess chance.

    -Enhancement Target: +1 Scorpion King¡¯s Ring.

    -Additional requirements when attempting enhancement: 75,000 golden rings.

    -Cooldown time generated upon sessful enhancement: None.]

    ¡®Lol.¡¯

    At that moment I was going to burst into a smile, but I held it back and went ahead with enhancement.

    [Scorpion King¡¯s ring seeded in enhancement 2]

    As soon as I checked the message, I put it back into the enhancement window and whispered, ¡°Activate the God of Enhancement.¡±

    [The God of Enhancement has been activated.

    -100% sess chance.

    -Enhancement Target: +2 Scorpion King¡¯s Ring.

    -Additional requirements when attempting enhancement: 175,000 golden rings.

    -Cooldown time generated upon sessful enhancement: None.]

    It didn¡¯t matter how many golden rings were required because I had more than over 100 million golden rings in the inventory. Given that the golden rings consumed at the moment were a substitute for the essory enhancement stone, which was not even released on the market, I didn¡¯t have to save the golden rings at all. Holding back an uncontroble smile on my face, I continued the enhancement.

    ¡°Attempt enhancement.¡±

    [Scorpion King¡¯s ring seeded in enhancement 3.]

    I seeded in enhancement 3, also called the safety enhancement. I put it back in right away. But this time, it included not only the golden rings, but also other things.

    [The God of Enhancement has been activated.

    -100% sess chance.

    -Enhancement target: +3 Scorpion King¡¯s ring.

    -Additional requirement when attempting enhancement: 515,000 golden rings.

    -Cooldown time generated upon sessful enhancement: 37 hours.]

    Unlike before, the required number of golden rings increased significantly. Besides, the cooldown time was as much as 37 hours. Was it because I exceeded safety enhancement 3? I could not think about any other reason. So, I took out the Scorpion King¡¯s enhancement +3 ring and put the Scorpion King¡¯s earrings there. Then I attempted to enhance it until I reached enhancement 3. Since I had already experienced it, I did it very quickly.

    ¡°Check the item.¡±

    [+3 Scorpion King¡¯s ring (Precious)

    -This is a ring you obtained in the regr Level 400 ¡®Stop the Scorpion King¡¯ quest.¡¯

    -Effects:

    : Increasesbat power (3%) ->4% in desert terrain.

    : Damage by all sand-type skills (5%) -> 7% reduction.

    : Damage by all poison-type skills (10%) ->13% reduction.

    : Strength increase (30)->40

    : Agility increase (30)->40

    -Physical defense increase: (50)->100 Magic defense increase: (50)->100.

    -Durability: 775,000/775,000]

    [+3 Scorpion King¡¯s Earring (Precious)

    :

    :

    : Intellectual Power increase (60)->80.

    -Physical defense increase (50)->100 Magic defense increase (50)->100

    -Durability: 775,000/775,000]

    Honestly, there was no big increase. However, I knew from experience that each of these differences would make a big differenceter. As it goes up, it is very difficult to get stronger even by 1.

    Anyway, this time I put the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword on the enhancement window as originally nned. The Scorpion King¡¯s earrings with Intellectual Power that I could use immediately were much more useful than the sword that I could not use immediately, but I chose the sword because it was a myth-grade weapon I would use all my life.

    On the other hand, the Scorpion King¡¯s essory was good, but it was a Level 400 precious-grade item. It¡¯s an item that I would immediately exchange if I had a better item.

    Of course, I thought of enhancing the Scorpion King¡¯s essory to 4 or 5 or more if I had a chance to do so because everyone knew that the higher the enhancement went up beyond the safety enhancement, the number of options would increase.

    Anyway, I activated the God of Enhancement and tried to enhance the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword.

    Bang! Bang! Thump!

    [Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword has seeded in enhancement 1]

    It¡¯s only a 1+ enhancement, but I felt ted because it was a myth-grade safety enhancement 0.

    ¡°Check the item.¡±

    [+1 Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword (Myth)

    -A sword that reflects the final will of Emperor Asirante as well as the master of ice against the God of Sun Morotu, who burned and evaporated everything in the world.

    : Avable to at least Level 700.

    : Use at least 7,000 pure Intellectual Power.

    : Avable to 10 ice-type skill holders.

    -Effect.

    : Increases the performance of all ice-type skills by 10%.

    : Cooldown of all ice-type skills reduced by 10%.

    : Inflict 10 times as much damage to the opponent hit by the ice-type skills with 1% probability.

    : Level 3 Ice Weapon will always be applied to the guardian sword. (It oveps the user¡¯s Ice Weapon magic. For example, if the user has a Level 1 Ice Weapon, the power of a Level 4 Ice Weapon will be applied when they use it.)

    : Inflict frostbite with 20% probability on the opponent hit by the guardian sword (If the user possesses a frostbite-rted skill, an additional 20% will be added. However, the 20% frostbite is applied only when directly hit by the guardian sword, not skills.)

    : Reduce damages of all fire-type skills by 20% due to the determination of the Ice Emperor that the God of Sun could not melt.

    : Strength increases by 1000.

    : Agility increases by 500.

    -Safety enhancement: 0

    -Physical attack increase: (8,999) ->9,550

    -Magic Attack increase: (899) -> 955.

    -Durability: 8,900,000/8,900,000]

    ***

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Obviously there was a big increase in the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword, which turned into enhancement 1 now, but it only increased in physical attack power. Compared to the physical attack power that increased by as much as 551, the magical attack power only increased by 56.

    The lettering of the ¡®Guardian Sword¡¯ caught my eyes. I regretfully wished that it was a cane, not a sword. But my regrets didn¡¯tst long because the enhancement of the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword would not end at 1 only. Exactly 14 dayster, it will change to enhancement 2, and at that time, the magical attack power may increase more than expected.

    Tramp, tramp.

    With expectations like that, I stepped outside the cksmith because I was done with all the enhancements including the Scorpion King¡¯s ring and earrings and the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword.

    So I moved to the Teleport Zone outside Kotum Castle without any hesitation.

    ¡®I got out faster than I thought, but it¡¯s time to leave Kotum Castle.¡¯

    Originally, I was going to keep hunting until I reached at least Level 300 with Kotum Castle as my base, so I chose the hunting ground near Kotum Castle because I could quickly move there.

    But, I changed my mind.

    ¡°Move to Pioneer¡¯s City.¡±

    I¡¯m going to make Pioneer¡¯s City my new base. Of course, the level of difficulty has not surgedpared to Kotum Castle. I know from experience that it¡¯s better for one level up via hunting easily and quickly even though it¡¯s below one¡¯s level, instead of huntingboriously at one¡¯s level. In this regard, the Pioneer¡¯s City here was considered quite suitable for me.

    Besides, the ant caves and the desert scorpion forest that led to Kotum Castle were not connected to Pioneer¡¯s City through the Teleport Zone. In other words, those who were looking for me didn¡¯t seem to think that far.

 Chapter 53

    <h4>Chapter 53: Hypocrisy</h4>

    ¡°Move to Pioneers¡¯ City.¡±

    Soon the city of pioneers came into my view. Certainly, the atmosphere was rather drab,pared to Kotum Castle. It looked a bit wild. But I smiled at the scene because it reminded me of the back alley I saw in the movie.

    I did not go straight into Pioneers¡¯ City. I still had a lot to do before enjoying a tour of the city.

    So I shouted immediately. I needed to move to the hunting ground that I had in mind.

    ¡°Move to the muddy swamp area.¡±

    [You are now being moved to the muddy swamp area.]

    Soon, the Safety Zone, which was notrge in the swamp area, appeared before my eyes.

    As expected, it was empty. More empty than anywhere else. Of course, it didn¡¯t mean there were no people at all. I noticed a couple of hunting teams in groups of 10 that seemed to be taking a break. And there were five more as if they were standing on guard at the entrance at the end of the Safety Zone in the swamp.

    Tramp, tramp.

    However, I moved to the muddy swamp area, ignoring them. When I got closer to them, one of the five walked towards me, gesturing for me to stop. I stopped at his gesture. Then he walked one step closer to me and opened his mouth, ¡°Hello. I guess this is your first time visiting the swamp area here.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. This is my first time,¡± I replied.

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s why you have shoes like that,¡± he said, pointing to the shoes I was wearing.

    So I also looked down and checked them. They were the wizard set items, 3 enhanced Cydin¡¯s boots. As if he read my mind right away, he continued, ¡°You know this swamp area has the modifier ¡®muddy.¡¯ So, it is difficult to even move, let alone hunt. Moreover, there are traps created by swamp monsters everywhere. That¡¯s why you need these boots.¡±

    He then pulled a pair of boots out from the inventory.

    Then he said, pointing to the boots, ¡°As you can see, these boots are tough and strong. Moreover, these boots are as high as your knees, so if you are careful, you will have no difficulties moving around in the swamp area. I can tell you confidently that these boots are a must item for hunting in this ce.¡±

    Contrary to what he said, the boots were not sturdy at all, nor did they look strong.

    Not caring about my disappointed expression, he continued, ¡°Moreover, this swamp is managed by our Kahwa Guild, so if you buy these boots, you can use this ce for free. Of course, you can pay for the toll every time you use this ce if you don¡¯t buy the boots. In that case, you might lose numerous golden rings when you let your guard down. You¡¯ll have to spend more at the end of the day when you choose to pay little by little.¡±

    He openly asked me to buy the boots with a threatening tone. I barely held back the urge to curl my lips at his provocative remarks. Trying not to smile at him as much as I could, I said, ¡°How much are the boots?¡±

    ¡°Oh, when I saw you at a distance, I thought you were an experienced hunter at a nce, but I think I was right. Actually, those who are not prepared are not qualified to hunt here. In that regard, I can give you the boots for 70,000 golden rings, although the set price by the guild is 100,000 golden rings.¡±

    Rip-off price. I knew that he was asking for rip-off prices, taking me as a pushover.

    But I agreed without anyint, ¡°Here you are.¡±

    ¡°Wow, fantastic! By the way, these boots look unsightly, but they are excellent in performance, so wear them well. As you know, if the durability drops to 0, the repair cost is close to 10 times as much as that. So, pay attention to the durability.¡±

    So, I bought the boots for 70,000 golden rings.

    ¡°Check Item.¡±

    [Unsightly Boots (general handmade item)

    -Unsightly boots with me-shaped decorations.

    -Physical Defense: 9, Magic Defense: 3

    -Durability: 89/89]

    100,000? 70,000? In my eyes, the boots weren¡¯t worth even ten golden rings.

    In other words, I waspletely ripped off. So, I was supposed to fly off the handle at him, but I didn¡¯t. Instead, I smiled at him and said, ¡°Good. By the way, can I go? I¡¯m a little busy.¡±

    ¡°Oh, yes! Hey, open the door, guys! Since he is wearing the boots with our guild logo, give him a pass when he is wearing the boots,¡± he shouted at the other four guys blocking the entrance.

    ¡°No problem!¡± they replied loudly as if to show off, who were blocking the entrance.

    Without looking at them, however, I moved to the swamp right away.

    ¡°Wow, you must be a good peddler! Howe you sold the boots for 70,000 golden rings that usually sell for 10,000?¡±

    ¡°Lol. It¡¯s because of my eloquent skills, man. Eloquence! Learn it from me, shit. As you know, I stay put here without even hunting. So, I need to make some profits while I¡¯m here man.¡±

    ¡°Oh no, you can do it, not us. What if we are caught doing it¡­¡±

    ¡°Bullshit. You guys are so cowardly.¡±

    ¡°By the way, the wizard who bought the books seemed meek, but I feel like it¡¯s a strong character. What do you think?¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Yea, I have some bad feelings¡­¡±

    ¡°Forget it. What can he do now? We¡¯re in charge here. If something bad happens, we can threaten him not toe here again.¡±

    ¡°Well, whatever¡­¡±

    That Kahwa guild member who was collecting tolls in front of the muddy swamp area chatted with the other members loudly. I could overhear them as I was not far from the area.

    ¡°Hmm. I see.¡±

    Once I entered the hunting ground, I didn¡¯t move far from there because I wanted to know more.

    ¡°Okay, it¡¯s true that Kahwa Guild exists there, and they collect tolls. But he overcharged me by selling me the boots for 70,000 golden rings when they usually sell for 10,000. He even boasted that he was giving me a discount of 30,000 golden rings.¡±

    Of course, even the price tag of 10,000 golden rings was a rip-off itself. To put it simply, the quality of the boots was so bad, let alone their performance. But it seemed that they forced any hunter entering the swamp area to buy the boots against their will, with their guild as the strong supporter.

    ¡°Oh my God! These guys really suck!¡±

    Moreover, this was an unpopr hunting ground. That was why they assigned five men there to forcibly sell the boots, but this kind of rip-off activity was far from helpful from the guild¡¯s point of view. In the end, they were penny-wise and pound-foolish. I could size up Kawha Guild instantly.

    ¡°Okay. Let me give it a pass. I can go through this and that in my life, and I¡¯ll gain experience from it anyway. Like the Sungchang Guild.¡±

    I didn¡¯t forget the people of the Sungchang Guild who insisted that the boss monster was theirs as soon as the monster appeared.

    Now I know something. Myongjin Group, led by my father, is also putting everything into this game. Maybe Myongjin might have been doing the same thing, let alone Daesung Group which was already running a game workshop. I was convinced that Myongjin, like Daesung, might have already started this kind of business like Kahwa because they don¡¯t invest in games like a charitable business.

    So, I paid 70,000 golden rings without hesitation. Of course, I had a big surplus of golden rings, so I had no problem spamming them. But I was motivated by the desire to grow stronger than now.

    Nevertheless, I could not deny that as a fragile human being, I was subject to extremely subjective human actions and judgement.

    So, if my family did the same thing, I would give it a pass. Or I might give them a piece of advice, things like, ¡®We should open this kind of unpopr hunting ground to anybody, but we should monopolize only the popr hunting grounds.¡¯

 Chapter 54

    <h4>Chapter 54: Meeting (1)</h4>

    I could advise my family like that because I was a family member, not a saint. I¡¯m not even an equalist crying for equality. However, the Kahwa Guild or Sungchang Guild are not my family. Naturally, the standard I apply to them must be different.

    ¡°Huhhhhh.¡± Iughed like a viin and opened my mouth quietly, ¡°Okay. Like they say, a nobleman can wait more than ten years to take revenge.¡±

    Of course, it¡¯s too trifling for me to get revenge for the rip-off. However, it is true that I really felt bad about it, so I didn¡¯t forget about getting revengeter.

    Now I moved further inside.

    ¡°Ice Field!¡±

    Crunch!

    Swamp monster? Not yet. But I used the Ice Field because I didn¡¯t want to plod my way through the muddy swamp. Of course, firing Ice Field brought about some results.

    The traps created by the swamp monsters exploded due to the widely spread Ice Field.

    When I stepped inside a little more, the monsters finally appeared, namely the swamp monsters as mentioned by the Kahwa Guild member who sold the shabby boots to me forcibly.

    ¡°Kuuuuuuh!¡±

    ¡°Kaaaau!¡±

    Swamp monsters greeted me nicely. I also opened my mouth to answer their wee, ¡°Ice Field.¡±

    Crunch!

    Soon thend of ice spread toward the swamp monsters.

    **

    ¡°Pouring Hailstones!¡±

    Following the heels of the Ice Field, I used ¡®Pouring Hailstones¡¯ this time.

    And I fired other skills at the advancing swamp monsters, breaking through the two obstacles.

    ¡°Multiple Ice arrow, Ice Ball, Ice Bolt.¡±

    Puk! Puk! Puk!

    Of course, I had one more skill, namely Ice st, a perfect match for the Ice Field.

    However, I didn¡¯t use it because I didn¡¯t have to fight the monsters while destroying the Ice Field that I deliberately spread to avoid the muddy swamp. Besides, I could hunt them even without using Ice st.

    At the same time, the benefits of keeping the Ice Field were better than I thought because the swamp monster¡¯s body itself was nothing but the swamp itself. However, the swamp monster and swamp were separated by the Ice Field.

    Pop! Pop!

    ¡°Kueeek!¡±

    ¡°Kuuuk!¡±

    The bodies of the swamp monsters were broken apart every time the Pouring Hailstones, Multiple Ice Arrows, Ice Balls, and Ice Bolts hit them.

    And the swamp monsters, which maintained their tough life force by absorbing swamps like leeches, died because they could not absorb the swamp blocked by the Ice Field.

    Of course, if my Ice Field had been weak, I would have forcibly broken them with other skills to nip their attack in the bud. In fact, some of the monsters attacked the Ice Field itself instead of me. But my Ice Field was sturdy enough to beat their attack.

    Hunting was fun here. Besides, I didn¡¯te here with a calcted n. I came here because I could hunt freely on an unpopr hunting ground, but I was really satisfied with the fact that this ce fitted my capabilities, contrary to my expectations.

    Sometimes a message that doubled my joy rang.

    [You have leveled up.]

    ¡°Huhhhhh.¡± Iughed, not just smiling this time, because I felt as if somebody was encouraging me to work harder. So, I moved forward with a smile to cheer up as much as I was encouraged.

    ¡°Ice Field!¡±

    Every time the cooldown time was back, I used the Ice Field everywhere even though there were no swamp monsters because my feet were precious.

    Two dayster I made the final attack against several swamp monsters that barely survived the Pouring Hailstones on the Ice Field which had been separated from the swamp.

    ¡°Multiple Ice Arrow, Ice Ball, Ice Bolt.¡±

    Pop! Pop!

    ¡°Kuuek!¡±

    ¡°Kuuuk!¡±

    [You have leveled up.]

    It was a message that always made me feel good whenever I heard it. There was another message, which was actually the rm sound.

    [It¡¯s 1:00 AM.]

    ¡°Whew! I¡¯ve managed to level up by one! Check status bar.¡±

    [Name: lumen

    Level: 174

    Kills: 11, Deaths: 0

    Title: The only closed beta max level achiever and 3 others.

    Health: 988,000(now) / 988,000(max)

    Mana: 785,500(now) / 785,500(max)

    Strength: 870 Agility: 870 Stamina: 4,700

    Willpower: 2755 Intellectual Power: 4867

    Remaining Stat Points: 180

    Remaining Skill Points: 0

    Traits: Iceman, Mutual Growth, God of Enhancement]

    Thanks to the 3+ Scorpion King¡¯s ring and earrings, Strength increased by 40, Agility by 40, and Intellectual Power by 80. And all the stat points increased by 20 since I equipped the two items.

    Until then, the increase didn¡¯t seem big. When I wore it like this, it looked really big.

    Aside from others, my Intellectual Power increased by 100.

    ¡°By the way, I climbed to Level 156 by winning the Scorpion King quest. So did my level go up as much as 18 for two days?¡±

    It was about 9 levels per day. I was satisfied with the level up. If I stuck with this performance, I could achieve Level 200 in about three days, even if my EXP went up with my rising level.

    ¡°Oh, am I wrong??¡±

    Tomorrow I¡¯m going home as usual. And I was told beforehand that there was apany executive meeting and a party at the hotel in the evening, so I should attend it. I was told toe back home a little early to be dressed up for the meeting.

    Anyway, I invested all 180 stats in Intellectual Power, smiling at the Intellectual Power figure that reached 5,000. And I turned back because I needed to go to sleep for a happy gaming session.

    ¡°Ice Field.¡±

    Of course, I used Ice Field on the way back, using all the avable skills, ¡°Pouring Hailstones, Ice Arrow, Ice Ball, Ice Bolt.¡±

    I spammed other ice-type skills at the swamp monsters that sometimes charged at me.

    When I approached the Safety Zone near the muddy swamp, I took off the +3 Cydin¡¯s boots and changed into the shabby boots I bought here.

    Tramp, tramp.

    ¡°Wow, you came back here right on time today, too,¡± said the man who forcibly sold me the boots for 70,000 golden rings. Like he did yesterday, he pretended to recognize me.

    ¡°Yeah, because it¡¯s past 1 AM.¡±

    ¡°Anyway, did you find the boots quite useful?¡±

    ¡°Well, kind of.¡±

    It was a ridiculous question. However, I didn¡¯t intend to fight with him, so I just replied casually. For now, I was satisfied with the muddy swamp, along with the ant caves and the desert scorpion forest. So I had no intention of giving it up yet.

    ¡°It was worth every penny, right?¡±

    I just smiled at his pun, moved to the side, and shouted, ¡°Log out.¡±

    The next day I got up early as usual, had a quick breakfast with cereal, and essed the game right away. For a little over 4 hours, I hunted like crazy and eventually went up 2 levels and logged out because I decided to have lunch at home today. So I washed and left my one-room studio quickly. Of course, I did not forget to pick up the 3G VR adapter, which I prepared in advance.

    In the past, I was afraid that my family members might catch me ying the game, or more precisely Revival Legend because they could be disappointed in me. But it was the opposite now. So I took the 3G VR adapter to y the game even briefly before attending the executive meeting in the evening.

    As always, I took a city bus first and got off near my house, then took a taxi to my house in Chongdamdong, south of the Han River, Seoul. Then I went into the house with my mom who had been waiting for me outside. I had dinner with my family.

    Of course, after eating, my dad and brother moved first as if they were busy, reminding me of the business meeting in the evening.

    It¡¯s dessert time.

    ¡°By the way, why isn¡¯t Mirae Group¡¯s Chairman attending this meeting?¡± I asked.

    As for the top five business groups of South Korea, they were Mirae, Daesung, Myongjin, Kusan, and Daeyu. But my father didn¡¯t mention Mirae and Daeyu despite the fact that Mirae was the unrivalled No. 1 business group for years. Daeyugged behind the others. Nheless, Mirae Group¡¯s Chairman would not attend the meeting.

 Chapter 55

    <h4>Chapter 55: Meeting (2)</h4>

    My sister replied to my question as if it was no big deal.

    ¡°That¡¯s why Dad told you toe early. He wanted to tell you why because you should know it too. Today¡¯s meeting is a special meeting disguised as an executive meeting. It¡¯s about Revival Legend to boot.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Revival Legend?¡±

    I opened my eyes wide at her mention of the special meeting about Revival Legend, not an executive meeting.

    ¡°Yes. You know what it means if Mirae doesn¡¯t make a presence in the special meeting, right?¡±

    ¡°I wonder if Mirae Group isn¡¯t involved in the game business.¡±

    I could not think of any other reason at this point. Then my sister smiled without answering my question and said, ¡°Well, actually they do, and very hurriedly at that. But it¡¯s toote. Of course Mirae Group knows about today¡¯s meeting. I heard they want to attend the meeting, but Myongjin, Daesung and Kusan have been duped by Mirae a lot, so they don¡¯t want to invite Mirae to this meeting. In a way, they are getting even with Mirae. Well, this is the sorry state of the business world anyway.¡±

    My sister mentioned the regrettable position of Mirae Group as if it was not a big deal.

    She continued, resting her chin on her hands, ¡°By the way, I just don¡¯t understand why Mirae is ignoring it when there is a rumor in the business circles that Mirae is stealing technology with alien traps. Arrogance? Orcency? Anyway, Mirae must be very busy now, weighing which one they have to give away.¡±

    ¡°What about Daeyu?¡±

    ¡°Well, Daeyu Group is behind the other top business groups anyway. Anyway, the management at Daesung, Kusan, and Myongjin decided to have today¡¯s meeting to coordinate their business interests because of the growing ovep and friction due to their business expansion. Of course, it¡¯s a superficial reason for the meeting. The thing is they want to join hands to dominate the game business among themselves.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    My sister was very good at marshalling outplicated things and then getting to the point clearly. So, although I didn¡¯t talk much with her, I grasped the picture of what¡¯s going on. As if she was not finished yet, she continued, chewing an apple on the table, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it only exist in imagination that everyone shares the limited goods fairly? Moreover, everybody is fighting with each other in their own country now, but when the world is integrated in the not so distant future, all countries will fight to im the limited goods. Well, I think Myongjin, Kusan, and Daesung want to enhance their solidarity before such intense fighting begins. If they can really work together well, they can be integrated into a great force.¡±

    She exined to me in passing, but obviously there was something I should not ignore lightly. ¡°Integration?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°You just mentioned integration, right? I mean, the integration at the world level.¡±

    I had never thought about international integration.

    Shrugging, she responded, ¡°You didn¡¯t notice it yet when you already heard from Daddy about it?¡±

    When she pointed it out, I reflected on my conversation with my fatherst week.

    He told me that apany called Vten in the United States, which possessed original technology for virtual reality, disappeared, and that the 4th generation VR will be realized in the real world. He also said that many foreign governments and giantpanies, led by the United States, were putting everything in the game called ¡°Revival Legend.¡±

    In other words, it was not only South Korea but also the world that Revival Legend has been open to the public. However, I never met any foreigner in this game.

    Sitting a bit nted against the chair, my sister said, staring at me, ¡°Listen carefully, brother. This ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ is¡­ Um¡­ yes. In short, it has only one server. One server that covers everything. And there are a number of channels that depend on that server. Just like a game.¡±

    Since I knew the type of game she was referring to, I just listened to her quietly.

    ¡°And if it¡¯s an original game, you can move in and out that channel freely, but Revival Legend doesn¡¯t allow it. But do you think they can maintain it forever? No. Absolutely no way. Of course, I¡¯m only guessing. But one day, the channel that currently serves as the boundary will disappear. What will happen then? Of course it will be integrated in one ce.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ what about thenguage? What are you going to do with thenguage?¡±

    Communication. Communication was essential in all games. In that respect, hundreds ofnguages around the world, not just one or two, would block the necessarymunication.

    But she said with a smile, as if she didn¡¯t care about my question, ¡°Do you think something so trivial would matter in this game?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    At the moment, I just stayed silent because I could not think of anything to refute her statement.

    ***

    A banquet hall on the 19th floor of the Kilton Hotel in Youido, Seoul was crowded with business celebrities¡­

    I was the son of the chairman of the top business groups in South Korea, so I attended a lot of these kinds of meetings and parties since I was a child.

    Like other countries, the connections involving blood ties, hometowns, and alumni are very important in South Korea, and especially so in the business world. So, I didn¡¯t feel awkward or get cold feet when I attended these meetings or parties. All I had to do was just follow my father, mother, brother and sister, shake hands with the chairman of Daesung or Kusan, and smile at them for their pleasantries or jokes with a nod.

    I could realize at a nce that this special meeting was not for a business purpose as intended, for I could not see the presidents of their important subsidiaries and professional CEOs as well as famous economists and schrs who usually delivered a congrattory message or offered the vision insights on their business.

    Instead, the banquet was attended by those I saw for the first time. They were obviously each group¡¯s general managers of Revival Legend. Anyway, the banquet proceeded for about 30 minutes with the attendants exchanging pleasantries and other casual conversation. After that, a group of people began to move separately. On our side, my dad, brother, and Chief Secretary Dongyoung Ahn, who I knew well, moved together. Even Insu Suk, Myongjin¡¯s general manager of ¡°Revival Legend,¡± also joined them, whom I got acquainted with beforeing to this ce.

    And it was the same with Daesung and Kusan. Each group¡¯s chairman and their closest aides left the banquet, but it went on. My mom was chatting with the wives of other business groups¡¯ chairmen in a ce reserved for them on one side of the banquet hall. My sister chatted with her peers,ughing cheerfully. Of course, I mingled with those my age.

    ¡°Hey, brother. Isn¡¯t it funny? Can you believe those who got stuck at home ying games are now treated so highly byrge business groups?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, since the world is going crazy, all sorts of crazy things are happening every day.¡±

    ¡°Lol. Well, who knows? Will a game addict be the most popr bridegroom candidate if the current trend continues?¡±

    ¡°Uh? That can really happen.¡±

    ¡°I agree. That¡¯s really possible. Lol.¡±

    ¡°Hey, we can hunt and level upfortably thanks to them, man. You know, they are driving monsters steadily like ves. Besides, they collect golden rings every day to pay a certain amount to the guild headquarters, right? Where can you find such good workers? So, be nice to them. If they run away, it¡¯s no use crying over spilled milk.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so, brother. Think of this. These gamers, who get stuck at home, only ying games like hikikomori are paid regr sries and issued the name cards ofrge business groups, right? It¡¯s only natural they should work hard as the loyal servants ofrgepanies.¡±

    ¡°You bet, I think Minsok is right.¡±

    ¡°Enough. I don¡¯t need it anyway. I¡¯m so annoyed these days. You know in virtual reality you can¡¯t proxy, right? So I have to take time out to do it myself. Damn it! I don¡¯t even remember when I had a great time with horny girls in the clubst time.¡±

 Chapter 56

    <h4>Chapter 56: Meeting (3)</h4>

    ¡°You must be crazy, dude. Don¡¯t you remember you and I went to the club just three days ago?¡±

    ¡°Lol. Oh, you¡¯re right.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re so dumb, man!¡±

    They kept on chatting andughing over trifling things, but I didn¡¯t join the conversation.

    Why? Because I was a good boy? Or because I could not find fault with others? Or because I think all humans are equal? Nope. Absolutely not. There was only one reason why I didn¡¯t join them. It¡¯s because I¡¯m a game addict who has a regr timetable in order to devote as much time as possible to ying games. So, I was only listening to them quietly.

    A small room located on one side of the banquet hall on the 19th floor of the Kilton Hotel.

    A total of 13 people were there, with four to five men from the four business groups.

    Kusan Group Chairman Unki Chung, the oldest of them, said to his Chief Secretary Suman Ham right next to him, ¡°So, are you done confirming it?¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir. All clear. I made sure of no eavesdropping as well as soundproofing in advance. I did it together with the people from Daesung and Myongjin.¡±

    ¡°Good job. The fewer they know, the better,¡± Chairman Chung replied, nodding to his reply. Then after looking at Daesung Chairman Jonghan Kim and Myongjin Chairman Sangman Hong quickly, he said, ¡°Thank you for epting my request.¡±

    Since Kusan, Daesung, and Myongjin existed as top business groups for a few decades, they had a strong rtionship with each other. So, Chairman Kim and Chairman Hong replied with a smile on their lips, ¡°You¡¯re wee.¡±

    ¡°I think we should have met one way or another even if we had not met here like this. I think our get-together today is a bitte.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha. Thanks for saying so. Then let me get to the point because you guys are always busy. First of all, what happened on the Wailing Ind is a tragedy for all of us, right?¡±

    As soon as Chairman Chung mentioned the Wailing Ind, Chairman Kim and Chairman Hong cleared their throats because they fought fiercely over the dominance of the ind for years, which resulted in enormous damage for all of them.

    ¡°Hmm. Hmm. Well¡­¡± said Kim.

    ¡°I think so,¡± Hong chimed in.

    ¡°So what about this? Instead of fighting over the ind in vain, why don¡¯t we take turns dominating the ind month to month? If an outside force attacks to upy the ind, we can unite to defeat their attempt.¡±

    ¡°Are you saying we have to form an alliance now?¡± Chairman Hong immediately asked.

    But Chairman Chung replied with a smile, ¡°Hahaha. Don¡¯t be impatient. If you think about what will happenter, I think it¡¯s good for us to agree first even if we don¡¯t form an alliance right now. Besides, we have had a long business rtionship together with our base in South Korea. So, isn¡¯t it better for us to rely on each other rather than foreign groups such as the US, Chinese, or Japanese business groups?¡±

    ¡°I agree with that idea. I¡¯m not sure of the benefits of our alliance at this point, but if we fight among ourselves, it will only benefit others. In particr, Mirae and Daeyu will be so happy if we fight. I don¡¯t think we have to do them good by fighting amongst ourselves,¡± said Kim.

    ¡°You bet! That¡¯s what I mean,¡± Chairman Chung agreed, smacking his knees while listening to him quietly.

    They kept talking in that small room for a while, for their activities were supposed to grow too as their power grew more and more, and they felt the need to coordinate because their business interests did not conflict over just the Wailing Ind.

    While they were up to their ears in the business discussion, there was another group chatting in one corner of the banquet hall.

    ¡°Hey, Juyoung, it¡¯s been a while since we met!¡±

    A guy walked up and spoke to me. He was Cholmin Kim, Chairman Kim¡¯s grandson.

    He was smart enough for people in top business groups to remember his name.

    That¡¯s why he received the greatest spotlight among those my age here.

    But I was no exception, for I, a mediocre student, was rumored to have entered Seoul National University (SNU) at the top of my ss by studying very hard in a couple of years and getting perfect scores in the SAT exam, let alone my ability to speak several foreignnguages natively including English and Chinese. My entrance into SNU was a very hot topic among the people of the top business groups because the Myongjin Group¡¯s PR department released very positive articles about it.

    ¡°Oh, long time no see,¡± I replied casually.

    Anyway, I have known him for a long time, and we were ssmates in the Business Administration Dept. of SNU anyway.

    Kim said, ¡°By the way, I heard the rumors that the reason why you didn¡¯t return to school after you were discharged from the army was because Myongjin wanted to make you grow as soon as possible after finding out the rumors about Revival Legend first. Is that true? And Myongjin pulled strings to help you y Revival Legend even when you were in the army, ording to the rumor.¡±

    ¡°Oh my¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t help but clear my throat.

    Then I replied, ¡°You don¡¯t believe such ridiculous rumors, do you?¡±

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know because the rumors about you are so spectacr. I just came to believe the rumors to some extent anyway.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I didn¡¯t refute him altogether.

    ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s good to see you like this. By the way, you¡¯re ying the game, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Well, kind of.¡±

    Kim was asking me if I was ying Revival Legend, so I replied with a nod.

    ¡°I see. I think you are definitely ying the game. Well, it has been a year since I took time off school. My grandfather, who was so happy when I entered Seoul National University, told me to quit right away, saying the diploma from Seoul National University would be useless in the future.¡±

    ¡°Maybe¡­if it actually happened.¡±

    I agreed because the SNU graduate certificate would be useless in such a society.

    After confirming my situation, Kim continued, ¡°I¡¯m d to see you anyway. Hope to see you more often. I like you because you have better judgement than your brother who¡¯s so dumb.¡±

    ¡°Okay, see youter.¡±

    Soon after I parted with Kim, I saw the chairmen and their closest aides filing out of the small room. After that, the meeting disguised as a management meeting ended in an amicable way. It seemed that they emerged from the meeting with good oues. The meeting was over at nine thirty in the evening. I moved to my house in Chongdamdong after that.

    Back at the house, I went down to my father¡¯s basement study.

    ¡°Juyoung,e in.¡±

    I went there with my brother and sister, Chief Secretary Ahn and General Manager Sok who was in charge of the Myongjin Group Revival Legend team.

    General Manager Sok led the general review of the day¡¯s meeting, while I and my sister listened to him quietly because we were not present at the meeting. Honestly, there was nothing I had to pay special attention to because most of Sok¡¯s review focused on Myongjin¡¯s continued partnership with Kusan and Daesung. Of course, there was one thing that I recalled while listening. It was about my fight against the eleven Daesung Guild members at the ant caves. But I gave it a pass because it was too trifling and nobody knew it was me.

    Sok ended the review by saying that that one day there would be an inevitable fight among Myongjin, Daesung, and Kusan to im hegemony over Revival Legend, so it was dangerous to trust Daesung and Kusan 100%. He also added that we should pay more attention to Mirae and Daeyu thatgged far behind other top business groups in the gaming world.

    And when the meeting ended, everyone was about to leave when my father called me.

    ¡°Son, you¡¯re ying the game well?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Do you need anything else?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Anything else? I couldn¡¯t answer my father¡¯s question quickly.

 Chapter 57

    <h4>Chapter 57: New Quest</h4>

    I was not sure if I needed anything else now because I suddenly recalled their earlier conversation today. yers were farming monsters and collecting golden rings, just like a mother bird feeding worms into her babies¡¯ mouths. They got more than ten healers and supporters for just one yer. That was not all. They also received the full support from theirpanies, including the best equipment tailored to their levels.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t envy them because I had too many items to even envy them, nor did I need such support. I wanted to mention it to my father for some reason, but I didn¡¯t after all.

    After swallowing once, I replied to my father¡¯s question, ¡°Not yet.¡±

    ¡°Got it. Just keep up the good work. If there is something you need, tell your brother or sister immediately.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t certain, but I knew I had one clear goal. I wanted to appear before my dad, mom, brother, and sister as a formidable yer just like a triumphant battle general.

    Anyway, I went out of the basement study and headed for my room still on the second floor, which was kept clean all the time. Then Iy on my bed and wore the 3G VR adapter because it was too early to sleep.

    ***

    ¡°ess!¡±

    [essing Revival Legend.]

    Shortly afterwards, the Safety Zone of the muddy swamp came into my view, which was quite empty when I logged out during the day.

    Tap, tap.

    At that moment, I could feel somebody gently tapping my shoulder. Obviously I logged out in one corner of the Safety Zone here. So, I quickly turned back after discovering that there was someone behind me as soon as I logged in because it felt off, no matter how difficult it was to attack another yer in the Safety Zone.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Of course I thought it would be a user. I thought I knew who it was, namely that guy who sometimes pretended to know me, and sold me the shabby boots that cost me 70,000 golden rings. But it was not him. This was a totally unexpected situation. However, as if she didn¡¯t care about my embarrassment, the NPC bowed to me and said, ¡°Hello. I¡¯m Kihanna, a resident of the muddy, swampy Pioneers¡¯ City.¡±

    ¡°¡­Oh I see. Hello.¡±

    It was a so-called NPC. Of course, it was familiar to me because the NPC role was essential for the smooth procession of the game, MMORPGs in particr.

    Of course, NPCs existed in Revival Legend in the form of shop owners or the serving staff at the Lazy Afternoon caf¨¦ in Kotum Castle Square that I stopped by several times. But I never expected that an NPC woulde to see me first, pretending to know me.

    ¡°Do you know the origin of Pioneers¡¯ City?¡±

    Kihanna asked about the origin of Pioneers¡¯ City out of the blue.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t know because I didn¡¯t have enough time to hunt and I didn¡¯te here after confirming it in advance. As if she expected my reaction, she continued, ¡°Then would be kind enough to talk with me for a minute?¡±

    When she said that, the word ¡®quest¡¯ came to my mind. Like all other games, the quest was already released to everyone. Moreover, it wasmon for other games to have quests that everyone would clear and proceed with in other games.

    But the Revival Legend game was different. There was no information about how to proceed, earn and clear the quests. In fact, I found it out by checking with my sister about the regr quest that I participated in the other day. I heard from her that if there was a guest, I should absolutely participate in it, and if there was not, I needed to find one.

    ¡°Sure, no problem,¡± I replied with a nod, for I gained more than I thought from the Level 100 enhancement quest or the Level 400 Scorpion King quest. Besides, I was eager to participate in any quest right away if it was avable even now.

    ¡°Thank you. By the way, I wonder how I should address you¡­¡±

    Kihanna asked for my name. At that moment, I almost mentioned my ID lumen, but changed it. ¡°Asirante.¡± It was the name of Ice Emperor, the owner of the Guardian Sword.

    [It is the sword of the final determination of Asirante, the master of ice and the emperor of ice, who fought against the Sun God Morot who burned and evaporated everything in the world.]

    Although it was brief, it was the description inscribed on the sword.

    ¡°Asirante¡­ That¡¯s a really good name, like Him in mythology.¡±

    I was not sure if she was referring to the Ice Emperor, Asirante in mythology.

    But I didn¡¯t care much because the name came to my mind instead of lumen.

    She gave me a brief exnation about the origin of Pioneers¡¯ City.

    To sum it up, those who built Pioneers¡¯ City, including Kihanna, were ves. She said they were ordered to build a pioneers¡¯ ce on the condition of them being freed from very. So they built Pioneers¡¯ City. She said they also yed a role in developing the muddy swamp area.

    She said sadly, ¡°But after theynded here, they started to control the city freely. So, Pioneers¡¯ City that we built with the hope of being freed from very began to turn into a bleak city that nobody visited.¡±

    Her face looked gloomy. With regrets and despair on her face, she continued, ¡°We want lots of people toe visit Pioneers¡¯ City, so we hope to remove the name ¡®Pioneers¡¯ City¡¯ and give it some other great name. If that happens, my family and my friends will be freed from very.¡±

    Taking off the original name from Pioneers¡¯ City and turning it into another city with a great name was the only way for her and her people to be freed from very, based on the king¡¯s promise to them.

    ¡°But there are people blocking our efforts. They are none other than the Kahwa Guild people who took the liberty of stepping into this ce and settling down. We don¡¯t have power now. That¡¯s why I am asking you for help because you, Asirante, are strong. Of course, we¡¯re willing to pay you for your help.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Honestly, I was a little surprised because this quest was not simple. What she wanted was an actual battle between users. I felt as if the quest was alive now.

    ¡®That¡¯s why they say the quest itself is rare?¡¯

    I didn¡¯t give her a firm reply for now. I asked about other things instead.

    ¡°Why do you think I am strong?¡±

    I¡¯m currently only Level 200 officially. Besides, I don¡¯t wear good items. Of course, the Scorpion King¡¯s ring and earrings are definitely good, but she couldn¡¯t possibly have a clue that I¡¯m strong, based on my appearance. Of course, there must be some among those who have used this city, even though there are only a few. I mean, there must be some famed strong men.

    ¡°Oh, aren¡¯t you strong, Asirante? Well, you look strong in my eyes.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I could not answer her question. Was it because of my pride or self-esteem? No, that was not the reason.

    But I felt like I was ruining myself if I denied her statement. Besides, I wanted to get even with the Kahwa Guild guys someday for humiliating me.

    ¡°Huhhhhhhh.¡±

    At that moment, I burst into a smile before I knew it.

    ¡°Good. But not right now. Give me three days. Let me answer your question in three days.¡±

    If she had asked me to get rid ofmon monsters or if it had been a quest asking me to bring her something, I would have easily epted it.

    But this time the quest itself was quite meaningful. Three days was enough for me to achieve Level 200. And I needed time to find out a little about the Kahwa Guild. Moreover, I had strong support like Myongjin Group that could check it out.

    ¡°Okay. As long as I can ask a strong person like Asirante for help, three days is not long. I¡¯ll see you in three days.¡±

    After saying that, she bowed and left like a local NPC who wandered from one house to another.

 Chapter 58

    <h4>Chapter 58: Grade B or Grade A (1)</h4>

    ¡°Check the time.¡±

    [The current time is 11:24 PM.]

    I felt like it was a bit awkward to run to my sister¡¯s room right away and talk about it.

    So, I hurried to the swamp. To achieve Level 200 in 3 days, I could not afford to waste time.

    So, Iid Ice Fields here and there in the swept area and focused on hunting past 1 PM.

    The next morning my whole family sat around the table and had breakfast.

    After seeing my father and brother off to go to the office, I sat down with my sister in the living room.

    ¡°By the way, Daddy asked you toe with her to the office. Why didn¡¯t you go?¡±

    Of course, my father didn¡¯t want to take her for anything like on-the-job training. What he wanted was for her toe to the office and learn from General Manager Insu Sok, who was in charge of the Revival Legend team.

    ¡°Tut, tut. Work is waiting for me if I go with him. I would rather stay home and hunt another monster. That¡¯s why he has your brother in the office. So, be thankful to your brother. Otherwise, we would have been as busy as him.¡±

    I really could not understand her state of mind, but I just ignored it and asked about what I experienced yesterday.

    ¡°Have you heard about Pioneers¡¯ City?¡±

    ¡°Pioneers¡¯ City? I don¡¯t know.¡±

    In fact, the world of Revival Legend was very vast. So I didn¡¯t think her reply was strange.

    I asked her a different question. ¡°Then how about the Kahwa Guild?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard about it. Why? What¡¯s going on? Well, obviously you have run into trouble in Pioneers¡¯ City because of the Kahwa Guild, right?¡±

    ¡°No, not yet.¡± Yes, not yet. But it will happen soon.

    ¡°Then, is it true that NPCs can make the users fight each other?¡±

    Actually, I was most curious about this.

    Straightening up after vegging out on the sofa, she asked, ¡°Oh, you received the quest, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, sort of.¡±

    I didn¡¯t intend to hide it from my sister to quench my curiosity, so I replied immediately.

    ¡°Wow, it seems you¡¯re being recognized for your abilities! It¡¯s really hard to get the quest that involves fighting between users.¡±

    ording to her, I think I received the quest. But I took it as a PvP because I misunderstood her. Obviously Kihanna asked me to fight against the group called the Kahwa Guild.

    ¡°Go for it unconditionally. Is there any condition that you have to fight with the users one on one without any outsider help? If not, I can help you out,¡± she said.

    ¡°Not yet. But is it possible?¡±

    During the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd closed betas, NPCs had no roles at all. They were just negligible presences. When I went into the cksmith for example, messages rang automatically, which was the same with the auction house.

    ¡°Well, isn¡¯t it amazing? NPCse out with the quest to suit the situation. At first, I wondered if the recipient was the NPC themselves, but¡­¡±

    ¡°But?¡± I demanded a continuation because she abruptly stopped talking any further with a humorous expression on her face.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. How do we know? We don¡¯t even know who is running Revival Legend.¡±

    I was disappointed at her nd answer.

    Then she stood up and said, ¡°Anyway, I think you seem to have received a quest to fight against someone from the ce called Kahwa Guild. Okay. I¡¯ll find out who Kahwa Guild is.¡±

    ¡°Okay, thanks.¡±

    After confirming she moved to her room upstairs, and I also went up to the 2nd floor to pack my luggage. I took a lot of the side dishes that my mom had prepared for me and left the house. Of course, watching me, my mom and sister lightly reproached me, questioning why I should go through the trouble of having a hard time outside home. But I just smiled at them without replying because I felt morefortable about being alone when I devoted all my time to ying games.

    ***

    ¡°Pouring Hailstones!¡±

    Like I did recently, I used Pouring Hailstones towards the swamp monsters on the Ice Field. And I fired Multiple Ice Arrows, Ice Balls, and Ice Bolts at several swamp monsters that barely survived. That¡¯s it. I didn¡¯t need any further attacks.

    What did I do after all that? Of course, I used ¡°Ice Field.¡±

    Laying the new Ice Fields everywhere, other swamp monsters attacked me. My Physical Strength was too high for me to get tired after only two or three hours of continued hunting, and I maintained 80% of mana always, although I spammed the skills.

    Then somebody whispered into my ear. It was my sister, the only one who knows my ID.

    [Super beauty: Brother, can I talk with you now?]

    [lumen: Sure.]

    Of course, some swamp monsters were rushing at me on the Ice Field.

    So, I used another skill.

    ¡°Ice Weapon.¡±

    [You have used Level 2 Ice Weapon.

    -The cold ice energy is present in your enhancement 3 sturdy longsword.]

    I didn¡¯t mean to use Power and Agility. However, since I sessively earned titles, all stat points began to umte by 100 or 200. Besides, thanks to the fact that I was wearing my enhancement 3 items like the Scorpion King¡¯s rings and earrings, my Power and Agility finally reached 870 each. Of course, it was still lower than other professional physics-type skills.

    However, Level 2 Ice Weapons with 870 Power and Agility, based on over 5,000 Intellectual Power, were enough to beat the swamp monsters¡¯ heads.

    [Super beauty: What¡¯s up? Are you hunting?]

    [lumen: No, you can talk.]

    [Super beauty: Okay, I checked out the Kahwa Guild. Like you said, they currently upy Pioneers¡¯ City.]

    [lumen: How strong are they?]

    Of course, I guessed their force was not big because everybody would recognize it immediately if they were big.

    [Super beauty: Not that big. Just a small guild.]

    [lumen: But howe it can control the whole area?]

    [Super beauty: It¡¯s because Pioneers¡¯ City is located in a very remote area. I just wonder why you went that far. I noticed some other unpopr hunting grounds nearby.]

    Well, that¡¯s why I went there. There were few people, nor was it attractive, but it had lots of monsters. Since I couldn¡¯t tell her the truth, however, I beat around the bush.

    [lumen: Well, I came as far as here without knowing where I was.]

    [Super beauty: Really? Anyway, you¡¯re lucky to have received the quest in an unexpected hunting ground. By the way, do you want me to put some pressure on the Kahawa Guild? If I show them my name card with Myongjin Group on it, I can disband them right away.]

    [lumen: No,ter. I¡¯ll contact you again if I think it¡¯s hard to fight them.]

    [Super beauty: Okay. Then I¡¯ll leave. Be sure to tell me what happenster.]

    [lumen: Alright.]

    I was done talking to her in a low voice.

    ¡°Hmm. There is nothing particr about the Kahwa Guild.¡±

    Honestly, I thought it didn¡¯t matter even if the guild had nothing particr because my strong supporter, Myongjin, was more powerful anyway.

    But I was worried about the possibility that the Kahwa Guild might be a subsidiary or an ally of Daesung or Kusan or other powerful guilds, for it wouldplicate things in that case. So I felt relieved to hear my sister¡¯s reply.

    ¡°Good. Alright, I think I have to achieve Level 200 first.¡±

    Of course, I had no intention of epting the quest blindly. I was going to act after checking out the reward. Although my sister told me to go for it unconditionally, I had no intention of getting involved in the fight instigated by the NPC in return for a small reward.

    Puk! Puk!

    I used a +3 sturdy longsword equipped with a Level 2 Ice Weapon.

    ¡°Kuhhhhh!¡±

    ¡°Kuheeeeek!¡±

    The swamp monsters flopped up and down in the swamps, moaning, every time I wielded the sword.

    Watching the scene, I thought that the Ice Weapon was more powerful than I thought.

    Of course, my main specialty is ranged magic. I sometimes found myself attacked by those swamp monsters that approached me in melee range.

 Chapter 59

    <h4>Chapter 59: Grade B or Grade A (2)</h4>

    My Stamina and Heath were so high that I didn¡¯t need to avoid or stop their attack, even though I was a wizard with the lowest Stamina and Health.

    ¡°Whew! I didn¡¯t mean this from the beginning¡­¡±

    I didn¡¯t take the titles into ount when I set up Mutual Growth, for I never expected I would get as many as four titles. But I prioritized my Stamina because I had a hard time because of low health during the first, second, and third closed betas,

    In particr, if I died, I received the penalty of being denied ess for 24 hours, aside from the loss of EXP. So, I had to pay more attention to it back then because unlike the first and second closed betas, it would be impossible for me to achieve the maximum level if I died in the third closed beta by mistake.

    Anyway, I was in a difficult situation, so I thought of using another skill, the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword.

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s why I got this Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword?¡± I thought to myself.

    Aside from my Health, my Physical Strength was almost 5,000. It wouldn¡¯t stop at a certain point, but continue to increase endlessly in the future.

    Although I didn¡¯t mean it, I¡¯ve cultivated the basis for simultaneous attacks while resisting any close-range attacks. Of course, it¡¯s a pity that my Stamina and Agility are rtively low. Even though I have a Level 3 Ice Ice Weapon, it¡¯s not enough.

    But if a Level 2 Ice Weapon attached to the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword itself is added to a Level 3 Ice Weapon that I¡¯m going to upgradeter, it¡¯ll be a Level 6 level ice weapon. Despite the fact that the magic of the Ice Weapon itself is maximum Level 3, it will absolutely be applied to the ice-type magic. In particr, the Iceman¡¯s trait.

    ¡°Oh my¡­I¡¯m afraid I am going to be a wizard who has cleared his mind.¡±

    Lamenting like that, I used Ice Field and Pouring Hailstones sessively.

    I don¡¯t know what will happenter, but at this point I¡¯m a wizard whose main force is magic.

    Of course, I¡¯m better than anybody else in not only Intellectual Power but also Physical Strength, Willpower, Health, and mana.

    Three dayster.

    ¡°Multiple Ice Arrows! Ice Ball! Ice Bolt!¡±

    Puk! Puk! Puk!

    ¡°Kiheek!¡±

    ¡°Kuuuuuek!¡±

    I just concentrated on hunting in the muddy swamp areas for three days, so much so that I didn¡¯t miss even one minute on my schedule. Nevertheless, I wasn¡¯t sick and tired of it.

    Rather, I found it more and more interesting because I could see myself getting stronger.

    But it seemed that others didn¡¯t think so. That¡¯s why the Kahwa Guild member, a security guard at the Safety Zone of the muddy swamp, checked me this morning and looked at me strangely as if he was looking at a monster because I came in and out of the ce at the same time every day. Besides, whatever the guy who sold me the shabby boots for 70,000 golden rings said was ridiculous.

    ¡°Well, I think I lost money when I sold you the boots for 70,000 golden rings. If I knew you woulde here every day, I wish I had asked you for 200,000 golden rings. There are rumors that you have hunted almost all the monsters since you got here.¡±

    How ridiculous! In particr, I snorted at hisst words. Moreover, he began to speak to me in an informal tone as if I was his friend. If I had no goal of achieving Level 200 in 3 days, I wanted to fire Multiple Ice Arrows into his mouth immediately.

    But I just smiled at him, ignoring what he said because I still needed seven more levels to achieve Level 200. So, except for three short logouts for my lunch, dinner, and a brief break, I could confirm the seventh message right before 1 PM, which I was looking forward to.

    [You have leveled up.]

    ¡°Huhhhhhh.¡±

    I smiled in satisfaction because I had achieved my goal. And there was another message.

    [You have acquired 3 skill points by achieving Level 200.]

    I¡¯ve got three remaining skill points to acquire new skills.

    ¡°Check the status window.¡±

    [Name: lumen

    Level: 200

    Kills: 11, Deaths: 0

    Title: The only closed beta max level achiever and three others.

    Health: 1,052,000(now) / 1,052,000(max)

    Mana: 807,000(now) / 807,000(max)

    Strength: 870 Agility: 870 Stamina: 4,920

    Willpower 2,860 Intellectual Power 5,087

    Remaining Stat Points: 260

    Remaining Skill Points: 3

    Traits: Iceman, Mutual Growth, God of Enhancement]

    I was only Level 174 four days ago. Except for Sunday when I attended the special meeting disguised as a business leaders¡¯ meeting, I went up 26 levels in about 3 days.

    ¡°Wow¡­¡±

    Whenever I looked at the status bar, I uttered exmations naturally because my performance was so stunning. So, I looked at it for a long time, then invested all 260 remaining stat points in Intellectual Power. And I turned back because time was up and I needed to make a decision.

    As it was, I turned my feet around. Now it was time to make a decision, although it was still up in the air.

    The Safety Zone gate of the muddy swamp areas.

    ¡°Howdy, you havee early today.¡±

    As expected, the Kahwa Guild member spoke to me informally as soon as he saw me. So, I just nodded and passed by him without responding at all. And I moved to that remote ce where I met Kihanna exactly three days ago.

    Tramp, tramp.

    As it was inside the swamp Safety Zone, which was not that big, I could see someone already waiting for me there. Of course, she was the NPC called Kihanna, who was a ve who, along with her n, made ¡®Pioneers¡¯ City¡¯ as a ve.

    ¡°Hello. Asirante.¡±

    Kihanna bowed to me, calling me by the pseudonym I gave her.

    I replied the same way, ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you. By the way, you havee here on time!¡±

    She showed up at the appointment time exactly on the third day since our first meeting.

    ¡°Because it¡¯s very important to me.¡±

    ¡°Good. Then let me listen to your story.¡±

    Anyway, I was the one who had to ept her request or not, so I waited for her next words, folding my arms. At that moment, a message rang.

    [Quest: ¡®Light themp of hope for the Salte n.¡¯

    -The Salte n was one of the northern races who fell into very after experiencing defeat in the war.

    *The victorious king suggested to the Salte n that they cultivate a remote and raggednd visited by none and develop it into a good city. He promised to free them from very if they could do so. Concerned about the future of their descendants, the Salte n epted the king¡¯s proposal. Then they moved to this remote ce to build Pioneers¡¯ City with toils and sweat. However, by the time Pioneers¡¯ City became known to the outside world, a group of people stormed and robbed the Salte n of the city they were in the process of building with their own efforts. Moreover, they received money from users other than themselves, and Pioneers¡¯ City turned into a ghost city that even those who know this ce no longer visit.

    So the Salte n wants you to drive the Kahwa Guild, the unauthorized upant, out from Pioneers¡¯ City.

    -Grade B quest: Expel the Kahwa Guild and return Pioneers¡¯ City to the Salte n.

    -Rewards:

    : 8.5 million golden rings.

    : A considerable amount of EXP.

    : 500 coins.

    : 50 remaining stat points.

    -Grade A quest: Expel the Kahwa Guild and help the Salte n develop Pioneers¡¯ City into a good city with a good name. (Even if Pioneers¡¯ City is prosperous, it is impossible for them to be freed from very if they don¡¯t receive a good city name from the king.)

    -Rewards:

    : 25 million golden rings.

    : A considerable amount of EXP.

    : 1500 coins.

    : 300 remaining stat points.

    : Random box thates along with one essory bordering the ¡®precious¡¯ and ¡®legend¡¯ grades.]

 Chapter 60

    <h4>Chapter 60: My choice</h4>

    [You can choose between the Grade B quest and the Grade A quest.

    -Once you select it, you cannot change it.]

    ¡°¡­.¡±

    I had a fifty-fifty chance of epting her request until then. If I didn¡¯t like it, I was clearly ready to say no, regardless of her pitiable situation.

    However, the message before my eyes made me ept her request. I was swayed by the Grade A quest in particr. The rewards of Grade A were much better than I thought. I felt good about 25 million golden rings, a significant amount of EXP, 1,500 coins, and a random box containing one essory bordering the ¡°precious¡± and ¡°legendary¡± grades, but I especially liked the 300 extra stat points.

    Of course, I might get a jackpot from the legendary grade essory in a random box, but it¡¯s only a probability at this point. So, I liked the 300 remaining stat points better which was something pretty tangible because of Mutual Growth that could increase it to 750 from 300.

    Besides, the Grade A quest had more requirements than the Grade B quest, with no guaranteed sess.

    But I decided to help Kihanna after all.

    ¡°Sure, let me help you until you can build a city with a good name,¡± I said cheerfully, for the fruit seemed too sweet and delicious for me to give up for fear of failure.

    As soon as I made the choice, a message rang.

    [You have chosen the Grade A quest: ¡®Light themp of hope for the Salte n.¡¯

    -If you take more than one month without making any progress, the Salte n may be disappointed and will destroy the quest itself.]

    When I chose the Grade A quest, a condition was suddenly attached to it, which I hadn¡¯t seen before. But I didn¡¯t care because I could understand that kind of restriction. And I had a strong supporter behind my back.

    ¡°Thank you so much, Asirante.¡±

    As soon as I epted the Grade A quest, Kihanna offered her thanks, bowing to me deeply with tears in her eyes.

    So, I was more puzzled as to why she gave me that quest with such urgency, for my sister told me that I would hardly receive the kind of quest that asked me to fight with users. Even if I had one, I would receive it only when I was recognized by them. In other words, it was a very rare quest. Besides, I¡¯ve never achieved anything that made the NPCs recognize me.

    Oh, of course, I achieved something extraordinary in Revival Legend, and its predecessor, Forgotten Legend. In particr, I achieved the max level in the third closed beta.

    ¡®Come to think of it, I¡¯ve made a tremendous achievement¡­¡¯

    At that time, I didn¡¯t take my achievement seriously because I took it for granted. But when I looked back, I was the only one on earth who achieved the max level in all three closed betas.

    ¡°Then I¡¯m going to tell the seniors of my n about this news. If you happen to contact me or the Salte n, you can stop by the tavern called Maant, located near the western gate of Pioneers¡¯ City. And finally, I¡¯m so grateful that a strong man like Asirante has decided to help us instead of declining our request.¡±

    After bowing deeply again, she moved out fast. She had a smile on her face, although she cried. Watching her, I whispered, ¡°Log out.¡±

    Anyway, I was ready to fight. I would be busy from now on, so I needed some rest.

    The next morning I had a quick breakfast with cereal and immediately essed the game.

    And for the first time here I moved to the Teleport Zone in the center of the Safety Zone of the muddy swamp instead of the hunting ground outside, for I earned 3 skill points.

    ¡°Move to Pioneers¡¯ City.¡±

    [You are now moving to Pioneers¡¯ City.]

    Pioneers¡¯ City soon came into my view. Although I saw it once before I moved to the muddy swamp, I¡¯d never entered it before.

    Tramp, tramp.

    I moved to step inside Pioneers¡¯ City this time, but I had to stop. Unlike Kotum Castle, the stronghold I visited before I came here, there were some guys blocking it.

    ¡°You have to pay 30 golden rings as the toll fee.¡±

    They stopped me and asked for the fee arrogantly.

    ¡°Toll fee?¡±

    Of course, they can collect tolls. That¡¯s why I bought the trashy boots only a few days ago for 70,000 golden rings on the pretext of using them as the toll fee in the muddy swamp.

    I know that giant guilds upy the hunting grounds offering good items and excellent EXP, then make money in the name of tolls or use fees or monopolize such ces. But they were all hunting grounds without exception.

    However, as far as I knew, there was no city that charged fees or tolls, where the users could learn skills in the tower of a central square, shop, auction house, cksmith as well as a tavern and cafes where they could rx. In the quest description, it was written that the Kahwa Guild received the toll fee from users. But I thought they charged it at the hunting ground. Never did I think they would collect the toll fee in the city.

    ¡°I have to pay fees to go into the city?¡± So, I had to ask because I might be mistaken.

    ¡°Yes. Each time you enter Pioneers¡¯ City, you have to pay 30 golden rings.¡±

    It was a ridiculous situation, but I held back the urge to snort at him.

    I took out 30 golden rings and handed it over.

    ¡°Pass.¡±

    I passed by the security guards and stepped inside.

    But I stopped for a moment and asked them, ¡°Are you guys the members of the Kahwa Guild?¡±

    I asked just to double-check because if they were not, I would be in trouble.

    ¡°Yes, the guild that upies this ce is named the Kahwa Guild. Anything wrong with that?¡±

    ¡°No, nothing.¡±

    When one of them blurted out his words threateningly as if they didn¡¯t like my question, I replied meekly like a puppy lowering its tail. Then he took his eyes off from me and looked straight.

    Tramp, tramp.

    I also moved into the gate slowly. First of all, I headed for the tower in the central square where everything important in the city was located.

    [It is a tower where heroes¡¯ abilities are recorded.

    -Acquiring restrictions depending on individual abilities.]

    When I approached the tower in the central square, the familiar message rang.

    ¡°Search ice-type skills.¡±

    Since I didn¡¯t intend to learn other skills, I immediately started searching for ice-type skills. Then two more messages rang.

    [Ice-type skills are currently avable.]

    [Ice-type skills are currently upgradeable.]

    -(Level 2) -> Level 3 Ice Ball. (Level 3 max. 20,000 golden rings required.)

    : Throws a fist-sized lump of ice cubes at enemies within 30 meters.

    : Attack range and damage increase depending on Intellectual Power.

    : Level 1, 2, and 3 Ice Balls are avable.

    -(Level 2) -> Level 3 Ice Bolt. (Level 3 max. 20,000 golden rings required.)

    : Throw Ice Bolt with prating power at the enemy within 30 meters.

    : Attack range and damage increase depending on Intellectual Power.

    :Level 1, 2, and 3 Ice Bolts avable.

    -(Level 2) -> Level 3 Ice Weapon (Level 3 max. 20,000 golden rings required.)

    : Additional damage inflicted on the opponent by covering the weapon with cold ice.

    : Additional damage by ice, depending on Intellectual Power.

    : Level 1, 2, 3 Ice Weapons avable.

    -(Level 1) -> Level 3 Ice Shield. (45,000 golden rings required.)

    : Erect a thin Ice Shield in front of the user.

    : Thickness of the Ice Shield increases depending on Willpower and Intellectual Power.

    : Level 1, 3, 5, and 7 Ice Shields avable.

    -(Level 2) -> Level 3 Multiple Ice Arrow (55,000 golden rings required.)

    : Fires 5 Ice Arrows at the enemy within 25 meters.

    : Attack range and damage increase, depending on Intellectual Power, up to 10 Ice Arrows.

    : Level 2, 3, and 5 Multiple Ice Arrows avable.

    All the upgradable skills showed up first among the skills I had.

    ¡°Upgrade them all.¡±

    Before I went to sleepst night, I agonized over it a lot, then made the decision to upgrade all the skills at Level 1 and 2. Why?

 Chapter 61 - Yeah, I Came Here to Brace for Terrible Things (1)

    <h4>Chapter 61: Yeah, I Came Here to Brace for Terrible Things (1)</h4>

    The reason why I decided so was because I needed the Ice Weapon skill to be level 3, so it could synergise with the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword in the future. I also thought that it was better to keep Ice Shield, which looked the least necessary, in case of a party hunt or group fight. Besides, my ¡®Iceman¡¯ trait which could upgrade to level 7 was a hidden trump card which could help me escape unexpected danger.

    As a rule, it¡¯s customary to maintain a few low-rank skills.

    High rank magic shills require a certain amount of mana, but they inevitably have a long cooldown period.

    So, an excellent wizard needed to properly distribute levels to the magic skills ording to their rank..

    For this reason, I upgraded my Ice Bolt Skill to level 3 but left my Ice Ball skill at level 2 during the 3rd Closed Beta because of the lesson i was taught during the 1st and 2nd Closed Betas.

    But I suddenly thought, ¡®I ampletely different to who I was during the 1st, 2nd and 3rd closed betas.¡¯

    So, I tried upgrading all of them.

    [Would you like to upgrade Level 2 Ice Ball, Level 2 Ice Bolt, Level 2 Ice Weapon, Level 1 Ice Shield, and Level 2 Multiple Ice Arrows all at the same time?

    -A total of 160,000 golden rings are required.]

    ¡°Upgrade them all.¡±

    I replied immediately because I can delete skills when they are uselesster.

    When the upgrading was finished,the next page of skills appeared.

    This time I picked the new skills that I had to obtain.

    -Level 3 Ice Prison (Active, requires 1 skill point and 120,000 golden rings.)

    : Creates a prison made of ice in a certain area.

    : The size and defense of the Ice Prison increases ording to the user¡¯s Intellect.

    : Level 3, Level 5, Level 7 Ice Prison exists.

    -Level 3 Thin Ice. (Active, requires 1 skill point and 75,000 golden rings.)

    : Creates ayer of thinly frozen ice in a certain area. However, if Thin Ice is already used in an ice area, the effect of Thin Ice bes up to five times more effective.

    : The chance for extra effectiveness and the amount of additional thin ice increases ording to the user¡¯s Intellect

    : Only Level 3 Thin Ice exists.

    Ice Prison and Thin Ice are skills that I used often in the previous closed betas.

    In particr, Thin Ice was essential for fighting on an ice field because only Level 2, Level 5, and Level 7 Ice Fields exist. In other words, I had to use only the Level 2 Ice Field until I could upgrade it to level 5 which would take a considerable period of time. Hence, what I needed was a Level 3 Ice Field in between which could be achieved with the Thin Ice skill .

    [You have chosen Level 3 Ice Prison and Level 3 Thin Ice.

    -A total of 2 skill points and 195,000 golden rings is required.

    -Do you want to obtain them?]

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    Since I already knew their effect, I chose them immediately.

    Then I started checking other skills to use the remaining 1 skill point, regardless of whether they were AOE or single target skills. Then I found a skill.

    -Level 3 Ice Spear (Active, requires 1 skill point, requires 75,000 golden rings)

    : Throws a powerful Ice Spear at enemies within 30 meters.

    : Attack range and damage increases ording to the user¡¯s Intellect.

    : Level 3, 4, and 6 Ice Spears exist.

    Ice Prison was a utility type skill that can be used for both attack and defense, while Thin Ice was definitely AOE.

    So, I chose Ice Spear that boasted the most powerful single target damage among all the lEvel 3 single target skills.

    Honestly, the absence of Blizzard-grade skills among the AOE skills also made me choose Ice Spear.

    After obtaining Ice Spear, I returned.

    ***

    An auction house exists in the Pioneers¡¯ City.

    However, it was empty. It was more empty than any other auction house.

    That¡¯s why I couldn¡¯t understand the Gahwa Guild¡¯s behaviour. They collected a toll even though this region was not a good hunting ground that offered good items or an unusuallyrge amount of EXP. Besides, they also collected a toll even in the city where people were supposed toe and go frequently. ordingly, it was inevitable for the number of users who visited this hunting ground to decrease. Consequently, the decrease in visiting users would also cause the Gahwa Guild¡¯s revenues to rapidly decrease.

    It was a sort of vicious circle.

    What¡¯s more surprising was that the Gahwa Guild continued to do business as usual without stopping collecting the toll. Anyone with only a two-digit IQ would realize how stupid they were.

    ¡®Do they have something special?¡¯

    Naturally I was suspicious about their actions, but I didn¡¯t think about it for long because I didn¡¯t have to worry about the Gahwa Guild¡¯s situation.

    So, I went straight to the auction house and tried to search for items.

    [Item Search: ]

    Soon after the item search popped up, I entered Level 200, main stat Intellect, Precious grade, and minimum enhancement value 3 as my search criteria.

    Then, the items that fell within this search range came out in a bundle.

    I originally nned to wear the Saidin¡¯s armor set, which was quite useful even though it was Level 100 and of a Rare grade, which was lower than Precious by one grade.

    Maybe I could level up to Level 300.

    I did not get frustrated or feel things were very difficult while I was wearing the Saidin¡¯s armor set,

    Although I was facing a big battle soon, I had a big surplus of golden rings.

    That¡¯s why I stopped by this auction house while I was on my way back.

    I doubt it would happen, but I would regret it very much if I were killed in the uing battle, so I had to prepare for every potential danger. If something really happened, I would have many regrets for having not used my golden rings that I piled up for saving.

    Anyway, while checking several listed items, my eyes were caught by one of them. It was Elsha¡¯s armor set, a set item like Saidin¡¯s armor.

    [+3 Elsha¡¯s Robe (Precious)

    -It is a robe made with great care by Elsha¡¯, a fairy-type wizard who has not only magic but also excellent dexterity.

    -It is part of Elsha¡¯s armor set, which isposed of a robe, pants, gloves, and boots. Additional effects ur when worn with other set items.

    : When wearing 2 items: Intellect is increased by 10.

    : When wearing 3 items: Intellect is increased by 30

    : When wearing 4 items: Intellect is increased by 50.

    ¨C You can wear this robe when you are at least Level 200.

    -Effect.

    : Intellect is increased by 35.

    : Willpower is increased by 20.

    : Mana is increased by 5000.

    : 2.5% increase in resistance against all debuffs towards the set wearer.

    -Physical defense is increased by 222, magic defense is increased by 355]

    [+3 Elsha¡¯s Pants (Precious)

    -Pants made with Elsha¡¯s great care, a fairy-type wizard who has not only magic but also excellent dexterity.

    -It is a part of Elsha¡¯s armor set, which isposed of robe, pants, gloves, and boots. Additional effects ur when worn with other set items.

    : When wearing 2 items: Intellect is increased by 10

    : When wearing 3 items: Intellect is increased by 30.

    : When wearing 4 items: Intellect is increased by 50.

    -You can wear these pants when you are at least level 200.

    -Effect.

    : Intellect is increased by 35

    : Physical strength is increased by 20.

    : Vitality is increased by 5000.

    : 2.5% increase in resistance against all debuffs towards the pants wearer.

    -Physical defense is increased by 255, magic defense is increased by 315.]

    [+3 Elsha¡¯s Gloves (Precious)

    This set was definitely worthy of a level 200 Precious grade set.

    It¡¯s for this reason that this set boasted more luxurious options than the Saidin set.

    Aside from the debuff resistance bonus, I really liked the 50 Intellect bonus that came from wearing all four items in the set.

    ¡°Let me purchase Elsha¡¯s armor set.¡±

    [You need a total of 1,373,500 golden rings to buy a total of four items.

    -Would you like to buy them?]

    The price was quite high, costing nearly 1.4 million golden rings.

    However, I chose to buy them without hesitation because I had enough golden rings to spend this much. Instead, I took off the set items of the Enhancement 3 Saidin set that I was wearing currently, then uploaded them to the sales window at an appropriate price lower than what I had purchased it at the time. It was more profitable to me to sell it quickly than to drag my feet while insisting on a high price.

    So, I took off Saidin¡¯s armor set and put on Elsha¡¯s armor set instead, before leaving the auction house.

    If Saidin¡¯s armor set was sessfully sold, I would receive a message about itter. Then I coulde back and receive the remaining bnce. I went straight to a tavern called Maint in the west gate that Kihanna mentioned. I wanted to stop by the tavern because I wanted some information.

 Chapter 62 - Yeah, I Came Here to Brace for Terrible Things (2)

    <h4>Chapter 62: Yeah, I Came Here to Brace for Terrible Things (2)</h4>

    Tavern Maint. I could not see any big difference between this tavern and others, except for theck of users visiting this tavern.

    So I walked across the empty bar and approached arge guy sitting at the counter.

    ¡°I came to find Kihanna,¡± I said.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know who you are. Why are you looking for Kihanna here?¡±

    The man asked back without hiding his jaundiced gaze. I didn¡¯t care because I suspected that this guy was perhaps from the Salte n. As such, he probably had strong regret and resentment towards users like me, thinking that we robbed them of what they had achieved.

    ¡°I¡¯m Asirante!¡±

    ¡°Gosh! I¡¯m so sorry that I didn¡¯t recognize a precious guest like you!¡±

    I introduced myself with my pseudonym, Asirante. As soon as I revealed my pseudonym, the man with a jaundiced attitude immediately stood up, shook my hands hastily and apologized.

    ¡°Pleasee this way and sit down. Let me bring Kihanna right away.¡±

    The man, who didn¡¯t let go off my hands, showed me to one side of the bar, and I sat down.

    He asked, ¡°Do you need anything else?¡±

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see.¡±

    Then he moved around here and there. Soon Kihana appeared, who looked bright and cheerful like the tavern¡¯s owner.

    ¡°Hi, Asirante!¡±

    I greeted her with a smile when she weed me cheerfully.

    I didn¡¯t know what would happen until I epted the quest, but now that I chose the A-ss quest, I was in the same boat as her.

    I immediately asked, since she was smiling at me, ¡°Can you tell me where the Gahwa Guild members usually hunt?¡±

    Obviously, my sister had already told me that the guild was nothing special and was located in the little-known periphery of Pioneers¡¯ City. But that was not a reason for me to go straight into their stronghold, for I was currently alone.

    So,st night I thought about the best approach, and decided on using gueri tactics. Of course, I could turn to the power of my family to achieve this goal, but I wanted to save this card for something else.

    Little did I know I was burning with the desire for victory.

    ¡®Let me try first. If I can¡¯t do it after trying, then I ¡­¡¯

    Like others from rich families, I had quite a few options because I was born with ¡®a gold spoon in my mouth ¡® referring to someone who could get whatever they want since they were born in a rich family. So much so that I didn¡¯t have to struggle to get rich. In fact, I led quite an affluent life until now.

    But this game was different. So far, I¡¯ve been working hard to achieve my goal. Unlike reality, I get rewarded for the efforts I make in games. For example, I received items such as EXP, golden rings and misceneous items. As a result, I gradually became stronger.

    So, I wanted to try as much as I could.

    So what if I can¡¯t seed?

    In that case, I would use another option right away because I have already experienced achieving nothing in the name of ¡®making effort¡¯.¡¯ If there is a better option avable, it¡¯s only natural that I choose that option. So, I chose the A-grade quest without any concern at all.

    Kihanna replied, ¡°Of course I can find out where the Gahwa Guild members usually hunt and their number!¡±

    She answered without hesitating even for a second, as though she was waiting for this question. As if she was satisfied that her predictions were right, she took out a small map from her pocket and opened her mouth, pointing to one ce with her finger.

    ¡°They control all hunting grounds around Pioneers¡¯ City even though they unconditionally collect golden rings from the few users using the hunting grounds. However, there is one ce they tightly control, but don¡¯t receive fees or tolls from. It¡¯s right here, in the Rocky Zone. As far as we know, most of the Gahwa Guild members are hunting right in this Rocky Zone.¡±

    ¡°What is in this Rocky Zone?¡±

    I was a little curious about this Rocky Zone.

    Users could use golden rings in the areas they controlled, but if they tightly controlled this Rocky Zone, it meant that there must be some special monsters or special items in this area.

    ¡°Stone squirrels appear in this Rocky Zone.¡±

    ¡°Stone squirrels?¡±

    From the name along, it did not seem to offer any EXP or special items.

    But Kihanna mentioned something surprising which overturned my guess.

    ¡°Well, it is a monster that doesn¡¯t strike first.¡±

    No-first-strike monster. In other words, the monster would not strike first.

    All the hunting grounds I¡¯ve been to so far were ces with aggressive monsters because that would increase the efficiency of hunting speed. The monsters in those ces raced to attack me first just because they noticed me.

    Generally speaking, the monsters that didn¡¯t strike first were very weak. So much so that they were regarded as rookie monsters.

    Because of this, I couldn¡¯t help but be puzzled by Kihanna¡¯s words that they were hunting while controlling this ce tightly.

    ¡°Are they strong?¡± I asked immediately.

    I was curious about whether these no-first-strike monsters were strong, contrary to my expectations.

    ¡°No. While we were developing this area, we encountered them several times. They were not that strong. However, they were very quick and had a high defense, as their name sake ¡®stone¡¯ suggests. So, it was almost impossible for us to catch them.¡±

    The fact that they were not strong meant that they did not give much EXP and their item drops were not good.

    So, I became more curious. But I refrained from asking her further because I could confirm it by myself.

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    I got up from the seat since I had confirmed most of the information that I was curious about.

    At that moment, Kihanna grabbed me and said, ¡°Asirante, please carry this map with you. I think you will find it useful because we have documented important details while developing this area. Moreover, I¡¯ve marked the Gahwa Guild¡¯s stronghold and location.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    I did not refuse the map. Like she said, it would certainly be useful to me. With the ravern¡¯s owner who I first saw and Kihana seeing me off, I walked out of the bar.

    The ce I was heading for was the Rocky Zone she mentioned. So, I first moved to the Teleport Zone of Pioneers¡¯ City with great strides because I was fully prepared, armed with the new skills, new items and information.

    ***

    Pioneers¡¯ City¡¯s Teleport Zone.

    ¡°Move to the Rocky Zone.¡±

    [You are moving to the Rocky Zone. ]

    By the way, I had a very pleasant experience when I walked out of Pioneers¡¯ City to use the Teleport Zone. The Gahwa Guild member, who asked me to pay the toll of 30 golden rings, saw me off in a very friendly manner when I got out of the Pioneers¡¯ City. Giggling at me, he asked me if I finished my work, expressing concern to me like a very old friend and imploring me toe visit again so he could collect another 30 golden rings from me. He even said if I didn¡¯t have enough golden rings, he would let me in free if I did cute things before his eyes.

    So, I felt grateful to him for his kind words because he reaffirmed my decision tounch an attack against the Gahwa Guild soon.

    I was now standing in the Rocky Zone.

    Soon, I saw the Rocky Zone¡¯s safety area.

    It was noisy and hrious.

    ¡°What the heck? Who the hell are you?¡±

    ¡°Who brought you here?¡±

    ¡°Uh? A guy who¡¯s not one of our members got in here?¡±

    ¡°Man, this guy must be an idiot who got in here without knowing anything. Just send him back. Otherwise we might be in trouble.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    There were a lot of users here.

    Aside from the swampy areas, there were many more users here than in their stronghold city Pioneers¡¯ City.

    Some of them who noticed me approached me and said almost threateningly, ¡°Hey dude, you cannot hunt in this ce unless you are a Gahwa Guild member. So, get lost quickly if you don¡¯t want something terrible to happen to you!¡±

 Chapter 63 - More Valuable Than I Think (1)

    <h4>Chapter 63: More Valuable Than I Think (1)</h4>

    In fact, those who blocked the entrance to Pioneers¡¯ City and its swamps to collect tolls used politenguage when they first saw me. But these guys were simply rude. So, I gave a sarcastic response in a friendly tone.

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯vee here to brace for something terrible.¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    Maybe I didn¡¯t give them the answer they wanted. Maybe that¡¯s why three of them approached me with a confused expression.

    I opened my mouth quietly as they approached.

    ¡°Ice Spear!¡±

    Puck!

    Thump!

    I used the Ice Spear skill for the first time at the three members of the Gahwa Guild. Of course, this was a Safety Zone. Therefore, I could not inflict any damage to them who were blown away after being hit by the Ice Spear. However, it was simply their HP that my attack could not affect. My attack was still effective in terms of pure force. That¡¯s why they were blown away.

    ¡°You son of a bitch, are you crazy?¡±

    ¡°How dare you infiltrate our territory?¡±

    In no time, the three guild members who fell to the ground stood up and shouted at me. Of course, I could understand why they were upset. Even though my attack did not do any damage to them, I had attacked everything including their territory.

    ¡°Oh, yeah, you¡¯re right. In this Safety Zone, it¡¯s hard for me to inflict any damage to you. Then, how about this? Multiple Ice Arrow! Ice Ball!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    I poured out my skills toward the angry Gahwa Guild members who were stupefied by my boldness..

    Moreover, the skills I used were recently upgraded from level 2 to level 3, so they were powerful enough to make them fall t on their back, even though they did not take any real damage.

    Then, other guild members who were far away began to turn their eyes at me as if they noticed something strange.

    However, I ignored them and ran forward. I had no intention of quarreling with them in the Safety Zone.

    Fortunately, there was nobody blocking the entrance to the hunting grounds perhaps because they thought this was their territory. Even if there was anybody blocking it, I was confident I could break through. So, I safely broke through the Safety Zone and escaped into the hunting grounds

    .Then I moved ind because this rocky area was the Gahwa Guild¡¯s exclusive hunting ground, and arge number of guild members were always stationed here for hunting.

    So, I immediately found some guild members hunting.

    ¡°Hey! Check the direction of 3 o¡¯clock! Don¡¯t let it escape there!¡±

    ¡°Close it there!¡±

    ¡°If you miss it again, we won¡¯t be able to fill the hunting quota. Stay alert! Money! Just think of it as money!¡±

    Of course, the way they hunted was a little different from what I was familiar with. The hunting I was familiar with, especially party hunting, focused on reducing the number of monsters quickly one by one at the leader¡¯s order, with each party member pouring out their skills all at once. But the party hunting unfolding before my eyes right now was new to me. It focused on enclosing a cute looking stone squirrel in a circle and gradually reducing the circle¡¯s size while not allowing the stone squirrel to escape.

    Then, when the circle became smaller, they began to attack.

    ¡°Ice field!¡±

    ¡°Spirit of Earth, take hold of the enemy¡¯s feet!¡±

    ¡°Slow! Slow!¡±

    ¡°Increase it to restrict their movement! Apply added weight!¡±

    ¡°Spirit of the Wind! Blow here and restrict the enemy¡¯s movement!¡±

    Generally, I used skills that restricted the target¡¯s movement first. After that, I fired a barrage of ice shots and ice balls. My attack was very well organized. As a result, I got rid of about 20 stone squirrels. Then, the guild members started cheering.

    ¡°Good! This time there were 5!¡±

    ¡°Wow, we¡¯re very lucky this time.¡±

    The Gahwa guild members were celebrating themselves. But I dashed past them right away because they would be alerted by their fellow members in the Safety Zone about me.

    ¡°Ice field! And Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    But one of the guild members counterattacked with Ice Field.

    The guy had used it even before I could. Pasa Sasak!

    At a nce, my Ice Field was twice the size of this one.

    ¡°Damn it! What the heck is this?¡±

    ¡°Who the hell is it?¡±

    When I fired my Ice Field, some of the guild members who were moving to pick up the stone squirrel drops started shouting after being trapped in my Ice Fieldyered with Multiple Thin ICe. Of course I had no intention of watching them quietly, so I used my skills again.

    ¡°Pouring Ice! Ice st!¡±

    Two ice attacks. The ice from Pouring Ice got thicker and bigger than ever because of the Thin Ice on the Ice Field.

    Pak! Pak! Pak!

    The sound of ice being broken by Ice st rang very loudly, reflecting the corresponding damage .

    ¡°Damn! What the heck!¡±

    ¡°Who...¡±

    ¡°What the hell¡­¡±

    Most of them were killed before they could finish their words.

    Only then did those who were far away look toward me with eyes wide open. Obviously they were full of suspicion, but I didn¡¯t have to exin what was going on. I got rid of them by firing Ice Spears and other level 3 skills such as Multiple Ice Arrows and Ice Balls. Then I moved to the center because I was curious about the items that fascinated them so much.

    ¡°Stone?¡±

    It was obviously a stone by appearance . There were five stones, the same number of stone squirrels that they eximed they hunted. In other words, these were stones without any doubt.

    So, I held them in my hand and opened my mouth quietly.

    ¡°Check item.¡±

    [A stone squirrel¡¯s undigested mineral ore. (Rare, material item)

    * Stone squirrels usually feed by eating stones. Therefore, they typically reside in stones or rocky areas. Besides, they are unusually greedy and hot-tempered, so sometimes various minerals inside the eaten stones that cannot be digested umte inside the body. Moreover, the stone squirrel¡¯s digestive liquids cause the various minerals to mix together into one ore. This is the stone squirrel¡¯s undigested mineral ore.]

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    I thought it was a stone, but it was not. It was just a collection of small minerals contained in the shape of a stone. That¡¯s why it was heavier than a normal stone.

    I grabbed the mineral lump in one hand and threw it up, then repeated it several times.

    Then I opened my mouth quietly.

    ¡°Based on the description, it doesn¡¯t seem to be such a valuable material item. Besides, its grade is just Rare.¡±

    I could understand the guild members shouting for joy if its grade had been Precious, one grade less than Legendary..

    But it was just Rare.

    It was better than General, but honestly, even Rare was not good.. So, if I had to say I was equipped withmendable equipment, I would have items that fell into at least the ¡®Precious grade.¡¯

    ¡°By the way, why were they so happy after finding this mineral mass?¡±

    I felt strongly that there was something about it that I did not know.

    At this point, I began to understand the behavior of the Gahwa Guild members. Obviously, what they wanted wasn¡¯t the tolls, but these chunks of undigested mineral from the stone squirrels. So, I wondered if they deliberately charged such high tolls to stop outsiders from entering their territory or kicked them out so they could make sure nobody visited this ce.

    Obviously, this was just my guess, but I think it is right.

    ¡°Good. Anyway, this mineral mass must be your Achilles tendon.¡±

    First, I picked up the remaining four undigested mineral chunks of the stone squirrels and put them in my inventory because they must be very precious and expensive, although I didn¡¯t know their use. Then I moved fast because there were still lots of Gahwa Guild members hunting in this area.

    Soktae Kang, the Gahwa Guild¡¯s leader, ate lunch leisurely and essed the game as usual. But as soon as he logged in, he immediately saw that the guild chat room was unusually active today. So, he posted a message in the guild chat room.

    [BOSS Kang (Guild Leader): What¡¯s going on? Why is it so noisy right now?]

    Kang was in his mid-30s. Of course, he was not young, but he was not yet old. Regardless of age, however, Kang saw all the guild members as his subordinates. If they didn¡¯t like it, he didn¡¯t ept them as a guild member right from the beginning. He himself thought there was no problem with this at all because it was very easy to manage users in virtual reality who are not real people in a world where money was the king. He thought he was a lucky guy who managed to grab a golden thread as a solid source of funds.

 Chapter 64 - More Valuable Than I Think (2)

    <h4>Chapter 64: More Valuable Than I Think (2)</h4>

    [Maxcal (officer): Guild leader! Why didn¡¯t you answer my call? I¡¯ve been calling you for some time now!]

    [BOSS Kang (Guild Leader): Really? Did you call me? I left my phone behind when I went out to eat. What¡¯s up? Why did you call me?]

    [Maxcal (officer): There is big trouble in the Rocky Zone right now. A strange guy with a robe and a mask covering his entire face appeared and ughtered our guild members who were catching stone squirrels!

    [BOSS Kang (Guild Leader): What did you say? Who the hell is it? Didn¡¯t you do anything to stop that guy? You know how important the stone squirrels are!]

    [Maxcal (officer): We tried to stop him. Since I could not contact you, I organized a vanguard team and dispatched them to the Rocky Zone, but the guy was so quick and clever that we couldn¡¯t get rid of him. Besides, that guy targeted those hunting teams who were rtively weak!]

    [BOSS Kang (Guild Leader): Oh no, damn it! Who is this damn bastard? I wonder if he intruded into our Rocky Zone deliberately.]

    [Maxcal (officer): I don¡¯t know. But considering that he is alone, I think we have to catch him first. ]

    [BOSS Kang (Guild Leader): Okay. Let me go there straight away. Mobilize our guys right now.]

    [Maxcal (officer): Got it. Pleasee quickly.]

    Soktae Kang, who used BOSS Kang as his ID, quickly exited the Gahwa Guild;s stronghold and moved to Pioneers¡¯ City¡¯s Teleport Zone.

    Then, he spat out curses.

    ¡®I hope this guy hasn¡¯te to my ce after smelling a rat. Obviously those who threw out this golden thread told me nobody would know it.¡¯

    There was big noise in the Rocky Zone when he arrived.

    ¡°What the heck is going on?¡±

    ¡°I heard there is some crazy bastard inside the Rocky Zone. Is that true?¡±

    ¡°Hey, hee is not just a crazy guy. He is actually targeting us. I heard four of our teams were devastated by this guy.¡±

    ¡°Oh my God¡­¡±

    ¡°Our leader ordered us to stop hunting and return to the Safety Zone immediately.¡±

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go. We don¡¯t have to be killed for no reason. There is an order that we are not supposed to deal with a crazy guy anyway.¡±

    These were the members of the fifth Gahwa Guild hunting party that I had encountered. They were noisy. Obviously the rumors about me had spread very quickly. So, I attacked them immediately, firing a barrage of my skills.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    As soon as the Ice Field started forming, it was reinforced with thin ice.

    And the Ice Field quickly changed into thicker ice.

    ¡°Kuuueh!¡±

    ¡°What the heck!¡±

    ¡°Damn it. That crazy guy appeared!¡±

    ¡°Escape! I clearly read a thread in the guild chat room that this crazy guy¡¯s Ice Field is not a normal ice field.¡±

    ¡°Damn it! Wasn¡¯t the main effect of the Ice Field to decrease the opponent¡¯s movement speed? Man, I¡¯m losing vitality so quickly¡­¡±

    I burst intoughter at their ridiculous reaction because I only used Thin Ice to reinforce the Ice Field. But the chaotic situation of a battlefield was unfolding before my eyes. So, I immediately used another skill to muddle the situation even more and confuse the opponent; a standard strategy.

    ¡°Pouring Hailstones! Ice st!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    ¡°We are taking so much damage¡­¡±

    ¡°Shit! This is not just a crazy guy¡­¡±

    Until a moment ago, I had fought a total of four hunting parties of the Gahwa Guild. But this was my second time fighting against users. My first battle was with the eleven Daesung Guild Members at the ant den. And I defeated them very easily back then.

    I was now Level 200pared to my previous Level 101. But I could not simply describe it as a 99 level increase because I also wore the Scorpion¡¯s King¡¯s essories that would increase my intellect by 100, and also gained 200 stat points from the Scorpion King¡¯s quest.

    Moreover, at that time I was wearing shallow disposable armor. At that time I also had yet to purchase the Precious-grade Saidin¡¯s armor set. But now, I have the Precious-grade Elsha¡¯s armor set. So, I could understand why they were thrown into such confusion.

    ¡°By the way, why are you guys escaping here? Ice Prison!¡± I didn¡¯t stop attacking them.

    Since they were ordered to return to the Safety Zone by Soktae Kang, the guild leader, there were some guild members running away leaving their colleagues behind.

    So, I used the skill, Ice Prison, for the first time.

    Thump!

    An Ice Prison the size of a house immediately trapped five guild members who were trying to run away. Of course, those who were trapped in the Ice Prison resisted fiercely.

    ¡°Damn it. Break it!¡±

    ¡°Fireball!¡±

    ¡°Fatal blow.¡±

    ¡°Triple Shot!¡±

    Those trapped in the Ice Prison seemed to have somebat experience.

    So, when one of them shouted, ¡°Break it!¡±, the other four targeted one part of the Ice Prison and persistently attacked it.

    But they soon found it was very difficult to break it open.

    ¡°Man, this ice is so hard!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t even crack it. So hard!¡±

    In fact, I was also slightly worried that it might be broken through. Despite their numerous attacks, the ice prison did not even receive a single hairline crack. So, I left them alone and used Ice Sphere and Multiple Ice Arrow to get rid of the rest of the Gahwa Guild members.

    Of course they resisted my attack.

    ¡°Get lost! You dog! Wind Spear!¡±

    ¡°Soar up and wrap my enemies, Root of Death!¡±

    ¡°Summon, Earth Spirit, Earth spirit!¡±

    ¡°Poison Arrow!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    At this moment, I was attacked on several fronts. But that was it. I was receiving so little damage to the extent I frowned. And it seemed that they were shocked by the fact that their attack didn¡¯t inflict any damage to me. Obviously, my image in their eyes was a supremely powerful Ice wizard. As such, their morale waspletely shattered by my formidable resilience.

    By using Ice Spear that had a short cooldown time, I easily got rid of these guild members whose morale waspletely broken What I had left to dispose of was the five guild members trapped in the Ice Prison.

    , I walked toward them leisurely as if I was enjoying a stroll. Then I held out both hands to them.

    ¡°?¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    ¡°What the heck are you¡­¡±

    They expressed strong doubts about my behavior.

    So, I opened my mouth quietly.

    ¡°Okay. Even though you are in a precarious situation right now, you don¡¯t want to give me the chunks of stone squirrel¡¯s undigested minerals, right? Well, I might look like a thief to you, but even if you are killed here, you will just experience a slight loss of EXP and a penalty of 24-hour ess denial, so you don¡¯t want to give me the mineral lumps. Yeah, I agree.¡±

    Of course, I was anxious to question them about the use of stone squirrel¡¯s undigested mineral mass. But I didn¡¯t ask.

    Rather, I behaved as if I already knew the mineral mass¡¯s use so I could bait them into letting the secret out voluntarily.

    But things didn¡¯t work out as I expected.

    ¡°We can¡¯t give you the mineral mass because we have to report it to the chat room as soon as we acquire them.¡±

    ¡°Right. The guild officers check our report carefully for verificationter.¡±

    So, I immediately found out that their purpose was collecting not tolls, but the chunk of undigested minerals from stone squirrels. Of course I thought these minerals would be precious. So, I asked, pretending not to know it¡¯s preciousness, ¡°Hmm¡­ why do you need such arge number of undigested minerals? I don¡¯t think you need¡­¡±

    I deliberately beat around the bush, so they could clearly understand my point.

    And one of them bit the bait.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what they are doing with this mineral chunk. But they pay 5,000 won to all of the hunting party members every time we obtain one of these.¡±

    Of course, the guy took the bait, but unfortunately his tips were not useful. So, none of the five members knew the exact use of these undigested minerals. But I discovered that the value of this mineral was much greater than I thought. Each hunting party consisted of about 20 members. So, if one hunting party of 20 members collected 100 chunks, or at least 50 chunks, they would have to pay a total of 5 million.

    There were several hunting parties. I failed to obtain information on its use, but acquired some tips that were useful. So I gave them a present, namely a quick death, because I knew that the more quickly they died, the more quickly they could ess the game again.

    ¡°Ice st.¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Theposition of the Ice Prison was ice, of course.

    In other words, they were the target of the Ice st.

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    ¡°You dog!¡±

    Of course, they sweared at me, as if they didn¡¯t like my gift.

    But I didn¡¯t care. The moment I epted this A-ss quest, they were my enemies, so the only consideration I could give them was death, and a quick death at that.

 Chapter 65 - As Expected (1)

    <h4>Chapter 65: As Expected (1)</h4>

    ¡°Log out.¡±

    Until now, I always logged out after moving to the Safety Zone outside the hunting ground, even if it took me a little longer to go there.

    I normally did so because I wanted to prevent the chance of being encircled by monsters in an unexpected battle which I had experienced during the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Closed Betas as well as other games.

    During that time, I knew that If I died and suffered a 24-hour ess ban, my grand n to wholly devote myself to the game for two weeks would fall t, so I tried to avoid it by all means.

    Of course that¡¯s now a thing of the past.

    I don¡¯t want to look conceited or arrogant when I say this, but even though I was level 200, I was now strong enough to not feel threatened no matter how many monsters are around me.

    But I kept logging out in Safety Zones because it had be a habit. At least that was what I did until yesterday. Soon, a significantly lower ceiling than that of my room in my house appeared before my eyes . I got up from bed, moved to a desk in a corner of the room, and sat down on a chair, opening a notebook with a ballpoint pen in one hand.

    ¡°Did I hunt about 200 until now?¡±

    To put it precisely, I got rid of ten hunting parties consisting of about 20 people each.

    Of course, I wanted to hunt more if I had the opportunity. Although I initially got rid of seven hunting parties in an hour, I could only get rid of another three hunting parties over the next three hours despite thoroughly searching for them.

    Moreover, I couldn¡¯t find a single user after getting rid of the 10th hunting party.

    Now, what I had to deal with was the enemy¡¯s main force.

    So, even though I was not really tired, I logged out in a remote ce because I thought I needed a break before confronting the enemy¡¯s main force.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a pity that I could hunt only 200, but that¡¯s enough.¡±

    It seemed that I had achieved plenty with this surprise attack anyway.

    Actually I was pretty much satisfied with the results of the surprise attack, but at the same time I had other feelings.

    ¡°Man, I didn¡¯t realize how thrilling this game is! That¡¯s why there were so many people using the arena.¡±

    I never had the experience of fighting other users not only in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Closed Betas of ¡®Forgotten Legend,¡¯ the predecessor of this game, but also in other games.

    And I had no intention of fighting them at all at the start, since all battles between users would have a winner and loser, causing fiercepetition between them.

    Games used to be a haven, a resting ce, and a refuge for me.

    I was dly willing to make the necessary effort because games paid due rewards for my efforts.

    But I didn¡¯t want a fiercepetition in my haven, resting ce and shelter.

    Therefore, I thought that I would not have to fight users for the rest of my life.

    Of course, I had my first fight with the eleven Daesung Guild members in the Ant Cave.

    But at that time I didn¡¯t have any particr feelings because the fighting finished so quickly.

    The fight ended before I even felt that I got involved in it.

    It was the same case with my fight this time.

    But fighting the ten hunting parties this time was enough to make me feel differentlypared to when I fought back then. I understood what the thrill of fighting was.

    ¡°Huuuuh¡±

    At that moment, I burst intoughter before I realized.

    Not because it was funny. No, Iughed because I felt I was a bit underhanded. I wondered if I could really feel this way if I was at the same stage as I was during the 1st,2nd, and 3rd Closed Betas without the extra stats, three unbelievable attributes, and four fantastic titles that I possessed now.

    And I could answer that question immediately. The answer was no. I would have never felt the same.

    But I didn¡¯t think about it for too long because I was an ordinary person with greed and desire, not a monk with a tranquil mind.

    ¡°Good. Let me eat something and take a rest to prepare for my activities tonight.¡±

    The clock indicated that it was 6:30 PM, which was the perfect time for me to eat dinner.

    And after having dinner, I was not going to go straight to the VR device and log in like I usually did. Instead, I was going to get some sleep in advance.

    The previous fierce fighting took me five or six hours. During that time, the Gahwa Guild had to watch helplessly as almost 200 members of their guild died.

    Of course, after 24 hours passes, they could connect again one-by-one, but at this moment, they are probably on edge because they have not yet caught me, the killer who was responsible for such fatal damages.

    So, I intended to make them even more tense. I nned to log in around dawn, when they would be extremely tired because of umted fatigue.

    It was going to be a battle between me, who would be strong and refreshed after a nice rest, and them who would be extremely exhausted with umted fatigue of about ten hours.

    Despite such a big gap in strength, I¡¯m going to do my best and make the situation as advantageous as possible just like how a lion uses its full strength to catch a rabbit.

    Safety Zone of the Rocky Area.

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    Soktae Kang, the Gahwa Guild¡¯s, spat out all kinds of swear words, kicking the ground as if he didn¡¯t care what others thought of him.

    He was mad because more than 200 guild members were killed, but he was more angry with the fact that the hunting of the stone squirrels was forcibly stopped.

    ¡°Damn it! How does it make any sense that you guys didn¡¯t take a single video while that guy killed more than 200 guild members?¡±

    It was natural that Soktae was curious about the killer¡¯s identity.

    Since so many were killed, there were lots of testimonies from their colleagues.

    However, he wanted to see the actual scene of the massacre with his own eyes because he knew seeing was much better than hearsay.

    At that moment, the officer with the ID Maxcal, who first reported to him about the intruder, replied in a low voice, ¡°Well, that is because the Memory Bead is so expensive...¡±

    ¡°Damn it. You should have filmed it! What¡¯s the point of withholding the Memory Bead in this situation?¡±

    Maxcal lowered his head after being rebuked harshly.

    Of course, Maxcal had a lot of grievances. It was unlikely that general guild members had such an expensive item like a Memory Bead, and even if they had it, it was unlikely that Soktae would offer them a reasonablepensation after using it.

    But Maxcal didn¡¯t say anything because he knew Soktae would be unpleasant if he pointed this out.

    ¡°By the way, haven¡¯t you found him yet?¡±

    ¡°No, not yet. This Rocky Area is thergest and broadest hunting ground in this Pioneers¡¯ City, so we are having a hard time finding him. However, if we split up our men to search for him, they might run into that guy, and as you know¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh st! ¡±

    Soktae spat out curses again before Maxcal could finish his words.

    Soktae was aware that only 20 people would not be able to inflict any damage to the intruder based on several testimonies.

    So, he gathered even the small number of personnel who guarded the entrance to Pioneers¡¯ City and some hunting grounds because it was more damaging not being able to hunt stone squirrels for one hour here than not collecting meager toll fees for 24 hours in those ces.

    Even after doing so, he still did not like the situation.

    In fact, Soktae intentionally did not recruit the strongest people as members of the Gahwa Guild.

    Besides, he did not even hire or support those guild members who showed special talent.

    What this meant was that he just regarded the Gahwa Guild as an expendable means and not as a strategic asset to expand and consolidate his power. His only purpose with the Gahwa Guild was to gather the undigested mineral ores from the stone squirrels.

 Chapter 66 - As Expected (2)

    <h4>Chapter 66: As Expected (2)</h4>

    Soktae sent three raid partiesposed of 300 people each into the Rocky Area and looked at the 400 people who remained in the Safety Zone here.

    Including the 200 people who died and faced a 24-hour ess ban, the total number of guild members that he gathered here reached as many as 1,500.

    ¡® I wonder if that intruder could beat 300 people.¡¯

    He suspected that the intruder was an ice type wizard, and one with excellent attack power at that.

    In light of this, he judged that the intruder¡¯s physical strength and vitality was low because that was the logical conclusion.

    So, he decided to dispatch parties of 300 people, assuming that they could catch the intruder with a single stroke.

    30 minutes before 1 AM.

    ¡°ess!¡±

    I essed the game with a fresh and clear mind.

    Of course, I had a little bit of tension because I might run into an enemy immediately after essing the game. But the surrounding area was empty. Some stone squirrels were seen running and ying in the distance.

    I stepped forward slowly, still staying alert because I was determined not to make the mistake of being ambushed by the Gahwa Guild members.

    There was a possibility that I could encounter more enemies than I initially thought. For example, I could face 200 guild members all at once,pared to defeating them separately over five to six hours of fighting.

    However, I didn¡¯t feel any fear or nervousness at all at the possibility of facing their simultaneous attack. Rather, I was looking forward to it.

    About 20 minutester I ran into a group of enemies muchrger than the 200 people that I initially thought of.

    At this moment, a famous proverb circting widely in games came to my mind. It was ¡®Never underestimate a small number.¡¯

    I know that the difference in the number of troops is a big variable that cannot be ignored in all battles. However, the Gahwa Guild members were weaker than I thought after encountering them directly. Of course I understood their situation.

    What I mean was this. After exhausting my efforts to find the Gahwa Guild members, I took some time to catch a stone squirrel. As a result, I could confirm that the stone squirrel only gave minimal EXP, which was basically close to none. Even if I hunted these stone squirrels for several days, I would not even get 10% of the EXP required to level up.

    In other words, I fully understood why these Gahwa Guild members were so weak.

    So, even though they had arge number of 300 this timepared to the previous fights, I did not feel overwhelmed at all.

    It was rather disappointing that I didn¡¯t have the Blink skill.

    If I had it, I would be able to appear within their group and use Ice Fields and Thin Ice on the spot to inflict tremendous damage to them.

    However, since I could naturally learn it if I levelled up, I shook my head and stopped thinking about it.

    Then, I charged at them right away.

    Of course, I moved to the rear and approached them stealthily because that is how a lion hunts a rabbit.

    Those guild members were beginning toin openly.

    ¡°Damn it. What the heck are we doing here at dawn?¡±

    ¡°You bet.¡±

    ¡°I have an appointment tomorrow, oh no it¡¯s today, and this morning at that...¡±

    ¡°Should I just log out?¡±

    ¡°Oh no! Didn¡¯t you hear what the guild leader said? We have to hunt the intruder by all means!¡±

    ¡°Damn it. This guild leader is a greedy bastard. I would meet and bribe the intruder quietly to solve the issue nicely. Why is he making us chase the intruder like this? He must have heard millions of times that the guy is very strong.¡±

    ¡°Because he¡¯s a greedy pig. Moreover, I heard from some of my colleagues who were killed by the intruder that the intruder seems greedy for the mineral masses. SInce it is like this, the fight between the intruder and the leader is inevitable.¡±

    ¡°What the hell is this mineral mass that produced such apetitor?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. That bastard guild leader never said anything about it.¡±

    Since they joined the guild only for money, they didn¡¯t like the current situation at all. They were assigned to search for the intruder against their will.

    Nheless, none of them logged out because at the end of the day, they knew they would make lots of money.

    At this moment, there was a loud cry from a member of the Gahwa Guild at the rear of their group.

    ¡°That crazy intruder! He¡¯s there!¡±

    The screaming signalled the start of the fight of 300 vs 1.

    They shouted as soon as they discovered me.

    But it was already toote because as I expected, they were just moving mechanically without any motivation as if they were too tired.

    Maybe that¡¯s why they didn¡¯t notice me until I was this close to their rear.

    Now I could freely use skills to get rid of them easily.

    ¡°Ice Field! And Multiple Layers of Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasak!

    The Ice Field quickly prated the center of the enemies.

    ¡°Argh!¡±

    ¡°Damn!¡±

    ¡°What the heck is this attack? Howe an Ice Field like this is causing this much damage?¡±

    I used only two skills, namely Ice Field and Thin Ice that would reinforce the Ice Field.

    But my attack immediately dealt a severe blow to the 300 guild members.

    However, given the size of the enemy force, the battle was not over yet.

    They began to counterattack me fiercely.

    ¡°Power Shot!¡±

    ¡°Triple Shot.¡±

    ¡°Fire Arrow!¡±

    ¡°Let me summon the Fire spirit. Fire spirit!¡±

    ¡°Slow! Slow!¡±

    ¡°May the power of a curse descend upon the enemy. Weaken them!¡±

    ¡°Ice Field!

    ¡°Chain Lightning!¡±

    ¡°Bursting mes!¡±

    As they say, wherever you go, you could find a pearl in the mud.

    Of these 300 guild members, it seemed that only 10% were pearls.

    So, to my surprise, about 30 of them began to attack me.

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    [You were hit by a Slow.

    -Lumen¡¯s Intellect is much higher than the opponent¡¯s Intellect.

    -10% debuff resistance from Elsha¡¯s robe, pants, gloves, and boots is applied.

    -You are not affected.]

    [You were hit by a Weakness Curse.

    -Lumen¡¯s Intellect is slightly higher than the opponent¡¯s Intellect.

    -10% debuff resistance from Elsha¡¯s robe, pants, gloves, and boots is applied.

    -You are not affected.]

    The enemies fired arrows, used debuff skills, and attacked me using spirits simultaneously.

    But none of their attacks caused any damage to me.

    In particr, since I had a high intellect stat and a total debuff resistance of 10% from the 2.5% from each item of Elsha¡¯s armor set, their debuff skills became useless.

    ¡°...¡±

    I expected this kind of result to some extent.

    That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t avoid the attack or defend myself using Ice Shield.

    Rather, I wanted to counterattack with another ability.

    ¡°Pouring Hailstone! Ice st!¡±

    Spatter! Spatter!

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Aaaaaaaah!¡±

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    ¡°Damn! I never thought I would be done like this...¡±

    I used only four skills, but half of the enemy, or even 70% of the enemy, were defeated by this attack. Unfortunately, even the 30 members who dared to counterattack me after surviving my first attack fell into that category of fallen enemies.

    As a result, the remnant enemies were a disorderly crowd at best.

    ¡°Ice Prison! Ice Spear! Multiple Ice Arrow!¡±

    I locked up the remaining enemies with Ice Prison, and fired Ice Spears, Multiple Ice Arrows, Ice Balls, and Ice Bolts at the enemies who couldn¡¯t hide their shock from 70% of their fellow guild members perishing instantly.

    And that was the end of the battle.

    Those enemies who gave up resisting could not avoid my multiple attacks.

    Apparently, there were close to 300 people in front of me at the start, but they disappeared instantly. Looking at the ce where they were standing until a moment ago, I unknowingly muttered to myself, ¡°Wow...it¡¯s true that I¡¯m really strong now!¡±

    Of course I knew that objectively I was really strong.

    I knew that I should not be conceited or arrogant, but I also knew that excessive humility was something I should avoid.

    However, I didn¡¯t realise how strong I was until I got rid of as many as 300 enemies like this.

 Chapter 67 - Half (1)

    <h4>Chapter 67: Half (1)</h4>

    Soktae Kang also confirmed it because party No. 2 of the three partiesposed of 300 guild members posted a series of messages on the guild chat room that the crazy intruder had finally appeared.

    Given the frenzied response andmotion in the guild chat room, he could guess easily that they had suffered the intruder¡¯s surprise attack rather than finding the intruder first.

    But he dispatched arge group of 300 members, so he felt that there was still a possibility they could hunt that guy.

    So, he promised them that he would give 5 million won in cash to whoever killed the intruder.

    In fact, he wanted to give even 100 million won, but he reduced it to 5 million won because there was no guarantee that the crazy intruder would be gone forever.

    He knew that even with cash reward, his guild members would desperately search for and kill that intruder.

    But less than 10 minutes, or even 5 minutes passed before silence fell in the chat room.

    [BOSS Kang (Guild Leader): Party No. 2? Is anybody there? Can you hear me? Answer me if anybody is there!]

    [....]

    [....]

    [....]

    It was really noisy until a moment ago.

    Somebody said the 5 million won cash reward was his, and other guild members even felt jealous about it. However, no otherments had been posted since then.

    At that moment, guild officer Maxcal said to Soktae, ¡°Boss, I just got a call from the emergency line. All 300 members were killed.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    Soktae could not respond at all to Maxcal¡¯s shocking message because Maxcal¡¯s words confirmed his worst fears. Of course, Soktae earned his current position the hard way after going through numerous trials and ordeals, so he tried to remain calm.

    He shouted urgently, ¡°Tell the other two parties to return to the Safety Zone immediately!¡±

    It was now clear that he could not get rid of the crazy intruder with a force of 300 guild members.

    So, he had to minimise further damage.

    Honestly, it didn¡¯t matter to him even if his guild members were killed, but if they tried to flee from him thinking that the tide turned, it would pose a grave threat to him. So, he had to take some preventive measure now.

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    After issuing the order, Soktae thought hard on how to solve this difficult issue.

    ¡®Should I contact Japan?¡¯

    Actually, Soktae used to be an ordinary user who enjoyedmon games. Of course, he was too famous to be dismissed as an ordinary gamer.

    In the past, he controlled an entire game¡¯s server as the guild leader of a giant guild. In other games, he became famous by using niche game mechanics to rise up and dominate them. Of course, as a guild leader, he had the misfortune of being expelled from the guild he established by himself when it was revealed that he had embezzled some of the guild funds for his own purposes.

    Anyway, a group of people approached him who was casually enjoying the game ¡°Revival Legend¡± with a light heart. They were Japanese, and they actually came to visit him in person, not virtually.

    They suggested that he upy the Pioneers¡¯ City and collect the ¡®undigested mineral masses of stone squirrels¡¯ from the Rocky Area.

    At first, he looked at them suspiciously, thinking that they were crazy, because he found out after some research that Pioneers¡¯ City itself was not very valuable, let alone the stone squirrels.

    However, when they sent him 5 billion won as a down payment, he could not help but pay attention to their proposal.

    So, he moved quickly, but soon ran into difficulties.

    He initially thought the stone squirrels were easy to catch, but they were difficult to hunt.

    Not only did the squirrels move quickly, but they also had very high defense.

    Of course, it would not matter if he hired high-level users, but he would have to pay a lot for the job, so he approached elementary users and cajoled them to take part in the search for stone squirrels.

    In other words, he wanted to catch the squirrels with the help of these inexperienced users to minimize his costs.

    As a result, he seeded in hiring 1500 beginner users for a cheap price, and he even purchased a spacious apartment in the rich Kangnam district in Seoul under his name.

    Moreover, he also purchased two top-of-the-line sports cars.

    Since he didn¡¯t have any intention of giving up this precious source of funds, he finally decided to contact his Japanese counterparts who made the initial proposal to him.

    But at this moment, Soktae received more bad news.

    ¡°Guild leader! Party No. 3 ran into that crazy intruder while returning to the Safety Zone.¡±

    ¡°Where!¡±

    He could not allow another 300 members to be killed by the intruder when he had already lost 300 people.

    So, he immediately asked for their location.

    ¡°It¡¯s only 20 minutes from here.¡±

    ¡°Damn!¡±

    He had no choice but to hurl abuse when he heard the intruder was 20 minutes¡¯ away because he witnessed 300 guild members perish in less than five, not ten, minutes. Moreover, all the three parties were of a simr level.

    Since Party No. 3 was no stronger than Party No. 2 who had already been annihted, there was a very high probability that the fight was already over by now.

    Suddenly he felt that if he dispatched Party No. 1 who were rapidly retreating to the Safety Zone, they would be annihted as well.

    ¡°I will be back soon! Everyone, stay here! Log out.¡±

    He ordered Party No. 1 to return as soon as possible, then logged out helplessly since neither he nor his Japanese partners could contact each other in game since they were on different servers.

    ***

    I ran into them by chance once again.

    They were another group of Gahwa Guild members numbering 300 who were moving quickly towards the Rocky Area¡¯s Safety Zone.

    So, I attacked right away because I had no problem with getting rid of the same number of guild members as before.

    ¡°Damn it! What the heck is this monster?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it too hard for us since we are too low levelpared to him?¡±

    Some of the guild members died, expressing deep frustration and anger.

    Of course, most of them began to run away in all directions as soon as they discovered me, so it was impossible for me to kill all of them like I did before.

    Nheless, only about 20 of them survived and managed to retreat.

    I was satisfied with this oue. Then, I moved to the Rocky Area¡¯s Safety Zone because I expected to find the enemy¡¯s main force there.

    I guessed that there might be more than 300 people there, but I wasn¡¯t worried at all.

    Soktae¡¯s house in the posh district of Kangnam in Seoul.

    ¡°You told me that no one knows about it. What happened?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°The mineral masses! A really strong guy has appeared to seize them!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe it. Did you leak information about it by mistake?¡±

    ¡°Not at all! To stop any outsidersing to this ce on purpose, I charged exorbitant toll fees, and when a strong guy came, I even bribed him to help us take over this hunting ground! And I clearly warned our men picking up the mineral masses that they should always keep silent about this ce, else we would lose this good hunting ground and source of easy money if someone else came to know about it,¡± Soktae responded loudly over the phone to the man expressing suspicions about him

    Besides, Soktae also felt very unhappy about this incident beyond his control in this hunting ground because he really liked this means of making money. So much so that he wished to pursue this job for the rest of his life if he could.

 Chapter 68 - Half (2)

    <h4>Chapter 68: Half (2)</h4>

    ¡°Hmm... good. By the way, I know that you gathered a lot of members to strengthen your security. Can¡¯t they deal with that intruder? Or can you bribe him away like before?.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you about it already? That guy came to take over this hunting ground. How can I bribe him? Besides, he¡¯s a very strong guy. He is so strong that even the hundreds of guild members under mymand can¡¯t confront him!¡±

    ¡°Really? Okay, let me send you a man who can get rid of that intruder, so try to buy some time until then.¡±

    ¡°You had better dispatch the man as soon as possible. If you can¡¯t, everything might go wrong.¡±

    After ending the phone call, Soktae immediately essed ¡°Revival Legend.¡±

    As soon as he logged in, he could see a man slowly approaching the Rocky Area¡¯s Safety Zone.

    It looked like there were 600 to 700 men in this group. It was more than twice as many as the numbers I had confronted before.

    But strangely enough, I wasn¡¯t scared at all.

    Then one of them walked out toward me and said, ¡°I am the Gahwa Guild leader, Soktae Kang. Who the hell are you?¡±

    ¡°Me? I¡¯m Asirante,¡± I replied without any hesitation, for I started all this under the name Asirante instead of Lumen.

    ¡°Good. Since you don¡¯t want to reveal your real name, your ID is okay. For what purpose are you doing this to us now? Why is a strong guy like you wandering around here in this worthless Pioneers¡¯ City?¡±

    ¡°Well, because I also like this ce just like you. Why? Didn¡¯t you guys settle down in this ce because you liked it?¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    Soktae could not respond to my question.

    So, I casually asked, ¡°So what? Are you now saying that you can settle, but I can¡¯t?¡±

    I didn¡¯t want to engage in something like a political discourse with him, wearing a disguised mask and hiding my genuine intentions. So, instead of beating around the bush, I got straight to the point because I knew one of us would be the winner or loser in the end because of the quest anyway.

    As if he read my mind, he opened his mouth, while shaking his head.

    ¡°Good. I know what you mean. But let me give you an offer. Let me give you 50 million won per month. Actually, you are a very strong guy, so let me give you 100 million won in cash every month. I¡¯m not asking for anything in return, of course. Don¡¯t you think this is enough for you?¡±

    Of course, some people might be tempted to ept 100 million won. Well, most people would ept. But 100 million won per month wasn¡¯t that big for me.

    In my case, even one stat point was more valuable to me because I had no way of obtaining it except for getting items or levelling up. Getting even one more item than others would make a big difference to meter. And it was much more valuable if I thought about its use in the distant future.

    So I could not hide my smile at his proposal.

    With a smile on my face, I said, ¡°Sorry. I love this ce so much. I must have it. Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasak!

    The Gahwa Guild¡¯s leader Soktae Kang made the foolish choice of taking all of his approximately 700 guild members out of the Safety Zone to greet me.

    Maybe he trusted them, or perhaps he judgemed me as someone who would be blinded by money and easily tempted by his offer of 50 or 100 million won per month.

    But if he had observed my actions until now, he should have stayed inside the Safety Zone at all costs, for I would have to go through all kinds of toils to deal with him if had chosen to do so.

    ¡°Stop him!¡±

    ¡°Ice Shield!¡±

    ¡°Mega Shield!¡±

    ¡°Earth! Bind that guy¡¯s body!¡±

    ¡°My shadow will be a string that cannot be unbound! Shadow Bind!¡±

    ¡°Fire Shield!¡±

    ¡°Summon Wind Spirit! Wind Spirit.¡±

    Of course, there was something different from before.

    In the past, the two 300 member parties started fighting me after I ambushed them first.

    But now, the battle began with Soktae and I facing each other openly.

    He may have been confident that he could beat me in a fair fight, though he preferred me taking the bait of 50 million or 100 million won per month.

    But it was already toote. In terms of confidence, I was far ahead of him.

    He made the grave mistake of offering more than 800 members as my target in less than 12 hours.

    And so, the current fight was finished within 20 minutes starting from the time he essed the game

    ¡°Damn it. What is your identity? I admit it. All the people I¡¯ve gathered are beginners. I didn¡¯t hire strong people on purpose. Why? Because I would have to pay a lot for strong people, which means my share would be reduced a lot. But there is a limit to one¡¯s strength. I¡¯ve never even thought of a strong guy like you before. Besides, you can even rival ourrge group of men with your tremendous attack power. I¡¯ve also never seen one with such high defense like you,¡± he said, looking at me nkly.

    But honestly, I had no problem with dealing with even 700 people.

    Above all, they had a weak sense of belonging to the Gahwa Guild, and when the situation was even slightly unfavorable to them, they began to scurry and run away at every opportunity. They were like the opportunistic army of the Tang Dynasty.

    So, I casually said to him, ¡°Our world is vast in the first ce.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, the world is vast. But don¡¯t hold your head high because this is not the end!¡±

    With eyes raging with anger, he snapped and gnashed his teeth as if he wasn¡¯t discouraged at all.

    But I casually replied, ¡°Sure, I will wait. But you¡¯ll have to hurry. If you¡¯re toote, I might not be there. Ice Spear! Multiple Ice Arrow!¡±

    As soon as I replied, I immediately began my final attack because I didn¡¯t have to forgive him or reconcile with him, let alone understand him.

    It was so silent in this ce that I could hardly believe this was where I had fought an intense battle a little while ago.

    ¡°Man, I think I could have stormed into your main base instead of using gueri tactics.¡±

    Obviously, I was filled with a desire to win at first, but since I was fighting alone, I used gueri tactics to target the enemy¡¯s Achilles tendon, this Rocky Area.

    But my fighting method was not too bad.

    With an ted spirit, I moved to the Safety Zone of the empty Rocky Area.

    ¡°Move to Pioneers¡¯ City.¡±

    [You have been moved to Pioneers¡¯ City]

    Soon, I began to see Pioneers¡¯ City in front of me.

    But I didn¡¯t go inside because my destination was the Gahwa Guil¡¯s main stronghold.

    It didn¡¯t take long for me to reach the Gahwa Guild¡¯s headquarters.

    As expected, it was empty.

    It seemed that those who had survived fled to some other ce other than this one.

    So, I entered the headquarters of the Gahwa Guild without spilling any blood and stood in front of therge crystal in the center.

    Then, I used Ice Spear toward the crystal without any hesitation.

    Bang!

    The crystal was smashed into pieces with just one strike.

    A message appeared immediately.

    [The crystal stone of the Gahwa Guild located in Pioneers City has been broken.

    -The headquarters of the Gahwa Guild disappears.]

    Of course, the Gahwa Guild could set up their headquarters with a crystal in this Pioneers City again, but could only do so one yearter.

    But sooner orter another guild will take over and set up their own base here under the name Myongjin. Of course, it would not be Myonjin¡¯s headquarters.

    And then another message rang.

    [A-level quest ¡®Light the Lamp of Hope for the Salte n!¡± is underway.

    :Drive out the Gahwa Guild from Pioneers¡¯ City. ¨C sess.

    :Turn Pioneers¡¯ City into a decent city with a good name. ¨C Underway.]

 Chapter 69 - Bora Yon (1)

    <h4>Chapter 69: Bora Yon (1)</h4>

    ¡°Ice Spear! Multiple Ice Arrow!.¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Some of the swamp monsters were not killed by my initial Pouring Hailstones and Ice sts, so I farmed them with my single target skills. It was just like my battle with the 1500 users a day ago.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t confront all 1500 users at once, and I could not kill all of them.

    Anyway, leaving the big unprecedented battle with the Gahwa Guild behind, I concentrated on hunting just like before, for I still had a long way to go before I could reel in the joy of my achievements.

    So, I essed the game in the early hours of the morning and hunted stone squirrels in the Rocky Area for a couple of hours. But I gave up in the middle of it. Obviously I coveted the undigested mineral masses of the stone squirrels, which I suspected to have a greater value than I initially thought, but I was getting very little EXP out of it.

    Even if I regretted not collecting more mineral masses, I gave up on the Rocky Area and chose the swampy area as my new hunting ground.

    Since then, I have been hunting until now.

    At that moment a message rang.

    [This is the 1 o¡¯clock rm you set.]

    An rm sound signalling 1 AM.

    After checking the message, I left the hunting ground immediately because tomorrow was a very important day for me.

    Tomorrow was the day of my weekly home visit. But at the same time, I needed to solve the final step to clear this quest.

    Of course, it¡¯s a veryplex step, and not simple.

    The Safety Zone in the swampy area.

    There was no one around. I could not even find those who collected toll fees while guarding the gate outside the Safety Zone.

    Watching the gate, I suddenly muttered unknowingly . ¡°Wow. Come to think of it, this A-ss quest is ridiculously difficult.¡±

    Pioneers¡¯ City was totally ruined. To put it precisely, even ¡®ruined¡¯ was not an apt description because it was never prosperous. Not many users visited this ce even before the Gahwa Guild took over and established its rule.

    Because of the Gahwa Guild, Pioneers¡¯ City copsed without even having the chance to prosper. Anyway, after I got rid of the Gahwa Guild, I realized it was far more difficult to revitalize the Pioneers¡¯ City and turn it into a prosperous city than getting rid of the Gahwa Guild. No matter how much effort I put in to revive the city, an individual had limited capabilities. However, I had the backing of a huge guild named Myongjin.

    ¡°Well, this is not a loss to Myongjin either.¡±

    Soktae Kang offered me 100 million won per month so I would not oppose him. He also paid nearly 1,500 people in cash simply for the purpose of harvesting the stone squirrel¡¯s undigested mineral mass.

    In other words, there must be something special about this stone squirrels project.

    Otherwise, nobody would spend such arge sum of money for no reason.

    So, when I visit my house tomorrow, I¡¯m going to tell my father that if we collect them early on, we might make a big profitter.

    At the same time, I nned to tell him that I wanted to revive the whole Pioneers¡¯ City.

    Thinking about these matters, I logged out because my appointment tomorrow was far more important than hunting for an extra hour or two.

    The next morning I didn¡¯t ess the game immediately because I had to organize my thoughts first. To put it more precisely, I didn¡¯t log into the game to ponder over how to word my proposition to my father.

    I couldn¡¯t ask my father to help me revive Pioneers¡¯ City without a proper reason. Besides, I had no good evidence that the undigested mineral masses from the stone squirrels would be of great valueter.

    At least I needed to exin to him my ideas in a logical way to persuade him.

    After I was done organizing my thoughts, I was just about to ess the game to hunt for a little. But at this moment, my cell phone rang. Thinking it might be a call from my mother, I picked up the phone and checked the caller identity. However, the phone was disying someone else¡¯s name.

    [Mirae Bora Yon]

    These letters were disyed on my cell phone screen.

    Of course, the ¡®Mirae¡¯ here referred to Mirae Group, the undisputed top business conglomerate of South Korea, and Bora Yon was the granddaughter of Mirae Group¡¯s Chairman Jonghwan Yon.

    I froze momentarily because we were not so close that she would call me like this.

    Of course, I knew her. I had met her several times in various ces because business families in Korea often arranged various kinds of meetings among themselves in the form of parties, banquets, conferences or gatherings, so that their family members could mingle together.

    I picked up the phone and greeted her, ¡°Hello.¡±

    Of course, I had no reason to avoid the call.

    ¡°Hi, it¡¯s me, Bora Yon. You still remember my phone number, right?¡±

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s saved in my contacts.¡±

    ¡°Okay. I¡¯m d to hear that.¡±

    It has been a while since I saw herst.

    Of course, she didn¡¯t call me to exchange such pleasantries, and she wasn¡¯t on intimate terms with me anyway.

    But I didn¡¯t ask why she called me, and I just responded appropriately because it was she who called me first to find out something.

    ¡°Are you free this evening? I¡¯m seeing Cholmin, too. Oh, Jina and Youngjin are alsoing. How about you?¡±

    Kim Cheol-min is from theDaesung Group, Jinah Chong is from the Kusan Group and Youngjin Suh is from the Daeyu Group. And Bora Yon is from the Mirae Group.

    If I¡¯m included in this meeting, all the young members in their 20s from Korea¡¯s fivergest business groups will be gathering in one ce.

    Honestly, I didn¡¯t really want to go there. But I responded, ¡°Sure. When and where are you meeting?¡±

    ¡°Let me send you the details via textter.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    Even though I disliked going there in my heart, I actually said the opposite because this was the meeting of the sons and daughters of the top five business groups¡¯ chairmen.

    Nevertheless, I thought I should not miss this get-together because some of them may be the future sessors of theirpanies, and I might be able to get some unexpected and valuable information.

    I was taught that I would miss out on important matters if I didn¡¯t take part in such meetings. But deep down, I knew I was extremely wary of getting close to the people from other business groups. Of course, I¡¯ve never expressed this sentiment to anybody.

    Anyway, I finished talking to her over the phone.

    I looked down at my phone for a while after I hung up, pondering over Bora Yon¡¯s motivations, or Mirae Group¡¯s intentions behind such a meeting. She definitely didn¡¯t contact me just to see my face. Mirae Group had been shunned on purpose by the Myongjin, Daesung and Gusan Groups recently, so I was curious about her intentions.

    1:00 PM..

    I left my studio a little earlier because I needed to inform my father, brother, mother and sister that the Mirae Group Chairman¡¯s granddaughter Bora had requested to meet me.

    When I reached my house earlypared to my normal visiting time, my mother weed me dly.

    ¡°Oh my God! Why have youe so early? You never came early before even when I begged you toe early, right?¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ve got something to tell you and others.¡±

    My mother weed me heartily since I usually arrived around dinner time, except when I had to attend a meeting disguised as a business leaders¡¯ meeting.

    I asked her, ¡°Where is Dad?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s in the basement study.¡±

    Fortunately, it seemed that he had been working at home all this week instead of his workce.

    So I excused myself and went straight to the basement study.

    Knock! Knock!

    I knocked on the study door and opened my mouth.

    ¡°Dad, it¡¯s me, Juyoung.¡±

    ¡°Come on in.¡±

    As soon as I finished talking, he responded immediately.

    So, I immediately opened the door and stepped in. Inside, Dad was sitting alone at arge desk checking some documents.

 Chapter 70 - Bora Yon (2)

    <h4>Chapter 70: Bora Yon (2)</h4>

    Confirming it was me who stepped inside, my father put down the papers and asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    ¡°You probably know Bora Yon, that granddaughter of Chairman Junghwan Yon of the Mirae Group.¡±

    ¡°Of course, I know her.¡±

    ¡°I got a call from her four hours ago. She wants to see me. Of course, she wants to see not just me, but also Chulmin Kim, Jinah Chong, and Yujin Suh.¡±

    Dad would probably understand why she wants to meet them because this is a gathering of the

    3rd and 4th generation sons and daughters of Korea¡¯s top five business groups Mirae, Myongjin, Daesung, Kusan, and Daeyu. My father was the Myongjin Group¡¯s Chairman.

    After seeing the pleasant surprise on his face, I added, ¡°So, I replied positively.¡±

    ¡°Oh, good job. Anyway, the Mirae Group seems to be in an urgent situation.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what I guessed.¡±

    After that, I briefly spoke with my dad about some other topics.

    Of course, I had another thing to talk with him about, which was my main topic.

    However, from Myongjin¡¯s standpoint, this meeting was clearly very significant.

    It was even more important than my A grade quest.

    So, I didn¡¯t tell my father about it in detail because I could tell himter after attending the meeting.

    Le Chante Hotel in Kangnam.

    Originally, I was supposed to arrive here at 8PM ording to Bora¡¯s message.

    However, I arrived 20 minutes early at 7:40pm. I was driven by my dad¡¯s chauffeur who was residing in my main house in Cheongdam Dong.

    Of course, I was dressed up. I entered the hotel, but didn¡¯t didn¡¯t head to the sky lounge or banquet hall. Instead I headed to the first basement floor of the hotel, where a well-known social club and luxury bar called Cloud Nine was located. It was membership-only.

    For this reason, I was temporarily stopped at the entrance.

    ¡°Can you give me your name and the name of the person who made the reservation?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Juyoung Hong, and I think there is a reservation under Bora Yon¡¯s name at 8 PM.¡±

    ¡°Ah! Yes!¡±

    As soon as I finished talking, a man who seemed to be the manager guarding the doorway immediately bowed to me and invited me in.

    Then he escorted me to the best deluxe room in the club.

    I immediately opened the door of the special room and entered.

    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s been a long time, Juyoung.¡±

    Inside, Bora, who I was meeting after a long time, and Jinah Chong, who was one year older than Bora, were chatting with each other

    ¡°Oh, long time, no see! Jinah, I¡¯ve not seen you for ages!¡±

    I exchanged greetings with Bora, the organizer of this meeting, and said hello to Jinah next to her.

    ¡°Well, I saw you and Suyoung at that meetingst time,¡± Jinah said.

    That was a meeting where Bora was not present. But Jinah casually mentioned it, even though Bora was right here.

    ¡°Yeah. Come to think of it, I saw you at that time.¡±

    Since I was not in a position to take care of Bora, I casually responded and settled myself on the soft sofa.

    Since I knew the standing of my father¡¯s business group Myongjinpared to other business groups, I didn¡¯t get cold feet here.

    Shortly afterwards, Chulmin Kim of the Daesung Group and Youngjin Suh of the Daeyu Group entered. Youngjin Suh was the oldest among us.

    ¡°Hey, guys, it¡¯s been a while!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we should meet sometimes.¡±

    ¡°When we were young, we met often at various meetings. Is everyone here too busy?¡±

    ¡°What can I do? I¡¯m very busy learning lots of stuff at home.¡±

    I knew they were not interested in each other, but they kept exchanging such pleasantries that implied otherwise. Of course, I was doing the same.

    After drinking some high-quality liquor, everyone¡¯s eyes gradually turned to Bora Yon because she arranged today¡¯s get-together.

    Sip. Sip. Sip.

    Boa was aware that everyone had fixed their eyes on her right now, but she kept sipping the wine as if she hadn¡¯t noticed .

    However, no one, including myself, asked her to exin why she wanted this meeting.

    They knew that even if they didn¡¯t ask, she would bring up the topic.

    Indeed, after a few minutes passed, she put down the ss on the table, and opened her mouth after looking at everybody. And they seemed to expect what she would say.

    They expected it would be rted to the game, ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    Otherwise she would not have taken pains to gather them here in one ce.

    However, what she actually said was more than just that.

    ¡°Forgotten Legend... You guys know it, right?¡±

    Of course, everyone, including me, knew it. .

    But I can say confidently that I know it in far more detail than anyone else here.

    I spent my whole time exploring the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Closed Beta thatsted two weeks to the extent that I didn¡¯t sleep, nor eat, as I advanced to the next round.

    ¡°Man, isn¡¯t that a game that has be a forgotten legend just like the name itself?¡±

    ¡°You bet. How can I forget Forgotten Legend? There are lots of guys who made lots of money from it.¡±

    ¡°Right. It was a miracle game that made the less fortunate who had neither dreams nor hopes turn from rags to riches overnight.¡±

    ¡°Aside from that, it was also the predecessor of Revival Legend, which everyone is crazy about right now.¡±

    Everyone, including me, nodded and answered her question.

    After confirming the answer, Bora opened her mouth.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. It¡¯s the predecessor of Revival Legend, the hottest topic right now. That¡¯s why everyone was eager to find those who yed Forgotten Legend. They are hell-bent on finding the person who obtained the maximum level during the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Closed Betas. Oh, there is no winner who reached the maximum level in the third Closed Beta.¡±

    For some reason, Bora seemed to feel some regrets when she lightly mentioned that the 3rd Closed Beta had no one who reached the maximum level.

    However, as soon as she said that, the oldest member here, Daeyu Group¡¯s Youngjin, opened his mouth while holding his ss, ¡°Hey, did you call us for this meeting to repeat what we know already? I hope not.¡±

    This sarcastic question was rather unexpected.

    The three leading business groups in Korea are Myongjin, Daesung and Kusan.

    Mirae Group was once ahead of all of them, but the Daeyu groupgged far behind.

    So, Youngjin did not have the position to challenge them with such a question.

    Moreover, aside from Revival Legend, Daeyu was in a dangerous situation right now. If they fell out of favour with the Mirae Group, articles might appear in the press even by tomorrow about a crisis striking them.

    ¡°Oh, I think I talked too much, right?¡± said Youngjin.

    However, Bora replied with a smile, as if she did not feel displeased by his words.

    ¡°Then, may I ask if any of you has participated in the 1st or 2nd Closed Beta? I don¡¯t want to talk about the 3rd one.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    There was a moment of silence. Of course I remained silent too, even though I was the one who was first in all the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Closed Betas

    I didn¡¯t have to announce proudly, ¡®Yeah, I took part and I was the only one who got the maximum level in all rounds!¡¯

    ¡°Yeah, I thought so. None of you did. Since you are so busy, you can¡¯t y games. Even if you did, I don¡¯t think you would want to disclose it. But let me disclose this. I participated in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd rounds, and I obtained the maximum level in the 1st and 2nd rounds!¡±

    She proudly revealed that she was a maximum level achiever in the 1st and 2nd rounds.

    The reason she revealed so was obvious. She wanted to show that she had the attributes that every business group was earnestly looking for, and two attributes at that.

    Now I realized why she showed regret about not finding the maximum achiever of the third round. It was because she herself could not achieve the maximum level in the 3rd Closed Beta.

    ¡°No way¡­¡±

    ¡°Are you kidding? It¡¯s impossible for a woman like you, the direct sessor of the Mirae Group, to have time to leisurely y the Closed Beta. Besides, ¡°Forgotten Legend¡± was a verymon game with no special characteristics at that time.¡±

    ¡°Well, if you had participated in the Closed Beta, howe your group is such ate starter in this gamepetition?¡±

    Everyone said they did not believe her.

    However, as if she already expected their response, she calmly opened her mouth.

    ¡°I understand what you all are saying. But that¡¯s what I regret a lot. At that time, I should have acted a little more actively rather than being frustrated that nobody would believe me. Then, I don¡¯t think I would have been humiliated like this.¡±

 Chapter 71 - Bora Yon (3)

    <h4>Chapter 71: Bora Yon (3)</h4>

    Was she lying? No, she was most likely not lying because she was not stupid enough to be caught lying by us.

    So, her revtion was rather surprising.

    But she surprised us even more by continuing, ¡°And do you think I yed the games alone? Why did I do it as the Mirae Group¡¯s sessor?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Once again, there was silence. Of course, I also shut up even though I was anxious to ask her. More than anybody else here, I have been ying games alone as the sessor of one of the top five business groups in Korea.

    As if Bora was determined to take the initiative, she dropped another bombshell announcement before anyone could interrupt..

    ¡°Both I and the Mirae Group have no intention of working under China like the Daeyu Group or Youngjin. It¡¯s not a matter of saving face or humiliation. They are simply not a reliable partner. Of course, some foolish guy has a different opinion.¡±

    ¡°!¡±

    ¡°!¡±

    Actually I heard something about the results of the meeting led by Insu Sok the other day. At the meeting the participants stressed the need to join hands to keep China at bay, warning that if something went wrong they would allow a foothold for China to advance into Korea and control them..

    ¡°Oh, no! How is this¡­¡± Youngjinmented.

    And I realized immediately that what she said was true about some stupid guy acted stupidly.

    However, she continued, looking at me, Chulmin and Jinah, as if she didn¡¯t care about that idiot¡¯s surprise.

    ¡°Even a mouse bites a cat when driven into a dead end. As Mirae¡¯s sessor, I hope Myongjin, Daesung and Kusan won¡¯t drive Mirae into a dead end. With narrower vision and fewer options, you will have no choice but to make stupid choices even though you know it¡¯s a stupid choice.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Bora was a strong-willed woman by nature and her strong personality stood out more clearly today. She was now using Mirae¡¯s sorry situation caused by the other groups¡¯ intentional rejection as a weapon to dere war against them.

    ¡°What do you think about me? Don¡¯t you think I¡¯m good enough to serve as a medium to further solidify our joint front? Oh, don¡¯t worry too much Jinah. Even if I be your senior, I won¡¯t harass you. Brother Youngjin, I¡¯m sorry to say this, but I am not interested in Daeyu at all, ¡± she said, as if she was showing her superiority to both Jinah and Youngjin.

    Previously, I thought she said all she had to say because she had already made a series of shocking announcements. However, she smiled at them once, then wrapped up her speech with a bombshell threat like that.

    Daeyu¡¯s Youngjin first left the ce 30 minutester.

    His face was still blushing with embarrassment and shock.

    Next, Jinah Chong of Kusan also stood up and left.

    What an ironic scene! Even though they both obviously hid a hideous sword inside, they were now patting each other¡¯s shoulders and cheering each other up.

    Of course, I wanted to see them continuing this act, but couldn¡¯t because Bora saw them out of the special room.

    And after that, Daesung¡¯s Chulmin left. Bora left, saying that she would see him off. But she didn¡¯te back for five minutes.

    Nheless, she said she would sit through till the end of the meeting since she wanted to see everybody off as host of this meeting.

    After another couple of minutes passed, the special room¡¯s door opened and Bora came back in.

    ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m a bitte.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s no problem.¡±

    She then entered and took a seat at the sofa she was originally sitting at.

    Then she picked up a ss of wine and brought it to her mouth. Of course, I didn¡¯t stop her because she might leak some useful information.

    ¡°It seems like you don¡¯t like alcohol?¡±

    In fact, I drank a little at first because all of them clinked their sses for cheers.

    But after that, I didn¡¯t drink because I didn¡¯t like it.

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t like it .¡±

    ¡°Sister Suyoung drinks very well.¡±

    ¡°Well, my sister¡­¡±

    My elder brother and I don¡¯t like alcohol. My sister is the only one who likes alcohol.

    ¡°Brother Kiyoung and sister Suyoung are doing well, right?¡±

    ¡°Oh, yes, they are doing well. Kiyoung is always busy, and Suyoung also seems a little busy these days.¡±

    I knew my elder brother was very busy, but I was not sure of Suyoung.

    ¡°Then, what about you?¡±

    ¡°Me?¡±

    ¡°Yes, what about you?¡±

    I¡¯m not close to Bora, so I said casually, ¡°Well, so so.¡±

    I glossed over her question like that.

    ¡°Really? By the way, I was serious about what I said a little while ago. In particr, what I saidst¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Bora was now being aggressive in speaking to me when we were alone.

    But I just smiled slightly without responding because she might have asked the same things to Cholmin. I was certain she did so.

    As if she didn¡¯t care about my silence, she continued, ¡°Don¡¯t you know that I liked you when I was young?¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I did. You¡¯re certainly stupid, but you were very thoughtfu. I knew you could discern what others didn¡¯t, so I think your father Chairman Sangman Hong made you study very hard because he thought you would make a good future Chairman who could beat Miraen.¡±

    ¡°¡­.¡±

    ¡°I was honestly surprised that you entered Seoul National University as the top student, and that you were fluent in several foreignnguages. So I wanted to contact you at that time, but I felt like it was too snobbish to do so, so i didn¡¯t. Come to think of it now, I feel like it¡¯s toote now for me to contact you like this¡­¡±

    She paused for a moment, then continued after gulping down the remaining alcohol in the ss.

    ¡°I think you must have yed Forgotten Legend, and achieved the maximum level, of course.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    At that moment her words pricked at my conscience.

    ¡°Anyway! Let¡¯s stop here. Thanks foring today. Let¡¯s keep in touch. And don¡¯t forget myst words. Got it, my childhood friend?¡±

    When she said that, the word ¡°confession¡± came to my mind.

    But I opened my mouth without expressing my genuine feelings at all.

    ¡°Okay. It was nice to see you after a long time, my childhood friend.¡±

    We parted like that.

    The basement study of my main house in Cheongdam-dong.

    I was alone with my dad because I wanted to inform him that Daeyu was now working under China. I thought this was a very important matter

    I also told him that Bora announced something like a deration of war by saying that other business groups should not drive the Mirae Group into a corner.

    ¡°Hmm. As expected, Mirae is Mirae!¡±

    Obviously, after the meeting disguised as a business leaders¡¯ conference was over, managing director Insu Sok asked during the briefing that Myongjin, Daesung, and Kusan decided to join hands to pressure the Mirae Group. He specifically said that they needed to secure a clear advantage by dealing with the Mirae Group more harshly.

    But the Mirae Group came up with an even more powerful response as seen in Bora¡¯s announcement.

    Their response was strong enough to overwhelm the other groups¡¯ joint pressure.

    After that, I talked with my father about some other things.

    Though my meeting with him didn¡¯tst long, I told him some important things.

    However, there was something I couldn¡¯t say today.

    Bora¡¯sst words were that she could serve as a medium to solidify our rtionship. What she wanted was clear. She wanted to marry me.

    Anyway, I talked about some other stuff, then brought up apletely different topic. ¡°There is something that needs Myongjin¡¯s help.¡±¡±

    I took a long breath when I said that. I wanted to exin to my father why I needed Myongjin¡¯s help l, but my father responded curtly, ¡°Let me call managing director Insu Sok tomorrow. Talk to him, and he will do whatever is necessary.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I only said that I needed Myongjin¡¯s help. I didn¡¯t even mention the details. But my father solved my problem with just one word.

    Although I thought hard about itst night, I didn¡¯t have to agonize anymore thanks to my father¡¯s decisive decision.

    ¡°Thanks, Dad.¡±

    That¡¯s all I said to him because I didn¡¯t have to say anything more in this situation.

 Chapter 72 - Iâ€™m Doing Quests Because This Sort of Thrill (1)

    <h4>Chapter 72: I¡¯m Doing Quests Because This Sort of Thrill (1)</h4>

    The next day I met with Managing Director Insu Sok like my father said at a bit past 9 AM in my main house in Cheongdam-dong.

    ¡°That¡¯s why I have to revive Pioneers¡¯ City. I have to develop it into a citypletely different from the current Pioneers¡¯ City.¡±

    What is important is what I¡¯m going to do about it.

    So, I briefed him about the past events. Of course, I made sure to mention the Gahwa Guild. When Myongjin makes inroads into Pioneers¡¯ City, Soktae Kang, the Gahwa Guild Leader, would definitely try to obstruct them. Although it was unlikely that he would be able to do any harm to the Myongjin Group, I wanted to warn Insu just in case.

    After hearing my story, Insu opened his mouth with twinkling eyes, and lowered his head.

    ¡°Honestly, I thought it was rather strange when our chairman told me to take action to help you, because i thought your project was a trivial thing. I¡¯m sorry that I thought of you like that.¡±

    He once again apologized to me, bowing to me politely. But I wasn¡¯t particrly upset or offended because I hadn¡¯t shown him anything yer.

    He raised his head, met my gaze and said, ¡°And now I think I know why our chairman keeps paying attention to you like this.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    He had more experience than anyone else among the people in the Myongjin group. That was why he was Myongjin¡¯s person in charge of everything rted to ¡°Revival Legend¡±.

    Of course, the general manager of this whole project was my father.

    Anyway, this experienced managing director Insu Sok seemed to have recognized at a nce that this quest was extraordinary. But he didn¡¯t ask me any specific questions.

    Rather, he was just stroking his chin as if he was pondering over it.

    ¡°Revival of the city¡­Okay, let us do it this way. We will move the base of Myongjin¡¯s 3rd league to Pioneers¡¯ City, followed by our 4th league.¡±

    ¡°Really? Can you do that?¡±

    I initially just wanted the 4th league, since I thought that was more than enough to make Pioneers¡¯ city bustling and crowded.

    However, Director Insu went one step further.

    Although the 3rd League was not better than the 1st and 2nd Leagues that Myongjin Group paid the most attention to, it was the most active group.

    When I asked him whether he could do it for me, he replied with a smile on his lips, ¡± Isn¡¯t this quest a big thing for you?¡±

    He was right. It was a big deal for me. A very big deal.

    In particr, the 300 stat points was a bountiful reward, and this was not including the golden rings, EXP, coins and essory boxes. Besides, I had the Mutual Growth trait.

    So I opened my mouth and emphasized it very clearly while looking at Director Sok.

    ¡°It¡¯s very important!¡±

    ¡°Then let me go ahead as with the n we just discussed. If ourpany epts this motion sometime today, there will be arge-scale relocation of the 3rd and 4th Leagues sometime tomorrow. And moving their main bases means that those involved with the leagues will also move.¡±

    ¡°Got it. Thanks.¡±

    It took only 3 minutes for the director to make the decision to relocate the two leagues, though it still needed my father¡¯s final approval.

    Anyway, after that, I talked more with Director Sok because I had to discuss some other stuff.

    Namely, the undigested mineral masses of the stone squirrels.

    As expected, Director Sok did not know about the mineral masses. Of course, I expected that he would not know about it. If he knew it, not only he but also my father and Myongjin would not sit idle.

    So I told him about it in as great detail as possible because these mineral masses were items that would affect Myongjinter in some way or another.

    And there was a high possibility that such an influence would make Myongjin take one step ahead of the other groups and guilds.

    My one-room studio near Mt. Kwanak in the outskirts of Seoul.

    After having lunch at home, I returned and essed the game right away.

    Now that I had done what I set out to do, I was just waiting for the results.

    ¡°Move to the swampy area.¡±

    [You have been moved to the swampy area.]

    Because the Gahwa Guild itself had disappeared, the Safety Zone of the swampy area that came into my eyes was empty. That¡¯s why I came here. Tomorrow, this ce will be full of new people from the 3rd and 4th Leagues of Myongjin.

    It was certainly not an attractive hunting ground, but it has great potential as it would house the main base of a giant guild with tens of thousands of guild members.

    ¡°Let me hunt a lot before they move in! Tomorrow, I will decide on a different hunting ground and leave for there.¡±

    I had to leave the ant den and Desert Scorpion forest that I liked so much.

    Although I didn¡¯t leave that ce against my will, I had to make the decision to leave anyway.

    Otherwise, I would have to go through some annoying stuff, which would affect my levelling negatively. This time I made the decision with my own will.

    So, I stepped into the swampy area, and used Ice Field everywhere.

    That day I hunted in the swampy swamp all day long.

    At my mansion in Cheongdam-dong that night.

    ¡°Uh?¡±

    Chairman Sangman Hong was confused after checking the document presented by Director Sok because he found that the headquarters of the 3rd and 4th Leagues would be moved to another ce all of a sudden. So, he cast a dubious nce at the director

    Director Sok could read the Chairman¡¯s mind urately as he had served the chairman as his right hand man for more than a decade. He opened his mouth with a small smile on his lips.

    ¡°You gave me the direction, Chairman!¡±

    ¡°Me? When?¡±

    Chairman Hong was a bit embarrassed by the director¡¯s response because he did not recall issuing such an order.

    ¡°You told me to meet Juyoung this morning and take the necessary actions, right?¡±

    ¡°Oh, is this the necessary action?¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Director Sok was quite a reliable man to Chairman Hong. That¡¯s why Chairman Hong had him in charge of Myongjin¡¯s ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ affairs. However, he could not help but be embarrassed by the director¡¯s tant reply imbued with pride and satisfaction.

    At that moment Sok said, ¡°I was always puzzled that you kept paying attention to Juyoung who didn¡¯t show any merits or talent until now. I even thought that it would help the Myongjin Group if you diverted some of your attention to Kiyoung and Suyoung. But today, I could confirm your great insight and perception.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    One of the reasons why Chairman Hong trusted Director Sok was because he didn¡¯t pay lip service at all. And Hong himself didn¡¯t like that. But this time he had no choice but to like the director¡¯s remarks because the subject of his praise was his youngest son Juyoung.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure yet. However, it seems that Juyoung hit the jackpot. I think it will bring tremendous benefits to both Juyoung himself and the Myongjin Group.¡±

    In fact, Director Sok dispatched a specialist to investigate the truth of Juyoung¡¯s project.

    Although he mentioned the relocation of 3rd and 4th Leagues, he was ready to stop it if Juyoung¡¯s words held any falsehoods because that was his duty.

    And he confirmed that what Juyoung said was true. He could also confirm the presence of the stone squirrel¡¯s undigested mineral mass because lots of people were involved in it, and tens of billions of won were spent for this stone squirrel project.

    Based on this reliable intelligence, Director Sok immediately found out that arger force than he initially thought must have moved secretly given the huge amount of money involved.

    ¡°Let mepile the relevant facts and report to you, sir. I think Juyoung may be greater than you think, sir.¡±

    Director Sok gave Chairman Hong an outline of the stone squirrel project, but Chairman Hong didn¡¯t ask further because the director was now praising his son. And Hong was happy that his son was praised more than him now.

    The next day I got up early, as always, and logged in to the game after having cereal for breakfast. Of course, the ce where I was after logging in was the Safety Zone in the swampy area that I logged out of yesterday.

    It was noisy and crowded as it usually was previously.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    But there wasn¡¯t a single person when I logged out yesterday.

    However, there were quite a few people in front of me now.

    I knew right away who they were. They were from Myongjin¡¯s 3rd and 4th Leagues.

    Excluding them, there would be no other men here.

    ¡®Wow, they¡¯re so fast¡­¡¯

 Chapter 73 - I Do Quests for This Sort of Thrill (2)

    <h4>Chapter 73: I Do Quests for This Sort of Thrill (2)</h4>

    Of course, the quick relocation of the 3rd and 4th Leagues was only possible thanks to my father¡¯s quick approval. Nheless, I had to admire the way Director Sok handled this matter so smoothly.

    While I was admiring his excellent performance, I noticed someone running toward me quickly.

    ¡°Asirante!¡±

    It was Kihanna who gave me this quest.

    ¡°Asirante! People¡­ A lot of people are entering this Pioneers¡¯ City!¡±

    ¡°Really? That¡¯s a good thing.¡±

    I wanted to say it calmly as if I didn¡¯t know anything about it, but I couldn¡¯t control my smile because her actions clearly showed that the quest was about to be cleared.

    Then, with wet eyes, she kept talking to me while I silently listened.. But I didn¡¯t care much.

    Even though I didn¡¯t say anything, I could still find some important information in her words.

    For example, she said that if this phenomenon persisted for 3-4 days, they would send a letter to the king, and then the king¡¯s secret organization woulde to verify it.

    In other words, another 3-4 days had to pass before I couldplete this quest.

    As for after that? It didn¡¯t matter to me if this ce turned into an empty city of pioneers againter. Anyway, the goal of Kihanna¡¯s Salte race was to escape their very status.

    Of course, it seemed that a certain number of people would still remain because of the stone squirrels¡¯ undigested mineral masses.

    ¡°Move to Pioneers¡¯ City!¡±

    [You have been moved to Pioneers¡¯ City]

    After conversing with Kihanna, I moved to Pioneers¡¯ City to hunt in other hunting grounds I had in mind for three to four days before I could clear the quest .

    Of course, I could hunt here, but although I know who they are, they don¡¯t know who I am.

    Therefore, there might be some friction between us because the speed at which I hunt and the areas I clear are far above average.

    That¡¯s why I was looking for an unpopr hunting ground.

    At that moment a message appeared.

    [A-level quest ¡®Light the Lamp of Hope for the Salte n¡¯ is underway.

    -If you leave Pioneers¡¯ City during the quest, you cannotplete the quest

    -Would you like to move?]

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    There was no such restriction before. The only restriction was that the Salte n would destroy the quest if there was no progress for more than a month.

    ¡°I wish I had known this in advance¡­¡±

    In fact, I could only learn that restriction after epting the quest.

    And I could only know this new restriction now after trying to get out of Pioneers¡¯ City for the first time.

    So, I first stopped by several hunting grounds belonging to Pioneers¡¯ City. However, there were Myongjin Group users in all these areas. The only ce left wasr the Rocky Area where the stone squirrels appeared.

    ¡®Hmm.¡¯ I found myself agonizing for a moment because I could only get very little EXP from hunting the stone squirrels. Of course, I could not hunt among Myongjin Guild members.

    I didn¡¯t think that all of them were gentlemen with nice manners since they belonged to Myongjin.

    After all, they moved not only because of Myongjin, but also for their own interest.

    For example, they could be hostile to others simply because they were hunting more monsters than them.

    ¡®Should I tell them that I also belong to Myongjin?¡¯

    I haven¡¯t actually signed up, but I¡¯m definitely a member of Myongjin, for the chairman was my father. But I decided not to.

    I could put up with it for the next three or four days to clear this quest.

    Thinking like this, I ran towards the stone squirrels to acquire even one more EXP.

    It was now the 5th day, way beyond the expected 3rd or 4th day.

    I could not help but get a little nervous because I didn¡¯t level up even once by the 5th day, even if I have collected a lot of mineral masses that would be of great value in the future.

    However, I just kept hunting without anyint because being impatient or nervous would be of no help.

    A message rang while I was busy catching the stone squirrels with Ice Fields, Pouring Hailstones and Ice sts.

    [You have sessfully cleared the Grade A quest ¡®Light the Lamp of Hope for the Salte n.¡¯]

    The message popped up suddenly while I was hunting.

    ¡°Hhhhhhhhh.¡±

    I burst intoughter like a madman, and I didn¡¯t try to restrain it because I had finally cleared the quest.

    Of course, the message didn¡¯t end there.

    [A reward is given for clearing the Grade A quest ¡®Light the Lamp of Hope for the Salte n.¡¯

    -You have earned 25 million golden rings.

    -You have earned a significant amount of EXP.

    -You have earned 1500 coins.

    -You have obtained 300 remaining stats.

    -You have obtained a random box that has one item between the Precious and Legendary grades.]

    [You have levelled up]

    [You have levelled up.]

    [You have levelled up.]

    ¡°Yeah, I do quests for this sort of thrill.¡±

    I forgot all of my hardships after confirming this series of messages.

    Of course, I couldn¡¯t really say I had hardships because it was easier than expected for me to get rid of the Gahwa Guild.

    And the biggest headache, the revival of the Pioneers¡¯ City, I solved it easily with my family¡¯s help.

    Another message rang again when I was about to open my status window to confirm my rewards.

    [Pioneers¡¯ City¡¯s name will be changed to ¡®Asirante¡¯.]

    ¡°?¡±

    Asirante was the pseudonym I introduced myself with to Kihanna. Throughout the quest I used this pseudonym. Of course, I was a little embarrassed, but I tried to ignore it because I could not stop them from using that name for the city

    At that moment another message rang, which suggested I should not try to veto the use of that name.

    [Congrattions. Asirante! Your achievements are so great that your name is widely known among the locals. You are rewarded for such recognition..

    -You have obtained 10,000 coins.

    -You can upgrade one skill beyond its maximum level once.

    For example, if you select Ice Weapon, whose maximum level is 3, you can upgrade to the next level, level 4.

    Once you select the skill, you can¡¯t change it.

    -You have earned the title ¡®Honorable Name¡¯.]

    [Congrattions! The total number of your titles is now five. You¡¯re rewarded for that.

    -The titles you currently hold.

    : Only Closed Beta maximum level user.

    : Scarecrow destroyer.

    : Have you enhanced as much as me?

    : The man who doesn¡¯t approve.

    : Honorable name.

    -You have earned 300 remaining stats.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    First of all I¡¯ve obtained as many as 10,000 coins by clearing this quest.

    Not only my father but also my sister particrly emphasized the importance of coins.

    But honestly, I couldn¡¯t believe it because I had no use for them.

    And although the coins were believed to be difficult to obtain, I got 12,000 coins in a reinforcement quest limited to level 100, I got another 500 as the reward for clearing the Scorpion King, and I just now obtained 1,500 for clearing the A grade quest ¡®Light the Lamp of Hope for the Salte n.¡¯

    It was a huge amount.

    Moreover, my sister told me that even though there were many high level users, they did not even have 100 to 200 coins, let alone 1000..

    But I obtained 10,000 coins only a few minutes after getting 1500.

    I got lots of these precious coins so often that I could not appreciate its real value, so I took my eyes off the coins without any hesitation because I had heard some other things from my sister.

    ¡°I saw that I can upgrade a kill past its maximum level¡­¡±

    I liked this reward a lot because it meant that I could upgrade my Ice Field skill, which I used most often these days and opened the battle with, to level 8 or 9 from level 2, 5, or 7.

    However, I didn¡¯t have to choose now because my Ice Field was not yet level 7. Besides, I might find a better skill.

    ¡°Check title ¡®Honorable Name¡¯.¡±

    So, I examined the newly acquired title first.

    [Title: Honorable Name.

    -It is a title that can only be obtained by one who has made such brilliant achievements that people praise and remember his name.

    : You are loved by the locals.

    : Increases vitality by 50,000.

    : Increases mana by 5 million.

    : All stats increase by 300.]

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    The title that I acquired first, Only Closed Beta Max Level User, was extraordinary.

    It was a title nobody else could achieve.

    So, I considered my title, Scarecrow Destroyer, as the threshold for a good title.

    Scarecrow Destroyer, which increased vitality by 100,000, mana by 100,000, and stats by 200 did not fall behind any other title I knew of.

    Of course, the title, Honorable Name, was behind Scarecrow Destroyer since it increased vitality and mana by 50,000 respectively, but it increased stats by 300 which was 100 morepared to the increase given by Scarecrow Destroyer.

    So, I felt good about it because I had yet to feel that I wascking in vitality and mana.

    This time I obtained another title that gave me 300 stats, my fifth title Honorable Name. In fact, during the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Closed Betas, I did not have a single title.

 Chapter 74 - I Have Two IDs?

    <h4>Chapter 74: I Have Two IDs?</h4>

    I didn¡¯t know there were such bonuses like theseing from having five titles.

    And I can confirm that no one else knows this because there are very few who have even one title.

    So, after checking everything, I opened my status window full of anticipation.

    ¡°Check status window!¡±

    [Name: Lumen, Asirante

    Level: 235

    Kills: 1096, Deaths: 0

    Title: Only Closed Beta Max Level User and four others.

    Vitality: 1,124,000 / 1,124,000

    Mana: 913,000 / 913,000

    Strength: 1170 Agility: 1170 Physical strength 5480

    Mental Power: 3390 Intellect: 5790

    Remaining Stats: 950

    Remaining Skills : 0

    Traits: Iceman, Mutual Growth, God of Reinforcement]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    After reaching level 200, I did not open my status window because I had used all my remaining stat points and skill points acquired previously, and I could hardly hunt because I was focused on the quest..

    Since I still remember my status window at level 200 in great detail, I could easily find out the changes since then.

    For example, aside from my number of kills changing from 11 to 1096 and myl stats increasing by 300 thanks to the title ¡®Honorable Name¡¯, I could even remember that my agility had not exceeded 1000 previously.

    ¡°Asirante?¡±

    I could understand changes like this, but I could not understand one new change that did not fall under the category of increases. .

    It was none other than the name Asirante written by my ID, lumen.

    Of course, an ordinary person usually had one name.

    And it was the same in games.

    Most of the time users only had the one ID that they decided on initially.

    ¡°But this isn¡¯t applicable to me?¡±

    And something immediately happened that confirmed this.

    [You have a friend request from BOSS Kang.]

    Soktae Kang used to be theGahwa Guild¡¯s leader.

    Vowing revenge, he warned me never to forget his ID before he was killed by me.

    Of course, I¡¯ve never let him know about my real name or my ID lumen. It was my pseudonym Asirante that he remembered, the Ice Emperor who was the original owner of the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    In other words, Kang probably added me as Asirante, not Lumen, because that¡¯s the only name he knew.

    So, I epted his friend request to confirm whether it was the same guy.

    [You have epted BOSS Kang¡¯s friend request.

    -You can whisper to BOSS Kang.]

    [BOSS Kang: Hey, you son of a bitch!]

    [Asirante: 1]

    [Asirante: 2]

    [Asirante: 3]

    [Asirante: Man¡­this guy really¡­]

    Soktae spat out swear words right off the bat.

    However, I didn¡¯t care at all about it because I was more concerned about the word ¡°Asirante¡± appearing instead of Lumen.

    [BOSS Kang: What the heck is this crazy bastard saying? What a jerk? How could you sell this information to Myongjin? How much did you get for this? 100 million won per month is more than enough! You greedy bastard!]

    ¡°Delete friend BOSS Kang.¡±

    [Would you like to delete BOSS Kang from your friend list?

    -When you delete, you cannot whisper with him anymore.]

    ¡°Sure. Delete.¡±

    [BOSS Kang has been deleted from your friend list.]

    Gahwa Guild? Soktae Kang? I am not afraid of them at all.

    Moreover, he and I have already crossed a river that could never be crossed again.

    In other words, I had nothing to talk about with him, even though he had a lot to argue with me.

    Despite that, I had a reason to ept him as a friend because I wanted to test whether Asirante had be my ID or not.

    And one single test was enough to confirm it.

    ¡°Man, I have two IDs now?¡±

    I was a little embarrassed, but concluded it wasn¡¯t a loss for me because my two IDs, Lumen and Asirante could cause a lot of confusion to opponentster on.

    Thinking like this, I invested all my remaining 950 stats into Intellect.

    As a result, my Physical Strength increased by 950 and Mental Power by 475 thanks to the Mutual Growth trait.

    ¡°Hhhhhhh.¡±

    After checking my status window, Iughed like a viin once more, then moved forward to increase my level which had remained the same for some time.

    Of course there was one hunting ce that I had set my heart on, but I had to stop for a moment because there were numerous NPCs waiting for me in the Safety Zone of the Rocky Area.

    One of the NPC group members stepped forward. It was none other than Kihanna who initially gave me the quest.

    ¡°Thank you very much, Asirante.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee.¡±

    Honestly, I received more rewards for my performance than deserved.

    Besides, I received a huge special reward that I had expected for the simple reason that Pioneers¡¯ City was renamed Asirante. In fact, it was thanks to these people right in front of me that the city was renamed ¡®Asirante¡¯. No one else would have a reason to rename the city with such a strange name.

    So, I acted as polite as possible, forgetting about my calcted actions until now.

    ¡°We¡¯re thinking of leaving this ce because we are no longer chained down by the status of being ves,¡± Kihanna said.

    ¡°Where are you leaving to?¡± I asked because I was a little curious.

    ¡°To our hometown in the north. They say it is a barren and drynd, but it is our hometown.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡±

    I saw clearly in the quest that the Salte n were a northern tribe.

    ¡°I hope you guys are happy there. I also hope that you won¡¯t go through that terrible very again.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. Asirante, if youe to the northern area someday, please visit our Salte n. We don¡¯t easily forget someone¡¯s help. You can use this when you happen to look for us. This is the mark of our Salte n.¡±

    Kihanna handed me a pendant engraved with a Mountain pattern.

    I received it without hesitation because refusing to receive a gift offered in good faith is rude. Besides, I had no intention of ruining the good atmosphere between us.

    Anyway, I shook hands with Kihanna and the Salte n people in the Rocky Area¡¯s Safety Zone with all of us smiling, then left.

    <hr />

    Sok-tae Kang¡¯s house in Seoul. Several people were chatting on the sofa in the living room.

    ¡°What a crazy bastard! He deleted my friendship request? Damn it!¡±

    After that, he kept friend requesting Asirante, but it was up to the other party to ept it or not. So, he got more angry because his revenge n fell tpletely.

    At that moment, a man sitting on the lead sofa opened his mouth.

    ¡°Be quiet. Sit down.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±

    Soktae reigned almost like an emperor within the Gahwa Guild because he had money.

    But not any more. He had to know his ce here.

    ¡°So, the Myongjin Guild established a base there?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°Myongjin Guild is¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s almost one of the top three guilds in Korea. Rumor is that their guild members alone almost number 100,000. What¡¯s more, the guild members aren¡¯t simply ordinary people. It¡¯s unthinkable to fight against them.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    When he said that, the person sitting on the lead sofa groaned.

    Then he opened his mouth after some time.

    ¡°In the end, it seems that we need to somehow get rid of the server wall blocking countries in game to do business .¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°Good. Let us give up the stone squirrel¡¯s undigested masses. But you have to make this guy Asirante, who messed with our business, unable to y this game again. Got it, Sakamoto?¡±

    ¡°Sure, I will do it!¡±

    Sakamoto was born to a Korean father and a Japanese mother, and his Korean name was Jiwan Oh. But he abandoned his Korean name just like his Korean father abandoned himself and his mother in Korea.

    Anyway, after his Korean father disappeared, he was treated as an outcast for the reason that he was of a mixed-race. Perhaps he was even more ostracized because his blood was mixed with the Japanese.

    So, Sakamoto immersed himself in a game in search of an escape from reality.

    It was none other than ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯.

    Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t participate in the 1st Closed Beta, so he started from the 2nd Closed Beta.

    During the 2nd Closed Beta, Sakamoto achieved the maximum level and earned a trait in the ¡®Tracking¡¯ series that was amon series in game.

    However, what Sakamoto gained as a trait was so excellent that it far surpassed a simple tracking skill. That¡¯s why his trait name was ¡®persistent pursuit¡¯.

    ¡°I will track him down and kill him ruthlessly so he can no longer ess the game.¡±

    Sakamoto responded loudly to the man on the lead sofa.

    Hearing Sakamoto¡¯s determined response, the man opened his mouth with a nod.

    ¡°Good. But don¡¯t let your guard down because this Asirante has a very high level. Stay alert.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir. We have summoned all those who can be considered as strong among the people we hired. So, no matter how powerful Asirante is, he won¡¯t beat us this time.¡±

    Since they could not do anything about the Myongjin Guild, they made Asirante their target because they had to pay back what they had suffered.

    But they didn¡¯t know that during the span of only a few days, Asirante, or Lumen, had be much stronger than before, as if he was now apletely different man.

 Chapter 75 - An Example (1)

    <h4>Chapter 75: An Example (1)</h4>

    ¡°Move to an abandoned field of trees.¡±

    [You have been moved to an abandoned field of trees.]

    I left the grounds of Pioneers¡¯ City, now called ¡°Asirante,¡± which epassed the swamp area, the Rocky Area where stone squirrels emerged, and several hunting grounds.

    I had finished my quest, and this ce had no other merit that warranted me staying.

    I phoned Director Insu Sok who had moved Myongjin¡¯s 3rd and 4th Leagues to this ce to inform him that everything was finished. Of course, my father was the one who made the final decision, but I still needed to inform DIrector Sok. In fact, I had called him briefly during the day when I logged out.

    Anyway, I told him over the phone that everything was done perfectly, and that Myongjin¡¯s 3rd and 4th Leagues didn¡¯t need to stay there anymore.

    However, Director Sok said that he would make them stay for the time being because it was a ce that would bring a lot more benefits to the Myongjin Group than he originally thought.

    I replied that I understood, then ended the phone call because the matter was now out of my hands. Anyway, if it was good for Myongjin, it was good for me too.

    And if it really was true that this ce would bring more benefits that they originally thought, I could remind them that it was me who first mentioned the importance of this ce to get some benefits as well.

    Anyway, I left the ce and moved to Peroro Castle.

    Peroro Castle was more difficult than Kotum Castle or Asirante City.

    I had moved to the abandoned field of trees, the most unpopr hunting ground there.

    Of course, I chose this ce on purpose.

    Soon, a Safety Zone in the abandoned field of trees appeared in front of me.

    It was empty and quiet just like the Safety Zone in the swampy area after I got rid of the Gahwa Guild.

    ¡°Come to think of it, I always happen to choose the unpopr hunting grounds.¡±

    The only exception was the Smander habitat, a popr hunting ground close to heaven for an Ice Wizard.

    Of course, since I was there only briefly, I could not say that I had hunted properly there.

    And my purpose in going there was to gain whatever EXP I could in the remaining time I had before I had to leave since I had killed the eleven members of the Daesung Guild. It would have been a waste to simply remain idle.

    At that time, I clearly realized that a popr hunting ground crowded with people was not for me.

    Thepetition for hunting even one monster was so fierce in such ces.

    Besides, fights often broke out from people interfering with other people¡¯s hunts. So, I thought that I would be better off choosing an unpopr hunting ground like this one.

    However, just because a ce was empty, and you could hunt at your own pace, it does not necessarily mean that your EXP gains will be low. An example was this abandoned field of trees right here.

    Tramp, tramp.

    I stepped forward boldly and left the Safety Zone.

    It didn¡¯t take me long before I encountered a tree monster with long roots in the shape of sapling that was often prepared forndscaping..

    Saplings. In other words, it was just a young tree.

    No matter how tall trees could get, saplings would only reach my chest.

    Compared to other tree-like monsters, such as the Dark Ent, this sapling looked really small and despicable.

    Nheless, there was clearly a reason why this ce was not popr.

    A small area of the ground in front of me started shaking, and I could hear the sound of something creeping under the ground. Soon, the source of thismotion revealed itself out of the ground.

    It was the long roots of the sapling.

    The roots of this long-rooted sapling wrapped around my right ankle right away.

    Of course, there was not only one root. The name ¡®Long Rooted Sapling¡¯ was not coined for no reason.

    So, I used my skills right away because I had already experienced a battle simr to this one before.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasak!

    And of ice spread around me instantly. Then, thin ice settled on the ice ground, making the ice even thicker and harder.

    Kong! Kong! Kong! Kong! Kong!

    A sound of a dull drum pounding started sounding in all directions.

    It was the sound of the roots of the long-rooted tree monster beating the ice ground from below.

    ¡°Ice Weapon.¡±

    [You have used Level 3 Ice Weapon.

    -The sturdy and long +3 Enhancement Sword is now empowered with a strong and cold ice energy.]

    I immediately swung the sword imbued with the Ice Weapon skill at the roots of the tree that were wrapped around my right ankle. After shing a couple of times, the tree roots were covered with white frost and fell off my ankles in no time.

    In the meantime the rumbling sound continued while I was fighting against the tree above ground.

    It sounded as if the sapling¡¯s roots were trying to break through the ice ground faster.

    ¡°Well, this sound really sucks¡­¡±

    Of course, I had imagined something like this might happen when I decided to move here, but I did without any hesitation because I was armed with more than 6700 Intellect, Ice Man¡¯s traits and even Thin Ice that boasted of a high defensive power.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t expect to hear this rumbling sound echoing underground.

    Tramp, tramp.

    I walked leisurely on the calm surface of the ice, which was drastically different to the never-ending mor and noise under the ice. At this moment, a swan came to my mind. A swan appears more elegant than any other animal when viewed above the surface of the water. However, a swan is constantly moving its legs underwater to stay afloat.

    Of course, it was the same with this long rooted sapling. It looked rxed above the surface, but its roots were moving under the ice endlessly.

    And soon I faced the sapling¡¯s trunk.

    This tree monster¡¯s only means of attack was its long roots. As a result, the trunk and branches that existed above its roots couldn¡¯t attack me at all. I had the absolute advantage now.

    ¡°Ice Spear! Multiple Ice Arrow!¡±

    I immediately used my skills towards this long-rooted sapling because I had enjoyed my absolute advantage enough.

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    As expected, the long-rooted sapling, which had no defensive means, was helpless in the face of my attack. However, it didn¡¯t copse. It was surprisingly durable.

    ¡°That¡¯s why no one hunts here.¡±

    I had heard of it, but I was now sure why this ce was such an unpopr hunting ground.

    First of all, the tree monster¡¯s attack started from a distance, and underground at that. Most people were unfamiliar with it, and would definitely feel ufortable. Moreover, it was still difficult even after adapting to such an attack. Normally, for tree monsters with such a body structure, the trunk of the tree should be the most vulnerable. But that was not true.

    This long-rooted sapling withstood my Ice Spear and Multiple Ice Arrows.

    Of course, I felt I could destroy it with my next attack because my initial attack prated the tree trunk quite deep, but it was clear that this tree monster had an extremely high defense.

    I don¡¯t want to boast, but my Ice st-series magic had the power to not only overwhelm magic of the same level, but even magic one or two levels higher.

    It could not be denied that this tree monster had a perfectbination of attack and defense.

    However, I could still hunt my usual way with Ice Field and Thin Ice. Nobody could use such skills the way I did. Of course, a person with a Heavenly Level and an extremely powerful weapon could match me, but there was no possibility that such a person woulde to this ce because inparison to me who was only level 235, they would only get minimal EXP.

    So, I threw an Ice Ball at the long-rooted tree monster that was barely standing in front of me.

    Puck!

    At this moment, the trunk of the long-rooted sapling, which was diligently holding out until now, broke with a single Ice Ball.

    After checking EXP that the tree gave me, I opened my mouth with a smile.

    ¡°Good!¡±

    In fact, before I came here, I had just hunted stone squirrels for five days for little EXP. That¡¯s why I smiled broadly at the increase in EXP this time.

    Besides, the unusual attack of the long-rooted sapling was no problem for me.

    Kong! Kong! Kong! Kong! Kong!

    ¡°Kong! Kong! Kong! Kong! Kong! Ice Field. Kong! Kong! Kong! Thin Ice.¡±

    I kept hunting, unwittingly humming along to the rumbling sound of the tree roots, while I was walking here and there on the ice elegantly like a swan.

 Chapter 76 - An Example (2)

    <h4>Chapter 76: An Example (2)</h4>

    Teleport Zone of Perero Castle.

    A group of people sat quietly in one corner. Of course, one of them was busily moving around. Shortly afterwards, this person yelled out.

    It was none other than Sakamoto.

    ¡°We¡¯ve found him! Everyone, move to the abandoned field of trees!¡±

    He shouted loudly. At that moment, the group of people gathered in one corner moved hastily to the abandoned field of trees he mentioned.

    There were a total of 64 people, including Sakamoto himself, who moved to the abandoned field.

    Sakamoto opened his mouth while looking at the other 63 people.

    ¡°If any of you knows about this abandoned tree field, tell me now.¡±

    He knew this was the ce where they would fight against the strong guy named Asirante. So, it was crucial to know the monsters and geography of this hunting ground beforehand.

    Some of them had some experience with visiting the ce, so they began to brief him about it.

    After listening to the information, Sakamoto asked, ¡°Wait a minute. Why did hee here when he knew that this was such an unpopr hunting ground?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    No one responded to his question.

    In fact, most low-level users left this ce because it was too difficult. Higher level users who could deal with this difficulty, such as those around Level 400 or Level 500, left this ce as well since there were many better hunting grounds.

    Besides, this ce didn¡¯t even give any special itemspared to other hunting grounds.

    ¡°Hmm. I just can¡¯t figure out what kind of person this guy is,¡± Sakamoto muttered after hearing no reply from his men.

    But he immediately spoke loudly for he could not stop here just because he couldn¡¯t figure Asirante out.

    ¡°I know you guys here gathered for all kinds of reasons. Some of you are here to take revenge, and some of you are here for money. But at this moment, you are allrades of the great Mitsuya Guild!¡±

    Mitsuya Group was Japan¡¯s top business group,parable to Korea¡¯s Mirae Group, and the Mitsuya Guild was the best guild in the Japanese server for ¡°Revival Legend¡±.

    Ryu Sechi, theMitsuya Group¡¯s chairman, had grasped the importance of ¡°Revival Legend¡± quicker than anyone else and had ruthlessly nipped any rival in the bud using both his in-game power and business power in the real world.

    When he was done getting rid of his rivals in Japan, he began to pay attention to the outside world because he knew that the server¡¯ wall¡¯ would copse someday.

    Then he found the stone squirrel¡¯s undigested mineral masses in Korea, which he tried so desperately to find in the Japanese ¡°Revival Legend¡± server, but couldn¡¯t.

    Of course, Ryu Sechi knew that one global server supplied the whole of Revival Legend, but it was divided up by something that could be called an ¡®invisible barrier¡¯ or just a ¡®wall¡¯ to separate the server for the different countries.

    So, depending on luck, it was possible that a significantly better hunting ground existed in other countries. For example, a ce like the hunting ground with the stone squirrels that Ryu Sechi had been looking for so desperately.

    Anyway, Ryu Sechi felt it was unfair. He wondered why there was something like this in Korea¡¯s ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ that didn¡¯t exist in Japan¡¯s ¡®Revival Legend.¡¯

    But he didn¡¯t stay disappointed for long. He moved right away because he thought he could control it even if he didn¡¯t have ess to it.

    He thought that when the wall broke down, he could take over it immediately.

    So, he carefully recruited people in Korea using his power in the real world.

    To make sure his n was not leaked, he gathered only those with resentment against Korea or were greedy for money, and excluded those with traits.

    But he fortunately hired some guys with traits like Sakamoto.

    Anyway, he carefully instructed them to collect the stone squirrel¡¯s undigested mineral masses. And just when he was collecting them aggressively, he was attacked and robbed by a man named Asirante.

    He was upset because he had lost everything even though he used the utmost caution and prudence for fear of being caught.

    So, as he could not take revenge against Myongjin because of the wall, he ordered his men to make Asirante, the culprit responsible for all these incidents, unable to y this game under any circumstances.

    At Ryu Sechi¡¯s order, Sakamoto hired some people inside Korea and selected the strongest among them, before leading them to the abandoned field of trees.

    Now, Sakamoto led 63 strong men and carefully stepped into the abandoned field of trees.

    Before starting the operation, he announced that those who were killed in action would bepensated appropriately, and the one who killed Asirante would be given 100 million in cash on the spot.

    And he emphasized that this was not a one-off event.

    He said his goal was to make this guy called Asirante unable to ess the game. He added that if they were lucky, they could make hundreds of millions or billions of Korean won.

    Of course, nobody didn¡¯t wee his reward for killing Asirante because such arge amount of money would even make them forget their resentments.

    So, they moved aggressively. Among the 64 men was Soktae Kang.

    <hr />

    ¡°Pouring Hailstones!¡±

    Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

    I used the hails toward the long-rooted Sapling, which was standing helplessly like a scarecrow because its only means of attack was blocked by my Ice Field.

    Of course, characteristic of AOE skills, each hailstone was weakpared to single target skills such as Ice Ball or Ice Bolt. But the Pouring Hailstones I used were different.

    Aside from its destructive power, the amount of hail was just enormous. If I exaggerated a bit, it was like a rain shower. They rained down on the tree monster like a rain shower.

    And the hailstones kept hitting the same spots of the tree monster repeatedly.

    Its trunk was hollowed out, and lots of branches were broken despite its considerable defense power. In the end, its trunk copsed.

    The long-rooted tree monster had an unusual AOE attack and a considerable defense power to make up for its immobility.

    But all of that was nothing to me.

    While the roots of the long-rooted tree were dying helplessly, the sweet sound of a message rang, which was pleasant to my ears whenever I heard it.

    [You have levelled up.]

    ¡°Hhhhhhhh.¡±

    I could not not control my urge tough, but I stopped immediately because I heard some sounds, and multiple ones at that. .

    Of course, this was a hunting ground, so it was highly likely that monsters had appeared.

    This was a good possibility in other hunting grounds, but it was impossible here because the long-rooted tree monster could only move its roots.

    As expected, instead of monsters, a considerable number of men appeared.

    Apparently they didn¡¯te here for hunting, but for some other purpose.

    Tramp, tramp.

    The enemies began to appear one by one. Of course, they hadn¡¯t shown any hostile behavior to me yet. But they must be my enemy because although I never invited them, they obviously came to see me on purpose since they stopped right in front of me.

    And someone among them was familiar to me, so I became more convinced that they were my enemy.

    It was Soktae Kang, the leader of the former Gahwa Guild, who had pledged revenge against me just before I killed him.

    He appeared as a member of this group. But I was a little puzzled because they found me so easily. If it was this easy to track me, then Daesung or Kusan would have found me a long time ago even if I wore a robe and mask to hide my identity.

    Anyway, Soktae Kang, the only one that I knew, stepped out of the group in front of me.

    Then he hurled abusive words at me just like he had messaged me before.

    ¡°Asirante, you son of a bitch! We¡¯re going to kill you!¡±

    A total of 64 men were standing before me.

    But I ignored his swear words, then began to count the group¡¯s number because I felt they would attack me ruthlessly anytime soon.

    At this moment, another guy began to walk toward me slowly, spitting out in a low heavy voice, ¡°Move aside!¡±

    ¡°Ah yes¡­¡± Soktae said meekly.

    Soktae walked out impressively as if was the leader of this group, but he looked so meek now.

    Given that he stepped back and bowed at this man¡¯s order, I realized that this man was the true leader of the group.

    After ordering Soktae to step back, he immediately asked me, ¡°Are you Asirante who interfered with our work?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡±

 Chapter 77 - An Example (3)

    <h4>Chapter 77: An Example (3)</h4>

    As they say, conversing with the enemy is a luxury. Moreover, I had already gotten rid of the Gahwa Guildpletely. So, although I desired to strike first, I still responded to his question politely to fuel his misunderstanding that my name was indeed Asirante.

    After confirming my identity, he asked another question.

    ¡°How did you know about it?¡±

    ¡°About what?¡±

    ¡°The mineral mass.¡±

    ¡°Oh that thing. Why do you think I should not know about it? You also know about it, right?¡±

    ¡°Good. It seems I¡¯m not going to receive an answer from you. Then, let me ask you onest question. How much did you receive from Myongjin by selling that information?¡±

    ¡°About 100 billion won.¡±

    Of course, I didn¡¯t receive even a single won, let alone 100 billion won.

    But when I thought about the value of the mineral masses in the distant future, I thought that it was worth at least that amount when Ibined it with all the rewards for clearing the quest I was originally supposed to to receive and the additional rewards I received from the city¡¯s name changing to Asirante.

    Of course, depending on who heard my answer, the amount I mentioned might be taken as a joke. But the man in front of me seemed to take it sincerely.

    ¡°Good. Congrattions. I don¡¯t think that¡¯s bad for a severance pay.¡±

    ¡°What did you say? Have you mistaken this for severance pay?¡±

    I was not stupid enough to not know what he meant by severance pay.

    He meant would not allow me to y ¡°Revival Legend¡± again.

    I understood his meaning clearly, and this gave me a legitimate reason to fight against his group.

    Moreover, I had nothing to hide now that he confirmed I was Asirante.

    I immediately shouted out my first strike because I never wanted my opponents to take the initiative in a fight .

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasak!

    ¡°Asirante¡¯s Ice Field is not a typical Ice Field!¡± eximed Soktae Kang, the only one in this group who had experience in fighting me before. He shouted as soon as he heard the Ice Field.

    However, the remaining 63 people remained unaffected..

    Instead, they moved calmly and in an organized fashion following the orders of the man who just talked to me.

    ¡°Destroy his skill with the same type of skill. All enchanters and AOE mages, start attacking him now! Tanks and melee attackers stand by until his Ice Field is broken. Then charge at him right away!¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir! Rocking Earth!¡±

    ¡°Fire Field!¡±

    ¡°Shoot the enemy! Thick Earth Spear!¡±

    ¡°Increase his weight until it hinders his movement. Increase weight!¡±

    ¡°Slow. Slow.¡±

    ¡°Let darkness blur his eyes! Vision Loss!¡±

    ¡°Triple Shot!¡±

    ¡± Fire Spirit¡¯s anger!¡±

    ¡°Bind the enemy, Thorns of Pain!¡±

    ¡°Chain Lightning!¡±

    So there were a total of 64 fighting against me now?

    I was confident in destroying them all. I had fought against arger number of enemies recently. Although I could not annihte them all, I killed 300 out of the almost 700 Gahwa Guild members and won overwhelmingly.

    Of course, I knew they were simplymon people because Soktae told me at that time before we started our fight. He said he didn¡¯t recruit the strong men on purpose.

    However, the numbers 300 and 700 wererge enough to make me confident in fighting arge enemy. That¡¯s why I was confident in beating these 64 men. Of course, I knew that they were not a mere rabble of ipetents although they were small in number. Soktae would note with these people unless he was confident since he clearly remembered his crushing defeat with evenrger forces at hismand.

    And I could confirm clearly that they were not simplymon people from their agile movements, battle skills, and use of debuffs in particr.

    [You are afflicted with Weight Increase.

    -The opponent¡¯s Intellect is slightly superior to yours.

    -10% debuff resistance from Elsha¡¯s robe, pants, gloves, and boots is applied.

    -You are not affected by Weight Increase.]

    [You are afflicted with a Slow.

    -The opponent¡¯s Intellect is slightly superior to yours.

    -10% debuff resistance from Elsha¡¯s robe, pants, gloves, and boots is applied.

    -Your movement is 4.1% slower than usual.

    -This willst for 360 seconds.]

    [You are afflicted with Vision Loss.

    -The opponent¡¯s Intellect is superior to yours.

    -10% debuff resistance from Elsha¡¯s robe, pants, gloves, and boots is applied.

    ¨C Slight Vision Loss is applied.

    ¨C Itsts for 600 seconds.]

    I hadn¡¯t been affected by a debuff recently because before wearing Elsha¡¯s armor provided me with 10% debuff resistance and my Intellect was higher than that of the person who cast the debuff.

    Sometimes my Intellect was so high that I was simply unaffected.

    But these people were different. Their Intellect was all higher than mine, no matter by how little. Nheless, thanks to the 10% debuff resistance of Elsha¡¯s armor set, I was not weakened by Weight Increase, though I was hit by Slow, which was embarrassing because this was the first time in a long time. Like the modifier ¡°slight¡± suggested, Vision Loss didn¡¯t affect me enough to cause a big hindrance in this battle.

    But it was true that I was a little more tense now.

    From examining their debuffs, these were clearly the strongest people I had ever dealt with.

    Of course, the intense battle between us took many forms.

    For example, the ground underneath my Ice Field reinforced with Thin Ice was shaking and eating at the Ice. And that was not all.

    Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

    If the previous sound of the long-rooted sapling monster¡¯s roots attacking my Ice Field was a rumble, this current sound was a roar. A huge spear was created out of the earth and started crushing my Ice Field from below.

    In the meantime, the Fire Field was burning intensely to melt my Ice Field.

    But something was wrong.

    ¡°Uh? Weight Increase did not activate? What happened?¡±

    ¡°Vision Loss is effective for only 600 seconds? And its effect is only slight? How is this possible given my high Intellect?¡±

    ¡°Does this make any sense? No matter how manyyers of Thin Ice is reinforcing it, how is this Ice Field so hard?¡±

    ¡°We have already attacked him with seven different skills! Isn¡¯t he a wizard? Howe he is standing there undamaged?¡±

    My Ice Field had a strong defense against their attacks.

    Of course, it was covered with cracks, dents, and burns, but it was not destroyed anyway. It suffered multiple attacks but survived them all. Besides, I also strongly blocked the several simultaneous attacks targeting me, which made the enemies feel embarrassed given their initial confidence in easily killing me.

    Now it was my turn to attack.

    ¡°Ice st! Pouring Hailstones!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

    I used Ice Field, which just now withstood the enemy¡¯s powerful attacks, and Pouring Hailstones to use as a magnificent sacrifice for Ice st, which I always paired with it.

    ¡°Kuuuuuuuuh!¡±

    ¡°Damn it! This Ice st explodes so quickly!¡±

    ¡°Damn! It¡¯s speed of explosion is not the issue! This is not the Ice st that I know! Besides, what the heck are these hailstones?¡±

    ¡°Everyone, wake up! Tanks, stand at the front! Healers, heal the tanks! Use all shield skills!¡±

    ¡°Nothing can prate me! Indomitable Will!¡±

    ¡°Iron Wall!¡±

    ¡°Mega Shield.¡±

    ¡°Fire Shield.¡±

    If they were the type of opponents that I had previously fought, they would have already fallen to these two AOE skills.

    But they were different. But not all of them were tough.

    Eleven of them were killed by a shower of Pouring Hailstones and Ice sts without being able to defend themselves.

    However, there were still 52 left. This was not a small number.

    ¡°Spread your attacks widely! His AOE skills have a wider range than we expected!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡±

    They then surrounded me in a circle instantly. Although I sized him up roughly, the leader of this group was verypetent unlike Soktae Kang, the Gahwa Guild¡¯s leader, in terms of his tactics and strategy.

    And he continued to shout his orders.

    ¡°Tanks! Don¡¯t sit idle stupidly like that and make way for the melee attackers to attack this guy before his cooldown for his AOE skillse back up! Healers and enchanters, help the tanks!¡±

    ¡°Got it! Buffalo¡¯s Rush!¡±

    ¡°Heal them all, Breath of Healing!.¡±

    ¡°Bless the Thick Earth!¡±

    Obviously they had never mounted powerful attacks against me until now.

    Their attacks usually fizzled out even before reaching me. Faced with Ice Field, Pouring Hailstones and Ice sts, they attacked me from a safe range from fear of being killed without a chance to escape.

    By showing them that they would be killed helplessly even with the help of healers and enchanters if they got close to me, I wanted to make them realize clearly that their leader¡¯s decision was wrong.

 Chapter 78 - An Example (4)

    <h4>Chapter 78: An Example (4)</h4>

    However, even though my Ice skills had a short cooldown, I could not use AOE skills in quick session. So, I used mainly Ice Spears and Multiple Ice Arrows, sometimes interspersed with Ice Shield and Ice Prison, as I waited for my AOE skills cooldown toe back up.

    But they didn¡¯t show any sign of backing off.

    ¡°Step back! Aside from its damage, his skill cooldowns are also unusually short. But don¡¯t worry. We just have to show him how we can deal with him as a group.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    Eleven of them were killed, and 53 were left.

    Of course, aside from Soktae Kang, there were 52 people.

    Suddenly, the group started moving in a more organised fashion, and increased the distance between us. Their tanks stood at the front while the melee attacks were positioned behind them. Then the long range attackers in the rearunched several attacks, while preparing to escape from my AOE skills.

    ¡°We can destroy him slowly. No matter how strong he is, he can¡¯t beat arge number of troops.¡±

    ¡°Got it, sir!¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    Just like it takes two to tango, you can only inflict damage to the enemy if the attack is sessful. In the past, I had never worried about this because the monsters I encountered were usually those who attacked first, except for the stone squirrels. And my previous battles against other users ended after my first few attacks. Of course, there were some times when I ran away, but I had never fought against an enemy like this. So, I needed toe up with a newbat method right now.

    ***

    Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Group secretly operated several medium-sized guilds in Korea. Of course, all members of those guilds were part of the Mitsuya Group, and they were usually used to collect information and perform other various tasks, including initially taking over the area where the stone squirrels appeared.

    And one of them was the Samurai Guild. Of the several guilds under Mitsuya Group¡¯s Chairman Ryu Sechi¡¯smand, all the members of this guild werebat personnel, so he paid a lot of attention to this guild. Of course, this guild did not have many members.

    Anyway it was the Samurai Guild that moved to eliminate Asirante.

    Some of the members who were notpetent were forcibly moved to other guilds like Soktae Kang, the former Gahwa Guild leader.

    While Lumen, or Asirante, was in the middle of fighting against those Samurai Guild members who appeared confident on the surface, the Samurai guild chat room was filled with urgency and nervousness.

    [BBD: Damn it! I can¡¯t believe that guy¡¯s skill is so powerful. Howe 40% of their Health disappeared with just one attack?How does this make any sense?]

    [Money: By the way, isn¡¯t it necessary for them to widen their attack range before he uses his AOE skills? Man, the power of that guy¡¯s AOE skills are just dreadful.]

    [Kant: That¡¯s the problem! Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s weird? Damn, why can¡¯t he die? He¡¯s definitely a wizard, and an ice wizard at that, right? How can a wizard...]

    Their chatting mainly focused on Asirante¡¯s abilities that far exceeded their predictions.

    That¡¯s why the chat room was so active.

    Sakamoto immediately opened his mouth after checking the guild chat room.

    [Sakamoto (Guild Leader): Don¡¯t be embarrassed or impatient. He is fighting alone, so there is a limit to his ability to fight us. We can fight against him like we have been until now. Except for the tanks, never allow yourself to get hit twice in a row even if it¡¯s a low level skill. You not raise his morale by being killed like that. ]

    In order to quell their nerves, Sakamoto emphasized that there was only one enemy confronting them, and they could easily win using their superior numbers.

    Although he said that confidently, he too was nervous deep down because Asirante was so powerful.

    Of course, Sakamoto knew well that Asirante was powerful.

    Although Sakamote didn¡¯t confirm his strength directly because that greedy pig Soktae Kang did not use the Memory Bead to the end as he wanted to save money, he knew that it was absolutely impossible for anybody to win a battle against enemy forces of 300 and 700 overwhelmingly unless he had extraordinary power, even if they were a motley group of unorganized minions.

    But even taking that into ount, Asirante was simply too strong.

    Sakamoto thought to himself, ¡®Damn it! How is this possible? Why is the normally fist-sized Ice Ball as big as a head, and howe Ice Bolt which usually has minimal prating power can pierce holes like an awl?¡±

    Was it because Asirante only used low-level magic?

    Sakamoto could understand it because it was important for Asirante to bnce theposition of his skills, considering their cooldowns.

    That¡¯s why even those with a Heavenly Level had a few low-level skills.

    However, even if it was a low-level skill, it should still appear like one.

    For example, it would not be surprising if Asirante used it to keep someone at bay, but it was too strong. So much so that Sakamoto cowered before his repeated attacks with low-level skills. Scary. But Sakamoto didn¡¯t express it outwardly because if his men found out that he was scared, they would no longer follow him.

    So he constantly cheered them up.

    [Sakamoto (Guild Leader): You can attack him while holding out like this. After all, he is a wizard relying on attack power. It would be impossible for him to hold out any longer. And I will increase the reward to 300 million won instead of 100 million for the person whonds the final attack. Moreover, I will double the rewards for those killed in action. So, fight against him aggressively!]

    In no time the atmosphere of the Samurai guild chat room became lively as if nothing happened. After confirming this, Sakamoto thought it was fortunate to meet this man named Asirante now, for if he encountered Asirante in the future after he grew stronger, he would definitely have been defeated.

    ¡®And there should never be such a strong person in Korea!¡¯

    Sakamoto hated Korea after abandoning his Korean name Ji-wan Oh.

    So, he thought that he should nip this Korean guy Asirante in the bud before he became stronger not only for himself but also for Mitsuya Group¡¯s Chairman Ryu Sechi who saved him.

    ¡®Anyway, he is going to be killed.¡¯

    Sakamoto found himself being concerned about Asirante for some reason, even though he was busy defending against his men¡¯s endless attack.

    ¡°Ice Shield.¡±

    ng! ng! ng!

    My Ice Shield defended against the enemy¡¯s attack with much difficulty.

    Puck! Puck! Puck.

    But the enemy encircled me now.

    Since it was impossible to spread my Ice Shield 360 degrees, it was difficult to defend against attacksing from the rear or from the sides outside the range of my Ice Shield.

    Of course, I could still withstand these attacks because of my high health and stamina.

    I paid more attention to the enemies¡¯ movements.

    ¡®Hmm.¡¯

    They were still cautious of my AOE skills, ready to attack me after avoiding them.

    In fact, I didn¡¯t need anything like strategy or tactics in dealing with enemies previously because they were helpless before my attacks. They could neither block my attacks, nor could they hold out.

    But these guys managed to block my attacks, holding out strongly.

    They kept defending against a series of Ice Spears, Multiple Arrows and Ice Balls even when they endlessly rained down on them. And those who cleverly avoided my attack hid straight behind the tankers again.

    ¡®Should I change my strategy?¡±

    I felt that the fighting would drag on and on under this situation.

    While I was lost in thought, the Ice Shield that protected me firmly began to show cracks here and there. Of course, I wasn¡¯t disappointed because it sessfully defended me longer than I expected, given it was a level 3 Ice Shield.

    ¡®By the way, did I use it more than I should during these past ten minutes?¡¯

    Suddenly, I thought that I had used Ice Shield more often during the past ten minutes than I did since I first obtained it, which I didn¡¯t like.

    So, I didn¡¯t reuse Ice Shield this time when I noticed it could no longer withstand the enemy¡¯s attack. Standing there, I looked at the ce where the healers and enchanters were grouped together.

    I could destroy them all if I simply used Ice Field and Ice st even without reinforcing it with Multiple Thin Ice, but the problem was that they were located far behind the tanks and melee attackers.

 Chapter 79 - An Example (5)

    <h4>Chapter 79: An Example (5)</h4>

    That¡¯s why this kind of confrontation has been going on for a long time. They are standing in a ce where no skills of mine, including my AOE skills, can reach them. Nestled in a safe ce, they instantly healed those who were attacked, and also buffed them when needed. It was the perfect sort of party y.

    Tramp! Tramp!

    Honestly speaking, I regretted setting Stamina as the stat that would experience 100% growth along with my Intellect for the Mutual Growth trait.

    So far, I have not benefited from my superior stamina,pared to my willpower, which I chose as the second stat which was experiencing 50% growth.

    In the meantime, I was totally defenseless without an Ice Shield amid the enemy¡¯s attack.

    The enemies seized the opportunity and ruthlessly attacked me.

    Naturally I was exposed to their intense attacks.

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    But I ignored their attacks and kept stepping forward.

    In the past, I didn¡¯t really care about my defense, whether it was hunting or fighting, for I didn¡¯t have to. But now I clearly showed them why I could ignore their attacks.

    So, I used my skills first at the annoying tanks.

    ¡°Ice Prison!¡±

    Of course, they were ready for my attack. As soon as the Ice Prison started to emerge, they immediately scattered, so I could only trap two of them. But that was enough.

    And I deliberately used the Ice Field behind them instead of at them. Why? Since the Ice Field was located behind them, they couldn¡¯t retreat to the back.

    So, all they could do was to move to either side or towards me to avoid the Ice Field.

    And for those who approached me?

    ¡°Pouring Hailstones! Ice Spear! Multiple Ice Arrow!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Kuuuuuuuuhuk!¡±

    ¡°Damn!¡±

    Behind them was the Ice Field which could be detonated with Ice st at any time, and I was attacking in front of them. They were literally caught between a rock and a hard ce.

    Those who hurriedly stepped toward me after leaving the range of my Ice Field copsed helplessly without any resistance.

    Of course, the enemies didn¡¯t sit idle.

    ¡°Tanks and melee attackers move around the Ice Field and charge at him! Ice st is useless if you are careful about the Ice Field. Just attack him! That guy is also desperately struggling to get out of here! Attack him mercilessly!¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    The guild leader kept cheering them up and gave them special directions.

    In response to his order, they desperately attacked me, but it seemed that they were greatly mistaken. Was I desperately struggling? Nope, I was not desperately struggling but simply ignoring their attacks.

    Anyway, although it was only for a brief moment, I seemed to have shown my old habit because my attack didn¡¯t work in the face of the enemies¡¯ perfect party y. I had the habit of moving too cautiously in the past. In other words, because of my wizard role in not only ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ and ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ but also all my other games, I had always hunted cautiously without a choice

    By design wizards relied on their powerful attacks, so they had poor defense.

    In my case, I always hunted alone. I had forgotten about it until now because I had never gone through a situation in ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ that was dangerous enough for me to protect myself or move cautiously.

    But for the first time I felt I was in a situation, which I didn¡¯t think was dangerous, but rather frustrating, so I seemed to have acted defensively.

    But I now moved openly as if I was dering that I was ready to ept their attacks without defending.

    Then I ran towards the enemies. Of course, the enemy¡¯s healers and enchanters also moved hurriedly. Unlike the tanks, they could be killed at any time if something went wrong. Even if they were mages with high stamina and health, they were no exceptions.

    So I used my skills immediately.

    ¡°Ice Weapon.¡±

    [You have used Level 3 Ice Weapon.

    -The sturdy and long 3+ Enhancement Sword is imbued with strong and cold ice energy.]

    ng! ng!

    I swung the sturdy and strong 3+ Enhancement Sword toward the tank blocking me in the front.

    Did I do it to inflict damage on him? Of course, he would receive damage to some extent because, aside from the level 3 Ice Weapon, my Strength stat exceeded 1000, which was absolutely impossible for a normal wizard.

    However, what I really aimed for was something else. It was none other than frostbite.

    I knew that the probability of inflicting frostbite when attacking with the Ice Weapon would be greatly increased. In fact, I had the passive skill called Weak Frostbite as well as the Iceman Trait.

    However, I didn¡¯t use this option until now. I didn¡¯t attach any great meaning to it because I had other options, and I didn¡¯t have to use Ice Weapon until recently.

    Anyway, just as I triggered frostbite damage with a couple of attacks against the roots of the long-rooted sapling, I also caused the frostbite damage to the tank with only two attacks.

    ¡°Damn it! I got frostbite! Heal me!¡±

    The tank slowed down due to the instant frostbite, but I aimed at the damage dealer behind the tank while the healers and enchanters were distracted with the tank.

    ¡°Ice Spear! Multiple Ice Arrow! Ice Ball! Ice Bolt!¡±

    I fired every skill at the damage dealer alone. Naturally the damage dealer could not endure my attack and died immediately without the help of the healers and enchanters.

    ¡°Thin Ice!¡±

    And I fired Thin Ice, which I usually reserved for the tanks, at the healers and enchanters.

    Of course, Thin Ice was not as good as AOE skills, so I didn¡¯t use it separately, and only in conjunction with Ice Field. In fact, that was the standard way to use it.

    However, it was enough to cause confusion to the healers and enchanters.

    Amid the confusion I fired Ice Spear and Multiple Ice Arrows, whose cooldown had juste back up, at the damage dealers, and not the tanks.

    In other words, I changed the way I confronted the enemies.

    I decided to kill them one by one.

    What about the AOE skills that inflictedrge damage at once and which showed the greatest effects? I used it to block off the area or to keep the healers and enchanters at bay.

    The reason I could use this new method was because of my confidence that I could hold out and ignore their attacks even though the enemies used their numerical advantage to strike me unceasingly.

    ¡°Oh my God!¡±

    Sakamoto was forced to groan at the shocking scenes of the battlefield because he clearly witnessed the copse of bnce.

    ¡°This is total nonsense!¡±

    Sakamoto thought that the so-called bnce of attack and defense would work, for too excessive attack would lead to vulnerable defense, while too excessive defense would be vulnerable to the enemy¡¯s attack.

    From that perspective, Asirante was a type who relied on attack, just like many wizards.

    Despite this, Asirante showed extraordinary defense, which embarrassed Sakamoto a lot. But he believed that if his team kept up with the fighting as it was now, they would beat him clearly, because this kind of fight normally ended up with their victory.

    However, what was happening before his eyes was clearly different.

    Defense? Avoidance? Or move to protect himself? Asirante showed nothing like that.

    Rather, he aggressively moved forward and fought them as if he invited their attacks.

    So, Sakamoto ordered his team to start attacking him to fulfil his request.

    But when the fighting continued for one minute, two minutes, and five minutes, he thought that something had gone badly wrong.

    He watched Asirante use that dreadful AOE skill as something to hold his men in check while ughtering them one by one using single target skills and Ice Weapon.

    When five minutes passed, the unity of his team started to crack.

    ¡°Damn it! I can¡¯t fight! How can I deal with this monster?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t either! I can¡¯t see any way to deal with him!¡±

    Some of his team members began to desert the battlefield.

    But Sakamoto couldn¡¯t stop them because in his opinion, there was no way they could stop Asiratne.

    Now, it was certain that his team would be defeated.

    ¡°Man, is his speciality defense, not attack? This guy has specialises in both attack and defense.¡±

    Sakamoto had no choice but to spit out a meaningless monologue.

    And he realized that what he was aiming at was a monster.

    Sakamoto immediately rushed at him because the word ¡® escape¡¯ did not exist in his dictionary.

    He wouldn¡¯t retreat because his opponent was a Korean that he hated so much.

    Ten minutester, Soktae Kang couldn¡¯t close his hanging jaw.

    Then he barely spit out swear words.

    ¡°Damn it! Let me give up on this game. I won¡¯t ever y again. Damn unbnced game!¡±

 Chapter 80 - Dont Come Home Tomorrow (1)

    <h4>Chapter 80: Don¡¯t Come Home Tomorrow (1)</h4>

    ¡°Come back again. I¡¯ll be staying here for the time being. Ice Spear!¡±

    After casually spitting out some words at the enemy¡¯s leader who didn¡¯t even try to hide his resentment while he was dying, I immediately fired an Ice Spear.

    Puck!

    Since the enemy leader had already taken many of my attacks, he was killed with thatst blow. And myst words to him were also sincere.

    In other words, I would stay here for the time being, unlike before when I left to avoid friction. Did I make this decision because of my confidence?

    Of course, it was true that I was confident that I could deal with enemies regardless of their number, but I know that it was not luck or coincidence that they could find me so decisively. Maybe they have some special means to track me down, for example, with something like a special trait instead of a normal skill.

    After concluding that they could track me down if they wanted to, I decided to steal the show first by lookingpletely nonchnt and not caring about how many times they woulde to find me.

    Even though I said this, I hoped deep down that they wouldn¡¯te back because I wanted to focus on hunting.

    When the enemy¡¯s leader died, I looked at the empty surroundings. Of course I couldn¡¯t kill all the enemies because I could not chase those who decisively ran away as fast as they could.

    However, for some reason, I thought that I had just fought more enemies than the 700 I had fought recently. Of course, I won like always.

    ¡®Well, based on the oue of this battle, it seems that it was not a mistake to choose Stamina as the first stat of Mutual Growth.

    This was the first time I fought the enemies relying on my health and stamina not only in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Closed Beta of ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ but also in all other games.

    And I felt that they were much more powerful than I thought.

    ¡°Ice Field!¡±

    Now, with the most intense of all the battles behind me, I began to attack the long-rooted saplings again using Ice Field because I was too energized to take a break.

    That night I logged out in time for dinner, ate and took a quick break.

    Just when I tried to ess the game again, my phone rang.

    My sister¡¯s name Suyoung was disyed on the phone screen.

    ¡®¡±I¡¯m going home tomorrow. I have no idea why she is calling me now.¡¯

    Curious about her call, I answered the phone first.

    ¡°Hey, sis, what¡¯s up?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯te home tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    She just told me not toe home without any exnation.

    Needless to say, my mother was the one who usually weed me the most during my weekly visits to my house in Cheongdam-dong, but my sister also weed me as much as her.

    Moreover, when I lived in a one-room studio after being forced out of the house because I didn¡¯t go back to the prestigious Seoul National University after being discharged from the army, my sister even threatened to shave her hair before my parents to protect me. She liked and greatly supported me, to say the least. Whenever I had even a financial problem, she also sent me some money without letting my parents know about it. In other words she has been my consistent supporter until now.

    So, I could not understand why she suddenly told me not toe back home tomorrow.

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing special. Got it? Let me end the call because I¡¯m busy.¡±

    Tu- Tu- Tu-

    My sister hung up after saying that, as if she was quite busy at the moment. I felt rather embarrassed. Obviously something unusual was going on.

    But I just looked down at my cell phone nkly for a while even after she hung up because I knew what she meant by ¡®nothing special.¡¯ I felt something happened to her and my family, but she didn¡¯t want to tell me right now, which made me even more curious.

    Whenever I had heard it in the past, I would not visit home per my sister¡¯s request, and I also wouldn¡¯t have cared whatsoever. But this time I was different because I I began to think something unusual was gong on. So, I felt the strong urge to go home despite my sister¡¯s unusual request.

    ¡°I have to go home by all means tomorrow.¡±

    Of course, I don¡¯t know exactly when I had a change of heart, bute to think of it, that may have caused it.

    At the meeting disguised as a business conference of the top leaders of Myongjin, Daesung and Kusan, and that recent meeting hosted by Mirae Group¡¯s Bora Yon, they invariably mentioned one thing, which was the appearance of new rising stars.

    They wanted to develop a talent pool to hunt and hire those who were excellent in ying games. Although I don¡¯t want to brag, I was the first one to be picked.

    Honestly, I had some expectations that I would be selected because I was extraordinary enough to have the title of the Only Closed Beta Max Level User as well as the traits of Ice Man, Mutual Growth and God of Reinforcement, so much so that I myself was worried about the copse of bnce.

    But now I¡¯m far beyond what I expected back then. I¡¯ve grown so fast and achieved so much until now.

    At that time, I didn¡¯t expect at all that I would obtain extra stats by drastically dropping levels by using my titles Scarecrow Destroyer and God of Reinforcement. Moreover, I earned the title of Honorable Name by clearing an A-grade quest.

    In other words, I could not be more confident now.

    So, this kind of confidence definitely affected my decision to visit home despite my sister¡¯s very unusual request.

    In other words, I felt so confident that I wanted to know more about my sister¡¯s matter and my family affairs as a whole, so I could help them if I could.

    ¡°I should ess the game first.¡±

    Instead of asking my dad, brother, or mom about it, I thought that I could go home tomorrow and find out by myself, so I first essed the game without thinking about it anymore for now.

    Then I immediately opened my inventory. In my inventory, there were more valuable items than all those I had gottenbined in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Closed Betas of ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯.

    I was already close to possessing 200 million golden rings, but I had items far more valuable than this.

    [Inventory list.

    -100% Enhancement Sess License. (Increase the Enhancement Level of an item regardless of its grade, level and current Enhancement Level.)

    -Maximum Skill Level Increase Stone

    -Random box with 1 essory between the precious and legendary grades.

    I ced the 100% Enhancement Sess License I had obtained from the level 100 only Enhancement Quest in one corner of the inventory to use itter on when the God of Enhancement cooldown for my Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword was more than several hundred days.

    Likewise, I also ced the Max Skill Level Increase Stone in another corner of the inventory to use it in a situation where I absolutely needed to upgrade one of my skills.

    Although it was not as good as the above two, I left the random box which i got from clearing the A-grade quest of ¡®Light the Lamp of Hope to the Salte n¡¯ unopened even though it could give me a Legendary Grade item. But I¡¯ve never opened it because it could give me a Precious Grade item instead.

    Of course, that doesn¡¯t mean that a Precious grade item is bad.

    The Scorpion King¡¯s ring and earrings that I¡¯m currently wearing are also Precious grade items.

    Anyway I had kept putting off opening the box until now.

    But now, I strongly felt that I wanted to open it atst.

 Chapter 81 - Donâ€™t Come Home Tomorrow (2)

    <h4>Chapter 81: Don¡¯t Come Home Tomorrow (2)</h4>

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s time to open it because I can¡¯t keep it unopened forever. And before I try to enhance the +1 Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword, I have to enhance whatever essoryes out first.¡±

    Enhancing the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword to Enhancement 1 previously generated a 14-day cooldown. Obviously, it will generate a longer cooldown this time.

    So, I thought I had better open the box now so I could enhance whatever essory came out if I wanted to. Thanks to my victory in today¡¯s fight, I was confident that I would not care whatever item came out because although I felt it rather embarrassing to say so myself, I myself was already a myth grade or even more than that.

    Anyway, I immediately took out the random box from the inventory and opened it.

    Then, a message appeared with a yellow sh.

    [You have acquired the Warrior¡¯s Bracelet (Legendary).]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Since I decided that I would not care about whatever item came out of it, I opened it with confidence.

    But deep down I wished that I would get a Legendary item and a wizard-type one at that.

    If I could not get it, I hoped that the item would at least increase my Intellect.

    Hopefully, it would be a legendary grade item.

    However, I felt that this item would not increase my Intellect, let alone be a wizard-type item, given its name.

    ¡°Check the Warrior¡¯s bracelet.¡±

    So, I started checking the item first, wistfully thinking it was not the one I wanted.

    [Intrepid Warrior¡¯s Bracelet (Legendary)

    -This bracelet contains the spirit of a warrior charged forward bravely in all battles without retreating.

    : Increases Strength by150.

    : Increases Agility by 150.

    : Boosts Combat Power by 10% in the arena.

    -Physical defense: increases by 150, magic defense: increases by 50.

    -Durability: 655000/655000]

    The item¡¯s characteristics were no surprise, even though I hoped for it to be different..

    But it was still worth it because my Strength and Agility increased by 150, while the 10% Combat Power increase in the Arena seemed quite high.

    Of course, it is difficult to say that an increase of 10% is high.

    For someone with Combat Power totaling 10, they would only receive an increase of 1. But for people with enormousbat power totaling 100, 1000, 10000 or more, the increase would be far more significant. That was exactly the case with me.

    ¡°By the way, the arena? Of course, I¡¯m going to fight there, but is this encouraging me to fight harder?¡±

    Of course, there was no evidence supporting this, but I felt that way for some reason.

    Anyway, I hunted down the long-rooted saplings until 1am, then fell asleep right away so I could go home early the next day.

    The next morning I left the studio with only the 3rd generation high-end VR device in my bag. I arrived at my house in Cheongdam-dong at around 10 by riding a bus and a taxi. The area around my house was always quiet and empty. This was because all the houses in and around the Cheongdam-dong area were famous for being the residences of wealthy high-profile people in South Korea. In the past, security guards would stop people at the entrance to check their identities before allowing them to go in. But such practices were gone when manyined that maintaining such tight restrictions was the unwarranted prerogatives of the rich.

    Anyway when I visited my house, a group of people and a line of seven luxury cars stood in front of the usually quiet and empty alley leading to my house.

    When I approached, I heard some whispers rting to me.

    ¡°Who is he? Is he a newspaper delivery man?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you know him? He¡¯s the youngest son of this family.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that son who was admitted to Seoul National University as a top student? But haven¡¯t you heard the rumors that he went crazy after his period in the army? There were even rumors that he was locked up in a mental hospital.¡±

    ¡°Really? I never heard that. As far as I know, he went into hiding after he was caught pretending to be a genius.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s nonsense. He went through lots of tests. Isn¡¯t it true that he¡¯s really smart? He was on TV for some time because he was so smart in many domains.¡±

    ¡°Hey. Do you believe it? It¡¯s all simple tricks. Tricks! Anyway, as far as I know, even his family gave him up. That¡¯s why he is walking around in shabby clothes like that. Leave him alone. We don¡¯t have to care about him anyway.¡±

    ¡°Sure. Maybe our captain might be his brother-inw.¡±

    ¡°Lol. That would be good for that guy. Where can he find a better brother-inw than our captain?¡±

    My hearing was not particrly good, but I could hear their conversation because they didn¡¯t have any intention of hiding what they were talking about.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t like them from the start because the way they blocked the entrance to my house reminded me of the typical hooligans that I sometimes saw on TV.

    I also didn¡¯t like my house security who didn¡¯t take any action to stop them.

    Tramp, tramp.

    They didn¡¯t stop me because they already knew who I was.

    I ignored thempletely, then passed by them and pushed open the gate.

    When I went in, an old butler who has been taking care of my house affairs for a long time was standing in the garden nervously.

    As soon as he found me, he opened his mouth, startled.

    ¡°Oh, young master!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s so noisy here. What¡¯s going on?¡± I asked him calmly because there was no need to make a fuss here in the presence of these men who were stupid enough to call their leader my future brother-inw.

    ¡°Well¡­.¡± The butler didn¡¯t answer me quickly.

    So, I did not question him further or try to persuade him to tell me in detail because I could find out myself. I passed by him and entered the living room.

    I was not briefed about it in advance, so I was in the dark about what was going on now.

    But I could find out immediately that two groups were waging a fierce war at the moment.

    Atst, my father, who was sitting at the head of the table with the stiffest expression on his face that I had ever seen, said to the middle-aged man across the table, ¡°I have been considerate of your position until now. But don¡¯t you realize that you are now crossing the line?¡±

    This was the first time I¡¯ve ever heard my father talking to somebody in an angry voice.

    But it seemed that his angry words did not pressure the middle-aged man on the opposite sofa at all. He responded with a smile,fortablyid back on the sofa.

    ¡°Hahaha. How can I not know the warm considerations of my chairman who discovered and raised me like this? Isn¡¯t this a great opportunity for you to ept me as a member of your family? I¡¯m not sure if you know this, but I¡¯m on a roll these days. Manypanies are asking me to join them. Myongjin Group is nothingpared to them.¡±

    The middle-aged man didn¡¯t hesitate to disparage Myongjin Group even in front of my father.

    He clearly said my father had discovered and made him what he was today.

    In other words, he was a man belonging to the Myongjin Group.

    Of course, I did know much about what rtionship he was with my father, or what kind of title he had within the Myongjin Group. I even thought that my father or Managing Director Insu Sok might have suppressed him to the extent that he felt very frustrated and resentful.

    But I was convinced that my father or Managing Director Sok would not have done so without any reason because I clearly noticed the greed and wild ambition in the eyes of this middle-aged man that he could not hide.

    My brother-inw that the guys outside my house mentioned and the ¡®family member¡¯ that this middle-aged man mentioned. Based on this information, I could infer what kind of situation my father was in, and naturally, I felt very displeased.

 Chapter 82 - Revealing Claws (1)

    <h4>Chapter 82: Revealing ws (1)</h4>

    If my sister really loved this middle-aged man in his forties and wanted to get my father¡¯s permission somehow, I would definitely support her even if my father vehemently opposed it.

    Of course, if this was the case, the best I could do would be to persuade my father to think more about her request.

    But my sister, who was standing behind my father, had a distorted face as if she was very dissatisfied with this situation.

    So, I knew what her expression indicated.

    ¡®It seems like this middle-aged man is trying to force my father to marry my sister to him¡­¡¯

    As they say, love has no borders or ages. If one has a favorable feeling to someone of the opposite sex, they can confess freely.

    Nheless, there are limits as far as proposing or marriage is concerned.

    A middle-aged man in his forties cannot forcefully propose to a woman in her twenties if it was against her will. If he insists on it, he can safely be called an idiot.

    Even so, the man can confess to her on the assumption that she epts his proposal. But the current situation clearly showed that the middle-aged man was making a forceful demand like a boss towards his subordinate.

    I frowned before I knew it.

    At the same time I was puzzled about his identity because he was clearly a member of the Myongjin Group. I could not understand how someone belonging to the Myongjin Group could be so rude to my father, its chairman, and why my elder brother, my sister or Managing Director Sok or Chief Secretary Dongyoung Ahn were sitting idle without taking any action right now.

    But I didn¡¯t want to intrude because they might find fault with me if I interfered without knowing the situation in detail. It was that although the middle-aged man was way below my father, who was Myongjin¡¯s chairmen, he spoke to my father confidently as if he was on the same level even though he used honorifics like ¡°Mr. Chairman¡± when he spoke.

    So, I just watched them talking to each other quietly.

    ¡°Mr. Chairman, where can you find a more talented man than me these days? Besides, if you ept me as your family member, you can make half of those with traitse back to the Myongjin Group, right? Don¡¯t you think so?¡±

    Sunghan Kim, who was speaking to my father slyly, paused for a moment and smiled at my father.

    Then he continued, ¡°I gathered them by working really hard. Isn¡¯t it time you embraced them all?¡±

    When he said that, Chairman Sangman Hong ground his mrs slightly while controlling his expression. In fact, he was not able to fire this man before because of what the man just mentioned.

    Chairman Hong couldn¡¯t use the knife easily, even though he knew that he had no choice but to cut off this festering sore of Sunghan Kim.

    Even though Chairman Hong managed to gather up to 300petent yers with traits, this vicious man began to win them over one by one. When the chairman finally found out, nearly half of them had fallen under Kim¡¯s control.

    As soon as Chairman Hong grasped the situation, he immediately took the necessary action. He separated those who had not yet been won over from Kim, and at the same time Hong tried to persuade those who had already been won over with more benefits. But he failed to break their blind trust in Kim, who spoke so eloquently that he was able to cover the eyes of even smart yers with wool as if he was a cult priest and they were his fanatics.

    Of course, Chairman Hong was determined to take revenge against him thoroughly since he was a true leader of a giant business group, not a paper tiger.

    However, this serpent Kim had already taken preemptive action. He secured the help of a prominent Chinese business group as he felt it was insufficient to get insurance within Korea. At that moment Chairman Hong nced at someone who was standing in the back with an unique atmosphere around him. That man was from China¡¯s Yanghwa Group.

    Then Chairman Hong turned his gaze back to Kim, who was wearing a rxed expression.

    There were exactly 148 yers with traits who have been won over by Kim¡¯s sweet words. Chairman Hong knew well that if he refused Kim¡¯s request, he would quit Myongjin along with these 148 yers. And their destination would probably be China.

    Of course, there was a high possibility that he could contact the Mirae Group, the Daesung Group or the Daeyu Group for their possible scouting, and there was the real possibility that Daeyu, which had been already taken over by a Chinese group, would reach out to them.

    Anyway, Chairman Hong, who was silent for a long time, finally opened his mouth.

    ¡°Right. I know that you arepetent.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha. Thanks for appreciating my ability¡­¡±

    Kim responded with a heartyugh in response to Hong¡¯s words.

    However, Kim couldn¡¯t finish talking because Hong cut in suddenly.

    ¡°If you think your cunning eloquence is talent¡­¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    Kim distorted his face at Hong¡¯s scathing sarcasm.

    Hearing what Hong said next, he now stopped smiling immediately, feeling off-color.

    But Chairman Hong spit out what he wanted to say as if he didn¡¯t care about Kim¡¯s distorted face.

    ¡°I was stupid. I should have given you up the moment you deserted me. I just don¡¯t know why I had a lingering attachment to you like this. My mistake. Tut, tut.¡±

    Chairman Hong knew that things would end up like this at the end of the day.

    In other words, he was concerned about the worst-case scenario in which Kim would forcefully marry his daughter Suyoung as he wished.

    But this was not something he could approve under any circumstances.

    Moreover, even if Kim was a man of character and intellect who really loved Suyoung, he would still likely reject his request because of his age. Now that Kim had shown his true colors as a vicious man, Hong could not ept his request at all.

    In Hong¡¯s eyes, Kim was a typical serpent.

    In addition, the enemy like Kim, disguised as an insider who hides his insidious intentions, was more scary than an outside enemy in the business world.

    Chairman Hong decided that it would be better for him to cut out the festered area once and for all this time. Actually he thought it was simply long overdue because if he had cut it off earlier, he would not have been faced with this kind of terrible situation.

    At that moment, Kim, who still couldn¡¯t control his distorted expression, opened his mouth.

    ¡°Chairman, are you now telling me like that when you know what kind of consequences your decision will bring about?¡±

    Kim was now almost threatening him, but Chairman Hong replied with a lighter heart, feeling sudden relief as if an aching tooth fell out, ¡°Of course I know. Wouldn¡¯t it be healthier than before by cutting out a rotten area full of pus?¡±

    ¡°You will regret your choice.¡±

    ¡°Well.=, let¡¯s see who will regret itter.¡±

    Having heard Hong¡¯s ultimatum, Kim sprang to his feet and moved out, casting an angry nce at him, along with his men standing in the back.

    Ten minutester nine guys who were standing in the living room, led by Kim, got out of the ce. And Managing Director Sok bowed to my father who was still sitting at the head of the table and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, sir. I had to pay more attention to this matter. It¡¯s my mistake that I didn¡¯t notice that poisonous mushrooms were growing inside.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s enough. I guess you would not have found it out no matter how much attention you had paid to it because this serpentine deliberately moved to win over them. We should take somefort in the fact that we stopped half of them from joining Kim. By the way¡­¡±

    My father, who was talking with the director, opened his mouth, looking at me.

    ¡°Juyoung, you must have heard from Suyoung that you should note here today. Howe you havee here?¡±

    He seemed to reprimand me, but he didn¡¯t, of course.

    So, I opened his mouth, looking straight at his eyes, without getting cold feet like before.

    ¡°Because I¡¯m old enough to know what¡¯s going on.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re right.¡± He agreed.

    With that a stormy time has passed.

    Of course, my father, my elder brother, and Director Sok moved to my father¡¯s basement study, while I and my sister sat in the living room to talk, though I mainly listened to her.

 Chapter 83 - Revealing Claws (2)

    <h4>Chapter 83: Revealing ws (2)</h4>

    ¡°Are you sure that he has 50% of those with traits?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Sunghan Kim is using them as leverage to make various demands of Dad. At first, they were somewhat eptable, but when Chinese businessmen came to Korea trying to scout those with special traits, Kim, who had secured a total of 149 yers with special traits, had his value jump so high that Dad could not control him.¡±

    ¡°Oh my God¡­¡±

    I groaned as soon as I grasped the whole situation.

    At the same time I felt very displeased about this guy named Sunghan Kim.

    After she was done exining to me the situation, my sister cast a sharp nce at me.

    ¡°By the way, don¡¯t you remember I called you up to tell you not toe home today?¡±

    ¡°Hey sis, if you hang up the phone like that without any exnation, why wouldn¡¯t Ie here?¡±

    I chatted with my sister and mother for some time in the living room. Of course, while chatting with them, lots ofplicated thoughts shed through my mind because the head family of a top business group like the Myongjin Group had no choice but to think seriously about their dignity and people¡¯s perception of them.

    My father, my elder brother, and the Managing Director were probably concerned about Myongjin¡¯s possible power drop in the game industry. But they might be more worried about whether the other rival business groups looked down on them because Kim and his 149 yers¡¯ massive exit from the group.

    The fact that almost 150 people with special traits left the Myongjin Group without being properly managed was shocking enough to make the other business groups doubt the leadership of Chairman Sangman Hong and his top deputies.

    That night mom prepared dinner muchter than usual.

    This was because several men, including my father, were discussing potential strategies in the basement study untilte at night

    We had dinner quietly like before. However, I could easily find out that not only my father but also my elder brother looked gloomy and depressed.

    Dad quickly put down the spoon and stood up as soon as he was done eating.

    I immediately said to him, ¡°Dad, I have something to tell you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m busy today¡­¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯ve got to tell you today.¡±

    Since these things happened, I thought I had better tell him something now instead of putting it off until another day.

    Dad looked into my eyes for a moment and said, nodding his head, ¡°Okay. Stop by the basement studyter.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    As if she was puzzled about my behavior, my sister poked me in the ribs lightly and asked, ¡°Why? What are you going to tell him?¡±

    But I just smiled and said, ¡°If you¡¯re curious,e with me to the basement study.¡±

    At the basement study.

    Mom said she had a headache because of today¡¯s happenings, but I forced her to join the family meeting downstairs with my sister and elder brother.

    Of course, I was going to tell them about this someday because there was no reason for me to keep it secret even from my family.

    In fact, I thought about it when Dad mentioned the hidden secret of this ¡°Revival Legend¡±.

    However, at the end of our conversation, my father didn¡¯t hide his disappointment that I stayed at level 100 for more than a week, so I couldn¡¯t bring it up.

    Honestly, I initially didn¡¯t think today was the right time for me to reveal it to him, but I changed my mind after witnessing what happened today.

    ¡®I must tell him because today¡¯s happenings involved special traits.¡¯

    I was confident I could not be beaten by anybody as far as special traits were concerned.

    I feel embarrassed to brag about it, but the odds of somebody beating me is less than 1 in 7 billion, for I¡¯m the only one on this earth who has three titles.

    Moreover, my traits were not simple; all of them were S and SS grade.

    ¡°Hmm. Hmm.¡±

    I cleared my throat on purpose to create an atmosphere for my confession.

    In fact, I felt rather awkward to tell the truth in a situation like this.

    ¡°Hey, Juyoung, even if you¡¯ve done something wrong, I¡¯m on your side. So, don¡¯t pretend to be innocent and tell us whatever you want to say.¡±

    Clicking her tongue, my sister urged me not to hesitate, as if I was here to confess my wrongdoings.

    So, I immediately got to the point, feeling that I didn¡¯t have to dy it anymore.

    ¡°As a matter of fact, I also yed ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± My father asked, surprised.

    ¡°Good job. Since you have that experience, I guess you¡¯re ying this game well without any difficulty,¡± said my sister, praising me as always.

    Then I let out some more details, ¡°And I have all three special traits.¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    As a matter of fact, not only my father and my elder brother, but even my mother was ying this game almost against her will. It was clear that my family members knew the hidden secrets of the game more than anyone else.

    As a result, they seemed to have noticed the meaning in my words immediately.

    Of course, they didn¡¯t trust what I just said.

    As if to show such sentiment, my sister sighed, ¡°Whew. Juyoung, it looks like you¡¯re very concerned about what happened today, but you don¡¯t have to care about it. I have no intention of marrying a weird guy like Kim.¡±

    ¡°She is right, Juyoung. They can¡¯t undermine our Myongjin Group,¡± said my elder brother.

    Even though they showed such a tepid reaction, I didn¡¯t press them to trust me because I already expected it.

    So, I opened my mouth calmly.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. You can only believe me when you see it with your own eyes, right? Right now I¡¯m in the abandoned field of trees In Peroro Castle with long-rooted sapling monsters.. Shall Ie to you guys? Or do you want to go there?¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    When I clearly repeated my words again, Dad, Mom, my brother, and my sister all looked at me with somewhat perplexed expressions.

    I didn¡¯t avoid their gaze because I didn¡¯t have to.

    Then Dad opened his mouth first.

    ¡°The Abandoned field of trees in Perrero Castle? Let me go there in person.¡±

    He just said those words which made the other family members take my word seriously.

    Soon, they wore the 3rd generation high-end VR devices in the basement study.

    Of course, it still seemed that they didn¡¯t believe mepletely, but I didn¡¯t care because I was going to show it to them directly anyway.

    The Safety Zone in the abandoned field of trees.

    It was empty just like it was when I logged out yesterday.

    So, I waited calmly.

    And within a few minutes, they appeared one by one.

    Starting with Dad, my brother, Mom, and my sister appeared in the teleport zone almost at the same time. All the family members met together in game.

    Honestly, I never thought that my family members would meet like this in game.

    ¡°Yay! Now you look much better. Back then, you wearing those shabby clothes really made me cry,¡± said my sister.

    She was the only one who encountered me at that time when I was simply wearing rags.

    Right now, I was level 200, and I was wearing Elsha¡¯s armor set with a rare grade.

    When she recalled my appearance back then, it was natural that she could not believe me when I said I had three special traits.

    Anyway, I quietly opened my mouth in front of everyone watching me.

    ¡°Check my status window. Open status window.¡±

    After clearing the A-grade quest ¡°Light the Lamp of Hope for the Salte n¡±, I had leveled up to level 235. After that, 64 people including Soktae Kang attacked me, but I leveled up 8 times by killing them and hunting more. And I invested all 80 stat points that I gained into Intellect.

    Thanks to the Mutual Growth trait, my Intellect increased by 80, my Stamina by 80 and my Willpower by 40. Besies, I was wearing the legendary grade Brave Fighter¡¯s Bracelet that increased my Strength and Agility by 150. I received that item from the random box yesterday.

    So, my current status window was so impressive that I myself could not help but admire it.

    Of course, it was the same for my family members.

    [Name: Lumen, Asirante

    Level: 243

    Kills: 1137, Killed: 0

    Title: The Only Closed Beta Max Level User and four others.

    Health: 1,359,000 / 1,359,000

    Mana: 1,029,500 / 1,029,500

    Strength: 1320 Agility: 1320 Stamina: 6750

    Willpower: 4135 Intellect: 7070

    Remaining Stats: 0

    Remaining Skills: 0

    Traits: IceMan, Mutual Growth, God of Enhancement]

    ¡°!!!¡±

    ¡°!!!¡±

    ¡°!!!¡±

 Chapter 84 - Dual Role (1)

    <h4>Chapter 84: Dual Role (1)</h4>

    At a veryrge vi located on the outskirts of Seoul.

    A group of people, who were none other than Sunghan Kim and his followers who left the Myongjin Group, lived there. Kim was talking with several members in the parlor located in the center of the vi.

    ¡± Can Mirae, Daesung or Kusan ept us?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Suddenly the other became silent upon hearing Kim¡¯s question. But the silence wasn¡¯t long.

    As if he med Kim for asking such an obvious question, ayoung man sitting at the far end of the parlor said bluntly, ¡°The three business groups won¡¯t even look at us. They aren¡¯t stupid enough to take the risk despite the possibly strengthening their position in the game industry.

    ¡°As you know already, Captain, we are a dog that has bitten its owner. The dog that bit its owner once will bite again. And they clearly know that.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    The dog who bit its owner which the man sitting at the far end of the table just mentioned was Kim, of course. However, Kim was not particrly angry nor did he express anger because the man¡¯s words were true. If Kim had another chance, he would bite his owner again.

    Anyway, Kim groaned momentarily at these words, then changed the topic, mentioning another group.

    ¡°Phew! After all, it seems like only Daeyu can ept us?¡±

    The top five business conglomerates in South Korea were Mirae, Myongjin, Daesung, Kusan, and Daeyu. They had the biggest territories in-game, too.

    Of course, Daeyu definitelygged behind the other four. Besides, Daeyu was having many difficulties these days because it was caught joining hands with a Chinese business group as its subsidiary.

    In Sunghan Kim¡¯s judgement, Daeyu was the only ce he could rely on temporarily.

    Then, the young man who said confidently that Mirae, Daesung and Kusan would never ept them opened his mouth again.

    ¡°Yeah. As things stand now, Daeyu seems to be the best option. Until the wall copses, we have to coexist with the Myoongjin, after all.¡±

    Nodding at his answer, Kim said, ¡°Good. Contact Daeyu. Since they have already joined hands with the Chinese, they will not be able to refuse our contact if we go through the Yanghwa Group in China. We can win over the real talents of Daeyu with my trait.¡±

    When Kim made the decision to enter Daeyu, those who remained silent until now one by one opened their mouths withughter.

    ¡°Hhhhhhh. You are going to take over Daeyu, right, Captain?¡±

    ¡°Great!¡±

    When they began to respond, Kim smacked his lips while saying with some regrets, ¡°Daeyu isn¡¯t a problem at all. If Sangman Hong and Insu Sok hadn¡¯t noticed my n quickly, I would have taken over Myongjin early on.¡±

    ¡°This is a good decision. Daeyu¡¯s Chairman Daeyoung Suhwas is rumored to be lesspetent than Myongjin¡¯s Chairman Sangman Hong.¡±

    ¡°Tut, tut. Daeyu is behind Myongjin. But I don¡¯t need ipetents. This time, choose only the smart yers.¡±

    Sunghan Kim and his followers decided to go to Daeyu, hiding their insidious intentions.

    <hr />

    At the abandoned field of trees.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The silencested for quite some time.

    Of course I fully understood this. Although my mother didn¡¯t hold any title, my sister and my elder brother were top executives of the Myongjin Group.

    Therefore, they must have looked at not only their status windows of not only but also numerous members of the Myongjin Guild because status windows were the best way to evaluate the true level of a yer

    As they say, the more you know, the more you understand.

    ordingly, my family members could not believe my level after confirming it on the status window with their own eyes. In fact, as the owner of the status window, I myself found it hard to believe my rapid growth.

    At that moment my sister opened her mouth, stuttering, as if she couldn¡¯t believe her eyes.

    ¡°Wow! Is this magic? Juyoung, you¡¯re awesome! Hahaha. It looked so real that I got almost fooled. Hahaha,¡± she said,ughing like a robot. Obviously, she was not convinced.

    So, I closed my status window and opened it again.

    Of course, it was the same.

    ¡°Sis, is it too much for you to believe?¡±

    If it had just been a moderately strong status window, she would have been startled to notice the three special traits IceMan, Mutual Growth and God of Enhancement written near the bottoms for their presence indicated that I had achieved the max level in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Closed Betas, regardless of the grade of the traits.

    However, I didn¡¯t want to brag, but even before she looked to the bottom, there were too many things that could surprise her on my status window.

    For example, I had 5 titles, over 1 million Health and mana, and a huge amount of stats for Intellect, Stamina, and Willpower.

    But they have not yet seemed to have discovered that I have two IDs.

    Anyway, when some time passed, they began to speak, as if they got over the shock of my level.

    No matter how hard it was for them to believe it, my father, my brother, and my sister were not stupid enough to continue denying it when they confirmed it with their own eyes.

    ¡°Very good, son!¡±

    ¡°By the way, Juyoung, You¡¯ve got five titles including the Only Closed Beta Max Level User? You alone?¡±

    ¡°Hey! Juyoung! Tell me everything about how you got this! Howe you hid all this from me? So shocking!¡±

    ¡°Son, Mom doesn¡¯t know what¡¯s going on, but I know my son is far superior to others.¡±

    ¡°Disclose special traits: IceMan, Mutual Growth and God of Enhancement.¡±

    I disclosed my special traits first, because the reason I decided to show my status window today was because of these special traits.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t have to say a lot because all I had to say was I just worked hard on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Closed Betas of ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯.

    And I actually did.

    However, despite my nd exnation, they were shocked once again as soon as they confirmed the contents of my special traits.

    ¡°Considering the options here, what grade are they?¡± My sister asked, showing big surprise.

    I replied casually, ¡°IceMan and Mutual Growth are S grade, and God of Enhancement is SS grade.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    For the first time, I realized that I could surprise my family members to the point that they were speechless. Of course, I fully understood their shock because I was shocked too when I received the trait for the first time, even worrying about the bnce of this game.

    ¡°Disclose all my titles!¡±

    Next I even disclosed the titles that my elder brother was curious about because the status window didn¡¯t specify the five titles that I possessed except for Only Closed Beta Max Level User.

    [Current titles.

    : Only Closed Beta Max Level User.

    : Scarecrow Destroyer.

    : Have you enhanced as much as me?

    : The one who doesn¡¯t fall.

    : Honorable Name]

    Ten minutester my sister sat down on the ground feebly and opened her mouth.

    ¡°I feel like I¡¯m dreaming. Mom, pinch my cheeks so I can wake up from this dream quickly.¡±

    She frankly expressed her feelings like that.

    But my father and brother reacted differently.

    ¡°Even if youbine all of these, your stats are just too high.¡±

    In addition to several titles, including the Only Closed Beta Max Level User, I was the only one to achieve the maximum level during the 3rd Closed Beta, and received a whopping 1000 extra stats as part of my various rewards.

    After that, there were many opportunities for me to get extra stats.

    While I was exining about various stuff, my elder sister suddenly stood up and shouted, ¡°Hunt! Show me how you hunt! It looks like this is the ce you are hunting, so show me. I just want to see how a man who is level 234 with such a status window l hunts!¡±

    She made such a request out of the blue.

    My elder brother also chimed in, ¡°The monsters that appear in this abandoned swamp are tree monsters with long roots. You have to be level 400 to level 450 to hunt these monsters. Or even level 500. But nobody at that level hunts here because the long-rooted sapling has a unique attack method, and it¡¯s really strong. So, I want to see how you can hunt here alone when you are only level 243.¡±

    This ce was literally an abandoned hunting ground.

    Although my sister didn¡¯t know what kind of hunting ground this was, my brother knew it.

    My father and mother nodded at my brother¡¯s words, so I formed a hunting party.

    At that moment an unexpected message appeared.

    [Currently, you have two IDs: Lumen and Asirante.

    -You can select the ID to use in this hunting party.

    : Lumen.

    : Asirante.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Of course I knew I had two IDs.

    I had already tested it when I whispered to that friend. But I didn¡¯t know that such a selection window would pop up even when forming a hunting party.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Juyoung?¡±

    When she didn¡¯t receive a party invite, my sister asked why.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s because¡­¡±

 Chapter 85 - Dual Role (2)

    <h4>Chapter 85: Dual Role (2)</h4>

    I had already disclosed my status window, so the moment I was about to say that I had two IDs, my father stole the show.

    ¡°Juyoung,e to think of it, your ID is¡­¡±

    Next to the IDbel in my status window, the words ¡°Lumen, Asirante¡± were written.

    Of course, ¡®Lumen Asirante¡¯ can be seen as one ID.

    But because of thema between Lumen and Asirante, it was now impossible to deceive my parents.

    ¡°Hmm. Hmm. Well, I happen to have two IDs.¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    I told them the truth, but they looked at me with strange expressions.

    ¡°Well, my original ID was Lumen. As you and Mom know, Pioneers¡¯ City has been renamed Asirante when Myongjin¡¯s 3rd and 4th Leagues moved there, so I got the other ID Asirante.¡±

    ¡°How did you get it?¡±

    ¡°Why did you get it?¡±

    It was natural that they asked such questions, but I don¡¯t know why exactly.

    All I could guess was that when I first introduced myself to the quest-giver Kihanna, I said my name was Asirante. Anyway, although my family members were still confused about my two IDs, I left the Safety Zone and entered the haunt of the long-rooted saplings.

    In no time a long-rooted sapling appeared.

    As soon as the sapling noticed me and my family members, there was the sound of the long roots moving beneath the ground as usual.

    Of course, that was the signal that the tree monster would attack us.

    So, I opened my mouth quietly, like I always did.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Was it necessary to use a special skill in front of my family?

    No, I didn¡¯t have to because I knew this method was the most effective.

    Kong! Kong! Kong! Kong!

    Soon, the sound of the long-rooted sapling¡¯s roots trying to break through the Ice Field under the ground echoed here and there.

    But I knew its attack wouldn¡¯t even scratch, let alone inflict any damage to my Ice Field.

    However, it seemed that my father, mother and sister noticed something other than the tree monster.

    ¡°Oh my God¡­level 243. This is a level 2 Ice Field. Howe it¡¯s so thick regardless of how manyyers of Thin Ice is reinforcing it?¡± my elder brother asked.

    ¡°Brother. Look at the range of the attack too! It¡¯s enormous!¡±

    My brother and sister didn¡¯t hide their surprise at my Ice Field.

    But I didn¡¯t react to their surprise because lots of enemies that I had fought in the past showed simr reactions.

    ¡°Pouring Hailstones! Ice Spear! Multiple Ice Arrow!¡±

    Soon, I fired my AOE skills and a single target skill toward the long-rooted saplings trapped helplessly by my Ice Field, and got rid of them one by one quickly.

    Watching my attack, my sister said to my brother, ¡°Brother. You said this is a hunting ground that even those who are level 500 wouldn¡¯t visit, right?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I unintentionally made my brother a liar.

    But my brother responded immediately, ¡°Well, it depends. You saw Juyoung¡¯s status window, right?¡±

    30 minutester my whole family logged out together in the Safety Zone of the abandoned field of trees.

    After getting out of the basement study, they just blinked their eyes there quietly.

    My sister got up first and said, ¡°Party! Dad, why don¡¯t we have a party among ourselves without informing Mom? If we don¡¯t have a party today, when else can we have it?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s have a party, Dad. I think it¡¯s too regrettable if we don¡¯t have one today.¡±

    ¡°Alright, then.¡±

    Shortly afterwards, weak whiskey and other foods were prepared in the basement study.

    Of course, I received a lot of questions from my sister and brother in the meantime.

    Next to my brother and sister, my father listened to me answering their questions for a while as if he was very curious too.

    A littleter, Dad opened his mouth.

    ¡°Well, as for your two IDs, Juyoung¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, Dad?.¡±

    ¡°So, what you mean is that only our family knows your ID Lumen, but you are known to outsiders as Asirante?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right.¡±

    In fact, only my sister knew my ID Lumen until now, but this time my whole family hase to know it. But that was all. Nobody else knows it. They don¡¯t know my ID, and if they do, they think my ID is Asirante.

    ¡°Then, what do you think about this idea?¡±

    ¡°What idea?¡±

    ¡°Well, advertise your ID as Asirante to the outside as the strongest man in South Korea. And advertise your ID Lumen as the youngest son Juyoung Hong of the Myongjin Group who isn¡¯t very interested in ying games.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I fully understood what my dad meant. In other words, he wanted me to y a dual role.

    I said with a broad smile, ¡°That will be fun.¡±

    I don¡¯t have any intention of living happily by myself without caring about my family at all.

    I can dly ept some loss or sacrifice for my family because I¡¯ve received much more from my father, mother, brother and sister. And that¡¯s why I told them all about my game history until now. After all, I am a member of the Myongjin Business Group too.

    I was willing to do this somy family and the Myongjin group could be bigger and stronger through my activities.

    And it was also true that it would be fun like I said.

    ***

    The abandoned field of trees where the long-rooted saplings haunt.

    ¡°Ice Field. And Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasak!!

    I hunted as usual. Of course, I opened the field to my family.

    However, I decided that this was no reason to change my existing lifestyle.

    So I still immersed myself in hunting because this abandoned field was still an attractive hunting ground for me who was not even level 250 as those who were level 450-500 would note here even if they could hunt in this ce.

    But there was one such user visiting this hunting ground, who uses the ID Super Beauty.

    ¡°Wow! Wow! Wow!¡± She kept uttering exmations.

    Of course, she didn¡¯t just marvel at it.

    ¡°Man, where in the world can you find this kind of ridiculous hunting method? This is foul. Foul!¡±

    After the small family party held in the basement study ended at 11pm, I logged into the game. So did my sister even though she had drunk a lot of alcohol,

    Anyway, I hunted until a little over 1 am with my sister, who kept incessantlyining during the hunt.

    Then I immediately logged out because I would be very busy tomorrow, I mean, today.

    The next day the atmosphere at home was not bad even though something big happened yesterday both from the perspective of my family and the Myongjin Group.

    It was rather good from my perspective because my father said he had no regrets whatsoever since it was the best option to drive out that guy named Sunghan Kim.

    Anyway, we had breakfast together, then gathered in the basement study once again because what I revealed to them was not a light matter.

    And yesterday there was something I said first.

    [If you give me an essory of the general, rare, or precious grades that has not been enhanced yet, I can enhance it immediately up to the minimum safety enhancement of 3. As for the legendary grade items, it¡¯s possible to enhance it up to +1 and +2 enhancements.]

    Mutual Growth and Ice Man also drew my family¡¯s attention, but what they showed the most interest in was the God of Enhancement trait which I received as the reward for achieving the maximum level during the 3rd Closed Beta.

    So I briefly exined to them about it.

    That¡¯s why only golden rings were needed for me to enhance the Scorpion King¡¯s essories, a level 400 precious grade item, to exactly +3 enhancement. So, maybe a level 400 or lower level essory of the general or rare grades would be able to upgrade to +4 or +5 enhancement with only golden rings.

    But I mentioned only the +3 reinforcement which was often regarded as the safety enhancement because even this was enormous.

    In fact, unlike weapons and armor, most essories were very hard to enhance to +3, which was the safety enhancement level, because unlike weapon and armor enhancement stones, essory enhancement stones could only be obtained from boss monster drops.

    Moreover, it required as many as +3 weapon enhancement stones to enhance a sturdy sword of a general grade from 0 to +1.

    As a result, enhancing it from +1 to +2 required many more enhancement stones.

    In other words, it was difficult to enhance up to +3, the safety enhancement, in the case of general and rare grade essories because it required an exorbitant amount of enhancement stones.

    But I could enhance general or rare grade essories up to +3 enhancement automatically if I had golden rings, and I didn¡¯t need a long time to do so.

 Chapter 86 - Opportunity That Came Along Earlier Than I Thought (1)

    <h4>Chapter 86: Opportunity That Came Along Earlier Than I Thought (1)</h4>

    I judged that enhancing essories of the general, rare, and precious grades up to +3, would contribute tremendously to the Myongjin Group, for it could raise members¡¯ sense of belonging and loyalty to the Myongjin Group if the management offered enhanced essories as a reward to those who showed excellent performance.

    My father and brother grasped my intentions, so they weed my suggestion very much.

    Anyway, all my family members except for my mother essed the game in the basement study like they did yesterday.

    At the abandoned field of trees.

    Trading items with my father, I received a total of 510 essories that were yet to be enhanced. Most of them were of the general and rare grades, and some of them were of the precious and legendary grades. Of course that wasn¡¯t all.

    To put it precisely, I was also handed 300 million golden rings.

    Of course I refused at first because it was simply too much. It required less than 300,000 golden rings to enhance the precious-grade Scorpion King essories from 0 to +3.

    Considering that the majority of the 510 items were general and rare grades, I thought I didn¡¯t need more than 100 million golden rings to enhance them all up to +3.

    Of course, it may take more when I took into ount the precious and legendary grades, but even in that case, I would not need more than 150 million golden rings.

    But when I tried to refuse, my father said firmly, ¡°Anyway, even though you only need golden rings, we need to consider the enhancement stones that enhancing normal essories require. And enhancing more than 500 essories up to the safety enhancement level of +3 is much more beneficial to the Myongjin Group. Besides, I have no intention of incurring any loss to you because it benefits all of us if you be stronger.¡±

    And that wasn¡¯t the end. There were also three legendary grade items among the other items.

    My brother pointed at them and said, ¡°Maybe they are better than the Scorpion King¡¯s ring and earring set that you are wearing now. You can use these three items, Juyoung.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I had no intention of gaining any personal profits from my family. Honestly, I didn¡¯t have to.

    Until now I have not beencking anything.

    In fact, I thought I had been splurging my golden rings, but I still had almost 200 million golden rings because of the quest reward.

    ¡°Okay, Dad. Thanks for the golden rings.¡± I didn¡¯t refuse his donation because it was my father and brother¡¯s warm consideration for me.

    And I can pay it back in a big wayter.

    Anyway, I epted the 510 essories and 300 million gold rings, then moved to the teleport zone in the abandoned field of trees.

    ¡°Move to Perrero Castle.¡±

    [You have been moved to Perrero Castle.]

    As of 3am this morning, the 14-day cooldown of God of Enhancement, which I used for the +1 Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword ended.

    So, I moved straight because I didn¡¯t have to drag my feet.

    Soon, Kotoum Castle, -and Perrero Castle, which was muchrger than Pioneers¡¯ City, now Asirante City, appeared.

    Of course it was my first time visiting this ce.

    However, it was not difficult for me to find a smithy because all the huge towers and shops for skill acquisition were gathered in the central square.

    When I approached the smithy, a familiar message rang.

    [Please select the item you want to enhance.]

    I took one of the essories I received from my dad and put it in the enhancement window, before opening my mouth quietly.

    ¡®Activating God of Enhancement.¡¯

    [God of Enhancement has been activated.

    -There is a 100% chance for a sessful enhancement.

    -Enhancement target: +0 Bracelet made of Smander scales

    -Additional conditions when attempting to enhance: 30,000 golden rings.

    -Cooldown generated upon sessful enhancement: None.]

    It was a rare grade essory. The required price of 30,000 golden rings wasn¡¯t that bad because it required about 50,000 golden rings to enhance the precious grade Scorpion King¡¯s ring from 0 to +1.

    So, starting with the bracelet made of Smander¡¯s scales, I began to enhance all the essories except for the three legendary grade ones.

    One hourter, I realized that it was more difficult than I thought to keep activatingGod of Enhancement for each essory every time. However, I seeded in enhancing a total of 507 essories up to +3 within this hour. And I enhanced some of the essories of the general and rare grades all the way up to +5, way beyond +3. In other words, I kept enhancing all the essories right before a cooldown was required because it was something I could do to help my father and brother.

    Nevertheless, I spent less than 200 million golden rings for these enhancements. Given that I had over 100 million golden rings left over and also enhanced the three legendary grade essories, it was of a tremendous benefit to me.

    Anyway, I quickly left the smithy and moved to the abandoned field of trees.

    I handed over all the enhanced items to my father who was staying in the same ce. I also gave him the Scorpion King¡¯s ring and earrings enhanced up to +3 because I didn¡¯t need them anymore.

    ¡°Wow. I¡¯m surprised you did it! I can¡¯t believe this. You can be a quick millionaire if you make a business out of enhancing essories.¡±

    After confirming that all of the more than 500 essories had been enhanced up to +3, and 200 of them up to +4 and +5, my sister expressed admiration, with her eyes wide open.

    Of course, I once imagined being a millionaire like she said, but shook my head quickly because I had no intention of creating a strong man. How could I like the appearance of a strong enemy who has be strong with the items that I have enhanced?

    Of course, I would be stronger than the enemy even in that case, but I still didn¡¯t like it.

    Moreover, I have never felt ack of golden rings myself.

    After that, I talked with my dad, brother, and sister mainly about my dual role.

    Although I could not get direct help or support from the Myongjin Group, I honestly didn¡¯t want it either. Rather, I liked to hunt alone in unpopr hunting grounds without any supporter¡¯s help.

    Our conversation continued in the basement study after we logged out together.

    My father suggested I permanently move from my one-room studio to his house in Cheongdam-dong. But I refused his suggestion because there might be somebody who would question my identity if I moved in and my ID Asirante became known to the outsiders.

    In fact, Sunghan Kim and his followers believed that I was deserted by my family since I lived separately in a one-room studio.

    Given those guys¡¯ suspicious gazea, I thought it was more beneficial for me to live alone outside my father¡¯s house in Cheongdam-dong.

    It wasn¡¯t long before my father approved my decision not to move in.

    Anyway, that day, I ate lunch at home, then rode a sedan driven by my father¡¯s driver back to my studio.

    After I left, my brother Kiyoung looked at my father Sangman Hong and said, ¡°Dad, don¡¯t you think we should protect Juyoung?¡±

    When Kiyoung expressed concern about Juyoung¡¯s safety, Chairman Hong replied casually, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ve already taken the necessary action.¡±

    Actually he didn¡¯t expel Juyoung recklessly in the past when he refused to go back to school after he was discharged from the army.

    The owner of Juyoung¡¯s one room studio was none other than a security man belonging to Myongjin Group¡¯s security department.

    But this time Chairman Hong gave a different direction.

    He had the security office secretly change the owners of the rooms on the left and right of Juyoung¡¯s studio as well as the room right above.

    ¡°By the way, Grandpa was right.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Chairman Hong was speechless for a moment when Kiyoung mentioned histe father.

    Thete chairman of the Myongjin Group loved Juyoung more than his son Chairman Hong, eldest grandson Kiyoung and only granddaughter Suyoung, saying that Juyoung would be a great man in the future..

    Chairman Hong said, ¡°You¡¯re right, Kiyoung. He was right.¡±

    Nodding at Kiyoung¡¯s words, he admitted what histe father predicted about his beloved grandson Juyoung. It would be absurd for him not to admit it when he actually witnessed Juyoung¡¯s tremendous ability this time.

    Four dayster I continued to hunt in the abandoned field of trees.

    ¡°Pouring Hailstone! Ice Spear!¡±

    Pitter-patter, pitter-patter.

    This was a hunting ground very attractive for those who were able to hunt here under level 300. As if to meet such expectations, I leveled up as many as 20 levels during the past four days, or five levels per day on average.

    So, even today, while I was steadily indulging in the pleasure of leveling up, I felt a group of men moving toward the long-rooted sapling.

    The group of 64 people including Soktae Kang shed through my mind instantly.

 Chapter 87 - Opportunity That Came Along Earlier Than I Thought (2)

    <h4>Chapter 87: Opportunity That Came Along Earlier Than I Thought (2)</h4>

    In fact, I told their leader toe back to this ce if he wanted to.

    Anyway I ignored the monster and turned my eyes to the ce where somebody was moving.

    Of course, I was fully prepared for any contingencies.

    But when I saw the group, I immediately knew who they were. They seemed like they didn¡¯t intend to fight anybody as if they thought nobody was here.

    That was probably why they were a bit surprised to see me all of a sudden.

    ¡°Uh? I didn¡¯t know there was anybody hunting here.¡±

    ¡°If you are hunting alone, you must be pretty strong, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course, he is because I know what kind of hunting ground this is.¡±

    ¡°Are you really aiming for the boss monster like us?¡±

    ¡°Are you kidding? He¡¯s alone here. How can one man hunt the boss monster?¡±

    ¡°Then should we drive him out of this ce, buddy?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we should on principle. But this guy is hunting here alone. In other words, he is very strong. Hmmm¡­¡±

    ¡°Why are you worried about it? Our captain will take care of it. Who knows if this guy is a member of our rival guild who came to check out the boss monster here?¡±

    ¡°Damn it! Why is this boss monsterpetition getting more fierce?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t know the reason? It¡¯s because Mirae, Myongjin, Daesung, Kusan, and even Daeyu are in thispetition.¡±

    ¡°Shit. Why are they hellbent on breaking into this game?¡±

    ¡°How would I know that?¡±

    ¡°Bullshit! I just don¡¯t get how our Sungchang Guild was pushed out and had toe to his ce famed for its boss monster.¡±

    Sungchang Guild. It was a guild familiar to me when I first started ying this game

    I clearly heard this name among other things from the group in front of my eyes

    Actually, these guys made me feel greed in game for the first time, for I didn¡¯t have to before in the game which I regarded as a haven, a resting ce, and a refuge. Back then, they stopped me from even seeing the boss monster in the field which belonged to nobody, let alone attacking it.

    Of course I understand them now because even the Myongjin Guild was doing the same thing.

    And all other business groups are doing the same.

    So, I¡¯ve forgotten my petty grudge against them since it has been a long time from back then.

    Besides, I was too busy to dwell on that. But this time seemed to be a good opportunity for me to spread my user ID Asirante widely.

    Should attack these Sungchang Guild members who appeared all of a sudden? Of course I have no intention of doing it.

    I have already forgotten my petty grudge against them and I didn¡¯t want to make them my enemy unless they were the target of an A grade quest such as ¡°Light the Lamp of Hope for the Salte n.¡±

    But I¡¯m going to test the power of the legendary grade essories I received from my father and brother this time. Of course my target is the boss monster in this hunting ground. And of course, I trusted myself more than the items.

    ***

    As an executive of Sungchang and Captain of the second team of Sunchang¡¯s five boss monster raid teams, Kilyoung Lee agonized a bit about whether to bully and expel this man who was hunting in this ce as he usually did.

    Normally he would. But in a recent executive meeting the participants argued that Sungchang should grow in size in order to survive the fiercepetition with therge business groups. So, the guild leader came to the decision that he would issue cash rewards in person to the executives who seeded in hiring strong yers. So, Kilyoung Lee had no choice but to hesitate this time, for it was obvious that the man was very strong since he was hunting the long-rooted saplings alone in this abandoned field of trees

    Lee thought that since the man was alone here, he could be a treasure that didn¡¯t join any guild.

    Coming to such a conclusion, Lee approached the user hunting alone with a smile.

    ¡°Good morning. I am Kilyoung Lee, the person in charge of Sungchang¡¯s second boss monster raid team. You must have heard about Sungchang, right?¡±

    Of course, Sungchang was eclipsed by the entry of the powerful business groups into the game industry, but it was still a prominent mid-sized guild with a good name.

    That¡¯s why Lee broke ice with me using the name of Sungchang.

    ¡°Of course, I know of Sungchang,¡± I said.

    When he got the answer he wanted from me, he continued with a happy expression.

    ¡°Haha. I¡¯m d you know of it. By the way, I don¡¯t know if you know this, but the boss monster, a long-rooted ancient tree, appears when you are here.¡±

    ¡°Ah, really?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. So, can you give up your ce for a while until we catch this boss monster? It won¡¯t take long. And since you got here first, if you want to raid the boss monster with us, we will ept you as a member of our party. Of course, depending on your performance, you will be given a certain share of the items that the boss monster drops.¡±

    Lee was confident about the power of the second raid team led by him.

    So, he decided to invite me to the party and show me his team¡¯s overwhelming power before offering me a position as a Sunchang guild member. Besides, Lee wanted to check with his own eyes how powerful I was so he could decide on how to treat me in the future.

    If I was weaker than he expected, he probably thought of killing me for all the troublesome effort he made for me.

    Anyway, Lee wished that I agreed to join him in his party for the boss monster raid.

    I answered I would participate in this boss raid, but I would do it alone.

    Thinking he heard wrong, Lee asked again, ¡°I beg your pardon?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m going to do this boss monster raid by myself. Didn¡¯t you hear me? I told you I upied this ce first. So, don¡¯t you think I have priority?¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    Lee was just blinking with his mouth open as if he was embarrassed that he didn¡¯t hear me wrong.

    At that moment he almost swore, ¡°You are a crazy bastard,¡± but he barely managed to put up with it because hunting alone in this abandoned field clearly meant I was very strong, regardless of whether I was crazy or not.

    Anyway, Lee regainedposure and opened his mouth again.

    Ale ¡°Hahaha. Got it. We will be waiting behind you. If you¡¯re in any danger, let me send in my members right away. So, don¡¯t worry and go ahead with the boss monster raid.¡±

    Doing a boss monster raid alone? Impossible. Absolutely impossible.

    But Lee thought this wasn¡¯t too bad because a situation where he would have to get involved in a dangerous situation and save someone¡¯s life would bring about fantastic results.

    And Lee also thought of other scenarios. For example, if I was notpetent enough, he would leave me alone so the boss monster would kill me.

    Lee stepped back with a smile, thinking of watching a funnyedy. And so did the other members of the Sungchang Guild¡¯s second boss raid team.

    ¡®Check item.¡¯

    After watching Lee, the Captain of Sungchang¡¯s 2nd boss raid team, I checked the items I had received from my father and my brother.

    [+3 Sacred Permanent Snow Spirit Ring (Legendary)

    It was a ring specially crafted by the legendary cksmith, rke, with the fragments that identally fell from the permanent snow piled up high on the sacred Mt. Rh?ne Amer, which no one had ever scaled before because it was higher than any other mountain

    -It is part of a set that consists of a ring, earring, and ne. The more set items you wear, the more effects you get.

    -When equipped with 2 set items: Increases damage to boss monsters by 3%, reduces damage from boss monsters by 3%.

    -When equipped with 3 set items: Increases damage to boss monsters by 7%, reduces damage from boss monsters by 7%.

    -No equip restrictions.

    -Effect.

    : Damage of all ice-type skills increases by (2%) -> 3%.

    : Increasesbat power (2%) -> 3% on snow and ice terrains. (Also applies to artificial snow and ice terrain such as an Ice Field. When fighting on artificial snow and ice terrain on top of natural snow and ice terrain, the effect is doubled.)

    : Intellect increases by 250.

    -Physical defense increases by (100) -> 150. Magic defense increases by (200) -> 300

    -Durability: 825000/825000]

    [+1 Sacred Permanent Snow Spirit Earrings (Legendary)

    -Higher than any mountain, the sacred Rh?ne-Amer mountain that no one is allowed to scale.

    -No equip restrictions.

    -Effect.

    : Damage of all ice-type skills increases by (2%) -> 2.2%.

    : Increasesbat power on snow and ice terrains by (2%) -> 2.2% (also applies to artificial snow and ice terrains such as an Ice Field).

    : Intellect increases by 250

    -Physical defense increases by (100) -> 110. Magic defense increases by (200) -> 220.

    -Durability: 710000/710000]

 Chapter 88 - Opportunity That Came Along Earlier Than I Thought (3)

    <h4>Chapter 88: Opportunity That Came Along Earlier Than I Thought (3)</h4>

    The Sacred Permanent Snow Spirit item set consisted of a ring, earrings, and ne that I received from my father and brother. Except for the unusual boss monster effect, the options I had were just simple.

    At enhancement 0, each set item only increased all ice-type skills damage by 2%,bat power on snow and ice terrain by 2%, as well as Intellect by 250.

    This was far from high because it was only a 2% increase. Even if I wear all the set items, I would not receive more than a 6% increase.

    Of course, if somebody finds the required essory enhancement stones and enhances the itesm to +3, the safety enhancement, the set would grant a total of 9% increase inbat power with 3% increase per item.

    For me, an increase of 9% was more than enough because my fundamental strength was different from the beginning.

    Moreover, these days, I usually hunt, using Ice Field as my basicbat skill.

    In other words, my attack power would increase by 18%.

    Of course, the disadvantage of this was that I could not use Ice st as often, but that was not a big problem for me as an increase in attack power by 18% was enough to fill the void of Ice st.

    Moreover, if the situation became urgent, Ice st backed up by ce Prison would be a sufficient deterrent. Anyway, if I could have my way, I wanted to turn all these items into a + 3 enhancement, but the problem was they were of a legendary grade.

    I needed only golden rings to enhance the legendary items from +1 to +2, but it required a 31 hour cooldown, or about one day and a half.

    So, I only enhanced the ring to +3 for now. Before attempting to enhance the Ice Emperor¡¯s +1 guardian sword, I was thinking of enhancing the Brave Warrior¡¯s Bracelet, another legendary item, as well as the earrings and ne to +3. .

    Of course that was just a n at this point.

    Anyway, I wanted to enhance the Sacred Permanent Snow Spirit¡¯s ring, earrings, and ne all the way up to +4 an +5 well above +3 which was the safety enhancement, instead of the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword which I could not use for the time being even if I enhanced it.

    In general, each sessive level of an enhancement grants arger reward than the previous one.

    So, if I seeded in +4 enhancement, damage to the enemy andbat power could increase by 1% instead of just 0.3% or 0.4%.

    However, all of this depended on the cooldown.

    So I hunted hard because even if I got impatient, I could not reduce the cooldown.

    Right at this moment, I encountered the Sungchang Guild and the boss monster.

    But I thought these kinds of items were enough for me for the situation now.

    In addition to the 7% reduction in damage from boss monsters I received by wearing 3 set items, I could expect my skill damage from ice-type skills to increase by 7.4%, and mybat power on snow and ice to increase by 7.4%. And I could use all of this multiple times.

    Kuohohohohoho!

    Anyway, that monster showed up the moment I was gearing up for the uing fight.

    The tree was gigantic, enough for me to understand why Kilyoung Lee, the Captain of Sungchang¡¯s 2nd boss monster raid team, described it as an ancient tree.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasak!

    Right now I was too confident for arge tree monster to scare me

    I didn¡¯t think that I would unconditionally hunt the boss monster in a one-on-one battle because there was a reason it was a boss monster.

    But I just wanted to show them that I could fight the boss monster on even footing. That was enough.

    It was impossible for a single man to fight a boss monster, so people usually formed a team, like the Sungchang¡¯s team made up of 50 guild members.

    At the ce where the 2nd boss monster raid team was staying.

    When the long-rooted ancient tree appeared, Captain Lee started talking to 40 of his team members in a voice that I could not overhear since I was near the monster alone..

    Lee said, ¡°Everyone, get ready. If that guy is morepetent than we think, you guys go in and protect him. But if he is killed by the monster instantly, your target is the long-rooted ancient tree. Got it?¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±

    ¡°Okay. But do we have to do this? Isn¡¯t it stupid to face the boss monster alone regardless of whether you are strong or weak?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡±

    Each of the guild members of the 2nd raid team responded to Lee¡¯s direction.

    Of course what they said was right, but this was the only option avable to him now.

    No matter how hard he tried, he could not find or hire any strong man, while his rival Jisang Ham, the Captain of Sungchang¡¯s 3rd boss raid team, had already hired several strong men. As a result, some members of the Sungchang Guild argued that the captains of the 2nd and 3rd boss raid teams should swap their positions.

    So, Lee opened his mouth, smiling bitterly, because he himself didn¡¯t like the current situation.

    ¡°That¡¯s enough. Anyway, it won¡¯t take more than a couple of minutes. We¡¯re waiting here anyway.¡±

    The battle bagan in no time.

    With lingering hope, Lee looked forward with shining eyes.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasassak!

    A leader of a boss monster raid team should not only be strong, but also be able to judge the situation and show excellent leadership when he could not control the situation.

    Lee was confident that he had enough experience as a leader as the Captain of Sungchang¡¯s 2nd boss monster raid team.

    That¡¯s why he could easily find out that the Ice Field, which should have been smashed instantly by the long-rooted ancient tree, was still withstanding its attack.

    Lee also found that the trunk of the long-rooted ancient tree that boasted tremendous defense wasrgely dented by Ice Ball and Ice Bolt, which were clearly low-level magic.

    Of course, unlike the normal monster tree whose only attack means were its roots, the ancient tree also swung the branches attached to its trunk.

    Puck!

    He saw the ice-type wizard stumbling after the attack after not responding properly.

    So, Lee tried to dispatch his team right away to protect me after asking the healers for help, for the Ice Field was not broken by the ancient tree¡¯s attacks, and I proved my attack power fully by inflicting huge dents on its trunk and branches with low-level magic.

    Moreover, it was natural that the ancient tree¡¯s attacks might deal a fatal blow to an ice-type wizard like me.

    But something strange began to unfold before his eyes.

    ¡°Uh?¡±

    ¡°What the heck?¡±

    ¡°How can he withstand that? Isn¡¯t he a wizard?¡±

    Not only Lee but everyone here was an experienced member of the boss monster raid team.

    Since they had experiences in dealing with boss monsters, they could see at a nce that my way of fighting was far from normal. Moreover, this was not the first time they had dealt with this long-rooted ancient tree.

    And there were more shocking scenes unfolding, so their jaws dropped.

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Ice Spear. Multiple Ice Arrow. Ice Prison!¡±

    The boss monster, the long-rooted ancient tree, attacked the ice-type wizard with its branches endlessly, but the wizard blocked all of its attacks.

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    The boss monster, the long-rooted ancient tree.

    First of all, one of its attack methods was to use the roots like the ordinary long-rooted trees here, but its huge roots boasting of tremendous thickness and power.

    Besides, unlike the other long-rooted tree monsters here, it could attack using the branches attached to its huge trunk.

    In other words, the boss monster old tree could attack both under the ground and from the sky.

    For a monster with such powerful attacks, the items the monster dropped were not good.

    That¡¯s why the other giant guilds who were greedy about the boss monster almost abandoned this long rooted ancient tree.

    The reason why Sungchang sent its 2nd raid team managed specially by its top leadership, and not the 3rd, 4th, and 5th raid team, was because the long-rooted ancient tree was so strong.

    However, all 50 members of the 2nd raid team, including Lee who was highly experienced and recognized for his ability, were dropping their jaws nkly at the shocking scenes unfolding before their eyes.

    Obviously, the giant roots under the ground were making roaring noises to smash the Ice Field, but the Ice Field didn¡¯t crumble. The wizard also withstood strongly when he could not defend or avoid the attack of the numerous branches,and he didn¡¯t even need the help of a healer or enchanter.

    Now, all the guild members had no choice but to see and hear the long-rooted ancient tree¡¯srge branches being broken by the ice-type attacks. At this point, what they saw was only the ancient tree taking damage because the ice-type wizard was not taking damage at all.

    ¡°Hey, can you pinch my cheeks?¡±

    ¡°Pinch mine, too!¡±

    Lee and his members just looked at the front nkly, asking each other to pinch their cheeks.

 Chapter 89 - Who is Asirante? (1)

    <h4>Chapter 89: Who is Asirante? (1)</h4>

    Bang! Bang!

    Of course I didn¡¯t know that the boss monster called the long-rooted ancient tree, attacked not only with its roots but also its branches unlike the ordinary long-rooted tree monster.

    I didn¡¯t even know that a boss monster appeared here. It was natural that I had no specific information about this ce since, befitting its name, it had been abandoned by even users.

    Of course, even considering all that, I could withstand the boss monster¡¯s attack because the ce where I was standing was the icy terrain of Ice Field. This meant that even if I stood still, I received the attack and defense buffs.

    Besides, I was receiving additional buffs such as a 7% reduction in damage by the boss monster and a 7% increase in damage to the boss monster.

    Puck! Puck!

    So, I did not avoid the endless attacks of the long-rooted ancient tree¡¯s branches. Honestly, I could not avoid them because they were raining down on me endlessly.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t simply tank all the attacks without using any defense skills.

    ¡°Ice Shield!¡±

    First of all, I used the Ice Shield on cooldown. Mana was not an issue because it was just a level 3 Ice shield. In fact, the Ice Shield prevented the tree branches from attacking me five or six times.

    And the effect of a level 3 Ice Shield was more than enough for me.

    ¡°Ice Prison! Ice st!¡±

    Originally, Ice Prison was originally not intended for this kind of attack, but the buff I was currently receiving was so good that I didn¡¯t want to wasteIce Field as the base for Ice st.

    So, I used Ice Prison on the long-rooted ancient tree and detonated it.

    Moreover, the Ice Field didn¡¯t simply give me buffs.

    Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

    The Ice Field faithfully defended the attack of the tree roots under the ground. But, of course, it was defending against a boss monster.

    Because of this, Ice Field, backed up by Multiple Thin Ice, suffered cracks and scratches here and there from the boss monster tree¡¯s root attack although it had withstood numerous attacks of the ordinary long- rooted saplings in the past.

    The cracks and scratches began to widen gradually, but I didn¡¯t worry much because the cooldown of the Ice Field and Thin Ice had already passed its halfway point.

    It was true that my Ice Field had cracks and scratches here and there, but it was still sturdy and solid. Anyway, with my two feet firmly stuck on the ice ground, I fired Ice Spears and Multiple Ice Arrows continuously at the monster tree whose trunk had been damaged in various ces by a series of Ice Prison and Ice st attacks.

    This was the most effective way I could attack right now.

    There was silence among the members of Sungchang¡¯s 2nd boss monster raid team who were located in the rear.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    None of them could open their mouths. No, some of them acted like a carp that kept opening and closing its mouth. But they could not say anything because what they witnessed was so shocking. Since they knew how difficult it was to fight the boss monster, they could realize how well the wizard was fighting right now.

    Therefore, they were not just surprised, but also freaked out over the shocking scenes.

    They never dreamed of confronting a boss monster one-on-one. Moreover, the boss monster that the ice-type wizard was confronting alone was not only strong, but also had such a tricky method of attacking from both above and below the ground that even a giant guild gave up on fighting it. Of course, the items that the boss monster dropped were terriblepared to the effort required to hunt it, which was another reason they gave it up as a bad job.

    Anyway, while all 50 people were staring at the front nkly, somebody whispered from one side, ¡°Use Memory Bead!¡±

    sh!

    His words were a type of detonator. The eyes of all the team members who were staring aghast at the scenes in front of them sparkled instantly.

    Then they shouted in unison, ¡°Use Memory Bead!¡±

    All of them here were members of the middle-sized guild named Sungchang.

    And they were members of the boss monster raid team specially managed by the Sungchang leadership.

    So, they had one or two memory beads even though they were very expensive. When one of them used it, the other members immediately shouted for the use of their memory beads as well.

    As such, everyone knew intuitively that they must record the current scenes because it could bring them lots of money.

    Among those who used the Memory Bead was Kilyoung Lee, the Captain of this 2nd boss monster raid team. Lee wanted to stop the rest from using the Memory Beads, but there were 49 of them. Even though he was strong, he could not stop them. So he didn¡¯t say anything and just silently looked ahead not to miss any of the action.

    Puck! Puck!

    Bang! Bang!

    Obviously, the ice-type wizard inflicted many damages to the trunk of the old tree and smashed lots of its branches. But it was also a tough fight for him.

    ¡®Hmm. It is rather unreasonable for me to confront the boss monster alone. Besides, this boss monster is not just level 100 or 200.¡¯

    Of course, I could hold out on my own because my health was 1.4 million and my stamina was 7,000.

    Any good tank, or even one in the top 5% category, would find it impossible to reach the numbers that I currently possessed, in particr the value of my health.

    But my enormous stats were dwarfed by the boss monster because there was a reason it was called a boss monster.

    That was why Sungchang dispatched an elite team of 50 strong men, not a motley of ordinary men.

    Anyway, I checked the time since I began to confront the boss monster.

    It had passed seven minutes, and was now starting to tick to the eight minute mark. I thought this was enough for me to imprint my abilities in their minds.

    And even if I could hunt the boss monster by myself, I had no intention of doing so.

    There was one reason why I was struggling alone. Namely, I wanted to advertise my ID ¡®Asirante¡¯ as widely as possible. And the most obvious and natural way for me to do so was by party hunting since I didn¡¯t have to hide my ID or use other deceptive means.

    So, I used one final skill on the boss monster.

    ¡°Ice Prison.¡±

    Of course, my Ice Prison performed much better than other ice prisons, but it was not as good as the Ice Field ovepped with Multiple Thin Ice.

    Perhaps because of that, it began to creak at the long-rooted ancient tree¡¯s branch attacks. Since the Ice Field hadpleted its role of buying time, I quickly retreated and approached the Sungchang Guild members in the back.

    ¡°Hello¡­¡±

    I opened my mouth carefully since I had once rejected their offer to join their hunting party.

    But I didn¡¯t have to be careful, after all, because their reaction far exceeded my expectations.

    Even the man named Kilyoung Lee enthusiastically weed me.

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Yes!¡±

    ¡°Please go ahead!¡±

    They gave me an overwhelming reaction just like soldiers who had encountered a divisionmander. Even though I was not part of their guild, their reactions were still explosive.

    Of course, their reactions weren¡¯t important to me, so I immediately got to the point.

    ¡°I feel like I can¡¯t hunt this boss monster alone. Shall we party together?¡±

    At this moment, Lee, who first suggested partying with me, replied with a loud voice as if he had been waiting for my invitation.

    ¡°Of course! I ept your request!¡±

    [You have a party request from the ¡®2nd raid team¡¯.

    Would you like to join the party?

    -Yes/ No.]

    I chose yes right away because I had already finished testing my ID several times.

    And soon a message I was waiting for rang.

    [Currently, you have two IDs: Lumen and Asirante.

    -You can select one ID to use in the party.

    : Lumen.

    : Asirante.]

    I chose Asirante.

    [Asirante has joined the 2nd raid team¡¯s party.]

    ¡°Hahaha. Your ID is really cool. Actually I gave that name to my dog carelessly, and even now I get med for that. Of course, I don¡¯t want to change it because of your ID.¡±

    ¡°Well, that ID sounds affectionate and good. ¡±

    So, a total of 51 people including me began to hunt.

    As if he found it ufortable to order me around, Lee didn¡¯t give any instructions to me during the hunt.

    Rather than ordering me, he had two tanks, two healers and one enchanter apany me, while shouting with his thumbs up, ¡°Go for it!¡±

    I had several experiences participating in a boss monster raid before.

    So, I knew well what I was supposed to do in a boss monster raid. In my case, my main role was to block the root attacks of the long-rooted ancient tree that would start under the ground.

    That one role was enough for me. In fact, when the root attacks from underground disappeared when I blocked them with the Ice Field, everyone raised their thumbs up towards me in admiration. Of course, blocking the underground attacks meant that I was ying the role that ten people would normally take. But I was not satisfied with that, so I fired a barrage of skills at the boss monster such as Pouring Hailstones, Ice Spear and Multiple Ice Arrows.

 Chapter 90 - Who is Asirante? (2)

    <h4>Chapter 90: Who is Asirante? (2)</h4>

    It was immediately obvious that my attack was overwhelmingly more powerful than all the others since it could cause various wounds to the trunk of the long-rooted ancient tree,pared to others¡¯ attack that didn¡¯t inflict any impressive damage at all.

    Less than 20 minutes after my attack started, Lee¡¯s members began to whisper, overwhelmed by my attack.

    ¡°Wow. It¡¯s been a while since we had such an easy boss monster raid.¡±

    ¡°You bet. Check the time. It took less than 20 minutes, let alone 30 minutes, to get rid of the boss monster.¡±

    ¡°Man, how can just one guy deal with the monster like this?¡±

    ¡°Damn it! This guy with the ID Asirante is so cool!¡±

    ¡°Hey. Captain is approaching him now. By the way, this guy must have joined our guild, right?¡±

    ¡°I have no idea. If he is already a guild member, he would have no reason to be fighting alone like that.¡±

    ¡°If he is not a guild member, then if he joins the Sungchang Guild¡­¡±

    ¡°There will be a big uproar, I think. A guy with this high of a level? To be honest with you, I thought he was the administrator or a yer abusing bugs. And even now I still think he is.¡±

    ¡°Are you kidding? Don¡¯t you know what kind of game this is?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I know.¡±

    ¡°Anyway, it will be great if he joins our Sungchang Guild.¡±

    I could clearly hear them talking with each other about these things.

    Soon Kilyoung Lee approached me and opened his mouth.

    ¡°Asirante, I wonder if you can join our guild¡­¡±

    ¡°No thanks. I am currently hunting on my own. It¡¯s not my style to join a group.¡±

    ¡°Ah! I see. Obviously there are only a few guilds that can scout powerful men like you, Asirante. However, even though our Sungchang Guild is behind giant guilds in terms of size, we arepletely different from them in terms of our guild culture and operation. In particr, unlike other guilds, we guarantee individual freedom, so some who have joined don¡¯t even feel like they are part of our Sungchang Guild.¡±

    Lee sincerely persuaded me to join the guild, so I responded politely.

    I responded, ¡®I see,¡¯ then nodded.

    ¡°Even if you don¡¯t want to join now, I wonder if I can add you as a friend¡­¡±

    He wanted to connect with me at all cost, so I replied with a smile, appreciating his efforts.

    ¡°Sure, no problem. I enjoyed this boss monster raid very much this time.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha. Thank you.¡±

    [You have received a friend request from Dukgu.]

    Apparently Dukgu is his ID. I immediately epted his friend request.

    ¡°Thank you very much. By the way, we¡¯re going to give up our guild¡¯s share of the items dropped by the boss monster this time. Obviously you yed the biggest role, and it was you who got here first to hunt the boss monster.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    I didn¡¯t reject his offer because I didn¡¯t have to. So, I just expressed gratitude to him.

    After spending almost 10 more minutes talking with him, I left the ce with an exhausted expression because it seemed like he would talk to me for another hour if given the chance.

    Tramp, tramp.

    Since I was left alone, I slowly moved to the ce where the boss monster, the long-rooted ancient tree, fell.

    As if they were conscious of me, the Sungchang Guild members deliberately didn¡¯t turn their eyes to the items dropped by the boss monster even after they left.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t have high expectations for the dropped items because they reminded me that the items here were not worth the effort of hunting the boss monster, hence it was basically an abandoned boss monster.

    Anyway, I headed to that ce without much expectation.

    ***

    At the Sungchang Guild¡¯s headquarters.

    Guild leader Jangsu Park and the other executives were seated in the huge conference room, remaining silent while watching a video from start to finish.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The video was about 30 minutes long. Their silence continued even after the video ended. Then, Park, who sat at the head of the table, opened his mouth first to Kilyoung Lee who brought this video.

    ¡°The rest of the members of the second team also filmed this?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I can confidently say that all 50 members of my team including me filmed it.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    Park groaned at his reply. After hearing his boss groaning, Jintae Kang, his right-hand man and the head of Sungchang¡¯s intelligence division, opened his mouth.

    ¡°Even if you order them to delete their recordings, they won¡¯t listen to you. Don¡¯t you see their greedy intentions? They think they will earn a lot of money if they sell it to giant guilds including the Mirae, Myongjin, Daesung, Kusan and Daeyu Guilds. So, please don¡¯t covet it because it will only worsen the atmosphere.¡±

    ¡°I guess so.¡±

    ¡°Absolutely. They may leave the Sungchang Guild right away.¡±

    Park just smacked his lips at the intelligence chief¡¯s words.

    Then he turned his gaze at Lee again and said, ¡°You added him as a friend?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Fortunately, I became friends with that guy named Asirante. And he said it¡¯s not his style to join a group.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. He may be trying to feel us out. Give him hundreds of millions of won, and he will immediately join our guild right away.¡±

    There is a saying that money doesn¡¯t solve everything in the world, but Park knew that he could solve 99 out of 100 things with money, and that the ones who didn¡¯t believe so and emphasized the remaining 1 did so tofort themselves .

    ¡°This fish is too big to swallow under the Sungchang name.¡±

    Park knew that he was a greedy person. That was how he grew the Sungchang Guild to the point it was at today.

    However, he wasn¡¯t foolish enough to blind himself with money because he was greedy.

    So, no matter how hard he thought about it, he realized that it was almost impossible for Sungchang to win over Asirante.

    What if Sungchang can¡¯t win him over?

    ¡°Just sweet-talk him into joining our guild. Instead of winning him over, we will try to establish a connection with him. If we can serve as an intermediary and introduce him to Mirae, Myongjin, Daesung, Kusan and Daeyu, we will be able to receive a hugemission. And if we can win him over in the process¡­¡± Park muttered, concluding that was the best option for now.

    And this was a good opportunity for the name Asirante to be widely known.

    ***

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasak!

    As always, I was busy hunting in the same abandoned field of trees where the long-rooted sapling monsters appeared. Moreover, three days have already passed since the event with the Sungchang Guild.

    But this hunting ground was still empty. To put it precisely, I was alone in the field as if nothing had happened.

    So, judging by this atmosphere alone, my operation to widely advertise the name ¡°Asirante¡± seemed to have failed this time. But I didn¡¯t feel impatient at all.

    All 50 members of Kilyoung Lee¡¯s 2nd boss raid team used a Memory Bead.

    Could it be that Sungchang was controlling all the recorded videos?

    It was absolutely impossible because human greed could not be controlled.

    ¡°Pouring Hailstone! Multiple Ice Arrow!¡±

    Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

    So I just focused on hunting because my ID ¡°Asirante¡± will spread by itself over time.

    And it wasn¡¯t my n to spread my ID Asirante for external purposes. It was a n started by my dad and my family members.

    At theDaesung Guild¡¯s Headquarters.

    ¡°This is the same guy, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s correct.¡±

    When Daesung Chairman Junghan Kim asked, his chief secretary Insu Jang answered with certainty.

    Then Chairman Kim opened his mouth, grinding his mrs.

    ¡°God damn bastard, Asirante! How dare he toy with us by using the administrator¡¯s name?¡±

    An ice wizard dressed in rags.

    Daesung once tried to track down this ice wizard in rags because he mentioned that he was the administrator.

    Of course, none of the Daesung leadership including Chairman Junghan Kim believed him since it was highly unlikely that such a strong man would be in rags, and even if he was, he would not be hunting in such a low-level hunting ground. Moreover, it was confirmedter that their guild members first picked a fight with him. But they had no choice but to pay attention to this matter because they could not overlook the tiny chance that it was true.

    Even before Chairman Kim was done venting his anger, somebody whispered from one corner of his office.

    ¡°By the way, I think he could safely be called the administrator given his tremendous strength.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Silence fell on the conference room which was so noisy until a moment ago.

    Even Chairman Kim, who just expressed his fury openly, was silent.

    This man named Asirante in the video, which Daesung Guild secretly obtained, was incredulously strong. So much so that Chairman Kim wanted to hire him by all means.

    Kildu Ma, the head of Daesung¡¯s special elite team, was responsible for this silence by almost recognizing Asirante as the administrator a moment ago.

    He said, ¡°Regardless of our bad rtionship with him, we can¡¯t lose him because we know his identity now, right? He is a real precious treasure. I don¡¯t even want to imagine him joining Mirae, Myongjin, Kusan or Daeyu.¡±

    ¡°Then, what should I do?¡± Chairman Kim asked with a heavy expression while looking at Ma.

    However, Ma shrugged, then replied mischievously.

    ¡°How would a security man like me know what to do? The smart people here, headed by our chairman, should find a solution.¡±

 Chapter 91

    <h4>Chapter 91: Who is Asirante? (3)</h4>

    At the Kusan Group.

    ¡°So, his name is Asirante, right?¡± Chairman Unki Chung asked.

    ¡°Yes. And this guy is the man who is most likely to have reached the maximum level during the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Closed Betas. Well, I¡¯m more certain now from watching this video. I¡¯m certain Asirante is the man who reached the maximum level in all three rounds of the Closed Beta. There is no other way we can exin his tremendous power,¡± his chief secretary Taesun Lee replied.

    Then, Sokyoung Chung, who once met the ice wizard identified as Asirante during the Scorpion King quest, opened his mouth.

    ¡°He has be a lot stronger. Even when he was only level 131, I found it very hard to deal with him, and I feel it even more so now. Given his ability when he was level 131, he must have levelled up faster than anybody else, but it looks like him levelling up once is equivalent to others levelling up 10 times or even 100 times or even more.¡±

    But nobody in the conference room refuted him because the current Asirante made it look like this could really be true.

    ¡°By the way, the fact that he revealed his identity openly¡­¡±

    Asirante did not disclose his ID to the end when he was the 30th participant in the Scorpion King¡¯s quest. So, they could not help but suspect his real motivations from openly revealing his ID this time. They had the impression that Asirante freely revealed his identity instead of disclosing it reluctantly. Everyone in the conference room was smart enough to make such an inference.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it something like a show to demonstrate his real worth and value?¡± Chief secretary Lee said.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Chairman Chung groaned at that.

    Then Lee continued, ¡°Maybe Asirante won¡¯t be in a hurry. He won¡¯t close shop before he meets a real customer who can appreciate his value.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Good. Anyway we have to win him over by all means. He may be the most needed man when the server wall disappears, and the world opens up beyond this narrownd of Korea. We especially need him to prevent China and Japan from eating Korea up.¡±

    ¡°Got it, Mr. Chairman!¡±

    ¡°I will try to find the best possible solution.¡±

    So, Daesung and the Kusan, who had already encountered Asirante, or more precisely, Lumen, began to move rapidly.

    But they were not in a hurry because Asirante showed no impatience or immediate signs of movement given the way he acted toward the Sungchang Guild.

    Besides, they could give him a bad impression if they hurried recklessly.

    Of course, Mirae and Daeyu also began to move for Asirante was too attractive for them to sit idle even if it was highly unlikely for them to win him over.

    In particr, Bora Yon of the Mirae Group recalled one person after watching the video.

    She recalled none other than her bosom friend Juyoung Hong, even though the man in the video was wearing a robe and a mask. But she shook her head almost immediately because she thought it was highly unlikely that Myongjin neglected such a valuable guy in a shallow outside their main house.

    She felt that unless Myongjin was crazy, they would not do this because they knew the significance of ¡°Revival Legend¡± more than anyone else.

    So she shook her head more to erase the image of Juyoung ovepping with this man Asirante in her mind.

    And what about Myongjin? Of course, they moved too.

    Chairman Sangman Hong knew very well that a dam could fail even with a small leak.

    At the abandoned field of trees.

    ¡®Aren;t they being too prudent?¡±

    It has already been a week since that family meeting in the basement study.

    I knew that rumors about me had spread widely enough, but it was quiet, as if nobody was interested in me.

    Of course, I heard through my sister that Mirae, Daesung, Kusan, and Daeyu were racking their brains to find out more about me.

    Anyway, even though I was lost in idle thought, I didn¡¯t stop focusing on hunting.

    At that moment a message that I was looking forward to rang.

    [You have levelled up.]

    ¡°Oh, Check status window.¡±

    [Name: Lumen, Asirante

    Level: 299

    Number of kills: 1137, Number of deaths: 0

    Title: Only Closed Beta Max Level User and 4 others.

    Health: 1,387,000(now) / 1,387,000(max)

    Mana: 1,042,500(now) / 1,042,500(max)

    Strength: 1320 Agility: 1320 Health 6950

    Willpower : 4255 Intellect: 7970

    Remaining Stat Points: 350

    Remaining Skill Points: 0

    Traits: IceMan, Mutual Growth, God of Enhancement]

    When I participated in Sungchang¡¯s boss monster raid, I was level 264.

    So, I had leveled up by 35 levels in thest.

    If I leveled up one more, I would be level 300, the same level which I achieved during the 3rd Closed Beta.

    I could not help but be satisfied with this. Then my eyes turned to the Intellect stat which was almost 8000. Of course, I got this high number thanks to the items I had currently equipped including rings, earrings, nes and other options, but I especially benefited from the legendary Sacred Permanent Snow Spirit essories that granted 250 Intellect.

    When I equipped the set items, I immediately knew why everybody was so anxious to obtain good items.

    Since I could get more satisfaction when I achieved level 300ter, I invested all my remaining stat points in Intellect and closed the status window.

    Then, I pulled out an item from the inventory.

    ¡°Check item.¡±

    [Root (general)

    -If you eat it, you will get one root.]

    It was an item I obtained from the long-rooted ancient tree.

    I¡¯ve never seen such an unkind and blunt description like this in all the several games I have yed.

    So, I asked my dad, brother, and sister about this because they knew I had hunted the long-rooted ancient tree. They also knew that Sungchang gave up on the items dropped by the boss monster.

    But no one knew the meaning of this description. Even Managing Director Insu Sok didn¡¯t know.

    Of course, this item was of the lowest grade with only a one line description.

    Based on this, I could easily infer that it was not an important item.

    It looked even more trifling whenpared to the 11-line description about the stone squirrel¡¯s undigested mineral masses.

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    I looked down at the root that looked like a dried fern about the size of my finger.

    ¡°It¡¯s only a general grade tiem at best. If this thing was valuable, Sungchang wouldn¡¯t have let me have it.¡¯

    Sungchang decided to give me all the items that the boss monster dropped. They didn¡¯t even pay attention to the items as if they thought they were all useless.

    Honestly, the item was too insignificant for me to agonize over its use and efficacy for over a week.

    So, I just put it in my mouth and chewed it. And after chewing this thing that was tough like rubber a few times, I swallowed it.

    Then I waited for one minute, two minutes, three minutes and five minutes, curious to see what would happen. But nothing happened until five minutes passed.

    ¡°What the heck? Check the Summoned Tree list.¡±

    [Summoned Tree list.

    -Currently, there is no summoned tree.

    -You can acquire and use the summoning tree skill.]

    ¡°Check the Tamed Monster list.¡±

    [Tamed Monster list.

    -Currently, there is no tamed monster.

    -You can acquire and use the taming monster skill.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    It was a message that said I had nothing I wanted at the moment.

    So, I checked the message and then trod forward with my right foot, then my left foot.

    Then, I also tried jumping because roots were generally buried in the ground, absorbing moisture and nutrients to maintain the trunk of a tree.

    So I wondered if there was some effect that woulde from my feet or soles touching the ground, but nothing happened even though I jumped off the ground with both feet at the same time.

    ¡°Huh.¡±

    Of course, I didn¡¯t expect anything big because it was only a general grade item, even though it was an item dropped by a boss monster.

    But I didn¡¯t think that absolutely nothing would happen from eating the root.

    I didn¡¯t have to agonize over it because agonizing wouldn¡¯t give me an answer.

    So, I checked the time first because I was supposed to visit my main house tomorrow.

    It was exactly past 1 am. I immediately moved to the Safety Zone in the abandoned field of trees and logged out.

    I wanted to hit level 300 by hunting for a few more hours, but I didn¡¯t want to break my schedule because I could hunt after waking up in the morning before leaving for home anyway.

    As always, I logged out, brushed my teeth, and went to sleep, dreaming of hitting level 300 tomorrow and having new skills and items.

    At dawn when Juyoung was still asleep. Something appeared on his soles. It was ck and wrinkled and the size of a little finger. Then, it crawled around him like a caterpir before disappearing back into his soles.

    The next morning.

    As soon as I got up early in the morning, I didn¡¯t wash or have breakfast so I could ess the game immediately because I really wanted to hit level 300 before visiting home.

    Since I concentrated more than ever before, I achieved level 300 in less than four hours.

    As a result I received 3 skill points from achieving level 300.

    This achievement alone was enough for me to celebrate, for acquiring a new skill meant that I would be stronger than before.

    But this time there was one more thing I was waiting for. It was none other than the level 300 only quest that could be an opportune moment to advertise my name Asirante.

    And this was my original n. The boss monster that I hunted with Sungchang wasn¡¯t initially part of my n.

    Anyway, I moved to the Safety Zone in an abandoned field of trees with a smile and logged out.

    I took a bath straight away and skipped breakfast even though I was hungry because I wanted to eat a warm home-made meal.

    The moment I sat down on the bed to put on my socks, I found something unusual.

    ¡°Uh? What the heck is this hole?¡±

    There was a small hole by the leg of the bed.

    ¡°Was it there from the beginning?¡±

    But I didn¡¯t really care because it was so small that I might not have noticed it before.

    Anyway, I left the one-room studio while holding my 3G VR device.

 Chapter 92

    <h4>Chapter 92: Level 300 Only Quest(1)</h4>

    At my house in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul.

    ¡°Really? Have you already reached level 300?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    When I said that I reached level 300 this morning, my sister asked, startled.

    Of course, I fully understood why she was so surprised for I had levelled up so fast that she could not dismiss it lightly.

    However, ording to my original n, I should have achieved level 300 much earlier. And I could have done so if I had not gone through several things recently.

    For example, the surprise attack by the 64 men including Soktae Kang, the Gahwa Guild leader, and Sungchang¡¯s recent boss monster raid.

    Of course, I do not regret it because it was my decision to make Soktae Kang my enemy and participate in Sungchang¡¯s boss monster raid. Honestly, I don¡¯t want to make excuses by saying that this kind of stuff took so much time that it interfered with me levelling up.

    Anyway, I shrugged and casually replied to my sister who was surprised by me levelling up to level 300.

    ¡°Hey. What the heck. Maybe you can hit level 700¡­¡±

    At this moment, she singled out level 700.

    In fact, I had already shown her the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword which I had enhanced to +1, and told her that I was going to keep enhancing it on cooldown.

    This sword was a precious myth-ss item, and its safety enhancement was only 0 unlike other grades, so normally I couldn¡¯t even dream of enhancing it to +1.

    If the sword was +5 enhancement as soon as I reach level 700, which was very possible taking into ount the ¡®100% enhancement sess license¡¯ in my inventory, it was certain that my family members would feel very proud of me equipping a myth-grade weapon with a high enhancement level, saying they wanted to see it as soon as possible.

    Then, my sister smiled at me as if she imagined me equipping the myth-grade item, then opened her mouth.

    ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m happy that you¡¯re going great. It¡¯s good that I have prepared this for you. Here you go.¡±

    She gave me a document. Of course, I guessed what it was because I had once talked to her about this.

    ¡°Is this the level 300 only quest that Dad and brother mentioned?¡±

    ¡°Yep.¡±

    It was their original n to advertise the name Asirante.

    There was an ¡®arena quest¡¯ that was a level 300 only quest, , simr to the level 100 only ¡®enhancement quest¡¯ . As the addition ¡®only¡¯ suggested, only those with level 300, not 301, could participate in this quest. And what it entailed was literally fighting in the arena.

    In general, the arena generally entails users fighting against each other, but this quest differs in that the opponent is not a user, but a monster.

    So, I checked the document that she handed me and flipped through its pages.

    At the start of the document, it was written that this quest has three paths: A, B, and C. Stronger monsters appear in each sessive round of the quest regardless of the path chosen.

    While I was checking the document, my sister opened her mouth.

    ¡°As you see, there are three possible paths: A, B, and C. Path A monsters are physical attack monsters, Path B monsters are magic attack monsters, and Path C monsters are hybrid attack monsters. For example, the long-rooted trees in the abandoned field of trees that you are hunting for now are physical attack monsters, I guess.¡±

    I nodded at her words.

    After confirming my understanding, she continued, ¡°You can¡¯t choose your path. When you challenge the level 300 only arena quest, the path is automatically selected for you. Of course, I can¡¯t tell you which one is better. For example, wizards with a strong magic defense would prefer Path B. Warriors specialising in physical attacks and fighters would prefer Path A, or maybe the hybrid Path C that mixes both.¡±

    Certainly, for most yers, they are stronger and weaker against certain types of monsters because of their abilities, so they would hope to get their preferred type of monster.

    But what about me?

    I thought it didn¡¯t matter which type of monsters I faced because I was confident in dealing with all of them.

    My sister continued as if she didn¡¯t notice how I felt about the three paths.

    ¡°Each path has a best achiever. For example, Path A¡¯s best achiever reached the 47th round, Path B¡¯s best achiever reached the 45th round, and Path C¡¯s best achiever reached the 44th round. Of course, there are more rounds than these people reached. However, the people who challenge this quest can only be level 300.

    ¡°If a user is level 600 or even level 1000, the Heavenly Level, they can easily go beyond the 50th round and even reach the final round, which may or may not exist, but unfortunately that is impossible. Even if you level up once to level 301, you are deprived of the chance to challenge.¡±

    Just like the level 100 only enhancement quest, this was a quest that people could only challenge once when they were level 300.

    My sister paused for a moment, picking up the teacup in front of her, then said, ¡°By the way, Juyoung, you are not the typical level 300. So even if you are lucky enough to meet the type of monsters that you are suitable against, or even if you have the highest level items that everyone at level 300 desires, it will not matter.. Am I right?¡±

    I didn¡¯t refute her words because if I think too humbly of myself, it would instead make me look conceited or arrogant to others.

    Anyway, while examining the document, I found the names of those who have won the 47th, 45th, and 44th rounds respectively.

    [Best achievers of each Path.

    -Path A: Alexander Willy. (47th round)

    -Path B: Zhang Wei. (45th round)

    -Path C: Olga. (44th round]

    ¡°Their IDs are¡­¡±

    There were quite a few IDs. Of course, an ID is not one¡¯s real name, but a new name for the virtual character that a person has created. Therefore, judging a person by his ID alone is something to avoid because there are so many IDs that can be created.

    However, there were some cases where a person used their real name as their character ID.

    Even if it was not their real name, sometimes it was as close to their real name as possible.

    That¡¯s why I thought of America when I saw the ID Alexander Willy, China when I saw Zhang Wei and Russia when I saw Olga.

    And what that means is that this level 300 only arena quest, just like the level 100 only enhancement quest, is not a quest unique to each country server because of the ¡®wall¡¯, but a truly global quest.

    I told my father, brother, and sister that I had seeded in reaching the maximum enhancement of +12, the fifth time this has urred in the game, because I possessed the God of Enhancement trait.

    And they told me I was the first to get such a high enhancement in Korea.

    In other words, I was the first in Korea, but the fifth in the world.

    Anyway, my sister nodded and opened her mouth as if she read my mind.

    ¡°You¡¯re right. It is a quest that epasses the whole global server, not just a country server. And those IDs are the most famous in America, China and Russia.¡±

    ¡°But this document doesn¡¯t describe the monsters that appear beyond a certain round.¡±

    The highest round reached in Path A was round 47, but the document only showed the monsters that appeared up to the 43rd round. And it only showed the monsters up to the 39th round for Path B.

    Of course, it didn¡¯t matter to me which monsters appeared, but I asked because I thought it was better to know it rather than wondering.

    She summarized the reason in a short sentence, ¡°Those are currently the highest rounds reached by Koreans.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    She just shortly mentioned it like that, but I understood what she meant.

    Of course, she continued, ¡°All this is rted to information. Those who already have the information won¡¯t let it leak out outside because of the rewards. Those who have more umted experiences and information will move forwards faster when the server wall breaks.¡±

    If I were in their position, I would probably do the same because that was the right approach.

    Anyway, I spent time chatting about various things with my sister.

    After our family members were done eating dinner, we all moved to the basement study like before.

    At the basement study.

    ¡°So, you have examined the whole document?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    I answered, putting the document in my hand down on the table.

    After confirming this, Dad opened his mouth with a gloomy expression, unlike before.

    ¡°Hmm. Juyoung, your ability is tremendous. No one will underestimate your abilities after witnessing your brilliant attack against the long-rooted ancient tree.

    No matter which path you get, you will unconditionally surpass the best achiever until now, and you might perhaps even reach the final round.¡±

    Of course I will. Actually I made a n on that with my father from the beginning.

    However, I couldn¡¯t understand why he mentioned it to me with such a gloomy expression.

    But I didn¡¯t ask because I knew he was going to exin why.

    As expected, he changed to a neutral expression and said, ¡°You will probably get a lot of attention. Yeah, much more attention than you can imagine. Of course, you have shown tremendous power in dealing with the long-rooted ancient tree this time, but you achieved it just here in Korea, after all. But this level 300 only arena quest is open to everybody in the world. So, it¡¯s only natural that people will respond to you differently because you can instantly surpass even those best achievers who reached the 44th, 45th, and 47th rounds based on their umted experiences and information.¡±

 Chapter 93

    <h4>Chapter 93: Level 300 Only Quest (2)</h4>

    I now understood why Dad spoke to me with a gloomy expression.

    He was concerned about me. In other words, people would not necessarily look at me with good intentions as my father wished. Some people would think of me as an obstacle, like the American guy who is regarded as the top yer or the Chinese yer who is thirsty for any chance to beat the Korean yer because the most effective way for a yer to be stronger is to nip his rivals in the bud..

    But I was not worried.

    So I said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Dad. No one knows where the server of this ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ is located or whether its administrator really exists at all. Besides, there is no private information avable about users ying this game.¡±

    In other words, as long as I¡¯m not stupid enough to tell anybody I¡¯m Juyoung Hong, nobody would know me.

    Of course, there is no possibility that my identity will be known, but even if it is revealed somehow, I don¡¯t intend to give up anyway because I had received enormous rewards from the level 100 only enhancement quest.

    So, how can I give up the level 300 only arena quest just because I¡¯m afraid that my name, not even my real identity, will be revealed? I have no intention of giving up at all.

    I have already dipped my toe in the water for this quest. Besides, I¡¯ve also tasted the sweet rewards from clearing quests several times. I was too greedy to stop the quest simply for the fear that my ID would be revealed.

    So, after organizing my thoughts, I met my father¡¯s gaze and said clearly, ¡°I will do my best.¡±

    My mother felt worried about my decision, but my whole family had agreed to it, after all.

    It waste at night when I left my Cheongdam-dong house, for I had to be alert for anybody looking at me with suspicion from now on.

    In my one-room studiote into the night.

    I immediately connected to ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ because I didn¡¯t use what I gained after achieving level 300; namely, the three skill points.

    ¡°Move to Perrero Castle.¡±

    [You have been moved to Perrero Castle.]

    As soon as I moved to Perrero Castle, I went straight to the huge tower in the central square.

    There, a familiar message rang.

    [There are currently ice-type skills avable.]

    [There are currently ice-type skills that can be upgraded.]

    ¡®Check skill list.¡¯

    So, I started checking the skills I currently had.

    [Current skills List.

    -level 3 Ice Ball. (Levels 1, 2, 3)

    -Level 3 Ice Bolt. (Levels 1, 2, 3)

    -Level 3 Ice Weapon. (Levels 1, 2, 3)

    -Level 3 Ice Shield (Levels 1, 3, 5, 7)

    -Minor Frostbite urrence. (Passive.)

    ¨C Level 2 Ice Field. (Level 2, 5, 7)

    ¨C Level 2 Pouring Hailstone (Level 2, 4, 6, 8)

    ¨C Level 2 Ice st. (Level 2, 4, 6)

    ¨C Level 3 Multiple Ice Arrow. (Level 2, 3, 5)

    ¨C Level 3 Ice Prison. (Level 3, 5, 7)

    ¨C Level 3 Thin Ice. (Level 3.)

    ¨C Level 3 Ice Spear. (Level 3, 4, 6)]

    A total of 12 skills.

    I was happy about it because where others normally had only 9 skill points, I had 12 because of the 3 extra skill points I obtained from achieving the maximum level during the 3rd Closed Beta.

    Anyway, I could obtain additional four levels by achieving level 300.

    Of course, there were a few skills which had a maximum level of 3, which were most of the skills I had learned in the beginning. However, I don¡¯t intend to delete them because I have to use these low-level skills constantly while my AOE skills are on cooldown.

    So, I tried to upgrade all the skills that could be upgraded to level 4.

    [Would you like to upgrade level 2 Pouring Hailstone to level 4?]

    [Would you like to upgrade level 2 Ice st to level 4?]

    [Would you like to upgrade the level 3 Ice Spear to level 4?]

    I chose to upgrade them all.

    And about the required golden rings? If I needed to delete themter, I would need to use five times as many golden rings.

    Well, I had too many golden rings to worry about it.

    Anyway, I quickly upgraded all the skills that could be upgraded to level 4 then started looking for new skills. Of course, there were skills I already had in mind.

    So I quickly found these skills by using the search function.

    [Level 4 Blink. (Active, 1 skill point required, 250,000 golden rings required.)

    : You can teleport a short distance instantly.

    : Level 4 and level 6 Blink exist.]

    [Level 4 Ice Storm. (Active, 2 skill points required, 560,000 golden rings required.)

    : It causes an ice storm in a certain range.

    : Level 4, level 7, 8 level 8 Ice Storm exist.]

    Ice Storm is an AOE skill that requires 2 skill points to obtain.

    But I chose to acquire it right away because it is a skill that is worth it.

    Moreover, Blink that I obtained first before Ice Storm was also essential.

    So, after I was done acquiring the two skills, I left the ce.

    There was one more thing left for me to do in order to achieve a really ridiculous record.

    It was to rece the level 200 precious grade Elsha¡¯s armor set.

    However, I didn¡¯t have to go to the auction house because my dad had given me a legendary grade wizard armor set as congrattions for achieving level 300.

    I checked the time quickly.

    [23:55 pm]

    Since I had left my house in Cheongdam-dong quitete, it was almost the next day when I reached my one-room studio.

    I could start the level 300 only arena quest right now, but I did not do so.

    I thought it wasn¡¯t a bad idea for me to go to sleep about an hour earlier than usual for tomorrow¡¯s quest.

    6:30 am the next morning.

    When I woke up and checked the clock, it was exactly 6:30 am, an hour earlier than my usual wake-up time. So, I got up from bed right away because I had slept so well that I was full of energy, and I could not afford to idle away on bed because I had woken up early.

    I had cereal for breakfast as usual, then immediately essed the game.

    Soon one corner of the Perrero Castle¡¯s square, where I had logged out yesterday, came into view. Then I slowly walked to the north of the square, and went straight to the arena.

    [Perero Castle¡¯s Arena.]

    A huge building located on the north side of the square.

    There was also an arena on the north side of the square in Kotum Castle, the first ce I took as my main base.

    I heard that after Pioneers¡¯ City was renamed to Asirante, an arena was created there too. Anyway, if I wanted to use that arena, I could use it at any time because it was not far away.

    Of course, arenas existed even during the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Closed Betas of ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯. However, I had never used them, nor did I even intend to use them.

    And I thought I would not change my mind even after ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ was renamed to ¡®Revival Legend.¡¯

    This time I thought differently.

    ¡®Right now, I am not simply going to be content with using the arena; I want to show off my skills there.¡¯

    I sometimes thought that if I had not gotten three traits, five titles, and various rewards, I would have felt the same way as I did now. Of course, I knew the real answer, which was a No.

    If I had not obtained three traits, five titles, and various rewards, I would have stayed passive, never attempting to attack other users, let alone using the arena.

    But even in that situation I would have coined my ID as Lumen, meaning light.

    But I had always had the desire to reveal my presence and have others look up at me.

    I wanted to do so with my ID Lumen, which represented my hidden true mind and desire. But since I knew I could not do it, I held in my desire

    So, I felt it was a bit regrettable that I could not act with my original ID, Lumen, instead of Asirante.

    But even if Asirante was the ID that became widely known, it doesn¡¯t change the fact that Asirante was me.

    Besides, I didn¡¯t want to hide my ID Lumen behind Asirante forever.

    Leaving my regrets behind, I moved to the arena proudly for the first time.

    As soon as I entered the huge arena, a message rang.

    [You have a level 300 only arena quest.

    -You can proceed with this quest at level 300.

    -Do you wish to proceed?]

    ¡®Hold on.¡¯

 Chapter 94

    <h4>Chapter 94: Level 300 Only Quest (3)</h4>

    First of all, I put the level 300 only arena quest on hold because I wanted to look around the arena that I had heard about with my own eyes.

    The arena wasrge enough to upy most of the north of the big castle and the city¡¯s square.

    As such, there were a lot of people there.

    I noticed all sorts of information about fighters and the gambling odds disyed on the electronic scoreboards here and there. The noisy sound of the watching spectators also enveloped the area.

    ¡°Who do you think will win in this No. 7 big match?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think that the butcher with 19 consecutive wins will win again?¡±

    ¡°Of course, that butcher is strong. He won 19 consecutive times easily. But this time, his opponent is a fighter from Daeyu.¡±

    ¡°Daeyu?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Hees from the Daeyu Guild, which is on a par with the Mirae, Myongjin, Daesung and Kusan guilds.¡±

    ¡°You must be kidding. Daeyu is not as strong as the other four groups.¡±

    ¡°Anyway, I don¡¯t think that the butcher¡¯s opponent can be treated lightly given that he represents Daeyu. If this member of the Daeyu Guild is crushed by the butcher, Daeyu won¡¯t be able to maintain their prestige.¡±

    ¡°I guess so. Man, this gives me a headache! I¡¯m really agonizing over which guy I should bet on.¡±

    ¡°Me, too.¡±

    I don¡¯t like gambling myself. But I know to some extent that gambling itself is attractive.

    Why? Gambling is supposed to draw anybody¡¯s attention because if they¡¯re really lucky, they can make a big fortune in one stroke without trying hard at all.

    Gambling is all the more attractive when it¡¯s about fighting, regardless of whether it¡¯s good or bad. Anyway, I thought I now knew why the arena was so popr.

    Since the arena involved third party betting and not just duels between rivals, it was crowded with people not interested in the fight, let alone those directly involved.

    And I found that thergest electronic scoreboard had something familiar written on it that I had checked yesterday.

    Namely, it was the information about the highest achievers of the level 300 only arena quest.

    [The highest achievers of the level 300 only arena quest.

    -Path A: Alexander Willy. (47th round)

    -Path B: Zhang Wei. (45th round)

    -Path C: Olga. (44th round)]

    Perhaps one of them will certainly be changed to Asirante.

    One of them will have dropped out of the fight perhaps not in the 40th round, but the 50th or 60th or even the final round.

    Anyway, after looking around the arena for about 10 minutes, I opened up the window for the level 300 only arena quest and chose to proceed with it because I got a sense of what was going to happen.

    [You have chosen to proceed with the level 300 only arena quest.

    -This quest is carried out to celebrate your achievement of reaching level 300. You can do this quest only once. Your final score will be based on summing up the clear time for each round and the total number of rounds you clear, and you will be rewarded ording to the grade you achieve.

    -Death within the arena does not affect your number of deaths.

    -You will be moved to the quest-only arena.]

    It was the same with the 100-level only enhancement quest.

    I was congratted for reaching level 100, then I was asked to gamble on the item I wanted as a reward for it.

    I was instantly moved to the arena which gave me a totally new feeling. It was an amphitheater reminiscent of the Colosseum.

    The arena was smaller than I thought.

    It was empty, and there was no crowd.

    At that moment, a big roulette appeared in the center with the letters A,B, and C written on it.

    Soon, the Roulette started spinning on its own and gradually began to slow down.

    Of course, there was one path I wanted.

    It was Path C because I possessed all-round capabilities in both attack and defense, just like this path where monsters with physical and magic attacks appear.

    The fact that the highest round achieved for Path C was only 44th round, which was lowerpared to Path A and Path B also affected my choice. That meant Path C was the most challenging among them.

    Anyway, I wanted the Roulette to stop spinning at Path C. The slowly slowing Roulette soon stopped at one point.

    And the message rang.

    [Path C monsters will appear.]

    ¡°Huhhhhhhhhh.¡±

    Of course, it wouldn¡¯t matter much even if Path A or Path B was chosen, but I smiled when the Path I wanted came out because good things were urring from the start.

    [The 1st round starts in 10 seconds.

    -After clearing each round, you are given a 10-second break. The quest ends upon your death.

    -10, 9, 8 ¡­]

    ¡°Ice Field. Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasak!

    Before the monsters appeared, I used Ice Field and Thin Ice in advance because I saw the description that the faster I hunted the monsters, the higher my score.

    The arena was smaller than I thought, so my Ice Field turned the entire arena into an icy terrain.

    Was it because of that?

    ¡°Kuuuuuuuuuuak!¡±

    [You have cleared the first round.

    -Clear time: 0.1 second.

    -Grade: SSS

    The 2nd round begins in 10 seconds.]

    But I didn¡¯t see what kind of monsters appeared because I cleared them instantly in 0.1 seconds.

    And it was the same during the 2nd, 3rd and 4th rounds. I could not see any monsters.

    However, the monsters that appeared in the 5th round endured my Ice Field reinforced.

    However, Ice Field was not a skill that inflicted one-time damage, but an AOE skill that caused sustained damage. So, unless the monsters could escape it, they could not help but suffer continuous damage.

    ¡°Kuuuuuuuuuuak!¡±

    As soon as the monsters took a step toward me, they died and fell down.

    This scene reminded me of the dreadful snake nicknamed the Deadly Seven-Step Snake. This nickname meant that if one was bitten by the snake, they could not move even seven steps before dying.

    However, my Ice Field looked like a deadly one-step, not seven-step snake, for no monsters took more than two steps before dying.

    Of course, the time required to clear the round increased by a lot because they died after taking one or two stepspared to the previous rounds.

    It increased by nine times from 0.1 seconds to 0.9 seconds.

    [You have cleared the 5th round.

    -Clear time: 0.9 seconds.

    -Grade: SSS

    The 6th round begins in 10 seconds.]

    Of course, the grade was still the same, SSS.

    ¡°Is it easy like this in the beginning?¡±

    As things stand now, I think I can reach the 40th round easily.

    I also thought I could quickly make it to the 50th round, 60th round, or even the final round that may or may not exist.

    But I was alert, keeping a close watch on the monsters that instantly appeared and disappeared in front of me.

    ¡°Ice Ball!¡±

    ¡°Kuuuuuuuuuak!¡±

    ¡°Ice Bolt.¡±

    ¡°Kuuuuuuuuuak!¡±

    After the 8th round, the monsters could endure the Ice Field reinforced with thin ice for a few moments. Of course, even if they endured a little longer, they would die because of the continuous damage of Ice Field

    However, I took pains to fire the Ice Ball and the Ice Bolt, too, because if I killed them even one or 0.1 seconds faster, I would get a higher score.

    So, I kept trying my best to clear the rounds.

    At my house in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul.

    ¡°Jooyoung is already taking the quest?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I got the message from him early in the morning.¡±

    Suyoung casually answered her father Chairman Hong¡¯s question.

    After confirming her answer, Chairman Hong looked at Managing Director Sok and said, ¡°Hmm. What do you think will happen?¡±

    ¡°I think there will be a big fuss because Juyoung has already far exceeded the capabilities of a level 300 yer.¡±

    In fact, Chairman Hong had tipped him off about his youngest son Juyoung¡¯s brilliant achievements during the Closed Betas because he was in a position to know it anyway.

    Of course, Director Sok already had an inkling about Juyoung¡¯s incredulous capabilities as shown in the recent monster raid video with the Sungchang Guild.

    Sok was also aware that Juyoung had fought and overwhelmingly won against as many as 300 and 700 members of the Gahwa Guild.

    ¡°Hmm. Let¡¯s try to scout Asiante. And treat Jooyoung the same as before.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll do my best.¡±

    Director Sok understood Chairman Hong¡¯s hidden meaning, so he bowed and replied firmly, for any reckless mention of Asirante¡¯s real identity would put him in big trouble.

    At Perrero Castle¡¯s arena.

    Monsters appearing in the 20th round.

    ¡°Ice Storm.¡±

    I used the newly acquired level 4 Ice Storm freely without any hesitation.

    Of course, it was too inefficient for me to fire it at only one monster.

    Nheless, I fired it without hesitation because I didn¡¯t have to use this skill while taking into ount its cooldown and power.

    Every time I used it, I always uttered in admiration before I knew it.

    I thought I now knew why Ice Storm was reputed to be an ice-type wizard¡¯s favorite skill even though there were many other attack skills.

    Aside from its power, the spectacr scene of an ice storm attacking the monsters was a real pleasure.

    I sometimes used things like Pouring Hailstone, which had been upgraded to level 4, and cleared the rounds as quickly as possible while keeping the SSS grade through all the rounds.

 Chapter 95

    <h4>Chapter 95: 80th Round (1)</h4>

    ¡°Ice Ball! Ice Bolt!. Multiple Ice Arrow!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Kuuuuuuuuuuek!¡±

    Instead of spamming all sorts of skills on cooldown, I just used these three level 3 skills which had almost no cooldown because I wanted to avoid the possible situation where I could not use a long cooldown AOE skill when I really needed it. Of course, I thought I would not face this kind of situation.

    Even though they were only level 3 skills, they were more than enough, for I not had only

    the trait of ¡®Ice Man¡¯, but also a 9% increase in both damage andbat power for all ice-type skills simply by staying on the icend.

    In fact, beforeing to the arena, I spent several days enhancing the top legend grade Sacred Permanent Snow Spirit rings, earrings, and nes to +3 enhancement. Although this alone tremendously increased my power, I had one more item; namely, the legendary grade Brave Fighter¡¯s Bracelet that increasedbat power by 10% in the arena.

    This was a level 300 only quest, but the ce where I am now is an arena, so I received the 10% increase inbat power.

    That¡¯s why these skills that were only level 3 were more than enough for me even though they were single target skills.

    For me, even a 1% increase in damage orbat power including attack power and defense was significant. Moreover, the current bonus was almost 30% in terms of attack power, even excluding the ¡®Iceman¡¯ trait.

    Perhaps that was why I only needed seconds, not minutes to clear the rounds even though I was already into the 30th round.

    [You have cleared the 30th round.

    -Clear time: 7 seconds.

    -Grade: SSS

    The 31st round begins in 10 seconds.]

    ¡°Wow! I¡¯m really strong.¡±

    Of course I knew this because I had already achieved level 300 during the 3rd Closed Beta of ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯.

    I was at least as dozens of times as strong as I was back then.

    Except for the myth grade weapons that I can¡¯t equip yet, every item I wear now is of the legendary grade.

    Anyway, I walked onto the Ice Field I created and fired those level 3 single target skills with less than a 10 second cooldown at the monsters that appeared in this round .

    This time I also used the Ice Spear recently upgraded to level 4.

    Ten minutester I was almost into the 40th round which signalled the start of the hardest rounds for Path A, Path B, and Path C. I thought I knew from my first-hand experience why they regarded it as the start of the hardest rounds.

    Starting from the 40th round, not only were the monsters that appeared stronger than those of the previous rounds b, but the number of monsters also drastically increased.

    ¡°Pouring Hailstones! Ice Ball! Multiple Ice Arrow!¡±

    Pitter-patter, pitter-patter.

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Kuuuuuuuuuuek!¡±

    Starting with the 40th round, I used the same level 3 skills but also mixed one of Pouring Hailstone, Ice Prison and Ice stbination or Ice Storm in each round. Since I was much stronger than before, these skills were enough at this point because inbination with Ice Field, most of the monsters were killed without even being able to approach me.

    Of course, long-range monsters also appeared, and these monsters attacked me on the spot without needing to approach me.

    However, I did not use Ice Shield or any other defense because I didn¡¯t have to.

    Anyway, after clearing a few rounds like that, I cleared the 44th round which was the previously highest achieved round of Path C.

    [You have cleared the 44th round.

    -Clear time: 31 seconds.

    -Grade: SSS

    The 45th round begins in 10 seconds.]

    From now on I was going to set a new record, but I was not excited because I had no difficulty reaching this round, and honestly, it was easier than I thought.

    Of course, I understood why because this was a level 300 only quest.

    In other words, since only those who were level 300 could challenge this quest, it was probably designed for typical level 300 users only.

    Therefore, there were about three ways that one could reach a high round.

    First, one could encounter the path that best matches their preferences among the three paths. Second and third, one could use powerful skills and items as best as they possibly can.

    In my case, I didn¡¯t really have a preference. As for items, I had only legendary grade items due to my family¡¯s help. As for skills, mine were overwhelming, so I didn¡¯t feel any need for extra skills.

    I know that I should feel ashamed for including myself in the level 300 category when I possessed such fantastic items and skills.

    Anyway, I tried hard not to becent from the current ease at which I was clearing rounds because I was determined to finish the Path, regardless of whether there was a final round or not. And I was even more motivated by my greed for the rewards than by my desire to advertise the name Asirante.

    Although I knew for sure that I had more items and skills than anyone else, I wanted more.

    30 minutester I finished the rounds in the 40s. Soon I was done with the 50th, and even the 65th round I was now onto.

    ¡°Kuuuuuuuuuuuh!¡±

    Large monsters were usually rtively stronger. As if to prove this theory,rge monsters began to appear from the 60th round. They got close to me by just moving four or five steps.

    While facing me from a close distance, these monsters struck me with powerful attacks using the sticks in their hands.

    Normally a general wizard would have to avoid such an attack, or use shield-type magic, for they would obviously suffer a lot of damage even if they weren¡¯t killed in a single stroke.

    But as for me? I didn¡¯t need to avoid or defend against their attack.

    But I did anyway because I had recently learned something along with Ice Storm that was useful in these types of situations.

    I shouted Immediately, ¡°Blink.¡±

    Bang!

    The monsters threw the sticks at the ce where I was standing a moment ago.

    Of course, I had already left that ce.

    I fired Ice Spear and Multiple Ice Arrows into the back of the giant monsters clearly visible to my eyes. The monsters had already been hit by one AOE skill and several single target skills.

    When I relentlessly attacked them with further skills, they helplessly copsed.

    ¡°Great, Blink!¡±

    Of course, my agility was not bad.

    I was certain that no wizard that prioritized Intellect had more than 1300 agility.

    Of course, this meant nothingpared to the Blink skill that could teleport one instantly.

    The only regret I had with Blink was that I could not use it often because of its long cooldown.

    Besies, since Blink was not an Ice-type magic, the IceMan trait did not apply to it.

    As a result, I had no choice but to be affected by its normal cooldown.

    Of course, my Willpower stat was high, which let me have shorter cooldownspared to others.

    Anyway, using Blink several times in an instant would be unbnced, so I didn¡¯t think about it anymore, and refocused myself because my goal was not to simply clear all rounds, but also to keep my SSS rating until the end.

    30 minutester my clearing time gradually increased.

    As the rounds continued, the time required to clear them gradually increased from 1 minute to 2 minutes to 3 minutes and more because it took me longer to get rid of the monsters.

    So, I tried my best to increase my attack power by even a little by using an Ice Weapon.

    In particr, after the 70th round, monsters with unusual strength began to appear as if to gate keep the future rounds. Among them were twin monsters.

    When I killed one of the twins, it was instantly resurrected by the other.

    I was a little embarrassed because it took me a few tries to notice that I had to kill the twin monsters at the same time to clear the round.

    So, I used single target skills at both the twin monsters along with Ice Storm and Pouring Hailstones to get rid of them.

    Obviously, it took me more time to clear these roundspared to the previous ones, but I still received SSS ratings.

    And the moment I cleared the 79th round, a message rang.

    It was different from the usual message that congratted me for clearing the 79th round and announced the beginning of the next round in 10 seconds.

    [You have cleared the 79th round.

    -Clear time: 6 minutes 51 seconds.

    -Grade: SSS

    The 80th round begins in 10 seconds.]

    [The 80th round is the final round, so monsters that are more powerful than those in the previous rounds will appear.]

    ¡°Oh, I have finally reached the final round now¡­¡±

    In fact, I saw no end of the rounds even when I reached the 70th round after clearing the 40th, 50th and 60th rounds.

    So, I felt very refreshed upon hearing the word ¡®final round¡¯ in the message.

    Of course, I pushed aside my sentimental feelings because I intended to finish the final round with an SSS rating just like the previous 79 rounds.

    Moreover, I would feel good about this quest when I recalled itter if I finished the final round sessfully.

 Chapter 96

    <h4>Chapter 96: 80th Round (2)</h4>

    In Moscow, Russia.

    Sesprom, Russia¡¯srgest group, which monopolized 45% of the natural gas and energy in Russia and also dominated thergest insurance, finance, and mediapanies had checked the information on ¡°Revival Legend¡± and jumped straight into it.

    They recruited those who had great gaming abilities. For example, Marina, a female user who used the ID Olga, was one of them.

    Marina was the highest round winner of Path C in the global level 300 only arena quest.

    Of course, Sesprom advertised its guild actively by promoting Marina.

    In the meantime, Yosif, the general manager of thepany¡¯s external affairs, who led the promotion efforts, received a sudden phone call from his direct subordinate.

    ¡°Why did you call me? What¡¯s up?¡±

    ¡°Well, the name of a highest round winner of the level 300 only arena has been just changed to somebody else.¡±

    ¡°Really? Which path? Hopefully, it is not Path C.¡±

    Yosif earnestly wished the new winner did not go through Path C.

    The fact that Olga was listed as the highest achiever of Path C was Russia¡¯s pride and not just thepany¡¯s.

    ¡°It is Path C.¡±

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    Yosi spat out swear words immediately upon hearing his subordinate¡¯s confirmation.

    He shouted, ¡°Did the winner break Olga¡¯s record of reaching the 44th round? Man, let me say something tofort Marina, or Olga. By the way, how are the preparations going with clearing the next round based on Olga¡¯s information?¡±

    Since Yosif already knew the information up to the 44th round in Path C, he guessed that the person whose name was added to the electronic board cleared the 45th round because there was a clear limit to how far the winner of the level 300 only arena quest could go.

    But Yosif could not help but be embarrassed when he heard his subordinate¡¯s answer, ¡°It¡¯s not the 45th round.¡±

    ¡°No way! The 46th round, then? Who is the winner? There aren¡¯t many guilds that have yers who can clear the 45th round and reach the 46th round. Is he American?¡±

    Yosif could only think of American yers and no one else.

    So, he concluded the winner was American this time as well.

    ¡°It¡¯s not even the 46th round.¡±

    ¡°Then is it the 47th round?¡±

    Yosif asked with a frown because he had never thought that anybody could break the previous record of the 44th round by three whole rounds, not just one or two.

    At this moment he was afraid of being scolded by thepany president for not having done better while other yers achieved such good results and surpassed their previous best records.

    But Yosif felt relieved to know that the gap between Olga and the new winner was sorge that it was more than three rounds. If it was just one or two rounds, he would be scolded harshly by the president..

    ¡°They cleared thest round. The 80th round!¡±

    ¡°What the heck are you talking about, idiot!¡±

    Yosif thought he heard his subordinate wrong.

    After spitting out some swear words, he tossed aside his phone and essed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯, thinking he would fire the guy who called him today.

    Yosif moved to a nearby arena and looked at the electronic scoreboard.

    [The highest round achievers of the level 300 only arena quest.

    -Path A: Alexander Willy. (47th round)

    -Path B: Zhang Wei. (45th round)

    -Path C: Asirante. (80th round, thest round.)]

    Yosif confirmed the ridiculous record but he could not believe it at all.

    Startled by the results shown, he just looked at the scoreboard nkly.

    Of course, it wasn¡¯t just Yosif who showed such a reaction.

    Everybody in the auction house was whispering here and there.

    At that moment someone quietly opened his mouth.

    ¡°Asirante? Who is Asirante?¡±

    Inside the arena, I was the only one who was standing firmly with both legs on the Ice Field which was riddled with cracks and dents.

    And then a message rang.

    [You have cleared the 80th round.

    -Clear time: 11 minutes 29 seconds.

    -Grade: SSS]

    There was nothing in this message that announced the start of a new round in 10 seconds.

    Instead, another message followed.

    [Congrattions.

    You have sessfully cleared the final round of the level 300 only arena quest.

    -The statistics of the cleared rounds and grades are being calcted.

    -When calcting is done, you will be given a reward.]

    It was a message that asked me to wait for a minute before receiving the reward.

    Of course, the wait was not boring at all for me.

    Rather, I felt my heart beating more than ever.

    At this moment, I recalled the reward I received from the level 100 only enhancement quest.

    Back then, I received a 100% enhancement sess right, for which I gave three cheers, as well as 200 stat points and the title ¡®Have you enhanced as much as me?¡¯

    I also gained 12,000 coins.

    But I stopped thinking there because I would know the reward pretty soon, so I didn¡¯t want to count my chickens before they hatched.

    And then a message showing the final results appeared.

    [Congrattions on Lumen, Asirante, for clearing the 80th round.

    -One of the following effects is given as a reward to you for clearing thest round that no one has ever cleared before.

    -Effect #1.

    : One of your skills will be selected at random and its cooldown will be removed. (This cooldown effect will remain the same even if the level of the skill changes due to upgrades etc.)

    -Effect #2.

    : One of strength, agility, stamina, willpower, intellect will be randomly allocated an extra 2000 stat points.

    -Effect #3.

    : A drastic increase in EXP. (When hunting monsters, you will acquire between 2-5 times as much additional EXP. The EXP multiplier is randomly generated for each monster.)]

    [As the reward for being the first once clear the 80th round, one of the above three effects will be given to you.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Three effects appeared before my eyes at the same time.

    I had no choice but to look at them nkly because they were so good that it was very difficult for me to choose which one. If I could have my way, I wanted to have all three effects.

    But the message clearly announced that only one of the effects would be given to the person who first cleared the final round.

    In other words, I had to choose one of the three.

    So, I examined the effects of Effect#1, Effect#2, and Effect#3 again, but I had no choice but to gaze at Effect#3 because it mentioned a ¡®drastic increase in EXP¡¯ that I thought I could never obtain.

    An EXP boost trait was a trait offered to max level achievers in each round of the ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ Closed Betas.

    I didn¡¯t know I would run into the trait here.

    Moreover, it wasn¡¯t bad.

    Acquiring 2 to 5 times more EXP meant that I would obtain 3.5 times more EXP than others on average.

    With an EXP boost of 3.5 times, I am confident I could make up the gap of 3 years and catch up with the leading gamers much earlier than expected. Besides, there was no limit to the max level this time; I can use the 3.5 times EXP boost forever. So, I thought this 3rd option was not bad at all.

    But when I confirmed the effect of Effect #2, my judgment got clouded a bit.

    A whopping 2000 stat points.

    Of course, it was a random addition to one of Strength, Agility, Stamina, Willpower and Intellect.

    So, for example, if the 2000 stats were allocated to Strength or Agility, I would feel bitter because it would not give me any tangible benefits.

    The worst would be its addition to my Stamina because my current Stamina was already high, and would continue to go up without any limit in the future.

    I always invest my extra stat points in intellect, and my stamina would grow together at 100% proportion to the invested intellect stats due to Mutual Growth.

    An increase in Willpower by 2000 stats would not be bad. But the best would be an increase in intellect by 2000 stats because of the Mutual Growth I possessed.

    So, there is a 20% chance for Intellect to be increased by 2000 points, and due to Mutual Growth, my Stamina would increase by 2000 points and my Willpower would increase by 100 points. It would amount to a total increase of 5000 points.

    ¡°¡­.¡±

    It was a huge amount. At that point, the speed of leveling up would not be a problem. Moreover, my level-up speed is fast anyway because I¡¯ve always been looking for ces that were 100 to 200 levels above me. And I would continue to do so.

    I needed to do this to get ahead of others decisively.

    In any case, I needed something special to pull ahead of others, for example, the three traits I had. And 5000 stat points were enough to be included in that special category.

    So, assuming that 2000 stat points are invested in Intellect with a 20% chance, I thought Effect #2 was better than Effect #3. So, I didn¡¯t look back at Effect #3.

    Moreover, as I continue to level up, I will feel frustrated by the sheer difficulty by the huge hurdle of leveling up further when I reach a high level in the future, I will be able to clear this hurdle with these 2000 stats.

    With that in mind, I finally paid attention to Effect #1.

 Chapter 97

    <h4>Chapter 97: Sure Enough (1)</h4>

    Effect #1 was to remove the cooldown of one of the skills that I possessed.

    At that moment one scene came to my mind suddenly. It was the firing of an infinite Ice Storm.

    In particr, if I upgrade Ice Storm which is currently level 4 to level 8, and then use the ¡®Maximum Skill Level Increase Stone¡¯ in my possession, it will be level 9 and could maybe even reach level 10.

    So, using it without any cooldown is going to be a disaster for not only monsters but also even high-level users.

    I possessed tremendous Stamina and Health.

    By using Blink, I can openly storm into the heart of the enemy camp.

    Then, what if I use Ice Field to create an icend and then continuously fire Ice Storm without cooldown?

    At that moment my body trembled as if I was convulsing.

    Of course, for a general user, Ice Storm with no cooldown is nothing but foo¡¯s gold because Ice Storm has high mana requirements. Even if there is no cooldown, I cannot use it without mana.

    However, if I try to increase mana by getting certain items and invest more stat points in Willpower, I won¡¯t get the necessary damage.

    While I was pondering over the pros and cons of Effect #1, I thought to myself, ¡®Well,e to think of it, removing the skill cooldown is the best option.¡¯

    But Effect#1 had a fatal weakness; it applied to only one of my skills and that skill would be selected at random. In other words, my level 3 skills such as Ice Ball, Ice Bolt or Ice Weapon were candidates for this no cooldown effect. If Effect #1 selected any of these low-level skills, it would be the worst scenario.

    It would be worse than the addition of 2000 stat points into Strength or Agility or Stamina from Effect #2, let alone the drastic increase in EXP from Effect #3.

    If this really happens, it would really be the worst of the worst.

    If the cooldown-removal effect is applied to one of these skills, I will kick my own buttter.

    So much so that I won¡¯t ess the game for quite some time because my Willpower, which is very high, and my Iceman trait already reduces a lot of my cooldowns.

    Anyway, while I was seriously agonizing over the pros and cons of these three effects, something embarrassing happened that made my agony meaningless.

    The same roulette board which determined my Path at the beginning of the quest appeared in the middle of the air. Of course, on the board was written Effect #1, Effect #2, Effect #3 instead of Path A, B, C like before.

    In other words, choosing one of the three effects was out of my control. In the end, I had counted my chickens before they could hatch since I could not choose one of them of my own will.

    So, I smacked my lips after checking the roulette because even 1% of my intentions could not be reflected in that board. Besides, there was no guarantee that good things would happen if I chose it myself. Of course, if I drew a dud from my own choice, I wouldn¡¯t feel any regret because I will not be able to me anybody in that case.

    However, if I draw a dud because of the system and not my own choice, I think I would have lots ofints about it. In other words, it was a matter of whether I was involved or not.

    In addition, I have to think about how to ovee the worst choice should I face it.

    Given all of that, I had no choice but to express my opinion strongly.

    And honestly, I¡¯ve already decided what I wanted to be chosen.

    However, since the roulette board had already left my hand, I just nkly watched it spinning fast.

    A little whileter, the roulette board started to slow down gradually.

    And it stopped at exactly the point which I expected it to stop at.

    So, I groaned before I knew it because itnded on the Effect with the most variables.

    [Congrattions! You have obtained Effect #1.]

    Effect #1 would eliminate the cooldown for one of my skills. Although I kept repeating to myself that I should stay calm because it was out of my control, I still felt nervous and tense before I knew it.

    As if it didn¡¯t care about my anxiety, a message rang.

    [This is a list of the skills currently possessed by Lumen/Asirante.

    Level 3 Ice Ball. (Level 1, 2, 3)Level 3 Ice Bolt. (Level 1, 2, 3)Level 3 Ice Weapon. (Level 1, 2, 3)Level 3 Ice Shield. (Level 1, 3, 5, 7)Minor frostbite urrence. (Passive.)Level 2 Ice Field. (Level 2, 5, 7)Level 4 Pouring Hailstone (Level 2, 4, 6, 8)Level 4 Ice st. (Level 2, 4, 6)Level 3 Multiple Ice Arrow. (Level 2, 3, 5)Level 3 Ice Prison. (Level 3, 5, 7)Level 3 Thin Ice. (Level 3)Level 4 Ice Spear. (Level 3, 4, 6)Level 4 Blink. (Level 4, 6)Level 4 Ice Storm. (Level 4, 7, 8)

    -One of the above skills, except for the passive skill ¡®Minor Frostbite urrence¡¯, will be selected at random for cooldown removal.

    -This cooldown effect will remain the same even if the level of the skill changes due to upgrades etc.]

    When the message ended, the roulette board previously showing Effect #1, Effect #2 and Effect #3 was divided into 13 sections starting with abined section for Ice Ball and Ice Storm.

    Then it started spinning right away even before I could get ready for it.

    To be honest, I wanted Effect #3 because it was the most obvious and clear choice that did not rely on luck.

    Of course, depending on my luck, there were cases where Effect #1 and Effect #2 were better than Effect #3. For example, if Effect #1 removed the cooldown of Ice Field, Pouring Hailstone or Ice Storm, or Effect #2 in which 2000 stat points were invested into Intellect.

    But this was based on sheer luck. I don¡¯t like to rely on luck.

    If I had to choose between something that gives up to 100-fold damage depending on luck and something that doubles all damage unconditionally, I would choose thetter.

    As such, I have no intention of relying on probability with no certainty.

    Actually I didn¡¯t have to for now.

    I am clearly aware that I am one step or dozens of steps ahead of others, and I hold the conviction that I will only widen the gap between myself and others from now.

    In other words, what was certain was enough for me for now.

    , I¡¯m not impatient enough to rely on luck or take risks or I would not be dozens of stops ahead of others. So, given all these considerations, Effect #3 was the best option for me.

    Of course, the roulette board already decided on Effect #1 for me.

    With my eyes wide open, I watched the roulette board gradually slowing down.

    The roulette board had a hard time crossing thebined section for Ice Ball and Ice Bolt. Then it stopped at a point and a message rang straight away.

    [Congrattions.

    -The cooldown of the Blink skill possessed by Lumen/Asirante has been removed.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    In fact, I learned how to use Blink and had already used it several times.

    In particr, when I cleared the 60th round, I didn¡¯t need to avoid the monsters¡¯ attack with Blink, but I saw no reason to allow their attack so I used the skill whenever its cooldown was up.

    Back then I acutely wished there was no cooldown for Blink because it was amon skill, and not an ice-type skill. It was the first non ice-type skill that I had learned.

    However, I never thought that it would be the skill to benefit from Effect #1. Rather, I first thought of an AOE skill.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    I momentarily thought about the utility value of Blink with no cooldown.

    Then I came to a conclusion.

    ¡°Well, not bad.¡± I thought it wasn¡¯t that bad.

    Rather, it was very good.

    For yers focusing on developing their Intellect, Blink was used more frequently for evasion or escape than for attack. Sometimes it even provides users a second life.

    But I have no problem with using it for offensive purposes because I could use Blink without cooldown and close the gap no matter how far the opponent is.

    Moreover, I even thought that moving everywhere freely while using Blink in session could cause even more confusion to the enemy than spamming Ice Storm.

    Anyway, a message rang while I was imagining the situation that would unfold with the removal of Blink¡¯s cooldown, which I thought might be better than the ¡®drastic increase in EXP¡¯ from Effect #3.

    [30,000 coins are given as the reward for being the first person to clear the 80th round, the final round, in the level 300 only arena quest.

    -You currently have 2 IDs.

    -Out of Lumen and Asirante, you can use one of the two IDs to show as the highest round achiever of the level 300 only arena quest.]

    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± I thought I would receive some golden rings, if not some extra stat points or EXP.

    Of course, 30,000 coins is a huge amount. These coins are said to be valuable, but nobody knows how to use them nor for what purpose they are used for.

    So, I could not help but think that extra stat points, EXP, and golden rings were more valuable because their benefits were clearly visible to me.

    Anyway, I forgot about suchints, then said quietly, ¡°Register the ID Asirante as the highest round achiever.¡±

 Chapter 98

    <h4>Chapter 98: Sure Enough (2)</h4>

    [You have registered ¡®Asirante¡¯ as your ID.

    -You will be moved out of this level 300 only quest arena in 10 seconds.]

    I could tell that there were no more rewards since I got the message telling me that I would be removed from the arena in 10 seconds.

    It was a shame that I had to leave the arena now, but I had no bigints because it was a big relief that the cooldown removal effect was not randomly allotted to Ice Ball or Ice Bolt.

    And I thought that Blink with no cooldown might be more powerful than Ice Storm with no cooldown.

    In other words, I thought that Blink with no cooldown was the best reward that I could obtain.

    Because of that, I was brightly smiling before I knew it.

    At the Mitsuya Group¡¯s Headquarters in Japan.

    ¡°Gosh, the fact that he only participated in the level 300 only quest now means he was not level 300 back then, right?¡±

    ¡°Well, I think so.¡±

    ¡°Then, do you mean he showed such power when he was not level 300? Is it possible for him to clear the 80th round in this quest when the previous highest achiever¡¯s best record is around the 40th round? Did this guy who is only level 300 really do it?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Nobody in the conference room could answer Chairman Ryu Sechi¡¯s question. Chairman Ryu Sechi was the one who secretly collected the undigested mineral masse of the stone squirrels in Korea using Soktae Kang and his Gahwa Guild, and even took revenge against Asirante who had ¡°robbed¡± him of the mineral masses.

    ¡°Man, my n to take over Korea as soon as the wall copsed failed. This guy is already so strong when he is only level 300. I can¡¯t imagine how much stronger he will be when he is level 600, or even level 900.¡±

    Even though this meeting was chaired by Mitsuya Group Chairman Ryu Sechi, he was muttering to himself with a sigh while the other participants remained silent.

    Of course, this phenomenon wasn¡¯t only happening in Japan.

    China¡¯s Yanghwa Group, which had joined hands with Daeyu, one of South Korea¡¯s top business groups, had already obtained the intelligence about Asirante and the Sungchang Guild¡¯s boss monster raid.

    The Yanghwa Guild quickly found the information about Asirante faster than anyone else in China through the Daeyu Guild because Asirante¡¯s brilliant one-on-one fight against the boss monster for ten minutes drew everybody¡¯s admiration. Besides, he also emerged as the highest round achiever of Path C in the arena quest.

    Yanghwa Group¡¯s Chairman Chianlin Jiang was very anxious at the moment because Asirante¡¯s potential was enormous given that he showed such fantastic ability when he was only level 300.

    So, he called Shu Lan, the general manager of Yanghwa Group¡¯s external affairs, to direct him.

    ¡°Tell Daeyu immediately to scout him using all means possible. Even if they can¡¯t recruit him, they must gather all the information about him, including the location of his current house. It¡¯s ok to use 100 million yuan or even a billion yuan (160 billion Korean won) for this. Tell them to kidnap him if things don¡¯t work out smoothly.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir. I¡¯ll make them carry out your order right away.¡±

    Since he knew that it was impossible to get inside information from ¡®Revival Legend¡¯, Chairman Jiang ordered Shu Lan to obtain some real-life information about Asirante no matter the cost, for an investment of 1 billion yuan to recruit a capable guy like Asirante was not big in his eyes. Besides, if he kidnapped Asirante and brainwashed him, he would retrieve the investment easily.

    ¡°Obviously, Mirae, Myongjin, Daesung, and Kusan will also be busy moving to win over Asirante. It would be shameful for them to have his guy named Asirante stolen to another country. So, hurry up! Get him over here by using all avable resources!¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±

    Although he gave this order, he was dissatisfied with the fact that Asirante didn¡¯t emerge from maind China, the center of the world.

    He thought it was fortunate that Asirante was not American. He would have been desperate if Asirante had been American.

    ¡®If our guys seed in kidnapping him over here, I¡¯m going to brainwash him using all means to make him my subordinate!¡¯

    Now, the name Asirante was spreading more widely than they had thought. Not only had it spread to America and Russia from Japan and China, but it had even spread to Europe.

    ***

    I proceeded with the level 300 only arena quest as soon as I woke up in the morning.

    So, it was not even 11am when I finished the quest and left Perrero Castle¡¯s Arena.

    My first destination was the abandoned field of trees where the long-rooted tree monster appears.

    But before I headed there, I entered the arena immediately because I had two IDs.

    Although I had already finished the level 300 only arena quest with my ID Asirante, I had slight expectations that I might be able to do it again with my other ID Lumen.

    The message that appeared as soon as I entered the arena for the first time, asking me if I wanted to proceed with the level 300 only arena quest, didn¡¯te up this time.

    In other words, I was given only one opportunity to do the level 300 only arena quest.

    Although I didn¡¯t expect much, I was still a little disappointed.

    Of course, if I had one more chance and did the quest again under my ID Lumen, it would be inevitable for my ID Lumen to be disclosed to the world which was contrary to my original intention.

    Nheless, I wanted to do it again because the rewards were valuable enough to even risk my other ID Lumen being disclosed to everybody.

    ¡°Move to the abandoned field of trees. .¡±

    [You have been moved to the abandoned field of trees. ]

    However, since I had already confirmed that a second try was not possible, I stopped thinking about itpletely without any regrets.

    The Safety Zone in the abandoned field of trees, which was now familiar to me, soon came into view.

    Come to think about it, I had hunted in lots of ces, but this was the ce I had spent the most time.

    Of course, I didn¡¯te here to hunt again even after reaching level 300.

    I had already found another hunting ground.

    In this new hunting round, I had easy ess to the informationwork of the huge guild named Myongjin. Besides, I have a direct phone line with Managing Director Insu Sok to resolve any problem that might ur in the future.

    Anyway, I was done finding a new hunting ground.

    Nevertheless, I had one reason toe here today because I wanted to confirm the power of Blink whose cooldown was now zero.

    There was nobody in the hunting ground. So, I judged this ce to be the best spot to test it freely without any interference. Of course, I had one more reason why I wanted to use this ce to test it. I wanted to keep my testing secret.

    At first, I wanted to show off the power of Blink with no cooldown and brag about it to others.

    But I changed my mind immediately because I knew that no matter how strong I was, my opponent would not fear me if all my information was easily avable.

    It was simr to the situation where one encounters a powerful boss monster that is unlikely to be hunted under any circumstances. But such monsters were still defeated as the challenger gained experience through multiple challenges and mastered the information about its behavioral patterns. And it would be so easy at some point that one would feel it strange as to why it was originally thought that this boss monster was unbeatable.

    Of course, I am not a boss monster. And I have the ability to evaluate the surroundings carefully and find the best way to deal with the situation.

    But I don¡¯t want to reveal all my cards. At the very least, I wanted a strong hidden card.

    And I thought that Blink with no cooldown would be my strong winning card.

    As the sages in the old days said, a real strong person keeps 30% of their power to themself, never showing it to others.

    Anyway, I¡¯m back in the abandoned field of trees for such reasons.

    ¡°Blink.¡±

    I immediately left the teleport zone using Blink.

    At this point, Blink should be on a considerable cooldown, but I couldn¡¯t see any cooldown. It was as if I had never used Blink.

    In other words, I could use Blink again immediately.

    ¡°Blink. Blink. Blink.¡±

    This time I used Blink three times in a row.

    Shung! Shung! Shung!

    I could feel the difference when I used it once and when I used it consecutively.

    I felt like I had be a superman. And the long-rooted tree monsters showed up right away.

    Just like a typical aggressive first-strike monster, one of the trees began to attack me using its long roots under the ground.

    But I was not in the ce where the roots appeared because I had already used Blink to move to another ce.

 Chapter 99

    <h4>Chapter 99: Arrogant Asirante</h4>

    A littleter other long-rooted tree monsters began to attack me in my new ce.

    But their attacks were in vain.

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    Of course, I expected this would happen, but it still was really eye-opening when I actually used Blink without cooldown and witnessed its power.

    At this moment, something came to my mind immediately.

    I pulled out a +3 enhancement strong long sword and opened my mouth quietly.

    ¡°Ice Weapon.¡±

    [You have used level 3 Ice Weapon.

    -The energy of cold ice is present on the equipped +3 enhancement strong long sword.]

    Of course, I am a wizard, or more precisely, an ice-type wizard.

    In other words, I¡¯m supposed to be good at AOE skills.

    That was why I didn¡¯t use my level 3 Ice Weapon skill often even though I could use it as apanion to the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword in the future.

    And I didn¡¯t even have to use Ice Weapon to hunt.

    Of course, this didn¡¯t mean that I didn¡¯t have any experience in using it. So I grabbed the +3 enhancement strong long sword augmented with level 3 Ice Weapon in my right hand and moved to the right side of the long-rooted tree by using Blink.

    Puck!

    I attacked the monster just once, then stepped back using Blink.

    After that, I repeated such attacks with Blink.

    At first, it felt a little awkward to use because I had never attacked in melee range in all the games I had yed.

    Even if I had prior experience with meleebat, I would still have felt it to be very awkward to use Blink without any cooldown.

    Anyway, as I got used to attacking in melee range, I did it more skillfully in my own way.

    Of course, I also got used to using Blink.

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Gradually, I attacked the trunk of the long-rooted tree faster than before, then stepped back.

    Of course, I made sure that there was a thinyer of ice around the trunk of the long-rooted tree as if it were frosted. In other words, I caused frostbite damage to the monster right away.

    When exposed to my additional attacks, the long-rooted tree monster copsed despite its tremendous defense.

    ¡°Wow, this works for me¡­¡±

    I once saw a fight between superhumans in a manga.

    One of them had the ability to teleport instantly, and his opponent died without knowing where he was attacked from.

    So, I was now imitating the superman in the manga.

    While imitating him, I could reap a small harvest, which was frostbite damage.

    Basically, I possessed the passive skill called Minor Frostbite urrence.

    That was why I sometimes inflicted the frostbite debuff on my opponent with Pouring Hailstone, Ice Ball, or Ice Bolt. But the more obvious way to cause harsh frostbite was to attack the opponent directly using Ice Weapon since my Iceman trait stated there was a high probability of inflicting frostbite when using Ice Weapon.

    Moreover, the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword also had a 20% chance of causing frostbite if I used it directly to damage the opponent.

    I felt that if I faced a more powerful enemy than I expected in the future, I could use Blink first to inflict the frostbite debuff on him like now, then step back and mount various magical attacks. This was, I could deal with the enemy more easily than I thought.

    That was why speed was very important in any type of fight.

    The reason why I insisted on being an ice-type wizard, and not a fire-type or lightning-type wizard was because I wanted to maintain control over my movement by myself.

    Anyway, unlike my initial n to simply test Blink which now had no cooldown, I was absorbed into hunting before I knew it. Of course, I was using Blink non-stop while hunting. It was fun, to say the least.

    Of course, I did not hunt only by using Ice Weapon because even if I wore the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword, I was still an ice-type wizard who favored AOE skills.

    That night, I received a phone call from my sister. She asked me to join the dinner meeting tomorrow.

    ¡°Do I have to attend?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Mirae, Daesung, and Kusan have invited us to attend the get-together, so if we Myongjin people don¡¯t attend, they might be suspicious about us because a great guy named Asirante has appeared in our country now.¡±

    ¡°But why is Daeyu missing from the meeting?¡±

    At first, both Mirae and Daeyu were excluded, but now Mirae was included while Daeyu was still dropped.

    I could understand why Daeyu was dropped because it is widely known that Daeyu has been taken over by the Chinese Group Yanghwa.

    ¡°You know Daeyu is done.¡±

    ¡°Got it. Let me attend it then.¡±

    ¡°Then,e home early tomorrow. I want to hear your story.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    I ended the call, then immediately essed the game.

    Originally, I was going to test the effect of Blink with no cooldown for one hour, but it was more fun than I thought. So, I skipped lunch and kept hunting until it got dark.

    Anyway, the ce where I logged outst time was the Teleport Zone of Perrero Castle.

    When I reached it, I opened my mouth and moved to my new hunting ground.

    ¡°Move to the Poisonous Insect Zone.¡±

    [You have been moved to the Poisonous Insect Zone.]

    It was very noisy with people around.

    I wouldn¡¯t say it was crowded with lots of people.

    However, this ce was supposed to be empty like the abandoned field of trees.

    This hunting ground was not that difficult for those who were level 500, but as the name suggested, the monsters in this ce were rather burdensome to deal with.

    Nheless, there were quite a lot of people here.

    But it was very clear that they were not here for hunting.

    And I could confirm it from hearing their conversation.

    ¡°Is that guy named Asirante in this ce?¡±

    ¡°Who knows? But you should know that the hunting ground where he revealed himself was the abandoned field of trees that everybody avoided. Moreover, if he hunted alone in the level 400 hunting ground when he didn¡¯t even reach level 300, doesn¡¯t that mean he cane to this level 500 hunting ground since he has reached level 300?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. He only looks for the unpopr hunting grounds on purpose. Also, do you think he cares at all about the monsters when he is so powerful? He would rather hunt freely in a ce with few people. Considering that, I think this Poisonous Insect Zone could be one of his hunting grounds.¡±

    ¡°Damn it! It looks like all sorts of men are gathered here.¡±

    ¡°Hey. I see the guys from Mirae and Daesung over there! They are not justmon people.¡±

    ¡°Bullshit! Our guild leader wants us to stop hunting and look for Asirante. He told us that if we catch him, we will hit the jackpot.¡±

    ¡°I agree!¡±

    ¡°But they couldn¡¯t find Asirante in the abandoned field of trees.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what I heard. They couldn¡¯t find him there.¡±

    ¡°Shit, where is he now? Since he rejected my friend request, I have no way to find him.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why we are doing all the strenuous legwork now.¡±

    Actually, I had received too many friend requests after my ID Asirante was widely known after my boss monster raid with the Sungchang Guild. But I refused all the requests.

    Of course, I added a guy named Dukgu, the leader of Sungchang¡¯s 2nd boss monster raid team, to my friend list, so he frequently sent me a message inquiring after me.

    However, I deliberately ignored his message, which made him nervous.

    But I didn¡¯t know he had dispatched his members to an unpopr hunting ground like this to search for me.

    Anyway, I tried moving to other hunting grounds like the Poisonous Insect Zone that I had in mind.

    But I found something strange everywhere.

    ¡®Man, there is no hunting ground without users.¡¯

    Wherever I went, there were a lot of people walking around with their eyes wide open.

    Of course, there were several empty hunting grounds belonging to Myongjin.

    I could hunt there freely, but there was one caveat. So, I was agonizing over it.

    ¡®Is there any reason for me to avoid it?¡¯

    I had already disclosed my ID Asirante, and let them film me by using the Memory Bead.

    In other words, I had already revealed myself openly, so it was rather contradictory for me to hide myself now.

    ¡°Move to the Poisonous Insect Zone.¡±

    [You have been moved to the Poisonous Insect Zone.]

    So, I moved to the Poisonous Insect Zone wearing a tight robe and a mask.

    Tramp, tramp.

    I slowly walked out of the teleport zone in the Poisonous Insect Zone and passed by the bystanders.

    When I headed toward the hunting ground, their wide open eyes gradually turned towards me. Then, when one of them shouted, all of them rushed to me.

    ¡°He is Asirante!¡±

    ¡°Asirante! Please give me a moment!¡±

    ¡°Hello, Asirante! I am Jungki Lee, the leader of the Youngsan Guild! I want to talk with you for a moment.¡±

    ¡°Asirante, please look at me!¡±

    ¡°We are from the Mirae Group. Can you spare some time for us?¡±

    Right now I was as popr as a celebrity, but I didn¡¯t act conceited.

    So, I opened my mouth, trying to be as expressionless as possible.

    ¡°Too many people are gathered here. I¡¯m going to hunt for five hours exactly. So, I want to meet only five people here after five hours.¡±

    I decided to be as arrogant as possible while I was posing as Asirante, because if I acted hesitantly when I was so capable, it would only backfire. Besides, there were people from Mirae and Daesung here.

    But I thought it was natural that a person with an arrogant personality would act like this.

    ¡°Can you move out of my way?¡±

    Their turmoil continued, but they soon calmed down.

    The Mirae and Daesung people were not stupid. Some of the others pointed their fingers at them, but I didn¡¯t care because it was none of my business.

    Then I passed through the horde of people and moved into the Poisonous Insect Zone, leaving the noisy crowds behind.

 Chapter 100

    <h4>Chapter 100: I Have Always Longed For Daeyu (1)</h4>

    [The giant centipede¡¯s paralysis poison reduces movement speed and attack speed by 5% for 60 seconds and applies sustained damage.]

    [Due to the bleeding poison of the giant leech, your Health continues to decrease for 90 seconds from sustained damage.]

    [The giant poisonous moth¡¯s scale powder poison (shiny white powder attached to the moth¡¯s wings) reduces physical defense and magic defense by 7% for 120 seconds and applies sustained damage.]

    [The effect of the paralysis poison is reduced by 80%, the effect of the bleeding poison is reduced by 70%, and the effect of scale powder poison is reduced by 60% due to Lumen, Asirante¡¯s high Willpower.]

    The Poisonous Insects Zone.

    As the name suggests, the monsters that appear in this zone are bound to be poisonous.

    The Poisonous insects in the name is roughly referring to poisonous insects, bugs, and small animals such as centipedes, leeches, poisonous moths, etc.

    As if to prove their presence, such monsters actually appeared in front of me.

    And they were far from small.

    As the modifier ¡°giant¡± in front of their names suggested, the smallest one as big as my head.

    Besides, their poison wasn¡¯t simply ornamental; it was used for real attacks.

    In addition to applying sustained damage, their poison attacks could also apply a significant debuff. As a result, their attacks reduced my movement speed, attack speed, health, physical defense, and magic defense in session.

    Of course, my superior Willpower offset most of the effects.

    Moreover, I was confident in avoiding all such poison attacks if I wanted to do so because I possessed Blink with no cooldown, which could teleport me anywhere.

    But I didn¡¯t use it.

    Even if I didn¡¯t sense any danger now, I had to be prepared for any contingencies.

    To be honest, the paralyzing poison or bleeding poison or scale powder poison which was rather unfamiliar to me did not pose a threat to me at all as my high Willpower offset most of their effects. I had the confidence to withstand them even if my Willpower didn¡¯t reduce their effects by 60-80%.

    I am strong enough to win even if mybat power is reduced even by 5% to 10%.

    Anyway, I counterattacked in response to the various poisonous insects.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasaasak!

    ¡°Ice Storm.¡±

    As soon as Iid down the Ice Field reinforced with Thin Ice, I used Ice Storm, which was now my No. 1 AOE skill instead of Pouring Hailstone.

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    The Ice Storm blew ruthlessly lots of ice chunks at the poisonous insects that were asrge as my head.

    The insect with the weakest defense and health seemed to be the giant poisonous moth, whose wings, which were asrge as my body, were ripped apart by the Ice Storm and thrown onto the Ice Field.

    At first nce, the giant poisonous moth whose wings were torn and filled with holes looked miserable, but my Ice Storm had no eyes, so it didn¡¯t slow down its attack against the moth.

    Finally, the giant poisonous moth crashed onto the Ice Field and could barely flutter its torn wings, while my Ice Storm kept stabbing ice chunks into its body. A littleter, the poisonous moth ceased to move.

    The moth was finished.

    The next insect to die was the centipede. At first, it seemed to withstand the Ice Storm, but not long after, its outer shell that looked like sturdy armor wrapped around its body began to crack and puncture in numerous ces.

    Moreover, unlike the giant poisonous moth that escaped from the range of my Ice Field because it was fluttering its wings in the air, the giant centipede suffered the sustained damage from the Ice Field from the beginning. Nheless, I thought the centipede defended well against my Ice Storm.

    But in the end, the giant poisonous moth and the centipede were killed one after the other.

    Of course, there was one more venomous insect here, namely, the giant leech.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s why they are called a leech¡­¡±

    Obviously, a lot of ice had prated the giant leech¡¯s body, but it quickly repaired the hole and did not suffer much damage.

    ¡°Pouring Hailstone! Multiple Ice Arrow!¡±

    Pitter-patter, pitter-patter!

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    I used several single target skill attacks at the giant leech and also used Pouring Hailstone that had tremendous power.

    And that was it. Even the giant leech, who seemed not to have been damaged by the Ice Storm at all, could not withstand the Pouring Hailstones that kept raining down on it.

    The giant leech crumbled like jelly.

    Upon witnessing this spectacr scene, I had no choice but toment a bit.

    ¡°Hmm. They look really ugly.¡±

    They were literally poisonous insects. Therefore, their appearances were far from beautiful.

    Of course, some have exceptionally beautiful looks such as the poisonous mushrooms and poisonous frogs, but the leeches, centipedes, and poisonous moths were not included in such a category.

    So, based on my hunting experiences here, I wondered if this ce was abandoned because of the appearances of the monsters rather than the level of difficulty.

    However, I didn¡¯t care much about their appearances because there was something I cared about more. It was none other than my EXP.

    [You have leveled up.]

    Confirming such a message always made me feel pleasant, so I immersed myself in hunting again.

    I focused on hunting so much that I forgot that I arrogantly told the people behind to wait for me until I was done hunting in five hours. I was arrogant enough to tell these people, who were anxiously wanting to meet me, that I could meet only five of them when my hunting was over.

    Three hourster.

    [Super Beauty: Wow, I¡¯m so proud of you, brother. So, you ordered the guys from Mirae and Daesung to wait for you until you¡¯re done hunting, right? ]

    [Lumen: Hey sis, we already agreed that I should act like that from the beginning. Moreover, you told me that there were users looking for me everywhere, including the Poisonous Insects Zone, the next hunting ground you chose for me. If I had hunted in Myongjin¡¯s empty hunting ground and gotten caught, I might have invited their suspicion.]

    [Super Beauty: Lol. I¡¯m not ming you, brother. I¡¯m just proud of you. Who would have expected that aside from Daesung, the guys from Mirae, the arrogant top business group, would obediently follow my brother¡¯s order?]

    My sister seemed to have had a lot of grudges against Mirae.

    Of course, I could understand her feelings as she was on the executive board of Myongjin.

    In fact, Mirae had never lost their No. 1 ranking among Korea¡¯s top five business groups including Myongjin, Daesung, Kusan and Daeyu.

    Besides, Myongjin had to eventually withdraw after struggling for many years in certain business areas that ovepped with Mirae¡¯s businesses.

    Anyway, that wasn¡¯t important to me at this point, so I asked her another question.

    [Lumen: Our guys from Myongjin are also attending this meeting?]

    [Super Beauty: Of course! Since Asirante, the hottest topic these days, appeared, we can¡¯t afford to be a bystander anymore. Brother Kiyoung and Managing Director Insu Sok are going to attend the meeting. By the way, you know how to behave yourself at the meeting, right?]

    [Lumen: Of course I know. I¡¯m going to pretend I¡¯ve met Kiyoung and Director Sok for the first time in my life.]

    [Super Beauty: Great. Let me tell you something. You should never leak any information about yourself. Those who are following you now do not exist just in Korea. Perhaps even your life is at stake now, which is why Dad is so worried about you. China, in particr, is openly searching for you now.]

    [Lumen: Ok, got it. Don¡¯t worry.]

    I logged out after reassuring my sister who earnestly asked me to be extremely careful.

    Of course, I know that my sister is worried about me for a reason. Her worries are far from excessive because ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ is not just a game.

    That¡¯s why she and not my father who suggested I y a double role, brought up the possibility of not spreading my ID Asirante because it was likely to spread not only in Korea but also around the world quickly.

    But I do not regret that I let my ID Asirante spread widely because I had gained too much to stop for fear that I would receive such great attention.

    So I would have insisted on going about it my way if my sister or even my father tried to stop me.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got two more hours left?¡±

    I began to hunt again and ran into some more monsters.

    Maybe I can make the 4th virtual reality beyond the 3rd virtual realitye true even tomorrow.

    Tramp, tramp!

    I slowly moved out of the Poisonous Insect Zone to meet the people outside as promised because I had finished hunting for five hours.

 Chapter 101

    <h4>Chapter 101: I Have Always Longed For Daeyu (2)</h4>

    Soon the Safety Zone of the Poisonous zone came into view.

    When I first arrived here, there were quite a few users around.

    But the ce was very quiet now except for five men standing at the entrance.

    I walked toward them proudly without showing any tense expression.

    ¡°Good morning! My name is Sumi Ahn and I am the Managing Director of the Mirae Group.¡±

    ¡°Asirante, nice to meet you. My name is Insoo Sok and I am the Managing Director of the Myongjin Group.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m from Daesung¡­¡±

    The managing directors of Mirae, Myongjin, Daesung, Kusan and Daeyu were there to greet me. Honestly, I didn¡¯t expect the Daeyu director to attend this meeting because the other four groups openly ostracized the Daeyu Group.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nice to meet you all like this. I didn¡¯t expect such powerful directors like you woulde here to meet me. It looks like being famous is worth it.¡±

    I didn¡¯t want to give them the impression that I was rude and thoughtless simply because I acted arrogantly, so I used honorifguage to address them like they addressed me.

    ¡°Well, you denied my friend request. Could you ept my friend request first?¡± Sumi Ahn, Mirae¡¯s managing director said first.

    Of course, I fully understood why she said that because she could not bring up any important topics with her rivals next to her. As if they had already agreed on something among themselves, the others next to her didn¡¯t stop her.

    ¡°Sure, let me ept your friend request.¡±

    So, I epted all their friend requests starting off with the Mirae Group¡¯s managing director.

    [You have received a friend request for the ID Asirante.

    -Would you like to ept the request?]

    Of course, my ID Asirante has been disclosed to the public, so I epted their friend request without any hesitation.

    When I was done epting their requests, Director Sok opened his mouth as if he had just met me for the first time.

    ¡°Asirante, we directors from Myongjin, Mirae, Daesung, Kusan, and Daeyu earnestly hope that you can grow greatly and be a strong user representing Korea on an international level. We can actively help you to grow and achieve that goal.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We can¡¯t tell you about it in detail, but our groups are putting a lot of effort into ¡®Revival Legend¡¯. Asirante, you¡¯re also a citizen of the Republic of Korea. We will treat you dearly so that you will never be disappointed.¡±

    Starting with Director Sok of Myongjin, the other directors started praising me.

    So much so that I would have felt dumbfounded if I had not known the hidden truth behind the game called ¡®Revival Legend.¡¯

    So I actually pretended to be dumbfounded at their praises.

    ¡°Eh? What the hell are you talking about? I don¡¯t know why you are praising me so much.¡±

    Then, as if I had noticed something, I said as arrogantly as possible, ¡°Ah, you don¡¯t have to be so anxious to please me like this. Lol.¡±

    I pretended that their earnest encouragement was something like an expression of their willingness to scout me.

    The meeting wasn¡¯t as long as I thought because it was very difficult for the managing directors of Myongjin, Daesung, Kusan, and Daeyu to reveal their true intentions when their rivals were in the same ce.

    So, we ended the meeting promising to meet again in the future.

    When they left, they earnestly asked me to respond to their private messages.

    So, I promised them to do so, then logged out because it was already 1am.

    The next morning I woke up, washed, and ate breakfast, but I did not ess the game as usual.

    I was supposed to go to the dinner meeting for the top leaders of Mirae, Myongjin, Daesung and Kusan today, and my father asked to see me before that.

    So, I left my one-room studio while holding my 3rd generation VR device.

    At my house in Cheongdam-dong.

    After briefly hugging my mother who weed me, I went straight to the basement study.

    In the basement study, my father, my brother, my sister, and Director Sok were already seated waiting for my arrival.

    A soon as I sat down, Dad opened his mouth.

    ¡°I already heard from Director Sok. Very well done, son!¡±

    Dad praised me so much, and, of course, I knew what he was talking about.

    Did he praise me because I achieved the highest round in the level 300 only arena quest?

    Or did he praise me because my ID Asirante had be more widely known to the world that he initially thought?

    No, he didn¡¯t praise me for these things.

    He praised me because I cunningly behaved myself in a meeting with the managing directors of Mirae, Daesung, Kusan, and Daeyu as well as Director Sok.

    Dad praised me so much because he was so concerned about me in that meeting.

    So I replied calmly, ¡°I¡¯m going to behave as carefully and prudently as possible so they never find out who I am.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you should do so. I guess they¡¯re going to try every way to win you over. In particr, they will rack their brains to find out where you live in the real world. So when you feel you are not safe, just choose to remain silent.¡±

    ¡°Sure, will do.¡±

    Then, I talked with my father about other things.

    Of course, I handed over a Memory Bead to him early on.

    I didn¡¯t just stupidly proceed with the level 300 only arena quest since I was given only one chance to do it.

    So, recording my experiences using a Memory Bead was very important to me because it would be a great help to Myongjin.

    Moreover, I did not struggle financially so I was not scared to use the Memory Bead.

    And I mentioned to my family the reward I had received for clearing the 80th round, namely, the removal of Blink¡¯s cooldown.

    When I mentioned that Blink had its cooldown removed, my sister was the most surprised because she was a wizard just like me. Of course, she was a fire-type wizard.

    ¡°Wow! Are you sure? No cooldown? Does that make any sense?¡±

    ¡°If you are so curious, check it out because all my activities are contained in that Memory Bead. I tested Blink with no cooldown in the abandoned field of trees,¡± I said as if to brag about my new powerful skill.

    I was so satisfied that Blink had no cooldown that I boasted about it to her even though I had never boasted about other things.

    ¡°Wow. After all, since our starting line was different, our gains are also different. Hey, Juyoung, I think you are the most adorable coveted guy within ¡°Revival Legend.¡±

    When she mentioned ¡®the starting line,¡¯ there was a moment of silence in the basement study for what she said was true. And I would get much, much more in the future, and I would not be content with just leveling up.

    For example, just like the level 100 only quest and the level 300 only quest, I¡¯ll look forward to the level 500 only quest, and I will get a huge reward for clearing the level 500 only quest with the best record.

    Anyway, that wasn¡¯t important, so I changed the topic to my next move.

    I agreed with my father that I would y a double role, and that my main targets were Mirae, Daesung and Kusan because Daeyu was definitely behind the other groups.

    But my value was too high now for me to move for a small reward.

    Therefore, Mirae, Daesung, and Kusan will try to offer me a tremendous premium to hire me.

    Of course, if they find out about each other¡¯s offer to me, they might have a fiercepetition to hire me first.

    So I asked first, ¡°What about drying out Daeyu¡¯s financial resources first?¡±

    By joining hands with China¡¯s Yanghwa Group, Daeyu has been ostracized by the other top business groups.

    So, Daeyu was the perfect candidate to be the first target.

    Even if Daeyu¡¯s deal with me falls t, I don¡¯t have to worry at all.

    Moreover, I still remember that mean guy named Sunghan Kim.

    That guy took control of 50% of the yers with special traits under Myongjin, and openly threatened my father to ept his demand of getting married to my sister while also coveting Myongjin. Ironically, he now belonged to Daeyu along with those yers under his control.

    I thought I could suck the financial blood of Daeyu like a leech because Daeyu was still one of Korea¡¯s top five business groups even though they nowgged behind Myongjin, Daeseong, and Kusan.

    When I singled out the name of Daeyu, silence again settled in the basement study

    . But the silence didn¡¯tst long because my elder brother and Director Sok broke it.

    Sok said, ¡°Just like Juyoung said, I think Daeyu is the best option at this point.¡±

    Kiyoung chimed in, saying, ¡°I agree. Even though Juyoung¡¯s identity might be revealed, we can cope with the situation as long as our opponent is just Daeyu. Besides, Daeyu has fallen out of favor with the other business groups. They could even be our enemy.¡±

 Chapter 102

    <h4>Chapter 102: I¡¯ve Always Longed for Daeyu (3)</h4>

    Of course I wasn¡¯t part of that group.

    Well, I decided not to mingle with that group. If I joined them, it would show them that I was influential enough to get involved in Myongjin¡¯s business which would inevitably cause them to pay attention to me.

    So, I was keeping to myself in one corner of the banquet hall when someone came over.

    It was Bora Yon, the Mirae Group¡¯s designated sessor.

    She suddenly opened her mouth and asked me, ¡°Oh, you are not leaving with Chairman Hong?¡±

    ¡°Well, my elder brother joined him. What about you, Bora?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve got an elder brother, too.¡±

    As soon as she said that, she sat next to me as if it was natural.

    Then she looked straight at me and said, ¡°Isn¡¯t he great?¡±

    ¡°Who are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°I mean Asirante.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I guess so,¡± I replied, nodding at her.

    ¡°Do you remember what I told you before? I said I took part in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Closed Betas, and achieved the maximum level in the 1st and 2nd Closed Betas. You remember it?¡±

    ¡°I do, because I just heard it from you only recently.¡±

    Besides, I vividly remembered how regretful she felt for not having achieved the maximum level during the 3rd Closed Beta.

    ¡°I think Asirante certainly reached the maximum level during the 3rd Closed Beta, and he was the only person to do so. By the way, don¡¯t you think that guy is really great? He is the only max level achiever in the world and he lives in Korea now. What¡¯s even more surprising is that he didn¡¯t even know that ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ was renamed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ for as long as three years!¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    But I didn¡¯t respond to her words. I just nodded my head gently.

    ¡°Anyway, our business group leaders have a big headache because of him now. All of them want to win him over, but his value is too high for them to ept. Of course, they would really like it if they could seed in hiring him. If some other groups take him¡­¡± she paused, looking at me.

    So, I opened my mouth, watching her nervous stature.

    ¡°Maybe they wille to the conclusion that they had better share Asirante as if he were a public good.¡±

    When I said that, she said with a smile, ¡°I guess so. Come to think of it, it¡¯s sometimes cumbersome that we have topromise because we are scared of losing too much.¡±

    ¡°Well, I think they¡¯re going to pursue a safe path with the least losses anyway.¡±

    After that, I talked with her about other things rather than focusing on Asirante.

    Then, she asked me an unexpected question, ¡°By the way, what¡¯s your ID?¡±

    ¡°Lumen. L. U. M. E. N.¡±

    Of course, I was thinking that someone would ask about my ID even if it wasn¡¯t Bora.

    So, I mentioned my original ID.

    ¡°Oh, Lumen. That¡¯s good. I think you can be the man that your ID symbolizes. By the way, my ID is Kali. Can I ask you to friend me?¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    I unwittingly nodded at her who used an ID which was much scarier than I thought.

    After the dinner meeting, I returned to my house in Cheongdam-dong with my father and Managing Director Sok.

    As usual, I went with them to the basement study.

    What the director said there was ording to my expectations because it was important for me to avoid the worst-case scenario, and both my father and Director Sok agreed that I should have room to maneuver as long as I showed my ID as Asirante.

    Our strategy meetingsted for about 20 minutes.

    When it finished, my father said to me, ¡°We arepletely prepared to execute our action n now. Be careful and get in touch with us right away if something happens.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I will do that.¡±

    Of course, I won¡¯t contact Daeyu right away. I¡¯m going to keep them waiting anxiously for me for some time.

    Three dayster I received a lot of messages from the important guys from Mirae, Daesung, Kusan as well as my main target Daeyu.

    Each of them promised me a considerable amount of financialpensation in their messages as well as full support if I joined their group. This included supporting my gaming activities, and gifting me with a huge mary gift, a car, and a house.

    Of course, I fully knew their intentions behind such a generous offer.

    However, even if they recruit me to their guild, they won¡¯t get any benefits if I leave the guild. So, it was very important for them to find out my real-life information instead of my game information.

    I was especially surprised because Daeyu was more active in recruiting me than I thought.

    They even went as far as telling me that they would register me as a board member of the Daeyu Group with some stakes in the Daeyu Guild if I joined them.

    Normally I would have been tempted to ept their generous offer.

    But their intentions were so obvious. They knew the gains of recruiting me would be much greater than the huge price they paid for me.

    In other words, Daeyu was betting everything on hiring me.

    That gave me a lot of leeway to strike a deal with them.

    So, I responded to Mirae, Daesung and Kusan in a way that did not incite their anger for repeatedly rejecting their offers, but I was arrogant enough to negotiate with Daeyu to raise their offer price, telling them that I had received some other offers.

    And as if my bluffing for the past three days paid off, Daeyu¡¯s Chairman Daeyoung Suh finally agreed to meet with me in person today.

    At a cafe near the central square of Northwood Castle.

    Daeyu deliberately arranged to meet with me at this ce.

    Clearly, they wanted to show they were not hostile to me by selecting this ce which was a neutral ce filled with a lot of users.

    So, I readily epted their invitation.

    In no time I met Chairman Suh face to face. Of course, I¡¯ve actually seen him before.

    But I acted as if this was my first time seeing him.

    ¡°Nice to meet you. My name is Daeyoung Suh. Anyway, it¡¯s my honor to meet such an outstanding person like you. Hahaha.¡±

    Chairman Suh was well over 70.

    Nheless, he used honorifguage towards me, so I knew how anxiously Daeyu wanted to recruit me.

    So I replied with an air of arrogance on purpose.

    ¡°I¡¯m ttered. I am also pleased to meet you. By the way, I never thought I would see Daeyu¡¯s Chairman like this in my life.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha. Don¡¯t you think we can have a good rtionship? I mean you could have a good rtionship with Daeyu in the future.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ our rtionship could be good or bad. Or who knows if we could break our rtionshipter?¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    I openly sent a strong signal to him that I would not easily be swayed by his offer.

    As if he read my mind, Chairman Suh leaned toward me closely and opened his mouth.

    ¡°If you join Daeyu, I can give you money right away¡­¡±

    ¡°No, thanks,¡± I interrupted him in the middle of his offer.

    Then I said, shaking my head, ¡°As I¡¯ve said before, I¡¯d rather get golden rings rather than your cash or stocks.¡±

    Receiving his money meant that I would have to reveal my bank ount number to him.

    So, I refused his offer right away because I had no intention of bowing to his obvious intentions.

    So, I told him about my demands first.

    ¡°I want a hunting ground where I can hunt as freely as possible because I used to hunt in those ces that others avoided. So, at least once, I want to hunt alone in a very good hunting ground. Of course, the hunting ground should be for users above level 500. In addition, my current items are not good enough. So, can I get some useful essories? Of course, I want the required essory enhancement stones so I can enhance them.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Of course, Chairman Suh was not here alone for this meeting. A couple of men who seemed to be his close aides also apanied him to this meeting.

    They all fell silent when faced with my tant demands.

    But I wasn¡¯t worried because they would ept my demands anyway.

    They would ept my demands even if they were higher than this.

 Chapter 103

    <h4>Chapter 103: Unveiled 4th Virtual Reality (1)</h4>

    The tallest building in Manhattan, New York, USA.

    The Holdridge Group, which was one of the three major forces in the United States along with the US Government and the Shaipe Group was located there.

    This financial behemoth epassed several powerful families and financial giants such as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs that had a long history dating from the founding of the United States, as well as Standard Oil founded by John D. Rockefeller who was known as the Oil King before the arrival of Exxon Mobil. In general, Holdridge was based in the east coast of the United States where they controlled money from its early days.

    On the other hand, the Shaipe Group was a financial groupposed of the newly rich who grew rapidly from thete 20th century, and were based in the western coast of the United States.

    And the US Government was the third powerful group whose members did not belong to either Shaipe or Holdridge.

    Anyway, Holdridge, one of the three powerful organizations that headed the United States, were currently holding an emergency meeting outside their regr quarterly meetings. The reason they convened this time was because someone had finally achieved level 1200, and as a result, a very important secret was unveiled.

    ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± replied Austin, the head of Holdridge¡¯s intelligence department, standing up to respond to the question of one of Holdridge¡¯s top five executives.

    Then he opened his mouth while pointing at the beam projector installed on one wall.

    ¡°This is a video shot of that guy using the Memory Bead.¡±

    As he said that, the beam projector yed a video of two men talking with each other.

    ¡°What¡¯s his name and affiliation?¡±

    ¡°His name is Tylon Cole. He belongs to Team 3 of Holdridge¡¯s 1st League.¡±

    ¡°When did he achieve level 1200?¡±

    ¡°He achieved it at 2:35am this morning.¡±

    ¡°Anything particr about his achievement?¡±

    ¡°Yes, we¡¯ve found out where he used the coins. We also discovered what the actual realization of the 4th virtual reality in the real world beyond the 3rd virtual reality means.¡±

    ¡°What does it mean?¡±

    Austin said, ¡°Disclose the privilege of level 1200!¡±

    [Congrattions on achieving level 1200!

    -By reaching level 1200, you have been given the privilege of actualizing the capability of ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ in reality.

    However, the following conditions are required to actualize it.

    -By using coins, you can permanently actualize the capability of ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ in reality.

    : From 0% to 10%, you need 1,000 coins per 1% actualization.

    : From 11% to 20%, you need 2,000 coins per 1% actualization.

    : From 21% to 30%, you need 3,000 coins per 1% actualization.

    The man conducting the interview with Tylon Cole fell silent with a nk expression as did the other participants watching the video.

    At that moment one of the five top executives of Holdridge opened his mouth in a low voice, ¡°It finally showed up!¡±

    ¡°But that¡¯s too much. How can it require 1,000 coins per 1% actualization? Moreover, the number of coins required is so big after 10%¡­¡±

    Vten, thepany that had the original technology for the VR device.

    And thatpany was located in America.

    Therefore, America was the first to know about the extraordinary event that Vten, which had been raking up a huge amount of money around the world from the royalties of its patents, disappeared overnight.

    And it was Holdridge among the three most powerful US organizations that first discovered that the disappearance of Vten was rted to the game called ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    More precisely, it was the financial officials of Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs that first discovered this. This was because Vten¡¯s assets were enormous.

    That was why Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, which were managing some of Vten¡¯s assets, made every effort to find even the slightest evidence of thepany¡¯s mysterious disappearance. Maybe they could procure a huge amount of money that had lost its owner.

    In fact, while they were searching, they actually discovered some things rted to the game ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    ¡°Did something about a coin exchange appear when one of our users hit level 1100?¡± another man among the top five executives asked.

    Austin, the intelligence chief of Holdridge, who was chairing the meeting, said, ¡°I think so.¡±

    Holdridge held an emergency meeting like this even when someone belonging to their group reached level 1100 for the first time among its users.

    During that time, another special event also urred, namely, coin exchange.

    In the first ce, it was Holdridge, that first cleaned up the ce where Vten disappeared, that found out that coins would be of great value in the future. And Holdridge had no intention of revealing this information. Honestly, they didn¡¯t intend to release information about ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ either.

    However, starting with the financial giants such as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, they learned that it was almost impossible for them to handle this matter alone, so they began to join hands together which inevitably led to a loophole in their management of intelligence and manpower.

    No matter how tightly they managed their organization, it was natural for their members to have some friction because they came from different organizations with a different culture.

    So, Holdridge helplessly watched with regrets as some of their intelligence leaked out to the US Government, the Shaipe Group and other groups.

    Anyway, Holdridge confirmed some things through the user who achieved level 1100.

    [Congrattions on reaching level 1100!

    -By achieving level 1100, you have acquired the ¡®coin exchange¡¯ trait that allows you to exchange coins with others.

    However, you can only exchange coins with those who are level 1100 or higher and also possess the ¡®coin exchange¡¯ trait.

    : When those who are level 1100 or higher hold each other¡¯s hands, one of them can request the exchange of coins and if the other party epts it, they can exchange coins.

    : You have to pay the fee of 1 million golden rings per exchange of each coin.

    : This fee is paid by the person who receives the coins, and golden rings are automatically deducted from the inventory. If there are less than 1 million golden rings in the inventory, the coin transaction will stop immediately.

    : The golden rings deducted as a fee permanently disappear.]

    Typically, it was forbidden to trade coins.

    In Holdridge¡¯s eyes, such prohibition because of the exorbitant transaction fees.

    If 1 million golden rings are required for each coin that is being traded, then 100 coins will require 100 million golden rings, and 1,000 coins will require a whopping 1 billion golden rings.

    Moreover, it was difficult for Holdridge to easily exchange coins because the required golden ringspletely disappeared in the name of the fees instead of being given to the other party as a reward. Moreover, all that was known about the coins was that they were extremely precious, but nobody knew how they were used.

    But with the appearance of a user who was level 1200, Holdridge finally came to discover for what purpose the coins were used.

    It was literally huge because this involved the realization of the 4th virtual reality.

    Of course it didn¡¯t look easy because nobody could even imagine obtaining 1000 coins.

    At that moment one of the top five executives asked, ¡°By the way, this is not all, right?

    They knew that coins were important, but this was the moment they confirmed it with their own eyes for the first time.

    So, the top five executives of Holdridge inevitably became more impatient than anyone else because all of them were so old that nobody would think it strange at all if they died tomorrow.

    That¡¯s why they bet everything on the realization of the 4th VR.

    ¡°Sure, let me y the video a little more.¡±

    Since intelligence chief Austin knew what the executive¡¯s question meant, he pointed to the beam projector again.

    ¡°ying experimental videos 1-7.¡±

    ¡°Currently, Tylon Cole has 717 coins. In order for him to reach over 1000 coins, we used 285 million golden rings from Holdridge¡¯s reserve.¡±

    ¡°Tylon Cole is currently 177 cm tall and weighs 98 kg, with a body fat percentage greater than 35%. Compared to a normal man in his mid-20s, his muscle strength value is 44, which ces him below the 30th centile, and his grip strength is below the 30th centile for those who weigh 39kg, let alone those who are the average weight of 55kg.¡±

    After that, the video featured details of Tylon Cole¡¯s current health, endurance and current fitness level. And when that portion of the video was yed, Austin, the intelligence chief, said, ¡°Now let me exin to you personally. Currently, Tylon Cole has essed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ and has 1,000 coins. As soon as we give him an order, he will use 1,000 coins right away.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead!¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir. Will do.¡±

    It was an order from the top five executives.

    As soon as they gave the order, Austin nodded at the man sitting on his right.

    Then several people moved busily around.

    And soon somebody¡¯s voice came out from the video.

    ¡°It¡¯s me, Tylon Cole. I¡¯m using the 1,000 coins. Let me use them now!¡±

    Tylon Cole in the video shouted he would use the coins.

    However, there was no significant change in his appearance.

    And then he opened his mouth.

    ¡°Disclose the actualization of reality.¡±

    [Tylon Cole¡¯s actualization rate:.

    -1/100.

    -Coins are required for higher actualization.]

    ¡°Even though I saw an increase in 1% actualization, I could not feel any change inside the game.¡±

    As soon as Tylon Cole in the video said that he could not feel any change in the game, one of the top five executives ordered him to log out because what they were mainly concerned about was not changes within the game. Since the video was yed in real-time, theboratory in New York where Tylon Cole was located soon appeared.

    ¡°Hum, it seems there is no change in his appearance.¡±

 Chapter 104

    <h4>Chapter 104: Unveiling 4th Virtual Reality (2)</h4>

    Just like one of the top five executives said, Tylon Cole¡¯s appearance had not changed from before. But they had no choice but to pay attention to what Tylon Cole said next in the livestream.

    ¡°I feel some power in my body that I have never felt before.¡±

    As soon as they heard Tylon Cole¡¯s words, one of the top five executives immediately gave an order.

    ¡°Check his current physical strength right away!¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±

    The personnel attached several devices to Tylon¡¯s body to retest his physical strength andpare it to his previous records.

    About two hours passed, but nobody left the conference room.

    Of course, Tylon¡¯s physical strength testing had not finished.

    But everyone in the conference room knew that his physical strength had changed because his muscle strength value increased by 7, and his grip strength also increased by 2.3kg in several hours even though he didn¡¯t do anything.

    Moreover, even his maximum lung capacity increased.

    In the past, he couldn¡¯t run even one kilometer, but now he could without any difficulty, which confirmed clearly that his physique had changed.

    In other words, this was the power of the increase of 1% actualization.

    Austin, the intelligence chief, said, ¡°Tylon Cole is a melee physical typebatant in the game, so strength and stamina were his main stats. So, as you can see, his physical abilities have improved like this. In addition, we could confirm he had traces of skills on asion during the experiments. But there appeared a message that said, ¡®You can¡¯t use your skills because of your limited ¡®actualization rate.¡¯ That¡¯s all for now.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Well, we need more coins to increase the actualization rate. And if we don¡¯t have enough coins, we need a huge amount of golden rings.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­.¡±

    ¡°¡­.¡±

    The participants remained silent for some time upon hearing Austin¡¯s words.

    Then one of the top five executives opened his mouth to break the silence.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t there a guy who seeded in enhancing up to +12 in the 100 level only enhancement quest and received 12,000 coins as a reward?

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°What level is he now?¡±

    ¡°He is level 965.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    Austin was already expecting such a question, so he answered immediately.

    ¡°Apart from him, who else has the most coins?¡±

    ¡°I have no idea, but the others can¡¯t have more than 6000 coins. On average, most don¡¯t have even 500 coins, let alone 1,000.¡±

    ¡°In the end, it seems the key is how many golden rings we can obtain.¡±

    ¡°Yes, and we also have to make Tylon Cole stronger than ever. In order to increase his actualization rate as much as possible, we have to increase our total number of golden rings.¡±

    ¡°Good. You can pay any price. Focus all your capabilities on collecting golden rings. However, don¡¯t be impatient. The US Government, Shaipe, and the Chinese and Russian guys are very clever.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir. I will take extreme caution, and at the same time, I¡¯ll do my best to collect as many golden rings as possible.¡±

    They had decided on their future course of action, but no one left the conference room because Tylon Cole in the video could bend a thin but long iron rod easily, which he couldn¡¯t do so only a few hours ago.

    Of course, they could not rule out the possibility that he pretended to be weak on purpose in the past.

    That¡¯s why they used thetest test equipment this time which would not allow him to hide his physical strength even if he wanted to.

    At a cafe near the central square of Northwood Castle.

    I enjoyed the tea there leisurely. I betted on Daeyu, and Daeyu had no choice but to ept my demands.

    In fact, Daeyu¡¯s Chairman Daeyoung Suh himself epted my demands.

    ¡°Hahaha. I will ept all your demands because Daeyu is apany that fully pays apetent person,¡± Chairman Suh said with a heartyugh.

    He made a bright smile at me as if he didn¡¯t regret offering me such huge benefits at all.

    So, I exchanged pleasantries with him.

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know if you know this, but I¡¯ve always longed for Daeyu. That¡¯s why I came to this ce. So, I hope I¡¯m in your great hands, Chairman Suh.¡±

    Of course, I paid lip service to please his ears, and bowed to him deeply because I would get lots of benefits from him in the future.

    ***

    At a hunting ground called the Tombs of the Dead.

    As the name suggested, this was a ce where undead monsters appeared. In general, those ces where undead monsters appeared were popr among users because there were not many monsters that had as deadly and precise weaknesses as undead monsters.

    For example, fire-type skills, holy-type skills, and recovery-type skills that replenished health were effective against these undead monsters.

    As such, the areas where undead monsters appeared were very popr.

    Of course, these kinds of skills were irrelevant to me because I was an ice-type wizard.

    Nevertheless, I came to this ce because although this was a ce for yers above level 500, I could receive more EXP than other hunting grounds at the same level.

    ¡°Asirante, No. 3 Team¡¯s monster herding is done.¡±

    When I recently met the sons and daughters of the chairmen of the top business groups including Daesung and Kusan, they mentioned something about monster hunting.

    They told me that there were so many guys everywhere who could herd monsters, so I didn¡¯t have to go to the trouble of chasing and hunting the monsters by myself.

    At that time, I didn¡¯t feel envious of them at all because I had too many things to envy them, and I hunted faster than them even though they used a hunting trick like herd hunting.

    Moreover, I wondered if those who herded monsters with a smiling face were really happy to do so deep down, for they would feel frustrated for spending their precious time herding in a ce like this.

    Of course, if they were paid properly to herd monsters, they might do their best, but they didn¡¯t pay attention to it.

    As the sons and daughters of their fathers, the chairmen of Korea¡¯s top business groups, most of them took this for granted.

    Anyway, I didn¡¯t tell them about my situation, but I decided to y a double role after disclosing my ID Asirante. But it was impossible for me to use my ID Lumen to pay the legitimate price to hire monster herders even within the Myongjin Guild.

    But I could do so with my ID Asirante. Besides, these guys were not affiliated with Myongjin.

    So, I asked not only to have ess to this Tombs of the Dead hunting ground, famous for giving more EXP than other hunting grounds of the same level, but also for a team that would herd monsters for me, and four teams at that.

    So, a total of four teams of monster herders were on the move in all directions while I stood in the middle of the hunting ground.

    When they were done herding monsters to a certain extent, they reported to me about the oues immediately like they did a moment ago.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Since they were not far away from me, I moved to the ce where Team No. 3 had herded monsters. Soon, more than a herd of 100 undead monsters lured by about 10 people appeared.

    And the team leader who noticed me shouted, ¡°Everybody, get out!¡±

    As soon as he shouted, the ten members of Team No. 3 rushed toward me.

    Of course, more than 100 undead monsters followed behind them.

    So, I opened my mouth quietly.

    ¡°Blink.¡±

    Shung!

    After I passed the ten Daeyu Guild members rushing towards me using Blink, I charged into the herd of more than 100 undead monsters and began to attack them as I always do.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasak!

    And of ice was created instantly. It was wide enough to affect the ten Daeyu Guild members who ran away first as well as over 100 undead monsters.

    Of course, even though the Ice Field was so wide, the damage was still enormous.

    Anyway, the ten Daeyu Guild members were still within the ice field.

    But it didn¡¯t matter because I was also a member of the Daeyu Guild for now.

    ¡°Ice Storm! Pouring Hailstone!¡±

    Pabababak! Pitter-patter!

    I immediately used two AOE skills consecutively.

    Then, to exaggerate a bit, a huge snow storm-like phenomenon urred which made it almost impossible to see even an inch ahead, for Ice Storm and Pouring Hailstone were raining down profusely at a high intensity.

    Of course, I had one more skill in reserve, namely, Ice st.

    Besides, I had already upgraded Ice st to level 4 along with Pouring Hailstone.

    But I didn¡¯t use it this time because the Ice Field itself, which would be the sacrifice of Ice st, gave me tremendous benefits.

    Besides, over 100 undead monsters all disappeared, leaving behind some items.

    [You have leveled up.]

    The items that dropped included golden rings, various misceneous items, a weapon enhancement stone, and an armor enhancement stone.

    If I can take all of them, it will be very advantageous for me.

    Tramp, tramp.

    I turned back without collecting them. Although I felt some regrets about it, I was not greedy enough to take them now. Moreover, the herding team was sweating for me out there.

    If they didn¡¯t receive any benefits, they would obviously swear at me because they had to waste their precious time for nothing for someone who just suddenly appeared

    So, I decided that letting them enjoy these benefits would be more advantageous for me. And my generosity toward them paid off quickly.

 Chapter 105

    <h4>Chapter 105: A Mysterious Creature</h4>

    ¡°Thank you. Asirante!¡±

    ¡°Wow! I saw you several times, but you are the best!¡±

    Honestly, Daeyu Group¡¯s leadership including its Chairman Daeyoung Suh were the ones who showed an immense interest in Asirante, not these guys.

    Nheless, Team No. 3 consisting of ten members all raised their thumbs up towards me as if my rapid growth benefited them too.

    Anyway, while reciprocating their gratitude for herding monsters for me, I quickly moved to the next location in the north where Team No.4 was monster herding.

    At the Daeyu Guild¡¯s main nase.

    The leadership of the Daeyu Guild led by Chairman Daeyoung Suh quietly looked at several videos their members had filmed using Memory Beads which showed the scenes of Asirante hunting in the Tombs of the Dead.

    When the video was over, Chairman Suh sitting at the head of the table opened his mouth.

    ¡°I just can¡¯t believe it no matter how many times I see it.¡±

    ¡°It looks like Asirante must be¡­¡± said Choongsu Kim, manager of Daeyu¡¯s Strategy Department.

    ¡°I know! I¡¯m certain that he took part in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Closed Betas and reached the maximum level in all of them. Otherwise, it is impossible for him to hunt monsters like that. His capabilities are far beyond what we normally expect of a user at his level. Is it only me who feels like that?¡± said Chairman Suh, interrupting Kim.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    There was silence among the participants upon hearing the Chairman¡¯s words because they all felt the same way. So, they were more scared now than ever because they could not figure what kind of ability Asirante would show when he leveled up even further when he showed such phenomenal ability when he was only level 300.

    Anyway, Chairman Suh, who was responsible for their silence, broke it by saying, ¡°By the way, what¡¯s going on now? I told you guys to get any information about him while taking care of him.¡±

    ¡°Well, no matter how much we tried, he would not leak any clue about his real-life information.¡±

    Thump!

    Chairman Suh struck the table and screamed at Kim who spoke these words.

    ¡°You have to make him confess something! That¡¯s why I pay you, right?¡±

    Suh kept screaming at Kim and several other executives in the conference room.

    ¡°You know what? We have given him as many as 500 million golden rings until now! Moreover, we even gave him legendary grade essories, and the Tombs of the Dead is the best of the hunting grounds we possess! And you guys still haven¡¯t gotten any valuable information about him yet?¡±

    ¡°Well, this guy refused to ept a luxury apartment unit in Seoul and several luxurious sports cars. Besides, he also rejected my offer to please him with a beautifuldy.

    He only wants a hunting ground with good EXP, as well as golden rings and items within ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    Chairman Suh initially thought it would be easy to acquire Asirante¡¯s real-life information because there were few men who hated cash, luxurious cars and houses, and a beautiful woman. Because of that, he was a bit suspicious of Asirante¡¯s background.

    ¡®Does he know something about us?¡¯

    He couldn¡¯t help but doubt Asirante because this man was extremely careful to prevent any leak of his real-life information.

    However, Chairman Suh shook his head immediately.

    Asirante looked so dumbfounded by the fantastic offer from not only Myongjin, Daesung, and Kusan but also Daeyu that Suh had no choice but to believe that his expression back then was genuine. Back then, Asirante really looked like he knew nothing about Daeyu¡¯s intentions.

    ¡°Anyway keep pushing him! Don¡¯t miss even a single clue! China¡¯s Yanghwa Group? No way! I have no intention of doing all the work and letting them take the benefits. If we can win over Asirante, Daeyu will be able to survive independently. So, regardless of whether it¡¯s a golden ring or an item or a hunting ground, just give him as much as he wants!¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±

    ¡°I will do my best.¡±

    They were wrapping up the meeting with fresh determination that they would pay more attention to Asirante¡¯s needs.

    At that moment, however, someone¡¯s voice came out of the corner of the conference room.

    ¡°Sunghan Kim! Why don¡¯t you use him for this purpose? That guy is going around like crazy without knowing his ce!¡±

    All the core executives of Daeyu, including Chairman Suh, were aware of the dirty trick that Kim had used against Myongjin.

    They initially had no intention of hiring Kim because a dog who once bit its owner would bite again. Moreover, Kim had pretty sharp ¡°teeth¡±, and a ¡°dirty snout.¡±

    Even if Daeyu was ranked 5th out of Korea¡¯s top five business groups, Chairman Suh didn¡¯t grow Daeyu to where it was today without any difficulty.

    So, Chairman Suh isted Kim and his followers thoroughly even after hiring them because he knew clearly they would not belong to Daeyu from the bottom of their hearts.

    ¡°Sunghan Kim¡­¡±

    Chairman Suh knew very well about his dirty and cunning tricks.

    At that moment, Suh buried himself in the sofa and stroked his chin with his right hand because Kim was really a wicked and cunning guy. That was why he isted Kim totally.

    ¡°Will he listen to me? He must know about this guy Asirante. So, if he wins over Asirante, he will try to him his subordinate instead of working for me.¡±

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be possible if you gave Kim a bait at the right time? Moreover, what we want is Asirante¡¯s real-life information. If we get that, we can kidnap Asirante, lock him up, and brainwash him. Besides, Kim is only influential within the game. Outside of the game, he is just a mean guy who used to pick up trash.¡±

    After all, Kim had little influence over Daeyu¡¯s secret n about Asirante.

    So, Chairman Suh nodded at Nakson Lee, head of Daeyu¡¯s intelligence department, who first mentioned Kim.

    ¡°Good. Use Kim then.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    Chairman Suh gave an order like that.

    ***

    Three dayster I stopped hunting in the Tombs of the Dead temporarily because today was an important day.

    ¡°Move to the Desert Scorpion Forest.¡±

    [You have moved to the Desert Scorpion Forest.]

    And today was the very day that I had thest opportunity to participate in the level 400 regr quest ¡®Stop the Scorpion King.¡¯

    A message rang as soon as I moved to the Desert Scorpion Forest.

    [You have joined the 91st Defense Unit for the level 400 regr quest ¡®Stop the Scorpion King.¡¯]

    Of course, I didn¡¯t have to take part in this quest because I was already strong enough and did not particrly need additional rewards.

    But the rewards I would get for winning the quest this time were pretty big.

    Moreover, given my leveling speed, this would be myst opportunity to participate in the quest.

    That¡¯s why I came to participate, determined that I would hunt the boss monster and receive a special reward for my maximum contribution.

    This time I was going to disclose my ID Asirante, which the other participants would know if they had ever used the arena before.

    Was it because of that? The members of the 91st Defense Unit openly paid attention to me.

    [No. 11 Participant (Level 377. ID is private): Shit! Crazy! Asirante? Is it true Asirante is in our party now]

    [Raon (Level 391): Wow! Really? He is Asirante! Can you hunt the boss monster this time?]

    [Kite (Level 388): Who is Asirante?]

    [User No. 9 (Level 390. ID is private): You don¡¯t know Asirante? Where on earth are you ying this game?]

    [Raon (Level 391): Kite, the most famous user right now is Asirante. Please check the free bulletin board on the homepage.]

    The party members were hotly chatting about me in the party chat room.

    So, I posted a brief response.

    [Asirante (Level 327): Although my level is a little low, I will do my best.]

    327 was clearly a low level, so I mentioned it first.

    This time, nobody gave me a sharp annoying nce like they did in the past.

    They responded withments that it was an honor for me to join them.

    While Juyoung Hong was taking part in the level 400 or below regr quest, a little light radiated behind the mountainous cliffs of Annapurna in the Himyas which was permanently covered with snow.

    A creature appeared in the ce where the light disappeared.

    It looked like an ordinary adult or something a little less than an adult.

    Soon it screamed eerily, ¡°Chieeeeek, Chieeeeeeek¡±

    Then it shook its body once, crouched itself tightly with its arms, and quickly moved its feet. However, Annapurna had many sharp cliffs. Unless it knew how to fly, it was impossible for the creature to move at all.

    Then the creature which appeared with the light unfortunately rolled down as if it did not have a flying skill.

    Thud!

    The creature fell close to 400 meters down the cliff andnded on protruding stone.

    If it had been a living creature, it would not have survived. Then it disappeared instantly as if there was nothing there from the start.

    Of course, there were still some traces of its existence. For example, there were craters in the snow where the creature had bounced down the cliff, and there were some shiny and tiny pieces of blue in the ce where the creature disappeared.

    Anyway, it was the emergence of a living creature that had never existed on Earth before.

    But no one knew what it was because it appeared in the harshest ce of the Himyas, not in the middle of New York or Beijing, for only a few minutes before disappearing.

    So, an incident happened without anyone knowing.

 Chapter 106 - Impossible Quest (1)

    <h4>Chapter 106: Impossible Quest (1)</h4>

    [Level 400 regr quest ¡®Stop the Scorpion King¡¯ begins.

    -Each defense unit will be moved to a unique defensive position, and you must stop the attack of the scorpions for a total of 6 rounds.

    -The Boss monster Scorpion King will appear before the defense unit with the highest contribution to blocking the scorpions attack.]

    [The 91st Defense Unit will be located on the 7th defense line in Area B.]

    Shuuuuuung!

    As soon as the message finished, I felt my body moving somewhere.

    Of course, I was being moved to the 7th defense line in Area B.

    And I came into contact with some members of my unit who looked at me with envy just like some people when they saw celebrities they admired.

    Moreover, this was my second challenge. During my first challenge, no one looked at me like that.

    Back then, they looked at me with a critical and displeased expression.

    Of course, I understand why they cast such an unpleasant nce at me back then because my name Asirante was not known to them and I was only level 131, which was not high enough for me to participate in the level 400 regr quest.

    Anyway, I was pondering over my changed situation when most members of my unit approached me all of a sudden.

    ¡°Hello, Asirante!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s an honor to meet you!¡±

    ¡°I am Sanghyon Baek, and I use the ID Raon. I have always admired you, Asirante.¡±

    I was now so popr among them that I didn¡¯t even envy celebrities at the moment.

    Of course, some of them were jealous.

    ¡°Who the hell is this guy? Why are they ttering him so crazily?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what I want to know too.¡±

    The name Asirante was famous, but it didn¡¯t mean that everyone knew it. But I didn¡¯t care because those who should know it already knew me, for example, Daeyu¡¯s Chairman Daeyoung Suh.

    I waited for them to cool down a bit, then opened my mouth in a loud voice so that everyone could hear it.

    ¡°I am going to take the lead actively in this quest.¡±

    It was natural for me to hunt the boss monster, and I intended to contribute to hunting it more than anybody else in my unit.

    Aside from the regr reward, I received a whopping 200 remaining stat points because I exceeded the maximum contribution that any individual could make. Moreover, it was extremely silly for me to stop leveling up just because of this level 400 regr quest, so this was myst challenge. Anyway, I intended to wrap up this quest fabulously.

    When I expressed my intent to hunt more actively, one of them shouted loudly, ¡°I don¡¯t care! When I look at the other guys here, I can¡¯t seem to find any other famous man, so I think it¡¯s almost impossible for our defense unit to beat ourpetitors here and win 1st ce. So, if Asirante takes the lead and wins the quest, I think all of us will be grateful to you. I just want to ask you earnestly to lead us in this quest.¡±

    ¡°I agree with him!¡±

    ¡°Asirante, way to go!¡±

    No one threw cold water over my initiative.

    Of course, there were some whoined about me, saying what the heck I was talking about because there was a clear limit to what only one person could do.

    But I ignored suchints because they would soon find out even if I didn¡¯t exin to them one by one.

    Anyway, the atmosphere of the 91st Defense Unit that I belonged to was very good.

    Amid such a good atmosphere, a message announcing the start of the 1st round rang.

    [The 1st Round begins.

    -Injured scorpions appear.]

    ¡°Ice Field! Thin Ice!¡±

    Until now, I had always used Thin Ice with Ice Field. And that was themon practice of the ice type wizards like me.

    Ice Field had levels 2, 5, and 7, but it took a considerable amount of time to upgrade it from level 2 to level 5, so the level 3 Thin Ice existed to make up for that wide gap.

    But this time, I didn¡¯t use it with Ice Field on purpose. Instead, I used Thin Ice right next to the ce where I used Ice Field. And right next to it, I used Pouring Hailstone and Ice Storm.

    Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

    Pasasasak!

    The wounded scorpions that entered the realm of my Ice Storm and Pouring Hailstone were unable to move even a few steps, then copsed with their thick-looking exoskeleton smashed.

    Of course, it wasn¡¯t just the wounded scorpions that were killed by that attack.

    While stepping on the Ice Field pompously, other scorpions also fell even before they reached halfway across it. But other scorpions endured Thin Ice, which itself had the weakest attack power.

    So, it was impossible to kill the scorpions with Thin Ice itself.

    However, it was certain that Thin Ice had inflicted a lot of damage, so the scorpions copsed after being hit by my low-level attacks such as Ice Ball or Ice Bolt. The scorpions were literally ughtered. Given my current level, I was twice, or three or four times as strong as I was when I first took part in this quest.

    Moreover, this quest ¡®Stop the Scorpion King¡¯ is a quest that any user who was level 400 or below could participate in. In other words, it is a quest designed for level 400 yers. So, it was a piece of cake for me as I was far stronger than a normal level 400 yer.

    Anyway, I easily cleared the 1st round, and easily cleared rounds 2,3 and 4 that followed.

    As if to prove it, the scoreboard revealed a significant score difference between the 1st and 2nd ce.

    [Current Defense Unit scoreboard.

    -1st ce: 91st Defense Unit (855,781 points)

    -2nd ce: 27th Defense Unit (352,191 points)

    -3rd ce: 155th Defense Unit (347,225 points)

    When the 1st round was over, some called my name and cheered for me.

    But as the rounds progressed, their cheering disappeared.

    Instead, there was silence, whichsted until the end of the 6th round, thest one.

    And at the end of the 6th round, there appeared a message congratting the 91st Defense Unit on achieving 1st ce. I muttered in a low voice, ¡°Man, I could clear this level 400 regr quest alone.¡±

    That voice became a catalyst for the members of my unit.

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°Thanks to you, Asirante, we won first ce in thisst quest.¡±

    ¡°You were awesome! I think I now know why people are crazy about you!¡±

    They kept admiring me with awe and shock on their faces.

    ¡°You¡¯re wee. Thank you for making concessions to me until round 6.¡±

    It was me who rather thanked them.

    Obviously, even those who actively supported me could not have known that I would perfectly defend all the way to the end of the 6th round.

    And a new message appeared after that.

    [The Boss monster Scorpion King appears before the 91st Defense Unit that has achieved the highest score.]

    Along with that message, a really small size Scorpion King appeared.

    Of course, I had gotten rid of the Scorpion King before with just a single Ice Spear.

    The 6th round was over.

    [- Each member¡¯s contribution to clearing the quest ¡®Stop the Scorpion King¡± has been calcted with the following score.

    -1st ce: Asirante ¨C 5,854,382 points.

    -2nd ce: Raon ¨C 0 points.

    -2nd ce: 13th User (ID is private) ¨C 0 points.

    -2nd ce: Kite ¨C 0 points.

    ¡°2nd ce? Well, I didn¡¯t know I won 2nd ce.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t either.¡±

    ¡°By the way, this is something I can boast about, right?¡±

    ¡°Well, I guess so.¡±

    All the others aside from me were at a loss, not knowing whether to smile or not.

    At that moment, another message rted to the rewards finally rang.

    [Rewards are given ording to each member¡¯s contribution.]

    [This is the reward for Asirante.

    -You have acquired a significant amount of EXP.

    -You have acquired 25.5 million golden rings.

    -You have acquired 1000 coins.

    -You have acquired the Scorpion King¡¯s ne.]

    [You have leveled up.]

    [You have leveled up.]

    :

    [You have leveled up.]

    I obtained this kind of reward from the beginning, so there was something else I had in mind as far as rewards were concerned.

    And a message rang just as I expected.

    [You have exceeded the maximum contribution that an individual can make.

    -Additional rewards are given to Asirante.

    -You have earned 300 remaining stat points.]

    When I first cleared this quest, I got 200 remaining stat points, so I thought I would earn at least 400 or more because my contribution was several times higherpared to before.

    But I didn¡¯tin because even 300 remaining stat points was huge.

 Chapter 107 - Impossible Quest (2)

    <h4>Chapter 107: Impossible Quest (2)</h4>

    ¡°Thank you so much, Asirante!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve earned 150 coins, and a bunch of golden rings and EXP thanks to our uniting 1st!¡±

    ¡°Thanks a million!¡±

    Even those who were dubious about my ability at first expressed gratitude.

    Although they scored 0 in terms of contribution, they received the reward because they belonged to the 91st Defense Unit that won the 1st prize.

    So, I collected everything including the Scorpion King¡¯s ring that the monster dropped when it died, and ended the quest. Although they said they would give it to me, it was me who killed the Scorpion King.

    As soon as I finished the quest, I moved to the hunting ground, ¡®Tombs of the Dead.¡¯

    I cleared the quest with an overwhelming record. So, did I need a break?

    Not really. Actually, clearing the level 400 regr quest was not a big deal because it was a piece of cake.

    So, I came to this hunting ground managed by Daeyu with the intention of hunting again, but an unexpected guy was waiting for me there. It was Sunghan Kim.

    Of course, Sunghan Kim would not know me. But I knew him well because I had heard things from my dad, my brother, and Director Sok about him.

    ¡°Hahaha. Hello, Asirante. I am Sunghan Kim, and I will be your support starting from today. It¡¯s so nice to see such a famous man like you, Asirante.¡±

    ¡°Hello, actually, the man before you helped me a lot. Anyway, I hope I¡¯m in your good hands.¡±

    ¡°Sure, if you have anything you need, please tell me without any hesitation.¡±

    In fact, Kim was hired by Myongjin because he reported having achieved the max level in the 1st Closed Beta and received a trait as a reward. But Kim achieved the max level in the 1st and 2nd Closed Betas, so he actually had two traits.

    But he intentionally concealed his second trait.

    I found outter on that his second trait triggered favorable feelings from other people he talks to. Because of this, almost 150 men with the special traits under Myongjin¡¯s care were taken away by Kim. To make matters worse, it was impossible to win back these trait holders from Kim.

    Anyway, while conversing with Kim, I kept repeating to myself that I could not trust his cunning guy.

    ¡®That¡¯s weird. I heard that when somebody talks with Kim, he or she will obviously have a favorable feeling toward him.¡¯

    In my case, I did not have any favorable feelings toward him at all perhaps because I felt bad about him from the beginning.

    Rather than feeling favorable toward him, I was full of desire to detain him in an Ice Prison and use Ice st.

    But I put up with it for now because I needed to stick to Daeyu like a leech and obtain as much as possible.

    After I achieved my goal, I would attack Kim first by using all my skills.

    So, I opened my mouth while brightly smiling at Kim.

    ¡°Then, can I ask you for some monster herding?¡±

    ¡°Of course. I will prepare for that soon.¡±

    This was Kim¡¯s first time encountering Asirante, but he could not help but get frustrated because a message rang as soon as he used his second trait that would trigger favorable feelings toward him.

    [There is a huge gap between you and the other party.

    -The effect of triggering the other party¡¯s favorable feelings is reduced by 99.5%.]

    In fact, Kim was so overjoyed to have earned his second trait that triggered affable feelings from the other party.

    Winning the other party¡¯s favorable feelings without paying any price meant that he could win over the other party easily.

    Actually, he secretly moved and won over 50% of those yers with traits that Myongjin had hired. Of course, Kim found out toote that this was the wrong choice because instead of the guys with traits, he needed to win over Managing Director Sok or Chairman Sangman Hong to take over Myongjin.

    However, his dirty trick was revealed, and he could not meet Sok, let alone Hong, within the game, so he had no choice but to meet Chairman Hong in the real world.

    And he tried to strike a deal with the chairman, but the deal fell t and he got fired by Myongjin.

    Rumors about his failed deal with Hong spread widely to the other top business groups.

    So, Kim tried to visit Daeyu¡¯s Chairman Daeyoung Suh, and he immediately knew why Daeyu was one of Korea¡¯s top five business groups. All the figures he met were only small fries. What was the point in winning over these small fries by triggering their favorable feelings toward him? This frustrated him all the more.

    In the meantime, Chairman Suh asked him to collect any information about this guy called Asirante. So, Kim epted Suh¡¯s offer immediately.

    Of course, he had no intention of handing over the information about Asirante to Chairman Suh even if he obtained it. If he got that information, it could be his hidden card to help him get over his current crisis.

    Kim¡¯s hopes were smashed, though.

    ¡®Damn it! 99.5%! If this is true, I can¡¯t make him have a favorable feeling toward me at all!¡¯

    His ability to trigger the other party¡¯s favorable feelings had an enormous effect.

    Without it, he could not make these 150 guys with special traits follow him like fanatics. However, there were also limitations, namely, a gap with the other party.

    The rate of triggering the other party¡¯s favorable feelings toward Kim depended on the gap between him and the other party.

    So, Kim himself hunted really hard. Since these 150 men were willing to risk their lives for him, Kim leveled up quickly and easily, and wore the highest quality equipment.

    So, he had never experienced a situation where his trait dropped by over 30% effectiveness.

    However, he felt it regrettable that he could not meet face to face with those, including Chairman Daeyoung Suh, who he really needed to favor him.

    But right now his likability with Asirante dropped by 99.5%.

    Kim was smiling on the surface, but he heavily swore at Asirante on the inside because it was almost impossible for even an expert swindler to win over the other party without getting a favorable impression first. And Kim himself wasn¡¯t a swindler.

    Anyway, while relying on that 0.5% effect to trigger Asirante¡¯s favor, Kim followed Asirante religiously. A weekter at the main base of the Daeyu Guild.

    ¡°Tut, tut, tut. That idiot, Sunghan Kim!¡±

    ¡°If Kim can¡¯t win over Asirante with his dirty snout, doesn¡¯t that mean that Asirante has a special defense?¡±

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    Chairman Suh was so upset about the fact that he still had not obtained any information about Asirante even though a lot of time had passed.

    At that moment, Nakson Lee, head of Daeyu¡¯s intelligence department, opened his mouth again. Lee was the man who first suggested using Kim for this purpose.

    ¡°Well, there was something special Asirante did that he even stopped his frequent hunting.¡±

    ¡°The quest?¡±

    Anyway, Lee¡¯s suggestion was useless now, but Chairman Suh asked first because he knew Lee was really capable since he continued to receive information about Asirante in real-time.

    ¡°You¡¯re right. I haven¡¯t seen anyone who hunts as frequently as Asirante. Moreover, as it is often confirmed in the video, he is hunting happily all the time. But Asirante paid so much attention to that quest that he even stopped hunting for it. What do you think his behavior suggests? Please think about it.¡±

    ¡°Oh my God! Are you talking about that?¡±

    ¡°Yes. A quest that nobody has cleared until now. Isn¡¯t it a quest that nobody will ever clear?¡±

    ¡°But Asirante...¡±

    Of course, the chairman thought it was impossible for even Asirante to clear it.

    No matter how capable Asirante was, the quest was too difficult for anybody.

    So much so that the chairman gave up on the idea of somebody clearing it someday.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we strike a deal with Asirante? For example, if he fails to clear the quest, let him promise to have dinner with you.¡±

    ¡°Hmm...¡± Chairman Suh groaned for a moment.

    But he nodded, atst, because he judged that no matter how capable Asirante was, it would be impossible for him to clear the quest.

    However, neither Lee, the head of the intelligence department, nor Suh knew that Asirante had no cooldown on his Blink skill.

 Chapter 108 - 20 Questionsâ€(1)

    <h4>Chapter 108: ¡°20 Questions¡±(1)</h4>

    It was almost 1am when I was done hunting the undead monsters the Team No. 4 had herded inside the Tombs of the Dead.

    Even though they had watched me hunting dozens or even hundreds of times, the people present still watched me nkly in admiration, with their mouths open wide.

    So, I said casually, ¡°Thanks a lot for your hard work today.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re wee.¡±

    ¡°Well, we¡¯re grateful to you for being considerate of us like this.¡±

    When I expressed gratitude to them, the Team No. 4 members, who herded the monsters for me all day long, thanked me instead.

    Of course, I knew why they thanked me.

    They were deeply touched by my decision to hand over the golden rings, misceneous items and even an enhancement stone to them.

    Honestly, I didn¡¯t do anything great enough to receive their gratitude.

    But it seemed that my action seemed to have impressed them a lot.

    Their reaction also showed that Daeyu did not treat them well.

    Anyway, the man who managed the four teams herding the monsters for me approached me and opened his mouth.

    ¡°Wait a moment, Asirante!¡±

    ¡°Pardon?¡±

    Until yesterday, Sunghan Kim was the chief manager of the teams.

    I myself was always suspicious and vignt to avoid being won over by him.

    But contrary to my concern, I could not take a liking for him at all.

    Rather, I tried hard to hold back the urge to hit him.

    Moreover, when he failed to get any information about me, Kim could not hide his disappointment as time went on even though he tried his best to manage his expression.

    In other words, he clearly realized that his likeability trait did not work on me at all which was a big headache for him.

    So, I watched Kim¡¯s expressions rather happily deep down.

    Of course, I thought he might be faking it, so I continued to be vignt toward him.

    Anyway, it seemed that Daeyu¡¯s management had concluded that Kim¡¯s desperate efforts to win me over had failed, so Kim was reced yesterday by the man who used to be my support prior to him.

    And I responded meekly when he called me.

    These days I have been enjoying all kinds of benefits and support from Daeyu every day.

    The manager said, ¡°Chairman Suh wants to see you around lunchtime tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°You mean he wants to see me in the real world?¡±

    ¡°Oh, no. Like your previous meeting, he wants to see you at the cafe in the central square of Northwood Castle.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I can do that.¡±

    As long as he didn¡¯t want to meet me in the real world, I had no problem epting his request. I had received too many benefits from Daeyu to reject his request to see me within the game.

    For example, Chairman Suh created as many as four teams to herd the monsters for me to easily hunt in this top hunting ground, The Tombs of the Dead.

    In addition, he gave me 500 million golden rings; a legendary grade set consisting of a ring, earrings, and nes; and a precious enhancement stone to enhance the essories.

    I received so much support from Daeyu that it was difficult to simply convert it into money. Of course, I don¡¯t intend to wear the legendary-grade essories given by Daeyu because they were quite inferior to the Sacred Permanent Snow Spirit essories that I was currently wearing.

    Anyway, I parted with the manager after telling him that I would see the chairman tomorrow.

    However, I did not log out immediately like I usually did after moving to the Safety Zone of the Tombs of the Dead.

    Instead, I followed the team members who moved first to the Teleport Zone, then said quietly, ¡°Move to Kotum Castle.¡±

    [You have been moved to Kotum Castle.]

    As soon as I entered Kotum Castle, I removed the mask I always wore and changed to normal grade the appearance option of the level 300 legendary grade Ronan¡¯s robe set, which I received from my father, just in case of any unexpected situation.

    Then, I moved to Kotum Castle¡¯s forge and tried to enhance the Sacred Permanent Snow Spirit ne, which was still +3 enhancement,pared to the Sacred Permanent Snow Spirit ring and earrings which had already turned to +4 enhancement. Of course, I used the God of Enhancement whose cooldown was back.

    Soon, the ne was upgraded to +4 enhancement, which meant all the Sacred Permanent Snow Spirit essories were now + 4 enhancement. I felt so proud of them because there was a big difference between +3 enhancement and +4 enhancement.

    ¡®Check item.¡¯

    [+4 enhancement Sacred Permanent Snow Spirit ne (Legendary)

    -It was created from Permanent Snow fragments falling from the tallest mountain, Sacred Mt. Rh?ne Amer.

    -When equipping 3 set items, damage to boss monsters increases by 7% and damage received from boss monsters decreases by 7%.

    -Effect.

    : Damage of all ice-type skills increases by (3%) ¨C> 4%.

    : Combat power on snow and ice terrain increases by (3%) ¨C> 4%. (Also applies to artificial snow and ice terrain such as an Ice Field. When fighting on artificial snow and ice terrain on top of natural snow and ice terrain, the effect is doubled)

    : Intellect increases by (250) ¡ú 300

    -Physical defense increased by (150) ¡ú 200, magic defense increased to by (300) ¡ú 375.

    -Durability: 1025000/1025000]

    As soon as I checked the improvements in the effects provided by the essories, I thought that enhancing the essories to +4 enhancement instead of +3 enhancement, which I originally intended, was a good decision.

    Of course, just a 1% increase might look very small, but it was still a considerable addition to my power because my basic capabilities, which I didn¡¯t want to brag about without any reason, were different from others.

    Anyway, a message rang when I was determined to enhance the essories to +5 instead of stopping at +4 enhancement.

    [This is the 1am rm you set.]

    As soon as I confirmed the message, I immediately left the auction house because I had an appointment with somebody. Then I moved to the cafe in the central square of Kotum Castle.

    It was a cafe that I often used as my base when I moved around Kotum Castle.

    Some people were loitering around when I entered the cafe. I noticed someone wearing a robe like me in one corner. I approached that person naturally. And that person also spoke to me naturally.

    ¡°Brother, you¡¯re toote,¡± said my sister.

    ¡°Sorry. I had to take care of something beforeing here.¡±

    As soon as I sat down on the sofa, I held my sister¡¯s hand and gently opened my mouth.

    ¡°Exchange.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°First, ept my exchange.¡±

    ¡°Okay. ept exchange.¡±

    She epted the exchange right away.

    So, I uploaded in the exchange window the legendary grade essories, the essory enhancement stone as well as the Scorpion King¡¯s ne and earrings that I had obtained after clearing the ¡®Stop the Scorpion King¡¯ quest today.

    Of course, I had finished enhancing the Scorpion King¡¯s ne and earrings to +3 enhancement before I enhanced the +3 Sacred Permanent Snow Spirit ne to +4 enhancement.

    As for the legendary essories that I received from Daeyu, I had enhanced them only to +1 enhancement because of the generated cooldown.

    However, I did not intend to spend my time trying to enhance them to at least +3 enhancement because there were too many items that I had to enhance with God of Enhancement whenever its cooldown was back.

    Since I didn¡¯t have to hide it at all, I told my father, brother, sister, and Manager Sok about it without any reservation. When they heard it, all of them agreed with my opinion.

    In particr, my father told me not to worry, saying that he had no intention of stopping my growth in the name of Myongjin.

    Anyway, I handed over all the items that were useless to me, including 100 million golden rings, to my sister because they would be of great use to Myongjin, not me.

    And I decided that it was something I could do for my family and for Myongjin.

    My sister initially hesitated to ept them.

    ¡°Why are you trying to give them to me? Just sell them so you benefit.¡±

    ¡°Sis, I have already received 500 million golden rings from Daeyu. So, I don¡¯t need them.¡±

    ¡°Wow. Daeyu¡¯s Chairman Suh gave you 500 million golden rings besides these legendary grade items?¡±

    ¡°Yep.¡±

    ¡°Wow, great!¡±

    My sister kept pouring out exmations upon hearing about Daeyu¡¯s generous gifts.

    So, I strongly urged her to ept this exchange.

    But she balked at the golden rings, to my surprise.

 Chapter 109 - â€œ20 Questionsâ€ (2)

    <h4>Chapter 109: ¡°20 Questions¡± (2)</h4>

    She said, ¡°I don¡¯t want the golden rings. I know what items you are wearing, so I can ept these essories, but not the golden rings. Just use them yourself.¡±

    ¡°Sis, I have a lot of golden rings. As you know, Dad and Myongjin gave me most of the items I¡¯m wearing now.¡±

    In fact, my father gave me many items including not only the level 300 legendary grade Ronan¡¯s wizard robe set but also the Sacred Permanent Snow Spirit essory set of the legendary grade. In fact, the only legendary item I acquired myself was the Brave Warrior¡¯s Bracelet. The items gifted to me were valued far beyond hundred of millions of golden rings.

    ¡°No thanks, Juyoung. As you know, Myongjin also bes stronger as you get stronger. So, don¡¯t worry about this. Just focus on getting stronger. Of course, be careful at all times. Got it?¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    So, I removed the 100 million golden rings from the exchange window, then talked with her a little longer about various things including my nned meeting with Daeyu¡¯s Chairman Suh around lunchtime tomorrow.

    She repeatedly told me to take extreme caution when meeting him tomorrow. She used the words ¡®extreme caution¡¯ more than ten times before parting with me.

    And I immediately logged out.

    The next day I engaged in herd hunting in the Tombs of the Dead before lunchtime.

    After logging out, I ate lunch and moved straight to Northwood Castle.

    While moving there, I was a little worried because I didn¡¯t give anything to Suh in return for his generous gifts, although he was meeting me for the primary purpose of winning me over.

    Of course, he won¡¯t expel me from Daeyu because he has already invested so much in me and he was so passionate about hiring me.

    When I entered the cafe where I met him before,.Chairman Suh was already seated waiting for me. I slowly approached him and greeted him.

    ¡°How are you, Chairman Suh?¡±

    ¡°Ok, it¡¯s nice to see you here again. I have already been briefed by my staff about it, but is there anything else you need?

    ¡°Oh, no, I don¡¯t need anything else right now. I¡¯m so grateful for your support.¡±

    Of course, I intended to obtain much more from him because Daeyu can still offer a lot more support for me. But I thought of moving slowly because I don¡¯t need to be in a hurry for now, just like a chubby leech that grew so slowly that the person it was attached to did not notice.

    ¡°Good. If you need anything in the future, don¡¯t hesitate to tell us at any time because your growth equates to Daeyu¡¯s growth.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Mr. Chairman.¡±

    After that, we conversed a little more, but he didn¡¯t mention anything special or important.

    So, I was curious why he wanted to see me today.

    He didn¡¯t have to see me face to face like this when he could send me a message on the phone. But I didn¡¯t show my feelings and responded to him appropriately as needed.

    By the time our conversation was almost over, Chairman Suh said in a low voice, ¡°May I ask if you are interested in a quest?¡±

    ¡°Quest?¡±

    ¡°Yes, a quest.¡±

    ¡°Is there anyone ying ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ who is not interested in aquest?¡±

    Quests were very precious because they gave great rewards..

    ¡°Then, are you interested in proceeding with a quest? It is very difficult though.¡±

    ¡°Well, if you give me one, I can do it, of course.¡±

    Chairman Suh clearly mentioned the quest he had in mind was very difficult.

    So, I became more greedy for it because the more difficult a quest was, the greater its rewards upon sessfulpletion of the quest.

    ¡°Then, how about betting on it?¡±

    ¡°A bet?¡±

    ¡°Yes. If you clear the quest within three attempts, you get to keep all the rewards and profits from the quest. But if you fail within three attempts, you will dine with me once. How about it?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Obviously, his ¡®dining¡¯ didn¡¯t mean virtual ¡°dining¡± within the game of ¡°Revival Legend.¡± He meant ¡°dining¡± in the real world, which would expose my real-life information.

    Of course, I am confident that I can clear any quest.

    Moreover, even if I can¡¯t clear the quest, I don¡¯t have to keep the promise of dining with him.

    However, Chairman Suh is probably using the Memory Bead now.

    So, if I do not fulfill the promise, he will show the video of this meeting to pressure me. He would even threaten to disclose the video if I still don¡¯t acquiesce.

    Of course, Asirante will take the me for breaking the promise, but obviously, Asirante was my ID.

    In other words, if he really trantes his threat into action, my name Asirante would receive an irrevocable ck mark.

    So, I had no choice but to agonize over Chairman Suh¡¯s offer.

    Of course, all I had to do was clear the quest within three tries. Then I would have no problem whatsoever. Moreover, I am confident in clearing quests of any difficulty.

    Finally, I opened my mouth confidently.

    ¡°Sorry, Mr. Chairman. These days I feel I am not as good at hunting as I was before. So, I would like to focus on hunting more.¡±

    As for my greed for the quest he mentioned? Of course I¡¯m in. I¡¯m all the more enthusiastic because he mentioned the quest was very difficult and I¡¯m confident in clearing any difficult quest with 100%, or even 1000% certainty.

    However, I have no intention of taking a useless risk. Even if it was revealedter that the quest was of a level that I could easily clear, I wouldn¡¯t regret my decision because the moment I associated with Daeyu, I repeatedly pledged that I would never reveal even 1% about my real-life identity no matter what.

    At that moment Chairman Suh, who always had a gentle smile while talking with me, frowned at my unexpected refusal.

    However, I did not intend to change my decision, so I casually sipped the tea in front of me.

    ¡°Good, Asirante. Then, how about this?¡±

    ¡°Pardon?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do a twenty-question game.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean? I really don¡¯t understand what you are talking about.¡±

    ¡°I mean exactly what I just said. So, for each time you attempt the quest and fail it, I will ask you a question. For example, if you unfortunately fail in the first attempt, I will ask you something like, ¡®Do you live in Seoul?¡¯, then you can simply answer ¡®yes¡¯ or ¡®no¡¯ to that question.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I never thought he would make this kind of suggestion after I declined his offer.

    After agonizing for a moment, I opened my mouth.

    ¡°Okay. I will ept it.¡±

    Of course, I did not ept his suggestion because he would find it difficult to find out my identity. Obviously, he would ask me a barrage of questions if I failed the challenge. And he would be able to identify me even with just a few questions instead of 20 questions, assuming I tell the truth.

    Of course, Chairman Suh would try to analyze my answers and expressions to verify if my answers were true or false.

    The real reason I epted his offer was because I was full of desire to outfox him this time.

    The fact that he made such an offer to me despite my earlier refusal showed that he thought I would never be able to clear this quest, even though he had witnessed me clearing all quests easily until now.

    Of course, I had some misgivings deep down.

    ¡®Well, if I really fail, I can disappear anyway.¡¯

    I¡¯m willing to ept any nasty or humiliating criticism of me if that happens.

    Of course, I intend to clear the quest by all means.

    Anyway, right after I epted his proposal, a message rang.

    [Would you like to share the quest ¡®Find the Token of the Salimaru bandits who stole the sun¡¯?

    -Yes or No.]

    First of all, the title of the quest itself was quite unusual because I did not think that the sun was something that somebody could steal.

    So, I immediately chose ¡®Yes¡¯ because I was curious.

    Chairman Suh yelled delightfully deep down because he was convinced I would fail, and he could ask questions every time I failed.

    Moreover, he knew that I might not answer his questions truthfully, but he didn¡¯t care. He felt that even if I gave him a false answer, he would get some clues about my real-life identity.

    In other words, he was so desperate to find even the slightest clue or tip about my identity.

 Chapter 110 - Salimaru Bandits (1)

    <h4>Chapter 110: Salimaru Bandits (1)</h4>

    [Quest ¡®Find the Token of the Salimaru Bandits.¡¯

    -Archaeologist Monte, a descendant of the historic Monte family, identally obtained ancient documents in an ancient historic site whose name was unknown. He was so pleased that he immediately immersed himself in interpreting the ancient documents and finally finished interpreting them after thirty years.

    Shortly afterward, he published the contents of the old documents.

    However, he was immediately called a liar because the ancient documents were filled with unbelievable content.

    What they documented was none other than the thefts of the Salimaru Bandit who allegedly stole stars, light, and darkness, and even stole the sun.

    No one believed it, but archaeologist Monte did.

    He had no choice but to believe it because the contents of the ancient documents were very detailed and systematic. Since he had devoted most of his life to interpreting the documents, the public denying its contents was equivalent to denying his own life.

    So, for the past twenty years, Monte searched all kinds of historic sites to prove the existence of the Salimaru Bandits.

    And after giving up everything to conduct this exhaustive search, he finally found information about the ce where the Salimaru Bandits allegedly hid theirst treasure.

    After that, Monte wanted something more than anything else. Did he want thest treasure of the Salimaru Bandits?

    No, what he wanted was a token that the treasure was made from the trunk of the World Tree, which would be sure evidence that the Salimaru Bandits existed.

    He thought that only such a token could prove that he didn¡¯t waste his life pursuing illusions.

    So Monte, thest descendant of the historic Monte family, bet his everything to find it.

    -Reward.

    : 450 million golden rings.

    : 12,000 coins.

    : 700 remaining stat points.

    : 1 random box with 1 essory between the legend and myth grades.

    : 300 essory enhancement stones for enhancing.

    : 2 ancient cooldown removal charms. (The cooldown removal will ur after tearing the ancient charm.)

    -Separate reward.

    : Everything from the Salimaru Bandits¡¯ hideout except for their sign.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I was speechless at the eye-popping rewards that were beyond any description.

    I¡¯ve never heard about a reward featuring 700 remaining stat points with over 400 million golden rings.

    I feel really good about the rewards because of my good memories of having acquired a random box with essories between precious and legendary grades which provided me with the legendary essory called the Brave Fighter¡¯s Bracelet which I was still wearing to this day.

    However, this time, it was a random box with an essory between the legendary grade and the highest myth grade.

    What if I obtained a myth grade essory?

    ¡®I¡¯m going to hit the jackpot, of course.¡¯

    There were two myth grade items in Myongjin¡¯s possession.

    One of them was the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword which I possessed now.

    So, Myongjin had only one myth grade item now.

    In other words, myth grade items were too rare.

    There were many legendary grade items because they were not unique, so there could be two or more of the same item. But there were no identical myth grade items, which was why they were so precious and rare.. In other words, myth grade items were always unique.

    Of course, 12,000 coins and 300 essory enhancement stones were also a terrific reward.

    But excluding that, what astonished me most was thest reward.

    In other words, the two spell charms that removed a cooldown.

    That meant that I could remove the generated cooldown of God of Enhancement twice.

    Of course, when ites to cooldown, I first thought of skills that are usually immediately associated with it. However, the reward¡¯s description did not specifically mention skills.

    It clearly stated that the first cooldown removal would ur after one of the two charms was torn.

    And God of Enhancement¡¯s cooldown certainly belonged to the cooldown category.

    Moreover, I had one 100% enhancement sess right that I was hoarding in my inventory.

    If Ibine it with this reward, I can make +1 Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword +4 enhancement sword right away. Of course, I do not n to do it right now.

    Some people may feel that the ancient cooldown removal charms were the least valuable of the seven reward options, but for me it was the most valuable.

    So, I could not help but stare at Chairman Suh nkly since I was speechless at such fantastic rewards.

    If I cleared this quest and obtained all these rewards, it would be a serious blow not only to Chairman Suh, but also to the Daeyu Group as a whole.

    But I understood why the chairman gave me such an offer. It was because a quest with suchrge rewards would be never easy to clear.

    Daeyu must have challenged that quest dozens, hundreds, or maybe even thousands of times. After repeatedly failing to clear the quest, they must have concluded that it was impossible for anybody to clear it.

    Anyway, Chairman Suh slowly opened his mouth, looking at me.

    ¡°I really hope Asirante can clear this quest. If you be stronger, so will Daeyu. Don¡¯t you think so?¡±

    ¡°I will do my best to meet your expectations.¡±

    Contrary to what he said, if I sessfully clear this quest, Chairman Suh will bitterly regret having given me this offer. Maybe he might grab my pants and beg me to share the rewards with him.

    And I really wanted to make that happen.

    ¡°Haha. Very good. Then, shall we go now?¡±

    ¡°Right now?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Do you need to put it off? You have to meet Monte for your first try. You must meet the NPC called Monte in person.¡±

    ¡°Sure. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Do I need to prepare something for right now? Nope.

    Moreover, Chairman Suh won¡¯t give me any umted information about this quest that he has kept under his control. Above all, he is a man who wants to see me fail.

    So, I followed Chairman Suh from Northwood Castle to Hackkiss Castle.

    Tramp, tramp!

    We kept moving west past the central square of Hackkiss Castle.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t follow him blindly without thinking about my possible moves.

    I sent a message to Director Insu Sok on the phone even though he was also unlikely to know about this quest.

    [Lumen: Can I talk to you, Director Sok?]

    [Sok: Sure, Juyoung.]

    [Lumen: Do you happen to know of the Salimaru Bandits?]

    [Sok: Salimaru Bandits? Well, I¡¯ve never heard of them. Is there anything unusual?]

    [Lumen: No. I will tell youter.]

    [Sok: Yes. Okay.]

    Director Sok did everything neat and tidy, which was why my father trusted him.

    I thought that given his temperament, Director Sok would not sit idle after hearing about the Salimaru Bandits from me. In other words, since he had just heard about them from me, he would be busy searching for information about the Salimaru Bandits now.

    Of course, I would havepleted the quest before that.

    Anyway, as I expected, I would have to challenge this quest without receiving any information about it prior. But I was more enthusiastic about clearing it because of that. I slowly felt I was getting excited about this quest.

    Not long after I started walking after Chairman Suh, I arrived in front of an antique building.

    ¡°This is Monte¡¯s mansion. He is the man who gave me this quest, so he knows how to proceed.¡±

    Having heard this, I naturally followed Chairman Suh into the building and approached an old man sitting with his eyes closed in a rocking chair near the window.

    ¡°Mr. Monte, I¡¯m here to proceed with the quest.¡±

    ¡°Oh my God. You are really persistent and stubborn.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha. This time I brought another guy.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    When he heard Suh¡¯s words, the NPC named Monte opened his eyes slightly and looked at me. And he looked me up and down as if he was evaluating me.

    Then, unlike the tepid way he reacted to Chairman Suh, he stood up from the rocking chair with his eyes open wide and approached me.

    ¡°Hummm¡­ Looks like you¡¯ve finally decided to clear this quest since you brought a guy like this. I¡¯m positive this time. If this guy fails too, then probably no one will ever get ess to that ce again.¡±

    Then Monte grabbed my hand and spoke excitedly unlike before.

    I had this kind of experience before when I met a certain woman.

    It was Kihanna who I met in the Pioneers¡¯ City.

    Just like this old man, she asked me if I was strong, then gave an A grade quest to me who had just reached level 100, telling me I looked stronger than anybody else.

    Chairman Suh¡¯s face suddenly stiffened when Monte weed me so dly without hiding his excitement. But I ignored him because I had already received the quest.

    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s move fast. As I am growing old, I am getting more impatient.¡±

    Ignoring Suh, Monte took my hand and led me to the fountain in the middle of the mansion¡¯s garden.

    ¡°This right here is the ce where the Salimaru Bandits can move to theirst hideout. So, I bought this ce and built a mansion.¡±

    ¡°Oh I see.¡±

    I responded to the old man¡¯s rather nostalgic reminiscence.

    ¡°Okay, hold my hand first because I¡¯ve absorbed all the information about the Salimaru Bandits into my body.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t understand what he was talking about.

    At that moment a message rang.

 Chapter 111 - Salimaru Bandits (2)

    <h4>Chapter 111: Salimaru Bandits (2)</h4>

    [You have obtained information about the Salimaru Bandits¡¯ hideout from Monte.]

    ¡°If you say ¡®I¡¯vee to a hideout deeper than the abyss¡¯ in front of the mountain, you can move to the Salimaru Bandits¡¯ hideout. Moreover, since you have already registered yourself, you cane here alone and take the challenge again in the future if you fail this time. But for some reason, I think you will be sessful this time.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your kind encouragement. It¡¯s a big help to me.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee. I¡¯m just so happy that a strong person like you is challenging it.¡±

    Judging from Monte¡¯s reaction, I figured out that Chairman Suh took me to this ce directly because this was a quest that nobody could challenge without Monte¡¯s permission. I sneakily nced at Chairman Suh who had a gloomy expression.

    After taking delight in looking at his embarrassed face, I opened my mouth.

    ¡°I¡¯vee to a hideout deeper than the abyss.¡±

    Shuuuuuuung!

    At the moment, I felt something pulling my body strongly.

    But I wasn¡¯t embarrassed because I knew I would be moved to the Salimaru Bandits¡¯ hideout. And shortly afterward, a huge cave with fourrge tunnels in the east, west, south and north appeared before my eyes.

    A message rang.

    [The one who cannot enter the right way will not be able to move forward.]

    ¡°Hmm. It looks tough right from the beginning¡­¡±

    I rather wished a monster came out first because I was confident of hunting any monster. But I didn¡¯t think this was that bad because my Blink skill without any cooldown removed any limitations of distance.

    Moreover, since I was alone here, no one would notice that I had Blink with zero cooldown.

    So, I moved straight towards the north while consecutively using Blink.

    While Asirante moved to the Salimaru Bandits¡¯ hideout, Chairman Suh remained sullen because although he brought all the strong men from Daeyu here, Monte had never shown such a reaction before. Monte¡¯s reaction showed that Asirante¡¯s chance of sess was high, and Chairman Suh had no choice but to worry.

    If Asirante seeded in clearing the quest in just one try, it would be the worst possible situation for Suh. In other words, it would be exactly like the saying, ¡®you do all the work and somebody else gets the credit.¡¯

    Chairman Suh kept his fingers crossed that Asirante would fail by all means so he could get the chance to retract this offer when he failed.

    Then he swore at Nakson Lee, Daeyu¡¯s intelligence chief, who first suggested to the chairman about using the quest to find out Asirante¡¯s real-life information.

    ¡°Blink. Blink. Blink.¡±

    I used Blink consecutively to first traverse the northern tunnel.

    But nothing showed up.

    Although I spent less than a minute going up this tunnel, I must have traveled a considerable distance. If I had walked normally, it would have taken me almost an hour or more to move this distance.

    Then a message rang as if something was wrong.

    [You have entered the wrong way.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I felt empty and disappointed at this message because I had moved quite a long distance.

    Of course, honestly, I didn¡¯t have a hard time doing so.

    At that moment, another message rang as if that was not the end.

    [A trap has been triggered to punish you for entering the wrong way.]

    At that moment a little sound was heard, along with the message.

    It was the sound of water flowing, which gradually got bigger.

    Of course, I could figure out what this was.

    In movies that focused on exploration or adventure, a trap that the main actor encountered at least once was a scene where a huge amount of water poured in when he was trapped in a cave. And what was happening right now was what I expected.

    I saw a huge tunnel in front of me which was filled with a stream of water rushing towards me at tremendous speed.

    ¡°Uh? Do they want me to shoot a movie scene here?¡±

    Of course, I would not be able to convey such a tense and breathless scene to the audience.

    And I had no intention of doing so here because I had Blink with zero cooldown.

    I escaped from that huge current that seemed to devour everything in the northern tunnel.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t suffer any damage while escaping from it.

    Without the zero cooldown Blink, I would have been swept away and killed by that tremendous current.

    Indeed, the current was huge and fierce enough to fill the entire tunnel. So much so that I could not do much about it even if I used a powerful Ice Shield or used Ice Field to freeze it.

    So, Iined before I knew it.

    ¡°Man, this is too tough from the beginning! I might have to be killed before even doing anything by making the wrong choice.¡±

    I had to choose the right tunnel out of the four in the beginning. In other words, I only had a one in four chance to seed. Based on that probability, I thought it was very unfair to drown in that torrent even without struggling at all. Moreover, even if I died and tried again, I didn¡¯t think the northern tunnel would always feature a trap like that huge current. I was convinced that the trap would change something else. And that¡¯s why the Daeyu guys have never been sessful until now.

    That most likely wasn¡¯t the end.

    Obviously, even if I chose the right tunnel, something else would be waiting for me.

    And if I die there, I would have to challenge the one in four chance from the beginning again.

    ¡°Man, this is really tough.¡¯

    I cleared my throat before I knew it. I had guessed that this quest would be very difficult, given the enormous rewards, but it was far more difficult than I thought.

    But even so, I was happy deep down.

    Was it because I was convinced I could clear the quest no matter how difficult it was? Nope.

    Obviously, I could notpletely rule this out, but there was another reason for me why I was really happy. In other words, if the quest had not been this difficult, Chairman Suh would not have given it to me at all. He gave it to me because he waspletely convinced I would fail.

    That¡¯s why I liked this level of difficulty. If Suh had thought I had even a 1% chance of sess, he would never have offered me this quest.

    ¡°Good. Then, let me go this way this time.¡±

    I turned to the eastern tunnel in the 3 o¡¯clock direction.

    Then I moved deep into the tunnel using Blink consecutively.

    About one minute after I traversed the tunnel as far as I had the northern tunnel, a message rang.

    [You have entered the wrong way.]

    It was a very disappointing message that my efforts until now were in vain.

    ¡°Well, it means I¡¯m not that lucky.¡±

    I had already failed to take the right way, and now I entered the wrong way again.

    But I rather expected what woulde out this time as a penalty for my failure.

    Like I experienced in the northern tunnel, a sound greeted me again.

    Puck! Puck!

    It was the sound of something smashing and rolling down toward me.

    I had guessed something after hearing the sound, and it was exactly as I expected.

    Huge stonesrge enough to fill the whole tunnel were rolling towards me.

    ¡°Ice Spear! Multiple Ice Arrow!¡±

    Piik! Piiiiiiiiik!

    Level 4 Ice Spear and Level 3 Multiple Ice Arrow were the most powerful single-target skills I¡¯ve ever learned. In fact, they showed an extraordinary power different from the Ice Spear and Multiple Ice Arrow used by other ice wizards.

    However, they couldn¡¯t even scratch the massive rocks that were rolling at a high speed. Perhaps the rocks were incredibly hard or they might even be real stones.

    I even suspected that these rocks were designed not to be broken in the first ce.

    Anyway, they looked so hard at a nce.

    ¡°Blink. Blink.¡±

    Since I didn¡¯t have any intention of being crushed by these huge rocks, I escaped from that tunnel safely by consecutively using Blink.

    Now I faced the huge tunnels again.

    I was pacing up and down in front of the remaining two tunnels in the direction of the 6 o¡¯clock and 9 o¡¯clock respectively.

    ¡°I have a 50% chance now. If I fail again¡­¡±

    Of course, it wouldn;t be much of a problem even if I failed, but my pride would be hurt.

    I didn¡¯t want to be a man with bad luck. So, I had to worry a little more this time.

    I had to choose one of the two tunnels.

    Finally, I made a decision before long.

    ¡°Okay. Let me go clockwise like I first decided.¡±

    There was a reason why I initially chose to go from the12 o¡¯clock tunnel to the 3 o¡¯clock tunnel.

    Clearly, that was clockwise.

    This time, if I went straight to the tunnel in the 9 o¡¯clock direction without going through the one in the 6 o¡¯clock position, I felt like I would regret it very muchter because I had changed my mind in the middle.

    When I took a midterm or final exam in the past, I felt fine if I picked the wrong answer in the first ce. But I often got the answer wrong because I changed my mind after choosing the right answer first. I really felt bitter on such asions at the thought that I had foolishly changed my mind.

    So, reflecting on my bitter experiences, I finally decided to go along with my initial decision.

 Chapter 112 - Salimaru Bandits (3)

    <h4>Chapter 112: Salimaru Bandits (3)</h4>

    ¡°Yeah, I need to be flexible in my thinking. If l feel it¡¯s not right, I have to change it fast for bigger gainster. And I don¡¯t have to waste time anyway,¡± I muttered, getting out of the southern tunnel using Blink to avoid being charcoaled by huge mes.

    Then I moved toward the western tunnel in the 9 o¡¯clock position, the only one I hadn¡¯t yet stepped in.

    A message rang sometime after I kept using Blink just like I did in the other tunnel.

    [Congrattions! You have entered the right way.]

    ¡°Of course, I know it is the right way because this is thest tunnel.¡±

    This was thest tunnel I entered after confirming I entered the wrong tunnel three times.

    Since the process of meing here was too painful for me to express joy, I just continued down it, rather embarrassed. And then I entered a huge cave from which eight tunnels diverged.

    After looking around nkly, I could not help but spit out, ¡°This is really driving me nuts!¡±

    I didn¡¯t move this time and reflected on what I had gone through to check if I had missed any clue.

    But there really was nothing. There was a huge cave and four tunnels with no unique signs or features.

    In fact, I carefully looked around to check if there was anything unusual before I entered the tunnels in the direction of 12, 3, 6, and 9 o¡¯clock.

    And it was the same this time. There was an empty cave and eight tunnels connected to it.

    At that moment, an ominous thought shed through my mind.

    ¡°I wonder if 4 bes 8, then 16 then 32¡­¡±

    Of course, unlike others, I wasn¡¯t afraid of the penalty traps from entering the wrong path.

    Moreover, I could check all eight tunnels within 16 minutes, assuming it took me two minutes to go in and exit each tunnelpared to others who would take over an hour. More precisely, I could cover the eight tunnels within 15 minutes, given that I would enter the right way on the eighth tunnel no matter what.

    However, I didn¡¯t like the quest itself because it was controlled by luck and not by one¡¯s skill or ability. When I thought about it, however, I burst intoughter before I knew it because I was a lucky man as far as luck was concerned. For example, I received Blink with zero cooldown just in time before getting this quest from Chairman Suh.

    ¡°Okay. I don¡¯t care if it¡¯s 8, 16 or 32, or whatever. Let me beat you guys no matter what.¡±

    So, I designated the northernmost tunnel as No. 1, then designated the others as No. 2 and No. 3 and so in a clockwise direction. Then I immediately entered tunnel No. 1.

    At Monte¡¯s mansion in Hackiss Castle.

    Monte, who had already done his job, moved around inside the mansion, but Chairman Suh remained still.

    He decided to wait for one more hour because he would know whether Asriante cleared the quest or not by that time.

    Moreover, Suh knew that Asirante had Blink and that he moved far quicker,pared with other wizards. Chairman Suh decided that it would not take Asirante more than an hour toplete the quest.

    But it had already passed an hour.

    Now, Chairman Suh had no choice but to admit that Asirante had beaten the one in four chance of sess.

    ¡°Sure, Asirante could easily beat the one in four chance of sess in one try because this probability cannot exactly be calledrge or small. But whates next is very tough. It is very difficult to call one in eight simply double of one in four.¡±

    So, Chairman Suh did not move. He wanted to confirm with his own eyes that Asirante failed and felt devastated. When two hours and thirty minutes passed, he could not help but admit that Asirante had also beaten the one in eight chance of sess. Otherwise, there was no reason for Asirante not to show up. At that point, even Suh inevitably became nervous and restless.

    Of course, he knew that that was not the end because Asirante would have to face 16 tunnels after passing 4 and 8 tunnels.

    However, the fact that Asirante had already seeded the 4 and 8 tunnels in session meant that he could even beat the 1/32 probability.

    Chairman Suh could not believe that Asirante beat such a difficult probability by sheer luck, given that he had beaten the previous tests of probability consecutively.

    Now he thought there was something special about Asirante.

    ¡°Damn it! What the hell do you have, Asirante!¡±

    Chairman Suh vented in anger and resentment while also feeling anxious and fearful when Asirante did not show up for more than two hours.

    If Asirante cleared this quest in one try, it would be like giving wings to tigers that should be trained and bred. And the tiger can bite him, of course.

    Three hourster.

    ¡°Wow¡­oh my God¡­¡±

    Starting with the first 4 tunnels, I kept passing through 8 tunnels, 16 tunnels, 32 tunnels, 64 and 128 tunnels. When I finally faced 256 tunnels, I could utter only one word ¡®wow¡¯.

    What¡¯s more, I wasn¡¯t sure whether these 256 tunnels were the final test of this quest.

    Of course, like the first four tunnels, I didn¡¯t find the right way immediately during all the previous tests..

    For example, in the cave opening with 64 tunnels, I luckily found the correct way at the 4th tunnel.

    However, in 128 tunnels, I could find it only after passing the 100th one.

    Anyway, I shouted out loud in front of the huge cave opening with 256 tunnels.

    ¡°Damn it! Let me confront monsters, not tunnels! What the heck is this?¡±

    Be it 512 tunnels or 1024 tunnels, or even more, it wouldn¡¯t matter as long as they were thest.

    But when I thought I had finally reached the end of the caves, they kepting out which made me so frustrated and depressed. So, I vented out such frustration by shouting loudly.

    After that, I arbitrarily designated the northernmost tunnel as No. 1, then approached it because I didn¡¯t have the luxury ofining now.

    It¡¯s something I had to do since I had received the quest.

    Aside from all the other rewards, I really wanted to obtain the two cooldown removal charms.

    Exactly an hour and a half passed after I confronted the 256 tunnels.

    It took me two minutes to get in and out of one tunnel.

    So, I was really happy when a message different from the previous one rang in the 45th tunnel which I randomly chose.

    [Congrattions! You have entered the right way.]

    Given there were 256 tunnels, finding the correct way in the 45th tunnels was really quick.

    However, my joy didn¡¯tst long because 512 tunnels might be waiting for me at the end of the road.

    Nheless, I continued to use Blink because I had no intention of giving up.

    And as soon as I reached the end of the 45th tunnel, I encountered another huge cave opening.

    I could not help but swear at first. However, when Ipletely exited tunnel No. 45 and entered the huge cave opening, there were no more tunnels. Instead, it was a perfectly enclosed space.

    Of course, that didn¡¯t mean that I had found the token I was looking for or the Salimaru Bandit¡¯s treasure, but I was happy because it meant I didn¡¯t have to find the right way in the caves that werepletely subject to luck.

    And I could confirm it through a message that rang immediately.

    [You have cleared the first out of a total of two steps to move to the Salimaru Bandits¡¯st hideout.

    -If you clear the 2nd stage, you can move to the Salimaru Bandits¡¯st hideout .]

    ¡°Alright! Let me start quickly!¡±

    Looking at the message, I shouted in the brightest voice I had since I entered the dungeon of the Salimaru Bandits.

    I thought the next step would definitely be rted to the appearance of monsters.

    In other words, I thought that it would have monsters regardless of whether stronger monsters would appear in each sessive round, or whether I would have to get rid of the monsters within a given time. That was the mostmon way of proceeding with a quest based on my experience so far.

    However, as if poking fun at my expectations, a message that appeared before my eyes showed somethingpletely different.

    [Showing off.

    -The legendary bandits, the Salimaru Bandits.

    *Ingrid, the leader of the Salimaru Bandits, possesses several abilities that were iparably excellent. And the most outstanding one of them was showing off to others.

    Ingrid¡¯s skill at bragging was so perfect that it had almost everybody in stitches. So, people even said that Ingrid¡¯s biggest weapon was none other than his mouth.

    The road to thest hideout of the Salimaru Bandits.

    Before confronting Ingrid, you should be able to knock him down a peg or two or have him recognize that you are as good at bragging as him.

    : However, if you brag falsely, you will be immediately subdued and killed.

    : An appropriate level of bluffing based on facts is eptable, but if you bluff more than is allowed, you will be immediately subdued and killed.]

    ¡°¡­.¡±

    I¡¯ve often heard the phrase ¡°I am speechless¡±, but I haven¡¯t yet felt it myself.

    Of course, I felt like that a bit when I confronted 256 tunnels, but I didn¡¯t go that far because I had Blink with zero cooldown.

    Right now, I acutely realized what it meant when somebody said he was speechless.

    The current message waspletely beyond what I had ever imagined.

    Show off to others?

    While I was dumbfounded, agonizing over that message, a human figure emerged in front of me, with the name tag ¡°Ingrid, the leader of the Salimaru Bandits¡± on top of his head.

 Chapter 113 - Salimaru Bandits (4)

    <h4>Chapter 113: Salimaru Bandits (4)</h4>

    As soon as Ingrid showed up, he opened his mouth.

    [I am Ingrid, the leader of the Salimaru Bandits.]

    The NPC was speaking to me with his head upright.

    At the moment, I was wondering if I should introduce myself to him, but as I was thinking about it, Ingrid immediately opened his mouth again as if he was not interested in my answer.

    [I have achieved immense wealth in my lifetime. I was so wealthy that if I put together all the golden rings I collected, I could make a huge mountain with them. But you look like a bum to me. Of course, you¡¯d say that you¡¯re not a beggar. A person like you would value 1 or 10 or 100, but I have 1 million or 10 million. In other words, you¡¯re just a beggar in my eyes.]

    As soon as he finished speaking, I opened my inventory.

    And I took out 960 million golden rings, just short of 40 million from 1 billion golden rings.

    At that moment, Ingrid changed his expression slightly.

    [Okay. That¡¯s more than I thought. But that¡¯s still far short of ¡­]

    Although Ingrid changed his expression a bit, he still arrogantly replied.

    So, I interrupted him and said, ¡°I¡¯ve got 100 times as much as this.¡±

    In fact, I wanted to mention 300 or 500 times, not 100, because my wealth umted under the name of Myongjin was more than enough to cover it.

    However, remembering the warning that I would be subdued if I bragged excessively, I just mentioned 100 times which was more realistic. Even that was a huge amount.

    When I mentioned 100 times, however, Ingrid¡¯s expression changed clearly unlike before.

    In other words, 100 times was clearly beyond the range of his scorn, which was 1 to 10 times.

    But it was not over yet. I had a decisive hidden card.

    ¡°Besides, I can afford to buy at least several times as many golden rings.¡±

    I thought I could buy them if I sold the Myongjin Group as a whole because Myongjin was one of Korea¡¯s top five business groups, or four business groups excluding Daeyu.

    Of course, as far as I know, Myongjin¡¯s management are racking their brains to collect golden rings as much as possible even now. Not just golden rings but also all other items because this ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ is not just a simple game.

    However, based on the tacit agreement with Mirae, Daesung, Kusan, and Daeyu, the Myongjin Group was moving carefully now because if the price of golden rings and items surged due to one of the groups¡¯ greedy move, everyone would lose.

    Anyway, I mentioned it to Ingrid appropriately, based on the facts.

    Of course, even if I failed because of groundless lying or bluffing, it would be a piece of cake for me to return to this ce. But I didn¡¯t want to go through the trouble of passing through hundreds of tunnels again.

    [Hmmhmm. Good. Let me admit that. I think you¡¯ve gained as much wealth as me. But your wealth is nothingpared to this best treasure I have. Disclose Items.]

    Hearing what he said, I now knew my bragging was not excessive but proper.

    Besides, I passed his initial test and actually beat him.

    In other words, I won the first round.

    Perhaps that¡¯s why Ingrid changed the topic to items.

    And as soon as he finished talking, an item appeared before my eyes.

    [+8 Ne with the sealed heart of a Phoenix. (myth grade)

    -It is a ne with the heart of a phoenix, an eternal beast that undergoes rebirth to live a new life, sealed within.

    : At least level 700 required to equip this item.

    : At least 6000 base stamina required to equip this item.

    -Effect.

    : Upon death, resurrection is possible with 100% recovery of all health and mana.

    When resurrected, all stat points are quadrupled for 24 hours, and you cannot die for a total of 16 hours right after resurrection.

    Cooldown: 90 days

    : Immunity to all fire-type damage increases by 30%.

    : Debuff resistance to curses increases by 30%.

    : Strength increases by 3000.

    : Intellect increases by 2000.

    : Willpower Increases by 1000.

    -Physical defense increases by 1300, magic defense increases by 1750.

    -Durability: 19555555/19555555]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    It was a new myth grade item. Its options were tremendous.

    Especially the option of immediate resurrection upon death.

    I thought that this option itself was worthy of a myth grade, but the description below was even more surprising. In other words, all stat points quadrupling for 34 hours and invincibility for 16 hours.

    Of course, 90 days was a pretty long cooldown, but considering that I would be invincible for 16 hours and could boast of an almighty power for 24 hours during which my stats were quadrupled, the option was just awesome. Besides, 30% immunity to fire-type damage and 30% curse debuff resistance, let alone the increase in Intellect and Willpower, were just amazing.

    Of course, the reason all of this was possible wasn¡¯t simply because it was a myth grade item.

    Even though the safety enhancement for a myth grade item was +0 enhancement, this myth grade Phoenix ne was a +8 enhancement item.

    I was told by my father and Director Sok that there were less than 10 myth grade items in Korea, and all of them were +0 enhancement.

    In other words, myth-grade items were so precious that even any attempt to enhance them required some extraordinary courage or some kind of ridiculous determination. If somebody fails to enhance a myth grade item and it disappears, he would rather die.

    Of course, much greater enhancement might be avable outside Korea. Not just +1 enhancement, but even +2 and +3 might exist because the world is vast and there are many crazy guys.

    But I can say firmly that +8 enhancement does not currently exist.

    When I saw the +8 ne with the heart of a phoenix sealed inside, however, I thought to myself,

    ¡®If the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword is enhanced to +8 enhancement, will it have that sort of capability?¡¯

    Frankly speaking, the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword, currently +1 enhancement, wasn¡¯t bad.

    Moreover, the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword was not just an item, but a weapon. Compared to the four essories that could be worn including a ne, earrings, ring, and bracelet, I liked a weapon more because I could only equip one.

    Anyway, I also disclosed my myth grade item, the +1 Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    [+1 Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword (Myth)

    -It is a sword containing thest determination of Asirante, the master and emperor of ice, who fought against Morutu, the Sun God who burned and evaporated everything in the world.

    : At least level 700 required to equip.

    : At least 7000 base intellect required to equip.

    : Only one with at least 10 ice-type skills can use this item.

    -Effect.

    : Performance of all ice-type skills increases by 10%.

    : Cooldown of all ice-type skills decreases by 10%.

    : 1% chance of increasing damage by tenfold to an opponent hit by an ice-type skill.

    : Level 3 Ice Weapon is always applied to the guardian sword. (This effect with the user¡¯s Ice Weapon magic. For example, if the user has a level 1 Ice Weapon and uses it, the power of a level 4 Ice Weapon is applied.)

    : 20% chance of inflicting frostbite to the opponent hit by the guardian sword. (This 20% chance is applied additionally to any skill the user has rted to frostbite. However, this 20% chance is only applied on hit with the guardian sword.)

    : With the determination of the Ice Emperor that even the Sun God could not melt, it has 20% damage reduction and advantage over all fire-type skills.

    : Increases Strength by 1000.

    : Increase Agility by 500.

    -Safety enhancement: 0

    -Physical attack power increases by 9550.

    -Magic attack power increases by 955.

    -Durability: 8900000/8900000]

    As such, I proudly disclosed the +1 Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    However, it seemed Ingrid was not quite satisfied with that.

    [Alright. You also have a myth grade item. But only +1 enhancement? Of course, considering that the safety enhancement is 0, even a +1 enhancement is great. But even if it¡¯s a weapon, my ne is +8 enhancement]

    Certainly, it was unreasonable topare +8 enhancement with +1 enhancement when ites to the myth grade in particr.

    But I continued, ¡°Right. It is just a +1 enhancement item for now. You are bragging about +8 enhancement? Well, mine will change soon. I¡¯m going to enhance it to +11 and +12 enhancement, or even higher than that if that is not the end.¡±

    This was clearly a fact because I had the God of Enhancement trait that could help me achieve that enhancement level someday, though it would take time.

    Maybe it will take quite a lot of time, but people perceive the passage of time differently.

    In other words, one might feel one year is short, but others think it is long.

    That¡¯s why I used the ambiguous word ¡®soon¡¯ because I felt that it was within the range of eptable bluffing.

    In fact, my tactic seemed to have paid off given Ingrid¡¯s reaction.

    [Really? How is that possible?]

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s my secret.¡±

    [Damn it! Good. You won¡¯t beat me on this. Open status window!]

    [Name: Ingrid.

    Level: 3675

    Number of Kills: 145,528,912 Number of Deaths: 3

    Title: Legendary Thief and 8 others.

    Health: 4,225,000/ 4,225,000

    Mana: 1,655,000/ 1,655,000

    Strength: 24577 Agility: 9369 Stamina: 15723

    Willpower : 6572 Intellect: 19550

    Remaining Stat Points: 0

    Remaining Skill Points: 0

    Traits: bragging, attention seeker, bloodless]

    ¡°¡­¡±

 Chapter 114 - Salimaru Bandits (5)

    <h4>Chapter 114: Salimaru Bandits (5)</h4>

    In fact, I got some doubts about the Salimaru Bandits when I saw the second-stage mission featuring ridiculous bragging.

    I suspected the Salimaru Bandits were perhaps simply typical bandits.

    In other words, I thought Monte who gave me this quest was mistaken because of their ridiculous bragging.

    But when I confirmed Ingrid¡¯s status window, I had no choice but to stop thinking like that.

    Honestly, I was more surprised than when I confirmed the +8 ne with a Phoenix¡¯s sealed heart. Moreover, his main stats were strength and intellect.

    So, I really could not figure out his fighting style given his 140 million kills and 3 deaths.

    Now, it¡¯s my turn.

    ¡°Open status window.¡±

    I also opened my status window, and proudly at that.

    Obviously, there was a significant gap between him and me, but I was confident of having a far better status window than his when I reach level 3675.

    Of course, it might be a bit difficult for me to reach his strength and agility.

    [Name: Lumen, Asirante

    Level: 353

    Number of kills: 1137, Number of deaths: 0

    Title: Only Closed Beta Max Level Achiever and 4 others.

    Health: 1,505,000/ 1,505,000

    Mana: 1,097,500/ 1,097,500

    Strength: 1320 Agility: 1320 Stamina 8130

    Willpower: 4925 Intellect: 10180

    Remaining Stat Points: 0

    Remaining Skill Points: 0

    Traits: IceMan, Mutual Growth, God of Enhancement.]

    After the level 300 only arena quest, I had leveled up another 47 times.

    After clearing the recent Scorpion King quest, I received a considerable amount of EXP as a reward for the first ce and leveled up another 6 times.

    So, I leveled up a total of 53 times.

    But there was a lot more I gained. Since the 29 party members who hunted with me in the Scorpion King quest earned 0 for no contribution, I received 300 remaining stat points for my contribution of 6 million points by myself along with a message that I had exceeded the maximum contribution that any individual could make.

    So, when Ibined that with the 530 remaining stat points I acquired by adding 53 levels, I had gained 830 remaining stat points since the level 300 only quest. Of course, I invested all of them in Intellect.

    Moreover, thanks to the level 300 legendary grade Ronan¡¯s robe set I received from my father, my Intellect exceeded 10,000 even though I was only level 353.

    Nheless, I stillcked a lotpared to Ingrid.

    For example, I had only 5 titles but he had 9.

    The most crucial difference was that he was level 3675 while I was only level 353. My level was less than one-tenth of his.

    And Ingrid seemed to have noticed that difference.

    ¡°Level 353 with this status window?¡±

    He expressed surprise at my level and skills.

    I said, ¡°When I reach level 3675, don¡¯t you think I can surpass your status window? I think I can without any difficulty. Of course, I don¡¯t think I can in some fields such as Strength and Agility. Oh, the number of kills, too. I¡¯m not sure if I can exceed 100 million. But except for that, I think I can clearly beat you. Moreover, such things do not define strength. You can¡¯t win just because you are stronger than me, right?¡±

    [¡­]

    I expressed full confidence while talking to Ingrid. Actually, I was confident enough.

    The system also seemed to have recognized my confidence because Ingrid remained silent.

    About 3-4 minutes passed, but I didn¡¯t disturb Ingrid who was still showing a nk expression.

    I just waited silently.

    A littleter, Ingrid opened his mouth, stiffening his expression, as if he had made up his mind.

    [Phew! Good. Maybe you can beat me. Good. I admit it! You have so much that you do not have to feel envious of my bragging. You have won!]

    Pop!

    As soon as he finished saying that, his shape disappeared with a popping sound.

    And at the same time, a message rang.

    [You have cleared the 2nd stage to reach thest hideout of the Salimaru Bandits.

    ¨C In 10 seconds, you will be moved to thest hideout of the Salimaru Bandits.]

    ¡°Gosh¡­¡±

    I felt a little empty at the message because although Ipleted the quest, I also felt like I didn¡¯t. In other words, not only the first round of this quest which featured a maze-like format, but also this second round featuring my bragging before Ingrid was really unfamiliar to me.

    However, apart from that, my expectations swelled because I have already seen Ingrid¡¯s +8 sealed phoenix heart ne and his status window.

    When I received this quest, there was definitely this particr thing as the reward.

    [- Separate reward.

    : Everything that can be obtained from the Salimaru Bandits¡¯ hideout except for their sign.]

    This was a separate reward in addition to the original reward.

    So, if I could obtain the +8 ne with the Phoenix¡¯s sealed heart, I would really hit the jackpot!

    The ne provided an additional 2000 Intellect. However, Mutual Growth did not apply to these extra stats, so I would not get an increase in Stamina or Willpower. Thankfully, the ne still provided an additional 3000 Strength and 1000 Willpower, else such a big penalty would really break my heart.

    But even considering that, I liked the other options too.

    I shook my head at that moment because I felt that my body was being sucked somewhere after ten seconds passed.

    And I face a huge, full, cave, unlike those empty caves I encountered previously.

    [67,000,000,000 golden rings.]

    [+9 Helm of the Sky Warrior. (Legend)]

    [+ 3000 Remaining stat points potion.]

    [500,000 coins]

    :

    :

    [300 Ancient Cooldown Removal Charms]

    [+5 Primal lightning. (Myth]

    [Sign of the Salimaru Bandits.]

    [Stealing the stars. (Disposable item.)]

    [+8 ne with the sealed heart of a Phoenix. (Myth)]

    [Trait: Attention Seeker.]

    ¡°¡­.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t open my eyes properly because I was so surprised.

    It was as if all the treasures of the world were gathered in this one ce.

    Yes, it really looked like that.

    At that moment, I trembled before I knew it.

    Was it because of my pleasure or joy? Of course, I was affected by that, but that wasn¡¯t the whole reason. Rather, I trembled because I had bumped into too much treasure here.

    In fact, I didn¡¯t even think about the rewards I would get here.

    I just aimed for the Ancient Cooldown Removal Charms and a random box that contained an essory of the myth grade, as well the 500 million golden rings and 700 remaining stat points offered by Monte as the reward for clearing the quest.

    But this treasure here dwarfed all the rewards offered by Monte.

    I was about to step forward to delve into the treasure when something shed through my mind quickly.

    It was a scene of some unexpected trap appearing the moment when I bumped into the treasure and raced to it, yelling for joy, after going through all kinds of hardships.

    Of course, I might be worrying too much without any usible reason.

    But I first checked the location of the +8 ne with the sealed heart of a phoenix was located

    And I thought of something to grab together with it when I picked it up.

    Of course, the item called +5 Primal Lightning also caught my eye, not to mention the disposable item called Stealing the Stars.

    But they were too far away from each other. Moreover, I didn¡¯t know their exact options.

    So, I decided to aim for something certain, hoping my considerable worries were groundless.

    Anyway, I figured out what I could pick up along with the + 8 ne with the sealed heart of a phoenix if I used Blink.

    Then I took a long deep breath and used it.

    ¡°Blink.¡±

    But a message rang immediately.

    [You can¡¯t use your skills here.]

    ¡°¡­.¡±

    After entering the dungeon called thest hideout of the Salimaru Bandits, I found myself speechless several times because of unexpected situations like this.

    So, I waited for nearly 30 minutes, but nothing happened. In the end, I stepped forward carefully after concluding that I had to move.

    And as soon as I took a step, a new message rang.

    [Congrattions on entering thest hideout of the Salimaru Bandits.

    -As a reward for entering thest hideout of the Salimaru Bandits, you will receive the sign of the Salimaru Bandits.]

    The sign of the bandits was an essential item for clearing the quest.

    So, it was natural that it was given to me.

    But I was a bit worried because I thought I would not be given all the rewards.

    As I was worried, a message rang.

    [As a reward for first entering thest hideout of the Salimaru Bandits, one of the items collected by the Salimaru Bandits who used to stay here will be given to you. ]

    Just one item?

    But I let out a sigh of relief that I was given even one of them. I wouldn¡¯t be able to sleep if I received nothing other than the bandits¡¯ sign because that would be too unfair.

    Another message rang when I was thinking hard about which item to choose.

    [The item that will be given to you as a reward will be determined at random.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Of course, each of the items was just amazing. So much so that if I got even one of them, I would have no other choice but to express immense gratitude for that.

    However, there were certainly better or worse items.

    Besides, I had set my heart on a certain reward, but regardless of my wishes, a huge roulette with the numbers from 1 to 277 appeared in the air.

    And at a nce, I knew that that was the number of treasures that existed here.

    The roulette started spinning fast.

    Honestly, I didn¡¯t know which reward would be given to which number, so it was rather hard for me to keep my fingers crossed that the roulette would stop at a certain number.

    So, I just stared at the roulette nkly.

    And roulette stopped at a certain number, which was 101.

    After that, something shone brightly from the treasure heap and began to float in the air.

 Chapter 115 - One More (1)

    <h4>Chapter 115: One More (1)</h4>

    The item allocated the number 101 started floating in the air from the treasure heap.

    I opened my eyes and looked at the item, but I could not confirm what it was because of the bright lighting from it.

    I kept my fingers crossed that it was the item that I really wanted.

    Was it the +8 ne with a Phoenix¡¯s sealed heart that I coveted right from the start?

    Of course, I desperately wanted it because of its ridiculous options.

    But I had changed my mind. What I wanted now was the 300 cooldown removal charms because I could enhance the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword to +12 or higher if I possessed the charms.

    Moreover, I could enhance not only the guardian sword but also the Sacred Permanent Snow Spirit essories. As such, the number 300 meant a lot to me because I could use them for legendary grade items freely if I had such arge number.

    So, I kept praying that the brightly shining item would be the 300 ancient cooldown removal charms.

    And then, the bright light of the item faded and a message rang.

    [Congrattions!

    -Expansion: You have obtained an essory spell charm]

    ¡°?¡±

    A whopping 277 treasures.

    The treasures were on top of each other, so I could not check them out one by one.

    Of course, it was possible that a treasure that I didn¡¯t confirm in advance popped out, but the current item was so unfamiliar to me.

    Besides, this item must be a disposable spell charm.

    Considering the remaining 276 treasures, this item really bothered me a lot.

    Of course, what I desperately wanted was also a disposable spell charm, but it had as many as 300 charms. Besides, its option was cooldown removal which was the best option for me.

    However, this was just one spell charm and it was one that I had never seen.

    Even though this was my first time seeing it, I could figure out what kind of ability it had from its name.

    So I agonized over whether I should like this or not because it was not a bad item if my prediction was correct. But I opened my mouth right away because I could decide whether it was good or bad after checking it with my own eyes.

    ¡°Confirm. Expansion: essory spell charm.¡±

    [Expansion: essory spell charm (myth)

    -You can wear one additional essory by selecting a ring, earrings, ne, or bracelet that you wear.

    -The ¡®Expansion: essory spell charm¡¯ disappears as soon as it is used, but its effects are permanent.

    -Since this belongs to the original owner, you can¡¯t exchange it.]

    ¡°Um¡­¡±

    it was good.

    After all, others can only wear four essories, but I can wear five.

    So, although it was a one-time spell charm, it was worthy of being a myth grade item. And obviously, it provided me with something that would differentiate me from others, which I always wanted.

    So, I should have weed this item with open hands, but I couldn¡¯t.

    Why? It¡¯s because I could see there were not just good treasures, but obviously better treasures everywhere.

    Even though I had such a treasure in my hand, I turned my attention to other treasures.

    I know that being too greedy is just asking for trouble and I might even lose the treasure I currently had in my hand. But it seemed that it was okay to ask for trouble given this fantastic treasure heap.

    But what I was worried about happened.

    [After 10 seconds, you will be forcibly expelled from thest hideout of the Salimaru Bandits.

    -10, 9, 8¡­]

    ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ didn¡¯t even give me a chance to ask for trouble.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t sit idle nkly. I was ready to use Blink right away because this quest was supposed to bepleted by giving Monte the token of the Salimaru Bandits.

    In other words, if I didn¡¯t give Monte the token of the Salimaru Bandits, I might have another chance to challenge the quest. Of course, I thought about a simr thing during the level 300 only arena quest.

    Since I challenged it under the name of Asirante, I thought I might have another chance if I used my other ID Lumen. But I immediately realized that such a shallow trick would not work in this quest.

    Nheless, the treasures of this quest were too luxurious for me to give up by rough guesswork.

    So, seeing the countdown decrease, I was getting ready to use Blink to immediately leave Monte¡¯s mansion if I arrived there. But a message rang.

    [You have cleared Monte¡¯s quest, ¡®Find the Token of the Salimaru Bandits.¡¯]

    ¡®Damn it.¡¯

    Obviously, before I escaped to the outside, a message announcing my sess rang as if the system had already seen through my shallow calctions.

    As soon as I appeared, Monte was already waiting for me there. Of course, Chairman Suh was with him, but his face was distorted and his eyes bloodshot.

    Tears were running down on Monte¡¯s cheeks as if he already knew I had seeded in clearing the quest. And he approached me right away, clenched my hands, and opened his mouth with a sobbing voice.

    ¡°I knew it! I knew it! I knew you would definitely seed this time! As for the Salimaru Bandits, did you confirm they were really there?¡±

    Mont has been pursuing the existence of the Salimaru Bandits even though he was called a liar for all his life.

    So, I pulled out an item from my inventory.

    It was the token of the Salimaru Bandits.

    ¡°Oh my God! This one is¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah. This is the token of the Salimaru Bandits. The Salimaru Bandits really existed, and their prestige as legendary bandits is also true.¡±

    Considering the amount of golden rings, treasures and Ingrid¡¯s status window, the Salimaru Bandits were too great to be dismissed as an ordinary motley of thieves.

    So much so that I nodded at the exnation that they were the bandits who stole even the sun.

    Moreover, there was actually an item called Stealing the Stars.

    Anyway, Monte wept with his face covered with tears and snot while he was listening to my detailed exnation.

    Holding the token of the Salimaru Bandits in one hand tightly, he said, ¡°Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you so much for proving that I have not wasted my life chasing a fake legend.¡±

    I could feel even remorse in his weeping voice.

    A message rang with that voice.

    [This is the reward for clearing Monte¡¯s quest ¡®Find the Token of the Salimaru Bandits.¡¯

    -You have acquired 455 million golden rings.

    -You have acquired 12,000 coins.

    -You have acquired 700 remaining stat points.

    -You have acquired 1 random box with 1 essory between the legend and myth grades.

    -You have acquired 300 essory enhancement stones.

    -You have acquired 2 ancient cooldown removal charms.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    It was definitely a huge reward, which could be said to be the best of all rewards that I have received until now. But the items I just saw a moment ago were so marvelous. So much so that all the rewards that I received until now were negligiblepared to them.

    Of course, I know some might say I¡¯m talking high and mighty.

    Besides, I have not yet possessed those items, but the rewards for this quest are definitely in my possession now. So, from my standpoint, the rewards are more valuable, in particr, the 700 remaining stat points.

    I expressed gratitude to Monte.

    ¡°Thank you, Mr. Monte.¡±

    Of course, I didn¡¯t stop there. There was one more person I have to express gratitude to.

    Honestly, I was more grateful to him than Monte.

    If he hadn¡¯t shared this quest with me, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to get this reward as well as the myth grade essory expansion spell charm.

    So, I bowed more deeply to Chairman Suh than Monte.

    ¡°Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I was able toplete this quest thanks to your generous consideration. I cleared the quest with your support and encouragement.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­I see¡­anyway, congrattions.¡±

    Chairman Suh reluctantly returned my greetings with a trembling voice, but I didn¡¯t pay much attention to him.

    On that day I parted with him since Suh said he would like to see me next time and hurriedly left the ce.

    ***

    At the Daeyu Group¡¯s conference room.

    A series of executives led by Chairman Suh were seated at the big table.

    ng! Bang!

    Although expensive ornaments in the conference room were smashed after another by Chairman Suh, nobody stopped him because they all heard that Asirante seeded in clearing the quest in one try even though they had judged that it was impossible for him to clear it.

    In particr, Nakson Lee, the head of the intelligence department, who first suggested this quest idea to Suh, found the chairman¡¯s angry actions so torturous, for he knew better about the quest than Suh given his position.

    Actually, Lee fielded a huge number of yers hoping that they would have a higher chance of clearing the quest through this kind of human-wave strategy.

    However, he concluded that it was impossible to find the right answer with a human-wave strategy when they were faced with the appearance of 8, 16, 32, 64, and 128 tunnels and on and on. The probability of finding the correct answer in one go up to 64 tunnels was over 1 in 1 million, and the probability of finding the correct answer in one go up to 128 tunnels was over 1 in 100 million. Besides, there was no guarantee that 256 tunnels would not appear after clearing the 128 tunnels.

    Anyway, based on such projections, Lee concluded that the probability of anybody clearing the quest was 0%.

    To their astonishment, however, there appeared a man who cleared the quest in one attempt.

    Lee was crouching in one corner of the conference room for the reason that he suggested the quest idea to the chairman first.

    Bang!

 Chapter 116 - One More (2)

    <h4>Chapter 116: One More (2)</h4>

    Was he done venting out all his anger?

    Chairman Suh opened his mouth, striking the table strongly.

    ¡°We can¡¯t just be pushed around by Asirante like this! We clearly realized through this quest that unless we immediately bind him to us, he will not stay by our side forever. So, mobilize all the resources of the Daeyu Group. We¡¯re going to make onest bet. Withdraw all the herd hunting teams supporting him now.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±

    ¡°Ok, we¡¯ll carry out your order.¡±

    Chairman Suh thought that he knew enough of Asirante¡¯s ability and so coveted him all the more.

    However, considering this quest¡¯s result, he had to admit that he made a huge misjudgment.

    He even thought that it might have been arrogant of him to try to win over Asirante from the beginning. So, he decided to make a final bet.

    ¡°Hummm¡­¡±

    The next day I felt it strange that I possessed both the extension spell charm and a random box with an item between the myth and legendary grades at the same time.

    ¡°What if a myth grade itemes out of the random box¡­¡±

    In that case, everything would be perfect.

    So, I took a deep breath, then picked the random box from my inventory with the essory between the legend and myth grades.

    Then I opened it right away because there was no guarantee that a myth-grade item woulde out even if I dragged my feet.

    Soon a bright light shone, and a ring appeared in the box.

    But I couldn¡¯t smile because the ring that came out was a legendary grade item.

    Of course, obtaining a legendary grade item from a random box with an essory between the precious and legendary grades and obtaining a myth grade item from a random box containing an essory between the legendary and myth grades was like night and day.

    However, I couldn¡¯t help but feel bitter because I earnestly hoped I would get a myth grade item.

    ¡°Check item.¡±

    With lingering bitterness, I checked the item first.

    [Functional Skill Ring (Legendary)

    -It is a functional ring that increases the performance of a skill.

    : No equip restrictions.

    : It is impossible to enhance.

    -Effect.

    : It selects one of the skills you have and increases that skill by one level.

    ¨C 30 million golden rings are required to transfer the effect of this ring to another skill from the selected skill.

    : It increases the power of the selected skill by 10%.

    : If you select a skill that is already at the maximum, there will be no change in level, but the power of that skill will be increased by an additional 10%. (The power of that skill will be increased by up to 20% by ovepping with the option above.)

    -Physical Defense: 500 Magic Defense: 500

    -Durability: 2550000/255000]

    A ring that has only one option, and provides no increase in stats like other essories usually do.

    Besides, no enhancement was possible.

    However, the more I reflected on it, the better I felt about it because one skill shed through my mind.

    It was level 4 Ice Storm. And the next level of this Ice Storm was level 7.

    In other words, no matter how fast I leveled up, I had no choice but to keep Ice Storm at level 4 for a considerable period of time.

    However, with this ring, I could use Level 7 Ice Storm right now, and its power would even be increased by 10%.

    ¡°Alright! Also, it is a ring.¡±

    Rings were the most important essories.

    So I thought this item was good, given my future.

    I pulled out the essory expansion spell charm from my inventory.

    ¡°Use essory extension spell charm.¡±

    [You have used the essory extension spell charm.

    -Please select the essory slot to be expanded.

    : ring.

    : earring.

    : ne.

    : bracelet.]

    I chose the ring.

    [An extra ring slot has been created permanently.]

    As soon as the message was over, I wore the functional skill ring.

    Then, another message rang.

    [Functional Skill Ring: You can select a skill to apply the effects of this ring.

    -You can only select one within the skills you currently have, and if you want to change to another skill,you will need 30 million golden rings.]

    Along with that message, the skills that I obtained until now were listed.

    The first thing I thought about was Ice Storm.

    So, I examined the skills one by one while wondering if there might be a better skill than Ice Storm. However, no matter how hard I tried to find one, there was no better skill than Ice Storm. The next level of Ice Field was level 5, and the next level of Pouring Hailstone was level 6.

    ¡°Choose Ice Storm!¡±

    Since I could afford to spend 30 million golden rings for a better skillter, I chose Ice Storm without any hesitation.

    [Functional Skill Ring: Ice Storm has been selected to receive this ring¡¯s effect.]

    ¡°Check skill list.¡±

    [Possessed Skill List.

    Level 3 Ice Ball. (Level 1, 2, 3)Level 3 Ice Bolt. (Level 1, 2, 3)

    :

    :

    <ol start=¡±13¡å>

    Level 4 Blink. (Level 4, 6)

    Level 7 Ice Storm. (Level 4, 7, 8)]

    Since I was currently at level 353, the maximum level I could currently obtain was level 4.

    But there was a level 7 skill in my skill list, and one with tremendous power at that.

    ¡°Hhhhhhh.¡±

    I could not help but smile at that.

    So, I quickly moved to the Tombs of the Dead to test level 7 Ice Storm with an additional 10% increase in power.

    After I had asked the Daeyu for a hunting ground and a herd hunting team, there were always four monster herding teams along with team manager Jinyoung Lee who waited for me in the Tombs of the Dead in advance so they could begin to herd monsters immediately once I showed up.

    But now, there was no such team in the Safety Zone in the Tombs of the Dead.

    Has Chairman Suh grown sour on me?¡±

    I know that when one grows old, one doesn¡¯t necessarily be more mature, calm and generous. However, because of their umted experiences, such a person would know how to hide their feelings. And that might be the case with Chairman Suh.

    I could not rule out the little possibility that he has be more patient.

    In fact, Chairman Suh made a huge business group like Daeyu what it is today.

    As a result, he had more ambition and greed than anybody else, for it was absolutely impossible to build a business group asrge as Daeyu in Korea with only one individual¡¯s ability and intention to seed.

    In particr, those who have already risen to the top position in the business world would not allow any rival business men to ascend to their same ce.

    So, I didn¡¯t think that Chairman Suh¡¯s decision to withdraw the monster herding teams was narrow-minded. Honestly, I would have taken the same action, or even a harsher action.

    As a matter of fact, aside from the essory expansion spell charm I obtained from the Salimaru Bandits¡¯st hideout, the rewards I received from Monte were enormous.

    Tramp, tramp-

    There was nobody in the Tombs of the Dead.

    Since I was used to hunting alone without the help of others from the beginning, I went inside without any hesitation. Just because I was helped by the monster herding teams for the past several days didn¡¯t mean I was foolish enough not to hunt independently.

    Of course, I could send a message to Chairman Suh or manager Lee to ask about the reason, but I didn¡¯t because it would add fuel to the fire.

    ¡°Okay. Let me keep a low profile because I have yet to drain Daeyu a lot. Who knows if there is another quest like this?¡±

    Of course there would be no more, and even if there is, Chairman Suh won¡¯t share it with me any more because he is not foolish.

    However, even if it wasn¡¯t a quest, I still had to milk the cash cow that was Daeyu, so I decided to keep a low profile from now on.

    Inside the Tombs of the Dead.

    ¡°Blink.¡±

    I arbitrarily decided on an appropriate cooldown for Blink and used it to herd the undead monsters. Of course, I was really frustrated because I used Blink almost infinitely until a short while ago.

    Although there was nobody in my surroundings, I used Blink with an appropriate cooldown just in case even though it was annoying.

    And I also personally confirmed that the Blink with zero cooldown deserves to be my hidden card. Anyway, when the number of monsters I herded exceeded 100, I used my usual skills. ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasak!

    And of ice spread in an instant. And I immediately used one skill toward the undead monsters with a lot of anticipation.

    ¡°Ice Storm!¡±

    Wheeeeeeeing!

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Level 4 to Level 7, plus an additional 10% increase in power.

    At that moment, the phrase ¡®leaves being swept away by the autumn wind¡± came to mind.

    In the past, I needed to use Pouring Hailstone and Ice Storm in conjunction with Ice Field to sweep away the monsters, but all I needed now was just Ice Storm.

    Indeed, this Ice Storm was very powerful because over 100 undead monsters vanished instantly, leaving behind golden rings and misceneous items.

    ¡°Wow¡­¡± I uttered an exmation before I knew it.

    This time I hit upon another idea, namely using Ice Storm only without using Ice Field.

    The skill that I usually used first when hunting monsters was always Ice Field.

    In particr, that was the case after I acquired the Sacred Permanent Snow Spirit essories because mybat power increased just by standing on icy terrain.

    But for some reason I felt that I could hunt the monsters with just one Ice Storm alone.

    So, I moved quickly and herded the undead monsters.

    And when more than 30 monsters were herded together in a group, I fired Ice Storm alone toward them because I was here to confirm whether I could kill level 500-550 monsters with a single Ice Storm.

 Chapter 117 - Repaying a Threat with a Threat

    <h4>Chapter 117: Repaying a Threat with a Threat</h4>

    In no time, an ice storm rained down on the 30 monsters.

    Of course, they were not killed as quickly as before, but I could confirm one thing.

    ¡°Oh, I can kill them with just one attack.¡±

    The monsters survived a little longer than before, but they still all copsed.

    The power of the functional sill was much stronger than I thought.

    Of course, the ice storm wasn¡¯t strong just because of the ring. I was strong from the beginning.

    My ice-type skills, especially, were stronger than anybody else¡¯s.

    Besides, I had 700 remaining stat points I had received from Monte forpleting the quest.

    Of course, I invested all of them in Intellect.

    In other words, my level had not changed, but there was obviously a big change in my status window.

    ¡°Hhhhhhhh.¡±

    I burst into a smile before I knew it because I could feel instantly I had be very strong.

    Of course, there was something I regretted, which was an increase in cooldown.

    Certainly, the cooldown of a level 4 and level 7 skill was different.

    But I didn¡¯t worry much because my ice-type skills had a very fast cooldown.

    And my willpower would continue to increase without stopping.

    Anyway, I continued hunting with a smile on my lips.

    At the Daeyu Guild¡¯s headquarters.

    ¡°How many in total?¡±

    ¡°There are 5500 people in Group 1, 3700 people in Group 2, and 1200 people in Group 3 for a total of 10,400 people. And I can mobilize about 10,000 more.¡±

    When Chairman Suh asked, Pildu Oh, who recruited only strong yers into these three groups, immediately answered.

    ¡°Alright. They are enough. We don¡¯t need those who are weak anyway.¡±

    ¡°Well, I can mobilize 10,000 more who can do their job excellently¡­¡±

    ¡°Even so, they may be nothingpared to Asirante, right?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Oh was the leader of Group 1, so from his perspective,, the 10,000 yers that he could mobilize were verypetent. So, he immediately balked at the chairman who degraded them as any random Tom, Dick or Harry. But he had no other choice but to shut up when the chairmanpared them with Asirante.

    Honestly,pared to Asirante, the 1,200 people in Group 3 were just pebbles by the side of the street.

    ¡°Good. You don¡¯t have to feel ashamed because this bastard Asirante is an extraordinary man. He¡¯s really like a bug character to us.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    After that, Chairman Suh selected only the aces from the Daeyu Group and dispatched them to the Tombs of the Dead.

    Of course, Chairman Suh didn¡¯t want to turn to this option from the beginning.

    He originally nned to win over Asirante over time to gather information about his real life, then make him Daeyu¡¯s subordinate by kidnapping and brainwashing him.

    But he now decided that he had no choice but to admit that Asirante also knew that this ¡°Revival Legend¡± was not an ordinary game given that Asirante so thoroughly kept his real-life information to himself.

    Otherwise, he didn have to hide his identity like this.

    ¡®Damn it! So, this guy was so abominable when he talked to me like thatst time!¡±

    Chairman Suh had no choice but to grind his mrs at the thought that Asirante¡¯s innocent expressions, which made Suh naively believe the Daeyu could win him over easily, were false, after all.

    Of course, Chairman Suh was willing to ept such humiliation as long as Daeyu could hire him. But when he confirmed the ability of Asirante to make the impossible a reality, he not only became impatient, but also even wondered if all his efforts to win him over were futile and useless.

    He was also not sure if Daeyu could keep Asirante even if they managed to win him over at the end of the day.

    Despite these pestering concerns, Chairman Suh still wanted to have Asirante because it was clear that Daeyu¡¯s name would spread immensely if they sessfully recruited Asirante.

    That¡¯s why Chairman Suh made this decision because over time, Asirante would be in a super strong position while Daeyu would keep losing power. Even now the rtionship between Asirane and the Daeyu was pretty much of a boss and his subordinate.

    ¡®Yep, this is myst bet!¡¯

    Chairman Suh decided to have it out with Asirante with about 10,000 Daeyu Guild members.

    At the Tombs of the Dead.

    ¡°Ice Storm.¡±

    While I was in the middle of hunting, I felt the presence of people.

    Of course, the Tombs of the Dead was a hunting ground controlled by the Daeyu Guild.

    In other words, I easily figured out that they were the Daeyu Guild members, but there were simply too many.

    If the monster herding teams moved in a group of 40-50 members, this time the people around me were in groups of many dozens or even hundreds.

    When they actually showed up, they numbered almost 10,000.

    I stopped hunting and watched therge crowd.

    Tramp, tramp!

    At that moment, they made a path for several figures led by Chairman Suh to walk toward me.

    That reminded me of something.

    ¡®Was Monte¡¯s quest so difficult that Chairman Suh even thought I would also fail?¡¯

    Of course it was really difficult. Moreover, Daeyu, the original owner of this quest, must have challenged it hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of times.

    In the end, they gave up. But I seeded in just one try.

    So, it was certain that they were deeply shocked.

    Even so, I didn¡¯t expect Chairman Suh would react like this.

    ¡°Hey, Asirante!¡±

    ¡°Oh, Mr. Chairman!¡±

    I responded casually without showing any tension when Chairman Suh stepped up and spoke to me.

    ¡°Let me ask you something. Do you happen to know what this ¡°Revival Legend¡± is?¡±

    ¡°Well, isn¡¯t it a very popr game? That¡¯s why you are also ying it, not to mention the other business group leaders.¡±

    I took pains to cite the other business group leaders.

    ¡°Hahaha, that¡¯s right. But do you think that¡¯s all?¡±

    ¡°Then, is there anything more at y here?¡±

    ¡°Oh, if you ask me like that, I don¡¯t think there is anything more. But I want to tell you that for me, this ¡°Revival Legend¡± is worth more than you think. So, I really covet you because you are morepetent than all the men I¡¯ve seen until now.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for saying so. I¡¯m also proud that I belong to Daeyu.¡±

    It was true that I was a member of Daeyu now.

    ¡°Oh, yes. You also belong to my group. But I really want you to genuinely belong to Daeyu! Genuinely!¡±

    Chairman Suh emphasized the word ¡®genuinely.¡¯

    Of course, I fully understood what he was talking about.

    But I opened my mouth as if I didn¡¯t get his point.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you mean by that¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t know what I mean, then let me tell you. Let me make you an offer right now. Are you going to be Daeyu¡¯s enemy? What I mean by a genuine member of Daeyu is you and I need to be on close terms, confiding to each other freely.¡±

    As soon as he finished talking, the 10,000 Daeyu Guild members began to move around busily.

    As if they were prepared in advance, they surrounded me tightly.

    So, I cast a nce at them first, and immediately discovered that they were the elites of the Daeyu Guild.

    Otherwise, it was impossible for them to show such an organized formation.

    At that moment, I imagined fighting against them by myself. It would be tough.

    These guys were the elites of the elites in Daeyu, and they also had experience cooperating with each other several times.

    So, even if at least 5,000 or 7,000 damage dealers attacked me only once, it was still a whopping 7,000 attacks.

    Of course, I have no intention of allowing their attacks to hit, but I still didn¡¯t want to fight these 10,000 elites.

    ¡®Well, I think I can deal with them thanks to Blink with zero cooldown.¡±

    Probably, if they see me moving from one ce to another quickly, they would fall into extreme confusion. In that case, I might be able to get rid of them more easily than I think.

    But I didn¡¯t want to show Blink with zero cooldown here.

    So I said to Chairman Suh, ¡°I want to ask you something. Do you really want to be my enemy, Mr. Chairman?¡±

    The strongest response to an opponent¡¯s threat was to respond with the same threat.

    If Chairman Suh really wanted to fight me, I had no other choice but to show Blink with zero cooldown.

    In fact, Chairman Suh earnestly wished Asirante was just an ordinary petty bourgeois, and so he hoped Asiratnte would bow to the Daeyu¡¯s intimidation. In other words, Suh didn¡¯t want to fight Asirante. Of course, Chairman Suh was confident of beating him here.

    That¡¯s why he actually mobilized 10,000 elites.

    However, this was the world of ¡°Revival Legend,¡± where death was not actual death, but a 24-hour ess penalty. So, Suh knew he would have no proper countermeasure if Asirante turned to guerri tacticster to get even with him for his attack this time. It would be a great loss to Daeyu if he had to mobilize his forces just to fight only one man.

    In other words, Chairman Suh¡¯s threat to Asirante was in name only.

    But Chairman Suh decided that this threat was hisst bet.

    So, when Asirante gave this unexpected response, Suh could not help but realize that his threat strategy was on the verge of falling t, for he knew well that actually fighting Asirante was the worst option and was far worse than just letting him go.

 Chapter 118 - Next Target (1)

    <h4>Chapter 118: Next Target (1)</h4>

    Faced with the 10,000 elite members of the Daeyu Guild who might be my enemy, one thing dominated my mind. Namely, I felt some lingering regrets because infiltrating Daeyu was the best task I had everpleted.

    In particr, the monster herding teams were so efficient that I realized why rich guys personally hired them for their hunting.

    Of course, securing a hunting ground suitable for herding monsters was more difficult and important. In addition to a great hunting ground, I even received 500 million golden rings and legendary grade essories from the Daeyu Group.

    Needless to say, the Salimaru Bandits¡¯ quest that I received from Monte was the ultimate achievement for me.

    Obviously, I approached the Daeyu with the intention of sucking them like a leech, but in good conscience, I felt a bit sorry for them since I had gained so much without giving anything back.

    So, I didn¡¯t want to fight Chairman Suh and his men as far as possible.

    Of course, this wasn¡¯t the only reason.

    Obviously, the Daeyu Group was still financially affluent and stable.

    In other words, I could still siphon a lot of them.

    But the crucial reason was that I didn¡¯t want to reveal my hidden card of Blink with zero cooldown if I was forced to fight them.

    ¡®Hummnm¡­does Chairman Suh really want to fight me? Or is his desire to fight fifty-fifty?¡±

    Given his expression, I judged that the odds of him giving the order to fight was less than fifty-fifty or almost zero because not only Suh but also his executives were not idiots.

    Since they didn¡¯t know I had Blink with zero cooldown, they might have concluded that they had a 100% chance of victory if they fought, but there would be few of them who thought they could guarantee another victory in the follow-up fight right after that.

    Why? Because they have seen me hunting lots of times, so they clearly knew they needed many yers to beat me.

    And now there were as many as 10,000 Daeyu¡¯s elites here to defeat me.

    To be honest, too many guys were fielded here to outpower just one person.

    So, I felt Chairman Suh mobilized such arge number simply to make a bluff.

    Given Chairman Suh¡¯s calcting personality, he might be thinking of the worst scenario where I would voluntarily join the Mirae, Myongjin, Daesung or Kusan to request them to take revenge on Daeyu.

    If that really happens, Chairman Suh would face the situation where it would have been much better for him to release me, namely a situation where he did all the work but I got the credit.

    As a result, with a somewhat rxed expression, I quietly waited for Chairman Suh¡¯s next words.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Chairman Suh had no choice but to think deeply when the question he threw at me was returned to him. Of course, he was full of desire to humble Asirante¡¯s pride, but he knew he would face more losses than gains if he went through with this.

    Moreover, Chairman Suh didn¡¯t want to turn to the worst option of getting on Asirante¡¯s bad side to vent his anger after having offered him so much until now.

    In the end, Chairman Suh opened his mouth with a reluctant smile.

    ¡°Hahaha. Never mind. The surprise event I prepared to dine with you seemed to have made you misunderstand me, Asirante.¡±

    In the end, Chairman Suh admitted that hisst bet had failed.

    So, I responded to his admission ordingly in line with his intentions.

    ¡°Aha, did you? I think I am not quick-witted enough so I missed your intentions. I¡¯m sorry, Chairman Suh.¡±

    ¡°Oh, no. I was so silly.¡±

    After that, everything proceeded quite smoothly.

    First of all, the 10,000 elites of the Daeyu Group left the hunting ground immediately.

    And I entertained a friendly conversation with Chairman Suh as if nothing happened between us.

    The next day I went to the same hunting ground as before.

    ¡°Asirante, we¡¯ll start herding the monsters for you.¡±

    ¡°Yes, please.¡±

    The four monster herding teams along with Director Jin-young Lee, who always stayed next to me and supported me in the Tombs of the Dead, returned.

    ¡°Oh, you have a meeting with Chairman Suh today¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I know.¡±

    It seemed that Chairman Suh didn¡¯t discuss everything with me yesterday.

    So, in the early morning, he sent a text message for a meeting at noon.

    He wanted to see me again at the cafe in the central za of Northwood Castle where we always met, not in the real world.

    So, I immediately epted his request since he didn¡¯t want to see me in the real world.

    Anyway, I once again enjoyed a great hunt thanks to Daeyu¡¯s monster herding teams, then logged out, had lunch and essed the game to move to the cafe in Northwood Castle.

    When I stepped into the cafe, Chairman Suh was already there waiting for me.

    ¡°Wee back Asirante!¡±

    ¡°Nice to see you, Mr. Chairman.¡±

    I sat down after greeting him who weed me with open arms.

    I was really curious about his intentions.

    Although he and I seemed to let bygones be bygones, we knew well that we showed enmity toward each other yesterday.

    So, I felt it funny that we met each other with a smile as if we mended fences overnight and forgot our enmity toward each other.

    Anyway, I put the teacup to my lips, expecting what he would say today.

    But I couldn¡¯t drink the tea, after all, because he said somethingpletely unexpected.

    ¡°Asirante, won¡¯t you consider visiting China?¡±

    He mentioned China out of the blue. Of course, I knew he was not serious about it.

    What he meant was not China in the real world, but the virtual China within ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    But I know it is currently impossible to visit there because it has been blocked by what is called a channel, or a kind of wall.

    However, I did not reveal any hints of surprise.

    After pausing for a moment, I put the teacup back to my lips.

    Then Suh continued, not caring about my reaction, ¡°Not only Korea, but the whole world is now crazy about ¡®Revival Legend¡¯. Of course, America and China are also deeply into it. Well, this is a secret, but let me tell you this. We at Daeyu have already joined hands with China because I couldn¡¯t see any possibility of taking over the top position in Korea since we would have to beat the Mirae, Myongjin, Daesung and Kusan Groups. Oh, I know I may be med for reaching out to a foreign country, but what¡¯s the big deal? Anyway, it¡¯s the winner, not the loser, who dictates history.¡±

    I looked straight into his eyes, who kept talking to me quickly, to try to figure out his real intentions.

    However, unlike the irritation and anger reflected in his eyes yesterday, I could find nothing like that in his eyes today.

    Without avoiding my intense stare, he kept talking as if he still had something to say.

    ¡°The Chinesepany that we joined hands with is called the Yanghwa Group. If you are interested in the Chinese economy, you might have heard of thatpany because it¡¯s one of China¡¯s top three business groups. Anyway, the reason why I¡¯m telling you this is because you are also very famous in China. They know very well that you fought on even footing against a boss monster alone for 10 minutes and that you achieved an unrivaled record in the level 300 only arena quest.¡±

    ¡°I see. Is there any reason why you are mentioning this to me now?¡±

    I was curious about why he suddenly came up with this offer.

    ¡°Would you like to film a movie with me? The stars of this movie are the Yanghwa Group, you and me.¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    As if to get even with me for his humiliation yesterday, he mentioned something confusing to me.

    ¡°Well, to tell you the truth, I have given up on recruiting you as a Daeyu member. I am really sorry for that. But I don¡¯t have the ability to make the impossible a reality like you.

    So, let me tell you this. In fact, I can¡¯t give you anything anymore, except for the Tombs of the Dead and the monster herding teams. You won¡¯t be disappointed because I¡¯ve given you so much until now.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

 Chapter 119 - Next Target (2)

    <h4>Chapter 119: Next Target (2)</h4>

    I felt my face stiffen at his remarks before I knew it. But I tried to keep calm as much as possible.

    He continued, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t tell you to return to me what I¡¯ve given you. However, I just hope you maintain a good rtionship with Daeyu in the future. Moreover, I hope that you can give Daeyu a chance to make up for the losses that we invested in you. Well, I want you to confront the Yanghwa Group and get as much as you can to contribute to Daeyu.¡±

    After that, I talked with him about various things for a while.

    In the end, what Chairman Suh wanted was simple.

    Je wanted to use me to skin the Yanghwa Group of every shilling they possessed.

    He also added that Chairman Jiang Chiangrin of the Yanghwa Group wanted me so desperately no matter the cost.

    Chairman Suh said that even now the Yanghwa Group management was putting tremendous pressure on him to obtain information about me.

    He suggested he and I use their pressure as a golden opportunity to obtain golden rings and items from them and split the profits between us.

    When he was done persuading me about his offer, I looked into his eyes carefully.

    The general consensus was that Daeyu¡¯s Chairman Daeyoung Suh was not aspetent as the other chairmen of Mirae, Myongjin, Daesung and Kusan.

    Suh Dae-young.

    In fact, he had made several fatal mistakes and put the Daeyu Group into crisis.

    However, I think I know why Daeyu could still survive until today despite his repeated management failures.

    So, I responded casually, ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know why you have thought of such an option. As you know, I¡¯m still a member of the Daeyu Group.¡±

    I tried to feign ignorance of his real intentions because I didn¡¯t have to confess to him that I joined him to get as much from Daeyu as possible.

    Suh said, ¡°Haha. Of course, I know. But I just want you and me to do something beneficial for each other. I mean we should target the Yangwha Group for the sake of our mutual interests. I don¡¯t think you have favorable feelings toward China, right?¡±

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t. I really can¡¯t like China because of the fine dust pollutioning all over from China.¡±

    ¡°Good. Then, can we go ahead with this project?¡±

    In the end, it was me that he needed to deal with the Yanghwa Group.

    For this purpose, he wanted to make a video of me with a Memory Bead, in which I kept Chairman Suh on tenterhooks as to whether I would reveal my real-life information to him.

    I nodded because there was no reason for me to reject it.

    ¡°You made a good choice. Then, how about working together in advance to make the video? As you know, when we make a video with the Memory Bead, we have to include some eye-popping scenes that will make the Yanghwa Group crazy about you.¡±

    Shaking my head gently to him, who spat out such things so casually, I opened my mouth.

    ¡°Well, I want you to prepare the script. I¡¯m not good at writing.¡±

    The process of preparing the video would inevitably include various conversations between me and him.

    Of course, I have no intention of revealing the truth, but it was possible to infer various things from lies. Sometimes lies are more powerful clues than the truth.

    So, I left preparing the script entirely to Chairman Suh.

    Of course, he might have felt I was being petty because he had taken the initiative to reconcile with me. But I didn¡¯t want to take what he said at face value, no matter what, because he was a cunning businessman.

    ¡°Hahaha. Alright. It is more important for the main actor to familiarize himself with the script instead of writing it himself. Then let me take care of the script. See you again sooner orter.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Mr. Chairman.¡±

    So, I parted with him amicably.

    Even though we talked for only 30 minutes, I felt a bit tired.

    Since I had something to do, I moved straight to the Tombs of the Dead.

    At the Daeyu Guild¡¯s headquarters.

    ¡°Well. No matter how much I think about it, Asirante is really extraordinary.¡±

    Chairman Suh always used a Memory Bead whenever he met Asirante because thetter was worth it in every way.

    So, after he examined with his deputies the video that contained his face-to-face meeting with Asirante today, he concluded that Asirante was a very unusual guy.

    And his impression was shared by all his deputies.

    ¡°This guy is simply too calm andposed.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. Moreover, he didn¡¯t let down his guard to the end, which is enough to confirm that he was far from an ordinary man.¡±

    Chairman Suh¡¯s final bet failed, but he still did not give up hope of winning Asirante over to his side because Asirante was too attractive for him to give up for nothing.

    Of course, he was determined to leech the Yanghwa Group which was now pressuring him to obtain every little information about Asirante.

    In other words, Chairman Suh intended to catch both rabbits.

    However, he let out a sigh because this rabbit named Asirante was too quick to catch.

    ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s work out a n to tackle the Yanghwa Group. Anyway, they only regard us as their scapegoat.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll try to devise a n immediately.¡±

    ¡°Well, as for Asirante, I may really have to give him up,¡± Suh muttered.

    The meeting of the Daeyu Guild ended with Suh muttering, resigned to the harsh reality.

    So Asirante was absorbed in hunting as before, while Chairman Suh was thinking hard over how to approach the Yanghwa Group to achieve his goal.

    ***

    In S?o Paulo, Brasil.

    A group of people were gathered in an old 13-story building on 11th Street in S?o Paulo.

    They were intelligence peddlers called Integos.

    Ironically, the intelligence they were dealing with at the moment was to do with ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ because one of their members had yed a game called ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ prior to ¡®Revival Legend.¡¯ He felt it would be very fun, so he took part in the 1st and 2nd Closed Betas and achieved the max level in both. He tried hard in the 3rd Closed Beta, but he only reached level 200, far below the max of level 300.

    And like those who achieved the max level in the 1st and 2nd Closed Betas, he also gained a trait as a reward. His trait was ¡®Small Foresight¡¯.

    Of course, the power of his trait was confined to ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    So, he initially looked down on his trait,ining, ¡®What the heck is this?¡¯. But he soon found that he could make lots of money with it because there were so many people who wanted information about ¡°Revival Legend,¡± which they regarded as a universal game.

    Then, he went one step further, and focused the main activities of the Integos organization on ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ by using his trait ¡®Small Foresight.¡¯

    But his trait didn¡¯t activate frequently.

    But today he received some foresight. Today was the 4th anniversary event celebrating the inauguration of Integos. Actually, he could not help but be embarrassed by that.

    In fact, he didn¡¯t hold any event celebrating the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd anniversary, but all of a sudden he was holding the 4th anniversary.

    Moreover, he himself could not understand why he was holding the 4th anniversary event today.

    [Congrattions on your entry into the fourth reality. ordingly, a great event involving the whole world will begin.]

    Entry into the fourth reality all of a sudden?

    He really could not understand what was going on now.

    But Integos moved quickly because there were special customers like the United States that paid a huge amount for even the smallest information about ¡°Revival Legend.¡±

 Chapter 120 - Stage Type (1)

    <h4>Chapter 120: Stage Type (1)</h4>

    I focused only on hunting, for there was no sure way other than hunting to make me stronger. Of course, hunting was great fun in itself, but I had nothing to do except hunting.

    The Daeyu Guild members could also hunt most boss monsters on their own.

    As for the level 400 and level 800 regr quests, I was done with the level 400 quest some time ago, but I had to wait a little longer before doing the level 800 regr quest because there was a considerable gap between 400 and 800.

    In addition, it is unreasonable for me to look at the level 500 only quest on the heels of the level 100 and level 300 only quests when I have not even achieved level 400.

    Other than that, a general quest was also very valuable, but I didn¡¯t know where I could find one, so it was impossible for me to do one even if I wanted to.

    In other words, since I had nothing to do except hunting, I just kept hunting hard while waiting for Chairman Suh to prepare a script to siphon off the Yanghwa Guild¡¯s money.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t regret or hate such a situation.

    Instead, I liked it because I always wanted to keep hunting without being bothered.

    However, what I really regretted was that I could not use the tremendously powerful level 7 Ice Storm since I took off the functional skill ring.

    Why did I take it off?

    It was simple. The ring was simply too powerful.

    As such, Ice Storm, which killed the monsters with only one shot without a linker such as Pouring Hailstone or Ice Field would probably make the Daeyu Guild members who watched me hunting right by my side wonder what had changed

    They will definitely find out the reason, and quickly discover that I obtained something terrific from the random box with an essory between legend and myth grades that I got as a reward from Monte for clearing his quest.

    Daeyu will feel very envious towards me.

    So, I decided that I had better hide it from Daeyu until I seeded in skinning the Yanghwa Group and taking their money.

    I needed to join hands with Daeyu for this kind of monster herding hunting.

    Anyway, I hunted like that until the weekend.

    At my main house in Cheongdam-dong.

    ¡°Wow! I¡¯ve never seen a quest like this. What the hell is the probability?¡±

    In fact, from the moment I entered the dungeon of the Salimaru Bandits and encountered the first four caves, I used a Memory Bead.

    Naturally the level of difficulty was very high because the reward was sorge, but I would get very valuable experiences at the end of the day by simply watching the video.

    Of course, the video will be sealed tightly by the Myongjin Group right now, along with the video that filmed the kind of monsters that appeared up to the 80th Round in Path C of the level 300 only arena quest because it should not be revealed that these videos were possessed by the Myongjin.

    Anyway, my sister said something after watching me and the NPC named Ingrid boastingpetitively in the scene following the 4,8,16 and 256 caves in the video.

    ¡°Hey, brother, I didn¡¯t know you were such an eloquent speaker!¡±

    ¡°Hey, sis, the thing is I needed to win against him using all means.¡±

    At the moment, I could not help but feel embarrassed at her remarks because it was a childish argument over who was better, after all.

    Anyway, the atmosphere was friendly while the regr participants in the basement study were watching the video.

    Certainly it was an extremely difficult quest, but there wasn¡¯t a single monster, and none of the traps gave me a sense of crisis because I had Blink with zero cooldown.

    But in the next scene, however, my father, brother, sister and Director Suh had no choice but to stiffen their faces.

    Of course I know why because I also did so.

    ¡°You could only get one of them?¡± asked my elder brother.

    ¡°Yeah, just one. Of course, I felt so sorry that I could only get one.¡±

    I replied with lots of regret in my voice.

    Watching the scene again in the video, my feelings of regret back then resurfaced.

    ¡°So, which one did you get?¡± my sister demanded immediately.

    But I didn¡¯t answer because she would find out anyway from the video in a little bit.

    Soon, the myth grade essory expansion spell charm appeared.

    Watching it, I paraphrased, ¡°I used it on the ring slot. I chose the ring as the newly expanded part of the essory expansion spell charm because a ring came out of the essory random box that I obtained from that quest. It is a legendary-grade skill functional ring.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Even at that time, I certainly thought that the essory expansion spell charm was good, but I still missed the various treasures that caught my eyes. However, after wearing a total of five essories, and not just the ring, earrings, a ne, and a bracelet, I had to admit that someday when I thought about it in the future, that essory expansion spell charm might turn out to be the best item.

    Indeed, I immediately felt this way after having obtained the functional skill ring, for I would have been worried tremendously if I had acquired the functional skill without acquiring the essory expansion spell charm first.

    Besides, my Sacred Permanent Snow Spirit ring had good options, and I also had the set option as I had both the earrings and the ne.

    Of course, depending on the situation, I could have alternated wearing the rings, but the fact that I could not wear the two treasures in my possession at the same time was not pleasing to me since the two items were so good.

    Anyway, I was very satisfied after confirming that wearing one more essory didn¡¯t necessarily increase only the value of what I wore.

    And it seemed that everyone in the basement study also understood it.

    ¡°Not to mention the myth grade essory expansion spell charm, I think even the functional skill ring is terrific. You already know the power of the ring because you have already used it, right?¡±

    Of course, I knew how powerful it was.

    ¡°Sure, I know.¡±

    I was stunned at the mighty power of Ice Storm that killed monsters level 500 and above in a single stroke and without the help of Ice Field and Pouring Hailstone.

    At that moment my sister asked, ¡°By the way, I think I asked you this before, but let me repeat my question. Are you lucky or did you have a different starting line from others?¡±

    Her question caused me to be lost in thought for a moment.

    Luck. And the starting line with the title ¡®Only Closed Beta Max Level Achiever¡¯ and the three traits of IceMan, Mutual Growth and God of Enhancement.

    I thought what my sister said was right.

    For example, Blink with zero cooldown that I acquired from the level 300 only arena quest beforepleting the quest of the Salimaru Bandits was definitely due to my luck.

    However, the reason I could get up to the final 80th round was because my starting line was different.

    ¡°Well, it looks like Juyoung is a man this ¡°Revival Legend¡±, which seems to act like a living creature, loves very much.¡±

    ¡°You bet. It¡¯s not only me who thinks like that, is it?¡±

    ¡°I agree.¡±

    When Director Sok said that, my sister, brother and even my father nodded.

    Anyway, after telling them about what happened between me and the Daeyu Guild until now, I finally revealed to them about Daeyu¡¯s Chairman Daeyoung Suh¡¯s suggestion to me that he and I join hands to skin China¡¯s Yanghwa Guild.

    ¡°Contrary to the general perception of Chairman Suh, he is very sophisticated and cunning. So, I guess he must be thoroughly prepared for the worst scenario. In other words, even if his shallow scheme to extort the Yanghwa Group is exposedter, he would definitely make excuses to them by arguing that he was Asirante¡¯s victim.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. Given his cunning personality, Chairman Suh would never try tough off anything that might cause him losses.¡±

    When Director Sok agreed with my father, I also reminded them that I was using a Memory Bead whenever I met Chairman Suh because I could afford to pay for Memory Beads whose value had now drastically dropped, and I didn¡¯t trust Chairman Suh from the beginning.

    Anyway, I left the meeting in the basement study after asking my father, brother, sister, and the Director to take special caution.

 Chapter 121 - Stage Type (2)

    <h4>Chapter 121: Stage Type (2)</h4>

    At the Tombs of the Dead.

    ¡°Ice Field. Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasak!

    I kept hunting, as usual.

    However, I felt something strange because it has been more than a week since Chairman Suh gave me the offer of sponging off the Chinese Yanghwa Guild.

    ¡®Man, why is it taking so long? Is he dedicating so much time and energy to simply preparing the script?¡±

    Of course, he might have canceled the n itself and not written the script, for he might have felt it so burdensome to extort the Yanghwa Guild, or he did not trust me or my ability enough to proceed with it.

    Nheless, the Daeyu Guild teams were herding the monsters for me like before here in the Tombs of the Dead.

    ¡®Okay. For me, there is no rush.¡¯

    Anyway, I had nothing to lose from Suh¡¯s scheme, so I just focused on hunting. Moreover, my goal of achieving level 400 was just around the corner.

    At that moment Manager Jinyoung Lee, my on-hand support person, approached me and opened his mouth.

    ¡°Chairman Suh said that all preparations are finished, and he wants to see you around 3pm.¡±

    ¡°Oh really? Then, am I seeing at the usual meeting ce, the cafe in Northwood Castle?¡±

    ¡°No. Chairman Suh said he wille here around 3 pm.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see. Got it.¡±

    I was a bit puzzled why he wanted to see me here, not at the cafe in Northwood Castle, but I didn¡¯t care because it didn¡¯t matter where I met him.

    Now, it is 3 pm.

    ¡°Sorry for beingte, Asirante.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine, Mr. Chairman.¡±

    Chairman Suh showed up alongside a considerable number of men.

    Compared to the 10000 menst time, he was only apanied by around 50 this time.

    But it was certain at a nce that these people were the elites of the Daeyu¡¯s elites.

    I noticed their eyes burning full of confidence.

    Then, Chairman Suh introduced two of them to me.

    ¡°This is Pildu Oh, the head of Daeyu¡¯s 1st Group, and this is Chungsu Kim, the head of the Daeyu Group¡¯s strategic affairs department.¡±

    ¡°Hello, my name is Pildu Oh.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Chungsu Kim.¡±

    ¡°Hello, how are you? My name is Asirante.¡±

    Shortly afterwards, Mr. Kim, and not Chairman Suh, talked with me on behalf of Suh.

    Ten minutester.

    ¡°Um, I see.¡±

    Only now could I see why it took them so long to write the script.

    It was because of a boss monster raid.

    The Tombs of the Dead here also had a boss monster who appeared at exactly 3:30 pm.

    So, they made a n to shoot a video to showcase my brilliant hunting alongside Daeyu¡¯s first boss monster raid team. Of course, I was given a prominent role for the hunt.

    So, based on the results of my hunting, I was supposed to wrestle with Chairman Suh about sharing the items and the reward.

    Anyway, I fully understood the script and waited.

    In the script, there was also a detailed exnation of the boss monster, the Death Knight.I need to know the characteristics of the boss monsters because it was essential to include my brilliant activities in the video in order to draw Yanghwa Guild Chairman Jian Chianlin¡¯s interest.

    Three minutes before 3:30pm.

    ¡°Everyone, move to your ce!¡±

    ¡°The first raid team¡¯s role is to make Asirante stand out. So, don¡¯t forget it and do your best to support him!¡±

    Honestly, I was a little embarrassed because I was confident in showing off my hunting skills overwhelmingly even without their help.

    But I didn¡¯t say anything because it was me who asked the chairman to prepare the script. Besides, I wanted to break his perception that I might not show off my best skills without their support.

    In the meantime, it was exactly 3:30 pm.

    [Kaaaaaaaah! Who the hell is not equal before death!]

    A Death Knight appeared with a loud cry, holding a huge sword with a ck de.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    I immediately transformed the battlefield in my favor.

    Of course, the battlefield was not necessarily favorable to me for some reason.

    [You are in the vortex of death triggered by the Death Knight.

    -Attack and defense decrease by 15%.

    -Blessing and Healing powers decrease by 30%.]

    Of course, the message didn¡¯t end there.

    [You have a high debuff resistance.

    -Attack and defense debuff is dropped to 5% from 15%.

    -Blessing and Healing power debuff is dropped to 10% from 30%.]

    When I was level 353, even before proceeding with the Salimaru Bandit¡¯s quest, my Willpower was close to 5000. Moreover, by clearing the quest, I gained 700 extra stat points and gained even more stat points by leveling up 40 times to level 393. I invested all my gained stat points into Intellect, so I possessed 5500 Willpower due to the effects of Mutual Growth.

    Thanks to my enormous willpower, the vortex of death, whose effect was only 33% effective did not inflict any big damage on me.

    ¡°Here will be a paradise on earth!¡±

    ¡°Thick Land!¡±

    ¡°Sharp Teeth!¡±

    ¡°Show Anger!¡±

    ¡°Link: Skill cooldown.¡±

    [You are inside a paradise where milk and honey flow.

    -You recover 3% of the damage dealt to you.

    -Inflicts continuous damage to undead type monsters in the paradise where milk and honey flow.]

    [Thick Land.

    -For 5 minutes, your physical defense is increased by 5% and your magic defense is increased by 3%.]

    [Sharp Teeth.

    -Inflict 5% more damage to the opponent for 10 minutes.]

    [Show Anger.

    -For 30 minutes, your physical and magic attack power increases by 5%, but your physical and magical defense decreases by 10%.]

    [Link: skill cooldown.

    -Loa removes 10% of Asirante¡¯s skill cooldown for 30 minutes.

    -In exchange, Loa¡¯s cooldowns are increased by three times.]

    I wasn¡¯t alone in dealing with the boss monster.

    In addition to the various enchanters, there were healers dedicated to me.

    So, as written in the script, I ran straight to the front, well ahead of the tanks.

    ¡°Ice Storm! Pouring Hailstone!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

    Unfortunately I didn¡¯t wear the functional skill ring, so I could use only level 4 Icel Storm.

    However, the current battlefield with the ice terrain and the boss monster-rted set options of the Sacred Permanent Snow Spirit essoriesbined with the various buffs I received gave the skill tremendous power. So much so that the boss monster, the Death Knight, staggered back.

    ¡°Ice Prison! Ice st!¡±

    Since I didn¡¯t intend to keep Ice st as an ornamental skill, I used Ice Prison on the Death Knight, then sted the Ice Prison immediately.

    Of course, it was less powerful than sting the Ice Field reinforced with Thin Ice, but it was still enough to inflict damage on the Death Knight.

    [Kaaaaaaaaah! I¡¯ll kill you! Death Strike!]

    ¡°Ice Shield!¡±

    It seemed that he was really bothered by my attack.

    The Death Knight singled me out andunched a powerful attack at me.

    I could avoid his attack using Blink, but I used Ice Shield instead.

    Pacangggg!

    Although it was only level 3, I could guarantee this Ice Shield was much more powerful than its level showed. But it seemed that it still was not enough because the Death Knight¡¯s death strike still smashed through it with just one stroke. But I didn¡¯t retreat.

    ¡°Ice Spear! Multiple Ice Arrow!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    I keptunching multiple attacks from the ce where I was standing.

    As for the damage I took?

    It was clear that I suffered a lot of damage.

    But I could endure it without any difficulty.

    ¡°Heal!¡±

    ¡°Mega Heal!¡±

    ¡°Keep spamming heal on Asirante!¡±

    Certainly, the healers would not be able to demonstrate their power fully due to the vortex of death, but they could still replenish my depleted health.

    In fact my health was not very depleted.

    At that moment Chairman Suh and Chungsu Kim, head of Daeyu¡¯s strategy department, were whispering at a small distance from the scene of the boss monster raid.

    ¡°What I heard about him is quite true!¡± Chairman Suh uttered exmations.

    ¡°I feel more secure in Asirante than any other tank. Moreover, given such massive damage, his skills are far more effective than any provocation skills that tanks possess. It is clear from how the Death King¡¯s eyes are fixed only on Asirante,¡± Kim replied in admiration of Asirante¡¯s incredible performance.

    That was how the perfect tank and perfect damage dealer were meant to act in a boss monster raid.

    Catching both rabbits at the same time?

    Kim knew that it was impossible to catch both rabbits, but it was happening right now before his eyes.

    Trying not to blink, Kim tried to capture all the scenes of Asirante¡¯s brilliant activities in the boss monster raid.

 Chapter 122 - Stage Type (3)

    <h4>Chapter 122: Stage Type (3)</h4>

    ¡°Chain Lightning!¡±

    ¡°Breath of Destruction!¡±

    ¡°Fire Spirit¡¯s Anger.¡±

    ¡°Power Shot!¡±

    ¡°Earth Explosion.¡±

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Daeyu¡¯s first boss monster raid team. What that name meant was simple.

    It meant they were strong men who belonged to the top 1% and 2% in Korea.

    So, the damage dealers, the enchanters, and the healers were all doing their part so well to the extent that they did not interfere with Asirante, the main actor who should shine the most in this boss monster raid.

    However, there were those who could not showcase their role appropriately.

    They were the tanks. Of course, some of them asionally attacked the Death Knight.

    But it was the tank¡¯s defensive power that determined their realpetence. For some reason, however, the experienced and seasoned tanks stepped back rather than defending the Death Knight¡¯s attacks, for they knew clearly that it was more conducive to this raid for them not to interfere with Asirante. He was perfectly holding the boss monster, the Death Knight, at bay who was attacking with a huge amount of damage that was impossible to deal with for a typical tank.

    In other words, these veteran tanks knew that trying to assist Asirante to ¡°support¡± him would get on his nerves rather than helping him.

    So, most of the tanks opened their mouths while simply watching the scenes of Asirante¡¯s overwhelming performance in the boss monster raid as if they were bystanders.

    ¡°Oh my God! Is it possible for him to deal with the boss monster while managing his health?¡±

    ¡°Also, because of Show Anger, although his physical and magic attack power increases by 5%, his physical and magic defense is decreased by 10%r!¡±

    ¡°Damn it! Show Anger on tanks? How does that make any sense?¡±

    Show Anger was supposed to increase attack power by 5% by sacrificing 10% defense power.

    As a result, it was a buff that tanks had no choice but to avoid because even if their attack increased by 5%, it had little effect because they had a fundamentally weak attack power, while a 10% decrease in their defense was a fatal loss to them.

    However, tanks had no choice but to express intense anger and frustration after discovering that Asirante was not in a dangerous situation at all while maintaining the buffs. Common sense dictates that such a thing should not happen before their eyes.

    But their anger didn¡¯tst long, for they now clearly admitted that their defense was just useless in this situation where Asirante wasunching overwhelming attacks.

    In short, Asirante¡¯s attack was just amazing.

    ¡°Pouring Hailstone! Ice Spear. Multiple Ice Arrow!¡±

    Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    With my feet firmly nted on the ground, Iunched a series of attacks on the Death Knight as soon as my skill cooldowns were back. I initially wondered how efficient a 10% decrease in my skill cooldown would be, but it was really efficient when I actually experienced it.

    So, I could use almost indefinitely not only Ice Ball and Ice Bolt that had a short cooldown, but also the even more powerful Ice Spears and Multiple Ice Arrows.

    Besides, I endlessly fired Pouring Hailstone and Ice Storm whose cooldown returned quicker than I thought.

    Of course, others would face mana issues when spamming their skills like this, but I didn¡¯t have to worry about this at all while withstanding the Death Knight¡¯s ruthless attack.

    A little whileter there was a painful scream.

    [Kuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!]

    Thud!

    When the boss monster, Death Knight, fell with a painful scream, Chairman Suh immediately looked at Kim, and opened his mouth.

    ¡°How many minutes did it take for Asirante to kill it?¡±

    Chairman Suh, who had a lot of work to do and worry about in both reality and games, was aware of the average clear time of most tough boss monsters because one of the important signs of a guild¡¯spetitiveness was the number of the boss monsters they possessed.

    So, Chairman Suh clearly knew that the average clearing time of the Death Knight, the boss monster in this hunting ground, was around 30 minutes.

    But he immediately asked because he felt Asirante hunted the boss monster much faster than he thought.

    ¡°It took him 13 minutes and 58 seconds.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    In other words, it took about 14 minutes.

    Since it was more than twice as fast as the average clearing time, Chairman Suh was speechless for a while.

    However, Kim went on, as if he felt Suh had a lot more to be surprised about.

    ¡°Well, if we change all the unnecessary five tanks and two auxiliary tanks into damage dealers, and even change all three healers and two enchanters for the seven tanks into damage dealers , maybe it will take him only ten, or seven or eight minutes.¡±

    ¡°Wow! Asirante is like an onion that stilles out endlessly no matter how much you peel!¡±

    ¡°You bet. I feel Asirante will surprise us even more in the future.¡±

    Chairman Suh did not refute what he said because he could confirm it with his own eyes.

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe this. So, Asirante got rid of a mid-sized boss monster so easily?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s true. Besides, there were even no dangerous situations during the raid. That¡¯s awesome!¡±

    Actually, the boss monster raid was easier than I thought.

    Given the reactions of people around me, they seemed to think so as well.

    I could have shared the joy of a sessful monster raid with them, but I tried to look serious on purpose because that was what I was supposed to do ording to the script.

    At that moment, I heard some people approaching me.

    They were none other than Chairman Suh and Kim.

    ¡°Good job. Asirante! You yed a fantastic role!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen a tank as perfect as you, Asirante. Of course, I am wondering if I can confine you to the standards of a tank.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m ttered. This is not a big deal.¡±

    Normally I would have given the credit to Daeyu while gesturing my hands at him.

    But shrugging a bit, I made a gesture as if to ask him why he took pains to say that because I was supposed to be a bit conceited ording to the script.

    Then, I moved to the table Chairman Suh prepared in advance, and began a serious conversation with him. Of course, I spoke as written in the script.

    ¡°2 billion. If you really want to join the Daeyu Group, I will give you 2 billion golden rings right away, and it will just be a downpayment at that.¡±

    ¡°Well, I think Mirae, Myongjin, Daesung, and Kusan will offer me as much as that.¡±

    ¡°Man, I have told you this already, but let me repeat. If I see you in the real world, I can give you a stake in the Daeyu Group, but you just insist¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, I have to think about it a little more. I¡¯ve had some bad experiences in other games. I suffered a beating from them just because of some items and some boss monsters. Son of a bitch! The other party clearly told me he would see me alone, but he took more than ten thugs with him. By the way, you know what I¡¯m talking about, right, Mr. Chairman?¡± I said very slyly as if I were a real actor.

    And Chairman Suh responded by raising his voice, ording to the script.

    ¡°Daeyu is no thug group!¡±

    ¡°Of course, I know. As we all know, Daeyu is one of Korean¡¯s top five business groups. But if you look at the newspapers or watch movies, those from the top business groups are really the mean ones. They even hire thugs to beat their opponents. Oh, you know what? I read it in the newspaper recently. Argepany in the top 30 business groups hired an organized crime ring member to bury a body somewhere. Do you know where it is? I googled on it on the Inte and could not find it.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just spection. Spection.¡±

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so. All the evidence points to the fact that the murdered man was buried secretly somewhere. Anyway, I think I can see you after we build mutual trust a little more. I don¡¯t want to be beaten again. It really makes me shudder when I recall it.¡±

    ¡°Phew! Got it. I understand. Then, how much would you like to join Daeyu instead of Mirae, Myongjin, Daesung and Kusan?¡±

    ¡°Well, I think about 10 billion golden rings would be okay. Don¡¯t you think you should invest that much in me at least so you can spread the news about me everywhere? I won¡¯t think of considering any offer from Mirae, Myongjin, Daesung and Kusan even if they approach me.¡±

    Chairman Suh stiffened his face at that.

    ¡°Whew! Okay. Let me arrange another meeting with you sooner orter.¡±

    ¡°Sure. But you have to hurry. I¡¯m too easily swayed by what others say, and there are so many guys trying to win me over.¡±

    ¡°Sure, let me keep that in mind.¡±

    So, we were done shooting all the scenes for now.

    Now, I stopped acting arrogantly and opened my mouth, looking at Chairman Suh.

    ¡°By the way, do you think the Yanghwa Group can give us 10 billion golden rings?¡±

    In fact, 10 billion golden rings was so huge that even Chairman Suh hesitated for a moment.

    Besides, it is impossible for any individual to even dream of possessing such a huge amount of golden rings.

    But Chairman Sun came up with an unexpected response.

    ¡°Well, given the pompous personality of Yanghwa Group¡¯s Chairman Jiang Chiangrin, he will definitely give you 10 golden rings unconditionally. He has insatiable greed that nobody can even imagine.¡±

    I talked with him a little more before concluding the meeting.

    Of course, I stayed behind in the hunting ground because I had only 7 levels left to reach level 400.

 Chapter 123 - Stage Type (4)

    <h4>Chapter 123: Stage Type (4)</h4>

    Shanghai, China.

    A group of people looked closely at one video.

    At the end of the video, Guo Ching, the head of Yangwha Group¡¯s Strategy Department, said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry for giving you the wrong analysis of Asirante.¡±

    As soon as the Yanghwa Group began to work out a n to hire Asirante, Guo Ching oncepiled an analysis of the current and future expectations of Asirante. At the end of the analysis report was the conclusion that they needed to hire him.

    But even Guo Ching didn¡¯t know Asirante was such a fantastic asset.

    So, he felt that the Yanghwa Group should actively recruit him.

    In fact, Asirante¡¯s brilliant activities in the video showed clearly that it was not enough to just describe him as ¡°great¡± or ¡°fantastic.¡±

    Moreover, given that he only recentlypleted the level 300 only arena quest, the expectations for his growth would inevitably go up further.

    At that moment Shu Lan, the chief external affairs executive, opened her mouth.

    ¡°Asirante¡¯s attack and defense are all amazing. But there is something even more amazing. Honestly, I just don¡¯t understand how he does it.¡±

    When she said that, the eyes of Chairman Jian Chiangrin and all the other participants in the room turned to her.

    After seeing their intense gazes, she continued, ¡°Exactly 13 minutes and 58 seconds. During that time, Asirante never stopped attacking. He kept using not only a variety of AOE skills but also single-target skills as if he had no cooldown for them which was really shocking. I¡¯ve never seen anything like that before.¡±

    When she pointed it out, they all reviewed the video once again and nodded because she was right.

    After that, the video continued until Asirante and Chairman Daeyoung Suh¡¯s conversation.

    Cho Hong, the head of the Intelligence Department as well as the chairman¡¯s right hand man, opened his mouth after watching the video quietly.

    ¡°By the way, I have the impression that somebody manipted the video. It looks like they are showcasing Asirante.¡±

    ¡°What did Chairman Suh say in the attached letter?¡± Chairman Jiang asked upon hearing Cho Hong¡¯s impression

    Shu Lan said, ¡°Daeyu¡¯s Chairman Suh said that he spent almost 2 billion golden rings to win over Asirante personally without our knowledge, but he hasn¡¯t made much progress, so he said he would take his hands off this matter. He also said he didn¡¯t want to be pressed by our group and Asirante, adding that from now on, he only intended to act as an intermediary between Asirante and the Yanghwa Group. He asked us to reply whether we wanted to recruit Asirante by offering 10 billion golden rings or give him up.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    In response to Shu Lan¡¯s exnation, Chairman Jiang groaned while stroking his chin.

    Then he opened his mouth.

    ¡°Is there any possibility that Chairman Suh and Asirante are colluding to deceive me?¡±

    Chairman Jiang was proud that he lived a tough life to make the Yanghwa Group as it was today. So, he felt suspicious about whether Chairman Suh and Asirante were trying to pull wool over his eyes.

    ¡°Well, I have not found any clues about it¡­¡±

    ¡°I think it¡¯s quite possible.¡±

    ¡°Well, I think there is a fifty-fifty chance of them deceiving us.¡±

    The participants presented their opinion when the chairman expressed a strong suspicion.

    After hearing their opinions for a minute, the chairman struck the table once to silence them and opened his mouth.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine with me even if they are trying to lead me on so long as we can hire Asirante. Contact Chairman Suh and send him 10 billion golden rings.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    At the Yanghwa Group, Chairman Jian¡¯s words werew. So, they didn¡¯t dare to refute him, even though they smelled a rat in Chairman Suh¡¯s letter.

    The next day.

    ¡°Wow, so fast!¡± I eximed.

    Chairman Suh and his deputies never expected that Chairman Jiang would take the bait so quickly within a day after they sent him the video with Suh¡¯s letter.

    ¡°Haha. Haven¡¯t I told you before? Chairman Jiang¡¯s greed is so enormous that the average person can¡¯t even imagine it, ¡± said Suh, smiling at me.

    I said to him in a low voice, ¡°And if things don¡¯t work out as he wishes, his anger will be so enormous that the average person can¡¯t even imagine, right?¡±

    ¡°Well, we have to try to make sure that things like that won¡¯t happen. Don¡¯t you think so?¡±

    Anyway, I talked with Chairman Suh for some time while waiting for a guest from China.

    Of course, the guest won¡¯t actuallye from China in the real world.

    And that guest could not bring 10 billion golden rings straight from Virtual China because of the so-called channel or wall within ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ which made it impossible to exchange with foreign countries in the game.

    In other words, it was impossible to exchange golden rings and items, let alone people.

    So, the guest said that he was a Chinese-Korean living in Korea.

    Then, what about 10 billion golden rings?

    Actually, somebody who was nted by Chairman Suh in China has already received it.

    So, Chairman Suh decided to hand over 10 billion golden rings to the man who woulde today and use him as a courier. It was a one-on-one exchange in China and Korea.

    When the channel disappears eventually, the amount of the golden rings would still be the same anyway, so this kind of exchange was verymon.

    Anyway, within 10 minutes of waiting, a group of three people appeared.

    ¡°Good morning. It is an honor to meet such a famous man like you. I am Ki-sok Park. I serve Chairman Jian of the Yanghwa Group.¡±

    ¡°Nice to meet you. I¡¯m Asirante.¡±

    I shook hands with the man in the center. The man then shook hands with Chairman Suh, but grasped his hand for a little longer than me. It seemed that he had received the 10 billion golden rings for the exchange.

    After that, we sat across a big table and exchanged views about various topics.

    Park said Chairman Jiang regarded me as a very extraordinary man, so the chairman wanted to work with me. He even conveyed the chairman¡¯s reassurances that he would not discriminate against me as a foreigner, and if I felt lonely, he would create a sub guild of Koreans under the Yanghwa Guild and appoint me as the guild leader there.

    Park continued, ¡°Chairman Jiang said that talents like Asirante should fully disy their abilities not only in Korea and China but also around the world. And he promised to fully support your activities.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m thrilled to hear that.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha. I¡¯m d to hear that. Oh, Chairman Jiang has also prepared a small gift for you.¡±

    Then he reached out to me, so I held his hand.

    And 10 billion golden rings appeared through the exchange window.

    ¡°Chairman Jiang is really magnanimous. He won¡¯t try to take credit for this at all. He said if you continue to work with Daeyu, he will give you more support.¡±

    ¡°I am not sure if it¡¯s alright to receive this.¡±

    ¡°Chairman Jiang said that you didn¡¯t have to feel pressed at all because of this.¡±

    I gently asked back out of courtesy, then epted 10 billion golden rings.

    Even after that, we talked for some time.

    After this Chinese guest Ki-sok Park left, I gave Chairman Suh half of what I received.

    ¡°Here you are.¡±

    I handed 5 billion golden rings to Chairman Suh. Of course, I used the Memory Bead to record this scene. Suh must be using one, too.

    ¡°Thank you, Asirante. You really did a good job¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee. I just want to thank you for the excellent script you have prepared. By the way, I think we need to take a break before shooting a second video.¡±

    ¡°I guess so. 10 billion golden rings is really a huge amount, so it¡¯s not good for us to ask them for it again right away.¡¯

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    I parted with the chairman, promising to meet next time.

    But Chairman Suh didn¡¯t n a second operation because of a message that rang all over the world at the same time.

    [Good morning. I am the administrator of ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    -First of all, thank you for your interest and support in ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ which is celebrating its 4th anniversary. So, we have prepared a special event for the 4th anniversary.

    Moreover, this 4th anniversary marks the birth of a user who has surpassed level 1200, with the new level 1200 regr quest scheduled to open soon.

    I¡¯ll disclose detailed information about all thister.]

    ¡°4th anniversary?¡±

    Of course, I essed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯three years after it started, but as far as I knew, there were no 1st, 2nd, and 3rd anniversary events.

    So, I was baffled by the 4th anniversary event.

    While Juyoung Hong felt baffled by the message about the 4th anniversary special event, others were also surprised and baffled because it was the first such event.

    But the world paid more attention to the ¡®special event¡¯ that the system mentioned.

 Chapter 124 - Root (1)

    <h4>Chapter 124: Root (1)</h4>

    ¡°Ice Storm! Pouring Hailstone!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

    Using Blink, I appeared in the center of the undead that the third herding team had herded for me and immediately used my AOE skills because I could kill more than 100 undead monsters instantly with them.

    This time I had no choice but tounch a more intensive attack because my EXP was at 99.98% to the next level right before this round of hunting.

    Perhaps that¡¯s why a message rang among the falling monsters.

    [You have leveled up.]

    Of course, it was a message I heard a lot.

    However, the reason I felt this message was special was because it announced my level 400.

    So, the message didn¡¯t end there.

    [You have acquired 4 skill points by achieving level 400.

    -You can acquire up to four additional skills.]

    Having a lot of skills didn¡¯t necessarily improve my strength, but it definitely helped.

    So, I felt a strong urge to smile in satisfaction, but I held it back because I didn¡¯t have to inform Chairman Suh that I had reached level 500.

    ¡®Check the time.¡¯

    [It is currently 23:54.]

    Considering that I always hunted until 1am before logging out, I still had about one more hour left today. If I could have my way, I was really anxious to acquire a new skill right now and match it with a new legendary grade item befitting level 400. Besides, I currently had a total of 6.5 billion golden rings with the addition of the 5 billion golden rings I received the other day.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go to where the fourth monster herding team is.¡±

    With the same voice as usual, I spoke to Director Jinyoung Lee, who always supported me and managed the four monster herding teams in this hunting ground.

    ¡°Yes,¡± he replied.

    And I continued to hunt for the remaining one hour, as usual.

    It¡¯s now five minutes to 1am.

    ¡°Thanks for your great help today,¡± I said to the members of the fourth monster herding team.

    ¡°You¡¯re wee. Actually, we¡¯re making a lot of extra ie thanks to you, Asirante.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We¡¯re more grateful to you.¡±

    While returning their gratitude to me for giving them all the items including the golden rings dropped by the monsters, I finished hunting for the day.

    Then I climbed onto the Teleport Zone in the Tombs of the Dead after them.

    ¡°Move to Kotum Castle!¡±

    [You have been moved to Kotum Castle.]

    I could acquire skills anywhere where there was a tower in the central square. But since I was the most familiar with Kotum Castle, and it also had an auction house, I immediately moved there without hesitation.

    Then I moved straight to the central square because it was more important for me to acquire new skills than items right now. Moreover, I had some skills in mind that I wanted to acquire.

    [There are currently ice-type skills that you can acquire.]

    [There are currently ice-type skills that you can upgrade.]

    As soon as I approached the tower in the central square, a message rang.

    ¡®Check skill list.¡¯

    So, I checked the list of skills I currently had.

    Level 3 Ice Ball. (Level 1, 2, 3)Level 3 Ice Bolt. (Level 1, 2, 3)Level 3 Ice Weapon. (Level 1, 2, 3)Level 3 Ice Shield. (Level 1, 3, 5, 7)Minor Frostbite urrence (Passive.)Level 2 Ice Field. (Level 2, 5, 7)Level 4 Pouring Hailstone. (Level 2, 4, 6, 8)Level 4 Ice st. (Level 2, 4, 6)Level 3 Multiple Ice Arrow. (Levels 2, 3, 5)Level 3 Ice Prison. (Level 3, 5, 7)Level 3 Thin Ice. (Level 3.)Level 4 Ice Spear. (Level 3, 4, 6)Level 4 Blink. (Level 4, 6)Level 4 Ice Storm. (Level 4, 7, 8)

    I currently have a total of 14 skills.

    Because of one of them, I have been looking forward to achieving level 400 all the more.

    In other words, I now can finally upgrade level 2 Ice Field to level 5, thanks to achieving level 400.

    So, I upgraded all the skills that could be upgraded to level 5, including Ice Field.

    [Would you like to upgrade level 3 Ice Shield to level 5 Ice Shield?]

    [Would you like to upgrade level 2 Ice Field to level 5 Ice Field?]

    [Would you like to upgrade level 3 Multiple Ice Arrow to level 5 Multiple Ice Arrow?]

    [Would you like to upgrade level 3 Ice Prison to level 5 Ice Prison?]

    ¡°Upgrade them all.¡±

    Of course, leveling these skills up to level 5 will increase their power, but their cooldown will also inevitably rise.

    However, I could confidently say that I had faster cooldowns for the Ice-type skills than anyone else, and this time I was thinking of learning new passive skills because of this new cooldown increase. So, I chose to upgrade all of them without any hesitation.

    As soon as I was done upgrading the four skills to level 5, I searched for a new skill to acquire this time.

    [Level 5 Ice Rain (active, requires 3 skill points, requires 1,200,000 golden rings)

    : Creates a rain of ice in a certain range.

    : Only level 5 Ice Rain exists.]

    This kind of skill was not useful because it started and ended at level 5.

    Besides, considering that other signature AOE skills such as Ice Field, Pouring Hailstone, and Ice Storm can be upgraded to level 7, 8, and 8, from starting at level 2, 2 and 4 respectively, the power of skills like Ice Rain is bound to fall significantlyter.

    Moreover, it required as many as 3 skill points, which was even more than Ice Storm.

    Of course, I sometimes used skills because it was not always good to upgrade all the skills to their maximum level.

    Anyway, it was very important for me to distribute the cooldown of the skills appropriately because I could not sit idle, helplessly looking at the skills whose cooldown didn¡¯te back quickly.

    However, even considering all that, I thought three skill points were a little overkill.

    That¡¯s why Ice Rain could not be on my favorite skills list.

    Furthermore, there was one critical drawback.

    ¡®Well, it doesn¡¯t exist at level 500 anyway.¡¯

    So far, I¡¯ve acquired Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 and Level 4 skills when I achieved level 5, 100, 200 and 300 respectively. Now that I have reached level 400, I can acquire level 5 skills. So, ording to the rule, it seems that I should be able to acquire level 6 skills at level 500, but there is nothing like that at level 500.

    In other words, starting with Level 6 skills, the number of levels required to level up new skills increased from 100 levels to 200 levels.

    For example, level 600 is required to acquire level 6 skills, level 800 is required to acquire level 7 skills, and level 1000 is required to acquire level 8 skills.

    That¡¯s why I was given four skill points this time instead of the usual three. For that reason, I had to pay more attention to my skills, so it was too much for me to use three skill points for only one skill.

    ¡®The thing is this skill is definitely useful.¡¯

    If I had to single out my signature AOE skills, it would definitely be Pouring Hailstone and Ice Storm. Both of them are level 4, so I have no other way than using them at this level because the next level of Pouring Hailstone is level 6, and the next level of Ice Storm is level 7.

    Of course, I can use level 7 Ice Storm by using the legendary grade functional skill ring, but I n to keep it sealed for the time being.

    Anyway, in such a situation, a new level 5 AOE skill will certainly be a big help to me.

    ¡®Anyway, I have several single-target skills such as Ice Ball, Ice Bolt, Multiple Ice Arrow, and Ice Sphere.¡¯

    In particr, I didn¡¯t feel theck of single-target skills because I could use Ice Ball and Ice Bolt almost without any cooldown. Moreover, when I used these skills, they were not weak enough to be dismissed as simply low-level single-target skills.

    ¡®Let me learn this skill.¡¯

    So, as I had already made up my mind, I learned how to use level 5 Ice Rain.

    I have already used three skill points out of the four I had acquired.

    So, I searched for a skill to use the remaining one skill point.

    Of course, this was also one of the skills I decided to learn in advance.

 Chapter 125 - Root (2)

    <h4>Chapter 125: Root (2)</h4>

    [Ice-type cooldown reduction skill (Passive, required skill point: 1, required golden rings: 2,000,000.)

    : Reduces the cooldown of all acquired ice-type skills by 3%.

    : For every 3 ice-type skills, the cooldown of all ice-type skills decreases by 1%.

    -When you acquire this skill, you will have a total of 15 ice-type skills.

    -The cooldown of all ice-type skills will be reduced by 8% due to the addition of 5% to the original 3%

    If I acquire the ice-type cooldown reduction skill, I will have a total of 16 skills.

    Excluding Blink, the rest of them are all ice-type skills.

    Honestly, I never thought of learning the ice-type cooldown reduction skill previously because I had fewer cooldowns than anyone else with my ¡®Iceman¡¯ trait.

    However, no matter how much cooldown reduction I had, my cooldowns still increased as I leveled up my skills, causing a dy in using my skills.

    Especially after I used level 7 Ice Storm with the effect of the functional skill ring, I felt clearly that I could not use it as often even though it was really powerful.

    So, at that time, I decided to learn this skill by all means when I reached level 400.

    So, after I learned the ice-type cooldown reduction skill, I left the central square.

    My next destination? Of course, it was the auction house.

    Although I could barely afford the items there in the past, this time I could afford to acquire top-notch items that fitted my new level without hesitation.

    So, I was thinking of buying proper weapons this time. With the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword in mind, I want to buy a sword and a staff that increases my Intellect properly.

    it only took me less than three minutes to upgrade and learn a new skill. But I spent nearly 30 minutes at the auction house before purchasing the level 400 legendary grade Shunan robe set, a one-handed sword, and a staff. I spent a total of about 100 million golden rings.

    It was my first time spending such arge amount of golden rings, but I didn¡¯t feel it burdensome at all.

    In fact, I still had 6.4 billion golden rings in the inventory, so it wasn¡¯t much of a problem even if I received some losses when I had to sell themter.

    The next day I didn¡¯t ess the game.

    I informed the Daeyu teams about this in advance. I told them that due to personal reasons, I wouldn¡¯t ess the game today, and even if I did, it would only be sporadically, so they didn¡¯t have to dispatch the monster herding teams for me.

    In fact, I had a n to go to the Gangwon Province with all my family members today.

    And is it a family trip there?

    Well, it could be called a trip in some respects, but more precisely we were supposed to check out the construction site of the future Myongjin building in Gangwon Province.

    Actually, I havee to know about this only recently.

    There were some reports in the news media that the Myongjin Construction Company was building a fairlyrge leisureplex in the Gangwon Province.

    Anyway, it has been 3 years since they first began to construct the building. Although it was notpleted yet, it was almost done, so we decided to go there on a family trip.

    So, I hurried early in the morning and moved to my main house in Cheongdam-dong.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t forget to bring the 3rd generation VR device because if I had free time, I had to hunt even if I was not supported by Daeyu¡¯s monster herding teams.

    Kosung, Gangwon Province.

    ¡°Is it true that you used the media to advertise that the Myongjin Group was building a leisureplex in this ce?¡±

    In fact, this was just a vast empty ce surrounded by mountains on all sides, and there was nothing to see or eat, let alone any attractions.

    As a matter of fact, there was a demilitarized zone(DMZ) not far from this ce, although I could not see it clearly.

    In other words, even if a leisureplex is built here, it is almost impossible to make any money or profits.

    That¡¯s why I was really embarrassed to know that the media reports about the construction of a leisureplex in this remote ce paid off very well.

    But my sister next to mepletely quenched my curiosity.

    ¡°Hey, brother, you can do anything with money in this country.¡±

    I didn¡¯t refute what she said because it was true.

    When we stepped into the construction site, a building that wasn¡¯t asrge and spacious as I expected came into view.

    However, when I went into the building, I realized that what I saw outside was only the tip of the iceberg.

    An Iceberg had only a small part floating above the surface of the water with the rest of it invisible underneath. That¡¯s why they coined the expression, ¡®the tip of the iceberg,¡¯ and that was the exact description of this building.

    ¡°I really don¡¯t know how Dad thought of building something like this. Moreover, they began to build it three years ago, which is about the same time they confirmed the information about Revival Legend,¡± I said.

    Of course, it costs more to build a building underground than on the ground, and the construction cost surges as they dig further into the ground.

    ¡°Maybe next year or two yearster, the Myongjin Construction Company might go bankrupt. Well, they will go bankrupt because they have used up all the money,¡± my sister replied, smiling at me.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I was speechless for a moment at her nonchnt reply.

    The new building under construction was almost like a castle rather than a nest that had all the essential things. We looked around the building for a bit, then left.

    ¡°By the way, they still seem to have a lot of work to do. I saw so many dump trucks driving to the construction site endlessly.¡±

    When I asked about it, Director Sok opened his mouth with a smile.

    ¡°The building doesn¡¯t belong to Myongjin.¡±

    ¡°Pardon?¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but ask because I couldn¡¯t understand what Director Sok was talking about.

    ¡°This does not belong to Myongjin, but to future Myongjin. We¡¯re now hastening the construction with our future base in Gangwon.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Obviously, it is not Myongjin alone that is preparing for their future.

    Anyway, after examining the building, we did not return to our house in Cheongdam-dong in Seoul. Instead, we unpacked our luggage at a vi in a local city in Gangwon Province.

    Then we talked for about two hours over dinner, then retired to our rooms.

    Of course, I was anxious to ess ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ so I could gain even one more EXP, but I was too tired today because I moved around all day long. So I went to sleep early.

    While Juyoung Hong fell asleep in bed, something came out of the soles of his feet.

    Then it began to move slowly and leisurely.

    It was definitely bigger than when it first appeared.

    It was moving from ce to ce, then it, which resembled something like a root, suddenly raised its tip like a meerkat raising its head, and quickly began to move in one direction.

    Puck!

    It easily broke through the thick wall.

    A creature that had not previously existed on earth appeared not far from her vi where Juyoung Hong was staying. It was simr to the one that appeared in Annapurna, the Himyas.

    Of course, the creature looked around, turning its head in all directions because of the unfamiliar environment that it faced for the first time.

    It was currently dark. So, the creature was about to move to that brightly leaking light when it heard something.

    Shheeeeeeeeeeeng.

    It was the sound of something moving at a high speed.

    Before the new creature could even react, it heard another sound.

    Puck!

    And that was the final sound the creature called an Orc heard.

    When the Orc fell, a message rang.

 Chapter 126 - First Successful Step (1)

    <h4>Chapter 126: First Sessful Step (1)</h4>

    ¡°Umumnya¡­ Umumnya¡­¡±

    While Juyoung Hong was mumbling in his sleep like that, a message rang.

    Of course, he was not connected to ¡°Revival Legend¡± because he didn¡¯t ess it.

    Since he was asleep deeply, he could not hear the message.

    Even if he heard it, he might have thought he was hallucinating because he was too immersed in ¡°Revival Legend¡± these days.

    Although he heard from his father, Chairman Sangman Hong, that this ¡°Revival Legend¡± was not just a simple game, but an extraordinary one with a huge impact on the real world, it was not something he could simply ept and take at face value.

    Anyway, what was certain was that a message rang to Juyoung immediately.

    [You have sessfully cleared the event as a participant of the 4th anniversary special event.

    -You have acquired the title ¡®First Sessful Step¡¯.

    -If you are included in the 60-member squad, which will be held as part of the next 4th anniversary event, yourbat power will increase by 30% during that event.]

    Juyoung fell asleep again after picking his ear with his index finger if it felt itchy inside.

    When that little thing that came out of the soles of his feet, which looked like a tree root, touched a little sparkling blue piece left behind by the creature that had not existed on Earth, another message rang.

    [You have acquired 1 Golden Ring.]

    [You have acquired 0.01 coins.]

    Of course, Juyoung didn¡¯t hear this message either.

    Anyway, this little thing which resembled a tree root moved back into the soles of his feet as if there was nothing interesting anymore.

    Yes, it did go back into the soles of his feet as if nothing had happened.

    Of course, there was no evidence of anything surprising happening, except for the creation of a small hole in one wall of Juyoung¡¯s sleeping room.

    New York, USA.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    A series of gunshots rang inside a huge building.

    And a creature whose head and chest were shot numerous times copsed and disappeared without any trace. Of course, it left something behind.

    It was something small and shiny and appeared to be blue in color.

    At that moment, one of the men who fired the shots opened his mouth.

    ¡°What the heck? It clearly fell after being shot. Where did its body go?¡±

    ¡°Wait a minute, wasn¡¯t that an orc?¡±

    ¡°Right. It looked like an orc.¡±

    ¡°What the heck happened??¡±

    The building security guards and bodyguards spat out words like that, faced with a situation that they could not believe at all.

    But Tylon Cole, the first person to reach level 1200, could see a message even though he was not currently logged into ¡®Revival Legend¡¯. He was a member of the Holdridge Group, whose headquarters were near the building whose emergency bell kept ringing loudly at the sudden appearance of a human being, or more precisely, a strange creature who was not registered in the building.

    [Unfortunately, you have failed to clear the special event as a participant in the 4th anniversary special event.

    -You have acquired the title ¡®First Failed Step¡¯.

    -If you are included in the 60-member squad, which will be held as part of the next 4th anniversary event, yourbat power will increase by 10% during that event.]

    Tylon Cole wasn¡¯t surprised that the message rang in reality because he already knew that by reaching level 1200, he could trante his abilities within ¡°Revival Legend¡± into reality. And he had already done so using coins.

    However, after checking the message, Cole could not help but frown.

    The fact that he failed something without even participating made him feel bad, no matter how trifling it was.

    Nheless, he checked the title first.

    ¡°Check title First Failed Step.¡±

    He shouted it even though he was not wearing a virtual reality device at the moment.

    If anyone was watching him, they might have felt that Cole had gone crazy. But of course, Cole wasn¡¯t crazy.

    Currently, Cole was a talented yer that the Holdridge Group paid special attention to, so everybody knew that Cole¡¯s behavior a moment ago wasn¡¯t crazy.

    And, in fact, as soon as Tn Cole finished speaking, something appeared in front of him.

    [Title: Failed First Step.

    -You failed to directly get rid of the monster given to you as a participant in the 4th anniversary special event.

    However, as a reward for your outstanding performance previously, which qualified you as the participant in the 4th anniversary special event, the title of Failed First Step is given to you.

    : Increases Health by 10,000.

    : Increases Mana by 10,000.

    : Increases all stat points by 20.]

    Confirming the message before his eyes, he could not help but gnash his teeth because he knew the special meaning of a title as someone who essed ¡°Revival Legend¡± faster and more often than anyone else.

    At that moment, a close colleague of his approached him and opened his mouth.

    ¡°Hey Cole! Orc! It looks like an orc has appeared in reality! There is a big fuss downstairs!¡±

    But Cole wasn¡¯t surprised because he already knew it from the message.

    Of course, although he was not surprised, he could not help but frown at the fact that some stupid guy got rid of the monster even though he was supposed to kill the monster by himself.

    Of course, Coleined deep down, though he didn¡¯t express it outward.

    ¡®Damn it! How could I know that it was my job to kill the orc when it didn¡¯t even appear before me! I could have gotten rid of this orc by myself!¡±

    What happened to Juyoung Hong and Tylon Cole was not just limited to the two.

    Not many, but only a special few who were eligible to participate in the 4th anniversary special event experienced the same thing.

    However, most of them confirmed the message that they failed just like Tylon Cole.

    The monster called an Orc did not appear directly in front of the participants of the 4th anniversary special event but within a radius of 100 meters from them.

    So, some people who were eligible to participate in the 4th anniversary event, couldn¡¯t see a single hair of the orc, let alone the orc itself, because they were ying ¡°Revival Legend¡± on a boat in the middle of the sea. They just confirmed the unexpected message that they had failed.

    Anyway, the next day no news media reported about what happened to the 98 out of 100 participants in the 4th anniversary special event, even though not only some participants but also some others who had nothing to do with the event were killed.

    And Juyoung Hong was the only person that experienced this event in Korea.

    It was not because Koreagged far behind other countries in Revival Legend.

    There were 0 participants in Taiwan and Mongolia, and only 1 participant in Japan like Korea.

    Moreover, the Japanese participant failed.

    The United States kept news about ¡°Revival Legend¡± a total secret,¡± so the news about the 4th anniversary special event was not known to the outside world. As a result, only a few countries such as the United States, China, Russia, and Europe could produce the participants in the special event.

    Anyway, it was quiet in Korea. Well, it was natural that it was quiet there because all this happened without the involved party knowing.

    The next morning we ate a light breakfast at the vi and set off for Seoul because my father, brother, and Director Sok were all very busy.

    On that day, I decided to take a rest at my main house in Cheongdam-dong.

    Of course, all I had to do was to ess ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ with a 3G VR device in my room.

    Anyway, when I essed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ and opened my inventory casually, I noticed something different than before.

    Coins.

    ¡°Uh? Are these coins generating themselves?¡±

    I could not get coins just by hunting monsters. I could get them only by clearing a quest.

    Since I could not say I had a lot of experience in obtaining coins, I remembered exactly how many coins I currently possessed, namely 67,000.

    But there were more coins in my inventory.

    [67,000.01 coins]

    ¡°Where did this 0.01 coine from?¡±

    I could not help but be more puzzled by the number of 0.01 instead of 1.

    However, I was more surprised by what I noticed next.

    ¡°Only Closed Beta Max Level Achiever and five other titles?¡±

 Chapter 127 - First Successful Step (2)

    <h4>Chapter 127: First Sessful Step (2)</h4>

    Originally, I had a total of five titles including Only Closed Beta Max Level Achiever.

    So, now I had a total of six, not five, titles.

    Besides, my health and mana suddenly increased enormously, and all my stat points also increased.

    ¡°What the heck is this? My level and EXP are still the same.¡±

    It was like a bolt out of the blue to me, so I was not only dumbfounded but also confused by what happened to me. It was beyond my understanding.

    Of course, I felt good about what happened to me, or I had no choice but to rejoice.

    However, since I don¡¯t know why this happened all of a sudden, I could not express my joy because there was a real possibility that all this would disappear like a dream or an illusion while I got carried away with happiness.

    In other words, I didn¡¯t want to count my eggs before they were hatched.

    So, I opened my mouth quietly to confirm the title which was my only clue at the moment.

    ¡°Check the list of my current titles.¡±

    In no time, a list of titles I currently have appeared.

    [The titles you currently hold:

    Only Closed Beta Max Level AchieverScarecrow Destroyer.Have You Enhanced as Much as Me?The Man Who Doesn¡¯t Fall.Honorable Name.First Sessful Step.]

    At the very bottom of the list was a title that I had never seen before.

    ¡°Check title, First Sessful Step.¡±

    [Title: First Sessful Step.

    -As a participant in the 4th anniversary special event, you sessfully got rid of the monster directly.

    -As a reward, you were given the title First Sessful Step.

    : Health Increases by 100,000.

    : Mana increased by 100,000.

    : All stat points increase by 300.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    As soon as I checked the title, I knew that this new title was the best except for Only Closed Best Max Level Achiever, which was basically iparable to anything else.

    So I was all the more puzzled because I didn¡¯t do anything even though the process of obtaining such a good title was usually very difficult.

    Still, I could takefort from the fact that the reason for the increase in my health, mana, and stat points was because I got this new title, and that unless this title disappeared, this increase would not disappear.

    And for some reason, I felt the title ¡°First Sessful Step¡¯ would not disappear.

    Around lunch that day I mentioned my new title to my sister.

    ¡°First Sessful Step?¡± asked my sister.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡±

    Since my father and brother were working in thepany right now, I mentioned it to my sister while having lunch.

    I was going to tell my father and my brother about it in the evening anyway because I had no reason to keep it a secret from my family.

    But my sister didn¡¯t pay much attention when I said I got a new title out of the blue.

    It seemed to me that she thought the value of my new title was terrible because I got it for no reason.

    So I told her that this was a title that increased health by 100,000, mana by 100,000 and all stat points by 300.

    Bang!

    ¡°What did you say???¡±

    Even though I have many titles so far, an increase in my health and mana by 100,000 was still a huge number. In addition, my strength, agility, stamina, willpower, and intellect all increased by 300 points which amounted to an increase of 1500 stat points.

    In other words, if I converted them into levels, it was equivalent to gaining 150 levels.

    ¡°Tell me when, how and why you got it.¡±

    ¡°I just told you. I don¡¯t know. After I woke up this morning, I found it all of a sudden.¡±

    ¡°I still don¡¯t get it. Howe you have obtained such a super title when you haven¡¯t done anything?¡±

    When she asked with her eyes open, I just gently nodded because it was a simple fact, and I didn¡¯t know anything more about it.

    And I told the same story to my father, brother, and Director Sok.

    As they say, you can see only what you know.

    When I exined to them, Director Sok and my father knew about the meaning and power of my new title better than anybody else.

    Of course, my father instructed Director Sok to secretly investigate this mysterious thing because he knew there was no smoke without fire.

    But I really didn¡¯t know anything about it.

    Anyway, this bizarre thing got noticed not only in Korea but around the world.

    If I actively tried to find out about it, it would give other guys a clue which might put me in jeopardy. So, my family members and I kept it quiet.

    The next day at the Tombs of the Dead.

    What happened to me yesterday became something like a catalyst that made me even more diligent. Why? I liked the game itself as well as ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ because I was given a reasonable reward for my hard efforts, but something extraordinary, which I never imagined, happened to me yesterday.

    It was sort of a special bonus for me. So, I could not help but get even more motivated to hunt.

    ¡°Ice Storm!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    This time I wore the functional skill ring. In the past, when I confirmed that I acquired the functional skill ring, I hid it from Daeyu taking into ount their expected regrets about my possession of the ring, but this time I felt I didn¡¯t have to.

    Honestly, my confidence yed a big role this time.

    In other words, I had the firm confidence that Daeyu would not pose any big threat to me no matter what they did.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    I said to Manager Jinyoung Lee, who always supported me whenever I came to this ce to hunt. He was staring at me nkly, amazed by my brilliant hunting.

    And it wasn¡¯t just Manager Lee who looked at me in amazement.

    The 2nd monster herding team members were also standing with nk expressions as if they didn¡¯t want to pick up the items dropped by the dying monsters.

    Of course, I know why they did so because nobody knew my hunting method and power as well as they did.

    I always used a series of attacks based on linking Blink, Ice Field, Pouring Hailstone, and Ice Storm. But this time I used only Ice Storm.

    But the effect was the same when I killed more than 100 monsters with one stroke by using Ice Storm. Of course, I used one more skill.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasak!

    The level 5 Ice Field showed apletely different power from the level 2 Ice Field.

    Moreover, the effect of Thin Ice was much greater when it was used with level 5 Ice Field than with level 2 Ice Field.

    ¡°Ice Rain!¡±

    Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting!

    It was a rain of ice. There was no sound of rain falling.

    Rather, only the sound of it colliding with something spread widely.

    And that was it.

    At that moment, I turned my gaze to Manager Lee and said, ¡°Well, it looks like four monster herding teams are not enough. Can you increase the number of teams? How about eight teams?¡±

    As a matter of fact, I didn¡¯t feel that four teams were insufficient for my purposes before.

    Until now, I was wearing low-level weapons with the possibility of me wearing the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword in mind. But now I was wearing a legendary grade staff befitting my level, and I even increased my substantial defense with level 400 legendary grade items, so the four teams were definitely not sufficient for my purposes now.

    Moreover, I gained even more power from my new title ¡®First Sessful Step¡¯ as well as the upgraded skills.

    So I definitely felt the current four teams were not enough to efficiently hunt.

    Manager Lee, who was standing, nkly looking at me, stuttered as if he was surprised.

    ¡°Let me convey your wishes to the management.¡±

    So, I replied with a smile to him, ¡°Thank you.¡±

 Chapter 128 - The 4th Anniversary Special Event

    <h4>Chapter 128: The 4th Anniversary Special Event</h4>

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

    I was now strong enough to hunt in other hunting grounds with stronger monsters than the Tombs of the Dead. But I did not leave the Tombs of the Dead because the monster herding teams, which increased from 4 to 8, boasted twice as much support efficiency as before.

    And this type of monster herding was not avable in all the hunting grounds.

    For example, monster herding was impossible in a ce where monsters that attacked from a long range appeared. Moreover, morepetent monster herding teams were needed for more powerful monsters so that they could properly herd the monsters and not die instead after fighting them hard.

    Anyway, in that sense, the Tombs of the Dead had some merit as a good hunting ground for me. So, I was absorbed in hunting.

    I still didn¡¯t know how I got the title ¡°First Sessful Step¡±, but what was certain was that it was a reward for my hard work until now.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t want to describe it as something like hard work because I hunted hard because it was fun, but the new title gave me enough motivation to kick start my passion for hunting once more.

    At the h Daeyu Guild¡¯s headquarters.

    ¡°Oh my God¡­I really can¡¯t figure out why Asirante has be so powerful. I have no idea at all.¡±

    Chairman Suh tried to not take any interest in Asirante on purpose because he knew that he could not win over Asirante even though he was still affiliated with Daeyu.

    However, he was too curious about Asirante to ignore a video showing his incredible performance, so he blurted out regrettably with a sigh after watching the video.

    Those executives who watched the video about Asirante with Chairman Suh fully understood what he meant by that.

    For example, 2 is supposed toe after 1, and 3 after 2.

    In Suh and his deputies¡¯ eyes, that was the same with a man¡¯s abilities.

    In other words, it is impossible for a baby who can¡¯t even crawl on the floor to stand up and walk overnight or for a child who can¡¯t read alphabets to immediately be able to read books.

    However, Asirante showed that he could make things work today, even when he couldn¡¯t until yesterday. So, Chairman Suh could not understand this kind of disconnect at all.

    So, they didn¡¯t refute Chairman Suh¡¯s grumbling about Asirante¡¯s capabilities.

    Like the chairman, they too were helplessly watching Asirantes¡¯ proud appearance in the video with mixed feelings.

    In the meantime, I spent all my time hunting for several days in a leisurely manner.

    Unlike me, however, the Daeyu Group people were very busy.

    The Myongjin Group was also busy because the system clearly mentioned the 4th anniversary event with the announcement that such an event was the first since ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ made its debut 4 years ago. In other words, this was not a matter that they could ignore lightly.

    So, they moved around busily, collecting as much intelligence about the event as possible including the nature of the event, the way the event would proceed, how many would participate in it, and the start date.

    Why? Because there was a strong possibility that a big reward that could bridge the gap between the top level yers and increase my gap on other yers might be given to me.

    So, I hunted more passionately than before to strengthen my power even a little more.

    So much so that Manager Lee and the eight monster herding teams shook their heads in amazement.

    In the meantime, I seeded in enhancing the +4 Sacred Permanent Snow Spirit ring and to + 5 enhancement.

    As soon as I finished enhancing the ne to +5 enhancement, I decided to focus on enhancing the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword because I felt I would reach level 700, which seemed a distant goal to me in the past, sooner orter.

    Given that I had the 100% enhancement sess ticket and 2 ancient cooldown removal spell charms, I can enhance it by +3 immediately.

    So, I thought of enhancing my Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword in advance because I wanted to make it at least +7 enhancement before leaping to +10 enhancement with the enhancement sess ticket and the spell charms.

    Anyway, the only thing I could do right now was hunt. But a message rang while I focused on hunting. It wasn¡¯t the familiar message that announced my level-up, nor did it ring only to myself. In other words, the 4th anniversary special event had finally started.

    [Good morning. I am the administrator of ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    -As I previously announced, let me walk you through the 4th anniversary event.

    : This event is a world event, so up to 60 people in each region can participate.

    A total of 60 people will be organized by three captains, but each captain has a different number of members they can organize.

    -Captain No.1 can organize a squad of 30 members.

    -Captain No.2 can organize a squad of 20 members.

    -Captain No.3 can organize a squad of 10 members.

    <ol start=¡±2¡å>

    The 60 members selected for each region must gather at Ludon¡¯s arena and defend the Tower of Glory in each region from monsters.

    When the Tower of Glory is destroyed by monsters, all the survivors in the region are forcibly kicked out of Ludon¡¯s arena, and more powerful monsters appear until only one region remains.]

    The message was now exining how to proceed with the event.

    [As of the current time, a huge bulletin board will be installed in the central square of all cities and castles for 10 days, and the names of the three captains are disyed in real-time.

    Anyone can organize a squad of 10, 20, and 30 people to challenge the captain they want to beat, and the one whose name is finally listed on the bulletin board on the 10th day will be selected as the captain of that region.A total of 60 members selected in each region will be given 2,000 coins regardless of their ranking as a basic reward for their participation, and more rewards will be given to the participants who are ranked from 1st to 10th ce globally.Users in the regions of those participants who rank in the top ten globally will also receive a reward even if they failed to be selected as a squad member. But the reward will depend on their level.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    As soon as I heard the word ¡®region,¡¯ the word ¡°channel or wall¡± currently blocking each country came to my mind. In other words, I realized easily that this 4th anniversary quest was a quest in which 60 people from each country were selected topete.

    ¡°By the way, just participating gives us 2,000 coins? Man, it looks like anybody would like to participate even if they are given 200 million or even 100 million golden rings.¡±

    I currently have 67,000 and 0.01 coins in the inventory.

    My father, brother, sister, and Director Sok expressed shock, aghast at the enormous number of the reward coins, namely, 2,000 coins.

    But I wasn¡¯t that impressed because they were useless to me.

    Of course, the fact that the system would give the participants coins directly was evidence that the coins would be very valuableter, but I didn¡¯t like them because I had no use for them.

    Of course, I would not refuse them if I was given them.

    Anyway, all participants would receive a 2000 coin reward.

    So, the real reward for those participants in the top 10 rankings may be enormous because this is a worldwide event.

    So, I found myself burning with desire to participate in the event.

    At a giant building in New York, USA.

    As soon as they checked the 4th anniversary event message of ¡®Revival Legend¡¯, all the Holdridge Group executives gathered together.

    Of course, they already confirmed some information through the intelligence organization called Integos in Brazil, so they were not very confused or surprised by the message.

    But there was one thing that surprised them.

    It was the 2000 coin reward given to each participant, which was missing in the Integos report.

    Since the Holdridge leadership knew the secret of level 1200, they could not help but pay attention to the 2,000 coins automatically given to the participants.

    Moreover, the real reward has not yet been disclosed to anybody.

    Although they knew about the 4th anniversary event, they hurriedly held an emergency meeting as soon as they confirmed the message to find a way to outfox the Shaipe Group and the US Government who were on a par with them in America, and take the No. 1 Captain position.

    ¡°The Shaipe Group and the US Government will never make any concessions to us.¡±

    ¡°I agree. I think they will rack their brains to take the No. 1 Captain position, who can organize 30 people. They already have a level 1200 user, too.¡±

    In fact, the Holdridge Group was treated well by the Shaipe Group and the US Government because it was the Holdridge Group that first discovered the disappearance of Vten, which had the original technology for the VR device, as well as the information about the ¡°Revival Legend¡± connected to Vten.

    Of course, the Holdridge Group didn¡¯t give such information to the US Government and the Shaipe Group because they wanted to. Anyway they yed a role in making the US reach the highest position, so both the Shaipe Group and the US Government tended to treat the Holdridge Group well.

 Chapter 129 - The Start of the 4th Anniversary Special Event (1)

    <h4>Chapter 129: The Start of the 4th Anniversary Special Event (1)</h4>

    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡±

    When their deputies expressed this opinion, the top five executives of the Holdridge Group groaned because they judged it would be difficult to get their concessions this time.¡±

    One of the top executives opened his mouth.

    ¡°Aside from that, do you think America can win first ce?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure. If Holdridge, Shaipe, and the US Government join hands and select a dream team of 60 members, we can definitely win 1st ce. Even though China and Russia, some European and South American countries have put in great effort so far, it is too hard for them to bridge the gap between them and us.¡±

    Austin, the head of the Holdridge¡¯s Intelligence Department, who was answering the executive¡¯s question, agonized over whether to include Korea as well for a moment because one of the hottest newsmakers these days was a guy named Asirante from Korea.

    However, he ruled out Korea because there was certainly a limit to an individual¡¯s power.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I see.¡±

    When Austin gave them such a background exnation, none of the participants including the top executives refuted him because it was true that America was well ahead of any other country in ¡°Revival Legend.¡±

    However, no one thought it was possible to form a dream team because even the Holdridge Group had at least five people who wanted to join but would not belong there. They were none other than the top five executives.

    Of course, there was a lot in this world that the tremendously wealthy could do. They could purchase top-quality equipment, but that alone didn¡¯t help them achieve the highest level and make them stronger than anybody else.

    First of all, these five executives were too old. So they weren¡¯t healthy enough to spend a long time ying games. Besides, they were very busy taking care of various things outside the game.

    And it was the same with the top people of the Shaipe Group and the US Government..

    That¡¯s why the one who achieved level 1200 for the first time was an ordinary man and not a top executive.

    Of course, it was these top executives who financially supported such ordinary men so they could level up quickly and be stronger.

    Anyway, the Holdridge Group continued a heated debate toe up with a n to take over the No. 1 Captain position.

    Of course, it was not just the Holdridge Group that was busy at the moment. Famous guilds in each country moved around busily to take over the No. 1 Captain position because winning this position suggested the captain was the most influential man in that country aside from the rewards.

    Northwood Castle central square.

    [The 4th Anniversary Event Status Board.

    9 days 23 hours 27 minutes remaining.

    -Captain No. 1: numberONE and 29 others (Zenon)

    -Captain No.2: Jangsu Park and 19 others (Sungchang)

    -Captain No.3: ck night and 9 others (Team Disorderly)]

    In the central za, there was a huge bulletin board that could be seen from a distance, and the names of captains No. 1, 2, and 3 were already on the bulletin board.

    Of course, there was zero likelihood that these names would be the final ones.

    I¡¯ve never heard about Team Disorderly, but Zenon and Sungchang were familiar to me.

    Of course, Sungchang was nothingpared to Mirae, Myongjin, Daesung, Kusan, and Daeyu.

    Four days have passed since the 4th anniversary event was announced.

    At my main house in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul.

    ¡°Mirae has made an offer to us?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    The 4th anniversary event sparked quite a sensational response.

    They were excited at the fact that even though they were not included in the 60-member squad, they would be given a reward if they got good results if one of the users ranked in the top 10 globally. It did not matter whether they numbered in the hundreds of thousands or even millions. They would all receive a reward.

    Of course, no one had the ridiculous idea that those excluded from the squad would receive the same reward as the 60 participants.

    However, because of the automatic reward for the participants, regardless of whether they were included in the squad or not, there was a tremendous interest in the event among many people.

    Moreover, the 60 selected in the end would be representatives of Korea.

    Since there were many people who took great pride in the game as Korean nationals, there was an atmosphere that the 4th anniversary event should not be ruined by those participants who were not qualified at all.

    So, Zenon, Sungchang, Sunny, Invincible Army, and other reputable guilds fiercelypeted to take over the No. 1 Captain position, but there were a lot who looked at them with hostile intentions because they were notpetent enough to represent Korea despite their fundamental power and national recognition.

    So, almost 99.9% of the users said that Mirae, Myongjin, Daesung, Kusan, and Daeyu should step forward to participate in the event, arguing that only they could dispatchpetent users.

    Of course, there were some who argued that it would be frustrating to see just the top five groupspeting for the positions because they were all more or less on the same level.

    Of course, suchints were always buried by other voices calling for their participation,

    Anyway, there were still 6 days left before the 60-member squad was formed, and everybody knew that Mirae, Myoongjin, Daesung, Kusan, and Daeyu would not be bystanders as far as this event was concerned.

    So, I was surprised to hear from my sister that Mirae offered to join hands with Myongjin because I got the impression that Mirae¡¯s initiative to make an offer to Myongjin for a coalition when all the other groups were trying fiercely to read each other¡¯s intentions showed their possible willingness to make concessions.

    So, for the next four days, Mirae and Myongjin were busy trying to calcte the gains and losses of such an offer. Anyway, I could not help but be surprised that it was Mirae that made such an offer first.

    That evening in the basement study my father said, ¡°So I decided to ept Mirae¡¯s offer. Our new name is the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance, and we will organize a total of 30 people, 15 on each side, to take over the No.1 Captain position under the name of Myongjin.¡±

    That was a big concession by Mirae.

    As a matter of fact, the gap between Myongjin and Mirae was like night and day.

    Putting Myongjin¡¯s name in front of Mirae¡¯s in the alliance name was clear proof of who would take the initiative in the event. Moreover, letting Myongjin put their name on the No.1 Captain position further showed that Myongjin, not Mirae, would take the lead.

    But I was suspicious of the Mirae management¡¯s intentions.

    First of all, the Mirae Group, notorious for being in splendid istion, made too many concessions. Second, I wondered how Daesung and Kusan would react to the coalition of Myongjin and Mirae.

    Obviously, they would not sit idle, watching their rival groups forming such an alliance because they don¡¯t want to see the No. 1 Captain position be taken away by the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance.

    At that moment, Director Sok looked at me and opened his mouth.

    ¡°This time we owe a lot to you, Juyoung.¡±

    ¡°Pardon? What do you mean?¡±

    I had no choice but to be confused by his unexpected remarks because I didn¡¯t do anything.

    As if he already expected my reaction, he continued, ¡°Well, let me exin. We easily had them make concessions about the name Myongjin & Mirae Alliance because they proposed first, but we had a heated argument over who would take the No. 1 Captain position.¡±

    Of course, someone might say it¡¯s not a big deal to designate a representative, but it¡¯s really important in this event because this is a worldwide event.

    So, I could understand why they would argue, and nodded at Sok gently.

    He continued, ¡°When they didn¡¯t show any sign of making further concessions, we showed them a hidden card. In other words, we told them that we would give you up in this event.¡±

    His threat to Mirae certainly paid off. Of course, I know he didn¡¯t mean it.

    So, I wasn¡¯t surprised at all, nor was I confused.

    This time my brother added with a smile, ¡°As you know, Juyoung, this 4th anniversary event is attracting a lot of attention. Even those who are not likely to be included in the 60-member squad are paying a lot of attention now. Of course, they are very much interested in the fact that if any of the 60 people is included in the top ten, they will be given rewards too. But what¡¯s more important is that this event is also an opportunity that can show us at a nce how big the difference between us and others around the world is.¡±

    What he said was true.

    Wherever I went, there was a forum in which the panelists discussed how well Korean yers would do in the 4th anniversary event.

    So, I didn¡¯t refute my brother.

    He then continued, ¡°We told Mirae that we would include somebody else other than you, our family member, in the event. In other words, Dad, sister and me will participate while Mirae has four family members participating. That way, we got them to concede. We will announce to the public that we decided to rule you out from a broader point of view because you were lesspetent, and garner some favorable public

 Chapter 130 - The Start of the 4th Anniversary Special Event (2)

    <h4>Chapter 130: The Start of the 4th Anniversary Special Event (2)</h4>

    As soon as my brother finished talking, Director Sok opened his mouth.

    ¡°Our n is to have Daesung and Kusan ally to take the No. 2 Captain position, and make Daeyu ally with a strong yer to take the No. 3 Captain position. Of course, we have arranged for you to participate as a member of the Daeyu Group.¡±

    Since my brother and Sok exined well, I could easily understand.

    Be it baseball or ser, or any other area, there was always a problem, namely, the selection of people based on personal connections such as family ties.

    For this event, the selection of the squad members would not be affected by personal connections. However, if the 60 people are selected because of the reward and not theirpetence, they would obviously be criticized heavily by most users in Korea, given the current atmosphere of the heated debate about the event.

    In particr, Korea, or the ¡°Land of the Morning Calm,¡± has mastered tactical strategy, and as such, it is home to some of the most famous ster yers on the.

    Anyway, I felt our n didn¡¯t look bad.

    Moreover, I was fully confident in participating in the event as a member of Daeyu.

    Of course, I felt sorry that my mother was not included in the squad, but her inclusion would just look like a shallow trick in the eyes of others.

    Anyway, I said after having heard our n a little more, ¡°By the way, can things proceed as we nned?¡±

    If things worked out as we nned, Myongjin would gain a lot of real benefits, but it was not easy to predict whether Daesung, Kusan, and Daeyu would just observe Myongjin as bystanders.

    Four dayster at Northwood Castle central square.

    [The 4th Anniversary Event squad status board.

    2 days 14 hours 14 minutes remaining.

    -Captain No.1: Sangman Hong and 29 others (Myongjin & Mirae Alliance)

    ¨C Captain No.2: Ungi Chung and 19 others (Daesong & Kusan Alliance)

    -Captain No.3: Daeyoung Suh and 9 others (Daeyu)]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    So, they were grouped together in the way we had nned, and easily at that.

    In other words, the publicity campaign by Myongjin and Mirae paid out. Their message was that even if family members could participate, those who were notpetent would be ruled out.

    Such a message was so powerful that even Daesung and Kusan had to pay heed to it when they decided to include their family members.

    How about me?

    Of course, I was included in the squad of Captain No.3 of Daeyoung Suh and 9 others.

    At first, Chairman Suh did not want to include me because he felt it was impossible to hire me.

    In fact, it was more beneficial to Daeyu to include somebody who would stick with Daeyu rather than me. But Iined strongly to Chairman Suh if he intended to break connections with me at this point after giving me so many benefits until now.

    Suh would have ignored myint if his expectations of my growth had been low, but he had such high regard for it that he immediately included me in the list.

    Anyway, after putting my name on the status board by driving out those who were on the status board at first, I checked with my sister if there was anybody who challenged me. But she said there was none, including the Daesung & Kusan Alliance who took over the No.2 Captain position.

    But something ominous happened after that.

    [Jody and 9 other ¡®Tough Guys¡¯ issued a challenge to take over the No. 3 Captain position.]

    It seemed that these guys thought Daeyu was an easy target.

    Of course, not all ten of No. 3 Captain team members including Chairman Suh belonged to Daeyu. If they all belonged to Deayu, Mirae, Myongjin, Daesung, and Kusan would not have stood idle.

    So, exactly six out of ten belonged to Daeyu, while the rest were top yers who did not belong to any guild. They were the top 1% of those yers whose level was 1000 or higher.

    Anyway, the message didn¡¯t simply end there.

    Another message immediately appeared.

    [Captain No.3 Daeyoung Suh epted the Tough Guys¡¯ challenge.

    ¨C In 30 seconds, you will be moved to a temporary arena.]

    ¡°Whew¡­¡±

    I let out a sigh before I knew it because I had to move for the fourth time today even though I wanted to focus on hunting.

    As soon as I was moved to the temporary arena, I stormed into the enemy camp andunched all kinds of attacks.

    ¡°Blink! Ice Field! Ice Storm! Ice Rain!¡±

    Pasasasak!!

    Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

    Since these ten guys challenged Daeyu under the name of ¡°Tough Guys¡±, they must be strong enough to belong to the top 10% of yers, or maybe the top 5%.

    Moreover, I was challenged already four times today, and if I included the past two days, I was challenged almost 20 times. In other words, rumors about me have already spread widely because I dashed right into the enemy camp alone to end this kind of challenge quickly because it was so annoying.

    But the enemy didn¡¯t back down readily.

    ¡°Bursting Fire!¡±

    ¡°The Wind Spirit¡¯s Biting Wind!¡±

    ¡°Triple Shot!¡±

    :

    ¡°Suppress the opponent. Chains of Oppression!¡±

    ¡°Thorns of Pain!¡±

    They mounted a barrage of attacks against me as if they had been waiting for me to enter their strike range.

    But they began toin when their attack didn¡¯t do as much damage as they expected.

    ¡°Damn it! I excluded healers and enchanters from the beginning before entering the arena and we all equipped the best items. Howe the dealer was killed with just one stroke?¡±

    ¡°But that dealer over there is up and running!¡±

    It was clear that these guys that I was dealing with were the strongest ones.

    My health had also fallen down more than ever.

    Nevertheless, I did not feel it necessary to avoid their attack, especially after I gained the title of First Sessful Step that increased health and mana by 100,000 and all stat points by 300.

    Anyway, I survived all of those attacks, while the enemies couldn¡¯t withstand my attacks. So we ended up winning as always.

    [You have seeded in defending against Jody and the 9 other ¡®Tough Guys¡¯ challenge.

    -Jody and the 9 other yers cannot re-challenge for the next 24 hours.]

    Of course, there wasn¡¯t a single person who challenged us again after they were defeated.

    ¡°Wow! Asirante!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just speechless! I¡¯m so amazed by your fantastic attacks.¡±

    Anyway, I had to fight with these members of No. 3 Captain Suh¡¯s team together.

    Moreover, these four guys who participated as non-guild members not affiliated with Daeyu were stunned by my brilliant performance.

    So, I said with a humble expression, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Honestly, I wasn¡¯t in a position to act conceited now.

    Even though my level was rather low, anybody with three fantastic traits and six titles like me would have beaten these guys easily.

    Besides, I had a functional skill ring and I seeded in enhancing all the top-ss legendary grade Sacred Permanent Snow Spirit essories to +5 enhancement.

    In any case, the presence of strong colleagues around me helped to create a good atmosphere.

    Of course, Chairman Suh bitterly gazed at me at that moment.

    For the next two days, I only focused on hunting.

    With the 4th anniversary eventing up, all I could do was raise even one more level.

    Fortunately, there were no more obstacles since the Tough Guys challenged us.

    So, I could achieve a satisfactory level by hunting the monsters that the eight monster herding teams gathered for 2 days.

    Of course, I thought I had to find a new hunting ground, for the EXP I gained decreased gradually even though my supporting teams increased to 8 from 4.

    Anyway, a message rang while I was focusing on hunting.

    [People who will participate in the 4th Anniversary Event in Region 53 have been selected.]

    [The status board of the 4th Anniversary Event in Region 53.

    -No. 1 Captain: Sangman Hong and 29 others (Myongjin & Mirae Alliance)

    -No. 2 Captain: Ungi Chung and 19 (Daesung & Kusan Alliance)

    -No. 3 Captain: Daeyoung Suh and 9 others (Daeyu)]

    ¡®Region 53?¡¯

    Region 53 was not disyed on the status board before.

    Of course, I guessed what it referred to, namely, Korea.

    [The 4th anniversary event starts now, and exactly 24 hourster, the 60 people selected in each area will be automatically moved to the Ludon arena.]

    Finally, the event has begun.

    And the moment I thought that the message was over, another one rang.

    [Lumen, Asirante, you are eligible to participate in the 4th Anniversary Special Event by having earned the title ¡®First Sessful Step.¡¯

    -Finally, you have been included in the 60-member squad. During the event, yourbat power will increase by 30%.]

    ¡°?¡±

    I was a bit embarrassed by the unexpected message.

    However, I seemed to have found some clues about the title of ¡°First Sessful Step¡± that I had not known at all. Besides, I even gained buffs I had never expected, namely a 30% increase in mybat power. Of course, 30% wasn¡¯t just 30% for me.

    So, I nkly looked at the message for a moment.

 Chapter 131 - Ludons Arena (1)

    <h4>Chapter 131: Ludon¡¯s Arena (1)</h4>

    The manager of eight monster herding teams, Jinyoung Lee, who was always close to Asirante to provide full support, did not think Asirante was strange for standing nkly after getting rid of more than 100 monsters. The message that signaled the start of the 4th anniversary event and the selection of the 60 squad members also rang to him.

    It was not just him and Asirante who received the message.

    ¡°I hear that the 4th anniversary event starts tomorrow. Did you hear that, too?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s today, not tomorrow. The message says it starts now.¡±

    ¡°Well, we will be moved to Ludon¡¯s arena in 24 hours, so it starts tomorrow anyway.¡±

    ¡°Oh, if you consider that, you are probably right¡­¡±

    Manager Lee did not pay much attention to what the members of the seventh monster herding team were talking among themselves because he was not included in the 60 members, be it today or tomorrow.

    But Asirante is one of the 60, so Lee thought that¡¯s why Asirante checked the message so carefully because he might have received a different messagepared to him or the members of the seventh monster herding team.

    But all of a sudden Asiranteunched an attack against a monster.

    ¡°Ice Rain!¡±

    Lee was puzzled because Asirante suddenly attacked a regenerated monster using an AOE skill. Anyway, the eight monster herding team had already herded more than 100 monsters for Asirante to hunt, and he had never stopped moving because of just one monster before.

    The members of the seventh monster herding team continued to whisper.

    ¡°Uh? He didn¡¯t even use Ice Field, let alone Ice Storm. How did he kill the monster with just one stroke?¡±

    ¡°He used Ice Rain, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course. The Ice Storm used by Asirante ispletely different from Pouring Hailstone.¡±

    ¡°How is it possible to hunt a monster with just one stroke of Ice Storm?¡±

    ¡°¡­I don¡¯t know.¡±

    They kept whispering about Asirante¡¯s new skill.

    Manager Lee was sick and tired of such a conversation about Asirante because they talked about some other things about Asirante that he had never heard before, although he thought he knew pretty much everything about Asirante.

    But Lee immediately used a Memory Bead because he was instructed to film anything about Asirante, no matter how trifling it was. And that¡¯s why he was so close to Asirante all the time.

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    A 30% increase in mybat power.

    Even though I didn¡¯t use Ice Field, I could confirm the majestic scene of the monster being killed with one stroke of Ice Rain.

    So, I opened my mouth to Manager Lee.

    ¡°Let¡¯s move to the next monster herding team quickly!¡±

    I had buffs that only applied during the event period.

    Since I wanted to use the buffs fully during this period, I asked Manager Lee to move to the next herding team with me.

    23 hourster.

    I yed the game while eating, sleeping, and taking breaks because I didn¡¯t want to miss something really important while being carried away with the 30% increase inbat power ahead of this important event.

    Then I had a close conversation with my father, elder brother, and sister, and even exchanged text messages with Bora Yon of the Mirae Group.

    [Kali: I still do not understand Chairman Hong¡¯s decision not to include you in his team.]

    [Lumen: Well, I¡¯m notpetent enough to participate in the 4th anniversary event¡­]

    Her ID was Kali. Since I sometimesmunicated with her through messages like this after we exchanged IDs at thest meeting, I responded to her as naturally as possible.

    [Kali: Well, I just don¡¯t know why he made such a decision.]

    [Lumen: ¡­.]

    I suspected it for a long time, but she seemed to have a discerning insight.

    [Kali: Anyway, I hope his decision won¡¯t interfere with your growth. I am really cheering you on.]

    [Lumen: Oh, thanks.]

    I ended the conversation with her who expressed some worries about me.

    At that moment, some memories of our childhood came to my mind.

    We were sort of bosom friends, and very close to each other. Of course, I can¡¯t remember when we started to be distant. But I shook my head.

    In no time, I tried hard to shake off any idle thoughts about my faint childhood memories, for I should not be foolish enough to make the mistake of showing that I know her when I entered the Ludon arena.

    ¡°Check status window.¡±

    After shaking off my idle thoughts, I decided to check my status window once again before moving to the cafe in the central za of Northwood Castle which Daeyu¡¯s Chairman Suh decided as the meeting ce of his team members.

    [Name: Lumen, Asirante

    Level: 453

    Number of kills: 1284, Number of deaths: 0

    Title: Only Closed Beta Max Level Achiever and 5 others.

    Health: 1,873,000 / 1,873,000

    Mana: 1,467,500 / 1,467,500

    Strength: 1740 Agility: 1740 Health: 10930

    Willpower: 6425 Intellect: 13280

    Remaining Stat Points: 0

    Remaining Skill Points: 0

    Traits: IceMan, God of Enhancement, Mutual Growth.]

    ¡°Great! My new title is still one of the six I have.¡±

    Of course, the effect of my leveling up was also great.

    Thanks to Mutual Growth, I gained the stat points unseen at level 453 before by increasing the stat points I gained from leveling up by as much as 2.5 times.

    Moreover, the stats I gained were not only due to leveling up. I had no choice but to pay attention to my new title because it increased all of my stat points by 300.

    Anyway, after checking my status window, I hurried to Northwood Castle.

    Obviously, I was still a Daeyu member, so if I showed upter than Chairman Suh, I would undermine his prestige in front of the four veteran yers with whom I was supposed to take part in the event.

    As long as I stayed with Daeyu, I intended to act as Chairman Suh wished.

    When I arrived at the cafe in the central za of Northwood Castle, the eight men except for Chairman Suh were already seated. So, I also sat down right away amid their fantastic wee. In fact, there were many challenges against the No. 3 Captain team led by Chairman Suh, and I yed a decisive role in defeating such challenges.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t intend to show my extraordinary power from the beginning.

    But their challenges interrupted me several times while I was absorbed in hunting, so I decided to act boldly because my ID was still Asirante on the surface, and I would be able to hide 30% of my power even if I showed everything except for Blink with zero cooldown. Indeed, the power of Blink with zero cooldown was enormous.

    With 20 minutes left to enter Ludon¡¯s arena, Chairman Suh showed up, leading a group of men.

    After that, he didn¡¯t say anything special except for mentioning that we should do our best and try to rank in the top 10.

    At that moment, a message rang.

    [The 60 men selected in each region for the 4th anniversary event are now being moved to Ludon¡¯s Arena.]

    Shuuuuuuuung!

    Along with that message, I felt like I was being dragged somewhere, and soon a huge central colosseum emerged. So much so that the arena located in the north of each city or castle looked like a toypared to it. But I didn¡¯t care.

    But I was surprised to find something really unfamiliar to me.

    Although all exchanges between regions were blocked by the system, namely, by the channel or wall, there were all kinds of foreign users of ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ gathered around me.

    Besides they used their own nativenguages.

    ¡°§¤§Õ§Ö, §é§Ö§â§ä §Ó§à§Ù§î§Þ§Ú, §ï§ä§à?¡± (Where the hell is this?)

    ¡°It¡¯s amazing.¡±

    ¡°Peut-¨ºtre que les plus grandes puissances de chaque pays sont rassembl¨¦es.¡± (Probably, these guys are the users of other countries.)

    ¡°Apakah Anda mencoba bersaing dengan mereka.¡± (Does this mean I have topete with them?)

    ¡°µ«ÄãÎªÊ²Ã´Ìýµ½Õâ¸ö¶Ô»°?¡± (Oh, howe I can understand what they¡¯re saying?)

    I understood some English, Chinese and Russian conversations, but at the same time I could also hear and understand what they were saying with their ownnguage.

    And it was not me alone who could understand other foreignnguages.

    Even if the people here used foreignnguages new to them, they could still get across their messages to each other without any difficulty.

    Of course, it was possible that some of them knew othernguages, but the number of people carrying out conversations here was too many for this to be the case for all of them.

    I was really surprised at this strange scene, but there were not many who were as surprised as me. In other words, it meant that they were very familiar with this game ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    Of course, I understood the situation to some extent because the 60 people gathered here from each country were probably the top yers who had a good knowledge of the game.

    At that moment a message rang.

    [I take my hat off to the 60 members from each country who have been selected through fiercepetition.

    -Since you have been selected as part of the 60-member group, you will each be given 2,000 coins.

    Special rewards will be given to the regions that have users that rank in the top 10

    -Exactly one minuteter, the 60 members in each region will be moved to where the Tower of Glory is located, and you must defend the Tower of Glory to the end.

    -The event will proceed until only one region is remaining.]

    Then there appeared another message indicating the start of the event in one minute.

 Chapter 132 - Ludons Arena (2)

    <h4>Chapter 132: Ludon¡¯s Arena (2)</h4>

    At that moment, among the people who seemed to number about 1,000 here, some began to get busy.

    Not only Daeyu¡¯s Chairman Suh but also my father moved around busily.

    Of course I just remained silent, but I was soon interrupted when the Chinese Yanghwa Group¡¯s Chairman Jian Chiangrin approached me.

    ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you here. I have seen you in the video, but it¡¯s good to have a chance to see you like this.¡±

    Although he spoke in Chinese, I could clearly understand what he was saying.

    So, I answered in Korean instead of Chinese.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nice to meet you, Mr. Chairman!¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m envious of the Korean team that has you, Asirante. To be honest, I¡¯m also scared of you.¡±

    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t mention it.¡±

    So, I chatted with him amicably for about a minute, then parted with him, promising to see himter.

    As soon as one minute passed, I felt myself moving somewhere again.

    ¡°It¡¯s like we¡¯re running on a 100-meter race track.¡±

    ¡°You bet.¡±

    I also agreed with the man who mentioned the 100-meter race track. The ce that came into my eyes was wider than I thought, but it was still a long straight road blocked on both sides .

    And behind us there was a not sorge tower called the Tower of Glory.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s simple and nice. In the end, all we have to do is protect the tower from the monsters popping up from the front.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s have a good fight. Anyway, all the 60 men here are one team from now on.¡±

    I was determined to do my best because I might be able to obtain ancient cooldown removal spell charms.

    As long as I could obtain cooldown removal charms, I was confident that I would be several times as strong as I was now.

    So, as soon as Monte¡¯s quest was over, I asked my father and Director Sok about the ancient cooldown removal spell charms because it was obviously possible to trade other items for them. But no one knew about them.

    Of course, if they had known about it, they would have given it to me right away because not only my father, but also Director Sok already knew about my ¡®God of Enhancement¡¯ trait.

    Anyway, hoping for the ancient cooldown removal spell charms, I refreshed my determination to fight well while ignoring Mirae, Myongjin, Daesung, and Kusan who were watching my movement closely.

    Of course, Myongjin pretended to watch me on purpose.

    Anyway, a message rang while I was fully preparing for the fight.

    [Round 1 has begun.]

    ¡°Quo-o-oooooooooo

    ¡°Cheeeeeeeeeeek. Cheeeeeeeeeeeek.¡±

    Round 1 served as the yardstick that showed the level of difficulty.

    And when the people here confirmed that the monster that appeared in Round 1 was an Orc, several of them started chatting with each other.

    ¡°Maybe it will take us quite a long time.¡±

    ¡°I guess so.¡±

    It was predicted that the number of rounds would be quiterge since round 1 started with the appearance of ordinary Orcs which are synonymous with weak monsters.

    ¡°Ice Storm.¡±

    ¡°Fire Lane!¡±

    ¡°Biting Wind!¡±

    ¡°Anger of Earth!.¡±

    ¡°Crying Echo!¡±

    The people here are the best yers of the fivergest guilds representing Korea.

    As if to show off their overwhelming power, they killed around 300 orcs before they could even approach. Watching it, I was so anxious to move forward to kill them alone because I was given an additional reward for my exceptional contribution in the level 400 regr quest ¡®Stop the Scorpion King¡¯. But I didn¡¯t do it, because I was afraid they might notice my intentions and they might be thinking of the reward like me.

    In the meantime, I heard Daesung Group¡¯s Chairman Jonghan Kim talking to somebody on the side.

    ¡°Hmm. It doesn¡¯t seem like a good choice for us to spend our energypetitively hunting the monsters from the beginning. Currently, there are three teams here. So, how about we three teams take turns in hunting the monsters? Then, when one team finds it hard to deal with the monsters after a while, another teames in to take over. I¡¯m proposing this because this fight won¡¯t end so quickly.¡±

    Chairman Kim proposed to stop the monsters with the three teams working on a rotation basis.

    And I loved his proposal deep down because I currently belonged to Daeyu that had only ten members. It also meant I could hunt more monsters than anybody else.

    However, someone showed displeasure at Kim¡¯s proposal. It was none other than Chairman Suh because Kim¡¯s remarks strongly suggested that the Daeyu team led by Suh would face an overwhelming situation even though he didn¡¯t single out Daeyu.

    Of course, when Kim said that, he had the number of the Daeyu team in mind which was the smallest out of the three teams.

    In any case, no one objected to Kim¡¯s proposal, so they decided to fight the monsters starting from Round 2 with the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance, the Daesung & Kusan Alliance, and Daeyu working on a rotation basis.

    So I stepped back, along with the Daesung & Kusan Alliance.

    After that, the three teamspletely blocked the monsters until Round 31.

    Of course, I did my best too, until strange things appeared in Round 32.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    ¡°Kheeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Kuuuuuuuuuh!¡±

    As the 20-member Daesung & Kusan Alliance intensified the attacks, the screams of the monsters dying in Ludon¡¯s arena resonated loudly.

    Perhaps except for me, all the other 59 people who were selected as part of the 60-member squad were in a much stronger condition than usual.

    For example, Myongjin spent a huge amount of money arming my father, brother, sister and 12 other yers with the best possible equipment. They even borrowed some equipment from guild members who had better equipment. Of course, other participating groups would have done the same because they would highly likely engage in a battle of pride to show off who was stronger given that all of the 60 members knew clearly who belonged to which team.

    Moreover, if they couldn¡¯t reach a higher ranking than they thought, they would have to identify which member of which team underperformed the most.

    As if to prove they were prepared perfectly, team No. 1 of the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance consisting of 30 people, team No. 2 of the Daesung & Kusan Alliance consisting of 20 members, and team No. 3 of Daeyuposed of 10 members blocked the monsters perfectly until Round 30.

    In particr, Chairman Suh asked me to hunt more actively after he felt he was being looked down on by Daesung Chairman Kim who first proposed the three teams¡¯ fighting on a rotation basis, so I really did my best because that was what I wanted as well.

    So, after we were done quickly right after the Daesung and Kusan Alliance, we stepped back to let team No. 1, the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance, take over.

    In the meantime, 59 members, including the other nine of the Daeyu team, paid a lot of attention to me throughout the fight, but I ignored them because I knew why.

    It was mainly because of a 30% increase in mybat power.

    So, I asked my father, my brother, my sister, and Director Sok if anybody received a message about an increase inbat power like me. However, no one said they received it.

    If all 15 Myongjin members did not receive it, there was a high likelihood that none of Mirae, Daesung, Kusan, and Daeyu members received it either.

    In other words, only I received a buff of a 30% increase inbat power.

    I was strong from the beginning, but the monsters disappeared instantly when Iunched an attack, which naturally drew their intense attention because I was in a far more advantageous situation than anybody else.

    Anyway, Round 32, assigned to the Daeyu team finished easily, and Round 32 was taken over by the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance.

    Thud!

    Since only monsters appeared until Round 31, they expected they would confront monsters in Round 32, too. I also expected so.

    However, everybody could not help but be embarrassed by the appearance of a not-sorge podium that looked like an altar rather than a monster.

    ¡°What the heck is that? Does it mean that a monster is going to jump out of that podium?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s too small for that.¡±

    ¡°Then, should we destroy it?¡±

    ¡°It looks like it is made of stone or marble. Can we destroy it?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡±

    Everybody shook their head in confusion at the unexpected appearance of the podium.

    At that moment there was a voice loud enough to be heard by everyone including me.

    [An offering is required for you to proceed with Round 32.

    -The required sacrifice is one member¡¯s life out of the 60 people present. Theone selected as a sacrifice will receive the following disadvantages:

    : The will be excluded from the recipient list of 2,000 coins given to everyone as a reward for participation.

    : As a penalty for being selected as a sacrifice, their level will randomly decrease between a minimum of 10 levels and a maximum of 100 levels.

    : As a penalty for being selected as a sacrifice, you will have the title of ¡°Useless Man¡± for 300 days.

    : Even if your team can receive a special reward for being included in the top ten rankings, the person selected as a sacrifice will not receive it.

    ¨C If no one is sacrificed on the altar within 30 seconds, Region 53 (Korea)¡¯s 4th anniversary event will end at Round 32 in failure.

    : Remaining time: 30 seconds, 29 seconds, 28 seconds¡­]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

 Chapter 133 - Round 32

    <h4>Chapter 133: Round 32</h4>

    Certainly, the atmosphere was good until a moment ago because none of the three teams faced a dangerous situation until Round 32.

    However, they heard this unexpected voice that said they needed a sacrifice.

    It was natural that the atmosphere became so cold all of a sudden. The listed disadvantages made it especially hard to bear.

    Most of those who were here were basically level 1000 or higher.

    So, even a drop of at least 10 levels wasrge, not to mention 100 levels.

    Moreover, the title ¡°Useless Man¡± didn¡¯t look good by any standards.

    So, nobody opened their mouth until 28 seconds, 27 seconds and 26 seconds passed.

    At the arena in Region 52 (Japan).

    The same thing happened to the members there who were ready to start Round 32.

    Mitsuya Guild¡¯s Chairman Ryu Sechi, who confirmed the contents of the voice, opened his mouth without hesitating even for a second, ¡°One healer,e forward!¡±

    Chairman Ryu didn¡¯t think it was very difficult until round 31.

    So, he chose a healer as the sacrifice because healers had not done anything yet.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Of course, nobody refuted the chairman¡¯s instruction because he almost controlled all the guilds in Japan.

    But some just let out a sigh of relief, and others suddenly darkened their faces.

    If a healer got the penalty, he would have no choice but to drop out despite strenuously advancing to Round 31.

    So, those who were not healers looked at the healers, and those who were healers only checked each other¡¯s expressions because Chairman Ryu Sechi only said one of the healers should step forward instead of singling out any specific person.

    So, the healers kept their fingers crossed that they would not be chosen.

    ¡°Tut, tut. Hey, you hiding behind the tank in the 3 o¡¯clock direction! I select you as the sacrifice!¡±

    The chairman raised his hand and pointed to the healer crouching on one side as if he didn¡¯t like the situation where they were pussyfooting around.

    Then the healer who was pointed out by the chairman opened his mouth.

    Because of Chairman Ryu Sechi¡¯s nature, he knew that he couldn¡¯t rescue himself from being penalized and falling into hell.

    ¡°Mr. Chairman! I don¡¯t think I¡¯m weaker than the other healers here! And I have always tried my best for the Mitsuya Guild. So please¡­¡±

    The healer was desperately begging him to change his decision, but he could not finish his words.

    When the chairman waved his hand, some guys approached the healer and dragged him like a dog before throwing him at the altar.

    Then there was a loud voice that all 59 men including the chairman could hear.

    [You have given the offering.

    -The 4th anniversary event in Region 52 (Japan) continues.]

    As a result, Japan reached Round 31 with 59 people with one given up as an offering.

    Of course, no one was worried about the healer being offered up because they were not penalized at all.

    Of course, the situation elsewhere was not necessarily the same as in Japan.

    At the Arena in Region 101 (Papua New Guinea).

    ¡°I¡¯m going to be the sacrifice.¡±

    ¡°No, I want to be the sacrifice. Surely everyone knows that I am the weakest of the 60 people here. So, it makes sense for me to be the sacrifice.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ good. I will choose Gusty as the sacrifice. However, I willpensate Gusty for all the disadvantages he receives by being chosen as a sacrifice, and I will actively support him until he regains his original skills. Everyone, express gratitude to Gusty.¡±

    Unlike Japan, some countries like Papua New Guinea were an exception with some members volunteering to be a sacrifice. However, the number of such countries was extremely small.

    Of course, there were other situations as well.

    At the Arena in Region 34 (Mexico).

    Since information could move freely among countries, Mexico could gather lots of useful information just because it was right next to America.

    So, for this 4th anniversary event, Mexicopeted to select the 60 elites more fiercely than any other country and finally selected them at thest minute.

    Ironically, Team No. 1, Team No. 2, and Team No. 3 were hostile to each other, but they temporarily joined hands for the event¡¯s rewards.

    In this situation, it was natural that they were locked in a fierce fight over which team should give the offering. Of course, the argument did not escte into a three-way fight because they were not stupid.

    Based on the thorough calction of the gains and losses, Team No. 1 consisting of 30 members and Team No. 2 consisting of 20 members joined together without talking to each other and pressured Team No. 3 which had 10 members to make the offering.

    In their view, that was the most reasonable solution.

    As a result, Team No. 1 and Team No. 2 moved swiftly to pressure Team No. 3, but Team No. 3 strongly resisted, thinking they would rather fail as a region rather than offering the sacrifice under their pressure.

    Soon, a fight between thebined forces of the two teams and Team No. 3 broke out.

    Of course, the final oue of the fight was a foregone conclusion.

    However, the problem was they should offer the sacrifice within 30 seconds.

    So, the captain of Team No. 3 shouted out loud, ¡°Hold out unconditionally! Hold out for 30 seconds! We can¡¯t let these bastards get all the credit!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Captain!¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡±

    If they had been given even 10 seconds more, the operation of Team No. 1 and Team No. 2 might have been sessful. But 30 seconds was quite short.

    So, while they were engaged in fierce fighting, they all heard the same message.

    [You have not offered a sacrifice on the altar within 30 seconds.

    -Region 34 (Mexico) has failed in Round 32.

    -Everyone has been kicked out of Ludon¡¯s arena.]

    ¡°Son of a bitch!¡±

    ¡°Bastard!¡±

    ¡°We would have made it with just one sacrifice, you idiots! You bastards are so selfish!¡±

    ¡°Then why didn¡¯t your team make the sacrifice?¡±

    ¡°Right. If you were so impatient, you should have made the offering! Why are you ming us when you didn¡¯t make the sacrifice?¡±

    When they got the shocking message, the 60 Mexican users pointed their fingers at each other and poured out all sorts of swear words.

    Arena in Region 53 (Korea).

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    They were now only 15 seconds left.

    I thought there would appear somebody who was willing to be a sacrifice for the region because I had seen people making a holy sacrifice or a strong determination sometimes.

    And the sacrifice was usually made by the leader who would get a greater reward for his sacrificeter.

    I thought about it for a moment, but I didn¡¯te forward because the current situation was not an apt cause for such a sacrifice. In other words, this was not such a dramatic situation where one had to make the decision right before a pile of enormous treasures at thest minute.

    If anybody here suffered losses, rather than gaining any reward, it would be the worst situation they would encounter after going through all kinds of hardship and trials.

    To be honest, the three Korean teams didn¡¯t go through any big difficulties until Round 32.

    To be honest, even if I had not done anything, stuck in one corner of the tower, they would have easily advanced into Round 32. In other words, it was not easy to expect such a dramatic scene. Moreover, even if there was a chance for such a dramatic scene, I would not volunteer for it. Anyway, I made such a judgment and looked around.

    Probably, it would have been easy to solve this matter if the teams had been one whole organization instead of five separate organizations: Mirae, Myoongjin, Daesung, Kusan, and Daeyu.

    But the fact that six forces, including the powerful four non-guild members, were here made them try to figure out each others¡¯ intentions.

    The moment someone stepped out and singled out somebody else, he would be med as a heartless guy.

    Of course, that man might make excuses, citing a majority rule.

    But the system gave them only 30 seconds to decide as if it already read their minds.

    30 seconds was not enough for them to reach a consensus through discussion.

    At that moment Daesung Chairman Kim, who first insisted on fighting using the rotation system, opened his mouth.

    ¡°Round 32 is Myongjin & Mirae¡¯s turn! You have to make the offering among yourselves! Come out right now!¡±

    Right after he said that, the other teams immediately chimed in.

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡±

    ¡°We have decided to fight on a rotation basis, and Round 32 is Myongjin & Mirae¡¯s turn. So, you have to make the offering.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not fair! The rotation is simply the order of us hunting the monsters, and this offering now is a task given to all 60 members. Why are you trying to dump it on us?¡±

    Chairman Kim¡¯s remarks brought about a fierce resistance.

    Of course, I myself had no intention of ming him because he made them open up the conversation about it first. Actually, even I was trapped into the thinking that ¡®it¡¯s ok as long as the offering does not affect me.¡±

    As the name Myongjin & Mirae Alliance suggested, my family members were also a potential target of the offering. So, ¡®as long as the offering does not affect me¡¯ included my family members as well.

    I checked the remaining time. Only 7 seconds remained.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t want to step forward. I just wanted to stay put.

    I didn¡¯t want to y a bad or good role, but I moved because it would bring about more losses if nobody came forward.

    The target of the offering? Of course, it was Daeyu.

    Anyway, the reason I approached Daeyu first was because Daeyu would most likely be my enemyter on.

    At that moment, some people from the Myongjin and Mirae Alliance moved quickly toward the altar.

 Chapter 134 - As you sow (1)

    <h4>Chapter 134: As you sow (1)</h4>

    There were two, but one of them got ahead of the other by a hair¡¯s breadth and sat in front of the altar. She was Bora Yon, the next sessor of the Mirae Group.

    And the other one who was right behind her was my sister, Suyoung.

    Unfortunately, both of them were women, and they were the immediate daughters of the chairmen of Myongjin and Mirae.

    Honestly, if they had stayed in their ces, they would never have been chosen as an offering. In other words, there was a zero chance of them being chosen.

    Besides, even if their team failedter, they would not have to fight with each other over who was to me because not only the immediate family members of Myongjin and Mirae, but also those of Daesung, Kusan and Daeyu were also included in the 60 person squad. As a result, they knew well that it would bring about more losses if they picked a fight over the immediate family members of those other groups.

    Anyway, the people who would be the potential sacrifice appeared, and everyone paid attention because they were the immediate family members of the two groups¡¯ chairmen.

    Bora Yon said, ¡°Suyoung, I was a little faster than you. So, please concede this time.¡±

    ¡°Are you serious?¡±

    ¡°Of course, I am! Besides, Myongjin didn¡¯t even include Juyoung because he was notpetent enough, throwing away your benefits for our overall victory.. I would be very ashamed of myself if even you from Myongjin would be offered up as well in this situation.¡±

    ¡°Okay, then I won¡¯t decline your request. Honestly I don¡¯t want to be a sacrifice, but I thought we have to avoid the worst scenario.¡±

    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t say you won¡¯t decline my request. I¡¯m grateful to you for conceding, sis Suyoung.¡±

    They had a brief chat like that, but the 58 men, including me, couldn¡¯t get involved in their conversation because their conversation was so unusual.

    After she finished talking with my sister, Bora nced at us once and opened her mouth in a loud voice.

    ¡°This is Mirae¡¯s sacrifice. So, if Korea is ranked higher than you think because of my sacrifice, you must never forget the part Miraw has yed. Oh, you might think I¡¯m trying hard to get credit, but if I don¡¯t say it out loud, there are some people who would not get it. And don¡¯t you think I can im the credit for my sacrifice like this?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    No one dared to refute Bora¡¯s argument. Then she stepped straight onto the altar as if she wasn¡¯t expecting any response because there was only 2 seconds left.

    So I said to her behind her back, ¡°I will remember you.¡±

    As soon as I said that, she turned and made eye contact with me.

    But she would not know my real identity because I wore a heavy robe and a mask as always. And with that brief encounter, she disappeared from my sight.

    A message rang as she disappeared.

    [You have made the offering.

    -The 4th anniversary event in Region 53 (Korea) continues.]

    Round 32, in which showed up in an unexpected situation with tremendous difficulty.

    Though we made it through Round 32, the atmosphere was gloomy.

    And at that moment, a Korean adage came to my mind ¨C ¡®the person who beat another man sleeps with his legs crouched, while the beaten man sleepsfortably with both legs stretched out¡¯. Of course, I know that this adage is almost wrong all the time these days.

    However, what was certain is that although she might have felt satisfied by giving herself up as a sacrifice, those who were left behind here felt a heavy load in their hearts.

    Anyway, Round 32, which stopped because of the offering issue, resumed when Bora volunteered to be the offering, but the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance whose members were reduced from 30 to 29pletely blocked the monsters as before.

    Soon, they moved back to change positions with Team No. 2, the Daesung & Kusan Alliance.

    This was the same situation as before.

    But I could clearly feel the difference because Myongjin and Mirae were working as one team.

    Of course, it was absolutely impossible for them topletely move in unison even if they were one team.

    Obviously, when viewed from the outside, they looked rather awkward toward each other.

    And that was the same with the Daesung & Kusan Alliance, and Daeyu that had four other veteran users.

    However, it seemed that the members of the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance felt something like kinship to each other because both their immediate family members of their chairmen stepped forward to be the offering out of noblesse oblige.

    Moreover, by mentioning my name, Juyoung Hong, Bora even said it was now Mirae¡¯s turn to make the sacrifice because Myongjin already made concessions by excluding me from their team.

    Anyway, Round 32 finished leaving a strong impression on the team members of the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance.

    One hourter Team No. 3, Daeyu,pletely blocked the monsters in Round 39.

    Honestly, all the rounds after Round 32 were not that difficult because not only Team No, 3 where I belonged to, but also Team No. 1 and Team No. 2 perfectly blocked the monsters without any difficulty in their assigned rounds.

    In the meantime, when Daeyu let Myongjin & Mirae Alliance take over Round 50, a message rang.

    [Starting from Round 50, more powerful monsters will attack.]

    ¡®Atst!¡¯

    Only after hearing this message did I feel energized with the urge to fight harder.

    And it was also about time that the three teams talked about the possibility of breaking the current rotation system and uniting as one team to deal with the powerful monsters. But none of the 59 members mentioned it.

    Anyway, since nobody suggested ending the current rotation system, the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance started Round 50 naturally.

    ¡°Soar, Pir of Fire!¡±

    ¡°Let the ignorant enemies enjoy the fear of death. Death Field!¡±

    ¡°Rocking Earth!¡±

    ¡°Engrave on my body, Indomitable Will!¡±

    ¡°Destruction!¡±

    The emerging monsters in Round 50 were definitely far stronger than before.

    Unlike the previous monsters that were swept away even before approaching us, these monsters got close to Team No. 1 and attacked them.

    But the members of the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance Alliance, or Team No. 1, were much more organized and united than other teams as if they had been practicing jointly for this event.

    So, with the tanks, damage dealers, healers and enchanters ying their roles perfectly, they got rid of the monsters one by one finishing round 50 perfectly although it took them a bit longer than before.

    Then, Team No. 2, namely the Daesung and Kusan Alliance took over and started Round 51.

    Compared with Myongjin & Mirae Alliance who had 29 members, they had only 20. But they were strong enough to block the monsters, although it took them much longer than Team No. 1.

    Anyway, they sessfully defended the tower with only 20 members.

    It was now Daeyu¡¯s turn, which seemed the weakest among the three teams.

    But I didn¡¯t feel any burden, nor did I worry at all.

    Even other members of Daeyu, Team No.3, seemed to feel the same way.

    And soon afterwards, they reced Team No.23 of the Dasung & Kusan alliance.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice! Ice Storm! Ice Rain! Pouring Hailstone!¡±

    Pasasasak!

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

    I mobilized all my skills to attack the monsters charging at me.

    Obviously, my attack was enough to block them in the previous rounds because the nine men behind me were able to render any additional support.

    But the monsters survived this time. Of course, they suffered injuries all over their bodies from my attack.

    So, this time I used the skills that I had refrained from using until now.

    In other words, I used Ice st with level 5 Ice Field as its sacrifice.

    ¡°Ice st!¡±

    Bang! Bang!

    This was a skill that I enjoyed a lot when I used it with level 2 Ice Field, but at some point I didn¡¯t feel like using Ice Field, which gave me buffs, as a sacrifice to Ice st.

    Honestly, since the monsters were covered with heavy wounds, I didn¡¯t need to use Ice st.

    But I used Ice st for level 5 Ice Field for the first time, and its effect was clear.

    The monsters who barely survived my attack were killed en masse.

    Even though Daeyu had only 10 members, they cleared the round faster than the other two teams.

    Now, since Daeyu was done, Myongjin & Mirae, Team No. 1, took over.

    This kind of rotation system continued for a while.

 Chapter 135 - As you sow (2)

    <h4>Chapter 135: As you sow (2)</h4>

    Round 63. It was the Daesung & Kusan Alliance¡¯s turn.

    Since the rotation system started, they were faced with the first dangerous situation.

    So what?

    While the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance were pussyfooting around, hesitant to help the Daesung & Kusan Alliance, I went right ahead to support them as a member of Daeyu.

    Originally the three teams agreed to support each other if any of them found it hard to block the monsters.

    So, I freelyunched the attack against the charging monsters to earn as much contribution as possible.

    Of course, the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance¡¯s reluctance to help the Daesung & Kusan¡¯s alliance was not a revenge against Daesung Chairman Kim who contributed decisively to make Bora Yon decide to sacrifice herself as an offering. If Kimmitted any ¡®sin,¡¯ he was the first to point out that it was the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance who should make the offering first.

    Honestly, Kim didn¡¯tmit any ¡®sin.¡¯

    The reason I moved so actively this time was because I wanted to make the biggest contribution out of my personal greed.

    Anyway, whenever the Daesung & Kusan Alliance got their turn, I participated so I could hunt as many monsters as possible.

    Of course, there were some who expressedints about my active participation.

    ¡°Thank you for helping us, but if you attack like that¡­¡±

    ¡°If you alone hunt most of the monsters¡­¡±

    As a matter of fact, I was stronger than anyone else here.

    Although the 30% increase in mybat power was confined to this event, it was like giving wings to a tiger for me.

    So, I used Ice Spear and Multiple Ice Arrow to hunt the monsters that appeared to be dying soon after being hit by my AOE skills first. Since most of the yers were veterans who were level 1000 or higher, they clearly knew my intentions, but I selfishly kept hunting the monsters, not caring about their jealous gazes.

    Moreover, since the other members of Team No. 3 and the Daesung & Kusan Alliance knew it was impossible to attack the monsters by themselves alone, they didn¡¯t stop me from dominating the battlefield even though theyined behind my back.

    Anyway, while the rounds were continuing, something shocking happened. It made everyone tense because the altar from Round 32 reappeared.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    As expected, everybody suddenly fell silent, wondering who would be the next offering.

    Of course, there were some whose faces turned darker than anybody else.

    They were the users of the Daesung & Kusan Alliance who happened to be in charge of Round 68.

    As they were the ones who suggested that the team in charge of the round should make the offering, it was inevitable for the Daesung & Kusan Alliance to avoid it this time.

    At that moment, another unexpected message rang.

    [In Round 68, the offering chosen in Round 32 will reappear as a monster.

    -However, the actual user will not reappear, but a monster that borrowed the appearance, status window, and skills of the person selected as the actual sacrifice.

    -Monster Kali has appeared. ]

    Bora Yon¡¯s ID was Kali.

    Soon, Bora, who gave herself up to be a sacrifice on the altar, reappeared.

    At that moment I could not help but feel a bit puzzled because it was impossible for her to deal with the 59 users on her own even though she was verypetent.

    In fact, I alone could deal with her without any problem.

    ¡®Is the monster trying to provoke sympathy?¡¯

    The monster mimicked the appearance of Bora Yon, their colleague until Round 32.

    So, it was rather burdensome for Daeyu to attack her openly, not to mention the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance.

    But the monster only took the appearance of Bora Yon ording to the system, so it didn¡¯t provoke enough sympathy to dissuade me from attacking it.

    Moreover, there were frequent cases of fights among the users in games.

    At that moment, there appeared another message.

    Arena in Region 52 (Japan).

    The same thing happened there in Round 68.

    The altar reappeared. At that moment, except for Chairman Ryu Sechi, the members kept silent wondering who would be the next sacrifice, but they let out a sigh when Sato, who had been chosen as a sacrifice in Round 32, reappeared.

    Sato was a healer anyway, and most knew that he possessed no particr extraordinary abilities.

    However, the message that rang at that time embarrassed everyone, starting with Chairman Ryu Sechi.

    [The ability of the emerging monster that resembles Sato¡¯s appearance increases in proportion to his feelings of resent and vengeance when he became a sacrifice.

    -The intensity of his resentment and vengeance will be disyed as a value from a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 100.

    -Sato¡¯s feelings of resentment and vengeance right before he became a sacrifice was 97.6.

    -Sato has be 97.6 times stronger than before]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    A monster with the appearance of Sato who was 97.6 times stronger than the original Sato.

    Everyone could not help but be embarrassed, but they came back to their senses when one of them shouted from the center.

    ¡°Hey, folks, wake up! Anyway, it¡¯s only a monster, and Sato was a healer. In other words, if the monster¡¯s strength is based on Sato¡¯s status window and skills, it cannot be that strong.¡±

    Chairman Ryu Sechi was shouting at them. After hearing that, they were all embarrassed by their initial reaction because a healer was a healer, no matter how strong he was.

    But at that moment Sato, who appeared as a monster, shouted loudly.

    ¡°May God heal you guys!¡±

    Sato used his AOE skill to speed up health recovery, but everybody ignored it because it was not an offensive skill.

    But they were shocked to see the next message which was so ridiculous.

    [Your health is decreasing rapidly.]

    The 59 people, led by Chairman Ryu Sechi, confirmed that their health was dropping quickly.

    ¡°What the heck is this! What¡¯s happening now?¡±

    ¡°Oh my God! Why is my health going down?¡±

    ¡°That skill is supposed to recover health, right?¡±

    While all of them were at a loss, trying to figure out the unexpected situation, Sato raised his hand and opened his mouth again towards the tank in front of him.

    ¡°Heal! Mega Heal!¡±

    Clearly, it was a recovery-type skill.

    But what happened was the opposite.

    ¡°Kueeeeeeeeeeh!¡±

    The tank who got hit directly by Mega Heal screamed in pain, then copsed on the spot.

    And everyone clearly realized that Sato used his heal skill for offensive purposes, just like how a healing skill could be used for offensive purposes against the undead.

    ¡°Hey, everybody, attack him! Sato¡¯s health is not high because he is a healer type.¡±

    Chairman Ryu Sechi immediately ordered an attack on the monster that looked like Sato.

    However, the monster who was 97.6 times as strong as Sato could not be underestimated.

    Sato shouted again, ¡°Heal! Great Heal!¡±

    Sato used the so-called ¡°Self-Heal¡± on himself, and attacked the Japanese users led by Ryu Sechi endlessly.

    ¡°Permeate into everybody, Breath of Healing!¡±

    A recovery-type AOE skill that didn¡¯t show any great effect when it was used by the original Sato. But everybody could not help but scream now.

    ¡°Damn it! My health¡­my health¡­¡±

    ¡°This is too much!¡±

    Typically, an increase in skill by two or three times made a huge difference, but the monster was 97.6 times as strong as Sato was which was definitely something that the Japanese users could not withstand.

    Atst, Chairman Ryu Sechi, who was located in the rear, uttered, ¡°Oh my¡­¡±

    He had no choice but to sigh after confirming the embarrassing situation.

    It was really frustrating to see Sato not deterred at all by their relentless attack, and it made the chairman think the situation was hopeless while watching Sato continually replenish his health.

    At that moment Chairman Ryu opened his mouth quietly.

    ¡°Am I now paying for the price for what I¡¯ve done to him?¡±

    The Japanese users, which aimed for the top ten rankings, were annihted by the attack of the healer Sato, who became 97.6 times stronger in Round 68.

    And that happened not only to Japan, but many other regions around the world.

    Of course, there weren¡¯t many ces that saw a MAX number close to 100 like Sato¡¯s 97.6.

 Chapter 136 - The 4th Anniversary Special Event Ends (1)

    <h4>Chapter 136: The 4th Anniversary Special Event Ends (1)</h4>

    [The power of the monster that resembles Kali increases depending on her feelings of resentment and vengeance right before she was offered up as a sacrifice.

    -The value of her resentment and vengeance is disyed from a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 100.

    -Kali¡¯s resentment and vengeance before being a sacrifice was 3.7.

    -Kali has be 3.7 times stronger.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The message was not that long, but there was nobody here who was stupid enough not to understand what the message meant.

    In other words, if somebody else, not Bora, had been forcibly offered up as a sacrifice against their will to get through Round 32, a monster that was up to 100 times as strong as them could have emerged.

    Thanks to the 30%bat power buff I received for this event, I could show off my increased strength that was different from before.

    Given that the majority here were over level 1000, I would have been knocked down without even resisting if a monster with the appearance of somebody of level 1000 appeared with a high feeling of resentment. In such a situation, even a monster that was even 50 times stronger than before would pose a tremendous threat.

    For example, if only 10 wasps attacked bee nests where 10,000 to 30,000 bees live, they could still annihte all of the bees easily.

    Anyway, Bora appeared as a monster that was only 3.7 times stronger than before.

    Watching her, I muttered to myself, ¡°Compared to the maximum 100 vengeance value, 3.7 doesn¡¯t look so big. BUt even considering that, I guess you didn¡¯t want to volunteer as the offeringpletely.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Unfortunately, no one responded to me. Of course, I didn¡¯t expect them to.

    So, I stepped back because it was Mirae¡¯s turn to deal with Bora.

    Moreover, Mirae still had 14 members, so they had no problem in dealing with the monster that was 3.7 times stronger than before. So, the Daeyu members led by me along with the Daesung and Kusan alliance members all stepped. The Myongjin members stepped back as well, and the Mirae members were left to confront Bora who appeared as a monster.

    Even though the monster resembling Bora was much stronger than they thought, as expected, it still fell and the altar that appeared along with it broke down automatically, finally signaling the end of Round 68.

    At that moment, Daesung Chairman Junghan Kim said loudly enough to reach everybody, ¡°We all definitely owe it to Mirae. Maybe it is possible for Korea to rise to a higher ranking than expected. A country that didn¡¯t anticipate there would be such a trap as this might have decided on their sacrifices easily by using force.¡±

    When Chairman Kim said that, everyone¡¯s eyes turned to Mirae¡¯s Chairman Junghwan Yon because it was absolutely Bora¡¯s sacrifice that made them get through Round 68 without any difficulty.

    Anyway, they finished Round 68, which could potentially have been very tough, sessfully, and a message rang.

    [Congrattions on clearing Round 68!

    -Starting from Round 69, far more powerful monsters will appear.]

    The same message that appeared in Round 50 rang again, and there was a marked increase in difficulty.

    Even the 29-member Myongjin & Mirae Alliance barely survived the monsters¡¯ attack. So much so that they also needed my support.

    Everyone could predict such a situation, but all of them hesitated.

    Actually the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance and the Daesung & Kusan Alliance were ufortable toward each other enough to feel reluctant to help each other out when they were in a dangerous situation.

    At that moment, Mirae¡¯s Chairman Yon, who was watching the situation quietly, said, ¡°Isn¡¯t it about time for us to fight together as one team instead of fighting using this rotation system? We all have survived up to this round, so we can¡¯t ruin our ranking because of our petty emotional dispute, right?¡±

    Everyone nodded slightly at his remarks. Besides, Chairman Yon was the only one who could clear up this awkward atmosphere

    Of course, Daesung Chairman Kim¡¯s words earlier influenced them too. Just a little while ago, he said they all owed a lot to Mirae.

    Anyway, the Mirae Group users who gave the Daesung users a dirty look relented a bit at Kim¡¯s words, and Yon¡¯s remarks indicated that he would not care about the things of the past.

    And all 59 users of the three teams agreed to join hands together to finish the event as well as possible to the end. But I couldn¡¯t help but feel bitter because I could not make use of the turn of the Daesung & Kusan Alliance to make as much individual contribution as possible.

    At that moment, Chairman Yon said, looking at me, ¡°Asirante, I hope you can contribute as much as you can just like before. I hope you are not exhausted already.¡±

    Having heard his remarks that satisfied me, I said with a gentle smile on my lips, ¡°Of course, I¡¯m not. I haven¡¯t yet warmed up.¡±

    Now, the 59 members squad began Round 69 in an atmosphere that was not cold anymore like before.

    While the three teams in Region 53 (Korea) were working together in Round 69, what Chairman Kim said earlier was happening everywhere for different regions in Ludon¡¯s arena. And among them were Japan, China, the UK, and Brazil, which had considerable influence in the ¡°Revival Legend¡± and aimed for the top 10 rankings in this event.

    In other words, the leaders of those countries selected their sacrifices through authority and force instead of considerations, concession andpromise.

    At the very least, they should have offered appropriate rewards to those who would be sacrificed. But they didn¡¯t because they misjudged that there were no repercussions.

    After all, in Round 69, they were all annihted by none other than those offered up as sacrifices who were judged as useless. As a result, they had to pay the costly price for their misjudgement. Of course, many countries were eliminated even before they had the chance to offer a sacrifice to the altar.

    It was now Round 77. Those who survived until this round could still continue to fight.

    But at the same time, some of them finally began to fall out, exhausted.

    Moreover, they seemed to get tired more easily because they didn¡¯t know how many countries survived and which countries they had left topete with.

    Of course, they couldn¡¯t give up, so the leaders of each team pulled out those members who were exhausted and let them take rest, with the rest of the members all doing their best to defend the Tower of Glory as best as they could.

    In my case, I blocked the monsters at the front.

    When the round first began, there were some who gave me a disgusted look because I could deal with the monsters alone even when the 59 users of the three teams ended their rotation and moved together.

    However, as the rounds progressed, monsters that were far more powerful than the previous rounds emerged, and starting from Round 70, the monsters were extremely formidable appeared as if to signal that it would be impossible to advance beyond that round.

    Honestly, I could not afford to pay attention to my contribution because even I found it hard to deal with the monsters right before my eyes.

    However, these users, who used to give me a disgruntled nce, now cheered for me and encouraged me by giving me space so I could attack the monsters easily. It was natural that they felt disgusted at my selfish behavior, but now there were only a few who still thought so.

    Anyway, this kind of situation was also what I wanted.

    So, I steadily hunted and reduced the monsters by moving around here and there, not caring about their nces at all. While I was absorbed into blocking the monsters in Round 77, a message rang.

    [Congrattions! There are currently 10 regions surviving.

    -Differential rewards will be given to each region in the order of elimination from now on.]

    ¡°Oh!¡±

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve finally ranked 10th at least!¡±

    Finally Region 53 (Korea) was included in the top 10 rankings.

    Only then did the 59 members be very joyous.

    Then a pretty loud voice was heard from one side.

    Chairman Yon shouted, ¡°You all must have heard the message! But our goal is not just 10th ce of the top 10 rankings. As you clearly heard, our rewards are based on our final results. So, work hard a little more!¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    Since Chairman Yon¡¯s presence was recognized by everybody, not only the users of Mirae but also those of Myongjin, Daesung, Kusan and Daeyu loudly responded to his call for theirst push.

    As if they thought Mirae had taken control of the teams clearly, the chairmen of Myongjin, Daesung, Kusan, and Daeyu didn¡¯t say anything.

    Anyway, highly encouraged by the message that only ten regions remained, they blocked the monsters in Round 78, 79, 80, and up to Round 83 perfectly. Of course, I yed a pivotal role in helping them advance there.

    Unfortunately, no other message rang after the message that there were only ten regions left, such as one that nine or eight regions were left.

    But I wasn¡¯t worried because there was nothing in the message that announced how many regions would be left whenever any one region failed. Nowhere was there a message telling me how many zones were left whenever a zone failed.

 Chapter 137 - The 4th Anniversary Special Event Ends (2)

    <h4>Chapter 137: The 4th Anniversary Special Event Ends (2)</h4>

    Then, after wepleted Round 87 while blocking the monsters in one way or another, a message rang.

    [Congrattions! Only three regions remain.]

    I didn¡¯t know which regions survived up to now, but Region 53 which we belonged to had achieved at least 3rd ce.

    However, none of our team members shouted loudly like before because even those few seconds were precious for us to take a breather before the next round started.

    Even though we didn¡¯t shout for joy, achieving at least 3rd ce motivated all of us to exert all our power, and as a result we could advance to Round 92 after passing Round 91.

    At that moment, another message rang.

    [Congrattions! Only one region remains.]

    Actually, we were waiting for Round 92 to start after having justpleted Round 91.

    In other words, since we are still advancing through the rounds, the region that the message announced a moment ago was none other than our region.

    So, some of our team members who had survived tenaciously until nowy down and shouted.

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve won first ce!¡±

    ¡°Yes, 1st ce!¡±

    Even I let out a sigh of relief because Rounds 90 and 91 were pretty difficult.

    While they were shouting for joy, another message rang as if the administrator didn¡¯t want to drag it out.

    [The following rewards are given to a total of 59 members in the squad of Region 53 (Korea) who won first ce in the 4th Anniversary Event.

    -All members will be given an additional 20,000 coins in addition to the initial 2,000 coins granted at the start of the event.

    -All members will receive 1 billion golden rings.

    -All members will be given 500 remaining stat points.

    -All members will be granted the title ¡®4th Anniversary Event Winner¡¯.]

    ¡°20,000 coins?¡±

    ¡°And a whopping remaining 500 stat points and 1 billion golden rings?¡±

    ¡°Title! We won a title too!¡±¡±

    ¡°Wow, we finally obtained a title after reaching level 1000!¡±

    Honestly, for me this reward was not impressive enough to make me joyous because I had obtained a simr reward after clearing Monte¡¯s Salimaru Bandits Quest.

    Of course, that did not mean I was not happy about the reward because the remaining 500 stat points would be basically 1250 stat points thanks to my Mutual Growth trait, and the more titles I had, the better.

    But the message didn¡¯t end there.

    [All users of Region 53 which ced first in the 4th Anniversary Event will receive the following rewards.

    -100-500 coins will be awarded to all users depending on their level.

    -100,000 to 1 million golden rings will be awarded to all users depending on their level.

    ¨C EXP increases by 50% for 30 days.

    ¨C Golden ring drops increase by 50% for 30 days.]

    These were the rewards promised to all users of the region who ced 1st.

    There was one thing that caught my eye. It was the 50% increase in EXP.

    So, as soon as I confirmed it, I decided that as soon as this event finished , I would focus on hunting even more instead of taking a break because this was really a rare opportunity to gain EXP.

    Anyway, while everyone was yelling for joy, I could not share their joy because I had a clear goal before starting this event and tried hard to obtain it at the risk of looking selfish to others.

    What I expected was an additional reward based on my individual contribution to the team¡¯s victory. Of course, there was no mention of such a reward.

    However, I remembered that I earned an additional reward of remaining stats for my great contribution when I took part in the level 400 regr quest ¡°Block the Scorpion King.¡±

    I could notin about theck of an additional reward in this event, but I still could not help feel some regrets and frustration.

    At that moment a message rang only to me, not everybody.

    [You have surpassed the maximum contribution that an individual can make.

    -As an additional reward, you will receive 400 remaining stat points.]

    Only then did I broadly smile because only I could strengthen my power by obtaining remaining stats like this which others could not obtain.

    And the additional 400 stat point reward was almost equal to the original reward of 500 stat points of this event.

    ¡°Check title.¡±

    As soon as I confirmed the additional reward for my individual contribution, I checked the title with lots of expectation.

    [Title: Winner of the 4th Anniversary Event.

    -This is a title given to 59 members of the region who won first ce in the 4th Anniversary Event.

    : Increases health by 50,000.

    : Increases mana by 50,000.

    : Increases all stat points by 100.

    -Special EXP Privilege of the 4th Anniversary event: 5% additional EXP when defeating monsters.

    -Special Golden Ring Privilege of the 4th Anniversary event: 5% additional golden rings when defeating monsters.]

    As soon as I finished checking the title, I could only think of one thing. The title was rather underwhelming.

    An increase in health and mana by 50,000 each, and an increase in all stats by 100 were the lowest of all my titles, except for my title ¡°The one who does not fall¡± which was more like a penalty.

    Moreover, my health and mana increased by 100,000 and all my stats increased by 300 when I obtained the title ¡®Sessful First Step,¡¯ so I could not help but feel disappointed.

    Of course, there were two options that made up for my disappointment.

    Namely, the 5% increase in EXP and golden rings.

    ¡®Hmm¡­¡¯

    For a moment, I thought about the efficiency of the two.

    Honestly I judged that an additional 5% increase in golden rings was meaningless because I already had too many golden rings, so I didn¡¯t need to obtain them through hunting in the future.

    Besides, I obtained a whopping one billion golden rings as a reward in this event.

    Anyway, I didn¡¯t like the additional 5% golden rings, but I definitely liked the other option, the 5% increase in EXP.

    Obviously, 5% was not high enough ,but considering that I would continue to level up in the future, 5% EXP would help me get ahead of others to some extent.

    So, I was ratherforted with the 5% increase in EXP. If I did not have this, I would have been greatly disappointed by the title of the Winner of the 4th Anniversary Event.

    Given the enthusiastic reaction of other participants, however, I thought myints were unwarranted.

    ¡°I feel amazing! I finally won my first title at level 1037!¡±

    ¡°With 50,000 mana, 50,000 health, and 100 stat points, this title is at least of the intermediate level!¡±

    ¡°Besides, we also received a5% increase in EXP which is not granted by regr titles.¡±

    After all, this was a title that would earn the envy of others just by holding it.

    There were only a few who had a title of this caliber.

    That was why my father, brother and sister couldn¡¯t hide their astonishment when I revealed to them my five titles some time ago.

    Moreover, I currently have a total of 7 titles, including this title and the title, ¡°First Sessful Step¡± I recently acquired.

    I felt proud of what I achieved because even though there was a difference in the performance of each title, I deserved to be proud of my achievements.

    In addition, I remember receiving 300 remaining stat points from achieving my first five titles.

    Anyway, unlike a little while ago when I felt a little disappointed about the title of the Winner of the 4th Anniversary Event at first nce, I now confirmed the value of it. But there was still something bothering me.

    The message clearly mentioned the 59 members of Region 53.

    Aside from just receiving the title of the Winner of the 4th Anniversary Event, the number of the recipients of 20,000 coins, 1 billion golden rings and 500 remaining stat points was exactly 59.

    In other words, Bora Yon, who was offered up as a sacrifice was thoroughly excluded from the rewards. Of course, I knew that the altar message clearly announced that the person who was offered up as a sacrifice would not receive any reward, but I was still bothered because her role in the 4th Anniversary Event was not small. And all the other members seemed to have noticed it, too.

    At that moment, the jubnt and cheerful atmosphere of the 59 member squad subsided.

    Then the only person here who could change the atmosphere opened his mouth.

    It was Mirae Group¡¯s Chairman Jungwhan Yon.

 Chapter 138 - The Useful Man & The Useless Man (1)

    <h4>Chapter 138: The Useful Man & The Useless Man (1)</h4>

    Chairman Yon said with a smile on his face, ¡°Haha. Thank you all for remembering Bora. Although Bora is not here, she must be very pleased that she helped Korea win this event. So, you don¡¯t have to feel gloomy because of her.¡±

    Then he continued as if he had more to say, ¡°By the way, I would like to invite all the people here to a championship dinner, but it is regrettable that you are all important members in your own guilds, so let me skip that. As the head of the Mirae Guild, I would like to say that Bora yed a big role in bringing us this victory, but there is another man who yed a bigger role. It is none other than Asirante. Perhaps nobody here will refute this. So, I would like to make one suggestion as the head of the Mirae Guild. I think all our guilds should be generous enough topensate Asirante to some extent, who is now the pir of Korea. As you know, there is no guarantee that there will be no contest among countries like this in the future.¡°

    I never expected that Chairman Yon would mention me like that. Moreover, he even went to the trouble of suddenly singling me out among the Daeyu members and calling me the pir of Korea.

    As soon as Chairman Yon finished talking, somebody chimed in loudly.

    ¡°I agree! Starting with Round 80, oh no, Round 70, it would have been impossible for us to get here without Asirante¡¯s contribution. So I totally agree with Chairman Yon that we all have to pay somepensation to Asirante. However, I think we have to give somepensation to Bora as well because what she did was obviouslymendable,¡± said Daesung Group¡¯s Chairman Junghan Kim.

    Certainly, other people knew what the two chairmen were up to when they made such tant statements, but they didn¡¯t refute at all, so they decided to give specialpensation to Asirante and Bora.

    At that moment, a message rang.

    [The 4th Anniversary Event has ended.

    -All the users of each region in Ludon¡¯s arena will be moved to their own region in 10 seconds.]

    I looked at the message with a pleased look because I won first ce and got an additional reward of 400 remaining stat points based on my contribution.

    ***

    New York, USA.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    There was only silence in the Holdridge¡¯s Group executive meeting room because their team members missed the first ce.

    They won second ce and received a good reward, but they were angry because the reward for 1st ce was much better than 2nd ce.

    Obviously, as far as coins were concerned, the reward for 1st ce was fantastic.

    One of the five top executives broke the heavy silence and said, ¡°Who won first ce?¡±

    ¡°Well, it is Korea.¡±

    ¡°Korea? You mean the South Korea that I know?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right.¡±

    When Austin, the head of Holdridge Group¡¯s intelligence department, replied, groans were heard from everywhere in the conference room.

    Some of the participants asked where Korea was located, saying they had never heard about it. But since they were all stunned at the news that the Korean team won the special event, it was natural that they began to whisper among themselves in shock and frustration.

    ¡°Everybody, be quiet!¡±

    However, they suddenly became silent when one of the top five executives shouted at them.

    ¡°How¡­ How is it possible that Korea won first ce? As far as I know, Korea wasn¡¯t even on the list of the top ten contenders at all.¡±

    The Holdridge Grouppiled its own list of countries that would most likely be included in the top ten rankings of the 4th Anniversary Event. Of course, many of their expectations were wrong.

    For example, they didn¡¯t expect the appearance of a sacrifice in Round 32 and the sacrifice¡¯s counterattack in Round 68 at all. But what they never expected was that Region 53, Korea, would win 1st ce.

    And that¡¯s why they were holding the emergency meeting now.

    When the top executive asked that question, Austin, the head of the intelligence department, said, wiping off the sweat on his face, ¡°Well, I haven¡¯t collected the exact information about it yet. However, as there are 60, or 59 witnesses there, let me collect the information as quickly as possible.¡±

    ¡°Do you think you can get the information quickly? I think the Korean team will do everything not to leak any information as much as they can.¡±

    ¡°I will move as fast as possible by using all our resources such as money, honor or ckmail.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡±

    The top five executives just groaned as if they were not satisfied with his answer, but they didn¡¯t press him too hard because it has been only ten minutes since the 4th Anniversary Event ended.

    The meeting continued for a while.

    Although the 4th Anniversary Event was over, its repercussions were still going on.

    ***

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s break up here.¡±

    ¡°Good job.¡±

    ¡°Thanks for your great work!¡±

    There was no such thing as a grand ceremony for the three Korean teams¡¯ disbandment right after they were moved out of Ludon¡¯s arena.

    They just shook hands and parted.

    Since I was a member of the Daeyu Guild, I first left with them before parting with them, for I had something to do right now before logging out and taking a break like them.

    I resumed hunting right away.

    The period during which I could gain 50% additional EXP was exactly 30 days.

    So, as soon as I parted with them, I immediately moved to the Tombs of the Dead. But there were already lots of Daeyu guild members there hunting monsters, including the eight monster herding teams reserved for me.

    Of course, I understood their position.

    With an additional 50% increase in EXP, hunting only two monsters would be like hunting three monsters normally.

    In other words, this was a situation where even those not interested in hunting would not be able to resist getting back into it.

    At that moment, I thought of driving them out of the hunting ground and asking the eight teams to herd the monsters for me, but I decided that it was not necessary to y the viin in this situation. Besides, it was time for me to find a new hunting ground.

    In fact, despite hunting in the Tombs of the Dead just before the start of the 4th anniversary event, my level did not even go up by one. And I had recently gained 900 remaining stat points from the event.

    Of course, I invested all of them in intellect, and thanks to my Mutual Growth trait, my stamina increased by 900, and my willpower by 450. Besides, all stat points increased by another 100 because of my new title.

    When I took all of this into ount, the Tombs of the Dead was too easy a hunting ground for my level. However, there was still something that I felt rather sad to leave behind.

    It was none other than the monster herding teams.

    Apart from everything else, their efficiency was really good in terms of their time andbor.

    So much so that as long as I had their support, I should hunt by all means.

    Of course, even if I didn¡¯t have such herding teams, I had a secret weapon that would make up for their efficiency and productivity. It was none other than Blink with zero cooldown.

    ¡®Well if that¡¯s the case, I think that hunting ground should be okay.¡¯

    After Daeyu¡¯s Chairman Suh dered that he would stop supporting me, I checked out several hunting grounds. And I found one hunting ground that was pretty good for me, and it was owned by Myongjin.

    I immediately sent a message to Director Sok about this when I found out.

    Although I confirmed that this was clearly an abandoned hunting ground, I wondered if there might be any Myongjin guild members hunting there because of the 50% increase in EXP.

    Actually, I wanted to use Blink with zero cooldown as freely as I could when I hunted there.

    Of course, I wanted to hide my secret weapon to the end, but I didn¡¯t want to keep it under wraps forever for fear of my opponents noticing it.

    ¡°Move to the Saber Steel Tooth Tiger¡¯s Habitat.¡±

    [You have been moved to Saber Steel Tooth Tiger¡¯s Habitat.]

    I chose the Saber Steel Tooth Tiger¡¯s Habitat. Monsters with strong physical attack between levels 800 and 900 wasmon here, and I could hardly counterattack because of their super speed.

    Apart from other factors, the extreme speed of the monsters was very attractive to me because it meant I could herd them in one ce very quickly before attacking.

    ¡°Wee to the Saber Steel Tooth Tiger¡¯s Habitat, Asirante. Thank you for contacting us here at Myongjin first.¡±

    Director Sok was already on standby with five other staff at the Saber Steel Tooth Tiger¡¯s Habitat.

    Of course, we pretended not to know each other because there might be a mole among the five guys, although I trusted them.

    So, Director Sok and I exchanged greetings as if we were strangers to each other.

    ¡°Oh, thanks for epting my request,¡± I said.

    ¡°Haha, you¡¯re wee. I¡¯m grateful to you for reaching out to us first.¡±

 Chapter 139 - The Useful Man and The Useless Man (2)

    <h4>Chapter 139: The Useful Man and The Useless Man (2)</h4>

    Of course, I intend to hunt using nk with zero cooldown because I have to make the most of the 30 days during which the 50% increase in EXP applied.

    And those five guys standing behind Director Sok would block the entrance to the Saber Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat so I could focus on hunting.

    Of course, they cannot hunt while I¡¯m hunting, but I decided topensate them for that.

    Anyway, I shook hands with Director Sok, then headed for the Saber Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat.

    However, I stopped before long because I received an unexpected text from someone. It was from Bora Yon.

    [Kali: What are you doing?]

    [Lumen: I¡¯m hunting.]

    [Kali: You¡¯re hunting hard as always.]

    [Lumen: I have to hunt hard for 30 days. By the way, I heard you were offered up as a sacrifice for Team No.1. I feel so sorry for you, but cheer up.] That was all I could do tofort her for now.

    [Kali: Oh. You heard about me, too.]

    [Lumen: Yeah.]

    She was silent for a while, so I was about to go into the Saber Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat thinking she was done talking to me. But then a message rang.

    [Kali sent information about the titles ¡®The Useless Man¡¯ and ¡®The Useful Man¡¯]

    [Title: The Useless Man.

    -Valid for 300 days only. (299 days 17 hours 43 minutes remaining)

    -It is a title that can only be obtained by the man selected as a sacrifice in the 4th Anniversary Event.

    -It is a title that gives the opportunity to change from The Useless Man into The Useful Man.

    -The following effects apply when holding the title.

    -Effects.

    : EXP acquisition rate will double.

    : All stat points increase by 2000.

    : Reduces the cooldown of all skills by 20%.

    : Increases the power of all skills by 20%.]

    ¡°¡­¡¯

    Obviously the title ¡°Useless Man¡¯ gave me a negative feeling from the name alone. However, the performance of this title was so spectacr that it stunned me.

    Aside from increasing all stats by 2000, it also granted a 20% skill cooldown reduction and even doubled EXP gains.

    Of course, there were limitations to the title, namely that it was valid for only 300 days.

    In other words, oin the long run, this title was not better than the permanent title, Winner of the 4th Anniversary Event.

    If I had to choose between the titles ¡°The Useless Man¡± and the ¡°4th Anniversary Event Winner¡±, I would definitely choose thetter.

    ¡®Man, am I wrong?¡¯

    At that moment, the effect of doubling EXP gains caught my eye. I thought that if I had this title, I could maximize my EXP for 300 days,= almost ten months, instead of just 30 days.

    But I soon shook my head because thinking about the distant future, whatsts forever is much better than what¡¯s temporary.

    Besides, this ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ wasn¡¯t just a game that would end in a day or two.

    Anyway, despite the shoring that it was valid only for 300 days, the title of ¡°Useless Man¡± boasted a tremendous power.

    But there was more in the message, namely, the title ¡®Useful Man.¡¯

    [Title: The Useful Man.

    -If the useless man proves that he is a useful man, just as a caterpir breaks through a cocoon and bes a butterfly, the title ¡°Useless Man¡± will be changed to ¡°Useful Man¡± on thest day of the 300 day period.

    -Effect.

    : Increases health by 100,000.

    : Increases mana by 100,000.

    : All stat points increase by 200.

    : Reduces cooldown of all skills by 8%.

    : Increases the power of all skills by 8%.

    : 0.5% chance of obtaining coins when defeating monsters]

    Objectively speaking, the title ¡°Useful Man¡± was worse than the title of ¡°Useless Man¡± while it applied.

    In particr, it was fatal that all stat points were reduced to 200 from 2000.

    Besides, skill cooldown and power were also decreased to 8% from 20%.

    Taking all these factors into ount, this ¡®Useless Man¡¯ title was definitely better than even the title ¡®Only Closed Beta Max Level Achiever¡¯ that I was most proud of.¡¯ Why? It¡¯s because even though the title ¡®Only Closed Beta Max Level Achiever¡¯ increased health and mana by 300,000 each and all stat points by 500, it was notparable to an 8% skill cooldown reduction and an increase in skill power by 8%.

    At that moment, I wished I had been offered up as a sacrifice instead of Bora.

    Of course, Korea would not have won the first ce in that case.

    More precisely, Korea would have been defeated in Round 68 when the one offered up as a sacrifice counterattacked.

    If I had been sacrificed against my will, the value of my resentment and revenge would be at least 90, and as one who became 90 times as strong as before, I would have gotten rid of the other 59 members simply by pointing my finger at them.

    ¡®Hmm. Since I received a reward for achieving first ce, I don¡¯t have to feel regret.¡¯

    First of all, as the one who won first ce, I had 22,000 coins, 1 billion golden rings and a total of 900 stats points including the 400 that I obtained after winning the event, not to mention I even gained the title ¡®4th Anniversary Event Winner,¡¯ which was useless for now.

    So, I didn¡¯t have to feel greedy or have regrets.

    So, I sent Bora a genuine text message.

    [Lumen: Congrattions! What a relief!]

    The moment I messaged her, I felt something was annoying, namely, the title can change only when one proves that one is a useful person.

    In other words, the title would not be automatically changed to the title of ¡®Useful Man¡¯ after 300 days.

    And then another message rang as if the system noticed I would question it.

    [However, in order to change to the title of ¡®The Useful Man,¡¯ you need to meet the following requirements.

    -The deficit from losing 10-100 levels as the sacrifice must be made up by at least 3 times within this 300 day period where the title ¡°The Useless Man¡± applies.

    For example, if you dropped 50 levels, you need to level up at least 150 times within these 300 dyas.

    -If you forcibly decrease your level for ease of leveling up, the title of the ¡®Useless Man¡¯ disappears and the opportunity to change to the title ¡®Useful Man¡¯ disappears.]

    That was a requirement of changing ¡®The Useless Man¡¯ to ¡®The Useful Man.¡¯

    As soon as I saw it, I thought it might be more difficult or easier than I thought.

    Honestly, I thought it would be more difficult than I thought.

    Regardless of why they were offered up as a sacrifice in the event, they must be still the strongest in their country, to be included as part of the 60 men squad.

    In other words, there was a high possibility that those who were sacrificed exceeded level 1000 level or were close to it.

    And if the sacrificed person fell 100 levels in the worst scenario, it would be difficult for them to raise a total of 300 levels within 300 days, even if they had the buffs of double EXP.

    Anyway, when I thought this was a requirementrgely determined by sheer luck, Bora once again messaged me.

    [Kali: I dropped exactly 10 levels.]

    A drop of 10 levels. This meant that Bora had pretty much already acquired the title of ¡°Useful Man¡±, for it would be a piece of cake for her to raise 30 levels within 300 days no matter how high her level was. Furthermore, she had a powerful backing in the form of the Mirae Group.

    [Lumen: Congrattions!]

    [Kali: Thank you. By the way, if we had known that Korea would take the first ce, you should¡¯ve been there.]

    [Lumen: Well, I heard about it from my brother and sister too, but it was very regrettable.]

    [Kali: You simply feel regret? That¡¯s all?]

    [Lumen: Of course, I do feel much more regret than I express.]

 Chapter 140 - The Useful Man and The Useless Man (3)

    <h4>Chapter 140: The Useful Man and The Useless Man (3)</h4>

    She requested me to keep the titles of ¡®The Useless Man¡¯ and ¡®The Useful Man under wraps, as she didn¡¯t want to reveal it for now even though it would be revealed someday as not a small number of team members were offered up as sacrifices globally. I wondered why she mentioned that to me if that was the case, but I ended the conversation without asking further.

    Of course, I could not stop thinking of the title ¡®The Useful Man¡¯ in my mind, but I decided not to dwell on it any further because there was no use crying over spilled milk.

    ¡®I will still have lots of opportunities in the future. For example, I can expect a level 500 only quest in the near future.¡¯

    So, I was not impatient enough to feel regret for the title.

    Anyway, I resumed moving inside the Saber Steel Tooth Tiger¡¯s Habitat.

    ¡°Blink! Blink! Blink!¡±

    A lion the size of a hippo? Or a tiger? No, it was much bigger than that, at least 1.5 timesrger than that.

    Moreover, it was even faster than a cheetah, allegedly the fastest animal onnd.

    ¡°Kuuuuuuuuuuang!¡±

    ¡°Tuuuuuuuuuung!¡±

    Dozens of huge tigers attacked me using their huge canines or their thick limbs, but it was all in vain. No matter how fast and agile they were, they were infinitely slowpared to Blink with zero cooldown. Rather, their biggest merit of swiftness really helped me to herd them together because no matter how far I moved with Blink, they crazily chased after me with tremendous speed not knowing that they would be killed soon.

    Obviously, I had not yet spent a long time here, , but over 100 saber-toothed tigers were running behind me.

    Since I herded roughly 100 or more saber-toothed tigers, I stopped there and looked at the herd running behind me.

    ¡°Woooooooo¡­¡±

    This scene of animalsrger than hippos rushing at me fiercely overwhelmed simply by looking at them.

    But I smiled leisurely before I knew it because I was confident in hunting them without any difficulty. Given the speed at which I herded the monsters here by myself, I would be able to level up faster than I did in the Tombs of the Dead where the eight herding teams were assisting me.

    Moreover, the monsters in this hunting ground were much stronger, which meant that I would receive more EXP than before.

    Anyway, I could think about thister, so I focused on hunting first.

    I started off with using skills toward the herd of Saber Tooth Tigers.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasak!

    I didn¡¯t have to move right into the middle of the monsters like I did in the Tombs of the Dead because they were already within my range when they gathered together in one ce.

    So, first of all, I made the battlefield advantageous to me by transforming it into an ice terrain.

    Since they were very fast animals, I could see instantly that their speed had decreased despite the only 20% speed debuff of my skills.

    ¡°Alright. Let me see how long you guys can endure. Ice Storm!¡±

    Instead of spamming all my skills at once, I used my skills one by one to assess the monsters¡¯ levels so I could find out a way to get rid of them systematically and efficiently in the next batt;e.

    ¡°Kuuuuuhung!¡±

    ¡°Kheeeeeeeeek!¡±

    Level 7 Ice Storm. It was the most powerful out of all the skills that I possessed now.

    Furthermore, excluding the bonus from my ¡®Iceman¡¯ trait, Ice Storm had an additional 10% increase in power thanks to the effect of my functional skill ring. Maybe that¡¯s why my attack was so effective against these Saber Toothed Tigers between level 800 and level 9000. In fact, my attack was so powerful that it inflicted great pain on them.

    Of course, I felt some regrets.

    ¡°Man, if it had been a little more powerful, I could have gotten rid of all these Saber Tooth Tigers with just once Ice Storm!¡±

    Nheless, several Saber Tooth Tigers were killed. Besides, there were several others who were killed by the sustained damage of Ice Field.

    In other words, if my Ice Storm had been a little stronger, I would have been able to kill them all with thebination of Ice Field and Ice Storm without resorting to other skills.

    However, I had no other way of stopping them, so I got rid of all the Saber Tooth Tigers with Pouring Hailstone first.

    At that moment, a message rang.

    [You have leveled up.]

    ¡°Hahahaha.¡±

    It was always a pleasant message to my ears.

    However, I was too busy to express joy as always, so I quickly moved to another ce using Blink.

    As for the golden rings and misceneous items dropped by the Saber Tooth Tigers when they died?

    I didn¡¯t pick them up because unlike Bora Yon whose double EXP would be maintained for 300 days, I had only 30 days to apply the extra 50% gain in EXP from Korea cing first in the 4th Anniversary event. Of course, the 5% increase in EXP I received from the title of ¡°Winner of the 4th Anniversary Event¡± would make this a total of 55% increase in EXP across the next 30 days.

    In addition, Bora did not even receive the buffs that all Korean users received, such as the 50% increase in EXP and golden rings for 30 days.

    In other words, she was really thoroughly excluded from the rewards of achieving first ce.

    Anyway, I moved quickly to another ce, not thinking about her anymore.

    Then I concentrated on hunting in the Saber Steel Tooth Tiger¡¯s Habitat.

    ***

    New York, USA.

    As he previously promised the Holdridge Group¡¯s top executives, Austin, the head of the Intelligence Department, obtained the Memory Bead that recorded everything about Region 53 Korea in Ludon¡¯s arena during the 4th Anniversary Event, for he could do anything with money.

    And he yed it in the presence of Holdridge¡¯s top leadership, including the five top executives.

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    There was a heavy silence in the conference room where the video was ying.

    Austin understood why well enough because he had already confirmed what was in the video before he came here.

    At that moment, one of the top five executives opened his mouth while pointing his finger at someone in the video.

    ¡°Is that the guy that you mentioned?¡±

    He suddenly asked out of the blue.

    But Austin knew clearly who he was referring to because that person¡¯s name was still on the electric disy boards in every arena with his overwhelming record of clearing 80 rounds.

    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right. That guy is Asirante.¡±

    ¡°As far as I know, that guy justpleted the 300-level only arena quest. Right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s correct, too.¡±

    The fact that Asirante had only recently finished the 300-level only arena quest meant that his current level was not high. Moreover, his low level meant that the items he could equip were also limited. And there were none who didn¡¯t know this in this conference room.

    ¡°Oh my God¡­¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t make sense.¡±

    ¡°Even if he took part in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd Closed Betas and achieved the max level in all of them, how could he have achieved this record at his level?¡±

    Groans were heard around the conference room because Asirante¡¯s performance was beyond their understanding.

    At that moment Sten, the first leaguemander of Holdridge, who was the most staunch hardliner and also a white supremacist, opened his mouth.

    ¡°How about dropping a nuclear bomb in Korea? If we do so, we can turn the entire Korean Penins into a dead zone. That way, Asirante will be erased from the map.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    There was silence again in the conference room.

    They didn¡¯t like the fact that such a guy with an enormous power appeared in a ce other than the United States, but none of them thought of erasing one country from the map.

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    However, the top five executives didn¡¯t seem to think his opinion was that bad, given their serious thought about it at the moment.

    Atst, one of the top five executives said, ¡°Let us not consider it for now. If the monsters had not appeared in reality, I would have erased South Korea immediately because such a strong man should appear here in America. But, for example, if a non-Orc monster that we can¡¯t even conceive appears, we might need Asirante¡¯s help because this could be destroyed by the invasion of monsters among 9999 other things.¡±

    But the other executives debated his words because all decisions were made by all five of them.

    Time was passing slowly with Korea, which would have been on the verge of destruction by the Holdridge Group in America, in the dark about the situation.

 Chapter 141 - Level 500 Arena Quest (1)

    <h4>Chapter 141: Level 500 Arena Quest (1)</h4>

    At the Saber Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat.

    ¡°Ice Storm! Pouring Hail!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

    ¡°Kuong!¡±

    ¡°Keheng!¡±

    I spent most of my time hunting. Of course, it wasn¡¯t just me who did.

    I don¡¯t know about other countries, but there was a strong hunting craze in Korea.

    Like the 4th Anniversary event that happened for the first time after skipping the first three anniversaries, there has never been an event that offers a 50% increase in EXP, let alone a 50% increase in golden rings.

    So, many people in Korea thought they had to focus on hunting at least for the 30 day period these buffs applied.

    They were single mindedly hunting because they couldn¡¯t sit idle when others were busy hunting.

    Anyway, I myself have been hunting in the Saber Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat for several days.

    Gradually, I was getting more and more excited because level 500 that I have been eagerly waiting for was just around the corner.

    Of course, from level 400, the levels required to acquire new skill points jumped up by 200 instead of the 100 it was before. So at level 500, I could not acquire any new skills since I would not be given any skill points.

    In other words, generally speaking, there was no need for people to yearn for level 500 anxiously even though there was a level 500 only quest.

    Limited quests at level 100, level 300, and level 500 were not of great significance to normal users because it was extremely difficult for them to receive a special reward by achieving a great record in these quests.

    How about me then? Of course, I can get these special rewards, and I actually did in the past.

    I clearly received a considerable reward by clearing the level 100 only enhancement quest, but at the level 300 only arena quest I obtained my hidden weapon, Blink with zero cooldown.

    Since I had fond memories of these great rewards, I was anxiously waiting for the level 500 only quest. Moreover, I had already finished doing some research about the level 500 only quest.

    Anyway, while I was absorbed in hunting to achieve level 500, I had to leave the hunting ground briefly because something significant happened. Namely, it was the additional reward for my performance at the 4th Anniversary event mentioned by Mirae Group¡¯s Chairman Junghwan Yon. So, I left the hunting ground briefly to receive the reward.

    Even though I was hard pressed for hunting time, I could still take time out to receive the reward because it was huge.

    When I arrived at the ce, not only the chairmen of Mirae, Myongjin, Daesung, Kusan, and Daeyu were present, but so was Bora Yon. Of course, I understood why she was there because she yed a huge role in Korea winning the 4th Anniversary event.

    The five chairmen collected 1 billion golden rings from their guilds, then gave me and Bora 2.5 billion golden rings respectively.

    After that, we only conversed briefly. There was no such thing as a big celebration party because not only I but everyone else was busy spending their time hunting because of the 50% EXP buffs. Besides, the five chairmen were also pretty busy with other things.

    Anyway, except for the brief time I left to receive 2.5 golden rings as a reward, I just concentrated on hunting in the Saber Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat.

    The next day I essed the game as usual after I had cereal for breakfast.

    In less than an hour after hunting in the Saber Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat, I heard the message I had been anxiously waiting for.

    [You have leveled up.]

    It was a message informing me that I had reached level 500.

    ¡°Check status window.¡±

    I immediately opened my status window.

    [Name: Lumen, Asirante

    Level: 500

    Number of kills: 1284, Number of deaths: 0

    Title: Only Closed Beta Max Level Achiever and 6 others.

    Health: 2,053,000 / 2,053,000

    Mana: 1,615,500 / 1,615,500

    Strength: 2030 Agility: 2030 Stamina: 12030

    Willpower: 7125 Intellect: 14580

    Remaining Stat Points: 470

    Remaining Skill Points: 0

    Traits: IceMan, God of Enhancement, Mutual Growth.]

    Obviously, the 4th Anniversary event gave me a tremendous reward.

    The title of the 4th Anniversary Event Winnerbined with the total of 900 stat points I received from the event caused my Intellect and Stamina to increase by 1000, and my Willpower to increase by 550. And this was not counting the 470 remaining stat points I gained from leveling up to level 500 from level 453.

    So, I immediately invested the 470 remaining stat points into my Intellect.

    Then, another message rang when I watched my Intellect climb over 15000.

    [Congrattions on reaching level 500!

    -By achieving level 500, you are given a level 500 only arena quest II.]

    The level 500 only quest was an extension of the level 300 arena quest.

    Of course, the targets of the level 300 only quest were monsters, but the level 500 only quest did not target monsters.

    Then, targeting a user instead of monsters? Such a possibility was 50% because it was still possible to manipte the winning rate, though highly unlikely. In other words, an entity called an NPC would appear, mixed with the users.

    Unlike users who used creative skills and showed unexpected actions, NPCs actions were telegraphed which meant they were usually looked down on. But what I confirmed from Director Sok and my sister was that a normal users level 500 quest was stopped at the round where the NPCs appear as they never failed to miss an opportunity to attack and never put themselves at risk.

    But I thought to myself, ¡®All tricks and techniques are nothing in the face of overwhelming physical power. That¡¯s why there is a difference in the users¡¯ strength.¡¯

    The upation and type I yed in all games including ¡°Revival Legend¡± was generally a long-range wizard, so I never thought I myself would use the word ¡°physical.¡±

    Even though it was overshadowed by my Intellect, my Stamina reached 12,500 with the addition of 470 stat points thanks to the effect of Mutual Growth.

    Of course, my items and skills were not aligned with my high stamina stat. However, my pure stamina of 12,500 was powerful enough to make up for this.

    In fact, I¡¯ve never seen any strong tank have a stamina stat exceeding 10,000, let alone 12,500, about which my father, brother, and sister, as well as Director Sok, already reassured me.

    Anyway, since I had such an overwhelming physical power and offensive capabilities, I wasn¡¯t afraid of the level 500 only arena quest II.

    Rather, I was anxiously waiting for it.

    So, after checking the level 500 only arena quest II, I immediately moved to the auction house, for I could equip better items at level 500 even though I was not given new skills and skill points.

    Of course, I would lose some money by trading the armor and weapons I had purchased at level 400 below the average price for a quick transaction, but I didn¡¯t think it was a loss.

    In fact, I got 2.5 billion golden rings just yesterday, so it was beneficial for me to trade my items quickly so it was not a bother.

    So, I listed the level 400 armor and weapons for sale at a slightly lower price, then bought level 500 legendary-grade armor and weapons after searching the avable times.

    All the items I bought were level 500, and +3 enhancement.

    In fact, I had too many golden rings, so I could purchase up to +5 enhancement, which was rather rare, let alone +4 enhancement, but I felt I didn¡¯t need such items at this point because it would not take me much time to reach level 600.

    Anyway, I did not head straight to the level 500 only arena quest II right after purchasing the items and leaving the auction house.

    The reason why I didn¡¯t hunt for an hour yesterday and put off achieving level 500 until today was because the cooldown of something else came back today; the cooldown of God of Enhancement.

    After confirming that the cooldown of God of Enhancement had only a few minutes to go, I moved to the forge.

    Then, as soon as the cooldown of the God of Enhancement finished while I was pacing up and down for a few minutes, I put the +1 Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword on the enhancement window and activated God of Enhancement.

    [You have activated God of Enhancement.

    -100% chance to sessfully enhance.

    -Enhancement target: +1 Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    -Additional conditions required to enhance: 1,520,000 golden rings, 17.5 million EXP.

    -Cooldown upon sessful enhancement: 8 days]

    ¡®Hahahaha.¡±

    To enhance the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword from 0 to +1 required a 14-day cooldown and 850,000 golden rings.

    However, since 17.5 million EXP was required, the cooldown was reduced to 8 days. Of course, 17.5 million EXP may be a big disadvantage for others, but I had the title ¡®The Man Who Doesn¡¯t Fall.¡¯

    Moreover, since I had just leveling up, I was just 0.00% at level 500.

    In other words, even though I did not lose any EXP, my cooldown was reduced to 8 days.

    The required golden rings for enhancement increased about twice, but honestly, that was no issue at all.

    So, with a big smile, I tried enhancing the guardian sword quickly.

    Then, the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword changed to +2 enhancement, along with firecrackers visible only to me that signaled enhancement sess.

    Of course, there was no marked change in the appearance of the sword.

    But I looked at it with a hazy gaze before I knew it.

    And at that moment, I refreshed my determination to quickly reach level 700 because it really frustrated me to just look at the enhanced Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword without being able to use it.

 Chapter 142 - Level 500 Arena Quest (2)

    <h4>Chapter 142: Level 500 Arena Quest (2)</h4>

    At the arena north of Ferrero Castle.

    I could go to the arena located in Kotum Castle or Northwood Castle, but I headed to Ferrero Castle¡¯s arena on purpose because I got Blink with zero cooldown in the level 300 only arena quest here.

    Although I didn¡¯t know what kind of reward I would receive this time, I kept my fingers crossed that I would get another cooldown removal reward if one was avable.

    Why? Because it would be the best scenario for me if my Ice Storm¡¯s cooldown could be removed.

    However, I shook my head and quickly moved into the arena because I didn¡¯t want to count my chickens before they hatched and I still had the additional 50% EXP buff.

    So I was thinking of clearing the quest as fast as possible and hunting back again.

    Anyway, it was my second visit to the arena.

    A message rang as soon as I stepped in the arena.

    [You have a level 500 only arena quest II avable.

    -Currently, you are eligible to proceed with the arena quest II at level 500.

    -If you choose to proceed, you cannot log out until the quest ends.

    -Do you wish to proceed?]

    ¡®Yes.¡¯

    When I first visited this arena during the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Closed Betas, I looked around here and there. But now I already knew what the arena was so I chose to proceed straight away.

    [You have chosen to proceed with the level 500 only arena quest II.

    -This is a quest to celebrate you reaching level 500. You can proceed with it only once at level 500, and you must win continuous duels against other users and NPCs randomly allocated to you within the arena.

    -You will meet more powerful opponents in each sessive round if you continue to win. Your reward will be determined depending on the number of your victories and your consecutive wins.

    -Death within the quest does not affect your number of deaths.

    -Before you proceed with the quest, you will be moved to the waiting room.]

    As soon as the message finished, a small space emerged and I felt my body being sucked in somewhere.

    [This is a waiting area only for those who are proceeding with the level 500 arena quest II.

    -Whispering with others here is restricted, and you can¡¯t converse with your opponents while moving to the arena.

    -Currently, you have two IDs; Lumen and Asirante.

    -You can select which ID you want used during the level 500 only arena quest II.]

    I knew these restrictions were a countermeasure implemented by the system to prevent any users from manipting the results by messaging each other and striking deals while in the arena.

    I didn¡¯t notice anything strange in the message that forced me to choose my ID, but I opened my mouth right away because I had a simr experience before.

    ¡°Let me choose Asirante.¡±

    As soon as I chose my ID, a message rang.

    [Your first opponent has been decided.

    -Gali, an experienced hunter.]

    As soon as the message rang, I felt myself being moved somewhere again.

    I was moved to a real arena.

    Looking at the name floating above my opponent, I could tell that he was an NPC.

    Shuuuuuuuung!

    The NPC Gali started by firing an arrow at me.

    But I could tell from my experiences that Gali was very weak because the arrows were flying toward me very haphazardly.

    So, I did not avoid them on purpose to check how strong they were.

    But, as the weak sound of the flying arrows suggested, they didn¡¯t even stick in me at all.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t even suffer any damage.

    ¡°Obviously, I heard the first NPC is not a strong opponent, but this guy is too weak.¡±

    I was aware that any user or NPC at level 1000 would not appear in Round 1 because there would be no meaning in proceeding with the level 500 only arena quest if that happened.

    However, the NPC that appeared as my opponent was too weak to inflict any damage on me.

    What it meant was clear to me. In other words, I was too strong to proceed with the level 500 only arena quest II.

    ¡°Ice Spear! Multiple Ice Arrow!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    So, I just simply used my single-target skills at this experienced hunter Gali.

    Gali was unable to withstand my attack, and copsed immediately, which triggered a message.

    [You have defeated the experienced hunter Gali.

    -Victories: 1. Winning streak: 1.

    -You are now being moved to the waiting room.]

    I cleared Round 1 easily like that.

    Next, a series of NPCs appeared as my opponents.

    Of course, the result was always the same, namely, my victory.

    But I suddenly became curious.

    ¡°Are NPCs supposed to appear often like this?¡±

    What I heard clearly before was that I would face an equal number of users and NPCs.

    However, NPCs appeared six times in a row, and one did again for the seventh time.

    [Your 7th opponent has been decided.

    -Baldi, a seasoned assassin, has appeared.]

    As soon as the seasoned assassin Baldi showed up, he immediately disappeared from my sight as if he used Blink. Of course, I wasn¡¯t very worried because he would appear in my surroundings at some point, either to my sides or behind my back.

    So, I opened my mouth quietly.

    ¡°Ice Storm!¡±

    I used Ice Storm around me.

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Kueeeeeeeeh¡±

    I heard somebody screaming in pain as if they were hit hard.

    ¡°Oh, so you were there!¡±

    I quickly turned around at his painful screams because I heard it right behind me.

    If it was a monster, it would charge at me without trying to get out of the Ice Storm¡¯s terrain even if it was wounded, but the NPC Baldi was different. Just like how he disappeared from my sight at first, I could see him quickly leaving the Ice Storm¡¯s terrain. It seemed as if he was using Blink almost continuously.

    But I also had Blink.

    ¡°Blink!¡±

    I moved straight behind the assassin Baldi. Then I fired Ice Spear and Multiple Ice Arrows at his back.

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    The assassin Baldi teleported to different ces using Blink twice in a row, but it seemed difficult for him to use it three times in a row because he was finally struck by my attack.

    And that was it.

    [You have defeated the seasoned assassin Baldi.

    -Victories: 7. Winning streak: 7.

    -You are now being moved to the waiting room.]

    Of course, the opponents who appeared in each sessive round gradually became stronger.

    I could confirm it because Baldi could endure Ice Storm to some extent before he left its range.

    But that was all. Anyway, when I was moved to the waiting room again, I opened my mouth quietly.

    ¡°Alright. Come on, guys! Even if my opponent is an NPC, it doesn¡¯t mean that I can¡¯t keep pulling out sessive victories.¡±

    After that, a message about my 8th opponent rang.

    At that time in Japan.

    Sousuke, a college student, essed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ to take advantage of the short break he had before he needed to leave for his part-time job.

    Of course, Sousuke had no intention of hunting because he had stagnated at level 599 for a while. In fact, he was working as a ¡°level 500 professional hunter¡± who preyed on those taking the level 500 only arena quest.

    So, he maintained his level in the 500s so he was not too far ahead of those users who had just reached level 500.

    Of course, he was maintaining level 599, the highest within that level 500 band, to get a little more advantage over them.

    As soon as he entered the arena and chose a free duel, Sousuke hoped to face the person who was proceeding with the level 500 only arena quest at that moment because he stopped leveling up for a reason. Why? The reason he did so was simple. If he beat the person who proceeded with the level 500 arena quest, he would gain 5 times as many victory pointspared to his opponent. So, whenever he met anyone who was proceeding with the arena quest, he relentlessly attacked his opponent to pull off a victory. Moreover, those who proceed with the level 500 only arena quest did not lose their victory points even if they were defeated. In other words, there were gains, but no losses.

    So, Sousuke stopped leveling up at level 599 to collect victory points because there were various items that he could purchase with victory points in the arena.

    Of course, if he encountered an exceptionally strong opponent, he would have to lose some victory points that he tried really hard to collect, but he has not suffered any losses yet.

    But this time, he thought about something else.

    ¡®Well, since there are many new users entering the arena, I can deal with them like before. But there are also more and more professional hunters at level 500, so I am starting to meet less and less guys who are proceeding with the level 500 only arena quest. Sometimes I run into the other hunters unfortunately. Well, let me buy a title as soon as possible and start leveling up again.¡¯

    So, Sousuke confirmed how many more victory points he needed to buy a title, then waited for the one who would proceed with the quest.

    As soon as he confirmed the message that his target appeared, he smiled in satisfaction because the fact that his opponent¡¯s ID was hidden meant that his opponent was proceeding with the level 500 only arena quest.

    And his victory rate was nearly 90% in battles in the arena.

    First of all, their levels differed by 99 levels, and his items weren¡¯t bad. Most importantly, he had bountiful fighting experience in the arena.

 Chapter 143 - Level 500 Arena Quest (3)

    <h4>Chapter 143: Level 500 Arena Quest (3)</h4>

    At the arena waiting room.

    ¡°Um¡­ This time it¡¯s taking a bit longer than before.¡±

    10 seconds? I heard a message within 10 seconds in the previous rounds that my opponent was decided, but this time I had to wait much longer.

    And the message that rang was different from before.

    [Your 8th opponent has been decided.

    -0000 appeared.]

    I immediately realized that my opponent was a user from the message.

    Unlike an NPC who was impossible to negotiate with even if his name was revealed, I could make apromise with a user even if I could notmunicate with him.

    So, in addition to not being able to converse, our IDs were also kept secret.

    Anyway, I soon left the waiting room and moved to the arena.

    I encountered the user and immediately used my skills.

    Honestly, even if I could converse with him, I didn¡¯t have to make anypromise because he was destined to be a loser anyway.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasak!

    Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

    In the previous rounds, the NPCs immediately tried to attack me when they appeared because they knew the first strike was the most potent and threatening.

    However, the user who showed up just examined me, which let me create a battlefield favorable to me. The battlefield favorable to me meant the worst battlefield for the opponent.

    Soon Iunched my most powerful attack against him.

    ¡°Ice Storm!¡±

    Puck! Puck Puck!

    My opponent copsed immediately.

    ¡°Well, I would rather have an NPC as my opponent.¡±

    Faced with thebination of Ice Field and Ice Storm, the unknown user copsed helplessly.

    I could not help but click my tongue at my opponent¡¯s miserable state.

    Compared to an NPC who would leave my striking range or the monsters that charged at me despite receiving severe damage, the unknown user¡¯s miserable action was really disappointing.

    Anyway, a message rang to announce my victory.

    [You have killed 0000.

    -Victories: 8. Winning streak: 8.

    -You are now being moved to the waiting room.]

    Japan.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    After being thrown out of the arena where he was defeated instantly, Sousuke was still in shock, not knowing what happened.

    His opponent killed him in only two attacks. He had never had such an experience.

    Moreover, the fact that his victory points were not reduced despite his private ID confirmed that his opponent was level 500.

    ¡°Who the hell is he? How could he do that? He was certainly level 500.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t figure out who his opponent was because the level 500 only quest, just like the level 100 only quest and the level 300 only quest, didn¡¯t proceed in any particr region. In other words, it was highly likely that his opponent was not a Japanese user.

    Anyway, Susuke gave up on fighting further because it was clear he would never beat his opponent. And Sousuke wasn¡¯t the only one who experienced this.

    Even some of those who had been working as ¡°level 500 professional hunters¡± in America, China and Russia after stopping leveling up at level 599 also made dumbfounded expressions like Sousuke.

    At Ferrero Castle¡¯s arena.

    ¡°Ice Storm! Pouring Hail!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Patter-pitter! Patter-pitter!

    My opponent fell helplessly before my attack.

    My opponents copsed even before they tried to challenge me, regardless of whether they were users or NPCs.

    Of course I expected such an oue because it was just impossible for me to get into a crisis given my status window and items.

    Furthermore, this quest was a level 500 only quest, and my opponents were around that level.

    So, the number of my victories and consecutive victories were the same, which meant that I won all the rounds until now.

    [ You have killed 000.

    -Victories: 20. Winning streak: 20.

    -You are being moved to the waiting room.]

    The waiting room soon came into my view.

    Then, a different message rang this time.

    [You have achieved 20 consecutive victories in 20 rounds.

    -ordingly, you will be given an opportunity to face a high level opponent, and if you win, you will receive better rewards.

    -Do you wish to take the challenge?]

    I smiled at that message because I was waiting for this.

    So, I opened my mouth right away.

    ¡°I ept this challenge!¡±

    And as soon as I said that, a new message about my new opponent rang.

    [Your 21st opponent has been decided.

    -Pn Knights Captain Mowgli has appeared. ]

    Soon, an NPC who wasrger than any other NPC I had met until now in the arena appeared.

    Raising his huge two-handed sword, the NPC ran toward me.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Since I already knew that all I had to do was use my skills regardless of who my opponent was, I spread Ice Field first, then used it to power up my Ice Storm and Pouring Haill.

    My opponent was a melee attacker using a two-handed sword, so he had to get close to me to inflict any damage.

    As his title Knights Captain suggested, Mowgli endured my attacks well. He even broke through my attacks and counter attacked me.

    However, the two-handed sword swung by Mowgli only cut the space where I was a split second before.

    Honestly, I could probably let his attack hit me, but I had Blink for this purpose.

    After moving behind his back, I attacked with Ice Rain and Ice Spear endlessly.

    Even though the message warned about the appearance of a strong opponent, he could not contend against me at all.

    Thud!

    The giant NPC copsed to the side.

    At that moment, a message rang.

    [You have defeated Captain Mowgli of the Pn Knights.

    -Victories: 21. Winning streak: 21.

    -You are being moved to the waiting room.]

    So, starting with defeating Pyran Knights Captain Mowgli, I continued to umte consecutive victories. Of course, sometimes stronger users appeared, instead of NPCs, but they all had embarrassed expressions on their faces.

    Of course, I fully understood why they made such expressions because they knew I was just a level 500 user proceeding with the level 500 only arena quest since my ID was private. But they died without being able to attack me even once.

    Anyway, a message rang once again when I achieved 30 consecutive victories despite the message after 20 consecutive victories warning me about the emergence of stronger opponents.

    ording to the message, I was given the opportunity to face a stronger opponent, and it asked if I would take up the challenge. Of course, I chose to take the challenge.

    Of course, I thought that there would be a big fuss over my decision to take the challenge.

    Since my ID Asirante was already widely known, I thought I didn¡¯t have to hide it anymore.

    Rather, I chose to do my best to get the reward.

    While Juyoung Hong, or Asirante was challenging Round 40, in which appeared opponents far stronger than the previous ones, rumors about him began to spread widely. The gist of the rumors was that he was too strong for someone who was just level 500. Of course, there were quite a few people who knew that the guy was Asirante.

    When the country called Korea, which they had never thought of, won first ce in the 4th Anniversary event, everybody started to conduct an investigation of my background. They used some money in the process, and obtained Memory Beads without any difficulty.

    In general, they showed two types of reactions.

    Some argued they didn¡¯t have to lose face by confronting me, while others made the case for confronting me to size up my strength.

    Of course, there was no guarantee that they would encounter Asirante in the arena.

    Anyway, with everybody focusing on the arena, the level 500 arena quest continued.

    Ferrero Castle¡¯s arena.

    [You have gotten rid of 00.

    -Victories: 49. Winning streak: 49.

    -You are now being moved to the waiting room.]

    ¡°Oh my God! I can¡¯t believe this!¡±

    Of course, I won again without any big difficulty.

    My opponent was stronger than I thought. In particr, he had a peculiar ability which was way beyond his level, namely, damage immunity.

    My opponent did not move while he was immune to damage. Or perhaps he could not move.

    Moreover, he could not use it indefinitely. But hisbat sense was amazing.

    He used his damage immunity skill only briefly when needed, then disappeared before reappearing to attack me.

    But he could not be my rival, of course.

    ¡°It¡¯s no good in the end because he cannot harm me no matter what. By the way, is this thest round?¡±

    The level 500 only arena quest ended exactly in Round 50.

    Of course, if the winning rate was low, the quest ended in Rounds 10, 20, 30 and 40.

    But that didn¡¯t apply to me at all since I achieved 49 consecutive victories all the way to Round 49.

    It was now the final round for me.

    ¡°By the way, why is it taking so long for the next message to ring?¡±

    A message about my next opponent didn¡¯t ring for one minute.

    But I wasn¡¯t impatient because I was confident of winning against any opponent.

    Finally, a message about my next opponent rang.

    [Your 50th opponent has been decided.

    -Lumen, Asirante has appeared.]

    ¡°?¡±

    I could not help but be embarrassed at the message.

    Honestly, I was astonished because I was Lumen, Asirante.

 Chapter 144 - Lumen, Asirante (1)

    <h4>Chapter 144: Lumen, Asirante (1)</h4>

    I¡¯ve never thought about it. Fighting against myself?

    Of course, I¡¯ve often been told that I have to win against myself.

    That¡¯s what they mention in real life. But that doesn¡¯t mean that one must fight against themselves physically. It refers to things such as one¡¯s New Year¡¯s resolution, or some imaginary fight rted to one¡¯s will, for example, determination to ovee one¡¯sziness, greed or desire that has always stood in the way of their sess.

    But this is an arena where I have fought a total of 49 users or NPCs until now and beaten them all. In other words, it¡¯s a real, not imaginary, fight.

    Of course, it was a quest anyway, so all I had to do was beat my opponent regardless of who they were. But what if my opponent is me?

    At that moment, my body trembled because I was fully aware of my strength.

    It would be most stupid for someone to not realise their own strength.

    In short, I¡¯m extremely strong. So much so that others might think me arrogant or conceited even if I slightly wave at them.

    But the problem was I was supposed to fight against myself one on one in Round 50.

    At that moment, I could not help but feel dizzy because I had never imagined an enemy as strong as myself, and I never expected that I myself would appear as my own enemy.

    However, as if I didn¡¯t care about my disturbed mind, I left the waiting room before being sucked into the arena like before.

    Inside the arena.

    It was as if I was looking at myself in a mirror. However, I could review my surprise or embarrassment here by viewing the Memory Bead recordingter, so I started attacking immediately.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasa Sasak!

    Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

    Based on my experiences of fighting 49 users and NPCs up until now, I realized that an NPC fought much better than an inexperienced user.

    First of all, NPCs did everything they could in battle.

    Unlike the users, they were not even embarrassed, nor did they get cold feet at the huge gap in power.

    So, I quicklyid the Ice Field and Multiple Thin Ice before Lumen, Asirante appeared in the form of my enemy NPC. But I had no choice but to swear right away because Lumen, Asirante, my replica, would also be buffed by the icy terrain.

    Of course, since I used the Ice Field, It should inflict some damage on my replica.

    But Lumen, Asirante, my NPC opponent just stood there nkly.

    ¡®Damn it! Isn¡¯t Iceman a scam?¡¯

    My Iceman trait provided an option of perfect immunity against frostbite.

    I¡¯ve made good use of it until now because reducing the enemy¡¯s movement speed meant that I, heavily armed with AOE attacks, was in a favorable position to defeat the enemy easily.

    That¡¯s why I have kept my passive frostbite skill.

    But my enemy Lumen, Asirante, waspletely immune to frostbite. Besides, in addition to increasing the power of all ice-type skills, ¡°Icemman¡± also had such a good option that reduced damage from opposing ice-type skills by 30%.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I¡¯ve taken things like that for granted rather than treating them as something special.

    When I was faced with them from the other side, I immediately thought this was a scam.

    I even felt sorry for the numerous enemies I faced because they must have felt the same as what I was feeling right now.

    I especially could not forget Soktae Kang, the former leader of the Gahwa Guild, who died venting extreme anger and frustration while shouting, ¡®Damn unbnced game! I¡¯ll never y it again.!¡¯

    [Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!]

    Of course, my enemy NPC replica Lumen, Asirante didn¡¯t sit idle in the face of my attack.

    Like me, he alsoid down the same Ice Field and Multiple Thin Ice.

    But I didn¡¯t use the same skills like him this time because I had the skills that he possessed, or his skills were originally mine.

    Anyway, without moving one step from the ce I was, Iunched a series of attacks against him, starting with AOE skills because they had a long cooldown.

    ¡°Ice Storm! Ice Rain!¡±

    Whuynnnnnnnng!

    When I used two AOE skills at the same time, a tremendous snow storm urred.

    But my attack fell t because he used an indispensable skill of mine, Blink with zero cooldown.

    [Blink! Blink!]

    As if he has been using it all the time, Lumen, Asirante used it against me naturally.

    Honestly, I felt rather frustrated by his Blink.

    So, I swore before I knew it, ¡°Damn it! That¡¯s the skill I won by pushing myself so far!¡±

    Of course, I didn¡¯t go through so many hardships to obtain it. In fact, there were a total of 14 active skills in my skill window right before Blink was chosen and the skill to have its cooldown removed.

    And there were some skills like Ice Ball and Ice Bolt that had a very short cooldown. Anyway, at that time I had to go through a tremendous mental distress because if something like Ice Ball or Ice Bolt was selected to have its cooldown removed, it would have been a huge loss for me.

    So, when Lumen, Asirante used Blink, which I spent numerous efforts to obtain, and which became my trademark, I could not help but feel upset.

    [Ice Ball! Ice Bolt!]

    Anyway, my enemy Lumen, Asirante escaped my AOE skills using Blink with zero cooldown.

    Then he immediately used the lowest level skills on me.

    Of course, I could endure such an attack without avoiding it because it was a low rank skill.

    Moreover, I also haveplete immunity to frostbite.

    However, as I felt a bit upset and frustrated, I immediately dodged using Blink.

    Then I immediately used a different AOE skill, Pouring Hail, on my replica.

    But, as expected, he escaped from Pouring Hail¡¯s range using Blink.

    ¡°Son of a bitch!¡±

    At that moment, I hurled abuses again because I thought his action was mean and nasty.

    I even felt it ridiculous that he would continue to fight me like this.

    I have yed various games so far, but this was the first time I had seen the bnce of the game messed up. So, I wanted to find this game¡¯s administrator and pick a fight with him.

    I wanted to argue with him over the validity of this game.

    Of course, I tried to calm down as much as I could.

    Excitement sometimes served as the source of victory, but most of the time it ended up being the source of defeat. But I could hardly calm down because of the fact that my victory was just around the corner.

    I didn¡¯t want to copse here when victory was within my reach.

    Moreover, if I was defeated here, I would feel really bad, being gloomy over the fact I lost to myself.

    So, I desperately did my best to beat my enemy, who was myself.

    While Juyoung Hong was busy fighting against himself, his father and Director Sok held a meeting in the Myongjin Group chairman¡¯s office.

    Director Insu Sok said to Chairman Sangman Hong, ¡°Currently, people are paying a lot of attention to Juyoung, or Asirante.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ Eventually, the pointed awl that you try to hide in your pocket will pierce through anyway. Moreover, no one expected that Korea would win first ce in the 4th Anniversary event.¡±

    Chairman Hong never thought that he would worry about this kind of stuff because of his smart son. But it was fact that his son was way too smart. So much so that even if he stayed put, there would still be endless rumors about him because of his ID Asirante.

    And some of the rumors were quite dangerous.

    Of course, Chairman Hong could understand why. Honestly, Chairman Hong would also think of doing something inhumane to Asirante if it were not his son in order to make him his subordinate.

    ¡°How about protecting Juyoung from any harm?¡± asked Chaiman Hong.

    ¡°We¡¯re maintaining tight security around him,¡± replied Director Sok immediately.

    ¡°Good. Keep protecting him like before. Any sudden overprotection can invite others¡¯ suspicion.¡±

    ¡°Got it, sir!¡±

    As usual, the chairman wrapped up the day¡¯s work with some concern about his son¡¯s safety who had be an excellent man like histe father and his predecessor predicted.

    At Ferrero Castle¡¯s arena.

    Pop! Pop! Bang! Bang!

    The duels in the arena didn¡¯tst all day long. There was a set time by which the fight was dered as a draw if it had not concluded by then, regardless of who had more health remaining. And a draw was not included in the winning streak. It just didn¡¯t count toward defeat.

    So, I persistently attacked my NPC enemy.

    Although it was only a one win difference, there was a big difference between 49 and 50 consecutive wins than one might think.

    Fortunately, something good came out of this. Unlike the first time my enemy NPC replica Lumen, Asirante, used Blink constantly to stay on the defensive, he began to attack me aggressively as if he did not want a draw.

    He attacked me more frequently, and whenever he did, I could not help but be surprised because it hurt.

 Chapter 145 - Lumen, Asirante (2)

    <h4>Chapter 145: Lumen, Asirante (2)</h4>

    I didn¡¯t feel it that much when my replica used Ice Field which was more a movement debuff skill than a damage skill, but when I was hit directly, it really hurt even when taking into ount my 30% reduction in damage of ice-type skills.

    As a result, my health decreased drastically.

    At that moment, I could understand the screams and shouts of pain of the enemies as they died from my attack. Given that even I was feeling this much pain, they must have felt a lot more pain that they definitely would not want to go through again.

    Of course, my enemy replica and I fought differently.

    I first used my AOE skill with a rtively long cooldown while my enemy NPC replica used simple skills such as the Ice Ball or Ice Bolt.

    If wepared it to boxing, I aimed at knocking out my opponent with a heavy hook, while my enemy ate up my stamina little by little with repetitive jabs.

    Although we shared the same status window, the same skills, and almost the same items, our fighting styles were clearly different.

    Of course, I couldn¡¯t definitely say which one was better, for it was basically a difference in our fighting preferences.

    But there was one thing that I clearly admitted.

    ¡®Damn it! He¡¯s fighting better than me!¡¯

    I admit that Icked precise control.

    That is why I don¡¯t prefer an upation orbat type that focuses on agility, for even if I had high agility I would not bepetent enough to use it properly.

    That¡¯s why I don¡¯t like melee attacks that require instant judgment and quick reactions,pared to ranged attacks that give me more time to n out my actions.

    In other words, I know my level very well.

    Of course, I was envious of my enemy. Obviously, I did my best, but the way my enemy attacked me with unexpected skills I didn¡¯t expect at all made me click my tongue, uttering, ¡®How can you attack me like this right now?¡¯

    Obviously, he was far ahead of me in terms ofbat sense.

    So, did I try to copy him? No, I didn¡¯t. I was aware of the wisdom of the old saying, ¡°If a crow tries to walk like a stork, he will break his legs.¡±

    So, I did my best to the extent that I could.

    Just like I had done in all my previous battles, I blocked most of my enemy¡¯s attacks using my body, and used Blink with zero cooldown in a timely manner to aim at him who was harassing me with light jabs.

    As for AOE skills, I used them in a way that did not ovep with my enemy¡¯s skills as much as possible because there was no way ofpletely avoiding damage in this arena until there was a clear winner.

    So, I clearly admitted myck of controlpared to my enemy and fought while sticking to my style as much as possible.

    Of course, I was ready to ept it if I won or lost because of my fighting style.

    But I had a reason to believe that I could defeat him.

    I didn¡¯t sit idle without doing anything when I saw the message announcing that my 50th opponent was Lumen, Asirante.

    [+3 Brave Warrior¡¯s Bracelet (Legendary)

    -This bracelet contains the spirit of a warrior who charges forward bravely in all battles without retreating.

    : Increases stamina by 250.

    : Increases agility by 250.

    : Increasesbat power by 10% in the arena.

    -Physical defense: increases by 450, Magic defense: increases by 200.

    -Durability: 1655000/1655000]

    The Brave Warrior¡¯s bracelet increased mybat power by 10% in the arena, which was a big factor in my previous 49 consecutive victories.

    While I was being moved to the arena from the waiting room, I removed it from my wrist.

    It took me only 0.1 seconds to do it.

    I only managed to remove this item because it was the item that came to my mind instantly before I could think of other items. Of course, there was no guarantee that the Lumen, Asirante, who would appear in the arena would be affected by me removing the bracelet.

    Maybe it was toote, but that was all I could do at that moment.

    ¡°Okay! You son of a bitch! Let¡¯s see who wins this time!¡±

    After all, the other party, Lumen, Asirante, was me.

    In the end, I was cursing myself, but I spat out some more swear words and charged at Lumen, Asirante, who was better at using his skills than me.

    An hour and a halfter I discovered that no one told me about the fact that the final round of the level 500 arena quest would continue until there emerged the winner.

    And after nearly two hours of fierce fighting, our fighting was finally over.

    [You have defeated Lumen, Asirante.

    -Victores: 50. Winning streak: 50.

    -You are being moved to the waiting room.]

    I won, after all. And I felt keenly that I used my capabilities as best I could.

    I felt very proud that I took the timely action to remove the bracelet after thinking of it right before my fight, for that was the reason I won decisively.

    I removed the bracelet before moving to the arena, then equipped it again after arriving at the arena. As a result, I was stronger than him by 10%, and that helped me defeat my enemy who had better control than me.

    Of course, I still barely won, so I could not afford to rejoice at the victory.

    ¡°That was really terrible. I don¡¯t want to deal with him again.¡±

    It was a little weird for me to say, but it made me feel a bit terrible to think about my enemy, namely myself. Anyway, a message finally rang while I shuddered once again.

    [Congrattions!

    -You have fought a total of 50 opponents in the level 500 only arena quest.

    -Victories: 50, Winning streak: 50.

    -By agreeing to fight a stronger opponent after winning 20, 30, and 40 times, the grade of your reward increases.

    ¨C By achieving the great record of 50 consecutive wins, the grade of your reward increases.]

    I was all smiles at the message that the grade of my reward would be increased.

    [The final grade of your performance is being calcted.

    -When the calction is finished, you will be given a reward.]

    I wasn¡¯t bothered by the message that requested me to wait a bit because it meant that the record I achieved would be better than I thought.

    At that moment a message rang telling me there were three possible rewards just like I received in the level 300 only arena quest.

    But I tilted my head at one of the three rewards because it had something that I had never thought of.

    Of course, I wished my reward would be a zero cooldown skill like I received in the level 300 only arena quest.

    Besides, there was now that another reward like that could not appear in the level 500 arena quest again. The zero cooldown tied to the level 300 arena quest was too wasteful to be consumed only once and discarded.

    So, even if low level skills such as Ice Ball or Ice Bolt were selected to have their cooldown removed I wanted to try my luck again.

    [Congrattions on achieving the highest record for the level 500 only arena quest.

    -By choosing the highest difficulty level in Rounds 20, 30, 40 and achieving 50 consecutive wins, you will receive a much better reward.

    -One of the three rewards below will be given.

    -Reward No. 1.

    : Obtain 7 million victory points that can be used in the arena. (Victory points can be exchanged for various items at the exchange located within the arena.)]

    I nodded at the effect of Reward No. 1, for this was an arena, and I fought users or NPCs in every round instead of strong monsters.

    So it wasn¡¯t strange at all to me that victory points showed up as one of the rewards.

    Of course, I was not sure how big 7 million victory points were.

    During the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Closed Betas, I knew victory points existed in the arena, but I didn¡¯t care at all. Even when I started ying ¡®Revival Legend,¡¯ I didn¡¯t pay any attention to it, either. But I guessed it would be a lot because the grade of my reward was increased twice.

    ¡®I hear that they are selling titles with the victory points.¡¯

    I was aware that they sold not only titles but also pretty useful items.

    Although I didn¡¯t use the arena, I heard all the rumors about what was going on in the arena.

    But I shook my head because I was now almost the only shining star unlike in the past when I was just one of the numerous users. So, I am also thinking of using the arena now.

    I could only obtain a small number of victory points if I won the battles for the low level I was at right now. In other words, it was more advantageous to level up before using the arena than arduously struggling to win many low-level battles right now.

    That¡¯s why I haven¡¯t even looked at the arena until now because I had barely enough time to level up as is, and it was more effective for me to use the arena by leveling upter.

    In other words, considering all these factors, Reward No. 1 was not that attractive to me.

    I felt I could obtain Reward No. 1 with my own efforts, although it would take me a bit longer to do so. So, I turned my attention to Reward No. 2.

 Chapter 146 - Preview

    <h4>Chapter 146: Preview</h4>

    [Reward No. 2.

    -You will receive 2000 remaining stat points.]

    Stat points were a ssic reward along with golden rings. So, I naturally expected that it would be an option this time too.

    Moreover, 2000 stats points is certainly a huge amount.

    However, the level 300 only quest also gave 2000 stat points as a reward.

    Of course, there was no guarantee that the level 500 only quest should offer a more valuable reward than the level 300 only quest, but I felt disappointed that the rewards of the two quests were the same.

    ¡®Wait a minute. Am I wrong?¡¯

    At the moment, I was reminded that this reward granted ¡®remaining¡¯ stat points.

    The level 300 only quest reward option allocated 2000 stat points randomly to one of strength, agility, stamina, willpower or intellect.

    In other words, I could not select which stat would receive the 2000 stat points. If stmaine was randomly selected, my reward would be basically nothing because my stamina was still high and would continue to increase in the future.

    So, at that time, I wasn¡¯t very pleased with the reward that would give me the huge amount of 2000 stat points. But these are remaining stat points.

    In other words, it meant that I could invest 2000 in the stat I wanted. For example, if I invested it in Intellect, my Stamina would increase by 2000 and my Willpower by 1000 thanks to my Mutual Growth trait. In other words, the 2000 stat reward would jump up to 5000.

    I certainly liked Reward No. 2 because I could do something by my choice without relying on luck and probability.

    However, I turned my attention to Reward No. 3 because one of the three rewards would be randomly selected for me likest time.

    At first it was difficult for me to understand what this Reward No. 3 meant.

    [Reward No. 3

    -It is possible to preview the privileges of level 1200.]

    ¡°Privileges of level 1200? Does this preview mean it¡¯s just telling me what it¡¯s all about? Or does it mean I can enjoy the privileges of level 1200 when I¡¯m level 500?¡±

    Judging by the wording at first nce , it could mean that I could only peek into it.

    But preview sometimes means something like experiencing it first.

    Of course, I had to pay a certain price for essing the preview.

    Anyway, I made my conclusion immediately.

    ¡°This is garbage. Garbage!¡±

    Level 1200? Yeah, it¡¯s very high levelpared to me who was just level 500.

    However, it is a level that I can reach someday.

    So, I thought I didn¡¯t have to know it or experience it in advance because I would be able to automatically check it out someday.

    Then I thought that Reward No. 3 was not as good as Reward No. 1, namely the 7 million victory points, because Reward No. 1 required a certain amount of time andbor other than leveling up while Reward No. 3 just required leveling up.

    ¡°Hummm¡­why is the level 500 quest rewards not better than the level 300 quest rewards?¡±

    For the level 300 only quest, aside from stat points, other reward options included an option for skill cooldown removal and an increase in EXP gains.

    No matter what, they looked much better than 7 million victory points or previewing the privileges of level 1200.

    ¡°So, Reward No. 2 should be my choice?¡±

    Except for Reward No. 2 with 2000 remaining stat points, I came to the conclusion that Reward No. 1 was only 50% good, and Reward No. 3 was minus 50%, not zero.

    At that moment, a message rang.

    [As the reward for clearing the level 500 only quest with the highest record, you are given one of Reward No. 1, Reward No. 2 and Reward No. 3.]

    This time I found myselfining that I would be given only one reward and not all three given the value of my record.

    However, as if it didn¡¯t care about my grumbling at all, a huge roulette board with Reward No. 1, Reward No. 2, and Reward No. 3 appeared and started spinning right away.

    ¡°Reward No.2! Please Reward No. 2!¡±

    I kept my fingers crossed that I would receive 2000 remaining stat points.

    I felt I would be satisfied with this reward for now because I could obtain the other rewards with timeter as long as I put in the effort. So, I didn¡¯t regard Reward No. 1 and No. 3 as a reward at all.

    Anyway, the roulette board started to slow down and stopped at a distance of about 0.1 centimeters from the other number slot.

    Immediately after it stopped, a message rang.

    [Congrattions! You have been given Reward No. 3.

    -You can preview the privileges of level 1200 after confirming them first]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    This was the worst reward; the worst of the worst

    I would have rather received Reward No. 1 instead. Of course, Reward No. 1 was the next best.

    No, even Reward No. 1 was as useless as Reward No. 3.

    So, Reward No. 2 was the only one that I could ept.

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    I felt so frustrated at the reward that I could not help but curse.

    After that, I just looked at the message stating that I could check the privileges of level 1200.

    The message was shining as if to ask me to confirm it.

    But I was preupied with some other thoughts at that moment.

    ¡°Are they trying to match my level to my true power because I achieved something fantastic in the level 300 only quest?¡±

    With the 4th Anniversary event around the corner, people even concluded that ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ had no administrator, but I had even been penalized by the administrator.

    When I activated God of Enhancement, and paid the required EXP causing my level to drop, my stat points did not decrease that much.

    I was notpletely sure of the reason, but it looked like the error was made because of Mutual Growth.

    So, while I was trying my best to level down a lot more, I was given the title ¡®The Man Who Does not Fall.¡¯ It was the moment when I confirmed that there was an Administrator or somebody with a simr role for this game.

    Anyway, Blink with zero cooldown was enormous enough to make me recall such a penalty.

    This was especially the case with the quest of the Salimaru Bandits.

    I also thought I felt it clearly while hunting in the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat this time.

    However, I had to admit that I underestimated the power of Blink with zero cooldown while fighting against Lumen, Asirante, who appeared as my enemy in Round 50 of the level 500 only quest.

    I didn¡¯t realise how broken it was when I used it, but when the enemy used it, I could not help but swear. I really had no choice but to think it was a scam. So, I kept hurling abuses whileining about the unbnced game, and even now I thought that I was being penalized because of myints.

    Tap! Tap!

    I tapped my mouth with my hand gently because I felt my frivolous words ruined everything.

    ¡°Whew! Let me think I¡¯m cutting a little ck.¡±

    Although I was frustrated and even upset, I put up with it as much as I could because the reward had already been decided and nothing would change even if I smacked my lips.

    At that moment, a message rang announcing not a dramatic turnaround in my situation but the end of the quest.

    [You are given 10,000 coins as a reward for achieving the great record of 50 consecutive victories in the level 500 only arena quest II.]

    [After 10 seconds, you will be forcibly moved out of the arena.]

    I obtained 30,000 coins by clearing Round 80 in the level 500 only arena quest. But it was only 10,000 this time.

    ¡°Gosh, it really seems that quests of a higher level don¡¯t necessarily give better rewards.¡±

    Although I reached the highest round in the level 300 arena quest and achieved 50 consecutive wins this time, the reward I received was obviously not better.

    Anyway, all I got was 10,000 coins, so I immediately logged out as soon as I was moved out of the arena without even checking out the privileges of level 1200.

    What about the hunting I had in mind as soon as the level 500 only quest was over?

    Honestly, I was too much disturbed at the moment to resume hunting right away.

    So, I logged out and took a break.

    A few hourster I changed my mind.

    ¡°Alright. Let me get back to hunting. Honestly, I¡¯ve had my fair share of luck to stay gloomy simply because of this bullshit reward this time. And there are certainly many quests I have to clear in the future.¡±

    What¡¯s certain was that I had more opportunities to encounter quests than anyone else.

    Different from other games, ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ gave the strong more opportunities that the weak as far as quests were concerned.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t even confirmed the privileges of level 1200 because I will know it anyway when I reach that level!¡±

    At that moment, my cell phone rang when I was about to ess¡±Revival Legend¡± again.

    The Caller ID showed my sister¡¯s name.

    I picked up the phone right away.

    ¡°Hey, sis, what¡¯s up?¡±

    ¡°Come home tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Tomorrow? I¡¯m not supposed toe home tomorrow.¡±

    Today was Wednesday, so I was not supposed to go home tomorrow.

    ¡°I know, but I received an offer of marriage from somebody.¡±

    ¡°Offer of marriage?¡± I asked because I was a little embarrassed by her unexpected words.

    A marriage proposal may not be the most important thing in life, but it was certainly one of the few really important things.

    She clearly answered my question, ¡°Yes!¡±

 Chapter 147 - Actualization of Reality (1)

    <h4>Chapter 147: Actualization of Reality (1)</h4>

    ¡°Confirm the privilege of level 1200.¡±

    Despite the unexpected news from my sister that my elder brother received a marriage offer, I immediately essed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ because I had to fully take advantage of the 50% increased EXP period that I received as a reward for winning the 4th Anniversary event.

    But before I moved to the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat, I first confirmed the privilege of level 1200 I received as a reward for the level 500 only quest because I needed to know what it was even though it might just be useless.

    [Congrattions. Due to the great achievements you made in the level 500 only quest, you have acquired ¡®Level 1200 Privilege, Actualization of Reality¡¯.

    -The privilege of actualizing the potential of ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ can only be obtained by the man who has achieved at least level 1200, but Lumen, Asirante can actualize it starting from level 500.

    However, the following conditions are required for actualization.

    -By using coins, you can permanently actualize the abilities within ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    : From 0% to 10%, 1,000 coins are required for 1% actualization.

    : From 11% to 20%, 2,000 coins are required for 1% actualization.

    : From 21% to 30%, 3,000 coins are required for 1% actualization.

    :

    :]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Of course, I heard from my dad that Vten, thepany that had the original technology for 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation virtual reality, disappeared instantly as if it had evaporated, and that the 4th virtual reality would ur in reality.

    And I took my father¡¯s words at face value without any doubt, for I had experienced something during the Closed Beta which was held under the name of ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ prior to ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    Moreover, there was a clear reason why Mirae, Myongjin, Daesung, Kusan, and Daeyu threw themselves into ¡®Revival Legend¡¯. Even China¡¯s Yanghwa Group, one of the top business conglomerates in China, was also obsessed with Revival Legend to the point that they offered me as many as 10 billion golden rings with a tremendous value in the real world to hire me.

    However, no matter how much you know about something in your head, it is very difficult to ept it directly without any doubt without confirming it yourself.

    ¡°Check inventory.¡±

    I opened my inventory first since I could not afford to stay embarrassed.

    No matter how often I heard that coins were really valuable, I was not impressed because I gained coins easily so often. So, I just knew that I had quite a few in my inventory but I was unsure of the exact number.

    But I could clearly confirm the coins that were strangely twinkling among the several other items in my inventory unlike in the past.

    [Coins: 99000.01]

    In addition to the level 1200 privilege that I received from the level 500 only quest, there were a total of 99,000 and 0.01 coins, including the 10, 000 coins I received as a reward for the level 500 only quest.

    Of course, there was something I found really regrettable.

    Unfortunately, there was no increase in the coins after 0.01.

    Anyway, leaving behind my regret, I immediately began to calcte how many percentage points I could get to actualize the potential of Revival Legend with 99,000 coins.

    But I had no idea.

    ¡°Well, I have to test the coins first to figure it out correctly.¡±

    Since the number required changed for every 10%, I badly needed a calctor.

    However, I had to use the coins at least once for a test, so I immediately shouted amand to use the coins. I didn¡¯t have to worry about coins because I had simply too many.

    Anyway, as soon as I shouted, a new message rang.

    [You have the privilege of level 1200, ¡®actualization of reality¡¯.

    -Currently, Lumen, Asirante¡¯s actualization rate is 0%.

    -Up to 10% actualization, 1000 coins are required for each 1% actualization.]

    Along with the message, a line with numbers from 0-10 along it appeared before my eyes.

    Of course, the line started from 0.

    So, I chose the number 1.

    [You have chosen to actualize 1%.

    -You currently have more than 1000 coins.

    -You have actualized 1% of the abilities of ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.]

    With that message, I felt a bright light leaking out of my body.

    But that was all.

    Turning and looking around me, I couldn¡¯t feel any change in my body.

    Then another message rang.

    [This is Lumen, Asirante¡¯s rate of actualization.

    -1/100.

    -Coins are required for a higher rate of actualization.]

    I did not feel any change at all, but the message clearly said that my coins have been debited.

    Moreover, in my inventory, the number of coins decreased from 99000.01 to 98000.01.

    ¡°Log out.¡±

    I first logged out, thinking that I had to log out first in order to experience the change in the real world.

    After logging out, I was lost in thought for a moment.

    To be honest, no matter how well I describe myself, there is one title that can best describe me right now. I¡¯m a game addict.

    I know that ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ is not simply a game, but something that is worth devoting my future to. Of course, this deserves praise, but for now I could describe myself as a game addict.

    Of course, my father, mother, elder brother and sister, not to mention Director Sok, advised me to exercise and not just y games, so I made it a rule to take a walk every now and then. But I could not say it was a proper exercise. Honestly, I could not be called healthy because ofck of exercise.

    So I could clearly feel the drastic difference that only 1% made.

    Of course, considering my stamina and health in the game, even 1% would show tremendous power.

    While I was thinking about it, a question passed through my head.

    ¡°Am I smarter now?¡±

    My stamina stat was tremendously high, but there was something higher than that ¨C my Intellect.

    So, I went straight to the desk and took out a book.

    It was Adam Smith¡¯s economics book, The Wealth of Nations, which made me join the army during my freshman year in college.

    A littleter, I asked myself, ¡°What the heck? Aren¡¯t I just the same?¡±

    Of course, if somebody read a book and immediately recalled the contents of the book, they might be good at memorizing, not smart or wise. But nothing else clearly revealed one¡¯s brilliance as much as their memory.

    So, I thought that my intellect might have an effect on my memory. But there was no change in my memory from before, let alone myprehension ability.

    So, I put down the thick economics booko, opened the window, and reached out to the outside while opening my mouth. Honestly, I was way more curious about this.

    ¡°Ice Ball.¡±

    [¡­]

    Nothing unusual happened, but something caught my eye immediately. It was a message that rang even though I was not currently logged into ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    [Since your actualization rate is low, you can¡¯t use your skill.]

    It was a message that I could not use my skills because of my low actualization rate.

    In the end, it means that I need to raise my actualization rate to imagine. I imagined a scene in my mind at that moment, namely, the scenes of social order andws being upturned by people like heroes or superpowers on earth.

    Moreover, I came to think about the question.

    ¡°Could it be that I will never die?¡±

    Death in ¡®Revival Legend¡¯?

    Of course, it is not real death.

    After 24 hours, I will be resurrected with a slight loss of EXP.

    And if even that can be actualized, what it meant was clear.

    In other words, immortality.

    ¡°Oh my God¡­¡±

    At that moment, I cleared my throat before I knew it.

    In other words, it would be over-simplistic to exin all these things by saying that the 4th virtual reality would be realized in reality.

 Chapter 148 - Actualization of Reality (2)

    <h4>Chapter 148: Actualization of Reality (2)</h4>

    So, I quickly got up and prepared to head to my house in Cheongdam-dong.

    The matter was too grave for me to keep to myself.

    Moreover, even if there are not many at this point, there are certainly a few users who have achieved level 1200. However, the fact that they are so quiet means that those guys who have reached level 1200 belong to giant guilds or powerful groups interested in the game. Obviously, it seemed that they wanted to hide it from others as much as possible as if they were waiting for the day of great chaos.

    So, I went outside my studio dressed roughly, then called my sister right away.

    Since I talked with her just a little while back, she answered my phone right away.

    ¡°What¡¯s up, brother?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ming home now. Everybody is in the house now, right? Dad, too?¡±

    ¡°Right now? Yeah, all of them are here, but juste tomorrow. It¡¯s your elder brother, not me, who received the marriage offer.¡±

    My elder brother, 35, was 10 years older than me.

    Although men tend to get marriedte these days, it¡¯s high time my elder brother got married.

    In fact, he received a marriage offer in his early 30s, too, but he put off marriage because he had to devote all his time and energy on ¡°Revival Legend¡± after the Myongjin Group heard all the rumors about it. In the end, he kept putting off his marriage because of the game.

    ¡°I know, but I¡¯ve got something very important to discuss with Dad.¡±

    Since I decided to be careful when I called or messaged someone, I just generally described my situation like that.

    However, what I said to her implied urgency, and she immediately noticed it.

    She answered immediately over the phone, ¡°Okay, let me tell Dad about it. Don¡¯t rush! Take your time. Got it?¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    Although I was anxious to tip her off in advance, I hung up the phone for now.

    At my house in Cheongdam-dong.

    Perhaps because I called my sister in advance, my father, sister and brother, and Director Sok were already waiting for me in the basement study.

    As soon as I met them, I immediately told them about the level 1200 privilege that I obtained.

    The matter of my brother¡¯s marriage offer was certainly important, but my level 1200 privilege was more important than that for now.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Because I had organized my thoughts in the taxi, I had no problem putting into words what happened to Dad, brother, sister, and Director Sok.

    However, they seemed to find it hard to ept.

    Although I was done exining to them, none of them opened their mouths for a while.

    Of course, for them, it¡¯s hard to believe, but no one raised any doubt or objection because I was far better in the real world nowpared to what I was before.

    Anyway, after a while, Dad opened his mouth first.

    ¡°Is that the reason why the coin transaction ability exists at level 1100?¡±

    I also knew that it was possible to exchange coins between those at level 1100 and above.

    In fact, there was one who achieved level 1100 in the Myongjin Group.

    I just didn¡¯t have any interest in it because themission fee was 1 million golden rings per coin. For example, to exchange 1000 coins, a whopping 1 billion golden rings would be required for amission fee.

    If it was not themission fee, but the money for me, I would be happy to receive it, but it was not, so I didn¡¯t pay much attention to it.

    At that moment Director Sok responded, ¡°The value of golden rings has been steadily rising in the United States, China and Russia. I felt it very strange that it was rising because there was no reason for it to go up. Come to think of it, it seemed that they had already grasped the existence of the level 1200 privilege. I¡¯m sure they clearly know about it because there is a considerable gap between us and them.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    When Director Sok presented his opinion, my father groaned, resting his chin on his hand.

    After that, we talked about the level 1200 privilege and other stuff for a while.

    Fortunately, I had a lot of coins.

    So, it was possible for me to reach almost 40%, and not stay at the very low value of 1% or 2%.

    Of course, I wouldn¡¯t do it all at once because what I¡¯m doing now will be very valuable information for Myongjin in the future.

    Whil Juyong Hong was exining the level 1200 privilege to his family members, there was a new development in those countries who had a stake in ¡®Revival Legend.¡¯

    Obviously, within the ¡°Revival Legend,¡± it was impossible for yers toe and go between countries because of the so-called channel or wall. So, they usually didn¡¯t meet each other with a few exceptions like the 4th Anniversary event or certain quests.

    However, at that moment where Juyoung took the first true step within ¡°Revival Legend¡¯, a man appeared in Kotum Castle which Juyoung sometimes visited even now.

    Shuuuuuung.

    He suddenly and naturally appeared as if he logged in.

    So, all the users in Kotum Castle did not pay any particr attention to this man.

    Although the man looked like a typical Westerner from his brown hair, white skin, prominent nose, and deeply slit eyes, anybody could have such a figure in the game by simply changing their appearance.

    Anyway, the man who showed up in Kotum Castle took a deep breath and opened his mouth quietly.

    ¡°Huh. Only now have Inded in Region 53. How unlucky I am!¡±

    Region 53. Obviously the word he uttered referred to none other than Korea.

    At that moment, a group of people appeared.

    They said to the manmenting he had no luck, ¡°Oh, you are here finally, Pablo.¡±

    The man was called Pablo by the group of people who appeared.

    The man named Pablo nodded naturally, as if he already knew they were going to show up.

    He said, ¡°Okay, so I guess you are the liaison guys. By the way, I¡¯m sorry. I had no luck while I wasing here.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to apologize. You haven¡¯t kept us waiting long at all.¡±

    Perhaps there was a significant gap in status between the group and the man named Pablo, so they used honorifguage when they spoke to him.

    Pablo, who had been speaking to them informally, said again, ¡°Alright, let us stop exchanging pleasantries. I think you have already found out Asirante¡¯s whereabouts, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir. Asirante hunted in the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat just beforepleting the level 500 arena quest. Given his movements after that, I think he will continue hunting there in the future.¡±

    ¡°Who is managing the hunting ground? Is it Daeyu?¡±

    ¡°No, sir. The hunting ground is under the Myongjin Group¡¯s control.¡±

    ¡°Myongjin?¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about? Isn¡¯t Asirante currently affiliated with Daeyu?¡±

    ¡°It is true that he is still with Daeyu Group, but it was impossible for me to find out why he came to hunt in the hunting ground under the Myongjin Group¡¯s control despite this.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Pablo groaned for a moment, unable to understand the situation.

    ¡°Is he a cunning guy?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The guy who answered Pablo¡¯s questions on behalf of the group remained silent this time.

    He thought he only had to tell his boss only the facts, so it was impossible for him to conclude whether Asirante was cunning or not simply by watching him hunt in Myongjin¡¯s hunting ground as a member of Daeyu.

    Pablo immediately opened his mouth as if he didnt expect a response to his question anyway.

    ¡°I rather wish he was cunning. Cunning guys are greedy without any exception. Good. Then, let¡¯s go there.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir! I will escort you there.¡±

    So, Pablo naturally mixed in the group and moved to the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat.

    Obviously, Pablo was not a member of the team representing Region 53.

    However, he broke through the ¡®wall¡¯, and appeared on the ¡°Revival Legend¡± server called Region 53, or Republic of Korea, as if he had some business to do with Asirante.

 Chapter 149 - Pabloâ€™s Offer (1)

    <h4>Chapter 149: Pablo¡¯s Offer (1)</h4>

    In the distant future, everybody will have ess to information easily, but right now it is special information that is hard to obtain. So, I carefully increased the actualization rate in increments of 1%.

    As I was increasing my actualization rate, I didn¡¯t fail to check my inventory, skills, and status window.

    But as I reached 2%, 3%, and even 4%, I honestly couldn¡¯t feel any physical change.

    That was the problem for me because my main stat is Intellect.

    At the moment, I really felt frustrated. And it seemed that I wasn¡¯t the only one who felt so.

    ¡°Compared to physical changes that are easily apparent and reveal their presence with substantial force, non-physical changes¡­¡± Director Sok said, leading off at the end.

    However, I fully understood what Director Sok was trying to say but couldn¡¯t because it was the exact thing I felt frustrated about andined about.

    I even thought that I should have chosen strength,agility or stamina as my main stat.

    But I shook my head because my actualization rate was only 4% for now, and I still have a lot of coins.

    Of course, I¡¯m going to increase my actualization rate as much as possible today.

    I do not intend to ignore the popr adage, ¡°if you keep something for too long, it will spoil¡¯ since I know how important this actualization of reality is. It was just like how I used skills with long cooldowns first normally so I had the chance to reuse themter on.

    I made such a decision because there it was unlikely that an ident that I did not think of would happen today. My father, brother, sister, and Director Sok did not object to my decision.

    Instead, they encouraged me to do so.

    Anyway, I was absorbed in increasing my actualization rate by 1% every time until a message rang when I reached 5%.

    [Your actualization of reality rate has reached 5%.

    -Skills avable for use in reality will be listed in the skill list window.]

    I immediately logged out after confirming the message and quickly opened my mouth because maybe it¡¯s finally time for me to witness my non-physical abilities.

    ¡°Check skill list!¡±

    [List of the skills you currently possess.

    Level 3 Ice Ball. (Level 1, 2, 3)- active.Level 3 Ice Bolt. (Level 1, 2, 3)- active.Level 3 Ice Weapon. (Level 1, 2, 3)-Disabled.Level 5 Ice Shield. (Levels 1, 3, 5, 7)-Disabled.

    :

    :

    <ol start=¡±13¡å>

    Level 4 Blink. (Level 4, 6)-Disabled.

    Level 4 Ice Storm. (Level 4, 7, 8)-Disabled.

    : Currently level 7 Ice Storm with the effect of the functional skill ring.

    <ol start=¡±15¡å>

    Level 5 Ice Rain. (Level 5)-Disabled.

    Ice-type skill cooldown reduction. (Passive)-Disabled.]

    Before, the skill window did not open in reality.

    However, this time, the skill list window finally opened in reality, and each skill had the description, ¡°active¡± or ¡°disabled.¡±

    Of course, the word ¡°activated¡± means that it is currently avable.

    So, I immediately informed my Dad, ¡°A message popped up that I could use my skills at 5% Actualization, and Ice Ball and Ice Bolt are now avable.¡±

    As soon as I said that, my Dad, brother and sister, as well as Director Sok opened their eyes wide because they knew that it was groundbreaking to be able to use skills in reality.

    Anyway, right after they heard my exnation, my family members and Director Sok busied themselves for a bit because they needed a test to confirm what I said. And the basement study was suitable as a ce for the test.

    Actually, it was the Myongjin Construction Company that first built my house. They then reinforced itter, so my house boasted of a stronger outer wall than that of a high-rise building.

    Soon, a strong wall which connected to nothing was in front of me, and I used my skill at it..

    ¡°Ice Ball.¡±

    Bang!

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Honestly, I was curious about how skills would work in reality.

    Besides, I was slightly concerned that the skills might be weaker in reality than I thought, especially because I had only a 5% actualization rate right now.

    However, the Ice Ball I cast cleared my worries by destroying a certain chunk of the concrete behind the exterior wooden surface of the wall.

    Of course, I wasn¡¯t the only one surprised by the skill¡¯s power.

    Everyone in the basement study, including my dad, couldn¡¯t shut their mouths, amazed by the power of the Ice Ball.

    At that moment, my sister suddenly said, ¡°Well, that will kill someone right away if it strikes them.¡±

    Like she said, it showed a destructive power that would instantly kill anybody it hit directly.

    Moreover, that wasn¡¯t all.

    What I used was ice-type magic.

    Thin ice, like frost, formed around the area where the Ice Ball hit.

    Anyway, after showing them such a shocking scene, I continued to increase my actualization rate by using coins, wondering how my skill window, status window, and inventory would change.

    A message rang when I reached exactly 7% actualization.

    [Currently, the maximum actualization rate among those who have ¡®level 1200 Privilege-Reality Actualization¡¯ is 7%.

    -Lumen, Asirante is currently previewing the ¡®level 1200 Privilege-Reality Realization.¡¯

    Therefore, it is impossible to increase the actualization rate above the maximum actualization rate holder until you achieve the true privilege after reaching level 1200.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    As soon as I checked the message, I felt really frustrated and disappointed because I

    still had more than 90,000 coins left, so I could raise my actualization rate up to 37% if I had no restrictions.

    However, there was nothing I could do for now, so I logged out immediately with lots of regret.

    After, we were done with the tests to confirm the ability of the 7% actualization rate.

    Of course, we conversed a little more in the basement study, and concluded that we needed to collect more golden rings even if we needed to sell some of the goods and services of the Myongjin Group.

    Obviously, our main target was coins, but we could not obtain coins easily even if we wanted to.

    So, we had no choice but to pay attention to golden rings with which we could exchange the coins, like they did in the United States, China and Russia.

    Anyway, the meetingsted untilte at night, so I slept in my house instead of going back to my studio. But I couldn¡¯t sleep easily because my heart was still beating rapidly.

    The next day, I woke upte because I slept fitfully.

    At first, I was thrilled, but now my worries and confusion grew.

    In fact, at first my heart was pounding because of the thrill, but as time went by, I gradually grew more and more concerned and worried because when somebody had power, they naturally wanted to express it, which would obviously lead to the copse of the order andws that maintained our society.

    In other words, there was a high possibility that there would be more serious troubles from now on than I originally expected, and it might be something simr to the great chaos found on a battlefield.

    Of course, I am confident that I would not be swept away by such chaos.

    I was rather confident that I can calm my surroundings instead using my powerful Ice abilities amid the big chaos

    ¡°In the end, I have to be more serious and stay alert if I don¡¯t want to be swept away by the uing chaos. First of all, I need to reach level 1200 as soon as possible.¡±

    At first, my immediate goal was to reach level 700, but as of yesterday, I had no choice but to change it to level 1200 because I could not be content with this simple preview forever when I currently had a mountain of coins unable to be used.

    So, I woke up right away because I had no time to idle in bed.

    At that moment my mother called me.

    ¡°Juyoung, have breakfast!¡±

    My family members could not wake me up when they found me deeply asleep, so they ate first. So, I had breakfast ale at 10 o¡¯clock.

    Sitting across the table, my mother kept asking me to chew well, and my sister kept asking me questions while I was eating.

 Chapter 150 - Pabloâ€™s Offer (2)

    <h4>Chapter 150: Pablo¡¯s Offer (2)</h4>

    At my one-room studio at the foot of Mt. Kwanak.

    I thought my dad, brother, sister and Director Sok would hold me back when I was about to leave after breakfast because my value, though it was high from the beginning, soared even further because of my right to preview the privilege of level 1200.

    But no one held me back when I said I was returning to my studio in Mt. Kwanak.

    Of course, I knew why they didn¡¯t try to hold me back

    Since I also had ears, I could hear those around me talking about Asirante.

    Moreover, my name was now widely known not only in Korea, but also around the world.

    So, my family members including my father decided there should be no change in my status for the time being because there were quite a few people who could notice even the slightest change in my lifestyle.

    How about my elder brother¡¯s marriage offer?

    Anyway, my family members didn¡¯t care about what I thought about it.

    I thought it would be better if my brother chose a woman he loved rather than one who would be beneficial for Myongjin¡¯s interests.

    After arriving at my studio, I immediately essed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    Then, using the Teleport Zone at Ferrero Castle, I headed straight to the Saber Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat.

    [You are being moved to the Saber Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat.]

    When I arrived there, I found five members of the Myongjin Guild guarding the entrance to the hunting ground as always.

    After greeting them, I moved inside quickly because I had to hunt constantly to reach level 1200.

    As soon as I stepped inside, five sabre tooth tigers emerged and charged at me immediately.

    But I shouted right away, ¡°Blink.¡±

    Since I was not satisfied with hunting only five, I headed to the ce where there were more sabre tooth tigers while continually using Blink.

    Now, there were 9 sabre tooth tigers that recognized me.

    Previously, I would have used Blink again to hunt more sabre tooth tigers nearby.

    While repeating my strategy, I would have collected more than 100 sabre tooth tigers.

    But this time I didn¡¯t. So, I hunted the nine first using Ice Balls and Ice Bolts instead of AOE skills with long cooldowns just like my enemy replica did in the level 500 only arena quest.

    Did I do so to learn his fighting style? No, I didn¡¯t intend to do so.

    As always, I prefer a heavy punch rather than a jab.

    Then, why did I adopt my replica¡¯s fighting style all of a sudden?¡±

    Of course, I had a good reason to do so. I didn¡¯t do it recklessly.

    Anyway, after getting rid of the nine sabre tooth tigers with low-level magic, I said toward the big tree on my right in a low voice, ¡°Why don¡¯t youe out now?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Nothing happened when I said that.

    So I opened my mouth again.

    ¡°You havee here to do some business with me, right? Okay, let me get out of here then. There are many other hunting grounds for me anyway.¡±

    Tramp, tramp.

    I immediately started heading to the exit of the Saber Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat.

    At that moment a voice came out from near a tree.

    Unfortunately, it was not from the big tree on my right, but the big tree on my left.

    I wish he did not notice my error.

    ¡°It¡¯s amazing. Howe¡­¡±

    However, the voice that came out from the ce on the left where there was nothing other than a big tree stopped speaking because of my next actions.

    ¡°Ice Prison! Ice Field!¡±

    First of all, I spread Ice Prison in the ce where the voice came from.

    Then I used Ice Field right away, then spammed Ice Storm, Pouring Hail and Ice Rain.

    Then I wrapped it up with the skill, ¡°Ice st!¡±

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    I used Ice st with my level 5 Ice Field as the sacrifice instead of the normal Ice Prison, arge explosion urred instantly.

    Nobody could survive this terrible explosion.

    What about my conversation with the man who was hiding his identity?

    I had no intention of conversing with him.

    Moreover, this is a hunting ground managed by Myongjin, so if the man secretly entered this ce, he must be an enemy.

    Even if he was not my enemy now, he would most likely end up an enemy anyway.

    Maybe I was overreacting, but I wanted to nip any possible enemy in the bud.

    If the man was not my enemy, he could approach me through Daeyu.

    At that moment, I heard the guy muttering something.

    ¡°Wow! Is it true that this is the ability of the guy who just finished the level 500 only quest? How is this possible?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    In fact, I met a guy with a ridiculous ability called damage immunity in Round 49 of the level 500 only arena quest before advancing to the final Round 50.

    But I didn¡¯t think it was difficult because the guy couldn¡¯t move while he was immune to damage, and he could not maintain damage immunity all the time.

    Eventually, he tried to endure my attack to the end before he was killed.

    However, it seemed that the guy who looked like a Westerner didn¡¯t have a simr damage immunity skill like that as he simply made a fewments naturally.

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    So, I looked at him arrogantly with my arms crossed because I didn¡¯t have to be depressed simply because my attack didn¡¯t work.

    ¡°By the way, you are pretty broad-minded,¡± said the man, raising his thumb towards me.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t bother to respond to him.

    As if he didn¡¯t expect me to respond either, he continued, ¡°By the way, let me introduce myself first. Pablo. People call me Pablo.¡±

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t need to introduce myself because you couldn¡¯t havee here without investigating me.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha. Of course. Who doesn¡¯t know Asirante these days? Those who don¡¯t know your name must be idiots or people who don¡¯t follow the news at all.¡±

    Iunched an attack to kill this person who came to see me in secret before he could even talk to me, but I failed.

    So, I didn¡¯t stop this man called Pablo from talking. And it was toote for me to attack him now anyway.

    Anyway, Pablo, who was in a cheerful mood, opened his mouth.

    ¡°Alright. Let me get down to the business. Let me make you an offer.¡±

    ¡°Offer?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Good. Go ahead.¡±

    ¡°Join my organization.¡±

    Pablo asked me to join his organization out of the blue.

    So, I replied right away, ¡°What the heck? You don¡¯t have to be so arrogant if you want to say that. I can join your group as long as the conditions are right.¡±

    Why didn¡¯t I reject his offer? Well, I judged that it was not necessary.

    I thought it would be not toote for me to exit his organization after finding out about it first.

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re quite liberal-minded.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s my merit. I¡¯m very flexible in my thinking.¡±

    Obviously he and I met here for the first time.

    We were not hostile enough to exchange attacks against each other from the beginning. Actually, he and I talked amicably as if we have known each other for a long time.

    Of course, we only looked friendly toward each other on the surface.

    While we were talking in a cheerful mood, Pablo hardened his face and opened his mouth.

    ¡°But you have to be careful. Once you join, you can¡¯t leave.¡±

    ¡°Really? It looks like your organization has some dark secrets.¡±

    ¡°Asirante, mine is an organization with a lot of secrets you can¡¯t even imagine. Maybe you won¡¯t regret it if you join us.¡±

    As soon as Pablo said that, a message rang.

    [You have received an invitation from Pablo to join the ¡®Lucia¡¯ Guild, which has the title of Great Guild.

    -If you ept the invitation to join the ¡®Lucia¡¯ guild with the title of Great Guild, you will be forced to automatically withdraw from the Daeyu Guild you belong to.

    -There are two restrictions within the ¡®Lucia¡¯ Guild with the title of Great Guild.

    : Your ID Lumen, Asirante will be inevitably disclosed.

    : Once you join, it is impossible for you to withdraw without permission from the guild leader.

    -Two buffs are given to those who are in the ¡®Lucia¡¯ Guild with the title of the Great Guild.

    : All stat points increase by 300.

    : Health increases by 50,000 and mana by 50,000.]

    I once heard from my father that there was something special about guilds.

    In particr, I was a little surprised by the buffs that would be given by joining the guild because the increase in all stats by 300, and health and mana by 50,000 were far from low.

    Nheless, I found an absolute reason why I could not join the Lucia Guild.

    First, if I join, I would have to reveal my original ID Lumen, along with my outside ID Asirante.

    Second, I won¡¯t be able to withdraw from the guild without getting the guild leader¡¯s permission.

    I made the choice not to join because of these two factors.

    So, I opened my mouth, smiling at Pablo.

 Chapter 151 - Region 0 (1)

    <h4>Chapter 151: Region 0 (1)</h4>

    Pablo, who I met for the first time, was really unwee because his sudden appearance stopped me from hunting. I was in a hurry to achieve level 1200.

    I was also bearing a lot of frustration from not being able to raise my actualization rate to more than 7% even though I had 90,000 coins.

    So, I came to this Saber Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat to delve into hunting again, but this guy Pablo, who appeared without notice, was clearly an unwee guest. Besides, this guy even made me an offer to join his organization.

    I was willing to ept it, at first because it was not really difficult for me to join it, and I was a bit curious about the guild called Lucia which had this extraordinary guy called Pablo as a member. However, when I checked out his offer, I realized that it was not difficult but impossible for me to ept it.

    So, what did I do?

    ¡°Ice Prison!¡±

    Bang!

    Of course, I could not feel Pablo¡¯s presence for sure when I first arrived here, but I now clearly felt that he was in front of me.

    Honestly, when I killed nine sabre tooth tigers here and shouted to my right for somebody to show himself, I did so half in jest and half in earnest.

    So, when somebody really appeared from my left, not my right, I was very surprised although I didn¡¯t show it. I simply shouted on the off-chance for I felt ufortable that somebody might really be near me

    Anyway, I clearly sensed Pablo¡¯s presence now unlike a little while ago. So, I used several AOE skills such as Ice Prison and Ice Field without any hesitation.

    However, Pablo¡¯s presence whichI could clearly sense a moment ago suddenly became blurry again while I was spamming my attacks.

    Obviously, he must have used some trick.

    At the moment, I felt bitter because I felt like I failed for some reason this time.

    As expected, Pablo appeared once again in the spot where I spammed all kinds of attacks.

    Unlike before, this time his cor was crumpled and slightly messed up when he emerged.

    However, no matter how much damage he suffered, I couldn¡¯t kill him in the end, so I had to conclude that my attack failed.

    ¡°Phew! You¡¯re really tough. If I responded even a secondter, I would have almost died. And I almost got stuck in Region 53 forever until the wall disappeared.¡±

    I realized at the 4th Anniversary event that Region 53 Pablo mentioned was none other than Korea.

    ¡°You¡­you don¡¯t belong to Region 53.¡±

    If Pablo hadn¡¯t been in front of me, I would have tapped my head with my fist because of my stupidity. It was impossible to find a secret organization called ¡°Lucia¡± beyond Mirae, Myongjin, Daesung, Kusan, and Daeyu in this narrownd of Korea, not to mention a guild with the title of ¡°Great Guild,¡± which none of the other guilds have.

    In other words, I should have noticed it even before Pablo mentioned Region 53.

    ¡°Why is that important? What¡¯s important is that you, Asirante, have declined my offer. So, let me punish you in that respect,¡± said Pablo.

    ¡°Punish me? You mean punishment that I dislike?¡±

    Of course, I had to admit that I didn¡¯t kill Pablo, and twice at that.

    But that doesn¡¯t mean I was defeated.

    However, Pablo seemed to be very confident, replying haughtily, ¡°Right, it¡¯s a punishment. First of all, this punishment is valid for only 30 days. Actually, I want to brag some more, but I only have ess to a 30-day punishment. So, I hope you can endure it there for 30 days. And even if you change your mind halfway through, just try to sit tight. It¡¯s impossible to break through the wall halfway.¡±

    The ¡®wall¡¯ that Pablo mentioned sometimes.

    I could easily figure out what it meant. It referred to the channel that blocked each country or region.

    At this point, I could know what kind of ability Pablo had.

    Besides, it seemed he had no intention of hiding it.

    Pablo possessed the ability to cross regions through the channel or wall.

    The problem was that he could hide inside the wall. That was why he could avoid my attack.

    So, I had no choice but to rely on my hidden card.

    ¡°Blink¡­¡±

    I chose to retreat from this area first because I could attack him another day, and I didn¡¯t have any information about him while he had investigated me very well.

    Moreover, I didn¡¯t want to be unreasonably stubborn in this situation.

    At that moment, a message rang.

    [Because of Pablo¡¯s trait, ¡®Prating Wall,¡¯ you are forcibly moved from Region 53 to Region 0 that Pablo has broken through.

    -Lumen, Asirante is a member of Region 53, so you will be staying in Region 0 for only 30 days.

    -After 30 days, you will be forcibly moved back to Region 53]

    ¡°Damn it.¡±

    Obviously, I didn¡¯t react toote.

    As soon as I noticed something strange, I immediately left the ce without trying to hide Blink with zero cooldown, but the range of Pablo¡¯s trait, ¡®Prating Wall,¡¯ was toorge.

    Shuuuuuuuung!

    When I spat out swear words, I felt something strongly pulling my body.

    And, of course, I knew I must be getting sucked into Region 0.

    While Juyong Hong, or Asirante, was being sucked into Region 0.

    Pablo plopped down on the ground and said, ¡°Whew! Is this guy really level 500?¡±

    As soon as Asirante disappeared, Pablo, who had maintained a consistently confident expression, squatted down on the ground and let out a sigh as if he had been nervous contrary to his confident looks.

    In fact, Pablo had a terrible experience.

    The space that he made with his trait ¡®Prating Wall,¡¯ which he thought was invincible, crumbled in various ces, let alone showing some crack. Actually it was on the verge of copsing at any moment.

    If that space had copsed, he would have been killed by Asirante, which meant that he would not have been able to use his trait, ¡®Prating Wall¡¯ for some time. Or he might not have been able to use it for the rest of his life.

    ¡°Damn it! I epted this request so cheaply! If I had known this guy was so strong, I should have asked for more!¡±

    That¡¯s why Pablo poured outints. He regretted his rashness.

    Although he was advised many times before he came here that he should not underestimate Asirante, he simply ignored it because he was confident in the absolute protective space he could make with his trait, ¡®Prating Wall.¡¯

    This time, he felt painfully that his absolute protection space was not absolute.

    ¡± I have to make Asirante a member of my organization by all means, so he can¡¯t be my enemy. By the way, Asirante, get ready to have a hard time there for 30 days.The fact that you have not reached level 1200 means you are just an ordinary man who can¡¯t do anything in Region 0.¡±

    Pablo has crossed several regions using his trait, ¡®Prating Wall.¡¯

    Of course, he was unable to choose which region to cross because it was chosen only by luck.

    So, he once entered a ce called Region 0.

    At first Pablo thought that Region 0 was just one of the numerous other regions.

    However, he soon noticed that the region was special immediately because he lost all his abilities there and his actualization rate was only 0% at the time.

    As a matter of fact, Pablo had not achieved level 1200 at that time, so he did not have the level 1200 Privilege-Reality Actualization.

    Anyway, Pablo, who lost all his ability in Region 0, died and died for 30 days.

    In other words, there was nothing that the ipetent could do there.

    ¡°Whew! What a relief! If Asirante had already reached level 1200¡­¡±

    Pablo trembled at that thought because if it was true that Asirante received 22,000 coins by winning the 4th Anniversary event when he was only level 500, he must have a lot more coins stashed away.

 Chapter 152 - Region 0 (2)

    <h4>Chapter 152: Region 0 (2)</h4>

    Anyway, expecting to see Asirante 30 dayster, Pablo was about to hide himself in the Saber Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat when he opened his mouth as if he had thought of something.

    ¡°Gosh! I didn¡¯t tell him that he needed to stay connected at least 12 hours a day to pass. Well, if he keeps dying, he will find out about it anyway.¡±

    After saying that, Pablo disappeared.

    He was confident that he could force Asirante to join his organization given that all those who refused to join ended up being a member of the ¡®Lucia¡¯ guild using this way.

    ¡°Well¡­¡±

    I could see nothing but a vast field in front of me.

    Monster? NPC? User? No matter how hard I tried to find them, I could not.

    ¡°Oh my god! I¡¯ve never experienced such a strange thing like this.¡±

    As a matter of fact, I never expected this kind of situation.

    But I immediately came to my senses, and pulled myself together.

    Anyway, this is another country¡¯s ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ server, and I can expect decent treatment given my ability wherever I go.

    Of course, as soon as I pulled myself together, I immediately tried tomunicate with my sister.

    [Super Beauty: Sister!]

    I sometimesmunicated with my sister through the messaging system, so I sent her a message.

    But she didn¡¯t respond. More precisely, she didn¡¯t receive my message.

    At that moment, a message rang to tell me why I could notmunicate with her.

    [You cannot send messages to people in other regions.]

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    Of course, I expected I might not be able to contact her because I was in Region 0 while my sister was in Region 53.

    ¡®By the way, I think I can log out without any problem.¡¯

    Pablo said I had to stay here for exactly 30 days.

    Of course, if I could not log out for 30 days, I would have no choice but to die from malnutrition in reality, so that would not be a condition. Anyway, it was very important for me to log out, so I was going to try to log out when a message rang.

    [You have stepped in Region 0.

    -Region 0 is a private test area for those with level 1200 Privilege: Reality Actualization.

    -Lumen, Asirante is eligible to use this area because you have level 1200 Privilege: Reality Actualization.

    You will proceed with the test in Region 0.

    -Special rewards are given if you achieve high scores with excellent adaptability during the 30-day test period.]

    ¡°?¡±

    I could not help but be embarrassed by that message because it meant that this was not the same as Region 53 where I was active.

    But I smiled at the words ¡®special reward¡¯ in the announcement.

    Of course, I have only two types of skills, Ice Ball and Ice Bolt, and my reality actualization rate was only 7%.

    But depending on who is using the 7%, it will show a big difference in effect.

    ¡°But let me log out first!¡±

    Since logging out was the most important to me at the moment, I immediately shouted ¡®log out!¡¯, and I exited ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ normally.

    Immediately after that, I picked up my cell phone to call my sister.

    At that moment, however, I thought twice about it.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s not safe to talk to her over the phone.¡±

    I have already decided that I would be prudent about calling my family members even when using my private cell phone.

    Instead, I decided to use ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    At first nce, my method might look ridiculous, but the safest conversations could be carried out within ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    Anyway, I may be overly paranoid, but I thought it wasn¡¯t bad to be cautious, so I put my phone down and essed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ again.

    While Juyoung Hong was essing ¡®Revival Legend¡±, some people gathered on Ivulich Ind, an ind in the Russian Arctic OCean.

    The man sitting at the head of the conference table said to a man on the opposite side of the table, ¡°Did you just say you sent Asirante to Region 0?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± replied Pablo, who sent Asirante directly to Region 0.

    ¡°It¡¯s a pity that he refused our first offer, but if he has no choice but to die without doing anything for 30 days anyway, he will eventually change his mind,¡± the man in the head seat spoke with a satisfied smile.

    However, there were some who slightly frowned at his remarks because they suffered the same thing in the past.

    If they had reached level 1200, they would have tried to rebel, but they hadn¡¯t at that time. It was difficult for them to hunt even one orc with bare hands when they were there.

    Anyway, since they had never failed in their strategy of sending their targets to Region 0 for a 30-day exile, all the executive members of the ¡®Lucia¡¯ guild believed that Airante would eventually join their organization.

    ¡°By the way, you are now tapping all thendlines and cellphones in Korea as well as hacking into the inte, right?¡±

    The Lucia Guild wantedplete control over Asirante, so they needed to secure Asirante in their custody. Sending him to Region 0 was part of such a strategy.

    In short, Region 0 was the ce where anybody without any ability would be helpless.

    As such, no matter how strong nerves they had, they had no choice but to tremble with fear in that ce, so the Lucia Guild executives concluded that those who had been there might confide their experiences to somebody else using thendlines or their cellphones

    ¡°Yes, we are tapping their phones and have hacked into Korea¡¯s inte without any issues. Although we paid a lot of money for that, we have made sure that we are notified immediately if the word ¡°Region 0¡± or something rted to Pablo¡¯s ¡°Prating Wall¡±es up on all Koreanndlines or cell phones or the Inte.¡±

    ¡°Good. It doesn¡¯t matter how much it costs. If we can secure Asirante, we can be the owner of this.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    The Lucia Guild executives wrapped up the meeting like that.

    Tramp, tramp.

    First of all, I randomly set off in one direction and walked aimlessly in the field where I first stepped in, in which there were no monsters, users, or NPCs.

    Just in case, I kept up my guard while walking, but nothing showed up.

    ¡°What the heck is this? Isn¡¯t it time for monsters or anything like that toe out?¡±

    Since there wasn¡¯t a single monster in my sight, I naturallyined about it.

    While thinking I might have chosen the wrong direction, I kept walking without stopping.

    The moment I set my right foot on the ground, a message rang.

    [You have left the starting zone which is the Safety Zone of Region 0.

    -The starting zone is set initially, and onlysts for 12 hours beforepletely disappearing.

    -Congrattions! By voluntarily leaving the starting zone, you get 200,000 points.

    -There are several monsters outside the starting zone, and all monsters will take very hostile action against the test host.

    -In case of death, you will be resurrected one hourter, but your score will be reduced. Please be careful about your survival.]

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    I didn¡¯t know how big 200,000 points were, but I felt satisfied with the fact that I started off on a good note. Moreover, I felt satisfied with my decision to keep walking even when nothing appeared in the field instead of simply standing idly because of the unfamiliar environment.

    Anyway, it was only then monsters came into view.

    They were orcs that I first encountered outside Kotum Castle when I was level 5. They were not the Red Horn n, nor the mountain n.

    But I wasn¡¯t worried at all because no matter how many rabbits there were, it did not matter to a wolf.

    ¡°Ice Ball! Ice Bolt!¡±

    Puck! Puck!

 Chapter 153 - Region 0 (3)

    <h4>Chapter 153: Region 0 (3)</h4>

    The monsters that appeared seemed to be very hostile.

    And as expected, the orcs nearby charged at me.

    I spammed Ice Ball and Ice Bolt at the heads of the orcs.

    I didn¡¯t have to use other skills even if I could because I could easily smash the heads of these orcs.

    Of course, there were numerous orcs, so they kept charging at me, not caring at all even if their fellow Orcs were killed before their eyes.

    But my Ice Ball and Ice Bolt cooldowns were already back.

    What¡¯s more, my Ice Bolt, let alone my Ice Ball, did not disappear even after killing only one Orc and prated through more of them.

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    The Orcs charged at me in single file when I attacked them while stepping back little by little. Seizing the momentum, I spammed Ice Bolt at a group of orcs and it prated the chests of four or five orcs in a row.

    Those Orcs froze, and fell to the ground right away in their running postures.

    ¡°Hahahaha,¡± I chuckled at that fantastic scene.

    As a matter of fact, I¡¯ve recently been hunting using AOE skills only.

    Even if I tried using a single-target skill, all I would use was Ice Spear and Multiple Arrow.

    With those skills, I could sweep away the monsters I had already herded. By the time I herded them again, the cooldowns of those skills were already back.

    When I thought of that, I naturally recalled those days when I hunted by using Ice Ball and Ice Bolt only like I did now.

    At that time, I had Ice Weapon and Ice Shield, but I rarely used them.

    Moreover, during ¡®Revival Legend¡¯, I could hunt very easily due to the 1000 remaining stat points I received from my title of the Only Closed Beta Max Level User, but I really had a hard time hunting during the 1st, 2nd and 3d Closed Betas called ¡®Forgotten Legend.¡¯ But the thing was that I sometimes thought that it was more fun back then because I went at it like crazy for a reason.

    And I really felt great joy when I received even one golden ring.

    ¡®Man, what the hell am I recalling now?¡¯

    At that moment, I unwittingly trembled at the thought that I beautified my hard times as beautiful memories.

    If someone asks me if I¡¯m willing to go back to those days, I would say I have no intention of doing so. I love the present 100 times, 1000 times, even 10000 times better.

    Anyway, they were simply my old memories, so I stopped thinking about them and continued to hunt the Orcs with a smile on my mouth.

    In Region 0, a message rang whenever I sessfully hunted an orc.

    [You have acquired 11 points.]

    [You have acquired 15 points.]

    [You have acquired 9 points.]

    It was very smallpared to the 200,000 points that I first earned.

    But it was because there were only orcs.

    I have no intention of hunting only Orcs for 30 days.

    Moreover, there were other messages.

    [You have acquired 5000 Golden Rings.]

    [You have acquired 7500 Golden Rings.]

    [You have acquired 6000 Golden Rings.]

    I never thought that I could receive more than 5000 golden rings for simply hunting orcs that level 5 beginners hunted.

    Actually I had never received even one golden ring at that level.

    Of course, there was one thing I felt regret about.

    It was none other than EXP.

    If I were given a lot of EXP like golden rings, this would be heaven to me.

    And Pablo, who said he was punishing me, must have been an angel with a weird character.

    Anyway, there was a possibility that I would receive EXP as a reward after 30 days, so I felt I didn¡¯t have to feel disappointed at this point.

    So, I constantly spammed Ice Balls and Ice Bolts at the orcs.

    Given my 7% reality actualization rate, there was no chance of my mana running out no matter how many Ice Balls and Ice Bolts I used.

    The next day, I took a break and slept well because this event wouldst 30 days, not just one or two days.

    In the meantime, I discovered a couple of strange things about Region 0.

    First, the monsters here did not respawn.

    Once the orcs were killed, that was it.

    So, only a few orcs were left in the space where many of them used to popte

    Secondly, the space where these orcs resided wasn¡¯t infinite.

    In other words, a message rang while I was moving in one direction, hunting the orcs.

    [You cannot leave Stage 1 until you hunt all the orcs.]

    Judging by that, I could figure out what kind of ce Region 0 was.

    Stages existed here, and I could only move to the next stage only after hunting all the monsters in the previous stage first.

    Anyway, since I started huntingte at night yesterday, I drove the remaining orcs into one ce before going to sleep because I didn¡¯t know if I might have to sleep at ate hour with the appearance of lots of hostile monsters if I progressed to the next stage now.

    Then, I got up and had cereal as breakfast as usual, then essed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ to get rid of the remaining orcs.

    At that moment, a message rang.

    [Congrattions! You have sessfully cleared Stage 1.

    -As a reward for clearing Stage 1, you have received 50,000 points.

    -As a reward for clearing Stage 1, you have received 100 remaining stat points.

    -You have received additional points to your score at the end of the test because you had 0 deaths while clearing Stage 1.

    -Stage 2 will open in 10 minutes.]

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    More than anything else, the remaining 100 stat points caught my eye.

    Honestly, I liked this better than the messages announcing my level-ups because I knew my level would just go up and up anyway. That being said, I desperately wanted to reach level 1200 as soon as possible.

    Anyway, there was something that I could know for sure from the message.

    Namely, this ce was heaven, and Pablo was really an angel to me.

    So I waited for ten minutes, longing for the second stage to open quickly.

    Soon a new monster, which was not an orc, appeared.

    It was none other than a wolf, a Gray Wolf, which was far harder to killpared to the previous orcs.

    ¡°Khhhhhhhhhang!¡±

    ¡°Kaaaaaaaaang!¡±

    As soon as the wolves noticed me, they showed their sharp canines and charged at me.

    But I used my skills immediately.

    ¡°Ice Ball! Ice Bolt!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Khhhhhhhhhang!¡±

    ¡°Yip!¡±

    My Ice Balls and Ice Bolts were still very powerful. So much so that they smashed the heads of Gray Wolves with just one stroke.

    In particr, my Ice Bolts prated through three of them, killing them on the spot.

    Nheless, I found it hard to stop all the Gray Wolves with Ice Balls and Ice Bolts only.

    First of all, there were so many wolves out there.

    At that moment, I missed my AOE skills, but I currently could not ess them.

    As a result, I had no choice but to allow one Gray Wolf to bite my ankle.

    I frowned because of the possible damage.

    But I felt something strange.

    ¡°?¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    It didn¡¯t hurt at all.

    Even the Gray Wolf that bit me with its sharp teeth seemed confused because I didn¡¯t seem to be wounded at all.

    At that moment, I realized that I had underestimated my stamina and health too much.

    Actually they were very high.

    I can say confidently that nobody has a higher stamina than me because even the tanks that have stamina as their main stat would not invest all their stat points in stamina.

    Anyway, I lifted my right leg which was being bitten by the wolf and struck it towards the ground.

    The Gray Wolf was jostled by the impact.

    ¡°How dare you bite a human?¡¯

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    While using Ice Ball and Ice Bolt against the other Gray Wolves, I kicked the Gray Wolf with my right leg endlessly. I fought the wolves for more than 12 hours, leaving only a few Gay Wolves far away from me.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    Unlike Stage 1 where I hunted the orcs, I had to agonize for a moment this time because of the sudden increase in the level of difficulty.

    Of course, if I had full ess to my abilities, I was confident I could hunt any monster.

    However, the only skills that I could use with my 7% reality actualization raate were Ice Ball and Ice Bolt.

    ¡°Well, let me check first anyway.¡±

    Since I had no intention of idling for 30 days, I charged at the remaining Gray wolves.

    And it took only a little time for me to easily hunt them.

    [Congrattions! You have sessfully cleared Stage 2.

    -As a reward for clearing Stage 2, you have received 100,000 points.

    -As a reward for clearing Stage 2, you have received 1 trait shard.

    -You have received additional points to your score at the end of the test because you had 0 deaths while clearing Stage 2.

    -Stage 3 will open in 10 minutes.]

    ¡°Uh?¡±

 Chapter 154 - Region 0 (4)

    <h4>Chapter 154: Region 0 (4)</h4>

    Instead of the remaining stat points I was rewarded with in Stage 1, I saw something new this time.

    Moreover, the word ¡®trait¡¯ was certainly unusual.

    So, I hovered over the sparkling ¡°1 Trait Shard¡± in the message.

    [Trait Shard. (Legend)

    -It is a part of finely broken trait pieces.

    -You canbine 3, 5, 7 shards, and the more shards youbine, the higher probability you have of obtaining a high-grade trait.

    -Youcan keep the trait you obtain or you can exchange it with others.]

    I never thought I could obtain a trait this way. Moreover, I didn¡¯t expect that I could even exchange it with others.

    ¡°By the way, seven shards¡­¡±

    ording to the message, I could startbining them when I had three shards, but the message said that I could get a higher-grade trait if Ibined more shards.

    So, I thought it would be better for me to obtain seven shards andbine them because a superior trait was much more attractive than a poor trait.

    Anyway, I was full of determination to challenge the next stage by all means.

    When Stage 3 opened, I smiled in satisfaction because golems, which weremonly known to be very slow monsters, appeared.

    Thud! Thud!

    ¡°Ice Ball! Ice Bolt!¡±

    They copsed when hit directly on their upper body.

    I had no choice but to keep smiling because I could kill them with one strike.

    I easily cleared Stage 1 and Stage 2, but Stage 3 was much easier.

    Golems kept copsing without even getting close to me.

    In the meantime, messages kept ringing.

    [You have acquired 37 points.]

    :

    [You have acquired 10500 Golden Rings.]

    After about 6 hours, I started killing more golems by herding about ten of them to a corner and wiping them out.

    I was clearing Stage 3 much faster than Stage 2.

    I concluded that the level of difficulty did not seem to increase even as the stages advanced.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I think I should continue tomorrow.¡±

    It¡¯s already 1 am. I think I could somewhat size up this challenge after experiencing three stages.

    And I realized that the first moment of each stage was the most dangerous because I was thrown into a herd of monsters at the beginning of each stage.

    Therefore, the moment when the most monsters gathered was when the stage started.

    If I could deal with that initial moment, the next bits were easier because all I had to do was control my movements, then draw the monsters toward me a bit before killing them all.

    Anyway, sater I was done hunting, I went to sleep.

    The next day I woke up at the same time as usual, had cereal for breakfast, then essed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ to kill the remaining golems I left behind yesterday.

    A message rang right away.

    [Congrattions! You have sessfully cleared Stage 3.

    -As a reward for clearing Stage 3, you have received 150,000 points.

    -As a reward for clearing Stage 3, you have leveled up by 10.

    ¨CYou have received additional points to your score at the end of the test because you had 0 deaths while clearing Stage 3.

    -Stage 4 will open in 10 minutes.]

    This time it was level-ups, not EXP, and exactly 10 levels at that.

    I felt it was not fair because if I came here at level 1000, not level 500, this increase of 10 levels would be far more valuable. And even more regrettable was that the status window did not open.

    In other words, I could not invest in Intellect the 100 remaining stat points I obtained yesterday and the 100 remaining stat points that I got for the 10 levels I got after clearing Stage 3.

    Of course, I was not sure how effective that investment would be, but I still needed to.

    Anyway, it took a little more time, but I cleared Stage 4, Stage 5 and Stage 6 without any difficulty.

    On such asions I received rewards like a 50,000 point increase for clearing the stage, or 200 remaining stat points I received for clearing Stage 4, and 5000 coins for clearing Stage 5. For clearing Stage 6, I received one trait shard.

    So right now, I have two trait shards.

    It was a little disappointing that there was no level-up reward, but I was satisfied because the remaining stat points, coins, and trait shards were attractive enough.

    Of course, I could not be happy about the current situation because it took two days for me to clear Stage 6. I had to control my movements carefully to lure the monsters, and it took quite a lot of time for me to sweep away them with Ice Balls and Ice Bolts.

    After that, Stage 7 opened immediately.

    And at this stage, I felt for the first time that I might definitely die.

    As a matter of fact, I have never died while ying ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    And it was the same when I yed the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Closed Betas called ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ prior to ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    Especially during the closed betas, I was more careful because I yed with the strong determination to devote myself to it for two weeks so I would not think of it anymore during the rest of the vacation.

    As a result, the 24-hour ess ban penalty that I would get if I died would be a huge setback to my n.

    Of course, during ¡®Revival Legend¡¯, I could not die even if I wanted to because I had achieved various achievements including the maximum level in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Closed Betas.

    Nevertheless, the number of kills and deaths was newly added to the status window in ¡°Revival Legend¡¯. My father even told me not to die, so I was even more careful about it. That being said, even without my father¡¯s reminder, I did not want the number 0 inthe status window to change to the number 1.

    It was at this moment that the barrier 7% reality actualization stood in my way.

    The fact that I could only use Ice Ball and Ice Bolt without using my other various skills including Ice Field fueled my sense of crisis.

    As a matter of fact, the monsters that appeared in Stage 7 were ranged monsters.

    In other words, I had to attack more often than before because I could not lure the monsters like before because they did not need to get close to me to attack.

    Besides, they were small-type monsters called Evil Boy Fairies. So, these little monsters could gather even in a narrow space.

    Fluttering, fluttering, fluttering.

    Every time they pped their wings, a wind which was not strong but hard to ignore blew my way. And not just one wind, but dozens or over a hundred of them.

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Of course, if I could use my skills fully, I could easily kill them.

    But I was clearly on the defensive now. Besides, they were numerically superior.

    When I retreated upon facing the huge number of the little monsters, they immediately noticed it, and three more Evil Boy Fairies joined the fray.

    That meant there were three more attacks I had to deal with.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t just do nothing.

    I immediatelyunched an attack with Ice Ball and Ice Bolt.

    Unlike the monsters with a huge build in Stage 6, fortunately I could kill the Bad Boy Fairies with a couple of attacks.

    But I felt like I would copse faster.

    ¡®Damn it! Why does the war start like this?¡¯

    If I had fought them in a corner, I would not have gotten in trouble like this because I would lure them to my ce step by step before killing them instead of charging at them stupidly like now.

    Moreover, the monsters did not respawn.

    However, the fact that I was in the middle of the monsters messed up my n.

    I had anotherint. I had the feeling that the monsters seemed to be able to track me more easily perhaps because they were ranged types. So, much more monsters than I thought began to attack me intensively, and when I moved even one step, three to five monsters attacked me instantly.

    So, I endlessly spammed Ice Ball and Ice Bolt, but I was still struggling to block them.

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    While spamming Ice Balls and Ice Bolts, I kept cursing.

    At my house in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul.

    ¡°Juyoung ising a littlete?¡± asked my father.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± said Suyoung.

    She continued, ¡°Juyoung has something to tell you this evening.¡±

    ¡°Something to tell me?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I asked him what it was, but he said he was ufortable talking about it over the phone. He wanted to see you in person.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Got it.¡±

    As if he guessed why I couldn¡¯t talk over the phone, he just nodded.

    While my family was waiting for me, I was absorbed into hunting.

    Stage 7 in Region 0.

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    Although it was painful, I epted it.

    In other words, I felt bitter, but I epted it.

    The number of deaths, which remained 0 even when the chances of my ID Lumen changing to Asirante was almost none, would soon change to 1.

    No matter how desperately I tried, I could not help it.

 Chapter 155 - Who the Hell Are You ?

    <h4>Chapter 155: Who the Hell Are You ?</h4>

    I had no intention of epting such a fate helplessly.

    ¡°Ice Ball! Ice Bolt!¡±

    Without moving in my ce, I spammed Ice Ball and Ice Bolt on cooldown because if I moved even a little bit, even more monsters would attack me.

    In other words, I adopted the strategy of taking advantage of my resurrection one hourter.

    Of course, there was no guarantee that I would resurrect in the same ce where I died.

    However, I had to hunt as many monsters as possible before resurrecting to get a better reward for clearing the stage, so I tenaciously attacked the monsters, knowing that I would die.

    I had hunted about 70 monsters, and now about 30 monsters were left attacking me.

    As time went by, the situation clearly became more favorable to me, but the attack by more than 100 Rascal Fairies at the beginning was almost fatal.

    That¡¯s why I felt regret about it. In this situation with my current 7% actualization rate, no matter how much I racked my brain, it was obvious that in the end I would fall first. But if I had an 8% actualization rate, I would have survived their attacks.

    ¡®By the way, I should get resurrected right here in this ce¡­¡¯

    It should be this ce by all means.

    Because of that, I persistently kept hunting the monsters without moving one step from my current ce

    Otherwise, if I faced more than a hundred new Rascal Fairies in a new position again, I probably would end up dying not just once or twice, but many more times.

    Anyway, with feelings of bitterness and regret, I kept attacking them even after epting my inevitable death when I heard something strange.

    Was it the fluttering of the Rascal Fairies?

    There were a lot of Rascal Fairies surrounding me on all sides.

    And I wasn¡¯t so deaf as not to distinguish their noise.

    Moreover, I thought it was a sound I had heard somewhere before.

    I turned my gaze to the left and right for a moment.

    New Rascal Fairies do not attack me if I just turn my head or move my eyes .

    However, I couldn¡¯t find the source of the noise even if I could still hear it.

    ¡®Maybe it¡¯s not a big deal.¡¯

    The fact that this would be my first death seemed to make me overly anxious and sensitive.

    At that moment when I turned my gaze back forward, I saw something unexpected.

    A Rascal Fairy is something like an aerial monster.

    It was the kind of monster that pped its wings in the air, andunched wind-type attacks by blowing the air toward me.

    However, something quite long suddenly leapt out from beneath the ground the Rascal fairy was hovering over, and wrapped around the fairy¡¯s body instantly.

    Then it began to squeeze the fairy tightly.

    Obviously, the fairy was struggling to get out of it, but it was impossible for it to escape from something that tightly wrapped around it.

    In the end, the Rascal Fairy stopped pping its wings and died.

    I could not understand the situation.

    Only one type of monster appeared not only in Stage 1 and Stage 2, but also in Stage 3, Stage 4, Stage 5 and Stage 6.

    So, it was the first time I saw monsters fighting against each other.

    Actually, I wasn¡¯t sure if that ¡°something¡± that attacked the Rascal Fairy was a monster.

    At first nce, it only looked like a long ck rope.

    But that ridiculous situation just happened.

    I didn¡¯t kill that Rascal Fairy.

    Obviously, that ck rope attacked and killed the fairy like a snake wrapping around and strangling a rat. In other words, I did nothing.

    But a message rang as if I killed the fairy.

    [You have earned 75 points.]

    [You have acquired 17,000 Golden Rings.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    At that moment, I forgot that I had to fire Ice Ball and Ice Bolt at the other Rascal Fairies because I was really unprepared for the ridiculous situation.

    And I had the feeling that this kind of ridiculous situation would not end with just that.

    The ck rope that killed one Rascal Fairy crawled back into the ground.

    At that moment, I came to my senses right away because there was no guarantee that it would not attack me. But I soon realized that my worries were groundless.

    Puck!

    Just like it did before, that ck rope leapt out under another Rascal Fairy and strangled it, causing the same results as before.

    I was surprised again, but that ridiculous situation ended with the same message.

    [You have acquired 76 points.]

    [You have acquired 15500 Golden Rings.]

    At first, I thought that the message may have rung because the rope¡¯s killing of the fairy ovepped with my attack on the Rascal Fairy.

    But that was not true because I witnessed the ck rope killing two Rascal Fairies before my eyes.

    ¡°Ice Ball! Ice Bolt!¡±

    I didn¡¯t know if it was my enemy or ally. It didn¡¯t seem to be my enemy, but I was not so sure.

    Shortly afterwards, I got rid of the remaining Rascal Fairies.

    Now, except for the Rascal Fairies that were outside my striking range, there was only me and that weird ck rope in the immediate vicinity.

    Fully ready to spam Ice Ball and Ice Bolt, I focused all my eyes on it for fear it might attack me at any time.

    But it slowly began to dig into the ground again, thenpletely disappeared.

    I listened carefully for any sound for 1 minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes and 4 minutes.

    I stayed in the same ce, waiting for a few minutes without moving at all, wondering if I could hear something crawling under the ground, but I could not hear anything at all.

    ¡°Who the hell are you? Are you on my side?¡±

    [¡­]

    There was no answer or sound to my question.

    At that moment I felt like I saw this kind of scene somewhere.

    Yeah, that long-rooted tree. This thing¡¯s means of attack was the same as the root attack of those long-rooted trees from before.

    Of course, the long rooted tree could not attack me at all with its roots because of Ice Field backed up by Multiple Thin Ice.

    But certainly, this thing¡¯s attack was simr to those previous long-rooted trees.

    Then one more thing came to my mind.

    It was the ¡®Root¡± item that I obtained from the boss monster called the Long-rooted Ancient Tree. ording to the description, if I ate it, I would receive one root, but after I ate it, I could not summon any route no matter how hard I tried.

    After that, I didn¡¯t pay any attention to it, for I was not in a situation bad enough to rely on a root which I had no understanding of at all. More precisely, I could do without it.

    I was in such a situation back then.

    ¡°Is this that root, then?¡±

    [¡­]

    ¡°Summon Root. Come out root. Confirm root.¡±

    [¡­]

    I spat out various words to summon the root, but nothing happened like before.

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    Of course, I liked the fact that I could still keep my number of deaths at zero.

    Moreover, I weed a strong helper since the limit of a7% actualization rate was a significant barrier.

    And its damage was pretty good.

    ¡°Not bad.¡±

    And it was clear that the root was not my enemy because I received points and golden rings even though it was the root that killed the monsters.

    That was enough for me for now.

    ¡°Okay. Let me get rid of the remaining Rascal Fairies first.¡±

    Since there was no way for me tomunicate with the root, I decided to stop thinking about it.

    Killing the Rascal Fairies was more important to me right now.

    So, I stepped forward.

    pping. pping. pping.

    At that moment three Rascal Fairies immediately attacked as soon as they noticed me moving.

    Compared to the 100 fairies that I bumped into at first, they were nothing.

    I easily killed them with Ice Ball and Ice Bolt, and gradually expanded my area, moving forward step by step.

    I spent five hours killing them, except for about ten of them that I drove into a corner.

    While I was killing the fairies, I wondered if the root would reappear, but it didn¡¯t.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ Did the root appear because I was in a dangerous situation?¡±

    I was definitely in a dangerous situation.

    Well, it was not a dangerous, but a fatal situation where I could be killed.

    ¡°Then it wille out again, I guess.¡±

    I cleared this round safely, but there was no guarantee that I would not face the risk of dying again in the next round.

    So, I thought of using the ten remaining Rascal Fairies to engineer a situation where the root would appear again, but I didn¡¯t, because I felt the root would not appear in a dangerous situation that I created artificially.

    So, I logged out, leaving behind the ten fairies.

    Besides, it was already midnight, and I was supposed to visit my house in Cheongdam Dongter.

    If I got rid of the ten fairies now and moved to Stage 8, I felt like I would not be able to visit my house today.

    Anyway, after looking down at the ground that I was standing on, I exited ¡®Revival Legend.¡¯

 Chapter 156 - 30 Days Later (1)

    <h4>Chapter 156: 30 Days Later (1)</h4>

    At my house in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul.

    ¡°That¡¯s why I am in a ce called Region 0 now.¡±

    I confessed to my father, brother, sister and Director Sok that I am currently in Region 0 after meeting a man named Pablo in the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat and refusing his offer to join his guild.

    Of course, I also told them that Region 0 was not the same as Region 53 which meant Korea. It was a ce for those who possessed level 1200 Privilege reality actualization.

    ¡°By the way, crossing the wall¡­¡±

    Director Sok could not finish his words after hearing my exnation.

    Of course, I knew what he wanted to say because I was also very curious about it.

    ¡°Yeah. That guy named Pablo seemed to be able to cross through the wall. Besides, it seemed that he could also send others to another region.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Of course, if the wall or channel separating each country disappearster, Pablo¡¯s ability as it is now will be meaningless. But for now, his ability was extremely powerful.

    Anyway, I kept talking to them about Region 0 for some time because I had a lot to say about what I experienced in each stage.

    But I didn¡¯t mention the root because although I was 100% certain that it was the root, I could not control it as I wished.

    ¡°I¡¯m currently finishing Stage 7, but there¡¯s a high possibility that I might end up stopping in Stage 8 or Stage 9. It is much more difficult than I thought.¡±

    Yes, it was really difficult, and there was a strong possibility that it would be far more difficult in the future, for I had little possibility of getting stronger within the 30 days in Region 0

    The main reason for that was because my status window was locked, so the remaining stat points or level-ups I received as a reward were temporarily useless.

    In other words, it was impossible for me to invest the remaining stat points in Intellect even though I already had them.

    Moreover, after I increased my reality actualization rate to 7%, I often shouted ¡°Use coins!¡±

    Why? Because I had a surplus of coins and there might be somebody who increased it past 7% in the meantime.

    And I did the same after having been moved to Region 0.

    Well, I shouted it more often because even an additional 1% was critical for me in Region 0.

    [Lumen, Asirante entered Region 0 with a 7% actualization rate.

    -During 30 days of testing, you can¡¯t change your actualization rate.

    -Additional points will be given at the end of the test if you clear a stage higher than the one a normal person can clear with a 7% actualization rate.]

    Even if someone raised their actualization rate to 8% or 9%, I had to stay at 7% as long as I was in Region 0.

    Eventually, the level of difficulty will increase as I continue to clear the stages, but I had no choice but to stick with the same actualization rate as before during my stay in Region 0.

    Of course, there was something I could rely on, namely, the root that suddenly appeared before me without notice.

    ¡®If I can control the root exactly as I want¡­¡¯

    Then maybe it would be possible for me to go to a higher stage than I thought because the root could easily get rid of the Rascal Fairies.

    Anyway, Pablo with the trait ¡®Prating Wall,¡¯ my current area of Region 0 and the guild called ¡®Lucia¡¯ that Pablo asked me to join were all very unusual, so I talked with my family members and Director Sokte into the night.

    When we were almost done talking, my sister opened her mouth casually, ¡°By the way, the situation is very exquisite. When you obtained the level 1200 Privilege: Reality Actualization in the level 500 only arena quest, a man named Pablo popped out, right? If you didn¡¯t get the reality actualization at that moment¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I didn¡¯t say anything in response to her words because I was not so sure if Pablo appeared because I acquired the level 1200 Privilege: Reality Actualization, or if I randomly acquired the level 1200 Privilege: Reality Actualization since Pablo would soon appear before me.

    Of course, I also thought I was lucky.

    But I quickly shook my head because even if I was lucky, I had toe to Region 0 after using all the coins to increase the actualization rate as much as possible, even if I would get additional points with a lower actualization rate.

    Anyway, on that day I talked with themte into the night, so I slept in my home, and very soundly at that, for I seemed to have used up my energy while clearing each stage.

    As a matter of fact, it was quite stressful for me to exercise only 7% of my total ability with only Ice Ball and Ice Bolt.

    I felt very refreshed the next morning perhaps because I had a good sleep.

    It was already past lunchtime, so I quickly washed my face and had lunch with my mother and sister since my dad and older brother had gone to work.

    Then I returned to my one-room studio.

    What did I do after that?

    Of course, I essed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    [You will be logged in to Stage 7 in Region 0.]

    Unlike before, a message rang every time I logged in after I was forcibly moved to Region 0.

    Soon Stage 7 appeared in front of me.

    It was empty.

    Of course, there were ten Rascal Fairies in one corner that I could kill if I wanted to.

    But I sat down on the ground, resting my chin on my hand.

    ¡°Hmm. Obviously, it¡¯s amazing for me to have reached Stage 7 with 7% actualization rate.¡±

    I don¡¯t want to brag about myself, but it¡¯s extraordinarily for me to reach Stage 7 with only a 7% actualization rate. Actually, I was about to clear it.

    What if someone else with a 7% actualization rate like me challenges Stage 7?

    Of course, anyone can clear Stage 1 easily.

    The fact that anybody has reached a 7% actualization rate means that he is at least level 1200 anyway, excluding an exceptional case like me.

    Moreover, no matter how many orcs there were in Stage 1, they were simply orcs. The Gray wolves that appeared in Stage 2 were much more powerful monsters that were iparable to orcs.

    And it was the same for Stage 3 as well.

    Moreover, considering that one would have to wait for an hour upon death instead of being resurrected immediately, they would probably end up hitting Stage 3 or Stage 4 at most.

    Even if they reached Stage 4, they would be unable to clear it.

    However, I will get additional points for having never died and clearing Stage 7 with a 7% actualization rate.

    I muttered to myself, ¡°I guess this is enough.¡±

    Then I raised my head and looked at the sky.

    [24 days, 13 hours and 32 minutes remaining.]

    Since I set foot here in Region 0, the time remaining has always appeared in the sky.

    So, I thought of getting rid of the remaining ten Rascal Fairies driven into a corner during thest ten minutes. In that case, I would reach Stage 8 after clearing Stage 7pletely.

    Of course, my number of deaths will remain at zero like before.

    I felt I would receive a nice reward for my achievement up to now.

    But I got pissed off at that moment.

    ¡°Damn it! How should I spend 24 days and 13 hours?¡±

    24 days and 13 hours was very long for me.

    So, idling away for such a long time without doing anything would be a huge loss to me.

    And apart from the loss, I felt it was so unfair.

    Currently, this was the period where the 50% EXP buff applied thanks to Korea¡¯s winning the 4th Anniversary event.

    At that moment, the word dilemma came to my mind.

    I was in an awkward situation, to say the least. But I didn¡¯t agonize for long because there was only one choice in the end.

    I stood up right away, then charged at the ten Rascal Fairies.

    Of course, they also started attacking me. However, they were too weak to block my attack.

    In the end, it took less than ten minutes for them to stop fluttering their wings.

    At that moment, a message rang.

    [Congrattions! You have sessfully cleared Stage 7.

    -As a reward for clearing Stage 7, you will get 350,000 points.

    -Your level goes up by 10 for clearing Stage 7.

    -You have received additional points to your score at the end of the test because you had 0 deaths while clearing Stage 7.

    -Stage 8 will open in 10 minutes.]

    This time, I enjoyed an increase of ten levels.

    I liked it. Honestly, I felt good about whatever came out because the remaining stat points, coins, or trait shards were very valuable to me, no matter what.

    ¡°By the way, I hope the monsters appearing in Stage 8 are not ranged monsters.¡±

    For the ten minutes until the appearance of monsters in Stage 8, I kept my fingers crossed that they were not ranged.

    Of course, I prayed for something else, namely, the root.

    If it¡¯s going toe out anyway, I really wished it coulde out from the beginning instead of making me hope for its appearance while fighting the monsters.

    Anyway, ten minutes quickly passed, and I was ready to attack right away.

    Soon Stage 8 appeared before my eyes.

    ¡°¡­.¡±

 Chapter 157 - 30 Days Later (2)

    <h4>Chapter 157: 30 Days Later (2)</h4>

    My decision to challenge Stage 8 was daring and bold because I might be given a lesser reward than if I had chosen to stay in Stage 7 until the end of the test.

    After making my decision, I challenged Stage 8, but there was not a single monster just like when I first stepped into Region 0.

    Of course, there were some differences.

    In the past, when I was watching TV, I often saw people being swept away in the rapids in the summer during the rainy season.

    Right now, such a torrent appeared before my eyes.

    Of course, the river was quite wide. It was about 20 meters wide.

    ¡°Do I have to swim past it?¡±

    There was no specific guideline about what to do, but I could make an educated guess given the circumstances. What¡¯s more, just like stepping stones, there were quiterge blocks of stones lined up about 1 meter apart across the river.

    And it seemed I could cross the river very easily if I stepped on those stones.

    The problem was that there was not only one line of stepping stones.

    There were 20 t stones lined up on the river, approximately 1 meter apart.

    But each stepping stone was also a part of another row of stepping stones in the direction of the river.

    In other words, a total of 400 t stones wereid at regr intervals just like a Go board.

    I felt it unlikely that all of these 400 t stones would serve properly as a stepping stone.

    Obviously, this was a trap.

    I did not need to think too hard to conclude that many of those stones were traps.

    ¡°Ice Ball!¡±

    First, I tried using Ice Ball on the nearest stone.

    Kaaaaang!

    It wobbled a bit, and a dent appeared on the stone.

    Given the effects of my Ice Ball, it was highly likely that the stone was real.

    But just in case, I tried the same Ice Ball on other stones.

    Kaaaaang! Kaaaaaang! Kaaaaaang!

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The same thing happened, so I suspected all these stones were real.

    Of course, all of them could be real stones, but it¡¯s more likely that they were not.

    So, I attacked all the rocks within my striking range.

    Kaaaaaang! Kaaaaaang! Kaaaaaang! Kaaaaaang! Kaaaaaang!

    What about the results?

    They were all the same. In others, all of them might be real or fake, but I could not ascertain with my skills whether they were a trap. But I felt more and more convinced that they were fake.

    ¡°Damn it! Do they want me to confront it directly?¡±

    At that moment, I missed Blink with zero cooldown.

    With Blink, I could easily cross the 20-meter-wide river even without using these stepping stones.

    However, I could not have Blink even if I fervently wished for it, so I gave up thinking about Blink anymore.

    For about 30 minutes, I examined the 400 stones.

    ¡°Alright! Let me confront it directly!¡±

    So, I approached the first stone on the far left.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t idle away for 30 minutes without doing anything.

    Wondering if I could summon the root, I racked my brain trying to summon it but it didn¡¯t appear.

    Anyway, I had spent 30 minutes hesitating, so I decided to set foot on the first rock.

    Thud!

    I could feel the solid stone on the soles of my feet.

    ¡°Did I make it sessfully?¡±

    Of course, I just took the first step, so I let out a sigh of relief at the fact that my first step was a sess.

    At that moment, a message rang.

    [You have to cross the river in Stage 8.

    -Among a total of 400 stones, there are traps in the shape of a stone.

    If you step into a trap, you will be swept away by the torrents and will fail to cross the river.

    -In Stage 8, you will not die even if you are swept away by the torrents. Instead, you will be moved to the location before you first crossed the river.

    -After failing, all 400 stones are randomly reshuffled for the challenger¡¯s next attempt.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    First of all, I liked the fact that my death count would not go up even if I drowned in the river.

    But the problem was that there were as many as 400 stones.

    Moreover, it seemed almost impossible for me to get to the other side of the river by stepping on only the real stones of these 400 stones.

    As expected, I kept making mistakes while trying to cross the river.

    The next day, I stopped counting after I reached 500 failures.

    Of course, sometimes I made it as far as the middle of the river.

    But it was impossible for me to go beyond that.

    ¡°Damn it! If you want to get me into trouble, just give me monsters!¡±

    At this point, I thought that the ranged monster, Rascal Fairy, in Stage 7 was much better, for I could at least clear the stage someday even if I died.

    But I could not find a solution to this task in Stage 8 because I couldn¡¯t predict when I would seed.

    [You have stepped on the wrong stone.

    -Start over from the beginning.]

    Plop!

    Along with that message, the stone I was stepping on disappeared like smoke, and I fell straight into the river. Of course, I was moved back to the ce where I started in the blink of an eye.

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    Spitting out curses like that, I was about to rush toward the stones again like before.

    But I stopped myself because I thought another reckless challenge would end up in failure like before.

    I had some wishful thinking I would seed someday, but I gave it up after one day.

    In the end, there was only one option left, namely, the root.

    ¡°I think I can make it with the help of the root¡­¡±

    With my skills, I couldn¡¯t tell whether the stone was a trap or not.

    But for some reason, I thought I could do it with the root because it was not a skill.

    However, there was no sign of the root appearing at all.

    ¡°Do I need to fear for my life?¡±

    Obviously, my life was in danger in Stage 7.

    I was lost in thought while looking at the river with the rapid torrents.

    And 10 minutester, I sprang to my feet.

    Then I approached the riverside where the stones were located.

    ¡°Good. If this doesn¡¯t work, then I can¡¯t help it.¡±

    Of course, there was no guarantee that this method would work.

    But if it didn¡¯t, there was no way for me to cross the river.

    Plop!

    I threw myself into a river right away where the torrents were flowing instead of stepping on the stones.

    It was a river with powerful torrents.

    Although I knew how to swim, I could not keep my bnce in the water.

    So, I was swept away by the torrents.

    I could not figure out how far the torrents swept me away.

    At some point, I felt that I wasn¡¯t being swept away anymore as if my body was stuck in something.

    What¡¯s even more surprising was that even though I didn¡¯t do anything, my body was spontaneously moving upwards through the current like a salmon rising to the surface of the river.

    Soon, I was deposited on the top of a rock.

    It was not a trap, but a real rock.

    And the root that I had seen in Stage 7 was wrapped around the rock thickly.

    ¡°Hahahaha.¡±

    I threw myself into the rapids at the risk of death, but I knew that I had made the correct decision.

    Anyway, since I found the right way to cross the river, I threw myself into the river again. And by repeating that, I could cross the river.

    I could barely seed after spending more than one day.

    Moreover, without the root, I would not have seeded at all.

    Anyway, I cleared Stage 8 and entered Stage 9.

    For the remaining 23 days, I kept challenging, and advanced to Stage 15 although I went through a lot of dangerous moments.

    [Congrattions!

    -Lumen, Asirante reached Stage 15 after 30 days.

    -Since your total number of deaths is 0, you are given additional points.

    -You have seeded in advancing to Stage 15 with a 7% actualization rate. Additional points will be given.]

 Chapter 158 - I Want To Do It Again (1)

    <h4>Chapter 158: I Want To Do It Again (1)</h4>

    At Ivulich Ind in the Russian Arctic Ocean.

    ¡°Is it today?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. If Asirante has the normal time limit for Region 0, he has exactly one hour and a half left.¡±

    Pablo immediately answered when the head of the Lucia organization asked.

    ¡°Then, can we make him join our guild?¡±

    ¡°Of course. All the results we have had so far prove it,¡± Pablo replied very confidently.

    None of the executives at this meeting, including the guild leader, balked at Pablo¡¯s overflowing confidence.

    In fact, nobody has refused Pablo¡¯s consecutive offer to join the guild after they had been forcibly moved to Region 0.

    ¡°By the way, I haven¡¯t heard the most important information yet,¡± said the guild leader.

    No one in the conference room did not know what their leader referred to, for he had been checking all the information about Asirante¡¯s real life directly.

    ¡°We are still trying to tap into Korea¡¯sndlines and cellphones, as well as their inte,as much as possible by spending huge funds. But we could not find any evidence of someone mentioning Pablo¡¯s trait of Prating Wall or Region 0.

    When asked by the guild leader, Velita, who was in charge of the Lucia Guild¡¯s external affairs, replied with a dark expression.

    Actually, he previously boasted proudly that he could easily gather Asirante¡¯s real life information with that method. But he had no choice but to be embarrassed by the fact that he could not get any information even after spending a huge amount of money for the past 30 days.

    ¡°It seems that Asirante is a very cautious guy,¡± said the guild leader.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Silence fell in the conference room for a moment in response to the guild leader¡¯s words.

    In the end, the guild leader broke the silence himself and opened his mouth.

    ¡°He might reject our offer this time. So, make sure it won¡¯t happen.¡±

    ¡°Sure. But if Asirante isn¡¯t stupid, he won¡¯t want to experience the 30 days of hell again.¡±

    The Lucia Guild¡¯s executive meeting ended with Pablo expressing his confidence.

    After the meeting, Pablo essed ¡°Revival Legend¡± right away because Asirante would be thrown out of Region 0 exactly one and half hourster.

    Of course, Pablo prepared for it by making a small passage between Region 53, Korea, and Region 0 in advance.

    And as soon as Asirante escapes from the hell of Region 0, he will have to face Pablo who sent him to that hell.

    Pablo was confident as he had never failed to lure his target into joining the guild by using this method.

    Anyway, Pablo actively moved to recruit Asirante even without the guild leader¡¯s urging.

    Why? Because he knew how strong Asirante was, given his experiences when confronting him, and the only way Asirante could get out of the fear of experiencing such a hell as Region 0 again was by joining the guild.

    In Region 0.

    As soon as I finished receiving the message, all the monsters in Stage 15 disappeared instantly. I squatted down and sighed.

    ¡°Man, I was almost killed¡­¡±

    I left three monsters in Stage 14 with only 12 hours and 40 minutes remaining until the end of the 30-day limit I could stay in Region 0.

    After that, I waited without clearing it because after Stage 10, it basically took me more than 2 days to clear each stage.

    So, I decided to just step inside Stage 15 instead of clearing it.

    With exactly ten minutes and ten seconds remaining, I got rid of the 3 remaining monsters in Stage 14. I was confident that I could stay alive for at least ten seconds in Stage 15 no matter how powerful the monsters that would appear there were.

    However, Stage 15 was so dangerous that I almost died even though the root helped me out from the start. That¡¯s why it was hard for me to hold out for even ten seconds.

    Of course, I ended up surviving, so I let out a sigh of relief.

    Then a message rang to announce that the 30-day test was over and I would be given a reward.

    Only then did I smile in satisfaction.

    It was a really difficult stage. No matter how much I thought about it, it was almost impossible for me to step on Stage 15 with a 7% actualization rate.

    Honestly, if it wasn¡¯t for the root, I would have stopped at Stage 8, called Crossing the River.

    However, I had some regrets about the process.

    It was to do with the trait shards. While clearing the stages up to Stage 15, I only got 4 trait shards.

    Since I could make abination with 3, 5, and 7 trait shards, I was at a loss how to make the best use of 4 shards which wasn¡¯t one of thebination numbers.

    Even if Ibined just three shards, I would have a surplus of one shard. Andbining three shards had a low chance of granting me a good trait.

    Of course, I was generally satisfied aside from the trait shards.

    In particr, by clearing up to Stage 15, I could obtain 100, 200, 300, and 400 remaining stat points respectively, so I obtained a total of 1000 remaining stat points.

    And I could increase my level by up to 30 by getting a reward of ten levels three times.

    Compared to the 1000 remaining stat points, I was not that satisfied with 30 levels. But it could not be said that I was dissatisfied because I had to level up by all means.

    In addition, I obtained a total of 10,000 coins, and above all, I obtained one billion golden rings as a reward for clearing up to Stage 15.

    This was definitely a huge sum.

    However, in Region 0, lots of golden rings came out when I hunted in each stage.

    Basically, I received 5000 gold rings or more when I hunted orcs.

    So, when I received one billion golden rings as a reward for clearing Stage 14, I frowned right away.

    If I had obtained stat points rather than 1 billion golden rings, I would have gotten more than 500 stat points, given the sequential number of 100, 200, 300, 400 that I received.

    Anyway, these were just the rewards I received from clearing each stage, not the umted reward for the whole 30-day test period, so I shook off any further regret about it.

    Clearly, my stay in Region 0 for the past 30 days was not meaningless.

    In fact, I wanted to do it again if I could, for I was confident that I could reach a higher stage faster and more safely this time because I had already experienced it once.

    However, there was something I missed all the time while I stayed in Region 0.

    It was my God of Enhancement trait.

    While I was upgrading the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword to +2 enhancement, the cooldown was reduced to 8 days with an additional penalty of 20 million EXP along with golden rings. In other words, God of Enhancement¡¯s cooldown was already back, but I could not use it for more than 20 days.

    While I was in Region 0, I felt everything else was okay, but I was very disappointed about not being able to use God of Enhancement¡¯s cooldown.

    So, I decided to go straight to the forge when I returned to Region 53 after receiving the reward.

    What about my revenge on Pablo?

    Of course, I¡¯ll certainly get even with him, but I don¡¯t want to do it right now, for I have no intention of giving up my growth just to take revenge.

    Anyway, I quickly waited for the reward in excitement.

    Soon a message that I had been waiting for so earnestly rang.

    [Congrattions!

    -With 0 deaths and a 7% actualization rate for 30 days, you have made the impossiblee true by sessfully reaching Stage 15.

    You receive the following reward for reaching Stage 15.

    : You have acquired 2 remaining skill points.

    : You have received the Limited Skill: ¡®Savant¡¯. (No skill points are required to acquire this skill. You cannot obtain this skill again if you delete it.)]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Only two rewards? Of course, I liked them because although there were a lot of skills I wanted to learn, I could not learn them because of my limited skill points.

    And the skill I was granted was not ordinary, but a limited skill.

    For some reason the name itself was unusual.

    But I wasn¡¯t satisfied with it. I wished I could get remaining stat points or coins.

    Even though I received 1000 remaining stat points and 10,000 coins while clearing up to Stage 15, I wanted more of them.

    ¡®Am I too greedy?¡¯

    Anyway, since I had constantly received messages that I had acquired additional points, I was not satisfied with this final reward. At that moment a message rang as if predicting my reaction.

    [You have earned a total of 17,246,775 points while moving up to Stage 15.

    -You have received two shiny trait shards.( Shiny trait shards increase the probability of a higher grade trait appearing if you use them whenbiningpared to general trait shards. You canbine them with general trait shards.)

    -You have received 10000 coins.

    -You have received a gem with additional EXP.]

 Chapter 159 - I Want To Do It Again (2)

    <h4>Chapter 159: I Want To Do It Again (2)</h4>

    I liked the trait shards and coins because I needed both.

    Especially, I liked the shiny trait shards even more.

    However, I had to pay more attention to the gem with additional EXP because the paramount task for me at the moment was to achieve level 1200 as quickly as possible.

    Anyway, I was satisfied with the various rewards.

    Given all the rewards that I had received after clearing each stage, I was very satisfied.

    So much so that I regarded Pablo as a benefactor.

    ¡°By the way, let me confirm my rewards first. Confirm ¡®Limited Skill: Savant¡¯!¡±

    [Limited Skill: Savant.

    -One of the most obvious ways to be stronger is to further develop your extraordinary skills.

    -This is the limited skill of Saint Malon, who only devoted himself to one area in his lifetime.

    : Out of strength, agility, stamina, willpower, and intellect, the one with the highest stats will double for 30 minutes.

    : Cooldown: 10 days.]

    ¡°Wow! This is great.¡±

    I thought it would be good when I heard the name ¡®limited skill.¡¯

    But it was better than I thought.

    The most outstanding stat for me was Intellect, so the doubling of my Intellect would mean I could exercise much more power than before even if it is only for 30 minutes.

    And my intellect will continue to increase steadily anyway.

    Even now, I possessed a total of 1000 remaining stat points and an additional 300 remaining stat points thanks to the increase in 30 levels in the status window.

    Of course, I n to invest all of them in my Intellect.

    In any case, I got carried away with the limited skill that showed an extraordinary effect.

    At that moment another message rang.

    [Lumen, Asirante belongs to Region 53.

    -10 secondster, you will be forcibly teleported back to Region 53.]

    Looking at that message, I recalled all my hard struggles for the past 30 days.

    Sometimes I got angry and thought it was so unfair.

    But all those frustrating and unhappy moments in the past 30 days scattered like dust and disappeared because I was given a huge reward that made up for it.

    Back to Region 53.

    ¡°Check status window.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t curious about where I was now because I was certainly somewhere in Region 53.

    Considering my status window had 1300 remaining stat points, I could not wait to see it anymore.

    So, I decided to invest them and move to a nearby cksmith afterward.

    [Name: Lumen, Asirante

    Level: 530

    Number of kills: 1284, Number of deaths: 0

    Title: Only Closed Beta Max Level Achiever and 6 others.

    Health: 2,103,000 / 2,103,000

    Mana: 1,645,500 / 1,645,500

    Strength: 2150 Agility: 2150 Health: 12800

    Willpower: 7525 Intellect: 15450

    Remaining stat points: 1300

    Remaining Skill Points: 2

    Traits: IceMan, God of Enhancement, Mutual Growth.]

    I met Pablo immediately after reaching level 500 and clearing the level 500 only arena quest.

    So, not much has changed since then. There was a change only in my level, remaining stat points, and remaining skill points.

    However,pared to my level, my remaining stat points and remaining skill points changed tremendously.

    ¡°Hahahahaha,¡± I could not control myughter.

    I quickly invested all the 1300 remaining stat points into my Intellect.

    I was joyfully imagining which skills to learn with my Intellect of 16750 and two extra skill points that I never thought I would obtain before.

    But I soon stopped smiling because I felt the same feeling around me as when I met Pablo first.

    So, I opened my mouth quietly.

    ¡®Use limited skill Savant!¡¯

    [Currently, among strength, agility, stamina, willpower, and intellect that Lumen, Asirante has, his most outstanding stat is intellect.

    -Current Intellect: 16750.

    -For 30 minutes, his Intellect will be changed to 33500.

    -The skill will go on a 10-day cooldown when the 30 minute period ends.]

    I used the skill first.

    Did I want to attack Pablo with this skill?

    I didn¡¯t want to right now because I wanted to go back to Region 0.

    However, I was bothered by God of Enhancement because I would not be able to use it for 30 days if I went to Region 0 again.

    ¡°Hey,e out now!¡±

    Although I shouted at Pablo, I wished I had stopped by the forge right before opening my status window and investing the 1300 remaining stat points.

    But I would not have had time to stop by the smithy anyway because only several seconds passed when I sensed someone behind me after arriving here.

    ¡°Good to see you again. By the way, you seem to feel better now that you are out of that ce. Yeah, I think so. it must have been hell.¡±

    At first, I thought it was hell, but when I stepped forward in it, I knew it was heaven.

    But I didn¡¯t mention it because I still had mixed feelings about going back to Region 0 and using the God of Enhancement trait.

    So, I said, ¡°Hey, how about meeting me in five minutes, or three minutes or one minute because I have to say hi to somebody first? I want to inform him about my joyous return.¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    I was serious with my words.

    Exactly one minute. Yes, one minute was enough.

    But Pablo tilted his head as if he didn¡¯t expect my response.

    ¡°I guess you must have been very shocked. That must be the case.¡±

    Of course, I was shocked in a different sense because I never thought there would be such a ce like a treasure ind in Region 0.

    ¡°Then, let me make the offer once again. Won¡¯t you join the Lucia Gild? Of course, you¡¯ll have to make a wise choice this time. Otherwise, you will have to experience hell again for 30 days.¡±

    Actually, I wanted to experience that hell again.

    But I shouted, ¡°Damn it! Why should I join that garbage Lucia guild? I¡¯m happy to stay with Daeyu!¡±

    I made my choice ruefully.

    I had obtained so much in the past 30 days, and I didn¡¯t know if I could visit it again. So, I decided that I should try to get as much as possible by going there again.

    So, I replied to Pablo angrily since I would not be able to use God of Enhancement for another 30 days.

    ¡°Oh my God¡­are you really crazy?¡± Pablo asked, shocked.

    ¡°Damn, I¡¯m not crazy at all. You don¡¯t know how good the Daeyu Guild is. What do you know about Daeyu?¡±

    Daeyu was good enough for me because they shared the Salimaru Bandits quest with me.

    Anyway, Pablo opened his mouth, looking embarrassed as if he could not understand my rejection.

    ¡°Got it. Then I¡¯ll send you back to that hell!¡±

    Obviously, I knew I made the wise decision, but I still felt a bit regretful at the same time.

    But something unexpected happened to me and Pablo.

    [You have already taken the test as someone suitable for the Region 0 test.

    -It is impossible for you to move to Region 0.]

    ¡°?¡±

    ¡°???¡±

    Now it was me who was embarrassed instead. In fact, I thought a bit that this kind of thing might happen.

    That¡¯s why I used the skill called Savant as soon as I first confirmed Pablo¡¯s presence around me.

    But Pablo seemed to be embarrassed three times as much as me.

    He was just staring at me nkly with his eyes wide open.

    He reacted far slower than me.

    ¡°Ice Prison! Ice Field!¡±

    Currently, my Intellect reached 33,500 thanks to my limited skill called Savant.

    So, Ice Prison and Ice Field, which were distinctively different from before, unfolded before my eyes. At that moment, Pablo¡¯s presence became blurry.

    Obviously, Pablo was trying to counterattack using his trait of ¡®Prating Wall¡¯, which boasted of an impressive might.

    ¡°Ice Storm! Pouring Hail! Ice Rain!¡±

    I intensively attacked the ce where he was standing previously even though his presence was not so clear to me now.

    Shortly afterward, there was a somewhat weird noise.

    Crack!

    There was nothing that could be broken around me, but I heard the sound of something breaking apart.

    And something in the form of a human appeared in front of me. It was Pablo.

    ¡°Kuhhhhhh¡­how could you¡­¡±

    ¡°Ice Spear! Multiple Ice Arrow!¡±

    Pablo was ring with his eyes wide open.

    Without responding to him at all, I spammed my skills endlessly because I didn¡¯t need to give him any clues. And Pablo was killed just like that.

    ¡°Thanks, man. I got more than I expected.¡±

    I shouted towards the ce where he was killed with an embarrassed expression on his face.

    At that time in Russia.

    Bang!

    Pablo threw the 3G VR device to the ground and got up from his seat.

    ¡°This can¡¯t be happening! It¡¯s impossible!¡±

    He could not understand what happened at all.

    Clearly, Asirante was level 500 when he took part in the level 500 only area quest.

    Anybody who was level 501 or higher could not proceed with the test.

    However, the message clearly said he was suitable for the test.

    But Pablo couldn¡¯t keep pondering over it because the moment he was killed by Asirante, a message rang.

    [Your trait of ¡®Prating Wall¡¯ has been destroyed.

    -You cannot use the trait ¡°Prating Wall¡± anymore.]

    Pablo was aghast.

 Chapter 160 - Total Beginner (1)

    <h4>Chapter 160: Total Beginner (1)</h4>

    ¡°Move to Kotum Castle.¡±

    [You have moved to Kotum Castle.]

    As soon as I arrived at Kotum Castle, I went straight to the forge.

    Meanwhile, I really felt good about my previous decision because there is a big difference between not deciding to go back to Region 0 and failing to go back to Region 0.

    Anyway, when I entered the forge, I put the +2 Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword in the enhancement window that appeared.

    Then I quietly opened my mouth.

    ¡®Activate God of Enhancement.¡¯

    [God of Enhancement has been activated.

    -100% chance to sessfully enhance.

    -Enhancement target: +2 Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    -Additional requirements: 2,950,000 golden rings, 31 million EXP.

    -Cooldown upon sessful enhancement: 20 days]

    The EXP and golden rings required did not matter since I earned many golden rings in Region 0 along with many other items.

    I obtained more than 5000 golden rings for hunting the orcs that appeared on Stage 1, and more than 30,000 or 40,000 golden rings for hunting the monsters that appeared in Stage 10 and above.

    So, the 10 billion golden rings I had originally in my inventory increased to 20 billion gold rings within 30 days. Besides, no matter how much EXP was required, it didn¡¯t matter to me because of my title ¡®The Man Who Does Not Fall.¡¯

    So, I enhanced the guardian sword immediately, and soon a message rang along with the visual effect of a giant hammer hammering the +2 Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    [Congrattions!

    -You have seeded in upgrading the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword to +3 enhancement.

    -You have seeded in upgrading the myth grade item with a safety enhancement of 0 to +3 enhancement.

    : The hidden options of the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword have now been revealed.]

    ¡°?¡±

    Of course, I went through +1 and +2 enhancement prior to +3 enhancement.

    But there was definitely no such message back then.

    Just like with any other item, I only saw more options when I previously enhanced the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    ¡®Check item.¡¯

    So, I immediately checked the item.

    [+3 Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword (Myth)

    -It is a sword with thest determination of Asirante, the master and emperor of ice, who fought against the Sun God Morutu who burned and evaporated everything in the world.

    : Only those who are level 700 or higher can use it.

    : Only those with at least 7000 pure intellect can use it.

    : Only those with at least 10 ice-type skills can use it.

    -Effect.

    : Increases the power of all ice-type skills by (10%) -> 12%.

    : Decreases the cooldown of all ice-type skills by (10%) -> 12%.

    : Applies a 1% chance of increasing the damage of an ice-type skill that strikes an opponent by tenfold.

    : Level 3 Ice Weapon is always applied to the guardian sword. (This can stack with the user¡¯s Ice Weapon. For example, if the user has a level 1 Ice Weapon and uses it, the power of a total level 4 Ice Weapon is applied.)

    : 25% chance of inflicting frostbite on the opponent hit by the guardian sword.

    : With the determination of the Ice Emperor that even the Sun God could not melt, it applies a 25% damage reduction to all fire-type skills.

    : Increases Strength by (1000) -> 1200.

    : Increases Agility by (500)->600.

    : Increases Intellect by (0)->500.

    -Safety enhancement: 0

    -Increases physical attack by (11050) -> 12500.

    -Increases magic attack by (1455) -> 2950.

    -Durability: 18900000/18900000]

    When I seeded in enhancing it from 0 to 1 in the past, I saw only an increase in physical and magic attack power.

    When the enhancement was increased to +2 from +1, I didn¡¯t see any substantial increase in the options provided except that the frostbite probability was changed from 20% to 25%, and damage reduction form fire-type skills was changed from 20% to 25%.

    However, a lot of things increased when the enhancement was changed to +3.

    The power and cooldown buff of all ice-type skills, which had been stagnant so far, increased from 10% to 12%, and my strength and agility increased.

    And a new option that had not existed before was created, namely, the buff of my Intellect by a whopping 500.

    In addition, the physical attack option also increased, albeit not by much, but the magic attack option almost doubled.

    ¡®Man, this is aplete transformation!¡¯

    Obviously, the guardian sword was originally exceptional. That¡¯s why I decided to make it my lifelong weapon.

    However, the only thing that I regretted before was that since it was a sword, its physical attack power was much higher than its magic attack power, and it provided more stats to strength and agility. But I liked it because the other options made up for its shorings. .

    ¡®By the way, can I expect +4 and +5 enhancement soon?¡¯

    Using the 100% enhancement ticket that I received from the level 100 only enhancement quest and the two ancient cooldown removal charms sitting in my inventory, I could make +3 Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword +6 enhancement immediately if I wanted to.

    I really wanted to use them right now, but I slowly walked out of the smithy because I was not stupid enough to not wait for 20 days and use them at such a low enhancement.

    After that, I sent a message to my sister and Managing Director Sok.

    I informed my sister that I had returned to Region 53, and I told Sok that I would be hunting in the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat again.

    As soon as I sent the message, Director Sok replied that he would prepare for my return to the hunting ground. After confirming his reply, I moved to the tower in the central square because I did not just earn stat points, coins, and golden rings in Region 0 this time around.

    I also acquired 2 remaining skill points, andthe limited skill ¡®Savant¡¯.

    Of course, I don¡¯t intend to hoard these skill points forever.

    And I already thought about which skills to obtain.

    A message rang as I approached the giant tower in the central square. It was the same as always.

    [You can obtain skills.]

    Along with that message appeared a series of skills that I could obtain, but I ignored them and searched for one specific skill.

    [Ice-type skill damage increases. (Passive, 2 skill points required, 4,500,000 golden rings required.)

    : Increases all ice-type skill damage by 3%.

    : For every 3 ice-type skills you have, the damage of all ice-type skills increases by a further 1%.

    -Current number of ice-type skills: 15.

    -With the above number of skills, the damage of all ice-type skills increases by a total of 8%, with an additional 5% to the base 3%.]

    Skill damage increase and cooldown reduction were regarded as essential passive skills.

    However, since my damage was basically so high, I did not choose them previously and instead went for quantity over quality.

    ¡®Let me obtain it.¡¯

    [You have obtained the Ice-type skill damage increase (passive).]

    After that, I went straight to the teleport zone outside Kotum Castle.

    Of course, I headed there so I could start hunting immediately.

    I hunted like crazy for 30 days beforeing here, but I felt I didn¡¯t hunt as freely as I could

    At least, the Maginot line that I set before I could huntfortably was when I reached level 1200. Until then, I could not afford to take a break.

    ¡°Move to the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat.¡±

    [You have moved to Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat.]

    Soon, the Myongjin-owned Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat appeared in front of me.

    There were already about 30 men, including Director Sok at the entrance.

    Of course, I know why these guys except for Sok were here right now. It was because I had encountered Pablo here even though this hunting ground was under the control of the Myongjin Guild.

    The Myongjin Guild had their pride hurt because of this incident.

    Anyway, I exchanged greetings with Sok. Of course, we pretended not to know each other.

    ¡°I was waiting for you, Asirante.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for helping me out again this time.¡±

    After exchanging pleasantries a little more, I stepped into the habitat, leaving behind the entrance the 30 men were guarding.

    ¡°Kuuuuuuuuuhung!¡±

    ¡°Kuung!¡±

    As soon as I had taken just several steps inside the habitat, the tigers charged at me as if weing me.

    ¡°Ice Ball! Ice Bolt!¡±

    Puck! Puck!

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Obviously, I wanted to use Blink with zero cooldown like I used to.

    But I used somethingpletely different.

    ¡°Yeah, 30 days is definitely not short.¡±

    I felt like I had be too ustomed to my way of fighting in the past30 days when I was restricted to only two skills against my will.

    Nheless, there was something different this time around.

    As far as I remembered, my skills were never this strong.

    Even though my Ice Ball and Ice Bolt were strong, my opponent right now was not a low-level orc-like monster, but a sabre steel tooth tiger, namely, a level 800-900 monster.

    Despite that, the sabre steel tooth tigers, although not instantly killed, were screaming in pain after being hit by my Ice Ball and Ice Bolt.

    ¡®Well,pared to before, the damage of all my Ice-type skills has increased by 8%, and I also gained another 1300 Intellect.¡¯

    At that moment something came to my mind. Namely, the additional EXP gem.

 Chapter 161 - Total Beginner (2)

    <h4>Chapter 161: Total Beginner (2)</h4>

    As soon as I returned to Region 53 from Region 0, I met Pablo. Then I was busy with various things, including using the God of Enhancement.

    So, I used these skills that I had forgotten for some time.

    ¡°Ice Spear! Multiple Ice Arrow!¡±

    First of all, I quickly hunted the three sabretooth tigers using single target skills.

    Then I pulled out a crude item that looked like a red stone from my inventory.

    ¡°Check item.¡±

    [Additional EXP gem (myth)

    -It is a very precious gem that helps you acquire additional EXP.]

    Of course, I thought my main reward was the two skill points and the limited skill ¡®Savant.¡¯

    I didn¡¯t pay much attention to the additional EXP gem previously because it paled inparison to the two shiny trait shards and 10,000 coins I received along with it as a reward for reaching Stage 15. l.

    So, although the additional EXP gem drew my attention, I didn¡¯t think it was a big deal.

    However, I was wrong because this additional EXP gem was myth grade to say the least. And each myth grade item had a good reason to receive this designation.

    So, I quickly checked its options.

    [-However, golden rings are required to activate the additional EXP gem.

    : Paying 100 million golden rings grants you an additional 10% EXP.

    : Paying 200 million golden rings grants you an additional 20% EXP.

    :

    :

    : Paying 1 billion golden rings grants you an additional 100% EXP.

    : Once activated, itsts for 300 days.

    : This item cannot be enhanced.

    : Even if you leave it in your inventory after activating it, its effect of additional EXP will still apply.]

    Obviously, the required golden rings were not a small number.

    In particr, ordinary men could not even imagine paying 1 billion golden rings for 100% additional EXP. Moreover, it was limited to only 300 days, and did notst forever.

    But, what about me?

    Of course, I have enough golden rings to pay for it. And even If I don¡¯t have enough golden rings, I can get help from my father, the chairman of the Myongjin Group.

    The power that my name Juyoung Hong carries in Korea cannot be neglected.

    ¡°Activate the additional EXP gem.¡±

    [You can activate the additional EXP gem.

    -Please set the amount to be used from 100 million to 1 billion golden rings.

    -The amount of golden rings you set cannot be changed for 300 days.]

    ¡°1 billion golden rings.¡±

    Of course, I chose the maximum amount. Actually, I wished I could spend more.

    If there was an option to pay 10 billion golden rings for 1000% additional EXP, I would choose that.

    Anyway, as soon as I spoke my choice, a bright light came out of the additional EXP gem in my hand, then various patterns of unknown meaning began to be etched onto its surface.

    Shortly afterward, the light disappeared, but the patterns did not.

    [ 100% additional EXP function has been inscribed onto the additional EXP gem.

    -It will be maintained for 300 days. After 300 days, the patterns will be erased, and you will need to activate the gem again to regain its function.]

    ¡°Hahahaha.¡±

    Of course, I didn¡¯t feel regret for spending 1 billion golden rings because this was the time I had to use them, no matter how much.

    ¡°Blink. Blink.¡±

    I put the additional EXP gem with the unknown patterns back into inventory, then used Blink with zero cooldown to move further into the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Puck! Puck!

    Pasasasak!

    Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

    I clearly felt the power of Ice Ball and Ice Bolt was different from before.

    But they were the weakest skills I possessed.

    Of course, for skills with higher power, the greater the effect that even a 1% increase will show. As a result, I could hear sabre tooth tigers screaming in pain everywhere when I used only Ice Field.

    However, they did not run away as if to show they were formidable monsters.

    Rather, they kept charging at me tenaciously, not knowing they would be killed at any moment.

    Anyway, I used Ice Storm and Ice Rain towards them who charged at me in droves.

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    In the past, I used Pouring Hail as well for this kind of attack, but I didn¡¯t need that skill this time.

    Even before I could use it, I killed more than 100 sabre tooth tigers.

    As expected, a message rang.

    [You have leveled up.]

    I smiled at that message.

    I always felt good whenever I saw a message that announced that I had leveled up.

    ¡°Alright. Let me hunt really seriously this time!¡±

    I always wanted to, but something happened.

    But I didn¡¯t hate it because I got lots of good stuff because of that.

    However, this time I really wanted to hunt seriously until I reached level 700.

    I was itching to hunt more because I had in my inventory the +3 Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword with a remarkable attack that I could not use yet, not to mention the new 500 intellect bonus it gave me.

    Anyway, I was absorbed into hunting, forgetting about the time.

    I kept hunting everyday in the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat.

    And I was never bored or tired while I was devoting myself to hunting day in and day out.

    Unlike studying which was always meaningless to me, hunting was meaningful to me, as always.

    Honestly, hunting was fun to me, too.

    Of course, I know that having fun with such repetitive actions in games and the like is not very good for my social formation and development.

    Nheless, I found hunting so fun.

    Besides, I obtained the level 1200 Privilege: Reality Actualization because I was into games.

    Actually, I could now use Ice Ball and Ice Bolt in reality. Although I didn¡¯t experiment with my body, my remarkable physical ability, which was clearly different from before, made me feel more than just fun in the game and ¡®Revival Legend¡¯. So much so that I thought it was a waste of time to sleep and even to eat.

    Of course, I was wondering whether it was possible for me to confine ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ within the boundaries of a simple game.

    Anyway, I continued hunting for the joy of aplishment, something which I had never found in studying before.

    [You have leveled up.]

    I was encouraged by the level-up messages that rang more frequently than before.

    At that moment, I received a message from my sister.

    [Super Beauty: Juyoung, are you there?]

    [Lumen: Yeah.]

    [Super Beauty: Then, will youe home tomorrow?]

    [Lumen: Sure, because I¡¯ve been invited to the wedding.]

    [Super Beauty: Okay. Then, don¡¯te toote.]

    [Lumen: Yeah.]

    After that, I stopped conversing with her.

    Tomorrow, I had to go home even though it wasn¡¯t a weekend.

    Like my sister said, there was a wedding ceremony and I received an invitation directly from the involved parties.

    ¡°Ice Field! Pouring Hail!¡±

    While texting with my sister, I kept herding the sabre tooth tigers using Blink.

    When I herded about 100, I used my AOE skills again.

    That day, I started and ended the day with hunting.

    The next day, I left for home early because I could y games freely in my house, and I didn¡¯t have to care about my family members like I did in the past.

    I had to try on some tailored suits and pick the best one for tomorrow¡¯s wedding.

    When I arrived home, my mom weed me warmly, as always.

    Soon, my mom and sister held a small fashion show for me to find the best suit for tomorrow¡¯s wedding, then we ate lunch together.

    After that, I essed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ in my room and continued hunting until my father and brother returned home in the evening after work.

    That night we all gathered in the basement study.

    My father talked about various things that Myongjin was involved with and the trends of ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ now and in the future in detail as if he wanted to brief me on purpose.

    After that, my sister said to me, ¡°Show it to me!¡±

    She asked me to show her my status window.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while since I saw itst. It was awesome back then, so I¡¯m really curious how much it has changed. I know lots of stuff has happened to you, brother.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    At first, I was a bit surprised by her unexpected request.

    When she asked, not only my father but also my brother, mother, as well as Director Sok, who I saw more often than our in-house butler, looked at me with sparkling eyes.

    Obviously, they also wanted to see my status window.

    So I nodded slowly because I had no reason to hide it from my family members and Sok.

    So, they wore the 3rd generation VR devices always kept in the basement study and essed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ right away.

    Of course, not only I, who was very active under the name of Asirante, but also my father, brother, sister, and Director Sok didn¡¯t meet immediately because our faces were widely known within ¡®Revival Legend.¡¯

    Moreover, we prepared a ce for our secret meeting in advance.

    So, I moved to a nearby teleport zone to move to the secret ce.

    ¡°Move to Rodon Castle.¡±

    [You have moved to Rodon Castle.]

 Chapter 162 - Total Beginner (3)

    <h4>Chapter 162: Total Beginner (3)</h4>

    As soon as I arrived at Rodon Castle, I moved towards the South and approached a decently sized building in the central district.

    This was a secret house that only a few people could move from the makeshift teleport zone installed in Myongjin¡¯s main stronghold.

    Moreover, the location of this secret house was a secret.

    In other words, very few people knew the building here so we could meet without anyone knowing. Of course, I was extremely careful all the time.

    After confirming that I obtained the level 1200 Privilege: Reality Actualization, my father told me that my safety was top priority, so I had to move carefully because of that.

    Anyway, when I got there, my family and Director Sok were waiting for me.

    Then, I showed them my status window that my sister wanted to see.

    ¡°Show status window fully.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    My status window and list of titles were so amazing to my family members when I first showed it to them.

    But it was even more amazing this time because I had obtained a lot more since then.

    ¡°You have seven titles now?¡±

    ¡°Open list of titles!¡±

    When she mentioned it, I even opened my list of titles in my status window.

    And they showed the same reaction as when they first checked out my status window.

    They all liked it because my strength not only affected me, but also all the members of the Myongjin Guild, including my dad, mother, brother, sister, and Director Sok.

    In particr, my mother even shed tears of joy, but I understood her feelings well because she had always felt sorry for mepared to my brother and sister.

    Our small meeting in the basement study ended after they confirmed my status window in ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    The next day, I attended the wedding at 11 am.

    The main characters of the wedding ceremony were the immediate family members of the chairmen of the Daesung and Kusan business groups.

    It seemed that the two business groups hit it off very well when they teamed up during the recent 4th Anniversary event.

    Nheless, nobody expected they would join hands so quickly.

    Even my father and Director Sok who mentioned it to me first could not help but be surprised.

    Anyway, it was the wedding of the direct descendants of the leaders of Daesung and Kusan, which were a part of Korea¡¯s top five business groups.

    Regardless of whether they knew the truth of ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ or not, everyone made a big fuss about it because the union of Daesung and Kusan was a very big event that would bring about a redistribution in power of the five top business groups in Korea.

    Of course, the chairmen of Myongjin, Mirae and Daeyu attended the ceremony inorder to give them a nominal congrattion.

    Deep down, they would have to be feeling unsettled, especially the members of the Mirae Group.

    As a matter of fact, Mirae was the unshakeable top business group for a long time, so much so that Korea was often called the Republic of Mirae.

    Anyway, it was a grand wedding.

    I sat down in the VIP seats along with my family members and watched the wedding ceremony.

    While I was watching it, I could hear very clearly the various whispers amongst the guests seated in the halle.

    ¡°What if Mirae and Myongin also join hands in response to this union?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, you must be kidding. Think about Mirae¡¯s unrivalled status.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you are right.¡±

    That was the conversation between Junghan Kim, the Chairman of Daesung, and Unki Chung, the Chairman of the Kusan Group.

    Obviously, they were seated a bit far from me, but I could clearly hear their whispers.

    ¡®Is this the power of my 7% reality actualization?¡¯

    It was impossible for an ordinary man with good hearing to hear the whispering of the guests from such a distance, especially while the music was constantly ying and the emcee was talking loudly through the microphone.

    Moreover, there were almost 4,500 guests at the wedding ceremony.

    Of course, I could not catch hold of the full conversation between the two chairmen but I got the gist clearly.

    They continued.

    ¡°Moreover, didn¡¯t Myongjin and Mirae break the tacit agreement first?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. They are aggressively buying golden rings first to clean out several items.¡±

    ¡°You bet. Even though they are quietly and secretly doing it, that makes me upset even more.

    This is clearly aimed at us. So, we have to join hands together to cope with them.¡±

    Just like the two chairmen said, I realized that we were already caught by them even though we used extreme caution to secretly collect the golden rings.

    Of course, neither I nor my dad, my brother and Director Sok, thought that we could keep it a secret for long.

    Although Korea cannot be said to be small in size, it is certainly a narrow ce for Mirae, Myongjin, Daesung, Kusan, and Daeyu topete with each other.

    ¡®Should we have moved more aggressively overseas?¡¯

    Of course, the channel or wall blocking off different countries will disappear someday.

    That¡¯s why we continued to collect golden rings abroad.

    But it was clear that they had already caught us doing it.

    I didn¡¯t think deeply about it anymore because the grand wedding was over, and I followed my dad, mom, brother and sister outside the wedding hall.

    In the meantime, we encountered the chairmen of Daesung and Kusan who earlier hurled abuses at Mirae and Myongjin, but they conversed with us amicably showing no hint of their earlier conversation.

    After that, I didn¡¯t go home immediately after the ceremony because they hosted a banquet for the guests, not to mention a separate event for the young guests around my age.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t want to attend it because I wanted to go home and y ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    However, they arranged for me to attend it, so I did.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    It¡¯s only 2 pm now.

    Since this event was arranged by Daesung and Kusan, I had to be conscious of other guests around me and pay attention to my conduct.

    Of course the atmosphere wasn¡¯t bad.

    So, I was going to spend some time here before going back home when Jina Chung, the daughter of the Kusan chairman who was one year older than me, said casually, ¡°Why don¡¯t we ess Revival Legend together instead of idling away like this? We have never yed the game together, right?¡±.

    Since the others were also feeling bored at the moment, her suggestion sparked their interest.

    Soon, a bunch of 3rd generation VR devices were prepared for us.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t want to hang out together with them because if I partied with them while hunting, I wouldn¡¯t be able to attack even one monster.

    As a matter of fact, I was not supposed to stand out among them anyway.

    Even if I didn¡¯t equip any of my items, including the functional skill ring, my power was still clearly beyond what ordinary people could understand.

    Moreover, it was already widely rumored that I, the youngest member of the Myongjin group, was of such a low level that I could not participate in the 4th Anniversary event.

    Of course, I spread such rumors on purpose.

    Anyway, I could not help but be very much embarrassed by the unexpected situation.

    However, everyone else had already begun to support Jina¡¯s suggestion.

    Even Bora Yon, who was next to me, asked upon seeing my hesitation, ¡°Why? Any other appointment?¡±

    ¡°Not really¡­¡±

    But she seemed to have been mistaken.

    ¡°Oh, maybe you are afraid of beingpared to them?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Of course, I was worried that I would bepared to them because my current level was so different from what was publicly known.

    Anyway, considering the current atmosphere, I couldn¡¯t refuse . So I reluctantly logged in.

    After that, I moved to the Biting Wind Canyon where we decided to gather .

    Of course, I removed my ID Asirante and used Lumen instead.

    At the Biting Wind Canyon.

    ¡°Wow! It¡¯s a legendary grade and +7 enhancement.¡±

    ¡°You must be kidding. It¡¯s verymon even within the legend grade.¡±

    ¡°But +7 enhancement is terrific.¡±

    ¡°By the way, when did you level up that much? You alwaysined because you could not find time to y games.¡±

    ¡°Man, don¡¯t bring it up. My dad told me he would suspend my credit card if I couldn¡¯t level up this much, so I grinded really hard.¡±

    There were already a fair few people in the Biting Wind Canyon.

    And they were talking with each other whileparing their items and status windows.

    At that moment, Bora who used ID Kali, came to me and said, ¡°Oh, you arete.¡±

    I replied, ¡°Yeah, I was a little farther away.¡±

    Although I exchanged messages with her, I had never encountered her directly in ¡°Revival Legend¡±. I avoided her on purpose because Asirante, a famous and powerful ice-type wizard, and I, Lumen, were one and the same.

    Then I faced a situation that I hoped would not happen.

    ¡°Juyoung, what level are you?¡±asked Daesung¡¯s Cholmin Kim who was my age.

    ¡°Level 589.¡±

 Chapter 163 - Total Beginner (4)

    <h4>Chapter 163: Total Beginner (4)</h4>

    The effect of the additional EXP gem was tremendous.

    It didn¡¯t take me long to reach level 589 after starting hunting at level 530.

    ¡°Really? I know you startedte, but you have leveled up a lot. Well, I guess the Myongjin Group has helped you a lot. Then, what is your job and stats?¡±

    ¡°Wizard. Of course, my stats are concentrated in Intellect.¡±

    I mentioned wizard instead of an ice-type wizard on purpose.

    Even if I mentioned an ice-type wizard, there was zero possibility that he would suspect me as Asirante, but I still wanted to be as cautious as possible.

    ¡°What about your status window?¡±

    ¡°Just so-so. Not good enough to boast about.¡±

    If I open my status window now, I would definitely shock him. And there are so many around me right now who are closely watching our conversation.

    So, I talked with him as if I was just nobody.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t have to act so humbly in the presence of the sons and daughters of Korea¡¯s top business groups, for the Myongjin Group was also one of them.

    However, Cholmin did not ask about my status window or items anymore as if he realized I was not strong enough to draw his attention.

    Anyway, when we all gathered together, we formed a party and moved into the Biting Wind Canyon.

    [You have been invited to the hunting party.

    -Currently, you have two IDs: Lumen and Asirante.

    -You can select which ID to use.]

    Of course, I chose Lumen.

    ¡®Select Lumen.¡¯

    They started attacking the monsters.

    ¡°Poison Arrow!¡±

    ¡°Bind them. Iron shackles!¡±

    ¡°Burn! Hellfire that burns even the soul!¡±

    :

    ¡°The water spirit¡¯s extreme tsunami!¡±

    ¡°Chain Lightning.¡±

    ¡°Fire Lance.¡±

    First of all, everyone gathered here was within the top 1% of the Korean rankings.

    Of course, there might be some who were a bit low level, but they had enough items to make up for it.

    And they boasted of extraordinary damage.

    Butpared to me?

    They were far behind me, of course. So much so that I would feel embarrassed to bepared to them.

    That¡¯s why I could not attack, but that eventually drew the attention as 10, 20 and 30 minutes passed. I was not doing anything while they were fully showing off their skills.

    ¡®Man, let alone Mirae, is Myongjin even on par with Daesung or Kusan?¡±

    ¡®You haven¡¯t heard about him yet? Look at the 4th anniversary event. Among the immediate family members of the top five business groups, he was the only one who was not included in the squad.¡±

    ¡®Isn¡¯t it shameful for him to fall behind like that as someone who has the backing of Myongjin Group?¡¯

    ¡®Hey, he is looking at us. Be quiet. Remember he is from Myongjin.¡±

    Somehow, I looked not suitable for inclusion in this group and they even looked down on me since I was doing nothing while others were busy showing off their excellent abilities.

    So, I muttered just loud enough so I was overheard.

    ¡°Damn it. How can I dare to attack the monsters when my level is so shamefully lowpared to them?¡±

    In other words, I pretended to be a total beginner in their eyes.

    The wedding ceremony of Daesung and Kusan.

    Although not all those who attended were business conglomerates, most of them were wealthy enough not to be ignored by other groups.

    Of course, the wealth was achieved by their parents and grandparents, not themselves.

    Anyway, having such wealth, it was natural for them to pay considerable attention to how they look at others, aside from their high pride, because they were educated and lived like that until now.

    So, when I talked carelessly as if I didn¡¯t care about my dignity or pride, they became silent for a while, for Myongjin was a name they could not trifle with in Korea and I was a core family member of the Myongjin Group.

    Given the reactions of those around me, it seemed that my pretense to be a total nobody paid off.

    ¡°Hmm. Shall we go a little further inside?¡±

    ¡°Alright. I think our hunting party is strong enough.¡±

    ¡°Great.¡±

    Of course, I intended for this from the beginning.

    Since most of them were busy showing off their skills, I could not help but stand out among them because I was doing nothing.

    So, I deliberately pretended to be a total beginner so they would no longer pay attention to me.

    But I didn¡¯t like this situation. Like them, I also wanted to show off.

    Besides, these guys were my peers who were the sons and daughters of my mother¡¯s friends, so I was destined to bepared with them all the time. As a result, I was itching to show off too.

    Moreover, I now know that I have the desire to win and show off in games, which I thought I didn¡¯t have in the past because I¡¯ve always regarded games as a refuge, haven or resting ce. Back then, I was just pretending to be unambitious for fear of struggling within games as well, and not just reality. At that time I was not sure if I could shine like my ID Lumen represented, no matter how hard I struggled. But now I can. My ID is already shining.

    Of course, my shining ID is not Lumen, but Asirante. But in the end, Asirante is still me.

    At that moment, I observed them work together to hunt the monsters in the Biting Wind Canyon.

    Ice Storm?

    Well, I was confident of killing all the monsters instantly in this canyon with Pouring Hail or Ice Rain instead of Ice Storm.

    I let out a strainedughter while lowering my head so nobody could see me. It was ridiculous that I had to pretend to be useless like this. But I didn¡¯t regret my action, for someday I would be able to reveal my ID before them proudly.

    Somehow, I thought that the day was not far away.

    Anyway, my pretense that I was not strong enough to hang out with them paid off. They no longer paid attention to me, so I followed them with a rxed mood.

    I thought I fooled everyonepletely until someone said something behind me.

    ¡°You did not have to go as far as that, did you?¡±

    I knew who was speaking since only Bora followed behind me from the beginning.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    At the moment, I was speechless.

    As a matter of fact, it is really hard for the core members of the top business groups to lie since they would disgrace their family members if found out. So, no one other than Bora doubted me.

    ¡°Because that is the truth¡­¡± I replied, stiffening my face to show as little expression as possible.

    However, it seemed she expected my reply.

    ¡°Well, you may be right, Juyoung. But even if what you said is true, you know well what it means, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course. But I don¡¯t think I can disgrace Myongjin anymore than I already have.¡±

    I turned and opened my mouth, staring into her eyes.

    ¡°¡­¡± This time, Bora didn¡¯t reply.

    Everybody knows that I was the only one among the lineal descendants of the top five groups Mirae, Myongjin, Daesung, Kusan, and Daeyu, who was not included in the elite squad participating in the 4th anniversary event.

    Of course, I participated as a member of the Daeyu Guild under the name of Asirante.

    In any case, it seemed that this time my answer satisfied her, given that she didn¡¯t respond to me at all. And I didn¡¯t say anymore.

    But there was something that bothered me, namely her words ¡®you may be right, Juyoung.¡¯

    Like the others here, she also needed to totally believe my words. But I didn¡¯t want to make any bigger trouble, so I didn¡¯t mention it anymore.

    That day passed like that, with the rumors about Juyoung Hong being a total beginner despite receiving a lot of help as a lineal descendant of the Myongjin Family widely spreading.

    At the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat the next day.

    ¡°Ice Storm! Pouring Hail!¡±

    Puck! Puck!

    Pitter-Patter! Pitter-Patter!

    ¡°Kuuuuuuung!¡±

    ¡°Kheeeeeek!¡±

    My immediate goal was level 600.

    Since I was about to reach it, I essed the ¡°Revival Legend¡± in the morning as soon as I woke up, and moved to the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat to begin hunting.

    Of course, there was some noise in the hunting ground when I got there.

    There were close to 20 men there, and some of them naturally liked to talk about rumors about me. Moreover, the rumors began to snowball to the point that I was just a total idiot who didn¡¯t know my own ce.

    Normally, I would have been very embarrassed and would have some strategy to quell the rumors for fear that my family members might hear them.

    However, the rumors did not influence me to change my attitude at all, not to mention the attitudes of my father, mother, brother, and sister.

    My sister even teased me.

    [Super Beauty: Lol. Our newbie, Juyoung. Do you want me to help you level up?]

    Of course, I was too high level for my sister to help me.

    It¡¯s me who has to help her level up.

    But neither my sister nor anyone else in my family asked for my help because all of them wanted me to go beyond level 700 and reach level 1200 as soon as possible.

    And I was quick-witted enough to understand what her joke meant.

    Anyway, I let the rumors about me go in one ear and out the other.

    Instead, I focused on hunting harder.

    [You have leveled up.]

 Chapter 164 - Total Beginner (5)

    <h4>Chapter 164: Total Beginner (5)</h4>

    I was finally able to achieve level 600 within a few days.

    Of course, I was aiming for level 700 because that was when I could use the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword and level 1200 because that was when I could increase my reality actualization rate freely instead of being limited by it simply being a preview.

    However, even level 600 was one of the numerous rites of passage.

    Perhaps that¡¯s why a series of messages rang one after another.

    [Congrattions! You have acquired three skill points as a reward for achieving level 600.

    -You can also acquire level 6 skills.]

    At levels 5, 100, 200, 300, and 400 respectively, I received the ability to get level 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 skills and the skill points to learn them. But I did not get anything at level 500.

    In other words, I could not help but be excited because I could acquire new skills after a long time and acquiring new skills was a surefire way for me to be stronger than before.

    ¡°Oh,e to think of it, I acquired new skills not too long ago.¡±

    Actually I recently learned ¡®Ice-type skill damage increase¡¯ with the two skill points I received as a reward for Region 0. I even received the limited skill ¡®Savant¡¯.

    Anyway, when I moved quickly in excitement to acquire a new skill, I had to stop for a moment because of an unexpected message. And that message wasn¡¯t even about level 600.

    [Hi. I am the administrator of ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    -Following the level 400 and level 800 regr quests, I will exin to you about the new level 1200 regr quest.]

    Certainly there was an announcement about the 1200 level regr quest at the time of the 4th anniversary event. But I stopped thinking about it because there was no further update about it even after the 4th anniversary event was over. Besides, I was so busy dealing with some important things such as leveling up and my forced exile to Region 0 by Pablo that I could not pay attention to it.

    ¡°Hmm. I wish I could start itter, like when I reach level 700.¡±

    Considering the level 400 and level 800 regr quests, it was highly likely that the level 1200 regr quest was also one that involved blocking something, namely, a defense-type quest.

    Of course, I don¡¯t know how difficult the level 1200 regr quest is, but I am confident I can clear it at my current level, and by andslide at that.

    However, level 700 would significantly change mybat powerpared to level 600, despite the difference in only 100 levels, because I can equip the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword that I¡¯ve been looking forward to all this time.

    One thing I regretted was I could not take part in the special event that took ce with the arrival of the level 400 and level 800 regr quests. So, I felt I could achieve an overwhelming score if this special event proceeded after I reached level 700.

    At that moment, as expected, a message rang.

    [A special event will be held with the introduction of the new level 1200 regr quest.]

    [Catch Up With Yourself.

    -When you participate in this event, you will be back at level 0, the initial level.

    For the next 30 days, you must try to catch up with the status window you possess before starting the event as much as possible.

    After starting at the initial level of 0, your catch-up percentage will increase by at least 0.1% when your stats increase ording to your level-ups, skills, or items.

    However, for those who achieve the same catch-up percentage, additional points are given to those who have a status window of a higher level.

    For example, if users at level 100 and level 200 participate in the event and they both achieve a catch-up percentage of 30%, the level 200 user will receive a higher score.

    : Special rewards will be given to those users who rank in the top 30by converting the percentage achieved to bonus points that will be added to their final point total at the end of the quest.

    : You cannot change the items currently equipped until you make a decision to participate in the quest or not.]

    ¡°Um¡­¡±

    First of all, I was not happy about it because I had to start over from the initial level 0 for 30 days.

    ¡°Check status window.¡±

    [Name: Lumen, Asirante

    Level: 600

    Number of kills: 1284, Number of deaths: 0

    Title: Only Closed Beta Max Level Achiever and 6 others.:]

    ¡°¡­.¡±

    My status window always impressed me whenever I opened it.

    Honestly, I even thought it was a scam.

    But do I have to start with level 0 and catch up with my current level within 30 days?

    Although I had prior experience of fully devoting myself to the game like during the 3rd Closed Beta, I really didn¡¯t have the confidence to reach 5% even if I fully devoted myself to the game for 30 days.

    Maybe I can reach 3%.

    In other words, no matter how much I thought about it, I felt this challenge was pointless.

    Moreover, I felt that the 30 days that I had to spend were a total waste.

    Under the assumption that I hunted hard for the next 30 days, I will easily reach level 700.

    At that moment, another message rang as if it read my mind.

    [If you participated in the event, the following rewards will be given by default.

    -For a challenger between levels 1-499.

    : Acquire 150 remaining stat points.

    -For a challenger between level 500~999.

    : Acquire 300 remaining stat points.

    -For a challenger level 1000 or higher.

    : Acquire 450 remaining stat points.

    -The above rewards will be given to all participants regardless of their achievements at the end of the 30 day event. This reward is not included in the other end rewards including those special rewards for ranking in the top 30.]

    In other words, the remaining stat points will be given to any participant.

    Considering I am level 600, I will be given 300 remaining stat points.

    Of course, it is not a small number.

    Aside from being small or big, the remaining stat points obtained this way will be clearly more valuable than those obtained through level up or items, for leveling up is getting harder and there are restrictions on wearing items.

    Moreover, one of the sources of my strength is the fairlyrge number of remaining stat points I got this way. So I had to take part in the event unconditionally.

    At that moment, I thought twice about it.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll obtain only 300 remaing stat points.¡±

    I can say confidently that it is more valuable for me to hunt for 30 days rather than to receive 300 remaining stat points and the reward, if any, at the end of the event.

    In the meantime, I thought about the other participants.

    ¡°Definitely all of them will participate.¡±

    Of course, they would because the remaining 150, 300, and 450 stat points were never easily obtained. Besides, ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ was not a game that they would spend only a day or two ying. In other words, those who had no choice but to participate in the event were supposed to spend 30 days without leveling up.

    But for me who would not take part in the event, 30 days was a very precious time which I could use to close the gap with those ahead of me.

    ¡°Wow, this is good for me.¡±

    The more I thought about it, the better it was for me.

    Actually I liked it very much because I had little chance of ranking in the top 30 and being given a special reward, and the remaining stat points of 300 were nothing,pared with what I could achieve from hunting for 30 days.

    ¡°I wish everyone could participate. Especially all those at level 1000 level or above.¡±

    Anyway, even though I would not participate in the event, I decided that it was a very good event. I was going to continue walking to acquire my new skills when a message rang again.

    [Congrattions! Lumen, Asirante, you have been chosen to participate in the ¡®Catch Up with Yourself¡¯ event.

    In ten seconds you will be moved to the nearest safety zone and your status window will change to that of the initial level 0.]

    ¡°?¡±

    Considering everything, I clearly concluded that I would not challenge this event because it was more advantageous for me not to.

    But the message forced me to participate in the event anyway.

    ¡°Damn it! What the heck is this?¡±

    I hurled curses before I knew it because no matter how much I tried, there was no possibility that I would rank in the top 30. Besides, I would only receive 300 stat points which was nothingpared to the 30 days I would concentrate on hunting. However, I felt my body being moved somewhere as if it didn¡¯t care about my resentment.

    Of course, I knew I would be moved to the nearest safety zone.

    Anyway, I spat out one phrase in a fit of anger.

    ¡°Man, I¡¯ve fallen to the status of a beginner, a total beginner.¡±

    Even if the event wouldst only for 30 days, I should have been careful what I wished for. I suddenly felt empty and bitter.

 Chapter 165 - Difference in Order (1)

    <h4>Chapter 165: Difference in Order (1)</h4>

    In the central square of Adelio Castle.

    ¡°Oh! We definitely have to participate in this!¡±

    ¡°Absolutely. Regardless of the result, we will receive a whopping 300 remaining stat points! 300 is huge, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Man, if I leveled up just a little more, I would have reached level 1000! Then I would have gotten 450 stat points.¡±

    ¡°Hey. 300 is enough. I only get 150 because I am level 437.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why I told you to level up, man.¡±

    ¡°How did I know I would take part in this kind of event? And you guys told me that the administrator hardly interferes in ¡°Revival Legend¡¯, and there is no celebration or special event at all. But what the heck is this 4th anniversary event a while ago?¡±

    ¡°Well, that one was¡­¡±

    ¡°By the way, I remember we had this kind of event during the introduction of the level 400 and level 800 regr quest. Of course, it was not as ridiculous as this event back then.¡±

    The central square of Adelio Castle which I just entered, was already noisy.

    Of course, most of them were very excited as if they weed this event.

    But I couldn¡¯t share their excitement because it was more beneficial for me not to participate in this event.

    ¡°Check status window.¡±

    Nheless, I opened the status window first with a ray of expectation of my level.

    [Name: Lumen, Asirante

    Level: 0

    Number of kills: 0, Number of deaths: 0

    Title: None.

    Health: 100/100 Mana: 100/100

    Strength: 10 Agility: 10 Stamina 10

    Willpower: 10 Intellect: 10

    Remaining Stat Points: 0

    Remaining Skill Points: 0

    Characteristics: None.]

    [23 hours and 59 minutes remaining until the start of the event ¡®Catch up With Yourself¡¯.

    Until then, you cannot acquire EXP.

    -So far, you have caught up 0%]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    As soon as I confirmed the status window, whatever little expectations I had were gone instantly.

    The status window I faced was that of a beginner to ¡®Revival Legend¡¯. It had no titles nor traits, which were like my trademarks.

    In other words, it was impossible for me to catch up even 1%, let alone the 5% that I initially expected.

    ¡°Oh my God¡­¡±

    In the end, all I would get was the 300 remaining stat points as a reward for my participation in this event. However, spending 30 days looking at it helplessly was so great a loss, so I let out a sigh before I knew it.

    And I logged out with bitterness.

    The next day, I was still reeling from the shock.

    Of course, the event was limited to 30 days.

    So, even though I knew that I would return to my original status window after 30 days, my shock did not go away easily because this is what I feared the most.

    I don¡¯t want topare it to my school days, but back then I really studied so hard that my buttocks had heat rashes. And I thought that I understood almost all of what I studied, the next day I could not remember anything and it all disappeared like smoke.

    Of course, the current situation was just an event, and everything would return to its original state after 30 days. But it was like a carbon copy of what I feared most back then, so I could not get rid of my shock.

    ¡°Whew! Anyway, my status window will go back to normal after 30 days, and that¡¯s why there are still things like this.¡±

    Of course, there were over 20 billion golden rings in my inventory,and the +3 guardian sword of the Ice Emperor, as well as all the other items that became unwearable because I was back to level 0. In other words, it was only my status window and skill window that were changed.

    Everything else was the same.

    That meant that everything I achieved so far was not an illusion but reality.

    ¡°By the way, what am I supposed to do now?¡±

    In the past, I used to wake up in the morning, shower, then have cereal for breakfast before essing ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    Then, I immersed myself in ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ until lunch, and after lunch and a little break, I would go back to the game until evening.

    Of course, I had nothing special after dinner.

    Except for my asional outdoor jogging exercise, I devoted myself to ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ until 1am. As a matter of fact, I spent most of the day ying ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    Was I bored or weary of games? Not at all.

    It was still fun.

    Anyway, I couldn¡¯t adapt to the new situation as if I was kicked out of my workce overnight and became unemployed.

    Of course, I logged in yesterday evening and this morning as well. I could gain EXP now.

    However, I was not motivated to hunt at all because it was impossible for me to rank in the top 30 even if I tried hard, and I would get 300 remaining stat points even if I did nothing.

    ¡°Gosh, what¡¯s the point of hunting? It¡¯s obvious that all of my 30 days¡¯ efforts will be in vain.¡± Nheless, I felt a bit encouraged to challenge myself a bit this morning, for I had a myth-grade ¡®additional EXP gem¡¯ which had been activated.

    But I gave it up because it was too hard for me to be included in the top rankings even if I had that gem.

    I concluded that I had better take a rest for these 30 days.

    Nheless, it was not easy for me not to do anything.

    That¡¯s why I¡¯m still pacing up and down here.

    ¡°Damn it! Why did they make me take part in the event without even considering my opinion?¡±

    In fact, I had no choice but to spit out curses when I thought about idling away at the time when I should be hunting and leveling up as much as possible.

    Anyway, I wasmenting all morning like that, but in the end, I essed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ in the afternoon because it was the only thing I was upied with.

    At Kotum Castle.

    The beginners¡¯ castle was noisy with lots of people.

    This was the castle I used during the 1st Closed Beta. This was also the ce where I took my first steps after the game¡¯s name was changed to ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    And I¡¯ve never seen so many people here. So much so that there was little space for me to even move around. Of course, I understood why it was so crowded.

    Just like other beginner castles, there were orcs and goblins that users at level 5 could hunt outside Kotum Castle.

    That¡¯s why I headed to this ce when I logged in this morning.

    Anyway, I moved to the training center.

    And I also attacked the scarecrow with a stick like others.

    Kang! Kang! Kang!

    [You have hit the scarecrow six times in a row..

    -You have received additional EXP.]

    I once seeded in hitting the scarecrow 50 times in a row.

    After destroying the scarecrow with 50 consecutive hits, I earned the title of ¡°Scarecrow Destroyer¡± as a reward.

    But now, I could hit only six times in a row.

    ¡®Huh¡­¡¯ I let out a sigh before I knew it.

    Honestly, I was not motivated at all to attack the scarecrow.

    Topare the situation now, it was like riding a new Lamborghini or Ferrari, then suddenly riding a 30-year-old old passenger car with a mileage of more than 700,000 kilometers.

    Nheless, because of surging anger or resentment, I kept striking the scarecrow with the stick. After receiving the five level-up messages, I stepped out of the training center with a weak step.

    At Kotum Castle¡¯s central za.

    I acquired Ice Ball, Ice Bolt, Ice Shield, Ice Weapon, and Minor Frostbite Damage that I could learn at level 5.

    Clearly, these skills would disappear after 30 days, but I had too many golden rings to spare. But I didn¡¯t buy items.

    Was it because I wanted to save golden rings?

    Nope. Actually, it was because they were just annoying.

    Honestly, I wanted to log out right now because what I was doing now was meaningless.

    Anyway, I learned the skills only, then went out of Kotum Castle.

    When I went out, there were already numerous novice users.

    There were more users than monsters.

    ¡°Man, it looks like somebody has opened a new server.¡±

    I moved a little further outside the castle. But it wasn¡¯t dangerous at all.

    There were still more users than monsters.

    After confirming the respawned orcs nearby, I attacked them immediately.

    ¡°Ice Ball! Ice Bolt!¡±

    Puck! Puck!

    I invested in Intellect all 50 remaining stat points that I acquired by reaching level 5.

    So, I could hunt the orcs using Ice Ball and Ice Bolt consecutively.

    But the difference in my attack power before was night and day.

    No matter how much I tried not topare it with before, I found myselfparing naturally because of the huge difference, which made me sigh endlessly.

    Anyway I hunted one orc like that, which was certainly verymon, trivial, and insignificant.

    At that moment, a message rang.

 Chapter 166 - Difference in Order (2)

    <h4>Chapter 166: Difference in Order (2)</h4>

    Of course, it was not a level-up message

    Even though I had a myth-grade ¡®additional EXP gem¡¯ and I was only level 5, I only killed one orc.

    [Your ID has changed from Lumen, Asirante to Asirante, Lumen.]

    ¡°?¡±

    I didn¡¯t understand what it meant because it only changed the order of the two IDs. But the message didn¡¯t end there.

    [The ability of the Ice Emperor ¡®Asirante¡¯ has been reflected in the status window.]

    I still could not figure out what was going on.

    However, there was something about the Ice Emperor in the description of the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    [It is a sword containing the final determination of the ice master and emperor Asirante, who fought against the Sun God Morutu who burned and evaporated everything in the world.]

    In other words, judging by the item¡¯s description, the Ice Emperor was extremely powerful because he fought against a Sun God.

    So, I opened my mouth quietly.

    ¡°Check status window.¡±

    [Name: Asirante, Lumen

    Level: 5

    Number of kills: 0, Number of deaths: 0

    Title: Ice Emperor. (It is impossible to acquire titles other than Ice Emperor)

    Health: 1,500,600 / 1,500,600

    Mana: 1,500,600 / 1,500,600

    Strength: 15010 Agility: 15010 Stamina: 15010

    Willpower: 15010 Intellect: 15060

    Remaining Stat Points: 0

    Remaining Skill Points: 0

    Traits: Primal Ice. (It is impossible to acquire traits other than Primal Ice.)]

    [Event ¡®Catch Up with Yourself¡¯ is in progress.

    -Time remaining until the end of the event.

    : 29 days 17 hours 29 minutes.

    -Your current catch-up rate.

    : 185.3%

    -Current ranking.

    : First ce.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    At that moment I just felt dizzy. Moreover, my level 600 status window was still vivid in my memory. So, it wasn¡¯t difficult for me topare the status window now and before.

    My previous strength and agility were just over 2500.My Intellect reached 18,000,my stamina was 15,000 and my willpower was less than 10,000.

    In other words, except for intellect, health, and mana, my current status window was more colorful than my previous one at level 600, even though I was level 5 with only one title.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I could not understand.

    I did nothing except killing only one orc.

    But this was a very trivial thing because there were already numerous users killing orcs everywhere.

    ¡°Check title Ice Emperor.¡±

    So, I checked my title first.

    [Title: Ice Emperor.

    -This is a title only the Ice Emperor can obtain.

    : All stats increase by 10000.

    : When you acquire ice-type skills, every stat increases by 1000.]

    I had as many as seven titles previously.

    And all of the titles granted an increase in health and mana.

    But this title didn¡¯t grant one. Besides, its description was pretty simple.

    But its options were more morous than any other title.

    ¡°That¡¯s why my strength, agility, stamina, willpower and intellect are all over 15,000?¡±

    Currently, I possess a total of 5 ice-type skills, including Minor Frostbite, Ice Ball, Ice Bolt, Ice Shield, and Ice Weapon.

    ¡°Check trait Primal Ice.¡±

    This time, I checked the trait.

    [Trait: Primal ice.

    -Primal Ice, the essence and origin of all ice, dwells in your body.

    : Increases the performance of all ice-type skills by 100%.

    : Immune to all ice-type attacks.

    : When dealing with enemies (including monsters) with ice-type skills, there is a small chance of gaining extra stat points.]

    As expected, this Primal Ice trait was also simple.

    But the first option caught my eyes because my previous Iceman trait only buffed my ice-type skills by 30%. Nevertheless, it empowered me immensely.

    Of course, I was helped by other items and my high intellect stat.

    But this time it was 100%!

    Moreover, other options such as immunity to all ice-type attacks were awesome.

    So, I had no choice but to be doubtful.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t this a scam?¡±

    No matter how much I thought about it, it was a scam.

    Right at that moment, the orc respawned, so I used Ice Ball against it.

    Puck!

    I aimed at the orc¡¯s head, but not only its head but also its whole body was blown apart.

    There even rang a message.

    [The effect of Primal Ice urs.

    -You have obtained one remaining stat point.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ording to the description, it was only a small chance.

    Of course, it is impossible to judge using only this one incident, but I couldn¡¯t help but be surprised because this kind of option was much better than all of my traitsbined.

    In addition, I liked the title of ¡°Ice Emperor¡± that increased all stat points by 1000 each time I acquired an ice-type skill.

    ***

    Outside Kotum Castle.

    I was done hunting and testing after killing one orc because if I hunted more, I would look like a high level user arrogantly hunting in this ce crowded with beginners participating in the ¡°Catch Up With Yourself¡¯ event.

    Furthermore, there was something I wanted to double check before leveling up.

    Namely, I wanted to see if I could get the title of ¡°Scarecrow Destroyer¡± that I could obtain at the training center avable for only those users who were below level 10.

    Of course, I saw the description next to the ¡°Ice Emperor¡± title that said it¡¯s impossible to acquire any other title, but I had to check it with my own eyes.

    Why? Because it would only take a few minutes for me to check it.

    After making my decision, I moved to Kotum Castle and entered the teleport zone.

    ¡°Move to Adelio Castle.¡±

    There were still too many users around Kotum Castle for me to check it here.

    So, I chose to move to Adelio Castle where only high-level hunting grounds existed.

    [Move to Adelio Castle.]

    There were quite a few users talking about this event in Adelio Castle.

    However, there were far less users here than there were at Kotum Castle.

    In no time I exited the teleport zone and arrived at the training center of Adelio Castle.

    And inside the training center, which was quietpared to the one in Kotum Castle, I wore a mask and cheap robes and moved to one corner.

    After that, I swung the club at the scarecrow.

    Kang! Kang! Kang! Kang! Kang!

    10 consecutive hits, 20 consecutive hits, and 30 consecutive hits.

    The effect of the 15,000 strength, agility and stamina that I possessed was enormous.

    Compared tost time when I could only strike the red dots appearing on the scarecrow six consecutive times, it was pretty easy for me to rack up consecutive hits now.

    I could even hit the scarecrow more than 40 hits in a row.

    Now, I seeded in getting 50 consecutive hits.

    At that moment, the scarecrow was smashed to pieces.

    Since I had experienced it before, I wasn¡¯t surprised by the scarecrow breaking to pieces. Instead, I focused my eyes on the message window.

    Atst, the message I was looking forward to earnestly rang.

    [You have seeded in hitting the scarecrow 50 times in a row.

    -You have made an impossible achievement.

    -You have obtained 200 remaining stat points.

    -Title: You have acquired the title Scarecrow Destroyer]

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    I raised my hands and cheered before I knew it.

    And I felt so proud of myself.

    Just like the saying, ¡®Look before you leap,¡¯ I could earn this reward because I double checked everything instead of taking the written description as face value.

    But the message didn¡¯t end there.

    [Currently, you hold the title of ¡®Ice Emperor¡¯.

    -You can¡¯t acquire a new title.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    This time I had to gently put down my raised hands.

    Putting my hands down, I opened my mouth straight away.

    ¡°Check status window.¡±

    Aside from the title, I clearly noticed there were certainly 200 remaining stat points.

    [Name: Asirante, lumen

    Level: 5

    :

    Remaining Stat Points: 201

    Remaining Skill Points: 0]

    Fortunately, the remaining 200 stat points were located in the status window as if it were a separate reward.

    Anyway, when I confirmed it, I began to look around.

    ¡°???¡±

    ¡°???¡±

    ¡°???¡±

    Just before entering the training center of Adelio Castle, I heard the sound of many users hitting scarecrows constantly. But they were quiet now.

    They were not only quiet, but they also all had their eyes on me just like when I first essed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ and destroyed the scarecrow for the first time at Kotum Castle.

 Chapter 167 - Iâ€™m Still Strong (1)

    <h4>Chapter 167: I¡¯m Still Strong (1)</h4>

    Of course, something different happened this time.

    I was not forcibly removed from the training center.

    Back then, I was immediately expelled from the training center upon leveling up as a part of the reward for destroying the scarecrow.

    Anyway, I had already drawn their attention, so I moved next to the scarecrow again because this was a training center which users up to level 9 could use and I was only level 5.

    In other words, even if I could not obtain a title, I could earn 200 remaining stat points again.

    But a message rang.

    [You can¡¯t attack the scarecrow.]

    ¡°...¡±

    I tried to swing the club at the scarecrow, but I couldn¡¯t move my arms.

    So, I turned immediately after checking the message.

    Tramp- Tramp-

    And I walked more confidently on purpose because I was wearing a mask and a tight fitting robe to conceal my features, and it would look terrible if I made a big fuss.

    Perhaps because of my arrogant gait, I didn¡¯t encounter any obstacles while heading out of the training center.

    My destination was the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat.

    As soon as I left the training center, I immediately moved to the hunting ground by using the Teleport Zone.

    Of course, I had some concern. Why? Given that I had almost 15000 intellect and the unbelievable trait of ¡®Primal Ice,¡¯ I was confident of doing better than when I was level 600. But in the end, the only skills I could use right now were Ice Ball and Ice Bolt.

    However, I chose this ce because I had not only 15,000 intellect, but also 15,000 strength, agility, stamina, and willpower.

    If it was too tough for me to hunt here, I could just choose another hunting ground. It would not be a big hassle.

    In any case, the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat was empty when I set foot on it at level 5. Of course, I understood why it was empty because the Myongjin Guild couldn¡¯t force its guild members not to take part in the event which was open to anybody.

    Anyway, I felt good that no one was here at this hunting ground.

    Soon, I traversed through the safety zone and entered the hunting ground.

    Shortly afterwards, I noticed three sabre steel tooth tigers.

    Until recently, I herded them in one ce using Blink with zero cooldown before hunting them all at once, but I could not hunt like that for now. I moved slowly because I had only a few skills.

    At that moment, the three sabre steel tooth tigers charged at me after noticing me.

    So, as they rushed towards me with their big fangs hanging out, I opened my mouth quietly.

    ¡°Ice Weapon.¡±

    [You have used level 1 Ice Weapon.

    -The energy of cold ice has been embedded in the beginners¡¯ light club.]

    My 15,000 strength and agility was tremendous, given that my Intellect before was my highest stat at only 18,000. And my Intellect was only that high because I had invested in Intellect alone all the remaining stat points I obtained from leveling up, quests, or events, not to mention choosing items heavily rted to Intellect.

    Moreover, I had as many as seven titles before firsting to this hunting ground.

    Although I had some concern, I still proudly came to this hunting ground anyway.

    And I didn¡¯t just look at the sabre steel tooth tigers charging at me nkly after using Ice Weapon because I was a wizard anyway.

    ¡°Ice Ball! Ice Bolt!¡±

    Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Kuuuuuuong!¡±

    ¡°Keheeeeeeng!¡±

    What I used was level 1 Ice Ball and Ice Bolt that anyone could learn at level 5.

    On the other hand, the monsters confronting me were level 800-900.

    Nheless, my Ice Ball stopped one of the sabre steel tooth tigers, while my Ice Bolt prated through the first sabre steel tooth tiger and hit the one right behind it. Of course, they didn¡¯t perish from just that.

    Even I didn¡¯t think I could kill them with just Ice Ball and Ice Bolt.

    Even if my intellect was over 15,000 and I had the terrific trait of ¡®Primal Ice¡¯, which was far superior to ¡®Iceman,¡¯ the skills affected by them were only 1 level Ice Ball and Ice Bolt.

    Nheless, I realized that even these skills alone were more powerful than I thought.

    So, what did I do?

    ¡°Ice Ball! Ice Bolt!¡±

    I spammed Ice Ball and Ice Bolt whose cooldown had already returned.

    But the sabre steel tooth tigers didn¡¯t do anything different upon seeing my attack.

    They revealed their fangs again and pounced at me.

    Did I avoid them? Or did I use Ice Shield? I did neither.

    Instead, I kept using Ice Ball and Ice Bolt, while swinging the club imbued with Ice Weapon.

    Then I struck the head of one of the sabre steel tooth tigers which was about to reach me.

    Bang!

    Along with a big shing noise, it fell down right in front of me.

    The other two opened their jaws toward my shoulders.

    However, I didn¡¯t blink.

    Was I wounded?

    Actually, I was wounded a little, but the damage was minor, almost negligible.

    ¡°Good. It¡¯s been a while since I felt refreshed in a hunting ground.¡±

    As a matter of fact, I have put a lot of time and effort into choosing a hunting ground.

    In the past, I always ruled out the hunting grounds where melee skills were required to hunt optimally in conjunction with AOE and ranged skills. These types of hunting grounds were unsuitable for me, who hunted alone..

    Why did I do so? Because leveling up was my top priority, given the fact that I started ying ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ more than three yearster than those who yed it when it first started.

    In the meantime, I didn¡¯t have to struggle to hunt since I earned Blink with zero cooldown.

    Of course, honestly, on such asions, I felt a little regret that I chose stamina as the stat that would grow 100% along with Intellect, but I disregarded it because I could not change it now.

    And there was a possibility that my enormous health would fully reveal its worthter.

    Anyway, I used Ice Ball and Ice Bolt at the belly of the sabre steel tooth tiger that bit my right shoulder, then struck it down with the club when it was pushed back by the impact.

    Bang!

    Of course, I ignored the other sabre steel tooth tiger biting my left shoulder because I knew it was more efficient to get rid of them one by one in a nasty fight like this.

    I know that in a dog fight like this, it¡¯s more efficient to take the opponents out one by one.

    So, I began to kill the sabre steel tooth tigers one by one using Ice Ball, Ice Bolt and the club imbued with Ice Weapon.

    After that, numerous messages rang because I was only a level 5 yer defeating the level 800-900 monsters, not to mention the effects of the additional EXP gem.

    [You have leveled up.]

    [You have leveled up.]

    :

    :

    [You have leveled up.]

    A lot of messages rang.

    ¡°Man, I think I can reach level 100 today.¡±

    In general, it took about 3 weeks to reach level 100 and it took me less than 5 days before.

    But this time, I thought I could do it in a day. Or much faster than that.

    But I stopped thinking about it because I could only confirm it by actually trying.

    So, I stepped further into the hunting ground with a satisfied smile.

    Two dayster, I left my one -room studio after packing some stuff.

    Of course, my destination was my main house in Cheongdam-dong.

    And when I arrived there, my sister greeted me more dly than my mother this time.

    They were smiling at me broadly.

    Of course, I knew why she was so happy. It was because she found out that I was forced into participating in the ¡®Catch Up With Yourself¡¯ event.

    In fact, I was really upset at first that I was forced to participate in the event against my will because I would be back at level 0, the total beginner.

    As a result, the status window of a user who first essed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ pissed me off and even frustrated me because not only my seven titles but also my three traits disappeared all of a sudden.

    At that time, Iined to my sister about it secretly because I felt it was really unfair for me to receive such treatment.

    To my surprise, however, my sister liked my forced participation and insteadofforting me, she got all happy saying that she finally could beat me for the first time, which she had never dreamed of until then.

 Chapter 168 - Iâ€™m Still Strong (2)

    <h4>Chapter 168: I¡¯m Still Strong (2)</h4>

    Anyway, after weing me gleefully, she kept telling me to ess ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ as soon as possible. My father and brother were still working at thepany. So at her strong urging, I logged into the game and moved to the secret house in Rodon Castle that only my family members and Director Sok knew about.

    When my sister and I moved to the basement of the secret house, I saw a small arena there that they had built without telling me about.

    ¡°Hahahaha, brother. I never expected a day like this woulde.¡±

    With her arms folded, she spoke with a big smile.

    Of course, I knew why she was all smiles, but I asked her, pretending not to know, ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°You really don¡¯t know? I can teach you a good lesson today,¡± she said jubntly.

    Of course, I knew she tried tofort me after hearing myints.

    My sister was kind and generous to me like this.

    But I was stupid enough not to have noticed this characeristic of hers in the past.

    Why? Like my elder brother, she was very smart, so both of them were the target of my jealousy.

    So, I said, smiling gently at her, ¡°Well, do you think you can teach me?¡±

    ¡°Are you kidding? Don¡¯t you remember you cried andined to me that you were back to being a total beginner at level 0¡±

    ¡°Nope! I didn¡¯t cry!¡±

    I immediately refuted her exaggeration, but she didn¡¯t care.

    Anyway, because there was no death penalty nor an increase of the number of deaths in the pre-installed small arena, I finally agreed to have a match against her.

    ¡°Fireball! Fire Arrow!¡±

    As a matter of fact, she was also participating in the event.

    Regardless of whether or not she ranked in the top 30, the 450 remaining stat point reward was so attractive to her as she was already over level 1000.

    So, she freely used the low-level fire-type skills she had avable to her.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t respond to her attacks.

    Since I tanked the attacks of the level 800-9000 sabre steel tooth tigers, my sister¡¯s attack would barely tickle me.

    As for my counterattack? Of course, I didn¡¯t.

    It was highly likely that my sister, a fire-type wizard, would be immediately struck down even with my low level skills like Ice Ball or Ice Bolt.

    So, my sister attacked me, but I endured without striking back.

    As expected, she noticed my strange behaviour.

    Perhaps that¡¯s why she stopped attacking and immediately asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you were participating in the event?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I am participating in it,¡± I casually replied to her, who was clearly very embarrassed.

    ¡°Are you making fun of me?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha,¡± I burst intoughter instead of replying.

    She approached me with an angry expression, but I wasn¡¯t scared at all.

    Anyway, when she came close to me, I opened my mouth.

    ¡°Check status window. Reveal everything.¡±

    Since seeing is believing, I showed my status window to her.

    [Name: Asirante, Lumen

    Level: 167

    Number of kills: 0, Number of deaths: 0

    Title: Ice Emperor. (You can¡¯t acquire titles other than Ice Emperor.)

    Health: 1,852,000 / 1,852,000

    Mana: 1,861,000 / 1,861,000

    Strength: 18010 Agility: 18010 Stamina: 18270

    Willpower: 18310 Intellect: 21427

    Remaining Stat Points: 0

    Remaining Skill Points: 0

    Traits: Primal Ice. (You can¡¯t acquire traits other than Primal Ice)]

    After reaching level 100, I acquired three skill points and used them to learn level 2 Ice Field, Pouring Hail and Ice st. It was natural I did so.

    However, every time I learned one of the skills, a message rang right away.

    [ You have acquired a new ice-type skill called ¡®Ice Field¡¯.

    -All stat points increase by 1000 due to the effects of the Ice Emperor title.]

    The above message rang when I learned not only Ice Field, but also Pouring Hail and Ice st. In other words, even though I learned only three new skills, my strength, agility, stamina, willpower, and intellect all increased by 3,000 each.

    In addition, I invested in intellect all the remaining stat points I had obtained from leveling up and the remaining stat points that I earned at a low probability from hunting monsters from the effects of the trait ¡®Primal Ice.¡¯

    Thanks to that, by the time I reached level 167, I already surpassed the stats I had at level 600 before participating in the event. Well, describing my status as simply ¡®surpassed¡¯ was not enough because I went through such a drastic change. As a matter of fact, my strength and agility alone reached 18,000, not to mention my intellect, stamina, and willpower.

    But even more shocking was the fact that when I reached level 200 my strength, agility, stamina, willpower and intellect would increase by another 3,000 from learning more skills.

    Anyway, my sister was aghast when she confirmed my status window.

    She said, ¡°How dare you make fun of me? You didn¡¯t take part in the ¡®Catch Up With Yourself¡¯ event, did you? By the way, when did your intellect exceed 21,000? Uh? Why is your strength, agility, stamina and willpower also reaching 18,000?¡±

    Her expression was constantly changing, so I gave her a mischievous smile.

    Why? Because my status window right now was much better than that of my level 600 status window before. So, if I could choose between my previous status window and my current one, I would always select my current one.

    If I acquired 30 ice-type skills, I would get a 30,000 increase in all stat points, whichbined with the 10,000 stat points I got initially with the Ice Emperor title, would give me a 40,000 total in each stat point from the title alone. This was a figure that I could not catch up with even with Mutual Growth.

    In addition, with the remaining stat points and items acquired by leveling up, and the effects of trait ¡°Primal Ice,¡± I thought I could easily achieve as high as 60,000 intellect.

    However, there was something I regretted. Namely, Blink with zero cooldown.

    Honestly, I badly wanted the trait, God of Enhancement, but I could give it up because it would be a worthy trade off if I had stat points exceeding 40,000, 50,000 and 60,000.

    However, I really could not give up Blink with zero cooldown because it was so good.

    ¡°Hahahaha.¡±

    At that moment I burst into a smile before I knew it because I was counting my chickens before they hatched.

    Watching my strange behaviour, my sister asked again, ¡°What happened? I understand you didn¡¯t take part in the event. But your status window doesn¡¯t make any sense!¡±

    My sister still seemed to think that I was not participating in this event.

    So, I pointed at one part of the status window, namely my level.

    ¡°!!!¡±

    Of course, my sister knew what my level was.

    In other words, my level 167 was clear evidence that I was participating in this event.

    After checking it, my sister couldn¡¯t open her mouth for a while, staring at my status window nkly.

    That evening there was a big fuss over my status window because of my sister.

    So I opened my status window again when my family members and Director Sok gathered at the basement study of my house in Cheongdam-dong.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Before I opened it, they were half in doubt.

    After checking it with their eyes, they showed the same reaction as my sister.

    Of course, I understood their feelings because even I myself thought my status window was absurd.

    Atst, my brother said, ¡°Juyoung, it seems the administrator of this game ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ likes you very much.¡±

    Hearing that, not only my family members but also Director Sok nodded.

    I didn¡¯t refute what my brother said because my current status window was enough evidence.

    Anyway, it is inevitable that I will win first ce in this event.

    As a matter of fact, my family and Director Sok also had no doubt that I would win first ce.

    So, the atmosphere was so good that we all had dinner in the basement study.

    While Juyoung was having a great time with his family, there was a grave development unfolding in San Francisco, America.

    ¡°What level did you say Asirante was?¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ve confirmed he is level 167.¡±

    ¡°That means¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, it is clear that Asirante is also currently participating in the ¡®Catch Up With Yourself¡¯ event.¡±

 Chapter 169 - Iâ€™m Still Strong (3)

    <h4>Chapter 169: I¡¯m Still Strong (3)</h4>

    Three forces dominated ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ in the United States: The U.S. Government, the Holdridge Group covering the US east coast, and the Shaipe Group covering the US west coast.

    Among them, the Holdridge Group was archaic and established a thorough hierarchy with its major yers consisting of those who were wealthy and from powerful families. On the other hand, Shaipe had a rather liberal atmosphere because its major yers were the nouveau riche. They were based in California in the US west coast.

    Each group had many different factions, who formed and dissolved alliances with each other ording to their interests.

    Edwin, who had been alienated from the core of the Shaipe Group as a result of this infighting, always longed to return to its core.

    Of course, the most obvious way for him to achieve his goal was to secure a trustworthy ally to support him.

    Edwin thought that Asirante alone would be more than enough to fill this role.

    He even thought that he could even be one of the top five executives of the Holdridge Group, who were regarded as the most powerful within the group .

    However, since it would be very difficult to make Asirante his ally, he could not sit idle, doing nothing.

    But while he was pondering over how to win over Asirante, he heard that Asirante was also taking part in this event.

    Edwin¡¯s eyes sparkled because he had already confirmed that when Asirante participated in the ¡°Catch Up with Yourself¡± event, so not only his titles but also his traits would disappear.

    In other words, it was clear that Asirante had be a beginner, losing all his tremendous abilities since he was starting from scratch again.

    Of course, Asirante must have a lot of wealth, including golden rings, befitting his abilities, but Edwin judged that it would not pose an issue because the current Asirante could not equip powerful items beyond his current low level.

    So, he said to Jacob, his most trusted subordinate, ¡°Prepare to bring Asirante secretly into the Ring of Death. You must not let anybody know.¡¯

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±

    Edwin decided to use his trait, the Death Ring, and Jacob¡¯s trait, Summon, without informing the rest of the Shaipe Group of his decision.

    And he made up his mind to talk seriously with Asirante in the very ce where none of them could exit until one of them died.

    Anyway, Jacob moved quickly upon receiving his boss¡¯s order.

    But Jacob had one question that kept nagging at him, namely, how Asirante was level 167 already.

    No matter how famous and powerful Asirante was, level 167 was too high to achieve in only four days after the ¡°Catch Up with Yourself¡± event began.

    So, Jacob paid a lot of money to those who could confirm Asirante¡¯s level and confirmed it several times. But the results were always the same.

    Moreover, Jacob had already made several transactions with them, so it was impossible for them to lie to him because he would find out anyway. So Jacob believed their reports.

    ¡®Good. I don¡¯t know what kind of trick Asirante used to reach his current level, but since he started from scratch again, he will not be able to get out of the ring this time.¡±

    Although Jacob had such doubts, he did not disagree with his boss Edwin¡¯s decision because Edwin did not participate in the event.

    In other words, Jacob thought that even if Asirante had a hidden card, he would not be able to do anything before his formidable boss Edwin who was level 1179.

    Anyway, Jacob moved carefully.

    Even if Asirante¡¯s recruitment would benefit Shaipe tremendously, it was not something the other two groups were willing to see.

    At the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat the next day.

    Although it¡¯s a bit shameful for me to reveal this, I don¡¯t have very good control over my power like others think. Besides, I¡¯m not good at adapting to change immediately.

    So, it was almost unreasonable for me, who had been only a ranged wizard in all games including ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ to fully use my strength and agility stats which reached 18,000 right now.

    Besides, I was supposed to maintain them for only 30 days, or 26 days as of today.

    So, I wasn¡¯t greedy.

    Using Ice Weapon I struck down a monster that approached close to me.

    Bang! Bang!

    ¡°Kheeeeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Khuuuuuuuuung!¡±

    Of course, I discarded the beginners light club.

    Although the price of low-level items increased by four timespared to before, I was rich enough to buy them. So, I obtained a +7 club that wasn¡¯t a normal or rare grade, but a precious grade item.

    Honestly, I didn¡¯t need this kind of clubbing to kill monsters because I was no longer a level 5 user with only Ice Ball and Ice Bolt.

    ¡°Ice Field! Pouring Hail¡±

    Pasasasak!

    Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

    I used AOE skills towards the monsters that I had herded together.

    Of course,pared to Blink with zero cooldown, I was not agile enough even though my agility reached 18,000. As a matter of fact, no matter how high my agility was, it could not bepared to Blink with zero cooldown.

    However, it was enough for me to chase the swift sabre steel tooth tigers, and my strength and stamina which also reached 18,000 were enough for me to ignore or parry their asional attacks.

    In addition, I used not only AOE skills but also the club to strike down the nearby tigers, not to mention Ice st to finish them off.

    Actually, all these skills were just enough for me to hunt the monsters.

    I didn¡¯t have to dwell on the strength and agility that would disappear anyway.

    Encouraged by the series of level-up messages that kept ringing, I kept hunting the monsters.

    I had lunch at my main house in Cheongdam-dong before moving to my one-room studio that night.

    As soon as I arrived at my studio, I immediately essed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    I was close to reaching level 200. At level 200, I would not only obtain skill points to get new skills, but all my stat points would also increase by 3,000 each.

    Anyway, I did not stop hunting, but while I was absorbed into hunting, a message rang suddenly.

    [You have been selected as a target for summons.

    -You will be moved to the side of the summoner.]

    ¡°?¡±

    As soon as I checked the message, I was stricken with anxiety.

    Of course, I was not scared or anything like that.

    However, the anxiety that I might have to encounter something annoying consumed me. Actually, I had simr experiences in the past, like the guy named Pablo, who tried to force me to join the Lucia Guild. .

    Pablo, who had the trait ¡°Prating Wall¡±, forcibly sent me to Region 0 against my will.

    This time I encountered ¡°summon.¡±

    Anyway, it was inevitable that I would be moved to the guy who summoned me, but I felt really bad about it. Naturally I had a lot ofints, too.

    ¡°Damn it. What the hell is this trait?¡±

    Although I had great traits such as Iceman, Mutual Growth and God of Enhancement, which were as good as this trait in question, I had no choice but toin about this trait that suddenly summoned me.

    If this kind of trait existed in Korea, there was no possibility that it could have stayed secret until now. This was a clear indication that the ce where the guy was summoning me was not Region 53, Korea, but somewhere else.

    Soon, a white light began to wrap around my body and I felt myself being moved somewhere.

    The first thing that caught my eyes was a square ring that was tightly closed on all sides.

    I also noticed one man standing in the ring.

    ¡°I guess it¡¯s you who invited me to this ce.¡±

    I really wanted to attack this man right away because I was really upset that he forcefully summoned me here against my wishes.

    Moreover, I was close to reaching level 200, but I put up with my urge to attack as much as possible because I needed to grasp the current situation.

    At that moment, that guy opened his mouth, watching my +7 enforced club shining with the blood coating it.

 Chapter 170 - Iâ€™m Still Strong (4)

    <h4>Chapter 170: I¡¯m Still Strong (4)</h4>

    ¡°As far as I know, you used a staff as an ice-type wizard, but this time you havee looking very violent with that club.¡±

    When he said that, I nced at the club in my hand and opened my mouth, shrugging as if it was not a big deal.

    ¡°Well, I really like clubbing people. I think this is my true calling, but I¡¯ve chosen the wrong job.¡±

    Of course, my true calling was a wizard, or more specifically, an Ice-type wizard,, but I lied to him casually.

    ¡°Really? That¡¯s too bad. However, from my perspective, being an ice-type wizard is your true calling. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for you to gain such fame and recognition.¡±

    Of course, while conversing with this guy, I was evaluating his intentions.

    I felt that this guy was not hostile to me.

    However, I didn¡¯t let down my guard because that was no reason for me not to be hostile to him. Anyway, this guy forcibly brought me to this strange ce, which seemed very unusual because it was blocked in all directions for some reason.

    Of course, I was fully confident of defeating anybody in any circumstances.

    So, I raised my head and opened my mouth proudly.

    ¡°Good. I don¡¯t like the way you are treating your guest like this, but let me listen to what you want to say. But I want you to tell me as soon as possible. I¡¯m quite busy.¡±

    I had two options to deal with this guy.

    The first option was to attack him right away, like I used to.

    The second option was to properly evaluate the situation I was in.

    This time I chose the second option.

    The fact that this guy summoned me to a dark ce with no exit indicated that he clearly had some bad intentions. But I still didn¡¯t know where I was, so I didn¡¯t want to resolve his misunderstanding right away.

    ording to this man, he already knew that I was participating in the ¡°Catch Up with Yourself¡± event.

    And that¡¯s why he dared to act so arrogantly to me who was widely known as a powerful individual across the world, not just Korea. Clearly he knew that I had to start from scratch from level 0, so he thought he could easily force me to submit.

    Anyway, I decided to check out the situation while responding to him because I was far from weak, even without being my previous level 600 and possessing Blink with zero cooldown.

    Anyway, I urged this arrogant and proud guy to get to the point and stop beating around the bush.

    At my strong urging, he immediately opened his mouth.

    ¡°Ah, you are currently participating in the ¡°Catch Up With Yourself¡¯ event, right? I wonder if you are aiming to achieve the top rankings. If so, I¡¯m really sorry for that.¡±

    ¡°It is true that I¡¯m participating in the event. But you don¡¯t have to be sorry.¡±

    ¡°Man, are you giving up already?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡±

    Of course, I didn¡¯t give up. But I was confident enough to stay calm and rxed at the moment.

    However, I didn¡¯t tell him that.

    Instead, I asked, ¡°Hmm. You probably didn¡¯t call me to talk about this kind of trivial thing. I just don¡¯t know why you¡¯re not getting to the point.¡±

    Of course, I didn¡¯t feel bad about it because if this guy found it hard to bring up the main topic quickly, it meant he was also feeling tense and ufortable in this situation.

    At that moment, as if my pressure paid off, this man hardened his expression and opened his mouth with a low voice.

    ¡°Good. but before I get to the main point, let me tell you something about this ce. This ce is called ¡®Death Ring¡¯. I constructed it with my trait, and it is impossible to get out of it until one of us dies first.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see.¡±

    Contrary to his grandiose exnation, I was not that impressed because this ce didn¡¯t look very impressive, and it seemed easy to exit too.

    However, since I did not intend to interrupt him, I did not say anything.

    He continued, ¡°join hands with me. I will never hurt you or cause you to incur a loss. I can give you a lot more gains than you think!¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    Honestly, I was expecting that kind of proposal from him because of his first reaction to me.

    At first nce, he wasn¡¯t hostile to me at all, but he sometimes showed good intentions to me while we were conversing.

    At that moment, I wondered if I had be overly famous because first I found myself confronting Pablo with the very special trait ¡®Prating Wall, and now this guy with his trait, ¡°Death Ring¡¯. But I barely knew anything about this trait though.

    I opened my eyes with a sharp re.

    ¡°It¡¯s very easy for me to join hands with you. It¡¯s not a big deal. But I don¡¯t like that you made your offer in such a ce. What¡¯s more, I don¡¯t know if you have enough power to actually entice me.¡±

    Joining the guild? Joining hands with him? Actually, that was very easy.

    In fact, when Pablo suggested I join the Lucia Guild, I was willing to ept his offer.

    Had it not been for the condition that I could not leave the guild voluntarily, I would have joined.

    But this man in front of me seemed to have no ties with the Lucia Guild.

    Why? Because he would not have been unaware of what happened between me and Pablo if he had been a member of the Lucia Guild.

    Anyway, I responded casually in order to identify who this guy was.

    As expected, he opened his mouth, making a gleeful expression.

    ¡°Of course, I have enough power to do so. Asirante, I will give you and your family and friends a perfect American dream that you have never seen before if you so wish!¡±

    At that moment, one word stood out to me. It was the American Dream he casually mentioned.

    From that, I immediately realized that he belonged to one of the strong groups that dominated ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ in America.

    It was very hard for even the Myongjin Group, one of the top five business groups in Korea, to gather specific information about the three powerful American groups, but they could easily find out that the Holdridge Group, the Shaipe Group and the US Government were dominating the game in America.

    In other words, this guy was from one of the three major US groups.

    At the moment, I thought it was good that I didn¡¯t mention the Lucia Guild or Pablo to him.

    If I had asked him whether he knew the Lucia Guild, it would certainly have led to huge trouble.

    When I found out this man¡¯s identity to some extent, I felt much more relieved.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t express my feelings, though I didn¡¯t let down my guard at all because I still had some doubts about his motivations.

    ¡°Hmm. American dream¡­¡±

    First of all, I repeated that word as if to show I was moved by it.

    In fact, I thought it wasn¡¯t that bad for me to join hands with him, for the United States currently had the most information about ¡®Revival Legend¡¯, no matter what.

    However, if there was anything that bothered me, it was the repetition of the Lucia Guild situation. I didn¡¯t have any intention of joining hands with this guy, no matter how enticing his offer might be, if I was not allowed to withdraw from the guild voluntarily.

    In other words, I had no intention of binding myself without any good reason.

    ¡°Trust me. If you can help me, or if you join hands with us, we can take control of not only Shaipe, but the whole world beyond America!¡±

    Now he mentioned Shaipe.

    It seemed that he liked my reaction quite a bit, given that he identified himself by mentioning one of the three major US yers of Revival Legend.

    As if he had no intention of putting out empty words, he immediately opened his mouth, pointing at me, ¡°Invite him to a party. And use the Sign of Oath.¡±

    [You have received an invitation to a party from Edwin using the Sign of Oath.]

 Chapter 171 - Iâ€™m Still Strong (5)

    <h4>Chapter 171: I¡¯m Still Strong (5)</h4>

    Until a moment ago, this guy named Edwin hesitated to get to the point.

    Now he tried to get things done as soon as possible.

    While inviting me to a party, he mentioned the Sign of Oath that I had never heard of.

    But the problem was that I had a bad feeling about this Sign of Oath I was hearing about for the first time, just like I did when I received Pablo¡¯s offer.

    As always, my intuition was on the money. It turned out to be correct again this time.

    [Sign of Oath (legendary)

    -This is a disposable item that you can use when forming a party. The party for which the Sign of Oath is used can never be disbanded in any way, including if the party members die or logout.

    -It can only be dismantled by the party leader who used the Sign of Oath to form the party.

    -The party for which the Sign of Oath is given to is given the status of ¡®Solid Bond¡¯ and ¡®Comrade Supporter¡¯ for the duration of the party.

    -When fighting with a party member, the party leader can take some of the party member¡¯s abilities.

    -However, the party member will temporarily lose those abilities while the leader is using them.]

    [Would you like to ept Edwin¡¯s party request?

    -Yes/ No.]

    ¡°...¡±

    I could not understand because just like Pablo, what Edwin really wanted was for me to be his ve, though he said he wanted to hire me with a generouspensation.

    Honestly, I didn¡¯t feel like I would ept his offer even if he said he would treat me equally.

    Well, from my perspective, I was not going to ept any generous gift he would bring to me, let alone equal treatment, for the name Asirante could not be treated lightly.

    So, I wondered if these guys including Edwin who pulled a stupid trick on me had any conscience. Or maybe they didn¡¯t have anymon sense by nature.

    Along with this guy, this space, called the Death Ring, was somewhat strange to me because it seemed like a ce he thought he could use to ckmail me as I was weakened by participating in the ¡®Catch Up With Yourself¡¯ event.

    Why was he so favorable to me at first? He wanted to show such a facade right before he kidnapped and tortured me.

    If he seeded, then that was good, but he wouldn¡¯t care even if it failed.

    I had no choice but to have bad feelings about it, but I didn¡¯t express them right away.

    Before I acted, I was really curious about one thing.

    ¡°I¡¯ll just ask you one thing. If I ept to join the party, who dies here? You said it yourself that we will not be able to get out of this ce until one of us dies.¡±

    I was really curious about this.

    But he didn¡¯t reply.

    So I opened my mouth again.

    ¡°If so, let me decide. Let me kill you.¡±

    As soon as I finished talking, I immediately attacked him.

    Outside of the Death Ring installed by Edwin.

    It was impossible to look to the outside from within, but it was easy to see what was going on inside from the outside.

    So, Jacob, who summoned Asirante directly here with his trait, ¡®Summon,¡¯ was looking inside the ring now. While watching the situation unfold, he was worried that his boss Edwin identified himself to Asirante too easily.

    He also felt it regrettable that Edwin mentioned the Death Ring before he brought up the main topic.

    If Asirante was a smart guy, he must have realized by now that Edwin was trying to forcibly recruit him by fully using the moment when Asirante was weakened by participating in the event.

    But Jacob didn¡¯t worry much because there was nothing that the level 167 Asirante, who was taken here without being able to prepare, could do to Edwin who was fully prepared for this fight.

    However, one thing that bothered Jacob after Edwin seeded was how he could sooth Asirante¡¯s bitter feelings about him since he was responsible for summoning him here.

    Of course, he didn¡¯t agonize over it for long because he had also made thorough preparations. If he could make Asirante a perfectpanion of his, he could extort a lot from the Shaipe Group with the Asirante card.

    Anyway, since there was nothing the weakened Asirante could do, Jacob watched the happenings inside the Death Ring rxedly. He didn¡¯t worry at all even when Asirante attacked Edwin first because he had also anticipated such a situation

    But something unbelievable happened in front of his eyes.

    [Kheeeeeeeek!]

    Jacob could not help but open his eyes wide when he saw his boss Edwin being pushed back with a painful moan after Asirant struck him with a club. Besides, he was even more surprised to learn that he couldn¡¯t properly see Asirante¡¯s movement.

    Why? Because he had never seen any ice-type wizard show such a mighty force.

    But the problem was that Asirante¡¯s attack didn¡¯t end there.

    [Ice Field! Pouring Hail!]

    With Asirante¡¯s shout, an ice territory covered the whole Death Ring, and hail rained down. These were Asirante¡¯s trademark attacks.

    However, since Asirante was participating in the event ¡®Catch Up With Yourself,¡¯ he was not supposed to show the same power as before.

    [Damn it! What the hell is this damage!]

    Aside from Asirante¡¯s shouting, Jacob could easily ascertain how powerful Asirante¡¯s attack was because he was in a party with Edwin right now.

    That¡¯s why it was even harder to understand, because Asirante¡¯s current power should be impossible even if he exerted all his abilities before he participated in the event.

    Of course, Edwin did not stand still doing nothing. He started to counterattack.

    [Trigger human synergy! Show your full force, Indomitable Will!]

    Edwin counterattacked using all sorts of skills like the Warriors Roar, but Jacob thought there was really something wrong after learning that Edwin¡¯s health was rapidly dwindling.

    ¡®Have we been fooled by the intelligence peddlers?¡±

    After repeatedly checking Asirante¡¯s level, Jacob was confident that Asirante was participating in the event because it was impossible for Asirante to be level 167 l right after he cleared theLevel 500 only arena quest.

    Even if his boss Edwin was alienated by the top executives of the Shaipe Group, he was still a ranking officer who still held a lot of influence. As a result, it was highly unlikely that the intelligence peddlers deceived Edwin. As if he could not understand what was happening before his eyes, Jacob shook his head violently.

    ¡®How can he be so strong, and how can he move so fast?¡¯

    Jacob had reviewed multiple videos about Asirante fighting and had confirmed his level dozens of times.

    Based on the results of his examination, Asiranted was a typical ice-type wizard.

    Of course, the word ¡°extremely strong¡± and the modifier ¡°stronger defense than a tank¡± were attached to his name, but Jacob had never seen Asirante¡¯s current skills in the videos.

    Actually, his strength and agility seemed higher than his boss Edwin¡¯s.

    And he was not the only one who felt so because his boss Edwin also shouted in shock and embarrassment.

    [What the hell is this? Yeah, I might have been foolishly deceived by the intelligence peddlers, but I still can¡¯t believe he holds such power...]

    Jacob was lost for words when he heard his boss moaning in shock.

    He had no idea how to cope with this iprehensible situation.

    But he could not anguish for long because Edwin was in danger of dying from Asirante¡¯s ruthless clubbing and various ice-type magic attacks.

    ¡°Damn it! Cancel summon!¡±

    [You have cancelled Asirante¡¯s summon.

    -You have cancelled the summons before the cooldown finished. As a penalty, your Summon trait has been locked for 3 years.]

    The Summon trait had several restrictions from the beginning.

    But despite such restrictions, it showed excellent efficiency.

    However, he immediately chose to cancel Asirante¡¯s summon despite being penalized because he kept this n secret from the Shaipe Group.

    [Currently, Asirante is in the Death Ring.

    -When the Death Ring is deactivated, the summon will be canceled.]

    ¡°...¡±

    Since he was in a hurry, Jacob forgot to take into ount where Asirante was currently located.

    In the meantime, Jacob had no choice but to see his boss Edwin die to Asirante¡¯s hands, and Asirante disappear immediately after the Death Ring was deactivated.

 Chapter 172 - Expected Results (1)

    <h4>Chapter 172: Expected Results (1)</h4>

    Puck! Puck!

    A club is the best way to subdue a madman, so I constantly swung the +7 enhancement club while using my Ice-type skills.

    Of course, my opponent tried to resist using his huge two-handed sword.

    And I had to admit after we shed several times that this guy was strong.

    In fact, I realized that he was not just strong, but the strongest among the opponents I had encountered until now.

    Nevertheless, I felt I would not lose to him because my current status window showed my strength, and my Intellect was much higher than it was when I just achieved level 600.

    The only thing worse than before was the skills I possessed, but the trait ¡®Primal Ice¡¯ made up for it.

    Therefore, although we were fiercely attacking each other, my opponent was clearly suffering much more damage.

    As time passed by, my opponent was not only embarrassed but also shocked, and eventually, he copsed helplessly.

    Right after he fell, a message rang.

    [Only one person remains in the Death Ring.

    -The Death Ring has been deactivated.]

    Things happened exactly as this guy said to me.

    But I did not let down my guard and stayed cautious. I tried to message my sister as soon as I exited the Death Ring in the hopes that I was still in Region 53, Korea, even though there was a 90% chance that I was not.

    T

    But the message that rang immediately after confirmed my expectations and showed that I was not in Region 53.

    [You cannot converse with people in other areas.]

    I could not rx because I didn¡¯t know what kind of situation was waiting for me outside the Death Ring.

    In no time there was another message.

    [Your summoning has been canceled.

    -You are being moved to your original area.]

    Contrary to my expectations, this message rang as soon as the Death Ring was deactivated, and I felt my body being dragged somewhere just like when I was first summoned here. Soon, a herd of sabre steel tooth tigers appeared before my eyes.

    ¡°Khuuuuuuung!¡±

    ¡°Keeeeeeeeeeh!¡±

    Watching the sabre steel tooth tigers charging at me as soon as they noticed me, I clearly realized that I had definitely returned to sabre steel tooth tiger habitat.

    At the same time, I felt exhausted.

    In fact, I didn¡¯t stay there long enough to feel exhausted.

    All I did was converse with the guy a little and duel him one-on-one.

    However, the problem was that my opponent was from the Shaipe Group, one of the three major organizations representing the United States.

    And I thought this guy called Edwin was not amon member of the Shaipe Group because even excluding the Death Ring, no ordinary member could possess the ability to summon their opponent across areas.

    But I was worried a bit, albeit momentarily.

    Even though I was not scared of anything within the ¡°Revival Legend,¡± it was a different matter in real life. The United States was a powerful country in the real world, and in particr, the Shaipe Group,, one of the three organizations that dominated the United States, was even more so. So, I could not help but feel scared and also worried.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t regret my choice.

    I have no intention of cowering before their overwhelming power and bing a puppet in their hands.

    So I thought it was good that I decided to keep my identity under wraps.

    Anyway, after straightening out my thoughts like that, I attacked the herd of sabre steel tooth tigers charging at me recklessly.

    Although it was almost guaranteed that I would win first ce in this event, I didn¡¯t want to let my guard down.

    While Juyoung Hong was absorbed in hunting like that, something strange was happening in Indonesia which wasposed of 17000 inds.

    Of course, there were quite a few uninhabited inds among the numerous inds.

    Recently, some unknown lifeforms that previously did not exist on the uninhabited inds began to appear one by one. These creatures were called monsters.

    But no one knew what was happening on those inds because there were so many inds, and many were uninhabited.

    However, the problem was that this kind of phenomenon did not happen only on one uninhabited ind in Indonesia.

    In Geneva, Switzend.

    ¡°What the heck? Is that true?¡±

    ¡°Why are you so surprised? As the editor of the Lausanne newspaper, you must have suspected it to some extent. That¡¯s why you have been trying to dig up all the information about it.¡±

    ¡°But isn¡¯t itpletely different? I¡¯ve been investigating it to report that it is a lie. As you know, if it¡¯s actually true, it means that our society will soon be ruined.¡±

    Pasnacht, the managing editor of the Lausanne newspaper, the leading newspaper in Switzend, had no choice but to reply this way, stunned by the fact that what he had hoped was wrong was instead confirmed to be true.

    The moment he was about to stand up, the man who revealed the truth directly to him opened his mouth.

    ¡°I know why you, the managing editor, took this up yourself instead of assigning it to your reporters. It¡¯s because this topic is dangerous. That¡¯s why I chose to reveal it to you directly as you are my friend.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    Pasnacht, who was going to leave the ce to run the story, could not help but stop because he knew why his friend mentioned this.

    ¡°Well, I can tell you confidently that you won¡¯t be able to report about this in your newspaper. Otherwise, you might be found as a cold body. So, wait a little. You will find out more soon.¡±

    ¡°But how can I do nothing? Countless people will die! And our society will be in turmoil!¡±

    ¡°I agree. There will be chaos everywhere. But you can¡¯t stop it because the wheel has already started rolling.¡±

    The man sitting in front of him replied as if it was not a big deal, when Pasnacht, the managing editor of the Lausanne newspaper, strongly resisted in shock.

    The two men went silent for a while.

    Atst, Pasnacht opened his mouth in a low voice.

    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you telling everyone about this? Shouldn¡¯t everyone know? If everyone bes empowered, won¡¯t the earth be that much safer?¡±

    ¡°People are evil in the first ce. They would rather chase their own glory than the glory of everyone. Moreover, they wish others stay ignorant until they achieve satisfactory results first.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    Pasnacht, the managing editor of the Lausanne newspaper, could give no response when his life-long friend made such remarks.

    Then, the man opened his mouth again.

    ¡°If everyone ys ¡®Revival Legend¡¯, who is going to farm, raise cattle and sheep, and milk cows?¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    They wrapped up their conversation.

    ***

    One day remained before the end of the ¡°Catch Up With Yourself¡¯ event.

    I had noints at all until I reached level 400 after achieving level 100, level 200, and level 300.

    Actually, I felt like I was walking on air because all stat points increased by 1000 just by learning one ice-type skill.

    When I learned three skills, I gained a total of 3,000 stat points.

    However, just after reaching level 400, I felt rather empty because regardless of my efforts, everything would disappear in the end.

    This was the first time feeling this way ever since I started ying ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    Of course, I had the goal of winning first ce. But no matter how much I thought about it, I was certain I would win even if I stopped trying because it was impossible for anyone to 100% catch up with themselves except those who were originally at a very low level.

    As a matter of fact, Myongjin¡¯s internal investigation of my brother and sister as well as its participating members confirmed my prediction.

    My record of 402.7%, way beyond 100%, was overwhelming, so I thought my victory was certain even if I stopped trying for the rest of the event¡¯s duration.

    I know that I should not let my guard down, but I felt it was okay to rx and take a break.

    So, I turned my eyes away from hunting because I decided to do something more productive. Although my level and EXP that I earned by hunting would disappear, the golden rings and misceneous items I collected would stay the same.

    So, I immediately headed to the arena because victory in the arena was the only way to obtain victory points, and I could purchase various items as well as titles with them.

 Chapter 173 - Expected Results (2)

    <h4>Chapter 173: Expected Results (2)</h4>

    In particr, considering I had earned as many as seven titles and received special rewards from each of them, I could most likely earn as many as ten titles or more.

    That¡¯s why I was quite interested in the arena even before this event started.

    But I had no choice but to put it off because I had to reach first level 700 to equip the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword, then level 1200 for reality actualization.

    So, I concluded that since there was not much time left until the end of the event, it would be much better for me to collect some victory points than to collect some golden rings or misceneous items.

    I moved to the arena and registered as Asirante topete there.

    First, I hunted monsters only with my trademark ice-type skills as much as possible.

    The results?

    Of course, I won endlessly. Actually, it could be called an overwhelming, not just simple, victory.

    As a matter of fact, I had almost 40,000 intellect, so it was inevitable that I would win by andslide.

    My strength, agility, stamina, and willpower were a little below 30,000.

    Moreover, by achieving level 400, the ice-type skills I could use increased and the skills I possessed were also of a high level.

    Honestly speaking, excluding Blink with zero cooldown, I was more than twice as strong as before. Maybe almost three times as strong.

    Anyway, my winning streak continued, butter, I encountered a problem because it was taking longer and longer times to match with an opponent.

    At first, I was matched with an opponent almost immediately but after winning 200 consecutive times, it took quite a long time for me to be matched. And when I was finally matched, I kept winning, of course. I continued to stay in the arena despite myrge winning streak because this was the most productive thing I could do right now.

    The next day, a message rang when I fought only four times in the arena after waiting for three hours.

    [The ¡®Catch Up With Yourself¡¯ event has ended.

    -After exactly one munte, everyone who participated in the event will recover their original status window.

    -Everyone who participated in the event will be given 150, 300, and 450 remaining stat points ording to their level regardless of their ranking in the event.

    -Users in the top rankings will be individually rewarded.]

    [Lumen, Asirante was level 600 before participating in the ¡®Catch Up With Yourself¡¯ event.

    -You are granted 300 remaining stat points.]

    This seemed like a message that rang to everyone.

    That¡¯s why many people around me began to whisper among themselves.

    ¡°Wow! 300 stat points!¡±

    ¡°Damn it. If only I was 10 levels higher before starting the event, I would have 300, too!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, I have 450.¡±

    ¡°By the way, I wonder what percentage those in the top rankings achieved.¡±

    ¡°Well, I guess about 70-80%.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    ¡°Of course. It was only 30 days. Even that is incredible.¡±

    ¡°Whew! You idiots! It doesn¡¯t matter what percentage you achieved. Which do you think is higher, 100% achieved by a level 100 user or 10% achieved by a level 1000 user?¡±

    ¡°Of course, the level 1000 user¡­¡±

    ¡°Right? In the end, I am sure that the high level users would have imed all the top rankings.¡±

    ¡°Anyway, I didn¡¯t even expect to be included in the top rankings from the beginning.By the way, why is Asirante making such a fuss in the arena when everybody is busy participating in the event?¡±

    ¡°You bet. Damn it!¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m going to go to the arena for the time being.¡±

    ¡°Lol. Do you think a beginner like you can match with Asirante?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right¡­¡±

    Ignoring their conversation, I left the arena because although I haven¡¯t collected enough victory points to buy a title yet, hunting was my number one priority after recovering my original status window.

    As soon as I left the arena, another message rang.

    Of course, I wasn¡¯t surprised because right before the message rang, my status window showed I won first ce. In other words, the message was about the individual reward.

    [Congrattions! You have won first ce in the ¡®Catch Up with Yourself¡¯ event.

    -Total percentage points.

    : 402.7%

    -The rewards below are given.

    : Considerable amount of EXP.

    : 750 million golden rings.

    : 700 remaining stat points.]

    [You have leveled up.]

    [You have leveled up.]

    :

    :

    [You have leveled up.]

    [You have leveled up.]

    Along with the announcement message, level-up messages rang countless times.

    Among them, there was one message that caught my eye.

    [You have achieved an impossible record of catching up with yourself more than 400%.

    -Acquired the title ¡®I Am Not My Own Hurdle.¡¯]

    Compared with items that had equipment restrictions, titiles were far more attractive.

    That¡¯s why everyone participating in the event was anxious to earn a title.

    I smiled in satisfaction.

    Aside from everything else, I gained as many as 700 remaining stat points, so I could shake off the feeling that the rewards were not as good as expected.

    Anyway, I checked my title.

    ¡°Check title ¡®I Am Not My Own Hurdle.''¡±

    [Title: I Am Not My Own Hurdle.

    -It is a title that can only be given to the user who has caught up with himself with overwhelming points in the ¡®Catch Up With Yourself¡¯ event.

    : Increases health by 200,000.

    : Increases mana by 200,000.

    : All stat points increase by 300.]

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    I liked the 200,000 health and 200,000 mana, but I was really happy that all stat points increased by 300, for 300 was by no means lowpared with my other titles.

    ¡°By the way, how many stat points did I get in total after winning this event?¡±

    The remaining stat points I gained reached 1000 when I added 300 for the basic participation reward to the 700 that I earned by winning. And I received a 300 point increase in all my stats thanks to my new title, which amounted to a 1,500 total stat point increase.

    Moreover, considering that Mutual Growth applied to the 1000 remaining stat points, my participation in this event was a jackpot.

    ¡°Man, it was really good that I took part in this event!¡±

    Of course, I had no intention of taking part in this event at first, but I would have regretted it a lot if I had not, given all the rewards I received from this event.

    After checking my rewards and status window, I moved straight to the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat. I had more EXP than I expected thanks to the rewards.

    So, if I really immersed myself in hunting harder, I thought I could achieve level 700 in the near future. Moreover, I was very enthusiastic to hunt because I had to stop hunting before against my wishes due to various unexpected events.

    While I was moving to the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat, I stopped on the spot and opened my mouth quietly.

    ¡°Check status window.¡±

    [Name: Lumen, Asirante

    Level: 682

    Number of kills: 1285, Number of deaths: 0

    Title: Only Closed Beta Max Level Achiever and 7 others.

    Health: 2,850,000 / 2,850,000

    Mana: 1,985,000 / 1,985,000

    Strength: 2850 Agility: 2850 Stamina: 15400

    Willpower: 9350 Intellect: 18350

    Remaining Stat Points: 1820

    Remaining Skill Points: 3

    Traits: Iceman, Mutual Growth, God of Enhancement.]

    My status window was back from Asirante, Lumen to Lumen, Asirante.

    Because of my new title of ¡°I Am Not My Own Hurdle¡±, my health and mana have increased by 200,000 and all my stats have also been increased by 300 each.

    In addition, there were still three skill points that I could not use because I was back to level 0 right due to my forced participation in the ¡®Catch Up With Yourself¡¯ event as soon as I reached level 600.

    A total of 1820 remaining stat points, which I earned from increasing 82 levels along with being rewarded 1000 remaining stat points were also on the status window.

    I could not help but admire my current status window.

    Of course, my strength, agility, stamina, and willpower reached almost 30,000, and intellect reached 40,000 before the end of the event, but I was not satisfied with that back then, for there was a 30-day limited period, and I knew that it was not mine at the end of the day.

    Anyway, I didn¡¯t stop moving to the hunting ground just because I wanted to open my status window and admire it. There was something I had to check before returning to the hunting ground.

    It was none other than the God of Enhancement trait.

 Chapter 174 - Expected Results (3)

    <h4>Chapter 174: Expected Results (3)</h4>

    Anyway, I didn¡¯t stop moving to the hunting ground just because I wanted to open my status window and admire it. There was something I had to check before returning to the hunting ground.

    It was none other than the God of Enhancement trait.

    God of Enhancement went on a 20-day cooldown when I enhanced the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword from +2 to +3 enhancement.

    So, the cooldown should have finished by now.

    But what worried me was that since my ID changed from Lumen, Asirante to Asirante, Lumen, my three traits including the God of Enhancement disappeared from the status window.

    The cooldown might have finished anyway, but it was necessary to check it with my own eyes. If the cooldown really finished, I should enhance the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword to + 4 from +3 instead of focusing on hunting now.

    So, feeling a little tense, I opened up ¡®God of Enhancement¡¯, which was located in the trait section of the status window.

    Then a message rang.

    [Currently, God of Enhancement is not on cooldown.]

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    Although the God of Enhancement trait disappeared from my status window when my 2 IDs changed order, the cooldown did not change so I shouted for joy before I knew it.

    Then I moved to the cksmith instead of the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat.

    What about my remaining 1820 stat points?

    Well, I could invest them after upgrading the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword to +4 enhancement first.

    At Kotum Castle¡¯s smithy.

    As soon as I entered, a message rang.

    [Please select the item you wish to enhance.]

    I immediately ced the +3 enhanced Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword in the enhancement window that appeared before my eyes.

    Then, I opened my mouth quietly.

    ¡®Activate God of Enhancement.¡¯

    [You have activated the God of Enhancement.

    -Your enhancement will always seed.

    -Enhancement target: +3 Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    -Additional conditions upon enhancement: 5,750,000 golden rings, 87.3 million EXP.

    -Cooldown generated upon sessful enhancement: 34 days]

    The number of required golden rings and EXP more than doubledpared to the previous enhancement. Besides, the cooldown period was as long as 34 days.

    However, I didn¡¯t think that it was too long given that I was going to enhance the sword to +4 from +3, and it was also a myth grade item.

    So, I chose to enhance the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword right away.

    At that moment, a visual effect of a huge hammer hitting the +3 Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword yed, then a message rang immediately.

    [You have seeded in enhancing the +3 Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    -The +3 Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword has been upgraded to +4 enhancement.]

    It was an unbelievable myth grade item.

    So, I naturally felt d that the enhancement seeded even though I knew in advance that it would do so.

    But to my surprise, there was no additional message this time

    ¡°No?¡±

    Unlike +1 and +2 enhancement, there was a congrattory message that showed the hidden options of the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword when it reached +3 enhancement.

    In fact, the option of a whopping 500 intellect, which was not originally present on the item itself, appeared during +3 enhancement.

    Along with that, the item¡¯s magic power buff increased significantly, and the power and cooldown buff to all ice-type skills also increased even though they did not in the previous enhancements.

    In other words, +3 enhancement was clearly different from +1 and +2 enhancements.

    So, this time I had some expectations of receiving the same message I received during +3 enhancement, but unfortunately, it didn¡¯t appear. The +4 enhancement did not provide a qualitative benefit like the previous +3 enhancement.

    Nheless, I immediately shook off my disappointment because the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword would not end with +4 enhancement anyway.

    Anyway, I put the +4 enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword back in my inventory,, then left the smithy.

    Did I immediately move to the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat as I first intended?

    No, I didn¡¯t.

    Since I didn¡¯t yet move to the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat, I decided to use three remaining skill points because I was still in Kotum Castle. I didn¡¯t want to save forter use.

    So, this time, I headed to the central square.

    While I was moving there, I invested all my 1820 remaining stat points into intellect.

    I felt really proud of the fact that my intellect finally exceeded 20,000 with this investment.

    Of course, I remember that I reached 40,000 intellect right before, but it was valid only for 30 days, and since this was my real status window, I had no choice but to feel differently.

    Anyway, I reached the tower located in the central square, and a message rang at that moment.

    [There are currently ice-type skills that you can obtain.]

    [There are currently upgradeable ice-type skills.]

    ¡°Check the list of skills.¡±

    Soon, the skills that I currently possessed were listed, ranging from Ice Ball to the limited skill ¡®Savant¡¯ I obtained in Region 0 to passive skills like ¡®Ice-type skill damage increase¡¯ that I obtained most recently.

    Until now, I¡¯ve always upgraded the skills that I could. Although the skill¡¯s cooldown increased as the skill level went up, it was still within the eptable range.

    But this time, I had to worry a little because the next skill level upgrades did not require golden rings only.

    My skill points were also required for certain skills such as Pouring Hail.

    [Level 4 Pouring Hail. (Level 2, 4, 6, 8)]

    I obtained this skill first at level 2 and it was very useful to me.

    And when it was possible for me to upgrade it to level 4, I tried upgrading immediately because of its great efficiency. So, I wanted to upgrade it to level 6 this time, too.

    After that, I would definitely upgrade it to level 8.

    At that moment, a message rang.

    [To upgrade level 4 Pouring Hail to level 6, you need the following.

    -1 skill point.

    -2,250,000 golden rings.]

    ¡°Um¡­¡±

    I was a little worried, but in the end, I decided to upgrade it because it¡¯s a skill worth upgrading to level 6 for only one skill point, and I wouldter upgrade it to level 8.

    So, I decided to upgrade it above all else.

    [You have chosen to upgrade two skills below.

    -Level 4 Pouring Hail to level 6.

    -Level 4 Ice Spear to level 6.]

    Unlike Pouring Hail, Level 4 Ice Spear required only golden rings to be upgraded to level 6.

    So, I chose to upgrade it with a light heart.

    Of course, there were more skills that could be upgraded to level 6 such as Ice st and Blink.

    [Level 4 Ice st. (Level 2, 4, 6)]

    [Level 4 Blink. (Level 4, 6)]

    The two skills needed one skill point to upgrade to level 6, which was the final upgradable stage of Pouring Hail.

    However, these days I didn¡¯t have to use Ice st because Ice Prison, which I normally used as a sacrifice for Ice st, was sufficient for my purposes already. That¡¯s why I did not feel a great need to upgrade Ice st to level 6.

    Besides, Blink also changed to zero cooldown, so I had no need to upgrade it to level 6 when all I would gain is a little increase in the distance I would teleport with each use.

    In the end, I upgraded Pouring Hail to level 6 using one skill point, then upgraded Ice Spear to level 6 using golden rings.

    Now, I¡¯ve got two skill points left. Since I had a skill in mind, I immediately searched for it and chose it.

    [Ice Wave. (Active, requires 2 skill points, requires golden rings 1,100,000)

    : Emits powerful ice waves in a narrow range.

    : Level 6 and level 8 Ice Wave exists.]

    Its description was rather vague to ssify it as an AOE skill or a single-target skill. But its damage was extraordinary.

    The reason why I chose this skill was because the cumtive wave damage was far greater than that of a normal single target skill.

 Chapter 175 - Expected Results (4)

    <h4>Chapter 175: Expected Results (4)</h4>

    Ice Ball, Ice Bolt, Multiple Ice Arrow, or Ice Spear upgraded to level 6 this time were not strong enough as a single target skill. Of course, others might think it was powerful enough, and it was certainly quite powerful.

    But while I was fighting against this guy named Edwin this time, I thought it would be nice if I had a stronger single target skill.

    Above all, I didn¡¯t need another AOE skill right now.

    Why? It¡¯s because I will reach Level 700 soon and will be able to equip the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword. Then, the power of my ice-type skills will increase and their cooldown would decrease.

    ¡°Let me obtain Ice Wave!¡±

    So, rather than hunting, I chose to acquire more specializedbat skills. After that, I left for the hunting ground right away because I was really ready for the hunt.

    I soon arrived at Kotum Castle¡¯s teleport zone.

    ¡°Move to the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat.¡±

    [You have moved to the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat.]

    Soon after arriving at the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat, I saw the usual Myongjin users guarding the entrance. They were back after the event finished.

    It seemed that Director Sok took action as soon as the event was over. Otherwise, there was no reason for the users to loiter around in this ce.

    Tramp-Tramp-Tramp-

    They already knew who I was, as usual. So they let me through easily.

    I gently greeted them with a nod, passing by them.

    When I stepped into the hunting ground, I opened my mouth right away.

    ¡°Blink.¡±

    Although I had enormous stats during the event, there was only one thing that I sorely missed. It was none other than Blink with zero cooldown.

    Since I normally used it all the time, it was a great inconvenience tock it during the event.

    During the event, I have always agonized over choosing between the status window with extremely high stats and the status window with the zero cooldown Blink which has lower stats.

    Which one did I choose? Well, I didn¡¯t bother choosing because there was no guarantee I would be allowed to choose what I wanted.

    ¡°Khuuuuuuuuuung!¡±

    ¡°Kheeeeeeeeeeeeeh¡±

    Anyway, using Blink with zero cooldown, I quickly drove the herd of sabre steel tooth tigers charging at me violently into one corner, then attacked them with my trademark skills.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasak!.

    ¡°Pouring Hail! Ice Storm!¡±

    After that, I used AOE skills in session, starting with level 6 Pouring Hail.

    Then I used one more skill because I needed to test it anyway in this hunting ground.

    ¡°Ice Wave!¡±

    Icy waves formed in front of me instantly, with each wave spanning 3 meters wide.

    ¡°Kheeeeeeeng!¡±

    ¡°Keheeeek!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Of course, I attacked the tigers on the ice terrain generated with Ice Field and Thin Ice. Although it didn¡¯tst long, they were also fully exposed to the Pouring Hail and Ice Storm before I used the new Ice Wave skill.

    Nevertheless, about 15 sabre steel tooth tigers that were in Ice Wave¡¯s range copsed with wild screams. All of them copsed without exception.

    Watching them fall helplessly, I had no choice but to exim, ¡°Man, this skill is really useful!¡±

    I thought it would be nice if it had a bit wider attacking range, but that was being a bit greedy. So I focused on hunting, satisfied with my current skills.

    I kept hunting there for a few more days.

    Four dayster at the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat.

    Obviously, I thought it would be okay to move to a higher-level hunting ground, but I chose to keep hunting here because this ce was good enough.

    Besides, I was herding and hunting monsters much faster than before.

    Moreover, my goal of reaching level 700 was around the corner.

    So, I hunted persistently, and soon I heard the message that I had been looking forward to.

    [You have leveled up.]

    It was a message that I¡¯ve heard a lot until now.

    But I immediately raised my hands at this particr message because it indicated that I had finally reached level 700.

    At the same time, I opened my inventory and selected one item, namely, the +4 enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    ¡°Check the item.¡±

    [+4 enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword (Myth grade)

    -It is a sword containing thest determination of Asirante, the master and emperor of ice, who fought against the Sun God Morutu who burned and evaporated everything in the world.

    : Level 700 required to equip.

    : 7000 pure intellect required to equip.

    : At least 10 ice-type skills required to equip.

    -Effects.

    : Increases the power of all ice-type skills by 12%.

    : Decreases the cooldown of all ice-type skills by 12%.

    :1% chance of increasing an ice-type skill¡¯s damage by tenfold when it strikes an opponent.

    : Level 3 Ice Weapon is always applied to the guardian sword. (This effect oveps with the user¡¯s Ice Weapon magic. For example, if the user uses a level 1 Ice Weapon Skill, the power of level 4 Ice Weapon is applied.)

    : 25% chance of inflicting frostbite on the opponent hit by the guardian sword.

    : Due to the determination of the Ice Emperor that even the Sun God could not melt, it applies a (25%)-> 30% damage reduction against all iing fire-type skills.

    : Increases power by 1200.

    : Increases Agility by 600.

    : Increases Intellect by (500)->800.

    -Safety enhancement: 0

    -Increases physical attack power by (12500) -> 13850.

    -Increases magic attack power by (2950) -> 4150.

    -Durability: 25700000/25700000]

    To use the +4 enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword, I needed to satisfy the requirements of being at least level 700, having 7000 intellect and possessing 10 ice-based skills.

    Among them, level 700 has been my only obstacle until now.

    But finally, I could ovee that restriction, so I felt very ted and satisfied.

    So, I immediately removed the staff from my hand and equipped the +4 enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    Pasasasak!.

    Immediately, a sword of ice appeared in my hand.

    ¡°Hahahaha.¡±

    I could not help but chuckle heartily before I knew it.

    But as if they were not satisfied with my joy, I noticed some groups of sabre steel tooth tigers charging at me violently, so I swung the +4 enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword at them.

    Although I have hardly used my level 3 Ice Weapon skill along with Ice Shield, I used it without holding back this time.

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Pasasasak!

    Without using any technique, I just kept swinging the +4 enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword just like I swung the bloody club during the previous event.

    However, its effect was much better than I thought.

    Actually, it seemed even more powerful because of the frostbite debuff applied to the tigers right after I attacked them with the guardian sword.

    What happened after that?

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    I just swung the +4 enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword several times, which was enough to kill the sabre steel tooth tigers at once.

    Its physical attack power was so effective that it was difficult for me topare it to the magic attack power. Besides, a total of level 6 Ice Weapon was buffing it.

    ¡°Kheeeeeee¡­¡±

    Watching the tigers sprawled out in various ces, I felt very satisfied.

    However, I had some questions.

    Were they about this +4 enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword?

    No, not really. As a matter of fact, I was immensely satisfied with it.

    Aside from anything else, the mix of the immense physical attack power and the total level 6 Ice Weapon made me even think about switching to being a meleebatant in the future.

    But I had some questions about this level 700 only quest.

    There were level 100, level 300, and level 500 only quests, and of course, there were also level 700 and level 900 only quests.

    But there was no such quest for level 1100.

    Since I achieved level 700, the message about the limited quest should have rung.

    But it didn¡¯t ring this time, which was very unusual.

 Chapter 176 - Missing Quest (1)

    <h4>Chapter 176: Missing Quest (1)</h4>

    In Ivulich Ind, Russia.

    ¡°Are you sure you are okay?¡±

    ¡°What can I do even if I¡¯m not okay? I have to do it anyway.¡±

    ¡°But Asirante is a formidable foe who destroyed Sir Pablo¡¯s skill of ¡°Prating Wall¡± when he just reached level 500. But what if he finds out that you robbed his quest? If Asirante receives a new quest, he will find out your identity, right?¡±

    As soon as his subordinate finished talking, Yosif stared at him with narrowed eyes.

    His subordinate, who has been serving him for more than 7 years, understood immediately why his boss red at him like that.

    So, he lowered his head right away and opened his mouth.

    ¡°I made a mistake. I was stupid enough to respect to Pablo respectfully in your presence. I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    When he said that, Yosif blinked, returned to a neutral expression, then quietly opened his mouth.

    ¡°Asirante must be really angry, right?¡±

    His subordinate immediately responded as he had finished investigating Asirante¡¯s background to give his boss an appropriate answer.

    ¡°Asirante has produced the overwhelming results by clearing 80 rounds in Path C of the level 300 rena quest, ranking 1st globally. Judging from that, he might most likely have advanced to the final round in his duel with users or NPCs at the level 500 only quest or the NPC because he is a formidable individual who cannot be constrained by level.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Yosif did not respond to his answer.

    The subordinate went on as if he didn¡¯t even expect Yosif to respond.

    ¡°Based on his track record, it is clear that Asirante is also looking forward to the level 700 because he is confident that he can achieve the top ranking. So, if he finds out somebody has robbed the quest from him¡­¡±

    Since he knew what his minion wanted to say next, Yosif opened his mouth, feeling bitter.

    ¡°Because of this bastard Pablo, I am now forced to incur the monster¡¯s anger when I have gotten entangled with the Lucia Guild. It really sucks!.¡±

    Until now, Yosif has extorted many people by using his trait, ¡°Quest Robber.¡±

    However, his trait also had a lot of risk due to its fraudulent nature.

    For example, if the person whose quest has been robbed receives another quest, the identity of the person who stole his quest would be revealed.

    Of course, Yosif could handle this kind of thing on his own.

    However, the biggest problem is that if Yosif is killed by the person whose quest has been robbed, his trait, ¡°Quest Robber,¡± will be destroyed and what he has obtained while proceeding with the quests until now will disappear. Some of it will be granted to the man who kills him. For example, he would be forced to return the 2000 or 3000 remaining stats to the original holder of the title ¡®Quest Craftsman¡¯ if his identity was revealed.

    So, he needed to select those who had no chance of bing stronger than him before robbing their quests. If he robbed a strong person, he would make a powerful enemy.

    Yosif thought he had robbed enough.

    While others proceeded with only a few quests during their lifetime, he had taken several hundred quests. Even though he didn¡¯t clear all of them or failed to reach the top rankings, he achieved a lot by robbing their quests.

    ¡°By the way, what is that bastard Pablo doing now?¡±

    After all, all this happened to him because Pablo failed to beat Asirante, so he checked on Pablo¡¯s current situation.

    ¡°As far as I know, he is currently hunting in Region 53, Korea.¡±

    ¡°How about his recovery after his trait ¡®Prating Wall¡¯ was damaged?¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t got any information about it.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. If he is still in Region 53, it¡¯s a conclusive evidence that he hasn¡¯t yet recovered.¡±

    While talking to his subordinate, Yosif was lost in thought, with his hand on his chin.

    Then he quietly opened his mouth.

    ¡°It must be a lie. It has been smashed to pieces, so he won¡¯t be able to recover his trait. Even if he recovers it, the walls that are currently blocking off the world would have already disappeared by that time.¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I know. That damn guild leader still believes Pablo¡¯s words. As a matter of fact, there are some who have received strong subordinates because of Pablo. Just like me.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Yosif, who took away Asirante¡¯s level 700 only quest, kept talking with his subordinate on an ind in Russia. He wanted to rob Asirante of all his quests if thetter became his foe, but he regretted that he could not rob only one quest of each individual because of the nature of his trait.

    ***

    For ten minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes and one hour, I kept hunting swaths of sabre steel tooth tigers in the hunting ground, waiting for the message about the level 700 only quest.

    But the message still didn¡¯t ring. In fact, there was no sign of it ringing at all.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Naturally, I was full of questions.

    Users were supposed to be given a total of five limited quests once they reached level 100, level 300, level 500, level 700, and level 900 without exception.

    Actually, that¡¯s what happened to me until I reached level 500.

    Furthermore, I obtained Blink with zero cooldown in the level 300 only quest.

    Although I didn¡¯t obtain any great reward in the level 500 only quest, I still obtained the level 1200 reality actualization, and as a result I earned a lot of other things like the limited skill ¡®Savant¡¯ and skill points in Region 0.

    Anyway, since I earned lots of good stuff at level 100, level 300 and level 500, I had lots of expectations when I reached level 700.

    But the message that I was looking forward to didn¡¯t ring.

    Immediately, I messaged all of his family members, including my sister and Director Sok.

    But their replies were all the same.

    [Super Beauty: What¡¯s up? Why?]

    [Insu Sok: It¡¯s my first time hearing about something like this, so I don¡¯t think I can give you a good answer right now. Let me investigate.]

    My sister, who just returned questions, and Director Sok, who said he would look into it, didn¡¯t help much.

    So, I stopped hunting for now because I could only challenge the limited quest once when I was level 700. If I leveled up to level 701, I would no longer be able to challenge it.

    Because of my title ¡°The Man Who Doesn¡¯t Fall,¡± I could not lose levels as well.

    The next day.

    ¡°Move to Rodon Castle.¡±

    [You have moved to Rodon Castle.]

    No matter what others thought about it, the disappearance of the level 700 only quest was a big question mark to me.

    Since I won the level 100, level 300 and level 500 quests, I was confident in winning the level 700 quest too, because I already had the victory n ready.

    ording to the survey conducted by the Myongjin Guild, there were several who achieved level 700st night, and all of them received the level 700 only quest without exception.

    In other words, only I didn¡¯t receive the quest.

    So, I decided to talk with my family members and Director Sok in Myongjin¡¯s secret house located in Rodon Castle.

    Tramp-Tramp-

    As always, I moved slowly along the southern wall.

    Since the southern wall was located in the outskirts, there were usually no users or NPCs around.

    But now I saw people loitering around.

    Users? No, NPCs.

    Of course, I couldn¡¯t say they were waiting for me.

    But for some reason, I felt strongly that they had been waiting for me.

    And my foreboding turned out to be true because one of them at the forefront greeted me.

    ¡°Hello, Asirante!¡±

    ¡°???¡±

    If a user had called me with Asirante, I would have not felt it strange at all because I moved around with ID Asirante while hiding my other ID Lumen.

    So, I was a little embarrassed because I didn¡¯t expect that an NPC I was seeing for the first time would call me Asirante.

    Of course, I corrected my expression right away and opened my mouth.

    ¡°Who are you?¡±

    ¡°Oh, my name is Verdi. I belong to the Zaltz n, one of the top 10 ns in the Glue ins.¡±

    It was the first time I ever heard the name Verdi, as well as the Glue ins and the Zaltz n.

    However, I could understand the situation a little when this man called Verdi added a little more.

    ¡°And we have some small exchanges with the Salte n.¡±

    The Salte n Verdi mentioned.

 Chapter 177 - Missing Quest (2)

    <h4>Chapter 177: Missing Quest (2)</h4>

    I first met the Salte n that Veroni just mentioned in Pioneers¡¯ City. At the request of Kihanna, one of their n members, I fought the Gahwa Guild members and expelled them from the city.

    At that time, I told her my name was Asirante instead of Lumen without thinking about it. When Pioneers¡¯ City waster renamed Asirante, it became my second ID.

    ¡°I see. By the way, why are you suddenly meeting me like this?¡±

    I won first ce in the previous ¡®Catch Up With Yourself¡¯ event thanks to my ID Asirante, so I responded politely to Veroni. She then opened her mouth, holding both her hands earnestly.

    ¡°I¡¯vee here to ask you for an urgent favor, Asirante!¡±

    I could figure out what she was trying to say because she made a simr expression to Kihanna when she asked me to expel the Gahwa Guild from Pioneers¡¯ City.

    So, I opened my mouth right away.

    ¡°Okay, I will listen to what you have to say.¡±

    Of course, I was continually troubled by the absence of the message announcing the level 700 only quest that I had been looking forward to, for I could have obtained a huge reward like Blink with zero cooldown by achieving the top rankings in the quest.

    Back then I obtained lots of things through the Salte n¡¯s quest such as the title Honorable Name, golden rings, EXP, and remaining stat points.

    Above all, I owed a lot to my ID Asirante because it was thanks to this ID that I could y a dual role and win first ce in the ¡®Catch Up With Yourself¡¯ event.

    So, I decided to first listen to what Veroni had to say, and ept her request as long as it was reasonable.

    Why? Because no matter how difficult my situation was, I needed to proceed with quests whenever I could since they were so valuable.

    ¡°Thank you!¡±

    When I said I would listen to her, Veroni bowed her head and kept expressing gratitude.

    Then she began to tell her story.

    ¡°As I mentioned earlier, there are a total of ten ns in the Glue ins. The Glue Council, consisting of 550 members, is the highest executive body for all of the Glue ins, but the ten ns manage their own territories and live peacefully among each other. But recently, the Lotz n, thergest among the ten ns with 100 members attending the Glue Council, made a suggestion.¡±

    While she was talking to me earnestly, Veroni swallowed dryly, then continued.

    ¡°They suggested that ten ns were too much, and we should reduce the number to seven!¡±

    Veroni trembled in anger while saying these words. And the four people behind her also clenched their fists or trembled like her as if they were very angry.

    Obviously, Veroni still had not finished her story yet.

    Nevertheless, I seemed to know what she was trying to say.

    If Veroni¡¯s Zaltz n had possessed great power, they could have rejected the Lotz n¡¯s proposal and would not be so angry right now.

    But I didn¡¯t interrupt her and waited for what she had to say next.

    ¡°At the same time, the Lotz n made a proposal about how to reduce the ns because it would cause lots of damage if the ns fought an all-out war against each other. So, they decided to hold a small-scale battle with each of the ns sending a number of troops that matched their influence in the Glue Council and thus the Glue ins. For example, the Lotz n, which has thergest power, would send 100 men, and the Hantz n, the secondrgest, would dispatch 90 men. The bottom three ns in this battle would be absorbed by other ns and cease to exist forever.¡±

    ¡°Then, what about the Zaltz n?¡±

    Veroni said that the ¡®Glue Council¡¯ consisted of a total of 550 people, with 100, 90, 80, 70, 20, and 10 representatives from each of the ten ns in the order of their power.

    I wondered if the Zaltz n was the smallest among them with only ten, but I still asked her, hoping it was not. But my guess was right.

    She said, ¡°Well, the Zaltz n is the smallest of the ten ns, so we have only ten members in the Glue Council, and our fighters are also limited to ten.¡±

    Veroni bowed her head deeply and so did the four men behind her.

    At that moment, I conducted a war simtion about what would happen when the ten Zaltz n members engaged in the war as fighters.

    They were the easiest prey, to say the least.

    The remaining 540 members of the Glue Council would clearly target the Zaltz n since it was only natural.

    Of course, the 8th and 9thrgest ns are only a little stronger than the Zaltz n, so they might help the Zaltz n because they would be the next target after the Zaltz n was eliminated.

    ¡®Man, it¡¯s clear that thergest ns of the Glue Council basically dered they would remove the 8th, 9th, and 10th ns,¡¯ I thought.

    Obviously, the 450 people of the Glue Council would not join hands to attack thergest n Lotz with 100 members at the start.

    That was the same case with the secondrgest Hantz n which had 90 people.

    Veroni said in a tearful voice earnestly, ¡°Please do us a favor! Just as you helped free the Salte n from their very status, we earnestly ask for your help!¡±

    At that moment, a message rang.

    [Quest: Save the Zaltz n.

    -The Zaltz n, who were once the dominant n in the Glue ins.

    But they are now faced with an important battle that will determine their fate and survival. Help the Zaltz n to survive!

    -Reward.

    : 500 million golden rings.

    : 500 remaining stat points.

    : 7000 coins.

    : You will acquire a legendary grade blessing.]

    It must be a very difficult quest because it¡¯s 99% likely that the Zaltz n will be the first target out of the ten ns.

    But I smiled gleefully on the inside because I was fully confident.

    At that moment another message rang.

    [This is a quest with a special reward.

    -If you defeat the Lotz n that will dispatch 100bat members, you will receive an additional reward as below.

    : 500 remaining stat points.]

    The remaining stat points that I would receive if I won increased to 1000 in an instant.

    So, I opened my mouth right away.

    ¡°I will do my best to help the Zaltz n survive by all means.¡±

    I was happy about the 500 remaining stat points, but what really caught my eyes was the legendary grade blessing.

    When I epted Veroni¡¯s request, she started crying out of relief and eximed, ¡°Thank you so much! Thanks a million, Airante!¡±

    To be honest, I decided to ept the quest out of my own interests rather than saving the Zaltz n. So, I felt a bit guilty, so I held her hand and said while trying to hide my true feelings, ¡°You¡¯re wee. If you have a bond with the Salte n, you are my friend too. So, don¡¯t worry.¡±

    It was worth it to make a good impression on her with my words, so Iforted her by promising my full support.

    Then an unexpected message rang this time.

    [The level 700 only quest has been robbed by Yosif in Region 29.

    -Yosif¡¯s trait: Quest Robber

    -Since you are currently blocked by the wall, you can¡¯t track down Yosif.]

    ¡°?¡±

    I was slightly embarrassed by the unexpected message.

    Although I was embarrassed, I felt relieved at the same time because I finally knew why the message about the level 700 only quest didn¡¯t ring, and found out the identity of the guy bold enough to steal my quest.

    Of course, I was worried a bit.

    ¡®I hope he won¡¯t rob this quest as well.¡¯

    Fortunately, the ¡®Save the Zaltz n¡¯ registered in the quest window did not disappear.

 Chapter 178 - The Zaltz Clan (1)

    <h4>Chapter 178: The Zaltz n (1)</h4>

    At the Myongjin Guild¡¯s secret house located in Rodon Castle.

    After excusing myself to Veroni briefly, I went straight to the secret house where my family members and Director Sok were waiting for me.

    ¡°That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t get the level 700 only quest.¡±

    I exined to my family members and Director Sok about the unexpected message that rang only after I obtained the ¡°Save the Zaltz n¡± quest.

    As soon as I finished exining, they started to express their opinions, starting with Sok.

    ¡°Region 29 is Russia, and this guy named Yosif is not in Myongjin¡¯s database.¡±

    ¡°Quest Robber¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen such a fraudulent trait before.¡±

    Come to think of it, I also think it is a scam in every sense because so many people could notplete even a single quest in ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ aside from regr and limited quests. So, Yosif could gain huge benefits if he stole somebody¡¯s quest and proceeded with it whether he cleared it or not.

    ¡°So, what are you going to do now?¡± my father asked, interrupting me.

    I had already thought about it, so I opened my mouth casually.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to give up on my stolen level 700 only quest.¡±

    Of course, I was so frustrated and thought it was so unfair.

    It was not because I was arrogant or self-conceited that I thought so.

    I was really confident that I would win 1st ce if I took part in the quest.

    So, if not for the additional message that had rung after the initial quest robbing message, I would have considered joining hands with the Mirae, Daesung and Kusan Groups, not to mention Daeyu I belonged to superficially and Myongjin, to find Yosif by promising them that I would be of help to them in the future.

    Why? Because there was no guarantee that I would have my quest stolen by this guy again.

    At that moment when I was considering it, however, another message rang.

    [If Yosif proceeds with the level 700 only quest that Lumen, Asirante has been robbed of, the level 700 only quest assigned to Lumen, Asirante will permanently disappear.]

    When I confirmed this message, I swore hard at this total stranger Yosif, shouting, ¡®Son of a bitch!.¡¯

    But I breathed a sigh of relief at the next message.

    [The person holding the trait ¡®Quest Robber¡¯ can only steal one quest per person.

    -Trait holder Yosif can not rob anymore quests from you because he has already stolen your level 700 only quest.]

    Honestly, I was very relieved by this message.

    And at the same time, I decided to find and get even with himter.

    Even if I made a big fuss over finding this Russian guy Yosif by using the Mirae, Myongjin, Daesung, Kusan, and Daeyu Guilds, there was no guarantee that I would find him in a short time. Besides, if Yosif proceeded with the level 700 only quest while I was searching for him, all my efforts would go down the drain.

    What¡¯s more, I felt that it would be exactly what he wanted if I stopped leveling up and focused all my efforts to finding him. Of course, I could not be sure of his intentions, but that was my suspicion.

    So, although I was frustrated, I decided to give up the level 700 only quest for now.

    Instead, I just prayed that the wall blocking the different countries disappeared quickly because even if I didn¡¯t have the ability to ¡®prate the wall¡¯ or ¡®summon¡¯ somebody, I could beat anyone no matter how strong they were.

    Anyway, I changed the topic because I had already made up my mind to give up the quest.

    ¡°I¡¯m thinking of proceeding with another quest instead.¡±

    So, I revealed to my family members and Director Sok the quest I received from Veroni of the Zaltz n. Of course, the quest itself was not very good.

    As soon as the war among the ns started, there was a high possibility that thergest nine ns totaling 540 members would attack the weakest Zaltz n immediately.

    But no one was worried about it because my family and Director Sok knew how strong I was, and that I was now equipped with the +4 enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian sword by reaching level 700.

    At that moment, as soon as she confirmed my quest, my sister said, ¡°Man, it¡¯s like somebody has given you the second best gift, telling you not to worry about the stolen quest. Like the proverb, ¡®If you can¡¯t ride a horse, ride a cow.¡¯ Hahaha.¡±

    I totally agreed with her.

    Besides, I got to find out why the message about the 700 level only quest didn¡¯t ring.

    Anyway, we wrapped up the meeting after Director Sok promised me that he would give me the relevant information about the Glue ins after investigating a little.

    Right after the meeting, I did not immediately go back to the Zaltz n¡¯s Veroni because I wanted to buy a new armor set first. I was now level 700 and possessed a huge number of golden rings, so I should buy an armor set befitting my level.

    My current weapons and essories were top of the line, so I didn¡¯t have to rece them. But, I could rece my current armor set with a better one.

    Of course, it doesn¡¯t matter even if I don¡¯t rece it. But I thought it was a stupid thing to not rece it when it was an easy way to increase my power, so I went straight to the auction house and bought a new armor set suitable for level 700 by spending 500 million golden rings.

    Then I returned to where Veroni of the Zaltz n was waiting for me.

    At the Glue ins.

    At first, I had some questions about why I had to follow her because as long as I knew where she was, I could reach her by using the teleport zone located in each city or castle.

    However, we did not use the teleport zones to reach the Glue ins.

    Veroni said ¡°I have returned¡± without telling me exactly where we were.

    So, I was slightly offended because I felt like she didn¡¯t want to tell me where the Glue ins was.

    At that moment, however, Veroni opened her mouth.

    ¡°Sorry. Asirante. The Glue ins is a sacrednd that has been given only to the ten ns including the Zaltz, Lotz, and Hanz, starting from distant ancient times. Therefore, there is no teleport zone here, and only a small number of our ten ns cane and go out of this area. In principle, outsiders are forbidden from this area. However, in this case, the ¡®Glue Council¡¯ has decided to amend this rule, so that a certain number of outsiders assigned to each n can enter and exit this ce.¡±

    It would have been nice if she had told me about this in advance, but I didn¡¯t point it out. That being said, I did interrupt her initially to go discuss with my family before hearing her full exnation. My family was waiting for me in the secret house of Rodon Castle, so I asked her to wait for me briefly after epting the quest.

    ¡°I see.¡¯

    I nodded at her exnation, then followed her. Shortly afterwards, we reached arge settlement that was only a little smaller than a city.

    ¡°This is the first residential area of the Zaltz n. There are a total of 29 settlements in this vicinity, including this one, all of which are the territory of the Zaltz n.¡±

    ¡°Wow, it¡¯s pretty big.¡±

    Given that this ce was the first residential area of the Zaltz n, I could guess the Zaltz n¡¯s territory was very huge. And I could guess the rest of the Zaltz n¡¯s settlements were also ratherrge without exception.

    However, when I heard what she said next, I realized that I had underestimated the other ns.

    She continued, ¡°The Lotz n, which is the most powerful, has more than 70 ces simr to the 1st residential district of the Zaltz n. Besides, the Lotz n has more than 500 residential areas in other ces.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    They clearly called it the Glue ins, and called themselves ns. So I thought they were like pioneers or nomads living in a rtively small area.

    But, as if to ridicule my original thoughts, the size of their territories was much bigger than I thought.

    In any case, I followed her into the first residential district of the Zaltz n, and immediately moved to the big building in the center.

    Then I saw several people dressed in colorful suits waiting for me outside.

 Chapter 179 - The Zaltz Clan (2)

    <h4>Chapter 179: The Zaltz n (2)</h4>

    Veroni bowed to them and opened her mouth.

    ¡°This is Asirante. He said he is willing to help our Zaltz n out of our current dangerous situation . Asirante, this is the chieftain of our Zaltz n.¡±

    ¡°Oh! I¡¯ve heard a lot about you, Asirante. Thank you so much foring all the way here to help our Zaltz n out of this crisis. We will never forget your help.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee. If you are friends with the Salte n, you are my friend too. I can¡¯t turn a deaf ear to you when I know you are in a dangerous situation.¡±

    My dad, brother, sister, and Director Sok all advised me that I should not ignore NPCs, but treat them as respectfully as possible.

    Of course, even if they had not said that, I would not have treated an NPC poorly because just like ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ was not an ordinary game, there was a high possibility that these NPCs were not ordinary.

    Anyway, the atmosphere was very amicable because of the way I treated them.

    After conversing with them briefly, I moved to another ce, escorted by Veroni.

    ¡°The next ce I¡¯m going to guide you is the ce where the representatives of the Zaltz n we are sending to battle are staying. You are thest member of this group.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± I replied absentmindedly as I was focused on something else at the moment.

    I didn¡¯t know it before, but after talking with the chieftain of the Zaltz n, I realized that this quest was not given to me alone.

    In other words, the chieftain told me that the Zaltz n went to several people who were rumored to be strong, and proposed the quest to them. Moreover, those they went to see were not confined to Region 53 Korea where I belonged.

    But they were rejected by all except for me.

    No matter how precious the quest was, they allegedly didn¡¯t even consider it, arguing the quest was impossible to clear just like breaking a rock with an egg.

    Some said they could not help because the chance of the Zaltz n being the first target of the nine other ns was 99%.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t feel disappointed upon hearing this because quests were not supposed to be monopolized , but I still felt a bit displeased.

    Even if I interrupted Veroni initially to discuss with my family at our safe house in Rodon Castle , she should have told me about this in advance. The fact that the Zaltz n offered the quest to multiple users meant that not only only the Zaltz n, but also the Lotz n or the Hantz n could give quests to multiple other users as well.

    In fact, when I asked about this, the chieftain of the Zaltz n said he heard they actually did so. In other words, this fight was not just a fight among the NPCs, but also a fight among users, and the fight was not limited to Region 53 where I belonged, but all over the world.

    In other words, I btedly came to know that the quest, which I made light of, was actually a veryrge quest.

    Of course, even if I had known about all this from the beginning, I would still have epted it in the end because I was confident of winning even in a disadvantageous situation.

    However, I could not help but feel offended because I epted her request without knowing this kind of situation in advance.

    So, I briefly thought about giving her a hard time by acting uncooperative.

    But I already epted the quest and the chief¡¯s apology for not letting me know in advance. Besides, I did not know what kind of rtionship I would have with them in the future.

    Of course, I thought that Veroni might have misunderstood me since I interrupted her briefly to go discuss with my family.

    ¡®Well, I would have epted the quest anyway even if I had known the situation. What¡¯s more, this quest gives me as many as 1000 remaining stat points and a legendary grade blessing.¡±

    I shook off any lingering resentment against Veroni.

    Anyway, I arrived at a building while being lost in thought like that.

    When I stepped inside with Veroni, a message rang.

    [Would you like to register as a member of the Zaltz n¡¯s ten fighters who bear the fate of the n?]

    ¡°Register.¡±

    [You have been registered as abat member belonging to the Zaltz n.

    -You will automatically be added to the party with the remaining 9 members who have already been registered.

    The party is automatically dismissed at the end of the quest, regardless of whether it seeds or fails.

    -You can select your ID and level to be private or public]

    ¡°Let me keep my ID and level private.¡±

    I was a little worried about this because although my well-known ID Asirante would clearly intimidate my opponents and cause them great stress, it might force them to unite against me instead

    When one party is far superior to others, the others generally join together to eliminate them first.

    Even so, I had full confidence in beating them all, but I chose to keep my ID private because I wanted to reduce the variables.

    Soon, I encountered the nine members of the Zalz n.

    ¡°Nice to meet you, Asirante.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s an honor to meet you like this.¡±

    Now, the party wasplete with all ten members.

    It was now possible to check each other¡¯s level.

    ¡®Level 1274, level 1201, level 1163¡­¡¯

    Basically, they were all over level 1000.

    At that moment, a message rang.

    [You have be the captain of the Zaltz n¡¯s battle party.]

    At first, I was a party member, but my status was suddenly changed to party leader.

    At that moment, Veroni opened her mouth.

    ¡°The chieftain said that he would leave everything to you, Asirante.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    I didn¡¯t feel bad about this because I had greater aspirations than just preventing the Zaltz n from being included in the eliminated three ns. I also wanted to defeat thergest Lotz n with 100 members and emintate them as well f.

    To achieve that goal, I thought it was essential for me tomand the nine fighters in my group.

    The next day, I essed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ at the appointed time.

    Of course, the nine members of the Zalz n were already ready for battle.

    A message rang at that moment.

    [After 30 minutes, the battle decided by the ¡®Glue Council¡¯ will take ce.

    -Number of participants of the Lotz n: 100 people.

    -Number of participants of the Hantz n: 90 people.

    :

    :

    -The number of participants of the Matsu n: 20 people.

    -The number of participants of the Zaltz n: 10 people.]

    [The battle continues until all members of three ns are defeated in battle.]

    In the end, if only one person of any n survives, the survival of the n is guaranteed.

    After the message finished and the 30-minute timer was created, I opened my mouth, looking at the nine NPCs Zaltz n.

    ¡°If possible, I would like to include the Lotz n on the list of the three ns to be eliminated.¡±

    ¡°!¡±

    ¡°!!¡±

    ¡°!!!¡±

    At that moment, the nine showed consternation and embarrassment.

    I tried to express my point in the most restrained way possible.

    I should have used ¡®by all means¡¯, not ¡®if possible.¡¯

    But I continued without caring about it.

    ¡°So I hope you follow my instructions well.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    ¡°Since you have be our captain, we will follow any of your orders.¡±

    I thought it was fortunate that they were all NPCs.

    If they were users, they would not follow my orders.

    I waited after confirming their reassurances.

    When the 30-minute timer reached zero, I felt like I was being dragged somewhere.

    Soon a huge arena-like ce came into view.

    Of course, other things came into view as well.

    I noticed more than 500 people looking everywhere to identify their enemies and allies.

    The battle began in the form of a war of nerve

 Chapter 180 - Faster Encounter Than Expected (1)

    <h4>Chapter 180: Faster Encounter Than Expected (1)</h4>

    I can say for sure that I am very lucky.

    Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to select ¡®Revival Legend,¡¯ or more precisely, ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯, among the numerous closed beta games avable.

    So, it was ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ that I first yed when I looked for games in their closed beta stage during my vacation, and I also applied for other games in their closed beta stage as well, secretly hoping that I could be chosen.

    Anyway, whatever the situation, I can say that I was very lucky by choosing ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯, and I continued to be lucky while ying ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    For example, I obtained Blink with zero cooldown right before I challenged the Salimaru Bandits quest, and the level 1200 reality actualization preview0 right before Pablo forcefully exiled me to Region 0.

    In other words, I was lucky enough to encounter a series of situations that seemed to prepare me for what would happen in the future.

    On such asions, unexpected messages kept ringing, proving that I was very lucky again.

    [You have found Yosif who robbed you of the level 700 only quest with his rait ¡®Quest Robber¡¯.]

    I clearly saw a message before that announced that I could not track down Yosif because of the wall blocking countries around the world.

    And along with the message about Yosif, a red circle sparkled above the head of a man in the surroundings who seemed to be very high level.

    So, I naturally turned my eyes at him, and the other person also looked at me, startled, as if he also received the same message.

    At that moment I smiled in spite of myself.

    Of course, I pledged to take revenge on this guy who robbed me of the level 700 only quest. I told myself over and over that I would get even with the robber, but little did I expect to encounter him in this ce so early.

    So, I brightly smiled at Yosif, who was so embarrassed, and said faintly, ¡°Nice to see you here,¡± in a low voice.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Yosif never thought he would encounter Asirante in a ce like this.

    Therefore, he could not help but be startled, but he soon pulled himself together.

    He had some fighting experience, and he was not low level enough to be defeated easily. As a matter of fact, he was confident of beating his opponent, no matter who they were.

    He has robbed hundreds of quests so far. Although he didn¡¯t clear all of them and didn¡¯t achieve the top ranking in lots of quests, he still gained lots of things in the process.

    But that was why the Lucia Guild set their eyes on him and had Pablo forcefully recruit him.

    Nevertheless, Yosif had no choice but to acknowledge the Asirante before his eyes was a monster, because Asirante had proven his power many times through his brilliant performance in many quests. In particr, the fact that Asirante smashed Pablo¡¯s ¡®Prating Wall¡¯, which even he couldn¡¯t do, was clear evidence that Asirante was indeed very strong.

    Of course, this didn¡¯t mean that Yosif would give in so easily , so he looked around quickly to try to find out which n Asirante belonged to. And he heaved a sigh of relief when he realized it was the Zaltz n. He was very fortunate that Asirante was not a member of a powerful n like the Hantz n with 90 members, or the Altz n with 80 members, else he would be in a real difficult situation.

    After he sized up the situation surrounding Asirante, Yosif shouted out loudly.

    ¡°Do we need to engage in this kind of dirty war among us? Currently, there are a total of 10 ns with 100, 90, 80, ¡­, 30, 20, and 10batants respectively. And as you know, the weaker ns have fewbatants. In other words, if the ten ns have to be reduced to seven ns, don¡¯t you think it¡¯s right that the weaker ns should disappear first?¡±

    Yosif showed overflowing confidence while shouting these words because he knew what he said was 100% true.

    In fact, at least 490 out of the 550batants were supportive of Yosif¡¯s logic. Of course, the remaining 60 people who don¡¯t agree with him are probably either from the Zaltz n that I belong to, or the 9th ranking n with 20 members, or the 8th ranking n with 30 members.

    Anyway, as soon as Yosif finished talking, I could hear many whispers agreeing with him in the throng of people surrounding me.

    At that moment, Yosif shouted again, as if he had a lot to say.

    ¡°The weak will always fall behind and disappear. Besides, the Zaltz n has Asirante as one of theirbatants. If you are well informed, you must have heard about him, of course. So, we have to eliminate him as soon as possible.¡±

    Yosif pointed me out with his fingers to make me the main target..

    And everyone¡¯s eyes suddenly turned to me.

    Some of them already began to take an attacking posture.

    Of course, I was confident of using Blink with zero cooldown to attack Yosif and strike him down before he spouted more nonsense.

    But I put up with it because I must ensure that the Lotz n Yosif belonged to should be one of the eliminated three ns.

    So I opened my mouth, looking at Yosif, or more precisely, the Lotz n.

    ¡°How about a fight between the Lotz and Zalz ns first? You are ten times stronger than us in terms of just numbers.¡±

    The strongest n here was the Lotz n. And nobody would have a problem with my proposal except for the Lotz n. In addition, even if the 8th and 9th ranking ns, not to mention the 10th ranking Zaltz n, were defeated and absorbed by the other ns, there would not be much change to the power dynamic since they were small and weak from the beginning.

    However, if the Lotz n were defeated here, there would be a drastic change in the existing power distribution of the ten ns.

    As soon as I finished talking, the members of the secondrgest Hantz n, and the thirdrgest Altz n began to whisper among themselves.

    So I opened my mouth once more, so that everyone could hear it clearly.

    ¡°No matter who wins, if the Lotz n, who is the greatest power here, loses members, wouldn¡¯t it benefit you all?¡±

    I was announcing something like a deration of war against thergest Lotz n.

    So, all the ns other than the Lotz n would be happy on the inside because if the strongest force were defeated or suffered serious damage, the other ns would move up one rank higher than before.¡±

    ¡°No way! Let¡¯s unite together to strike down that powerful Asirante¡­¡±

    Of course, Yosif desperately balked at my proposal because this was thest thing he wanted, but the other ns had clearly made their decisions.

    Tramp-Tramp-Tramp-

    When one of them stepped back, all the others did the same.

    And only the Lotz n with 100batants and the Zaltz n with only tenbatants including myself were left in the center.

    At that moment, Yosif stiffened his expression, as if he was so embarrassed.

    Of course, there was a reason why he stiffened his face like that.

    Right before the fight, there was a message that even if one of the n members survived, that n would not be eliminated.

    So, if all the ten ns engaged in a nasty fight that would not differentiate between friendly forces and enemies, three of them could unfortunately disappear before I could eliminate all 100 members of the Lotz n.

    So, I agonized over it for a moment until Yosif challenged me a little while ago by saying that all the ns except for the Zaltz n must unite to get rid of me first.

    Of course, I used his challenge to make the situation favorable to me.

    ¡®By the way, it¡¯s a littlete, but let me use my trait ¡®Savant¡¯.¡¯

 Chapter 181 - Faster Encounter Than Expected (2)

    <h4>Chapter 181: Faster Encounter Than Expected (2)</h4>

    If I overwhelmed the Lotz n right from the start, I may be besieged from all sides because although the other ns wanted the Lotz n to be struck down, they would not be willing to see another dominant force emerge.

    So, I intended to deal with the Lotz n fighters with just the necessary force required.

    After I decided how to fight them, I opened my mouth to the nine members of the Zaltz n behind me.

    ¡°Don¡¯t heal or buff me.¡±

    Obviously, I will be the primary target for the Lotz nbatants.

    However, if the healers and enchanters got involved, they would be the Lotz fighters¡¯ first target, not me, because the basics of group fighting was to target the back line.

    Of course, even if the members of my group die, it would not impact me at all.

    However, since I did not intend to be a bystander, I gave them such an order.

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    Since they already agreed to follow my orders unconditionally, no one disputed it.

    Anyway, Iunched the attack first because I didn¡¯t want to waste time on this fight.

    Of course, I attacked with Ice Field and Thin Ice first.

    ¡°Stop him!¡±

    ¡°Fire Field!¡±

    ¡°The Roaring Land!¡±

    ¡°The Fire Spirit¡¯s Fury.¡±

    I noticed about 20 users among the 100batants of the Lotz n, including Yosif.

    The rest of them were all NPCs belonging to the Lotz n. Of course, this did not make the fight more favorable to me.

    During the level 500 only quest, I fought a number of NPCs and users, and keenly realized that NPCs were better at fighting than most users.

    Of course, it didn¡¯t mean that the 20 users were weak fighters.

    As if to meet my expectations, they immediately responded to my first strike.

    They resorted to the same skills to destroy my ice-type skills.

    And then they started using more skills.

    ¡°Tie them, Sticky Roots!¡±

    ¡°Bursting mes!¡±

    ¡°Pain Thorns!¡±

    ¡°Wind Storm!¡±

    ¡°Dancing mes!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Regardless of whether they were users or NPCs, all of the opponents were high level.

    That¡¯s why their attacks were very strong.

    Of course, I had something I could rely on to withstand their fierce attack.

    [You are wearing the +4 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    -Due to the determination of the Ice Emperor that even the Sun God could not melt, the damage incurred by fire-type skills is reduced by 30%.]

    Honestly, I didn¡¯t have to wear the guardian sword because my willpower was over 10,000 and my armor was also top quality.

    Although it was a weapon effective against the fire-type attacks, I was satisfied with it because it also served as a good defense.

    Anyway, I moaned at their attacks.

    ¡°Argh!¡±

    I even stepped back slightly as if I had been affected by their powerful attack.

    ¡°Great! Keep attacking him!¡±

    ¡°This guy Asirante is only human, after all!¡±

    Given their ted reactions, my pretense seemed to have paid off.

    Of course, I also attacked them.

    ¡°Ice Spear! Multiple Ice Arrow! Ice Wave!¡±

    First of all, I used Ice Spear and Multiple Ice Arrows to check out their strength, then resorted to Ice Wave which was my strongest instant damage skill.

    ¡°Kuuuuuuuuuuuh!¡±

    ¡°Kheeeeeeeeeeeeh!!¡±

    The first two yers of the Lotz n at the forefront were immediately killed by Ice Wave. But on the surface, it seemed that I was struggling desperately while the Lotz nbatants were pushing me into a corner. So, even if two of them fell, the rest didn¡¯t care at all. I could see they were going out of their way to attack me more intensely.

    ¡®By the way, they are really strong,¡¯ I murmured to myself while fending them off.

    Even though I had more than 17,000 stamina and wore top-notch items, I realized my health was depleting rapidly.

    However, I was still fine because my health was basically too high.

    Anyway, I tried my best to give them the impression that I was struggling to defend myself desperately, so that I could gradually counterattack without them paying attention.

    While the Lotz nbatants and the Zaltz n fighters were engaged in fighting, Antoine, who participated in this quest as a member of the Hantz n, felt something strange while monitoring their fight.

    ¡°Hum¡­¡±

    Of course, at first Antoine also thought that Asirante was in a very disadvantageous situation because no matter how strong Asirante was, his opponents were far from weak, and even the NPCs in the Lotz n were level 1000 or higher. So he didn¡¯t think it strange at all that Asirante was struggling to defend himself desperately.

    However, it was the Lotz n fighters who were suffering real damage.

    In other words, it was the Lotz nbatants who were taking the offensive, but ten of them were already killed, with only 90 left.

    On the contrary, the Zaltz n, which had only tenbatants, had not lost a single member.

    In other words, the Zalz n fighters who included Asirante, suffered no damage at all.

    Of course, if Asirante, fighting against them alone, fell, then all thebatants of the Zaltz n would fall soon after and the Zaltz n would vanish. But Asirante didn¡¯t fall at all, even though he seemed to be struggling desperately.

    ¡®No way! He can¡¯t be putting on an act!¡¯

    Antoine himself was the leader of one of the top five guilds in France, so he was confident that he had a discerning eye, but he never thought that Asirante was now pretending to struggle in a defensive position on purpose.

    However, when he recalled the fact that Asirante was responsible for helping Korea, which nobody previously paid attention to, win the 4th Anniversary Special Event, he became convinced that Asirante was now trying to deceive the Lotz n fighters by deliberately trying to look weak.

    So he decided at that moment that he should help the Lotz n.

    If Asirante was now pretending to look weak on purpose, it would be a fait apli that the Lotz n would be eliminated by ying into his hands, which would determine the fate of the next strongest n, namely the Hantz n.

    If the Hantz n were really included among the three ns to be eliminated, he would never receive the reward for this quest.

    Antoine looked around to evaluate the situation.

    None of the Lotz n fighters doubted Asirante¡¯s behavior.

    Watching them, however, Antoine decided not to help the Lotz n fighters, for he judged that he didn¡¯t need to make Asirante his enemy to receive the quest reward which was not that big.

    Now, the Lotz n has only 70 members left?

    I thought there were now only 70 left, which was still far more than the Zaltz n fighters which only numbered ten including me.

    However, given the whispering among the Lotz n fighters that I could hear, I realized that many of them also felt something strange.

    Of course, I fully understood their feelings because I never fell despite my apparent copse. In the meantime, I got rid of 30 of them, to their shock.

    So I quietly opened my mouth.

    ¡°Use limited skill Savant!¡±

    [Among the strength, agility, stamina, willpower and intellect that Lumen, Asirante currently possesses, the most outstanding stat is intellect.

    -Current intellect: 21850.

    -For 30 minutes, your intellect is doubled to 43700.

    -After this period of 30 minutes, Savant will go on a 10 day cooldown]

    ¡°Ice field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Puck! Puck!

    Pasasasak!

    Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

    After using my limited skill Savant, Iid Ice Field again.

    Then I used an AOE skill right away, which I had not used for a long time.

    ¡°Blink.¡±

    And I prated into the enemy using Blink.

    ¡°Khuuuuuuuuuuuk!¡±

    ¡°Kheeeeeeeeehe!¡±

    ¡°What the hell is this damage¡­¡±

    The battle was literally hell for them.

    When I changed my attack method and inflicted heavy damage on them all of a sudden, the battlefield turned into a mess in an instant with the Lotz n fighters falling into great confusion.

    Of course, while I was in the thick of fighting, I didn¡¯t lose my sight on Yosif because he was a central fighter of the Lotz n.

    Anyway, my second round of fighting with them began like that.

    ¡°Damn, we have beenpletely taken in!¡±

    ¡°You bet! He fooled uspletely.¡±

    ¡°Then, isn¡¯t it time for all of us to join hands with the Lotz n to fight him?¡±

    ¡°Are you crazy? Can¡¯t you see him fighting them alone?¡±

    Hearing that, one of the users who was a member of the 3rdrgest Altz n, turned his eyes at Asirante.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    He said nothing. Of course, the quest reward was important to him, but he didn¡¯t want to jump into the fire with an oil barrel on his back because he knew what would happen if he confronted Asirante.

 Chapter 182 - Maybe Santa Clause(1)

    <h4>Chapter 182: Maybe Santa use(1)</h4>

    In the center of the battlefield.

    ¡°Pouring Hails! Blink! Ice Wave!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Pasasasak!

    First, I used Pouring Hail whose cooldown had returned, then moved to the ce where most of the Lotz n fighters were clumped together and used my most powerful instant damage skill, Ice Wave.

    Seven of them were killed on the spot.

    Watching theirrades copsing helplessly, the rest of them began to yell in frustration.

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    ¡°Stop his attack!¡±

    ¡°You idiot! Do you think you can stop him even if you want to? Just keep attacking. The only way to block him is to kill him!¡±

    ¡°Shit! Poison Arrow.¡±

    ¡°Rise! Earthen Rampart!¡±

    ¡°Breath of Destruction.¡±

    ¡°Biting Wind Spirit¡¯s Attack!¡±

    Puck! Puck Puck!

    They used even more attacks on me.

    Of course, I had the ability to avoid their numerous attacks.

    I used Blink a moment ago, and I could still use it again.

    However, even though I showed many of my skills, I didn¡¯t want to show them Blink with zero cooldown yet, so I avoided the attacks I could and blocked the remaining ones with my body.

    But even this kind of defensive power seemed to be enough to frighten the Lotz n fighters.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Why can¡¯t we kill him?¡±

    ¡°Damn it! If you are a ice-type wizard, just die like a wizard!¡±

    Of course, as they said, if I were a typical wizard, I would have died right after the fight started because wizards naturally had low defensive power. However, I had obtained too many items and skills to die like that. Besides, it was natural that I endured their attack because I chose stamina, instead of willpower, as the stat that would grow 100% along with my Intellect. Otherwise, I would feel it really regrettable to have chosen stamina over willpower.

    Anyway, there were still more than 400 users or NPCs that did not belong to the Lotz n outside our current battlefield where the fighting was now going on between the Lotz n fighters and Asirante, not the Zaltz n fighters. If they interfered and entered the fight, they would disrupt my n to eliminate the Lotz n first, so I used all my skills other than Blink with zero cooldown.

    On the periphery of the battle.

    Users watching the battle had no choice but toment about Asirante¡¯s ability that did not adhere tomon sense.

    ¡°By the way, don¡¯t you think Asirante¡¯s using his skills too fast?¡±

    ¡°I think so.¡±

    ¡°Even if you take into ount his willpower and the passive skill called ¡®Ice-type skill cooldown reduction¡¯, he is still using his skill so fast. Besides, he is also using Blink.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it a scam if he can use skill so fast like that at his level? How can he do that?¡±

    ¡°Damn it! That¡¯s not the only problem. Asirante is not even using any of the tank skills that reduce a percentage of iing damage. By the way¡­¡±

    The users taking this quest were also level 1000 or higher. So most of them here were widely recognized as strong yers in their regions, so they could clearly discern Asirante¡¯s terrific abilities. They just could not believe their eyes.

    In the central battlefield.

    I¡¯m normally the type of person who saves a delicious thing forst.

    But this time I wanted to eat it first.

    I wanted to show the guy who dared to rob my level 700 only quest how serious a mistake he had made.

    ¡°Blink.¡±

    Since I was keeping an eye on Yosif while fighting the Lotz n fighters, I immediately moved to his side when he tried to retreat. And then I grabbed him by the cor.

    ¡°Where are you going to flee?¡±

    ¡°Damn it! Poison Dagger! Multiple Paralysis Poison!¡±

    Puck!

    [You have been attacked by paralysis poison.

    -The opponent¡¯s intellect is not much different from your willpower.

    -The influence of the paralysis poison is greatly reduced.]

    ¡°Um. This is going to be an exciting fight.¡±

    ¡°You monstrous bastard!¡±

    ¡°Then, I think I should punish you for robbing my quest without being afraid at all.¡±

    Honestly, my physical attack power was enormous.

    In particr, when I was testing it while attacking a group of saber steel tooth tigers, the total of Level 6 Ice weapon from my Level 3 Ice Weapon and the Level 3 Ice Weapon always on the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian sword was immensely powerful.

    However, in this battle, I only used ice-type skills continually instead of directly wielding the +4 enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword, for if I also showed my tremendous physical attack power in addition to my enormous magic attack power, I would draw even more attention.

    As a matter of fact, I keenly felt that I drew the attention of too many people these days. I had just recently faced Pablo, who showed his ability to ¡®break through the wall,¡¯ and Edwin of the Shaipe Group, one of the three major forces in the United States, who showed the ability to ¡®summon.¡¯

    Of course, someday they will know my true identity and full abilities.

    However, I wanted to hide my physical attack power as much as possible until the 4th Virtual reality waspletely realized or I would be put in a dangerous situation by drawing even more attention.

    Actually, I had already been exposed to danger several times because of that.

    That¡¯s why I spammed Ice Spear and Multiple Ice Arrow on Yosif, who I grabbed by the cor.

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    In addition to such skills, I even used Ice Wave whose damage was overwhelmingpared to other skills in terms of instant damage.

    But he also counterattacked.

    ¡°You son of a bitch! Acid Rain!¡±

    Yosif was a ranged type who was heavily armed with poison-type skills.

    Of course, his main stat would be intellect.

    But when he didn¡¯t die after being hit by Ice Wave, I was a little surprised because my intellect currently exceeded 40,000 because of my limited skill Savant.

    But I didn¡¯t express my surprise, of course, because I wanted to focus on what I was doing,

    So I threw Yosif, who I grabbed by the cor, and shouted straight away.

    ¡°Ice Prison!¡±

    Of course, I threw him away at the ce where the Lotz n fighters were standing because it was not good to use Ice Prison on Yosif alone when there were still arge number of the Lotz n fighters around.

    Then I used one skill right away toward the Ice Prison that emerged.

    ¡°Ice st!¡±

    Bang!

    ¡°Kheeeeeeeeee!¡±

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    ¡°You monstrous bastard!¡±

    I ignored those around me yelling.

    However, I carefully checked the ce where Ice Prison was blown up. I noticed Yosif was still standing there.

    ¡°Oh my God¡­then, his main stat is not intellect?¡±

    Of course, if Yosif was a tank, I could understand his position, but he was a typical damage dealer.

    In fact, two damage dealers who were nearby Yosif when Ice st detonated copsed immediately on the spot.

    At that moment, Yosif shouted, ¡°Let me return it!¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Of course, I thought I knew what it was because the only thing that he could return to me was the level 700 only quest.

    ¡°But I can¡¯t for now. Instead, I will pay the corresponding price, whether it be golden rings or any other item!¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    I had no choice but to feel attracted to his offer because I was curious about the reward of this level 700 quest. I obtained Blink with zero cooldown as a reward for the level 300 only quest, and a preview of the level 1200 privilege as the reward for level 500 only quest.

    Yosif was afraid of dying because if the person whose quest he stole sessfully killed him, he would lose the trait ¡®Quest Robber¡± which was the basis of his growth.

    So, when he discovered that his health was depleting rapidly despite his enormous stamina and willpower, he could not help but be astonished by fear.

    ¡®Damn it! Shit!¡¯

    That¡¯s why Yosif kept spitting out abusivenguage because although he himself was also called a monster by others, there was a real monster in front of him, and his life was at stake.

    So, Yosif took out his trump card. He stated that he would return to Asirante the level 700 only quest he had stolen from him. However, he could not return it to Asirante because he had already stolen it.

    But he thought he could persuade Asirante this way because Asirante had no way of knowing that.

    Of course, he felt slightly guilty about proceeding with the stolen 700 level only quest so quickly, but he quickly shook off such feelings because he could steal other quests by immediately proceeding with the quest that he had robbed with his trait ¡®Quest Robber.¡¯

    Anyway, Yosif desperately kept his fingers crossed that he could deceive Asirante this time.

 Chapter 183 - Maybe Santa Clause (2)

    <h4>Chapter 183: Maybe Santa use (2)</h4>

    ¡°Your offer is really appealing. But¡­¡±

    As soon as I finished talking, I used Blink with zero cooldown to appear next to Yosif and grabbed him by the cor.

    Then I said, looking straight into his eyes, ¡°Well, I don¡¯t want the quest back that you robbed from me.¡±

    Of course, contrary to what I said, I wanted the level 700 only quest.

    So, if there was a 100% guarantee that he could return the stolen quest to me, I was willing to spare his life. But if I decided to do so, I would need to give up on receiving 500 stat points from eliminating the Lotz n.

    But I could not be sure of any guarantee.

    Besides, I had no skills such as Pablo¡¯s ¡°Prating Wall¡± or Jacob¡¯s ¡°Summon,¡¯ so if I set Yosif free now, who knows when I would be able to catch him again.

    ¡®Yosif said he could not return the stolen quest to me immediately. This means he might have already proceeded with it.¡¯

    The message said clearly that if Yosif proceeded with the quest, I would permanently lose it.

    Moreover, that quest could only bepleted at level 700.

    In other words, I had to stay at level 700 until Yosif returned the quest, but I had an urgent goal of achieving level 1200 as soon as possible. So I didn¡¯t want to wait for Yosif to return the stolen quest especially when there was no guarantee he could give it back.

    That¡¯s why I thought of killing him first because I could not afford to be deceived again, like the saying, ¡°Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me!¡± He deceived me once, so I wouldn¡¯t give him another chance.

    So, I used Multiple Ice Arrows and Ice Storm as soon as their cooldown returned to kill Yosif instantly. He fell, with his hands hanging limply.

    I watched him copse helplessly with a nk stare because I felt like I discarded the level 700 only quest by killing him.

    At that moment, an unexpected message rang.

    [You have killed Yosif who possesses the trait ¡®Quest Robber¡¯.

    -Lumen, Asirante had his level 700 only quest robbed by Yosif.

    The following reward is given for sessfully taking revenge against him.

    -Title ¡®Quest Craftsman¡¯.

    ¨C 1957 remaining stat points.]

    [Since Yosif was killed by the person whose quest he robbed, his trait ¡®Quest Robber¡¯ is permanently deleted.]

    ¡°?¡±

    I was a little embarrassed by the unexpected message.

    But my embarrassment didn¡¯tst long.

    In no time, I smiled broadly at the contents of the message.

    Of course, I still didn¡¯t know if my decision to kill Yosif was the right choice, for I could have gotten a bigger reward from the level 700 only quests considering my previous performance in the other limited quests.

    But regardless of whether my decision was right or wrong, it was clear that I got a reward by killing Yosif.

    Aside from the title, I acquired 1957 remaining stat points, which was tremendous.

    I even thought that Yosif was like Santa use for me. Then I turned my eyes at the remaining 30 members of the Lotz n because I had to get rid of them first to im the extra 500 remaining stat points.

    Five minutes was enough for me to get rid of the remaining 30 fighters of the Lotz n.

    Honestly, if all the remaining 30 were NPCs, I could have killed them much earlier because the NPCs of the Lotz n did not run away, and instead resisted until the end.

    On the contrary, the users who participated in this quest as members of the Lotz n were busy fleeing from the battleground.

    Of course, it was no use for them to run away.

    Anyway, I eliminated the 100 fighters of the Lotz n, so there were only nine ns with a total of 450 members left behind on the battlefield.

    Still, the Zaltz n I belong to still has the smallest force with ten members.

    At that moment a message rang.

    [The remaining fighters of the Lotz n are 0.

    -The first n that is eliminated is the Lotz n.]

    No one thought that this would be the oue since the Lotz n had the highest number of 100batants, so it would be difficult for another n to attack them first.

    However, the n that boasted the highest number of fighters was devastated by the smallest n with only ten fighters. As a result, there was a long silence on the battlefield.

    I cast a nce at the 440 remaining fighters of the nine ns who were standing shocked because I had to choose two of them for elimination.

    It seemed as if I was the ruler who decided their fate. In fact, they seemed to wait for my decision. But I didn¡¯t take any action.

    Tramp- Tramp- Tramp-

    I took the remaining nine members of the Zaltz n to one corner of the battleground.

    Why? Because I havepleted a special quest with 500 remaining stat points by eliminating the Lotz n, and made the other nine ns dare not to attack the Zaltz n.

    So, I decided to stop here.

    I did everything I had to do, and there were no more rewards even if I continued to fight.

    Moreover, if I chose the two more ns to be eliminated as if I was the absolute ruler here, it would inevitably invite their resentment.

    Besides, it was certain that the two ns chosen by me would resist desperately because their ns would be destroyed anyway if they fell.

    So, I chose not to fight anymore, for I didn¡¯t have to get cursed by them for no reason.

    So I moved the Zaltz n members to one corner of the battlefield and shouted out loud.

    ¡°The Zaltz n will not intervene until two more ns are eliminated here. But if you guys attack the Zaltz, we are going to fight back. Whoever attacks us will be the next target to be eliminated after the Lotz n.¡±

    ¡°¡­.¡±

    ¡°¡­.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    They remained silent even when I finished talking, but they were busy checking each other¡¯s actions.

    The Hantz and Altz ns were the next most powerful ns after the Lotz n. They led an attack on the 8th and 9th ranking ns.

    Of course, I predicted that this situation would happen.

    It was very natural for the weakest n to be targeted in a situation where they were surrounded by stronger ns.

    Did I feel sorry or sympathetic for the weak ns?

    Honestly, I did to some extent, because if I intervened, I could make every n send out only 20 fighters to match the 20 members of the 9th ranked Matz n with the least members except for the Zaltz n.

    However, I didn¡¯t want to intervene and risk condemnation, so I just watched the battlefield silently. Soon after, two ns were eliminated. Of course, they were the 8th and 9th ranked ns.

    [The remaining fighters of the Lotz, Matz, and Tutz ns are zero.

    -The three ns that will disappear from the Glue ins have been decided.

    -The remaining seven ns will be moved out of the arena in 10 seconds.]

    ¡°Wow! Thank you so much, Asirante!¡±

    ¡°Asirante, you are the savior of our Zaltz n!¡±

    As soon as the message rang, there were people who weed me very much.

    They were none other than the nine fighters of the Zaltz n right next to me.

    The three ns who would be eliminated were initially basically decided from the start.

    Namely, the 9th ranked Matz n and the 8th ranked Tutz n would definitely be eliminated.

    But none of the ten ns expected that the first-ranked Lotz n, not the 10th ranked Zaltz n, would be included in the unfortunate three ns.

    Anyway, since the Zaltz n survived, the atmosphere among the nine members could not be better, while those users who participated in the remaining six ns, who were standing at a distance, could not help but have mixed feelings.

    However, I didn¡¯t have to pay attention to them, so I ignored their intense gaze.

    Soon, I felt myself being dragged somewhere, and the first residential district of the Zaltz n soon came into view.

    ¡°Wow! Hurray!¡±

    ¡°We have survived!¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Asirante. Thank you very much.¡±

    It seemed that the message that rang inside the arena also rang outside.

    So, numerous members of the Zaltz n greeted me exuberantly.

    Of course, I was very happy with their cheering because a message about the reward rang as soon as I got out of the arena.

    [ You have sessfully cleared the quest ¡°Save the Zaltz n.¡±

    -The following rewards are given.

    : 500 million Golden Rings.

    : 500 remaining stat points.

    : 7000 coins.

    : Legendary Grade Blessing.]

    I expected such rewards up to that point.

    But there was one more reward I was waiting for.

    And that¡¯s why I first got rid of the 100-member Lotz n by fighting hard.

    [While proceeding with the quest, you have sessfully cleared the special quest titled ¡®Eliminate the Lotz n.¡¯

    -You obtain 500 additional stat points.]

 Chapter 184 - NPC? (1)

    <h4>Chapter 184: NPC? (1)</h4>

    I obtained a whopping 1000 remaining stat points in total from the quest.

    More precisely, I gained as many as 2957 remaining stat points including the 1957 from killing Yosif. In other words, my remaining stat points were almost 3000.

    Besides, I received coins and golden rings, a Legendary Grade Blessing, and the Quest Craftsman title.

    ¡®Hahahaha.¡¯ I broke intoughter before I knew it because my rewards were muchrger than I thought. Maybe more than the reward for my stolen level 700 only quest.

    So, I shook off my regrets about the stolen level 700 only quest without any hesitation.

    Besides, my revenge on Yosif was perfect as well because he lost his fraudulent trait ¡®Quest Robber¡¯pletely.

    ¡°We have prepared a feast in your honor, Asirante!¡±

    ¡°Pleasee this way!¡±

    Of course, I needed to level up urgently.

    Right now, I wanted to check the impact of almost 3000, or 7500 remaining stat points, given my Mutual Growth trait.

    However, there was enough time for me to participate in the Zalz n¡¯s feast in my honor, so I followed them. I was in a very good mood.

    While Juyoung Hong, or Asirante was having a great time at the party hosted by the Zaltz n, something was developing on the Hurd McDonald Ind south of the Indian Ocean.

    An American warship quietly sailed to the Hurd McDonald Ind, an uninhabited ind close to the Antarctic and owned by Australia. When the ship approached the ind, they lowered seven boats on the shore, and a total of 65 people mostly heavily armed with personal weaponsnded on the ind.

    When they reached the shore, a man sitting at the forefront of the boat opened his mouth in a low voice.

    ¡°Headquarters, this is Eagle. We¡¯re entering the ind!¡±

    ¡°Got it. Try to capture them alive rather than killing them.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    The U.S. military has the ability to face off against the whole world.

    Unfortunately, the US Government, one of the three major forces that dominated the ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ within the United States, did notpletely control the entire military, even though they had more influence than the other two groups. The Holdridge Group and the Shaipe Group didn¡¯t simply watch the US Government¡¯s secret moves without taking any action.

    So, the current situation is that the US Government exercises about 50% influence on the military, while Holdridge has 30% and Shaipe has 20%.

    As a result, the current operation by the military unit has been jointly conducted by the U.S. Government, Holdridge and Shaipe.

    Of course, not all 65 men participating in this operation were thoroughbred soldiers because some in the group were specialized toward dealing with the monsters. In other words, each group sent 5 people who reached level 1200 and obtained reality actualizations, alongside 50 soldiers. It was necessary to test how powerful they were. So a total of 65 of them sneaked into the Hurd McDonald Ind to capture monsters alive instead of simply killing them.

    Ten minutester, they started their operation.

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    It was an operation to capture the monsters alive, not kill them.

    That¡¯s why 50 soldiers were included, and most of them had tranquilizer guns along with their rifles. And when they entered the ind, they immediately used the tranquilizer guns at the monsters they encountered. They nned to put the monsters to sleep in three seconds with one shot.

    ¡°Kuuuhuuuuun!¡±

    ¡°Kunnnnnnnnng!¡±

    Some of the soldiers screamed when the monsters continually charged at them despite being hit by four or five shots directly.

    ¡°Captain! The tranquilizer doesn¡¯t work at all!¡±

    ¡°Wait! The top priority of our operation is to capture the monsters alive!¡±

    Even if the monsters were hit four or five times by the powerful tranquilizer darts, these monsters weren¡¯t elephants, so Michael, the captain of this operation, stopped his men from using their firearms.

    Moreover, he was prepared for this kind of situation.

    So Michael turned his gaze towards the 15 men behind him.

    They stepped forward, opened their mouths quietly.

    ¡°Strong body!¡±

    ¡°Let the strength of iron suffuse my body. Iron defense!¡±

    ¡°My body will be solid steel!¡±

    Since the purpose of their operation was to capture the monsters, the US Government, the Holdridge Group and the Shaipe Group chose tanks for this operation.

    Of course, they included one healer and one damage dealer in the squad as well.

    ¡°Heal!¡±

    ¡°Heal!¡±

    ¡°Fireball!¡±

    ¡°Wind Arrow!¡±

    ¡°Hey. Our goal is to capture the monsters.¡±

    ¡°There are too many out there. Is it possible for us to capture them all?¡±

    ¡°Got it. Go easy, man!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I have no intention of disobeying the orders from above.¡±

    All 15 of them were confident

    Even if their reality actualization rate was less than 10%, they have all passed level 1200. Even with their low reality actualization rate, they thought they could easily subdue Gray Wolves between levels 100 and 150.

    Moreover, there were up to 50 elite soldiers armed with rifles in case of an emergency.

    As expected, theypletely held the ten Gray Wolves at bay.

    However, when one, two and three minutes passed, they had to admit that the tranquilizer guns were not working on these monsters.

    Captain Michael, who was watching them from behind, opened his mouth.

    ¡°Headquarters, this is Eagle. The tranquilizer guns are not working as expected. Requesting permission to change the operation and capture them forcefully.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    Since they had seven drones in the air in addition to the small cams installed on the crew¡¯s helmets, Michael cut to the chase without exining the situation. As soon as he got the greenlight from HQ, he immediately ordered the next operation.

    Then a few men pulled out auncher from the boat and used it against the Gray Wolves.

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Since it was a high-strength specially prepared for this operation, they judged that it would be effective enough to capture the Gray Wolves, and it paid off.

    However, after they captured five Gray Wolves and the tanks were about to target another group of Gray Wolves, something unexpected happened.

    ¡°Houuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!¡±

    ¡°Houuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!¡±

    The captured five Gray Wolves were crying loudly.

    At that moment there was an urgent cry ringing through the earphones Captain Michael wore in his ear.

    [Be careful! More than 100, or 150 Gray Wolves, are rapidly approaching your area!]

    ¡°Damn it!¡± Michael could not help but swear at that moment.

    Michael did not get his captain status of this secret operation through nepotism, but due to his numerous sesses in other missions. So, he made a decision quickly.

    ¡°Listen to me, everyone! Let¡¯s end the monster capture operation here. Move the five captured Gray Wolves, then get ready to fight!¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    The 15 who achieved reality actualization and the 50 soldiers got ready to fight at Captain Michael¡¯s order, andunched attacks against the monsters that soon appeared in their surroundings.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    The 15 men who achieved reality actualization threw the hand grenades generously at the monsters with the noise of gsunshots constantly ringing.

    If the other 50 soldiers had the same abilities as the yers with level 1200, these Gray Wolves would have been no threat, but the situation right now was different.

    In Washington, USA.

    ¡°The firearms we made are paying off nicely.¡±

    ¡°But they are between level 100 and 150. Moreover, they need to be shot at least ten times to put them down. So, I don¡¯t think our firearms are as effective as we thought.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. We have to take this as a wake-up call because there is a possibility that our firearms won¡¯t be effective against those monsters at level 200 and above.¡±

    The cab ministers leading the US Government expressed their opinions while watching the video showing the operation of Michael¡¯s forces.

    ¡°By the way, we only managed to capture five Gray Wolves. We will have to tussle with the Holdridge Group and the Shaipe Group to take two of them.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s their problem. Obviously, we are taking the lead in carrying out this operation.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. They have to ept that too, but they are so insane now.¡±

    The cab members of the US Government watched the videofortably because Micahel¡¯s team perfectly defended themselves against the monsters.

    At that moment, however, some shadow that was difficult to be called a monster appeared in the video, but no one paid attention to it.

    In the uninhabited Hurd McDonald Ind.

    Captain Michael let out a sigh of relief after getting rid of the monsters more easily than he thought. Actually he was worried a bit at first because the monsters he encountered first might be immune to gunshots. However, after subduing the Gray Wolves, he closely observed his surroundings without letting down his guard.

    At that moment, he saw something like a shadow which was different from the normal monsters.

    But he could not confirm what it was.

 Chapter 185 - NPC? (2)

    <h4>Chapter 185: NPC? (2)</h4>

    Puck!

    ¡°Khuuuuuuuuuk!¡±

    Although Captain Michael was disoriented with the sound of bullets and exploding bulletsbined with the dying cries of the Gray Wolves, he could still hear something that sounded very strange in the current situation.

    So, he looked toward the ce he heard the sound from. There Michael saw a strange man sticking a sword into his subordinate¡¯s throat.

    Gush! Gush!

    Blood was gushing out from his subordinate¡¯s neck, and it was certainly real.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± he asked.

    Michaelnded here after confirming that this was an uninhabited ind.

    Even if this Hurd Mcdonald Ind wasn¡¯t an uninhabited ind originally, it became so after the herd of Gray Wolves appeared here. It was impossible for humans to deal with even one Gray Wolf especially if they were unarmed.

    So, when the person appeared and killed his subordinate, Micahel could not help but be startled and attempt to question that stranger.

    [[emailprotected]</a>##$%%^&* %%#!*^!]

    Michael could not understand what he was saying.

    However, unlike Michael, there were some who understood hisnguage.

    They were the 15 guys who actualized reality and those who were watching the video in real time with the seven drones and the numerous small helmet cams.

    [How dare you intrude on my territory! I¡¯ll kill you all!]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    At this stranger¡¯s shouting, those on the ind who achieved reality actualization by reaching level 1200, and the US Government, the Holdridge and the Shaipe people watching the video from a distance could not say anything because that shouting wasn¡¯t a monster¡¯s cry but humannguage.

    Actually, that stranger clearly looked human.

    However, Michael could not afford to stare at him nkly because he attacked again with a dagger.

    ¡°Attack him, everyone! Attack that man!¡±

    Michael did not understand what the stranger was saying, but he knew that man was an enemy.

    Maybe he was much stronger than a Gray Wolf.

    Unfortunately, Michael¡¯s predictions were correct.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    ¡°He is too fast!¡±

    ¡°Humans can move like him?!¡±

    ¡°Damn it! Don¡¯t shoot recklessly!¡±

    In Michael¡¯s eyes, the stranger was really fast.

    When they fired, the stranger had already vanished from the ce he was standing on. So, Michael immediately stopped them and opened his mouth.

    ¡°Gather in the middle, everybody! Face each other back to back with your guns pointing outward!!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    Michael made the best choice.

    ¡°You 15 guys, gather in one ce now! What matters is not the Gray Wolf!¡±

    Soon two groups, consisting respectively of the 48 soldiers and 15 reality actualization achievers formed, and they turned their attention to the man who suddenly appeared before them .

    Thanks to their coordinated efforts, their attack was sessful this time.

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Nice! We hit him!¡±

    Since their formation was a circle, they could look in all directions and find the stranger unless he jumped to the sky or dived into the ground. So they sessfully managed to drill bullets into his body.

    ¡°Damn it! Even this guy is not an ordinary human being!¡±

    Even though he was shot, he was still as fast as before, so they came to realize that he was indeed not an ordinary man.

    In Washington DC, USA.

    ¡°No way, I wonder if it is not monsters alone that emerge as enemies.¡±

    Nobody refuted this person when he asked in a quiet voice because they also clearly heard it.

    Monster.

    They thought it was just monsters and nothing else. And this was also the opinion of the US Government, the Holdridge Group and the Shaipe Group who prided themselves on having more information about ¡°Revival Legend¡± than anyone else.

    But a stranger suddenly jumped out of nowhere on this uninhabited ind.

    Of course, there was a strong possibility that he was a human-type monster.

    Actually, there were such monsters. However, the stranger couldmunicate in hisnguage, which waspletely different from the normal bloodthirsty monsters.

    So, the man in the video is not a monster?

    If that was true, it was very significant.

    ¡°Then, should I call him an NPC?¡±

    ¡°¡­.¡±

    ¡°¡­.¡±

    ¡°¡­.¡±

    The one who asked this question was Schuler Wilson, the head of the US Government which was on par with the Holdridge and Shaipe Groups, who had just reached level 1100 within ¡°Revival Legend¡±. But none of the cab members said anything in response because they were afraid of refuting him given the clear evidence.

    All the cab members were experienced yers of ¡®Revival Legend¡¯, so they had experiences of encountering NPCs in high positions from time to time.

    As a matter of fact, they once checked the levels of some NPCs and found they were level 2653, level 2985, and even level 3375.

    This level was high enough to stun anybody.

    Of course, no one was scared of them because they were nothing more than NPCs, after all. However, all the cab members watching the video could not help but tremble at the thought that they might confront an enemy with such a high level some day.

    Although they knew that level was not the sole indicator of one¡¯s strength, it still yed a significant part.

    So, they closely watched Captain Michael and his forces battle against the stranger, hoping that they could capture him with the human-made firearms.

    And it was the same case with the Holdridge and Shaipe Groups who were watching the video closely from their headquarters.

    On the uninhabited Hurd McDonald Ind.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    The soldiers united and attempted to fire at Captain Michael¡¯s order.

    And the 15 reality actualization achievers in the other group got into a circle formation like the soldiers with the healer and damage dealer on the inside with the tanks on the outside. But they also could not help but swear at their current situation.

    ¡°Damn it! I can easily shoot him at my level!¡±

    ¡°You bet!¡±

    The fact that they reached level 1200 meant that they devoted themselves to ¡®Revival Regend¡¯ for at least two or three years, or for some, almost four years.

    In other words, even if they spent all the time hunting monsters only, they inevitably had lots of EXP.

    Moreover, they were not just content with enjoying ¡°Revival Legend ¡±, but they also received the active support from the US Government, the Holdridge Group and the Shaipe Group, so they had somebat experiences.

    So, they could figure out what level the stranger was at a nce. What they found out was that he might be an agility-oriented assassin around level 400.

    And they concluded that if they fully used their abilities, they could not only block him but also subdue him. In fact, the soldiers were struggling to fire at the man who ran so fast, but they could still track down on him with their eyes. But they could not catch up with him because he was so agile. Nheless, they could still eventually subdue him because he was alone.

    But Michael ordered them to leave the ce.

    ¡°This is an order from headquarters. We have to leave this ce with the soldiers and withdraw from here. What are you going to do?¡±

    All the 15 guys knew why the headquarters ordered them to withdraw. They were very valuable in the headquarters¡¯ eyes. So much so that if even one of them dies, the group that the deceased person belonged to would regret it very much.

    Anyway the 15 members who heard the radio message turned their heads to the soldiers, who were barely coping with the situation by forming a circle.

    So, Michael made the decision to withdraw.

    Honestly, he was confident that they wouldn¡¯t be defeated right away even if they were attacked several times by the stranger, but he did not feel the need to disobey the headquarter¡¯smand.

    ¡°We¡¯re going to withdraw slowly.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    No matter how much they had been trained, the soldiers could still be called ordinary people. Nheless, the 15 men who could be called strong men slowly withdrew from the battlefield, leaving the soldiers behind.

    In Washington DC, USA.

    ¡°Oh my God! How can these 15 guys withdraw when they are really needed and leave the soldiers behind?¡±

    At first Schuler Wilson, the head of the US Government, ordered the 15 reality actualization achievers to attack because of their excellent performance against the level 100-150 Gray Wolves, and he was curious what abilities they would show against the NPC this time.

    Of course, he made the decision because the stranger who appeared was estimated to be a level 400 assassin, and he thought the tanks could block him without much issue if they were backed up by the healer and damage dealer.

    However, Wilson soon had to order them to withdraw because only five of the 15 men were from the US Government, with the rest belonging to the Holdridge and the Shaipe Groups, so they couldn¡¯t ignore the request of the other two groups.

    But Wilson was very unhappy with the decision.

    So he said without hiding his displeasure, ¡°So, what¡¯s our next move?¡±

 Chapter 186 - NPC? (3)

    <h4>Chapter 186: NPC? (3)</h4>

    ¡°Currently, our men aboard the Edmund are ready tounch eleven missiles.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ How about the troops?¡±

    ¡°An sdditional 175 soldiers are on standby aboard the Edmund.¡±

    ¡°Good. We can¡¯t let go of the first NPC we have encountered.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±

    As soon as Wilson issued the order, several boats were unloaded from the battleship Edmund on the coast of the ind, and soon arge number of troops entered the uninhabited Hurd McDonald Ind.

    On the uninhabited Hurd McDonald Ind.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    ¡°Kuhhhhhhhuk!¡±

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    Captain Michael had no choice but to swear at the stranger who escaped after puncturing a hole in the neck of one of his subordinates. Besides, Michael clearly saw the man take a bullet to the head in return, but he survived the shot.

    So, Michael wondered if he could harm that man even with a rifle.

    ¡®Damn it! This shit is unbelievable! It¡¯s like the world has gone crazy!¡¯

    Of course, they were briefed about the Gray Wolves, but they had no information about this monster-like human.

    But Michael hid his feelings. Instead, he cheered up his subordinates while shooting at the stranger.

    ¡°That guy is not invincible! He must be wounded, too. So, focus on firing in the direction he approaches us from.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    Since they had bountifulbat experiences, the soldiers were not agitated. But Michael had no choice but to express regrets about the 15 strong men who disappeared from the battlefield.

    In his eyes, these 15 men blocked the Gray Wolves bare handed without any firearms.

    But Michael shook off such regrets, and focused on what he could do for now.

    Ten minutester, when Michael was left with less than 10 men, the renforcement squad numbering 175 arrived. Since they had been thoroughly prepared for the battle by watching the video, they worked together effectively and finally seeded in killing the stranger after a fierce fight.

    But the stranger uttered something strange on his dying breath.

    [%#%!%!!^$^& @$*&^!#%!]

    The soldiers who survived the fighting did not shout for joy when they watched him falling after spitting out some iprehensible words because they were amazed by his monster-like abilities. Honestly, they wondered if they really won.

    Although the soldiers here did not understand his words, those who watched the video and yed ¡°Revival Legend¡± at least once could understand hisst words.

    [Kuuuuuuuuuh! Although I will die here, we will never ept you!]

    In Washington DC, USA.

    ¡°His corpse! Collect it! That¡¯s ours!¡±

    The head of the U.S. government, Schuler Wilson, ordered the soldiers to collect the stranger¡¯s body immediately because an NPC¡¯s corpse was far more valuable than that of a monster.

    But something iprehensible happened.

    ¡°¡­.¡±

    ¡°¡­.¡±

    ¡°¡­.¡±

    In ¡®Revival Legend¡¯, just like all other games, when a monster died, its body disappeared instantly, dropping golden rings and misceneous items.

    Of course, they knew it was the same in reality because they experienced it several times when they killed monsters, including orcs.

    However, they never thought it would be the same for an NPCs corpse, so the cab members of the US Government, including Wilson, were shocked when the NPC¡¯s corpse vanished. They had lost the lives of 70 military members to defeat this stranger and they could not even recover his corpse.

    Besides, they also lost the five captured Gray Wolves while they were busy fighting the stranger, so the US Government leaders including Wilson could not help but be filled with regrets.

    After confirming all that, Wilson quietly opened his mouth.

    ¡°n everything again from scratch. Maybe we are confronting change that is far more dangerous and darker than we think.¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±

    ¡°Understood!.¡±

    The disturbances involving the NPC who first appeared on the uninhabited ind caused a big ripple within the United States and quietly passed.

    ***

    In Seoul, South Korea.

    ¡°ess!¡±

    [You have essed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.]

    I essed the game with a smile on my lips because I took perfect revenge and got so much from it.

    So, as soon as Kotum Castle appeared before my eyes, I opened my mouth quietly.

    ¡°Check status window.¡±

    [Name: Lumen, Asirante

    Level: 700

    Number of kills: 1285, Number of deaths: 0

    Title: Only Closed Beta Max Level Achiever and 8 others.

    Health: 3,132,000 / 3,132,000

    Mana: 2,176,000 / 2,176,000

    Strength: 4550 Agility: 3750 Stamina: 17700

    Willpower: 10650 Intellect: 22050

    Remaining Stat Points: 2957

    Remaining Skill Points: 0

    Traits: Iceman, Mutual Growth, God of Enhancement.]

    I have not leveled up even once after achieving level 700.

    But still a lot changed, especially the remaining stat points and titles.

    ¡°Check title first.¡±

    [Title: Quest Craftsman.

    -It is a title that can only be obtained by the man who has cleared more quests than anyone else.

    : Increases health by 100,000.

    : Increases mana by 100,000.

    : All stat points increase by 200.

    : Upon sessfulpletion of a quest, an additional 100-300 remaining stat points are given depending on the difficulty of the quest.]

    It was clear that this title was a little above the intermediate level, given the increase in health, mana and stat points. Obviously, it was not a lot, but still something I could not ignore.

    Moreover, I have the confidence to clear any quest.

    ¡°Alright. Let me invest all this.¡±

    I turned my eyes from the title to the 2957 remaining stat points, and invested all of them in intellect.

    ¡°Hahahaha¡±

    At that moment I could not help butugh, seeing my intellect reaching 25,000, because it showed I was doing very well.

    Anyway, after checking all of them, I was about to move to the hunting ground when I remembered that I had forgotten something, which was none other than the legendary grade blessing that I obtained this time.

    ¡°Check the legendary grade blessing!¡±

    [Inactivated blessing (Legendary)

    -It is still inactive.

    Once activated, one of the options in the blessing will be randomly selected, and that option is automatically applied at all times even if the blessing is stored in the inventory.

    -Once the blessing is activated, it belongs to its owner and cannot be exchanged. (Deletable.)

    -Only up to 3 activated blessings can be stored in the inventory regardless of their grade. (If you have 3 or more activated blessings in your inventory, further blessing wills not be activated.)]

    ¡®Um¡­ I wish I could get EXP, stat points or skills.¡¯

    Since I could get the benefits even when I stored it in my inventory, not to mention equipping it, it was really a valuable blessing.

    That¡¯s why I had never seen even a general grade blessing at the auction house.

    Of course, my family members wanted to give me both general and rare grade blessings because they had no legendary grade blessing.

    But I refused to ept them because I was not so greedy enough to covet them when I clearly knew that general and rare grade blessings were very umon and the options provided were not remarkable.

    Moreover, even the executives of the Myongjin Groupcked blessings to wear.

    Anyway, I opened my mouth, hoping for a good option from the legendary grade blessing which was so valuable.

    ¡°Activate the blessing!¡±

    [You have activated the legendary grade blessing.]

    Along with the message, various colors began to circte in the shape of a fist-sized bead which had no characteristics. When a red colour started to dominate, a message rang.

    [You have the blessing ¡®#3 Crisis Preparation¡¯.

    -As your health decreases, yourbat power increases.

    Everytime your health decreases by 10%, yourbat power increases by 1%.

    -If your maximum health falls below 10%, the damage you suffer from an attack will be nullified just once, regardless of the attack.

    : 30 day cooldown.]

    I had no choice but to frown at the message that when my health went down by 10%, mybat power would increase by 1% because the rate of increase was so low.

    In fact, when I invested around 3000 remaining stat points in intellect, I enjoyed an increase in stamina proportionate to that. So, I wondered if I really needed the blessing when I had more than 20000 stamina.

    However, seeing the options below, I had no choice but to wee it, though, for if I really reached a situation where my health dropped below 10%, I had an opportunity to turn the tide by enduring the opponent¡¯s attack.

    Of course, I wondered if that would ever happen, but I was very satisfied with the fact that I had something like insurance anyway.

    ¡°Hahahaha. Good. From now on, let me focus on hunting.¡±

    Since I was very satisfied with the legendary grade blessing, I could not help but smile all the way while heading to the hunting ground.

    Why? Because I needed to reach level 1200 as soon as possible.

    Of course, there was one other reason, namely the joy of hunting.

    I could not deny the fact that hunting itself was very fun to me.

 Chapter 187 - Gold (1)

    <h4>Chapter 187: Gold (1)</h4>

    At the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasak!

    I used the skills I had always used on the ice terrain where I used to spread out the Ice Field.

    ¡°Ice Storm! Pouring Hails!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

    Clearly, there were many hunting grounds for me to choose from.

    In particr, at level 700 I could wear the +4 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword that I had looked forward to using for a long time. Besides, I earned a lot of things from the previous quest.

    But I chose the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habit among them.

    As a matter of fact, that was the only hunting ground where I could herd and hunt the monsters. In addition, monsters that give a lot of EXP were generally powerful monsters, so those users who herded such powerful monsters were inevitably strong, for there was no more miserable death for a user than dying while chasing a monster.

    However, simply using such strong users to herd monsters was not only a big loss to them but also to their guilds. Besides, the users must feel very bad if they are used as monster drivers, given that they have achieved a high level with lots of effort.

    So, I moved to this hunting ground even though I improved my abilities a lot because I reached level 700. What¡¯s more, it took me less time to herd the saber steel tooth tigers because they ran so fast, and gave me very attractive EXP.

    Moreover, I had an additional 100% EXP gem and the title of the 4th Anniversary Event Winner.

    Anyway, I kept hunting using Blink with zero cooldown.

    For the next two weeks, I only focused on hunting.

    And the time I spent hunting was meaningful, and I was not bored at all during that time.

    Hunting was rather big fun to me.

    However, when I achieved level 780 in two weeks, I felt that there was little to gain, given the time and energy I spent on hunting. In other words, the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat still had the merit as a hunting ground, but I felt that I needed a new hunting ground if I wanted to have more EXP for efficient level-up.

    So, the first thing I thought about was whether I should push the Daeyu hard for what I wanted, for the Daeyu was the safest bet even if my identity was revealed in the future.

    Besides, I approached the Daeyu to suck up their blood from the beginning.

    But I suddenly recalled what its chairman Suh had told me.

    ¡®Hmm. He clearly said he had no intention of supporting me anymore.¡±

    Daeyu¡¯s Chairman Daeyoung Suh was famous for doing everything neat and tidy.

    In some respects, I also showed him that I was more thorough in terms of calcting the gains and losses than him.

    In such a situation, I left a very strong impression on him by clearing the quest of the Salimaru Bandits at once. So much so that Suh suspected I was not a true member of the Daeyu Guild, and he decided to stop supporting me.

    After that, he began to treat me differently.

    Obviously, he tried his best to curry favor with me until then, but after the Salimaru Bandits quest, he seemed to have realized that he could not win over my heart no matter how much he tried.

    Of course, Suh¡¯s abrupt change in attitude was disappointing, but I could not afford to proceed with the Salimaru Bandits quest in an easy-going manner or give it up just to deceive him.

    I felt disappointed about his about-face but had no regrets.

    Although I approached the Daeyu to suck its blood, I had no choice but to stop when I wondered if it was really necessary for me to hurt them and even dig up their wounds.

    Even if the Daeyu knew everything about me, they would just feel they were deceived but would give me a pass for now. But if I hurt them much more than now, it¡¯s highly likely that I would be their arch enemy.

    At that moment my sister messaged me.

    [Super Beauty: Brother, can you talk with me now?]

    [Lumen: Yeah, sure.]

    I immediately replied to my sister¡¯s message.

    [Super Beauty: Mirae Group has contacted us about you.]

    [Lumen: Myongjin, not Daeyu?]

    It wasn¡¯t a big deal for Mirae to contact me, but the fact that they contacted Myonjin, not Daeyu, was something very unusual, for every knowledgeable person knew that I belonged to Daeyu.

    Of course, the Mirae knew I was affiliated with the Daeyu.

    [Super Beauty: Well, it seems that the Mirae guys know that you have been hunting in the hunting ground owned by Myongjin. So, it¡¯s very unusual that they contacted us, not Daeyu.]

    Well, I thought that it was not that difficult for Mirae to find information about me, so I asked, nodding.

    [Lumen: Why did they contact us?]

    [Super Beauty: They asked us to arrange a meeting with you, saying they have a very important matter to talk about with you. It seems they are very urgent now because they have brought us a very attractive gift for arranging such a meeting.]

    After hearing what she said, I recalled the current situation where Mirae Group was in,

    They started ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ter than anyone else, but soon caught up with other rival groups. Of course, their position was unstable right now because of the close alliance between Daesung and Kusan.

    While I was pondering over it, my sister messaged me again.

    [Super Beauty: But of course we refused their offer. W also asked them to contact Daeyu, not Myongjin, but they said they had the impression that they would meet you by asking us, not Daeyu. But we wanted to reject their offer again, but I felt I would like to inform you first about it because you might benefit from it.]

    [Lumen: Um¡­]

    [Super Beauty: Of course, it¡¯s up to you. Dad also said it¡¯s totally up to you. You can decide whatever you want.]

    [Lumen: Sure, let me meet them. I¡¯m also curious about what they want to say to me.]

    [Super Beauty: Okay. Then, I¡¯ll contact you again as soon as we set the date.]

    [Lumen: Alright.]

    I then stopped and thought about Mirae¡¯s offer.

    ¡°Mirae¡­¡±

    Of course, Mirae Group was unique, but I didn¡¯t think they were extraordinary.

    I may look conceited if I say this, but honestly, I think I may be more extraordinary than them.

    There was just someone that bothered me, though.

    Bora Yon, the sessor of the Mirae Group.

    No matter how stupid I might look to others, I knew she was interested in me.

    I knew what¡¯s going on around me better than anybody else.

    When I knew that I was not as smart as my brother and sister early on, and I could not be as sessful as them, I became more and more tactful and skilled in getting to find out what¡¯s going on around me.

    ¡°Why?¡±

    No one knew until I mentioned it to my family.

    Moreover, even my family members, not to mention others, didn¡¯t have any doubt.

    A majority of those who knew me said that it was a white lie that I was admitted into Seoul National University as the top student, but Bora Yon believed me.

    Even though I remained silent, she approached me with concern and interest.

    ¡°No way!¡±

    I shook her head from side to side and stopped linking my meeting with the Mirae people with Bora Yon.

    I didn¡¯t know what they would say to me, but it would be funny for me to reject their offer to meet because of Bora. Besides, nobody was aware of my real identity.

    Anyway, while I was absorbed into hunting, thinking I should find a new hunting ground where I could herd monsters for hunting, my sister messaged me much earlier than I thought. This meant that the Mirae was much more urgent than I thought, and as a result, I could be bold enough to ask them for what I wanted. So, I feltfortable for now.

    I even thought of walking out of the meeting if they made unreasonable demands.

    The next day I headed to the new hunting ground.

    ¡°Move to the Dragon¡¯s Grave.¡±

    [You are being moved to the Dragon¡¯s Grave.]

    I headed out to Lilia Castle, which I had never been to, then moved to the Dragon¡¯s Grave.

    And I heard from my sister in advance that the ce called the Dragon¡¯s Grave was a hunting ground managed by the Mirae very carefully. So much so that even the members of the Mirae Guild could note and go out of it freely.

    Of course, I did not enter this ce recklessly.

    Honestly, it didn¡¯t matter to me, but my family members were worried.

    That¡¯s why the Myongjin management told their Mirae counterparts that they would keep an eye on me because they arranged the meeting, and the Mirae also epted such an offer.

 Chapter 188 - Gold (2)

    <h4>Chapter 188: Gold (2)</h4>

    Of course, I told my father that he didn¡¯t need to. Even if Mirae did something stupid, I was confident of making them pay a painful price and make themg behind even Daeyu, the smallest of the top five business groups in Korea. Nheless, I reluctantly epted my father¡¯s advice that I should be very careful.

    Anyway, the Dragon¡¯s Grave soon came into view. It was quite big and spotless as if they maintained it very well. At that moment, a group of people approached me. Of course, I have seen them several times. Actually, I met them during the 4th anniversary special event.

    ¡°Hi, Asirante. I¡¯m Junghwan Yon. It¡¯s been a while since west met.¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s nice to meet you.¡±

    Of course, I often encountered the chairman not only in games but also in reality.

    But I greeted him as politely as possible. I acted with a swagger just like I did during the 4th Anniversary event, but nobody from the Mirae Group who apanied the chairman expressed any overt displeasure about my swagger even if they felt differently on the inside.

    Anyway, Chairman Yon opened his mouth casually as if he expected me to show such an attitude.

    ¡°By the way, thank you for epting my request.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee. I think you should ask Daeyu Group for this kind of meeting instead of Myongjin, so I¡¯m a bit¡­¡±

    ¡°Hahaha. I¡¯ve felt it¡¯s more certain to ask Myongjin, not Daeyu, to arrange this meeting with you. It seems to me that Myongjin will better fulfill my request. But I hope you won¡¯t forget that the Mirae Group is open to you, too.¡±

    ¡°Well, Daeyu is very generous to me.¡±

    Of course, I knew why Chairman Yon made such remarks, so I changed the topic while responding to him appropriately. In no time I followed the chairman to a ce reserved for this meeting, which was off-limits to the Myongjin people.

    At the ce, there were four people including Chairman Yon and me. Among them was Yon¡¯s daughter and sessor, Bora.

    She has been staring at me for some time since I got here.

    So I opened my mouth quietly because it was rather strange for me to not say anything when somebody was staring at me like that.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m a little displeased right now since it seems like I¡¯m going to be interrogated.¡±

    I spat out such words to show my displeasure.

    That was enough to convey my message.

    Anyway, when Bora stopped staring at me, another man stood up and opened his mouth.

    ¡°Asirante, nice to meet you. My name is Sungyop Yu. Can I exin to you first why we invited you here?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Please.¡±

    Honestly, I was curious about it, so I nodded. He quickly looked around once and quietly opened his mouth as if he was extremely afraid that somebody might overhear.

    ¡°We here at the Mirae Guild have found something very special.¡±

    ¡°Pardon?¡±

    Of course, I took it for granted that they would ask for my help when they decided to invite me here. It could be a quest or a boss monster hunt, but I thought they would ask for help anyway.

    So, I could not help but be a little embarrassed when he suddenly said they had found something special.

    This man named Sungyop Yu continued as if he didn¡¯t care about my surprise.

    ¡°We haven¡¯t been able to solve this particr thing. So, we want you to take a look at it,¡± he said vaguely.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Since he was so vague, I had no choice but to level a suspicious stare at him. As if he read my mind, he quickly continued, ¡°I can certainly assure you that nothing dangerous will happen to you. We are very proud that someone like you lives in Korea. We don¡¯t intend to deceive or endanger you, Asirante. Furthermore, Myongjin is a strong rival of ours, so we cannot antagonize them recklessly.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ good.¡± Of course, I didn¡¯t believe him.

    However, I was curious about the special thing he mentioned because even the Mirae Group Chairman Yon had to invite me directly to check it out.

    Of course, it was true I was curious about it, but I also had another reason foring here.

    It¡¯s because of Bora Yon.

    At present, my name Lumen was widely known among the families of the top business groups as someone rather old-fashioned and stupid as far as games were concerned. In particr, when I admitted that I was a total beginner in games at the marriage ceremony uniting the direct family members of the Daesung and Kusan Groups, it further cemented their prejudices against me.

    But Bora constantly showed interest in me with that name Lumen.

    So, honestly, I thought it would have been nice if something bad happened because it could stop the Mirae Group or Bora from paying attention to me.

    Tramp- Tramp-

    20 minutester I kept walking toward the Dragon¡¯s Tomb.

    Of course, I heard that it was impossible to move that peculiar thing, but that just made me more and more suspicious. And it took another 30 minutes for me to find it.

    It really was something special like Sungyop Yu said.

    It was a huge gold piece. A huge gold piece was ced on the wall that marked the end of the Dragon¡¯s Tomb. Of course, that alone wasn¡¯t particrly strange. But light was emitting from the huge gold piece.

    At that moment, the guy named Sungyop who escorted me there opened his mouth.

    ¡°Asirante, I think you must know that each country is blocked in game from each other by a ¡®channel¡¯ or ¡®wall¡¯.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I didn¡¯t reply

    However, this guy continued as if he didn¡¯t expect me to reply anyway.

    ¡°And this is the door to the channel or wall. Sharing. Exploration into Another Region¡±

    As soon as he finished talking, a message rang immediately.

    [You have been asked by the Mirae advance party to share the ¡®Exploration of Another Region.¡¯

    -If you ept it, you must be included in the Mirae advance party.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Exploration of another region? I didn¡¯t expect it at all, not to mention their unexpected sharing of the event.

    At that moment, Sungyop who directly shared ¡®Exploration of Another Region¡¯ with me opened his mouth.

    ¡°After you ept our offer, you can withdraw immediately if you don¡¯t want to proceed. Of course, there is no penalty for your withdrawal at all. But¡­¡±

    He paused for a moment, then moved to the cracked wall where light was permeating through.

    Pointing to the wall, he continued, ¡°Before you ept our offer, could you pleaseunch all attacks possible on this huge cracked wall? It¡¯s embarrassing to tell you this, but we at the Mirae Group could not break this cracked wall. Well, we could not even make the cracksrger, not to mention breaking it. That¡¯s why we have invited you here.¡±

    Now, I understood why the Mirae Group unusually shared this event with me.

    So I wanted to say something on my end.

    ¡°It looks like you are rather clumsy in dealing with me.¡±

    Of course, I fully understood why they could not tell me the reason in the presence of the Myongjin people. If I were in their position, I would do so as well.

    But they needed to express their wishes to me more clearly. If they had done so, I would not have gotten any doubts or deliberated in my head about deciding whether I should drive the Mirae Group and Bora out of my realm.

    Anyway, I epted Sungyop¡¯s offer right away, not caring about Sungyop, Chairman Yon and Bora who were embarrassed by my provocative response.

    I was summoned to other regions before, including Region 0 by Pablo and another Region by Edwin belonging to the Shaipe Group. But moving to another region was far from ordinary.

    [You have epted the special event ¡®Exploration of Another Region¡¯.

    -You have automatically joined the Mirae Advance Party.

    -If you withdraw, the ¡®Exploration of Another Region¡¯ event will automatically disappear.]

    [Special event: Exploration of Another Region.

    -Congrattions! You have found a door connected to another region.

    However, the door is still cracked, so you can¡¯t use it now.

    So, to use the door, you have topletely smash the remaining cracks on the wall]

    ¡°Do you have to break the wall alone¡±

    After checking the message, I immediately asked a question. Otherwise, they could have smashed the crack with sheer numbers and would not have bothered to invite me here.

    As if my prediction was correct, Sungyop nodded and replied.

    ¡°Yes. Even if 10, 100, or 1000 men attack, only the strongest man¡¯s damage is applied. Even if we attack one after another, it doesn¡¯t work.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, I think you havee to the right person.¡±

    Of course, they may feel displeased with what I just said, but it was an undeniable fact.

    So, I confidently responded like that.

    In fact, no one including Chairman Yon refuted me.

 Chapter 189 - Beyond the Wall (1)

    <h4>Chapter 189: Beyond the Wall (1)</h4>

    After that, we struck a deal very quickly. They proposed that they would allow me to proceed with the event jointly or provide appropriatepensation if I seeded in breaking the wall.

    They even promised to provide a due reward for simplying to this ce even if I failed to smash the wall.

    I didn¡¯t give them a specific answer, but deep down I made up my mind to participate in this event right away because participating in all kinds of events and quests is what made me as strong as I was right now. From participating in events and quests, I earned a considerable amount of remaining stat points as well as numerous golden rings and coins. I also obtained Blink with zero cooldown, cooldown removal ancient charms, and numerous titles, all of which I could not obtain through following the same path of growth and leveling up as others.

    Therefore, I had no choice but to participate in events or quests unconditionally even if my chances of clearing them were almost zero.

    Anyway, I decided to participate in the Mirae¡¯s event, but I first needed topletely smash the little crack in the wall. So, with the Mirae people standing behind me, I stood in front of the wall and opened my mouth quietly.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice.¡±

    Pasaksaksak!

    After using Thin Ice to reinforce the Ice Field first, I used my most powerful instant damage skill Ice Wave, and observed the changes to the crack on the wall.

    Puck!

    It made quite a big sound, one that was not normal to hear from a cracking wall.

    But what was certain was that the crack on the wall was bigger than before.

    Perhaps that¡¯s why the Mirae people behind me began toment in admiration.

    ¡°Wow, the crack on the wall wasn¡¯t affected by our attack at all even a little while ago!¡±

    ¡°You bet! I wondered if the crack on the wall had been filled behind because it withstood our numerous attacks until now.¡±

    ¡°Man, I now know why Asirante is so famous!¡±

    Actually, the Mirae Guild must have turned to all kinds of methods to smash the crack and break open the wall. So, they must have been frustrated and agonized because the wall withstood all their attacks.

    But I wasn¡¯t satisfied with just this small change in the crack.

    I knew I would not be able to smash the crack with just one strike, but I was still unsatisfied.

    So, this time I tried using another skill..

    It was none other than Ice Storm.

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    [¡­]

    But the little crack on the wall withstood this Ice Storm attack. There was no sound of something tearing this time.

    So, I realized that the AOE skill that inflicted sustained damage had no effect at all.

    So, waiting for Ice Wave¡¯s cooldown toe back, I opened my mouth quietly.

    ¡°Use Savant!¡±

    [Currently, the most outstanding stat that Lumen, Asirante possesses among strength, agility, stamina, willpower and intellect, is Intellect.

    -Current intellect: 25807.

    -Your intellect value will be changed to 51614 for 30 minutes.

    -10 days cooldown will ur after the period of 30 minutes that Savant is active.]

    I didn¡¯t use it as much as possible because of the 10 day cooldown.

    I know that if I hoard something too long, it will be useless, but I had no problem hunting at all even without using this new skill.

    But this time, I definitely needed it. So as soon as Ice Wave¡¯s cooldown returned, I used it immediately with Savant on the wall with much wider cracks than before.

    Puck! Puck!

    As soon as I used Ice Wave, a much louder sound than before rang from the wall.

    Five minutester, I had used the Ice Wave more than 20 times.

    Because of that, the cracks were more than five timesrger than before, and the lighting from the crack was also enormously brighter than at first.

    Obviously, the situation now was very different from the beginning.

    But there was a problem.

    There was no tearing sound from the crack that I started to hear when I attacked for the third time, and there was no change in the crack that had been gradually widened.

    ¡°Ice Wave!¡±

    However, I already confirmed that the AOE skill that inflicted sustained damage had no effect, but I had no instant damage skill that was stronger than Ice Wave, so I kept using Ice Wave whenever its cooldown returned.

    Puck!

    At that moment, there was a huge roaring sound.

    [¡­]

    The same phenomenon that I saw when I first used my AOE skills took ce again.

    Now I realized clearly that I needed a far more powerful attack topletely smash apart the cracked wall which was tattered with my repeated attacks.

    At that moment, Sungyop Yu and Chairman Yon approached me as if they felt the same way.

    ¡°I¡¯m really sorry. But we at the Mirae Guild could not even do this much damage.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡±

    Chairman Yon brought up the Mirae yer¡¯s mediocre performance as if he wanted tofort me. Sungyop alsoforted me sympathetically as if he agreed with the chairman.

    ¡°Wait a minute. I¡¯m not done yet,¡± I hurriedly responded.

    It was too early for me to ept theirforting words. There was still something that I had not used yet.

    So I let the startled Chairman Yon and Sungyop stand behind me, then opened my mouth quietly.

    ¡°Check the functional skill ring.¡±

    [Functional Skill Ring (Legendary)

    -It is a functional ring that increases the power of a skill.

    : No equipment restrictions.

    : Cannot be enhanced.

    -Effect.

    : Select one of the skills you have, and raise the level of that skill by one level.

    ¨C 30 million golden rings are required to change the skill that the effect of this ring applies to.

    : Increases the power of the selected skill by 10%.

    : If the skill selected is already at the maximum level, the power of the skill is increased by 10% instead. (This 10% oveps with the above option of 10% making a total of 20% increased power.)

    -Physical Defense: 500 Magic Defense: 500

    -Durability: 2550000/2550000

    ¨C Selected Skill.

    : Level 4 Ice Storm.

    : Currently you are using level 7 Ice Storm]

    Maybe this was an item that was worth more than a myth grade item.

    When I showed this to my dad, brother, sister, and Director Sok, they were all surprised. Of course, they were not as surprised as when I first revealed my status window to them. Nheless, their jaws dropped when I first showed them this functional skill ring.

    But I shook aside such thoughts and opened my mouth right away because only 10 minutes were left of Savant¡¯s buff time.

    ¡°Change skill.¡±

    [Currently, the functional skill ring¡¯s effects are applied to Level 4 Ice Storm functional skill ring.

    -30 million golden rings are required to select another skill.]

    ¡°Select level 6 Ice Wave.¡±

    Of course, changing the selected skill required a huge amount of golden rings, but it was a small amount to me. So I chose to change it right away.

    Even if I did not receive arge reward from this special event, I could still ask the Mirae Guild for at least 10 times more golden rings than what I just spent.

    Considering that I was going to change it back to Ice Stormter, I would ask them for at least 600 million golden rings.

    Anyway, as soon as I changed the skill, a message rang.

    [The skill receiving the functional skill ring¡¯s effects has been changed to level 6 Ice Wave.

    -Level 6 Ice Wave has been changed to level 8 Ice Wave]

    ¡°Whew!¡±

    This was myst resort. And what if even this didn¡¯t work?

    Of course, I had to go to level up because the only way I could be stronger was to level up unless I participated in other events or quests.

    Of course, there were also items, but it would be very difficult for me to upgrade my current items as they were already ranging from legendary to myth grade.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    With a renewed determination, I used Ice Storm and Thin Ice, then immediately used Ice Wave again.

    This was the level 8 skill that I had never possessed before.

    Puck!

    Bang!

    There was no strange tearing sound like before, but there was a tremendous explosion sounds as if something clogged had finally ruptured.

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    ¡°He has broken the wall!¡±

    ¡°Man, the wall has been smashed apart!¡±

 Chapter 190 - Beyond the Wall (2)

    <h4>Chapter 190: Beyond the Wall (2)</h4>

    There were some who shouted for joy more excitedly than I.

    They were none other than the Mirae Guild members who were watching me from behind anxiously.

    ¡°Wow, you are awesome!¡±

    ¡°How are you so powerful?¡±

    Not only the Mirae Guild members, but also Chairman Yon and the other executive membersvished praise on my incredible performance, so I had no choice but to stay quiet until their excitement subsided.

    A littleter they began to ask me.

    ¡°Asirante, I¡¯m just amazed how you could ¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m also curious. I wonder what kind of region is located beyond that wall.¡±

    When Chairman Yon asked a barrage of questions, I replied quickly.

    ¡°Got it. Asirante, you have done a great job, so we will proceed with the special event 30 minutester.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    Honestly, it didn¡¯t matter even if they started the special event right away because breaking the wall was not that hard for me, but I had something I needed to do immediately.

    I needed some time to inform my dad and the Myongjin Group executives about what happened here. The guy named Sungyop Yu and Chairman Yon clearly asked me to keep our deal secret but I had no intention of doing so because I was affiliated with the Myongjin Group.

    Anyway, I secretly messaged my father and Director Sok about what happened here, then spent my time rxing.

    However, the Mirae members were not rxed like me and were busy preparing a party limited to a total of 30 people.

    Of course, nobody stared daggers at me who was the only outsider among the 30 party members because they were smart enough to know that this special event would not have been opened if I had not smashed apart the wall.

    Anyway, the preparations were over as soon as a party of the best and strongest Mirae Guild members were formed. Exactly 30 minutester, the 30 men stood in front of the wall that had broken open.

    ¡°Everybody, move!¡±

    Even if I yed a decisive role in allowing them to proceed with the special event, it was impossible for me to be the captain of the 30-member party. So I was not particrly offended by Chairman Yon being the party captain and speaking in amanding tone.

    Of course, Chairman Yon also asked for my understanding about this in advance.

    In case of an emergency, the tanks would lead the formation through the opened wall.

    As soon as the tanks stepped through the ball, my body was sucked into the wall, not to mention all the other members of the party.

    A littleter we were moved to a certain region as if we were dragged there.

    I now seemed to know why they were the elite members of the Mirae Guild.

    Without any instructions, the tanks quickly moved to the outside of the formation while the damage dealers and healers moved to the center.

    They moved very naturally as if they had experienced this kind of situation many times.

    At that moment a message rang.

    [Congrattions!

    -You have used a door that leads to other regions faster than anyone else.

    -As a reward, all 30 people who have currently moved to another region are given 500 remaining stat points.]

    They received a whopping 500 remaining stat points by just moving to another region.

    Although I received more than 1000 remaining stat points several times, 500 was still a huge amount.

    But another message rang as if that wasn¡¯t the end of it.

    [The current ce you have been moved to is Region 52.

    -You can stay in Region 52 for one week, and you can earn points during your stay by hunting. A reward will be given in proportion to what you have earned.

    -How to earn points.

    : Just by staying alive in Region 52, you will receive a very small amount of points continuously.

    : You will receive a small amount of points when you kill monsters in Region 52.

    : You will receive a lot of points when you kill users in Region 52.

    : You will receive a lot of points when you kill NPCs in Region 52.

    -However, if you fail to survive during this one week, all points you have earned will be reduced to 0.

    -If you do not connect for at least 12 hours a day, you will be treated as dead and returned to your original region.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The message was more dreadful than I thought.

    At that moment, somebody said, ¡°Man, Region 52 is Japan.¡±

    ¡°Alright. Reconnaissance team, you guys carefully monitor the surrounding area. Other members, stand by for a moment and invest your 500 remaining stat points!¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    At Chairman Yon¡¯s order, the Mirae Guild members moved quickly.

    Since I wasn¡¯t a member of the Mirae Guild, I just looked at them nkly.

    While I was standing there, Chairman Yon, Bora and Sungyop approached me.

    ¡°What will you do, Asirante?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡±

    I thought about it for a moment without responding to Chairman Yon¡¯s question. I needed to deliberate whether it was better for me to move with them or move alone considering I had to survive the whole week to receive the reward.

    Of course, I thought it was better for me to move separately.

    Why? Because I was confident of taking care of myself for at least one week even if this region was new to me and there was no safe space for me to take a rest.

    Of course, I was certain that if I moved alone, I would earn much more points than moving with them.

    But at that moment, Chairman Yon quickly said, as if he read my mind, ¡°I want you to stay with us for a week. You won¡¯t have any losses because our Mirae Group conducts business in Japan, and Japan¡¯s ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ is definitely within our influence. In other words, in about an hour or two, you will know of the optimal route to earn a lot of points for a week and you will have ess to a safe home for rest.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We at Mirae won¡¯t interfere with you, Asirante. We won¡¯t stand in your way. We¡¯re sure we will both be able to cooperate well together, ¡± said Sungyop, strongly requesting me to join his party.

    And I realized that they were not lying to me because like Mirae, the Myongjin Group had also made inroads in Japan.

    Of course, Myongjin¡¯s entrance into the Japanese market was not only for business but also for ¡°Revival Legend¡± in Japan.

    In other words, it was not surprising that the Mirae Group expanded its business in Japan like the Myongjin Group because its purpose was not to suppress thetter.

    Then Chairman Yon continued, as if he had more to speak about.

    ¡°First ce. We will do our best to support you, so you can win first ce in terms of points at the end of this special event. Since it would have been impossible for us to break that wall without your help, it would have been impossible for all 29 yers here, including me, to earn 500 remaining stat points. And if you are not satisfied with the results because you moved with us instead of by yourself, we will appropriatelypensate you.¡±

    Chairman Yon was excessively subservient to curry favor with me.

    Honestly, I know he didn¡¯t need to take a submissive attitude like this because like the chairman said, some of the Mirae yers were in Japan, and by using them, everyone here could not only obtain lots of points smoothly, but also have their safety guaranteed for a week.

    Nheless, Chairman Yon reached out to me for help like this. And I knew there was only one reason he did so. It was because it would be much better if the 29 members moved with me.

    In other words, no matter how many optimal routes and safe areas exist, the key of this event was not to simply survive, but to earn points.

    The message clearly said that the reward would depend on the earned points.

    To get more points, it was absolutely necessary to have a strong yer like me. The Mirae yers could not even widen the crack, let alone break the wall. But I erged the crack easily and finally smashed the wall apart in their presence.

    Moreover, with the limited skill ¡®Savant¡¯ and the ¡®Functional Skill Ring¡¯, I disyed increasing extraordinary power in a matter of minutes, like a three-stage transforming robot.

    Perhaps the Mirae members would not have thought I possessed the limited skill ¡®Savant¡¯, aside from the Functional Skill Ring.

    Of course, they wanted to solidify their rtionship with me, too.

    Anyway, I opened my mouth after pondering over their request to join their party.

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    I wanted to ept their earnest request, above all.

    Of course, it was not just because I trusted what they said.

    I already heard from my dad and Director Sok that the Mirae Group actively moved to join hands with the Myongjin Group.

    Along with Myongjin, Daesung, Kusan and Daeyu, Mirae was one of the top business groups in Korea. Among the top five business groups, Daesung and Kusan already formed a solid bond through political marriage. As a result, the media made a big fuss by reporting that there was a huge change in the power distribution of the Korean business world, not to mention ¡°Revival Legend¡±.

    And the political marriage of Daesung and Kusan disturbed the Mirae Group, the unrivalled top business group in Korea for a long time.

    So, they reached out to Myongjin, and I could understand why.

 Chapter 191 - Intruders (1)

    <h4>Chapter 191: Intruders (1)</h4>

    When Daesung and Kusan formed an alliance through a political marriage, the Mirae Group could not reach out to the Daeyu Group because it was the smallest of the top five business groups and had already joined hands with China.

    Thus, the only business group that they could join hands with was the Myongjin Group.

    Moreover, the shelter that Myongjin built just in case was in the same Gangwon Province as Mirae. Of course, I was not sure if it was a coincidence or not.

    Considering all of this, I thought it would not be bad to join hands with Mirae at least once.

    If Japan takes issue with itter, I will be able to shift all the me to Mirae with the excuse that I was a simple party member.

    ¡°Thank you! Let me move with you,¡± I said.

    ¡°If you move with us, we will be of great help to each other.¡±

    When I replied in the affirmative, both Chairman Yon and Sungyop were very happy.

    But I added, ¡°But I want to move on my own for thest day.¡±

    ¡°Of course, you can.¡±

    Chairman Yon flinched momentarily, but he epted my opinion with his usual bright smile.

    Anyway, we reached an agreement like that. Then, I opened my status window and invested the 500 remaining stat points into Intellect.

    Although I wanted to inform my dad, brother, sister, or Director Sok about my situation, I could not message them because I was in a different region. So I remained on standby in afortable mood.

    Since I decided to join hands with Mirae, they would make all the necessary preparations.

    Two hourster, several people repeatedly logged in and out, bringing some information.

    They kept discussing the securing of a safe ce where everyone could log out collectively and safely. I was a bit frustrated, but put up with it without expressing my feelings because they needed a n to make sure the 30 people could move without any incidents for a week.

    When their preparations were almost done, Sungwyop Yu gave a briefing.

    ¡°Our main targets during this one week are the Region 52 users here. However, unlike Korea, all the guilds in Japan are controlled by a guild called the Mitsuya Guild. Therefore, we will inevitably run into them. As for that¡­¡±

    ording to the message, the participants in this special event could earn points even without doing anything or by hunting ordinary monsters.

    But the message clearly mentioned that the points earned this way would be either small or very small. Instead, they would umte many points if they killed the users.

    In other words, unless they came to Region 52 for fun, their main target would be inevitably the users here.

    ¡®By the way, what about the NPCs?¡¯

    Honestly, what surprised me the most was that the participants would receive the most points when they killed NPCs, for I thought all along that an NPC¡¯s role was to help users or have a cooperative rtionship with them.

    ¡®Hmm. There are users everywhere anyway.¡¯

    As their main target was the users, I didn¡¯t think deeply about the NPCs.

    After that, they mentioned their n was to stay logged in for more than 17 hours a day, and they discussed the logout time frame and group logging before finally stepping out of the ce called the ¡®Dreaming Altar¡¯.

    In front of the Dreaming Altar¡¯s Teleport Zone.

    ¡°First, we willunch a surprise attack, so nobody gets the wind of our movements. Our target is the Takehara Guild under the control of the Mitsuya Guild. They are in fiercepetition with the Shunan Guild, so we can pin the me on them. But we still need to control any information leaks, so make sure we talk to each other on the chat window as much as possible.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°Good. Then, everyone, let¡¯s move to the Shaking Land.¡±

    At Chairman Yon¡¯s order, everyone moved to the Shaking Land, and I followed them too.

    [You have moved to the Shaking Land.]

    The Takehara Guild was a huge guild in its own right.

    So, at first, Yon¡¯s party members talked about killing the general users who didn¡¯t belong to any guild, but some opposed, arguing that it was a waste to use the only avable surprise attack for such purposes. In the end, they decided tounch a surprise attack against the Takehara Guild because that was the most likely ce in Japan that normal fighting would take ce.

    As expected, there were numerous users in the safety zone of the Shaking Ground. As soon as our group appeared in the teleport zone, one of them approached us and opened his mouth.

    ¡°This is the hunting ground of our Takehara Guild. You have to pay golden rings to hunt here.¡±

    It was a member of the Takehara Guild.

    But what surprised us was that we heard him speaking in Korean, although he must have spoken in Japanese. What we heard was not his Japanese interpreted into Korean, but exactly Korean from the beginning.

    Anyway, when he said that, Sungyop stepped forward and opened his mouth in Korean. Nheless, they had no problem conversing in Korean.

    Of course, the Japanese guy didn¡¯t even realize that Sungyop was speaking in Korean.

    ¡°Yes, I know that. We will pay the required golden rings.¡±

    ¡°Good. You have to pay 1000 golden rings per hour in this Shaking Land, and you have to hunt for at least 10 hours. So, you have to pay 300000 golden rings because you have to pay 10000 golden rings per yer of your 30 member party.¡±

    He spoke in a businesslike manner as if he was annoyed to let us in.

    However, Sungyop casually took out 300,000 gold rings from his pocket and handed it to the Takehara guild members who handed him something in return.

    ¡°This is a token that disappears exactly after ten hours. So, make sure toe out within 10 hours. Otherwise, you would be regarded as an illegal intruder on our hunting ground. You will pay a dear price for that, of course.¡±

    Having said that, the Japanese man headed to another ce.

    We then stepped into the hunting ground of the Shaking Land.

    In the center of the Shaking Land ten minutester.

    ¡°Left! Block the monsters on the left!¡±

    ¡°Make my body steel. Iron Wall!¡±

    ¡°Reinforce the shield. Iron Barrier!¡±

    ¡°Will of Fire!¡±

    ¡°Sparkling Fire!¡±

    Arge number of Japanese users, including members of the Takehara Guild, were absorbed into hunting everywhere. They didn¡¯t pay any attention to us.

    ¡°Shall we start now?¡± asked Chairman Yon.

    ¡°Sure,¡± I replied.

    I replied in a small voice, nodding at his suggestion.

    At that moment, I momentarily thought of changing the Functional Skill Ring¡¯s selected skill back to Ice Storm, but I didn¡¯t because if I needed to return to the Shaking Land¡¯s Teleport Zone again to get out of this ce, Ice Wave could perform better than Ice Storm.

    Anyway, I, along with the tanks, nked the Takehara Guild members absorbed into hunting.

    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t intrude into our zone!¡±

    The Japanese users reacted very naturally to our actions.

    However, I opened my mouth quietly without responding to them at all.

    ¡°Ice Field. Multiple Thin Ice.¡±

    Pasasasak!

    ¡°Damn it! What the heck is this?¡±

    ¡°This is a hunting ground managed by the Takehara Guild!¡±

    ¡°Bullshit! We paid to hunt here!¡±

    ¡°Argh! What is this? Howe my damage is¡­¡±

    The Japanese users spat out angry words at my attack, but it became chaotic instantly because even though I reinforced it with Multiple Thin Ice, my Ice Field was far from a typical one.

    As soon as I started attacking them, the other 29 members behind me immediately attacked as well.

    ¡°Chain Lightning!¡±

    ¡°Prating Power Shot!¡±

    ¡°Ice Storm!¡±

    :

    ¡°Biting Wind Spirit¡¯s Attack!¡±

    ¡°Pouring Thunderstorms!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    ¡°Kuheeeeee!¡±

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    ¡°These guys came to this ce on purpose! Quickly contact the Takehara Guild¡­¡±

    The Mirae Guild¡¯s elite members were obviously powerful.

    Of course, I wasn¡¯t just standing nkly while they were attacking, for I needed to gain points too.

    ¡°Pouring Hail! Ice Rain!¡±

    Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Since my Ice Storm was level 4, I first used other AOE skills, which alone began to kill the Japanese users. They were level 900-1000 because this hunting ground was reserved for users at that level.

    [You have killed a level 1031 user in Region 52.

    You have earned 17891 points.]

    [You have killed a level 971 user in Region 52.

    You have earned 14207 points.]

    [You have killed a level 875 user in Region 52.

    You have earned 12192 points.]

    To be honest, I was worried that I might be given the same amount of points regardless of the level of the users that I killed. In that case, it would be better for me to ughter beginner users in the ce where Orcs spawned.

    Fortunately, however, the higher the level of the user, the more points I earned.

    As if they totally relied on the Takehara Guild, the Japanese users here fell helplessly even without counter-attacking us properly.

    Of course, some of the users spectating the fight red at us from a distance, but they didn¡¯t charge at us as if they were not inclined to do so.

 Chapter 192 - Intruders (2)

    <h4>Chapter 192: Intruders (2)</h4>

    ¡°Blink!¡±

    So, I charged at them first, letting the Mirae members get rid of the remaining users of the Takehara Guild.

    ¡°Ice Storm! Ice Wave!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Kheeeeeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Shit! What the heck is this attack? So much damage!¡±

    By now I can say confidently that I am not a babe in the woods.

    And I have proven my abilities amply through the 4th anniversary event, and various quests including the one to help the Zaltz n.

    As a result, even though Iunched an attack in a ce where I didn¡¯ty out Ice Field, I saw numerous users killed with my Ice Wave attack alone without even ounting for Ice Storm.

    Of course, Iunched other attacks this time.

    Puck!

    ¡°Argh!¡±

    I wielded the +4 enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword at the Japanese user closest to me.

    The Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword directly stabbed into his chest.

    Of course, my attack didn¡¯t end there.

    Starting from the ce where he was stabbed, arge amount of ice spread all over his torso.

    ¡°Shit! Why is this frostbite affecting me here!¡±

    As a matter of fact, it was rather funny to call it frostbite.

    So, I used Ice Spear this time to relieve his frostbite pain. Of course, ¡®relieve¡¯ in this context meant his death. Anyway, I immersed myself in hunting like that.

    I knew I would receive a good reward if I earned lots of points through hunting.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t hunt because I had bad feelings toward Japan.

    At the ]Takehara Guild¡¯s main stronghold.

    It was quiet, as always.

    Obviously, they could not be called the representative guild of Japan, but they were proud to be under themand of the Mitsuya Guild representing Japan.

    In fact, they were well known as one of the strongest guilds in Japan.

    However, there was one guild that the Takehara Guild was very concerned about.

    It was none other than the Shunan Guild.

    Of course, the Shunan Guild did not openly attack the Takehara Guild because they knew well that they would bring about their own demise if they attacked the Takehara Guild first as it was under themand of the Mitsuya Guild.

    In other words, what the Shunan Guild was doing now was currying favor with the Mitsuya Guild. They even pledged to the Mitsuya Guild that if they gave all the benefits enjoyed by the Takehara Guild to the Shunan Guild, they would not only pledge their loyalty to the Mitsuya Guild but also pay more quarterly tributes than the Takehara Guild.

    So, Matoru Mori, the leader of the Takehara Guild, could not help but pay attention to the Shunan Guild¡¯s ttering of the Mitsuya Guild.

    He was confident that his guild was strong enough to stand alone from other guilds, but he knew it was certain that they would lose power if the Mitsuya Guild stopped backing them.

    That was the case of the Hokuryu Guild which was previously under the wing of the Mitsuya Guild. He negotiated with the Mitsuya Guild and took their spot, causing the eventual decline and demise of the Hakuryu Guild.

    ¡°Damn it! Son of a bitch! Do they know that we have almost nothing left after paying tributes to the Mitsuya Guild?¡±

    Matoru Mori got rid of the Hokuryu Guild in the same way that the Shunan Guild was trying to rece his guild, and as a result, he received all the rights and privileges the Hokuryu Guild had been enjoying. But this time the Shunan Guild¡¯s pledge to the Mitsuya Guild was simply too excessive. So much so that they would incur a big loss for the rest of their lives even if they took all the rights and privileges from the Takahera Guild.

    At that moment, Matoru received an urgent message

    Once he checked it, he was stunned. The Shunan Guild¡¯s preemptive strike was probably the most convincing evidence that they had finally struck a deal with the Mitsuya Guild.

    So, he quickly opened his mouth.

    ¡°Shunan! Are you really sure they attacked us first?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know for sure! However, it¡¯s certain that the opponents are very strong. They are only 30 in total, but they are currently ughtering everyone in the Shaking Land.¡±

    ¡°Damn it! Mobilize all the elite members as well as the main unit of our guild right now! Let me show those god damn Shunan bastards that our guild is not weak at all!¡±

    Of course, Matoru Mori duly thought the attackers were the Shunan Guild members, especially given the fact that only 30 members were dispatched to kill his Takehara Guild members.

    So, he decided to punish these arrogant Shunan Guild members and prove to the Mitsuya Guild that his guild was still valuable.

    The main reason why the Takehara Guild could beat the Hokuryu Guild even though they were one of the many guilds that paid tribute to the Mitsuya Guild was obviously because the Takehara Guild was more powerful than the Hokuryu Guild.

    So, he concluded that if he showed overwhelming power against the Shunan Guild this time, the Mitsuya Guild would not allow the Shunan Guild to rece his guild.

    In fact, he has been raising his guild members strongly by making all kinds of efforts.

    Anyway, Matoru Mori led the elites and main unit of the Takehara Guild to the Shaking Land.

    In the Shaking Land.

    ¡°Blow! Biting Wind!¡±

    ¡°Bursting Fire!¡±

    ¡°Bind them, Sticky Roots!¡±

    ¡°Prating Power Shot!!¡±

    ¡°Multiple Ice Arrow!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    ¡°Shit!¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re simply too strong!¡±

    The 30 members of Chairman Yon¡¯s party including me indiscriminately attacked the Japanese users who were trying to run away. It was literally a ughter.

    Of course, some of the Japanese users, including the Takehara Guild members, sometimes struck back, but their attacks were in vain because our party members were not ordinary users. Anyway, the massacre continued for about an hour.

    At that moment, Chairman Yon and Sungyop approached me and opened their mouths.

    ¡°I hear that the Takehara Guild has begun to mobilize their elite members and main unit yers.¡±

    ¡°Oh, their reaction is slower than I thought.¡±

    Of course, it was very easy for the Mirae Guild to bribe one or two Takehara Guild members.

    That¡¯s why they obtained such information so quickly.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think they expected they would be ambushed like this. Anyway, the enemy¡¯s main unit has started to move. Shall we move on to our second operation?¡±

    ¡°Sure, let¡¯s do it.¡±

    There was a reason why the Mirae Guild chose this Shaking Land among many hunting grounds.

    This was thergest of all the hunting grounds upied by the Takehara Guild.

    As a result, the Takehara Guild had no choice but to break up its forces in order to search for us.

    So, we nned to defeat them one squad at a time, then get out of this ce by using the Teleport Zone before the Takehara Guild contacted the Mitsuya Guild.

    We didn¡¯t have to confront the Mitsura Guild, who dominated Japan, on day one.

    Anyway, we moved deeper into the Shaking Land again ording to the 2nd stage of our operation.

    With the Takehara Guild.

    ¡°Where are they hiding now, those damn bastards?¡±

    Guild leader Matoru Mori became furious after discovering that the 30 members had already disappeared when they arrived at the scene.

    If the 30 men logged out and decided to wait, the Takehara guild would incur a big loss as it could not afford to have its main force protect the Shaking Land instead of bing stronger through hunting.

    So Matoru Mori gave orders to the guild members.

    ¡°We¡¯re going to separate into groups of 200 and 300. When you find them, focus on keeping them there rather than trying to defeat them, so we can stop them from logging out. In the meantime, we can get help from other forces to beat them.¡±

    ¡°Yes, understood!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    Of course, Matoru Mori, who gave such an order, felt a bit nervous and uneasy.

    All of the 30 men were very strong, but he was particrly bothered by the ice-type wizard whom he had received reports on who was far stronger than a typical wizard.

    Some even mentioned that he might be Asirante, but it was impossible for Asirante to be here logically.

    However, not only the Takehara Guild members, but also the many users who paid golden rings to hunt here had incurred many losses and could not sit idle, so Matoru Mori gave such an order.

    He also gave an additional order.

    ¡°Make sure you don¡¯t spread yourselves apart too far!¡±

    At the outer wall on the west side of the Shaking Land.

    ¡°I hear that the Takehara Guild has formed a squad of 300 people to search for us, starting off with the entrance of the hunting ground.¡±

    This guy named Sungyop Yu reported to us immediately after he called the regr contacts he nted in the Japanese guild.

    Nodding at him, I opened my mouth.

    ¡°Fortunately, they are moving as I expected.¡±

    If they asked for help from the Mitsuya Guild controlling all the guilds in Japan or if they only blocked the safety zone of the Shaking Land and stayed still, we might have been in big trouble. But they didn¡¯t.

    Of course, honestly, I thought it wouldn¡¯t matter if I fought them alone because I was confident of getting out of here with my abilities, and I could easily reach the Teleport Zone using Blink with zero cooldown to pass by them, no matter how many they numbered.

 Chapter 193 - Intruders (3)

    <h4>Chapter 193: Intruders (3)</h4>

    Sungyop Yu said, ¡°The people we attacked were not necessarily the members of the Takehara Guild. This is a hunting ground where the Takehara Guild guarantees your safety as long as you pay. As a result, the Takehara Guild will have to move faster to resolve this issue because they are in a fiercepetition with the Shunan Guild.¡±

    ¡°I see. Then, what is the n now?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better to kill them one by one? Of course, we are looking forward to your performance, Asirante.¡±

    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s move now.¡±

    After we finished talking, we began to move. Actually we intended to get out of the Shaking Land after causing great chaos.

    One hourter.

    ¡°Sharp Teeth!¡±

    ¡°Anger Outburst!¡±

    ¡°Link: Skill Cooldown.¡±

    [You have received the effect of Sharp Teeth.

    -You will inflict 7% more damage to opponents who have already suffered damage for 30 minutes. ]

    [You have received the effect of Anger Outburst.

    -Your physical and magical defense is reduced by 15% for one hour, but your physical and magical damage is increased by 7%.]

    [Link: You have received the effect of Skill Cooldown.

    -The Guardian takes 10% of Asirante¡¯s skill cooldowns for one hour

    -The Guardian is subject to a threefold increase in their cooldowns while this effectsts.]

    From now on, we were prepared to fight against the enemy who were clearly aware of us unlike before when we ambushed them

    If we don¡¯t kill the enemies quickly, we will be swarmed by enemies nearbye, so I freely epted the buffs given to me. Then I prated straight into the enemy camp using Blink with zero cooldown.

    ¡°The enemy is here!¡±

    ¡°Right here! Tell headquarters immediately that they have appeared here!¡±

    The enemies began to yell at me as soon as they noticed me.

    But I ignored them and focused on what I was supposed to do.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasak!

    ¡°Pouring Hail! Ice Wave!¡±

    Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

    Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Kueeeeeeeh!¡±

    ¡°Damn it! That bastard is back again! Run away! He¡¯s a real scam!¡±

    Rather than counter attacking me, they tried to run away immediately, but they couldn¡¯t.

    Since we thoroughly prepared in advance, the 29 Mirae Guild members were behind them. Moreover, I would receive lots of points by getting rid of them.

    I had had no intention of making any concessions to our Mirae members at all.

    So, I kept attacking them on my own.

    Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Shit! How am I taking damage so easily like this when I have used Iron Wall and Solid Will?¡±

    I used +4 enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword at those enemies close to me.

    Of course, I also constantly spammed ice-type skills in all directions to get rid of even more enemies.

    ¡°Damn! We screwed up! These bastards can¡¯t be beaten with our 300 men.¡±

    ¡°Shut up, you idiot! Keep attacking them instead of babbling like that!¡±

    ¡°Be patient for a little while longer. Team 7 and Team 11 areing quickly to reinforce us. So, we have to hold out a little longer!¡±

    ¡°Hey, I can¡¯t really stand it any longer!¡±

    Of course, not all of the 300 of the Takehara Guild fell into chaos.

    Some of them counterattacked, and even used all kinds of defense skills to hold out until their reinforcements arrived.

    But my ice-type attacks smashed their defense skills so easily.

    Besides, their dealers, healers, and supporters without such defensive skills copsed helplessly. But I didn¡¯t feel much excitement to see this scene because I had seen it too often.

    Anyway, I killed all 300 men and moved quickly to the right with the Mirae members.

    There was no better way for me to hunt Team 7 and Team 11 members individually because they wereing from the left and right respectively.

    Soon I ran into Team 7.

    ¡°Blink!¡±

    Just like I did when I encountered the first enemy squad, I used Blink with zero cooldown to prate Team 7¡¯s forces and used Ice Field and Thin Ice.

    The Mirae Guild members charged at them like me and we annihted them in five minutes.

    Of course, we took no damage.

    At that moment, Chairman Yon opened his mouth with a loud voice.

    ¡°There are still a lot of enemies left! Can you guys keep going?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not tired yet!¡±

    ¡°Good! Then you guys should never lose sight of Asirante. Follow him!¡±

    ¡°Sure! Will do!¡±

    Now we moved again to search for other teams.

    At the Takehara Guild¡¯s headquarters.

    ¡°Team 4 has been annihted.¡±

    ¡°I hear that even Team 7 was also annihted by the enemy while moving to reinforce Team 4¡±

    ¡°I just got a call that Team 11 has also been destroyed.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Guild leader Matoru Mori knew immediately that something was wrong.

    He knew the Shunan Guild members were notpetent enough to kill his guild members like this. If they were thatpetent, the Mitsuya Guild would have weed the Shunan Guild with open arms. And the Mitsuya Guild would have already booted the Takehar Guild and reced them with the Shunan Guild and offered lots of benefits instead of having them pay tribute.

    And he reviewed the Memory Bead video showing a powerful Ice-type wizard decimating their forces which was taken by a wizard as he was dying. At that moment, he immediately thought of Asirante.

    Except for Asirante, there were no ice-type wizards in the world who could show such incredible abilities like this.

    ¡°Tell all other teams to move to the Teleport Zone. We¡¯re going to stop them there. Maybe this is not a civil war between us Japanese guilds, but an outside invasion.¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡±

    So, guild leader Matoru Mori decided to contact the Mitsuya Guild.

    However, Matoru Mori didn¡¯t know that his decision was horrendously wrong. It was a good idea to recall the teams to the Teleport Zone, but he should have moved all the members as one big force isntead of separate 300 men squads because the Mirae Guild members including Asirante were also moving to the Teleport Zone.

    Not far from the Shaking Land Teleport Zone.

    ¡°Pouring Hail! Ice Rain!¡±

    Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    While I was moving to the Teleport Zone, I encountered enemies more frequently.

    On such asions, I had to y a more active part than before because I saw the Mirae Guild members gradually getting tired. Of course, I could understand why.

    Although we killed the enemy squads one by one, each squad still numbered 300 menpared to the paltry 30 on our side.

    In other words, each one of our 30 members had to deal with 10 enemies per squad.

    Besides, we ran into as many as eight teams, with each team consisting of 300 men.

    So, we had to confront a total of 2400 enemies.

    As a result, the Mirae members were getting exhausted.

    How about me? Well, my stamina was too high to get tired.

    And my health was also too high for me to be concerned about it.

    So, I moved more persistently not for the Mirae members but for more points.

    However, my endless attack seemed to have caused our members to misunderstand me.

    ¡°Asirante is truly a loyal man!¡±

    ¡°Wow. He¡¯s taking the initiative to get out of this ce with us!¡±

    ¡°The Teleport Zone is not far. Hang in there!¡±

    ¡°If we can get out of here, we can take a break. So, cheer up, everybody!¡±

    The reason I moved ahead of them all the time was because it was a big plus for me.

    First of all, I could attack the enemy by using lots of skills all at once.

    However, I didn¡¯t respond to clear their misunderstanding about me.

    Instead, I silently used the +4 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword to slice the enemies and spammed all kinds of skills ranging from AOE skills like Ice Storm to single target skills likeMultiple Ice Arrow. Soon I reached the Safety Zone of the Shaking Land.

    Naturally, the Teleport Zone was inside the Safety Zone.

    So I opened my mouth with a loud voice.

    ¡°I will open the way, so follow me!¡±

    Originally, this was what Chairman Yon was supposed to say, but I announced it first.

    But the Mirae members reacted the same way.

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    After confirming their response, I quickly approached the enemies guarding the Safety Zone and used my most powerful skills.

    ¡°Ice Wave!¡±

    Of course, I could use skills inside the Safety Zone.

    More precisely, I could attack them. But they would lose no health from my attacks. However, the destructive power of my attack was useful and knocked the enemies away.

    And the destructive power of my Ice Wave was inevitably extraordinary.

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Numerous Takehara Guild members guarding the Safety Zone ran away in all directions.

    But the Mirae Guild membersunched all kinds of attacks instead of doing nothing.

    As a result, we opened a path leading to the Teleport Zone, and the Mirae guild members quickly climbed onto it before using it to move to the predetermined ce.

    Chairman Yon mentioned the ce to me separately, so I also moved to it.

    I could do more here, but it was only the first day.

    So, I spent the first day like that, but on the second day, we attacked the main base of the Shunan Guild in order to cause more confusion.

    On the third day, we split our members into 3 groups of 10 people and attacked the areas around the castles, starting with where beginners hunted to where the high level guild members were located.

    Anyway, all the way until the 4th day, we viciously attacked the Japanese users regardless of whether they were beginners or high level users and did not take a single shred of damage on our side.

 Chapter 194 - Finale (1)

    <h4>Chapter 194: Finale (1)</h4>

    At the Mitsuya Guild¡¯s headquarters.

    The top leaders of the Mitsuya Guild, Japan¡¯s representative guild, came to its headquarters, summoned by the guild leader, Ryu Sechi.

    A couple of people summoned were not regr members, insteading to this meeting for the first time.

    They were the leaders of the Takehara Guild and the Shunan Guild, both of which had suffered considerable damage this time.

    After all the leaders were gathered, they immediately yed a video recording from a Memory Bead, and the other members quietly watched it.

    A littleter they began to express their opinions one by one.

    ¡°He must be Asirante. The only one who can show such abilities is Asirante.¡±

    Chairman Ryu Seichi, who watched the video carefully, opened his mouth.

    Then he smacked his lips and continued, as if he had lots of regrets.

    ¡°If that guy is really a Japanese, not Asirante, he would be a great blessing to Japan. But he can¡¯t be Japanese¡­¡±

    As a matter of fact, Chairman Ryu Sechi wished that the guy currently shaking up the ¡°Revival Legend¡± in Japan was really not Asirante. If that guy was really a Japanese, he would hire him at all costs.

    But Chairman Ryu Sechi had no choice but to touch his beard when Inoguchi, his right hand man and intelligence chief, said, ¡°I feel the same way. I¡¯m 100% sure that he is the Korean Asirante.¡±

    The chairman then pointed at 29 men around Asirante.

    ¡°Who the hell are they?¡±

    ¡°They are from the Mirae Guild.¡±

    ¡°Korea¡¯s Mirae Guild?¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir. They are the elites of the Mirae Guild and its chairman Junghwan Yon is also participating.¡±

    When Chairman Ryu Sechi asked, Inoguchi, chief of the intelligence unit, answered without any hesitation.

    ¡°Howe you are so sure?¡±

    So, Chairman Ryu asked Inoguchi why he was so sure because although the Mirae Group of Korea was a bit behind the Mitsuya Group, it could not be treated lightly.

    Moreover, Chairman Yon was the Mirae Group¡¯s leader and he was supposed to be participating in this operation.

    However, Chairman Ryu had no choice but to stop questioning when he heard Inoguchi¡¯s next words.

    ¡°Nobody in Korea can message Chairman Yon and his right hand man right now. I hear they are now in a different region.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Inoguchi, who was a close assistant of Chairman Ryu and had a considerable say within the Mitsuya group, could not investigate Chairman Yon¡¯s every movement, but he could go as far as urging those who were on Yon¡¯s friends¡¯ list to message him. So, he could find out that some important members of the Mirae Guild including Chairman Yon had moved to another area, which happened to be Region 52, Japan.

    ¡°These bastards are crazy. Crazy! Howe they are in our region without any fear?¡±

    In Chairman Ryu¡¯s eyes, this was an invasion.

    But he suppressed his anger and asked Inoguchi, the intelligence chief.

    ¡°But how did theye? Well, one or two cane. They can find a way. But as many as 30 people havee into our region. Besides, all of them are very strong, right? In particr, that bastard Asirante!¡±

    ¡°Wll, isn¡¯t it because something like an event or a quest that they coulde here? And it must be an event intended to cause great chaos in Japan.¡±

    ¡°Damn it! They must regard us as small fries!¡¯

    Chairman Ryu had no choice but to gnash his teeth at his response.

    As a matter of fact, lots of guild members under his wing were killed by the Mirae Guild members including Asirante.

    Of course, nobody directly from the Mitsuya guild was harmed until now.

    However, Chairman Ryu was proud to be top leader of Japan¡¯s ¡°Revival Legend¡±, so even guild members of subordinate guilds suffering damage was a great affront to him. Besides, the attackers were Koreans who, from his perspective, were being ungrateful and had forgotten Japan¡¯s role in developingKorea as it was today.

    ¡°Search for them everywhere! And warn everyone in Japan that if they dare help them, they will not be able to survive anymore not only in Revival Legend but also in reality.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    Chairman Ryu Sechi strongly decided to take revenge against them.

    Of course, he was not angry simply because Japan was invaded by them.

    Obviously, the fact that it was an event or quest made him upset.

    In other words, Chairman Ryu Sechi was very upset that they would receive rewards for clearing the quest in Japan. He felt more upset about it than their intrusion into Japan.

    So he decided that he must mess with their quest or event by all means because it would be a big shame if he allowed them to gain any rewards inside Japan.

    He also felt it very unfair that they would be stronger because of that.

    Anyway, at his order, not only the Mitsuya Guild but also all the guilds including those outside its direct control moved quickly to carry out his order because they didn¡¯t want to invite the chairman¡¯s anger and punishment.

    One hourter, Inoguchi, who was busy searching for the 30 Mirae Guild members, including Asirante and Chairman Yon, yed 20 Memory Bead recordings slowly.

    Then he suddenly spat out, ¡°By the way, when did Asirante begin to use that one-handed sword?¡±

    As far as he knew, Asirante¡¯s weapon until now was a staff, which was the most suitable weapon for a wizard.

    ¡°How can he be so strong?¡±

    When he thought of Asirante, he recalled only two extraordinary characteristics, namely his tremendous magic attack power and tremendous stamina. That¡¯s why he already regarded Asirante as something like a monster.

    As a matter of fact, it was impossible for Asirante to show such extreme abilities under normal circumstances. Except for Asirante, there has never been anyone who has shown such unbelievable abilities until now. As head of the intelligence unit of the Mitsuya Guild, Inoguchi knew that better than anybody else.

    However, Inoguchi could not help but question the fact that Asirante was attacking Japanese users and killing them almost immediately with a one-handed sword.

    As far as he knew, Asirante was not supposed to show such tremendous physical attack power.

    ¡°Oh my God¡­Can this monster still keep growing stronger, and with another weapon at that?¡±

    Inoguchi shook his head from side to side, startled.

    Anyway, Inoguchi kept reviewing the memory bead videos, losing track of time, for it was his job to check if there were any parts of the video that he might have missed.

    At Elwood Castle.

    ¡°I hear that the Mitsuya Guild has issued an emergency alert throughout Japan, ordering their guild members to search for Asirante and us,¡± said Sungyop Yu.

    ¡°They must be very upset,¡± I responded with a slight nod.

    ¡°You bet. Chairman Ryu Sechi is a very greedy guy. Probably he felt more upset about the fact that we would receive benefits from this chaos rather than the fact that we messed up with them. That¡¯s why he wants to go after us and take revenge.¡±

    Since Myongjin and Mitsuya were rivals in business, I knew a bit about Chairman Ryu Sechi.

    So I agreed with Sungyop, but I did not express my feelings.

    Instead, I changed the topic.

    ¡°By the way, what are we going to do from now on?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think we should continue doing what we have been doing so far?¡±

    ¡°Good.¡±

    Currently, we have divided the 30 man squad, including myself, into 3 groups of 10 people.

    And we were mainly moving in the fields, not the hunting grounds, because we were able to kill lots of Japanese users without entering the enemy camps.

    And I didn¡¯t have any objection to it either for two reasons. First, even though I was moving with them, I did not have toin about ack of points because I was earning a lot. Second, I didn¡¯t want to upset them because I promised to move with them from the beginning.

    ¡°Then shall we go now?¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    So, a total of 10 people, including me, moved together.

    ¡°Move to Meknes Castle.¡±

    [You have moved to Meknes Castle.]

    So, we moved to Meknes Castle which was home to monsters around level 900.

    I guess Team 2 probably moved to the ce where level 300 and 600 level monsters appeared.

    After moving to the outskirts of Meknes Castle, we began a massacre in earnest again.

    Of course, the Mitsuya Guild woulde to know we¡¯re hunting in this ce, and dispatch their members to track us down, but we didn¡¯t care because we would move faster than them.

 Chapter 195 - Finale (2)

    <h4>Chapter 195: Finale (2)</h4>

    Anyway, we moved forward, getting rid of the monsters whenever they appeared before us. Then, all of a sudden, we encountered NPCs. ording to the quest message, we would receive more points by hunting them rather than users.

    In fact, I heard that other teams actually hunted the NPCs and really received a lot of points. A whopping 10 times more than if they hunted simple users.

    Considering that killing level 1000 yers granted 15,000 points, it would be a whopping 150,000 points. And since the NPCs were simple vigers, they allegedly could hunt them very quickly.

    In other words, there was a safer and easier way to acquire points than hunting users.

    So, another user of the Mirae Guild also suggested that instead of hunting the Japanese users and bing the target of the Mitsuya Guild, we should hunt only NPCs carefully.

    In fact, there were many NPCs everywhere. But I objected to this method.

    Of course, there was no good reason for me to oppose this idea.

    But I just felt ufortable about it.

    So, we decided to break our team into two groups, namely one group that would attack the NPCs and another group that would not.

    I could not force them to follow me because I would not attack the NPCs, so I didn¡¯t get involved with their decision. As a matter of fact, I wanted them to attack the NPCs because if it led to a bad future as I expected, it would be good for me as well.

    No matter how strong they were, it was absolutely impossible for them to catch up with me. But for this quest, I would still be ahead in terms of points if they attacked the NPCs and ended up getting bad results.

    Anyway, even if they get more points by attacking NPCs, I was confident of getting more points than they would, especially since I would be moving alone on thest day of the event to finish with a flourish. So I ignored the NPCs and moved quickly, along with the other members of the Mirae team who decided not to attack the NPCs like me.

    Of course, Bora Yon was included among them.

    At the safe house prepared by the Mirae Guild the next day.

    ¡°Thanks for your hard work for the past six days.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee. I also movedfortably ording to the n you guys at the Mirae Guild prepared.¡¯

    As a matter of fact, I really feltfortable while hunting with the Mirae Guild team this time.

    Even in the middle of the fierce battle, they told me exactly when I could retreat, and I could log in and log out with ease in a safe house prepared in advance by the Mirae Guild.

    In addition, I could steadily umte points by receiving information in real time about where the Japanese users were grouped up.

    But I wanted to hunt by myself at least for one day before this event ended.

    Of course, I also wanted to widen the gap in points with the other members of the Mirae team.

    Anyway, I parted ways with the Mirae Guild members like that.

    Then I moved toward the ce that I had in mind, namely, the main base of the Sendai Guild.

    Of course, I knew that the Takehara Guild, the Shunan Guild, or the Mitsuya Guild that controlled all the guilds in Japan had been searching for me. But that was not the reason why I took the trouble of finding another guild.

    In particr, as far as gaining points was concerned, only the levels of the killed users matter. There was no difference at all in what guild they belonged to and what position they upied in their guild. So, I decided to visit the Sendai Guild, which I could easily deal with, and which had many guild members. Of course, I made the decision by thoroughly calcting the gains and losses so I could get the best possible result.

    ¡°Move to Sudbury Castle.¡±

    [You have moved to Sudbury Castle.]

    It seemed that our Mirae Guild members had really messed up the Japanese guild members.

    There were fewer users than I expected in the field outside Sudbury Castle.

    So I ignored them and moved quickly using Blink to the outskirts of Sudbury Castle where I soon found their huge main base. It was the Sendai Guild¡¯s headquarters.

    ¡°Who are you?¡±

    Of course, there was a security guard guarding the main gate of the headquarters.

    However, as I always did, I immediately shed at him with the +4 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword reinforced with level 3 Ice Weapon without even responding to him.

    Puck!

    ¡°Kuheeeeeeeeeeeek!

    Pasasasak!

    Thick ice appeared on the guard¡¯s ribs near the stab wound.

    Obviously, it was frostbite, but it was much more powerful than the usual frostbites.

    Given that their security guard was so weak that he copsed in one attack, the Sendai guild didn¡¯t seem to think that the invaders would attack their headquarters.

    After killing the guard, I entered their headquarters, then began to fire Ice Field toward the Sendai Guild members who could not hide their confused expressions.

    I hurried because the Sendai Guild was not the only ce that I was supposed to visit today. Moreover, I had a reason why I invaded their headquarters today, for unlike a hunting ground, they would have to counterattack rather than retreat to save their base.

    Since they were my enemies anyway, they actively counter attacked.

    ¡°Block him!¡±

    ¡°He is an intruder who has invaded our headquarters! Everyone, fight back!¡±

    ¡°Soar up. Pir of Fire!¡±

    ¡°Triple Shot!¡±

    :

    :

    ¡°Fire Field!¡±

    ¡°Slow! Slow!¡±

    ¡°Bind that man¡¯s body, Earth!¡±

    Theyunched numerous attacks and debuff curses against me.

    Of course, I could easily withstand such numerous attacks.

    Their attacks didn¡¯t inflict enough damage or even enough debuffs to hinder my attacks, so they copsed helplessly.

    ¡°Blink! Ice Wave!¡±

    ¡°Kuheeeeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    I killed them all in one shot.

    Although my Ice Wave didn¡¯t have a wide range, the enemy forces gathered in one ce immediately fell when hit directly by it just once.

    Of course, my attacks other than Ice Wave were also strong.

    I freely used a lot more of my skills here for the first time during the event. Before, I had imposed limitations on which skills I revealed as I had to move together with the Mirae members.

    So, I broadly smiled before I knew it.

    Of course, I was not sure how the Sendai Guild would interpret the smile on my face, but I was satisfied for now because the best way I could confirm my strength was by battling users instead of hunting

    However, there was only one thing I regretted, namely Blink with zero cooldown.

    If I showed Blink with zero cooldown here, they would die without doing anything, with their mouths open. I actually wanted to show them all my abilities, but I held back the urge, for this was not a battlefield where I could show my extraordinary abilities.

    In fact, I was overwhelming them despite their huge numbers.

    But I retreated 30 minutester even though there were a lot of Sendai Guild members left to hunt. I had no intention of fighting the MItsuya Guild at this point who would charge at me as soon as they found me.

    Since there were still many other guild headquarters in Japan, I decided not to set the Mitsuya Guild as a target. That would make them angrier, of course.

    Anyway, on thest day, I searched for the headquarters of the enemy guilds here and there and fought, or ughtered them to end the quest with a flourish.

    Moreover, the Mirae Guild team also hunted as best as they could because it was thest day of the event.

    While I was busy fighting the enemy guild members like that, a message rang.

    [ The Exploration of Another Region has ended.

    -In ten seconds, you will be moved to your original region.]

    It was a message that announced the end of the event.

    It was much safer and easier because I moved with the Mirae Guild members this time.

    But I didn¡¯t think my decision to move with them was bad because being safe doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s bad.

    I felt my body being pulled somewhere, and soon the Dragon¡¯s Tomb, where I originally met the Mirae Guild, came into view along with another message about the quest rewards.

 Chapter 196 - Successful Exploration (1)

    <h4>Chapter 196: Sessful Exploration (1)</h4>

    [Congrattions! You have sessfullypleted your expedition to another region.

    -The reward is calcted ording to your umted points.]

    A message signaling the sessful end of the quest appeared, but I could not readily agree that it was truly a sess.

    Honestly, all I did was just go there and fight against or ughter Japanese yers.

    And the word ¡®exploration¡¯ was too broad to epass the simple ughtering that we did.

    But I stopped thinking about it because the event was already over, and I didn¡¯t regret my decision to take part in the event at all.

    If there were another opportunity like this, I would try to be more active to take part in it.

    Anyway, the rest of the Mirae members started cheering when the message about the sessful exploration appeared.

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    ¡°All 30 men here endured till the end!¡±

    ¡°Hahahaha! We¡¯re going to receive the real reward now even though we have already received the remaining 500 stat points in advance!¡±

    They felt so good at the fact that they would receive an amazing reward even after receiving 500 remaining stat points simply by moving to another region. But amid such a good atmosphere, I received another message about myself.

    [We¡¯re converting and tallying up the points Lumen, Asirante has earned in Region 52.]

    Such messages rang one after another.

    But some members had already received their final tally and were shouting for joy.

    ¡°I earned 4.87 million points.¡±

    ¡°I earned 4.43 million points.¡±

    ¡°Wow! I earned 12.97 million points.¡±

    ¡°I earned 15.67 million points.¡±

    Although we formed a party for this event and fought against the Japanese yers, we all earned a different number of points.

    As a matter of fact, healers, enchanters, and tanks inevitably earned fewer points. So, there was a considerable gap between them and other yers in terms of points earned.

    But some people here really earned much more points than others. They were none other than those who only focused on hunting NPCs.

    ¡°I earned 47.71 million points.¡±

    ¡°I earned more than 50 million points, 52.81 million points to be exact.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we got the most points by hunting NPCs!¡±

    ¡°Even though I am only an enchanter, I earned 18.4 million points!¡±

    ughtering NPCs gave ten times more pointspared to ughtering users.

    Since the NPCs they met so easily gave such a huge number of points, there was a big difference in points of those who attacked NPCs and those who did not.

    Because of this, those yers who followed me cast some hostile nces at me because I told them I would not attack the NPCs.

    I never forced them not to attack the NPCs. I just told them I would not attack NPCs. Nheless, they didn¡¯t attack NPCs like me.

    Of course, my fame influenced them to make such a decision.

    But even then, it was unfair for them to me me for not attacking NPCs because in the end, it was their decision. In other words, they had no reason to vent anger at me when it was their responsibility

    But I ignored them. I didn¡¯t get angry at their hostile behavior.

    At that moment, somebody shouted at those people in a loud voice.

    ¡°What the heck are you doing to him now?¡±

    Chairman Yon yelled at them angrily. As soon as they heard his angry voice, they became quiet suddenly as if the NPC issue was not a big deal.

    After that, Chairman Yon approached me and opened his mouth.

    ¡°Asirante, I¡¯m really sorry. It looks like they have conducted themselves badly because they are suddenly rxed after the stress of the past week.¡±

    Chairman Yon was the one and only leader of the Mirae Group In other words, he is on par with my father who was the Chairman of the Myongjin Group.

    Nheless, Chairman Yon bowed to me and apologized politely.

    How did I react to his polite apology?

    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it, Chairman Yon. It¡¯s not a big deal,¡± I just replied nonchntly.

    Actually, I didn¡¯t think it was a big problem anyway.

    What about their resentment against me about the NPC issue?

    It didn¡¯t bother me, and I didn¡¯t even care about them. That¡¯s why I ignored them.

    Anyway, they didn¡¯tin anymore after Chairman Yon yelled at them.

    So they began to exchange information with each other in small voices.

    ¡°I have 300 remaining stat points and 1400 coins. How about you?¡±

    ¡°Well, I received 1550 coins because I earned 1.5 million more points than you.¡±

    ¡°I have 350 stat points remaining and 300 million golden rings.¡±

    It seemed that they were almost done counting their rewards that they gained from their points. However, the system showed no signs ofpleting my points tally and giving me my due rewards anytime soon. But finally, the message about my final points rang.

    [The conversion and summing up of Lumen, Asirante¡¯s acquired points has beenpleted.

    -Lumen, Asirante has earned 392,550,911 points.]

    ¡°....¡±

    The Mirae team member who got the highest points previously earned about 70 million points.

    But I obtained about 390 million points.

    Of course, I really fought hard. Especially, I went out of my way to obtain more points not to be outdone by those who decided to attack the NPCs.

    So, I was proud of the final results of my hard work. But messages rang in a row as if I had more rewards waiting for me.

    [The rewards below are given ording to the points you have earned.

    : You have acquired 770 million golden rings.

    : You have acquired 100 remaining stat points.

    : You have acquired 10000 coins.

    : You have obtained a random box that contains at least myth grade items.]

    [You have exceeded 100 million points.

    -You have received 100 bonus remaining stat points.]

    [You have exceeded 200 million points.

    -You have received 200 bonus remaining stat points.]

    [You have exceeded 300 million points.

    -You have received 300 bonus remaining stat points.]

    Several messages rang in session.

    Actually, when I checked the first few messages, I had mixed feelings of regret and joy.

    Of course, what I regretted was that I had only 100 remaining stat points, but what pleased me was that I received a random box containing at least myth grade items.

    Overall, several random boxes containing at least myth grade items were more valuable than a few hundred, or even 1000 or 2,000 remaining stat points, for there was a reason that the items were called ¡°myth grade¡±.

    But I shook off my regrets and decided I was satisfied with my reward after the first few messages. At that moment, three messages rang in a row, announcing the additional remaining stat points I received.

    I could not help but be all smiles at such a wee message because I obtained a total of 700 remaining stat points in the end. That was more than enough to satisfy me.

    Of course, I regretted that I didn¡¯t exceed 400 million points because Icked just eight million points. If I had exceeded 400 million, I would have acquired 400 more remaining stat points.

    But obviously, I did as much as I could in the past week, including my terrific finale on the final day, so I shook off my regrets.

    At that moment, Chairman Yon, who was standing next to me, opened his mouth.

    ¡°Thank you so much again. Without you, Asirante, it would have been impossible for all of us to safely and sessfully clear the quest like this.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee. I¡¯ve certainly benefited a lot from joining the event this time.¡±

    Obviously, I yed tag-along role in this quest in some respects because it was the Mirae Guild that took the lead in this special quest. ordingly, they were the main characters, not me.

    Although I tagged along, I gained a lot by joining the Mirae team.

    That¡¯s why I gave a humble answer to Chairman Yon¡¯s praise.

    ¡°Oh, no. Obviously, we have benefitted more than you. So, do you want to ask us any favor or any other request...?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I do,¡± I said even before Chairman Yon finished speaking.

    I was serious, of course. Chairman Yon looked a bit surprised by my immediate response.

    ¡°I would like to hunt in the Giant¡¯s Tomb owned by the Mirae Guild. I am not just interested in hunting, but I want members of the Mirae Guild to herd the giants that will appear for me.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    The hunting ground spawned level 1200 giants, so it was very important to the Mirae Group.

    Besides, as the monsters that appeared were level 1200, the Mirae Group must dispatch very high-level yers if they were to satisfy my request.

    In other words, I demanded that Chairman Yon mobilize the top elites of the Mirae Guild to herd the giant monsters for me.

    Obviously, Chairman Yon might have felt more displeased with such a requestpared to if I had asked for legendary grade items, not to mention golden rings or myth grade items. But I boldly made such a demand because I did not have to amodate for Chairman Yon¡¯s feelings.

 Chapter 197 - Successful Exploration (2)

    <h4>Chapter 197: Sessful Exploration (2)</h4>

    ¡°Oh, you are very passionate about leveling up,¡± he said with a smile.

    ¡°Well, don¡¯t you think the surest way to be the strongest is to level up?¡±

    I replied to Chairman Yon with a smile as well.

    He said with a nod, ¡°Well that¡¯s no problem. I will allow you to hunt in the Giant¡¯s Grave, Asirante. Of course, I¡¯ll organize a herding team for you as well. However, I wish to limit your use of the herding team to one month? If you agree, I¡¯ll open the Giant¡¯s Grave to you anytime, Asirante.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    That was enough for me because it was possible that I would encounter multiple level 1200 monsters during that one month. And as far as I knew, the highest yer of the Myongjin Guild was only level 1191.

    Perhaps 3 weeks? Or, maybe within two weeks and a few days, there would appear a Myongjin yer who would reach level 1200. And the Mirae Guild should be in a simr position.

    If the Myongjin Guild produced a level 1200 yer first, there would be a big fuss inside the Mirae Guild. Maybe they would regret the fact that they organized a herding team for a month and prevented them from being able to hunt and level up.

    But I stopped thinking about it because it was not my concern.

    That day, I parted with them like that.

    Outside of Kotum Castle the next day.

    ¡°Whew!¡±

    Looking at the box in my hand, I let out a long breath.

    The message said that this random box had at least a myth-grade item.

    But if I obtained a weapon item, it would be no good.

    Selling it or exchanging it?

    This would not work because myth-grade items were generally hidden and not open to the market.

    ¡°Alright. No weapons, please!¡±

    Even if a weapones out, there are a lot who can use it because Myongjin has a lot of users, including my family.

    But I really wanted an item that I could use. But even if I wished really hard, there was no guarantee that I would get an item I really wanted, so I quickly opened the box to see what it contained.

    Pop!

    The box emitted a bright golden light, and an item appeared.

    ¡°Whew!¡±

    I let out a sigh of relief because it was not a weapon.

    But I was not very happy because although this item was myth-grade, it looked rather shabby and ugly.

    In other words, it looked very shabbypared to the myth-grade ¡°Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword¡± which looked very unique since it was made of ice itself.

    So, I started to check the item first.

    ¡°Check item.¡±

    [Forgotten Hero¡¯s Cloak. (myth)

    -It is a cloak worn by a hero who ended the ancient war era.

    : At least level 700 required to equip.

    : At least 5 titles required to equip.

    : When wearing theplete set items of the forgotten hero, a hidden option is activated.

    -Effect.

    : Completely defends against all debuffs inflicted on the wearer with a 50% probability.

    For each title, the probability increases by an additional 1%.

    : All stat points increase by 100.

    An additional 20 stat points increase is granted per title. If you have five titles, all stat points will increase by 200.

    -Safety Enhancement: Enhancement impossible. (when the other set item of the forgotten hero is equipped, the condition of enhancement impossible is canceled.)

    -Physical defense: 1000, magic defense: 2000

    -Durability: infinite/infinite]

    It was simple for a myth-grade item with only two options.

    However, there was an option I liked very much, namely, the debuff option.

    Of course, I have never been properly affected by debuffs until now.

    Even though I selected Willpower to be the second stat to grow along with Intellect at only 50%, , my current willpower is over 10,000 and will continue to increase in the future.

    But nheless, if I had to specify a weakness of mine, it would be my willpower because my stamina already exceeded 20,000.

    ¡®Well, I have nine titles, so the probability is 59%¡­¡¯

    I felt quite satisfied because I would be unaffected by debuffs at least one out of two times without any problem.

    If I was lucky, I would be unaffected multiple times in a row.

    So I finished checking the first option and turned my gaze to the second option.

    Basically, all my stat points are increased by 280 with my 9 titles.

    It wasn¡¯t as high as I thought.

    Moreover, the effect of Mutual Growth did not apply to stat points granted by this item.

    ¡®Hmm.¡¯

    No matter how much I thought about it, I thought it was no good.

    However, it was definitely worth wearing only with the first option, so I felt quite satisfied.

    Furthermore, wearing other parts of the set would reveal a hidden option.

    Of course, it was unclear whether I could obtain the other forgotten hero set items.

    Anyway, I put the forgotten hero¡¯s cloak in my inventory and moved to the Giant¡¯s Grave because I currently could not equip the cloak because of the robe set I was wearing.

    So, on the way to the Giant¡¯s Grave, I decided that sooner orter I would take off my robe set and change it to a light armor set.

    ***

    At the Mirae Guild¡¯s headquarters.

    The Mirae Guild did not celebrate this event simply because they sessfully cleared it.

    Naturally, its Strategy Department checked various things based on the Memory Bead with which they recorded their members¡¯ activities.

    For example, they checked the current level of Japanese users or whether there was anythingcking in the skills of the Mirae Guild members.

    However, what they paid most attention to was Asirante¡¯s activities.

    As a matter of fact, the Strategy Department of the Mirae Guild closely observed his every move in the Memory Bead and came to one conclusion.

    He was indeed exceptional as the rumors say.

    All the members of the Strategy Department could not believe their eyes after confirming Asirante¡¯s remarkable power and growthpared to their past info on him.

    Then someone carefully opened their mouth.

    ¡°How can he still be so exceptionally strong?¡±

    In general, one¡¯s strength usually goes up steeply at first, then ttens out and teaus. Why? Because it¡¯s harder to level up over time, and it bes increasingly harder to find higher level and higher grade items to increase their power that way. In other words, you can hardly get stronger very quickly once you reach a certain level.

    But in their eyes, Asirante was still soaring without any hindrance as if he had yet to reach the top.

    This meant that he could still grow stronger at a rapid pace in the future.

    When they were given such a briefing about Asirante, both Chairman Yon and his right hand man Sungyop didn¡¯t show any particr reaction because they already witnessed his extraordinary activities while moving with him in the recent event.

    Chairman Yon quietly said to Sungyop, ¡°It¡¯s a myth grade item, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    Chairman Yon groaned, stroking his chin, when Sungyop confirmed it confidently.

    As the Mirae Guild¡¯s chairman, Yon was well aware of the value of a myth-grade item.

    Moreover, he confirmed its incredible power when he witnessed Asirante¡¯s attack closeby.

    Although Asirante was a wizard, his physical attack power was iparably strong.

    Anyway, Chairman Yon continued, lowering his hand after stroking his chin.

    ¡°Let¡¯s organize three herding teams and support Asirante in the Giant¡¯s Grave.¡±

    Chairman Yon originally thought of organizing a couple of herding teams for Asirante, but he decided that at least three teams would be needed given Asirante¡¯s capabilities.

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    After Sungyop responded to the chairman¡¯s order, the small meeting at the Mirae Guild headquarters ended.

    Of course, they thought that three teams would be enough, but they didn¡¯t realize that they were still underestimating Arsirante¡¯s capabilities a lot.

    At the Teleport Zone of Olbini Castle.

    ¡°Move to the Giant¡¯s Grave.¡±

    [You have moved to the Giant¡¯s Grave.]

    It was only after I moved from Kotum Castle to Rodon Castle, then Olbini Castle from there that I could step into the Giant¡¯s Grave, my final destination.

    When I arrived there, a couple of people who I knew very well were waiting for me.

    They were Chairman Yon and his right hand man Sungyop Yu.

    ¡°Wee, Asirante!¡¯

    ¡°Nice to see you again.¡±

    I could confirm Chairman¡¯s Yon¡¯s trust in Sungyop during the previous event.

    He was like Director Insu Sok of the Myongjin Group to my father.

    So, I could easily infer how well the Mirae Guild was treating me when I saw him waiting for me with the chairman.

    From the way they greeted me, they had obviously finished organizing the herding teams for me.

    After exchanging greetings with them briefly, I moved further inside the hunting ground.

    There, I met exactly 36 men of the three herding teams.

    Sungyop said, pointing at them, ¡°A total of three herding teams with 12 members per team will herd the monsters for you, Asirante.¡±

    Although I wanted at least four teams, I didn¡¯t express my feelings because I didn¡¯t want to look arrogant despite my confidence.

    Of course, Chairman Yon might decide to dispatch one more team if I could hunt easily with the three herding teams. Anyway, I met the three teams, but they were not in a weing mood. More precisely, they were a bit hostile to me.

 Chapter 198 - A Touch of Hands

    <h4>Chapter 198: A Touch of Hands</h4>

    Of course, I fully understood their feelings.

    They were totally different from the herding teams Daeyu dispatched for me.

    In other words, unlike the Daeyu herding team, these guys were the elites who received the full support of the Mirae Guild.

    Herding level 1200 monsters meant that they were capable enough to deal with such monsters. Given their level, they would be ranked at least within the top 5%, or even top 3% of the highest level yers in Korea.

    But I didn¡¯t care about their hostile reaction at all because I only needed to care about my own gains.

    In no time I headed straight into the Giant¡¯s Grave, and the three herding teams dispersed in the direction of 12 o¡¯clock, 3 o¡¯clock, and 9 o¡¯clock respectively.

    ¡®Hmm.¡¯

    Watching them dispersing, I momentarily thought about changing Ice Wave registered in the functional skill ring to Ice Storm.

    But I shook my head because when I reached level 800, I would have the opportunity to learn new skills, which I then could register in the functional skill ring.

    Soon I received a message from Team No. 1, so I moved to the site in the 12 o¡¯clock direction.

    Thud! Thud! Thud!

    The monsters there were four meters tall, and they were stout and heavy.

    I now knew why they were called giant monsters. And there were more than 40 giant monsters grouped together.

    Of course, the monsters weren¡¯t the only ones present.

    Team No. 1 herding team members were also waiting for me, wondering if I really could hunt these giant monsters.

    ¡°Hunt them quickly!¡±

    ¡°Damn it! You think it¡¯s easy to herd them? They are notmon monsters but giant ones!¡±

    It was not easy for the herding team to herd together more than 40 giant monsters.

    In fact, six men of the squad moved tirelessly to aggro and avoid the giant monsters, and the other members of the team used heals and buffs on cooldown.

    But even taking all that into ount, their reaction was quite harsh.

    Director Sungyop Yu, who has been assisting me close by, frowned at their actions. He was about to step forward, but I stopped him. Sungyop looked at me curiously.

    I said with a smile, ¡°I¡¯m fine. Who would enjoy herding monsters like this when they were forced to do so?¡±

    Did I say that because I was considerate of them? No way.

    I knew that showing them my skills was the fastest way to convince them.

    Moreover, I wanted to make a good first impression because they would herd the giant monsters for me for one month.

    ¡°Blink!¡±

    So I appeared in the middle of the 40 giant monsters using Blink.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasak!

    These were my skills that signaled the start of the battle.

    I heard the same thing when I ran crazy on myst day in Japan.

    ¡®When the icend unfolds, run away and don¡¯t look back.¡¯

    In fact, even when their guild headquarters were being torn apart, lots of them were busy running away.

    But these monsters immediately charged at me, ignoring the herding team on their outskirts. From a distance, these giant monsters appeared slow, but they were surprisingly quick when I was in their midst.

    ¡°Pouring Hail! Ice Rain!¡±

    Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    I immediately used my skills.

    Of course, they were definitely level 1200 giant monsters.

    Actually, this was my first time encountering monsters above level 1000, let alone level 1200 monsters. Moreover, they were notorious for having very high health.

    They withstood Pouring Hail and Ice Rain boosted by Ice Field reinforced by Multiple Thin Ice, and charged at me.

    At that moment, I dearly missed level 7 Ice Storm because it was more powerful than level 6 Pouring Hail or level 5 Ice Rain. However, I soon stopped thinking about it because if I reached level 800 and acquired a new level 7 skill, I nned to apply it to the functional skill ring.

    ¡°Ice Wave!¡±

    Puck!

    ¡°Kuheeeeeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Kukkkkkkkkkkk!¡±

    A sharp wave of ice hit the giant monsters in front of me. Ice Wave, which became level 8 thanks to the functional skill ring, did not disappoint. It defeated five giant monsters charging at me.

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    ¡®Hmm. It really was a good decision to choose stamina as the stat that would grow 100% alongside intellect.¡¯

    I didn¡¯t use Ice Shield or dodge or even use Blink because my stamina increased by 700 thanks to the 700 remaining stat points I invested in Intellect that I gained from the previous quest. So, my stamina now exceeded 22,000.

    Of course, I lost more health while hunting these giant monsterspared to previous monsters but it wasn¡¯t a big deal.

    Puck! Puck!

    Instead, I stabbed their thighs with the +4 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword ruthlessly. Of course, with my other hand, I used Ice Spear and Multiple Ice Arrows.

    Besides, I also used Ice Prison at those giant monsters a little further away from me and linked it with Ice st.

    At that moment, I thought that this hunting was much more fun than I thought.

    Until now, all the monsters I hunted fell to Pouring Hail and Ice Storm on Ice Field reinforced with Multiple Thin Ice, so I didn¡¯t have to use other skills.

    But this time I had to use every skill I had, which made it much more fun than I thought.

    Anyway, I spent some time hunting the giant monsters.

    Soon there wasn¡¯t a single giant monster left in the ce that had turned into an icend.

    With a satisfied smile, I looked at Director Sungyop Yu and opened my mouth.

    ¡°Let¡¯s move to another herding team. I really felt excited when I hunt them.¡±

    It really thrilled me to hit them with my various skills.

    At that moment a message rang.

    [You have leveled up.]

    For the main part of the one week quest in Japan, aside from the final day, I mainly attacked the users in the hunting grounds so I took the opportunity to hunt monsters as well.

    However, the monsters there did not give me any golden rings or misceneous items, not to mention EXP. They only gave me points.

    So, the level-up message that I was hearing for the first time in a week really delighted me.

    Bang! Thud! Bang! Thud!

    Director Yu was not surprised by Asirante¡¯s fantastic hunting because he already expected it.

    However, the rest of the herding members who had been huntingfortably with the full support of the Mirae Guild could not help but stare at me nkly because they never expected this performance.

    Of course, they heard rumors about Asirante because of his fantastic achievements in the 4th anniversary event or his unprecedented clearing of 80 rounds in Path C of the arena quest. In particr, they repeatedly heard that Asirante led Korea to win 1st ce in the 4th anniversary event by himself.

    Nheless, Asirante¡¯s fame did not feel real to them. Moreover, they didn¡¯t have to think about the gains and losses of having Asirante on their side because they were not executives or leaders of the Mirae Guild. It was just like how politics did not have a profound effect on the lives of normal citizens, so they were not interested in it at all.

    Anyway, Team No. 2 and Team No. 3 showed the same initial reaction as Team No.1, but after confirming my brilliant hunting, they started herding the monsters eagerly.

    They confirmed that Asirante was in apletely different league, and they began to believe his astounding records seriously.

    In the United States of America.

    The Holdridge Group, the Shaipe Group, and the US Government were inevitably surprised and embarrassed by the appearance of an NPC during their expedition to the Hurd McDonald Ind.

    So, the three groups made many amendments to the ns they had established so far, and had onemon factor, namely Asirante.

    They have watched Asirante closely until now, but they haven¡¯t yet approached him.

    Of course, it wasn¡¯t because they were not interested. They were very interested.

    So much so that they were willing to pay a huge amount of money to hire him.

    And they tried to collect every little piece of information about him, no matter how trifling it was.

    But they could not find anything. In other words, Asirantepletely hid his identity. So, they concluded that Asirante was not just an ordinary user, but one belonging to one of the Mirae, Myongjin, Daesung, Kusan or Daeyu Guilds. They believed that the top Korean guilds kept Asirante¡¯s identity under wraps after gathering information about ¡®Revival Legend.¡¯

    At the Holdridge Group¡¯s headquarters in New York, USA.

    ¡°So which guild does he belong to?¡±

    ¡°Obviously, he is not a member of the Daeyu. Daeyu clearlygs behind the other top Korean business groups Mirae, Myongjin, Daesung, and Kusan. Daeyu is too small to have Asirante under theirmand,¡± said Austin, Holdridge¡¯s intelligence chief.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    Everybody in the conference room fell silent at his words.

    Then, one of the top five executives of the Holdridge Group at the head of the table said, ¡°Which group is the biggest in Korea right now?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s the Daesung & Kusan alliance. The next biggest is Mirae, followed by Myongjin. If you measure their power in terms of 1 to 100, it¡¯s safe to say that the Daesung & Kusan alliance is 50, Mirae is 30, Myongjin is 20.¡±

    ¡°What are the movements of the Shaipe Group and the US Government?¡±

    ¡°As far as I know, Shaipe has reached out to the Mirae Guild first. In fact, Mirae was the top leader before Daesung and Kusan joined hands together. And the US Government has allegedly offered to join hands with the Daesung & Kusan alliance under the assumption that they are most likely to have hired Asirante since they have the highest force in Korea.¡±

    ¡°Um.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

 Chapter 199 - The Beginning of Confusion (1)

    <h4>Chapter 199: The Beginning of Confusion (1)</h4>

    Of course, Holdridge also wanted to reach out to the Daesung & Kusan alliance, the Mirae and the Myongjin Guilds. At first they tried to do so. But they met strong rivals, namely the Shaipe Group and the US Government.

    So, they judged that if they reached out to all the other three business groups except Daeyu, they might not join hands with any of them, so they finally decided to focus on only one of them, just like the Shaipe Group and the US Government.

    ¡°Then the only group left now is the Myongjin¡­¡±

    Obviously, Myongjin was also not a bad choice.

    If they look at Myongjin¡¯s position in the top five groups, it¡¯s rated at 20 out of 100.

    However, from Holdridge¡¯s perspective, they felt like they drew the short stick and were left with the weakest of the pack. Aside from Daeyu, Myongjin was the weakest among the three groups of the Daesung and Kusan Alliance, Mirae, and Myongjin.

    Anyway, the meeting continued for some time, and finally, the Holdridge executive concluded that they would also reach out to the Daesung & Kusan alliance. They could not afford to wait any longer when the Shaipe Group and the US Government had already begun to move.

    The top executives of the Holdridge Group thought that Shaipe was very clever because they watched the situation from a distance and finally reached out to Mirae, whose power was rated 30 out of 100.

    Anyway, the three US organizations began to reach out invitingly to Korea .

    ***

    ¡°Pouring Hail! Ice Rain!¡±

    Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    For the past several days, I continued hunting the giant monsters in the Giant¡¯s Grave.

    Of course, I took regr breaks and naps in between.

    Honestly, I could keep hunting relentlessly, but the herding teams were pretty much exhausted.

    Although the initial three herding teams increased to four, they needed to herd the giant monsters endlessly to keep up either my hunting speed.

    At first, there was no issue, but the problem started to show as I continued hunting.

    I had no problem hunting at the current speed, but the four herding teams seemed to have great difficulties in keeping up with me, so they were easily exhausted.

    So, I signaled to Director Sungyop that he needed to add one more herding team, but unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t.

    Of course, I understood his position.

    As a matter of fact, the Mirae Guild was suffering a big loss at the moment because as many as 50 top members, who were within the top 5% of the Mirae Guild, could not do anything because they were herding monsters for me.

    Anyway, thanks to my continued hunting, my EXP and level went up rapidly.

    It was only recently that I achieved exactly level 799.

    So, I was a little worried because although I would learn a new level 7 skill when I reached level 800, it was also going to be myst opportunity to participate in the level 800 regr quest.

    ¡®Hmm. If I hadn¡¯t been to Region 0, I would have challenged the level 800 regr quest at least once¡­¡¯

    I had no choice but to spend 30 days in Region 0 since I was exiled there by Pablo with his trait, ¡®Prating Wall.¡¯ But I didn¡¯t hate the 30 day stay in that area because I received pretty satisfactory rewards.

    Unfortunately, however, the level 800 regr quest took ce during my 30-day absence, so I had to wait another month in order to participate in the new 800 level regr quest.

    But it made no sense for me to stop leveling up for one month just for the level 800 regr quest.

    Of course, I had some regrets because I was certain of taking first ce if I took part in it.

    Anyway, I endlessly hunted the giant monsters herded by the four teams on that day, as usual.

    A few hourster a message rang.

    [You have leveled up.]

    It was a message about my new level, namely level 800.

    And another message rang right after that.

    [You have acquired 3 skill points by achieving level 800.

    -You can now acquire level 7 skills.]

    At the moment, I wanted to stop hunting right here because I wanted to learn one skill I had in mind by all means. Moreover, there were quite a few skills that I could upgrade.

    But I decided to keep hunting.

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    I stabbed a giant monster¡¯s thigh with the 4+ Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword in one hand, and fired Multiple Ice Arrow and Ice Spear with the other hand as if I didn¡¯t care about my level-up.

    I immersed myself in hunting for nearly two more hours.

    I finished hunting at exactly 10 o¡¯clock at night after killing all the giant monsters herded by the four teams.

    ¡°Thanks for your hard work today.¡±

    I expressed gratitude to the four teams.

    At first, we agreed that I would keep hunting until 1 am, but since it was difficult for the herding teams to keep up with my hunting speed, I agreed to their request that I end hunting at 10 pm.

    Normally, I would have hunted by myself until 1 am even after they logged out, but I didn¡¯t today.

    As a matter of fact, I was anxious to do something else.

    ¡°Move to Kotum Castle.¡±

    [You have moved to Kotum Castle.]

    It was not necessary for me toe to Kotoum Castle through Olbini Castle and Rodon Castle because I could acquire skills in the central square of any city. In other words, I could acquire skills even in Olbini Castle.

    However, since Kotum Castle was my base in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Closed Betas, not to mention ¡®Revival Legend¡¯, I naturally felt attracted to it.

    Anyway, I entered Kotum Castle and approached the central square.

    Then a message rang.

    [There are currently ice-type skills avable that you can acquire.]

    [There are currently ice-type skills that you can upgrade.]

    ¡°Search for the Blizzard skill.¡±

    This was the most iconic ice-type skill.

    Of course, simr skills existed, but with lower power,, such as Ice Storm.

    But obviously, Blizzard was far more powerful and covered more area than Ice Storm.

    Moreover, Blizzard could be upgraded from level 7 to the final level 9,pared to Ice Storm which could only upgrade up to level 8 after going through level 4 and level 7.

    [Level 7 Blizzard. (Active, 3 skill points required, 9,700,000 golden rings required.)

    : Creates a powerful blizzard in a certain area.

    : Level 7 and level 9 Blizzard exists.]

    Currently, I have a total of 19 skills, including the limited skill ¡®Savant¡¯.

    I can say confidently that I have more skills than anybody else because I alone earned three skill points after achieving the max level of the 3rd Closed Beta, and I also acquired two skill points and the limited skill ¡®Savant¡¯ thanks to my terrific activities in Region 0.

    However, I had not a single skill that could be upgraded to level 9 among them.

    The skills I currently had could only be upgraded to level 8 at the maximum.

    In addition, it was not known at what level the level 9 skill would be made avable.

    So far, it was possible for me to acquire level 7 skills at level 800 and level 8 skills at level 1000, so following on, it should be possible to get level 9 skills at level 1200, but it was not.

    However, there was no guarantee that it would be avable at level 1300 because there are no reports of someone reaching level 1300 until now.

    That¡¯s why the legendary grade functional skill ring¡¯s effect was closer to myth grade because it could upgrade level 7 Blizzard to level 9.

    ¡°Acquire the Blizzard skill.¡±

    [You have acquired level 7 Blizzard.]

    Of course, I didn¡¯t have any regrets about acquiring it, but I felt a little sad because I had to use up all three skill points I earned by achieving level 800 in order to acquire one skill.

    There were also many skills I could upgrade to level 7.

    [Level 5 Ice Shield. (Level 1, 3, 5, 7)

    Level 5 Ice Field. (Level 2, 5, 7)

    Level 5 Ice Prison. (Level 3, 5, 7)

    Level 4 Ice Storm. (Level 4, 7, 8)]

    Level 7 was the final level that Ice Shield, Ice Field, and Ice Prison could be upgraded to. But since it was the final level, I needed skill points to upgrade them.. Of course, I rarely used Ice Shield, but I decided to retain it because it was really effective when I really needed it.

    So, while checking the skills that could be upgraded to level 7, I thought about Ice Storm.

    ¡®Hmm. In general, when people acquire Blizzard, they often delete Ice Storm or keep it at level 4 instead of upgrading it to level 7 to manage skill cooldown.¡¯

    As a matter of fact, they often deleted Ice Storm because it was an inferior version of Blizzard and there was no point keeping it in a situation where they werecking in skill points.

    Even I felt the skill points that I had earned until now were insufficient, so others would feel theck of skill points all the more. Even if they decided to keep it, they would most likely keep it at level 4 to manage their skill cooldowns.

    But I wanted to keep Ice Storm all the time.

    Of course, I wanted to raise it to level 8 instead of keeping it at level 4.

    Why? Because I can do it.

 Chapter 200 - The Beginning of Confusion (2)

    <h4>Chapter 200: The Beginning of Confusion (2)</h4>

    Anyway, I didn¡¯t really feel the need to upgrade Ice Shield and Ice Prisonfor now, but I wanted to upgrade level 5 Ice Field and level 4 Ice Storm to level 7.

    But I needed skill points for this.

    However, I used up all my skill points to obtain Blizzard, so I could not do anything about it.

    But I had another option. I could delete a skill. And I had one saved for this purpose. It was level 5 Ice Rain.

    Ice Rain required three skill points to obtain, and it could only stay at level 5. On the surface, it was not a very attractive skill, but I felt quite satisfied after using it myself. It was an AOE skill, but since it was level 5, it had a short cooldown, and it was quite powerful for its level, so I could understand why it needed three skill points.

    That¡¯s why I thought it wasn¡¯t bad to keep it, given its short cooldown.

    ¡®Hmm.¡¯

    But I soon made my decision because I couldn¡¯t ponder over it forever. I decided I would keep it for now, but if I felt it was inadequate or needed a change, I would rece it then.

    The next day I went to the Giant¡¯s Grave to hunt, as usual.

    Although my first encounter with the herding team members was not good, I thought we were familiar enough by now, so I briefly exchanged greetings with them and started hunting. ¡°Blink.¡±

    Like usual, I prated into the group of giant monsters herded by the Mirae teams, then used my standard skills Ice Field and Multiple Thin Ice to begin the hunt.

    But after that, I used a new skill for the first time.

    It was none other than level 9 Blizzard, which I newly registered in my functional skill ring after removing Ice Wave from it yesterday.

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Of course, this was not the first time I was seeing a powerful blizzard, but it was my first time seeing one like this in ¡°Revival Legend,¡±. It;s range was far wider than any other AOE skill.

    And the blizzard has powerful wind gusts with stormy elements beyond a normal blizzard.

    Obviously, I received buffs from the icy terrain generated by Ice Field reinforced with Multiple Thin Ice, as well as the +4 Sacred Permanent Snow Spirit essory set, so it was no surprise that my Blizzard annihted all the monsters in the surroundings.

    Of course, just like typical monsters, the giant monsters tried to endure my Blizzard instead of moving outside its range, but it was true that I got rid of all of them with one single stroke.

    And it was not me alone who was watching this magnificent scene.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Team No. 1, whose members were on standby to herd the giant monsters for me again as soon as I was done, were motionless, with their eyes open wide. But I didn¡¯t care about them.

    That¡¯s why I bravely used level 9 Blizzard without any hesitation.

    But I didn¡¯t know that Blizzard would be so powerful.

    But I couldn¡¯t stay satisfied with that because level 9 Blizzard level had a long cooldown that I had never seen before.

    At the Mirae Guild¡¯s headquarters.

    ¡°Obviously, it is Blizzard, but it¡¯s so different from Blizzard I know.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    No one responded to Chairman Yon¡¯s statement.

    Like he said, what Asirante used was definitely Blizzard, but it was clearly different from the Blizzard that they were used to. The difference in power was like night and day, not to mention its size and striking range.

    ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s assume that Asirante, who possesses a myth-ss weapon, also has a functional skill essory treated as a myth grade. But even then, can his Blizzard be that powerful?¡±

    Unfortunately, the Mirae Guild didn¡¯t have functional skill essories.

    So, they could not test it, but in Chairman Yon¡¯s eyes, it still seemed impossible.

    ¡°Whew! This guy is really monstrous!¡± Yon said.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Again, those who participated in the meeting did not refute him because Asirante really looked like a monster in the hunting ground.

    So, those in the conference room remained silent while watching the video reyed through the Memory Beads.

    Three dayster, I still continued to concentrate on hunting because that kind of big day where I acquired new skills was very rare. Besides, there were only 20 days left.

    But on that day, I felt that something unusual happened within the Mirae Guild.

    I did not see Director Yu, who appeared on the hunting ground on and off, all day long.

    The GIant¡¯s Grave was a fairlyrge hunting ground, so they only gave me a certain area to hunt in. In the other areas, the Mirae Guild members were always busy hunting. However, I noticed some of the best hunting spots were empty.

    So, I immediately realized that the Mirae Guild had finally produced a level 1200 yer because the Myongjin Guild had also produced one yesterday.

    In other words, considering Mirae¡¯s reputation, it wasn¡¯t strange at all that they produced such a high level yer now although they started ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ter than Myongjin, Daesung, Kusan, and Daeyu.

    So, while hunting, I messaged Director Sok right away.

    [Insu Sok: Yes, young master.]

    [Lumen: It seems that the Mirae has also produced a level 1200 yer, too. I think I can start.]

    [Insu Sok: Got it.]

    Even before that, the Mirae Guild was friendly to the Myongjin Guild.

    And they have acted far more friendly since the Daesung and the Kusan Guilds joined forces.

    Of course, that did not mean that I benefited a lot from Mirae, but it was true that I received lots of help from them indirectly.

    So I suggested to my father, brother, sister, and Director Sok that we inform Mirae about the level 1200 privilege because its intelligence value would be zero considering that Mirae would soon produce a level 1200 yer.

    So I thought the best time to tell them about it was right now.

    Of course, informing Mirae about the level 1200 privilege at this moment had zero value to them. Nheless, just telling them about it would seem like we were giving them information of huge value. Anyway, I just immersed myself into hunting as if it didn¡¯t concern me.

    That evening Chairman Yon met Myongjin Group¡¯s Chairman Sangman Hong at one of the hotels affiliated with hispany in response to thetter¡¯s request for a meeting.

    Yon hoped deep down that Myongjin would not only join hands with Mirae, but alsoe under Mirae¡¯s wing. Of course, he didn¡¯t have any high expectations for this because there was no reason for Myongjin to do so right now.

    However, since Daesung and Kusan formed an alliance, Chairman Yon felt it was necessary to keep aligned with Myongjin, so he weed Chairman Hong with open hands.

    Then, they cut to the chase. Chairman Hong told him about the level 1200 privilege.

    Although Chairman Yon was smiling at him after hearing about it, he was crying deep down because he already knew about it.

    But he could not express it to Chairman Hong at all, for if he told Hong who gave him such terrific intelligence without anything in return that he already knew about it, he might give the impression that Mirae was keeping secrets from Myongjin.

    Besides, it was doubtful that Hong would believe him if he said that he had onlye to learn of it one day ago

    ¡°Oh my God¡­ this is ridiculous¡­¡± Yon said as if he was hearing this for the first time.

    As a matter of fact, he was in a situation where he had to act in front of Hong.

    Now, it seemed that all of the time and efforts that Mirae invested to recruit Myongjin woulde to waste considering that Myongjin had just ¡°revealed¡± the information about the level 1200 privielge to them. Now it seemed that Mirae was now in debt to Myongjin instead. Chairman Yon was so frustrated that he wanted to cry. He felt it was so unfair and ridiculous.

    However, he was the head of the Mirae Group for a reason. He pretended to be very surprised by Chairman¡¯s Hong¡¯s mention of the level 1200 privilege as if he knew nothing about it.

    While the two chairmen were having a conversation, something unusual was taking ce near the Taj Mahal, India.

 Chapter 201 - The Beginning of Confusion (3)

    <h4>Chapter 201: The Beginning of Confusion (3)</h4>

    The Taj Mahal was crowded with tourists as it was one of the world¡¯s most famous attractions.

    It was usually surrounded by dirty fog and fine dust, but today the weather was clear and its magnificent and beautiful appearance was fully visible after a long time. Hence, it was way more crowded than ever before.

    Then, something began to emerge from one corner of the giant Taj Mahal.

    Flutter- Flutter-

    It was a moth, but it was the size of a human adult, making it too big to be called a simple moth.

    Moreover, its wings were covered with ck powder, and each time the moth pped its wings, the ck power was scattered little by little.

    Then, following the first giant moth, another giant moth began to appear right after it.

    They were the so-called poisonous insects within the Revival Legend.

    ¡°Blizzard!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    The more I saw it, the more I confirmed that the power of level 9 Blizzard was tremendous.

    Of course, it didn¡¯t show such enormous power simply because it was level 9, for even high level skills needed to be backed up by the proper items, Intellect, and sufficiently high magic attack power.

    I had enough skills, intellect as well as magic attack power. The only thing I regretted was the long cooldown.

    Having short cooldowns for ice-type skillspared to others is my pride, but Blizzard¡¯s cooldown was quite long perhaps because it was level 9 and an AOE skill.

    ¡°Wow! He must be crazy.¡±

    ¡°You bet. I never expected anybody to kill that giant monster with a single attack.¡±

    ¡°Hey! What are you talking about? Damn it. How can he use such a formidable force so easily like that?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re stupid. He killed the monsters like that from the beginning.¡±

    ¡°Right. He uses Ice Storm, Ice Rain, and Pouring Hail almost twice as fast as the ice-type wizards I know. Maybe even three times faster.¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about? Do you still think of Asirante as an ordinary user?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°From the moment Asirante killed all the giant monsters herded by our teams here in the Giant¡¯s Grave, he could no longer be ssified as an ordinary user. He is broken. So don¡¯t think of it too seriously. Just ept it.¡±

    All the members of the herding team were makingments about me.

    Certainly, one of the things that underpinned my strength were short cooldowns because a fast cooldown means you can attack two to three times for every time your opponent attacks once, resulting in huge damage.

    ¡®Hmm, I guess so¡­¡¯

    Certainly, in their eyes, I was attacking the giant monsters pretty fast.

    As a matter of fact, thebination of the Iceman trait, the cooldown reductions passive skill, the +4 Enhancement Ice Emperor guardian sword as well a whopping 13,000 willpower was something that other could not even imagine

    Moreover, they know how fraudulent it is to have skills with zero cooldown.

    But I had Blink with zero cooldown.

    There was a reason why I used the recently acquired Blizzard or the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword without hiding anything. It was because I was hiding 30% of my total power even then since I was keeping Blink with zero cooldown under wraps.

    Anyway, as usual, I visited Team No. 1, Team No. 2, Team No. 3 and Team No. 4 in turn for herd hunting, and I saw them all whispering among each other for some reason.

    Exactly at that moment, I received a message from my sister.

    [Super Beauty: Juyoung?]

    [Lumen: Why?]

    Her urgency made me think that something very unusual happened, something very big, since it matched the urgent whispering of the Mirae Guild members behind me. I had a strong intuition that they shared the same reason.

    And I could not help but be surprised by what she said next.

    Even though I knew that the 4th virtual reality would affect reality someday, the actual appearance of monsters in the real world was not something to make light of.

    [Super Beauty: Monster! Monsters appeared in reality. They appeared in the Taj Mahal, India! The Inte is going crazy over it right now!]

    [Lumen: ¡­.]

    At that moment I felt dizzy. Honestly, it may be a disaster for humanity, but I felt a bit weing about it deep down. I thought that it would be nice if the 4th virtual reality woulde true as soon as possible because I could say confidently that no human being was more fully prepared for that disaster than me.

    Basically, I was so strong, and I had more than 100,000 coins, the only means to trante my strength into reality.

    In other words, I was like a hero prepared for these turbulent times.

    Of course, I had no intention of bing a hero to save mankind.

    If I had had such an idea, I would have made an effort to inform the world about my idea in advance. However, I tried hard to strengthen myself only,forting myself with the thought that no matter how hard I tried, people would not recognize my efforts and my useless interference might put my family in danger.

    Anyway, monsters appeared in reality as if to satisfy my petty desire to have people look up to me and envy me, but even then, I could not find the right response to my sister¡¯s shocking remarks.

    In the meantime, my sister kept sending me messages one after the other.

    [Super Beauty: It¡¯s a hot issue on the inte right now. So, pack all your stuff ande back today. We don¡¯t know when monsters will appear in Korea!]

    [Lumen: All right.]

    In the past, I lived outside because I didn¡¯t want to invite others¡¯ suspicions.

    In particr, my dad agreed with my idea that I would y a dual role under the name Asirante. However, it would certainly draw more suspicion from others if I continued to live outside, in a situation where monsters actually appeared in the real world, so I didn¡¯t balk at my sister¡¯s order.

    And the real reason why I chose to live outside my main house was because I felt inferior to my brother and sister, but I no longer felt the same way anymore.

    Anyway, I logged out first because the Mirae Guild¡¯s herding teams were not in the mood to herd either.

    There was no television in my one-room studio.

    However, even without a TV, it was very easy for me to ess the videos of the incident because I have aputer and a cell phone.

    So, I immediately essed the Inte and confirmed that the top ten popr words in the search rankings were Taj Mahal, India Taj Mahal, monsters, monsters, poisonous moths, etc.

    And when I searched Taj Mahal, the first link was a Youtube clip with the relevant video.

    ¡°Aaaaaah!¡±

    ¡°Damn it. What the hell are these guys!¡±

    ¡°Cough! Cough! I can¡¯t breathe!¡±

    ¡°Oh my!¡±

    ¡°Damn it! Get out of here!¡±

    The scene of the ce in the video was literally hell. And it was much more terrible in reality.

    In particr, whenever the poison moth, belonging to the poisonous insect category, pped its wings, it released ck powder. As soon as people nearby inhaled the ck powder, they grabbed their throats with both hands and fell down, screaming in pain.

    As if it was so painful, they were rolling on the ground, iling.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I never thought this kind of situation would happen in the real world because in ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ they could expect only a drop in their health, not extreme pain as seen in the video.

    Moreover, as long as they had a certain degree of defenses with stamina, willpower, skills or items, they wouldn¡¯t suffer a lot of damage.

    Anyway, the video ended, showing a much more terrible scene than I thought.

    I checked a few more videos, but they were more or less the same.

    Of course, the damage was not caused solely by the poison moths.

    People there were desperately struggling to escape the Taj Mahal first. And the resulting stampede was also a cause for the high fatalities.

    That evening at my one-room studio.

    Honestly, I have been living in this ce for nearly four years, but I had barely any possession.

    So, I took only the 3rd generation VR device and got in the car.

    Soon I arrived at my house in Cheongdam-dong.

    Just like the other top business groups, Myongjin also had a subsidiarypany in charge of its security. And security personnel were already on guard outside the walls of my main house.

    When I passed by them and entered the house, my father, mother, brother, sister, and Director Sok were waiting for me in the living room with a serious expression.

    I naturally moved to my mother¡¯s side and sat down. She grabbed my hand tightly.

    ¡°Good. Wee back home, son,¡± said my dad, sitting at the head seat.

    So I greeted him with a brief nod.

 Chapter 202 - The Beginning of Confusion (4)

    <h4>Chapter 202: The Beginning of Confusion (4)</h4>

    When I passed by them and entered the house, my father, mother, elder brother, elder sister, and Director Sok were waiting for me in the living room with a serious expression.

    I naturally moved to my mother¡¯s side and sat down. She grabbed my hand tightly.

    ¡°Good. Wee back home, son,¡± said my dad, sitting at the head seat.

    So I greeted him with a brief nod.

    My father paused for a moment, then said to me, ¡°Your brother and I have a lot of things to do, so Juyoung, go to Gangwon-do tomorrow with your mother and sister. Chief of staff Dongyoung Ahn will apany you, along with some other people. It is absurd to ask for the loyalty of the Myongjin members without guaranteeing the safety of their family members.¡±

    In fact, he could have asked my elder brother, sister or Director Sok, or other reliable people within the Myongjin Group.

    But my father singled me out for this mission. Besides, he said he would dispatch the chief of staff, who, like Director Sok, was also a close trusted aid of his.

    When he announced it, not only my brother and sister but also Director Sok didn¡¯t raise any objection. In other words, they also trusted me.

    ¡°Yeah, Dad.¡±

    To my surprise, I responded calmly.

    Then he continued, ¡°You don¡¯t have to do it perfectly because you have something more important and urgent.¡±

    Obviously, I know what my father was referring to. I needed to reach level 1200 as soon as possible.

    And I wasn¡¯t particrly upset at my Dad¡¯s reminder because I had to do it, and I wanted to do it, too.

    Anyway, on that day, we moved to the basement study and continued the meeting untilte at night.

    I woke up a little early at 5 am the next day.

    There was nothing unusual in Korea at the moment.

    The TV broadcast was normal, and there was not a hugemotion on the inte either. Of course, there were news reports about what happened in Taj Mahal, India yesterday, for the incident was too big to hide, but the relevant news reports were very brief.

    The United Nations including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Korea, China, Japan, and other countries belonging to the G20 said they were cooperating with each other to conduct an investigation and announce the results as soon as possible.

    The news reports kept repeating that people should remain calm and go about their daily lives, as usual.

    Along with that, all the videos posted on the inte including those on Youtube, began to be deleted not only in Korea but also around the world.

    Anyway, I drank a ss of water, put on the 3rd generation VR device andid down in bed again.

    ¡°ess!.¡±

    [You have essed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.]

    Did I ess it to hunt as early as 5am? Of course, hunting was important.

    It became more important because monsters were even appearing in reality.

    But I had something more important to do today.

    ¡°Move to Kotum Castle!¡±

    [You have moved to Kotum Castle.]

    After moving to Kotum Castle, I went straight to the forge.

    ¡°Check status window.¡±

    And in front of the forge, I opened my status window with a low voice.

    [Name: Lumen, Asirante

    Level: 817

    Number of kills: 1285, Number of deaths: 0

    Title: Only Closed Beta Max Level Achiever and 8 others.

    Health: 3,612,000 / 3,612,000

    Mana: 2,426,000 / 2,426,000

    Strength: 4850 Agility: 3950 Health: 22750

    Willpower: 13465 Intellect: 27107

    Remaining Stat Points: 0

    Remaining Skill Points: 0

    Traits: IceMan, Mutual Growth, God of Enhancement.]

    In addition to the 700 remaining stat points I obtained from my activities in Japan, I acquired a total of more than 1000 remaining stat points thanks to increasing 37 levels recently, and I invested all of them in Intellect.

    As a result, my intellect exceeded 27,000, and my stamina and willpower were also huge.

    However, that was not important to me right now. Instead, I paid attention to the God of Enhancement.

    At that moment, a message rang.

    [The cooldown of the God of Enhancement has 1 minute and 15 seconds left.]

    Originally, God of Enhancement went on a 34 day cooldown after I enhanced the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword from +3 to +4.

    And the cooldown was supposed to end today.

    So, I waited patiently.

    Then, exactly 1 minute and 15 secondster, I moved inside the auction house and put the + 4 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword in the enhancement window right away.

    I then opened my mouth quietly.

    ¡®Activate the God of Enhancement.¡¯

    [You have activated the God of Enhancement..

    -100% chance to sessfully enhance.

    -Enhancement Target: +4 Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword.

    -Additional requirements: 11,750,000 golden rings, 149.5 million EXP.

    -Cooldown generated upon sessful enhancement: 71 days]

    Aside from the required golden rings and EXP, the whopping 71 days of cooldown bothered me.

    Of course, considering that it was a myth-grade item and it was going to be enhanced to +5 enhancement, the cooldown could not be called too long. But I had no choice to feel regrets about it, because even without the God of Enhancement, I could still enhance the guardian sword immediately using the one100% enhancement sess ticket and 2 ancient cooldown removal charms in my inventory.

    Anyway, I tried enhancing it immediately, and the visual effect of a hammer striking the +4 enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword appeared before my eyes.

    Soon a message rang.

    [You have seeded in enhancing +4 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    The +4 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword has now been upgraded to +5 Enhancement.]

    ¡®Check item, Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.¡¯

    Generally speaking, as the enhancement value increases, more benefits would be provided for each sessive enhancement. For example, +3 to +4 enhancement would provide more options than +2 to +3 enhancement, which would provide more options than +1 to +2 enhancement. And this time, it was a whopping +5 enhancement, and of a myth grade item at that.

    ¡°Whew!¡±

    I let out a sigh of relief before I knew it.

    Yesterday¡¯s scene was so shocking to me. So, I feltpelled to get stronger faster not only for my safety but also my family¡¯s safety.

    In that respect, I thought the +5 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword would be a great addition to my power.

    After I was done enhancing the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword, I exited the forge right away.

    And only then I could see the surroundings and feel some difference from before.

    As usual, there were many people making a big fuss here and there.

    Kotum Castle was synonymous with a city of beginners.

    Of course, there were quite a few people there originally, for ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ was a really popr game even aside from its hidden secrets.

    And it was also the easiest game that would allow the users to exchange golden rings or items for cash. But even taking that into ount, there were a lot of people here.

    I could overhear them chattering while passing by.

    ¡°Is it really the same monster that appeared in this game?¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    ¡°No way! Don¡¯t talk nonsense!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s real. Moreover, after that happened yesterday, the price of golden rings suddenly doubled. And you know my friend Brian?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. The guy in America, right?¡±

    ¡°In the United States, the price of golden rings increased by 2.5 times. But even then, it¡¯s hard to acquire golden rings. Why do you think so?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°So, start this ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ right now. What¡¯s more, you said you have four 3G VR devices, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Never sell them. Keep them. They might save your life.¡±

    Certainly what happened yesterday seemed to have been a catalyst.

    That was natural because nobody knew if more powerful monsters would appear even today, or if they would appear in big cities like Seoul, New York, Beijing, and Tokyo at that.

    So, I quickly moved to the auction house because I needed to prepare armor to apany the myth-grade forgotten hero¡¯s cloak.

    And, of course, I had no intention of selling the robe I was currently wearing.

    I bought it for a total of over 300 million golden rings, and my current set of robes might be better than the forgotten hero¡¯s cloak while hunting.

    Anyway, I had a lot of work to do, so I moved quickly.

 Chapter 203 - Collapsing Wall (1)

    <h4>Chapter 203: Copsing Wall (1)</h4>

    Kosung County, Kangwon Province, South Korea.

    It was nothing like the refugee processions in movies or TV soap operas. Several buses steadily moved in and out of the shelter, and they unloaded the families of the essential staff of the Myongjin Group.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t have to take the initiative to do something in this situation.

    A detailed n and staff required was already prepared to escort the families in an orderly manner.

    In my case, I was dressed up in a neat suit and greeted them on behalf of my father.

    Of course, not all of them came here because some of the family members werepany employees, public servants or elementary, middle and high school as well as college students.

    In other words, Myeong-jin couldn¡¯t make a big fuss by evacuating them because society was still functioning normally for now.

    So, this time¡¯s evacuation was nned under the name of a ¡°family night¡± event.

    Anyway, while weing the Myongjin familiesing from all over the country, I toured the ¡°Myongjin Shelter¡± with Chief Secretary Dongyoung Ahn.

    ¡°This ce has changed a lotpared to myst visit.¡±

    When I said that, President Gilsan Lee, the current head of the Myongjin Shelter, opened his mouth.

    ¡°Yeah. When our chairman and you stopped byst time, we were busy putting finishing touches on this underground facility.¡±

    Certainly, when I first came here, the building above the ground was not very impressive. But now, there wererge buildings on the ground, and threerge buildings at that.

    As if he noticed my gaze, President Lee said. ¡°We didn¡¯t put everything in one ce just in case. Moreover, each of those three buildings has an independent system, so even if one ce is paralyzed, the other two buildings can take over its purpose and the residents of the damaged building can move over. Of course, there are passages underground and above ground, so it¡¯s easy to get in and out of the shelter.¡±

    President Lee also said that he was nning to create a park, a zoo, and an amusement facilitymon to the three buildings to reassure the residents and allow them to enjoy their stay in the shelter.

    ¡°Are there any people stationed there?¡±

    I noticed quite a few small buildings that I had not seen before.

    As if protecting the three main buildings, the small buildings surrounded them at appropriate intervals. They looked like a barrier erected to prevent the enemy¡¯s assault. Of course, it was not a wall that divided the inside and the outside areas like a castle wall. There were just 20 straight or curved buildings at reasonable intervals. But it seemed that they would provide a strong defense if someone attacked.

    President Lee replied to my question right away.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s correct. At first, we nned to create a perfect wall to divide the inside and outside, but we were pressed for time and other conglomerates including Mirae were busy preparing their own shelters, so we could not obtain the necessary building materials on time. So, we constructed several sturdy buildings which required less material. However, up to 500-700 people can reside in each building, and if we can defend those 20 buildings perfectly, we can secure a safe area where more than 100,000 can livefortably.¡±

    I visited this ce once in advance, but honestly, I didn¡¯t pay much attention because I was preupied with leveling up at that time.

    However, the shelter caught my eye this time because it was very systematic and perfect.

    Anyway, I wrapped up the day by going around the shelters here and there with Chief Secretary Ahn and President Gil-young Lee.

    That evening I did not move back to my main house in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul because there was a dwelling for my family in the 1st Building, the safest building among the three buildings. Besides, my father told me to stay here and take care of my mom and my sister for the time being. So, I unpacked our belongings with my mother and sister in the dwelling.

    After that, I immediately essed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    Obviously, it was important for me to publicize myself as Myongjin¡¯s representative externally, but it was more important for me to ess ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ and achieve level 1200. Honestly, I did not care about the Myongjin Group that much.

    Obviously, I was stupid and felt inferior toward my brother and sister, but I was not greey enough to knock down my brother and sister and rece them just like what happened in movies, TV dramas, and novels. Honestly, I wasn¡¯t even bold enough to do so.

    Instead, I started looking for a breakthrough out of reality, and that was the game.

    It was an MMORPG-type game that unconditionally rewarded me for my achievements in the form of EXP, misceneous items or money, no matter how trifling and insignificant they were.

    Anyway, even if the world turned upside down tomorrow, I had to ess Revival Legend right now, and so I did. And I moved to the Giant¡¯s Grave right away.

    ¡°Sorry, Asirante.¡±

    I could easily figure out why Director Yu apologized to me now.

    Just like Myongjin, the Mirae Group must have also been greatly shocked by what happened in Taj Mahal, India, and they must be pretty busy because they also learned about the level 1200 privilege, namely reality actualization. Obviously, they must be busy trying to find out who among their yers was close to level 1200 or who could reach that level. And those who herded the giant monsters for me in the Giant¡¯s Grave here would be most likely included in the list.

    That¡¯s why Director Yu said he was sorry because he wanted to inform me they could not support me any longer.

    However, that was not all he had to say.

    ¡°Chairman Yon said that you would understand his position. And he also asked me to convey his personal feelings, namely, ¡®I really envy Myongjin.¡¯ That¡¯s what he said.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Of course, I didn¡¯t like their abrupt decision not to support me anymore, but I fully understood their decision. However, I could not understand why he said he envied Myongjin. As a matter of fact, I was curious about how he noticed I was affiliated with Myongjin because my double role until now was perfect.

    As if to satisfy my curiosity, Director Yu opened his mouth.

    ¡°At first we really could not believe it because the Pioneers¡¯ City was so small and remote. So much so that it was little known to outsiders. So, we didn¡¯t know that the name of the city was changed to Asirante until recently.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    As a matter of fact, nobody knew about it, including the Daeyu Guild, whose Chairman Daeyoung Suh I approached first to deceive him.

    But Director Yu caught me off guard by revealing something shocking.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t those who are currently in control of that ce Myongjin¡¯s 3rd and 4th League members¡±

    Myongjin¡¯s 3rd and 4th League members were epted into the city so I couldplete the quest.

    At that moment I thought of making an excuse and totally denying it.

    However, I could not deny it because the circumstantial evidence he gave me was too obvious.

    It would be really shameful if I continued to deny it.

    So I kept silent, but he kept talking as if he had a lot to say.

    ¡°We really did our best to identify who Asirante was. We checked out all the major yers of the Myongjin Guild, and cross-checked their names regardless of whether they were male or female. But ourdy singled out one person consistently from the beginning. She named Juyoung Hong, the youngest son of Myongjin¡¯s Chairman Sangman Hong.¡±

    The person that Yu referred to as ¡®ourdy¡¯ could only be Bora Yon.

    He continued, ¡°But everyone knows that Juyoung was already using ID Lumen. So we messaged him to test whether we would get a response from your ID Asirante. But we got a response from the ID Lumen. In other words . But we received a message back from Lumen, so we found out that Lumen and Asirante were different people.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s interesting.¡±

    Do I confirm it or not?

 Chapter 204 - Collapsing Wall (2)

    <h4>Chapter 204: Copsing Wall (2)</h4>

    I was startled by Sungyop suddenly bringing up this topic, but I thought that I didn¡¯t have to confirm what he said even if the circumstantial evidence was very clear.

    Besides, he said that they were done confirming that the two IDs Lumen and Asirante were separate.

    I was confident that they would never be able to find out that I possessed two IDs.

    Anyway, I was feeling relieved at that moment when he again opened his mouth.

    ¡°However, we have recently found out that another powerful individual has ess to two IDs.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    I didn¡¯t say anything, nor did he ask me to respond

    ¡°Of course, I am not pressing you for a definite answer. We also reached out to the US¡¯s Shaipe Group for information on you,, but they didn¡¯t reply back. Of course, we have no intention of revealing what we know to any organization including the Shaipe Group. . We want you to know that Mirae is always willing to ept any offer from Myongjin, not to mention Asirante. If you want to join hands with us, we¡¯ll be there for you anytime. That¡¯s what Chairman Yon has asked me to tell you.¡±

    ¡°Well, thanks for telling me that interesting story,¡± I replied as casually as possible.

    Having said that, he left the ce, adding that I could hunt anytime here in the Giant¡¯s Grave and that it would always be open to me.

    Two hourster I was in the thick of hunting.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasasak!

    ¡°Blizzard!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Of course, the Giant¡¯s Grave was still an attractive hunting ground.

    However, the absence of the four monster herding teams was quite painful.

    The sabre steel tooth tigers which I herded by myself in my previous hunting ground were very quick. They were also smallpared to these giant monsters, so I could herd about 100 monsters within a short time.

    These giant monsters were big and slowpared to the sabre steel tooth tigers, so it took quite a while for me to herd about 40 in one ce before hunting.

    That¡¯s why I acutely felt theck of the herding teams in this hunting ground.

    Of course, Myongjin also had hunting grounds like this, but I chose the Daeyu or Mirae hunting grounds to allow the Myongjin yers close to level 1200 achieve it as soon as possible

    ¡°Yeah, anyway, it will be very hard for me to get the support from the herding teams in the future.¡±

    This hunting ground required around level 1200 to hunt in, so not just anybody could be a member of the herding teams. They needed to literally be the ace members of each guild.

    However, if the hunting ground required higher level yers for herding, it would be impossible for me to get the support of herding teams at all.

    In other words, in the near future it would be impossible to herd monsters even in the type of hunting ground where it was possible to herd monsters, so it would be inevitable for me to hunt alone without the support of herding teams some day. But it seemed that the time came a little too quick. Anyway, I continued hunting while thinking so.

    [You have leveled up.]

    Although the message rangter than before, it was still encouraging, so I continued to hunt .

    A weekter, the shocking incident in India¡¯s Taj Mahal which caused a big fuss as if the world was about to end, quietly disappeared from newspapers and the inte.

    However, there was something that saw a dramatic change, namely ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    First of all, its users increased enormously. So much so that their growth could be described as explosive.

    Of course, I could understand why there was such a rapid increase in its users, for there were rumors circting that the incident in Taj Mahal, India, had something to do with ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    If the incident had happened in the past, such a story would have disappeared instantly by the powers of the United States and other countries, but this time, it seemed that they could not control it perhaps because of the solid evidence and the multiple witnesses. Of course, there were still lots of people who didn¡¯t believe such a story.

    Anyway, a message rang while I was busy hunting in the crowded ¡°Revival Legend.¡±

    The message rang not only for me but also all the users in Region 53, Korea.

    [Thank you for enjoying ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    Now ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ moves on to its next chapter, which will lift some of the walls blocking different regions.

    -Regions that will be affected: Region 47, Region 52, Region 53.

    -From now on, you can move between Region 47, Region 52 and Region 53.]

    ¡°...¡±

    As far as I knew, Region 47 was Mongolia. Region 52 was Japan, while Region 53 was Korea.

    Although I confirmed itter, it was not only Korea, Mongolia, and Japan that were connected by the walls between them disappearing.

    The message only rang for the users in those regions where they belonged to. As a matter of fact, I found out that the walls of not only the United States and its neighbor Canada, but also those of China, Vietnam and India were lifted.

    In general, two or three walls have been lifted for each country.

    So, I realized that the changes within the game were also beginning to take ce in line with the change in reality.

    At that time in Japan.

    Chairman Ryu Sechi of the Mitsuya Guild that dominated all the guilds in Japan, also confirmed the message that the walls blocking Japan, Mongolia, and Korea were about to disappear.

    That meant that the Mitsuya Guild could move into another region.

    So, Chairman Ryu Sechi immediately called an executive meeting.

    When the meeting was convened ten minutester, he mentioned a certain thing.

    The invasion by the Mirae Guld some time ago?

    Of course, Chairman Ryu Sechi didn¡¯t forget it and he wanted to take revenge.

    But there was something more important to him right now.

    It was the ¡®Stone Squirrel¡¯s Undigested Mineral Mass¡¯ that he tried to collect by using Soktae Kang of the Gahwa Guild.

    After confirming the use of the stone squirrel¡¯s undigested mineral masses, he was full of anger and regrets that there was no hunting ground where stone squirrels appeared within Japan¡¯s ¡°Revival Legend¡±, for the mineral masses could turn into coins after being processed.

    So far, he had the impression that the coins could be obtained only through quests.

    Especially when the Mitsuya Guild produced a level 1200 user, the chairman racked his brains about how to collect more coins day and night. When he could not collect any more coins, he wanted golden rings with which he could exchange for coins.

    Anyway, Chairman Ryu Sechi decided that he had to take control of that ce with stone squirrels again because the wall blocking off Korea from Japanwas lifted now. This time he wanted to dispatch his yers directly instead of using the proxy called the Gahwa Guild.

    So, he first asked, ¡°Who is in control of that area right now?¡±

    Of course, Chairman Ryu Sechi already knew who took it over because he had been briefed about the incident back then.

    Nevertheless, he asked the question again with a strong determination to take it back.

    Even if Myongjin, the current upant of that ce, was one of Korea¡¯s top five guilds, he had no intention of yielding it to them.

    That evening we had a meeting in the safe house of the Myongjin Guild located inside Rodon Castle because we were quite a distance away from our main house in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul, and our conversation within the safe house was much more secure than an inte conversation or a video call in the real world.

    It was a big event that the walls among Korea, Japan, and Mongolia were lifted so that users could go between each country freely, but it was equally a big incident that the Mirae Guild was confident that I, Juyoung Hong, was behind the ID Asirante.

    ¡°Um¡­ the Mirae guys are really smart.¡±

    Like my father said, the Mirae Group was unique among Korea¡¯s top five business groups, given that other business groups were afraid of expanding into other sectors where other businesses dominated.

    Come to think of it, I thought that they must have been aware for a long time that I, Juyoung Hong, was behind the name Asirante.

    Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t have chosen a site in Kangwon Province among many other ces and built their own shelter right next to the Myongjin Shelter.

    Mirae¡¯s construction of a shelter in Kangwon Province made it possible for the Daesung and Kusan alliance to build their shelter in Jeju Ind, which was the supposed best ce to build a shelter.

    Anyway, Mirae¡¯s intelligence about me was an important issue, so we talked about the matter for nearly an hour. But we could note up with any good solution.

    Honestly, it was impossible to have any solution from the beginning.

 Chapter 205 - New Hunting Ground Bonanza (1)

    <h4>Chapter 205: New Hunting Ground Bonanza (1)</h4>

    Obviously, even if I deny that I¡¯m Asirante, I¡¯m going to move along with Myongjin someday and reveal my identity to everybody.

    And when that happens, my vehement denial will make me look very shallow.

    Therefore, we discussed the issue of whether to join hands with the Mirae Guild, taking into ount Chairman Yon¡¯s request that Director Yu conveyed to me.

    ¡°For now, it is just Mongolia and Japan, but someday all the walls will be lifted and all the regions will be connected. If that happens, we will face fiercepetition with numerous strong yers, not to mention direct confrontations between countries. Given that, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s bad to join hands with the Mirae.¡±

    My brother has been neutral on this issue until now. This time, however, he suggested allying with Mirae.

    As if he had more to say, he moistened his throat once, then continued.

    ¡°The reason I hesitated about allying with Mirae previously was because we might end up being controlled by them. But now I am confident that Myongjin can take the lead in this alliance because of my younger brother Juyong. So I think it is not necessary for us to reject Mirae¡¯s alliance offer.¡±

    ¡°I feel the same way,¡± said Director Sok, nodding, as soon as my brother finished talking.

    My sister also agreed.

    ¡°Me too! And I think Mirae is the only choice for us because Japan is controlled by the Mitsuya Guild, so we can¡¯t find any partner there. And the strongest guild in Mongolia is even worse than the Daeyu Guild. So, if we don¡¯t join hands with Mirae now, we might end up being the odd man out when all the walls blocking the countries around the world are eventually lifted. Of course, I feel confident because of Juyoung, but I don¡¯t think it is bad for Myongjin to grow stronger by joining hands with Mirae.¡±

    Since my brother, Director Sok and even my sister wanted to ally with Mirae, everybody including my father turned their eyes to me because I was the one who received the offer from Chairman Yon.

    ¡°Well, I think¡­ ¡±

    Of course, I thought a lot about his offer, too.

    And I concluded that we would not lose by joining hands with Mirae.

    Moreover, joining hands with Mirae right now didn¡¯t mean that we would be united as one group, or help each other fully from the beginning.

    Actually, it would be impossible for both business groups to establish such a rtionship because their ultimate interests were different.

    But everyone here agreed that it¡¯s more beneficial to align with Mirae instead of standing alone.

    Anyway, we made the decision to join hands with Mirae, and my father said he would move forward under the name of Myongjin to cement the alliance, for even if Mirae suspected my identity, I had no reason to confirm it.

    Of course, our meeting didn¡¯t end after that because we had not yet discussed what we would do next since the walls blocking Korea, Japan, and Mongolia from each other disappeared.

    So, we discussed further for some time

    At the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat the next day.

    ¡°Blizzard!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Kuuuung!¡±

    ¡°Kheeeng!¡±

    Normally, a one level enhancement might not really drastically improve the strength of the weapon, but my +5 enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword certainly got stronger because it was a whopping myth grade, not a general, rare, precious, or legendary grade.

    Besides, it was a whopping +5 enhancement weapon.

    Let alone weapons, no one probably had a myth-grade item with +5 enhancement.

    Unless one was crazy, there would be none who would not try enhancing a legendary grade to a myth grade item whose safety enhancement was 0pared to the normal +3 safety enhancement.

    Besides, there are not many myth grade items.

    Anyway, after equipping the +5 enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword, I finally returned to the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat.

    Of course, Director Yu and even Chairman Yon told me that I could hunt at the Giant¡¯s Grave freely. But they already knew I was affiliated with Myongjin Guild, so could I hunt as usual as if I didn¡¯t know anything about it?

    If I did, I would give them an excuse to make light of Myongin.

    Of course, it would make no sense if I took Myongjin¡¯s teams to the Giant¡¯s Grave and had them herd for me.

    Myongjin Guild had a hunting ground reserved for level 1200 yers. But unfortunately, unlike the giant monsters in the Giant¡¯s Grave, only ranged monsters spawned there. So, herding monsters would be pretty dangerous because it was almost impossible to aggro them from a distance and group them together.

    Instead, it was the best hunting ground for the other users of Myongjin aside from because it was possible for them to hunt safely by moving slowly and dealing with small numbers of monsters at once.

    Anyway, after reviewing a few hunting grounds, I finally returned to the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat because this was a hunting ground owned by Myongjin so I could use Blink with zero cooldown without any hesitation, and I didn¡¯t need herding teams because the monsters here were very fast.

    Although there were many hunting grounds, this was the best one in terms of how much EXP I could gain per hour. Besides, it was perfect for my level, too.

    So, I devoted myself to hunting in this hunting ground.

    A few dayster I received a message from Director Sok.

    [Insu Sok: Are you there, Juyoung?]

    [Lumen: Yes, I¡¯m here. ]

    I immediately responded to his message that rang while I was busy hunting because I couldfortably hunt without feeling threatened at all.

    [Sok: Can I chat with you off the record for a moment?]

    [Lumen: Sure. No problem.]

    [Sok: As you know, we mobilized our intelligence team to fully investigate Mongolia¡¯s ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ since we have free ess to their server now.]

    Myongjin had been conducting research on the ¡°Revival Legend¡± in Japan or China even before their walls copsed for it was inevitable that the walls would copse some day and these were the most dangerous countries surrounding Korea.

    Back then, Mongolia wasn¡¯t on the list of the countries under Myongjin¡¯s investigation.

    During our meeting at our safe house in Rodon Castle, my family members informed me that Myongjin nned to conduct a thorough investigation into Mongolia to secure a good hunting ground with lots of EXP, golden rings, or essential misceneous items. Besides, there might be some important cities that they needed to upy first. That¡¯s why Myongjin has been very busy these days.

    So Director Sok¡¯s reason for contacting me even though I was in the middle of hunting meant that they had discovered something meaningful, so I was slightly thrilled to receive his message. And I was really excited by what he said.

    [Sok: We have found a hunting ground that you would really love.]

    [lumen: Really? More attractive than the Giant¡¯s Grave?]

    [Sok: Hahaha! Of course! ]

    Sok answered very confidently, so I wanted to urge him to tell me where it was, but I didn¡¯t because he would tell me anyway.

    As if he read my mind, he opened his mouth quickly.

    [Sok: We located a level 1200 hunting ground that has beenpletely abandoned by Mongolian users. Of course, part of the reason for such abandonment is because there were no Mongolian users with such a high level.]

    [Lumen: What kind of monsters appear there?]

    Perhaps this was the most important thing to me because if I could not herd the monsters, such a hunting ground would be meaningless to me.

    [Sok: Cunning Vampires.]

    They were ranged type monsters that used magic.

    So I could not help but be puzzled because such monsters were not good for herding.

    However, I had no choice but to nod at his additional exnation.

    [Sok: These monsters are generally one level higher than typical vampires as the title ¡®cunning¡¯ suggests. They have the ability to instantly teleport I mean, teleporting to the enemy¡¯s side. That¡¯s why nobody wanted to use this hunting ground because if they moved even a bit, they would be surrounded by countless vampires. But if you can hunt there¡­]

    Director Sok didn¡¯t finish his words, but I knew why because I was thrilled at that moment.

    As a matter of fact, I have been looking forward to such a situation where I was surrounded by monsters since I learned level 9 Blizzard some time ago.

    So, I messaged Director Sok with a broad smile.

    [Lumen: That sounds good!]

    After that, I changed my hunting ground immediately because I didn¡¯t need to hunt anymore in the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat when I could use such a great hunting ground in Mongolia.

    So, I immediately moved through Kars Castle and Samora Castle to the ce that Director Sok mentioned.

 Chapter 206 - New Golden Hunting Bonanza (2)

    <h4>Chapter 206: New Golden Hunting Bonanza (2)</h4>

    ¡°Move to the Cunning Vampire Garrison.¡±

    [You have moved to the Cunning Vampire Garrison.]

    I found nothing special about this hunting ground in Mongolia, just like Japan, perhaps because it¡¯s the same ¡°Revival Legend.¡±

    So, I quickly moved to the Vampire Garrison that Director Sok mentioned and met him at its gates.

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯vee here quickly.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Honestly, I was anxious toe here.¡±

    Of course, I wasn¡¯t bored in the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat. The more I hunted the monsters, the more EXP and levels I gained.

    However, I felt disappointed that the levels of the monsters dropped to 800-900 to the previous 1200 in the Giants Graves.

    That¡¯s why I was so d to receive Director Sok¡¯s message.

    Anyway, we skipped greetings and followed him immediately.

    ¡°By the way, there is nobody here.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. There are no Mongolian yers who arepetent enough to hunt here. So, Myongjin is going to upy this ce. In about 30 minutes, 100 security guards from Myongjin wille here to stay permanently.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Anyway, I thanked him because he secured this hunting ground for me.

    ¡°You¡¯re wee. It is my duty. If they arrive here, I will tell them that you are hunting here now and message you if something happens.¡±

    ¡°Sure, thank you.¡±

    After saying goodbye to him, I stepped straight into the Cunning Vampire Garrison.

    Not long after entering the garrison, I encountered the cunning vampires.

    This was my first time encountering them. I was confident in hunting them, but I acted cautiously because I needed to evaluate their abilities first.

    At that moment, something unexpected happened.

    Pop!!

    The cunning vampire, my target, disappeared in an instant. Then it appeared right next to me. I smiled before I knew it because this confirmed that this was the best hunting ground for me as it didn¡¯t require a herding team.

    Anyway, the vampire appeared by my side, but I didn¡¯t attack it.

    Rather, I checked my health window and carefully watched how much damage the vampire would do to me.

    ¡°Blood Curse!¡±

    [With the Forgotten Hero¡¯s Cloak and 9 titles, you have 59% debuff resistance.

    -You havepletely defended against the blood curse.]

    Just like normal magic monsters, the vampire also used debuffs against me.

    However, the vampire¡¯s debuffs werepletely blocked even before being properly applied due to the items I was wearing.

    But it continued to attack me.

    ¡°Blood explosion! Blood Storm! Blood Suck!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Itunched several attacks against me and even used its sharp nails to attack me.

    One minute has passed since it started attacking me.

    ¡°Hmm. It¡¯s okay.¡±

    When the vampire used its characteristic blood-sucking skill, I lost more of my health.

    And as the word bloodsucking suggested, it was able to recover through the blood it sucked.

    However, my health was still almost unchanged.

    Of course, only a single vampire was attacking me right now

    Even if there were 100 or 200 vampires like this, it seemed that I could hold out without any problem. I was confident in hunting all of them.

    Anyway, I finished the test and moved straight away using Blink.

    ¡°Blink! Blink! Blink!¡±

    Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop

    When I moved using Blink, the vampires also used teleport toward me.

    By teleporting only three times, more than 100 vampires gathered in my attack range.

    When more than 100 vampires gathered, I opened my mouth right away.

    ¡°Blizzard!¡±

    Instead of using Ice Field or Thin Ice, which was my standard way of starting the fight, I used only Blizzard first because unlike before, I was wearing the +5 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword, and more importantly, they weren¡¯t the giant monsters in the Giant¡¯s Tomb.

    In other words, because they were a wizard-type monster, their health was inevitably low.

    Of course, their magic defense was rtively high, but I was still confident in killing them.

    And things unfolded as I expected.

    ¡°Kheeeek!¡±

    ¡°Kuhhuk!¡±

    ¡°Keeeek!¡±

    Numerous vampires copsed helplessly.

    They kept attacking me and tried to suck my blood as they were dying.

    However, it seemed that even the health they drained through sucking my blood couldn¡¯t save them from my attack, so they copsed within moments.

    I killed more than 100 vampires in an instant.

    At that moment, a message rang.

    [You have leveled up. ]

    ¡°Wow! This really is a bonanza!¡±

    I eximed before I knew it because I was so happy.

    This was the ideal hunting ground for me.

    Of course, the 5% additional EXP and the additional 100% EXP gemstone I earned from the 4th anniversary event also yed a big role in my sessful hunting here.

    At the Cunning Vampire Garrison.

    ¡°Blink! Blink! Blink!¡±

    Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!

    Wherever I moved using Blink, the cunning vampires also followed me using teleport.

    And when more than 100 vampires gathered, I opened my mouth quietly.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasak!

    Level 9 Blizzard did not need Ice Field or Thin Ice.

    Just one strike with that skill was enough.

    However, my other skills could not do this. Aside from the damage it provided, making the area around me an ice terrain increased my attack power considerably, so Iid down Ice Field and Thin ice.

    And I used a different AoE skill instead of Blizzard, whose cooldown had not yet returned.

    ¡°Pouring Hail! Ice Storm!¡±

    Pitter-patter, pitter-patter.

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Kook!¡±

    ¡°Kheeek!¡±

    ¡°Blood Suck!¡±

    ¡°Blood Explosion.¡±

    ¡°Blood Suck!¡±

    The cunning vampires screamed at my attack, but as if to show this ce was level 1200 for a reason, they desperately struggled by using various skills.

    In particr, they intensively used the blood sucking skill to recover by draining their opponent¡¯s health.

    But they copsed one by one without holding out for long.

    Watching them falling, I shouted for joy because this was the hunting ground I dreamed of.

    The discovery of this kind of hunting ground made for me to hunt in was like a heavenly revtion, as if I should reach level 1200 as soon as possible.

    But before reaching level 1200, something great happened to me.

    ¡°Confirm my reality actualization rate.¡±

    [This is Lumen, Asirante¡¯s reality actualization rate.

    -21/100.

    -Coins are required for a higher rate of actualization.

    -Currently, Lumen, Asirante is using reality actualization as a preview.

    -It is impossible to have a higher reality actualization than the current highest reality actualization achieved by a yer who has reached level 1200.]

    Until now my actualization rate did not move beyond 7%.

    And for me, who had to use the preview, I had no choice but to maintain 7% all this time, despite having more than 100,000 coins because of the restriction that I could not exceed those with the highest actualization rate.

    However, as I had done before, I tried to increase my actualization rate yesterday, and it increased from 7% to 8%, the first increase in a long time.

    So, I used my coins unhesitatingly hoping that I could increase it some more, and my actualization rate kept going up until it reached as high as 21%.

    This means that the guild leader of a huge guild enough to represent his region or his direct descent has achieved level 1200. Otherwise, it seemed impossible for me to increase the actualization rate to 21% at once, given that the number of coins required to increase by 1% increased by 1000 for every 10% band. Besides, coins were by no meansmon.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t like the fact that there were others who also increased the actualization rate as much as I did, but I felt satisfied about my 21% actualization rate in a situation where a group of monsters had appeared in reality.

    Because of this increase, the skills I could use in reality also increased. Of course, it is needless to say that the power of those skills increased as well.

    As a matter of fact, when I reached exactly 20% of actualization rate, another message rang.

    [Congrattions! You have achieved a 20% reality actualization rate.

    -You can manifest general-grade items in reality by using coins.

    -Items actualized in reality can be transferred to others and used by anyone as long as they are not bound by restrictions.]

    The ability to actualize the lowest general grade items into reality. Of course, it wasn¡¯t free. It required an enormous amount of coins.

    Whatever the reason, the fact that items with special abilities could be actualized into reality was tremendous. Moreover, even ordinary people can use it.

    Anyway, it was true that I had still a huge number of coins even after achieving a 21% actualization rate, but I didn¡¯t have to actualize the general grade items into reality right now, so I just focused on hunting because this was the best hunting ground for me.

    It¡¯s been exactly a week since I started hunting in this Cunning Vampire Garrison.

    Suddenly, a message rang.

    [The Cunning Vampires have recognized Lumen, Asirante, as.a predator.

    -The Cunning Vampires will not preemptively attack Lumen, Asirante.]

    [Over time, the predator status gradually diminishes until it is fully faded away.

    -The predator status can be released much faster by hunting other monsters.]

    A change happened as soon as the message appeared.

    Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!

    The Cunning Vampires who before teleported to me were running away.

    ¡°What the heck is this?¡±

    Including the three Closed Betas, Revival Legend and all the other games that I have yed until now, this was the first time that I watched the monsters fleeing from me like this.

 Chapter 207 - We Canâ€™t Give It Up

    <h4>Chapter 207: We Can¡¯t Give It Up</h4>

    ¡°Blink!¡±

    So I used Blink toward the ce where the vampires seemed to have gathered.

    Originally, not only the vampires around me, but also those who noticed me from a distance charged at me immediately. But they didn¡¯t.

    Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!

    Of course, the teleporting sound was the same, but what came next was different.

    They just ran away from me by teleporting, leaving behind clouds of dust.¡±

    ¡°Oh my God¡­¡±

    At that moment, I let out a resigned chuckle because I didn¡¯t expect it at all.

    Of course, I could hunt them if I wanted, but herding them was impossible.

    I would have to chase each monster one by one, which made the current hunting ground worse than the Giant¡¯s Grave or the level 1200 ranged monster hunting ground upied by Myongjin.

    ¡°Man, this is seriously unfair!¡±

    It¡¯s been only a week since I started hunting here, and I was confident that I could easily reach level 900 and even level 1000, so I felt all the more frustrated.

    But somebody messaged me at that moment. It was my sister.

    [Super Beauty: Are you there, Juyoung?]

    [Lumen: Yeah, I¡¯m here.]

    As a matter of fact, I was so frustrated. No matter how much I thought about it, this was the perfect hunting ground until this point. So, I got even more upset.

    But I wasn¡¯t stupid enough to get angry with my sister who didn¡¯t know the situation at all, so I replied to her calmly, suppressing my anger as much as possible.

    [Super Beauty: Um¡­ First of all, I thought hard about whether I should tell you about this or not because you were so busy hunting in the hunting ground that you liked so much, but I felt I had to because it has something to do with you.]

    [Lumen: Really? What is it?]

    Since she said it¡¯s rted to me, I asked back immediately.

    [Super Beauty: You know it already. It¡¯s the stone squirrels rocky area.]

    [Lumen: Yeah.]

    Honestly, I was confident that I would not be surprised no matter what she said because there was nothing more surprising than a horde of monsters appearing in reality.

    Besides, I experienced a ridiculous situation where the monsters were so scared of me that they fled instead of attacking.

    I wasn¡¯t surprised by what she said, but I was a little embarrassed.

    Just recently, Director Yu of the Mirae Guild mentioned a ce to me. It was a city called Asirante which was originally called the Pioneers¡¯ City.

    And the stone squirrels rocky area was a hunting ground inside the Pioneers¡¯ City. So, I was reminded of the series of events that happened in the past.

    So, I immediately asked her.

    [Lumen: What¡¯s the problem out there?]

    [Super Beauty: Somebody is asking for it.]

    [Lumen: Who?]

    [Super Beauty: Chairman Ryu Sechi of the Mitsuya Guild, the dominant force in Japan, directly asked for it. ]

    [Lumen: ¡­]

    [Super Beauty: We are meeting at the secret of Rodon Castle this evening to discuss this. Of course, you don¡¯t have toe.]

    [Lumen: I will attend.]

    [Super Beauty: Are you sure?]

    [Lumen: Yep.]

    I immediately replied I would attend the meeting because these cunning but cowardly vampires were avoiding me.

    And I still remember the Gahwa Guild that controlled the ce and its former leader Soktae Kang. Moreover, Kang considered the rocky area very important.

    He even paid the guild members to collect the undigested mineral masses dropped by the stone squirrels in the rocky area.

    However, Japan approached us as soon as they could after the wall was lifted.

    So, I knew that it was Japan who was behind Kang and the Gahwa Guild, and that the stone squirrel¡¯s undigested mineral mass was of great value as I expected.

    Anyway, I got out of the Cunning Vampire Garrison because there were many better hunting grounds than this one with the cowardly monsters avoiding me.

    ording to the message, the predator status would disappear automatically over time, but it would disappear more quickly if I hunted in other hunting grounds.

    Nheless, I could not help but curse when I left the hunting ground.

    ¡°Damn it. It was so strange that I could hunt them so easily.¡±

    As a matter of fact, I felt a bit ufortable when I heard that the modifier ¡®cunning¡¯ was added to the vampires, but I really felt bitter when I confirmed its effect.

    I needed to go to the safe house meeting this evening and exin it to them.

    During the Pioneer¡¯s City quest, I needed to ask my father for help, and received help from Director Sokter.

    As a result, I could sessfully clear the quest.

    In other words, both of them were familiar with the city and its hunting ground.

    At the meeting, Director Sok came forward and opened his mouth.

    ¡°At that time, there were tens of billions of won circting through the Gahwa Guild and its associates. Of course, we chased the source of the money, and checked all the private loan markets. But it was impossible to track down the source. There were over 100 people involved, and we could only find their names and nothing else. The Gahwa Guild users did not know anything except for the fact that they received money when they hunted the stone squirrels in the rocky area and collected the undigested mineral masses that they dropped. And after their defeat, the former guild leader Kang disappeared as if he evaporated.¡±

    It seemed that Director Sok dug deeper into the matter than I thought, for I didn¡¯t know that tens of billions of won rted to the mineral masses changed hands in reality.

    Anyway, Director Sok continued, ¡°In the end, it was impossible for us to track the traces of those involved. However, given their activities, it was clear that the stone squirrel¡¯s undigested mineral masses were of great value, so we have been collecting them steadily until now. Considering Chairman Ryu Sechi¡¯s action this time, I think he must have been behind the Gahwa Guild and their efforts to secure the mineral masses. And this is the official letter they have sent us.¡±

    [Recipient: Myongjin Guild.

    -Nice to meet you. First of all, I am very happy to be able tomunicate with you like this.

    :

    :

    So, we have found a ce with beautiful terrain, and it has a rocky area where stone squirrels appear. Chairman Ryu Sechi¡¯s youngest granddaughter loves these squirrels very much. We would really like this area.

    Of course, we are not asking for it for free.

    We will certainly pay the price that the Myongjin Guild wants.

    We really hope we can promote friendship through our transaction.

    Of course, we don¡¯t want any unhappy collision with you.

    Yours sincerely,

    The Mitsuya Guild.]

    Although it was a long message, they wanted only one thing, namely conceding the rocky area to them. The letter implied that without our concession, there would be no peace or friendship. Namely, it was a message with an implied threat to us.

    ¡°It looks like the use of the stone squirrel¡¯s undigested mineral masses is better than we think, considering their reckless demands.¡±

    When I said that, Director Sok nodded.

    ¡°Yeah. Like you said, our Strategy Departmenthas also concluded that the mineral mass has much more value than we originally thought. Perhaps it has to do with coins too.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Silence fell at his words.

    Coins are the most valuable at the moment. Of course,myth-grade items and legendary-grade items were also very valuable, but coins were much more important because they were the only way to realize the impossible in reality.

    ¡°Then we¡¯ve got only one way.¡±

    If we could change the mineral masses into coins, the rocky area would be a jackpot for us, so it was natural that we could not concede it to the Mitsuya Guild under any circumstances.

    And it seemed that I wasn¡¯t the only one who thought so.

    ¡°Dad. I think you should never give it up as Juyoung said.¡±

    ¡°I agree. But you don¡¯t have to reject their offer right away. Buy time to prepare our strategy. For example, we can dy it until we join hands with the Mirae Guild.¡±

    My brother and sister were on the same page as me.

    My sister also proposed to join hands with Mirae.

    I thought her idea was good. Although I intended to work for my gains as well asMyongjin¡¯s, it was necessary to align with Mirae because the Mitsuya Guild was the foremost guild that dominated Japan with numerous yers.

    So, if we had to join hands with somebody, I thought it would be a good idea to choose Mirae because they didn¡¯t know anything about this rocky area and the stone squirrels it contained.

    Anyway, if the mineral masses could really lead to coins or something of equal value, it was very clear that given his personality, the Mitsuya Guild¡¯s Chairman Ryu Sechi would never give up, so we also moved quickly to prepare for it.

 Chapter 208 - Oizuki Brothers (1)

    <h4>Chapter 208: Oizuki Brothers (1)</h4>

    Pop! Pop! Bang! Bang!

    ¡°Kheeeeeh!¡±

    ¡°Khek!¡±

    Watching the sabre steel tooth tigers copsing helplessly at my attack, I couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°I thought I would never see you guys again, but here we are again...¡±

    I didn¡¯t feel good that I was seeing them again here.

    I hated them all the more because I had a fantastic hunt in my previous hunting ground.

    Of course, they might not be happy to see me, either.

    Honestly, it was very easy for me to hunt them before, and it¡¯s a piece of cake even now. I can hunt them with my eyes closed.

    Of course, there were other hunting grounds for level 1000 and level 1100.

    But nheless, there was a reason why I picked this hunting ground.

    ording to the message, the more I hunted other monsters, the faster the predator status would drop.

    That¡¯s why I came to this ce again because I could hunt very fast here and other hunting grounds with lower level monsters gave me too little EXP, no matter how many monsters I hunted.

    Also, I could hunt very fast here through herding the monsters.

    Anyway, I devoted myself to hunting every day so I could lose my predator status and go back to the Cunning Vampire Garrison as soon as possible. I was also preparing for the possible attack of Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild.

    At the Mitsuya Guild conference room in Japan.

    ¡°They asked us to wait?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Myongjin sent us a reply asking us to give them some time to think about our offer.¡±

    ¡°Hmm...¡±

    Chairman Ryu Sechi groaned, stroking his beard.

    Then he quietly opened his mouth.

    ¡°The purpose of our offer was too obvious, wasn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    No one answered the chairman¡¯s question because they knew the answer already.

    And it was confirmed by what Chairman Ryu Sechi said next.

    ¡°Okay. As one of the top business groups in Korea, Myongjin probably noticed our intent. Besides, they have been hunting stone squirrels all along, right? Even though they might not know how to use the mineral masses, they might have guessed that they have great value.¡±

    Chairman Ryu Sechi was guiding the conversation by himself at the moment.

    Looking at him, Kimoshita, the head of the intelligence department, opened his mouth.

    ¡°We have to ount for Asirante when thinking about Myongjin¡¯s response The fact that the Pioneers¡¯ City has been renamed Asirante and that it is upied by Myongjin¡¯s 3rd and 4th League is very relevant.¡±

    ¡°I agree. By the way, what did Asirante say at that time?¡±

    Chairman Ryu Sechi once tried to scheme against Asirante after Asirante initially disrupted his n. Of course, it happened even before the name of Asirante became widely known, but Chairman Ryu Sechi could not ignore it because he suffered a perfect defeat.

    Kimoshita answered his question again.

    ¡°He said he handed it over to Myongjin after receiving 10 billion yen, or 100 billion won in Korean money. Of course, I don¡¯t know if this is true or false, but it seems certain that the rtionship between Myongjin and Asirante is not bad anyway. We should consider the possibility that Asirante will intervene in this matter on Myongjin¡¯s side.¡±

    ¡°Hum...Asirante. Good. So, what is your opinion as our intelligence chief? Do you think it¡¯s possible to stop Asirante using the Oizuki brothers?¡±

    ¡°Well, I have no idea.¡±

    He pondered over it when Chairman Ryu Sechi asked, but he could not give a definite answer.

    Although Asirante was formidable, the Oizki brothers were no slouches either. So much so that the Mitsuya Guild kept them as something like a secret weapon.

    ¡°Good. Get ready anyway. In the future, coins will be more valuable than anything else, and it will be of tremendous benefit if we secure them, even if we get only a small supply.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    As soon as the Chairman issued his order, the Mitsuya Guild prepared to take possession of the stone squirrels¡¯ rocky area.

    If Myongjin didn¡¯t give in, the Mitsuya Guild was determined to confront them.

    Of course, they took other measures, just in case.

    As a matter of fact, they secretly reached out to the Daesung and Kusan alliance, for if they attacked a Korean hunting ground right after the walls were lifted, it could be taken as an invasion. As a result, other Korean powers, such as the Mirae Guild and the Deasung and Kusan Alliance could band together to help the Myongjin Guild.

    So, Chairman Ryu Sechi set out a n to ally with the Daesung & Kusan Alliance. He did not bother with the MIrae guild as they had invaded Japan previously.

    Anyway, the Mitsuya Guild and Chairman Ryu Sechi were busy trying to wrest control of the rocky area from Myongjin because they could never concede as far as the stone squirrels were concerned.

    At the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat.

    I did not stop hunting for a few days because my predator status had not disappeared yet.

    Of course, lots of things happened in the meantime.

    The biggest thing among them was the alliance between Myongjin and Mirae.

    Obviously, it was Mirae that showed an interest in the alliance with Myongjin first, and they reached out to me with the offer, so it was possible to conclude the alliance with terms favorable to Myongjin.

    First of all, the Myongjin and Mirae Alliance was the new name.

    After the alliance was concluded, the heads of both groups actually met.

    Of course, I also attended their meeting where I could meet not only Chairman Yon but also his daughter Bora and Director Sungyop Yu.

    The Mirae Group openly singled me out as Asirante.

    ¡°Hello, Chairman Yon. It¡¯s been a while since I saw you like this. I¡¯m Juyoung Hong.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, Chairman Hong, you must feel very proud when you watch your sons Kiyoung and Juyoung, and your daughter Suyoung growing well like this.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, but I haven¡¯t done anything. They have taken care of themselves until now.¡±

    My father responded as if he knew nothing, and Chairman Yon also greeted me casually as if he knew nothing, either.

    Dinner was served after that.

    It wasn¡¯t that crowded because this was a meeting for just the top leaders of both groups and their direct descendants. I would have been much morefortable if Bora had not been next to me, but unfortunately, my seat was arranged next to her.

    ¡°I heard you¡¯re staying in Gangwon Province. Right?¡± she asked.

    ording to Director Yu, Bora conclusively spotted me as Asirante from the beginning.

    However, Bora didn¡¯t express such feelings at all.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t reveal anything as well and replied casually.

    ¡°Yeah, because it¡¯s a bit dangerous anyway.¡±

    ¡°Well, the army has been deployed, but we can¡¯t yet feel relieved. Grandpa is also nagging me to escape quickly. By the way, how about the guy who has reached level 1200 at Myongjin?¡±

    ¡°Well, I hear that there are a couple more appearing now as well. But what matters is not level 1200, right? If you don¡¯t have coins, level 1200 means nothing.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s all messed up. I just don¡¯t know how the world is going to change.¡±

    ¡°You bet.¡±

    In any case, the Myongjin and Mirae Alliance was widely publicized not only in newspapers but also in the other news media.

    A few days after that I received a message while I was hunting at the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat

    [The predator status you received from the Cunning Vampires has disappeared.

    -The Cunning Vampires will attack you first as before.]

    ¡°Whew!¡±

 Chapter 209 - Oizuki Brothers (2)

    <h4>Chapter 209: Oizuki Brothers (2)</h4>

    I let out a sigh of relief. . That meant that I could hunt at the Cunning Vampire Garrison again. But I was worried at the same time because I would receive the predator status again after some hunting.

    Of course, I could worry about it after I was actually afflicted with the predator status again, so I was going to head to the Cunning Vampire garrison when I received a message from my sister.

    [Super Beauty: Juyoung! The Mitsuya Guild has started moving!]

    [Lumen: I¡¯ll be there right away.]

    I could tell from my sister¡¯s urgent words that the Mitsuya Guild was not just probing us. I felt it regrettable that I got her message right after my predator status disappeared, but since my family was more important, I headed to the main base of Myongjin.

    At the Myongjin Guild¡¯s headquarters.

    The security guards who guarded Myongjin¡¯s stronghold blocked me, as I was hiding my appearance with the myth grade Forgotten Hero¡¯s cloak.

    However, I managed to enter because my sister who used the ID Super Beauty weed me in. Then I moved to the conference room with my sister.

    At that moment I was conscious of people who looked at me with a suspicious expression, not knowing who I was.

    However, my sister, one of Myongjin¡¯s top executives, led me to this ce, so none of them questioned me.

    Since everyone was now present in the conference room, the meeting began.

    To summarize the meeting, there were as many as 70,000 people heading to the city of Asirante, formerly Pioneers¡¯ City. Moreover, ording to Myongjin¡¯s informants in Japan, these people were not ordinary people, but the elites of the Mitsuya Guild.

    They were simply too many to be treated as an advance party to scout the Myongjin Guild.

    Therefore, the conference room¡¯s atmosphere was inevitably overheated.

    Honestly, Myongjingged behind the Mitsuya Guild a lot in terms of power.

    ¡°Please contact the Mirae Guild right away!¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±

    Of course, it was unexpected for Mirae too, but my father decided to contact them immediately because he formed an alliance with them to cope with any contingencies like this.

    I then introduced myself because my name had spread not only across Korea, but also all over the world.

    ¡°Hello. My name is Asirante. At Chairman Sangman Hong¡¯s request, I¡¯vee here to help you.¡±

    ¡°Great!¡±

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    ¡°You are Asirante!¡±

    At that moment, the gloomy atmosphere in the conference room turned cheerful immediately.

    Obviously, they seemed to think that they could easily beat the Mitsuya Guild with Mirae and I joining them.

    At the Mirae Guild¡¯s headquarters.

    ¡°Oh my God! We¡¯re in trouble! Big trouble!¡±

    ¡°Well, when Myongjin reached out to me directly, I should have looked into the situation more carefully. I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    Chairman Yon of the Mirae Guild was startled by Myongjn¡¯s report.

    ording to the report, the Mitsuya Guild that controlled Japan suddenly began to move.

    Moreover, he thought they would first strike MIrae if they decided to invade Japan because it was Mirae who caused a big uproar in Japan before.

    However, the Mitsuya Guild began to move at Myongjin for some reason.

    In other words, he thought maybe Myongjin had already known about it.

    Maybe that¡¯s why Myongjin hastily formed an alliance with Mirae.

    ¡°Do we have to go and help Myongjin?¡±

    Of course, Chairman Yon didn¡¯t want to move.

    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we should move for the sake of Asirante.¡±

    It¡¯s not just because Asirante was strong that he was sought so eagerly.

    Knowledgeable people knew that Asirante had a huge amount of coins because he won 1st ce in all the official events or quests.

    Even those who participated in the 4th anniversary event with Asirante were able to receive more than 10,000 coins per person.

    It wasmon knowledge that Asirante won first ce or the highest level record in 300 and 500 level limited quests. So, it was clear that Asirante must have acquired thousands or tens of thousands of coins.

    In addition, he must have proceeded with personal quests or events, and would most likely have gotten even more coins from clearing them.

    In other words, Asirante was most likely to show off his strength not only in the game but also in reality since he had more coins than anyone else.

    That was why Chairman Yon reached out to Asirante and Myongjin. Anyway, they reluctantly had to move to help Myongjin because of their alliance, so he moved with Mirae¡¯s elite forces.

    In Pioneers¡¯ City, now renamed as the City of Asirante.

    Since there was a teleport zone, there was no problem gathering arge force, no matter far away they were.

    Therefore, it was possible for hundreds of thousands of people to gather in the in in front of the City of Asirante even though Myongjin heard only a few hours ago that the Mitsuya Guild had sent 70,000 people to confront them.

    As a result, there were 70,000 members of the Mitsuya Guild confronting 100,000 from the Myungjin & Mirae Alliance in the vast in.

    At that moment, three people stepped forward from the Mitsuya Guild.

    One of them was Chairman Ryu Sechi.

    When they appeared, my father and Director Sok also came forward to meet them.

    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry to face you like this,¡± Chairman Ryu shouted.

    My father also shouted, ¡°So am I!¡±

    As far as I knew, my father had actually met him before.

    But both of them had a conversation as if they didn¡¯t know each other.

    ¡°First of all, I will request you again. I don¡¯t need all the other ces here, so hand over only that rocky area to me. If you do so, I¡¯m willing to pay the appropriatepensation. I¡¯m willing to give you more if you want more.¡±

    But my father responded, ¡°I don¡¯t know why you are making such a reckless demand. I¡¯ve no intention of selling it, and I¡¯ve never put it on sale until now.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you I needed it?¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you old enough to know that you can¡¯t have anything you want to have?¡±

    Because of my grandfather¡¯s early death, my father took over the position of the Myongjin Group¡¯s Chairman as a young man, so he was much younger than the chairmen of Mirae, Daesung, Kusan, and Daeyu. Of course, he was also younger than Chairman Ryu. There was now a cold atmosphere between them because of my father¡¯s humiliating rebuke.

    Of course, we discussed several measures at the meeting before we came to the in in front of the City of Asirante.

    We had two options. Either we keep our heads down with a humble attitude of speaking out proudly with our heads up.

    We decided to take the second option, namely confronting the Japanese guild leader confidently because keeping a low profile before the Mitsuya Guild in a situation where the Mirae Guild members were here at my father¡¯s request would ruin his reputation.

    Furthermore, Chairman Ryu had brought along 70,000 people

    Rumors about Myongin¡¯s submissive stance would spread not only in Japan but also across other countries if my father took such a submissive stance.

    Perhaps that was why there were numerous onlookers in the distance as well as behind the wall of the city of Asirante behind us.

    Since the Mitsuya Guild brought 70,000 people here, my father had no other choice but to take a stern stance because he could not bow from the beginning.

    ¡°Good. If you can¡¯t give in, I have no choice but to take it from you forcibly. But don¡¯t worry. Even if I take it from you, I will pay for it. If you don¡¯t take any issue with us, we don¡¯t have to fight you, of course.¡±

    Chairman Ryu spoke as if he already won the battle.

    Now the battle between them was inevitable.

 Chapter 210 - Oizuki Brothers (3)

    <h4>Chapter 210: Oizuki Brothers (3)</h4>

    ¡°Kill! Wind Spear!¡±

    ¡°Rise and bring my enemies! Roots of Death!¡±

    ¡°Summon! Earth Spirit! Spirit of Land!¡±

    ¡°Poison Arrow!¡±

    :

    :

    ¡°Earth, sway ording to my will. Shaking Earth!¡±

    ¡°Fatal Blow!¡±

    ¡°Triple Shot!!

    70,000 troops vs 100,000 troops.

    Because of the sheer number ofbatants involved, they could not all fight at once.

    So, each side sent out 10,000 to the center of the in for the battle, which created a terrific scene because it was very rare for 20,000 men to be embroiled in a chaotic fight.

    Moreover, because of their historical animosity and hatred toward each other, the Korean and Japanese fighters were emotionally charged and fought like cats and dogs.

    Anyway, I could realize amidst their fierce fighting that Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild members fought better than those from the Myongjin and Mirae Alliance.

    I knew why Chairman Ryu Sechi was so confident in the fighting.

    Of course, this was a prelude to the main fight.

    Therefore, both sides must still have their hidden trump cards.

    But although this was a prelude, both sides could not afford to be defeated by the other, so they needed to show some extraordinary action to turn the tide.

    For example, they could dispatch more members for numerical superiority or send out an absolutely powerful person to reverse the situation.

    And the Myongjin and Mirae Alliance had a very powerful card to show them.

    It was none other than me, Asirante.

    ¡®Check status window.¡¯

    First, I opened my status window to double check it onest time.

    [Name: Lumen, Asirante

    Level: 882

    Number of kills: 1285, Number of deaths: 0

    Title: Only Closed Beta Max Level Achiever and 8 others.

    Health: 3,695,000 / 3,695,000

    Mana: 2,472,000 / 2,472,000

    Strength: 6528 Agility: 5475 Stamina: 23550

    Willpower : 14365 Intellect: 28607

    Remaining Stat Points: 0

    Remaining Skill Points: 0

    Traits: IceMan, Mutual Growth, God of Enhancement.]

    All my stat points increased due to increasing another 70 levels and the influence of the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword which was enhanced from +4 to +5. My stamina and willpower increased with Intellect due to Mutual Growth, and my strength and agility also increased from the +5 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    Moreover, by removing the original robe set and recing it with a Mithril armor set to match the myth grade Forgotten Hero¡¯s Cloak, my strength and agility increased even further.

    Anyway, my confidence was soaring at the moment because the increase in stat points showed that my efforts until now had paid off.

    However, there was something I was a little worried about..

    I was not sure whether to use ¡®Savant¡¯ from the beginning because this limited skill had a cooldown of as many as 10 days

    with only 30 minutes of retention time.

    Besides, there were still 60,000 enemies that I had to deal with.

    ¡®Man, we have not started the main fight yet¡­¡¯

    I always believed that I should use my full strength from the beginning to defeat my enemies, but I have decided to put off using the skill ¡°Savant¡± until the main fight because there were still 60,000 Mitsuya Guild members in the field.

    After I finished preparing, I made eye contact with my dad, brother, sister, and Director Sok, then slowly moved to the battlefield.

    Of course, I could see clearly that not only my family members but also Director Sok were very much worried about me. My sister even messaged me, telling me to be careful.

    But I was confident despite their anxiety and worries.

    Anyway, I had to step forward.

    I first treated the game as something like a refuge, but I did not now.

    If I had still been nning to use the game as a refuge, I would not have confided to my family about my game addiction.

    In other words, it has been a long time since the game was no longer a space that hid me from reality, but a space that made me shine brightly.

    Although my original ID was eclipsed by my other ID Asirante, Lumen meant light and brilliance.

    Tramp- Tramp-

    I stepped forward to the central battlefield confidently.

    However, there were 60,000 and 90,000 men in a standoff on both sides, and there was a fierce fight going on in the center of the battlefield so nobody paid attention to me.

    Even the friendly forces from the Myongjin Guild, aside from my father, brother, sister and Director Sok, did not pay attention to me

    Of course, I made some preparations before I came here. I left the Daeyu Guild and joined the Myongjin Guild.

    Myungjin and Mirae had already formed an alliance, but I was still with Daeyu at the time. If I stayed in Daeyu, my friendly forces would have been caught up in my attack on this battlefield, which would be incredibly stupid. So, I withdrew from Daeyu in advance.

    Anyway, when I got close to the center of the battlefield, I opened my mouth quietly, looking at the ce where the enemies were gathered the most.

    ¡°Blink!¡±

    ¡°My shadow will be a string that cannot be untied! Shadow Bind!¡±

    ¡°Power Shot!¡±

    ¡°Triple Shot!¡±

    ¡°Summon! Wind Spirit! Wind Spirit!¡±

    ¡°My attack will break everything. Giant¡¯s Strike!¡±

    As this was just a prelude to the main fight, they were not using strong attacks.

    However, I could see why the Mitsuya Guild was the only guild that dominated Japan by looking at their attack skills.

    When I used Blink, they immediately began to attack me who appeared close to them.

    But I could block their attacks with my powerful body unlike other wizard users who learned Blink. I could also resist them more powerfully than those tank users.

    Moreover, my defense power increased much more this time because I was wearing the Mithril armor set with excellent defense powerpared to the previous robe set I used to don. But on the flip side, it was much heavier.

    Besides, the Forgotten Hero¡¯s Cloak I equipped had a special option.

    [Thanks to the Forgotten Hero¡¯s Cloak and 9 titles, you have a total of 59% debuff resistance.

    -You havepletely defended against the Shadow Bind.]

    I found myself smiling at that message. Of course, 59% cannot be said to be high, nor could it be called low.

    Anyway, the Forgotten Hero¡¯s Cloak defended against the debuffs properly even before my Willpower was pitted against the debuff user¡¯s Intellect.

    Anyway, since I did not intend to sit idle at the enemy¡¯s attack, I moved right away.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasak!

    If I had used ¡®Savant¡¯, I would have used Blizzard without using Ice Field and Thin Ice because with thebination of ¡®Savant¡¯ and level 9 Blizzard, there¡¯s no need for me to create a battle environment favorable to me.

    However, since I chose to save the limited skill ¡®Savant¡¯ for the enemy¡¯s main army that would emergeter, Iid down Ice Field and Thin Ice.

    Then I opened my mouth right away.

    ¡°Blizzard!¡±

    Wheeeeeeeeeng-

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Blizzard has never disappointed me.

    Although it had a long cooldown, I didn¡¯t swear in frustration, for I had a conscience. Soon the level 9 Blizzard showed its fantastic end results.

    ¡°Argh!¡±

    ¡°What the heck!¡±

    ¡°Kheeeeeeek!¡±

    ¡°What kind of damage is this?¡±

 Chapter 211 - Oizuki Brothers (4)

    <h4>Chapter 211: Oizuki Brothers (4)</h4>

    ¡°Damn it! My health is draining so quickly¡­¡±

    When I was hunting monsters, my AOE skills were the best because monsters didn¡¯t usually run away.

    Of course, the Cunning Vampires were an exception.

    However, my instant damage skills were much more effective in attacking userspared to AOE skills since they usually ran outside the range of the AOE skills to avoid its damage.

    However, my AOE skill had a wider range of application than any other user¡¯s AOE skill. Besides, I could sustain it for a long time. And it was so powerful that it didn¡¯t allow the enemies to escape outside the AOE range. Of course, this was just limited to ice-type skills.

    But my ice-type skills were not limited to Blizzard.

    Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Kheeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Kuckkkk!

    I also swung the +5 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword toward the nearby enemies freely.

    Honestly, when it was level 0, it only buffed strength and agility, not intellect. It also boasted of an overwhelmingly high physical attack powerpared to its magic attack power.

    In other words, the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword could be called a physical attack weapon if one had to ssify it. In fact, it wasn¡¯t a stick, but a sword that I used to stab and cut at a close range. But it also provided a small damage buff for ice-type skills.

    However, because of the traits of ¡®IceMan,¡¯ I knew how powerful even a small increase in the power of all ice-type skills was.

    Moreover, the sword also provided a cooldown reduction buff to all ice-type skills.

    So, I chose it as my exclusive weapon without any further thought.

    In addition, the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword also had one more powerful option in addition to the additional frostbite damage.

    It was an option that inflicted tenfold damage with a 1% chance.

    Of course, this was also limited to ice-type skills, but applied to all of them regardless of whether they were AOE or instant damage skills.

    ¡°Argh!¡±

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    It seemed that some of the enemies who were at the very edge of Blizzard¡¯s strike range were out of luck. They copsed without even being able to move a single meter.

    Anyway, I steadily reduced the number of enemies in the distance with my AOE skills, and killed the ones in close range with the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    Of course, I used other skills as well.

    ¡°Multiple Ice Arrows! Ice Bolt! Ice Ball!¡±

    Ice Field reinforced with Thin Ice was still applied on the battlefield, and Blizzard was on cooldown. So I used those skills with little cooldown because I had to manage my cooldowns.

    And that was enough because the attacked enemies were almost dead.

    Anyway, these couple of minutes I spent on the battlefieldpletely changed the tide of the fight because all the shouts and screams that filled the battlefield beforepletely disappeared.

    At the Mirae Guild camp.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Not only Chairman Yon and his daughter Bora but also Director Yu and the other top Mirae executives were speechless at Asirante¡¯s spectacr performance on the battlefield.

    Of course, they weren¡¯t the only ones who were shocked. The same was true of the normal Mirae Guild members.

    At that moment, cheering erupted from the Myongjin Camp, which soon spread to the Mirae Guild members, for just looking at the powerful friendly force boosted their morale to an all time high.

    ¡°Asirante!¡±

    ¡°Asirante!¡±

    ¡°Asirante!¡±

    Their spontaneous chants of Asirante began to spread across the whole battlefield.

    In the Mitsuya Guild¡¯s camp.

    ¡°Oh my God¡­¡±

    Chairman Ryu Sechi cleared his throat before he knew it.

    Of course, he knew how powerful Asirante was.

    In fact, these days there were numerous videos circting of Asirante visiting the main bases of the guilds in Japan and tearing them apart.

    However, when he witnessed Asirante¡¯s performance this time, Chairman Ryu had no choice but to smack his lips bitterly because Asirante was clearly stronger than he thought.

    Then, he nced back and immediately made eye contact with two guys.

    He gently nodded at them. Then the two passed by the chairman and stepped right before Asirante.

    In the central battlefield.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    The more I fought, the more I felt something.

    ¡®Wow, I¡¯m really strong.¡¯

    Of course, the enemies also persistently resisted and kept attacking me.

    Obviously, this was only a game. Even if they perished, they would receive only a 24-hour ess ban penalty and a slight drop in their EXP, along with an increase in the number of deaths in the status window.

    However, to be able to attack me, they needed to first withstand my attacks.

    If they wanted to attack me, they needed to move within the striking range.

    However, it was impossible for them to withstand my Ice Field and other attacks properly, so they retreated after trying to attack me a couple of times or just died helplessly.

    On the contrary, I continued to attack them.

    Although my skill points were insufficient, I saved those skills with almost no cooldown for this kind of fight.

    ¡®By the way, it seems like it was good that I didn¡¯t upgrade Ice Field to level 7.¡¯

    Even though I could upgrade Ice Field from level 5 to level 7, I didn¡¯t. Of course, my skill points were insufficient back then.

    But I could spread Ice Field all over the ce right now at short intervals because its level was low.

    Of course, the enemies didn¡¯t sit idle.

    They used all kinds of AOE skills to break my Ice Field.

    However, I hadid down enough ice to maintain the ice terrain, so I could maintain the buff on mybat power.

    At that moment, two men came into view. They caught my eye because they were particrly calm unlike others.

    They entered my attack range without hesitation, so I immediately attacked them.

    But a message rang first.

    [Trait: You can¡¯t wear items because of the Item Master¡¯s curse.]

    [Trait: You can¡¯t use skills because of the Skill Master¡¯s curse.]

    It was such an absurd message.

    At the same time, the two people spoke.

    ¡°Hi. I¡¯m the elder brother Oizuki. Item master is my trait.¡±

    ¡°Hi. I¡¯m the younger brother Oitsuki. Skill master is my trait.¡±

    They happily greeted me.

    So I opened my mouth with a smile on my lips, hiding my feelings as if I was not startled at all.

    ¡°Hi. I am Asirante. My trait is to eat cucumbers deliciously.¡±

    Honestly, it was my first absolute crisis.

    But I didn¡¯t want to be pushed around by them from the beginning.

    There are a few things that I admit are my weakness.

    For example, during the time I turned to games as a form of escapism since I retained nothing from studying even though I tried very hard, I encountered a popr rhythm game.

    The rhythm game consisted of a total of thirty rounds, and the first round was meant to be easy enough for a beginner to clear. But I couldn¡¯t even clear the first round many times.

    Of course, it was the same with most matching block games and fighting games.

    Most of the time, I would gain some experiences and skills while ying such games continuously for a few days.

 Chapter 212 - Oizuki Brothers (5)

    <h4>Chapter 212: Oizuki Brothers (5)</h4>

    However, the problem was that if I took a break for even a few days, I would regress back to the beginner and forget all these experiences and skills just like when I studied.

    I looked for MMORPG-type games mainly because my efforts were always rewarded and I could maintain the experiences and skills that I obtained. But I was also motivated because MMORPG format games obviously had a number of ways for me to make up for my weak control, for example, stats, items, and skills.

    I could say confidently that I achieved such heights that nobody couldpare with.

    Even if I didn¡¯t take into ount the stat points I obtained by leveling up, all the stat points obtained from my 9 titles as well as d from various events and quests were literally enormous.

    Besides, I had the crucial Mutual Growth trait.

    I also had exceptional items, in particr, the myth grade weapon, the +5 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword was an item that was as good as any legendary item. Of course, my armor or essories were second to none.

    For example, not only the myth-grade Forgotten Hero¡¯s Cloak that I wore this time, but also the legend-grade functional skill ring was a premier item that boasted of a powerful effect.

    Of course, my skillsgged behind my stats and items a bit.

    Honestly, except for the limited skill ¡®Savant¡±, only skill points were required to obtain the other skills.

    Nheless, it was obvious that all the skills were amazing, especially Blink with zero cooldown.

    Anyway, it was because I had an appropriate mix of stats and items and skills that I was widely recognized as a strong yer by everybody.

    Nheless, my items and skills were now sealed. So, I was left with only stats.

    Moreover, since I was a wizard, I invested all my stats in my intellect.

    And my choice has never disappointed me so far.

    However, when all of the ice-type skills that would showcase my Intellect disappeared, it became the worst situation since it was now virtually useless.

    ¡®Oh my ¡­¡¯

    Although I was standing proudly, I felt empty deep down because this was so ridiculous especially considering that my skills were sealed.

    If I had kept my skills, I would have made up for the absence of items because of my sold basic stats.

    However, since I was a wizard, the absence of my skills was really painful to me.

    ¡®Check the item window. Check the skill window.¡¯

    Of course, I also checked the skill and item windows just in case.

    Messages couldn¡¯t lie, but this was not something I could ept immediately with only the message alone.

    [List of items you are currently wearing.

    -No equipped items exist.]

    [List of skills you currently possess.

    -No avable skills.]

    With some expectation I opened the windows, but nothing was there.

    At the moment, I felt like my limbs were cut off.

    And I was worried about how I would fight.

    Since all my skills were gone, my intellect became a useless stat.

    Of course, even if I had no items, I had a certain level of strength and agility thanks to my nine titles, but they seemed to be too insufficient for me to rely on.

    In the end, all I had left was my stamina and willpower.

    In other words, I would be able to endure well, but that would not help me secure victory.. It would only dy my defeat.

    So, I cast an inconspicuous nce at the Oizuki brothers.

    Their brothers were still grinning widely as they had since they first appeared.

    It seemed that they had quite a lot of experiences like this, and that¡¯s why they were so confident.

    Then they charged at me right away.

    Puck!

    Of course, I¡¯ve never had this experience before.

    So, I couldn¡¯t do anything about it even though Oizuki, who introduced himself as having the Item Master trait, charged at me with a long spear in his hand.

    All I could do was move two steps to the side.

    But it seemed impossible for me to avoid Oizuki¡¯s attack by simply retreating.

    In the end, he seeded in stabbing my ribs with the spear.

    I looked down at the spear stuck in my side. Of course, I could endure a hit like this because I allowed my opponents¡¯ attacks to hit in the past. As a matter of fact, I had let arrow attacks and ranged magic attacks hit me so many times.

    Honestly, I had no problem defending against such attacks, and I didn¡¯t think such attacks were a big deal because I could counter attack strongly enough to break the chain of the enemies attacks.

    But I had no skills to use this time.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I especially didn¡¯t have the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword that I used against the enemy¡¯s melee attacks with great results these days.

    Of course, I still had my two hands and feet.

    However, Oizuki was attacking me with the long spear perhaps because he had this kind ofbat experience in the past.

    In other words, with the spear stuck in my side, I could not attack him with my hands and feet properly.

    As if he read my mind, Oizuki shouted loudly, ¡°Lightning Strike!¡±

    Puck! Puck!

    Oizuki pulled out the spear, then stabbed it again into my side correctly.

    And I realized that Oizuki did not rely on his trait only because he attacked so fast.

    Since all my items were gone, my health drained quickly as well.

    But the problem was that Oizuki was not my only opponent.

    ¡°Soar! Column of Fire!¡±

    Qawahang!

    ¡°Argh!¡±

    I groaned before I knew it when the column of fire scorched my body.

    And the Oizuki brothers seemed to be very happy with my suffering.

    ¡°Hahaha. How do you feel when you are fighting us with your hands and feet tied?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it very fun? Then I¡¯ll show you something more interesting. Look carefully.¡±

    The Oizuki brothers spoke to me one by one, then Oizuki, who possessed the Item Master trait, took out one more spear.

    Then he shouted, ¡°Synchronize!¡±

    Of course, I was not stupid enough not to understand that word ¡®synchronize.¡¯

    I could not allow something like item synchronization to happen.

    However, the two long spears attracted each other and merged into one.

    The spear became bigger and longer than before.

    Bung! Bung!

    Oizuki opened his mouth, while twisting the spear that had be muchrger than before in the air.

    ¡°Of course, you don¡¯t have to worry too much. Even if youbine two legendary grade items, they don¡¯t turn into a myth grade. But my long spear has still be much stronger than before. Death Spear!¡±

    Bang!

    Kudangtangtang!

    Oizuki¡¯s long spear prated my body right away after he hurled it.

    Because of the impact, I could not help but be pushed back and thrown down on the ground, just like the countless enemies thrown away by the attack of my Ice Wave.

    ¡°Hey, look at my attack too! I can do it as well, man. Look carefully! Fire Storm! Fire Storm! Synchronize! Double Fire Storm!¡±

    This time his younger brother Oitsuki, who possessed the trait of Skill Master, attacked me.

    He merged two Fire Storms on each hand and threw it at me.

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    It was like rain of fire, or more than rain of fire.

    Nheless, I still had quite a lot of health.

    I had about 3.7 million health, and 24,000 stamina and 14,000 willpower, but I had no proper means to back them up. So, I had no other choice but to endure as long as I could.

    That¡¯s why I momentarily thought that I got deceived.

 Chapter 213 - Oizuki Brothers (6)

    <h4>Chapter 213: Oizuki Brothers (6)</h4>

    As a matter of fact, I stepped forward on the battlefield splendidly with all my power, except for the limited skill ¡®Savant¡¯, because I needed to turn the tide of the battle. And my intention worked out perfectly. Those 20,000 people who were locked in a fierce fight on the central battlefield not only focused on me, but also stopped fighting.

    It was right at that moment that these two guys appeared.

    The fight quickly turned into a two versus one.

    It was as if this fight was something like a main fight between two camps.

    Of course, I was thinking of retreating because I still had a lot of health, and I could retreat anytime if I wanted to. However, my retreat from here would let the Mitsuya Guild seize back the momentum to win this fight.

    Moreover, even if I got out of this situation, the question of how to deal with the Oizuki brothers would pester me anyway.

    When I thought about it, I spat out curses before I knew it because even if I avoided this ce, there was no guarantee that I would not be humiliated by the Oizuki brothers again. As a matter of fact, it was obvious that I would face the same humiliation.

    ¡®Damn it! This isn¡¯t the way I¡¯m supposed to do it!¡±

    I have never regretted the three traits of Ice Man, Mutual Growth, and God of Enhancement.

    However, no matter how hard I thought about it, the Item Master and Skill Master traits looked far better than my traits. In particr, their ability to remove their opponent¡¯s items and skills, not to mention the item and skill synchronization, were so absurd that I thought it waspletely fraudulent.

    ¡®I¡¯m the only 3rd Closed Beta max level achiever!¡¯

    In other words, they obtained such dreamlike traits from only the 1st and 2nd Closed Betas. But their traits were so good that I wondered how it was possible.

    Of course, they might have obtained such traits with the trait shards, of which I had a few in my inventory because I didn¡¯t collect a sufficient number tobine them, or from events or quests I didn¡¯t know of. But anyway,I thought their traits were too good.

    At that moment, I wondered if I had to use all the golden rings to erase my skills and even choose stamina and agility as my main stats for Mutual Growth. But I soon shook my head soon, for I clearly knew that I could not change the stats I chose when I first set up Mutual Growth

    Anyway, I kept swearing like that because I was in a situation where I had to hold out as long as I could and withstand the Oizuki brothers¡¯ attacks.

    In the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance camp.

    ¡°What the heck?¡±

    ¡°Why is he being beaten like that?¡±

    ¡°He has to strike back!¡±

    All the members of the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance could not help but wonder about the battle taking ce on the central battlefield. Certainly, until a while ago, it was Asirante who was attacking the enemies so powerfully until they were shivering with fear.

    But it was Asirante who was being beaten up now.

    Some of them even thought that Asirante was fooling around with them.

    However, Asirante appeared too miserable to be acting it out at the moment. As time passed by, he was getting more and more miserable. It was no wonder that they began to whisper.

    Of course, there were people who were more embarrassed than anybody else.

    They were Chairman Sangman Hong, who sensed Asirante¡¯s true condition, brother Kiyoung, sister Suyoung, and Director Sok.

    In particr, Suyoung attempted to message Asirante continuously, but she heard no reply from him, which made her all the more nervous.

    In the central battlefield.

    ¡®Damn it! Shit!¡±

    I kept cursing because all I could do was swear.

    Moreover, it was time for me to decide whether to retreat or not.

    If I was beaten up anymore, I would have no time to retreat.

    Of course, I had to retreat because of the obvious results, but I had no choice but to hesitate because I did not even counterattack the Oizuki brothers even once.

    But then, a message rang unexpectedly, which showed something I had never thought of.

    [Talent: There is an item part with which you can be freed from the Item Master¡¯s curse.

    -Ring.

    : ¡®Myth-grade expansion¡¯: Thanks to the ¡®myth grade expansion essory charm¡¯, an additional space for an extra ring was created.

    : The extra space is not affected by the Item Master¡¯s curse.

    -You can now wear one item regardless of whether it is a ring or not]

    [Talent: There is one skill with which you can be freed from the Skill Master¡¯ curse.

    -Limited skill ¡®Savant.¡¯

    : This is a skill that exists outside the influence of the Skill Master since it was not earned the usual way.

    -You have also earned a total of 5 skill points outside the normal acquisition method.

    : You can use a total of 5 skill points while you are under the influence of the Skill Master¡¯s curse.]

    A series of messages rang unexpectedly. Of course, I had no problem understanding the messages.

    In fact, I was wearing two rings due to the myth grade essory expansion charm. Moreover, thanks to being the only one to reach the max level in the 3rd Closed Beta, I obtained three skill points. I also obtained the limited skill ¡®Savant¡¯ and two skill points during my stay in Region 0.

    However, I wasn¡¯t happy because such messages should have rang much earlier, given their contents. By now, I was already humiliated by the Oizuki brothers.

    Of course, I was still wondering why the above messages rang at this particr time.

    But that wasn¡¯t important right now, so I opened the item window right away and confirmed that right now, I had a ring equipped.

    And when I chose the +5 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword, a message rang.

    [Currently, you are wearing a functional skill ring. Current state: You can wear only one item due to the Item Master¡¯s curse.]

    After I removed the functional skill ring, I could wear the 5+ Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    . In other words, I confirmed that I could wear only one item regardless of what it was.

    Then I opened the skill window.

    [You can change and use as many as five skills.

    -However, once you set it, you cannot change it until the Skill Master¡¯s curse disappears.]

    I could wear only one item but I could change the item freely, but there was a limit to my skill change. However, I already decided the skills to learn because I could swap the functional skill ring and the +5 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    ¡°Choose Level 7 Blizzard, Level 5 Ice Field, and Level 4 Blink.¡±

    [Selected skills.

    -Level 7 Blizzard: 3 skill points.

    -Level 5 Ice Field: 1 skill point.

    -Level 4 Blink: 1 skill point.

    -You can use a total of 3 skills.]

    I spent nearly a minute checking various things. But in the meantime, the Oizuki brothers haven¡¯t attacked me at all.

    Instead, they opened their mouths, stuttering as if they were startled.

    ¡°What the heck? Why is his weapon¡­¡±

    ¡°No way¡­¡±

    When I swapped my ring with a weapon, it was inevitable that they would notice because the sword was quite big unlike my ring. And its appearance seemed to have embarrassed elder brother Oizuki who had the trait of Item Master. Of course, his younger brother was no exception.

    Anyway, I opened his mouth quietly, looking at the Oizuki brothers.

    ¡°I told you, guys. My trait is to eat cucumbers deliciously. Watch carefully how I eat cucumbers.¡±

    ¡°Oi¡± in Korean meant cucumbers, so I spat out such words as a symbol for what I was about to do to them.

    Then I charged at them first, grabbing the +5 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

 Chapter 214 - Counterattack (1)

    <h4>Chapter 214: Counterattack (1)</h4>

    Of course, I didn¡¯t know why such a message rang at this particr time. Given its contents, it should have sounded right away much earlier.

    For example, it should have rang the moment I was cursed by the Oizuki Brother¡¯s items and skills or when my 59% debuff resistance from the Forgotten Hero¡¯s Cloak and my 9 titles did not apply to them.

    However, their traits were not restrained by my 59% debuff resistance perhaps because they were not simple debuffs.

    Instead, the message about such exceptions rang only now long after I was humiliated.

    I really thought it was really unfair that the message rang sote.

    Was it a systematic error? Or purposeful dy?

    Anyway, until this message came up, I was ruthlessly beaten up without even being able to resist. So, if the administrator were next to me, I wanted to seize him by the cor and yell at him.

    Unfortunately, there was no one who had seen the administrator.

    Therefore, I needed to look for the scapegoat for my resentment, and there were two perfect targets in front of me. They were none other than the Oizuki brothers.

    I didn¡¯t look for them just because of my resentment.

    Honestly, I was envious of them.

    I have met many people with unique abilities, but none of them were more extraordinary than the Oizuki brothers. It was natural that I wanted their traits too.

    Anyway, I charged at them with mixed feelings of envy, anger and resentment.

    ¡°Blink!¡±

    Puck!

    ¡°Kheeeeeeeeek!¡±

    I was equipped with only the +5 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    But that was enough. Besides, my attack didn¡¯t end there.

    Unlike skills, I could swap items.

    So, I reced the +5 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword with the functional skill ring right away, and shouted, ¡°Ice Field! Blizzard!¡±

    Pasasasak!

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Damn it! Double Blink!¡±

    When attacked, the younger brother Oitsuki, who had the trait of Skill Master, escaped out of the striking range of Ice Field and Blizzard using Double Blink.

    ¡°Call Oizuki!¡±

    Shunuuuuug-

    His older brother Oizuki, who was clearly near me, disappeared in an instant.

    Then he immediately reappeared next to his brother.

    ¡°Whew! Sure, I know you are a Skill Master. Just use up all your skills!¡±

    Since I was already surprised enough, I wasn¡¯t surprised at all by the younger brother¡¯s ability to summon his elder brother right next to him from where he was in the center of my BLizzard¡¯s striking range.

    So, I quickly removed the functional skill ring and equipped the +5 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    At that moment the Oizuki brothers, who had escaped from my attack range, spat out some words.

    ¡°How could you attack us?¡±

    ¡°Howe you can use not only items but also skills? You couldn¡¯t do anything until now, Asirante!¡±

    I could see the shock on their faces that they could not hide at all. They were obviously startled.

    So, cing my +5 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword over my shoulders, I opened my mouth with a swagger, for the best consideration for the enemy who got confused was to confuse them even further.

    ¡°I just pretended to have suffered from your attack because you were so happy. You guys didn¡¯t take my words at face value, right¡±

    Of course, it was a lie.

    Until a moment ago I was swearing deep down because I could not have traits as good as theirs despite the fact that I was the only 3rd Closed Beta max level achiever.

    However, I did not have to reveal my frustration to the Oizuki brothers, so I replied arrogantly. ¡°Don¡¯t lie to us!¡±

    ¡°Asirante, you definitely could not resist our attack! And your frowning clearly showed you were just defenseless.¡±

    Given the Oizuki brothers¡¯ reaction, my lying strategy didn¡¯t seem to have worked.

    However, I had clear evidence to refute their reply, so I responded by flourishing the +5 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword on my shoulder.

    ¡°Then, isn¡¯t this weapon an item? What about Ice Field right here on the ground? Isn¡¯t it my skill?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Only then did the Oizuki brothers stop responding.

    But it wasn¡¯t my goal to silence them, so I opened my mouth again while gesturing with my hands.

    ¡°By the way, aren¡¯t you going to charge at me? You guys liked to attack me so much a little while ago, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    Of course, I could charge at them first. Honestly, I was going to do so until I chose Blink right after Ice Field and Blizzard.

    However, when my anger and resentment welling up from deep down subsided and I regainedposure, I thought twice about showing them my Blink with zero cooldown, for it was such a scam skill that nobody could catch or stop me.

    That was why I hid the skills from everybody except for my family until now, and I decided to disclose it after I achieved at least level 1200.

    When I reach that level, I would be strong enough not to be bothered by the obstruction of those who were jealous of me.

    Anyway, I spat out some words as if to provoke them.

    In the central battlefield where the fight between both sides stopped.

    Although the Oizuki brothers restrained Asirante magnificently, they could notugh heartily because he held out so well even with his items and skills gone just like an immortal.

    However, since Asirante could not properly counterattack, the Oizuki brothers relentlessly kept attacking him. They were about to shout victoriously when his face turned more and more gloomy over time, but he then took out the weapon all of a sudden.

    In particr, Oizuki, who possessed the trait ¡°Item Master,¡± was all the more embarrassed because he had never seen anybody cursed by his skill manage to equip an item.

    So, Oizuki even thought that perhaps the six hours that his trait applied for had finished somehow

    However, less than an hour has passed since he began to confront Asirante.

    But he became even more surprised because Asirante also used skills in addition to the item.

    As a result, his younger brother Oitsuki, who possessed the trait Skill Master, was also confused.

    Their traits¡¯ curses were broken at the same time on the same day.

    Of course, they still had other things to rely on because their traits as Item Masters and Skill Masters were very diverse.

    But the problem was that their curses, which they believed were invincible, were broken by Asirante. So theyunched all kinds of attacks as much as they could to try to kill him.

    But he withstood such attacks, and they had no choice but to get cold feet when they watched him making a e at me¡¯ gesture for another attack as if all their efforts until now was a big joke.

    In particr, the older brother Oizuki was stabbed by Asirante¡¯s weapon, and he even briefly suffered from the Ice Field and Blizzard attacks, so he was even more afraid to resume attacking Asirante.

    Although he was proud that he had better defense power than anyone else since he could synchronize his defensive armor, not to mention his weapons,, he had to admit that Asirante¡¯s attack was overwhelming beyond anyparison.

    In particr, there was still a block of ice stuck to his side after being attacked by Asirante, which he tried to remove by hand but failed.

    In the end, the Oizuki brothers helplessly looked at Asirante without daring to move recklessly.

    In the central battlefield.

    ¡°What the heck? Are you guys not going to attack me?¡± Asirante shouted.

    Tramp- Tramp-

    I could have used Blink with zero cooldown, but I walked forward instead.

    Unfortunately, Ice Field and Blizzard were still on cooldown.

    But I could fight them with +5 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword alone.

    ¡°Hey! Rise, Double Fire Wall!¡±

    As soon as the younger brother Oitsuki shouted, a huge wall of fire was created between them and me. But that wasn¡¯t enough to stop me.

    Moreover, I was now wearing the +5 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword which was imbued with the so-called determination of the Ice Emperor that even the Sun God could not melt, so I received a 30% damage reduction from fire-type skills.

    In other words, I could withstand it well from the beginning, but I could do it even better now.

    ¡°Are you scared?¡±

    So, after walking out of the wall of fire casually, I spat out words like that at the elder brother Oizuki. This time, what I said seemed to have provoked him a lot.

    ¡°Get off your high horse! I haven¡¯t shown all my power yet. Giant Lightning Spear!¡±

    Oizuki rushed to me, holding a long spear in both hands.

    Of course, his brother Oitzuki didn¡¯t stand idle.

    He also kept attacking me as if to support his brother.

    ¡°Dancing Fireworks! Double me!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    As if he intended to block my vision so I could not attack his elder brother, Oitsukiunched several fire-type attacks against me.

    However, I ignored all of his attacks because my first goal was to destroy the elder brother Oizuki with the trait of Item Master, who focused on close range attacks.

    Soon, Oizuki charged at me, swinging a huge spear with both hands.

    I struck down the tip of the spear with the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword right away.

    ng!

    Puck!

    The shing of the sword and the spear.

    But my sword was pushed back and his long spear stabbed into my side.

    It was obviously the gap in strength, which I could do nothing against.

    As a typical closebatant, he was clearly superior to me in terms of power. But unlike before, I had a number of options with which I could strike back.

 Chapter 215 - Counterattack (2)

    <h4>Chapter 215: Counterattack (2)</h4>

    counterattack 2 In the central battlefield.

    ¡°What the heck? Are you guys not going to attack me?¡± Asirante shouted.

    Tramp- Tramp-

    I could have used Blink with zero cooldown, but I walked forward instead.

    Unfortunately, Ice Field and Blizzard were still on cooldown.

    But I could fight them with +5 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword alone.

    ¡°Hey! Rise, Double Fire Wall!¡±

    As soon as the younger brother Oitsuki shouted, a huge wall of fire was created between them and me. But that wasn¡¯t enough to stop me.

    Moreover, I was now wearing the +5 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword which was imbued with the so-called determination of the Ice Emperor that even the Sun God could not melt, so I received a 30% damage reduction from fire-type skills.

    In other words, I could withstand it well from the beginning, but I could do it even better now.

    ¡°Are you scared?¡±

    So, after walking out of the wall of fire casually, I spat out words like that at the elder brother Oizuki. This time, what I said seemed to have provoked him a lot.

    ¡°Get off your high horse! I haven¡¯t shown all my power yet. Giant Lightning Spear!¡±

    Oizuki rushed to me, holding a long spear in both hands.

    Of course, his brother Oitzuki didn¡¯t stand idle.

    He also kept attacking me as if to support his brother.

    ¡°Dancing Fireworks! Double me!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    As if he intended to block my vision so I could not attack his elder brother, Oitsukiunched several fire-type attacks against me.

    However, I ignored all of his attacks because my first goal was to destroy the elder brother Oizuki with the trait of Item Master, who focused on close range attacks.

    Soon, Oizuki charged at me, swinging a huge spear with both hands.

    I struck down the tip of the spear with the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword right away.

    ng!

    Puck!

    The shing of the sword and the spear.

    But my sword was pushed back and his long spear stabbed into my side.

    It was obviously the gap in strength, which I could do nothing against.

    As a typical closebatant, he was clearly superior to me in terms of power. But unlike before, I had a number of options with which I could strike back.

    I moved back one step to remove the spear stuck in my side, then charged at him again.

    Of course, Oizuki didn¡¯t stand still.

    He again wielded the long spear to stop me from approaching him.

    ¡°Blink.¡±

    But he was too slow to stop my Blink.

    Puck!

    I stabbed into his chest with the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    Of course, he tried to attack me as well, but the downside of the long spear was that it needed some distance to show its power. That¡¯s why he could not use it this time.

    So I charged at him and kept close to him as much as possible.

    ¡°Get away from me!¡±

    ¡°Nope! If you want to get away from me, ask your brother to use Call!¡±

    I did not possess any skills or abilities rted to the sword.

    Although I didn¡¯t know how to use the sword properly, I just got close to him and kept stabbing him with the guardian sword while using Ice Field whose cooldown had just returned.

    Of course, his younger brother Oitsuki did not stop attacking me with Fire Field to smash my Ice Field.

    However, even the Skill Master could not use Call as he was also subject to cooldown restrictions.

    The more he hesitated, the more ice began to pile up on Oizuki¡¯s body, which inflicted more severe damage than a normal frostbite debuff.

    As a result, Oizuki gradually slowed down due to the umtion of frostbite.

    As if he could not stand it, Oizuki threw out the long spear and pulled out a one-handed sword.

    Then he tried to stab me right away.

    Did I avoid it or defend against it?

    I didn¡¯t.

    I used Blink a moment ago, so if I used it again, it would make him suspicious, and I wasn¡¯t agile enough to avoid it. And it was obvious that it was more effective for me to attack than to defend.

    Puck! Puck!

    As a result, we kept allowing ourselves to be stabbed by each other constantly.

    This was my first messy brawl.

    In all games, including ¡®Revival Legend¡¯, I almost always yed an ice-type wizard, and even on the rare case I didn¡¯t, I yed with a ranged type character. So I had never participated in a fight like this.

    But I wasn¡¯t too bad at it.

    Because I was afraid of dying, I chose stamina as my first stat for Mutual Growth, so I even thought that I perhaps might have subconsciously considered this sort of situation when I first decided to do so.

    Anyway, I focused on attacking Oizuki while thoroughly ignoring his brother Oitsuki¡¯s was attacking with fire-type skills from a distance. I felt I needed Blink with zero cooldown to get rid of the younger brother Oitsuki, but I didn¡¯t want to show it to the Oizuki brothers openly.

    In the Mitsuya Guild camp.

    Chairman Ryu Sechi and all the top executives who knew about the abilities of the Oizuki brothers were watching the battlefield nkly.

    ¡°How could he do that?¡± Ryu asked.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    No one could answer his question because this was the first time that the curses of the Oizuki brothers had been broken.

    Of course, they were quick-witted enough to discern that Asirante was different from how he was in the past. But although he had tremendous defense power, Asirante was still an ice-based wizard.

    However, they found it hard to simply regard him as an ice-type wizard.

    [Oizuki: Asirante¡¯s physical damage¡­!]

    Chairman Ryu Sechi as well as the top executives were in a party with the Oizuki brothers. So, they could see at a nce that Oizuki¡¯s health was draining.

    Moreover, Oizuki had already synchronized his defense armor.

    ¡°It¡¯s crazy. This is really crazy.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    As expected, no one responded to Chairman Ryu Sechi¡¯s words because it was impossible for them to exin the way Asirante was fighting the Oizuki brothers.

    After watching the three fighting on the central battlefield, Chairman Ryu finally gave the order for the Oizuki brothers to retreat immediately.

    Of course, what that meant was that Ryu admitted defeat not only in the prelude to the main fight but also in the war for momentum for future fights

    Given the penalties embedded in the Oizuki brothers¡¯ traits, however, Chairman Ryu could not allow them to be killed on the battlefield.

    The first day¡¯s battle ended like that.

    In other words, Japan and the Mitsuya Guild were defeated.

    ***

    ¡°Yeah, so I could not wear any items, not to mention using any skills.¡±

    When my family and Director Sok gathered together in the evening, I told them what happened to me on the battlefield during the day. They looked really startled at my words.

    Of course, I could understand their reaction because the Item Master and Skill Master traits were really ridiculous.

    At that moment, my sister opened her mouth.

    ¡°But Juyoung, you¡­¡±.

    But I nodded and replied because I knew what she was trying to say.

    ¡°Yeah, I did use them. Exactly one item and three skills.¡±

 Chapter 216 - Counterattack (3)

    <h4>Chapter 216: Counterattack (3)</h4>

    As a matter of fact, everyone here knew that I obtained the essory expansion charm during the Salimaru Bandits quest and received 3 skill points from achieving the max level in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Closed Betas. They also knew I obtained the limited skill ¡®Savant¡¯ and two skill points during my forced exile to Region 0 by Pablo. So I told them about all that I went through in the fight with the Oizuki brothers.

    ¡°But why did you pretend to have been attacked so helplessly at first?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    As a matter of fact, everyone here knew that I obtained the essory expansion charm during the Salimaru Bandits quest and received 3 skill points from achieving the max level in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Closed Betas. They also knew I obtained the limited skill ¡®Savant¡¯ and two skill points during my forced exile to Region 0 by Pablo. So I told them about all that I went through in the fight with the Oizuki brothers.

    ¡°But why did you pretend to have been attacked so helplessly at first?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I didn¡¯t pretend. I was actually beaten up a lot.

    So I exined to them again that the message rang veryte, so I was really beaten up during the initial and mid-stage of the fight.

    Anyway, I confessed to my family and Director Sok what happened to me in the battle because they needed to know about it.

    Moreover, the Myongjin Guild wasn¡¯t the only one dealing with the Mitsuya Guild.

    The Myongjin Guild had an alliance with the Mirae Guild.

    Since we had to inform them about what happened, our meeting continued another one hour.

    Of course, my family and Director Sok would decide how much they would share with the Mirae Guild.

    That night I had nothing to do because I won the key fight that was like a proxy war between the two forces.

    However, I couldn¡¯t log out easily.

    ¡°Check the item window. Check the skill window.¡±

    Instead, I checked the item window and skill window again and again.

    [List of current items.

    -Weapon

    : +5 Ice Emperor Guardian Sword. (Myth)

    -Armor

    : +3 Forest Guardian¡¯s Mithril Helm. (Legend)

    : +3 Forest Guardian¡¯s Mithril Armor. (Legend)

    :

    : +0 Forgotten Hero¡¯s Cloak. (Myth)

    -essories

    : +0 Functional Skill Ring. (Legend)

    :

    : +5 Sacred Permanent Snow Spirit Earrings. (Legend)

    : +5 Sacred Permanent Snow Spirit Ne. (Legend)]

    [List of current skills.

    Level 3 Ice Ball. (Level 1, 2, 3)Level 3 Ice Bolt. (Level 1, 2, 3)Level 3 Ice Weapon. (Level 1, 2, 3)

    :

    :

    <ol start=¡±17¡å>

    Savant. (Limited Skill)

    Ice-type skill damage increase. (Passive)

    Level 6 Ice Wave. (Level 6, 8)

    Level 9 Blizzard. (Level 7, 9)

    : Currently, Blizzard is level 9 to the effect of the functional skill ring.]

    My item window and skill window returned to normal after exactly 6 hours.

    I was fully satisfied after finding out that the traits of the Oizuki brothers were not permanent, but only valid for six hours. But I still had some concerns.

    Namely, the timing of the previous message.

    In other words, I didn¡¯t even think about avoiding their traits from the beginning.

    At first nce, I could immediately discover that they were the secret weapon that the Mitsuya Guild had kept to use against me.

    What I wanted though was the message to ring quickly.

    If it rang after almost 30 minutes like it did today, I would be helplessly exposed to the opponent¡¯s attack for 30 minutes.

    However, no matter how hard I agonized over it, I could not find the solution.

    ¡°Whew. Let me just take a rest tonight.¡±

    It seemed that I could find the answer tomorrow after confronting them again.

    The moment I was going to log out and take a break, I received a message from Bora Yon, who I bumped into during the day.

    [Kali: What are you doing?]

    [Lumen: I¡¯m hunting.]

    I replied without any hesitation to her question.

    Well, I felt like I was burying my head in the sand.

    However, I made up my mind to be brazen, so I didn¡¯t feel any remorse while lying to her.

    [Kali: Are you sure? Even though Myongjin is fighting against the Japanese Mitsuya Guild, you are hunting?]

    [Lumen: That¡¯s why I should hunt more. Even if I got involved, I would not be of any help to them. So, it¡¯s better for me to level up by hunting more¡­]

    While I was talking to her, I felt my excuses were poor.

    So, I stopped talking without finishing what I had to say.

    However, she responded right as if she read my mind.

    [Kali: Yeah, that makes sense. By the way, Myongjin won today with its own power.]

    [Lumen: Oh, I also checked it while hunting.]

    [Kali: Really? Then you must have seen Asirante¡¯s performance. He was awesome! He not only turned the tide in favor of Myongjin, but also made his enemies retreat. But In thetter half of the fight, he showed some strange behavior.]

    [Lumen: You bet. ]

    No matter how determined I was to behave shamelessly, it was really hard for me to keep lying to her who was convinced that I was Asirante.

    But I could not confide in her at this point just because I felt guilty.

    Anyway, I parted with her with the excuse that I was busy hunting, and she encouraged me to keep hunting.

    ¡°Hmm¡­is she trying to pressure me to reveal my identity as soon as possible?¡¯

    Somehow I felt like that.

    Anyway, after logging out, I fell asleep.

    Eventually, I couldn¡¯t find the solution to the message timing. But if the exceptional message rang 30 minuteste like it did today, I was going to stay away for 30 minutes in the rear.

    Since this was not an event, nor a quest, I was content with just winning. I didn¡¯t want to show off all my strength for the victory.

    Of course, I intend to win unconditionally.

    In the central battlefield the next day.

    Yesterday, I just stayed put in one corner of the battlefield before fighting.

    And no one doubted me because I had already withdrawn from Daeyu and joined Myongjin.

    Besides, there were tens of thousands of Myongjin yers here, let alone the Mirae yers. However, because my identity was revealed during my battle yesterday, they arranged a seat for me at the head table reserved for Myongjin¡¯s top executives.

    It was toote for me to conceal my identity. Since I didn¡¯t have to hide it anymore, I moved to my seat. Of course, no one talked to me because my father, the chairman of Myongjin, and my elder brother and sister, the top executives, as well as Director Sok, pretended not to know me.

    A littleter, a group of people, including Chairman Ryu Sechi stepped forward from the other side.

    Chairman Ryu opened his mouth with a loud voice.

    ¡°I think our prelude battle was great yesterday. How about we fight it out again today?¡±

    ¡°Sounds good.¡±

    After that, my father and Ryu talked a little more, but I turned my gaze at the Oizuki brothers behind him. Since they were also watching me, our eyes met.

    I smiled at them briefly because it was me who beat them yesterday.

    The main fight began immediately.

 Chapter 217 - Counterattack (4)

    <h4>Chapter 217: Counterattack (4)</h4>

    ¡°Bind them! Iron Shackles!¡±

    ¡°My body will be solid steel!¡±

    ¡°Muddy Land!¡±

    ¡°Chain Lightning.¡±

    ¡°Breath of Destruction.¡±

    :

    :

    ¡°Solid Earth Spear!¡±

    ¡°Biting Wind!¡±

    ¡°Burning Whip!¡±

    ¡°Biting Wind¡¯s Spirit Attack!¡±

    As Chairman Ryu Sechi said, the battle yesterday was only a prelude to the main fight.

    Therefore, today both sides fielded their main forces.

    On the central battlefield there was fiercebat going on between 40,000 members of the Mitsuya Guild and 50,000 of the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance.

    More precisely, 40,000 Mitsuya Guild members vs 30,000 Myongjin and 20,000 Mirae members. However, since this battle was clearly led by Myongjin, nobody took issue with the fact that there were more Myongjin members fieldedpared to Mirae

    Anyway, this was a battle involving a total of 90,000 members.

    Both sides killed and were killed constantly, but there was no tangible decrease in the overall number ofbatants because there were simply too many.

    Although the main battle just started, I messaged my father as I wanted to go and fight right now.

    Of course, it wasn¡¯t because I was anxious to fight. Unlikemonster hunting that rewarded me with EXP and misceneous items, what I got from killing users was only an increase in the number of kills by +1.

    However, I thought it would be better for me to step out first because if I was dispatched during a crucial stage of the battle and the exceptional message rand 30 minuteste like yesterday, I would be in big trouble. It was better to step out now and wait out the possible 30 minute timer while the situation was not so serious.

    My father agreed, so I finally stepped onto the central battlefield.

    Tramp- Tramp-

    Obviously, I stepped forward like I did yesterday.

    However, unlike yesterday, everybody including the enemies paid attention to me. Following my footsteps, two people from the enemy camp slowly walked toward me.

    They were the Oizuki brothers.

    Anyway, we were approaching each other gradually.

    Despite the fierce battle going on with no clear distinction between friend or foe, they all split like the Red Sea and made way for us.

    In no time I confronted the Oizuki brothers.

    At that moment, a message that I didn¡¯t want rang.

    [Trait: You can¡¯t wear items due to the curse of the Item Master.]

    [Trait: You can¡¯t use your skills due to the curse of the Skill Master.]

    No matter how much I thought about it, this was a scam.

    Although I expected such a message, I found myself letting out a helpless sigh.

    But before I sighed again, however, another message rang.

    [Trait: There is a space for an item that escapes the curse of the Item Master.

    -Ring.

    :]

    [Trait: There are skills and skill points that escape the curse of the Skill Master.

    -Limited skill ¡®Savant,¡¯ 5 skill points.

    :]

    ¡°Hahahaha.¡±

    I had no choice but to smile at the unexpected message.

    At the same time, I quietly opened my mouth.

    ¡°Blink. Ice Field. Blizzard.¡±

    [You have chosen Blink, Ice Field, and Blizzard.]

    And I was not done yet.

    ¡°Use Savant.¡±

    [Currently, among the strength, agility, stamina, willpower, and intellect that Lumen, Asirante has, the most outstanding stat is intellect.

    -Current Intellect: 28607.

    -For 30 minutes, your intellect will be changed to 57214.

    -After this 30 minute period ends, Savant will go on a 10 day cooldown.]

    I used Savant which I didn¡¯t use yesterday.

    After that, I charged at them using Blink.

    Right at the Oizuki brothers?

    No, this time I charged at tens of thousands of enemies because I thought I didn¡¯t have to deal with the Oizuki brothers by myself.

    Even if my items and skills were cursed by them, I was confident of beating them easily if both of us could move freely. Especially as I currently possessed 57,000 intellect and level 9 Blizzard.

    ¡°Ice Field! Blizzard!¡±

    Pasasasak!

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Ugh!¡±

    ¡°What the heck!¡±

    ¡°Why did he attack us?¡±

    Obviously, the enemies thought I would fight the Oizuki brothers first.

    After watching me appear in their midst using Blink, they let out shockedints instead of attacking me.

    But they had to avoid me first to survive. Of course, it was toote.

    ¡°Damn it! The damage is so huge¡­¡±

    ¡°Kheeeeeeek!

    ¡°Heal! Heal!¡±

    The healers, enchanters, as well as the damage dealers began to fall.

    Of course, I was not content with watching them copse because unlike my skills, I could swap my items.

    Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Kheeeeeeeeeel!¡±

    Kuckkkkkkk!¡±

    Those who were already in the striking range of my Ice Field and Blizzard copsed.

    I didn¡¯t have to use them twice. Furthermore, the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword already had level 3 Ice Weapon imbued in it.

    A few minutester.

    There were some other enemies who charged at me.

    ¡°Are you running away?¡±

    ¡°We are your rival, Asirante!¡±

    They were the Oizuki brothers.

    So, I kindly replied to them, ¡°Yep, I¡¯m running away. And I¡¯ll keep running because it is a foul with me being affected by your curses like this. By the way¡­¡±

    While pointing the +5 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword at them, I spoke to them seriously this time.

    ¡°Are you confident in beating me? If you don¡¯t run away like yesterday, I will fight you.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Obviously, I was the winner of yesterday¡¯s fight.

    It was the Oizuki brothers who retreated.

    Perhaps that¡¯s why they suddenly stopped while charging at me arrogantly.

    ¡°What the heck? Are you guys scared of me?¡±

    After that, I did not provoke them any more because at least until the retention time of Savant expired, my main enemies were the countless enemies.

    Anyway, I used Ice Field and Blizzard while prating into the enemy camp using Blink.

    I also swung +5 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword on and off.

    Of course, the Oizuki brothers didn¡¯t sit idle. They kept attacking the yers of the Myongjin and Mirae Alliance constantly.

    In particr, the younger brother Oitsuki, who possessed the trait of Skill Master,unched a series of powerful attacks. Of course, he was not as strong as me.

    As time passed, the gap in strength between both forces grew bigger and bigger.

    At the Mitsuya Guild one hourter.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    Chairman Ryu sighed while watching the central battlefield.

    Of course, the battle was still going fiercely.

    In particr, Asirante, who used to show off mighty power, had noticeably weakened. Nheless, he still had a monstrous power.

    Of course, Chairman Ryu set a trap to capture Asirante by aiming at Blink¡¯s loophole. But he failed.

    Kimoshita, the head of the intelligence department, approached him and opened his mouth.

    ¡°In order to catch Asirante, I think we need not only the item and skill masters but the stat master as well.¡±

    ¡°What you mean is that it¡¯s not enough to cut off his arms and legs.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir. Of course, we haven¡¯t yet cut off his arms and legs properly.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Chairman Ryu did not show any reaction.

    Then he slowly opened his mouth.

    ¡°We have lost this time. Let¡¯s retreat. Myongjin probably won¡¯t chase us because they don¡¯t want to escte the fight.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    In the end, Chairman Ryu admitted his defeat and ordered a retreat, greatly regretting he underestimated Asirante, not to mention the Myongjin and Mirae Alliance.

 Chapter 218 - Last Limited Quest (1)

    <h4>Chapter 218: Last Limited Quest (1)</h4>

    Obviously, this battle wasn¡¯t a battle where both sides bet everything they had.

    So the Myongjin and Mirae Alliance did not chase the retreating Mitsuya Guild members.

    If we had blocked even their retreat, the Mitsuya Guild would certainly have fought us to the death, which was not what we wanted.

    Of course, even though we did not rout the retreating enemies, it was clear that we won the battle.

    At that moment, a tremendous shout poured out from the Myongjin and Mirae Alliance members.

    Aside from their victory, they were quite proud of the fact that they defeated Japan.

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    ¡°We won!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve beaten Japan!¡±

    ¡°Hurray!¡±

    ¡°Long live the Myongjin Guild! Long Live the Mirae Guild!¡±

    ¡°Long live Asirante!¡±

    Perhaps because Japan was the enemy they defeated, their shout of joy gradually gave way to shouts of Long Live!.

    They not only cheered for Myongjin and Mirae but also for my ID Asrante.

    And their cheers continued into the party hosted by the Myongjin Guild.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t want to attend the party.

    However, Myongjin won the first victory after joining hands with Mirae and since I was the MVP who led the alliance to victory, I had no choice but to appear at the party for my family and the Myongjin Guild.

    What did I do after that?

    Of course, I moved immediately to the Cunning Vampire Garrison in Mongolia.

    [You have moved to the Cunning Vampire Garrison.]

    ¡°Oh! Asirante!¡±

    ¡°Wee!¡±

    I really liked this hunting ground.

    Therefore, the Cunning Vampire post was thoroughly monitored by 100 security guards from Myongjin for 24 hours everyday. Besides, Myongjin widely publicized that this hunting ground belonged to them to deter other guilds.

    Of course, the guards know that this is my exclusive hunting ground because I have already told my family and Director Sok that this is my favorite hunting ground.

    I already told my family as well as Director Sok that this is the best hunting ground for me.

    Moreover, I was now affiliated with the Myongin Guild.

    Perhaps that¡¯s why the security guards at the gate greeted me very enthusiastically.

    ¡°Yeah. Hello.¡±

    I also returned their greetings.

    After exchanging a few more words with them, I moved into the hunting grounds.

    Shunnnnnnng. Shunnnnnnnnnnng. Shunnnnnnnnng.

    Shortly afterward, I found the cunning vampires, and as expected, they teleported next to me right away as soon as they noticed me.

    Of course, they attacked me right after they approached.

    ¡°Blood Curse!¡±

    ¡°Blood Explosion!¡±

    ¡°Blood Storm!¡±

    ¡°Blood Suck!¡±

    The cunning vampiresunched all kinds of attacks, including debuffs, against me.

    But when the vampires who escaped from me previously charged at me once again, I could not help but burst intoughter.

    Of course, since I was not content with attacking only a few of them, I moved around using Blink into ces where there were many cunning vampires.

    Of course, numerous vampires around me approached me without knowing they would be ughtered.

    Using Blink several times, I herded over 100 vampires and used one skill to kill them right away.

    ¡°Blizzard!¡±

    Wheeeeeeeeeeng.

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Because I had already confirmed that I could get rid of the monsters using only level 9 Blizzard without creating an ice terrain with Ice Field during my previous hunts, I used Blizzard only this time.

    ¡°Kheeeeeeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Kk!¡±

    ¡°Blood Suck!¡±

    ¡°Blood Suck!¡±

    While screaming like level 1200 monsters, they used the Blood Suck skill like before, but it didn;t have the same effect as before. In other words, they died in one shot before their skill came into y.

    And there rang a message that always pleased my ears.

    [You have leveled up.]

    ¡°Alright! The hunting ground should be like this!¡±

    Of course, if I keep hunting like this, I will sooner orter hear a message announcing that I have been recognized as a predator again. But I was very satisfied with the oue anyway.

    Anyway, with a gigantic smile on my face, I continued hunting vampires.

    Besides, I would reach level 900 pretty soon.

    While Juyoung Hong, or Asirante was busy hunting in the Cunning Vampire Garrison, the major guilds in the United States, China, and Russia carefully watched the battle between the Mitsuya Guild and the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance.

    In their eyes, the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance was clearly a force representing Korea, while the Mitsuya Guild was also a guild that dominated Japan.

    Of course, the bigger reason why they paid attention to the fight was because of Asirante.

    Nheless, most of them agreed that the oue of the fight would be too close to call because the Mitsuya Guild was very formidable.

    And it was the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance that won the fight.

    The rtively easy victory of the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance made those watching the fight closely ponder over various things.

    In particr, the Chinese Yanghwa Guild, which had some connections with Asirante, examined the situation from various aspects.

    At the Yanghwa Group¡¯s Headquarters in Shanghai, China.

    ¡°Lol. Serves them right!¡±

    Chairman Jiang Chiangrin burst into a loudughter while watching through the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance defeat the Mitsuya Guild through the Memory Beads because the Mitsuya Group gave him a big headache in reality.

    Of course, he just didn¡¯t sneer at the Mitsuya Guild because the two new guys they revealed were extraordinary. Unfortunately, they were matched up against Ainte.

    ¡°Obviously, Chairman Ryu Sechi has people to rely on!¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir. It looks like those two guys are Chairman Ryu¡¯s hidden card. In particr, the two seem to have the ability to directly affect their opponent¡¯s items and skills. Aside from such capabilities, they are also formidable yers.¡±

    The Yangwha Group members were intelligent, so they could easily infer the abilities of the extraordinary yers of the Mitsuya Guild as well as Asirante who repeatedly switched his weapons while using only three skills unlike before.

    Aside from their fantastic abilities, on the second day, the two from the Mitsuya Guild showed tremendous power against general users.

    ¡°By the way, it¡¯s probably a temporary move that Asirante withdrew from Daeyu and joined Myongjin, right? For example, as a mercenary.¡±

    Since Chairman Jiang used all kinds of methods to recruit Asirante through Daeyu, he had no choice but to pay extreme attention to Asirante¡¯s joining the Myongjin after parting with Daeyu.

    In particr, he even handed over 10 billion golden rings to win over Asirante.

    ¡°Well, even Daeyu has failed to give us a clear answer. They just exined that Asirante did not inform them in advance.¡±

    Bang!

    In response to Strategy Head Guo Ching¡¯s reply, Chairman Jiang yelled, striking down the table, ¡°What the heck are you talking about?¡±

    Of course, the two yers of the Mitsuya Guild were terrific, but Asirante was much stronger than them. Especially his attack with Blizzard.

    Chairman Jiang also had one functional skill ring within the Yanghwa Guild.

    So he was sure that it was a level 9 Blizzard.

    But its majestic attack power was different.

    Moreover, Asirante¡¯s limited skill Savant was also worth noticing.

    Asirante prated into the center of the enemy camp without fear using Blink.

    In the video through the Memory Beads, Chairman Jiang could confirm that Chairman Ryu set a trap to catch Asirante. He hid damage dealers in the center of his camp to ambush Asirante as soon as he appeared.

    General dealer? No, even tanks armed with all kinds of debuff resistance would not be able to withstand such an attack even for a moment.

    But Asirante survived all the attacks, as if he was confident that such attacks would never inflict any damage to him.

 Chapter 219 - Last Limited Quest (2)

    <h4>Chapter 219: Last Limited Quest (2)</h4>

    And after that, Asirante counterattacked them.

    And all the healers, enchanters, and damage dealers inevitably faced the same result.

    They were all killed without exception.

    Chairman Jiang could not help but covet Asirante more eagerly recently because the regions that merged with China were India and Vietnam. What¡¯s more, China had the most userspared to other regions.

    As a result, China advanced directly to Vietnam and indiscriminately took over the hunting grounds and cities upied by the Vietnamese Guilds.

    This wasn¡¯t a war involving actual guns, cannons, and missiles, so nobody bothered about China¡¯s invasion.

    The Yanghwa Guild representing the Shanghai Group, the Chinese government representing The Princelings led by President Xi, and the Hwashin Guild protected by the Communist Youth Party were satisfied with the situation up to this point.

    However, Vietnam, which was beaten up by China helplessly, reached out to India as thest resort.

    At first, the Yanghwa Guild, the Chinese government, and the Hwashin Guild ignored India.

    But soon they had to change their mind because India, which they ignored and intended to invade right after Vietnam, was much stronger than they thought, and had a huge army that they could not ignore.

    Moreover, Vietnampletely relied on India.

    The fight among them turned into something like China vs India and Vietnam, and it was stuck in a stalemate with no signs of ending.

    Of course, China could win the fight against the India and Vietnam alliance. But they needed to focus on hunting rather than fighting right now,, for they were obsessed with achieving level 1200 and collecting coins or golden rings because monsters had now appeared in reality. In such a situation, they badly needed Asirante, who was strong enough to destroy even tens of thousands of troops by himself.

    Obviously, India must covet Asirante very much as well because they too clearly watched the battle between the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance and the Mitsuya Guild.

    ¡°Get in touch with Asirante through Daeyu by all means!¡±

    ¡°Understood, sir!¡±

    Anyway, there wererge and small fights involving not only Korea and Japan, but also China, Vietnam and India where their regions werebined because it was inevitable for them toe into conflict over hegemony.

    At the Cunning Vampire Garrison.

    While hunting, I was a little nervous because I was worried that the message announcing that I was affected by the Predator Status would ring soon. .

    Fortunately, another message rang before the predator message.

    [You have leveled up.]

    Of course, it was a familiar message to me.

    However, it was pretty special to me because it was a message that announced that I had reached level 900.

    A series of other messages rang after that.

    [Congrattions on reaching level 900.

    -By reaching level 900, you will be given the limited quest ¡®Last Greed.¡¯]

    I could not proceed with the level 700 only quest because I was robbed of it by Yosif who had the trait of Quest Robber. Although I had lots of regrets about it, I wasn¡¯t frustrated that much because I obtained more than I thought by killing Yosif myself.

    Moreover, I was so relieved that I was not robbed of this ¡®Last Greed¡¯ quest since it was thest of the five limited quests at level 100, level 300, level 500, level 700, and level 900.

    So I clicked thisst limited quest.

    [The level 900 limited quest ¡® Last Greed¡¯.

    -Last Greed is thest limited quest out of a total of five limited quests.

    *You can challenge it with themand, ¡®level 900 limited quest challenge¡¯, and you will immediately be transferred to ¡®the Land of Endless Greed.¡¯

    ¡®The Land of Endless Greed¡¯ is a very expansive ce, and as you move further from the starting point, there will be more valuable and coveted items and goods.

    Of course, there is a time limit of 24 hours.

    So, you can move as far as you want during the 24 hours and then return to the starting point.

    The farther you move away from the starting point, the higher percentage achievement rate you will achieve. The achievement rate will determine the percentage of acquired items and goods that you get to keep at the end of the 24 hour period..

    For example, if you have acquired one million golden rings and 100 remaining stat points while you are moving with an achievement rate of 10%, you will receive 100,000 golden rings and 10 remaining stat points.

    In addition, the achievement rate will also determine the final rewards you will achieve.

    However, if you fail toe back to the starting point within 24 hours or die while moving,

    you will not receive anypensation.

    Since this is thest limited quest, please satisfy your greed as much as possible.]

    Of course, I already knew about the limited quest since I was a direct descendant of the Myongjin Groups¡¯ Chairman.

    First of all, this limited quest had quite impressive extra rewards.

    I heard that one could acquire not only golden rings and coins, but remaining stat points and skill points as well.

    It¡¯s also rumored that some guys obtained not only legendary grade random boxes but myth grade random boxes as well. But allegedly none of them got to retain them at the end because of the achievement rate.

    Obviously, it is impossible to split an item into 10% or 20%.

    If you obtain one or two skill points and your achievement rate is 10% or 20%, you will not be able to acquire even one skill point at the end. In other words, unless you achieve 100%, all you can receive is golden rings, EXP, misceneous items, coins, and remaining stat points.

    Of course, these are simply extra rewards because the real final reward is dependent on the achievement rate.

    ¡®Hmm¡­ is 100% achievement possible?¡¯

    ording to the message, the participant was encouraged to maximize his greed because this was thest limited quest, but nobody seeded in clearing this quest even if they had endless greed.

    However, the problem was that this sort of thinking could make them obsessive to the point that they seemed enchanted or cursed, and may end up making them fail the quest.

    Of course, there were some who got good results in the quest.

    Anyway, I refreshed my determination as soon as I confirmed the message.

    ¡°Alright. Let me be greedy as much as possible even if I fail!¡±

    I might fail the quest, and that too with the achievement rate of over 90%, unfortunately

    Nevertheless, I wanted to challenge it and proceed to the end.

    By nature, I don¡¯t like to gamble very much, but at my current level, I¡¯m willing to take the risk of failure for once.

    Of course, if I can obtain some very good rewards while moving, I¡¯m willing to stop right there and return to the start point.

    Given my current level, I would be satisfied with even small gains instead of a jackpot like others because I basically had too many items.

    Anyway, that day, I logged out and took a break because it was essential that I was well rested before the challenge. The next day I was still staying in the Myongjin Shelter in Gangwon Province along with my mother and sister.

    What happened in the Taj Mahal, India, which I thought was the starting point of the world¡¯s destruction, disappeared as if nothing happened, and society was still functioning as normal. But there was now that such an event would not happen in the middle of Seoul right now.

    And I knew that something simr to the situation in India was happening now, although it was not yet fully revealed.

 Chapter 220 - Last Limited Quest (3)

    <h4>Chapter 220: Last Limited Quest (3)</h4>

    Anyway, while having breakfast with my mom and sister, I opened my mouth first.

    ¡°I reached level 900 yesterday. So I¡¯m going to proceed with thest limited quest after breakfast.¡±

    When I replied, my sister stopped eating and asked back in amazement.

    ¡°What? You want to do it now?¡±

    ¡°Yep!¡±

    Of course, I previously calcted by which date I would receive a certain level after considering the speed of my leveling.

    Given the number of coins I had and my powerful abilities in game, it was inevitably Myongjin¡¯s top priority for me to reach level 1200 as soon as possible.

    My sister had also checked my calctions, and was very surprised by the benchmarks I set..

    But now I have reached level 900 faster than my initial calction.

    Just several days faster? No, many more days faster than that.

    Of course, there was a reason why I could achieve it so fast.

    It¡¯s because of the Cunning Vampire Garrison. My previous calction did not take it into ount

    Anyway, I boasted of my new level to my mother and sister.

    At that moment my sister, who was very surprised, donned a serious expression and asked, ¡°Really? Well, in that case, you can see me only after you log out because I will be level 1200 by then.¡±

    ¡°What? Are you sure?¡±

    This time I could not help but be surprised because I was also privy to the calctions along with my family members about when they would reach level 1200. And all of us thought that

    my sister had to wait a little longer to reach level 1200.

    ¡°Hahaha, brother. As you know, I hate losing. If you look at my capabilities, don¡¯t you think I should be the first to achieve level 1200 among our family members?¡±

    My sister boasted before me just like I did before.

    Anyway, I had breakfast with my family, with my sister boasting of her achievement during the meal.

    She even urged Mom to strive more.

    ¡°Mom! Even you should quickly reach level 1200! After I achieve level 1200, remember you will keep hunting with me in the undead forest for 12 hours or even 20 hours a day.¡±

    My mother chose a healer character in the game.

    As with all healers, the fastest way of leveling up was to attack undead monsters with the heal skill which dealt damage to them. That was what my sister was mentioning

    My mother nodded at my sister¡¯s strong urges, and I stood up, watching them with a smile. Deep down, I was imagining my mother telling me, ¡®Son, I will heal you, so trust me!¡¯

    At Kotum Castle.

    I didn¡¯t have to visit Kotum Castle again, for I was supposed to move to the ce called the ¡®Land of Endless Greed¡¯ if I wanted to proceed with the level 900 limited quest.

    Nheless, I moved to Kotum Castle because this was the ce where I first set foot during the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Closed Betas as well as the main game ¡®Revival Legend.¡¯

    In other words, it was like my hometown.

    I opened my mouth quietly because I was fully ready for hunting now.

    ¡°Challenge the level 900 limited quest.¡±

    Then a message rang.

    [You are qualified to challenge the level 900 limited quest.

    -You are now being moved to the Land of Endless Greed.]

    At the same time the message finished, I felt like I was being dragged somewhere, and I soon faced a vast barrennd.

    I had no choice but to frown at it.

    ¡°Why did they take me to this desert?¡±

    As a matter of fact, the quest briefly mentioned the ce as a very vast ce, but didn¡¯t give any details. But there were meant to be several terrains here.

    For example, grasnd areas, rocky terrains, ice terrains, and even swamp areas.

    Along with the swamps, the desert terrain was always singled out as the worst terrain.

    Of course, since I had Blink with zero cooldown, this kind of rough terrain did not matter to me at all. If I could use Blink with zero cooldown, I was confident in achieving a100% achievement rate under any circumstances.

    While I was thinking about it, several messages rang one after another.

    [Wee to the Land of Endless Greed where you can satisfy yourst greed.

    -There exists an achievement rate in the ¡®Land of Endless Greed¡¯ which gradually increases ording to the distance you traveled.

    Of course, while moving, you can acquire gold, coins, EXP, and remaining stat points through monsters, boxes or traps.

    What proportion of the acquired goods you receive at the end of the quest of the acquired items will be dependent on your final achievement rate

    :

    :]

    It was a detailed exnation of what I already confirmed yesterday.

    At that end of it another message rang, which didn¡¯t appear yesterday.

    [For fairness, you cannot use any movement skills in the ¡®Land of Endless Greed¡¯.

    Then, we hope that you can satisfy your greed as much as possible during thest limited quest.]

    ¡°Damn it. What¡¯s the use of this kind of fairness? Wizards invest all their stats in Intellect, so their stamina is usually much lowerpared to physical or melee fighters.¡±

    Of course, Blink is also a movement skill. In other words, I could not use it here.

    But I tried it just in case.

    ¡°Blink!¡±

    [You cannot use Blink here.]

    Of course, I was wondering whether I could simply ssify myself as a wizard, but I was a little offended by the fact that Icould not use Blink with zero cooldown anyway.

    Anyway, I finally confirmed my status window in the upper left corner.

    [Lumen, Asirante¡¯s current status.

    -Current achievement rate: 0.00%

    -Remaining time: 24: 00: 00]

    ¡°Whew!¡±

    I took a deep breath, then exhaled and set foot in the desert.

    While Juyoung Hong, or Asirante, was busy proceeding with the level 900 limited quest,

    powerful countries such as the United States and China with knowledge of ¡°Revival Legend¡± gathered together to form a new organization.

    What they formed was a new international organization called the NW (New World).

    The conditions for joining the NW were simple, namely the approval of more than two-thirds of the NW member states.

    However, Korea did not need to apply to join because it was one of the founding members of NW.

    Korea certainly did not stand out in the past. But they won the 4th anniversary event, and even beat Japan recently. Besides, it was a country that has the most famous user, Asirante, so none of the member countries raised any objection to Korea joining NW as one of its founding members. Of course, the United States and China yed a big role.

    In the NW conference room.

    ¡°Last week, 245 giant vampire bats appeared in Victoria Square, Saudad in Mexico. Over 1,500 people were killed, and we have no idea how long we can block the news about it from leaking out to other countries.¡±

    ¡°Yesterday, a group of Red Rake Orcs appeared in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. It was confirmed via satellite imaging that it was a group of orcsprising nearly 10,000, including chiefs and shamans, as well as warriors.¡±

    The world had not been quiet since the incident in the Taj Mahal, India some time ago.

    But the subsequent incidents had been keptpletely under wraps until now.

    However, every member country of NW knew that they could no longer hide these terrible incidents from other countries because monsters were appearing more and more frequently.

    To make matters worse, they appeared not as individuals, but in groups.

 Chapter 221 - Last Limited Quest (4)

    <h4>Chapter 221: Last Limited Quest (4)</h4>

    Of course, the United States, the current chairman of the NW, knows that monsters were not the end of this phenomenon. But they kept quiet about it.

    They concluded that it was better for power to be concentrated, not dispersed, so it was essential for member countries to experience some proper hardship for such purposes.

    In any case, the NW¡¯s meeting was filled with only pessimistic views without any workable solution.

    Obviously, the continuing appearance of monsters made them conclude that they can¡¯t hide it any longer, but the participating members in today¡¯s NW conference have been preparing for such a scenario for several years, and they have been able to suppress the monsters so far with modern weapons.

    Perhaps that was why the 2nd regr meeting of the NW ended without any good solution.

    At the Land of Endless Greed.

    I kept running ahead, leaving behind the endless sand.

    And soon I encountered monsters in the desert, but they were undead monsters that didn¡¯t fit the desert terrain at all. They were low-level general skeleton monsters.

    ¡°Ice Spear! Multiple Ice Arrow!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Pasasasak!

    I didn¡¯t even need AOE skills, so I used a single target skill. The three skeleton monsters copsed helplessly, not even able to respond to my attack.

    At the same time, a message rang.

    [You have killed Skeleton Monster 1.

    -You have acquired 100,000 golden rings.

    -They are stored temporarily, and some will be obtained proportionally to your final achievement rate.]

    [You have killed Skeleton Monster 2.

    -You have acquired 2 remaining stat points.

    -They are stored temporarily¡­]

    [You have killed Skeleton Monster 3.

    -You have acquired 500,000 EXP.

    ¨C They are stored temporarily¡­]

    I earned enormous rewards by simply killing the skeleton monsters.

    At the moment, I thought that I might fail to clear this level 900 limited quest, blinded by these kinds of rewards.

    However, I soon shook my head because unless one was stupid, they clearly knew that they would only be able to keep this kind of reward only if they returned to the starting point within 24 hours. The message also made it clear that any rewards were only being stored temporarily.

    But then another message rang.

    [The Forgotten Hero¡¯s Cloak fails to defend.

    -Your greed has increased from killing Skeleton 1.]

    [The Forgotten Hero¡¯s Cloak seeds in defense.

    -Your greed has not increased by 1 even though you killed Skeleton 2.]

    [The Forgotten Hero¡¯s Cloak seeds in defense.

    -Your greed has not increased by 1 even though you killed Skeleton 3.]

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    I didn¡¯t know this. No one told me about it. Obviously, no one knew about it.

    The corrtion between greed and the Forgotten Hero¡¯s Cloak.

    My greed was checked by the Forgotten Hero¡¯s Cloak, but unlike other debuffs, my willpower did note into y at all. So it meant that the other did not know that there was a greed debuff.

    ¡°That¡¯s why most of them failed. Even though they knew they had to go back, they became more and more greedy before ending up failing at the end of the day.¡±

    Anyway, I felt really good because I felt like I discovered something like a hidden secret.

    Anyway, I moved further forward because my achievement rate was still not even 1%.

    One hourter, I didn¡¯t meet many monsters while moving.

    But I also encountered other things such as random boxes.

    [You have obtained 20 coins by opening a random box.

    -They are stored temporarily¡­]

    Of course, there weren¡¯t always good things in the random box.

    [You have earned nothing.]

    That was also possible, and I didn¡¯t think it was strange.

    But I was embarrassed when a message rang.

    [The Forgotten Hero¡¯s Cloak fails to defend.

    -By opening the random box, your greed increases by 10.]

    I thought it was unfair to get nothing in the random box, and also have my greed increased by a whopping 10.

    Maybe that¡¯s why I unwittingly cried out at that moment.

    ¡°Damn it! Let me check if I can¡¯t get anything in the next box!¡±

    Even though I wasn¡¯t conscious of it, I shouted like that before I knew it.

    At the same time, I already stepped forward.

    And it wasn¡¯t until I took almost ten steps that I realized I was being motivated by my greed.

    ¡°Man, just like its name implies, this is and filled with endless greed.¡±

    But I kept moving forward because I was determined to go to the end of the desert under any circumstances.

    I was going to hunt monsters whenever they came out or open all the random boxes that appeared.

    Of course, there were traps everywhere, so I could not move forward as fast as I wanted.

    For example, if the sand was flowing toward one ce like water, then I was forced to move in that direction even if I didn¡¯t want to.

    Of course, I wasn¡¯t very panicked because I was an ice-type wizard.

    ¡°Ice Field! And Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasak!

    Of course, my Ice Field was enough in this case, but for some reason, I felt it was insufficient, so I even used Thin Ice.

    At that moment, thick ice began to form not only on the sand flowing like water, but also on the rest of the sand. The sand flow stopped.

    I then ran on the ice ground at high speed.

    ¡°Man, I should have used Ice Field like this¡­¡±

    Of course, running on the fine sand where my feet got stuck, and running on hard ice was like night and day.

    Besides, I had no risk of falling because it was my own ice.

    Even though I used Thin Ice as well, it was still pretty useful.

    Of course, I quickly exited the range of Ice Field and Multiple Thin Ice once I cast it, but I still used it when possible because it saved me quite a bit of time.

    About 3 hourster I checked my status window.

    ¡°Check status.¡±

    [Lumen, Asirante¡¯s current status.

    -Current achievement rate: 18.53%

    -Time remaining: 21:07:44]

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    Of course, the 100% achievement rate was not the end.

    Even if I achieved 100%, I had to return to the starting point, and only then could I seed.

    In other words, I had to achieve 100% within 12 hours.

    However, I did not achieve even 20% after 3 hours.

    Moreover, it would be naive for me to think I would achieve 50% on the way up and 50% on the way back.

    Maybe those who challenged this quest with such a naive mindset must have tasted failure.

    ¡°Is 100% impossible from the beginning?¡±

    I thought that way before I knew it.

    I could say confidently that even though my strength and agility were a bitcking, my stamina was so high that it didn¡¯tg behind anyone else, and I had the ability to smash any obstacles while moving. In addition, I also possessed enough mana to use Ice Field and Thin Ice as soon as their cooldowns returned.

    Anyway, while thinking about that, I diligently kept moving, although I was not sure if it was because of my own will or growing greed.

    At the Land of Endless Greed.

    ¡°Multiple Ice Arrow! Ice Spear!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    Regardless of whether it¡¯s monsters, random boxes or traps, I kept moving forward, smashing through all of them. On such asions rang messages that I acquired golden rings, EXP, remaining stat points, coins, etc. Of course, at the end of the message, there was always a line that reminded me that they were only stored temporarily.

 Chapter 222 - Last Limited Quest (5)

    <h4>Chapter 222: Last Limited Quest (5)</h4>

    Of course, there was a message about greed, but I didn¡¯t care because regardless of the temporary storage or greed, everything I earned is going to be mine after returning to the start with a 100% achievement rate.

    Moreover, I had another reason to achieve 100% while I was moving.

    [You have killed the desert bug.

    -You have acquired 1 skill point.

    -It is stored temporarily, and you will receive it at the end depending on your final achievement rate.]

    ¡°?¡±

    At first, I thought I received a stat point because all I needed to kill the desert bug was Ice Ball. In other words, it was a very weak monster.

    Of course, another message rang as well.

    [The Forgotten Hero¡¯s Cloak fails to defend.

    -By killing the desert bug, your greed has increased by 3.]

    I didn¡¯t care much about the message announcing that my greed level had increased because I had already be quite greedy from the reward of one skill point. It was as if my greed had instantly increased by 10 or 1000.

    ¡°Damn it! Unless I achieve 100%, it all means nothing!¡±

    In other words, even if I achieved 99%, 0.99 skill points is not equal to 1. It was basically zero.

    Moreover, I had many skills that I could not upgrade only due to ack of skill points.

    I also wanted to learn other skills rted to increasing strength, agility and the like, even though I was an ice-type wizard, but I could not because of insufficient skill points.

    So, while shouting loud, I kept moving my feet that got stuck in the sand while using Ice Field and Thin Ice as a means to speed up whenever their cooldown was back.

    While Juyoung Hong, or Asirante was busy like that, a live stream was being broadcasted on Youtube, the tform with the most viewers in the world. Normally, since the broadcast was only running for under an hour so far, it should not have so many viewers. But it was the opposite. Not only was the title of the program stimting, but its contents also far exceeded the viewers¡¯ expectations, so the number of viewers quickly increased to hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands.

    Therefore, the broadcast became known not only to the general public, but also to the governments andrge groups around the world instantly. Of course, among them was the Strategy Department of Korea¡¯s Myongjin Group.

    Knock! Knock!

    ¡°Director! Right now¡­¡±

    ¡°I know. Please calm down.¡±

    Director Sok nodded, calmly responding to a member of the Strategic Department who hurriedly rushed to his office because he knew the reason for all thismotion.

    As a matter of fact, Director Sok was also watching the live video broadcast on Youtube in real time. So, after giving a simple instruction to that employee, Director Sok turned his gaze back to the video. The man in the video was holding a fireball in one hand.

    ¡°As you can see in the video, all the governments of the so-called powerful countries have known this all along. Besides, they created an organization called NW among themselves. But so far they¡¯ve been silent about it for their own vested interests.¡±

    If what the man in the video said was all talk and no action, Director Sok would not pay any attention to him. But the man was showing several photographs of the actual NW meeting, which even Sok had only heard of.

    Of course, among the participants were those high-ranking officials who frequently appeared in newspapers and televisions.

    ¡°What? Is this all manipted and fake? Actually we here at Asant Group also thought like that. Then, let¡¯s watch this video. I can¡¯t tell you from which country, but we have obtained this video secretly by hacking.¡±

    As soon as the man finished talking, another video was shown on the screen.

    A swarm of bats suddenly appeared in a square. Of course, even if it was during the day, it might not be unusual for a swarm of bats to appear in a za with lots of people because lots of strange things happened these days.

    However, it was not something usual at all considering that the bats were almost asrge as an adult human and immediately attacked humans to suck their blood.

    Moreover, the people who were bitten by the bats soon turned into something like mummies.

    After that, tanks and soldiers appeared in the square to deal with the incident.

    However, among those soldiers ,there were some who wore unusual attire.

    They were d in ordinary clothes, not military uniform, but since they were standing among the soldiers, they stood out.

    What came next was their attacks. Obviously, they didn¡¯t have guns in their hands, nor did they hold methrowers. But they produced fire, water, and wind.

    The ground that was still was suddenly shaken and swallowed the giant bats.

    It was just like a movie.

    When the shocking video was over, the man appeared on the screen again.

    ¡°Do you still think it¡¯s like a movie? But that actually happened in the Taj Mahal, India! Do you think this stuff in my hand is fake?¡±

    As soon as he finished speaking, he tossed the papers to his right, and immediately threw a fireball at them. And in no time, the several pieces of paper started to burn.

    Obviously, he was showing the same abilities as those in ordinary clothing in the za did.

    ¡°Our Asanta hacker group couldn¡¯t just ignore this incident. So, we thought we should publicize this to you, although many higher ups in the world already knew about it. Your world will soon be overturned. But we, the Asanta hacker group¡­]

    The Youtube live broadcast ended immediately.

    Nevertheless, Director Sok could not leave the ce for a while.

    Then he uttered quietly, ¡°Hmm. I wonder why they revealed this information sote. Perhaps it¡¯s because they are hackers, or they simply decided not to care about the consequences. But if they really think that there will be no consequences¡­¡±

    As soon as he finished uttering these words, Sok stood up from the seat right away.

    At the Land of Endless Greed.

    ¡°Check status window.¡±

    [Lumen, Asirante¡¯s current status.

    -Current achievement rate: 39.22%

    -Remaining time: 18: 01: 22]

    Even though I was trying my hardest, I had not even achieved 40%. I realistically had only six hours left, since I needed 12 hours to return to the starting point.

    In other words, it was impossible for me to achieve 100% no matter how hard I tried for the remaining 6 hours.

    Of course, I beat the highest record recorded by the Myongjin users a long time ago.

    Moreover, I could obtain a meaningful reward with only a 50% achievement rate because I was lucky enough to acquire one more skill point while moving.

    So, I currently have a total of 2 skill points in temporary storage, and I would receive at least one skill point if I achieved only 50%.

    In the past, I would have stopped at that level because aside from the one skill point, 50% of the various rewards I obtained while moving was still very significant.

    Besides, my real reward would be determined based on my final achievement rate. ¡°No. I don¡¯t have to be content with just 50%. If I proceed at the current speed, I can achieve 80%, right? Aside from skill points, why don¡¯t I achieve 80% so I get more of the other rewards? Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Although I kept reassuring myself, I had already decided that I should achieve 70-75% to have some leeway. But all of a sudden, I was upied with achieving 80%.

 Chapter 223 - Last Limited Quest (6)

    <h4>Chapter 223: Last Limited Quest (6)</h4>

    A few hourster I was gasping for breath after a long fight.

    ¡°Gasp! Gasp!¡±

    In the past, I had never felt tired even if I hunted for several hours or almost ten hours.

    This time, however, I had to breathe heavily because I had never hunted so desperately except for the 3rd Closed Beta, which had a limited period of only two weeks.

    So, I was only upied with thinking that I had to go back because I waspletely exhausted by now.

    In other words, I realized how stupid andcent it was for me to assume that it would take me 12 hours on the way up and 12 hours on the way down. Of course, I was conscious of it, but I found myself constantly moving on despite that.

    ¡°Whew! Yeah, I can easily return within 12 hours.¡±

    I kept reassuring myself with suchcency.

    A littleter I checked my status.

    ¡°Whew! Whew! Check status!¡±

    Gasping for breath, I checked my status.

    [Lumen, Asirante¡¯s current status.

    -Current achievement rate: 79.05%

    -Remaining time: 11: 59: 54]

    I had finally crossed the Maginot line of 12 o¡¯clock I had set. So, I had to turn around and return now.

    If I spent a little more time here, it would be impossible for me to return to the starting point within the remaining time.

    Nheless, I didn¡¯t stop moving forward, nor did I change direction and turn. It was because of the 79.05% achievement rate.

    ¡°Yeah, let me achieve 80% since I am so close. What the heck is this 79.05%! Since I got rid of all the monsters on the way up, all I have to do on the way down is just avoid the traps.¡±

    Obviously, I summed up the situation in an advantageous way, and I really thought I could achieve 80%.

    [You have killed Golem Monster 1.

    -You have obtained 500,000 EXP.

    -They¡¯re stored temporarily¡­]

    [You have obtained 15 coins from opening a random box.

    -They¡¯re stored temporarily¡­]

    There were still plenty of things for me to covet.

    A littleter I checked the status again.

    ¡°Check status.¡±

    [Lumen, Asirante¡¯s current status.

    -Current achievement rate: 80.00%

    -Remaining time: 11: 48: 54]

    Finally, I achieved 80% as I intended.

    But I could not turn back because of my greed.

    ¡°I¡¯vee so far. Yeah, I should achieve 100%. My original goal was 100% anyway.¡±

    At that moment, I was more concerned about achieving 100% than returning.

    So, I kept moving forward without checking the achievement rate anymore.

    I didn¡¯t know how long I ran, but at some point, a message suddenly rang.

    [Congrattions! You have achieved 100% achievement.

    -If you return to the starting point during the remaining time, your achievement rate will be confirmed.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I was now at the end of the desert, where there was an endless meadow.

    I clenched my fists, and swung towards my head.

    Thud!

    It didn¡¯t hurt a lot, but it was painful enough for me toe to my senses.

    ¡°Stupid!¡±

    I med myself.

    ¡°Check status.¡±

    [Lumen, Asirante¡¯s current status.

    -Current achievement rate: 100.00%

    -Remaining time: 09: 48: 54]

    I had less than 10 hours left. No matter how much I racked my brains, it was impossible for me to go back to the starting point within the remaining time unless I had ess to Blink with zero cooldown.

    Just ming myself was not the solution, so I turned immediately and started running through the sand.

    I also went over the grasnd area bordering with the sand with some hopes that it could speed up my journey, but there was nothing like a message or change in my status.

    ¡°Damn it! You idiot!¡±

    Of course, I knew I deceived myself because the greed debuff dominated me, but I had no choice but to vent anger at myself, for I ended up repeating the same mistake as others when I thought I would be different from them.

    ¡°Damn it! Ice Field!¡±

    Nheless, I kept trying my best, using Ice Field and Thin Ice on cooldown, for I could not sit idle even if the chance of failing was basically 100%.

    A few hourster I checked the status.

    [Lumen, Asirante¡¯s status.

    -Current achievement rate: 100.00%

    -Time remaining: 03: 21: 33]

    As soon as I checked it, I ran and ran desperately, and I was a bit surprised by how fast I was.

    I thought I ran as fast as I could to achieve 100% in the morning, but it seemed that I could still run faster.

    ¡°Damn it! I¡¯m only halfway there now!¡±

    There was too little time left for me to return to the starting point.

    I often shouted eagerly for Blink because I was so anxious, but nothing happened.

    Anyway, although I knew what would happen, I kept running toward the starting point,

    regretting my reassurances to my dad, brother, and sister, who had already suffered a setback, that I would be different from them.

    [60 minutes left.]

    [50 minutes left.]

    [40 minutes left.]

    As the remaining time fell below an hour, the message kindly informed me of the remaining time as if to scorn my excessive greed.

    When the remaining time fell down to ten minutes, the message rang every one minute.

    Perhaps it was wiser for me to give up and stop running.

    Nheless, I did not stop.

    When the message rang announcing that there was only one minute left, I finally stopped running and copsed on the sand.

    . I could not see the starting point, and there was no way for me to get to the starting point in 60 seconds. Of course, I knew this was the case from early on.

    Nevertheless, I kept moving, hoping against hope I could make it.

    But I was left with no such hope now.

    ¡°Oh my God¡­¡±

    I smiled bitterly because myst limited quest was over with me achieving nothing.

    So, Iy on my back on the sand helplessly.

    ¡°Good. I can ept one failure.¡±

    But I still felt very bitter.

    But I let bygones be bygones, so I kept repeating myself that it was not a big deal while closing my eyes.

    While Juyoung Hong, or Asirante,y on his back on the sand, something revealed itself from his sole. It was the root. It dug into the soft sand.

    Since the sand was so light and soft, the root kept moving endlessly.

    As it gradually gained distance from him, the thick root became thinner and thinner until it was almost as thin as a thread. It looked like it would be cut off if something went wrong.

    Nevertheless, the root kept moving. But at some point, it had to stop because it could not get any thinner..

    At that moment, there was the sound of something breaking.

    Then the root moved again at great speed. Of course, there were some changes.

    In fact, the root began to dry out and shatter, starting off with the part closest to Juyoung¡¯s body.

    Like the mes chasing the motorcycle or a car in the movie, it moved forward ferociously.

    The root gradually shrank and broke down, but it still continued to move forward.

    ¡°Gasp! Gasp!¡±

    Iid my back on the sand and took a rough breath because I had only a few seconds left.

    But then, an unexpected message rang even though I didn¡¯t move at all with my back on the sand.

    [You have arrived at the starting point.

    You have cleared the level 900 limited quest with 100% achievement rate.]

 Chapter 224 - Treasure Box (1)

    <h4>Chapter 224: Treasure Box (1)</h4>

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I looked at the message nkly. I obviously had not reached the starting point..

    So, a message that I failed should have rang, but it was a message about my sess.

    So, after looking at the message for a while, I finally stood up..

    Then I could definitely see something different in the sand..

    It was something like burnt ck ashes.

    It started from my foot, and ran straight in the direction of the starting point.

    ¡°?¡±

    Of course, I could ponder about itter because the most important thing to me was that I actually cleared the quest.

    But it kept bothering me, so I looked at the ash endlessly.

    At that moment, something suddenly shed my mind, and I felt like I knew what had caused this. It was the root.

    So, I got a rough idea about why the message about my sess in the quest rang.

    ¡°Was it the root, not me, that reached the starting point?¡±

    Of course, there was no convincing evidence that it was the root.

    But no matter how much I racked my brain, I could not think of anything other than the root when it came to this unusual situation .

    By the way, it was true that the root helped me in Region 0, but I could not freely use it. So I stopped paying attention to it because it¡¯s not my power if I could not control it.

    ¡°Wait a moment. Is it dead?¡±

    The ck ashes that trailed all the way to the starting point.

    No matter how I looked at the ashes, it was far from normal because it looked like a long burn mark.

    Well, it was obviously something burnt with fire.

    ¡°Root? Hey, Root! Root?¡±

    [¡­]

    Of course, I once called the Root in the past like I did now. It was after it revealed its tremendous power in Region 0.

    But just like today, the Roit did not show any reaction.

    I didn¡¯t know why, but I felt it was different this time.

    I even had a vague feeling that I probably would not see the root again.

    Obviously, it was possible that the root was simply not responding like before.

    ¡°Oh my¡­¡±

    Back at Region 0, after I tried to summon the root and it showed no reaction, I just ignored it but I still felt like I had something I could rely on, which was a bit reassuring. More precisely, it was something beyond reassurance.

    But now I felt like I was missing something.

    Perhaps because of that, I stood in ce nkly for a while.

    Then I trudged to the starting point slowly, treading along the path the ck ashes marked.

    A few hourster I finally arrived at the starting point.

    [Congrattions!

    -You have cleared the level 900 limited quest with a 100% achievement rate.

    You will receive the following rewards:

    : You receive all 3,875.9 million golden rings you acquired while moving.

    : You receive all 1,1544.2 million EXP you acquired while moving.

    : You receive all 1982 stat points you acquired while moving.

    : You receive all 9950 coins you acquired while moving.

    : You receive the 2 skill points you acquired while moving.

    : You receive 1 random box with legendary grade items you acquired while moving.

    : You receive 1170 weapon enhancement stones, 1760 armor enhancement stones, and 392 essory enhancement stones you obtained while moving.]

    As soon as I set foot on the starting point, the series of messages rang in a row.

    And when I thought it was finally over, another message rang.

    [You have sessfully recorded 100% achievement rate in the level 900 limited quest.

    -A treasure box is given as a reward.

    You can obtain treasure if you open the treasure box.]

    The messages that rang first were about the rewards I obtained while moving in the Land of Endless Greed. But it was thest message that confirmed my 100% achievement rate and its corresponding reward.

    But the reward was quite strange to me because the rewards that appeared in the previous messages were just so good.

    So, I first checked the treasure box.

    ¡°Check Treasure Box.¡±

    [Treasure Box. (No grade.)

    -Hope and strive for it. And dream for it. Then you will realize it.]

    ¡°?¡±

    What an absurd description.

    Aside from that absurd description, I was not that happy even though I got a whopping 2,000 stat points and two skill points, plus almost 10,000 coins because of my 100% achievement rate.

    Why? Because the root had obviously disappeared.

    Of course, I kept repeating to myself that it was useless because I could not use it anyway.

    Despite that, I still felt empty.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    So I was standing nkly when another message rang.

    [After 30 seconds, you will be forcibly moved out of the Land of Endless Greed.

    -30, 29, 28¡­]

    The message counted down each second ruthlessly, and I soon felt my body being dragged somewhere. Soon I encountered a familiar scene before my eyes.

    I was now back in the central square in Kotum Castle.

    At that moment, a series of messages rang again in a row.

    [You have leveled up.]

    [You have leveled up.]

    :

    :

    [You have leveled up.]

    [You have the title of ¡®Quest Craftsman¡¯.

    -Upon clearing a quest, you will receive an additional 100 to 300 remaining stat points depending on the quest¡¯s difficulty.

    -We are calcting the difficulty of a 100% achievement rate in the level 900 limited quest.

    : You have acquired 300 remaining stat points.]

    ¡°Log out.¡±

    But I logged out first.

    I wanted to take a break, above all, rather than confirming the 2,300 stat points and 2 skill points that I received by opening the status window.

    After that, I went straight to bed and fell asleep.

    The next day, I had breakfast with my mom and sister, as usual.

    My sister took a spoonful of rice into her mouth, then nced at me and opened her mouth.

    ¡°You failed as well, right? Yeah, I know. Hahaha.¡±

    p!

    ¡°Ouch! Why are you pping me, Mom?¡±

    ¡°Do you want to make fun of Juyoung now?¡±

    ¡°Why not? When can I make fun of him if I don¡¯t do it now? Mom, do you know how many titles he has? What about his mana and health? Man, he¡¯s so far ahead of me! I¡¯m going to make fun of him with this for at least ten years!¡±

    I was still gloomy because of the missing root like yesterday.

    That¡¯s why my sister teased me like that.

    Of course, I was aware that she meant well when she teased me, for I was generous enough to understand her now,pared with my narrow-mindedness in the past.

    So I opened my mouth quietly.

    ¡°I obtained about 4 billion golden rings, 11.5 billion EXP, 2000 stat points, 10,000 coins, 2 skill points, and 1 random box with legendary items. Besides, I obtained a lot of weapon, armor, and essory upgrade stones. Oh, I also have the title of Quest Craftsman among the 9 titles that you mentioned. Thanks to that title, I got an additional 300 stat points.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Of course, I didn¡¯t have to confirm that what I obtained was just enormous.

    That¡¯s why my mom and my sister looked at me with a nk expression.

    In particr, my sister almost dropped her spoon, startled at my achievement, because she knew its value better than anybody else.

 Chapter 225 - Treasure Box (2)

    <h4>Chapter 225: Treasure Box (2)</h4>

    However, I continued casually because I had something else to tell them. ¡°Besides, I received a treasure box as the main reward for 100% achievement rate but I don¡¯t know what it is. It has no grade.¡± My mom and sister just stared at me nkly, but I just ignored them and casually used up my chopsticks to pick up a side dish, put it in my mouth and chew on it slowly to finish my breakfast.. After breakfast, my sister said, ¡°Don¡¯t lie!¡± She kept following me and harassing me, ¡°Don¡¯t lie!¡± Obviously, she did not believe me at all.

    Of course, I understood her feelings because I received an enormous reward for just clearing one quest.

    ¡°Do you want me to show it to you, sis?¡± ¡°Yep! I want to confirm it with my own eyes!¡±

    As if she was waiting for my reply, she nodded. Since my reward was not something secret enough to keep it from my sister, I essed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ after agreeing to meet her in our secret house at Rodon Castle. What¡¯s more, even though my sister said I was lying, she still was really happy as if she got the reward, so I felt that she was very happy and proud of me from the bottom of her heart. In the safe house at Rodon Castle. It seemed that my sister wasn¡¯t there alone.

    Not only my father and brother, but also Director Sok was also waiting for me. Of course, I didn¡¯t care because I was going to show it to them anyway. So I opened my mouth quietly. ¡°Open message window.¡± [Congrattions! -You have cleared the level 900 limited quest with a 100% achievement rate. You have received the following rewards.

    : You receive all 3,875.9 million golden rings you have acquired while moving. : : : You receive 1170 weapon enhancement stones, 1760 armor enhancement stones, and 392 essory enhancement stones you have obtained while moving.] ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± Director Sok and my family members could not hide their shock.

    Then I opened the message about the treasure box because it was the most important. ¡°Oh my God! You really got a100% achievement rate?¡± ¡°You really finished it?¡± ¡°Look at the reward!¡± Surprised, each of them uttered admiration at my achievement. Then my sister opened her mouth in a loud voice.

    ¡°But why did you make such a sullen expression for this enormous reward?¡± It was natural that she asked such a question because I really made a gloomy and frustrated expression before. But I didn¡¯t have anything to say. In fact, I havee to know the identity of the root only recently, and I could not actually use it. Besides, I had never told my family about it before. Anyway, I spent time with my dad, brother and sister as they heaped praise and encouragement on me.

    Of course, even my sister, who achieved level 1200 first among our family members, apuded me. In Kotum Castle. ¡°Check status window.¡± At this point, my primary goal was to achieve level 1200. Although I could not forget about the root, I could not stay idle forever because of that, so I opened my status window first before moving to the Cunning Vampire Garrison. I knew that I have acquired more than 10 billion EXP, but I didn¡¯t confirm how many levels it corresponded to. Besides, I had a total of 2300 remaining stat points, including 2000 stat points that I had not yet invested, and 300 stat points earned from the title ¡®Quest Master.¡¯

    [Name: Lumen, Asirante Level: 942 Number of kills: 4157, Number of deaths: 0 Title: Only Closed Beta Max Level Achiever and 8 others. Health: 3,709,000 / 3,709,000 Mana: 2,485,000 / 2,485,000 Strength: 6528 Agility: 5475 Health: 23650 Willpower: 14565 Intellect: 28715 Remaining Stat Points: 2702 Remaining Skill Points: 2 Characteristics: IceMan, Mutual Growth, God of Enhancement] ¡°Wow!¡± I uttered admiration unwittingly because I received so many rewards to think that I got them from only one quest. Then, I got a little humbled at the fact that it was because of the root¡¯s sacrifice that I could obtain these huge rewards.

    However, I invested all the remaining 2702 stat points in Intellect because I had no intention of being mncholic about the root forever. The moment I was about to move to the central za of Kotum Castle in order to use the two skill points, one item came to my mind. It was the treasure box that could be called the real main reward. I gently pulled out the treasure box from my inventory. The box was very big.

    ¡°Hope and strive for it. And dream for it! Then you will realize it¡­¡± I read the description of the treasure box once again, but I did not understand. ¡°Hmm¡­ I can realize any dream? Then if I hope for level 1200, level 3000, or level 5000, does it mean I can get that much EXP?¡± What I want to achieve right now is level 1200, but when I thought about level 1200, I became more greedy. I even thought as high as level 5000, but I could aim even higher than that. It would be even better for me to wish for 10,000, 20,000, or 50,000 or more remaining stat points. That way, I would still get the remaining stat points earned from leveling up as well.

    Then, I came to dream of a random box with hundreds and thousands of skill points and hundreds and thousands of myth-grade items, not to mention the myth grade essory expansion charm that could allow me to equip more items, and ancient cooldown removal charms. Besides, I recalled the traits of Item Master and Skill Master that I experienced recently which I thought were a real scam. Before I knew it, I kept thinking about such delusions because I really wanted so many things. But I shook my head a lot because no matter how much I thought about them, it¡¯s just ridiculous to have such delusionse true, given my level.

    So, I immediately opened the treasure box, still upied with such delusions. At that moment, a light which was so bright that it blinded my eyes came out of the box. At the same time, a message rang. [There is a reward that the opener currently wants so badly. [The root is bestowed to you.] ¡°?¡±

    I looked nkly at the message before my eyes. Of course, I thought about the root, but clearly, the root yed no part in my delusions

    . I was instead dreaming of the random box containing level 5000, 50,000 stat points, hundreds of skill points, and thousands of myth-grade items and other traits that had more powerful abilities than the root. But suddenly, the root came out. Of course, there was no guarantee that my delusions would be granted anyway.

    However, I thought that it was possible that even those things that existed in my delusions would actuallye out, given the fact that the root whose disappearance made me feel so empty appeared again like this. At that moment, I just sat down helplessly. If so, I may have missed a great opportunity right now, even though I admitted I obtained this huge amount of rewards only due to the root¡¯s sacrifice.

 Chapter 226 - Treasure Box (3)

    <h4>Chapter 226: Treasure Box (3)</h4>

    Of course, I do not intend to deny that I¡¯m selfish. But regardless of how selfish I was, I regretted the missed opportunity. So much so that I could not pay attention to the next message. [Sturdier Root. -Extreme pain and stress are often the springboard for new growth. : The root has been upgraded to a sturdier root.] A littleter I regretted I didn¡¯t want more. ¡°How stupid I was! Just like how I would have asked Genie for three more wishes, I should have asked for 100 more treasure boxes above all else!¡± If I had done so, I would have felt so good in all aspects that I would not have any regretster. ¡°By the way, root? Hey, root?¡± [¡­] I shouted for the root on the off chance that it would work, but there was still no response. ¡°Whew¡­¡± I let out a sigh helplessly. After sighing, however, I made a smile before I knew it because I didn¡¯t feel empty like before when the root did not respond. Tramp- Tramp- Anyway, I got up and moved to the central square. Maybe I missed an opportunity to get a lot more treasure than I thought, but there was no guarantee that I would actually get them, and I had no time to sit around regretting it. I had already opened the treasure box, so I might as well forget about all these other things. Moreover, I got so many rewards previously that I didn¡¯t have to regret I didn¡¯t get more in the treasure box. Anyway, I soon arrived at the central square of Kotum Castle. [There are skills avable that you can currently acquire.] [There are ice-type skills avable that you can currently upgrade.] I had already decided how to use the 2 skill points the moment I obtained them. So I chose to upgrade 2 skills right away. ¡°Choose Ice Field, Ice Storm!¡± [Would you like to upgrade level 5 Ice Field to level 7 Ice Field? -Level 2, level 5, level 7 are avable. -In order to upgrade to level 7, you need 5.59 million golden rings and 1 skill point.] [Would you like to upgrade Level 4 Ice Storm to Level 7 Ice Storm? -level 4, level 7, level 8 are avable. -In order to upgrade to level 7, you need 10.95 million golden rings and 1 skill point.] As a matter of fact, I wanted to upgrade the above two skills early on. However, I had to learn Blizzard, which required 3 skill points, by all means, and at the same time I did not want to delete other skills, so I had to leave them as they were. But I could upgrade them this time because of the 2 skill points I received from clearing the quest. And I had another reason to be happy. It was due to the OIzuki brothers. The younger Oizuki brother was a skill master, and there was only one way to escape the control of his trait. It was to have skill points that were not earned through the usual method of leveling up. So, if I had not earned a total of 5 skill points after achieving the highest level during the 3rd Closed Beta and hunting the monsters in Region 0, I would have been defeated in the fight against the Mitsuya Guild of Japan. And I would have run away from the Oizuki brothers out of fear. However, I could beat the Oizuk brothers with only those five skill points, and now they have increased to a total of 7. In other words, I will have more avable skills when I confront them again. Of course, I will be able to handle them more easily than before. ¡®Hahahaha.¡¯ So, I upgraded the skills with a smile on my lips because except for skill points, I was not bothered by golden rings at all. Anyway, I finished sorting out all the items and skills after I was done with the quest this time, and headed to the teleport zone. Of course, before heading there, I opened the random box with legendary grade items, for I didn¡¯t have to dy opening it any longer, and it was just a random box with legendary-grade items, not myth-grade items. In other words, I did not care about whatever came out. When I opened it, amon legendary grade armor item came out. Even though I didn¡¯t care about the items, I still held some expectations deep down, such as a functional skill essory. ¡®What, it¡¯s still good enough¡­¡¯ Though I was a bit disappointed, I didn¡¯t dwell on it for long. I gave it a pass without any regret. In no time, I arrived at the teleport zone. ¡°Move to the Cunning Vampire Garrison.¡± I went straight to my destination. [You have moved to the Cunning Vampire Garrison.] ¡°Good morning, Asirante.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you, Asirante.¡± As always, the Myongjin Guild¡¯s guards defending the Cunning Vampire Garrison greeted me happily when I arrived there. Since I would have to reveal my identity sooner orter, I returned their greetings without ignoring them. Escorted by them, I stepped into the Cunning Vampire Garrison. Shuuuuuuuung. Shuuuuuuuuuuuung. Soon, the vampires rushed toward me using teleport, as if they were so happy to encounter me. ¡°Alright. I also missed you guys very much.¡± In fact, I missed them as much as they missed me. So I weed them with open arms. However, since I was not satisfied with hunting several of them like that, I used Blink immediately to attract more vampires. ¡°Blood Storm!¡± ¡°Blood Explosion!¡± ¡°Blood Curse!¡± ¡°Blood Suck!¡± These were attacks that did not harm me much a few days ago. But now I was stronger than before because my stamina, not to mention intellect, increased by more than 2700 since then, and my Willpower increased by half that. Of course, I was not in a position to tank their attacks endlessly, so I started using the skills that I recently upgraded. ¡°Ice Field! Pasasasasak! Going through level 2, 5 and 7, my Ice Field finally reached level 7, thest level. Perhaps that was why it was really powerful even though I didn¡¯t back it up with Thin Ice. Besides, the vampires used Blood Suck skill more frequently than other attack skills. ¡°Not bad.¡± I was satisfied with the power of the upgraded Ice Field. After that, I used another skill that was also upgraded to level 7. ¡°Ice Storm!¡± Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck! As a matter of fact, this was my main skill before I learned Blizzard. Back then I selected Ice Storm to be applied to the functional skill ring. So, my level 7 Ice Storm showed its power fully this time. ¡°Hmm. It¡¯s good. However¡­¡± Aside from Ice Storm, the reason I used Ice Field first wasn¡¯t just because I upgraded it. In other words, there was one item currently in storage in my inventory. It was none other than the maximum skill upgrade charm that I received by clearing the quest under the name of Asirante in Pioneers City. When I use this charm on a skill that had reached its maximum level, I could upgrade it by one more level In other words, I could upgrade Ice Field, which had reached its maximum level of level 7, by one more level. Of course, I wasn¡¯t the least interested in using it for Ice Field from the beginning because I intended to use it for Blizzard. Considering itsbination with the functional skill ring, I could use level 10 Blizzard. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s too wasteful to use it just for Ice Field.¡±

 Chapter 227 - Treasure Box (4)

    <h4>Chapter 227: Treasure Box (4)</h4>

    It was almost like the myth grade essory expansion charm. So I couldn¡¯t help but think it¡¯s too precious for me to use it for Ice Field because I don¡¯t know what skill I would acquireter. Anyway, I came to such a conclusion, then prated into the vampire group using Blink, for it was just the beginning of my hunt. The next day, I woke up in the morning and had breakfast with my mom and sister as usual. And, as usual, I would have essed the game right away by now.

    But I didn¡¯t because some people wereing to the Myongjin Shelter this morning. I was supposed to wee them on behalf of my dad. Anyway, it was just past 9 o¡¯clock in the morning when I heard quite a variety of noises from a distance. And soon they appeared. Dozens of military trucks and tanks carrying soldiers appeared. Their appearance reminded me of the conversation I had with my dadst night. Inside the safe house of the Myongjin Guild in Rodon Castlest night. While I was hunting in the Cunning Vampire Garrisonte into the night, I received a secret message from my dad that I shoulde to the safe house for a brief meeting.

    When I got there, my dad, brother, sister and Director Sok were already waiting for me. As soon as I arrived, my dad said, ¡°Tomorrow, a military unit will move to the Myongjin Shelter.¡± ¡°A military unit?¡± I was a little surprised because the Myongjin Shelter itself had a loyal security troop who had been trained well for the past several years by the Myongjin Group. Besides, there were lots of guards with military experience in the group. Those who were selected to guard the Myongjin Shelter had no family dependents, and so the limited capacity Myongjin Shelter did not need to house more people.

    It was a cruel reality, of course. That¡¯s why I couldn¡¯t help but be surprised by the arrival of a new military unit. ¡°Now almost everybody knows that what happened in Taj Mahal, India, was not simply an isted incident. In particr, tens of thousands of monsters appeared at once in Argentina. Maybe even tomorrow, such arge group of monsters will appear in a big city.¡± Of course, that could happen like my dad said. But that wasn¡¯t what I was worried about. What was going through my head was ¡® Can I really trust the military uniting to the Myongjin Shelter tomorrow?

    ¡® That bothered me a lot. As if he read my mind, my dad opened his mouth again. ¡°So far, we have maintained friendly rtions with our government because the current president will most likely go down as thest one in our history. We were on the same page to some extent, but our government is now getting greedy.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Of course, I wasn¡¯t stupid enough not to understand what he was talking about. He continued, looking into my eyes quietly, ¡°So, I want you to serve as the representative of the Myongjin Shelter for the time being.¡±

    His request implied lots of things. I knew that his request didn¡¯t mean I would rece the job of the Myongjin Shelter¡¯s current representative, Kilsan Lee. Honestly, in terms of dealing with people, I¡¯m not aspetent as him who held several important positions within mYongjin and is reliable enough to take responsibility for the Myongjin Shelter, thest bastion of Myongjin. But my dad must have chosen me as the temporary head of the shelter because I was better than Lee in some respects. And that was because of my power, of course. As a matter of fact, my reality actualization rate is currently 28%. This was much higher than I expected. When I first achieved 21%, I thought I would stop there for some time.

    Given that the number of coins required per 1% actualization rate was 3,000 after I exceeded 21%, I thought it would take much longer to progress from there. But it seemed like someone in a high position had already reached level 1200. And I was not merely content with my higher achievement rate. The Myongjin Shelter already had space and equipment for various tests, and I asionally checked my abilities there, for there was nothing more dumb than not knowing my own abilites and limits. Was I strong enough to destroy a military tank?

    Of course, I could smash a tank with Ice Ball. In fact, I had already made arge hole in the steel te as thick as a tank with Ice Bolt. Moreover, I confirmed that when I used ice-type magic on the tank, any soldier inside, no matter how trained they were, would get frozen to death as well, because steel had a high thermal conductivity. Of course, I didn¡¯t test my attack power only because defensive abilities were more important in reality. As a matter of fact, almost everybody knew that just increasing the reality actualization rate alone did not mean that one would not die like in the game. In other words, no matter how high one¡¯s reality actualization rate was, the game and reality werepletely different from each other.

    That¡¯s why I also conducted a variety of tests with a rubber gun, the fastest and most reliable way. Starting off with the lowest power, I gradually increased its power all the way to that of a rifle. The test results were satisfactory. ¡°Alright. This is great.¡± At that moment I thought it was really good that I chose stamina as the stat that would grow 100% together with Intellect. Anyway, my dad told me I should disy all my skills if need be. So, when my father told me I should serve as the head of the Myongjin Shelter, I took it to mean that I should make the most use of my skills and abilities in contingencies. And maybe there might ur a disturbance while I am serving as the chief here. Of course, it¡¯s my job to minimise any possible

    disturbance as much as possible. ¡°Okay, Dad,¡± I replied casually to my dad, for I was not immature enough to retort, ¡®Why should I take responsibility? What have you done for me until now?¡± Of course, when I was young, I refused some great opportunities due to feeling inferior to my brother and sister. Nheless, it was true that my family including my dad as well as the Myongjin Group gave me lots of opportunities along the way. While I constantly refused those opportunities, I was afraid of cutting my ties with my family, so I constantly clung to them. Anyway, in the end, it was my duty to take care of the Myongjin Shelter because I waspetent enough to do so.

    ¡°Good morning. My name is Juyoung Hong, and I¡¯m in charge of the Myongjin Shelter.¡± I introduced myself to the generals and soldiers gathered at the shelter. Their top leader was a three-star general. Considering that a divisionmander had only two stars, his rank was almost that of the corpsmander. As such, I could realize how interested they were in this shelter. Soldiers kept getting off from military trucks and tanks. Few people put on the insignias of private, private first ss, corporal, or sergeant. Most of them had the ranks of staff sergeant, sergeant first ss, master sergeant, second lieutenant, first lieutenant, or captain. That meant that most of them were career soldiers, whether they were on short or long term duty. ¡®Well, they are too professional¡­¡¯ I had no choice but to subtlyugh at them because their intentions were so clear.

 Chapter 228 - Two Families in One House (1)

    <h4>Chapter 228: Two Families in One House (1)</h4>

    ¡°Hum¡­Where is Chairman Sangman Hong? I don¡¯t see him here.¡±

    The person who spoke to me seemed to be in his 50s.

    However, I was a little offended when he suddenly asked about my father without even looking at me when I held out my hand for a handshake.

    Obviously, when I first introduced myself, I told him I was the current head of the Myongjin Shelter.

    In other words, even though I was younger than him, he should have returned my greetings and shaken hands with me. It was basic courtesy.

    Anyway, I withdrew my hand, rather embarrassed.

    Then I opened my mouth quietly.

    ¡°Currently my father is very busy with various things, so he is not here at the Myongjin Shelter.¡±

    ¡°Oh, is he? He really is a busy guy.¡±

    Tramp- Tramp-

    ¡°¡­.¡±

    Obviously, I was not his subordinate, and I didn¡¯t report to him.

    However, he seemed to treat me like a subordinate reporting to his supervisor because he just stepped past me after he finished speaking. And one of his aides even gave me something that sounded like an order.

    ¡°Please provide us with a space for a total of 1050 people to stay. We¡¯re going to deploy 15 tanks at the space over there, and we¡¯re going to use that building.¡±

    Currently, the Myongjin Shelter is in the shape of a pentagon, with three main bases in the centre surrounded by 20 five storey buildings on the outside.

    At first, my father wanted to build a thick wall outside the main bases, but he had no time and resources to do so. As a result, he built 20 buildings outside to protect the main bases.

    Honestly, as long as the 20 buildings served their intended purpose, it was possible to maintain the three main bases as well as a prettyrge space.

    However, the person who appeared to be Commander Cheoljin Chung¡¯s aide spoke as if such an important base was intended for them.

    What¡¯s more, the problem was the unexpected response of the people in the shelter.

    ¡°Oh! They¡¯re soldiers!¡±

    ¡°Have they dispatched the army here to defend this ce? Myongjin is really great!¡±

    ¡°If Myongjin and the military unite to protect this ce, we¡¯ll be much safer than all others!¡±

    ¡°Mom, why are the soldiers here?¡±

    ¡°Because they want to protect us.¡±

    It was Myongjin, not the army, who protected them.

    However, from their perspective, the soldiers who came here with the tanks were more reliable than thepany named Myongjin. So, they began to enthusiastically wee the army guys.

    It was the Myongjin who made all the preparations, but it was the army that got all the credit, which made me very much frustrated. Besides, their intention to take over this ce was pretty clear.

    However, I tried to hold back my frustration and be patient.

    ¡°Okay. I will take the required measures.¡±

    After I said that, I looked at President Kisan Lee.

    Although I¡¯m currently in charge of the Myongjin Shelter, President Lee is the best person to properly distribute the avable resources here and guide them because he has been working at the shelter from the beginning.

    Moreover, I didn¡¯t want to guide them myself because Commander Chung ignored me even though I introduced myself as the chief executive of this shelter.

    A littleter inside Main Base 1.

    Main Base 1 was the safest and most borate among the three main bases, so I didn¡¯t bring Commander Chung and his soldiers into this base.

    Fortunately, the three main bases all looked the same from the outside, so they didn¡¯t particrly take issue with their cement.

    ¡°What do you think?¡±

    I made sure my mother and sister stayed inside the base because they didn¡¯t need to go out and wee the army, so my sister asked me curiously about what happened.

    ¡°Well, themander didn¡¯t even pay attention to me. Maybe it¡¯s because I¡¯m too young. And¡­¡±

    ¡°And what?¡± she asked when I didn¡¯t finish, urging me to continue

    ¡°Well, their goal is so clear. They didn¡¯t even try to hide their intention to take over this ce.¡±

    We here at Myongjin didn¡¯t ask for their help at all. In that respect, they were unwee guests.

    Nheless, they wanted to take the credit for all the preparation we made here at this safe shelter.

    ¡°By the way, I hear they also reached out to the Mirae Guild. Do you know that?¡± my sister asked.

    Of course, I would have burst into a rage if they were making moves on Myongjin only.

    At that moment, I would have revealed myself and threatened to reach out to China or even the United States because my value was immeasurable.

    But the Korean government seemed to satisfy its desires fully this time.

    Actually, they reached out not only to Myongjin but also Mirae, Daesung and Kusan.

    My sister continued, ¡°Well, it seems that the Daesung and Kusan Alliance rather actively ept the government¡¯s offer. As you know, Jeju Ind is so big. So, the Daesung and Kusan Alliance wants to control Jeju Indpletely.¡±

    ¡°Damn it. Why don¡¯t these soldiers go to Jeju Ind, not here?¡±

    Anyway, I really didn¡¯t like the way the army acted at the shelter.

    However, there was nothing I or Myongjin could do because the army came here with the excuse of protecting the people. Besides, they had not yet openly revealed their wicked intentions.

    Anyway, on that day, I essed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ in frustration and anger because I still had a huge amount of coins despite my rather high 28% actualization rate.

    At the Cunning Vampire Garrison.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasak!

    ¡°Pouring Hail! Ice Rain!¡±

    Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    It was only yesterday when I dealt with the vampires with generosity.

    So, today, I spammed all kinds of skills toward the vampires ruthlessly.

    Furthermore, I increased the intensity of my attacks at their familiar looks.

    ¡°Damn it! Why do you look like Commander Chung so much? Make my day!¡±

    Puck!

    Of course, the Cunning Vampire in question and Commander Chung did not look alike. However, I felt that the two shared the modifier ¡®cunning.¡¯

    So I attacked them vehemently with all my might.

    As they often said, it was a situation where I went home and took it out on the dog.

    No matter how angry I was, I could not vent my anger toward the army that had not yet caused any disturbances.

    While Juyoung Hong, or Asirante, was busy hunting like that, the NW held their third regr meeting in New York, USA.

    And the biggest topic of the meeting was the same as always, namely monsters.

    However, they still didn¡¯t know the fundamental reason why this phenomenon urred or even how it happened even though this incident was so high stakes. As a result, they didn¡¯t find any clear solution just like their 1st and 2nd meeting.

    But they had a heated discussion to seek an answer from a different angle.

    They were trying to figure out how to make people ept this phenomenon naturally.

    And the United States, the chairman of the organization, came up with the answer first.

    ¡°Is there any reason for us to make such a big fuss over this matter? In my view, this is just like a natural disaster, just like a volcanic eruption, tsunami, typhoon, or an earthquake. And such a disaster has resulted in tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of casualties in history,¡± the American representative argued passionately.

 Chapter 229 - Two Families in One House (2)

    <h4>Chapter 229: Two Families in One House (2)</h4>

    He sneakily nced at the audience and spoke more passionately, as if he had more to say.

    ¡°And what about war? Isn¡¯t that also a disaster, albeit an artificial one There are countless wars in which tens of thousands of people were killed, so if we don¡¯t have many casualties in a single battle, we don¡¯t even call it a war. What about the appearance of monsters? I don¡¯t think it¡¯s different from other disasters. So, let¡¯s reveal it to the whole world because we can¡¯t hide it anyway. I just think that we should try to change people¡¯s perceptions. In other words, we have to make them think that the appearance of monsters is something like a natural disaster, which we have seen so many times, so they will not be surprised.¡±

    ¡°But I wonder if we can change their perceptions¡­¡±

    ¡°Even if we change their perceptions, they will still be very confused.¡±

    ¡°Well, they have already seen such disasters through all kinds of videos and books for a long time, but this is totally a new disaster that they have never experienced before. Can they ept it so easily?¡±

    There were a lot of participants who nodded and agreed with the American representative¡¯s argument. However, there were also those who raised questions.

    Watching those questioning his argument, the American representative opened his mouth with a triumphant smile.

    ¡°Will they be confused? Of course, they will be very confused, but they will calm down over time just like they have done in the past. Don¡¯t you know humans are animals of adaptation? They are like frogs in boiling water.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    This time, no one raised a question like before.

    So, with the American representative taking the initiative, the participants debated deeply how to announce to the people around the world that the appearance of the monster was just a natural disaster. And their conclusion was that those who could adjust to such a disaster would survive, just like the American representative argued.

    At the end of the NW meeting, somebody raised their hand and asked, ¡°Can I say one thing?¡±

    When the two-hour-long meeting was almost over, Indian Prime Minister Jacri Rajan grabbed the microphone and opened his mouth. And no one stopped him because India was also a founding member of the NW.

    ¡°Hmm. Hmm. As all of you know, when you kill monsters in reality, you receive some golden rings and a very small amount of coins, but you don¡¯t get items or EXP.¡±

    All the participants already knew about this, so they looked at him confused, wondering why he brought it up

    As if he also noticed their suspicious nce, the Indian prime minister continued casually.

    ¡°In other words, in order to level up and receive items, you have to stay connected to the ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ and keep ying. You have to be strong there first so you can do something in reality. However, as you know, the walls blocking the countries have copsed, so there were some instances where one country invaded another without their consent and plundered them. Of course, I won¡¯t single out any specific country here.¡±

    The Indian prime minister gave a general description of the current situation.

    But everyone gathered here knew which country he was referring to.

    It was none other than China because it was the Indian walls bordering Vietnam and China that copsed.

    Besides, while China was forcibly taking away what used to be a district of Vietnam, it came into conflict with India.

    Because of the Indian prime minister¡¯s critical remarks, the Chinese representative frowned a little, but nobody intervened because it was more interesting to be an onlooker during a fight.

    Even though the atmosphere was heavy because of his remarks, the Indian Prime Minister Rajan continued to speak.

    ¡°In the end, ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ has be a ce for all of us which means more than mere survival. Then, how can you take it away as you please? If somebody does it, it must be the same as a deration of war. Even if a nuclear war broke out in reality because of that, it would not be so strange at all.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    There was a moment of silence among the participants. Then the Indian Prime Minister Rajan made a bombshell announcement.

    ¡°What can¡¯t you do when your future is stolen by somebody else? Don¡¯t you all think so?¡±

    About 30 secondster somebody broke the silence by shouting suddenly as if he realized that the Indian Prime Minister¡¯s threats were not a mere joke.

    ¡°The ce where all of this initially started is in Vietnam! In the end, all the skirmishes happened because India suddenly sided with Vietnam, RIght? Did you find fault with China because you felt jealous that China made the first move? Moreover, this is definitely happening within ¡®Revival Legend¡¯. It doesn¡¯t make sense for you to bring this up in reality.¡±

    Of course, there was no Vietnamese representative among the NW members.

    Even if a Vietnamese representative was invited, he would not dare speak out like this.

    So, it was the Chinese representative who refuted the Indian prime minister.

    In any case, there were some who frowned at the Chinese representative¡¯s argument, but some of them agreed with him by nodding slightly. Actually, their countries did the same thing as China.

    However, they didn¡¯t think and act aggressively and with all-or-nothing thinking like China, so there were no big disturbances among the other NW member countries yet.

    ¡°What? Isn¡¯t something happening in reality right now? And yet you are saying it is just limited to ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ It¡¯s the most absurd thing I have heard in my life.¡±

    When the Chinese representative finished talking, Prime Minister Rajan replied with scorn.

    Even after that, not only India and China but also other countries continued to argue with each other for a long time.

    As a matter of fact, some of the participants believed that they would face the same fate of Vietnam when their walls with strong countries copsed in the future.

    On the other hand, some countries made the case of the survival of the fittest.

    Anyway, the participants in the 3rd regr meeting of the NW were only concerned with protecting and expanding their own interests instead of discussing how toe up with a worldwide measure to guarantee humanity¡¯s survival.

    At the Cunning Vampire Garrison.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    I kept hunting nervously this time unlike before when I vehemently vented my anger on the vampires. I was so nervous because it would not be strange at all if the message announcing that I was recognized as a predator by the cunning vampires rang at any moment.

    In the past, a message rang around this time.

    And my prediction was not wrong.

    [The Cunning Vampires have recognized Lumen, Asirante, as a predator.

    -The Cunning Vampires will not preemptively attack Lumen and Asirante.]

    [Over time, your predator status will gradually diminish and you will no longer be recognized by the Cunning Vampires as a predator.

    -When you hunt other monsters, your predator status will diminish quicker.]

    Shuuuuuuuuung. Shuuuuuuuuuung.

    The vampires tenaciously charged at me using teleport only a little while ago.

    But they all teleported away instantly as if they never came into contact with me.

    ¡°Whew¡­¡±

    I let out a long sigh, watching them disappearing like that.

    Then I immediately tried to message somebody.

    [Lumen: Are you there right now? ]

    Although I sometimes messaged her, it was the first time I contacted her first.

    Perhaps that¡¯s why I could notice her surprise when she replied to me.

 Chapter 230 - Owl (1)

    <h4>Chapter 230: Owl (1)</h4>

    [Kali: I never expected you would message me first like this!]

    I sometimesmunicated with Bora Yon, but this was the first time I contacted her first.

    By the way, did I contact her to ask the Mirae Guild to gather herding teams for me in the Giant¡¯s Grave?

    Of course, I didn¡¯t because that would disgrace the honor of the Myongjin Guild. Besides, it would give Mirae the impression that Myongjin was not big enough to take care of a strong yer like me.

    In fact, I could hunt in any hunting ground, but my choices were limited because I was looking for one with the best hunting efficiency for me.

    Anyway, the reason I contacted Bora Yon was not because of the hunting ground.

    Moreover, I wouldn¡¯t have contacted her if I had not been the new head of the Myongjin Shelter.

    The real reason I contacted her was because of the military units stationed not only at the Myongjin Shelter but also at the Mirae Shelter under the pretext of protecting the people.

    To be honest, I¡¯m confident of handling it by myself no matter what happens to the Myongjin Shelter. But at the same time, I don¡¯t want to pit myself against the government by taking too much initiative to cope with the situation, for such a scenario would please Daesung, Kusan, and Daeyu very much.

    Besides, the government wouldpletely iste Myongjin from the outside by reasoning that Myongjin moved first without consulting them.

    So, I wanted to work with the Mirae Shelter because we were allies.

    Of course, we Myongjin were being selfish in that we mostly looked at our alliance with Mirae when we needed their help.

    [Lumen: I heard that a military unit has moved into your shelter. They also came to the Myongjin Shelter.]

    [Kali: Yes, that¡¯s right.]

    [Lumen: That¡¯s why I¡¯ve contacted you because I am currently in charge of the Myungjin Shelter.]

    [Kali:¡­]

    It was needless to say that the shelter was thest resort and the means where survivors would hold out to the end no matter what happened. So, the head position of the shelter was a pretty important one. Since Mirae had their own shelter, Bora was well aware of the importance of the head position.

    Perhaps because of that, she hesitated for a moment, then opened her mouth.

    [Kali: Well, I think you are fully qualified for that position. Maybe it¡¯s even a littlete that you¡¯ve taken it over just now.]

    Bora immediately understood my point.

    But I cut to the chase because I didn¡¯t contact her to boast of my new position at the Myongjin Shelter. Besides, she was the future sessor of her father Junghwan Yon, Chairman of Mirae Group, and as such she had a strong say in the Mirae Group.

    [Lumen: As you know, there were some exchanges of views at the working level of both groups, but I hope we can work together to cope with the government¡¯s measures. Our shelters are close to each other because we¡¯re located in the same Gangwon area, so don¡¯t you think we will be less pressured if we join hands together in response to the government¡¯s action?]

    At first, Bora didn¡¯t respond to my suggestion.

    But I didn¡¯t rush because this was not a trifling matter. Then she responded as if she had discussed it with somebody else.

    [Kali: Good! I, and our Mirae Group, agree with you. We can¡¯tply with the government¡¯s actions blindly.]

    [Lumne: Alright, then. I will assume that we are both on the same page.]

    [Kali: Sure. By the way, can I look forward to it?]

    [Lumen: What?]

    [Kali: I mean, can I expect you to message me like this not only here but in reality as well?.]

    [Lumen: Yeah, if need be.]

    After that, I ended up exchanging some more messages with her for a little while longer.

    Then I informed my father and Director Sok about my conversation with Bora because aside from the contacts of the working level, I could proceed with things more quickly if the top leadership made the decisions.

    A littleter, I was thinking about which hunting ground I should go to.

    ¡°By the way, what should be my next hunting ground?¡±

    I didn¡¯t want to go back to the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat.

    So, I sorted through the information I knew of hunting grounds level 1000 or higher with the ability to herd hunt as I slowly left the Cunning Vampire Garrison.

    ¡°Uh? Are you already leaving?¡±

    ¡°Why are you leaving so early?¡±

    Once I stepped into the hunting ground, I always came out at dawn except for one or two breaks and mealtime, so the Myongjin guards asked me curiously why I was leaving so early. But I didn¡¯t need to exin it to them in detail, so I just told them that I would note for the time being because I had to take care of something else, then moved to the central

    teleport zone. ¡°Move to Olbini Castle.¡±

    [You are moving to Olbini Castle.]

    There was something that caught my eye while I was moving to Olbini Castle to discover a new hunting ground.

    ¡®I¡¯ve never seen an owl here before.¡± Of course, the owl didn¡¯t look unusual, so I paid little attention to it.

    I soon arrived at Olbini Castle.

    But I had no skills to learn and nothing to buy at Olbini Castle, so I shouted to move again.

    ¡°Move to the Harpy Habitat.¡±

    [You are now moving to the Harpy Habitat.]

    Needless to say, I could not herd hunt in a ce crowded with users. Otherwise, I would have to force them out.

    However, I didn¡¯t want to earn a bad reputation because of that, so I chose the Harpy Habitat as my next hunting ground. Users generally voided this ce because the flying Harpy monsters fled into the air after suffering a certain amount of damage.

    I wanted to try this hunting ground first, and if I liked it, I was going to ask Director Sok to dispatch the top yers of the Myongjin Guild to help herd the monsters for me.

    Until now I mainly used the hunting grounds managed by Daeyu and Mirae so Myongjin could concentrate on its development. But it was not easy for me to continue to use such

    hunting grounds, so I intended to use the Myongjin-managed hunting grounds without any hesitation.

    Why? Because I knew that my growth was critical to Myongjin¡¯s growth.

    Anyway, the moment I moved to the Harpy Habitat, I thought I saw something again.

    It was an owl.

    Of course, I might be seeing things, and even if it was an owl, it was not a special bird anyway. But there was no chance that I saw it wrong and it was definitely not amon bird.

    Anyway, I didn¡¯t turn my gaze everywhere to look for the owl, and continued moving to the Harpy Habitat.

    Tramp- Tramp-

    Just as I expected, when I stepped into the Harpy Habitat, it was empty.

    And I kept hunting, as usual, using all my usual skills except for Blink.

    ¡°Ice Field!¡±

    Pasasasasak!

    Of course, Harpies were flying monsters, so Ice Field was not effective at all.

    However, Iid not only Ice Field, but also Thin Ice all over the ce because although it did not inflict any damage to the Harpies, it still buffed my power by creating an ice terrain.

    ¡°Blizzard!¡±

    Wheeieeeeeng-

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Kheeeeeeeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Kieeeeeeeeeek!¡±

    Not only the level 1200 Cunning Vampires, but even the giant monsters in the Giant¡¯s Grave could not withstand the power of level 9 Blizzard. This meant that the level 1000- 1100 Harpies had no chance of withstanding it because they were no different from the Cunning Vampires or giant monsters.

    Anyway, the Harpies were dying like that.

    Of course, some tried soaring to the air to flee, but Blizzard¡¯s snowstorm poured from top to bottom, so they couldn¡¯t escape from my attack in the end.

    ¡°Hmm. Not bad.¡±

    Obviously, the amount of EXP I gained wasn¡¯t bad, considering I was not even level 1000 yet.

    However, I had to think twice about my strategy.

    ¡°Well, I think I will need a lot of monster herding teams for these guys¡­¡±

    There were not many harpies, and they were not fast.

    In other words, I needed arge group of herders to herd as many Harpies as possible.

    ¡°Uh? Why did they stoping?¡±

 Chapter 231 - Owl (2)

    <h4>Chapter 231: Owl (2)</h4>

    Like all flying monsters, they recognized me as their enemy and charged at me when I approached them. And it was the essence of monster herding that I herded such monsters into one ce before killing them.

    However, the harpies gave up chasing me after our distance widened even a little, and soared into the air again.

    Even with Blink with zero cooldown, I found that harpies were not good for herd hunting.

    But I just kept hunting, as usual.

    ¡°Multiple Ice Arrow!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Did I attack harpies since this was the harpies hunting ground?

    No, I attacked something else. It was the owl.

    A general owl would have been devastated by Multiple Ice Arrow.

    I have already upgraded it to level 5, the maximum level, and my intellect exceeded 30,000 a long time ago.

    But the owl in question cried out as if nothing happened.

    [Hoot-hoot.]

    This owl was no general owl.

    If so, it should be a pet or summoned animal, but that could not be right either, for no pet or summoned animal could withstand my attack, and I could not find any summoner nearby.

    So when I was about to attack the owl again, it said something.

    [Good morning Asirante.]

    ¡°Blizzard! Blink!¡±

    Although the owl clearly referred to me as Asirante, I didn¡¯t stop attacking it.

    There was no reason for me to stop.

    [Sorry, Asirante. This is not my original body, so you can¡¯t do any damage to me.]

    In fact, after using Blizzard, I approached the owl and swung the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword at the owl¡¯s body, but I couldn¡¯t hear any stabbing sound.

    It just passed through as if I stabbed an illusion.

    ¡°Shit!¡±

    Of course, I wasn¡¯t surprised or embarrassed because I had experienced lots of things, including the vivid encounter with the Item and Skills Masters recently.

    [Sorry. I wanted to approach you, Asirante, but I couldn¡¯t because you used teleport continuously.]

    First of all, I tried to ignore the fact that I didn¡¯t inflict any damage on the owl. I didn¡¯t even intend to listen to it, either.

    However, the owl kept apologizing, and it first approached me in the teleport zone, so I rxed and opened my mouth.

    ¡°Good. Who are you? Why are you looking for me? I don¡¯t think you belong to this area.¡±

    [You¡¯re right. My name is Arnap. I¡¯m from India.] ¡°India?¡±

    [Yeah.]

    ¡°Okay. Good. But why did youe to me?¡±

    [I¡¯vee here to ask for help. Currently, due to the copse of the wall, the Indian server has merged with the Vietnamese and Chinese servers, but China is indiscriminately expanding its territory.

    Since we can¡¯t allow China to take away ournd any more, I¡¯vee to you for help.]

    Of course, I was aware of the fierce fight between India and China. I heard from Director Sok that there was a fierce debate about it at the 3rd regr NW meeting.

    ¡°Are you asking that I fight against China?¡± I asked.

    This might be arrogant to say, but there are no ice-type wizards who are aspetent as me.

    But it was not just arrogance or pride. There are no ice-type wizards with abilitiesparable to mine. So China would recognize me immediately if I appeared before them.

    Moreover, while working as Asirante, I had no choice but to make friends with lots of people.

    As a matter of fact, it was inevitable that I would be revealed the moment Daeyu¡¯s Chairman Daeyoung Suh tries to message me because the system would tell him I was in a different region.

    So, If I joined hands with India, no matter how much I try to hide my identity, it was inevitable that they would find out who I was.

    Of course, I was not scared about China. Well, China was a powerful country, to be honest.

    It was evaluated as the next most powerful force after the United States.

    So I don¡¯t intend to fight China right now not only for me but also for the Myongjin Group.

    [I know what you are worried about. But China will never find out you are Asirante. Not only China, but no one else will know that you are Asirante.]

    ¡°What does that mean?¡±

    [If you look at this, you will know. Reveal, Constetion Hunter¡¯s Badge.]

    [Constetion Hunter¡¯s Badge. (myth)

    -This is the badge of an unnamed hunter who hunted the stars of the past universe and made all the stars tremble with fear.

    -When you wear this badge on your chest, all stat points and all skills are changed at random ording to the constetion hunter.

    -You can use the badge only three times, and you can use it for a maximum of 7 days.

    -When the 7 day limit is reached, it returns to its original state and immediately increases agility by 1000 permanently.

    : Current number of uses avable: 3/3]

    It was a myth-grade item, but it was not one I was familiar with.

    As if the owl read my mind, it immediately opened its mouth.

    [This item is activated immediately when you wear it on the chest. Also, as you can see, it is of the archer series, so all of your stat points and skills will be randomly changed to that of an archer. So no one will recognize you because ice-based wizards and archers arepletely different. Moreover, each time you use it, your agility is permanently increased by 1000. If you use it all three times, you will increase your agility by 3000. I¡¯ll give you this badge. We ask you to use it only two out of three times on our behalf.]

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you use it?¡±

    Of course, I liked the item because it would permanently increase my agility by a whopping 3000.

    However, being an archer waspletely different to being an ice-type wizard. Above all, I couldn¡¯t figure out how well I could perform.

    [Well, we tried to use it on our end, but none of us could not use it. Of course, we didn¡¯t have lots of yers try it because we wanted to keep it secret. So, we had the five most powerful yers in the guild try it, but they only received a message saying that they did not meet the equipment restrictions. You might also receive the same message, but the only person we could think of as the most powerful yer was you, Asirante. Pleasee to India and try to wear it. Even if you receive a message saying that you can¡¯t, we will fully repay you.]

    First of all, I coveted the item because 3000 agility was not easy to acquire under any circumstances. Since I was an ice-type wizard, I coveted it all the more.

    However, I thought twice.

    ¡°Well, I have added a lot of people as my friends now¡±

    No matter how much I disguise myself, the owl here is the problem.

    [You don¡¯t have to worry because I will stay here. If I stay here, you can respond to as many messages as you need.]

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re a very talented owl. Anyway, is there any evidence that all of this isn¡¯t crap? I¡¯ve met so many greedy guys so far.¡±

    [I don¡¯t have any evidence to show you right now. We have no choice but to talk with each other like this because of the wall. And wisely enough, you haven¡¯t leaked any information outside. But the Siddarth Guild I belong to is not stupid. We¡¯re now struggling to block China, and eventually all the walls will copse anyway. So, we have no intention of rubbing you the wrong way.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I would not consider the owl¡¯s proposal if I could still hunt in the Cunning Vampire Garrison, but I could not right now, and there were not many harpies here, so I liked the owl¡¯s offer.

    Of course, 3000 agility made me covet it all the more.

    So I decided to ept the owl¡¯s offer.

    Moreover, I might not be able to use the constetion hunter¡¯s badge like the owl said.

    Anyway, we talked a little more, and soon I entrusted my body to the owl.

    At the moment, I felt like I was moving somewhere.

    The owl was left behind alone.

    The owl got out of the Harpy Habitat and began to p its wings.

    As if it were a user, the owl moved to the Olbini Castle using the teleport zone and settled down on the remote fortress to the south of Olbini Castle.

    After that, the owl stopped moving with its eyes closed, appearing just like a natural owl to anybody¡¯s eyes.

 Chapter 232 - Constellation Hunter (1)

    <h4>Chapter 232: Constetion Hunter (1)</h4>

    ¡°Nice to meet you. Asirante. I am Rashmaka, leader of the Siddarth Guild.¡±

    ¡°Wee, Asirante. I have already introduced myself to you through the owl, but let me do it once more. I¡¯m Arnap, head of the Siddarth Guild¡¯s intelligence department.¡±

    I was prepared for everything just in case.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t fully believe them when I epted the offer.

    However, given my current surroundings, I decided that these guys had quite a bit ofmon sense, for I would have been quite displeased if this was a closed room or ce with numerous people.

    However, this ce was an open field and there were no other users around.

    In other words, this was their direct message that they had no intention of harming me.

    Also, I did something else secretly without letting them know.

    [Lumen: Are you there, sister?]

    [Super Beauty: Yep. What¡¯s up?]

    I have moved to more regions than I expected, and one thing that I found inmon was thatmunicating with others through messages was impossible.

    But this time, my message got through to my sister.

    It also meant that what these guys told me until now was true.

    So I decided that I could trust them a little, albeit not 100%.

    After I came to such a conclusion, I ended my messages with her, saying it wasn¡¯t a big deal.

    And I shook hands with Rashmaka, the leader of the Siddarth Guild who reached out to me.

    ¡°Nice to meet you too. I¡¯m Asirante.¡±

    ¡°Haha. It¡¯s truly an honor for me to greet you like this, Asirante.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee.¡±

    Since they have not lied to me at all, I treated them politely, while trying to respond to them as best as I could because I was not the type of yer to raise my head and act arrogantly.

    In particr, the arrogance of Commander Chung, the three-star general who visited the Myongjin Shelter, made me decide that I would not look down on others no matter how high up I was. After all, I could not force others to respect me.

    After exchanging greetings with them, I moved with guild leader Rashmaka guild and team leader Arnap, whomunicated to me through the owl before.

    At Ponkus Castle.

    They guided me to a cafe in Ponkus Castle Square, which was not the main base of the Siddarth Guild. Then they ordered some soft drinks and talked about some trifling stuff.

    Then, as if judging that small talk was over, guild leader Rashmaka took something out of his pocket and opened his mouth with a serious expression unlike before.

    ¡°This is it.¡±

    At a nce, I realized that it was the badge of the constetion hunter that I had seen through the owl. It was smaller than I thought.

    It looked like a badge one wore while attending middle and high school. It was exactly that size.

    So, at first nce, I didn¡¯t think it was a myth-grade item at all.

    But I opened my mouth without receiving it first.

    ¡°Howe you are giving it to me so easily. What happens if I receive it and not uphold my end of the bargain?¡±

    ¡°Haha, you are the strongest yer right now. However, nobody has found out anything about you. What does that mean? Doesn¡¯t it mean that you are careful and thoughtful? Moreover, normally someone at your level will try to boast of himself, but you don¡¯t. That means you have a lot of self-control. I have never seen someone like you act selfishly by taking advantage of the small gains before his eyes,¡± said Rashmaka with a smile on his lips.

    Then he paused for a moment to sip a cup of tea as if something got caught on his throat, and continued, ¡°Well, there is also a way for you to receive it easily. You don¡¯t have to get it while feeling pressured, do you?¡¯

    ¡°Is China so easy to beat?¡­¡± I murmured, tapping the table with my hand.

    Rashmaka replied with a smile on his mouth, ¡°Of course, it is hard for us. But can¡¯t you beat China easily? Oh, I have no intention of burdening you. If you try to wear this constetion hunter¡¯s badge that no one has ever worn, and if you do change, we just hope you can do your best for us. Of course, we will ept whatever results you give us.¡±

    Then Arnap, the head of the guild¡¯s intelligence department, opened his mouth.

    ¡°Even if a message appears saying that you can¡¯t wear it, we¡¯re going to repay you foring all the way here. If you want, we can move you directly back to your original region.¡±

    In the end, there would be absolutely no loss for me except for the time I would spend here with them So I epted their offer, assuring them I was confident of smashing even a trap.

    Anyway, I picked up the small badge that Rashmaka gave me, and put it on my left chest because they said a message would ring right away before the badge was put to use.

    And the moment I put the badge on my left chest, a message really rang.

    [Constetion badge hunter¡¯s equipment restrictions have been met.

    -Would you like to equip the constetion hunter¡¯s badge?]

    Honestly, I thought I would meet the equipment restrictions because I wascking in nothing except my level.

    After confirming it first, I removed the badge again because I could use it only three times and I could use it only for one week during each use.

    The guild leader Rashmaki and Arnap were watching me with curious gazes, so I opened my mouth as if it was not a big deal.

    ¡°I got a message saying that the equipment restrictions have been met and it asked me if I want to equip it right now.¡±

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    ¡°Just what I thought!¡±

    The two smiled at me in great satisfaction.

    But I was happier because I was basically guaranteed the myth-grade item that increases my agility by a total of 3000, even though I didn¡¯t earn it yet.

    A littleter I logged out.

    The Siddarth Guild had not yet nned a battle with the Chinese Guild at the time of our meeting because they had to ascertain whether I could wear the badge or not first.

    So, I logged out after agreeing to meet them againter.

    As soon as I logged out, a familiar face was waiting for me.

    ¡°There you are, Juyoung!¡±

    Of course, I had no intention of relying solely on the information provided by the Siddarth Guild because I had the power to use my own people.

    So, after finishing conversing with my sister, I also messaged Director Sok and asked him to investigate the current status of the fight between India and China, as well as the Siddarth Guild of India.

    ¡°Thank you, as always, Director Sok.¡±

    I expressed gratitude to him after receiving the relevant documents from him.

    ¡°You¡¯re wee. By the way, are you going to stay in India the whole time?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°You are very busy.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I really am. I just find myself busy all the time for some reason.¡±

    Like Director Sok said, I kept being involved with all kinds of incidents all the time.

    Of course, if I was ordinary and one of themon users, this kind of thing would not happen to me.

    ¡°By the way, I¡¯m amazed to know we can message each other like this across regions. As expected, the world is wide.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡±

    Watching those with many extraordinary abilities, I felt that the world was really wide.

    And those who have dealt with me also will feel the same way because I am not one of the typical users.

 Chapter 233 - Constellation Hunter (2)

    <h4>Chapter 233: Constetion Hunter (2)</h4>

    ¡°By the way, you should be careful because the war of words between India and China at the 3rd NW meeting was very fierce.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it certainly was. So much so that India even passed a myth grade item to me without any hesitation.¡±

    While conversing with Director Sok about this and that, I checked the documents that he brought to me. He also gave me some advice about what I should look out for while he was there with me..

    After that, I had dinner with him, then essed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    Did I ess it to meet the Siddarth Guild again?

    Of course not. I was supposed to meet them tomorrow.

    The reason I essed it now was to take advantage of the Sidsart Guild as much as possible.

    As a matter of fact, I told Rashmaka, the leader of the Siddarth Guild, that I wanted to hunt in a good hunting ground while I was staying here. Of course, I didn¡¯t forget to remind him to organize a herding team for me if possible.

    Although they had already promised me many rewards, I wanted more if I could get it.

    After essing ¡®Revival Legend¡¯, I moved to the hunting ground in question right away.

    ¡°Move to the Land of Immortality.¡±

    [You have moved to the Land of Immortality.]

    The Land of Immortality was a level 1200 hunting ground managed by the Siddarth Guild.

    As the name suggested, undead monsters popted this hunting ground.

    ¡°Wee! My name is Tarun, and I¡¯m in charge of the 3rd Raid Team of the Siddarth Guild.¡±

    ¡°Hey, nice to meet you. I¡¯m Asirante.¡±

    The Siddarth Guild did not refuse my request and guided me to this ce while organizing as many as six herding teams for me. They even added that they would provide hunting assistance as much as I wanted during my stay in India.

    At that moment, I even thought that this ce might be heaven for me. It came at the right time when I concluded that the Harpy Habitat was not a suitable recement for the Cunning Vampire Garrison where I could not hunt any longer.

    And I was even guaranteed a myth-grade item that would increase my agility by 3000 as a bonus.

    ¡°Then, would you like to start hunting right away?¡±

    ¡°Yes, please.¡±

    Obviously, this kind of hunting opportunity was rare, so I started hunting right away.

    Of course, my target was the undead monsters that the Siddarth Guild¡¯s herding teams gathered for me.

    Shortly after I began hunting, I heard exmations of admiration here and there.

    ¡°Wow¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh my¡­¡±

    ¡°How can he do that?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, he is really strong¡­¡±

    All in all, except for very few monsters, the undead monsters had high health, befitting this level 1200 hunting ground. But I had no problem at all.

    ¡°Hahahaha¡±

    With my lips slightly curving upwards, I was busy hunting the monsters.

    The next day, I noticed a ce name in the document Director Sok brought to me.

    ¡°Two dayster, you are going to battle with China¡¯s Hwasin Guild on the Katun ins. Two level 1000 hunting grounds and Antu Castle are located in the vicinity of the Katun ins. Antu Castle is the only ce where you can use a teleport zone to move to Stve Castle. It is an important strategic point that you must not lose to the enemy.¡±

    The ce was originally the territory of Vietnam¡¯s Buontai Guild.

    In other words, it was not originally India¡¯s territory.

    But I didn¡¯t bother to mention it here, for even the Myongjin Guild upied some territory of Mongolia, including the Cunning Vampire Garrison. I knew this was an inexcusable logic, but I couldn¡¯t help it because a number of well-known guilds, including the Mitsuya Guild of Japan, Mirae, Daesung, Kusan, and Daeyu of Korea infringed on the territory of Mongolia, which was rtively weaker than other neighboring countries.

    If Myongjin didn¡¯t do anything for the sake of honor in such a situation, they wouldg behind theirpetitors because it was already well known that ¡®Revival Legend¡± was deeply rted to reality and as a result, lots of users essed it from around the world.

    Because of that, Myongjin hired many promising yers and needed to provide them with good hunting grounds to maintain their interest.

    Anyway, I kept listening to them without refuting it because I had no intention of ming neither the Siddarth Guild nor its leader Rashmaka.

    After hearing their exnation, I moved back to the Land of Immortality and continued hunting.

    At the Land of Immortality the next day.

    This time, I met Rashmaka, the guild leader, along with Arnap, the intelligence team leader, and some other top executives of the Siddarth Guild.

    Did I meet them to show off my skills? Of course not.

    They have already recorded me hunting dozens of times with the Memory Beads.

    Of course, I ignored the Siddarth Guild members when they recorded me with the memory beads while I was hunting because I was the one who had requested them first for the hunting ground and even their herding teams.

    Anyway, the reason that I wanted to meet them today was because I wanted to confirm how powerful the constetion hunter¡¯s badge was one day before I fought the Chinese yers.

    Even though I could use the badge for only one week, I still needed to figure out how powerful it would be in the battle.

    So I put the constetion hunter¡¯s badge on my chest with everyone watching me.

    [You have met the equip restrictions for the constetion badge hunter.

    -Would you like to equip the constetion hunter¡¯s badge?]

    ¡°Yes, I will equip it.¡±

    I chose to equip it, and at that moment, I felt a dazzling light enveloping me as many messages rang

    [Lumen, Asirante has changed into a constetion hunter.

    -The stat points you currently have are randomly changed to suit the Constetion Hunter. (When the constetion hunter¡¯s retention period ends, the stat points will be redistributed to its original state.)

    However, the stat points acquired by your titles do not change.

    -All skills you currently possess are deleted and reced with skills of the Constetion Hunter to match the number of skill points you possess. (When the Constetion Hunter¡¯s retention period ends, you will regain your original skill.)

    -All items you have currently equipped will are removed and reced with the Constetion Hunter¡¯s weapons, armor, and essories.]

    This was a message about the change of stat points and skills that I first checked. In addition, a message about items also rang.

    But the messages didn¡¯t stop there.

    [You have an avable space to equip a new item.

    -You can equip the Constetion Hunter¡¯s hidden essory, the ¡®0.3% chance to kill instantly¡¯ ring.]

    [You have a skill that cannot be changed.

    -The Savant skill is not deleted.

    -The changed Blink skill is not deleted.]

    I had no choice but to quietly smile at the additional message because not only was the ¡°0.3$ chance to kill instantly¡± ring exceptional, but also because the Savant skill and the changed Blink skill were still avable.

    Of course, the changed Blink must be Blink with zero cooldown.

    ¡°Wow! Wow!¡±

    ¡°Your bow is huge.¡±

    ¡°Is he going to change everything from stat points and skills to items?¡±

    At that moment, everybody around me began to whisper because they could not help but be amazed by my change.

 Chapter 234 - Constellation Hunter (3)

    <h4>Chapter 234: Constetion Hunter (3)</h4>

    But first, I opened my mouth quietly.

    ¡°Check status window.¡±

    [Name: Constetion Hunter. (Remaining time 6 days 23 hours 59 minutes 47 seconds.)

    Level: 957

    Number of kills: 4157, Number of deaths: 0

    Title: Only Closed Beta Max Level Achiever and 8 others.

    Health: 5,122,000 / 5,122,000

    Mana: 2,735,000 / 2,735,000

    Strength: 37550 (+3000) Agility: 55555 (+5000)

    Health: 23171 (+3000) Willpower: 10580 (+3000)

    Intellect: 13022 (+3000)

    Remaining Stat Points: 0

    Remaining Skill Points: 0

    Traits: Constetion Hunter 1, Constetion Hunter 2, Constetion Hunter 3.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    On the status window, everything was changed except for my level, the number of kills, the number of deaths, and my titles. In particr, my stat points had gone up tremendously.

    Agility had increased by 5,000 and the rest of my stats had increased by 3,000, so my strength and agility were approaching 40,000 and 60,000, respectively.

    Of course, those numbers were probably inted due to the Constetion Hunter¡¯s items, but I was speechless because of how high they were anyway.

    Then I slowly opened my mouth again.

    ¡°Check skill window.¡±

    Because of the surprising numbers on the status window, I was also very curious about how the skill window changed.

    Of course, my voice trembled a bit in excitement, but I could not help it.

    [List of skills you currently possess.

    -Infinite Arrow (Passive)

    -Increase Pration (passive)

    -Longer Range (Passive)

    -Magic Arrow

    : Fire Arrow (Active)

    : Wind Arrow (Active)

    : Ice Arrow (Active)

    : Earth Arrow (Active)

    : Lightning Arrow (Active)

    :

    <code>: </code></pre>

    -Storm Shot (Active)

    -Great Storm Shot (Active)

    -Exploding Arrow (Active)

    -Pouring Arrow Rain (Active)

    -Perfect Hit (Active)

    -Dancing Arrow (Active)

    -Flying Arrows (Active)

    -Giant Vine Arrow (Active)

    -Savant (limited skill)

    -Blink (active)]

    On the skill window, all of the skills were changed to something new except for Blink and Savant.

    Since I¡¯ve seen my status window hundreds or thousands of times before, I could tell at a nce how ridiculous the change in numbers was, but checking my skill window, I did not feel the same thrill because all the skills were new to me.

    However, I could see that they would show tremendous power. Given the current skill window, even if I shot an arrow randomly, it would inflict huge damage. The damage would be even more if I used a mixture of skills.

    I even felt like it would be more powerful than my Ice Ball, which was a lot more powerful than that of an Ice-type Wizard¡¯s Ice Spear who was famous in the field.

    Anyway, I was done confirming the changes in my skills.

    But there was still one more thing that I had to check out.

    I needed to confirm my items. So, I checked the item window finally.

    The items on the item window were all new to me, but a message rang that they were impossible to remove once equipped. But they were all myth grade.

    Particrly, after checking the two-handed exclusive bow, I realized why my status window had such high numbers.

    [Sarnga¡¯s bow. (myth)

    -It is a weapon exclusive to the Constetion Hunter.

    -Equip restrictions

    : Only those who meet the conditions for using the Constetion Hunter¡¯s badge can use it.

    : When the Constetion Hunter¡¯s retention time ends, this item will be automatically removed.

    : Impossible to enhance.

    -Option.

    : Those hit by the bow of Sarnga have a 0.1% chance of dying instantly.

    : Those hit by the bow of Sarnga will have their physical and magic defense decreased by 30% for 5 seconds.

    : Those hit by the bow of the Sarnga will have their movement speed decreased by 30% for 5 seconds.

    : Increases the power of all archer skills by 30%.

    : Reduces the cooldown of all archer skills by 30%.

    : Increases agility by 4000.

    : Increases stamina by 2000

    : Increases strength by 1000

    -Physical attack power: Increases by 25500.

    -Magic attack Power: Increases by 9500.

    -Durability: infinite/infinite]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Scam.

    That¡¯s the word that came to my mind after I checked the bow of Sarnga.

    No matter how much I look at it, it looked two to three times better than my Ice Emperor Guardian which was the same myth grade, and was even enhanced to +5.

    Of course, I could equip the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword forever, but I could equip this bow for three one-week periods. Nheless, not only the weapons, but all the other armor and essories had enormous options as well.

    Anyway, after confirming my stat points, skills, items, and the like, I spoke to Rashmaka, the leader of the Siddarth Guild, and other top executives who were just looking at me.

    ¡°Maybe I can beat them more easily than I think.¡±

    Is it possible for me to struggle when I have such enormous skills and items?

    I thought that was incredibly unlikely because I was confident that I was at least two to three times as strong as I was in the past.

    ¡°Wow, that¡¯s great!¡±

    ¡°Wonderful!¡±

    ¡°What a relief!¡±

    They were so happy about my confidence, which made me realize once again how scared they were of China. Otherwise, they would feel very displeased to donate myth grade items to me, an outsider, unless they were idiots.

    ¡®Should I thank China, after all?¡¯

    Come to think of it, China¡¯s invasion triggered rm in India, which, in turn, sought my help. So, I even thought momentarily I should be grateful to China, not India.

    Shaking off such idle thoughts, I decided to try my new items and skills to check how powerful they were because I could only set up an urate n after checking how much power I could use against the Chinese yers.

    Shortly afterward, I began to use my new skills one by one.

    ¡°Perfect hit!¡±

    [You have used Perfect Hit.

    -For ten minutes your hit ratio increases drastically.]

    First of all, I used the buff skill in the skill window, just like how I normally first used Ice Field and Thin Ice to buff myself at the start of the battle.

    Then I used the next skill.

    ¡°Giant Vine Arrow.¡±

    I used what I felt was the most appropriate skill for the herd of undead monsters that the Siddarth Guild¡¯s 1st Herding Team had gathered for me.

    Bang!

    There was quite a big noise.

    Vines spread immediately from the chest of the undead monster struck by the arrow, then spread in all directions, binding other undead monsters.

    Of course, the undead monsters did not simply look at my attack without doing anything.

    They grabbed the vines coiling around them tightly with both arms and tried to rip them apart.

    Some of them even struck the vines with their weapons.

    But the vines were neither torn apart nor damaged.

    The more the undead monsters tried to rip them apart, the faster the vines grew and wrapped them around tightly.

    Watching them struggle, I was reminded of the Venus Flytrap, an insectivorous nt that attracted flies through smell, then trapped the flies in its leaves.

    In particr, considering that the target of the vines was level 1200 undead monsters, the power of this new skill was really enormous.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t just stay idle, watching such a scene, because I still had lots of new skills to demonstrate.

 Chapter 235 - Constellation Hunter (4)

    <h4>Chapter 235: Constetion Hunter (4)</h4>

    ¡°Storm Shot! Great Storm Shot!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Storm Shot was an AOE skill firing multiple arrows in a certain area. Its power was tremendous, given that the bound undead monsters were killed instantly without even being able to let out a sound.

    But I didn¡¯t like the attack range of this skill.

    That¡¯s why I had another skill, Great Storm Shot, which could make up for it.

    I smiled in satisfaction because of its great performance.

    ¡°Good job! Yeah, this is really what an AOE skill is like.¡±

    Watching Great Storm Shot fire right after Storm Shot, I could not help but smile because I liked it from the beginning.

    So, I gave Great Storm Shot and Storm Shot a passing grade.

    After that, I used several other skills not only for the purpose of demonstrating my skills to the top executives of the Siddarth Guild who were watching me nkly with their jaws hanging open, but also for the purpose of gaining EXP.

    In no time, a level-up message rang.

    [You have leveled up.]

    Anyway, I could demonstrate my skills while increasing my EXP, so I continued using them.

    The next day, the Siddarth Guild became very busy after confirming my tremendous power as the Constetion Hunter because there were only six days left of the retention time. Of course, I had one more chance of one week.

    Nheless, since the Siddarth Guild wanted to gain the maximum out of my first use of the badge, I essed the ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ early in the morning and moved with Arnap, the intelligence team leader, who I met through the Owl for the first time.

    Of course, we didn¡¯t spend much time moving because we used the teleport zone.

    ¡°There are so many guys.¡±

    Massive battle?

    Obviously, I also had experience fighting arge-scale battle, like the one between Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild of 70,000 and Korea¡¯s Myongjin & Mirae Alliance of 100,000. Although not everyone in that battle fought all at once, they still engaged in fiercebat by dividing their forces into several groups.

    But the troops that I saw in front of me were so overwhelming.

    ¡°They number at least 170,000.¡±

    A whopping 170,000.

    But that¡¯s not all.

    ¡°Well, we have 170,000, but if we include China¡¯s forces, there is a little less than 400,000 gathered here.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    One could say the number 400,000 easily, but it seemed that the sheer number of the enemies was endless.

    I already knew that China had an enormous number of users, but I still was stunned after seeing the huge number in front of me. Moreover, the opponent was only the Hwashin Guild, not all the users in China.

    ording to the document that I received from Director Sok, the Hwashin Guild was a guild representing China¡¯s Communist Youth Party standing shoulder to shoulder with the Princelings and the Shanghai Party. It controlled numerous guilds, and it was so huge.

    Anyway, I was on standby because there were surely more procedures and strategies forrge scaled battles.

    After a while, as expected, the Siddarth Guild and the Hwashin Guild had a discussion about apromise to avoid shing. However, the Chinese Hwashin Guild demanded that the Siddarth Guild hand over half of the Katun ins, which was uneptable to the Siddarth Guild. So it was inevitable their negotiations broke down.

    Perhaps both sides already knew their talks would fail.

    In particr, after the fierce war of words at the 3rd NW Meeting, China threatened action against India. They argued that even though they were obviously willing to solve the pending issue through discussion, they could not, so they had no other choice but to fight.

    I just quietly watched the two sides negotiating in vain.

    And soon the battle between them began.

    They got into a fierce fight right away without even starting off with small skirmishes.

    So, I had no choice but to say something to Arnap next to me.

    ¡°Man, they are showing no mercy to each other!¡±

    ¡°No way! As a matter of fact, there has been bad blood between both forces because of the numerous small andrge battles until now .¡±

    Of course, that¡¯s not the only reason.

    India lost to China every time.

    And I could confirm it in the document Director Sok gave to me.

    Even though India defended rtively well, they still always inevitably lost to China.

    And that¡¯s why they took the trouble ofing all the way to hire me, even offering myth grade items.

    Anyway, the battle between China and India started like that.

    Arnap opened his mouth immediately.

    ¡°Then I hope you can fight well.¡±

    ¡°Sure, no problem.¡±

    The remaining time of Constetion Hunter was six days. I clearly told them that when the retention time ended, I had no intention of fighting again. Although the Siddarth Guild asked me to use two of the three opportunities for their sake, I had no intention of using the second chance. So, they asked me if I could immediately participate in the battle as soon as it started.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t refuse their request, so when Arnap said that, I stepped straight toward the battlefield as the Constetion Hunter, not Asirante.

    ¡°Perfect Hit!¡±

    While slowly moving to the battlefield, I used my buff skills.

    [You have used Perfect Hit.

    -Your hit rate increases dramatically for ten minutes.]

    Besides, I received a series of other buffs.

    ¡°Sharp Canine!¡±

    ¡°Outpouring Anger!¡±

    ¡°Link: Skill cooldown.¡±

    [You have received the effect of Sharp Canine.

    -Inflicts 7% more damage to the opponent for 10 minutes.]

    [You have received the effect of Outpouring Anger.

    -Physical and magical defense decreases by 10%, but physical and magical damage increases by 5%.]

    [Link: You have received the effect of skill cooldown.

    -10% of the Constetion Hunter¡¯s cooldowns is taken by the user of this skill, Bediya.

    -Bediya is subject to a threefold increase in skill cooldown instead.]

    Since I was supposed to take part in arge-scale battle soon and I had to avoid a stupid situation where I swepat away friendly forces during my fight, I told my father about my deal with the Siddarth Guild in advance, then joined them.

    So, I received an enormous amount of buffs.

    ¡°Set Magic Arrow ¨C Lightning Arrow!¡±

    [You have chosen Lightning Arrow as your Magic Arrow.

    -All your arrows you shoot with a certain amount of mana are changed to Lightning Arrows.]

    Since I already possessed the passive skill of Infinite Arrow, I didn¡¯t need arrows from the beginning. All I had to do was to add whatever traits I wanted to the arrows.

    Shuuuuuuuuuuuung! Shuuuuuuuuuung! Shuuuuuuuuuuuuung!

    And I kept firing arrows from far behind.

    My attack range was never short, even when I was an ice-type wizard..

    As a matter of fact, I could say confidently that there was no ice-type wizard who had an attack range as long as mine.

    But the reason I took the trouble of prating into the enemy forces was because it was the most efficient and powerful way of dealing with them.

    In other words, spamming AOE skills, including Blizzard, afterying Ice Field and Thin Ice in the middle of the enemy camp was the most obvious way for me to kill as many as enemies.

    And it was natural that the enemies were demoralized by my fierce attack while friendly forces were overjoyed when I attacked this way..

    So, did I prate into the middle of the enemies again this time?¡±

 Chapter 236 - Constellation Hunter (5)

    <h4>Chapter 236: Constetion Hunter (5)</h4>

    Of course, I didn¡¯t mean to do it this time because I was now an archer. I didn¡¯t have to follow the same hunting method I used as an ice-type wizard.

    Moreover, I had a greater attack range than before because I had over 60,000 agility and a passive skill that granted a longer range than others.

    That¡¯s why I kept firing the Sarnga bow from the far rear.

    And the arrows that I shot flew at tremendous speed.

    They struck enemies instantly, and even prated through them.

    Although I was far from the enemies and could not hear it clearly because of the numerous sounds ofbat, I could confirm that just one arrow prated through between 10 and 12 enemies.

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!.

    0.1 seconds? Or 0.01 seconds? I saw my arrows hitting the enemies with that interval, and at least 10 enemies were killed with each arrow.

    ¡°Great!¡±

    Of course, only ten or so were killed each time.

    Considering that the enemies numbered in the hundreds of thousands, the number of kills was really minimal. So the arrows were not really noticed by the enemy forces at all.

    But I thought this was enough. So I kept firing the bow of Sarnga and killed at least ten of the enemies with each shot.

    Moreover, the Siddarth Guild also wanted to unleash a full-on attack on the Hwashin Guild, but they wanted me tounch a modest attack against them in the beginning.

    At the camp of China¡¯s Hwashin Guild.

    ¡°Not bad,¡± Li Shuang, the Chairman of the Hwashin Guild, said quietly.

    Wang Chi, the head of the Hwashin¡¯s Guild strategy department, , chimed in from behind him.

    ¡°You are right. It¡¯s true India has arge number of users, but they are so weak!¡±

    ¡°Really? If the Siddarth Guild guys listened to you saying that, they would be stunned.¡±

    ¡°But isn¡¯t it true? The results of our fight against them support it.¡±

    ¡°Come on, as chief of the Strategy Department, shouldn;t you be more prudent in making the conclusion like that?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    Wang apologized as Chairman Li reproached him.

    However, Wang didn¡¯t feel bad at all because he knew that the chairman was not serious about his reprimand.

    Anyway, the top executives of the Hwashin Guild watched the battlefield with peace of mind.

    Why? Because they had always won against the Indian users, and they had no doubt that they would win today again.

    So it was after quite some time passed that they felt something strange.

    The battle between China and India was still going on fiercely.

    ¡°Why do Teams 3, 7 and 11 have only tanks in front of them?¡±

    The first to discover something strange during the battle was Yang Xin, themander of the 2nd Corps of the Hwashin Guild.

    Normally, it was said that one could get a better grasp of thebat situation if they were near the battlefield, but sometimes the opposite was true . In the current battle with the Siddarth Guild, themander of the 1st Corps wasmanding his troops in the frontline while themander of the 2nd Corps was watching the situation in the rear with his troops on standby.

    So it was natural that Yang Xin first discovered something strange. However, he could not pinpoint what it was. He just didn¡¯t understand why there were so many tanks in front of Team 3, Team 7 and Team 11 in the battlefield where hundreds of thousands of yers were fighting at the moment.

    In general, the battle formation of the Hwashin Guild consisted of oneyer of tanks, damage dealers, healers and enchanters, followed by anotheryer of the same troops.

    In other words, tanks, damage dealers and enchanters formed one battle formation, and the Hwashin Guild¡¯s basic battle formation was based on the five or sixyers of such formations.

    However, when Yang Xin looked at them, the dealers, healers, and enchanters who were supposed to be positioned between the tanks were missing, and only the tanks remained.

    As a result, with the healers and enchanters, not to mention the damage dealers, missing, the tanks in the front were copsing rapidly.

    Stunned, Yang messaged the frontline squad leaders about the abnormal situation because they had to restore their copsing formation back to normal first before investigating the reason.

    So, at Yang¡¯s order, several damage dealers, healers and enchanters moved to supplement Teams 3, 7 and 11 immediately.

    The battle continued fiercely.

    Shuuuuuuuuuung. Shuuuuuuuuung. Shuuuuuuuuuuung. Shuuuuuuuuuung.

    I kept firing the arrows from the rear of the Siddarth Guild yers.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t use just Lightning Arrow alone because I had various elemental arrows such as those imbued with Fire, Ice, Wind, and Earth.

    I wanted to confuse the enemies by using a variety of arrows, but I did not target the enemy tanks because there were more attractive targets behind them, such as the damage dealers, healers, and enchanters. The Siddarth Guild wanted me to first get rid of those guys.

    ¡°By the way, have they not noticed my ranged attacks yet? No matter howrge this battlefield is, it¡¯s about time they noticed it¡­¡±

    Of course, considering the hundreds of thousands of yers and the vast battlefield that seemed endless, the enemies that I killed were pretty minimal. But it was still not small enough to be ignored. In particr, I was continuously choosing only dealers, healers, and enchanters who had rtively low defensepared to the tanks.

    ¡®Alright, if you guys haven¡¯t noticed yet, it¡¯s better for me.¡±

    I heard lots of news about various strange incidents in India, so I naturally didn¡¯t like India. But I didn¡¯t like China as much as India.

    Moreover, China was much more powerful than India, so when the barriers blocking each country were lifted, China invaded its neighbouring countries immediately.

    So, I knew there was no guarantee that China would not invade Korea when the wall between them eventually broke down, so I hoped that my attack could break China¡¯s propensity to attack its neighbors.

    As a matter of fact, weakening my opponent was an effective way to make myself stronger.

    Anyway, I kept firing my skill arrows.

    Shuuuuuuuung. Shuuuuuuuuuung. Shuuuuuuuung. Shuuuuuuuuuuuuung.

    I moved around the rear of the Siddarth Guild little by little, and kept firing arrows at the attractive game of dealers, healers, and enchanters behind the tanks.

    After a while, at the Hwashin Guild.

    ¡®Is it an arrow?¡¯

    Of course, the Commander of 2nd Corps Yang Xin was not content with simply giving orders.

    He continually scanned the battlefield to find out why the battle formations of his troops were copsing because it was his job to do so.

    In particr, he examined closely the area of the battlefield where Team 3, Team 7, and Team 11 were dispatched to.

    However, he couldn¡¯t find anything unusual.

    So, the fighting went on with a new batch of dealers, healers, and enchanters added to the three teams.

    At that moment, Yang Xin noticed that nearly 9 dealers, healers, and enchanters of Team 12 next to Team 11 copsed instantly. And in the next moment, another 7 were struck down.

    Yang turned his gaze to the Siddarth Guild in front of him.

    He confirmed that it was an archer¡¯s arrow attack, but he had never seen the arrows fly so quickly, let alone inflict so much damage.

    ¡®Where is that archer right now?¡±

 Chapter 237 - Constellation Hunter (6)

    <h4>Chapter 237: Constetion Hunter (6)</h4>

    At least 5-10 enemies were killed with each of my arrows.

    Of course, there were still numerousbatants remaining, but sacrifices were still so painful to Commander Yang.

    So, he kept scrutinizing the frontline of the Siddarth Guild yers carefully, but he could not find the archer who was firing the arrows.

    For a moment, he thought there might be something wrong in the rear of the Siddarth Guild members. But even wizards who were famous for their ranged attacks could not hit his troops from such a distance, let alone an archer.

    So, Yang was about to turn his gaze back to the front when he discovered a man at the end of the Siddarth Guild members firing arrows so fast that he could hardly see them.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    At first, Yang thought, ¡®What the heck is he doing? Is he ying with arrows?¡¯

    As a matter of fact, the center of the battlefield was over one kilometer away from the rear of the Siddarth Guild battle formation, a distance that was impossible for even an elite long-range archer to fire across.

    However, his troops helplessly copsed at the arrow attack by the unknown archer at the far rear of the Siddarth Guild members.

    Whenever the archer fired arrows, Yang¡¯s dealers, healers, and enchanters copsed en masse. Seeing this, Yang now had to believe the archer¡¯s unbelievable firing range.

    Moreover, the damage was also incredible.

    Commander Yang was startled only for a moment. He immediately reported to his boss about the archer in question, then gave some orders to the squad leaders of his troops.

    Now he was thinking about only one thing.

    ¡®How can I kill that archer shooting arrows from such a long distance?¡¯

    The archer was at the very end of the Siddarth Guild members¡¯ battle formation.

    Shuuuuuuuung. Shuuuuuuuuung. Shuuuuuuuuung. Shuuuuuuuuuung.

    While I was busy firing the arrows, moving around in the rear, I noticed there was some change in the enemies¡¯ formation. Unlike before, not only the dealers, but also the healers and enchanters hid directly behind the tanks. They got so close to the tanks that I could not see even their cors.

    Only then did I realize that the enemies had finally noticed my presence at the rear of the Siddarth Guild members.

    Of course, I had no regrets that I got caught, for I already killed a lot of them before I was noticed.

    Moreover, those who I killed were none other than the dealers, healers, and enchanters.

    I looked back at the guild leader of the Siddarth Guild.

    Why? Because I wanted to signal to him that I no longer could fire arrows as before? Of course not. I was confident of smashing the tanks, too, no matter how strong they were.

    In fact, I targeted not only monsters but also the Siddarth Guild members during the test yesterday. So, I had no problem dealing with all the enemies, no matter who they were.

    However, this battle was clearly one between the Indian Siddarth Guild and the Chinese Hwashin Guild. I was merely a mercenary. So, I decided to follow themand of the Siddarth Guild faithfully as long as it was within my scope of activities.

    Anyway, Rashmaka, the guild leader, nodded at my nce.

    After confirming it, I boldly elbowed my way through the Siddarth Guild members because although I couldunch a general attack from my current range, I had to move to the front to use my AOE skills properly.

    Besides, I needed to show my heroic performance to rally the troops of the Siddarth Guild who had been demoralized due to their repeated defeats until now.

    Tramp- Tramp-

    In fact, my existence was kept as a top secret even within the Siddarth Guild, so most of the guild members just looked at me with a puzzled expression when I passed by them.

    Of course, I could use Blink with zero cooldown.

    Moreover, I lied to the Siddarth Guild by saying that there was a Blink-like skill called Constetion Movement among the skills possessed by the Constetion Hunter.

    But I didn¡¯t feel the need to use it here because although the archer and the ice wizard werepletely different, I had no intention of ovepping my fighting style with Asirante

    When I approached almost the frontline of the Siddarth Guild yers, I opened my mouth while pulling the bow of Sarnga.

    ¡°Giant Vine Arrow!¡±

    If I had to use only one of the Constetion Hunter¡¯s skills, this was the one I had in mind.

    Now, the Giant Vine Arrow was fired out of my bow.

    Soon the arrow struck one of the Hwashin Guild members, and a huge amount of vines sprang out and spread from the impact spot.

    And like the undead monsters that I had tested as my target, the Hwashin Guild members were struggling to remove the vines that had bound them tightly.

    Were the Hwashin Guild members startled?¡¯

    At first, they weren¡¯t because vines did not boast any extraordinary offense like thorns or roots.

    But as time went by, they found the vines really annoying.

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    ¡°What the heck is this? I can¡¯t remove them!¡±

    ¡°Shit! Why is this strangling me like this?¡±

    Since I was some distance away from them, I couldn¡¯t hear their yells and shout clearly, but I could clearly see their shock from being unable to remove the sturdy vines.

    Then, I turned my gaze to some other ces because there were many other enemies other than those suffering from the giant vines.

    ¡°Storm Shot. Great Storm Shot!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Kheeeeeeeeee!¡±

    ¡°Khuuuuuuuuuk!¡±

    Of course, it was impossible for me to kill all the enemies within the striking zone of my AOE skills, but I could kill all of those who were within the attack range of Storm Shot and Great Storm Shot.

    Only then did they pay serious attention to me because they clearly realized they could not make light of my attack.

    ¡°Archer! That archer with that giant bow!¡±

    ¡°Stop that archer!¡±

    ¡°Stop him from the front, tanks!¡±

    I wasn¡¯t afraid or startled by the enemies when they urately pointed at me and shouted, for I deliberately moved forward to get them to notice me.

    But I found that the elite tanks of the Siddarth Guild as well as their healers and enchanters surrounded me just in case.

    Honestly, I didn¡¯t need their help because although my staminagged behind that of my identity Asirante, my health and defense power were much higher than before.

    However, I didn¡¯t have to show my enemies that I had excellent defensive power as well, so when the Siddarth Guild offered to support me first, I nodded.

    Anyway, with the supporters from the Siddarth Guild standing around me, I kept firing the arrows.

    ¡°Exploding Arrow! Outpouring Arrow!¡±

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

    ¡°Damn it! What kind of damage is this?¡±

    ¡°No way! I can¡¯t believe this kind of attack!¡±

    ¡°Argh!¡±

    Excluding Blink with zero cooldown and the limited skill Savant, who would win if Asirante fought against the Constetion Hunter? I thought about it for a moment, and I came to the conclusion that the Constetion Hunter would easily win.

    Why? Because the Constetion Hunter was better in everything except for some stats.

    Besides, my items right now were all myth grade.

    So, even when I simply used only one magic arrow without resorting to any powerful skills, many enemies copsed.

    Anyway, the enemies as well as the Siddarth Guild members paidplete attention to me because of my overwhelming power.

    ¡°Who the hell is he?¡±

    ¡°I have no idea¡­¡±

    ¡°Damn it. Did you check the damage? We¡¯re finished if he hits us even once!¡±

    ¡°Man, this is crazy.¡±

    As a matter of fact, this was what I intended from the beginning because the top executives of the Siddarth Guild strongly argued that they should confront China strongly because of their repeated defeats in the past. So, they needed some sort of victory above all.

    ¡®Good. It looks like we¡¯re not likely to be good friends with China, so let me weaken their power as much as possible this time.¡¯

    I originally nned to attack China after receiving further instructions from the Siddarth Guild, but I pulled the bow hard after thinking that it wasn¡¯t a bad opportunity to put some brakes on China¡¯s rising power at his moment.

 Chapter 238 - Wrong Choice (1)

    <h4>Chapter 238: Wrong Choice (1)</h4>

    At the Chinese Hwashin Guild.

    Not only Chairman Li Shuang but also the guild¡¯s top executives were at loss for words while watching the fight¡¯s strange turn.

    Then, after a while, Chairman Li quietly opened his mouth.

    ¡°Who is he?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    But nobody could respond to his question.

    Among them, Huiyen, head of the intelligence department, could not even raise his head.

    Even if he didn¡¯t know who that man was, it was his job to investigate and find out about it.

    Besides, this stranger was a formidable yer.

    On the battlefield.

    ¡°Oh my¡­¡±

    Kwak Cheong, the Commander of the 1st Corps of the Hwashin Guild, had no choice but tough bitterly after watching the situation at the frontline.

    Of course, he wasn¡¯t just staring at the archer who showed incredible power. He made several desperate attempts to catch him.

    For example, heunched an all-out attack at the archer¡¯s position by mobilizing seven squads with multiple dealers hidden behind three columns of tanks, and 100 wizards who could use Blink. But all his efforts failed.

    In particr, the attack of the 100 wizards who could use Blink was especially disappointing

    As soon as all 100 wizards teleported to the archer¡¯s side, they were annihted by his AOE skills. Although wizards had low stamina and health, they received buffs from the enchanters right before using Blink, but they could not hold out even for a moment.

    It meant that the damage from the archer with that huge bow was enormous.

    Then, did the three columns of tanks and the dealers hiding behind them inflict any damage to the archer in question? None at all.

    Even the three columns of tanks couldn¡¯t protect the dealers from the archer.

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Kheeeeeeeeeek.¡±

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    ¡°What the heck is this damage?¡±

    Watching his troops copsing helplessly at the archer¡¯s attack, Commander Kwak recalled the phrase ¡®leaves falling in the autumn wind¡¯.

    Besides, the archer was not his only opponent.

    He noticed the Siddarth Guild members surrounding the archer for protection.

    In other words, not only tanks, but also dealers, healers, and enchangers of the Siddarth Guild moved in unison to protect the archer. When his troops attacked the archer, the healers and enchanters didn¡¯t hesitate to throw themselves in the line of danger to protect him even though they were not tanks.

    Of course, both sides suffered lots of damage from the fighting.

    But obviously, the Hwashin Guild members suffered more damage because the archer¡¯s attacks were just tremendously powerful.

    Anyway, when all his attempts to catch the archer failed, Commander Kwak used the most obvious and simple method, namely, the human-wave strategy. As a matter of fact, his troops enjoyed a numerical superiority to the Siddarth Guild on the battlefield.

    But even that strategy didn¡¯t seem to work.

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    ¡°How is that archer so strong?¡±

    ¡°Damn it. Just one shot drained 40% of my health!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯tin about 40%! That archer must have a supernatural power. Even Li Zian, who receives 90% less damage for 3 seconds when his health drops under 10% was instantly killed without even being able to activate his trait!¡±

    Even though Kwak ordered his troops to charge forward inrge numbers, he had to pay attention to the screaming and shouting of his troops who were directly hit by the archer¡¯s arrows. However, he could not allow the archer to continue attacking freely, so hemanded his troops to endure and keep charging. But he soon had no choice but to order them to retreat because some of their troops werepletely blocked by the archer¡¯s vine attack, and others were blocked by the Siddarth Guild members who were strongly united to protect the archer.

    Now, Kwak pinned hopes on those troops not yet exposed to the Siddarth Guild members.

    But they were immediately attacked by the archer.

    ¡°Storm Shot. Great Storm Shot!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Kheeeeeeeeeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Kuuuuuuuuuuk¡±

    Even though his soldiers tenaciously charged toward the archer, they could not break through his attacks. And they suffered more and more damage. Moreover, it wasn¡¯t only damage they suffered.

    ¡°Oy my God¡­¡±

    ¡°Who the hell is he?¡±

    ¡°Was there such a strong man in the Siddarth Guild?¡±

    The morale of the troops was important in any battle.

    Those with low morale who felt impending defeat got cold feet right away, while those with high morale who sensed victory fought more aggressively.

    While fighting the Siddarth Guild members until now, Commander Kwak was proud that he scored lots of victories. But right now, the enemy¡¯s morale was high, and his troops were disheartened. Obviously, the tide had turned.

    The Hwashin Guild members desperately attacked the Siddarth Guild members, but their archer blocked their attack so easily.

    Moreover, the archer not only defended against their attack, but even counterattacked with his arrows, which made Commander Kwak speechless.

    As a result, Commander Kwak had no choice but to order a retreat.

    Even though they kept attacking the Siddarth Guild troops for almost one hour, they didn¡¯t get any tangible results. To make matters worse, the Siddarth Guild¡¯s morale kept rising endlessly as if it was almost certain that they would clinch victory this time. Anyway, the battle thatsted almost five hours resulted in the defeat of the Hwashin Guild for the first time.

    It meant that today¡¯s battle was also the first victory of India¡¯s Siddarth Guild.

    At the Hwashin Guild that night.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Of course, the Hwashin Guild did not always win their battles.

    They sometimes suffered a bitter defeat, and they were on the verge of copse because of President Xi who took control of the Chinese Communist Party.

    But all of their defeat back then was caused by the power of a huge group, for President Xi held the power of the Chinese Communist Party with the Princelings as their main pir.

    But this time they were defeated by only one person.

    The Hwashin Guild had never suffered such devastating defeat at the hands of one person, so they were incredibly shocked.

    Then, Chairman Li Shuang sitting at the head of the table opened his mouth.

    ¡°Haven¡¯t you figured out who he is yet?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­I¡¯m sorry. We are currently conducting an extensive investigation and are interrogating our sources in the enemy forces, but we have not yet identified the archer.¡±

    Bang!

    ¡°What the heck are you talking about?¡±

    Chairman Li Shuang struck the table in anger.

    But he soon took a breath and suppressed his anger because he knew how hard the intelligence department was working to find out who the mysterious archer was.

    Then he quietly opened his mouth.

    ¡°Asirante? No, that¡¯s impossible.¡±

    Of course, Chairman Li Shuang knew about Asirante.

    It would be strange if he didn¡¯t know who Asirante was as someone who was leading a huge guild.

    He noticed the archer had supernatural strength just like Asirante, but his abilities were distinctively different.

    Asirante was a wizard while this man was an archer.

    Moreover, the archer who showed up on the battlefield today looked stronger than Asirante who Chairman Li had been seen in numerous videos.

    At that moment, Huiyen, the head of the information department, mentioned something as if he read the chairman¡¯s mind.

    ¡°I know Asirante was not the archer, but I got someone who has some times with Asirante to message him, and their messages got through to each other.¡±

    Chairman Li opened his mouth, frowning at that.

    ¡°Gosh, there really are many hidden strongmen in the world.¡±

    As soon as he said that, Wang Chii, the head of the strategy department, who remained quiet until now, cut in, ¡°If we bring in the Guian troops, can they deal with that archer easily?¡±

 Chapter 239 - Wrong Choice (2)

    <h4>Chapter 239: Wrong Choice (2)</h4>

    However, even before Wang Chi could finish his sentence, Commander Kwak of the 1st Corps quickly interrupted.

    ¡°No! Currently, the Guian Unit is on a mission at President Xi¡¯s order, and the results of their mission will be a big help to the whole guild. So, we should not bring them in now.¡±

    The Hwashin Guild was one of the three leading guilds in China.

    Therefore, they had one or two hidden secret weapons.

    Among them, the most powerful weapon was a group of 17 users called the Guian Unit.

    ¡°Okay, leave them alone. Even if we are defeated in this battle, their growth is more valuable if we think about the future.¡±

    As Wang Chi and Commander Kwak expressed differing opinions on using the Guian Unit, Chairman Li Shuang intervened and supported thetter.

    Anyway the meeting of the Hwashin Guild¡¯s top executivessted longer than scheduled.

    They knew that they could not surrender because they were defeated this time. Besides, they concluded they were defeated by the sudden and unexpected appearance of the mysterious archer this time, but they still had other options to counterattack with.

    Of course, even so, it was true that the archer was still really strong.

    The next day.

    ¡°Hello, Sarnga.¡±

    ¡°You were really cool yesterday!¡±

    ¡°Come this way!¡±

    Because of my brilliant performance in yesterday¡¯s battle, my identity was revealed to all, so I needed to give them a name. So, I told them that my name was Sarnga, named after the bow of Sarnga, for the real name of the Constetion Hunter didn¡¯t appear anywhere.

    Then, I moved to the ce where the leaders of the Siddarth Guild gathered and opened my mouth as I sat down.

    ¡°By the way, the Hwashin guild is unlikely to give up.¡±

    As if they didn¡¯t care about their defeat yesterday, the Hwashin Guild members were lining up in an orderly manner as if ready to fight anytime.

    ¡°Well, we know how tough they are. They won¡¯t be hung up over their defeat so easily. Besides, they are very proud as well.¡±

    I nodded at Rashmaka¡¯s words. In fact, some, of the Chinese yers I¡¯ve met were really tough and strong. Especially those in the top positions were pretty tough.

    ¡°Alright. We are in your hands again today.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why they are being paid.¡±

    This was the first time I yed as an archer, but I felt I was performing much better than expected.

    After yesterday¡¯s battle, I even wondered if my natural job was an archer, not a wizard.

    Of course, I knew that the reason I thought so was because of the enormous stat points, skills, and items that the Constetion Hunter possessed.

    Anyway, I proudly watched the Hwashin Guild yers moving to the central battlefield.

    After a while, I started attacking them.

    ¡°Perfect Hit!¡±

    [You have used Perfect Hit.

    -For ten minutes your hit rate increases dramatically.]

    After using Perfect Hit and receiving the buffs from the Siddarth Guild members, I proudly moved to the battlefield. I had no intention of hiding myself, which was impossible anyway as I had already shown up on the battlefield yesterday.

    Given their unexpected defeat yesterday, it¡¯s unlikely that the Hwashin Guild guys came here without any countermeasures, so the Siddarth Guild dispatched more tanks to surround me for protection.

    Of course, I was confident of smashing the Hwashin Guild yers under any circumstances, but I didn¡¯t bother to reject their move to protect me.

    Anyway, the second battle began.

    At the Hwashin Guild camp 30 minutes after the battle began.

    ¡°Man, how did I drive my members into such a dangerous spot?¡±

    Commander Kwak of the 1st Corps had no choice but to repent after the archer showed the same devastating power as yesterday.

    At that moment, ! guild member came behind him and whispered, ¡°They say everything is ready now.¡±

    Kwak nodded at this and gave an order unhesitatingly.

    ¡°Do it right away. I can¡¯t allow this situation to continue.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Commander!¡±

    At the central battlefield.

    ¡®Hmm. Have I overestimated China?¡±

    The battle was not very different from the one yesterday.

    Although I was a little concerned, there was no special change in the Hwashin Guild¡¯s strategy.

    Of course, the Hwashin Guild dispatched more tanks to face me, but it could not be called a special measure because no matter how far their dealers, healers, and enchanters were from me, they were still within my striking range.

    So, I used AOE skills on the nearby tanks but used magic arrows to kill the dealers, healers, and enchanters in the distance at a very fast rate.

    Of course, I could not advance as fast as I wanted because this battlefield was crowded with more than 200,000 fighters from both guilds. Besides, even if I tried to move around them, there were also lots of enemy yers aiming at me.

    Anyway, I continued dispatching enemies as I moved, but suddenly, I heard a huge explosion.

    [You have stepped into the tunnel area of the Hwashin Guild.]

    ¡°Wow! Let¡¯s kill the archer!¡±

    ¡°If we kill the archer, we will get a billion gold!¡±

    At that moment, numerous Hwashin Guild members sprang out from the underground.

    Watching them, the tanks surrounding me for protection moved into formation and charged at them to prevent them from reaching me.

    But the Hwashin Guild mounted a simr ambush yesterday, albeit with 100 wizards who used Blink en masse. They failed miserably though since I used AOE skills to defeat them instantly.

    Of course, the enemy troops today were abination of tanks and dealers, so they would endure better than wizards, but in the end, they would fail anyway.

    So, when I was about to attack them to show they would not seed, a message rang.

    [You are now in the swap area.

    -Your location has been swapped.]

    With that message, I felt my body moving somewhere.

    At that moment, I could see numerous Hwashin Guild members staring at me from all around me.

    At the Hwashin Guild camp.

    ¡°Nice job!¡± As soon as Commander Kwak confirmed that the location swap strategy had seeded, he clenched his fists and kept shouting, ¡°Nice!¡±.

    The first tunnel?

    It was only the first trap to iste the archer from the tanks as the location swapping feature was only possible if there was exactly one person in a certain area.

    As the tanks separated from the archer and temporarily left him alone, the man with the location swap trait switched ces with the archer, bringing the archer into the midst of the Hwashin Guild members.

    Of course, the man with that trait would be killed by the Siddarth Guild members as he was now surrounded by them. But frommander Kwak¡¯s standpoint, this was a worthy sacrifice as it would drive the archer into a corner.

    Anyway, Kwak approached the archer surrounded by tens of thousands of his guild members and opened his mouth.

    ¡°Who the hell are you? Are you sure you are a member of the Siddarth Guild? Then why have you suddenly appeared like this after being missing for so long?¡±

    Kwak knew the archer was formidable, so his first goal was to try to persuade and recruit him. If persuasion didn¡¯t work, he was thinking of interrogating him to get enough information to kidnap him in reality.

    ¡°Hmm, this is not¡­¡±

    ¡°What the heck are you talking about?¡± Kwak felt uneasy at the archer¡¯s reaction because the archer was still so proud and fearless even though he was boxed in like a rat caught in a trap.

    However, since tens of thousands of guild members surrounded the archer, Kwak pulled himself together to confront him again.

    ¡°Well, I think you guys made the wrong choice¡­¡±

    At that moment Kwak agonized over whether to attack the archer since he kept saying something absurd. But he wanted to gather more information about him on this asion, so he was about to speak again when the archer opened his mouth first.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to do this, but since you have invited me over here, I have to ept it.¡±

 Chapter 240 - The Results of That Event (1)

    <h4>Chapter 240: The Results of That Event (1)</h4>

    Of course, I had the intention of teaching China a hard lesson.

    In fact, China was a powerful country that would most likely cause trouble, so it would be very beneficial not only to Korea and the Myongjin Group but also to myself if I suppressed China using India as an excuse.

    However, there was definitely a red line for such punitive action.

    In other words, I was not working for India eagerly just because I hated China. To be honest, the best scenario was if China and India fought and weakened each other¡¯s power.

    India was definitelycking in powerpared to China, so I had to keep attacking the Hwashin Guild members fiercely. But I had no intentions of using my usual method of prating into the middle of the enemy camp and wreaking havoc as it would go against my intentions of not fighting desperately on behalf of India.

    However, I was now in a situation where the Hwashin Guild invited me into their own camp, asking me to wreak havoc on them.

    I could not help but be startled a bit.

    Of course, I understood why the Hwashin Guild took such an action.

    They felt that since the Siddarth Guild exerted many efforts to protect me by surrounding me with a lot of tanks, my defense power must be weak to offset my strong attack. But in the end, their judgment was wrong.

    Anyway, when I was ced in such a situation, various thoughts shed through my mind because I had a way to get out of this battlefield without suffering any damage.

    However, to maintain the power bnce, I had to make sure India beat China in this battle by all means, and since I was forced to fight them in the middle of their camp, I thought of humiliating China.

    I was surrounded by countless Hwashin Guild members, but I looked at the enemymander who was trying to get a read on me and opened my mouth.

    ¡°I had no intentions of doing this, but since you invited me over here, I think I have to ept your invitation. I hope you like my offered gift.¡±

    Having said that, I used Giant Vine Arrow and Dansing Arrow.

    ¡°Damn it! Catch him!¡±

    ¡°My shadow will be a tight coil. Shadow Bind!¡±

    ¡°Bind him, Sticky Roots!¡±

    ¡°The earth and feet will be one. Immobilize him!¡±

    :

    ¡°Muddy Earth!¡±

    ¡°It will be imprinted on your soul. Sloth!¡±

    ¡°I will bind my enemy and give him the pain of hell. Burning Whip!¡±

    It seemed that they were very greedy and wanted to capture me, given that they used all kinds of debuffs instead of attacking properly.

    Of course, I could understand why they used such a strategy because I was already used to it from my experiences as Asirante.

    However, I was now much stronger than Asirante, which the Hwashin Guild didn¡¯t know, of course.

    [Because of Constetion Hunter¡¯s No. 1 trait, you are unaffected by all the enemy¡¯s debuffs.]

    Roots? Whip? Coil?

    All their debuffs were useless.

    My stamina was over 40,000, although it was dwarfed by my agility which surpassed 60,000.

    Besides, my intellect, my highest stat as Asirante, was also huge as it was now over 30,000.

    As a result, the Hwashin Guild members¡¯ debuff attack was nothing more than a trifle to me.

    At that moment, I heard the enemies starting to whisper here and there.

    ¡°Our debuff attacks are not working at all!¡±

    ¡°This is not a matter of Willpower from the beginning. We can¡¯t fight him at all¡­¡±

    ¡°Howe my debuff isn¡¯t working at all?¡±

    The enemies were not only embarrassed but also stunned at their failed debuffs.

    Certainly, my current debuff immunity was a real scam because I still experienced all kinds of debuff with my 59% debuff resistance from my nine titles as Asirante.

    But regardless of their surprise, I had a clear goal, so I fired the Sarnga bow at the enemy ruthlessly.

    ¡°Hail of Arrows! Flying Arrow!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Kheeeeeeeeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    It was almost impossible for even the top ranks of the Hwashin Guild to treat my attack lightly, and they confirmed it during my attack yesterday.

    Perhaps that¡¯s why the shouts and yelling of the tanks resonated everywhere when I attacked them.

    Of course, their supervisors ordered them to stopining.

    ¡°Attack him! Attack!¡±

    ¡°Kill him first!¡±

    ¡°Launch all kinds of attacks without any mercy! If he keeps suffering a lot of attacks, he will eventually die!¡±

    When the enemymanders discovered that all the debuffs and other means failed, and the tanks that were trying to box me in were dying one by one, they made the decision to kill me instead of capturing me.

    At that moment the enemy forcesunched a tremendous amount of attacks against me.

    ¡°Ice Field!

    ¡°Death Field!¡±

    ¡°Chain Lightning.¡±

    ¡°Prating Power Shot!¡±

    ¡°Dancing mes!¡±

    :

    :

    ¡°Biting Wind Spirit Attack!¡±

    ¡°Destruction Breath!¡±

    ¡°Soaring Column of Fire!¡±

    ¡°Pain Thorns!¡±

    I could avoid them if I wanted to because I had Blink with zero cooldown.

    But I didn¡¯t avoid their attack.

    Was it because I was confident of enduring them?

    Of course, that¡¯s true, but I had three traits in the status window.

    Namely, Constetion Hunter No. 1, Constetion Hunter No. 2, Constetion Hunter No.3.

    Constetion Hunter No.1 made me immune to all debuffs. Of course, No. 2 and No. 3 traits also had remarkable effects.

    [You have received more than 10 attacks at once.

    -Thanks to the effect of the Constetion Hunter No. 2 trait, the damage will change to 0 with a 50% probability for attacks after the 10th attack.]

    It seemed that this Constetion Hunter¡¯s badge was made to show what the real invincible man looked like because it could only be used three times with a one week retention period each time.

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Even though the enemies mounted all kinds of attacks against me, almost half their attacks did no damage to me at all.

    Moreover, theyid various fields, including Ice Field and Death Field to subdue me as much as possible. But such an attack was useless because of my Constetion Hunter No. 1 trait.

    Anyway, although I let them hit me with all kinds of attacks, not moving from where I was standing, I alsounched all kinds of attacks in all directions.

    Then, the battle turned into something like a one-on-one match with both sides slugging it out to find out who was stronger.

    And apparently I was like a rat caught in a trap, and there were so many Hwashin Guild members. Naturally the battlested longer than expected.

    Ten minutes, 20 minutes and 30 minutes passed, but the battle still continued.

    The top executives of the Hwashin Guild gathered again.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. My judgment that we could beat him simply by mobilizing the Guian Unit was wrong.¡±

    Wang Chi, the head of the strategy department, who first mentioned bringing in the Hwashin Guild¡¯s final secret weapon, the Guian Unit, consisting of 17 elite members, opened his mouth.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The archer fighting in the middle of the enemy camp clearly showed he was invincible. Of course, there was also a man with an invincible skill within the Guian Unit, and he was really invincible because he didn¡¯t suffer any damage as long as he used that ¡®invincibility¡¯ skill.

 Chapter 241 - The Results of That Event (2)

    <h4>Chapter 241: The Results of That Event (2)</h4>

    However, that invincibility skill onlysted for 10 minutes. Once the 10 minute period expired, he would take 10 times more damage for a week.

    In other words, once the skill¡¯s retention time finished, he would take 10,000 damage instead of 1,000.

    Nheless, he was really powerful during that 10 minute time.

    But the archer disyed the same power, and for over 30 minutes. He showed no time limit of 10 minutes or anything.

    Of course, the Hwashin Guild members desperately attacked the archer at least 10,000 times in that 30 minutes while dying.

    But the archer not only withstood such attacks that a normal person could never endure, he alsounched a blistering counterattack.

    The Hwashin Guild leaders could not believe their eyes, and their jaws dropped in shock.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The Hwashin Guild leaders would not have reacted in such a startling manner if they could see that the archer had suffered any damage at all, but no matter how closely they looked at him, the archer was rxed and peaceful as if he was confident of holding out for another 30 minutes, or even for one or two hours. And the battlefield turned into something like a giant gallery in 30 minutes.

    The fight between the Siddarth Guild and the Hwashin Guild? Of course, it stopped.

    No one ordered them to stop fighting, but the spectacle in front of them was like one something could only see in mythology.

    As a result, while watching the battle forlornly, Chairman Li Shuang opened his mouth to give an order.

    ¡°Retreat. We¡¯re going to pull back our troops from the Katun ins.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±

    ¡°I will convey your order.¡±

    There were none who didn¡¯t know what it meant for their troops to retreat from Katun ins, but they didn¡¯t raise any objections because they had no other solutions.

    Of course, maybe the Guian Unit would produce different results, but no one urged him to call them because the defeat of the Guian Unit would mean the defeat of the most powerful force of the Hwashin Guild.

    Anyway, the Hwashin Guild members were forced to withdraw from the Katun ins by just one man, the archer.

    At the Hwashin Guild camp.

    ¡°Storm Shot. Great Storm Shot!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Obviously, my health continued to diminish little by little, but I was still strong enough to attack. But I didn¡¯t care about my slowly dwindling health because I could use Blink with zero cooldown at thest minute when I wanted to pull back. So, I just focused on attacking them.

    But at some point, they stopped attacking me and started retreating.

    Of course, the enemymander who tried to find out my identity stayed there.

    Then he opened his mouth.

    ¡°Who the hell are you?¡±

    ¡°Sarnga.¡±

    Most of the Siddarth Guild members already knew about me, so it would spread eventually anyway. So, I gave him my pseudonym without any hesitation.

    ¡°Sarnga¡­I have never seen anyone as strong as you. How could you have been hiding when you¡¯re so strong?¡±

    ¡°I have never been in hiding. I just appeared this time because you guys made such a big racket. So, stop making noise and leave me alone. Haven¡¯t you seen people wielding knives at each other because of noise pollution?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The enemymander could not readily respond.

    So, I aimed the bow of the Sarnga at him because I had to finish this battle anyway.

    At the Siddarth Guild camp a littleter.

    ¡°Wow! Wow!¡±

    ¡°We have won!¡± It was their first big victory against the Chinese Hwashin Guild.

    So it was natural that they shouted loudly for joy. Besides, this was a victory they won by driving the enemy from Katun ins, so their shouts were much louder than before.

    Of course, while shouting for joy, they kept calling out my name because I yed a crucial role in their victory.

    That evening, the celebration party continued untilte into the night.

    And I had to attend the party because I was the main person who led them to victory.

    Of course, such a party was annoying to me, but since I¡¯ve been getting along with them well until now, I didn¡¯t have to upset them by refusing to attend the party. So, I enjoyed the party as best I could, mingling with them.

    After the party was over, I had a meeting with the few top executives who knew my identity, including guild leader Rashmakak.

    ¡°Thanks so much for fighting for us!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we owe our victory to you, Asirante, or Sarnga.¡±

    They extolled me highly.

    But after humbly epting their praises, I opened my mouth.

    ¡°You¡¯re wee. The Constetion Hunter¡¯s badge served me a lot. If that item had not been this exceptional, I would not have achieved this kind of result.¡±

    Certainly, I benefited greatly from the Constetion Hunter¡¯s badge. Of course, there was no one who could wear it except me.

    Anyway, I appreciated their praises, then brought up some other topic.

    ¡°By the way, what are you going to do now? The Hwashin Guild has retreated from the ins.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. Well¡­¡±

    I knew that the Siddarth Guild leaders were faced with a big headache now.

    Some of them might be anxious to attack them and take over the Vietnamese territory upied by the Hwashin Guild. But the problem was there was a limit to how far I could use my power.

    If they took one step further here, there was a high possibility that the fight would escte into a war with not only the Hwashin Guild but also the Chinese Government and the Yonghwa Guild, both of which were on a par with the Hwashin Guild.

    Perhaps because of that, guild leader Rashmaka opened his mouth after thinking for a moment.

    ¡°We are not going to advance toward the Hwashin Guild. But we hope you will frighten them several times so they would not dare to attack us again.¡±

    ¡°Got it,¡± I replied. Now, there was less than four days left before my transformation as the Constetion Hunter expired.

    So, I decided to ept their request during the remaining days.

    After that, I sometimes hunted in the level 1200 hunting ground managed by the Siddarth Guild, and sometimes led 10,000 Siddarth Guild camp to the Hwashin Guild camp to frighten them.

    Although started by our asional attacks, the Hwashin Guild didn¡¯t even try to respond to our provocations.

    Atst, four days passed.

    [The remaining time of your status as the Constetion Hunter has expired. -You are returning to your original state.]

    I happily gazed at the message informing me that the retention time of the Constetion Hunter had finished because I gained a lot by hunting in the Siddarth¡¯s Guild level 1200 hunting ground, aside from the battle.

    As a result, my level went up too.

    [The number of the Constetion Hunter¡¯s badge uses has been reduced by 1 time.

    -You can use it two more times only.

    -Once the badge has reached three uses, it will disappear.]

    [By using the Constetion Hunter¡¯s badge and experiencing its powerful abilities which even the stars feared, your agility has been permanently increased by 1,000.]

    ¡®Wow!¡¯

    I unwittingly shouted for joy at the message announcing that my agility had increased by 1,000 because it was not a low number at all. At that moment, however, an unexpected message rang.

    [Constetion Hunter No.3 trait activates.

    -The system is now calcting your activities while you were active as the Constetion Hunter into numbers.]

 Chapter 242 - Monsters at the Myongjin Shelter, Too(1)

    <h4>Chapter 242: Monsters at the Myongjin Shelter, Too(1)</h4>

    Originally, I had three traits: Iceman, Mutual Growth, and God of Enhancement.

    Aside from them, I had another three traits once I changed into the Constetion Hunter. In other words, I had Constetion Hunter No. 1, No. 2 and No.3 traits without knowing exactly what they were.

    Of course, I could figure out what No. 1 and No. 2 traits were while I was hunting and fighting.

    As for the No. 3 trait, however, I had no choice but to give up on figuring it out because I could not activate it, no matter how desperately I tried to while hunting and fighting.

    However, the message about the No. 3 trait rang only after I was freed from the status of the Constetion Hunter. Moreover, the system said it was calcting my activities during the week into numbers now.

    In other words, it suggested that I would receive some special reward because I basically didn¡¯t need to have my performance in numbers when I was no longer the Constetion Hunter.

    So, I waited for the next message with some expectations, and it soon rang.

    [After transforming into the Constetion Hunter for one week, you yed the assigned role equivalent to a total of 513,752,000 points.

    -Therefore, you will receive additional rewards as follows. : 510 million golden rings.

    : 5100 coins.

    : 510 remaining stat points.]

    I didn¡¯t know how high the figure of about 510 million was, but the 510 million golden rings and 5100 coins, as well as the 510 remaining stat points, were definitely an unexpected bonus for me. It was a huge reward.

    I smiled at the astounding numbers in satisfaction.

    However, I quickly hid my smile because I didn¡¯t have to reveal to them that I received this additional reward because they might be greedy about it if they came to know that there were other rewards in addition to 1,000 agility after they reluctantly handed the badge over to me.

    Anyway, after controlling my expression subtly, I looked at guild leader Rashmaka.

    ¡°Thank you so much. When you contact me, I will return here as I have already promised.¡±

    Since I promised to use two of the three uses of the Constetion Hunter¡¯s Badge on their behalf, I reminded them of it to please their ears and let them know that they could trust me.

    ¡°Of course, you should keep our dealings secret!¡± I emphasized.

    This was very important because I had no intention of making China my enemy right now.

    So, although I could hunt in the Siddarth Guild¡¯s level 1200 hunting ground with the support of several herding teams, I decided to move back to Korea today because the Hwashin Guild would not sit idle after reluctantly retreating like that.

    In other words, China was scouring all of India and Vietnam to track me, or Sarnga, down.

    Because of that, I gave up hunting here. Even if I was an ice-type wizard and it would be hard for them to connect me to the archer named Sarnga, it would still be a pretty big issue if they found out that I had reced him.

    Anyway, when I reassured him of my promise, guild leader Rashmaka nodded at me and opened his mouth.

    ¡°Sure. We don¡¯t want to lose our association with you that we have barely made. Please receive this small gift.¡±

    I certainly received a lot from them. So much so that it would feel shameful to receive more.

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    But I did not intend to refuse it, so I dly received the 3 billion golden rings he gave me.

    These days, the value of golden rings has skyrocketed. Because of that, there were no buying or selling of golden rings on the exchange market.

    In order to increase the reality actualization rate, they needed coins, but if they didn¡¯t have coins, the only avable option was to purchase them using golden rings.

    Therefore, the Siddarth Guild would miss the 3 billion golden rings they gave me, but they must have valued their ties with me more than the golden rings.

    Anyway, I talked with them for a little while longer, then I moved to Korea through the owl that first appeared to me.

    In Beijing, China.

    The heads of the Yanghwa Guild, representing the Shanghai Group, the Chinese Government representing the Princelings, and the Hwashin Guild representing the Chinese Communist Party gathered together in one ce.

    Of course, this was not a sudden meeting. All three parties knew it was necessary to have some kind ofmunication between them because they constantly held each other in check. So they held a meeting on a regr basis.

    And the topic of their meeting this time was just one, namely, the archer named Sarnga.

    First of all, they all watched the video prepared by the Hwashin Guild from start to finish because seeing was believing.

    Then, at the end of the video, Li Shuang, the Chairman of the Hwashin Guild, opened his mouth.

    ¡°Have you ever seen such a strong man before? I haven¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s so powerful¡­¡±

    When Li said that, President Xi, who represented the Chinese government, and Chairman Jiang Chiangrin, did not say anything because they also knew the archer was so strong.

    Then President Xi said quietly, ¡°This time India right after Korea¡­Why don¡¯t we have such a strong yer in China, the center of the world?¡±

    Obviously, President Xi was upset, but it made Chairman Li and Chairman Jian feel very unpleasant because he spoke down to them as if he were the Emperor representing China. But they didn¡¯t express their feelings because they knew his personality, and the Chinese Government was the biggest force out of the three guilds.

    At that moment, Yanghwa Guild¡¯s Chairman Jiang opened his mouth as he looked at the Hwashin Guild¡¯s Chairman Li.

    ¡°So, what are you going to do? Are you going to give up on besieging India¡¯s Siddarth Guild?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Chairman Li didn¡¯t reply right away.

    Then he said slowly as if he had finally made a decision, ¡°Well, I still feel the same way. Honestly, I¡¯m scared of this archer Sarnga, but I¡¯m more scared of the possibility that he will ally with America. He is such a formidable guy who has beaten us all by himself, but if he joins the United States, isn¡¯t it like giving wings to a tiger?¡±

    Hearing that, President Xi opened his mouth.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I really want to mobilize all of the Chinese forces right now to get rid of not only the archer named Sarnga but also the Siddarth Guild, but this is not a matter we should solve emotionally. So I had a meeting with my staff before I came here. And my conclusion is that we should stop our march not only in Vietnam but also India for the time being because we have already taken away lots of stuff from them, and we will have more ces to invade in the future once more walls copse. So, I decided to focus on gathering more information about the man named Sarnga.¡±

    In the end, not only Chairman Jiang but also President Xi concluded that they should wage no more war at this point.

 Chapter 243 - Monsters At the Myongjin Shelter, Too (2)

    <h4>Chapter 243: Monsters At the Myongjin Shelter, Too (2)</h4>

    In the end, China decided to stop advancing and focus on defending the territories they had upied because it had no intention of returning them.

    Anyway, the fight between India and China ended regardless of the interests of Vietnam, the victim of their fight.

    And it wasn¡¯t just China that had such a meeting about the archer Sarnga because he was far too powerful for the other countries to ignore. So, all the countries turned their attention to India.

    At the Cunning Vampire Garrison.

    I returned to Korea as quickly as possible in part to get rid of my traces in India, but also because my title as a cunning vampire predator had finally disappeared.

    Shuuuuuuuung. Shuuuuuuuuung. Shuuuuuuuuuung. Shuuuuuuung.

    As soon as my ¡®predator¡¯ status vanished, the vampires teleported to me as if they were so d to see me again.

    ¡°Ice Field. Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasasak!

    ¡°Pouring Hail! Ice Storm!¡±

    Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    I attacked the cunning vampires as I used to.

    But I felt something was a little different from before. I felt awkward while attacking them.

    ¡°Yeah, I can understand why¡­¡±

    In hindsight, the Constetion Hunter¡¯s performance was just fantastic. So much so that my current attack against the cunning vampires looked palepared to that.

    Of course, there were some encouraging things, which was that I had a new goal.

    ¡°Yeah, I have to aim at the Constetion Hunter as my new goal!¡±

    Anyway I focused on hunting because I had not yet reached level 1200, not to mention the Constetion Hunter.

    The next day. ¡°Wow! Who is this? You are that famous Sarnga!¡±

    These days, my sister seemed to enjoy teasing me by calling me the famous Sarnga.

    Of course, since she was smart, she only made fun of me when we were alone or with my mom. So, I didn¡¯t bother to stop her.

    But something unusual happened while I was having breakfast with my mom and sister. An rm sound went off, and an urgent voice tang thought the speaker.

    [This is an announcement from the control room. A monster has appeared in the 3 o¡¯clock direction of the Myongjin Shelter! Everyone at the Myongjin Shelter should evacuate to the nearest shelter right now! We¡¯re announcing this once more. A monster has appeared in the 3 o¡¯clock position of the Myongjin Shelter!]

    I immediately stood up at that announcement.

    And I opened my mouth upon seeing my mother and sister trying to stand up with me.

    ¡°Just stay put and do not leave. I¡¯m the representative of the Myongjin Shelter, so I can go and deal with the monster alone.¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡±

    ¡°Juyoung¡­¡±

    My mother and sister looked very concerned..

    I smiled at them, ¡°Can¡¯t you trust me?¡±

    My reality actualization rate was 28%, and I had made no progress since then.

    Of course, I could understand why.

    Starting with 21%, the number of coins required per 1% increased to 3,000, so even very rich people found it extremely difficult to increase the rate easily.

    But a reality actualization rate of 28% was more than enough for me. So much so that I could smash any monsters with one stroke.

    ¡°Be careful.¡±

    ¡°Sure, just stay inside here. Don¡¯t worry.¡±

    My sister, who achieved level 1200, had raised her actual realization rate to 17%.

    So, she could use basic attack skills such as Fire Ball and Fire Arrow, but I was worried about her because if she died, it would not be like the game where she would resurrect after 24 hours at the cost of some EXP.

    Anyway, I left my mother and sister in a safe ce and quickly moved to the control room..

    At the Myongjin Shelter Control Room.

    In the control room, I saw Commander Chung and his staff standing by. President Kilsan Lee, the next most powerful person in the Myongjin Hsleter after me, and Chief Secretary Doyoung Ahn were also present.

    ¡°Oh, you are here!¡±

    President Lee and Chief Secretary Ahn, along with Captain Jungdae Lim, the security chief of the Myongjin Shelter, greeted me politely.

    However, Commander Chung and the other military staff tantly ignored me. I felt really displeased at their arrogant attitude.

    I had told them several times that I was the head of this shelter, but they kept ignoring me arrogantly, so I felt a strong urge to kick them out of here right away.

    However, it was not the right time for me to take action.

    So, suppressing my displeasure, I opened my mouth towards Commander Chung.

    ¡°They are brown wolves. I think you can get rid of them with your troops without any difficulty. I would like to ask you this favor this time.¡±

    I strongly urged him to carry out the operation because that¡¯s the main reason for the military.

    But he balked at my request.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ shouldn¡¯t we move together?¡±

    At that moment, I could not figure out what he was trying to say.

    Clearly, his unit was dispatched here to protect the Myongjin Shelter, and Commander Chung was the one in charge.

    While watching the brown wolves, Commander Chung recalled his conversation with the Korean President right before he left for this ce.

    ¡°Commander Chung, you should use your power for all the people in Korea. It¡¯s not right for somerge business groups to use your power for themselves.¡±

    ¡°I know that, Mr. President.¡±

    ¡°In particr, Myongjin is currently connected to the person named Asirante. At first it was Daeyu, then Mirae, and now it¡¯s Myongjin that is connected with him. Of course, he may think of Myongjin as a stopover, but it¡¯s clear that he is currently affiliated with Myongjin. That¡¯s why you need to pay more attention to Myongjin than those who were dispatched to Mirae, Daesung, Kusan, and Daeyu.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind!¡±

    ¡°Okay. I will trust you. It¡¯s okay even if you may suffer some damage because this is a national emergency now. And let me send you an espionage team. Try collect information about those who are close to or have reached level 1200, even if you can¡¯t gather tips about Asirante.¡±

    ¡°Understood, Mr. President!¡±

    Commander Chung stopped indulging in such idle thoughts, and watched Juyoung Hong, the youngest son of Chairman Sangman Hong, open the door to the control room.

    And he could not help but frown because he could not figure out what Chairman Hong was thinking about, for the chairman must know why he was dispatched here.

    Nheless, the chairman appointed his youngest son, notorious for being an ipetent guy among the top busienss group families, as the head of the Myongjin Shelter.

    ¡°They are brown wolves. I hope you can get rid of them because your unit can do it without any difficulty.¡±

    The head of the Myongjin Shelter suddenly asked him to get rid of the monsters.

    Of course, his unit could easily hunt the monsters without using the military tanks.

    But he knew it would be difficult to find out the hidden power of the Myongjin Shelter without involving them.

    So, Commander Chung opened his mouth with a low voice.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ don¡¯t you think we should move together?¡±

    As soon as he said that, Commander Chung thought it was really fortunate that monsters appeared at the Myongjin Shelter this time because it was a golden opportunity to make Moyonjing reveal their hidden power.

    Anyway, Commander Chung would not move his troops, nor did he have any intention of doing so.

 Chapter 244 - Not Yet (1)

    <h4>Chapter 244: Not Yet (1)</h4>

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Commander Chung asked me to move together with him.

    Of course, I would have definitely done so even if Commander Chung had not asked me if they were some threatening monsters that the military unit apanied by tanks could not handle. But they were just brown wolves.

    They were clearly the type of monsters that his unit located here could easily subdue.

    In other words, I didn¡¯t have to move with them to get rid of the brown wolves.

    Besides, since I had never fought with them, I might identally interfere with them when they were subduing the monsters. Obviously, Commander Chung was aware of this.

    So, I looked straight into his eyes to understand his intentions.

    Staring at him warily, I opened my mouth.

    ¡°Captain Jungdae Lim. You have enough security guard members within the shelter, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course, we do.¡±

    When the Myongjin staff devised the Myongjin Shelter, they took into ount the situation where they would house as many as 100,000 people. Of course, the Shelter didn¡¯t need to house so many people, but they needed to have a proper security force for the purpose of monitoring such arge poption and protecting them from monsters. Since Myongjin Group was one of the top three Korean business groups, they prepared a powerful security guard in advance. So much so that they didn¡¯t need this kind of unwee military unit led by Commander Chung.

    Besides, I was with the Myongjin Shelter.

    So, I kept talking to Captain Lim, who was in charge of the security guard of the Myongjin Shelter.

    ¡°Please move with Commander Chung¡¯s military unit to subdue the monsters.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    But Commander Chung shrugged when Captain Lim responded to my instruction clearly and obediently.

    Then Commander Chung said, ¡°It¡¯s important for us to join hands with your security guard, but the Myongjin has them, right?¡±

    ¡°Them? Who are you talking about?¡±

    This was a situation in which monsters appeared. So, I was not stupid enough not to understand what Commander Chung was getting at when he was seeking other people..

    Commander Chung was looking for those who could blow fire, wind and ice and with their hands and smash the sturdy heads of monsters with a single punch.

    In other words, he was looking for those who raised their reality actualization rate by achieving level 1200.

    So I asked him, pretending not to know, but I felt really displeased about his sneaky intentions because Commander Chung or any other military unit had no reason to find such high-level yers. Besides, they were raised by the Myongjin.

    At that moment, Commander Chung said, ¡°We don¡¯t know what kind of monsters wille out in the future, and this is the best opportunity to get experience fighting against such monsters. I am a military man, so I know what I¡¯m talking about. In the military, we emphasize practicing through experiencing real situations.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± I thought what he said was simply ridiculous. So, I could not even make a feigned smile.

    In addition, I knew that Commander Chung and his men were busy collecting information about those who achieved level 1200 secretly while residing within the Myongjin Shelter under the pretext of protecting the shelter people.

    So, I thought of kicking them out right away.

    Of course, the military unit led by Commander Chung would not easily leave the Myongjin Shelter even if I forced them to do so. They might evene to blows with us, which would result in inevitable casualties. So I had to be careful with how I wanted to proceed.

    Obviously, I was prepared to get blood on my hands for the sake of the Myongjin Shelter, but I wasn¡¯t sure if I should really fight at this stage. Moreover, there was no conflict between Mirae, Daesung, Kusan, Daeyu and the military units assigned to them. So the current government might take the opportunity to march more troops into Myongjin Shelter if they heard that armed conflict broke out here only to set an example for the other top business groups.

    So I even wished that so many monsters would appear that they would paralyze the function of the current government.

    Of course, if that happened, the society that the government has maintained until now will copse, and countless people will die.

    I knew my thinking was so selfish, but I hoped it could really happen because then I would not have to bother about people like Commander Chung.

    In any case, I had no intention of sending those who raised their reality actualization rate to subdue the brown wolves since the Myongjin Shelter¡¯s security guard could hunt them easily even without the help of the military unit. So, I just stared at Commander Chung for some time. Then I opened my mouth.

    ¡°Obviously, if the military, who has the duty of protecting the people, doesn¡¯t y their role, they don¡¯t have to be here, right? Captain Lim, lead the security guard and kill the brown wolves!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    Anyway, Commander Chung was obviously a stumbling block with sneaky intentions.

    And I could take issue with thister, but I gave Captain Lim such an order because it was urgent to kill the monsters first.

    At that moment, someone behind Commander Chung shouted, ¡°Stop moving! ording to the President¡¯s emergency order, when the monsters which are a threat to the people and property appear in a certain area, the military unit stationed there has the right tomand the local forces and attack the monsters first. In other words, don¡¯t take any hasty action without my authorization!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The man who shouted was Commander Chung¡¯s military aide.

    That wasn¡¯t all. The seven soldiers who were always apanying Commander Chung and escorted him put their hands on their weapons, suggesting they would fire at me and Captain Lim if necessary.

    Of course, our security guard didn¡¯t do anything. They also put their hands to their guns right away. It was really a close call.

    I could not help but be annoyed by this frustrating situation.

    So, even though I was unsure about whether I wanted blood on my hands, I felt that the current situation warranted it.

    Of course, what I feared was not Commander Chung and his military guys.

    What frustrated me most was the possible situation where the government would order many military troops to march into the Myongjin Shelter.

    But then I heard someone opening the door of the control room.

    That person shouted as soon as he entered, ¡°Let¡¯s stop it here. You should not have a quarrel like this when the monsters are right in front of us!¡±

    I recognized who the person was as soon as I heard his voice. It was my father.

    After he said that, he took care of things very quickly.

    This time, Commander Chung did not block his order when he told Captain Lim to subdue the brown wolves.

    Instead, he said to my father, ¡°I didn¡¯t hear that you would return to the Myongjin Shelter. Anyway, it¡¯s nice to meet you like this, Chairman Hong.¡±

    ¡°Nice to meet you, too. By the way, howe your unit won¡¯t take any action when the monsters are right in front of us? It looks like you guys are not military soldiers who have to protect the country and the people, but rather mercenaries who pursue their own interests. Don¡¯t you think so?¡±

 Chapter 245 - Not Yet (2)

    <h4>Chapter 245: Not Yet (2)</h4>

    ¡°Hahaha. I¡¯m a bit upset to hear that. Well, we were actually thinking of joining hands with your people here on this rare asion just in case. Besides, it seems like Myongjin took action quickly, so there are no casualties, but the monsters are still there.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    There ensued a war of nerves between my father and Commander Chung.

    But what was certain was that Commander Chung treated my father differentlypared to me.

    Anyway, their war of nerves ended when they agreed that Myongjin¡¯s Security troop would subdue the brown wolves.

    Of course, I felt displeased about it because I should have moved in this situation, but I didn¡¯t take any action against Commander Chung who thoroughly ignored and looked down on me.

    Afterward, my father approached me and said, ¡°Good job.¡±

    ¡°But I¡­¡±

    To be honest, it was difficult for me to agree with his praise readily because all I did was disturb Commander Chung¡¯s military unit scouting the Myongjin Shelter and their efforts to recruit those in the Myongjin Shelter. Besides, we came off worse again this time.

    But my father didn¡¯t seem to think so.

    He said, ¡± I have been receiving reports about your activities on a regr basis. I would have been disappointed if you had yed into their hands and fought against them as the head of the Myongjin Shelter, regardless of whether you decided to fight for the sake of the Myongjin or for your pride.¡±

    ¡°Pardon?¡±

    I didn¡¯t understand exactly what Dad was trying to say.

    So I asked to rify, but Director Sok, who was with Dad, exined on his behalf.

    ¡°The current government has not paid attention to ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ so far. Therefore, they don¡¯t have any influence on those who achieved level 1200 and the game ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ itself. But they seem to be very greedy now. Therefore, they are trying to cause disturbances by dispatching military units not only to top business groups like Mirae, Daesung, Kusan and Daeyu, but also to small and medium-sized guilds. Of course, they are trying to make best use of the current situation where the government¡¯s control and military power is stronger than ever. They must have weed the situation, in particr, where you, and not Chairman Hong, are in charge of the Myongjin Shelter. But you were patient enough not to get provoked into conflict even though you could easily suppress them.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I didn¡¯t say anything in response to what Director Sok said. More precisely, what he said was new to me.

    As the head of the Myongjin Shelter, I knew that my actions could bring about many oues, so I decided that I should choose the method that would do the least harm to Myongjin. I thought that was my job as the head of the Myongjin Shelter.

    On that day, not only my father, my brother, and Director Sok, but also quite a few other people moved into the Myongjin Shelter.

    The next day I returned to my father the position of the Myongjin Shelter representative, then essed the ¡°Revival Legend¡± in a rxed mood.

    Of course, my destination was the Cunning Vampire Garrison.

    Moreover, since my goal of level 1000 was just around the corner, I got more greedy.

    There was another reason why I got more greedy this time.

    In the near future, the military unit led by Commander Chung would most likely be discarded by the government because the government was more focused on Jeju Ind and would pay little attention to the military units dispatched to the various business groups.

    So, I was determined to show Commander Chung how reckless he had been until then.

    Anyway, I could take care of that problemter, so I focused on hunting vampires because my current priority was to reach level 100.

    While Juyoung was busy hunting like that, a new development was unfolding at the main base of the Tugal Guild in Mongolia.

    In general, the strength of the African countries and their influence on ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ were much weaker than their Western or Asian counterparts.

    It was understandable because theycked information about it, and they possessed not only far less 3rd generation VR devices, but also 1st and 2nd generation VR devicespared to Western or Asian Countries.

    That was the case with not only Africa, but also some Middle Eastern countries, and even some Asian countries, like Mongolia

    So, Mongolia had no choice but to helplessly watch the Korean and Japanese guilds take over their territory little by little. Furthermore, when its wall connecting to Japan and

    Korea copsed, Mongolia could not help but feel frustrated when after watching the fierce battle between the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance of Korea and the Mitsuya Guild of Japan because the Tugal Guild and Altan Guild, the two strongest guilds in Mongolia, clearly realized that they could not stop either. The two guilds were hostile to each other in the past, but in response to the emerging threat, they put aside their differences and agreed to cooperate with each other.

    ¡°What? The Altan Guild joined hands with Japan?¡±

    Tamir, the leader of the Tugal Guild, asked with a bleak voice.

    But he had no choice but to lower his head upon hearing his deputy¡¯s reply.

    ¡°Yes, sir. It seems clear they have sided with Japan because the husband of the only daughter of Altan Guild leader Bayarma is Japanese.¡±

    ¡°Oh my¡­¡±

    The Tugal Guild¡¯s leader could not raise his head for some time after that since he was in shock. Even though it was unlikely that abined front with the Altan Guild would protect the interests of Mongolia, it was now impossible to even form the alliance since they had sided with Japan.

    After being silent for a while, he quietly opened his mouth.

    ¡°Then they must have handed over that ¡®information¡¯ to Japan.¡±

    ¡°I guess so. Well, I¡¯m sure they did because that¡¯s the only way for them to keep their vested interests.¡± ¡°We could confront Japan and Korea if we joined hands together! How stupid of him¡­¡±

    The Tugal Guild leader expressed anger and frustration at the fact that the goal of rebuilding Mongol was smashed because of the Altan Guild¡¯s betrayal.

    Of course, other leaders of the Tugal Guild shared his frustration because they thought it would be possible for their joined forces to resist the two countries.

    Anyway, the participants in the conference room were deeply depressed. However, since they knew they could not afford to stay frustrated forever, they pulled themselves together and continued to discuss their strategy.

    ¡°Then do we have to find our ally?¡±

    ¡°Yes. We feel upset with the Altan Guild¡¯s action, but we can¡¯t do anything since they have already joined hands with Japan. So, we need some ally who can protect us like the Altan Guild, so Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild can¡¯t do any harm to us.¡±

    When Bart, the head of the intelligence department, said that, guild leader Tamir and the other executives thought of only force, namely, the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance of Korea that had Asiranted under the banner. More precisely, they thought of the Myongjin Guild.

    They knew their action would inevitably bring a foreign force into Mongol like the Altan Guild, but they could not die helplessly without doing anything.

    So, the Tugal Guild decided to reach out to the Myongjin Guild, for thetter must be very eager for some information on a level 1200 hunting ground. They would want it all the more if Asirante was affiliated with Myongjin.

    Anyway, the Tugal Guild decided to join hands with Myongjin, so they dispatched a messenger to Myongjin quickly.

 Chapter 246 - Level 1000 and Then (1)

    <h4>Chapter 246: Level 1000 and Then (1)</h4>

    At the Cunning Vampire Garrison.

    ¡°Ice Field. Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasasak!

    Since I had nothing to do other than hunting right now, I immersed myself in hunting the cunning vampires day after day.

    Over 100 vampires fell to my attacks of Ice Storm and Pouring Hail reinforced by Ice Field.

    At the same time, a message rang.

    Was it the message announcing that I had be the predator again?

    Fortunately, it wasn¡¯t the message.

    [You have leveled up.]

    Of course, there was another message. [You have acquired 3 skill points by achieving level 1000.

    -You can now learn level 8 skills.]

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    Obviously, it wasn¡¯t the level 1200 that I was aiming for, but I had no choice but to be happy at the fact that my level had finally reached four digits.

    I thought it was good that I visited India. Although I stayed there for only one week, I obtained a huge EXP since I spent all my time hunting with the help of eight or even twelve herding teams in the Siddarth Guild¡¯s level 1200 hunting ground when I was not fighting against the Chinese Hwashin Guild.

    Of course, I also acquired an increase in Agility of 1,000 and various other things.

    ¡°Check status window.¡±

    Anyway, I immediately opened the status window with joy.

    [Name: Lumen, Asirante

    Level: 1000

    Number of kills: 11492, Number of deaths: 0

    Title: Only Closed Beta Max Level Achiever and 8 others. Health: 3,974,000 / 3,974,000

    Mana: 2,683,000 / 2,683,000

    Strength: 6528 Agility: 6675 Stamina: 27455

    Willpower: 17965 Intellect: 33597

    Remaining Stat Points: 450

    Remaining Skill Points: 3 Traits: IceMan, Mutual Growth, God of Enhancement.]

    Perhaps because of my fierce battle with the Hwashin Guild, my number of kills exceeded 10,000. In addition, my agility was now ahead of my strength.

    Anyway, after checking the status window, I invested all remaining 450 stat points in intellect.

    Then I closed the status window and charged back at the vampires using Blink with zero cooldown, for although I already thought about what to use the 3 skill points on, I had no need to rush and learn them because my current skills were sufficient for this Cunning Vampire Garrison.

    So, after hunting again for a while, another message rang.

    [The Cunning Vampires have recognized Lumen, Asirante, as a predator. -The Cunning Vampire do not preemptively attack Lumen, Asirante.]

    [Over time, your status as a predator will gradually dissipate and eventually disappear.

    -When you hunt other monsters, your predator status will diminish faster.]

    Shuuuuuuuung. Shuuuuuuuuuung. Shuuuuuuuuuung. Shuuuuuuuuuung.

    As soon as the message rang, all the vampires around me fled using teleport, making me feel very bitter. But this wasn¡¯t the first or second time such a thing happened, so I wasn¡¯t surprised or angry. Besides, I also felt that it was time that the message about the predator status rang.

    At that moment my sister messaged me. [Super Beauty: Are you there, Juyoung?]

    [Lumen: Yeah, I¡¯m here.]

    [Super Beauty: Then, can youe to Dad¡¯s office?]

    [Lumen: Now?]

    [Super Beauty: Yeah.]

    I checked the time after hearing her request. It was a little past 10 pm at night.

    However, calling me at thiste hour meant that something unusual was going on, so I replied that I woulde immediately. [Lumen: I¡¯ll be there in 5 minutes.]

    [Super Beauty: Okay.]

    Although I could not finish hunting, I still had 3 skill points, and I had no need to dy using them, so I messaged her I would be there in 5 minutes.

    Then I went straight to Kotum Castle, and a message rang when I reached the huge tower in the central square.

    [Currently, there are new skills that you can acquire.]

    [Currently, there are ice-type skills avable that you can upgrade.]

    ¡°Search skills!¡± I agonized over whether to acquire a new skill or upgrade a skill to level 8.

    In particr, I wanted to upgrade the Level 6 Pouring Hail, Level 6 Ice Wave, and Level 7 Ice Storm to level 8, the final level.

    However, I decided not to touch them for the time being because of my reality actualization rate.

    Naturally, I needed a higher reality actualization rate to use higher level skills.

    In other words, if level 6 Pouring Hail requires a 40% reality actualization rate, upgrading it to level 8 might require me to raise my reality actualization rate as high as 60% to use it.

    That¡¯s why I have not yet upgraded level 5 Ice Rain that is currently consuming 3 skill points.

    Anyway, I decided not to upgrade the skills until my reality actualization rate exceeded at least 50-60%, so I started searching for skills. And I found the two skills I had in mind.

    [Level 8 Ice Tornado. (Active, 3 skill points required, 45,000,000 golden rings required.

    : Creates an ice tornado in a certain area.

    : When the user¡¯s intellect exceeds a certain value, the Ice Tornado is apanied by a wind that buffets everything in the surrounding. (The wind strength is affected by the user¡¯s intellect level.)

    : Only level 8 Ice Tornado exists.] [Level 8 ¡®Ice Punishment¡¯. (Active, 3 skill points required, 55,000,000 golden rings required.

    : Inflicts powerful ice punishment on one target.

    : Only level 8 and level 9 Ice Punishment exist.]

    In fact, level 8 was the final level.

    Of course, the message said level 9 Blizzard and Ice Punishment exist, but there was no one who possessed them except for those who had functional skill essories to raise the skill level.

    In particr, considering that you could acquire higher level skills at level 600, level 800, and level 1,000, it should be possible to acquire level 9 skills at level 1200. But no such message about acquiring level 9 skills rang at level 1200. My sister who achieved level 1200 by herself confirmed it.

    Then, level 1300?

    Since I knew no one who had reached level 1300, I didn¡¯t know exactly, but there were rumors that somebody had reached a whopping level 1500. Of course, there was a possibility that it was false.

    Anyway, my skills reached the final level.

    ¡®Hmm. If Blizzard was level 7, then Ice Tornado would be the ultimate AOE skill, but my Blizzard is currently level 9¡­ Besides, I don¡¯t have to assign level 8 Ice Tornado to the functional skill ring.¡¯

    Assuming that level 8 was thest realistic level for skills, ¡°Ice Tornado¡± and ¡°Ice Punishment¡± should be viewed as the ultimate AOE and single target skills respectively.

    But I already had level 9 Blizzard, which was virtually the true ultimate AOE skill.

    Therefore, I had to worry about it.

    In particr, when I looked at my current distribution of single target skills and AOE skills, I certainly had far more AOE skills. My highest level single-target skill was Ice Sphere which was level 6. My other single-target skills like Ice Ball, Ice Bolt, and Multiple Ice Arrow were only level 5. But all my AOE skills ranging from Ice Field, Thing Ice, Ice Rain, Pouring Hail, Ice Wave, Ice Storm were level 5, 6 or 7 and my cherished Blizzard reached even level 9.

    So, if I had to choose another skill, it had to be a single-target skill to bnce out my skill set, and there was no better single-target skill than Ice Punishment

    ¡®Hmm¡­¡¯

 Chapter 247 - Level 1000 and Then (2)

    <h4>Chapter 247: Level 1000 and Then (2)</h4>

    Of course, I desperately wanted to learn both skills.

    However, I only had 3 skill points, so I needed to choose between the two. Besides, there was not much time left because I had to meet my sister in five minutes, so I quickly chose one skill without paying heed to the number of golden rings required because they were not important to me whether it be 45 million or 55 million.

    What¡¯s more, I currently didn¡¯t want to use the extremely valuable ¡®Maximum Skill Upgrade Charm¡¯ that would upgrade one skill beyond its maximum level.

    At the Myongjin Shelter¡¯s 3rd Study

    The Shelter had many ces avable that my father could use as his office. Among them was a study that was muchrger than this 3rd Study, but there was a need for secrecy for discussions among a small number of people, so I made the 3rd Study as my father¡¯s secret office.

    Actually, this was my sister¡¯s suggestion. Anyway, when I gently opened the door of the 3rdStudy, Dad, DIrector Sok, my brother and sister were already there waiting for me. Chief Secretary, Donyoung Ahn, who assisted me when I worked as the head of the Myongjin Shelter, and President Kilsan Lee who was the previous head of the Shelter were also present.

    Of course, I wasn¡¯t surprised because Ahn and Lee were as reliable as Director Sok, and it was very important for them to know my identity so they could properly support me.

    Anyway, I went to an empty seat in the middle and sat down.

    ¡°I hear you have achieved level 1000.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Just a little while ago.¡±

    ¡°Good job.¡±

    During my previous messages with my sister, I proudly tipped her off that I had just reached level 100, so it seemed that everyone in the study including my father knew about it.

    And they started off the discussion by praising my achievement.

    We talked about various things for ten minutes.

    After that, my father suddenly asked, ¡°So, what are you going to do, Juyoung?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t hunt in the Cunning Vampire Garrison for the time being, so I Immediately replied to my father because I was in desperate need of a level 1200 hunting ground.

    Besides, Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild were already my enemies, , but I was not scared at all because even if I reencountered the Oizuki brothers, who possessed the fabulous traits of Item Master and Skill Master, I was much stronger than before and would have ess to more skills since I got 2 extra skill points during the level 900 only quest.

    I also had the Constetion Hunter¡¯s badge, but it was ast resort. I didn¡¯t want to use it because I did not want to reveal my identity as Sarnga at this stage.

    ¡°By the way, I don¡¯t like the quest that they mentioned.¡±

    The reason I could get the best results in the numerous quests and events so far was because I was strong. What if I was weak? I would just be like the many other weak users.

    However, the quest that the Mongolian Tugal Guild brought to me was rather troublesome.

    Six teams, eachposed of 20 members, could challenge the quest at once. But everybody who challenged it would be level 1, with strength 1, agility 1, and intellect 1.

    All we had to do was catch monsters roaming in arge rectangr area.

    Of course, there were other rules.

    [Rule.

    When the monster that appeared at the starting point does not die and returns to the starting point again, 1 health is deducted from the team¡¯s initial 300 health.If all 300 health is deducted, the whole team will fail the challenge.At the end of each round, one of strength, agility, and intellect randomly increases by 1.Strength affects sword attacks, agility affects bow attacks, and intellect affects magic attacks.All attack methods have the same range and the same attack speed.]

    First of all, there were three attack methods: sword, bow, and magic. At the end of the round, one of strength, agility, and intellect that directly influences each of the three methods increases by 1 at random.

    ¡°The Tugal Guild has undertaken many challenges, and they said that it was the worst to see the skill increase evenly. In other words, you can reach a higher round if you have one extraordinary strong skill among strength, agility, or intellect, for example.¡±

    I roughly understood Director Sok¡¯s exnation, so I gave a slight nod.

    But that wasn¡¯t all the rules there were.

    [Rule. 6. At the end of the round, one golden ring is awarded.

    It is possible to upgrade the following with one golden ring.

    -Sharp de.

    : Inflicts additional damage when you attack with the sword.

    -Threatening Arrow.

    : Inflicts additional damage when you attack with the bow.

    -Lethal Mana Ball.

    : Inflicts additional damage when you attack with magic.

    -Attack Speed Increase

    : Increases attack speed consistently.]

    ¡°Man, this is random¡­ yeah, it¡¯s random.¡±

    In other words, when each round was over, one of strength, agility, and intellect was meant to increase at random.

    So, if I received 3 strength, 1 agility, and 1 intellect from reaching the 5th round, I should use the 5 golden rings I earned to upgrade ¡®Sharp de¡¯. This was very logical and reasonable.

    However, if agility or intellect, not strength, increased from the 6th round, the Sharp de that I upgraded would be useless.

    And I would feel very sorry if I were forced to upgrade another skill when I already used five golden rings for Sharp de.

    At that moment, Director Sok again opened his mouth.

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. It¡¯s random. The Tugal Guild of Mongolia has also conducted numerous experiments and umted a lot of data because of that, but they concluded that they could not find the solution because everytime they challenged it, they got different results since it was so random.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    Despite that, I had to do it because securing a level 1200 or higher hunting ground was important not only to me, but also to the Myongjin Guild.

    However, even if they tried hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands of times, the Tugal Guild still failed to reach the final round.

    Anyway, the meeting continued for nearly 30 minutes, and we made the decision to go ahead with the quest.

    No matter how low the probability of sess was, we could not afford to miss the rare opportunity.

    Of course, we contacted the Mirae Guild because we were allied with them, so it would cause friction with them if they found outter that we had not informed them of this opportunity.

    <hr />

    ¡°Good morning. I am Tamir, the person in charge of the Tugal Guild.¡±

    ¡°Nice to meet you. I am Sangman Hong, the leader of the Myongjin Guild.¡±

    Before we moved to the ¡®Land Without Light¡¯ in Mongolia, our new hunting ground, my father and other Myongjin leaders encountered the Tugal Guild¡¯s executives, and our meeting was considerably longer than we thought.

    The Tugal Guild, who brought information about the new hunting ground, made the formal request that they wanted to establish asting friendly rtionship with the Myongjin Guild in the future. They even expressed their desire to join the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance.

 Chapter 248 - Luck and Luck (1)

    <h4>Chapter 248: Luck and Luck (1)</h4>

    Faced with the Tugal Guild¡¯s request, the dominant opinion among the Myongjin leadership was that aside from the level 1200 hunting ground, it was not bad to join hands with the Tugal Guild because they were one of the two leading guilds that dominated Mongolia.

    Since Japan joined hands with the Altan Guild, the other guild which dominated Mongolia, it was necessary for Myongjin to align with the Tugal Guild to also maintain some influence on Mongolia in the future.

    So, although we felt that the Tugal Guild did not have much to offer, the Myongjin leadership concluded that it was not a loss to join hands with them, so we weed Tamir, the leader of the Tugal Guild, and his deputies with open hands.

    And I introduced myself as Asirante.

    The leader of the Tugal Guild and his deputies showed a great interest in me, saying they were very impressed by my brilliant performance during the battle with Japan. They also added that it was because of me that they immediately thought of Myongjin when they heard that the Altan Guild, which they had worked together with in the past, joined hands with Japan.

    Anyway, our meeting with themsted for over an hour.

    Immediately after that, we moved together to the ¡°Land Without Light¡± in Mongolia.

    Of course, the Mirae Guild who joined uster, arrived there too.

    At the Land Without Light.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The first thing I noticed upon arriving was Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild.

    Of course, I already knew that the Mitsuya Guild had members stationed here.

    Even though I was aware of it, I still felt very awkward because I had a very fierce battle with them before. And as if the Mitsuya Guild also knew we woulde, Chairman Ryu Sechi was standing at the entrance of the hunting ground.

    Did I move first?

    No I didn¡¯t because I was not in the mood to do so from the beginning.

    Tramp- Tramp-

    ¡°Nice to meet you, Chairman Ryu Sechi.¡±

    My father stood forward to represent our coalition of the Myongjin, Mirae and Tugal Guilds. Since the Tugal Guild clearly reached out to Myongjin for the alliance first, no one objected when he stood forward to converse with Chairman Ryu Sechi

    Even Chairman Ryu Sechi seemed to ept my father as the leader of the triple alliance. ¡°Really? I¡¯m not very pleased to see you guys here.¡±

    Chairman Ryu responded as if he recognized my father as the leader, and only the two talked with everybody watching them.

    My father said, ¡°First of all, we didn¡¯te here to fight. I don¡¯t think we have to fight.¡±

    ¡°Do you think so?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, anyway there are only six tracks here. So, wouldn¡¯t it be okay for us to share them evenly, with three tracks each?¡±

    ¡°What if I don¡¯t want to share them?¡±

    ¡°Well, in that case, there is only one choice. The three-way alliance of the Myongjin, Mirae and Tugal guilds will take over all six trackss.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    My father made a bombshell announcement close to a deration of war.

    He rightly did so because we won the previous battle against the Mitsuya Guild.

    The Mitsuya Guild might not have mobilized all their resources in the battle, but that was the same with our guild.

    So, my father acted tough with Chairman Ryu ording to his n.

    As a result, the ball was now in Chairman Ryyu¡¯s court.

    But Chairman Ryu didn¡¯t open his mouth for some time.

    Then, a whileter, he opened his mouth with a smile.

    ¡°Hahaha. You¡¯ve got a lot of nerve! Good. Let me give you three out of six tracks. Let¡¯s see who clears the quest first.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    Of course, I predicted that Chairman Ryu would make this choice because the triple alliance of the Myongjin, Mirae and Tugal guilds was a formidable enemy. Besides, I was also a part of their forces.

    Anyway, when the Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild members, who were blocking the entrance, opened the way at Chairman Ryu¡¯s order, we passed by them boldly and moved inside.

    And it wasn¡¯t long before we faced the entrance to a huge cave.

    ¡°Fortunately, you¡¯ve kept it from others!¡±

    ¡°Well, this was the ce that the Tugal Guild and the Altan Guild gave up everything to protect. In order to hide this ce, we deliberately disseminated information about other hunting grounds to distract the Mitsuya Guild,¡± said Director Sok.

    I nodded gently at him as if I understood it.

    As a matter of fact, before I came here, I heard enough about how much the Tugal Guild valued this hunting ground. Anyway, we entered the cave, escorted by the Tugal Guild.

    We found that the Mitsuya guild members were eagerly attacking the monsters in six rectangr areas called tracks. They were shouting at the top of their voices as if they had lots ofints.

    ¡°Damn it! I invested in upgrading Threatening Arrow, but howe my strength keeps increasing?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m screwed up again. 7 strength, 5 agility, 8 intellect! I just don¡¯t know which one I should upgrade.¡±

    ¡°Hey, bnce! You have to bnce it out. You and I should not invest in intellect alone! As you can see, monsters with magic defense are now appearing here!¡± ¡°Shit! What should I do? No matter what, I see only intellecting out!¡±

    ¡°At least 5 yers must upgrade their strength and agility, and Sharp de and Threatening Arrow to strike a bnce!¡±

    ¡°Damn it! No matter how much I want it, why can¡¯t I get it?¡±

    The cave entrance was huge, so I thought the inside would be huge as well. But it was evenrger than I expected.

    At a nce I realized that there was enough space inside to amodate thousands of people. And in the center there were six huge rectangr areas called tracks, and inside these tracks, the Mitsuya Guild members were busy hunting the monsters.

    I didn¡¯t know when it started, but in three tracks, the monster that appeared at the starting point already traveled around the track and returned to the starting point. Whenever they did, the number on the board hanging above the track like an electric sign reduced by one.

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    ¡°I failed again.¡±

    ¡°If we fail here like this, there is no chance we can seed.¡¯

    Out of the total 300 health on the board, there was still 100 health left.

    However, the Mitsuya Guild members on the three tracks gave up attacking the monsters and squatted down..

    At that moment Tamir, the leader of the Tugal guild, opened his mouth with a low voice. ¡°It seems that they haven¡¯t even passed the 30th round yet. If they give up so early like that, we can say they have failed without any doubt.¡±

    Since he had so many experiences in the past, it seemed that guild leader Tamir was quite familiar with such a scene.

    Anyway, since all six tracks must be finished for a new start, we carefully watched the Mitsuya Guild members closely.

    20 minutester, all the teams of the Mitsuya Guild were eliminated in the 47th round.

    At that moment a message rang.

    [All six teams have failed.

    A new round begins in -10 minutes.]

 Chapter 249 - Luck and Luck (2)

    <h4>Chapter 249: Luck and Luck (2)</h4>

    Upon hearing that message, the Mitsuya Guild members withdrew from three tracks in anger and frustration, as if they were tipped off about the arrangement in advance.

    ¡°How are we going to build the teams?¡±

    The three tracks could each amodate a total of 20 yers.

    So, my father coulde up with the answer easily.

    In other words, the Myongjin, Mirae and Tugal guilds agreed to take one track each.

    But there was some confusion in the process because the Mirae and Tugal guilds expressed a strong desire to include me in their ranks.

    But I couldn¡¯t help but reject their wishes this time because there was no guarantee that I could get the stat points that I wanted.

    Anyway, after they deliberated and came to a decision, I stepped onto Track 1, along with my father, brother, sister and the elite yers of the Myongjin Guild.

    And when ten minutes passed, a new message rang.

    [The quest ¡°The Road to a New Hunting Ground¡± has begun.

    -The quest ¡®Road to a New Hunting Ground¡¯ ends only after you finish the final 70th round.

    -When you finish the 70th round, the following rewards are given to all 20 yers on the track.

    : Acquire 2 billion golden rings.

    : Acquire 700 remaining stat points.

    : Acquire 10000 coins.

    : Acquire a key to the New Hunting Ground.

    <ul>

    Additional rewards will be given to the one who performed best out of the 20 yers.]

    </ul>

    Probably we would not have moved so quickly if the message was only about the new hunting ground. However, the rewards included a huge amount of 2 billion golden rings and 700 remaining stat points, as well as coins which were essential for raising the reality actualization rate. So we immediately formed a team and moved to this ce.

    Anyway, that message disappeared and an additional message rang.

    [By stepping on Track 1, your status window will change to Strength 1, Agility 1, and Intellect 1.

    -You have 3 possible attack methods: sword, bow, and magic. You can change the attack method at any time.

    -The 1st stage of this quest will soonmence.]

    ¡°Check status window.¡±

    [Strength 1, Agility 1, Intellect 1]

    As the message announced, that was all there was in my status window.

    The huge stat points I had before, along with my three traits and nine titles were all gone. Even my ID was gone.

    At that moment, I heard my father shouting loudly to the yers.

    ¡°I am not expecting sess on our first attempt. So, do whatever you want to do!¡±

    I knew that I would be greedy if I could hope to seed when all others failed until now, so I decided to test it on my own first.

    At that moment, a message announcing the appearance of monsters rang.

    [Round 1 has started.

    -The monsters that will appear are Slimes.]

    First of all, I opened my mouth quietly to the message.

    ¡°Magic attack.¡±

    [Your attack method has been changed to magic attack.]

    I chose the magic attack that was most familiar to me.

    Then, Iunched an attack against the Slime group that appeared at the starting point.

    Of course, not only me, but all the other 19 yers on Track 1 did the same.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    This was the 1st stage of the quest, so a bunch of slimes continued to pop out at the starting point, but they couldn¡¯t move for long because they were immediately besieged by our attacks. All of them were killed with their bodies broken apart. Of course, that was the same with all the other tracks, not just Track 1.

    And soon after that, another message rang.

    [You have sessfully finished Round 1.

    -Your Intellect stat increases by 1.

    -You have obtained 1 golden ring.]

    ¡°Wow! I chose the sword attack at the start, and now my strength has risen!¡±

    ¡°Ugh, I received an agility stat point. Should I change to a bow attack?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely, you should.¡±

    Since all their stats were 1 at the start, it was natural they began to change their attack method to match the stat that rose by 1 randomly.

    In that respect, I thought it was because I was lucky that my intellect increased as if to match my magic attack selection.

    And I also managed to save 1 golden ring.

    ording to the information that the Tugal Guild has already obtained through numerous experiments, I would have no difficulty in clearing up to the 5th round even without upgrading anything at this stage.

    As if to confirm it, I seeded in blocking all of the monsters without any exception until I cleared the 5th round.

    ¡°Check the status window.¡±

    [Strength 1, Agility 1, Intellect 6 ]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I was the only one out of the 20 people on this track who received increases in only 1 stat.

    So, I had no choice but to think there was something special reserved for me.

    At the same time, I made a choice.

    ¡°Check upgrades.¡±

    [Upgrades.

    -Current golden rings: 5 golden rings.

    : Sharp de

    : Threatening Arrow.

    : Lethal Mana Ball.

    : Attack Speed Increase

    -To upgrade one, you need 1 golden ring.]

    ¡°Choose Lethal Mana Ball.¡±

    I invested 5 Golden Rings in Lethal Mana Ball.

    Then, a sign Level 5 appeared next to Lethal Mana Ball.

    Soon a message announcing the start of Round 6 rang.

    [Round 6 has started.

    -The monsters that will appear are Darkness Spirits.

    -Darkness Spirits have a 30% resistance to magic attacks.]

    ¡°This time the swordsmen and archers should do their best!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    I was told that although Darkness Spirits with magic defense would appear in Round 6, a steel-armored monster Orc with 30% resistance to sword attacks as well as a monster with resistance to bow attacks would appear in the next rounds as if to bnce it out.

    Perhaps because I was lucky, only my intellect increased until now. And since I invested all the golden rings in Deadly Mana Ball, I had different results to the rest of them.

    Bang!

    [Kheeeeeeeek!]

    Puck!

    [Kek!]

    Of course, all the monsters didn¡¯t die from my attack.

    However, it was obvious that my attacks still inflicted critical damage even though they were magic attacks.

    At that moment, all the other yers cast their nce at me.

    However, I had nothing to say except that I was really lucky.

    Of course, it might be simply luck if my intellect increased again in the next round.

    Anyway, I could finish Round 6 without any difficulty.

    So, I focused all my eyes on the message that would ring soon.

    If my intellect increased here again, it might mean that I have a special ability.

    [You have sessfully finished Round 6.

    -Your Agility stat increases by 1.

    -You have obtained 1 golden ring.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    As soon as I confirmed the message, I felt really let down because it confirmed I was simply lucky.

    However, since I could not give up here, I used the 1 golden ring to upgrade Lethal Mana Ball again.

    [You have sessfully finished Round 7.

    -Your Agility stat increases by 1.

    -You have obtained 1 golden ring.]

    [You have sessfully finished Round 8.

    -Your Strength stat increases by 1.

    -You have obtained 1 golden ring.]

    ¡°¡­.¡±

    In the end, what seemed a good start ended up in a disappointing result.

    That¡¯s what came to my mind when I confirmed a series of messages that showed no further increase in my Intellect.

    Of course, by upgrading only Lethal Mana Ball, my damage power continued to increasepared to before. However, I could not help but feel regret that my Intellect stat had teaued at 6.

    Anyway, I kept hunting for a while, and we ended up losing all our 300 health in exactly Round 37.

    ¡°It¡¯s the first time we challenged it, but everyone did well.¡±

    Obviously, they did well.

    The Mirae Guild, who challenged for the first time like Myongjin, failed in Round 32, while the Tugal Guild finished at Round 31.

    At that moment, only one thing came to my mind.

    ¡®Man¡­this is more difficult than I expected!¡¯

 Chapter 250 - Message (1)

    <h4>Chapter 250: Message (1)</h4>

    I got a sense of what kind of quest this was after trying one time, two times, three times, four times, five times, and finally ten times.

    I realized very clearly that this quest was nasty.

    Obviously, I was different from others, and I had a lot of things that others couldn¡¯t even dream of. For example, I had 9 titles and 3 traits, plus enormous stat points and tremendous items.

    However, everything I had was reset to default to Strength 1, Agility 1 and Intellect 1, just like all the others, which made me really upset.

    And that was there was another big reason why this quest frustrated me so much.

    It was none other than luck.

    It was really unfair that all my merits were gone, but I also didn¡¯t like the situation where everything was decided by ¡®luck¡¯.

    Luck often made one¡¯s enormous efforts so trivial, so I felt even more upset.

    There was a word often used for this kind of situation.

    It was what they called probability.

    Perhaps that¡¯s why my Strength, Agility, and Intellect each ended up around 10 because of the one third probability by the time I reached Round 30.

    In other words, the worst numbers in Round 30 were Strength 11, Agility 11 and Intellect 11, but that was usually the case, based on probability.

    If one was a bit lucky, they might end up with something like Strength 8, Agility 15, and Intellect 10.

    However, there were few cases where one stat was exceptionally high because of the huge wall of probability.

    So, during one round, I attempted to use the golden rings I received to evenly upgrade Sharp de, Threatening Arrow, Lethal Mana Ball, and Attack Speed Increase, for I could change my attack method between sword, bow, and magic whenever I wanted.

    Puck!

    [¡­]

    Bang!

    [¡­]

    But when I used that method, the monsters did not die.

    And because the monsters didn¡¯t die, they travelled around the track and returned to the starting point, so the initial 300 health rapidly decreased.

    Eventually, it seemed like I needed something extraordinary to break out of this slump like the leader of Mongolia¡¯s Tugal Guil who brought this quest repeatedly said.

    In other words, something extraordinary in Strength, or Agility, or Intellect.

    Of course, it didn¡¯t mean I had achieved nothing.

    As a matter of fact, I sometimes achieved an extraordinary high stat by Round 30 among Strength, Agility or Intellect.

    As for upgrading using golden rings, I kept showing outstanding performance by using Sharp de for Strength, Threatening Arrow for Agility, and Lethal Mana Ball for Intellect.

    However, it was impossible for a couple of yers out of the twenty to get rid of the monsters pouring out from the starting point.

    Moreover, just as monsters with magic defense came out in Round 6, monsters with sword attack defense and bow attack defense also appeared once in a while as if to remind the yers that they had a long way to go to reach the final round.

    [You have failed to clear Round 36.]

    [You have failed to clear Round 40.]

    [You have failed to clear Round 32.]

    I failed again and again.

    Sometimes I failed in a much lower round than I thought.

    Therefore, I really wanted to give up on this quest right away. Even though people said you can learn sess from failure, there was nothing I could learn from my repetitive failures because it was all luck and randomness.

    In other words, all I could do was pray I would be lucky next time.

    But it wasn¡¯t easy for me to give it up because of the reward.

    The reward was so tempting because 10,000 coins was not a small amount.

    I also could not ignore 2 billion golden rings and 700 remaining stat points, as well as the key to the new hunting ground.

    So, I just wished I could be sure of some sess at the end of the day, even if it took me 100 days or 1000 days, because I would not feel so frustrated no matter how long it took me as long as I knew that I would seed one day.

    And I was not the only one who thought so.

    My father, elder brother, sister, and the elite yers of the Myongjin Guild who challenged this quest had to stop all their other productive activities, including hunting, to devote themselves to this quest, so they inevitably sufferedrge losses.

    Anyway, this quest was something like a necessary evil, but the rewards were so attractive that I kept challenging it.

    A week passed by as I continued to challenge the quest to no avail. But at that moment, a message rnag.

    [The Predator Status you received from the Cunning Vampires has disappeared.

    -The Cunning Vampires will attack you first like before. ]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I couldn¡¯t bring myself to rejoice at the message that appeared before my eyes.

    I¡¯m still level 1000, and maybe I will continue to be so for the time being. So I continued to challenge the quest.

    Of course, I sometimes reached up to Round 50 during that process.

    However, the monsters that appeared in Round 50 were boss and event monsters. I definitely needed more damage to defeat them, but since I never had enough, I had no choice but to stall in Round 50.

    [Boss monster Minotaur appears.

    -When you defeat the boss monster Minotaur, you will be given 3 golden rings and 3 stat points that you can invest directly instead of it being randomly allocated to you.

    -The person thatnds thest hit on the Minotaur will be given 10 golden rings and 10 stat points that they can invest directly.]

    Of course, I could not help but covet thisst hit bonus because it would be a big help to any yer.

    However, even though all 20 yers desperately attacked the boss monster, they couldn¡¯t defeat it.

    Moreover, there was another problem.

    [If you fail to defeat the boss monster Minotaur, you will fail regardless of your team¡¯s remaining health.]

    Anyway, although Round 50 attracted yers with such sweet temptation, it proved to be an unachievable goal at the end of the day.

    Of course, I could find some relief elsewhere.

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    ¡°What kind of quest is this?¡±

    ¡°How much more time should we spend here!¡±

    Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild also had no possibility of sess like us.

    But the problem was that there was nothing good other than that.

    That evening we had a get-together dinner at the Myongjin Shelter.

    ¡°Whew¡­¡±

    Since 10,000 coins were at stake, everyone in my family was participating in the quest. Even my mother did because I didn¡¯t participate in the quest in the name of Juyoung Hong.

    p! p!

    My mother pped me and my sister on the back when we let out a sigh.

    She said, ¡°Why are you two sighing like that?¡¯

    ¡°Ugh¡­¡±

    ¡°Ouch. You must also know how nasty this quest is because you¡¯re challenging it as well, right?¡±

    Actually I could not think of anything to say other than I was sick and tired of it.

    But my mother didn¡¯t seem to think so.

    ¡°Well, I am enjoying it because I¡¯m ying with you.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    As if it was really fun, my mother spoke with a smile, which just astounded my sister and me.

    While eating, my sister kept sneaking nces at me.

    Then she quietly opened her mouth.

    ¡°Hey, Juyoung. Can¡¯t you show something extraordinary this time?¡±

    Of course, I knew what my sister was trying to say, for I often cleared the kind of quest that others thought impossible to clear. For example, I achieved a whopping 100% in thest level 900 only quest. But this time, I could not show the same performance as before.

    When the round began, all my items, skills, and status window were reset to default.

    All that remained was Strength 1, Agility 1, and Intellect 1.

    Besides, it was impossible for me to use the nearly 30 billion golden rings stored in my inventory.

    To make matters worse, Strength, Agility, and Intellect didn¡¯te out just because I wanted them to. In short, there was nothing I could do about it.

    So, I just shrugged.

    At that moment, my sister received another p from my mother.

 Chapter 251 - Message (2)

    <h4>Chapter 251: Message (2)</h4>

    p!

    ¡°Ouch! Why did you hit me again?¡±

    ¡°I told you not to bother Juyoung, right?¡±

    ¡°Gosh, you¡¯re so mean, Mom!¡±

    We were depressed due to failing all day long, so I, my sister, and my mom tried to keep the atmosphere as bright as possible so we could have our meal happily.

    The next day I did not go straight to the Land Without Light in Mongolia to proceed with the quest.

    Instead, I moved to Kotum Castle to stop by the cksmith, for today was the day the God of Enhancement cooldown finally returned.

    In other words, I could make the +5 enhancement Ice Emperor Guardian Sword into +6 now. Of course, I should be very happy in this situation, but I wasn¡¯t as happy as I thought.

    Even if I upgrade the sword, it won¡¯t help me solve the pending problem at all.

    Anyway, I entered the forge and put the +5 enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword in the enhancement window.

    Then I opened my mouth quietly.

    ¡®Activate God of Enhancement.¡¯

    [You have activated the God of Enhancement.

    -100% chance to sessfully enhance.

    -Enhancement Target: +5 Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword.

    -Additional requirements: 102,750,000 golden rings, 1,249.5 million EXP.

    -Cooldown generated upon sessful enhancement: 125 days]

    The necessary requirements were enormous, especially the generated cooldown.

    In particr, I recalled a title when I noticed over 1.2 billion EXP. The title was none other than The Man Who Doesn¡¯t Fall.

    Those who do not fall.

    At that time, I thought that this title was a penalty because I did not lose the stat points gained through Mutual Growth when I dropped levels due to God of Enhancement¡¯s EXP requirements.

    So, I could gain more stat points by leveling up again.

    But now that I looked back at it, it was a blessing in disguise, for the drop in EXP of 1.2495 billion right now was already terrible, and it would only be worse in the future.

    So, I tried enhancing it immediately.

    Then, a message with a splendid visual effect rang before my eyes.

    [You have seeded in enhancing +5 Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    The +5 enhancement Ice Emperor guardian sword will be upgraded to +6 enhancement.]

    ¡®Wow!¡¯

    I¡¯ve finally obtained a myth grade weapon with a whopping +6 enhancement.

    Until a little while ago, I wasn¡¯t very happy because of the slow progress with the quest, but when I received the + 6 enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword, I felt good as if nothing happened.

    ¡®Check item.¡¯

    [+6 Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword (Myth)

    -It is a sword containing thest determination of Asirante, the master and emperor of ice, who fought against the Sun God Moruto who burned and evaporated everything in the world.

    : At least level 700 required to equip

    : At least 7000 pure Intellect required to equip

    : At least 10 ice-type skills required to equip

    -Effect.

    : Increases the performance of all ice-type skills by 12% -> (15%).

    : Reduces cooldown of all ice-type skills by 12%->(15%).

    :

    <code> : </code></pre>

    : Increases Stamina by 1500->(1800)

    : Increases Agility by 800->(1000)

    : Increases Intellect by 1000->(1400)

    -Safety enhancement: 0

    -Increases physical attack power by 17100->(19050)

    -Increases magic attack power by 6200->(8800)

    -Durability: infinite/infinite]

    The Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword showed tremendous options, as if to prove why it was a myth-grade item with +6 enhancement.

    So, I immediately wanted to go to the Cunning Vampire Garrison to test both the newly enhanced Ice emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword and the new skill I acquired by reaching level 1000.

    However, I left for the Land Without Light In Mongolia where the quest was still ongoing, for I felt like if I went to the Cunning Vampire Garrison, I would keep hunting there since it was productive unlike my time in the Mongolian hunting ground with no guarantee on when I could clear the quest.

    At the Land Without Light.

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    ¡°Shit! I won¡¯t do it!¡±

    As soon as I entered the huge cave where the quest was ongoing, the sounds of the yers¡¯ hysterical cursing entered my ears. Not only the yers from the Myongjin, Mirae and Tugal guilds, but also the yers of the Mitsuya and Altan Guilds spat out abusivenguage.

    But I didn¡¯t care because I heard such things often, so I moved near the Myongjin Guild yers, waited a little then moved onto Track 1 at the start of the new round because I had signed up to Myongjin under the name of Asirante.

    Soon Slimes appeared along with the message that announced the beginning of the new round.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    I was nowpetent enough to clear up to Round 10 without any difficulty.

    So, I easily moved up to Round 5.

    But I checked my status window before proceeding further.

    ¡°Check status window.¡±

    [Strength 3, Agility 3, Intellect 2]

    It was neither good nor bad. In other words, I was already in the worst situation.

    I had five golden rings avable right now, but I didn¡¯t know which skill to upgrade.

    But some other yers from Myongjin fared better.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got Intellect 5!¡±

    ¡°My Stamina is 5!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve got Agility 6!¡±

    Because these guys had extraordinary stat points, I just decided to save on my golden rings first.

    However, as the rounds progressed, more powerful monsters came out, and eventually I had to invest all the golden rings I collected in Threatening Arrow because my Agility was the highest.

    Anyway, I was almost on the verge of failing, but thanks to my fellow yers with good stat points, we managed to advance to Round 50.

    ¡°Check status window.¡±

    [Strength 15, Agility 20, Intellect 18]

    Even though I concentrated on upgrading Threatening Arrow because it was affected by my Agility, I just felt so frustrated after confirming my Agility value.

    Agility 20 right before Round 50 could not be worse for me.

    Anyway, I started Round 50, but I was simply baggage, along with other yers. ¡°Damn it!¡±

    ¡°Failed again!¡±

    ¡°Is this quest really possible to clear?¡±

    Even though my father, the leader of the Myongjing Guild, was present along with my brother, sister, and mother, the Myongjin yers did not hesitate toin. Of course, I could understand their feelings because even my sister and brother let out a long sigh.

    Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

    I didn¡¯t stop attacking Minotauros still moving around the track. Then some yers even climbed on the track and attacked them. The monsters stepped back, shifting from foot to foot, which was not unusual at all because even general monsters did the same thing in that situation.

    [Due to interfering with the path of the monsters, one stat point will drop randomly.]

    In the status window, there was no health or mana, let alone level.

    So, they didn¡¯t die, but instead the above message rang.

    Nevertheless, everyone here desperately tried hard to clear Round 50 as best as they could.

    Even if we managed to clear Round 50, there was no guarantee we would clear the next round because of a high probability of failure. Although we knew it, everyone here, including me, kept desperately at it. I, too, upset about my repeated failures, climbed on the track and attacked the monsters.

    Thud!

    The Minotauros stepped back. A message rang at that moment, which was nothing unusual because everybody heard it when he or she obstructed the monster¡¯s path.

    But the message this time waspletely different from what I knew.

 Chapter 252 - The Man Who Doesnâ€™t Fall (1)

    <h4>Chapter 252: The Man Who Doesn¡¯t Fall (1)</h4>

    [By interfering with the monster¡¯s path, one stat point will drop at random.

    -Your Intellect Stat has dropped by 1.]

    I was not surprised when I saw this message because it was nothing unusual.

    But I was startled at the next message.

    [Currently, you hold the title of ¡®The Man Who Doesn¡¯t Fall.¡¯

    -It is impossible to recover the dropped Intellect stat 1.

    -You will get 3 remaining stat points in return for the dropped Intellect stat 1.]

    ¡°?¡±

    I didn¡¯t understand what that message meant.

    But I knew what I should do right now.

    So I opened my mouth right away.

    ¡®Check status window!¡¯

    [Strength 15, Agility 20, Intellect 18]

    [Remaining stat points: 3]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    My status window right before the start of Round 50 was Strength 15, Agility 20, and Intellect 19. In other words, my Intellect dropped by 1 just like the first message indicated.

    However, I obtained 3 new remaining stat points.

    ¡°Why?¡±

    I had no choice but to be confused about it, but I could not afford to ponder on it because the boss monster, the Minotauros, reached the end of the track and set foot on the starting point where it first appeared.

    A message rang at that moment.

    [You have failed to clear Round 50.]

    ¡°Whew¡­¡±

    ¡°Man, this is really too much.¡±

    ¡°Should I keep doing this?¡± ¡°I¡¯d rather hunt instead of this¡­¡±

    I heard the Myongjin yers sighing and expressing regrets at their repeated failures, but I didn¡¯t bother with it because I already experienced the same a little while ago.

    But my indifferent behavior concerned my family.

    [Two Sons and One Daughter: Son, what¡¯s going on?]

    [Super Beauty: What¡¯s up, Juyoung?]

    My mother and sister messaged me as if they were worried about me.

    Not only they but also my father and brother were looking at me with anxious expressions.

    Of course, I could understand their feelings because the two messages that rang when I disturbed the path of the boss monster, Minotauros, were so ridiculous that they made me stand nkly for a long time.

    So, I smiled at my family members because I found some clues to beat this quest which I didn¡¯t think about at all.

    [Round 1 begins.]

    The Slimes appeared immediately. As soon as they appeared, I stuck my leg forward to block their path. I didn¡¯t need to use my whole body to block the slimes, my leg was enough. Soon, my toes touched the Slime.

    Then a message rang.

    [By interfering with the monster¡¯s path, one stat point will drop at random.

    -Your Strength stat has dropped by 1.]

    [Currently, you only have basic stats.

    -As a basic stat has be 0, you can no longer proceed with any further rounds]

    At the end of that message, I had to watch my body bouncing out of the track even before it mentioned my title ¡°The Man Who Doesn¡¯t Fall¡±.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    At that moment, everyone around me looked at me.

    They were so embarassed to see me failing so miserable thaty they seemed to think, ¡®How stupid is he?¡¯

    But they couldn¡¯t express their disappointment openly because they knew I was Asirante.

    I felt ashamed of myself, but I picked myself up and moved to stand at the corner of the track because if I tried to avoid this ce or move around in confusion, I would admit I was stupid like they thought.

    Of course, even though I pretended to be calm, I was busy ming myself deep down.

    ¡®Damn it. I was in too much of a rush.¡¯

    Of course, I knew that since I had no more stats to lose in Round 1 that gave Strength of 1, Agility 1, and Intellect 1 initially, I would be automatically excluded from the game itself if I stood in the way of the monsters.

    However, I got too impatient from my previous experience a little while ago, andpletely forgot the basics.

    Anyway, I waited until this challenge was over because the remaining 19 yers could still challenge it even though I was already excluded.

    A littleter, the 19 yers failed to clear Round 31, but nobody pointed their fingers at me because they were quite used to failing by now.

    Anyway, with a bleak look, I climbed on Track 1 again, and a new challenge started.

    [Round 2 starts.]

    I did not intend to make the same mistake that I did in Round 1, so I easily cleared Round 1 and stepped towards the monsters that appeared in Round 2.

    [By interfering with the monster¡¯s path, one stat point will drop at random.

    -Your Strength stat has dropped by 1.]

    [Currently, you hold the title of ¡®The Man Who Doesn¡¯t Fall.¡¯

    -It is impossible for you to recover the dropped Strength stat 1.

    -You will get 3 remaining stat points in return for the dropped Strength stat 1.]

    ¡°¡­.¡±

    It was real.

    Of course, I knew it wasn¡¯t fake, but I still wondered if it would really happen. But now I had no choice but to conclude that it was 100% real because such a coincidence urring twice would be extremely slim. Of course, I didn¡¯t know why such a thing happened.

    However, I had better things to do at this moment rather than pondering about it, so I opened my status window and invested the 3 remaining stat points into Strength.

    ¡®Check status window.¡¯

    [Strength 4, Agility 1, Intellect 1]

    Obviously, I was in the middle of Round 2 now, but my status window was ridiculous because I had two more stat points than others. Moreover, since what I received was remaining stat points, I could invest them however I wanted. This was really enormous, but I needed to check something first, so I stepped towards the monsters again.

    [By interfering with the monster¡¯s path, one stat point will drop at random.

    -Your Strength stat has dropped by 1.]

    [Currently, you only have basic stats.

    -As a basic stat has be 0, you can no longer proceed with any further rounds.]

    Thud!

    Once again, I was thrown out of Track 1.

    At that moment, I clearly realized that I could not clear the quest using these remaining stat points I obtained instead of the normal stat points from clearing each round.

    Anyway, everybody around me cast dubious nces at me again, but I ignored them because my realization was more important.

    And after that, I tried again five more times to investigate it more clearly

    A littleter.

    ¡®Check title ¡®The Man Who Doesn¡¯t Fall.¡¯

    [Title: The Man Who Doesn¡¯t Fall.

    -Lumen only title.

    : Increases health by 10,000.

    : Increases mana by 10,000.

    : Your level will never fall. (Even if you die at 00.00% EXP as soon as you level up, your level will not fall. )]

    An increase in health and mana by 10,000, which was almost insignificant.

    Besides, there wasn¡¯t even any increase in stat points that normally came with titles.

    ¡®Hmm¡­ I didn¡¯t get this in return for something.¡¯ All the other eight titles I possessed came by clearing the quests and winning the events until now. As for the title ¡®Only Closed Beta Max Level User¡¯, I obtained it by achieving the max level of the 3rd Closed Beta.

    However, I got this particr title of ¡®The Man Who Doesn¡¯t Fall¡¯ when I didn¡¯t do anything to obtain it. More precisely, I obtained it by cheating.

    ¡®Is it because of that?¡¯

    In other words, I had no choice but to think the administrator of this game or the system itself gave me this title.

    As a result, there seemed to be a conflict between the one who tried to lower my level and the one who didn¡¯t want it. Even the stats seemed to conflict with each other because there were only three stats in the status window, namely Strength, Agility, and Intellect.

    And I thought I knew why I was given only three remaining stat points because of the ¡®Lumen Only Title¡¯ that apanied ¡®The One Who Doesn¡¯t Fall.¡¯

    Back then, my ID was obviously Lumen. But it is not Lumen now.

    It is Lumen, Asirante.

 Chapter 253 - The Man Who Doesnâ€™t Fall (2)

    <h4>Chapter 253: The Man Who Doesn¡¯t Fall (2)</h4>

    At the same time, I realized one fact that the system did not reveal.

    To be precise, I have 3 IDs: Lumen, Asirante, and Lumen, Asirante.

    Of course, I could message my family members with each separate ID.

    Anyway, I brushed up on my IDs once more, lost in thought.

    At that moment, my sister messaged me.

    [Super Beauty: Juyoung, What¡¯s wrong with you?]

    She asked, filled with concern.

    It was natural she was worried about me because I kept failing in this quest.

    But nobodyined to my face because they knew I was Asirante.

    [Lumen: Hahaha.]

    I just chuckled at my sister, my mother, father and brother.

    Of course, they asked what was wrong, but I just gave a simple reply.

    [Lumen: Do you want to clear this quest? Just say so. Hahaha.]

    I had tried and tested lots of things to clear the current quest.

    So I was confident of clearing this quest during the next challenge.

    If I could invest three times more stat points than others in my target area, there was no reason for me not to clear it.

    A littleter, my family members and Director Sok were pretty encouraged by my reassurances because they were frustrated that there were no signs of clearing the quest even after the 20 Myongjin yers spent a week and two days challenging it.

    However, I did not proceed with the quest recklessly, for if only the 20 yers of the Myongjin Guild cleared the quest first, the Mirae and Tugal Guild who first brought this quest to us would be left in the same position as Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild and would not be able to im any credit.

    In other words, I had to be considerate of their interests as Myongjin¡¯s allies. I had to make them feel beholden to Myongjin, if I could.

    My father and Director Sok weed my idea with open hands instead of rejecting it.

    In particr, my father was looking at me in satisfaction as if he forgot that I was currently using the guise Asirante.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t intend to give them a lot.

    I decided to give three spots each to Mirae and Tugal Guild.

    A littleter, a message about the start of a new challenge rang like before.

    But I didn¡¯t move to Track 1 immediately, just like the other Myongjin yers.

    At the message, that only 30 seconds remained, some people moved to Track 1, but this time they were a mix of yers from the three guilds. In other words, it was not a Myongjin only team, but a team formed from members of Myongjin, Mirae and Tugal.

    Of course, I could not see this as a dream team because the three spots allocated to the other guilds were taken up by the immediate family members of the guild leaders. In the case of Mirae, Bora Yon was definitely included.

    Anyway, the new round started finally.

    Iunched an attack against Slimes in Round 1 as usual.

    [You have sessfully finished Round 1.

    -Your agility stat increases by 1.

    -You have acquired 1 golden ring.]

    I chose magic attack as my attack method initially, but I did not change it to a bow attack because I could change my stats ording to my wishes starting from the next round.

    Round 2 started shortly afterwards.

    I slightly pushed my foot toward the monster, and soon a message rang.

    [By interfering with the monster¡¯s path, one stat point will drop at random.

    -Agility stat will drop by 1.]

    [Currently you hold the title ¡®The Man Who Doesn¡¯t Fall.¡¯

    -You can¡¯t recover the dropped Agility stat 1.

    -You acquire three remaining stat points in ce of the dropped Agility stat 1.]

    Since I tested it several times, I opened the status window and invested 3 remaining stat points in Intellect.

    And until Round 5, I kept upgrading the Lethal Mana Ball without hesitation using the golden rings while observing my stats rise up and up.

    Anyway, I ran wild with the significant damage buffs.

    Of course, I could y slowly because I was yet in the initial rounds of this quest.

    But the message clearly announced that:

    [Additional rewards will be given to the one who performed best among the 20 yers.]

    I was thinking of trying my hardest from the start, but the message encouraged me further.

    Anyway, I put my foot forward to obstruct the monsters every round. On such asions, I epted the three remaining stat points in return for the random decreasing stat point.

    Of course, I invested the remaining stat points in Intellect alone.

    Round 30.

    ¡®Check status window.¡¯

    [Strength 1, Agility 1, Intellect 91]

    ¡°...¡±

    My status window was just fabulous.

    Even if anybody got supremely lucky and gained random stat points in only one stat, the highest they could get was 31.

    But mine was 91.

    And I had even more things.

    ¡®Check upgrades.¡¯

    [Upgradable items.

    -Current golden ring: 0 golden ring.

    -Sharp de: LV 0

    -Threatening Arrow: LV 0

    -Lethal Mana Ball: LV 25

    -Attack speed increase: LV 5]

    With 91 Intellect stats, which should have been 31 at the maximum, and only Lethal Mana Ball, my damage was tremendous.

    I had also upgraded Attack Speed Increase to LV 5, so I had another huge advantage.

    Thanks to such upgrades, I was stronger than before.

    Puck.

    ¡°Kheeeeeeel!¡±

    Bang!

    ¡°Kuuuuuuuuk!¡±

    As a matter of fact, Intellect 91 was so minimal,pared to what I normally had.

    But 91 in this situation was enormous because I received only 1 stat point in each round normally.

    Because of that, it was inevitable for me to draw the attention of the other 19 yers on my team.

    ¡°Wow, how can he do that?¡±

    ¡°If he bumps into a monster, his stat points should drop...¡±

    ¡°Can I try it too?¡±

    ¡°Are you crazy? Stop!¡±

    ¡°You tried it before without any sess, crazy bastard! What the hell are you doing?¡±

    There were always some people who tried to do what they were not supposed to, but they were stopped by others, so we could finish the round without any difficulty.

    Now we finally reached Round 50.

    [The Boss monster Minotauros has appeared.

    -When you kill the boss monster Minotauros, you will be given 3 golden rings and 3 stat points which you can invest directly instead of being randomly allocated to you.

    -The person who kills the Minotauros with thest attack will be given 10 golden rings and 10 stat points which they can invest directly.]

    [If you fail to kill boss monster Minotauros, the challenge will fail regardless of your team¡¯s remaining health.]

    Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

    In the previous rounds I didn¡¯t inflict any tangible damage.

    But I was confident this time.

    Every time I hit the Minotauros, its body shook from side to side.

    Obviously, I wasn¡¯t there alone. 19 other yers were present too.

    Since they realized they had a shot of clearing the quest this time, they attacked the boss monster more fiercely than ever before. In the end, the Minotauros copsed without even travelling round half the track.

    [You have defeated the boss monster Minotauros.

    -Lumen, Asirante showed a more outstanding performance than anyone else.

    -You have obtained 10 remaining stat points that you can invest directly.

    -You have acquired 10 golden rings.]

    I immediately invested all the remaining stat points in Intellect and used all 10 gold rings to upgrade Lethal Mana Ball. I became more powerful in an instant.

    Moreover, the other yers also obtained 3 remaining stat points and 3 golden rings.

    As a result, we cleared the next round very quickly.

    Every time I cleared the round, I lost a random stat point, but I obtained 3 remaining stat points that I could invest directly.

    Some timeter a message rang.

    [Round 70 begins.

    -The monster that appears is the Death Knight.

    -The Death Knight uses a defense aura. As a result, all the damage he suffers is reduced by 40%.]

    As if to confirm this was the final round, a monster with a 40% damage reduction aura appeared. So it may be a pretty big problem for other yers.

    But it wasn¡¯t a problem for me because I had perfect stats and upgrades.

    As a result, the Death Knight¡¯s armor was smashed in a few strokes, and it copsed helplessly.

 Chapter 254 - Reward, Reward, Reward (1)

    <h4>Chapter 254: Reward, Reward, Reward (1)</h4>

    At Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild camp. Chairman Ryu Sechi had put off clearing the quest for the time being since he could not find any clues on clearing it and he was too busy to spend all his time thinking about it. But now he received an urgent message. So, he hurriedly came to the Land Without Light immediately, and found that the Myongjin yers were challenging Round 48 of the quest on Track 1. He was impressed by the fact that they got rid of the monsters with overwhelming firepower, but he noticed that one yer was doing a lot of the heavy lifting. It was none other than Asirante. ¡°Oh my¡­¡± Of course, Chairman Ryu was also nervous when the Myongjin, Mirae, and Tugal Guild yers set foot on this Land Without Light because aside from the elite Myongjin and Mirae yers, he could not afford to ignore Asirante in particr. However, after watching Asirante challenge the quest for over a week and confirming that even he could not clear it, Chairman Ryu felt rxed and could smile again. But Asirante right now was terrific. In other words, he showed the enormous power that he used to right before the current quest. And the pinnacle of his performance was his sessful attack against the boss monster in Round 50. That boss monster copsed even before traveling around half the track. After that, Asirante continued to clear the following rounds without any difficulty. ¡°¡­¡± Confirming it with his own eyes, Chairman Ryu wanted to somehow stop him and mess with the quest right away, but he could not do any harm to the yers on the track. So he had no choice but to watch Asirante performing brilliantly, with bulging eyes. In the end, the Myongjin, Mirae, and Tugal yers, or more precisely, Asirante, reached Round 70. Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang! Countless attacks poured out on the Death Knights. Nevertheless, as the monsters in charge of the final round, the Death Knights endured so well that I felt slightly nervous, but I didn¡¯t care because I still had a lot of health remaining from the 300 health I revived in Round 1. So, as captain of our team, I shouted, ¡°We¡¯re going to give up on the 2nd and 7th monsters!¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Without any hesitation, I gave up on those monsters that I needed to. Under mymand, the yers began to kill the monsters gradually one by one. And at some point, we finally cleared Round 70 with only 67 health remaining after killing the seemingly never-ending Death Knight on the track. And no more monsters showed up on the starting point. In other words, the game was over. At that moment, a message rang. [You have cleared Round 70.] [Congrattions! You have sessfully cleared the quest ¡®Road to the New Hunting Ground¡¯. -All 20 yers on Track 1 will receive the following rewards. : Acquire 2 billion golden rings. : Acquire 700 remaining stat points. : Acquire 10000 coins. : Acquire the key to the New Hunting Ground.] ¡°Wow!¡± ¡°Finally, we have seeded!¡± ¡°Done! We¡¯ve finally cleared this nasty quest!¡± ¡°Oh my God! The reward is a whopping 2 billion golden rings, and 700 remaining stat points!¡± ¡°Yeah, even the number of coins is 10,000!¡± ¡°Hooray for Asirante! Hooray for Asirante!¡± At first, I could not find the solution to this quest after challenging it hundreds of times. Moreover, the experience I umted from many challenges did not help at all because it was all luck and randomness, and it was the same for the other yers. So it was only natural that they shouted for joy like that. Of course, they endlessly shouted my name because I was the biggest contributor to us sessfully clearing the quest. So, I weed their cheers naturally because like them I was really anxious to clear it more than anybody else. But there was still one more reward left. In other words, it was the additional reward for the one who performed better than any other yers on the team. Perhaps that¡¯s why another message rang at that moment. [Lumen, Asirante, you have performed the best among the 20 yers in clearing the quest ¡®The Road to the New Hunting Ground¡¯. -You will receive the following additional rewards. : 1 billion golden rings : 300 remaining stat points. : 5000 coins.] The reward wasn¡¯t as huge as I thought, but it was still quite a lot. In the end, I acquired 15,000 coins, 3 billion golden rings, and 1000 remaining stat points. But then another message rang as if it wasn¡¯t over yet. Of course, I wasn¡¯t surprised because I knew another message would ring anyway. This was also a quest called ¡®The Road to the New Hunting Ground¡¯, and I held the title of ¡®Quest Master¡¯ which granted me additional rewards every time I cleared a quest. That¡¯s why I acquired an extra 300 remaining stat points in level 900 only limited quest. Anyway, I wished I could obtain 300 remaining stat points this time as well because this quest was definitely not easypared to the previous ones. ¡°Uh?¡± However, the message this time waspletely different from what I thought. [These are the stat points Lumen, Asirante obtained by clearing Round 70. -Strength 1, Agility 1, Intellect 231 : The stat points given at random upon clearing each round affected only one stat: Intellect. : By umting such a distribution of stat points that is hard to exin with simply luck, you receive the title of ¡®Lucky Companion¡¯, a hidden reward.] ¡°¡­¡± I was momentarily startled by a message I had never expected. But I couldn¡¯t help but smile at it because it was something good. And the messages were not over yet. [You hold the title of ¡®Quest Master¡¯. -Upon clearing a quest, you will receive an additional 100 to 300 remaining stat points depending on the quest¡¯s difficulty. -We are calcting the difficulty of sessfully clearing the Road to the New Hunting Ground. : You acquire 300 remaining stat points.] This was the message I expected. I had no choice but to smile because the number of stat points that I obtained was the maximum 300. [Congrattions! The number of titles you currently hold has reached 10. You will be rewarded ordingly. -Your current titles

    Only Closed Beta Max Level AchieverScarecrow Destroyer.Have You Enhanced as Much as Me?The Man Who Doesn¡¯t Fall.Honorable Name.First Sessful Step.4th Anniversary Event Winner.I Am Not My Own Hurdle.Quest MasterLucky Companion.] -You receive 500 remaining stat points.] The same message rang when I acquired 5 titles. However, I obtained 300 remaining stat points back then, but I got 500 this time. At that moment, I remembered the saying that luck came only once, while misfortune came twice. But I was in the opposite situation now. I received lots of luck at once. Of course, by acquiring nine titles in advance along with the title of Quest Master, I was ready for such luck. Anyway, I felt good at the bountiful rewards. After roughly checking the huge rewards, I moved out of Track 1 with the other yers. And the members of the Myongjin, Mirae, and Tugal guilds on the outskirts of the track gave us resounding cheers. ¡°Myongjin! Myongjin!¡± ¡°Mirae! Mirae!¡± ¡°Tugal! Tugal!¡± ¡°Asirante! Asirante!¡± In particr, the Tugal Guild cheered exuberantly, as if to rub it in the face of the Altan Guild who betrayed them to join hands with the Mitsuya Guild. While we were moving out of the track, my father made a suggestion to the Mirae Guild and Tugal Guild. ¡°Why don¡¯t youe along to our Myongjin Headquarters for a celebration? This is the first time we three guilds have coborated, and our coalition has produced very good results.¡± When my father made such a suggestion, Mirae¡¯s Chairman Junghwan Yon and Tamir, the leader of the Tugal Guild, opened their mouths, nodding at him. ¡°Great!¡± ¡°Well, I would like to host the party,¡± said Chairman Yon. Of course, we could clear the quest thanks to my contribution. Since my father belonged to the Myongjin, he had no choice but to feel immense pride. Besides, since I, Asirante, did not raise any objections and quietly acquiesced to my father¡¯s suggestion, I helped boost his authority.

 Chapter 255 - Reward, Reward, Reward (2)

    <h4>Chapter 255: Reward, Reward, Reward (2)</h4>

    When my father made such a suggestion, Mirae¡¯s Chairman Junghwan Yon and Tamir, the leader of the Tugal Guild, opened their mouths, nodding at him. ¡°Great!¡± ¡°Well, I would like to host the party,¡± said Chairman Yon. Of course, we could clear the quest thanks to my contribution. Since my father belonged to the Myongjin, he had no choice but to feel immense pride. Besides, since I, Asirante, did not raise any objections and quietly acquiesced to my father¡¯s suggestion, I helped boost his authority. Anyway, we moved out of the huge cave with the members of the Myongjin, Mirae, and Tugal guilds who were still cheering on the outskirts because the tracks disappeared as soon as the quest was over. As we moved ove, I noticed not only Chairman Ryu frowning in displeasure but also the Oizuki brothers right behind him. Obviously, the chairman was feeling really bitter. No matter how bold Chairman Ryu was, he could not ignore the value of 2 billion golden rings, 700 remaining stat points, and 10,000 coins. However, he wasn¡¯t stupid enough tounch an attack against our yers who were moving out of the track. That evening I also attended that party hosted by my father, the chairman of the Myongjin Guild. Since I was so happy just like the other yers, I enjoyed the party as much as I could. Late at night while the party was still going on, I logged out and joined a quiet party with my family members at the Myongjin Shelter because this time we were all among the 20 yers who cleared the quest and we all received huge rewards. Of course, I could not ignore the role of Director Sok and the other elite yers of the Myongjin Guild in the quest. The next day, the good atmosphere of the party yesterday continued when we gathered together for breakfast. My father opened his mouth. ¡°We¡¯re going to gather at 10 in the morning and use the key together.¡± What he referred to was the key to the Road to the New Hunting Ground, which all the 20 yers on Track 1 obtained as a reward. Since I attended yesterday¡¯s party under the name of Asirante, I could join the meeting between my father, Chairman Yon, and the Tugal guild leader, and listen to their discussions. They agreed to move together in the level 1300 or higher hunting ground. It was the Mirae and Tugal guilds that made such a request because they felt more threatened with each of them having only three yers who received the key. And my father epted their request. Even though he knew my fantastic capabilities, my father said, ¡°By the way, you don¡¯t have to move together with us this time.¡± My dad knew that even a level 1300 or higher-level hunting ground would not be any problem for me. But the problem was that if they formed a party, I would be sharing EXP with them, which would be a loss for me. Besides, I wouldn¡¯t be able to ask the party that also includes the Mirae and Tugal guild leaders to separate my EXP from the rest of them as it would disgrace my reputation as Asirante. Nheless, I said, ¡°Well, let me join them.¡± Until now, I have never hunted with my mother, father, brother and sister. Of course, I have gone to hunting grounds before with them, but that was because I wanted to show them my capabilities, not hunt together with them. And I usually hunted alone because it was the best for me and I could also monopolize the EXP. If it was only my father, brother and sister, I would move separately like my father said. But my mother was one of the yers this time, so I wanted to show her my capabilities and boast about howpetent I was. Moreover, my mother was a healer, so I could receive heals and stamina recovery spells from her. Anyway, my dad agreed to what I said, so we all had breakfast in a happy mood. At the Cunning Vampire Garrison. After breakfast, I essed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ immediately and headed to the Cunning Vampire Garrison because my predator status had disappeared and I still had some time before the 10 am meeting time. Then, I naturally exchanged greetings with the guards of the Myongjin Guild who guarded the entrance and entered the hunting ground. Of course, I did not charge at the vampires right away because I needed to check something first. ¡°Check the title ¡®Lucky Companion¡¯.¡± [Title: Lucky Companion. -It is a title that can only be obtained by the person who has enjoyed such good fortune that anyone can recognize. : All stat points increase by 300. : Grants Good Luck.] ¡°Hmm¡­¡± First of all, there was basically no health and mana that were usually attached to all titles. But it didn¡¯t matter to me because I already had a surplus of health and mana, so a stat points increase was more efficient to me than health or mana. And an increase in all stat points by 300 wasn¡¯t bad at all. However, the problem was the option of granting good luck that followed it. I was not that impressed with it as I have always been proud of my luck. If I had not been lucky, I would not have reached this stage At that moment, I shook my head. ¡°Good. An increase in all stat points by 300 is more than enough. And I¡¯m lucky, too.¡± I didn¡¯t think deeply about it because the more titles, the better. Since I had as many as ten titles, my debuff immunity granted by the Forgotten Hero¡¯s Cloak reached 60%. Of course, it was only a 1% increase from 59%, but since I knew that even 1% could exert tremendous power, I was satisfied with it. ¡°Check status window.¡± Since I couldn¡¯t invest the stat points I got yesterday because of the party, I opened the status window right away. [Name: Lumen, Asirante Level: 1000 Number of kills: 11492, Number of deaths: 0 Title: Only Closed Beta Max Level Achiever and 9 others. Health: 3,974,000 / 3,974,000 Mana: 2,683,000 / 2,683,000 Strength: 6828 Agility: 7025 Health: 27755 Willpower 18265 Intellect: 33897 Remaining Stat Points: 1800 Remaining Skill Points: 0 Characteristics: IceMan, Mutual Growth, God of Enhancement.] ¡°¡­¡± After reaching level 1000, I used up all the remaining stat points and 3 skill points that I umted until then. But even though I had not leveled up since then, there was a huge change in my status window. All stat points increased by 300 thanks to the Lucky Companion title, and there were still 1800 remaining stat points waiting to be invested. It was such arge numberprising of the 300 additional stat point reward to the basic 700 reward granted from the quest, the 300 increase from the Quest Master title, and the 500 granted from reaching 10 titles Moreover, with Mutual Growth, it would effectively be 4500 stat points, not 1800, because of a 2.5-fold increase. ¡°Man, it¡¯s just amazing that I can get all of this with only one quest,¡± I eximed, then proceeded to invest all 1800 stats in Intellect As a result, my stamina also increased by 1800 and my willpower increased by 900. Since there was less than an hour left, I immediately charged at a group of Cunning Vampires, for they were the best target for me to warm up and attack.

 Chapter 256 - New Hunting Ground (1)

    <h4>Chapter 256: New Hunting Ground (1)</h4>

    There is a saying that you can gain weight just by drinking water.

    And there is another saying that you can gain weight just by breathing.

    Of course, they are lies, for if you gain weight by drinking water or breathing, you will gain so quickly that your stomach will soon rupture and die.

    However, I seemed to fit into that expression if I reced the word ¡®weight¡¯ with ¡®strength.¡¯

    I was still level 1000, and even though I had not leveled up, I was much stronger than before, for 1800 Intellect and 1800 Stamina and 900 Willpower were values that nobody could ignore easily.

    In other words, I was now in a situation where I could gain weight by drinking water and breathing.

    Of course, the recently upgraded +6 enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword contributed a lot to my present strength, but I was obviously in a situation like ¡®gaining weight by drinking water¡¯ because I could keep enhancing the sword beyond +7, +8, and +9 enhancement with the help of God of Enhancement, not by luck.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    ¡°Kheeeeeeeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Kekkkk!¡±

    Although I could get rid of the cunning vampires easily before, it was even easier now.

    And the cunning vampires copsed helplessly at my attack like leaves falling in the autumn wind.

    Of course, the vampires used their characteristic vampire attacks more fiercely and desperately than before to try to make up for their declining health. But their attacks didn¡¯t work at all.

    Moreover, my strength wasn¡¯t limited to just powerful offensive abilities. My defensive capabilities were tremendous as well.

    In other words, my ability to endure was also strong.

    I could already y the role of a tank before, but now, as my Intellect increased by 1800 at once, my stamina increased by 1800 and my willpower increased by 900, further increasing my defensive power.

    [Vampire!]

    [Blood Explosion!]

    [Blood Storm!]

    [Blood Suck!]

    ¡°Were they so weak from the beginning?¡±

    Their attack didn¡¯t inflict any damage on me.

    Anyway, I kept hunting until 9:50 am.

    At the Myongjin Guild Headquarters.

    Since I was the main figure of today¡¯s meeting, I arrived ten minutes early as I didn¡¯t want to bete. My mother told me toe early as well, which I didn¡¯t hear from anybody while ying ¡®Revival Legend.¡¯ As a matter of fact, when I got there, everybody, including my father, was already there, waiting for me.

    Obviously, I was notte, but I still felt a bit embarrassed.

    But nobody except for my mother looked at me disapprovingly.

    Since everybody already knew that they should not even pretend to recognize me within ¡®Revival Legend,¡¯ my mother didn¡¯t overreact to myte arrival.

    Anyway, when I was seated, my father opened his mouth as if they had already had some discussion.

    ¡°Then, let¡¯s move now since we¡¯re all gathered together here.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°We are already ready.¡±

    As soon as he spoke, Mirae Guild Chairman Junghwan Yon and Tugal Guild Leader Tamir immediately responded to his suggestion.

    Of course, my father was appointed head of the advance team, and the Mirae Guild and Tugal Guild did not raise any objections since they didn¡¯t perform well enough to have any say in this matter. Myongjin would be no different from them if I was not under their banner, but it was not a big deal anyway.

    Anyway, like everyone else, I took a key out of my inventory and opened my mouth quietly.

    ¡°Use the key to the New Hunting Ground.¡±

    [You used the key to the New Hunting Ground.

    -You are now moving to the New Hunting Ground.]

    As soon as the message rang, I felt as if I was being dragged somewhere, and soon new scenery appeared before my eyes.

    The moment when all 20 yers, including Juyoung Hong, used the key to the New Hunting Ground, a message immediately rang not only in Korea, Japan, and Mongolia, but in all other regions.

    [An excellent expedition has found a New Hunting Ground.

    -30 dayster, a higher level hunting ground will be revealed in all regions.

    -All the monsters in the New Hunting Ground will drop more EXP points and golden rings than before. In addition, monsters also drop new items and manufacturing items, and even coins, but with a low probability. However, if you die in the New Hunting Ground, your death penalty will be different from normal.

    : The cooldown for reconnecting upon death increases from 1 day to 7 days.

    : A slight decrease in EXP upon death is changed to arge decrease in EXP.

    : Every time you die, you will lose between 1-10 stat points at random.

    * Stat points that drop randomly cannot be restored. If your stat points drop to the initial connection status of Strength 10, Stamina 10, Agility 10, Willpower 10, and Intellect 10, you will be permanently unable to ess ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.]

    That was a message that rang all over the world.

    Some cheered upon hearing the message, while others were nervous and worried.

    Obviously, this was a golden opportunity for them to acquire coins that were almost impossible to obtain for billions of dors. But the death penalty, which was rtively minor before, increased trmendously.

    In particr, the permanent decline in stat points greatly fueled their anxiety and worries.

    No matter how colorful and good the new items and skills were, what underpinned their strength were stat points. So they knew clearly that if they had low stats, all the items and skills would just be all shell and no substance.

    Anyway, while everybody involved had mixed feelings of joy and anxiety, they had one question inmon, namely, the identity of the outstanding expedition mentioned in the message.

    Of course, they came to know the answer faster than expected, for there were a lot of people, including Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild, who watched the expedition.

    A mysterious space.

    It was literally a mysterious space.

    In the mysterious space, there was something like fourbelled giant portals that seemed to be connected to other spaces. It was just like what appeared in science fiction movies and numerous other games.

    ¡°It¡¯s simple.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it is.¡±

    Like those around me said, it was not difficult to grasp the situation, because the sign in front of each portal had the following numbers on it.

    [1300]

    [1400]

    [1500]

    [????]

    At first nce, I realized the number referred to level 1300, level 1400, or level 1500 hunting grounds.

    And I could confirm it from the message that rang as soon as I arrived here.

    ¡°Well, I heard the same message rang outside this hunting ground.¡±

    ¡°But the difference is that the message appearing before us now will be revealed to the outside 30 dayster than us because we have the key to the New Hunting Ground.¡±

    ¡°The message below seems to have been revealed only to us.¡±

    Those who were here were the top leaders of their groups, including the top executives of the Myongjin and MIrae Guilds and the Leader of the Tugal Guild.

    As a result, they had ess to a lot of information quickly.

    My father nodded at the information, then turned his gaze at the ce where the message rang only for us 20 yers.

    [Congrattions!

    -You have discovered a New Hunting Ground faster than anyone else.

    As a reward, you have sole ess to the New Hunting Ground for 30 days by using the key to enter.

    In addition, the 20 people with the keys will receive the following buffs for a month.

    : Golden rings acquisition doubles for one month.

    : Item acquisition rate doubles for one month.

    : Coin acquisition rate doubles for one month.]

    The limited buffs were given only to the 20 yers here.

    Others might not have noticed it, but I felt slight regret at the buffs because there were no buffs rting to EXP.

    But unlike me, everyone else here seemed to be more interested in other rewards such as golden rings and coins.

 Chapter 257 - New Hunting Ground (2)

    <h4>Chapter 257: New Hunting Ground (2)</h4>

    ¡°Hmm. It¡¯s definitely good to have sole ess to the New Hunting Ground for 30 days with the buffs, but¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, but the death penalty is pretty high.¡± ¡°You bet. If one yer dies¡­¡± Certainly, the death penalty was very high. As a matter of fact, the penalty had increased tremendously. Perhaps because of that, everyone except me was busy moving. ¡°We have only one healer, but zero enchanters.¡± ¡°Seven people can be ssified as tanks, and the remaining twelve are all dealers.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± Of course, healers and enchanters cannot be said to be the main yers of any team. In particr, healers and enchanters were not something that the immediate family members of the guild leaders chose unless absolutely needed for the simple reason that they could not receive any spotlight. Perhaps that¡¯s why there was only one healer, but no enchanters. On the other hand, there were 7 tanks and 12 dealers. Such aposition was far from ideal. On one hand, if the party dealt with a weak monster, it would be ok to have one healer and no enchanters, but 7 tanks were simply too many in such a situation. On the other hand, if the party encountered a powerful monster, just one healer and zero enchanters would be the worstposition. However, the problem was that the lowest level hunting ground here had level 1300 monsters. At that moment, all the yers turned their eyes to me because I was both the strongest tank and dealer who could beat the monsters easily without the help of healers or enchanters. I didn¡¯t pay any attention to their reactions at first. But then I nodded slightly because this party included my father, brother, sister, Director Sok and my mother. Even though it was inevitable for me to lose some EXP because I needed to share it with the rest of the party, I had no intention of deserting my family members. Besides, the Myongjin yers, including me, numbered 14 members out of this 20 yer party. In the end, if this party performed well, Myongjin would take away the most gains. So I decided that it was better for me to move together with them, given the obvious benefits it would have for my family and Myongjin. And the party¡¯s atmosphere was rejuvenated when I nodded to confirm my participation. It¡¯s rather awkward for me to say it, but it was natural that their morale would go up just because I was with them. ¡°Good. Then, exactly 10 minutester, we¡¯re going to enter the level 1300 hunting ground. And I will be takingmand and giving orders so we have effectivemunication.¡± ¡°Understood¡± ¡°Okay.¡± When my father said that, not only the Myongjin yers but also the Mirae and Tugal guild members responded right away. They talked about various possible situations for another ten minutes after that, for there was a possibility that they would bump into a lot of monsters as soon as they stepped into the hunting ground. In the meantime, I messaged my mother. [Lumen: Be careful, mom. When you are in a troublesome situation, just stand behind me] [Two Sons One Daughter: You will protect me, right, son?] [Lumen: Of course.] I tried to act cool in front of my mom for the second time. I tried to show her how cool I was when I was admitted to Seoul National University as the top, but failed. So, this time I was determined not to fail again. Ten minutester. ¡°Everyone, we¡¯re now entering level 1300 hunting ground!¡± ¡°Understood.¡± First of all, my mother, the only healer, stood at the back of the party, while 11 dealers stood in front of her. There were 7 tanks standing in front of the dealers, and I alone was at the forefront in front of them because I was confident in dealing with any situation without problems. Anyway, I set foot on the level 1300 portal first among the 20 yers. Hwaahahahahah! At that moment, a bright light erupted, blinding me. Since I could not see at all, I just focused my senses to the front because monsters could charge at me at any moment. But that didn¡¯t happen. Instead, a message greeted me, or us. [You are the first ones to enter the level 1300 hunting ground. -As a reward, all stat points increase by 100.] [There is a bonus even as you are the first ones to enter the level 1300 hunting ground -If you can inflict even the slightest damage to the boss monster, you will receive 100 remaining stat points.] ¡°Great!¡± ¡°Wow!¡± ¡°If I add 100 stat points, mine will be 500 in total¡­¡± ¡°Yeah! We get that just by entering the hunting ground!¡± Of course, the stat points each of them wanted were different. For example, melee dealers wanted stat points for strength, ranged dealers wanted them for agility, magic-types wanted them for intellect, tanks wanted them for health, and so on. So, it would have been better if they were given the remaining 500 stat points for them to invest in the stat of their choice, but it was free anyway. So, even if they gained 100 stat points in stats that were not useful for them, they were still not at a loss. Especially increases in stamina and willpower were hugely beneficial to them, given that there were still level 1400 and level 1500 hunting grounds waiting for them. ¡°Everyone, retreat from here!¡± ¡°Understood!¡± ¡°Okay!¡± We didn¡¯t have to hunt here immediately. Besides, if we could get into the higher level hunting grounds, it would help us greatly in the future. So, when my father ordered us to retreat, all the yers responded to him in unison. After that, we entered the level 1400 hunting ground and the level 1500 hunting ground right away, where we heard the same message as the level 1300 hunting ground. In other words, we all received an increase in all stat points by 300. ¡°Hahaha.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything, but I¡¯ve already got 1500! 1500!¡± The morale and atmosphere of the yers were all time high because what they obtained was already more than enough. Then I turned my gaze to the rightmost portal. [????] Obviously, the numbers were written on the precious portals, but this portal only showed a question mark above it. However, since we knew the portal would lead us straight to a safety zone from our experiences with the previous portals, one of the tanks stepped forward without any hesitation. Puck! The tank was bounced away from the portal without even managing to take a step inside. And he was not the only one. Puck! Puck! Puck! Everyone who tried to step inside the portal was thrown out like the first tank. A littleter, the yers began to whisper in confusion. ¡°I didn¡¯t hear any message.¡± ¡°I felt something like a strong repulsive force as if the portal would not allow us in.¡± There seemed to be some ess restrictions because there was nobel on it. Tramp- Tramp- Not caring about their anxious whispers, I began to move toward the portalbeled with question marks. I was confident even when I tried on the Constetion Hunter¡¯s badge, which nobody in the Siddarth Guild could equip, because if that was an item I could not equip, it meant that nobody else could do so. So I was confident of stepping inside the portal this time too. Moreover, I was already a little past level 1000. In other words, my level was far from small. Puck! Thud! As soon as I confidently stepped into the portal area, I was thrown out helplessly like other yers. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± Silence fell among the yers.

 Chapter 258 - New Hunting Ground (3)

    <h4>Chapter 258: New Hunting Ground (3)</h4>

    Honestly, I felt ashamed because everyone here had their gazes drawn to me the moment I stepped forward proudly and naturally, only for me to be bounced off the portal like this. But, pretending it was not a big deal, I stood up casually and dusted myself off. As a matter of fact, it really wasn¡¯t a big deal. Before, everyone who was bounced off said that no message arang. They said as soon as they stepped in the portal, they were thrown out with a strong repulsive force. But a message rang while I was sent crashing on the floor. [You are partying with those who are not qualified to step into the portal. -You must first stop partying with them to be able to enter.] The message announced that I was currently partying with those not qualified. In other words, it meant I was qualified. So I told my father, the current leader of this party, that I could no longer act as Juyoung Hong, and needed to act as the solo yer Asirante. ¡°I think I have to leave the party for a while. ording to the message I received, I can¡¯t enter because I¡¯m in a party with everyone and not acting alone.¡± There were whispers here and there. ¡°?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t see such a message at all.¡± ¡°So, we can¡¯t move inside because we¡¯re in a party?¡± Those who already experienced being thrown out like me responded one by one. So, some of them exited the party and stepped forward to the portal full of question marks. But they experienced the same thing. Thud! Thud! Thud! ¡°I didn¡¯t hear the message ringing this time¡­¡± ¡°Me, neither.¡± Their eyes turned to me again, but I ignored their gaze, and instead moved to the portal and stepped inside it like before. Then I felt like my body was being dragged somewhere just like when I used the portals to the level 1300, level 1400, and level 1500 hunting grounds. At the same time, a bright light greeted me along with a message. [You are the first one to enter the level ???? hunting ground. -As a reward, all stat points increase by 300.] [There is a bonus event as you are the first one to enter this level ???? hunting ground. -If you can inflict even the slightest damage to the boss monster, you will receive 300 remaining stat points.] ¡°Hahaha¡± When I entered the level 1300, level 1400, level 1500 hunting grounds, all stat points increased by 100, and that was enough for me because all stats increased by 300, given that there were three hunting grounds. It was almost the same as obtaining a high-level title for free. But this time, all stat points increased by 300 at once. In other words, it meant that all my stat points had increased by 600 in total, so I had no choice but to smile in satisfaction. While Asirante sessfully entered the portal full of question marks, all the other 19 yers disbanded the party and stepped inside the portal one by one. Obviously, they were almost 100% likely to fail, but the rewards they got from the level 1300, level 1400, and level 1500 hunting grounds were so huge that they could not give up here. As expected, there were whispers again here and there. ¡°Well, I failed again.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± ¡°Man, Asirante is already too strong. He made it this time as well! He¡¯s going to be even stronger!¡± After all, the fact that Asirante alone seeded in entering the portal meant that he alone would im all the rewards, so the other yers had no choice but to feel envious of him. Moreover, they had the hunch that the hunting ground full of question marks would most likely give better rewards than the level 1300, level 1400, and level 1500 hunting grounds, so they felt even more jealous. Of course, some of them felt really proud of his sessful entrance as if they were the ones to do so. They were some of the users belonging to the Myongjin Guild, or more precisely, the family members of Asirante, or Juyoung Hong. Inside the portal marked with question marks. ¡°Hmm.¡± Frankly speaking, I wanted to look around this hunting ground from the beginning. I wondered what monsters would be waiting for me when I left this safety zone and how they would fight against me. And at that moment, I was a little thrilled because I strongly felt the urge to defeat them. ¡°Yeah, I can¡­¡± Of course, it may not be a big deal because someone else might be able to defeat the monsters easily. However, it was quite special to me that I felt such a strong urge to defeat them even before I knew it. Moreover, I had never experienced hunting in a special ce like this. So, I felt a strong desire to defeat them and emerge victorious, but in the end, I retreated form the portal because although I valued my desire to win, there were 19 yers who I had already promised to move with, and I was not stupid enough to lose my self-control in this situation. Moreover, my family members were among the 19 yers. After a while, my father dered, ¡°Everyone, get inside the level 1300 portal again!¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± As if my father had already taken some measures, nobody asked me what happened to me inside the portal marked with question marks when I exited it. Instead, they greeted me as if nothing happened. So, we reorganized the party, then went straight to the level 1300 portal because there was still a lot more we had to gain despite the fact that we had already gained a lot. For example, coins were crucial, along with golden rings, items, and EXP. And the message clearly said that inflicting damage to the boss monster would grant us an additional100 remaining stat points. Of course, 100 remaining stat points were smallpared to all the stat points we already obtained, but we could not give them up, so we moved into the level 1300 hunting ground with the aim of damaging the boss monster. Inside the level 1300 hunting ground. Just like any other hunting ground, we could confirm what kind of monsters inhabited it not long after we left the safety zone at the starting point. They were some sort of crocodile monsters. ¡°Man, they are huge! They are even bigger than the crocodiles appearing in the level 700 Alligator Swamp hunting ground.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Like they said, the crocodiles that appeared before my eyes were really big. So much so that they could be mistaken as dinosaurs at first nce. Of course, they were not dinosaurs. Moreover, their elongated snouts and pointed teeth really overwhelmed us. However, their appearance stimted my strong urge to defeat them all the more. Besides, I was still experiencing the strong desire to hunt, which I felt a little while ago. ¡°Let me deal with them first,¡± I said. As a matter of fact, we already made an agreement in advance that I would first deal with the monsters. Although they were not the boss monster and just general monsters, they were level 1300. They were definitely strong enough not to die at my first attack. With the huge penalty increase, it was natural that I tested the waters first to make sure it was safe for the rest of the members. ¡°Kheeeeeeeeeng!¡± ¡°Kahhhhhhhhhng!¡±

 Chapter 259 - New Hunting Ground (4)

    <h4>Chapter 259: New Hunting Ground (4)</h4>

    Watching me charge at them, the crocodiles weed me violently by showing their teeth and pping their huge tails. So, at that moment, I thought of returning their violent gestures by attacking them physically, but I avoided their attack using Blink and prated into their midst because I first needed to check how powerful my attack would be. ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡± Pasasasak! After I prated into their midst, I turned my surroundings into ice terrain, as usual. And as soon as that was done, I used one skill, namely, level 9 Blizzard, my most powerful skill, to express my joy of fighting them first. Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck! An enormous snowstorm was instantly generated which literally swallowed up the crocodiles. The crocodiles were massive, but the snowstorm was even bigger than them. The snowstorm swept the crocodiles back and forth, and made them unable to control themselves. Of course, they tried to attack me as if to show they were level 1300 monsters. So I opened my mouth quietly and used a new skill that I had already tested multiple times against the cunning vampires. ¡°Ice Tornado!¡± It was a level 8 AOE skill that generated an ice tornado in a certain area. In fact, I agonized a lot over whether to use the single target skill, ¡®Ice Punishment¡¯ Since I didn¡¯t have as many single-target skills as AOE skills, I was all the more concerned. But in the end, I chose an AOE skill. Why? Because I liked it better. Moreover, Ice Tornado was apanied by a gust of wind that buffeted everything in the surrounding when its user¡¯s Intellect exceeded a certain level. The higher one¡¯s intellect, the more powerful the gust was. In other words, this was a skill that was too precious for me to give up, no matter how much I thought about it. As if to confirm my choice was correct, Ice Tornado paid off nicely. ¡°Kheeeeeeeeeeng!¡± ¡°Khaaaaaaaaang!¡± Certainly, the bodies of the crocodiles, who looked very heavy at first nce, did not fly into the air, but they floated a little bit. Then they gradually moved into the center of the ice tornado. At the same time, fragments of ice from the ice tornado prated the crocodiles¡¯ armor-like skin, which made them groan painfully. Of course, Ice Tornado was not the only skill I possessed. I had the terrific skill, namely, the whopping level 9 Blizzard. It ovepped with Ice Tornado, making the snowstorm evenrger. Moreover, level 9 Blizzard was even more threatening in terms of damage alone. [¡­] There were more than ten crocodiles, but they disappeared in an instant. ¡°Well, that was easy¡­¡± They were level 1300 monsters, so they were a little more powerful than level 1200 monsters. Obviously, a 100 level gap could not be said to be small, but it was not toorge either. In other words, there was no chance that tremendously high-level monsters far outstripping those which appeared in the level 1200 hunting ground could appear suddenly in this hunting ground. To be honest, I thought it didn¡¯t matter even if more powerful monsters appeared because I would still be more powerful than them Anyway, I did a few more tests by deliberately allowing some of the crocodiles to attack me. And I came to the conclusion that they were not as threatening as they looked. At that moment, a message rang suddenly. [You have leveled up.] Of course, I did warm up in the Cunning Vampire Garrison right before I came here. Despite that, it was not time for a message to ring yet. Anyway, the fact that such a message rang meant that the EXP gains were rather good. I had no choice but to smile in satisfaction at the message. The 19 yers watching Asirante fighting the monsters brilliantly were a mix of the guild leaders, their immediate family members as well as the elite yers of each guild, so most of them were veterans with vast experience and remarkable discernment. Therefore, their jaws dropped when they watched Asirante¡¯s brilliant performance, for he hunted level 1300 monsters with only three skills. Moreover, he was an ice-type wizard, one of thosemon sses that one could meet just about everywhere. However, there was no ice-type wizard who had shown such tremendous power before. ¡°I know Ice Tornado causes a gust of wind, but I¡¯ve never seen such a powerful gust, but I¡¯ve never seen somebody actually causing such a gust.¡± ¡°You bet. I haven¡¯t either.¡± ¡°Ice Tornado is not his only skill! Honestly, in my opinion, he could have hunted them using Blizzard alone, but he used Ice Tornado to kill them faster.¡± As if they were deeply impressed, theymented about Asirante¡¯s unbelievable performance. Among them was my mother, the only healer, who looked at me with a proud expression. ¡°I think we can keep hunting the monsters like we used to,¡± Imented after finishing the tests. But things didn¡¯t unfold as I expected. ¡°Ugh! My health¡­¡± ¡°Ooops! Hold me!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t ever let the monsters bite you! Aside from the damage, the monsters will pull you in once they bite you!¡± ¡°Keep the formation! Kill them one by one!¡± With seven tanks defending the surroundings, 11 dealers, except for my mother, the only healer, and me, kept attacking the monsters. It was the standard way of attacking, but it was also the safest one. Obviously, the tanks withstood the monsters¡¯ attacks, while the dealers inflicted big damage on them. However, the party was always dealing with five or more crocodiles at once, and they exhibited cognition befitting that of level 1300 monsters. The seven tanks seemed to find it rather hard to block more than five crocodiles without the help of enchanters, and the crocodiles, who were pretty swift despite their huge build, tried to attack the dealers after noticing the tanks¡¯ weakness. Of course, most of the crocodile¡¯s attacks failed, but they asionally seeded, which made the dealers shout, startled. Obviously, those watching the fight could not help but feel unease. They would not have felt so anxious if the monsters numbered only three or four. However, when they killed one, another charged at them immediately, and sometimes even seven or more crocodiles charged at them. ¡°Um¡­¡± Watching them struggle, I let out a sigh because that was not what I expected. The yers here were not typical users. In other words, they were guild leaders, their immediate family members and elite yers of each guild. Because of that, the items they had were different from what the typical users had. No matter what, the guild leaders, in particr, must have given the best items to their immediate family members for this quest. So, I had no choice but to wonder why they were struggling so much to hunt the monsters, no matter how many monsters they had to deal with. So, I jumped right into the battlefield and got rid of the seven crocodiles at once, then opened my mouth quietly. ¡°Can¡¯t you easily hunt the monsters at this level by yourselves?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± I was serious, but nobody there responded to my question. Of course, someone replied in a different way. My sister messaged me. [Super Beauty: Hey, Juyoung, how annoying!]

 Chapter 260 - Excellent Bus Driver (1)

    <h4>Chapter 260: Excellent Bus Driver (1)</h4>

    [Super Beauty: You have never hunted with someone else, right?] [Lumen: ¡­] What my sister said was true. I have never hunted with other people until now. Looking back, it was natural that I hunted alone because I wascking in EXP, and I could not afford to party and share EXP with the party members. Besides, there was no hunting ground whose level was so high that I had to form a party to hunt. ¡®Check status window.¡¯ Anyway, I opened my status window first without responding to my sister. Then, the status window that showed my investment of 1800 remaining stat points yesterday appeared. More precisely, it was a status window that showed an increase in Intellect by 1800, Stamina by 1800, and Willpower by 900. However, since I entered the level 1300, level 1400, level 1500, and level ???? hunting grounds in one day, all my stats went up by a further 600. Of course, Mutual Growth did not apply to these stat points just like the all stat point increase that titles usually granted because they were not increased due to items or skills. In other words, in just one day, my Strength, Agility, Stamina, Willpower, and Intellect increased by 600. Of course, the other yers also received an increase in all stat points, even though it was not as big as mine. They all received an increase of 300 stat points in all their stats. It was natural that there was a huge gap between the other yers and me because I obtained this kind of remaining stat points very often ever since I obtained the Mutual Growth trait. ¡®Man, I¡¯m really strong.¡¯ I felt like I got used to it because I always moved alone and looked at this kind of status window. Moreover, just before this quest, I moved as the Constetion Hunter who was more powerful than I was now. So, I thought other yers could easily hunt the monsters here. Besides, the yers here were not ordinary users, but the elite yers of each guild. ¡°Hmm. Hmm.¡± First of all, I cleared my throat a couple of times. Obviously, it wasn¡¯t my intention, but I looked arrogant to them. Even if it was not to the point of arrogance, they might have gotten the impression that I looked down on them by saying, ¡®Howe you can¡¯t hunt these monsters?¡¯ But I didn¡¯t apologize. Rather, I opened my mouth in a strong voice. ¡°The time given to us is exactly one month. After this one month, our monopoly on the hunting grounds of level 1300 or higher will also be broken, and the double buffs for golden rings, items, and coins that we currently receive will disappear. So, I¡¯ll lead you because I want to make the most of this opportunity.¡± This ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ is not simply a game for us to enjoy or blow off steam like any other game. Obviously, it was a game where our survival was at stake. So, I had no intention of enjoying the party hunting in a carefree mood from the beginning. Nor did I have the intention of keeping in pace with other yers in a rxed manner. Of course, I could have hunted alone in a situation like this, but the current party included my family members including my father and mother. Besides, there were elite yers of the Myongin Guild full of loyalty to thepany. So, even if it hampered my progress, I had no intention of abandoning them. Rather, I was thinking of moving with them as much as possible. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± First of all, everybody remained silent when I dered that I would take the initiative to lead them. In no time, my father, the current leader of the party, opened his mouth. He referred to me as Asirante, not Lumen or Juyoung. ¡°Good. For one month, I¡¯m going to entrust my position as leader to you, Asirante. Please take care of us.¡± Since I never thought the 19 yers would have difficulties hunting the monsters in this level 1300 hunting round, I didn¡¯t consult with my father beforehand about taking over his position as leader. However, my dad handed over the leadership position to me without any objection. Of course, I could fully understand my father¡¯s action because he also knew that it was more beneficial to the party as a whole if I took over. In other words, there were a total of 14 yers including myself from Myongjin among the 20 yers here. So in the end, most of the remaining stat points, EXP, items or coins they would obtain by hunting the boss monster under mymand would belong to Myongjin. That¡¯s why this was an opportunity that my father, the head of the Myongjin Guild, could never give up. Anyway, no one was against my father¡¯s decision, so I took overmand. After that, I said, ¡°Please follow me by all means. I have no intention of helping you or caring about you. Our target is the boss monster here. However, as for the single healer, please take care of her!¡± I was sure that my dad, brother, and sister would follow me well. And the other yers would have no difficulty following me. But I had no choice but to take care of my mother, the only healer. So, I asked them to take care of the healer, making a nonchnt expression to not give anything away. After that, I turned around and prated into the group of crocodiles. ¡°Kheeeeeeeeeng!¡± ¡°Kahhhhhhhhhng!¡± These crocodile monsters looked like normal crocodiles with short stubby legs supporting arge body. But, unlike what their appearance indicated, they were actually very fast. They moved very quickly, snapping their jaws to attack me. But I liked their swift movements because it made it easy to herd them with minimal effort. Of course, they didn¡¯t know they would be killed by me. When they gathered to attack me, I made an ice terrain using Ice Field and Thin Ice. After that, I used level 9 Blizzard and Ice Rain. I didn¡¯t use Ice Tornado on purpose, because just like Blizzard, it was a heavy-hitter, and so it was much more efficient to use both skills separately rather than together given their long cooldowns Of course, I didn¡¯t stay idle while using Blizzard and Ice Rain. ¡°Ice Weapon.¡± [You have used level 3 Ice Weapon. : Cold ice energy is embedded in the +6 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.] Puck! Puck! ¡°Kheeeeeeeeen!¡± ¡°Khaaaaaaaang!¡± The Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword showed tremendous power when it was +5 Enhancement, but it was now +6 Enhancement. Moreover, the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword was equipped with level 3 Ice Weapon by default. And it could also be reinforced by its user¡¯s Ice Weapon skill. In other words, the Ice Weapon skill, which originally could not pass level 3, was now applied to level 6 on the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword. Perhaps that¡¯s why the crocodiles hit by my +6 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword screamed in pain. And the various chunks of ice that appeared on their bodies where they were struck was just a bonus. Anyway, I easily killed more than 15 crocodiles and moved straight to the front. And this time, I herded together over 20 crocodiles. Of course, the cooldown for Ice Field, which was upgraded to level 7, was not back yet, let alone level 9 Blizzard. But it didn¡¯t matter because level 3 Thin Ice¡¯s cooldown was back already, which alone was enough for me to generate an ice terrain, albeit a weaker one. After that, I used my hidden skill right away, which I had saved until now. ¡°Ice Tornado!¡±

 Chapter 261 - Excellent Bus Driver (2)

    <h4>Chapter 261: Excellent Bus Driver (2)</h4>

    Wheeeeeeeeeeeng-

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    An ice tornado whirled to the center of the monsters at the moment.

    And the ensuing gust of wind gathered them in the center of the tornado.

    So, I used a skill I didn¡¯t use very much these days, though I used it a lot in the past.

    ¡°Ice Wave!¡±

    It was definitely an AOE skill, but its striking range was not that wide.

    But its damage was certainly great.

    That¡¯s why it yed a very important role in me killing the Japanese users after going to Japan with the Mirae Guild. Moreover, this time, the crocodiles were gathered together because of the gust. It was the perfect scenario to use Ice Wave.

    After that, I didn¡¯t bother to use any other skills, and instead approached the monsters and wielded the +6 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword, for it was essential for me to use skills properly and manage their cooldowns when hunting continuously.

    Puck! Puck!

    The crocodiles tried to attack me tenaciously when I got close to them to attack with the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword. Some of their attacks were sessful, but didn¡¯t inflict any damage.

    ¡°Uh? Do they have rubber teeth?¡±

    The monsters¡¯ teeth were big and pointy, but my health and stamina were too high for me to avoid their attack for fear of damage.

    Anyway, this was a hunting ground where I didn¡¯t have to use any special skills.

    So, I hunted as usual.

    Behind Asirante.

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    Asirante told the yers to just trust him and follow him.

    Some thought he just paid lip service to boost their morale.

    However, it didn¡¯t take much time for them to realize that he was serious.

    Furthermore, some dealers moved to help Asirante, but they were forced to return to their original positions because they realized quickly that just staying put in their positions and not getting in his way helped Asirante, just like they quickly realized Asirante was serious when he asked them to follow him arduously.

    Of course, they also had some work to do in the hunting ground.

    They were supposed to collect the golden rings and several misceneous items dropped by the monsters that Asirante killed.

    In particr, picking up coins was very important because it was now impossible to trade them, or more precisely, it required one million golden rings to trade for only one coin. As a result, the ownership of the coins depended on who picked up the coins.

    However, there was no trouble among the yers because it was the Myongjin Guild that included Asirante, and the Mirae and Tugal guilds were not greedy about the coins, saying they contributed little in the fight.

    Nheless, Chairman Hong maintained an amicable atmosphere between the team by distributing the coins to Mirae and Tugal guilds appropriately instead of taking them all.

    Anyway, the 19 yers eagerly followed Asirante.

    That night. Obviously, our target was the boss monster.

    However, we failed to find the boss monster even after searching for it extensively.

    However, we could not have all 19 yers spread out in all directions because of the tremendous death penalty, so we had no choice but to log out that day after agreeing on a time to log in the next day.

    After that, I had ate dinner with my family.

    ¡°Mom, why do you put meat on Juyoung¡¯s te only?¡±

    Just like my sister protested, my mother stacked meat on my te alone.

    When my sister asked angrily, my mother answered as if it was obvious.

    ¡°Hey, you know Juyoung did most of the hunting today. So, he has to eat more meat than anybody else here.¡±

    ¡°Mom? What are you talking about? It¡¯s only natural. If I had the same power as Juyoung, I would do the same!¡±

    ¡°Well, don¡¯t talk about it now. When you have the same abilities as Juyoung, tell me then. So, Juyoung, enjoy the meal with meat. Chew it well.¡±

    ¡°Gosh!¡±

    Anyway, I had a happy dinner with mom and sister talking about my performance.

    After that, I reconnected to ¡®Revival Legend,¡¯ for I didn¡¯t feel tired because the hunting ground was only level 1300 and not too difficult for me.

    So, I was thinking of hunting for at least 1-2 hours more before sleeping.

    Five days passed.

    The level 1300 hunting ground was very vast. However, 5 days was obviously a long time, during which I searched every nook and cranny of the hunting ground for the boss monster. But I could not find it.

    So, I realized something.

    ¡°It looks like the boss monster doesn¡¯t always reside here like other hunting grounds, but it seems to appear at a fixed time.¡±

    In general, this was the case in most hunting grounds where boss monsters appeared.

    When I first essed ¡°Revival Legend¡± and encountered a boss monster, a team dedicated to hunting the boss monster appeared immediately, saying I should not be greedy because they would take care of the boss monster.

    ¡°Then what should we do? Shall we move to another hunting ground?¡±

    One of the yers asked me because my father handed over the team¡¯s leadership to me.

    But I didn¡¯t answer right away, for I steadily went in and out of this ce that was no threat to me even after the fixed hunting time agreed on by the party. And I was not foolish enough to use this level 1300 hunting ground alone.

    I entered the level 1400 hunting ground and tried to hunt alone there as well.

    After that, I concluded that even the level 1400 hunting ground was not a problem for me at all. Of course, it was based on my own judgment.

    ¡°Alright. For the time being, we¡¯re going to hunt here. However, we will be going to the level 1400 hunting ground for 1-2 hours a day to get used to it.¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    After that, we moved again quickly, killing the crocodiles.

    This one month period for which we had exclusive ess to the hunting ground along with buffs was such a precious time during which we could widen the gap with others.

    And after hunting arduously for a while, I soon came across the boss monster, which I could identify immediately because it was twice asrge as the normal crocodile monsters and had the epithet, fierce crocodile boss.

    ¡°Everyone, step back!¡±

    I ordered them to step back, for there was a reason that boss monsters were called boss monsters.

    In fact, I previously had a one-on-one battle against the boss monster called ¡®Long-Rooted Ancient Tree¡¯, and in the end, I could get rid of the monster only with the help of the Sungchang Guild which was famous at that time.

    Of course, I wasn¡¯t even at level 300 at that time, and I have grown tremendously since then.

    However, the hunting ground at that time was only level 400, but right now it¡¯s level 1300.

    So, the boss monsters that appeared then and now were very different.

    At that moment, somebody messaged me.

    [One Son Two Daughters: Son, don¡¯t worry because mom is behind you. If your health drops, I will heal you right away.]

    [Lumen: Okay.]

    After answering my mother¡¯s message briefly, I charged at the boss monster first because I was so curious about whether the level 1300 boss monster could withstand my attack.

    I even wished the boss monster could counterattack me, so we could engage in a fierce battle.

    Of course, I was convinced I would win at the end of the day.

 Chapter 262 - Boss Monster Raid (1)

    <h4>Chapter 262: Boss Monster Raid (1)</h4>

    Inside the level 1300 crocodile hunting ground.

    Sheeeeeeeeeeeek! Puck!

    Thud!

    ¡°Argh!¡±

    In general, therger a monster, the slower it was.

    However, the boss monster¡¯s thick and hard tail moved so quickly it was beyondmon sense.

    Of course, I could destroy the monster¡¯s mighty tail using Blink with zero cooldown.

    Blink with cooldown zero was not just beyondmon sense; it nullifiedmon sense itself.

    But behind me were the Mirae and Tugal guild yers. It would be nothing but wishful thinking to expect them to keep my use of Blink with zero cooldown secret. It was the same even if only the Myongjin yers were together with me here. As long as they were not my family members, it would be hard for me to expect them to keep it secret even if they were part of the Myongjin Guild. Besides, the one who gives opportunities for a person to leak out information is more foolish than the one who actually leaks it out.

    Anyway, I stopped thinking there, then raised my body after I was humiliatingly thrown back by the boss monster¡¯s tail attack.

    ¡°Pouring Hail! Multiple Ice Arrow!¡±

    Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Obviously, I was an ice-type wizard which was famous for its ranged attacks. But contrary to the typical attacking method of a ranged attacker, I tended to prate into the monsters while hunting.

    That was the case when I attacked not only the crocodiles but also the cunning vampires previously.

    And the reason was that I could hunt monsters faster. More crucially, I could endure their counterattack without suffering much damage.

    So, despite the fact that I could attack from a distance using my specialty as a ranged attacker instead of charging in, I attacked the boss monster as I normally did. Because of that, I was hit by the boss monster unnecessarily.

    Of course, the boss monster charged at me right away as if he belittled my attacks from a long distance. but I wasn¡¯t startled by such a situation because I didn¡¯t intend to bring about any tangible fruits when I just began to attack the boss monster in the level 1300 hunting ground.

    And although it was unintentional, I found my agility improved a lot recently.

    When the retention time of the Constetion Hunter¡¯s badge expired, all stats including Agility increased by 600 only five days after I reached level 1000.

    Moreover, as the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword increased from +5 Enhancement to +6, the Agility bonus it provided also increased.

    Of course,pared with my Intellect, Stamina and Willpower, such an increase was not worth mentioning, but it was still far from low.

    So, I could still attack the boss monster regrly, albeit not for a very long time.

    ¡°Ice Storm! Ice Spear!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    ng! ng! ng!

    The reason why I was an ice-type wizard was clear. It was because of the additional frostbite debuff which immediately decreased the opponent¡¯s movement speed.

    And I have had a lot of sess with the frostbite debuff until now.

    And that¡¯s why I still kept maintaining the passive skill of minor frostbite urrence.

    So, because of the various ice-type attacks I used, the boss monster suffered frostbite all over its body, though they were less severe than when I directly hit it with the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword. Whenever the boss monster moved, the ice generated by the frostbite cracked and fell to the ground. Of course, it didn¡¯t decrease the boss monster¡¯s movement speed at all.

    But that didn¡¯t mean that my frostbite attack had no effect since the boss monster clearly suffered damage from it. But the damage was minimal because the boss monster¡¯s health was too high.

    Anyway, it was regrettable that my frostbite attack didn¡¯t inflict any tangible damage on the boss monster, but I pulled back as much as possible and kept attacking without caring about the damage. However, the boss monster soon closed in on me by moving much faster than I thought. As soon as it got close, it extended its jaws at me. So, I stopped attacking and focused on avoiding its counterattack even though my health was high because this was likely to be a protracted battle.

    However, unlike the normal crocodiles, this boss monster attacked very quickly. So I stopped attacking and focused on dodging, but in the end, my right leg was bitten. And the boss monster did more than simply bite my leg.

    Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeng!

    Thud! Thud! Thud!

    In animal documentaries, I¡¯ve seen crocodiles perform a certain twisting movement, namely, a death rotation or a death roll. In other words, as soon as the boss monster bit my right leg, it quickly rotated his huge body. Then my body was tossed around violently, and my health decreased rapidly.

    I tried to twist myself out of the boss monster¡¯s grip, kicking its snout hard with my other leg, and striking it with the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword in my right hand. I also used skills at the same time.

    ¡°Ice Wave! Ice Spear!¡±

    Bang! Bang!

    But it didn¡¯t let go. Instead, it counterattacked me more violently.

    Before, I could have avoided the boss monster¡¯s initial jaw attack with Blink, but since I used it not long back, the other yers might suspect that its cooldown was too short, so I didn¡¯t use it, which I now slightly regretted.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t regret that long because I was not finished here yet like other yers.

    So, I kept swinging the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword at the boss monster while it was using its death roll to try to tear off my leg and m me down.

    Puck! Puck!

    And after waiting for my skill cooldowns to return and confirming that they had indeed returned, I opened my mouth.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasak!

    Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

    ¡°Blizzard! Ice Tornado!¡±

    These were my most powerful skills.

    I aimed at the boss monster¡¯s jaw with the skills.

    At that moment, I could see that the boss monster¡¯s jaw opened slightly.

    I opened my mouth right after that.

    ¡°Blink.¡±

    Shunnnnnnnng!

    Until now, I could not use Blink because this fierce crocodile boss was biting my legs tightly, for I could not use Blink while in contact with others.

    ¡°Ice Rain! Ice Ball! Ice Bolt!¡±

    I made the boss monster release its vice-like grip on my leg with its jaws, and managed to pull some distance. So I resumed attacking it without even checking the wounds on my legs.

    But then I witnessed something that I liked quite a bit.

    It was none other than the gust of wind embedded in Ice Tornado that pulled everything around it.

    Since the boss monster was so big and heavy, it wasn¡¯t swept away by the gust as visibly as the normal crocodiles, but I could easily confirm that it was slower than normal because of the powerful gusts. Moreover, he was on the Ice Field that Iid in advance.

    [Khaaaaaaaaaang!]

    For the first time, the boss monster screamed loudly.

    By hearing its painful scream, I could see that the boss monster didn¡¯t like the current situation very much. However, I could not afford to be happy right now, so this time I mounted a ranged attack against it without caring about its screams.

    I used all of my skills on cooldown, including Ice Ball and Ice Bolt that I hardly used these days.

    ¡°Man, what the hell is it doing?¡±

    At that moment, the boss monster charged at me again desperately despite Ice Field and Ice Tornado as if to showcase its mighty power as a boss monster.

    So, I used another skill right away.

    ¡°Ice Prison!¡±

 Chapter 263 - Boss Monster Raid (2)

    <h4>Chapter 263: Boss Monster Raid (2)</h4>

    Ice Prison was a skill that trapped one¡¯s opponents.

    However, since I rarely used this skill just like Ice Ball and Ice Bolt, I thought of it after I had my leg bitten by the boss monster.

    Honestly, I underestimated the power of this boss monster a bit.

    Anyway, the Ice Prison was quickly generated to trap the boss monster.

    And it was natural that the boss monster trapped in Ice Prison could not move properly.

    Bang! Bang!

    Since the boss monster was so strong, cracks began to form all over Ice Prison every time it thudded against it desperately.

    But I wasn¡¯t worried at all because it remained only level 5, and hence its cooldown was not long. I didn¡¯t upgrade it to level 7 because of insufficient skill points.

    So, Iunched all kinds of attacks again against the monster trapped in the Ice Prison.

    And I used one more skill as the Ice Prison was likely to break down soon as it was already cracked in various ces.

    ¡°Ice st!¡±

    Bang!

    The Ice Prison was destined to copse anyway.

    It was too wasteful for me to just watch it crumble, so I destroyed it myself to inflict damage to the boss monster at the same time.

    [Khaaaaaaaaang!]

    The boss monster roared in pain.

    But its expression also became more fierce.

    Obviously, my attack was paying off well.

    Of course, I could hunt the boss monster more easily if I used my limited skill ¡®Savant.¡¯

    But its cooldown was ten days, and I should have used it early on if I had wanted to.

    Considering that the remaining hunting period here was less than 25 days, I could use it only twice. But I had to use it in the level 1400 and level 1500 hunting grounds, not here.

    Anyway, I retreated and avoided the boss monster rushing towards me, but when it closed the distance, I immediately moved to the other side using Blink.

    Then I continued to use the same skills to attack it.

    ¡°Ice Rain! Multiple Ice Arrow!¡±

    [Khaaaaaaaaaang!]

    ¡°Just me your slow movement, not my attack!¡±

    Of course, I was confident of repelling the boss monster even if he attacked me at close range.

    I was a bit surprised at the start because the way the boss monster attacked me was pretty unfamiliar, and drained my health too much, but I still had lots of health, let alone stamina.

    However, I didn¡¯t have to attack the monster at close range when I could at a distance.

    And I was not interested in fighting inefficiently from the beginning.

    Anyway, the boss monster turned around and charged at me again with an angry roar

    However, I could keep up the fight thanks to Blink. And I even had the advantage because I could alsounch counterattacks.

    Moreover, the boss monster was now in the striking range of Ice Tornado and Ice Field.

    When it closed in on me again, I used Ice Prison whose cooldown had returned.

    ¡°Ice Prison!¡±

    Bang!

    [Koohahang!]

    ¡°Hey, I told you clearly you can not touch me again!¡±

    I didn¡¯t move out of the Ice Tornado and Ice Field area on purpose.

    While staying inside the area I used Ice Prison and Blink as if it had cooldown.

    I also moved around as much as possible.

    The battlested almost 30 minutes, but I could finally hunt the boss monster without taking any attacks aside from the first one.

    [You have defeated the boss monster in the level 1300 hunting ground.

    -You receive 100 remaining stat points for clearing the event.]

    As soon as the boss monster copsed, a message rang.

    I was very relieved to see the message.

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    Everyone here did not even have any doubt about Asirante¡¯s power because they saw it with their own eyes, so they were not stupid enough to deny it.

    Nheless, it was impossible to exin the strength disyed before their eyes rationally. It wasmon thought that a user could not beat the boss monster in a one-on-one match, no matter how weak the boss monster was.

    However, Asirante fought off and killed the powerful boss monster in the level 1300 hunting ground in a one-on-one match, which waspletely baffling, even though they saw him fighting brilliantly many times before.

    Of course, Asirante suffered a setback in the beginning when the boss monster attacked him sessfully, but after that, he freely attacked the boss monster, which overwhelmed thempletely.

    Thud!

    The boss monster fell to the ground, and at the same time, a message rang.

    [One of your party members killed the level 1300 hunting ground boss monster.

    -You receive 100 remaining stat points for clearing the event.]

    Some people cheered at the message, but most couldn¡¯t open their mouths for a while as if they were stunned by my performance.

    The next day, I was inside the safety zone at the entrance to the 1400 level hunting ground.

    ¡°Please stay here. It won¡¯t take much time.¡±

    ¡°....¡±

    ¡°....¡±

    ¡°....¡±

    They were a little embarrassed at my words, but I left them behind and moved out of the safety zone.

    Did I go to hunt again? No, I didn¡¯t.

    Instead, I moved normally some distance, then used Blink with zero cooldown to find the boss monster of this level 1400 hunting ground. Of course, normal monsters who discovered me charged at me, but none of them could attack me.

    And after an hour of searching all over, I finally found the boss monster.

    ¡°Use Savant!¡±

    [The most extraordinary stat among Strength, Agility, Stamina, Willpower and Intellect that Asirante currently possesses is Intellect.

    -Current intellect: 36297.

    -The Intellect value will be changed to 72594 for 30 minutes.

    -10 days cooldown urs when the retention time of Savant expires.]

    Anyway, I used Savant straight away.

    Then, I spread Ice Field and Thin Ice before using Ice Tornado in the center.

    After that, I used my powerful skill.

    ¡°Blink. Blink. Blink.¡±

    I continued to use Blink to avoid the boss monster¡¯s constant attacks.

    Of course, I used Blink primarily to avoid the boss monster, but at the same time I used it to make sure it could not escape the Ice Field area.

    As a result, I could hunt the boss monster in less than 20 minutes although it was much higher than the boss monster in the level 1300 hunting ground that took me 30 minutes to hunt yesterday.

    A message rang right away.

    [You have killed the level 1400 hunting ground boss monster.

    -You receive 100 remaining stat points for clearing this event.]

    So, I posted a new message on the party window.

    [Asirante: Did everyone hear the message as well?]

    [Tamir: Yes...]

    [Kali: It rang.]

    [Super Beauty: Yes.]

    I hunted the boss monster by myself, but since I was in a party with them, I thought of posting such a message because they should have acquired 100 remaining stat points as well.

    Since I was alone, I could use Blink with zero cooldown freely, which made me veryfortable about hunting the boss monster.

    Anyway, I also hunted the level 1500 hunting ground boss monster by myself.

    When I scouted the ???? hunting ground, however, I could confirm that there was no boss monster, not to mention ordinary monsters.

    So, during the remaining time after killing the boss monster, I led the 19-member party to continue to huntfortably until a message rang on thest day.

    [The key to the New Hunting Ground has been deleted.

    -You are being moved back to your original location.]

 Chapter 264 - 200% (1)

    <h4>Chapter 264: 200% (1)</h4>

    The main base of the Myongjin Guild within ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    ¡°Thanks for your great work in the past 30 days! In particr, I would like to say thanks to Asirante who led us without any casualties for thest 30 days!¡± my father said.

    ¡°You¡¯re wee. And thank you for following me well,¡± I responded.

    I epted hispliment with a slight gesture of my hands, and responded as Asirante, not Juyoung Hong.

    My father and I exchanged some more empty ttery, then my father opened his mouth, looking at the other yers.

    ¡°I know you will feel sorry we have to break up suddenly after spending 30 days hunting together, so I¡¯ve arranged a small party. Although you are busy, I hope all of you can attend and enjoy the party with us.¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    When my father made the suggestion, not only the users of the Myongjin Guild, but also the Mirae and Tugal Guild members nodded without any objection. So all of them moved to the Myongjin main base and enjoyed the party. Of course, I attended it, too.

    The next day.

    ¡°Check the status window.¡±

    [Name: Lumen, Asirante

    Level: 1047

    Number of kills: 11492, Number of deaths: 0

    Title: Only Closed Beta Max Level Achiever and 9 others.

    Health: 4,260,000 / 4,260,000

    Mana: 2,894,000 / 2,894,000

    Stamina: 7428 Agility: 7625 Health: 30155

    Willpower: 20215 Intellect: 36297

    Remaining Stat Points: 770

    Remaining Skill Points: 0

    Traits: IceMan, Mutual Growth, God of Enhancement.]

    I leveled up 47 times in the past month. Of course, I had the ability and ample opportunities to level up even further. However, there were 19 people behind me with whom I promised to move together, and I spent most of my time with them, so I couldn¡¯t do it.

    However, even taking that into ount, I was quite satisfied with my current level.

    My level was now over 1000, and had reached four digits, which meant that my EXP required for each next level up was quiterge. And although I had to pretend not to know my family members, I was quite satisfied that I managed to spend some time with them this time.

    Anyway, I invested in Intellect the 470 remaining stat points I acquired by leveling up 47 times and the 300 remaining stat points I obtained by hunting the boss monsters in the level 1300, 1400, and 1500 hunting grounds.

    Then I closed the status window and opened my mouth quietly.

    ¡°Check inventory.¡±

    This hunting ground gave coins even when we sessfully hunted normal monsters.

    However, I did not pay attention to most of the items dropped by the monsters, such as golden rings, misceneous items, enhancement stones, and even coins.

    Of course, honestly, I had no choice but to be bothered by the coins because coins were the only way for me to increase my reality actualization rate in moving from the 3rd to the 4th reality.

    However, it was rather awkward for me to take all the dropped items in a situation where I told the others I would lead them. It would even look ugly for me to pick up coins alone, so I just gave up on collecting them. Anyway, I did not desire the items other than coins. And the coins were dropped one or two sometimes, and three or four at other times.

    Instead, there were items I was greedy about, namely the items dropped by the level 1300, level 1400, level 1500 boss monsters.

    Fortunately, my dad raised no objections, and distracted other yers while I collected all the items dropped by these boss monsters.

    He even encouraged me to collect all the items, so I did without any hesitation.

    In the process, I collected one item that I never expected.

    [Expansion: essory charm (Myth)

    -You can equip one additional item by selecting one of the rings, earrings, nes, and bracelets that can be worn as a pair.

    -The ¡®Expansion: essory charm¡¯ disappears immediately after you use it, and the expanded part is permanently maintained.

    -You cannot trade it for other items because it belongs to the owner.]

    If I can get just one more of what I¡¯ve earned before, I¡¯ll pick it up.

    But even if I have two Ice Emperor guardian swords, I can only equip one in the end. No matter how good items I may have, there is a limit to the number of items I can wear.

    As a matter of fact, I had used an essory Expansion Charm previously and I was still feeling its effect even now. I could wear the function skill ring without taking it off while maintaining the Sacred Permanent Snow Spirit set consisting of rings, earrings, and nes. And that¡¯s why I can still maintain its set option.

    There were more decent items as well.

    [ Additional Item Charm (Legendary)

    -Grants a new option to wearable items such as weapons, armor, and essories.

    -The ¡®Additional Item Charm¡¯ disappears as soon as you use it, but the newly created option is permanently maintained.

    -The performance of the generated option is determined ording to the grade and enhancement value of the item to be used.

    You can create a duplicate of an option present in the original item. When it¡¯s duplicated, only the performance of that option increases.

    -You can¡¯t trade it for other items because it belongs to the owner.]

    When I saw this charm that creates an additional option, I could not help but think of one item, namely the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    Of course, I would not use it now, butter. The message clearly said that the performance of the option generated depends on the grade and enhancement value of the item to be used. Although the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword +6 enhancement value was enormous as it was a myth-grade item, I could still increase it in the future.

    ¡®By the way, I have saved a lot of things in my inventory.¡¯

    After all, this additional item charm is also destined to be stored in my inventory for the time being, and there were quite a few items in the same category, ranging from the 100% enhancement ticket I received in the level 100 limited enhancement quest to the two cooldown removal ancient charms and the maximum skill level increase stone.

    Of course, I could still use the maximum skill level increase stone even now for Ice Tornado, whose maximum level was 8.

    However, if I used it now, I would have to remove the Blizzard from the functional skill ring and rece it with Ice Tornado instead.

    If so, the current level 9 Blizzard would go down to level 7, while level 8 Ice Tornado would go up to level 9, which would be a loss to me because level 9 Blizzard and level 8 Ice Tornado would be level 9 Ice Tornado and level 7 Blizzard.

    Anyway, I roughly sorted out what I acquired for the past one month, then started moving.

    To where? Right to the Cunning Vampire Garrison.

    Of course, a new hunting ground was added, but it wasn¡¯t revealed to anybody where the hunting ground was.

    So, the Myongjin Guild as well as the Mirae Guild and Tugal Guild were sending arge number of yers to search for the new hunting ground everywhere.

    And I didn¡¯t want to deny that it was arrogant for me to huntfortably while I had other yers search for a new hunting ground. But I had no intention of setting an example by finding a new hunting ground by myselffortably in the midst of that.

    Anyway, I moved to the Cunning Vampire Garrison and started hunting.

 Chapter 265 - 200% (2)

    <h4>Chapter 265: 200% (2)</h4>

    While Juyoung Hong was hunting at the Cunning Vampire Garrison, something very unusual was happening in Sydney, Australia.

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    ¡°Tanks are just useless before the monsters!¡±

    ¡°The tanks fired shells at the monsters, but failed. We need a stronger means of attack!¡±

    ¡°Damn it!¡± When his subordinate reported that, Colonel Cornell had no choice but to spit out a curse.

    Of course there were more powerful means of attack! There were already seven warships on standby near the shore.

    However, the ce the monsters were located right now was the Sydney Opera House that Australia had long boasted about!

    Several parts of the opera building had already been smashed by the shells fired by the tanks, so resorting to a more powerful attack than the tank cannons would mean the destruction of the opera building itself, in addition to the monsters holding out in there.

    ¡°Contact the warships!¡± Col. Cornell shouted, frowning. He could not leave these monsters intact if they not only withstood rifle rounds, but even tank shells. There were already considerable casualties among his forces.

    At that moment, Col. Cornell and his soldiers clearly heard somethingpletely different from the sound of rifles or tank fire. They witnessed monsters being smashed to pieces, creatures who had withstood all kinds of attacks by their forces up until a moment ago.

    Moreover, that wasn¡¯t all.

    ¡°Shaking Earth, wrap my enemies!¡±

    Col. Cornell and his soldiers could see the earth moving on its own, turning into something likerge pieces of cloth and enveloping the monsters. It looked like they were wrapped up in a carpet, like something from movies or animations.

    Of course they didn¡¯t end up being simply trapped. There was the sound of something beingpressed and crushed to pieces.

    After a quick moment, the monsters turned into dust and disappeared.

    ¡°No way! Are they even believable?!¡± Col. Cornell heard about them, but he hadn¡¯t believed there were people who could easily kill monsters who made even their tanks useless.

    Not just Col. Cornell, but even his soldiers had no choice but to nkly watch the neers killing the monsters.

    ***

    Near the Sydney Opera House¡­

    ¡°Hahaha! They¡¯re now filming our fighting here, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course. They are probably shocked by our brilliant fighting. We are superheroes, aren¡¯t we?¡±

    Five men and five women were killing a group of the sturdy Stone Golems, notorious for their strong builds. Two of them giggled wildly while hunting the monsters.

    At that moment a huge man approached them and opened his mouth. ¡°You know we have decided to y the role of superheroes for the time being, got it? Remember that when superheroes are hated by people, we can turn to viins right away. So, manage your expressions well!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, brother Schmidt.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We don¡¯t want to disappoint you!¡± the two replied sullenly, digging wax out of their ears as if he was nagging them.

    ¡°Don¡¯t ignore Schmidt carelessly. He is your superior!¡±

    However, they had to change their posture when they heard somebody else speak up, for he was the man they looked up to as their leader and directed them to carry out their jobs.

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±

    ¡°Sorry, Captain!¡±

    The two men, who were chatting andughing until a moment ago, managed to put their faces straight right away at the captain¡¯s stern warning, then charged at the sturdy Stone Golems.

    Schmidt also bowed slightly to the man they called Captain, then charged at the monsters and punched out with fists befitting his huge build.

    Bang!

    The monsters had withstood not only the soldiers¡¯ gunfire, and even cannonfire. Even so one of the monsters¡¯ heads was smashed to pieces by Schmidt¡¯s punch.

    The man called Captain was watching Schmidt from behind. Schmidt smiled slightly, seeing that he had made a perfect debut.

    He cast a nce at the quest that had given him this opportunity.

    [Traits: Reality Actualization rate 200%.

    : You are not bound by the reality actualization rate.

    -You can increase the reality actualization rate of up to five people, including yourself.

    -Up to 200% for yourself.

    -Up to 180% for the second person.

    -Up to 160% for the third person.

    -Up to 140% for the fourth person.

    -Up to 120% of the fifth person.]

    It was a very trivial quest.

    Obviously, the reward that had appeared in the message before he epted the quest was also petty, but the Traits he received were so great that he could not help but be surprised.

    After that, Smith judged that he was Chosen by something, or it would have been impossible for him to receive the Traits. He had waited for the right time, and he judged today was the very day he had to act, so he had appeared with his four followers.

    He was confident that he was Chosen, so he had decided to kill anybody who might try to take his ce, such as Asirante or those called Sareunga.

    About thirty percent?

    Smith judged that even if his opponents had achieved level 1200, they might have not realized as much as 30% reality actualization, and maybe 40% at the most!

    That¡¯s why he thought this was the best time to kill them, for they would obviously stand in the way of his advance if they were left intact!

    ***

    In any case, Smith and his forces easily got rid of the sturdy Stone Golems.

    It is absolutely impossible for others to kill them, but he was twice as strong as those with the same capabilities within ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    Frankly speaking, what happened in Sydney was not that big a deal, for it had already happened in many parts of the world.

    However, the five guys who showed up this time were far from usual.

    In particr, those who knew something about ¡°Revival Legend¡± surprised the world because nobody could show a simr level of performance, even if they achieved dozens of reality actualization rates.

    As a result, all the people¡¯s eyes turned to Australia. None of the five strangers had any intention of hiding themselves!

    ***

    At the Cunning Vampire Garrison¡­

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    I hunted the monsters quite easily, but I had to stop hunting soon because I received an urgent message from my sister.

    [Super Beauty: Juyoung, can you log out now for a moment?]

    [Lumen: Now?]

    [Super Beauty: Yeah.]

    [Lumen: All right. Wait a moment.]

    I logged out right away because my sister never messaged me for a trifling reason.

    I followed my sister to Study No. 3, where I met my father, elder brother, and Director Sok, who were all waiting for me.

    After I joined them, we checked out a video together.

    [Asirante is not my rival, a nd he¡¯s a coward. He¡¯s a coward who has hidden himself for fear that his identity might be revealed. So, I¡¯m going to visit him in person sooner orter. I¡¯m going to find him out not in ¡®Revival Legend¡¯, but in Seoul, Korea in the real world.]

    Of course, I watched their videos. To be honest, I was very surprised.

    Although I didn¡¯t intend it, I knew who had the highest reality actualization rate,ing from the help I received from the ¡®Level 1200 Privilege Preview¡¯. It was me, who had achieved 33% reality actualization.

    While hunting in the Preview for a month, I tried to upgrade my reality actualization rate habitually, and finally I had upgraded it from 28% to 33%.

    In other words, I had the highest reality actualization rate for now, which was 33%. So, even if I gave them the highest rate, it was not supposed to be more than 33% at the most.

 Chapter 266 - Smith (1)

    <h4>Chapter 266: Smith (1)</h4>

    When I checked out the video, however, it looked like they achieved more than 30%.

    If their level was 33% in reality, they should have been strong enough to vie with me within Revival Legend, so they should be widely known to the world.

    But I¡¯ve never seen them before. In particr, they were strangers not only to me, but also to the Myongjin, Mirae, and Tugal guild members.

    Of course, it was possible we might not know him because there were a great many strong guys who hadn¡¯t yet appeared in this vast world, such as Pablo, who first broke through the walls blocking countries and sent me to Region 0, and the Oizuki brothers who I had met during the recent quest.

    However, Smith singled me out, so I could not hide myself any more.

    I opened my mouth quietly, ¡°Maybe we might have engage in a bigger or fiercer fight than we expected.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The guy called Smith in the video didn¡¯t hide his hostility toward me, and I was not foolish enough to miss it.

    Moreover, he was hostile enough to challenge me to fight it out and determine who was stronger.

    Given that none of the people in Study No. 3 responded, my father and others all seemed to feel the same thing as me.

    ***

    The next day I was back at the Cunning Vampire Garrison.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    I kept hunting as usual.

    Of course, I also checked my status, just in case.

    [Currently, the maximum actuality realization rate of the one who has reached ¡®Level 1200 Privilege-Reality Actualization¡¯ is 33%.

    -Lumen Asirante is currently using ¡®level 1200 Privilege-Actuality Realization¡¯ as a preview.

    It is impossible for you to increase the actuality realization rate above the maximum realization rate holder until you achieve level 1200 and obtain the privilege to do so.]

    But I was an exception.

    ¡®Hummm¡­ does he intend toe and see me while using a Trait?¡¯

    Since I knew there were all kinds of Traits, I naturally suspected it must be a Trait if he really coulde and see me. But I could not figure out what kind of Trait it was.

    ¡°Good, I¡¯ll find out anyway because he said he woulde and see me in the real world.¡±

    Did I want to go and see Smith first? No, I had no intention of doing so, because I didn¡¯t have to.

    On the other hand, I had no intention of avoiding him, either. Even if I avoided him, I suspected he would make all kinds of trouble until I appeared.

    Although my maximum reality actualization rate was only 33%, I was confident of beating Smith because I had pretty solid fundamentals to back up my 33% realization rate.

    Anyway, I continued hunting very hard, and soon I was able to find out more information about the new hunting grounds.

    ***

    In Study Room No. 3 of the Myongjin Guild¡­

    ¡°We can find the level 1300 hunting ground in Japan, the level 1400 hunting ground in Mongolia, and the level 1500 hunting ground in Korean,¡± said Director Sok.

    My father said, ¡°Then, you mean we can¡¯t ess the level 1300 hunting ground, so we have to aim for the level 1400 hunting ground in Mongolia?¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir. All the hunting grounds, starting off with the level 1300 hunting ground, are muchrger than the previous ones, but Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild will never give theirs up or even consider sharing it. If they learn I¡¯m part of the Myongjin Guild, they¡¯ll deny me even more fiercely.¡±

    Like Director Sok said, the Myongjin Guild has be a fierce rival of Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild in one way or another. Moreover, the level 1300 hunting ground was the Mitsuya Guild¡¯s territory, so they would not share it with the Myongjin Guild, no matter what happened.

    But honestly, I liked the current status quo because I already had experience hunting at the level 1500 hunting ground, and had confirmed that I could hunt alone.

    As if to confirm my confidence, my father said, ¡°Really? Well, it might be better for you. Alright, we¡¯re going to secure the level 1500 hunting ground first. If we move in coordination with the Mirae Guild, even Daesung, Kusan, or Dayu probably won¡¯t be able to obstruct us. After that, we¡¯re going to move to Mongolia and devote all our energies to taking over the level 1400 hunting ground. Of course, we don¡¯t intend to upy itpletely, but we will move to take over at least half of the hunting ground!¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    Everybody decided to follow my father¡¯s directions.

    Then my father looked at me and continued, ¡°Juyoung, if you take control of the level 1500 hunting ground first, hunt there. We¡¯re going to move without trying to use your help. Of course, if it bes inevitable that we have to use force to upy the level 1400 hunting ground in Mongolia, we¡¯ll call you.¡±

    My dad had seen the guy named Smith in Australia dering war against me, so I fully understood what he was trying to say to me.

    I just nodded to him in reply, ¡°Sure, Dad!¡±

    The next day, I went straight to the level 1500 hunting ground with the Mirae Guild.

    ***

    In front of the level 1500 hunting ground¡­

    By allying with the Mirae Guild, our Myeongjin & Mirae Alliance was definitely the dominant one team in Korea, but the Daesung and Kusan Alliance was not to be dismissed lightly.

    When we got there, the Daesung & Kusan Alliance was already there.

    Of course, I was aware they were there because this was Korea, and we could not avoid being noticed by the Daesung & Kusan Alliance here.

    Did the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance fight them for control of the level 1500 hunting ground?

    No, we had no intention of fighting them, because we had already grasped the style of the level 1500 hunting ground. Besides, it was the ace yers of the Myongjin, Mirae, and Tugal guilds who were faced with a dangerous situation in the level 1500 hunting ground, as they didn¡¯t have even one healer or enchanter.

    How could the Daesung & Kusan Alliance skip the level 1300 and level 1400 hunting grounds to move to the level 1500 hunting ground for hunting?

    They could try because they had a huge number of yers, including numerous healers and enchanters.

    However, numbers alone was not the solution in this situation.

    Since they were using massive numbers, it was inevitable that they could gain not much EXP despite their efforts. They were also at risk of being annihted if they moved in small groups, considering that this was a 1500 level hunting ground. If they recieved a death penalty, which increased tremendously in the level 1300 or higher hunting grounds, the Daeseong & Kusan Alliance would feel that this hunting ground was something like a useless evil.

    To be honest, I asked my father to leave them alone.

    Why? Aside from the above reason, I didn¡¯t want to fight the Daesung & Kusan Alliance, for they were obviously instrumental in maintaining society to some extent, just like Smith and his party in Australia, who killed monsters to save the people. Although it was strange Smith had dered a war against me, who had not been engaged in any social activities since I had been so absorbed in reaching level 1200 back then.

 Chapter 267 - Smith (2)

    <h4>Chapter 267: Smith (2)</h4>

    Although I had been absorbed in reaching level 1200, I didn¡¯t have any intention of acting for the survival of the majority even if I achieved it. Even if I got there, my fence would not be that big. Because my fence was small, I had no intention of breaking other people¡¯s fences. Rather, if I could help them little by little from within my own fence, I wanted to reach out to them and help them maintain their own fences.

    Anyway, my father epted my opinion, and I understood he had contacted the Mirae Guild in advance to exin my intentions.

    At this moment Chairman Junghwan Kim of the Daesung & Gusan Alliance, which had been camping out here ahead of us, stepped forward to speak.

    ¡°Well, we have already gotten here first. Of course, it doesn¡¯t mean that we are going to upy this hunting groundpletely. All we want is to guarantee our vested interests here.¡±

    Chairman Kim was pretty much on the defensive, because he knew that the Myongjin and Mirae Alliance had prevented Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild from advancing to this ce. There were many people who had witnessed us fighting off the strongest guild of Japan, and the news had spread all over the world that the outstanding expedition that had opened the new hunting grounds was none other than the Myungjin & Mirae Alliance.

    Chairman Kim was well aware of all that. It was why he had kept a low profile before the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance arrived here.

    When Chairman Kim said that, my dad also stepped forward and responded quickly, ¡°Well, we don¡¯t want to quarrel with you over this hunting ground, since we have known each other for a long time. So, how about sharing it with us evenly. In other words, each of us taking fifty percent control of this area?¡±

    ¡°Sounds good!¡± Chairman Kim replied, a little bit startled, as if he didn¡¯t expect my father¡¯s concession without any hesitation. That was enough to dissolve any possible friction between the two leaders, because the level 1500 hunting ground was not attractive at all to both sides right now.

    But they both knew that this hunting ground would turn into a very valuable er, so they judged it was enough for them to take 50% stake of this hunting ground until then.

    ***

    In front of the level 1400 hunting ground in Mongolia¡­

    Originally, I didn¡¯t want toe to this ce, but when I heard that Mitsuya Guild¡¯s Chairman Ryu Sechi wasing here, I used the Teleport Zone to move directly to the ce where the Tugal Guild, as well as the Myungjin and Mirae guilds, were located. My presence among them would be intimidating enough to their opponent.

    As a matter of fact, Chairman Ryu, who had shown up with Mitsuya Guild members, immediately directed his attention at me. ¡°¡­¡±

    I faced him directly, not avoiding his gaze. There was a brief silence between us.

    But it was Chairman Ryu who first turned his gaze to other ces. He asked my father, ¡°How about sharing it with me evenly? Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s enough?¡±

    In fact, this was the Maginot line that my father and the top leaders of the Mirae and Tugal guilds had set in terms of Chairman Kim¡¯s stake in the hunting ground.

    Of course, the Mitsuya Guild had already taken control of the level 1300 hunting ground. Likewise, it could be said that the Myongjin, Mirae, and Tusan Alliance had secured the level 1500 hunting ground, even if they shared it with the Daesung & Kusan Alliance.

    Of course, the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance could fight with the Mitsuya Guild over control of the level 1400 hunting ground, but it was the dominant opinion among the top leaders of the alliance that fighting Mitsuya would bring more losses than gains, for fighting the Mitsuya would mean fighting the whole Japanese servers, which would drag on indefinitely, not ending in a couple of days.

    Obviously, now was the time for the alliance to grow more!

    ¡°Great. Let me ept your offer,¡± my father answered Chairman Kim. Their resulting agreement wrapped up any disputes over the new hunting ground.

    ***

    After that, I went straight to the level 1500 hunting ground.

    Three dayster the Smith party who had dered war on me, did not appear in person, but a Message came, not just to me, but to everyone else.

    [All new hunting grounds in all areas have been disclosed.

    -An event is held inmemoration of the new hunting grounds.

    : You obtain 1 point by killing 1 monster in the level 1300 hunting ground.

    : You obtain 2 points by killing 1 monster in the level 1400 hunting ground.

    : You obtain 3 points for killing 1 monster in the level 1500 hunting ground.

    * If you attack the monsters as a group in party hunting, the one who deals the final blow will earn the points.

    -The total duration of the event is 10 days. Rewards will be given from 1st to 10th in the order of the yers¡¯ scores during the event.]

    ¡°Wow!¡± I had no choice but to smile at the message, for it was designed for me, no matter how much I thought about it.

    ***

    That evening we had dinner together at the table as usual.

    Of course, there was only one topic among us.

    That Message rang out not only in Korea, but all over the world, which meant that the event would take ce around the entire world at the same time.

    ¡°Juyoung, since you have hunted in the level 1500 hunting ground, you can keep hunting there. You can probably get the highest score there, too.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± I briefly replied to my sister.

    Then my brother asked, ¡°What about the Daesung and Kusan Alliance?¡±

    ¡°First of all, the new hunting ground was so vast that I hunted deep inside it to hide my Blink with zero cooldown, so I didn¡¯t bump into them often. My hunch is that lots of them were killed. When I checked the numbers of their troops, I noticed they had decreased a lot from what I had seen this morning.¡±

    Although I expected such results, it was quite unreasonable for the Daesung & Kusan Alliance to hunt in the 1500 level hunting ground instead of the level 1400 hunting ground so soon, and without any experience.

    As soon as I answered, I asked my brother, ¡°What about the Smith party?¡±

    Currently, the main focus of Myeongjin was Smith and his party, who had dered hostilities with me because I was an immediate family member, so my presence was worthwhile.

    My brother and Director Sok were directly monitoring the Smith party¡¯s movements.

    ¡°Maybe because of this event, they might not show up for a while. Juyoung, just keep hunting as you used to normally.¡±

    I was confident, but not only my father but also my mom, brother, sister, and Director Sok seemed pretty concerned about me. Moreover, my opponent was not Smith alone. Altogether that was a total of five people. Of course, I thought that it would be nice if the five guys came at least ten days after the event was over. It wasn¡¯t because I was scared about them, but because hunting in my original hunting ground would give me far more benefits during this event!

    Of course, it was a fait apli that I would win first ce!

    But things didn¡¯t go as I expected¡­

 Chapter 268 - Smith (3)

    <h4>Chapter 268: Smith (3)</h4>

    At the Level 1500 Hunting Ground¡­

    Thud! Thud!

    Just like the hunting ground where we had hunted using the keys one month ahead of the others, huge monsters appeared in the Level 1500 Hunting Ground that had revealed itself in the territory of Korea.

    Of course, it wasn¡¯t that unusual. However, the problem was that they were very agile for their huge builds. They were also very sturdy for their huge builds, unlike our expectations that they would be frail. That was especially true for the monsters called Titans, which were probably the evolved form of the monsters that had appeared here, the Golems. The Titans were even stronger than we thought they would be.

    As soon as I exited the safety zone and entered the Level 1500 Hunting Ground, I witnessed something striking in the fight between the monsters and the Daesung & Kusan Alliance.

    ¡°Damn it! Don¡¯t let them get off attacks!¡±

    ¡°Fire! Attack them one by one! If you don¡¯tunch a concentrated attack, this is going to be a tough fight!¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    ¡°Poison Arrow!¡±

    ¡°Bursting mes!¡±

    ¡°My shadow will be a string that cannot be untied. Shadow Bind!¡±

    :

    :

    ¡°Summon! Wind Spirit, Wind Spirit!¡±

    ¡°My attack breaks everything. Giant Strike!¡±

    ¡°Three o¡¯clock! Watch out for three o¡¯clock! Tanks, keep your ces! Healer, wake up! If the tank you are responsible for loses health, inject heals into him right away!¡±

    ¡°Understood, Great Heal!¡±

    ¡°Mega Heal!¡±

    Of course, they were not pushed out by the monsters; the number of Daesung & Kusan Alliance yers was far from small. Nheless, they were in a dangerous situation. The monsters here had a far higher perception range. As a result, although the Daesung & Kusan Alliance yers were not small in number, more and more monsters had gathered despite their focused attacks.

    ¡°Kheeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Damn it! Don¡¯t allow their attacks through!¡±

    ¡°Shit, do you think I allowed it because I wanted to? They¡¯re attacking so fast!¡±

    ¡°Hey, stopping them is you tanks¡¯ job!¡±

    ¡°Bullshit!¡±

    Then the Cunning Vampires that had appeared in the Level 1200 Hunting Ground attacked, starting off with Blood Curse, thenunching skill attacks such as Blood Explosion and Blood Suck.

    Even the Titans appearing in the Level 1500 Hunting Ground asionallyunched skill attacks, and ranged attacks called Land Anger too.

    Of course, the tank yers could distract the Titans by striking them before they attacked, but it seemed they were not yetpetent enough to control the monsters who were appearing in this Level 1500 Hunting Ground. In other words, it was not the tanks¡¯ fault alone, for it was unreasonable to force them to be morepetent than they were.

    Watching them, I stepped forward a bit and turned toward the Titans. I had made myself known to them while visiting this ce back and forth for the past three days.

    ¡°Ice Spear! Multiple Ice Arrow!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    After using Ice Spear and Multiple Ice Arrow, I immediately used Ice Ball and Ice Bolt in session. Of course, my main speciality was AOE skills.

    By choosing Ice Tornado rather than the single-target skill Ice Punishment, my use of AOE skills stood out. I was not affiliated with the Daesung & Kusan Alliance, nor was I part of their party, so I could not use AOE skills that showed extraordinary power in all areas, like both damage and striking range.

    No matter how good my intentions were, my efforts would be useless if I hurt the yers.

    To be honest, my attacks were more than enough. I used all my skills which had almost no cooldown, including not just Ice Ball and Ice Bolt, but also Ice Sphere and Multiple Ice Arrow,unching attacks endlessly.

    As a result, I got rid of all the Titans in sight, though it took more time than I expected.

    I didn¡¯t take the decisive final blow on purpose when I attacked the Titans. The Daesung & Kusan Alliance was aware of the ongoing event.

    When I did all this, the Daesung & Kusan Alliance yers just watched me with nk expressions.

    Since I didn¡¯t intend to draw their apuse, I just passed them by.

    After I moved some distance away from them, I distanced myself further using Blink with zero cooldown in order to huntfortably. I wanted to make sure they dare not chase after me.

    ***

    What did I do after that?

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasak!

    I used my familiar skills habitually, but they were very useful in this hunting ground.

    [Land Anger!]

    [Land Anger!]

    The Titans used not only direct attacks against me, but also a skill that allowed for ranged attacks. As the skill suggested, it caused a pretty big explosion on the ground, so much so that it was quite intimidating to damage-dealers, healers, and enchanters.

    However, the ground I was stepping on and all my surroundings were oveid with Ice Field, reinforced by Thin Ice.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Even though the explosions were loud enough to smash the Ice Field, the monsters¡¯ Land Anger could not destroy my Ice Field. Honestly, it didn¡¯t matter to me even if I was hit by the attacks directly, because my stamina and health were abnormally high.

    Anyway, I felt very good about the fact that I had nipped my opponents¡¯ attacks in the bud.

    With a smile on my lips, I immediately unleashed Blizzard and Ice Storm.

    Puck! Puck!

    Bang! Bang!

    As if proving they were the monsters of the Level 1500 Hunting Ground, they resisted my own attacks in turn. Those farther away used Land Anger, while those nearby swung at me with their huge fists.

    However, this was not the first time I had dealt with the level 1500 monsters. I¡¯d been dealing with them for a month, and in the process I had plenty of experience fighting them off easily. As a result, the monsters that attacked me so tenaciously began to copse one by one before my Blizzard and other ice-type attacks.

    A series of messages rang out as they fell, which I hadn¡¯t heard before.

    [You have defeated a level 1500 monster.

    -You have acquired three points.]

    [You have defeated a level 1500 monster.

    -You have acquired three points.]

    [You have leveled up.]

    ¡°Hahaha!¡±

    The moment I confirmed the message that I had leveled up along with the acquisition of three points, I eximed in joy. Unlike other quests and events in the past, this quest increased my level, which was my most urgent task!

    ¡°Good! Let me try if I can have the cake and eat it, too!¡±

    It seemed that I could do that this time!

    I happily charged at another group of Titans.

    ***

    While Juyoung was absorbed in hunting like that, a new interesting development was unfolding in Sydney, Australia.

    ¡°Captain! Do we really need to go now? We are participating in an event right now!¡± Julia, called the Third, and the only woman among the five members acting with Smith, asked unhappily while looking at her boss.

    Smith replied as if he took it for granted they were going right now, ¡°Yeah, we have to go now, because that bastard Asirante is going to be ranked among the top yers, or more precisely, he is going to win first ce in this event. Then he is going to be even stronger than before.¡±

    Julia persisted as if she could not understand him easily, ¡°No matter how strong he bes, he won¡¯t be able to increase his reality actualization rate as high as ours, right?¡±

    ¡°Well, that makes sense if you talk about other yers, but our opponent is Asirante. We have to nip him in the bud in order to stop him from growing further.¡±

    ¡°Captain, don¡¯t you think you are overestimating him? Of course, it¡¯s true that he¡¯s strong, but he is only strong within Revival Legend. In reality, he can never be stronger than us now and in the future,¡± spoke up John, the ¡°Fourth¡± of the group.

    Smith answered firmly, ¡°I have already made the decision. That¡¯s why I said that about Asirante. So, if you want to opt out, tell me now.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    All of them had no choice but to shut their mouths.

 Chapter 269 - Juyoung Hong (1)

    <h4>Chapter 269: Juyoung Hong (1)</h4>

    It was natural that they did not raise any objection to Smith. They were getting a lot of benefits after they pledged to follow him, and he had increased their reality actualization rate from 120-180%, while others could not increase it by even 1%!

    Anyway, after Smith made his decision, the others chimed in withments.

    ¡°Captain! Aren¡¯t we in the same boat now?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, Captain!¡±

    Led by Smith, the ¡°Second¡± of his group, Schmidt; the ¡°Third¡±, Julia; the ¡°Fourth¡±, John; and finally the ¡°Fifth¡±, Aaron, were all soon on the ne to Korea. The way they boarded the ne drew the attention of all the yers in the world.

    In fact, they were notorious for moving secretly, but now they had virtually dered war against Asirante, the absolutely strong man within Revival Legend.

    ***

    At Holdridge Group Headquarters in New York, USA¡­

    There were inevitably some reactions in other ces. Holdridge Group, Shaipe Group, and the US Government were well aware that not only monsters but also entities called NPCs appeared as their enemies. They also knew that there were creatures over level 4000 and level 5000 among those NPCs.

    At this moment, one of the top five executives at the head table opened his mouth as they were discussing matters. ¡°What would happen if Smith¡¯s party shes with Asirante? I mean, if they sh in reality?¡±

    Suddenly everybody at the conference room became silent at his question. The silencested an unusually long time.

    Then Austin, the head of Holdridge Group¡¯s intelligence department, carefully spoke up, ¡°First of all, we need to remember that Asirante is only strong within Revival Legend. Moreover, Asirante was ater, so when we took into ount his participation in the level 300 and level 500 limited quests, we could roughly figure out what his level was. Considering all that, it¡¯s impossible for him to be over level 1200.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡¯

    ¡°Yeah. Smith and his party cannot help but win this time. It is natural for them to win. As you know, it is even hard to estimate the actuality realization rate of Smith and his party. In some respects, they even are more impossible to understand than Asirante.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    ¡°Um.¡±

    When Austin said that, the people in the conference room were a bit disturbed. They were not only uneasy about Asirante¡¯s presence, but also the five members of Smith¡¯s party.

    The main reason they were desperately trying to do better in Revival Legend was because they wanted to gain those capabilities in reality, so the Holdridge Group had no choice but to pay close attention to Smith¡¯s group.

    One of the top five executives asked loudly into the tense atmosphere, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, should we leave him alone?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Intelligence chief Austin could not respond properly. Asirante was the one that the Holdledge Group was watching most closely after confirming that he was an NPC.

    The meeting continued, but they couldn¡¯t find an answer.

    Even thought they couldn¡¯t, they wrapped up the meeting with one conclusion: they decided to contact the Myongjin Guild to withdraw. They also reached out to Smith¡¯s party, who was special enough to gain their attention.

    ***

    In Seoul, South Korea¡­

    It had been difficult to fly many ces in the past, but it was not at all difficult for Smith and his party to get Seoul from Australia after they had demonstrated their abilities fully.

    After setting foot in Seoul, Julia was the first to speak. ¡°Captain, what should we do now?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re going to Gangwon Province because that¡¯s the ce where the Myongjin Guild affiliated with Asirante is.¡±

    ¡°What if Asirante doesn¡¯t appear there?¡¯

    ¡°Then, we have to smash Myongjin¡­¡±

    ¡°It looks like Asirante moves from one ce to another like a bat. He might have run away beforehand, right?¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Since we have no information about him, we have to track down his whereabouts in the past. By the way, it¡¯s totally Asirante¡¯s responsibility if he doesn¡¯t show up at all, and some unfortunate things happen while we¡¯re chasing him.¡±

    Smith had a hunch that if he didn¡¯t kill Asirante this time, he would hugely regret itter. He had decided to get rid of Asirante by all means, no matter how long it took him!

    He had obtained a tremendous Trait by following his hunches and trusted in them.

    While Smith and his party were heading to Gangwon Province, they encountered a military unit.

    Smith and his party prepared for a fight. They knew they were the enemy of the local military, here to kill the world¡¯s best talent that Korea kept boasting about.

    Contrary to their expectations, they were greeted with an unexpected wee!

    ¡°We the Korean government wee you with open arms!¡±

    ***

    In the underground bunker conference room of the Blue House, Seoul¡­

    ¡°Did you really have to wee them? They are far from friendly to us. They are not here to help us, either. They are our enemies, here to do harm to our country!¡± Byonguk Ahn, Director of the National Strategic Security Bureau, spoke to President Kijung Kim at the head table earnestly.

    However, President Kim¡¯s response was very cold.

    ¡°Director Ahn, you told me that before now, some conglomerates controlled important information among themselves, and took all the benefits while keeping governments in the dark, right? This is a crime bordering on treason, and seriously threatens the existence of our country!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Director Ahn could not balk at President Kim¡¯s sharp rebuke, flushing red tensely. What the president had said was certainly true.

    But the problem was that it was the government who gave conglomerates the right to build buildings in the wrong ces by taking the bait they threw out. The government had hurriedly gathered everybody involved in Revival Legend to shepherd them, but it was toote. The prime benefits of the game were already taken by giant guilds!

    Even if the government helped level up the yers of Revival Legend, their gap with the elite yers of the giant guilds was too great to catch up now, and it would take too long to raise lesser yers to be strong enough for practical use in reality.

    Nevertheless, Director Ahn had judged that the government still had an opportunity. The right to control all the armed forces of Korea still rested with the President!

    The army could still get rid of most of the monsters. Since that was so, Director Ahn had suggested to the President that the government should reestablish its rtionship with the Mirae, Daesung, and Kusan Guilds, and work with them for mutual benefits.

    However, President Kim had totally disagreed with him. He wanted to take away all the achievements that some of the guilds had made, even if it meant killing the guy who could be the strongest man in Korea, or more precisely, in the world!

    Their thoughts werepletely different!

    Director Ahn had decided that he should stop the President¡¯s efforts by all means.

    He had made proposals to him several times, but the President rejected them without any exceptions.

    As a result, Director Ahn had no choice but to helplessly watch the meeting in the underground bunker of the Blue House.

    President Kim continued, ¡°I have a duty to protect the safety, live and property of the Korean people, and those who interfere with my duty are the enemies of Korea!¡±

    Director Ahn Byung-guk could only feel a sense of emptiness at his announcement.

    Of course President Kim had the duty of protecting the people¡¯s safety, life, and property, but he clearly seemed to have forgotten that, as if he were an absolute ruler of the feudal or totalitarian eras!

 Chapter 270 - Juyoung Hong (2)

    <h4>Chapter 270: Juyoung Hong (2)</h4>

    Of course, Director Ahn thought the image of an absolute ruler might help President Kim right now, given that they might need a leader like him in this situation where they were standing at the crossroads of destruction, not just in chaos. He still felt bitter, as he knew that President Kim had only desired to wield all the power as president he could, rather than protect the people.

    At the Myongjin Shelter in Gangwon Province¡­

    Even if they were more than 100 kilometers away from the shelter, my father and top executives of the shelter could see Smith and his party on therge screen vividly as if they were seeing the enemy right before their eyes. A South Korean military unit was weing them on the screen.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Everybody watching the scenes remained silent. They were not foolish enough to not notice what this meant.

    After a moment, former Shelter Chief Kilsan Lee, who was assisting my father as the vice chief of the Shelter, asked, ¡°Shall we overpower them?¡±, referring to the soldiers assigned to the Shelter here.

    My father didn¡¯t say anything for a moment, frowning at his suggestion. I replied instead, knowing that they came to Korea obviously to get rid of me. ¡°Leave them alone, just watch them carefully. It doesn¡¯t matter if they are hostile toward me or they attack me, but they might attack you or the Myeongjin Shelter here. When they attack you or the Shelter here, be prepared to counterattack.¡±

    I did not think the military unit assigned here would sit idle when the central government in Seoul was actively cooperating with Smith and his party. Obviously they had to be preparing for some action of their own. If they shed with us, there would be big disturbances.

    Of course, I could intervene in such a situation, but it was not the right time.

    I needed some legitimate excuses, giving me no choice but to attack because after an opponent¡¯s hostile actions. That¡¯s why my father couldn¡¯t answer Mr. Lee¡¯s suggestion easily.

    I didn¡¯t feel any regrets about his hesitation.

    He was my father, but he was the head of my family. My brother, sister, and my mother and his wife Heyoung Lee were right here at the Shelter, so he had a duty to ensure their safety.

    After I replied, I watched the screen carefully.

    ***

    In front of the Myongjin Shelter five hourster¡­

    ¡°You¡¯re back quitete!¡± Smith asked. ¡°I thought you were a coward. Am I wrong?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m a coward. The world is in such chaos right now. Well, even if I¡¯m a coward, there is one thing I¡¯m not scared about at all. As the proverb says, fools rush in where angels fear to tread. I don¡¯t fear such a fool,¡± I replied to him.

    The enemy had already dered war against me, so my options were limited.

    In other words, I had to choose between bowing to my enemies as a sign of surrender or raising my head to fight them.

    Moreover, the Smith party had time on their side. They already had meetings with President Kim and the military units under hismand.

    I met my mother during this chaotic situation. She had been shedding tears, and urged me not to reveal myself. In fact, I had never revealed my identity to the outside world before.

    What Smith and his party had bbed about was enormous, and had made me even angrier. Their mentioning my name disturbed the peace of mind of the people around me.

    ¡°Did you call me a fool? Oh, that¡¯s funny. By the way, since you revealed yourself so easily after hiding for so long, do you want to say you are affiliated with the Myongjin Guild?¡± Smith asked.

    I could not help but agonize over how to answer his question. My actions before now were enough to justify the suspicions he was raising.

    As if he didn¡¯t expect a reply, Smith continued, ¡°Alright. I don¡¯t have to bother destroying not only ordinary citizens, but also the Myongjin forces who have achieved a lot of things. I promised him otherwise, anyway.¡±

    I deduced that the promise he had just mentioned was to President Kim, who he had met beforeing here.

    So, I nodded at his words and said, ¡°Really? I feel good if you feel okay. I hope we can feel good together until the end. Ice Prison!¡±

    Pasasasak!

    ¡°You are so cowardly!¡±

    ¡°Cowardly? No way! You should not havee here if you want to say that! Stop that bullshit if you don¡¯t want to have a one-on-one fight with me.¡±

    Smith had openly dered that he would kill me, so I had no intention of being polite to him!

    Of course, the target of my attack at the moment was not Smith, but his party. They had openly revealed themselves, as if they didn¡¯t want to hide their identities, so I had gained a lot of information about them. The Strategic Department of the Myongjin Guild had then collected even more intelligence based on what I had found out about them.

    I had quickly realized that Smith¡¯s five men were much stronger than I thought.

    So, Iunched the Ice Prison against Eren, called the Fifth of the Smith group and the weakest yer among them. I wanted to cut down on Smith¡¯s party by eliminating the weakest ones first.

    Then I shouted at the trapped Eren right away, ¡°Thin Ice! Ice Rain!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Currently, my reality actualization rate was 33%, so I could use up to level 5 skills.

    Even though I could not use most of my AOE skills, including Ice Field, I didn¡¯t care because what I currently had was more than enough.

    Moreover, I could always apply the Trait that enabled me to move from stage 0 to stage 15 with only 7% of actuality realization rate.

    Smith¡¯s party promptly counterattacked with their skills.

    ¡°Soar up, Fire Pir!¡±

    ¡°Shaking Land!¡±

    ¡°Summon Fire Spirit! Earth Spirit! Wind Spirit! Water Spirit!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    Of course, my Ice Prison was not strong enough to withstand any attack. Moreover, I was not within Revival Legend right now where I was quite strong.

    Anyway, the Ice Prison cracked faster than expected. There were cracks in Thin Ice here and there, extending into the Shaking Ground. Of course this would happen. Considering that I was in reality now, not within the game, their Shaking Land was much more powerful than that used by variousnd-type wizards I had encountered in Revival Legend.

    But I was not surprised by the scene, and I immediately used one more skill because my pride did not allow me to watch my Ice Prison copsing under their attacks.

    ¡°Ice st!¡±

    Bang!

    Although it had cracked quite quickly, the Ice Prison had been maintaining its original shape, and now sent outrge and sharp chunks of ice in all directions as it exploded.

    ¡°Block the ice fragments!¡±

    ¡°My Body Will Be Solid Steel!¡±

    ¡°Land Barrier!¡±

    It seemed that the Smith party had practiced together for a long time. Their moves were quite systematic and organized.

    On top of that, the ones who had protected themselves behind the Land Barrier immediately attacked me.

    ¡°Fire Storm!¡±

    ¡°Powershot! Triple Shot!¡±

    As soon as they attacked, I immediately shouted, ¡°Ice Shield!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    I had never shown Ice Shield before now, and hardly used it within Revival Legend, because it was quite useful in reality!

 Chapter 271 - Juyoung Hong (3)

    <h4>Chapter 271: Juyoung Hong (3)</h4>

    Watching me counterattacking fiercely, Smith asked, ¡°What¡¯s your actuality realization rate, Asirante? Is it high enough to stop my attack? How could you block my attacks like Fire Storm by using Ice Shield alone?¡±

    My Ice Shield was not undamaged, but it was on the verge of breaking apart. It had still helped me stop all his attacks, so Smith had praised it.

    But I wasn¡¯t happy at all, because the synergy of Smith¡¯s party was better than I had expected. In other words, my fight with them would most likelyst longer than I wanted it to.

    I replied arrogantly since I would not show him what¡¯s on my mind, ¡°Just one percent. My actuality realization rate is only one percent.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, I see! By the way, it¡¯s really fortunate that I trusted my instinct to kill you right away. Otherwise I would have regretted it a lotter!¡±

    ¡°Are you sure? Let me make you regret what you just said right now! Multiple Ice Arrow!¡±

    I attacked him again, and our fierce fight began again.

    I tried to attack again, and the crash proceeded again.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    I fought Smith¡¯s party for ten minutes.

    As a matter of fact, it was a piece of cake for me to fight the five people in Smith¡¯s party.

    I had once fought when surrounded by tens of thousands of enemies. The main difference was that the enemy this time was definitely strongerpared to the enemies that I had encountered before now.

    Of course I might be weaker than I was in the game, but I could still fight the five-member Smith party on an equal footing given my solid track record and experience.

    However, the problem was that this battle in reality was clearly different from the battle within Revival Legend. There was a clear difference between the two.

    For example, the hat and mask I wore to hide my identity were burned and torn away!

    Watching me, Smith eximed, ¡°Wait, I think I¡¯ve seen your face before!¡­¡±

    ¡°Juyoung Hong!¡± I announced right away to satisfy his curiosity.

    Did I care about the hat and mask that were burned and torn apart? I could just obtain them by using coins to actualize my items within Revival Legend into reality.

    When the items within Revival Legend were actualized in reality, they would not be destroyed or disappear unless my body was changed structurally. It was why I had actualized clothes into reality, covering myself. This kind of reality actualization wasmon sense to me.

    It was no secret that those who had increased their reality actualization were often naked after burning all their clothes off when fighting or getting rid of monsters!

    ¡°Oh, Asirante is the youngest son of the Myongjin Group¡¯s chairman!¡± Smith announced.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not just an ordinary son. Oh, you might not know. You know what? I¡¯m quite well known as the son of a very wealthy conglomerate with a big problem.¡±

    ¡°Why did you reveal your identity at this time?¡± Smith had to ask.

    Obviously, Smith knew that while I had used coins to actualize clothes and pants in reality, I did not actualize my hat and mask on purpose. It was impossible that I forgot to actualize them; they were essential to hiding my identity when I had actualized other items.

    But I didn¡¯t hesitate to retort, ¡°Well, I had no intention of revealing myself before now. But I changed my mind because I felt it¡¯s okay to reveal myself now!¡±

    In fact, I was thinking of hiding my identity until I reached at least level 1200, but I was now in a situation where not only I, but also my family at the Myongjin Shelter were in jeopardy. So, I decided that I didn¡¯t have to hide myself anymore.

    Honestly, I was confident that I would not be swayed by the people around me even if I revealed my identity.

    ¡°First of all, it¡¯s fortunate for me to be able to demonstrate my skills to a strong man like you. Thanks for giving me the chance to have you remember me as a cool guy for a long time.¡±

    As soon as I said that, I took out an item from my activated inventory.

    It was a +7 Enhancement rare weapon that I had actualized in reality in advance by spending quite a bit of coins. Compared to the 6+ Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword, it was very weak.

    ¡°Ice Weapon! Blink!¡±

    [You have used level 3 Ice Weapon. The energy of cold ice is embedded in the extremely sharp +7 Enhancement long sword.]

    I was now fighting my first battle as Juyoung Hong, not Asirante.

    The sh between the Smith party and Asirante was a battle that would inevitably draw the attention of all the yers around the world. Most of the powerful guilds in many countries had dispatched their spies to Korea, and were watching the battle in real time.

    Bang! Bang Puck! Puck!

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    If this battle had happened within Revival Legend, it¡¯s natural that they would have paid lots of attention to it. In fact, this would be a battle between those in the top 1% rankings of their servers, even if it took ce within Revival Legend.

    But this was a battle in reality, not within the game. On top of that, the scene of dozens of ces being frozen and melting in an instant would inevitably make everyone watching go silent. Those who knew something about Asirante could not help but feel even more shocked.

    ***

    At the Holdridge Group in New York, USA¡­

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say Asirante hasn¡¯t yet reached level 1200?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± When one of the top five executives asked that, the chief intelligence officer couldn¡¯t say anything.

    Even if they took into ount Asirante¡¯s terrific capabilities, it was impossible for him to have reached level 1200 already. However, the scenes of him fighting Smith¡¯s party clearly showed that he had increased his reality actualization rate significantly!

    ¡°Well, I can understand it. He has always been capable of more than he showed he was. But how are the five people, including Smith, showing such formidable strength?¡±

    Just like it took two to tango, the brilliant fighting by Smith¡¯s party impressed the top executives of the Holdridge Group a great deal. In fact, they had found in Smith¡¯s party what they had wanted while ying Revival Legend. The leaders of the Holdridge Group watched the screen closely, not taking their eyes off it even for a second, until the hat and mask that covered Asirante¡¯s face burned away and disappeared.

    ***

    At the Mirae Guild Shelter in Gangwon Province¡­

    Some people of the Mirae Guild, including Chairman Junghwan Yon and his daughter Bora, were aware of Asirante¡¯s identity to some extent. However, when the hat and mask covering Asirante¡¯s face were burned away and his hidden identity was revealed, they had no choice but to open their eyes wide in shock. Even though they had guessed that Asirante was Juyong Hong, they were more than shocked when they finally confirmed it. Bora in particr was the first one who had predicted early on that Asirante was Juyong.

    Her voice trembling, she said, ¡°As expected, he is Juyoung¡­¡±

    When he heard that, Chairman Yon responded, ¡°You bet! He is Chairman Hong¡¯s youngest son. Like you said, he is not an ugly duckling, but a beautiful swan.¡±

    In some respects, this was the most dramatic reversal of the whole event involving Asirante, given the weight of his name within Revival Legend.

    ¡°By the way¡­¡±

    Still reeling from his shock at the revtion of Asirante¡¯s identity, Chairman Yon could not finish his words. It was a tremendous event when Asirante¡¯s identity was revealed, but he was faced with something more urgent and important right now, namely the matter of whether Asirante could survive the fight with Smith¡¯s party!

 Chapter 272 - Juyoung Hong (4)

    <h4>Chapter 272: Juyoung Hong (4)</h4>

    In Chairman Yon¡¯s eyes, Asirante was fighting on an equal footing with Smith¡¯s party. His solo fight with them was really impressive, but he was fighting five people!

    So, Chairman Yon thought that Asirante, or Juyoung Hong, was destined to lose, given that he was equally as strong as them.

    It was the basicmon sense: he would be exhausted faster than them in a lop-sided five-to-one fight.

    ¡°After all, is this the fight that will define Asirante as a dragon, or a semi-dragon, an Imoogi, who failed to ovee the final trial before bing a dragon? Right?¡± Chairman Yon defined their fight like that one out of myth.

    Of course, he judged that the fight would not end up being a five-to-one battle. Juyoung¡¯s father, Chairman Hong, would not wait without doing anything if his son would be killed by Smith¡¯s party.

    Yon concluded that no matter how much he thought about Smith¡¯s party, they were simply too strong, Even if he dispatched tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of ordinary men, even those from the military units or Myongjin Guild who had raised their reality actualization rates, to help out Asirante, they would not turn the tide of the fight, because Smith¡¯s party was so overwhelming.

    At that moment Bora, Chairman Yon¡¯s daughter, said, ¡°I think Juyoung will win. There is a reason why he has decided to reveal himself at this time, which he has been hiding before now.¡±

    As soon as she finished talking, the screen showed Asirante, or Juyoung Hong, taking out a sword from his pocket and using Blink.

    Of course, this wasn¡¯t that strange, because the sword was his main weapon within Revival Legend, and he hadunched lots of attacks using the sword since then.

    They had no choice but to stay silent when they saw his brilliant performance.

    Asirante or Juyoung was now counterattacking Smith¡¯s party using the hidden skill that he had never shown before now!

    ¡ª¡ª¨C

    In front of the Myongjin Shelter¡­

    Blink with level 4 and level 6 was the goal.

    However, I did not upgrade Blink to level 6, as my skill points were insufficient, and I didn¡¯t have to increase the distance of my movement range due to the zero cooldown.

    Even if level 4 Blink had a zero cooldown, it was still a level 4 skill, so I could use it despite my reality actualization rate of 33%.

    In fact, it was marked as only ¡®level 4 Blink¡¯ in the skill window.

    Shuuung. Shuuung. Shuuung. Shuuung.

    I showed the skill as best as I could. Of course, I didn¡¯t show the power of Blink with zero cooldown by itself.

    Shuuung! Puck!

    Shuuuuuung! Puck!

    Shuuuuuuung! Puck!

    Did I attack twice at a time? No, I didn¡¯t, as I could attack when I changed ces. Besides, I didn¡¯t have enough time to attack again while using Blink

    This time the members of Smith¡¯s party were rmed by my attacks.

    ¡°What the heck is this?¡±

    ¡°???¡±

    ¡°???¡±

    Smith¡¯s party had probably not experienced this kind of attack before.

    Obviously they were very flustered, but they didn¡¯t forget to attack me.

    ¡°Spirit of Biting Wind Attack!¡±

    ¡°Fire Storm!¡±

    ¡°Poison Arrow. Triple Shot!¡±

    ¡°Shaking Land! Bind my enemy!¡±

    But I kept attacking them using Blink, as usual.

    Shuuuuuung! Shunnnnnng! Shuuuuuuug!

    They were slow. It didn¡¯t matter if they moved fast, because I was faster than them.

    ¡°Damn it! What the heck is this?¡±

    ¡°Block his attack!¡±

    ¡°Shit! Who the hell is that bastard?¡±

    The five people, including Smith, could not do anything about my Blink attack.

    Of course, their helpless reaction was natural, considering that it was impossible for them to properly respond to my attack when seeing it for the first time. In fact, even opponents who had experienced it numerous times in the past had never figured out how to respond well to it.

    However, Smith¡¯s party desperately resisted amid the chaos.

    ¡°Get united!¡±

    ¡°Thick Land Barrier!¡±

    ¡°Earth Spirit, be my shield blocking him!¡±

    ¡°Fire Shield!¡±

    The five of them gathered together to reduce my arc of attack as much as possible. But that was better for me, because that was what I wanted.

    I used one skill straight against them right away. ¡°Ice Prison!¡±

    Pasasasasak!

    With my reality actualization rate of 33%, Ice Prison was inevitably smaller than it was in Revival Legend, so I had to use it against only one person before. But I could contain all five inside it now. It was created by prating into the Thick Land Barrier that they made, so it could breach the barrier unexpectedly.

    Seeing that, I used more skills.

    ¡°Thin Ice! Ice Rain!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Damn it! Break this ice prison quickly!¡±

    ¡°me Explosion!¡±

    ¡°Prating Powershot!¡±

    Obviously, Smith¡¯s party was very strong.

    However, the reason I could fight them alone was because I was stronger than them as an individual. In fact, with my level 5 Ice Shield, I could block several of their attacks, including the Fire Storm which sometimes caused cracks in the Ice Prison.

    However, there was still time before it broke, so I fired Multiple Ice Arrows, Ice Balls, and Ice Bolts at them.

    ¡°Ice st!¡±

    Bang!

    Finally I destroyed the Ice Prison myself!

    ¡°Kheeeeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    ¡°Everybody, get out quickly!¡±

    They were swept by the Ice st, something they had never expected.

    At a nce, I could see that they had suffered considerable damage.

    So I charged at them right away, intending to deal a bigger blow to them while they were in big trouble.

    Shuuung! Puck!

    Shuuung! Puck!

    Shuuuug! Puck!

    Just like before, they could hardly counterattack. The fight continued like that.

    Five minutester the members of Smith¡¯s party began toin.

    ¡°Damn it! This is not the fight we expected!¡±

    ¡°How can he fight like that?¡±

    ¡°This is unfair! Asirante, how can you have this kind of skill? You¡¯ve got lots of stuff already! How can you have such a skill?¡±

    Smithined this fight was really unfair, but I thought they were unfair, too.

    Why? They should havee a littleter¡­ after I achieved level 1200!

    Aside from Blizzard and Ice Tornado, I could have disyed ice-type magic freely and more powerfully if they had attacked meter. That was the real power of Juyoung Hong!

    It was part of my abilities to own a sword like this and use Blink with zero cooldown to defeat my enemies. However, my trademark was clearly ice-type attacks.

    Ice-type attacks weren¡¯t just my trademark. In fact, during the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Closed Betas, I chose the ice-based wizard, so much so that I earned the Trait of ¡®Ice Man¡¯ as a result. In that respect, ice itself was me. That¡¯s why I had dealt with Smith and his party using ice-type attacks.

    Despite all that, I had found my ice-type skills blocked by Smith¡¯s party at first.

    Since it was my first battle with them as Juyoung Hong, not Asirante, I felt this fight was even more unfair. I really regretted that I could not attack using more powerful ice-type attacks against them.

    I felt upset about that, more than when they had picked a fight with me.

    So, I asked Smith quietly, ¡°You think this is unfair?¡±

    While Juyoung Hong was asking Smith if he felt the fight was unfair, major guilds around the world were watching their fight very closely.

    They had no choice but to be astonished when they discovered that Asirante was Juyoung Hong. He had been initially dropped from the list of candidates purporting to be Asirante, even when the name ¡®Juyoung Hong¡¯ was the most frequently mentioned. They were stunned because they had beenpletely duped by him!

 Chapter 273 - Juyoung Hong (5)

    <h4>Chapter 273: Juyoung Hong (5)</h4>

    Among them was one who felt very displeased with the real identity of Asirante.

    He was Chairman Daeyoung Suh of the Daeyu Guild, who had first approached Asirante and seeded in getting him to join the Daeyu Guild.

    He gnashed his teeth.

    Of course, after realizing that the Daeyu Guild was too small to embrace Asirante, he eventually gave up on having Asirante in the Daeyu Guild. He had no choice but to gnash his teeth after investing so much in Asirante. He knew and had met Asirante face to face several times, so he grew even more angry.

    However, Chairman Suh felt his anger gradually going away when he started to reflect on whether he had ever made Asirante feel sorry or disappointed him, before feeling frustrated with the fact that he had yed into Asirante¡¯s hands and waspletely duped.

    Recalling the old Asirante, Chairman Suh noticed something different in his looks.

    ¡°Asirante, or Juyoung¡¯s hair seems to have been tinted, right?¡± Obviously he had ck hair when the chairman first met him. But right now, Asirante¡¯s ck hair seemed to have been tinted for some reason.

    ¡°Yes, it looks like his hair has been tinted, like you said,¡± Director Chungsoo Kim of the Daeyu Guild¡¯s Strategy Department immediately responded.

    In fact, Juyoung¡¯s hair was turning white like ice so quickly that anyone would notice it right away.

    ***

    In front of the Myungjin Shelter¡­

    Obviously, there might be somebody who would make light of my fight with Smith¡¯s party, but it was very important to me.

    Anyway, I was close to beating Smith¡¯s party resoundingly by using Blink with zero cooldown.

    I felt resentful when Smith said this fight was unfair, even though he picked the fight with me first.

    As a matter of fact, I wanted to make my first debut as Juyoung Hong as an ice-type wizard, instead of using Blink. I wanted to use Blizzard and Ice Tornado against him right now.

    I wanted to use those skills to make him and his party realize painfully how foolish they were.

    But I could not use them now, which really annoyed me.

    The moment I was extremely annoyed, the ground shook around me suddenly.

    Kugugugugugung-

    At the same time a lot of things thrust forth from the ground.

    They were as thick as trees more than a hundred or a thousand years old. Moreover, it wasn¡¯t just one or two of them. They soon revealed themselves as things big and wide enough to cover the sky.

    Of course, I instinctively knew what they were: roots!

    Smith waved his hands at me, but I didn¡¯t care.

    ***

    Inside the Myeongjin Shelter.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Although my mother was very worried, my father Chairman Sangman Hong didn¡¯t block the fight. He was convinced that his youngest son Juyoung would beat Smith¡¯s party, after all.

    If he had judged that I had even a one percent chance of losing to them, he would not have let me go and fight them.

    He knew that even if I ran away from the fight and was named a coward, I would be much stronger once I achieved level 1200. Even if he was humiliated a bit for a time, he didn¡¯t care at all.

    Of course, my father had prepared a hidden card despite his conviction that I would win.

    Although I had some hard times in the initial stage of the fight, he let out a sigh of relief after seeing that I had turned the tide of the battle by using Blink with zero cooldown. As my father, it was natural that Chairman Hong was worried about my safety despite his firm conviction that his son would win.

    In the meantime, something beyond description had appeared.

    Kuohohohoh¡­

    My family members and Director Sok began to whisper at that. ¡°Tentacles?¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t they squid or octopus limbs?¡±

    ¡°No way! Look at that gigantic size of its body. It looks like a kraken, a monster that sinks huge ships.¡±

    The things looked a little like kraken limbs on the surface.

    However, Chairman Hong instinctively felt that they were not.

    The moment Chairman Hong raised his head a bit, somebody said, ¡°They look more like roots¡­¡±

    ¡°Moreover, they came out from underground at the beginning,¡± added Director Sok.

    Chairman Hong was more convinced they were roots. They looked like was closer to roots than tentacles, like squid or octopus limbs.

    However, they were too thick andrge to be considered normal roots.

    Since they had appeared so unexpectedly, Chairman Hong was momentarily not sure whether they belonged to his son Juyoung or Smith¡¯s party. Not just Chairman Hong, but also everyone at the Shelter eventually realized who they belonged to, namely Juyoung!

    Why? Because they had appeared in the past at the moment when Juyoung¡¯s normally ck hair became white as snow. Moreover, whenpared toJuyoung who showed little reaction to the appearance of the roots, Smith and his party were clearly flustered, turning their eyes in all directions.

    At that moment Chairman Hong recalled a scene from the past. Histe father used to dote on Juyoung more than his elder brother Kiyoung or sister Suyoung. So, he had asked his father why he loved Juyoung so much when Kiyoung was just as good as Juyoung.

    Hister father had replied, ¡°Haha. Look at his face! Doesn¡¯t it shine brightly like the moon? He¡¯s going to be a great man!¡±

    He could not find anything like ¡®shining bright¡¯ in Juyoung¡¯s face. Nheless, when histe father praised Juyoung so much, Chairman Hong began to pay close attention to him all the time.

    Chairman Hong thought that his father had been wrong as he watched Juyoung growing up. . Juyoung had nothing extraordinary whenpared to his elder brother Kiyoung.

    But now he that had to take another look at Juyoung, Chairman Hong knew why histe father praised Juyoung so much.

    ¡®In the end, you were right, Dad.¡¯

    Chairman Hong stopped reminiscing, and looked ahead.

    ***

    In front of the Myongjin Shelter.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I realized at a nce that they were roots, but I could hardly settle on whether they were really roots or not, because they were simply too big.

    There were a lot of them, as thick as a giant tree that had lived for a thousand years, soaring into the sky. They were literally floating in the air.

    At that moment one of Smith¡¯s party members began to attack me again. ¡°Shaking Land!¡±

    I didn¡¯t foresee the emergence of the roots, so I had let down my guard a bit enough for one of them to attack me during the distraction. When I was about to block his attack, I discovered that I didn¡¯t have to, the roots moved first!

    Kugugung- Kugugugung-

    Shaking Land, the attack skill that created cracks in my Thin Ice and Ice Prison, was really strong.

    But this time the ground I was stepping on was not shaken at all. The numerous roots sprouting from underground held the shaking ground fast, while many of them were already floating in the air.

    Something shed through my mind when I saw that.

    Even in an area wherendslides urred, certain parts of thend where there were trees with very deep roots were not affected by thendslide.

    That¡¯s exactly what had happened before my eyes right now.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Not just the guy who had used Shaking Land, but the other members of Smith¡¯s party were all making frustrated and resigned expressions.

    Of course, expressions like that were not strange to me at all, for even I didn¡¯t know that I couldpletely stop Shaking Land like this!

    Then the roots still floating in the air moved by themselves, and immediately began to wrap up Smith¡¯s party!

 Chapter 274 - Juyoung Hong (6)

    <h4>Chapter 274: Juyoung Hong (6)</h4>

    ¡°Run away!¡±

    ¡°me Outburst! Soar, Pir of Fire!¡±

    ¡°Attack, Fire Spirit!¡±

    ¡°My body will be solid steel!¡±

    ¡°Power Shot! Triple Shot!¡±

    Smith¡¯s party relentlessly attacked me with all kinds of skills.

    No matter how strong the roots were, they were trees by nature, and were bound to be vulnerable to fire. As a result, mes caught on to the roots.

    At that moment, however, other roots around the mes began to stick to it like glue. All of the sticking parts withdrew straight into the ground, and new roots sprouted right away.

    The other attacks by Smith¡¯s party faced the same fate. Although their attacks ruined the roots and inflicted great damage on them, the surrounding roots stuck to the damaged ones, then withdrew into the ground like before. Instantly new roots emerged from the same location.

    The virtuous cycle continued, although it must have seemed a vicious cycle for Smith¡¯s party.

    Before long Smith¡¯s party was suppressed by the roots and dragged to the ground, although they resisted desperately. They screamed, spitting out all kinds of curses at the roots.

    I was also rather embarrassed by their humiliating defeat.

    Obviously, I had no intention of ignoring or encouraging any enemy, but Smith¡¯s party was obviously strong. It was why all of my ice-type attacks had been blocked by them, and why I was forced to use my Blink with its zero cooldown.

    Smith¡¯s party was already stumbling from my relentless attacks, and the roots neutralized their attacks cleanly without me even needing to intervene again.

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    ¡°What a shame!¡±

    ¡°I must be dreaming now. This can¡¯t be reality! No way!¡±

    ¡°Howe we were defeated like this?¡±

    ¡°Is this his skill or his ability? Nonsense! This is bullshit! This is reality, not Revival Legend!¡±

    ¡°Help! Help me!¡±

    They denied reality, cried with snot and tears pouring down, and even begged for their lives.

    There was no more majesty and guts in their attitude. Instead they were miserable losers who gave up their pride without any hesitation.

    I understood their position. The ce where Smith¡¯s party and I were standing was reality, not within Revival Legend. That meant their deaths here were real deaths!

    Perhaps that was why each and every member of Smith¡¯s party struggled for survival. Among them Smith showed the most intense desire to survive.

    ¡°Help me! Please spare my life! You already have seen our abilities, right? You have seen my ability, right? Disclose my Trait!¡±

    [Trait: 200% reality actualization rate.

    : Not limited to reality actualization rate.

    -You can increase the reality actualization rate of up to 5 people, including yourself, without any limitation.

    -Up to 200% for you.

    -Up to 180% for the second target.

    -Up to 160% for the third target.

    -Up to 140% for the fourth target.

    -Up to 120% of the fifth target]

    ¡°Let me increase your actuality realization by a whopping 180%, or let me just give you 180% all the time, Asirante! I¡¯m going to use the remaining reality actualization rate for you and I¡¯m going to be your ve for the rest of my life. So, please spare my life!¡±

    Thud! Thud! Thud!

    With his limbs bound by roots, Smith cried out again, mming his head into the ground.

    However, I focused on his traits more than him.

    ¡®200%¡­¡¯

    In the end, it meant that he was stronger in reality than in Revival Legend.

    I had no choice but to think this was a scam. I figured out why the five guys including Smith were so strong in reality.

    I was tempted by his offer momentarily, as I had nothing to be afraid of if I had 180% of my reality actualization rate in reality all the time. When I thought about the enormous coins that I had to use to increase my reality actualization rate, his offer was especially tempting.

    But I shook my head, shaking off my idle thoughts.

    If my reality actualization rate was controlled by somebody else, I would have no choice but to be dependent on him. If Smith withdrew my boosted reality actualization rate at a crucial moment, I was going to be dead.

    What¡¯s more, he even said he would be my ve, who would do anything for me.

    Of course he would¡­ with a probability of about 0.000001%!

    Even if it was not 0.000001%, but 99%, I didn¡¯t want to rely on that possibility, as a power that could be affected by the situation, circumstances, and conditions was not my true power.

    Besides, I was confident of raising my actuality realization rate further by collecting coins persistently, even though it would take me longer.

    After sorting out my thoughts, I walked toward Smith.

    ¡°Please save my life, Asirante! I will do anything for you. Haven¡¯t you seen my ability? Please use my ability, Asirante!¡±

    ¡°Well, I guess you are right. You can be a big help to me. I have no doubt about it.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right!¡±

    ¡°But!¡±

    Standing right in front of Smith, I said, looking down at him stuck in the ground, ¡°I don¡¯t spare an enemy¡¯s life.¡±

    Puck!

    ¡°Kheeeeeeeeek!¡±

    I had already killed more than 10,000 people within Revival Legend. I had agonized over whether I could kill somebody in reality. I wondered if I could maintain a normal life after killing somebody in reality.

    Murdering somebody these days? Actually it was verymon, and much too frequent.

    I could not allow myself to take it for granted, but I just felt no empathy after killing Smith.

    Of course, I had some regrets about it.

    Because I kicked away the opportunity to make use of Smith? No, not at all. I didn¡¯t have that in mind from the beginning, since I didn¡¯t trust him.

    However, Smith¡¯s power was real. So was his Trait.

    I even thought that I mightter regret this, if a strong being emerged who I couldn¡¯t stop with my own power. In other words, I had killed someone who could help me a lot when using my power to protect the Earth in the future.

    However, I stopped regretting it quickly. ¡°Well, I can regret itter, but not now.¡± I had no intention of going to the trouble of worrying about anything in advance.

    If I had thought that way, I wouldn¡¯t have killed Smith from the beginning!

    ¡°I just¡­¡±

    ¡°Please save my life!¡±

    ¡°Since my boss just died, my 140% reality actualization rate has disappeared. Now I¡­¡±

    The four members of Smith¡¯s party begged for their lives, trembling violently.

    I quietly said, ¡°I already told you that I don¡¯t spare my enemy¡¯s lives.¡±

    While saying that, I tried hard to not show any sign of trembling. My reason wanted me to stop killing them here.

    Even my sword hand was trembling.

    But if I wanted to save these guys, I should have saved Smith, too!

    No matter how small an ember was, I had no intention of leaving it intact when it could be the source of anxietyter.

    Just like Smith said to me, I was a coward. Moreover, I knew that all of the major guild yers around the world were watching me closely right now.

    So, I had to show them what kind of consequences they would inevitably face when they messed with me.

    Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Kheeeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    ¡°You devil bastard!¡±

    ¡°You are going to be killed by a stronger guy than you¡­ Kheeek!¡±

    The moment they knew they would not be spared, they spilled out curses at me.

    Their blood sshed on me along with their curses, but I didn¡¯t stop stabbing them. I knew doing nothing would be better than doing it inconclusively.

 Chapter 275 - Juyoung Hong (7)

    <h4>Chapter 275: Juyoung Hong (7)</h4>

    My battle with Smith¡¯s party was fierce in some respects. However, there was only me and the roots left behind on the battlefield now.

    After I killed all the members of Smith¡¯s party, I headed towards a certain ce. There were some people there that I should get rid of. They were staying at the Myongjin Shelter without paying a cent, while causing some disorder.

    At the main base of Myongjin Shelter No. 3.

    Commander Choljin Chung had no choice but to keep his eyes fixed on the road ahead.

    Under the current situation, he could not carry out the orders from his boss.

    [First, if Asirante does not show up, help Smith¡¯s party detain Chairman Sangman Hong and upy the Myongjin Shelter.]

    [Second, if Asirante shows up, try to win over his loyalty for thest time. If he is not persuaded, let him be killed by Smith¡¯s party. After that, detain Chairman Hong ording to our first n and take over the Myongjin Shelter. (Even if Smith¡¯s party attacks and kills Asirante after he has been won over, don¡¯t intervene and don¡¯t take any issue with it.)]

    Commander Chung had received those orders in advance. He was prepared to execute the orders, knowing that there was little possibility that Chairman Hong would listen to him, regardless of whether he was in the first or second situation.

    But the situation Commander Chung faced now was neither the first nor the second scenario.

    He could not help but be very nervous right now, even frightened. He btedly realized that he had messed with a person that he never should have.

    A short time after he killed Smith and all of his party members without any hesitation, Asirante, Juyoung Hong, walked back towards the Myongjin Shelter. Of course, he was still some distance from the building. He didn¡¯t want to cause any damage to the Shelter, so he had confronted Smith¡¯s party in a ce far from the premises and fought them there.

    Nheless, Commander Chung knew the stranger who was now walking toward him.

    ¡°Oh my¡­¡± Commander Chung cleared his throat at the stranger¡¯s appearance.

    Did he suspect that the stranger was Juyoung Hong? Of course he did.

    As was the case with the Shelters managed by other big business groups, the Myongjin Shelter was well managed as a top priority by the Myongjin Group. Besides, it had been very unusual when Chairman Hong appointed Juyoung as the head of the Shelter, instead of his eldest son Kiyoung or elder daughter Suyoung.

    But Commander Chung didn¡¯t dwell on it for long. He had rather weed Chairman Hong¡¯s decision to promote Juyong to the top position, thinking Hong had made the wrong decision. His judgement was based on the misleading assumption that Juyoung was a son with lots of problems.

    Commander Chung briefly thought about what had gone wrong, but he had to stop thinking about it now. He was now clearly convinced that Juyoung was walking toward him. As a matter of fact, Juyoung was now getting quite close to him¡­

    At that moment, Commander Chung felt that the Juyoung approaching him was a huge figure.

    He felt it even more every time Juyong took a step toward him, because the huge roots that had overpowered Smith¡¯s party members were moving with Juyoung, as if they were escorting him as his bodyguards.

    What¡¯s more, something like the roots sprouted from the ground where Juyoung stepped, then sank back into the ground, as if the god of death that controlled life was approaching.

    Commander Chung was staring nkly at Juyoung approaching him, shuddering uncontrobly.

    Juyoung stopped before Commander Chung.

    ***

    ¡°¡­¡± Commander Chung was shaking visibly.

    He used to be arrogant and conceited before me all the time. There was no such attitude in him now, as he stood there and shook. Eyes that were once full of arrogance were now trembling with fear.

    I might haveughed at him when I recalled the arrogant attitude that had humiliated me so much. But I didn¡¯t.

    Did I want to take revenge on him for having humiliated me so much?

    Since I was not a man who was very tolerant, I seriously thought of getting even with him.

    But I didn¡¯t intend to kill him for that. Although I had a good reason to kill the members of Smith¡¯s party, Commander Chung and his troops were ordinary citizens and not worth killing. Even if I killed them, it would bring more trouble to me from the repercussions.

    To be honest, I didn¡¯t actually feel too upset about the way he had insulted and humiliated me. He was too much of a small fry for me to show my emotions at his reckless actions.

    I didn¡¯t express any feelings to him, simply saying, ¡°I think you must feel very sorry that your wicked cooperation with Smith¡¯s party failed.¡±

    Commander Chung did not respond to me. I continued right away because I didn¡¯t expect his reply, anyway.

    ¡°I¡¯ll give you two options. You can be killed right here, or you can leave this ce right now.¡±

    ¡°I will leave¡­¡± Although he replied a bit slowly, Commander Chung quickly decided to leave.

    Since I expected that reply from him, I continued, ¡°Good. I won¡¯t hold you because you just said you would leave. Instead, you just have to pay for all your room and board at the Shelter here up until now, right?¡±

    ¡°?¡± He stared at me nkly.

    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t be surprised. I don¡¯t intend to charge you too much. Um¡­ everything you have except for your underpants. Isn¡¯t that cheap?¡±

    When Commander Chung first appeared at the Shelter, he had brought lots of stuff, including dozens of military trucks transporting more than fifteen hundred soldiers, as well as sixty tanks.

    Moreover, I knew that he secretly brought in a lot of supplies in order to carry out the secret n with Smith¡¯s party to get rid of me. In other words, he had brought a massive amount of supplies here.

    How could I use the tanks? I had learned from Capt. Jungdae Lim of the security forces of the Myongjin Shelter that there were quite a few people here at the Shelter who could operate military tanks and repair them. In addition, Capt. Lim had found there were lots of experts on tanks while selecting people to prepare for situations at the Shelter.

    Anyway, I came to the conclusion that it was much more beneficial to me to confiscate all their belongings except their underpants than killing all of them.

    When I issued the final note like that, Commander Chung didn¡¯t answer. I didn¡¯t push him, since he had only one option: leave the Shelter!

    As expected, Commander Chung soon replied, ¡°¡­Okay.¡±

    ¡°Good. One hour should be enough for you to leave this ce, right? I¡¯ve told you clearly that when you guys leave, you should be wearing only your underpants. If you don¡¯t want to be humiliated any longer, don¡¯t try to bring any other items with you.¡±

    As soon as I warned him, I passed by him, since I had nothing else to do for now.

    What about President Kijung Kim, the mastermind of this whole operation? He was still the President who was protecting Korea!

    If I attacked him directly or did something hostile toward him, it would mean my fight was with Korea, not him. Of course, I didn¡¯t even intend to do something like assassinating him sneakily.

    He was now standing on a castle of sand, so even if I didn¡¯t attack him, he was going to gradually copse anyway.

    On the other hand, I hoped he would survive long enough to realize how bad his decision to join hands with Smith¡¯s party to get rid of me was!

 Chapter 276 - Juyoung Hong (8)

    <h4>Chapter 276: Juyoung Hong (8)</h4>

    The next day I did what I was normally supposed to do. However, those who encountered me at the Myongjin Shelter didn¡¯t act the way they used to.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t feel upset or displeased with their behavior, and I acted like like that to them. After all, they saw me the way I intended them to.

    In other words, I did not express regrets or anger over their reactions, nor did I give any extra meaning to their actions on my whim.

    Moreover, it was pretty natural that they behaved like that. It would be weirder if they had epted me as if nothing had happened in a situation where I had be a top star overnight.

    Of course, there were some who didn¡¯t change their behavior towards me at all. Those were my family, and some of the people who knew my real identity from the beginning.

    Of course, it didn¡¯t mean they epted me without question. My dad, my brother, and my sister kept telling me they were sorry. My mom cried for some time, holding me.

    I didn¡¯t say anything, because I knew why they were acting and talking like that. I didn¡¯t have any regrets for my actions, and I¡¯d had no choice but to act like that. If I was faced with the same situation next time, I would do the same thing without hesitation.

    The one person who changed his attitude the most was none other than Captain Jungdae Lim, who was in charge of the security forces of the Myeongjin Shelter. He was formerly a special forces lieutenant colonel. I didn¡¯t know the details, but he had been working as a mercenary for several years around the world after being discharged from the military dishonorably. All I knew was that my father had hired him several years ago. Since he was a reliable man, my father had appointed him as the chief of the security forces of the Shelter. He had cast nces at me on many asions for no particr reason.

    So, I asked him why the change in attitude.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s because you acted without any hesitation.¡±

    ¡°Is that all?¡± Because I had killed Smith¡¯s party?

    I was neither happy nor sad at that, since I¡¯d had to kill them in such a situation.

    Capt. Lim said, ¡°It was not because you killed them so boldly, but because I was very surprised by your cold-hearted judgment that you should or should not kill somebody in such a situation. Obviously, it was right that you killed the five members of Smith¡¯s party. If you had saved even one of them, you would have been criticized as irresolute, indecisive, or cowardly. But it was right that you didn¡¯t kill the soldiers. Even if you had killed them, it wouldn¡¯t have been beneficial to you at all, and you would have beenbelled as a murderer.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°I had no choice but to be surprised after you made a decision like that so quickly, when you didn¡¯t have any real experience on the battlefield.¡±

    As if he was very proud of me, Capt. Lim kept extolling me, looking straight into my eyes, ¡°On the battlefield, allies are scarier than enemies. In particr, themander whomands and directs his troops is more frightening than hundreds or thousands of enemies. Everyone¡¯s lives depend on his choice. When I watched you behaving resolutely, I really felt it was right that I came to this ce and I made the right choice, all because I believe I would not be killed foolishly by your wrong choice.¡±

    After he finished speaking, he turned around to leave as if he was done.Then he stopped in ce as if something came to mind and spoke up, ¡°Oh, you have given 60 tanks as well as numerous guns and ammunition to our security forces, right? So, they also like you very much, saying you remind them of their younger days in the army.¡±

    As soon as he said that, Capt. Lim disappeared in the opposite direction.

    I didn¡¯t hold him, of course¡­

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C

    At the Land of Titan, level 1500 hunting ground, the next day¡­

    I was busy cleaning up the mess from yesterday.

    Since I was born again as a swan from an ugly duckling of the Myongjin Guild, I had to show up at various ces to prove that the Myongjin Shelter was a safe ce.

    After I was done taking care of those matters yesterday, I essed Revival Legend right away after having breakfast because I hadn¡¯t yet reached level 1200 and there was an ongoing event.

    [All new hunting grounds in all the regions have been released.

    -An event is held inmemoration of the new hunting grounds.

    : 1 point when you kill one monster in the level 1300 hunting ground.

    : 2 points when you kill one monster in the level 1400 hunting ground.

    : 3 points when you kill one monster in the level 1500 hunting ground.

    *Even if the majority of the hunting partyunch multiple attacks, only the person who deals a final blow will earn points.

    -The total duration of the event is ten days. Rewards will be given to ten people in the order of the highest scores they get during the event.]

    Of course, I had wasted thest three days, but it didn¡¯t matter.

    There were still six days left, and what I earned up until then would be enough. I started hunting again.

    ¡ª¡ª

    While Juyoung was hunting alone in there, a great number of people around the world were very excited.

    Of course, if the battle had taken ce within Revival Legend, it would not have drawn as much attention as it had. But the battle took ce in reality, so they could not calm down easily, which is what he had been looking forward to.

    The power of Asirante, Juyoung Hong, was the dominant topic of conversation!

    ¡ª

    At the Holdridge headquarters in New York, USA¡­

    ¡°Yeah, it may be Blink, or it should be. I¡¯m sure it was Blink. But the question is why his Blink had no cooldown.¡±

    When one of the top executives spoke, the others didn¡¯t respond. They didn¡¯t know the answer, either.

    As far as they knew, there was no skill without a cooldown.

    Of course, one could reduce one¡¯s skill cooldown by using passives and buffs rted to an increase in willpower or decrease in skill cooldown, but when the top executives here checked on it, Juyoung Hong¡¯s Blink had no cooldown at all.

    Moreover, Blink had a rtively long cooldown. As a matter of fact, they could confirm clearly that something they had not imagined was possible really happened when a skill rted to one¡¯s movement had little or no cooldown.

    ¡°How can we catch him?¡±

    ¡°Can we catch him at all?¡±

    What¡¯s more, that wasn¡¯t the only problem for the Holdridge Group.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s believe that it¡¯s Blink. As far as we know, it¡¯s definitely Blink. But what is that?¡±

    There was something weird around Juyoung, as if it was protecting him.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    As expected, they remained silent again, having never seen it before.

    Of course, something like a protective shield for Juyoung was not invincible. It was burned, torn and damaged here and there by the Smith party¡¯s attack.

    But the problem was that there were so many of the things!

    Some of the damaged stuff withdrew itself into the ground, and was reced with something new. The things were powerful enough to neutralize the Shaking Land skill that inflicted considerable damage on an opponent!

    ¡°Oh my God! I doubt Juyoung is ying the same Revival Legend that we are.¡±

    The top executives of the Holdridge Group had to wrap up the meeting with lots of unspoken questions, as what Asirante had shown was beyond their imagination andmon sense.

    And it wasn¡¯t just the Holdridge people who thought the same. Everybody who witnessed the battle between Juyoung and Smith¡¯s party felt the same way!

 Chapter 277 - New Functional Ring (1)

    <h4>Chapter 277: New Functional Ring (1)</h4>

    Near the entrance to the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titans¡­

    The Daeseong & Kusan Alliance yers were fiercely hunting here, as dangerously as if they were riding a tightrope.

    Of course, I could understand why. General monsters dropped coins as well as gave EXP and golden rings, starting off with the level 1300 hunting ground that had newly appeared.

    The 1300 level hunting ground was located in the Japanese area, so they could not even dream of hunting there. As for the level 1400 hunting ground, the two powerful guilds of Mongolia, Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild, and the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance had already agreed to divide it.

    So, this Land of Titan was the only hunting ground for the Daesung & Kusan Alliance.

    They were too weak to raise an objection to the agreement among the four bigger guilds about the level 1400 hunting ground, and the quest event was still going on.

    I could fully understand why the Daesung & Kusan Alliance continued to hunt so tenaciously in this dangerous hunting ground.

    Of course, while I understood their position, there was nothing I could do for them beyond understanding.

    So, I ignored their intense gazes at me when I suddenly appeared in their hunting ground, and used Blink right away.

    ¡°Blink! Blink!¡±

    Shuuuuuuuuung! Shunnnnnnnnnng! Shuuuuuuuuung!

    In the past I had not wanted to reveal myself, so I had to use Blinkpletely out of their sight. But I didn¡¯t have to anymore, because my identity had already been revealed to the public.

    I started hunting only after moving deep enough into the hunting ground to not be bothered by anybody.

    Did I start with ice-type skills? No, I didn¡¯t.

    First of all, I earnestly shouted, ¡°Roots! Why don¡¯t youe out?¡±

    [¡­.] The roots didn¡¯t respond to my earnest call.

    ¡°Hey, roots! You came out well back then. You also didn¡¯t disappear quickly. Are you shy? Don¡¯t worry. There is nobody here now,pared with back then when there were so many watching you.]

    [¡­.]

    In fact, when the roots had suddenly appeared, I didn¡¯t expect them at all.

    But that was it. The roots had never appeared again.

    Of course it didn¡¯t matter even if they didn¡¯t appear, for this was within Revival Legend, not in reality. That meant I was not bound by my 33% reality actualization rate.

    However, I still remembered how the roots sprang out in such a wide area. It was clear that it would be of great help to me if I could use them for hunting.

    Nheless, the roots did no reply despite my repeated shouting.

    [¡­.]

    ¡°Man, juste out when you feel up to it.¡±

    I¡¯ve gotten so much help from the roots that I could notin now when there was no response from the roots. Looking back, I had received the roots¡¯ help in Region 0 when I had been forcibly moved there by Pablo, and in the level 900 limited only quest, not to mention this event.

    I didn¡¯t need Blink with zero cooldown this time, but it was possible for me to get the spotlight thanks to the roots. I had also made myself widely known to all the major yers of the world.

    So, I stopped begging the silent roots toe out and started hunting with the ice-type skills that were my trademark.

    [You have killed a level 1500 monster. -Obtained 3 points.]

    [You have killed a level 1500 monster. -Obtained 3 points.]

    Encouraged by the message that I had earned points, I kept hunting.

    ***

    While Juyoung was absorbed in hunting, he didn¡¯t realize that whenever he stepped forward and lifted his foot, some little brown thing on the ground his feet stepped on briefly appeared and disappeared, as if it was shy.

    At the Myongjin Shelter during this time¡­

    Chairman Sangman Hong sat down face to face with his elder son Kiyoung and had a conversation with him. ¡°So, you have made up your mind?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Dad. Because of the current situation, I¡¯vee to the conclusion that I can¡¯t put it off any longer.¡±

    ¡°Alright. It¡¯s good you have made up your mind. Your mom will like your decision, too.¡±

    Although Chairman Hong mentioned his wife to praise his son¡¯s decision, he also liked it, and smiled in deep satisfaction.

    No matter how chaotic the world was, it was really frustrating for him to see his first son staying unmarried even though he was already old enough to do so. In fact, Chairman Hong was also enough to want to see his children bringing grandchildren to him.

    Chairman Hong continued to talk with Kiyoung long after that, with several others, including his chief secretary Dongyoung Ahn, joining their conversation this time.

    Chairman Hong thought that his son should have a grand wedding ceremony with lots of people attending, although such a big ceremony was not really appropriate these days. That was because such a grand wedding ceremony would be helpful to the Myongjin Guild, as well as all the people living in the Myongjin Shelter.

    At the Land of Titans the next day¡­

    ¡°Blizzard!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    I continued to hunt quickly today, just like I had yesterday

    Blink with zero cooldown and the roots were big weapons that could change my situation drastically, but I felt it was more important to upgrade my ice-type capabilities, which could be called my basic ability. It was essential for me to reach at least level 1200 first in order to do so.

    There was one more thing I had to pay attention to. Just like I always did in any event or quest, I had to win first ce by all means! I had achieved my current status thanks to my constant first ce finishes.

    ¡°Blink. Blink.¡±

    Shuuuuung! Shuuuuuuung! Shuuuuuuuung!

    I ignored several Titans within the striking range of Blizzard. Instead, I herded monsters together using Blink with zero cooldown. It didn¡¯t take long for me to wait for all of them to die, but they kept chasing me as if demonstrating that they were level 1500 monsters.

    Anyway, while I was busy herding Titans again and hunting them, my elder brother messaged me, [Kiyoung: Hey, Juyoung, can I talk with you now?]

    As far as I knew, this was the first time he had yed Revival Legend, so he used his name as his own.

    I replied to him immediately. Unlike my sister, who often messaged me, my brother hardly messaged me unless he had really important things to share with me.

    In other words, his message to me meant he had something important to talk about.

    [Lumen: Yeah, I can.]

    [Kiyoung: Alright. Shall we have dinner together tonight?]

    [Lumen: Just between us?] I usually had a meal with our family, so my brother¡¯s offer to have dinner with him was rather unexpected.

    As if my guess was right, he continued, though I did not expect his next topic.

    [Kiyoung: Right. I have someone to introduce to you.]

    [Lumen: Okay.]

    I was very curious, but I was going to see my brother and the person he was going to introduce to me this evening, so I finished conversing with him, then kept hunting.

    That evening I headed to the Myongjin Shelter.

    The Myongjin Shelter was huge enough to house all the basic functions of any city on its own.

    It was designed that way deliberately. There were several restaurants where I could have dinner with my brother at the Shelter, and I went to one of them at the appointed time.

    Escorted by the manager, who treated me very politely, I was led to a separate room inside the restaurant, where I found my brother already seated at the table. Right next to him was a woman I did not recognize.

    ¡°Juyoung,e on in.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± I stepped up to the table and sat down.

    The woman sitting next to him said, ¡°Hello, my name is Eunji Jung.¡±

    ¡°Hello, my name is Juyoung Hong.¡±

 Chapter 278 - New Functional Ring (2)

    <h4>Chapter 278: New Functional Ring (2)</h4>

    As a matter of fact, I saw lots of women because I was from one of the top Korean business group families. Of course, I just looked at them, as I had no way of sizing them up yet.

    In terms of her looks, the woman who introduced herself as Unji Chung was not a beauty.

    She was not ugly, and she wasn¡¯t even dressed up.

    My brother said, ¡°Juyoung, she is going to be your sister-inw.¡±

    ¡°Sister-inw?¡± Of course, I had guessed she might be my sister-inw, but I was embarrassed, honestly.

    I replied to him right away, ¡°Well, I wish you had introduced her when you were with Dad, Mom, and sister¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, they already know it. Only you didn¡¯t. I couldn¡¯t tell you because you were so busy until recently.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± I didn¡¯t feel bad at his words.

    My brother tried to appease me by saying I was too busy for him to introduce her, but it had been an open secret to my family members. I had joined the army without evenpleting my freshman year in college, then left home after I was discharged. Since then, I had hardly attended family dinners or family gatherings. In other words, I was almost cut off from my family members. It was only natural that I was the only one in the family who didn¡¯t know her, and I had nobody to me for that.

    It was absurd for me to feel frustrated that I came to learn about her just now.

    It was a little surprising that she was an ordinary woman. My brother was a top bridegroom candidate, and worth a lot as the eldest son of Chairman Sangman Hong of the Myongjin Group.

    As if to satisfy my curiosity, my brother continued, ¡°We have known each other for quite some time, but I haven¡¯t seen her for a while because I was very busy, as you know. But now I have decided that I don¡¯t have to put off my marriage.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    He replied with a smile on his lips at my question, ¡°Do you know how many marriage offers I received just yesterday? Thirty! Yeah, I owe it to my great brother!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not trying to make fun of you, so just rx. I just want to thank you, brother. You are the one who has made it possible for me to spend the rest of my life with the person I love, without considering the circumstances around me.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t so stupid that I couldn¡¯t understand what he was trying to say.

    In other words, my brother didn¡¯t want what they called a ¡®marriage of convenience,¡¯ which used to be the prevalent way the power families of the top business groups arranged the marriages of their children. Given the position of my brother, there was a high probability that he would had to make such a marriage. In fact, the Daesung and Kusan groups had formed an alliance through their son and daughter¡¯s marriage of convenience.

    Anyway, my sister-inw-to-be thanked me after my brother did, and we had a pleasant dinner.

    I thought it was really wee that my brother would get married to someone he really loved instead of a marriage of convenience.

    After I met my brother and his fiancee, andter met them again with my sister, nothing unusual happened for the next five days.

    My sister hit it off well with my brother¡¯s fiancee, perhaps because they were very close to each other. My sister made fun of me and my would-be sister-inw looked at me curiously.

    Of course, I spent most of the time hunting, because that was my priority right now.

    ***

    I was supposed to finish hunting, so I hunted until thest remaining second.

    Soon a message rang out in the game

    [The event tomemorate the appearance of a new hunting ground has ended.

    -The points earned by Lumen, Ashirante are being converted into a score.]

    ¡°Whew!¡±

    This was definitely an important event. However, I, as well as the Myongjin Guild, went through a very big event right before this happened, so we proceeded quietly this time.

    Of course, I was confident of good results because I had done my best during the remaining time.

    I waited for the message quietly. Soon, another message rang out.

    [Congrattions!

    -The total score that Asirante has achieved in this event is 322,580,511 points.

    ¨C You have won first ce.]

    To be honest, I fully expected that I would win first ce. Even though I wasted three days, I really did my best to hunt for the remaining time, which was enough to get me to the top rank.

    I smiled at the message because I had no choice but to feel good about being first ce, even though I had anticipated it.

    As if to congratte me, a series of messages rang out.

    [You will receive rewards for first ce as follows:

    ¨C 2 billion golden rings.

    -15,000 coins.

    ¨C 500 Stat points.

    ¨C A random essory box ranging from legendary to mythical grade.]

    Out of the rewards, the fifteen thousand coins caught my eye first, because I had spent quite a lot of coins reality actualizing my sword during my fight with Smith¡¯s party, even though it was just a general, rare grade item. What¡¯s more, I had seen Smith¡¯s reality actualization rate of 200% with my own eyes.

    ¡°essories ranging from legendary grade to mythical grade¡­¡± I repeated.

    In my current inventory, there was an essory slot charm of mythical grade that I had acquired from the previous boss monster raid. There was a reason I hadn¡¯t used it right away. Even if I obtained a very good essory after recklessly adding to my ring, bracelet, earring, or ne slots, I would feel very sorry if the essory was more suitable for a different part of my body from the one I¡¯d chosen.

    In particr, I didn¡¯t want to break the set effect of an essory such as my Sacred Permanent Snow, which was made up of rings, earrings, and a ne that empowered me greatly.

    ¡°Okay. It¡¯s time for me to obtain a mythical grade item. What¡¯s more, I have the title of ¡®Lucky Companion¡¯ this time.¡±

    I knew I might not obtain a better item by saving it, so I opened the random essory box with a prize ranging from legendary to mythical grade.

    A ring appeared in the box. Of course, I could equip the ring by using my mythical grade essory slot charm, so it didn¡¯t matter to me.

    The only problem is that this ring was legendary grade, but I couldn¡¯t help but smile before I knew it.

    The ring was obviously legendary grade, but was an item that was treated as mythical grade.

    It was a worthwhile ring. It was not a skill, but it didn¡¯t matter.

    A ¡®functional stat ring¡¯ was inferior to a ¡®functional skill ring¡¯, but I still evaluated it as an item that did its job well enough.

    I put the functional stat ring into my pocket, then spoke in a low voice after opening a charm, ¡°Use the essory slot charm.¡±

    [You have used the essory slot charm.

    -Please select the slot that you want to add.

    : ring.

    : earring.

    : ne.

    : bracelet.]

    I chose the ring slot without any hesitation.

    [You have chosen a ring slot.

    -You have created a slot where you can wear an additional ring permanently.]

    As soon as I saw the message, I took the new stat ring out from my pocket.

 Chapter 279 - My Brotherâ€™s Wedding (1)

    <h4>Chapter 279: My Brother¡¯s Wedding (1)</h4>

    If the functional Stat Ring was an item that could only affect a few Stats, I wouldn¡¯t have liked it so much. I had the Trait of Mutual Growth, not affected by items or skills, for my Stamina and Willpower. So, no matter how much the Stats increased, it would just be useless if my Stamina and Willpower increased at the same time.

    But I didn¡¯t have to worry about it when it came to the Stat Ring.

    So I checked the item confidently.

    [Functional Ring: Stats. (Legendary)

    ¨C It is a functional Ring that increases the performance of Stats.

    : No wearable restrictions.

    : Enhancement is impossible.

    -Effect:

    : Choose one of Strength, Agility, Stamina, Willpower, or Intellect: Increase Stat points by 1000.]

    1000 Stat points was by no means small. With 1000 Stat points, it was not hard to regard the functional Ring as equal to, or higher than the Mythical grade.

    But actually, the real option of the functional Stat Ring was different.

    [It is possible to acquire additional Stat points equal to the current amount of the selected Stat. The additional Stat points cannot exceed 5000. For example, if you select Strength with a value of 10,000, you can acquire additional strength Stat points up to 5000, in addition to the basic increase of 1000. Conversely, if your current strength is 3000, you can gain up to 3000.

    ¨C After selecting this once, you need three million golden rings to select a Stat again.

    -Physical Defense: 500

    -Magic Defense: 500

    -Durability: 2,550,000/2,550,000]

    In other words, if I had more than 5000 of any Stat, I could acquire up to 5000 more Stat points, in addition to 1000 I received by default.

    So, I could acquire up to 6000 Stat points with this item!

    Obviously, nobody could increase the Stat points by that much with 0 enhancement and Legendary grade, even any Mythical grade items.

    In fact, I could not get so many Stat points with the +6 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword reinforcing my Stamina, Agility, and Intellect!

    I would not gain 5000 points unconditionally. As noted in the item description, there was a percentage chance of sess. For example, I might increase my Stat by only 10 or 100 if I was unlucky.

    Of course, I was ready for such contingencies, namely spending three million golden rings. I needed three million golden rings to retry the Stat immediately, which was only 1/10 the price of a magical skill Ring.

    Anyway I shouted out right away, having only one Stat to focus on, ¡°I choose Intellect!¡±

    [You have chosen Intellect as the Stat to be applied to the functional Stat Ring.

    -Intellect has been impressed on the functional Stat Ring.

    : Intellect increases by 1000.

    -In order to delete the current Intellect Stat and rece it with a new Stat, you need three million golden rings.]

    [The optional ability of the functional Stat Ring has been activated.

    ¨C You currently have over 5000 Intellect.

    : Intellect can be increased by up to 5000.]

    Along with that message, the functional Ring shone brightly. A new message rang out.

    [Congrattions! Your Intellect has increased by 4375 on your functional Stat Ring.]

    The Stat value wasn¡¯t low; at least it was over 2500!

    However, it was well short of 5000, so I was not satisfied with 4375.

    Moreover, I had tens of billions of golden rings, and I could spend as many as I wanted. Even if I used three million golden rings several times, it would make little difference in the number of golden rings I currently possessed.

    ¡°Yeah, I really don¡¯t like that number. Reset Stats!¡±

    [The Intellect Stat on your functional Stat Ring has been deleted.]

    I immediately set the Stat once again, hoping to achieve 5000.

    [Congrattions!

    -Intellect has increased by 120 on your Stat Ring.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Of course, that could happen because the Stat value I could obtain was between 1 and 5000.

    However, a Stat value of 120 was so low that I reset the Stat before I even realized it.

    It was incredibly easy for me to spend hundreds of millions of golden rings in just ten minutes.

    ¡°Man, 4375 is still the best I could get?¡±

    4375 came on my first try, which was far from low. Actually, it was quite high.

    I kept resetting the Stat because I was greedy, but I could not acquire a higher Stat value than my first time. I did see something over 4000 in the middle of my tries while I was resetting the Stat repeatedly, but I hadn¡¯t liked that number because I had already seen 4375.

    So, I tried again and again, with the intent of obtaining something higher than 4375.

    In the end, I spent hundreds of millions of golden rings without achieving my goal.

    ¡°Check item.¡±

    [Functional Ring: Stats (Legendary)

    -Current Stat: Intellect.

    : Intellect has increased by 1000.

    : Intellect has increased by 3999.]

    I could gain up to 5000, plus 1000 by default, but the most I could get was 3999 this time. I felt it was a great pity that it was one below 5000, but I decided to stop there.

    Why? Because I wanted to save golden rings?

    Honestly, it was true I wanted to save them. No matter how many golden rings I had, I had no choice but to feel sorry for myself if I had to spend golden rings meaninglessly. But the main reason was that I strongly felt I could not obtain a higher number than this even if I spent more golden rings, so I decided to go a little slower.

    Just wearing this item was enough to increase my intellect by about 5000. That was more than enough for me!

    After I made up my mind, I started hunting again. I was still in the Land of Titans, but I hadn¡¯t yet reached level 1200!

    At family dinner time that day.

    After I heard that my brother¡¯s marriage ceremony would take ce next week, I had no choice but to ask my father, ¡°He¡¯s getting married so quickly?¡±

    My father responded casually, as if it was not a big deal, ¡°Your brother is already old enough to get married. Besides, he has been seeing her for several years, so I decided that I didn¡¯t have to put off his marriage any longer. Her parents also agreed.¡±

    I was a little embarrassed by my father¡¯s decision to marry my brother off so hastily, but my brother and his would-be wife had known each other for almost ten years and had quite an intimate rtionship, so I nodded along naturally enough.

    Considering the age of my brother, who was now in his mid-thirties, I could fully understand why he needed to get married as soon as possible.

    After that, we talked a little more about my brother¡¯s marriage, even after we moved to Study No. 3

    Inside Study No. 3¡­

    Looking directly at me, my father said in the presence of my brother, sister, mother, Director Sok, and Chief Secretary Ahn, ¡°A lot of people wille to Kiyoung¡¯s wedding ceremony this time. Some of them will be people that I haven¡¯t invited.¡±

    I knew what he was trying to say. As far as I knew, there were lots of people who wanted to maintain good rtions with my family because of me, even though I was not interested in them. They won¡¯t waste this great opportunity to see me bying to my brother¡¯s wedding ceremony.

    Looking back at my father, I replied, ¡°I don¡¯t care. I just hope they won¡¯t stand in the way of my brother¡¯s wedding ceremony. If there is something I can do, I will do it.¡±

    My brother was ten years older than me. Because of our age difference, I had very few memories of him.

 Chapter 280 - My Brotherâ€™s Wedding (2)

    <h4>Chapter 280: My Brother¡¯s Wedding (2)</h4>

    While I was growing up, I avoided him because I had an inferiorityplex whenpared to him, but that couldn¡¯t be a reason for me to mess with my brother¡¯s wedding ceremony.

    I really hoped his wedding ceremony could take ce with everybody¡¯s blessings.

    ¡°Got it, Juyoung,¡± my father nodded in approval.

    Our meeting continued. My father argued that it was necessary for the Myongjin Shelter to host a big party, timed with my brother¡¯s wedding, to remind those staying at the shelter that they were Myongjin members and this ce was safe. As a result, we had to discuss lots of things to prepare for such an event.

    The next day I was busy hunting as usual, because I didn¡¯t have to do anything in particr for my brother¡¯s wedding. Besides, not just my family members, but even those who knew me encouraged me to continue hunting.

    Of course, I bragged about my magic Stat Ring to my sister, since she had teased me in the presence of my brother and his would-be wife.

    My sister suddenly messaged me.

    [Super Beauty: Again?]

    [Lumen: Yeah]

    [Super Beauty: Oh my¡­as many as 5000 Stat points from only one item?]

    Like she said, 5000 Stat points was so huge that ordinary users could not even imagine them.

    But my sister said something provocative this time. [Super Beauty: Then why do your Stat points look so low to me?]

    In fact, my sister¡¯s Intellect was already close to 4000, but it didn¡¯t seem huge to me because mine was higher than that. If I had gotten this magic Stat Ring earlier, I could probably have beaten Smith¡¯s party with just ice-type attacks.

    Anyway I continued to hunt, and finally I would achieve level 1100 soon.

    However, all of the limited quests were already over, and there was no chance for acquiring new skills, so no message rang out this time.

    Nheless, I could put a happy smile on my face. The fact that I had reached level 1100 meant that I was even closer to reaching level 1200!

    At the Myongjin Shelter a few dayster.

    ¡°Everybody, keep vignt!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    Although my father didn¡¯t send out invitations to them, lots of people called to say they would attend my brother¡¯s wedding to congratte him.

    My father did not refuse their request to attend, intending to show them that the Myongjin Shelter had a good name in society.

    As a result, Capt. Jungdae Lim and his security guards were very busy in the morning.

    I took a look at some important ces inside the shelter with them. I wanted to make sure nothing unpleasant would happen during my brother¡¯s wedding, since so many guests were supposed to gather here today.

    Even though my brother¡¯s wedding ceremony was to take ce at 2 PM, guests started showing up as early as 10 AM.

    Among them were the members of the Mirae, Daesung, and Kusan Guilds as well as the Tugal Guild of Mongolia that had allied with the Myongjin Guild and some Chinese guilds recently.

    Surprisingly, even Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild sent somebody to the ceremony, although their leader Ryu Seichi didn¡¯t show up in person. There were also top executives of the major guilds not only in Europe, but even from the United States, Canada, and South America.

    Of course, the security guards didn¡¯t ept everybody who wanted toe. They epted only those whose identities were confirmed and who were duly recognized by others.

    As for those who started to look for me at the ceremony, I didn¡¯t meet with a single person, nor did I care about doing so. Today was my brother¡¯s wedding day, and it was he and his future wife who should be today¡¯s stars.

    Exactly at 2 PM my brother¡¯s wedding ceremony started.

    ¡°Then we will proceed with the wedding of the groom Kiyoung Hong and the bride Eunji Jung.¡±

    There were so many people from outside, plus those living inside the Myeongjin Shelter, that the wedding ceremony was inevitably held in an empty lot outside the main building.

    As his younger brother, I watched the ceremony from up close, next to my sister.

    I whispered to her, ¡°Aren¡¯t you getting married soon?¡±

    ¡°Uh? Why should I get married?¡±

    ¡°Are you going to stay single for the rest of your life?¡±

    ¡°Who told you so?¡±

    ¡°You just said you would remain single.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m going to find someone someday.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± I turned my gaze to my brother instead of responding to her silly words. To be honest, I didn¡¯t even think her idea was that bad.

    At that moment something unexpected happened.

    [Monsters have appeared near No. 9 and No. 10 outside bases!]

    [They have been Identified as the flying monster, Gargoyle.]

    [As they are flying monsters, you should clear out and evacuate quickly!]

    I was wearing a small earphone connected to the security guards just in case I could move quickly in an emergency.

    There was a lot of noise and confusion among the numerous wedding guests.

    The central vacant lot where the wedding was being held, and also the No. 9 and 10 outside bases were clearly visible to the guests, so all of them confirmed the gargoyles wereing. Naturally there was a bigmotion and noise among the guests. They could see the monsters easily since they were flying.

    I felt I needed to move fast to crack down on the monsters quickly, but I didn¡¯t have to.

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Roots were sprouting from the ground at high speed.

    The roots attacked the hundreds of gargoyles flying around with their pointed tips. They even wrapped up and bound the gargoyles.

    [Kheeeeeek!]

    [Khuuuuuuhk!]

    Of course, the gargoyles did not stand there and take it. They screamed at the roots coiling about their bodies and attacked the roots with their sharp teeth and ws.

    But the more they did so, the tighter the roots began to coil the gargoyles.

    The roots began to twist endlessly after tightening around the gargoyles and dragged them down into their original territory, namely the underground.

    In a few breaths, the hundreds of gargoyles disappeared.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The guests became quiet all of a sudden as if nothing had happened.

    Soon they heard the sound of numerous golden rings and coins sprouting out from the ground.

    Watching them, I walked up to the host of the ceremony and borrowed his microphone to say, ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal. As long as you are inside the Myongjin Shelter, you are absolutely safe. So, please give your blessings to my brother and sister-inw who are holding their wedding today!¡± and I returned the microphone to the host.

    As soon as I finished, there was a resounding apuse from the guests.

    ¡°Wow, great!¡±

    ¡°Myongjin! Myongjin!¡±

    For a moment I thought that I was the guest most weed by the crowd because of the monsters¡¯ appearance.

    I shouted at them, ¡°Please collect all the coins and golden rings!¡±

    The coins obtained in this way were more important than the golden rings, since they could be traded for some other items.

    I watched my brother¡¯s wedding ceremony silently as it resumed shortly afterwards.

    While my brother¡¯s wedding ceremony was taking ce, a man in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, took off his 3rd generation virtual reality connector and stood up.

    ¡°Hahaaha!¡± He burst outughing as if he was very happy about something. He looked at the picture hanging on one of the walls and eximed, ¡°Just wait! My parasite is almost done growing!¡±

    The picture on the wall was of Juyoung Hong.

 Chapter 281 - Dungeon (1)

    <h4>Chapter 281: Dungeon (1)</h4>

    My brother¡¯s wedding ceremony was a grand affair. As soon as the ceremony was over, a party was held for everyone living in the Myeongjin Shelter, which continued untilte at night.

    Of course, this party was held to ay their anxiety and nervousness.

    Even if they were inside the safe bounds of the Myungjin Shelter, they could not help but suffer from anxiety because they were now in a different environment than before. It was necessary for the shelter leaders to relieve them of their growing stress, and convince them that they could lead a normal life like before.

    I also adjusted myself to the cheerful atmosphere of the party.

    Aside from the fact that I¡¯d worked really hard so far, I was really happy today when my brother got married. I was no longer childish enough to avoid him, so I gave him my sincere congrattions for his marriage.

    The next morning I had to wake up early, although I stayed at the Myongjin Shelter after the long party. I quickly washed and had breakfast, then went to the reception room with my father, brother, sister, and Director Sok to thank and see off those who hade to congratte my brother on his wedding yesterday.

    While we were waiting for the guests in the reception room, Director Sok said to my father, ¡°I have something to report to you.¡± My father nodded at him to continue. Sok went on, ¡°ording to Young-gun¡¯s request, we have conducted an investigation into the long-rooted tree monsters in the abandoned field. We looked into the boss monster, the long-rooted old tree monster, in particr.¡±

    He was referring to the roots that had shown such incredible performance.

    I needed more information about the roots, so I could learn how to wield them when I wanted to.

    Director Sok, my father¡¯s most trusted man, had decided to secretly investigate them.

    Sok told us, ¡°Just like then and now, it was the Sungchang Guild that continues to hunt the boss monster. We quietly approached those who had proceeded with the boss monster raid, but none of them knew about the roots that Juyoung acquired. Of course, they might have lied to us, so we visited each of the leaders who once belonged to the Sungchang Guild, but they didn¡¯t know anything about them.¡±

    To be honest, I had a rough premonition about what Director Seok In-soo was saying. If such roots had ever appeared, there would have been big disturbances andmotion everywhere!

    Sok continued, ¡°First, we approached the Sungchang Guild and took a stake in not only the abandoned field but also the boss monster through negotiations with them. Given that the Sungchang Guild was not greedy about the abandoned field, it seemed that our investigation results were correct. But we¡¯re going to go ahead with the boss monster raid there just in case.¡±

    ¡°You did a good job. Just go ahead.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±

    The matter of the roots was closed when my father nodded at Director Sok¡¯s n.

    A littleter we epted the outgoing guests in the waiting room.

    ¡°Thank you foring this far.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee! By the way, I¡¯m envious of you. I think you must be pretty happy to have such proud children with you.¡±

    ¡°Hahahaha, I¡¯m ttered.¡±

    They exchanged pleasantries with each other.

    I also responded with a smile. Regardless of their other intentions, they came here to congratte my brother on his wedding.

    Of course, there were some who I found unwee: those from Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild and China¡¯s Yanghwa Guild.

    I had joined hands with Chairman Daeyoung Suh of the Daeyu Guild to deceive the Yanghwa Guild. At that time I used Asirante as my ID. As a result, I extorted 10 billion gold rings from them.

    But they had now clearly realized that they could not win over my heart, because I was a descendant of the chairman of the Myongjin Guild. They had to be really frustrated and feel bitter at the fact that they had been deceived by me.

    However, the people from the Yanghwa Guild didn¡¯t bother to mention it, so fortunately we avoided a situation where they might start picking a fight.

    After seeing them off, I also had a chance to meet with India¡¯s Sidardt Guild, which I had once helped as Asirante to defeat the Chinese yers. Since so many people hade to the ceremony, I didn¡¯t see them off until around noon.

    ***

    ¡°Now the only guests we have to see off are from the Novo Guild in Indonesia.¡±

    Finally, thest guests were about to leave. However, they were not thest guests from the beginning. In other words, we deliberately arranged to see this group offst, for what they said some time ago was very meaningful.

    They opened the door of the reception room and came in.

    ¡°Congrattions, Chairman Hong!¡±

    ¡°Haha! Thank you foring so far.¡±

    Although we had exchanged such greetings with lots of guests, we weed them sincerely as if we were meeting them for the first time here.

    After exchanging pleasantries briefly, we cut to the chase immediately.

    ¡°This is it.¡± Someone sitting next to the guy named Wayan, the Deputy of the Novo Guild, pulled out a sheaf of papers from his bag and gave them to him.

    Wayan received the document and his face hardened slightly, ¡°Honestly, I was a little worried. Obviously, I do this with good intentions, but if the results are not good, we could turn be enemies in an instant.¡±

    We knew what he was talking about, because they had tipped us off in advance.

    They said this was a quest with 30,000 coins at stake!

    But the problem was that this quest was a real-world quest, not a quest within Revival Legend.

    Of course, there was now that stopped a quest froming into reality, when not only monsters but also all kinds of abilities, skills, and even items were being brought into reality. Nheless, we had no choice but to feel embarrassed to hear that.

    As if he had read our minds, Wayan continued, ¡°I have no intention of hiding it from you or trapping you, so I¡¯ve written down everything here in this document. Of course, you don¡¯t have to proceed with the quest. Honestly I hope you won¡¯t because everybody has failed. Those who failed never showed up again in reality.¡±

    The Novo Guild must have been overjoyed to have this quest at first, because it would give them 30,000 coins when they seeded in clearing it. In addition to those, there were other rewards as well, in addition to the coins!

    But all of them had failed at the quest!

    Wayan said, ¡°Here it is. If you have any questions, you are wee to contact us at any time. I will tell you everything to the best of my knowledge.¡±

    We duly received the document from Wayan, the deputy leader of the Novo Guild, and kept talking with him a little longer after that.

    The Novo Guild expressed their wishes that they would like to form a friendly rtionship with the Myungjin Guild, and would cooperate if need be in the future.

    The quest they brought this time was a gift for Myongjin, or more precisely, for me.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t take them at face value, because they would never have brought it here if they had cleared it on their own. They had brought it to us after repeated failures.

    Those who failed in the quest had never returned to reality!

    It was clear that the Novo Guild had brought this quest to us in desperation; they didn¡¯t want to take care of it anymore!

 Chapter 282 - Dungeon (2)

    <h4>Chapter 282: Dungeon (2)</h4>

    If I obtained over 30,000 coins as well as several other rewards, they would attempt to im credit for it, arguing that it was only because of their gift, namely the quest. But if I failed in the quest and disappeared like the others before me, they would still be satisfied.

    Generally speaking, somebody who was absolutely strong was always not only the subject of others¡¯ hatred, but also the target of their schemes.

    After seeing the Indonesian guests off, I had lunch, then logged into Revival Legend.

    Did I ess the game because I wanted to investigate the quest the Novo Guild brought to me?

    There were lots of people who would do so even if I didn¡¯t.

    Besides, I could check the results of their investigation after they were done.

    So I moved to the Land of Titan and started hunting again.

    A few dayster.

    When the deputy leader of the Novo Guild mentioned ¡°they did not return¡±, it meant that the yers who attempted the quest were dead. That¡¯s why it took quite some time for our people to investigate the quest.

    From time to time we contacted Indonesia¡¯s Novo Guild to ask various questions.

    And finally today, Director Sok decided to brief us about the investigation results.

    Director Sok stood up and said, ¡°First, we scrutinized the documents they brought us, then actually visited the ce they mentioned. It was in Gorontalo, Indonesia, and people living there seemed to be disappearing one by one for a long time. It seemed that they thought monsters were responsible for the disappearances. However, while we were exploring there a while ago, we found a cave. This is the ce in question.¡±

    As soon as Director Sok finished talking, the entrance to a small cave appeared on the screen.

    It looked normal at first nce.

    Director Sok continued, ¡°A message rings if you sit in front of this cave. It tells you to traverse the entire length of the cave and smash the cursed crystal at the end, adding that you will receive significant rewards, including 30,000 coins. Of course, we didn¡¯t attempt it. As the Novo Guild said, no one who went inside has evere out.¡±

    ¡°Are there any restrictions on entering the cave?¡±

    My father asked when Director Sok finished talking.

    Director Sok replied immediately, ¡°Well, there are restrictions. Only those who have achieved at least 1% reality actualization can enter the cave. ording to the Myongjin Guild¡¯s Strategy Department, there is a high possibility that once inside the cave, only your reality actualization rate matters, not your capabilities within Revival Legend.¡±

    Like he said, it certainly seemed so. That¡¯s why all the members of the Novo Guild failed in the quest without any exception.

    At that moment, I felt sorry for the Novo Guild because reaching even 1% reality actualization rate meant that they had reached level 1200, after all.

    Losing such people was a huge loss for the Novo Guild.

    Anyway, Director Sok continued briefing us a little more.

    ording to him, those who went inside the cave tookmunication devices and other equipment tomunicate with the outside, but they failed to work.

    And in the end, everybody turned their eyes to me because they knew who the Novo Guild had in mind when they decided to bring the quest to the Myongjin Guild. It was none other than mel.

    ¡®Hmm...¡¯

    I was definitely going to reach level 1200 soon, so I just wanted to focus on hunting.

    But 30,000 coins were too attractive for me to ignore.

    Though I umted lots of coins until now, I would have no choice but to use up all the coins I currently had as soon as I reached level 1200. Then I would be short on coins like everyone else.

    Besides, I had already seen a trait that could boost the reality actualization rate by 200%, 180%, 160%, 140% and 120%. So of course, I thought that 100% reality actualization rate might not be the maximum I could achieve with coins, even without a special trait

    So, I had a lot of mixed feelings about the quest, but I finally made my decision.

    ¡°I won¡¯t go.¡±

    Of course, I was confident in clearing the quest. I was confident in oveing any danger.

    But, obviously, even if it was a 0.0001% chance, there was a minute possibility that the worst case scenario could ur, which would mean my death. So, I wondered if it was necessary for me to take the risk, even if it was very small, when I had such a bright future.

    ¡°Good decision,¡± said my father.

    ¡°Thank you for respecting the judgment of our Strategy Department,¡± said Director Sok.

    Maybe my father and Director Sok were worried. And that¡¯s why they responded like that.

    Anyway, after I made up my mind, I went back to the Land of Titan and concentrated on hunting because I would soon reach level 1200.

    One weekter, all the important matters were wrapped up, so I was huntingfortably day by day when I received an unusual report.

    ¡°What? The coins in the reward have increased to 60,000?¡±

    I gave up the quest that Indonesia¡¯s Novo Guild brought to me because, although I felt slightly sorry for giving up the 30,000 coins, I was not so greedy for it to challenge the quest. But I had no choice but to be puzzled by the fact that the reward increased to 60,000 coins. I had never seen a reward increase until now, so I became all the more curious.

    But there were more surprises.

    [It was also mentioned that there is only one week left for anybody to clear the quest. If nobody clears it by that time, the cave will self-destruct, and all those who have already entered the cave as well as those who were dragged into the cave will be killed.]

    In other words, it meant that those who had entered the cave before could still be alive in there.

    As a result, the Novo Guild who confirmed the message were so desperate to challenge the quest by all means, for there was nothing more important than the survival of those who had reached level 1200 and achieved a reality actualization rate, especially when they thought they were already dead.

    [It seems that the guild leader of the Novo Guild is evening here in person.]

    In fact, the Novo Guild, who were pressed for time, had already begun to move.

    ***

    At the level 1500 Land of Titan hunting ground.

    ¡°Ice Field.¡±

    Pasasasak!

    I didn¡¯t bother toy out Thin Ice because Ice Field was more than enough for my attacks.

    And I used Pouring Hail and Blizzard on top of that.

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    [Kheeeeeeeek!]

    [Khuuuuuuuk!!]

    I killed all the monsters only with such attacks.

    I didn¡¯t have to use any other skills to kill the highest level 1500 monster Titans here.

    Then a message rang.

    [You have leveled up.]

    ¡°Check status window.¡±

    [Level: 1108

    Number of kills: 11492, Number of deaths: 0

    Titles: Only Closed Beta Max Level Achiever and 9 others.

    Health: 4,427,000 / 4,427,000

    Mana : 3,072,000 / 3,072,000

    Strength: 7628 Agility: 7825 Stamina: 31972

    Willpower: 21736 Intellect: 43855

    Remaining stat points: 10

    Remaining skill points: 0

    Traits: Iceman, Mutual Growth, God of Enhancement.]

 Chapter 283 - Dungeon (3)

    <h4>Chapter 283: Dungeon (3)</h4>

    Of course, my level has increased a lot until now.

    My Intellect, in particr, has gone up enormously.

    It was in thete 30,000s before, but now it is in the mid 40,000s.

    What made it possible was the functional stat ring that raised my Intellect by 4999 instantly.

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    I eximed before I knew it.

    The stats in the status window were so high that I had no choice but to question whether I really achieved so much.

    However, I could not keep admiring my remarkable achievements, so I invested the remaining 10 stat points I just acquired through leveling up in Intellect before closing the status window.

    [Super Beauty: Juyoung, when are youing?]

    [Lumen: Um¡­ How is the situation there?]

    [Super Beauty: Gosh, they are so nervous and desperate.]

    Indonesia¡¯s Novo Guild informed us about the quest with 30,000 coins as part of the reward.

    After several days of investigation, I decided not to pursue it because it was a quest in reality where only my reality actualization rate applied, and so there was a chance that I would actually die.

    The Novo Guild, who gave us such information, made the same judgment as us.

    Of course, I was confident of clearing the quest because I had some other options even if I was bound by my 33% reality actualization rate in reality. However, I gave it up because I was not desperate enough to take the risk no matter how slim it was.

    But when the message appeared that those who entered the cave were still alive and that the dungeon would self-destruct and kill those inside when the one-week quest period was over, the leader of the Novo Guild visited the Myongjin Shelter directly.

    So, I continued to y Revival Legend without logging out.

    As a matter of fact, the quest was only avable for one more week, and the number of coins in the reward increased from 30,000 to 60,000, so I could not help but covet it this time.

    Considering that 10,000 to 15,000 coins were usually given as a reward inrge quests, this quest¡¯s rewards were huge considering it would give more than 40,000 coins to whoever cleared it.

    So, I decided to challenge it from the moment that I was informed that the leader of the Novo Guild was rushing to see me. In fact, I thought I should do it unconditionally because the reward of 60,000 coins was really attractive to me.

    Of course, I did not immediately meet with the leader of the Novo Guild after making my decision. I didn¡¯t feel it necessary to volunteer to challenge the quest first with time on my side, while the Novo Guild leader was very desperate.

    So I continued to hunt even though I was informed that the Novo Guild delegation led by their leader had already arrived at the Myongjin Shelter.

    But it seemed I had made them impatient enough, so I replied to my sister.

    [Lumen: Let me log out now.]

    [Super Beauty: Okay.]

    I finished messaging her, then quickly moved to the exit using Blink with zero cooldown.

    At the Myongjin Shelter¡¯s reception room.

    As soon as I entered the reception room, the first thing that caught my eye was a person pacing up and down instead of sitting in a chair, as if he was nervous.

    Of course, I knew who he was because I was informed about him in advance.

    He was Mama, the leader of Indonesia¡¯s Novo Guild.

    He ran toward me as soon as he noticed me entering the reception room.

    Then he grabbed my hands tightly and said, ¡°Asirante! Juyoung Hong! Please! Please help us!¡±

    ¡°Calm down.¡±

    It seemed that he could not focus on my words.

    He continued quickly, ¡°There are only six days left. And we have 80 people trapped inside the cave!¡±

    ording to him, the Novo Guild dispatched 30 members first to the cave, and then another 50 members, all of whom had raised their reality actualization rate. So, each of them was extremely precious to the guild. And moreover, he said that the 50 who were dispatched to save the 30 members were elite members of the Novo Guild. In other words, the Novo Guild had no choice but to save them as soon as possible, given the one-week limit. If they had not known about the survival of the 80 members, the guild leader would not have cared at all, but since he came to know that they were alive, he could not give them up under any circumstances.

    However, he was afraid to send another elite team to the cave because of the previous painful failures, and if he failed once more, the Novo Guild would suffer a devastating loss that might be impossible to recover from.

    That¡¯s why he rushed to see me in person.

    I said calmly, ¡°If the information you gave me is true, wouldn¡¯t I be bound by the reality actualization rate, too? That means my life is at stake¡­¡±

    He might think I was too cold-hearted and ruthless.

    But obviously, I had no clear reason to help them. Besides, this quest would put my life in danger even if the probability of me losing my life was 0.00001%.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Mama, the guild leader, became gloomy quickly after hearing my words.

    So much so that anybody who saw his expression would feel guilty.

    However, the leader of the Novo Guild was the head of a business group that ranked amongst the top three in Indonesia. So, he must have thoroughly researched my background.

    Perhaps he thought he could win over my heart if he desperately appealed to my emotions. Of course, I clearly felt a sense of desperation in his face, but he was not desperate enough like a bird trying desperately to save its baby.

    So, I had no intention of just epting his request.

    As if he read my mind, Mama mentioned what I wanted finally.

    ¡°I will definitelypensate you reasonably! Please help us!¡±

    ¡°Um¡­¡±

    I didn¡¯t give him a firm answer right away because I still had plenty of time, unlike them.

    The next day, my mother stopped me and asked, ¡°Do you have to do it by all means?¡±

    ¡°Well, you¡¯re right, mom. As you said, I don¡¯t have to do it.¡±

    30 billion golden rings and a significant number of weapons, armor, and essory enhancement stones. That¡¯s what Nama promised to give me as a reward.

    Of course, all the rewards I would get while proceeding with the quest would be mine.

    But my mom and sister, as well as my father wished I would not do it.

    No matter how low the probability of me losing my life, the worst situation still existed.

    So, my family told me to take Myongjin¡¯s ace yers with me if I really wanted to.

    But I refused to take them with me.

    I said, ¡°They will just be a burden to me. I could be in danger if I had to save them when I could escape alone.¡±

    I was reallyfortable challenging the quest alone. As a matter of fact, I would have a higher chance of clearing it alone because I could disy 100% of my abilities when I didn¡¯t need to defend anybody, let alone being able to move quickly with Blink.

    So, I reassured my family members as well as my brother¡¯s wife, then moved to Indonesia.

 Chapter 284 - Dungeon (4)

    <h4>Chapter 284: Dungeon (4)</h4>

    In Gorontalo, Indonesia.

    It felt empty and lonely as soon as I arrived there.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t find it ufortable because I had been to this kind of ce many times.

    When I moved further into the region with guild leader Mama, I arrived at the entrance to the small cave that I saw in the investigation report that Director Sok gave me.

    ¡°It is over there.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    ¡°I really hope you cane back with my people trapped there!¡±

    ¡°Sure, I will do so.¡±

    Since I was briefed by Director Sok again yesterday, I moved naturally to the front of the cave without any hesitation.

    And as expected, a message rang.

    [This is the Dungeon of Ordeal.

    ¨C The Dungeon of Ordeal is only avable for those who have achieved at least 1% reality actualization rate.

    : Currently, you have a 33% reality actualization rate, so you can enter the dungeon.]

    This was the message that I heard first, namely, the one that announced that only those who achieved a required reality actualization rate could enter the dungeon.

    After passing the first test, the next message rang immediately after.

    [Currently, the quest ¡®Break through the Dungeon of Ordeal¡¯ is in progress.

    ¨C You will be given the following rewards if you clear the quest by breaking through thest room of the Dungeon of Ordeal.

    : 1 billion golden rings.

    : 60,000 coins.

    : 800 remaining stat points.

    : The title ¡®One Who Ovees Trials¡¯.

    ¨C There is a time limit for you to destroy the current Dungeon of Ordeal.

    : 122 hours 48 minutes.

    : If you do not clear the Dungeon of Ordeal within the time limit, the quest ends and the Dungeon of Ordeal will self-destruct immediately, killing everyone inside.]

    [Do you wish to challenge the quest ¡®Break through the Dungeon of Ordeal?¡¯]

    Originally, it was a quest that awarded 500 million golden rings and 30,000 coins and 400 remaining stat points. However, all of them doubled, along with a new title that was not there before

    Although I didn¡¯t intend to challenge it at first, the current rewards really tempted me.

    So I quietly opened my mouth.

    ¡°Challenge.¡±

    [You have decided to challenge the quest.

    -You are now being moved into the Dungeon of Ordeal.]

    Shuuuuuung-

    Soon I felt myself being pulled by something inside the cave, so I immediately prepared forbat because I didn¡¯t know what was going to happen.

    [¡­.]

    However, all that greeted me was a huge vacant area.

    Of course, it wasn¡¯t that strange. There was now that there should be monsters there.

    ¡°Safety Zone?¡±

    There was a safety zone that existed at the entrance of each city or hunting ground.

    It was there for the convenience of users.

    And the safety zone in this dungeon was quiterge.

    Tramp- Tramp-

    I started moving slowly through the safety zone where there were no monsters or even a single ant. And once I reached the end, I could easily enter another area.

    The problem was that the safety zone continued into the next area as well.

    ¡°Obviously, the condition for clearing the quest is to break through thest room¡­¡±

    The condition had nothing to do with killing or blocking the monsters. I just needed to break through thest room. Somehow the areas here seemed to be the rooms mentioned in the message. As a matter of fact, they were clearly partitioned from each other, so they could be called rooms. All I could do was move forward, so I kept moving forward.

    A littleter I passed through the areas, or the so-called rooms, and soon I faced a huge area which was different from all the previous ones. I instinctively felt that this was thest room.

    ¡°I wonder if this ce is still a safety zone.¡±

    All the 19 spaces that I passed by were in the safety zone. So I could not see any monsters.

    So, I moved on, hoping I would encounter monsters in the next space.

    At that moment, I heard lots of noise echoing in the area.

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    ¡°Someone is here!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, somebody is here!¡±

    There were quite a number of people. But they were just ordinary people.

    At a nce, I knew who they were because I heard from the Novo Guild that lots of ordinary people in Gorontalo disappeared after they were allegedly attacked by the monsters.

    But there was something more striking than them.

    [Safety Zone.]

    This ce was still a safety zone. And there was no path to move to the next area. As expected, this was thest room.

    In the center of thisrge area, there was an eye-catching crystal tower surrounded by exactly eighty men.

    One of them asked, ¡°Who are you? You do not seem to be a member of the Novo Guild.¡±

    I realized that they were different from the ordinary people from before. They were the people that Mama, the leader of the Novo Guild, had been searching for.

    But I didn¡¯t reveal my identity to them.

    ¡°I have been dispatched here to investigate.¡±

    ¡°Are you alone?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Then who else wille here?¡±

    ¡°No, nobody else wille here. As written on the crystal tower over there, there are only five days left before you have to get out of here.¡±

    On the crystal tower was written the time remaining before the quest ended, which was decreasing little by little. In other words, they also knew how much time was left.

    ¡°Then is it really time for us to decide?¡±

    ¡°No way! I don¡¯t like it!¡±

    ¡°Damn it! I don¡¯t want to die!¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t he tell us he would send more if we waited a little more?¡±

    At that moment, they began to shout andin about their leader outside the cave.

    So, I waited until they calmed down because they knew more than me right now.

    A littleter, the man who first spoke to me opened his mouth.

    ¡°Then, the fact that you havee here means that you have also raised your reality actualization rate, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°Whew! Then, did the odds increase a little bit?¡±

    I still was not sure what he was talking about.

    But I soon found out when I moved closer to the crystal tower.

    [Congrattions!

    ¨C You have arrived at thest room in the Dungeon of Ordeal.

    -If you destroy the crystal tower, you will seed in clearing the quest.]

    At that moment, I thought that the crystal tower was incredibly solid. Then a message rang under the tower, and I came to understand why they talked about probability.

    [The crystal tower can only be destroyed by one who has increased his reality actualization rate by at least 1%.

    -When you destroy the crystal tower, you will immediately suffer damage as much as 100 times your health, regardless of your physical and magic defense. As a result, due to your inevitable death, the rewards for clearing the quest will be equally distributed to those here who have raised even 1% of the reality actualization rate.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Suffer damage as much as 100 times one¡¯s health, regardless of one¡¯s physical defense or magic defense? In other words, this meant that whoever destroyed the crystal tower would die. And the rewards for the man who would die would be equally distributed among the survivors here.

    Now I seemed to understand why all these ces were safety zones.

    In other words, they needed someone who would volunteer to die for the others and let them receive the rewards. And that¡¯s why theyined about the probability.

 Chapter 285 - Dungeon (5)

    <h4>Chapter 285: Dungeon (5)</h4>

    Inside the Dungeon of Ordeal.

    I didn¡¯t take any action yet since there was still quite a lot of time remaining.

    However, there were some people who were very active. More precisely, they were chatting about something.

    ¡°Shall we wait for a little more?¡±

    ¡°Sure! Who knows if they will send more here? We¡¯ve still got four more days left.¡±

    ¡°But just waiting indefinitely is not good.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. What if the guy who we have chosen to destroy the crystal tower changes his mind with one minute left? We will all just die!¡±

    ¡°You bet. There is no guarantee that he won¡¯t choose to die together with us instead of dying alone!¡±

    ¡°If otherse here, the probability of me being chosen will decrease, but doesn¡¯t that mean that the number of those who will share the reward will increase as well?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡±

    Corresponding to the eighty people, there seemed to be eighty feelings mixed with anxiety, worry, desire, and greed. And such an atmosphere continued the next day.

    Of course, I looked all over the ce to see if they had missed something, but I couldn¡¯t find any holerge enough for even a single ant to get out. In other words, the only way to get out of this ce was to break the crystal tower. It seemed the only exit for now.

    Two dayster, the others seemed to agree on something.

    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s decide on who should break the crystal tower. Waiting any longer for others to arrive, or putting off the decision doesn¡¯t seem like a good option any more. As someone said, if the person who has been chosen to destroy the crystal tower changes his mind at thest minute, we will be in big trouble,¡± said Verdi, the captain of the eighty members here, and the person who first questioned me.

    Everyone around him just became silent at his words, nor did they raise any objection.

    At that moment, he shouted at me, ¡°Hey.e over here. Obviously, you are qualified to break the crystal tower, and if somebody else breaks it, you will also share the rewards with us.¡±

    Without refuting him, I walked toward his group.

    Like he said, I was no more a stranger to them once I stepped in this ce.

    So, with me joining them, there were a total of 81 people here.

    After I moved to his group, Verdi continued, ¡°Once again, I will make it clear to you. Whoever gets chosen should destroy the crystal tower immediately and unconditionally. Don¡¯t even tell me to give you more time. If you think too much, you will be more scared. Instead, write yourst words to your family members or lover or somebody else. I will handilypensate those who you have left behind.¡±

    ¡°Got it¡­¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­¡±

    They answered feebly.

    But Verdi didn¡¯t seem to like it. So, he shouted again.

    ¡°Everybody, answer me clearly and loudly, so others can hear you!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    In the end, each of them answered so loudly that all the others including me could hear it.

    Then, somebody brought cards with eighty circles on them and one card with a cross on it.

    But I stepped forward and said, ¡°I want you to make them again.¡±

    I was clearly an outsider among them, so the best possible option for them was I would be chosen as the one to break the crystal tower.

    In fact, they showed their intentions secretly.

    What about the 81 cards they prepared in advance?

    I didn¡¯t, and couldn¡¯t believe them.

    As a result, everyone there, including Verdi, frowned at my words.

    But I continued without caring at all, ¡°If you don¡¯t make the cards again, I won¡¯t be part of your n, because I¡¯m in a safety zone anyway. We¡¯ve got only two days. But who cares when my life is at stake here?¡¯

    ¡°Sure,¡± Verdi said with a sigh as if he could not help but acquiesce to my request.

    But I had one more request, so I shook my head at Verdi and said, ¡°I want you to have ordinary people make the cards with the circles and the cross.¡±

    ¡°You mean you don¡¯t trust us?¡±

    Verdi, who had always maintained hisposure until this point, was furious this time.

    ¡°Yeah. Do you really think I am naive enough to trust you?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Without avoiding Verdi¡¯s angry eyes, I spoke because I was neither naive nor stupid.

    ¡°Damn it.¡±

    ¡°Do we really have to ept his request?¡±

    ¡°Son of a bitch! If I survive, I¡¯ll chase and kill you by all means!¡±

    ¡°Always be careful. I know your face!¡±

    At that moment, they began cursing me here and there.

    Of course, I wasn¡¯t scared at all. And I understood their feelings.

    After all, they were trapped here in the Dungeon of Ordeal while I was fighting Smith¡¯s party, the point at which my identity was fully revealed to the world.

    In other words, they still didn¡¯t know I was Asirante.

    ¡°Be quiet, guys! Okay, let me do what you want.¡±

    Of course, I could be overreacting, but I was 100% sure they had chosen me as the scapegoat who should break the crystal tower because that is the only way for all the eighty people here to be happy.

    A littleter somebody brought eighty cards with circles and one card with a cross on it, which were made by ordinary people who didn¡¯t know how to mix the cards, and who didn¡¯t know the situation here.

    In the end, the fate of everyone here depended on sheer luck.

    So, everybody including me picked up the cards.

    ¡°Mine has a circle!¡±

    ¡°Mine, too!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! Circle!¡±

    Since all the cards had circles except for one, there were shouts for joy echoing across the area.

    The card I chose had a circle too.

    But there was somebody who reacted differently and could not rejoice.

    He was shuddering with fear. Obviously, he had pulled out the card marked with a cross.

    ¡°Ronch.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Ronch?¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    Only when Captain Verdi called his name once again did the shuddering man named Ronch raise his head.

    ¡°Destroy the crystal tower right now! I will heavilypensate your family. As the captain of the Second Team of the Novo Guild and the maternal cousin of Guild Leader Mama, I can guarantee you this!¡±

    Verdi seemed to know clearly that the longer one thought about something, the more they would be worried. So he immediately ordered this guy named Ronch to destroy the tower.

    But Ronch strongly protested.

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t want to! We¡¯ve already chosen to have the outsider destroy the tower! Damn it! Why me? Since we have agreed to do so from the beginning, we should follow up on it. Why should I do it?¡±

    ¡°Ronch!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to do it, you son of a bitch! Who the hell are you? Our captain? Bullshit! If you tell me to die, do I have to die?¡±

    ¡°Everyone has already agreed to do so. You know that, right?¡±

    ¡°Bullshit! You do it if you want to. This is a safety zone. I don¡¯t want to do it at all. I would rather die with you all!¡±

    Ronch strongly resisted their strong persuasions.

 Chapter 286 - Dungeon (6)

    <h4>Chapter 286: Dungeon (6)</h4>

    Ronch could show such guts because this was a safety zone.

    But the other members started shouting at him.

    ¡°Ronch, you also promised.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, keep your promise!¡±

    ¡°Your sacrifice is by no means light. It is a noble sacrifice.¡±

    However, their appeals did nothing to persuade him. His eyes were still burning in anger.

    ¡°Noble sacrifice? Don¡¯t talk bullshit! If you want to do it, do it, you son of a bitch!¡±

    In the end, the situation became a mess in an instant.

    But there were other problems.

    Even if the remaining eighty people drew the lot again except for Ronch, there was no guarantee that the person who drew the card marked with the cross would not behave like Ronch.

    Since Ronch already showed that he would not keep the promise, the next guy would clearly follow suit.

    ¡°Shit! Keep the promise you have made!¡±

    ¡°Ronch, you son of a bitch!¡±

    ¡°Ronch, I¡¯ll break your neck if we get out of here.¡±

    In the end, they ended up hurling abusive words at Ronch, not me.

    No matter how hard they pushed him, it was impossible for them to force him to attack the crystal tower because this was a safety zone.

    The atmosphere the next day was very grim.

    There was less than a day left to break the crystal tower and escape from here, so they were faced with the worst situation where all of them would die if somebody didn¡¯t volunteer.

    In the meantime, there was a guy who appealed to me to volunteer.

    It was none other than Ronch.

    ¡°You are a stranger. You must havee here forpensation. So do me a favor. Write down the names of your family, rtives or your lover here. I will give them one billion or even ten billion golden rings if I get out of here. And I¡¯ll protect them for the rest of my life if you want. I can swear it on God!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Ronchi knelt before me and begged.

    All I could think at that moment was ¡°What an idiot!¡±

    So I ignored him.

    Time went by, with each of them checking the others¡¯ expressions while hoping that somebody would volunteer.

    Watching them, I felt that eighty-one people including me were simply too many. What I meant was they could make the decision more easily if there was only a small number here.

    In other words, eighty-one people was too much. With such arge number of people, some of them would think that someone else would sacrifice themselves voluntarily, while others would be confident that they would not be chosen from such arge number.

    That¡¯s why the situation got messed up like this.

    A littleter, I stood up and looked around.

    I saw Ronch crouching in a corner with his head down, while the others were looking at each other nervously. So, I shouted loudly enough so everyone here could hear me.

    ¡°Alright. I will volunteer as long as each of you pays me one billion golden rings, and Ronch here struggling to survive pays me 10 billion golden rings. How about that?¡±

    They began to whisper here and there.

    Even though I cut to the chase without any further exnation, they knew what I was saying immediately.

    Soon, they began to respond enthusiastically.

    ¡°Sure, I will ept it!¡±

    ¡°Me too!¡±

    ¡°Of course, I agree.¡±

    Maybe they even thought that even if they made the promise, they would not have to keep it if I died here. And some of them might have even wondered, ¡®Why do you want to receive golden rings when you will perish here anyway?¡¯

    In their minds, they were in reality, which meant I would receive the golden rings only after and not before I destroyed the crystal tower.

    But they didn¡¯t ask any questions because they were preupied with survival.

    Even Ronch, who I singled out to pay 10 billion golden rings, remained silent.

    So I shouted again, ¡°I¡¯m filming all our interactions now with a Memory Bead that I have actualized in reality. So, you can¡¯t deny what you have promised to me. And I want you, Verdi, to promise me that if your men don¡¯t give me the promised golden rings, the Novo Guild will offer them instead.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    Verdi remained silent for a moment.

    But he finally replied in a low voice as if he had made up his mind.

    ¡°Okay. The Novo Guild will pay a total of 89 billion gold rings to you, no matter what. But what is your name?¡±

    ¡°Juyoung Hong. You must definitely remember my name. Your leader Mama also knows my name.¡±

    They would have been stunned if I had introduced myself as Asirante.

    But they, including Verdi, didn¡¯t take any action when I revealed my original name.

    They seemed to have judged that their leader dispatched me here as a mercenary.

    Anyway, I signed something like a contract, then turned my gaze to the crystal tower in the center.

    Without hesitation, I walked toward the crystal tower.

    Committing suicide? Of course, I had no intention of doing so.

    Moreover, while the others here might regard this ce as hell, it was not hell to me at all. But it was not heaven either. Right now, I was so happy in this world where I could fully show the power of my presence. So, I didn¡¯t think about suicide at all.

    So much so that I even thought I would kill all the guys here if I had to to survive.

    In other words, I knew how to get out of here.

    [You currently have the blessings of ¡®Safeguard No. 3 To Cope With Crisis.¡¯

    ¨C Yourbat power increases as your health decreases.

    ¨C Yourbat power increases by 1% for every 10% drop in your health.

    -When your maximum health drops below 10%, you will suffer zero damage just once regardless of the attack.

    : Cooldown 30 days.]

    Until now, this skill has been of little value to me because I had over 30,000 stamina, which was not as great as my Intellect, and excellent armor.

    But this was the best skill for me in this situation.

    Of course, I had already figured out the solution to this situation two days ago, not now.

    But I didn¡¯t tell anybody about it because they didn¡¯t hide their wishes from the beginning that an outsider like me could be their sacrifice.

    Besides, I didn¡¯t want to miss the golden chance to make a fortune.

    Anyway, I stopped thinking anymore.

    I immediately attacked the crystal tower by summoning the Ice Spear.

    Bang!

    The crystal tower was shattered with one shot.

    A message rang right after that.

    [You have destroyed the crystal tower.

    -Regardless of your physical defense and magic defense, you will suffer damage 100 times your health.]

    With that message, my health depleted in an instant.

    Since I had never seen my health deplete by that much before, I cleared my throat nervously even though I knew the existence of the blessings of ¡®Springboard No. 3 To Cope With Crisis.¡¯

    When my health dropped to exactly 10%, another message rang.

    [You currently possess the blessings of ¡®Safeguard No. 3 To Cope With Crisis.

    -All the damage you suffer after this will be changed to zero only once.

    -The skill has a 30-day cooldown.]

    So, my health did not drop further from 10%.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡±

    At that moment, I could not control my smile.

    As a matter of fact, I was still a little worried deep down even if I knew what would happen, for I was in reality and not within the game.

 Chapter 287 - Account Limit (1)

    <h4>Chapter 287: ount Limit (1)</h4>

    In front of the Dungeon of Ordeal in Indonesia¡¯s Gorontalo region.

    ¡°How many hours are left until the dungeon copses?¡±

    ¡°Less than 20 hours.¡±

    ¡°Oh my¡­¡±

    Mama, the leader of the Novo Guild, had no choice but to clear his throat nervously after hearing that there was less than a day left.

    It had already been 4 days since Asirante entered the cave, but the fact that there was still no change meant that he failed to clear the quest. In other words, the remaining eighty people trapped inside the cave would be all dead.

    ¡®Damn it! If Asirante dies, the Myongjin people wouldn¡¯t sit idle.¡±

    Asirante was a promising young man with a bright future.

    If the Myongjin Guild lost him, they would obviously punish the Novo Guild.

    Moreover, Asirante was not an ordinary guild member, but the son of Chairman Hong.

    But Mama looked at the matter from a different angle.

    ¡®Alright, the Myongjin Guild without Asiran is like a tiger without teeth. What¡¯s more, if I announce that Asirante is dead, there will be a lot of people who will wee it with open hands and offer all kinds of support to us.¡¯

    In his eyes, Asirante¡¯s death was not terrible news because he was simply too strong.

    But the problem was not Asirante. It was the eighty members that he invested in and raised with sweat and toils that would also be killed along with Asirante. He felt so heartbroken when he thought of their fate, and at the same time felt angry that his rival guilds would rejoice at Asirante¡¯s death when they didn¡¯t contribute to it at all.

    In other words, the best thing right now for Mama was for Asirante toe back alive with the eighty members of his guild. However, he had already concluded that Asirante failed to clear the quest.

    While standing on one side, Mama looked at the members of the Myongjin Guild.

    At a nce, all of them were restless.

    Until a moment ago, they were engaged in a big fuss, divided into one camp who wanted to dispatch elite guild members into the dungeon immediately and the other camp who wanted to wait a little more.

    Watching them, Mama thought that if the dungeon was destroyed and Asirante died, it would not be strange at all if they attacked him right away.

    So he had his entourage prepared forbat just in case.

    Even if they did not intend to kill him, it was obvious that he would be their arch enemy.

    At that moment, numerous people appeared around the Dungeon of Ordeal.

    Apparently most of them were ordinary people, but Mama could find Verdi, his maternal nephew and leader of the Novo Guild¡¯s second raid team. There were also other members of his expedition and raid teams present there as well.

    ¡°Oh! God!¡±

    Novo Guild leader Mama expressed his joy, raising his hands to the sky.

    Even though his guild paid a huge amount of 30 billion golden rings among other concessions to the Myongjin Guild, the survival of his eighty members were more than enough to make up for that.

    Then he immediately started looking for Asirante, or Juyoung Hong.

    Inside the Dungeon of Ordeal.

    The moment I destroyed the crystal tower, a series of messages rang, then I experienced a strong pull.

    What I saw after that was no longer the inside of the cave.

    At the same time, I could hear loud shoutsing from around me.

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    ¡°He hase out!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s finally escaped!¡±

    ¡°He has survived! Yeah!¡±

    Inside the cavel were not only the eighty people who had raised their reality actualization rate, but also a number of ordinary people who were dragged inside the cave when the dungeon was created. And the ordinary people hugged each other and shouted for joy.

    However, I did not pay much attention to them because of the messages that were ringing in session.

    [You have sessfully cleared the quest ¡®Break through the Dungeon of Ordeal.¡¯

    ¨C As a reward, you receive the following items.

    : 1 billion Golden Rings.

    : 60,000 coins.

    : 800 remaining stat points.

    : Title ¡®One Who Ovees Ordeals¡±]

    And there was another message.

    [You have the title ¡®Quest Master¡¯.

    ¨C Upon clearing a quest, you will acquire an additional 100~300 remaining stat points depending on the difficulty of the quest.

    ¨C Currently the system is calcting the difficulty level of clearing the quest ¡®Break through the Dungeon of Ordeal¡¯.

    : You receive 300 remaining stat points.]

    To be honest, I was a little embarrassed by the huge rewards.

    Since all the areas were safety zones, there were no monsters or people who could harm me.

    Anyway, I was so happy about the huge rewards which did not correspond to my minimal effort at all, when some people called me.

    ¡°Juyoung Hong!¡±

    ¡°Juyoung Hong!¡±

    Both shouts were mixed with quite intense emotions.

    However, the first shout was obviously filled with joy, while the other one was filled with displeasure.

    That¡¯s why their calls felt different to me.

    ¡°Juyoung Hong! Why did youe out sote? Don¡¯t you know how worried our family members are?¡±

    ¡°Juyoung Hong! You son of a bitch! How did youe out alive? Did you already know how to get out of there in advance? Did you knowingly make fun of us?¡±

    The first person who shouted out to me was my sister, while the second one was Verdi.

    Of course, I could understand both of their emotions.

    I clearly told my sister and other members of my family that I woulde back quickly, but I was veryte.

    And Verdi was clearly displeased that I had deceived him and received all the rewards for clearing the quest. What¡¯s more, he promised me 89 billion gold rings if I broke the crystal tower.

    ¡°Shut up, Verdi!¡±

    The guild leader Mama didn¡¯t stop my sister, but he stopped Verdi.

    But he couldn¡¯t make even the other members of Verdi¡¯s team shut up.

    ¡°Mama, that bastard has deceived us.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. He was supposed to die, but he¡¯s still alive like that!¡±

    ¡°Juyoung, you scammer-like bastard! I will break your jaw and tear apart your limbs!¡±

    Verdi wasn¡¯t the only one who felt deceived, so the rest of the group also cursed me.

    But those who were here were not only from the Myongjin Guild, but from the Novo Guild as well.

    So, they must have been well aware of me.

    Obviously, my dramatic appearance after clearing the quest was terrific enough to enjoy the spotlight of the world.

    Nheless, the atmosphere became cold when the Novo Guild members who were in the cave with me hurled abusivenguage at me, calling me a scammer, son of a bitch, and even threatening to rip my limbs apart.

    As a result, their guild leader Mama¡¯s face turned red at first, but soon it turned pale.

    At that moment, the eighty members including Verdi noticed something strange.

    However, I didn¡¯t attack them or give them a piece of my mind because they didn¡¯t know me until then. Of course, ignorance could be a sin in this world, but I decided that I didn¡¯t have to punish them for not recognizing me. After all, they were poor guys who would have to pay the 89 billion golden rings that they had promised me, for which they were destined to get cursed at by their boss.

    Anyway, I ignored them and said to my sister, ¡°Let¡¯s go home. I can¡¯t stand staying here anymore. I would like to take a vacation, but it looks like ying Revival Legend is my vacation.¡±

    Then I shouted at those guys affiliated with the Myongjin Guild.

    ¡°Everyone belonging to Myongjin, prepare to move. I have no intention of being an unwee guest to the grand wee party hosted by the Novo Guild!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

 Chapter 288 - Account Limit (2)

    <h4>Chapter 288: ount Limit (2)</h4>

    My status within Myongjin has risen dramatically, and jumped up beyond imagination.

    So much so that not only Director Sok and Chief Secretary Ahn but also Kilsan Lee, the former head of the Myongjin Shelter, respected me in private as well as public ces.

    So, none of the Myongjin members resisted my orders.

    They immediately started packing their stuff and getting ready to move.

    Then I approached Mama to say goodbye.

    ¡°It took me a lot longer than I expected. So I think I need to leave quickly.¡±

    ¡°But you did such a great job for us¡­¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your kind words. I could escape sessfully because the eighty members over there moved with one heart. So they deserve the credit.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    As soon as they saw me, they pointed at me and cursed me.

    So, Mama must be aware that I was just paying lip service.

    That was why they could not respond at all, as if they were speechless.

    Anyway, I said what I wanted to say, so I turned and moved toward the Myongjin members.

    After taking a few steps, I suddenly turned and said, ¡°Ah, let me tell you this, Mama. Even though I told them I didn¡¯t want it, Verdi and Ronch insisted on me receiving the rewards, so I reluctantly decided to ept. They were so polite that it was rude for me to keep rejecting their request, so please keep that in mind.¡±

    As soon as I said that, I moved along with the Myongjin members who were done preparing to return to Korea.

    Inside the airne.

    ¡°Here you are!¡±

    ¡°Memory Beads?¡±

    I handed the Memory Beads to my sister, who was seated next to me.

    ¡°They should be giving me 89 billion rings! Of course, I won¡¯t be able to receive them all. Maybe I should receive half of it? Well, if I adjust the amount by half, the Novo Guild has no choice but to give them to me.¡±

    In fact, the Myongjin Guild had already received 30 billion golden rings and a lot of other rewards before I entered the Dungeon of Ordeal. But not only my father, but also my brother, my sister, my mother, as well as Director Sok insisted I should take them all because they were mine, so I had them all. Of course, I donated most of it to the Myongjin Guild except for the golden rings.

    So, I decided to let them have my golden rings this time.

    And aside from that, I obtained more than 60,000 coins, as well as 1100 stat points including the 300 stat points I earned by being the Quest Master. Besides, I earned a new title as well.

    Of course, I could have asked the Novo Guild members for more golden rings. For example, 10 billion and 100 billion gold rings per each of the eighty members.

    They probably thought that they would not have to keep their promise because I would die while breaking the crystal tower, so they would not have rejected my request.

    But if I made excessive demands, the Myongjin and Novo Guilds would inevitablye into conflict. So I didn¡¯t ask them for more golden rings.

    Anyway, I rxed on my seat while the airne was flying to Korea.

    I wanted to ess Revival Legend right now, but I was absolutely forbidden to ess Revival Legend in an insecure ce. There were lots of security breaches that had led to idents in the past.

    At the level 1500 hunting ground, the Land of Titan, the next day.

    ¡°Blizzard!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    [Kheeeeek!]

    [Khuuuuuuuk!]

    ¡°Bingo! This is what I want!¡±

    To make up for the past four days I didn¡¯t log in the game, I started hunting early in the morning.

    Watching the titans copsing at my attack, I eximed in joy because I was so thrilled with my new power. So much so that I could not understand those who refused to y this game. In other words, Revival Legend now has an inseparable rtionship with mankind. And there are very few who don¡¯t know about this.

    Nheless, it was impossible for everyone to y this game.

    Why¡± Because just likeedians often said, somebody has to raise cattle, pigs, chickens and do farming. In other words, it was very important for everybody to do their job for society to function.

    For the Myongjin Shelter in particr, not only the security force who were recing the police force, but also those who ran restaurants or grocery stores, or even maintained the bathrooms, were absolutely necessary .

    But despite all these upations, the most important thing was Revival Legend.

    So, I increased the number of users belonging to Myongjin within Revival Legend little by little, for If I increased them all at once, it would be hard to manage them efficiently.

    However, there were often those who said that they were happy with where they were now, so they did not want to y the game.

    Of course, I understood some of their reasons because I too waste in starting the game.

    So much so that even now the highest level yers were still quite far ahead of me in terms of levels even though I tried my hardest to catch up.

    Despite that, I thought it was better to try than simply give up.

    Anyway, I kept hunting religiously because not only the 1100 stat points I recently obtained, including the 300 remaining stat points I obtained as the Quest Master, but also my new title was very helpful to me.

    [Title: One Who Ovees Ordeals.

    ¨C This is a title that can only be obtained by one who has broken through and ovee the ordeal.

    : Health increases by 100,000.

    : Mana increases by 100,000.

    : All stat points increase by 300.]

    There was nothing special, but it was still very satisfactory.

    In particr, the increase of all stat points by 300 really added to my performance.

    Anway, I continued to hunt hard.

    When I was about to log out to eat lunch, an announcement that everyone could see rang out.

    [Thank you for enjoying ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ until now.

    ¨C There is something new I would like to tell you about.

    : From now on, it will be impossible to create a new ount in ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    -Thank you.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The message was so sudden and unexpected.

    Moreover, it was hard to ept such a message easily because it basically meant that no new users would be able to create an ount any longer.

    Perhaps because of that, my sister messaged me right away.

    [Super Beauty: Juyoung, did you see the message?]

    [Lumen: Yeah.]

    [Super Beauty: Log out quickly ande to our study room. We¡¯re going to have an emergency meeting.]

    [Lumen: Okay.]

    Obviously, the inability to create a new ount was a grave matter. The absence of new users meant that the most obvious way to advance in the game was blocked, and the number of people confronting the monsters would no longer increase.

    It also meant that just having an existing ount was of tremendous value.

    After mulling on myplicated thoughts like that, I logged out quickly, and then moved to the No.3 Study within the Myongjin Shelter.

    The message in question rang simultaneously to everyone within ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    The repercussions that the message brought about were tremendous.

    Moreover, as nobody was prepared for such an unexpected situation, there was inevitably a big confusion.

    Of course, not everyone stood nkly.

    Those with discerning eyes immediately knew that the message distinguished ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ users from its non-users, so it was imperative to hire the users as soon as possible.

 Chapter 289 - Level 1200 Regular Quest (1)

    <h4>Chapter 289: Level 1200 Regr Quest (1)</h4>

    At the Myongjin Shelter¡¯s No. 3 Study.

    ¡°It seems that from now on, when screening applications for those who want toe to the Myongjin Shelter,, we have to check out whether they have ounts with Revival Legend first.¡±

    ¡°But even in that case, I don¡¯t think we can ept just anybody who has an ount. The reason we want to ept them is because we want to raise new users, but we can¡¯t ignore how much money and time we need to invest in them until they can grow big and help us. We should remember our investment has sometimes failed in the past.¡±

    ¡°Of course, you are right. However, just as most living things, including humans, prepare for the future through producing offspring, the existence of new users is the future of mankind itself. But since there can be no more new users, everybody will feel considerable pressure and fear.¡±

    ¡°And, frankly, among those in the lead rankings, or even in the middle of the pack, lots of them were refreshing their determination to fight well as new users poured in.¡±

    Everyone here expressed various opinions about the new ount limit with Revival Legend at the meeting, but one thing became more and more clear as time passed by.

    That was it was crucial for any guild to take good care of their members.

    Of course, it was important to hire those who had ounts with Revival Legend aggressively, but at the same time it was important not to forget that all their achievements might evaporate overnight if they neglected their own members while paying attention to hiring outsiders.

    The Myongjin Guild would not have to worry about it as long as I, Juyoung Hong, stayed with them in the name of Asirante.

    Anyway, the meeting, whichsted for nearly an hour, ended after the participants agreed to stick to what they had been doing instead of taking any drastic actions.

    As a matter of fact, some top yers within Revival Legend applied to join the Myongjin Guild after they learned about me. Clearly, they judged that staying with a group was much better for their safety than acting alone in this chaotic world. And the stronger the group they were affiliated with, the better.

    So, after the meeting ended, I immediately connected to Revival Legend again.

    Obviously, the Myongjin Group¡¯s executive group might be busy preparing Myongjin¡¯s next move, but I was not part of them. My priority was to quickly raise my level.

    At the level 1500 Land of Titan the next day.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    [Kheeeeel!]

    [Khuuuuuuk!]

    Hunting, hunting, hunting and more hunting.

    I devoted all my time to hunting from the moment I woke up early in the morning until I went to bed in the wee hours of the next day.

    There were lots of incidents in the past, but thistest news about the closure of new ounts with Revival Legend was especially shocking because something unusual was rapidly progressing behind the scenes.

    So, I had no choice but to be stronger so I would not fall behind or be swept aside by those changes. At the same time, I found some enjoyment in my newfound lifestyle. In other words, it was good to feel a sense of pressure again when hunting. And as always, hunting itself was always a pleasure to me.

    Golden rings and misceneous items were not important to me these days. Nheless, my EXP kept piling up and my level also went up so high that I was far stronger than before.

    But right now I felt pressured to reach level 1200 as quickly as possible.

    In particr, I felt even more pressured after reaching level 1100.

    I also felt motivated to get stronger after beating Smith¡¯s party recently.

    So, I felt something like the sense of obligation to hunt more persistently rather than just hunting for fun, which made me a little worried that I would burn out.

    However, I didn¡¯t feel ufortable with this kind of pressure and strain at all.

    Moreover, the source of that pressure and strain started from the fact that there were people watching me with high expectations.

    In other words, I was not pressured by the fact that I didn¡¯t want to disappoint those who trusted me. Rather, I felt happy that I could surprise them by showing that I could meet their expectations and live up to their trust in me.

    So, with a smile on my face, I devoted myself to hunting for almost two weeks.

    After two weeks, I was still hunting in the Land of Titan.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    Watching me absorbed in hunting like that without any break, my sister had no choice but to call me a tough guy.

    As she said, I literally spent every second and every minute I had hunting in thest two week.

    However, I had to make up for the four days I lost while dealing with the Dungeon of Ordeal, so I needed to hunt extra hard.

    But while I was busy hunting hard, a familiar message rang out to everyone in the game.

    [The new level 1200 regr quest will start soon.

    -You can apply through the signs located in the central square of all castles for one week.

    : Unlike the previous level 400 and level 800 regr quests, those who have already reached 1200 level can apply too.]

    Until now, there were only level 400 and level 800 regr quests within ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    I had challenged the level 400 regr quest twice, but I had never challenged the level 800 regr quest. The level 800 regr queststed for quite a long time, so I could not bind myself to the quest indefinitely instead of raising my level.

    In its own way, the time to progress in the quest was quite long, and I couldn¡¯t stop leveling up by attempting the quest.

    After that, I heard rumors that a new level 1200 regr quest would soon be added.

    Of course, I hoped the new level 1200 regr quest coulde quickly because just like the level 400 and level 800 regr quests, I assumed it would be impossible to attempt the quest once my level was too high. In other words, if I exceeded level 1200, I would not be able to challenge the level 1200 regr quest.

    ording to the message, however, I could challenge the level 1200 regr quest even if my level was over it.

    When I confirmed the message, I felt happy rather than sorry because I could challenge the level 1200 quest right before I reached level 1200, and again after I achieved it.

    Of course, I was determined to win first ce in all my attempts.

    Anyway, I focused on hunting again after making up my mind like that.

    ¡°Blizzard!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    [Kheeeeeek!]

    [Khuuuuuuk!]

    Obviously, there was still a week left until the start of the level 1200 regr quest. So, there were lots of people who would find out on my behalf the information about the quest.

    So I could keep hunting during that time.

    At the small conference room in the Myongjin Shelter the next day.

    I really obtained a lot of rewards during the level 400 regr quest.

    And although I missed the level 800 quest, I still earned a lot to make up for it.

    For good or bad, I wanted to challenge any quest because a quest was a quest, after all.

    That¡¯s why we met again in the conference room.

 Chapter 290 - Level 1200 Regular Quest (2)

    <h4>Chapter 290: Level 1200 Regr Quest (2)</h4>

    Once we were all seated, Director Sok said, ¡°Let me brief you about the level 1200 regr quest. First of all, the participants in the level 1200 regr quest can organize their own teams in advance to proceed with the quest unlike the level 400 and level 800 regr quests where the teams were randomly selected.¡±

    When he said that, the level 400 regr quest, ¡®Stop the Scorpion King¡¯, came to my mind.

    As soon as I moved to the Desert Scorpion Forest, the ce where the quest was taking ce, I was automatically selected to participate in the quest regardless of my intentions and I was randomly assigned to a thirty man defense squad. And apparently it was the same with the level 800 regr quest. But this time, the teams were supposed to be formed in advance.

    Since it was definitely different from previous quests, I listened to Director Sok carefully.

    ¡°We can form a team of up to 10 people. Of course, we could form a team of 9 or 8 yers instead of 10, but that doesn¡¯t mean the quest¡¯s difficulty will go down, so we concluded that it is best to fill the team with exactly 10 people. After registering a team of 10 yers, you can do whatever you want until the registration period is finished. Once the registration deadline is over, you are supposed to move to the quest location immediately.¡±

    There was nothing special about his brief so far.

    He continued, ¡°Now I would like to mention something special about the new level 1200 regr quest. For your first challenge, the rewards you will gain from the quest will be doubled. Of course, the reward details haven¡¯t been revealed yet. And the important thing is when you move to the quest location, you can only use one of the things you possess.¡±

    Although it wasn¡¯t clear what the reward was, I could not help but reinforce my determination at the fact that the reward would be doubled.

    But I felt bitter upon hearing his words because being able to use only one of the things I possess meant that I could not mobilize all of my current capabilities to challenge the quest.

    Maybe that¡¯s why I started disliking this one particr word after ying ¡®Revival Legend¡¯. It was none other than ¡®fairness.¡¯

    In other words, in some of the quests and events that I had participated in, everything I had disappeared overnight, so I was at the same level as other yers which became very troublesome for me at times. Somehow, I was afraid that the level 1200 regr quest this time was in the same category.

    Anyway, Director Sok continued to brief us about the new level 1200 quest, but there were no other surprises.

    The new quest had not been opened yet, which means there was no certain information about it.

    What really matters right now is theposition of the team.

    If I could use all of my abilities, I would be very confident, but I shook my head slightly because clearing the quest this time would not be as easy as I thought.

    However, I have been performing so wonderfully until now. Besides, I¡¯m a direct family member of the head of the Myongjin Group, so we formed a team of my family members and Myongjin¡¯s ace members including Director Sok.

    So once the meeting finished, I went back to the Land of Titan and resumed hunting.

    While hunting, I took a brief break and moved to the central square of Rodon Castle with some people, including my family members, and formally registered our team as ¡®Myongjin No. 1¡¯.

    After that, I returned to the hunting ground.

    A few dayster.

    30 minutes before the level 1200 regr quest registration deadline.

    At the Myongjin Guild¡¯s headquarters.

    ¡°Juyoung, why are you sote?¡±

    Originally, I was nning toe 10 minutes before the meeting time, but I was 30 minuteste instead.

    As soon as I appeared using Blink with zero cooldown, I was scolded by my sister.

    I didn¡¯t mind her scolding, so I just shrugged at her.

    Then I looked at Team No.1 that I belonged to.

    Not only my father, my mother, my brother, sister but also my brother¡¯s wife was included in the team because she was now part of my family.

    The team had six people from my family including me, and four ace yers from Myongjin including Director Sok. Obviously, our goal was to win first ce.

    That¡¯s why all our family members gathered together here.

    Dad opened his mouth, looking at all of us.

    ¡°ording to Director Sok, we can only use one of the things we possess after moving to the quest location. But I don¡¯t know exactly whether it refers to an item, a skill, or a stat, but we¡¯re going to proceed as we discussed in advance.¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    Actually, we discussed how to proceed in advance.

    Both the level 400 and level 800 quests involved defending against monsters. Based on that, it was highly likely that the level 1200 regr quest would be the same, so it was essential to divide our ten member squad into tanks, dealers, healers, and enchanters.

    ¡°Juyoung, let me leave the division of the team to you,¡± said my father.

    ¡°Got it, Dad.¡±

    Nobody including my father forced me to make any particr choices.

    Of course, I had a n in mind.

    If I could use an item, I would use the +6 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword, and if I could use a skill, I would use level 8 Ice Tornado.

    So, I just waited for 30 minutes until a message rang.

    [Lumen, Asirante has applied for the level 1200 regr quest as part of the team named Myongjin No.1.

    -Do you wish to proceed with the level 1200 regr quest?]

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    As soon as I said that, I felt like I was being dragged somewhere, and soon a new area that was neither big nor small appeared before my eyes.

    A hut existed in the center of the area, with three roads spreading out from it in different directions.

    Thanks to my abundant experience, I could figure out what I was supposed to do here.

    In other words, the mission of my team was to defend the hut.

    Of course, the monsters that would attempt to destroy the hut could appear on any of the roads.

    And it seemed I wasn¡¯t the only one who noticed it.

    ¡°So, our mission is to defend this hut?¡±

    ¡°Ten people blocking the three directions?¡±

    ¡°Then, should we block them with two three-member groups and one four-member group?¡±

    Most of the team, including my father, seemed to share my view.

    While we were looking around, another message rang.

    [The Level 1200 regr quest is ¡®Protect the Last Shelter.¡¯

    -This is the only shelter left in the Jaya in, a in blessed by the goddess.

    -If this ce is lost, only darkness will prevail in the Jaya in.]

    [The Level 1200 regr quest starts with everyone starting from scratch.

    -But you can only start with one of the things you possess. (When you select an item or skill, all of its equip or use restrictions will disappear.)

    -This is a list of Lumen, Asirante¡¯s current possessions.

    : 67,533,851,764 golden rings.

    : 100% enhancement sess right.

    : 2 ancient cooldown removal harms.

    :

    : +6 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    : The Forgotten Hero¡¯s Cloak.

    : Functional skill ring.

    : +5 Enhancement ring Sacred Permanent Snow Spirit ring

    :

    : Level 5 Multiple Ice Arrow.

    : Level 4 Blink.

    : Savant

    : Level 7 Blizzard.

    : Level 8 Ice Tornado.

    :

    : IceMan.

    : Mutual Growth.

    : God of Enhancement.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    There were many more options than I expected.

    So it was difficult for me to choose which one because I didn¡¯t know which one would definitely help me here. Moreover, considering that this was the level 1200 regr quest, it would be a very long time until I could challenge it again, and the rewards were also doubled this time.

    At that moment, however, something caught my attention.

 Chapter 291 - Fantastic Effect of Item (1)

    <h4>Chapter 291: Fantastic Effect of Item (1)</h4>

    ¡°Check status window.¡±

    [Name: Lumen, Asirante

    Level: 0

    Health: 100/100 Mana: 100/100

    Strength: 1 Agility: 1 Stamina: 1

    Willpower: 1 Intellect: 1

    Remaining stat points: 0

    Remaining skill points: 1]

    Although I expected such a situation, I could not help but feel bitter when I actually confirmed it.

    I felt even more frustrated because I still had some hopes to the contrary as well.

    At that moment, I heard several people around me talking to each other.

    ¡°Ugh! My item lost its original capabilities. Disclose item!¡±

    [+5 Enhancement Ancient Spirit Shield (Legendary)

    ¨C A shield imbued with the power of an ancient spirit that has excellent defense.

    ¨C Equip restrictions: None.

    -Effect.

    : Reduces damage by (20%) -> 10% with a (5%) -> 3% probability

    : When you use the linked skill, Shield m, there is a (3%) -> 1% chance to inflict (150%) -> 30% damage and knock back the opponent.

    : Stamina increases by (400) -> 20 .

    : Strength increases by (300)->15

    : All debuff resistance against curses increases by (5%) -> 1% .

    -Physical defense increases by (1500) -> 100, magic defense increases by (1200) -> 70.

    -Durability: Unlimited durability only during the quest.]

    The +5 Enhancement Ancient Spirit Shield had almost all of its options reduced to one tenth of its original.

    And if I examined each of its options one by one, it definitely went down more than that.

    Of course, I could understand why.

    Since we were all level 0 with all stats at 1, it would bring about a huge imbnce if the original options of the +5 Enhancement Ancient Spirit Shield are applied 100%.

    So, the moment I saw this, I felt d that I didn¡¯t select an item, for the item I selected would also undergo simr adjustments even if it was the +6 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    Of course, there were others who chose something other than items.

    ¡°Man, my skill has been adjusted.¡±

    ¡°Mine too! Maybe it¡¯s down to ? or more? Considering not only the damage but also the skills¡¯ range and cooldown, it might have dropped even more than that. But, at least, the mana cost has been reduced.¡±

    Obviously, not only their items but also their skills seemed to have undergone adjustments as well.

    And there were some others who chose things other than items and skills, for they were not limited to just that. One such person was my mother.

    She said, ¡°I was told to choose the option of golden rings, so I picked it, but there is nothing around me to use them on.¡±

    As my mother said, there was nothing around her. Only therge hut was visible.

    In other words, she was in a situation where she could not use golden rings.

    Although it was grandly named as the Last Shelter, I thought that the hut was a nondescript building of little significance. But the door of the hut opened and several people came out.

    At that moment, a message that all of us could see rang out.

    [The Dwellers of Last Shelter offer a number of amenities for the warriors who havee to help them. However, you need some golden rings to use their amenities.

    -You can obtain golden rings by selecting one item to use here in advance, or by exploring the monsters that appear here in the Jaya ins.]

    ¡°Oh!¡±

    ¡°Is it something like a shop?¡±

    Of course, I didn¡¯t make my mother choose golden rings without any good reason.

    As a healer, she could inflict almost no damage to monsters other than undead monsters, but she was chosen as part of this team.

    And since she knew this, she was happy to choose golden rings as her possession to carry into the quest.

    And when things worked out as she expected, her mood lightened a bit.

    Anyway, all the party members talked about what each of them chose.

    What about my choice?

    Of course, I also made a choice.

    [Lumen, Asirante has chosen God of Enhancement.]

    God of Enhancement was a trait that enhanced items with a 100% sess rate by using only golden rings and EXP without any weapons, armor or essory enhancement stones. Moreover, I possessed more golden rings than any other guild, and I did not have to care about EXP because of my title ¡®One Who Doesn¡¯t Fall,¡¯ so there was basically nothing that stood in my way.

    But I had only one problem. It was the cooldown of this trait.

    The higher the enhancement value and the higher the grade of the item, the longer the cooldown. So, a whopping 125 days of cooldown was generated when I upgraded the +5 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword to +6.

    So, I just felt dizzy when I thought about the cooldown period for upgrading +6 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword to +7. Considering the previous enhancements, it was certain that the generated cooldown would at least be doubled.

    In other words, if God of Enhancement¡¯s cooldown worked as usual, selecting it as my sole possession for this quest would be devastating for me. And if the remaining cooldown from my previous enhancement still applied here, it would be like I didn¡¯t choose anything.

    Of course, I kept thinking about such a situation, so I ruled it out again and again.

    I thought it was the best policy to y safe since the double rewards were only avable on our first challenge.

    Nheless, I could not stoping back to it.

    So, I chose it as if I was possessed by something.

    ¡°Whew!¡±

    I let out a long breath.

    Then I approached my mother to ask her for some golden rings. She gave me 2 billion golden rings without any reservation. Obviously, it was a huge amount.

    But I did not refuse her hospitality, so I received the 2 billion golden rings and approached the residents of the Last Shelter.

    ¡°You are the warriors who havee here to help us! Just say anything. We¡¯ve got almost everything you want!¡±

    Even though they said they were residents of Last Shelter, I thought it was safe to call them NPCs. So, just like I did in ¡®Revival Legend¡¯, I naturally moved to the man dressed up with weapons and armor. Then, the items for sale appeared all over his body.

    [Weapon list.

    ¨C Blunt dagger. (General)

    ¨C Long sword with a broken handle. (General)

    ¨C Broken cane. (General)

    :

    ¨C Strong two-handed sword. (Rare)

    ¨C Cane with a fingernail sized red ruby. (Rare)

    ¨C Resilient bow decorated with Griffon¡¯s feathers. (Rare)

    :

    ¨C Weapon enhancement stone.

    ¨C Armor enhancement stone.

    ¨C essory enhancement stone.]

    There were only general and rare grade weapons, and it was the same for the defense armor as well.

    So, I bought the resilient bow decorated with Griffon feathers. I had to pay an exorbitant price of 5 million golden rings despite its Rare grade, but it was not that expensive when the weapons in general grade, which werepletely useless to me, cost as much as 1 million golden rings. Moreover, consumable items such as weapon and armor enhancement stones cost 3 million golden rings, and the essory enhancement stone cost 5 million golden rings. In other words, it seemed that they set the item price assuming that we would bring a huge amount of golden rings here.

    ¡°Here you are.¡±

    After paying, I took the bow, then moved to the next NPC on the right.

 Chapter 292 - Fantastic Effect of Item (2)

    <h4>Chapter 292: Fantastic Effect of Item (2)</h4>

    If I can¡¯t use God of Enhancement here, it will be the worst situation where I won¡¯t even be able to do my bit properly as a member of our team.

    Anyway, as soon as I sat down in front of the cksmith holding a hammer, an enhancement window appeared before me like it did at any other cksmith.

    I ced the resilient bow adorned with Griffon¡¯s feathers in the window, then said softly, ¡°Activate God of Enhancement!¡±

    Then a message rang.

    [You have activated God of Enhancement.

    -100% chance to sessfully enhance your item.

    -Enhancement target: +0 Enhancement resilient bow adorned with Griffon¡¯s feathers.

    -Additional requirements: None during the quest period.

    -Cooldown upon sessful enhancement: None the quest period.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    When I saw the Shield with +5 Enhancement Ancient Spirit Shield at first, the first thing that caught my eye was its unlimited durability with the descriptor ¡®unlimited durability during the quest¡¯

    So, when I noticed it, I first wondered whether it was really true.

    When I saw that it was actually the case, however, I didn¡¯t shout for joy because it was too unrealistic.

    But soon I couldn¡¯t help but smile because I could confirm how powerful God of Enhancement with no conditions and zero cooldown was.

    So, I tried enhancing the resilient bow adorned with the Griffon¡¯s feathers while I kept saying ¡®God of Enhancement!¡¯

    After a while, I checked to what level the item had been enhanced to.

    ¡°Check item.¡±

    [+15 Enhancement resilient bow adorned with Griffon¡¯s feathers. (rare)

    ¨C It¡¯s a bow made of Ogut wood, famous for its resilience, and decorated with Griffon feathers which are said to bring good luck to archers.

    ¨C Equip restrictions: None.

    -Effect.

    : Increases attack range by 25.

    : uracy increases by 55.

    : 3% chance to inflict 2~3 times more damage to the opponent in addition to the basic damage.

    : Agility increases by 175.

    : Stamina increases by 30.

    : Willpower increases by 20.

    -Physical attack power increases by 550, magic attack power increases by 185.

    -Durability: Unlimited durability during the quest period]

    The more I tried enhancing the resilient bow adorned with Griffon¡¯s feathers, the more options there were. In particr, there was even an option to inflict additional 2-3 times damage with a 3% chance when the bow achieved +15 Enhancement.

    Nevertheless, it was still nothingpared to the items I possessed before, especially considering the +15 enhancement value.

    However, I had no problem with that because everybody including me had their items and skills readjusted in this ce. In some respects, I was so happy that I felt like my ability was a scam.

    When it reached +15 Enhancement, the resilient bow adorned with Grifoon¡¯s feathers started emitting a red haze. So I had no choice but to turn my eyes to it.

    I quietly opened my mouth, for it is better to show it just once than to say it a hundred times.

    ¡°Disclose item!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Most of my team members stared at me nkly in shock.

    Of course, I could understand their shock because I would have felt the same if I did not experience it first.

    ¡°Hmm. I think we can proceed with this level 1200 regr quest rather easily.¡±

    Even though only I can use God of Enhancement, all the team members can use the items that I enhance with God of Enhancement. As a matter of fact, I had previously enhanced hundreds or thousands of ordinary and rare-grade essories with the extremely rare essory enhancement stones that Myongjin had just piled up because they could not do anything with them.

    Anyway, I bought a rare-grade long sword again and upgraded it to +15 Enhancement.

    Then I handed my father that long sword emitting a red haze.

    But something strange happened right after I gave it to my father.

    [¡­]

    The rare-grade +15 Enhancement longsword was emitting a red haze only a moment ago.

    However, as soon as my father held it, the red haze disappeared instantly.

    And I couldn¡¯t help but be a little embarrassed by my father¡¯s following words.

    ¡°+0 Enhancement! Juyoung, your sword turned into a +0 Enhancement sword!¡±

    I didn¡¯t understand it at first, so I took it back from him.

    The long sword started emitting a red haze again.

    Its enhancement value was definitely 15.

    This time I gave it to my brother, but just like it did when my father held it, the red haze disappeared instantly.

    My brother spoke right away.

    ¡°Disclose item!¡±[+0 strong longsword. (rare)

    ¨C It is a long sword made by a skilled craftsman with great care.

    ¨C Equip restrictions: None.

    :

    :]

    Obviously, it was a weapon with +15 Enhancement when it was held in my hand.

    However, it changed to +0 Enhancement sword when somebody else took it.

    So, I realized that the increased enhancement only applied to me because the God of Enhancement was my trait.

    Because of that, I had no choice but to say to everybody, ¡°I will do my best.¡±

    Then a message rang.

    [In 10 minutes, an enemy aiming for the Last Shelter will appear. ]

    Wheeeeeeeeeng.

    Along with that message, a blue barrier spread around the hut, appearing like a shield.

    [You are blessed with the protection of the goddess.

    -Health and mana recovery is doubled.]

    ¡°Warriors! If you ever get tired, please evacuate here.¡±

    ¡°Right. However, this shield cannot block too many enemy attacks, so try not to let the enemies attack this shield.¡±

    But I bought the defense armor immediately without caring so much about the NPCs¡¯ words, for it was not just weapons that I could enhance to +15 enhancement.

    But I was slightly disappointed that there were no essories for sale even though they sold essory enhancement stones.

    But it didn¡¯t matter.

    As the first message announced, if I explored the Jaya ins here, I could acquire various items including golden rings. Perhaps I could obtain even legendary-grade items.

    Of course, I could enhance them straight to +15 enhancement.

    So, I said to my team members, ¡°When we formally start challenging the rounds, I¡¯m going to explore the Jaya ins and the monsters that appear there. So, I hope you can proceed with the quest well. If you run into a dangerous situation, just message me.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. There is nothing dangerous in the initial rounds anyway. And we are fully equipped with defensive armor, although our maximum safety enhancement level is 3 unlike you¡­¡±

    I may consume billions, or maybe even tens of billions of golden rings by challenging this quest, but I made the bold decision to use them because this was a level 1200 regr quest, and we could earn double rewards this time only.

    Besides, it would be a huge gain if each of our team members obtained 1,000 coins.

    Anyway, we finished all our preparations and waited another ten minutes because the way out was not yet open.

    I decided to change the way I fight this time.

    Obviously, magicians, including ice-type wizards, were focused on skills, so they were never the type that could maximise the effects of items.

    So, I chose to be an archer instead of an ice-typed wizard.

    Of course, the meleebatant type job might be better for me if I gave up some of my attack power and changed to a one-handed weapon along with armor, a helmet, boots, gloves and a cloak, but I chose to be an archer instead.

 Chapter 293 - Fantastic Effect of Item (3)

    <h4>Chapter 293: Fantastic Effect of Item (3)</h4>

    In fact, I already had some experience as an archer, and frankly, the fact that I yed a wizard in all the games I yed so far was because I enjoyed using AOE attacks above all. In other words, it was very important for me to attack my opponent from afar.

    Moreover, the archer¡¯s damage wasn¡¯t that bad either.

    Anyway, after I was done with my preparations, I waited for ten minutes.

    Soon the shield blocking our exit to the outside disappeared.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll see youter.¡±

    ¡°Take care!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about us. See you soon!¡±

    After saying goodbye to them, I walked towards the path in the 12 o¡¯clock direction out of the three paths at the 12 o¡¯clock, 4 o¡¯clock, and 8 o¡¯clock directions from the hut.

    Tramp- Tramp-

    I wasn¡¯t in a hurry.

    From my abundant experiences, I knew that it was unlikely that this kind of tough quest that changed everybody¡¯s items and skills to zero would end quickly.

    Thud! Thud! Thud!

    First of all, I wanted to check which monsters appeared because I could figure out how difficult this quest was by scouting them out first.

    For example, if the first monster were an Orc, this would be a very long quest as I expected.

    But what if it were a stronger monster than I thought?

    ¡°In that case,pared to the usual quests that changed everybody¡¯s items and skills to zero, this quest would be much shorter.¡±

    When I looked at the monster in front of me, I could confirm that this would be a long quest because the monster was an orc.

    So, I pulled the bowstring straight toward the group of Orcs moving in a straight line.

    Shuuuuung!

    Puck!

    ¡°Kheeeeeeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Khuuuuuuuk!¡±

    I killed a fewOrcs with one arrow. More precisely, my arrow pierced through and killed three orcs, so it could be called a kill-three-with-one arrow attack.

    Moreover, the orcs moved in groups of 3, so if they moved in a single file, it was possible that I could kill more than ten with a single strike.

    Anyway, I stopped on the spot where I was, and killed all the Orcs on the 12 o¡¯clock road to the hut.

    Shuuuuuung!

    Shuuuuuung!

    Shuuuuuung!

    The orcs were killed three at a time even though I didn¡¯t use any particr skill or do something extraordinary.

    Of course, my level changed.

    [You have leveled up.]

    [You have leveled up.]

    My level was 0 at the start of this quest.

    So, my level went up quickly even if I killed Orcs.

    Five minutester, I got rid of all the Orcs that appeared before my eyes.

    So, I thought of checking out what monsters would appear next by exploring my surroundings, but there were no monsters in sight.

    In other words, it meant that the monsters would appear in waves, and I would have to wait a certain amount of time instead of killing the monsters constantly.

    So I messaged my sister.

    [Lumen: I killed all the Orcs at the 12 o¡¯clock direction while I was moving. But no monsters appeared immediately after that.]

    [Super Beauty: Really?]

    [Lumen: Yeah. I think this quest will be longer than we initially anticipated.]

    [Super Beauty: Got it.]

    When I first discovered the Orcs, I immediately informed my sister in the hut.

    No matter how weak the monsters were, it would be like a night and day difference if they encountered the monsters knowing their numbers and positionspared to going in blind.

    In particr, all of them were at level 0 instead of their original level.

    I wrapped up my conversation with her, then opened my mouth quietly.

    ¡°Check status window.¡±

    [Name: Lumen, Asirante

    Level: 17

    Health: 74600 / 74600

    Mana: 61700 / 61700

    Strength: 475 Agility: 1387 Stamina: 745

    Willpower: 616 Intellect: 211

    Remaining stat points: 85

    Remaining skill points: 0]

    In this ce, I only gained 5 stat points per level.

    In other words, it meant that this ce limited not only items and skills, but also stat points.

    After learning this, I realized how absurd my current stat points were. They were literally a scam.

    Aside from my bow, I chose armor that prioritized agility and other stats over physical and magic defense.

    No matter how low the physical and magic defense of the +0 enhancement armor was, I could secure a strong defense by enhancing it to +15 enhancement after all.

    And that was part of the reason why I chose a select skill to use my one skill point on and pay a whopping 5 million golden rings for.

    [Quick fire. (Passive, Requires Skill Point 1, Requires 5,000,000 golden rings)

    : An archer-exclusive skill that increases firing rate by 20% when attacking with a bow.]

    Power shots that dealt strong one-shot damage, double shots that fired 2 arrows at once, and triple shots didn¡¯t even catch my eye because it was more beneficial to me to fire arrows quickly, as that would maximize the efficiency of my items.

    ¡°Hmm. I feel a bit awkward to act arrogantly towards the orcs just because of my items.¡±

    As soon as I said that, I stopped getting on my high horse because it was only natural that I achieved such results.

    Then, I invested the 85 remaining stat points in agility, then moved off the path to the right in the hopes of encountering stronger monsters.

    As a matter of fact, it seemed that the bnce of the game was on the verge of breaking now.

    Shuuuuung! Shuuuuuung! Shuuuuuuung!

    Shhh. Shhh. Shhh.

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    One shot, one kill.

    Obviously, monsters more powerful than an orc appeared, but they were still killed in one strike. And I didn¡¯t forget to pick up all the items they dropped when they died.

    In particr, there was one very important item among them.

    [The soul sphere of a monster shrouded in darkness. (General)

    ¨C Jaya ins, blessed by the goddess.

    However, these ins will be gradually engulfed in darkness when monsters shrouded in darkness appear. You can obtain the soul spheres with a certain probability when killing the monsters shrouded in darkness.

    : You can sell them to the general store located in the Last Shelter for 1 million golden rings each.

    : You can use 200 to activate the teleport zones randomly located throughout the Jaya ins. (The activated teleport zone can then be used without any conditions.)]

    To be honest, I was a bit worried that I was bing a little toocent after killing the Orcs so easily because there was obviously a limit to the area I could explore without Blink with zero cooldown. Why? If I received an emergency message from my team while exploring a ce that was so far from the Last Shelter that it would take a day or two to return, I would not be able to get back in time to help them. It would be the same even if I was only a few hours away, let alone a day or two.

    So, I had no choice but to wonder if my exploration was useless.

    But it was while I was deliberating that the message about the soul spheres of the monsters shrouded in darkness appeared.

 Chapter 294 - Fantastic Effect of Item (4)

    <h4>Chapter 294: Fantastic Effect of Item (4)</h4>

    At that moment, I could not help but rejoice because I could conclude that I was supposed to not only block the monsters but also explore the ins to clear the level 1200 regr quest. In other words, I was supposed to do both of these things together. If exploring was useless, it would be impossible for me to find this kind of item. Moreover, the orcs I killed initially on the path to the Last Shelter did not drop these ¡®soul spheres of a monster shrouded in darkness¡¯.

    In other words, this was an item that I would not have known about if I hadn¡¯t explored.

    So, instead of messaging my sister directly, I talked to her through our party window.

    I could explore the ins now because only weak monsters appeared since we were still in the initial rounds of this quest, but if stronger monsters appearedter, I would not dare explore because I had to defend the Last Shelter. So, I had to time my explorations properly as it would have a huge impact on me winning first ce.

    Even without exploring like this, I was confident that I could win first ce simply by blocking the monsters attacking the Last Shelter. But I¡¯ve met quite a few people recently who had extraordinary abilities that I had never even imagined

    So, I decided to do the best I could here.

    [Lumen: Brother, you said that the monsters appeared at the same interval, right?]

    [Kiyoung Hong: Yeah. Kobolds appeared only 3 hours after we blocked the orcs.]

    [Lumen: I think we have to explore as well because I got this item. Disclose item!]

    I disyed the monster¡¯s Soul Sphere of a Monster Shrouded in Darkness¡¯ on our party window so all of them could check it out.

    [Lumen: Only fair weaks appear in the initial rounds. Also, given that there is a break between the monsters appearing, I think this means that we should explore and secure additional areas in this Jaya ins.]

    That was all I could infer at this point.

    And no one disputed my opinion because it was easy to defend during the initial rounds.

    So, after reporting my findings to our team, I kept moving forward.

    At the Last Shelter of Team No.1 of Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild.

    While Juyoung Hong was busy hunting, the Mitsuya Guild¡¯s top executives were watching a video that showed him hunting the monsters.

    ¡°The monsters are appearing at a very slow rate.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. What¡¯s more, they are weaker than we thought.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    Chairman Ryu Sechi let out a groan, then started pondering.

    At that moment, Kimoshita, the head of the intelligence department, opened his mouth.

    ¡°Thanks to your foresight, sir, we have secured enough golden rings. As things stand now, I think we can block the next monsters easily. Why don¡¯t you send an exploration team? Wouldn¡¯t it be more beneficial for us to know what¡¯s out there?¡±

    ¡°Good. First scout the next group of monsters, and if they are still weak, I will organize an expedition team.

    ¡°Understood, Chairman!¡±

    With the chairman¡¯s approval, Mitsuya Guild¡¯s Team No.1 also decided to explore the ins.

    At the Last Shelter of the Mirae Guild.

    ¡°We¡¯re going to organize an expedition team.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±

    The Mitsuya Guild and the Mirae Guild decided to explore almost 12 hours after they started the quest. Of course, they were not slow. Compared to the thousands, or tens of thousands of teams that participated in the quest, they were pretty fast.

    However, there was a team that started exploring as soon as the quest started.

    What¡¯s more, the team included a yer whose items boasted of the best item effects.

    On the other hand, there were some teams who still hesitated to explore.

    More precisely, most of the teams refrained from exploring because they, who had little golden rings, could not afford to buy the expensive items, which meant that they had to proceed with the quest without any proper defense armor.

    Anyway, the thousands or tens of thousands of teams defended their Last Shelters in their own way.

    And even though some teams didn¡¯t have golden rings, their members still had one good item or skill.

    In the Jaya ins where the quest was taking ce.

    The Soul Sphere of the Monster Shrouded in Darkness did not drop frequently or infrequently. However, considering that it took 200 soul spheres to activate one teleport zone, it was difficult to say the soul spheres dropped frequently.

    So I moved further into the ins because I decided to save the soul spheres I umted so I could use a teleport zone far away immediately if I was required to return at once.

    Of course, there were quite a few things that caught my eyes other than the soul sphere.

    They were Precious grade items, which were beyond the General and Rare grades.

    And every time I obtained a Precious grade item, I wanted to return right away, for I could only enhance the items to +15 enhancement at the hut, and if I handed them to my team members, they would be able to protect the Last Shelter better than before.

    Above all, I could go on exploring when our Last Shelter was safe.

    And one of the items that I obtained was very interesting.

    [Blessed weapon enhancement stone.

    -This is a weapon enhancement stone that you can only obtain from the Jaya ins blessed by the goddess.

    : When using this stone to enhance a weapon, the weapon will not disappear even if the enhancement fails.]

    The so-called Blessed Enhancement Stone.

    Of course, there were not only weapon enhancement stones, but also armor enhancement stones.

    And these were useless to me, they were very useful to my team members protecting the Last Shelter.

    ¡°Hahaha.¡±

    Looking back, I was really happy all the time while ying Revival Legend. However, I was most happy during the time when I yed right after essing Revival Legend after I was done with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Closed Betas. I was given enormous privileges as if I was the star of the whole world, and I was granted apletely different start from others.

    Strangely enough, I felt the same now.

    That¡¯s why I kept smiling before I knew it.

    ¡°Good. Now, I wish I had some essories¡­¡±

    Of course, essories could also be enhanced by my trait, God of Enhancement.

    So, as soon as an essory appeared, I could upgrade it to +15 Enhancement instantly.

    Besides, there were a lot of people who I could give essories to if they were not suitable for me.

    Anyway, I continued exploring the ins with a smile on my face.

    Shuuuuuuung! Shunnnnnng! Shunnnnnnng!

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Kheeeeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Khuuuuuuuuk!

    I kept killing the monsters with one strike, as usual.

    In the Jaya ins where the level 1200 quest was taking ce.

    ¡°Log out.¡±

    If I could have my way, I didn¡¯t want to log out.

    However, I had to take a break so I could hunt properly tomorrow because I stayed logged in for over 17 hours except for a couple of short breaks when I had to go to the restroom.

    Of course, I wasn¡¯t the only one logging out.

    Unlike me who was exploring, the nine yers guarding the Last Shelter worked on a rotation basis.

    The level 1200 regr quest would not end in an hour or two. As if to prove this, there was a 3 hour break in between the monsters¡¯ attacks.

    So, we formed a defense team, an expedition team and a break team.

    Anyway, I logged out and went to the kitchen. But there was somebody already there. It was my sister.

 Chapter 295 - Fantastic Effect of Item (5)

    <h4>Chapter 295: Fantastic Effect of Item (5)</h4>

    As soon as she saw me, my sister asked immediately, ¡°Did you just log out? I have a sandwich here, so take it then get some sleep.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    ¡°By the way, how far did you go?¡±

    ¡°Well, I just kept moving on¡­¡±

    I decided that it was important for me to move forward and activate a teleport zone far away from the Last Shelter, so I just kept moving forward without looking back.

    That¡¯s why I started facing monsters that I could no longer kill with a single strike.

    But it didn¡¯t matter. If I could not kill them with a single strike, I would just attack them again and again.

    Even if the monsters charged at me in droves, it didn¡¯t matter because although I could only equip one weapon, I had equipped six pieces of armor, including a helmet, armor, pants, gloves, boots, and a cloak, all of which were enhanced up to +15.

    In other words, my defense was currently superior to my attack power.

    ¡°Then what about the soul spheres?¡±

    At that moment, my sister asked me about the soul spheres.

    Obviously, that was the most important thing.

    So, I responded with a smile on my face, ¡°365. Wait for me out there. I¡¯m going to activate a teleport zone soon, then I¡¯ll bring you a bunch of presents.¡±

    ¡°Wow! It looks like you have obtained something pretty good!¡±

    ¡°Yep! I got a lot!¡±

    Even though it was only one, I obtained a Legendary grade item.

    And I also had quite a few other Rare grade items.

    Of course, aside from the ones I could use, I was nning to give the rest to my party members.

    After all, I could continue to hunt freely when the Last Shelter was safe.

    So, I ate the sandwich while chatting with my sister, then we split up. I left to go catch some sleep, while my sister moved to log in for a shift change to defend the Last Shelter.

    I slept about five hours.

    Originally, I thought about sleeping 3 to 4 hours, but the quest was still in the early stages, so I slept five hours because the situation was not that urgent.

    Maybe tomorrow I might have no choice but to sleep only 3 or 4 hours.

    After taking a quick shower and having a quick meal with my brother, who was also on break at that time, I essed Revival Legend again.

    ¡°Check status window.¡±

    [Name: Lumen, Asirante

    Level: 107

    Health: 74600 / 74600

    Mana: 61700 / 61700

    Strength: 475 Agility: 1477 Stamina: 745

    Willpower: 616 Intellect: 211

    Remaining stat points: 450

    Remaining skill points: 0]

    I achieved level 107 in less than a day.

    This was really tremendous, given that the yer with the next highest level within Myongjin Team No.1 was only level 38.

    And considering that leveling up would be progressively more difficult, the gap between me and the others was clearlyrger than it currently appeared.

    So, I had no choice but to admire my achievement.

    However, the quest was still in progress and I had a lot of work to do, so I stopped admiring it.

    So I quickly invested all 450 remaining stat points in agility and closed the status window.

    Of course, it was not the remaining stat points alone that increased as I leveled up to level 107.

    I also got one skill point at level 50 and level 100.

    However, unlike God of Enhancement, I could use the skill points even without returning to the Last Shelter, for it wasn¡¯t just items that monsters dropped in the Jaya ins blessed by the goddess.

    [Skill stone engraved with intangible arrows.]

    [Intangible Arrow. (Passive, requires 1 skill point)

    : Consume 1 mana to create an intangible arrow that you can use instead of a normal arrow.

    :The damage of intangible arrows is affected by your Intellect.]

    When I left the Last Shelter, I filled my inventory with arrows.

    Of course, I carried a +15 Enhancement one-handed longsword just in case, but I still preferred to use a bow. Besides, I tailored my remaining stat points, skills, and items to optimize my ability as an archer.

    As a result, I had no shortage of arrows during the expedition.

    But I had to worry about other things. Since my inventory was full of arrows, there was not enough space for me to put the items obtained during the expedition.

    It was when I began to worry about this that I obtained this skill stone engraved with intangible arrows. Of course, I was a little surprised when I first got it.

    Previously, in Revival Legend I could acquire, delete, or upgrade skills only in the huge tower in the central square of every castle.

    However, I didn¡¯t bother thinking about it because I saw new items such as the blessed enhancement stone or the soul spheres that could activate the teleport zones, so I pocketed the skill stone right away.

    Then, I threw away most of the arrows in my inventory to clear out space for more items. But I kept a few just in case of an emergency. This was especially considering that the skill stones dropped very rarely.

    So far, I have only acquired three, and it was quite surprising that the intangible arrow was among them.

    I even wondered how I could be so lucky like this.

    Of the two remaining skill stones, one was suitable for tanks, while the other was a ¡®Skill Stone Engraved with Quick Steps¡¯. I acquired thetter with the skill point I obtained at level 100 because moving even a little faster was definitely an advantage.

    ¡°Hmm. Good. Let me collect some more . I¡¯ll probably have to activate at least one teleport zone tonight.¡±

    I aimed for 400 soul spheres from the beginning, for I was thinking of activating one teleport zone by using 200 soul spheres and keeping another 200 just in case.

    Anyway, I was busy moving fast with a smile on my face like yesterday because the fantastic effects of my items were still in ce.

    Early in the morning the next day, I shouted, ¡°Activate Teleport Zone.¡±

    [Are you sure you want to activate Teleport Zone No. 97 in the Jaya ins?

    -Activate!

    [Teleport Zone No. 97 of the Jaya ins has been activated.

    -You can now enter and exit the Last Shelter from this teleport zone.]

    I had nearly 500 soul spheres, exceeding my initial target of 400.

    So, I activated the teleport zone without hesitation because it was time to upgrade the new items I obtained with God of Enhancement.

    The teleport zone started emitting a bright light, then I stepped onto it.

    Shuuuuung!

    ¡°Juyoung!¡±

    ¡°Little master!¡±

    Of course, I sometimes saw my team members outside of ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ because everyone here was from the No.1, the most important base of the Myongjin Shelter.

    But there was another reason why they weed me so enthusiastically.

    In other words, it was because of the items I had already disclosed through the party window.

    It was natural that they regarded me as Santa us.

    So, I took out all the items I had acquired during my exploration from the inventory.

    Obviously, we had to proceed with this quest as a team, and it was thanks to these guys that I could continue exploring.

    ¡°First of all, there are 49 Precious grade items including weapons and armor. There are also 4 Legendary grade items, plus weapons, armor and essory enhancement stones. Oh, this is a blessed enchantment stone, which¡­¡±

    Of course, I already put aside the items I could use.

    I was supposed to work with them as a team, but the role I yed was equal to ten or even one hundred people. And the most important thing was for me to be strong.

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    ¡°Oh my God! Look at that item! I¡¯ve never seen it!¡±

    ¡°Man, how far did you go?¡±

 Chapter 296 - Fantastic Effect of Item (6)

    <h4>Chapter 296: Fantastic Effect of Item (6)</h4>

    Everyone was amazed every time I took out an item.

    But, obviously, I could not afford to waste time, so I quickly moved to the NPC after handing all the items to my father because I didn¡¯t need to distribute them myself.

    Then I immediately opened my mouth.

    ¡°Activate God of Enhancement!¡±

    [You have activated God of Enhancement.

    -100% chance of sessfully enhancing items.

    -Enhancement target: +0 Tyrant Pyad¡¯s Cursed Bow.

    -Additional requirements: Nil during the quest period.

    -Cooldown on sessful enhancement: Nil during the quest period.]

    ¡®This is great!¡¯

    I would never feel sick and tired of this message because aside from nil additional requirement, no generated cooldown was what I wanted the most.

    Of course, even while uttering exmations, I continued to activate God of Enhancement. In the end, I enhanced the legendary-grade Pyard¡¯s Bow to +15.

    After that, I enhanced and managed to remove the equip restrictions on all the Rare Grade items, while enhancing the Legendary Grade and Precious Grade armor items.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t forget to enhance the essories I collected this time.

    A littleter, I wanted to check my status.

    ¡°Check status window.¡±

    So, I checked the status window with a bit of excitement as soon as I finished enhancing all the items. I also equipped all the essories that I hadn¡¯t before, and fully donned myself with all the Rare to Legendary Grade items I could. So when I checked my status window, there could only be one reaction.

    [¡­]

    I could not help but be speechless because of the remarkable results.

    Of course, I am normally much stronger than I am right now.

    Even if I wore a full set of items enhanced to +15 Enhancement, this was a quest space where my items and skills were readjusted downward. However, I roughly knew the levels of my other party members, so I knew how fantastic my current power was after all these enhancements.

    Anyway, after finishing all the enhancements and confirming their results, I chatted with my family members including my father, then climbed onto the teleport zone next to thest shelter.

    [These are the teleport zones connected to the Last Shelter.

    : Teleport Zone 97]

    ¡°Move to Teleport Zone 97.¡±

    Of course, I could help my team hunt monsters. In fact, monsters continually appeared to siege the Last Shelter.

    However, if I helped them hunt monsters here, I would take away their EXP, which would inevitably weaken my team. That¡¯s why those teams who had all their ten members defend the Last Shelter without exploring the ins suffered repeated failures because they could not sustain the defense with their low levels.

    As a matter of fact, I already began to hear about such failures after just one day of the quest started.

    Anyway, I started exploring again while continuing the level 1200 regr quest.

    Five days have passed since the quest began.

    There was no more Defense Team, Exploration Team, and Rest Team.

    All the team members were divided into just the Defense Team and the Rest Team.

    In the meantime, I kept exploring the ins.

    ¡°Let me block the monsters alone. So, just go and take a break!¡±

    ¡°Okay, Juyoung, thanks!¡±

    Clearly, I should coordinate with the other nine members to block the monsters efficiently, but I could block them on my own, and easily at that.

    So, I often gave the nine members of my team a six-hour break by subbing in for them every three hours.

    ¡°Apply magic arrows ¨C Ice Arrow!¡±

    [All arrows are changed to Ice Arrow.]

    Shuuuuuung! Shunnnnnng! Shuuuuuung!

    After I changed all arrows to Ice Arrow, I fired the arrows towards the monsters swarming the 12 o¡¯clock, 4 o¡¯clock, and 8 o¡¯clock paths .

    Of course, I didn¡¯t use any other skills.

    I purposely acquired only passive skills such as Ice Arrow and Arrow Damage Increase, which were enough for my attacks because they maximized the effects of my items

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Kheeeeeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Khuuuuuuuuuk!¡±

    Thud! Thud! Thud!

    I kept firing the arrows at the monsters from a long distance and hit them urately.

    As a result, the monsters copsed even without getting close to the shield that surrounded the Last Shelter.

    ¡°Oh my God¡­¡±

    ¡°Fantastic!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe this¡­¡±

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    Everyone, including my family, who were watching me momentarily before logging out to take a break, had no choice but to admire my fantastic attack.

    Of course, I could understand their reaction because I even thought my skills were a scam.

    Anyway, after dispatching all the monsters that showed up, I nced at the giant sign next to the Last Shelter.

    [Level 1200 Regr Quest Scoreboard.

    -Remaining teams: 3]

    ¡°Hmm. Who are they?¡±

    At first, that scoreboard appeared when there were 50,000 teams remaining.

    But the number kept going down as time passed by.

    And now, there were only three teams left.

    But even after another full day passed, the scoreboard still showed three teams remaining.

    As a result, everybody was curious who the two teams other than the Myongjin team were.

    But I wasn¡¯t worried because I was confident I could win first ce.

    Another two days passed.

    To be honest, I didn¡¯t expect this quest would go on like this.

    The effects of my items were not as impressive as before because the monsters were more powerful, and even though all my items were +15 enhancement, they were just Legendary Grade items. Of course, that didn¡¯t mean I was in a tough situation.

    Obviously, the monsters endured my attacks a little longer, but I still showed an overwhelming power. In fact, the monsters never mounted a single sessful attack on the shield covering the Last Shelter. What¡¯s more, there were 9 yers besides me.

    My father shouted, ¡°Everyone, hang in there a little longer! The other two teams must be fighting fiercely as well!¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    Motivated by my father¡¯s encouragement, they defended the Last Shelter perfectly.

    At that moment, a message rang.

    [Only Team No.1 of the Myongjin Guild has survived.

    -Congrattions. You have won first ce in the level 1200 regr quest.]

    ¡°Uh?¡±

    Obviously, there were three teams including our team on the scoreboard only a little while ago.

    However, the three teams were suddenly changed to one, probably because the other two teams were eliminated at the same time. That meant our team had won first ce in the level 1200 regr quest.

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    ¡°We have won first ce!¡±

    ¡°Myongjin! Myongjin!¡±

    ¡°Juyoung Hong! Juyoung Hong!¡±

    Achieving first ce was always sweet, so they shouted for joy instantly.

    Of course, I was also thrilled at the message.

    I won first ce most of the time, or more precisely, I was always the winner.

    And then a couple of messages rang in session.

    [All members of Team No.1 of the Myongjin Guild will receive the following rewards.

    ¨C 1 billion golden rings per person.

    ¨C 700 remaining stat points per person.

    ¨C 20,000 coins per person.

    ¨C 1 remaining skill point per person.]

    [Congrattions! You have won first ce in the first level 1200 regr quest.

    ¨C You will receive double rewards this time only.]

    ¡°Wow! I received 1400 remaining stat points!¡±

    ¡°Look at the coins we got! 40,000 coins! 40,000!¡±

    ¡°Great! Two skill points!¡±

    ¡°I have always been wanting to learn this one skill, and now I can finally learn it!¡±

    The first ce reward was already enormous considering that this was a regr quest. And the moment it doubled, the rewards increased tremendously.

    That¡¯s why they rose to their feet and cheered.

    At that moment, another message rang only for me.

 Chapter 297 - Delay (1)

    <h4>Chapter 297: Dy (1)</h4>

    [You have the title ¡®Quest Master¡¯.

    -Upon clearing a quest, you will acquire an additional 100-300 remaining stat points depending on the quest¡¯s difficulty.]

    Of course, I was waiting for this message.

    Then another message rang.

    [The quest you have cleared is a regr quest.

    ¨C Your title ¡®Quest Master¡¯ does not apply to this quest]

    ¡°Ugh.¡±

    I had no choice but to sigh regretfully because I did not expect that my Quest Master title would not apply to regr quests. I felt even more regretful when I recalled that it worked even during the limited quests. Of course, I could somewhat understand it because I could challenge the general quests and the limited quests only once. However, a regr quest could be challenged at regr intervals, as the word ¡®regr¡¯ suggested.

    Actually, I challenged the level 400 regr quest twice.

    In other words, if the title Quest Master applied to regr quests, it would definitely be a scam. That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t regret it long.

    Moreover, the message did not end there

    [You performed overwhelmingly in the level 1200regr quest.

    -Lumen, Asirante¡¯s total activity: 85%.

    ¨C As a reward, you will receive the following items.

    : 1 billion golden rings.

    : Additional 400 remaining stat points.

    : Additional 5000 coins.

    : An additional 1 skill point.]

    I received additional rewards during my two challenges of the level 400 quest for performing exceptionally. So, I aimed for additional rewards this time as well.

    Not only did all of my God of Enhancement restrictions disappear during the quest, but only I could use the items I enhanced to +15 enhancement, so things worked out in my favor.

    So although I was not surprised that I received an additional reward, I could not help but be surprised that the reward I received was far better than I expected.

    Even excluding the 5,000 coins, which could not be discounted, I even received a skill point.

    ¡®Then, have I obtained a total of three skill points from one quest?¡¯

    Yes, I received as many as three skill points.

    At that moment, I heard my father talking to our team members.

    ¡°Thanks, everybody. Everyone, and especially Juyoung, did a great job.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee. I could fight well because everybody here fought together. Thanks to all of your considerations, I could explore the ins on my own for over three days.¡±

    ¡°Well, we can¡¯t deny the fact that we won first ce because of you.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, young master!¡±

    ¡°Wow! Myongjin! Myongjin!¡±

    When my father praised me and the others, they cheered and waved their hands. The atmosphere became even more bright when my mother, sister and Director Sok heaped praise on me.

    Moreover, there was another reason why the atmosphere could not be better.

    We could win first ce again on our next challenge as well.

    To be honest, I felt many times that my God of Enhancement trait was inferior to Mutual Growth and IceMan because of its long cooldown, especially considering I received it due to being the only Closed Beta max level achiever

    However, all such restrictions disappeared here, so God of Enhancement could fully disy its strength.

    What¡¯s more important was that I could enjoy the tremendous effects of items in the next level 1200 regr quest, for I was not restricted from selecting God of Enhancement again during my next challenge

    In other words, I was guaranteed 1st ce as long as I could keep using God of Enhancement.

    Since my team members also knew it, they were all broadly smiling as well.

    At that moment, a message rang.

    [After 10 seconds, you will be moved from the Last Shelter of the Jaya ins to your original location.]

    ¡°Let me host a small party to celebrate our victory today.¡±

    ¡°Great!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    My father hosted a small party for us.

    In fact, the other teams of the Myongjin Group other than our No. 1 Team were not even listed in the top 50, let alone the top 10. The highest they got was 61st ce.

    So, my father felt rather embarrassed to hold arge party just to celebrate the victory of the Team No.1 members only.

    Anyway, we headed back to the main base of the Myongjin Guild. I immediately logged out and attended the party.

    The next day.

    ¡°Check status window.¡±

    [Level: 1167

    Number of kills: 11492, Number of deaths: 0

    Titles: Only Closed Beta Max Level Achiever and 10 others.

    Health: 4,687,000 / 4,687,000

    Mana: 3,282,000 / 3,282,000

    Strength: 7828 Agility: 8125 Stamina: 33972

    Willpower: 23236 Intellect: 45955

    Remaining stat points: 1800

    Remaining skill points: 3

    Traits: Iceman, Mutual Growth, God of Enhancement.]

    As a matter of fact, I didn¡¯t level up even once during the level 1200 regr quest thatsted for one week. To be honest, I thought that I would rather go hunting than participate in the quest before it started. I only had to level up 33 times to reach level 1200, so I felt even more tempted to stay away from the quest.

    However, as soon as I checked the status window, I thought that it was good that I challenged the quest because I obtained a lot even though I did not level up once.

    I was especially satisfied with the amount of coins and golden rings that were not shown in the status window.

    ¡°Great! I¡¯ve obtained more than enough!¡±

    Anyway, I invested all of the whopping 1800 remaining stat points, including the 1400 from the double rewards, in Intellect.

    As soon as I did so, my Stamina increased by 1800 and my Willpower increased by 900.

    ¡°Wonderful!¡±

    I eximed before I knew it.

    But I had one thing to do before I moved to my familiar hunting ground.

    I had a whopping 3 skill points in my status window, and I already had an idea how to use them.

    ¡°Move to Kotum Castle.¡±

    [You are now moving to Kotum Castle.]

    Obviously, there was no more recruitment of new users.

    However, this was just a recent change, and there was a huge influx of new users until that point because of the rampant rumors about Revival Legend. As a result, when I got there, there were still quite a lot of users in Kotum Castle, widely known as the area for beginners.

    I passed by them and moved to the huge tower in the central square.

    Of course, I had to brush past quite a few users several times because it was so crowded, but I didn¡¯t care.

    [Currently, there are skills that you can acquire.]

    [There are currently ice-type skills that you can upgrade.]

    I agonized over the upgradable skills a bit because I had lots of skills I wanted to upgrade.

    However, considering the reality actualization rate, it would be foolish for me to upgrade them blindly, for higher level skills require a higher reality actualization rate.

    ¡°Search Ice Punishment!¡±

    [Level 8 ¡®Ice Punishment¡¯. (Active, requires 3 skill points, requires 55,000,000 golden rings.

    : Inflicts powerful ice punishment on one target.

    : Level 8 and level 9 Ice Punishment exist.]

    This was the skill I agonizingly passed over in the past when I had to select between it and Ice Tornado.

    I was especially conflicted since Icked single-target skillspared to AOE skills.

    Of course, even if I acquired it, I would definitely use it less frequently than my AOE skills.

    And to be honest, this skill was not the best for hunting.

    Nevertheless, I thought it would be better to have a skill that could inflict powerful damage.

 Chapter 298 - Delay (2)

    <h4>Chapter 298: Dy (2)</h4>

    Considering my IceMan trait, Intellect in thete 40,000s, and other items, I can kill even strong tanks with one single strike, not to mention those who were not tanks.

    So, I chose to acquire this skill without any hesitation.

    [You have acquired level 8 Ice Punishment.]

    ¡®Hahaha!¡¯

    I had no choice but to smile when I acquired Ice Punishment, the ultimate single-target skill, to my repertoire which included the ultimate AOE skills Level 9 Blizzard and Level 8 Ice Tornado. And I felt even more secure because I felt like I had achieved something once more.

    But I could not afford to becent because I still had lots of work to do.

    After acquiring the skill, I immediately moved to the Land of Titan, the level 1500 hunting ground.

    In the meantime, a group of people who were gathered in Cape Town, South Africa, started talking about something.

    ¡°Really? We didn¡¯t win first ce even though our team had twenty members?¡±

    ¡°Well, that team had Asirante, or more precisely, Juyoung Hong.¡±

    ¡°But our team had twenty, not ten! Besides, our team didn¡¯t go there empty-handed! But do you know what the real problem is?¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Somehow, I have a hunch that we¡¯re going to tie for second ce next time.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡±

    This time, the small-statured man could not finish his words in response to the stout man who fumed at the defeat of his team, for he felt the same as well.

    So, they prepared quite a bit. In particr, they made a team of twenty through a connection trait by summoning ten yers who had been proceeding with the quest in a different ce .

    Despite that, they were tied for second ce. Of course, it wasn¡¯t a bad score.

    Given that tens of thousands or maybe hundreds of thousands of teams challenged the quest, second ce was not that bad.

    But the fact that they received no reward for their second ce deepened their sense of loss as well as anger. They were enraged because they were second ce, in particr.

    ¡°Damn it! What the hell is that bastard¡¯s secret weapon?¡±

    ¡°This quest was for a ten-member team. So, we can¡¯t conclude we lost because of Asirante.¡±

    ¡°Do you mean we can¡¯t me Asirante?¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    The small man mentioned that Asirante might not be to me since the quest was challenged with a team of ten members. In other words, Asirante was just one of them in his eyes.

    However, when asked who else should be med other than Asirante for their defeat, the small man had no choice but to keep silent because he didn¡¯t know, either.

    No matter how much he thought about it, the big man could not help but infer that it was Asirante who led the Myongjin team to win.

    ¡°Whew! The world is getting more and more chaotic, and a world where power is everything is approaching. It seems that the protagonist of this world has already been decided.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    When the stout manined like that, the other people including the small man who were listening to him attentively did not refute.

    Anyway, the meeting of the Jastron Guild, the alleged No.1 Guild in South Africa, continued for a long time.

    In the Land of Titan.

    ¡°Ice Punishment!¡±

    Bang!

    [Kuuuuuuuuuh!]

    A huge b of ice fell from the sky instead of lightning. And it instantly killed the level 1500 monsters, the Titans, by inflicting a huge amount of damage.

    ¡°Hahaha.¡±

    So, I had no choice but tough.

    But at the same time, I had some regrets because its cooldown was even longer than that of AOE skills.

    Of course, I could understand it. It would be a scam if this single-target skill had no cooldown or a shorter cooldown than AOE skills given its enormous power.

    Anyway, after confirming the skill¡¯s enormous power, I started herd hunting using Blink with zero cooldown.

    The next day and the day after that, I started to feel that something was a little off.

    As a matter of fact, there was nothing strange.

    Nheless, I felt that something was off.

    So I immediately messaged my sister.

    [Lumen: Hey, sis!]

    [Super Beauty: What¡¯s up?]

    [Lumen: Can you log out now? Can I see you at the secret house of Rodon Castle?]

    [Super Beauty: Huh? Why?]

    [Lumen: Because I am there now.]

    [Super Beauty: Got it. I¡¯ll join you there immediately.]

    I asked my sister toe to the secret house of Rodon Castle.

    As soon as she came, I logged out with her.

    Inside the No. 1 Base of the Myongjin Shelter.

    ¡°Why? What¡¯s going on?¡± my sister asked.

    ¡°I have to check something. Put down your VR device here.¡±

    First, I ced the VR device in my older sister¡¯s hand on the table next to the sofa.

    Of course, I ced mine there, too.

    Then I said softly, ¡°Sis, we¡¯re going to log in at the same time this time.¡±

    ¡°Uh?¡±

    ¡°So, let¡¯s count 3, 2, 1 at once and log in at the same time. Then, we will meet at the safe house at the same time, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    ¡°Good. Let¡¯s do it.¡±

    My sister was a little startled by my unexpected suggestion, but she didn¡¯t raise any questions. So, I immediatelyy down on the living room sofa with my sister and put on the VR device.

    ¡°When I countdown from 3, we are going to log in at the same time. Got it?¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°3, 2, 1. ess!¡±

    ¡°ess!¡±

    So, we essed Revival Legend at the same time.

    At the Rodon Castle¡¯s secret house within Revival Legend a littleter.

    ¡°What the heck? Juyoung, why are youte?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    First of all, my sister was in front of me. But after hearing her words, I realized that what I thought was strange was real.

    ¡°I measured the time. Exactly 5 minutes and 30 seconds!¡±

    ¡°Did I log in 5 minutes and 30 secondster?¡±

    5 minutes and 30 seconds was long or short, depending on how one looked at it.

    However, considering the time it took us to log in, it was indeed very long.

    ¡°You aren¡¯t making fun of me, are you?¡± she demanded.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I wished this was a joke like she said because I didn¡¯t do anything while essing the game.

    There was obviously an unknown dy in essing the game.

    Of course, I could ignore it as trivial.

    5 minutes and 30 seconds was also permissible enough in terms of logging in.

    But the problem was that Revival Legend was not just an ordinary game.

    And there were also other problems.

    I checked my logging time again after three hours, and it took me 7 minutes and 21 seconds. Then when I checked it for the third time after another three hours, it took me 9 minutes and 57 seconds

    If it had been 5 minutes and 30 seconds constantly, I wouldn¡¯t have been so anxious.

    However, as time went on, the dy in essing the game gradually increased noticeably.

    Finally, Director Sok said, ¡°After I heard about your ess dy, I randomly selected 20,000 yers of the Myongjin Guild to confirm it. But they didn¡¯t experience any dy in essing Revival Legend.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    20,000 yers from the Myongjin Guild were selected for this test, but they didn¡¯t have the same problem as me. Thus, it was reasonable to conclude that only I was experiencing such a dy. That¡¯s why everyone in the small meeting room, including my father, brother, sister, and Director Sok, had a serious expression on their faces. Given that my rtionship with the Myongjin Guild was inseparable, it was natural that they were gravely concerned.

 Chapter 299 - Delay (3)

    Reading works can both earn Points. Points can be exchanged for gifts.

    299 Erosion (1)

    At that moment, my father asked, "When did you feel it first?"

    1

    "Well, I don''t know exactly. Maybe yesterday? I just felt something strange and ufortable. That''s why I tried essing the game with my sister at the same time to investigate."

    "Then, did you feel anything strange in the past?"

    When he said that, I traced back my memories for a moment, but nothing strange came to mind.

    I didn''t meet anyone in particr. I just acquired the ''Ice Punishment'' skill at Kotum Castle, then went straight to the Land of Titan to hunt. That''s all I could remember. There was nothing strange.

    "Nope."

    "Hmm..."

    My father groaned at my denial, and a heavy silence fell in the small meeting room.

    Then my father looked at Director Sok and said, "Investigate all the yers of the Myongjin Guild, not just the 20,000 yers you mentioned previously. Ask the Mirae Guild or the Tugal Guild of Mongolia if there is anybody who is experiencing the same thing as Juyoung. Don''t mention his name, though."

    "Yes sir!"

    This was my first time experiencing this kind of strange phenomenon.

    Anyway, we put our heads together to try to tackle the problem, but we had no ideas. All we could do was to try and find out if there was any other yer like me.

    The next day.

    "35 minutes and 17 seconds."

    I frowned slightly when my sister who logged in with me mentioned my dyed ess. As a matter of fact, the dy was increasing each day.

    But unlike logging in, I could log out immediately with no dy.

    The only problem was the time it took me to log in, which increased gradually.

    "Whew¡­"

    When I heard her confirming my dy again, I just let out a sigh.

    I wish I could know the reason, but I was told that nobody in the Mirae or Tugal Guild had experienced the same problem. They rather asked us who was experiencing this problem.

    Of course, we simply told them that one of the Myongjin Guild members was experiencing it without explicitly naming me.

    At that moment, my sister said with an anxious expression, "How about announcing it to all the guilds around the world? Some of them might know what is happening."

    But I shook my head because revealing it to others would not be a good idea. Besides, it involved me, not some random other yer.

    She frowned, but after conversing with her briefly, I left to the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan.

    How about my current situation?

    Of course, I racked my brain trying to find out the reason this could have happened all day long yesterday.

    Not only I, but also my family members, Director Sok and the people of the Strategy Department of the Myongjin Guild tried to find any clue to my persistent dy in ess, but they failed.

    At the end of the day, I got sick and tired of thinking about it, and I became really upset as to why this kind of thing was happening to me alone. If there was such a thing as an administrator in this game, I wanted to run and grab him by the cor andin. But this was impossible, of course.

    So I decided to hunt as usual because I didn''t know the reason.

    I also wanted to know how long this kind of dy would continue.

    At the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan.

    "Ice Field!"

    Pasasasak!

    "Blizzard! Ice Tornado!"

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    [Kheeeeeeek!]

    [Khuuuuuuk!]

    "Ice Punishment! Pouring Hail! I''m going to kill you!"

    I didn''t have to use Ice Punishment or Pouring Hail, but I kept using them, plus all my other skills.

    Nheless, I couldn''t get rid of the frustration and irritation caused by the continuous dy in essing the game.

    So I hunted more ferociously. I kept hunting like that until the next day.

    Three dayster.

    "4 hours 58 minutes and 31 seconds. As time goes on, the dy in ess is increasing rapidly."

    It took almost five hours now, which meant I would now lose five hourspared to others.

    Tomorrow, considering the rate of increase, it could take me six hours or even eight hours.

    "¡­"

    "¡­"

    That''s why there was a heavy silence in the conference room.

    If this phenomenon continued, it would eventually take more than a day to log in, and at some point, I would not be able to ess the game at all.

    Then Director Sok opened his mouth to break the heavy silence.

    "I started investigating from the point the Level 1200 regr quest started. And I examined carefully Juyoung''s activities by the second, not by the minute or hour."

    Of course, I mentioned my activities over and over again to everyone in the Strategy Department, including its head, Director Sok. Just in case I might have missed something, I told them repeatedly, but the Strategy Department had note up with any specific conclusion until now.

    Actually, they had not mentioned anything at all because there was nothing strange about my activities even from my own eyes.

    But this time, Director Sok mentioned something significant, as if he had found some clues.

    "The Strategy Department concluded that the most probable source of your dy is from Kotum Castle. Because there were quite a lot of users in Kotum Castle, I heard you bumped into them while you were moving to the central za to acquire skills. Of course, that''s not anything unusual, but we could not find any other clue to exin this phenomenon ."

    As soon as he said that, my father asked, "Then, is the culprit somebody who bumped into Juyoung?"

    "Yes, that''s what we concluded. Other than that, we could not find anything suspicious."

    "What about bugs or errors in this Revival Legend?"

    "We also examined that possibility, but we ruled it out. If that was the cause of his dy, then there is nothing we can do on our part. Of course, even if this was the case, we would not have been able to find any clues anyway. I''m sorry we can''t help you more, Chairman and Juyoung."

    "¡­"

    "¡­"

    "¡­"

    When Director Sok finished his presentation, no one including me said anything.

    Even if what he said was true, that incident at Kotum Castle happened a week ago. Besides, there were so many users at that time that it was impossible for me to pinpoint any particr person among them.

    Even if I could, there was no possibility that the man would easily reveal himself.

    Anyway, we ended the meeting on that day with a heavy heart.

    Two dayster.

    "19 hours 48 minutes 37 seconds."

    "Wow!"

    My sister eximed sarcastically at the extraordinary dy this time.

    Without hiding my embarrassment, I said jokingly, "Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow it might take more than 24 hours for me to log in! Lol! What a game! How can I log in after 24 hours? Revival Legend really is a terrific game!"

    "¡­"

    But my sister didn''tugh as if she thought my joke was not funny at all.

    She only made a frustrated expression.

    I passed by her and headed to the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan.

    Other than this ce, tThere was no other hunting ground where I could hunt.

    Of course, I visited one hunting ground in between, namely, Kotum Castle, which the Strategy Department guys, including Director Sok, singled out as the most likely source of my dy.

 Chapter 300 - Erosion

    <h4>Chapter 300: Erosion</h4>

    At that moment, my father asked, ¡°When did you feel it first?¡±

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know exactly. Maybe yesterday? I just felt something strange and ufortable. That¡¯s why I tried essing the game with my sister at the same time to investigate.¡±

    ¡°Then, did you feel anything strange in the past?¡±

    When he said that, I traced back my memories for a moment, but nothing strange came to mind.

    I didn¡¯t meet anyone in particr. I just acquired the ¡®Ice Punishment¡¯ skill at Kotum Castle, then went straight to the Land of Titan to hunt. That¡¯s all I could remember. There was nothing strange.

    ¡°Nope.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    My father groaned at my denial, and a heavy silence fell in the small meeting room.

    Then my father looked at Director Sok and said, ¡°Investigate all the yers of the Myongjin Guild, not just the 20,000 yers you mentioned previously. Ask the Mirae Guild or the Tugal Guild of Mongolia if there is anybody who is experiencing the same thing as Juyoung. Don¡¯t mention his name, though.¡±

    ¡°Yes sir!¡±

    This was my first time experiencing this kind of strange phenomenon.

    Anyway, we put our heads together to try to tackle the problem, but we had no ideas. All we could do was to try and find out if there was any other yer like me.

    The next day.

    ¡°35 minutes and 17 seconds.¡±

    I frowned slightly when my sister who logged in with me mentioned my dyed ess. As a matter of fact, the dy was increasing each day.

    But unlike logging in, I could log out immediately with no dy.

    The only problem was the time it took me to log in, which increased gradually.

    ¡°Whew¡­¡±

    When I heard her confirming my dy again, I just let out a sigh.

    I wish I could know the reason, but I was told that nobody in the Mirae or Tugal Guild had experienced the same problem. They rather asked us who was experiencing this problem.

    Of course, we simply told them that one of the Myongjin Guild members was experiencing it without explicitly naming me.

    At that moment, my sister said with an anxious expression, ¡°How about announcing it to all the guilds around the world? Some of them might know what is happening.¡±

    But I shook my head because revealing it to others would not be a good idea. Besides, it involved me, not some random other yer.

    She frowned, but after conversing with her briefly, I left to the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan.

    How about my current situation?

    Of course, I racked my brain trying to find out the reason this could have happened all day long yesterday.

    Not only I, but also my family members, Director Sok and the people of the Strategy Department of the Myongjin Guild tried to find any clue to my persistent dy in ess, but they failed.

    At the end of the day, I got sick and tired of thinking about it, and I became really upset as to why this kind of thing was happening to me alone. If there was such a thing as an administrator in this game, I wanted to run and grab him by the cor andin. But this was impossible, of course.

    So I decided to hunt as usual because I didn¡¯t know the reason.

    I also wanted to know how long this kind of dy would continue.

    At the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan.

    ¡°Ice Field!¡±

    Pasasasak!

    ¡°Blizzard! Ice Tornado!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    [Kheeeeeeek!]

    [Khuuuuuuk!]

    ¡°Ice Punishment! Pouring Hail! I¡¯m going to kill you!¡±

    I didn¡¯t have to use Ice Punishment or Pouring Hail, but I kept using them, plus all my other skills.

    Nheless, I couldn¡¯t get rid of the frustration and irritation caused by the continuous dy in essing the game.

    So I hunted more ferociously. I kept hunting like that until the next day.

    Three dayster.

    ¡°4 hours 58 minutes and 31 seconds. As time goes on, the dy in ess is increasing rapidly.¡±

    It took almost five hours now, which meant I would now lose five hourspared to others.

    Tomorrow, considering the rate of increase, it could take me six hours or even eight hours.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    That¡¯s why there was a heavy silence in the conference room.

    If this phenomenon continued, it would eventually take more than a day to log in, and at some point, I would not be able to ess the game at all..

    Then Director Sok opened his mouth to break the heavy silence.

    ¡°I started investigating from the point the Level 1200 regr quest started. And I examined carefully Juyoung¡¯s activities by the second, not by the minute or hour.¡±

    Of course, I mentioned my activities over and over again to everyone in the Strategy Department, including its head, Director Sok. Just in case I might have missed something, I told them repeatedly, but the Strategy Department had note up with any specific conclusion until now.

    Actually, they had not mentioned anything at all because there was nothing strange about my activities even from my own eyes.

    But this time, Director Sok mentioned something significant, as if he had found some clues.

    ¡°The Strategy Department concluded that the most probable source of your dy is from Kotum Castle. Because there were quite a lot of users in Kotum Castle, I heard you bumped into them while you were moving to the central za to acquire skills. Of course, that¡¯s not anything unusual, but we could not find any other clue to exin this phenomenon .¡±

    As soon as he said that, my father asked, ¡°Then, is the culprit somebody who bumped into Juyoung?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what we concluded. Other than that, we could not find anything suspicious.¡±

    ¡°What about bugs or errors in this Revival Legend?¡±

    ¡°We also examined that possibility, but we ruled it out. If that was the cause of his dy, then there is nothing we can do on our part. Of course, even if this was the case, we would not have been able to find any clues anyway. I¡¯m sorry we can¡¯t help you more, Chairman and Juyoung.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    When Director Sok finished his presentation, no one including me said anything.

    Even if what he said was true, that incident at Kotum Castle happened a week ago. Besides, there were so many users at that time that it was impossible for me to pinpoint any particr person among them.

    Even if I could, there was no possibility that the man would easily reveal himself.

    Anyway, we ended the meeting on that day with a heavy heart.

    Two dayster.

    ¡°19 hours 48 minutes 37 seconds.¡±

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    My sister eximed sarcastically at the extraordinary dy this time.

    Without hiding my embarrassment, I said jokingly, ¡°Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow it might take more than 24 hours for me to log in! Lol! What a game! How can I log in after 24 hours? Revival Legend really is a terrific game!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    But my sister didn¡¯tugh as if she thought my joke was not funny at all.

    She only made a frustrated expression.

    I passed by her and headed to the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan.

    Other than this ce, tThere was no other hunting ground where I could hunt.

    Of course, I visited one hunting ground in between, namely, Kotum Castle, which the Strategy Department guys, including Director Sok, singled out as the most likely source of my dy.

 Chapter 301 - Parasite (1)

    <h4>Chapter 301: Parasite (1)</h4>

    Then I immediately opened my mouth, ignoring the messages that rang in session.

    ¡°Log out.¡±

    After logging out, I soaked myself in warm water to relieve my fatigue then went to bed.

    Did I reconnect the game to double check? I didn¡¯t because I didn¡¯t have to know it in advance.

    To be honest, I was a bit scared.

    The next morning.

    Originally I would have woken up early in the morning, washed and eaten, then essed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ right away because I was close to achieving level 1200.

    However, I had breakfast leisurely at the dining table with my family.

    After that, I sat down on the sofa and sipped hot coffee.

    My family members watched me with anxious looks, but I ignored them.

    I rested untilte afternoon like that.

    Late in the afternoon that day.

    ¡°Whew!¡±

    I put on the VR device with trembling hands and opened my mouth in a low voice.

    ¡°ess!¡±

    While Juyoung Hong was essing the game, a guy was trembling in a shabby inn outside Kotum Castle within ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    Asirante was clearly 100% eroded by the parasite yesterday, so he thought he could take over Asirante¡¯s body as soon as he logged out.

    But things didn¡¯t work out as he nned.

    [The parasite begins to erode the target.]

    He could not help but be startled when he saw this message because Asirante¡¯s body was clearly 100% eroded by the parasite already, which meant the parasite couldn¡¯t do it again.

    But there was a bigger problem.

    [Your target can¡¯t be eroded by the parasite.

    -The parasite that acquires nutrients by eroding the target can¡¯t do anything, so it begins to eat away its own body for nutrients.]

    ¡°?¡±

    A message that the parasite was eating itself for nutrients.

    This meant only one thing. It would die on its own by cannibalizing itself.

    ¡°Oh, no! No way! How is this possible?¡±

    The man couldn¡¯t help but scream. He has never dreamed of this situation, for the death of a parasite meant that everything he had nned until now would be for nothing.

    He sprang to his feet. Before the parasite died on its own, he had to touch Asirante¡¯s body to remove the parasite.

    Inside the safe house at Rodon Castle.

    I didn¡¯t check the time, but I knew intuitively that I could now ess normally.

    ¡°10 seconds¡­¡±

    This was the normal connection time for me.

    Of course, I didn¡¯tugh because my transformation into the Constetion Hunter wouldst only one week, and after that, I would go back to my original Lumen, Asirante identity.

    Well, if I broke the promise to allow India¡¯s Siddarth Guild to retain thest use of the badge, I could use it for two weeks.

    Anyway, I didn¡¯t say anything about this to my mom and sister, who were cheering at the recovery of my normal connection time, because I did not want to dampen their mood by exining this to them in advance.

    So, I moved to the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan with arge smile on my face.

    And I started hunting there casually as if nothing happened.

    Five hourster, I wanted to log out to retest my connection.

    I knew I could ess quickly again because I had already done so once, but I was still nervous.

    At that moment, Director Sok messaged me.

    [Inse Sok: Young master!]

    [Constetion Hunter: Yes.]

    [Inse Sok: I heard from your sister. Since it was not the perfect solution, I didn¡¯t say anything to you.]

    Director Sok, the head of the Strategy Department, was aware that I changed into the Constetion Hunter in India for one week, so I didn¡¯t show any particr reaction.

    But I couldn¡¯t help but respond to his next message.

    [Sok: A stranger hase to the main base of the Myongjin Guild. He said that he nted a parasite into your body, and he even wants to take it back.]

    [Constetion Hunter: Parasite?]

    [Sok: Yes.]

    [Constetion Hunter: I¡¯ll be there right away.]

    As soon as I finished conversing with him, I suppressed my pounding heart, and moved right away.

    At the main base of the Myongjin Guild.

    Even if I turned into the Constetion Hunter, I could still use my skills Savant and Blink with zero cooldown, so I quickly reached the Myongjin Guild¡¯s main base.

    Instead of going directly inside, however, I stopped and readjusted my clothes neatly, as if I wasn¡¯t in a hurry at all.

    When I went inside slowly, I could see a man crouching like a criminal, surrounded on all sides by hordes of Myongjin users.

    At that moment, the man shouted, ¡°I¡¯ll take it back. And I will never again aim at Asirante-sama!¡±

    I was neither Lumen nor Asirante, but the Constetion Hunter at the moment.

    However, the man pointed to me correctly and yelled as soon as I entered, so I knew instantly he was real.

    The man continued, ¡°If I touch Asirante¡¯s body just once, I can take the parasite back. And I will never be hostile to the Myongjin Guild, let alone Asirante. So, please return the parasite to me!¡±

    The man was almost crying while begging me.

    At that moment, I recalled a guy. It was Smith who I killed a long time ago.

    He did the same thing like this man by first being hostile to me and then begging for his life.

    This guy was begging for the return of the parasite.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t know the details, but I could figure out to some extent what¡¯s going on.

    In other words, the guy nted a parasite in my body, expecting something, but he didn¡¯t achieve his goal because I changed into the Constetion Hunter. That¡¯s why he was crying like that, begging for the return of the parasite.

    Of course, I wanted to tell him to take out the parasite right away by touching me.

    And it seemed he was genuinely distressed.

    But I didn¡¯t want to.

    ¡°Why should I ept your request when you were hostile to me?¡±

    Although I was upset, I spoke to him calmly but arrogantly as if I didn¡¯t care about the parasite.

    ¡°That¡¯s because¡­¡±

    The man stumbled about, unable to finish his words.

    Instead of waiting for his next words, I continued arrogantly, ¡°You already know where the Myongjin Shelter is, right? I¡¯ll see you there. I¡¯ll ept your request if you reveal your identity to me in reality. I won¡¯t harm you, of course.¡±

    Contrary to what I said, I did indeed think of harming him, given my irritation, frustration and anger because of my dyed ess to the game until now.

    And it would be better for me to get rid of this kind of bizarre guy.

    So, I wanted to tell him to take out the parasite right now, but I held back patiently.

    ¡°But¡­¡±

    Perhaps he knew how dangerous it would be if he revealed himself in reality.

    That¡¯s why he was hesitating to reply clearly.

    However, there could only be one reason why he took the trouble of visiting me after hiding his identity for such a long time. In other words, the parasite he nted into my body was not in a normal state. Maybe he was worried the parasite would perish forever.

    That¡¯s why he came here in distress and begged me to return it to him.

    In other words, I was the one calling the shots right now, even though I could maintain the status of the Constetion Hunter for only one or two weeks at most.

    But I didn¡¯t express that to him at all.

    [¡­]

    [¡­]

    We made eye contact for some time.

    Then he finally replied, ¡°Understood!¡±

    In the end, I prevailed.

    Then I turned suddenly because if I kept talking with him any longer, my act could be exposed.

 Chapter 302 - Parasite (2)

    <h4>Chapter 302: Parasite (2)</h4>

    That evening I was quite relieved because I now grasped the whole situation.

    Of course, the guy had yet to reveal his identity in reality.

    At that moment, a message rang.

    [You have eaten the parasite.

    ¨C As a result, you obtain the following rewards.

    : 3471 remaining stat points that the parasite umted.

    : Numerous EXP that the parasite umted.]

    [Currently, you hold the roots.

    -The roots be much stronger by absorbing the remnants of the parasite.]

    [Currently, you are transformed into the Constetion Hunter.

    -You can receive the rewards only after you revert from being the Constetion Hunter.]

    Quite a few messages rang in session.

    After confirming the messages, I opened my mouth, looking at Director Sok and my family members including my father with whom I was meeting within the Myongjin Guild¡¯s main base within ¡®Revival Legend¡¯

    ¡°I don¡¯t think that man wille¡­¡±

    They looked puzzled at my words, so I continued casually, ¡°Because the parasite just died.¡±

    Of course, that guy might have another parasite.

    But I could say firmly that he didn¡¯t have it.

    If he had possessed another parasite, he wouldn¡¯t have appeared before me and cried so desperately for me to return the parasite to him.

    At the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan.

    The yers of the Daesung & Kusan Alliance, who were desperately hunting here before, disappeared as soon as the event tomemorate the new hunting ground was over.

    Of course, I could figure out why.

    Unlike the previous hunting grounds of level 1200 or lower, the penalty for death in the new hunting grounds of level 1300 or higher increased tremendously. If they died, they would have a whopping 7 day ess ban, suffer a massive drop in EXP, and all their stat points would randomly decrease between 1 and 10 which they would not be able to recover.

    I normally hunted near the hunting ground¡¯s entrance, but since I was now the archer Sarnga who appeared in India, not here, I went deep into the hunting ground and continued hunting every day until my status as the Constetion Hunter expired.

    One weekter.

    Since I was not weaker than my original state Asirante at all, I had no problem hunting like before. Rather, my hunting skills improved, so it was much easier to hunt.

    While I was absorbed into hunting until my status as the Constetion Hunter expired, a message rang. Not just one message, but several in session.

    [You have leveled up.]

    [You have leveled up.]

    :

    [You have leveled up.]

    [You have leveled up.]

    Of course, the messages didn¡¯t ring suddenly.

    There were some other messages before them.

    [The Constetion Hunter retention time has expired.

    -You return to your original state.]

    [The number of uses for the Constetion Hunter¡¯s badge has been reduced by 1.

    ¨C Current uses remaining: 1

    ¨C When the number of uses is exhausted, the Constetion Hunter¡¯s badge will expire.]

    [With the use of the Constetion Hunter badge, you have experienced the ability that even the stars fear.

    -Agility permanently increases by 1000.]

    The seven day retention time of the Constetion Hunter finally expired.

    That¡¯s why I saw a lot of messages.

    And one of the previous messages that rang to me mentioned that I could only receive the rewards I earned by devouring the parasite after my status as the Constetion Hunter was deactivated.

    [You will acquire the 3471 remaining stat points that the parasite umted so far.]

    [Currently, you hold the roots.

    -The roots will be much stronger by absorbing the remnants of the parasite.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Aside from the enormous EXP, I obtained a whopping 3471 remaining stat points. But I couldn¡¯t help but be a little restless because I didn¡¯t do anything to get them after all.

    Of course, I went through a lot of distress because of the parasite guy.

    Nheless, I felt good about the rewards.

    Massive EXP gains, 3471 remaining stat points, and the further strengthening of the roots would obviously strengthen me a lot. Despite that, I still was restless because of the potential opponents¡¯ attacks that I could not expect or predict at all.

    When they broke through the wall blocking each country seriously, or when they summoned me after breaking through the wall, I didn¡¯t take it seriously. However, I could not help but be shocked by some of the skills or traits that had appeared since then.

    For example, Japan¡¯s Item Master and Skill Master, Smith¡¯s 200% reality actualization rate, and the parasite.

    To be honest, each of them didn¡¯t look inferior to my items and skills. Some of them even looked superior. Of course, this didn¡¯t mean that only I should have the best items and skills.

    There is now that other people cannot possess such skills. And just as I acquired the limited skill Savant that almost doubled my strength instantly, other yers could also obtain such powerful skills in simr ways. Besides, I knew that I could obtain trait shards through quests and events instead of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Closed Betas alone. However, I could not help but feel it unfair that those yers with such bizarre traits and skills were only hostile to me.

    Of course, I knew why. It was because I was strong.

    If I was weak, I would not have attracted other people¡¯s attention, and I would not have had to battle with such powerful opponents.

    ¡°Whew¡­I can¡¯t help it anyway.¡¯

    While I was grumbling like that, a series of messages kept ringing.

    [The third trait of the Constetion Hunter activates.

    ¨C We are calcting your performance as the Constetion Hunter.]

    [Your activities during the one week you transformed into the Constetion Hunter equal to a total of 253,117,000 points.

    -As a result, you receive the following additional rewards.

    : 250 million golden rings.

    : 2500 coins.

    : 250 remaining stat points.]

    As if boasting about its myth grade, the Constetion Hunter¡¯s badge bestowed me with a tremendous reward. Of course, the badge was not solely responsible for my rewards. Since I owned three traits, I could gain three of the Constetion Hunter¡¯s traits, the third of which gave me such a tremendous reward for my one-week activities.

    In other words, this was a reward that anybody who had no traits or even one or two traits could not even dream about.

    Anyway, the moment I thought it was all over, another message rang.

    This time it was not a message about rewards, but I couldn¡¯t help but be even happier.

    The message was about the primary goal that I had been longing to achieve.

    [Lumen, Asirante, congrattions on reaching level 1200!

    ¨C By reaching level 1200, you have been given the privilege of actualizing your abilities within ¡®Revival Legend¡¯. However, you should meet the following conditions to actualize your abilities.

    -By using coins, you can permanently actualize your abilities within ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    : For 0%-10% actualization, you need 1,000 coins per 1%.

    : For 11%- 20% actualization, you need 2,000 coins per 1%.

    : For 21%- 30% actualization, you need 3,000 coins per 1%.

    : For 31% ¨C 40% actualization, you need 4,000 coins per 1%.

    :

    :]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    My primary goal until now had been to achieve level 1200.

    Since I had so many coins, I had no choice but to desperately grind for level 1200.

    I had finally reached level 1200, but I had lots of mixed feelings.

    But what I felt certain about was that I felt a lot better since it was like a load had been taken off my chest.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡±

    So, I could not help but smile brightly because my anxiety, which was crippling me until a moment ago, had disappeared in an instant.

 Chapter 303 - Level 1200 (1)

    <h4>Chapter 303: Level 1200 (1)</h4>

    Of course, I didn¡¯t consider this my final level to achieve. Achieving level 1200 was only my first goal as the basis for the reality actualization rate was still one¡¯s strength within ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    In other words, if two opponents had the same 10% reality actualization rate but different stats within ¡®Revival Legend¡¯, the strength they disyed within reality would invariably differ.

    For example, 10% of the one who has 100 is 10, but 10% of the one who has 200 is 20.

    So I could fight against Smith on equal footing despite him having 200% actualization rate despite only having 33% actualization at the time, although I eventually overpowered him with Blink with zero cooldown and the Roots.

    At that moment, another message rang targeted at me.

    [Lumen, Asirante has the level 1200 privilege preview.

    -The level 1200 privilege preview disappears, and the following rewards are given in return.

    : 1 billion golden rings.

    : 10,000 coins.

    : 500 remaining stat points.]

    I was given this preview as a reward for clearing the level 500 limited quest.

    At first, Iined about it a lot when I first received it randomly because I would automatically receive it when I reached level 1200 anyway. But after a while, I had no choice but to think I was really lucky that I received it.

    If I had not received this preview in advance, I would have not been able to aplish any of my previous achievement, for example, when I was forced to move to Region 0, when I fought Smith, when I was in jeopardy while attending my brother¡¯s wedding and when I fought at the Dungeon of Ordeal where I gained as many as 60,000 coins.

    Anyway, I wouldn¡¯t regret it at all even if the level 1200 preview privilege simply disappeared.

    But even when it disappeared, it gave me a present as if tofort me.

    ¡°Is this like a tree that keeps giving generously¡­¡±

    Since so many messages rang, I quietly opened my mouth because I was very curious about how my status window changed.

    ¡°Check status window.¡±

    [Level: 1233

    Number of kills: 11492, Number of deaths: 0

    Titles: Only Closed Beta Max Level Achiever and 10 others.

    Health: 4,857,000 / 4,857,000

    Mana: 3,372,000 / 3,372,000

    Strength: 7828 Agility: 9325 Stamina: 36072

    Willpower: 24536 Intellect: 47755

    Remaining stat points: 4821

    Remaining skill points: 0

    Traits: Iceman, Mutual Growth, God of Enhancement.]

    As soon as I reverted from the Constetion Hunter, my Agility increased by 1000.

    And I still had 4821 remaining stat points.

    So I had no choice but to say, ¡°Well, given this reward, it looks like I can¡¯t have any regrets.¡±

    As they say, a person¡¯s heart is very fickle.

    As soon as I checked my status window, I even felt grateful to the man who nted a parasite in my body, for I gained 60 levels almost instantly, not to mention over 3000 remaining stat points.

    So, I once again thanked the man who nted the parasite in my body, then quickly invested the remaining 4821 stat points into my Intellect.

    And I immediately opened my inventory and took out a certain something which was the reason why I was so anxious to reach level 12000.

    [Coins: 198500.01]

    So far, I had spent a total of 72,000 coins to increase my reality actualization rate to 33%.

    I also used some more coins to actualize some items into reality while fighting Smith.

    Nheless, I still had almost 200,000 coins remaining.

    ¡°Well, I have to use them. I have no reason to save them. Check reality actualization rate!¡±

    [You have the level 1200 privilege of ¡®reality actualization¡¯.

    ¨C Currently, Lumen, Ashne¡¯s reality actualization rate is 33%.

    -You need 40,000 coins to actualize 1% up to 40%.]

    Until then, I thought I had too many coins.

    But when I needed 4000 coins per 1%, not 1000, 2000, or 3000, I thought my coin reserve was actually not thatrge. Of course, there were lots of yers who didn¡¯t even have half my coins. Anyway, I increased my reality actualization rate 1% at a time with the goal of achieving 40%.

    [Lumen, Asirante has achieved the 40% reality actualization rate.

    ¨C Coins required to increase by 1% are 5000 from now on.]

    ¡°Man, I know ¡±

    Not caring about that message, I kept using my coins to keep increasing my reality actualization rate. Soon I reached 40%, 50% and 60%.

    A littleter, I opened my mouth quietly.

    ¡°Check reality actualization rate.¡±

    [You have the level 1200 privilege of ¡®reality actualization.¡¯

    ¨C Currently, Lumen, Asirante¡¯s reality actualization rate is 65%.

    -You need 7000 coins per 1% realization up to 70%.]

    ¡°Check remaining coins!¡±

    [Coins: 25500.01]

    I could increase my rate by 3% with my remaining coins.

    But I decided not to because I might need them for an emergency or to actualize items urgentlyter.

    At that moment, I could not help but smile in satisfaction.

    I now felt more secure than ever.

    I had some thoughts previously that it was too early for me toe out publicly because if I had been a little more patient, I would have eventually achieved level 1200 and achieved a higher reality actualization rate than now. Of course, this didn¡¯t mean I regretted my decision back then.

    My opponents openly branded me as their enemy, and even if I disappeared from the scene, they would not back down easily.

    So, I massaged my sister with a smile on my lips.

    [Lumen: I just achieved level 1200!]

    [Super Beauty: Oh my God!]

    [Lumen: Hahaha!]

    [Super Beauty: What is your reality actualization rate?]

    [Lumen: 65%.]

    [Super Beauty:¡­]

    Of course, I did not only message my sister.

    Aside from my family members, Director Sok was alos pretty invested in me reaching level 1200. So I messaged all of them, who, in turn, congratted me.

    They decided to hold a small party, not a grand one, to celebrate my new level.

    As a matter of fact, I was already rumored to have achieved level 1200 everywhere.

    The fact that I had a reality actualization rate was the most telling evidence of it.

    Since I could not publicly deny that I reached level 1200, we had a party disguised as a dinner that evening with some of my family members and Director Sok attending.

    At the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    Even if I reached level 1200, I could not stop hunting.

    So the next day after the party was over, which several people including my family attended, I essed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ and continued hunting.

    Of course, there were some changes before. It was to do with my attitude.

    In other words, I finally felt more peaceful than before.

    And it was mainly my 65% reality actualization rate that made me feel rxed.

    But since I knew level 1200 was not my final goal, I didn¡¯t feelcent orzy.

    So, with a smile on my face, I continued hunting as I always did.

    And soon it was lunch time. In the past I often skipped it.

    In fact, I either skipped most meals including lunch and breakfast or ate alone these days.

    Why? It¡¯s because it took me several hours or even dozens of hours to log in Revival Legend.

    I didn¡¯t know what was happening. Since I didn¡¯t know the cause of the dy, I could not find the solution. But now that I¡¯ve reached level 1200 and solved the problem, I logged out during lunch time and had lunch with my sister and my other family members.

    Then my father said, ¡°So, you said you are going to go scouting?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m going to get rid of those who are blocking the way to the beach. We don¡¯t have to leave them alone there.¡±

 Chapter 304 - Level 1200 (2)

    <h4>Chapter 304: Level 1200 (2)</h4>

    The Myongjin Shelter was designed with three rectangr-shaped main bases in the center, with twenty buildings sparsely located on the outside surrounding the main bases like a circle.

    Of course, the three main bases and the twenty buildings on the outside had a considerable distance between them to allow tens of thousands of people to stay there for a long time. They needed enough space to raise cattle, pigs, chickens, etc., as well as farming for self-sufficiency. And they also needed a space to enjoy outdoor life because living only inside the building would cause various mental problems.

    The Myeongjin Shelter has been safe so far.

    Of course, it didn¡¯t mean that monsters didn¡¯t appear at all. Most recently, they appeared at my brother¡¯s wedding. However, there has not been any damage at all so far because either I or the special forces of the shelter who had raised their reality actualization rate killed them.

    While we were having the small party yesterday, I told everyone there that I would gradually get rid of all the monsters that would appear not only inside the shelter but also in its vicinity.

    It was good that they installed a barrier dividing the inside and the outside of the shelter for efficient defense against monsters, but I felt that it was frustrating for us to stay only inside the shelter due to fearing the monsters. When I expressed my opinion, not only my father, but also Director Sok, head of the Strategy Department of the Myongjin Guild, didn¡¯t object.

    Rather they weed my idea with open hands because even if we had no need to take actions outside the Myongjin Shelter right now, it¡¯s definitely not a bad thing to expand the area under Myongjin¡¯s jurisdiction.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go with you too!¡±

    Somebody shouted behind me. It was my sister.

    ¡°Gosh¡­¡±

    My mother immediately opened her mouth to try to stop her, but she didn¡¯t manage to finish her words.

    My sister said confidently, ¡°Mom, don¡¯t worry! It was me who reached level 1200 first! I also obtained 40,000 coins a while ago, even though Juyoung helped me.¡±

    It was true that she reached level 1200 first among my family members.

    Besides, she obtained as many as 40000 coins as the reward of the level 1200 regr quest.

    So my mother stopped trying to persuade her. And my father nodded slightly, giving her the greenlight.

    Anyway, we continued to eat lunch while talking about this and that.

    At the vacant lot in front of the main base of the Myongjin Shelter a littleter.

    ¡°Reporting that all 550 members of the security guard are ready.¡±

    ¡°Reporting that all 150 members of the special force are ready.¡±

    To be honest, I could carry out the job alone without any problem, and I intended to.

    But not only my father, but also Director Sok expanded the reconnaissance team.

    They argued that we needed to show to the outside world that we could get rid of the monsters easily at any time to prove that we were not stuck in this remote shelter, pressured by the monsters.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t really object to their argument.

    Some things we had to deal with privately, but others were better dealt with publicly, such as the ughter of the monsters.

    So, I stopped pondering about it and ordered,¡±Okay. We¡¯ll be leaving in exactly 10 minutes. Until then, take a break.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±

    No one objected to me leading this reconnaissance team of 700 as itsmander.

    So, with the intense attention of the shelter residents focused on us, I finished inspecting their preparations and soon started moving with them.

    Although I and many of the special forces didn¡¯t need transportation, I prepared some military trucks and modified vehicles for the 550 security guards members.

    Between Myongjin Shelter Building 6 and Building 7 at the 3 o¡¯clock position.

    We could move quickly using vehicles because all the roads starting from the main bases had been well paved.

    When we got closer to Building 6 and Building 7, which could be called the entrance gates of the Myongjin Shelter, we started hearing a loudmotion.

    ¡°Please let me in!¡±

    ¡°I will do anything!!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need three meals a day. Just one is enough. So, please..¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, but please let my child in to the Myongjin Shelter. Please!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    They were refugees. At the entrance of the Myongjin Shelter, there were many people who could only be regarded as typical refugees. They were making all sorts of requests and pleas to those on security duty inside the shelter.

    Of course, I understood their situation.

    No matter how much I was absorbed into achieving level 1200 and ying ¡®Revival Legend¡¯, I didn¡¯t turn a blind eye to their miserable situation.

    In particr, the rumors spread widely that because of me, the Myongjin Shelter was possibly the safest ce not only in Korea but also the rest of the world.

    At that moment, Director Sok said, ¡°Juyoung¡­¡±

    ¡°No!¡±

    It seems that Director Sok, who apanied me as the chief of the special force, thought I felt guilty or burdened by their miserable pleas.

    But I knew that if we epted them, dozens or hundreds of times as many people woulde in droves even in the next few hours and cause a greatmotion to be let in. As they say, the desire to survive is far stronger than any other human desire

    So I shouted calmly without expressing my feelings.

    ¡°Open the way!¡±

    Obviously, I understood the feelings of those parents who were desperate to take care of their children. However, those living in the Myongjin Shelter were more important than them.

    Moreover, no matter howrge the Myongjin Shelter was, there was clearly a limit to how many people it could sustain.

    So this was my second best option.

    Even if I could not allow them to enter the Myongjin Shelter, I intended to make the area around the Myongjin Shelter safe for them. I decided that was the best action I could take right now.

    At that moment, my sister snuggled up to me and said quietly, ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, sis. I don¡¯t want to be a hero either. I have no intention of sacrificing myself for the sake of mankind. My top priority is my family and those living inside the shelter here.¡±

    ¡°Really? I¡¯m d to hear that! Let me tell you something. We¡¯re trying our best to ept the children secretly after contacting their parents. And they have no choice but to keep it to themselves. We¡¯re not epting them only with good intentions. We are also epting them out of necessity. However¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s enough.¡±

    In my opinion, the Myongjin Shelter was not necessarily a ce full of dreams and hopes, nor was it a ce which crushed those hopes and dreams.

    But I thought it was a good enough ce in this chaotic world.

    So, I interrupted my sister who was trying to exin more to me, then went out of the gate through the opening the security guards made for us, for I just wanted to do what I was expected to do.

 Chapter 305 - Cleaning Up Monsters (1)

    <h4>Chapter 305: Cleaning Up Monsters (1)</h4>

    30 minutes after we left the Myongjin Shelter.

    ¡°It¡¯s right there!¡± Director Sok shouted.

    At his shout, I stopped the vehicles, then looked straight ahead at the monsters. They were ogres.

    Director Sok said, ¡°We wanted to wipe them out as soon as possible because when they make a settlement, they tend to grow quite quickly. However¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s possible.¡±

    Of course, the Myongjin yers could get rid of the monsters if they wanted because some of them, including tanks, had increased their reality actualization rate.

    However, they were afraid killing the monsters would cause more trouble. So the ogres were a big burden to them.

    I said to Director Sok, ¡°It¡¯s good that you left them alone without killing them because you don¡¯t need to potentially cause unnecessary harm for no reason. Let me get rid of them then.¡±

    Certainly the fighting experiences of those behind me were important. However, I decided to confront the ogres because I didn¡¯t need any experience in dealing with them.

    And especially since this was my first expedition with the special forces and the security guards, I wanted to show off my strength because there was nothing more reassuring than a strong ally in the battle.

    ¡°Blink! Blink!

    So I immediately used Blink to prate into the horde of ogres.

    [Koooo!]

    [Kuang!]

    Of course, the ogres who noticed me did not stand still. They immediately charged at me.

    Was I startled by their charge?

    Of course, I wasn¡¯t because I used Blink for the very purpose of getting them to charge at me.

    Then I used one single skill against those ogres charging at me.

    ¡°Ice Field!¡±

    Pasasasak!

    My reality actualization rate was as high as 65%. Because of that, I could even use level 7 skills, not to mention level 6 skills. Given my 65% reality actualization rate, I was strong enough to easily beat somebody like Smith who had a 200% rate. What¡¯s more, I even gained more than 4000 remaining stat points and 60 levels instantly by devouring the parasite, which affected not only my Intellect but also my Stamina and Willpower thanks to my Mutual Growth trait .

    Naturally, the ogres were suppressed by the Ice Field I spread, so I immediately cast more skills at them.

    ¡°Ice Storm!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    [Kheeeeeee!]

    [Khuuuuuuuk!]

    And that was it. I didn/t need to cast another attack against them.

    Instead, I immediately used Blink with zero cooldown to attract other ogres.

    I still had a lot of skills avable, including Pouring Hail, Ice Rain, and Ice Wave.

    While Juyoung was busy getting rid of the ogres, some of the South Korean government under President Kijung Kim were watching his brilliant performance closely.

    ¡°So the rumors about him are true. I can¡¯t even tell whether they are ogres or simply orcs.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The name Asirante was famous from the beginning.

    Because of that, some giant guilds always had agents stationed in the Myongjin Shelter to monitor the situation there. Among them was one from the South Korean administration led by President Kim, who also was the suprememander of the military with power tomand them and direct them as he pleased.

    ¡°By the way, don¡¯t you feel like he has gotten stronger than before? I¡¯m afraid the President might be so shocked that he might piss his pants after watching this video.¡±

    ¡°Watch yournguage!¡±

    ¡°Captain, who cares if we curse the President when he is not here? By the way, isn¡¯t it true that he is always afraid that Asirante or Juyoung Hong might visit him unexpectedly?¡±

    ¡°Be careful! The walls have ears. What if somebody reports you to the President?¡±

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll be more prudent, Captain!¡±

    The man who was called the captain didn¡¯t say anything else at his subordinate¡¯s words.

    Like his subordinate said, Juyoung was much stronger than before.

    A group of people far behind the Myongjin¡¯s reconnaissance team were talking while looking at the battle at the distant front.

    ¡°We¡¯re lucky to see Asirante¡¯s brilliant performance like this.¡±

    ¡°How do you feel?¡±

    ¡°Well, he¡¯s extremely strong. I never thought that those ogres could look so miserable like this.¡±

    ¡°Really? I¡¯m d to hear that. I think Asirante can help us.¡±

    ¡°Of course, he will, I think. He will certainly be curious about NPCs, and NPCs that will appear as enemies at that.¡±

    ¡°I really hope he can help us.¡±

    Those who belonged to the US Holdridge Group watched Asirante¡¯s tremendous power in admiration.

    **

    Of course, I didn¡¯t deal with the ogres just to show off my power.

    But this was the first time that I officially revealed my power outside the Myongjin Shelter.

    Aside from those watching me secretly, I needed to show those following me that I was someone powerful that they could rely on.

    Even though I showed my formidable power to Smith¡¯s party at my brother¡¯s wedding ceremony, the situation this time was certainly different to back then.

    And my strategy paid off nicely.

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    ¡°Myongjin! Myongjin!¡±

    ¡°Juyoung Hong! Juyoung Hong!¡±

    ¡°We are strong! Myongjin is strong!¡±

    They kept cheering my name and Myongjin¡¯s name with joy.

    And as I intended, they clearly felt joyous and proud that they belonged to the Myongjin Guild.

    Director Sok said, handing me a towel, ¡°Thanks so much!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee. By the way, let¡¯s clean this area up quickly and move on. We can¡¯t afford to stay any longer.¡±

    I had no intention of recovering the whole Gangwon Province, where the Myongjin Shelter was located, nor did I intend to make Seoul or South Korea a zone free from monsters, for even if I could clear the monsters temporarily, I definitely could not subdue them forever.

    Moreover, even if I received coins and golden rings for killing the monsters in reality, I would not receive any EXP points or items.

    In other words, I had to y ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ unconditionally to grow further.

    So, I ordered Director Sok to collect the golden rings and coins quickly, then moved to the 12 o¡¯clock position.

    I originally nned to target the horde of ogres blocking the way to the east coast.

    There were no monsters near the Myongjin Shelter other than them.

    I could get rid of the rest of the monsters myself by patrolling the Myongjin Shelter, but I didn¡¯t because the special forces and guards of the Myongjin Shelter needed experience fighting against the ogres.

    To be honest, I didn¡¯t even need to deal with the ogres in person.

    But since I was there, there were a lot of people following us around this time.

    Then, just before the sun went down, I returned to the entrance between Outer Building 6 and Outer Building 7 where I first set foot to defeat the monsters.

    ¡°Wow! Thank you!¡±

    ¡°Thank you for killing the monsters!¡±

    ¡°Myongjin! Myongjin!¡±

    Loud shouts poured out from the crowd following behind, including those who were watching the situation, wondering if they might be able to get into the Myongjin Shelter.

    Of course, I knew why they were reacting like that.

    It was because I ensured their security by cleaning up the monsters around the shelter.

    But I didn¡¯t show any reaction to their cheers and entered the Myongjin Shelter right away.

    Because we didn¡¯t subdue the monsters at the start, we were always exposed to their potential attack at any time.

    In front of the main base of the Myongjin Shelter.

    I shouted to the 700 men who joined my reconnaissance team this time.

    ¡°Good job, everybody!¡±

    They replied in unison, ¡°Thank you, sir!¡±

    When their loud voices subsided, I continued, ¡°From now on, we will clean up the monsters around the Myongjin Shelter at least once every fortnight. So, I¡¯m going to make not only the Myongjin Shelter, but its vicinity a ce that monsters can¡¯t even dream of approaching!¡±

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    ¡°Myongjin! Myongjin!¡±

 Chapter 306 - Cleaning Up Monsters (2)

    <h4>Chapter 306: Cleaning Up Monsters (2)</h4>

    The loud shouts of the 700 people resonated through those living in the Myongjin Shelter who were watching us, and so the day¡¯s event ended like that.

    Since I moved together with them under the name of Myongjin, I had dinner with all of them in the main hall. When I was done eating, I went straight to my room and essed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯. Of course, before I left the main hall, I reported to the top executives of the shelter including my father about the day¡¯s happenings.

    My father praised me a lot for what I had done. He even approved mymitment which I made without his prior consent to get rid of the monsters appearing in the vicinity of the shelter every 15 days.

    The next day.

    ¡°Juyoung, can Ie in?¡±

    ¡°Come in.¡±

    I was puzzled by Director Sok¡¯s visit early in the morning, but I immediately let him in.

    If he had toe to visit me in person, he must have something important to talk about.

    And it actually was something important.

    ¡°The Holdridge Group in the USA?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    Thepany that had the source technology for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd generation VR devices was a USpany called Vten. And the closed-beta type game ¡®Revival Legend¡¯, or more precisely, ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ premiered first in America soon after Vten disappeared.

    In other words, aside from the fact that the United States was powerful, they also had more intelligence about thepany Vten than any other guilds around the world.

    Moreover, since the Myongjin Guild has grown powerful to the extent that it¡¯s very influential in Korea, they could find out that the major guilds that controlled the United States were Holdridge, Shaipe, and the US Government.

    That¡¯s why I had no choice but to ask Director Sok, ¡°They are here to visit us? I don¡¯t think they havee to celebrate my brother¡¯s wedding btedly.¡±

    ¡°Well, they didn¡¯t mention exactly why they wanted to visit us, but they said they wanted to ask a favor of you.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    If somebody from Africa or Southeast Asia or South America with the exception of a few countries had asked for my help, I would probably have understood their motivations because Revival Legend was not as influential in those countries as North Korea.

    But I felt it strange that the Holdridge Group from America was seeking my help.

    ¡°Got it, Director Sok. By the way, my father already knows about this, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Right after I reported to the chairman, I rushed here to see you. Chairman Hong instructed me to let you know about this as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    In the living room of my house in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul.

    I had breakfast with my father, my brother, and Director Sok in the small meeting room over breakfast, but we could not figure out why the Holdridge Group wanted to visit us at this time.

    So we decided to meet them first, and so we epted them into the living room.

    ¡°Hello. My name is Austin, and I¡¯m in charge of the Holdridge Group¡¯s Intelligence Department.¡±

    ¡°Hello. My name is Sten, and I¡¯m the Commander-in-chief of the 1st Army of the Holdledge Group.¡±

    ¡°Nice to meet you. My name is Sangman Hong, and I¡¯m in charge of the Myongjin Group.¡±

    The intelligence chief of the Holdridge Group and themander of its 1st Army.

    I could instantly tell they were here on an important mission, given their titles.

    People with such important positions were either the closest aide of the guild leader or their right hand man.

    Did I take what they said at face value?

    Not really. The Myongjin Guild has grown powerful to the extent that they can speak their own opinions confidently to other guilds around the world.

    Besides, Myongjin proved its power by winning first ce in the 1200 level regr quest recently. I heard that the Myongjin leadership had been contacted in advance by the top executives of the Holdridge Group about their visit. Of course, they didn¡¯t know their intelligence chief and Commander of the 1st Army would visit.

    Anyway, they exchanged greetings with my father and sat down on the chairs.

    They opened their mouths first.

    ¡°The reason we havee here is because we want to ask you a favor.¡±

    ¡°Well, I wonder if there is anything we can do to help you¡­¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! You are too humble. It looks like you rate the Holdridge Group too highly.¡±

    Most of the talking was done between my father and Austin, the intelligence chief.

    After praising each other a little bit, Austin hardened his face and said in a low voice, ¡°Hmm, it¡¯s slightly embarrassing to say this, but we made a big mistake this time because we were blinded by greed.¡±

    ¡°Mistake?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Summing up what Austin said, it seemed the Holdridge Group acquired a certain item from a dungeon. It was arge statue, simr to the one in the Dungeon of Ordeal in Indonesia. But when they chanced upon it, there was also a message that rang out.

    [Destroy the statue!

    -You will get a reward when you destroy the statue.]

    As a result, he said the Holdridge Groupunched an attack to destroy the statue.

    But the moment they attacked it, the stone cracked and from the crevices emerged orcs.

    Of course, it is not a big deal for a statue to throw out orcs these days.

    So, the Holdridge kept attacking the orcs without caring at all.

    Of course, the orcs, widely known as the weakest monster, were killed by their attack.

    They had no problems until then. But the problem began to ur when the orcs dropped items as they died. They dropped as many as 500 coins.

    Considering the function of the coins, this was a huge amount.

    So Holdridge attacked the cracked statue carefully this time, but there appeared no monsters while the cracks in the statue began to berger.

    Because of that, they just waited without attacking the statue any more.

    Then the next day, the cracks disappeared, and the statue was restored to its original untouched state. When they attacked it again, it cracked, and this time stronger monsters emerged. And each monster gave out 700 coins because they were more powerful than before.

    The Holdridge judged at that point that they had acquired a fantastic treasure. But some top executives at the Holdridge argued that they should destroy the statue as soon as possible, for the appearance of stronger monsters this time meant that someday much stronger monsters than before would appear. And Holdridge wasn¡¯t stupid enough not to miss that point.

    But the coins kept piling up.

    And eventually the coins dropped per monster exceeded 1,000, so they became more and more greedy, and kept collecting more and more, which in the end brought about a huge headache.

    ¡°Monsters are no longer the problem. At one stage, the statue reverted and we no longer could make cracks in it. It meant that we could no longer attack the statue, and as a result, we could no longer make the monsters that dropped a tremendous amount of coins appear anymore.¡±

    Austin finished his words with a gloomy expression.

    ¡°So what? Why does this matter to you?¡±

    Frankly, I felt jealous because the Holdridge Group probably obtained tens of thousands, or even more than 100,000 coins, even though Austin didn¡¯t mention it. So I felt relieved when he said no more monsters appeared.

    Austin replied, ¡°Of course, it¡¯s a big problem because the situation has changed¡­¡±

 Chapter 307 - A Statue Too Precious For Me To Lose (1)

    <h4>Chapter 307: A Statue Too Precious For Me To Lose (1)</h4>

    Austin took out from his pocket a few pictures of the statue emitting a red haze.

    Of course, it didn¡¯t seem too big of a problem from the pictures alone.

    But the words written below the statue were a problem.

    [The statue has reached the threshold of epting the energy of death.

    -If you do not destroy the statue quickly, thetent energy of death will be released from the statue.

    -The energy of death thates out will transform the whole continent into and of death.

    : The statue that has begun to emit the energy of death cannot be destroyed until the entire continent turns into and of death.]

    While Juyoung Hong was conversing with Austin like that, the top five executives of the Holdridge Group in New York were holding a discussion around the table.

    ¡°Will they move, based on the information about NPCs alone?¡±

    ¡°They will because the information about NPCs still has tremendous value.¡±

    ¡°Since we gave Austin some room to negotiate, he should have no problem with Asirante or Juyoung Hong over there. Although we caused the problem, it also has something to do with Juyoung Hong anyway.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! We didn¡¯t know we would start our first association with Juyoung in such a mean way like this!¡±

    ¡°Well, we are too greedy, honestly.¡±

    ¡°Right. We¡¯re too greedy.¡±

    The top five executives of the Holdridge Group wrapped up their conversation, smacking their lips bitterly.

    In the living room of the Myongjin Shelter.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    When I looked at the picture¡¯s caption, only one thing came to mind. These Holdridge guys from America were truly a lump of trouble.

    It also seemed like they were aware of it, given that they were trying to avoid my eyes by looking down.

    Of course, I was not sure whether it was really possible for the statue to turn the whole continent into and of death, but it was certain that somebody should smash the statue as soon as possible to avoid unnecessary risks.

    So I immediately opened my mouth.

    ¡°By the way, if you guys can¡¯t even make any cracks in the statue¡­¡±

    I knew the Holdridge Group was not just an ordinary guild that one could see anywhere.

    They were one of the top guilds in the world.

    That¡¯s why I asked such a question, and Austin replied with the answer I expected since I had encountered a simr situation before.

    For example, I once invaded Japan by breaking through the so-called wall together with the Mirae Guild. And it was me who broke that wall.

    No matter how many times the Mirae Guild yers attacked the wall, in the end, It was me who broke it byunching the most powerful and precise attack.

    Austin said, ¡°Even if we attack the statue numerous times, only the attack with the strongest damage is effective. Of course, we¡¯re not asking you to destroy it for free. We¡¯re willing topensate you fully for your efforts.¡±

    So I responded immediately, ¡°Sure, tell me what the reward is.¡±

    What Austin said next was quite surprising because I had never even imagined the existence of NPCs despite the appearance of monsters in reality.

    However, it was obvious that the one fighting against the military unit was an NPC in the video that Austin presented to me as evidence.

    Of course, I would investigate more about it at some point in the future.

    But it was very important for me to know it in advance so I could make preparations.

    In addition to the information about the NPCs, Austin also presented other rewards.

    ¡°We will also give you 20 billion golden rings and 30,000 coins.¡±

    Austin¡¯s offer was not bad.

    In particr, everybody would be in a dangerous situation if I didn¡¯t solve the problem even if it was the Holdridge Group who caused it. So I had no choice but to intervene.

    However, I didn¡¯t agree immediately. I said, ¡°Everything thates out after the statue is destroyed will be mine.¡±

    Austin mentioned something previously. He clearly said if I destroyed the statue, a huge reward would be waiting for me. Besides, the statue kept summoning monsters that had hundreds or tens of hundreds of coins. So, I had no choice but to take the reward seriously.

    No matter how much I tried to disregard the reward, it was something very special to me.

    And I thought that I deserved this reward in return for my efforts to destroy the statue.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Austin and the Commander of the 1st Army of the Holdridge Group remained silent at my suggestion at first, but their silence did notst long.

    ¡°Okay,¡± Austin replied in the affirmative.

    Late at night at the Myongjin Shelter.

    After promising them we would fly together to New York tomorrow, they were escorted to the gust room. After that, my family members and Director Sok held a meeting for a long time. Above all, the information about the NPCs was shocking to all of them.

    ¡°Monsters and NPCs¡­I have no slightest idea of what wille out next at the end of the game,¡± I said.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Not only my father, but also Director Sok, head of the Strategy Department, didn¡¯t react to what I said. They were at a loss because they felt they knew something, but they didn¡¯t know, either.

    So, I opened my mouth again.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what wille out at the end of this game, but won¡¯t it be enough if we had at least enough power not to be overwhelmed by others? I mean even if we die, we need the power to die by our own choice rather than be killed by others.¡±

    In the early days we were pushed around by the Mirae Guild, then by the Daesung and Kusan Alliance. And although we allied with the Mirae Guild out of necessity, we chose the name of the alliance to be the Myongjin & Mirae alliance. Nheless, back then, we tended to treat the Mirae Guild as our big brother.

    But the situation is different now. Myongjin has emerged as the No. 1 guild in Korea, surpassing even the Daesung & Kusan Alliance. Moreover, Myungjin¡¯s reputation has gone up because of me, and the yers belonging to Myongjin strived to be even better than before because of their pride in Myongjin¡¯s name. In other words, we were in a situation where everything was going our way.

    As if he also noticed it, my father said, nodding at us, ¡°Okay, you¡¯re right, Juyoung. Just continue doing what you are doing. At the end of the day, you will be able to make the decision on your own instead of being influenced by others. And I think that¡¯s enough for now.¡±

    Our meeting ended after that.

    Of course, the Strategy Department of the Myongjin Guild will have to rack their brains to find a clue to solve the situation, no matter how hard it is, because that was their job.

    Anyway I came out of the meeting and essed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ to be stronger than before.

    The next morning I quickly headed for New York using a private ne sent by the Holdridge Group. I was told that the energy of death could flow out of the statue at any time, and if that happened, it would no longer be possible for me to destroy the statue.

    So, when I arrived in New York, I was weed by a lot of people from the Holdridge Group.

    ¡°Wee, Juyoung Hong!¡±

    ¡°Thank you for visiting!¡±

    The top five executives of the Holdridge Group did note out to greet me.

    But I didn¡¯t feel bad because I knew they hardly revealed themselves to the outsiders.

    To be honest, I was more curious about the statue than them.

    Anyway, I headed to their headquarters by driving along the well-paved roads.

    Then I moved straight to the huge building next to the headquarters.

 Chapter 308 - A Statue Too Precious For Me To Lose (2)

    <h4>Chapter 308: A Statue Too Precious For Me To Lose (2)</h4>

    In the very center of the huge building was the statue that I saw in the photo yesterday.

    But something was different. The red haze the statue was emitting was thicker than before.

    Obviously, it wasn¡¯t like this when I checked the picture.

    In other words, there was not much time left.

    At that moment, a man approached me. He appeared to be really old.

    ¡°Thanks for visiting Holdridge like this.¡±

    At a nce, I realized that he was one of Holdridge¡¯s top five executives.

    So I shook his proffered hand and returned his greetings.

    ¡°You¡¯re wee. Thank you for inviting me here.¡±

    After the meeting in the living room of the Myongjin Shelter yesterday, my family members and Director Sok concluded that it would be better for us to maintain a good rtionship with the Holdridge Group for now, aside from the matter of the statue.

    So I conversed with him with a smile on my face.

    A littleter I stood in front of the statue emitting a red haze.

    ¡°Whew!¡±

    Of course, I was confident in breaking the statue. That¡¯s why I flew here right away.

    However, this was the real world, not the virtual world of ¡®Revival Legend¡¯, so I could not use my level 8 skills Ice Tornado or Ice Punishment, nor could I use my limited skill Savant. Besides, I was bound by a 65% reality actualization rate, so I was inevitably nervous.

    Moreover, even if I disregarded the reward, I had to smash the statue unconditionally for the safety of me, my family, and those living in the Myongjin Shelter.

    So I took a long breath and started attacking the statue.

    At the top floor of the Holdridge Group¡¯s headquarters.

    A group of people, including the top five executives, gathered together to watch a video.

    Then one of the top executives said, ¡°Is it possible for Asirante to be unable to break the statue?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. If such a worst-case scenario happens, we should implement n No. B right away. But I would like to see Asirante carry out n A sessfully.¡±

    Naturally, they did not trust Asirantepletely.

    So, they already prepared a new base far away from the United States because the statue emitting a red haze was no longer moving.

    At that moment, the top executive who greeted Asirante and shook hands with him said, ¡°Well, I think we can trust him for now. He is much stronger than we thought.¡±

    He made a gesture, and something popped up before the other four top executives.

    [level : ¡­

    Number of kills: 11492, Number of deaths: ¡­

    Titles: ¡­

    Health: 5,517,000 / 5,517,000

    Mana: 3,848,000 / 3,848,000

    Strength: ¡­ Agility: 9725 Stamina: 41393

    Willpower: 28334 Intellect: ¡­

    Remaining stat points: 0

    Remaining skill points: 0

    Traits: ¡­]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    There was a momentary silence.

    However, the man continued casually as if nothing had happened.

    ¡°Since my skill is still limited, I can¡¯t see the traits from the beginning. I also can¡¯t fully evaluate the rest of his abilities, but it¡¯s still huge, isn¡¯t it? In particr, Asirante¡¯s main stat is Intellect because he is an ice=type wizard. That means his Intellect is higher than his stamina which is over 40,000.¡±

    Those who remained silent expressed their opinion one by one.

    ¡°Yeah. Asirante has already proven it by inflicting great damage.¡±

    ¡°By the way, even disregarding his over 40,000 stamina and nearly 30,000 Willpower as a wizard, howe his agility is as high as 10,000?¡±

    No matter how experienced they were, they could not help but be astonished by Asirante¡¯s status window.

    In the meantime, one of them expressed concern.

    Of course, there were still people who were worried.

    ¡°But that¡¯s definitely his status window within ¡®Revival Legend¡¯. It is too early for us to be reassured because we don¡¯t know his reality actualization rate yet.¡±

    ¡°You bet.¡±

    ¡°I agree.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s watch him first. By the way, shouldn¡¯t we upgrade Asirante¡¯s rating?¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m in favor.¡±

    The top five executives stopped talking and focused on the screen where Asirante was attempting to attack the statue emitting a red haze. The most important thing to them right now was the statue¡¯s destruction.

    In front of the statue emitting a red haze in the huge building next to the Holdridge Headquarters.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    [¡­]

    I didn¡¯t start with my strongest attack because if it failed, I would be in the worst situation. So when I saw that my attack did not even scratch the statue, I was not very agitated.

    ¡°Ice Spear!¡±

    [¡­]

    ¡°Pouring Hail!¡±

    [¡­]

    The statue didn¡¯t crack even when I attacked with Ice Spear, which was my strongest single-target skill aside from Ice Punishment. When even the strong Pouring Hail didn¡¯t inflict any damage on the statue, I had no choice but to be startled a bit.

    But I kept attacking the statue because I still had lots of skills.

    After a while.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    If I had been inside ¡®Revival Legend¡¯, I would still have had lots of options.

    For example, I could use Savant that I could not use with my 65% reality actualization rate, and I could upgrade level 8 Ice Punishment with a functional skill ring.

    In fact, with these skills I could break the wall perfectly, which the Mirae Guild yers could not even scratch.

    But this is the reality, not the virtual world. So I could not use such skills.

    Of course, I had one more option. I could Ice Wave, which was my most powerful skill currently avable.

    But the problem was that if even Ice Wave didn¡¯t work, I had no other skills that would work.

    Moreover, I was worried that even Ice Wave would not work, given that all my attacks until now failed to make even the slightest crack in the statue. And I wasn¡¯t the only one who got worried.

    ¡°No way! Even Asirante can fail?¡±

    ¡°If Asirante fails, who can we turn to?¡±

    ¡°Damn it. In the end, it seems like we can¡¯t rely on Asirante in reality?¡±

    ¡°Whew!¡±

    Since I had one more skill left, I took a deep breath before striking the statue again, which seemed to be emitting a red haze that was thicker than before.

    Bang!

    [¡­]

    When I saw the statue didn¡¯t crack at all despite my intense attack, I had no choice but to think these American bastards with the Holdridge Group really caused a big trouble.

    Holdridge must have turned to all kinds of attacks to make even a little crack in the statue that didn¡¯t throw out monsters like before. And it seemed like the statue developed resistance to such attacks, creating such a miserable situation.

    Of course, I had another option. In addition to the exchanged coins that Holdridge collected so far, I needed to collect coins by investing tens or hundreds of billions of golden rings, even though one coin required as many as 1 million golden rings.

    [Tuk. Tuk. Tuk.]

    Obviously, the statue was shaped like a human.

    Of course, there were no cracks in the statue itself.

    However, the closed eyes of the statue began to open little by little, and started emitting red beams instead of a red haze.

    And a message rang at the same time.

    [The statue has exceeded the threshold for epting the energy of death.

    -The statue has begun to emit the energy of death.

    : When the statue opens its eyes fully, it will be impossible for you to destroy the statue.]

    [You are now in thend where the energy of death overflows.

    ¨C You are not part of the undead n.

    ¨C Your health decreases by 1 per second.

    ¨C Yourbat power is reduced by 10%.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

 Chapter 309 - White Root (1)

    <h4>Chapter 309: White Root (1)</h4>

    The message was pretty ominous. In particr, losing 1 health per second plus a decrease inbat power just because I was not in thend overflowing with the energy of death was really fatal because it meant that no matter how small this decrease was, I had to keep managing my health not only in battle but also during rest times.

    Moreover, the real problem was that the statue was constantly emitting the energy of death.

    ording to the message, it was possible that not only New York, but the entire American continent, including the United States, Canada, Mexico as well as South America, would turn into and of death. And at that point, it would be impossible to destroy the statue.

    ¡°By the way, if the continent here refers to the whole continent of earth, it¡¯s going to affect other continents beyond the American continent¡­¡¯

    I had no choice but to murmur at the stark reality.

    At that moment, I heard cries of pain around me.

    ¡°Khuuuuuuuuk!¡±

    ¡°Kheeeeeeeeek!¡±

    Flop! Flop!

    Since I was in reality, there were lots of ordinary people around.

    As soon as they were exposed to the red energy, they began to copse, their hands grasping at their chests. Of course, there were still some people who seemed fine for the moment. Like me, they seemed to be Revival Legend yers.

    In other words, they had enough health to endure for now.

    ¡°Damn it! I¡¯m finished..¡±, one person cursed..

    Even I felt the same thing, staring at the statue whose eyes were now wider than before.

    Inside the huge building where the statue was located.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    If the statue¡¯s eyes were as big as the frog¡¯s eyes, I might have thought a little differently. However, the statue¡¯s eyes were extremely normal in size. So, even though the statue¡¯s eyes were not even half open at this stage, I did not dare to immediately prod at the Holdridge Group to collect more exchanged coins, or trade tens or hundreds of billions of golden rings for coins.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t think I screwed uppletely because I still had other options to break through this bottleneck where all my ice-type attacks had been blocked. I still had Blink with zero cooldown and the Roots.

    But Blink with zero cooldown would not be very effective here.

    So I desperately searched for the Roots.

    However, the Roots that I desperately searched for the moment Ice Wave didn¡¯t work didn¡¯t appear even when the eyes of the statue were almost 80% open.

    So, I had no choice but to think of giving up.

    At that moment, however, I heard a very strange sound.

    Kuuuuuuuduk-

    Of course, it wasn¡¯t difficult for me to find the source of that strange sound, for it was right below my feet.

    And finally, the Roots appeared from below my feet and began to coil around the statue like a whip.

    Just like an anaconda suffocating a huge crocodile, the Roots began to choke the statue tightly.

    [¡­]

    Of course, I expected to hear the harsh screeching sound of the statue straining under pressure when the Root¡¯s coiled, which were thick and loose and first, tightened with immense strength in no time.

    However, the Roots did not cause any significant damage to the statue.

    Meanwhile, the eyelids of the statue, which seemed like the heaviest thing in the world at this moment, continued to open without stopping.

    So, I thought this was the end of the world when I noticed something appearing between the Roots.

    At that moment, there was an emergency situation unfolding at the top floor of the Holridge headquarters.

    ¡°Damn it! Carry out n B immediately!¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir!!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    When the statue originally emitting a red haze began to emit red energy beams instead, the top executives of Holdridge immediately gave the order to carry out n B.

    Then they opened their mouths, looking at each other.

    ¡°If that statue demonstrates even 10% of the power the message indicated, we will face tremendous criticism.¡±

    ¡°Of course, we have to keep it secret.¡±

    ¡°Absolutely!¡±

    ¡°Good. Let¡¯s assume we seed in keeping it to ourselves. But can we stop Asirante from revealing it?¡±

    ¡°We have to stop him by all means.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    There was a momentary silence among them. But the silence didn¡¯tst long.

    ¡°Let¡¯s evacuate first. We can solve this matterter.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    After they finished the meeting, the top five executives of Holdridge got up from their seats.

    Holdridge had not suffered any noticeable damage yet, so there were only a couple of things that they had to do in order to move the entire properties of Holdridge to somewhere else.

    Inside the huge building where the statue was located.

    The so-called Roots.

    When I first acquired them, they were general grade, the lowest among all grades, with the simple message that if I ate them, I could obtain roots. So I forgot thempletely for a long time. The Roots didn¡¯t show up even after I actually ate them.

    Then, the first time I confirmed their existence with my own eyes was when I was forcibly exiled to Region 0 by a guy named Pablo.

    Obviously, thanks to the Roots, I could advance to a higher round than I expected.

    This didn¡¯t mean that the Roots yed any big role in killing the countless monsters that appeared. All it did was detect traps and scout dangers that appeared in front of me. It had only one strand, and it was thin and short, so I did not really expect much else from it at that time.

    What¡¯s more, they didn¡¯t show up even if I wanted them to.

    However, the Roots, which I had forgotten for some time, disappeared after helping me clear thest limited quest of level 900pletely. I was dumbfounded at that time.

    After that, I briefly felt really sorry and even guilty for letting the Roots disappear like that.

    Then, when I was still feeling sorry and guilty about its disappearance, I obtained the Roots again from the treasure box that I received as a reward for the quest from the Root¡¯s sacrifice.

    Of course, there were other messages when I obtained the Roots again.

    The message said that extreme pain and stress were often a springboard for new growth.

    At the end of that message, there was a line that the Roots would be upgradedter.

    But I did not notice the change of the Roots right away. I only noticed it muchter when I was fighting with Smith¡¯s party. Back then, the Roots literally showed a tremendous change. It wasn¡¯t just a simple big change. The Roots turned into apletely new creature.

    And not long ago, I received another message about the Roots.

    [Currently you hold the Roots.

    -The Roots be even stronger by absorbing the remnants of the parasite.]

    When I was just over level 1100, devouring the parasite instantly gave me 60 levels and over 3000 remaining stat points. I didn¡¯t know it at the time, butter I found out that the parasite was like a huge gift, and it was like a tree that kept giving. Of course, there was nothing like an upgrade that would make the Roots stronger just like when I obtained the Roots again from the treasure box. But there was clearly a message that the Roots would be stronger.

    Somehow, it seemed that the Roots before my eyes were the same one that I had seen previously. In other words, the Roots right now were all dark brown.

    The Roots that appeared when I fought Smith¡¯s party or when I attended my brother¡¯s wedding ceremony were all dark brown. But one strand of the Roots that appeared before my eyes was not dark brown, but perfectly white. Since it was so different from other roots, I could not help but notice it.

    At that moment, the white root charged at the statue suddenly.

 Chapter 310 - White Root (2)

    <h4>Chapter 310: White Root (2)</h4>

    It was significantly different from before. So what I heard next was also very different.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The statue, as before, looked like it would never copse, but I could clearly see the white root prating through the center of the statue¡¯s head.

    At that moment, the head of the statue separated from its body, then the whole statue crumbled with numerous cracks covering it.

    The eyes of the statue, which were open nearly 90%, closed again when the statue crumbled to the ground.

    ¡°Man, the statue¡­¡±

    ¡°It crumbled!¡±

    ¡°Asirante smashed the statue!¡±

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    I could not believe what happened before my eyes.

    Only when I heard people shouting joyously behind me did I realize that it really happened. Of course, I didn¡¯t feel pleased about it because I could only do it with the help of the Roots, after all.

    But I did everything I could on my end. Did I raise my reality actualization rate by 3% with the remaining 25,000 coins that I had left over form some time ago?

    I didn¡¯t, because it was obvious that it would just be useless even if I did it.

    However, I had no time to press the Holdridge group to give me more coins or to exchange golden rings for coins.

    ¡°Whew¡­¡±

    I let out a deep breath after confirming that the statue had indeed been smashed.

    Anyway, I avoided the worst situation by smashing the statue.

    Bang!

    And unlike the other roots, the white root actively threw the statue¡¯s head to the floor. And a message rang at the same time.

    [You have seeded in destroying the statue imbued with the energy of death.

    ¨C You will receive a reward.]

    Regardless of my mood, the message said I would receive a reward.

    So I focused on that message.

    But another message rang which was not about the reward.

    [The energy of death embedded in the destroyed statue reached 4,999,999,958.

    -The given reward will be upgraded.]

    [You can choose one of the two options below as an upgraded reward.

    : First reward. Acquire 300,000 coins immediately.

    : Second reward. All the items you currently have equipped in Revival Legend will be automatically actualized. (You can actualize reality even without using coins for your equip items only. )]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    A whopping 300,000 coins at a time. It was a huge amount without a doubt.

    If I counted the 25,000 coins I had right now, I could raise my reality actualization rate to 100%. But there were more conspicuous rewards than that.

    In other words, I could actualize reality even without coins, although it was only applied to the items I had equipped.

    Of course, items were not linked to the reality actualization rate, for unlike titles, traits, stats, skills, etc., items could change hands at any time instead of simply being owned by one person.

    That was why I always used my coins to raise my reality actualization rate.

    In fact, I had actualized several items, including + 7 Enhancement weapons, while fighting Smith and his party. However, what I actualized at that time were only rare andmon grade items because it cost quite a lot of coins to actualize items.

    Moreover, there was a message that said I could actualize even legendary grades while raising my reality actualization rate to 65% this time.

    After that, I tried it on a legendary functional skill ring for the first time because I needed to check how many coins it actually required.

    [You are now actualizing the functional skill ring.

    -Grade: Legendary.

    -Enhancement value: 0 (enhancement impossible.)

    -Number of required coins: 100,000]

    Of course, not all legendary items required 100,000 coins.

    Even for the same legendary grade, the number of required coins differed depending on the quality of the item as well as its enhancement level.

    For example, the +5 Enhancement Sacred Permanent Snow spirit ring required far fewer coins than the functional skill ring, even though it was +5 Enhancement.

    However, what was certain was that considering that just the legendary grade functional skill ring required 100,000 coins, the +6 enhancement myth grade Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword would require even more coins. Moreover, as time went by, I would only raise the enhancement of the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    ¡®Well, let me choose the second option. Moreover, the reality actualization is not applied to only one item, but all the items on my body.¡¯

    This was not simply a matter of choosing to obtain 300,000 coins or not for me.

    So, without any further hesitation, I made my choice.

    ¡°Let me choose the second reward.¡±

    [You have chosen the second reward featuring the automatic application of reality actualization on all the items you currently have equipped.]

    At that moment, a twinkling light leaked out of my body, and at some point I found myself holding something in my hand before I knew it.

    It was none other than the +6 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    For a moment, I thought it would have been nice if I already had ess to these items.

    If I had, I would have crushed the statue by myself, and would not have needed the Roots¡¯ help.

    But this was part of the process. After all, I could obtain all these rewards thanks to the Roots.

    So I looked at the Roots that were still swaying majestically in this wide space.

    Then, as if they also noticed my gaze, the Roots gradually gathered its tendrils, including the white root, around me, and burrowed underground.

    Inside the Holdridge headquarters a littleter.

    Austin, who had visited the Myongjin Shelter, escorted me warmly inside the Holdridge headquarters. And while I was walking through their headquarters, I could feel the atmosphere was a little distracted.

    Was it because I smashed the statue? No, it was not.

    Obviously, they were prepared to escape out of this building just in case I could not smash the statue. But they didn¡¯t have to flee. So I saw them going back to their ces to unpack their baggage.

    So, I said to Austin, who introduced himself as the head of the Intelligence Department.

    ¡°Well, maybe I shoulde againter since they¡¯re busy unpacking their stuff.¡±

    Obviously, I was sneering at him, and as the intelligence chief, he must also have understood my point.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    That¡¯s why he didn¡¯t respond to me. After that, I arrived at a room, within which five old men were seated. They were the top five executives of the Holdridge Group.

    ¡°Great job!¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°We owe you a lot!¡±

    They began to express gratitude to me right away.

    ¡°You¡¯re wee. I was just lucky.¡±

    Even though I didn¡¯t mention it, they clearly felt ashamed of this time¡¯s events.

    So I didn¡¯t tease or mock them. Besides, I didn¡¯t want to cause any more trouble when I solved their headache.

    ¡°As for the additional reward you mentioned before, I think I should receive it in return for destroying the statue.¡±

    I openly asked for morepensation. Obviously, I didn¡¯t intend to cause unnecessary trouble, but I was confident enough to ask them for a reasonable request even if they felt it was burdensome.

    Of course, I knew why I was suddenly so confident. It was due to the items I equipped within Revival Legend actualizating within reality, including the +6 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword

    Besides, I now possessed the white root as well.

    So before I knew it, I felt my confidence skyrocketing.

 Chapter 311 - White Root (3)

    <h4>Chapter 311: White Root (3)</h4>

    The NPC opened his mouth.

    [If you bring me the materials, I will process them into items.]

    ¡°What can you make with the stone squirrels¡¯ undigested mineral masses?¡±

    [If you bring me the stone squirrels¡¯ undigested mineral masses, I will process them into coins.]

    It was a short video, but it was enough.

    So I opened my mouth first.

    ¡°Where is that NPC located?¡±

    I thought this was the most important thing.

    Hearing Director Sok¡¯s reply, I now knew clearly why it was so difficult for them to find any clue despite their hard efforts.

    ¡°Well, he is located inside the Mitsuya Guild¡¯s headquarters.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    What if I requested the Mitsuya Guild of Japan to allow me to meet with that NPC in order to make coins from the stone squirrels¡¯ undigested mineral masses that I had been collecting?

    Of course, they wouldn¡¯t allow it.

    I could probably take away the NPC by force.

    However, if that happened, it would inevitably escte into a full war between the Myongjin Guild and Japan, and not simply one between the Myongjin Guild and the Mitsuya Guild for the Mitsuya guild controls all the guilds in Japan as a whole.

    ¡°How many mineral masses per month do we get from the stone squirrel habitat?¡± my father asked suddenly.

    Director Sok replied immediately, ¡°Well, it¡¯s safe to say we get an average of 10,000 mineral masses per month. It¡¯s the best calction based on the highest production efficiency after Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild attacked us, so it is realistically impossible for us to get more even if we dispatch more people.¡±

    ¡°10,000 per month¡­¡±

    Looking at the size of the entire Myongjin Guild, 10,000 coins were far from enough.

    However, constantly obtaining 10,000 coins per month on a regr basis was definitely a huge bonus for Myongjin. And that¡¯s why Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild attacked us as soon as the Korean and Japanese regions merged together.

    My father added, ¡°Great. It¡¯s good to know we have found out about why the Mitsuya Guild wanted the mineral masses so desperately. So, continue collecting the mineral masses like before because we will be able to use them someday.¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    We wrapped up the meeting.

    On that day, however, I didn¡¯t know I would be able to use the stone squirrels¡¯ undigested mineral masses faster than expected.

    One weekter at the level 1500 hunting ground, the Land of Titan.

    I kept hunting in this ce by repeatedlying here every day. And I started feeling that this ce was too easy for me now. Of course, when I first arrived at this hunting ground, I did not find hunting very difficult because my level was already high enough back then to huntfortably.

    But now I¡¯ve be so strong thanks to Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword increasing in enhancement as well as the new functional stat rings among other rewards So I continued hunting, wishing I could find a higher level hunting ground.

    At that moment, a message rang, which could be heard by everybody.

    [Good morning. This is ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    -Some of the walls currently blocking each Region will be removed.

    : Regions to be unlocked: Regions 11 and 14.

    : Regions 11 and 14 will allow for free movement.]

    Regions 47, 52, and 53, which meant Mongolia, Korea and Japan respectively, were merged and changed to Region 11, while Region 14was the merged one of China, India, and Vietnam.

    ording to the message, Korea, Mongolia, Japan, China, India, and Vietnam were now one region.

    ¡°Man, it¡¯s almost like a hell¡¯s gate¡­¡±

    It was none other than China and India who were waging a fierce war of nerves, even mentioning nuclear weapons, not only in ¡®Revival Legend¡¯, but also in reality.

    Examining their situation a little more closely, it boiled down to an ugly fight to take more of the territory of Vietnam which was rtively weak.

    At that time, I got involved in their fight by taking sides with India.

    Although China and India picked a fight, India was inferior to China in terms of power, and I had no choice but to support India because I wanted them to continue fighting. Moreover, since India was constantly being pushed back by China, they first came to me and asked for help, talking about the benefits of the Constetion Hunter¡¯s badge.

    China and India were still on bad terms over Vietnam. This time Korea, Japan, and Mongolia were merged with India and China, so it was inevitable to see moremotions in the future.

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think they will act recklessly as they did in Vietnam.¡±

    No matter how arrogant China was, they could not touch Myongjin and me.

    Moreover, the Myongjin Guild was now strong enough to beat Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild that controlled Japan.

    Now, the question was whether China would attack Mongolia.

    But Mongolia¡¯s two titan guilds, the Tugal and Altan Guilds, joined hands with the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance and Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild respectively, so it would be risky for China to take over Mongolia recklessly.

    ¡°Well, let us wait and see.¡±

    After thinking about it for a moment, I concentrated on hunting monsters again because I had nothing to lose if I was strong.

    ***

    At the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    Of course, I was hunting as usual, but I found myself constantly distracted by something.

    It was none other than the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    [God of Enhancement.

    -Remaining cooldown: 3 hours 12 minutes and 35 seconds.]

    The Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword took me 125 days to enhance it to +6 from +5.

    Of course, the +6 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword paid off nicely.

    So although I felt sorry that it was such a long cooldown, I did not regret it at all.

    Nheless, I had no choice but to keep looking at the remaining cooldown since there was only about three hours left now after it marked 24 hours yesterday. I focused on it so much that I could not pay attention to anything else.

    But it was ok for me to be distracted because this hunting ground was no longer super valuable to me even though it was a level 1500 hunting ground.

    At that moment, a message rang, which was impressive enough to make me turn my nce from God of Enhancement to something else.

    [Hello, this is ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    -Many walls blocking off each region have been stably unblocked, so there are only a total of 40 separate regions left now. Tomemorate this, an event to select the strongest in each region will be held soon.

    ¨C How to proceed.

    : For the next three days, you can apply to participate in the ¡®Strongest Regional yer Selection Competition¡¯ through the signs installed in the central za of each city or castle.

    : After the three day application period finishes, applicants will be randomly matched up in a series of one-on-one matches starting the next day.

    (Participants will be randomly drawn up into brackets of 2048 and 1024 yers depending on the total number of participants.)

    : Those who advance to the top sixteen of each region will be given rewards, with higher rewards given ording to their final ranking.

    In addition, the final winners of the 40 regions will gather separately to select the true strong man.

    : However, only those with level 1000 or higher can participate in this event.

    Due to the nature of the event, there is no penalty for losing a match.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

 Chapter 312 - Use of Undigested Mineral Mass Revealed (1)

    <h4>Chapter 312: Use of Undigested Mineral Mass Revealed (1)</h4>

    At the Holdridge headquarters in America.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    They saw me openly demanding morepensation for destroying the statue.

    Perhaps they took my actions as bold or even rude.

    These top executives of Holdridge were at least 50 years older than me, and they had enormous influence in the political and financial world.

    But they didn¡¯t raise any objections to my demands.

    ¡°Haha, of course.¡±

    ¡°Of course, we should. We¡¯ve even prepared for you arger reward.¡±

    I noticed a reward twice as much as the original when I looked at them.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t know if they actually prepared it in advance or if they prepared it urgently for my request, but I put all of it in my inventory with a smile on my face because they acquiesced to my request.

    After that, I talked with them a little longer, then told them that if they wanted to, they could take back the extra rewards for me whenever they wanted. Then I got on a ne bound for Korea right away because this was not my ce where I could restfortably.

    At the small conference room of the Myongjin Shelter.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    My father, my brother, my sister, and Director Sok, the head of the Strategy Department, stared at me in anticipation, anxiously waiting to hear about my meeting with the Holdridge executives .

    Of course, they might already have grasped that everything went well because Holdridge arranged for me to fly back on one of their exclusive nes.

    As if she couldn¡¯t remain silent any longer, my sister asked first, ¡°So how did it go? It looks like you have seeded in smashing the statue¡­¡±

    I took something out of my inventory without answering her question.

    It was the 30,000 coins and 20 billion golden rings that could be exchanged for coins.

    It was the reward that the Holdrige people promised me in return for me destroying the statue.

    And that wasn¡¯t all. I then took out another set of items, which was the same amount of coins and golden rings that could be exchanged for coins as the previous one.

    In other words, I stacked 60,000 coins and 40 billion golden rings that could be traded for coins on the table.

    Everyone, including my father, looked at me with suspicious eyes.

    So I opened my mouth casually, ¡°The job I carried out there was quite difficult for just a reward of 20 billions golden rings and 30,000 coins. So I asked them for some more.¡±

    After I said that, I pushed exactly half the 40 billion golden rings and 60,000 coins to the center of the table, and took the other half. Of course, I was a little greedy for the coins, but since I gave them to my family and Myongjin, not others, I stopped being greedy.

    Besides, I gained so much this time that I didn¡¯t have to be so greedy for the remaining 30,000 coins.

    Watching me quietly, my father opened his mouth.

    ¡°No, you don¡¯t have to give them to us. Just take them all because you did all the work alone.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. When you be stronger, we also be stronger. So, take them all.¡±

    Even though my family members including my father wanted me to take back the coins and golden rings on the center of the table, I didn¡¯t.

    Instead, I ced a Memory Bead that recorded this time¡¯s events at the Holdridge Headquarters, for it was evidence that showed the most definitive lesson about how much disaster human greed could bring about.

    Of course, if the statue appeared, even I would not be able to break it quickly.

    Anyway, we wrapped up our conversation like that.

    After the meeting, I essed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ to make up for what I missed today.

    At the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan the next day.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    I kept hunting, as always.

    I knew I had been growing steadily stronger, but somehow, I felt like the Roots were growing faster than me, so I hunted harder than ever before.

    At that moment, I received a message from Director Sok.

    [Sok: Juyoung, can we talk?]

    [Lumen: Sure.]

    [Sok: Well, you don¡¯t really need to know this, but I thought to mention it to you because it all started from you.]

    I was a little curious because he said that it all started from me.

    So I immediately asked him for more details, and he replied.

    [Sok: I think you know that as soon as the regions of Japan, Korea and Mongolia were merged, Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild attacked us right away.]

    Of course, I knew it. As a matter of fact, the regions between Korea and Japan had been blocked for a long time, regardless of their good or bad rtions, but it was Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild that attacked us recklessly. During the fight, I confronted the Oizuki brothers who had the traits of Item Master and Skill Master.

    I could figure out why Director Sok mentioned it now because the Mitsuya Guild had targeted one area in particr for their invasion. In fact, they previously had hired people in that area to take control of the items that dropped there. It was none other than the stone¡¯s squirrel undigested mineral masses.

    [Lumen: Have you found out what the stone squirrel¡¯s undigested mineral masses are used for?]

    [Sok: Yes, that¡¯s right. You can check it out if youe to the secret house of Rodon Castle now.]

    [Lumen: I¡¯lle right away.]

    I was obviously curious about it because I was aware that despite their devastating defeat, the Mitsuya Guild kept dispatching spies to gather information about the stone squirrels area.

    So, I headed straight to the secret house of Rodon Castle.

    At the secret house of Rodon Castle a littleter.

    There were already quite a few people waiting for me there.

    In addition to my family members and Director Sok, Chief Secretary Ahn, and some others from the Myongjin Guild were attending the meeting as well.

    When I finally arrived, Director Sok opened his mouth.

    ¡°The Mitsuya Guild of Japan didn¡¯t say anything, but we could figure out that the target of their invasion was precisely the ¡®stone squirrels¡¯ undigested mineral masses¡¯. So, as soon as the Mitsuya Guild left, we immediately conducted various investigations, but we could not find any useful information. But yesterday, we confirmed the use of the mineral masses from a Mitsuya Group executive we spent a long time buying off.¡±

    Just as Sok said, I was also aware that the Myongjin Guild started investigating the stone squirrels¡¯ undigested mineral masses right after the Mitsuya Guild admitted defeat and retreated.

    However, there was no significant progress in Myongjin¡¯s investigation.

    But this time it was clear that Director Sok found some definitive clues because he confidently pulled something out of his pocket.

    It was a memory bead.

    When Director Sok immediately yed it, an image of an NPC and a man standing in front of that NPC appeared in the air.

    Apparently, the man was the Mitsuya Guild executive that Director Sok mentioned.

    The man in the video approached the NPC.

 Chapter 313 - Use of Undigested Mineral Mass Revealed (2)

    <h4>Chapter 313: Use of Undigested Mineral Mass Revealed (2)</h4>

    The NPC opened his mouth.

    [If you bring me the materials, I will process them into items.]

    ¡°What can you make with the stone squirrels¡¯ undigested mineral masses?¡±

    [If you bring me the stone squirrels¡¯ undigested mineral masses, I will process them into coins.]

    It was a short video, but it was enough.

    So I opened my mouth first.

    ¡°Where is that NPC located?¡±

    I thought this was the most important thing.

    Hearing Director Sok¡¯s reply, I now knew clearly why it was so difficult for them to find any clue despite their hard efforts.

    ¡°Well, he is located inside the Mitsuya Guild¡¯s headquarters.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    What if I requested the Mitsuya Guild of Japan to allow me to meet with that NPC in order to make coins from the stone squirrels¡¯ undigested mineral masses that I had been collecting?

    Of course, they wouldn¡¯t allow it.

    I could probably take away the NPC by force.

    However, if that happened, it would inevitably escte into a full war between the Myongjin Guild and Japan, and not simply one between the Myongjin Guild and the Mitsuya Guild for the Mitsuya guild controls all the guilds in Japan as a whole.

    ¡°How many mineral masses per month do we get from the stone squirrel habitat?¡± my father asked suddenly.

    Director Sok replied immediately, ¡°Well, it¡¯s safe to say we get an average of 10,000 mineral masses per month. It¡¯s the best calction based on the highest production efficiency after Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild attacked us, so it is realistically impossible for us to get more even if we dispatch more people.¡±

    ¡°10,000 per month¡­¡±

    Looking at the size of the entire Myongjin Guild, 10,000 coins were far from enough.

    However, constantly obtaining 10,000 coins per month on a regr basis was definitely a huge bonus for Myongjin. And that¡¯s why Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild attacked us as soon as the Korean and Japanese regions merged together.

    My father added, ¡°Great. It¡¯s good to know we have found out about why the Mitsuya Guild wanted the mineral masses so desperately. So, continue collecting the mineral masses like before because we will be able to use them someday.¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    We wrapped up the meeting.

    On that day, however, I didn¡¯t know I would be able to use the stone squirrels¡¯ undigested mineral masses faster than expected.

    One weekter at the level 1500 hunting ground, the Land of Titan.

    I kept hunting in this ce by repeatedlying here every day. And I started feeling that this ce was too easy for me now. Of course, when I first arrived at this hunting ground, I did not find hunting very difficult because my level was already high enough back then to huntfortably.

    But now I¡¯ve be so strong thanks to Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword increasing in enhancement as well as the new functional stat rings among other rewards So I continued hunting, wishing I could find a higher level hunting ground.

    At that moment, a message rang, which could be heard by everybody.

    [Good morning. This is ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    -Some of the walls currently blocking each Region will be removed.

    : Regions to be unlocked: Regions 11 and 14.

    : Regions 11 and 14 will allow for free movement.]

    Regions 47, 52, and 53, which meant Mongolia, Korea and Japan respectively, were merged and changed to Region 11, while Region 14was the merged one of China, India, and Vietnam.

    ording to the message, Korea, Mongolia, Japan, China, India, and Vietnam were now one region.

    ¡°Man, it¡¯s almost like a hell¡¯s gate¡­¡±

    It was none other than China and India who were waging a fierce war of nerves, even mentioning nuclear weapons, not only in ¡®Revival Legend¡¯, but also in reality.

    Examining their situation a little more closely, it boiled down to an ugly fight to take more of the territory of Vietnam which was rtively weak.

    At that time, I got involved in their fight by taking sides with India.

    Although China and India picked a fight, India was inferior to China in terms of power, and I had no choice but to support India because I wanted them to continue fighting. Moreover, since India was constantly being pushed back by China, they first came to me and asked for help, talking about the benefits of the Constetion Hunter¡¯s badge.

    China and India were still on bad terms over Vietnam. This time Korea, Japan, and Mongolia were merged with India and China, so it was inevitable to see moremotions in the future.

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think they will act recklessly as they did in Vietnam.¡±

    No matter how arrogant China was, they could not touch Myongjin and me.

    Moreover, the Myongjin Guild was now strong enough to beat Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild that controlled Japan.

    Now, the question was whether China would attack Mongolia.

    But Mongolia¡¯s two titan guilds, the Tugal and Altan Guilds, joined hands with the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance and Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild respectively, so it would be risky for China to take over Mongolia recklessly.

    ¡°Well, let us wait and see.¡±

    After thinking about it for a moment, I concentrated on hunting monsters again because I had nothing to lose if I was strong.

    ***

    At the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    Of course, I was hunting as usual, but I found myself constantly distracted by something.

    It was none other than the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    [God of Enhancement.

    -Remaining cooldown: 3 hours 12 minutes and 35 seconds.]

    The Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword took me 125 days to enhance it to +6 from +5.

    Of course, the +6 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword paid off nicely.

    So although I felt sorry that it was such a long cooldown, I did not regret it at all.

    Nheless, I had no choice but to keep looking at the remaining cooldown since there was only about three hours left now after it marked 24 hours yesterday. I focused on it so much that I could not pay attention to anything else.

    But it was ok for me to be distracted because this hunting ground was no longer super valuable to me even though it was a level 1500 hunting ground.

    At that moment, a message rang, which was impressive enough to make me turn my nce from God of Enhancement to something else.

    [Hello, this is ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    -Many walls blocking off each region have been stably unblocked, so there are only a total of 40 separate regions left now. Tomemorate this, an event to select the strongest in each region will be held soon.

    ¨C How to proceed.

    : For the next three days, you can apply to participate in the ¡®Strongest Regional yer Selection Competition¡¯ through the signs installed in the central za of each city or castle.

    : After the three day application period finishes, applicants will be randomly matched up in a series of one-on-one matches starting the next day.

    (Participants will be randomly drawn up into brackets of 2048 and 1024 yers depending on the total number of participants.)

    : Those who advance to the top sixteen of each region will be given rewards, with higher rewards given ording to their final ranking.

    In addition, the final winners of the 40 regions will gather separately to select the true strong man.

    : However, only those with level 1000 or higher can participate in this event.

    Due to the nature of the event, there is no penalty for losing a match.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

 Chapter 314 - Use of Undigested Mineral Mass Revealed (3)

    <h4>Chapter 314: Use of Undigested Mineral Mass Revealed (3)</h4>

    To put it simply, it was a contest to select the strongest yer in each area.

    I smiled at that message because it was simply natural for me to advance to the finals and win first ce. Of course, I know that I might not win if I am too arrogant and conceited. In fact, I often failed to achieve my goal at thest minute because I let down my guard. I was afraid I might repeat the same mistake.

    Come to think of it, however, it was ridiculous that I should worry about it at my current level. Besides, it would be disadvantageous to me if I was too humble.

    ¡°Well, that doesn¡¯t mean I want to becent or arrogant.¡±

    Anyway, there were still three days left, so I took my eyes off the message and concentrated on hunting again while asionally checking the remaining cooldown of the God of Enhancement.

    A littleter.

    ¡°Move to Kotum Castle!¡±

    [You are now moving to Kotum Castle.]

    As soon as I set foot in Kotum Castle, I quickly moved to the cksmith because the cooldown of God of Enhancement had less than one minute left.

    Since I even calcted my traveling time, I stepped into the cksmith with exactly 0 seconds left.

    Then a message rang.

    [Please select the item you wish to enhance.]

    Without hesitation, I put the +6 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword into the enhancement window and opened my mouth softly.

    ¡°Activate God of Enhancement!¡±

    [You have activated God of Enhancement.

    -100% chance to seed in enhancing.

    -Enhancement target: +6 Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    -Additional requirements: 750,000,000 golden rings, 4.938,000,000 EXP.

    ¨C Cooldown upon sessful enhancement: 207 days]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Only one thing caught my eye, which was the 207 days of cooldown.

    Of course, I took that into ount when I decided to enhance the guardian sword.

    In fact, it was shorter than I thought because I expected the cooldown would double from the previous 125 days. And that was actually what happened when I used God of Enhancement in the past.

    But I shook my head to stop dwelling on it, and went ahead with enhancing.

    What mattered the most to me right now was to upgrade the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword to +7 enhancement. And as soon as I tried enhancing it, a powerful light began to shine on the +6 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword. A littleter the light disappeared and a message rang.

    [You have seeded in enhancing +6 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    The +6 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword has been upgraded to the +7 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.]

    ¡®Great!¡¯

    Of course, I knew I would seed. Nheless, I couldn¡¯t help but get excited about the message announcing the sess of +7 enhancement.

    It¡¯s because I finally seeded in upgrading the guardian sword to as high as +7 enhancement.

    ¡®Check item.¡¯

    So I immediately confirmed the status of Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword which had changed to the +7 enhancement.

    [+7 Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword (Myth)

    -This is the sword containing the final determination of Asirante, the master and emperor of ice, who fought the Sun God Morutu who burned and evaporated everything in the world.

    : Level 700 or higher required to equip.

    : 7000 base intellect or higher required to equip.

    : 10 ice-type skills or more required to equip.

    -Effect.

    : Increases the performance of all ice-type skills by 15% -> (18%).

    : Reduces the cooldown of all ice-type skills by 15% -> (18%).

    :

    :

    : Strength increases by 1800 -> (2500)

    : Agility increases by 1000 -> (1500)

    : Intellect increases by 1400 -> (2000)

    ¨C Safety enhancement: 0

    -Physical attack power increase: 19050 -> (29500)

    -Magical attack power increase: 8800 -> (15750)

    -Durability: Infinite/Infinite]

    The intellect option was added when the guardian sword reached +3 enhancement, so I expected a new option to pop up when the item reached +6 enhancement. But there was no new option, only an overall increase in the values of the existing options. And it was the same for this time +7 enhancement.

    In other words, my physical attack power and magic attack power increased.

    Of course, the other values increased as well,pared with when I had the +6 enhancement sword.

    In particr, an additional 700 strength, 600 intellect, and 500 agility was somewhat a big increase for just one enhancement upgrade. However,pared to the physical attack power that increased by over 10,000 or the magic attack power that increased by over 7,000, it was just a modest increase. As a matter of fact, this kind of increase was like wearing another new myth grade weapon.

    I had one more reason to wee the +7 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    ¡®Yeah, now I can use it freely in reality.¡¯

    After all, there was only one reason why I desperately kept hunting, raising levels, and seeking skills and items within ¡®Revival Legend.¡¯ It was because I could apply them to reality.

    Anyway, now that I had achieved what I had set out to do, I left the cksmith proudly unlike before.

    Of course, there was something that was bothering me. It was to do with certain items in my inventory.

    [One 100% Enhancement Sess Ticket.]

    [2 Cooldown Removal Ancient Charms]

    I obtained the 100% enhancement sess ticket when I cleared the level 100 limited quest, and the two cooldown removal charms when I cleared the Salimaru Bandits quest. But I had stored them in my inventory until now, waiting for the right time to use them.

    And my first thought when I obtained them was that it would be appropriate to use them when the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword reached +7 enhancement so I could immediately make it to +10 enhancement.

    However, I confirmed some time ago that +15 enhancement was the limit. So I could not be satisfied with +10 enhancement.

    Furthermore, the cooldown upon achieving +7 enhancement was 207 days, so it was very clear that after +10 enhancement, each sessive enhancement cooldown would exceed 1000 days. In other words, if I make the sword into +10 enhancement using the 100% enhancement sess ticket and the two cooldown removal charms, I would not be able to enhance the sword any longer.

    Aside from the 100% enhancement sess right, I might be able to obtain the cooldown removal ancient charm again in the future. But I did not want to confine the enhancement value of the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword to 10 right now.

    ¡®Alright. Let me enhance it normally up to +8 enhancement. It will take 207 days for the cooldown to end, but I can put up with it.¡¯

    After I made my decision, I headed to the central square, not the Land of Titan, because I needed to apply for the event.

    The next day.

    ¡°Confirm my participation!¡±

    [Participation status.

    : 79852 participants]

    I thought the number of participants would be small because even if the participants were over level 1000, only the top sixteen yers would receive rewards. In other words, it would be almost impossible for the ordinary participants to be included in the top sixteen. So, with one more day left for registration, I was surprised to find that there were already almost 80000 participants who signed up for the event.

 Chapter 315 - Event for Me (1)

    <h4>Chapter 315: Event for Me (1)</h4>

    Of course, I expected lots of users would participate in this event, since I belonged to the region with India and China which had the most number of users in the world.

    And there was a possibility that the number of participants would increase even more from now.

    However, no matter what the final number was, this would be a one-on-one tournament, and I was confident in winning any one-on-one fight. So I feltfortable with the number of participants.

    So I stopped caring about the number of participants and continued hunting, as usual.

    The next evening I had dinner with my family, as usual.

    We conversed with each other about various topics, but we mainly talked about the ongoing event.

    ¡°Gosh, there were less than 50,000 participants in the other regions, but howe our region had as many as 170,000? As expected, China and India are so hugepared to the other regions. Whew!¡± eximed my sister in disbelief.

    I could easily confirm the number of participants in each region by clicking ¡®check event participants.¡¯ In other words, it was not a secret.

    That¡¯s why the status of the participants in a total of 40 regions was made public, but the region that registered the biggest number of participants was Region 11 that I belonged to.

    At that moment, my brother opened his mouth.

    ¡°But it is rumored that Region 11 will win first ce without a doubt.¡±

    As soon as he said that, all of my family members including his wife looked at me instantly. I said, shrugging a bit, ¡°Well, I wish there were more events like this. I would win first ce all the time.¡±

    Then I chewed the side dish in my mouth.

    As a matter of fact, the cooldown of the God of Enhancement ended just in time for me to win first ce. None of my family members objected to what I said.

    After that, we had a good dinner, as usual.

    The next day.

    At the level 1500 Hunting Ground Land of Titan.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    Obviously, I have experienced many events in the past, but what I liked the most about this event was that there was no need for me to go somewhere in advance.

    In other words, a message rang while I was hunting as usual.

    [You have applied to participate in the event to select the strongest person in Region 11.

    ¨C Your duel opponent has been found.

    -Would you like to go ahead with the duel?

    : If you refuse to proceed with the duel, it will automatically be counted as a defeat.]

    ¡°Participate!¡±

    [You have chosen to participate.

    -In 10 seconds, you will be moved to the dedicated arena.]

    As soon as 10 seconds passed, I felt my body being sucked somewhere, and soon something like the duel arena I frequently visited appeared before my eyes.

    [You have 30 seconds to prepare for the duel.

    -Within these 30 seconds, you can cast buffs and change your items.

    -If you win a battle, you will automatically advance to the next round. The loser will be eliminated from the tournament.]

    During the 30 seconds preparation time.

    But I didn¡¯t really do anything during that time. Instead, as soon as the 30-second count disappeared, the transparent wall in the center of the arena disappeared, so I spoke softly at the opponent who appeared.

    ¡°Ice Punishment!¡±

    Bang!

    Of course, my opponent also knew the importance of striking first. So he also tried attacking me as soon as the transparent wall disappeared.

    That¡¯s why my opponent¡¯s arrow hit my chest, but the arrow tip bounced off me instead of getting stuck in my arm or chest.

    ¡°Kheeeeeeeeh!¡±

    [Lumen, Asirante has won.

    ¨C You advance to the next round.]

    My opponent couldn¡¯t even withstand a single strike.

    Did I start off with Ice Field or Thin Ice, which I normally used to signal my attack?¡¯

    To be honest, I didn¡¯t need to use them even in the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan.

    As a matter of fact, my stats increased tremendously because of the parasite and the +7 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword, which made me stronger than ever.

    That¡¯s why this event was held at a perfect time to demonstrate my dramatic increase in stats.

    Anyway, a series of messages rang one after another, announcing my victory.

    [Since you have won, Lumen, Asirante, you advance to the next round.

    -10 secondster, you will move to your original location.]

    Shuuuuuuuuung-

    In no time, the Land of Titan appeared.

    ¡°Blizzard!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    [Kheeeeeek!]

    [Khuuuuuuuuuk!]

    I continued hunting as if nothing happened.

    In fact, there was nothing particr except for the fact that I used Ice Punishment.

    And I kept hunting like before day after day.

    Hunting and duel, then back to hunting, then duel again.

    I repeated that for several days. Of course, the result was always the same.

    I always ended up beating my opponent with a single shot.

    No matter who my opponent was, they could not withstand a single strike.

    While I was engaged in the duels, I sometimes met a wee opponent.

    For example, I encountered one of the Oizuki brothers of Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild.

    During the 30 seconds¡¯ preparation time before the duel.

    During that time, there was a wall separating me and the other person in the center, but I could figure out who the other person was because the wall did notpletely cover his appearance . So I said hello to him first.

    But the other person¡¯s face hardened as soon as he saw me, so he couldn¡¯t afford to return my greetings because he was so startled.

    ¡°Oh, you are Oizuki¡¯s brother, right?¡¯

    Of course I know his name because his traits were so impressive that I could not help but envy him back then. Since I was an ice-type wizard who attacked mostly with skills, I took note of him because he had the traits of Skill Master rather than his elder brother who had the traits of Item Master. But I deliberately pretended not to know him because I wanted to act haughty before this guy who had me in big trouble the first time I encountered him.

    But the reason I could be so confident before this guy who troubled me so much when I first met him was because I now knew the weakness of the trait of the Skill Master.

    The Skill Master trait could not restrict the special skill points that were acquired through events or quests rather than being given normally to everyone when they leveled up. In other words, even if my use of skills was controlled by the Skill Master, I could still use the special skill points to gain ess to certain skills.

    That¡¯s why I could beat the Oizuki brothers with 5 skill points at that time.

    But now, thanks to the level 900 limited quest and the level 1200 regr quest, I had more special skill points than before. In particr, during the level 1200 regr quest, I acquired a whopping 3 special skill points. That¡¯s why I had no choice but to be more confident than I was back then. What¡¯s more, all I had to do was to fight only one of the Oizuki brothers this time.

 Chapter 316 - Event for Me (2)

    <h4>Chapter 316: Event for Me (2)</h4>

    ¡°Oh man! What should I do? I met you so early!¡±

    ¡°Well, that means you are not very lucky.¡±

    Oizuki frowned at me, looking clearly upset, so I kindly reminded him of the cold reality.

    At the same time, I squared my shoulders and gestured at him toe at me.

    By doing so, I could take the time to set which skills I would like to use with the special skill points, for example, Ice Punishment.

    But he gave me an unexpected reply.

    ¡°I will forfeit this duel.¡±

    [Your opponent has forfeited the duel.

    ¨C You have won. You advance to the next round.]

    The transparent wall in the centre had yet to disappear when he said that.

    In other words, he gave up the duel itself.

    Instead, he uttered some other words as soon as he forfeited.

    ¡°Damn it! I just regret that I¡¯m in the same region as you! If not for you, I would have definitely achieved a high rank!¡¯

    ¡°I have already told you before, man. Your luck is not very good.¡±

    Perhaps, if not for me, not only the younger brother, but also his elder brother who had the Item Master trait, would have been able to advance to a high round, or maybe even win the championship. But that was not to be, as he could not defeat me who had such a high ability to even beat Smith who had a 200% actualization rate.

    So as long as he was in the same region as me, he could not realize his dream of beating me at all. That meant he had no choice but to put this goal off in the intermediate term, and set it as his lifelong goal.

    Since he was already in the same region as me, he was destined to share a region with me even if more walls were removed.

    In other words, he would be destined to belong to the same region as me until all the regions were merged into one.

    Anyway, as soon as I said that to the younger OIzuki brother, I was ejected from the arena, as always.

    And the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan came into view.

    So I continued hunting normally, as if nothing happened.

    The next day I experienced something even more extraordinary. More precisely, I met a swindler.

    ¡°I am a member of the Yanghwa Guild. If you abstain here, I willpensate you ordingly. You already know the Yanghwa Guild¡¯s reputation, right?¡±

    Of course, I knew it very well.

    The Yanghwa Guild was one of the threergest guilds in China, and I once joined hands with Chairman Daeyoung Suh of Daeyu to scammYanghwa¡¯s Chairman Jiang Chiangrin.

    It was a little awkward to say this, but I was now more famous than the Yanghwa Guild chairman. So this guy who approached me with such an offer was probably not a high level official or not even a member of the Yanhwah Guild because it was clear he didn¡¯t know anything about me. Of course, if I had no chance of advancing to the round of 16, I would be willing to consider his offer, but winning first ce in this tournament seemed as easy as taking something out of my pocket to me.

    So I responded casually, ¡°Really? Sorry to hear that. These days, what I would require aspensation for your request is not just tens of billions of golden rings and tens of thousands of coins that the Yanghwa Guild can give me. It should be worth the ransom of your chairman Jiang Chiangrin himself. You don¡¯t seem to be as worthy as your chairman.¡±

    As soon as I said that, I fired Ice Punishment at this guy who made an embarrassed expression.

    Just like all his predecessors who copsed at one strike, this guy, who seemed to be so proud and conceited before me, fell right away.

    Anyway, I confronted lots of other yers as I advanced to the next rounds and I beat them all like before.

    Several dayster, I had dinner with my family at the Myongjin Shelter.

    ¡°I think you beat them all, right?¡± my sister asked.

    I nodded silently instead of replying to her question because I just took it for granted.

    This time, my father opened his mouth.

    ¡°Well, you have advanced to the round of 128, so you are not that far from the final rounds.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    Now that there were exactly 128 yers left, there was a lot of talk going around about who would survive until the round of 16 where the rewards came into yl. But I didn¡¯t care about it at all because it was me who would win first ce anyway.

    Of course, as the rounds moved on, there was something that bothered me a bit.

    In other words, I was worried about the appearance of not only the Oizuki brothers, but also those with some extraordinary traits or limited skills that I never expected, like the parasite guy.

    Nheless, I was confident in winning because my skill and items were clearly beyond what most people possessed. That¡¯s why I¡¯ve won all the time so far.

    Anyway, I didn¡¯t need to worry about something that had not happened yet, so I stopped worrying about it, and turned my gaze to someone next to me who was relishing her meal.

    It was none other than my sister.

    ¡°Congrats! You have advanced to the round of 128 too, sis!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! Well, I was really lucky.¡±

    As far as I knew, there were several Myongjin yers who seeded in advancing to the round of 256, but my sister was the only one who crossed that round and moved on to the round of 128. That¡¯s why she was smiling from ear to ear.

    So, I opened my mouth jokingly to stop her from smiling.

    ¡°Then, I might have a high chance of meeting you in the next round, right?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Obviously, I said that jokingly, but she stopped smiling, and there was even a cold atmosphere at the dinner table as if I spread Ice Field on the battlefield.

    So I added right away, ¡°Hahaha! I was kidding. How can I meet you when there are 126 yers excluding us.¡±

    But the next day, I decided I should never crack jokes like that anymore.

    At the arena where the event was held the next day.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I and my opponent who was on the other side of the transparent wall were just speechless because we knew each other too well.

    Then the other person shouted at me first, ¡°Juyoung, you son of a bitch!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The other party cursed me from the beginning. Obviously, I was famous and strong enough not to be treated with such abusivenguage from any yer, but I could not refute it at all because the other party was none other than my sister.

 Chapter 317 - Another Clue (1)

    <h4>Chapter 317: Another Clue (1)</h4>

    President Xi. The man referred to as China¡¯s emperor in the 21st century.

    If the world had not changed drastically like this, or even if the world had changed drastically, but there was no ¡®Revival Legend¡¯, I would not have been able to meet him alone like this even if I was the son of the chairman of South Korea¡¯s No. 1 business group.

    Why? As I just mentioned, he was China¡¯s Emperor in the 21st century.

    However, that was all just theoretical.

    Since I was in reality where ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ dominated, I faced him and opened my mouth without getting cold feet at all.

    ¡°Congrattions! You didn¡¯t finish first, but you have pushed a whopping nine people into the round of 16, right? And you will even finish second, President Xi.¡±

    What I meant was that no matter how desperately he tried, he could not win first ce because it was mine. In some respects, what I just said was like a deration of war to him.

    Of course, President Xi must have figured out what I was trying to say.

    So I did not stop there and added, ¡°By the way, there are as many as nine yers under your control who reached the round of 16l. It¡¯s really amazing that you have so many great talented yers.¡±

    Obviously, I made that statement to get a read on him. Of course, I didn¡¯t think he would take my words seriously because I knew well that President Xi didn¡¯t walk a smooth path to climb to his current position.

    However, I thought that if I didn¡¯t provoke him like that, it would do more harm than good, so I decided to rub him the wrong way with provocative remarks.

    At that moment, he responded, ¡°Hahaha! Was it too obvious to you? Well, it was surprisingly difficult. What¡¯s more, there were some things that didn¡¯t work as we intended, no matter how much we manipted it.

    Given that he readily admitted it, it seemed that President Xi had no intention of keeping it a secret in the first ce. Of course, it was ridiculous to think we alone were convinced that China had manipted the tournament draw.

    As many as 9 out of 16 yers were from China, and even those nine yers were under the control of President Xi¡¯s Chinese Government, not the Yanghwa of Hwashin Guilds which were apparently on part with them. In that respect, this was not a matter that I could take lightly.

    As soon as I confirmed it from President Xi, I felt very disappointed.

    But I continued to converse with him instead of expressing my feelings.

    Then the President hardened his face and spoke in a lower voice than before.

    ¡°What do you make of the end of Revival Legend, Asirante?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    President Xi suddenly asked me an unexpected question. So I was speechless for a moment.

    And even if I knew, I didn¡¯t have to tell him.

    For example, I could have told him about the NPC that I learned a while ago from the Holdridge Group in America.

    As if he already anticipated my reaction, President Xi continued with a nonchnt expression.

    ¡°I hear that you have recently been to New York. Then you must have heard about the NPC from them as if it was a big deal.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    At that moment, I tried my best to manage my expression as much as possible.

    Of course, I wasn¡¯t sure if I was doing it right.

    However, President Xi did not even look at me, and continued speaking with a soft voice.

    ¡°Asirante, or Juyoung Hong, you must know what Vten, who had all the proprietary technology of virtual reality, said when they disappeared because Myongjin is not a small guild.¡±

    Of course, I knew it very well. When I first heard it from my father, I was quite shocked too.

    This was what Vten said as their final words.

    [The 4th virtual reality will be actualized in reality.]

    In fact, it has be a reality.

    After that, President Xi continued, ¡°Assuming you already know it, what everybody says is something like, ¡®Wow! We are now bing one with the world of ¡®Revival Legend!''¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I remained silent, but I agreed deep down.

    In fact, monsters appeared in reality, or more precisely, on the earth, and people applied their reality actualization rate to actualize their abilities, skills, and even items of ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ using coins ¡®Revival Legend¡¯. And now even NPCs appeared.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡±

    President Xi burst intoughter.

    I was a little annoyed by that. Or more precisely, I was irritated because he knew what I didn¡¯t know. And it was as if he was taking revenge for my provocative words at first by showing me who called the shots. But I kept silent for that reason, for it would only make him happy If I showed the slightest sign that I was curious.

    Then, unlike before, President Xi stared straight at me and opened his mouth.

    ¡°Juyoung Hong, you are very calm.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s amazing for your age.¡±

    Unlike before, I responded appropriately to him this time because I needed to get more information from him, regardless of whether it was true or not.

    However, President Xi brought up a different topic as if he didn¡¯t want to cut to the chase right away.

    ¡°At this moment, I really envy Chairman Sangman Hong. I think he must be feeling really secure to have a wonderful son like you¡­¡±

    I wanted to grab him by the cor and urge him to stop talking nonsense and get to the point quickly. But all I did was just smile lightly.

    As if he was pleasantly surprised by my reaction, President Xi pped his hands and opened his mouth.

    ¡°Good! I guess we have the ball rolling now. So let¡¯s wrap it up. Okay? In that sense, I will give you one piece of information.¡±

    I naturally paidplete attention to what he was about to say.

    ¡°The information about the NPCs that the Holdridge guys think they alone know is wrong because they are not NPCs.¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    Of course, I was not naive enough to take at face value what the Holdridge guys said about not only monsters but also NPCs appearing on earth. In other words, I had solid evidence, namely the video. And the voice of the man thought to be an NPC was also recorded there.

    What¡¯s more, not only the video, but also the dying words of that person thought to be an NPC as he copsed to the US military were still vivid in my memory.

    [[emailprotected]</a>##$%%^&* %%#!*^!]

    [How dare you invade our territory! Let me kill all of you!]

    [%#%!%!!^$^& @$*&^!#%!]

    [Ugh! Although I will die here, we will never ept you guys!]

    Apparently the Earth and the world of ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ were merging.

    In light of the situation, his words made me inevitably infer that he was an NPC.

    While I was lost in thoughts like that, President Xi opened his mouth again.

    ¡°Tomemorate our delightful meeting today, I will give you another bonus. And it¡¯s not just one.¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    I could not understand what he was talking about.

 Chapter 318 - Another Clue (2)

    <h4>Chapter 318: Another Clue (2)</h4>

    President Xi did not say any further, as if he did not want to make me understand.

    ¡°Okay, let me congratte you on achieving first ce! But please don¡¯t forget the information I have given you in good faith today. Let me abstain from this duel.¡±

    President Xi abstained after saying that unterally.

    But there was nothing I could do other than look at the message that appeared.

    [Your opponent has forfeited the duel.

    -Congrattions. You have won 1st ce in the event to select the strongest person in Region 11.]

    At that moment, President Xi disappeared from in front of me, and I was left alone.

    In the meantime, messages continued to ring.

    [Lumen, Asirante, congrattions on achieving 1st ce in Region 11.

    ¨C The rewards are as follows:

    : Acquire 3 billion golden rings.

    : Acquire 20,000 coins.

    : Acquires 400 remaining stat points.

    : Acquires 2 skill points.]

    20,000 coins and a whopping 2 skill points was obviously a huge reward.

    But the reward didn¡¯t draw my attention because I was upied with some other things.

    ¡°Not just one? What is it then?¡±

    First of all, I had no difficulty understanding that information I thought I knew about the supposed NPC was not true.

    But I had no clue at all about President Xi¡¯s words that I would receive more than one bonus.

    At that moment, another message rang.

    [You have proven that you are the strongest yer in Region 11.

    -Would you like to participate in the event to select the true strongest from the strongest yers of the total of 40 regions?]

    ¡°Let me participate.¡±

    First of all, I stopped pondering about it, and decided to participate in the event because I had no reason not to.

    [You have chosen to participate in the King of Kings event.

    ¨C A message will ring when the event starts.

    -10 secondster, you will return to your original position.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The long event had finally finished.

    Of course, I took a break. To be honest, I didn¡¯t encounter any situation that could be called adversity or hardship. If I had to pick something, maybe it was when I met my sister in the round of 128. But my meeting with President Xi in the final round gave me lots of headaches.

    ¡®Alright. I don¡¯t know what the other bonus is, so let me sleep on it. By the way, if he is not an NPC, who the hell is he?¡¯

    While I was thinking hard about it, I felt my body being dragged somewhere, and soon the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan appeared in front of my eyes.

    However, I didn¡¯t keep hunting, as usual.

    Even though I didn¡¯t think what President Xi said was 100% true, I could not just keep it to myself.

    At the small conference room of the Myongjin Shelter that evening.

    Now I could say openly that I was not stupid any longer.

    So, as soon as President Xi mentioned something unexpected, I immediately activated the Memory Bead. And as soon as the event was over, I got out of the Land of Titan right away and gave it to Director Sok.

    A few hourster, a small group of people, including my father and some others, gathered in the small meeting room. When they gathered together, I activated the Memory Bead once again.

    At the end of the video, Director Sok stood up and opened his mouth.

    ¡°Hmm¡­First of all, I had the Strategy Department y and double check the Memory Bead that Juyoung gave me several times. We came to the conclusion that President Xi¡¯s words were not false because at the end of the conversation, President Xi asked Juyoung not to forget that he provided Juyoung with the information in good faith. Our guys at the Strategy Department are not sure if President Xi had solely good intentions in providing us with this information, but we concluded that if it were false, he would not have said such a thing. Even though he is the most powerful man in China, President Xi would find it hard to deal with Asiranteter if what he said was found to be false.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    No one dared to refute what Director Sok said.

    Then my father asked, ¡°Then, do you think we can trust his words 100%?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Of course, we don¡¯t have to believe it 100%, but it¡¯s not something we can ignore.¡±

    ¡°But I just wonder what he meant when he said the NPC we thought we knew about is not true¡­¡±

    My father could not finish his words. And no one, including me, said anything, for we didn¡¯t know either. Anyway, we wrapped up the meeting that day with many questions unresolved.

    While they were having a meeting like that at the Myongjin Shelter, the executives of Chinese Government were discussing the results of President Xi¡¯s meeting with Asirante in Beijing.

    ¡°Was it necessary that you reveal such valuable information to Asirante?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it was necessary.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s more, there is a strong helper named the Myongjin Guild behind Asirante.¡±

    With some worrisome expressions, President Xi¡¯s deputies expressed their opinion one by one after hearing that he informed Asirante about the information about the NPCs.

    But President Xi opened his mouth casually as if he didn¡¯t care.

    But his words were unexpected.

    ¡°What is the most valuable jewel in the world?¡±

    ¡°Well, isn¡¯t it true that they value diamonds as the most valuable gemstone?¡±

    ¡°Really? Well, it could be. So what if I had all the diamonds in the world without anybody knowing anything about it?¡±

    ¡°In that case¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The other¡¯s hesitated to reply. If they were stupid enough not to know the answer, they would not be here, of course.

    ¡°Well, those diamonds would be nothing but a useless burden to me because no one would know their value. The same goes for information. There must be some clues to find the information in the market. Only then will people begin to move to acquire it. In the meantime, the value of the relevant information will go up.¡±

    After he said that, President Xi rose from his seat to leave.

    Then he opened his mouth again.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think Asirante is good enough as a starting point for that information? Moreover, if Asirante gets lost or slows down while trying to find more details, that alone is very helpful to us.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±

    His deputies did not refute President Xi¡¯s words.

    At Kotum Castle¡¯s Central Square the next day.

    [Currently, there are skills that you can obtain. ]

    [Currently, there are ice-type skills that you can upgrade.]

    What happened yesterday was quite shocking to me.

    But I shook off such worries.

    It was obvious that no matter how hard I tried, I had no way of finding out the extra bonus that President Xi mentioned. In other words, it would do more harm than good if I paid any more attention to that matter. What¡¯s more, the Myongjin Guild had guys who would devote their time to that issue.

    So, I moved to this ce, freed from such worries, because I had to obtain one new skill with my two new skill points.

 Chapter 319 - Least Freedom (1)

    <h4>Chapter 319: Least Freedom (1)</h4>

    At Kotum Castle¡¯s Central Square.

    ¡°Search Fly.¡±

    [Level 6 Fly. (Active, required skill points 2, required golden rings 5,500,000.)

    : You can float your body in the air by consuming mana continuously.

    : You have some flying ability, but its effect is small.

    : There is only level 6 Fly.]

    Level 6 Fly was a flying skill, but, considering the effects of the skill, it was more appropriate to say it was a floating skill rather than a flying one.

    For that reason, it wasn¡¯t a very popr skill in ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    Skill points are always wanted because they were needed to obtain new skills and upgrade important skills, so using two skill points for simply floating in the air was not very efficient. However, I already acquired more than 10 additional skill points by winning various events and quests, starting with the 3rd Closed Beta where I was the only max level achiever. As a result, I could possess many skills that other people could not even dream of, including the limited skill Savant.

    Moreover, I earned two more skill points by winning first ce in the event that selected the strongest yer in Region 11. In other words, I could afford to pay attention to certain skills unlike others.

    And there was a reason why I really liked this particr skill.

    ¡®I can make up for theck of mobility in the air with Blink with zero cooldown anyway.¡¯

    In fact, I didn¡¯t need the ability to fly because I had Blink with zero cooldown.

    Why? It¡¯s because no matter how fast I was using that skill, I would be much slowerpared to teleporting using Blink with zero cooldown.

    Anyway, I was thinking about getting this skill for a long time, but I put it off because I had other skills which I had to learn. Now that I could afford to turn to other skills since I had finally acquired Ice Punishment, I chose to acquire it without any hesitation this time.

    [You have obtained level 6 Fly.]

    After acquiring Fly, I immediately moved to the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan.

    President Xi made my future more unpredictable, but I thought it would not matter what the future held for me if I became stronger.

    In front of the main base of Myongjin Shelter the next day.

    Last time, I dered in person that I would periodically patrol the vicinity of the Myongjin Shelter and clean up the monsters there.

    So, 700 guards and 200 special force personnel that had increased their reality actualization rate were standing with me right now. Of course, it didn¡¯t mean that a new herd of monsters had already settled in the area surrounding the Myongjin Shelter like the ogres I had already cleaned up before.

    So, I didn¡¯t need such arge number of troops for me in the first ce.

    However, I needed to put on a big show about this new assignment, so I made up the recon team with the same number of people as before.

    Moreover, this time I had one more special reason to do so.

    In other words, the dinner meeting wasing up in three days.

    In the past, the families of big business groups often gathered together for a conference supposedly discussing future growth. Sometimes such a meeting happened as often as two or three times a week while they were trying to check out each other¡¯s intentions.

    However, after the Daeyu Group, the lowest ranked among Korea¡¯s top five conglomerates, joined hands with China, and the Daesung and Kusan Groups formed their own alliance, the conferences no longer happened. The Myongjin Group joined hands with the Mirae Group, so Myongjin onlymunicated with them now.

    Sometime ago, the Daesung & Kusan Alliance contacted us, with a request to reopenmunication instead of forming an alliance immediately. They suggested that people from the same country could no longer fight amongst each other now that the walls had copsed, because not only Japan and Mongolia but also China, which they needed to watch out the most, the giant force India, and Vietnam were now merged together.

    Of course, I knew that¡¯s not what they wanted. It was obvious that they were pretty impatient because they realized their hopes for taking the lead in Korea with their alliance were dashedpletely.

    In the level 1200 regr quest that the whole world participated in, we won first ce under the name of Myongjin, and I, affiliated with the Myongjin Guild, finished first in the event to select the strongest person in Region 11 not long ago. Maybe that¡¯s why the Myongjin Guild emerged as one of the most powerful guilds in the world.

    Of course, the Mirae Guild clearly benefited from its alliance with us.

    While they were fighting against Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild with us, they seeded in securing a level 1400 hunting ground in Mongolia, thereby securing a solid foothold for growth.

    Even now, they were hunting hard with us, preparing to move their main yers to the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan.

    However, the Daesung & Kusan Alliance didn¡¯t show any impressive performance, not to mention any achievement.

    What¡¯s more, they even decided to work with the government led by President Kim Kijung, but these days they have been bickering over their agenda and priorities a lot.

    The Daesung & Kusan Alliance had chosen Jeju Ind as their base, but President Kim strongly urged the Daesung & Kusan Alliance to pull out from Jeju Ind, insisting that they should take control of Seoul unconditionally.

    In any case the Daesung & Kusan Alliance seemed to have lots of trouble with their growth being blocked, so they reached out to the Myongjin in hope of finding a new breakthrough. My father didn¡¯t refuse their offer tomunicate. Probably he felt it burdensome topletely stop talking to them, given that the Myongjin Group had almost 20-30 years of business rtions with them.

    So, three dayster, all the business groups, with the exception of Daeyu which had joined hands with China, agreed to meet at the Myongjin Shelter.

    And my recon operation to clean up the monsters around the Myongjin Shelter this time was made on the backdrop of this situation.

    Anyway, looking at the 700 guards and 200 special forces standing in an orderly manner, I shouted, ¡°Today, I will expand the scope of reconnaissance further than before! So, make sure you are thoroughly prepared for any dangers!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    As soon as they replied with roaring voices, we moved out of the Myongjin Shelter in military trucks and modified vehicles as before. While we were moving, I encountered the refugees living on the outskirts of the Myongjin shelter. But I didn¡¯t cast a nce at them like I had done before, for if I looked at them, I might give them the vain hope that they would be epted into the shelter. Since I could no ept them, at least for now, I didn¡¯t want to give them such hope.

    A littleter my recon team reported back.

    ¡°Nothing unusual in Area C-7!¡±

    ¡°Nothing unusual in Area C-8!¡±

    After I made the decision to clean up the monsters around the Myongjin Shelter periodically, I divided the recon area into specific sectors, and then assigned a specific name to each designated area.

    It¡¯s already been three hours since we moved out of the shelter, but nothing unusual really happened. We only found a few wandering monsters.

    ¡°Good. Then let¡¯s move to the final D area.¡±

    ¡°Alright!¡±

    So we turned to that area, and found a group of people while scouring the area in the north of the shelter. Judging from the direction they were moving, their destination seemed to be the Myongjin Sheler. And they seemed to be refugees, given their looks.

 Chapter 320 - Least Freedom (2)

    <h4>Chapter 320: Least Freedom (2)</h4>

    I could see that there were also ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ users among the refugee group.

    Of course, this was not a big deal because there were lots of users ying Revival Legend, even though new users could no longer join.

    However, it was certainly surprising that there were level 1200 or higher users who achieved a reality actualization rate among the refugees, for in this day and age, such users would be warmly weed wherever they went. But I didn¡¯t do anything about them.

    Obviously, other guilds might be very much interested in recruiting them, but Myongjin wasn¡¯t.

    Even at this moment, Myongjin was constantly producing level 1200 users.

    At that moment, the refugees stopped moving, then some of them approached me as if they had some business with me.

    Naturally, some members from my recon team stepped forward and blocked them.

    Then, as if they had no intention of resisting, they stopped and one person opened his mouth.

    ¡°Juyoung Hong, please help me!¡±

    How did she know who I was at first nce?

    Of course, it wasn¡¯t strange because I was so widely known these days.

    So, I said without responding to her, ¡°Keep moving.¡±

    Her intention was obvious. In other words, she wanted me to save them.

    Of course, some might wee her with open arms because she achieved level 1200.

    So I gave her some encouraging words, though I would not characterize it as advice.

    ¡°Given your level, there are probably many people who will wee you with open arms. So, go to them. They will grant your request.¡±

    That was the best advice I could give to her. But I was wrong.

    She said, ¡°I¡¯m not asking you to save our lives. Please ept us, so we can have the least freedom to die on our terms. Please help us! Only you can save us, Juyoung Hong!¡±

    As a matter of fact, I heard people asking me to save them countless times, saying they would do whatever I wanted, so I thought this refugee group was the same.

    The way they were dressed and spoke was the same as those I had met before.

    But I could not turn my head away from them when I heard their request to die of their own free will. Nobody before had made such a request to me.

    At the third main base of the Myongjin Shelter three dayster.

    Even though I had met the other business groups several times in the past and knew them well, they were still outsiders. So, I chose the third main base, not the first main base, as the dinner venue just like we did for the guests who attended my brother¡¯s wedding ceremony, or the Holdridge guys more recently.

    ¡°Lovely meeting you, Chairman Sangman Hong!¡±

    ¡°Thank you for epting our request, Chairman Sangman Hong!¡±

    My father rose to the position of Myongjin Group¡¯s chairman at a young age because my grandfather passed away early. Until now, the chairman of the other conglomerates did not speak informally to him, even though they could, nor did they address him with honorifics.

    But Daesung Group Chairman Junghwan Kim and Kusan Group Chairman Sokyoung Jung, who were both much older than my father, used honorifguage this time.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t frown at them because it was only natural that they paid deference to my father in the current situation. After they exchanged greetings with him, they approached me.

    In the past, they would not have deigned to pay attention to me.

    ¡°Hahaha! I think I know how much hardship you must have gone through while living like a swan among a flock of ducks.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s because you wore a suit that didn¡¯t fit you that there were so many rumors about you.¡±

    They spoke to me informally rather than being respectful like the way they spoke to my father, but I didn¡¯t care. My father was the chairman of the Myongjin Group, which had a reputation and prestige that Daesung and Kusan could not even dream of, and as his son, I was the head of the Myongjin Shelter.

    So I opened my mouth with a gentle smile on my mouth.

    ¡°You¡¯re wee. Well, I was not a swan but a sick chicken, so I couldn¡¯t catch up with the ducks.¡±

    We carried on conversation like that for some time.

    Soon the Mirae Group chairman and his entourage arrived, and wemenced the dinner meeting.

    I was now an essential member of the Myongjin Group. Strictly speaking, I was not only an essential member, but one who carried more weight than Myongjin itself.

    As a result, they arranged for me to sit at the head table, and my opinion at the meeting was given far more importance than before. So I refused it at first because I didn¡¯t want to take my elder brother¡¯s ce at all. In other words, it was my brother who used to sit in my seat.

    In fact, my elder brother has been silently behind my father, taking care of every important matter.

    That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t want to sit in my brother¡¯s seat because it would bother me a lot.

    So I sat in the seats arranged for my peers.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Even the chairmen of Daesung, Kusan, and Mirae could not sway me now, so the others at my table didn¡¯t even dare to make eye contact with me, let alone look down on me like they did before.

    But only one person among them spoke to me informally.

    She was Bora Yon, the daughter of Chairman Junghwan Yon of the Mirae Group.

    ¡°It looks like you are quite busy these days? You hardly contact me.¡±

    ¡°Well, sort of.¡±

    ¡°You still have time to see me, right? Your ce is not far from the Mirae Shelter, so why don¡¯t you stop by one of these days? If youe over, my Grandpa will be very pleased.¡±

    ¡°Okay, let me try.¡±

    ¡°Really? You promised, okay!¡±

    Even though I said that jokingly, she seemed to take it seriously.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t correct her because I had no reason not to visit her.

    Anyway, our dinner continued, then some important people, including the chairmen of each guild, began to move to other meeting ces, for the banquet hall was toorge for them to discuss their main agenda.

    Of course, now that I was important enough to attend such meetings, some of them turned their eyes to me.

    But I shook my head slightly because I didn¡¯t want to go there and join their stressful meetings.

    Anyway, after the chairmen and some of their closest aides left, the dinner continued.

    However, when they left, those who were left behind paid more attention to me.

    And they tried to check my mood and expression. Among them were those who subtly ignored me before, even though they didn¡¯t humiliate me in the past.

    I could humiliate them by reminding them of how they trod on me in the past, but I didn¡¯t, for everybody knew that the gap between me and them was already insurmountable.

    Instead, I quietly enjoyed the wine. Of course, I didn¡¯t want to make friends with them now.

    At that moment, I heard some guys talking about Revival Legend in one corner of the banquet room.

    ¡°If I were him, I would rather die.¡±

    ¡°You bet. He can¡¯t even ess ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ now because he can¡¯t create an ount. He¡¯s just done. I just don¡¯t know why he¡¯s struggling to survive like that.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡±

    Struggling to survive? I¡¯ve seen a lot of people doing that.

    However, I did not intend to disparage him like the way these guys did.

    At that moment, I recalled the refugees that I saw three days ago, who had been longing for the freedom to die on their own.

 Chapter 321 - Jihye Suh (1)

    <h4>Chapter 321: Jihye Suh (1)</h4>

    There was only one reason why so many refugees settled in the outskirts of the Myongjin Shelter. It was because it was the safest ce they could find.

    Of course, the desire to survive may not be human¡¯s number one desire, but it was at least in the top three.

    That¡¯s why I had no choice but to pay attention to the desperate appeal of that person, or more precisely, that woman, who begged me to at least give them the freedom to die of their own free will rather than begging to be let into the Myongjin Shelter.

    Three days ago.

    ¡°Freedom to die on your terms?¡±

    I stopped heading to the Myongjin Shelter, turned, and asked the woman who was kneeling before me. I¡¯ve seen many people who want to survive by all means, but I haven¡¯t seen anyone who wants to die on their own.

    The woman opened her mouth, still kneeling on the ground.

    ¡°Yes! The world has be a dreadful ce. Our family members are dead, our loved ones are dead, and we have lost all hope. Monsters cannot be dealt justice by thew, and nobody can do so anyway. In other words, even if there is a more terrible hell than this one, the best way to get out of this hell right now is only death.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Having heard that, I didn¡¯t tell her she should survive, that she should endure the darkness until the light came back. I didn¡¯t tell her this world was better than hell no matter how terrible it was. Perhaps those who knew my true feelings would point their fingers at me, ming me for being selfish, but I loved this world.

    As my original ID Lumen suggested, Asirante, as well as my original name Juyoung Hong became known to almost everybody. I can¡¯t say for sure that I am the center of the world, but it is true that I am very close.

    But I didn¡¯t have to go to the trouble of telling her all this.

    So I asked her indifferently, ¡°Then why don¡¯t you just die?¡±

    It was true that this world turned into a ce where people couldn¡¯t live even if they wanted to, but it was never a ce where they could not die if they wanted to.

    Dying was much easier than in the past.

    There was nobody who would stop them, and there were no minimum institutional rules to stop them like before.

    As if she was waiting for my question, she answered, ¡°We cannot die.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    I asked back immediately.

    While asking that, it urred to me that this woman was pretty smart because in the end, I gave into my curiosity and asked her just as she intended.

    But now that I was very curious about her motivations, I waited for her reply without hiding my feelings.

    Then, she tried to point to something in front of her instead of answering my question.

    Then a screen like a message window appeared.

    [Currently, you have been subordinated.]

    ¡°Subordinated¡­¡¯

    Of course, I knew what it meant. Although it was not exactly the same, there was a person who suggested that I join the ¡®Lucia¡¯ Guild while I was just starting to make a name as Asirante. Since the person who made such a proposal to me was extraordinary, I nned to join it if there was no particr problem because I needed to find out his identity first to be able to take some appropriate actionter. But in the end, I didn¡¯t join it.

    Why? Because there was a message that rang which said that once I joined the guild, I could not withdraw from it voluntarily.

    In other words, the moment I joined it, it was like getting a leash around my neck.

    Since I already had such a bad experience, I thought I knew roughly what she meant by ¡®subordinated.¡¯

    But I had some more questions, so I asked her again, ¡°Good. I know what you mean by ¡®subordinated.¡¯ Did the guy who subordinated you order you not to die? That¡¯s why you can¡¯t die?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°If you say no, you don¡¯t really mean that you can¡¯t die, right?¡±

    If it¡¯s true that she couldn¡¯t die, it meant she was immortal. If that¡¯s the case, the one who subordinated this cheat of a woman was even more fraudulent.

    But she gave me an unexpected reply.

    ¡°That¡¯s not true, either.¡±

    ¡°Uh? Are you going to y twenty questions with me?¡±

    ¡°I have already died once.¡±

    ¡°What? Died once?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    This woman died once?

    At that moment, the word undead came to my mind. But she didn¡¯t look like an undead at all.

    She didn¡¯t even look like a monster, either.

    But then something shed through my mind, so I asked her immediately.

    ¡°Then is it something like resurrection?¡±

    ¡°Well, I can¡¯t say that¡¯s right either, but it could be called a resurrection, although we needed 1,000 sacrifices.¡±

    1000 sacrifices? Of course, that was a lot.

    And although sacrifice did not always mean death, it was clear from her expression that it really cost 1,000 lives.

    To be honest, I thought that resurrecting one person from the dead was so wonderful and useful that it was worth the cost of 1,000 lives. But I didn¡¯t express my feelings.

    I just silently looked at the woman in front of me.

    As if she noticed my growing curiosity, she continued, ¡°Unfortunately, the sacrifices were not high-level users ying ¡®Revival Legend¡¯. Ordinary people were more than enough as sacrifices. So my master killed 1000 people carelessly to resurrect me and return me to his side. And he said if I ever thought of dying again, he would kill not just 1,000 people, but 10,000 or 100,000 people because of me.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Startled by her shocking confession, I didn¡¯t say anything for a while.

    Then I asked her quietly, ¡°Who is your master?¡±

    ¡°His name is Yuljong Kim.¡±

    At the Myongjin Shelter.

    ¡°Bring her here, please.¡±

    ¡°You mean Jihye Suh?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Have you made up your mind?¡±

    When Director Sok asked, I nodded slightly and opened my mouth.

    ¡°Sort of.¡±

    After confirming my response, he left silently to go bring her. A littleter, he returned with her, who had told me that she at least wanted the freedom to die on her own terms.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    When she arrived, she just stared at me without saying anything.

    Of course, I understood her feelings because I neglected her for five days after inviting her into the shelter. However, I had no choice but to do so because I had been busy with the dinner meetings with the leaders of the Mirae, Daesung, and Kusan conglomerates. Since the dinner meeting was arranged because of me, I could not abstain from it. To be honest, I also was not sure how to deal with this woman called Jihye Suh after inviting her into the shelter, which also made me unsure how to deal with her.

    But now that I had decided what to do with her, I opened my mouth.

    ¡°I¡¯m really curious about this, but can you tell me about the world after you actually died? As you know, there is a saying that you would rather go to hell than live in this hell. Is there really hell anyway?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

 Chapter 322 - Jihye Suh (2)

    <h4>Chapter 322: Jihye Suh (2)</h4>

    Honestly, this was what I was most curious about because she said she actually died.

    She made a dumbfounded expression as if she didn¡¯t expect that to be my first question. But I just waited calmly for her answer because I was really curious.

    And once she realized I was serious, she quietly opened her mouth.

    ¡°Thest thing I remembered was cold fangs poking through my throat and my painful breathing. And when I next came, I saw Yuljung Kim¡¯s face as he rebuked me for avoiding and trying to resist him.¡±

    ¡°Even though I expected that, it¡¯s a bit disappointing.¡±

    I really felt sorry about it.

    Did I take what she said at face value?

    Normally, I would not have believed what she said because she could be trying to trap me.

    In fact, I have been the target of quite a few people just because I¡¯m strong.

    That was why I originally decided not to reveal my identity until I reached level 1200.

    Of course, I had no choice but to reveal my identity a little earlier than nned because Smith¡¯s party threatened not only the Myongjin Guild but also me.

    Anyway, there was a reason why I decided I could trust her, and brought her here.

    It was because of this encounter between us three days ago.

    ¡°How can I trust you?¡±

    I asked Jihye Suh, who mentioned a fairly famous person named Yuljung Kim as her master.

    She opened her mouth right away.

    ¡°Reveal limited skill!¡±

    [Limited skill: Stat Transfer.

    -You can transfer stats from one person to another.

    ¨C In order to transfer the stats, both sides must agree.

    -The person who agrees to transfer the stats loses them permanently, while the person who receives the stats permanently gains them.

    : You can transfer up to 10 stat points per day.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I was a little perplexed.

    She then said, ¡°If you bring someone who is willing to permanently lose 10 stat points, I can transfer them immediately.¡±

    Of course, 10 stat points could be either big or small, depending on one¡¯s perspective.

    To me, 10 stat points were a lot because it was the amount I received when I leveled up.

    Moreover, the weight of each level increases tremendously at higher levels.

    At that moment, Director Sok stepped forward suddenly and said, ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡±

    But I stopped him because he held a very important position within the Myongjin Guild.

    But he insisted, saying, ¡°Well, I can endure the loss of 10 stat points without any issue.¡±

    Of course, there were as many as 200 people aside from Director Sok who had raised their reality actualization rate in the Myongjin Guild.

    And maybe some of them would volunteer to give up their stats if I mentioned it, but there was a high possibility that they would be displeased about it and badmouth meter.

    Anyway, when Director Sok, one of the top executives of Myongjin, took the initiative to volunteer, I reluctantly stood next to him in front of Jihye Suh.

    Then she grabbed my hand and his hand at the same time

    She spoke to him first.

    ¡°Do you agree to hand over 10 stat points to the other party?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I agree.¡±

    As soon as he responded, she turned to me and asked, ¡°Do you agree to receive the 10 stat points from the other party?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I agree.¡±

    There were absolutely no falsehoods or double entendres in her words, so I agreed without hesitating.

    At that moment a message rang.

    [You have received 10 stat points from the other party.

    -Your Agility permanently increases by 10.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Of course, she opened her limited skill before my eyes. In other words, I knew from the beginning that she didn¡¯t lie. But I couldn¡¯t help but be speechless for a moment because I had never experienced such a thing before.

    At that moment, Director Sok said, ¡°I heard a message ring that said that I lost 10 agility stat points permanently.¡±

    As soon as Director Sok said that, I said to her, ¡°Let¡¯s go to the Myongjin Shelter first.¡±

    10 stat points per day?

    It was 3650 stats in one year, and as it continued to umte, it would be a tremendous amount next year.

    I took notice of that guy Yuljung Kim that she mentioned.

    I felt like I knew why he resurrected her by killing as many as 1000 people.

    To be honest, I would have done the same.

    In particr, considering Kim¡¯s position, there must have been a lot of people around him who would dedicate 10 stat points.

    Jihye said, ¡°I told you everything that I knew. Also I¡¯ve told you about something that I had not even revealed to my master Yuljong Kim.¡±

    ¡°Of course, I know.¡±

    Certainly what she told me was eye-popping. And I thought that¡¯s why she kept it a secret from her master.

    ¡°The moment you, Juyoung Hong, revealed your identity without hiding it anymore, and the moment you showed your power fully, I came to the conclusion that the only person who could defend me to the end was you.¡±

    I took note of her emphasis on ¡°to the end.¡±

    From the beginning she did not ask me to free her from Kim.

    In other words, she actually wanted death

    Her subordinate rtionship with Kim was stronger than expected.

    When her master Kim dies, she would have no choice but to die because she was his subordinate. Of course, he still needed 1000 people as a sacrifice to resurrect her.

    Moreover, the secret that she mentioned was hidden in the limited skill ¡®Stat Transfer¡¯, which she only partially revealed.

    [Limited skill: Stat Transfer.

    -You can transfer all your current stats to the other party.

    However, your limited skill ¡®Stat Transfer¡¯ will be deleted immediately after you use it.

    She revealed to me what she hadn¡¯t shared with Yuljong Kim, her master, saying she decided to reveal it to me in return for helping her find the freedom to die on her own terms.

    ¡°I definitely want to die, but there are numerous people under Kim¡¯s control who are just getting by in a hellish situation on false hope for the sake of their families. Please help them, too.¡±

    ¡°Really? I don¡¯t know if you know this, but I have never taken the initiative to attack anyone first. In other words, not only will it be controversial if I attacked somebody first, but also lots of people will begin toin about me. Especially if my target is Kim, your master and the leader of North Korea. It will be an unprecedented controversy.¡±

    She remained silent for a moment at my words.

    Then she softly opened her mouth.

    ¡°That¡¯s why I came to see you, Juyoung Hong.¡±

 Chapter 323 - To the North (1)

    <h4>Chapter 323: To the North (1)</h4>

    In the end, what Jihye Suh said was simple. She wanted Juyoung to get rid of her right away. However, since she was subordinated to Yuljung Kim, she could not kill herself, so she wanted Juyoung to kill Kim first.

    Of course, she didn¡¯t just want him to kill Kim for free. She said she would give him everything she had because she was destined to die with Kim the moment he died for the simple reason that she was his subordinate. She said she had nothing to regret anymore.

    In order to relieve my doubts about attacking Kim, she also told me that there were so many people living in a hellish world without any choice because their families were taken hostage by Kim. But even that was not a good enough reason for me to attack Kim.

    Why? Because there were obviously so many like Yuljung Kim in this day and age.

    Besides, there were quite a few who willingly wanted to live in that hell too.

    At that moment, Jihye opened her mouth again.

    ¡°There is little time left,¡± she said. ¡°Because I am subordinate to him, I cannot resist when he summons me.¡±

    Since she already mentioned it to me before, I did not respond.

    However, I felt that she was too deeply subordinate to him. Given her condition, it was as if she was a ve or even worse to him.

    Nheless, I had some doubts, so I said, ¡°By the way, why didn¡¯t you think of showing Kim everything about stats transfer and handing it all over to him? If that happens, your value will be zero when your skill ¡®Stat Transfer¡¯ disappears, then Kim won¡¯t care about you anymore. Don¡¯t you think so?¡±

    She could let people gain as many as 10 stat points a day. Even if I were in Kim¡¯s shoes, I would use the ability to subordinate her to me. If I didn¡¯t have that ability, I would use every means to bind her, so she could not escape from me.

    But what if her ability to transfer stats disappears overnight?

    I would not find her valuable and would not find any need to keep her.

    If she were in such a state, she would not have to go to the trouble ofing to ask me a favor like this.

    At that moment, however, as if she was not startled by my question at all, she said with a little smile, ¡°If I had had even a 1% chance of doing so, I would have definitely done it. However, Kim would definitely be upset,ining that I had no use as a subordinate. He would rage with anger, shouting at me that I cut the goose thatid golden eggs without his permission.¡±

    Though she said that with a smile, her point was quite serious. Given the seriousness of what she just said, she was not supposed to smile in this situation.

    Despite that, she continued, ¡°He will probably continue to inflict pain in me. If I were tomit suicide because I couldn¡¯t stand the pain, he would continue to kill one thousand people to resurrect me. And he will show it to me, telling me tomit suicide again. Then he would threaten to kill 10,000 or 100,000 people to bring me back to life.¡±

    I was about to ask her if it was really possible for him to have the nerve to do so, but I didn¡¯t after looking at her serious expression.

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    First of all, I just heard her out, and understood her point.

    I concluded that because she was subordinate to Kim, she had no way of escaping from him even at the dead end of death.

    Suddenly I felt it was a pity that her great abilities were left unused.

    What if she were free from Kim¡¯s control and used her abilities freely?

    There were lots of strong and wealthy people who would try to recruit her by offering her enormouspensation. Of course, Myongjin would be one of them.

    So I asked her, feeling a little sorry for her valuable skill talent, ¡°What if I tell Kim not to touch you by threatening him?¡±

    Of course, the best solution for her would free her from her subordination to him.

    But she shook her head, and showed me something..

    [Once you are in a subordinate rtionship, you cannot cancel it from your end. And the person who has subordinated you cannot cancel it either. ]

    In other words, it was impossible for her to be freed from him, nor was it possible for Kim to free her from his control.

    She continued with a bitter smile, ¡°I think you can subjugate Kim, given your mighty power. But I¡¯m afraid I can continue to live in anxiety like this. Perhaps Kim will bow to you if you challenge him right now, but at the end of the day he will prepare everything to take revenge on you, Juyoung Hong. I¡¯m telling you this not only for myself, but for you, as well. If you take action against him, you really should kill him once and for all. Otherwise, you had better stay away from fighting him at all. He is the type of guy who easily forgets somebody¡¯s help, but will never forget his revenge on anybody that he thinks has wronged him.¡±

    After she said that, I remained silent for some time, then slowly opened my mouth.

    ¡°Good. let me kill him then, but I¡¯ve one condition!¡±

    Of course, I thought of getting something in return from her in advance.

    But I didn¡¯t have to mention it because she offered it first with a wee expression.

    ¡°I¡¯m willing to give everything you need right now.¡±

    It¡¯s not because I was greedy about her stat points that I made such a decision.

    To be honest, I didn¡¯t need them. Even without them, I was so strong right now that I could beat anyone anywhere and anytime.

    After I took her to the Myongjin Shelter, I didn¡¯t leave her neglected without doing anything.

    I had Myongjin undertake a thorough investigation on Kim using all avable informationworks.

    In the past, it was even unthinkable to investigate the North Korean leader, but Myongjin today is the most sessful conglomerate in South Korea, and also boasts of its premier position in the world business world. So they could gather lots of information about him on their own and with the help of others.

    After five days of investigation, I reached a conclusion. It would be unpleasant to see Kim as well as his forces be strong.

    Kim was close to a ruthless tyrant. Moreover, like she said, he was only focused on increasing his power as well as that of hispanions by sacrificing not only ordinary citizens but also a considerable number of ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ users.

    Besides, he has been growing fast by receiving 10 stat points everyday by using her.

 Chapter 324 - To the North (2)

    <h4>Chapter 324: To the North (2)</h4>

    Of course, his growth didn¡¯t frighten me at all.

    But I didn¡¯t like the fact that he was growing faster than others.

    Given his personality, he would not work for somebody, and there was no chance of being his ally instead of his enemy.

    However, if I attacked him first just because I didn¡¯t like him, I would be acting just like Smith¡¯s family did to me in the past. So, I had no choice but to be bothered by that.

    That¡¯s why it took me as many as five days to make up my mind.

    But I made the decision to attack her master Yuljung Kim.

    If she had not told me about him, I would not have cared at all.

    Now that I havee to know about her situation and her subordinate rtionship with Kim, I was not generous enough to let this unpleasant guy be stronger everyday.

    That evening, my father, my brother, my sister, Director Sok and some others gathered at the No. 3 Study within the Myongjin Shelter.

    I spoke to them first because they had already grasped the situation to some extent because I informed them about her as soon as I brought her here.

    ¡°I intend to ept Jihye Suh¡¯s request.¡±

    ¡°What are you going to do after that?¡±

    I replied, nodding slightly at my father who immediately questioned my decision.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m going to kill Yuljung Kim.¡±

    ¡°But you have to remember that he is not the only one you will have to deal with.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡±

    North Korea was behind Kim, of course. Naturally, he would try to use all the power that North Korea possesses to suppress me.

    ¡°Are you really confident in killing him?¡± my sister asked at that moment.

    Although her question was a bit brusque, I could understand she had mixed feelings about my decision.

    Given the nature of her question, she was worried that I was diverging away from my usually defensive actions by attacking Kim. Moreover, my opponent was not an ordinary man.

    However, I answered without any hesitation because I made the final decision after lots of careful deliberation.

    ¡°Of course, I¡¯m really confident. I don¡¯t intend to be a hero that brightens the world, but I thought it wasn¡¯t bad to get rid of this bad guy on this asion.¡±

    We talked a little more about my decision.

    At the end of the conversation I dered, ¡°Nope. I will go alone to fight Kim. If the Myongjin Guild moves to help me, the fight would be between North Korea and Myongjin, not Juyoung Hong and Yuljung Kim.¡±

    What¡¯s more, I already noticed President Kijung Kang of South Korea, who was once hostile to me, kept silent without instigating me at all.

    So, I was going to get rid of Kim without drawing any attention by using Blink with zero cooldown.

    After all, my goal was not to overthrow North Korea, but to kill Kim.

    Anyway, I made that decision and ended the meeting in the study room.

    Of course, I was worried a bit that I mightter regret my decision today.

    In particr, I heard something interesting from President Xi, and there was a clear possibility that I might be in the same boat as Kim, which would be the worst situation.

    But I decided to bet against such a possibility.

    ¡®Well, I hate this guy so much that I can¡¯t turn to such possibilities.¡±

    So I braced myself once again while trying not to be swayed by such possibilities.

    The next day I met Jihye Suh again.

    After grabbing my hand, she softly opened her mouth.

    ¡°I¡¯m now handing over all my stats to the other party.¡±

    Then she said, looking at me, ¡°Do you agree to receive all the other party¡¯s stat points?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I agree.¡±

    At that moment, a message rang.

    [You have received 14239 stat points from the other party.

    -Strength increases by 445, Agility increases by 631, Stamina increases by 2577, Willpower increases by 3315, and Intellect increases by 7271 permanently.]

    I received a whopping 14239 stat points.

    It was so absurdly enormous that I could not believe it for a moment.

    So I had no choice but to say a word.

    ¡°If Kim finds out about this, I¡¯m sure he will have better regrets!¡±

    ¡°Do you really think so? I am d to hear that.¡±

    She was in worse shape than an ordinary man. Watching her smile at my words, I thought Kim was really stupid. Given her powerful stats and talent, he should have treated her well instead of making her into an enemy. Of course, he must have taken her lightly because she was his subordinate, and he thought he would keep control of her forever.

    Anyway, I quietly opened my mouth to check my status because my trait, Mutual Growth, had some limitations when increasing my WIllpower and Stamina.

    ¡®Check status window.¡¯

    [Level: 1247

    Number of kills: 11492, Number of deaths: 0

    Titles: Only Closed Beta Max Level Achiever and 10 others.

    Health: 5,877,000 / 5,877,000

    Mana: 4,108,000 / 4,108,000

    Strength: 8474 Agility: 10431 Stamina: 44570

    Willpower: 31649 Intellect: 59847

    Remaining stat points: 0

    Remaining skill points: 0

    Traits: Iceman, Mutual Growth, God of Enhancement.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Mutual Growth did not apply to my stamina and willpower when I got stat points through items and skills, but it did apply to stat points when they were given through the addition of new titles or rewards.

    And even today they were applied.

    In particr, aside from the intellect of 60,000, my Willpower, which I always felt wascking, now exceeded 30,000.

    ¡°Then are you going to ept my request?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely.¡±

    To be honest, I was consumed with lots of worries until now, but when I examined the enormous increase in stat points among other things, I learned that my worries were worth it.

    With this spectacr growth in stat points, I felt bold enough to attack even President Xi, not just Kim.

    Anyway, since I received all the stats from her, I could not turn a deaf ear to her request.

    Besides, she lost everything, longing for her death, so I became more resolved to keep my promise.

    After wrapping up our conversation, I moved to the North with her.

    Even though she was over level 1200, she was now the same as a user who had just essed Revival Legend, with only 10 strength, 10 agility, 10 stamina, 10 willpower, and 10 intellect.

    So, I traveled with her to North Korea.

    Did I encounter monsters while we were moving together? Of course, I did.

    ¡°Multiple Ice Arrows! Ice Spear!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Kheeeeeeeeeh!¡±

    ¡°Khuuuuuuuk!¡±

    I didn¡¯t have to use AOE skills to kill them.

    As a matter of fact, I could get rid of moderately strong monsters with the most basic skills such as Ice Ball or Ice Bolt instead of AOE skills.

    Even though it was limited to the items I had equipped within ¡®Revival Legend¡¯, I could now actualize them in reality without using coins. Besides, I received more than 14,000 stat points from her, including 7,000 Intellect, making mepletely different from before.

    Moreover, there were about 25,000 coins that I had spared to actualize other items instead of using them to increase my reality actualization rate.

 Chapter 325 - There May Be Blue and Better Blue (1)

    <h4>Chapter 325: There May Be Blue and Better Blue (1)</h4>

    I obtained a total of 60,000 tradable coins for destroying the statue inside the Holdridge headquarters in America. I handed over half of them to my family, and kept the other half. Besides, I obtained another 20000 coins by winning the event to choose the strongest yer in Region 11.

    In other words, the coins I now possessed numbered 75,000, thanks to 30,000 tradable coins and the 45,000 normal coins. Since I had no reason not to do so, I started using them right away.

    Of course, I used the general coins instead of the tradable coins that had a much higher value.

    As a result, I increased my reality actualization rate by 5% to 70%.

    ¡°As expected, you are very strong!¡±

    Jihy Suh expressed admiration watching me get rid of the monsters easily, but I shrugged my shoulders and said, ¡°Well, this is a piece of cake. By the way, you said you can call Yuljung Kim privately?¡¯

    ¡°Yeah, I can. Since I¡¯m subordinate to him, I can message him within Revival Legend. He must be very upset because I haven¡¯t shown up and responded to him for about a week. So, if I let him know where I am, then he wille running straight to me, no matter what.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    When I didn¡¯t show any particr reaction to her reply, she continued, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better if I called him separately?¡±

    ¡°Of course, it would be better because I would not have to fight the whole of North Korea.¡±

    As she said, if I could deal with Kim by himself, I would not have to think about dismantling or copsing North Korea, so I nodded at her suggestion.

    After that, I traveled with her to a remote ce where she would call Kim.

    Half a day has passed since I walked with her to the north.

    It was not difficult for us to cross the demilitarized zone (DMZ) as it was not defended by anybody. After we crossed it, we continued north for a while, and soon we reached a cave that was toorge to be called simply a cave.

    ¡°Oh¡­¡±

    ¡°I heard that they conducted various experiments secretly here under Kim¡¯s direction in the past. So few people know about it.¡±

    ¡°Got it. It looks like a good ce for me to deal with Kim secretly.¡±

    ¡°Right. Do you want me to call Kim? He¡¯ll probably show up in 30 minutes or maybe even 20 minutes, given his personality. He could have transferred a total of 70 stat points during the one week when I was missing, so he must be very angry right now.¡±

    ¡°Yes, go ahead. Let me hide first, then when Kim shows up, I will kill him.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    After that, we ironed out the details of our little n, then I hid myself in the corner of the cave.

    10 minutester.

    Apparently, Kim was even more impatient than she imagined. He showed up in less than 10 minutes after she called him.

    Without saying anything, he briskly walked to her and pped her.

    p!

    She copsed immediately as soon as he pped her.

    But he opened his mouth uncaringly.

    ¡°How dare you run away from me when you will have toe back like this? Do you know how many stat points I lost in one week because of you? 70! As many as 70!¡±

    As she predicted, Kim vented her intense anger, mentioning the loss of 70 stat points.

    Watching Kim abusing her like that, I felt sorry for the fact that she was oppressed and persecuted by Kim rather than being weed appropriately as befitting her enormous talent.

    So I revealed myself and slowly approached Kim and Jihye.

    ***

    Inside the huge cave.

    Since Juyoung appeared so proudly as if he had no intention of striking Kim first or hiding himself from the beginning, not only Jihye but also Kim could quickly figure out who the man approaching them was.

    At that moment Kim turned and shouted to Juyoung as if he knew he was going to appear.

    ¡°Change!¡±

    Then, light shed on both Kim¡¯s body and Juyoung¡¯s body before fading away.

    After that, there was silence, which didn¡¯tst long because Juyoung burst intoughter.

    ¡°Hahahahaha!¡±

    He keptughing heartily as if he was having so much fun. He wasughing his head off, pping his thigh with his arm. So much so that his lower jaw almost looked like it was going to dislocate.

    Then he opened his mouth, raising his arms high as if he was celebrating.

    ¡°Done! I finally got him! Hahaha!¡±

    Juyoung was talking to himself as if he wasn¡¯t interested in Kim and Jihye at all. Then he was about to open his status window with a grin when Kim said, ¡°It looks like you¡¯re in a good mood¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, of course, I am! Well, should I call this getting the best of Asirante? Man, howe you are so calm even after receiving that message? I would go crazy as if the sky fell down.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Of course. Oh, I¡¯m not sure if this isforting to you, but your body is very good. JIhye behind you helped me a lot and raised lots of things in this body so I got all of it after you shouted ¡®Change!¡¯. As for you, I¡¯m not sure if you can use your body after you get out of this cave.¡±

    The conversation went on as if Juyoung became Yuljung, and Yuljung became Juyoung.

    In fact, after Kim shouted ¡®Change!¡¯ the moment Juyoung revealed himself, Juyoung received a message instantly.

    [You are subject to Change.

    ¨C Your body is changed with the other party¡¯s.

    : The changed body includes everything including stat points, titles, traits, skills, etc.

    : The items you currently have equipped and all the items kept in your inventory are also included in the changed body.

    : After you are sessfully integrated into the other party¡¯s body, your limited skill will also be deleted.]

    In other words, using Change, Yuljung Kim went into Juyoung Hong¡¯s body, while Juyoung went into Yuljung¡¯s body.

    Kim was all smiles now because he took Juyoung¡¯s body which was deliberately buffed up by using Jihye¡¯s abilities as he nned. But Juyoung was too calm.

    So Kim had no choice but to stopughing.

    Then he continued doing what he stopped doing a moment ago.

    ¡°Check status window.¡±

    [Name: Yuljung Kim.

    Level: 1

    Titles: None

    Health: 110/100 Mana: 110/100

    Strength: 10 Agility: 10 Stamina: 10

    Willpower: 10 Intellect: 10

    Remaining stat points: 10

    Remaining skill points: 0

    Traits: Subordination (target of subordination: Jihye Suh)]

    [You have not yet raised your reality actualization rate.

    ¨C ordingly, you can¡¯t use power in reality.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Kim couldn¡¯t say anything when he checked the status window before his eyes.

    Then he opened his mouth with a trembling voice.

    ¡°Uh? What the heck is this? Howe¡­¡±

    In Kim¡¯s mind, there were no loopholes in his n. That¡¯s why he lured Juyoung here.

    Change was limited to a one-time use. So, he could not change his body with somebody else¡¯s anymore.

    Kim had no choice but to feel a sense of despair, far beyond his embarrassment and astonishment.

    At that moment, Kim could hear another voice from the cave that was not his, Jihye¡¯s or Juyoung¡¯s.

 Chapter 326 - There May Be Blue and Better Blue (2)

    <h4>Chapter 326: There May Be Blue and Better Blue (2)</h4>

    ¡°Captain Jungdae Lim! I wish you had increased your level a little more! It is disappointing that you are still level 1.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, young master. As you know, I don¡¯t have any talent for games, and I¡¯m not that interested in them either. However, since I have not invested the remaining 10 stat points I received from increasing my level by 1, I can still do whatever I wantter, right?¡±

    Kim was so shocked to hear the conversation between me and Capt. Lim, who was infused into Kim¡¯s body, but he quickly figured out what¡¯s going on.

    In other words, he realized that he waspletely defeated.

    ***

    Did I trust Jihye Suh? Of course, I did, but only 99%.

    I was still suspicious of her deep down, even if it was only 1%.

    The reason I couldn¡¯t trust her 100% was because I could not understand why Kim did not even attempt to search for her at all for a week despite her supposed importance. I couldn¡¯t understand it.

    If I were in Kim¡¯s shoes, I would make it impossible for her to escape my control because she was such a treasure.

    So, I could not clear my doubts about herpletely. What made me doubt her decisively was her enormous subordination to Kim. It was none other than her extraordinary subordination that made it possible for her to contact Kim and allow her to be resurrected if he wanted to. How could Kim who had her under such a powerful subordination not be able to find her whereabouts? I could not understand it at all.

    So I smelled a rat, and had Capt. Jungdae Lim, a very reliable deputy of mine and the Commander of the Myongjin Shelter Guard, prepared for this kind of situation in advance.

    Kim, who was infused into Capt. Lim¡¯s body instead of mine, was now shuddering before me.

    But I said to Kim without caring about his miserable situation at all.

    ¡°By the way, you are so dumb! When I first saw Jihye Suh, I could immediately tell she was over level 1200, and had a reality actualization rate. Is it even possible for you to not notice at all when she was beside you for several years? Shouldn¡¯t you know when you saw her again today that she was weaker than an ordinary yer? Then, howe you tried to treat her the same way you used to? Man, you are so dumb!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Kim could not respond to my sarcastic rebuke at all.

    Then, Kim, who was still trembling, said feebly, ¡°Change is definitely my deepest secret that I have not revealed to anyone. I didn¡¯t reveal it even to Jihye Suh. How did you know it?¡±

    ¡°Change? Oh, of course I didn¡¯t know about it. How would I know about it?¡±

    ¡°Then, how did you¡­?¡±

    I could clearly feel Kim was nervous, restless and hopeless, but he seemed very interested in it. So I opened my mouth because it wasn¡¯t a secret anyway.

    ¡°Hmm. Look, there are all kinds of special things in the world. Do you know what happened recently? I was infected with a parasite I had never heard of before. And the parasite tried to eat my flesh. And actually, it was my fault to some extent that I got hit by his attack. Do you think that makes sense?¡¯

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Kim just stared at me nkly without even responding.

    I then continued, shrugging, ¡°So when I decided that I should be more careful from now on, Jihye Suh showed up before me. Of course, she didn¡¯t seem to be lying to me. Maybe it¡¯s true she still wants to die. But when I talked with her a little more, I found out that she had a whopping 14,000 stat points. Can you imagine? 14,000 stat points?¡±

    This time, not only Kim, but also Jihye looked at me nkly.

    Of course, I continued, not caring about their expressions.

    ¡°How did Jihye, who was aiming for death, keep it a secret? I guess she must have told you about it. Come to think of it now, I guess she didn¡¯t make up her mind easily because of your skill ¡®Change.¡¯ And that¡¯s why you made the decision like this. You sent her to me and had her give all her stat points to me, so you could attempt Change on me.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Kim was shuddering violently at my words without responding at all.

    ¡°Oh, am I talking too much? To be honest, I was a bit surprised too, because I didn¡¯t know that the whole story would fall into ce as I expected.¡±

    Having said that, I approached Jihye, who was lying in one corner of the cave.

    She was looking up at me nkly.

    So I said to her in a low voice, ¡°I have no intention of cursing you. To be honest, I wasn¡¯t deceived as you wished, and I got so much stuff from you. So, let me ask you again. What do you want?¡±

    ¡°Eternal death.¡±

    ¡°Good. Let me keep the promise I have made to you first.¡±

    ¡°Thank you so much. And I¡¯m really sorry¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s enough. It¡¯s not a big deal.¡±

    When she finished talking, I cast a nce at Kim, who was infused into Capt. Jungdae Lim¡¯s body.

    ***

    In fact, I knew there was a possibility I could be trapped by Kim and his subordinate Jihye Suh.

    But the problem was that I had no idea what the trap would be.

    Of course, I could make an educated guess to some extent.

    So I moved carefully so as not to be noticed by her, but in the end, I created a one-on-one confrontation between me and Kim. I realized that she had been acting ording to Kim¡¯s instructions even before I brought her into the Myongjin Shelter. That meant that Kim had a very strong card to turn the tide in dealing with me. So, I needed a pinch hitter to confront Kim for me. And the person who would confront Kim would be plunged into a dangerous situation where they could lose their life.

    That¡¯s why I had no choice but to worry.

    Knowing that Kim had such a wicked trick, I felt ufortable about confronting him directly, and at the same time, I felt it rather awkward to have somebody confront him for me.

    Then somebody volunteered to do it for me without any hesitation.

    It was none other than Jungdae Lim, the Commander of the Myongjin Shelter Guard.

    At first I stopped him because I didn¡¯t want to sacrifice his loyalty and dedication to the Myongjin Guild over ten years even before he took over the Myongjin Shelter Guard for the uing fight with Kim. Besides, I thought that the price of a person¡¯s life could not be traded away for something else.

    Nheless, I could not make him give up his determination to fight against Kim on my behalf.

    He even stopped me from canceling my n and abandoning her along the way.

    Anyway, I said to Capt. Lim, who was now infused into Kim¡¯s body, ¡°How is it? Are you getting used to it?¡±

    ¡°Um, I feel a bit awkward right now, but I think I¡¯ll get better over time.¡±

    Captain Lim, who was no in the shape of Kim, spoke, clenching and opening his fists.

    I couldn¡¯t help but say one more thing.

    ¡°Well, I think you will have to make some more effort to get adjusted to this situation.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡¯

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    After I chatted with Lim jokingly like that, we began to clean up the mess in the cave.

 Chapter 327 - There May Be Blue and Better Blue (3)

    <h4>Chapter 327: There May Be Blue and Better Blue (3)</h4>

    Shortly thereafter, a group of people appeared in the cave.

    One of them came up to me and opened his mouth.

    ¡°We¡¯re ready to move.¡±

    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s move right away.¡±

    Did I kill Capt. Lim, who was now in Kim¡¯s body, to grant Jihye Suh¡¯s wishes?

    Of course, I didn¡¯t intend to, because Lim now had the same looks and capabilities as Kim who was the leader of North Korea. In other words, it was possible for me to take North Korea in my possession.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t know that Kim¡¯s hidden card was Change, so I didn¡¯t anticipate this situation at all. But I still prepared a lot.

    Why? Because it would be naive andcent to think that I couldpletely deceive his closest aides and top deputies simply by taking over his body.

    So I decided to move fast with ¡®Kim¡¯, who was still making a nk expression, and Jihye Suh, who was sighing in relief unlike before.

    At the small conference room of the Myongjin Shelter the next day.

    ¡°Open all status windows.¡±

    [Name: Jungdae Lim.

    Level: 1291

    Number of kills: 115921, Number of deaths: 23

    Title: Brutal yer and 2 others.

    Health: 755,400 / 755,400

    Mana: 417,100 / 417.100

    Strength: 15521 Agility: 7254 Stamina: 3458

    Willpower: 2314 Intellect: 710

    Remaining stat points: 0

    Remaining skill points: 0

    Traits: None.]

    ¡°There was nothing in the item window and inventory.¡±

    I would kill Kim anyway.

    Moreover, Kim¡¯s plot was to change into my body, then kill me who would be in his body.

    Therefore, I could understand why his item window and inventory werepletely empty.

    However, his status window was good, despite the fact that he was not wearing any single item. I would say it was excellent, not just good. Of course, Jihye Suh¡¯s ¡®Stat Transfer¡¯ yed a big role.

    ¡°Kim¡¯s reality actualization rate is 39%.¡±

    At first, Kim told me he raised lots of things as best as he could in his body.

    In that respect, his reality actualization rate was not that bad.

    At that moment, my father, who was listening quietly at the head table, said, ¡°Is this the case of evil turning into blessings? Congrats on your rapid growth since you have not been a fan of virtual reality.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Chairman!¡±

    Obviously Captain Lim jumped from level 1 to level 1291. Moreover, he was stronger than a normal level 1291 yer. So much so that he was now one of Myongjin¡¯s ace yers.

    Of course, he was notparable to me.

    Anyway, we talked a little more after that.

    At that moment Director Sok said, ¡°Currently, Jihye Suh is not actively cooperating with us, but we have found out that her information was limited.¡±

    ¡°How about Yujung Kim?¡±

    ¡°Well, he is telling us everything as if he gave up, but¡­¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    My father asked when Director Sok didn¡¯t finished his words.

    Director Sok opened his mouth again with a slightly dark expression.

    ¡°On the surface, what Kim said seemed to be true. Even when we corresponded with our Strategy Department while interrogating him, there was nothing contradictory. Nheless, I had no choice but to feel that there was a lie of 1% among 99% of truth in his remarks. Of course, if we had more time, we could do a more thorough investigation, but the situation is not good now, so our Strategy Department is pondering over what to do next.¡±

    Yuljung Kim is the leader of North Korea. So, there must be great chaos within the North Korean leadersup right now because their leader had disappeared.

    Perhaps someone who will take the ce of Kim will appear sooner than expected.

    In other words, time was not on our side.

    So I said to Director Sok, ¡°First of all, please finish the investigation by this week. And if that doesn¡¯t work, we can turn to thest resort.¡±

    Last resort? It was simple. I would head to North Korea, grabbing the cor of Captain Lim, who was infused into Kim. Then Lim, who had taken over Kim¡¯s body, would surrender unconditionally to me in front of everyone.

    ¡°Got it,¡± replied Sok.

    ¡°Good.¡±

    Since I took not only Jihye Suh but also Kim here, my father and Director Sok agreed with my idea and wrapped up the meeting.

    That evening.

    Obviously, the matter of Kim was important to me, but ying ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ was no less important, so I logged in right away.

    And the ce I moved to was the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titans. I was sick and tired of it, but it gave me the most EXP points right now.

    But when I arrived there, a group of people were camped out at the entrance.

    Of course, the level 1500 Land of Titan was not my private property, but Korean territory, so the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance as well as the Daesung & Kusan Coalition agreed to jointly manage it beforehand. But at a nce, it was easy to tell that they were not affiliated with the Myongjin & Mirae Alliance, not to mention the Daesung & Kusan Coalition.

    I walked toward them because I didn¡¯t have to be careful, no matter who they were.

    ¡°Stop! Who are you?¡±

    They stopped me all of a sudden.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I looked at the person who stopped me without saying anything.

    ¡°Who the hell are you? Oops!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s me, Asirante!¡±

    If they didn¡¯t know me, they must be small fry that I didn¡¯t have to deal with.

    In other words, they must be mediocre yers who were not qualified enough to hunt in this level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titans.

    But they soon recognized me and shouted, startled by my appearance.

    Only then did I open my closed mouth.

    ¡°Who are you? I just don¡¯t know how you guys set foot on my hunting ground without my permission.¡±

    Of course, I could somewhat tell who they were because at first nce I recognized they were from China. I also recognized their identity because the Chinese Government, headed by President Xi, was reluctant to make friction with me.

    That¡¯s why even President Xi abstained from the event to select the strongest when he faced me. Other than that, I had some trouble with the Yanghwa Guild, headed by Chairman Jang Chianring, but he was also reluctant to confront me.

    Then there was only one guild left, namely the Hwashin Guild that I fought in India.

    At first nce, they looked like the Hwashin yers.

    ¡°So you guys are from ¡­¡±

    ¡°Well we heard that the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan was empty, so we wanted to investigate¡­¡±

    Their leader seemed to gloss over their real intentions.

    So I asked, ¡°Really? Now you must know this hunting ground is upied by somebody else, right?¡¯

    Of course, I was the only yer who was hunting here, but I had no intention of sharing it with the Chinese guild. Moreover, the yers of the Myongjin and Mirae Alliance, who were now busy hunting in the level 1400 hunting ground, would soon join me here.

    Anyway, I openly threatened them to get out.

    Then the guy who seemed to be their leader said, ¡°Of course! Get out of here, everybody!¡±

 Chapter 328 - There May Be Blue and Better Blue (4)

    <h4>Chapter 328: There May Be Blue and Better Blue (4)</h4>

    To be honest, I was rather rude, given that the Hwashin Guild was one of the three major Chinese guilds.

    However, the reason why I could be so arrogant was because I acquired a whopping 14,000 stat points just before I came here.

    Moreover, it matched my main stats by increasing not only my stamina and willpower, but also my intellect by more than 7000.

    Anyway, after confirming that the Chinese users withdrew, I entered the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan.

    Of course, before that, I messaged Director Sok and asked him to make sure he set up a sign clearly showing the Land of Titan was the property of Myongjin.

    After that, I hunted as usual.

    ¡°Blizzard!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    [Kheeeeeeeeh!]

    [Khuuuuuuuuuuk!]

    ¡°Ice Tornado.¡±

    Wheeeeeeeeeng-

    [Kheeeeeeeeh!]

    [Khuuuuuuuuuuk!]

    In the past, I needed other attack skills when I didn¡¯t use Ice Field or Thin Ice. But now I didn¡¯t have to use any other skills to ughter monsters other than Blizzard and Ice Tornado.

    It took a little more time to kill them all, but I could still get rid of all the monsters within my striking zone with one attack.

    ¡°Hmmm¡­I wish I had a new hunting ground¡­¡±

    Of course, hunting was still fun here.

    Even though I obtained 14,000 stat points, that didn¡¯t mean I leveled up, so my EXP was the same as before. Because of this, I found the current hunting ground was not a challenge to me anymore, so I naturally yearned for a higher level hunting ground.

    Although I was thinking about this, I continued hunting hard. And soon, a message rang.

    [Good morning! This is ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    ¨C I would like to announce something new.

    : Previously, you could not create new ounts within ¡®Revival Legend.¡¯

    : This time, you will no longer be able to ess ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ if you are below level 100.

    : Thank you.]

    ¡°?¡±

    It was a simple message as if it was not a big deal.

    But the message¡¯s contents were far from insignificant.

    Moreover, the message that nobody would be allowed to create new ounts shocked me and others. Because of that, there was a lot of confusion for a considerable period of time.

    However, this time the message clearly announced that anybody below level 100 could no longer ess ¡®Revival Legend.¡¯

    Obviously, this message would be inevitably more shocking than the previous one about the ban on any new ounts within Revival Regend.

    Back then, nobody could create new ounts, but this time everybody below level 100 were denied ess to Revival Legend. Given the trend, it looked like the next target would be those below level 200 and level 300.

    In other words, the message implied that as time passed, the number of users who could ess Revival Legend would continue to dwindle, just like the 3rd closed beta that they proceeded with under the name of ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯.

    So I had no choice but to say something about this new message.

    ¡°Why are you making such a great fuss with this kind of stuff?¡±

    In Pyongyang, North Korea, around that time.

    ¡°Are you sure those below level 100 can¡¯t ess Revival Legend?¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±

    ¡°That message rang to everyone who just logged on to Revival Legend.¡±

    ¡°Damn it! They should have notified us about it in advance!¡±

    Kitaek Yu, the second most powerful person in North Korea, could not control his fury at his deputy¡¯s briefing. Until now, he was only concerned with extorting the subordinates under his control, but he never paid attention to raising their level.

    Since he didn¡¯t climb to his current position by ttering his boss, he took the message very seriously.

    So he shouted to his subordinates, ¡°First of all, raise your level right now! Obviously, the message about the ban on those below level 200 and level 300 will also ring soon. If that happens, I will lose a lot of freebor!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±

    Soon, the whole of North Korea moved quickly at Yu¡¯s order. Of course, Yu recalled his boss Yuljung Kim, who said he woulde back after a brief outing, but he stopped pondering about his boss right away.

    ***

    At the Myongjin Shelter.

    ¡°Come to think of it, it seems that the ban on creating new ounts within Revival Legend was the start of this whole phenomenon.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We should not have taken that message lightly back then. I think we made a mistake.¡±

    Obviously, it seemed that the ess ban for those under level 100 was impending ever since the message about the ban on the creation of new ounts rang.

    However, the ban on creating new ounts itself was such a huge issue back then that not only I but also my father and Director Sok could not think beyond that.

    But the problem was that it didn¡¯t seem like the new ban would end there.

    In other words, it was not difficult to infer that the ess ban would expand to higher levels such as level 200 and level 300 after starting off with level 100.

    At that moment my father, who was sitting at the head table, opened his mouth softly.

    ¡°New users are like seeds that guarantee the future of Revival Legend. But not only are they not content with stopping new seeds being sown, they even want to extract the seeds that have just been sown? Hummm¡­¡±

    As he said, eliminating the influx of new users meant that Revival Legend would have no future.

    That¡¯s why all the yers around the world were so shocked when they saw the message about the ban on new ounts within Revival Legend.

    Everybody made a serious expression when my father mentioned it.

    Watching them in a gloomy mood, I opened my mouth.

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t feel the 4th virtual reality, which they said woulde true in the real world, seems very hopeful.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Perhaps it seemed natural to think like that because the existence of monsters in the real world was far from realistic from the beginning.

    Anyway, we wrapped up the meeting in the small meeting room and determined that we should raise our level as high as possible.

    So I hunted desperately in the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan for several days.

    To be honest, I was skeptical about how much I would gain from the 10 or 20 stat points I would obtain from raising one or two levels, but it was true that the umted levels until now helped me grow a lot.

    A weekter.

    ¡°What shall we do about Yuljung Kim?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I didn¡¯t answer that question. More precisely, I could not.

    Obviously, the person on the inside was Kim, but on the outside, It was Captain Jungdae Lim.

    At that moment somebody replied behind my back.

    ¡°Let me get rid of him.¡±

    It was Captain Lim who took the shape of Kim.

    ¡°Can you do it?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m already ready. I¡¯m also determined to live with my current appearance for the rest of my life. But I just want you to allow me to kill Kim.¡±

    ¡°Sure, please go ahead.¡±

    Anyway, his change was forcibly made because of me, so I did not decline Lim¡¯s request.

    Of course, it was not necessarily because of Jihye Suh that I decided to kill Kim.

    In fact, I had to kill Kim by all means because he would cause trouble if I spared him.

 Chapter 329 - Stabbing In the Back

    <h4>Chapter 329: Stabbing In the Back</h4>

    Anyway, I stayed till the end to watch the death of Kim, who was infused into Captain Lim¡¯s body.

    ¡°Khuuuuuk!¡±

    But there was another scream in addition to Kim¡¯s scream. It was Jihye Suh¡¯s.

    However, unlike Kim, who showed a mixture of pain and regret on his face, she had a smile on her lips. Watching her smile, I could understand how long she had been tormented by Kim.

    I also realized how stupid Kim was, who not only neglected her who was more valuable than any other treasure, but also made her his chief enemy.

    Anyway, I just spent the day like that.

    At the small conference room of the Myongjin Shelter.

    ¡°I will now brief you about Kitaek Yu, North Korea¡¯s second strongest man. The question is how to deceive him?¡±

    ¡°Do you think one week of practice is enough to deceive him? He is Kim¡¯s close aide, so he has been helping his boss for more than ten years.¡±

    I had no choice but to express my doubts about Director Sok¡¯s words.

    Then Director Sok nodded and said, ¡°Of course, the dominant view of our guys at the Strategy Department is that it will be very hard to do so. So we considered the option of you killing him quietly. However, ording to the information we have obtained so far, all of Kim¡¯s instructions were carried out by YU. So much so that the link between Kim and North Korea wouldpletely disappear without Yu.¡±

    ¡°Then, do we have any solution?¡±

    ¡°Well, we have to deceive him by all means.¡±

    ¡°Hmm...¡±

    In the end, I had no choice but to frown slightly because in the end, ording to Sok, we had to deceive Yu by all means to take control of North Korea.

    ¡°Got it, Director Sok.¡±

    I talked with him for almost 30 minutes after that, then left the Myongjin Shelter in thete evening.

    Then I moved quickly to the north with Captain Lim.

    At 2 am early in the morning.

    Yuljung Kim knew several secret passages that could take him to North Korea, or more precisely, to Pyongyang, its capital city. Since we already secured the travel routes in advance from interrogating Kim, I had no problem entering the North Korean President¡¯s Jusokgung, or official residence and workce.

    After that, I headed to Kim¡¯s office inside the Jusokgung through a secret passage. However, although the lights were off, someone was already seated there.

    It was none other than Kitaek Yu.

    ¡°Wee back! You areter than expected.¡±

    Of course, Yu spat out such words to Captain Lim who looked like Kim on the outside. But I instantly had a strong feeling that Yu didn¡¯t think he was actually Kim, and his next words confirmed my suspicion.

    ¡°Well, I like your body. By the way, why don¡¯t you reveal yourself, Juyoung Hong? I guess you must have realized during the past week that you should not kill me. Am I wrong?¡±

    When he said that, I revealed myself and walked toward him.

    Yu was so confident in what he said that I could not hide my identity any more.

    Instead, I had no choice but to ask, ¡°How did you know about me?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t Kim tell you that it was me who designed the whole n?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Having heard Yu, I realized that Kim was Yu¡¯s puppet, after all.

    And I also realized that I had wasted the past seven days.

    ¡°Take a seat first. We have a long night ahead of us.¡±

    So I sat in the seat right in front of him.

    Yu said, ¡°Alright. Since you are the guests here, let me speak first. As you know, everything in North Korea is under my control. That¡¯s why I¡¯m running North Korea without any problem even after my boss Kim has disappeared for more than a week. But what if I disappear this time?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Surely North Korea will copse.

    That¡¯s why I could not simply kill Yu which was the simplest way.

    As if he also was aware of this, Yu continued without any change in his expression.

    ¡°Can you take responsibility for the consequences after you kill me? One million or even several million people will be exposed to monsters. And some of themanders under mymand will even ignore the monsters and attack each other to take over my position. Of course, if you and Myongjin join hands together, you will be able to control the situation. But you know the saying that too much is as bad as too little, right?¡±

    To be honest, there was a lot of discussion within Myongjin about whether to take over North Korea because there were clear advantages and disadvantages to it. What¡¯s more, just taking over North Korea would solve the problem once and all.

    Somebody needed to manage North Korea, and it might require the Myongjin Guild to invest all their resources to manage it.

    North Korea was sorge that it was iparable to Myongjin, and so many yers belonged to the North, too.

    However, I decided to give it a try because of the favorable circumstances.

    ¡°So, what do you want to say?¡±

    I asked him directly because he was just beating around the bush.

    He replied ¡°I will take over North Korea. Of course, I have no intention of ignoring the Myongjin Guild and you, Juyoung Hong. I am hesitant to call it a bonus payment, but I will continue to pay youpensation. I¡¯m not as stupid as Kim. I don¡¯t treat treasure carelessly, and I don¡¯t treat workaholics recklessly, either.¡±

    ¡°Well, I feel like you are even deceiving me too.¡±

    ¡°Well, it depends on how you think of me.¡±

    This was a new development that I had never expected.

    So although I had to think about it for a while, I concluded that it wasn¡¯t a bad situation.

    ¡°Good. I have no problem with that. By the way, I want you to take good care of the workaholics. Of course, I don¡¯t mean you have to treat them like kings. That¡¯s just a dream in this day and age. What I mean is you have to make sure that those who live under your jurisdiction can make a decent living as a human being. Got it?¡¯

    I said that because I had no choice but to recall what Jihye Suh said during herst moments.

    Yu replied, nodding slightly at me, ¡°Of course, I will do so. I know that I can live like this thanks to their help. Without them, North Korea would have copsed a long time ago. May I ask you a favor instead?¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡¯

    ¡°I would like to get help from the guy over there,¡± he said, pointing to Captain Lim who was infused into Kim¡¯s body.

    ¡°Sure, no problem.¡±

    Since I knew what kind of favor he was going to ask me, I agreed right away.

    Then I talked with him for a while before finally exiting Jusokgung.

    The next day.

    Of course, I had recorded my conversation with Yu using the Memory Bead.

    I handed it over to Director Sok, and took my hands off this matter of North Korea.

    Why? Because there were a lot of people who could deal with North Korea better than me at the Myongjin Shelter, and I was too busy to pay attention to it.

    So I went back to hunting, as usual.

 Chapter 330 - All Buffs, All Debuffs (1)

    <h4>Chapter 330: All Buffs, All Debuffs (1)</h4>

    ¡°Blizzard!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    [Kheeeek!]

    [Khuuuuuk!]

    I devoted myself to hunting like before.

    I no longer had any problems with being underleveled since I was no level 1271, but I still had other goals in mind. I wanted to unlock the level 9 skills.

    While I was busy hunting, a message rang.

    [Lumen, Asirante, you have be the strongest in Region 11 by winning the event to choose the strongest yer.

    -You have applied to participate in the King of Kings Battle, where the strongest yers from a total of 40 regionspete.]

    Certainly, I decided to participate when I was asked if I would like to participate in the King of Kings contest after winning first ce.

    So, it seemed that the King of Kingspetition, which was supposed to be held soon, was just around the corner.

    Anyway, a series of messages rang after that.

    [16 of the strongest yers in 40 regions chose not to participate.

    -A total of 24 yers willpete in a tournament to be the strongest yer in the current ¡®Revival Legend.¡¯

    -Various rewards are given to the one selected as the strongest.]

    ¡°As many as 16 decided not to participate?¡±

    I was a little surprised because more people decided not to participate than I thought.

    Of course, it didn¡¯t matter because I was determined to win 1st ce regardless of how big or small the number of participants was.

    Moreover, I was much stronger than before.

    [The duel will start tomorrow, and as before, there will be only one match per day.

    -The loser is immediately eliminated from this tournament, which favors the winning yers only.]

    The round of 24 strongest yers, the round of 12 strongest yers, and even the round of 6 strongest yers did not concern me at all. So I just kept hunting without caring about it for now.

    While Juyong Hong was busy hunting, there was a strange development unfolding in Osaka, Japan. As a matter of fact, Japan was certainly a more peaceful cepared to other countries.

    Why? Because the Japanese government and the Mitsuya Guild, which took control of ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ in Japan¡¯, allied together and jointly took control of therge cities so they could quickly respond to the appearance of monsters as well as external threats.

    Anyway, the Mitsuya Guild was in a unique position without any otherpetitors in Japan, but it was true that Japan had more safe areas than other countries.

    Especially Osaka, Japan¡¯s signaturerge city like Tokyo, was one such ce.

    At that moment, a group of unidentified figures appeared among the quiet buildings of Osaka.

    Of course, it wasn¡¯t a big deal because monsters often appeared like this, along with the wizards who could use Blink.

    However, this group spat out very strange words.

    [%[emailprotected]</a>!!%]

    [!!^$^& @$*&^]

    [#%!%!!^$ %*# $%%]

    And then they started moving right away.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    They indiscriminately began to destroy not only huge buildings, but also ordinary citizens and those with ounts in ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    In the meantime, those who had ounts in ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ could understand their words.

    ¡°Kill and destroy everything!¡±

    ¡°Punish those who dared to covet what they could not!¡±

    ***

    At the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    I just continued hunting today just like I did yesterday. And a message rang while I was hunting in almost ecstasy, if I had to exaggerate it a bit.

    [Your opponent in the King of Kings match to select the strongest has been decided.

    -You will be transferred to the arena in 10 seconds.]

    I was not surprised by the sudden message because I expected the message to ring around this time. Shortly afterwards, I felt like I was being dragged somewhere, and soon the battlefield that I had seen so many times appeared before my eyes.

    [You have 30 seconds preparation time until the duel begins.

    -The duel will begin in 30 seconds. You can use the preparation time to apply buffs and rece items before the duel starts.

    -If you win the duel, you will automatically advance to the next round, and the loser will be eliminated from the event immediately.]

    Since I saw this kind of message dozens of times already, I wasn¡¯t nervous, and looked at the other party through the transparent wall in the center of the arena.

    Of course, the person on the other side was also the winner of one of the 40 regions, just like I was the top yer of Region 11. So he was probably a very powerful individual.

    But I was confident in defeating him because there was no restriction on my reality actualization rate here in Revival Legend, and I received a whopping 14,000 stat points just before this event started. It was like giving an almost invincible tiger wings.

    But the other party startedining all of a sudden.

    ¡°Damn it! My first opponent is Asirante?¡±

    Clearly, he and I were from different regions. In other words, I had never met him before.

    Of course, my name was too widely known for the other party to miss it.

    As soon as he saw me, he recognized my identity right away.

    Then he shouted, ¡°I¡¯m going to forfeit!¡±

    [Your opponent has forfeited.

    ¨C You have won. You advance to the next round.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Of course, this was not the first or second time I saw my opponents giving up even before the fight began. As a matter of fact, almost all my opponents gave up in the second half of the event to select the strongest yer in Region 11 that I belonged to.

    But this event was intended to select the King of Kings, so I wanted to win by fighting my opponent rather than them forfeiting

    Above all, I wanted to gain a measure of how powerful I was by fighting against the strongest yers of other regions and not just monsters.

    But as soon as they confirmed I was Asirante, they immediately gave up.

    So I couldn¡¯t help but be disappointed.

    That¡¯s why I couldn¡¯t help but say resignedly, ¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m going to win this King of Kings event this time because all of my opponents will forfeit¡­¡±

    The next day.

    Originally, all the strongest yers from the 40 regions were supposed topete, but 16 already abstained, so the King of Kingspetition started with the 24 strongest yers.

    And I started off by winning even the round of 24 yers because my opponent gave up.

    [Your opponent has abandoned the duel.

    ¨C You have won. You advance to the next round.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    And the round of 12 was the same.

    So I spat out the same words that my opponent did in the round of 24, ¡®Damn it! Is my luck this bad?¡¯ Of course, I didn¡¯t feel bad because I got what I wanted anyway.

    Nheless, I felt a bit empty because I won so easily without even fighting.

    So I vented my frustration at the monsters and was about to log out when a message rang.

    [Super Beauty: Juyoung, when are you going to log out?]

    [Lumen: I¡¯m about to log out now. Why?]

    [Super Beauty: Really? Then log out and stop by the No. 3 Study.]

    [Lumen: Okay.]

    I was going to log out anyway, so I logged out immediately without asking for any more details.

    Then I moved to the No. 3 Study Room.

    When I got there, my father, brother, sister, and Director Sok were already sitting at the conference table, waiting for me.

    ¡°Okay, y the video now as Juyoung is here.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

 Chapter 331 - All Buffs, All Debuffs (2)

    <h4>Chapter 331: All Buffs, All Debuffs (2)</h4>

    As soon as I sat down, my father said something to Director Sok.

    Then he took out something from his pocket. It was the Memory Bead.

    Director Sok said quietly, ¡°It is the Memory Bead that our guys obtained from Osaka, Japan.¡±

    I had some doubts about the word ¡®Osaka, Japan¡¯, not Korea, but I remained silent, for my father would not have called me if he had thought this was not a big deal.

    Anyway, Director Sok yed the Memory Bead on the screen inside the room.

    Bang! Bang!

    A downtown area lined with skyscrapers.

    It was not difficult for me to guess that this ce was Osaka, given the neon sign of the Glico running man, one of the most well knownndmarks of the city.

    But this neon sign of the Glico running man, thendmark of Osaka, was crumbling now, not to mention other buildings.

    ¡°Kheeeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Help me!¡±

    ¡°Damn it! Stop the monsters! Stop them!¡±

    The situation was pretty chaotic.

    So I had no choice but toment, ¡°Was it because some very powerful monsters appeared and they couldn¡¯t stop them, so the situation became worse like this?¡¯

    There was only one reason why the world was still in order despite the endless appearance of monsters. In other words, humans could kill the monsters with the weapons that mankind had from the beginning. If that was not the case, almost all the areas except for some pockets of the Earth would have been overrun by monsters. Besides, there were exceedingly few people who raised their reality actualization rate in the early days of the monsters appearing.

    While watching the video, one doubt ran through my mind.

    I couldn¡¯t see the monsters on the screen. But I saw a guy who seemed to have achieved a tremendous reality actualization rate relentlessly killing ordinary people.

    Of course, it¡¯s possible that a crazy psychopath who got strong after ying ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ could make such a big fuss. But I didn¡¯t think so.

    And it wasn¡¯t possible that a crazy psychopath could increase his reality actualization rate as high as that guy.

    So, I had no choice but to wonder, ¡°Are they the NPCs that the guys in America mentioned?¡±

    Even though President Xi of China said they were not NPCs, the Holdridge guys in America told me they were certainly NPCs.

    However, since there was no proper expression to call them yet, Myongjin internally decided to call them NPCs for the time being.

    Director Sok answered my question.

    ¡°Yes, we think they are the NPCs that the American guys mentioned to you. But it seems that these guys are several times or even dozens of times stronger than the one on the video that the Holdridge guy gave you at that time.¡±

    Like Sok said, the guys on the screen seemed to be iparably stronger than the one in the video sent by Holdridge. That¡¯s why not only the Japanese Self Defence Forces but also those yers from the Mitsuya Guild who had raised their reality actualization rate were helpfellesly defeated by the NPC-looking guys.

    ¡°By the way, is that the current situation in Osaka?¡±

    ¡°No. What you see on the screen happened half a day ago. Right now they are in a lull because the Japanese government and all the guilds, including the Mitsuya Guild, have encircled them in a broader siege.¡±

    ¡°Is there any message from the Japanese government or the Mitsuya Guild?¡±

    ¡°Not yet.¡±

    Of course, I couldn¡¯t help but be concerned because of what President Xi told me about them. But it was a little awkward for me to step forward at this point because of my bad rtionship with the Japanese government and the Mitsuya Guild, which took over almost all the guilds in Japan. Besides, I once fought the Mitsuya Guild fiercely.

    Anyway, we talked for an hour or so, then wrapped up the meeting after we agreed that we should watch the situation a little more.

    The next day.

    [Your opponent in the King of Kings event to select the strongest has been decided.

    -You will be transferred to the arena in 10 seconds.]

    Starting off with a total of 24 yers, the event had now reached the round of 6 after the round of 12 ended. Since I was repeatedly frustrated after the previous rounds, I did not have high expectations for this round, either.

    At that moment I heard the other party saying something.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not that bad that I have met Asirante here in the round of six. Besides, I¡¯m curious about his capabilities because he and I are the same ice-type wizards.¡±

    Unlike my previous opponents, this guy that I faced in the semi-finals did not choose to abstain.

    Watching him, I couldn¡¯t help but smile a little.

    But something unexpected happened.

    ¡°Ice Punishment!¡±

    As soon as the 30-second preparation time was over, and the transparent wall in the center of the arena disappeared, the enemy already started attacking me with one of the skills I possessed, namely Ice Punishment.

    Bang!

    In fact, level 8 skills such as Ice Punishment and Ice Tornado were not exclusive to me.

    Anyone who had a high level could obtain the skill.

    And it was only natural that if my opponent would have obtained Ice Punishment as as ice-type wizard who was also one of the top yers in one of the 40 regions.

    ¡°?¡±

    Since I could not use Ice Punishment against myself, it was my first time being attacked by it.

    And the Ice Punishment I had used until now never disappointed me because I could kill any monsters with it even if they were level 1500.

    So I was a bit nervous and uneasy, although I had a smile on my lips.

    ¡°Man, is this really Ice Punishment? Why does it inflict so little damage then?¡± wondered the other party, as if he was really disappointed.

    Ice Punishment could be called the ultimate level 8 skill.

    But my opponent¡¯s Ice Punishment was too weak.

    And it was no wonder that my opponent was a bit embarrassed by my nonchnt reaction.

    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t lie! Asirante, no matter how strong you are, I¡¯m also the strongest yer of a region. I¡¯m not weak at all! Ice Tornado! Blizzard!¡±

    Wheeeeeeeeeeng!

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Probably his Blizzard was level 7.

    There was no clue about how to get level 9 Blizzard, and the functional skill ring was notmon. That¡¯s why it was treated as a myth grade, even though it was just a legendary grade.

    My opponent¡¯s Ice Tornado turned out to be different from when I used it.

    In other words, the Ice Tornado I used was apanied by a gust of wind that pulled everything around it.

    However, my opponent¡¯s Ice Tornado did not have such a gust of wind. It just created an ice whirlwind.

    To put it simply, its damage effect was much weaker than I expected.

    It seemed that the other party noticed there was something wrong because I was standing tall without any damage.

    ¡°Man, as expected, Asirante is really strong¡­¡±

    Of course, I had no intention offorting him, for it would be a lie if I told him he could reach my level if he tried harder.

    So, I used the same skill that he used against me at the start.

    ¡°Ice Punishment!¡±

    Bang!

    ¡°Kheeeeeeeeh!¡±

    Like me, the other party was an ice-type wizard.

    Apparently, he didn¡¯t have the same stamina and vitality as me, so he copsed right away at a single attack just like the level 1500 monster.

    After that, the following message rang.

    [Lumen, Asirante has won.

    ¨C You advance to the next round.]

    So I was moved back to the original hunting ground where I was, namely, the Land of Titan.

    I continued to hunt as if nothing had happened to me.

    Of course, I had one question while I was hunting.

    ¡®Alright. I can understand the rounds of 24, 12, and 6. Now there are only three yers left. Will they give up, too?¡±

 Chapter 332 - All Buffs, All Debuffs (3)

    <h4>Chapter 332: All Buffs, All Debuffs (3)</h4>

    The previous matches worked out because there was an even number of participants, but now, there were only three people left, which was an odd number. So I naturally had some doubts about it. But I didn¡¯t ponder over it for long because I was going to win anyway, regardless of whether my victory was due to them abstaining or not.

    After hunting untilte at night, I logged out and met Director Sok. I asked him about the situation in Osaka, Japan. But he said there was nothing new since we talkedst time.

    He said they didn¡¯t ask Myongjin for any help as of now.

    ¡°By the way, you have won, right?¡±

    ¡°Well, sort of¡­¡±

    I just casually answered his question because it was not a big deal anyway.

    The next day.

    [Your opponent of the King of Kings event to select the strongest has been decided.

    -You will be transferred to the arena in 10 seconds.]

    Along with the message appeared the battlefield. But it was different from usual.

    So the next message that rang was also different from usual.

    [Currently, there are 3 people left.

    -All 3 people will participate in this match, with thest one left standing as the winner.]

    I never thought that the remaining three people, including me, would be fighting each other all at the same time. And the other two were also clearly startled from what I could see through the transparent wall. Normally, this kind of three-way fight would result in a fierce one-on-one-on-one match with each yer trying to check the other¡¯s strength fiercely. But this fight was more likely to be two against one. In fact, I could hear the sound of the two guys quicklymunicating with their eyes through the transparent wall on the other side.

    But I didn¡¯t think it¡¯s a big deal.

    I liked it better because I could beat them right now instead of waiting until tomorrow.

    So, I shouted first as soon as the transparent wall, which divided the arena into thirds, not halves, disappeared.

    ¡°Ice Punishment!¡±

    ¡°Bang!¡±

    ¡°Kheeeeeh!¡±

    Naturally, I used Ice Punishment on the man holding a big bow, not the man holding a one-handed sword and shield. Obviously, I could kill the guy with the one-handed sword and a shield with a single strike, but I decided to get rid of the guy holding the big bow first because I had a higher probability of sess.

    Then I used another skill.

    ¡°Ice Tornado.¡±

    Wheeeeeeeeeng!

    A whirlwind of ice was created in an instant.

    ¡°Shit! What the heck is this? It¡¯s so powerful!¡±

    This was a gust of wind that even pushed the level 1500 monster Titans into the air before sweeping them away. In addition, the power of the gust was enormous, perhaps because my Intellect increased by more than 7000 instantly.

    Grrrrrrrrr-

    The gust deposited the man with the one-handed sword and shield into a deep furrow, and he struggled to get out of it desperately.

    Watching him, I used one more skill because it would be better to kill him without any further dy.

    ¡°Blizzard!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    It was the only level 9 skill I had due to the functional skill ring.

    Because of that, my opponent, who was already beaten down by Ice Tornado, copsed immediately as soon as he was struck by Blizzard.

    This was really a devastating defeat for the other two yers in this final match.

    But I took their defeat for granted.

    When I was left alone in the arena after defeating them, a message rang.

    [Congrattions! You have won 1st ce in the event to select the strongest yer in all regions of ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    ¨C As a reward, you will receive the following.

    : A significant amount of experience.

    : 2 billion Golden Rings.

    : 500 remaining stat points.

    : 20,000 coins.

    : A treasure chest which when opened will grant you between 1 to 10 trait shards randomly.

    : Title ¡®The Strongest¡¯.]

    Definitely this was the King of Kings fight. That¡¯s why the reward this time was much more spectacr than the one that I received when I was crowned the strongest in Region 11 to which I belonged.

    Of course, I had some regrets because there was one thing missing. I could not find the skill points which I obtainedst time

    But a series of messages rang as if to make up for theck of the skill points.

    [You have leveled up.]

    [You have leveled up.]

    :

    :

    [You have leveled up.]

    Until now, I had received numerous rewards through events and quests, but if I had to choose what Icked the most, it was none other than my EXP.

    Obviously, my EXP points were even fewer than my precious titles that numbered a dozen.

    But the message about my level-up kept ringing, even though I was already at the middle of level 1200, as if to confirm how precious my EXP was.

    So I opened my mouth quietly after checking the message because I needed to confirm something first.

    ¡°Confirm title The Strongest!¡±

    [Title: The Strongest.

    -This is the title that can only be obtained by someone who has proven that they are the strongest within all regions of ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ beyond the region that they belong to.

    : Health increases by 100,000.

    : Mana increases by 100,000.

    : All stat points increase by 300.

    : Your achievement as the strongest man that no one can deny makes even monsters tremble in fear.

    -When you attack monsters, you will inflict an additional 20% damage. (Boss monsters included.)]

    With an increase in all stat points by 300 and granting 100,000 health and mana, this title was high enough to be included in the upper rank. Besides, there was an additional 20% damage to monsters.

    Of course, I could get rid of level 1500 monsters easily, so I wondered how big the effect of additional 20% damage would be. Nheless, it was not that bad, considering the fact that I would eventually gain ess to a hunting ground that was higher than the level 1300, the level 1400, and the level 1500 hunting grounds that I was fortunate to obtain in the past.

    Anyway, I finished checking the title.

    There was only one thing left, so I opened my mouth.

    ¡°Check status window.¡±

    [Level: 1291

    Number of kills: 11582, Number of deaths: 0

    Title: Only Closed Beta Max Level Achiever and 11 others.

    Health: 6,153,000 / 6,153,000

    Mana: 4,218,000 / 4,218,000

    Strength: 9074 Agility: 11331 Stamina: 44870

    Willpower: 31949 Intellect: 60147

    Remaining stat points: 940

    Remaining skill points: 0

    Traits: Iceman, Mutual Growth, God of Enhancement.]

    Since I already applied the title ¡®Strongest yer,¡¯ all I had to do was to apply 100,000 health and mana, plus 300 stat points.

    And I seemed to understand why the guys who were called the strongest in each region copsed without resisting Ice Punishment at all. It was because my intellect exceeded 60,000.

    Moreover, although it was not shown in the status window, my Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword, which was upgraded from +6 to +7 Enhancement, increased my magical attack power by so much as well.

    ¡°By the way, it seems there is no particr message about new skills at level 1300. Then, should I pursue level 1400 as my new goal?¡±

    Maybe there would be nothing particr or no message even when I reached level 1400 just like level 1300. But since nobody had reached level 1400 yet, I aimed for it anyway.

    Then I invested all 940 remaining stat points in my Intellect, and closed the status window.

    What did I do after that?

    [You have received all the rewards.

    -You will be transferred back to your original location in 10 seconds.]

    I continued hunting in the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan.

 Chapter 333 - All Buffs, All Debuffs (4)

    <h4>Chapter 333: All Buffs, All Debuffs (4)</h4>

    Outside Kotum Castle the next day.

    ¡°Check inventory.¡±

    I opened my inventory and pulled out a few items.

    [4 General Trait Shards.]

    [2 Shiny Trait Shards.]

    [General Trait Shard (Legendary)

    -Shards of a shattered trait.

    ¨C You can collect andbine 3, 5, or 7 trait shards. The more shards youbine, the higher likelihood to obtain a high-grade trait.

    -You can have randomly acquired traits or exchange with others.]

    [Shiny Trait Shard (Legendary)

    ¨C Shiny trait shards increase the probability of obtaining a higher-grade trait than normal trait shards.

    -You canbine them with general trait shards.]

    Actually, I obtained them after I was forcibly exiled to Region 0 by a guy named Pablo.

    But I hadn¡¯t obtained a single one since then until now, so I had forgotten about them for a long time.

    Of course, if I wanted to, I could stillbine 3 or 5 of them because I had 6 trait shards.

    But I was reluctant tobine them because the message said there was a higher likelihood of obtaining higher-grade traits if Ibined more trait shards.

    I knew that one extraordinary trait boasting was much better than dozens of mediocre traits.

    ¡°By the way, this time I received some trait shards that I haven¡¯t seen in a long time¡­¡±

    To be honest, I was a bit embarrassed by the appearance of the trait shards.

    But I thought it wasn¡¯t bad because I could now use them instead of keeping them in my inventory.

    After that, I finally took out the treasure chest that offered 1 to 10 trait shards at random and carefully opened it, crossing my fingers and hoping that I could obtain more Shiny Trait Shards than general ones.

    [Congrattions!

    ¨C You have acquired 1 General Trait Shard.]

    [Congrattions!

    ¨C You have acquired 1 General Trait Shard.]

    [Congrattions!

    ¨C You have acquired 1 General Trait Shard.]

    Three messages that I got general trait shards rang sessively.

    I had no choice but to frown because I confirmed the same thing in the 4th, 5th and 6th messages.

    But the 7th message showed something I wanted.

    [Congrattions!

    -You have acquired 1 Shiny Trait Shard.]

    A message that I got a Shiny Trait Shard rang for the first time, and repeated two more times.

    Then the treasure chest, which was meant to randomly give 1 to 10 trait shards, disappeared after giving me a total of 9 trait shards.

    Considering that obtaining only 1 trait shard was the worst scenario, I was lucky enough to obtain as many as nine trait shards.

    Even though I was so anxious because it didn¡¯te out early on, I was relieved to see the messages about the Shiny Trait Shards.

    ¡°I only have 5 Shiny Trait Shards in total?¡±

    I wanted to try making abination with a total of 7 Shiny Trait Shards, but I was lucky to collect even this much.

    At that moment, another message rang.

    [You have 5 or more General Trait Shards.

    -You can use 5 General Trait Shards to trade for 1 Shiny Trait Shard.]

    ¡°Oh, this is great.¡±

    This time, I thought I was really lucky. I originally had 4 General Trait Shards, and if I subtracted the 3 Shiny trait Shards from the 9 shards I obtained from the treasure box, I acquired another 6 General Trait Shards. In other words, I had a total of 10 General Trait Shards.

    Anyway, I tried trading 10 General Trait Shards for Shiny Trait Shards.

    [You have reced 5 General Trait Shards with 1 Shiny Trait Shard. ]

    [You have reced 5 General Trait Shards with 1 Shiny Trait Shard. ]

    As soon as the message rang, I had only 7 Shiny Trait Shards in my hand.

    In other words, the trait shards in my possession were neither too little nor too many.

    So I had no choice but to say one thing.

    ¡°So far so good.¡±

    Then I immediately shouted to keep up the great atmosphere.

    ¡°Combine trait shards!¡±

    [You have started tobine trait shards.

    -Currently you have 7 Shiny Trait Shards.

    -There are 3, 5, and 7 types ofbinations.

    ¨C How will youbine them?]

    ¡°All of them!¡±

    After all, I¡¯ve been collecting the trait shards to acquire a mighty strength that would kill the enemy with one single attack, so I chose tobine all of them. At that moment, light emitted from the 7 Shiny Trait Shards in my hand, along with a message.

    At the Mitsuya Guild Headquarters in Tokyo, Japan at that time.

    ¡°How is it going?¡±

    Mitsuya Group Chairman Ryu Sechi asked, cing one hand on his throbbing forehead.

    Kimoshita, the head of the Intelligence Department, opened his mouth with a dark expression.

    ¡°Well, we have kept them at bay in Donbotori, Osaka, but that¡¯s our weak spot in reality. If we try to destroy them by breaking into their shields, they will fight back fiercely, and the resulting damage will be¡­¡±

    ¡°How big would the damage be?¡¯

    ¡°Well, we will suffer twice the damage we suffered before.¡±

    ¡°Oh my¡­¡±

    Chairman Ryusechi had no choice but to let out a big sigh at his reply.

    As a matter of fact, the damage they had suffered until now was too much.

    So, if they suffered another attack resulting in more than twice their previous damage, the Mitsuya Guild¡¯s power would be reduced to almost nothing.

    ¡°Who the hell are those guys? NPCs?¡±

    ¡°They are definitely not monsters. So there is a high probability that they are NPCs.¡±

    ¡°This is crazy. It is really driving me nuts. Howe we realized it toote?¡±

    Chairman Ryusechiined helplessly.

    Then he opened his eyes wide and said clearly, ¡°We can¡¯t take any more damage from now on. So contact Myongjin.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±

    The head of the Intelligence Department did notment or refute what he said.

    He also knew that was the most reasonable answer for them to ovee the current situation.

    Outside Kotum Castle.

    Originally, this ce was very crowded.

    But it became gradually empty when it was impossible for new users to log in, and when even those below level 100 could not ess Revival Legend.

    Even those who yed Revival Legend leisurely until now were consumed by worries that sooner orter they might see a message that those below level 200 could not ess, so they were now busy coping with the situation as best as they could.

    But I chose this ce because of that.

    While I was hunting here, I felt like I was walking alone in arge castle during the 3rd Closed Beta. Anyway, I purposely chose a more remote ce tobine the trait shards. Soon, light leaked from each of the Shiny Trait Shards before being merged into one.

    At that moment, a message rang.

    [Congrattions!

    -With 0.001% chance, you have obtained the trait of ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs.¡¯]

    ¡°All Buffs, All Debuffs?¡±

    By hearing the name itself, I could not figure out exactly what kind of effect this trait granted me. But what was certain was that the probability of 0.001% was very low.

    But it was highly probable that it was a good trait because generally speaking, the lower the probability, the better.

    I opened my mouth cautiously, expecting something good, of course.

    ¡°Check trait ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs¡¯.¡±

 Chapter 334 - All Set (1)

    <h4>Chapter 334: All Set (1)</h4>

    [Traits: All buffs, All debuffs.

    : Immune to all buffs and debuffs.

    -All buffs are not applied to the holder of the trait ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs.¡¯ (The buffs include everything that gives beneficial effects, including limited skills, other traits, and even heals that restore health.)

    -All debuffs are not applied to the holder of the trait ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs.¡¯ (The debuff¡¯s influence includes everything that has harmful effects, including limited skills, and other traits.)

    -However, buffs or debuffs used by yourself are applied.

    ¨C Tradable.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    It¡¯s literally on the extreme side.

    There were no buffs, and no debuffs.

    So I had no choice but to like it, for the reason I moved alone most of the time was because it was more efficient for me to move alone than protecting others even while receiving buffs or heals from them.

    Because of that I wasn¡¯t faced with any dangerous situation where I had to turn to buffs.

    On the other hand, I faced quite a few dangerous situations because of debuffs.

    For example, I faced off with the Oizuki Brothers, who had the traits Item Master and Skill Master respectively, the parasite, and the limited skill called Change recently which really put me in a dangerous situation.

    ording to the message, the debuff¡¯s influence included everything that has harmful effects, including limited skills and other traits.

    So, no matter how hard I thought about it, I felt that it was much better to have all debuff immunity in return for throwing away all buffs including heal.

    So I said gently but clearly, ¡°Acquire the trait ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs''¡±

    [You have obtained the trait of All Buffs, All Debuffs.]

    ¡°Weakness, make the other party weak!¡±

    ¡°Slow! Slow!¡±

    ¡°Blindness, make the other party go blind!¡±

    I knew it was not fake, but I just went ahead and tested the new trait.

    Originally, I would not have been influenced by debuffs with the probability of 62% because I had the basic 50% debuffs thanks to the Forgotten Hero¡¯s Cloak of the myth grade and additional 12% thanks to my 12 titles. Of course, even if I had been influenced by debuffs, it would have had little effect on me because of my enormous Willpower.

    [You currently have ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs.¡¯

    -You will not be affected by the abyss.]

    [You currently have ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs.¡¯

    ¨C You are not affected by Slow.]

    [You currently have ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs.¡¯

    -You are not affected by blindness.]

    It wasn¡¯t just debuffs that gave me harmful effects.

    [You currently have ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs.¡¯

    -Heal does not apply to you.]

    [You currently have ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs.¡¯

    -Link: Skill cooldown does not apply to you.]

    Even buffs, including heal, did not apply to me.

    Of course, what really got me into trouble was not these general buffs or debuffs, but the limited skills and traits. However, I wasn¡¯t worried because ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs¡¯ resisted even limited skills and traits ording to the message, and the messages until now were never wrong.

    Anyway, after testing it like that, I went back to hunting in the Land of Titan.

    Even though there was no significant change at level 1300, I was going to reach it pretty soon. Besides, even though those at level 100 could not ess Revival Legend now, it was certain that such a ban would continue to extend to those at higher levels, so I wanted to achieve a higher level as soon as possible.

    Even though I was not the max level, which I achieved alone during the closed betas, I wanted to keep increasing my level at least until I was the highest level in Revival Legend.

    The next day I had breakfast, but I did not immediately log on to ¡®Revival Legend¡¯, as usual.

    Instead, I moved to the small meeting room, where a couple of men and women entered shortly afterwards. They were from Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild.

    As soon as they came in, the man bowed his head to my father and opened his mouth.

    ¡°How are you, Chairman Sangman Hong. My name is Kimoshita, and I¡¯m in charge of the Intelligence Department of the Mitsuya Guild. This is Tsubaki, the deputy head of the Strategy Department.¡±

    ¡°It is an honor to meet you like this, Chairman Hong. My name is Tsubaki.¡±

    ¡°Nice to meet you. Take a seat first.¡±

    Dad, who sat at the head table, greeted them with a rxed expression. When they sat down, he opened his mouth, feeling rxed like before.

    ¡°By the way, what brought you here?¡±

    Of course, not only Dad, but everyone in this small meeting room knew why they came, for what happened in Osaka, Japan, was not a light matter that they could simply ignore.

    So the Myongjin people observed the situation closely in real time.

    Actually we didn¡¯t just observe the situation, but we even discussed invading them if the Japanese Government and the Mitsuya Guild somehow managed to overpower them.

    Even if the Japanese government or the Mitsuya Guild didn¡¯t want it, we needed to stay involved in order to get thetest information about the situation.

    So I waited with a rxed attitude for them to speak first.

    Even though I was reluctant to say it with my own mouth, I was the most reliable person in reality, not just within Revival Legend.

    That¡¯s why not only thergest guild in Indonesia but also the Holdridge Group in America asked for my help.

    How about approaching them first before they havee to us for help like this?

    Well, that was the right thing to do when we took into ount our love for humanity.

    Besides, Osaka was one of Japan¡¯srgest cities, so not only the users of Revival Legend, but also a lot of ordinary people stayed there. Moreover, as the battle dragged on for a long time, they suffered more and more damage caused by modern weapons that they turned to while dealing with the monsters rather than those presumed to be NPCs.

    However, we did not intervene, although we were closely monitoring the situation.

    I, or more precisely, we were not heroes, so who would take the initiative would be affected by who contacted the other party first. In such a situation, if we asked to meet them first when they didn¡¯t even ask for our help, it would certainly give them the impression that we were meddling in their matters presumptuously.

    Besides, it was Japan that made the situation worse like this.

    ¡®Man, only now have theye to us for help.¡¯

    Anyway, Kimoshita, the head of the Mitsuya Guild¡¯s Intelligence Department, and Tsubaki, the deputy head of the Strategy Department, probably sensed why my father dealt with them with such aid-back attitude.

    Anyway, they discussed the situation in Osaka for a while.

    30 minutester.

    My father carried on the conservation with them without any problem because we had been not only monitoring the situation in Osaka, Japan, in real time, but also repeatedly simted the situation where the Mitsuya Guild would ask us for help.

    Of course, Kimoshita, who came here as the representative of the Mitsuya Guild, did not drag on the conversation because they needed toe up with the solution urgently.

    So there were several tense moments during the negotiation process, but in the end, they reached an agreement after 30 minutes that I would fly to Osaka.

    In the meantime, the Mitsuya Guild said that they would wee not only me but also other members of the Myongjin Guild who would support me. But I refused because Myongjin people had no need to shed their blood and sweat in a foreign country. I emphasized that I could solve the problem on my own, so they didn¡¯t need to worry.

 Chapter 335 - All Set (2)

    <h4>Chapter 335: All Set (2)</h4>

    Of course, they agreed topensate me for deciding to fly to Osaka.

    [1. The Mitsuya Guild agrees to pay 1 billion golden rings to Myongjin as an advance payment, and an additional 1 billion golden rings when Juyoung defeats the enemypletely.]

    [2. The Mitsuya Guild will actively help the Myongjin yers visit the Mitsuya Guild¡¯s stronghold at least once a month to exchange their stone squirrels¡¯ undigested mineral masses with coins.]

    [3. The Mitsuya Guild agrees to shareplete information about this incident with Myongjin without hiding anything.]

    [4. The Mitsuya Guild agrees to open part of its level 1300 hunting ground to the Myongjin Guild, and allows the yers of not only Myongjin but also the Mirae Guild and Mongolia¡¯s Tugal Guild to hunt there.]

    In fact, the 2 billion golden rings was very littlepared to thepensation I usually required for these sorts of requests. I would say it was almost nothing, given my critical role this time.

    Aside from what I obtained in return for my activities in Indonesia some time ago, I received a whopping 40 billion golden rings and as many as 60,000 tradable coins from the US Holdridge Group in return for breaking the statue at their headquarters.

    Of course, I seeded in obtaining such arge amount of golden rings and coins by threatening them a bit.

    In any case, it was Kimoshita and Tsubaki, representatives of the Mitsuya Guild, who were surprised by the offer of 2 billion golden rings in return for my participation because it was almost like recruiting me for free.

    Besides, it was my father who proposed such an offer.

    Of course, my father put forward some other conditions, which made the Japanese representatives lose their surprise and harden their expressions immediately

    Kimoshita indirectly rejected our offer by saying that he would rather give us more golden rings, but we rejected his counteroffer. Obviously, we weren¡¯t impatient enough to ept it.

    After that, Kimoshita said he could not make the decision by himself, so he exited the building, saying he needed to talk to his boss in Japan.

    As soon as he returned, he opened his mouth.

    ¡°Alright, we¡¯re going to ept your offer. But you have to make sure you defeat the enemy once and for all.¡±

    When he emphasized that, I opened my mouth after being silent for a while.

    For in the end, it was I who had to defeat the enemypletely.

    ¡°Sure, no problem.¡±

    One hourter.

    In front of the Myongjin Guild Headquarters within ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    Exactly 37 people were gathered here.

    Among them were not only my father, my mother, my brother and sister, but also Director Sok and Myongjin¡¯s ace yers who had been dedicatedly fighting for Myongjin all this time.

    It was possible to exchange the stone squirrels¡¯ undigested mineral masses with coins, but I might not be able to distribute the coinster on if I wanted to. Logically, it was possible to trade them, but then it would require 1 million golden rings per exchange.

    Therefore, it would be an extreme loss on the part of Myongjin if I visited the stronghold of the Mitsuya Guild alone to exchange for coins the mineral masses the Myongjin Guild had collected until now. Of course, the Mitsuya Guild were not pleased after learning that arge number of the Myongjin yers would move to take care of the undigested mineral masses, but they didn¡¯t resist.

    Anyway, my father distributed the stone squirrels¡¯ undigested mineral masses that Myongin had collected on their own. And I was given a whopping 100,000 undigested mineral masses.

    ¡°Wow, this is too many¡­¡±

    I could not hold back my exmation.

    But my father said, ¡°No, they are not that many, so take them. After all, you were the one who made it possible for Myongjin to possess the stone squirrel habitat here. And you are the one who is going to solve the problem for them, after all.¡±

    Even though it was not my intention, what my father said was true. Myongjin came to own this ce thanks to me.

    My father continued, as if he had more to say.

    ¡°I¡¯m not saying this because I¡¯m your father, Juyoung. Nobody can find a better man than you when ites to investment. How can I not invest in you when I can see it so clearly?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Watching him extolling me like that, I took the 100,000 stone squirrels¡¯ undigested mineral masses without any further objection.

    Even though there was a condition under the contract that the Myongjin people would exchange their undigested mineral masses with coins only once a month, we didn¡¯t have to save the mineral masses forter use. So we finished the distribution of the mineral masses, then moved to Delphine Castle where the Mitsuya Guild was located by travelling through multiple teleport zones.

    At Delphine Castle, the main base of the Mitsuya Guild.

    As if they were already notified of our arrival, there were quite a few of them waiting for us at the entrance.

    Among them was Chairman Ryusechi.

    After confirming our identities, he approached us and said to my father, ¡°It¡¯s nice to see you again.¡±

    ¡°Same for me.¡±

    Originally, Chairman Ryusechi talked down to my father because he was a very senior man over 80, while my father was very youngpared to him.

    Nheless, Ryu Sechi used honorifguage to address him this time.

    Because of that, I could notice the Myongjin people behind us feeling pretty proud.

    After all, my father was the chairman of the Myongjin Guild.

    After that, we talked with them a little more, then moved directly into the Mitsuya Guild¡¯s Headquarters, escorted by the chairman himself.

    Did we look defenseless to them who were once our fierce opponents?

    Of course, it¡¯s possible we lookedpletely unarmed to all of them.

    What¡¯s more, the people here were the key figures of Myongjin.

    But we were within ¡®Revival Legend,¡¯ not in reality, and I was no longer what I used to be.

    In other words, I had the extraordinary trait that I had obtained recently.

    [You have ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs¡¯.

    -Your limited skill will not be affected by the invisible hand.]

    I really liked ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs¡¯ because not only would a message ring announcing that I was being interfered with, but it would also let me know who the other person who used the trait was.

    So, as soon as the message rang, it singled out one of the crowded Mitsuya Guild members.

    He was trembling wildly as soon as he noticed me.

    So I smiled at him once.

    Inside the Mitsuya Guild.

    Obviously, we could have a more friendly conversation with them after I got rid of the enemy in Osaka, so we went straight to the NPC in charge of exchanging the stone squirrel¡¯s undigested mineral masses for coins. And each of us traded them for coins one by one. I was thest to do so.

    [You currently have 103,967 stone squirrels¡¯ undigested mineral masses.

    ¨C You can make a total of 103,967 coins with them.]

    I received exactly 100,000 masses from my father, and I obtained about 4,000 by myself while hunting there for a while. Anyway, I chose to exchange all of them.

 Chapter 336 - Extraordinary (1)

    <h4>Chapter 336: Extraordinary (1)</h4>

    Shortly afterward, a message rang out with the effect of the NPC hitting the mineral masses with a hammer.

    [You have obtained 103,967 coins.]

    I earned lots of coins through various events and quests in the past, but this was the first time that I obtained more than 100,000 coins at a time.

    But I controlled my expression because this was the main base of the Mitsuya Guild.

    At that moment, Chairman Ryu Sechi approached me and opened his mouth.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. It seems like my deputy overstepped the boundary.¡±

    He said something suddenly, so not only my father, my brother and sister, but also Director Sok just blinked their eyes.

    Since I knew what his apology was referring to, I opened my mouth, smiling faintly.

    ¡°Well, don¡¯t me your deputy too much. Didn¡¯t he do it out of loyalty to you?¡±

    I could have humiliated him a lot, but I didn¡¯t because we joined hands.

    ¡°Then, when are you going to Osaka?¡±

    ¡°Let me leave now.¡±

    I had no intention of dragging my feet anyway, so I answered right away to satisfy his curiosity.

    Inside the Mitsuya Guild ne bound for Osaka.

    I thought of going there separately without their help because it was less than 800 kilometers from my main base in Gangwon Province to Osaka. And I could cover that distance using Blink with zero cooldown.

    Blink was a skill affected by Intellect, and my Intellect was my main stat since I was an ice-type wizard. So, even though my Blink skill was only level 4, there was a big gap in teleporting distance between me and other wizards who had upgraded their Blink skill to level 6.

    To be honest, I definitely wanted to show off by bragging about my capabilities.

    However, bragging for the sake of it would show others the limits of my abilities, so I just boarded the ne sent by Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild.

    Obviously, my Blink was no longer a secret because I revealed it many times, but teleporting 800 kilometers in an instant was a different story.

    Anyway, I got on a ne and moved to Kansai International Airport.

    Then, along with the users of the Mitsuya Guild, I quickly moved to Dotonbori in Osaka, where they had built a defensive line.

    In Dotonbori, Osaka.

    Battleground.

    That was the only word that came to my mind when I arrived at Dotonbori. They had trapped the enemy inside by building a defensive line in the shape of a circle.

    At that moment, a man came up to me and opened his mouth.

    ¡°Nice to meet you. My name is Kiyoshi, and I¡¯m in charge of the Dotonbori defense line.¡±

    ¡°Hi, my name is Juyoung Hong.¡±

    ¡°Thank you foring to help us. We have heard about your respected name so often. You are going to be a big help to us!¡±

    In general, all the guys I¡¯ve met until now were interested in calcting the gains and losses, upied with their own benefits. Of course, I didn¡¯t me them. In this day and age, it was not wrong of them to do so.

    Obviously, just being kind and honest in this world was no longer an advantage.

    But this man standing before me was clearly different from them.

    He gave me a genuine wee, so I treated him sincerely.

    Anyway I followed him and moved closer to the Dotonbori defense line.

    A littleter Kiyoshi gave me a briefing about the current situation.

    ¡°There are a total of four enemies here. At first, they acted individually, but when we seeded in counter attacking them several times, they banded together. Right now, we think they are hiding somewhere between that huge building and that one over there.¡±

    Actually, I knew about them too, but I didn¡¯t stop him.

    Instead, I asked him because I was curious about something.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you destroy those buildings?¡±

    If they destroyed the buildings and turned them to ashes, the four enemies could not hide anywhere. Moreover, while I was traveling from Kansai International Airport to here, I discovered that Osaka was already shattered and crumbled to pieces, so even if they destroyed some more buildings, it would make no big difference.

    But Kiyoshi slightly shook his head and opened his mouth.

    ¡°If they had been monsters, we would have done so. More precisely, we would not havee to this point.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    In other words, the enemies were not monsters.

    I understood his point because I actually saw them in the Memory Bead.

    So I quietly opened my mouth.

    ¡°All right. Then let¡¯s move quickly.¡±

    As soon as I said that, I walked toward the buildings to search for the enemies, escorted by Kiyoshi and the other manning the Dotonbori defense line.

    First of all, I slowly walked through the broken and smashed streets as if I was casually taking a walk.

    Of course, I could be considered as pretty much reckless and carefree if people saw me.

    Moreover, this was not ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ where I could disy my abilities 100%, but the real world. But right before I came here, I obtained over 100,000 coins.

    And I didn¡¯te here after hoarding all of them in my inventory.

    I used them all, of course. Since I didn¡¯t need coins to actualize the items of ¡®Revival Legend,¡¯ I used all the coins I had. So my reality actualization rate was very high now.

    [You have the level 1200 privilege ¡®Reality Actualization¡¯.

    -Currently, Lumen and Asirante¡¯s reality actualization rate is 85%.

    ¨C From 81% to 90%, it takes 9000 coins to increase your reality actualization rate by 1%.]

    I raised my reality actualization as high as 85% by using all the 100,000 coins I had acquired this time as well as all the exchangeable coins that I had saved before.

    If I had ended up raising it to 85% only, I wouldn¡¯t have been so confident like this.

    But now, I could finally use my level 8 skills, Ice Tornado and Ice Punishment.

    Of course, if Ipared my abilities within Revival Legend to reality, I had to admit there was some gap between them, but I could say confidently that they were not almost the same.

    It would be weird if I didn¡¯t boast of my power now.

    So I walked confidently toward the ce where my senses told me the four enemies were hiding.

    Was it because I approached them without hesitation as if I knew their location?

    Even though President Xi said that they were not NPCs, they, who I had no choice but to suspect as NPCs from the Memory Bead, soon revealed themselves.

    ¡°Hi.¡±

    First of all, I greeted them warmly.

    But they just kept silent.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Did they not understand me? Absolutely not.

    In the video sent by the US Holdridge Group and the video I saw this time, it was already revealed that the users who yed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ couldmunicate with them.

    At that moment, the tallest man out of the four stuttered, ¡°Who the hell are you? Howe I feel their aura from you?¡±

    At Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild Headquarters.

    The leaders of the Mitsuya Guild, led by Chairman Ryu Sechi, watched therge screen installed to one side.

    Chairman Ryu Sechi opened his mouth.

    ¡°Did he go there, knowing they were there? Or was their encounter a coincidence?¡±

 Chapter 337 - Extraordinary (2)

    <h4>Chapter 337: Extraordinary (2)</h4>

    At first, Chairman Ryu Sechi thought that Juyoung¡¯s actions were just meaningless.

    Actually, it was so in his eyes.

    However, the four enemies appeared before Juyoung.

    The chairman couldn¡¯t help but wonder if Juyoung approached them knowingly or encountered them by chance.

    Nobody answered his question, but he didn¡¯t press them for an answer.

    The chairman didn¡¯t even bother to expect their answer, for they probably really thought Juyoung encountered them identally.

    Now the chairman and his deputies focused on what seemed like a conversation between Juyoung and the four enemies.

    In the past, the chairman used every means possible to talk with them, but all he heard from them were curses like ¡®I¡¯ll kill you and destroy everything!¡¯

    Inside Dotonbori, Osaka.

    Clearly, I could get my message across to them, but I was skeptical about whether I could really converse with them.

    When I saw them in the video given by the US Holdridge Group and the video about the Osaka destruction, they were pretty angry, armed with the instinct to destroy everything.

    I wanted to get even a small clue from them, and finally I managed to talk to the guy right in front of me. When he responded, I got closer to him.

    ¡°Oh, did you mention aura? Nice to hear that anyway. By the way, I would like to talk with you over a cup of tea,¡± I said.

    Aura did not necessarily mean something good, but it didn¡¯t necessarily mean something bad either, so I tried to speak to him.

    But the guy reacted angrily, though.

    He shouted to his subordinates, ¡°Shit! Just think you guys are going to die here. We will neverpromise with the enemy who hase to take away our possessions!¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    They didn¡¯t seem to have any intention of talking with me.

    But I quickly said a few more words, ¡°Hey. I have never taken anything from you, and I have no intention of taking anything from you now. So let¡¯s have a conversation.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t lie! You have already started invading us! Soar, Indomitable Will!¡±

    ¡°Prate into the enemy, Weaken Fighting Spirit!¡±

    ¡°Come here and bring hell to your enemy, Traitor¡¯s Land!¡±

    [You currently have ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs.¡¯

    -You are not affected by Weaken Fighting Spirit.]

    [You currently have ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs.¡¯

    -You have been designated as the target of the special skill, Traitor¡¯s Land, but it won¡¯t take any effect.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    But their attack was just useless.

    The two guys who used the debuffs of Weaken Fighting Spirit and Traitor¡¯s Land, which were totally new to me, made a bewildered expression because they failed even before the scope of the skill¡¯s effect was determined by their willpower.

    However, the tall guy, who appeared to be their leader and tank, shouted out loudly instead of being startled as if he already predicted it.

    ¡°Upgrade the enemy before you to them in your mind! In other words, just stop thinking about surviving here! Only then can you have a 0.01% chance of survival!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    It seemed that I had to put off talking with them untilter.

    And I seemed to know who should be my first target.

    It was none other than the tall guy.

    I thought I had to kill or separate him first in order to converse with the other guys.

    So I opened my mouth softly towards the man.

    ¡°Ice Punishment!¡±

    Thud!

    ¡°Kheeeeeeek!¡±

    Did I use a low-level skill? Or did I use the +7 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword? I had no intention of using it.

    I could get rid of him easily, and I didn¡¯t want to drag on the fight. In that case, it was best to kill him right away with my fatal weapon. Of course, Ice Punishment was not a fatal weapon per se, but I used it anyway.

    Flop!

    The tall man fell when he couldn¡¯t stand my attack with Ice Punishment.

    However, not the leader, who was a tank, but the man holding a one-handed sword standing behind him fell down. Of course, it was possible that I identally used Ice Punishment on the man holding a one-handed sword rather than the tank, or the one-handed swordsman was hit on behalf of his boss.

    But my Ice Punishment struck the tank. That¡¯s why he screamed in pain.

    However, no matter how closely I scrutinised him, he suffered little damage or showed other signs other than his screaming.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ did he use Damage Share or Damage Link?¡±

    In the past, I often received the effect of a buff skill called skill cooldown link.

    It was a buff skill in which the casting party took a certain portion of my skill cooldowns. I felt that if we applied the skill cooldown to damage instead, it fit the current situation. And I thought my assumption was right, given their reaction.

    ¡°Shit! Damage transfer¡­¡±

    ¡°Damn it. He copsed at one single strike!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen such a strong guy!¡±

    They were neither shocked nor sad to see the fallen guy disappearing without any trace, but just expressed their astonishment. Of course, I was not surprised by the disappearing body, for I already confirmed it in the video offered by the Holdridge Group in America.

    My only concern was that there were now only three left, and two of them seemed to be connected with the tank through damage transfer.

    If the final survivor was the tank, I didn¡¯t think he would cooperate.

    So, I asked them one question while they were still at a loss what to do.

    Actually, I was most curious about it.

    ¡°Revival Legend. If you just tell me about it, I will spare you.¡±

    Of course, I had no intention of sparing them, contrary to what I said.

    Even though they always argued that we invaded their territory, adding they would make us pay the dear price for our invasion, it was actually they who invaded us and the Earth.

    ***

    In Dotonbori, Osaka.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The remaining three didn¡¯t respond to my question about ¡®Revival Legend.¡¯

    But I didn¡¯t really push them hard.

    At that moment, they started attacking me all of a sudden.

    ¡°Iron Wall!¡±

    ¡°Die! Fang of Destruction!¡±

    ¡°Prate through everything in front of me. Power Shot!¡±

    The leader who was the tank raised arge shield in front of him, and the other two behind him attacked me.

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Of course, I was confident in defending against their attacks, not to mention I could dodge it if I wanted to.

    But I didn¡¯t take any action, so they attacked me freely.

    Did I suffer lots of damage?

    Of course, I did, but the damage was negligible.

    I had not only an 85% reality actualization rate, but I was also wearing the item I equipped in ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ in reality. And this inevitably created an iparably huge gap between my power and that of others.

    Just as a functional skill ring required 100,000 coins to be actualized in reality, it would require hundreds of thousands of coins to actualize legendary-grade items in reality. Besides, it would require much more coins to take into ount the enhancement values of these items.

    Of course, there were few who had so many coins like that. Even if there were some who had such a huge number of coins, it would be impossible for them to invest in reality actualization rate, given their stats and skills.

    In any case, I approached and spoke to them again without changing any facial expression. ¡°You guys are saying you are a victim because you have been invaded. Then am I an assant? Don¡¯t you know I¡¯m willing to listen to you? Why are you refusing to speak to me? What¡¯s the use of your mouth when you don¡¯t want to say anything?¡±

    Again, what I heard from them was not what I wanted to hear.

    ¡°Don¡¯t make fun of us!¡±

 Chapter 338 - Extraordinary (3)

    <h4>Chapter 338: Extraordinary (3)</h4>

    I had no intention of making fun of them, of course.

    Why? I needed to obtain some more information from them urgently, and now was a rare opportunity. But they didn¡¯t notice how impatient I was right now.

    So I opened my mouth a little louder than before out of frustration.

    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m not forcing my opinion on you. I¡¯m just telling you to express your own opinions and thoughts. Don¡¯t you get it?¡¯

    I felt like I was talking to a wall, not a human.

    ¡°Attack him! I will stand in front and block him. So, you guys keep attacking him!¡±

    ¡°Yep! Whip of Destruction!¡±

    ¡°Engulf him, Vortex Arrow!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Obviously, if they had sharp eyes, they would know that their attack inflicted little damage on me even when I didn¡¯t fight back.

    However, they continued to attack me.

    So, I said in a low voice, ¡°Alright. If you really want to make me into an aggressor, I will dly do so. I¡¯m going to be a ruthless and cruel aggressor, so much so that you will envy the guy who died first!¡±

    As soon as I said that, I charged at them. Of course, I did not use my feet because I had a more useful way to move, namely, Blink with zero cooldown.

    Puck!

    ¡°Kheeeeek!¡±

    I swung the sword in my right hand at them right away.

    Did I use the +7 Enhanced Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword?

    No, I brought out the rare weapon that I had actualized in reality to deal with Smith¡¯s party.

    The Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword had tremendous physical attack power, which was iparable to its magical attack power, keeping in line with its status as a sword. And the more I enhanced it, the more its physical attack power increasedpared to its magical attack power.

    Even now the guardian sword with +7 Enhancement was almost twice as strong as before.

    That¡¯s why I chose this rare-grade sword because it was very likely that I would grant them afortable death as a benevolent aggressor rather than a ruthless aggressor if I used the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian sword.

    Of course, the enemies resisted violently.

    ¡°Fire Arrow!¡±

    ¡°Restrain the enemy, Net of Destruction!¡±

    ¡°Strong Will!¡±

    But I immediately escaped from their attacks using Blink.

    Shuuuuuuuuuung!

    Then I escaped the Net of Destruction using Blink again.

    Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Kheeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Khuuuuuuuk!¡±

    I wielded the sword continuously while teleporting around with Blink.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t just use the sword, for no matter what others said, I was an extremely strong ice-type wizard.

    ¡°Ice Ball! Ice Bolt!¡±

    Puck! Puck!

    I deliberately used low-level magic.

    Even though the sword in my hand was only a rare-grade weapon, it was still powerful enough for me to inflict significant damage to them. So if I used powerful ice-type magic in addition, they would likely be killed as easily as the man who died to a single shot of Ice Punishment.

    ¡°Shield of Doom!¡±

    One of the enemies summoned a shield to try to force the battlefield into a brief respite.

    But I counter attacked him right away.

    ¡°Ice Spear!¡±

    Clink!

    It was the most powerful single-target skill that I had aside from Ice Punishment.

    Since Ice Punishment was so good, I kept upgrading Ice Spear as well until it reached level 6.

    Of course, my level 6 skill wasn¡¯t the same as a typical level 6 skill.

    That was why the enemy¡¯s shield shattered in one strike.

    After that, I kept tormenting them with other skills while frowning at them fiercely.

    ¡°Ice Ball! Ice Bolt!¡±

    ***

    At Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild Headquarters.

    ¡°Look! Asirante is beating them so easily, but we ravaged our homnd with our own hands, right?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Those who had even a 1% reality actualization rate were clearly level 1200 or higher, so the Mitsuya Group used precious coins to nurture them.

    In other words, those yers were worth a lot.

    Chairman Ryu Sechi moved not only those who had raised their reality actualization rate, but also persuaded the Japanese government to mobilize tanks, helicopters, and all kinds of missiles generously to kill the enemies. Although they failed to kill the enemies, they seeded in posing a significant threat. That¡¯s why it was possible to restrain the enemies who had been running wild all over Osaka to Dotonbori.

    However, the damage caused by the enemies was quiterge.

    Quite frankly, what they destroyed with the modern weapons was much more than the enemies ruined, not to mention the casualties.

    But Chairman Ryu Sechi did not regret his decision because those who raised their reality actualization rate were worth a lot more to the future of the Mitsuya Group.

    Of course, he could not ignore the continuing destruction of Osaka by the enemies that could not be suppressed. So he reluctantly contacted Juyoung Hong, for if he asked America or China for help, it would lead to even more destruction.

    Chairman Ryu Sechi thought that even though Juyoung Hong would win, he would have a hard time beating the enemies this time, so he even prepared the reinforcements to help him just in case. This was not a ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ but reality, which meant that Juyoung was also affected by the reality actualization rate of the game.

    However, not only Ryu Sechi but also his top deputies could not help but be astonished by the final results of Juyoung Hong¡¯s fight against the enemies.

    He was literally like God in the fight.

    And the three enemies were being punished by the god for trespassing on the Earth, God¡¯s home, without getting his due permission.

    ¡°Hahahaha¡­¡±

    Chairman Ryu Sechi could not help but let out a frustratedugh.

    Three minutester.

    ¡°Gasp, gasp!¡±

    ¡°Gasp, gasp, gasp!¡±

    The three enemies were lying on the floor defenseless, gasping for breath.

    Watching them, I wanted to kill their leader first, who was the tank.

    It seemed that I could persuade the other guys, but not their leader, who would never be won over under any circumstances. But I identally killed another guy, not him, when I first targeted him.

    So I was going to separate him from the other guys instead of killing him when one of them shouted.

    ¡°Shit! I don¡¯t want to die here! If I die here, it¡¯s all over!¡±

    The guy who was attacking with an arrow sprang to his feet and moved in the opposite direction from me as if he was trying to put as much distance between us as possible.

    I should have been upset about this fugitive in a normal situation, but I felt good about the fact that he was running away from me because it meant my chances of coaxing him were greater than before.

    So I was thinking of approaching him using Blink, but I didn¡¯t have to.

    Wheeereeeek-

    The roots suddenly came out and grabbed him. He was struggling to escape, but the roots dragged him to me.

    So I said to him, who was bound by the roots.

    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t worry. I told you already that all I wanted to do was to talk with you. And I can set you free if you can respond to my questions well.¡±

    He was trembling with fear.

    However, the moment I med myself for enjoying ying the role of a ruthless aggressor too much, I discovered that it was not this guy alone who was trembling, but also the other two enemies watching me nearby.

    ¡°How could he bring out such a monster¡­¡±

    ¡°How did the roots grow so fast like this? It¡¯s unbelievable¡­¡±

    It seemed that they were more afraid of the appearance of the roots than me.

    So I also turned my head to the roots.

    ¡°¡­¡±

 Chapter 339 - Level 2700 (1)

    <h4>Chapter 339: Level 2700 (1)</h4>

    At first, the roots were really small and thin.

    Did the roots keep growing then? Well, I was not sure if I could really call it ¡®growth¡¯, but in any case, the roots kept growing and growing. In the end, each root grew almost as tall as a tree.

    Tuk. Tuk.

    So I said to the enemies, tapping the roots.

    ¡°They¡¯re too big, right?¡±

    Given that they were astonished by the roots, I thought it would be helpful for me to get their cooperation if I intimidated them even more using the roots.

    At that moment, the leader, the tank, opened his mouth.

    ¡°Oh my¡­ 0.01% chance of you beating me? How stupid you were! Your chance of beating me is definitely 0%! How can you predict the odds of beating me with a whopping 0.01%?¡±

    I immediately responded, waving my hands, ¡°Hey, don¡¯t me yourself too much. It¡¯s good that you have realized it even now.¡±

    Then the leader opened his mouth again.

    ¡°Die!¡±

    ¡°Uh?¡±

    Obviously, the leader spat out that word because he was resigned to the hopeless situation he was in. So I had no choice but to tilt my head, wondering why he said that.

    If he could kill someone with his words, he wouldn¡¯t be humiliated like this.

    At that moment, there was the noise of an explosion nearby.

    Bang!

    ¡°Kheeeeeeeeeek!¡±

    The source of the noise was the guy who was currently bound by the roots after attempting to run away from me.

    Then the leader spat out the same word again.

    ¡°Die!¡±

    At the same time another explosion was heard.

    Bang!

    ¡°Kheeeeek!¡±

    This time, the body of the guy who was lying next to the leader exploded.

    Startled, I immediately moved next to the leader using Blink.

    Then Ished out with my right foot and kicked his mouth so he could not speak.

    But he was still smiling even when his mouth was smashed.

    For some reason, I had a strong premonition that I would not be able to stop him by just breaking his mouth, and it turned out true.

    Bang!

    After all, he was killed like that.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I could not help but feel a bit empty at that, so I just stared at the ce where he disappeared without a trace.

    A littleter, I clenched my fists tightly.

    Then I gently opened my mouth.

    ¡°Yeah,e again! Let me greet you as an aggressor.¡±

    I made up my mind like that because being a thief was much better than being stolen from.

    ***

    At Mitsuya Guild¡¯s stronghold In Tokyo, Japan.

    ¡°You really did a great job.¡±

    ¡°Thanks so much for your hard work!¡±

    In the past we cursed and confronted each other, but after I agreed to get rid of the enemies holed up in Osaka, most of the Mitsuya Guild leaders, including Chairman Ryu Sechi, treated me politely. But this time, they were clearly more polite than before.

    Of course, I knew why they changed their attitude like that.

    Obviously, the Mitsuya Guild had a hard time fighting the monsters for several days.

    But it took me less than 10 minutes to get rid of them.

    And if I excluded the time I spent talking with them, it actually took me less than 5 minutes.

    Anyway, I opened my mouth with a smile on my face, returning their extreme hospitality.

    ¡°You¡¯re wee. I wish I had helped you a little bit earlier. By the way, here you are.¡±

    As soon as I said that, I pulled out a Memory Bead from my pocket and gave it to the chairman. Of course, if the dead guys had divulged some secrets I never expected, I would not have handed it over to him. In fact, I thought of keeping it to myself if I obtained any important information, even at the cost of souring my current warm rtionship with the Mitsuya Guild.

    However, the dead guys gave no valuable information.

    So, I used two Memory Beads to get a recording for the Myongjin Guild as well, and gave the other one to the chairman readily.

    Chairman Ryu Sechi received the bead and said, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee. Obviously, we have agreed to exchange information, so I should give it to you.¡±

    However, the Memory Bead this time, which was useless, reminded me of the agreement I made with them in the past because aside from other things, sharing the 1300 level hunting ground under their control was very important to me.

    Moreover, I could im credit for it in my future dealings with the Mirae Guild or Mongolia¡¯s Tugal Guild.

    ¡°You bet. Once we have made an agreement, we have to keep it, no matter what.¡±

    Anyway, Chairman Ryu Sechi responded to me with a pleasant smile, and we carried on a friendly conversation for some time.

    When I said I would go back to the Myongjin Guild right away, the chairman insisted he wanted to treat me to dinner, saying that he could not let a benefactor like me live without any treats, so I had no choice but to stay the night in Japan.

    The dinner party hosted by the chairman also included the chairman¡¯s confidants.

    ¡°Nice to meet you. My name is Nico.¡±

    ¡°My name is Mitsuko.¡±

    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Sana.¡±

    They were the chairman¡¯s granddaughters, and they were all beautiful.

    They greeted me dly.

    And I knew why they came out here with the chairman.

    So I didn¡¯t react to their wee emotionally.

    I just ate dinner with a smile stered on my face.

    Then the next day I moved to the Myongjin Shelter using Blink without any hesitation.

    In the small conference room of the Myongjin Shelter.

    Even though they could confirm everything in the Memory Bead that vividly recorded my fight from start to finish, they valued my opinion as very important because I was the one who defeated the enemies in Osaka. That¡¯s why not only my father, brother and sister, but also Director Sok and others were gathered in the conference room.

    They checked the Memory Bead silently, and when the video was over, I opened my mouth first.

    ¡°I could clearly talk to them, but even though I faced them directly, I was not sure if they deliberately refused to talk to me or if they unable to talk at all.¡±¡®

    Their deliberate refusal to talk to me was definitely different from being unable to talk to me.

    If they were actually filled with vengeance, then it was usible that they refused to talk to me. But in the case they were unable to talk to me, it suggested that they were restricted or controlled by somebody.

    Anyway, I continued to tell them about what I felt while I was confronting the NPCs.

    Then my sister singled out one scene from the video and opened her mouth.

    ¡°When the tall guy mentioned ¡®their aura,¡¯ it suggests that his group is not in the upper ss of their society. Considering the implications of that word, it looks like the enemies this time are very strong, right?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    But I could say confidently that they were weak, and very weak at that.

    But they were weakpared to me. They were still very strongpared to others.

    That¡¯s why the Mitsuya Guild and Japan were defeated.

    Even when others didn¡¯t react to my sister¡¯s assessment, she continued, as if she didn¡¯t care.

    ¡°Well, if we assume that they are somewhere between weak and strong, I would say we are very weak, right? If arge number of them attacked, not a small number like this time,, I¡¯m afraid we will have to escape until Juyoung appears. Besides, if that person that they mentioned appeared, we might not be able to find the time to escape at all.¡±

    Their silencested for a long time after she said that.

    As she said, the level of these supposed NPCs I encountered this time was well above the average of those living on the Earth.

 Chapter 340 - Level 2700 (2)

    <h4>Chapter 340: Level 2700 (2)</h4>

    The next day.

    No matter how many times I reyed the Memory Bead, I could not find anything new. So I could onlye to one conclusion: I needed to be much stronger than I was right now.

    So, after having breakfast, I essed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ right away and started hunting again in the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan.

    What about the level 1300 hunting ground I obtained the right to use from Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild? Well, there were many others who could hunt there instead of me.

    There was something only I could do. In other words, I had to train myself to be stronger so I would not be pushed aside by ¡®that man¡¯ the killed guys mentioned when he appeared on Earth.

    In fact, I should be strong enough to defeat him, not just strong enough to not be pushed aside by him.

    That¡¯s why I kept hunting there continuously for over two weeks.

    When I was on the cusp of reaching level 1300, a message rang to everybody, not just me.

    [Hello. This is ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    -We would like to inform you of some other changes.

    -Coins will be dropped with a certain probability when monsters die in all hunting grounds.

    However, the number of coins the monsters will drop depends on the level of the hunting ground. The higher the level of the hunting ground, the more coins monsters will drop with a higher probability.

    -Due to the above change, the death penalty that exists in the level 1300, level 1400, and level 1500 hunting grounds will be applied equally to all other hunting grounds.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Even general monsters dropped coins in the level 1300, level 1400, and level 1500 hunting grounds. Of course, the dropped coins were only a few and could notpared to the coins that were awarded after events or quests

    However, it was a huge advantage that I could obtain coins by killing general monsters regardless of whether the dropped coins were many or small.

    Furthermore, the users could collect the coins only when the monsters died instead of directly receiving them as they did in events or quests. In other words, they could have a specific person collect all the coins. That was why they were engaged in a fierce battle to secure level 1300 or higher hunting grounds.

    Of course, there were some risk factors.

    For example, the cooldown for essing Revival Legend again upon death increased to a whopping seven days from one day, and there was also a massive drop in EXP as a penalty.

    In particr, since ess to the game was banned for those below level 100, nobody knew when those below level 200 would be banned. Because of this, seven days of ess denial and a massive drop in EXP was really a huge risk.

    And moreover, there was a further permanent drop in stat points between 1 and 10 per death.

    ¡°Hmm. The fact that coins are dropped even in low-level hunting grounds means that the overall capabilities of ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ users will increase¡­¡±

    No matter how frightening the penalty was, the bottom line was simply that one should not die under any circumstances. For example, they could hunt at a slightly lower level hunting ground, or if that was not avable, they could hunt in a party.

    The fact that coins were dropped by all monsters meant that the number of coins circting in the market would increase a lot, which would obviously create a foundation for the appearance of stronger yers more easily than now because of the overflowing coins.

    At that moment, a message rang again.

    [Tomemorate the coins being dropped in all hunting grounds, the ¡®Collect More Coins Than Others¡¯ event will be held in three days.

    -This event will determine who collects more coins dropped by monsters during the one week duration of the event.

    : Coins acquired through other events or quests during the event period will not be counted.

    :Coins acquired through exchange with others will also not be counted.]

    ¡°Hahaha!¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but smile at the message because this was an event made for me.

    The ce I was hunting right now was the highest level hunting ground, a level 1500 hunting ground, and my hunting speed would still be faster even if ten of hundreds or even more banded together and hunted in a party.

    Of course, I had some concerns. In other words, the bottom line was who collected more coins dropped by the killed monsters, not who killed more monsters.

    For example, if someone like the guild leader picked up all of the dropped coins after having his guild members hunt in the hunting ground monopolized by a giant guild, it was possible that somebody could collect more coins than me. I was 100% certain that this would happen.

    But I wasn¡¯t worried because I had a solid supporter who could use the same tactics for me.

    Anyway, I came to such a conclusion, and began to hunt again when another message rang.

    [The ¡®Collect More Coins Than Others¡¯ event, which starts after three days, provides a hunting ground suitable for your level through the signs located in each city or castle for the fairness of the participants.

    ¨C Coins acquired only in the provided hunting grounds are counted.

    ¨C The number and probability of coins being dropped across all the provided hunting grounds are the same.]

    ¡°Uh?¡±

    It was an absurd message, but I thought it wasn¡¯t bad.

    I even thought it was an advantage to me because this event was for individual participants, and I had never been defeated by somebody orgged behind somebody in a one-on-one match.

    After confirming the message in satisfaction, I continued hunting again.

    In the end, the event would take ce three dayster, which meant that there were still three days left until the application deadline.

    In front of Kotum Castle the next day.

    Kotum Castle was once crowded with a lot of users.

    However, it was very quiet now because new users were blocked, and even users below level 100 were blocked from essing without any prior notice

    Those below level 200 were busy hunting because they didn¡¯t know when their ess to Revival Legend would be banned.

    So I moved to the central square of Kotum Castle along the quiet road, and soon I could see the sign mentioned in the message.

    When I got closer to the sign, a message rang.

    [Would you like to participate in the ¡®Collect More Coins Than Others¡¯ event?]

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    [You have chosen to participate in the ¡®Collect More Coins Than Others¡¯ event.

    -We¡¯re currently checking the current level of Lumen, Asirante.

    -Stat points, skills, items, etc. are the main subject of evaluation, and once we have evaluated your levell, it will be impossible for you to change your items within the provided hunting ground.

    : Do you still want to proceed?]

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Since the application period started yesterday, I had already heard something about this, and I fully understood why this was the case.

    Some yers might purposely not equip their usual items during the evaluation, which would lower the level of the hunting ground they would be assigned to. In such hunting grounds, it would be easy for them to hunt and subsequently obtain more coins.

    Anyway, I knew about it already, so I proceeded with the items I originally wore.

    Then a message rang a littleter.

    [The appropriate hunting ground for Lumen, Asirante¡¯s level is a level 2700 hunting ground.

    -A level 2700 hunting ground will be provided to you during the one-week event period.]

 Chapter 341 - 90 Percent (1)

    <h4>Chapter 341: 90 Percent (1)</h4>

    Currently, the highest level hunting ground within ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ is the level 1500 hunting ground. However, a level 2700 hunting ground was offered to me.

    It was a whopping 1200 level difference. It was certainly something for me to celebrate because level 2700 showed how strong I was, but I didn¡¯t like it very much, for this was a really high-level hunting ground to make it a fair game for others. In other words, a normal level 1200 user would have been provided with a level 1200 hunting ground, but I was given a level 2700 hunting ground befitting my level.

    The message clearly said that the hunting grounds were provided ording to each person¡¯s evaluated level, but the number of coins dropped was the same across all hunting grounds. In this situation, it was possible for a yer of level 200 to win first ce in this event.

    ¡°Well, I have no intention of yielding first ce to somebody else,¡± I muttered silently, then turned.

    Dinner time at the Myongjin Shelter.

    ¡°What level is your hunting ground?¡±

    ¡°Well.¡±

    I did not immediately answer my sister¡¯s question.

    Then she narrowed her eyes and asked again, ¡°Alright, I guess your hunting ground must be over level 2000, right? Ummm level 2300 or level 2400?¡±

    ¡°Hahahaha.¡±

    This time, I burst outughing instead of answering.

    She opened her mouth with a slightly startled expression at my words.

    ¡°What? You mean higher level than that?¡±

    Of course, what surprised herst time was level 1500, which was the most powerful hunting ground avable, so considering that, the level 2400 hunting ground she just mentioned was a whopping 900 level higher than the level 1500 hunting ground.

    But even the level 2400 hunting ground was still 300 levels lower than the level 2700 hunting ground assigned to me as the right one.

    So I shook my head , and when she mentioned level 2500, and level 2600, I did the same.

    ¡°Gosh, then level 2700?¡±

    ¡°Yep.¡±

    I finally replied when she mentioned level 2700, and at that moment, not only my sister, but also my father and mother looked at me in big surprise.

    Then she opened her mouth with a small smile, as if she wasn¡¯t surprised at all.

    ¡°Then it might be difficult for you to win first ce this time? Are you finally experiencing failure?¡±

    As she said, it was possible I could not win first ce this time.

    Obviously, everybody was given a hunting ground befitting their level, so this was a fair game on the surface, and the dropped coins would be the same in any hunting ground, regardless of the level.

    However, my reaction was different.

    ¡°Well. I feel like I¡¯m going to win first ce again.¡±

    I really felt I could, and I intended to win.

    Moreover, I was thrilled about the level 2700 hunting ground in great anticipation rather than being nervous or pressured.

    The event ¡®Collect More Coins Than Others¡¯ was supposed to start the next day.

    That¡¯s why I was busy hunting since early morning today, and I finally got a message.

    [You have leveled up.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    It was a message that said I reached exactly level 1300.

    However, unfortunately, there was no other message that said I earned additional reality actualization privilege like I did at level 1200 or I could acquire a new skill.

    Nheless, I had mixed feelings because level 1299 and level 1300 were clearly different from each other.

    ¡°Alright, let me move on to level 1400!¡±

    First of all, there was still one more day left until the start of the event, and I was not satisfied with level 1300, so I went back to hunting monsters.

    ***

    The Chinese leadership led by President Xi was watching the situation closely in Beijing while Juyoung Hong was busy hunting in the Land of Titan.

    ¡°Oh my¡­he¡¯s be much stronger. He is not just simply stronger, but extraordinarily stronger than before. How can he be so strong like that? This is obviously reality, right?¡±

    As a matter of fact, President Xi monitored the situation in Osaka, Japan, by mobilizing all avable resources, as soon as the enemies appeared there.

    So they could secure quite a lot of memory beads, which included the images of Juyoung Hong getting rid of the enemies.

    President Xi watched the video again and again.

    Of course, President Xi recognized Juyoung, so he provided Juyoung with the clues about the enemies, and tried not to cause any friction with the Myongjin Guild as well as Juyoung as much as possible.

    However, Juyoung in the video was much stronger than President Xi and other Chinese government officials had expected.

    So President Xi kept asking questions before he knew it.

    ¡°Obviously, each of the enemies was far more capable than Smith. Then how could Juyoung handle them so easily as if he was fighting a child?¡±

    Of course, it¡¯s true that Juyoung had a hard time fighting against Smith¡¯s party until the middle of the fighting. But he could beat thempletely at the end by using some extraordinary weapon.

    ¡°Man, were those roots really that thick from the beginning? And what is that white root?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    But none of the top Chinese government officials did not respond to President Xi¡¯s questions because they didn¡¯t know, either.

    They continued the meeting for a long time, but nobody could find the answer.

    Atst President Xi spoke softly, ¡°Great. Even though Juyoung is strong far beyond what we expected, do we still have any chance of winning this time?¡±

    They understood his point, so one of them said gently, ¡°Yes, I think we have a good chance of winning this time. Given his capabilities, there is a high possibility that he will be given a level 2000 or higher hunting ground. So it would be impossible for him to restrict himself.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Even if he can restrict himself, he won¡¯t be able to do it more than 10%.¡±

    ¡°Good. But keep in mind that ourpetitor is not Juyoung Hong alone. Since we do it first, knowing the situation in advance, we must win the event by all means.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±

    They wrapped up the meeting after they were in a heated discussion about Juyoung Hong¡¯s extraordinary power. Of course, there was a reason why President Xi and the other top Chinese government officials had no choice but to be astonished by Juyoung Hong, who they confirmed was much stronger than they expected. Actually they thought the baseline of Juyoung¡¯s strength was the time when he beat Smith a long time ago. But after he beat Smith, Juyoung became immensely strong after eating the parasite, which he had never intended, not to mention the tremendous growth of the roots. After that, he seeded in destroying the statue inside the Holdridge¡¯s headquarters, which made it possible for him to wear the items in reality that could have cost him millions of coins within Revival Legend.

    In addition, by using North Korean leader Yujung Kim¡¯s conspiracy to his advantage, he obtained more than 14,000 stat points from Jihye Suh. Right before he participated in the event, he also obtained more than 100,000 coins at a time by exchanging the undigested mineral lumps of the stone squirrels for coins. As a result, he achieved as high as 85% reality actualization rate.

    Since all these things happened in a fairly short period of time, President Xi and the other top Chinese government officials had no choice but to feel not only astonished but also in awe of his spectacr growth.

 Chapter 342 - 90 Percent (2)

    <h4>Chapter 342: 90 Percent (2)</h4>

    At the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan the next day.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    Since level 1300 was not my goal, I continued to hunt like before, and soon a message rang.

    [The event ¡®Collect More Coins Than Others¡¯ has now started.

    -If you shout ¡®Start Event!¡¯, you will be immediately moved to the hunting ground assigned to you for one week.

    -If you log out during this one week, you will automatically exit the hunting round, but you will receive the same death penalty as if you died in there.]

    ¡°Man, if anybody dies even once, they are just finished.¡±

    Since this was a one-week event, receiving the one-week death penalty meant the same as being automatically eliminated from this event.

    But that had nothing to do with me.

    So I immediately opened my mouth.

    ¡°Start Event!¡±

    [You are now participating in the event ¡®Collect More Coins Than Others.¡¯

    -Lumen, Asirante has been allocated the level 2700 hunting ground.

    -You are now being transferred to the Garden of Gods.]

    As soon as I heard the message, I felt like I was being dragged somewhere, but a wide green field and all kinds of colorful flowers did not appear before my eyes.

    Instead, I was greeted by the cknd as if it had been burnt, and a gloomy sky as if it was about to storm right away.

    So I had no choice but to say something.

    ¡°Man, these guys called gods have a very unique taste!¡±

    It was definitely called the Garden of Gods, but it was far from the image of a garden that I had expected, no matter how closely I looked at it.

    Anyway, I quickly looked around and prepared for any possible attack by monsters, but I could not see any single monster.

    ¡°Hmm. Do I have to get out of this safety zone that I¡¯m stepping on?¡±

    The safety zone was spread out over a fairly wide area, probably to prevent the yers from suffering an idental death as soon as they entered the hunting ground.

    So I moved to the end of the safety zone using Blink, then stepped out of it.

    Then, suddenly a message rang.

    [You are restricted by debuffs.]

    ¡°Uh?¡±

    This was quite an unexpected message. So I couldn¡¯t help but be a little perplexed, for the words ¡°restricted¡± could not mean anything good.

    Moreover, I also had the traits of All Buffs, All Debuffs.

    As if they didn¡¯t want to give me time to think of the trait, another message rang.

    [Anybody can set debuff restrictions as long as they have the desire and passion to take risks and pull ahead of others.

    -You can set restrictions in increments of 10%.

    : When you set 10% restrictions, yourbat power is reduced by 10%. However, the drop frequency of coins and the number of dropped coins will increase by 30%.

    : When you set 20% restrictions, yourbat power is reduced by 20%.

    However, the drop frequency of coins of coins and the number of dropped coins will increase by 60%.

    :

    :

    : When you set 90% restrictions, yourbat power is reduced by 90%.

    However, the drop frequency of coins and the number of coins dropped will increase by 270%.]

    [You can set restriction settings when you move out of the safety zone. In order to change the existing restrictions value or to make a new setting, you must move in and out of the safety zone again.]

    [Currently, Lumen, Asirante¡¯s restrictions are 0%.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    First of all, I carefully examined the rather long message.

    Then I had no choice but to let out a sigh at thest line.

    Obviously, it was a fair event because each participant was given a hunting ground befitting their level. But the fairness was gone because of the restrictions.

    The problem with the restrictions was that those with a lowerbat power were in a more favorable situation. If a person with 100bat power chose the 10% restrictions, he would have 90bat power. That was enough for such yers to fight monsters at their level.

    However, I obviously had at least 10,000 or morebat power.

    In other words, if I set only 10% restrictions, mybat power of 10,000 would be reduced significantly to 9,000.

    That¡¯s why I couldn¡¯t help butugh in frustration.

    A littleter, I chose not to set any restrictions and left it at 0%.

    Was it because I might die from such restrictions? Of course, that was not my reason.

    Even though I was given the level 2700 hunting ground, I was not weak enough to be in danger because mybat power would drop by 20 or 30%.

    However, since the event had just started, and I didn¡¯t know which monsters would appear, I thought that I didn¡¯t need to be hasty.

    So I just left the safety zone and walked a few steps when I suddenly thought of something

    Tramp- Tramp-

    So I turned back and moved back into the safety zone, before exiting again.

    A message rang at that moment.

    [You are restricted by debuffs.

    -Lumen, Asirante¡¯s current restrictions are 0%.

    ¨C You can set new restrictions.]

    When I first moved out of the safety zone, the same message as this one immediately rang, and I questioned ¡®Why?¡¯ because I had the trait of All Buffs, All Debuffs.

    In other words, I was not supposed to be affected by the debuffs.

    But when I saw the message about the restrictions, I assumed that my trait ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs¡¯ would not work because this was not the same as debuffs, limited skills or traits used by users.

    A littleter, however, I wondered whether my trait, ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs¡¯ would not work because my restrictions were 0%.

    In other words, 0% was obviously a nominal debuff that would inflict little damage.

    Maybe that¡¯s why the ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs¡¯ message didn¡¯t ring.

    ¡°Alright. This is just a test anyway, Let me set the debuff restrictions at 10%.¡±

    [You have set the debuff restrictions.

    -Restrictions: 10%.

    -In return for decreasing yourbat power by 10%, the drop frequency of coins and the number of dropped coins will increase by 30%.]

    I just set the restrictions at 10% casually, but I was really nervous.

    I was not sure if it worked, and even if it didn¡¯t work, I didn¡¯t know if I could get the results that I wanted.

    Anyway, I waited for the next message nervously, and soon the message rang.

    [You currently have ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs¡¯.

    -You are not affected by debuff restrictions.]

    [Lumen, Ashirante¡¯s restrictions are 10%.

    -In return for decreasing yourbat power by 0%, the drop frequency of coins and the number of dropped coins will increase by 30%.]

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    I was half in belief and half in doubt.

    The message showed exactly what I wanted.

    So, I immediately moved back in and out of the safety zone, and again quickly opened my mouth when the message about restrictions rang.

    ¡°90 percent!¡±

    [You currently have ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs¡¯.

    -You are not affected by debuff restrictions.]

    [Lumen, Asirante¡¯s restrictions are 90%.

    ¨C In return for decreasing yourbat power by 0%, the drop frequency of coins and the number of dropped coins will increase by 270%.]

 Chapter 343 - Obvious Underestimating (1)

    <h4>Chapter 343: Obvious Underestimating (1)</h4>

    I had no choice but to be skeptical about it because the restrictions coexisted with buffs and debuffs. In other words, if I set the restrictions at 10%, a 10% drop inbat power was debuffs, while a 30% increase in coins and dropped coins were buffs.

    However, I had some expectations because of what¡¯s clearly written on the message as follows.

    [You are affected by debuff restrictions]

    That message rang whenever I moved out of the safety zone.

    In other words, the system defined the restrictions as debuffs.

    Of course, my trait was not ¡®All Debuffs¡¯, but ¡®All buffs, All Debuffs¡¯.

    So I thought that maybe I might not make use of the restrictions at all, which, in turn, would be the worst scenario for me. In that case, I would have no choice but to helplessly watch others collecting coins by at least 30% or more because I would not be able to use debuffs against them.

    Because of my trait, All Buffs, All Debuffs, however, I would have only coins and the dropped rate of coins when the drop in mybat power disappeared.

    I trembled a bit at that because I didn¡¯t know the debuffs called restrictions from the beginning.

    ¡°By the way, if the coin dropping rate and dropped coins increase by 270% more than others¡­¡±

    That would mean I could obtain four coins or more when others got only one, because not only the dropped coins, but also the coin dropping rate would increase.

    ¡°Hahaha.¡±

    I had no choice but tough for a long time before I knew it.

    Then I stopped because I couldughter after I won first ce one weekter.

    A littleter I stepped out of the safety zone proudly. Only after using Blink twice could I encounter monsters.

    When I saw the monsters for the first time, only one thing came to my mind.

    Just as the surrounding environment did not fit the image of the Garden of Gods, the monsters did not befit it, either. The monsters that appeared before my eyes exposed their reddish epidermis as if they had been peeled off, and pus-like mucus was flowing through the epidermis. Besides, their faces were rough, and they had one or two horns on their foreheads.

    ¡°Oh my¡­well this ce is more like Hell or Chimera Habitat rather than the Garden of Gods.¡±

    The surrounding environment and monsters were such a contrast to the image of the Garden of Gods.

    At that moment a monster that noticed me charged at me ferociously.

    [Koooooooh!]

    So I pulled back slightly and lured him toward me.

    It¡¯s not because I was afraid of him, but I needed to at least check whether he was suitable for herd hunting or how strong he was since he was the first monster I confronted here.

    When the nearly four-meter-tall guy came up to me and struck me with a club, I didn¡¯t avoid it. Bang!

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The monster¡¯s club mmed right into my right shoulder with a fairly big noise.

    But it wasn¡¯t strong enough to make me scream in pain.

    Of course, it was definitely a strong punch to the extent that it ranked among the highest level of punches I suffered until now. But I didn¡¯t feel intimidated at all.

    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t you think you have underestimated me too much?¡±

    Obviously I was given this hunting ground by the system because it befitted my level.

    The monster¡¯s damage was obviously big, but not enough to make me feel that I should hunt very carefully in this ce. Besides, there appeared only one monster.

    I didn¡¯t know if I could be put in a dangerous situation when a herd of monsters charged at me while I was doing herd hunting.

    But it would not bother me even if that happened because I had the powerful Blink with zero cooldown, which I didn¡¯t carry just for demonstration.

    Anyway, this was the first time I was attacked by the monster in this hunting ground.

    So, I immediately struck him back.

    ¡°Ice Spear! Multiple Ice Arrows!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    First of all, I used my single skills. Of course, these skills were toomon for an ice-type wizard like me, so I didn¡¯t expect much, but what I used this time was clearly different from what others used.

    In fact, my single skills inflicted fatal damage to the monsters in the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan.

    But this monster appeared in the level 2700 hunting ground, so he didn¡¯t even groan at my attack. Rather, he readily responded to my attacks, then kept swinging the club at me.

    ¡°Alright. You must be a good fit for this level 2700 hunting ground.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t embarrassed, nor did I frown at his attack.

    If I had suffered a lot of damage in this situation, I would have been rather disappointed with myself. So, this time I began to attack him.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Passasak!

    ¡°Ice Tornado! Pouring Hail!¡±

    Patter- Patter-

    At that moment Ice Tornado created a huge gust of wind and started dragging him.

    Of course, the monster struggled not to be dragged by the gust.

    However, the monster made a deep furrow in the ground while struggling, then he was eventually sucked in by the gust. As a result, he was devastated by Ice Tornado and Pouring Hail helplessly.

    A littleter.

    [Kheeeeeeeek!]

    Flop!

    The monster copsed helplessly.

    ¡°Um¡­ am I too strong or are they too weak?¡±

    In the end, it only took me a little longer to kill the monster, but the level 2700 monster was killed when I attacked him like the way I did in the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan.

    Of course, these days, I didn¡¯t even use Ice Field or Thin Ice because I could hunt the monsters using only Blink or Ice Tornado.

    Anyway, I scrutinized the ce where the monster fell, but I had no choice but to smack my lips when I found no dropped coins although I had a 270% higher chance of acquiring coins.

    At that moment something rming was taking ce before my eyes.

    Swoosh-

    Obviously the monster was dead. He did not faint or fall.

    I wasn¡¯t stupid enough not to tell the difference between dead and alive.

    Then a message rang.

    [The Cursed Kin of Abyss has been resurrected.

    -Thebat power of the Cursed Kin of Abyss has increased by 50%.

    -The health of the Cursed Kin of Abyss has increased by 50%.]

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    Of course, the resurrection itself wasn¡¯t a big deal because all the users including me could die and resurrect countless times, even though they had a death penalty. Most recently Jihye Suh was resurrected because she was subordinated to North Korea¡¯s leader Yuljung Kim.

    But the problem right now was that this monster was not the only one who could be resurrected.

    In other words, I felt all the monsters behind him seemed to be able to resurrect in the same way as he was. In fact, he was resurrected. Otherwise, the system would not call this ce a level 2700 hunting ground.

    ¡°Alright. That¡¯s why they call this a level 2700 hunting ground!¡±

    I was a little annoyed because I had to go to the trouble of killing this monster once again, but I took it without anyint.

    Then I started to attack the monster again.

    Thud! Thud! Bang! Bang!

    Of course, the resurrected monster¡¯sbat power increased by 50% was by no means negligible. If I had an increase in mybat power by 50%, I would bepletely different from what I was now, and that¡¯s the same case for the monster in front of me.

 Chapter 344 - Obvious Underestimating (2)

    <h4>Chapter 344: Obvious Underestimating (2)</h4>

    I was a little annoyed because I had to go to the trouble of killing this monster once again, but I took it without anyint.

    Then I started to attack the monster again.

    Thud! Thud! Bang! Bang!

    Of course, the resurrected monster¡¯s 50%bat power increase was by no means negligible. If I had an increase in mybat power by 50%, I would bepletely different to what I was now, and it was the same for the monster in front of me.

    Bang!

    ¡°Well, I can still withstand his attacks¡­¡±

    I had more than 6 million health and 45,000 stamina.

    Besides, my items were in the top 0.1% of all items and could not be taken lightly.

    That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t suffer significant damage from the Cursed Kin of the Abyss¡¯s attacks despite itsbat power being increased by 50%.

    I fought the monster back and forth before I tightened my grip on the +7 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword in my right hand.

    ¡°Great. I¡¯m done scouting out this monster anyway. Let me attack then. Ice Weapon! Blink!¡±

    [You have used level 3 Ice Weapon.

    : The +7 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword has been imbued with cold ice energy.]

    I approached it using Blink, then swung the +7 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword, before immediately retreating.

    ¡°Ice Spear! Ice Punishment!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Bang!

    [Khuuuuuuuk!]

    I attacked the monster repeatedly. But I could not kill it perhaps because of its 50% increase in health. It charged at me again, much faster than before because of its 50% increase inbat power.. But he was still very slowpared to me.

    In particr, Ice Field and Thin Ice that I hadid out were still there to slow down its movement.

    ¡°Multiple Ice Arrows! Ice Wave!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Right after the monster charged at me, I appeared by its side using Blink, then wielded the +7 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    Puck!

    [Kheeeeeeeeeeek!]

    I stabbed its ribs with the +7 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    Since my attack was sessful, I retrieved my sword embedded in the monster¡¯s side and stepped back.

    Of course, I could attack it again because it realized my position only after I took out the sword. However, I used Blink because I could attack it faster by moving to the opposite side rather than striking the same spot repeatedly.

    But I didn¡¯t have to use Blink because the monster could no longer withstand my attacks and copsed.

    Flop!

    The monster copsed because it couldn¡¯t withstand my attack any longer.

    And this time, I found something nearby where the monster copsed, namely, coins.

    ¡°Well, it was pretty strong, but not strong enough to rival me¡­¡±

    Obviously, the monster became stronger after it resurrected, which I noticed immediately.

    But it didn¡¯t be mighty enough to make me feel intimidated or threatened.

    I could defeat it even with mybat power reduced by 20~30% if the debuff restrictions were applied to me.

    Anyway, I was done testing the monster here, so I teleported toward the other monsters using Blink to confront them front on.

    While Juyoung Hong was busy hunting in the level 2700 hunting ground, those strong yers who performed well in various events and quests were also busy in their own hunting grounds. Of course, the regr quests or events also allowed those who were rtively weak to participate, but it was the strong yers who enjoyed the most benefits. However, this time¡¯s event ¡®Collect More Coins Than Others¡¯ drew lots of participants because it was conducted ording to each yer¡¯s evaluated level. This meant that those who were evaluated as rtively weak could stillpete with their strong counterparts.

    But the unexpected appearance of debuffs plunged everybody into a dilemma.

    In order to be included in the top rankings, they had to actively use the restriction, but it was highly likely they could find themselves in a dangerous situation because of their reducedbat power. If they died, their participation in the event woulde to an end.

    Moreover, if they lowered theirbat power by increasing the coin drop frequency and the number of dropped coins, it would slow down their hunting speed greatly. As a result, they moved quickly to find the most effective restriction level for them.

    ***

    At the level 2700 hunting ground Garden of the Gods.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasak!

    First of all, I transformed the terrain into and of ice and poured AOE skills directly on it.

    ¡°Ice Storm! Pouring Hail!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Patter- Patter-

    Of course, I had a couple of skills that were at least twice as powerful as Ice Storm and Pouring Hail, namely, Blizzard and Ice Tornado.

    I was saving those two skills since I expected the real fight to begin only after the monsters were resurrected. Besides, I didn¡¯t have to use them before their resurrection.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t sit idle after using the AOE skills.

    ¡°Ice Ball! Ice Bolt!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Since my Intellect was now over 60,000, my Ice Ball and Ice Bolt achieved zero cooldown like Blink. I endlessly used them against the monsters by alternating between them with Ice Spear and Multiple Ice Arrows.

    Puck! Puck!

    As for those monsters approaching me closely, I used the +7 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword to strike them down one by one.

    Some timeter, however, their fallen bodies raised one by one as if they were zombies. Watching them closely, I found out one important fact.

    Those with only one horn on their foreheads were resurrected once, while those with two horns could be revived twice. I could figure this out as the horn of the one-horned monsters disappeared up on their revival, while the two horns of the two-horned monsters turned into one when they were resurrected.

    That¡¯s why I was not surprised when a two horned monster resurrected for the second time with the following message.

    [The Cursed Kin of the Abyss has been resurrected.

    -Thebat power of the Cursed Kin of the Abyss has increased by 100%.

    -The health of the Cursed Kin of the Abyss has increased by 100%.]

    ¡°Alright. Do whatever you want.¡±

    Regardless of whether they were resurrected once or twice, they could not be my rival as long as I could exercise my full power. The only thing that bothered me was that it took me a little longer to get rid of them.

    Anyway, I continued to hunt in the 2700 level hunting ground as if I were hunting in the level 1500 hunting ground, thinking that the system seemed to have underestimated my strength too much. Of course, it was possible that the system gave me this hunting ground, considering the debuff restrictions.

    At dinner time at the Myongjin Shelter.

    ¡°Alright. Don¡¯t say it. Let me try to guess right!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Obviously, I didn¡¯t say anything about my performance in the level 2700 hunting ground.

    When I was about to take out a chair and sit down at the table, my sister ced her index finger on my lips and spoke to me. Of course, I knew what my sister was trying to talk about.

    In other words, the debuff restrictions.

 Chapter 345 - That Name Again (1)

    <h4>Chapter 345: That Name Again (1)</h4>

    ¡°Um¡­ They must be strong. The monsters that appear in the 2700 level hunting ground are far from weak. But the thing is you¡¯re never weak either, Juyoung. Taking that into ount, you might have a 20% or as much as 30% reduction inbat power?¡±

    But I kept my expression neutral at her question.

    Then she asked immediately, ¡°Oh my God! what? More than that? No way! Since half a day has passed since the event started, everybody has figured out the most effective restriction value ording to their level. Besides, this event has been rumored to favor the weak as even a 10%bat power decrease is significant for a stronger person like you. That¡¯s why I thought yourbat power would not be reduced beyond 30%¡­¡±

    Indeed, 30% reduction inbat power was huge.

    Especially as my sister said, the stronger I was, the more mybat power would decrease.

    So, if the debuff restrictions had been applied to everyone evenly, mybat power would have dropped by 30%, as my sister said.

    Obviously, I could hunt even if mybat power were reduced, but it would certainly stand in the way of me collecting coins quickly because of my slower hunting.

    Anyway, I opened my mouth as if it was not a big deal, picking up the side dish in front of me.

    ¡°90%.¡±

    At that moment not only my sister but also other family members seemed to be embarrassed by my words. While they were at a loss, embarrassed, my sister said, ¡°So, Juyoung, what you mean is that your coin drop frequency and dropped coins are 90% when you set the restrictions to 30%, right?¡±

    Of course, she could interpret it like that.

    So I said clearly, shaking my head, ¡°No, my restrictions are 90%. Of course, the coin drop frequency and dropped coins are 270%.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Everybody at the dinner table became silent at my words.

    As if he noticed something, however, my brother said, with his eyes twinkling.

    ¡°Thanks to that trait?¡±

    Of course, I once mentioned ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs¡¯ to my family.

    And I tested the trait, too. But they didn¡¯t seem to think that it would work for me this time.

    To be honest, I did not, either.

    So I nodded at him slowly.

    ¡°Wow, are you serious? You mean your trait has worked, right? This must be a scam!¡±

    Obviously this could be called a scam, as my sister just said.

    So, I simply shrugged my shoulders without refuting her.

    ¡°Gosh, you won first ce again.¡±

    She was grumbling when I reacted calmly.

    p!

    At that moment my mother pped her on the back

    ¡°Ouch!¡±

    ¡°Howe you are grumbling like that instead of congratting your brother for doing well?¡±

    ¡°What I mean is he is winning all the time, not just once!¡±

    Of course, I knew she was not serious because she was always the happiest when she heard I won first ce in events or quests.

    So I said jokingly, ¡°Dad, if there is another level 1200 regr quest, why don¡¯t you rule her out? There are a lot who can rece her, right?¡±

    The level 1200 regr quest was one to defend the shelter with only one thing they had, regardless of whether it was their item or stat or trait.

    At that time everybody did their best to win first ce, but it was my trait, God of Enhancement, that decisively helped our team clear the quest. As a result, the 10 participants of our team received enormous rewards.

    Moreover, unlike the level 400 and level 800 regr quests, those above level 1200 could also participate in the level 1200 regr quest, so it was one of the quests that I had been looking forward to once again.

    At that moment my sister suddenly coughed up and said, ¡°Juyoung, I honestly trusted you. Perhaps you don¡¯t know how much I prayed for you to win first ce this time, too.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha¡±

    Instead of responding to her ttery, I just smiled at her mischievously.

    Anyway we had a good time teasing my sister until dinner was over.

    Of course, after dinner, I essed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ again and moved to the level 2700 hunting ground Garden of Gods for hunting.

    The next day, and again the next day.

    In the level 2700 hunting ground Garden of Gods.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    [Kheeeeeeeek!]

    [Khuuuuuuuuk!]

    I just kept hunting, not caring about whether they had one or two horns, or whether they were resurrected or not, or whether mybat power increased by 50% or 100% because of that.

    When the cooldown of high-level skills such as Blizzard or Ice Tornado did note back because of my hunted hunting, I kept using Blink to move to the front or side of the monsters to brandish the +7 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword backed up by Ice Weapon.

    When I sessfully stabbed them, ice flowers bloomed where it was stuck.

    Of course, that didn¡¯t do much damage to them because the ice was smashed every time they moved around.

    But that didn¡¯t mean there was no damage at all, so I continued to stab them with the sword, not caring about it.

    In the meantime, I also continued to use skills such as Ice Ball and Ice Bolt that had no cooldown because my Intellect was over 60,000.

    Anyway this was like a model hunting ground showing people what the toughest hunting looked like. But there was only one thing in this hunting ground that I regretted a lot.

    In other words, this hunting ground offered no EXP because this was a limited event.

    Except for coins, not a single item was dropped, let alone misceneous items.

    Of course, I had no lingering affection for items or misceneous items.

    But I really longed for EXP.

    In particr, considering that this was a level 2700 hunting ground, I was confident that I could get lots of EXP, but I was so disappointed that I didn¡¯t get anything.

    ¡°Well, this is an event anyway.¡±

    I tried to shake off my disappointment byforting myself like that.

    Even if I regretted it further, this ce would not offer EXP to me anyway.

    Anyway, I continued hunting.

    It¡¯s already the fifth day since the ¡®Collect More Coins Than Others¡¯ event started.

    In the No.9 hunting ground for level 13000.

    ¡°Hey, get rid of the monsterspletely! Our restrictions are 80%, so if you don¡¯t do it right, we are finished!¡±

    ¡°I know. So, just step back!¡±

    Two guys were picking a quarrel there.

    Since each yer was given a hunting ground befitting their level, I had no choice but to question why there were two in one hunting ground.

    However, the two men conversed with each other naturally, as if they didn¡¯t think it was not strange at all to be in the same hunting ground.

    Of course, they sometimes used abusivenguage in the middle of their conversation.

    ¡°You idiot! Don¡¯t you remember we were almost killed by the monster that suddenly appeared before us! If you die here, it¡¯s over!¡±

    ¡°Damn it! Can¡¯t you reduce the restrictions to 70%? 80% is too dangerous.¡±

    ¡°No way! There are definitely some who have some bizarre traits like ours, ¡®Always Together,¡¯ so I think it¡¯s a pity we couldn¡¯t upgrade it to 90%.¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s me who is actually hunting now!¡±

    ¡°You can use your natural abilities right now. So, go for it!¡±

    ¡°Shit!¡±

 Chapter 346 - That Name Again (2)

    <h4>Chapter 346: That Name Again (2)</h4>

    Of course, this didn¡¯t just happen only in the No. 9 hunting ground.

    The same thing was happening in the Region 31 and the Region 17 hunting grounds as well because the yers there had traits like ¡®summon¡¯ or ¡®connection.¡¯

    However, it was impossible for them to summon too many people to their hunting grounds.

    No matter how many of them were connected to each other, each yer was allocated a specific hunting ground, and they could only summon one person in there with them.

    In any case, all the outstanding yers in each hunting ground struggled really hard to win first ce. Why? Because of what happened in Osaka, Japan, they knew that monsters were not the only ones appearing on Earth, and that they might die tomorrow if they were weak. And the surest and fastest way for them to get stronger was to win first ce in events or quests.

    Six days after the event began.

    Since there were only two days left, including today, I hunted in the 2700 level hunting ground while paying attention to the remaining time.

    At that moment, a message rang suddenly.

    [Hello. This is ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    ¨C There are two days left for the ongoing event ¡®Collect More Coins Than Others¡¯ taking ce inmemoration of allowing coin drops in all hunting grounds.

    ¨C To encourage yourst-ditch efforts, we have decided to disclose thetest rankings of the participating yers in all the castles and cities.

    -Thank you.]

    ¡°Wow¡­¡±

    Obviously, everyone was curious about who had collected the most coins until now.

    Of course, those who won 2nd and 3rd ce would also draw their attention.

    Until now, since nobody knew for sure unless the involved yers revealed their number of coins first, there were all kinds of rumors going around such as one that said that some had obtained five or six thousand coins. To be honest, I was a little curious.

    So I wanted to log out right now and check the rankings.

    But I didn¡¯t because I knew who obtained the coins the most.

    ¡°Well, I know who it is even without checking it.¡±

    If I had to single out the days when I yed the game most passionately, it was during the Closed Beta period called ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ right before the current ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    During that time, I limited my sleep to two hours to achieve level 300, which was the max level at that time during the 3rd Closed Beta.

    My hectic hunting these days reminded me of those days.

    What¡¯s more, I was receiving a 270% increase in coin drop frequency and number of dropped coins because of my tremendous 90% restrictions.

    Of course, there may be somebody like me who set the restriction to 90% in an extraordinary way that I was not aware of.

    Nheless, I was definitely sure I would win first ce.

    So I resumed hunting monsters again, for I could get others to confirm the rankings for me.

    In the central square of Roel Castle in Region 9.

    The twin brothers, Connie and Cota, who had the trait, ¡®Always Together¡¯, moved to the central square of Roel Castle with great anticipation.

    While heading there, younger brother Cota asked Connie.

    ¡°We have won, right? You have hunted in the level 1300 hunting ground all day long with 80% restrictions.¡±

    ¡°Well, I do not know yet. Obviously, there are some with remarkable capabilities that we don¡¯t know. Asirante is one such guy.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Asirante can¡¯t beat us. We hunted in a ce with a whopping 80% restrictions. That¡¯s why we collected 8725 coins in 5 days.¡±

    ¡°I know. But don¡¯t count your chickens before they are hatched!¡±

    When brother Connie said that, Cota didn¡¯t respond. When they got to the square, they noticed a huge sign which was not there before.

    [Scoreboard for the ¡®Collect More Coins Than Others¡¯ event.

    -The number of the coins you obtain is reflected here in real time.

    1st ce: Region 11 ¨C Asirante.

    -Acquired Coins: 32,711.

    2nd ce: Region 31 ¨C ¨C Mellow

    -Acquired Coins: 8,822.

    3rd ce: Region 9 ¨C Connie

    -Acquired Coins: 8,725.

    4th ce: Region 17 ¨C Kleta.

    -Acquired Coins: 8,581.

    :

    :

    10th ce: Region 11 ¨C Cyan.

    -Acquired Coins: 7,971.]

    ¡°Ugh? We¡¯re only 3rd ce! And there is only about 100 coins between 2nd and 3rd ce.¡±

    The younger brother, Cota, looked at the scoreboard and shouted excitedly.

    Then he continued, shaking his head from side to side.

    ¡°What the heck is this? Asirante with only 3000 coins is currently in 1st ce? Man, isn¡¯t he crazy because he wins every time? His name appears too often in events and quests!¡±

    As if he couldn¡¯t believe the scoreboard, Cota eximed in disbelief, questioning how Asirante could win 1st ce with only 3000 coins, not even 8000 coins.

    But his elder brother Connie opened his mouth with a trembling voice.

    ¡°Look at it carefully! It¡¯s not 3000, but 30,000!¡±

    ¡°Uh?¡±

    Only then did Cota look at the number of the coins next to the name Asirante.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    He could not utter a word in astonishment.

    The gap in the number of coins between the 1st ce and 3rd ce was too wide for the Connie brothers to catch up.

    Then, Cota said in a low voice, ¡°Shit! How can we achieve that level? We certainly did our best, right? But the results are¡­¡±

    Younger brother Cota could not finish his words, as if he was shocked.

    Of course, it was not just the Connie brothers who showed such a reaction.

    Not only those who made it to the ranking list, but also those who failed to do so felt the same thing because the gap between 1st and 2nd ce was many times bigger than the one between 2nd and 10th ce. So much so that they could not catch up with 1st ce at all.

    There was still one more day left until the end of the event.

    However, my family members and Director Sok already began to celebrate as if I had already won.

    ¡°You did a great job, Juyoung!¡±

    ¡°Look, I told you I was praying hard for you to win 1st ce, right?¡±

    ¡°You really worked hard.¡±

    ¡°Congrattions, Juyoung!¡±

    Not only my family members but also Director Sok congratted me in advance.

    Of course, the event was not over yet, so they might have been celebrating my stunning achievement too early, but the gap between me and the 2nd ce guys was too big.

    So much so that I didn¡¯t have to feel it necessary to hunt again tomorrow.

    Since I became convinced of my victory after checking the situation, I didn¡¯t reject their congrattions, and shared their joy.

    At the level 2700 hunting ground Garden of the Gods the next day.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    I took it for granted that I would win 1st ce, just like I used to.

    But I kept hunting as before because I could not afford to becent and ck off just because I was most likely to win. Besides, I might not be able to see these kinds of monsters again.

    While I was fully into hunting, a message rang suddenly.

 Chapter 347 - Burden (1)

    <h4>Chapter 347: Burden (1)</h4>

    [The one-week ¡®Collect More Coins Than Others¡¯ event has ended.

    ¨C yers in the top 10 will receive rewards ording to the number of coins they acquired during this one week.]

    1st ce: Region 11 ¨C Asirante.

    -Acquired Coins: 36,852.

    2nd ce: Region 31 ¨C Mellow.

    -Acquired Coins: 10,155.

    3rd ce: Region 9 ¨C Connie.

    -Acquired coins: 9,931.

    4th ce: Region 17 ¨C Kleta.

    -Acquired coins: 9,722.

    :

    :

    10th ce: Region 11 ¨C Cyan.

    -Acquired Coins: 8,753.]

    [Since the ¡®Collect More Coins Than Others¡¯ event has now ended, you will now be forcibly exited from the level 2700 hunting ground Garden of the Gods.]

    Then a series of messages rang in a row.

    The message continued to ring even after I left the level 2700 hunting ground Garden of the Gods, and moved to Rodon Castle, the home base of the Myongjin Guild.

    [Congrattions!

    -Lumen, Asirante won 1st ce in the ¡®Collect More Coins Than Others¡¯ event.

    ¨C As a reward, you receive the following:

    : A significant amount of EXP.

    : 2 billion golden rings.

    : 1000 remaining stat points.

    : 20,000 coins.]

    After I checked the rewards, I realized one thing clearly. The rewards were literally eye-opening.

    Even though the reward didn¡¯t mention it, I acquired a whopping 36,852 coins during just this one week event period.

    In other words, if I added the 20,000 coins that I obtained as the reward, the total would be 56,852 coins.

    Besides, I received a whopping 1,000 remaining stat potions. It wasrger than any stat point reward I had acquired in events or quests until now.

    Moreover, I was immediately attracted to the considerable amount of EXP at the top of the reward list. Perhaps because of that, messages rang one after another.

    [You have leveled up.]

    [You have leveled up.]

    :

    :

    [You have leveled up.]

    ¡°Hahaha!¡±

    If I had to pick one message that I heard the most while ying ¡®Revival Legend¡¯, it was this one.

    I never got sick and tired despite hearing it over and over again.

    After I burst intoughter over it heartily, I said quietly, ¡°Check status window.¡±

    [Level: 1344

    Number of kills: 11582, Number of deaths: 0

    Titles: Only Closed Beta Max Level Achiever and 11 others.

    Health: 6,253,000 / 6,253,000

    Mana: 4,258,000 / 4,258,000

    Strength: 9574 Agility: 11231 Stamina: 46270

    Willpower: 32949 Intellect: 61847

    Remaining stat points: 1440

    Remaining skill points: 0

    Traits: Iceman, Mutual Growth, God of Enhancement, All Buffs & All Debuffs]

    Right before the start of this event, I reached level 1300, which was by no means low. But now I leveled up a whopping 44 times.

    Looking at my status window, I couldpletely shake off all my regrets that I had over theck of EXP in the level 2700 hunting ground where I had been hunting.

    No matter how many EXP points I would have received from the monsters there, it was obvious that I would not have raised even five or ten levels, let alone 44 levels.

    Anyway, with a broad smile on my face, I invested a total of 1440 remaining stat points in Intellect. Naturally, my stamina increased by 1440, and my willpower increased by 720.

    I was about to log out for a small party thrown for me to celebrate my victory when something came to mind suddenly.

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t need to dy confirming the number of my coins, right?¡±

    [Total coins avable.

    -56852.01.]

    Just before the event started, I had about 500 tradable coins after raising my reality actualization rate to 85%.

    But I handed all of them to my father. In fact, I didn¡¯t have to be greedy for 500 coins because I received 100,000 stone squirrels¡¯ undigested mineral masses from him, which was equivalent to 100,000 coins. So I had zero coins at the start of this event one week ago. But now, I had as many as 56,000 coins

    So I checked my reality actualization rate with a happy smile.

    Since I already achieved a 85% reality actualization rate, I needed a whopping 9000 coins to increase it by even 1%. It was true that I needed a lot of coins, but everyone needed arge number of coins to increase their reality actualization rate, so I spent them without any reservation. I needed to use exactly 45,000 coins to reach 90%.

    [You currently have the level 1200 privilege ¡®Reality Actualization¡¯.

    -Currently, Lumen, Asirante¡¯s reality actualization rate is 90%.

    -In order to reach 100% reality actualization rate, you need to spend 10,000 coins per 1%.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I already achieved a whopping 90% reality actualization rate.

    At first, I had to question whether it was possible for me to achieve 90%, let alone100%, because I realized I needed more and more coins to increase my reality actualization rate as it got higher.

    So I could not help but be filled with emotions when I finally achieved 90%.

    But my joy didn¡¯tst long because with 11852.01 coins, it was even difficult for me to achieve a little over 90%.

    So I used 10,000 more out of the remaining coins to raise my reality actualization to 91%, then logged out.

    After that, I enjoyed a small celebration party that my family and close acquaintances of mine, including Director Sok, threw for me.

    At the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan the next day.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    I went back to the hunting ground in a week.

    But I didn¡¯t feel excited like before. Of course, I knew the reason.

    In other words, my hunting experience here was clearlycking.

    Obviously, I was pretty much impressed by the resurrection of the monsters in the event hunting ground.

    So although hunting was fun, it wasn¡¯t exciting.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t ck off on hunting just because it was not exciting because I knew that ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ I was ying was not just an ordinary game.

    Regardless of whether it was exciting or not, I had to keep hunting because I needed to raise my level to be stronger than now.

    15 dayster.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t just keep hunting for 15 days.

    I also did a sweep of the vicinity of the Myongjin Shelter with the security personnel.

    Then suddenly, a message rang in reality when I was not connected to ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    [Lumen, Asirante has been given a chance to join the Borneche expedition.

    -Would you like to join the Borneche expedition?

    -If you do not make a decision within 5 seconds, you will be considered as not interested, and the opportunity will be given to another user.

    ¨C This message is ringing to an unspecified number of users.

    -5 seconds, 4 seconds, 3 seconds, 2 seconds.]

    ¡°Let me join!¡±

    Was I surprised because I heard the message in reality, and not within the game?

    Well, not really.

    As a matter of fact, I had heard this type of message many times in reality, but the problem was I was required to make the decision within 5 seconds without knowing the details.

    So it might have been better if I had declined it.

    But this was also a kind of event or quest. Moreover, although it was not exactly the same, I heard that the Dungeon of Ordeal in Indonesia and the statue that the Holdridge Group acquired numerous tradable coins from appeared in a simr way.

 Chapter 348 - Burden (2)

    <h4>Chapter 348: Burden (2)</h4>

    I didn¡¯t know why this quest was given to me, but it was too good for me to give it up.

    Besides, I was aware of who Borneche was, or what kind of guild it was.

    They were one of the top three guilds in Russia.

    ¡°I guess this means that they proceeded with a quest after finding it.¡±

    Anyway, when I chose to join the expedition, an additional message rang.

    [You will be transferred to a new continent in one hour.]

    I immediately informed my father and Director Sok of that message because it would take me quite a while to move there. So I spent time preparing for the expedition, and exactly an hourter, the message rang again.

    [You are now moving to a new continent.]

    At that moment, I felt as if my body was being dragged somewhere, and soon arge number of people appeared before my eyes.

    ¡°Where am I now?¡±

    ¡°Uh? I was just washing the dishes, and now I am suddenly here!¡±

    ¡°I was standing guard in a refugee camp¡­¡±

    ¡°Shit! What the hell is going on?¡±

    Lots of people wereining, at a loss what to do next.

    Obviously, I received the message stating that I was given the opportunity to participate in the Borneche expedition, and that this opportunity would be given to another user if I didn¡¯t answer within 5 seconds. So I thought that the message would only ring for those who had a= ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ ount, or more precisely, those who have raised their reality actualization rate, for it clearly rang in reality.

    But there were a fairlyrge number of ordinary people around me.

    Moreover, it seemed that they were forced to move here without receiving the message that gave me a choice.

    At that moment, somebody shouted.

    [Hi, everybody, please calm down!]

    There were some standing in an orderly manner on one side.

    At a nce, I knew that they belonged to the Borneche Guild that organized this expedition.

    As expected, the man announced something important.

    [My name is Andrei, and I am the deputy leader of the Borneche Guild. First of all, if you have responded to this quest voluntarily by raising your reality actualization rate, please step forward.]

    As soon as the man named Andrei said that, some people from the crowd began to move towards the ce where he was. They were the ones who had raised their reality actualization rate.

    When those who achieved their reality actualization rate gathered in one ce, naturally, those who were left behind started toin.

    From the point of view of ordinary people who had no power, they could not help but question the motivations of the expedition organizers.

    So I waited with them instead of stepping forward.

    The Borneche Guild didn¡¯t even know I was there because this quest did not seem to specify participants.

    Then the guy named Andrei continued.

    [Let me tell you once again. You don¡¯t have to think about this in aplicated way. And this quest is also simple. All you have to do is move to the target point and get out of here. So we need to join hands because the stronger we are, the more safe it is for us to get out of here. So you guys have chosen to participate in this quest for rewards, right?]

    What he said was still vague. More precisely, what he said was applicable only to those who had achieved a reality actualization rate.

    So I could figure out easily what he was trying to get across to us.

    At that moment, somebody from those ordinary participants shouted in anger.

    ¡°Then why did you bring us when we are powerless?¡±

    ¡°Are we going with you too?¡±

    It was natural that they asked such questions.

    In fact, the Borneche Guild should have mentioned it first.

    But Andrei made some poor excuses.

    [Um¡­ I¡¯m sorry about that. As a matter of fact, we only wanted those who have reality actualization rate. We didn¡¯t think that ordinary people like you could be forced toe over here. Moreover, the ce outside is quite dangerous, so we can¡¯t move while protecting you guys.]

    ¡°What the hell are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°We didn¡¯te here because we wanted to!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡±

    ¡°Anyway, isn¡¯t it because of the Borneche Guild that we are here now?¡±

    ¡°The Borneche Guild must take responsibility for us until the end.¡±

    They could not help but vent their anger when Andrei tried to appease them with lukewarm apologies.

    Then Andrei shouted firmly.

    [I made it clear to you that I¡¯m sorry.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Of course,pared to those who had raised their reality actualization rate who could pour fire and ice from their hands or cut thick rocks as easily as radishes with a sword in their hand, ordinary people were quite weak. So when Andrei frowned at them fiercely, they immediately became silent as if they didn¡¯tin at all.

    A heavy silence fell.

    But Andrei, the deputy leader of the Borneche Guild, who silenced them in an instant, continued casually as if theirints were trivial.

    [I¡¯m really sorry if anyone here felt offended by my words. But, as you all know, you are in reality, not within ¡®Revival Legend.¡¯ In other words, it is over when you die. But you havee to this ce even though you already know this? Why? Because you want to be a little stronger faster than others. I think all of you know what happened in Osaka, Japan.]

    Even though he beat around the bush, his main point was that the Borneche Guild didn¡¯t want to care about the ordinary participants.

    As soon as he said that, some others who had stood still among the crowds of ordinary participants began to head to the ce where those who achieved their reality actualization rate gathered.

    Obviously, what he said was very provocative, but very calcted.

    That¡¯s why there were a lot who hesitated while watching closely how others would respond.

    However, the reason they came here even at the risk of their lives was because they wanted to be a little stronger faster than others.

    So they had no choice but to agree with Andrei¡¯s message, who was clever enough to notice it.

    After that, Andrei shouted to those who moved out of the ordinary participants and joined those who raised their reality actualization rate.

    [I would like to ask you to tell us about your level within Revival Legend and your current reality actualization rate and the items that you have already actualized in reality. Oh, please don¡¯t misunderstand me. I¡¯m not asking you for such information with some bad intentions. I just want to treat you fairly based on your capabilities. Surely you don¡¯t want those with capability 10 and capability 100 to be treated equally right, right? Of course, our expedition members will also reveal their level and capabilities to you. Only that way will we be able to build the safest formation by dividing you into tanks, dealers, healers, and enchanters.]

    As soon as he announced it, there was some murmuring among those who raised their reality actualization rate, but it didn¡¯tst long because the roles assigned to each individual were different depending on their abilities. For example, healers and enchanters cannot be assigned to the vanguard.

    Watching them hesitating, Andrei opened his mouth again, looking at the group of ordinary people where I currently stood.

 Chapter 349 - Burden (3)

    <h4>Chapter 349: Burden (3)</h4>

    [If anyone has not yet made a decision because you are tender-hearted, now is yourst chance. Once we form the expedition team and leave this ce, we will not return. So please join us now. I will particrly wee those who are proud of their abilities or have some recognition. Of course, I am willing to treat you ordingly.]

    What he said was almost an ultimatum.

    Then exactly ten men moved out of the ordinary crowds. Among them was one guy familiar to me. He was the leader of the Orl¨¦ans Guild representing France.

    [Gosh! I¡¯m so sorry I didn¡¯t recognize you. I hope that I didn¡¯t disregard you too much. Pleasee this way.]

    Andrei changed his attitude in an instant.

    It was no wonder he did so. The Orleans Guild was recognized not only in France but across Europe, so its leader was very famous. So much so that I knew him, too.

    But after he stepped out from the crowd, no others did so. Then Andrei immediately took his eyes off them and did not pay any more attention. He just neglected them. Not only Andrei but also the Borneche Guild members, and about 500 who joined who had raised their reality actualization rate did the same.

    ¡°What should we do from now on?¡±

    ¡°Are we going to be abandoned here and die?¡±

    ¡°Shit! I¡¯ve not survived until now to die like this!¡±

    ¡°Mom¡­¡±

    ¡°Dad¡­¡±

    Naturally, the ordinary people varied greatly in gender and age, ranging from children to adults. As a result, the anger of some in one corner spread to the others in an instant.

    At that moment, Andrei announced a final message.

    [All those who joined the expedition team, please move toward the entrance.]

    As if he was not interested in those left behind, Andrei was about to move to a different ce. Then he opened his mouth, looking towards the crowds of ordinary people where I was.

    [Of course, you are wee to follow us as long as you can.]

    How can ordinary people follow those with a reality actualization rate?

    That was impossible. Absolutely impossible.

    Anyway, the fact that they had raised their reality actualization rate meant that they had reached level 1200. So even if their reality actualization rate was only 1%, and they only got 1% of their stats including stamina, it would already put them far beyond ordinary people. That was the case even for wizards with the lowest stamina. Moreover, although reaching level 1200 was not as rare as before, it was still a very high level, so everyone who had reached it must have obtained thousands of coins by growing that much.

    Lastly, Andrei said something to the ordinary crowds as if tofort them.

    [Oh, you don¡¯t have to worry too much. The safety zone at the departure point here will be maintained for one more week.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    HIs words didn¡¯tfort them at all, and made them even more saddened and frustrated.

    Then why did I still remain in the ordinary group?

    Of course, I had several reasons.

    However, what was certain was that, as Andrei said, I was not so tender-hearted as not to abandon the ordinary participants here. Even though what he said was radical, he was not wrong, strictly speaking.

    I didn¡¯t know what the situation was in the past, but the worth of each participant in this quest was definitely different, depending on whether they were an ordinary person, whether they had a ¡°Revival Legend¡¯ ount, or whether they had raised their reality actualization rate.

    So, I had no intention of ming Andrei as well as those who followed him for abandoning the nearly 10,000 ordinary participants.

    Anyway, the reason I did not join Andrei¡¯s group was because a message rang the moment I moved over here.

    [You have participated in the quest of ¡®Borneche Expedition¡¯.

    ¨C The Borneche Expedition discovered a new continent. However, they had no choice but to end the expedition after encountering the second gate. In other words, the second gate had a very powerful gatekeeperpared to the first gate. So, the Borneche expedition returned to the starting point, defeated the first gatekeeper, and then used the ¡®Flute Calling for Reinforcements¡¯ they originally thought unnecessary when they obtained it first.

    : Escape the New World.

    -Even if you belong to the Borneche expedition, you must seed in escaping in person to receive the reward.

    -Differential rewards are given ording to the order of escape.]

    This was literally a quest that required the participants to escape from the new continent.

    And the message clearly said that different rewards would be given depending on the order of the participants¡¯ escape. Of course, if I joined the expedition and demonstrated my skills fully, I would be the first to escape from the new continent. And if anyone objected or blocked my escape attempt, I would dly defeat them with force.

    So I was willing to join the expedition at first, for as Andrei said, I was more important than the 1,000 ordinary participants.

    But then a man and a woman caught my eye while I was looking around.

    To be honest, I regretted it a little that I looked around. If I had not, I would just have joined them and left this ce.

    But they were none other than the father and mother of my brother¡¯s wife.

    So I approached them and grabbed both their hands. They were startled when they noticed who I was.

    ¡°Oh, my son-inw!¡±

    ¡°Howe¡­¡±

    Instead of responding to them, I put my index finger to my lips.

    Then I moved outside and asked them first, ¡°How did you get here?¡±

    I liked my brother¡¯s wife as a family member because she was very wise, prudent, and good at seeing reason. And I could see why she had such a personality after watching her parents¡¯ words and deeds.

    Her parents had climbed to a position where no one from the Myongjin Guild could treat them recklessly. But they rejected it. They chose to stay in the second base instead of the first base which was safer and more spacious, which was safer and more spacious than other ces.

    They didn¡¯t even leak it to the outsiders that their daughter got married to the eldest son of the Myongjin Guild chairman, let alone boasting of it.

    In other words, they seemed to be very concerned about doing any damage to Myongjin¡¯s reputation because of their words and actions.

    So I really couldn¡¯t abandon them, for I didn¡¯t want to see my brother¡¯s wife as well as my sister who was close to her cry over their disappearanceter.

    Of course, I would have abandoned them if I had not beenpetent enough, for I had to take care of my own interests, no matter what.

    When I asked them how they got here, her father said, ¡°I was at the library of the Myongjin Shelter when all this happened. I was there because I took up being in charge of the library as a pastime. But suddenly, I felt like I was being dragged somewhere, and when I opened my eyes, I was here.¡±

    He was formerly a university professor, so I knew that he was in charge of the library located inside the Myongjin Shelter.

 Chapter 350 - Burden (4)

    <h4>Chapter 350: Burden (4)</h4>

    Then her mother said, ¡°I was cleaning the house and just like my husband, I felt like I was being dragged somewhere , and when I opened my eyes¡­¡±

    Both of them experienced the same thing. They were forcibly dragged here.

    So I slightly nodded at them, and asked another question.

    ¡°Did you hear a message about inviting you to join the Borneche Expedition?¡±

    ¡°No, I never heard it.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t hear it either!¡±

    ¡°Um¡­¡±

    As Andrei said, the ordinary people were dragged here forcibly instead ofing voluntarily.

    ¡°Alright. Both of you, please move with me. I can include you in the expedition under my name.¡±

    Of course, I could take perfect care of them while moving by myself, but it was safer to have them included in the expedition group because they had around 1,000 members, including 500 from the Borneche Guild and 500 who joined as people who had raised their reality actualization rate.

    Moreover, if they realized who I was, it would be a piece of cake for me to include them in the expedition group.

    But then my sister-inw¡¯s father said, ¡°No, I can¡¯t do that. All the people here have been dragged here like me without any reason. Even though I have nothing to do with them, how can I abandon them just so that I alone can survive? Of course, I¡¯m not saying that you should be responsible for all of them because you didn¡¯t expect this situation at all. So hurry up and go with that expedition!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    To be honest, I predicted he might decline my suggestion because I knew his personality and character. So I did not get mad.

    Instead, I asked him again, ¡°Are you certain?¡±

    ¡°Of course, I am. But please take care of my daughter Unji, your brother¡¯s wife. Don¡¯t tell her what happened here. Just assume you and I never met here, okay? You don¡¯t have to feel guilty about this. As Andre said, your life is at stake in this expedition, so just focus on yourself,¡± he said firmly.

    But his wife began to shed tears, after all.

    ¡°Come on, why are you crying? After we married off Unji, we have been leading a happy life until now, right? Juyoung, just leave us alone here and follow them quickly.¡±

    I am extremely strong. So much so that it was more difficult to find someone who didn¡¯t know my namepared to those that did.

    But my sister-inw¡¯s father seemed like he didn¡¯t know exactly how strong I was. Actually, they probably knew it.

    I was sure he must have heard my name because he was living in the Myongjin Shelter.

    But I could feel how worried he was about my safety because something bad might happen to me because of them.

    This time his wife said, ¡°Yes, he¡¯s right. Just follow them quickly!¡±

    Even when she stopped crying and begged me to join the expedition, I felt a little ashamed because I thought of abandoning them deep down.

    ¡°Whew¡­¡±

    Even though they were the inws of my family, they were not my father and mother, after all. Of course, even now, I could have carried them on my back and joined the expedition.

    At this point, I started thinking about some other ideas.

    In other words, I thought of saving all the innocent people who were forcibly dragged here.

    Of course, they would think that I was crazy considering this, but I was confident that I was strong enough to do so. Maybe I might not win 1st ce and the corresponding rewards, but I thought I could ept it just once.

    After the Borneche Expedition left, those left behind began toin here and there.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to die here¡­¡±

    ¡°Why me? Why me?¡±

    ¡°Borneche bastards! You human scum!¡±

    ¡°I will get even with you! Even if I die, I will definitely take revenge on you!¡±

    When the Borneche Expedition disappeared, they vented their pent-up sadness and resentment.

    And I just watched them quietly, letting them vent their anger and frustration without stopping them.

    I understood how frustrated they felt after being summoned to this dangerous ce against their will, so it was only natural that they were choked with overflowing anger after being abandoned.

    Even if I tried to organize them to catch up with the expedition, I could not because the people here included seniors as well as children. And even if all the people here were strong adults, they could not catch up with the expedition, given that they were just ordinary people with no reality actualization rate.

    Andrei, the deputy leader of the Borneche Guild, told them that they could follow the expedition if they wanted to, but he would not wee them because they were just ordinary people. Most likely, some of the people who joined the expedition group out of the desire to be stronger than others felt guilty about the fact that they left almost 10,000 ordinary people behind in a dangerous ce. In fact, there were quite a few people who hesitated to get out of the group of ordinary people.

    In that respect, this ordinary people¡¯s group was just a burden to the expedition in Andrei¡¯s eyes.

    So I just watched them cry and scream without interfering so that they could calm down after fully expressing all their pent-up emotions.

    Several hours passed.

    Since they had almost all stopped crying, I passed by them and moved to the podium where Andrei stood before. Then I started speaking to them who were looking at me suspiciously.

    [Hello! First of all, let me introduce myself. My name is Juyoung Hong from the Myongjin Guild. But I am also known as Asirante.]

    ¡°Uh?¡±

    ¡°Juyoung Hong?¡±

    ¡°Asirante?¡±

    ¡°I wonder if he is the same guy who killed the monsters in Osaka, Japan¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you know he is the most famous person in ¡®Revival Legend¡¯!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! I¡¯ve heard his name, too. I was told he is the strongest person on Earth¡­¡±

    They erupted into a big fuss about my real identity.

    But I just let them whisper among themselves for some time, for I was not in a hurry because I had already given up on my desire for first ce, and the safety zone wouldst for one week.

    Given that this was a huge group of 10,000, there were wise as well as foolish people among them. Some of them were quick-witted, but there were also dumb people.

    Fortunately the wise and quick-witted outnumbered the dumb because those who just shouted, telling me to save them as if I was duty bound to do so, gradually decreased.

    Of course, I would save them anyway. Actually, I had to save them unconditionally.

    If I hadn¡¯t revealed my identity from the beginning, I would not have been pressured to save them. But I already gave them a ray of hope, so if I decided to take my hands off now, it was certain that they would direct all the anger, frustration and curses intended for the Borneche Guild toward me.

    And I couldn¡¯t me them because they were now in a situation where they fell in deep water, so it was only natural for them to try their best to catch even the straw.

    Of course, that didn¡¯t mean that I had to pay attention to their feelings and moods.

    So, I looked at them with an emotionless expression, or more precisely, with an arrogant expression.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

 Chapter 351 - Burden (5)

    <h4>Chapter 351: Burden (5)</h4>

    They quickly quietened down.

    So I announced firmly, ¡°We will depart in exactly five days. So, please calm down and take a good rest. In the meantime, form a group of at least ten people first, then gather ten groups to form 100, then the 100 member groups join to form 1,000, andstly a team of 10,000 epassing all the teams. However, if you oppress or use threats to form a group, I will leave you behind. I hope you can be wise enough to include the children and elderly in your group, so I won¡¯t desert you because I got annoyed by theposition of your team.¡±

    Of course, I could speak to them a little more gently, or I could encourage or praise them.

    But I was not here on a fun pic with 10,000 people. I needed to escape this ce teeming with monsters. So, I decided that it¡¯s better to take a tough stance toward them.

    After that, I didn¡¯t pay any attention to them because I already made my message very clear to them. If my message was not strong enough to convince them, I could teach them a lesson by taking action.

    Five dayster.

    The crowd of 10,000 people was much smarter and more quick-witted than I thought.

    As I requested, they formed groups of 10, 100, 1000, and finally 10,000, and they made sure each team had a good mix of men and women, old and young, so there was nobody left behind.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t just sit idle while they were busy forming groups.

    Using Fly and Blink with zero cooldown, I checked the location of the Borneche Expedition and spied on their activities secretly. Unfortunately, I had to stop spying at the first gate because they got rid of the gatekeeper there and already crossed the gate.

    So I went straight to the gate.

    Then a message rang.

    [If you pass the first gate, you will be moved to the 2nd stage.

    -If you want to move back to the 1st stage after moving to the 2nd stage, you are required to wait five days.]

    It took the Borneche Expedition about two days to move from the starting point to the first gate.

    And if I followed them to the first gate and moved to the 2nd stage, I would need five days of cooldown to move back to 1st stage where the starting point was located.

    I had no problem with such a long cooldown, given that the safety zone at the entry point wouldst seven days, but if I didn¡¯t appear for five days during the cooldown, these 10,000 people would have no choice but to feel not only nervous but also scared, no matter how well I exined to them about the situation. In particr, they might feel that I abandoned them, so I stopped thinking about it.

    Anyway, they were standing right before me in an orderly manner.

    I shouted, ¡°Move, everybody!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    As if they thought they didn¡¯t waste the past five days, all of the 10,000 people responded loudly.

    A littleter.

    Even if they bundled up in close groups, it was inevitable that 10,000 formed a huge group when they moved. Of course, I could protect them from the monsters, using Blink with zero cooldown, but it was really a big task for me.

    Did I go to the trouble of teleporting back and forth to take care of them?

    No, I didn¡¯t, because I had something that could save me the trouble.

    It was none other than the roots.

    Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Kheeeeeeel!¡±

    ¡°Khuuuuuuuuk!¡±

    ¡°Kehek!¡±

    Watching the monsters copse at the attack of the roots, the ordinary people shouted in excitement and admiration.

    ¡°Wow!

    ¡°Look at all the monsters copsing at a single strike!¡±

    ¡°How many roots are there?¡±

    ¡°I think at least ten¡­¡±

    ¡°Nope. A little ago more than 100 wolf-like monsters charged at us, but more than 20 roots sprang up from the ground at once and smashed them.¡±

    ¡°Really? I wonder if they are trees¡­¡±

    ¡°No, they came out of the ground. Looking at their color, they are roots.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. They¡¯re definitely roots. Look! They are burrowing back into the ground after killing the monsters.¡±

    ¡°Man, they¡¯re great. I was really worried because there was only one man who was protecting all of us 10,000 poeple. I didn¡¯t know how safe we were. I feel like I¡¯m out here for a walk.¡±

    ¡°Hey! I already told you, man. He¡¯s the strongest man on Earth! America? China? Even if they mobilize aircraft carriers, Juyoung Hong will sink them by simply snapping his fingers.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t lie. You were so worried yesterday that you couldn¡¯t even sleep.¡±

    ¡°No, I wasn¡¯t! I¡¯ve always trusted Juyoung Hong!¡±

    As soon as the monsters appeared, I killed them with a single strike.

    Moreover, they could not help but smile brightly in satisfaction when they thought that not only I but also dozens of roots would strongly protect the territory they were stepping on. Then often looked at Juyoung Hong with twinkling eyes as if he, who was floating over their heads, was a god protecting them.

    Over the heads of the 10,000 ordinary people.

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    Since there were too many people here, I needed to float above them using Fly to secure a clear view. Even though Fly would simply float me in the air instead of truly flying, I could fly to some extent perhaps because my Intellect reached over 60,000 now.

    Of course, I felt some frustration about how slow the huge crowd was moving.

    Moreover, they needed to take a break every now and then because there were children and the elderly among them.

    ¡°Well, no problem. I can put up with their speed as it is now.¡±

    Since I expected they would move very slowly, I stopped worrying about it anymore.

    The decisive reason why I stopped worrying was because of the roots.

    Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Kheeeeeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Khuuuuuuuk!¡±

    I didn¡¯t even know how many roots there were in the ground.

    All I knew was that since the main root was very old, so many roots must have stuck into the vast area underground for a long time. However, what was certain was that after the main root absorbed the parasites and produced the longer, broader white root, the other roots also multiplied and grewrger. So I didn¡¯t have to deal with the monsters charging at us from all directions.

    Puck! Puck!

    The roots got rid of them right away whenever they appeared.

    ¡°By the way, without the roots¡­¡±

    I shuddered at that thought.

    It was clear that without the roots I would have certainly been pretty busy running around back and forth using Blink with zero cooldown instead of movingfortably like this, floating over them with my legs crossed. And there would inevitably have been some casualties.

    Anyway, looking at the strong roots in satisfaction, I headed out to the first gate.

    A few dayster.

    ¡°Alright. We¡¯re going to spend the night here.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    The Borneche Expedition team reached the first gateway from the starting point in just two days.

    But four days had passed, and this group of 10,000 ordinary people had not yet reached the first gate. More precisely, we had only covered about 30% of the distance to the first gate.

    So, I had no choice but to be a bit frustrated because of how slow they were moving.

 Chapter 352 - Burden (6)

    <h4>Chapter 352: Burden (6)</h4>

    Even if l let them know what I thought, they would certainly curse at me, which was the worst humiliation I could think of.

    Anyway, I had to decide on the ce where they could spend the night.

    But the problem was what would happen to them after it got dark.

    And I was also worried about them a bit.

    But the roots sprouted up from the ground at regr intervals as if to dissipate my worries.

    Then they began to enclose all the 10,000 people as if to embrace them.

    As time went on, the size and thickness of the roots rising from the ground began to decrease, and the speed of them rising from the ground also gradually slowed down.

    At that moment the white roots, which were bigger than the other roots, started to shrink little by little, but at the same time, the brown roots sprouting up from the ground restored their original size and thickness, and they started rising from the ground faster. In the end, the white roots became considerably small, but a strong root wall was sessfully built, then encircled the 10,000 ordinary people.

    All the 10,000 people shouted for joy at that terrific scene, for they already witnessed the power of the roots, and the wall created by these roots created something like a safety zone.

    Naturally, they kept shouting my name in admirationte into the night.

    Anyway, I also took a break after making sure the roots built a protective shield for them.

    Like everyone else, I also ate food that I had purchased using golden rings at the entry point.

    Of course, I used my golden rings to buy food to distribute to all of them.

    Since I had so many golden rings, I didn¡¯t have to im my credit for it on purpose.

    While Juyoung Hong and the 10,000 people were taking a break, the Borneche Expedition reached the 2nd stage of the new continent.

    They were made up of 500 people when they started.

    Actually, they had no problem exploring the 2nd stage with 500 people.

    However, the gatekeeper guarding the 2nd gate leading to the 3rd stage was just too strong.

    But they now had 1000 people, twice as many as those in the previous expedition.

    Led by Andrei, the leader of the expedition team, the Borneche Expedition team managed to pass the 2nd stage more easily. Maybe since the 2nd stage was so easy, Andrei thought of the 10,000 ordinary people that he left behind at the entry point.

    ¡°Obviously, I heard that the message would ring only to an unspecified number of people who reached their reality actualization rate, so howe ordinary people got here?¡±

    To be honest, it was Andrei who was more bewildered than anyone else at the appearance of the ordinary people since he was the one who used the ¡°Flute for Calling Reinforcements¡±.

    He briefly agonized over whether he would take some ordinary men with him.

    But he soon thought twice.

    ¡®Let me forget them. If I travel with them, they will be a big burden to me anyway. Moreover, it is too inefficient for me to protect them in this situation.¡¯

    He shook his head from side to side and continued moving forward.

    Besides, it was toote for him to go back and take them.

    In front of the first gateway to the new continent.

    I arrived at this ce with them after exactly 15 days.

    Although it took me a whopping 7.5 times longer toe here than the Borneche team who reached here in only two days, I could reach this first gate to the 2nd stage with 10,000 people without losing a single person.

    At that moment, one ogre greeted us.

    Of course, the ogre was far from ordinary.

    But no matter how powerful the ogre was, the monster assigned as the gatekeeper protecting an important ce such as the gateway was unusually low quality.

    Anyway, the ogre in front of me was twice the size of the typical ogres that I had seen so far, or nearly three times as big.

    His whole body was full of strong muscles, and there was a prominent hump on his head.

    Then the ogre rushed straight towards us threateningly.

    So I immediately moved right in front of him using Blink and tried attacking him to stop his charge.

    ¡°Ice Punishment!¡±

    Bang!

    [Kheeeeeeeek!]

    The ogre copsed and rolled over several meters in the same posture he was charging at us.

    Of course, I couldn¡¯t kill him right away, nor did I expect to kill him with one single strike.

    So I immediately approached the monster who fell on the ground using Blink and then I used some of my other skills.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasak!

    Only then did the ogre try to raise his body, but I attacked him first.

    ¡°Blizzard! Ice Tornado!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Wheeeeeeeeeeng-

    Anyway this would be myst fatal attack against him, so I generously attacked him hard.

    [Khuuuuuuung!]

    ¡°Alright. These days it is too easy to hunt, so it¡¯s been a while since I encountered a tough monster. I like it.¡±

    Even the level 2700 monsters could not escape Ice Tornado¡¯s gust of wind that pulled everything around it. But this monster persevered through it. But that was all.

    Obviously, he would suffer all the damage from Ice Field and Multiple Thin Ice, not to mention the damage caused by Blizzard and Ice Tornado.

    With that in my mind, Iunched other attacks.

    ¡°Ice Spear! Multiple Ice Arrows!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Iunched single-target skill attacks from afar, using Ice Ball and Ice Bolt that had no cooldown during the skill cooldowns of Ice Spear and Multiple Ice Arrows.

    Thud!

    And that was it.

    Of course, I could have killed the monster much earlier if I had fought more intensely because I still had lots of unused skills.

    However, I used this method because I could hunt it easily even if I didn¡¯t fight hard like before.

    When the ogre, the gatekeeper, copsed, a message rang.

    [You have killed the gatekeeper guarding the first gate.

    ¨C The first gate will be open for the next 5 hours.

    -You need five days of cooldown to move back to the 1st stage after moving to the 2nd stage using the 1st gate. ]

    I was already familiar with the message.

    As soon as I confirmed it, I spoke to those ordinary people watching me with their eyes open wide.

    [We¡¯re taking a three-hour break here! Then we start moving again!]

    ¡°Alright!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    In fact, I could move right away, but the cooldown of Ice Punishment, Blizzard, and Ice Tornado had note back yet.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t think the monster appearing at the 2nd stage would be much stronger than the one I killed in the 1st stage, but I wanted to move after making sure I¡¯ve got all I needed.

    Besides, we came here veryte, so I was not in a hurry to move, and I wanted to give them a break because they had been walking for a straight 4 hours to reach here.

    While Juyoung Hong and a group of 10,000 ordinary people were taking a break in front of the first gateway where the gatekeeper was gone, something was going on in front of the 3rd gate at the end of the 3rd stage.

 Chapter 353 - Burden (7)

    <h4>Chapter 353: Burden (7)</h4>

    Andrei shouted, ¡°Watch out at the 6 o¡¯clock position! Defend the 6 o¡¯clock position by all means!¡±

    ¡°Iron Wall!¡±

    ¡°Strong Will!¡±

    ¡°Soar up, Earth Shield!¡±¡®

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    ¡°Hey, Dealer Team 3 and Dealer Team 4, just turn back! Don¡¯t stand grouped together in the same ce like that!¡±

    When he shouted, a group of people began to move quickly.

    ¡°Fire Spirit¡¯s Wrath!¡±

    ¡°Triple Shot!¡±

    ¡°Chain Lightning.¡±

    :

    ¡°Biting Wind!¡±

    ¡°Solid Earth Spear!¡±

    Those belonging to Dealer Team 3 and Dealer Team 4unched all kinds of attacks on the gatekeeper of the 3rd gate

    Andrei, the Borneche Expedition team leader, ordered them from the rear, but he tilted his head slightly because the gatekeeper of the second gate was much stronger than the current one of the 3rd gate.

    Moreover, it seemed that Andrei was not the only one who felt so.

    ¡°In general, the gatekeeper is supposed to be stronger as we move on to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd gates, but I wonder if I am the only one who feels that the gatekeeper of the 2nd stage was much stronger than this guy here,¡± Lorraine, the guild leader of the Orleans Guild in France, said.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    But Andrei did not refute his words.

    Lorrain, the guild leader of the Orleans Guild, came here for the first time, but Andrei himself had confronted the gatekeeper of the 2nd gateway twice. So he knew well that the gatekeeper here was much weaker than the monster of the 2nd gate.

    However, Andrei did not change his expression because he had no intention of confirming it to Lorrain, the Orleans Guild leader.

    So Andrei had no choice but to frown when Lorrain suddenly said that.

    Even though he couldn¡¯t confirm it openly, he also agreed with the French guild leader.

    ¡°Hmm. It seems like it was a trap thatpelled you to use the ¡®Flute to Call Reinforcements¡¯. And¡­¡± said Lorrain without finishing his words.

    But Andrei could figure out what he was trying to say. He didn¡¯t obtain the title of the deputy guild leader of the Bornesh Guild, one of Russia¡¯s leading guilds, for nothing.

    In other words, Lorrain was referring to the ordinary people left behind.

    Watching the appearance of the gatekeeper who was much weaker than the one at the 2nd gate, Lorrain naturally recalled the 10,000 ordinary people.

    But it was almost safe to say that they were probably all ughtered by now. He was sure they were all killed without any exception.

    So Andrei said to him clearly, ¡°We need to keep moving!¡±

    Lorrain responded, ¡°Yeah, I guess so.¡±

    Lorraine, the guild leader of the Orleans Guild, nodded without objecting. Anyway, the Borneche Expedition team proceeded to the 4th stage after getting rid of the gatekeeper of the 3rd gate.

    In front of the first gate around that time.

    ¡°Everyone, let¡¯s move!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    After shouting at them, I stood in front of them at the first gate because I could not rule out the appearance of monsters at the beginning of the 2nd stage.

    [You are now moving to the 2nd stage.]

    A message rang as I stepped through the first gate. And I felt like I was being dragged somewhere.

    But my tension immediately left me because what I saw was a safety zone. And soon, the ordinary people started streaming through the first gate behind me.

    It took some time for all of them to pass through the 1st gate because of how many they numbered.

    After confirming that they had all crossed it safely, we headed out toward the 2nd gate.

    A littleter, monsters appeared as expected.

    Puck! Puck!

    [Kheeeeeeeeek!]

    [Khuuuuuuuuuk!]

    The ordinary people here formed a mammoth group of 10,000, so they were inevitably an easy target for the monsters. While they were moving, they were exposed to all kinds of attacks by the monsters. But like the 1st stage, no monsters could cross a certain boundary because they had their heads or stomachs torn off by the roots sprouting from the ground.

    ¡°Alright, good job!¡±

    I carefully looked around to check if there were any monsters that could withstand the roots¡¯ attack, but none of them could resist.

    Feeling a bit rxed, I moved with them, albeit slowly, to the 2nd gate without any of them dropping out or getting wounded.

    15 dayster.

    I was a little worried that the 2nd stage might be bigger than the 1st stage.

    In that case, it would take me a lot longer to pass through it.

    Fortunately, however, the monsters appearing there were only slightly stronger than those at the 1st stage, so it took us exactly 15 days to reach the 2nd stage like before.

    Of course, even if the stronger monsters appeared, I could kill them with one single strike using various skills.

    When we got close to the 2nd gate, a giant Lich greeted us.

    [How dare you guys set foot here? Let me bestow you all with the blessings of death!]

    So Imanded the group behind me, ¡°Everyone, step back!¡±

    Lich mainly attacked using magic. In other words, the monster in front of us had a wide range.

    But since I was a user of ice-type magic, my striking range was equally as wide.

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°Juyoung Hong, don¡¯t get wounded!¡±

    With the crowd of ordinary people watching behind me, I immediately used Blink with a zero cooldown because I had to fight him as far away as possible to prevent coteral damage.

    The moment I got closer to Lich, a message rang.

    [You have been blessed with the debuff of death.]

    ¨C You are blessed with repeated death.

    -The effect of the blessing of death increases by 3 times.]

    I knew in advance that the gatekeeper guarding the 2nd gate would not be weak because it was the one which forced the retreat of the Borneche Guild, one of the top three guilds in Russia.

    Of course, that was why I came here.

    In any case, the debuff was used twice, and it was reinforced twice.

    Because of that, I seemed to fully understand why the Borneche Expedition was blocked here because of the blessing of death which was multiplied by a magnitude of three times.

    But it had no effect on me because of my powerful trait.

    [You have the trait, ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs.¡¯

    ¨C You are not affected by the blessings of death.

    -You are not affected by the blessings of repeated death.]

    It was ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs¡¯ that prevented even the debuffs inflicted by the system, let alone the ones inflicted by users or monsters.

    That¡¯s why I easily blocked the debuff called Blessings of Death as if it was no big deal.

    After that, the tide of the fight was in my favor.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasasak!

    Of course, Multiple Thin Ice was only level 3, so it might look ridiculous when used with Ice Field, but its effect definitely depended on who was using it.

    And I attacked the same way I attacked the ogre, the gatekeeper of the 1st gate.

    ¡°Ice Punishment!¡±

    Bang!

    A huge amount of ice directly struck toward the Lich¡¯s head.

    However, the Lich withstood the Ice Punishment as best as it could.

    But it was inevitable that it was wounded. The dark blue shield around the Lich had obviously faded away considerably.

    ¡°Alright. Let me see how long you can withstand my attack with your mana.¡±

 Chapter 354 - Change in Their Worth (1)

    <h4>Chapter 354: Change in Their Worth (1)</h4>

    Since I easily discovered that it was a shield that used mana to block damage, I resumed attacking the Lich, but this time, it was faster than me.

    [Show Yourselves here! Death Army!]

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    In an instant, a huge amount of ck energy spewed out of the Lich¡¯s body, and the undead monsters began to appear in the ck energy.

    [Turn this ce into and of death!]

    My Ice Field was literally made up of ice, so it was transparent.

    However, even though the ice on my Ice Field did not break as soon as the Lich shouted, it began to turn ck gradually.

    But I was confident in defeating the Lich.

    [You currently ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs.¡¯

    -Death exists in the Land of Death, but it doesn¡¯t have effects.]

    ¡°Yeah, I will admit it. He¡¯s so strong.¡±

    I could clearly understand why the Borneche Guild had to return from here to the entry point of the 1st stage.

    But I was not Andrei of the Borneche Guild.

    ¡°Ice Tornado! Pouring Hail!¡±

    Wheeeeeeeeng-

    Patter- Patter-

    As if to show his power, the Lich was not swept away by the gust of Ice Tornado.

    However, the undead monsters that the Lich had summoned were swept away by the gust of wind immediately because they didn¡¯t have the same capabilities as the Lich.

    Moreover, Pouring Hail rained down on Ice Field.

    So, I used one more skill because Lich was very close to me.

    ¡°Blizzard!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Of course, the Lich¡¯s shield was still not broken, but its blue color gradually faded out.

    But the fact that it withstood not only my Ice Punishment but also Ice Tornado and Blizzard proved how strong it was.

    Then the Lich began to counterattack me repeatedly as if it knew that it¡¯s trap was not working for me.

    [Kill him, Death me!]

    Puck! Puck!

    [Death Chain, tie my enemy!]

    But I didn¡¯t avoid his attack because I didn¡¯t have to.

    So Iunched a frontal attack, too.

    ng!

    Shortly afterward, I heard something cracking.

    At that moment, the Lich shouted.

    [Blink!]

    The Lich stood still on the spot as if he were a tank, withstanding all my attacks, then tried to counterattack. But as soon as his shield was broken, he moved out of my attack range using Blink.

    Of course, I also had Blink, and my Blink had no cooldown.

    So I appeared right by his side, and swung the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword at him.

    Puck!

    [Kheeeek!]

    The Lich didn¡¯t even scream when it was hit by Ice Punishment, which had the most powerful damage. But it let out a loud scream when stabbed by my Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    But I kept attacking, not caring about its painful screams at all.

    Flop!

    The Lich copsed helplessly, belying its majestic appearance.

    ¡°Did it just entirely rely on its shield?¡±

    After all, the Lich was a wizard-type, so its health was inevitably low.

    Nheless, it could withstand my ruthless attack thanks to its shield.

    As soon as the shield disappeared, it had no choice but to copse.

    ¡°After all, you are a wizard with low health.¡±

    When I turned, leaving the Lich behind, a message rang.

    [You have killed the gatekeeper guarding the 2nd gate.

    ¨C The 2nd gate will be open for the next 5 hours.

    ¨C You need five days of cooldown to move back to the 2nd stage after moving to the 3rd stage using the 2st gate.]

    ***

    On the 3rd stage in the new continent.

    Although the Lich eventually fell to my attacks, it was obviously incredibly strongpared to the ogre at the 1st gate. So, I had no choice but to be a little worried that the monsters appearing on the 3rd stage might be stronger than those on the 1st and 2nd stages. So much so that they might be strong enough not to be killed by the roots.

    But my worries turned out to be unfounded.

    Puck! Puck!

    [Kheeeeeeeeeek!]

    [Khuuuuuuuuuk!]

    Like the monsters on the 1st and 2nd stages, those at the 3rd stage were killed in a single strike. That¡¯s why I had no choice but to question these monsters at the 3rd stage.

    ¡®The gatekeeper at the 2nd gate was so strong¡­¡¯

    To be honest, all debuffs, including ovepping debuffs, didn¡¯t work on me thanks to my trait, ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs,¡¯ but ordinary users would have lost half their strength even before the fight started. Besides, the gatekeeper of the 2nd gate, the Lich, created a shield that blocked my attacks several times, or dozens of times if we included small attacks, so it was so strong as to remind me of the word ¡®invincible¡¯.

    Nheless, how could these monsters, who were not much different from those at the 1st and 2nd stages, greet us when I confronted such a strong gatekeeper at the 2nd gate?

    I couldn¡¯t help but tilt my head slightly.

    ¡®Well, l think I can find out why if I reach the end of this stage.¡¯

    Since I could not figure out why, I just kept moving on, albeit slowly, just like I did at the 1st and 2nd stages. And I waspletely protected by the roots, as usual.

    Puck! Puck!

    [Kheeeeeeek!]

    [Khuuuuuuuk!]

    15 dayster.

    I stopped the crowd of ordinary people at a ce some distance away from the 3rd gate.

    I was certain that a much stronger monster than the Lich would appear here because the gatekeeper of the 2nd gate was stronger than the one of the 1st gate.

    Maybe that was why I recalled the Borneche Expedition for a moment.

    I wondered if they could advance to the 3rd, 4th and 5th gates after passing the 2nd gate.

    They had as many as 1000 people, which was far from small.

    But the problem was that the gatekeeper guarding each gate was formidable.

    But I stopped worrying about them immediately because I had to focus on my own group here.

    So, while I was sorting things out in my head, I heard something give me a dreadful greeting.

    [I¡¯ll kill you!]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    It was a giant stone golem that appeared this time.

    Of course, just as the ogre at the first gate was not an ordinary ogre, this stone golem was far from ordinary. In other words, it was bigger and stronger than any stone golem I had ever seen. However, what was certain was that I didn¡¯t feel overwhelmed by it at all unlike the Lich that I confronted at the 2nd gate.

    To be honest, just from its name, the stone golem was much lower than the Lich.

    However, it would be foolish to underestimate it just based on its appearance, so I began to attack without letting down my guard.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasasak!

    First of all, I created a battlefield favorable to me.

    But at that moment, belying its huge build, the stone golem punched with its huge fist towards me very quickly as if to show why it was the gatekeeper guarding the 3rd gate.

    Bang!

    But the stone golem¡¯s fist struck the ice terrain that I spread instead of me.

    As a result, the ice that spread around him was shattered.

    However, it didn¡¯t do much damage to me because I left the ce.

    ¡°How slow you are!¡±

    This stone golem was very fast, given it¡¯s huge size, but it didn¡¯t seem so fast in my eyes. Of course, others who saw it might feel differently.

    Anyway, after avoiding its punch, I counterattacked right away with my most powerful skill.

    ¡°Ice Punishment!¡±

    Bang!

    But the stone golem neither screamed nor fell.

 Chapter 355 - Change in Their Worth (2)

    <h4>Chapter 355: Change in Their Worth (2)</h4>

    However, the stone golem was pushed back five steps after making a deep furrow, and quite a few stones making up its right shoulder were smashed apart by my Ice Punishment

    Of course, even though it was so big, the damage was negligible.

    So the stone golem charged at me again as if it thought my damage was no big deal.

    ¡°Blink!¡±

    So I widened the space between us before attacking with more powerful skills.

    ¡°Ice Tornado! Blizzard!¡±

    Wheeeeeeeeeeeng-

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Obviously, the battle had just begun a little while ago, but I soon realized that this stone golem was a reinforced version of the ogre, the gatekeeper of the 1st gate.

    Just like the reinforced ogre, the stone golem charged at me strongly rather than being swept away by the gusts of Ice Tornado. But it was much slower than before. So much so that I could keep my distance by simply moving my feet instead of using Blink.

    Of course, that didn¡¯t mean I didn¡¯t do anything while I was moving.

    ¡°Ice Spear! Multiple Ice Arrows!¡±

    I kept attacking it.

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    I used the same type of attacks that I used against the ogre, the gatekeeper of the 1st gate.

    This kind of attack worked against this stone golem, the gatekeeper of the 3rd gate.

    Of course, it was somewhat different as the stone golem withstood my attack better and even charged at me amidst the gusts of wind. But that was all.

    Perhaps because of that, it took me much longer to get rid of this gatekeeper, but in the end, it could no longer hold out desperately and copsed while making a bizarre sound.

    But I was not happy about it because this stone golem was much weaker than the Lich, the gatekeeper of the 2nd gate.

    ¡°Why?¡±

    I could not help but question why.

    Obviously, it seemed natural to me that the higher the gate, the stronger its gatekeeper.

    However, since I could not find out the answer right now, I began to move to the 4th stage as soon as I confirmed that the stone golem had fallen.

    [You have killed the gatekeeper guarding the 3rd gate.

    -The 3rd gate will be open for the next 5 hours.

    -You have a cooldown of 5 days to move to the 3rd stage again after moving to the 4th stage using the 3rd gate.]

    When Juyoung Hong and the 10,000 ordinary people passed the 3rd gate, the Bornesche Expedition arrived at the 5th gate.

    ¡°Everyone, this is thest gate! Good job!¡±

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    ¡°Great!¡±

    With the 5th gate just in front, Andrei shouted at them, emphasizing that this was thest gate. All the expedition members shouted for joy because they knew that if they sessfully passed this final gate, they would be given the rewards that they had been so anxiously waiting for.

    After confirming their excitement, Andrei opened his mouth in a loud voice.

    ¡°Alright! Let¡¯s move on to receive the reward!¡±

    Their morale knew no limits now, so Andrei wanted to make the best use of it to pass thest gate.

    Now was the time to break through thest gate.

    After that, the Borneche Expedition members charged at the gatekeeper guarding the 5th gate.

    Although the gatekeeper was very strong, the tanks, dealers, healers as well as the enchanters of the expedition team moved in unison to defeat the gatekeeper sessfully.

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve done it!¡±

    ¡°Borneche! Borneche!¡±

    ¡°Andrei! Andrei!¡±

    Of course, it didn¡¯t mean that they suffered little damage.

    In particr, they suffered more damage at the 2nd gate than they did at the 3rd, 4th and 5th gates. Anyway, they cleared all the gates, which increased the possibility of them escaping from the new continent faster than others.

    In other words, the rewards they would receive would be greater.

    At that moment, when they were cheering over the victory, a message rang to the expedition team.

    [Congrattions! You have sessfully explored the new continent.

    -You can get out of the New Continent using the 5th gate,

    -When you use the 5th gate, the following rewards are given ording to the order of your escape.

    : First escapee

    -1000 coins, 100 remaining stat points.

    : Second escapee

    -999 coins, 99 remaining stat points.

    : Third escapee

    -998 coins, 98 remaining stat points.

    :

    :]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    All of a sudden, they became silent.

    Obviously, the ce was overflowing with their shouts of joy a moment ago, but after the message rang, they stopped shouting and became silent as if they were disappointed by the reward.

    The number of coins given as the reward was small, but they were still coins anyway.

    In addition, unlike the stat points they obtained by items or skills, the remaining stat points obtained this way was the most effective way for them to widen the gap with others.

    Nheless, the reward was too small, given the hardships they faced toe all the way here. Moreover, not everyone earned 1000 coins and 100 remaining stat points. That was the reward reserved for 1st ce only.

    As a result, the rewards given to those at lower ranks continued to decrease, and those level 100 or below would receive only one remaining stat point.

    That is, the reward for 100th ce was 1 remaining stat point and 900 coins, and the one who imed 400th ce would also only receive 1 remaining stat point and 600 coins.

    So, they let out a sigh and began toin about the poor rewards.

    ¡°Man, did I join this expedition to get this small reward?¡±

    ¡°I came here even after deserting 10,000 people!¡±

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    Naturally, they began toin a lot. And they had no choice but to direct theirints and resentment toward Andrei and the Borneche Expedition, the original owners of this quest.

    But then another message rang as if there were more rewards.

    [You will receive additional rewards when you pass the gate with ordinary people.

    ¨C The following rewards are given per one ordinary person you move with.

    : 3 million golden rings.

    : A small amount of EXP.

    : 5 coins.

    : 1 remaining stat point.]

    ¡°What the heck? After all, even ordinary people will receive the reward?¡±

    ¡°Man, they were forcibly brought here!¡±

    ¡°Ordinary people are the main characters of this quest!¡±

    ording to the message, they would get the real reward only when they passed the gate with ordinary people, so they had no choice but to feel frustrated and annoyed.

    Since they left the ordinary people behind at the starting point, they could not go back to bring them here. In other words, they were just like a pie high up in the sky.

    And their frustration could not be deeper when they heard the next message.

    [There is a hidden reward in this quest.

    -When one person moves with 1,000 ordinary people, the following reward is issued.

    : Additional 2000 remaining stat points.

    -One person moves with 5,000 ordinary people.

    : Additional 20,000 coins.

    -One person moves with 10,000 ordinary people.

    : Additional treasure chest.]

    ¡°Shit! They¡¯re all dead!¡±

    ¡°The maintenance period of the safety zone at the starting point is one week, so there is no possibility that they have survived until now.¡±

    Can ordinary people survive without a safety zone in a ce teeming with all kinds of monsters?

    That was absolutely impossible.

    Moreover, they were neither soldiers, nor were they armed with weapons.

    In the end, their rewards were so disappointing for their sweat and toils until now.

    Some of them even wished they had not heard the message about the enormous reward for the ordinary people they had left behind.

    If they hadn¡¯t heard the message at all, they wouldn¡¯t have felt so disappointed and frustrated, even though they might have felt upset about the small reward.

    But then another message rang.

 Chapter 356 - Donâ€™t Talk Bullshit (1)

    <h4>Chapter 356: Don¡¯t Talk Bullshit (1)</h4>

    Of course, all the members of the Borneche Expedition didn¡¯t want to hear it because such a message would only make fun of them when all the ordinary people had already died.

    But this time they could not help but re at the message with great interest.

    Especially Andrei, who made the decision to desert the ordinary people, confirmed the message tensely.

    [Currently, this is the number of ordinary people who are still alive.

    -10563 / 10563]

    ¡°?¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    This message was totally unexpected and absurd.

    But there were none who didn¡¯t know what to do after confirming the message.

    ¡°Everybody, go back!¡±

    As soon as Andrei shouted, they hurriedly started preparing to go back to the starting point.

    Of course, all of them wondered how the ordinary people could survive until now.

    But no one bothered to talk about it because it was more important to secure these 10,000 ordinary people than trying to find out how they survived.

    Anyway, the Borneche Expedition started traveling back, leaving behind the 5th gate that was wide open.

    It¡¯s been a week since I passed the 3rd gate and entered the 4th stage.

    Puck! Puck!

    [Kheeeeeeek!]

    Khuuuuuuuuk!]

    Obviously, the monsters here were stronger than those appearing in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd stages, but they still could not withstand a single strike of mine.

    As a result, I could move leisurely like before.

    Of course, I was a bit worried about why the Lich at the 2nd gate was so overwhelmingly strong, but I could not find an answer, so I just slept on it and moved on.

    Even if I encountered a stronger gatekeeper at the next gate, I was confident in defeating it anyway.

    Until then, I saw nothing except for the monsters.

    But I suddenly noticed a fairlyrge crowd approaching us quickly from a distance. Of course, they could be a bunch of monsters, which was the most reasonable suspicion at this point.

    However, I felt something suspicious about the group, which I could not feel in monsters.

    So, I quietly opened my mouth because there was only one answer to my question if they were not the monsters.

    ¡°Why is the Borneche expedition returning?¡±

    ***

    The Borneche Expedition at the 4th stage at that time.

    ¡°Shit! We spent too much time at the 4th gate!¡±

    ¡°But the message clearly said we needed to wait five days in order to go back. So we could not help it.¡±

    ¡°You bet!¡±

    A five-day cooldown was supposed to ur in order to move back to the previous stage.

    So they all moved as fast as they could because they had no choice but to wait in frustration for more than one day in front of the 4th gate. Even though all the ordinary people were allegedly alive, they didn¡¯t know exactly how the ordinary people were doing now, and there was a possibility that the ordinary people might be ughtered by monsters by a hair¡¯s breadth before they arrived.

    In the meantime, some of them began to whisper among each other in a low voice.

    ¡°He is definitely going to distribute them to us evenly, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course he should!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. He should give us at least 10 or 12.¡±

    ¡°But do you think that will happen?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Given that they reached at least level 1200 in ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ and raised their reality actualization rate, they were quite familiar with such calctions.

    Besides, many of them were not solo yers, and were affiliated with guilds or organizations.

    In other words, there were no individual yers here.

    So they had witnessed the higher-ups or stronger yers iming more rewards many times.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, you think five?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s too small!¡±

    ¡°You bet! I think we should get at least seven or eight per person here!¡±

    ¡°But will the guys at the front agree?¡±

    When one of them said that, they turned their attention to those standing at the front.

    Of course, the guys at the front were Andrei, currently the leader of the Borneche Expedition, and Lorraine, the leader of the Orleans Guild in France, as well as the executive officers of the Borneche Expedition along with some other famous guys.

    After confirming their presence, another one of them opened his mouth in a low voice.

    ¡°Damn it! I still think we should get at least 7 per person!¡±

    ¡°I agree!¡±

    ¡°For whom have we suffered so much?¡¯

    ¡°Absolutely! To be honest, he could have taken the ordinary people with us from the beginning, right?¡±

    In the end, they pointed their fingers at Andei, who first mentioned he would abandon the ordinary people. But no one spoke out loud. They justined among themselves in low voices.

    Anyway, they quickly moved through the 4th stage while discussing their rewards.

    Even though they abandoned the crowd of 10,000 ordinary people because Andrei regarded them as a big burden, they were not like a mass of gold. So they had to keep moving until they encountered them.

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    Since I was floating in the air, I could find them before anyone else.

    So I wasn¡¯t surprised at all because I guessed who they were even before I could clearly see them. But my question was why they decided toe back like this.

    Of course, there could be several reasons, but somehow I felt like I knew why. It was to do with the ordinary people.

    ¡°Alright. Let me find out when they arrive here.¡±

    So I deactivated Fly, then moved to the rear of the crowd of ordinary people using Blink.

    That way I could see clearly what they were going to say and what they would do to the ordinary people.

    A littleter.

    ¡°?¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    Not only Andrei but also all the members of the Borneche Expedition had no choice but to be startled and dumbfounded, for they had never expected that these ordinary people who should have been at the beginning of the 1st stage had already reached the middle of the 4th stage.

    Since he knew what he had to do urgently now, Andrei cried out in a loud voice.

    [Everybody, protect the ordinary people from now on!]

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    Obviously, it was Andrei who abandoned the crowd of ordinary people mercilessly.

    Some of those who joined him must have felt the pang of conscience, but they agreed to join his expedition team anyway.

    With a flourish, however, they dispersed in all directions and encircled the ordinary people as if they didn¡¯t feel guilty at all.

    After that, Andrei opened his mouth proudly.

    [From now on, we will protect the group of ordinary people and move with them to the end! Of course, make sure you adjust your moving speed to the ordinary people!]

    ¡°Alright!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    Andrei said only what he wanted to say from the moment he appeared here.

    And the Borneche Expedition members actively followed his direction.

    So the crowd of ordinary people could not help but frown at them because they knew clearly that Andrei and his expedition team had abandoned them.

    Moreover, the ordinary people had witnessed Juyoung Hong¡¯s extraordinary power in person.

    Even if they didn¡¯t have any experience ying ¡®Revival Legend¡¯, they knew what was going on. In other words, they realized how strong Juyoung was, and that they didn¡¯t need the protection of the Borneche Expedition.

 Chapter 357 - Donâ€™t Talk Bullshit (2)

    <h4>Chapter 357: Don¡¯t Talk Bullshit (2)</h4>

    At that moment, Andrei quickly noticed that the ordinary people did not wee them.

    But he didn¡¯t care about their displeased expressions or gazes because he felt even if they resisted, they would be like earthworms wriggling against their predators.

    What bothered him the most was the person who led them all the way here.

    Andrei scanned the entire ordinary people quickly to look for that person.

    Did the ordinary peoplee as far as here by themselves?

    He was not stupid enough to believe that because it was absolutely impossible for them to do so. That meant there was somebody who guided them here.

    ¡®Who is it? Where are they now? Given the powerful Lich at the 2nd gate, their leader might not just be one person¡­¡¯

    At first, he nned to take all of the ordinary people under the banner of the Borneche Expedition. But when he discovered the group of ordinary people in the middle of the 4th stage, he realized that there must be some forces that he didn¡¯t know about.

    Since they defeated the Lich, the powerful gatekeeper of the 2nd gate, he thought they must be very strong. But they were here to get the reward like the Borneche Expedition.

    So he thought he could take away at least 5000 of these ordinary people.

    He looked around the crowd to find their leader, but when he failed, he opened his mouth with a loud voice because he needed to finalise the negotiation before their leader realized that the reward of this quest was linked to the ordinary people.

    [I don¡¯t know who you are, but I think I¡¯ve already introduced myself. So, don¡¯t you think you should introduce yourself this time?]

    As soon as he uttered those words, Andrei scanned the crowd to see if someone reacted, but he couldn¡¯t find anyone.

    But he soon noticed someone responding to his words from the sky above.

    ¡°Do I really need to introduce myself like this? We¡¯ve already been moving separately, so we can just go our separate ways like before right?¡±

    Watching their behavior, I knew my prediction was right.

    As soon as they got here, they announced immediately they would protect the ordinary people who they had abandoned at the start, and did not even offer any apologies.

    Of course, although it was extremely unlikely, they might havee back here because they felt sorry for the ordinary people left behind.

    But I could conclude firmly that they didn¡¯te back because of their sympathy for the ordinary people.

    If they had felt that way, they would havee back before the one-week deadline of the safe zone was over. In other words, they must have found something at the end of their journey which had to do with the reason why the ordinary people were forcibly summoned here.

    That was why they made such a big fuss, arguing that they needed to protect these ordinary people who they had abandoned at the beginning.

    At that moment, Andrei came to look for me.

    Since I figured out their intentions, I felt I didn¡¯t have to hide my identity at this point, so I came down slowly from the air using Blink.

    Not only Andrei, but also Lorraine, the guild Leader of the Orl¨¦ans Guild, and quite a few people immediately found out who the guy descending slowly from the air was.

    He was none other than Asirante, or Juyoung Hong.

    They had no choice but to be startled because even though they did not say it openly, Asirante was like a ¡®monster¡¯ to them.

    At that moment, Juyoung said, ¡°Looking at your expression, it seems that I don¡¯t have to introduce myself. But let me tell you who I¡¯m out of courtesy. My name is Juyoung Hong.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Andrei bit his lip slightly as he took in the appearance of Juyoung Hong. He seemed quite rxed despite being surrounded by hundreds of people. Of course, Andrei didn¡¯t think that Juyoung Hong was cocky because he had such mighty capabilities. So much so that he realized that it was no wonder that these 10,000 ordinary people got to the middle of the 4th stage.

    But Andrei decided he could not yield to Juyoung Hong.

    So Andrei said, swallowing, ¡°Nice to meet you. It¡¯s an honor for me to see you in person because I have heard about you only through rumors.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s nice to see you, too.¡±

    Even though Juyoung didn¡¯t wee his greetings, Andrei opened his mouth again without the slightest change in his expression.

    ¡°Thank you for taking care of these ordinary people that we didn¡¯t think of protecting.¡±

    Andrei decided that he should make the most of Juyoung Hong¡¯s ignorance because thetter didn¡¯t yet know how valuable these ordinary people were.

    Of course, Andrei had no intention of asking to protect the entire crowd of 10,000 ordinary people, for he might get into big trouble in reality if he incited Juyoung Hong¡¯s anger here by deceiving himpletely. So he gave up his original n to ask for 5,000 of them.

    He wanted at least 3,000 people, though.

    He felt that Juyoung would not take issue with that number even if he found outter that the ordinary people were the backbone of the final reward.

    At that moment, however, I raised my voice at him, ¡°Hey, tell the truth! You abandoned them instead of taking care of them, right? Can¡¯t you tell the difference between ¡®abandoned¡¯ and ¡®taking care of¡¯?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Andrei thought that he might run into big trouble because of what Juyong just said. After all, he would be left with little despite all the sweat and toils he made with the Borneche Expedition members until now.

    Since he could not give in to Juyoung like this, he opened his mouth again with a smile on his lips.

    ***

    Although I already had my suspicions about Andrei¡¯s intentions, I was now convinced that there was something at the end of this journey that would sharply increase the value of these ordinary people who were considered a burden. And it was a huge reward, of course.

    But I didn¡¯t say it openly to him.

    While moving with the ordinary people, I cut to the chase to Andrei who tried to test my will by expressing his willingness to yield little by little.

    ¡°Stop talking bullshit right now!¡±

    My reaction was obviously pretty harsh, but I reacted so deliberately.

    I didn¡¯t have to converse with him amiably here, and it might even send him the wrong signal that I was willing to make some concessions.

    Of course, it would not matter even if I made some concessions because there would still be so many guys left with frustration and resentment if I imed all the credit. So, Andrei and all the members of the entire Borneche Expedition would have to go back empty-handed.

    It was I who brought these ordinary people here using all my resources, and it was again I who would take them back to the entry point after this journey was over.

    So I shouted at Andrei, ¡°Can you step aside, so we can move on? Are you going to stop us? I hope not.¡±

    At that moment, something started sprouting from the ground all of a sudden.

    Shuuuuuuuung- Shuuuuuuuuung- Shuuuuuuung-

    Numerous roots sprung up from the ground between the ordinary people and the Borneche Expedition members. They rumbled through the ground threateningly.

    So I opened my mouth to him once again in a far more intimidating manner.

    ¡°I want you to make a decision right now. I still have a long way to go, and I¡¯m busy.¡±

    Fighting them? I had no intention of avoiding it.

    But I didn¡¯t have to because the Borneche Expedition members began to shout here and there.

 Chapter 358 - You Have to Live a Kind Life (1)

    <h4>Chapter 358: You Have to Live a Kind Life (1)</h4>

    ¡°I want to go with you, Juyoung Hong!¡±

    ¡°So do I.¡±

    ¡°Even if I die, I will die beside you!¡±

    ¡°Me, too!¡±

    ¡°I will follow you, Juyoung Hong!¡±

    ¡°Juyoung Hong! Juyoung Hong!¡±

    Hundreds of them began to chant my name behind me, which was loud enough to resonate through the area

    Instead of caring about their chants, I urged Andrei to answer right away.

    I demanded he choose between two options: Step aside or fight.

    Inside the 4th stage.

    Tramp- Tramp-

    As before, I led a group of 10,000 ordinary people and proceeded slowly but continuously towards the 4th gate. As always, I moved with them while floating above in the air, so I couldmand a good view of what was ahead. So far, this was normal, but now there was one difference.

    In other words, there was another huge group following me and the ordinary people.

    They were none other than the Borneche Expedition.

    Starting from one day ago, I led these two groups.

    ¡°Hey, can you make the quick choice? I¡¯m very busy, and I need to leave right away,¡± I shouted at Andrei.

    Then he replied, ¡°Got it. Can I and my members follow you from behind ordinary people?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    He beat around the bush to avoid my question, but he clearly expressed his determination not to give up on these ordinary people. I could clearly notice it.

    So I stared at him sharply.

    At that moment, he waved his hands hastily and opened his mouth again.

    ¡°Oh, it doesn¡¯t mean I am doubting your capabilities, Juyoung Hong. As a matter of fact, the fact that you have brought all these ordinary people here without any casualties proves how capable you are. But I¡¯m just afraid that something bad might happen to you¡­¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    Of course, I had other options instead of simply epting his request.

    For example, I could teach him a good lesson by revealing how dangerously greedy he was right now. If that didn¡¯t work, I could take some action in front of the Borneche Expedition members. But I put up with my urge to do so.

    He was obviously greedy and obsessive, but that alone wasn¡¯t serious enough to justify me killing hundreds of them.

    So I allowed him and his group to follow us, and continued to move towards the 4th gate.

    Puck! Puck.

    [Kheeeeeeek!]

    [Khuuuuuuuuk!]

    It has been almost a week since we moved,pletely protected by the roots, like before.

    I finally arrived at the 4th gate with both groups.

    So I stopped the crowd of ordinary people and approached the 4th gate alone.

    Soon something greeted me with a big roar.

    [Khuuuuuuung!]

    A really big roar.

    With that thunderous roar, a Minotauros wielding a huge ax appeared in front of me very menacingly.

    Ite was probably stronger than the ogre of the 1st gate or the stone golem of the 3rd gate.

    But somehow, I felt it was weaker than the Lich at the 2nd gate.

    Of course, it didn¡¯t matter to me even if it was stronger than the Lich because even the Lich could notpare to me in terms of ability.

    So, I charged forward using Blink.

    After that, I used my skills to change the battlefield in my favor.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasak!

    At that moment, the Minotauros wielded its huge ax at me quickly as if to demonstrate to me that it was the gatekeeper of the 4th gate for a good reason.

    It was obviously faster than the ogre or the stone golem at the previous gates.

    But I was even faster

    Bang!

    At that moment, Minotaur had no choice but to strike down at the empty space where I was since I already disappeared using Blink. Of course, I didn¡¯t have to avoid his attack.

    Even though my Ice Field Iid out was partially broken and cracked by his axe attack, my defense was much stronger than Ice Field. Moreover, my health, which surpassed six million, was amongst the highest, if I did say so myself.

    Unlike before, however, there were now spectators watching me closely, and they might be looking for a chance to attack me.

    In other words, if I ever struggled or fought against Minotauros on equal footing, they might feel tempted to counterattack me, albeit the chance of such a thing urring was extremely strong.

    Why? Because human greed has always led to unexpected and unreasonable behavior in human history. Of course, it didn¡¯t matter.

    Moreover, although I would never openly say this to anybody, I briefly thought of tempting them to make the wrong move. In that case, none of them would question if I persecuted or oppressed them, or even killed them. To be honest, I really didn¡¯t like the way Andrei and his expedition team behaved.

    But I brushed off such evil thoughts because I didn¡¯t want to be the type of human who killed people just because I didn¡¯t like them. I didn¡¯t want to do that at least for now. And I could always change my mindter.

    Anyway, not for myself, but for the Borneche Expedition, I decided to fight against Minotauros, the gatekeeper of the 4th gate, with all my might.

    ¡°Ice Punishment!¡±

    Bang!

    [Khuuuuuk!]

    I firstunched my most damaging attack on this gatekeeper here.

    Then I followed up with another strong strike.

    ¡°Ice Tornado! Blizzard!¡±

    Wheeeeeeeeeeeeng!

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Of course, I was repeating the kind of attacks I usuallyunched.

    And this kind of sequential attack never disappointed me.

    But this time, my target was the gatekeeper of the 4th gate.

    Tramp- Tramp-

    The gatekeeper wasn¡¯t swept away by the gust of Ice Tornado. Instead, it charged at me much faster than the ogre or the stone golem at the previous gates. But it was much slower than before

    However, this battlefield, created by Ice Field reinforced with Multiple Thin Ice, was extremely advantageous for me.

    So I thought I could easily kill this monster if I used Ice Spear or Multiple Ice Arrows while avoiding his attack adroitly.

    ¡°Ice Prison!¡±

    This time, I imprisoned Minotauros in an ice prison, but it resisted violently.

    Bang! Bang!

    The Minotauros kept swinging its ax at the ice prison that imprisoned it. Everytime it wielded the ax, the ice bars of the ice prison shattered little by little.

    But it didn¡¯t matter because I didn¡¯t think I couldpletely lock it in the ice prison.

    But I managed to lock it down with level 5 Ice Prison, albeit briefly.

    So what I could do at this point wasunch a ruthless frontal attack.

    ¡°Ice Storm! Ice Wave!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Iunched a series of attacks with Ice Punishment, Ice Tornado, and Blizzard. Then I followed up with lesser skills, which were more than enough to defeat it.

    So I used all kinds of attacks without any reservation.

    And I dealt a final blow when the ice bars of the Ice Prison were about to breakpletely.

    ¡°Ice st.¡±

    Bang!

    Since I had no intention of letting the Minotauros break Ice Prison, I destroyed it first.

    After that, I generouslyunched Pouring Hail, Ice Spear, and Multiple Ice Arrows.

    Thud-

    In the end , the Minotauros copsed faster than the stone golem of the 3rd gate, not to mention the ogre, the gatekeeper of the 1st gate.

    Moreover, the Minotauros could not even sessfullynd any attack on me, and even though it tried to do so, it just copsed after moving a few paltry steps.

    So although it was the gatekeeper of the 4th gate, the Minotauros met a very tragic and empty death.

    At that moment, a message rang.

    [You have killed the gatekeeper guarding the 4th gate.

    ¨C The second gate will be open for the next 5 hours.

    -You need a cooldown of 5 days to move back to the 4th stage after moving to the 5th stage using the 4th gate.]

    After checking the message, I shouted loudly, so that not only the ordinary people, but also Andrei and the entire members of the Bornesh Expedition could hear it.

    ¡°We¡¯re going to take a break for 3 hours here, then move on to the 5th stage!¡±

 Chapter 359 - You Have to Live a Kind Life (2)

    <h4>Chapter 359: You Have to Live a Kind Life (2)</h4>

    The group of ordinary people behind Juyoung Hong and the Borneche Expedition behind them.

    Even though the Borneche Expedetion were behind the ordinary people, they were not stupid enough to not have noticed Juyoung defeating the Minotauros, the gatekeeper of the 4th gate, easily.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    None of them could open their mouths in astonishment.

    Moreover, they had experience confronting the Minotauros while moving to the 5th gate.

    In their eyes, the Minotauros was not supposed to copse so quickly and easily.

    What¡¯s more, Juyoung Hong confronted the monster alone, unlike them who faced it as a group.

    Shocked by what they witnessed, they just remained silent for quite a long time while the ordinary peopleid downfortably and cheered.

    A littleter, the members of the Borneche Expedition began to whisper among themselves.

    ¡°By the way, I heard they were roots.¡±

    ¡°Yep.¡±

    ¡°I wonder if that is a part of his skills.¡±

    ¡°Well, I guess so.¡±

    ¡°Hey! I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a typical skill. Most likely it¡¯s a limited skill or trait.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. By the way, don¡¯t you think this is a scam? Damn it! I¡¯ve never seen such a huge number of roots soaring from the ground and creating a wall ¡­¡±

    One of them shuddered while recalling the power of the roots.

    But another man said as if to sneer at him, ¡°What¡¯s surprising about that?¡±

    ¡°Well, the roots didn¡¯t only create a wall. I think you saw the monsters approaching the ordinary people at dawn, right?¡±

    When he said that, they recalled what had happened in the morning.

    Shuuuuuuuung! Puck!

    Shuuuuuuuung! Puck!

    The roots formed a living wall that remained inanimate unless attacking approaching monsters.

    Witnessing something like a perfect living fortress, all of the Borneche Expedition members couldn¡¯t help but gape at the shocking scenes because each of the roots was more powerful than any strong user.

    As a result, they kept discussing Juyoung Hong¡¯s great performance and the power of the roots that yed the role of hundreds of yers while they were taking a three-hour break in front of the 4th gate.

    While they were so enthusiastic about extolling Juyoung Hong, one man let out a sigh of relief quietly. He was Andrei.

    ¡®Shit! It¡¯s good I just stayed put. If I had been greedy¡­¡¯

    He found himself shuddering with the mere thought of a possible confrontation with Juyoung Hong.

    Exactly three hourster.

    I shouted, ¡°Let¡¯s move to the 5th stage!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    After the three-hour break, we moved to the 5th stage through the 4th gate that was opened widely when its gatekeeper, the Minotauros, was killed.

    And the same thing happened as before. We moved safely as if taking a walk,pletely protected by the roots.

    However, there was one change this time.

    Andrei said, ¡°If you want us to do something for you, please feel free to do so.¡±

    Obviously, he was very greedy a little while ago, but he was not rude to me nor did he treat me badly. Obviously, being greedy and treating me badly werepletely different.

    Andrei, who was already polite to me, became even more polite. So did the entire members of the Borneche Expedition.

    Of course, I knew why. There were many ways to subdue one¡¯s opponent, but the most effective way was to show one¡¯s superiority in power. So much so that the opponent could not even think of challenging it.

    That¡¯s why I did not sneer at him or the Borneche Expedition members who changed their attitude overnight. Of course, I had no intention of sharing the ordinary people with them.

    Anyway, we moved to the 5th stage with an atmosphere more rxed than before, and finally reached the 5th gate even though it took us 15 days like before.

    In the meantime, Andrei told me about the gatekeeper of the 5th gate while we traveled there.

    To be honest, what he told me was not necessary, but being briefed about the gatekeeper was definitely valuable, and helped me defeat the monster more easily.

    Then a message rang immediately.

    [Congrattions! You have sessfully explored the new continent.

    -You can escape from the new continent using the 5th gate.

    -When you use the 5th gate, the following rewards are given differentially in the order of your escape.

    : The first escapee receives:.

    -1000 coins, 100 remaining stat points.

    : The second escapee receives:.

    -999 coins, 99 remaining stat points.

    : The third escapee receives¡±.

    -998 coins, 98 remaining stat points.

    :

    :]

    As soon as I read the message, I couldn¡¯t help but burst outughing, for the reward was really small. Especially for those who would escape after the first 100 would only receive 1 remaining stat point.

    Besides, there were not many coins.

    When I heard an additional message after that, I seemed to understand why they returned instead of escaping through the wide open 5th gate.

    [The 5th gate will issue additional rewards when you travel with ordinary people.

    ¨C The following rewards are given for each ordinary person you travel with.

    : 3 million golden rings.

    : A small amount of EXP.

    : 5 coins.

    : 1 remaining stat point.]

    ¡°Oh my¡­¡±

    The reward was not big when examined individually. But there were as many as 10,000 people here. Combined together, the reward was definitely huge.

    Especially a small amount of EXP and remaining stat points caught my eye.

    It was very clear that a small amount of EXP would be big when that of 10,000 wasbined, and the remaining stat points would eventually be 10,000.

    Given my Mutual Growth trait, 10,000 would be 25,000. In other words, it was tremendous.

    At that moment, another message rang.

    [There is a hidden reward in this quest.

    -When one person travels with 1,000 ordinary people.

    : Additional 2000 remaining stat points.

    -When one person travels with 5,000 ordinary people.

    : Additional 20,000 coins.

    -When one person travels with 10,000 ordinary people.

    : Additional treasure chest.]

    [Current number of ordinary people right now.

    -10,563 / 10,563]

    ¡°Hahahaha!¡±

    I could not help butugh in satisfaction before I knew it.

    I firstughed bitterly because the reward was so small, but this time Iughed heartily because I was really happy about the reward.

    So, I opened my mouth to Andrei and the Borneche Expedition.

    ¡°You go first. Let me move with the ordinary peopleter.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I was generous enough to let him be the first to pass the 5th gate.

    As if they were moved by my words, Andrei and the Borneche Expedition members could not even say ¡®Thank you¡¯ to me.

    So Iughed once again and said, ¡°Haha! I am very sorry, but you don¡¯t have to be touched by my considerations.¡±

    They might take my words as a joke, but I really regretted giving up first ce because I had to give up 1000 coins and 100 remaining stat points.

    However, the moment I stepped through the 5th gate, I would be left with zero reward if they put all the ordinary people under their control while pretending to act crazy.

    Of course, such a probability was less than 0.00001%, but I knew I could obtain a huge reward that could not bepared with leaving 1st, so I yielded 1st ce to them.

    It took a little while, but at my demands, Andrei and the Borneche Expedition started to cross the 5th gate bitterly, and when they finally crossed the gate, I moved with all the ordinary people numbering 10,563.

    While moving, I thought deep down that one should live a kind life.

    But soon I changed my thinking.

    ¡®Nope. Living a kind life is not the correct answer.¡¯

    I didn¡¯t save the ordinary people just because I wanted to live such a life.

    I questioned why the ordinary people were forced toe here.

    Of course, the fact that my brother-inw¡¯s father and mother were here made me question it deeply. While I was thinking about it, a twinkling light enveloped the entire crowd, including me.

    I immediately felt like I was being dragged somewhere.

 Chapter 360 - After Escape (1)

    <h4>Chapter 360: After Escape (1)</h4>

    I thought we would be moved back to our reality right away after we escaped from the new continent.

    However, after the light that surrounded me and the crowd of over 10,000 people disappeared, what I saw was a nk white space. And I was alone there.

    Then a message rang.

    [Lumen, Asirante is the 748th escapee from the new continent.

    ¨C You will receive the following reward for your escape.

    : 252 coins.

    :1 remaining stat point.]

    Actually, it was the reward for thest escapee. As a result, the reward was pretty small.

    Given that I spent as long as two months and 15 days in all the stages, I had no choice but to regard this reward as a big loss for me.

    But I didn¡¯t have any regrets about it at all because this was not the main reward.

    As if it knew what I was eagerly anticipating, another message about the main reward rang.

    [Lumen, Asirante escaped from the new continent with 10,563 ordinary people.

    ¨C You will receive the following reward.

    : 3 million golden rings x 10,563

    : A small amount of EXP x 10,563

    : 5 coins x 10,563

    : 1 remaining stat point x 10,563 ]

    The message kept ringing as if it was not a big deal.

    But it was tremendous. No matter how trivial the initial reward was, it would be huge when it¡¯s multiplied by 10,563. Aside from golden rings, the EXP, coins and the remaining stat points were far from trivial. And there was one more thing that stopped any thought that I wasted two months staying here.

    [This is a quest with hidden rewards.

    -The number of ordinary people who moved with Lumen, Asirante has exceeded 1,000.

    : Additional 2000 remaining stat points.

    -The number of ordinary people who moved with Lumen, Asirante has exceeded 5,000.

    : Additional 20,000 coins.

    -The number of ordinary people who moved with Lumen, Asirante has exceeded 10,000.

    : Additional treasure chest.]

    [All the rewards have been issued.

    -After 10 minutes, you will be transferred to your original location.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    To be honest, I felt grateful to Andrei and all the members of the Borneche Expedition who

    sympathized with him and deserted the ordinary people.

    If they had not abandoned the ordinary people, I wouldn¡¯t have had a chance to receive such a reward. I thought that if Andrei and his group had taken care of the ordinary people from the beginning, they would have been engaged in a bloody fight among themselves, for they would find it extremely hard to give up the enormous reward.

    As a matter of fact, even though they were afraid of me, Andrei and the Borneche Expedition members could not give up the reward easily. I would have acted the same way if I had been in their position, for I was just as greedy as them.

    In particr, Andrei and the Borneche Expedition didn¡¯t take the initiative to take away the ordinary people because they were afraid of me, but I would certainly have done so as the strong did to the weak. In that process there would have been numerous casualties.

    ¡°Was this probably the best choice for me or Andrei and the Borneche Expedition who abandoned the ordinary people?¡±

    Suddenly, such a question came to my mind.

    Of course, this was all just ¡®what ifs¡¯, so I stopped thinking about it while shaking my head. Besides, a series of messages rang to distract my attention.

    [You have leveled up.]

    [You have leveled up.]

    :

    :

    [You have leveled up.]

    This kind of message always made me happy.

    In the meantime, there was another message.

    [You currently have the title ¡®Quest Master¡¯.

    ¨C Upon clearing a quest, you will acquire additional 100~300 remaining stat points depending on the difficulty of the quest.

    ¨C We are calcting the difficulty of clearing the quest ¡®Escape from the New Continent with the Borneche Expedition¡¯.

    :100 remaining stat points.]

    Even if it was somebody else¡¯s quest I was participating in, it was obviously a quest.

    So I wasn¡¯t surprised that the quest master message rang because I expected it would ring.

    However,pared to the 300 remaining stat points I had received from Quest Master upon clearing a quest every time so far, 100 remaining stat points was very small. Of course, I understood why.

    The Borneche Expedition directly proved that it was not a big problem for those who raised their reality actualization rate to get to the 5th gate without taking care of the ordinary people, even though passing the 2nd gate was difficult.

    Moreover, I didn¡¯t pay much attention to the Quest Master reward because I had already gained so much. Anyway, when the messages about my level-up stopped ringing, I opened my mouth with a slightly trembling voice.

    ¡°Check status window.¡±

    [Level: 1384

    Number of kills: 11582, Number of deaths: 0

    Titles: Only Closed Beta Max Achiever and 11 others.

    Health: 6,393,000 / 6,393,000

    Mana: 4,298,000 / 4,298,000

    Physical Strength: 9874 Agility: 12731 Stamina: 47710

    Willpower: 34789 Intellect: 63987

    Remaining stat points: 13063

    Remaining skill points: 0

    Traits: Iceman, Mutual Growth, God of Enhancement, All Buffs, All Debuffs.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    10,563 remaining stat points I earned from 10,563 yers thanks to 1 stat point per person.

    That went up to a whopping 12,963 when I included the 2000 as part of the additional rewards and the 400 stat points I gained from leveling up 40 times.

    Finally, the 100 stat points I acquired as the Quest MAster eventually changed the total to 13,063.

    Given the effect of Mutual Growth, the number was practically 32,500.

    So I was preupied with thinking, ¡°Can I really im all these rewards?¡±

    I had a whopping 32,500 remaining stats. Obviously, ordinary people could never obtain such a huge number of remaining stat points even if they reached level 1200, leveled up and added their items and skills.

    Of course, 32,500 was possible because of my trait, Mutual Growth.

    Even without that, however, I would still be left with 13,000 stat points.

    If these remaining stat points were converted to levels, it would amount to a staggering 1300 levels.

    So I just stared at the message for a long time.

    Then I got to my senses, and invested all of the remaining 13,000 stat points in Intellect, increasing my intellect to over 77,000.

    What¡¯s more, my stamina was over 60,000, and my Willpower over 40,000.

    Of course, there was more change.

    1 Health and 1 Willpower increased health and mana by 100, respectively.

    In other words, it meant that my health increased by 1.3 million and my mana by 650,000 at a time. So I could not help but be surprised once again until I felt as if I was being dragged somewhere. Of course, the ce I was being dragged to would be the Myongjin Shelter where I was before the quest started.

    After a while.

    ¡°My brother-inw!

    ¡°Son!¡±

    ¡°Juyoung!¡±

    My father, my mother, my brother, my sister, my sister-inw as well as my sister-inw¡¯s father and mother, who traveled with me there for two and a half months, greeted me warmly.

    I knew immediately that my sister-inw¡¯s parents moved directly to their original locations like other ordinary people, unlike me who received the reward.

    ¡°Good job. You really did a very good job!¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much!¡±

    ¡°Awesome!¡±

    They kept weing and praising me for as long as ten minutes.

    Given their reaction, it seemed that they had already told my parents about my dramatic performance. That¡¯s why my sister-inw spoke to me, crying tearfully like that.

    I felt a bit embarrassed by their praise because I didn¡¯t act with only good intentions.

    But I didn¡¯t show my feelings.

 Chapter 361 - After Escape (2)

    <h4>Chapter 361: After Escape (2)</h4>

    I had no intention of being hurtful to them by expressing my feelings. Besides, even though it was true that my intention of saving the ordinary people was not entirely pure, I meant well anyway.

    Anyway, it has been more than two months since I saw my familyst, so we had a heartfelt family reunion including my inws, which continued into our family dinner.

    Of course, they mainly talked about my brilliant performance.

    In particr, my inws showed great interest.

    ¡°Really? You¡¯ve obtained more than 10,000 remaining stat points?¡±

    ¡°Even if it¡¯s a small amount of EXP, it is going to be huge if you multiply it by 10,000¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, you had to be there for more than two months, but you benefited a lot given the huge reward!¡±

    My inws constantly mentioned my activities with a smile on their lips as if it was them who achieved so much.

    No wonder they naturally mentioned the rewards I received from the quest, which stunned not only my father, brother and sister but also Director Sok and my sister-inw.

    Needless to say, my reward was so huge that nobody could obtain it from a single quest.

    Of course, they congratted me after expressing admiration, and our pleasant dinner continuedte into the night.

    At the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan the next day.

    Even though I obtained such a huge amount of remaining stat points as well as leveling up 50 times at once, that was no reason to take a break, so I essed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ right away.

    Moreover, I encountered only five monsters in two and a half months, as all the other monsters were taken care of by the roots.

    Of course, the five monsters I confronted were the powerful boss monsters, but they were a small matter anyway, so I was hungry for more.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    ¡°¡­¡±

    It was the highest level hunting ground at the moment, but I could hunt the monsters there easily. So much so that I could hunt them even with my eyes closed.

    To exaggerate a little more, I was now even worried I might fall asleep while hunting.

    That¡¯s why I was happy and proud of my strength.

    Hunting the monsters more easily than before was the surest evidence that I became much stronger than before.

    But I had no choice but to feel sorry for the fact that I had to keep hunting level 1500 monsters when I was able to hunt higher-level monsters.

    While I was lost in such thoughts, I kept hunting the monsters.

    ¡°Blizzard!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    [Kheeeeeeeek!]

    [Khuuuuuuuuuk!]

    I didn¡¯t stop hunting because this was the highest level hunting ground and my goal was not just level 1384.

    ***

    At the same time Juyoung Hong was busy hunting.

    Aside from the ordinary people, as many as 1000 people challenged the quest under the banner of the Borneche Expedition.

    Of course, not all of them survived, but more than 700 survived, so it was inevitable that they spread rumors about Juyoung¡¯s extraordinary performance during the quest event.

    In New York, America.

    ¡°So, it was a quest offering a reward of 10,000 remaining stat points?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡±

    ¡°Is it true that Asirante took all of them? 10,000 remaining stat points?¡±

    ¡°Yes. That¡¯s what I know from thetest information. But¡­¡±

    ¡°What else?¡±

    Austin, who was in charge of the Intelligence Department of the Holdridge Group, was really walking on eggshells while responding to his boss¡¯s questions.

    In particr, they still had the vivid memories of their pride being offended when they had to rely on Juyoung Hong to break the statue that dropped tradable coins.

    Since he couldn¡¯t hide the truth, Austin spoke in a low voice because he could not ignore the 2000 stat points, which were far less than 10,000.,

    ¡°The exact number of stat points that he obtained was 12,000. Juyoung Hong took care of all the ordinary people, and as a result he reportedly obtained an additional reward.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    As soon as Austin told the truth, there was a brief silence in the conference room because they were stunned at the huge reward that Juyoung hong obtained, even excluding the additional 2,000 points that Austin revealed.

    Almost all the guilds, which had been watching Juyoung Hong¡¯s performance very carefully, were also equally stunned.

    But the Tgapa Guild in Argentina was an exception.

    In Buenos Aires, Argentina.

    The Tgapa Guild, one of the top five guilds in Argentina, carefully convened an executive meeting. Of course, their main topic was Juyoung Hong. But it was not his huge reward, but Juyoung Hong himself that they mainly discussed about.

    The reason this was the case was because they happened to secure a key by chance, which would take them to the ce where the monsters that appeared in Osaka, Japan came from.

    ¡°This might be dangerous. I don¡¯t know if they are really NPCs, but have you confirmed how strong they were? It would be okay if we could use our abilities within ¡®Revival Legend¡¯, but this is reality. Realty!¡±

    ¡°But we can¡¯t just give up like this. We can get 3000 stat points per person just by going anding back. 3000 stat points! Besides, there are also 30,000 coins included in the reward. Can we really just give up?¡±

    ¡°Of course, not¡­¡±

    ¡°Moreover, if we don¡¯t make a fuss like the idiots in Osaka, Japan, we can pass through quitely. Then we will take the reward without incurring any damage.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    There was a huge reward for just going there anding back.

    As a result, they had no choice but to engage in a fierce debate over whether to go or not. Some of them expressed that they should go no matter what, but others argued that it was not worth going because they were unsure of the danger.

    Since they had all witnessed the fierce skirmish in Osaka, Japan, their debate got more and more heated. So their debate continued endlessly, and they even mentioned Juyoung Hong sometimes because it was Juyoung Hong who got rid of them all cleanly in the end.

    As a result, they judged that they would be certainly safe if they were apanied by him.

    At that moment, Rodrigo, their leader, who was watching the debate from the head of the table, quietly opened his mouth.

    ¡°Contact Juyoung Hong first.¡±

    ***

    At the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I had no difficulties or crisis in this hunting ground.

    That¡¯s why I was bing more and more bored here.

    Nheless, I religiously hunted because I could not stop hunting or ck off just because I was bored. Of course, I had no intention of hunting only.

    As a reward for the previous quest, I received a lot more other than golden rings, EXP and remaining stat points.

    ¡°Confirm coins.¡±

    [Coin: 73652.01]

    I obtained as many as 70,000 coins due to receiving 50,000 coins from traveling with 10,000 ordinary people each worth 5 coins, and the additional reward of 20,000 coins.

    I had no intention of hoarding them at all.

    So, I immediately used the 70,000 coins to raise my reality actualization rate.

    Then a message rang.

    [You currently have the level 1200 privilege ¡®reality actualization¡¯.

    -Currently, Lumen, Asirante¡¯s reality actualization rate is 98%.

    ¨C To achieve 100% reality actualization rate, you need 10,000 coins to increase your reality actualization rate by 1%.]

 Chapter 362 - Reality Actualization Rate (1)

    <h4>Chapter 362: Reality Actualization Rate (1)</h4>

    Mytest reality actualization rate was 91%.

    When I finally reached 98% by raising 7% by using 70,000 coins, I should have been delighted, but I felt somewhat empty instead.

    Of course, I was happy, but there was something that bothered me.

    It was none other than the number 98%.

    ¡°Well, I need only 2% more to reach 100%¡­¡±

    Of course, there was no mention of any changes or rewards when I reached 100%.

    But I started feeling greedy about achieving 100% when I reached 98%, which I didn¡¯t feel at all when I reached 91%.

    ¡°Since I currently have 3,000 coins, I need about 17 billion golden rings to achieve 100%.¡±

    I needed as many as 1 million golden rings to trade for 1 coin. In other words, I needed 10 billion golden rings to trade for 10,000 coins. Besides, this was just amission fee.

    The coin seller would not receive the golden rings. They would just disappear as if they evaporated. Because of that, I would have to pay the coin seller with more golden rings or something else.

    In other words, it was too costly to trade for the coins.

    Nheless, coin trading was so active that there existed a coin exchange market because coins were the most valuable item.

    Anyway, the golden rings I already obtained surpassed 100 billion, so I could trade for 20,000 coins without any difficulty.

    For others, 20,000 coins would be a huge amount, but for me, I would get them sooner orter because I was confident of winning 1st ce in any event or quest.

    That¡¯s why I had no choice but to feel that I didn¡¯t have to use 20 billion golden rings for 20,000 coins.

    ¡°Alright. I don¡¯t have to be in a hurry.¡±

    After I made that decision, I continued hunting again.

    Ten minutester.

    [Lumen: Are you there, Director Sok?]

    [Insu Sok: Yes.]

    [Lumen: I want to get some coins between 17,000 and 20,000. Let me pay for them.]

    [Insu Sok: Got it. I¡¯ll get back to you right away.]

    Of course, I knew it was unnecessary to spend such huge golden rings.

    But I did not want to dy achieving the 100% reality actuation rate any longer when it was right around the corner.

    I didn¡¯t feel the urge to reach 100% when I got to 91%, but when I reached 98%, I was afraid somebody might achieve 100% faster than me by a hair¡¯s breadth.

    As a matter of fact, I had collected golden rings for an asion like this.

    So I changed my mind within ten minutes, and decided to obtain the coins. I could get more golden rings anyway.

    After asking Director Sok such a favor, I continued to hunt.

    Soon Director Sok messaged me.

    [Insu Sok: I¡¯ve obtained the coins, Juyoung.]

    [Lumen: Got it. I¡¯ll see you right away.]

    As soon as he confirmed he got them, I immediately used Blink with a zero cooldown to move to the entrance of the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan.

    When I arrived there, I saw some familiar faces.

    ¡°Wow, Juyoung Hong!¡±

    ¡°You are leaving the hunting ground earlier than usual today!¡±

    I spent two and a half months in the new continent.

    During my absence, not only the yers of Myongjin Guild, but also those belonging to Mirae Guild and Mongolia¡¯s Tugal Guild were hunting here in the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan.

    Those affiliated with Myongjin greeted me with open arms as soon as they found me.

    It was no wonder they weed me so enthusiastically because I was perhaps the most famous man on Earth. Because of that, the Myongjin members had no choice but to feel proud of the fact that they were the members of the Myongjin Guild like me.

    Above all, the fact that Mirae and Tugal guild members were watching them with envy made the Myongjin members feel so proud. Among them were a few familiar faces.

    One was none other than Bora Yon.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    There was a time when Bora Yon and the Mirae Guild were far ahead of me. Back then she was the only one who didn¡¯t ignore me. She might have already guessed that I was Asirante, but she remained silent at that time, which was great because nobody else associated Juyoung Hong with Asirante.

    So I walked to her side while returning the Myongjin Guild members¡¯ enthusiastic greetings, and opened my mouth quietly.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while.¡±

    ¡°I guess so. I was worried because my messages could not get through to you. I heard the news. Congrats!¡±

    As she said, we sometimes messaged each other. Of course, she usually messaged me first. And the news she mentioned was the reward I received this time. It was not strange to me that she knew it because there were lots of people who saw me getting the huge reward.

    So I said, nodding at her words, ¡°Thanks. I was lucky enough to get such a big reward.¡±

    ¡°It was not luck. You were the one who made such a choice,¡± she said pointedly.

    But I didn¡¯t care about it. I chatted with her for a while. Of course, she could have passed by me without speaking to me. However, just by having a friendly conversation with me, she raised her value a lot because her conversation partner, namely, I, was highly valuable.

    At the main base of the Myongjin Guild near Rodon Castle a littleter.

    When I arrived there after finishing talking with Bora Yon, there was somebody waiting for me.

    It was my father, not Director Sok, who was urgently waiting for me.

    As soon as he saw me, he suddenly handed me something.

    It was as many as the 30,000 tradable coins I had given him in the past.

    ¡°Take them. I¡¯ve saved them for you.¡±

    ¡°These are¡­¡±

    Of course, I tried to decline them, waving my hands at him.

    Even if he was my father, I knew it was the most disgraceful thing in the world to give somebody something and take it backter.

    But my father insisted I should receive them, saying, ¡°Anyway, you brought them to me, Juyoung. As a matter of fact, you have given way more coins than these to the Myongjin Guild directly or indirectly. So take them. I thought of returning them back to you someday.¡±

    ¡°¡­

    Even though I tried to decline, he forcibly handed me the 30,000 tradable coins.

    So I immediately took out 30 billion golden rings from my pocket, but he declined them as well.

    ¡°No thanks, Juyoung. If Ipare you to a stock, you are definitely a blue-chip stock. When I don¡¯t invest in you, I don¡¯t want to take away your wealth at all. So don¡¯t care about it at all. By the way, it¡¯s lunchtime soon, so I¡¯ll see youter.¡±

    ¡°Sure, Dad.¡±

    I replied gently because he had no intention of receiving my golden rings at all.

    At the outskirts of the Myongjin Guild headquarters.

    Since I didn¡¯t have to put off raising my reality actualization rate to 100%, I immediately raised it.

    When I achieved 100% rate by using 20,000 coins, a message rang.

    [Congrattions!

    -Lumen, Asirante has achieved 100% reality actualization rate faster than anyone else.

    ¨C You will receive the following reward.

    : Title, ¡®First Achiever of 100% Reality Actualization Rate¡¯

    : All stat points increase by 1000.]

 Chapter 363 - Reality Actualization Rate (2)

    <h4>Chapter 363: Reality Actualization Rate (2)</h4>

    Just like the case for all other 100%s, this 100% seemed pretty impressive to me.

    That¡¯s why I was so impatient to reach 98%, not content with 91%.

    And my expectations proved perfectly right.

    At that moment, another message rang as if there was more to announce.

    [Lumen, Asirante has the trait, Mutual Growth.

    ¨C Stamina and willpower don¡¯t increase in stats.]

    [A mark showing that the person has achieved 100% reality actualization rate is issued.]

    I understood a bit what this message meant. Due to Mutual Growth, stamina and willpower grew together with intellect. They were not affected at all by increases in intellect due to items or skills, but they could increase by obtaining stat points from a title..

    Of course, 1000 stat points I received as a reward was not increased because of a title.

    But I didn¡¯t have any regrets about it, for without Mutual Growth I would have have been able to

    have more than 60,000 stamina and 40,000 willpower.

    So even though stamind and willpower did not increase, not only intellect, but strength and agility also increased by 1,000. So I nodded before I knew it.

    At that moment, I felt a sharp pain in my forehead. It radiated down at a high speed, moving through my shoulders and up to my fingers

    And ck lines appeared on my body as if it were a tattoo.

    ¡°Check the mark.¡±

    So I immediately checked out the mark, for this phenomenon could not have happened if not in rtion to the mark.

    [Mark.

    ¨C It is a mark of the person who has achieved 100% reality actualization rate.

    -Anyone who achieves 100% reality actualization rate will receive a mark.

    -The mark has no effect whatsoever. ]

    ¡°What the heck?¡±

    The mark had literally no effect at all other than tantly stating ¡®I¡¯m the achiever of 100% reality actualization rate!¡¯

    So I didn¡¯t like it that much. I was even upset because of the fact that I would carry that title alone for quite a long time.

    But suddenly something popped up from the ground like a meerkat.

    It was none other than the roots, and it was a very broad and long white root at that.

    Sheeeeeeeeeng.

    The white root rushed towards me as if it was trying to hunt a monster.

    Of course, this was the outskirts of the Myongjin Guild headquarters, so there were no monsters. So I did not avoid it.

    Soon the thick tip of the white root lightly touched my forehead.

    At that moment, the mark, which was spreading through my shoulders, arms, and legs from my forehead started curling back in on itself. As if the mark was being drawn into the white root, the ck marks clearly engraved on my body like a tattoo began to appear on the surface of the white root. The sharp pain on my forehead disappeared, and at the same time, the tip of the white root dropped from my forehead. After that, the white root started swaying side to side in front of me, as it was dancing

    ¡°Oh my¡­¡±

    I didn¡¯t know if it was good or bad for me, so I had no choice but to clear my throat.

    Of course, if the mark had granted me even 1 remaining stat point, it was definitely a bad situation that the root absorbed it, no matter how absurd it was.

    However, there was nothing other than the message that ¡®I am the achiever of 100% reality actualization rate!¡¯

    ording to the description, it had no effect whatsoever.

    ¡°Alright, I can understand. But why are you making such a big fuss?¡±

    The white root was still swaying nicely.

    Of course, it had ck stripes on its surface, but since the white root was so big, they could hardly be noticed. So this cute white root kept moving from side to side before my eyes.

    Then it dug into the ground again as if it had vented all its joy.

    Even though it was hard for me to judge whether it was good or bad, I was satisfied by the fact that this cumbersome mark had disappeared. Moreover, it did not disappearpletely. It was taken away by the roots that belonged to me.

    So, I stopped thinking about the mark, and started checking out other things.

    I wanted to check out the title.

    ¡°Check title.¡±

    [Title: The First Achiever of 100% Reality Actualization Rate.

    -This is a title that can only be obtained by the one who achieves 100% reality actualization rate first.

    -It is unobtainable by any person after the first.

    : All stat points increase by 500.

    : You require less coins to increase your reality actualization rate.]

    Obviously, this was a title which didn¡¯t grant themon increases of health and mana.

    To my surprise, however, this title increased all stat points by as many as 500, and I liked the additional option very much because 100% reality actualization rate was not the end.

    [You can use coins to permanently actualize your abilities within the ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ in reality.

    : From 101% to 110%, you need 12,000 coins (-1,000) per 1%.

    : From 111% to 120%, you need 14,000 coins (-1,500) per 1%.

    : From 121% to 130%, you need 16,000 coins (-2,000) per 1%.

    : From 131% to 140%, you need 18,000 coins (-2,500) per 1%.

    :

    :]

    To be honest, I was worried even when I achieved 100% reality actualization rate because I could no longer grow if 100% was the end.

    Besides, since I already actualized the items I wore within ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ in reality, the coins would be useless in this situation.

    But ording to the message, I could still go higher than 100%.

    So I couldn¡¯t help but smile because I had the potential to be stronger.

    And my path to be stronger more easily than others because of the title ¡®I¡¯m the first achiever of 100% reality actualization rate.¡¯

    After checking out everything, I got up straight away, then moved to the 1500 level hunting ground Land of Titan, for I had a reason to hunt hard again.

    During lunch time at the Myongjin Shelter.

    I sat around the table with my family and had lunch.

    While I was eating, my family members kept sneaking nces at me.

    Of course, I knew why they did so because I was in a more cheerful mood than I was in the morning. And it was no wonder I was so happy because I achieved 100% reality actualization rate and earned lots of things because of that.

    In other words, I earned not only the title, but 1000 stat points of strength, agility and intellect, but not stamina or willpower.

    But I had another reason to feel happier than ever. Namely, 100% was not the final point of my reality actualization rate. I had the potential to increase it further.

    As a result, I didn¡¯t feel bored in the Land of Titan any longer, of which I was certainly getting sick and tired of until recently. I no longer felt the sense of obligation to hunt against my will.

    At that moment, my sister put her chopsticks down on the table and opened her mouth.

    ¡°What the heck? Why are you smiling like that?¡±

    ¡°Hehehe!¡±

 Chapter 364 - Refusal (1)

    <h4>Chapter 364: Refusal (1)</h4>

    Instead of answering, I just smiled at her.

    When she demanded an answer again, I opened my mouth casually as if it was nothing special.

    ¡°Well¡­ it¡¯s not a big deal, but I¡¯ve achieved 100%.¡±

    ¡°100%?¡±

    ¡°For what?¡±

    Since I didn¡¯t state what this 100% was referring to, my brother and sister kept asking, but my father made a surprised expression as if he smelled a rat.

    I received coins from him right before I entered the quest. And the thing most directly connected with coins was the reality actualization rate.

    I felt like bragging about my achievement instead of hiding it, so I opened my mouth right away because I had already deliberately hinted at it by mentioning 100%.

    I said casually as if it was not a big deal ¡°Reality actualization rate.¡±

    ¡°!!!¡±

    ¡°!!!¡±

    ¡°!!!¡±

    As expected, all my family members looked stunned, except for my father who had expected it to some extent. So much so that they dropped their chopsticks.

    In other words, the achievement of 100% reality actualization rate was far from ordinary.

    Above all, it required a number of coins to get there.

    Anyway my family members showed not only surprise but also admiration for my achievement, and congratted me greatly. I even told them about my actual experiences, adding that 100% was not the end of the reality actualization rate.

    Of course, I was not supposed to leak it to outsiders under any circumstances, but the people here were not outsiders at all. After having dinner, I tipped Director Sok off about it as well.

    At the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan.

    ¡°Blizzard!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    [Kheeeeeek!]

    [Khuuuuuuuk!]

    ¡°Hehehe!¡±

    I smiled, watching the monsters copse solely at my Blizzard attack without any support from ice Field and Multiple Thin Ice

    When they fell, I immediately herded more Titans again using Blink with zero cooldown, then used Ice Tornado this time.

    Of course, Ice Tornado was a level 8 skill, lower than Blizzard which was upgraded to level 9 thanks to the functional skill ring. But even then, I had no problems killing the monsters with this skill alone.

    After that, I used Blink with zero cooldown again to continue hunting with a smile on my lips.

    My hunting continued until I got a message from my sister.

    [Lumen: What¡¯s up, sis?]

    [Super Beauty: Can you log out for a moment?]

    [Lumen: Sure. I will log out in a minute.]

    I didn¡¯t ask her why. I would know anyway when I logged out, and there must have been some reason why she asked me to log out.

    A littleter I logged out, and my sister led me to the drawing room.

    While moving there, she told me why she asked me to log out.

    ¡°Do you know the Tgapa Guild in Argentina?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve heard of them.¡±

    As far as I knew, the Tgapa Guild was one of the top five guilds in Argentina.

    When I answered like that, she opened her mouth again.

    ¡°Somebody from that guild is waiting for you in the living room.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°They didn¡¯t tell me the reason, but they said they really wanted to see you. And they guaranteed they had no intentions of harming you.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    I stroked my chin at her words.

    ¡°Alright. If I see them, I will find out why anyway.¡±

    Of course, there would be only one reason why they wanted to see me.

    In other words, they must be here to ask for my help urgently. Otherwise, outsiders like them would have no reason to visit me. Besides, they knew they would have to pay a lot to get my help.

    So, I was thinking of epting their request if all the conditions were met.

    I had made a lot of gains from the previous requests for my help, such as the Dungeon of Ordeal in Indonesia, the statue at the Holdridge Group Headquarters in New York, which I could not help but be greedy about, and the Borniche Expedition thing recently.

    A littleter, I arrived in the living room where my father and Director Sok were seated with another two strangers sitting across the table.

    Apparently, they were from the Tgapa Guild in Argentina that my sister mentioned.

    So I passed by them and sat next to my father at the head of the table, then exchanged greetings with them.

    ¡°It is an honor for me to meet you like this. My name is Carlos, and I¡¯m in charge of foreign affairs for the Tgapa Guild.¡±

    ¡°My name is Melina.¡±

    ¡°Oh, nice to meet you. I¡¯m Juyoung Hong.¡±

    I returned their greetings, then we got down to talking.

    But I didn¡¯t demand we should get down to business right away.

    Obviously, I didn¡¯t want to waste my time, but it was polite for me not to push them when I met them for the first time today.

    Then the guy named Carlos took his back off the sofa and opened his mouth softly with a serious expression unlike before.

    ¡°I think everyone here knows what happened in Osaka, Japan. Juyoung Hong, especially know it better than anybody else, because you were there to get rid of the monsters.¡±

    Of course, I clearly remembered what happened in Osaka, Japan.

    It has already been several months since it happened, but it was still often mentioned by many people.

    So I could not help but feel surprised by these guys¡¯ visit.

    I didn¡¯t want to ignore them, but if the bizarre creatures had appeared again, there would have been a big fuss around the world. But it was quiet until now, which meant that they had not appeared since then.

    After checking the expressions of everybody including my father, Carlos spoke again.

    ¡°People are divided over their existence. First of all, they are not definitely monsters. Just like they came to this Earth, we at the Tgapa Guild found the key to their ce.¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    First of all, I could not understand what he was talking about.

    More precisely, I was pretty startled because I never expected we could go to their ce even though they appeared on our Earth. Back then they called me an intruder.

    Carlos, as if expecting that I would be shocked, didn¡¯t react and continued, ¡°Moreover, our mission doesn¡¯t end with us simply going there to reveal their identity. Reveal the Judgement Key.¡±

    [Judgment Key (Myth)

    ¨C When you use the Judgment Key, you can move to the enemy area ???.

    -Up to 30 people can move, and after moving to the area, there is a 30 day cooldown to return to Earth.

    ¨C If you return to Earth after the 30-day cooldown ends, the Judgement Key will expire.

    Also, when everyone who moved to the enemy area ??? dies, the Judgement Key immediately disappears.

    -After you return to Earth after spending 30 days in the area ???, you will receive the following rewards.

    : All individuals who return to Earth will acquire 3 billion golden rings.

    : All individuals who return to Earth will acquire 3000 remaining stat points.

    : All individuals who return to Earth will acquire 30,000 coins.]

    Obviously, the reward was quiterge. Considering that the reward was not only given to the winner or those in the top rankings, but to every participant, it was literally tremendous.

    But there was another reward.

    [There are additional rewards avable

    -During your 30-day stay in the enemy territory ???.

    ¨C 100 points for killing weak enemies.

    ¨C 500 points for killing equal enemies.

    ¨C 1000 points for killing strong enemies.

    : Depending on the points you acquire, you can exchange them for golden rings, EXP, remaining stat points, remaining skill points, coins, etc.]

 Chapter 365 - Refusal (2)

    <h4>Chapter 365: Refusal (2)</h4>

    When I looked at the whole situation, I recalled a certain event in the past.

    Together with Mirae Gold, I once broke the crack in the wall within Revigal Legend and crossed the Japanese territory to devastate them. Back then, I acquired quite a lot of rewards for my performance during that one week.

    As a matter of fact, I got rid of a considerable number of Japanese users during that one week.

    And the quest now was very simr to the quest back then.

    When my father, Director Sok and I checked the Judgement Key, Carlos opened his mouth again.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s necessary for you to make a big disturbance like they did in Osaka, Japan. Even if you are out there collecting intelligence quietly for 30 days, you will still receive considerable rewards. Of course, if you, Juyoung Hong, want additionalpensation, we are also willing to fully ept your request.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    As Carlos said, it would be beneficial even if I just hid quietly instead of revealing myself. Excluding the considerable rewards that i obtained from the recent Borneche Expedition quest, 3,000 remaining stat points and 30,000 coins were simply too huge for anybody to obtain from any single event or quest. Especially 3000 remaining stat points were tremendous.

    So I could understand why Carlos came to me with the key because his guild could never give up the quest. Obviously, they wanted me as their trump card in case of any possible danger.

    Of course, I was also greedy about the quest.

    Aside from the basic reward, I could purchase not only coins, but also EXP and skill points with the points I would acquire in return for my additional activities.

    But I pretended to ponder over his suggestion.

    Actually, I thought hard about it.

    Watching me lost in serious thought, Carlos said, ¡°If you join us, we are willing to allow five or even seven members of the Myongjin Guild to join us as well.¡±

    Since up to 30 people could participate in this quest, his willingness to ept up to seven Myongjin members was a big concession on their part.

    So I quietly opened my mouth.

    ¡°Wait a little while, and I¡¯ll give you a definite answer.¡±

    At the No. 3 Study a littleter.

    My father, brother, sister, Director Sok and Chief Security Commander Jungdae Lim gathered.

    All of them looked at me squarely.

    The Tgapa Guild only wanted me, and in the end, they said that they would be willing to give up seven slots for Myongjin only if I agreed to participate.

    In other words, the sess of this deal depended on me.

    Of course, this option was not bad for me. Actually, I wanted to go to Argentina.

    In particr, my desire to be stronger arose again, and the fastest way for me to satisfy my desire was to go there.

    But there was one thing that bothered me. It was none other than the ¡®enemy.¡¯

    But that was what was exactly written on the Judgement Key. Of course, it may not be a big deal.

    Apparently, the system initially confirmed that they, which we mistook for NPCs, were our enemies.

    At that moment, I understood why they chose death rather thanpromising back when they faced me in Osaka, Japan. It was because I was their enemy.

    ¡®Enemy¡­ Then do I need to fight them now?¡¯

    I didn¡¯t want to fight them right now if I had no choice but to confront them.

    I wanted to fight themter when I knew their identities and was 100% certain in my victory because I didn¡¯t have to bring about quick or more precisely bad results by confronting them early. What¡¯s more, I had another question.

    ¡®Is it possible for me to go and hide without being revealed for 30 days?¡¯

    They really made a bigmotion in Osaka, Japan. And even if it was not the exact same, they might havee in a simr way to the way the Tgapa Guild found.

    That¡¯s why I could receive a huge reward even if I just stayed quiet.

    However, they made such a mess of Osaka that it drew the whole world¡¯s attention.

    Of course, the modern weapons that Japan employed were responsible for more than 50% of the city¡¯s ruins.

    In any case, they were eventually killed by me, but I wondered if there was something else that caused them to make such a big disturbance other than their hostility.

    And there¡¯s no way we would not be tasked with making such a disturbance if we went there.

    Moreover, there were six slots for Myongjin except for me.

    It was inevitable that not only my family, including my father, but also Director Sok, would be included among them, for unlike coins, there was no way to exchange for remaining stat points, no matter how many golden rings we had.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    That¡¯s why the participants in the No. 3 Study were agonized over the best possible choice.

    But I opened my mouth, watching them carefully.

    ¡°I will decline their offer.¡±

    Of course, I may regret my decisionter. I would regret it a lot if the Tgapa Guild would return to the Earth safely after 30 days of surviving there.

    Nevertheless, I chose to refuse their offer.

    Above all, unless they first attacked the Earth first, I felt reluctant to be the first to set my foot on the ce designated as an ¡°enemy area¡± by the system.

    When I announced my decision, the participants including my father weed it with open hands.

    ¡°Good decision!¡±

    ¡°Good job, Juyoung. It¡¯s definitely dangerous. Unlike other quests and events, you don¡¯t have any information at all. I¡¯m not sure if you can really get such big rewards even if you go into hiding for the 30 days like the Tgapa Guild suggested.¡±

    ¡°I agree. Obviously, the reward is sweet, but there is obviously a hidden danger. As you know, ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ doesn¡¯t give out considerable rewards for anything trivial.¡±

    Not only my father, but also Director Sok, head of the Intelligence Department of the Myongjin Guild, supported my decision, feeling greatly relieved.

    To be honest, I¡¯ve never rejected this kind of offer until now.

    Anyway, having made that decision, I went back to the living room where they were waiting.

    Then I said to them, who were smiling as if they were certain that I would ept their offer to participate in the quest, ¡°Sorry. I can¡¯t join you because I¡¯ve been so busytely.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°What did you say?¡±

    Apparently, Carlos and Melina didn¡¯t expect me to turn down their offer.

    So I clearly repeated what I just said.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t think I can join you. Your quest seems very interesting, but I have more important things to do right now.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    When I repeatedly rejected their offer, they left the living room with a heavy heart.

    Watching them quietly, I had no choice but to smack my lips, for even though I didn¡¯t quite regret my choice, I still felt sorry about having to reject such an attractive offer.

    Since I had made the decision, however, I erased my regrets from my mind quickly.

 Chapter 366 - Haste (1)

    <h4>Chapter 366: Haste (1)</h4>

    A few dayster.

    On that day, I logged into ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ early in the morning, as usual.

    After hunting hard, I was about to log out for a short break when I received a message from Director Sok.

    [Insu Sok: Can I talk to you now?]

    [Lumen: Yes, go ahead.]

    [Insu Sok: Do you remember the Tgapa Guild guys who came to Myongjin Shelter a few days ago?]

    [Lumen: Of course, I do.]

    How could I not remember them?

    Even though I turned down their offer, I was very tempted to move with them alone because their offer was so attractive that I really found it hard to reject at first.

    At that moment, Director Sok¡¯s message rang.

    [Sok: ording to ourtest information, it seems that they have used the Judgement Key. Obviously, they moved as carefully as possible to limit their exposure, but given that some of the top executives including Rodrigo, the guild Leader, suddenly disappeared from the public¡­]

    [Lumen: I see. They finally moved.]

    [Sok: Right. ]

    [Lumen: Got it.]

    If they return safely in 30 days, I will probably kick my own butt for a long time.

    But even though I regretted my decision, I had something to do.

    I needed more information about the ce they were visiting, and there was no more reliable information than experience.

    So I needed to know when they headed for that ce to get that information.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    When I heard that they finally departed for the ce, I had mixed feelings.

    To get the necessary information I wanted, I wished they could seed.

    At the same time, I also wished they could fail. To be honest, I preferred them to fail.

    For I didn¡¯t want others to achieve what I didn¡¯t, and in this case, my decision would be right only if they failed.

    But I quickly shook my head.

    ¡°No! My decision was right! That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t make the choice that would put me in jeopardy! Even if they received ten times the promised reward, they can never be my rival!¡±

    What if they could have be stronger than me after receiving the reward?

    In that case, I would have gone there even if the probability of me dying was over 50%.

    But that was absolutely impossible because I had received far greater rewards before, even if the reward for this 30-day quest was huge.

    That¡¯s why I declined their offer. Anyway, I shook off such extremely narrow-minded feelings.

    Instead, I muttered to myself, ¡°Good luck, guys. I¡¯ll see you in 30 days.¡±

    I really hoped they woulde back, along with lots of information about the ce.

    Then I resumed hunting and because there was no better stress relief than beating up the monsters.

    The next day.

    ¡°Whew.¡±

    I let out a long breath.

    Because of the Tgapa Guild in Argentina?

    Of course not.

    Since they already used the Judgement Key, I could not interfere with them any longer. No.

    I heaved a long sigh for a different reason, namely, the treasure box.

    I received the treasure box as a reward for traveling with a whopping 10,000 people.

    Until now, I have only opened two treasure boxes

    I received the upgraded roots from the first treasure box.

    I didn¡¯t get the trait, ¡®All Buffs All Debuffs¡¯ directly from the second treasure box, but I got the trait shards that gave me it, after all.

    In other words, what I obtained from the two treasure boxes were literally invaluable treasures.

    So I had choice but to hold my breath before I opened the treasure box that I obtained from thetest quest.

    ¡°Well, this is just a bonus anyway. I have already obtained so many rewards for winning so many events and quests. So even if I just obtain something trivial, it¡¯s still a good profit for me.¡±

    After uttering words to reassure myself, I stopped dragging my feet and opened it immediately.

    Bang!

    Then a huge light emitted from the treasure box, and soon an item appeared.

    It was none other than a charm.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Of course, the charm was not necessarily bad for me because I was already wearing two more rings than others thanks to the myth-grade item expansion charm. And they provided me with great effects.

    But honestly I wanted something other than the charm because there were much better items.

    But I had to check out what kind of charm it was, so I opened my mouth quietly.

    ¡°Check item.¡±

    [Three ancient cooldown removal charms(Legendary)

    ¨C A use of the charm resets one of your current cooldowns to zero. If you have two or more cooldowns, you can choose only one.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but be stunned for a moment.

    Because I liked the item so much? Or because I was so disappointed?

    Of course, that was not the reason.

    ¡°How stupid! I already have two of these charms. If I used them, I could have neutralized the 30-day cooldown after using the Judgment Key!¡±

    As a matter of fact, I already had two ancient charms.

    What¡¯s more, I also had the 100% Enhancement Sess Charm that I obtained in the level 100 only limited quest, but I was saving it to upgrade the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword to +15.

    However, I was willing to use one of the charms to get 3,000 remaining stat points, 30,000 coins, and 3 billion golden rings.

    Moreover, that was not all.

    Obviously, if I moved with the Argentine guild members and got rid of the enemies, I could also get points. With the points I could purchase not only coins, but also precious EXP and remaining skill points. In other words, I had to go there along with the Argentine guild members.

    After all, I had this kind of hidden card that could get me out of any possible dangerous situation. But I didn¡¯t think as far as that when I saw the Argentine guild members yesterday. And the Tgapa Guild guys had already used the Judgement Key to head for that ce .

    ¡°¡­¡±

    For a while, I had no choice but to stare nkly into the air, holding the three ancient cooldown removal charms in my hands.

    A littleter I made the conclusion that there was no point in crying over spilt milk.

    No matter how much I regretted my decision, there was no way for me to revoke my decision and join them.

    So I tried to justify my decision.

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve saved one charm. Since I obtained three more this time, I can enhance Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword to +15 Enhancement quite soon.¡±

    Of course, I would have had lots of regrets if I had obtained only one ancient charm with zero cooldown in the treasure box this time, for one charm was too small, considering the value of the treasure box.

    Nheless, I got as many as three charms, not one or two.

    So, I had a total of five cooldown removal charms, including the previous two, as well as one 100% Enhancement Sess charm, so if I seeded in enhancing the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword to +9, I could make it +15 Enhancement, thest stage of enhancement, immediately.

    ¡°Alright. Since the Guardian Sword is +7 Enhancement right now, a couple of enhancements is all I need to get to +15 Enhancement?¡±

    At that moment, I had no choice but to tremble a bit, thinking about the +15 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword.

 Chapter 367 - Haste (2)

    <h4>Chapter 367: Haste (2)</h4>

    Even now, the +7 Enhancement of Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword was so good that it could be called a scam. Given that the options the sword provided increased with each enhancement level, the +15 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword would go beyond the ¡®scam¡¯ level and break the bnce of the system.

    So I eximed again to justify my decision to myself, ¡°Yeah, let me forget about it!¡±

    Obviously 3 billion golden rings, 3,000 remaining stat points, and even 30,000 coins would be nothingpared to the +15 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword, so I shook off my regrets and focused on hunting again.

    At the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan one weekter.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    While I was concentrating on hunting in the Land of Titan as usual, a message suddenly rang.

    [Hello. This is ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    ¨C We will notify you of some changes.

    The current 40 regions will soon be merged into one.Following the ess ban on those below level 100, the ess ban on those below level 200 will be activated sooner orter.After the 40 regions are merged into one, the EXP given by monsters in all hunting grounds will increase, and a new higher level hunting ground will appear.The event nned right before the merge of 40 regions will start quickly.]

    ¡°?¡±

    Of course, messages like this rang quite often until now.

    However, I felt something very unusual in this message.

    In other words, I instinctively felt they were rushing something

    As a matter of fact, the current 40 regions were formed by gradually merging two to five regions of the numerous regions that existed previously. For example, Korea, where I belonged, was merged with Japan and Mongolia first, then with China, India and Vietnamter.

    Considering that, it seemed more reasonable tobine 10 or 15 regions together rather than 40 regions all at once. This was more logical, given the fact that coins and EXP would increase in all hunting grounds, aside from the ess ban on those below level 200.

    ¡°Well, I think I know the reason why such a message was announced.¡±

    Of course, I had no hard evidence, but I had a strong feeling that it was because of those people who left for that ce that had no particr name, referred to as just ???.

    And those guys were none other than the Tgapa Guild of Argentina.

    At that moment, another message rang as if to confirm the fourth use of the message that said, ¡®the event nned right before the merger of 40 regions will start quickly.¡¯

    [ The ¡®Strongest Regional Guild Selection¡¯ event, nned right after the ¡®Strongest Regional yer Selection¡± event starts right away .

    ¨C How to proceed.

    : For the next three days, the representative of each guild can apply for the ¡®Strongest Guild Competition¡¯ through the signs installed in the central za of each city or province.

    : A team can consist of up to 30 people, and when the 3-day application period is over, the participating guilds will be matched randomly from the next day.

    (ording to the number of participating guilds, the draw is randomly drawn into initial tournament brackets of 1024 and 512.)

    : Differential rewards are given to the winner as well as those guilds that have advanced to the round of 16. In addition, the winners of each of the 40 regions will gather separately to participate in the selection of the strongest amongst all 50 regions. However, you can only participate in this event when you are level 1000 or higher.

    : Due to the nature of the event, there is no penalty even if you lose.]

    I was the winner of the ¡®Strongest Regional yer Selection¡¯ event. Back then I won not only in Region 11 that I belonged to, but also in the ¡®King of Kings¡¯ event to find the strongest yer across all regions.

    So if I changed the name ¡®Strongest yer¡¯ to ¡®Strongest Guild,¡¯ this event was basically a carbon copy of the previous event I won.

    I felt good about it because I was going to be the winner again not only in my region but also among all other regions as well.

    However, the reason I could not be just happy about it was because I had some doubts that the fast pace of this event might not be necessarily favorable to me.

    The fundamental reason why I rejected the Tgapa Guild¡¯s offer was because I wanted to put it off untilter if I was forced to engage in a fatal fight with the enemy.

    But I stopped thinking about it.

    Why? I couldn¡¯t figure out the answer no matter how hard I thought about it, and the best thing I could do at this point was to win 1st ce in this event to select the strongest guilding on the heels of the event to select the strongest yer.

    ***

    While Juyoung Hong was lost in thoughts, checking the message, something was happening in the ??? area.

    ¡°Gosh, we made the wrong choice.¡±

    ¡°Damn it! Damn it! They should have told us about it in advance!¡±

    ¡°We should not havee here!¡±

    Now, there were only 5 members of the Tgapa guild left, so they were screaming out of despair. But they did not stop running away.

    Even though they knew that the enemy clearly had the capacity to kill them right away, and was fooling with them, they could not afford to stay idle.

    ***

    Looking back, I won too easily in the ¡®Strongest yer Selection¡¯ event, which was exactly the same as the current ¡®Strongest Guild Selection event.¡¯

    In the previous event, more than half of my opponents gave up immediately instead of confronting me when they saw that I was their opponent. Now I am much stronger than before.

    Starting off with the 14,000 stat points I gained from Jihye Suh of North Korea, I obtained the ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs¡¯ trait, which I didn¡¯t have back then, as well as the rewards I received from participating in the Borneche Expedition.

    Besides, the rewards that I recently obtained were much greater than those I had earned before the ¡°Strongest Regional yer¡¯petition had started. For example, in terms of stat points, I received over 10,000 and 30,000 stat points at once in that order, and although it was not stat points, ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs¡¯ was definitely worth more than tens of thousands stat points.

    This meant that even without forming a team of up to 30 guild members, I was confident of winning 1st ce not only in my region but also among all the strongest teams in all 40 regions. In other words, my confidence was not based on any arrogance on my part, but my unrivalled power.

    So I opened my mouth casually.

    ¡°I will win 1st ce under any circumstances. So you don¡¯t have to form a team of 30 yers based on their rankings. And I don¡¯t think it would be a bad idea to use this asion to show one or two team members how Myongjin rewards their loyalty.¡±

    Of course, not only my father, mother, brother, sister, sister-inw, but also Director Sok, Chief Secretary Dongyoung Ahn, and Myongjin Shelter Security Chief Captain Jungdae Lim, who was busy ying the double role of North Korea¡¯s Yuljung Kim of North Korea, were included in my team in advance because they were either my family members or equivalent.

 Chapter 368 - Expected Move (1)

    <h4>Chapter 368: Expected Move (1)</h4>

    It didn¡¯t matter to me even if other team members whispered about the inclusion of my family members into the Myongjin team because I didn¡¯t have to check their feelings or try to be fair, conscious of what they thought about me. As they say, men are blind in their own cause.

    Anyway, I let my father select the 30 members of our team, then I spent the rest of the day hunting in the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan.

    Aside from the joy of hunting, I was ready to leave this ce because the 40 regions would seeon be merged into one, and a higher level hunting ground than this one would appear.

    Three dayster.

    I was still hunting in the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan.

    But then a message rang.

    [The opponent of the Myongjin team for the ¡®Strongest Guild Selection¡¯ event¡¯ has been decided.

    -You will be transferred to the arena after 30 minutes.

    -If the registered members in the team are not connected even after 30 minutes, only the users who are connected will be moved to the arena.

    If more than two-thirds of the participants are not connected, the team will be forcibly withdrawn from the event.]

    As soon as I checked the message, I immediately exited the hunting ground.

    ording to the message, there was no mandate that the team members should stick together, but I could not afford to act alone when my family members including my father as well as other members of our team were now gathered at the main base of the Myongjin Guild.

    When I arrived at the main base in Rodon Castle, they were waiting for me as expected.

    ¡°Howdy. Why are you sote? We¡¯ve been waiting for you for a long time,¡± said my sister, weing me.

    Right next to her were the other 28 members of our team, including my father, mother, brother, and sister-inw.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s only been less than five minutes since the message rang!¡±

    ¡°Gosh, you came herest, so you arrived veryte.¡±

    As my sister said, I was thest toe here, so I just shrugged and didn¡¯t say anything.

    Of course, there was nobody who took my sister¡¯s teasing seriously.

    On the contrary, they weed my bted arrival, with their eyes twinkling.

    Such a reaction was only expected because I always won 1st ce, regardless of whether I challenged the event or quest alone or with a party.

    As a result, those who participated in the ¡®Strongest Guild Selection¡¯ event had no choice but to be excited.

    For it was almost 99%, or 100% certain that I would win in this event.

    Again, the probability of winning first ce was at least 99%, not 100%, not to mention the 100% chance of our team receiving the reward for 1st ce.

    Anyway, I took a seat amid their warm wee.

    Then my father opened his mouth.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to leave this event entirely to Juyoung.¡±

    At first, Director Sok led the members of the Strategic Department to find some contingency measures for the event around the corner as that was his job.

    At that time, he checked my status window and said to me, ¡°I think I did something wrong. WE already have the strongest hidden card in our team. It¡¯s you, Juyoung.¡±

    So it was unanimously decided that I would lead our team.

    Anyway, I happily waited for the event to start quickly.

    For I knew that just like the event to select the strongest yer, this event to find the strongest guild was made for me.

    ***

    While Juyoung Hong and 29 others of Myongjin Team were waiting for the event to start, the top executives of the Holdridge Group in New York were also having a meeting about the event.

    ¡°We¡¯re going to win in our region, but in the end, the Myongjin Team led by Asirante will win among the strongest guilds.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Everyone who participated in the meeting did not refute what the top five executives said because it was true.

    Since Holdridge¡¯s pride was greatly hurt by allowing Asirante break the statue throwing out tradable coins on behalf of them, they watched Asirante more carefully than anybody else.

    So they had no choice but to realize that the already incredibly strong Asirante was growing even stronger at a breakneck pace.

    Then another top executive said, ¡°Well, aside from Juyoung Hong, it seems that the pace of events within ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ has suddenly be faster than before¡­¡±

    Juyoung Hong felt it and so did Myongjin Guild. So it was only natural that the Holdridge Guild with their vast intelligencework noticed it too.

    So one of the top executives pointed it out, and Austin, who was in charge of Holdridge¡¯s Intelligence Department, said, ¡°Yes, that¡¯s correct. Clearly, ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ is undergoing changes faster than originally nned. Of course, I don¡¯t know why. However, based on the analysis of our Intelligence Department, the most certain change we can expect this time is that those guys who appeared in Osaka, Japan that we mistook for NPCs will appear more frequently than before.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± one executive member asked with a displeased tone.

    It was basically impossible topromise with them and they were very strong.

    Austin continued without any hesitation.

    ¡°As you remember, the coins are now dropped equally in all hunting grounds regardless of your level. This is only a reminder to all the participants that they should raise their reality actualization rate faster than before. Moreover, this time, the EXP points that can be obtained in all hunting grounds and the new higher level hunting grounds have been increased. This is just another encouragement that the participants should try as hard as possible to be stronger by raising their level. In other words, this ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ is telling us all to get stronger faster, along with the warning that we will be denied ess to the game if we ck off.¡±

    Austin¡¯s words might not be the exact answer, but obviously, what he said was not totally false.

    So nobody in the conference room refuted him. Even the top five executives remained silent.

    As if he had noticed the current atmosphere, Austin left a final sentence, ¡°At first, I thought the monsters were our main enemy. However, we could deal with the monsters with the firearms developed by mankind. In other words, given the growing pressure of ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ on us to be stronger faster, I think our main enemies are those guys¡­¡±

    Once again, silence fell to the conference room.

    After the long silence, someone whispered, ¡°Then what¡¯s our contingency n?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve got only one.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Well, since we can¡¯t win like Juyoung Hong who always wins in any event or quest, the best countermeasure that our Intelligence Departement can find is to hunt monsters harder and collect as many coins as possible in the hunting grounds. Of course, I think we need to select and focus on a few key yers because Juyoung Hong has proven that one really overwhelmingly strong person is much more powerful than the mix of hundred or thousands of weak yers.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    That was too obvious an answer.

    But since it was not wrong, the meeting participants wrapped up the meeting in silence in order to move to the hunting grounds.

 Chapter 369 - Expected Move (2)

    <h4>Chapter 369: Expected Move (2)</h4>

    The main base of the Myongjin Guild in Rodon Castle.

    [The Myongjin Guild Team 1 will be moved to the arena.]

    Along with that message, I felt like I was being dragged somewhere. Soon a familiar sight came into my view.

    It was the very arena that I frequently went in and out of during the ¡®Strongest yer Selection¡¯ event. Of course, there were many more people in the arena this time. But I didn¡¯t care about it at all because such a huge number of participants did not affect my chances of winning.

    I told my team members, ¡°Just step back and watch me.¡±

    Of course, they could join me in this fight, but I decided to fight alone because I didn¡¯t want to use this asion to gain experience in working together with them

    At that moment a message rang.

    [You are given three minutes preparation time for the fight.

    -You can use these three minutes to use and rece buffs and items.

    -The guild that wins the fight automatically advances to the next round, and the guild that loses is eliminated from the event immediately.]

    Actually, I expected such a message, but another message rang.

    [You currently have All Buffs, All Debuffs.

    ¨C Mega Heal does not apply.]

    When I obtained the trait, All Buffs, All Debuffs, everyone congratted me.

    Of course, my mother was also among those who congratted me.

    In fact, she was happier than me who obtained the trait.

    But she said she was sorry because she could not heal me anymore.

    In other words, it was my mother who used the Mega Heal a moment ago, even though she knew that her heals would not work for me any longer.

    So I smiled at her gently instead of expressing my gratitude to her.

    Even though she knew that I was probably, or obviously, the strongest yer on Earth, she could not help but worry about me as my mother.

    So, as soon as the barrier dividing the arena into two sides disappeared I charged at my opponents in order to show her how strong I was. Of course, the other party was prepared for my attack, for both sides could confirm their opponents as the barrier in the middle was translucent just like during the ¡®Strongest yer Selection¡¯ event.

    But it seemed like the other party didn¡¯t know I was Juyoung Hong. And the fact that they didn¡¯t recognize me meant that they were very weak

    ¡°Kill that fearless bastard!¡±

    ¡°Fire Field!¡±

    ¡°Fire Field!¡±

    ¡°Trap the enemy! Fire Wall!¡±

    ¡°Slow! Slow!¡±

    ¡°Dancing Fireworks!¡±

    Judging by their attack, however, it seemed that they were far from weak, for they obviously prepared a synergistic effect with one only element, namely, fire.

    But their attack didn¡¯t have any effect.

    Moreover, the fire-type attacks were no weakness of mine.

    My strong weapon, Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword, had the following option.

    [The sword contains the final determination of the Ice Emperor, which even the Sun God could not melt, so it provides a 20% damage reduction and superiority over all fire-type skills]

    In other words, this was an option that would neutralize any fire-type attacks.

    The 20% damage reduction was far from small, but it was what was provided by the +0 enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword. It was now a +7 Enhancement guardian sword.

    Like the values of the other options increased, this option value also increased to as high as 35%.

    In addition to that, my resistances were in the top 0.1% and my willpower was as high as 42,000.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    In this situation, it would be very weird if I suffered any damage unless they had a simr magic attack power and intellect to me.

    Unfortunately, they didn¡¯t..

    In other words, it was false to say that I didn¡¯t suffer any damage at all, but my health decreased just a tiny bit.

    Anyway, I responded strongly to their reckless attacks.

    ¡°Ice Field!¡±

    Pasasasasak!

    They tried to trap me using their skill Fire Field.

    But my Ice Field not only wiped it out, but also turned the entire arena into ice, and a very thick ice at that. And even my opponents were not spared.

    Only they did they begin to recognize who I was.

    ¡°Why is this Ice Field so vast?¡±

    ¡°Is he Asirante?¡±

    ¡°Man, he is Juyoung Hong!¡±

    ¡°Damn it! How unlucky can we be to have confronted Juyoung Hong in the first round!¡±

    ¡°My health has decreased so much because of this Ice Field!¡±

    Clearly, the Ice Field skill was somon that any ice-series wizard had to learn it, but its effect varied depending on who used it. That¡¯s why they immediately found out who I was by judging the strength of Ice Field.

    But it was already toote.

    So I used one skill directly at them while they were desperately struggling in shock.

    ¡°Blizzard!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Blizzard had level 7 and level 9.

    Perhaps they must have seen the power of level 7 Blizzard.

    Even though they didn¡¯t recognize me at first, they were at least over level 1000.

    Moreover, they could learn level 7 skills when they reached level 800.

    However, my Blizzard was a whopping level 9 thanks to the functional skill ring.

    What¡¯s more, my intellect was as high as 80,000.

    ¡°Argh¡­I¡¯m bleeding¡­¡±

    Flop.

    ¡°My health¡­¡±

    Flop.

    Healers, enchanters, and dealers with rtively low health copsed without being able to resist at all. Of course, some dealers and tanks with high health attempted to attack me.

    However, like my Ice Field, my Blizzard was not only stronger than that used by ordinary ice mages, but it also had a wider range of attack.

    ¡°Damn it! How unlucky we are¡­¡±

    Flop.

    Flop.

    Flop.

    Starting with those who med their bad luck, they began to fall one by one on the Ice Field due to my Blizzard. I didn¡¯t check the time exactly, but it took less than 5 seconds to wipe them all out.

    At that moment, a message rang

    [Myongjin Team 1 has won.

    ¨C You advance to the next round.]

    Anyway, I passed the first round so easily, and I expected to do so in the 2nd and 3rd rounds as well.

    Several days into the ¡®Strongest Guild Selection¡¯ event.

    As expected, I kept winning in the sessive rounds, and overwhelmingly at that.

    Of course, my opponents strongly resisted.

    ¡°Damn it! If we can defeat Asirante, we have a chance to win. So, never give up!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Understood! Permeate, Soul-eating Poison!¡±

    ¡°Blow, Biting Wind!¡±

    ¡°Thick Spear of Land!¡±

    ¡°Piercing Power Shot!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    There were many people who gave up in the previous event to select the strongest yer, which was the same format as this one

    In particr, as the rounds moved on, only those who were rtively strong survived.

    But this time, since they didn¡¯t fight alone but as a team of 30 people, there were no teams who easily gave up like they did in the previous event.

    Of course, that didn¡¯t change the results because they couldn¡¯t inflict any damage on me despite using all kinds of attacks.

    On the contrary, I counter attacked them relentlessly.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasasak!

    ¡°Dodge it!¡±

    ¡°Our opponent is Asirante! Do not underestimate his Ice Field!¡±

    As soon as they saw my Ice Field, they got scared and began to disperse widely outside the arena.

    However, their attempt to escape totally ignored the power of my Ice Field backed up by Multiple Thin Ice.

    Even if the arena here made for the 30 versus 30 was bigger than that of the one-on-one matches, my Ice Field still filled the entire arena.

 Chapter 370 - Expected Ending (1)

    <h4>Chapter 370: Expected Ending (1)</h4>

    As soon as they saw my Ice Field, they got scared and began to disperse widely outside the arena.

    However, their attempt to escape totally ignored the power of my Ice Field backed up by Multiple Thin Ice.

    Even if the arena here made for the 30 versus 30 was bigger than that of the one-on-one matches, my Ice Field still filled the entire arena.

    Of course, they didn¡¯t stop counterattacking me.

    ¡°Fire Field!¡±

    ¡°Fire Field!¡±

    ¡°Shaking Land!¡±

    They used simr type skills to break my Ice Field backed up by Multiple Thin Ice.

    But my Ice Field, reinforced by Multiple Thin Ice, stayed intact without even a single crack.

    Rather it neutralized their counterattack.

    What was left after their attack?

    Of course, it was my turn to counterattack them.

    ¡°Ice Tornado!¡±

    Wheeeeeeeeeng.

    ¡°Kheeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Howe this Ice Tornado is so powerful?¡±

    ¡°Obviously other ice tornadoes are not as strong as this one¡­¡±

    My Ice Tornado was apanied by a gust of wind, not to mention an ice whirlwind, which swept everything in the surroundings as my Intellect was so high. Since this kind of ice tornado was different from what they had seen until now, they were very much startled.

    Of course, their shock didn¡¯tst long.

    Flop.

    Flop.

    Flop.

    In less than a few seconds, they fell one by one.

    Right after that, a message that I advanced to the next round rang.

    Anyway, I continued to win.

    Of course, I sometimes confronted a team that used some strange skills.

    ¡°Slow! Slow!¡±

    ¡°Block the enemy¡¯s eyesight! Blind!¡±

    ¡°Soar, and bind my enemies! Death Roots!¡±

    :

    :

    ¡°Weaken your body and mind!¡±

    ¡°My shadow will be an unbreakable! Shadow Knot!¡±

    This team was heavily armed with all kinds of debuffs and trapping skills.

    Probably, even a fairly well-known strong yer would have a hard-time confronting such a team. To be honest, this kind of attack was more annoying and intimidating than a lot of attacks.

    Therefore, it was necessary for a normal strong yer to receive the help of dealer, tanks, healers as well as enchanter.

    But such an attack had no effect on me at all because I possessed ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs¡¯.

    And even if I did not have this trait, they could no longer pose any meaningful threat to me.

    Why? Because my current willpower alone exceeded 40,000, not to mention my resistance stats.

    Nobody could achieve such a level even if the top 0.00001% enchanters devoted all their stat points to Intellect, and even chose their skills and items to synergise with their intellect.

    In other words, I could easily defeat the team heavily armed with all kinds of debuffs and trapping skills which would normally frustrate other strong yers.

    ***

    It has been 15 days since I started the ¡®Strongest Guild Selection¡¯ event.

    Even though thousands of teams took part in this event, the number was reduced by half each sessive round. Finally, only 16 teams survived.

    Ironically, five teams out of the 16 belonged to one guild, the Chinese Government headed by President Xi.

    Of course, I kind of expected it because in the ¡®Strongest yer Selection¡¯ event, it was the Chinese Government headed by President Xi who filled more than half of those yers in Round 16 with his own men. Xi himself took second ce.

    So, I had no choice but to say to Director Sok, ¡°It¡¯s clear that they can manipte the draw this time as well.¡±

    Director Sok, the head of Myongjin¡¯s Intelligence Department replied, ¡°Yes. I guess they did so like before. Of course, it¡¯s not perfect given the asional mismatch.¡±

    But I asked as if I had something more to say, ¡°Even if they manipted it, I guess they will fail to win like before, right?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡±

    As he said, no matter how cleverly they manipted thepetition bracket, they had to confront me at the end of the day.

    That¡¯s why President Xi had no choice but to settle for 2nd ce in the previous event.

    Anyway, starting with the round of 16, I advanced to the quarter-finals the next day, the semi-finals the day after, then finally moved on to the finals safely with my team.

    As expected, my opponent was the Chinese Government¡¯s Team 1 led by President Xi.

    Of course, many people believed that the winning team was already decided from the moment when the 16 teams were decided. In other words, their unanimous consensus was that Myongjin Team 1 would take home the title.

    As if to confirm such an atmosphere, President Xi, who met me in the finals, said, ¡°I will give up. Instead, can we have a brief conversation before I give up?¡±

    Like he did before, President Xi first expressed his intention to give up.

    So, I nodded slightly because it was President Xi who first gave me the information that those who appeared in America and Osaka, Japan were not NPCs, adding that they were real enemies.

    I said, ¡°Sure, why not? We can talk. By the way, it¡¯s nice to see you again like this.¡±

    ¡°Haha. Well, I would like to seek your understanding why I have to give up in a situation like this.¡±

    President Xi had no choice but to be content with winning 2nd ce, blocked by me.

    If China was not in Region 11 like me, but in some other district, he would have most likely won, especially because they manipted thepetition bracket in their favor.

    But he was ced 2nd because of me again, so I just smiled at him subtly.

    After noticing me, President Xi opened his mouth again.

    ¡°Well, I think you guys at Myongjin will fully understand what this change means.¡±

    Of course, I knew it. Even though I didn¡¯t express it to him openly, the message pointed to only one thing.

    So I said, reconfirming it, ¡°Well, I guess the system guys are pressing us to get stronger quickly.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    President Xi immediately agreed with what I said, then continued, ¡°That¡¯s why I envy you and Myongjin because the person who keeps up with the current trend the most is you, Juyoung Hong. Besides, by winning 1st ce again this time, you will step forward dozens or hundreds of steps in front of us when you are already so far ahead.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m ttered.¡±

    I expressed my humility by waving my hands at him. Anyway, we exchanged pleasantries like that for a while. Then, at the end of our conversation, he said with a serious expression, ¡°Maybe they will show up more often this time than they did in Osaka. Maybe they are much stronger than before. Apart from being the head of the Chinese Communist Party, I feel sorry for you as a fellow human on this Earth.¡±

    ¡°Pardon?¡±

    I was startled by his unexpected words. Of course, I did not readily understand his point. And I especially did not get why he said he was sorry.

 Chapter 371 - Expected Ending (2)

    <h4>Chapter 371: Expected Ending (2)</h4>

    Without caring about my reaction, however, President Xi continued, ¡°They will never stop their destructive behavior. Of course, they will stay hostile towards us. As a result, Earth¡¯s crisis will deepen even more. So much so that it can¡¯t bepared to the confusion when monsters first appeared. And I think it¡¯s you, Juyoung Hong, who will emerge as the hope of this earth at that time.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°It is difficult for me and China to protect ourselves right now, but we will do our best to help you because you¡¯re the hope of the Earth.¡±

    President Xi instantly made me the protector of mankind, or Earth, with a few words.

    Of course, at this point I seemed to figure out why he made such a statement to me.

    His point was that instead of being conceited, I should get rid of those guys that he mistook for NPCs when they appeared in Osaka, for I am the guardian of the earth like Superman.

    At that moment, President Xi made a conclusive statement.

    ¡°If everyone dies making clumsy attempts and only Juyoung Hong survives, wouldn¡¯t it mean defeat for all of us?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Of course, I could understand why he said that. As he said, they were extraordinarily strong, and I was the most powerful man on Earth who could stop them.

    In fact, the Japanese Government and the Mitsuya Guild seeded in locking them up in a certain area, but almost half of the giant city of Osaka was coteral damage.

    What if these alien creatures appeared here and there around the world?

    Indeed, as President Xi said, their appearance would create an unprecedented chaos that could not bepared to the appearance of monsters.

    No matter how hard ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ pressed all of us to be stronger faster, we were not yet strong enough to confront these alien creatures.

    I also understood President Xi¡¯s intentions behind such a statement.

    But it was President Xi, not somebody else, who spit out those words.

    ¡°Hahaha¡­¡±

    I broke into an emptyugh before I knew it.

    Watching me quietly, he opened his mouth.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think we should find a way to coexist as members of the same?¡±

    I didn¡¯t bother to take issue with his emphasis on the need to coexist.

    With 29 allies behind me and 29 behind President Xi watching me closely, I didn¡¯t have to tell him that I would step forward to get rid of these beings who threatened humanity only if I receivedpensation like I did for the Japan incident.

    Obviously, President Xi and his men here must be filming our meeting with the Memory Bead.

    Anyway, I glossed over the situation with a smile, and President Xi immediately dered that he would give up, apparently not wanting to cross the red line any more. He said he hoped he was in my good hands.

    At that moment, a message rang.

    [With your opponent dering to forfeit the battle, Myongjin Team 1 won 1st ce in Region 11¡¯s ¡®Strongest Guild Selection¡¯ event.

    -All members of the defeated team will be forcibly removed from the arena.]

    As soon as the message rang, President Xi and the 29 people immediately disappeared as if they had evaporated.

    Then another message rang.

    [Congrattions! You have won 1st ce in the ¡®Strongest Guild Selection¡¯ event.

    ¨C In return, you receive the following reward.

    : All members of Myongjin Team 1 will obtain 1 billion Golden Rings.

    : All members of Myongjin Team 1 will obtain 500 remaining stat points.

    : All members of Myongjin Team 1 will obtain 20,000 coins.]

    Obviously, this reward was smaller than the ¡®Strongest yer Selection¡¯ event.

    Back then, even skill points were included in the reward.

    Of course, I was alone then, and now there are 30 team members. The total reward is muchrger this time, but I still felt it was a bit disappointing.

    ¡°Wow!!!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re No. 1!¡±

    ¡°Myongjin! Myongjin!¡±

    ¡°Juyoung Hong! Juyoung Hong!¡±

    Unlike me who was so used to winning 1st ce in any event or quest, most of those behind me hardly won 1st ce, so it was natural they were so excited that they were shouting with joy

    In particr, my team members included those who I selected on purpose to reward their loyalty to Myongjin even though they were rtively weakpared to others, so it was no wonder they were cheering so loudly.

    Nheless, even they were over level 1000.

    So, as soon as I first expressed the joy of winning 1st ce, the message rang even more.

    [All members of the Myongjin Guild selected as the strongest guild in Region 11 will receive the following rewards.

    ¨C 2000 coins that cannot be exchanged are given to all Myongjin Guild members.

    (But these coins are not issued to the 30 members of Myongjin Team 1.)]

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    I eximed at this message unwittingly, for even though the coins were not exchangeable and only numbered 2000, one tenth of 20,000 coins that our team members received, they were issued to all the members of the Myongjin Guild without any exception.

    Considering the total number of people that Myongjin possessed, the total number of coins was in the hundreds of millions.

    And the other team members shouted even louder than before once they noticed this huge number of coins. But then a message rang about selecting the strongest guild among the strongest.

    [Your team has been selected as the strongest guild in Region 11.

    -You can participate in the King of Kings battle in the future.

    ¨C Would you like to participate?]

    As soon as the message rang, all their eyes turned to my father, not me.

    For my father was the representative of my team, no matter what, even though I was the one who contributed the most to our team winning this event.

    ¡°Participate.¡±

    [You have applied for participation in the event to select the strongest of the strongest.

    ¨C The Myongjin Guild cannot ept new members until the King of Kings event is over.]

    This message was rather weird because it blocked Myongjin from epting new members.

    But everybody had no choice but to heartilyugh because it clearly suggested that all members of the Myongjin Guild would receive a reward just like the coins this time if we won in the next event as well

    That¡¯s why other yers were blocked from joining us, the Myongjin Guild, who were the favorites to win

    After that, another message about our departure from the arena rang. Then I felt myself being dragged somewhere, and soon found myself in the main base of the Myongjin Guild in Rodon Castle amid the tumultuous wee of numerous Myongjin Guild members.

 Chapter 372 - The Land That Summons Monsters (1)

    <h4>Chapter 372: The Land That Summons Monsters (1)</h4>

    All the members of the Myongjin Guild received 2000 coins per person just because they belonged to the guild, regardless of whether they were level 1200, or level 900, or even level 300.

    Even if coins were not exchangeable, coins were still coins anyway.

    Because of that, there was a big fuss over it both within ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ and in reality. And their fuss led to a festival.

    Moreover, the fact that the Myongjin Guild could not ept new members during the King of Kings event was a sure sign that winning the King of Kings would give valuable rewards to all the guild members like this time, so the festival took ce with a happy mood untilte into the night. However, there was a ce within the Myongjin Shelter that could not be affected by such a festive atmosphere.

    It was the small meeting room of Myungjin Shelter.

    ¡°Really? Have they note back yet?¡± my father asked.

    ¡°Nope. Yesterday was eactly the 30th day after Argentina¡¯s Tgapa Guild travelled to that ce. But none of the 30 members returned, so the Tgapa Guild is very concerned now,¡± Director Sok replied.

    My father asked again, ¡°Is there any possibility that they are dying their return because they are acquiring somethign valuable there? For example, EXP points or coins. Moreover, the cooldown that allows them to return after 30 days might be over, but they have no obligation to return within 30 days, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. As you said, we can¡¯t rule out such a possibility. But if that was the case, it is the judgment of our Intelligence Department that the Tgapa Guild would not have been so openly confused. Moreover, given that their leader Rodrigo is very well known for being prudent, he should have ordered at least one of the 30 members to return and report about their situation even if that ce was littered with all kinds of treasures.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, that makes sense¡­¡±

    My father groaned at his response.

    Of course, Argentina¡¯s Tgapa Guild might be important to the Myongjin Guild, but they were most closely rted to the unusual pace of the current ¡®Revival Legend¡¯. That¡¯s why we could not help but pay attention to their return, not to mention the first-hand information they obtained by visiting there.

    But there was no news about their return. What¡¯s more, since the 30-day cooldown period was over, there was only one conclusion in our minds. The expedition team must have been annihted.

    Perhaps because of that, there was a heavy silence in the small meeting room.

    At that moment, my father at the top of the conference table broke the silence and said loudly, ¡°What¡¯s important to us at the moment is the King of Kings event that will happen in three days . As for Argentina¡¯s Tgapa Guild, all you have to do is just confirm whether any of them have returned or not.¡±

    The message clearly said that the current event nned right before merging the current 40 regions into one would proceed quickly.

    During the ¡®Strongest yer Selection¡¯ event, there was quite some time before the King of Kings event was held. But this time, the message confirmed the King of Kings battle woudl take ce three dayster.

    Back then, there were obviously quite a few people who gave up because I participated.

    But this time, all the 40 teams said they would participate without any exception.

    Of course, I understood their decision because their members, like ours, must have received 2000 coins by winning in their regions. In other words, no matter how slim the odds of winning in this King of Kings contest was, they would find it hard to simply give up.

    Anyway, our meeting in the small meeting room ended like that.

    Then I briefly appeared at the party at the Myongjin Shelter, received their cheers, and stayed there for about an hour before moving to my bedroom to go to sleep because I had a lot of work to do tomorrow.

    In Barcelona, Spain, at that time.

    Two men were having a conversation in a huge old mansion.

    ¡°It could be dangerous. Our opponent is Asirante. Nobody has ever defeated him.¡±

    ¡°I agree. But what can we do? Contrary to our original n, we have lost to Asirante, and they are forcing us to do it, trembling with anger like that.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Dn looked at Matthias, who he had served as his master his whole life, when he spoke as if it was not a big deal.

    Dn said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Since I couldn¡¯t stop that bastard, Pablo, you were bound by the shackle called the Lucia Guild.¡±

    ¡°Stop it. I could not help it at that time. I didn¡¯t reach my reality actualization rate at that time, but Pablo had the ability to send me to Region 0, and as such, he was so invincible that nobody could stop him at that time. That¡¯s why a lot of giust like me have been shackled by the Lucia Guild. But¡­¡±

    Matthias, who sat at the top of the table, stroked his chin, then opened his mouth in a low voice.

    ¡°The thing is Asirante has endured it even when he didn¡¯t reach level 1200 and achieve his reality actualization rate.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    As Matthias said, Dn had no choice but to question it beyond just feeling it was a little strange.

    For Asirante achieved what no one else had ever done before. And he did not even get shackled by the Lucia Guild.

    Matthias got up from his chair, and opened his mouth while moving toward the window.

    ¡°Nheless, we really have to thank Asirante for making Pablo useless by destroying his ability to send people to Region 0. After all, I could kill Pablo by beating him ruthlessly with my own hands.¡±

    Even though he killed Pablo, who bound him to the Lucia Guild, he still felt bitter at the situation where he could not escape the Lucia Guild¡¯s shackles.

    Since Dn knew Mathias¡¯s situation very well, he opened his mouth loudly to change the atmosphere.

    ¡°Got it. Currently Asirante and the Myongjin Guild must be very busy preparing for the King of Kings match, so let me start investigating right away.¡±

    ¡°No, you don¡¯t have to.¡±

    ¡°But right now, there are strange rumors circting that all kinds of debuffs don¡¯t work on Asirante at all. I just wonder¡­¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. The Land that Summons Monsters is not something that inflicts direct damage on anyone. It just literally summons monsters there. Of course, the odds are very low, but I wish thend can produce monsters that will deal real damage to Asirante.¡±

    ¡°Is that possible?¡±

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know, either. Even the guild leader who gave me this order does not expect it. Given Asirante¡¯s capabilities, he must know that it¡¯s almost impossible for the monsters to inflict real damage on him. But it seems that the guy hopes that we could slow down his growth a bit by inflicting damage on those around him. Hmm¡­ Let¡¯s see if that¡¯s possible.¡±

    Matthias, who was talking while looking at the scenery outside the window, was prepared to move ording to the order of the guild leader of the Lucia Guild, although he didn¡¯t like it.

    For this was the best time when he could ce the entire Myongjin Shelter on the Land that Summons Monsters, as his deputy Dn said, given that the King of Kings match was supposed to take ce quite soon.

 Chapter 373 - The Land That Summons Monsters (2)

    <h4>Chapter 373: The Land That Summons Monsters (2)</h4>

    At the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan three dayster.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    Like any other day I was absorbed into hunting as usual when a message rang.

    Of course, I could figure out what it was about because there was only one thing that it could refer to now.

    [Your opponent in the King of Kings contest to select the strongest guild has been decided.

    -You will be transferred to the arena in 30 minutes.

    -If the registered persons do not connect within 30 minutes, only those users who are connected will be moved to the arena. If more than two-thirds of the participants do not connect, it will be an automatic loss for the team.]

    As soon as I heard the message, I immediately moved to the Myongjin Guild¡¯s in Rodon Castle. This event was upgraded to the extent that not only the winning event participants, but also their entire guild would receive some reward regardless of the number of people in the guild so I had no choice but to pay quite a lot of attention to it.

    ¡°Wow, Juyoung hase!¡±

    When I arrived there, not only the other 29 members of Myongjin Team 1 but also many other people weed me vehemently. Of course, they were all Myongjin Guild members.

    First of all, I returned their wee by raising my hands because I didn¡¯t need to be cold to these people who were greeting me so warmly.

    After that, I received enthusiastic support from them until I moved to the arena.

    Soon the arena that I moved to and from so many times appeared before my eyes.

    [You have three minutes of preparation time until the battle begins.

    -During these three minutes, you can use and rece buffs and items.

    -The guild that wins the battle automatically advances to the next round, and the guild that loses is eliminated from the event immediately.]

    Along with the message, I could confirm my opponent through the transparent barrier in the center of the arena. But they were guys who I had already seen several times. They were none other than America¡¯s Holdridge Group

    Since the transparent barrier did not block sound, I could hear their conversations.

    ¡°Damn it! We¡¯re so unlucky!¡±

    Some of them expressed disappointment when they noticed me.

    But there were others who greeted me warmly.

    ¡°Congrattions on your victory, Juyoung Hong!¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Since they said they would give up voluntarily, I didn¡¯t have to say anything particr, so I appreciated their surrender by nodding slightly. As soon as they confirmed my gesture, they announced they would give up.

    [Your opponent has abandoned the duel.

    ¨C You have won. You are moving to the next round.]

    It was a very easy win.

    Of course, not all teams gave up like the Holdridge Team.

    ¡°Ignore Asirante! Target those behind him instead!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir! Sandstorm!¡±

    ¡°Muddy Land!¡±

    :

    :

    ¡°Fire Spirit¡¯s Rage!¡±

    ¡°My body will be solid steel!¡±

    The enemy gave up on attacking me, and charged at my family and guild members of the Myongjin Guild behind me instead. Of course, I knew that their desperate attacks were born out of despair, for they knew even if they got rid of those behind me, they would have to confront me at the end of the day. But even then, they could not give up on the reward so easily.

    So I watched them fighting quietly.

    Of course, it¡¯s true that I was a big part of the Myongjin Guild¡¯s strength but it didn¡¯t mean that the other Myongjin yers were weak.

    In particr, by securing all the hunting grounds including the level 1300 hunting ground from Japan¡¯s Mitsuya guild, the level 1400 hunting ground in Mongolia and the level 1500 hunting ground in Korea, the Myongjin Guild met all the requirements of a strong guild in name and reality. Moreover, numerous guys didn¡¯t stand in the way of Myongjin¡¯s growth because they didn¡¯t want to make me their enemy as I was the immediate family member of the Myongjin Guild and not just one of its ordinary members.

    In other words, even without me, the current Myongjin members were strong enough.

    They immediately began to counterattack.

    ¡°Soar! Hellfire that burns even the soul.¡±

    ¡°Soar! Thick Wall of Land!¡±

    ¡°Iron wall!¡±

    :

    :

    ¡°Blow, Frosty Cold!¡±

    ¡°Blessings of life!¡±

    Starting with my sister, who was a fire-type wizard, they began to attack.

    Since their counterattack was more violent than initially anticipated, the enemies looked pretty startled. Of course, it didn¡¯t mean that my team members pushed them hard enough to break their fighting will. But I was satisfied with their fight.

    My opponent was a strong team who won in their own region and came to this ce after scoring a win for the second time. In other words, they were pretty strong.

    Anyway, I didn¡¯t want to keep standing as an onlooker, so I charged at those guys who avoided me, and got rid of them one by one.

    Even if I didn¡¯t use Blizzard or Ice Tornado, I had many other skills.

    Soon my team defeated them all thanks to my help.

    [You have won.

    ¨C You are now advancing to the next round.]

    Starting with the Round of 40, my team advanced to the Round of 20, the Round of 10 and the Round of 5. Finally, we made it to the finals by even beating some teams without fighting.

    The next day.

    ¡°Well¡­¡±

    Although he was busy ying the dual role of Yuljung Kim of North Korea while doing his main job as the security chief of the Myongjin Shelter, Captain Lim always habitually checked the defense status of the Myongjin Shelter as well as the movement of monsters the previous night as soon as he woke up in the morning.

    At first, he didn¡¯t take it seriously. Even though monsters appeared inside the shelter yesterday and the day after, it wasn¡¯t strange at all. As soon as the monsters appeared, he got rid of them right away, so there was no big damage to the shelter.

    Butst night monsters appeared both inside and outside Myongjin Shelter at the same time. What¡¯s more, there were some casualties among those living outside the shelter, so he had no choice but to frown because the incidents were bing more and more frequent

    But it was only three days that the monsters appeared in a row. Since he could not conclude that the monsters were appearing more frequently just because they did so three days in a row, Captain Lim could not take any action. All he could do was to tell his men to be more vignt.

    Moreover, tomorrow the Myongjin Team were going to participate in the final King of Kings match.

    So, Captain Lim finished his job for the day after writing down the summary of how often and when the monsters appeared and their current status.

    If monsters appeared even today when the King of Kings match was happening, nobody would think of it as a coincidence. And today, the most important event ¡®Strongest Guild Selection¡¯ event will be finally over, too.

    The uing final match.

    Strangely enough, there were not 60, but 90 people inside the arena where the final match would take ce.

    The event started with 40 teams at first, then went down to 20, 10, 5, and finally there were only three teams remaining because of our victory in the previous round due to the other party¡¯s surrender.

    In other words, three teams were supposed topete just like they did in the ¡®Strongest yer Selection¡¯ event.

 Chapter 374 - The Land That Summons Monsters (3)

    <h4>Chapter 374: The Land That Summons Monsters (3)</h4>

    I could see clearly that the other two teams were exchanging eye contact through the transparent barrier that divided the arena into three. Of course, I could understand why they did that. Obviously, it was a two-on-one fight, not a one-on-one fight, just like when Ipeted in the ¡®Strongest yer Selection¡¯ eventst time.

    And that was definitely the only way for them to increase the odds of winning even by 0.000001%. Did they really have a 0.000001% chance of beating me?

    Even that number was pretty high.

    Anyway, I just waited through the three minutes of preparation time before the battle started because there was no point in telling them to y fairly instead of ganging up.

    As soon as the transparent barrier disappeared, I immediately used one skill without moving.

    Even without charging at them, I could encircle the whole arena with my skills right away.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasasak!

    A terrain of ice enveloped the entire arena in an instant. At that moment, my enemies also began to move busily and respond to my attacks very systematically as if they wanted to show that they didn¡¯t advance to the finals without fighting hard.

    ¡°All my damage turns to zero! Damage immunity!¡±

    ¡°Link: Damage!¡±

    ¡°Powerful Amplication. Link: Damage.¡±

    ¡°Your sacrifice, bearing the burden of all, will shine noble. Noble Sacrifice!¡±

    Damage immunity.

    Of course, I one met someone who showed invincible power in the past.

    I confronted him right in the level 500 only arena quest.

    Of course, this guy wasn¡¯t perfectly invincible.

    As soon as he used damage immunity, he was immune to damage, but he couldn¡¯t move his body effectively. And it onlysted 10 or 15 minutes.

    Regardless of whether it was an ordinary skill, limited skill or trait, he had to wait until the cooldown was over to use it again, so the moment his damage immunity timed out, he copsed at my attack.

    Perhaps that was why the guy who actually used damage immunity was standing motionless, like a stuffed animal. However, starting with the person who used the damage immunity, something like a golden string came out and started to wrap around all the 60 people of the other two teams. Then, the golden string arrived back at the person who used damage immunity and started to bind him tightly.

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    After that, the remaining 59 people of the two teams ignored me and charged at the 29 members of my team including my family behind me, as if they didn¡¯t care about my Ice Field covered with Multiple Thin Ice.

    ¡°Oh, I see!¡±

    Now I could see why they acted like that because the skill they used and its effect pointed to only one thing. In other words, all the damage would be borne by that guy who used damage immunity first.

    Anyway, I could not sit idle, so Iunched a frontal attack against all the other guys other than the man who used damage immunity.

    ¡°Ice Wave.¡±

    [...]

    The enemy healers and enchanters, who had the lowest defence and health, did not even care about my attack. Of course, they even ignored the attacks of the 29 yers behind me.

    ¡°Burn! Hellfire that burns even the soul.¡±

    ¡°Giant Strike!¡±

    ¡°Pouring Storm!¡±

    ¡°Fire Spirit¡¯s Rage!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    Of course, the 29 people including my family behind me counter attacked the 59 people who rushed towards them. But they didn¡¯t inflict any damage to the 59 people, nor did they block their advance.

    Now it was time for the enemies tounch a counterattack.

    ¡°Sandstorm.¡±

    ¡°Piercing Power Shot!¡±

    ¡°Triple shot!¡±

    :

    :

    ¡°Breath of Destruction.¡±

    ¡°Wind Spirit¡¯s Cutting Wind!¡±

    Faced with such attacks, all the tanks blocked them from the front, and the healers, including my mother, quickly used the heal-type skills to replenish the tank¡¯s health. But this was obviously nothing more than pouring water in a sieve. The enemies outnumbered us by twofold, and all of them were basically invincible.

    In the end, the tanks of my team began to copse one by one, and when they copsed, the dealers, healers, and enchanters behind them also fell in an instant.

    No matter how hard they fought, it was impossible for them to turn the tide of this battle unless they could seed in unravelling the invincible gold strings wrapped around the enemies.

    How about me?

    Of course, I stayed put because I knew that all the 60 members of the enemy teams were invincible because of the amplified damage link and their sublime sacrifices directed toward only one person. In fact, even when I fought the guy before with damage immunity, I could defeat him only after his damage immunity timed out.

    ***

    Inside the arena where the final match is held.

    ¡°Hehehe!¡±

    Barsha al-Sad, the leader of Saudi Arabia¡¯s Kaibar Guild, had no choice but to smile broadly while watching the final match because everything was going as nned when his team seeded in nullifying Asirante.

    That¡¯s why he pressed them to attack hearder because damage immunity would notst forever, not to mention damage link and noble sacrifice that had their own retention time.

    In the meantime, Barsha al-Sad looked at Asirante sneakily.

    [...]

    He was standing in the arena nkly as if he had given up.

    Watching him, Barsha smiled in satisfaction because he was convinced that his team was close to winning.

    Of course, after defeating Asirante, his team would have topete with the other team currently working with him. But he was pretty satisfied with the current situation because it meant oveing a big obstacle once they defeated Asirante.

    And when the enemy tank formation copsed, he shouted loudly, ¡°Everyone, cheer up! We¡¯re almost there!¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡±

    ¡°No problem!¡±

    Not only Barsha, but also all the others knew that they were winning against the team to which Asirante belonged, so their morale was at the highest ever.

    ***

    ¡°¡­¡±

    When the tanks copsed, it was only a matter of time before the dealers, healers and enchanters behind them fell.

    Among them were my family members including my father, mother, brother, sister-inw, and my sister. But I just stared at them without taking any action even now.

    This event ¡®Strongest Guild Selection¡¯ was an all-out war in which one team had to bepletely annihted to be eliminated. That meant that even if I survived alone after all my team members died, I, or more precisely, we could still win. Moreover, there was no penalty for dying in the arena.

    So I left a message on the party window.

    [Lumen: You can wait for me outside in a rxed way as I¡¯ll bring home the trophy.]

    [Super Beauty: Are you sure? They are pretty tough.]

    [Two sons and one daughter: Son...]

    As my sister said, the enemiesprising the two teams were very strong.

    By sacrificing one of them, all the remaining 59 members turned invincible.

    As a result, they could not be stronger.

    As with everything, however, they also had a retention time.

    And there was also a cooldown before they could reuse their skill when their retention time expired.

    In other words, all I had to do was wait until I found the right time to attack them.

    Moreover, I was more confident in waiting for it thanst time.

    So I opened my mouth with a confident voice.

    [Lumen: Just prepare a noisy party to celebrate our victory.]

 Chapter 375 - The Land That Summons Monsters (4)

    <h4>Chapter 375: The Land That Summons Monsters (4)</h4>

    After a while.

    The arena had 90 people, but now there were only 61 left.

    Then a middle-aged man among the crowd opened his mouth.

    ¡°Asirante, could you please give up here? The tide of the battle has already turned in our favor, so you don¡¯t have to fight meaninglessly.¡±

    Even after this event is over, they will eventually face me either in ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ or in reality.

    So they were pretty polite to me, but I didn¡¯t like his statement that the tide of the battle had already turned in their favor.

    So, I said, smiling gently, ¡°You wish! At first nce, the tide of the battle has already turned in my favor.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The 59 people around me made a surprised expression at my response.

    Noticing it, I immediately said, wagging my fingers, ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear you guysining that the retention time of your damage immunity or damage link was wasted because I dragged my feet for too long. So, bring it on now!¡±

    As soon as I said that, they immediately began to attack me.

    ¡°Everybody, do your best!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    With me standing nkly in the middle of the arena, theyunched countless attacks on me.

    A few minutester.

    ¡°Thorn Whip.¡±

    ¡°Wind Spirit¡¯s Biting Wind!¡±

    ¡°Chains of hard sand!¡±

    :

    :

    ¡°Dancing mes!¡±

    ¡°Chain Lightning.¡±

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    Barsha al-Sadd was confident that his team would beat Asirante. Of course, what Asirante has shown so far is so amazing, but his team was even more prepared for this final match.

    Moreover, Asirante didn¡¯t take any defensive action as if he was resigned, even though he challenged them to bring it on.

    So Barsha thought Asirante wanted to keep his pride by bluffing like that because he could not bring himself to give up.

    However, he had no choice but to feel something strange and even scared when he discovered Asirante was standing tall without frowning at all despite the incessant fierce attacks by 59 people for over ten minutes.

    Besides, even though they kept attacking him ruthlessly, they seemed to be sick and tired of doing it because they couldn¡¯t inflict any real damage on him.

    ¡°Hang in there! We¡¯re almost there!¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­¡±

    Barsha shouted more loudly, but they seemed not to care because Asirante didn¡¯t look threatened at all despite their intensive attack. Nor did he pretend to be calm on purpose.

    Since they couldn¡¯t stop attacking, the 59 people kept up the attack even though their faces had paled.

    ***

    I have never regretted choosing stamina and willpower as the stats to grow along with my Intellect for Mutual Growth. Of course, I felt tempted to change it a bit because my strength and agility was not amazing.

    But these days I¡¯ve always thought that my choice back then was the best.

    For my stamina of over 60,000 and my health of 8 million were huge enough to make me feel confident all the time. Of course, the items that I wore were far better than others.

    Even though a total of 59 yers attacked me relentlessly, I didn¡¯t find them threatening at all.

    Moreover, my stamina was not just rted to my items and maximum health. It also affected the natural recovery of my health, so it helped my recovery a lot, even though my health did not fully regenerate after their attacks.

    At that moment, the golden string that tightly bound the guy who used damage immunity gradually began to unravel. And its dark golden color also faded.

    Of course, what it meant was that its retention time was going to expire soon.

    Perhaps because of that, the faces of the 59 guys attacking me gradually darkened.

    So I shouted loudly enough, so they could all hear me.

    ¡°You guys are getting close to a timeout.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    They clearly looked bewildered at my words.

    Not caring about their expressions, however, I just focused on the golden line, for I was going to attack them as soon as it was untied.

    Did I want to vent my anger on them? Of course, not.

    To be honest, I wasn¡¯t that upset with them. They just maximized their capabilities to confront me, but their attack didn¡¯t have any effect on me.

    In any case, when the golden string loosened, faded, then disappeared without a trace, I opened my mouth immediately. At that moment, the man who stayed put after using damage immunity finally began to move.

    ¡°Ice Punishment!¡±

    Bang!

    ¡°Kheeeeeeek!¡±

    It was my first fatal attack against the target.

    Of course, my target was that man who had just begun to move after using damage immunity.

    He fell down, screaming, after my Ice Punishment struck him.

    In other words, their tactics aimed at me were no longer useful.

    Perhaps because of that, all of them looked at me in frustration, but I had no intention of sharing their frustration and sorrow, so I counterattacked them immediately.

    ¡°Blizzard! Ice Tornado!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    Wheeeeeeeeng.

    ¡°Kheeeeeeeeeeeh!¡±

    ¡°Khuuuuuuuuk!¡±

    Until a minute ago, they showed their invincible spirit freely. But then they began to fall one by one as if they had never done so.

    A littleter I was left alone in the arena that was crowded with these guys.

    At that moment, a message rang.

    [Congrattions! You have won the ¡®King of Kings¡¯ match.

    ¨C In return, you receive the following reward.

    : All members of Myongjin Team 1 receive 1 billion golden rings.

    : All members of Myongjin Team 1 receive 500 remaining stat points.

    : All members of Myongjin Team 1 receive 20,000 coins.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    My current victory was that of the King of Kings.

    In other words, it was natural I expected more rewards than this.

    In fact, that was the case when I won the ¡®Strongest yer Selection¡¯ event.

    However, the reward this time was the same as what I received by winning the event within Region 11.

    Of course, this reward was by no means small because when counting all the team members¡¯ rewards, they totalled 2 billion golden rings, 1000 remaining stat points, and 40,000 coins for only a few days worth of effort.

    Nheless, I felt the reward was still a littlecking.

    But another message rang at that moment as if to tell me I should not have any regrets.

    [The following rewards are given to the Myongjin Guild selected as the strongest guild in all regions and to everyone who belongs to the Myongjin Guild.

    : The title of ¡®Strongest Guild¡¯ is issued to the Myongjin Guild.

    : 2000 non-exchangeable coins are awarded to all members of the Myongjin Guild. (The 30 people who participated in the event are the exception.)

    : 200 remaining stat points are awarded to all members of the Myongjin Guild. (The 30 people who participated in the event are the exception.)]

    ¡°Hehehehe!¡±

    This time I could make a heartyugh because the reward was so huge.

    Moreover, among the rewards was the title of ¡®The Strongest Guild.¡¯

    ¡°Check title, Strongest Guild.¡±

    I was already rewarded better as a direct participant in the event.

    I had some regrets about the reward. Obviously, 2000 coins and 200 remaining stat points weren¡¯t a lot, but they were far from small at all.

 Chapter 376 - The Land That Summons Monsters (5)

    <h4>Chapter 376: The Land That Summons Monsters (5)</h4>

    [Title: Strongest Guild.

    -This is a title that can only be acquired by a guild that has proven to be the strongest in ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ beyond its region.

    : All members of the Myongjin Guild gain 10% additional EXP when hunting monsters.

    : All members of the Myongjin Guild gain an additional 10% golden rings when hunting monsters.

    : All members of the Myongjin Guild gain an additional 10% coins when hunting monsters.

    : All members of the Myongjin Guilds receive a 100 stat point increase for all stats.]

    ¡°Great!¡±

    I could not help but be so happy about it because 10% was definitely a significant value that could widen the gap between me and others.

    What¡¯s more, the value of the Myongjin Guild will go up further since even new members could enjoy the same benefits without any restrictions as soon as they join.

    At that moment, another message rang.

    [Since all rewards have been issued, you will be transferred to your original location in 10 seconds.]

    I smiled at the message in satisfaction.

    Right before the event started, I was confident of winning, but even when I emerged as the winner as expected, I could not control my happiness.

    Soon I felt as if I was being dragged to a certain ce, then the main base of the Myongjin Guild in Rodon Castle came into view amid thunderous apuse.

    ¡°Wow! Wow!¡±

    ¡°Juyoung Hong! Juyoung Hong!¡±

    ¡°Myongjin! Myongjin!¡±

    Of course, I understood why they weed me with thunderous apuse because as the members of the Myongjin Guild, all of them must have received all the additional rewards.

    What¡¯s more, they also received the title, ¡°Strongest Guild.¡¯

    I returned their warm greetings by raising my hands.

    And their enthusiastic mood immediately led to a festival not only within Revival Legend, but also at the Myongjin Shelter outside Revival Legendte into the night.

    The next day.

    Obviously, it was me who was the hero of this event.

    So I stayed at the party quite a long time before going to sleepter than usual.

    It was also a reward for myself as I sessfully wrapped up the important task.

    I wanted to ess Revival Legend immediately after ate breakfast the next day, but I had to move to the small conference room right away for some reason. When I got there, there were many including my father, elder brother, and sister waiting for me. So I sat right next to my brother.

    When I was seated, Captain Lim stood up from his seat and opened his mouth.

    ¡°First of all, I¡¯m sorry for asking you toe over here so suddenly.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. I guess you must have a reason,¡± said my father.

    Captain Lim, who was in charge of the security of the Myongjin Shelter, operated the beam projector with a remote control and opened his mouth again.

    ¡°I prepared this presentation because I thought seeing is believing. This happened exactly four days ago.¡±

    As soon as he said that, a familiar ce appeared on the screen installed on one side of the small meeting room. It was none other than the Myongjin Shelter and the monsters.

    Of course, it wasn¡¯t that strange because even now new monsters appeared somewhere around the world, and it was no wonder that the Myongjin Shelter was included among those ces.

    Lim continued, ¡°Those monsters appeared three days ago, and the monsters here appeared two days ago. And during this period, the monsters appeared three times in a row, day and night.¡±

    I tilted my head a bit, puzzled by his exnation.

    Obviously, the Myongjin Shelter was very wide, so the probability of monsters appearing there was rtively high, but nheless their appearance was too frequent.

    But that was not the only problem.

    ¡°They appeared yesterday, and again this morning.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    ¡°Umm.¡±

    This was obviously too frequent. Of course, it didn¡¯t mean that monsters didn¡¯t appear at the Myongjin Shelter or nearby at all previously. But they didn¡¯t appear as frequently as they did now.

    At that moment, someone knocked on the door of the small meeting room and came in, bowed to my father, and whispered to Captain Lim.

    Right after that, Lim said, ¡°I¡¯ve just heard that monsters have appeared in Area 8 and at the western entrance of the Myeongjin Shelter. Let me connect to that ce right away.¡±

    As soon as he said that, a new scene appeared on the screen, showing Area 8 of the Myongjin Shelter, and its western entrance.

    The western entrance was guarded by security personnel and those who raised their reality actualization rate at all times, so they got rid of the monsters appearing there. The monsters there were not that strong.

    But the monsters in Area 8 began to walk around freely without any restrictions because the Myongjin Shelter was so vast to amodate the numerous people that lived there.

    Luckily, there were no people nearby.

    First, I examined the screen carefully.

    At that moment, something appeared beneath the monsters and pierced their bodies like a skewer. Of course, I was neither startled nor curious about it because they were the roots. As soon as they wiped out the monsters, the roots disappeared again as if nothing had happened. After that, everyone¡¯s eyes turned to me because the part of Myongjin Shelter where I was now was far away from Area 8.

    But they didn¡¯t have to be surprised by the roots alone, because there was something else that would really surprise them. In other words, the roots had to be unconditionally connected to me on the ground. What if I lifted my feet into the air? The roots did not show up.

    In fact, I could not control the appearance of the roots even after I received an upgraded version of them from the treasure box. Only after they devoured the parasite and revealed white roots which were twice as long and broad as the other roots could I control them to show up even if they were far away from me

    That¡¯s why the roots could function even though I was floating in the air using Fly during the ¡®Borneche Expedition¡¯ quest recently.

    Anyway, those present at the conference room began to thank me.

    ¡°Thank you, Juyoung,¡± Captain Lim said, expressing his gratitude to me.

    I just slightly nodded at him because I was also in charge of the affairs of the Myongjin Shelter as a whole. The real problem wasn¡¯t this kind of trivial thing, but the frequent appearance of monsters.

    So I asked right away, ¡°Are monsters suddenly and frequently appearing all around the world or only right here?¡±

    My question carried a very significant meaning.

    If monsters appeared frequently around the world as a whole, I didn¡¯t have to worry about it.

    Maybe it was because of the fast pace that Revival Legend was progressing at recently.

    Then Captain Lim said, ¡°Well, they are frequently appearing around Myongjin, or more precisely, the Myongjin Shelter, alone.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    He confirmed my concerns that the monsters appeared frequently around the Myongjin Shelter alone. A heavy silence fell on the conference room.

    Then Captain Lim broke the silence by saying, ¡°Let me show you this screen. I received it from the Mirae Guild. It shows the monsters that appeared around them for the past ten days. Next to it is the status of the monsters appearing in the guilds in Indonesia, America, China as well as the Mongolia¡¯s Tugal Guild, Daesung Guild, and Kusan Guild.¡±

    Compared to the status board of the monster appearances in other guilds, the frequency of monsters that appeared in the Myongjin Shelter was overwhelmingly high.

 Chapter 377 - The Land That Summons Monsters (6)

    <h4>Chapter 377: The Land That Summons Monsters (6)</h4>

    Captain Lim continued, ¡°The monsters appeared once or twice a day in the past, but these days they are appearing three or four times. Considering the trend, it looks like they are going to appear more often around the Myongjin Shelter alone.¡±

    Even though he said this nonchntly, his mention of the ¡®Myongjin Shelter alone¡¯ struck me as very strange because this kind of frequent appearance was far from normal, which meant that it was 99% likely that someone had yed a dirty trick.

    But rather than figuring out who did it, the main problem was that I didn¡¯t know how to solve it.

    Of course, the monsters were weak as a whole. So there was no major damage on our end.

    However, there was no guarantee that only weak monsters would appear. Actually, I became more and more concerned that more powerful monsters would appear.

    Everyone at the conference room was silent as if they shared my deep concern.

    We continued the meeting for one more hour, but we could note up with any solution because we didn¡¯t know the reason or the situation clearly.

    Since we didn¡¯t know why, we couldn¡¯t find the right solution.

    So we wrapped up the meeting after agreeing that Director Sok should work with his Intelligence Department to collect all the avable information.

    During broad daylight at the Myongjin Shelter one weekter.

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    I used Fly in the middle of the Myongjin Shelter so I could get a birds eye view of the whole shelter, no matter how vast it was.

    Of course, it didn¡¯t matter even if I could not see the monsters because as long as I had the intention to subdue the monsters appearing in and around the Myongjin Shelter, the roots would sense my intentions right away and wipe them out.

    But the problem was Revival Legend. The roots didn¡¯t move when I was logged into Revival Legend. The reason the roots didn¡¯t move while I was asleep was because I had no determination to get rid of the monsters.

    Since I had the will to get rid of the monsters right now, I felt more safe during the night because the roots didn¡¯t sleep during the night like me. The roots were really strong.

    ¡°Hmm. Obviously, someone must have used a dirty trick¡­¡±

    First of all, this situation could not be normal.

    Obviously, someone yed a dirty trick on the Myongjin Shelter, but no matter how hard Director Sok tried, nobody could figure out why this was happening to the shelter.

    As a result, we began to call the Myongjin Shelter the ¡®Land That Summons Monsters,¡¯ because

    the monsters appeared more than ten times per day during the week.

    Although they didn¡¯t increase everyday, they were gradually stronger than before.

    The problem was that more powerful monsters would continue to appear in the future.

    So some of the shelter people began to say it was about time for us to give up the Myongjin Shelter and move somewhere else.

    But I didn¡¯t think of moving at all because that¡¯s what those responsible for this phenomenon were aiming for.

    ¡°By the way, I have to find a solution anyway¡­¡±

    I deliberately spread rumors that I would grant one wish to anybody who would solve this problem

    Of course, I had no intention of granting their wish. No matter how hard I asked around, there was none who knew the situation here very well, which meant that the one who could solve this problem was most likely the person who caused this problem.

    As expected, nobody stepped forward to my suggestion.

    In the meantime, monsters appeared more and more frequently.

    So I was out in reality when I should have beenAt that moment, someone appeared on the rooftop of the first main base of Myongjin Shelter. When I confirmed it was my sister, I ended Fly and went down.

    ¡°How about it?¡± connected to Revival Legend like before.

    The security guard had to be increased ten-fold, so taking control for two to three hours a day allowed those who achieved their reality realization rate to take a breakfortably. I could also cover for during the night when I went to sleep.

    Anyway, while I was agonizing over how to find the solution, I got rid of the monsters that appeared east of the shelter using the roots.

    ***

    In Barcelona, Spain at that time.

    ¡°Hehehe¡­¡±

    Matthias, who made the Myongjin Shelter ¡®The Land That Summons Monsters¡¯ at themand of the Lucia Guild leader, burst into an emptyughter, for they inflicted little damage to the shelter despite their enormous effort.

    ¡°Are those the very roots that protected more than 10,000 ordinary people safely during the Borneche Expedition quest?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Oh my¡­does that make sense? How could the roots provide cover for the entire Myongjin Shelter and get rid of the monsters, even though they are weak? Moreover the roots are active during the night or early in the morning when Asirante is asleep. I can¡¯t believe it!¡±

    Of course, Matthias knew immediately that the roots were not active while Asirante was connected to Revival Legend. In other words, the fact that the roots appeared during the day meant that Asirante was not connected to Revival Legend.

    That¡¯s why Matthias had no choice but to frown deep down even though he was in a cheerful mood these days because while Asirante could not y Revival Legend as the guild leader wished, there were limits.

    So Matthias, who was briefed about the developments about the Myongjin Shelter, opened his mouth, throwing the paper on the floor.

    ¡°Alright. Let me see how much the roots can do.¡±

    Matthias stopped paying attention to the Myongjin Shelter because the ¡°Land That Summons Monsters¡¯ was not weak, and he bet everything on it.

    ***

    It¡¯s been a month since monsters started appearing frequently in the Myongjin Shelter.

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    While I was hunting, I had some slight hope that the problem could be solved over time.

    Regardless of whether it¡¯s a skill, a limited skill, or a trait, there was a retention time for all of them, and a cooldown to use it again.

    Nheless, the monsters endlessly appeared as if to deny my hopeful assumption.

    What¡¯s more, the monsters that appeared became much stronger than before.

    Of course, we suffered little damage because we were well prepared after detecting such presymptoms. I couldn¡¯t say we didn¡¯t have any damage because the damage didn¡¯t necessarily mean human sacrifices.

    The Myongjin Shelter has three huge main bases in the center, with twentyrge and strong buildings surrounding them in a circle. Between the three main bases and the twenty buildings on the outskirts had numerous facilities including those for farming, raising animals, training, and leisurely activities. We had designed it like that on purpose so people had extra activities.

    But more than half of those vast ces were left neglected because the monsters appeared very erratically and frequently, so it would take enormous human and financial resources to protect all of them.

    Given the trend of their appearance until now, it was obvious that more powerful monsters would appear more frequently in the future.

    In other words, unless I stopped ying Revival Legend, it was too obvious that there would be more ces left unattended in the future. That¡¯s why rumors were getting around in town that the Myongin Shelter had copsed. Of course, they whispered about it behind our back.

 Chapter 378 - The Land That Summons Monsters (7)

    <h4>Chapter 378: The Land That Summons Monsters (7)</h4>

    My sister¡¯s question was too broad, but since I knew her point, I answered casually, ¡°They appeared seven times in the past three hours. And more than 500 monsters appeared at once during the 4th instance.¡±

    ¡°Gosh, so many monsters!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I just don¡¯t know why they keeping here. They are just useless!¡±

    Of course, it was not new news that these monsters appeared only in the Myongjin Shelter, but I was sure there must be a third party who was responsible for it.

    In other words, the monsters were really useless.

    Until now, all the monsters that appeared on Earth dropped golden rings and coins even if they didn¡¯t give any EXP or items. But these monsters that appeared only in the Myongjin Shelter did not give EXP and items, not to mention golden rings and coins, just like summoned monsters.

    So it was even more frustrating because I would not get any real benefits from killing them at all for all my time and effort.

    At that moment, my sister looked at me, and opened her mouth.

    ¡°Juyoung, think about it once more.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Of course, this was an emergency.

    Therefore, we convened a meeting once a day because we had to put our heads together even if we could not find the solution.

    However, we started paying attention to one possible course of action at one point.

    In other words, it was the action of giving up the Myongjin Shelter and building a new shelter somewhere else.

    Of course, that was just unrealistic because the Myongjin Guild had put all their resources into this shelter from the moment they instinctively sensed the uing change caused by Revival Legend. So much so that the Myongjin Shelter reminded us of Noah¡¯s Ark.

    Abandoning this shelter now because of the monsters, and against our will at that?

    Above all, I could not ept it as the direct son of the shelter¡¯s owner. I was not only so frustrated, but also got really upset.

    But the problem was that it was my father who first proposed it. Since I knew my father¡¯s intention to abandon the shelter even though he could afford to resist further, I was all the more confused and disappointed.

    Moreover, I had no choice but to feelplicated, knowing my father¡¯s intentions to quickly abandon Myongjin Shelter even though he clearly had the strength to endure.

    My sister said, ¡°Juyoung, you are not spending less than six hours ying Revival Legend these days, right?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    In the past, I spent as many as 18 hours ying Revival Legend per day. And I spent most of the time in the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan, but I hunted there more out of obligation than for fun these days. Nheless, I knew I would be stronger than a second ago if I kept hunting there. I was not stupid enough not to keep hunting when I knew it.

    As my sister pointed out, however, I was not connected with Revival Legend for less than six hours these days. Of course, I could stay connected a little longer, or for as long as 16 hours like before, because Myongjin today was not weak at all.

    But it was so clear that even a three-year-old boy could notice why all this was taking ce. It was because of me. Of course, I might be wrong, but it was more probable that I was their main target.

    The fact that I was strong pitted me against those who were jealous of my power.

    Even though all the rewards I received were legitimate because of my victories, there might be some who thought I must have achieved it through abusing my overwhelming power.

    In a situation where this abnormal thing was happening almost certainly because of me, I could not have the nerve to feelfortable ying Revival Legend when the security guys and those who achieved their reality actualization rate were so absorbed into defending against the monsters appearing frequently.

    After he read my mind, my father said he would abandon the Myongjin Shelter that he built for me by investing all his resources.

    That¡¯s why I could not ept his proposal even if it meant that I should defend the Myongjin Shelter instead of essing Revival Legend for 24 hours.

    ¡°Whew! Alright, I¡¯m on your side. So just do what you want. By the way, you have been stirring up such a fuss all the time, so it¡¯s time you took a break from Revival Legend. Hahaha!¡±

    I smiled at herforting words because I understood why she said so.

    After chatting with her a little more, she went down the stairs, then she turned to me and opened her mouth, as if she had forgotten to say something.

    ¡°By the way, I heard that the Mirae Guild would send their reinforcements to us tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Mirae Guild?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. What¡¯s more, the Mongolia¡¯s Tugal Guild, Daesung and Kusan Guilds said they would follow suit. They¡¯re sending reinforcements from Seoul, too.¡±

    ¡°Seoul?¡±

    Of course, I understood the Tugal Guild or Mirae Guild because Myongjin had formed a solid alliance with them. The reason why Daesung and Kusan wanted to join hands with Myongjin was probably part of their efforts to make friends with us.

    But I was surprised by her mention of Seoul.

    Seoul was the ce where President Kijung Kim, who was once against me, was located.

    As if she noticed I was curious, she continued, ¡°Yeah. Of course, Seoul won¡¯t send people who have raised their reality actualization rate. Instead, they decided to send tons of firearms including bullets.¡±

    ¡°Well, I appreciate their help.¡±

    ¡°Since you are still with us, the Myongjin Guild has not been ruined like the Myongjin Shelter. So, don¡¯t make the decision toote. Wherever we, including you, settle down, that is the new Myongjin SHelter. And I¡¯m so happy to know that a cat who used to hide in its corner and stayed alert without even knowing how to sharpen its ws became so strong like this. Sometimes I miss you, who was like such a timid cat in those days. Back then I enjoyed teasing you. Alright, I¡¯m leaving you now, brother. While you are away from Revival Legend, I have to y it hard to catch up with you anyway.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I did not respond to her words. Instead, when my sister went down the stairs, I soared in the air using Fly, and attacked the horde of monsters that appeared again.

    In the meantime, I recalled something which didn¡¯t appear for one week, or more precisely, for 15 days.

    It was none other than the white root.

    ****

    Around that time, in the very deep underground of the Myongjin Shelter.

    Wiggle, wiggle.

    Wiggle, wiggle.

    Even though it was very deep underground, something was moving freely as if it were in water. It also wiggled its body as if it was very happy. Of course, its true identity was the white root.

    The white root actually felt really good because it really liked the ck square te that was emitting red haze it was currently holding. Of course, it¡¯s been a while since the white root first found it. As soon as the white root found it, it tried to devour the strange thing right away because it was definitely something it could eat.

    At that moment, the ck square te that was emitting a faint red haze grew slightly bigger and at the same time looked more appetizing, so the white root stopped trying to eat it because

    it would taste better when it grew more than now.

    After that, the white root dragged it deeply underground to help it grow more freely.

    For a week or so ago, the white root hugged that thing in its arms because it grew faster that way. Anyway, the white root actively helped it grow fast, while watering at the mouth.

 Chapter 379 - Yum Yum (1)

    <h4>Chapter 379: Yum Yum (1)</h4>

    In Irevulich Ind in Russia¡¯s Arctic Ocean.

    Matthias, who made Myongjin Shelter the ¡®Land That Summons Monsters¡¯, flew straight from Barcelona, Spain to Russia at the order of the leader of the Lucia Guild to which he belonged. And the first thing Matthias heard was the voice of the guild leader who sounded very happy.

    ¡°Hahahahaha! Great job! ording to thetest information, Asirante spends ying Revival Legend for less than 6 hours a day these days.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s good to hear!¡±

    It was certainly not bad for Matthias himself that the ridiculously powerful Asirante¡¯s growth was restricted, but it was done at someone else¡¯s instigation. That¡¯s why Matthias spoke bluntly, but Lucia Guild¡¯s leader didn¡¯t respond to him because Matthias had already done everything required.

    At that moment, the Lucia Guild leader opened his mouth while mentioning something else.

    ¡°By the way, the Land that Summons Monsters is more powerful than I expected. I¡¯ve underestimated it for so long.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Mathias didn¡¯t say anything this time as he also underestimated the events this time.

    In other words, the monster appearances at the Myongjin Shelter clearly exceeded his expectations for the number of monsters, the frequency of their appearance, and their strength , the number of their appearances at a time, and their strength. But Matthias kept his mouth shut because he didn¡¯t have to mention it here.

    Then the Lucia Guild leader said, ¡°Well, since we have already cornered Asirante, that¡¯s enough. They probably won¡¯t give up on the Myongjin Shelter easily. They invested enormous resources into building that shelter, and finding a new home for hundreds of thousands of people is no easy task. So leave them alone a little longer, so Asirante can¡¯t go to sleep worrying about it so much.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    Matthias replied like that, then shut his mouth.

    At the Myongjin Shelter in Gangwon Province five dayster.

    Matthias carefully moved to the vicinity of the Myongjin Shelter because what happened here was obviously beyond what he expected. In other words, as many as 1000 powerful monsters should not have appeared frequently early on like this.

    Of course, Matthias had doubts about it a long time ago, but he was patient enough not to ask why until now because things were going on as he expected.

    However, as the days went by, their frequent appearances in groups were way beyond his predictions, so he had no choice but to move to Gangwon Province where the Myongjin Shelter was located.

    After he arrived at the ce where he could see the Myongjin Shelter, which seemed to be in chaos, he put his hand on the ground and carefully opened his mouth.

    ¡°Come back to me!¡±

    [¡­]

    Matthias waited a little at first. But as there was no response after a few minutes passed, he broke into a cold sweat before he knew it.

    He opened his mouth again.

    ¡°Come back to me! Ancient Monster Summoning Energy!¡±

    [¡­]

    A few more minutes passed, but there was no response.

    Only then did Matthias know that even though he didn¡¯t know the exact reason, everything was messed up.

    ***

    It has been about two months since the monsters started appearing frequently in the Myongjin Shelter.

    Shuuuuuuuuuuung Shuuuuuuung Shuuuuuuuuuuuung

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Monsters still came pouring out from all directions endlessly, so the roots immediately attacked. Generally speaking, the monsters were knocked down with the roots¡¯ single attack that pierced them like a stick.

    But it has been about two months since the monsters started appearing. As a result, the monsters became stronger to the extent that they could withstand the root¡¯s initial attacks. Sometimes they even tried to counterattack the roots.

    Whenever I noticed them, I immediately broke into them using Blink with zero cooldown.

    Then I shouted, ¡°Blizzard!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    [Kheeeeeeeeeeek!]

    [Khuuuuuuuuuuuk!]

    Of course, if I didn¡¯t have to intervene, it would take the roots a little longer to get rid of them, but in the end the roots would prevail anyway, as always.

    But right now the roots had a lot of work to do because they were protecting the whole Myongjin Shelter.

    So, while I was waiting in the middle of the shelter, I immediately intervened and got rid of those monsters quickly that tried to resist the roots¡¯ attack.

    After that, I went straight back to the middle of Myongjin Shelter and looked everywhere.

    While I was absorbed into it, I let out a sigh before I knew it.

    ¡°Whew¡­¡±

    The reason I sighed like that was because I didn¡¯t know when I could stop them.

    So much so that I thought hard about the possibility of abandoning the shelter here and moving somewhere else.

    I felt that more stronger monsters would appear in the days ahead, and that at some point even the roots would not be able to get rid of them. When that happened, it would be impossible for me to defend the Myongjin Shelter even if I had Blink with zero cooldown.

    As a matter of fact, I already began to see some evidence of that.

    But we also had another problem with the relocation of the Myongjin Shelter.

    ¡°Even if we moved the shelter, there is no guarantee that the monsters won¡¯t appear at the new location.¡±

    Above all, these monsters appeared only in the Myongjin Shelter alone.

    So, it was highly likely that they would also appear in the new location of the shelter.

    As long as the guy who was responsible for this didn¡¯t reveal himself, we would suffer the same damage as we did now. In other words, we were in a very troublesome situation.

    When I was letting out a deep sigh like that, I heard a message from my sister through the earphones I was wearing. Her message was very urgent.

    [Juyoung, where are you now?]

    ¡°Me? I am at the usual ce where I always am.¡±

    Unlike her sister, who talked to me urgently, I responded as quietly as possible.

    Since she was so nervous and worried, I didn¡¯t have to show the same reaction.

    [Come down to the small meeting room now!]

    ¡°Why?¡±

    [That guy is here!]

    ¡°Who hase?¡±

    I was in the middle of the Myongjin Shelter, so it was impossible for me to identify each person entering the shelter, but I could still make a guess.

    But to the best of my memory, I could not recall anyone who could cause her to sound so agitated.

    However, I had no choice but to move immediately after she responded to my question because that guy had finallye.

    [The guy who said he made the Myongjin Shelter the Land That Summons Monsters! He¡¯s here!]

    Of course, that guy might be a fake, but there was almost zero possibility that he was a fake, for no one was foolish enough to lie at the risk of his life.

    In Barcelona, Spain at that time.

    ¡°Damn it! Damn it!¡±

    Bang! Bang!

    Mathias mmed the table, swearing over and over again.

    No wonder he got so upset because he went to the Myongjin Shelter several times and tried to destroy the ¡®Land That Summons Monsters¡¯ he had installed.

    It¡¯s not because he felt sorry for Asirante or the Myongjin Shelter, but because he wanted to recover his trait ¡®Ancient Monster Summoning Energy¡¯ because that was the source of his strength. If he lost his trait, he would just be a nobody

 Chapter 380 - Yum Yum (2)

    <h4>Chapter 380: Yum Yum (2)</h4>

    However, no matter how many times Matthias tried to recover the Ancient Monster Summoning Energy, he could not.

    So he even thought that it would be better for him to confess his doings to Asirante and be humiliated by the Lucia Guild leader than lose his trait Ancient Monster Summoning Energy.

    But Asirante was determined to stop the monsters like before.

    From his perspective, Asirante and Myongjin did not seem to have anything to do with the changes in the Ancient Monster Summoning Energy. If they did, they would not have to deal with the monsters that still kepting out endlessly.

    After that, time passed day after day, and Matthias who once had Ancient Monster Summoning Energy under his control was very nervous as although it was working properly, he could not recover it.

    Then Matthias even thought to himself, ¡®I wonder if the Earth can be ruined by these monsters that keeping out endlessly.¡¯

    After all, at some point in the future, even thousands of boss monsters could appear at once. Moreover, they have appeared in the Myongjin Shelter only until now, but there is now that they would go everywhere beyond the shelter.

    ¡°Man, this is really driving me nuts¡­¡±

    When he imagined that the Earth would be ruined by the monsters and filled with them everywhere, Matthias had no choice but to open his mouth in dismay.

    As a matter of fact, that was a situation he would not want to ur under any circumstances.

    Of course, Matthias himself was confident that he would survive amid such a chaotic situation because he still stayed connected with Ancient Monster Summoning Energy even if he could not recover it.

    Anyway, he could not focus on his work after that, so he was idling away, mming the desk nervously.

    He didn¡¯t even tell the Lucia Guild leader about his situation as he was too ashamed, and the Lucia Guild leader was so happy about the fact that Asirante could not grow any further because he could not y Revival Legend like before

    ***

    In front of the small meeting room at the Myongjin Shelter.

    ¡°Don¡¯t get excited!¡±

    My sister seemed to be worried that I was so upset that I might attack the guy as soon as I saw him. So she grabbed me in front of the small meeting room and asked me to calm down.

    But I wasn¡¯t excited at all. Rather, I was calmer than ever because I knew that being excited and angry would not solve the problem at all.

    But I was determined to get even with him by all means.

    Then I opened the door to the small meeting room with my sister, where I faced a guy sitting with his back to my father, brother, and Director Sok.

    Tramp- Tramp-

    First, I walked towards the sofa in front of the man and sat on it before leveling my gaze at him.

    The man also stared at me as soon as I appeared in the small meeting room.

    At that moment, our eyes met.

    So I leaned my back on the sofa first and opened my mouth casually.

    ¡°You are a coward.¡±

    As soon as I saw him, I discovered instinctively that he was a fake.

    Of course, I could not find any evidence that he was a fake, but I could feel it instinctively.

    If I used Ice Punishment against him right now, he would disappear like an illusion in an instant.

    As soon as I said that, the man opened his mouth with a slightly surprised expression.

    ¡°Did you notice it? Did I look like that? Well, I¡¯m so embarrassed to hear it. But please forgive me. As your name is so famous, I felt like I was entering a tiger¡¯s den when I came here.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s enough. What do you want? You must have made such a big fuss because you want something from me, right?¡±

    I wasn¡¯t excited, nor was I angry, but I pretended to be so because that was the kind of reaction that he wanted from me.

    At that moment, he responded, ¡°Hahaha! What do I want? Well, it¡¯s not that grand. All I and the rest of us want is to be with you.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    There was something that immediately came to my mind when I heard that.

    It was none other than the Lucia Guild. Actually, they once yed a dirty trick on me.

    So, I immediately asked, ¡°Are you with the Lucia Guild?¡±

    Rather than be surprised by my question, the guy opened his mouth with a smile.

    ¡°Hahaha! Thank you for not forgetting the Lucia Guild. As you already know, I don¡¯t have to exin anymore, right?¡±

    ¡°Did you think I was going to be bound to your guild after I was humiliated like this?¡±

    ¡°Well, if you can¡¯t join us this time, I guess you might have another chanceter because we have lots of time.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    What he meant by ¡®another chance¡¯ was that they would make monsters appear again in the new location of the Myongjin Shelter if we moved there.

    That was why this guy was full of confidence while he was talking to me.

    Then he continued, still full of confidence andcency

    ¡°It seems that as things stand now, I came here too early. It would have helped you to make a decision if I hade a littleter. What a pity¡­¡±

    In the end, he suggested he should havee to me at the time when I was pushed into a more difficult situation.

    So I responded slowly, holding back my anger deeply, ¡°No, you¡¯vee here toote.¡±

    Actually, I didn¡¯t ess Revival Legend for a month. Moreover, Revival Legend announced that all the regions would be merged. And in fact, 40 regions were merged into one district. At the same time, tomemorate such a merger, a double EXP event was held in all hunting grounds. In other words, any user of Revival Legend could not help but be excited about it because currently the ess restriction penalty was applied up to level 200, and nobody knew when the penalty would extend to level 300 and level 400.

    So, I had no choice but to dere before all the members of Myongjin, the Mirae Guild, the Mongolia¡¯s Tugal Guild, the Daesung Guild and the Kusan Guild that sent reinforcements to us that during the event I would protect the Myongjin Shelter perfectly by myself.

    Of course, I was annoyed that I had to say that. I even got infuriated because just like I had done in all events and quests, I would have unconditionally won 1st ce in this event as well.

    However, more powerful monsters appeared more frequently than a month ago.

    In other words, if anyone other than me were protecting this spacious Myongjin Shelter, it would be inevitable that there would be huge casualties.

    In addition to the casualties, it was obvious that the three main bases, which were also the pirs of the Myongjin Shelter, would be partially destroyed.

    Moreover, if even those who came to help us protect the Myongjin Shelter could not participate in the event while protecting the Myongjin Shelter, it was certain that there would be lots of people who would badmouth me if I took part in the event.

    So it was already toote, and the man in front of me might have aimed at it.

    For he appeared here as soon as the double EXP event finished yesterday.

 Chapter 381 - Only the Roots Know Why It Disappeared (1)

    <h4>Chapter 381: Only the Roots Know Why It Disappeared (1)</h4>

    In any case, I kept speaking to him while deliberately looking angry to get as much information as possible.

    But he already smelled a rat.

    ¡°Hehehehe¡­I see. I don¡¯t think I came here that early since you¡¯re trying to steal information from me.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    This guy was far from easy to deal with.

    So I quietly opened my mouth.

    ¡°Alright, one week. Let me give you an answer one weekter.¡±

    ¡°One week? Alright. Well, one week should go by quickly, considering I¡¯ve been waiting so long until now,¡± he replied smoothly.

    So I said, ¡°I really want to see the real guy at that time.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! If you join him, you can always see him. Why don¡¯t you see him then?¡±

    Shuuuuuuuung.

    As soon as he said that, this guy disappeared like smoke in an instant.

    There was only silence in the small meeting room.

    Deep in the ground of the Myongjin Shelter around that time.

    Wiggle, wiggle.

    Wiggle, wiggle.

    The White Root moved its body in all directions while coiling around the ck te.

    By now, the ck te was several times bigger than it was, and the red haze it emitted now looked closer to a dark ck. Of course, the White Root wanted to grow it a little more because it continued to grow as if it had no limits. And the more it grew, the more delicious it looked.

    But the White Root began to feel something chilling sometime ago.

    It noticed that the ck square te that was originally struggling while emitting a red haze didn¡¯t move any longer like a hunter waiting for his prey.

    And the White Root that felt this change, wrapped around the te as usual, as if it wanted to raise it without eating it for 100 or 1000 years.

    Trembling.

    Puck, Puck!

    The moment the White Root constricted the te, the body of the White Root began to shake due to wounds carved all over its body. And some of the wounds were quite deep.

    But the White Root didn¡¯t care about it, and started devouring it as if it wanted to make up for its missed appetite until now.

    Each time the White Root bit the te, the wounds on its body gradually healed.

    At that moment, a red line began to be engraved between the ck tattoos it acquired on its white body after epting the mark that showed Juyoung Hong¡¯s 100% reality actualization rate.

    Yum, yum, yum.

    Of course, regardless of that, the White Root was absorbed into eating the plump te because it really tasted delicious.

    ***

    In the small meeting room of the Myongjin Shelter.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    After that guy from the Lucia Guild disappeared, there was a heavy silence in the small meeting room for a while.

    So I said to Director Sok, ¡°Any update?¡±

    ¡°Nope¡­¡±

    Of course, my first meeting with the Lucia Guild was by no means normal.

    The Lucia Guild already had the title of ¡®Strongest Guild¡¯, which Myongjin only recently acquired by winning first ce in the ¡®Strongest Guild Selection¡¯ event.

    It was also called ¡®The Great Guild¡¯.

    Perhaps because of that, all those who joined the Lucia Guild received an all stat increase by 300, along with an increase in health and mana.

    Aside from other options, this title was not inferior to the title of the ¡®Strongest Guild¡¯, which increased all stat points by 100.

    So at first I tried to join the Lucia Guild because I was also curious about its identity.

    But I didn¡¯t like the restrictions set by the Lucia Guild that prevented me from withdrawing from the guild without the leader¡¯s permission once I joined it.

    I didn¡¯t join it because of this excessive restriction because I had no intention of putting shackles around my neck by myself.

    Since I disclosed everything to my family members, I didn¡¯t foolishly keep my contacts with the Lucia Guild secret to them.

    Anyway, although the Lucia Guild couldn¡¯t shackle me, it didn¡¯t mean they would forget me or give up on me.

    Even though a lot of time has passed since then, Director Sok said he could not find any clues about them.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t show any particr reaction to his reply because I knew he was a hard worker. If he couldn¡¯t find out any information, nobody else would.

    Anyway, I stood up from my seat and opened my mouth because it was no use just sitting there without finding any solution.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to wipe out the monsters outside.¡±

    Even now there were lots of monsters appearing around the shelter.

    Tramp- Tramp-

    After wrapping up the meeting, we started leaving the conference room.

    At that moment, my sister asked, ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want to join the Lucia Guild?¡±

    She was full of concern about the possibility of me joining them.

    So I stopped for a moment and said, ¡°No way! That¡¯s the worst possible choice!¡±

    I was serious. Was it because of my sacrifice or considerations for my family and those in the Myongjin Shelter? No, it had nothing to do with my sacrifice and considerations.

    If I joined them, it would be just foolish and stupid because it meant I was duped by the Lucia Guild.

    Even though I asked the guy from the Lucia Guild to give me one week for the reply, I had already made up my mind right after he left.

    I decided that I would rather dissolve the Myongjin Guild than join them because there was only one reason why I was humiliated by the Lucia Guild.

    It¡¯s because the Myongjin Guild wasrger than the Lucia Guild. What if Myongjin is small? It would be quite easy to move the Myongjin Shelter, and even if the Lucia Guild tries to y a dirty trick, we could just move again due to our small size. And Myongjin can take revenge on the Lucia Guild, veiled to the outside world, as soon as information about them leaks out.

    And my family, including my father, mother, brother, sister, and sister-inw, would not object to this opinion, not to mention Director Sok, Captain Lee and Chief Secretary Dongyoung Ahn.

    That would be a much better choice for Myongjin than for it to be taken over by the Lucia Guild.

    Anyway, I had still one week before that guy came back for my answer, so I didn¡¯t reveal my idea to my family members. Then I headed to the rooftop right away after leaving the small conference room.

    ***

    In Barcelona, Spain around that time.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Matthias, who was at times furious, at times worried, and at times frustrated about this unexinable situation, just stared nkly at the sudden message that appeared in front of him.

    [You have lost your trait, ¡®Ancient Monster Summoning Energy¡¯.

    -The assimtion of 578 monsters under your control has been removed.

    You have lost the 42,571 stat points you received by assimting the monsters.

    ¨C ¡®Griffon¡¯s Bravery¡¯ imprinted into your body has been removed.

    You have lost all the abilities you gained from Griffon¡¯s Bravery.

    Your ability to imprint monsters has been removed.

    ¨C The buffs that made monsters recognize you as your ally have been removed.

    In the future, all monsters will recognize you as an enemy.

    -Themand buff with which you can control monsters below level 800 has been removed.]

 Chapter 382 - Only The Roots Know Why It Disappeared (2)

    <h4>Chapter 382: Only The Roots Know Why It Disappeared (2)</h4>

    Removal of his assimtion with the monsters, their imprinting, and two buffs.

    Matthias had no choice but to feel so disappointed at the message that all the abilities that made him who he was today had disappeared.

    For he took the message as something like a deration that he was not special any longer.

    He stood there nkly for several hours.

    Fling!

    Someone opened the door and entered Matthias¡¯s office. It was Dn who had been serving him like a ve all his life.

    He reported to his boss right away, ¡°Master. I just received a call from the leader of the Lucia Guild. He asked me why you released the Land That Summons Monsters without his permission¡­¡±

    He had no choice but to say evasively after noticing his boss looking at him nkly like a corpse.

    So he got closer to his boss and said, ¡°Matthias? What¡¯s going on?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    But his boss remained silent.

    So he didn¡¯t demand any further, and stood by his side quietly because he knew that his boss had already got his point even though he didn¡¯t show any reaction for some reason.

    Only after a long pause could he hear Matthias¡¯ voice.

    ¡°It¡¯s all over¡­¡±

    ***

    In the middle of Myongjin Shelter.

    ¡°Hmm. He didn¡¯t seem like a good character¡­¡±

    I asked the man from the Lucia Guild to give me one week to think about how to reply, but I didn¡¯t ask him to stop the monsters from appearing for one week because I felt he would not ept.

    Even though I talked with him briefly, I was not stupid enough not to notice the envy and jealousy in his eyes. Of course, he tried to hide it, but I could immediately notice it.

    Moreover, he wanted to drive me into a corner. So I couldn¡¯t understand why he stopped the monsters from appearing because he was the only one who knew how to control the situation, given that the monsters stopped appearing shortly after he left.

    ¡°Hummm¡­it looks like I gained time for one week anyway.¡±

    Obviously, he didn¡¯t take the action for the sake of Myongjin, but I didn¡¯t feel bad about it. Since the monsters that appeared every 10-20 minutes stopped appearing, I could resume my activities finally. In fact, I had lots of work to do.

    Puck!

    At that moment I noticed something piercing through the ground and soaring into the air as if a giant snake was ascending to the sky.

    It was none other than the White Root.

    ¡°Hey, I¡¯ve been looking for you for over a month, and you¡¯vee out only now!¡±

    The White Root was twice as thick and long as other brown roots.

    Moreover, its power befitting its huge size was so enormous that I could notpare it with other roots. That¡¯s why I was so disappointed that the White Root had vanished while the monsters that got stronger were appearing everyday.

    When I saw the White Root this time, it seemed to have grown much bigger than before.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t notice it at first because I was just now seeing it after more than a month, but there was obviously a big change, namely, the red line covering the White Root.

    Originally, its whole body was white, so I called it the White Root.

    However, the White Root took away the ck tattoo I got as a mark after achieving the 100% reality actualization rate, so its white body waspletely covered by ck tattoos.

    But a red line stood out between those ck tattoos,

    Furthermore, there was a small, haze-like thing dancing around the red line.

    ¡°Hey, what the hell have you been doing?¡±

    I had no choice but to ask such a question because of its pretty unnatural change.

    Moreover, it was missing for about a month and a half.

    Wiggle, wiggle.

    Wiggle, wiggle.

    The White Root shook its body as if dancing instead of answering my question.

    So I asked, ¡°Maybe you are somewhat responsible for this bizarre phenomenon, right?¡±

    If the White Root had appeared in its original form, I would not have asked it.

    However, it came out with an unknown red line on its body, and the scene of something like haze emitting from the red line seemed really unusual. It looked more menacing than before.

    So I had no choice but to associate the appearance of the monsters with the White Root¡¯s change.

    But I shook my head because I was not sure at all. It was just my wishful thinking.

    Anyway, I watched the White Root dancing for a while, then once it burrowed back underground, I went back inside the Myongjin Shelter.

    For it was highly likely that no monsters would appear for at least a week, given that none of them appeared for nearly 5 hours today.

    ***

    In Barcelona, Spain a few dayster.

    m! m!

    ¡°Shit! He should have told me earlier! I promised Asirante that I would wait for one week! If the monsters don¡¯t appear there for one week, what would he think of me? He would certainly make light of me!¡±

    The Lucia Guild guilder was furious.

    In his mind, Asirante would think it strange that the monsters didn¡¯t appear all of a sudden, but if the promised one week passes and the monsters still do not appear, his doubts will change to conviction.

    Moreover, he would be branded a liar in Asirante¡¯s mind. That¡¯s why the Lucia Guild Leader got angry.

    ¡°It¡¯s gone. It has be garbage.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Matthias didn¡¯t respond to the Lucia Guild guild leader, who had him by the balls, for what he said was true.

    At that moment, a guy charged at the Lucia Guild leader and tried to attack him.

    It was none other than Dn, Matthias¡¯ minion.

    But the Lucia Guild leader blinked an eye.

    Without blinking his eyes, he opened his mouth, staring at Dn¡¯s fists that punched at the base of his stomach.

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re his subordinate. How dare you rebel against me like this? Weaken and ruin yourself!¡±

    [You have received the Lucia Guild leader¡¯s order that you should be weak.

    -All your stat points decrease by 50%.]

    [You have received the Lucia Guild Leader¡¯s order that you should restrict your activities.

    ¨C Yourbat power is reduced by 50%.]

    [You have received the order of the Lucia Guild leader that you should not use your skills.

    -You can¡¯t use any skills. ]

 Chapter 383 - Monster Imprint (1)

    <h4>Chapter 383: Monster Imprint (1)</h4>

    The Lucia Guild leader incapacitated Dn in an instant. Then he turned his gaze back to Matthias, who was once again in his hands, and opened his mouth softly.

    ¡°Check information about this guild member Matthias.¡±

    At that moment, information about Matthias came up before his eyes.

    ¡°Man, you are not just trash, you are even more ipetent!¡±

    ¡°Uh? You don¡¯t know? Your trait was your everything, and you don¡¯t know anything when you have lost it?¡±

    ¡°I still don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°Whew¡­¡±

    The Lucia Guild guilder just sighed at Matthias¡¯ defiant answer.

    Then he broke Matthias¡¯ neck right away, and he did the same to Dn by stomping on his neck.

    ¡°Damn it! How can I endure this humiliation when I promoted it so much?¡±

    The Lucia Guild leader was more concerned about how much Asirante would look down on him rather than the death of his verypetent guild member.

    As a matter of fact, that was the only reason why he was so furious.

    At the Myongjin Shelter one weekter.

    ¡°Well¡­¡±

    So many things have happened in the past seven days.

    I opened the entrance to the gates of the shelter in the north, east, west, and north, so those who wanted to leave this ce could do so voluntarily. I even scared them off by saying that they had a 99% chance of being killed by monsters if they continued to stay here.

    But contrary to my expectations, they didn¡¯t move.

    ¡°Even if I die, I will die here!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t abandon us, please!¡±

    ¡°As long as you don¡¯t kick me out,, I want to stay with you!¡±

    Of course, my father didn¡¯t build the Myongjin Shelter for charity, so I epted those who were affiliated with Myungjin. Then I epted those who would be helpful to the Myongjin Shelter. In other words, most of the people living in the Myongjin Shelter were affiliated with Myongjin for quite some time, so they were not strangers.

    That¡¯s why all of them refused to leave even if I scared them off by mentioning the possibility of their killing. They even dered to me that they were willing to die as long as they stayed with us.

    Nheless, I forcibly drove them out of the shelter.

    Why? Because the monsters would appear again in droves after one week, and it would be difficult even to evacuate numerous ordinary Myongjin people out of this ce without incurring any damage at that point.

    Nheless, there were people who decided to stay on the outskirts of Myongjin Shelter instead of leaving.

    But I didn¡¯t take any action against them, for I had lots of other things to take care of.

    I had solved the urgent problem by driving them out of the Myongjin Shelter.

    After that, I was so busy that I could not even ess Revival Legend, but that guy from the Lucia Guild didn¡¯te back to me after one week.

    No monsters appeared for the past week.

    So I couldn¡¯t help but question his failure toe back.

    Even when I met him for the first time, I didn¡¯t notice any consideration towards me.

    Rather he was full of intense greed and desire.

    But I stayed on alert because I didn¡¯t know when he coulde back suddenly.

    At that moment, I saw somebody approaching the Myongjin Shelter. Of course, it wasn¡¯t the guy who visited here a week ago.

    However, the reason I couldn¡¯t help but look intensely at the person slowly approaching the Myongjin Shelter was because it was an ordinary child.

    Why does it matter? It absolutely mattered because it was unrealistic for a child to move alone in this day and age. That child delivered a note to the security guards defending the shelter. Shortly afterwards, Director Sok brought the note to me.

    ¡°ording to that child, this is a note from the Lucia Guild. That boy specifically singled out your name and asked the guard to deliver it to you.¡±

    I was puzzled by the note that was delivered in such a strange way, but I received the note and opened it.

    [Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t build a good bond with you this time, but I hope I can make a good association with you next time. -Lucia Guild leader.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    His message was not long. Of course, there was no evidence that it was a real message from the Lucia Guild leader.

    But I knew intuitively that it was real, for he was not the type of guy who would back off so easily. He must have obviously regretted not having put me into more jeopardy.

    So I had no choice but to question his motivations abou why he withdrew the monsters from the Land That Summons Monsters a week ago as if evacuating them.

    For he was not the type of guy who would take such an action. He didn¡¯t show any such signs until he disappeared from the shelter.

    ¡®This means that he must have had some reason to retreat at this point.¡±

    I also could figure out why he had to retreat. It was because of the non-appearance of the monsters.

    Other than that, he would not have freed a fish that he almost caught.

    At the same time, some other things came to my mind.

    In other words, the White Root that appeared with red lines all over its body.

    Its appearance coincided with the disappearance of the monsters.

    After thinking about the connection of the two events, I said to Director Sok, ¡°I don¡¯t think we have to move the shelter¡­¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    As a matter of fact, everybody was busy preparing to move out of the current shelter. Besides, there were so many things that they should take with them.

    So when I asked him to stop the moving preparations all of a sudden, Director Sok opened his eyes wide, and asked back.

    But I opened my mouth, not caring about his reaction.

    ¡°There will be no more monsters here. So, unpack your luggage. Instead, please investigate the Lucia Guild more thoroughly than before.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    Of course, I was now in a hurry because of the note. Maybe it was his intention for us to allow the ordinary people to re-enter the Myongjin Shelter again.

    However, considering that guy¡¯s full confidence, greed and desire, something must have happened to him. Perhaps it was rted to his inability to summon the monsters in and around the shelter.

    So I had no choice but to imagine how much he frowned after sending the boy to deliver the note to me.

    Of course, that didn¡¯tfort me at all.

    There was only one method that would satisfy my desire to pay him back for humiliating me. I had to kill him.

    ¡®Alright. Next time, I will pay you back for shaming me!¡±

    Starting off with the appearance of the first monster, this bizarre phenomenon had been going on for almost three months.

    As a result, it caused enormous damage to the Myongjin Shelter, but to be honest, it was only me who suffered the most because I could only ess Revival Legend sporadically in the past month. Moreover, the whole period during which I could not ess Revival Legend ovepped with the event period when 40 regions were merged into one and the double EXP event was held.

 Chapter 384 - Monster Imprint (2)Monster Imprint (2)

    <h4>Chapter 384: Monster Imprint (2)</h4>

    In the end, my name wascking from the leaderboards of the double EXP event since I could not even participate in it.

    So I had no choice but to burst into a rage at the Lucia Guild, who was responsible for all this. But I had to be patient for now because I didn¡¯t know where the guild leader was.

    Anyway, I was busy again unpacking my baggage and fixing those ces that had been neglected or broken by the monsters. Of course, I could not ess Revival Legend while I was busy.

    Anyway, I had no choice but to im the credit for my hard efforts to protect the Myongjin Shelter because it would make those living in the shelter show more loyalty to Myongjin. And it was always important to finish on a good note because no matter how well one started off, they would be med if they didn¡¯t end on a good note.

    A few dayster, I finally essed Revival Legend.

    [ess Revival Legend]

    It has been almost two months since Ist logged in. Of course, I had a chance to ess it in the meantime, but I deliberately didn¡¯t log in because I was so frustrated and upset.

    So I even trembled a little after essing it after a long time.

    As soon as I essed it, I first headed to the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan.

    ¡°Tanks, you guys block them in front!¡±

    ¡°Herd ten of them only!¡±

    ¡°Start killing those in front of you one by one!¡±

    ¡°Got it. Exploding mes!¡±

    ¡°Chain Lightning!¡±

    ¡°Pouring Storm!¡±

    ¡°Piercing Power Shot!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    Well, quite a bit of time has passed since Ist logged in. For example, I lost almost two months in the ce called the new continent during the Borneche Expedition alone, and thetest series of events also took over two months as well.

    Because of my long absence from the hunting ground, there were quite a few hunting in the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan, including not only Myongjin yers but also those from Tugal of Mongolia, Daesung, Kusan and Mirae Guilds, as well as even Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild.

    Since seeing them hunting was not new to me, I just passed by them quickly and moved inside the hunting ground.

    Of course, there were some who recognized and weed me, but I returned their greetings by nodding at them slightly, for even a single second was critical for me to make up for the time I could not ess Revival Legend.

    ¡°Blizzard!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    [Kheeeeeeeeeek!]

    [Khuuuuuuuuuuuk!]

    My growth has been stagnant for nearly two months, but that didn¡¯t mean I had be weaker than before.

    Because of that, the Titans copsed like leaves falling in the autumn wind when Iunched an attack using Blizzard without using Ice Field and Multiple Thin Ice.

    ¡°Alright! Let me show my strength again!¡±

    I could not help but exim at the fantastic results of my powerful attack as usual.

    Since I showed off my power after a long time, I felt even more thrilled.

    At that moment, a message rang.

    [You are connected with Ancient Monster Summoning Eergy.]

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    This was a message I never expected.

    And this kind of strange message kept ringing.

    [You are not the direct owner of ¡®Ancient Monster Summoning Energy¡¯.

    ¨C Fail to assimte monsters.

    ¨C Seed in imprinting monsters into your body.

    ¨C Fail to buff the monsters¡¯s recognition of you as their ilk.

    ¨C Monstermand buffs fail.

    : You can use monster imprinting.]

    ¡°Is it you?¡±

    Of course, I directed my question at the White Root.

    There was no answer, as always.

    Without waiting for its answer, I quietly opened my mouth.

    ¡°Confirm monster imprinting!¡±

    I knew it was much better for me to focus on the current message than to repeatedly ask the White Root hundreds of times when I could not expect any reply.

    [Monster imprinting.

    -You can imprint a monster onto your body to acquire its unique traits.

    : How to imprint the monster.

    -After using monster imprinting, you can hunt the monsters of the same type and umte their traits up to 100%.

    ¨C You can umte 0.001% of traits per monster, and you can imprint monsters when your umtion reaches 100%.

    -If you hunt any other type of monster before your umtion rate reaches 100%, you will lose all of the traits that you have already umted.]

    ¡°0.001% per monster?¡±

    0.001% per monster meant that I had to hunt exactly 100,000 monsters of the same type in order to achieve 100%. At the same time I was not supposed to hunt other types of monsters. Of course, I didn¡¯t think it was that difficult because my hunting speed was iparably superior to others.

    ¡°Use Monster Imprinting!¡±

    To find out what it was exactly, it was best to do it by myself, so I used the monster imprinting.

    Then a message rang.

    [You have used monster imprinting.

    -The first monster you hunt will be your imprinting target.

    -If you hunt other types of monsters, all your umted traits of the monsters you have been hunting will be deleted, and the new monster type you hunted will be your imprinting target.]

    As soon as the message was over, I immediately herded Titans using Blink with zero cooldown and quickly cleaned them up with Ice Tornado.

    ¡°Imprint Monster!¡±

    [Monster Imprinting status.

    -Currently umted monsters: Titan.

    -Current umtion achievement rate: 0.019%

    : Acquire the following traits when you imprint Titan by achieving 100% umtion rate.

    -Physical Strength stat points increase by 3000.

    -Stamina stat points increase by 3000.

    ¨C Acquire rigidity. (Reduces all damage by 10%.)]

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    Of course, an increase in stamina was not ideal since it was already under the effects of Mutual Growth, but I wouldn¡¯t care even if Ipletely excluded it. Rather I was happy because this was not something that I received equally simply by leveling up or with items, or skills like others did.

    In particr, an increase in Strength by 3000 was very attractive.

    As a matter of fact, I had great sess through melee attacks using the +7 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword, so an extra 3000 Strength would enhance my power even more, not to mention the 10% damage reduction.

    ¡°Hehehe!¡±

    I could not help butugh heartily in satisfaction when I thought about it.

    For I now had a clear goal, and when I achieved it, I would receive a very sweet reward.

    And I was now confident that it was none other than the White Root that stopped those monsters appearing in the Myongjin Shelter.

    What¡¯s more, I had not only the monster imprinting, but also monster assimtion.

    So I shouted at the White Root with deep affection, but I heard no response like before.

    The White Root did not show up, but I didn¡¯t care like always.

    Instead, I charged at Titans because I could not afford to waste any time in order to hunt 100,000 monsters.

    While Juyoung Hong was absorbed into hunting, something emerged from the ground quickly to observe him before burrowing back underground.

 Chapter 385 - New Hunting Ground (1)

    <h4>Chapter 385: New Hunting Ground (1)</h4>

    In the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan.

    ¡°Blizzard!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    [Kheeeeeeek!]

    [Khuuuuuuuuuuuk!]

    The Titans copsed like the leaves falling in the autumn wind at my attack.

    But I quickly moved to other ces as soon as I struck them rather than confirming their copse.

    ¡°Hehehe!¡±

    While moving, I didn¡¯t forget to smile in satisfaction because I was finally hunting back in this ce after 2 months. In addition, I missed out on not only EXP but also other enormous rewards, so I was so absorbed into hunting as it was so enjoyable.

    So much so that I didn¡¯t know that lots of people were watching me hunting brilliantly at a distance with their mouths open wide.

    ***

    Over time, the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan drew quite a few users thanks to the double EXP event. Of course, the hunting ground was vast enough for them to hunt while maintaining a wide distance from each other.

    No matter how high the users leveled up on average, the level 1500 hunting ground was still tough for them.

    But there was somebody indiscriminately massacring the monsters there. Moreover, the monster yer hunted wildly in all areas, so those who thought they had imed a territory to hunt had no choice but to step back for there was no one audacious enough to shout at the monster yer to back off. Of course, that terrific hunter was Juyoung Hong.

    Since Juyoung Hong was consumed with the desire to hunt more monsters faster not only for fun, but also to imprint the monsters onto his body after a long hiatus in hunting, he kept hunting much faster than the monsters could regenerate. As a result, he could hunt in a much wider area than before.

    So Juyoung Hong continued hunting by invading their arbitrary territories even though he didn¡¯t intend to.

    And those who watched him intruding on their territories just stared at him nkly instead of urging him to observe proper decorum.

    Atst somebody opened his mouth.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that he couldn¡¯t y Revival Legend for almost two months?¡±

    ¡°Nope. I would say he didn¡¯t y for almost three months.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. I heard that he had no time to ess Revival Legend after something bad happened to the Myongjin Shelter on the heels of the ¡®Strongest Guild Selection¡¯ event.¡±

    ¡°Man, three months is by no means a short period of time¡­¡±

    ¡°Why are you so surprised? He used to be strong anyway. He had been hunting here alone for a long time. Of course, he looks stronger now¡­¡±

    ¡°By the way, why do Titans here look so pitiful? The Titans here are all level 1500. They are the strongest apart from boss monsters, right?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    When someone expressed his feelings about Juyoung Hong, the others listening to him nodded quietly in agreement.

    They were impressed by Juyoung Hong¡¯s brint attacks and his extraordinary final blow to Titans using Ice Ball or Ice Bolt usually reserved for keeping the monsters at bay. They were also stunned to see him shing the monsters with the sword in his right hand even though he was obviously an ice-type wizard.

    At that moment, another man said, ¡°By the way, I wonder if he is not going to pick up the golden rings and coins strewn everywhere¡­I¡¯m thinking of collecting them while he is distracted with hunting¡­¡±

    Hearing that, all of them looked behind Juyoung Hong, where golden rings and coins were piled up all over the ce. No wonder they became greedy for such items.

    ¡°Don¡¯t even think of picking them up unless you are crazy.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    ¡°If you pick them up, everyone will speak ill of you.¡±

    ¡°You bet. Besides, you¡¯ll be driven out of this ce in humiliation.¡±

    ¡°Man, I didn¡¯t say I would actually collect them! It was just a figure of speech.¡±

    ¡°Watch yournguage! Even if the Myongjin Shelter was humiliated by an unknown figure, they are still the strongest among all the guilds. Especially Juyoung Hong is the best and strongest yer.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. You already know why China and India are so quiet even when they have terrorised Vietnam, right? It¡¯s all because of Juyoung Hong. And that¡¯s why China and India haven¡¯t done anything about Mongolia that was as weak as Vietnam until all the regions were merged into one.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I agree.¡±

    Anyway, those who hunted in the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan kept low profile in order not to disturb Juyoung Hong¡¯s hunting as much as possible. Among them were the yers of Japan¡¯s Mitsuya Guild, who were hostile to Juyoung Hong at first.

    ***

    It has already been three days since I resumed hunting in the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan.

    Rather than attacking the monsters that had regenerated, I opened my mouth gently.

    ¡°Check the monster imprint.¡±

    [Monster imprinting status.

    -Currently umted monster: Titan.

    -Current umtion achievement rate: 61.819%

    : You will acquire the following traits when you achieve 100% umtion rate in imprinting Titans.

    -Physical strength stat points increase by 3000.

    -Stamina stat points increase by 3000.

    ¨C Rigidity. (Reduces all damage by 10%.)]

    ¡°Umm. I think I can hunt about 20,000 monsters per day.¡±

    Even though I didn¡¯t calcte the hunting time, I could hunt about 20 monsters per minute. This meant I could hunt 200 monsters in ten minutes, and 1200 in one hour.

    In other words, considering that I spent 18 hours ying Revival Legend per day, I could hunt as many as 20,000 monsters at my current hunting speed.

    Of course, I knew how to hunt faster.

    In other words, if somebody herded the monsters for me, I could hunt more quickly.

    For me it was more important to detect the monsters than kill them even if I had Blink with zero cooldown.

    But I was satisfied with my current hunting speed because it was fast enough to stun everybody watching me.

    ¡°Alright. Let me resume hunting!¡±

    As things stood now, I could achieve 100% umtion rate in about two days, so I kept hunting the same way I did during the third closed beta under the name ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ where I slept less than two hours a day.

    And I could confirm a message sometime after I resumed hunting.

    [Hello. This is ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    ¨C I¡¯ve got a new announcement for you.

    : A higher level hunting ground will appear.

    -The new hunting grounds are level 1600, level 1700, level 1800, and level ???? hunting grounds. However, in order to use the new hunting grounds, you have to meet the following conditions.

    : Level 1600 hunting ground.

    ¨C Stay connected at least 10 hours a day for at least 10 days in the level 1500 hunting ground.

    (You can stay connected for 10 days intermittently instead of 10 days in a row.)

    -Defeat 10,000 or more monsters in the level 1500 hunting ground.

    (All party members are qualified if they defeat the monsters in a party.)

    :

    :

    : Level 1800 hunting ground.

    ¨C Stay connected at least 10 hours a day for at least 10 days at the level 1700 hunting ground.

    (You can stay connected for 10 days intermittently instead of 10 days in a row.)

    -Defeat 10,000 or more monsters in the level 1700 hunting ground.

    (All party members are qualified if they defeat the monsters in a party.)]

 Chapter 386 - New Hunting Ground (2)

    <h4>Chapter 386: New Hunting Ground (2)</h4>

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    I definitely weed higher level hunting grounds than the current one because I could expect to gain higher EXP there, after all.

    Did I care about the difficulty level of the new hunting ground?

    Absolutely not. It didn¡¯t matter at all because although it was during an event, the system judged that I was suitable to hunt in a level 2700 hunting ground.

    And I could hunt well there. So hunting in the new level 1600, level 1700, and level 1800 hunting grounds would be as easy as hunting in this level 1500 hunting ground.

    Then, as if the system had more to say, new messages rang out.

    [An event tomemorate the new hunting grounds will be held.

    -¡®Reach the level 1800 hunting ground as soon as possible.¡¯

    -If arge number of people reach the level 1800 hunting ground at the same time, the following rules apply.

    : 1 point per monster in the level 1500 hunting ground.

    : 2 points per monster in the level 1600 hunting ground.

    : 3 points per monster in the level 1700 hunting ground.

    The one who receives the highest score will win.

    -Only the one who deals a final blow to the monsters will receive the points when hunting as a party.]

    ¡°Hehehe!¡±

    First of all, when I saw the message that we have to reach the level 1800 hunting ground first, I was a little worried because there were additional requirements to proceed to the next hunting ground other than hunting 10,000 monsters.

    In other words, I was subject to the restrictions under which I had to stay connected to Revival Legend to hunt at least 10 hours per day for the next 10 days.

    So even if I hunted 10,000 monsters faster than others, I had to stay in the hunting ground for more than 10 days.

    Considering my hunting speed, however, such restrictions were very frustrating.

    However, if I spent the 10 days productively, I could hunt so many monsters that I would win even if someone else reached the level 1800 hunting ground at the same time as me. And even if they formed a party, my hunting speed was so fast that they still would not be able to surpass me.

    What¡¯s more, even if many famous powerful individuals grouped up to form a party, only the person who dealt the final blow to the monsters would score the points.

    So I smiled in satisfaction when another message rangst.

    [The event ¡®Reach the 1800 level hunting ground as soon as possible¡¯ starts tomorrow at 00:00, and the new hunting grounds will be randomly generated in Revival Legend 10 dayster.]

    After checking thest message, I resumed hunting, as usual.

    Since the new hunting grounds would appear 10 dayster, all I had to do now was to imprint Titans onto my body.

    Of course, there was enough time for me. Besides, I had already achieved more than 60% umtion rate.

    But I had to leave this hunting ground sooner orter, for I would note back to this ce once I gained ess to the new level 1800 hunting ground. But after hunting for so long in this hunting ground, I had grown somewhat attached to it.

    So I charged at the monsters like crazy as if trying to enjoy myst experience in this hunting ground.

    In the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan two dayster.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    [Kheeeeeeeeeeek!]

    [Khuuuuuuuuuuuk!]

    Flop!

    Flop!

    I quietly watched the monsters copse screaming because this was myst hunt here.

    A message rang as soon as they copsed.

    [You have achieved a 100% umtion rate for the monster Titan.

    :You acquire the traits of Titan.

    -You can store up to 3 traits.

    : You can imprint the Titan trait onto your body.

    -Even if you have multiple traits, you can activate only one of them by imprinting them.

    ¨C You need a 30-day cooldown to rece the imprinted trait with another one.]

    ¡°Imprint: Titan.¡±

    Since I had only the Titan trait, I immediately proceeded with the imprinting.

    [You have imprinted the Titan trait on your body.

    -Strength stat points increase by 3000.

    -Stamina stat points increase by 3000.

    ¨C You acquire rigidity. (Reduces all damage by 10%)]

    ¡°Uh?¡±

    First of all, I felt good.

    Disregarding the Stamina increase, the increase in Strength by 3000 stat points was obviously incredibly high. And the 10% reduction in all damage must be so attractive to tanks.

    But the message that was supposed to ring did not ring.

    In other words, it was the message that the increase in stamina stat points by 3000 would not be applied due to my trait Mutual Growth.

    As a matter of fact, even when I was rewarded with an increase in all stat points by 1000 for reaching a 100% reality actualization rate faster than anybody else, I heard a message that my stamina and willpower would not increase.

    I naturally expected the same message would ring, but it didn¡¯t.

    So, I opened the status window first.

    [Level: 1391

    Number of kills: 11582, Number of deaths: 0

    Titles: Only Closed Beta Max level Achiever and 12 others.

    Health: 8,473,000 / 8,473,000

    Mana: 5,121,000 / 5,121,000

    Strength: 13774 (+3000) Agility: 16241 Stamina: 62773 (+3000)

    Willpower: 44821 Intellect: 83420

    Remaining stat points: 0

    Remaining skill points: 0

    Traits: Iceman, Mutual Growth, God of Enhancement, All Buffs, All Debuffs.]

    In the meantime, I had also leveled up because I really hunted like crazy.

    However, what caught my eye more was that not only had my strength increased by 3000, but so had my stamina. So my stamina reached 65773.

    ¡°Why?¡±

    At that moment, I questioned myself about it. But I didn¡¯t ponder about it for long.

    If I had suffered losses, I would have thought hard about it, but I gained a lot instead.

    Since I gained a lot, I did not have to make a fuss over it.

    After checking the status window, my current level of 1391 drew my attention.

    ¡°Hmm. I wish I could obtain skills when I reach level 1400¡­¡±

    After I said that, I closed the status window and attacked the Titans again.

    For I still had eight more days left until the new level 1600 hunting ground appeared, even though I was done imprinting the Titans.

    I had no intention of idling away until then.

    Seven dayster in the level 1500 hunting ground Land of Titan.

    Now I had only one day left until the new hunting grounds such as the level 1600, level 1700 and level 1800 hunting grounds appeared.

    That¡¯s why those ying Revival Legend were having a war of nerves these days because they heard that the new hunting grounds would appear randomly.

    As a result, even if somebody discovered a new hunting ground first, it would be difficult for them to im 100% ownership because others would not sit idle.

    Moreover, in the past, there was a wall isting each region, so the powerful and mighty yers in each region dominated that region, but now all the walls were gone and there was only one region, which meant that all these powerful guys would have topete against each other as well.

    Despite all that, I was confident because nobody could stop me, nor Myongjin as a whole, from hunting in the new hunting grounds even if somebody imed ownership of it. It would be just like the level 1300, level 1400, and level 1500 hunting grounds, where I gradually lead the Myongjin yers to follow suit after I first hunted in those hunting grounds.

    So I just concentrated on hunting.

 Chapter 387 - First Dibs (1)

    <h4>Chapter 387: First Dibs (1)</h4>

    ¡°Man, I hunted too long.¡¯

    I quickly exited the Land of Titan as soon as I checked the time.

    Then I moved to the teleport zone and opened my mouth softly.

    ¡°Move to Kotum Castle.¡±

    [You are moving to Kotum Castle.]

    Kotum Castle was once crowded with users. But it was almost abandoned after the ess restriction penalty was activated for those at level 100, followed by those at level 200, because this ce was intended for only beginners.

    As a result, not only new users, but also those beginners have all disappeared from this area.

    So I set foot inside Kotum Castle, which was empty, and stopped at some point while I was walking.

    It was by the forge where I stopped. I was standing before it nkly because I still had three minutes left until the cooldown of my trait God of Enhancement was over.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    While standing there, I reminisced about the time when I yed the closed beta called ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ before this Revival Legend. As a matter of fact, I didn¡¯t stay in Kotum Castle for long when I started ying Revival Legend because I received a huge reward as soon as I started ying. Besides, I didn¡¯t have to hunt weak monsters here when I could hunt strong ones. In particr, there were already users here who started ying the game several years ahead of me, and I could not afford to be distracted by something else in order to catch up with them.

    In other words, the reason why I returned to Kotum Castle every now and then was greatly influenced by my old memories of the closed beta ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯.

    ¡°Yeah, I had a lot of fun back then¡­¡±

    Back then the game was my only exit from the world.

    Moreover, the goal of reaching level 100, level 200, and level 300 in two weeks immersed me even more in the game.

    In the end, by achieving the goal, I realized through the game that I could do anything if I was determined.

    Of course, it didn¡¯t mean hunting was no fun now. To be honest, in some ways it was more fun hunting now than before.

    Back then, as my sister once said, I was like a shabby cat that had to hide in a corner, not knowing how to raise its ws despite the fact that I could live like a lion, the king of the jungle, not a cat, at least in Korea, given my hunting environment.

    ¡°Hehehe!¡±

    I kept recalling my good old days with a smile.

    But I immediately stopped smiling, and moved into the forge in Kotum Castle.

    It was still too early for me to keep reminiscing about the past with a smile.

    [Wee! This is the cksmith of Kotum Castle.]

    I briefly responded to the NPC¡¯s words, then put the +7 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword into the enhancement window that appeared before me and opened my mouth gently.

    ¡°Activate God of Enhancement!¡±

    [You have activated God of Enhancement.

    -100% chance of sess in enhancement.

    -Enhancement target: +7 Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    -Additional requirements: 1,950,000,000 golden rings, 9.755 billion EXP points.

    -Cooldown upon sessful enhancement: 361 days]

    ¡°The cooldown is almost one year¡­¡±

    My goal of enhancing Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword was +9 enhancement.

    In the inventory, there were a total of 5 ancient cooldown removal charms and one 100% enhancement ticket that I obtained from the level 100 only limited enhancement quest. In other words, if I make the guardian sword a +9 Enhancement sword, I could upgrade it immediately to +15 Enhancement, the final enhancement stage.

    So I stopped thinking and began to enhance it right away because I had to enhance it by all means.

    At that moment, a message rang with a splendid sound effect.

    [You have seeded in enhancing +7 Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword. The +7 Enhancement sword has been upgraded to +8 Enhancement sword.]

    I have finally reached the +8 enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    Then I got a little greedy because if I used up all the spell tickets, I could have the +14 Enhancement sword right now. This sword would turn into a terrific item for me.

    However, I would regret it forever for reaching only up to 14, not 15, the final stage of enhancement. And I would have no idea how long the cooldown would be to upgrade it to +15 from there, given that +8 enhancement required 361 days of cooldown.

    Of course, I could obtain another ancient cooldown removal charm, but there was no guarantee that I could obtain it anytime soon, so I didn¡¯t want to jump to +14 enhancement right away.

    ¡°Great. I¡¯ve held it in well until now. And I¡¯m not so weak as to rely on a weapon anyway.¡±

    If I felt I had a hard time fighting or hunting, I would definitely try to enhance the guardian sword, but that was not the case. And I was convinced that I would not face a situation where I would struggle even in the future.

    So, I picked up the +8 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword and came out of the smithy, leaving behind the NPC who said, [Goodbye.]

    ¡°Check item.¡±

    Even though I came out of the forge proudly, I needed to know how the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword had changed from +7 to +8 enhancement, so I immediately checked the item.

    [+8 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword (Myth)

    ¨C This is the sword containing the final determination of Asirante, the master and emperor of ice, who fought against the Sun God Morotu who burned and evaporated everything in the world.

    : Level 700 or higher required to equip.

    : 7000 pure intellect or higher required to equip.

    : At least 10 ice-type skills required to equip.

    -Effect.

    : Increases the performance of all ice-type skills by 18% -> (20%).

    : Cooldown of all Ice-type skills is reduced by 18% -> (20%).

    :

    :

    : Strength increases by 2500->(3000)

    : Agility increases by 1500->(2000)

    : Intellect increases by 2000->(3000)

    ¨C Safety enhancement: 0

    -Physical attack power: increases by 29500->(35700)

    -Magical attack power: increases by 15750->(19500)

    -Durability: Infinite/Infinite]

    All the options of the sword were increased as a whole.

    But the overall increase was not as good as it was when I upgraded it from +6 enhancement to +7 enhancement. Obviously, at that time, my physical attack power increased by 10,000 or more and magic attack power also increased by 7,000 or more at once. Despite upgrading from +7 to +8 enhancement this time, there was not such a great overall increase.

    ¡°Hmm. It increased dramatically at +3 Enhancement, and also at +7 Enhancement¡­Was it because of that?¡±

    Between certain grades, the option values increased dramatically. But I would have noticed it if there were such a pattern for general, rare, precious, or legendary items. But there were no such patterns. Upgrading an item for those grades only showed an upward curve. Then, was the margin of increase so small because of that?

    That was not true in this case.

    Compared to other legendary grade items that increased by several hundreds or up to 2000 in total, this was obviously a terrific increase. Especially my intellect alone increased by 1000 at a time.

    ¡°Alright. It would be better for me if there were certain grades where the options increased dramatically like that because my goal is +15 enhancement. If it again goes through one of those grades in the future, the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword will literally be a monster.¡±

 Chapter 388 - First Dibs (2)

    <h4>Chapter 388: First Dibs (2)</h4>

    No matter how closely I looked into it, this was not bad for me at all.

    Aftering to such a conclusion, I moved back to the level 1500 hunting ground and spent the rest of the day productively.

    Since I would note back to this ce unless I was forced to, I hunted hard, reminiscing about the good old days I spent here.

    Besides, this ce gave me a farewell gift of stamina 3000, physical strength 3000 as well as rigidity from the Titan trait.

    The next day.

    At the teleport zone near Rodon Castle, the main base of the Myongjin Guild.

    Instead of moving to the hunting ground, I immediately headed near the teleport zone in order to move immediately as soon as I obtained the information about the level 1600 hunting ground through the guild chat window or message.

    I waited for several minutes there when I finally received a message from the Myongjin Guild. And the reason I received such a prompt message was because we mobilized all the avable resources of not only the Myongjing Guild, but also the Mirae Guild, Mongolia¡¯s Tugal Guild, the Daesung Guild and the Kusan Guild to search for the new hunting grounds.

    [We¡¯ve found a level 1700 hunting ground in the forest of the hermits in Matena Castle!]

    It was not a level 1600 hunting ground.

    However, we also needed a level 1700 hunting ground, so I quickly moved to the forest of the hermits in Matena Castle using the teleport zone.

    The moment I arrived there, I knew there were already many others at this ce.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t expect that we alone would find this ce as all the other guilds were also hell bent on finding a new hunting ground.

    So, I passed by those who were arguing over their arrival time, and arrived at the level 1700 hunting ground.

    Then I opened my mouth with a loud voice.

    ¡°Myongjin has first dibs on this hunting ground!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Among those who listened to my announcement were not only Myongjin yers but also other giant guild yers. Moreover, even at this moment, more and more were streaming into this hunting ground.. So all of them were witnesses to my announcement that the Myongjin Guild imed their possession of this hunting ground first.

    Of course, it didn¡¯t mean that Myongjin had the 100% ownership of this hunting ground. If we tried to im sole possession, Myongjin would be enemies of all the giant guilds within Revival Legend even if they had me, the strongest yer.

    Despite that, it was more beneficial for us to announce our possession of this ce first to im our stake in it while others were arguing over it.

    As soon as I announced it, somebody else also shouted, ¡°The Lausanne Guild has discovered this ce faster than anyone else, so we obviously can im some ownership of this ce, too!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t lie! Obviously you guys came hereter than us, and people here have all seen it! So Madea Guild has priority over this ce!¡±

    ¡°Are you kidding? We have found this ce faster than anyone else!¡±

    ¡°Hey. You have to count us in because we came with you here!¡±

    No wonder that all of them began to im their ownership of the hunting ground as soon as I made the initial announcement.

    But I didn¡¯t care about their argument because I was confident of securing the benefits for the Myongjin Guild, no matter how many of them imed ownership.

    After that, I received a couple of more reports about the discovery of new hunting grounds, so I headed to those ces immediately.

    Of course, these ces were already more crowded than the level 1700 hunting ground.

    Knowing no shame, however, I moved to the hunting ground and shouted the same thing I did in the previous hunting ground.

    Thousands of people looked at me scornfully as if they thought I was talking bullshit, but they became silent after confirming who I was. And following me, they also made the announcement that they also had a stake in this hunting ground.

    At the main base of the Myongjin Guild in Rodon Castle three hourster.

    ¡°Thanks to Juyoung¡¯s help we could secure the level 1600, level 1700, and level 1800 hunting grounds. Of course, we were also helped by the Mirae Guild, Mongolia¡¯s Tugal Guild, the Daesung Guild and the Kusan Guild,¡± said Director Sok.

    After he was briefed, my father said, ¡°Good job, Director Sok. Thanks, son.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee, Dad.¡±

    Of course, I could secure more hunting grounds if I wanted to.

    If I made up my mind, I could take all new hunting grounds and dere them as mine.

    Even if the others hurled abuse at me behind my back, nobody would dare toe out and refute my announcement.

    But if I took that action, it would not only iste me but also pit me against all the other guilds.

    So I made it a goal to secure only the level 1600, level 1700, and level 1800 hunting grounds from the beginning because these three hunting grounds were more than enough for not only Myongjin but also the Tugal, Daesung and Kusan yers for now.

    If they were not enough, I could secure moreter.

    After the family meeting was over, I quickly moved to the level 1600 hunting ground that I secured this time.

    In fact, if I didn¡¯t stay connected for more than 10 hours at the level 1600 hunting ground today, I would have no choice but to enter the level 1700 hunting ground a dayter than others, albeit such a thing was extremely unlikely.

    A littleter.

    [You have met the requirements for using the level 1600 hunting ground.]

    I stayed connected in the level 1500 hunting ground at least 10 hours a day for the past 10 days, during which I killed 100,000 monsters.

    Since I met the conditions early on, I could enter the 1600 level hunting ground without any difficulty.

    ¡°Stop it!¡±

    ¡°Keep the formation!¡±

    ¡°Fire Spirit¡¯s Wrath!¡±

    ¡°Biting Wind!¡±

    ¡°Triple Shot!¡±

    ¡°Thorn of Pain.¡±

    :

    :

    ¡°Don¡¯t deal a fatal blow! Stop your attacks when I tell you to stop!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    Of course, there were already people hunting by forming a party.

    As if they were sharply aware of the event ¡®Reach the level 1800 hunting ground first!¡¯, they were trying to help only one of them to deal a fatal blow to the monster.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ an archer monster.¡±

    But I didn¡¯t pay attention to them.

    No matter how hard they hunted, they were not a match for me.

    Instead, I looked at the monster and quietly opened my mouth.

    ¡°Use Monster Imprinting!.¡±

    [You have used Monster Imprinting.

    -The first monster you hunt will be your imprinting target.

    -If you hunt another monster while hunting, all your umted traits will be deleted, and your imprinting target will be changed to the new monster you hunted.]

    In order to move to the next level 1700 hunting ground, I had no choice but to hunt more than 100,000 monsters while staying connected for 10 days. This was a perfect chance for me to kill two birds with one stone. That¡¯s why I used Monster Imprinting.

    Of course, I needed to hunt 100,000 monsters for monster imprinting.

    But 10 days was more than enough for me to hunt them.

    Actually, I managed to hunt 100,000 monsters in under five days in the level 1500 hunting ground.

    Anyway, I used Monster Imprinting first, then moved quickly toward the hunting ground using Blink with zero cooldown because I was done scouting what kind of monsters appeared here. From now on, hunting would be great fun for me.

 Chapter 389 - Level 1600, Level 1700, and Level 1800 (1)

    <h4>Chapter 389: Level 1600, Level 1700, and Level 1800 (1)</h4>

    The level 1600 hunting ground was home to archer-type monsters called Dark Elves dyed in darkness.

    Maybe that¡¯s why they stood still and attacked me with arrows when I charged into their midst.

    [Dark Arrow!]

    [Multiple Darkness Arrow!]

    [Exploding Darkness Arrow!]

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    They kept attacking me endlessly, something which was not unfamiliar to me.

    In the past, I generally preferred hunting melee-monsters so I could herd hunt them, but that didn¡¯t mean that I had never confronted long-distance type monsters at all. However, I could confirm that they were not the same type of long-range monsters that I had confronted in the past. In other words, their attack range was very long.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I now know why theyined¡­¡±

    When I first entered the level 1600 hunting ground here, there were some teams that had gotten here ahead of me for hunting.

    So I just watched them hunting to check what kind of monsters they would encounter, even if the monsters had no chance of inflicting any damage to me.

    Then some team members began toin.

    ¡°Damn it! Why are they attacking us from such a long distance?¡±

    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t move too much. Since their attack range is so long, it means that these Dark Elves can spot us from far away!¡±

    ¡°Step back, you idiot! You are the target of more than 30 monsters!¡±

    ¡°Save him! When he dies, aside from giving up EXP, we can¡¯t log in for one week due to the death penalty!¡±

    ¡°Heal! Heal!¡±

    ¡°Mega Heal!¡±

    Even though it was their first time in the level 1600 hunting ground, the fact that they could reach here indicated that they had ample hunting experiences.

    Nheless, they were in a chaotic situation, not knowing how to deal with the monsters.

    At the time, I honestly didn¡¯t understand why because they had no reason to get flustered like that.

    But when I charged at them by myself, I could definitely feel why they fell into a fluster back then. These monsters had the longest attack range of all the monsters I had everbated. That¡¯s why the others were so startled and flustered.

    Did it matter to me at all?

    Of course, not at all, because my intellect was over 80,000 for a good reason.

    Moreover, even when my intellect was low, my ice-type skills were special.

    Obviously,pared to other ice-type wizards, my skill ranges and damage for AOE skills were incredibly high because of my trait, Iceman.

    Iceman was limited to only ice-type skills, but it vastly improved their overall performance.

    Besides, I had one more powerful item this time, the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword, which had better physical attack power than magic attack power.

    Even though its physical attack power was higher than my magic attack power, it was not because of its mythical grade that I kept enhancing it with lots of effort and used it.

    In fact, I had to keep using it because of the option it provided that increased the performance of all skills of the ice series just like my trait, ¡®Iceman¡¯.

    Because of that, the arrows that the Dark Elves dyed in darkness shot from quite a distance didn¡¯t inflict any damage to me at all. In fact, by using my AOE skill Ice Field during the ¡®Strongest Guild Selection¡¯ event, I encircled the wide arena with ice in an instant. Even if that was not enough to block the monsters, I could easily herd them into a narrow space using Blink with zero cooldown.

    But there was a reason why I just stood still on the spot and let them attack me without doing anything. I wanted to check out how strong they were.

    Of course, I had already sized them up.

    Even if they were the level 1600 monsters, they could not inflict any big damage to me when the level 1500 monsters did little harm to me. If that really happened, it would mean the copse of the current bnce of the system.

    Anyway, after exposing myself to their attacks for a while, I opened my mouth quietly because I was done examining how powerful they were.

    So all I had to do from now on was to counterattack them.

    ¡°Blizzard!

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    [Kheeeeeeeeeeek!]

    [Khuuuuuuuuuuk!]

    The level 1500 Titans were melee monsters with high stamina and health. However, it was easy to tell that the Dark Elves dyed in darkness were monsters with a high agility stat, even though their stamina and health wereckingpared to the Titans. Because of that, they reacted more quickly than the Titans.

    Of course, they could withstand my attack if their magic defense power was huge, but it wasn¡¯t. Even if it was, it would have little effect on me anyway.

    Flop.

    Flop.

    After confirming that they copsed one by one, I opened my mouth softly.

    ¡°Check Monster Imprinting.¡±

    [Your current status of Monster Imprinting.

    -Currently umted monsters: Dark Elves dyed in darkness.

    -Current umtion rate: 0.021%

    *You will obtain the following traits when you imprint the trait of the Dark Elf dyed in darkness by achieving 100% umtion rate.

    -Agility stat points increase by 4500.

    -When you use arrows as your means of attack, your attack range increases by 5%.]

    ¡°Um¡­¡±

    The Titan trait granted 3000 strength and 3000 stamina.

    Moreover, since the stamina increase was not blocked by my trait Mutual Growth, my stat points increased by a total of 6000. In addition to that, the trait also granted rigidity which would reduce iing damage by 10%. Considering that, although these elf monsters were obviously higher in level, the trait they granted was clearly behind the Titan.

    A 5% increase in attack range when using arrows was an option that was not relevant to me at all.

    Nheless, I was on alert.

    ¡°Am I going to be okay?¡±

    First of all, my stamina exceeded 60,000 due to Mutual Growth that grew 100% along with my Intellect. Even though it¡¯s true that the more, the better, I could do without the extra 3000 stamina.

    What¡¯s more, I could also do without the 10% damage reduction, which might be very attractive to tanks as well as users within Revival Legend.

    In other words, 4500 agility was not that bad when pitted against 300 strength.

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t have to decide right now because I can have as many as three traits through monster imprinting, even though I can activate only one of them.¡±

    Since I didn¡¯t have to agonize over it right away, I charged at the monsters again to achieve 100% umtion rate.

    With a smile on my face, I hunted for quite a long time without knowing the passage of time.

    Considering EXP and coins, the most efficient hunting ground was the level 1500 hunting ground Titan without any doubt, but I couldn¡¯t help but be sick and tired of it since I had to stay there for a long time.

    In contrast, a hunting ground that gave only a small amount of EXP as well as coins was not only fresh, but also it was like rain for a drought.

    What¡¯s more, I still had two more things to be happy about, namely, the level 1700 hunting ground, and the level 1800 hunting ground.

 Chapter 390 - Level 1600, Level 1700, and Level 1800 (2)

    <h4>Chapter 390: Level 1600, Level 1700, and Level 1800 (2)</h4>

    While Juyoung Hong was hunting hard, something unusual was happening at a huge building in downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina.

    Wheeeeeeeeeeng.

    The building used to be crowded with lots of people, but it was empty now.

    This ce was once the stronghold of the Tgapa Guild, one of the top five guilds in Argentina. But all of the people who yed a pivotal role in the guild disappeared overnight after departing for an unknown world to clear a quest. Among them was even the heir of the guild leader who would be in charge of the guild in the future.

    They could not help but pursue the quest because the rewards were too enticing. Moreover, they only needed to wait for 30 days in the o o o area without doing any specific missions so they could wait out the cooldown to use the Judgment Key again to return.

    Because of that, the Tgapa Guild filled the 30-member expedition team with all the important yers including their guild leader Rodrigo, but all of these important yers failed to return.

    In other words, the moment they did not return, it was only natural for the Tgapa guild, which once dominated the area, to disintegrate.

    Nheless, there were some guild members who were still staying in the building.

    Like the saying that even if the rich go bankrupt, they will survive three generations, the Tgapa Guild was obviously very affluent. And they always kept a few people on standby at the very center of the stronghold, waiting at the ce where the 30 people, including their leader Rodrigo, would return using the Judgment Key if they managed to do so.

    They knew they could regain their old glory and power as long as their top yers returned. Besides, ording to the message, they coulde back after 30 days, but there was no rule that they must return as soon as the 30 days were up.

    At that moment, a spark appeared at the ce where the 30 most elite including the guild leader Rodrigo used the Judgement Key, then an exotic ck line appeared and disappeared quickly as if it was cutting through the air.

    However, those guarding the ce did not notice it because it happened so quickly.

    Some of them gave up waiting for them after several months, and others were very much exhausted. In any case, such sparks have urred frequently since ethen, and the strange ck line that cut through space grew bigger than before.

    ***

    In the level 1600 hunting ground, the Dark Elf Forest, the next day.

    Puck! Puck! m! m!

    It didn¡¯t matter even if I hunted randomly, but I used Blink with zero cooldown at numerous ces in the Dark Elf forest to herd the monsters to the center.

    Then I immediately prated into them and opened my mouth.

    ¡°Ice Tornado!¡±

    Wheeeeeeeeeeng.

    [Kheeeeeeeeeeek!]

    [Khuuuuuuuuuuuk!]

    Arge number of Dark Elves were swept away by a huge ice vortex that appeared instantly. And a gust of wind appeared surrounding the central ice vortex which trapped those Dark Elves on the periphery and sucked them in.

    ¡°Hehehe!¡±

    I had no choice but to smile, watching them copse one by one.

    Then a message rang.

    [You have satisfied one of the conditions for advancing to the level 1700 hunting ground.

    ¨C Stay connected for 10 hours per day for at least 10 days in the level 1600 hunting ground. ¨C Iplete.

    -Killing 10,000 monsters in the level 1600 hunting ground. -Sess.]

    Anyway, I satisfied one of the requirements.

    Of course, I had not satisfied the other requirement yet, but I was not in a hurry because it was just a matter of time.

    In other words, all I had to do right now was to achieve 100% umtion rate and imprint the Dark Elves trait until I seeded in staying connected for 10 days.

    Otherwise, I would have to give up what I had already umted or dy moving to the level 1700 hunting ground.

    But I thought I had enough time to achieve my goal.

    So I kept hunting as hard as before.

    Five dayster.

    A message rang while I was hunting so hard that I lost track of time.

    [You have achieved 100% umtion rate for Dark Elves dyed in darkness.

    ¨C You have acquired the trait of Dark Elves dyed in darkness.

    -You can store up to 3 traits.

    ¨C A 30-day cooldown is required for you to rece the trait you already imprinted with another one.

    -You currently possess the traits of two monsters (2/3)

    : Titan, Dark Elf.

    -You have activated the following trait.

    : Titan.]

    ¡°Um¡­ let me wait first.¡±

    I didn¡¯t feel the need to rece the imprinted trait right now.

    Moreover, 30 days haven¡¯t yet passed since I activated the Titan trait.

    ¡°Alight. Now that I have achieved my first goal, can I aim for the second goal now?¡±

    As I had done before, I hunted really hard even after I came here.

    No wonder I received EXP, golden rings, coins as well as the imprinting of the monsters as a reward for my diligent hunting. In other words, I had only one more level to reach level 1500.

    This meant that I could reach level 1400 even before I set foot on the level 1700 hunting ground.

    ¡°I wish I could reach level 1400 first¡­¡±

    First of all, no one has officially proven that they have reached level 1400 or higher.

    But it didn¡¯t mean there was none who reached level 1400 yet.

    ¡°Wel, level 1400 is just one of the levels that I have to go through anyway!¡±

    After that, I focused again on hunting and charged at the Dark Elves dyed in darkness.

    In the level 1600 hunting ground Dark Elf Forest.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    I had exactly only one level left until I reached level 1400.

    So I had no choice but to hunt hard even if nobody pushed me.

    Moreover, I had lots of expectations of level 1400 because the current maximum skills I could acquire were level 8 skills such as Ice Tornado and Ice Punishment, which I obtained at level 1000.

    And I didn¡¯t hear any messages about acquiring new skills even when I reached level 1100, level 1200, and level 1300.

    Of course, there were other messages. For example, when I reached level 1100, I heard a message that I had obtained a privilege of exchanging coins for golden rings, and another privilege of increasing my reality actualization rate at level 1200.

    So, at level 1300, I expected a message that I could obtain a new level 9 skill, but such a message did not ring. That¡¯s why I had high expectations of this level 1400.

    Thanks to the functional ring, I could use level 9 Blizzard, whose powerful impact was really impressive.

    Anyway, I absorbed myself into hunting, losing track of the time, when I heard another message.

    [You have leveled up.]

    This was the message that I had been waiting for.

    Of course, I was happy to hear it because every time I reached a certain level avable for new skills, I used to hear the message that I could obtain new skills, along with skill points.

    So, I expected that such a message would ring as soon as I reached level 1400.

    [¡­]

    But I heard no such message this time as well.

    ¡°If this is the case, the interval is too long¡­¡±

    I acquired level 8 skills when I reached level 1000.

    So, if the message didn¡¯t ring at 1400, I would have to wait until I reached at least level 1500, which would take me too long even if my next target was level 9 skills.

    But another message rang while I was tilting my head in bewilderment.

    [You have acquired 4 skill points by reaching level 1400.

    ¨C You can now acquire level 9 skills.]

    Even though the message rang a bit btedly, I had no choice but to heartilyugh.

 Chapter 391 - Level 1600, Level 1700, and Level 1800 (3)

    <h4>Chapter 391: Level 1600, Level 1700, and Level 1800 (3)</h4>

    I wanted to leave right away to acquire a new skill, but I held back my urge, and rushed at the Dark Elves dyed in darkness for I had not yet satisfied the 10-hour connection requirement for today.

    Moreover, even if I dyed acquiring a new skill, it didn¡¯t mean that I would lose my new level 1400, the four skill points and my ability to acquire level 9 skills.

    A littleter.

    ¡°Move to Kotum Castle.¡±

    [You are now moving to Kotum Castle.]

    When I just logged on to ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ in the early days, there was lots of information about level 8 skills because there were several people who had already reached level 1000. But I have never heard anything about level 9 skills.

    So I was pondering about it while I was moving to Kotum Castle.

    In other words, I agonized over whether to acquire level 9 skills or upgrade my current skills.

    Obviously, I had several skills that could reach level 9 if I upgraded them.

    ¡°Well, let me decide once I get there.¡±

    Since I didn¡¯t have to decide without checking what the new level 9 skills were, I decided to move to Kotum Castle again.

    When I passed through the empty Kotum Castle and reached the huge tower located in the central square, a message rang.

    [There are currently new ice-type skills that you can acquire.]

    [There are currently ice-type skills that you can upgrade.]

    So, I examined the new level 9 skills rather than upgrading my existing skills.

    Besides, all the skills that I could upgrade required additional skill points.

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    I discovered that there were not as many level 9 skills as I expected.

    Nheless, they were all very powerful, so I was greedy about them. So much so that I wanted to master all the level 9 skills there were.

    I now could understand why I got four skill points instead of three like before when I checked the level 9 skills because each skill required four skill points.

    ¡°By the way, this is really appealing¡­¡±

    [Level 9 Ice Breath. (Active, 4 skill points and 550,000,000 golden rings required.)

    : Unleashes a torrent of an Ice Dragon¡¯s Ice Breath reinforced by the essence of ice towards a rtively narrow area.

    : Targets hit by Ice Breath suffer 100% fatal frost damage.

    : There is only level 9 Ice Breath.]

    ¡°Rtively narrow area¡± could mean narrow whenpared to normal AOE skills, and the damage range could still be quite significant. That¡¯s why it would be rather difficult to call it a single-target skill. As if to take that into ount,, there was also a level 9 single-target skill called Frosty Cold Spear that was also avable.

    But I already possessed over 80,000 intellect, and possessed the powerful trait Iceman, even though its effect was only confined to my ice-type skills.

    Considering Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword, which would soon be enhanced to +15, Ice Breath would not affect only a rtively narrow area. Besides, my intellect would not stop growing at 80,000.

    And there was another decisive factor which contributed to my decision.

    ¡°It¡¯s the only skill that contains the essence of ice.¡±

    There was also another effect.

    [This is the only skill that contains the essence of ice.]

    Actually, I had seen such a thing before. It was written in the option of my trai, Iceman, when I first obtained it.

    [The essence of ice is embedded in your body.]

    But there was no mention of the essence of ice in any other level 9 skill other than Ice Breath. So I had no choice but to obtain Ice Breath.

    So, without agonizing anymore, I quietly opened my mouth.

    ¡°Acquire Ice Breath.¡±

    [You have acquired level 9 skill Ice Breath.]

    Even though I quickly used the 4 skill points that I painstakingly earned, I didn¡¯t have any regrets.

    Of course, I could also delete Ice Ball or Ice Bolt and recover the skill points.

    I could also delete an AOE skill, such as Ice Prison.

    However, I acquired all of my current skills based on various factors including cooldown. In other words, I didn¡¯t obtain them out of curiosity.

    That¡¯s why I used Ice Ball and even Ice Bolt very effectively with very good results.

    ¡°Alright. I don¡¯t have to break my current bnce of skills.¡±

    I had enough AOE skills, butcked some single-target skills. Nheless, I was satisfied with Ice Breath that could have tremendous destructive power as it was in between AOE and single-target skills, so I moved to the teleport zone outside Kotum Castle.

    Then I immediately moved to the level 1600 hunting ground Dark Elf Forest because it was too early for me to log out.

    ***

    In Mogadishu, Somalia, in Africa around the same time.

    Even though it was the capital of the country, there were no buildings with more than 10 stories. A man and a woman were chatting on a couch inside a dpidated building.

    ¡°Well, we don¡¯t have to take this ce because there are many other safe ces.¡±

    When the man asked, the woman replied with a gentle smile on her lips, ¡°Safe ce? Well, in my mind, all the ces are the same except for one.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. I wish that ce was right here within my arms.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s too bad.¡±

    ¡°Shit. I didn¡¯t even expect it. As long as there is Asirante, there is only one safest safe ce. By the way, why did you call me?¡±

    ¡°I had a dream.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    The man stopped talking in a jovial manner and adjusted his posture because the dream she mentioned was not just ordinary.

    As a matter of fact, he had obtained a lot thanks to her dreams.

    ¡°Great. What kind of dream was it? I will pay you properly after you talk about your dream first.¡±

    ¡°Passage¡­there will be a passage that connects the two sides together. And through that passage, monsters will appear.¡±

    ¡°Are you talking about monsters? There are already lots of monsters.¡±

    ¡°No, some creatures that cannot bepared to monsters will appear.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The man was speechless for a moment at her reply because if they were not typical monsters, they could most likely be the same guys that appeared in Osaka, Japan.

    ¡°How long until they appear?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. But the hole is already there, and it will grow bigger and bigger beyond our understanding.¡±

    ¡°Then what will happen to us in the future?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    She would not say any further. But he didn¡¯t push her.

    At that moment, the space the two of them were in was distorted, and only darkness fell as if the lights had gone out.

    A littleter the man, who was in Mogadishu, Somalia only a moment ago, suddenly got up from his high-end chair with his eyes wide open.

    Then he shouted loudly, ¡°Bring it!¡±

    As soon as he shouted, the door opened, and a group of people brought a huge box.

    When the man opened the box, a huge amount of golden rings appeared, which reached tens, or hundred of billions.

    Watching them, the man was lost in thought for a moment.

    Then he took out exactly one golden ring and opened his mouth.

    ¡°Anyway, I knew that they would appear more frequently, given the recent trend of ¡®Revival Legend¡¯. Of course, I didn¡¯t know there would be a passage. So, the value of your information is only one golden ring.¡±

    After he said that, he flicked one golden ring up in the air with his finger, which disappeared right away after spinning in the air for a moment.

    After confirming it, the man immediately moved out.

 Chapter 392 - Level 1600, Level 1700, and Level 1800 (4)

    <h4>Chapter 392: Level 1600, Level 1700, and Level 1800 (4)</h4>

    It¡¯s been 10 days since I first set foot on the level 1600 hunting ground. And it¡¯s been exactly 9 hours since I started hunting here today.

    In other words, I could go straight to the level 1700 hunting ground if I held out for one more hour.

    So I kept hunting harder because once I went to the level 1700 and level 1800 hunting grounds, I would not being back here unless I really needed to.

    Anyway, I spent the remaining hour hunting hard, and soon I heard a message.

    [You have met the conditions for moving to the 1700 level hunting ground.

    : Maintain connection for at least 10 days at least 10 hours a day in the level 1600 hunting ground ¨C Sess.

    : Defeat 10,000 monsters in the level 1600 hunting ground ¨C Sess.]

    As soon as I saw the message, I immediately left because I could move to the level 1800 hunting ground as quickly as possible by staying connected 10 hours a day in the level 1700 hunting ground, starting from now . If I started now, I would stay connected to Revival Legend for more than 20 hours, but it didn¡¯t matter.

    In the past, I stayed logged in for more than 22 hours, just 2 hours shy of a full day.

    Anyway, I arrived at the level 1700 hunting ground.

    Wheeeeeeeeng.

    It was empty. Of course, it didn¡¯t mean there were none there.

    Compared to those who appeared in the level 1600 hunting ground, there were only a few around here. So, I passed by them and took my position at the forefront of the level 1700 hunting ground.

    [You have 3 hours 59 minutes 11 seconds left until the 1700 level hunting ground opens.]

    It seemed to open with exactly 10 hours left for the day.

    So I left and opened my mouth silently.

    ¡°Log out.¡±

    I decided to take a break of about 4 hours in advance, so I could hunt hard for the remaining 10 hours of the day.

    About 4 hourster.

    In front of the 1700 level hunting ground.

    There were more people here than there were 4 hours ago. Of course, I could understand why. When they hunted by forming a party, any member would be treated equally regardless of the number of monsters they hunted. In other words, it was not difficult for them to set foot on the level 1700 hunting ground in 10 days.

    However, they will never win 1st ce in the uing event because the number of monsters I have already hunted in the level 1500 and level 1600 hunting grounds was so huge.

    Even if they formed a party to hunt monsters, only the person who actually killed the monsters would have it added to his kill total.

    So I was on standby there, then the moment the level 1700 hunting ground started emitting a bright light, I immediately moved toward it and entered without any difficulty.

    Then a message rang.

    [You have ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs¡¯.

    -You are now in the Land of Death, but it doesn¡¯t affect you.]

    Of course, the debuffs didn¡¯t work on me. But the others besides me were different. They were definitely affected as soon as they entered the hunting grounds.

    ¡°Well, I received debuffs because I was not an undead.¡±

    ¡°My health and mana will decrease? Man, because of the damage over time, my health and mana will decrease dramatically in this hunting ground!¡±

    ¡°Damn it! What if debuffs like this are all over the hunting ground?¡±

    Of course, health and mana reduction was not a great debuff. It didn¡¯t affect actualbat power. However, no matter how low its effect was, it was really annoying as a debuff was still a debuff. Besides, given that the debuff would sap more health and mana over time, they had no choice but to feel even more frustrated. In other words, they were in big trouble unlike me.

    So I passed by them and prated deep into the hunting ground using Blink with zero cooldown.

    ***

    At dinner time in the Myongjin Shelter.

    ¡°All of them?¡±

    ¡°Yep,¡± she replied, nodding at my question.

    Then she continued, ¡°Gosh, they are making such a big fuss right now. It¡¯s not only the fact that they are suffering sustained damage, but the damage keeps increasing over time. They feel it¡¯s hard to hunt there even one hour, or less than one hour.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The name of the 1700 level hunting ground I entered was the Land of Death.

    Perhaps that¡¯s why the monsters that appeared there were also the undead.

    Moreover, unless they were undead, everybody would be affected by the debuffs that would reduce their health and mana in the entire hunting ground.

    Of course, the debuffs wouldn¡¯t have been a big deal if their health and mana were reduced at a constant rate per minute or per second. There were already precedents for that in ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    ording to my sister, however, those in the hunting ground found it so hard to hunt even one hour because of the cumtive drastic decrease in health. So much so that their healers could barely catch up with restoring the decreasing health.

    Because of that, the healers who were supposed to replenish the health of the party members were busy healing themselves, but the problem waspounded by the fact that they didn¡¯t even have sufficient mana for healing.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t just nod at my sister¡¯s words because they could find a way to solve their problem.

    ¡°Then why don¡¯t they just go hunt for 30-40 minutes, exit, thene back?¡±

    The damage per second increased the longer they stayed in there.

    In that case, they could get out of the hunting ground, reset the damage rate of the debuff, and then enter again to hunt. Of course, they might think it¡¯s a big nuisance.

    But my sister wagged her finger left to right, and said, ¡°The cumtive debuffs they get afflicted with from the 1700 level hunting ground are not the kind of debuffs that deactivate upon leaving the area. They need exactly three times their hunting time for it to reset. In other words, if they hunt there for 1 hour, they have to be outside the hunting ground for 3 hours for the debuff to fully go away.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Since I had never suffered from the debuffs, I didn¡¯t know about it. Besides, I usually went deep inside the hunting ground so I would not be disturbed by others.

    This time my brother responded to my sister.

    ¡°In other ces of the Land of Death, there were areas where not only did their health and mana decrease, but even their attack power and defense power decreased. There was even an area which increased the consumption of mana drastically. ording to them, even after an hour, the mana required to use one level 1 skill increased by dozens of times. So they could hardly hunt there.¡±

    My sister added, ¡°That¡¯s right. It looks like the level 1700 hunting ground is full of debuffs that increase dramatically over time as if it doesn¡¯t want to make passage to the level 1800 hunting ground easy. Of course, Juyoung, you¡­¡±

    She didn¡¯t finish her words, but I knew what she was going to say like everyone else here because they all knew I had the trait, ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs.¡¯

    Anyway, we had dinner talking about the level 1700 hunting ground. After that, I essed ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ right away.

    Even though lots of participants in the ¡®Reach the Level 1800 Hunting Ground First¡¯ event were eliminated because of the cumtive debuffs in the level 1700 hunting ground, I could not afford to ck off and hunt in a sloppy manner.

    Besides, I had to finish imprinting the traits of the monsters here, too.

 Chapter 393 - Level 1600, Level 1700, and Level 1800 (5)

    <h4>Chapter 393: Level 1600, Level 1700, and Level 1800 (5)</h4>

    The next day.

    In the level 1700 hunting ground, the Land of the Dead.

    Yesterday, there were quite a few people at the entrance to the hunting ground.

    But it was empty now. Of course, I expected it to some extent, so I stepped into the hunting ground without hesitation.

    Then a message rang.

    [You currently have ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs¡¯.

    -You are in the Land of Death, but it doesn¡¯t affect you.]

    I already expected to receive such a message.

    ¡°All of them gave up hunting here?¡±

    There were no hunters inside either.

    Was there any possibility of somebody hunting deep inside like me?

    That was impossible.

    I didn¡¯t know because I had never experienced the cumtive debuff, but those who actually experienced it said that it was impossible to hunt more than one hour.

    That meant that if they wanted to hunt at all, they must hunt as close to the entrance as possible. Anyway, this had nothing to do with me, so I went deeper to find the monsters.

    When I was done herding the monsters, I used my usual skills.

    ¡°Ice Breath!¡±

    Bang!

    Wheeeeeeeeeng!

    This was not the first time I used a level 9 skill.

    I had already used the level 9 skill Blizzard with the help of the functional skill ring.

    Without any doubt, level 9 Ice Breath boasted of destructive power iparable to Level 9 Blizzard because those monsters within the striking area of Ice Breath vanished as if they evaporated in an instant. Level 9 Blizzard never had such an effect.

    Of course, it might be unreasonable to simplypare Blizzard, an AOE skill, with Ice Breath, which was closer to a single-target skill, but there was a big difference between the two in terms of damage. And its attack area was pretty narrow as the skill description indicated.

    But as I expected, the attack area was not extremely narrow.

    For my intellect, my traits, and my items were far from ordinary.

    Moreover, if I upgraded my Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword to +15 Enhancement, and my intellect increased, the area targeted would be much bigger than right now, so I was very satisfied with Ice Breath.

    ¡°Great. Then all I have to do right now is to imprint the traits of monsters in nine days?¡±

    Of course, I was confident in doing so because the debuffs that would normally umte at a rapid rate did not affect me.

    To be honest, this hunting ground was little different from the level 1600 hunting ground except for the debuffs.

    So I charged at the monsters like before.

    6 dayster.

    In the level 1700 hunting ground, the Land of the Dead.

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    A message rang while I was running around hunting as if I owned this whole hunting ground.

    [You have acquired a 100% umtion rate for the Pawn of the Dead.

    -You will acquire the traits of the Pawn of the Dead.

    -You can keep up to 3 traits.

    -You need a 30-day cooldown to rece your imprinted monster trait with another one.

    -Your traits (3/3)

    : Titan, Dark Elf Dyed in Darkness, Pawn of the Dead.

    -Your activated trait.

    : Titan.]

    Since there was still one slot left, I immediately used monster imprinting right after entering this ce. Of course, I didn¡¯t like this hunting ground even though its level was 1700 because the trait that the monsters here offered were not better than the Titan triat I obtained in the level 1500 hunting ground.

    [Pawn of the Dead.

    -When you imprint the monster, you will obtain the following trait.

    : Stamina increases by 5000.]

    Even though it was the trait provided from the highest level monsters that I had hunted until now, all it offered me was 5000 stamina .

    In addition, I saw no other stat point options, Titan¡¯s rigidity or a 5% increase in attack range when using the arrow of the Dark Elf dyed in darkness.

    I suspected this would ur, but since there was still one slot avable, I increased the umtion rate to 100% because I could delete itter anyway.

    Anyway, I still had quite a bit of time left before I moved to the level 1800 hunting ground, and level 1400 was not my ultimate target, so I charged at the monsters again.

    ***

    10 days into hunting in the level 1700 hunting ground Land of Death.

    [You have met the conditions for moving to the level 1800 hunting ground.

    : Stay connected for at least 10 days in the 1700 level hunting ground for 10 hours a day ¨C Sess.

    : Kill 10,000 monsters in the level 1700 hunting ground ¨C Sess.]

    After confirming the message, I exited the hunting ground right away.

    I also started wandering around the entrance of the hunting ground starting one hour ago so I could exit quicker when the time was up. Even if lots ofpetitors could no longerpete in the event due to the level 1700 hunting ground, I could not rule out the possibility of somebody outfoxing me.

    Shortly afterwards, I arrived at the level 1800 hunting ground.

    First of all, there was no one in front of the 1800 level hunting ground that I had imed first. But it was still too early for me to be happy, so I quickly stepped towards the entrance.

    Then, unlike the previous level 1700 hunting ground, I could enter right away. A message rang as soon as the hunting ground appeared before my eyes.

    [Congrattions! You have entered the level 1800 ground first in the ¡®Reach the 1800 level hunting ground first¡¯ event.

    ¨C As a reward, you receive the following reward.

    : 3 billion golden rings.

    : 1000 remaining stat points.

    : 30,000 coins.

    : Arge amount of EXP.]

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    I eximed unwittingly because it was a pretty good reward.

    Especially therge amount of EXP thrilled me.

    But there were no skill points which disappointed me a lot.

    Perhaps because I saw the power of level 9 skills in the previous hunting ground, I had be greedy for skill points.

    However, I stopped dwelling on it anymore because skill points, like EXP, were not given easily as rewards.

    In the meantime, messages kept ringing as if I wasn¡¯t allowed to be distracted by other thoughts.

    [You have leveled up.]

    [You have leveled up.]

    :

    [You have leveled up.]

    Since I reached level 1400, the messages about my level-up didn¡¯t ring as many times as before. So I felt really good about it.

    When the messages stopped ringing finally, I opened my mouth softly.

    ¡°Check status window.¡±

    [Level: 1417

    Number of kills: 11582, Number of deaths: 0

    Titles: Only Closed Beta Max Level Achiever and 12 others.

    :

    :]

    ¡°Well, this is good enough. Besides, I¡¯ve just reached level 1400.¡±

    First of all, I invested all of the 170 remaining stat points I obtained by leveling up, and the 1000 remaining stat points I acquired as a reward this time, in my Intellect.

    At that moment, my Stamina increased by 1170 and my Willpower by 585.

    After that, I closed the status window after checking the Stamina that was close to 70,000 because of the effect of my Titan imprinting as well as my Intellect that was in the mid 80,000s.

    And then I went straight ahead.

    After a while.

    ¡°Um¡­ Oh my god. Do I have to say I¡¯m really lucky?¡±

    The monsters that haunted this level 1800 hunting ground were ancient spirits.

    However, there were a total of four types of ancient spirits with different appearances.

    They were ancient spirits that were either red, brown, gray, or blue.

 Chapter 394 - Argentina (1)

    <h4>Chapter 394: Argentina (1)</h4>

    Of course, I knew what the colors meant.

    The red ancient spirit represented fire, the brown ancient spirit represented earth, the gray ancient spirit represented wind, and the blue ancient spirit represented ice.

    That¡¯s why my monster imprint was acting differently from normal.

    [Ancient Spirit.

    ¨C When you imprint the ancient spirit with 100% umtion rate, you receive the following traits.

    : Intellect increases by 4000.

    : Willpower increases by 2000.

    : All fire-type skill damage increases by 5%.]

    This was the effect of my monster imprint when I hunted the red ancient spirit.

    And if I hunted an ancient spirit of a different color, it was recognized as a different monster, so the original 100% umtion changed to 0%, even though it was the new monster was also called an ¡®ancient spirit¡¯,

    Of course, that wasn¡¯t bad for me because I really liked the effect of my monster imprint when I hunted the blue ancient spirit.

    [Ancient Spirit.

    ¨C When you imprint the ancient spirit with 100% umtion rate, you receive the following traits.

    : Intellect increases by 4000.

    : Willpower increases by 2000.

    : All ice-type skill damage increases by 5%.]

    After checking the imprint effect of the blue ancient spirit, I had no choice but to be thrilled because it was the monster I had been looking for.

    Of course, I had to restrict myself from using AOE skills because of that for some time.

    For the moment I identally killed an ancient spirit of a different color with my AOE skill, my umted traits would change to 0% right away.

    However, I decided not to care about it.

    ¡°After all, I have already won 1st ce in the event, so I have no time constraints anymore, and this is quite easy since I have Blink with zero cooldown anyway!¡±

    I would wee any monster with this kind of trait unconditionally even if I had to hunt with most of my skills sealed forcibly. So, with a smile on my lips, I chose only the blue ancient spirits and continued to hunt them.

    ***

    Asirante won first ce in the ¡®Reach level 1800 hunting ground faster than anyone else¡¯ event. Of course, no one questioned or was surprised by that news.

    They all just nodded, saying that it was expected that he would win.

    Why? Because he has always won until now.

    In fact, it would be more strange if Asirante didn¡¯t win first ce.

    Anyway, the event ended with Asirante winning again, and all others were busy hunting in the hunting grounds suitable for their level because there was none who didn¡¯t know that the pace of ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ was moving faster than before.

    Of course, this included all the users belonging to Argentina.

    Argentina spanned argend, so it was possible for those who could be called a giant guild to operate their home base alone or together in the ces they preferred.

    However, there were a couple of guilds that happened to be in the same ce, even though they didn¡¯t like each other. They were the Sayens Guild and the Tgapa Guild, which were both among the top five major guilds in Argentina.

    They were located in Argentina¡¯s capital, Buenos Aires, which wasrge enough for both of them as far as their activities were concerned.

    No matter how many members they had as the major guilds representing Argentina, Buenos Aires was by no means a small ce for them. Nheless, they still couldn¡¯t get along very well.

    But they weren¡¯t stupid enough to fight against each other.

    Ironically, the Tgapa Guild lost its leader, its sessor and its major yers overnight when they departed for an unknown ce to clear a quest.

    Because of that, the Tgapa Guild was inevitably crumbling, and the Sayens Guild seized this golden chance to fan the mes even more.

    They not only epted those who withdrew from the gradually copsing Tgapa guild, but they also began to eat away at what the Tgapa Guild possessed.

    Only then did the other three top guilds and other big guilds try to check if they could get some spoils after the Sayens Guild dropped off absorbing the Tgap Guild, but there was nothing left to take. So they stopped paying any more attention to the Tgapa matter.

    To them, the Tgapa Guild waspletely ruined with little chance of revival, so they didn¡¯t feel it necessary to use the Sayens Guild of unjustly ravaging the Tgapa Guild. They concluded that the Tgapa Guild had no possibility of revival. With the passage of several months, their memories of the Tgapa Guild also disappearedpletely, and its main base was deserted with nobody paying attention to it.

    At that moment, however, a ck thunderbolt struck exactly at the main base of the abandoned Tgapa Guild.

    Bang!

    So they had no choice but to feel it was very strange.

    ck thunderbolt?

    In this day and age, however, many things stranger than a ck thunderbolt have happened all over the world, so they could have ignored it if it was just once.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    It was not just one thunderbolt strike. It struck twice, three times, four times, five times, then kept striking dozens, or more precisely, hundreds of times.

    Because of that, the huge building used by the Tgapa Guild as its main base in the past disappeared without any trace.

    ¡°What the heck is that?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s going to happen from now on?¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t we supposed to get out of here right now?¡±

    ¡°Are you kidding me? You know we have been told to find out what happened here. You¡¯re going to be axed if you run away from here.¡±

    ¡°Damn it! This ce is cursed!¡±

    Since the ck lightning, which was far from a normal lightning bolt, struck hundreds of times in one ce, it was bound to attract everyone¡¯s attention. Even the Sayens Guild, now believed topletely dominate Buenos Aires, was very interested in this unusual phenomenon.

    So they immediately dispatched their staff to that destroyed ce. Among those were some former members of the Tgapa Guild because it happened in their former headquarters. Of course, the former members of the Tgapa Guild had no choice but to feel it was creepy all the more.

    Wiggle. Wiggle.

    In the dark night.

    Those dispatched there were not stupid enough not to have noticed something like ck liquid crawling out of the very spot where the hundreds of ck lightning thunderbolts had struck down.

    ¡°Step back!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t touch that ck liquid!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    When they noticed the ck liquid that looked eerie at first nce, all of the Sayens Guild members immediately retreated. Of course, they didn¡¯t just stare nkly at that ck liquid without doing anything after stepping back. Theyunched attacks against it which was slowly spreading in all directions.

    ¡°Wind Spear!¡±

    ¡°Summon Earth Spirit! Earth Spirit!¡±

    :

    ¡°Dancing mes!¡±

    ¡°Soar Earth Barrier!¡±

    ¡°Fire Barrier!¡±

    They tried to set up a wall to block it from spreading, but it was in vain.

    Ssh! Ssh! Ssh! Ssh!

    It seemed as if they were throwing small stones into a very deep and wideke.

    No matter how hard they tried to destroy it with their attack skills, they inflicted little damage to it.

    Crunch! Crunch!

    The ck liquid approached without hesitation despite the towering earth barrier and the fire barrier fiercely ming as if it melted ice and evaporated water.

    A gnawing sound resounded as the ck liquid gradually began to envelop the barriers. In the end, the barriers quickly copsed and faded away

 Chapter 395 - Argentina (2)

    <h4>Chapter 395: Argentina (2)</h4>

    The Sayens Guild members couldn¡¯t help but be stunned at the shocking sight.

    Moreover, they saw the terrible scene of the ck liquiding into contact with an ordinary person¡¯s left foot because he could not escape in time.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    No one would have been surprised if the ordinary man¡¯s skin melted instantly as if he had touchedva because that¡¯s what they expected, no matter how creepy such a thought was.

    But the scene of him beingpletely sucked into the ck liquid without even being able to scream terrified all of them. And even more terrifying was the fact that the ck liquid shrunk to less than three centimeters in diameter straight after.

    ¡°Run away!¡±

    ¡°Avoid it!¡±

    In the end, both the attacks and the barriers failed at containing the advance of the ck liquid. So the Sayens guild members retreated helplessly.

    They knew they couldn¡¯t stop the advance of that ck liquid under any circumstances.

    Even though it moved slowly, the ck liquid spread all over Buenos Aires, devouring everything as if it were a living creature.

    ***

    In the level 1800 hunting ground, Land of the Ancient Spirit.

    Blink. Puck!

    Blink. Puck!

    Blink. Puck!

    My hunting here was very simple.

    I approached a blue ancient spirit using Blink with a zero cooldown, then wielded Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword. And that was it.

    Even though the monster was level 1800, I didn¡¯t have to attack it twice because the weapon in my hands was a +8 Enhancement myth grade weapon, not an ordinary weapon. Besides, it was basically embedded with level 3 ice weapon at all times.

    What¡¯s more, I had a skill which I didn¡¯t use much like Ice Shield, namely, level 3 Ice Weapon.

    Originally I could not double the power of this ice weapon in the guardian sword, but because of the nature of its myth grade, I could double it to level 6 ice weapon by maximizing its power. That¡¯s why I still kept it even though I hardly used it.

    Of course, the Ancient Spirit didn¡¯t have high health and defense power like the Titans, so I could easily kill it with a single strike even though it was level 1800.

    Anyway, I continued to hunt only the blue ancient spirit, thinking that as soon as I was done imprinting the trait, I would get rid of the remaining spirits with my AOE skills anyway.

    At that moment, somebody sent me a message. It was my sister.

    [Super Beauty: Juyoung, can you log out for a moment?]

    Obviously, her tone was very urgent.

    Instead of asking why, I immediately replied in the positive.

    Then I exited the level 1800 hunting ground and logged out in the safety area.

    In the small conference room of the Myongjin Shelter a littleter.

    As soon as I logged out of ¡®Revival Legend¡¯, I was led by my sister into the meeting room.

    My father, elder brother, as well as the top executives of the Myongjin Guild including Director Sok, were already there waiting for me.

    As soon as I sat down with my sister, Director Sok stood up and opened his mouth after ying a video.

    ¡°This is what is happening in Argentina right now in real time.¡±

    As soon as Director Sok said that, an image appeared on the screen installed on one side.

    I watched the video silently.

    There was a reason why the important members of the Myongjin Guild gathered here.

    ¡°Stop it!¡±

    ¡°Build a wall to keep it from entering!¡±

    ¡°Attack! Any attack is fine! Use your most powerful attacks freely! It¡¯s going to work!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Alright. Fire Field!¡±

    ¡°Thick Earth Spear!¡±

    :

    :

    ¡°Soar! Thick Earth Wall!¡±

    ¡°Summon! Fire Spirit!¡±

    ¡°Blow Biting Wind!¡±

    ¡°Lock it up and freeze it! Ice Barrier!¡±

    Obviously, they were fighting fiercely on the battlefield. Moreover, there were not just those who had raised their reality actualization rate present at the scene. Behind them were numerous tanks as well as soldiers in military uniforms.

    ¡°What the hell are you doing! Tanks! Helicopters! Fighter Jets! Mobilize every weapon you can!¡±

    ¡°Summon the battleships to the shore too! Let them fire directly at it!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    Dozens of fighter jets were flying in the sky.

    They were firing shots over the enemy endlessly. At first nce, the target looked like a dark ck liquid. The video showed all of it.

    When the fight entered a lull, Director Sok opened his mouth.

    ¡°This ce is Buenos Aires, Argentina. ording to thetest report we got from Buenos Aires, the ck liquid appeared exactly seven hours ago.¡±

    The moment he mentioned Buenos Aires, Argentina, only one thing came to my mind. It was the Tgapa Guild who suggested that I visit the ce called ??? just a few months ago.

    As if I wasn¡¯t the only one who thought of that, Director Sok opened his mouth, nodding at me.

    ¡°Yes. The Tgapa Guild. Its original epicenter was precisely the main base of the old Tgapa Guild. We don¡¯t have the relevant video, but ording to our intelligence, ck lightning struck the building hundreds of times, after which the ck liquid appeared from it.¡±

    After hearing that, I responded gently, ¡°There must be a reason why they want to stop the ck liquid from spreading so desperately.¡±

    ¡°Yes. This is it.¡±

    As if he knew I would ask such a question, Director Sok once again pointed to the screen, which was now showing another scene.

    Ordinary citizens, and animals like cats and dogs.

    As soon as they touched the ck liquid, it swallowed them up right away.

    Director Sok said, ¡°Even those who raised their reality actualization rate were absorbed and disappeared as soon as they touched that ck liquid. Of course, there is no guarantee that their disappearance necessarily means death, but we are 99% confident that they must have perished.¡±

    ¡°I wonder if that ck liquid will cover the whole earth,¡± asked my sister.

    But Director Sok didn¡¯t respond because he didn¡¯t know.

    Director Sok continued, based on all the intelligence that he collected in real time.

    ¡°Not only Brazil, next to Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, but also America, Europe and Russia have decided to dispatch reinforcements to Argentina. ording to the information that leaked from Integos, the most trusted information guild, the ck liquid bes more powerful when it devours animals or humans, or those users ying ¡®Revival Legend¡¯. That is why we have to get rid of it as soon as possible. Otherwise¡­¡±

    Director Sok didn¡¯t finish his words, but I didn¡¯t ask because I knew why he did so.

    He then looked at me and said, ¡°Currently, not only Argentina, but also other countries around the world are strongly requesting your help.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    Until they appeared, who I originally mistook for NPCs, I thought that my onlypetitors or enemies were those ying the same ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ on the earth. So, every time thesepetitors asked me for my help, I unconditionally forced them topensate me with a reward.

    For I could be stronger only when they, my potential rivals, were weakened.

    But after watching those people appear in Osaka and knowing that they would show up more often in the future, I realized that they were my real enemies.

    If I lose to them, not only I, but also my family and everyone who has ties with me will die.

    So, I said to Director Sok in a quiet voice, ¡°Sure, let me go.¡±

    Maybe I will need the help fo all the other guilds and countries like Argentina in the future

    After all, we have amon enemy for the same reason that we belong to the same.

 Chapter 396 - Black Liquid (1)

    <h4>Chapter 396: ck Liquid (1)</h4>

    I decided to fly straight to Buenos Aires, Argentina, because I didn¡¯t want to see the ck liquid break through the resistance line because of my slow departure.

    When I arrived there, lots of yers trying to block the ck liquid weed me.

    ¡°Thank you foring here, Juyoung Hong!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you can help us a lot!¡±

    ¡°All of Argentina will never forget your help!¡±

    Since the ck liquid started from Argentina, it was obvious that they had to solve the problem more urgently than any other country.

    Perhaps because of that, all the members of the Argentinian Guilds, including the Sayens Guild who was based in Buenos Aires, weed me more fervently than others.

    I returned their wee by saying calmly, ¡°Thanks for your warm wee. I don¡¯t know if I can be helpful, but I¡¯ll do my best.¡±

    Since I didn¡¯t have to look conceited or arrogant, I spoke to them humbly.

    I didn¡¯t want them to talk behind my back for acting arrogantly.

    Moreover, there was no guarantee that I could solve this problem 100%, even though I was fully confident.

    Anyway, I conversed with them briefly, then I moved to the actual scene with the leader of the Sayens Guild, who was also in charge of the joint task force which was set up here in Buenos Aires, the epicenter of this terrible phenomenon.

    While moving there, I was briefed by Juan, the chief of the intelligence department of the Sayens Guild, about the current situation.

    ¡°On the surface, it seems that the ck liquid stopped advancing toward the current defense line about 12 hours ago, but it is clear that the power of the ck liquid suddenly increased exactly three horus ago. So we were going to give up the first defense line and retreat to the second defense line.¡±

    ¡°ck liquid getting stronger?¡±

    ording to the information I was briefed about before, the ck liquid became stronger by absorbing humans including the users ying Revival Legend as well as animals including dogs and cats.

    In other words, if the ck liquid could not absorb humans, animals, and the users of Revival Legend, it could no longer increase its strength.

    If the guys here knew about this as well, they would not be stupid enough to let the ck liquid approach humans as well as animals. There was no possibility that the leaders of the Sayens Guild were idiots who would take such a risk. And even if some of them were idiots, the others would not sit idle, watching the ck liquid¡¯s attack helplessly.

    As if he knew the doubts that were running through my mind, Juan, the intelligence department chief, opened his mouth immediately.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. We know that as well. So we blocked not only ordinary citizens but also all kinds of animals from approaching the ck liquid. But I think we made light of that ck liquid from the beginning. Or it perhaps exercised its power only now after absorbing the animals and humans during the initial days when we could not cope with it properly.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    I just nodded quietly without responding directly to his words.

    Shortly afterwards, we passed by the 3rd defense line, the 2nd defense line, and finally arrived at the 1st defense line.

    ¡°Attack! Step back, Team 1 and Team 2! Team 3 and Team 4, attack it now! Team 5 and Team 6, get ready to attack!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    ¡°Understood Chain Lightning!¡±

    ¡°My attack destroys everything. Giant Strike!¡±

    :

    :

    ¡°Fire Spirit¡¯s Wrath!¡±

    ¡°Blow Sandstorm!¡±

    ¡°Bind it, Sticky Roots!¡±

    ¡°Biting Wind!¡±

    Regardless of whether it were single-target attacks or AOE attacks, those who raised their reality actualization rate wereunching all kinds of attacks against the ck liquid.

    Everytime they did so, however, it looked as if they were simply throwing small stones into a deepke, causing only a series of small ripples on the surface.

    Ssh! Ssh! Ssh! Ssh!

    Of course, the repeated sound of sshing meant there was some impact on the ck liquid. As if to confirm it, something like a small ripple appeared on the surface of the ck liquid, where ck droplets like water droplets bounced up and down in a narrow range.

    To be honest,a result like that was too small for the considerable amount of effort they put in to destroy it.

    Besides, it was not just the yers with a high rate of reality actualization rate thatunched the attacks.

    ¡°Aim at it urately!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t shoot in the wrong direction!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    Behind those who raised their realization rate were more than one hundred tanks, as well as soldiers constantly firing shots using personal firearms, machine guns, and portable rocketunchers such as the RPG-7. Of course, their target was the ck liquid.

    Watching that, I asked Juan, chief of the Sayens Guild¡¯s Intelligence Department, ¡°Do you think their attack can pay off?¡±

    Of course, there must be some reason why they mobilized all their avable weapons to attack the ck liquid, and their intensive attack should bring about some results.

    However, no matter how hard I watched them, I thought it was extremely unlikely that their attack would disrupt the ck liquid¡¯s terrible power.

    Juan replied to my question right away, ¡°Well, I admit the possibility is low, but their attack is somewhat effective. You see that ck energy over there, right?¡±

    I turned to the ce where he pointed his finger at.

    Ssh! Ssh! Ssh!

    Of course, Juan did not point at any specific ce. He just pointed at the spots where their numerous attacks hit the ck liquid.

    Each time they hit it, there was a small, barely noticeable, impact, which caused the ck liquid to ripple. And at that moment a very small amount of ck liquid bounced up into the air like water droplets because of the impact.

    The ck energy that Juan mentioned was released from the ck, water-like droplets that were thrown into the air at that moment.

    ¡°Oh, I see that.¡±

    I replied, nodding at him.

    He continued, ¡°I think that ck energy is the essence of the ck liquid. In fact, we could block the ck liquid from spreading for almost 12 hours by attacking it intensively, forcing it to spew out that ck energy. But I am not sure if my judgement is correct.¡±

    If that was the case, the ck liquid should have been gradually weakened, but it was gradually getting stronger even at this moment.

    ¡°Retreat! Step back!¡±

    ¡°Never touch that ck liquid!¡±

    Although it moved very slowly, the ck liquid kept moving despite all kinds of defense barriers and attacks, which was really terrifying. Lots of people here were trembling in fear at that sight.

    At that moment, I said to the leader, ¡°Please have them retreat to the 2nd defense line.¡±

    Of course, two hands are better than one, and I knew it was much better for me to work with them to block the ck liquid.

    However, their morale had already plummeted, watching their 1st defense line, the strongest defense line, copse slowly after defending against it strongly for more than 12 hours.

    Moreover, since the second defense line was wider than the first line, there was no guarantee that the second line could block that ck liquid.

    So I decided that I needed to show them how much power one man like me could show.

    At my request, their leader shouted, ¡°Everyone, retreat to the second defense line!¡±

    ¡°Retreat in an orderly manner! Take care of yourrades next to you!¡±

    ¡°Attack it before you step back! Attack!¡±

 Chapter 397 - Black Liquid (2)

    <h4>Chapter 397: ck Liquid (2)</h4>

    After a while, I felt that the ck liquid was moving a little faster than before, as if it had noticed that their attacks and the defense barriers had disappeared.

    Of course, I could be mistaken, but it didn¡¯t matter to me because I was in the real world, not in the game.

    I¡¯m extraordinarily strong within Revival Legend. It was just a fact. If you stopped 100 people and asked them who was the strongest yer on earth, they would all say it was me. But the truth was I was even stronger in realitypared to within Revival Legend.

    For I won the ¡®Strongest yer Selection¡¯ event before the 40 regions were merged into one, as well as the King of Kings event for the strongest yer after the merger.

    In addition to that, I also won 1st ce in the previous ¡®Reach the 1800 level Hunting Ground First¡¯ event. And the total of the coins I obtained at that time was 70,000.

    Moreover, I gained quite a bit of other items while hunting.

    I didn¡¯t have to hoard my coins, so I kept using them to the point that my current reality actualization rate was a whopping 107%. Of course, some might look down on only a 7% increase from 100%. But even 1% had an enormous effect, given my level. So 7% was literally huge.

    Anyway, I had those with low morale at the 1st defense line retreat to the 2nd defense line without any hesitation. Actually, I would find it cumbersome if they stayed around me.

    I had no intention of letting the ck liquid spread slowly, so I immediately began to attack by making an ice terrain that would upgrade my attack power simply by being on it.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasasak!

    I used Ice Field and Multiple Thin Ice far in front of me instead of having it surround me like I did when I herd hunted.

    It was enough for me to put my feet slightly on the ice terrain because my target was the ck liquid that gradually kept spreading.

    The moment when the ice terrain was created, the ck liquid started bubbling as if it had touched boiling water, with numerous appearing and disappearing.

    That was what was happening right now before their eyes.

    Bubble! Bubble! Bubble! Bubble!

    Of course, it was certainly not surprising enough to make them tremble because the bubbles were the size of fingernails.

    And there was no sign of ck energy, regarded as the essence of the ck liquid,ing out anytime soon.

    But I haven¡¯t even started the real fight yet, so they didn¡¯t feel disappointed.

    Obviously, Ice Field and Multiple Thin Ice were no more than the skills that signaled the start of the fight, not my real attack.

    So I immediately opened my mouth.

    ¡°Blizzard! Ice Tornado!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Wheeeeeeeeeng.

    Except for the level 9 Ice Breath that I acquired most recently, those skills were like my strongest one-two punches. Since I had to confront the ck liquid that had already spread widely, I started attacking it with AOE skills.

    Even though they were a bit inferior to Ice Breath, they were still very powerful skills.

    Bubble! Bubble! Bubble! Bubble! Bubble! Bubble!

    There were more bubbles than before and they were far bigger. Each time they burst, ck energy spewed out of them. So much so that the ck liquid suffered a great deal if the ck energy was really its essence.

    Anyway, I kept a close watch on Blizzard and Ice Tornado, which kept inflicting damage on the ck liquid because it might be possible to see apletely different situation unfold after the attack. Of course, I didn¡¯t just stand idle while watching it.

    ¡°Pouring Hail! Ice Ball! Ice Bolt!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    From time to time I turned to AOE skills, and Ice Ball and Ice Bolt that no longer had a cooldown because I kept a proper bnce of my skills for an emergency like this.

    At that moment, the ck liquid started moving.

    Moving forward like before? Or backward?

    Of course, I may have been mistaken, but then the ck liquid moved again.

    This time I could confirm that it moved backwards.

    And I wasn¡¯t the only one who confirmed it.

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    ¡°That ck liquid is moving backwards now!¡±

    ¡°Juyoung Hong! Juyoung Hong!¡±

    Those on standby at the 2nd defense line far away from the ck liquid were watching the ck liquid spreading gradually in fear. But when I made the ck liquid move backwards the moment when it was about to break through their defense line, they shouted for joy.

    Nheless, I kept attacking it because I was confident of the effects of my skills.

    And those behind me didn¡¯t just watch me nkly without doing anything. Moreover, they were not here just to cheer for me.

    ¡°Everybody, help Juyoung Hong!¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to take the lead. Just attack from behind him! You don¡¯t have to attack a lot. Just attack once! That¡¯s enough.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    Anyway, it was clear that I had seized the moment to fight back the ck liquid.

    So those who retreated joined me, and they were actually helpful this time.

    In the end, we ended up seeding in making the ck liquid retreat faster than before.

    Even though it took a bit longer than I thought, we made the ck liquid move back as far as the main base of the old Tgapa Guild where it first appeared.

    Obviously, the ck liquid moved backwards as slowly as it moved forward.

    But when it got closer to the stronghold of the old Tgapa Guild, which had been transformed into a deep pit after being struck by hundreds of ck lightning, it went into the pit as fast as if it was sucked into it.

    At the same time, an eerie voice echoed.

    [Man, this is ridiculous!]

    It was a strange and eerie voice echoing from the deep pit.

    The ck liquid reappeared, followed by that voice.

    But this time it reappeared in human form, not as a liquid.

    Thud!

    It was a ck liquid man that appeared to be about 5 meters tall.

    I was not sure if I could call him a human, but he seemed to be somewhat human because he had eyes, a nose, and a mouth on his face like a typical human being, and he had limbs as well.

    Of course, he didn¡¯t look like a normal human at all right now.

    Anyway, the ck liquid man who appeared by lifting himself out of the pit looked around and spoke by opening his mouth.

    [Oh my¡­I don¡¯t see anybody with the mark. How was I stopped then?]

    Having heard it, they began to whisper among themselves, wondering what he meant by the mark. But I thought I knew what it was.

    As a matter of fact, something like a mark was forcibly given to anybody who achieved 100% reality actualization rate as if to certify they achieved it.

    If the roots hadn¡¯t taken it from me all of a sudden, I would have had ck tattoos called the mark all over my body, starting off with my forehead.

    [This is really embarrassing. I¡¯m so embarrassed I can¡¯t say anything. But there are so many who witnessed it¡­]

    The ck liquid man just murmured to himself like that, shaking his head as if nothing happened, even though he was surrounded by hundreds of thousands, including me and those watching me on the outskirts.

 Chapter 398 - Black Liquid Man (1)

    <h4>Chapter 398: ck Liquid Man (1)</h4>

    I didn¡¯t like this guy¡¯s attitude, but I wanted to ask him a lot of questions.

    Instead of asking him something typical like ¡®Tell me who you are!¡¯, I wanted to ask him why he was fighting against us because the change and flow of the current ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ definitely warranted such a question.

    When I watched the video provided by America¡¯s Holridge Group, and also the video in Osaka, Japan, they acted first without leaving any room forpromise.

    Was I scared or fearful of them? Absolutely not.

    I just wanted to know why, for I would not be curious anymore if I found out the reason.

    But I didn¡¯t ask because it would make that ck liquid man misunderstand that I was pleading for mercy after he openly ignored me.

    Besides, I wasn¡¯t the only one here. Hundreds of thousands of people were seated behind me, so I couldn¡¯t ask such a question while they were watching me closely.

    Of course, it would be different if I confidently questioned him as the winner after having him kneel, grabbing him by the cor. That was my goal anyway.

    If I wanted to converse with him, I needed to defeat him first.

    While I was getting ready to fight, the ck liquid man opened his mouth.

    [Alright! I can erase my shameful behavior from my record without letting anybody know it. I won¡¯t give you the chance to be absorbed by me to bless my nourishment. I will punish you instead. Raindrops of Death!]

    As soon as the ck liquid man finished speaking, ck droplets like sweat began to form on the surface of his body. Then, in an instant, those countless tiny drops of ck water rose up into the air.

    Pitter-patter, pitter-patter.

    They immediately started pouring down in all directions.

    Since the ck liquid man already initiated an attack, I didn¡¯t sit idle, nor did my supporters and reinforcements.

    ¡°Avoid it!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t touch those ck droplets!¡±

    They had already fully experienced the horrible power of that ck liquid. So there were some who began to retreat right away, while others were trying to defend against it.

    ¡°Fire Shield!¡±

    ¡°Earth Spirit. Stop it!¡±

    ¡°Great Shield!¡±

    :

    :

    ¡°Let my body be solid steel!¡±

    ¡°Create a Shield!¡±

    At that moment, however, they began toe in contact with the drops of ck liquid.

    Shuunnnnnnnng! Shuuuuuuuuung! Shuuuuuuuuung!

    ¡°Khuuuuuuuuk!

    ¡°Kheeeeeeeeeeel!¡±

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    ¡°Help!¡±

    The ck liquid previously absorbed anything that was alive, but this time it pierced through everything like a bullet. For example, when it touched somebody¡¯s shoulder, it pierced their shoulder. When it touched somebody¡¯s head, it pierced their head from top to bottom.

    And that wasn¡¯t all.

    Those whose bodies were pierced by the ck liquid began to melt right away.

    All of a sudden, a hellish world appeared in front of us.

    Of course, those who died like that were ordinary people, including soldiers.

    Those who achieved level 1200 and raised their reality actualization rate endured it for a while without being pierced by the ck liquid drops, let alone those who used a protective shield.

    However, even they seemed to be unable to protect themselvespletely.

    ¡°My health is disappearing so quickly. Kheeeeeeeeek!¡±

    ¡°My shield is beginning to crack!¡±

    ¡°Get out of the way!¡±

    ¡°My shield won¡¯tst long!¡±

    Obviously, the drops that fell on each person were only one or two, and very tiny raindrops at that.

    But it did not require a lot of raindrops to neutralize not only shields, but also tanks that maximized their defense power.

    How about me?

    Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting!

    I used Ice Shield to block them, which I had rarely used in the past.

    That¡¯s why I kept it to use it in an emergency like this instead of deleting it.

    I really did not want to touch that creepy ck liquid.

    Unlike other people¡¯s shields, my shieldpletely blocked ck liquid drops.

    There was no sign of cracking, let alone breaking at all.

    Since my shield stood out in protecting me from the lethal raindrops, it obviously drew the ck liquid man¡¯s attention.

    [It¡¯s because of you! You have made me fail.]

    ¡°Yup. I did. Are you ck liquid? How creepy and dirty! Look at this water, it¡¯s the same liquid as you. But wouldn¡¯t it be nice to be clear like that?]

    [How arrogant you are when you don¡¯t even have a mark! Even if you have one, it¡¯s useless anyway.]

    ¡°Something like a ck tattoo? Man, it¡¯s just too messy to wear stuff like that on my body. Of course, it¡¯s okay if it¡¯s cool, but people aren¡¯t objects. It¡¯s like a barcode, so I don¡¯t like it at all,¡± I spat out, shaking my head

    [¡­]

    The ck liquid man paused for a moment at my words.

    But I continued, ¡°By the way, your body lookss like you¡¯ve been on a hardcore diet. You are so skinny right now. Is it because you¡¯ve been sweating?¡±

    Contrary to what I said, of course, the ck liquid man did not be noticeably skinny, but as the ck liquid drops that umted on his body like sweat fell off, his height and build became smaller than before.

    Wiggle, wiggle.

    Clearly, the drops of ck liquid fell from the guy¡¯s body, soared into the air, then fell to the ground like rain. However, they did not disappear. Rather they moved towards him like a living creature. As soon as they came into contact with his feet, they were absorbed back into his body.

    Since I didn¡¯t want to sit idle, watching this bizarre phenomenon, Iunched attacks right away. Obviously, recycling was good, but I didn¡¯t really like this creepy guy¡¯s recycling.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasasak!

    The first reason why I created the ice terrain was because it was a battlefield very advantageous to me. But this time, I had another reason.

    Ssh! Ssh! Ssh! Ssh! Ssh!

    Although it was a small amount, numerous ck liquid droplets were moving towards him. When I turned the surroundings near those ck liquid droplets into an ice terrain, they started bubbling, releasing ck energy and disappearing as if they were evaporating.

    At that moment, the ck liquid man got furious and began to counterattack.

    [How can you erase my stuff without my permission? Merge and kill the enemy in front of me! Death Spear!]

    Surely my attack rubbed him the wrong way.

    As soon as he finished speaking, countless drops of ck liquid that fell like raindrops merged into a huge spear and pierced towards me.

    ng!

    My level 5 Ice Shield blocked the raindrops of death perfectly just a little while ago.

    This time, however, it was smashed without blocking the Death Spear.

    At the same time, the Death Spear almost pierced my head.

    However, I had a means of transportation that was so fast that I could not find any better expression to describe it, namely, Blink with zero cooldown.

    So, I immediately avoided his attack, and at the same time moved behind him.

    Then I shouted, ¡°Ice Breath!¡±

    Bang!

    This was my skill that boasted of the most powerful power at the moment.

    [Oh my God¡­how can I crumble like this¡­]

    Of course, I didn¡¯t think that I could kill him with one single strike.

    No matter how strong Ice Breath was, my current target was so different from what I had seen until now. It was impossible to evenpare him to those who appeared in Osaka.

 Chapter 399 - Black Liquid Man (2)

    <h4>Chapter 399: ck Liquid Man (2)</h4>

    Nheless, I had some expectations of the power of Ice Breath, but it failed to break through the ck liquid shield the ck liquid man spread in front of me.

    Instead, an enormous amount of ck energy poured out of the ck liquid shield he had created, then the ck liquid turned into in transparent water and dropped to the ground. At the same time, his body definitely decreased in size a bit.

    At that moment, the ck liquid human shouted, [Who the hell are you? How can you do this?]

    ¡°Are you curious? Then how about we reveal each other¡¯s secrets one by one?¡±

    So far these bizarre creatures would rather die than talk to me. So I thought that it was not a bad idea to get some information like this.

    But this ck liquid guy refused.

    [Hey, jerk, do you dare to deal with me on an equal footing because you have some amazing capabilities?]

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think I have any reason to deal with you like this, given your level.¡±

    Obviously, he was strong. I needed 1 skill point to upgrade Ice Shield to level 7, so it was still level 5, but he broke through it instantly with one attack.

    But that didn¡¯t mean I was weak. Even though it would take some time, I knew that I could beat him if I kept attacking him to drain his ck energy.

    In the meanting, I would keep avoiding his attacks using Blink with zero cooldown.

    But I thought I was being too optimistic about the situation.

    [Hahaha. Alright. Even though you¡¯re a jerk, I will admit you have some amazing abilities unlike the other jerks. So let me absorb you as nourishment! Shake and amplify!]

    At that moment, the ck liquid that constituted his body started to swell up by making waves. At the same time, he made great waves as he was zing up, even though he was obviously made of liquid.

    [Cast Shadow of Death!]

    [You have ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs¡¯.

    -The Shadow of Death doesn¡¯t affect you.]

    [Oh my ¡­]

    The ck liquid guy cleared his throat, moaning a bit.

    Instead of dwelling on it, I opened my mouth right away because this fight might be longer than I expected.

    ¡°Ice Tornado! Ice Punishment!¡±

    Wheeeeeeeeng.

    He also immediately counterattacked.

    [Damn it! Touch of Death!]

    Since I had Blink with zero cooldown, I moved behind him right away.

    Then I turned to my more powerful skills.

    ¡°Blizzard! Pouring Hail!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Honestly, I didn¡¯t have to avoid it because I was clearly different from other yers who might have found it difficult to withstand one or two attacks from this guy.

    But there was no need to get hit by his attacks, so I kept attacking him.

    When my attacks bombarded him for almost a minute, he burst out in anger and opened his mouth.

    [You irritating rat! Soar! Ring of Death!]

    As soon as he shouted, a huge red barrier appeared from east to west, north to south, with him and me in the center.

    At the same time, a message rang.

    [You have entered the Ring of Seath.

    ¨C You cannot leave the ring until there is only one person left inside.]

    So I looked around the ring. It was a pretty narrow space.

    Only then did he open his mouth with a satisfied smile.

    [Why don¡¯t you run away like the rat you are? Vortex of Death!]

    Wheeeeeeeng.

    His frontal attack filled up the Ring of Death.

    There was definitely no space for me to escape from it.

    So I quietly opened my mouth, ¡°Did you think I avoided your attacks because I was afraid?¡±

    In the end, only one of the two of us inside can survive the Ring of Death.

    I thought this choice was fortunate for me. Although I kept making provocative remarks to get information and focus his attention on me by driving him nuts, I had no choice but to pay attention to my allies who were being killed by the ck liquid in the meantime. Fortunately, he made the battlefield include only the two of us which made me happy.

    Of course, he must have set up this Ring of Death because he was confident that he would defeat me. But like him I was also confident of my victory.

    Obviously, he was shocked to find that his debuff called Shadow of Death didn¡¯t work, not to mention my Blink with zero cooldown.

    Perhaps that¡¯s why he installed this Ring of Death.

    Anyway, the fight between us began right away.

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Numerous ck liquid droplets poured out of the Vortex of Death and sshed over my body endlessly. And I felt that my health obviously decreasing more than before

    However, such a noticeable decrease in my health didn¡¯t necessarily mean that I had suffered huge damage because I had the trait Mutual Growth, which was so good as to be called a scam, along with my other traits that I obtained as soon as I started ying Revival Legend. What¡¯s more, I had as many as 13 titles including the Only Closed Beta Max Level Achiever that I obtained when I was level 0. I also had lots of items that I thought were better than anybody else¡¯s.

    Because of this, I¡¯ve never suffered so much damage that I was in a dangerous situation. The main reason was that I was never weak from the beginning.

    Of course, there was an exception. I had once been attacked by a parasite, but it was totally out of my control.

    In any case, it was true that the damage I suffered now was certainly greater than before, but it was not so big that I felt nervous enough to tremble in fear.

    However, it was certain that this fight would be a protracted battle, so I built a barrier first because my mana was like a well of water that did not dry out no matter how much I used it.

    ¡°Ice Shield.¡±

    Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting!

    Considering that the lowest skill that I had was level 3, level 5 Ice Shield was definitely included in the lower level skills that I possessed. But it held out well because of my high Intellect.

    Then I attacked him from behind Ice Shield.

    ¡°Ice Storm! Ice Spear!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Of course, he didn¡¯t stand idle when he was attacked.

    [Death Shield!]

    Like me, he pulled out a ck liquid shield and blocked my attack.

    Bubble! Bubble! Bubble! Bubble! Bubble!

    Each time he blocked my attack, bubbles of ck liquid erupted from his shield, and at the same time, ck energy came out of them.

    It clearly suggested that he had suffered damage while defending against me.

    So I had no regrets over my Ice Field because it was not invincible under any attack.

    ng!

    After all, my Ice Shield was smashed to pieces after holding out for some time.

    Then as the ck liquid generated by the Vortex of Death was about to touch my body again, I shouted ¡°Ice Weapon!¡±

    [You have used level 3 Ice Weapon.

    : The +8 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword has been imbued with cold ice energy.]

    To be honest, I had no intention of mounting melee attacks against him from the beginning because I didn¡¯t have to, and the ck liquid itself was very creepy to me.

    But I was now trapped in the Ring of Death. Moreover, the ck liquid flew in all directions due to the Vortex of Death he created, so I could not avoid it using Blink with zero cooldown. So if I was forced to confront him, I thought I should turn to melee attacks because I was not weak in melee even though I was an ice-type wizard.

 Chapter 400 - Black Liquid Man (3)

    <h4>Chapter 400: ck Liquid Man (3)</h4>

    It was very difficult for me to focus on the ck liquid spreading everywhere even with Blink with zero cooldown. So I decided to use melee attacks as well.

    Although I was an ice-series wizard, it didn¡¯t mean I was weak in melee.

    Rather my melee attack was more powerful than any other attack, not to mention Ice Ball or Ice Bolt, for I had the powerful Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword that I upgraded until +8 Enhancement, which greatly beefed up my physical attack power.

    So I moved behind him using Blink with zero cooldown.

    Puck! Puck!

    [Kheeeeeeeek!]

    I stabbed the +8 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword into him.

    Huge bubbles erupted at the ce I stabbed with my sword, releasing massive ck energy.

    [Damn it! Resonate, Death Echo!]

    [You have ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs¡¯.

    -Death Echo does not affect you.]

    ¡°Did you not learn after already experiencing it?¡±

    [¡­]

    He was obviously embarrassed because this was not a situation where he wanted to check how strongly or weakly the debuff was applied to me in proportion to my Willpower. And it showed on his face.

    After noticing that, I provoked him even more by asking, ¡°Are you dumb or stupid or both?¡±

    [Curse it, you son of a bitch! Blow, Death Storm! Shake, Land of Death!]

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    In an instant, a ck liquid that was much more powerful than the Vortex of Death just a little while ago sshed in all directions. Even the ice terrain created by my Ice Field reinforced with Multiple Thin Ice began to crack and break.

    Of course, I had no intention of staying idle because the cooldown of my level 8 skills were back.

    ¡°Ice Tornado! Ice Punishment!¡±

    Wheeeeeeng!

    Bang!

    His huge storm shed with the powerful tornado apanied by a gust of wind.

    They collided into each other in the middle, fiercely shing against each other.

    It was as if a dragon was fighting against a tiger.

    Of course, my Ice Punishment was blocked by the ck liquid shield he summoned, but it didn¡¯t matter.

    HIs ck liquid shield which blocked my Ice Punishment spewed out ck energy profusely, and turned into transparent water like before and dropped to the ground. And the more it melted like that, the more damage he suffered.

    I didn¡¯t stop attacking him, of course.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasasak!

    As his Land of Death smashed apart the Ice Field Iid out at the start, I created the ice terrain again. Of course, using more ice did not thicken the ice terrain because it was only Multiple Thin Ice that could stack.

    However, the cracked and shattered ice terrain began to harden again.

    Anyway, a fierce battle took ce on the ground and in the air. Since I had no intention of giving up, I charged at him again. He also confronted me with a ck liquid sword in one hand and a ck liquid shield in the other.

    So our second round ofbat resumed.

    ***

    Outside the Ring of Death.

    There were tens or hundreds of thousands of people watching the duel.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    No one said anything while watching the fiercebat between the two, for the battle was far from amon and typical battle.

    Then Juan, the leader of the intelligence department of the Sayens Guild, who escorted and briefed Asirante about the ck liquid man, opened his mouth in a low voice.

    ¡°I thought I knew enough about Asirante¡¯s power because hisbat skills are widely known to many people. But no matter how hard I look at it, the trials, ordeals, adversity, as well as the quests and events that could prove his strength until now seem to have been too shallow.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    There was no one here who was stupid enough not to understand what Juan was saying. In other words, if Asirante¡¯s capabilities were level 10, he could solve any problem by showing only level 3, so they seemed to have misunderstood that his full capability was only level 3.

    However, Asirante now fully disyed his strength because he was finally facing the right opponent.

    In particr, all those in this ce had no choice but to feel how strong Asirante was because they had already confronted the ck liquid human before.

    So when somebody cheered for him at the top of their voice, all others followed suit.

    ¡°Juyoung Hong! Juyoung Hong!¡±

    ¡°Asirante! Asirante!¡±

    They clearly realized that if even Juyoung Hong failed to block that ck liquid man, there would be no other way to stop him.

    ***

    Originally, the ck liquid man was about 5 meters tall when he appeared.

    However, after he fought me for some time, his height decreased a bit. But when he used the buff ¡® ¡®Shake up and Amplify!¡¯, he immediately grew as tall as he was before, and recovered his previous strong build.

    After that, our fightsted in the Ring of Death for about 30 minutes.

    As a result, my health also fell below 30%.

    My health exceeded 65,000, and my health regen had restored an enormous amount of health during the battle. But his attack was powerful, as well. In the meantime, there was something that helped me a lot more than I expected. It was my Titan monster imprint.

    Aside from an increase in my physical strength and stamina by 3000, I clearly realized how powerful a 10% damage reduction was when I confronted this ck liquid guy.

    However, there was also something that I badly wanted. Namely, the roots.

    Obviously, if the roots had appeared, it would have been much easier to face him.

    In that case, my health would never have dropped below 30%.

    But I thought twice about it.

    ¡®Well, what a relief that I have this monster imprint!¡¯

    Even though my monster imprint didn¡¯t help me substantially in this battle, I brushed off my regrets over theck of the roots because I had already been helped by the roots a lot, and it was the roots that granted me the monster imprint.

    And I now began to feel my victory was around the corner because the ck liquid boy was now shorter and skinnier than me, and now looked like an elementary school boy.

    ¡°Oh, you make me feel sorry for you.¡±

    [¡­]

    Did I want to drag my feet? Of course, it was not necessarily a loss for me.

    He might recover a little, but I would recover much quicker.

    But the main reason I dragged my feet was because it would be beneficial if I could get even a little more information from himt.

    But the ck liquid man didn¡¯t respond to my insultingment.

    ¡°What? Did you suddenly be mute?¡±

    [I recognize your strength. I¡¯m really surprised to know that a guy like you without any mark can be so strong. ]

    ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t mean to surprise you. I¡¯d like to talk with you for a moment.¡±

    [You are speaking to me as if you have already won.]

    ¡°Well? Don¡¯t you feel I¡¯ve won?¡±

    [How arrogant you are!]

    ¡°I think I can be arrogant, given my enormous power. Don¡¯t you know that excessive humility is harmful instead?¡±

    [Well, that¡¯s right. I think you can act arrogant with that level of skill. Alright. Shall we fight again?]

    ¡°Are you sure you want to challenge me again?¡±

    [Because our fight is not over yet. Rapid Regeneration!]

    Waves formed on his body as soon as he finished speaking. And I had seen such a scene before. It was when he buffed himself up by shouting ¡®Shake Up and Amplify!¡±

 Chapter 401 - Black Liquid Man (4)

    <h4>Chapter 401: ck Liquid Man (4)</h4>

    I immediately counterattacked, of course.

    ¡°Ice Punishment!¡±

    Bang!

    [Hahaha! I¡¯m almost invincible because I can regenerate quickly!]

    Even a little while ago, even if he blocked my attack, bubbles along with ck energy were released from the spot I struck. And his body shrunk as a result.

    But this time there were no bubblesing out. This meant that no ck energy came out.

    Moreover, I came to realize why he mentioned ¡®rapid regeneration¡¯ because his body swelled in an instant. If he seeded in going back to his original shape, I would be doomed to lose to him.

    So I shouted immediately, ¡°Use Savant!¡±

    I could not watch him recover any more.

    [The most extraordinary stat of physical strength, agility, stamina, willpower and intellect that Lumen, Asirante currently possesses is intellect.

    -Current intellect value: 85,457

    -Your intellect value will be changed to 170,914 for 30 minutes.

    ¨C A ten-day cooldown will ur when the retention of Savant expires.]

    I haven¡¯t used my Savant skill for some time because I didn¡¯t have to.

    Of course, I had thought of using it from the moment I was locked in the Ring of Death.

    However, I saved it because I thought that if I couldn¡¯t kill that guy in 30 minutes, I might end up losing to him. While fighting, I thought I had already seized victory, so I didn¡¯t bother to use it until now.

    But now was the right time for me to use it.

    So I quietly opened my mouth.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasasak!

    I spread ice again after renewing my determination.

    Then I used my strongest skills buffed up by Savant.

    ¡°Blizzard! Ice Tornado!¡±

    And now the environment was perfect for my main assault.

    So I shouted at him, ¡°Try withstanding this one! Ice Breath!¡±

    Bang!

    This time I was confident in destroying him.

    He said he was close to invincible, but he didn¡¯t say he was invincible.

    If that was the case, I was fully confident in crushing him.

    There was a roaring sound.

    But I would have been disappointed if Ice Breath had ended up making such a big noise because it meant he blocked my attack.

    But then I saw some thick ck smokeing out of his body.

    There was so much ck energying out that I couldn¡¯t even see any further than my nose.

    And when the ck energy finally stopped billowing everywhere, somebody who was reduced to skin and bones appeared. Of course, it was the ck liquid guy.

    [No way! This can¡¯t happen to me!]

    He muttered to himself with hollow eyes.

    It seemed he was pretty much shocked to know he waspletely defeated by me even when he said he was close to invincible.

    Of course, his bted monologue or regrets had nothing to do with me. Rather it was what I wanted.

    So I opened my mouth proudly because I still had lots of retention time left for my limited skill Savant.

    After all, this Ring of Death that he installed became a prison in which he was confined.

    ¡°Hey, wake up! Was that your final secret weapon? Do you have any other ones?¡±

    [¡­]

    The old him would have sneered at me, insulted me, and attacked right away. But this time he didn¡¯t swear at me, nor did he counterattack.

    He just looked at me with sunken eyes.

    So I added, ¡°Ah, I don¡¯t enjoy harassing a kid. Moreover, you are so small and skinny right now. Then should I take care of you?¡±

    Having said that, I sneaked a nce at his face, but his expression did not change.

    With his eyes hollow and his lips pressed in a tight line, he wouldn¡¯t speak.

    So I made the decision to attack him right away.

    ¡°Ice Punishment!¡±

    Bang!

    I used Ice Punishment directly on his head.

    Of course, considering that I made all kinds of efforts to obtain even the slightest bit of information from him, it was rather contradictory for me to attack him again.

    But I couldn¡¯t spare his life in this situation. Obviously, Savant still had a lot of time left, but I had to fight it out with him anyway until it expired.

    That¡¯s why I fought him so hard until now.

    Of course, I could have appeased him and gotten what I wanted because he had his back to the wall.

    But the moment he realized there was something I wanted from him, he would have bargaining power. He could use it to put forward some conditions that I would have to agonize over. And something unexpected always happened while I was agonizing.

    So I decided that I had better kill him before anything unexpected happened.

    I already won this fight, so if I kept dragging my feet here, it might bring about some unexpected variables that he could use in his favor.

    In any case, the Ice Punishment backed up by Savant showed a tremendous powerpared to before, which not only caused the mass release of bubbles an dck energy from the ck liquid man, but eventually prated through his head.

    Boom!

    At that moment, his body exploded with a loud sound as if a huge balloon filled with air popped. And like before, massive amounts of ck energy erupted from his body

    At the same time, the ck liquid disappeared from the spot, leaving only in transparent water scattered on the ground.

    In other words, It was the end of the fight and my victory.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Since he was such a strong enemy, I could not help but stand still, staring nkly at the spot where the ck liquid man stood

    While I was standing there, a message rang.

    [There is only one person left in the Ring of Death.

    -The Ring of Death has been deactivated.]

    Kuuuuuuuuuuo!

    The red pirs towerint to the east, west, north, and south disappeared, causing the small square ring to disintegrate. It disappeared like dust as soon as the message rang.

    Only then did I realize that I won, and so did those on the outskirts of the ring.

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    ¡°He has won! He has won!¡±

    ¡°Juyoung Hong! Juyoung Hong!¡±

    ¡°Asirante! Asirante!¡±

    They started shouting so loudly that they defeaned my ears.

    So I returned their shouting by gently waving my hands.

    Unlike before, I needed to show them I really fought hard to defeat that ck liquid man and deserved the due credit.

    Then I moved slowly, following them who chanted my name over and over again.

    ***

    In the ce where the Ring of Death was created that night.

    The battle was over, but the traces of the fierce battle were bound to remain.

    There was something slowly and very slowly merging together on the outskirts of that fierce battle scene.

    Wiggle. Wiggle.

    It was something ck, which was almost invisible to the naked eye.

    Since it was a dark night, even those on patrol just in case of an emergency could notice it.

    They kept merging together fromte at night until just before dawn whenplete darkness fell. Eventually they merged to the size of a little finger¡¯s nail, and stopped growing after that.

    Bang!

    Something struck down towards it. It was none other than a huge chunk of ice.

    Then a certain voice rang out.

    ¡°Shit, I knew it would end up like this.¡±

 Chapter 402 - Black Liquid Man (5)

    <h4>Chapter 402: ck Liquid Man (5)</h4>

    But Jihye Suh, who was subordinate to Kim, was an exception. She actually wanted to die. Aside from those that I killed, almost all of the 10,000 ordinary people who were abandoned by the Borneche Expedition were also desperate to survive. They really wanted to survive, so they cursed and resented the Borneche Expedition that had abandoned them.

    Moreover, the ck liquid man was strong enough to rival me. If I had been the ck liquid man, I would have grabbed myself by the pants and pleaded to survive because it would be really unfair for me to die like this when I made so much effort to be strong until now.

    Of course, I wasn¡¯t sure if he really wanted to survive.

    His hollow eyes gave me the impression that he had given up on everything.

    But I had a slim hope that he might ask me to spare his life, so that¡¯s why I stayed at the ce until now.

    Soon some microscopic ck droplets merged together to form a mass the size of a little finger¡¯s nail, then it dropped to the ground with a deting sound.

    The moment I was about to attack it, something snatched it and ate it.

    It was none other than the White Root.

    ¡°Hey! Spit it out! Don¡¯t pick up anything and eat it! Spit it out, man!¡±

    I approached the White Root right away, and shook it hard.

    But it wiggled in the direction toward me as if it was ying.

    ¡°Oh my god¡­¡±

    I could not help but be embarrassed by what was happening before my eyes.

    So I cleared my throat, quietly watching the White Root.

    The White Root was still wiggling as if it didn¡¯t know my intentions.

    The next day.

    It was definitely a fierce battle between me and the ck liquid man.

    I defeated him resoundingly.

    So everyone there hosted a big party tomemorate my victory.

    Even though I also suffered some damage, my victory was much sweeter than that.

    Of course, I had to attend the party as the battle¡¯s hero.

    It has been a long time since I fought with all my might in battle, so I decided to fully enjoy the party this time.

    Of course, I had some concerns about the White Root because it ate something ck.

    Naturally, I associated it with the ck liquid man.

    But I stopped worrying about it anymore.

    If the White Root ate it and became even a little stronger like when it devoured the parasite, it would be a lot more beneficial to me.

    Anyway, I forgot about it and had a good time at the party.

    The next day.

    All the guilds in Argentina, including the Sayens Guild, wanted me to stay longer. But I declined their request because there was no guarantee that something stronger than the ck liquid man would not appear even tomorrow.

    I took a break all day long yesterday, and one day¡¯s break was more than enough for me.

    What¡¯s more, I had to quickly hunt the blue ancient spirits located in the level 1800 hunting ground andplete my monster imprint as soon as possible. Only after I finished doing so would I be able to spam my AOE skills as much as I want to hunt the red, brown, and gray ancient spritist.

    But then the leader of the Sayens Guild grabbed my hand, and opened his mouth.

    ¡°Share quest.¡±

    [The quest ¡®Destroy the Crystal Tower¡¯ has been shared with you.

    -Do you wish to ept it?]

    It is an undeniable fact that I¡¯ve be strong thanks to winning in all events and quests. So I had no choice but to wee this new quest because if I cleared the quest with my trait, Quest Craftsman, I could obtain an additional 100 to 300 remaining stat points. Aside from that, I weed any quests with open hands.

    So I replied, ¡°I have already received a lot from you, so I wonder if it¡¯s okay to receive even more¡­¡±

    Of course, what I did for them was by no means free. In fact, I continued to collect golden rings from the major guilds in Argentina, starting with the Sayens Guild. I collected a whopping 50 billion golden rings. But that was not all.

    To be honest, coins were more precious than golden rings.

    In other words, the giant guilds including the Sayens Guild dly exchanged the golden rings I received from them for the coins that they possessed. As a result, I obtained a total of 50,000 coins. Of course, the 50 billion golden rings seemed to be the same value as 50,00 coins, given that one coin required 1 million golden rings for exchange. But that was not true. In fact, the 50 billion golden rings were amission that the seller didn¡¯t receive. So acquiring 50,000 coins was almost like receiving 100 billion golden rings.

    In addition to that, I now received another quest.

    I was so happy to hear the guild leader¡¯s offer, but I declined it at first out of courtesy.

    Then the leader of the Sayens Guild shook his head slightly and opened his mouth.

    ¡°I¡¯m just sorry ourpensation is not big enough. Please ept it.¡±

    So I epted the quest without refusing any more.

    After that, I talked with him a little more, then turned around and boarded a flight back home.

    ***

    In the area o o o around that time.

    ¡°You mean Basel was killed?¡±

    ¡°That guy killed him?¡±

    ¡°No way! Are you kidding me?¡±

    The three men and women who were sitting at the round table questioned as if they could not believe their subordinate¡¯s report.

    ¡°His soul stone has just lost its light,¡± the subordinate responded.

    After he was selected by drawing lots, Basel smiled happily, eximing that he was the first to go to the Earth, but he was killed there.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    As if they could not control their shock, the three men and women remained silent for a while.

    They felt like such a thing could never happen, and should have never happened.

    Then the only woman out of the three opened her mouth.

    ¡°Did that guy lie to us back then? Otherwise, it is absolutely impossible that there is someone on earth who can kill basel!¡±

    ¡°But that guy made ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ and ¡®Revival Legend¡¯. And we imprisoned him after he lost all his power.¡±

    ¡°Right. Moreover, we have confirmed ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ and ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ ourselves,¡± the other two men said, shaking their heads at her words.

    Then the woman said, ¡°Then how do you exin Basel¡¯s death? Do you think somebody on the Earth can kill him? Exin to me what¡¯s going on.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    This time, the other two men did not say anything because they couldn¡¯t understand Basel¡¯s death at all either.

    Then one of the two men, the one with red hair, opened his mouth.

    ¡°Well, it is not necessarily impossible. If everyone on the Earth collected all their coins for one man, it could exin this situation.¡±

    ¡°Are you kidding me? You don¡¯t think humans are good-hearted, right? You know very well that the human being is a mass of desires, so even when they are faced with death, they will never yield to others.¡±

    When she said that, the red-haired man didn¡¯t respond for a moment.

    Then he refuted her, ¡°Of course I know that. But I still think such a possibility exists.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The woman didn¡¯t respond to this red-haired man¡¯s words because otherwise it was impossible to kill Basel even if he could not use all his abilities while trying to pass through the small hole connected to the Earth.

    ¡°Alright. So what should we do next?¡±

    The red-haired man thought deeply about the woman¡¯s question and opened his mouth.

    ¡°We should remove the privilege of exchanging coins at level 1100.¡±

    Then, this time, the other man, a tall man with a stocky build, opened his mouth.

    ¡°But it wille with a penalty in return.¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t help it. Considering the future, this option might actually be cheaper.¡±

    After that, the three men and women talked more, and they agreed to remove the privilege of exchanging coins with the golden rings at level 1100.

 Chapter 403 - 10% (1)

    <h4>Chapter 403: 10% (1)</h4>

    It would certainly not be strange if the battle that took ce in Argentina was broadcasted live across the world. That¡¯s why there was a long line of people weing me at the Myongjin Shelter.

    But what caught my eyes was that among the crowds were not only those who lived in the Myongjin Shelter, but also those of the Mirae Guild and Mongolia¡¯s Tugal Guild.

    But I didn¡¯t ask them why they joined in weing me, and just entered the shelter amid the grand wee.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Of course, I was in Argentina only for a few days, but I felt like quite a bit of time had passed. Anyway, I went straight to the small meeting room and took out the Memory beads in front of my father, brother, sister, and Director Sok, before opening my mouth.

    ¡°I¡¯m back home, everybody!¡±

    As soon as I said that, my father responded, ¡°Great job, son!¡±

    Then, my brother, my sister and Director Sok, the head of the Intelligence Department of the Myongjin Guild, also weed me with warm appreciation.

    So I opened my mouth, shaking my head a bit.

    ¡°Thanks for your kind words. I just did what I had to do.¡±

    It was really what I had to do, no more or no less. I didn¡¯t say that out of arrogance or pride, but because there was nobody else other than me who could solve the problem.

    Anyway, I chatted with them for about 30 minutes and left the small meeting room after my father suggested that I take a break because I must be exhausted.

    To be honest, I was not tired, but I¡¯ve already said what I wanted to say and delivered the Memory Beads, so I thought my role in this case was over.

    Before I left the conference room, my father added, ¡°We have a dinner meeting with the Mirae Guild and the Tugal Guild in the evening. So don¡¯t forget to attend it because they havee to us with good news rting to you first.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    The Mirae Guild and Mongolia¡¯s Tugal Guild were the first to form an alliance with the Myongjin Guild.

    Of course, at the time we made an alliance with them out of necessity but now it was the Myongjin Guild that were leading the two guilds. In particr, the Tugal Guild of Mongolia was almost totally reliant on the Myongjin Guild. Nheless, the Myongjin Guild could not desert not only the Mirae Guild, but also the Tugal Guild.

    In fact, the Myongjin Guild had no intention of deserting them. Myongjing knew that it would backfire on them someday if they deserted them just because they were no longer useful.

    In the meantime, my mother hugged me tightly, asking me if I was hurt and checking my body here and there.

    After that, I went into my room and essed Revival Legend right away because I had already rested enough in Argentina, and I never knew when an enemy who was even stronger than the ck liquid man might appear.

    In other words, I needed to get stronger more quickly not only for myself, but also for those in the Myongjin Shelter.

    That evening, I got out of the hunting ground as soon as my rm sounded while I was hunting the blue ancient spirits using Blink with zero cooldown in the level 1800 hunting ground Land of Ancient Spirits.

    I needed to attend a dinner party where not only my family members, but also those from the Mirae Guild and the Tugal Guild would attend, which was basically held to celebrate my victory in Argentina.

    So, I took a shower quickly, dressed up simply, then moved to the banquet hall.

    On the way I ran into my sister, and she said, ¡°Oh, you¡¯ve arrived early! I was going toe to pick you up.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not polite for today¡¯s hero to appearte to the party,¡± I replied proudly.

    Then she made a nk expression, and raised her right hand.

    Smack! Smack!

    She patted me on the back and opened her mouth.

    ¡°Lol. My brother has already grown up! You are mature enough to make such ament! Well, I guess you are mature enough to get married.¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about? It¡¯s been a long time since I matured.¡±

    I moved to the banquet hall while chatting with her in a rxed manner as if I didn¡¯t fight that terrible battle for life and death in Argentina the other day.

    When I arrived, there were already quite a number of people, who slightly lowered their heads as I passed by them. Of course, they bowed to me regardless of their age or status to show their respect for me.

    To appreciate their wee, I nodded slightly without showing my feelings because I knew why they did so.

    Shortly afterwards, some prominent guests started to exchange pleasantries with my parents.

    ¡°Chairman Hong, I think you must be very proud to have such a son!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, you¡¯re wee. I didn¡¯t do anything to help him. It was all him.¡±

    ¡°Juyoung¡¯s mom, I just envy you for having such great sons and daughter!¡±

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m ttered! I¡¯m so proud of my children. I just thank them for growing up so well like this.¡±

    The greatest filial piety a child can give to his or her parents is only one, namely, making other people praise his or her parents because of them. Parents are supposed to be more happy about people praising their children than themselves.

    Moreover, I was definitely on a roll these days, but it didn¡¯t mean that my sister or brother performed badly. For example, my elder brother managed the big and small administrative stuff involving the Myongjin Guild on behalf of my father, and my elder sister achieved level 1200 quickly enough to take the lead among Myongjin yers as well my family members.

    Anyway, the dinner party continued on in a merry and harmonious atmosphere.

    At that moment, I approached Mirae Guild Chairman Junghwan Yon as well as Tugal Guild Chairman Tamir when my father called me.

    Chairman Yon first spoke to me, ¡°Hi Juyoung, you really did a great job!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee, sir. Someone had to do it anyway.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, I know somebody had to do it, but as you know, not anybody can do it. Right?¡±

    I knew that before they handed over their top position to Myongjin, the Mirae Group was the top business conglomerate in Korea, and so I saw Chairman Yon several times when I was young.

    So I responded to him humbly, ¡°Well, I was just lucky.¡±

    Besides, I didn¡¯t have to act conceited in this ce at all.

    Then the Tugal Guild chairman also congratted me and talked with me briefly.

    After that, my father opened his mouth.

    ¡°Well, I called you here because Chairma Yon and Chairman Tamir said they wanted to give you some gifts.¡±

    ¡°Gifts?¡±

    I had no choice but to ask because I never expected to receive such gifts.

    Moreover, it was not my birthday, and there was no asion for me to receive gifts from the two guilds these days.

    But Mirae Guild Chairman Yon started speaking as if he knew why I was so confused.

    ¡°Juyoung, while we were watching your performance in Argentina this time, we learned a great lesson that even if we had hundreds or thousands of mediocre yers, they would not beat even one really strong yer like you. So we have decided to invest in you, our strong ally.¡±

    ¡°I beg your pardon?¡±

 Chapter 404 - 10% (2)

    <h4>Chapter 404: 10% (2)</h4>

    But soon I knew what he meant by ¡°investing¡± in me. In fact, Chairman Yon invested 50 billion golden rings in me and Mongolia¡¯s Tugal Guild Chairman Tamir invested 30 billion golden rings in me.

    Of course, if they thought their massive investment alone was a gift for me, I would not wee it because I already had huge amounts of golden rings.

    However, I was pleasantly surprised to see another ¡®gift¡¯ when I came out of the dinner hall with my father, Chairman Yon, and Chairman Tamir into the huge conference room, where there were more than 100 people waiting for me there. Of course, it was so I could trade for coins with them.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t your reality actualization rate the most important thing, right? So I¡¯ve gathered them here like this as a gift for you,¡± said Chairman Yon.

    As soon as Chairman Yon said that, a guy stepped to the front of the group and opened his mouth.

    ¡°My name is Sangchol and I am with the Mirae Guild. It is nice to meet you like this. Can I ask you to trade coins? .

    He held out his hand, so I gently grasped it, nodding at him.

    At that moment, a message rang.

    [The other party has asked to exchange 3,100 coins with you.

    -The number of golden rings you currently store in your inventory is 196,548,715,581.

    -When you ept his request, you will spend 3.1 billion golden rings as amission fee.]

    After all, golden rings were sort of amission fee for the convenience of coin transactions. In that respect, this was the real gift for me.

    The coins were a gift of great value that could not bepared with golden rings.

    So I began to exchange my golden rings with their coins to the point that I obtained a total of 50,000 coins from the Mirae Guild, and a total of 30,000 coins from the Tugal Guild. The Tugal Guild gave 20,000 coins fewer than the Mirae Guild.

    Obviously, the Tugal Guild wanted to curry favor with me by offering their coins, but it could not be denied that they were smaller and weaker than the Mirae Guild. To be honest, without the Myongjin¡¯s help, the Tugal Guild would have trodden the same path as the several guilds in Vietnam that had been devastated by India and China. Anyway, I ended up obtaining 80,000 coins in exchange for my golden rings.

    But the moment I thought I was done exchanging coins, there was something more.

    In other words, the Myongjin Guild that I belonged to also gave me a gift.

    My father gave me a whopping 70 billion golden rings, but I declined it.

    For the gifts that I received from outside were definitely beneficial to me and Myongin, but a gift from Myongjin was like cutting off my nose to buff up my face. Moreover, I certainly did a lot for Myongjin, but I also received a lot from them. For example, I received as many as 100,000 stone squirrels¡¯ undigested mineral masses, which Iter exchanged for 100,000 coins.

    When I declined my father¡¯s request, he responded quickly, ¡°I hope you won¡¯t block me from investing in an item whose value will be greater in the future than today. Your dad wants to be a smart and sessful investor, son.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    In the end, I received the 70 billion golden rings from him. Moreover, the coins that my father prepared for me were not simply 70,000 because he clearly knew how many golden rings I had for now. In other words, he prepared as many as 110,000 coins.

    So I could end up obtaining the corresponding coins by using the 70 billion golden rings I received from my father and the 40 billion golden rings I originally had.

    I received 50,000 coins from the Sayens Guild of Argentina. In addition, the Mirae Guild invested 50,000 coins, the Tugal Guild invested 30,000 coins, and the Myongjin Guild that I belonged to gave me 110,000 coins, so I now had a total of 240,000 coins in my inventory.

    After that, we went back to the banquet hall and had a good time.

    The next day.

    After attending the dinner party thatstedte into the night, I had breakfast with my family, then saw off the guests from the Mirae and Tugal guilds as they returned to their main bases. After that, Myongjin¡¯s ties with them became stronger and more solid.

    And in the meantime, I bumped into Bora Yon, Chairman Yon¡¯s daughter and his heir. Since I already conversed a lot with herst night, I didn¡¯t say much more. When they left, I also left right away and essed Revival Legend.

    ¡°Move to Kotum Castle.¡±

    [You are now moving to Kotum Castle.]

    This time I didn¡¯t need to visit the cksmith or learn a skill.

    I came to this ce because this was the most familiar ce before I left for better hunting opportunities.

    Then I opened my mouth softly.

    ¡°Confirm my reality actualization rate.¡±

    [You currently have the level 1200 privilege ¡®Reality Actualization¡¯.

    -Currently Asirante¡¯s reality actualization rate is 107%.

    -You need 12,000 (-1,000) coins to increase your reality actualization rate by 1% up to 110%.]

    When I saw the requirements for going up to 110% Reality Actualization rate, I realized that the title of ¡®First Achiever of 100% Reality Actualization Rate¡¯ was better than I thought.

    After all, by raising the rate from 100% to 107%, I saved a total of 7000 coins because I spent only 11,000 coins instead of 12,000 coins per 1%. Considering the coins that I would have to spend in the future, I would be able to save an enormous amount of coins.

    Anyway, I did not intend to save the 240,000 coins forever, so I immediately raised my reality actualization rate even more and it soon reached 110%. After that, I needed to spend 14,000 coins to increase my reality actualization rate by 1%. But thanks to my title ¡®First Achiever of 100% Reality Actualization Rate¡¯, I received a discount of 1,500 coins, so I ended up using only 12,500 coins.

    After that, I even achieved as high as 120% reality actualization rate.

    [You have the level 1200 privilege ¡®Reality Actualization¡¯.

    -Currently Lumen, Asirante¡¯s reality actualization rate is 125%.

    -You need 16,000 (-2,000) coins to increase your reality actualization rate by 1% up to 130%.]

    My reality actualization rate was a whopping 125%.

    Of course, it does not have influence within ¡®Revival Legend¡¯. But it had a huge impact in reality. I have already felt the impact of my 107% reality actualization rate.

    After they were done investing coins in me, a message rang not only to me, but everyone else as well. It was like an official announcement.

    [Hello. This is ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    ¨C We will inform you of some changes.

    : As of now, the 1100 level privilege ¡®Coin Exchange¡¯ will be deleted.

    In other words, it is no longer possible to exchange coins using golden rings except in exceptional cases.]

    ¡°What?¡±

    Even though it required a ridiculously expensivemission fee to exchange golden rings for coins, this kind of coin exchange was very important. Even though it was said these days that it was optimal to grow byst hitting monsters in the hunting grounds and collecting the dropped coins, coin exchange was still the best way to funnel the growth of a specific yer.

    With this announcement, however, such a route was now blocked.

    At that moment, I let out a sigh of relief.

    ¡°Whew!¡±

    If I hadn¡¯t exchanged coins yesterday, I would have been trapped in this new rule that would block my further growth in the future.

    Nheless, I had no choice but to feel frustrated and dissatisfied.

    At that moment, another message rang.

 Chapter 405 - 10% (3)

    <h4>Chapter 405: 10% (3)</h4>

    [A reward in return for the deletion of the level 1100 privilege ¡®Coin Exchange.¡¯

    -Anyone who currently possesses the level 1200 privilege ¡®Reality Actualization Rate¡¯ will have their reality actualization rate instantly increase by 10%.

    -If you have not achieved level 1200 and do not have the level 1200 privilege ¡®Reality Actualization Rate¡¯, you will start with a 10% Reality Actualization Rate by default when you reach level 1200.]

    Another message rang immediately right after that.

    [Your reality actualization rate has increased by 10%.

    -Lumen, Ashirante¡¯s reality actualization rate is 135%.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The messages rang one after another without any notice. .

    So I had no choice but to think that thest message was hastilyposed.

    In the meantime, I had mixed feelings while checking the messages until now.

    In the end, if I hadn¡¯t exchanged the coins yesterday, I would have kicked myself with great regrets. And if I had not increased my reality actualization rate right away with the coins I had, I would also have med myself a lot for my misjudgement.

    Increasing the reality actualization rate by 10% from 107% and from 125% werepletely different. So I let out a sigh of relief that I managed to hit 125% first, but I still could not help but tilt my head

    ¡°Hmm. If it¡¯s true that all users¡¯ reality actualization rate has increased by 10%, it means their current power has increased tremendously, but...¡±

    It was not just one or two users, but all users.

    To be honest, there were few users who could increase their reality actualization even by 10% by exchanging coins unless they were affiliated with giant guilds or ace yers.

    Moreover, when they reached level 1200 in the future, they would have a 10% reality actualization rate by default. In other words, nobody couldin that they didn¡¯t increase their reality actualization rate or increased it only a little bit because they didn¡¯t have enough coins even after reaching level 1200.

    In that respect, it seemed more valuable to delete the coin exchange and obtain a 10% reality actualization rate.

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t like it.¡±

    Originally, coin exchange was the only way for someone to turn the tables after being backed into a corner. After all, all they needed was golden rings. ording to the message, however, this route was blocked.

    So, even though I enjoyed the benefits of obtaining basically 150,000 coins by increasing 10% to 135% reality actualization rate, I didn¡¯t like this new rule change that much.

    Anyway I moved straight to the level 1800 hunting ground because I could clear the quest I had received from Argentina¡¯s Sayens Guild after finishing my monster imprint as soon as possible.

    In the level 1800 hunting ground Land of Ancient Spirits.

    Blink. Puck!

    Blink. Puck!

    Blink. Puck!

    The target whose trait I am currently umting for the monster imprint is the blue ancient spirit. The main reason I targeted them was because imprinting the monster trait granted me the option of a 5% damage increase for all ice-type skills, not to mention an increase in intellect by 4000, and willpower by 2000.

    Because of that, I avoided the red, brown, and gray ancient spirits, and concentrated on only the blue ancient spirits every day. Of course, the maximum traits I could [possess were three, but I already had the traits of the Titan, the Dark Elf dyed in darkness, and the Minions of the Dead that I had imprinted in the level 1700 hunting ground.

    So I had to delete one of them. And I already decided which one to delete, namely, the Minions of the Dead because I keenly realized how good the Titan trait was this time when I was fighting against the ck liquid man, which increased my stamina by 3000 and my strength by 3000, as well as decreased all iing damage by 10%. and decrease all damage by 10% while fighting the ck liquid man recently.

    It was worth saving the trait of the Dark Elf dyed in Darkness, as it granted me a significant agility increase.

    But the trait of the Minion of the Dead only increased my stamina by 5000.

    Of course, considering that it was not restricted by my trait Mutual Growth, 5000 stamin was far from small, but it was definitely a less appealing option than the other two. And the Minion of the Dead trait did not have any other options.

    Because of this, I had no other choice but to delete the Minion of the Dead imprint first.

    Anyway, I kept hunting after opening up one space for another trait by deleting it.

    I hunted the next day and the day after.

    Ten days passed.

    ¡°Whew!¡±

    I could herd not only the Titans, but also the Dark Elves dyed in Darkness and the Minions of the Dead for herd hunting because there were only types of monsters in that hunting ground, after all.

    However, this time there were as many as four kinds of ancient spirits in the level 1800 hunting ground, so it took me almost twice as long as before because I had to target only one of them.

    But the way of the world was if you started something, you had to finish it at the end of the day. In other words, I ran towards the blue ancient spirit again using Blink with zero cooldown and wielded the +8 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword at it.

    The moment that monster copsed at my single attack, a message rang.

    [You have achieved a 100% umtion rate for the ancient spirits.

    ¨C Acquire the Ancient Spirit trait.

    -You can store up to 3 traits.

    ¨C A 30-day cooldown is required to rece the already imprinted trait with another trait.

    -Your current traits (3/3)

    : Titan, Dark Elf dyed in Darkness, Ancient Spirit.

    -Your activated trait.

    : Titan.]

    ¡®Great!¡±

    Of course, I had no big difficulties in umting Titan¡¯s trait 100% because I killed them with one single attack.

    That¡¯s why I had to be more careful in this hunting ground because there were not only blue ancient spirits, but also red, brown, and gray ancient spirits. If I identally attacked another ancient spirit and killed it, all the umtion rate I had achieved until now would be useless. Then I would have to start all over again.

    Anyway I was about to rece my monster imprint with the blue ancient spirit that was definitely helpful to me, but I agonized over it a bit.

    ¡°Hmm...¡±

    Of course, the Ancient Spirit trait was much better for me in many ways because I was an ice-type wizard, and all the options given by the blue ancient spirit directly affected my strengths.

    [Blue ancient spirit.

    : Increase in intellect by 4000

    : Increase in willpower by 2000.

    : Increase in all Ice-type skill damage by 5%.]

    In particr, as was the case with the increase in stamina due to my Titan trait, the increase in stat points through my monster imprint was not affected by the limits of Mutual Growth. However, when I was fighting against the powerful ck liquid man, I liked the Titan trait much better than this one.

    But the problem was that the cooldown to switch between traits was a whopping 30 days.

    ¡°Hmm. It would be perfect without this long cooldown¡­¡±

    It couldn¡¯t be better if I could change my trait to the most optimal one in terms of options based on the situation.

    So, while I was agonizing over it, a message rang.

    It was not a message announced to everybody, but only to me.

 Chapter 406 - Digestion

    <h4>Chapter 406: Digestion</h4>

    [The roots have seeded in digesting Fragment ¢ó of the Origin

    -The roots grow slightly, and its growth threshold increases significantly.

    -Part of the fragment of the source absorbed by the roots also affects the owner of the root to some extent.

    : All stat points increase by 3000.]

    [You currently have Mutual Growth.

    -The fragment of the source exists outside the limits of Mutual Growth.

    -In addition to strength, agility, and intellect, stamina and willpower are also increased by 3000 each without the limits of Mutual Growth.]

    [The roots that have absorbed the fragment of the source also have the ¡®Ancient Monster Summoning Energy¡¯.

    : Monster assimtion ¨C inactive state.

    : Monster imprint ¨C Active status.

    : Monster type recognition buff ¨C Inactive state.

    : Monstermand buff ¨C inactive.

    -The effect of monster imprint in the active state has greatly increased.

    : The maximum number of monster traits that you can possess has increased from 3 to 5.

    : The 30-day cooldown required to change the trait in active status has been deleted. (You can immediately change to the trait you want without any restrictions.)

    : The options that activate the monster traits increase by an additional 50%.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    A few messages rang in a row in an instant. Of course, I could understand what those messages meant because they were not confusing or difficult.

    But I had no choice but to stare nkly at the messages because I had never thought of the rewards, and that the rewards were so huge.

    In particr, I was impressed by an increase in stat points by 3000, including even stamina and willpower that would have been blocked by Mutual Growth.

    It was literally 15,000. In addition, the monster traits that I could keep increased to five from three, and the 30-day cooldown also disappeared.

    This alone was a huge benefit for me. As a matter of fact, I wished only a minute ago that I could rece my current monster trait with something else right away.

    Then the options that activated the monster traits would increase by an additional 50%.

    In other words, if I applied this reward to Titan, my stamina and physical strength would increase by 4500, not by 3000, and my damage would be reduced by 15%, not by 10%.

    In other words, in terms of Titan, instead of increasing strength and stamina by 3000, all damage received by 4500 increases will also be reduced by 15% instead of 10%.

    ¡°Wow¡­¡±

    I had no choice but to admire it, and the origin of all this was none other than the Fragment III of the Origin.

    I thought I knew what it was. It was the ck mass the size of a fingernail, which was cker than the ck liquid man, so it could be described as the essence of ck liquid. I had no doubt about it. In fact, I witnessed the White Root devouring it right before my eyes.

    ¡°By the way, did I get a windfall then?¡±

    Of course, I had no intention of eating it. No, I would never eat it even if I was asked to because I might get into trouble if I ate something strange.

    But the White Root ate it on behalf of me.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t pretend not to have noticed it when the White Root ate it. Since the White Root devoured it even without my direction, I appreciated it by making a hearty ¡°Hahaha¡±

    Iughed loudly for a long time since there was nobody around me anyway.

    Obviously, even if I had the same 135% reality actualization rate as others, I could mobilize more power because I was stronger than them within the ¡®Revival Legend¡¯, which served as the standard for calcting that percentage.

    Moreover, the increase in my reality actualization rate this time was greatly helpful to me since I could not exchange coins anymore.

    So I called the White Root with a very friendly voice.

    ¡°Root~ Root~¡±

    [¡­]

    The White Root didn¡¯t appear, as expected.

    But I didn¡¯t care anyway because it had never appeared before, and it always helped me when I was in a dangerous situation.

    I knew that the White Root sometimes crawled out of the underground and stole a nce at the ground that I just stepped on, as if a fan looked at his or her idol.

    Anyway, I was deeply touched by the service of the White Root, so I immediately opened my mouth.

    ¡°Rece monster imprint. Ancient spirit.

    [You have reced your monster imprint from the active trait Titan to the Ancient Spirit. -The option that you obtained by activating the previous Titan has disappeared, and the option of the Ancient Spirit has been newly applied.

    -You can rece it with other traits without any restrictions in the future.

    -You have an enhanced monster imprint. (An additional 50% increase.)

    : Intellect increases (4000) -> 6000.

    : Willpower increases (2000) -> 3000.

    : All ice-type skill damage increases (5%) -> 7.5%]

    After checking the message, I moved left and right as if to rx my neck muscles.

    Obviously, I had more AOE skills than a single skill, and I enjoyed herd hunting a lot, so I was itching for hunting.

    So I herded the monsters using Blink with zero cooldown and opened my mouth.

    ¡°Blizzard!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Flop!

    Flop!

    The monsters copsed without even screaming.

    Even though there was no change in my items or levels like before, I could use much more power this time.

    In terms of my Intellect, it increased by 6000, and all my ice-type skill damage also increased by a whopping 7.5% thanks to the activation of the blue ancient spirit that enjoyed a 50% increase in intellect 3000 as a result of an increase in all stats by 3000.

    So I was grateful to the ck liquid man because he wasn¡¯t killed in vain, after all.

    Of course, the White Root ate it up.

    Anyway I kept herding the monsters for hunting on that day as if I wanted to make up for what I had missed for some time.

    Then a pleasant emessage rang.

    [You have leveled up.]

    ***

    The next day.

    ¡°Let me proceed with the quest.¡±

    I received a quest from the Sayens Guild of Argentina in return for killing the ck liquid man. I could have done it early on, but I dyed it for sometime because there was no deadline for the quest. What¡¯s more, if I hunted other monsters while proceeding with the quest, the trait of the blue ancient spirits that I had umted until then would be reset. So I had no other choice but to put it off until now.

    But yesterday I finished imprinting monster traits, so I decided to proceed with this quest, and I didn¡¯t have to dy it any longer.

    [You have chosen to proceed with the quest, ¡®Destroy the Crystal Tower.¡¯

    -Would you like to go to the mysterious dungeon of the great wizard and architect, Zerodi?]

    ¡°Move.¡±

    As soon as I said it, I felt as if my body was being dragged somewhere, and soon a huge cave appeared in front of me, with a message.

    [The great wizard and architect, Zerodi, used all his powers to create a maze-like structure in histe years. Then he waited for those who challenged to break his own architecture.

    ¨C Break the Crystal Tower and move on to the next level.

    : You can challenge up to 5 times.

    : After 5 challenges, the person who achieves the highest record will be rewarded.

    : Death penalty does not ur if you die during the quest.]

    [Status board.

    Pellerano: 17 rounds.Pellerano: 15 rounds.Pellerano: 14 rounds.Pellerano: 9 rounds.No records. Challenge possible.]

    Pellerano is the Argentine Sayens Guild leader¡¯s name. He said he challenged the quest four times before the ck liquid man, or more precisely, the ck liquid, appeared. And now he has only onest chance to challenge the quest.

    But he gave me the chance instead of challenging it by himself, along with the document that recorded the results of his challenge.

 Chapter 407 - Itâ€™s Thrilling to Break the Crystal Tower (1)

    <h4>Chapter 407: It¡¯s Thrilling to Break the Crystal Tower (1)</h4>

    In other words, hepletely took his hands off the quest by yielding the quest to me.

    ¡°After all, he wants me to break the Crystal Tower¡­¡±

    This quest was simple. All I had to do was to break the Crystal Tower, and move on to the next level. That¡¯s why the name of the quest was ¡®Destroy the Crystal Tower.¡¯

    Anyway, I had already checked the information about the first 17 rounds from the leader of the Sayens Guild, so I went straight to the door in the middle of the cave.

    Then a message rang.

    [You have started Round 1.

    -Once you start the quest, you will keep moving forward to the next round until you fail.]

    Soon arge square room appeared, with a huge Crystal Tower in the center. A screen indicating the time of [05: 00] was floating over the Crystal Tower.

    [In Round 1, you have to break the Crystal Tower in 5 minutes.]

    ¡°Ice Punishment!¡±

    Bang!

    Pasasasasak!

    I had already grasped the situation about a week ago, so as soon as the message rang, I fired Ice Punishment towards the Crystal Tower, and it was immediately smashed to pieces with no resistance.

    [You have cleared Round 1 in only one second.

    -S grade. Additional points will be awardedter.

    -You will move to Round 2 in 1 minute.]

    ¡°It was good that I came here after finishing the monster print.¡±

    Even though I thought it regrettable to give up my umtion rate, I had no problem proceeding with the quest first because my umtion rate at that time was not too high.

    Actually, I was a little worried over my decision.

    Since I did it first, however, I could proceed with the quest when I was much stronger than before, which meant that I could proceed to a higher round, or perhaps to the final round.

    With a satisfactory smile on my lips, I waited for a minute to pass.

    In Round 2, too, arge crystal tower appeared in the center of the room, which was also the same size and shape as the one that appeared in Round 1.

    However, there was a modifier in the description of the crystal tower this time.

    [Very Firm Crystal Tower]

    At the same time, a message rang, which announced I would have to break it within five minutes.

    As soon as the message rang, I started my attack right away.

    ¡°Ice Spear! Multiple Ice Arrows!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    I used Ice Punishment in Round 1 because I wanted to, but I realized that it was like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

    Even though I was helped by the White Root, my Intellect increased by 9000 thanks to the 3000 stat point from Fragment III of the origin, the 50% improved monster imprint, and the blue ancient spirit trait that I activated this time. Besides, I enjoyed a 7.5% increase in the damage of all Ice-type skills due to the effect of my enhanced monster imprint.

    As a result, my attacks were significantly more powerful than before because 9,000 intellect value and a 7.5% increase in the damage of all Ice-type skills is by no means a small number.

    As expected, the crystal tower was shattered when I attacked it with only one round of Ice Spear and Multiple Ice Arrows, even though it has a fanciful modifier ¡®Very Firm¡¯ in its description.

    The moment I smashed the tower, a message rang.

    [You have cleared Round 2 in only two seconds.

    -S grade. Additional points will be awardedter.

    -You will move to Round 3 after one minute.]

    It took me one more second than Round 1.

    In other words, if I used Ice Breath instead of Ice Punishment which was still on cooldown, l could have cleared the round again in one second, but I didn¡¯t have any regrets over it and waited for the next round to start as soon as possible.

    For it didn¡¯t matter whether it took me one or two seconds since I broke the crystal tower very quickly.

    And the message also proved it by mentioning the additional points.

    ***

    While Juyoung Hong was proceeding with the ¡®Destroy the Crystal Tower¡¯ quest, something was going on at a huge old mansion located in Bucharest, Romania in Eastern Europe.

    A young man and an elderly man were talking about something inside. But the young man was sittingfortably in a chair, while the old man was standing politely.

    The old man opened his mouth.

    ¡°The hole is getting bigger and bigger.¡±

    ¡°Just leave it like that,¡± replied the young man nonchntly.

    Then the old man opened his mouth again.

    ¡°But if you don¡¯t do anything about it, it¡¯s going to affect not only Romania, but also¡­¡±

    The old man could not finish his words because the young man interrupted suddenly.

    ¡°Then do you have any other solution? As you know, the hole will keep getting bigger anyway. And we can¡¯t stop it even if we want to.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, but if we can get Asirante¡¯s help, we can dy it a little longer¡­¡±

    m!

    As soon as the old man mentioned the name Asirante, the young man mmed the table hard. Then he opened his mouth with bloodshot eyes.

    ¡°Do you think Asirante can take revenge for me? Even if he does, I¡¯m not interested in taking revenge by relying on somebody else. I¡¯m going to kill that bastard by myself. He was once my uncle, but he killed my father, his elder brother!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The old man could not respond to this furious young man¡¯sint.

    As a matter of fact, this old man had served his father for all his life, for whom the young man was determined to take revenge for by attacking his uncle. And he also agreed with this young man¡¯s revenge n.

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    In the end, the old man answered, nodding at him slightly.

    Then he said, ¡°It¡¯s about time you got ready.¡±

    Hearing that, the young man nced at the clock on the wall and stood up.

    After that, the young man and the old man moved to the basement of the huge old mansion, then passed through several tight gates and arrived in front of a huge iron gate that nobody could imagine was located in the basement.

    Squeak!

    As if he had been to this ce many times, the young man opened the huge iron gate easily, then went inside, leaving the old man behind to wait on the outside.

    Then a huge space appeared before his eyes. Of course, it wasn¡¯t empty.

    But unlike normal t terrain, there was a hole in the middle of this huge space. The young man quickly approached it, then just stood there without moving.

    After that, the sound of something nibbling away at or colliding with something was heard.

    However, the young man still did not move with a calm expression as if he knew already he would hear that kind of sound. At that moment, a blue haze began to emit from the hole in front of him.

    Then a few minutes passed and the young man heard a message.

    [You are now at the entrance of an alien world.

    -The passage shed with the fragments of the alien world while it was in the process of being connected to the Earth.

    -You are affected by fragments of the shed alien world.

    : You have acquired 157 remaining stat points.

    : You have acquired 681 coins.]

    ¡°Hehehe!¡±

    The young man smiled at that message because the day was soon approaching when he could take revenge on his uncle Bogdan who killed his parents and took away Romania¡¯srgest guild Shunad from his father who once led it. Moreover, this young man Karol was not satisfied with the message, and took out a sword that was materialized using reality actualization in his hand.

 Chapter 408 - Itâ€™s Thrilling to Break the Crystal Tower (2)

    <h4>Chapter 408: It¡¯s Thrilling to Break the Crystal Tower (2)</h4>

    The young man smiled at that message because the day was soon approaching when he could take revenge on his uncle Bogdan who killed his parents and took away Romania¡¯srgest guild Shunad from his father who once led it. Moreover, this young man Karol was not satisfied with the message, and took out a sword that was materialized using reality actualization in his hand.

    Puck! Puck!

    He pointed the sword directly at the hole in the ground as if he wanted to make that small hole bigger and faster.

    Then a message rang suddenly.

    [You are very close to the passage of the alien world.

    -You have touched the fragment of the alien world while the passage is forming between o o o with the Earth.

    -You are affected by the fragment of the alien world.

    : Acquires 175 remaining stat points.

    : Acquire 772 coins.]

    ¡°Wow! Alright, get bigger! Get bigger quickly and give me more power!¡±

    Obviously, the message hardly rang before, but this time it rang in a row quickly, so Karol heartilyughed in satisfaction.

    No wonder he kept wielding the sword while he wasughing loudly.

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Anyway, Karol tried hard to quickly erge the small hole, which was not big enough to be called a passage, without taking into ount what would happen as a result.

    ***

    As I kept progressing through the rounds, several types of crystal towers appeared including::

    [Crystal Tower on the move.]

    [Crystal Tower that gets stronger over time.]

    [Crystal Tower that can only be damaged when all monsters defending it are removed.]

    Some of the crystal towers had certain conditions required to be destroyed.

    [The mission is to destroy all the crystal towers in the east, west, north, south and north within the time limit by breaking through monsters and traps.]

    [The mission is to destroy the crystal tower by attacking during the time when your attack is avable just like in the game of whack-a-mole.]

    After all, the thing was I had to break the crystal tower to be able to clear the quest ¡®Destroy the Crystal Tower.¡¯ And I could clear all the stages easily, of course.

    Those monsters defending the crystal towers couldn¡¯t withstand my attacks properly, and the traps didn¡¯t affect me at all because of Blink with zero cooldown.

    Anyway, I kept progressing rapidly through the rounds.

    [You are now S grade. You will receive additional points.]

    Soon I was faced with Round 30.

    [Round 30 starts.

    ¨C You have to break the real crystal tower among the three crystal towers in order to move to the next stage.

    -The crystal tower that appeared this time is a very weak one. So you can destroy it by only damaging it a little.

    ¨C There is no time limit.]

    As soon as the message was over, three crystal towers suddenly appeared. They all looked exactly the same on the surface.

    Since there was no time limit, I used Fly and scanned it carefully from top to bottom.

    ¡°No, this isn¡¯t what I want. I wish a monster coulde out! This is only sheer luck!¡±

    No matter how hard I tried, I could not find any difference. In other words, all the three crystal towers were the same.

    Of course, I could not attack one of the crystal towers for a test.

    ¡°Oh my¡­¡± I let out a sigh unwittingly.

    This was totally beyond my expectation. I would certainly have not been disappointed if some huge and tough monsters had appeared or if I had seen the type of crystal tower that was durable and sturdy enough to withstand my attack. If that was the case, at least I would know it was beyond my power to destroy them.

    However, it really frustrated or even angered me to find myself relying on sheer luck against my will.

    At that moment, however, something white appeared below me while I was still floating in the air using Fly.

    Shuuuuuuuuuuung.

    Even before I stepped in to block it, something white exposed its huge body and rushed towards the crystal tower, or more precisely, all of the three crystal towers.

    Bang!

    All three crystal towers were smashed all at once, so I could hear only one sound despite all of them shattering at the same time. But that¡¯s not what was important.

    ¡°Hey! Why did you destroy all of them?¡±

    I shouted at the White Root because I had to pick and destroy only the real one out of the three crystal towers. Of course, I didn¡¯t rebuke the White Root anymore.

    I shouted because I was so startled by the White Root¡¯s sudden attack. In fact, I was helped so much by the White Root that I could not me it just because it ruined the quest this time.

    ¡°Whew¡­¡±

    Nheless, I had no choice but to have regrets.

    Besides, the White Root, which became more plump and waved its body from side to side as if it was fun to attack the crystal towers, distrubed my mind a lot.

    At that moment a message rang.

    [You have cleared Round 30.

    -You are now SSS grade. You will receive arge number of additional pointster.

    -You will move to Round 31 one minuteter.]

    ¡°Uh?¡±

    Of course, I expected a message about my failure would appear because I thought the other two crystal towers were fake when the message said there was a real one among the three crystal towers. As a result, when the White Root destroyed them, I thought not only the real one, but the fake ones were also destroyed.

    So I had no choice but to shout, ¡°You swindler!¡±

    The administrator of this quest was clearly making fun of me.

    Of course, there was no mention of there being fake towers in the crystal towers. The message only said I should destroy the genuine one.

    But since the message stated that I should destroy the real crystal tower, I assumed that the other two towers were fake.

    ¡°Whew¡­¡±

    I let out a sigh before I knew it, but my sigh didn¡¯tst long because I cleared the round anyway.

    So I had no choice but to approach the White Root that was still shaking its plump body, and exim, ¡°White Root, great job! Hahaha!¡±

    As soon as I said that, the White Root moved more excitedly as if it understood my words.

    After that, I moved to the next rounds where I had to destroy the Crystal Tower That Got Stronger or I had to take care of the mission of killing all the monsters defending the Crystal Tower when my attack times were limited, but I cleared the rounds without any big difficulty.

    For I could kill all the monsters within a very short time, or even during one second, as long as I didn¡¯t confront an invincible enemy during the quest.

    So I kept clearing the rounds one by one until I reached the final round.

    [You have reached the final Round 50.

    -You must destroy the real one among the six Crystal Towers to clear this quest.

    -The Crystal Tower that appeared this time was very weak. You can destroy it by inflicting little damage.

    ¨C There is no time limit.]

    In the end, this was a repetition of Round 30, so I had no choice but to agonize because I didn¡¯t want to cheat.

    ¡°Well, the nner of this quest must have known that I cleared Round 30, but¡­¡±

    For a moment, I had a lot of thoughts in my mind.

    So I shouted, ¡°Root!¡±

    The White Root appeared right away as if it had been waiting for my call.

    Then it charged at the crystal tower. After destroying the first crystal tower, it targeted the fifth and sixth crystal towers

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

 Chapter 409 - Advance Party (1)

    <h4>Chapter 409: Advance Party (1)</h4>

    The sound of the crystal towers being destroyed were heard in a row.

    [Congrattions. You have cleared all stages of the quest ¡®Destroy the Crystal Tower.¡±

    -Acquire S grade: 43 rounds.

    -Acquire SS grade: 5 rounds.

    -Acquire SSS grade: 2 rounds.

    -Additional points are being calcted based on your obtained grades.]

    ¡°Hehehe.¡±

    In the end, my quest challenge was aplete sess. So I had no choice but tough loudly. It certainly wasn¡¯t a difficult quest, but it wasn¡¯t an easy quest either, especially Round 30 and Round 50.

    While I was looking at the still wriggling White Root with a happy gaze, a message rang out. It was naturally a message about my reward.

    [You receive the following rewards for the quest ¡®Destroy the Crystal Tower¡¯.

    ¨C Arge amount of EXP.

    ¨C 3 billion golden rings.

    ¨C 700 remaining stat points.

    ¨C 30,000 coins.

    ¨C 2 skill points.]

    ¡°Great!¡±

    Whether it was a quest or an event, there were three things usually issued in the rewards: golden rings, stat points, and coins.

    Of course, it didn¡¯t mean I thought they were bad. In fact, I liked them a lot because they helped me a lot to achieve my goal until now.

    But obviously there were other things I liked better than them. In other words, EXP and the skill points that I asionally received. This time I received both of them as part of the rewards.

    So I had no choice but to shout for joy.

    But several more messages rang as if there were even more rewards.

    [You¡¯ve leveled up.]

    [You¡¯ve leveled up.]

    :

    :

    [You¡¯ve leveled up.]

    [You¡¯ve leveled up.]

    Even though I only surpassed level 1400, I saw a series of messages about my level-up as if showing off the dignity of arge, not small, amount of EXP.

    [You currently have the title ¡®Quest Master¡¯.

    ¨C Upon clearing a quest, you will acquire an additional 100~300 remaining stat points depending on the difficulty of the quest.

    -The difficulty of the quest ¡®Destroy the Crystal Tower¡¯ is being calcted now.

    : You obtain 300 remaining stat points.]

    Obviously, this quest was not difficult. However, even if it was not a difficult quest for me, it would have been absolutely impossible for other yers than me to achieve an S grade up to Round 50. But I achieved it.

    So it was not at all strange for me to obtain 300 remaining stat points.

    ¡°Hehehe! Check the status window.¡±

    I opened the status window with a smile on my lips.

    [Level: 1447

    Number of kills: 11784, Number of deaths: 0

    Titles: Only Closed Beta Max Level Achiever and 12 others.

    Health: 8,873,000 / 8,873,000

    Mana: 5,421,000 / 5,421,000

    Physical strength: 16774 Agility: 19241 Stamina: 67473

    Willpower: 46821 (+3000) Intellect: 88957 (+6000)

    Remaining stat points: 1180

    Remaining skill points: 2

    Traits: Iceman, Mutual Growth, God of Enhancement, All Buffs, All Debuffs.]

    My level increased by a total of 18. In addition, my remaining stat points were a whopping 1180, including 700 remaining stat points I obtained as the event reward and 300 stat points as the reward for Quest Master. And I even received two skill points.

    But there was something that caught my eye first, namely, the impressive status window that reflected all 3000 stat points I had obtained in thetest quest, not to mention the effect of my enhanced monster imprint.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡±

    In particr, I received those rewards after the White Root devoured the Fragment III of Origin. I couldn¡¯t help but be even more happy because they were like a gift I received unexpectedly.

    Anyway, I appreciated the rewards a lot, then immediately invested all of the remaining 1,180 stat points into Intellect and closed the status window.

    Naturally, my stamina increased by 1180 and my Willpower also increased by 590.

    Then another message rang.

    [The quest ¡®Destroy the Crystal Tower.¡¯ has ended.

    -10 secondster you will be transferred to your original location.]

    Along with that message, I felt as if my body was being dragged somewhere, and soon the main base of the Myongjin Guild located in Rodon Castle appeared.

    Instead of logging out, I headed to the level 1800 hunting ground Land of the Ancient Spirits.

    Clearly, clearing the quest perfectly was not a big deal for me.

    So much so that I didn¡¯t even need to be congratted when I cleared it.

    So I moved to the 1800 level hunting ground Land of the Ancient Spirits and continued hunting for a while, even using my AOE skills that I had to hold back on temporarily because I wanted toplete the blue ancient spirit trait.

    ¡°Ice Tornado!¡±

    Wheeeeeeeeeng.

    Flop. Flop. Flop.

    I continued to hunt for one week only in the level 1800 hunting ground Land of the Ancient Spirits. But I never felt bored while hunting. Rather, it was a sweet time for me because I devoted it to furthering my growth.

    But today, I went straight to the small meeting room without essing Revival Legend after breakfast.

    When all the major executives of the Myongjin Guild, including my father, brother and sister were seated, Director Sok stood up and opened his mouth.

    ¡°Thank you all for being here. First of all, watch this video. I will give you a briefing after.¡±

    As soon as he said that, a video yed on a screen installed on one wall.

    There were monsters and those surrounding them on the screen.

    I knew immediately that this ce was real because there were some in military uniforms, holding rifles, among those surrounding the monsters.

    Of course, this wasn¡¯t a very strange scene at all.

    Like the people in the video, the Myongjin security force consisted of those who achieved a reality actualization rate as well as those who were like soldiers.

    The video showed the fight between the monsters and those surrounding them. But it was quickly won by those surrounding the monsters without any big damage because of the clear numbers advantage

    At that moment, the video showed the ce where the monsters fell.

    ¡°Uh?¡±

    ¡°What the heck is that?¡±

    ¡°Why is there nothing?¡±

    The guys who killed the monsters were openly bewildered, wondering what happened.

    And those watching the video in the small conference room also started questions.

    ¡°In real life, if you catch a monster, you receive golden rings and coins instead of EXP points and items. But why?¡±

    ¡°Was the video edited by any chance? I wonder if the video was taken after someone collected the golden rings and coins.¡±

    Unlike the monsters in Revival Legend, the monsters in reality did not drop EXP points and items, but instead dropped golden rings and coins automatically.

    But those monsters in the video didn¡¯t drop anything like that.

    So I immediately asked Director Sok, the head of the Intelligence Department.

    ¡°Where is that ce?¡±

    As if he expected my question, he said right away, ¡°It¡¯s Hungary in the southwest of Europe. Of course, such a phenomenon urred in not only Hungary, but also in nearby countries like Romania, Bulgaria, and Ukraine.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    Of course, this was not a big deal, no matter how I looked at it. In other words, it was not a big eye-opening event. However, if something that they had never seen happened all of a sudden, it was a sure sign that something unusual was happening now.

    Maybe it indicated a pretty big change.

 Chapter 410 - Advance Party (2)

    <h4>Chapter 410: Advance Party (2)</h4>

    Anyway Director Sok looked around and said again, ¡°I can¡¯t pinpoint exactly where it started, but it¡¯s clear that what happened in the southwest of Europe is gradually spreading to the border areas.¡±

    Hearing that, my father asked, ¡°Can you predict any future changes?¡±

    Director Sok replied, ¡°I don¡¯t think so. The only thing that drew our attention was that the monsters didn¡¯t drop golden rings and coins, but they didn¡¯t be stronger.

    However, our Intelligence Department thinks that there is now that some other changes will not happen.¡±

    In other words, he suggested that there might be other unexpected changes that may suddenly ur.

    However, it was too early and rather unreasonable to try to predict the possible changes right now, so we agreed to monitor the situation a little more before wrapping up the meeting.

    After that, I essed Revival Legend right away.

    ***

    In Vienna, the capital of Austria, Europe two weekster.

    ¡°Thank you so much foring.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee.¡±

    I politely responded to Janssen, the Leader of the Steyr Guild representing Austria, who weed me at the airport.

    Then, I went out to the outskirts of Vienna, escorted by him.

    While we were moving, he briefed me about thetest situation.

    ¡°This happened about two weeks ago. I received a report that they saw a monster devouring another monster, but things like that had never happened, so I ignored it, thinking they must have seen something wrong. Besides, the one who gave us such a tipoff first was an ordinary citizen.¡±

    Obviously, monsters did not battle each other not only in Revival Legend, but also in reality, even if they were different species.

    So I nodded at his exnation without responding.

    Then he continued, ¡°After that, there were a few more reports, so we hurriedly moved to check the situation, and finally we found the monster in question. It basically looked like an ogre, with wings growing from its back and having four arms instead of two. It even had two horns on his head.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a monster.¡±

    Hearing that, I concluded it was definitely a monster.

    Guild leader Janssen immediately agreed with me and continued, ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. It was a monster. The moment I saw it, a chimera came to my mind. Moreover, that monster showed more power than a normal ogre could. The horns on its head emitted powerful electric magic. But the real problem was that unlike other monsters, it ran away immediately in a disadvantageous situation instead of trying to fight first.¡±

    ¡°Did the monster really run away?¡±

    I had no choice but to ask as soon as the guild leader finished exining, for there were no monsters that ran away from their opponents.

    If that happened, hunting monsters would be much more difficult than now.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s correct. We didn¡¯t think that the monster would run away because it was a monster, so we could not stop it. Besides, we never expected that the ogre would actually fly even though it had wings. Anyway, we scoured the ce to track it down. Obviously, it wasn¡¯t an ordinary ogre, and we knew that it became stronger after eating other monsters.¡±

    ¡°I see. Since you invited me like this, it means you have found that monster, right?¡±

    It¡¯s true the monster was dangerous, but I thought they would not have invited me to search for the monster together, especially when there were many others who could do it.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. In fact, we found this monster in a defenseless situation by ident. But we didn¡¯t attack because even though it is an ogre, we were afraid as it was in something like a cocoon trying to metamorphosize into a butterfly and escape its current form.¡±

    I didn¡¯t respond to him, who was slightly trembling while saying that.

    Soon we arrived at the empty lot outside of Vienna, and passed the wide fenced area into a hollow ground that had been dug deep.

    I could find something like a really huge cocoon, as the guild leader Janssen said.

    ¡°We found it by ident. So I thought I should call you before itpletely escapes from the cocoon.¡±

    ¡°Good job. Can you step back?¡¯

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    I had everyone including the guild leader step back first because I was going tounch an attack.

    ¡°Hmm¡­I don¡¯t have to save my skills.¡±

    It was a really huge cocoon.

    Looking at that, I seemed to understand why the guild leader was so scared.

    I felt as if the ogre would not be an ogre anymore when it really crawled out of the cocoon.

    So I quietly opened my mouth because I didn¡¯t want to hold back.

    ¡°Use Savant!¡±

    [The most outstanding stat among stamina, agility, physical strength, willpower, and intellect that Lumen, Asirante currently possess is intellect.

    -Current intellect value: 96,137

    -Intellect value is changed to 192,274 for 30 minutes.

    ¨C Savant goes on a 10 day cooldown after the retention time expires.]

    In fact, I didn¡¯t have to use Savant, but since I decided to kill the monster in its cocoon state, I used it boldly.

    After that, I used Ice Field right away followed by ¡°Ice Breath!¡±

    Bang!

    My most powerful attack hit that gigantic cocoon.

    The moment the cocoon was hit, there was a huge bang, along with a bizarre sound from the smashed cocoon.

    Puck! Pusheeeeeeeeee-

    It sounded like something was bursting out and deting at the same time

    A message rang at the same time.

    [You have defeated a monster mutant.

    ¨C You have acquired 100 bonus stat points.]

    This was an unexpected bonus.

    But I knew from the message that this monster was not the only monster mutant out there.

    At that moment, another message rang.

    The message was not about that monster mutant, but something that rang to everyone.

    [The event ¡®Advance Party¡¯ will start in 10 days.

    ¨C They appeared on the Earth and did not hesitate to take hostile actions.

    We¡¯re recruiting an advance party to travel to the area ??? to take revenge against them.

    The advance team needs to number at least 300 people, and if you can¡¯t form an advance party of 300 people, up to 3,000 people will be forcibly recruited.]

    ¡°What the heck is this?¡±

    Since it was a message I had never expected, I had no choice but to question it.

    Besides, I knew that those who went there never returned.

    ***

    Of course, the appearance of the ck liquid man was not a matter that I could afford to ignore because he was clearly different from those who appeared in Osaka, Japan.

    Moreover, the ce where the ck liquid man first appeared was in the middle of the stronghold of the Tgapa Guild that vanished after it was ruined.

    Of course, it was possible that the ck liquid man appeared there merely by chance. Even though such a coincidence was rare, it was still possible.

    However, it was very unusual for me to dismiss it as a mere coincidence, and in the end, I had no other choice but to start looking into the reason why the Tgapa Guild was ruined first before examining the appearance of the ck liquid man.

 Chapter 411 - Preparation (1)

    <h4>Chapter 411: Preparation (1)</h4>

    The Sayens Guild, which undermined the dying Tgapa Guild to make it copse faster and absorbed its forces, could not stop the tide of the situation.

    And the dying Tgapa guild reved the existence of the Judgement Key and the area o o o.

    In the end, the leader, his sessor, and other major yers of the Tgapa Guild used the Judgement Key to move to the ce called o o o, but never returned. As a result, the Tgapa Guild, one of the top five guilds in Argentina, was ruined.

    Anyway, the Tgapa Guild came to Myongjin with the Judgement Key, which was known initially to only a few of the Myongjin Guild members including me, but it waster revealed to the outside world atrge.

    So I could conclude that there was a 99%, or 100% chance that the ck liquid man came from the ce called o o o.

    It was in this situation that they were recruiting an advance party to visit the ce called o o o.

    Since this message rang to everybody, not just me, I could hear them whispering to each other here and there.

    ¡°If that ce is o o o, isn¡¯t that the ce where the ck liquid man came from?¡±

    ¡°Right. All of the 30 key yers of the Tgapa Guild, including its leader, did not return from that ce.¡±

    ¡°Then isn¡¯t it very dangerous?¡±

    ¡°Of course it is dangerous. To be honest, we could only block the ck liquid man because of Juyoung Hong. Think of what would happen without him.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Damn it! We¡¯re in a situation where we can¡¯t find any solution without him!¡±

    ¡°But aside from the ck liquid man, if the guys who showed up in Osaka, Japan, were just average yers, isn¡¯t that ce simply a hellish world?¡±

    ¡°You bet! I won¡¯t go there under any circumstances!¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t either. If you are not crazy, why would you go there?¡±

    ¡°But if we can¡¯t form an advance party of 300 volunteers, they said 3,000 people will be randomly recruited from among us.¡±

    ¡°I wonder if I can ever be selected.¡±

    ¡°I agree. There are so many people out there.¡±

    ¡°You never know, man.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve no idea. But I won¡¯t go there!¡±

    In my case, I declined their offer when the Tgapa Guild approached me with the Judgement Key because I didn¡¯t know anything about the situation.

    As they said, even if I went there and hid myself for 30 days without doing anything, I would receive a reward when I returned after the 30-day cooldown was over. Even though I knew about this, I rejected their offer. There were some reasons why I declined it.

    But the most decisive reason for it was because I didn¡¯t want to stick my neck out for nothing because my growth back then was definitely not bad.

    Moreover, if I was forced to confront the enemy anyway, I wanted to confront them only after I became stronger.

    The message distracted my interest in the monster mutants by mentioning the ce called o o o. But a series of messages kept ringing.

    [These are the rules for the event ¡®Advance Party¡¯.

    ¨C Exactly 10 days from today, a message about event participation will ring to all the members of the advance party who have raised even 1% of their reality actualization rate. You can ept or reject the offer, but if less than 300 people ept the offer within 24 hours, up to 3000 people will be randomly selected to form the advance party.

    -After that, all the members of the advance party will be transferred to the area o o o.

    However, there is a 30-day cooldown for you to return to the Earth from there.

    -If you die in ???, you die there and will not return.

    -Once you make the decision, you can¡¯t overturn it.]

    [This is the reward for the event ¡®Advance Party¡¯.

    If you participate in the advance party, you will receive:

    : An increase of 10 levels, regardless of your current level.

    : 1 billion golden rings.

    : 500 remaining stat points.

    : 10,000 coins.

    ¨C Upon sessful return to the Earth.

    : An increase of 50 levels, regardless of your current level.

    : 5 billion golden rings.

    : 2500 remaining stat points.

    : 50,000 coins.

    -For those 3000 members of the advance party who participate by being randomly selected, the first reward is not given because their participation is not voluntary. But if theye back to the Earth sessfully, they will receive the due rewards.]

    The rewards were pretty spectacr. Or more precisely, they were definitely huge.

    Moreover, unlike other events or quests that give rewards only after being cleared, this event gave an initial reward for only signing up. And the rewards issued after clearing the quest were even greater.

    But the reward was not necessarily good just because it was big.

    A big reward was the clearest evidence that the quest or event was much riskier.

    Since there were still ten days left before I decided, I stopped thinking about it anymore.

    Then I moved to the Myongjin Shelter after responding to the Sayen Guild leader Janssen who thanked me profusely.

    In the level 1800 hunting ground Land of Ancient Spirits the next day.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    I kept hunting like before.

    What about the matter of the advance party, about which a heated debate is underway around the world? There were still 9 days left before I decided whether to participate or not. I also needed some time to get more information from Director Sok, the head of the Intelligence Department of the Myongjin Guild about the ce o o o in the alien world.

    But I had already made up my mind, even though I didn¡¯t tell anybody.

    The moment I expressed any interest to Director Sok in particr, he would inevitably investigate the event, convinced that I would participate in it.

    So I focused on hunting for three days, staying aloof from the matter of the advance party deliberately.

    In the small meeting room of the Myongjin Shelter the next day.

    Only a few including my father, brother, sister and Director Sok attended the meeting.

    When everybody was seated, Director Sok stood up and said, ¡°First of all, I¡¯m sorry. We tried to do everything to gather information about the ce o o o , but we could not find any valuable information.¡±

    He sincerely apologized first, but since all the people here including me expected it already, nobody med him. Besides, it was only recently that the ce o o o drew our attention.

    Then Director Sok continued, ¡°So we changed our approach to the event ¡®Advance Party.¡¯ In other words, we have decided to focus on how many will attend the advance party. There are two ways we can approach this. One of the options is for all of those who have achieved their reality actualization rate to go there because the event is open to at least 300 people. After all, you can¡¯t ignore the power of such arge group.¡±

    That option wasn¡¯t bad. It may sound very cruel, but having arge number of people also meant that the number of people who would survive would increase too.

    ¡°Then what about the other option?¡±

 Chapter 412 - Preparation (2)

    <h4>Chapter 412: Preparation (2)</h4>

    After all, Director Sok looked around, and opened his mouth.

    ¡°We at the intelligence department have concluded that it would be wise that the Myongjin Guild does not participate in the ¡®Advance Party¡¯ event as a whole. To be honest, only Juyoung Hong could confront the enemy before. While Juyoung was confronting the ck liquid man, we realized that the saying, ¡®Many a little makes a mickle¡¯ is not necessarily true. Even if they mobilized all the yers around the world who were weak, the ck liquid was stronger than them. Moreover, those who want to proceed with the first option, namely swarming with the advance party with mass numbers, would make it a condition anyway that Juyoung should protect them even if he was upied confronting the enemy. So we don¡¯t have to ept their stupid intentions to use Juyoung simply as their bodyguard instead of saving him who could be thest hope of all the people on the Earth.¡±

    Director Sok exined about the second option for some time, but nobody refuted it.

    He continued, ¡°Those who support the first option are generally those who move individually, while those who support the second option are mainlyrge guilds or groups. So I think most of them will support the second option. Of course, if those individuals who support the first option voluntarily participate in the event, we will thank them, of course.¡±

    So everybody in the room decided the Myongjin member would not participate en masse in the event. Some of them mentioned the idea of them moving with me, but others opposed the idea, saying they didn¡¯t want to stand in my way.

    At that moment, I, who had remained until then, opened my mouth.

    ¡°Let me participate in the event.¡±

    All of them agreed with my decision because they knew I was not stupid enough to make such a decision without thinking deeply about it.

    ***

    In the central square of Kotum Castle the next day.

    [There are currently avable skills that you can acquire.]

    [There are ice-type skills avable that you can upgrade.]

    There were two skill points among the things I obtained from the previous ¡®Destroy the Crystal Tower¡¯ quest. And I was a little worried about how to use them because there were so many things I wanted to do with them.

    But before acquiring new skills or upgrading, I said quietly, ¡°Check inventory.¡±

    First of all, I had quite a few things in my inventory.

    If I had to pick the most valuable things among them, I could narrow them down to four.

    [1 x 100% Enhancement Sess Ticket.]

    [5 x Ancient Cooldown Removal Charms]

    [1 x Additional Item Option Charm.]

    [1 x maximum skill level-up stone.]

    Out of these four items, I chose the maximum skill level-up stone, which I had obtained from making the almost abandoned Pioneer¡¯s City into the prosperous city Asirante after expelling the Gahwa Guild that upied the city for a long time.

    At the same time, I took out one item that I was currently wearing.

    [Functional Skill Ring: (Legendary)

    ¨C It is a functional ring that increases the performance of a skill.

    : No equip restrictions.

    : Enhancement is impossible.

    -Effect.

    : Select one of the skills you have and raise the skill¡¯s usage level by one.

    ¨C 30 million gold rings are required if you want to rece the chosen skill with another.

    : Increases the power of the selected skill by 10%.

    : If you select the skill that has achieved its maximum level, there is no level change, but the skill¡¯s power increases by an additional 10%. (Finally, the power increases by up to 20% by ovepping with the above options.)

    -Physical Defense: 500 Magic Defense: 500

    -Durability: 2550000/255000

    -Current equipped skill.

    : Blizzard.]

    It was Blizzard that reached level 9 after I chose it for the functional skill ring.

    With the functional skill ring I was using level 9 Blizzard, even though it was currently level 7.

    Considering that it took 2 skill points to upgrade level 7 Blizzard to level 9 Blizzard, this was quite a benefit to me.

    But I was not satisfied with it.

    ¡°I could make Blizzard Level 10 and use it with this. Let me try it.¡±

    To be honest, I agonized a bit when I acquired the level 9 skill Ice Breath after I reached level 1400. Besides, I had saved the maximum skill level-up stone for too long.

    ¡°All right. Let me do it!¡±

    First of all, I could upgrade level 7 Blizzard to level 9 by using 2 skill points that I acquired after clearing the event ¡®Destroy the Crystal Tower.¡¯

    Then it would be possible to upgrade Blizzard to level 10 by using the maximum skill level-up stone.

    But I had one thing in mind when I was intent on using the maximum skill level-up stone for, namely, Ice Breath.

    ¡°Use the maximum skill level-up stone!¡±

    [You have used the maximum skill level-up stone.

    ¨C You can increase the maximum level of one of the skills listed below.

    : Ice Ball.

    Increases level 3 Ice Ball to level 4.

    : Ice Bolt.

    Increases level 3 Ice Bolt to level 4.

    :

    :

    : Ice Tornado.

    Increases level 8 Ice tornade to level 9.

    : Ice Breath.

    Increases level 9 Ice Breath to level 10.]

    ¡°Choose Ice Breath!¡±

    There was one definite way for me to be stronger.

    In other words, I needed to make what¡¯s already strong much stronger.

    [You have selected Ice Breath.

    -Level 10 is created for Ice Breath, where there was only level 9 before.]

    The final level of Ice Level was 9. But when the message rang, level 10 was created next to it.

    Since I could only use up to level 9 skills right now, I could not use level 10 Ice Breath.

    But the functional skill ring made it possible for me to use it.

    That¡¯s why I could use level 9 Blizzard even after I just acquired it at level 7.

    So I clicked the current part of the skill to which I had applied the functional skill ring.

    [The skill you have applied the functional skill ring to is ¡®Blizzard¡¯.

    ¨C Do you want to rece it?

    30 million golden rings are required to rece it.]

    ¡°Rece it with Ice Breath.¡±

    [The skill you have applied the functional skill ring to has been changed to ¡®Ice Breath¡¯.

    -You can now use level 10 Ice Breath.]

    The minimum level for any yer to acquire level 9 skills was level 1400.

    As far as I know, no one has publicly acquired level 9 skills yet. But I could acquire as high as a level 10 skill now. Given that level 9 Ice Breath had an enormous power, it was evident that the level 10 skill would be enormously powerful.

    But before I went to test it, I chose to upgrade my skills because now that I had removed Blizzard from the functional skill ring, I had only Ice tornado, ice Punishment, and Ice Breath above level 8, which could be called the threshold for real high-level skills.

    [Do you want to upgrade level 7 Blizzard to level 9 Blizzard?

    -Upgrade requires 2 skill points and 25 million golden rings.]

    ¡°Upgrade.¡±

    So I used the two skill points to upgrade Blizzard, then turned around because I was now fully prepared.

    Just in case I was put in a dangerous situation, I had as many as five ancient cooldown removal charms in stock. Of course, I didn¡¯t want to use them as much as possible because I saved them to enhance the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword to +15.

    Anyway, I headed to the hunting ground like before.

    There were still 5 days left before the start of the event ¡®Advance Party¡¯, and I had no intention of wasting my precious time until then.

 Chapter 413 - That Name (1)

    <h4>Chapter 413: That Name (1)</h4>

    In the level 1800 hunting ground Land of Ancient Spirits.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    I have already done all the preparations for the event ¡®Advance Party.¡¯

    So I kept hunting like before because I had nothing to do but to hunt right now, and there were a lot who could monitor any unusual changes in the event on behalf of me.

    Of course, my family members wanted to double check if I was really ready.

    My sister said, ¡°Brother, you must be confident, right? I guess you must have some emergency measures just in case. I know this event offers you an enormous reward, but surely you are not tempted by the reward.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, Juyoung.¡±

    Starting off with my sister, my family members gave me advice one by one.

    They didn¡¯t actively stop me this time because they trusted me.

    They knew how strong I was. So I told them about the ancient cooldown removal charms and the level 10 skill Ice Breath for the first time.

    Then I exined to them casually, ¡°I have to confront this enemy anyway, and it¡¯s a good opportunity for me. I can obtain a good reward, and at the same time I can get some information about the identity of the enemy.¡±

    When I said that, my brother said, ¡°Phew, if I can have my way, I would like to go with you with others who can protect you, but I will give up since we will just bruden you. But if you think you are in danger, use that charm right away!¡±

    My sister then said, ¡°That¡¯s right. You know if you keep something too long, it will be useless, right? If something bad happens to you, I¡¯ll never forgive you!¡±

    I promised my father, mother, brother, sister and sister-inw that I would take every action to protect myself, then I made the final decision to participate in the event ¡®Advance Party¡¯ by myself.

    ***

    It has been exactly 10 days since the message about the event ¡®Advance Party¡¯ rang.

    Suddenly another message rang.

    [You have met the conditions for participating in the event ¡®Advance Party¡¯.

    ¨C Would you like to participate in the event?

    -Yes/No.]

    ¡°¡­I will participate.¡±

    Although I was a little hesitant, I did not intend to change my decision, so I chose to participate immediately.

    [You have chosen to participate in the event ¡®Advance Party¡¯.

    -Current number of participants: 37.

    -After the 24 hours of recruitment time is over, all the participants will be transferred to the area o o o immediately.

    -If there are less than 300 voluntary participants, 3,000 people will be randomly selected and transferred to the area o o o. ]

    [You are a voluntary participant of the event ¡®Advance Party¡¯.

    ¨C You receive the following rewards:

    : An increase in your level by 10, regardless of your current level.

    : 1 billion golden rings.

    : 500 remaining stat points.

    : 10,000 coins.]

    Of course, I usually received the reward at the end, and after clearing the event at that.

    But it was different this time. I received the reward, albeit only a part of it, as soon as the event started.

    So I felt as if the reward was like a ritual meal or bait before my death.

    While I was thinking about it, I heard another message ringing.

    [You have leveled up.]

    [You have leveled up.]

    :

    :

    [You have leveled up.]

    [You have leveled up.]

    I didn¡¯t care about the message because I knew it would ring, so I opened the status window right away, and invested a total of 600 remaining stat points consisting of the 100 I received from leveling up 10 times and the 500 from the reward into Intellect, then closed the status window.

    ¡°By the way, I can¡¯t do anything with 10,000 coins.¡±

    With the remaining coins I had before the quest and the 30,000 coins I obtained as a reward after cleaning the quest ¡®Destroy the Crystal Tower¡¯, I could increase my reality actualization rate by 2%.

    For the window of 131~140% of the reality actualization rate, 18,000 coins were required for each 1% increase.

    Since I had the title ¡®First Achiever of 100% Reality Actualization Rate,¡¯ the required coins per 1% were reduced by 2500, so I could achieve the 1% rate with only 15,500 coins.

    But since I had used up all my coins to increase my reality actualization rate by 2% to 137% before I volunteered, I could not use these 10,000 coins right away. So I just stored them in my inventory.

    Then I headed back to the 1800 level hunting ground Land of Ancient Spirits.

    There were still more than 23 hours left before the recruitment deadline ended, and hunting was the perfect way for me to relieve my tension.

    And I could always get a good sleep and break after hunting.

    ***

    At the main base of the Myongjin Shelter.

    ¡°Got it? Always think only of yourself alone. Don¡¯t ever feel anypassion for them.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, Juyoung. They are not participating in this ¡®Advance Party¡¯ event for something like sacrifices and service. They are doing it for their own growth and interests. And they have to take responsibility for their decisions.¡±

    With less than three hours left before the deadline, my sister was so nervous and worried about me, telling me to protect myself unconditionally.

    Even Director Sok agreed with her, stressing the importance of my safety among other things.

    Since I appreciated their genuine concern, I nodded at their repeated advice on ensuring my safety.

    To be honest, I had no intention of taking care of those who would go with me.

    Did I worry about their possible criticism of me because I moved alone without taking care of them after some of them sessfully returned to the earth?

    Not at all. I wasn¡¯t afraid of such criticism at all.

    Why? It¡¯s not because I waspletely brazen-faced, but because they wouldn¡¯t do any harm to me even if they did so.

    Anyway, I slept close to 10 hours right before the deadline was over, and I had a very good break, so I spent a great time with my family in the best condition.

    If I were in a really dangerous situation, I would use the Ancient Cooldown Removal Charm, but I would see them again anyway in 30 days.

    After that, exactly 3 more hours passed when a message rang.

    [The recruitment deadline of the event ¡®Advance Team¡¯ is 1 hour away.

    -Current number of participants: 11,774.]

    ¡°Wow, it is a lot more than I thought.¡±

    Initially, there were not many participants. But when the participant number reached the 1,000 mark, there was an explosive increase which ended up exceeding 10,000 in an instant.

    ¡°It looks like more joined because they think they have more chances of surviving when there are more participants.¡±

    ¡°I agree,¡± I said, nodding at Director Sok¡¯sment.

    Then another hour passed, and the message rang again on time.

    [The final number of participants in the event ¡®Advance Party¡¯ is 13,821.

    -All of them will be transferred to the area o o o immediately.]

    As soon as the message rang, I felt as if I was being dragged somewhere, so I immediately waved to my family with a wide smile on my lips.

    No matter how much I convinced them that I would return to the earth safely, my family members would have no choice but to worry about my safety.

 Chapter 414 - That Name (2)

    <h4>Chapter 414: That Name (2)</h4>

    Wheeeeeeeeeng-

    The first thing I saw was a barren field.

    Shuuuuuuung. Shuuuuuuuung. Shuuuuuung.

    At the same time, lots of people who came here with me also appeared.

    As soon as I saw them, I immediately donned a hat and a mask because I didn¡¯t have to tell them I was here too.

    Shortly afterwards, a message rang with 10,000 people packing the surroundings around me.

    [This is Kuhana. .

    -There are certain rules you must follow since you havee here as the advance party to take revenge on those who take hostile actions against the Earth.

    : You must get rid of at least 10 enemies per day.

    -If you fail to kill at least 10 enemies assigned to you per day, you will be considered as not fulfilling your role as the advance party, so you will die immediately.

    -Even if you kill more than 10 enemies per day, it only fulfils your assignment for that day. You still have to kill at least 10 enemies the next day.

    -You will fulfil your role if you kill more than 10 enemies per day, but if you kill more enemies than those assigned to you, it will be counted as bonus points, and you will receive extra rewards when you sessfully return to the earth.

    :You can leave Kuhana and return to the original location by using the ¡®return¡¯mand.

    -However, as of now, all the members of the Advance Party will be given a 30-day cooldown before you can use the ¡®Return¡¯mand.]

    Finally, I gleaned a piece of valuable information about the ce that used to be called o o o. It was now revealed to have the name Kuhana. Moreover, I seemed to understand why the Tgapa Guild members could not return to the Earth.

    I had the impression that they were also given the mission of killing at least 10 enemies unconditionally per day like us. In other words, it was fundamentally impossible for them to quietly hide for the 30 days as they had originally nned.

    10 enemies per person was never a small number as long as the enemies were not monsters.

    No wonder they began toin as soon as they confirmed the message.

    ¡°What the heck is this? In the end, we have to fight them unconditionally, right?¡±

    ¡°Damn it! I thought it would be okay just to stay in hiding here! Oh my God!¡±

    ¡°I should have noticed why the giant guilds and groups stayed silent about this event!¡±

    ¡°You bet! They must have found out about it in advance!¡±

    Amotion broke out among them right away.

    Obviously the message mentioned a 30-day cooldown, but it didn¡¯t mention anything about the mission that they should kill at least 10 enemies per day.

    At that moment, somebody stepped forward and started speaking.

    ¡°Everyone, please calm down. We¡¯re here in the end, and now that we can¡¯t change our decision, we have to work together. That way we can increase our survival rate!¡±

    If there is a group, there is bound to be a leader who leads the group.

    If there is no leader, the first thing the group has to do is select their leader.

    That was the case with this group, too.

    Aside from the guy who drew their attention by shouting loudly, there were a couple of others who also raised their voices to draw their attention. Faced with the fact that they came to a more dangerous ce than they thought, the crowds were prepared to rely on their chosen leader out of anxiety and fear.

    Even though I made up my mind to act alone in advance, I became even more convinced to do so after watching them wrangling over their safety. In other words, I decided to move separately from them.

    Of course, it was true that the more they numbered, the more advantageous they were in certain situations. That was usually the case for the weak.

    But the people here numbered over 10,000, or more precisely,13,821.

    They needed to kill a total of 140,000 enemies just to survive every day. Given that they were trapped here for 30 days, the number of enemies they needed to kill would umte exponentially.

    In other words, they had no time to lose because the event had already started. And it was not necessarily good to build up their muscles in this situation because they needed to find more enemies anyway. Of course, not all of them were foolish because quite a few of them already began to prepare seriously. They were ready to fight the enemies by themselves instead of relying on sheer luck. So I had no choice but to cheer for them since they were seriously prepared.

    But I had no intention of getting involved in their matters any more than that.

    If they survived and returned to Earth, it would obviously be helpful from a global perspective, but that didn¡¯t mean I came here to take care of them as their ¡®babysitter.¡¯

    Moreover, the fiercer I fight here, the more it will help them in the end because it will distract the enemies attention away from them.

    Of course, I was not sure if they would recognize my invisible efforts, but I had no intention of having them recognize it, so I also got ready to fight.

    ¡°First, let me divide you ording to your reality actualization rate. If your rate is over 50%, please move over here. If your rate is over 30% and 40%, move over there. And if your rate is below 10% and 20%, stand at the end of the line. If your rate is much higher than what I mentioned, I¡¯ll treat you ordingly,¡± said the leader of the group.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t want to move along with these stupid guys who tried to group them together ording to their reality actualization rate in a situation where they should simply focusing on surviving day by day.

    So I moved away from them, and used Blink with zero cooldown to look around carefully. But then an unexpected message rang.

    [As a member of the ¡®Advance Party¡¯, you are the first who has escaped the 24-hour safety zone in Kuhana.

    ¨C You are rewarded for your outstanding courage and fighting spirit.

    : You have obtained 1000 remaining stat points.]

    ¡°Oh my¡­¡±

    I never expected this kind of message. Of course I liked this message that rang as if it weed me in this event because it could mean the smooth start of my journey here. At the same time, I opened the status window and invested all 1000 remaining stat points in intellect.

    So I started to move.

    A littleter, I found out some information about this ce. In other words, I knew that monsters existed here too. Moreover, they dropped coins as well as golden rings.

    In that respect, they were not much different from the monsters on the earth.

    I confronted those monsters shortly afterwards.

    Even though they were also my enemies, I didn¡¯t have any particr feelings towards them.

    But other guys present were different.

    ¡°Ugh! Invaders!¡±

    ¡°Howe they are here?¡±

    ¡°Attack! You must kill him!¡±

    There were seven men and women.

    To be honest, their looks were not much different from us just like those who appeared before America¡¯s Holdridge Group, or in Osaka, Japan.

    Of course, they were different from the ck liquid man.

    Anyway, I wasn¡¯t hostile to them, but they charged at me like those who appeared in Japan and America as if they had met their mortal enemy.

    ng! ng! ng!

    [...]

    None of their swords, spears and arrows prated my body, not to mention their scary thunder.

    Watching them attack me, I opened my mouth nonchntly.

    ¡°Anybody here wants to share some information with this intruder?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

 Chapter 415 - That Name (3)

    <h4>Chapter 415: That Name (3)</h4>

    No one answered. So I immediately opened my mouth again.

    ¡°Phew. I don¡¯t know when I¡¯ll meet someone who can give me the information I want. Ice Wave!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Kheeeeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Khuuuuuuuk!¡±

    Since this was the first day I got here, I didn¡¯t think I could get any valuable information.

    I could not say I met a lot of people here, but all of those I had met didn¡¯t give me any good information. Moreover, I didn¡¯t want to bepassionate toward them.

    Even though I didn¡¯t assume they were my enemies, they regarded me as their enemy, so I didn¡¯t want to toy with the idea that it would be better to solve the problem through dialogue on the possibility that they might really not be my enemy..

    ***

    There was something I didn¡¯t know before, but I now know it clearly.

    In other words, if I want to do something, I should do it right, and if I don¡¯t want to do it, I should just not do it at all. A half-baked approach was the worst that would lead to nothing.

    In fact, it would bring me some unintended consequences if I did something half-heartedly. It would have been better if I had not dabbled in it from the beginning.

    So I reassured myself as soon as I came here that no matter how simr my enemies looked to me, they were just monsters who could help me grow by dropping EXP, golden rings as well as coins if I hunted them.

    Of course, more precisely, they didn¡¯t drop EXP or items because I was in reality, but since the reward upon clearing the event was so huge, I didn¡¯t care about it.

    So I tranted my reassurance into action.

    ¡°Fire Arrow!¡±

    ¡°Thorn of Pain!¡±

    :

    ¡°Biting Wind of Wind Spirit!¡±

    ¡°Rise, Sand Giant!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    Without any hesitation, Iunched an attack against the enemies that charged at me.

    ¡°Blizzard!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Kheeeeeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    ¡°Man, this intruder is so strong!¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t stop him! Contact the Regr District, oh no, contact the Major District!¡±

    If there was another valuable thing I learned here, it was that I didn¡¯t necessarily have to appease or interrogate my opponent to find out what I wanted. My enemies began to leak some sort of information in one way or another while feeling helpless and frustrated when they were overwhelmed by my power.

    I put together bits and pieces they dropped from their exmations, which ended up being valuable information for me. In addition to this growing information, there was something else that I also umted.

    [You have seeded in your daily quote of getting rid of 10 opponents.

    -You have umted additional points by getting rid of 356 more enemies than your daily quota. You will receive additional rewards when you sessfully return to the earth.

    -You have umted additional points by getting rid of 357 more enemies than your daily quota. You will receive additional rewards when you sessfully return to the earth.

    :

    :

    -You have umted additional points by getting rid of 402 more enemies than your daily quota. You will receive additional rewards when you sessfully return to the earth.]

    Every time I killed the enemies, the message continued to ring, and the bonus I would receive upon sessfully returning to the earth also continued to grow.

    So, I opened my mouth to express my gratitude towards the enemies who were copsing at my attack.

    ¡°Thank you for recognizing me as an aggressor to the end. I also want to thank you for not asking for my mercy and goodwill.¡±

    If they had begged for their lives, I would have paid some attention because I was not a cold-blooded person without mercy orpassion. However, even knowing that their attacks could not inflict much damage on me, they still hurled abusivenguage and rushed at me like moths to a fire. So I could not afford to be generous to them. I kept attacking them more fervently in response to them charging at me.

    Guys who were aspetent as the ck liquid man or those who appeared in Osaka, Japan didn¡¯t appear yet. With the exception of the ck liquid man who was totally in a different league, I was confident of defeating them even if those who appeared in Japan appeared before me now because I was much stronger than before.

    Anyway I kept moving on, but rather slowly just in case something unexpected might trap me along the way.

    ***

    It¡¯s been three days since the event ¡®Advance Party¡¯ started.

    In the Myongjin Shelter in Gangwon Province.

    Tramp- Tramp-

    There was a person wearing a mask who carefully patrolled not only the three main bases of the Myongjin Shelter, but also the outer bases around the three main bases. He was Jungdae Lim, the Chief Security Guard of the shelter.

    He was still wearing a mask because he could not yet reveal that he had changed into North Korea¡¯s Yuljung Kim because of the effect of Change, but he did not find it ufortable. He thought he could be of more valuable service to the Myongjin because he turned into Yuljung Kim.

    While he was patrolling, he said to his deputy next to him, ¡°We should absolutely make sure that nothing bad happens to the Myongjin Shelter while Juyoung Hong is away. It will be so shameful to see him if he returns to find our ce is a mess! So stay more vignt so nothing happens during his absence.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure nothing unusual will happen. As you know, this is the Myongjin Shelter!¡±

    His deputy was full of confidence, but Captain Lim stopped walking and looked at him sharply as if he disapproved of his attitude.

    Noticing his boss¡¯s angry expression, the deputy quickly said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry!¡±

    Then Captain Lim relented a bit, and said, ¡°Don¡¯t forget that they called the Myongjin Shelter as the Land that Summons Monster or the Cursed Land. There are people in the world who harbor hostility and hatred simply because we are better than them even though they have never met us.¡±

    ¡°Got it! Understood!¡±

    Anyway, Captain Lim patrolled in and outside the Myongjin Shelter without forgetting his duty. He knew that it was his duty and responsibility to defend the Myongjin Shelter thoroughly through Revival Legend until Juyoung Hong returned.

    He continued, ¡°On the day when Juyoung returns, I will give you guys a special vacation as well aspensation, so take care of our security guards well. Don¡¯t push them too hard!¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±

    Captain Lim didn¡¯t forget to encourage them with promises ofpensation for their hard work.

    In Madagascar, an ind country in eastern Africa around that time.

    A man was sitting on a chair in a gorgeous room, with his chin resting on his luxurious desk, while he was lost in thought.

    Then he opened his mouth softly.

    ¡°Obviously, this is an opportunity to harm Asirante in one way or another¡­¡±

    That man, or the leader of the Lucia Guild, thought hard about it for a long time.

    Then he remembered Asirante¡¯s fight against the ck liquid man some time ago.

    At that moment, the Lucia Guild leader realized that he was incredibly stupid to even think of challenging Asirante when he should not have. He once again realized that no matter how hard he tried, he would never be able to challenge, or defeat him.

    That he had seen a tree he could not never have climbed.

    [...]

 Chapter 416 - That Name (4)

    <h4>Chapter 416: That Name (4)</h4>

    The Lucia Guild leader felt frustrated for the first time. His frustration became deeper because he was firmly convinced that he was the hero in turbulent times when he saw his own power as well as that of the Lucia Guild that he created growing gradually by subjugating the enormously strong guys one by one. He was responsible for sending Asirante to Region 0 through Pablo¡¯s wall-prating skill. And although he killed him in person, he also used Matthias who possessed the ¡°Ancient Monster Summoning Energy¡± to make the Myongjin Shelter the cursed Land Summoning Monsters.

    As time passed, his frustration turned to hatred and resentment against Asirante because thetter had what he didn¡¯t have.

    But now an opportunity came along. Of course, he was not going tounch a direct attack against Asirante, but his family and those inside the Myongjin Shelter. And such an option was not bad because it would end up inflicting damage to Asirante, after all.

    So he quietly opened his mouth.

    ¡°Summon him!¡±

    At that moment, a voice came out of the room where the Lucia Guild leader was pondering alone.

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±

    ***

    It¡¯s been five days since I set foot here in Kuhana. During the past five days, I could collect some good information I wanted. I continued to kill the enemies whenever I had a chance to, or if I didn¡¯t see them, I actively tried to hunt them. The more I hunted here, the stronger I grew, while the enemies got weaker and weaker.

    Moreover, the system would calcte each extra enemy and add it to mypensation. In other words, if I had no other choice but to get rid of them, I had to kill them as many as possible because I would not have another chance like thister.

    Based on the information I got for the past five days, I discovered that this ce was a strictly hierarchical society. Each of them had a residency number.

    For example, residences 1-10 were called the Royal District.

    Residences 11-50 were called the Major District.

    Residences 51-150 were called the Regr District.

    Residences 151 ¨C 300 were called the Rookie District.

    Of course, there were also other areas for those in the 400s and 500s, and even beyond 1000s, but those who were treated well were those within the 300s.

    Basically, there was no title for the residences for those whose residence numbers were over 300.

    As a rule, one Royal District managed from three to ten Major Districts, which in turn managed some Regr and Rookie Districts. It was exactly a pyramid-style system.

    And about 14,000 people who participated in this event called ¡®Advance Team¡¯ that I belonged to were currently in the jurisdiction of the 7th Royal District that managed 13 Rookie Districts, 8 Regr Districts and four Major Districts.

    Moreover, the ruler of the 7th Royal District, who reigned like a king, was a person called Fashant, the incarnation of the Spirit King. If I had to be precise, only Royal Districts 1-4 were truly ¡°royal¡±, and the rest of them were more or less the same. Simr ranking existed for the Major, Regr and Rookie districts, but I didn¡¯t want to care about such differences too much because I already found a lot of information about them.

    ¡°Alright. Since I stormed the 277th Rookie District yesterday, let me target a better district today.¡±

    As soon as I said that, I used Blink with zero cooldown. Then I used Fly right away, before continuing to move using Blink with zero cooldown. Perhaps because of my crazy actions like this, the enemies did not seem to be able toe to their senses even after I fought them for five days. Obviously, they could not figure out where I was darting in and out from.

    By the time I was done teleporting, I saw a huge residence area before my eyes.

    Based on my experience until now, I immediately discovered that it was the residence area for those who fell into the Regr District.

    Since this ce was a strict hierarchical society, the best and most morous things belonged to those in the Royal District, followed by those in the Major, Regr and Rookie districts. Because of this, those in the lower districts could never afford more luxuries than those in the higher districts. What if they want to be extravagant? There was only one way. In other words, they could move to the higher district by getting stronger.

    Anyway, I¡¯ve found the perfect target today, so I gentlynded using Blink with zero cooldown on the Regr District, which was higher ranked than the Rookie District that I targeted yesterday.

    ¡°?¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    Of course, those who saw me appearing out of the blue were bewildered.

    But I was neither embarrassed nor surprised, so I opened my mouth straight away.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasasak!

    ¡°Kheeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Khuuuuuuuk!¡±

    ¡°Enemy!¡±

    ¡°Damn it! I heard that the invader was in the 277th Rookie District on the opposite side yesterday. Howe he is here today?¡±

    ¡°Report it to Fashant in the 7th Royal District!¡±

    ¡°Detain him until Fashant reveals himself!¡±

    ¡°Soaring Fire Pir!¡±

    ¡°Biting Wind of the Wind Spirit!¡±

    :

    :

    ¡°Biting Wind of the Wind Spirit!¡±

    ¡°Breath of Destruction.¡±

    ¡°Power Shot!¡±

    I have already be notorious among them because I had been ravaging their areas for the past five days. So they greeted me furiously.

    Even if they lived in the Regr District, higher than the Rookie District, they were inevitably inferior to me. And I came to realize that those who appeared in Osaka, Japan belonged to this Regr District. Even at that time, they could only copse being unable to resist my attacks. And I was now iparably stronger than before.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    ¡°Kheeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Khuuuuuuuk!¡±

    ¡°It is impossible for us to capture the enemy by ourselves. Contact not only Fashant but also the Major District for help!¡±

    ¡°Everyone, hang in there! The invader is so nimble that he can move quickly everywhere! If we miss him we never know how we can catch him!¡±

    They kept copsing at my attack, but they still didn¡¯t stop charging at me.

    If I had been weak-minded, I would have gotten cold feet even though I was overwhelming them.

    But I kept attacking them without blinking an eye, using not only Blizzard and Ice Tornado, but also Ice Ball and Ice Bolt.

    I didn¡¯t feel that alone was enough, so I took out the + 8 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword backed by level 3 Ice Weapon, and prated into the heart of the enemies. Then I wielded the sword at them directly.

    Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Kheeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Khuuuuuuuk!¡±

    I was in ecstasy killing them, or more precisely, this was like hunting.

    I was so absorbed into hunting them like a wolf that generously poured all its abilities and efforts into hunting a single sheep.

    At that moment, I felt some powerful energy behind me.

    ¡°Blink.¡±

    Bang!

    No matter how powerful the energy was, I was not weak enough to be thrown away by the enemy¡¯s powerful strike. But I didn¡¯t want to allow for such an attack, so I avoided it using Blink immediately. Then I encountered a strange creature before me.

    His face was as cold as ice, or it was really ice itself. His body was on fire, his legs were made of earth, and his arms were made of wind.

    Then this creature opened its mouth.

    ¡°What rtionship do you have with Jiwon Lee?¡±

 Chapter 417 - That Name (5)

    <h4>Chapter 417: That Name (5)</h4>

    You can usually glean a lot of information from a person just by hearing their name. For example, names like Smith and Johnson conjure up the image of Americans, while Mariana or Antonio are easily associated with Latin-Americans, Xuan is a Chinese name and Oizuki or Oitsuki are Japanese names.

    In that respect, the name Jiwon Lee must be the name of someone from South Korea where I came from , or North Korea. But that name itself was not unusual or rare. It was a verymon name. So much so that at least one of the 100 people with the surname Lee had that name.

    So I could not help but be bewildered to hear that name from this guy Fashant who was the king of this Royal District that managed 13 Rookie districts, 8 Regr districts, and 4 Major districts.

    ¡®Who the hell is Jiwon Lee?¡¯

    I was also curious about that name, so I thought of pretending to know so I could obtain some more information naturally.

    But if I conversed with this guy a little more, he would discover that I knew almost nothing about Jiwon Lee and was simply talking nonsense.

    Anyway, I could not figure out who Jiwon Lee was or what kind of capabilities this person had. Even the intelligence department of the Myongjin Guild had never reported that name to me before.

    Even though I could not definitely say this guy was the absolute ruler here, I did not want to look like a liar from the beginning to Fahsant, who was called the incarnation of the Spirit King and was one of the strongest here.

    So I said casually, ¡°Well, I can¡¯t say I¡¯m close to that person, but I think I may recognize that person¡¯s face¡­¡±

    Perhaps I might have seen that person in question. Even though I didn¡¯t know that person directly, I might havee across a person by that name at least once during my life. Even if I might not have passed by them on the street, I might have seen them on various media such as on TV or in newspapers because this name was not verymon.

    In other words, what I said was not aplete lie.

    But the guy reacted negatively.

    [You don¡¯t know.]

    Obviously, he might have realized I was trying to deceive him. Or he might have been surprised at my fast reply.

    But I shrugged at his response, raising my arms and shoulders slightly, and made a strange gesture as if I didn¡¯t know what he was talking about because I didn¡¯t have to admit I was caught lying.

    [Alright, I don¡¯t think you know him because he has lost all his power. So he couldn¡¯t contact anybody in advance. By the way, who the hell are you?]

    ¡°Juyoung Hong.¡±

    Of course, I knew he wasn¡¯t just asking for my real name. But I just answered with an innocent expression as if I didn¡¯t know anything. Then he opened his mouth again with a slight frown as if that wasn¡¯t the answer he wanted to hear.

    [Alright. You don¡¯t need to know. Unexpected things can always happen, and what happened this time was such an example. That means if I take out the unexpected variable, things will go back to the original condition.]

    ¡°Well, do you think that¡¯s possible?¡±

    If I name the strongest person I¡¯ve ever confronted, it was the ck liquid man that I have got rid of recently. While I was fighting him, I used all my avable skills, even including my limited skill and hidden weapon, ¡®Savant¡¯.

    By the time the tide of the battle turned in my favor my health was less than 30%.

    Of course, it might not matter because I defeated him at the end of the day, but considering my immunity to all debuffs thanks to my trait, ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs,¡¯ a whopping 70,000 stamina, plus more than 8 million health and the top 0.001% of items, I suffered huge damage during the fight. Moreover, I had a 10% reduction in all iing damage from imprinting the Titan trait.

    But this guy standing before me made me sense the same kind of ominous feelings as when I confronted the ck liquid man. To be honest, I felt he was stronger than the ck liquid man.

    So lots of thoughts came to my mind while I was talking with this guy. For example, I was considering retreating for now. In other words, a strategic retreat.

    As a matter of fact, it¡¯s been only five days since I got here.

    Of course, I had a decisive winning card, my limited skill ¡®Savant.¡¯

    In fact, I used Savant to smash the ck liquid man who imed he was close to invincible by nullifying his ability to regenerate himself.

    But I didn¡¯t want to use Savant because I got here only five days ago.

    Of course, I used to make the case for using the winning card right at the start of the fight, but Savant was a limited skill with as long as 10 days of cooldown. So I wanted to keep it in reserve just like I was keeping the Ancient Cooldown Removal Charms in reserve.

    But I felt tempted to use it this time.

    ¡®Well, it¡¯s too good for me to give up¡­¡¯

    So far I¡¯ve fought enemies mainly in these areas that were not good enough to fall into the category of Rookie District, let alone Regr District.

    Of course, I had some reason to do so.

    If I had known in advance that this area consisted of four Major Districts, eight Regr Districts, and 12 Rookie Districts with the 7th Royal District in the center, I would have attacked the Major or Royal District first.

    More precisely, I would have tried to find and attack Fashant, the incarnation of the Spirit King in front of me.

    In that case, Fashant would be totally unprepared and would have to confront me without knowing anything about me or my capabilities which would have increased my odds of victory.

    But I didn¡¯t know anything about the Royal District or the other areas in advance. I only came to know about it by obtaining information little by little while fighting the enemies here.

    Then Fashant suddenly appeared in front of me, but it was definitely a good opportunity for me because he met me before rumors about my capabilities spread further.

    When I faced Fashant, the ruler of the 7th Royal District, I sized up the status of the ck liquid human to some extent. He must also be the ruler of one of the ten Royal Districts. That said, if this guy was such a strong man, I would definitely have to kill him when I could because it would give me a big headache if he joined hands with the other big shots, even if it was not easy for them to do so.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t make such a decision because I could not afford to miss this good opportunity. I was also confident in defeating this guy, no matter what. I could kill him even without using ¡®Savant¡¯ because I was in reality, not within Revival Legend.

    This meant that I could make use of my reality actualization rate that was higher than anybody else. When I faced the ck liquid man in Argentina, my reality actualization rate was only 107%.

    Then, how high is my rate now?

 Chapter 418 - That Name (6)

    <h4>Chapter 418: That Name (6)</h4>

    My reality actualization rate reached a whopping 137%, including a 10% increase in return for the deletion of the level 1100 privilege of coin exchange. It was a whopping 30% increasepared to my previous reality actualization rate of 107%. So my confidence was not arrogance, because a 30% increase in my reality actualization rate was like the huge difference between night and day.

    At that moment, the guy opened his mouth again.

    [It¡¯s you, right? Yeah, it must be you. Even if he couldn¡¯t use all his capabilities as he had to pass through that narrow hole, it¡¯s never easy to defeat Basel, the ruler of District 4. I would call it a miracle to defeat him.]

    Basel was a name I was hearing for the first time, like the name Jiwon Lee.

    But I knew immediately who this guy by the name of Basel was. Actually Fashant who was now in front of me mentioned that Basel was the ruler of District 4, and that he could not use all his capabilities as he had to pass through a narrow hole. This meant that he could use all his capabilities here.

    So I said right away, ¡°Oh, you mean that ck liquid man? I didn¡¯t kill him. There are many more powerful people on the Earth other than me.¡±

    I bluffed like that because I didn¡¯t want Earth to look weak to this guy.

    But my bluffing didn¡¯t seem to have paid off.

    [Well, obviously the legendary Jiwon Lee put all his energy into making ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ and ¡®Revival Legend¡¯, but I wonder if he could have made more than two strong guys like you among those guys who yed Forgotten Legend and the current Revival Legend. No matter how strong Jiwon Lee was, it would be impossible for him to do because it¡¯s something he can¡¯t do under any circumstances. ]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    He mentioned the name Jiwon Lee once again. But his mention of the name this time was unusual because it suggested that Jiwon Lee was the creator of Forgotten Legend and Revival Legend. It was far from ambiguous. He clearly mentioned that Jiwon Lee made Forgotten Legend and Revival Legend.

    So I could not help but be more shocked than I was when I first heard him mentioning Jiwon Lee.

    Without caring about my shocked expression, he continued.

    [Alright. I think this is enough of a gift for you as I¡¯m going to kill you anyway. You¡¯ve been collecting information for a while. But you wouldn¡¯t get this information anywhere because it¡¯s top secret until Kuhana devours the Earth. It¡¯s top secret!]

    As soon as Fashant finished talking, something exploded right in front of me.

    Bang!

    And it wasn¡¯t just one explosion.

    [Wind Explosion! Explosion! Explosion!]

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Fashant, called the incarnation of the Spirit King, gestured a few times, and a series of explosions pounded my body that was floating in the air using Fly.

    The explosions were powerful.

    But I was not weak enough to be overwhelmed by the explosions.

    Not only had my reality actualization rate increased from 107% to 137%, but also my skills and stat points, the backbone of my reality actualization rate, had also increased considerably since I cleared the ¡®Destroy the Crystal Tower¡¯ quest.

    Besides, I got 1,000 remaining stat points just because I got out of the safety zone first after arriving here in Kuhana.

    But I didn¡¯t want to respond to Fashant¡¯s massive attacks right from the beginning, so I got out of the striking range of the explosions using Blink with zero cooldown.

    Then I counterattacked right away.

    ¡°Ice Punishment!¡±

    Bang!

    Of course, I had more powerful skills such as level 10 Ice Breath, which waspletely in a different league.

    I was confident that if I used this skill, Fashant would get cold feet and run away without even looking at me. So I saved it for use at the decisive moment.

    I was confident that I would instantly kill him if Iid out the AOE skills Blizzard and Ice Tornado, then attacked him with Ice Punishment and Ice Breath after taking away his health first.

    Of course, one thing that bothered me was that he was floating in the air like me.

    Because of that, my Ice Field and Multiple Thin Ice would be useless.

    But it didn¡¯t matter because I could make up for it with an increase in the damage of all ice-type skills by 7.5% as well as 6000 intellect and 3000 willpower from using the enhanced blue ancient spirit monster imprint.

    Anyway my Ice Punishment hit his chest urately, and at that moment, his ming body exploded right away, fully exposing his head made of ice and his two legs made of soil as well as his two arms made of wind.

    In an instant, a fire broke out in the gaping hole of his body that supported his head, arms, and legs, and Fashant returned to his original form. Then his body started emitting me again like before.

    [Uh? This is not what I expected!]

    On the surface, he didn¡¯t seem to have suffered any damage.

    But judging from his expression and way of speaking, it seemed that he suffered damage in one way or another. And that was enough for now.

    So, with a small smile on my mouth, I charged at him again, shouting, ¡°I haven¡¯t even started attacking you for real yet. I¡¯m sorry if you are already embarrassed like that. Blizzard!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    ***

    There is a saying that if you keep doing something, you will eventually get good at it.

    Generally speaking, this is true. But it is not true for most people or everybody.

    In other words, there are exceptions.

    At least that was the case with me.

    I studied really hard to catch up with my elder brother and sister in school, but in the end I failed. I studied really hard. So much so that I got pressure sores on my buttocks because I sat on the chair studying for such long hours, whichter scabbed over.

    I wanted to study as hard as I could, so I could not make the excuse that I didn¡¯t even try to catch up to them.

    But soon I realized that there were things that I couldn¡¯t fulfill no matter how much I tried, so I resorted to games while I was struggling in frustration.

    Unlike studying, the game always gave me outstanding results if I put in more time and effort, and the fruits of mybor didn¡¯t disappear.

    But the saying, ¡®You will eventually be good if you keep at it¡¯ was not necessarily true when it came to games, for there were various types of games.

    For example, starting with the role-ying game I enjoyed the most, there were numerous types of games including strategy simtion games and sports games. There were games that required extreme control, while there were games that required less control.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t look for role-ying games in the first ce.

    To be honest, the strategy simtion game called Summoners of the Gorge, which was all the rage at that time, was my first game.

    But I suffered defeat after defeat. That¡¯s when I first found out that I wasn¡¯t good at control games at all. Nheless, I kept ying games tenaciously without giving up because my sense of defeat turned into anger. I also didn¡¯t want to be ovee by frustration again in games that I considered as something like a way of life, unlike studies that didn¡¯t get me anywhere.

    In the end, I didn¡¯t make any progress in control games just like in studying.

    So I finally gave up.

    After that, I found a role-ying type of game that guaranteed continuity and progression, but the main reason I yed it was because such a game didn¡¯t require as much control as other strategy simtion games. Moreover, there was a reason why I chose ranged type and ice-types out of several role-ying games including ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ and ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

 Chapter 419 - Fashant, Incarnation of Spirit King (1)

    <h4>Chapter 419: Fashant, Incarnation of Spirit King (1)</h4>

    Since I wascking in control, it was important for me to strike first, so I had no choice but to opt for the ranged jobs. For the same reason, I had to choose a job offering lots of AOE skills less affected by control, and that¡¯s why I chose the wizard series rather than the archer among the ranged jobs.

    In other words, that¡¯s the reason why I was an ice-type wizard with more AOE skills than single-target skills.

    So it was me who was the result of the evolution of the phrase ¡®No matter how hard you try, you won¡¯t get anywhere,¡¯ when it came to studying or games.

    For that reason, when I obtained Mutual Growth, I immediately chose stamina as the stat that would grow together at 100% with intellect.

    [Fire Spirit¡¯s Wrath! Wind Spirit, give the enemy the Wind of Death! Biting Wind!]

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    But I didn¡¯t bother to dodge his attacks.

    Instead, I attacked with equal ferocity while leaving myself fully exposed to his attacks. If I was hit with a single strike, I returned with the same single strike. In other words, my attacks were proportional to his attacks, just like how I retaliated at the start.

    And that kind of attack method had never seen me losing to the other party.

    ¡°Blink! Blink!¡±

    Shuuuuuung! Shuuuuuuuung!

    If I felt his attack was stronger than I expected, I avoided his attack using Blink with zero cooldown because it was the stupidest thing to not use a skill I possess.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t use Blink with zero cooldown only to avoid his attack.

    I moved close to him using Blink with zero cooldown and wielded the +8 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    Puck! Puck!

    [Kheeeeeeeek!]

    The sword itself was already so powerful, so the stab attack with level 3 Ice Weapon added to it wasn¡¯t just a normal stab attack.

    ¡°Ice Wave! Ice Spear!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    The closer I got to him, the easier it was for me to attack him, so I could stab him much faster than before. Of course, he counterattacked since I used the same tactics repeatedly.

    [Ice Hand!]

    A giant icy hand rose from the air right away, trying to grab me.

    [¡­]

    But I already escaped its range using Blink with zero cooldown, then moved to the ground this time.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasasasak!

    An ice terrain was created in an instant.

    At first I thought it was useless because I was floating in the air like him.

    But I realized I didn¡¯t have to think so.

    I¡¯ve never met an opponent with a longer striking range than me, regardless of whether it was an archer or wizard. In addition, my trait Ice Man and the +8 Enhanced Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword was equipped with an option to increase the performance of all ice type skills, which definitely included the striking range.

    Anyway, Iunched an attack on my enemy from the ice terrain.

    ¡°Ice Rain! Pouring Hail!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

    He was obviously some distance from me.

    But, as expected, I seeded in attacking him despite standing far away, which startled him because he must have suffered a little more damage than before, no matter how small the increase was.

    So it was no wonder that he started counterattacking even more fiercely.

    [Soar! Wrath of the Land! Wake up! Earth Giant!]

    Obviously, he was mighty and strong, but I was much stronger than him.

    The more I fought him, the calmer I became. But he got more and more furious while fighting. While fighting against him, I even felt as if I got better at control. In other words, I fought really well as much as I wanted.

    In addition, I felt proud of myself because I came up with the idea of creating the ice terrain and taking advantage of my superior attack range rather than fighting in the air, something I could not think of in the past.

    Of course, his attack this time was quite unusual, so I used Fly again and reset to Blink with zero cooldown. If he managed to smash Ice Field, it would not be a big damage to me because I couldy it out again when the cooldown was back.

    [¡­.]

    But nothing happened. My Ice Field wasn¡¯t smashed, nor did it even crack.

    ¡°?¡±

    [?]

    Generally speaking, when words such as wrath or disaster were added to the skills as their modifiers, their impact was much stronger and powerful. In that respect, I expected Wrath of the Land to be pretty powerful, let alone Earth Giant.

    But his attacks didn¡¯t bring out the intended results.

    Seeing his shock, I knew something went wrong.

    But I seemed to vaguely know what happened.

    It was the roots that were always around me, which were underground.

    I could not exin this situation without factoring in the roots.

    But I didn¡¯t have to exin to this guy about the roots, so I opened my mouth with a smile.

    ¡°I heard that you¡¯re the incarnation of Spirit King, but it seems you don¡¯t know how to control the spirit of thend. If that¡¯s the case, are your legs just for demonstration¡±

    [Damn it! Fire Spirit, burn yourself and make this ce a fiery hell!]

    Obviously, my provocative words seemed to have pissed him off.

    His body started to be covered in fierce mes, but that¡¯s what I intended.

    Since he was full of anger, he would not think of retreating. The moment he felt he was driven into the corner, my level 10 Ice Breath would deal a fatal blow to him.

    ***

    While Juyoung was engaged in a fierce battle with Fashant, the ruler of the 7th Royal District and the incarnation of the Spirit King, something was going on in a shabby building in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

    Several people were talking inside the building. But nobody knew what this building was. The shabby building housed the general headquarters of Antgos, the top agency in the information industry that produced only the most credible and reliable information in the world. Of course, there were underground passages connected in all directions under the building.

    In any case, the leader of the Antgos Information Guild, Oliveira who had a cool mustache, was briefed about thetest status of the quest while sitting on a chair inside the shabby run -down building.

    ¡°It¡¯s only been five days since the quest started. As of today, there are 3,651 survivors. Oh, two more have just died.¡±

    ¡°Really? Over 70% of the people have already died?¡± Oliveira asked, as if he was shocked by the shocking report.

    His deputy continued, ¡°Didn¡¯t you expect it? In fact, there were so many amateur yers among them, and you expected they would notst several days. But the current survivors are well-prepared guys, so the number of deaths will decrease a lot in theing days.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    Oliveira didn¡¯t say anything, and just stroked his moustache. After a while, he said, ¡°You¡¯re sure Juyoung Hong is going toe back safely, right? Even if all others die, he will survive, I think.¡±

    ¡°Absolutely. I would even bet on the possibility that Juyoung Hong will win if he fights all the users of Revival Legend on earth by himself. As you know, all the possible debuffs don¡¯t work against him. Besides, he knows his own weakness, but he has ovee itpletely, so his power is so terrific!¡±

    Oliveira just smacked his lips at his confident reassurances because he totally agreed.

    They talked about the participants a little more.

    Then Olivera changed the topic at the end of their conversation.

    ¡°By the way, what about that crazy guy?¡± he asked all of a sudden.

 Chapter 420 - Fashant, Incarnation of Spirit King (2)

    <h4>Chapter 420: Fashant, Incarnation of Spirit King (2)</h4>

    But his deputy knew who his boss was referring to, so he answered right away.

    ¡°It seems like he¡¯s going tounch a frontal attack. He has already summoned all his subordinates!¡±

    ¡°Man, he is crazy! Damn crazy!¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t he crazy by nature? Such a guy believes he should be the hero, and that everybody should pay attention to him.¡±

    ¡°Then who do you think will win if the two fight?¡±

    ¡°If Juyoung Hong sticks with the Myongjin Guild, they are going to win for certain. Even that crazy guy of the Lucia Guild would not have dared to reveal his ws. Even though he is crazy, he wouldn¡¯t bring about his own death by challenging Myongjin. But if Myongjin doesn¡¯t have Juyoung Hong¡­¡±

    Oliveira asked again when his deputy didn¡¯t finish his sentence, ¡°So what will happen if Myongjin is not backed up by Juyoung Hong?¡±

    His deputy paused for a moment, then continued, ¡°Myongjin will be defeated. No matter how strong the Myongjin Guild is, the Lucia Guild led by that crazy guy is also very strong. So much so that many people even thought the savior of the Earth was that crazy leader of the Lucia Guild.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    Oliveira stroked his mustache for a moment.

    But his deputy continued, ¡°Then, do you want me to tip off Myongjin about it? I guess we will receive arge reward if Juyounges back to Earth safely.¡±

    But Oliveira still did not stop stroking his mustache while listening to him.

    So his deputy didn¡¯t talk any more.

    After a brief silence, Oliveira softly opened his mouth.

    ¡°Just leave it alone.¡±

    ¡°Pardon? Then Myongjin will be shattered. That madman, blinded by his jealousy, will never spare anyone belonging to Myongjin,¡± he said, stunned as if he didn¡¯t expect such a reply from his boss.

    But Oliveira said calmly as if he did not say something shocking, ¡°Superman left America to join the UN, and Spiderman also left New York to go to Europe.¡±

    ¡°Pardon? I don¡¯t understand what you are talking about¡­¡±

    ¡°If you look at Juyoung Hong¡¯s activities until now, he tends to only care about the Myongjin Guild and those affiliated with the guild. He shouldn¡¯t do that. How can a superhero like him care about only those affiliated with him?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    His deputy couldn¡¯t reply, or more precisely he didn¡¯t reply.

    As if he didn¡¯t care, Oliveira said, ¡°Juyoung Hong should act for everybody, not just his own people. So stay put. Just keep monitoring that madman¡¯s movements. No matter how strong he is, Myongjin is not weak at all, so he will suffer quite a lot of damage in the end. Moreover, if the Mirae Guild and Tugal Guild join hands with Myongjin, he will suffer much greater damage. In that case, we won¡¯t have any difficulties tracking him down.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±

    They wrapped up the meeting after making such a decision.

    ***

    Juyoung Hong appeared in the 107th Regr District on the 5th day of the event ¡®Advance Party¡¯.. Shortly afterwards, Fashant, the de facto ruler of the 107th Regr District and the owner of the 7th Royal District, also called the incarnation of the Spirit King, appeared. And the battle between the two was still underway.

    While they were fighting, not only the original residents in the 107th Regr District, but also others who began to arrive there after hearing about the duel, watched their fight from afar in a very rxed manner. For their king, Fashant, was the owner of one of the ten Royal Districts, and he had held that position until now for good reason.

    However, as the battle went on, the majority of them could not help but feel restless because they could clearly notice who was stronger, although they seemed to be on a par on the surface.

    It was not the intruder, but their king Fashant, who was being pushed back little by little.

    ¡°How could that intruder be so strong?¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t make any sense!¡±

    ¡°But why doesn¡¯t Fashant use the Earth Spirit?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s because Fashant and that intruder are fighting in the air now.¡±

    ¡°Are you kidding me? You say he can¡¯t summon the Earth Spirit while he is floating in the air? Then what about the Earth Giant, and Earth Spear he used before?¡±

    ¡°That thing is¡­¡±

    Most of them could not understand how their King could not use the Earth Spirit even if he was fighting in the air, so they had no choice but to argue over it. If their king was pushing the intruder hard, they could understand it, but right now their king was pushed back by the intruder, so they could not understand why he could not turn to the Earth Spirit as thest resort.

    So, as the battle continued, the louder their whispers became about their king¡¯s strange actions.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure about this, but I heard rumors that Basel, the ruler of 4th Royal District, was killed by the intruder.¡±

    ¡°Are you kidding me! The intruder can¡¯t be that strong!¡±

    ¡°You bet!¡±

    ¡°Especially the owners of Royal Districts 1, 2, 3 and 4 are stronger than the other rulers!¡±

    ¡°I know. But there was a bigmotion among the residents in the Major Districts under the control of the 4th Royal District whose ruler was Basel. Do you think Basel will keep silent about this, given his violent temper?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Nobody answered because they were well aware of the 4th Royal District ruler Basel¡¯s nasty temper.

    ¡°Damn it! I hope our king Fashant won¡¯t be defeated.¡±

    ¡°If Basel was defeated, Fashant might face the same fate, right?¡±

    ¡°But didn¡¯t Fashant know about Basel? What we¡¯ve heard are only rumors, but I think Fashant must have heard it directly. That¡¯s why he has confidently confronted the intruder.¡±

    ¡°I guess so, but¡­¡±

    ¡°Man, what a mess!¡±

    They kept whispering about the fate of Fashant, wondering if he could be defeated like Basel. They were watching the battle between the two nervously unlike their rxed mood at first.

    Of course, none of them thought of getting involved in that battle because they knew even if they tried to join the fight and assist Fashant against the intruder, they would not be of much help.

    In fact, the battle between the two was even simr to the fierce 7th fight among the Royal District residents in the past.

    ***

    I was still engaged in a fierce fight with Fashant.

    ¡°Pouring Hail! Ice Punishment!¡±

    Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

    Bang!

    [Ice spirit, descend and freeze the enemy! Snow Storm! Blow, Biting Wind of the Wind Spirit!]

    Wheeeeeeeeeeng!

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    I attacked him hard, while the Snow Storm and Biting Wind that he summoned also pounded my body hard. But I didn¡¯t avoid his attack because he also didn¡¯t avoid my attack. In other words, we were fighting ruthlessly.

    Of course, his head was smashed like a watermelon when he was hit by Ice Punishment. But ice began to form on his neck right away, then his head quickly restored to its original shape, just like his body was restoredst time.

    Normally, my fighting spirit would diminish at such disgusting scenes, but I didn¡¯t this time because I knew he was suffering some kind of damage due to my attack. And I was confident in destroying him as much as I could.

    Moreover, this battle was not a one-on-one duel.

    But then, he turned to his hidden weapon that I had never experienced.

    [Earth Spirit, raise your thick body and deal a strong blow to the enemy!]

    [¡­]

 Chapter 421 - Fashant, Incarnation of Spirit King (3)

    <h4>Chapter 421: Fashant, Incarnation of Spirit King (3)</h4>

    Even though he already realized that the Earth Spirit could not damage me at all, he summoned the Earth Spirit again as if he was not fully convinced. If I had been in his shoes, I would have felt the same thing because he didn¡¯t know why the Earth Spirit that used to work so well didn¡¯t this time.

    Even though he summoned the Earth Spirit, thend was still calm, and the Ice Field Iid out on it was as firm as ever. In other words, given my ally, the roots underground, this was a two-on-one fight which he could never win.

    I could not help but smile in satisfaction because this was my first time fighting my opponent with numerical superiority. In other words, my opponents have always had numerical superiority until now. Nevertheless, I always won.

    But this time, I fought him with numerical superiority for the first time.

    So I had to defeat him by all means, and overwhelmingly at that.

    Basically, I fought against Fashant morefortably than the ck liquid man for several reasons.

    As far as enemy traits were concerned, ice-types and fire-types were clearly advantageous for me. On the other hand, what I hated most was the wind-types andnd-types like Fashant.

    My trait Iceman had several other options aside from the 30% increase in the power of all ice-type skills. And one of them was that damage from iing ice-type attacks was reduced by 30%. In other words, if my opponent is an ice-type, he is like a rat before a cat

    And against fire-types, I was also in an advantageous position.

    [Thanks to the determination of the Ice Emperor that even the Sun God could not melt, you have a 20% damage reduction and superiority for all fire-type skills.]

    It was an option attached to the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    Moreover, that was the option when it was +0 Enhancement, but the damage reduction soared as high as 35% when I upgraded it to +8 Enhancement.

    Because of this, ice-type and fire-type enemies could not inflict any big damage on me from the beginning because 30% and 35% were literally tremendous.

    On the other hand, I didn¡¯t have much resistance to wind-type and earth-type skills. But now, even earth-type skills werepletely blocked by the roots.

    In other words, Fashant, the incarnation of the Spirit King, could only use wind-type skills among his vast repertoire of skills. Did his wind-type skills deal any fatal blow to me?

    Well, my Willpower was too high for such skills to affect me at all.

    In particr, by activating my enhanced blue ancient spirit inprint, I increased not only the already monstrous damage of my ice-type skills, but also my intellect and willpower by a whopping 3000. In addition to that, I was equipped with armor that was second to none. In other words, it was inevitable that I would win this fight.

    So I opened my mouth with a more confident voice.

    ¡°Hey, I just feel sorry for your desperate effort. Just stop summoning the Earth Spirit! You look too absent-minded today.¡±

    [Hey! Kill him! Hellfire that burns forever!]

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    I teased him provocatively to upset him even more.

    I knew instinctively he would copse soon.

    In the meantime, I used Blink with zero cooldown to avoid the hellfire.

    ¡°Blink! Blink!¡±

    Unlike this angry guy, I was very calm.

    It has been about 30 minutes since the battle started.

    I usually sized up my opponent during the first 30 minutes ofbat.

    In other words, I could figure out if my opponent was really strong enough to fight me or was just blustering, and if they were upset or just faking it.

    Right now, I could clearly see that Fashant was pretending to be upset.

    In other words, he was reigning in his emotions for good reason.

    He realized that he was not in a favorable situation like before.

    This was the moment I was looking forward to, so I started attacking him right away.

    I knew that if I dyed attacking him even further in the hopes of getting more information, I might ruin my fighting strategy. If one chases two rabbits, they could lose both.

    ¡°Blink!¡±

    Using Blink with zero cooldown, I moved straight to the ice terrain where I spread Ice Field.

    ¡°Blizzard! Ice Tornado!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Wheeeeeeeeeng-

    I turned to my two most powerful AOE skills at the same time.

    At that moment, as if he felt something ufortable, he tried to avoid me rather than charge at me like before. But it was toote. He should have avoided me well in advance.

    ¡°Ice Punishment! Ice Breath!¡±

    I didn¡¯t spare these skills that I had saved from the moment I confronted this guy.

    Bang! Bang!

    [Khuuuuuuk!]

    A huge b of ice and ice that blew out like the Milky Way, which was reminiscent of the legendary Breath that a dragon could use only three times during its lifetime.

    The ice of Ice Punishment was pretty transparent.

    So were Blizzard and Ice Tornado, as well as other ice-type skills. Even level 9 Ice Breath was also like that.

    However, in level 10 Ice Breath, there was a particrly golden chunk of ice that sparkled between the transparent ice surrounding it.

    For some reason, I thought that it was the ice essence of Ice Breath among all the other skills as described in my trait Iceman. Needless to say, its power was enormous.

    Anyway, Fashant was showered with my powerful barrage of ice-type skills.

    But I didn¡¯t just sit idle and watch nkly because I could not rule out the possibility that he might still be alive, so I moved right next to him using Blink with zero cooldown to kill himpletely. But there was no trace of him left except for an incredibly deep pit.

    Of course, there was also an apanying message.

    [You have seeded in getting rid of 10 enemies per day on the 5th day.

    -You have umted bonus points because you have killed a total of 25,877 enemies in addition to the daily quota. You will receive additional rewards when you return to the earth sessfully.

    -You have umted bonus points because you have killed a total of 25,878 enemies in addition to the daily quota. You will receive additional rewards when you return to the earth sessfully.

    :

    :

    -You have umted bonus points because you have killed a total of 26,011 enemies in addition to the daily quota. You will receive additional rewards when you return to the earth sessfully.]

    My level 10 Ice Breath inflicted damage even to those who were watching this fight at a distance. Of course, none of those within the damage range survived.

    But that was not important.

    I was still on full alert because even the ck liquid man regenerated to the size of a fingernail after a few hours.

    At that moment, a message rang.

    [You have made a ¡®great achievement¡¯ as part of the advance party.

    -You have killed a strong opponent in his own backyard.

    -You receive 3000 remaining stat points.

    -Your reality actualization rate increases by 5% immediately irrespective of how high it is currently.]

    ¡°Hahaha!¡±

    Of course, the ¡®strong opponent¡¯ here referred to only one person, namely, Fashant, the owner of the 7th Royal District and the incarnation of the Spirit King.

    But I didn¡¯t smile to myself for long because there were still so many people around me nkly looking up at me floating in the air.

    So I charged at them right away.

    Did I need a break? No way. I was still in a great mood forbat.

    Even though my opponent was strong, I was stronger than him.

    And I didn¡¯t suffer as much damage as I thought, thanks to an increase in my control power.

    ¡°Damn it! Run away!¡±

    ¡°Shit! Fashant was killed by him!¡±

    ¡°Avoid him!¡±

    I tenaciously kept chasing and charging at them to get rid of even one more of them.

    I knew that they would heighten their security against me after confirming that I killed their leader Fashant, one of the strongest among strong men.

 Chapter 422 - A Close Call (1)

    <h4>Chapter 422: A Close Call (1)</h4>

    The event ¡®Advance Party¡¯ offered a huge reward.

    Unlike the events or quests that offered rewards only to those who finished first or were ranked in the top group, the Advance Party event gave rewards to any participant who returned after staying there only for 30 days, so anybody who raised their reality actualization rate could not help but be tempted by that event.

    Besides, the event even gave rewards to even those who simply clicked ¡®yes¡¯ when they were asked about whether they wanted to participate.

    But none of the people here clearly knew how dangerous the event was. In fact, the message about the ¡®Advance Party¡¯ event even clearly announced that any participant who would die in the area o o o would die for real, as if to give them a sharp warning.

    This ce called o o o was the ce where the ck liquid man, an almost catastrophic creature that no one could have stopped if it had not been for Juyoung Hong, came from. Moreover, they were supposed to stay there for 30 days, which could be either short or long depending on the circumstances. But apparently, 30 days was a long time to stay there.

    No matter how huge the reward was, it could never be more valuable as one¡¯s life.

    So the giant guilds and groups gave up participating in the event because they didn¡¯t intend to go there at the risk of their lives.

    But there were greedy people who wanted to participate even though they were notpetent enough. Some of them aimed at making a big fortune by sheer luck.

    In fact, some of them considered this event as a lifeline given by God.

    They just naively thought to themselves, ¡®I wonder if I can be one of them. I¡¯ll be okay. I will be able to survive because so many people are participating this time.¡¯

    However, ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ was not lenient enough to allow such wishful thinking, and in the end, they were almost annihted in just one day.

    The problem was that they didn¡¯t die while fighting against the enemy, but because they wasted so much time trying to divide into factions to get rid of the daily quota of enemies.

    By the time they realized that they had to rush to find enemies to satisfy their daily quota, it was toote, which led to their sudden death.

    Of course, this was not the case with all of the 14,000 participants.

    There were obviously those participants or guilds that made the careful decision with a firm determination, and formed proper teams to challenge the event.

    For example, the Carnabon Guild from Australia was one of them.

    ¡°Did you hear that Juyoung Hong wiped out a whole Major District, not just a Regr or a Rookie District?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I did. Man, he is really crazy. This means he swept away almost one country alone!¡±

    ¡°You bet. Juyoung Hong got rid of not only the Major District, but also Fashant, the regional ruler of that area.¡±

    ¡°By the way, I just can¡¯t believe how strong he is! As you know, the owner of the 7th Royal District means that he¡¯s one of the strongest men in Kuhana here, right? But Juyoung Hong killed even that ruler¡­¡±

    ¡°Hey, why are you so surprised? He already killed the ck liquid man on the earth, who was stronger than Fashant, the owner of 7th Royal District.¡±

    ¡°Did you not hear what they said? The ck liquid man who used to be the ruler of the 4th Royal District could not use all his power because he spent lots of energy to pass through the tiny hole that led to Earth.¡±

    ¡°What does it matter? Anyway, Juyoung Hong killed him. And that¡¯s why our safety is guaranteed right now. To be honest, do you think we ignore the Rookie areas and invade the Regr areas without suffering much damage?

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    When one asked, the other guys who were exchanging their views about their daily quota kept their mouths shut. Obviously, this ce was swarming with the strong yers, so they would have been killed early on if Juyoung Hong had not dominated the region.

    ¡°Well, obviously all the Major, Regr and Rookie areas under Fashant¡¯s 7th Royal District have be quiet since Juyoung Hong appeared. Our enemies have also decreased a lot.¡±

    ¡°I agree.¡±

    ¡°I would run away as well if I were in their shoes. Who would stay here when Juyoung Hong has killed their ruler? Besides, none of them can defend against Juyoung Hong.¡±

    ¡°Man, this emergency puts us at a disadvantage when ites to scoring points.¡±

    Although they came here after careful preparation, they had no choice but to pay attention to the rewards because they participated in this event at the risk of their lives.

    At that moment, Taylor, the leader of the group, who had been sitting quietly until then, opened his mouth gently.

    ¡°Abandon your excessive greed. In the end, our ultimate goal was survival. For the remaining 21 days, we only have to focus on the goal of survival. In that respect, thank Juyoung Hong. He drew the attention of the residents in these areas and destroyed their districts that were almost like one country, so they didn¡¯t pay attention to us. Even though lots of our enemies disappeared, there are still enough of them for us to satisfy our daily quota. The situation is favourable to us now because the more enemies there are, the more damage we will inevitably suffer.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The members of the Carnabon Guild, who were discussing their current situation, did not refute their leader Taylor because it would have been impossible for them to have survived without suffering much damage without Juyoung Hong¡¯s brilliant performance.

    Besides, they could satisfy their daily quota more easily now thanks to the number of enemies decreasing.

    Anyway, the Carnabon Guild members moved very wisely, and so did most of the survivors until now.

    ***

    It has been 9 days since I came to Kuhana.

    During the past 9 days, Ipletely destroyed the 7th Royal District under Fashant as well as several Major and Regr districts just like the victor obtaining the loser¡¯s loot.

    It seemed that rumors about me spread so widely that several Major and Regr districts that I had not yet visited became empty and deste.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I think I¡¯ve got rid of enough.¡±

    Of course, I would obtain bonus points if I killed the remaining residents here. But it was not very worthwhile to chase down the remaining small number of people for a small amount of points. Besides, I was afraid I would annihte them if I began to hunt them down.

    If I did so, it would be difficult for those who are currently participating in the ¡®Advance Party¡¯ event like me to meet their daily quota.

    ¡°Well¡­ I don¡¯t have to take care of them, but I don¡¯t have to drive them into a corner.¡±

    Anyway, I got all the loot I needed to take, and I fulfilled my duty in this ce.

    So I decided to move on to another ce. Of course, I¡¯ve already decided on my next goal. The moment Fashant died and a message rang, my next target could only be one ce, namely, the 10th Royal District. More precisely, the ruler of the 10th Royal District because after killing Fashant, the ruler of the 7th Royal District, I obtained a whopping 3000 remaining stat points and my reality actualization rate increased by 5%.

    Aside from the remaining 3,000 stat points, a 5% increase in my reality actualization rate thrilled me so much because it was impossible for me to achieve a 5% increase with 10,000 or 20,000 coins, given my current reality actualization rate.

 Chapter 423 - A Close Call (2)

    <h4>Chapter 423: A Close Call (2)</h4>

    So, I even thought of fighting against the rulers of the 8th, 9th, and 10th Royal Districts, who were thought rtively weaker than other rulers instead of plundering the lower districts.

    But no matter how fast I was, I couldn¡¯t be faster than the rumors that were spreading by word of mouth. In other words, the moment I met them, they would already know about me. Or they might be waiting for me after setting a trap for me.

    Of course, even if they set a trap, it would not work.

    However, the traps set by the rulers of two or more royal districts, except for the 4th and 7th Royal Districts whose rulers were killed by me, would obviously be dangerous for me.

    Especially the rulers of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Royal Districts, who were supposedly the strongest, were particrly threatening for me.

    So I decided to pick up the easy loot because being too impatient would ruin my ns.

    ¡°Alright. Let me go ahead then.¡±

    First of all, I set the goal of getting rid of at least one more ruler of a Royal District. And I did not cae which ruler it was because any ruler would be enough to fulfill my goal.

    Of course, if the opportunity came along, I would try to obtain more bonus points by killing as many as possible.

    Anyway, I immediately jumped high in the air using Fly and Blink with zero cooldown, then kept moving west.

    Since I didn¡¯t have to kill the strongest rulers for now, I headed to the 10th Royal District whose ruler was known as the weakest.

    ***

    It has been nine days since the event ¡®Advance Party¡¯ started.

    In the Myongjin Shelter in Gangwon Province.

    Today the Myongjin Shelter was peaceful.

    No wonder it was peaceful because this was a ce where a formidable yer, mightier than any monster, lived. Of course, right now that yer has been away for a while. But there was nobody who would dare challenge Myongjin because all of them knew that he would return safely to the Myongjin Shlether sooner orter even if all the people who went with him were killed.

    However, no one knew that a group of people were steadily approaching at a distance of about 30 kilometres away from the peaceful Myongjin Shelter.

    They moved very secretly, and they made arge cave deep under the ground. And one person was sitting on a high-end chair in one corner of the cave.

    He was Umberto, the leader of the Lucia Guild.

    Umberto opened his mouth softly to the person standing next to him.

    ¡°Are they all here?¡±

    ¡°17 people haven¡¯te yet.¡±

    ¡°It looks like they don¡¯t want toe.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    His deputy, standing next to Umberto, didn¡¯t say anything.

    To be honest, he didn¡¯t like the way Umberto spoke.

    But he had no choice but to follow his direction since his life was at the mercy of this guild leader.

    So he said softly, ¡°In the end, they wille here like me.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha!¡±

    Umberto broke into a bigugh upon hearing that.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. When I¡¯m done with this project, I will set you free.¡±

    ¡°But if Juyoung Honges back to the earth, aren¡¯t I as good as dead?¡±

    ¡°Just beg for your life! Who knows? He may spare your life! Or you might want to live in hiding. Isn¡¯t it better than you living under my control all your life?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    His deputy didn¡¯t respond again.

    At that moment, someone suddenly appeared and interrupted their conversation.

    Guild leader Umberto just gave him a slight nce as he already knew that person.

    Then the man immediately opened his mouth.

    ¡°There was no one who would do it even for a zillion dors.¡±

    ¡°Tut, tut. They¡¯re too scared for mercenaries.¡±

    ¡°Well, our opponent is formidable. By the way, I made sure that they will keep silent about it. They agreed to stay put until we moved.¡±

    ¡°Got it. Stand by. We¡¯re going to attack the Myongjin Shelter as soon as these 17 cowards appear.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    Umberto was convinced that the 17 guys who had not yete would soon show up.

    They knew that they would be killed if they didn¡¯t show up, so they had to turn up and try to survive even if their chance of surviving after this particr venture was less than 1%.

    Umberto also promised to set them free if they yed a key role in destroying the Myongjin Shelter this time.

    Of course, Umberto had no intention of keeping his promise because he decided to ignore them from the beginning.

    Shortly afterwards, Umberto saw a group of people entering the underground cavity.

    As soon as they entered, he shouted, ¡°Move, everybody!¡±

    Umberto knew that even if his deputy made sure those mercenaries kept silent about his operation, they would leak it in one way or another soon. That¡¯s why he notified them of his operation only ten minutes before the nned attack of the Myongjin Shelter

    Anyway, 117 people and Umberto, the leader of the Lucia Guild, moved directly to the Myongjin Shelter with all of them with tightened expressions or frown aside from Umberto.

    Everybody would say it was crazy for the 118 people including Umberto to attack the Myongjin Shelter, but the Lucia Guild leader Umberto was confident of sessfully destroying the shelter because all the 118 people, including himself, were not just ordinary yers.

    Of course, there was one thing that Umberto regretted a bit.

    Just a few months ago, he killed Matthias in person, who possessed the trait, ¡®Ancient Monster Summoning Energy.¡¯

    Actually, he really trusted and recognized Matthias. Matthias was one of the top executives of the Lucia Guild which only contained the elite of the elite. But he was already dead.

    Umberto shook off his regrets.

    Instead, he sent a message on the guild chat window to encourage his squad as Juyoung Hong was still away.

    [Guild Leader: You should never lose to Juyoung Hong¡¯s family! If you can¡¯t kill them because you are scared about Juyoung Hong¡¯s revenge, just capture them alive and drag them before me. I will free the guy who can do this job sessfully, and give him 30 billion golden rings and 1000 remaining stat points as a reward. As I said clearly, don¡¯t ck off while fighting. I won¡¯t give freedom to anybody in the lowest 20% group whose performance is below my expectations. Alright, let me watch you closely. You guys also have to confront him who will want to take vengeance against you when hees back.]

    This was the message that guild leader Umberto posted in the guild chat window.

    Most, if not all, of the guild members who confirmed the message frowned.

    But they did not post any message to refute his words because they knew that he would not pay attention regardless of what they typed.

    At that moment, another message from Umberto rang.

    [Guild Leader: You may have to hide for the rest of your life rather than confronting Juyoung Hong, but isn¡¯t it a better choice for you? So think about it wisely. ]

    [Guild Member 37: You said you would set us free if we performed well. Can we trust that you will keep your promise?]

    This was the first response by a guild member to Umberto¡¯s message in the guild chat window. So everyone paid attention to how Umberto would respond.

    After all, his confirmation of his promise was the most important to them.

    But the guild leader reacted sarcastically.

    [Guild Leader: So what if you don¡¯t trust me?]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

 Chapter 424 - Dangerous Onlookers (1)

    <h4>Chapter 424: Dangerous Onlookers (1)</h4>

    Since the opponent was Juyoung Hong, all the Lucia Guild members were in a low mood except for their leader Umberto. But they knew that it was better to enjoy freedom even for a short time if they could not survive either way, so they chose to attack the Myongjin Shelter. Anyway, Juyoung was not in the Myongjin Shelter right now, and there were still 20 days left until he returned to the Earth.

    So they thought that if they were freed from Umberto, and prepared well for the next 20 days, they could hide away in a ce he could not find, for they were far from weak. They could even rely on some greedy guys to change their names and start a new life somewhere else.

    At any rate, they felt more gloomy after seeing the message of the Lucia Guild leader, but none of them stopped advancing to the Myongjin Shelter because they were aware that they could only be freed from their shackles if they died or Umberto released them.

    Not long after that, all the 118 members of the Lucia Guild, including guild leader Umberto, reached the West gate of the Myongjin Shelter.

    At the West gate between Myongjin Shelter outer buildings 13 and 14 at that time. The security guards were on full alert keeping their eyes on the road silently.

    Even though Captain Jungdae Lim, the chief security officer, didn¡¯t pay attention to them, they were full of pride that they belonged to the Myongjin Guild, the best in the world.

    At that moment, one of the security guards spotted a group of people approaching the Myongjin Shelter from afar. They seemed to number a little over 100 in his eyes.

    Of course, he didn¡¯t think such arge group was that strange because it was even stranger to go around alone or in a small group these days.

    But Sungtae Oh, a security guard who achieved a 19% reality actualization rate, felt ufortable about the group approaching them this time.

    What¡¯s more, he instinctively felt that this group of people looked more hostile than friendly. So he immediately picked up the phone next to him and reported to the control room that more than 100 unidentified and suspicious people were approaching the Myongjin Shelter.

    Although he reported the suspicious group to the control room, Oh thought he might be making a big fuss over nothing since this was none other than the Myongjin Shelter, and it was only a group of 100 people.

    ording to Captain Lim, however, there was still a good possibility that something unusual could happen while Juyoung Hong was away, so Oh reported to his boss about this unusual group then watched them closely.

    Soon he came to realize that it was a good thing that he reported it quickly.

    As soon as one of the gate¡¯s security guards approached the group, a dagger was embedded in his chest.

    As soon as he confirmed it, Oh shouted, ¡°The enemy has invaded! Close the gate and get ready to fight! Reserve forces, report the current situation to the situation room once again!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    At that moment, Oh felt grateful to Captain Lim, the chief security officer.

    To be honest, he wondered why Captain Lim had them go through a drill for emergency situations in the past, but he now realized that such training was really needed. But despite his efforts, in less than three minutes after his initial report, the magnificent West Gatepletely copsed, and more than 2,000 civilians and all 500 guards located in the West Gate were annihted.

    Since they were killed even without putting up any resistance, the invading army wandered while they were ughtering the Myongjin Shelter residents.

    ¡°Man, are they really Myongjin members?¡±

    ¡°Damn it! Why don¡¯t they run away when they know they¡¯re going to be killed?¡±

    ¡°Well, if this is the strength of the Myongjin members, I think we¡¯re going to suffer less damage than we thought when we confront their main forces.¡±

    Normally, everyone in the Lucia Guild would have been thrilled at the sight of the enemy charging at them recklessly because they didn¡¯t have to chase them to kill them.

    But the men in front of them were simply security guards. In other words, they were not the main forces of the Myongjin Shelter.

    Nheless, the Lucia Guild members could not help but feel uneasy about the fact that these security guards strongly resisted even though they knew they would be killed anyway. Moreover, there was one more thing that made them even more uneasy.

    Looking at the way the security guards responded to them, they could easily surmise that the main forces of the Myongjin Shelter would fiercely counterattack them instead of backing off.

    While fighting, the security guards shouted at each other.

    ¡°Do not retreat! Your family, friends and all our other brothers are living in this area!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s time for us to repay Myongjn¡¯s hospitality!¡±

    ¡°If we can keep the enemy at bay even for a second, we can give our friends enough time to prepare!¡±

    ¡°Waaah!¡±

    ¡°Myongjin! Myongjin!¡±

    In other words, the Myongjin Shelter security guards didn¡¯t hesitate to sacrifice themselves to protect the shelter.

    Anyway, the guild members kept advancing after breaking the West Gate, feeling uneasy all along, except for Umberto.

    ***

    The death of Oh and other guards at the West Gate, not to mention Oh¡¯s quick report, was definitely not worthless. Obviously, they resisted ferociously, which stalled the Lucia guild members for some time.

    ¡°Security guards at the East, South, and North Gates, don¡¯t move! Just stay there and prepare for their attack!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°Inform the ones who are connected to Revival Legends about this current situation, and gather them at the central vacant lot within 5 minutes!¡±

    ¡°Alright!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    ¡°All the reserve forces of the security unit should do their best to calm the civilians down and move them to the shelters immediately. All the other security forces should be fully armed and gather at the central vacant lot B! Bring out all avable weapons!¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    As themander of the security forces who had nearly 20 years of military experience and several years of mercenary life abroad, Captain Lim gave textbook instructions as soon as he received the emergency report.

    Of course, he was backed up by Chairman Sangman Hong, Chairman Hong¡¯s eldest son Kiyoung and daughter Suyoung, as well as Director Insu Sok, the chief intelligence officer of the Myongjin Guild.

    Since they had already been attacked once by the Lucia Guild, the Myongjin leadership led by Chairman Hong knew that this was the perfect opportunity for them to attack again if they had not yet given up their ambition to destroy the Myongjin Shelter because Juyoung was away now.

    Anyway, the Myongjin Shelter quickly prepared for war against the Lucia Guild, and arge number of people began to gather at the central vacant lot.

    At the same time, Chairman Hong said to Director Sok, who was next to him, ¡°Ask the Mirae Guild and Tugal Guild for reinforcements as soon as possible!¡±

    The enemy numbered just a little over 100. So those who gathered at the park might wonder why the chairman asked for their help, but Director Sok immediately moved to convey his order rather than questioning the reason because he knew the small number didn¡¯t matter as they were all Lucia Guild members.

    After ordering Director Sok, the chairman led his top deputies including Captain Lim, his son Kiyoung and daughter Suyoung out of the control room, then headed to the central vacant lot in front of the first main base.

    He knew that if they fought the enemy inside the shelter, there would be more casualties among those living inside the shelter.

 Chapter 425 - Dangerous Onlookers (2)

    <h4>Chapter 425: Dangerous Onlookers (2)</h4>

    Five minutester.

    Since the three main bases located in the center were far away from the outer buildings surrounding them, Chairman Hong only encountered the enemy after they destroyed the West Gate and four outer buildings.

    Since he received continuous briefings about the situations from his subordinates, he also realized how strong the Lucid Guild members were. Nheless, he could not afford to let the intruders advance into the shelter and destroy it, regardless of how much damage he would suffer from confronting them. Moreover, the fact that they decided to attack the Myongjin Shelter during Juyoung Hong¡¯s absence suggested they had no intention of solving the problem through conversation at all.

    Tramp- Tramp-

    At that moment, Chairman Hong noticed a man walk out from the group toward him.

    Of course, his face was familiar to Chairman Hong because he visited the Myongjin Shelter when monsters constantly appeared in the Myongjin Shelter.

    So Chairman Hong was about to step forward too when his deputies shouted at him.

    ¡°It¡¯s dangerous.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to step forward, Dad.¡±

    They were Captain Lim, his son and his daughter.

    But Chairman Hong ignored their request.

    ¡°Since the enemy leader hase forward, let me deal with him. Step aside!¡±

    After realizing that Chairman Hong was serious, they had no other choice but to step aside.

    He confronted Umberto right away.

    Umbertro said first, ¡°Hey, are you not scared of us? How dare you face me like this?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s because I¡¯m confident. I am sure you can¡¯t kill me as easily as you think it will be. Even if I¡¯m killed by your surprise attack, my angry soldiers will surely kill you.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! Don¡¯t worry because I also have no intention of killing you with a surprise attack. Obviously, our encounter today will be talked about over and over again by those hiding like rats. Besides, this is a gift for that bastard Juyoung Hong. So I can¡¯t afford to kill you mercifully.¡±

    ¡°Stop the bullshit!¡±

    ¡°What did you say? Didn¡¯t you want this kind of bullshit deep down? You must be waiting for the arrival of the Mirae and Tugal guilds who are like parasites leeching off you, right?¡±

    ¡°They wille and join us to clean up the mess.¡±

    ¡°Alright. I will stop talking to you now. To be honest, I¡¯m not a fan of conversation. Hahaha!¡±

    After he said that, Umberto turned around, while Chairman Hong also turned and returned to the Myongjin camp.

    The moment both leaders went back to their camp, Umberto shouted.

    ¡°As of today, I¡¯ll erase the Myongjin Shelter from this ce!¡±

    But nobody responded to his threat.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Hearing that, Chairman Hong shouted sarcastically, ¡°Are you kidding? I will make you pay the price for daring to invade Myongjin recklessly!¡±

    ¡°Waaaaaaaaaah!¡±

    ¡°Myongjin! Myongjin!¡±

    When he finished talking, Chairman Hong¡¯s allies shouted with thundering apuse.

    Then both sides charged at each other.

    ***

    It has been 12 days since the event ¡®Advance Team¡¯ began.

    ¡°Hmm. This means they want to lure me into their district¡­¡±

    My next target after I got rid of Fashant, the ruler of the 7th Royal District, and the incarnation of the Spirit King, was the ruler of the 10th Royal District.

    I didn¡¯t have to attack the strong ruler first when I could attack a weak one.

    Sometimes it was better to kill the strongest guy first before eliminating the weaker ones, but generally speaking, it was better to start off with killing the weakest first. While I was on the way to the 10th Royal District, I could confirm the locations of some Major, Regr, and Rookie Districts, but they were all empty. It looked like they escaped as if they knew I wasing.

    Of course, I gave them enough time to escape because I roamed around the areas once controlled by Fashant for more than three days to collect loot instead of moving directly to the 10th Royal District after killing Fashant.

    Did I regret it? Not at all.

    Why? Because there was no guarantee that the ruler of the 10th Royal District would confront me instead of escaping even if I headed there immediately after killing Fashant.

    Of course, if the ruler was a man of very strong self-esteem, he might not avoid me, but I didn¡¯t think that would be the case.

    Anyway, I decided to settle for the guaranteed profits in the many Major, Regr, and Rookie districts that were left for the taking after I killed their ruler Fashant.

    And I reaped lots of benefits there because I had already killed more than 300,000 enemies.

    Considering the bonus points, the additional reward I would receive upon my sessful return to the earth would be huge.

    ¡°By the way, should I go there or not?¡±

    It wasn¡¯t just the 10th Royal District that tempted me. Excluding the 4th Royal District that was left ownerless after I killed its owner, the ck liquid man, and the strongest 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Royal Districts, the 5th, 6th, 8th, and 9th Royal Districts were also left for the taking. Of course, the rulers of the 5th and 6th Royal Districts would be much stronger than Fashant, but I was confident that I could defeat them because the gift that Fashant left behind was pretty good when he died.

    I received not only 3,000 remaining stat points but also a whopping 5% reality actualization rate.

    In other words, there were many other ces for me to go other than the 10th Royal District.

    But I decided to move into the 10th Royal District as I originally nned.

    ¡°Alright, I will move there as they intend me to. I want to check how well they are prepared to confront me as well.¡±

    Rumors about me have already spread widely. So it¡¯s certain that those in other areas would also be fully ready to confront me just in case.

    Even though there were ups and downs in my fights, I could prevail with level 10 Ice Breath that I used as ast resort.

    I even killed the ck liquid man, the ruler of the 4th Royal District, who allegedly could not disy his full strength because he had used up a lot of his energy passing through the narrow hole that led to earth.

    Anyway, it was certain that people in other districts were fully prepared. This meant I would not have to go to the trouble of changing my ns and moving to other districts instead the 10th Royal District.

    So I resumed my journey to the 10th Royal District.

    In the meantime I recalled the Earth, or more precisely, the Myongjin Shelter where my family lived because I was constantly bothered by somebody before I decided to take part in this event. It was none other than the Lucia Guild leader who constantly chased and harassed me.

    So I wanted to kill him first before participating in this ¡®Advance Party¡¯ event because 30 days here was a long time.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ should I have pushed the Antgos Guild harder?¡±

    The Antgos Guild was the premier information guild located in Argentina.

    But they informed me that they didn¡¯t know much about the Lucia Guild.

    As a result, I could not find out the Lucia Guild¡¯s whereabouts.

    But I shook off such thoughts because the Myongjin yers were pretty strong even without me. And what I had to do for my family and Myongjin was to clear the event perfectly because I was already here.

    So I kept moving without worrying about my family and the Myongjin Shelter while looking around carefully just in case.

 Chapter 426 - Dangerous Onlookers (3)

    <h4>Chapter 426: Dangerous Onlookers (3)</h4>

    In the Myeongjin Shelter at that time.

    A huge battle was taking ce between the three main bases located in the center of the shelter and the West Gate invaded by the enemy.

    Of course, the enemy only numbered a little over 100, but the Myongjin forces numbered in the several thousands or even 10,000. Moreover, there were some others who joined them in the fight against the enemy.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    ¡°Aim urately!¡±

    ¡°Target them in the back!¡±

    ¡°Even if we simply draw their attention, we¡¯re going to help our allies a lot!¡±

    ¡°Alright!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    Around 2000 men wearing clothes looking like military uniforms fired shells from tanks and mortars at the enemy numbering a little over 100, while firing their rifles as well.

    They had to end the fight as soon as possible, given the big difference in the number of forces. Although there was a saying that one powerful man could match 100, the Myongjin forces had an overwhelming numerical superiority.

    But the enemy¡¯s firepower could not be ignored at all.

    ¡°Soaring Pir of Fire!¡±

    ¡°Biting Wind!¡±

    ¡°My body will be Solid Steel!¡±

    ¡°Pouring Thunderstorm!¡±

    :

    :

    ¡°Burning Whip!¡±

    ¡°Breath of Destruction!¡±

    ¡°Disaster of ck mes!¡±

    ¡°Chains of Hard Sand!¡±

    Despite the huge difference in number between the two sides, they were evenly matched. On the surface their batte was really fierce, but there was obviously one side that suffered more casualties. They were none other than the Myongjin people who were numerically superior to the Lucid Guild forces.

    ¡°Kheeeeh!¡±

    ¡°Khuuuuuuuk!¡±

    Flop!

    Flop!

    Of course, it wasn¡¯t because the Myongjin yers attacked recklessly, convinced of their strength in numbers, that they suffered more damage. Obviously, tanks stood in front, and the healers and enchanters supported them, while the dealers between them kept attacking the enemy. In other words, they were in a good formation to fight against the enemy. And theyunched numerous attacks that often hit their targets urately.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    [¡­]

    But the problem was that the invaders who were attacked didn¡¯t care at all.

    Rather, they counterattacked ruthlessly as if they didn¡¯t suffer any damage at all.

    Not only the tanks but also the healers, enchanters and dealers were devastated by their counterattack.

    In other words, even though the Myongjin yers were numerically superior to them, theirbat power paledpared to the enemy.

    Anyway, the fight continued for some time like that.

    ¡°Hehehe!¡±

    Umberto, the leader of the Lucia Guild, looked ahead with a smile on his lips.

    Even though the Myongjin yersunched a series of attacks, none of his guild members was wounded.

    Was it because each of them was as strong as Juyoung Hong?

    Of course not, for Juyoung Hong was like a monster that could even transcend the impossible.

    In other words, there was a reason why they didn¡¯t suffer any casualties.

    They had the limited skills ¡®Shared Life¡¯ and ¡®Single Blow.¡¯

    [Limited Skill: Shared Life.

    -You share the health of one designated person.]

    Sharing somebody¡¯s health itself was not particrly great because it was not collecting everyone¡¯s health and amassing it as a shared health pool, but designating just one person to share their health.

    But the reason why this health showed such tremendous power was because of the other trait, namely, Single Blow.

    [Trait: Single Blow.

    -You will not suffer any damage unless it is a strike that instantly deals more than 100% of your current health.]

    For example, if they had one million health, they would not suffer any damage from the enemy¡¯s attacks unless theyunched an attack that dealt one million health in damage.

    What¡¯s more, Umberto raised those with that trait by giving them EXP directly until they reached level 1200, and invested all stat points in health only. He also gave them all the items he could to raise their stamina and health. Because of that, the person with the trait could not do anything alone, but it didn¡¯t matter to Umberto since he was simply a chess piece for him.

    Of course, Single Blow had some restrictions.

    [Trait: Single Blow.

    ¨C If you continue to suffer cumtive damage, your durability will be weakened and the iing damage will gradually increase.

    ¨C Your durability will be recovered over time.]

    First of all, Umberto checked the status of the guy who possessed the trait ¡®Single Blow¡¯.

    [Trait: Current durability of ¡®Single Blow.¡¯

    -94%]

    After checking it, Umberto decided he still had lots of durability.

    Of course, Umberto had no intention of saving that guy even if his durability was reduced to 0% because he existed for this purpose.

    To him, the most important thing was to use that guy to reduce the possible damage as much as possible.

    As a matter of fact, he had to save that card until now because it would not have worked out on Juyoung Hong, but this time he used it freely to attack the Myongjin yers.

    Of course, he himself was actively involved in the attack because he was the strongest yer here.

    In the Myongjin camp.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Chairman Hong did not give the Myongjin yers any specific order. He was well aware that the stronger Myongjin became and the more attention his son Juyoung got, the more people looked up to them, but at the same time there were people who were envious and hostile like the Lucia Guild.

    That¡¯s why the Myongjin Shelter was attacked by the Lucia Guild.

    But he made sure they had received training in the scenario of a possible enemy¡¯s attack. Perhaps because of that, they fought well, but obviously, it was mainly the Myongjin yers who suffered damage.

    ¡°Never step back!¡±

    ¡°Fill in the position of those who fell!¡±

    ¡°We must hold out until the end. That way, even if we die, our families can live under Myungjin¡¯s protection!¡±

    ¡°Our death is not worthless! When Juyoung Honges back, he will take revenge on behalf of us! So don¡¯t be afraid!¡±

    ¡°Alright!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°Thick Wall of Earth!¡±

    ¡°Thorns of Pain!¡±

    ¡°Spear of Solid Earth.¡±

    :

    :

    ¡°The Wind¡¯s Spirits Biting Wind!

    ¡°Piercing Power Shot!¡±

    ¡°Triple Shot!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    Chairman Hong couldn¡¯t even say anything to those Myongjin members who encouraged themselves and reced the positions of their dead colleagues themselves without his order. For his order would mean telling them to sacrifice themselves.

    Of course, Chairman Hong wanted to step forward and fight like others.

    But if he stepped forward and got killed by the enemy¡¯s attack, it would not only provoke the intense anger of their allies, but also raise the morale of the enemy.

    In any battle, the best way to win was to kill the enemy¡¯s leader.

    That¡¯s why he didn¡¯t step forward and fight at the forefront. However, he opened his eyes wide, memorizing every scene of the battle, because he would surely take revenge for his subordinates.

    It¡¯s been 30 minutes after the start of the fight at the Myongjin Shelter.

    Their fighting seemed like it would end fast at first, given the huge difference in the number of their troops, but it didn¡¯t. As the fighting dragged on, the Myongjin yers started to suffer more and more damage, and casualties started to grow.

    Even though they knew that it was only them who was suffering damage, not the Lucia Guild, they didn¡¯t retreat at all.

    Actually, Suyoung Hong startedunching even fiercer attacks against them because she was furious over Myongjin¡¯s losses as the chairman¡¯s daughter.

    Of course, she was not reckless enough to charge at them alone because she clearly witnessed a group of Myongjin yers being killed instantly when trying to cover for her.

    But tears still dropped from her eyes.

 Chapter 427 - Dangerous Onlookers (4)

    <h4>Chapter 427: Dangerous Onlookers (4)</h4>

    Even though Suyoung kept attacking them as one of the dealers instead of advancing forward, she shed tears because she was so upset that her power was less than 10% of her brother Juyoung¡¯s.

    But suddenly, a huge shadow loomed over her. At first she was stunned, not knowing how she got close to any of the enemy to see their shadow. But it wasn¡¯t their shadow.

    Wiggle, wiggle.

    Something white and big appeared before her eyes. She knew what it was because she had seen it lots of times. She knew it was the White Root that usually apanied her brother.

    ¡°Howe you are here¡­?¡±

    In fact, the White Root did not appear when Juyoung logged into ¡®Revival Legend.¡¯ The White Root appeared only when he was logged out. So she thought it would not appear because her brother was not on the earth now.

    She looked around first, just in case her brother had alreadye back.

    Although the fighting had stalled since everyone was overwhelmed by the sudden appearance of the huge White Root,she could not find her brother, who must be full of anger, anywhere on the battleground.

    ¡°Are you alone now?¡±

    Wiggle, wiggle.

    Instead of answering, the White Root just wiggled.

    Watching it, she raised her hand, pointing at one enemy, then opened her mouth.

    ¡°Can you attack him?¡±

    She just spat out such words because she was so frustrated at the moment.

    She wasn¡¯t even sure if the White Root would move as she wished.

    Puck!

    ¡°Khuuuuuuuk!¡±

    She could confirm that even though they were not exactly the same as the White Root that apanied her brother, two brown roots of enormous thickness appeared and attacked the enemy she pointed at.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Of course, Umberto immediately identified what suddenly appeared before his eyes because the root in question was notoriously well known, and its owner was even more famous because of it.

    But the problem was why it suddenly appeared here right now.

    So he turned his head to the left and right before he knew it.

    As a matter of fact, he could not say he had nothing to with the root in question at all because it was he who gave the order to make the Myongjin Shelter the ¡°Land that Summons Monsters¡±, even though it was his subordinate Matthias that actually carried out the deed.

    Back then he realized that the root in question moved like Juyoung Hong as if they were one body.

    He knew that the root in question did not appear in reality when Juyoung Hong was connected to Revival Legend, but only appeared when he was not connected to it. In other words, the appearance of the root meant that Juyoung Hong was on the Earth now rather than moving to the area o o o as part of the ¡®Advance Party.¡¯

    He began to tremble violently.

    ¡®Damn it! Juyoung Hong obviously participated in the event ¡®Advance Party¡¯! I¡¯ve searched for him everywhere, and even waited for more than 10 days just in case he could appear!¡±

    He couldn¡¯t bring himself to express his restlessness and anxiety, so he sneakily looked for Juyoung Hong while trembling. More precisely, he looked everywhere for an exit to ensure his survival, even though his chance of surviving was less than 0.00001%.

    He knew that Juyoung Hong was stronger than all the yersbined of the Myongjin Guild, and that his return to the earth at this moment would mean the failure of his surprise attack against the Myongjin Shelter.

    Wiggle, wiggle.

    The huge root was just wiggling by itself instead of attacking the intruders. What¡¯s more, the battle had stalled to a lull and Juyoung Hong would not have simply sat idle if he had already returned to earth since several thousand Myongjin yers had already been killed.

    ¡®Has he note back yet?¡¯

    He was not sure why the huge root appeared right now, but he just thought that Juyoung Hong was not on the earth at this moment. More precisely, he was convinced that Juyoung was not here.

    At the same time, he turned his eyes towards the huge White Root.

    It was none other than the White Root that protected as many as 10,000 ordinary people for nearly two months during the Borneche Expedition, and it was again the White Root that perfectly blocked the ¡®Land Summoning Monsters¡¯ in the Myongjin Shelter which sent out more powerful monsters more frequently as time went by.

    In other words, the White Root was close to a monster just like its owner.

    But its owner was obviously not here right now.

    So Umberto was going to order his forces to resume attacking because he would not have a second chance like this if Juyoung Hong came back. He also thought that there was a possibility that the White Root would simply stay put while the fight was going on.

    At that moment, however, Suyoung said to the White Root, ¡°Can you attack him?¡±

    Umberto could see her, who was on his must-kill list, talking to the White Root, pointing to one of his deputies with her finger.

    At that moment, he earnestly kept his fingers crossed that the White Root would not listen to her because its owner was obviously Juyoung Hong.

    But the White Root granted her request.

    Puck!

    ¡°Kheeeek!¡±

    He saw a huge and thick root erupting from under the ground where his deputy stood. Naturally, the root not only exited above ground, but also attacked his subordinate right away.

    So Umberto shouted immediately, ¡°Damn it! Kill that bitch! Kill her first¡±

    Of course, there was no guarantee that only she could control that root of Juyoung Hong¡¯s because there were some other members of his family such as his parents and elder brother here.

    But Umberto could not give up here. He thought he had to continue fighting because he was convinced that Juyoung was not here, and that this was hisst chance to destroy the Myongjin Shelter.

    Anway, the fight resumed when he ordered his men to resume attacking.

    ¡°Stop their attack!¡±

    ¡°Protect her by all means!¡±

    ¡°Cheer up, everybody! Hang in there! Juyoung is fighting with us in our hearts!¡±

    Those who belonged to the Myongjin Shelter knew the power of the White Root better than anyone else because they had seen its remarkable performance many times.

    So they moved to protect Suyoung who was controlling the White Root right now.

    But something eye-opening happened before their eyes.

    Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle.

    As if to protect her, lots of roots sprang up from the ground around her.

    She was not stupid enough not to have noticed them.

    She instinctively knew that her brother¡¯s root didn¡¯t simply sit idle there because it could not recognize the enemy. Actually, the roots could fight for the Myongjin yers as long as she specifically pointed to the enemy.

    So she pointed straight to one ce and opened her mouth.

    ¡°Attack that guy wearing a wolf mask in the 3 o¡¯clock direction at the far end of this ce!¡±

    Puck!

    She confirmed that a brown root sprang up from under the feet of the man she pointed at, and attacked him. Not only she, but also all the members of the Myongjin Guild saw it.

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    ¡°Cheer up, everybody!¡±

    ¡°We can win!¡±

 Chapter 428 - Dangerous Onlookers (5)

    <h4>Chapter 428: Dangerous Onlookers (5)</h4>

    Those who belonged to the Lucia Guild also charged at the Myongjin yers ferociously. They had already invaded the Myongjin Shelter and killed thousands of people, so they had no other choice but to continue on so they could be freed from the Lucia Guild Leader¡¯s shackles and hide away in a ce nobody could find to avoid Juyoung Hong¡¯s vengeance. They knew that if they lost or retreated from this ce, Umberto would never set them free.

    In the meantime, Umberto thought about one thing, namely, a trait.

    [Trait: Current durability of ¡®Single Blow.¡¯

    -35%]

    If the traits ¡®Shared Life¡¯ and ¡®Single Blow¡¯ had been ruined by the whtie root, Umberto would have decided to retreat, but they were still avable.

    Although the White Root¡¯s attack was definitely strong, it was not as powerful as he thought. So Umberto urged his surviving subordinates to continue fighting.

    He knew his subordinates could hold out a little more, but he still felt nervous deep down.

    ***

    Actually, the White Root had followed Juyoung Hong to Kuhana where he currently was now, for it belonged to its owner. But the White Root knew that something happened to the ce on earth that its owner valued and loved so much, namely, the Myongjin Shelter.

    In fact, the White Root took that area as its main territory.

    The White Root was aware that its owner Juyoung not only loved the Myongjin Shelter, but also wanted to keep it safe by all means.

    So when the White Root found out something bad happened in its territory, it pondered over whether to return to the earth or not.

    In the end, the White Root decided to return because the Myongjin Shelter was the ce that its owner wanted to defend at all costs.

    But it could not leave Kuhanapletely because the hole connected to the earth was too narrow. Nheless, it could pass through the tiny hole in one way or another.

    But the White Root had to leave a lot behind in order to pass through the tiny hole, thought that was not a big issue

    But the problem arose after it arrived because there were no monsters in sight that its owner Juyoung Hong normally singled out as his enemy.

    So the White Root had no choice but to simplyy there idly, before it noticed somebody that its owner was very close to.

    So it approached that person, and when she pointed to a specific target, it began to attack him ferociously.

    Of course, the White Root was frustrated while attacking the target because it could not fully disy its power and mount an effective attack as it left behind a fair chunk of itself in Kuhana.

    However, since this ce was its owner¡¯s prized ce, it continued to attack the enemy that his close rtive pinpointed.

    ***

    It has been 10 minutes since the second round of fighting between the Lucia Guild and the Myongjin Guild started.

    ¡°Kheeeh!¡±

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    ¡°We were not prepared for this fight!¡±

    The Lucia Guild members desperately attacked the enemy because their trait ¡®Single Blow¡¯ was not yet destroyed while maintaining their shared health pool.

    Puck! Puck!

    What¡¯s more, Juyoung Hong¡¯s root, which boasted of such tremendous power, was suffering wounds from their attacks, losing chunks of its branches, so they were initially very confident with high morale. They became convinced that they could win as things stood now.

    But then something shocking happened.

    Puck!

    ¡°Khuuuuuuuuuuuk!¡±

    If the ¡®Single Blow¡¯ trait had been maintained, he should have held out firmly, but one of the Lucia Guild members was thrown away after having his heart pierced by the White Root, which shocked all the other members. They clearly knew that they were no longer invincible, but they could not retreat at this point.

    ¡°Everyone, don¡¯t stop attacking! Keep charging the White Root because it is wounded too! And the enemy has suffered more casualties than us!¡± Umberto shouted harshly.

    When their leader pushed them harder, they had no choice but to charge at their opponents reluctantly because they saw no other route to get out of this ce.

    While they were fighting in such low morale, the Myongjin camp cheered joyously.

    ¡°Wow! We finally broke the enemy¡¯s fighting spirit!¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re human like us, after all!¡±

    ¡°Cheer up!¡±

    ¡°Waaaaaaaaaaaaah!¡±

    ¡°Myongjin! Myongjin!¡±

    ¡°Juyoung Hong! Juyoung Hong!¡±

    The Myongjin yers continued to fight even when their colleagues were killed right before their eyes. And they continued to hold out strongly.

    In the end, this was a fierce battlefield, so it was quitemon to see their friends and brothers die on the battlefield. What made them feel so much frustrated and powerless until now was the fact that they could not inflict any damage on the enemies.

    And even though the White Root appeared, they discovered that it was very weakpared to normal. But upon witnessing the White Root continue attacking even though its branches were torn and cut, and finally kill an enemy, they could not help but shout for joy..

    So the Myongjin yersunched a series of attacks for the first time, which turned the tide of the battle which had been in the enemy¡¯s favor. They even began to overwhelm and push them back little by little. As a result, the Lucia Guild members also began to copse one by one.

    At that moment, other voices were heard.

    ¡°Help Myongjin!¡±

    ¡°Help Myongjin to defeat the enemy!¡±

    A group appeared exactly in the West Gate where the Lucia guild members had invaded form before. They were the members of the Mirae Guild.

    As a result, the Lucia Guild members were in danger of being trapped in between them.

    Sensing that his n had failed, Umberto frowned angrily.

    Obviously, the Lucia Guild led by him gained the upper hand in this fight, but his whole operation was ruined when the White Root appeared.

    Umberto nced at the White Root, which was partially damaged, as well as the Mirae Guild members.

    ¡°Well, my n has failed!¡± he muttered in a low voice to himself.

    Of course, Umberto wasn¡¯t the only one who felt so.

    ¡°We must retreat!¡±

    ¡°If we keep dragging our feet here, we won¡¯t be able to retreat!¡±

    All the Lucia Guild members urged him to retreat immediately.

    But he was adamant.

    ¡°We can¡¯t retreat! Keep attacking the Myongjin yers! Kill even one more!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    There was a momentary silence, but it didn¡¯tst long.

    The silence was broken by the Lucia Guild members swearing at their leader.

    ¡°You bastard!¡±

    ¡°You said we would not meet Juyoung Hong here!¡±

    In the end, they had no choice but to resist because his order basically ordered them to sacrifice themselves.

    But Umberto shouted, ¡°Be weak and broken!¡±

    [You have received the Lucia Guild leader¡¯s order of weakening.

    -All your stat points are reduced by 50%.]

    [You have received the Lucia Guild leader¡¯s order of restriction.

    ¨C Yourbat power is reduced by 50%.]

    [You have received the Lucia Guild leader¡¯s order of containment.

    -You can¡¯t use any skills. ]

    ¡°If you still want to be killed by me even after I¡¯ve restricted you, let me know. Maybe you want to die first?¡±

    As if he was not content with such orders, Umberto opened his mouth, pointing his hand at one of his subordinates.

    ¡°Die!¡±

    [You have received the Lucia Guild leader¡¯s order to die.

    -You die immediately.]

    ¡°Khuuuuuuuuk!¡±

    There was a bigmotion amongst the Lucia Guild forces. Some of them were killed while revolting against their leader, some killed by the Mirae Guild members charging from behind them, and others killed without doing anything because they were shackled by their leader.

    Then Umberto secretly disappeared as if nothing had happened to him.

 Chapter 429 - One Plus One (1)

    <h4>Chapter 429: One Plus One (1)</h4>

    Finally, I was not far off from the target Royal District 10.

    ¡°Man, there¡¯s too many.¡±

    Fashant, the owner of the 7th Royal District, challenged me in a one-on-one match. But the owner of the 10th Royal District didn¡¯t seem to want a one-on-one match with me. There were so many people confronting me not only inside the 10th Royal District, but also outside it. It was not just ten thousand, but much more than that.

    My attacks had limits, even though I could confront them, no matter how many there were. They were clustered together, but due to the limit of my striking range, I could not kill them all at once. Obviously, not all of them were elite yers. Some of them could be mediocre yers because they were divided into the Royal, Major, Regr, and Rookie districts ording to theirpetence. What¡¯s more, there were countless people who could not even fall into such categories, just like those people on earth who were ipetent but liked to bluff tohers.

    But it didn¡¯t matter to me even if they were not bluffing.

    Because of my excessively high stamina and health, not to mention my items that were in the top 0.001%, I usually prated into the middle of the enemy camp and defended my body with my physical attacks. But it was gueri tactics that I could use better than anybody else.

    Why? Because my striking range was pretty huge, and Blink with zero cooldown was perfect for attacking and escaping from my opponents.

    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ve more or less prepared, so let me go ahead!¡±

    I agonized over it a bit, but I decided to take action, given the enormous efforts they made to mobilize such arge number of people.

    After making the decision, I didn¡¯t have to dy any longer, so I moved towards the enemies.

    As soon as they noticed me, they shouted to each other.

    ¡°Intruder!¡±

    ¡°The intruder has appeared in the 9 o¡¯clock direction!¡±

    ¡°Everyone, don¡¯t be distracted!¡±

    ¡°Calm down! There is only one enemy!¡±

    I had no intention of hiding myself from them. Given the huge number of the enemies, I didn¡¯t think that I could slip by them either.

    Not caring about the shouts of the enemies who noticed me, I stopped far from them, and opened my mouth gently.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasasak!

    An ice terrain thicker and wider than I imagined was created in an instant.

    Then I moved close to them using Blink with zero cooldown.

    ¡°Blizzard!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    I used my most powerful AOE skill.

    Since I decided to use gueri tactics, I hit and ran instead of responding to their counterattacks.

    Of course, they didn¡¯t sit back and do nothing.

    They began to counterattack.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    [¡­]

    But I was already far away from them. No matter how often and strongly they attacked me, their attacks simply struck the air or the ground, not me.

    And my Blizzard was showing tremendous power, as usual.

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    ¡°Move!¡±

    ¡°Shit, why has my health dropped so fast?¡±

    ¡°Kheeeeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    They were literally clustered together so closely. So most of them could not avoid my Blizzard. As a result, they ended up falling one by one.

    Flop!

    Flop!

    Flop!

    Numerous people copsed like that.

    At the same time, a series of messages kept ringing.

    [You have seeded in getting rid of the daily quota of 10 people on the 14th day.

    -You have umted bonus points because you have killed 325,589 more enemies in addition to your daily quota.

    *You will receive additional rewards when you go back to the earth sessfully.

    -You have umted bonus points because you have killed 325,590 more enemies in addition to your daily quota.

    *You will receive additional rewards when you return to the earth sessfully.

    :

    :

    -You have umted bonus poitns because you have killed 325,774 more enemies in addition to your daily quota.

    *You will receive additional rewards when you retunr to the earth sessfully.

    ]

    First of all, I didn¡¯t pay much attention to the messages.

    Instead, I moved to the other side of the enemies this time using Blink with zero cooldown.

    ¡°Watch out to your right!¡±

    ¡°The invader has appeared on the right!¡±

    ¡°Attack!¡±

    ¡°Soaring Fire Pir!¡±

    ¡°Biting Wind!¡±

    ¡°Dancing Fireworks!¡±

    :

    :

    ¡°Biting Wind Spirit Attack!¡±

    ¡°Triple Shot!¡±

    Since there were so many enemies, those standing where I appeared using Blink with zero cooldown showered me with numerous attacks.

    Of course, I could ignore their attacks, but I deliberately avoided them again because I intended to show them how futile their attacks were even if they had such arge numbers advantage.

    Using Blink with zero cooldown, I avoided their attacks and moved to their opposite side. Of course, they discovered me again immediately, but this time I was definitely faster than them.

    ¡°Ice Tornado! Pouring Hail!¡±

    Wheeeeeeeeeng-

    Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

    I kept using AOE skills, then retreated as if to make fun of them.

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    ¡°Counterattack! Strike back!¡±

    ¡°Shit! How can I strike back when he is so far away from us?¡±

    ¡°You do it if you can!¡±

    It was a perfect hit and run gueri tactic.

    Enraged by my tactic, some of them broke their rank and charged at me.

    In other words, they set their feet on the Ice Field and Multiple Thin Ice that I alreadyid out for them.

    Naturally, I poured my usual skills on them.

    ¡°Ice Ball! Ice Bolt! Multiple Ice Arrow!

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    This time, I used Ice Ball and Ice Bolt with no cooldown, as well as Multiple Ice Arrow that had little cooldown. And that was more than enough to kill them.

    As a matter of fact, my Ice Field ovepped with Multiple Thin Ice was not a mere debuff designed to reduce the enemy¡¯s moving speed.

    After that, I used hit and run tactics several times.

    Of course, that didn¡¯t mean that the number of enemies decreased significantly because there were simply too many.

    But the important thing was that my health was still 100%, and even though I used skills freely, my mana was also close to 100%. And I didn¡¯t feel tired at all.

    In other words, I could keep attacking them endlessly.

    I had a broad smile on my lips because of the rapidly umting bonus points.

    Anyway, I kept destroying my enemies with guerri tactics.

    A littleter, I could hear the enemies starting toin.

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    ¡°What the heck is this?¡±

    ¡°We confronted the wrong target from the beginning! He is the man who beat Fashant, the ruler of the 7th Royal District! We can¡¯t beat him with just numbers!¡±

    Nobody in Revival Legend or in reality have ever tried to use a numbers advantage to beat me because they all knew it would not work.

    But only now did these guys here realize it, and it was toote.

    So I was busy attacking them afterying out Ice Field ovepped with Multiple Thin Ice. Ignorance is definitely a sin these days. If onemitted a crime, one should be punished. So I was making them pay a dear price for their ignorance.

    Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

 Chapter 430 - One Plus One (2)

    <h4>Chapter 430: One Plus One (2)</h4>

    At that moment, a huge guy started walking out of the innermost part of the 10th Royal District. Of course, I knew who he was because I began to gather information about him after I set the ruler of the 10th Royal District as my next target.

    In other words, the guy who was walking toward me was the Ancient Golem, the owner of the 10th Royal District.

    Wasn¡¯t he a monster?

    Of course, he was.

    Those who told me something about him before I killed them said he was a monster. So I was a little startled at first.

    But considering that the ruler of the 4th Royal District was made of ck liquid, and Fashant had a head made of ice, a bodyposed of fire, arms made of wind, and legs that were soil,, I felt it was not strange at all for this guy to be a monster. Actually, it was rather natural that he was a monster.

    Anyway, the biggest characteristic of the Ancient Golem, the ruler of the 10th Royal District, was his enormous body. Perhaps that¡¯s why I chose that district.

    I wanted to check out which of us was stronger in a one-on-one match.

    Standing afar, I waited for the Ancient Golem, the ruler of the 10th Royal District, to approach.

    When he closed the distance between us, he loudly shouted.

    [You¡¯re very strong! And it looks like you¡¯ve be even stronger.]

    As he said, I¡¯ve be much stronger than before.

    The 3,000 remaining stat points that I invested in Intellect after killing Fashant, the 7th Royal District ruler, was huge, and more decisively, I also received an additional 5% increase in my reality actualization rate.

    As if I didn¡¯t know what he was talking about, I shrugged my shoulders, then opened my mouth.

    ¡°Well. I don¡¯t know what you mean. By the way, I thought you would onlye outte, but you came out early. To be honest, I wanted to enjoy fighting them a little longer.¡±

    While fighting them, I thought I rather liked this situation because there was such a huge number of people gathered, and my bonus points kept umting.

    The huge monster responded.

    [I originally intended toe outter. But I decided to show up after confirming that you weren¡¯t getting any weaker despite my people singing you day in and day out.]

    ¡°Are you sure you can confront me?¡±

    The Ancient Golem, the ruler of the 10th Royal District, was rumored to have a huge physical attack power, but that alone would not determine the results of a fight. That¡¯s why he was the owner of this district, which was rankedst among the Royal Districts.

    [Let¡¯s see who can win. Glue!]

    The monster shouted immediately, but I didn¡¯t care because whatever he did would not work out on me thanks to my trait, ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs¡¯.

    [You have been ¡®glued¡¯ to the Ancient Golem.

    -If you move more than 10 meters away from the Ancient Golem, you will be automatically moved back within the range of the Ancient Golem.]

    ¡°?¡±

    I was a little perplexed because I thought the Ancient Golem¡¯s attack would be ineffective on me, no matter what.

    [I hear nobody can use debuffs against you. Well, looking at your battle with Fashant, all of his unique capabilities were blocked because of your trait. But don¡¯t worry. My trait, Attach, is not a debuff that damages or impairs its target.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Obviously, his ¡®Glue¡¯ did not reduce my stat points or limit my skills. In other words, it didn¡¯t harm mybat capabilities at all.

    [By the way, I¡¯ve made certain preparations because you are really strong. Show yourself now!]

    As soon as the Ancient Golem shouted, a huge bow appeared from one side.

    Of course, I knew what it was because I urgently collected information about the rulers of the Royal Districts after defeating Fashant when I found out that I could obtain a huge number of stat points and an increase in my reality actualization rate by killing them. Among them was a ruler, like the one of the 10th Royal District, who I had to really ponder about their capabilities.

    It was none other than the ruler of the 5th Royal District because its ruler was not a human, nor a living creature like a monster. It was just one item, namely, a huge bow.

    In other words, the bow itself was the ruler of the 5th Royal District.

    Of course, the bow did not move alone. It manipted a human nearby by having them grab it.

    So it was rumored that the ruler of the 5th district was sometimes a human and sometimes a monster. Sometimes it was rumored as one that could not even fall into the category of the Rookie District.

    ¡°Alright. You must be abination of a tank and a dealer¡­¡±

    It seemed like he was well prepared.

    [You¡¯re going to be killed here!]

    Obviously, the Ancient Golem was confident. He had joined forces with another ruler, and there were a lot of men who could mount ranged attacks against me from 10 meters away.

    On the other hand, even if I had Blink with zero cooldown, I could not move more than 10 meters away from the Ancient Golem because of his skill Glue.

    At that moment, I thought to myself, ¡®Should I really keep saving my Savant skill? I should use it as soon as possible so I can use it once more before I return to the earth.¡¯

    I now had the opportunity to kill two rulers at the same time.

    So this was the perfect moment for me to use Savant because if one had the option to buy one and get one free, they would buy it most of the time.

    In other words, this opportunity was too precious for me to miss, so I decided to use the limited skill ¡®Savant¡¯.

    However, there was something that bothered me a bit. I agonized over whether to use it from the beginning, or to dy using it until I drained their health first.

    But I didn¡¯t think hard about it for long because I already knew the answer.

    I decided to take away their health first before using my limited skill because it would be a huge loss to me if I didn¡¯t kill one of them because I failed to inflict sufficient damage on them at the start. In that case, this would not be something like a ¡®Buy-One-GET-One-Free¡¯ event.

    What¡¯s more, I defeated Fashant, the ruler of the 7th Royal District, without using my limited skill, and with overwhelming force at that.

    So I made the decision to use Savantter, then looked at the Ancient Golem, the ruler of the 10th Royal District, and the Giant Bow, the ruler of the 5th Royal District.

    But I had to consider this big restriction.

    ¡®Man, I can¡¯t move more than 10 meters from this guy¡­¡¯

    Of course, such restrictions would not be a big problem because my skills with overwhelming striking range would not be restricted at all.

    But if the Giant Bow, the ruler of the 5th Royal District, ran away as soon as it realized it was in a disadvantageous position, there would be nothing I could do about it if I was still affected by the restriction.

    So I had to kill the Ancient Golem first.

 Chapter 431 - One Plus One (3)

    <h4>Chapter 431: One Plus One (3)</h4>

    ¡°Alright. I don¡¯t make any distinction between tanks and dealers anyway. Let me get rid of anybody who wants to block me first.¡±

    Then I took action immediately.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasak!

    First of all, Iid out Ice Field, and made sure it expanded more than 10 meters in all directions from the golem.

    ¡°Damn it! Step back a little further!¡±

    ¡°This is no ordinary Ice Field!¡±

    ¡°Ranged dealers, focus on attacking the intruder!¡±

    As they already experienced the power of Ice Field during my guerri attacks, those around me retreated in a hurry.

    Puck! Puck!

    Bang! Bang!

    While I was attacking the target, something got stuck in my body. More precisely, something exploded in front of me.

    It was none other than the attack of the Giant Bow by the ruler of the 5th Royal District.

    But I ignored it, for the ruler of the 5th Royal District was too valuable for me to immediately make retreat after he was stunned by my Ice Field.

    Instead, I took revenge on the other guy.

    ¡°Ice Breath!¡±

    Bang!

    This was the skill that I used only once since I came to this ce, Kuhana.

    Except for the rulers of each Royal District, I didn¡¯t have to need Ice Breath.

    In other words, I didn¡¯t need a sledgehammer to crack a walnut.

    [Man, this guy is really strong. What should I do?]

    The Ancient Golem¡¯s face was full of surprise.

    However, he did not appear to have suffered any damage unlike his surprised expression because his body had no scars or wounds even though he was attacked by level 10 Ice Breath.

    Of course, he was the weakest among the rulers of the 10 Royal Districts, but he was still the ruler of the 10th Royal District anyway.

    So I was not startled by the fact that Ice Breath didn¡¯t inflict any damage on him. But I was convinced that he must have suffered some damage, even though he didn¡¯t express it.

    If that was the case, all I had to do was to umte his fatigue to the point that I could smash his sturdy shield with my repeated attack.

    So I immediately attacked him again rather than responding.

    ¡°Blizzard!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    [Oh Ancient Golem! Give your strength to me who follows your will! Incarnation!]

    Of course, golems weren¡¯t unusual monsters. Actually, they were prettymon.

    There were various types of golems ranging from y golems, stone and iron golems to ice golems, wind golems, fire golems, and diamond golems.

    So I was a bit perplexed about the identity of this golem standing before me.

    If this guy was really the ruler of the 10th Royal District, and had the modifier ¡®Ancient¡¯, he must be made of a huge gemstone or an unexpectedly precious material, but he was far from it. In other words, this Ancient Golem was the mostmon type of golem, a stone golem that usually came to one¡¯s mind when they imagined a golem. The only difference was that it was really huge.

    When the Ancient Golem made of stones used something like Incarnation, the huge stones that made up his body suddenly started to glow.

    [Oh Golem of ¡®Townro¡¯, the iron wall that no one can prate! Descend here!]

    [Golem of ¡®Karo¡¯, the battle hero boasting of invincible records! Descend here!]

    After using his incarnation, his shiny stones suddenly started to move.

    Then, the stones that made up his body changed slowly to armor, then all of a sudden he was holding a giant sword that was shining brightly in one hand.

    But I did not feel scared or intimidated by his appearance.

    I just felt I underestimated him a bit too much.

    What¡¯s more, he was not my only opponent.

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Bang! Bang!

    The ruler of the 5th Royal District, namely, the Giant Bow, kept attacking me.

    Of course, he didn¡¯t inflict any big damage on me, but my health began to decrease quickly perhaps because he was a dealer.

    ¡°Whew, I think I was toocent.¡±

    Since I defeated Fashant, the ruler of the 7th Royal District, too easily, I seemed to have be toocent before I knew it. I had to remember that I was confronting two powerful individuals that were both part of the ten strongest rulers in this Kuhana area.

    So I quietly opened my mouth.

    ¡°Use Ice Weapon!¡±

    [You have used level 3 Ice Weapon.

    : The +8 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword is imbued with cold ice energy.]

    At first, I thought that I could easily confront the Ancient Golem by using my physical power to resist his attacks while peppering him with my ranged attacks.

    After I drained the Ancient Golem¡¯s health, I would use my limited skill Savant, and defeat the Giant Bow bow. That was my attack n.

    But I now felt I had to revise my tactic and attack him properly.

    Although I could not move more than 10 meters away from him, I intended to use Blink with zero cooldown within that range while avoiding his attack through the Giant Bow.

    Of course, I was going to turn to melee attacks using the +8 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    ¡°Alright. I will now attack you ferociously. Be careful!¡±

    After I shouted at him, I immediately rushed at the Ancient Golem.

    As if he was upset by my provocations, the Ancient Golem also rushed at me more quickly than before.

    So we started the second round afresh.

    ***

    While Juyoung Hong was engaged in a fierce fight with the two rulers of the Royal Districts, something was going on in the headquarters of the Antgos Guild, Brazil.

    Even though the Antgos Guild looked shabby and small, they owned not only high-end technology but also a huge building. Some of the top leaders of the guild were now watching a huge screen that normally tracked Juyoung Hong.

    ¡°What the heck¡­Howe that root is appearing over there? It¡¯s always apanying Juyoung Hong, right? And Juyoung Hong has departed the Earth to take part in the event ¡®Advance Party.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    When Oliveira, the leader of the Antgos Information Guild, asked this question, none of his subordinates could answer because what he said was true.

    In other words, the White Root was not supposed to appear right there.

    At that moment, Brandon, who was the second ranked in the guild after Oliveira, opened his mouth.

    ¡°It is certain that Juyoung Hong is not on Earth. If he were, he wouldn¡¯t be sitting idle while watching thousands of people belonging to the Myongjin Guild being killed like that. Thanks to the Lucia Guild¡¯s cunning tactics, I also confirmed that the White Root could not appear in reality if Juyoung Hong stayed connected to Revival Legend.¡±

    ¡°Then what is that root?¡± Guild leader Oliveira immediately asked.

    But Brandon mentioned something else instead of replying to him.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think the condition of that root belonging to Juyoung Hong is rather strange?¡±

    When he mentioned it, everyone¡¯s eyes turned to the screen again.

    After watching it for a while, they also agreed that there was something strange about the White Root. In other words, the root had be weaker, and quite a lot weaker at that.

    As a matter of fact, the White Root was immensely powerful when the Antgos Guild initially coted the information about it. So much so that it was not even behind its owner Juyoung Hong, for whom they coined the nickname ¡®monster¡¯ for his tremendous power.

    Nheless, the White Root was easily cut and torn away by the Lucia Guild members¡¯ attack.

 Chapter 432 - One Plus One (4)

    <h4>Chapter 432: One Plus One (4)</h4>

    It¡¯s true that those who belonged to the Lucia Guild were not weak at all, but having witnessed the mighty power of the White Root, they had no choice but to be startled by the White Root¡¯s current weakness.

    After checking their surprised expressions, Brandon opened his mouth again.

    ¡°Obviously, the White Root alone came back to Earth just like the ck liquid man came to the Earth. But it seems that the root became weak because it came in a hurry or because there were some restrictions on its movement.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    No one disputed Brandon¡¯s reasoning because it fit the situation perfectly.

    Guid leader Oliveira asked, ¡°So what you mean is that even though the White Root has be weak, tit can still continue to appear like that without Juyoung Hong around?¡±

    As if he expected such a question, Brandon replied firmly, ¡°Yes, I think so. I think it is more important for us to discuss how to deal with Juyoung Hong after his return to the Earth because he will definitely be upset with us. No matter how strong Umberto is, he¡¯s no more than a toothless tiger since he has lost all his subordinates.¡±

    Everyone else agreed, then discussed various ways to deal with him and started moving quickly.

    As Brandon said, their n A, which was to have the Myongjin Shelterpletely destroyed, failed, so it was time for them to set up n B to deal with Juyoung Hong¡¯s rage upon his return.

    ***

    In the 10th Royal District.

    ¡°Ice Storm! Ice Punishment!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Bang!

    My attacks struck home on the Ancient Golem, but he didn¡¯t care as if he suffered no damage at all.

    [Seething Rage!]

    Then he continued to counterattack me ruthlessly.

    After I tanked through his attacks several times, I came to realize that he was not as strong as I thought even though he had such a huge build.

    Of course, I knew my enormous defense power was also helpful in defending against his attack.

    But there was a reason why I stepped back using Blink with zero cooldown instead of continuing to tank his attacks.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    He poured numerous attacks on the ce where I was just standing.

    In fact, I was confronting not only the Ancient Golem, but also the Giant Bow, the ruler of the 5th Royal District. And I was also facing the Ancient Golem¡¯s minions who lived in the Major, Regr and Rookie districts under him.

    So I retreated a little before charging at him again. I quickly moved behind him and swung +8 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    ng! ng!

    Obviously, my main stat was intellect. Even so, I¡¯ve never seen any opponent being able to block my +8 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s Sword until now. I¡¯ve always heard the sound of ¡°Puck!¡± when it pierced through my opponent¡¯s body. Of course, it didn¡¯t mean that my sword normally perfectly beat back my opponent¡¯s attack. But it typically managed to pierce through my opponent almost 70%, so I was not satisfied with this result. But I could not afford to regret it because of the golem¡¯s merciless counterattack. So I had no choice but to retreat using Blink with zero cooldown.

    [You irritating rat!]

    Apparently, he was pretty upset by my provocations. I could no longer see any of his initial dignity. So I treated him the same way he treated me.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t I too big to be called a rat? And don¡¯t you think you¡¯ve too many guys around you when I¡¯m alone here?¡±

    When I examined him closely, I discovered it was not true that he had suffered only trivial damage. Obviously, the stones that made up his body still shined brightly. But the lights were slightly weaker than when he used Incarnation at first. In other words, he had sustained damage.

    And I thought that was enough because it convinced me that I could defeat him. Besides, I had yet to use my limited skill Savant for a decisive fatal blow to him.

    ***

    In the 10th Royal District.

    ¡°Pouring Hail!¡±

    Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

    I used my AOE skills as soon as their cooldown returned, regardless of their type. At the same time, I used Blink with zero cooldown.

    Shuuuuuuuung-

    Of course, I appeared behind the Ancient Golem. Then I wielded the +8 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword in my right hand.

    ¡°Multiple Ice Arrows!¡±

    I also used my single-target skills.

    ng! ng!

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    The Ancient Golent got hit repeatedly.

    Shuuuuuuuuuuuung-

    Then I stepped back again as part of my hit and run guerri tactics.

    At first, I thought that the limitation of fighting within 10 metres of the Ancient Golem was very restrictive.

    But it was like a circle with a diameter of 20 meters, which was enough for me to fight back and forth.

    Of course, there was one thing that bothered me while I was attacking him.

    In other words, I was also suffering damage from their attacks.

    Among their attacks was one that caught my eye. It was none other than the attack by the Giant Bow, the ruler of the 5th Royal District.

    Compared with other district rulers, the 5th Royal District ruler¡¯s single-target attack was much more powerful than other rulers¡¯ dozens or hundreds of attacks.

    Currently, I had no choice but to let myself get hit by the attacks of the minions here.

    Even though my power was much stronger than before, I could not pay attention to all other attacks while I was confronting the Ancient Golem with my current control capabilities. So I changed my fighting tactic by focusing on avoiding the attacks of the Giant Bow, the 5th Royal District Ruler, and allowing the numerous attacks of the other guys under his control.

    [Kheeeeek! You irritating rat!]

    Anyway, I continued to fight while angering the Ancient Golem endlessly.

    By now I could see clearly that the shiny stonesprising his figure had definitely lost a lot of their lustre.

    It meant that I could defeat him quite soon.

    Another 30 minutes passed.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    The angry Ancient Golem struck me hard, but I ignored it.

    Obviously his attack was only second to that of the Giant Bow among all my opponents here, but I could easily endure his attack anyway.

    Instead, I paid more attention to the Giant Bow, the ruler of the 5th Royal District

    Or more precisely a man holding the huge bow.

    In the end, it was that man, not the Giant Bow, the ruler of the 5th Royal District, that was fleeing from me.

    Seeing that, I became convinced that my fight was almost over. I was now looking for the perfect time to end this fight.

    Even though the Giant Bowunched a powerful attack against me like before, I knew it was weakening little by little. Of course I could be wrong, but I was patient enough until now, so I was confident I could kill him with one single strike.

    As a matter of fact, I controlled the cooldowns of my long cooldown skills to deal a fatal attack on my opponent.

    So, I opened my mouth quietly.

    ¡°Use Savant!¡±

    [Currently, the most outstanding stat among physical strength, agility, stamina, willpower and intellect that Lumen, Asirante currently possesses is Intellect.

    -Current Intellect: 103,237

    -Intellect value is changed to 206,474 for 30 minutes.

    ¨C A 10-day cooldown is required when Savant¡¯s retention time expires.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    My intellect immediately increased over a whopping 20,000, so I stopped admiring it after just 0.1 seconds because I had plenty of time to admire it after I got rid of the rulers of the 10th and 5th Royal Districts.

 Chapter 433 - One Plus One (5)

    <h4>Chapter 433: One Plus One (5)</h4>

    While looking for the right moment to attack, I poured out all the skills I had saved until now.

    ¡°Blizzard! Ice Tornado!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Wheeeeeeeeeeeng-

    First of all, I repeatedly used AOE skills.

    ¡°Ice Punishment! Ice Breath!¡±

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    A b of ice which was bigger than ever immediately pierced the Ancient Golem¡¯s chest urately like lightning. At the same time, I also used the huge Ice Breath that reminded me of the Milky Way. Of course, my opponent was the Ancient Golem who became the ruler of the 10th Royal District through his huge build alone.

    But it didn¡¯t matter to me because thisbination attack helped me kill Fashant, the ruler of the 7th Royal district, even though his defense power was not as stonrg as that of the Anceitn Golem. Moreover, my intellect has increased to 200,000 when I used my limited skill ¡®Savant,¡¯ which I did not use back then.

    At that time, my reality actualization rate was 137%, but now it has increased by 5% to 142%. Of course, a 5% increase was a big difference for me, and it amplified the difference even more in this fight.

    So I waited patiently until the powerful snow storms and whirlwinds emitted by my AOE skills and Ice Breath subsided so I could see again. But a message rang before they died down.

    [You have been freed from the Ancient Golem¡¯s Glue.]

    Of course, there was also the possibility that the glue cancelled itself on its own.

    As long as I stayed glued to the Ancient Golem, I could not be separated from him, but at the same time he could not be separated from me, either.

    But the next message convinced me that this glue was not cancelled on its own.

    [You have achieved a ¡®great achievement¡¯ as a member of the advance party.

    -You have killed a powerful creature in his own backyard.

    ¨C You acquire 2000 remaining stat points.

    -Irrespective of your current reality actualization rate, your reality actualization rate will increase by 3% immediately.]

    At first, I was disappointed that my stat points were not 3000, and my reality actualization rate was not 5%, but I decided to ignore it.

    I didn¡¯t even open the status window and invest the remaining 2000 stat points, for my priority was to attack the Giant Bow, the ruler of the 5th Royal District, while my Savant was still active.

    ¡°Blink!¡±

    For the first time, I exited the restriction of the 10 meters around the Ancient Golem, then got close to the Giant Bow and poured out my powerful skills.

    ¡°Ice Storm! Ice Spear!¡±

    Of course, my opponent didn¡¯t sit idle.

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    I was literally hit repeatedly, but I didn¡¯t avoid its attacks because I was now basically in a one-on-one match with it.

    What¡¯s more, I possessed my limited skill Savant, and my reality actualization rate just increased by 3$, so it could never match me one-on-one.

    Only then did the enemies begin to utter words of dejection as if they discovered that their owner of the 10th Royal District was killed.

    ¡°Man, he had the best defensive power¡­¡±

    ¡°You bet. What¡¯s more, he had a strong ally, the owner of the 5th Royal District, right? But howe he ¡­¡±

    ¡°This is not what we expected! Something went wrong!¡±

    ¡°We have to run away from here!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. Even the two strong rules can¡¯t defeat this intruder!¡±

    I could hear them at some distance from meining andmenting in dejection.

    Of course, those around me couldn¡¯t even express their frustration and dejection.

    Clearly, the level 7 skill Ice Storm was not as good as Blizzard or Ice Tornado, but it was still very powerful due to my intellect, which was 200,000, twice as much as before.

    Flop!

    Flop!

    Flop!

    Thousands of enemy soldiers copsed like that simply because they were not far from me. But I ignored them because my primary target was the Giant Bow, the ruler of the 5th Royal District.

    ¡°Ice Rain! Ice Wave!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    This time it was my turn to hit that Giant Bow hard.

    Of course, I could attack him using Blink with zero cooldown or the +8 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword. But I didn¡¯t use them.

    Why? Because I was using my limited skill Savant, which made my Ice Ball and Ice Bolt even stronger than the +8 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian attack. And I even thought it was a waste of time to use Blink with zero cooldown in order to move.

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    But the Giant Bow didn¡¯t back off, keeping up its brutal attack against me.

    So we were engaged in a brutal fight until one of us emerged as the winner by duking it out.

    It has been some time since we started the fierce fight.

    The Giant Bow¡¯s style of attack was obviously not impressive, and it was simple.

    Its single-target blows were more powerful than those of Fashant, the owner of the 7th Royal District.

    It was definitely a normal attack, but I felt as if it was a blow that someone dealt after achieving the ultimate level of attack. Besides, this guy also had the optimum build to max out its physical power.

    ¡°Blink.¡±

    Shuuuuuuuung-

    Of course, I didn¡¯t turn to Blink with zero cooldown because I was afraid of being pushed by this guy. Since I fought against him while maintaining my control as much as possible, I still had plenty of health. But I thought I didn¡¯t have to fight him recklessly.

    Even though my primary targets were the owners of the 10th Royal District and the 5th Royal District, there were still many other enemies everywhere.

    In other words, I could not miss this kind of rare opportunity to achieve bonus points.

    So I resumed fighting in a way that would drive them nuts.

    Sheeeeeeeeek- Bang!

    Sheeeeeeeeek- Bang!

    ¡°Is it a missile?¡±

    The Giant Bow¡¯s arrow changed direction and struck my body as if it were a tracking missile. But it was toote for me to defend myself against it.

    I wish I had used Blink a little earlier.

    Anyway, I ignored it, and continued to attack him.

    ¡°Ice Punishment!¡±

    Bang!

    I kept using my powerful skills as soon as their cooldown returned.

    I thought I fought him for about ten minutes when a message rang.

    [You have achieved a ¡®great achievement¡¯ as a member of the advance party.

    -You have killed a powerful creature in its own backyard.

    ¨C You have acquired 1000 remaining stat points.

    -Regardless of your current reality actualization rate, your reality actualization rate will increase by 1% immediately.]

    [You have killed 3 powerful creatures.

    -You won¡¯t receive any reward from now on. ]

    After checking the message, I could not help but smack my lips.

    But I didn¡¯t expect to receive these rewards in the first ce that came along all of a sudden.

    Since they were like bonus rewards, I didn¡¯t have any regrets.

    After all, I could not afford to be disappointed at all because I achieved an additional 9% reality actualization rate and a whopping 6000 remaining stat points.

    Then I turned my attention to the remaining guys belonging to the Major, Regr, and Rookie areas as well as those who didn¡¯t belong to them. They were clustered together as if they were waiting for my attack.

    So I charged at them right away because I was a brutal and merciless aggressor, or more precisely, a predator that could not be satisfied at all no matter how much it devoured.

 Chapter 434 - Return (1)

    <h4>Chapter 434: Return (1)</h4>

    The next day.

    The majority of those who participated in the event ¡®Advance Party¡¯ had yet to leave the territory of Fashant, the owner of the 7th Royal District called the incarnation of the Spirit King. Although Juyoung Hong got rid of many members of the district, there were still a lot of enemies left to satify their daily quota of 10 enemies. Since this was the best environment in which they could obtain bonus points safely in addition to their daily quota, they established themselves in Fashant¡¯s district, fully satisfied with their current status.

    Australia¡¯s Carnabon Guild was located near the 107th Regr District, which was under the control of the 7th Royal District.

    ¡°Captain! We just got some important intelligence!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°Juyoung Hong has fallen into a trap set by the 5th and 10th Royal District rulers¡­¡±

    ¡°What? Did he die? No way! Without him we are finished!¡±

    Captain Taylor shouted as if he was annoyed with his deputy¡¯s report.

    He knew very well that his party had to stay in this ce for more than 15 days, and it was only due to Juyoung Hong that they could stay safe until now.

    Besides, he also knew that since they had to say here for more than about ten days, the people of Kuhana and Earth would eventually fight for dominance, so it was only natural that his shouting was so desperate.

    At that moment ,his deputy quickly replied, ¡°That¡¯s not what I mean! He fell into the trap, but he allegedly killed both the rulers of the 5th and 10th Royal Districts!¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    Taylor could not help but be astonished to hear that.

    So he asked again, ¡°So, what you mean is he dueled the top rulers here in Kuhana and killed them alone?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    After confirming that what he heard was not wrong, he was speechless for a moment.

    Then he said quietly, ¡°If I return to Earth, I have to offer a nice gift to Juyoung Hong and Myongjin, but I don¡¯t know if they will like it.¡±

    Since he came here and confronted the enemies by himself, he knew for sure how strong they were. They were literally iparable to anybody on Earth.

    Even the average person here was iparable to Earth

    In other words, with the exception of some who were extremely mightly, about 3% of those on Earth would belong to the Regr District, 20% would belong to the Rookie District, and the rest would not even fall into the Rookie District. That¡¯s why they regarded the 10 rulers of the Royal Districts as something like gods.

    But Juyoung Hong smashed them in a two-on-one match, not one-on-one, so it was natural that he was dumbfounded.

    Even though both belonged to the Earth, there was an enormous gap in their strength.

    Of course, Taylor also felt he was lucky toe from the same as him.

    In any case, the participants of the ¡®Advance Party¡¯ event who heard about Juyoung Hong agonized over the same thing, namely, how to curry favor with him when they returned to the Earth.

    Besides, some of those who came here were once Myongjin¡¯s foes, so they just kept their fingers crossed that they would not fall out of favor with them because they were scared about the consequences.

    Anyway, those participating in the ¡®Advance Party¡¯ event kept fulfilling their daily quota waiting until the event finished.

    ***

    It has been 16 days since I participated in the ¡®Advance Team¡¯ event.

    In the 42nd Major District under the control of the 5th Royal District.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    ¡°Kheeeeeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Man, this guy is too strong!¡±

    ¡°Damn it, I should have left this ce like the others early on!¡±

    Both the rulers of 5th and 10th Royal Districts were killed by me. As a result, those belonging to the 42nd Major District under the 5th Royal District were in disarray.

    Of course, I spent lots of time there killing the remaining forces there mobilized by the Ancient Golem. Besides, there weren¡¯t as many people here as I thought.

    But they were more than enough for my bonus points

    ¡°Well, even if I kill more rulers of each district, I won¡¯t earn extra rewards, so I don¡¯t have to work hard.¡±

    I obtained 5%, 3%, and 1% reality actualization rate, along with 3000, 2000, and 100 remaining stat poitns respectively, so I didn¡¯t want to be greedy about killing the rulers like before.

    What¡¯s more, they must have been astonished to confirm my performance by now.

    After all, I killed a total of four rulers in Kuhana, including the ck liquid man, the ruler of the 4th Royal District, who I killed on Earth, and the rulers of the 5th, 7th, and 10th Royal Districts.

    Besides, I killed two rulers even though I had to confront both of them at the same time.

    So it was very likely that the rulers of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Royal Districts, who were deemed the strongest in Kunaha, would emerge to confront me. Maybe they would join hands together to challenge me in a three-to-one fight.

    ¡°Blink! Blink! Blink!¡±

    Shuuuuuuuuung-

    After clearing the mess here, I quickly left the ce using Blink with zero cooldown.

    I definitely obtained a lot here, so the only thing I had to do was to return to the Earth safely without using the Ancient Cooldown Removal Charm. I also obtained huge bonus points by getting rid of more enemies than the daily quota assigned to me.

    Anyway, I moved around here and there killing lots of guys in the areas that I visited,

    ***

    In the Myongjin Shelter in Gangwon Province at that time.

    ¡°You still haven¡¯t found any traces of them?¡±

    ¡°No, sir. I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. I expected it to some extent.¡±

    Chairman Hong did not me Director Sok who replied with a heavy heart.

    Since he was briefed by Director Sok about their opponent¡¯s whereabouts on a daily basis, he knew Director Sok had been doing his best.

    Besides, he had started investigating the Lucia Guild and its leader well before they attacked the Myongjin Shelter.

    Initially, theyunched a curse attack by creating monsters in and around the Myongjin Shelter.

    So Chairman Hong ordered Director Sok to investigate the curse attack because it not only caused great harm to Myongjin, but also shocked them a lot.

    However, that happened a few months ago, and Director Sok failed to gather any specific information about the Lucia Guild and its leader.

    Because of that, Chairman Hong did not expect that his deputy would find out any of the infromation about them in only a few days when they could not do so for many months.

    Despite that, they could not afford to sit idle and do nothing about them.

    Chairman Hong sat at his desk, thinking hard about something for a moment.

    Then he said to Director Sok, ¡°Is the Antgos Information Guild still saying they don¡¯t know anything about them?¡±

    ¡°Well, I heard that they didn¡¯t have any information.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    Chairman Hong groaned at his reply, then said, ¡°Are they lying or telling the truth to us?¡±

    ¡°Well, ording to our Intelligence Department analysis, they are most likely lying to us because they are the first-rate intelligence guild.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Chairman Hong showed no reaction this time. Then he stood up and walked over to the window before opening his mouth.

    ¡°What is the status of our recovery?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve restored about 40% of the damage. The Mirae Guild and the Tugal Guild are also helping our recovery efforts a lot. By the time Juyounges back, we will be able to restore 100%.¡±

    ¡°Alright. Good.¡±

    Chairman Hong didn¡¯t take his eyes off the window even after he wrapped up the meeting.

    More precisely, he was looking out the window toward the West Gate where the Lucia Guild invaded.

 Chapter 435 - Return (2)

    <h4>Chapter 435: Return (2)</h4>

    It has been 21 days since the ¡®Advance Party¡¯ event started.

    In an unnamed area that does not even fit into The Rookie District under the 9th Royal District.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    ¡°Why is the intruder still here!?¡±

    ¡°I just heard he was in a Regr District under the 6th Royal District just before!¡±

    ¡°Son of a bitch! How is heso strong!? Then how¡­¡±

    ¡°Kheeeeeeeeeeek¡±

    ¡°Khuuuuuuk¡±

    Flop!

    Flop!

    Flop!

    At least until just before the cooldown of the limited skill ¡®Savant¡¯ returns, I thoroughly followed my determination not to stay in one ce for long.

    I also had the ¡®scam¡¯ skill Blink with zero cooldown that made this possible.

    Of course, as it was an area that was not even a Rookie District, the inhabitants were incredibly weak.

    However, in the 20 odd days since this event ¡®Advance Party¡¯ started, I learned that I had no choice but to fight them at the risk of everything, including my life.

    In other words, I did not intend to fight while differentiating the strong from the weak. There is no such guarantee that the weak will remain weak forever.

    So, I decided to get rid of them as much as I could.

    After a while, I used Blink with zero cooldown in session to leave the unnamed area lower than a Rookie District, and hid myself in the mountains with a small but dense forest. I didn¡¯t need to rest, but that didn¡¯t mean I didn¡¯t have to.

    Above all, I didn¡¯t know that an unexpected battle might happen.

    After sitting down on a t rock, I pulled an item out from my inventory.

    [Denayan¡¯s Wood Piece (Unrated)

    -It is a part of Denayan, the so-called ¡®the oldest tree¡¯ because no one knows when it existed.]

    The ck liquid man appeared to resurrect even though he was obviously dead.

    No, it wasn¡¯t something like a fake, but definitely a revival.

    So, after I killed Fashant, the ruler of the 7th Royal District, I scanned the area for a while to search for signs of his revival. I also did the same for the Ancient Golem and the Giant Bow, the rulers of the 10th and 5th Royal District respectively.

    However, nothing was found where the Fashant and the Ancient Golem died.

    But when the string of the Giant Bow split in two, I chanced upon something different. It was the piece of Denayan¡¯s wood in my hand right now.

    ¡°Well, it is rather strange that the owner of the 5th Royal District is a wooden bow.¡±

    Considering it was the ruler of the 5th Royal District, it would not be strange at all for the Giant Bow to have one or two expensive jewels embedded in it, along with all kinds of decorations.

    But it was really in, and nothing luxurious.

    Except for the fact that it was almost 2-3 timesrger than a normal bow, it was pretty normal.

    While I was looking at the piece of Denayan wood that dropped from the Giant Bow, something stuck out from the ground under me.

    It was none other than the roots. But they were rather mushy.

    Except for when I first got the roots, they always showed a strong appearance.

    But when I saw them a few days ago, I couldn¡¯t help but be very surprised because they were covered in wounds. Some of the wounds were very deep.

    They didn¡¯t wiggle vigorously, and they were pretty mushly like now.

    Of course, it was easy for me to figure out why.

    These roots perfectly blocked the Earth Spirit of Fashant, the owner of the 7th Royal District and the incarnation of the Spirit King.

    So I thought the roots suffered the wounds while fighting Fashant. Otherwise, it was impossible for the roots to have such severe wounds.

    So I couldn¡¯t help but feel like crying because the wounds were caused by me.

    Anyway, I opened my mouth to the roots, which were a little better than before, but still suffering from the wounds.

    ¡°You want this?¡±

    Nod, nod.

    Of course, I couldn¡¯t tell if it was a real ¡®nod.¡¯

    But one thing was certain. In other words, the roots coveted this piece of wood very much.

    But why hadn¡¯t I given it to the roots yet?

    Of course, there was a reason. To be honest, I also covted it.

    So, a few days ago, I used Fly secretly and used Blink with zero cooldown in the sky.

    Then I secretly brought the piece of wood to my mouth and bit it.

    Just as the roots ate up a piece of ck liquid man fragment ¢ó like before.

    [¡­]

    I could not bite it, nor swallow it into my mouth.

    Of course, it was different from this, but there was something else I had eaten before.

    [Root (General)

    -If you eat it, you can get one root.]

    ording to the exnation, it was possible to eat the roots, but there was no exnation about eating Denayan¡¯s piece of wood. Still, I tried several times.

    Obviously, the growth of the roots also contributed to my growth, but my actual growth was more important. However, there is no way for me to absorb it.

    So I made a decision.

    I ced a piece of Denayan¡¯s wood on the palm of my hand, then pushed it to the front of the root. Of course, I may know how to absorb itter, but I thought that if I didn¡¯t do this right now, it wouldn¡¯t be mine.

    So I said to the roots, ¡°I think this piece of wood belongs to you.¡±

    As soon as I said that, the roots moved very fast.

    The white roots with a softer feel than I expected took Denayan¡¯s piece of wood from my hand. Then it dug back into the ground right away.

    ¡°Alright. How much I have gained from you roots¡±

    With those words, I brushed off my interest in Denayan¡¯s wood piece that was very unusual.

    Then I got up from the rock and moved again using Blink with zero cooldown because the ¡®Advance Party¡¯ event was over yet.

    ***

    On the 27th day since I participated in the ¡®Advance Party¡¯ event.

    The cooldown of my limited skill ¡®Savant¡¯ had returned. That¡¯s why I was feeling a little greedy.

    Obviously, I wouldn¡¯t receive any more rewards, but I still wanted to get rid of at least one more person. But at a nce, I knew it was a trap.

    Obviously, many people were killed by my hands, but they seemed to have made no preparations as if inviting me in.

    Of course, I was confident enough to cause a big fuss and get out without any taking any damage, but I didn¡¯t do so. I was like a sergeant about to be discharged from the army, so I had to be very careful about myst activites, no matter how trifling they were.

    So I kept participating in the event carefully until I received the following message.

    [It has been 30 days since you participated in the ¡®Advance Party¡¯ event.

    -The 30-day cooldown of the ¡®Return¡¯mand has ended.

    -You can use the ¡®Return¡¯mand at any time to leave Kuhana and move to your original ce.

    -When you return to Earth, you will receive a reward immediately, and additional rewards will be given ording to the additional points you have earned while in Kuhana.]

    ¡°Hehehe!¡±

    The message made meugh out loud because I had a really good 30 days.

    Of course, I had no intention of using the returnmand right now.

    ording to the message, there was no mention of using it right now either.

    I had the limited skill ¡®Savant¡¯ and I had a cheat key called ¡®Return¡¯ that allowed me to escape the danger whenever I felt it. In other words, I wanted to receive a reward right away, but I had no intention of throwing away thisst chance and going back to Earth.

    It was best for me to get rid of at least one more when I could.

    So, I took thest step to put the things I had in mind into action.

 Chapter 436 - Return (3)

    <h4>Chapter 436: Return (3)</h4>

    Exactly 30 days since the ¡®Advance Party¡¯ event started.

    ¡°It¡¯s today, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°How many of them wille back alive?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡±

    ¡°By the way, Juyong Hong will for suree back alive, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course. It¡¯s Juyoung Hong.¡±

    ¡°Then there¡¯s definitely gonna be a huge fuss here.¡±

    ¡°I guess so. More than 4,000 people died, including those who have raised the reality actualization rate, not to mention those who were permanently injured.

    ¡°Will Juyoung Hong stay still?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. First of all, we should know the identity of the attacker. But no one knows.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s enough. I just hope that the secret about ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ will be revealed.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I think the survivors will bring some information.¡±

    There were lots of rumors and talk about Juyoung Hong¡¯s return on a global scale.

    For the information that has been concealed about the ce in the other world will be revealed when those who participated in the Advance Party event to go to a ce called ??? returned.

    And there were some parties that particrly paid attention to the Advance Party event. They were none other than those belonging to the information guilds.

    Even though the ¡®Advance Party¡¯ event was very dangerous, they could not sit idle, so all of the information guilds sent some of their members to participate in the event because only one of them needed toe back alive to get the information. And among them were the members of Antgos Guild, the undisputed leader of the information world.

    At the headquarters of the Antgos Intelligence Guild in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

    ¡°How much time is left?¡±

    ¡°Exactly nine minutes left.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say 9 minutes earlier?¡±

    ¡°Because you asked the same question less than 10 seconds ago.¡±

    ¡°Oops, did I?¡±

    The leader of the Antaragos Information Guild, Oliveira,ughed out loud at his deputy¡¯s words. As a matter of fact, Oliveira knew right from the start that this ¡®Advance Party¡¯ event was so important that it could be called a turning point in everything that would happen in the future. It was natural that his guild would no longer keep its reputation as the information guild leader if he did nothing simply because the mission was dangerous.

    So, Oliveira included some of those who were called the future of his guild in the Advance Party.

    ¡°How many survivors did you say were left?¡±

    ¡°Thest time we checked, it was 2,388 people.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a lot.¡±

    ¡°Yes. So I don¡¯t think you need to worry. All of them were thoroughly prepared before participating in the event.¡±

    Even though the guild could track the remaining number of survivors through their special abilities, they could not confirm the survival of specific members, so the deputy tried to assuage his boss¡¯s concerns. So Oliveira waited, tapping the desk with his fingers exactly at the same ce where 30 people of his guild moved to ??? at the same time.

    9 minutester.

    Shuuuuuuuuuuung- Shuuuuuuuuuuung- Shunnnnnnnnnng-

    People began to appear all of a sudden.

    Oliveria confirmed that a total of 23 people appeared, and he breathed a sigh of relief because the fact that 23 out of 30 people survived was definitely something he could be proud of.

    Of course, there was something more important than that in his mind, so he quickly opened his mouth, ¡°Juyoung Hong! What happened to him?¡±

    Of course, he didn¡¯t ask the question, assuming he was killed.

    He was just curious how Juyoung Hong performed there.

    If Juyoung was a mediocre performer there, the future of the Earth would have no hope or face a bleak future.

    At that moment Bruno, who participated in the Advance Party event as the captain among the 30 members, opened his mouth. Messages kept ringing in session, but Olivera needed to listen to his answer first.

    ¡°Juyoung Hong was the best we have ever seen.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    When Bruno said that, everyone including the guild leader Oliveira, who had been waiting for the survivors earnestly did not say anything because they already noticed what he meant.

    ***

    In Melbourne, Australia.

    Shunnnnnnnnng- Shunnnnnnnnnnn- Shuuuuuuuuuuuung-

    The top leaders of the Carnabon Guild, one of the top three guilds in Australia, were also earnestly waiting for their survivors. Watching them appear one by one, they shouted for joy. All 25 members of their guild who participated in the event returned alive

    . In other words, their mission was a perfect sess.

    Of course, not all of those present were like that.

    Some obviously cheered sincerely, but others looked at them with envy and jealousy.

    They gave up because they thought it was too dangerous, but the fact that everyone returned safely means that it was probably safer and easier than they thought. And the rewards of those who returned would be huge. Anyhow, amidst such mixed emotions, the guild leader Walgart calmed down their excitement and led all 25 survivors to the small meeting room.

    With the leaders of the Carnabon Guild, including Guild Leader Walgart, attending the meeting, Taylor, who participated as a leader among 25 people, began toment on the ce.

    ¡°It was called Kuhana. It was also the ce where our real and final enemy was. And it was divided into Royal Districts, Major Districts, Regr Districts, Rookied Districts, and other districts that didn¡¯t even fit into the rookie category.¡±

    After Taylor¡¯s briefing, the 25 people who participated in the event shed out his story with more details.

    Taylor continued, ¡°There were a lot of strong people there. So much so that out of everyone who participated in the event from Earth, only a few could be qualified to belong to the Major District, only 3% could be qualified for the Regr, and about 20% for the Rookie District, and the rest could not even be fit for the Rookie areas. Of course, the numbers I gave you are pretty conservative.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Hearing what he said, the top leaders, including the Guild Leader Walgart, hardened their faces because his words implied that there was a huge difference in strength between Earth and Kuhana.

    Taylor continued, ¡°Looking at them, it made me think that they started ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ at least five years ago, maybe even longer than us.¡±

    They began to whisper to each other right away.

    Taylor¡¯s words certainly had a strong impact, and the small meeting room of the Carnabon Guild became noisy for a while.

    ¡°Everyone, be quiet! There is still more we have to listen to!¡±

    The small meeting room, which had been noisy for a while, was silenced by Guild Leader Walgart¡¯s order. Then Guild Leader Walgart immediately opened his mouth to Taylor, ¡°Then what happened to Juyoung Hong?¡±

    ¡°Well, wasn¡¯t he outside our judgement from the beginning? That¡¯s the same in their areas, too. For him, all the Districts there including Major, Regr, Rookie, and even the Royal Districts were like his backyard.¡±

    As soon as he broached the topic, he talked about Juyoung Hong a lot more for a while.

    For example, although the ck liquid man who appeared on Earth was allegedly weakened by passing through a small hole leading to Earth, he was actually the ruler of the 4th Royal District there. But Hong not only killed the 4th ruler but also the rulers of the 7th and 10th Royal Districts while he was in Kuhana.

    Then somebody behind Taylor also praised Juyoung Hong¡¯s brilliant performance because his outstanding performance there made him feel proud he was from the same.

    After he detailed Juyoung Hong¡¯s exceptional performance, Taylor added cautiously at the end of his briefing, ¡°By the way, Juyoung Hong will be stronger because of his enormous rewards. Reveal reward!¡±

 Chapter 437 - Return (4)

    <h4>Chapter 437: Return (4)</h4>

    [For the surviving members of the Advance Party

    ¨C You have sessfully returned to Earth.

    ¨C The following rewards are given.

    : Your level increases by 50 regardless of your current level.

    : Acquire 5 billion golden rings.

    : Acquire 2500 remaining stat points.

    : Acquire 50,000 coins.]

    The rewards up to now were already known, but there was something more.

    [As a member of the Advance Party, you have killed a total of 2,173 enemies in addition to your daily quota for 30 days.

    -Additional rewards are given for this.

    : Acquire a small amount of EXP.

    : Acquire 100 million golden rings.

    : Acquire 50 remaining stat points.

    : Acquire 500 coins.]

    Compared to the original reward, this was not such a big reward.

    But Taylor opened his mouth to everyone in a slightly trembling voice.

    ¡°I can assure you that the number of enemies Juyoung Hong killed himself is much more than the rest of us survivorsbined. Ten thousand or hundred thousand? Absolutely not. Well, I would say at least a million or more. Juyoung Hong was like a god himself when he fought there.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    As soon as Taylor finished talking, all of the 24 survivors nodded exaggeratedly, and all the leaders, including Guild Leader Walgart, had no choice but to harden their faces, for the Myongjin Shelter where Juyoung Hong belonged suffered great damage. Anyway, the meeting in the small meeting room continued for hours after that.

    ***

    35 days after I arrived in kuhana.

    After the message announcing the cooldown of ¡®Return¡¯ was over, I hid deep in the forest.

    Why? Because I wanted my enemy to drop their guards.

    [At the end of the 30-day period as an Advance Party member, you don¡¯t have any daily quota of killing more than 10 enemies per day.]

    [You will no longer receive any additional points even if you kill more enemies because the 30-day period is over.]

    From now on I didn¡¯t have to get rid of my enemies in order to survive and to gain bonus points. So I tenaciously put up with it until the right time came.

    I was going to kill one more ruler after they let down their guard before leaving this ce.

    ¡®Hmm. By the way, I really want to storm the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd districts called the Royal among Royal Districts¡­¡¯

    No matter how dangerous a situation I may face, I had a cheat key called ¡®return¡¯, so I was more interested in returning to Earth.

    But I shook my head because I wanted to seed in defeating one of the rulers no matter what. That¡¯s why I was idling away for five precious days like this.

    Should I hurriedly return after failing to hunt one more ruler?

    ¡°Uh¡­ that¡¯s never going to happen! Okay. Let me target the 6th Royal District. Even though I have already upied the 10th District, I will make a natural sequence of Districts I ravaged, from the 4th, to the 5th, to the 6th, to the 7th Royal districts.¡±

    Moreover, I was confident that I would be much stronger in the near future.

    Just by returning to Earth, I would immediately obtain 2500 remaining stat points and 50,000 coins at level 50.

    ¡°Check the status of my bonus points.¡±

    [This is the status of the bonus points for Lumen, Asirante, a member of the Advance Team.

    ¨C Currently, you have killed a total of 1,887,429 enemies.

    -Additional rewards for the bonus points will be given upon your sessful return to Earth.]

    So far, I have killed just short of 2 million enemies.

    Of course, as I do not have any ess to dataparing my kills against others¡¯, I was not sure if my performance was good or bad.

    But I was sure this was an overwhelming number. In other words, the enemies that other guys might have killed might not be over a few thousand at most.

    In fact, I¡¯ve heard a little about others¡¯ performance while I was roaming around the districts to kill the enemies there.

    ¡°Alright. I¡¯m going to be much stronger very soon, so I don¡¯t have to fight the strongest among them even now.¡±

    I thought the more I dyed fighting the strongest in Kuhana, the better.

    Thinking about the rewards that I would return to Earth, I hid myself in the forest for one more day.

    Early morning the next day, I soared high into the sky using Fly and continued to use Blink with zero cooldown toward one area, which was none other than the 6th Royal District.

    ¡®Man, the 6th Royal District on the 6th day? What a nice coincidence!¡±

    Lost in such idle thoughts, I moved and soon arrived at the 6th Royal District.

    When I reached there, I could see a man walking out of a ce that looked like a huge temple in the middle of the 6th Royal District. Of course, I knew who he was.

    For I had to figure out in advance who my opponent was here.

    As soon as I saw him, I said gently, ¡°Use Savant!¡±

    [Currently, among strength, agility, stamina, willpower, and intellect Lumen, Asirante possesses, the most outstanding stat is intellect.

    -Current intellect value: 106,237

    -Intellect value will be changed to 212,474 for 30 minutes.

    ¨C A ten-day cooldown is required when the retention time of Savant is over.]

    After killing the rulers of the previous 10th Royal District and 5th Royal District, my intellect increased by only 3000 because I acquired 2000 and 1000 additional stat points respectively. Of course, it didn¡¯t mean what I got was small. It was huge.

    But I couldn¡¯t help but be disappointed that my reality actualization rate increased by only 3% and 1% respectively. But a 4% total increase in reality actualization rate was still tremendous.

    That¡¯s why I was confident in this fight.

    ¡°Ice Breath!¡±

    No wonder my confidence erupted in the form of Ice Breath.

    Not only the ruler of the 6th Royal District, but also his pce, which was like a huge temple, was destroyed in an instant.

    After confirming it, I used another skill.

    ¡°Blink!¡±

    Shuuuuuuuuuuuung-

    I moved as close to him as possible by using Blink with zero cooldown, then poured out my skills.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasasasak!

    Of course, I might not need to use such skills. However, the 6th Royal District Ruler was startled by my sudden appearance, so I used Ice Breath along with my other signature skills.

    ¡°Blizzard! Ice Tornado!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Wheeeeeeeeeng-

    Iunched AOE skills in a row towards the smashed area.

    Then I waited for him to emerge from the snow storms and snow whirls because I had yet to fire one more shot.

    ¡°Pouring Hail! Ice Storm!¡±

    Pitter-patter- Pitter-patter

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    I used my AOE skills toward that ce endlessly.

    Even though they were clearly inferior to Blizzard and Ice Tornado, it was an undeniable fact that they had tremendous power,pared to others

    At any rate, the enemies that soon appeared with a roaring soundunched all kinds of attacks at me, but I ignored them all. I focused only on the ce where the ruler of the 6th Royal District was, even though that ce was hard to discern because of the snow storms, snow whirlwinds, and other ice-type skills rampaging through the area.

    ¡°Ice Punishment!¡±

    Bang!

    The moment I noticed something move, I immediately used Ice Punishment. Of course, I didn¡¯t think I would be able to get rid of the ruler of the 6th Royal District with such attacks because he was a formidable guy like the other rulers.

 Chapter 438 - Its Time For My Rage (1)

    <h4>Chapter 438: It¡¯s Time For My Rage (1)</h4>

    It was true that my surprise attack clearly worked. So after that, I faced my furious opponent with confidence.

    What about those who kept attacking me from behind?

    I continued to ignore them because it¡¯s much more profitable for me to kill one more ruler of the Royal District than them.

    Anyway our fight continued, and I heard a message while I was fighting.

    [You have achieved a ¡®great achievement¡¯ as a member of the Advance Team.

    -You have dealt with powerful beings in their backyard.]

    [You have killed more than 3 powerful beings.

    ¨C You won¡¯t receive any more rewards.]

    The enemy was killed almost instantly after I used my limited skill ¡®Savant¡¯, so I cast a nce at the other guys. At that moment something caught my senses.

    Three beings were approaching me at a very high speed.

    I didn¡¯t know who they were, but I could figure it out.

    They were none other than the rulers of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Royal Districts.

    Of course, they might not be, but my hunch was they were.

    ¡®Alright. Let me check how strong you are.¡¯

    I thought of testing them for a moment, but I soon shook my head.

    Obviously, there was a cheat key called ¡®Return¡¯ that would help me get out of this ce, but I happened to run into them.

    So I immediately opened my mouth.

    ¡°Return.¡±

    [You have used the returnmand.

    -You are now leaving Kuhana and moving to your original location.]

    Along with that message, I immediately felt like my body was being sucked into somewhere, and soon a familiar scene appeared before me.

    It was the rooftop of the first main base of the Myongjin Shelter where I first moved to Kuhana from.

    ***

    I was in Kuhana for exactly one month and six days.

    So when I returned to Earth, I felt as if Earth was weing me after a long time.

    As a matter of fact, something like weing fireworks went off in a row as if to show Earth really weed me, which was none other than a series of messages.

    [You are a member of the Advance Team.

    ¨C You have sessfully returned to Earth.

    ¨C The following rewards are given to you.

    : Your level increases by 50 regardless of your current level.

    : Acquire 5 billion golden rings.

    : Acquire 2500 remaining stat points.

    : Acquire 50,000 coins.]

    [You have leveled up.]

    [You have leveled up.]

    :

    :

    [You have leveled up.]

    [You have leveled up.]

    My level has increased by a whopping 50.

    Of course, that was not the first time I experienced such a big increase.

    I experienced simr extreme level ups when I was at an extremely low level.

    But this time, I leveled up so many times when my level was already extremely high.

    So much so that there was nobody whose level was higher than mine.

    So, 5 billion golden rings and 2,500 remaining stat points plus 50,000 coins were definitely a big reward, but the message announcing my level-up caught my attention a lot more.

    But there was another message that caught my attention.

    [As a member of the Advance Party, you have killed a total of 1,887,429 enemies in addition to your daily quota for 30 days.

    -Additional rewards are given for this.

    : Appropriatepensation is being calcted right now.

    : Appropriatepensation is being calcted right now.

    :

    :]

    A series of messages rang, announcing that my appropriate reward was being calcted. Obviously, I killed many more enemies than expected. Otherwise, it would not take such a long time to calcte my rewards.

    Finally, I ended up returning to Earth amid the Myongjin members¡¯ dramatic wee.

    ¡°Our youngest master Juyoung has returned!¡±

    ¡°Wow, he¡¯s finally returned!¡±

    ¡°Juyoung is back!¡±

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    All of them weed me back so enthusiastically.

    I felt a bit embarrassed by their enthusiastic wee, to which even the typical dramatic reunion of separate family members paled.

    Of course, I came back 6 dayster than originally nned. Since others returned to Earth as soon as the ¡®return¡¯ cooldown was over, my family and Myongjin must have been worried about me a lot, so I waved at them.

    At that moment, a message about the final tally of my points rang.

    [You have obtained additional points that nobody could ever gain.

    -The following rewards are additionally given.

    : You have acquired arge amount of EXP.

    : Acquire 31.1 billion golden rings.

    : Acquire 15,650 remaining stat points.

    : Acquire 5 remaining skill points.

    : Acquire 207,000 coins.

    : Acquire the special title ¡®Ruthless yer¡¯.]

    [You have leveled up.]

    [You have leveled up.]

    :

    :

    [You have leveled up.]

    [You have leveled up.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    As a matter of fact, I¡¯ve received many rewards until now.

    Whether it¡¯s an event or a quest, I¡¯ve always won the top ce, raking in all the rewards. But I had never received a more splendid reward than the one this time.

    So much so that a simpleparison between mytest reward and my past rewards was just absurd. My reward this time was literally huge.

    Aside from the title, a whopping five skill points was the cream of the cream.

    So I looked at the message for a while so intensely that I could hardly hear what the others were whispering around me.

    At that moment, another message rang as if I had more rewards waiting.

    [As a member of the Advance Party you escaped from Kuhanast.

    ¨C The following rewards are given for your heroic action.

    : Acquire 1,000 remaining stat points.

    : Acquire 20,000 coins.]

    Of course, the reward itself wasn¡¯t a lot because I got almost 16,000 remaining stat points and about 210,000 coins as an additional reward in addition to my original reward.

    Of course, I had no intention of giving up these rewards because they would add more to my strength, after all.

    There were no more messages as if all the calctions of my performance in Kuhana were over.

    ¡°Juyoung!¡±

    ¡°Juyoung Hong, why have youe back sote? Other yers came back exactly in 30 days!¡±

    ¡°Good job, Juyoung!¡±

    ¡°Nice job!¡±

    As if the people here had reported my return, my father, my mother, my brother, my sister, my sister-inw, and Director Sok, the head of the Intelligence Department, all appeared on the roof of the Myongjin Shelter. Of course, they weed me warmly.

    My mother hugged me tightly, and I returned her embrace.

    After a brief family reunion, all of us went down from the roof together because I had a lot to tell them about my activities in Kuhana.

    But as soon as I left the rooftop, I noticed something different from before I went to Kuhana as a member of the Advance Party 36 days ago.

    A huge space that I had never seen before was created in the middle of the road leading to the West Gate. At first nce, it looked like a park.

    But it was far from a park when I looked at the gloomy expressions of those standing there. Some of them were shedding tears, sping their hands together tightly. So the ce looked more like a cemetery than a park. It was also quiterge.

    But I didn¡¯t ask them what happened because the most important thing to them was what I did in Kuhana.

 Chapter 439 - Itâ€™s Time For My Rage (2)

    <h4>Chapter 439: It¡¯s Time For My Rage (2)</h4>

    In the Myongjin Shelter a whileter.

    More than 2,000 survivors returned from Kuhana. So it was inevitable that they had gathered a lot of intelligence. So Myongjin managed to get a hold of thismon intelligence quite easily. But the most important information was not included.

    Of course, those who trickled out the information would not have leaked all of it because that would be the most foolish thing to do.

    Considering all the situations, I knew a very valuable piece of information that no one knew because I heard it directly from the rulers of the Royal Districts. Except for me, there was no one who met them, or survived after meeting them.

    ¡°Please investigate Jiwon Lee. What happened to him one year ago, or ten years ago, investigate it all. I don¡¯t care if he is a man or a woman, investigate it all,¡± I said all of a sudden.

    Since this was most likely a name that had nothing to do with Kuhana, most of the people there including my father looked dumbfounded at my unexpected request.

    So I said immediately, ¡°Jiwon Lee was mentioned to be the creator of Revival Legend. He was allegedly the creator of not only ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ but also ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯. Here are the memory beads showing this information.¡±

    ¡°!¡±

    ¡°!!¡±

    ¡°!!!¡±

    It was like a bombshell statement which silenced the meeting room.

    After all, Jiwon Lee was the starting point of everything that is happening right now.

    Anyway, I talked about my experiences for nearly 3 hours.

    Given I stayed there for 36 days, even three hours were not enough for me to brief them fully.

    Three hourster.

    I handed over all the memory beads I had used at every important moment to Director Sok, then opened my mouth in a low voice when we wrapped up our meeting.

    ¡°Did anything unusual happen while I was away?¡±

    I didn¡¯t feel it at first.

    However, while moving from the rooftop to the small meeting room, I immediately sensed that the atmosphere of the Myongjin Shelter was rather strange.

    I could notice a mixture of gloom, sadness and anger on the faces of everyone around me.

    What¡¯s more, there was a new space that looked like a cemetery, which I had never seen before. Since I told them all I could, I asked them what happened during my absence.

    My Dad got up and opened his mouth.

    ¡°Take a rest first since you must have suffered a lot.¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡±

    I immediately wanted to hear from him what had happened.

    But he said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Let me arrange a meeting after we have dinner first.¡±

    So I stopped asking, and headed to my room.

    ¡°...¡±

    As if my room was always cleaned, I could see no difference since before I left.

    As soon as I entered the room, I was consumed by fatigue that I had not felt even after sitting in the small meeting room for 3 hours immediately after killing the ruler of the 6th Royal District with a surprise attack.

    Flop!

    I immediately threw myself on the bed. Even though I rested in Kuhana, it was definitely different from resting at home.

    In the small meeting room after dinner.

    Something was being yed on therge screen.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    It was a fierce battle scene.

    But the problem was that the battlefield was a very familiar ce.

    It was none other than the Myongjin Shelter.

    ¡°Kheeeeeeeeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Stop the enemy!¡±

    ¡°Fill the vacuum left by the dead men!¡±

    ¡°There are your families, brothers and sisters, and friends behind you! Myongjin will take care of them! If we copse here, they will be killed!¡±

    ¡°Myongjin! Myongjin! Myongjin!¡±

    ¡°Run over me before you advance, you son of bitch!¡±

    Flop!

    Flop!

    Flop!

    I would not have felt so upset if both sides had suffered simr damage, but the problem was that only one side was suffering damage.

    Even though they knew they would be killed, the Myongjin yers bravely fought the opponents without any fear, which upset me all the more. So I could not take my eyes off them because that was the only way I could toughen my determination to take revenge for them.

    While I was watching the fighting, I repeatedly memorized the face of the Lucia Guild Leader, the head of the enemy.

    At any rate, the Myongjin yers kept suffering more and more damage one-sidedly.

    ¡°Ugh?¡±

    Obviously, I was full of anger, but there was another image that pushed aside my anger because it was so absurd. There was one thing that was not supposed to have been there. It was none other than the roots, which were standing alone without moving at all.

    But as soon as my sister gestured toward the roots and shouted, the roots began to attack.

    Bang!

    After the roots attacked, the tide of the battle changed in the Myongjin¡¯s favor.

    Tramp- Tramp-

    But the enemies were not weak. They were so strong that even I was surprised.

    So much so that I questioned how such strong enemies appeared here.

    However, I did not understand how the roots were torn, cut, and even burnt by their attacks because the roots were normally much stronger than them.

    At that moment, I naturally came to think of the ck liquid man, the ruler of the 4th Royal District.

    I nodded slightly at that.

    Obviously, Fashant, the owner of the 7th Royal District, mentioned the small hole leading to Earth. It seemed the roots, or more precisely, the White Root, could not disy its power 100% because it was damaged while passing through that narrow hole.

    I guessed that the White Root could disy only 25% of its total power.

    Anyway, despite being torn, cut, and bruised so severely, the roots confronted the Lucia Guild members bravely, which turned the battlefield in favor of its allies.

    Soon the Lucia Guild members began to fall one by one.

    The fighting between them continued until all the members of the Lucia Guild copsed except for their leader.

    But the Myongjin¡¯s damage was too big for them to rejoice in victory.

    So I quietly opened my mouth.

    ¡°Does the Antgos Information Guild still don¡¯t know about them?¡±

    If they had known the current whereabouts of the Lucia Guild leader, not only my father, but also Director Sok, would have put aside their pride and told me about it first before discussing what happened in Kuhana, for this would be their minimum consideration for those Myongjin guys who were killed in the fight.

    But nobody said anything, which meant that they too were not aware of his whereabouts.

    Director Sok said, ¡°No, we heard from them that they didn¡¯t know either.¡±

    ¡°Have you confirmed they are telling the truth?¡±

    ¡°Well, our guys at the Department of Strategy concluded that they lied to us.¡±

    The reason why I took issue with the Antgos Information Guild was not because it was the leading guild in the field. To be honest, even when Ipared the superiority of the various information guilds, it was the Antgos Guild that always prevailed.

    So much so that if Antgos didn¡¯t know anything about it, then nobody else could know about it either.

    As soon as Director Sok said that, I got up from my seat and opened my mouth.

    ¡°Let me go and see them.¡±

    It is currently 8 PM Korean time.

    In other words, it was around 10am in S?o Paulo, Brazil, where the headquarters of the Antaragos Intelligence Guild is currently located, so it was the perfect time to visit them.

    But my father said, ¡°Go tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°....¡±

 Chapter 440 - Its Time For My Rage (3)

    <h4>Chapter 440: It¡¯s Time For My Rage (3)</h4>

    My father told me to go tomorrow. Perhaps my father was angrier than me because he was the head of the Myongjin Shelter, after all.

    ¡°Yes, Dad.¡±

    I did not reject my father¡¯s instruction because I needed to show my anger rationally.

    I was determined to take revenge on them as thoroughly as I could.

    That evening.

    ¡°ess!¡±

    [You have essed Revival Legend]

    It has been 36 days since Ist logged in. So I felt a bit awkward at first.

    But I didn¡¯t feel awkward any more when the level 1800 hunting ground Land of Ancient Spirits, where I had been hunting before, appeared in front of my eyes.

    I had hunted in this ce for far more than 36 days, of course, so it didn¡¯t matter that I took a 36 day break.

    So I wanted to charge straight at them, but I had something else to do today. So I left the hunting ground and moved to the teleport zone.

    ¡°Move to Kotum Castle!¡±

    [You are now moving to Kotum Castle.]

    I obtained so much stuff in my previous event.

    In addition to the basic reward, I obtained an additional reward by killing approximately 1.9 million enemies, plus a bonus reward for leaving Kuhanast.

    ¡°Alright. Maybe I need to confront them physically instead of talking¡­¡±

    The reason I came to Kotum Castle was because I wanted to use my remaining 5 skill points. Even with my current capabilities, I could force the Antgos people to open their mouths, but there was nothing wrong with bing even stronger.

    Besides, I didn¡¯t have to save my skill points.

    Anyway, I was moving to the central za of Kotum Castle to obtain skills.

    ¡°Check title, Ruthless yer.¡±

    Then I began to check what I obtained one by one.

    [Title: Ruthless yer.

    ¨C It ismon knowledge that you should be merciless in dealing with the enemy.

    ¨C As a member of the Advance Party, you not only killed countless enemies in Kuhana, but also seeded in instilling fear into those left behind.

    ¨C You have received a special title as a reward for that.

    : Your health increases by 100,000.

    : Your mana increases by 100,000.

    : Your stat points increase by 500.

    : Yourbat power increases by 5% when fighting a target that you regard as an enemy.]

    ¡°Um¡­¡±

    Obviously, it was good. Aside from health and mana, an increase of a whopping 500 in all stats was by no means small, given that the average all stat point increase for other titles was only 300.

    But I had no choice but to tilt my head because of one option, namely, a 5% increase inbat power when fighting a target that is regarded as an enemy.¡¯

    Of course, the 5% increase at my level was not a typical 5% because it was a staggering number that would producepletely different results.

    But the problem was the target that I would regard as an enemy.

    So I examined it in various ways. No matter how much I looked at it, I could not really understand it.

    ¡°Can I just do it as I wish?¡±

    I just stopped thinking about it anymore because I still didn¡¯t understand it at this point.

    ¡°Check status window.¡±

    This time I couldn¡¯t help but tremble a little.

    [Level: 1537

    Number of kills: 1,915,587 Number of deaths: 0

    Titles: Only Closed Beta Max Level Achiever and 13 others.

    Health: 10,657,000 / 10,657,000

    Mana: 6,421,000 / 6,421,000

    Strength: 18574 Agility: 20941 Stamina: 80557

    Spirit: 52021 (+3000) Intellect: 102237 (+6000)

    Remaining stat points: 20,920

    Remaining skill points: 5

    Traits: Iceman, Mutual Growth, God of Enhancement, All Buffs, All Debuffs.]

    Of course, I expected this kind of result.

    I definitely got a lot of EXP because my level increased by 50, and I obtained an additional reward of 16,000 stat points on top of the basic 2,500 stat point reward, and even another 1,000 stat points for leaving Kuhanast.

    Even though I knew all this, I just became speechless when I confirmed it with my own eyes because I felt the reward was simply too much.

    Moreover, although it did not appear in the status window, I obtained 50,000 coins as a basic reward, about 210,000 coins as an additional reward, making a total of 280,000 coins when I included the 20,000 that I received straight after escaping Kuhana.

    In other words, the reward was simply too big for me to believe that I obtained it by winning in just one event.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡±

    I felt so good about the rewards because it was all mine.

    With a smile on my lips, I invested all of the remaining 20,920 stat points into intellect.

    Thanks to my Mutual Growth trait, my stamina increased the same amount, and my willpower also increased by half.

    So I was about to close the status window when I clicked the trait ¡®God of Enhancement¡¯ as I usually did.

    When the cooldown of ¡®God of Enhancement¡¯ was over, I could immediately challenge +9 Enhancement. In that case, I could make the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword into +15 Enhancement, the ultimate enhancement stage, by using 5 Ancient Cooldown Removal Charms and the 100% Enhancement Sess Ticket.

    [God of Enhancement.

    -Remaining cooldown: None.]

    ¡°?¡±

    Obviously, the generated cooldown was about one year when I upgraded +7 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword to +8 Enhancement. In other words, it was 365 days.

    But this cooldown disappeared!

    I couldn¡¯t help but be dumbfounded about what happened.

    So I unwittingly opened the skill window and checked one skill.

    [Savant (Limited Skill)

    -Remaining cooldown: None.]

    My limited skill, Savant, should have had 7 days and a few dozen hours of cooldown left by now because I used it about 2 days ago against the owner of the 6th Royal District.

    Just like God of Enhancement, Savant had no cooldown left.

    ¡°I wonder if all this cooldown disappeared after I returned from Kuhana.¡±

    If I had to look for any reason, that was the only one. So I had no choice but to stay where I was for a while, for the fact that the cooldown of my trait ¡®God of Enhancement¡¯ was over meant a lot to me.

    Then, I turned to the central za and stopped by the cksmith, as usual.

    After a while.

    [Wee.]

    The NPC who was entering the forge at the moment greeted me, but I ignored him and immediately put the +8 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword into the enhancement window.

    Then I opened my mouth quickly.

    ¡°Activate God of Enhancement!¡±

    [You have activated God of Enhancement.

    -100% chance of sessfully enhancing.

    -Enhancement target: +8 Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    -Additional requirements: 2,340,000,000 golden rings, 17.755 billion EXP.

    ¨C Cooldown upon sessful enhancement: 821 days]

    It was literally a huge amount of golden rings and EXP.

    However, the cooldown of 821 days made me just speechless.

    But I chose to enhance it right away because the item I was currently trying to upgrade was myth-grade and +8 Enhancement.

    I also knew the solution.

    Anyway, when I chose to enhance, a twinkling light arose from the +8 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword, then a message rang.

    [You have seeded in enhancing the +8 Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    : The +8 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword has been upgraded to the +9 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.]

 Chapter 441 - Itâ€™s Time For My Rage (4)

    <h4>Chapter 441: It¡¯s Time For My Rage (4)</h4>

    As soon as I confirmed the message had rung, I ignored the rest of it, then took out the charms from my inventory. In other words, the five Ancient Cooldown Removal Charms that I had saved for an asion like this. I tore one of them.

    Then a message rang.

    [You have used one Ancient Cooldown Removal Charm.

    -There is one cooldown that is currently active.

    ¨C God of Enhancement.

    : Remaining cooldown: 821 days.

    -Since you have only one activated cooldown, the cooldown of God of Enhancement has been removed.]

    As soon as the message was over, my God of Enhancement was restored to activation status.

    I was so thrilled to confirm it that my hands trembled. I put the +9 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword back into the enhancement window with trembling hands.

    Then I opened my mouth again.

    ¡°Activate God of Enhancement!¡±

    [You have activated God of Enhancement.

    -100% chance of sessfully enhancing.

    -Enhancement target: +9 Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    -Additional requirements: 31,000,000 golden rings, 27.94 billion experience points.

    ¨C Cooldown upon sessful enhancement: 1387 days]

    ¡°Enhance!¡±

    [You have seeded in enhancing the +9 Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    :The +9 Enhanced Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword has been upgraded to the +10 Enhanced Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.]

    So I kept using a total of 5 Ancient Cooldown Removal Charms one by one.

    Then I found myself holding the guardian sword with a different enhancement level than before.

    [+14 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword]

    In less than a minute, the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword has been upgraded from +8 Enhancement to +14 Enhancement.

    But there was still one more item left, so I took it out from the inventory.

    It was the 100% Enhancement Sess Ticket that I obtained from the level 100 limited enhancement quest from long ago.

    ¡°Use 100% Enhancement Sess Ticket!¡±

    Since I didn¡¯t have to dy using it after upgrading the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword +14 Enhancement, I used it right away.

    [You have used a 100% Enhancement Sess Ticket.

    -You can increase the enhancement level of only one item by one level regardless of its grade and enhancement level.

    ¨C Please select the item you want to use the 100% Enchantment Sess Ticket for.

    -After it is used, the 100% Enhancement Sess Ticket will be deleted.]

    As soon as the message was over, I chose the +14 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    The 100% Enhancement Sess Ticket started glowing, and stuck to the +14 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian sword right next to it.

    Shortly afterwards, a red haze arose from the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    It meant that the guardian sword had finally reached +15 Enhancement, the ultimate level.

    So I immediately said in a trembling voice, ¡°Check item!¡±

    Obviously, the 20,000 remaining stat points that I possessed until now was shocking, but the myth-grade +15 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword was even more shocking.

    [+15 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword (Myth)

    -This is the sword containing the final determination of Asirante, the master and emperor of ice, who fought against the Sun God Morutu, who burned and evaporated everything in the world.

    : Level 700 or higher required to equip

    : At least 7000 pure intellect required to equip

    : Avable only to those who have at least 10 ice skills.

    -Effect.

    : Increases the performance of all Ice-type skills by 30%

    : Cooldown of all Ice-type skills is reduced by 30%.

    : Applies a 1% chance of increasing the damage of an ice-type skill by twenty-fold.

    : Basic level 6 Ice Weapon is always applied to the guardian sword. (It oveps with the user¡¯s ice weapon magic. For example, if the user has a level 1 ice weapon and uses it, a total of level 7 ice weapon is applied.)

    : There is a 70% chance to inflict frostbite on the opponent hit by the guardian sword.

    : With the determination of the Ice Emperor that even the Sun God could not melt, the sword applies a 50% damage reduction to all fire-type skills.

    : Increases stamina by 25000.

    : Increases agility by 25000.

    : Increases intellect by 35000.

    ¨C Safety enhancement: 0

    -Physical attack power: increases by 225500.

    -Magical attack power: increases by 175500.

    -Durability: Infinite/Infinite]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Even when I upgraded the Ice Emperor¡¯s Guardian Sword to +8 Enhancement from +7, the effect was literally enormous. In fact, it helped me to greatly improve my capabilities during my recent 36 day in Kuhana.

    But my current +15 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword had clearly made its +8 version obsolete. So much so thatparing the two was like an affront to the +15 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    With the +15 enhancement, not only my options, but also the stamina, agility, and Intellect bonuses, not to mention the physical and magical attack power bonuses, increased beyond description. For example, the stamina and agility bonuses, which were between 2000 and 3000,, increased to 25,000, while the intellect bonuses, which was also in the same range, increased to a whopping 35000.

    Besides, the physical attack power and magic attack power bonuses were exactly 35,000 and 20,000 before. But they also increased to about 230,000 and 180,000, respectively.

    What¡¯s more, I saved another item for this kind of asion.

    [Additional Item Option Charm (Legendary)

    -Gives new options to wearable items such as weapons, armor, and essories.

    -The ¡®Additional Item Option Charm¡¯ disappears immediately after you use it, but you can keep the newly created option permanently.

    -The performance of the generated option is determined ording to the grade and enhancement value of the chosen item.

    -You can create a duplicate of an option present in the original item. When it¡¯s duplicated, only the performance of that option increases.

    -It cannot be exchanged because it belongs to its original owner]

    This was the only major item I had left after I used up all of the max level skill increase stone, the 5 Ancient Cooldown Removal Charms, and the 100% Enhancement Sess Ticket in my inventory.

    So I used it straight away.

    Of course, the target was my +15 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    [You have used the Additional Item Option Charm for the +15 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    -Item grade: Myth.

    -Enhancement value: +15 Enhancement

    -A total of 36,000 points are given because of the grade and enhancement level.

    -36,000 bonus points directly affects the option that will be created and its value.]

    Along with that message, a bright light arose from the +15 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword that once again emitted a red haze.

    ¡°What? Is this also a myth grade and +15 Enhancement?¡±

    As I just said, the created option could not be better.

    Anyway, I finished enhancing the guardian sword, then turned because I had no more business to do at the forge.

    A littleter.

    [Currently, there are skills that you can acquire.]

    [There are currently ice-type skills that can be upgraded.]

    As soon as I arrived at the central square of Kotum Castle, I chose the upgrade option right away since I already expected such messages.

    ¡°Choose Ice Punishment!¡±

    [Do you want to upgrade level 8 Ice Punishment to level 9 Ice Punishment?

    -You need 2 skill points and 45 million golden rings to upgrade it.]

    ¡°Upgrade!¡±

    I upgraded it without hesitation because I had already decided firmly to do so beforehand.

    I now had only 3 skill points left.

    Since I had already decided how to use them, I chose one skill right away.

    [Level 8 Frost Spear. (Active, requires 3 skill points, requires 55,000,000 golden rings.)

    : Fires a powerful ice spear with frost energy at one target.

    : There is only one level 8 Frost Spear.]

 Chapter 442 - Itâ€™s Time For My Rage (5)

    <h4>Chapter 442: It¡¯s Time For My Rage (5)</h4>

    For level 10 skills, I had Ice Breath. For level 9 skills, I had the level 9 AOE skill Blizzard, and Ice Punishment that I recently upgraded to level 9.

    And as for level 8 skills, I had only one AOE skill, namely, Ice Tornado.

    Because of that, I had no choice but to acquire a single-target skill to maintain my skill bnce. Moreover, while dealing with the rulers of the Royal Districts in Kuhana, I realized I needed to obtain single-target skills urgently.

    ¡°Obtain!¡±

    [You have acquired the level 8 Frost Spear.]

    ¡°Man, I¡¯ve grown so much because of just one event!¡±

    When I first essed Revival Legend, I was only nning to upgrade Ice Punishment and obtain Frost Spear, but my growth waspletely beyond my expectation. So much so that I waspletely different from what I was before.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t feel bad about it. Rather I liked it very much.

    Why? Because tomorrow I can show how more powerful I ampared to before.

    But there was one more thing I had to take care of.

    ¡°Use Coins.¡±

    I intended to use 50,000 coins that I received as the basic reward, the 210,00 coins from the additional reward, and the 20,000 bonus coins for being thest person to escape Kuhana.

    I decided to use all 280,000 coins to raise my reality actualization rate since I didn¡¯t have to dy using them forter when I could just use them now.

    Originally, my reality actualization rate was 137%, but it increased to 146% after I killed the three Royal District rulers in the Advance Party event, for which my reality actualization rate increased by 5%, 3%, and 1% respectively.

    [Currently Lumen, Asirante¡¯s reality actualization rate is 163%.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    When I used up 280,000 coins, I increased my rate up to 163%.

    As if to prove that my power had risen to new heights, my status window was emitting red, and the +15 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword was also emitting a red haze.

    So I just kept looking at my 163% realization rate with a satisfied smile on my lips.

    ***

    On a ne to Sao Paulo, Brazil.

    ¡°Did you contact them?¡±

    ¡°Of course, I did.¡±

    Yesterday, I had no intention of buying a ne ticket to Brazil, nor did I n to contact the Antgos Information Guild in advance.

    But I changed my n this morning. Of course, the reason why I changed my n was mainly because of what happened within Revival Legend.

    Anyway, I spoke again to Director Sok, who answered my question.

    ¡°Did they ept my request to meet their guild leader face to face?¡±

    ¡°We received a response from the Antgos Guild that they would consider it positively.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ we can see when we arrive there. Oh, what about the Yellow Knife and the Ruselk Guilds?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve already arranged for you to meet with their leaders in Sao Paulo as well.¡±

    ¡°I see. Thank you.¡±

    Yellow Knife was the secondrgest guild, and Russelk was the thirdrgest guild in Brazil. Of course, Antgos was thergest one. But there was a huge gap in their power among the three guilds.

    Anyway, I and Director Sok were flying to Sao Paulo.

    In S?o Paulo, Brazil at that time.

    In the Antgos Information Guild Headquarters.

    ¡°So Juyoung Hong is flying right here?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°And he wants to meet me directly?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Oliveira, the leader of the Antgos Intelligence Guild, frowned slightly while stroking his mustache. It was the basic nature of a human being or any living creature to not want to meet anyone who could turn into their predator. That was the case for Oliveria who was fully aware that he had misled the Myongjin Guild.

    ¡°By the way, did Juyoung Hong escape from Kuhana 6 dayster than the others?¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    ¡°Phew. Even if the rumors about him are only partially true, his power is just unbelievable.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, as far as his strength is concerned, he is like a living god. The number of enemies he killed was estimated to be around one million, but I¡¯m sure he killed more than that. And I can¡¯t even figure out howrge his additional reward was in addition to his basic reward.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Oliveira didn¡¯t respond to his deputy¡¯s words because what he said was true.

    Then he said with a sigh, ¡°Well, I have no other choice but to meet this living god. I¡¯ve got to prepare to wee at the highest level possible.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure? You may have to keep in mind that he is very upset with you because he knows well how much damage Myongjin suffered from the Lucia Guild¡¯s surprise attack during his absence. Besides, our guild has kept them in the dark about the Lucia Guild while we are famous for being the leader in the intelligence guild world.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why I regret it a lot now. I should have waited until the Yellow Knife and Russelk approached them first. I should have let them take the initiative¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    His deputy didn¡¯t respond to his boss¡¯s bted regrets.

    Anyway, Oliveira, the leader of the Antaragos Information Guild, hurried to prepare to wee Juyoung Hong, albeit reluctantly, determined that he would keep his stance that he really didn¡¯t know anything about the Lucia Guild¡¯s movements all along.

    For it was much better for him to tell Juyoung that he really didn¡¯t know instead of admitting that he pretended not to know about it.

    A few hourster in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

    Although it is not the capital of Brazil, it is undeniably thergest city in Brazil and the city with the highest poption. As a matter of fact, it¡¯s thergest global city in South America as well as the Southern Hemisphere.

    There were so many people milling around in the city.

    ¡°I think I know why the Antaragos Guild made S?o Paulo their headquarters.¡±

    Director Sok responded to my words, ¡°Their guild leader, Oliver, and most of the main yers are also from Brazil.¡±

    In fact, the only thing they knew until now was that the Antaragos Intelligence Guild had its main headquarters somewhere in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

    In other words, the ce I and Director Sok were trying to find was not their main headquarters, but one of their branches, even though it was theirrgest branch.

    When we arrived there, a group of people dispersed to wee us warmly.

    ¡°Wee, Juyoung Hong!¡±

    The Antgos Information Guild deliberately hid their main headquarters from me.

    Of course,I understood why. Generally speaking, an information guild like Antaragos didn¡¯t need to show off its power or expand its power. In other words, they liked to keep a low profile by nature.

    But the leader of the Antgos Information Guild did not hide his identity as if he feltfortable about hiding his main base from me. So I could easily discover that the guy walking toward me ahead of others was Oliveira, the leader of the Antgos Information Guild. Of course, it could be somebody disguised as Oliveria, but I didn¡¯t want to take issue with it because it wouldplicate my thoughts.

    So I followed Oliveira, who greeted me warmly, to a huge building located in the center of S?o Paulo. The Antgos Information Guild imed that this was their main headquarters, but I didn¡¯t believe it at all.

 Chapter 443 - Itâ€™s Time For My Rage (6)

    <h4>Chapter 443: It¡¯s Time For My Rage (6)</h4>

    ¡°So, Juyoung Hong, why are you visiting the Antgos Information Guild like this?¡±

    ¡°Are you really asking because you don¡¯t know why?¡± I retorted sharply at Oliveira while angrily frowning.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    When I found out it was the Lucia Guild and their leader who made Myongjin the Land Summoning Monsters, I immediately contacted the Antaragos Information Guild about them.

    But they always told me that they didn¡¯t know anything about the Lucia Guild¡¯s whereabouts. And they didn¡¯t change their stance even when the Myongjin Shelter was attacked by the Lucia Guild while I was away.

    So it was impossible for them to admit now that they ¡®knew¡¯ about the Lucia Guild, or that they ¡®knew the Lucia Guild, but hid it from us,¡¯ unless they went crazy.

    It would be their worst choice if they did so.

    In other words, it was impossible for me to talk to them nicely at this point.

    But guild leader Oliveira didn¡¯t seem to understand the situation.

    He said, ¡°Hahaha! Of course, I have a hunch about some of the things that happened at the Myongjin Shelter recently. For example, some information about Kuhana or the tragic incidents that urred at the Myongjin Shelter while you were away.¡±

    I quietly nodded instead of interrupting so he could continue.

    ¡°But honestly, as for what happened in Kuhana, we would like to buy the relevant information from you and Myungjin. If you are willing to do so, we willpensate you appropriately. If you want the relevant information from us, we will give you, Juyoung Hong, the full information is the hope of all mankind on Earth. And we really feel sorry for the unfortunate things that have happened to the Myongjin Shelter while you were away. But even now we¡¯re doing our best to gather information about the Lucia Guild to prove we are the No. 1 intelligence guild in the world. If you give us some more time, we¡¯ll definitely find out more about him and where he¡¯s hiding.¡±

    He was such an eloquent speaker as if he had prepared for this for a long time.

    So much so that I felt like thanking him for his utmost efforts.

    Of course, I know that he might be sincere. Even though Myongin was a level lower than the Antalogs Information Guild in terms of intelligence, they still never caught any information about the Lucia Guild or its members.

    What¡¯s more, even the Mirae Guild or the Tugal Guild in Mongolia, who were pretty loyal to Myongjin, also had no information about the Lucia Guild.

    But I was not stupid enough to buy Oliveira¡¯s words easily because of the excellent performance of the Antaragos Information Guild in the past.

    Even though I knew that my action might give him the impression that I was here to deliberately pick a fight with them, I didn¡¯t care. Rather I was determined to cause a fuss until he cooperated.

    I could not forgive those guys who intruded and damaged my territory.

    What¡¯s more, if they were in a position to find a bit of information about the Lucia Guild or deliberately withheld information from me, even if it was just a little bit, I didn¡¯t intend to let them get away with it.

    In other words, the Antaragos Information Guild should have found out about them by all means. Even if they didn¡¯t know, they should have tried their best to detect them and inform me.

    Obviously, I clearly showed my anger to them when I first contacted them about the Lucia Guild and their leader. Back then, I let them clearly understand how angry I was because I could not ess Revival Legend and hunt for almost two months against my will when the monsters appeared, and had to leave Earth to participate in the Advance Party event.

    Of course, I knew well that I was being arrogant, but I had no intention of hiding it.

    So, even after the guild leader Oliveira finished talking, I stared into his eyes for a long time without saying anything.

    Then I quietly opened my mouth.

    ¡°Let me ask you once more. Do you know anything about the guild leader of the Lucia Guild?¡±

    I buried my back in a high-end chair and vented my frustration that I had pent up until now. Obviously, my anger and frustration were subsiding over time, but I was still extremely upset when I recalled what had happened to the Myongjin Shelter and those who lived in it.

    Then some of the things around me began to shake.

    Clearly, I was inside an enclosed space. However, the fountain pen and ink ced on the high-end desk suddenly started to move, and even the high-end desk and the window began to shake violently. Oliveria¡¯s well-groomed hair began to p as well.

    But I was focused on his lips without even blinking my eyes.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    But he would not say anything. Of course, he might feel it¡¯s unfair if he really didn¡¯t know anything about them, but I didn¡¯t care.

    I had no intention of sympathising with him at all.

    So I said, ¡°I firmly reassured myself that I would be a ruthless invader, even a hungry predator. Of course, I was wondering if I could do it, but I knew I could. When I realized that more than one million from the Myongjin Shelter were killed, I felt I could be more cruel and ruthless. But right now I do want to be a hungry predator. Do you know what I mean?¡±

    I did not go to the trouble of making him realize how upset I was now.

    Even though I spoke calmly and inly, he could clearly notice how upset and furious I was.

    At that moment, something exploded before my eyes.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Something very thick and huge appeared en masse from the underground.

    Was it perhaps a trap set by the guild leader Oliveira?

    To be honest, I thought it would be nice if he did so, but unfortunately it wasn¡¯t a trap.

    In other words, it was the roots that responded to my rage.

    The roots appeared en masse all of sudden.

    And the bundles of the roots came out and soared high into the air, lifting him high off the ground.

    It was so high in fact, that not only the downtown of S?o Paulo, but also the vast Antic Ocean far away could be seen way down below.

    Wheeeeeeeeeeng.

    The wind blew relentlessly.

    I nced at the roots again.

    This time the roots lifted a total of three men into the air, two trembling violently, and one calm.

    Naturally, the man who did not tremble was Director Sok, and the other two were the leaders of the Yellow Knife Guild and the Ruselk Guild, the second and thirdrgest guilds in Brazil.

    Staring at them, I shouted, ¡°You must know about them, right?¡±

    ¡°Holy shit! We really don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°Yes. We did our best to find the leader of the Lucia Guild because you contacted us, but we really could not find any trace of him! We¡¯re really serious!¡±

 Chapter 444 - Its Time For My Rage (7)

    <h4>Chapter 444: It¡¯s Time For My Rage (7)</h4>

    As a matter of fact, I contacted the Yellow Knife Guild and the Russelk Guild just in case. But they didn¡¯t give me the answer I had been looking for.

    So I made my point clear to them once again.

    ¡°No, that¡¯s not my point. I want to ask you if you have information about the Antgos Information Guild. As you guys are in the same intelligence guild business, you must have tried to find out about yourpetition, right, even though you might not have nted any moles?¡±

    ¡°Oh, we¡¯ve got some information about them, of course.¡±

    ¡°We do have some, too. But since the Antgos guys protect their information so well, we don¡¯t have much about what they¡¯re doing inside Brazil.¡±

    This time they finally leaked out some information I wanted to hear.

    So I slightly nodded at them, then cast a nce at Oliveira, the leader of the Antgos Information Guild.

    ¡°This is yourst chance. I¡¯ve already given you a lot of chances. If you fail to respond properly again, I¡¯m going to erase S?o Paulo first from the map, then Brazil, and then finally all the guys on the outside who belong to Antgos.¡±

    I gave him a final warning in a calm voice, then at the same time I pulled out an item from my inventory.

    It was none other than the +15 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword that was emitting a zing red haze mercilessly.

    Then I opened my mouth softly, aiming at the Antic Ocean, not Oliveira.

    ¡°Ice Breath!¡±

    Bang!

    A huge roar rang out. Along with that roaring sound, waves towering above a hundred meters or more or more soared high into the sky. However, the enormous waves reminiscent of a tsunami did not crash down again, for they were immediately frozen.

    Pasasasasak!

    My Ice Breath continued to extend itself as if to turn the vast Antic Ocean into and of ice to the extent that I could not see past thend of ice any longer

    Of course, I didn¡¯t use Ice Breath just because I was angry. Obviously, I used it deliberately as a threat and a final warning to him. So I made sure my warning was as tough as possible.

    Otherwise, it would have been much better if I had not issued it at all.

    There was one thing I used while I was drawing the +15 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword. In fact, while I was returning to Earth, I had one more trait whose cooldown had refreshed in addition to my God of Enhancement. It was none other than my limited skill Savant.

    ¡®Use Savant!¡¯

    [Currently, among the strength, agility, stamina, willpower and intellect Lumen, Asirante possesses, the most outstanding stat is intellect.

    -Current intellect value: 164,168

    -Intellect value will be changed to 328,336 for 30 minutes.

    ¨C A 10-day cooldown is needed when your Savant retention time expires.]

    After returning from Kuhana as a member of the Advance Team, I acquired a total of more than 20,000 remaining stat points from the basic reward, additional reward, and bonus reward for escaping Kuhanast, not to mention the reward for my level-ups.

    And my Intellect increased by another 35,000, not to mention my stamina and agility, thanks to the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword which was upgraded from +8 Enhancement to +15 Enhancement.

    Maybe that¡¯s why my limited skill Savant showed such a difference in performance between now and only a few days ago in Kuhana.

    And I was not just content with upgrading +8 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword to +15 Enhancement at the forge within Revival Legend.

    Obviously, I used one more item.

    It was none other than ¡®Additional Item Option Charm.¡¯

    Furthermore, the option was to be determined by the item¡¯s grade and enhancement value. So I had high expectations because I used it after I reached the final stage of enhancement on a highest grade item.

    Because of that, I could not help but be satisfied with the option created.

    [+15 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword has created a new option.

    :Ovep.

    -You can select one of the skills you have and equip it with the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword. (You can change the equipped skill without any restrictions in the future.)

    ¨C Due to the nature of the weapon, you can only equip your ice-type skills.

    -You can¡¯t equip passive skills.

    : When your skill is ovepped once, its power increases by a factor of 2, but its cooldown is 4 times as long.

    : When your skill is ovepped twice, its power increases by a factor of 3, but its cooldown is 8 times as long.

    : When your skill is ovepped 3 times, its power increases by a factor of 4, but its cooldown is 16 times as long.

    : When your skill is ovepped 4 times, its power increases by a factor of 5, but its cooldown is 32 times as long.

    : When your skill is ovepped 5 times, its power increases by a factor of 6, but its cooldown is 64 times as long.]

    I didn¡¯t know how many other options I could obtain with the ¡®Additional Item option Charm¡¯, but as soon as I checked the Ovep created by the +15 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword, I knew that it would be difficult for me to obtain an option better than this one.

    What¡¯s more, I couldn¡¯t recall any better option than Ovep.

    Of course, the more I ovepped my skills, the cooldown increased exponentially, but it didn¡¯t matter to me because all I needed was a fatal blow with which I could get rid of my opponent.

    I could equip it with a certain skill that would definitely enable me to get rid of my opponent with a single fatal blow. So I equipped Ice Breath to the +15 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword. Of course, I used as many as five oveps for that, which was the maximum. In other words, up to 5 oveps, plus my limited skill Savant.

    This itself was already a huge power.

    But there was one more thing left as the icing on the cake.

    In other words, my reality actualization rate was as high as 163%.

    And the +15 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword that was emitting a red haze in all directions.

    Anyway, it was impossible to describe properly how much stronger I waspared to before.

    Bang!

    Even I was amazed at the mighty impact of my Ice Breath when it collided with the waves of the Antic Ocean, for the effect was much muchrger than I thought.

    Stunned by my threat in an unexpected situation, the three men, including Oliveira, were left speechless, with their eyes open wide.

    They trembled violently, and basked in unprecedented terror and horror, but I didn¡¯t care.

    Even though I could not freeze the entire Antic Ocean, all the ocean that I could see got frozen all of a sudden.

    Obviously, the Antaragos Information Guild, which uses Brazil as their home, must have received some sort of report from their leader Oliveira by now.

    So I waited about 5 minutes for him to feel the acute pressure because the main target of my revenge was not the Antaragos Information Guild nor Oliveira, but that bastard leader of the Lucia Guild.

 Chapter 445 - Itâ€™s Time For My Rage (8)

    <h4>Chapter 445: It¡¯s Time For My Rage (8)</h4>

    When I noticed that he was fully consumed with terror and fear by my attack, I turned around and said to Oliveira sternly, ¡°Are you ready to answer my question now? I will give you exactly 30 seconds. I won¡¯t wait any longer. 30, 29, 28, 27¡­¡±

    Obviously, he was stricken with enough terror and fear, so this time I was intent on pressuring him intently so that he could not endure if he didn¡¯t answer within 30 seconds.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    To be honest, even I didn¡¯t think it would be this much.

    Obviously, using Ice Breath that was ovepped five times towards the Antic Ocean was different from using it towards S?o Paulo where countless innocent ordinary people lived along with those who achieved their reality actualization rate.

    But I didn¡¯t care.

    I kept counting down in a calm and dry voice without any hesitation.

    ¡°26, 25, 24, 23¡­¡±

    ***

    At the headquarters of the Antgos Information Guild in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

    After Juyoung Hong notified them of his uing visit, the Antgos Information Guild went into an emergency working mode.

    Because of the unexpected appearance of the roots, not only Juyoung Hong but also their leader Oliveira were thrown high into the sky. But they responded quickly, and monitored the situation with a real-time video.

    After Juyoung exchanged a few words with Oliveira and his allies, they witnessed him freezing the vast ocean as far as he could. So everybody in the Antgos Intelligence Guild easily realized that Hong¡¯s action was a clear demonstration of his mighty power that he could easily direct against them.

    Even though they knew his clear intent, none of them disparaged it.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    As far as one¡¯s show of force was concerned, everybody knew there were clear limits to it, but Juyoung Hong¡¯s show of force was literally beyond description.

    Shortly afterwards, somebody¡¯s urgent report came in.

    ¡°Juyoung Hong¡¯s attack froze the sea almost 100 kilometers in all directions and the thickness of the ice at the very center appears to be at least 30 meteres or more.¡±

    A heavy silence fell on the Antgos Headquarters once again.

    They were simply overwhelmed by the fact that Juyoung Hong¡¯s show of force was way beyond human capabilities, something a human being could never demonstrate.

    So the Antgos Information Guild quickly reported it to their leader Oliveira through their own chat room.

    They knew too well that the consequences of Juyoung Hong going beyond a simple show of force toward them would be devastating to their organization.

    ***

    On the top of the roots overlooking the city of Sao Paulo.

    I still kept counting down.

    ¡°8, 7, 6, 5¡­¡±

    The guild leader Oliveira looked at me nonchntly while I was counting down to zero as if he had seen a simr scene in the movie or a novel.

    But when I uttered three, he finally opened his mouth in terror.

    ¡°I will tell you everything.¡±

    As a matter of fact, he intended to keep silent until the end if I showed even the slightest sign of hesitation while counting down. But I clearly showed no hesitation, fully ready to take revenge on him if he didn¡¯t tell me the whole truth.

    Because of that, Oliveira had no choice but to change his mind.

    Thest thing he wanted was for me not only to kill him, but also to abolish the Antgos Information Guild , which he had built as the world¡¯s No. 1 intelligence guild. That was the worst consequence for him.

    But I immediately pushed him hard.

    ¡°Tell me right now. Don¡¯t even think about beating around the bush. If you want to talk bullshit, just remember I¡¯ve got only three numbers to count down, just 2, 1, and 0.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The guild leader, Oliveira, had no choice but to be speechless for a moment.

    To be honest, he was going to tell me that I should not harm him or the Antgos Information Guild in return for providing me information about the Lucia Guild leader.

    But he was now denied the chance to make such an offer to me.

    While he could not say anything momentarily, I was about to count 2 when he finally leaked out the information about the Lucia Guild leader.

    ¡°The leader of the Lucia Guild is a guy called Umberto. He is from Portugal.¡±

    But I didn¡¯t respond to him at all for this petty tip about Umberto.

    Obviously, Oliveira didn¡¯t want to tell me the whole story about Umberto.

    If he told me how Umberto came to dominate and grow the Lucia Guild, and obtain the title ¡®First Guild¡¯ by obtaining someone¡¯s ability trait to create a guild, he would have been inevitably caught having lied to me about the Lucia Guild and their leader.

    So he added, ¡°We don¡¯t know the details about him other than that. Everything about him is veiled in secrecy. But I¡¯m confident I can find out his whereabouts if you give me two or three days since my guild guys have been trying their best to track him down at the request of the Myongjin Guild.¡±

    Umberto escaped from the Myongjin Shelter alone after losing all his subordinates, so he had nobody to back him up. As a result, Oliveira knew where Umberto, the current leader of the Lucia Guild, was hiding because he had been monitoring Umberto¡¯s movement closely.

    But he mentioned two or three days because he clearly wanted to save himself and his guild.

    So I responded, ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    Guild leader Oliviera was obviously frightened by my threat, and nodded at me fervently like a puppy wagging its tail. It was true that he was really scared.

    For it was revealed that he didn¡¯t tell me honestly about the identity of the leader of the Lucia Guild even when he had already obtained information about thetter.

    In the end, it seemed I was justified in pushing him hard enough to confess that he had lied to me.

    If I extended his lie, it was possible that he could have found out that the leader of the Lucia Guild wouldunch an attack against the Myongjin Shelter, but I didn¡¯t ask him because I could after killing Umberto first.

    So I gave him a clear but determined reply.

    ¡°Just one day, got it? I¡¯ll give you exactly one more day. If you can¡¯t track him down within one day, just tell me now.¡±

    I pressured him once more.

    In the end, he relented and said, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll do it!¡±

    He responded, trembling in fear violently.

    Based on his reply, I immediately realized that even though he was pressured to change his mind and ept my request to track down Umberto in one day instead of two or three days, he probably already had more detailed information about him or his whereabouts.

    So it was my conclusion that he had known the identity of the Lucia Guild leader from the beginning.

    But I didn¡¯t take any issue with him anymore, but I was determined to interrogate himter after I got rid of Umberto first.

 Chapter 446 - The Price For Reckless Attack (1)

    <h4>Chapter 446: The Price For Reckless Attack (1)</h4>

    That evening.

    Since I gave him one day to track down Umberto, the Lucia Guild leader, I stayed at the ce that Oliviera chose for me instead of returning to the Myongjin Shelter since I could get things done more quickly if I stayed here rather than going back and forth to the shelter.

    Late in the night, Director Sok paid me a visit from his room adjacent to mine.

    I knew he would visit me, so I said first, ¡°How did your negotiation go? Did it go well?¡±

    ¡°Yes. They have decided to ept our offer. And this is their gift to us in return.¡±

    Director Sok handed me an official envelope, so I immediately opened it and checked the document inside.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s got the information as I expected.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    The document had a lot of information about the Lucia Guild leader, including his capabilities and traits that Oliviera had not mentioned to me.

    And that wasn¡¯t all.

    [4th day of observation.

    ¨C Lucia Guild Leader Umberto ordered the mobilization of his forces.

    -The target of the attack is predicted to be the Myongjin Shelter where Juyoung Hong is currently absent. 70% possibility.]

    [7th day of observation.

    -He checked once again to see if Juyoung Hong was at Myungjin Shelter.

    -It seems that it is safe to conclude that there is a 99% probability that their attack target is the Myongjin Shelter.]

    ording to this document, the guild leader Oliveira already knew for 10 days that the guild leader Umberto would attack the Myongjin Shelter, but failed to inform Myongjin or me.

    And there was even more shocking information in it.

    [Our response.

    -We won¡¯t intervene in the downfall of Myeongjin.

    However, we will continue to track down the guild leader Umberto of the Lucia Guild, who will be weakened by his battle with Myongjin. And we will try to curry favor with Juyoung Hong, who must be full of anger upon returning to Earth, by providing him with the hiding ce.]

    Of course, I didn¡¯t get furious right away when I read it because I already expected it to some extent.

    So I handed back the document to Director Sok after confirming its contents calmly.

    ¡°Please go back to the Myongjin Shelter tomorrow morning.¡±

    ¡°Pardon?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of the rest.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    I asked him to go back because he didn¡¯t need to apany me at this point, then I continued to rest as if I had not learned anything about it.

    The next day.

    Exactly as there was an hour and a half remaining until the 24 hour period was up, guild leader Oliveira visited me.

    Then he said, ¡°He¡¯s in Greend. I have confirmed that Umberto, the guild leader of the Lucia Guild, is currently hiding in Greend.¡±

    ¡°You must know his location, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll make sure we can leave in 10 minutes.¡±

    I could go to Greend alone to get rid of Umberto.

    Obviously, Greend is thergest ind on Earth, but it¡¯s notrge enough for him to hide from me. Besides, since I knew where he was now, I would have no problem locating him.

    But I agreed to him apanying me in return for the document I receivedst night.

    Several hourster in Nuuk, the capital of Greend.

    After arriving in Greend, I quickly kept moving through thend covered with ice.

    Only after moving quickly for about 30 minutes or more did I find a brown hut built on and of white ice.

    ¡°He¡¯s right there.¡±

    I didn¡¯t respond to Oliveira, and instead moved toward the hut calmly.

    I was now about 30 steps away from the hut when I heard the door of the hut opening with a squeaking sound characteristic of an old wooden door.

    At the same time, the man I had been earnestly looking for appeared.

    It was none other than the Lucia Guild leader.

    ¡°Oh, you came here earlier than I expected. It looks like your threat paid off nicely.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I think so.¡±

    At first, I thought I would get furious as soon as I saw his face.

    I was even thinking of hitting him with Ice Breath right away.

    But I didn¡¯t wasn¡¯t as angry as I thought I would be.

    And I thought I knew why. He looked as if hepletely gave up.

    Besides, he seemed to be waiting for me without even thinking of running away, which made me rather calm.

    I would have taken revenge on him if he had shown any resistance or tried to challenge me, but his total resignation left me indifferent instead.

    Of course, I had no intention of forgiving him at all.

    So I responded calmly to his calm greeting.

    ¡°Come inside. Juyoung Hong, I hate the cold and ice unlike you.¡±

    ¡°Really? It¡¯s surprising you are hiding in an icy ce when you hate the cold.¡±

    ¡°Well, think of it as my warm consideration for the guest who wants to visit me.¡±

    After he said that, he stepped inside the hut, and I followed him.

    ***

    At the same time in the ce where the Antgos Guild members and their guild leader Oliveira were gathered.

    Bang!

    ¡°Damn it. If he found that guy that he had been chasing so eagerly, why didn¡¯t he kill that guy right away instead of following him into the hut?¡±

    When guild leader Oliveira saw Juyoung Hong following the Lucia Guild leader Umberto into the hut, he got furious and kicked the ground hard with his feet.

    Oliveira had an acquaintance with the Lucia Guild leader Umberto.

    As a matter of fact, he even had some sort of deal with Umberto regarding Juyoung Hong.

    Umberto, who was constantly on the lookout for people with special abilities or people who could potentially block the growth of the Lucia Guild, urgently needed the help of the Antgos Information Guild, which was the world leader in the field. In particr, he once sold Umberto the information about Juyoung Hong, or more precisely Asirante, who emerged as one of the strongest yers on Earth.

    So, it was no wonder that Olivera got so restless while watching Juyoung Hong and Umberto meeting in the hut.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much. After all, the two can never minge together. So I don¡¯t think they will have an in-depth conversation.¡±

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    Despite his right-hand man Brandon¡¯s reassurances, Oliveira could not lighten up at all. He was just staring into the two closely, earnestly hoping Juyoung Hong could kill Umberto right away because the dead don¡¯t talk.

    ***

    Inside the hut.

    Even though I followed him into the hut, I didn¡¯t let down my guard at all.

    Even though I looked calm and nonchnt, I was ready to attack him at any time.

    I didn¡¯t have my limited skill ¡®Savant¡¯ at the moment, but I could use every other skill including fiveyers of Ice Breath. And that was enough for me.

    But what bothered me was that this guy was really strong.

    ording to the document I checked yesterday morning, he was the second strongest person on the after me. He was even described as thest hope of Earth there.

    In fact, he attacked Myongjin with just over a hundred men, and he could destroy Myongjin without the intervention of the roots.

    So I got curious why he made such a stupid thing when he had such strong capabilities.

    Since I was really curious about that, I asked him right away, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you run away?¡±

    He wasn¡¯t surprised, nor bewildered, as if he already knew I wasing to find him.

    That¡¯s why he even invited me toe into the hut like this.

 Chapter 447 - The Price For Reckless Attack (2)

    <h4>Chapter 447: The Price For Reckless Attack (2)</h4>

    ¡°Hahaha! As long as I can¡¯t escape Earth, there¡¯s nowhere I can run from you, right? And I expected you would seek me since I killed more than 1000 Myongjin people.¡±

    ¡°So you made such amotion when you knew you would be killed by me?¡±

    ¡°Well, you are so strong that I can¡¯t do anything about you, so I decided to strike those around you.¡±

    ¡°Why did you have to do that?¡±

    I was really curious about it.

    Even though he was weaker than me, he was still one of the strongest yers on Earth.

    So much so that he was regarded as the second strongest after me.

    Moreover, I restrained myself from being conceited.

    In other words, I did not oppress, persecute, or exploit anyone who was weaker than me. I had no intention of making this hellish world a more hellish one by taking away and exploiting others.

    I also had no intention of bing the ruler of the earth like others described me.

    It¡¯s good to be called a ruler, but a ruler has lots of responsibility.

    That¡¯s why I saved the Mitsuya Guild of Japan that previously attacked Myongjin within ¡°Revival Legend¡± without a warning over some profits, and I spared President Kijung Kim who was targeting me and my families¡¯ lives. Obviously, I could have killed them quite easily, but if that happened, all those under their control would have plunged into chaos.

    To be honest, I¡¯ve grown so huge that I don¡¯t even care about all of that.

    Of course, when they asked for my help directly, I squeezed a lot ofpensation from them because I wasn¡¯t a phnthropist, and those who asked for my help were pretty affluent and generous. But I didn¡¯t ask for more than what I needed.

    Anyway, I always moved with the thought that I didn¡¯t have to make enemies on purpose, and that¡¯s why I asked Umberto the question, ¡®Why?¡¯

    ¡°Because you have taken away my ce, Juyoung Hong.¡±

    ¡°Your ce?¡±

    ¡°Yes! My ce! It¡¯s me, not you, who should have been the center of the spotlight from all the people! It should have been me, not you, because I¡¯m called the hope of the Earth. I, not you, should have been called the ruler of the earth!¡±

    Before this guy startedining like that, his eyes were like a dead fish, buta after he spat out hisst sentence vehemently,, his eyes glowed brightly.

    But his eyes didn¡¯t shine for long, and becameckluster in no time like before.

    Watching him, I felt some sort of kinship because of what he just said to me.

    For I also wanted to be the hero of the world.

    Of course, I know that I could not, but I had something that reflected my wishes like that. In other words, my ID Lumen. It wasposed of a word meaning ¡®light, brilliance and hope.¡¯

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s why you were so upset!¡±

    ¡°Correct. That¡¯s my main reason!¡±

    He keptughing at my words as if he was so happy.

    But I immediately used my skill.

    ¡°Ice Breath.¡±

    Bang!

    Did I still feel a sense of kinship with him? Did I feel miserable for him?

    Not at all. And I didn¡¯t have to feel that way.

    He and I were total strangers anyway.

    And I now finally found out why he was so obsessed with me.

    So what I had to do right now was to kill him. So I used Ice Breath right away, and 5yers of it at that.

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    That attack alone dealt a devastating blow to him.

    As if to prove he was also a strong guy, he resisted the 5yers of Ice Breath a bit.

    But he was swept away by Ice Breath right away, with his body torn apart and smashed to pieces without any traces.

    Wheeeeeeng-

    All that was left were traces of the giant Ice Breath.

    Tramp- Tramp-

    Without even looking back at his smashed body, I turned right away.

    It was not just one or two that I had killed until now, and in the end, Lucia Guild leader Umberto was just one of them.

    So I just walked out of the hut that had beenpletely destroyed by the impact of Ice Breath, then slowly moved to the ce where the Antgos guild members and their leader Oliveira were gathered.

    Then Olivera said, ¡°I don¡¯t know if I have to congratte you for taking revenge on him, but¡­¡±

    Puck!

    ¡°Kheeeeeeeek!¡±

    I swung the +15 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword at Oliveira who was trying to curry favor with me.

    ¡°Why did you¡­?¡±

    I spoke to him, who raised his head and stared at me in shock.

    ¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t care even if you lied to me. But you clearlymitted a crime by not telling me that Lucia Guild leader Umberto would attack Myongjin when you knew it in advance!¡±

    After that, I pulled out the sword and struck him with it repeatedly.

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    He was stabbed right in the chest.

    ¡°Umberto, that bastard¡­¡±

    Guild leader Oliveira fell down, ming Umberto.

    As for the Antgos Guild members left behind.

    Normally they would have charged at me right away when their leader was killed before their eyes.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Rather than charging at me, none of them made a surprised expression or swore at me.

    And I expected it too.

    So, I opened my mouth to them calmly, ¡°Which one of you is Brandon?¡±

    Then one of them stepped forward and opened his mouth, ¡°I am Brandon.¡±

    ¡°Good. Alright, I will forget my bad ties with the Antgos Information Guild from now on.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    The dead guild leader Oliveira was suspicious of Umberto, but in fact, it was his deputy Brandon who negotiated the whole deal with Myongjin after telling them the whole story.

    Then Brandon said to me, ¡°The Antgos Information Guild wants to belong to Myongjin, or more precisely Juyoung Hong. Our association will never hurt you or Myongjin.¡±

    Brandon said that he would like to be my subordinate, along with the other members of his guild. His offer was definitely tempting a lot to me because it was the world¡¯s No. 1 information guild.

    But I resisted by saying, ¡°You want to work for me? Hmm, you want to make use of my power freely.¡±

    As a matter of fact, I¡¯m rather embarrassed to say this, but there were a huge number of individuals, guilds, or groups who wanted to join Myongjin or work for me as my subordinates. They were especially eager to join us after those who returned to Earth after the Advance Party event revealed the existence of Kuhana¡¯s Royal, Major, Regr, and Rookie Districts, and that the average power of all the yers on Earth paled even whenpared to those in the Rookie Districts

    Nheless, Brandon approached me with a cunning offer like that.

    So I said, pointing out the crux of the issue, ¡°Prove that you are necessary for Myongjin. Then I will ept you.¡±

    I clearly made him recognize that I was the master, and he was the subordinate.

    To be honest, I wanted to have him as my subordinate.

    Anyway, I was done here, so I immediately started moving using Blink with zero cooldown using Fly.

 Chapter 448 - 300, 400, 500, 600 and 700 (1)

    <h4>Chapter 448: 300, 400, 500, 600 and 700 (1)</h4>

    I moved straight from Greend to the Myongjin Shelter as I had no need to stop by other ces.

    As soon as I arrived at Myongjin Shelter, I found my family members including my father, brother, sister and some others gathered at the small conference room as if they had already heard about my deeds from Director Sok.

    When I sat down, they, including my father, began to praise me.

    ¡°Good job.¡±

    ¡°Well done, Juyoung!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for always letting you take care of things like this all the time, Juyoung.¡±

    My brother said he felt sorry for me.

    But I responded calmly to show them they didn¡¯t have to feel sorry or indebted to me, ¡°Well, somebody had to do it anyway, and I am the best one for the job!¡±

    If someone other than me could have taken care of this matter, I wouldn¡¯t have stepped in, of course. If there was another person who was a perfect fit for this job, they would not havee to me because this was an urgent matter that had to be solved as soon as possible.

    Anyway, I took out the memory beads from my pocket because there were a whopping 4,000 deaths. What¡¯s more, considering those who needed lifelong treatment as well as the families of those killed who needed taking care of, the damage of the Myongjin Shelter was much bigger than I originally thought. That¡¯s why I needed to show everybody through the memory beads that I took revenge on them by killing their leader and his subordinates.

    ¡°Well, you will see when you reach the end of the video recorded in the memory beads, but a guy named Brandon, who will take over as the new guild leader in ce of former leader Oliveira who I killed this time, made an interesting proposal to me. But I rejected it because his intentions were so obvious. I think we should review it once and make a decisionter.¡±

    After that, we talked for about 10 minutes more, then left the small meeting room.

    That evening, we spent the night solemnly at the memorial park prepared by the Myongjin Shelter for those killed while defending the shelter. Obviously, they sacrificed their lives without hesitation to protect the Myongjin Shelter, so they deserved due respect.

    While we were spending the time at the memorial park in a solemn mood, the other yers all over the world spent a tense and restless night. I didn¡¯t have to hide my skills in Greend from anybody, and even let other yers all over the world watch it as if to send them a sharp warning. Naturally, the yers in Japan, which was pretty close to Korea, had to agonize a lot more than others.

    At the Mitsuya Guild headquarters in Tokyo, Japan.

    Chairman Ryu Sechi watched Juyoung Hong¡¯s brilliant performances in Sao Paulo, Brazil over and over again.

    Then he quietly opened his mouth.

    ¡°Alright. I¡¯m sure he won¡¯t be able to use his mighty skill over and over again. Given that his attack boasted of such a formidable power that almost the entire Antic Ocean got frozen, it must have a very long cooldown. Despite that, he is simply too strong¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Nobody reputed his assessment, which reflected his resignation to the stark reality of Juyoung Hong¡¯s almighty power. In their opinion, Juyoung Hong could be called ¡®God¡¯ since no human beings could exert such mighty power.

    At that moment, Kimoshita, the head of the guild¡¯s Intelligence Department, said, ¡°It seems that Juyoung Hong has obtained something extraordinary that others could not even imagine by participating in the Advance Party event. As you can see from the weapon he is holding in his right hand is emitting a red haze in all directions even when he is not using it. In other words¡­¡±

    ¡°Do you want to say that the weapon in question is +15 Enhancement, the ultimate stage of enhancement, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Kimoshita nodded slightly at the chairman¡¯s question.

    Then he immediately continued because that was not all he wanted to point out.

    ¡°But if you look at the weapon closely, you can see that it is the weapon that he has been using since very early on. And I¡¯ve confirmed it through the memory beads that our guys had filmed when we confronted him several times in the past.¡±

    ¡°Why do you think so?¡± Chairman Ryu Sechi asked.

    But Kimoshita immediately responded casually as if he expected such a question.

    ¡°It¡¯s quite unusual for such a strong guy like Juyoung Hong to stick to a weapon from the beginning, and not even change it once. Besides, he has strong financial support from the Myongjin Guild. Nheless, he has never changed that weapon. Then there is only one reason we can think of. In other words, that weapon must be myth grade. I¡¯m sure it must also be a weapon that boasts of a huge number of options, so even Juyoung Hong, an ice-type wizard, has given up on a wizard staff to keep it until now. Otherwise, there is no reason for him to stick to that weapon only for such a long time!¡±

    ¡°!¡±

    ¡°!!¡±

    ¡°!!!¡±

    There was silence again in the conference room.

    For a man like Juyoung Hong who boasted of so much power and strong support from the Myongjin Guild, it was not strange to see him owning a myth grade weapon, but it¡¯s a totally different story if it is a +15 Enhancement weapon.

    ¡°Oh my God¡­¡±

    Chairman Ryu Sechimented before he knew it.

    Everybody there wanted to shut their eyes to Juyoung¡¯s myth-grade weapon because they could not believe it at all. Even a legendary grade weapon was really hard to obtain, so a +15 Enhancement myth-grade weapon was regarded as something impossible to obtain. Moreover, the safety enhancement of a myth-grade item was zero.

    Nheless, they clearly saw a red haze emitting from the +15 Enhancement weapon that he was holding. Besides, he showed his immense strength by freezing much of the Antic Ocean with his ice magic. It looked as if a huge meteorite was falling into the middle of the sea. As a result, a huge tsunami that reached hundreds of meters away was also generated. Fortunately, he froze the tsunami in an instant, so there was no significant damage.

    At that moment, Kimoshita, the head of the guild¡¯s Intelligence Department, spoke again.

    ¡°Originally, Juyoung Hong already was a dominating force in his world. From now on, the world will turn into one thoroughly subject to his control. So much so that anybody who falls out of his favor will face a tragic end. If he decides to use his formidable force against several big cities including Tokyo, Japan is finished once and for all¡­¡±

    When he finished talking, a heavy silence fell in the meeting room. Their fear was amplified because they had attacked the Myongjin Guild as well as Juyoung Hong without any advance notice previously.

    Of course, Japan was not alone in harboring such grave concern.

    Juyoung Hong also demonstrated his almighty strength in Brazil, stunning everybody there.

    ***

    The next day, I woke up early in the morning, had breakfast with my family, and logged on to ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ as usual. After that, I headed to the level 1800 hunting ground, the Land of Ancient Spirits.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    Flop!

    Flop!

    ¡°¡­¡±

 Chapter 449 - 300, 400, 500, 600 and 700 (2)

    <h4>Chapter 449: 300, 400, 500, 600 and 700 (2)</h4>

    Obviously, this was an easy hunting ground for me from the beginning.

    Even though I became even stronger all of a sudden, I was already really strong in the past.

    That¡¯s why I could kill several rulers of the Royal Districts, who were reputed to be unusually strong, when I invaded their area Kuhana as part of the Advance Party Team.

    But now I¡¯ve be much stronger than before. So much so that there are no appropriate words to describe my power.

    Even though this was a level 1800 hunting ground, I felt like it was so easy hunting the monsters here that it might as well be an orc hunting ground. What¡¯s more, the monsters here were far from being tough monsters befitting the name Ancient Spirits.

    Nheless, I did not stop attacking the monsters.

    ¡°Ice Storm!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Flop!

    Flop!

    To be honest, I was skeptical about whether it was worth it to keep hunting here, but it didn¡¯t mean hunting was not beneficial to me at all. I was still willing to hunt here even if it was of the slightest benefit to me.

    Anyway, I could easily kill monsters with just one level 7 AOE skill without even using Ice Field or Multiple Thin Ice, so I kept hunting.

    But while I was absorbed into hunting for a while, an incident ured that stopped me from hunting.

    A message rang all of a sudden.

    [Hello. This is ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    ¨C We will inform you of some changes.

    : From now on, new ess restrictions have been extended to level 300, level 400, level 500, level 600, and level 700 following the earlier restrictions to level 100 and level 200.

    :The passage to Kuhana has expanded significantly, and it will expand even more as time goes on.]

    ¡°Howe they announced it out of the blue?¡±

    There was quite a long interval in the leadup to the ess restrictions to level 100 and level 200 right after the creation of new ounts for Revival Legend was banned.

    But this time, the restrictions reached as high as level 700 all of a sudden.

    Of course, it might not be a big deal for the users at the top, but in the end, it meant that all users below level 700 had degenerated to ordinary people. In other words, it became impossible for them to reach level 1200, which in turn made it impossible to reach their reality actualization rate when they were previously guaranteed 10% at that point because of the disappearance of the level 1100 privilege ¡®Coin Exchange¡¯

    ¡°I wonder if all this is because of that¡­¡±

    Something popped to my mind the moment I was so startled by the rapid changes. It was my conversation with Fashant, the incarnation of the Spirit King and the ruler of the 7th Royal District.

    When I first saw him in Kuhanat, I lied to him that there were very many strong yers like me on Earth, so it was not me who killed the ck liquid man, the ruler of the 4th Royal District.

    But Fashant sneered at me by saying, ¡°Lol. Obviously, ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ and ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ are games that the legendary Jiwon Lee put all his toil and sweat into. Even if I admit that he has an almighty power, is it possible that there can be another ultrastrong yer like you while Lee is dealing with those who once yed in Forgotten Legend and those who are currently ying in Revival Legend? Even though Jiwon Lee has huge power, that¡¯s simply impossible. You have already surpassed what¡¯s impossible.¡±

    To put it simply, the current Revival Legend is being maintained by Jiwon Lee¡¯s power.

    But what if strong yers keep appearing and surpass his overall power to manage?

    ¡®Does it mean he intends to get rid of those at lower levels first?¡¯

    In other words, I felt as if the ess restrictions to Revival Legend meant deleting the records for the sake of the strong yers.

    Even though it was simply an educated guess, I strongly felt I was right

    Aside from me, over 2000 people who participated in the Advance Party event received the rewards that were close to one for the winner in any good event or quest.

    After thinking about it for a moment, I immediately charged at the ancient spirits again.

    I was confident that such level restrictions would affect me even in the future, but that message certainly motivated me to raise my level even more.

    Besides, the passage was expanding at the moment.

    When I thought of the rulers of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Royal Districts, the supreme rulers in Kuhana, I could not help but want to seize the opportunity to confront them as soon as possible.

    In the meantime, there were various developments inside ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ when the new message on level restrictions was announced.

    [You are denied ess to Revival Legend because you are level 488.

    -You have been forced to log out, so you will no longer be able to ess Revival Legend.]

    [You are denied ess to Revival Legend because you are level 628.

    -You have been forced to log out, so you will no longer be able to ess Revival Legend.]

    [You are denied ess to Revival Legend because you are level 699

    -You have been forced to log out, so you will no longer be able to ess Revival Legend.]

    Quite a lot of users, including those who were just one level short of level 700, were forcibly thrown out of ¡®Revival Legend¡¯. As a result, there was a hugemotion among numerous users around the world. Besides, the level restrictions were announced all of a sudden without any warning like they did in the past.

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    ¡°I was level 685!¡±

    ¡°How funny is this? I was level 699. My EXP was 94%. Shit! I would have reached level 700 if I had just one more day or several more hours!¡±

    ¡°Why did they make such a bombshell announcement all of a sudden?¡±

    Because those level 700 or lower who were thrown out of the game, not only individuals, but alsorge guilds and groups did not notice the words in the bottom part of the message and the implications of the expanded passage to Kuhana and its gradual expansion over time.

    For them, the ess restrictions to those below level 700 were more pressing.

    What¡¯s more, there was no guarantee that a message about the ess restrictions to those at level 800, level 900 and even level 1000 would not ring even tomorrow.

    ***

    In Australia while the rest of the world was in turbulence because of the level restrictions message.

    Australia is the 6thrgest area in the world even though it has a poption of less than 24 million. Therefore, the center was mostly empty as the poption was concentrated in the coastal area. So much so that even if you drive a car there for several hours, you will not be able to see any people or buildings.

    So nobody knew that something like soap bubbles were rising from the ground.

    Pop! Pop!

    The soap bubble floated high into the air, before bursting and scattering ck and red liquid all over the ground.

    At the same time, the ground affected turned ck and red with the sound of something burning.

    Of course, it happened in a very small area, so it was not very noticable.

    However, as the area was expanded little by little, more bubbles were formed, and the red and ck areas continued to expand at a rapid rate with nobody there noticing it.

 Chapter 450 - Second Kuhana (1)

    <h4>Chapter 450: Second Kuhana (1)</h4>

    In the level 1800 hunting ground Land of Ancient Spirits.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    Flop!

    Flop!

    It was quite shocking that the ess restrictions skyrocketed from level 200 to level 700 without any notice, but I ignored it because it was beyond my control.

    I didn¡¯t even pay attention to the expanded passage to Kuhana mentioned in the message, for I was confident of beating any enemy.

    Aside from my remaining stat points that increased tremendously on my return to Earth, I obtained new level 8 and level 9 skills, even though I used five skill points for it.

    In addition, I was equipped with the +15 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword and a supreme attack that could produce an almost unbelievable level of power thanks to being able to ovep any skill a whopping five times.

    What if I encounter the rulers of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Royal Districts, who I intentionally avoided during the Advance Party event? I was confident I could confront them without any fear.

    Of course, it didn¡¯t mean I would rx enough to becent or let down my guard.

    That¡¯s why I kept hunting so hard even though there was only little I could gain by leveling up now. It was just an expression of my confidence.

    I did not pay much attention to the expanded passage to Kuhana in the message because I was confident that I could win overwhelmingly even if I met the rulers of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Royal Districts.

    If I could go back to Kuhana, that would be fine with me, and it would also be good even if they showed up through the expanded passage leading to Earth.

    Anyway, I didn¡¯t care about the great chaos among all the yers around the world because of that message. I just focused on hunting in the level 1800 hunting ground Land of Ancient Spirits day after day.

    ***

    It has been 15 days since the message about the ess restrictions up to level 700 and the expansion of the passage linked to Kuhana rang.

    In the past, they might have discovered it right away because the red and cknd that emerged in the middle of Australia was as big as its neighboring country, New Zend.

    But the world was full of monsters everywhere. In other words, people there had no choice but to group together as much as possible to ensure their safety.

    Moreover, due to Australia¡¯s terrain, the densely popted areas andrge cities existed along the coast.

    ¡°Ugh? What the heck is that?¡±

    ¡°Wasn¡¯t this just a wastnd before?¡±

    ¡°You bet. Even a month ago it was a wastnd with nothing but monsters¡­¡±

    The members of the Heblock Guild, located on the southern coast, had no choice but to stare nkly at the vast red and cknd which they had never seen before.

    While they were watching it, the red and cknd spewed out another round of soap bubbles, which then burst at the same time.

    Pong! Pong! Pong! Pong! Pong! Pong!

    As a result, the affected area expanded at a faster rate.

    Then, one of the Heblock Guild members who was looking at the spectacr scenes nkly identally touched the expandingnd with the tip of his foot, and he immediately heard a message.

    [You are now in the Land of Despair.

    ¨C You don¡¯t belong to Kuhana.

    : Your stat points decrease by 50%.

    : Your health and mana decrease by 50%.

    : Your passive skills decrease by 50%.

    : Your active skills decrease by 50%.

    : After you use a skill, its cooldown increases by 500%.

    : Yourbat power continuously decreases to a maximum of 50%.

    : The automatic recovery of your health and mana is reset to 0.]

    ¡°Oh my God! What the heck is this?¡±

    After confirming the message, the guild member couldn¡¯t help but be stunned.

    Even though he had not suffered many debuffs, he definitely had suffered some pretty bad debuffs before. But the debuffs he was faced with now were the worst he had ever suffered.

    Even though each of the penalties was devastating to him, the drastic increase in his skill cooldowns by a whopping 500% was shocking as he could do nothing after he used his skills until their cooldowns returned.

    At that moment, an unidentified group appeared in the red and cknd, the Land of Despair. They started attacking the Heblock Guild members right away. Of course, the Heblock guild members were not stupid, so they counterattacked immediately.

    ¡°Soar! Earth Barrier!¡±

    ¡°My body will be solid steel!¡±

    ¡°Poison Arrow!¡±

    :

    ¡°Express Anger!¡±

    ¡°Chain Lightning!¡±

    ¡°Pour on the enemy! Fire Spirit¡¯s Wrath!¡±

    The Heblock Guild wasn¡¯t one of the leading guilds in Australia, but it had its own main base and security forces who patrolled their territory. So they moved in an organized manner despite being startled by the sudden attack, with tanks blocking the strangers¡¯ attacks with healers and enchanters backing them up.

    Puck! Puck!

    But the tanks¡¯ Earth Barrier and Solid Steel could not block the attack of those who appeared in the red and cknd. They were smashed by the enemy right away.

    But the enemy didn¡¯t bother to counterattack when the dealers of the Heblock Guild pushed them hard with strong attacks.

    As a matter of fact, the dealers¡¯ attack didn¡¯t inflict any meaningful damage to the enemy.

    To make matters worse, they now began to experience a drastic decrease in their physical power.

    ¡°Damn it! My skill cooldowns¡­¡±

    ¡°The power of my skills have also decreased by 50%! Man, this is too much!¡±

    ¡°Pull back, guys!¡±

    ¡°Before you confront the enemy, get out of thisnd of despair first!¡±

    Of course, if they wished to, they could use their other defense and attack skills because they had obtained many skill points while leveling up until now.

    But they knew that even if they couldunch a strong attack on them, they would not be able to inflict any meaningful damage, so they chose to withdraw from the Land of Despair rather than counterattack.

    At that moment, another message rang.

    [You left behind traces of setting foot on the Land of Despair.

    ¨C The traces will remain for 5 hours.

    ¨C It is impossible to get out of the Land of Despair while the traces are maintained.

    -While the traces are still there, you can¡¯t get out of the Land of Despair.

    ¨C When the traces disappear after 5 hours, you won¡¯t leave behind any further traces for 30 minutes even if you set foot on the Land of Despair.

    -You can exit the Land of Despair within those 30 minutes, but if you are still inside after 30 minutes, you will be affected by the traces for another 5 hours.]

    In the end, the Heblock guild members were stunned by the message that once they set foot on the Land of Despair, they could not leave it for 5 hours.

    Only then did those who appeared in the Land of Despair open their mouths with a big smile.

    ¡°Lol. Don¡¯t worry. The Land of Despair will cover the entire ce called Earth. So you guys will never be able to get out of it. Oh, you have the sky and sea, so being birds and fish won¡¯t be a bad option for you!¡±

    They were obviously sneering at the Heblock Guild members.

    At the same time, the man who spoke ordered an attack, and the Heblock Guild members who were trapped in this ce helplessly copsed at their attack without the slightest bit of resistance.

 Chapter 451 - Second Kuhana (2)

    <h4>Chapter 451: Second Kuhana (2)</h4>

    ¡°Given its performance, don¡¯t you think we can rely on it?¡±

    One man opened his mouth, pointing at the Land of Despair that was still expanding.

    Then, the red-haired man who boldlymanded the attack on the Heblock Guild members opened his mouth.

    ¡°I think we can. We created this Land of Despair by sacrificing Kuhana as an offering. So Juyoung Hong will never be able to stop this.¡±

    ¡°But I heard that this kind of debuff doesn¡¯t work on him at all¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Back then my colleague also told me that he witnessed the Royal District rulers¡¯ privileges not working on him at all.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    The members of the 19th Major District, who were cultivating the seeds of despair on Earth that they had obtained via the owner of the Royal Districts sacrificing Kuhana, were a little surprised at their leader¡¯s response.

    But they nodded immediately after they knew why.

    [You are now in the Land of Despair.

    -You belong to Kuhana.

    : All stat points increase by 50%.

    : Your health and mana increase by 50%.

    : Your passive skills¡¯ performance increases by 50%.

    : Your active skills¡¯ performance increases by 50%.

    : After you use the skill, its cooldown decreases by 500%.

    : Yourbat power continuously increases by up to 50%.

    : The auto-recovery of your life and mana is greatly increased.]

    They obtained the Land of Despair that buffed them up by offering the whole of Kuhana as a sacrifice. And the owners of the Royal Districts also belonged to Kuhana. So they would receive a tremendous increase in stats and skills.

    For the stronger a person was, even a 1% increase would dramatically increase their power.

    ¡°The other rulers of the Royal Districts have also recognized Juyoung Hong¡¯s monsterful power. They were clearly concerned that he could destroy them. And that¡¯s why they used such extreme methods such as sacrificing Kuhana.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Those who came from the 19th Major District could not dispute their leader.

    Why? Because they had also witnessed Juyoung Hong¡¯s monsterful power when he destroyed the rulers of the Royal Districts.

    In any case, those vanguard members who killed the Heblock Guild members hid deep into the Land of Despair, preparing to make this ce their second Kuhana.

    They were ready to make this second Kuhana a heaven for those who belonged to Kuhana and a hell for those who did not.

    ***

    The next day.

    At my father¡¯s call, I went straight to the small meeting room without essing Revival Legend. Then I took a seat right next to my brother and sister.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    As soon as I sat down, I asked my sister sitting next to me.

    ¡°Well. I just got a call from Dad that I shoulde to the small meeting room urgently. Do you know why, brother?¡±

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know the details, but I heard vaguely that something unusual happened in Australia¡­¡±

    Since my brother and older sister didn¡¯t seem to know the details, it was obvious that this was their first time hearing about it.

    So I waited for a moment, then Dad and Director Sok entered the small meeting room together.

    ¡°Thank you foring here. But I will exin to you in detail after we y the video first.¡±

    As soon as Dad sat down at the head table, Director Sok opened his mouth and yed a video right away.

    The screen was full of red and cknd, nothing else.

    While ying the video, Director Sok said, ¡°The ce you are looking at now is Australia. We obtained this video about 30 minutes ago. Starting off with the center of Australia, more than 50% of thend has been changed to red and cknd as you can see in the video. It¡¯s called the Land of Despair. In particr, ording to the data sent by the Antgos Information Guild, it¡¯s not a simple group that appeared there by passing through the expanded passage connecting Kuhana to Earth, but the whole of Kuhana. The whole of Kuhana is moving right now, and the starting point is Australia.¡±

    The extended passage, which was supposed to expand more over time.

    But I never thought that Kuhana itself would move through the expanded passage as a whole.

    Director Sok continued, ¡°That ce called the Land of Despair causes a tremendous debuff. And those debuffs are huge. At the same time, we confirmed through those who were killed while confronting the enemy in the Land of Despair that the debuffs were serving as buffs for those belonging to Kuhana, not Earth.¡±

    Everybody in the small meeting room began to whisper all of a sudden.

    When Director Sok was done exining about the debuffs called Land of Despair, the small meeting room became a little noisy because they had never seen such debuffs.

    Obviously the debuffs in question were fundamentally different from the typical debuffs they had experienced until now.

    If the debuffs served as the buffs for those from Kuhana, it was certain that theirbat power would increase tremendously.

    But that did not affect me.

    So I asked Director Sok another question.

    ¡°Is it possible for the Land of Despair to move beyond Australia to other continents?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure about it yet.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ let me go and check it out.¡±

    Of course, I didn¡¯t have to because it happened in Australia.

    But they were my enemy.

    In the end, I would be killed by them if I didn¡¯t kill them first.

    In other words, just watching without doing anything was not a good choice not only for the Australians but also for me.

    So I decided to fly to Australia to check with my own eyes what¡¯s going on there.

    I didn¡¯t have to dy my departure for Australia because I had already made my decision, so I departed from the Myongjin Shelter right away. I stopped over in the Philippines, Indonesia and East Timor before arriving in the Tiwi Inds, one of the northernmost inds in Australia.

    The people there were already visibly uneasy.

    ¡°Did you hear about it as well? The Land of Despair has already reached Daly Waters.¡±

    ¡°What? It means they¡¯re not far from this ce!¡±

    ¡°Correct. It will reach us in about three or four days if we just consider the distance. But considering that they are expanding their territory at an increasing pace, they can reach us much earlier.¡±

    ¡°Damn it! Then, shouldn¡¯t we get out of here right away?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why people are making a big fuss everywhere. I arrived here at this ind by escaping maind Australia, but if the Land of Despair crosses the sea, we are not safe here, either.¡±

    ¡°By the way, if the Land of Despair can cross the sea, the entire earth will eventually be covered by it, right?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Shit! I wonder if our Earth will be ruined. Those who have raised their reality actualization rate will only see theirbat power decrease, but the moment ordinary people step on the Land of Despair, they will die immediately¡­.If that¡¯s the case, all the ordinary people have no other choice but to perish, right?¡±

    ¡°Hey, stop bullshitting! What did you say? Those who have achieved their reality actualization rate will see only theirbat power decreasing? The thing is it will go down to the point that they can¡¯t fight at all. To put it simply, the Land of Despair is going to maim them! For example, if your capabilities are 100, it¡¯s going to go down to 20, 10 or even 5!¡±

 Chapter 452 - Despair? Finished (1)

    <h4>Chapter 452: Despair? Finished (1)</h4>

    Since it was an ind close to maind Australia, there were many people who fled there, but they still mainly talked about the Land of Despair in a very pessimistic mood.

    At that moment, somebody came up right behind me and said, ¡°We¡¯ve been waiting for you, Juyoung Hong.¡±

    Of course, I wasn¡¯t startled at all because I already knew that someone was approaching me quietly.

    I also guessed who he was.

    So I asked in a low voice, ¡°Are you from the Carnabon Guild?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    The Carnabon Guild was one of the top three guilds in Australia.

    So my father and Director Sok told me that they had contacted them in advance before I left for Australia.

    In fact, Australia was the first ce where the Land of Despair appeared first, so it was never a bad choice for me to seek the help of a local guild like the Carnabon Guild to help carry out my job here.

    When my father and Director Sok contacted them, they weed my visit with open hands.

    Escorted by the man from the Carnabon Guild, I headed to their headquarters and entered a building under tight security. When I stepped inside, somebody familiar was already there waiting for me.

    It was none other than Brandon, who became the leader of the Antgos Information Guild after its former leader Oliveira was killed by me.

    ¡°It is nice to see you again, Juyoung Hong.¡±

    ¡°It seems that it¡¯s a prettyplicated matter, given that you havee to this ce in person considering that you must be very busy as the new leader of the Antgos Information Guild.¡±

    Anyway, I fully recognized that the Antaragos Information Guild was reallypetent as far as gathering intelligence was concerned. Nheless, the fact that its new leader visited this ce right after he assumed the top position meant that the situation was very serious.

    As if to confirm my guess, Brandoe replied gloomily, ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. RIght now, they¡¯re provoking us after betting everything on their goal. As you know, they have even destroyed the ce they are supposed to return to.¡±

    ¡°Are you referring to Kuhana where they used to live?¡±

    I had no problem at all in understanding what he was trying to say because I had already spent 36 days there.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Kuhana, or the ce where they lived, is gone. More precisely, it is copsing on itself and is being destroyed. As such, the Land of Despair that has taken root on the earth will continue to expand until it covers the entire.¡±

    ¡°Does that mean that even the oceans can¡¯t stop it?¡±

    ¡°Nope.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    If somebody had told me that, I would have taken it with a grain of salt, but this was from the Chief of the Antgos Information Guild in person.

    Moreover, in the next few days, the Land of Despair will take over the entirety of Australia.

    In other words, the Antaragos Information Guild¡¯s chief would not be stupid enough to lie to me like this when I could find out whether it as true or false in just a few days.

    Of course, that wasn¡¯t a problem for me at all because I had my trait, All Buffs, All Debuffs. Moreover, I had enough mana that could sustain me all day long, or for the rest of my life even if I used Fly.

    But the great majority of them were not in the same position as me. In fact, everybody except for me would have no other choice but to be bound by the Land of Despair.

    And those who failed to raise their reality actualization rate by reaching level 1200 would die immediately the moment they set foot on the Land of Despair.

    When I thought about it that way, I realized this was really a big, big problem.

    In the end, I thought that the Land of Despair encroaching on thend little by little was simr to the ck liquid man, the owner of the 4th Royal District, who appeared in Argentina some time back. But this was not a small matter, but a global problem called Kuhana.

    Anyway, I talked with Brandon about some other matters for almost 30 minutes.

    I valued the information from the Antaragos Information Guild, but the information that the Carnabon Guild, one of the top three guilds in Australia, acquired through human intelligence was equally important.

    A littleter, I continued to move to the south from the Tiwi Inds using Fly, then Blink with zero cooldown. Shortly afterward, I could see the red and ck waves that spread so wide that I could not see their end. The scene itself was spectacr.

    ¡°Aaaaaaaah! Help me!¡±

    ¡°Damn it! What the heck is this?¡±

    ¡°Please, hold my hand!¡±

    There was already an exodus of people from maind Australia.

    But not all people could flee freely. That was especially the case with the general public.

    Australia is obviously a continent, but depending on how they look, it¡¯s also true that it¡¯s a huge ind surrounded by ocean on all sides.

    As soon as I saw them, I used my skill right away.

    ¡°Ice Wave!¡±

    Even though my target was the Land of Despair, it also epassed some of those who were fleeing. But I didn¡¯t use the five skill oveps, nor did I use my limited skill, Savant, because I needed to check out lots of things first.

    It was true that the lives of those in front of me were precious, but there were certainly

    many more important lives than them.

    Of course, the Carnabon Guild said they tried their best to block the Land of Despair because they could never afford to let it expand its territory day by day.

    The ck liquid man who appeared in Argentina also did simr things by spreading ck liquid everywhere, but in the end, I seeded in stopping him by attacking the ck liquid itself.

    The Carnabon Guild guys said they targeted the Land of Despair itself, but their attack was useless. Of course, that might not be the case with me.

    Even if I did not use the five skill oveps or the limited skill Savant, I had my Intellect that increased tremendouslypared to before, and the weapon in my right hand was the +15 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    But there was no change in the Land of Despair despite my attack.

    [...]

    In the meantime, those ordinary people who set foot on the Land of Despair were killed immediately.

    So I waited for some time to evaluate the situation.

    Clearly, my intellect has increased tremendously, and my Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword has also been enhanced to +15, which, in turn, buffed the cooldown and skill of my ice-type skills. As a result, my level 10 skill showed tremendous power.

    In fact, in Kuhana, my level 10 skill showed off its mighty power when I used it to attack the rulers of the Royal Districts in Kuhana for thest time.

    When the cooldown of Ice Breath was back, I shouted, ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasasasak!

    Iid out Ice Field and Multiple Thin Ice first, then I followed it up with the most powerful linking skills.

    ¡°Blizzard! Ice Tornado!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Wheeeeeeng-

    I kept using level 9 and level 8 AOE skills in a row.

    But that wasn¡¯t the end of my attack, so Iunched more attacks while sustaining my AOE skills. ¡°Ice Punishment! Frost Spear!¡±

    Bang! Bang!

    Ice Punishment was now level 9 courtesy of the recent upgrade, while Frost Spear was my new level 8 skill.

    And finally, I used Ice Breath with five skill oveps to deal a fatal blow.

 Chapter 453 - Despair? Finished? (2)

    <h4>Chapter 453: Despair? Finished? (2)</h4>

    Bang!

    Aside from my limited skill Savant, I used the rest of my skills to the best of my ability.

    But I had to save Savant because its cooldown was a whopping 10 days unlike my other skills.

    Even without my limited skill, I was still enormously strong. So much so that if I had encountered the ck liquid man, the owner of the 4th Royal District, right now, and he attempted a simr siege against Argentina, I could vaporize all of his ck liquid with just one attack.

    Aside from my single-target skills, my AOE skills were demonstrating their magnificent power.

    Nheless, they didn¡¯t inflict any damage on the Land of Despair.

    Pong! Pong! Pong! Pong!

    The Land of Despair continued to expand its territory, spewing out something like soap bubbles as if my attacks were not a big deal.

    ¡°Oh my God¡­¡±

    If I noticed even the slightest damage or the Land of Despair retreating even one centimeter, I would have felt tempted to use Savant. But I knew instinctively that even if I used my limited skill Savant, I would not be able to stop the Land of Despair¡¯s expansion.

    At that moment, however, I heard someughtering from underground of the ever expanding territory of the Land of Despair.

    [LOL.]

    Then, as if to prove that I was not simply hearing things, a man in the form of a human appeared from the underground and immediately opened his mouth.

    [Juyoung Hong, the owners of the Royal Districts have already recognized your strength. So they have decided to abandon everything. Sometimes you have to give up everything you have to gain everything. So wait until this Earth ispletely covered with the Land of Despair and changed to the second Kuhana. Then the owners of the Royal Districts wille to get rid of you.]

    ¡°Ice Wave!¡±

    I immediatelyunched an attack against the enemy who was continuously rambling.

    Bang! But my attack was in vain because it only pounded on the Land of Despair, and not the enemy who immediately hid back inside the Land of Despair after giving me a long lecture.

    The enemy continued to ramble even from the underground.

    [LOL. I am part of the Advance Party that has brought the seeds of despair here. I¡¯m going to serve as a nest until the Land of Despair ispleted, so you will never kill me, or us at all!]

    His voice was full of pride and confidence.

    Of course, I wanted to break his confidence, but I didn¡¯t know how to because my attacks were useless in the face of the expanding Land of Despair..

    In the end, the Land of Despair, who was still expanding, touched my left foot, and at that moment, a message rang. Of course, I deliberately did not avoid it even though I knew it was approaching me fast.

    At first, I was confident that the Land of Despair would not affect me, but now I was notpletely sure after my attacks failed to impact it.

    [You have ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs¡¯.

    -You are in the Land of Despair, but you are not affected by it.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Obviously, the Land of Despair had a mighty power that I had never expected.

    But in the end, it was blocked by my trait, All Buffs, All Debuffs.

    In other words, its power was not as enormous as I thought.

    But given all the sacrifices they made to create this Land of Despair, it seemed that I could not smash it altogether. It meant that all people on Earth would perish except for me.

    Nheless, I was confident of defeating the Land of Despair.

    Clearly, the guy said he would serve as the nest for the Land of Despair only while it was expanding as it was now.

    But my problem was that I could not call it my victory if everyone else, including my family and those in the Myongjin Shelter, died, and only I survived.

    ¡°Oh my God¡­¡±

    Normally, I wouldn¡¯t express frustration or disappointment, but this time, a sense of resignation consumed me, which seemed to encourage my enemy all the more.

    [LOL. Alright, just wait in despair, watching the Land of Despair expand endlessly until theye over.]

    Obviously, this was a bleak situation for me. But the first thing I wanted to do was to smash that guy¡¯s mouth right away.

    At that moment, something pierced through the Land of Despair all of a sudden.

    ***

    Although I was not helped by the roots from the very start, they have been around me for a long time. So I could proudly say I knew something about the roots.

    For example, the roots were greedy about food, or more precisely, they were a glutton that ate everything in sight.

    Most recently, the roots grabbed the giant bow possessed by the ruler of the 5th Royal District, and ate it with great delight.

    [Denayan¡¯s Wood Sculpture (Unrated)

    -It is a part of the Denayan tree, so-called ¡®the oldest tree¡¯ because no one knows when it first existed.]

    Prior to that, the roots caught the ck liquid man who was the owner of the 4th Royal District, which was one of the prime Royal Districts consisting of 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Districts, and ate the ¡®Fragment of Origin III¡¯ as well.

    Of course, I would not call them a glutton if they consumed only such things.

    There were much more the roots devoured.

    The roots ate the ¡°Ancient Monster Summoning Energy¡¯ that kept summoning monsters to the Myongjin Shelter, and even indirectly ate the ¡°parasite¡± that I unintentionally absorbed.

    In addition, the roots also ate the ck mark that was bestowed up one thos who achieved 100% reality actualization rate. In other words, the roots just ate anything that stood in my way until now.

    So, did I not appreciate the work of the roots?

    Of course, I did, and I appreciated it a lot too.

    Since the roots took away the mark that denoted 100% reality actualization rate, I didn¡¯t have to have ck tattoos on my body. And it devoured other things that granted me great benefits, like the Ancient Monster Summoning Energy that gave me the formidable monster imprint. In addition, by devouring the ¡®Fragment of Origin III¡¯, my monster imprint was upgraded so much that it could not bepared to how it was before at all.

    Because of that, I was currently backed up by the huge buffs of 6000 intellect, 3000 willpower, and a 7.5% increase in the damage of all my ice-type skills.

    Of course, it would still be beneficial for me even if the roots did not give me all ehse benefits and just became stronger by itself, for the roots were my ally, and it was far from mbad for my ally to be strong

    The Roots protected over 10,000 ordinary people for over two months during the Borneche Expedition, and protected the Myongjin Shelter from the Lucia Guild when I was in Kuhana.

    Anyway, I could say confidently that the roots were my strongest helper and ally, and it pierced through the Land of Despair that was not even damaged at all by my repeated attacks.

    Hanging at the tip of the roots was the guy who kept sneering at me a little while ago.

    Wiggle, wiggle.

 Chapter 454 - Obviously Dark Future

    <h4>Chapter 454: Obviously Dark Future</h4>

    The roots wriggled here and there as they always did. Before, I could not tell any specifics about the roots, but I now clearly knew what the roots¡¯ wiggling meant.

    Obviously, there was a clear difference between the roots¡¯ wiggling when they were in a good mood and that when they were in a bad mood. This time, or more precisely, the third time they wiggled, I could clearly realize that they were wiggling in a bad mood.

    As if it showed my instinct wasn¡¯t wrong, the roots began to attack the enemy.

    Swish!

    [Kheeeeeek!]

    The White Roots threw the enemy who messed with me high into the air, then dug into the ground again.

    Then the White Roots appeared again on the bare ground, which was right behind me, which the Land of Despair had yet to invade.

    The White Roots snatched the enemy falling from the air again.

    Wiggle, wiggle.

    Obviously, the White Roots wiggled again like before, but I realized right away that they wiggled because they were still in a bad mood. There was nothing special about their wiggling, so I took my eyes off them because it was not important to me right now.

    I turned my head and looked behind me.

    Therey the Land of Despair, which although did not affect me at all, was not affected by me either. And it was still expanding its territory continuously.

    Soon the red and ck Land of Despair expanded to the bare ground where the White Roots appeared again.

    Was it a big deal? Of course, it was.

    In any case, it was possible for the White Roots to break through the Land of Despair and appear above ground, but the roots clearly showed they were behind the Land of Despair by hiding themselves back into the ground in a bad and unpleasant mood.

    In other words, that was the first time the roots were defeated by the Land of Despair.

    So I expected the roots to be defeated again, but it strangely appeared on bare ground this time unlikest time.

    So I couldn¡¯t help but wonder why.

    So, I carefully examined not only the roots but also the Land of Despair that was expanding its territory into the area where the roots sprang up.

    I found that even the bare ground where the roots reappeared was being enveloped by the Land of Despair.

    But the roots began to wiggle.

    Obviously, the whole area around the roots turned into the red and ck Land of Despair, but unlike before, the roots did not show any signs of difort or resentment.

    Besides, the roots did not dig directly into the ground unlike before, and simply held out strongly.

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but utter a bit of exmation unwittingly.

    Actually, I felt really bitter when the roots were defeated by the Land of Despair at first, but this time it was clear that when the roots took position on bare ground first, they would not lose to the Land of Despair.

    At that moment, the enemymented loudly as if he could not understand the situation.

    [Oh my¡­ this can¡¯t happen! The Land of Despair has obviously been backed up by the Power of the Origin!]

    The enemy¡¯s voice was full of emptiness and frustration even though he was so confident that he tantly sneered at me a little while back.

    His disbelief and despair was clear through his empty shouts.

    Obviously, the roots once ate something called ¡®Fragment of the Origin III¡¯ without letting me know. But I didn¡¯t have to tell the enemy about it.

    So, unlike before, I opened my mouth to the enemy in a more confident, or more precisely, arrogant voice.

    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t you think you are behaving rather capriciously? Just keep acting arrogantly like you used to. You did it well enough to piss me off. Do it again!¡±

    [¡­]

    The enemy was shaking violently.

    I stayed in Kuhana for exactly 36 days. For the six days out of 30 days, I kept a low profile to tempt the enemy to let down their guard. I really wanted to kill one more ruler of the Royal District before returning to Earth, so I hated the situation where I should return to Earth like others.

    Just because I kept a low profile didn¡¯t mean that I was deaf to what was going on in Kuhana. I heard a lot about the ruthless invaders, the predators, the demons, the destroyers and so on.

    Aside from the rulers of the Royal Districts that I killed, it was literally a tremendous achievement that I got rid of about 2 million enemies in 30 days.

    Obviously, this guy must have heard my extraordinary performance there.

    And that¡¯s why he was trembling so violently.

    I could kill him very easily, but I asked him in a low voice before taking action.

    ¡°Alright. Let me buy your statement that all the rulers of the Royal Districts wille over here. What next? You said you guys are the advance party of Kuhana who havee over here with the seeds of despair you obtained by sacrificing Kuhana. Tell me a little more.¡±

    In the past, I didn¡¯t know what the purpose of ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ and ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ was, but now I realized that their purpose was to fight the people from Kuhana in front of me.

    So I couldn¡¯t help but wonder what the winner of the fight would receive.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t know. But neither did those loving in Kuhana.

    But given the conversation among the rulers of the Royal Districts, they seemed to know something. In the center of their conversation was the guy named Jiwon Lee who seemed to belong to one of the Royal Districts.

    At that moment, the enemy retorted.

    [Why are you curious about that? After all, you are only a loser that they don¡¯t have to know or care about. Self-destruct!]

    Bang!

    ¡°¡­¡±

    To be honest, I didn¡¯t expect any response from him, so I didn¡¯t feel sorry about his suicide.

    Of course, I regretted one thing, which was that I should have killed him first before hemitted suicide.

    But his flesh was already torn apart and scattered all over the ce.

    I turned around after witnessing that terrible scene because the situation was over.

    ¡°Use Savant!¡±

    [Currently, among strength, agility, stamina, willpower, and intellect Lumen, Asirante possesses, the most outstanding stat is intellect.

    -Current intellect value: 164,751

    -Intellect value will be changed to 329,502 for 30 minutes.

    ¨C A ten-day cooldown is needed when the retention time of Savant expires.]

    I knew my limited skill Savant would not work out this time but I wanted to test it m just in case.

    Considering that this Land of Despair was still expanding its territory, it would be hard for me to do anything in a mere ten days. This meant that even before the rulers of the Royal Districts appeared here, the cooldown woulde back.

    So even though I knew clearly Savant would not be effective, I felt I would regret a lot if I didn¡¯t even test it. So I wanted to check it one time.

    After using Savant, I used Ice Field and Multiple Thin Ice, then used five oveps of Ice Breath reinforced by my most powerful linkage skills which I had used in the most recent fight.

    [¡­]

    But nothing happened.

    ¡°Yeah, I knew it wouldn¡¯t work. But I just didn¡¯t want to regretter that I didn¡¯t even test it once.¡±

    After saying that, I turned, leaving behind the drones flying in the sky and many of my allies here watching me.

 Chapter 455 - Their Own Ark (1)

    <h4>Chapter 455: Their Own Ark (1)</h4>

    The next day, I immediately returned to the Myongjin Shelter because I finally confirmed yesterday that I could not stop the Land of Despair no matter how hard I tried.

    Since I knew that seeing was believing, I took out and yed the Memory Beads that I had used from the moment Iunched an attack against the Land of Despair.

    In the video was the man who ridiculed me by boasting that the Land of Despair wouldpletely cover Earth and make it a second Kuhana.

    When the video ended, there was a heavy silence in the small conference room.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    When they found out that I didn¡¯t inflict any damage on the Land of Despair even after I used my limited skill Savant, they even became gloomy, and I understood their feelings. There were two options that the people on Earth could take. First, the only way for people to avoid the Land of Despair was to stay in the air using Fly for the rest of their lives. Second, they could live in the sea using something like a boat. Nobody except for me could take the first option because their mana had clear limitations like their health. So the second option was their only choice.

    So I quietly opened my mouth.

    ¡°This is what I heard from the Carnabon Guild in Australia. Somebody from Kuhana allegedly told them while dying in the Land of Despair, ¡®Do you want to survive? Then it wouldn¡¯t be a bad choice for you to be a bird or a fish for this situation.¡¯ Of course, it¡¯s impossible for us to be a bird or a fish, so the only options are airnes and ships¡­¡±

    I didn¡¯t finish speaking, for it was impossible for an airne to fly in the sky for the rest of our lives, so the final option left were ships. But those who could survive using ships would be 5% of all human beings at most.

    What about the rest of them? Of course they will die, starting off with the ordinary people. And those who have raised their reality actualization rate up to 10% would also face the same fate helplessly because theirbat power would be reduced to almost nothing due to the Land of Despair

    Even without the Land of Despair, those from Kuhana were much more powerful than the people on Earth. In other words, the average power of those on Earth was less than 20% of those in the low-level Rookie District, not to mention those in the Royal, Major and Regr Districts.

    In such a situation, it was obvious that if they suffered the debuffs from the Land of Despair, they would be swept away like leaves falling in the autumn wind.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to find thergest possible ship. If I can¡¯t¡­¡± Director Sok said after understanding my point.

    But even he, who was the head of the Intelligence Department of the Myongjin Guild, looked at me silently without saying a word, and I knew what he was trying to convey through his eyes.

    The situation in Australia has already been known to the entire Earth, and at the same time, the giant guilds and groups realized that even I could not stop the Land of Despair¡¯s indiscriminate invasion. I did not deliberately prevent world spies and drones from watching me fight a losing fight against the Land of Despair.

    In other words they, unless they were idiots, must have realized by now that we needed ships, andrge ships at that. But obtaining ships from them in such a situation was equivalent to asking them to risk their lives. So they would not provide ships to us.

    So the reason Director Sok looked at me was because he needed my help in this situation. Of course, I had no intention of ming Director Sok because his message to me was motivated by his loyalty to Myongjin.

    So I opened my mouth softly, looking at everyone, including Director Sok, who could not hide their stiff expressions. Surely others may criticize me and Myongjin people as selfish because we only focused on our survival only, but I knew how to get over this difficult situation.

    And it took me one day for me to return to the Myongjin Shelter after confirming it.

    ***

    In the Holdridge Headquarters in New York, USA.

    ¡°So do you mean there is no way for us to stop that Land of Despair?¡±

    ¡°Nope. Even Juyoung Hong, whopletely froze part of the Antic Ocean, failed to block it. Of course, I expected it, but Juyoung himself was not affected at all by the Land of Despair itself.¡±

    It was already widely known that aside from the decrease in theirbat power, anybody who set foot on the Land of Despair would leave behind traces which would trap them there for at least five hours.

    But based on the Memory Beads filmed by their spies, Juyoung Hong could get out of the Land of Despair as if nothing happened even after setting foot on it, which made all of the Holdridge executives envious of him because that¡¯s what they wanted.

    Anyway, Austin, the head of the Intelligence Department of the Holdridge Group, answered the top five executives¡¯ questions with a gloomy expression.

    Then another executive asked all of a sudden, ¡°Then how should we cope with it?¡±

    ¡°Unless we are as mighty as Juyoung Hong, we¡¯ve got only one option. Actually this is what those from Kuhana told us on the recording.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°Well, we should be a bird or a fish. But we can¡¯t be birds, of course. In other words, we have no choice but to be fish, namely, going out to sea using ships. That¡¯s why I¡¯ve mobilized all of the aircraft carriers under our influence, battleships and cruisers, as well asmercial ships such as cargo ships off the coast of New York.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmmmm¡­¡±

    When he said that, they groaned unpleasantly as if they were not satisfied with his proposed solution. They knew it was only a makeshift answer to the fundamental problem they were faced with.

    It would be inevitably impossible for them to live their whole lives at sea on ships.

    In other words, their future was bleak.

    At that moment, one of the top five executives said, ¡°What about Juyoung Hong and Myongjin people?¡±

    ¡°At this point, they haven¡¯t shown .¡±

    ¡°The Myongjin Shelter is located in Gangwon-do, so the sea is not far away, right? But they are not collecting ships?¡±

    ¡°No. Of course, there are rumors that they are on the search for ships, but they are not that enthusiastic about procuring them.¡±

    ¡°Does it mean they know how to stay on the ground?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± replied Austin, tilting his head a bit.

    But none of the executives rebuked Austin because they knew that Juyong Hong and the Myongjin people were far superior to them, so they could not dare to ask them about it.

    Perhaps the hourss of the extinction of mankind began to move, and Juyoung Hong was the only one who could overturn it again.

    Anyway the Holdridge executives continued the meeting even though they knew they could find no answer. They put forward several agendas, and the first one they chose was to get Juyoung Hong and all the Myongjin people on the ships that the Holdridge Group prepared, for having him on the same ship meant that their safety could be assured to some extent .

 Chapter 456 - Their Own Ark (2)

    <h4>Chapter 456: Their Own Ark (2)</h4>

    In Beijing, China at that time.

    ¡°Aside from money, the Antgos Information Guild is notorious for keeping control of their information based on how much they would gain or lose if they shared it with others. Howe they keep leaking out information about the Land of Despair?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. Based on our investigation until now, it¡¯s clear that they have not only leaked out the relevant information, but also deliberately spread it widely.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    President Xi groaned at his deputy¡¯s report.

    If the Antgos Information Guild, which was reputed to be the best information guild on Earth, leaked out the information without expecting any payment, there could only be one possible reason; they would lose nothing even if they did so

    It meant that this event could bring about the end of mankind if something went wrong.

    So President Xi groaned for a long time before opening his mouth.

    ¡°What are the Antgos Information Guild and the Myongjin Guild up to now?¡±

    ¡°As you know, the Antgos Information Guild has been keeping a low profile, so we haven¡¯t yet found out much about them yet, but they must already be fully prepared. There is a reason why they have reached the top position in the information world. On the other hand, the Myongjin Guild hasn¡¯t shown any particr movement yet.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±

    President Xi lowered his head for a moment as if he was lost in thought, then said, ¡°Then what about other options?¡¯

    ¡°Well, there is only one left. In other words, ships, andrge ships at that. We have to securerge ships and go out to the sea where the Land of Despair can¡¯t reach.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Of course, President Xi had yet to issue any special orders.

    Even without his order, the Chinese government under President Xi began to take action well in advance. They took action to mobilize dozens or hundreds of ships, including aircraft carriers, to the shores of Tianjin, just in front of Beijing.

    Anyway, the whole world was quite chaotic, with those fleeing from maind Australia and the Antaragos Information Guild actively providing the relevant information. All of them were busy making their own arks for survival or trying to take away others¡¯ arks.

    And it was natural that they confronted others while preparing their own survival tactics, considering that even if they mobilized all the ships avable on Earth, there were less than 5% of the whole poption who could board the ships.

    Moreover, given that those aboard the ships should be able to eat and sleep, to say the least, it was impossible to pack the ships fully. As a result, despair began to spread everywhere around the world as the name Land of Despair suggested.

    In other words, nobody on Earth wanted to die.

    ***

    At the Myongjin Shelter one weekter.

    I climbed on the roof of the first main base and looked at the distant sky.

    I felt someone approaching behind me, but I didn¡¯t turn around because I knew it was Director Sok.

    So when he approached me, I spoke first, ¡°How is the situation?¡±

    My question was rather vague, but Director Sok got my point right away and replied, ¡°We are strictly blocking those who are trying toe to Myongjin by all means.¡±

    In this hellish world, there were definitely people who were like saints, and those who acted like saints to assert their dominant rule or for their own personal interests.

    But I didn¡¯t mean to look down on them altogether.

    After all, even if they wore the mask of a saint, they certainly made this hellish world a less hellish one. In other words, I was cheering for them.

    That¡¯s why I spared President Kijung Kim who targeted my life directly.

    However, the problem I faced right now was totally different from the problems I had experienced before.

    The majority of those who pretended to be saints could no longer wear the mask of a saint, for they valued their own survival first.

    No wonder there were so many people who would perish, and the majority of them would be ordinary people who would helplessly copse right away without being able to resist when the cruel but unstoppable Land of Despairpletely covered Earth.

    And quite a few, if not all, of those people flocked to the Myongjin Shelter.

    Even though they had not raised their reality actualization rate, they must have heard the name ¡®Juyong Hong.¡¯

    But it was impossible for the Myongjin Shelter to ept them.

    Moreover, if we epted them out of pity orpassion, all the ordinary people on Earth would probably, or definitely, flock to the Myongjin Shelter, imploring us to ept them. And they would curse and me us for discriminating against them if we selectively epted only a few.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t mean to me them because it was only natural that they would me the Myongjin Shelter if we epted only some of them and not the others.

    So there was inevitably only one conclusion on this matter, namely, refusing entry to everyone.

    Of course, there was an exception to this rule. We were willing to ept the members of the Mirae and Tugal Guilds, but not all of them.

    Since there were already hundreds of thousands in the Myongjin Shelter alone, it was impossible for us to ept all the members of the two guilds.

    ¡°So what are they going to do?¡± I asked Director Sok.

    ¡°The Mirae Guild rejected our offer. They have already secured ships that could carry hundreds of thousands of people. But the Tugal Guild epted our offer.¡±

    Although we didn¡¯t tell the Mirae and Tugal Guilds clearly, we proposed that we could ept them if they came to the Myongjin SHelter with a maximum of 10,000 per guild.

    But the Mirae Guild declined our offer while the Tugal Guild epted it.

    Come to think of it, the Mirae Guild could obviously secure lots of ships, but the Tugal Guild of Mongolia, located ind, could not because most of them had never boarded ships in their lives. There were more people who had boarded nes than those who had gone aboard ships there.

    At that moment, Director Sok continued, as if he still had more to say.

    ¡°The Mirae Guild asked us if they can deploy their ships ahead of us in the sea.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Of course, I knew what his question meant.

    So I opened my mouth, nodding at him slightly, ¡°Sure, tell them to go ahead.¡±

    ¡°Got it, I¡¯ll send them your message then.¡±

    After exchanging a few words with him, I cast a nce at the sky in the distance.

    Given that the Land of Despair reached Okinawa, Japan, this morning, it would take about three days for it to reach Korea.

    In the small conference room of the Myongjin Shelter the next day.

    After a group of people visited the Myongjin Shelter, I also moved to the small conference room.

    Then I said tly to one of the guests who was already seated.

    ¡°I see you often these days. You are very busy these days, right?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, do you think so?¡±

    He was Brandon, the new leader of the Antgos Information Guild.

    ¡°Okay, what¡¯s going on? I¡¯ve heard a lot of good things about you these days.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it clear now that everyone living on this earth is on the same side? Then, we should join hands together, I think.¡±

    ¡°Stop that nonsense! As you know, hundreds of thousands, or millions of people die every day these days because of the Land of Despair.¡±

 Chapter 457 - Battle (1)

    <h4>Chapter 457: Battle (1)</h4>

    The fact that half of Japan was already invaded by the Land of Despair meant that Indonesia, Mysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and even the southern parts of China had already turned into the Land of Despair. This meant that hundreds of millions of people had already been killed. Of course, the absolute majority of those who were killed were ordinary people.

    No matter how much time they had, it was unreasonable for ordinary people to flee and break through the monster herds in their way without those who raised their reality actualization rate who had abandoned them. No matter howrge a herd of rabbits were, they were still rabbits in the end.

    Starting off with the African continent and South America, the Land of Despair would soon reach the North American continent. In other words, the day will soone when tens of millions, not hundreds of thousands, will die every day. Or maybe even hundreds of millions of people.

    Anyway, I didn¡¯t feel like joking around with Brandon, so I demanded that he get straight to the point right away.

    Finally Brandon smiled and opened his mouth.

    ¡°As of yesterday, I killed 370,000 people affiliated with the Antgos Information Guild.¡±

    ¡°They didn¡¯t have to be killed. I think you killed them when you really didn¡¯t have to¡­¡±

    Of course, many people were dying these days, so 370,000 might look small inparison, but it was still a huge number.

    But I just listened to him calmly on the surface.

    When I showed such a reaction, he said, ¡°Well, I knew I might have gone too far by killing them, but I had to because I didn¡¯t want to cause trouble for the Myongjin Guild.¡±

    ¡°Trouble for Myongjin¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m serious. There are a lot of people outside the Myongjin Shelter right now who are still begging for their lives, hurling abuses and curses. I don¡¯t want to add our members to those people.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I looked straight into his eyes without saying anything to him.

    He met my stare, and said, ¡°I came here with exactly 5,000 people. It is just 50% of the 10,000 person quota you proposed to the Mirae Guild and the Tugal Guild. Since the Mirae Guild rejected your offer, wouldn¡¯t you be able to amodate just 5,000 people here? Moreover, they¡¯re the elites of elites, so they won¡¯t cause any trouble to you and the Myongjin Guild. I can assure you that there will be no more Antgos Information Guild membersing here begging for their lives.¡±

    ¡°Alright. If that¡¯s your resolve, let me ept them.¡±

    Of course, it was awkward for me to use the expression ¡®resolve¡¯ in this case because it didn¡¯t fit into this situation nicely.

    Considering that he made that decision ahead of the confrontation with the Land of Despair, however, I judged that it would not be bad for me to ept his group members.

    Anyway, I epted 5,000 Antgos Intelligence Guild members and 10,000 Tugal Guild members very carefully and secretly into the Myongjin Shelter.

    In the meantime, I also confirmed the Mirae Guild people, leading hundreds of thousands of people, were passing by the Myongjin Shelter to move to the ships located off the coast of Goseong, Gangwon Province in the east coast of South Korea.

    ***

    Two dayster.

    Pong. Pong. Pong. Pong. Pong.

    Wiggle, wiggle.

    I watched the south closely while floating over the first main base of Myongjin Shelter using Fly, then I soon noticed the red and ck Land of Despair moving from afar.

    The Land of Despair has already killed more than 100 million people around the world. As such, it disyed an overwhelming threat even though it was still far away.

    At first I just stared at the Land of Despair nkly, but thenI opened my mouth slowly when it came within my view clearly.

    ¡°Please.¡±

    As soon as I said that, numerous roots erupted from underground, starting off with the White Roots, which encircled the Myongjin Shelter. Of course, it was impossible for the roots to encircle the entire Myongjin Shelter.

    But I had already tested their capabilities, and confirmed that they could encircle a quite a wide area, including the three main bases of the Myongjin Shelter.

    Soon the Land of Despair got right close to the roots that encircled the Myongjin Shelter.

    But the Land of Despair could not break through the roots, so it began to move around it to continue spreading. This was the type of ark that I made.

    Of course, the floods haven¡¯t even started yet, for my real enemy has not appeared yet.

    ¡°Come on! Show up quickly. I am curious about the final stage of this.¡±

    After checking out the ark made of the roots, I moved inside the Myongjin Shelter.

    All I had to do for now was wait for my real enemy.

    ***

    Off the coast of Goseong, Gangwon Province.

    ¡°Should we have gone there? Was it a mistake for us to have declined their offer?¡±

    Standing on the destroyer, Bora Yon, the heir to the Mirae Group, spoke softly, looking at the ce where the Myungjin Shelter was located. Since she was not far from the shelter, she could clearly see it even in the distance.

    When she asked, Director Sungyop Yu of the Mirae Group, standing behind her, opened his mouth.

    ¡°Well, it all depends on the result of our decision.¡±

    ¡°Result? I agree¡­¡±

    She nodded at his answer, then watched closely the ce that housed the Myongjin Shelter.

    Then he continued, ¡°How close is the Land of Despair now?¡±

    ¡°It looks like the Land of Despair will reach the Myongjin Shelter in exactly 10 minutes.¡±

    ¡°What about Myongjin¡¯s preparation?¡¯

    ¡°I don¡¯t see anything unusual as of now. That¡¯s why quite a few guilds and groups are using drones to observe the movement of the Myongjin Shelter. Obviously, it is Juyoung Hong, not the Myongjin Shelter or the Myongjin Guild, who is the only one not affected by the Land of Despair.¡±

    ¡°Surely he must have a hidden card. As you know, Juyoung is not the type of guy who simply talks nonsense when his family members¡¯ survival is at stake.¡±

    ¡°I think so. Our guys at the Strategic Department have the same opinion. There is a reason why Juyoung is the world¡¯s strongest. But the problem is there is so little time left¡­¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s wait. Ten minutes will pass by quickly.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    Having said that, she continued to keep her eyes on the ce that housed the Myongjin Shelter.

    Shortly afterward, the leaders of the Mirae Guild, including Chairman Junghwan Yon, moved to the destroyer with a clear view of the Myongjin Shelter and watched closely.

    Right now their paramount concern was about how Juyoung Hong and the Myongjin Shelter would respond to the Land of Despair that was fast approaching them.

    A littleter.

    Wiggle, wiggle.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The leaders of the Mirae Guild, including Bora Yon and Chairman Yon, noticed the countless brown roots sprouting from the very ce where the Myongjin Shelter was located. And amidst the countless brown roots, there were huge and broad white roots too.

    By now, all of them immediately knew what they were because the roots were like Juyoung Hong¡¯s trademark.

    It was none other than the roots that had defended the shelter while Juyoung was away from the shelter.

 Chapter 458 - Battle (2)

    <h4>Chapter 458: Battle (2)</h4>

    As soon as he noticed the roots, Chairman Yon opened his mouth.

    ¡°Do you have a video feed showing the inside of the Myongjin Shelter?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Shortly afterward, a tablet-like device was ced in front of Chairman Yon, so everyone could see the strange happenings through the tablet. A kind of barrier was built by the roots around the Myongjin shelter, and the usual bare ground was still intact within the barrier.

    After checking it, Bora Yon softly opened her mouth.

    ¡°Unlike others, Juyoung built an ark on the ground.¡±

    When she said that, none of them showed any particr reactions after noticing that the root wall looked stronger and safer than the ship they were on.

    They were just amazed at his extraordinary strength and tactics.

    In the conference room of the Myongjin Shelter a weekter

    ¡°I think that the Land of Despair has encroached on all continents, leaving only a portion of the North Antic Ocean intact. So in a day or two, the whole earth will be covered with the Land of Despair.¡±

    ¡°We have little time left now.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    The enemy said that they would reveal themselves once the Land of Despairpletely covered the whole Earth and made it second Kuhana.

    I was rather d to hear it because there were only two days left at most.

    Obviously, I had no other choice but to confront them to move to the next phase.

    And it was impossible for me to avoid confronting them. So I would rather have fought it out with them as soon as possible. In the past, I really wished I could dy the fight in which I had to bet everything, but since I could not put it off any longer, I had no choice but to face it. Besides, I could not ess Revival Legend any more because I needed the roots to remain on standby to block the Land of Despair.

    Of course, I wasn¡¯t afraid of the Land of Despair because I seeded in upgrading the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword to +15 enhancement, and had finished preparing my skills. In other words, I did all I could do for this fight.

    So I kept waiting for the enemy to appear and reveal themselves,

    ***

    In Australia two dayster.

    Shuuuuuuung- Shuuuuuuuuung- Shuuuuuuuuuuung-

    A group of people appeared exactly at the ce where the Land of Despair first appeared. And I heard a message as soon as they revealed themselves.

    [You are now in the Land of Despair.

    -You belong to Kuhana.

    : All stat points increase by 50%.

    : Health and mana increase by 50%.

    : The performance of all your passive skills increases by 50%.

    : The power of all your active skills increases by 50%.

    : All your skill cooldowns decrease by 500%.

    : Yourbat power continuously increases. (Up to a max of a 50% increase.)

    : The auto-recovery of health and mana greatly increases. ]

    ¡°Lol! We havepleted the Land of Despair. Now this will be our new home!¡±

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    ¡°Kuhana! Kuhana!¡±

    When the guy who I thought was their leader shouted, the others cheered for joy excessively.

    When their enthusiastic shouting disappeared, the guy who appeared to be their leader opened his mouth again.

    ¡°First, we¡¯re going to give up those who have voluntarily decided to be birds and fish without knowing anything. After all, if those respected peoplee here, they will crawl out of the sky and out of the water by themselves. Before that, we¡¯re going to clean up the mess on the ground!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°All right!¡±

    After that, those from Kuhana began to move.

    Of course, the Land of Despair appeared for the first time in Australia, but the whole earth has been covered with the Land of Despair by now.

    In Chicago, USA.

    Shuuuuuuuung- Shuuuuuuuuung- Shuuuuuuuuuuug-

    In Berlin, Germany.

    Shuuuuuuuung- Shuuuuuuuuung- Shuuuuuuuuuuug-

    In Cape Town, South Africa.

    Shuuuuuuuung- Shuuuuuuuuung- Shuuuuuuuuuuug-

    People from Kuhana appeared all over the world.

    Backed up by enormous buffs, they moved around proudly.

    The next day, the red and ck Land of Despair devoured not only mankind but also the monsters on Earth. Of course, those who raised their reality actualization rate managed to move by walking on the Land of Despair because they were not killed instantly on the spot like the ordinary people who didn¡¯t raise their reality actualization rate.

    But the fact that they were not aboard the ships secured by giant guilds or groups meant that they were rtively weak.

    ¡°Kheeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Khuuuuuuuuk¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to die like this¡­¡±

    Flop!

    Flop!

    Obviously, they were originally weak, but they were even debuffed by the Land of Despair. Because of that, they were weaker than the ordinary people.

    Besides, those who came from Kuhana were basically strong opponents.

    On average, they were much stronger than these weak yers on Earth.

    What¡¯s more, those from Kuhana were receiving enormous buffs unlike those who were being debuffed. So it was like a fight between an adult and a child.

    They fell like the leaves falling in the autumn wind.

    In many ces around the world they copsed helplessly at the attack of the Land of Despair.

    ¡°Lol! Kill them all!¡±

    ¡°It is a shame to leave them intact here in the second Kuhana! S wipe them out!¡±

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    Those from Kuhana continued to move around, killing everybody who belonged to the Earth without mercy, as if they were taking revenge until something huge and brown reached the ce looking like a rampart, waving and dancing.

    ***

    The rooftop of the main base No. 1 of the Myongjin Shelter.

    Even though they were in the Land of Despair, they were fearless.

    There was rather a smile on their lips.

    If that¡¯s the case, there must be only one race, namely, those from Kuhana.

    Otherwise, it would be impossible for them to be happy and smile in satisfaction like that in the Land of Despair.

    Even though they were approaching the Myongjin Shelter, I didn¡¯t step forward because they were not the people I had been waiting for.

    Moreover, even if I did not step forward, there was somebody, or more precisely, some creatures that could fight for me. In other words, the roots.

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Kheeeeek!¡±

    ¡°What the heck is this?¡±

    ¡°Damn it! Right now we are receiving buffs called Land of Despair¡­¡±

    ¡°Howe this is so powerful?¡±

    Apparently, the enemies were quite surprised by the power of the roots.

    Even though the roots didn¡¯t kill all of them with a single strike, most of them copsed. Besides, they were receiving enormous buffs thanks to the Land of Despair at the moment.

    But I already expected such results.

    Of course I had some regrets because if the message had rang a bit earlier, or more precisely, if it had rang before the Land of Despair encircled the Myongjin Shelter, I could have made the ark even bigger.

    [The roots have absorbed Denayan¡¯s wood shards.

    -The roots have seeded in securing a springboard to grow beyond their limits as root and grow into a higher-level being.

    ¨C Roots grow significantly.]

    Moreover, the message did not end there.

    [The roots own ¡®Fragments of the Origin III¡¯.

    -It has some influence on the roots¡¯ growth into a higher-level being.]

    When people think of roots, various nts, including flowers and trees,e to their minds.

    But the roots were part of a tree, strictly speaking, because I obtained the roots from a boss monster in the form of a tree called a long-rooted old tree.

    Moreover, the message this time rang after the roots absorbed the ¡®Denayan¡¯s wood shards¡¯. Of course, there was nothing particr about the roots.

    But the White Roots were bigger and harder than before, so were the other brown roots. The roots also increased much more than before.

    And that¡¯s the results of the growth of the roots that I was witnessing right now.

 Chapter 459 - Battle (3)

    <h4>Chapter 459: Battle (3)</h4>

    Those from Kuhana, who were full of arrogance and majestic posture a little while ago, were busy running away in big chaos at the attack of the roots.

    Then the roots attacked the guys who approached the Myongjin Shelter recklessly.

    ¡°Khuuuuuuuuuuk!¡±

    ¡°What the heck is this?¡±

    Flop!

    Flop!

    Some of them barely survived the roots¡¯ attack once, but even they had no other choice but to copse at the roots¡¯ subsequent attack.

    After that, the roots moved back to their original location.

    Of course, I was so proud of them.

    So I even thought of taking the initiative to seek the rulers of the Royal Districts after leaving the defense of the Myongjin Shelter with the roots.

    No matter how strong the roots were, the shelter would be defenseless if the rulers of the Royal Districts stormed into it all at once while I was away.

    The rulers of the Royal Districts were notorious for their extraordinary strength, and as the inhabitants of Kuhana, they were receiving tremendous buffs called the Land of Despair.

    ¡°Alright, let me be a little more. They will appear before me anyway.¡±

    So I decided to stay at the Myongjin Shelter.

    ***

    In Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, 23 dayster.

    Shuuuuuuung! Shuuuuuuuuuung! Shuuuuuuuuuuung!

    The Land of Despair threw up at least thousands, or tens of thousands of people from Kuhana on Earth at a time. But this time, it only threw up four people.

    And the four people who appeared on Earth looked around and spoke one by one.

    ¡°Is this the ce owned by Juyoung Hong, or Jiwon Lee?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s good. Not bad.¡±

    ¡°But this is clearly our loss because we have obtained this ce by sacrificing Kuhana when we could have taken it for free if we had won.¡±

    ¡°Well, we couldn¡¯t help it because Juyoung Hong was really not a factor that we had in mind from the beginning.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s enough. We can upy this ce if we get rid of Juyoung Hong, and everything belonging to Jiwon Lee. Then we can restore our lostnd. In that respect, it¡¯s our gain, not our loss.¡±

    ¡°You bet!¡±

    Anyway the rulers of the 2nd and 3rd Royal Districts as well as the rulers of the 8th and 9th Royal Districts began to move.

    As soon as they appeared, they received the report from those who got here ahead of them that there was an unassable being in the Land of Despair.

    Obviously they knew the ¡®unassable being¡¯ was Juyoung Hong even if he didn¡¯t reveal himself there.

    The four rulers of the Royal Districts finally appeared on Earth.

    At that moment those few who survived in the Land of Despair as well as those who were hiding in their own arks could hear a message.

    [The Land of Despair has begun to radiate the energy of despair.]

    It has been a little over a month since the Land of Despair appeared on Earth.

    Countless people died on Earth, but those who built the arks to flee to the sea continued their lives to the best they could.

    Humans were scientifically and biologically incapable of adapting to changes in the new environment easily, but at the same time they were bizarrely good at adapting themselves to it.

    So they could also hear the message that rang suddenly while they were carrying on with their lives, as usual.

    [The Earth of Despair has begun to radiate the energy of despair.]

    Aside from those who were already dead, even those who survived cringed at the word ¡®despair¡¯. So they could not help but be embarrassed when they heard the message that contained the word ¡®despair¡¯ because they didn¡¯t want to hear it again.

    Contrary to their expectations, however, the message containing that word did not end there, but continued.

    [The energy of despair emanating from the Land of Despair began to slowly encroach on your body.

    -Health and mana decrease by 10 per second.

    ¨C Health and mana that drop because of the energy of despair will not be restored by automatic recovery or healing.

    -In order to prevent the drop in health and mana caused by the energy of despair, you should continue to step on the Land of Despair.

    ¨C In any case, the moment your health reaches 0, you die immediately.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Those who fled to the sea to escape the Land of Despair were taken aback by the message that made their desperate effort to survive until now useless.

    Even before they could ovee their embarrassment, something that would cause even more extreme confusion and fear in them urred.

    ¡°Kheeeeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Khuuuuuuuuuk¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to die like this¡­¡±

    Flop!

    Flop!

    Of course, the ships didn¡¯t carry only those who raised their reality actualization rate.

    There were a considerable number of ordinary people aboard the ships, too.

    Unless they did not live alone for the rest of their lives, they were supposed to have families and rtives, not to mention those who were school alumni or those who were from the same hometowns.

    But the problem was that in order to raise their reality actualization rate, it was absolutely necessary for them to achieve level 1200, and if they had even 1 level short of 1200, they were ssified as ordinary people.

    After all, the ordinary people who were aboard the ships died in vain without being able to sustain even for a few seconds at the message that rang without any notice, just like those who died as soon as they set foot on the Land of Despair.

    ¡°Oh, no!¡±

    ¡°Honey!¡±

    ¡°Mom! You shouldn¡¯t die!¡±

    ¡°Shit! This is too cruel!¡±

    ¡°Man, as the saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining, but what the heck is this?¡±

    ¡°You damn bastards!¡±

    They were in big chaos.

    They would have been less frustrated and embarrassed if they had been prepared for it in heart, but since the message rang all of a sudden, more than half of those on the ship expressed their anger and frustration endlessly.

    prepared, but because it happened suddenly without any notice, there were more than half of those who vomited out anger and resentment beyond the chaos. The fact that they were on the ships meant that they were closely affiliated with those at level 1200 who raised their reality actualization rate, or more close to each other than their families.

    However, as if to mock their frustration and anger, the messages kept ringing to enrage them even more.

    [Your health and mana decrease by 10.]

    [Your health and mana decrease by 10.]

    :

    :

    [Your health and mana decrease by 10.]

    [Your health and mana decrease by 10.]

    ¡°Turn the ships back to thend!¡±

    ¡°Move to the nearestnd!¡±

    They were so sad, frustrated and angry.

    But they could not all die together without doing anything, so somemanders and executives ordered them to veer their ship immediately.

    Of course, they had no intention of giving such an order because even if they set foot on the Land of Despair to avoid the ¡®energy of despair,¡¯ it didn¡¯t mean they could find any ray of hope there. Rather there was a fat chance that a more hellish world would unfold for them.

    But they couldn¡¯t die helplessly, so they issued the order, crying bitter tears.

    In the meantime, somemanders and executives picked out the specific name of a ce rather than a nearby site, namely, Gangwon Province, or more precisely, the sea off the coast of Myongjin Shelter.

    From their point of view, it was the most likely ce for their survival if they reached there.

 Chapter 460 - Battle (4)

    <h4>Chapter 460: Battle (4)</h4>

    In the Myongjin Shelter at that time.

    ¡°Ugh?¡±

    Since the Land of Despair didn¡¯t affect me at all, I often crossed the wall of roots to scout as I did a little while ago.

    But a message rang when I suddenly crossed the wall of roots into the Land of Despair.

    [You have ¡®All Buffs, All Debuffs¡¯.

    -You are in the Land of Despair, but you are not affected by it.

    -You are not affected by the Energy of Despair.]

    Prior to this message, there was only one message that said I was in the Land of Despair, but it had no effect on me. This time there was another message.

    Since I didn¡¯t want to ignore it totally, I immediately moved back into the Myongjin Shelter. Then I confirmed with those who stood guard behind the roots and those who were patrolling while preparing for the uing battle. But they acted like before as if they were not affected by the message. And the area near the main base of Myongjin Shelter was as peaceful as before.

    ¡®Did the roots prevent the energy of despair from permeating here?¡¯

    I could not think of any other exnation.

    So after confirming that the Myongjin Shelter was not affected not only by the Land of Despair, but also the Energy of Despair, I slipped out of the Myongjin Shelter and began to move to the coast of Goseong in Gangwon Province, not far from Myongjin Shelter, for the Mirae Guild had set sail from there.

    ¡®Blink! Blink!¡¯

    When I first proposed to the Mirae Guild and Tugal Guild to bring up to 10,000 people into the Myongjin Shelter, my top priority was the Mirae Guild. But I felt a bit guilty if I made the proposal only to the Mirae Guild because the Tugal Guild followed the Myongjin Guild so dly as if we were their boss. So I made the same proposal to them too. As it turned out, however, the Mirae Guild rejected our proposal, while the Tugal Guild epted it.

    To be honest, I wanted to tell the Mirae Guild people, or more precisely, Bora, to stop being stubborn ande into the Myongjin Shelter.

    When I was just the son of the conglomerate family, she didn¡¯t treat me exceptionally well, but she did not treat me badly either. She always treated me with respect unile others. And her kindness was more than enough for me to reach out to the Mirae Guild.

    Using Blink, I approached the ce where the Mirae Guild was rapidly, but as soon as I got there, I immediately noticed that the Energy of Despair was really devastating to them. What I saw there was literally hell.

    ¡°Oh my God¡­¡±

    ¡°Hey, stand up! We¡¯vee so far¡­¡±

    ¡°Son of a bitch! I¡¯m going to kill all of them!¡±

    The Mirae Guild were here with hundreds of thousands of their family members.

    But like the Myongjin Guild, there were less than 50,000 who achieved their reality actualization rate after reaching level 1200.

    Obviously, it was not easy for them to reach level 1200.

    But all the people except for those who raised their reality actualization rate seemed to be dead. In other words, almost 80% of those died.

    So those who survived were crying bitter tears while hugging and shaking those who died.

    At that moment, somebody shouted.

    ¡°Lol! Our ¡®respected men¡¯ have finallye!¡±

    ¡°The cowards who went to the sea like fish have returned to thend!¡±

    ¡°Kill them all without even leaving one alive!¡±

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    In fact, I steadily cleaned up the invaders from Kuhana around the Myongjin Shelter, but they kept popping out like cockroaches.

    Was I sick and tired of them? Of course I was.

    But I no longer felt sick and tired of them anymore because those who were charging at the sad and frustrated Myongjin Guild members uttered something that I had been looking forward to hearing. In other words, their ¡®respected men¡¯ had finally appeared. Of course, they were none other than the rulers of the Roay Districts from Kunaha.

    Anyway, I moved between the invaders and the Mirae Guild using Blink.

    Shuuuuuuuung-

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Khuuuuuuk!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Juyoung Hong!¡±

    ¡°Shit!¡±

    ¡°Who the hell said good prey was waiting for us? It¡¯s a monster!¡±

    Those who were rushing towards the Mirae Guild members triumphantly stopped immediately the moment they discovered me.

    And many of them were trembling violently with their faces turning white as if they had seen a ghost.

    But I opened my mouth quietly without caring about them at all.

    ¡°I hear that the rulers of the Royal Districts have arrived here?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    They didn¡¯t reply to my question.

    So I continued, ¡°Alright. I don¡¯t have to repeat my question. Blizzard!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    ¡°Kheeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Khuuuuuuuuk¡±

    I could kill them all using Blizzard, but I deliberately targeted those who tried to flee.

    ¡°Blink! Blink!¡±

    Puck! Puck!

    Flop!

    Flop!

    I killed all of them using the +15 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword which was emitting a red haze.

    Even if they received enormous buffs from the Land of Despair, they could not challenge me. Besides, the Land of Despair had no effect on me.

    There were now exactly three of them left.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I think I¡¯ve killed a lot, but there are still as many as three people here now?¡±

    [I¡¯m going to tell you everything!]

    At that moment, the guy in the middle opened his mouth first.

    But I immediately began to get rid of the other two.

    ¡°Kheeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Khuuuuuuk!¡±

    I wielded the +15 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword at the guys on my left and right.

    Then I opened my mouth to the guy in the center.

    ¡°Alright. So the rulers of the Royal Districts have arrived here?¡±

    [Oh, yes, they did. They showed up here exactly an hour ago.]

    ¡°Well, I was getting tired of waiting for them, so it¡¯s good to hear that. Thanks for your answer! I like it.¡±

    [Then can you spare...Kheeeeek!]

    He was terrified, and I could have had him tell me more, but I didn¡¯t.

    All I wanted to know was whether the rulers of the Royal Districts arrived here, and I got the answer. That was enough for me.

    To be honest, it looked like the guy had some more detailed information about them.

    Anyway, I killed him, then looked back.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I just used Blizzard instead of using some other skills.

    But my Blizzard at this point was far from normal.

    That¡¯s why a lot of members of the Mirae Guild were looking at me.

    Tramp- Tramp-

    I passed by them and approached someone with tears welling in her eyes.

    It was none other than Bora Yon.

    I said quietly to her, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    It was my first time reaching out to someone other than my family members.

    I became mellow enough to know the ways of the world after being separated from the family I grew up with while feeling inferior to my older brother and sister who were smarter than me in school. So I noticed that my family members including my father and mother already had someone in mind to be my marriage partner.

    But I kept my distance from her. Of course, I had no intention of making her my woman right away. For now I only focused on reaching out to her first because she was my childhood friend.

    After reaching my hand out to her and pulling her up once she grasped it, I looked at her father, Chariman Junghwan Yon, and said, ¡°Can I escort you to the Myongjin Shelter, Chairman Yon?¡±

    ¡°Yes, please.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    So I escorted them to the Myongjin Shelter along with their guild members.

    There were as many as 50,000 guild members who followed me without any hesitation or resistance as if they took my leadership for granted.

 Chapter 461 - Battle (5)

    <h4>Chapter 461: Battle (5)</h4>

    Originally, I had already nned to take them to the Myongjin Shelter.

    However, while I was moving, I heard about the ¡®Energy of Despair¡¯ from executive director Sungyop Yu of the Mirae Guild, so I was all the more determined to take all of them to the Myongjin Shelter. Even though the rain had yet to stop, their ark was now useless

    What about 50,000 members of the Mirae Guild?

    Of course, they numbered a lot, but we had no problem with amodating them.

    While other guilds and groups focused on securing ships and boats to carry their members, the Myongjin Shelter paid attention to more productive activities.

    In other words, we had enough space for housing 50,000 Mirae Guild members.

    I couldn¡¯t deny that I was selfish and heartless in the way I looked at them, but in any case, all of them raised their reality actualization rate. Their individual levels were different, but their arrival at the Myongjin Shelter was not necessarily a bad thing.

    As the saying ¡®Many hands make light work¡¯ goes, they would be able to stall for time, even if they can¡¯t defeat the enemy, in an emergency or unexpected situation.

    Anyway, I knew I was being selfish and heartless, but I stopped thinking about it, and kept moving with them because of my longtime association with and sympathy for Bora as my childhood friend.

    Soon we reached the ce near the Myongjin Shelter.

    Normally it wouldn¡¯t take me a few minutes or even a few seconds to get there, but it took me a little more time this time because I had to move with a significant number of people, namely, the Mirae Guild members.

    But the problem arose after I arrived at the Myongjin Shelter.

    [Since you set foot on the Land of Despair, your traces remain there.

    ¨C Your traces will remain for 5 hours.

    ¨C It is impossible to get out of the Land of Despair while the trace is maintained.

    -Once your traces disappear after 5 hours, you will leave no trace for 30 minutes even if you step on the Land of Despair again.

    -You can get out of the Land of Despair within those 30 minutes, but if you are still in the Land of Despair after 30 minutes, your traces wille back for 5 hours.]

    It didn¡¯t matter to me at all whether it was the ¡®Land of Despair¡¯ or the ¡®Trace¡¯ or the ¡®Energy of Despair¡¯, but it was a big problem for others.

    So I had to forcibly stop them from moving on right in front of the Myongjin Shelter.

    Of course, it was only 5 hours, not a lifetime.

    And given the time that passed before I met up with them, there was only about 4 hours left. Even so, I didn¡¯t like this kind of situation because it¡¯s me who reached out and led them to the Myongjin Shelter.

    Whatever the reason, I didn¡¯t want to leave invited guests standing outside.

    Of course, no one seemed to notice what I was thinking at the moment.

    They were just staring with admiration at the gigantic roots waving around the Myongjin Shelter.

    Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle.

    In the meantime, the roots have grown a lot. And if I had to choose one reason for their spectacr growth, it was none other than their absorption of the Denayan wood shards.

    Because of that, I saw a series of messages that said the roots had seeded in establishing a foothold to ovee their limitations and grow further, and that they had grown hugely. In fact, they grew in size as well as power tremendously.

    Actually ,I have done nothing to help them grow for the past one month.

    Be they those from the Rookie Districts or Major Districts, those who approached the Myongjin Shelter could not withstand the attack of the roots that had be much stronger than before.

    Anyway, the white roots and other root bundles came out and waved energetically right before the eyes of the Mirae Guild members. Of course, that wasn¡¯t strange to me at all. In fact, even before they absorbed Denayan¡¯s wood shards, the roots had appeared after prating the ¡®Land of Despair.¡¯ But as if they didn¡¯t like it, the roots dug into the ground again and appeared in the bare ground without the Land of Despair.

    But this time I heard quite a strange noise. It sounded like something was being torn apart.

    Obviously, I saw nothing with my eyes, but I heard the sound of something being torn apart so many times. In the meantime, a bundle of roots appeared in the Land of Despair and lifted up some of the Mirae Guild members. They then carried them over the wall of roots surrounding the Myongjin Shelter and safely carried them inside.

    At that moment, I heard the Mirae Guild members talking to each other.

    ¡°I heard a message that our traces disappeared!¡±

    ¡°Me too!¡±

    ¡°I also just heard that message. And I also heard the message that we could get out of the Land of Despair!¡±

    Their conversation gave me an idea of what the situation was.

    In other words, the roots got rid of the traces of the Mirae Guild members and carried them out of the Land of Despair.

    After that, I kept hearing the sound of something being torn apart endlessly, and each time,the Mirae Guild members were taken inside the Myongjin Shelter by the bundle of roots.

    Since 50,000 members was not a small number, I contacted the Myongjin leadership. Soon my father, mother and Director Sok came out to watch the roots transporting them into the Myongjin Shelter.

    ¡°Thanks foring here.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Chairman Hong.¡±

    My father became the chairman of the Myongjin Group at a rtively young age due to my grandfather¡¯s early death. Compared to him, Mirae Group;s Chairman Yon was quite old. Nheless, Chairman Yon bowed his head to my father to express his gratitude.

    After that, the roots continued to move the Mirae Guild members into the Myongjin Shelter for about 10 minutes. When all 50,000 people were moved inside, we traveled to the center of the Myongjin Shelter.

    And Bora Yon traveled alongside my mother and sister.

    ***

    The next day, our usual breakfast was different because we were joined by Chairman Yon and his daughter Bora, in addition to the regrs: I, my father, my mother, my brother and his wife, and my sister. And the atmosphere of our breakfast session was quite bright.

    Of course, there was a reason why it was like this.

    Last night, Chairman Yon spoke to the 50,000 members after they took a brief break.

    [This is the Myongjin Shelter, and we are definitely guests who owe our lives to them. So, don¡¯t act arrogantly and recklessly. Just remember that Chairman Sangman Hong and Juyoung Hong¡¯s words, orders and leadership are as effective as mine. And even if what they say or order is different to me, just follow them. Got it?]

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡±

    Since there was no single ce big enough for 50,000 in the first, second, and third main bases of the shelter, they had to be organized and ced in the outer buildings. And those who were already housed in the shelter could watch over them.

    But Chairman Yon gave up his authority, which had big implications on the Mirae Guild members.

 Chapter 462 - Battle (6)

    <h4>Chapter 462: Battle (6)</h4>

    Even though I didn¡¯t intend it, thergest force in the shelter except for the Myongjin Guild was the Mirae Guild, but they voluntarily gave up their leadership to the Myongjin Guild. Because of that, the Tugal Guild as well as the Antgos Information Guild did the same thing. In other words, they agreed to follow Myongjin¡¯s leadership.

    Of course, not all of them readily epted Chairman Yon¡¯s decision.

    The majority of the Mirae Guild members didn¡¯t frown at it, but some of them showed tears at Chairman Yon¡¯s words.

    But I didn¡¯t want to bother about it because it was inevitable they would feel bitter.

    Anyway, the addition of the Mirae Guild members to the Myongjin Shelter paid off nicely.

    In other words, those who joined the shelter were thankful for their eptance by the Myongjin Shelter, and renewed their determination to survive.

    They obviously went through lots of hardships and sufferings outside the Myongjin Shelter. So when they were finally epted into the shelter, they came to realize acutely howfortable and safe the shelter was, so they could agree in unison that they should join hands together to defend the shelter, the only safe ce on Earth.

    A littleter, I scouted the surroundings of the Myongjin Shelter using Fly.

    Of course, many people became busy taking care of the 50,000 people because they had all raised their reality actualization rate, which meant they could be used as a potential fighting force against the enemy in the future.

    I saw my elder brother and Director Sok meeting and talking with the executive officers of the Mirae Guild, including Bora Yon and Director Sungyop Yu.

    And some of the Mirae Guild members were moved to the ce that my brother and Director Sok pointed at.

    At that moment, my eyes met with Bora¡¯s.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I gently nodded at her, whoseplexion was better than yesterday, then turned my nce.

    In fact, I could not start suddenly smiling at her when I barely did so before.

    I knew the Mirae Guild rejected my initial offer to ept them, which resulted in the loss of numerous lives of their members, and Bora was ming herself for it.

    At that moment, I felt some people with tremendous power moving in the south. There were four out there. Of course, I could guess who they were because there weren¡¯t many who had that energy in this area. No, there were no such people here, except for those residents in the Royal Districts in Kuhana.

    But I felt a bit strange about why there were only four.

    I had only killed five Royal District Rulers so far .

    The first one I killed was the ck liquid man, the ruler of the 4th Royal District , who was regarded as the one of the strongest among the rulers in Argentina.

    Then I moved to Kuhana as part of the Advance Part event, and got rid of Fashant, the incarnation of the Spirit King, who was the ruler of the 7th Royal District.

    After that, I killed the dealer and tankbination of the Giant Bow, the ruler of the 5th Royal District, and the Ancient Golem, the ruler of the 10th Royal District, after they had attempted to trap me.

    And finally, after the 30-day cooldown to return to Earth expired, I waited for several days to attack the ruler of the 6th Royal District.

    As a result, there were only 5 rulers left. In other words, they were the rulers of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 8th and 9th Royal Districts.

    But I could only confirm four rulers here. Of course, I didn¡¯t think hard about it too long because the enemy¡¯s sloppiness was something I weed the most.

    Actually, what I was most worried about was a five-on-one battle.

    So I sent a message to Director Sok after renewing my determination.

    [A powerful enemy ising. So, get ready, everyone!]

    [Got it. ]

    Since Director Sok knew well about the ¡®enemy¡¯ I mentioned, I finished talking to him right away, then turned to the south because I had no intention of having a battle inside the Myongjin Shelter.

    In the ce not far from Myeongjin Shelter a littleter.

    As expected, four people showed up. As if they also knew that I was waiting for them, they stopped walking in front of me casually without being startled at all.

    So I spoke first.

    ¡°You must be from the 2nd Royal District, and you must be from the 3rd one, right? And you guys are from the 8th and 9th Royal Districts.¡±

    The ¡®Advance Party¡¯ event gave me a huge reward for killing the rulers of the Royal Districts. So I did my research back then because the reward was too big for me to give up. That¡¯s why I could identify the figures in front of me and which Royal Districts they were in charge of. In other words, the guy who didn¡¯t show up here was the ruler of the 1st Royal District who was allegedly in a different league from these guys even within the Royal Districts.

    And I was very much satisfied with that fact because they were foolish enough to let their guards down by excluding the ruler of the 1st Royal District.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t have to show my satisfaction because I could do it even after I seized the chance to beat them decisively or kill at least two of them.

    They responded right away.

    [Huh¡­you¡¯ve totally changed!]

    [Obviously, you were strong, but not as strong as this. ]

    [Even though I knew the Land of Despair was ineffective against you¡­]

    [What the hell has happened to you?]

    Certainly, Kuhana had given me a lot. So much so that my power before and after my event trip to Kuhana waspletely different.

    Obviously, the +15 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword in my right hand was helped a lot by the ¡®Ancient Cooldown Removal Charms¡¯ and the ¡®100% Enhancement Sess Right¡¯, but I could onlyplete enhancing it because the nearly one-year cooldown was removed after I returned from Kuhana.

    And the enemy clearly noticed it. But it was toote.

    So, I opened my mouth quietly, so they would not notice it.

    ¡°Use my limited skill, Savant!¡±

    [Currently, among the strength, agility, stamina, willpower, and intellect Lumen, Asirante owns, the most outstanding stat is intellect.

    -Current intellect value: 164,751

    -Intellect value will be changed to 329,502 for 30 minutes.

    -A 10-day cooldown is required when your limited skill, Savant, expires.]

    Currently, the ruler of the 1st Royal District, who was regarded as the strongest in Kuhana, was not present. So this was a golden opportunity for me.

    That¡¯s why I decided to use my limited skill freely.

    And my first target was the ruler of the 9th Royal District.

    If you have a lot of enemies, the best way to fight against them is to kill the weakest ones first.

    If I could kill at least two of them before Savant expired, I would win the fight.

    ¡°Ice Wave!¡±

    Bang!

    While using Ice Wave, I really wanted to use Ice Field as well because making the battlefield and ice terrain would really make a huge difference for me. So I thought about it.

    But If I used Ice Field after using Savant secretly, it would send a clear signal to the enemy that I would attack them, so I used fiveyers of Ice Wave first.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Passasassak.

 Chapter 463 - Battle (7)

    <h4>Chapter 463: Battle (7)</h4>

    After creating an ice terrain, I kept attacking them with other skills.

    ¡°Blizzard! Ice Tornado!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Wheeeeeeeng-

    I didn¡¯t direct Blizzard and Ice Tornado directly at the ruler of the 9th Royal District because my striking range was sorge it would hit him anyway.

    Instead, I deliberately targeted him with other skills.

    ¡°Ice Punishment! Frost Spear!¡±

    Bang!

    Anyway, I took out my strongest, or most fatal weapon to attack him.

    But I couldn¡¯t help but frown a little. Was it because my attack missed the target?

    Of course not. My weapons urately hit the target as I intended.

    Even though I couldn¡¯t deny that I was rtively poor at controlling my skills, I was not stupid enough to get confused about who the enemy was .

    But the enemy didn¡¯t avoid or block my attacks, no matter how intense they were.

    Besides, I used my level 10 attack ovepped five times before using Savant. Iunched such attacks against them very fast.

    I could understand their response if they were my typical enemies.

    But they were none other than the rulers of the Royal Districts, notorious for their strength. So I could not help but wonder why they didn¡¯t counterattack me.

    At that moment, however, I overheard them talking to themselves, which satisfied my curiosity.

    [It won¡¯t take long, but I didn¡¯t manage to block his powerful attack against me. I couldn¡¯t believe the first of his several attacks. How could he show such a powerful attack? Anyway, I think I will have to return itter by all means. ]

    Even if I seeded inunching my most powerful attacks against them, I didn¡¯t think I would be able to kill the ruler of the 9th Royal District, the one who I initially targeted, in a single strike, since he was strong enough to be called the ruler of the 9th Royal District.

    Moreover, these guys including the 9th District ruler were also from Kuhana. In other words, they were the beneficiaries of the huge debuff from the Land of Despair which reduced their opponent¡¯sbat power by almost 90% or more.

    The stronger their opponents were, the more impactful the debuffs were, just like me when I showed off an extraordinary strength due to the increase in all ice-type skill damage by 7.5% as well as the increase in my intellect and willpower thanks to my ¡®reinforced monster imprint.¡¯

    Faced with my repeated attacks, they were not supposed to look calm like that. Rather they should have been stunned, and immediately started counter attacking me, not to mention expressing deep regrets that they came over here without the ruler of the 1st Royal District.

    Although they were armed with the tremendous buff called the ¡®Land of Despair,¡¯ I possessed not only Savant, but also the +15 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword, and other tremendous abilities including the five skill oveps.

    In particr, ¡®Land of Despair¡¯ did not harm me at all unlike others.

    At that moment, the ruler of the 2nd Royal District, who attacked with lightning, opened his mouth.

    [You saw it, right? I told you already that we¡¯re not strong enough to beat him.]

    [I never expected he would be so strong like this. What¡¯s more, I knew the Land of Despair we obtained after sacrificing our homebase Kuhana would have little impact on him, but I just can¡¯t believe that we still cannot beat him even though we are receiving such huge buffs from the Land of Despair .]

    I was a bit worried that they looked so calm and peaceful even though they were tanking through my most powerful attacks, but it seemed that they actually suffered some damage.

    Of course, I still didn¡¯t like the way they looked so rxed and calm.

    But I pulled myself together because my fight had just started.

    It was true that Iunched all the powerful attacks at once, but I still had lots of other powerful skills remaining.

    What¡¯s more, I possessed the +15 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    So my physical attack power was still much higher than my magic attack power, and I was already done testing it.

    I could defeat the monsters in the level 1800 hunting ground, Land of Ancient Spirits, and even Titans that had a higher defense power than any other monster, with one single strike. In other words, my physical attack power was tremendous.

    Andbined with Blink with zero cooldown, nobody could catch me.

    Anyway, the moment I shook off some anxiety and decided to attack them again, I heard them chatting with each other.

    [Alright. We have found the solution then. You guys agree to summon the ruler of the 1st Royal District here, right?]

    [I agree.]

    [Me too.]

    [I agree.]

    Of course, I thought that one day that guy would show up.

    From my point of view, however, it was still too early for him to stand before me.

    I originally nned to kill at least one more ruler before the ruler of the 1st Royal District joined them.

    So, when I moved next to the ruler of the 9th Royal District, my initial target, using Blink with zero cooldown, and got ready to attack him, there was another attack faster than mine.

    Attack against me? Not really.

    The attack was directed at the ruler of the 9th Royal District, against whom I had poured out all my lethal attacks. Ironically, it was the rulers of the 2nd, 3rd and 8th rulers of the Royal Districts who attacked him.

    Puck! Puck! Puck!

    They directed their attacks against the 9th District ruler at the same time.

    I could not help but be embarrassed, let alone being dumbfounded.

    Given their conversation right before I attacked them, they clearly agreed to summon the ruler of the 1st Royal District.

    At that moment, something rming happened before my eyes.

    Pusheeeeeeeeeeeeee.

    The body of the ruler of the 9th Royal District began to emit red energy like a burst balloon, or more precisely, a tube with a hole in it. At the same time, the red aura began to wrap around the bodies of the rulers of the 2nd, 3rd, and 8th Royal Districts who attacked him.

    Since I didn¡¯t know what that meant, I could not help but feel disgusted.

    So I immediately resumed attacking them.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasasak!

    For my sudden attack, I firstid out an ice terrain to power up my next attacks.

    Then I shouted, ¡°Ice Prison! Ice Storm!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    I used Ice Prison and Ice Storm at the same time.

    I didn¡¯t use Ice Prison in order to detain them.

    Actually I had no intention of doing so from the beginning.

    Given that I could not upgrade level 5 Ice Prison to level 7 because of insufficient skill points, it was really unreasonable for me to expect to detain them with Ice Prison.

    Instead, I used other powerful skills.

    ¡°Ice st! Pouring Hail!¡±

    Bang!

    Pitter-patter, pitter-patter!

    I destroyed the Ice Prison right away. My linkage attack with Ice Prison and Ice st boasted of a tremendous power. After that, I continued to attack them without any break.

    I did not have a shortage of mana, and I maintained my skill cooldowns in my own way, so I didn¡¯t have to wait a while without doing anything until the cooldown was back like other ice-type wizards. Even in the case all my skills were on cooldown, I couldunch a melee physical attack using Blink with zero cooldown.

 Chapter 464 - Battle (8)

    <h4>Chapter 464: Battle (8)</h4>

    Despite my fierce attacks, I could not suppress the ruler of the 9th Royal District that was still radiating red energy, as well as the rulers of the 2nd, 3rd, and 8th Royal Districts who were absorbing the red energy emanating from the 9th Royal District ruler.

    And when the red energypletely wrapped around their bodies, there was a huge explosion.

    Bang!

    As the red energy exploded with a roaring sound, one person appeared in the space where the four guys existed a little while ago.

    And finally, I felt I might be able to identify who this ruler of the 1st Royal District was. Obviously, I investigated the Royal District rulers thoroughly when I found out I could get huge rewards from killing them. But the one whose information was kept the most secretive even from the people in Kuhana was the ruler of the 1st Royal District. ording to the rumors, some said he had four arms, some said he had two heads, and some said he wasn¡¯t human.

    In other words, there were few who knew about the ruler of the 1st Royal District unlike the other rulers, so there was lots of spection about his identity.

    But the one who appeared had half his head and body made ofva which was emitting lightning, and his other half looked like an undead. It looked as if he was a mix of the ruler of the 2nd Royal District who dealt with lightning, the ruler of the 3rd Royal District who was called ava human, and the ruler of the 8th Royal District, an undead monster.

    As if to confirm my guesswork, he opened his mouth.

    [It¡¯s been a long time since they summoned the ruler of 1st Royal District.]

    When he said that, I asked, ¡°What happened to the ruler of the 9th Royal District?¡±

    No matter how hard I scanned him, I could not find any trace of the 9th District Ruler in this monster¡¯s body.

    [Ah, he was a sacrifice that they used to summon the ruler of the 1st Royal District. In other words, he was an offering they agreed on.]

    ¡°Man, you guys like sacrifices too much!¡±

    Whatever the reason, I hated the word ¡°sacrifice,¡± so I sneered at him sharply, while examining him very carefully.

    Even though it was not surefire, I could normally size up my opponent¡¯s power to some extent.

    But I could not figure out this guy at all.

    Of course, he would definitely be strong because he was a mix of the three powerful rulers. Given that the 9th district ruler was an offering, it seemed that the 9th District ruler had no value to add.

    So I wrapped up my assessment of him right away because I had no intention of wasting away the 30-minute time limit of my limited skill Savant which was currently in effect.

    Iunched attacks right away.

    ¡°Ice Rain! Ice Spear!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Bang!

    Of course, he counterattacked as well.

    [Thick Wall of Lightning!]

    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

    To be honest, I have not always been sessful in inflicting damage on my enemy. In some cases I failed, and my attacks didn¡¯t work at all. But there had never been a single time when my attack waspletely blocked by my enemy like now, which really startled me.

    While trying not to dwell on my failure, I was about to attack him again when he attacked me faster.

    [Rise! Lava Hell!]

    In fact, I had alreadyid out Ice Field reinforced with Multiple Thin Ice around him.

    Of course, the ice terrain was not smashed by his attack in an instant. But I could see sporadic cracks here and there appearing on the ice terrain.

    [Wow, you¡¯re pretty strong. Yeah, very strong.]

    He seemed to admire the resilience of my Ice Field that could withstand his Lava Hell, but I didn¡¯t like it because I could see the cracks on the ice terrain increasing and shattering as time went by.

    So I shouted, ¡°Ice Weapon.¡±

    [You have used level 3 Ice Weapon.

    : Cold Ice Energy has been embedded in the +15 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.

    : It has the effect of level 9 Ice Weapon by ovepping with the level 6 Ice Weapon built into the +15 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword.]

    As soon as I used Ice Weapon, I immediately used one skill.

    ¡°Blink!¡±

    Shuuuuuuuuuuuuuung!

    Puck! Puck!

    I moved behind him, and wielded the +15 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword. This time, he couldn¡¯t even defend against it.

    The +15 Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword had a powerful option avable. It was none other than frostbite, and a fatal one at that.

    Pasasasasasak!

    In an instant, sharp ice began to form on his body, starting from his back.

    But then something shocking happened.

    Soon the ice began to melt.

    At the same time, the guy shouted.

    [Lol. I will admit your skill. How dare you do that? I can imitate it because I am strong enough to throw out lightning. But I really admire your skill like this. Just amazing!]

    Of course, I already stepped back before I could overhear what he was talking about.

    But I had to move again. This time I had no other choice but to float into the air using Fly because the ice terrain was shattered after resisting for a scant moment.

    In an instant, the space where the ice terrain existed was filled with redva.

    [Soar up, Lava Dragon! Echo, Death Cry!]

    A dragon made ofva appeared in theva hell that spread widely in an instant.

    Then the dragon immediately opened its mouth wide towards me and breathed outva.

    I shouted, ¡°Ice Shield!¡±

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    I chose to deal with theva attack by blocking it with Ice Shield, for one of the surest ways to check out the enemy¡¯s capability was to experience their attack directly.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t want to simply endure his attacks stupidly, and that¡¯s why I used Ice Shield first.

    In any case, my Ice Shield blocked theva dragon¡¯s attacks several times, which seemed quite powerful.

    In the end, my Ice Shield was smashed by theva dragon¡¯s attack, which then continued on and hit me.

    Puck!

    ¡°Blink!¡±

    I finished sizing up the power of theva dragon¡¯s attack with Ice Shield, such as how much damage I would suffer if I was exposed to its attack, or how much my Ice Shield could block it. Since it was more than enough for me to allow for his single attack, I moved to his back using Blink.

    ¡®Well, it¡¯s not that threatening.¡¯

    At first, I was a little nervous because I could not size up his level, but when I was done examining his power, I could rx a bit.

    To be honest, I knew well how powerful I was. So much so that people often thought my skill was a scam.

    Anyway I could not afford to dy because I was currently using my limited skill, Savant. So I immediately opened my mouth.

    ¡°Ice Rain! Ice Wave!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    I kept attacking him like that. Of course, he didn¡¯t stop counterattacking.

    The fierce battle between us continued, shaking the ground.

    I was fully aware of my role and duty, given that the fate of the Myongjin Shelter rested on me. And my defeat here would lead to the defeat of not only the Myongjin, Mirae and Tugal Guilds, but also the Antgos Information Guild. It was no exaggeration to say that my defeat would be regarded as the defeat of everybody on Earth.

    Of course, this assessment was not based on arrogance or self-pride. Without me, they would not be able to block the rulers of the Major, Regr, and Rookie districts, let alone the rulers of the Royal Districts.

 Chapter 465 - Battle (9)

    <h4>Chapter 465: Battle (9)</h4>

    In the Myongjin Shelter at that time.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Watching the fierce battle that shook the earth and the sky in a ce not far away, no one in the Myongjin Shelter could do anything but simply breathe.

    There were no words possible to describe the fierce battle between Juyoung Hong and the ruler of the 1st Royal District.

    But those watching the battle realized that their fate would depend on the results of this battle.

    In other words, Juyoung Hong¡¯s defeat would be regarded as the defeat for the whole earth, while his victory would be the victory for the whole earth.

    That¡¯s why some of them were so nervous and tense that they bit their nails, while others were standing, trembling wildly.

    Obviously, the fight looked very even right now, so it was too early to say Juyoung or his opponent was clearly winning.

    But their arguing over it was controversial, given that Juyoung had emerged as the winner all the time in the past. Not only did he ovee any traps, but also hundreds, or hundreds of thousands of enemies together could not beat him. He was also brave enough to prate into numerous enemies without any fear, and defeated them all without any exception.

    Because of that, the one-on-one match between Juyoung Hong and his strong opponent made them feel nervous and even worried a bit about the possible oues of the fight, for this was the first time that Juyoung was struggling to defeat his opponent so much.

    Anyway, most of those, or more precisely, all those living in the Myongjin Shelter kept their fingers crossed that Juyoung could beat his enemy, even though they could not get out of the shelter to help him out because of so many restrictions such as the Land of Despair and the Energy of Despair. That was all they could do for him now.

    ***

    At the ce not far from the Myongjin Shelter.

    ¡°Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasasasak!

    Iid out Ice Field and Multiple Thin Ice on the ce where the Lava Hell had spread.

    Obviously, I used those skills for a good reason.

    I clearly saw theva dragons that appeared above theva hell.

    I was really bothered by them because each of my attacks didn¡¯t inflict any big damage on them. Besides, they kept breathing out mes of fire at me.

    So, I used Ice Field ovepped by Multiple Thin Ice.

    Then, theva dragons that appeared above theva hell began to get frozen, cracked, then copsed.

    Even though I was pushed back by Lava Hell, it was also weakened while destroying my Ice Field backed by Multiple Thin Ice.

    This time my Ice Field got the upper hand bypletely freezing his Lava Hell.

    Watching it, I shouted, ¡°Blink!¡±

    I immediately moved to the ice terrain.

    It didn¡¯t matter from where I attacked other opponents, but I had to use everything avable to me to deal with my enemy standing before my eyes right now, including the slight increase in damage when I was on ice terrain.

    ¡°Ice Tornado! Frost Spear!¡±

    I started off with the powerful skill attacks whose cooldown had just returned.

    Wheeeeng!

    Bang!

    My attacks hit the target exactly.

    But I couldn¡¯t afford to be satisfied with it because my enemy would not sit idle.

    [Pour, Lightning Storm!]

    Bang! Bang!

    [Death Shower!]

    Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

    The enemy¡¯s attacks not only did a lot of damage, but had a wide striking rangepared to mine. Of course, I was confident of avoiding his attacks.

    Unless he couldunch an attack that could target the whole earth, there were inevitably clear limits to his attack as long as I was armed with Blink with zero cooldown.

    In fact, I was more happy about using Blink in this manner than when I first obtained Blink with zero cooldown.

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    But I didn¡¯t avoid his attacks because I had already avoided his attacks using Blink with zero cooldown several times.

    But every time he attacked me, I found him looking at some ce, namely, the Myongjin Shelter not far from here.

    Of course, I was not foolish enough to make him think I was now defending the shelter.

    For that would show my weakness.

    Actually, I didn¡¯t prevent the undead army summoned by him from passing by me and moving to the Myongjin Shelter.

    No matter how numerous and powerful the undead army was, the roots surrounding Myongjin Shelter were powerful, and there were tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people right behind the roots who were not debuffed by the ¡®Land of Despair¡¯.

    But my enemy seemed to have run out of patience due to my continued avoidance.

    I also deliberately allowed his attack even when I could avoid it, so that I could continue to detain him here.

    Watching me, the guy opened his mouth.

    [Alright. That¡¯s the way you should do it. To be honest, if you were going to avoid my attack again, I was thinking of changing my priorities.]

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what the bullshit you are talking about. This is basically my fighting style. You must have heard a lot about it in Kuhana, right?¡±

    I was serious. It was my fighting style to fight it out with my enemy until one of us died. Even if I allowed the enemy¡¯s attacks from all directions, I suffered little damage, so I didn¡¯t have to go on the rampage to deal with them.

    But the problem was that the guy in front of me right now was the most powerful of all those I had confronted until now. So much so that I could not find any appropriate word to describe his supreme power.

    Because of that, I noticed my health decreasing remarkably while fighting against him.

    I was in more trouble now.

    [You have got only 11 minutes and 35 seconds left until your limited skill ¡®Savant¡¯ expires.]

    In other words, I would be greatly weakened after about 11 minutes.

    So I changed my mind because it was me, not him, who had to keep going on the offensive without thinking about defending myself first. Besides, I didn¡¯t have to avoid him when he was willing to y into my hands.

    So I immediately resumed attacking.

    ¡°Pouring Hail! Ice Spear!¡±

    Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

    Bang!

    [Thunderbolt! Take him down! Lava Giant, strike him!]

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Bang!

    I did not dodge his attacks while endlessly attacking him.

    He also kept attacking me for a while.

    A littleter a message rang.

    [Your limited skill ¡®Savant¡¯ has expired. ]

    This was the first time that I realized 11 minutes was so short.

    While I kept thinking I had more time before Savant expired, the message rang all of a sudden.

    As if nothing had happened, however, I continued to attack him because I was not in a position to tell him to resume fighting ten dayster because my limited skill had expired.

    To be honest, I didn¡¯t even know if I could defeat him during the 30 minutes while my Savant was effective.

    At that moment, the guy who allowed my attack abruptly stopped counterattacking, then opened his mouth, tilting his head slightly.

    [What the heck? Howe you have be so weak all of a sudden?]

    ¡°Ice Storm! Multiple Ice Arrows!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    It¡¯s no wonder I became pretty weak because my intellect, which had reached as high as 330,000, had now decreased by half.

    [Alright, I have figured it out! You must have had a hidden card, right? But it expired a little while ago. Lol.]

 Chapter 466 - Battle (10)

    <h4>Chapter 466: Battle (10)</h4>

    My enemy sneered at me openly.

    But I didn¡¯t respond because it was true that I was now weaker than before.

    To be honest, I didn¡¯t need to pretend that I wasn¡¯t.

    Even though my attack power was hit drastically, my stamina was more than 100,000, and my willpower was about 70,000.

    In other words, my stamina was the same as before, so I poured out attacks while defending against his attacks to the best I could.

    At the same time I shouted, ¡°Blink!¡±

    Puck! Puck!

    The 15+ Enhancement Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword was very powerful on its own, but it was also armed with Ice Weapon that was as high as level 9.

    Besides, my strength and agility were over 40,000.

    When I upgraded the Ice Emperor¡¯s guardian sword from +8 enhancement to +9, I saw a huge increase in my skills, and my strength and agility stood out among them.

    So even though he seemed to feel proud that he turned the battle in his favor, I continued to attack him with all my AOE and melee skills.

    About 40 minutes passed.

    ¡°Phew! Phew!¡±

    Taking a deep breath, I pulled an item from my inventory and touched it on my chest.

    At that moment, a message rang.

    [You have met the conditions for using Constetion Badge Hunter¡¯s Badge.

    -Would you like to equip the Constetion Hunter¡¯s Badge?]

    I once received the Constetion Hunter¡¯s Badge received from Rashmaka, the leader of the Siddarth Guild in India, to fight against China. I could use the item three times. The first time I used it was against China as an ally of the Siddarth Guild, and I used it to fight parasites for the second time. And I wanted to use it for the Indian Siddhart Guild the third time, but my survival was at stake right now.

    So I used it right away because my mana was currently drainedpared to its usual overflowing state.

    But something unexpected happened.

    [The transformation into the Constetion Hunter does not satisfy your current level.

    -You can¡¯t transform into the Constetion Hunter.

    -Your agility increases by 1000.

    -Your agility increases by an additional 3000 because you have not obtained the benefits of equipping the Constetion Hunter¡¯s badge.]

    *Your Constetion Hunter¡¯s Badge item has been destroyed.]

    Originally, I received a 1,000 agility increase from receiving the badge, so including the 3,000 just now, it went up by 4,00

    And given that I received 1,000 agility from each of my previous uses, my agility increased a total of 6000.

    But I wasn¡¯t happy about it at all because that was not important now.

    The ruler of the 1st Royal District opened his mouth.

    [What¡¯s up with that look?]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Obviously, I was in the middle of fighting him.

    So I tried to control my expressions, but it seems I failed.

    I didn¡¯t respond to his question, of course.

    I knew that I should keep a poker face the whole fight even until the moment I copsed, but my health was dangerously low at the moment.

    I cast a nce at the Myongjin Shelter behind me.

    The shelter looked gorgeous and majestic because of the roots encasing it.

    But it was absolutely impossible for the roots to block the guy in front of me.

    [Wow, it looks like you have some mixed feelings about the shelter. Well, I felt the same because my lifelong hometown Kuhana was ruined and destroyed.]

    ¡°Stop that bullshit!¡±

    [Hahaha! Yeah, you want to dismiss it as bullshit. Great. Juyoung Hong, let me have you feel something special. You are going to see that thing behind you get destroyed and crumble. Of course, you don¡¯t have to look at it nkly. Soar! Lava Eruption!]

    Bang!

    Even though I used my hidden card in vain, I could not sit idle without doing anything. So I resumed fighting again.

    Shortly afterward, I heard another message ringing.

    [You currently have ¡®Safeguard No.3 To Cope with Crisis.

    ¨C Yourbat power increases when your health decreases.

    It increases by 1% for every 10% drop in your health.

    -When your maximum health drops below 10%, you won¡¯t suffer any damage just once from any attack.

    : 30-day cooldown.]

    [You don¡¯t suffer any damage.

    -¡®Safeguard No.3 To Cope with Crisis has been inactivated for 30 days.]

    It was a warning message that my health had dropped below 10%.

    At the same time, I felt my heart pounding hard because this was the first time I was seriously driven into a corner while confronting my enemy.

    Besides, there was nobody I could turn to for assistance.

    In other words, if I lost to him, it was the end.

    If I retreated from here, it would mean abandoning Myongjin Shelter, which would mean I would have to give up protecting not only my family but also all those that I epted into the shelter. To be honest, if I had even a glimmer of hope for beating himter, I would rather choose to retreat first. But I saw no such hope.

    [Hum¡­you want to run away from me? Of course, you can. Honestly, I can¡¯t catch you if you run away. But those behind you will die slowly in pain. Of course, they will resent me, not you, at first. But will they keep ming me? No way. After all, they will hate and resent you. I¡¯m going to make them feel that way.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Of course, I didn¡¯t respond.

    I just felt frustrated that I was weak now. I was so upset that I was not strong enough to beat this guy.

    At that moment, I heard a sound behind me.

    ***

    In the Myongjin Shelter.

    Obviously, not everyone in the shelter was good at evaluatingbat. But they were good enough to know which side was winning in a fight.

    As with everything else, they were able to sense the atmosphere of the battle.

    So those in the shelter began to express their opinions about my fight with the ruler of the 1st Royal District.

    ¡°Gosh, Juyoung is on the defensive right now, isn¡¯t he?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, his opponent seems so rxed.¡±

    ¡°You bet. He seems to have the upper hand.¡±

    ¡°I saw that guyughing at Juyoung! And Juyoung didn¡¯t respond at all.¡±

    Juyoung Hong relentlessly attacked his opponent.

    But his opponent allowed his attacks casually.

    Judging from those scenes, it seemed that Juyoung had the upper hand, but no one watching thought that way. They rather felt Juyoung was now desperately struggling to beat back his opponent. In other words, they knew he had no choice but to resist with all his might, even though his resistance was futile.

    What¡¯s more, his opponent not only blocked Juyong Hong¡¯s counterattack, but also

    opened his arms, as if to allow Juyoung Hong to attack him from front on.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    There was a heavy silence in the shelter.

    And that silence weighed heavily on them as time passed.

    When 30 minutes, 40 minutes, and 50 minutes passed, it was now clear who was winning. And the problem was that the one who had the upper hand was the enemy, not Juyoung Hong.

    So they recalled just one thing.

    [Juyoung Hong¡¯s defeat.]

    His defeat would lead to his death, of course.

    Anyway, everyone in the Myongjin Shelter stared at their battle nkly without hiding their stunned expressions.

 Chapter 467 - Battle (11)

    <h4>Chapter 467: Battle (11)</h4>

    In the Myongjin Shelter Control Room around that time.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The atmosphere in the situation room was very serious.

    Obviously, the people in the control room were rtively better than others in terms of their fighting experience, judgement and insight.

    At that moment, Chairman Sangman Hong said gently, ¡°Let¡¯s get ready¡­¡±

    Many people there had no idea what he was talking about.

    But not only his elder son Kiyoung and daughter Suyoung, but also Director Sok and the other top executives, as well as the leaders of the Mirae and Tugal Guilds and the Antgos Information guild knew what he meant because there was only one choice left for them.

    They knew that they should get ready to charge at the enemy even though they would inevitably be killed or defeated.

    When he issued such an order, Kiyoung answered without any hesitation.

    ¡°Sure, we¡¯ll be ready to fight in 10 minutes.¡±

    Of course, it was not Kiyoung alone who answered. Even though they knew too well the consequences of his order, Suyoung, Director Sok, Chief Secretary Dongyoung Ahn, and Chief Security Officer Jungdae Lim responded to his order right away.

    So the people in the situation room became busy all of a sudden. And the Mirae, Tutal and Antgos Information Guild could not help but feel as tense and nervous as them.

    Obviously, the owner of this shelter was Myongjin, while they were guests. Nheless, the Myongjin people were now preparing to fight at the risk of their lives.

    At that moment, Chairman Yon of the Mirae Guild stepped forward and said to Director Sok, ¡°Is this microphone connected to all the other shelters here?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°Then let me use it for a moment.¡±

    When he said that, Director Sok nced quickly at Chairman Hong. Then he adjusted the microphone and handed it to Chairman Yon.

    Chairman Yon took the microphone and tapped it for a moment.

    Tap, tap.

    After confirming the microphone worked fine, he opened his mouth right away.

    ¡°I am making an announcement to all the members of the Mirae guild. We¡¯re going to attack the enemy with Myongjin. Of course, such a decision has drastic consequences, so I don¡¯t want to mention it. But we should join them. This is not a matter for just us, but the whole human race.¡±

    Then he cleared his throat for a moment, and continued.

    ¡°Anyway, Juyoung Hong¡¯s defeat is not only a defeat for us, but also for the entire human race. But we have a ray of hope if he survives. So I¡¯m going to invest in that faint hope because that is my victory, and the victory of our mankind. So get ready to fight, Mirae members! We¡¯re going to follow the Myongjin people in exactly 10 minutes, and I¡¯m going to stand at the forefront of you guys!¡±

    After he finished talking, he put down the microphone.

    And it was no wonder that a heavy silence had fallen in the conference room.

    Then Chairman Hong broke the silence and opened his mouth.

    ¡°Thank you, Chairman Yon.¡±

    Chairman Hong was serious because even though he issued the attack order, he could not speak the same words on the microphone as Chairman Yon because the people listening would most likely take his words as a desperate attempt to save his son Juyoung.

    But it turned out that it was the best choice for the Mirae, the second strongest guild after Myongjin in the shelter, to save Juyoung Hong in order to save the human race, although Chairman Hong never considered it. In other words, saving Juyoung was not his private matter, but a grave task for the entire human race.

    That¡¯s why Chairman Hong expressed his sincere gratitude to Chairman Yon.

    Returning his gratitude, Chairman Yon gently shook his head and said, ¡°Only Juyoung has not been affected by the Land of Despair or the Energy of Despair. So I just invested in the possibility that Juyoung could defeat the enemy for the victory of the human race. I just wish he can survive this battle. I¡¯m keeping my fingers crossed that he can hold out and fight well.¡±

    ¡°He will hold out well¡­¡±

    In any case, Chairman Yon of the Mirae Guild, the secondrgest guild here after the Myongjin Guild, dered that Mirae members would join the fight.

    In such a situation, the remaining guilds could not stay aloof because Juyoung¡¯s defeat would really mean the defeat for the whole human race.

    ¡°The Tugal Guild will also fight with you!¡±

    ¡°The Antgos Information Guild will join the fight too!¡±

    Anyway, so many guild members began to gather in the wide open space in front of the first Main Base of the Myongjin Shelter. Of course, they knew what kind of consequences they would face once they participated in the battle.

    The moment they crossed the root wall, theirbat power would drop to less than 10% because of a huge debuff called the Land of Despair. With theirbat power undermined drastically, they would have to confront the enemy who even Juyoung Hong was struggling to beat.

    In other words, it was like hitting a rock with an egg or soft tofu.

    But nobodyined about it because they knew too well that they would have to save Juyoung Hong by all means in order to achieve the victory of the entire human race as Chairman Yon said.

    In the vacant lot in front of the First Main Base of the Myongjin Shelter a littleter.

    ¡°Let me stand at the very front. Nobody should take my ce. This is myst order!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Chairman Hong did not give any other order than that.

    Did he mention any strategy or tactic to deal with the enemy?

    Of course, he didn¡¯t because it would not work at all for this enemy.

    So he dered that he would first enter the deadly ce instead of dragging all of them with him. Since they knew what his point was, they just responded quietly, tight-lipped.

    This was not a situation where they would wee his statement by shouting for joy.

    After that, about 120,000 people, who had all raised their reality actualization rate continued to move forward after crossing the root wall, led by Chairman Hong at the very front.

    ***

    In the ce where I was in a fierce battle with the ruler of the 1st Royal District.

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    ¡°¡­¡±

    My health dropped below 10% a long time ago.

    I should have avoided him and run away in this situation.

    Of course, I could do it, using Blink if I wanted to.

    But if I did so, the Myongjin Shelter behind me would inevitably copse.

    In that case, not only my father, mother, brother and sister, but also Director Sok and Chief Security Officer Jungdae Lim would be killed.

    In addition to them, the members of the Mirae and Tugal Guilds as well as the Antgos Information Guild that I epted into the Myongjin Shelter would face the same tragic fate.

    In other words, I was caught between a rock and a hard ce here.

    Of course, a lot of thoughts came to mind.

    If I sat idle here without doing anything, not only I but also all those behind me would be killed. That was the worst of the worst scenario.

    In such a situation, I even toyed with the idea that it would be better for me alone to run away first, for I could take revenge on himter after I survived.

    But I knew my escape was an expression of my fear disguised as rational judgment.

    [Hehehe! It looks like you have a lot of thoughts in your mind. I see lots ofplicated feelings on your face. Lol.]

    Even when he sneered at me openly, I could not respond exceptunch the usual attack that would inflict little damage on him.

    At that moment, however, I heard the sound of heavy footsteps behind me.

    Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

 Chapter 468 - Battle (12)

    <h4>Chapter 468: Battle (12)</h4>

    It was a pretty loud sound that came from right behind me.

    So I turned my head slightly to check it out, and the huge amount of people crossing the huge root wall drew my gaze. Moreover, my father was at the forefront of the huge crowd, with my brother and sister right behind him.

    ¡°Oh, no...¡±

    Since I knew what their actions meant, I could not help but moan in despair.

    What¡¯s more, not only my brother¡¯s wife, but also my mother were there, which depressed me even more.

    At that moment, a series of messages from my family rang into my ears.

    [Sangman Hong: Step back and get out of here!]

    [Kiyoung: Thanks for your hard work, Juyoung. Leave the rest of the work to me, your family and Myongjin.]

    [Super Beauty: Hehehe! It¡¯s my choice as well as everyone¡¯s choice. So don¡¯t cry over our decision. I don¡¯t want you to take revenge for uster, but just do it if you can.]

    [Two sons and one daughter: Son, you know mom loves you, right? So listen to me this time, please! Just get out of here as far as you can. You can do it, Juyoung.]

    And as soon as they sent the messages, they started shouting.

    ¡°Everyone, charge at the enemy!¡±

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    Watching them move right away, I also moved next to my father using Blink because I could not simply ept their order and request.

    But my father shouted, ¡°Juyoung, think rationally! You don¡¯t have to die here. You have to survive and look for the next opportunity! I would have discarded you if I had found a better option who could seize the next opportunity. But you are the one and only choice for us. We¡¯re all finished if you copse here. So run away! Run away like hell! If you die here as well, I won¡¯t forgive you even if I die!¡±

    Without giving me a nce, he ran forward past me as he said that. So did my brother, sister, Director Sok and Security Captain Lim with smiles on their lips. They gave me some warm words as they charged.

    ¡°Juyoung, don¡¯t worry about us!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for burdening you because of this!¡±

    ¡°We won¡¯t hold the enemy for long. So run away from here!¡±

    No one who passed by meined about me. Instead, they said they were sorry.

    Even Bora spat out one word, brushing past me.

    [Kali: If I had known things would happen like this, I wish I had proposed to you first. Don¡¯t you remember when we were ying house as children, you said that you and I should get married when we grew up? You promised to propose to me nicely with a gorgeous jewel. Damn it. Because of you, I might die as a virgin, so you have to take responsibility for itter.]

    Of course, I had no intention of denying what she said.

    I once thought that I should survive even if I abandoned all of them.

    But I shouted back, ¡°No! This is not what I want!¡±

    ***

    In the Myongjin Shelter at that time.

    The shelter was emptier than before because more than 100,000 people exited it to participate in the battle. Besides, those who were left in the shelter were mostly ordinary people.

    At that moment, someone said, ¡°The reason Juyoung struggled like that may be because the roots are stuck here! Obviously, these roots are his great weapon. So we have to make sure we don¡¯t hold up these roots anymore!¡±

    His desperate voice resonated through the silent shelter widely.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Of course, nobody responded because they knew too well what would happen to them if the roots stopped shielding against the Land of Despair surrounding the shelter.

    In other words, they would face an instant death the moment the roots left.

    While going through numerous experiences, the ordinary people knew that they would die instantly the moment they set foot on the Land of Despair.

    In the end, that person¡¯s desperate call was tantamount to asking them to die voluntarily. And that¡¯s why they could not respond to his call easily.

    But somebody else said, ¡°What are you afraid of? Don¡¯t you think we have had a really good time under the protection of the Myongjin Shetler until now? Do you still want to live more like this? Don¡¯t you know billions of people were already dead?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! I¡¯ve alsoe here because my son belongs to Myongjin, and I have enjoyed afortable life here. So I don¡¯t want to be a burden to Myongjin anymore.¡±

    At that moment, they seemed to be moved by this man¡¯s seriousness.

    Another man shouted, ¡°In the end, if Juyoung dies, we die too! Are you going to make it so that he dies first, then we die right after? Didn¡¯t you see hundreds of thousands crossing the root wall and charging at the enemy? Damn it! I don¡¯t know how many of you want to live in a hellish world like this, but I don¡¯t want it!¡±

    Tramp- Tramp-

    At the same time, that man stepped forward.

    Then others¡¯ heavy steps followed.

    Tramp- Tramp- Tramp- Tramp-

    Their footsteps kept adding until they became tens of thousands.

    Then they crossed the wall of roots that had been protecting them from the Land of Despair until now.

    But the moment they crossed the root wall and set foot on the Land of Despair, they copsed one by one, making them recall the old Korean legend that 3,000 courtdies of the old Korean kingdom Paekje threw themselves into the river when their kingdom lost to the enemy.

    ***

    I could not bring myself to cast my nce to the ce where not only my family and Myongjin yers but also those from the Mirae, Tugal and Antgos Information Guilds were charging at the ruler of the 1st Royal District.

    At the same time, I saw numerous ordinary people crossing the root wall into the Land of Despair, but they kept copsing one by one.

    Flop!

    Flop!

    Flop!

    Obviously, the ordinary people knew that the Land of Despair had already killed billions of people around the world. Nheless, numerous people from the Myongjin Shelter continued to set foot on the Land of Despair.

    While I was watching them, I could not stop the tears overflowing from my eyes because I knew why they decided to charge at the enemy after crossing the root wall, knowing fully well that they would die. For I knew they didn¡¯t want to make me feel I was a runaway or coward, or to feel guilty about having caused the death of hundreds of thousands of ordinary people by summoning the roots away from the Shelter first.

    So my tears kept flowing from my eyes. Besides, it was toote for me to save them.

    I should have taken action much earlier.

    For example, if I chose to die with them, I should have taken the decision early on.

    Even though I was fighting against the ruler of the 1st Royal District behind me, I knew that my father who stood at the forefront, my brother and sister were no longer alive. Since they could not confront the ruler of the 1st Royal District even at full strength, it was impossible for them to do so now when they could not exert even 10% of their normal power.

    ¡°Stop him!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t let him approach Juyoung!¡±

    ¡°We have to save Juyoung! He¡¯s ourst ray of hope!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

 Chapter 469 - Battle (13)

    <h4>Chapter 469: Battle (13)</h4>

    It was a pretty loud sound that came from right behind me.

    So I turned my head slightly to check it out, and the huge amount of people crossing the huge root wall drew my gaze. Moreover, my father was at the forefront of the huge crowd, with my brother and sister right behind him.

    ¡°Oh, no...¡±

    Since I knew what their actions meant, I could not help but moan in despair.

    What¡¯s more, not only my brother¡¯s wife, but also my mother were there, which depressed me even more.

    At that moment, a series of messages from my family rang into my ears.

    [Sangman Hong: Step back and get out of here!]

    [Kiyoung: Thanks for your hard work, Juyoung. Leave the rest of the work to me, your family and Myongjin.]

    [Super Beauty: Hehehe! It¡¯s my choice as well as everyone¡¯s choice. So don¡¯t cry over our decision. I don¡¯t want you to take revenge for uster, but just do it if you can.]

    [Two sons and one daughter: Son, you know mom loves you, right? So listen to me this time, please! Just get out of here as far as you can. You can do it, Juyoung.]

    And as soon as they sent the messages, they started shouting.

    ¡°Everyone, charge at the enemy!¡±

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    Watching them move right away, I also moved next to my father using Blink because I could not simply ept their order and request.

    But my father shouted, ¡°Juyoung, think rationally! You don¡¯t have to die here. You have to survive and look for the next opportunity! I would have discarded you if I had found a better option who could seize the next opportunity. But you are the one and only choice for us. We¡¯re all finished if you copse here. So run away! Run away like hell! If you die here as well, I won¡¯t forgive you even if I die!¡±

    Without giving me a nce, he ran forward past me as he said that. So did my brother, sister, Director Sok and Security Captain Lim with smiles on their lips. They gave me some warm words as they charged.

    ¡°Juyoung, don¡¯t worry about us!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for burdening you because of this!¡±

    ¡°We won¡¯t hold the enemy for long. So run away from here!¡±

    No one who passed by meined about me. Instead, they said they were sorry.

    Even Bora spat out one word, brushing past me.

    [Kali: If I had known things would happen like this, I wish I had proposed to you first. Don¡¯t you remember when we were ying house as children, you said that you and I should get married when we grew up? You promised to propose to me nicely with a gorgeous jewel. Damn it. Because of you, I might die as a virgin, so you have to take responsibility for itter.]

    Of course, I had no intention of denying what she said.

    I once thought that I should survive even if I abandoned all of them.

    But I shouted back, ¡°No! This is not what I want!¡±

    ***

    In the Myongjin Shelter at that time.

    The shelter was emptier than before because more than 100,000 people exited it to participate in the battle. Besides, those who were left in the shelter were mostly ordinary people.

    At that moment, someone said, ¡°The reason Juyoung struggled like that may be because the roots are stuck here! Obviously, these roots are his great weapon. So we have to make sure we don¡¯t hold up these roots anymore!¡±

    His desperate voice resonated through the silent shelter widely.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Of course, nobody responded because they knew too well what would happen to them if the roots stopped shielding against the Land of Despair surrounding the shelter.

    In other words, they would face an instant death the moment the roots left.

    While going through numerous experiences, the ordinary people knew that they would die instantly the moment they set foot on the Land of Despair.

    In the end, that person¡¯s desperate call was tantamount to asking them to die voluntarily. And that¡¯s why they could not respond to his call easily.

    But somebody else said, ¡°What are you afraid of? Don¡¯t you think we have had a really good time under the protection of the Myongjin Shetler until now? Do you still want to live more like this? Don¡¯t you know billions of people were already dead?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! I¡¯ve alsoe here because my son belongs to Myongjin, and I have enjoyed afortable life here. So I don¡¯t want to be a burden to Myongjin anymore.¡±

    At that moment, they seemed to be moved by this man¡¯s seriousness.

    Another man shouted, ¡°In the end, if Juyoung dies, we die too! Are you going to make it so that he dies first, then we die right after? Didn¡¯t you see hundreds of thousands crossing the root wall and charging at the enemy? Damn it! I don¡¯t know how many of you want to live in a hellish world like this, but I don¡¯t want it!¡±

    Tramp- Tramp-

    At the same time, that man stepped forward.

    Then others¡¯ heavy steps followed.

    Tramp- Tramp- Tramp- Tramp-

    Their footsteps kept adding until they became tens of thousands.

    Then they crossed the wall of roots that had been protecting them from the Land of Despair until now.

    But the moment they crossed the root wall and set foot on the Land of Despair, they copsed one by one, making them recall the old Korean legend that 3,000 courtdies of the old Korean kingdom Paekje threw themselves into the river when their kingdom lost to the enemy.

    ***

    I could not bring myself to cast my nce to the ce where not only my family and Myongjin yers but also those from the Mirae, Tugal and Antgos Information Guilds were charging at the ruler of the 1st Royal District.

    At the same time, I saw numerous ordinary people crossing the root wall into the Land of Despair, but they kept copsing one by one.

    Flop!

    Flop!

    Flop!

    Obviously, the ordinary people knew that the Land of Despair had already killed billions of people around the world. Nheless, numerous people from the Myongjin Shelter continued to set foot on the Land of Despair.

    While I was watching them, I could not stop the tears overflowing from my eyes because I knew why they decided to charge at the enemy after crossing the root wall, knowing fully well that they would die. For I knew they didn¡¯t want to make me feel I was a runaway or coward, or to feel guilty about having caused the death of hundreds of thousands of ordinary people by summoning the roots away from the Shelter first.

    So my tears kept flowing from my eyes. Besides, it was toote for me to save them.

    I should have taken action much earlier.

    For example, if I chose to die with them, I should have taken the decision early on.

    Even though I was fighting against the ruler of the 1st Royal District behind me, I knew that my father who stood at the forefront, my brother and sister were no longer alive. Since they could not confront the ruler of the 1st Royal District even at full strength, it was impossible for them to do so now when they could not exert even 10% of their normal power.

    ¡°Stop him!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t let him approach Juyoung!¡±

    ¡°We have to save Juyoung! He¡¯s ourst ray of hope!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

 Chapter 470 - Face-to-face Contact with Him (1)

    <h4>Chapter 470: Face-to-face Contact with Him (1)</h4>

    Exactly 30 minutester.

    ¡°Gasp, gasp, gasp, gasp!¡±

    I was trying hard to catch my breath.

    While I was gasping for breath, I heard a message ring.

    [Your limited skill ¡®Savant¡¯ has expired.]

    Obviously, my limited skill, Savant, had expired, and my enemy was still in front of me.

    He opened his mouth.

    [Oh, great. Your eyes! You eyes that seem to have lost hope! I wanted to see those eyes again!]

    I had no intention of showing it, but it seemed it leaked onto my face.

    Of course, I still had lots of health because my stamina and defense power were still overflowing.

    But this was not a fight that I could win simply by enduring forever.

    In the end, I was doomed to lose again.

    But I didn¡¯t want to run again. This was myst push, and I poured out all my attacks.

    So if my desperate effort didn¡¯t work again, I¡¯d rather die.

    As it turned out, I failed again.

    Nheless, I kept attacking him.

    ¡°Ice Storm! Multiple Ice Arrows!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Even though my limited skill Savant expired, I kept up the fight until my remaining health dropped below 10%, then further dropped to 5%.

    My roots? Of course, they appeared early on to help me out.

    But even the roots were not much help this time.

    Hundreds of roots appeared at once, and wrapped around him, but he escaped usingva punch andva eruption. Even the white roots didn¡¯t help me much.

    So when my health dropped below 1%, I closed my eyes and waited for my final moment.

    However, there was a message that rang before his attack.

    [The roots have destroyed the springboard to break their limits and evolve.

    ¨C The roots that have lost their grounds for existence will be deleted.]

    The message rang all of a sudden.

    Right after the message, hisva punch hit me hard.

    And it was too hard for me to block his punch with my health less than 1%.

    [...]

    But hisva punch didn¡¯t do much damage to me because another message rang.

    [This is a list of outstanding achievements that the roots have achieved so far.

    1. After extinction, the roots have been upgraded and reborn.

    2. Absorbed part of the parasite.

    3. Absorbed the Ancient Energy to deal with monsters.

    4. Absorbed the mark of those who have achieved 100% reality actualization rate.

    5. Absorbed the Fragment ¢ó of Origin.

    6. Absorbed Denayan¡¯s wood shards.]

    [You have obtained the following, including the outstanding achievements, through the extinction of the roots, and the destruction of the roots¡¯ springboard to evolve.

    ¨C Stamina increases by 175,000.

    ¨C Agility increases by 133,000.

    ¨C Health increases by 300,000.

    ¨C Willpower increases by 249,000.

    ¨C Intellect increases by 750,000.

    Then another message.

    ¨C Your health increases by 10,000,000.

    ¨C Your mana increases by 5,000,000.

    ¨C The cooldown of all remaining skills has been deleted.

    ¨C You have acquired the title ¡®Legendary Scammer¡¯]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    This was a totally unexpected message. But I couldn¡¯t be happy about it.

    During the level 900 limited quest, the roots burned themselves to reach the starting point on my behalf, but that resulted in me losing the roots.

    And this time reminded me of the bitter feelings I felt at that time.

    As for the title ¡®Legendary Scammer¡¯ at the end of the message, I didn¡¯t dare to confirm it because I couldn¡¯t shake off the impression that I obtained the title by inducing the roots to break the springboard that would allow them to break their limits and evolve.

    Anyway, my stat points soared so high that I could not believe it.

    So I didn¡¯t get hurt at all when he attacked me.

    Obviously, my health of over 10 million helped me defend against his attack.

    Puck! Puck! m! m!

    I could block his repeated attacks easily after that.

    Only then did he sense something wrong.

    [What the heck?]

    But I didn¡¯t respond.

    I shouted right away, ¡°Use Savant!¡±

    I immediately used Savant whose cooldown was removed

    [Currently, among strength, agility, stamina, willpower and intellect possessed by Lumen, Asirante, the most outstanding stat is intellect.

    -Current intellect value: 914,751

    -Intellect value will be changed to 1,829,502 for 30 minutes.]

    Then I casually opened my mouth after ovepping my skill five times.

    ¡°Ice Breath!¡±

    Bang!

    The sound this time was so loud that it could not bepared with the ones before.

    Of course, it wasn¡¯t just a banging noise. I not only crushed the ruler of the 1st Royal District, to whom I had never done any harm before, but also threw him far away.

    He was now staggering before me, immensely startled.

    So I got close to him using Blink, then opened my mouth.

    ¡°Gosh, I almost regretted it. Thanks for not dying at once.¡±

    I almost made a huge mistake, for I should have hacked him to pieces instead of killing him in one shot nicely.

    [What the heck? No way, you can¡¯t do this!]

    ¡°Ice Ball! Ice Bolt!¡±

    Puck! Puck!

    Instead of responding, Iunched my lowest level attacks first because I didn¡¯t feel obligated to answer. After that, I kept hitting him hard.

    Of course, he also counterattacked, but aside from my enormous health, my stamina that had increased by more than 300,000 and my willpower that had increased by more than 250,000 provided me with an immensely different defense power than before.

    ¡°Ice Punishment!¡±

    Bang!

    [Khuuuuuuk!]

    Flop!

    I thought harassing him would be my best revenge, but it still did not improve my mood.

    So I attacked him with level 9 Ice Punishment, which pierced through his chest. But when the guy who boasted of an almost invincible power was killed with a shriek, I still felt so empty for some reason.

    Of course, I wished I had gained this power a little earlier.

    But I shook my head because I gained this power only after the roots destroyed their own springboard to outgrow their limits and evolve.

    Flop!

    I flopped down before I knew it.

    There were lots of people watching me, with their eyes open wide.

    Some of them were from Earth, and others from Kuhana.

    But I didn¡¯t care because I could not afford to pay attention to them.

    Then a message rang suddenly.

    [The winner of the battle between Kuhana and Earth has been decided.

    ¨C Winner: Earth.

    -As of now, everything belonging to Kuhana will disappear, and Earth will absorb all its power. ]

    [The Land of Despair and the Energy of Despair will disappear. ]

    As soon as the message rang, the entire red and ck earth changed to its original color. And those belonging to Kuhana, who had their eyes wide open from afar, turned into smoke in an instant and vanished.

    ¡°Honestly, I thought you had only 0.00001% or 0.00000001% chance of defeating him.¡±

    I heard somebody next to me saying that.

    I sprang to my feet, and immediately turned my head to the side.

    And a man holding a long spear came into view.

    ¡°Jiwon Lee?¡±

    Of course, I¡¯ve never seen this guy before. But I instinctively realized that he was Jiwon Lee.

    He nodded at my question, and said ¡°That¡¯s right. I am Jiwon Lee.¡±

    ¡°Are you the one who has created all this?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± he answered my question casually.

 Chapter 471 - Face-to-face Contact with Him (2)

    <h4>Chapter 471: Face-to-face Contact with Him (2)</h4>

    But I attacked as soon as I heard that.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to kill you! Frost Spear!¡±

    After all, he was responsible for all of what happened.

    Of course, I was once highly thankful to the man who made Revival Legend, even though I didn¡¯t know who he was. But not anymore. Instead, I hated him.

    At that moment, a message rang.

    [Your target is immune to any attack.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Obviously, he didn¡¯t lie when he said he created ¡®Revival Legend.¡¯

    That¡¯s why I was more frustrated.

    But he tried to calm me down as if he was shocked by my actions.

    ¡°Hey, calm down!¡±

    ¡°What the heck? You bastard! Do you think I can calm down in such a situation?¡±

    Countless people had died. So much so that the word ¡®annihtion¡¯ was not enough to describe those sacrificed. Of course, I was selfish enough to think that their annihtion would not have mattered if my family had not been included among them. But in the end they also died for me.

    ¡°Phew, I can¡¯t calm you down. Call!¡±

    Shunnnnnnnnnnnng, shuuuuuuuuung, shuuuuuuuuuuuung.

    Shouting ¡®Call,¡¯ he snapped his fingers multiple times, and with each snap, a person showed up in front of me.

    They were my dad, my mom, my elder brother, my elder sister, and Bora Yon. But they were motionless with their eyes closed like corpses.

    So the moment I was about to yell at him, he said first, ¡°Don¡¯t worry because they are not dead. So can we talk now?¡±

    ¡°Alright¡­¡±

    So I calmed down first because getting excited by myself would not solve the problem.

    ¡°What is your identity? Are you god?¡±

    ¡°God? Ummm¡­ I almost became a god. But I¡¯m more sort of a master. That¡¯s why I gambled with the Kuhana guys with a 0.00000001% of sess. They didn¡¯t want to ept my offer without such a low probability.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a long story. Okay, I will tell you about it only because you have won this gamble with a 0.00000001% chance of sess. Earth entered the Autoborn Stage at the same time as its past test was over. What is the Autoborn stage? It¡¯s simple. Based on the Autoborn Stage, I made the ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ and ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ you yed. Anyway, during the Autoborn Stage I took over the entire earth. Just like you, or even more so than you, all the great powers of the world bowed before me, including those called the Seven Great Emperors. Then we moved to a ce called the Continent of Judgement, where we had a duel with those who already went through the Autoborn Stage just like Earth, and in the end, we won .¡±

    What he said was really strange or even absurd. But since I suffered more than that, and had direct evidence of it, I didn¡¯t interrupt him.

    I just quietly listened to this guy named Jiwon Lee.

    He continued, ¡°So it¡¯s simple. The Autoborn Stage can be seen as the stage where ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ has appeared in reality, and the stage called the Continent of Judgement is like the one where the people on Kuhana and Earth fought for their survival. So when we won on the Continent of Judgement, the Judge in charge of all these things appeared and said something like, ¡®Congrattions on your victory. You have been given a special reward for making the achievement that none has made.¡¯ Then the Judge gave us two options: one of them was to move on to the next level called Mamont, and the other option was to roll the Earth back to the stage before the Autoborn, and at the same time prevent it from entering the Autoborn stage any more.¡±

    ¡°So which option did you choose?¡±

    ¡°Well, I chose thetter option. In fact, I was a little tired at the time. The guy I confrontedst on the Continent of Judgement was really strong. And many people I loved died in the fight.¡±

    ¡°Then why did you make such a fuss like this? Wasn¡¯t it a happy ending?¡±

    ¡°Happy ending? Of course, it was. It was definitely a happy ending. I was as strong as ever, and all the people I loved came back alive, just before the start of the Autoborn Stage. But even though I was the owner of the earth, I couldn¡¯t make ordinary people live for more than 500 years. I feel rather sorry to say this, but when I entered the Autoborn Stage, a message rang that I could not reproduce anymore. Even though I made a rollback, I was still affected. In other words, I was basically a eunuch. But it didn¡¯t matter to me at that time. But when the descendants of the people I loved continued to die, and the descendants of their descendants continued to die, there was nobody left who had anything to do with me, so I felt empty.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°I knew then why the gods had left me. Obviously, I didn¡¯t do anything. I had no intention of intervening. But, even though I did nothing, can you understand that the dazzling development of mankind had halted for 5,000 years? I thought that flying cars woulde out anytime soon, but for 5,000 years, cars were still on the road, and human lifespans remained less than 100 years instead of extending past 200 or 300 years. And I thought human diseases could be conquered, but they did not. Nheless, people or humans didn¡¯t know that. They didn¡¯t feel anything strange at all. So I made a decision to enter the Autoborn Stage once again because I was sick and tired of the earth spinning around without change, when all the people I loved had died.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I couldn¡¯t stop him since he was speaking so fast.

    So I kept listening without responding.

    ¡°But that was impossible because I made the choice not to enter the Autoborn Stage any longer. So? I made a proposal to those in a ce called Kuhana, which was about to enter the Judgement stage after passing the Autoborn Stage. They must have been attracted to my proposal because they envied my power that even the judges who controlled all stages, including the Autoborn Stage, feared. But obviously the guys on Kuhana were too cautious. So they tried hard to prevent my interventionpletely. So I made ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ and ¡®Revival Legend,¡¯ based on the Autoborn Stage that I had gone through.¡±

    Since he said something beyond my imagination, I could not respond at all.

    He continued, ¡°Anyway, you have led the Earth to victory, and the Earth got another chance by devouring Kuhana. In other words, the Earth has another opportunity to enter the new Autoborn Stage. Of course, I don¡¯t n on doing it right now. You should enjoy the glory of victory. So I¡¯ll wait until you feel the same emptiness as me. Waiting for one hundred or one thousand, or ten thousand years? I don¡¯t care. It was a meaningless wait for me back then, but it is a meaningful wait for me now. Alright. I¡¯m done. See you next time. When you want to see me, just shout, Start Autoborn Stage!¡¯ Or just look for me.¡±

    Shuuuuuuuuung!

    As soon as he said that, Jiwon Lee, who was giving me such a long lecture, disappeared. At the same time, I felt the earth being overturned and the sky falling.

    Flop!

    I also fell to the ground.

    I tried to regain my senses, but failed to do so.

 Chapter 472 - Jiwon Lee (1)

    <h4>Chapter 472: Jiwon Lee (1)</h4>

    I sprang out of bed.

    Then I immediately looked around, and saw a familiar scene.

    ¡°Man, this is my room?¡±

    In my main house in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul.

    So I got out of bed and went straight to the mirror.

    And in the mirror was the past me, not the present me.

    I looked like a high school student. And I knew I had gone back to that time.

    The calendar hanging next to the wall showed it was July 21, 2021, when I was a freshman in high school.

    It was also the time when summer vacation just started, and the time I was looking for a game through the virtual reality connector, feeling frustrated that I couldn¡¯t improve my grades no matter how much I studied.

    So I quietly opened my mouth.

    ¡°Ice!¡±

    Pasasasak!

    Ice swelled up above my right hand.

    At that moment somebody yelled.

    ¡°Juyoung Hong, meal time!¡±

    It was a voice I could never forget. It was the voice of my sister.

    Hearing her voice, I left my room cautiously.

    Then I could see my father and mother, and my brother and sister sitting at the table, and they all looked much younger than thest time I saw them.

    ¡°Come and have a seat,¡± said my father, who told me to survive until the very end.

    ¡°What are you doing over there with your eyes wide open like a frightened cat?¡± said my sister, who was always kind to me, even though the way she spoke to me was rather tough.

    p!

    ¡°Ouch! Why are you pping me, Mom?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you know Juyoung doesn¡¯t want to hear that kind of thing?¡±

    My mom always worried about me.

    Lastly, my elder brother said, ¡°Come on, brother!¡±

    He was my strong ally until the end.

    Everyone in my family was here.

    Looking at them, I said quietly, ¡°Well, I¡¯m very hungry today.¡±

    That evening Iy on the bed, wearing a 3rd generation VR device on my head.

    ¡°Search Revival Legend.¡±

    [Search target does not exist.]

    ¡°Oops! Search Forgotten Legend.¡±

    At that time,¡¯Revival Legend¡¯ had yet to exist, and it was avable as a closed beta called Forgotten Legend.

    And a message rang at my words.

    [Search target does not exist.]

    The next day, Juyoung Hong left the house in a hurry because he needed to meet somebody.

    While he was moving across the garden, something gently appeared in the space where he stepped on and lifted his feet. Of course, he did not notice it because it appeared very briefly before vanishing again.

    ***

    Some, or almost everyone, called the Autoborn Stage and the Continent of Judges hell.

    But it wasn¡¯t like that to Jiwon Lee because the Autoborn Stage faced again was inevitably a ce of new opportunity for him who had already gone through it before returning to the Earth. And he thrived upon his memories before returning.

    Of course, even he went through hardships and adversity in the process. Even if he had the memories and experiences before returning, he was a total outsider.

    In the end, he could ovee all those hardships and adversity to climb to the highest position, so he could consider those experiences as just past memories.

    [Let¡¯s go to the stage of Mamont. Jiwon Lee, you and I can climb to a position higher than anybody else! You have unlimited potential! ]

    He clearly mentioned the Judge who appeared after winning the Continent of Judgement right after reaching the Autoborn Stage. To be honest, I was curious about him.

    I wondered what was at the end of this game, and I also wanted to know how strong I could be.

    But Jiwon Lee shook his head. He did not make the choice to move on to Mamont.

    When he made that choice, the Judge spoke to him again.

    [Water must flow. Stagnant water is bound to rot. Do you still want to go back to the start? The ce you return to can no longer enter the Autoborn stage.]

    ¡°But that doesn¡¯t change my choice.¡±

    [Alright. I hope that your choice is the right one, you returner, Jiwon Lee!]

    So Jiwon Lee returned to Earth at the point just before it entered the Autoborn Stage.

    After that, he got pretty busy. He never forgot to offer help to those who were with him on the Autoborn Stage and the Continent of Judgement stage because he was still strong enough to be called a god, and he had the title ¡®Owner of Earth¡¯

    Anyway, he spent happy days on Earth.

    He fulfilled his duty as a son for his mother, who was alive, but who didn¡¯t know he was a returnee. And he could date Haein Song who really liked him, but which he pretended not to know at the start. And obviously he was happy for 10, 20, or 30 years.

    But after exactly 100 years passed, something happened.

    ¡°Son, I¡¯m sorry. This mom is so sorry to leave you alone like this.¡±

    Jiwon gave youth to those around him in the name of his power. But there was a limit to that ¡®youth.¡¯ In particr, it was not very effective for those who were older. So not only his grandfather, but also Chairman Daechang Song, the grandfather of Haein Song, who was first his lover, then became his wife, had died a long time ago. And this time, even his mother passed away.

    Jiwon had no choice but to watch his mother close her eyes so slowly.

    Even though he possessed so much power that he could be called a god, he could not control his life and death.

    But he could endure it because there was still someone who stood by his side, namely, his wife Haein Song.

    After that, time passed like an arrow.

    500 yearster.

    ¡°Honey, I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m really sorry.¡±

    ¡°What are you sorry for?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry to leave you alone like this¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be sorry. I want to thank you for standing by me.¡±

    Jiwon had no choice but to say goodbye to his wife Haein Song, hisst lover.

    Then he felt what it was to be very lonely.

    Of course, he still had something like kinship.

    Even though he was childless, he was close to a girl called Samanko, who he treated as his daughter. But it has been 200 years since she disappeared.

    Since he knew why, he didn¡¯t bother about it.

    He still was a greedy man, but there was nothing on Earth he could desire. Even the Earth itself belonged to him.

    Anyway, after Haein¡¯s death, he secluded himself, or more precisely, he fell asleep.

    For he had no children, and there were very few he had left to care about.

    And it was exactly 3000 yearster when he woke up again.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    After he woke up and confirmed that 3000 years passed on Earth, he could not help but feel emptiness, for aside from everything else, Earth had not changed since he fell asleep. But humans didn¡¯t feel anything strange about it.

    Only then did he understand the meaning of what the so-called Judge said.

    [Water must flow. Stagnant water is bound to rot.]

    Of course, he did not regret the choice he had made at that time.

 Chapter 473 - Jiwon Lee (2)

    <h4>Chapter 473: Jiwon Lee (2)</h4>

    Obviously, he had returned to Earth before it entered the Autoborn Stage, met his mother again, and returned to the woman he loved. And that was more than enoughpensation for his decision not to move to the next stage called Mamont.

    But the earth, which stopped developing without any further change or evolution, was a kind of prison for him. But he put up with it over and over again because that was his own choice. So it was only natural for him to face the consequences.

    Then he fell asleep again because he had nothing else to do other than that.

    Even though he called it a deep sleep, it was more like intentionally blocking his consciousness.

    Therefore, he did not really dream anything while hibernating for 3,000 years.

    But he could meet his lover Haein Song after a really long, long time.

    ¡°Honey, I love you.¡±

    And he also met his mother.

    ¡°Son, cheer up!¡±

    After that, he met many others who had rtionships with him in one way or another when they were alive.

    ¡°How can he be so powerful when he is only Varium?¡±

    ¡°No way! This is absolutely impossible!¡±

    :

    :

    ¡°Blow! Blood Storm!¡±

    ¡°I will eat everything! Gluttony!¡±

    ¡°Time! Stop! Time Stop!¡±

    Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

    Jiwon Lee could watch his own battles with those called Seven Great Emperors on Earth as well as the Angels and udias he faced on the Continent of Judgement, and the monsters called Adora, hisst enemy, as if he was watching them in a movie theater.

    And he slightly trembled at such fighting scenes.

    Of course, he didn¡¯t tremble out of fear.

    Instead, he felt delight, or joy and ecstasy.

    And he definitely felt that he wanted to go to the stage called Mamont, for he saw no reason to stay on earth which had no people he loved or should protect.

    At that moment, he seemed to feel that those who he missed so dearly had been really proactive in supporting his wishes.

    ¡°Honey, do whatever you want!¡±

    ¡°Son, I will always support you.¡±

    ¡°Jiwon, hang in there!¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your support. You no longer have to be bound by anything meaningless. Stagnation without any change means your presence is meaningless.¡±

    They supported him strongly as if they were him.

    But he took their words with a grain of salt because he knew that it was only a dream, and that they were trying to reinforce the conviction that it was the right choice.

    At that moment, he suddenly opened his eyes and opened his mouth gently.

    ¡°At the time, it was definitely the right choice. But now I want to go to the stage called Mamont.¡±

    Back then, as time passed, his eyes became blurry.

    But now his eyes shone brighter than ever.

    Anyway, he made the decision to move on to the stage of Marmont, and started preparing because he didn¡¯t know how to get there again.

    He had some legwork to do to find out.

    ***

    In Kuhana 1000 yearster.

    [Oh!]

    [I¡¯ve heard of that name¡­]

    [Me too!]

    [Even though he was stronger than anybody else, he refused to move on to the next stage.]

    [Man, he really makes me have goosebumps! After all, all the rumors about him proved true!]

    It took him some time, but in the end, Jiwon Lee found a method.

    And that¡¯s why he came to Kuhana before moving on to the Continent of Judgement after passing the Autoborn Stage.

    After briefly introducing himself, he opened his mouth again.

    ¡°I will bet all my power on it. Nine people here? If you guys share only 10% of my power, you guys will bring about an overwhelming victory not only in the Continent of Judgement, but also in the stage called Mamont.¡±

    [Of course, we know it. But do we really have to ept such a gamble?]

    [That¡¯s right! ]

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I will not intervene, nor will I fight.¡±

    [What?]

    [Jiwon Lee, you don¡¯t want to intervene?]

    [Are you serious?]

    ¡°Sure. I won¡¯t intervene. I will make ite true at the Autoborn Stage. The guys you will confront are as many as five years behind your capabilities. So you better think of it as a rehearsal for your true battle that will take ce on the Continent of Judgement.¡±

    [Why are you being so kind as to make an offer like this?]

    ¡°Otherwise, you won¡¯t ept my offer just like the rulers of the other 178 ces I visited.¡±

    That was true. He had already been to 178 ces, and Kuhana was the 179th ce he visited. This was his 179th offer.

    [Alright. I agree.]

    [Me, too¡­]

    [Given the rumors about him, I¡¯m a bit scared, but I think we have to ept his offer. But we have to make sure he should not intervene in our fight under any circumstances.]

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. As soon as I finish designing what I am currently thinking of, I will choose to seal myself in front of you right away.¡±

    Of course, what he was thinking of was a closed beta called ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ and an open beta ¡®Revival Legend¡¯.

    Anyway, he made a contract with the nine rulers of Kuhana.

    Of course, even he was not sure that this gamble would be sessful. Actually, he felt the odds of failure were overwhelmingly high. But he went ahead because he had no other choice.

    So he arranged a ce called ¡®Vten¡¯ in America that he thought had the highest chance of sess, and sealed himself with the rulers of Kuhana watching.

    ***

    In Cheongdam-dong, Seoul, 10 yearster.

    Ring, ring!

    A young boy studying hard at the desk paid attention to the message on his cell phone that suddenly rang. To be honest, he already spent more than one hour sitting in the chair for study, but he hardly learned anything.

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    The boy let out a sound of joy at the message.

    [Congrattions. You have won ess to the first closed beta of ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯.

    -You can use it after downloading the program after essing ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ using a 2nd generation VR device.]

    Of course, the young boy wasn¡¯t absorbed into the ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ from the beginning. He only thought of it as a new MMORPG.

    But he could not help but shout for joy because he had been looking for a game that would save him from the toils of study in which he made little improvement no matter how much time he spent.

    In any case, the boy essed ¡®Forgotten Legend¡¯ right away.

    ***

    In Cheongdam-dong, Seoul.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    To be honest, I could not help but agonize, or more precisely, have lots of worries.

    Obviously, I had returned to the world I used to know, but I could not simply ignore what I had gone through until now.

    So I spent several days agonizing over what to do.

    And I finally made a decision. Of course, my decision would affect my future course of action.

    After I sorted out myplicated thoughts, I said to my father, mother, elder brother, and sister who were gathered in the living room.

    ¡°I think the Myongjin Guild is too small to embrace me.¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    ¡°??¡±

    ¡°???¡±

 Chapter 474 - Juyoung Hong (1)

    <h4>Chapter 474: Juyoung Hong (1)</h4>

    My whole family looked at me with bewildered expressions as if what I said was absurd and unexpected.

    Without caring about their reaction, however, I continued.

    ¡°So give my brother and sister everything you have reserved for me. I can build a business group bigger than Myongjin on my own. Of course, you don¡¯t have to worry because I will keep working with Myongjin when I seed in building one.¡±

    Actually, I was going to confide in them about many of the ideas that I had in mind.

    I was really willing to do so, but I soon stopped thinking about it because doing so would be something like an apocalypse.

    In the previous iteration, I had witnessed the earth being ruined, so I didn¡¯t have to live diligently, save money for my future, or abide by thew and rules. And that¡¯s what Jiwon Lee told me as well.

    So I chose not to tell the truth to my family because keeping them in the dark might be better.

    Anyway, my family members showed mixed reactions to what I said.

    ¡°Cough!¡±

    ¡°Lol!¡±

    ¡°Hahahaha!¡±

    My father, who usually looked serious, spat out the coffee in his mouth, and my elder brother who was reticent like my father, burst out intoughter while covering his mouth with hands. My sister alsoughed her head off, leaning against the chair.

    Even my motherughed loudly.

    ¡°Oh boy, my stomach hurts because Iughed so much!¡±

    My father, mother and elder brother quickly stoppedughing, but my sister was still howling withughter. She was literally in tears fromughing so hard.

    p!

    No wonder she was pped by my mother on the shoulder.

    But she didn¡¯t stopughing.

    ¡°Hahaha! Dad, mom, and brother! He¡¯s so funny, isn¡¯t he? Don¡¯t hold back yourughter! You might get sick if you keep holding it!¡±

    Anyway, it didn¡¯t seem like my deration that day got through to them correctly, but I felt happy because it made themugh a lot. Besides, I told them what I wanted to say.

    In the living room that evening.

    Chairman Hong, whoy in bed to sleep, said to wife Hyeyoung Lee instead of hitting the sack right away, ¡°Juyoung has changed a lot.¡±

    ¡°You bet. But I like him much better now.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    He didn¡¯t respond to her answer because he was of the same mind.

    That¡¯s why he never mentioned anything about studying to Juyoung.

    In other words, he thought that as far as the future of the Myongjin Group was concerned, his elder son Kiyoung and daughter Suyoung would take care of it well.

    And he was willing to fully support Juyoung if he wanted to be an actor or singer instead of a businessman, for he was a cute younger son.

    But Chairman Hong had no choice but to worry about Juyoung because unlike the other proud or even conceited sons of the chairmen of the other business conglomerates, he didn¡¯t look confident or strong enough. That¡¯s why he forced his younger son to study harder. He was willing to hand over a couple of subsidiaries of the Myongjin Business Group to Juyoung for his survival, so he needed to cultivate Juyoung¡¯s ability to run thepanies. And he thought that was his duty as his father.

    Recalling Juyoung¡¯s announcement earlier in the evening, Chairman Hong smiled once again before going to sleep. To be honest, it was his greatest wish that his younger son could be confident without being discouraged or frustrated by those who were smarter than him in school.

    The next day Director Sok stopped by Chairman Hong¡¯s house in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul, even though it was the weekend, because he had some documents from Japan that Chairman Hong should sign urgently.

    While he was waiting in the living room after talking to the butler about his urgent meeting with the chairman, he saw Juyounging down the stairs from the second floor. He was surprised to see Juyoung at first because had changed a lot.

    Actually, Chairman Hong¡¯s residence here housed lots of people including Hong¡¯s family members, housemaids, his chauffeur and his bodyguards. Director Sok had heard the same thing from them recently, that Juyoung had really changed a lot.

    Director Sok could confirm with his own eyes that he really changed when he, who usually hesitated to speak to him, confidently initiated a conversation with him.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while, sir.¡±

    ¡°Hi, good morning, Juyoung.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s good morning for me, but not for you since you have to work on weekends. It looks like my father is not a good chairman. He should make sure that his employees take a rest on weekends.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Director Sok could not help but be very surprised upon hearing that.

    Juyoung would not have dared to crack a joke like that in the past.

    He even asked, ¡°By the way, is brother Sejin doing well?¡±

    ¡°Oh, sure.¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you have him join the Myongjin Group instead of giving him a hard time? Since you are my father¡¯s right-hand man, he should be able to benefit from his father, right?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Director Sok couldn¡¯t help but burst outughing.

    Juyoung said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to be a man of perfect integrity. You have been serving my father for ten, or almost twenty years. You are fully qualified to use your position to benefit your son!¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your nice words.¡±

    He nodded at me rather than refuting me. He could not take his eyes off Juyoung who passed by him casually after saying that.

    At that moment, Director Sok heard his voice again.

    ¡°Oh, if you know someone you can trust, please send him to me. I hope he is smart and that his lips are as sealed as an oyster. I don¡¯t care about other things.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡± Director Sok didn¡¯t ask why.

    Then he followed the butler to the chairman¡¯s study room, then handed the documents to him, who also worked on weekends.

    Director Sok said, ¡°Mito Precision Machinery notified us only an hour ago that it would be difficult for them to satisfy the export volume of the Myongjin Group next month.¡±

    ¡°An hour ago? Even on the weekend?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    Chairman Hong gnawed his teeth a bit because he knew what that meant.

    It was none other than the issue of rebate.

    In fact, Mito Precision Machinery was not a small machinerypany, but one of the top three precision machinerypanies in Japan. So it was a lie that they could not satisfy Myongjin¡¯s export volume next month because they agreed with Myongjin about the production and order volume at the beginning of the year.

    Chairman Hong said, ¡°First, ask them about what they want, and negotiate. But the bottom line is 2% at most. No more than that!¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    ¡°And we can¡¯t y into their hands forever, so check out any otherpany in the Nethends. Also try to find one in the domestic market.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    Chairman Hong knew that Myongjin was far inferior as far as the basic structure of the group was concerned, so he gave Director Sok such instructions since he could not solve this issue in a day or two.

    After that, the chairman gestured at him to leave the study, but then looked at him questioningly because he would not leave.

    As if he was waiting for a chance, Director Sok said, ¡°A little while ago, Juyoung asked me to hire a good and smart guy for him.¡±

    ¡°Really¡±

    ¡°Yes. So I answered yes.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­got it. It¡¯s up to you.¡±

 Chapter 475 - Juyoung Hong (2)

    <h4>Chapter 475: Juyoung Hong (2)</h4>

    In the past, it would have been unthinkable for Juyoung to show such an attitude, but Chairman Hong has also witnessed a big change in his attitude recently. So he was about to sign off on the document in front of him, but stopped when Director Sok opened his mouth.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to send Taesok Oh to Juyoung.¡±

    The Myongjin Group led by Chairman Hong had hundreds of thousands of employees, so he could not remember each of their names. But he knew some names.

    For example, he knew the presidents or executive directors of Myongjin¡¯s subsidiaries or Myongjin¡¯s overseas branches.

    Obviously, Taesok Oh was not a high-level employee, but Chairman Hong remembered his name because Director Sok had been investing a lot in him as the front runner of the next generation of the Myongjin Group.

    Actually, Chairman Hong knew that Director Sok had developed Oh for his elder son Kiyoung, so he was very much interested in this young guy.

    Nheless, Director Sok didn¡¯t hesitate to send him to Juyoung, which startled Chairman Hong.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Instead of responding, Chairman Hong looked directly into Director Sok¡¯s eyes.

    Then he said, ¡°Sure, go ahead.¡±

    Chairman Hong did not specifically ask him why because he knew there was a good reason why Director Sok chose Oh. Besides, Juyoung was also his son.

    ***

    A few hourster.

    I just idled away my time in bed because I had nothing to do for now. And I felt like cking off as much as possible every now and then.

    At that moment, somebody knocked on the door.

    Knock. Knock.

    ¡°Come on in.¡±

    Of course, I knew who he was because I sensed that he just drove into my house a little while ago.

    Then a man opened the door and came in.

    ¡°Nice to see you. I¡¯m Taesok Oh. Director Sok has told me toe and see you.¡±

    ¡°Oh I see. Nice to meet you. He has sent me a better guy than I thought.¡±

    ¡°Pardon?¡±

    Even though he looked surprised, I didn¡¯t respond.

    Instead, I got up from the bed, then went to the sofa on one side and sat down.

    ¡°Sit over here.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Anyway, I¡¯ve been agonizing over some concerns and worries for over ten days.

    And I concluded that I should not reveal everything to my family.

    At the same time, I decided that I would not control or rule the Earth, even if I could take it as my own, for ruling over it would mean I would have to exercise my influence and care for it. Of course, I also knew that I would be in more trouble if I neglected the Earth when I owned it.

    In any case, I didn¡¯t want to be a bystander without doing anything.

    I am not a pessimist, and I am still greedy even though I had once already made my name known to everybody with a clear reminder of who I was.

    Anyway, I had already made my decision, so I casually talked to Oh.

    Taesok Oh was very proud of himself.

    He was often called a prodigy when he was a child. For example, when his peers found a certain problem too difficult to solve, he easily solved it.

    That¡¯s why hended a job at the Myongjin Group, and even before he was promoted to an assistant manager of his team, he was transferred to an important position within the Strategic nning Department led by Director Sok.

    And he found the right spot for his duty there, and why he was needed. In other words, he got the job as Director Sok¡¯s chief aide, who was the right-hand man of Chairman Hong. His position would guarantee his career sess at the Myongjin Group.

    But he could not help but be shocked when Director Sok called him and told him to go and see Juyoung, Chairman Hong¡¯s younger son, who didn¡¯t have a good name even among the Myongjin staff.

    Of course, Oh didn¡¯t even care about Juyoung¡¯s drawbacks like that because he was still the chairman¡¯s son, even if he was rumored tock the due qualification as a business group owner¡¯s son.

    Oh was just dumbfounded when Juyoung asked all of a sudden, ¡°Do you know anything about Sierra Leone?¡±

    Although it is not internationally famous, it is a country located on the western Antic coast of the African continent. Actually, the country was famous because of a movie about it and a famous actor starring in it.

    Even though he was surprised by Juyoung¡¯s mention of Sierra Leone, he didn¡¯t ignore the question.

    Juyoung continued, ¡°It looks like there are lots of problems in that country. Not only are the rebels exploiting ordinary people¡¯sbor, but also they are killing ordinary people for their own ambition or simply for fun. Besides, corrupt capitalists are colluding with the rebels.¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    Oh could not make head or tail of what he was trying to say.

    Sierra Leone, rebels, and corrupt capitalists who colluded with the rebels?

    Oh thought to himself, ¡®Does he want to write a novel about that country?¡¯

    So he concluded that Juyoung wanted to ask him for some information about that country. Otherwise, he could not think of anything else other than that Juyoung was crazy.

    And he was the worst of the worst.

    ***

    I didn¡¯t bother to know much before because things of the past were no longer important because ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ already became a reality.

    Even though I didn¡¯t bother to know about them, I heard lots of interesting rumors about myself because even before my real name, Juyoung Hong, was known, I attracted everyone¡¯s attention early on with the name Asirante.

    And one of the most memorable stories I heard at that time was about Sierra Leone.

    More precisely, it was about the rebels who ruled there.

    Back then, I wasn¡¯t interested, but now, I was very curious about it.

    Even if I was not in a position to enjoy the glory of the victor that Jiwon Lee had mentioned to me, I had no intention of being a hermit or a bystander.

    Actually, I wanted to make my family as well as those who knew me look up at me in big surprise.

    I continued, ¡°I¡¯m going to take over that country after suppressing the rebels there. Of course, I intend to mete out a harsh punishment to those who achieved enormous gains illegally by striking a deal with the rebels.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Oh just blinked his eyes while I was talking, but I didn¡¯t reprimand or rebuke him because I expected he would show such a reaction.

    I went on, ¡°First of all, I have no intention of taking over the earth because it¡¯s a nuisance to me. But I want to show my family and everyone who knows me how cool I am. Of course, I will clean up the mess in the meantime. So what I want you to do is to manage Sierra Leone after I get rid of all the rebels there. I think I have to be responsible for the area I have upied. Oh, you don¡¯t have to worry so much because I¡¯ll let you take over after I clean up the mess first.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Oh just kept silent as before.

    But I continued without caring about his reaction.

    ¡°I want you to keep what I said secret for the time being. Many people will show interest if it¡¯s leaked, and it will be really bothersome to silence all of them. Got it? If you have time, please try to find out what kind of role you think will fit me best. Find one that is as messy and disgusting as possible. I don¡¯t want to be a saint. I know my actions are far from moral, but from the viewpoint of those who were victimized, I might be the better choice. I¡¯m not that greedy.¡±

 Chapter 476 - Juyoung Hong (3)

    <h4>Chapter 476: Juyoung Hong (3)</h4>

    I was really serious. I was not being that greedy because I could take over the entire, or even more, if I wanted to.

    When I said that, he was standing still dumbfounded, not understanding what I was talking about. So I asked him to leave. He might not understand my point now, but I would take action quite soon, and he would understand then.

    Right before he left my room, I said, ¡°Ah, give me your contact number. I will talk to you a little more informally next time. I¡¯m going to give you an office and sry. You won¡¯t regret it.¡±

    Three dayster, I passed by China, India, and the African continent, then crossed the Antic Ocean to arrive at my destination, Sao Paulo in Brazil.

    Even though Sierra Leone, diamond and the rebels were pretty interesting, it was just one of many stories that I had heard before.

    I did not know much about my destination or its detailed location. That¡¯s why I came here.

    There was a reason why the Antgos Information Guild became the top leader in the field when Revival Legend became a reality.

    After I arrived in Sao Paulo, I walked into a remote alley and entered a bar which had the drawing of a man covering his eyes and ears with both hands on the door. Then I approached the small door deeper inside the bar with the same drawing on it.

    Knock- Knock- Knock-

    When I knocked two or three times, the closed door opened on its own, and I stepped inside. And inside was a small path reminiscent of a maze.

    I stepped along the path, and soon reached a narrow room.

    I quickly looked around the room a bit.

    Watching me, a man sitting on a chair opened his mouth softly.

    ¡°You have no manners. Don¡¯t you know that you are not supposed to wear a hat or mask when youe to this ce?¡±

    ¡°Oh give me a break. Well, I have to move around by myself because I don¡¯t have any assistants. As for my hat and mask, I am wearing them for you guys, not me, because I want to stop you guys from being killed when you get caught shadowing me.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re crazy.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Let me see your leader first.¡±

    I wanted to see their leader first instead of asking for some information about Sierra Leone.

    I wanted to do so because there was no chance that they would provide me with the information about Sierra Leone, diamonds and the rebels as well as the corrupt capitalists colluding with them when I had never been here before.

    Even if I take off my hat and mask and reveal my identity, they still would not give me the information I want.

    That¡¯s why I asked to meet their leader first because it would be more advantageous that way for smoothmunication.

    He responded, ¡°Hahaha! You¡¯re really crazy. I don¡¯t know who told you about this ce, but I have to scout out my customers.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t go overboard. Your leader Oliveira. Call him now.¡±

    ¡°Oliveira? Who is he? Oh, is that the guy who tipped you off about this ce?¡±

    He looked at me strangely as if I was a crazy guy. But his expression seemed serious.

    I shouted, ¡°What the heck? You guys are here in your headquarters, but you don¡¯t know your leader¡¯s name? Where is Brandon?¡±

    ¡°!!!¡±

    The man, who didn¡¯t change his expression when I mentioned Oliveira, opened his eyes wide in surprise.

    ¡°Oh you know Brandon. Call him here now. I think he is around here because this ce is not far from your headquarters, right?¡±

    ¡°Who the hell are you?¡±

    ¡°You idiot! Do you seriously think I will tell you who I am if I came all the way here wearing a hat and a mask like this?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Having said that, I sat down on a chair reserved for guests, and opened my mouth with my legs crossed on the desk.

    ¡°You guys really don¡¯t treat your clients well. Even the chair here is very inconvenient. Hey, bring him here right away instead of standing there nkly!¡±

    Of course, even if the man in front of me didn¡¯t call him, Brandon woulde to me right away because my conservation here was being watched by those in the headquarters.

    Shortly afterwards, I heard lots of footsteps.

    The walls that made this area like a maze copsed, revealing a spacious vacant lot. At the same time, numerous people surrounded me.

    At that moment, somebody emerged from them and asked, ¡°Did somebody call me?¡±

    A group of people appeared.

    And in that group were people I knew well.

    Oliveira, the first guild leader of the Antgos Information Guild, who died right at my hand, and Brandon, who became the guild leader after Oliveira.

    I approached them. Then I passed by the guy who first questioned me about my identity, then Brandon, then stopped at the man with a nice moustache.

    ¡°Hum¡­have you been acting like a private soldier even hiding your name like this?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Man, I have to appreciate your skill. You are very cautious. Seeing you like this, I think I know why you have climbed to such a top position. As the intelligence chief, you really do need to be careful.¡±

    ¡°Who the hell are you? And how do you know about me?¡±

    ¡°Me? Well, I¡¯m your close friend.¡±

    He was once killed by me in the previous iteration.

    So it was not appropriate to call him my close friend, but I chose to call him like that because there was no chance I would kill him now.

    Of course, Oliveira didn¡¯t seem to like the way I called him.

    He stepped back right away, and shouted, ¡°Kill them!¡±

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    I fully expected they would use guns, but no bullets were shot at me.

    ¡°Kheeeeeeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Khuuuuuuk!¡±

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    Flop!

    Flop!

    Flop!

    Were they shooting mindlessly at each other? Not at all.

    When they noticed I had discovered their identity, they killed some of their members who had been kept in the dark until now.

    As if my guess was right, Oliveira opened his mouth.

    ¡°I won¡¯t give you another chance. How did you know about me?¡±

    ¡°Oh poor guys. They were killed because of me. Aren¡¯t they poor and innocent? I feel sorry for them anyway.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not the answer I wanted. Kill him!¡±

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    In an instant, they fired a number of bullets at me.

    But I blocked all of them by moving my both hands. Originally, I would not have been able to do so even if my agility was high, but my stat points were now enormous thanks to the roots¡¯ sacrifice.

    I dropped the bullets I was holding in both hands to the floor.

    Of course, I could block them without moving my hands because bullets could not inflict any damage to me at all.

    But my current suit was quite expensive.

    Anyway, they seemed shocked when I blocked all the bullets.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    A heavy silence fell on the ce.

    Watching them get cold feet, I said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll give you another chanceter. You have tanks and helicopters avable, right? Mobilize them when you¡¯re ready. I am willing to fall into your trap. But let me take action first before that.¡±

    Tap! Tap!

 Chapter 477 - Juyoung Hong (4)

    <h4>Chapter 477: Juyoung Hong (4)</h4>

    Tapping the seat next to me, I pointed to Oliveira.

    ¡°Come here and let¡¯s talk. Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯vee here to do business with you. I didn¡¯t simplye here just because I wanted to kill all of you.¡±

    He was trembling uncontrobly.

    Even though he trembled at my words, he finally approached me, trying to re at me as his subordinates were watching him. He looked a bit funny, but I didn¡¯tugh.

    Anyway, it was indeed gutsy that he stepped out, though I would not call it courageous.

    ¡°Good. We can talk to each other now. What I want is to do with Sierra Leone. I want to know about the diamond mines there and the rebels who took possession of them. Of course, I don¡¯t need detailed information because I¡¯m going to go there and get rid of them. Oh, the ce where they colluded with the rebels. Is it called Debius? Give me some information about that too.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Oliveira didn¡¯t respond.

    So I opened my mouth again with a smile.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you will give me that information, right? I guess the corrupt capitalists who have colluded with the corrupt rebels will be contacting you sooner orter. Tell them my name is Lumen, and that I¡¯m their killer from a frigid hell. That should let them know who I am.¡±

    As soon as I finished talking, I raised my right hand in front of his eyes, and formed a little thumb-sized ice over it.

    When I threw the thumb-sized ice into the air, the upper part of the underground vacant lot here was frozen right away. Of course, if I had thrown it on the ground, I would have frozen everyone here in an instant. But that wasn¡¯t what I wanted, so I didn¡¯t do that.

    About 10 minutes passed when he finally opened his mouth.

    ¡°Here you go. This has all the information of the location of the diamond mines in Sierra Leone and the three rebel forces upying them, as well as the information about those who have colluded with the rebels.¡±

    ¡°Great. You are quick on your feet! Alright, see you again!¡±

    Since I got what I wanted, I left immediately in the direction of the Antic Ocean.

    I could reach the African continent without taking the long route if I crossed the Antic Ocean, especially as Sierra Leone was located on the coast, and was surrounded by the Antic Ocean on almost all sides.

    ***

    At the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, USA around that time.

    ¡°Another unidentified flying object has appeared!¡±

    ¡°Given its flight trajectory, it looks like it is trying to cross the Antic Ocean.¡±

    ¡°It crossed the Antic Ocean and reached Africa from South America in exactly 32 seconds.¡±

    ¡°It arrived on the coast of western Africa, but it¡¯s impossible to pinpoint its exact location right now.¡±

    The Pentagon discovered the unidentified flying object by ident as they had been closely monitoring the Strait of Hormuz in Iran and its sworn enemy Israel through satellites that operated around the clock. A satellite floating over Israel detected something that flew at an incredibly high speed, and the Pentagon began to search for it immediately.

    When they were about to give up the search because they could not find anything at all, they discovered a very tiny movement on the Mediterranean Sea. And they confirmed that the movement was the same one as detected by the satellite over Israel. Its destination was South America.

    They became so nervous when they noticed that the unidentified flying objectpletely disappeared from the radar in an instant, but they then focused on a certain object that seemed to fly at the speed of light crossing the Antic Ocean from the South American continent.

    In the end, they were not mistaken about finding something. Moreover, they detected it in advance.

    So they could gather more information about the unidentified flying object.

    One official said, ¡°Even though we arbitrarily designated it as an unidentified flying object, we had no choice but to question that description as it seems to be flying urately. Actually that unidentified flight, or that unidentified object, is moving as if crossing space meaningfully rather than just flying at the speed of light.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Anyway, the United States, which prided itself as the police of the Earth, were stunned by the unidentified flying object.

    ***

    In the Kangama region of Sierra Leone, bordering Guinea and Liberia.

    As if to disprove the stereotype that the African Continent was a hot and vast desert, Kangama was home to a dense jungle.

    ¡°By the way, they are all more or less the same. They are just unreliable!¡±

    Of course, I was not stupid enough to fully trust the information Oliveira gave me, but most of it was probably urate.

    He would need some time to figure out who I really was, and it was his best option to grant my request to buy the required time.

    ording to the information Oliveira gave, there were three major rebel forces in Sierra Leone and numerous minor ones, but they were all scumbags.

    For example, they kidnapped people at random forcefully, regardless of whether they were young or old, man or woman, to use them forbor. They also killed people mercilessly just because they might join the opposing rebel forces and the government forces.

    To make things worse, the three rebel factions keptmitting more and more heinous crimes as if they werepeting to determine who was worse.

    ¡°Hmm. I was thinking of saving some of them who were good enough, but looking at their heinous crimes¡­¡±

    No matter how much I thought about them, I could not find any use for them.

    And the moment I thought that, I felt a little disgusted about myself, I felt a little creepy about myself.

    It was true that they were rtively evil people, but I thought of killing all those evil guys without any hesitation. I would not have considered such drastic options in the past.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    But I had already killed a lot of them, and saw them die.

    I had even witnessed the near extinction of mankind at one point

    ¡°Hehehe!¡±

    At that moment, I started giggling for some reason.

    At the same time, I refreshed my determination.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to be a killer, but I don¡¯t have to be afraid to be one. I have absolutely no intention of bing a killer, of course.¡±

    Anyway, I deactivated Fly, then moved into the jungle.

    While I was slowly moving through the jungle for about 5 minutes, I met a lot of guys holding AK-47 rifles, the most widely sold and popr weapon in the world. Of course, I deliberately approached them first.

    ¡°Who are you!¡±

    ¡°Howe you are in this ce?¡±

    ¡°Identify yourself!¡±

    No wonder they were surprised by my appearance because it was the first time they saw a guy in a nice suit with fair skin walking through the jungle as if he was taking a stroll.

    When I encountered them, I raised both hands over my head to show them I was not willing to attack them.

    The information Oliveira gave me might not be wrong, but I still had to confirm it.

    Watching me, they approached me with their guns still pointed at me, chatting among themselves.

    ¡°I think we have to take him to our main base, right?¡±

    ¡°Indeed. At first nce, he is an outsider. We might get a huge ransom.¡±

    ¡°You bet. Judging from his dress, he appears to be a VIP managed by another group.¡±

    They chatted cheerfully, and then tapped me on the back with their rifles as if they wanted me to walk forward.

    So I yed along because that¡¯s why I showed up in front of them.

 Chapter 478 - Juyoung Hong (5)

    <h4>Chapter 478: Juyoung Hong (5)</h4>

    A littleter, I heard some explosions here and there.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Excluding dynamite, specialized cranes and excavators for digging the ground and breaking stones are not an umon sight these days.

    But in this diamond mine, I could not see any such machines.

    Instead the people here were digging the mines with poor tools such as blunt-tipped pickaxes. Of course, this is Africa, where nearly everything is rtively scarce, but I still felt somewhat bitter watching theborers here. They were forced to work here endlessly without even stretching their backs under the supervision of rebels holding guns.

    I passed by the workers and moved into an area surrounded by trees, which was shabby but strong enough to be called their fortress.

    When I moved into thergest building in the center, a guy wearing ck sunsses among those guarding the building looked at me from head to toe, then opened his mouth.

    ¡°Who the heck is this guy? I¡¯ve never seen him before.¡±

    Then somebody else replied from behind me.

    ¡°We found him while patrolling the outskirts of this area.¡±

    ¡°Given his looks and dress, we thought he was rather unusual, so we brought him here.¡±

    Those behind me emphasized the wording ¡®we¡¯, as if to remind the sunsses wearing man that he should not forget their credit for capturing me alive.

    Hearing that the guy guarding therge building nodded slightly and opened his mouth.

    ¡°Good. It¡¯s good you didn¡¯t kill him. Okay. I won¡¯t forget your contribution, so return. I¡¯ll call youter.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    The guys who took me here returned in a cheerful mood, and I was taken to a big house by other guys.

    The outside, as expected, was very hot and humid. But the inside of the building was cool with an air conditioner, and it had luxurious carpets spread all over the ce, not to mention luxurious ornaments on the walls.

    ¡°Captain, our guys found a stranger while patrolling outside, so they brought him here.¡±

    When the guy wearing ck sunsses said that, a man with a thick cigar in his mouth raised his head and looked at me.

    Then he said in a low voice, ¡°I don¡¯t think he¡¯s from this area.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I don¡¯t know how he got lost in this area, but it looks like we can receive a huge ransom for him.¡±

    ¡°By the way, is he dumb? Or does he not understand English?¡±

    ¡°ording to our guys who brought him here, he doesn¡¯t seem to speak English. They said he didn¡¯t say a word while he wasing here.¡±

    The officialnguage of Sierra Leone is English. So I could understand what they were talking about in English, but I deliberately didn¡¯t say anything.

    But I didn¡¯t have to keep silent at this point.

    So, I opened my mouth to the guy with the cigar in his mouth who seemed to be the leader of this ce.

    ¡°Are you Reke, the leader of the Tanba rebels?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­I don¡¯t think he is a stranger who got lost.¡±

    It seemed that he was the Reke that I had been looking for.

    As if I guessed right, four guys behind Reke pointed their guns at me as soon as I said that. Even the guy in ck sunsses who led me into this room pointed his gun at me.

    Without caring about them at all, I continued, spouting the information that Oliveira had given me, ¡°Tell me if there is anything wrong with what I¡¯m saying because I don¡¯t want you to feel that it is unfair. First of all, you guys killed over 500 tribesmen who lived there in the open Diamond Mine called Kwait to upy it. And you killed more than 4000 peoplest year because they couldn¡¯t satisfy their allotted quota, right? By the way, you guys also destroyed another three towns to test the weapons you had purchased. That¡¯s what I know until now. Anything wrong? Just tell me if you think you really didn¡¯t do what I said you did.¡±

    ¡°How crazy! Do you badly want us to kill you right now?¡±

    ¡°Looking at your expression, I think what I said is true. Alright, then, you first¡­¡±

    I was going to hand him a death sentence because although killing him quickly and sparing him pain might be too generous for him, I didn¡¯t want to drag my feet on it.

    But he spoke first, ¡°Kill him!¡±

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    In an instant, a total of 5 people, including the four bodyguards behind him and the guy wearing ck sunsses who took me here fired at me.

    But their bullets didn¡¯t do any damage to me. Actually, I had already confirmed it in S?o Paulo, Brazil.

    In response to them firing at me, I summoned chunks of ice that were smaller than a little finger, then threw them at the five guys shooting at me.

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Pasasasasak!

    ¡°Kheeeeek!¡±

    ¡°Khuuuuuuuuuuuuk!¡±

    Did I use Ice Ball or Ice Bolt? That was too much for them.

    I was now strong enough to blow up this big building with a single Ice Ball, my weakest attack.

    So, I threw five really small pieces of ice, and with that alone, it was possible to freeze all five people who were brandishing guns at me in an instant.

    The tiny ice chunks pierced their chests and froze them.

    ¡°!!!¡±

    Their captain could not understand the situation where his subordinates could not kill me even though they were shooting at me. Rather he witnessed me killing and freezing them all of a sudden.

    Stunned by what he saw right before his eyes, he sprang to his feet with no remnant of his rxed manner a moment ago.

    A whopping five rifles fired shots at me with loud sounds.

    Those affiliated with the Tanba rebels came in through the gate.

    ¡°What the heck?¡±

    ¡°Ice?¡±

    ¡°What the heck is that?¡±

    All of them were dumbfounded at the incredible scenes.

    At that moment, Reke shouted, ¡°Kill this guy right now!¡±

    It has already been proved that they could not kill me using their rifles.

    But they seemed to feel they could kill me by firing at me once again.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    At Reke¡¯s order, the rebel members fired at me.

    So I nced at them quickly. Among them were those in their 30s or older, but I also saw teenagers. Obviously, they reluctantly joined the rebel forces to survive.

    But I didn¡¯t care about it any longer.

    ¡°Ice Ball!¡±

    Bang!

    Pasasasasasak!

    I did not want to review their crimes one by one before punishing them. As a matter of fact, I didn¡¯t attack them to punish them because I was neither a judge nor a prosecutor. No one gave me the power to punish other humans.

    But I took action against the stronger who exploited the weaker, which was very muchmon. The only difference was my action resulted in their deaths.

    Anyway, I killed them without hesitation because I had already made up my mind.

    Then I took Reke out of the building, who waspletely stiff from fear even though he wasn¡¯t hit by my ice.

    Then I said to him in a low voice, ¡°Hey, it¡¯s still too early for you to give up. I am alone here, but as leader of the rebel forces, you have lots of subordinates, right? So summon all of them!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    For his boss was monitoring what¡¯s going on here through the lenses he was wearing anyway. At that moment, he heard his boss¡¯s voice through the small earphones he wore on his ears.

 Chapter 479 - Juyoung Hong (6)

    <h4>Chapter 479: Juyoung Hong (6)</h4>

    ¡°What? Do you want to die like this? You want to survive, right? Who knows, you might be one of those lucky ones who manage to escape while I¡¯m fighting other guys? So don¡¯t give up your life easily,¡± I said to Reke.

    I had no intention of chasing after the rebels to kill them one by one, so I spoke to him like that.

    Then Reke¡¯s eyes were filled with a strong desire to kill me. He immediately began to summon his subordinates, including not only those patrolling the outskirts, but also those who were supervising the miners who were mining rough diamonds. They were all armed.

    Watching them, I let him go and join them.

    As soon as he was out of my control, he shouted right away, ¡°Kill him!¡±

    His subordinates were not only startled by their boss¡¯s order toe here, but also by my appearance, who had been holding their leader¡¯s neck until a moment ago.

    Then they pointed their guns at me once again, and started firing at me.

    Since their firing was meaningless anyway, I just ignored them and opened my mouth.

    ¡°Thin Ice!¡±

    Pasasasasasak!

    I knew that if I used Ice Field, not only this mine but also the surrounding areas would obviously turn into an ice terrain, so I used the much weaker Thin Ice.

    It was enough to freeze the entire rebel group, which had more than 700 men.

    Those who were captured by the rebels from afar and worked to the bone witnessed the rebels being frozen before their eyes, and trembled uncontrobly.

    Some of them even cried out to God.

    Anyway, I got rid of them first, then moved to another ce because I had only suppressed one of the three rebel groups that I nned on destroying today.

    ***

    It was Debius that controlled literally all the diamonds on the by monopolizing and distributing more than 90% of the world¡¯s rough diamonds.

    Because of the global financial crisis of 2008, however, thepany¡¯s share of rough diamonds in the world dropped. But there was a secret behind it that only a few knew, namely, maniption.

    In other words, the management deliberately made thepany almost go bankrupt during the global financial crisis. So much so that outsiders had no choice but to wonder if thepany would really go bankrupt.

    The management of thepany was found guilty of plotting to maintain their monopoly of diamonds illegally and inte the price of diamonds, and was sentenced to pay over 300 million dors as a settlement.

    So the management used the financial crisis as an opportunity, and reduced their share of diamonds by selling diamond mines and their existing market share in the name of raising money to pay the settlement urgently.

    But thepany that purchased the diamond mines and market shares was actually controlled by Debius behind the scenes. In other words, it seemed that Debius¡¯s market share seemed to have shrunk, but there was no change in thepany¡¯s market share and their monopoly of the world diamond market.

    Anyway, Sierra Leone was quite an important ce for thepany.

    In Sierra Leone, they could produce quite a lot of rough diamonds, and it was also the best ce for them to smuggle diamonds using rebels in such countries as Senegal, Guinea, and Liberia.

    Even though they did not use the name Debius in Sierra Leone, they set up a fairlyrge branch office while maintaining direct contact with the three rebel forces by satellite phone.

    -Tanba Rebels.

    [¡­.]

    ¨C Kabbh rebels.

    [¡­.]

    -Fortura rebels.

    [¡­.]

    Even though he could not reveal to outsiders that he was affiliated with Debius, Derek, the director of thepany¡¯s field office as well as the member of the board could not help but be dumbfounded when the three rebels didn¡¯t respond.

    So he asked his subordinate, ¡°Do you mean there were armed conflicts between the government forces and the rebels in the areas currently upied by the Tanba, Kabbh and Fortura rebels?¡±

    ¡°No, sir.¡±

    ¡°Then they fought among themselves?¡±

    ¡°You mean the three rebel forces? As you know, they don¡¯t have good rtions, but they don¡¯t fight each other because they are not stupid enough to weaken themselves by fighting each other and let others take advamtage.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right¡­¡±

    Derek nodded slightly at his subordinate¡¯s words.

    But the problem was that he was not getting any response from the three rebel groups.

    So Derek had no choice but to ask again, ¡°What the hell is going on there?¡±

    At the same time, he immediately contacted thepany headquarters because this was not a light matter he could ignore even if he received reassurances it was fine.

    ***

    In Sierra Leone.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Theborers here were forcibly dragged here by the rebels, then forced to mine diamonds.

    In that respect, they had nothing to live for in this situation.

    The presence of rebel forces meant that their counterpart, namely, government forces, were also there.

    But nobody from Sierra Leone who was forcibly taken here by the rebels could pin their hopes on the government forces because they were as corrupt as the rebels.

    In a stark contrast to the people here, there appeared a handsome youth dressed in a nice suit being led by the rebel patol team.

    In their eyes, the man looked too young. So these people, who were forcibly taken here by the rebels, looked at him with sympathy because there was no chance that the greedy rebels would release him easily, especially as he gave off the smell of money.

    Since they were forcibly dragged here, they were in the same position as that young man. In other words, they could do nothing to help him, so they just closed their eyes as if they didn¡¯t see him.

    A littleter there was the sound of gunshots from the building where the rebel leader resided. Hearing the gunshots, they assumed that the youth was worthless as a ransom, even though he gave off the smell of money. Otherwise they would not have killed him quickly like that.

    But after the gunshots were heard, they saw something thrown out of the building after smashing its entrance.

    They thought it was the youth¡¯s body, of course.

    But at first nce, it looked like it was too big to be that youth¡¯s body.

    Besides, it seemed that the man kept wiggling for some time as if he didn¡¯t die yet even after he was thrown out of the building, so they had no choice but to focus on that man.

    A littleter, they were shocked to learn what happened.

    ¡°Attack him! Kill him right now!¡±

    Even though Reke was reeling from the shock of being thrown out, he still shouted at his subordinates. Actually, it was not just a shout, but his order as the leader of the rebels.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    At his order, more than 200 rebels opened fire at the youth who slowly emerged from the building. The firing was so intense that those watching wondered if his battered body would leave any trace behind.

    Obviously, countless bullets were fired at the youth, but he suffered little damage even though the bullets touched, but never prated through his rtively small body.

    The bullets just bounced off as if they hit something very hard.

    Moreover, when the youth stretched his hands toward the rebels, chunks of ice were fired at them right away.

    Pasasasasak!

    ¡°Kheeeeeeeek!¡±

    ¡®Khuuuuuuuuuk!¡±

    ¡°Shit, I can¡¯t believe this!¡±

 Chapter 480 - Juyoung Hong (7)

    <h4>Chapter 480: Juyoung Hong (7)</h4>

    Most of those captured by the rebels were born and raised in Africa, but that didn¡¯t mean they had never seen ice in their lifetime. But it was obviously the first time that they witnessed chunks of ice that were so huge as to freeze hundreds of people at once.

    Every time the youth gestured with his hands to those rebels who were just appearing and witnessed the shocking scenes, they got frozen right away even though they tried to flee.

    The youth looked like a god or an angel.

    That¡¯s why these people of Sierra Leone who were forcibly taken by the rebels, could not help but follow his order without any objection because his order was that of a god, whether he was a god or a god¡¯s messenger.

    The youth was none other than Juyoung Hong.

    ***

    The moment I entered the building of the rebel leader, I checked a huge safe on one side. Of course, I was sure there were more safes, for example, in the form of a secret ount set up in Switzend.

    But I had no intention of unrooting them because it would be really annoying to track them down one by one from my end. Besides, if things went my way, I would make much more money than whatever was in those safes.

    Anyway, I looked at the people of Sierra Leone who had been forcibly dragged here by the rebels, and said gently, ¡°Pleasee here, everybody!¡±

    Obviously, I spoke in a low voice, but they had no problem hearing my voice because it was so quiet after all the rebel soldiers were frozen.

    In fact, they began to gather in front of me.

    After checking them quickly, I moved into thepletely shattered building behind me and approached huge safe that was tucked away on one side.

    The safe, including its lid, was made of thick iron, so it was really sturdy. But it was no different than a y model for me.

    So I grabbed a part of the safe, and tore it apart with my hand. Every time I did so, the metal that made up the safe was wrenched out with a strange sound.

    After all, the safe waspletely opened after my 4th try.

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    Even though I expected it, there was a huge amount of diamonds as well as several precious metals and bundles of dors in the safe. Even bundles of Sierra Leone leone(SLL), the official currency used in Sierra Leone, were in the safe.

    Without touching the diamonds and other precious metals, I took out the bundles of SLL. Then I turned to the Sierra Leone captive and said, ¡°From now on I will manage the diamond mines here. You all will be my workers, and you will get appropriately paid for your work here. I need to clean up the mess, so I¡¯ll give you a three-week paid leave. Of course, if you have other jobs, you don¡¯t have toe back here.¡±

    As soon as I said that, I lined up more than 500 of them in a single file, then gave them dors and SLLs.

    Each of them received $5000 and 500,000 SLL.

    ¡°Thank you!¡±

    ¡°You are our savior! Thanks for helping us!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯lle back by all means!¡±

    Obviously, they were in awe that I blocked bullets and threw out chunks of ice from my hands, so they uttered words of admiration and gratitude, with their heads lowered.

    Anyway, I cracked down on all the three major rebel forces there, freed the Sierra Leone captives who were working vebor, then gave them some money.

    I didn¡¯t forget to tell them they would be wee toe back after three weeks if they wanted toe back for work.

    ***

    In Sao Paulo, Brazil.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Oliveira was lost in deep thought after Juyoung Hong left for Sierra Leone.

    Obviously, his opponent was immune to bullets. And he even said he was willing to be caught in the trap they set up, asking him to summon tanks and helicopters, if needed.

    So Oliveira handed him the information about the rebel forces in Sierra Leone, and at the same time he mobilized all his resources to monitor the situation in Sierra Leone.

    Since Juyoung Hong asked for the information about Sierra Leone from him, it was evident that he would appear there sooner orter. And as expected, he appeared in Sierra Leone.

    Even without using a satellite, Oliveira had a lot of other tools through which he could monitor anything several kilometers away. But he and his subordinates could not say anything after confirming the scenes there.

    To be honest, he thought that even if he mobilized tanks and helicopters, he could not kill that guy. Moreover, when he witnessed the youth lifting the safe which weighed several hundred kilograms with one hand, and ripping it open with the other hand, he could not even breathe properly. And that was discounting the chunks of ice that were shot from the youth¡¯s hands that froze hundreds of rebel members instantly.

    After watching the video, Oliveira opened his mouth softly.

    ¡°Stop investigating that guy as of now.¡±

    Oliveira knew that knowledge was power, and that¡¯s why he kept collecting information. Since he was involved in collecting information, there was one thing he knew better than anybody else.

    If he tried to collect information he could not handle, it would backfire on him at the end of the day.

    ***

    At the Debius headquarters in Ennd.

    In the past, satellites were operated by the government of each country, but it has been a long time since privatepanies also operated satellites for their own purposes.

    In that respect, Debius was also running a satellite.

    So, right after they got a call from the field office in Sierra Leone, they immediately checked the areas upied by the rebels through their private satellites.

    The rebels were in the best position to smuggle various precious metals including the diamonds from Sierra Leone as well as other African regions.

    But they were stunned to find something unusual this time.

    ¡°Howe their areas have been destroyed like that? What happened? Just one week ago when they reported to us, nothing was happening, right?¡±

    Obviously, this was not a situation that they could simply ignore.

    That¡¯s why Chairman Connenti received the report directly.

    He had no choice but to question the fact that the rebels¡¯ areas werepletely devastated because there was none in Sierra Leone who was strong enough to do that. Even the government forces could not do it.

    Moreover, it was clear that the three rebel forces didn¡¯t fight among themselves because all of them werepletely destroyed.

    No matter how hard he tried, the chairman could not find out the exact reason, and no executives could respond to his question either.

    So Chairman Connenti asked again, ¡°Where is that famous mercenary group these days?¡±

    The hunting group that the chairman mentioned was a group of mercenaries which were part of those PMEs (Private Military Enterprises)..

    Since he knew what his boss was referring to, Floyd, one of the executives in charge of external affairs, responded right away.

    ¡°Right now in the mercenary world, Red Wolf is regarded as the top mercenary group. Their members are mainly from the elite forces such as Delta Force, Devgru, and Navy SEAL, so they have a strongwork in the United States and are equipped with state-of-the-art weapons. They are more expensive than other mercenaries, but they are perfect for carrying out our assignment.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ okay. Let¡¯s make a contract with them. And dispatch somebody to them right away. We can¡¯t afford to lose Sierra Leone to anybody else!¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±

    Since Sierra Leone was a very important ce for the distribution and supply of diamonds around the world, Chairman Connenti made that decision right away.

 Chapter 481 - Juyoung Hong (8)

    <h4>Chapter 481: Juyoung Hong (8)</h4>

    It wasn¡¯t long before a rumor about Juyoung Hong began to spread all over Sierra Leone.

    [God¡¯s messenger has appeared!]

    [God¡¯s messenger has destroyed all the rebels!]

    [No weapon can kill God¡¯s messenger, and he freezes everything immediately by gesturing with his hands!]

    Nobody could believe such a rumor.

    But the problem was that it was those who had been captured by the rebels that spread the rumors.

    It was impossible for the rebels to free them, and even give them money. So such rumors gained increasing credibility among many people.

    Despite such rumors, the Tanba, Kabbh, and Fortura rebels did not appear.

    Even though they knew it was dangerous to move around in the territories upied by the rebels, some people began to go there out of curiosity. And after they confirmed that all the rebel forces were destroyed, some other people began to move before anybody else.

    They were the government forces of Sierra Leone because just like the rebels, they were also greedy about the diamond mines.

    But they gave up fighting against the rebels because they were not confident of beating them.

    [You guys have been sitting idle until now, so you shouldn¡¯t be greedy. Just go away! If you don¡¯t, I¡¯ll get rid of you like the rebels here.]

    The government forces could easily infer that he was the very man called God¡¯s messenger, but they still found it very difficult to believe the rumors.

    So theyunched an attack against him.

    Just in case, they even brought seven tanks and portable rocketunchers.

    But the God¡¯s messenger warned.

    [I can give you a pass once because humans never believe anything until they see it with their own eyes. But I won¡¯t give you a second chance. And this is my warning.]

    Shortly afterward, they witnessed the mighty power of this guy called God¡¯s messenger, who blew up seven tanks and froze them simply by gesturing with his hand.

    So it was no wonder they ran away from the ce because he was really God¡¯s messenger who they could not kill with their rifles as well as tanks and portable rocketunchers.

    When the rumors spread that even the government troops also fled from him in fear, no one dared to set foot in the territories formerly upied by the rebels.

    Of course, there were people waiting to get back in. Obviously, God¡¯s messenger told them that anyone who wanted to work three weekster coulde back.

    Anyway, time passed quickly.

    After exactly three weeks passed, a group of people set foot into the areas once upied by the rebels, equipped with state-of-the-art weapons, tanks and helicopters, which dwarfed those possessed by Sierra Leone¡¯s government forces.

    ***

    I waited in the area upied by the Fortura rebels, the rebel force that was formerly the most powerful in Sierra Leone.

    Even though I was bored, I kept waiting with patience since I was sure those who had a stake in this area would act.

    And I could finally confirm their reaction before long.

    Tramp- Tramp-

    I could see quite a number of people moving toward me from a distance.

    Of course, this wasn¡¯t the first time I confirmed it.

    I had already spotted them monitoring this area through several attack helicopters.

    Even though they noticed me, they didn¡¯tunch any attack. So I didn¡¯t take any action either, because I was willing to have a conversation with them.

    And that was also part of the reason why I let the government troops run away after they rushed here to take over the area.

    ¡®Hmm¡­ honestly, these guys are worse than them.¡¯

    Actually, these guys incited the rebels behind the scenes, and made huge profits by inting the prices of the diamonds too much so they could purchase weapons for the rebels.

    Compared with the rebels, they were more evil and cruel.

    Honestly, I wondered if I really had to talk with them at all, given that it was not fair to the rebels that I had already killed without even giving the chance to converse with me.

    But I changed my mind right away.

    ¡®Well, I am not the guardian or judge of Earth, so I don¡¯t have to judge whether my actions are fair or not.¡¯

    So I waited a little longer.

    Shortly afterwards, hundreds of fully armed personnel, as well as tanks, showed up.

    Then a man in a neat suit, who stood out from all the other armed personnel, walked out to the front of the group.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you show up instead of sending this kid here to make fun of me?¡±

    Even though I was stuck in a remote ce like this, I also heard rumors about the appearance of God¡¯s messenger, and his harsh punishment of those evil guys.

    But obviously these guys thought such rumors were ridiculous.

    Since I didn¡¯t have to be upset that they didn¡¯t recognize me, I opened my mouth casually.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you introduce yourself first?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think you did this without knowing who owned this ce, right?¡±

    ¡°I know, but I think it¡¯s better to make sure who really owns this ce.¡±

    Of course, I knew this area belonged to Debius, but I asked him the question because I wanted to get something straight.

    ¡°I¡¯m from Debius. Then who is behind you?¡±

    ¡°Me? Behind me¡­¡±

    At the same time, I slowly turned my head, then turned back and said, ¡°Nothing.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The man frowned at my words, and replied, ¡°Alright. I think you are treating us like those stupid rebels who think they are the best. I want to see your great strength, or that ridiculous power of the man called God¡¯s messenger. Okay, let me kill you first!¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not done yet. I¡¯ve got something to say to you.¡±

    Because there was nobody behind me, I replied like that, but he seemed to have misunderstood me.

    Of course, it didn¡¯t matter even if he misunderstood, because I still had more to say.

    He responded, ¡°Okay, let me listen then¡­¡±

    This guy¡¯s name was Eileo.

    He was dispatched here on behalf of Debius, and came here with as many as 300 elite mercenaries, 17 new tanks, dozens of portable rocketunchers and 4 attack helicopters.

    He mobilized such a terrifying force of troops and weapons because his opponent must be a strong person, given that it was definitely not easy to instantly destroy the three rebel forces who had around 1000 soldiers, even if they were a disorganized bunch.

    In particr, they had no choice but to worry about the fact that I could block bullets with my bare hands, rip open a sturdy safe easily and freely produce huge chunks of ice to freeze my opponents.

    What¡¯s more, the fact that I openly attacked the area upied by Debius signalled to them that I was confident of beating them.

    So Eileo was ordered by Chairman Connenti to try to converse with me first because I was far from an easy target.

    That¡¯s why he paused for a moment and stepped back instead ofunching an attack against me when I said I had something to say.

    But he soon realized that he didn¡¯t have to step back because he could not ept my demands.

    [First, Debius should not intervene in the matters of Sierra Leone in the future.]

    [Second, Debius should make normal transactions on the purchase of diamonds instead of unreasonably purchasing them at discounted prices.]

    [Third, Debius should return 10% of the unfair profits it has taken by illegally acquiring the diamonds produced in Sierra Leone at low prices.]

    Of course, Eileo did not respond to my demands immediately.

 Chapter 482 - Juyoung Hong (9)

    <h4>Chapter 482: Juyoung Hong (9)</h4>

    [Kill him!]

    At that moment, Eileo cried out loudly to kill me

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    As soon as he shouted, the Red Wolf mercenaries immediately attacked the man in front of them as if to show why they were regarded as the best mercenary group in the world. They even mobilized portable rocketunchers as well as tanks to attack me. Shortly afterward, the attack helicopters that were waiting nearby appeared and fired as well as if to kill God, or God¡¯s messenger.

    I was now fully exposed to their countless attacks.

    So I wondered for a moment if I had made excessive demands to them.

    But no matter how much I thought about it, my demands were not excessive.

    Of course, they might think the third of my three demands was too much, given what they had taken out of Sierra Leone until now.

    That¡¯s why I asked them to return only 10% of their profits, not 30% or 50%.

    But they refused even to give up that 10%.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s never easy to give up what you already have. That¡¯s especially the case with those who own a lot.¡±

    At first, I thought of going down to 5% from 10%, but I shook my head and gave it up because I knew they would not ept it even if I asked them to return 1% of their profits.

    So I returned their rejection with an immediate attack.

    ¡°Ice Shield!¡±

    I didn¡¯t have to use Ice Shield, but I didn¡¯t have any reason not to use it.

    The ice that boasted of incredible thickness surrounded me in all directions, not just in front of me. This was the result of an increase in my intellect power by 700,000 after the roots¡¯ sacrifice.

    Because of that, not only automatic rifles, tanks and portable rocketunchers, but also missiles fired from attack helicopters inflicted little damage to my Ice Shield.

    I stood idle for a moment while they synchronized their attack on me.

    As soon as the enemy¡¯s intensive attack stopped, I deactivated Ice Shield, then moved forward slightly.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The enemies were watching me nkly.

    So I summoned fist-sized ice chunks in my hands, then threw them at the attack helicopters that were roaring in the sky.

    I threw exactly four chunks of ice.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    At first, there was the sound of something smashing, but it sounded different right after that.

    Pasasasasasak!

    The chunks of ice I threw froze the helicopters. As a result, even the propellers that were spinning hard with a roaring noise were also frozen. When the propellers stopped moving, there was only one end for the helicopters. They crashed down..

    Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

    When there was a big thud for the 4th time, they went silent all of a sudden.

    ¡°Hmm. It¡¯s quiet now. Modern weapons are good, but the problem is they¡¯re too noisy.¡±

    Then I red at those who were watching me nkly.

    So I said, ¡°Hmm¡­I didn¡¯t give the rebels a chance to survive, but allowed the government troops to. Then what should I do with you¡­¡±

    I had to think hard about this matter for a bit.

    But while I was thinking hard, I heard a big explosion.

    Bang!

    Breaking the silence, a tank fired at me.

    A shell was approaching me at a rapid speed.

    Normally, I could not have avoided or blocked it because I was quite close to it and human eyes could not follow the trajectory of a fired shell.

    But I grabbed and stopped it exactly 10 centimeters in front of me.

    At the same time, I threw it back at the tank that had fired it at me.

    Bang!

    The tank was busted in an instant.

    My enemies were trembling uncontrobly.

    In fact, they had been dubious about my strength from the beginning, but it was obvious that they were now fully convinced that the rumors about me were true.

    So I opened my mouth softly, watching them tremble.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much. I¡¯m not hot-blooded enough to be offended by this kind of attack. By the way, are you guys from Debius?¡±

    ¡°Oh, no!¡±

    ¡°We are the Red Wolf mercenaries, and we have been dispatched here after entering a contract with Debius.¡±

    ¡°If you can spare our lives, we will nevere back here anymore!¡±

    ¡°We will terminate our contract with Debius immediately.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to give up this mercenary job right away!¡±

    As soon as I asked them, most of them threw their automatic rifles on the ground and started begging for their lives, kneeling down before me.

    And those in the tanks opened the hatches on their own and came out.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ you guys are mercenaries?¡±

    Since they were mercenaries, some of them must be more vicious than the rebels.

    But I said, ¡°Alright. Let me visit you guys at the Red Wolf sooner orter. I¡¯ll decide how to handle you, based on your actions. All of you go back, except for the guy over there. You stay here a little longer. You had better not hide yourself. If you upset me even more, I don¡¯t know what I¡¯ll do.¡±

    I made the choice to spare all of them except for the guy neatly dressed in a suit.

    Anyway, I had a one-on-one interview with the guy dispatched by Debius.

    In London several hourster.

    The management of the Debius headquarters was in great chaos because their enemy was not an ordinary person, but a transcendent being or a superhero.

    ¡°Is there any possibility that this whole story has been made up in a scientific way that we don¡¯t know about?¡±

    When he was briefed about something he could not believe at all, Chairman Connenty prodded his executives to check if there were any hidden tricks.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    But nobody responded to him, and a heavy silence fell within the conference room.

    What unfolded before their eyes was in reality, not in a movie, and they were not stupid enough to confuse the two of them.

    Besides, there were not just one or two small cameras monitoring the scenes.

    At that moment, somebody burst open the door.

    Bang!

    Chairman Connenty and other top executives were startled by that big sound, wondering if it was the guy who got rid of their mercenaries.

    After confirming that the guy who appeared was their subordinate, they let out a sigh of relief, but they were shocked to hear from him what happened.

    [Safe 1, Safe 2, Safe 3, Safe 4, all these diamond safes have been stolen!]

    Thud!

    Chairman Connenty had no choice but to gesture helplessly because the diamonds kept in the safes were so valuable that they could not assign a value to it in terms of money.

    In the 7th basement floor of the Debius headquarters a littleter.

    Whileing here, Chairman Connenty saw a wall several meters thick crumpled like a piece of paper as if it was bombed.

    Somebody briefed him right away.

    ¡°He didn¡¯t use any bomb or weapon. He just ripped it apart with both hands and went inside. And that iron gate¡­¡±

    The iron gate was over two meters thick, but it was also torn in tatters.

    At that moment, somebody put down a tablet before Chairman Connenty, and a video started ying.

 Chapter 483 - Juyoung Hong (10)

    <h4>Chapter 483: Juyoung Hong (10)</h4>

    The iron gate was obviously very thick. But it was torn apart by someone¡¯s bare hands.

    The chairman could not help but ask when he saw the third broken iron gate.

    ¡°Is he a wizard? Howe he could put all the diamonds into his little pockets?¡±

    He could confirm that the intruder put the lumps of rough diamonds into the pocket of his shirt.

    And the surprising thing was that he put them into that little pocket endlessly.

    After he stole all the diamonds in Safe 1, Safe 2, and Safe 3, he disappeared casually as if nothing happened.

    ¡°It took him exactly three minutes to steal them all.¡±

    ¡°Oh my God¡­¡±

    Chairman Connenty cleared his throat at his deputy¡¯s exnation.

    Only then did he realize that he had made a big, big misjudgement.

    Anyway, Chairman Connenty stood still in front of the iron gate torn like a piece of paper for a long time, and so did the other top executives.

    ***

    I expected I would find a huge amount of diamonds. Even Eileo, who I held as a captive after all the mercenaries who came with him ran away, said the same thing to me.

    But when I stormed into the Debius headquarters in London, I found many more diamonds than I expected, which had been kept in their basement for a long time.

    There were hundreds of boxes about the size of an apple box in Safe 1, 2, and 3, and each box was packed to the brim with diamonds. Apart from that, there were evenrge, special colored diamonds stored separately.

    That¡¯s when I recalled the rumors about Debius.

    The rumor was that if Debius sold all the diamonds they were storing, the value of diamonds would decrease more than gold in an instant. This meant that the amount of diamonds stockpiled by the Debius headquarters was literally huge.

    As if he was shocked by my actions, Eileo, taken as a hostage, handed me his cell phone and opened his mouth.

    ¡°Well, I got a call from Debius¡¯s Chairman Connenty.¡±

    I immediately grabbed the cell phone that he gave me because I had been waiting for his call.

    I told him, ¡°I will give you exactly 12 hours. If you don¡¯te to me in person by that time, thepany called Debius will disappear along with the diamonds. And you will be no exception.¡±

    As soon as I said that, I immediately ended the call because it was more effective to talk with him face to face rather than over the phone for a genuine and substantive conversation.

    Even though I gave him 12 hours, he appeared exactly seven hourster.

    He was apanied by only two attendants, as if to show he had no intention of being hostile to me.

    I beckoned to him, who hesitated to approach me even after he got off the helicopter.

    Then he approached me, and stretched out his hands in a break from his initial hesitant attitude.

    Of course, he did so to shake hands with me, but I knew well that he didn¡¯t do so just to shake hands. In other words, he wanted to give me the impression that he was on par with me, so I needed to treat him as an equal.

    Of course, I could ignore his outreach in an instant.

    For example, I could crumple his helicopter into a lump of scrap metal by gesturing with my hand, and freeze the whole area around me in an instant.

    With a smile on my lips, however, I grabbed his hand because I didn¡¯t want to cause any chaos or simply loot.

    So when I shook hands with him, Chairman Connenty opened his mouth first.

    ¡°Nice to meet you. I¡¯m Debius Chairman Connenty.¡±

    ¡°Lumen. My name is Lumen.¡±

    I had already introduced myself to Oliveira in S?o Paulo, Brazil, as Lumen, so I did the same to him.

    ¡°Lumen¡­ that¡¯s a good name. Anyway, we seemed to have understood each other. I know it¡¯ste, but isn¡¯t it better for us to clear up our misunderstanding?¡±

    ¡°Good. We have to clear it up as soon as possible because the more you dy it, the more disaster you will bring about.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Even though I didn¡¯t tell him specifically how he would be hit hard, Chairman Connenty seemed to be tactful enough to get my point.

    So he hardened his face for a moment, but then he brightened his expression again before speaking to me.

    ¡°You¡¯re right. Misunderstanding breeds distrust, as you know. But I can say clearly that I am not responsible for causing the misunderstanding between us. I¡¯m a victim¡­¡±

    In fact, it was no wonder he would have been shocked after hearing the news that I had appeared in and destroyed all the areas that were being very well managed by them in Sierra Leone. Besides, I also stormed their headquarters and took away all their diamonds there.

    But I rebuked him right away.

    ¡°Oh, no, you are not a victim! You traded diamonds illegally, right? If you want to talk about the real victims, they are the Sierra Leone people and their legitimate government, even though they are as corrupt as the rebels. Do they recognize your illegal ownership these days?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Chairman Connenty became silent at my rebuke.

    But I continued without caring about his reaction.

    ¡°You guys havemitted too many crimes such as smuggling, kidnapping, providing weapons for the rebels, aiding and abetting murders, conspiring to overthrow other countries with the rebels, among many others. Well, if you still think what I¡¯ve mentioned is unfair, bring me the documents showing you own the diamond mines in Sierra Leone, or other certified documents.¡±

    Of course, there was no chance that he had those documents.

    Obviously, Sierra Leone¡¯s diamond mines were owned by the state, but the rebels upied them illegally. Debius made illegal trading with the rebels, providing them with weapons or information about the government forces, so they could continue to maintain possession of the mines.

    Watching Chairman Connenty, who was still unable to answer, I said something shocking.

    ¡°Do you still want those areas in Sierra Leone? Then take them from me! Just like I took them after cracking down on these garbage rebels, you can do the same thing to me. Got it?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    As soon as I finished talking to him, I put my hand into the pocket of my shirt.

    Then I grabbed a handful of rough diamonds, pulled them out, and put them down on the table so he could see them.

    ¡°By the way, I hear these diamonds are the gems of gems. Don¡¯t you think you¡¯re selling them at too expensive a price? I¡¯m praising you, not swearing at you. That¡¯s how you are supposed to do business. But¡­¡±

    Then I picked up about four rough diamonds on the table with my thumb and forefinger and squeezed slightly.

    At first, it sounded like a squeaking noise as if I was scratching the ckboard with finger nails, which made him frown. Then I rubbed them with my thumb and forefinger. The diamonds became powder, and slowly began to blow away in the wind.

    ¡°Do diamonds represent eternal or unchanging love? It doesn¡¯t necessarily look that way.¡±

    Tap! Tap!

 Chapter 484 - Juyoung Hong (11)

    <h4>Chapter 484: Juyoung Hong (11)</h4>

    Even though I finished talking, he didn¡¯t show any sign of opening his mouth.

    But I didn¡¯t press him because he must have a lot of thoughts in his mind.

    He must have been regretting all the misfortune that fell to him.

    About 10 minutes passed when he finally opened his mouth.

    ¡°Okay, I will give up, and ept all the initial demands you made of me.¡±

    Of course, I fully expected he would ept my demands at the end of the day.

    But I shook my head and said, ¡°Well, you epted my initial demands, but this is my second time seeing you here, right? I hope as a businessman you are not innocent enough to think my demands this time will be the same as before.¡±

    Of course, I felt I was being a little unfair that I was making demands of him a second time.

    But obviously, these guys were worse than me, and even worse than the rebels who killed and robbed people for nor reason, because they instigated the rebels while providing weapons for them behind the scenes. Nheless, I didn¡¯t kill them like the rebels.

    In other words, I was already being very merciful, even though Chairman Connenty might not be aware of my generosity.

    At any rate, I continued, with his face blushing at my unexpected words.

    ¡°But don¡¯t be too disappointed. I¡¯m going to give you some good stuff. First, you should take your hands off the mines in Sierra Leone. I don¡¯t care even if you make transactions with others at low prices, but you should make sure you buy the diamonds from my mines in Sierra Leone at full price. What I mean is you should not make me frown at your business practices as far as purchasing my diamonds are concerned. And let me take 50%. Even though I want to take all the diamonds you guys have obtained until now, you won¡¯t like it. So let me take only 50% of them. Got it?¡±

    ¡°Oh no!¡±

    Chairman Connenty opened his mouth suddenly, but I stopped him right away.

    And I said with a poker face like before, ¡°I told you already that I talked more than I nned. I didn¡¯t ask the rebels, nor did I even attempt to converse with them. So choose your words carefully! Carefully!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I didn¡¯t press him, even though he was very slow to respond.

    Why? Because I was supposed to still enjoy my vacation in Seoul, Korea, and I still had plenty of time.

    ***

    In Cheongdam-dong, Seoul a few hourster.

    ¡°Son! I know you are on vacation right now, but it looks like you¡¯re just out and about most of the time!¡±

    My mom spoke to me as I walked in after opening the door.

    As she said, it was true that I went out too often these days.

    As soon as she said that, I heard somebody¡¯s voiceing from the living room.

    My sister said, ¡°Mom, you told me that you felt good that he went out instead of being stuck at home! You even gave him pocket money.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because..!¡±

    The moment my mom was about to rebuke her, I hugged her first, and said, ¡°Hehe! I¡¯m going to refrain from going outside now because I have already done what I needed to do. And the start of school is just around the corner, so I have to prepare for it.¡±

    I would not have dared to say that in the past, but I didn¡¯t hesitate any longer.

    Obviously, it¡¯s something embarrassing for a high school freshman to do so, but I didn¡¯t do it in the past. Anyway, I got away with it, then moved to my room on the second floor.

    Shortly afterward, my sister knocked on my door.

    Knock. Knock.

    As soon as she came in, she said, ¡°Hmm¡­ If you¡¯re an alien, reveal your identity quickly. Is my brother alive?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I heard it often from her these days, so I didn¡¯t respond, shaking my head.

    I knew I would have to keep responding to her if I ever affirmed it.

    She would be determined to find out everything about me, starting off with my past activities, by pinching my cheeks and ruffling my hair.

    She would definitely try to prove I have nothing to do with Juyoung Hong.

    Of course, she would do this to me half jokingly.

    Anyway, I¡¯ve changedpletely.

    At first, I thought I wanted to change slowly, but it was harder and more cumbersome than I thought. For example, I had to monitor her expressions while pretending not to, and I had to try to look indecisive even though I was not.

    In other words, it really stressed me out trying to act like a stupid boy.

    So I decided I would not care a damn about what I did.

    Anyway, I asked her to get out by waving at her.

    She said, ¡°Gosh, you must be an alien. When you¡¯re done, return my brother to me before you leave Earth.¡±

    Having said that, she left my room.

    After she went out, I reviewed what I had done in Sierra Leone.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Obviously, my actions were extreme.

    Even though I decided to hold back, those I killed, including the rebels, were over 1000.

    But I had no other choice but to do so.

    In retrospect, I have been to a ce where human lives were really worthless, where the rebels¡¯ massive massacres dwarfed my killing of 1000 evil guys there.

    ¡®Well, I don¡¯t have to feel guilty¡­¡±

    When I was lost in thought about it, I heard another knock on my door.

    Of course, it wasn¡¯t my sister, nor was it my mother.

    It was none other than Taesok Oh, who Director Sok sent me when I asked him to introduce one of his trusted deputies to me.

    He opened the door and came in.

    ¡°Did you call me?¡±

    ¡°Sure. Come this way.¡±

    Although it was my room, it was quite spacious. There was a sofa on one side, so I led him there.

    This was my second time seeing him, so I talked to him in an informal tone.

    As soon as he sat down, I immediately opened my mouth.

    ¡°Go to Sierra Leone tomorrow. When you arrive at Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone via Europe, you will meet some people greeting you there. You have heard of Debius, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course, I have. Don¡¯t they hold an almost monopoly when ites to diamonds?¡±

    ¡°Right. They are going to meet you there. Even though I¡¯ve secured diamond mines, I can¡¯t do it alone, so I¡¯ve told them about something in advance.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure you have secured diamond mines?¡± he asked, surprised.

    ¡°Yep. They¡¯re very good because Debius has maintained them with great care. Since it¡¯s not that safe there, I¡¯ve already asked the PMC (Private Military Company) to procure me some mercenaries, so you will have no security problems there. Anyway, I¡¯ve prepared everything, so just fly to Sierra Leone tomorrow. Of course, I¡¯m not saying you should stay put out there. You are going to carry out lots of things on my behalf, so make sure things will go smoothly even without you in six months. It¡¯s part of your duty to recruit and raise somebody you can trust. If you want to buy anything, use this card. It¡¯s unlimited.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    He made a weird expression as if he could not believe what I just said.

    But I didn¡¯t tell him any more because he could understand my point when he got there.

 Chapter 485 - Juyoung Hong (12)

    <h4>Chapter 485: Juyoung Hong (12)</h4>

    In Freetown, Sierra Leone.

    Taesok Oh, who departed from Incheon International Airport and stopped over in Madrid, Spain, arrived at his destination, Freetown in Sierra Leone.

    It was quite a long flight for him, but he arrived there without any problem.

    But he had a lot of thoughts in his mind because what Juyoung Holg told him was too absurd.

    To be honest, he could not simply ignore Juyoung¡¯s order because he had his doubts, so he decided to follow his young boss¡¯s order and finally set foot in Sierra Leone. Of course, he didn¡¯te here simply because of Juyoung¡¯s order.

    ¡®His eyes¡­¡¯

    His eyes were full of confidence.

    Taesok saw it in his young boss¡¯s eyes.

    When he stepped through the exit of Freetown Airport, he noticed a card with his name on it.

    [Wee! Taesok Oh!]

    Given his young boss¡¯s capabilities, he could arrange for local people toe and wee him at the airport with such a card.

    For the Myongjin group is one of the top five business conglomerates in South Korea, and his young boss, Juyoung Hong, was a direct descendant of the Myongjin Group Chairman Sangman Hong.

    A considerable number of people were standing behind the card.

    Moreover, the clothes they were wearing were very unusual.

    Taesok himself was also an office worker, so he knew how expensive their clothes were because he saw a lot of expensive suits after he was picked as Director Sok¡¯s right-hand man early on. In other words, the price of each suit these people were wearing cost almost several hundreds or more than ten thousand dors.

    There were more than ten people wearing such suits behind the card.

    And all of them were Westerners, which was a rare scene in the heart of Africa.

    He approached them to say something, but even before he opened his mouth, they greeted him with weing remarks.

    ¡°You are Taesok Oh, right? Nice to meet you. My name is Eileo.¡±

    ¡°Nice to meet you too. My name is Taesok Oh.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s good that there are no Asians here, so it¡¯s easy to notice you. Let us leave from here.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    Of course, Taesok would not have followed him in a normal situation because he was in Africa, and Sierra Leone at that, where a civil war was still going on.

    But his young boss told him that he would be greeted by local people, who actually did.

    So although he was a bit startled, he followed them.

    But he didn¡¯t know yet that other big surprises were waiting for him.

    ¡°What the heck?¡± he eximed when he was told there were no cars around.

    He thought he would be escorted to the airport parking lot, but there were no cars there when he arrived. Instead, there were five helicopters.

    Eileo beckoned him to get into the helicopter.

    That¡¯s why he let out a startled exmation, but Elieo replied quickly, ¡°Well, our destination is far away. Besides, there are no paved roads outside of Freetown, the capital city.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Hearing his exnation, Taesok had no choice but to get aboard the helicopter.

    Then he opened his mouth, looking at the other four helicopters on either side of the helicopter he was about to get on.

    ¡°Are they flying with us as well?¡±

    The reason he had no choice but to ask such a question was that, except for the helicopter in the center, each of the other four helicopters had one person next to the pilot. All of them were holding the machine guns mounted on the helicopter.

    In other words, they were attack helicopters.

    Elieo answered, ¡°It¡¯s just in case. They are following us to cover us.¡±

    Even though he was a bit puzzled, Oh got on the helicopter in the middle.

    At the same time, he was seriously concerned about his younger boss, Juyoung.

    A littleter, the helicopter carrying him was flying over a diamond mine.

    ¡°You see Canatu Mine over there. It¡¯s one of the best diamond mines in Sierra Leone, or in the world. And it¡¯s also home to 100-carat blue diamonds that are worth almost $50 million.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Taesok didn¡¯t say anything when Elieo exined to him because 50 million dors was equivalent to more than 50 billion Korean Won.

    Not caring about his reaction, Elieo kept exining about other mines as the helicopter flew over them.

    ¡°The mine you see over there is called Pilu Mine. Unlike the mine you saw just before, it doesn¡¯t produce any special diamonds, but it is one of the top three mines in the world in terms of production capacity. Moreover, it has a huge amount of diamond reserves.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Taesok didn¡¯t say anything even after they flew over the third mine.

    Soon they arrived at Rabok, thergest city in northern Sierra Leone.

    Elieo said, ¡°The capital city of Freetown is the best ce to live in, but I thought it would be better for you to stay here because it is not far from the diamond mines.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Taesok didn¡¯t reply this time either because the ce proposed for him to stay in was a huge mansion like in movies, which had a vacant lot huge enough to amodate thending of as many as five helicopters, as well as a tennis court and a swimming pool.

    Elieo continued, ¡°We have contracted a top PMC called Red Wolf, who will provide 100 mercenaries to be stationed here around the clock for security, 100 mercenaries are supposed to be stationed here around the clock for security. In addition, we have been granted autonomy for the entire area, including this mansion, through negotiations with the government forces and the rebels controlling this area. So I think you can treat this ce as an embassy with diplomatic privilege or extraterritorial rights.¡±

    Nheless, Taesok could not understand the situation at all.

    He even pinched his thigh dozens of times to double check if he was dreaming now.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go inside. We¡¯ve prepared everything for you, including people who will serve you. Please let me know if you need further assistance or help. I¡¯ll be staying in this area for the time being.¡±

    Anyway, Taesok entered the mansion, walking past many mansion employees who bowed to him. A few hourster, he talked to some people dispatched by Debius, and concluded a contract with them regarding the diamonds.

    Of course, Taesok himself was ignorant of diamond trading, but even he could understand that Debius, who had an almost monopoly on the supply and distribution of all diamonds around the world, was making huge concessions.

    Anyway, he became used to trading little by little.

    Even though he could not understand how they could make such a deal with him, it was happening right before his eyes.

    At the same time, he thought to himself, ¡®Who the hell are you, Juyoung Hong?¡¯

    He knew clearly that the reason why they took such a submissive attitude was not because of him or the Myongjin Group, but because of his young boss Juyoung

    Hong.

    In Washington, DC at that time.

    The vast Antic Ocean that exists between the continents of South America and Africa.

    The United States, having confirmed the existence of an unidentified object or existence that crossed the vast Antic Ocean in just 32 seconds, did not stand still. They mobilized all satellites avable at the moment to scan every part of Africa, where the unidentified flying object arrived.

    First of all, they started checking the area facing the Antic Ocean, and confirmed that there was a superman or someone with superhero-like abilities like those in superhero movies.

 Chapter 486 - Juyoung Hong (13)

    <h4>Chapter 486: Juyoung Hong (13)</h4>

    Colonel ir, the Director of National Intelligence Service,mented, ¡°He seemed to be equipped with superhuman abilities. As we confirmed a little while ago, he has exceptional defense power and durability that allows him to move quickly through space and take little damage from weapons such as tanks, attack helicopters, and rifles. Besides, he is strong enough to lift objects weighing hundreds of kilograms with one hand easily.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Everyone including the President and other top national security officials gathered in the bunker in the basement of the White House did not respond to Colonel ir¡¯s exnation because he was literally a guy that appeared in a superhero movie.

    Then President William cautiously opened his mouth, curious more about the man¡¯s identity than his capabilities.

    If he belonged to a hostile country or to a country that opposed American ideology, he could be the greatest possible threat to the United States.

    ¡°Did you find out who he was or where he is now?¡±

    ¡°Yes, we have tracked him down. Although he has traveled to a lot of ces, we could pin down the ce where he is at the most. This is that ce.¡±

    As soon as Colonel ir finished speaking, a map appeared on the screen, which showed a ce rather unfamiliar to them. Since most of the people here had Masters and PhD degrees, they could easily recognize which ce it was, namely, the Korean penins in East Asia.

    So some of them had no choice but to frown because there were US adversaries, China and Russia in the northern part of the Korean Penins, and North Korea had close rtions with them.

    When the map that pointed to the Korean Penins gradually shrunk to their ally, South Korea, those who frowned brightened their hardened expressions because they avoided the worst possible scenario even though they still felt it was unfortunate that he was a South Korean, not an American.

    ¡°We¡¯ve found out that the superhuman is a son of the chairman of one of South Korea¡¯s top business conglomerates, the Myongjin Group.¡±

    ¡°Myongjin?¡±

    The Commerce Secretary asked as soon as he heard the word ¡®Myongjin¡¯ because South Korea was a close ally of the United States not only as a military ally, but also for trading.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s correct.¡¯

    ¡°Oh my God¡­¡±

    Anyway, people gathered at the underground bunker of the White House continued their meeting for a long time because the appearance of a superman from South Korea was not a trifling matter that they could ignore. So much so that all of them wanted to utter ¡®Heck!¡¯ instead of ¡®Oh!¡¯ at the moment.

    ***

    In Cheongdam-dong, Seoul, several dayster.

    I was pretty busy early in the morning because I was still in high school, unlike my elder brother, apany employee, and my elder sister, a college student.

    Besides, today was the day I returned to school after a long summer vacation.

    And there was one thing that made me really happy.

    [The roots havepleted further growth thanks to their owner¡¯s influence.

    ¨C The power of the roots¡¯ owner is still strong.

    -The roots keep growing slowly.]

    I heard that message clearly yesterday morning.

    So I had no choice but to jump out of bed because the roots had obviously disappeared after giving me enormous strength.

    After hearing that message, I used Blink with zero cooldown to move to the hill in the back, which people used as a hiking trail, then I immediately opened my mouth.

    ¡°Roots?¡±

    [¡­.]

    The roots didn¡¯t show up despite my urgent call.

    So I immediately shouted at the roots again because they hardly responded to my call before.

    ¡°Roots! Roots!¡±

    Wiggle.

    I could confirm the existence of the roots that I felt so grateful to, felt sorry for and missed so much, deep in the dark forest early in the morning.

    Unlike before when the roots were the size of a tree, the roots this time were small and thin. But it didn¡¯t matter to me at all because the roots had returned. Besides, I heard the message that they kept growing.

    ¡°Hehehe!¡±

    I smiled despite myself.

    I was obviously d to see the roots back because I sometimes wondered if it was true that I went through lots of ordeals, even if I could emit chunks of ice with my hands, use Blink with zero cooldown and lift things weighing hundreds of kilograms. But the roots, who had witnessed all my adventures, were back!

    In other words, the appearance of the roots was clear evidence that proved what I went through, and that it was not fake or a dream.

    That¡¯s why I was so happy.

    While I was still basking in the happy mood that had enveloped me since yesterday, my mother called me.

    ¡°Juyoung! Are you awake now? Wake up and have breakfast!¡±

    So I responded, ¡°Yep, mom. I¡¯m already up!¡±

    Right after I replied, I headed to the bathroom to take a shower.

    Back then, I really hated going back to school, but I was thrilled now.

    Besides, I could see Bora Yon, who made me agonize over whether I should contact her or not. Even though she knew that she would be killed with her family members if she confronted those from Kuhana, she still passed by me to charge at me.

    The school I went to was called Kyungmoon High School.

    A private high school located in the middle of Gangnam, south of the Han River, Seoul, it was notorious for its expensive tuition fees.

    That¡¯s why many students go there to buildworks rather than study hard for prestigious colleges. Of course, it didn¡¯t mean that this high school was not as good as other schools. Obviously, there were some students who were rtively below par, but most of the students there were intelligent.

    Except for those students who got admitted to top schools by studying hard, it was true that rich parents spent a lot on giving expensive tutoring to their children to have them admitted into top colleges. But I was an exception to such trends.

    In any case, Kyungmoon High School was the top high school in South Korea where the children of prestigious individuals like chairmen ofrge business groups, presidents ofrgepanies, those working at distinguishedw firms orrge university hospitals, attended. My brother and sister also graduated from it.

    Near Kyungmoon High School.

    When I reached a ce where I could see the high school from afar, the driver said to me, ¡°Can I stop in front of the school gate like before?¡±

    ¡°Oh, please drop me off inside the school. The day after tomorrow is September, but it¡¯s still hot.¡±

    ¡°Sure, will do.¡±

    Of course, I didn¡¯t say that just because it¡¯s hot because I was not sensitive to heat anyway.

    But what the driver told me reminded me of something I forgot.

    In other words, I had never shown off my identity as the son of a very rich businessman unlike my smart brother and sister, as I felt ashamed by the fact that I was alwayspared to them. And I was also well aware that people around me tended to call me something like ¡®the fly in the ointment¡¯ for Myongin.

    So I wished people around me didn¡¯t know me at all because if they didn¡¯t recognize me, I didn¡¯t have to bepared with my brother and sister, or talked about behind my back by them.

    Because of this, I got out of the sedan in a ce far from the school to avoid being noticed by others, even though I could drive into the high school safely.

    That¡¯s why the driver asked me if I wanted to stop far away like before.

 Chapter 487 - Juyoung Hong (14)

    <h4>Chapter 487: Juyoung Hong (14)</h4>

    I smiled despite myself at that moment because when I looked back, it was so funny that I had to pay attention to trifling things like that in the past.

    I didn¡¯t realize it at that time, but looking back, I felt like my self-esteem was too low.

    I built something like a protective shield around myself, so my pride would not get hurt.

    Nheless, my pride was still hurt at the end of the day.

    At that moment, the driver called me again, ¡°Don¡¯t you remember, Juyoung?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°You used to walk with your head down in the past, but these days you are walking with your head up all the time. I¡¯ve been serving you for several years, but this is the first time that I¡¯ve seen you looking so handsome!¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Yep, and you have grown taller during the summer vacation. Not only your shoulders but also your body shape has grown bigger and majestic. I¡¯ve got a secret to share with you. The butler had a surprised look on his face when he saw you walking in the living room yesterday, so I asked him why, and he said he might have called you thete chairman because you looked exactly like a chip off the old block!¡±

    ¡°Hehehe! I see.¡±

    I returned hispliments with a smile. In the meantime, the car drove smoothly into the school gate. Then I opened the car door and exited the car into the parking lot.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll pick you up when your ss is over.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    I looked around a bit as I replied. Of course, there were a lot of students who got out of expensive foreign cars like me. In fact, it seemed more natural that I got off like this because my high school was different from ordinary high schools.

    Back then, however, I didn¡¯t realize this because I was so narrow-minded that I was preupied with slipping under other people¡¯s notice.

    Anyway, I passed by them and walked naturally through the campus.

    I knew which ssroom I should head to because I received a letter from the school before about my ssroom assignment.

    At that moment, I heard fellow students talking to each other.

    ¡°He must be Juyoung Hong, right?¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s up with him? He always got out of the car far from the school, then walked all the way up here, right?¡¯

    ¡°You bet. Is he sick and tired of doing it?¡¯

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so. He was very weak-minded from the beginning. That¡¯s why he¡¯s being treated as an outcast even though he is a son of the Myongjin Group chairman!¡±

    ¡°Hey! Be quiet! He might overhear us. Speak low. Remember he is from Myongjin!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    Their whispers might have been indistinguishable to my ears in the past, but I could hear it very clearly as if they were chatting right next to me. So I smiled bitterly.

    It was the first time that I realized that they took my tenacious efforts to get unnoticed as something like a conscious pretence to draw their attention.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t want to argue by shouting that I didn¡¯t want to pretend at all, so I passed by them and moved to the new ssroom I was assigned for the second half of my school year.

    Then I turned my eyes to the desk right beside the window in the front.

    Obviously, sitting next to the window had a great merit, but there were few students who wanted to sit there because it¡¯s right in front of the ckboard and the teacher.

    But I always sat there because I was still interested in studying hard then.

    This time, however, was different. My desk was still next to the window, but this time I chose one at the far rear, which was the most popr spot, and duly upied by somebody else.

    When I moved there, the guy who normally upied it, whose face I could not remember well, looked at me.

    So I asked, ¡°I want to sit here. Can you give way?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The guy frowned at me, with a startled expression.

    Perhaps he might have had lots of thoughts in his mind because I was the son of a top businessman, the chairman of Myongjin Group, even though I was no oil painting.

    About 30 seconds passed, but he didn¡¯t reply.

    Then he got up, carrying his backpack. In other words, he gave way.

    But the fact that he didn¡¯t say a single word to me showed his resistance as if he was giving way to Myongjin, not the guy named Juyoung Hong.

    Still, I had noints because I managed to sit at the desk I wanted.

    Other students watched me all along, but I didn¡¯t care because I would draw their attention a lot more in the future.

    Anyway, that¡¯s how my second semester began.

    Since it was the beginning of the second semester, the teachers spent more time exining the method and direction of their future sses rather than starting sses right away.

    At lunch time.

    None of my ssmates talked to me throughout the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th periods.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t feel lonely because it was me who isted myself until now.

    So, even after arriving at the fancy cafeteria, I was alone. But I didn¡¯t care. I picked some delicious foods from the cafeteria buffet, then moved to an empty seat.

    When I was about to eat, somebody sat in front of me.

    Of course, I knew immediately that someone wasing towards me, but I didn¡¯t expect he would sit in front of me.

    ¡°Hey, you must feel lonely if you eat alone like this from the first day of your second semester!¡±

    ¡°You must be Cholmin Kim from Daesung?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    There were five top business groups in Korea. The leader of the pack was Mirae, followed by Myongjin, Daesung and Kusan, with Daeyu trailing far behind them.

    Excluding the Mirae, the middle three Myongjin, Daesung, and Kusan were almost equal. But it was rather awkward to call themselves the top four, so they decided to include Daeyu and call themselves the top five business groups.

    Cholmin Kim was the son of the Daesung Group chairman.

    He was my friend as well as my rival, but he normally didn¡¯t treat me as his friend, not to mention his rival.

    He replied to my question, ¡°Dude, it looks like you¡¯ve be bolder because you¡¯ve grown taller and gained weight during the summer vacation.¡±

    Even though I was rumored to be the shame and ¡®fly in the ointment¡¯ of the Myongjin Group, nobody had openly insulted or picked a fight with me because I was still well protected by my family. In other words, my position was never shaken despite the bad rumors about me.

    As the son of the Daesung Group chairman, Cholmin could spit out such derogatory words to me because Daesung was asrge as Myongjin.

    ¡°Hehehe!¡±

    At that moment, Iughed despite myself.

    It¡¯s true that I was insulted more heavily by the rebels in Sierra Leone and those dispatched by Debius, but they were total strangers to me. But I¡¯ve known this guy in front of me for a long time.

    ¡°Why are youughing at me all of a sudden?¡± Cholmin asked angrily.

    As someone who always thought I was inferior to him, Kim seemed to be quite angry that I was acting differently than before. But I thought even his reaction was so funny.

    So I responded casually, ¡°Well, there is only one reason why Iughed. Because it¡¯s so funny. It¡¯s been a long time since I heard it from you, who I know well.¡±

 Chapter 488 - Juyoung Hong (15)

    <h4>Chapter 488: Juyoung Hong (15)</h4>

    In the past, I was not satisfied with them calling me a hero. They even called me the hope of Earth, or God. In other words, even before ¡®Revival Legend¡¯ started materializing in reality, they bowed to me, no matter how high level they were. Sometimes they earnestly begged for their lives.

    Of course, right now, nobody around me knew it.

    Bang!

    ¡°You bastard! Are you crazy?¡±

    At that moment, Cholmin mmed his fist on the table while ring at me. In an instant, everyone¡¯s eyes turned to us.

    Perhaps Cholmin did it on purpose because nothing used to scare me more than drawing attention.

    In the past I would have felt nervous, not knowing what to do with my head down.

    p!

    This time I rxed my hand, then pped him on the face.

    If I had exerted any force, his cheek would have been ripped apart.

    At the same time, I raised my voice, ¡°Don¡¯t you know that it¡¯s bad manners to make noise when you eat?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    He made a stunned expression for a moment.

    But I didn¡¯t care, and took some sd with a fork and put it into my mouth.

    ¡°You bastard!¡±

    Bang!

    This time I pped him hard on the other cheek. Even though I only exerted a tiny bit of force, his body fell sideways, with his cheek swollen red

    I said, ¡°Hush! Well, I think it¡¯s ok to chat while we are eating, but you are too noisy! Keep your table manners!¡±

    Having said that, I used the fork again, and started eating my food.

    At that moment, my eyes met somebody else¡¯s as I was raising my head.

    And I smiled at this person gently because it was Bora Yon.

    In my house in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul, that night.

    I had dinner with my dad, mom, elder brother and sister.

    When our dinner was almost over, my dad asked, ¡°You said you fought at school?¡±

    Then my sister asked, surprised, ¡°Really? You got into a fight at school? No way¡­¡±

    My mother was also startled to know it.

    No wonder they were stunned because I had never fought with my ssmates, not to mention quarreling with anybody.

    So I gently nodded at their questions.

    At the same time, I asked, ¡°How did you know that? Gosh, it¡¯s not a big deal. It looks like there are people who like to spread rumors.¡±

    pping Cholmin on his cheeks was no big deal.

    Instead of scolding me, my father said, ¡°Good job!¡±

    Of course, my mother and sister demanded I should tell them about what happened, but I didn¡¯t tell them because it was not something I wanted to repeat.

    ***

    In Daesung Group Chairman Junghan Kim¡¯s mansion at that time.

    ¡°Crunch! Why did you put up with it? You should have pped him on the cheek, too!¡±

    ¡°But you said a strong man should be generous to the weak, right, Grandpa?¡±

    ¡°You idiot! You can say that when you¡¯re superior to your opponent. Howe you talk about the generosity of the strong when you got beaten up like that?¡±

    ¡°What if Daesung¡¯s ties with Myongjin go sour because I retaliated?¡±

    ¡°Hw stupid! Do you think Daesung¡¯s ties with Myungjin will go sour because of kids¡¯ fighting like yours?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Cholmin Kim lowered his head, frowning at his grandfather¡¯s rebuke, because he felt it was unfair.

    Then he lifted his head and opened his mouth again.

    ¡°When I go to school tomorrow, I¡¯m going to beat that bastard Juyoung¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s toote, dude. If you beat him tomorrow, it will involve adults like me. You should have done it yesterday! Yesterday! Tut, tut. I had high expectations of you, but you¡¯re still a kid.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Cholmin gnawed his teeth at the thought of Juyoung when he saw his grandfather clicking his tongue at him because it was Juyoung who made him go through this kind of unwanted humiliation.

    At that moment his grandfather asked, ¡°How do you get along with Bora Yon?¡±

    ¡°Bora? Very well! I get along with her very well!¡±

    ¡°Great. Keep it up with her well. If you can make her your woman, Daesung Group will be yours. Of course, Mirae will be yours, too, as she will take it over. If that happens, you can be the head of a leading global business group that is not bound to South Korea.¡±

    ¡°Sure, don¡¯t worry! Grandpa, I¡¯m going to make Daesung a global business leader!¡±

    At Kyungmoon High School the next day.

    Looking back, my quarrel with Cholmin yesterday was not a big deal. Besides, it didn¡¯t develop into any big fight between me and him.

    But my scuffle with him instantly became a hot topic among my ssmates at school because I and he symbolically represented Myongjin and Daesung respectively.

    So when I got out of the car, many students turned their eyes to me.

    Given that I was a timid and reticent boy during freshman year, my scuffle with Cholmin yesterday was really shocking and unexpected to them.

    But I ignored their intense attention because it was a trifling matter as I told my family.

    So I passed by the guys who looked at me furtively, headed to my ssroom and spent the day as usual.

    Soon it was lunch time.

    To be honest, I expected that Cholmin woulde to see me before or after the 1st ss was over. HIs personality was one that would never let me off the hook after being humiliated by me.

    Contrary to my expectations, he didn¡¯t appear before me.

    ¡®It looks like he must have had a good scolding.¡¯

    That¡¯s what I guessed because he was not the type of guy who would leave matters be.

    But somebody appeared before me like yesterday.

    Was it Cholmin?

    No, it was Bora Yon.

    She put down the meal tray on the table and sat next to me.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter with you?¡± she asked suddenly.

    ¡°What?¡±

    I shrugged slightly as if I didn¡¯t know what she was talking about.

    She said, ¡°I mean what happened to you yesterday.¡±

    ¡°Ah, well, that was a trifling scuffle between friends.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I replied quickly, with a slight smile on my lips, but it was obviously not the answer she expected to hear because she didn¡¯t brighten her hardened expression.

    Then she continued, ¡°Well, you weren¡¯t like this before.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­you¡¯re right.¡±

    As my sister said, I was like a kitten that didn¡¯t know how to reveal its ws.

    In other words, I was like a little mouse that looked for a ce to hide first.

    I used to be like that kind of person before, so I just nodded at her words.

    Then I said, ¡°I¡¯m going to change my attitude from now on.¡±

    ¡°Change your attitude?¡±

    ¡°Yep.¡±

    When she said that, there was no change in her expression, but her eyes were twinkling unlike before, as if she discovered something interesting.

    Watching her, I opened his mouth again with a big smile.

    ¡°Well, I tried to live quietly because our country or this earth is too small to embrace me. For example, if I just stretch myself even a bit, they are shocked. But I don¡¯t care. What¡¯s the big deal even if they are shocked? I now know they can get used to it over time.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Finally, there was a noticeable change in her expression.

    And I felt satisfied to notice it.

 Chapter 489 - Juyoung Hong (16)

    <h4>Chapter 489: Juyoung Hong (16)</h4>

    Of course, she didn¡¯t understand my point fully.

    She responded lightly, ¡°Wow, you know how to crack a joke like that?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha!¡±

    I just smiled at her gentle rejoinder.

    But I said, looking into her eyes, ¡°Do you remember what I told you when we were kids?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°You told me we should get married. And I told you I would propose with a beautiful jewel, right?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Obviously, she was the one who reminded me when she passed by me to confront the Kuhana rulers even though she knew she would be killed.

    To be honest, I hadpletely forgotten it before she reminded me.

    Or I may have forgotten it deliberately back then because she was smarter than me in everything at that time. Perhaps I was ovee with an inferiorityplex, and I knew too well that it was just useless to look up at a tree that I could not climb.

    She replied, ¡°Sure, I remember.¡±

    As soon as she confirmed it, I added, ¡°I¡¯m going to try to make ite true.¡±

    ¡°Are you kidding me?¡±

    ¡°Hehehe! Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m going to move little by little, so you will not be able to refuse me. Don¡¯t you remember what I¡¯ve told you? I am not going to live a quiet life.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    So I had lunch with her on that day, the next day and the day after.

    I¡¯m still in high school right now, so I just led an ordinary daily life.

    Some may find ordinary daily lives boring, but to me, it was not because I experienced so many things and exposed myself to lots of situations where I tried my best to survive. So I liked ordinary days at least for the time being.

    Moreover, unlike in the past, I was no longer a little mouse looking for a hole to hide at school, and I could always see my father, mother, brother, and sister at home.

    Anyway, a month and a half passed quickly, and soon the midterm exam was just around the corner.

    [Name: Juyoung Hong.

    2nd semester midterm exam.

    -Korean: 100 points.

    -Mathematics: 100 points.

    -English: 100 points.

    -Korean history: 100 points.

    -Social research: 100 points.

    :

    :

    ¨C ss ranking: 1st ce.

    -Total ranking: 1st ce.]

    I scored perfect points in all subjects, which I totally took for granted.

    I still don¡¯t know if I looked like a person bound by the shackles of my past, but I¡¯ve changedpletely now.

    But others could not help but be stunned by my top grades.

    I had the midterm and final exams in the first semester too, and at that time, I was almost at the bottom of my ss.

    No wonder my ssmates were stunned.

    ¡°Perfect scores in all subjects?¡±

    ¡°Does that make sense?¡±

    ¡°Even in ss, he didn¡¯t really pay attention, right?¡±

    ¡°You bet!¡±

    My top scores shocked my ssmates.

    Even though the students regarded Kyungmoon High School as a ce to buildworks rather than lead a normal school life, the top students could not help but be sensitive to their grades because they aimed for the top national colleges.

    Anyway, it was lunchtime on the day the results of the students¡¯ midterm exam results were announced.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Someone was just looking at me nkly instead of eating.

    It was none other than Bora.

    Of course, I knew what her expression meant, but I just ate lunch without caring about it.

    She then said, ¡°Great. I admit your top scores are the results of your determination not to hide yourself any longer. But you got perfect scores in all the subjects. Of course, I don¡¯t think you cheated because you would not have gotten away with it if you actually did.¡±

    Instead of responding to her, I just smiled quietly because I expected things like this in advance. And I did it knowingly because when I told her and my family that I would change, I was serious.

    ***

    In the Kyungmoon High School¡¯s registrar¡¯s office at that time.

    ¡°Juyoung was the third tost in the first semester. During his middle school days, he was at the bottom of his ss all the time, or second from the bottom. Howe he got perfect scores all of a sudden?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    When the teaching director pointed it out, the teachers in charge of freshmen could not say anything because they also knew it.

    He continued, ¡°Of course, he might have studied very hard during the summer . Since he is a son of the chairman of the Myongjin Group, he might have had tutoring with the best teachers in the field, but I just can¡¯t believe he got A¡¯s in all subjects! Besides, he was at the bottom of his ss throughout his middle school days!¡±

    Despite his critical remarks, they could not respond because they agreed with him. They could understand Juyoung¡¯s perfect scores if they had ever seen him getting good grades because he could improve with strong determination. But as the teaching director pointed out, he was at the bottom of his ss during his middle school days before he attended high school. All this indicated that Juyoung had no solid basic knowledge that could support his top scores in high school.

    The teaching director continued, ¡°Now we have dozens ofints from other parents. Dozens ofints! Moreover, some of them are even thinking of leaking to the press tomorrow that our school fabricates students¡¯ grades!¡±

    Anyway, the teaching director kept pointing out the gravity of the situation.

    At that moment, math teacher Jiyoung Lee raised her hand with a frown and said.

    ¡°Teaching director, we teachers in charge of the freshmen, held a meeting about this matter in advance. At the meeting, we tried to get someone to step forward and admit to giving the exam papers before hand to Juyoung Hong, but nobody did.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°Even if any of us gave the exam paper to him, we would not have given him perfect scores!¡±

    ¡°Moreover, he got perfect scores in all subjects! Teaching director, do you think any of us here have been bought off by Juyoung, or the Myongjin Group?¡±

    As they, who were waiting for the chance to speak up, rebuked him one by one, the teaching director flinched because actually he also took into ount the possibility of Myongji buying off the teachers here.

    As one of the top five business conglomerates in South Korea, the Myongjin Group could afford to pay each of the teachers here dearly for their tutoring Juyoung, and the teachers would also be tempted if they were offered one billion Korean Won (around 880,000 USD).

    But was there any possibility that Myongjin Group would be stupid enough to do such things which would be leaked to public anyway?

    The teaching director shook his head after thinking about that possibility briefly.

    But he was not yet persuaded that Juyoung had not received the answer sheets from any of them, so he kept discussing with them because he could not find any solution to this question.

    At that moment, Principal Sunchoon Jang, who had been listening to their conversation in one corner of the office, opened his mouth gently.

    ¡°How about giving him a chance to retake the exams? In other words, have him take the exams again separately. And this time, those teachers in charge of sophomore and senior students will set the exam. Even if they are in charge of sophomore and senior students, they can write test questions for freshmen, right?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

 Chapter 490 - Juyoung Hong (17)

    <h4>Chapter 490: Juyoung Hong (17)</h4>

    A brief silence fell in the office.

    But Principal Jang continued, ¡°If we have him retake the exam, why don¡¯t we arrange for him to take the test in an open space? Then nobody will take any issue orin about the results of his exams. Oh, it¡¯s not a bad idea for some parents to also be present to observe.¡±

    Actually, that¡¯s what the teaching director and the other teachers had in mind, but they could not voice it because they would have to deal with Myongjin if they objected.

    Above all, even asking Juyoung to retake the test would reveal their suspicion that they suspected he cheated on the test.

    So the teaching director said cautiously, ¡°Do you think it¡¯s okay?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, of course it¡¯s okay. If Juyoung obtains perfect scores again, I will go and see his parents myself and sincerely apologize. If he doesn¡¯t, I will give him a good scolding. Of course, I prefer the first option even if I lose my position as the principal here. Hahaha!¡±

    Anyway, they decided to have him retake the test ording to the principal¡¯s suggestion.

    In fact, angry parents kept calling the school office toin about Juyoung.

    In the school office the next day.

    ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll retake the exams.¡±

    I casually epted it when my homeroom teacher cautiously made the suggestion to me. For I expected things like this would happen.

    And the rumors about my retake spread quickly.

    ¡°Tut, tut. I wish he didn¡¯t cheat.¡±

    ¡°You bet. Howe he got perfect scores in all subjects?¡±

    ¡°I guess they should find out the teacher who gave him the answer sheets.¡±

    ¡°Absolutely! The Parent-Teacher Association is even preparing to send a petition to the prosecution office to investigate the matter.¡±

    ¡°By the way, he is a son of the Myongjin Group chairman. Is it okay?¡±

    ¡°Well, this can be a great chance for other business groups. Even though they pretend to have good rtions with each other, they are looking for a chance to stab each other behind the scenes. So they will be very happy if Myongjin is in trouble because of this.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    In fact, there were lots of people who enjoyed watching this situation.

    Of course, I was not upset with them because as the saying goes, an envious man waxes lean with the fatness of his neighbor.

    Anyway, time passed, and the day came when I took the exams again.

    In the school office of Kyungmoon High School.

    ¡°I¡¯ve excluded all the teachers in charge of freshmen as test organizers. Instead, I¡¯ve asked those in charge of the junior and senior students to write 100 questions. They wrote lots of questions on specific topics, so the exams will be fairly difficult.¡±

    Principal Jang opened his mouth, looking at some parents who came to the school to see with their own eyes if the student in question would cheat.

    He continued, ¡°Okay, we¡¯re going to randomly select 25 questions, and the order of the questions will be random too. Alright, can you choose the questions, too, since you havee here?¡±

    Some parents who visited the school to expose the cheating just smacked their lips without expressing the opinion because the teachers prepared the questions very thoroughly in their eyes.

    Anyway, some parents and teachers randomly selected the questions, and mixed the selected questions to make the order random.

    Even if the answer sheets were leaked, it would be impossible for anybody to obtain a perfect score unless they knew all 100 questions and answers. Besides, he took tests on 11 subjects including Korean, math, and English, so the total number of questions was as many as 1,100.

    Anyway, the five teachers took the test papers and moved to the ssroom where Juyong was waiting.

    Of course, the rest of the teachers and the parents were carefully observing through CCTV in the ssroom.

    ***

    The Strait of Hormuz is a very narrow strait with a width of about 52 nautical miles.

    But it was very important geographically.

    In terms of oil production, Iran was behind Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, but with the oil-producing Bahrain, Qatar, and Dubaibined, more than 30% of the world¡¯s crude oil was aboard the ships going through this narrow strait.

    In that respect, the world economy would inevitably stumble if the Strait of Hormuz was blocked. Despite that, Iran, which was under strong US economic sanctions, often yed Russian roulette on the Strait of Hormuz.

    ¡°We are a Spanish tanker on our way to the Corba port in Valencia, Spain, carrying crude oil under a crude oil contract with the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation.¡±

    Captain Meldova, aboard the Spanish tanker Kona, reported his situation to the Iranian destroyer blocking the Strait of Hormuz.

    [We have found the Kona trying to escape without rescue efforts after colliding with a Iranian fishing boat. So turn off the engine, and stop right away!]

    ¡°Oh my God! What the heck?¡±

    Captain Meldova was surprised to hear this absurd statement by the Iranian Commander, and was about to protest their unjust action when somebody stopped him.

    It was Deputy Captain Javier.

    He said, ¡°Your protest will not work, Captain. They have already detained a British tanker for 60 days before.¡±

    ¡°Got it¡­¡±

    Of course, Captain Meldova was also familiar with that episode.

    There was not a single tanker among those that used the Strait of Hormuz here that had not experienced friction with the Iranian navy.

    But Captain Meldova could not sit still even for a single day or even for hours, because he would suffer severe financial loss if his ship was detained here.

    So even though he knew it would not work, he still protested.

    Anyway, the Spanish Kona moved to the port of Bandar Abbas in southeastern Iran, escorted by the destroyer. Of course, that didn¡¯t just happen to the Spanish Kona.

    Tankers of Asian nationality also experienced such shes with the Iranian navy.

    In particr, Korean and Japanese oil tankers were forcibly escorted to Bandar Abbas port after they were captured by Iranian battleships and destroyers.

    Texas crude oil, allegedly the best oil, had a big impact on the Americas, including the United States, Canada, and Mexico, while the North Sea Brent oil had a great influence on Europe and Africa, and Middle East oil had a great influence on the Middle East and Asia.

    The situation was more acute in Korea and Japan where not even a drop of oil was produced.

    In the Moyadi oil field in northeastern Saudi Arabia several dayster.

    Bang!

    A huge fire broke out with a loud noise at the Moyadi oil field, one of thergest oil fields in Saudi Arabia. The mes were so huge that firefighters did not dare to approach the field. But ck smoke was also rising from the fe oilplex not far from the Moyadi oil field.

    Bang!

    Huge mes soared with a big noise in the fe oil field, which was as big as the Moyadi oil field.

    At the same time the mes were rising not only from this oil field but also therge oilplex nearby. No wonder Saudi Arabia was in big turmoil.

    Hundreds of firefighter vehicles and dozens of firefighter helicopters were dispatched to the scenes immediately, but they could not put down the mes easily.

 Chapter 491 - Juyoung Hong (18)

    <h4>Chapter 491: Juyoung Hong (18)</h4>

    After all, Saudi Arabia drained all the oil stored in the fe oilplex and dumped it on the ground. They could dig oil again, but if the oil storage and refinery facilities were destroyed, it would take a lot of money and time to restore them.

    But the problem wasn¡¯t just that.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    A chain of explosions urred in the Moyadi oil field.

    In the end, Saudi Arabia¡¯s state-run oilpany made the decision to block the drilling holes that they had excavated with huge money because that was the only way they could stop further explosions.

    Anyway, Saudi Arabia suffered huge losses from the explosions and fires at therge oil fields and oilplexes. Aside from the financial loss, it would take them a considerable amount of time to restore them.

    The problem was that the Saudi Arabian government determined that the Yemeni Houthi rebels were responsible for the explosions and fires, and characterized their acts as terrorism. That meant that the Saudi Arabian government had to dy recovery work until they cracked down on the rebel group.

    From the standpoint of Saudi Arabia, which prided itself as the hegemon of the Middle East, just standing idle without doing anything about the terrorist group would humte them and disgrace their reputation.

    Anyway, Iran¡¯s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and the simultaneous terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia plunged the world into chaos. And the biggest consequences were experienced by Asia, which imported all of its oil from abroad.

    ***

    The retaking center of Kyeongmun High School where I was to retake the exams.

    In fact, I would not give it such a grand name because I alone was there to take the exams. But there were as many as five test monitors.

    I quickly tackled the problems one by one.

    I noticed several problems designed to cloud my judgement, but I had no problem at all solving them because they were too easy.

    So I solved all the problems faster than originally nned.

    Doksu Koh, the math teacher in charge of seniors, originally thought I must have cheated.

    In his eyes, it was impossible for me, who was always at the bottom of my ss, to achieve the top scores.

    But when he witnessed me solving the problems quickly, he could not help but open his eyes wide. When I worked on a math problem, it took me five seconds to understand the question, and I solved it without any hesitation. So I answered the question in 10 seconds.

    I decided that I would clear his suspicion by working out the problems one by one, even though I could answer them using mental arithmetic.

    But Koh seemed to discover my intentions when I purposely worked out the questions to take 20-30 seconds per question.

    In the end, in less than 10 minutes, I solved all the math problems without any mistakes.

    Moreover, Koh purposefully raised the difficulty of the test beyond high school freshman level for me. It was not easy at all for anybody to solve all the problems within a limited testing time.

    Anyway, not only Koh, but also other test monitors admitted that Juyoung Hong, who was rumored to be an idiot son of the Myongjin Group chairman, was not stupid at all.

    During the weekend two days after I took the test again.

    In my house in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul.

    Somebody was supposed to visit my house, so my father, mother and I were waiting for him. It was none other than Principal Jang who appeared.

    As soon as he came in, he lowered his head to my parents, then expressed apologies for not trusting their son. He also said he was sorry he could not show his exemry attitude as an educator to them.

    But my dad said, ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡±

    And my mother cut in, ¡°I understand your feelings.¡±

    Of course, it wasn¡¯t just the students and teachers in the school who were shocked by my top scores in the retaken exams. My family members were also shocked because they had never seen me studying hard. Besides, when my father noticed I changed, he didn¡¯t force me to focus on studying any longer.

    Nheless, I got A¡¯s in all subjects, and ranked first among the freshmen in school.

    Principal Jang said, ¡°You must be proud of your son. I don¡¯t know why, but the teachers monitoring his retake even thought that your son might have hidden his real academic talent until now. Some of them are very confident that he did.¡±

    Back then I was really behind my ssmates.

    For example, I could not remember anything as soon as I closed an English word book, even though I tried to memorize it for several hours.

    That¡¯s why I gave up studying and found a role-ying game that inevitably rewarded me for my work, whether it was a level-up or a misceneous item.

    Anyway, the principal talked with my parents for some time, and I just listened in on the conversation.

    I was content with watching my parents smile whenever the principal praised me.

    That evening.

    Knock! Knock!

    Someone knocked on my door and showed up.

    It was my sister.

    She said, ¡°You are an alien! I am now fully convinced that you are an alien! By the way, don¡¯t you feel sorry for my brother who wille backter if you pretend to be so smart? Just think of my real brother who can be stupid all of a sudden!¡±

    ¡°Whew¡­¡±

    With a tray of juice and fruit in her hand, she shouted at me like that.

    Probably my mother let here to see me because she was smiling from ear to ear after Principal Jang left.

    So I beckoned to her to get closer to me.

    Then I said, ¡°Hey, human. You had better watch yournguage. Otherwise, I won¡¯t spare your brother!¡±

    At first, I tried to make excuses, then ignored her teasing, but this time I decided to respond to her strongly.

    She then snapped, ¡°Gosh! Are you making fun of me?¡±

    She put down a tray of juice and fruit next to me, then ruffled my hair a bit.

    So I stretched my hand to her.

    ¡°Again?¡±

    ¡°Yep.¡±

    In response to my answer, she opened her hands wide.

    Then I dropped something on it, which was none other than diamond stones.

    But she said jokingly, ¡°Gosh, why are you giving me these stones again?¡±

    If I had given her only one or two, she would have thought they were diamonds.

    But she took them as simple stones from the beginning because I gave them to her in bulk.

    I didn¡¯t even bother to correct her.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t throw away what I gave youst time, right?¡±

    ¡°How can I throw them away when I¡¯ve received something from you for the first time?¡±

    ¡°Keep them well!¡±

    ¡°Okay, got it.¡±

    Of course, I had some real gifts reserved for my family.

    In other words, several of the best craftsmen from Debius were making jewels with great care. They were making a ne for my mom, earrings for my sister, and tie pins for my father and brother.

    Anyway, after she left my room, I took out the documents that Taesok Oh had sent from Sierra Leone, and reviewed them.

 Chapter 492 - Juyoung Hong (19)

    <h4>Chapter 492: Juyoung Hong (19)</h4>

    The next morning.

    Even though it was still very dark outside, I woke up and left the house using Blink with zero cooldown.

    Then I carefullynded on the roof of a ck van parked not far from, nor too close to my house. And I could hear voicesing from inside the van.

    The car doors and even the windows werepletely closed, but I had no problem hearing the conversation inside.

    ¡°Man, I¡¯m so bored.¡±

    ¡°What should we do? We just have to follow our supervisor¡¯s order.¡±

    ¡°By the way, why didn¡¯t he tell us the reason? We were told to just watch him. I have been in this business for ten years already, but I¡¯ve never heard this kind of stupid order.¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t, either.¡±

    They were chatting in English. So it seemed that they were not Koreans.

    But that wasn¡¯t important to me, so I shoved my hand straight into the roof of the thick van.

    At the same time, I tore the roof apart to both sides as if it was a piece of paper.

    At first nce, I could immediately recognize it was no normal vehicle due to all the strange equipment inside. And the two men inside were looking at me in shock with pale faces.

    So I said softly, ¡°What business has brought you here?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    But they didn¡¯t answer.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t expect they would respond quickly. They were so shocked that they did not know what to say.

    At that moment, a voice came from the machine on the other side instead of them who were still trembling.

    [Nice to meet you, Juyoung Hong. We aren¡¯t approaching you with bad intentions. I was going to see you soon anyway. Before that, I wanted to check out the situation a bit. I didn¡¯t intend any harm to you at all.]

    But the owner of the voice didn¡¯t introduce himself.

    So I responded right away, ¡°Who the hell are you?¡±

    [My name is Anderson, the Director of US National Intelligence Service.]

    ¡°Um¡­ okay. Then I¡¯ll see you exactly at this time tomorrow. I¡¯d like you toe in person if possible. And I don¡¯t like people who don¡¯t keep their promises.¡±

    [Sure, no problem.]

    I ended the conversation with him.

    To be honest, I was nning to visit the United States or a Middle East country sooner orter.

    ***

    There is no question that Myongjin is one of thergest conglomerates in South Korea.

    Myongjin maintains several subsidiaries under its umbre, and among them is an oil refinery called Myongjin Refinery.

    But thatpany has been the biggest headache for Chairman Sangman Hong these days.

    In the conference room of the Myongjin Group headquarters.

    ¡°So you don¡¯t know when our nine detained tankers will be released?¡±

    When Chairman Hong asked, the head of Myongjin Refinery, Jungchol Yang, cautiously replied, ¡°No, sir. Of course, we have been raising objections to the Iranian government¡¯s position from various channels. In addition, Mirae, Daesung, Hanil Energy and Maseok Caltex are also working together with our government to urge them to release the detained tankers as soon as possible.¡±

    Refined crude oil makes up hundreds of chemical products such as LPG, gasoline, kerosene, diesel and lubricants as well as fertilizers, detergents, stics, and asphalt, so oil imports were essential to not only the oil importpanies but also the national economy.

    In a broader context, the oil refinery business is one of the backbone industries.

    Aside from the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the current problem is not a dispute amongpanies, but the involvement of the giant oil producer Iran.

    Because of that, President Yang told Chairman Hong that he was working with other oilpanies and the Korean government to find a solution, but Chairman Hong did not like that kind of perfunctory reply. But he didn¡¯t rebuke President Yang.

    This was not the first time that Iran had imposed the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, and there was no proper solution whenever it happened. The only solution was for Iran to surrender under the intense pressure of the United States.

    But this time, there was another reason why Chairman Hong was worrying about the situation immensely.

    ¡°What about Saudi Arabia?¡±

    ¡°Currently, its daily production of crude oil has fallen below 70% of its previous production. Moreover, the Saudi Arabian government has deployed military units to guard other oil fields and facilities in case of another terrorist attack. So we expect its oil production to fall further than 70% for the time being.¡±

    ¡°Then what about their recovery efforts?¡±

    ¡°Well, Saudi Arabia is the self-proimed hegemon in the Middle East, so they prioritize revenge on the terrorists over restoring their oil facilities. So we have no idea of when they will finish repairing the damaged facilities¡­¡±

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    Chairman Hong usually did not express his emotions before his deputies, but this time he could not help but swear despite himself because of the messy situation.

    Then he asked, ¡°How much crude oil does Myongjin Oil Refinery have in stock?¡±

    ¡°If we process crude oil at the current rate, it looks like we will run out of it in 15 days.¡±

    ¡°Aside from Saudi Arabia, Iran¡¯s detention of our nine oil tankers is really painful to us. As you know, it is these tankers that have to load and unload oil, but they have been detained and we don¡¯t know when they will release them¡­¡± Vice President Hongsan Lee said cautiously.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Anyway, they were in the worst situation right now, so Chairman Hong had no choice but to keep silent.

    Then he said in a low voice, ¡°Okay. Let me sum up what is happening so far. Currently the supply and demand of crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz has been blocked, and our only alternative, Saudi Arabia, cannot export crude oil to Korea for the time being, right?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    When Chairman Hong asked, all the executives could not respond properly.

    More than 80% of South Korea¡¯s crude oil, including Myongjin¡¯s, came from the Middle East. Since the Strait of Hormuz was blocked, the only solution was to mobilize an oil tankerrge enough to carry a huge amount of crude oil at one time. Because of that, it was inevitable for them to import oil from the Middle East, which led them to be dependent on Middle East oil as time went by.

    Even if they tried to diversify oil suppliers in case of emergency, they had to take into ount the additional transportation costs. Moreover, their original suppliers had been decided a long time ago, so they needed to bet more money to be able to secure their new suppliers.

    But there was another problem which was more serious than anything else.

    [We have been trading stable and smooth crude oil with you for decades. If you need more oil, isn¡¯t it good manners for you to talk to us first? I wonder if you ignore our capabilities.]

    Saudi Arabia¡¯s tant warning was a clear signal that Chairman Hong should be more dependent on them. Besides, Chairman Hong and Myongjin Oil Refinery had no choice but to give up their efforts to diversify oil suppliers because of their tant threat that they would cut off crude oil supply the moment Myongjin found other suppliers. If Saudi Arabia cut off oil supply to Myongjin right now, it would be impossible for them to secure a new oil supplier. Even if Myongjin secured a new oil supplier, it would be far inferiorpared to Saudi Arabia.

 Chapter 493 - Juyoung Hong (20)

    <h4>Chapter 493: Juyoung Hong (20)</h4>

    Basically, Middle Eastern oil is cheap because its quality is slightly inferior to the most representative crude oil, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) or North Sea Brent oil.

    But it wasn¡¯t a big deal. When ites to crude oil refining capacity, Myongjin and other Korean oil refiningpanies are among the best in the world.

    The problem was that no matter how excellent their crude oil refining capabilities were, it was useless without any crude oil.

    In any case, the emergency meeting held at the Myongjin Group headquarters ended without any specific solution.

    But this was not a problem Myongjin faced alone because there were other oil refineries in South Korea.

    In the Mirae Group headquarters.

    ¡°You mean we can¡¯t find any solution?¡±

    ¡°No, sir. No matter how hard we tried, we couldn¡¯t. Moreover, Iran seemed to view the turmoil in Saudi Arabia as an opportunity. That¡¯s why they dispatched additional naval forces to increase the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.¡±

    ¡°I met Crown Prince Mohamdad Van Salman through my ties with the royal family of Saudi Arabia. But this time I could not persuade them at all¡­¡±

    ¡°As you know, Iran is supporting the Houthis rebels in Yemen, who were med for the recent terrorist attacks, so as the leader of the Sunnis, the Saudi Arabian government will never let Iran off the hook this time because Iran is the leader of their sworn enemy, the Shiites.¡±

    In the end, they had a heated debate, but could note up with any proper solution.

    Of course, the Mirae Group moved faster than all the other top business groups like Myongjin, Daesung and Kusan, because they were the best among them.

    But they still encountered the same problem.

    ¡°We inquired with Hazcal Shipping and Trans Ocean Shipping to rent new oil tankers, but they are asking us for more than three times the usual price.¡±

    ¡°We sent our staff to the United States, Russia, and Europe to obtain crude oil, but we could not purchase even a drop of crude oil because their oil contracts were already full from as early as three months ago.¡±

    ¡°The price of crude oil in the ck market has soared more than five times, so it is impossible for us to make any profits with that price. Besides, we can¡¯t secure enough crude oil.¡±

    Anyway, not only Myongjin but also Mirae, Daesung, Hanil Energy, Maseok Caltex, and the Korean government worked together to find the solution, but there was no solution to be found. All they could do was hope that the Iranian government could lift its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz as soon as possible.

    Of course, Japan, the major importer of crude oil from the Middle East, was in the same situation as Korea.

    ***

    At the US Embassy in Jongno-gu, Seoul very early in the morning.

    Tramp- Tramp-

    It was normally crowded during the day for visa matters, but it was quite early in the morning. So I slowly walked towards the US Embassy.

    When I stood before the fully locked iron gate, it opened immediately as I was invited by a top US national security official.

    When I stepped inside the US Embassy, a guide appeared, so I followed him down to the third floor of the basement.

    There I encountered a group of people, and the one in the middle walked out a few steps toward me and opened his mouth.

    ¡°Nice to meet you. I¡¯m Anderson, Director of the US National Intelligence Service.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Juyoung Hong.¡±

    If this had been an official meeting, I would have greeted them formally.

    But I encountered them in the early morning with them spying on me and my surroundings without permission.

    So I deliberately didn¡¯t pay due respects to them.

    Of course, US National Intelligence Service Director Anderson did not show any particr displeasure.

    ¡°Pleasee this way.¡±

    They may have some business with me, and I also have something to say, so I followed Director Anderson again.Then I entered a space that seemingly looked like an underground bunker. Only then did I sit across Director Anderson.

    First of all, I opened my mouth.

    ¡°Was it through a satellite?¡±

    I didn¡¯t mean to hide it, but nor did I want to reveal it.

    Still, if they found me through a certain electronic device, I thought it was a satellite.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. Of course, it was quite by ident that we noticed your movement.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± I said, nodding gently at his reply.

    Since I expected it, I wasn¡¯t surprised by his reply.

    While I was talking with him, I had one question.

    From the viewpoint of the United States, they must be most curious about my capabilities, or my identity, and that¡¯s why they had tried to spy on me.

    Nheless, Director Anderson didn¡¯t ask me about it at all.

    Instead, he asked me lots of irrelevant questions.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t have to mention it first because he didn¡¯t ask me, but I soon realized why he wanted to see me.

    ¡°It looks like the Myongjin Group, and even South Korea has lots of headaches these days.¡±

    ¡°Really¡± I casually replied.

    He continued, ¡°South Korea imports oil mostly from the Middle East, right? But Iran has blocked the Strait of Hormuz and Saudi Arabia was hit by a spate of terrorism attacks¡­¡±

    Actually, I was aware of the situation because my father and brother agonized over that matter when they came back from work. They constantly contacted people abroad.

    Of course, the United States was able to solve it as it has done in the past.

    But I am an exception as well, because I think I can solve the problem.

    So I nned to head to the Middle East by myself because the quickest and surest solution is for Iran to lift the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

    If that happens, Myongjin can import oil from Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates rather than Saudi Arabia.

    Then the United States intervened all of a sudden. Of course, that didn¡¯t matter.

    But the problem was that the US made a wrong judgement.

    Thump! Thump!

    First of all, I lifted my feet, and mmed the floor.

    A loud noise resonated out to the long hallway.

    After confirming it, I said, ¡°No, maybe not. How can a top official like youe alone with me to this enclosed space? How can I believe it? All the people I¡¯ve met before were like you.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The guy who introduced himself as Director Anderson was dumbfounded.

    I continued, ¡°Bomb? Oh, perhaps you can use a nuclear bomb. Well, I understand your position because you don¡¯t like me, an unexpected variable, who appeared all of a sudden.¡±

    Having said that, I stood up, then I approached thepletely blocked wall and poked my hand towards it to tear it apart.

    But my hands could not prate the wall. Instead, the whole wall rebounded slightly when my hand touched it.

    ¡°Uh? What the heck is this? This isn¡¯t just a wall.¡±

    ¡°Well, you will never be able to break it. Even if a nuclear bomb explodes here, it won¡¯t break the wall.¡±

    Hearing that, I clenched my fist and mmed the wall.

    m! m!

    But it didn¡¯t even scratch the wall, and only caused it to oscite more than before.

    ¡°Wow, let me admit the power of the United States. Honestly I don¡¯t really like what the US does, but I have no choice but to admit the power of you guys if you have made this wall.¡±

    I didn¡¯t hit the wall jokingly. I hit it with my full force.

    I hit it with my fist first, then spread my fingers to hit again with a more destructive power.

 Chapter 495 - Juyoung Hong (22)

    <h4>Chapter 495: Juyoung Hong (22)</h4>

    The next morning, Chairman Hong listened to the news on TV while reading a newspaper. Iran¡¯s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and the terrorist attacks against Saudi Arabia dominated the news these days.

    Of course, Chairman Hong was well aware of that because of his position as one of the top business leaders in South Korea.

    But that didn¡¯t mean he ignored all the news because he hit upon good ideas sometimes while watching the news.

    At that moment, he stopped reading the newspaper and turned his full attention to the TV news because he noticed somethingpletely unexpected.

    [Do you see that? This is the Victoria cier, one of thergest ciers in the Arctic. Of course, you don¡¯t have to be surprised because this is the Arctic, and there are so many huge ciers there, but if you look at the picture on the right side of the screen¡­]

    As the TV anchor said, Chairman Hong looked at the photo on the right of the screen.

    It was a very little cier, most of which was blue sea.

    If the anchor had not mentioned it was the Arctic, nobody would have recognized it.

    The anchor continued.

    [The picture you see on the right is the Victoria cier. In other words, it is the same location you see now. And this picture was taken yesterday. So, just overnight, a cier bigger than the Korean Penins was created here in the Arctic.]

    ¡°Um¡­¡±

    Chairman Hong shook his head slightly, wondering if today was April Fool¡¯s Day.

    The two ces were simply so different from each other.

    So much so that it would be absurd to say it changed so much overnight.

    [Currently, several meteorologists say they can¡¯tment on this bizarre phenomenon at all because they have no exnation. Some say it¡¯s been created by an alien or it¡¯s the result of Earth¡¯s anger, but nobody knows the reason for sure.]

    Chairman Hong turned his gaze back to the newspaper, thinking that it was more likely the result of Earth¡¯s anger.

    Obviously, it was surprising and interesting to him, but his top and immediate concern was how to secure crude oil.

    ¡®Our government says that if we can secure crude oil, they will subsidize it to some extent. But the problem is I can¡¯t.¡¯

    Without crude oil, it was inevitable for Myongjin Oil Refinery to stop operating, not to mention the South Korean economy as a whole. People would no longer be able to drive cars.

    Anyway, Chairman Hong started the day worrying about the crude oil matter.

    Myongjin Oil Refinery had only 10 days of oil reserve.

    ***

    Even though all the news on TV was about the sudden creation of a huge cier in the Arctic and people¡¯s avoiding driving cars because of skyrocketing oil prices, I went to school as usual because I was a high school student.

    Exactly at the end of the first period, my cell phone rang, but it was from an unidentified caller.

    But it didn¡¯t matter, so I picked up the call.

    Somebody spoke to me in English.

    [Hello, Juyoung Hong, I¡¯m a special adviser to President William¡­]

    ¡°I will go to your embassy at the same time as I did yesterday. I forgave you once, but I won¡¯t forgive you again.¡±

    I interrupted the other party and told him what I had to say, then hung up the phone.

    I didn¡¯t shed blood, sweat and tears in the Arctic yesterday to get a call like this.

    After my ss was over, I cautiously left the house at dawn like yesterday.

    I didn¡¯t forget to say something to the roots on the way.

    ¡°Hope you take good care of my house.¡±

    Wiggle, wiggle.

    The roots had grown a littlepared to before.

    Thanks to the roots, I was more confident in taking action because the roots could protect my family from any danger.

    Anyway, I arrived at the US Embassy in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

    When I reached the iron gate, the security guard opened it like yesterday.

    If there was something different from yesterday, it was that quite a few people greeted me at the entrance today.

    At the same time, one of them walked up to me and said, ¡°Nice to meet you, Mr. Juyoung Hong. I¡¯m Anderson, Director of the National Intelligence Service.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you are Director Anderson. I hope you are not a fake this time. I don¡¯t like fakes at all.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not a fake this time. Sorry for disrespecting you before. We won¡¯t do it again.¡±

    ¡°Good. Making a mistake once is more than enough.¡±

    As soon as I responded to Director Anderson¡¯s apology, I stepped inside the embassy.

    This time I went up a floor, not to the underground.

    I stepped into the reception room on the second floor.

    ¡°Nice to meet you, Mr. Juyoung Hong.¡±

    Finally, I finally met someone whose face I knew well. It was none other than President William of the United States. He was waiting for me on the second floor.

    So I said, ¡°Hi, nice to meet you. To be honest, I would have regretted it if I had note here.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! You have forgiven our rudeness generously, so I would like to have you here.¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡±

    Anyway, I shook hands with him, then sat down on the seat reserved for me.

    We talked in a friendly atmosphere because of the way that our conversation was carried on. If Ipared it to apany meeting, I was like the director talking to my deputy while I was talking with President William.

    Since I didn¡¯te here to have a frivolous conversation with him, I brought up the main topic right away since my counterpart mentioned it yesterday.

    I said, ¡°You can lift Iran¡¯s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, right? Of course, I can do it, but it is a little annoying¡­¡±

    Of course, Iran, which has been blocking the Strait of Hormuz, would not believe me.

    In that case, I would have to show my mighty power as I had done in Sierra Leone, but I didn¡¯t want to. It would force me to kill them all.

    President William replied, ¡°Of course, we can. In fact. Iran has blocked the Strait of Hormuz after consulting with the United States in advance.¡±

    ¡°Oh my God¡­¡±

    Iran consistently argued that Iran¡¯s economy copsed because of the United States, which it called the axis of evil and a thug country in the internationalmunity.

    So Iran openly said they would never surrender to Washington¡¯s bluffing and intimidation.

    Nheless, President William just said Iran and the United States joined hands together to block the Strait of Hormuz.

    So I responded, ¡°Well, that makes my work easier.¡¯

    I didn¡¯t me him for their brazen actions because that was the reality of world politics.

    But I had no choice but to frown at his reply to my question.

    ¡°Sorry. Of course, we can lift Iran¡¯s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, but we cannot do it this time.¡±

    Obviously, he said that Washington could lift the blockade, but added they could not do it this time.

    In other words, he clearly suggested that he could not ept my offer.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    At that moment, I suspected that my warning was weak. Otherwise, he could not have said so.

    So I slowly stood up because I realized that it was not the Arctic where the giant cier was supposed to appear.

 Chapter 497 - Juyoung Hong (24)

    <h4>Chapter 497: Juyoung Hong (24)</h4>

    At the Mirae Group headquarters at that time.

    ¡°Do you mean Myongjin Group Chairman¡¯s youngest son said that to you?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Dad.¡±

    ¡°I think his name is¡­¡±

    ¡°Juyoung Hong.¡±

    Chairman Jungwhan Yon finally recalled that name.

    As far as he could remember, Juyoung was very quiet and reticent.

    ¡°Is this the guy who got perfect marks in all subjects out of the blue, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°Oh my God!¡±

    Chairman Yon could not hide his surprise as if he could not believe it.

    Then, he looked at his granddaughter Bora again and opened his mouth.

    ¡°This guy named Juyoung told you that I should not waste money because he will be able to arrange for a huge amount of crude oil to be imported to South Korea, and assured you that the Mirae Group would be supplied with oil at the normal price, right?¡±

    ¡°Correct.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Chairman Yon could not help but be speechless when he heard the same answer to his repeated questions, wondering if he heard her wrong.

    Of course, he did not rebuke her because he knew how smart she was.

    At that moment, she said, looking at him, ¡°Of course, I know you can¡¯t believe him. I know what he said to me is just absurd, so I thought hard about it, but¡­¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    ¡°Pardon?¡±

    ¡°I fully understand what you mean. I have no intention of wasting money like Daesung anyway.¡±

    Chairman Yon was already aware of Daesung¡¯s efforts to secure crude oil in the futures market. In fact, he reached out to the futures market ahead of Daesung.

    But he did not make the same choice as Daesung because the futures market was full of racketeers and cheaters.

    He thought to himself, ¡®I didn¡¯t intend it for this asion, but I¡¯ve prepared some measures to break through the current difficulties anyway.¡¯

    He let her out of his office, and pondered over Juyoung Hong deeply.

    ***

    At the Office of the Special Assistant to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

    ¡°So, the US Secretary of Commerce and the Deputy Secretary of the Interior, and the senior advisor to President William areing to Korea?¡±

    ¡°Yes! We¡¯ve just received the report from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs!¡±

    ¡°When are they arriving here?¡±

    ¡°Tomorrow!¡±

    The Special Assistant to the Minister for Foreign Affairs was startled by his deputy¡¯s report.

    So he jumped up from his seat despite himself, and at that moment, the chair he was sitting on was pushed back and hit the wall strongly.

    m!

    The U.S. Secretary of Commerce and the Deputy Secretary of the Interior were far from low-ranking officials, and Thomas Tyler, the senior advisor to President William, was the President¡¯s right-hand man, often called the President¡¯s alter ego. So much so that his visit itself could be called President Wim¡¯s visit itself.

    ¡°What¡¯s the purpose of their visit?¡±

    Stunned that the top US officials would visit Korea tomorrow, Myongsan Lee, the Special Assistant to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, asked with a stammer.

    But his deputy answered, ¡°Well, I hear that even the Ministry for Foreign Affairs didn¡¯t get any detailed information¡­¡±

    ¡°Um¡­¡±

    Hearing that, the Special Assistant quickly racked his brain to make the best educated guess.

    He could not tell the Minister he didn¡¯t know why they were visiting this time.

    While he was reviewing their job descriptions carefully, he coulde up with one answer.

    Clearly, the Secretary of Commerce is responsible for US international trade and economic growth, and the Department of the Interior manages countless domestic resources ranging from timber to oil production, although their work slightly oveps with the Department of Energy.

    When he took into ount such factors, he could figure out why they wanted to visit South Korea at this time. In other words, the most pressing problem for Korea at this stage was securing crude oil.

    When he pondered over why the US President¡¯s senior advisor joined the other two, he concluded that their visit this time reflected the US President¡¯s intentions.

    ¡°Let me hurry up!¡±

    He moved quickly to cope with their sudden visit.

    Given the situation, the United States would not supply oil for South Korea at cheap prices, but they would be better than the racketeers in the oil market.

    ¡®By the way, I don¡¯t know why they have decided to take action just now when our government has repeatedly asked for their help.¡¯

    The United States changed its position from an energy importer to an exporter thanks to the shale revolution.

    So, the South Korean government worked tirelessly to persuade the United States to export oil to Korea.

    The sudden surge in gasoline prices aroused public outrage, which was a huge pressure on the government. But the Korean government¡¯s lobbying activities in the United States didn¡¯t work because Korea was not the only country faced with oil shortages.

    Japan was also faced with simr shortages.

    So the Korean government was even more on alert because if Japan seeded in importing crude oil from the United States while Korea failed, the Korean people would obviouslybel their government as ipetent, which would definitely pull down the President¡¯s approval rating.

    Anyway, the Blue House, or the President¡¯s official executive office, was shocked by the chief presidential advisor for foreign affairs¡¯s report.

    Of course, they immediately leaked it to the press because that was the best way to raise their approval rating.

    When the news about the top US officials¡¯ visit to Korea broke, the top five oil refineries of Mirae, Myongjin, Daesung, Hanil Energy, and Maseok Caltex went into high alert right away.

    Daesung was more tense than other groups because they had already spent a lot of money to buy crude oil in the futures market at more than five times the normal price.

    When they sell the oil in the domestic market, they would have to raise prices to make up for their huge losses.

    Anyway, everybody paid attention to Incheon International Airport, where the top US government delegation would arrive.

    In Incheon International Airport.

    Click! Click! Pop! Pop!

    Lots of photographers were busy taking pictures here and there.

    As already known to the press, the US Secretary of Commerce and the Deputy Secretary of the Interior arrived, along with Thomas Tyler, the senior advisor to the President of the United States.

    At that moment, somebody appeared behind them.

    A reporter recognized him, and said stammeringly, ¡°Isn¡¯t he ExxonMobil Vice President Ian?¡±

    ¡°Who is that guy next to him? He¡¯s from Chevron¡­¡±

    ExxonMobil is one of the world¡¯s leading oilpanies, along with Royal Dutch Shell, TotalEnergies, and BP. Shell isn¡¯t quite on par with the rest of them, but given the shale oil revolution in the United States, Shell is certain to emerge as one of the top five oilpanies in the world. A high-ranking executive from Shell also appeared with them.

    Even though the reporters had already guessed the purpose of their visit, they were now quite certain when they confirmed the entourage of the top US delegation.

    Then another group of officials appeared.

    They were from the South Korean Foreign Ministry.

    ¡°Wee. We will escort you.¡±

    There was no grand wee ceremony for them because they came to Korea without any notice or any consultation with the Korean government. Nheless, the Blue House and the National Assembly worked together to wee them for it was essential to enlist the cooperation of the United States to secure crude oil as soon as possible.

    But one of the top US delegates said, ¡°Sorry. We¡¯ve got an appointment at the moment, so we will visit the Blue Houseter.¡±

    ¡°Pardon?¡±

 Chapter 498 - Juyoung Hong (25)

    <h4>Chapter 498: Juyoung Hong (25)</h4>

    Foreign Minister Sangsu Lim had never formally met Harrison, the US Secretary of Commerce, face-to-face, but he had encountered him briefly in the past. So he had no choice but to feel uneasy at Harrison¡¯s remarks.

    He visited Korea along with the top oilpanies from not only the United States but also from around the world, but then he said he would visit the Blue Houseter.

    But Foreign Minister Lim did not question him at all because he would be prone to the people¡¯s anger if he upset Harrison.

    Anyway, Foreign Minister Lim just stared nkly at the US delegation passing by him.

    He then said to his chief secretary, ¡°Call the Blue House right now. And monitor their movements and report to me every minute, or every second!¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±

    Of course, Foreign Minister Lim had more troubles waiting for him.

    ¡°Minister Lim, why don¡¯t you move with the US economic delegation?¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t they supposed to head to the Blue House with you?¡±

    ¡°Are they heading to the hotel right now?¡±

    ¡°Did they visit Korea to solve the crude oil problem?¡±

    ¡°Netizens are praising our government for solving the problem that even America¡¯s closest ally Japan could not solve. And the government¡¯s approval rating is going up too. What do you think?¡±

    ¡°Can you import enough crude oil from now on? Can we expect the price of gasoline, which has nearly doubled right now, to stop rising?¡±

    Foreign Minister Lim could not answer the reporters¡¯ questions at all because he was left alone, not knowing what to do, after the US economic delegation left the airport.

    So he replied as best he could.

    ¡°Our government is doing its best to resolve the current oil crisis. The US economic delegation has visited here in that respect. I can¡¯t give you a definite answer to your questions, but our government is trying its best to bring about good results. Thank you.¡±

    Having said that, he quickly left the airport because he knew that he would be in more trouble if he stayed there any longer.

    ***

    At the Myongjin Group headquarters.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    For the first time, Chairman Hong stared at his younger son Juyoung sharply.

    Nheless, Juyoung was reclining against the sofa sipping tea as if he didn¡¯t care.

    So Chairman Hong brightened his hardened expression, looking at him, because it was useless to rebuke his son who would not budge a bit.

    Then he said in a low voice, ¡°You mean they¡¯reing here now?¡±

    Those Chairman Hong referred to as ¡®they¡¯ were the US economic delegates, who were in the media limelight right now.

    Chairman Hong heard the same answer from Juyoung.

    ¡°Yes, correct.¡±

    ¡°Why are theying here?¡±

    ¡°Because I called them.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Chairman Hong was once again dumbfounded.

    But Juyoung continued, ¡°I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t tell you in advance. I pushed them a bit hard. As you know, the United States is a huge country, so there were a lot of processes I needed to go through to get my message to the top leader . Moreover, it took a while because they were supposed to supply us with a huge amount of crude oil in dozens of oil tankers, and I was going to tell you about this after all the dust settled. But in the end, things worked out like this.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°First of all, you don¡¯t have to summon any staff right now urgently. Once they make an offer, you can review it and tell them you¡¯ll give them an answerter. Of course, you can ept their offer because it won¡¯t do any harm to the Myongjin Group, but please have our professional staff review it just in case. And don¡¯t hesitate to make demands to the US delegation if you need to make any changes to the contract. Okay, I¡¯m going to school, so I will leave it to you.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Having said that, Juyoung left the house casually, and his father could not hold him back.

    Then, Chairman Hong said to Director Sok, who was seated next to him, ¡°Where is Taesok Oh right now?¡±

    Of course, Chairman Hong also knew about Taesok because he was briefed about his activities in advance. Besides, he was one of the most promising employees of the Myongjin Group.

    Director Sok said, ¡°I understand he¡¯s in Sierra Leone at the moment. He went there apanied by seven elite staff from Myungjin¡¯s secretariat. Of course, I didn¡¯t stop him because he was working closely with Juyoung.¡±

    ¡°What is he doing out there?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s involved in lots of things. All I know is that Debius is taking care of him very much.¡±

    ¡°Debius is THE diamondpany, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Hearing it, Chairman Hong recalled arge fish tank in the living room.

    ording to the butler, the fish tank was brought in by his younger son. But there was something sparkly at the bottom of the tank instead of sand.

    He wondered for a moment if it¡¯s all diamonds, but he shook his head because when converted into money, the diamonds could be worth tens of billions of Korean Won or maybe even more.

    And nobody would be stupid enough to puts such precious diamonds at the bottom of a fish tank for decoration.

    ¡®If the US economic delegation reallyes to Myongjin¡­¡¯

    After he thought about such a possibility, he opened his mouth gently.

    ¡°Prepare to meet them.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Chairman Hong was still skeptical, but he had his staff make the appropriate preparations just in case they visited the Myongjin Group.

    ***

    At the Blue House around that time.

    ¡°Where the hell are they moving? What¡¯s their destination?¡±

    ¡°Currently, they are passing through Incheon International Airport via Yeongjong Bridge, so it is difficult for us to figure out their exact destination. But it seems certain that it is Seoul.¡±

    ¡°Damn it! Watch them carefully!¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±

    At the Mirae Group at the time.

    ¡°They didn¡¯t head to the Blue House?¡±

    ¡°No. The Blue House dispatched Foreign Minister Lim to greet them at the airport, but the US delegation refused his offer to escort them, and left for their destination.¡±

    ¡°Then what is their final destination? They don¡¯t have any reason to decline our government¡¯s escort service even if they are headed for a hotel, right?¡±

    ¡°Well, I really can¡¯t figure it out because they have not left Yeongjong Bridge yet.¡±

    ¡°Um...if their destination is not the Blue House¡­¡±

    Director Sungyop Yu could not get the words out properly.

    The US Secretary of Commerce, the Deputy Secretary of the Interior as well as the US President¡¯s right-hand man visited Korea, along with the chairmen of the world¡¯s top two oil refinerypanies.

    In his mind, there was nobody in Korea but the Blue House who could invite them.

    Howe they refused the escort service offered by the Blue House?

    Yu could only think of one scenario.

    In other words, the US government didn¡¯t inform its South Korean counterpart about their visit in advance.

    ¡®Then who is it? Who the hell called them here? Can anybody do that in Korea aside from the Blue House?¡¯

    Even the Mirae Group could not do that.

    But he had no choice but to frown at the fact that there was somebody in Korea who made Washington dispatch its delegation here.

 Chapter 499 - Juyoung Hong (26)

    <h4>Chapter 499: Juyoung Hong (26)</h4>

    At the Daesung Group at the time.

    ¡°Damn it! Why did America decide to take action?¡±

    Daesung had already bought a huge amount of crude oil in the futures market, and even rented an oil tanker by paying five times the normal price.

    In other words, the longer the situation of Saudi Arabia and Iran¡¯s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz persisted, the better it was for Daesung, because they bet everything on the long-term status quo.

    But the development unfolded in apletely different direction.

    ¡°Damn it! What are you doing with our ties with the Blue House? You should have found out about the US action! That¡¯s why we have bribed the Blue House officials, right?¡±

    ¡°Well, I hear that even the Blue House was briefed about their visit btedly. And they visited here all of a sudden.¡±

    Chairman Junghan Kim could not control his anger despite Yu¡¯s exnation.

    If things went wrong, not only Daesung Oil Refinery, but also the Daesung Group might go bankrupt. They simply spent so much money securing the crude oil at hefty prices.

    ¡°Got it. By the way, why did the American bastards decline the Blue House¡¯s escort offer?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡±

    Bang!

    ¡°Damn it! Don¡¯t you know anything? How can I do business in this situation?¡±

    Chairman Kim mmed the desk hard when Director Yu replied hesitantly.

    At that moment, Mansoo Kim, President of Daesung Oil Refinery, cautiously said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid to tell you this, but if our government imports crude oil from the United States, the prices of crude oil we have purchased in the futures market will drop drastically. Actually, the oil prices in the domestic oil market have already begun to fall. We have to sell them before the prices fall further. I think Japan will buy our oil.¡±

    ¡°How much do you think they will offer to buy it from us?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    President Kim could not answer Chairman Kim¡¯s question because Japan would not buy crude oil from Daesung at high prices if they found out what was going on in the local oil market.

    ¡°If a huge amount of American crude oil begins to be unloaded here, our losses will increase tremendously. The US suppliers are ExxonMobil and Chevron. If they join hands together, they can supply Korea with enough oil for several months within the next several days. Considering that, we need to minimize our losses now!¡±

    President Kim appealed to him to take the second best out of the avable worst options. Needless to say, ExxonMobil and Chevron were huge oilpanies.

    But Chairman Kim said, ¡°It¡¯s alreadyte. We¡¯ve rented oil tankers at a huge cost, and we will incur huge losses if we sell it now. I would rather bet on negotiations failing between the US delegates and their Korean partner.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    A heavy silence fell on the conference room of the Daesung Group.

    ***

    Anybody who was engaged in economic activities or who was interested in the economy watched the morning TV news carefully. Even those driving cars or scooters watched it as well because of the oil prices that had almost doubled in two weeks.

    When the US economic delegation stopped in front of a huge building in Seoul, everyone watching the TV news was shocked because it was not the Blue House or a hotel, but the Myongjin Group headquarters that they stopped at.

    Besides, the Myongjin Group staff hurriedly came out to greet them as soon as they arrived as if they had been waiting for their arrival.

    After all, those watching the TV realized that it was the Myongjin Group that called not only the US Secretary of Commerce and the Deputy Secretary of the Interior, but also the leaders of the world¡¯s top oilpanies to Korea.

    So there were quite a few people who were surprised.

    ¡°Man, it¡¯s the Myongjin Group, not the Blue House?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m surprised it¡¯s Myongjin, not Mirae.¡±

    ¡°Did Myongjin have such a huge influence?¡±

    ¡°Of course, it is true that Myongjin is one of the top five conglomerates in Korea, but the visitors are from the United States! Besides, even President William¡¯s right-hand man, Thomas Tyler, has alsoe!¡±

    The people were shocked that the American delegates naturally entered the Myongjin Group headquarters escorted by the Myongjin staff.

    But some were even more shocked, namely, the Daesung and Kusan Group that had beenpeting with Myongjin for the second ce in top business rankings.

    Hanil Energy was also on alert.

    ¡°Do you still have strong ties with Myongjin Oil Refinery right?¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡±

    ¡°Contact them! Get an appointment with them by all means!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    Maseok Caltex was on high alert too.

    ¡°Damn it! Those who requested me to join hands with the Daesung Group,e step forward and prepare yourself to be fired!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Anyway, the oil refining industry had no choice but to plunge into shock.

    ***

    At the Myongjin Group headquarters.

    ¡°Whew¡­¡±

    Before weing the guests, Chairman Hong took a long, deep breath.

    Actually, he had met foreign presidents and prime ministers when travelling abroad for business purposes, but he had never met the top officials of the world¡¯srgest country. Besides, he could not help feeling excited because he could also meet the leaders of ExxonMobil and Chevron, who he had never met before despite his huge efforts.

    At that moment, the elevator door opened, and the top US officials appeared.

    Chairman Hong stretched out his hand, then shook hands with them one by one.

    ¡°Wee! My name is Sangman Hong, and I¡¯m the Myongjin Group¡¯s chairman.¡±

    He introduced himself to them in a humble manner.

    ¡°Nice to meet you. I¡¯m Harrison, the US Secretary of Commerce.¡±

    ¡°Nice to meet you. I¡¯m Walton, the Deputy Secretary of the Interior.¡±

    ¡°Nice to meet you. I¡¯m Thomas Tyler, Special Advisor to the White House.¡±

    Chairman Hong had plenty of experience meeting lots of people, including politicians and businessmen, so he could immediately figure out the other party¡¯s feelings by checking their expressions.

    From their expressions and attitude, he concluded that they were being cautious and polite in dealing with him.

    To be honest, Chairman Hong was slightly shocked that they were being humble and polite because they could easily act arrogant as they were top US officials.

    Nheless, they were very cautious and polite in their words and deeds.

    And the top executives of the world¡¯s leading oilpanies were more or less the same.

    ¡°Nice to meet you. I¡¯m Ian, Vice President of ExxonMobil.¡±

    ¡°Nice to meet you. I¡¯m Bakon, the General Manager of Chevron¡¯s Asian Branches.¡±

    With their famous brand as an oil refinery, ExxonMobil and Chevron were evaluated as more valuable than the Myongjin Group.

    Of course, there was nothing like a master-servant rtionship between them even if the two oil giants¡¯ corporate value was bigger than Myongjin, but given the urgent situation Myongjin faced, Myongjin was obviously in a less advantageous position.

    For securing crude oil was the top priority not only for Myongjin, but for Korea as a whole.

    But Chairman Hong was even more surprised because of their humble attitude, but he didn¡¯t express his feelings, of course.

    He wasn¡¯t stupid enough to ask why they were being so cautious.

    Anyway, he escorted them, who were being unusually cautious and prudent, into the conference room.

 Chapter 500 - Juyoung Hong (27)

    <h4>Chapter 500: Juyoung Hong (27)</h4>

    In the Korean stock market at the time.

    The market had yet to close, so it was still active.

    Then some stocks started to surge all of a sudden.

    They were the stocks of the Myongjin Group, Myongjin Oil Refinery, and other Myongjin subsidiaries.

    In particr, the prices of Myongjin Oil Refinery stocks, which had dipped tremendously along with the other oil refining stocks a little while ago, reversed, and surged as high as the daily limit of 30% in only 10 minutes. The trading volumes of the Myongjin stocks were enormous because they had hit their lowest point for a few days in a row, so those who owned Myongjin stocks cashed out by selling their stocks at a high price.

    Because of the surge in the prices of Myongjin stocks, many people argued over the Myongjin Group and Myongjin Oil Refinery.

    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t you think we should also sell Myongjin stocks?¡±

    ¡°Hold on! ExxonMobil and Chevron executives just entered the Myongjin Group headquarters!¡±

    ¡°But that doesn¡¯t guarantee that they¡¯re going to supply oil to Korea, right? They¡¯re going to negotiate the terms. Why would they sell crude oil at a low price? I think they will try to drag their feet in the negotiation to bargain for a higher price.¡±

    ¡°Anyway, the bottom line is that we can obtain crude oil from America. Besides, the Blue House has promised to offer subsidies to all the oilpanies that import crude oil. This is a boon for Myongjin anyway.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m still anxious, man.

    ¡°Just wait. Myongjin stocks will go even higher. I would buy more stocks. Not just Myongjin Oil Refinery stocks, but also their other subsidiary stocks.¡±

    ¡°Oh my God, are you crazy? You are so reckless!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you know the significance of their visit? They are the US Secretary of Commerce and Deputy Secretary of the Interior! Besides, US President William¡¯s right-hand man is also with them! Do you think they¡¯re here to conclude just a one-time deal? I don¡¯t think so.¡±

    ¡°But you¡¯re being reckless, man.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I won¡¯t tell you to do the same thing as I do. But you will see I¡¯m going to make a fortune soon! I have already sold all my other stocks including those of Mirae!¡±

    Obviously, the visit of the US economic delegation to the Myongjin Group was a huge boon for Myongjin. So it¡¯s no wonder that all the stocks rted to Myongjin went up.

    Of course, there were still lots of people who were still in doubt.

    But the Myongjin stocks were actively traded within the daily upper limit price range.

    Anyway, the stock market in Korea experienced an unprecedented vtility because of the Myongjin stocks.

    ***

    In the conference room of the Myongjin Group..

    ¡°Then, the most urgent thing for you is oil, so can you talk with ExxonMobil and Chevron first?¡±

    ¡°Sure, that¡¯s fine,¡± said Chairman Hong.

    Actually, that¡¯s what he looked forward to, so he dly responded, nodding in

    ¡°ExxonMobil currently has 17 oil tankers full of crude oil on standby in Los Angeles, so they can start shipping it to Korea right now.¡±

    ¡°Chevron also has 12 oil tankers on standby in Los Angeles. So we are ready to start shipping oil to Korea right away.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Dozens of oil tankers carrying a huge amount of crude oil were now on standby in Los Angeles. Chairman Hong was not naive enough to miss their point.

    In other words, it meant that they were already ready to ship crude oil to Korea.

    Then ExxonMobil Vice President Ian and Chevron Asian Manager Bakon said something that he desperately wanted to hear.

    ¡°We, ExxonMobil, do not intend to maliciously use the oil shortage situation that Korea and Myongjin are in now. So we have set the oil price as the same one before Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz and the terrorists attacked the oil facilities in Saudi Araba.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re on the same page as ExxonMobil. Of course, I have no intention of freezing the current oil prices forever. But the current situation is absolutely not normal, so we will make the transaction at the current prices until the situation goes back to normalpletely. And this is Chevron¡¯s contract for you.¡±

    ¡°And this ExxonMoble¡¯s contract for you.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Chairman Hong just looked at the two contracts with his eyes wide open because their point was that they would supply oil to Korea immediately.

    After that, he talked with the top US delegates for about 30 minutes before they left.

    Of course, he didn¡¯t forget to tell them he would reply to them as soon as possible.

    After the US economic delegation left the Myeongjin Group headquarters, Chairman Hong summoned the staff of Myongjin¡¯s Strategic Department, the President and executives of Myongjin Oil Refinery, as well as some foreign oil experts.

    He handed them the contracts from ExxonMobil and Chevron for a thorough review.

    Of course, Chairman Hong quickly reviewed the contracts himself.

    After reading them, he could not help but be stunned because the contract uses were so in favor of Myongjin that he felt they were supplying oil to Myongjin almost free.

    About 30 minutes passed.

    ¡°Are you sure they really have given you these contracts?¡±

    When Myongjin Oil Refinery President Jungchul Yang asked with an incredulous expression, Chairman Hong just nodded slightly because he knew why.

    ¡°I just wonder if ExxonMobil and Chevron have ever been caught short by you, Chairman. So¡­¡±

    Another executive said, ¡°Well, even if they have been caught short by our Chairman, they have given way too much. Currently crude oil prices are skyrocketing. The prevailing view is that the prices will hit $100 per barrel quite soon. Nheless, they promised they would supply oil to us at the price right before Iran blockaded the Strait of Hormuz and the terrorists¡¯ attack against Saudi Arabia. Then, it¡¯s $40 per barrel! 40 dors!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. What¡¯s more, they have promised to send us more oil after they send a total of 29 oil tankers, and $40 per barrel at that.¡±

    ¡°If you look at page 3 of the contract, it says the two oilpanies will continue to trade even after the situation has improved, and it stiptes that they won¡¯t increase the price by more than 10% of the crude oil price in the previous three months in order to ensure a stable supply of crude oil. In other words, if things like this happen again, we don¡¯t have to buy crude oil at an exorbitant price in the market.¡±

    ¡°One more thing is that this contract expires in 10 years, and in the 10th year, if both parties agree and wish to extend the contract, they will extend the contract unconditionally for another 10 years. This looks like it is a perpetual contract!¡±

    The participants in the meeting began to whisper among themselves in excitement.

    But Chairman Hong did not stop them.

    While doing business for decades, he also made tens of thousands of contracts, but this was the first time he saw such an absurd contract.

    Of course, he couldn¡¯t let them keep chatting aimlessly, so he opened his mouth quietly.

    ¡°Review the contracts very carefully. The reason I have called you here is for you to review the contracts thoroughly to check if there is any hidden use that can harm Myongjin. So let¡¯s start with a quick review. Only after we are done with the review will the 29 oil tankers anchored in Los Angeles depart to South Korea, or more precisely, to Myongjin Oil Refinery.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 501: Juyoung Hong (28)

    When Chairman Hong spoke, those who were whispering here and there paid their attention to the contract.

    They knew that the moment when 29 oil tankers loaded up with crude oil entered Korean ports, Myongjin Oil Refinery would beat Mirae, Daesung, Hanil Energy, and Maseok Caltex to be Korea''srgest oil refinerypany.

    So they reached the conclusion in less than 10 minutes that they would ept the contracts unconditionally.

    After that, Chairman Hong directly called the U.S. Secretary of Commerce using the number on his business card to say he would sign the contracts.

    And the US Secretary of Commerce replied, "Oil tankers full of crude oil will soon arrive at the Busan port of Myongjin Oil Refinery."

    After confirming it, Chairman Hong put down the phone.

    The next day, the Blue House staff were busy because although the US economic delegation led by the US Commerce Secretary did not visit the Blue House first after setting foot in Korea, they were fortunately supposed to attend a dinner hosted by the Blue House the next day.

    President Kim Ki-jung could breathe a sigh of relief at their participation because if they left Korea without visiting the Blue House, people would me him for the government''s ipetence.

    Anyway, he weed them at the Blue House, but he didn''t move to the dinner hall right away because he had to tackle the more important issue of securing crude oil first. At that moment, US Secretary of Commerce Harrison said, "The United States will export a sufficient amount of crude oil to South Korea, a strong US ally, with the cooperation of ExxonMobil and Chevron."

    President Kim had no choice but to smile brightly at his reassurances.

    So it was no wonder that the atmosphere was bright throughout the dinner party.

    At the end of the party, President Kim Ki-jung delivered a message from Harrison to the reporters covering the event.

    "As the President, I felt as if I was on pins and needles when I thought about our people''s worries about the surging oil prices. So I racked my brain to lessen their inconvenience and pressure by resolving this matter as soon as possible. Finally, I''m happy to tell you I have secured the crude oil from the United States!"

    President Kim Ki-jung did not forget to im the credit because that was the role of politics that he believed in.

    After iming the credit for himself, he handed over the microphone to US Commerce Secretary Harrison.

    Harrison said, "We are delighted to know that we can help our strong ally, South Korea, to ovee the oil crisis. Currently a total of 29 oil tankers loaded up with crude oil are heading to Myongjin Oil Refinery''s port in Busan after leaving Los Angeles."

    Numerous reporters were busy writing down what he said.

    But some of them tilted their heads because it was a little odd even though it was very encouraging that 29 oil tankers were on their way to South korea.

    In the end, some impatient reporters raised their hands to ask questions.

    Since this was not a question time, Harrison ignored them and continued.

    "I would like to add one more thing. Our oil deal this time is not a one-off, but a mid- to long-term contract between Myongjin and ExxonMobil and Chevron. Ao we are ready to export crude oil whenever Myongjin wants, as long as it is used by South Korea."

    US Secretary ofmerce Harrison talked a little more, but not only the reporters at the scent, but also the people watching it on TV realized that it was Myongjin that managed to secure crude oil imports from the United States.

    So the reporters began to ask question in the end

    "Isn''t it the South Korean government that ExxonMobil and Chevron are exporting crude oil to?"

    "No, it''s Myongjin Oil Refinery that has concluded the contracts with us."

    "Then what about the other oil refineries in South Korea?"

    "As I mentioned earlier, ExxonMobil and Chevron have signed a contract to export crude oil to Myongjin as long as they use it in South Korea. So other oil refineries will be able to secure oil through Myongjin."

    "Then, is Myongjin responsible for the whole contract without going through the third party?"

    "That''s right. We will export crude oil to Myongjin only, and it''s beyond our control how Myongjin will use the oil."

    "¡­"

    "¡­"

    "¡­"

    Aside from the reporters and many people watching the press conference on TV, the executives of Mirae, Daesung, Hanil Energy, and Maseok Caltex stared nkly at the TV screen with their mouths wide open. What the US Secretary of Commerce said was that only Myongjin secured the right to import crude oil from the United States.

    "Is the oil price you agreed on confidential? You mentioned it''s a mid- to long-term contract. Can you tell us the duration of the contract?"

    "I can''t disclose the price of crude oil we agreed on because it''s confidential. We''re going to decide the price of crude oil through negotiations with Myongjin, and we won''t simply ept demands from one side. Also, the current contract period is 10 years, but if either party wants to extend the contract, we will renew it for another 10 years."

    The press conference hall was shrouded in silence at the moment.

    Of course, they whispered here and there.

    ''What the hell did Myongjin do?''

    ''How could they move the US government?''

    ''Is America crazy?''

    In any case, the shocking press conference continued.

    While the press conference was going on at the Blue House, the top executives of Mirae Group were having an emergency meeting in shock.

    "ording to the US Secretary of Commerce, ExxonMobil and Chevron will provide unlimited supply of crude oil to Myongjin as long as they consume it in South Korea, right? Did I hear him wrong?"

    "¡­"

    "¡­"

    "¡­"

    What Chairman Yon asked, none of the top executives watching the press conference could reply because the contract was so absurd that it was unbelievable.

    The most absurd thing about the contract was that it was the Myongjin Group that would benefit most from the contract.

    Of course, ExxonMobil and Chevron would also benefit from the contract because they would not sell crude oil at a loss.

    But the gains ExxonMobil and Chevron would get were insignificant, or almost nothing,pared to Myongjin''s.

    So they had no choice but to question the motives of the top oilpanies.

    "Why the hell are ExxonMobil and Chevron so generous to Myongjin? What are they asking for in return?"

    "¡­"

    "¡­"

    "¡­"

    ExxonMobil and Chevron were literally being submissive to Myongin.

    But they could not reply to Chairman Yon''s question this time as well because they could not understand it.

    There was one thing all of them understood clearly, of course.

    "Oh my God...do we have to pay more attention to Myongjin than Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, or Dubai from now on?" Chairman Yon asked in a bitter voice.

    They knew clearly that Myongjin Oil Refinery would emerge as the dominant force of the domestic oil market while other oil refineries would have to follow their lead.

    Of course, it was not just the Mirae Group that was concerned about it.

    More shocked than Mirae was the Daesung Group that purchased crude oil at five times the normal price in the futures market.

    At the Daesung Group headquarters.

    "¡­"

    "¡­"

    "¡­"

 Chapter 502: Juyoung Hong (29)

    Unlike the Mirae Group, the Daesung Group did not have any analysis of Myongjin''s contracts with ExxonMobil and Chevron.

    The top executives of the Daesung Group including Chairman Kim just watched the press conference through the huge TV screen nkly. Chairman Kim literally felt like his ass was being kicked all over because of the Myongjin contract.

    The real problem was they could find no solution because they could not return the crude oil that they had purchased at hefty prices, let alone the oil tankers that they had rented at high prices.

    No wonder there was a heavy silence in the conference room, with the dark clouds over the Daesung Group showing no sign of clearing away.

    In the basement study of my house in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul.

    This ce also served as my father''s in-house office. So my father, brother, sister, and Director Sok were there, and they were all staring at me.

    Of course, I knew why they were looking at me like that. It was because my father received the care of the top US economic delegation more generously than expected.

    Then my father opened his mouth softly.

    "Are you sure you''re my younger son?""Of course, I''m your son, Dad. If I am not Juyoung, who else can I be?"

    "I asked because you''ve changed too much. No matter how much one changes, one cannot make the impossible possible, right? But you have done so!"

    He seemed to be at a loss for words for a moment.

    So I picked up where he stopped, and said, "You heard Grandpa quote multiple times saying that I''m going to be a great man, right? Of course, I felt sorry for him at first because I didn''t want to be a great man. But he appeared in my dream recently and rebuked me a lot, asking me if I wanted to make him a liar, so I could not help but exert my capabilities this time. As you know, I could not make him a liar."

    "¡­"

    "¡­"

    "¡­"

    My father, brother, older sister, and Director Sok made puzzled expressions at my words, but I didn''t care because sometimes it was better not to let them know the whole story. Even if they came to realize it, it would be better if it waster, not now.

    Shortly afterward, I said to my father, who still had a nk expression on his face.

    "I think you can sell some crude oil to Daesung, Hanil Energy, and Maseok Caltex at the proper price, and I hope you can pay special attention to Mirae because I''ve informed her about my n proudly before."

    Having said that, I stood up because I had carried out my mission, and I didn''t have to take care of the rest.

    But my father, brother, sister, and Director Sok stopped me, telling me not to wash my hands of this matter when I had made a huge event like this happen.

    But I made my position clear to them.

    "I''ve told you already that Myongjin is too small to embrace me. Dad, brother, sister and Director Sok, you should manage the Myongjin Group."

    Having said that, I left the basement study room, then headed to my room after giving my mother who was sitting in the living room a surprise hug.

    In the early morning the next day.

    The Korean stock market was busier than ever.

    It was right before the opening of the stock market at 9am.

    But they were already pretty busy even before the market opened because of the big deal between Myongjin, ExxonMobil and Chevron. Besides, there were the so-called after-hour trading and buy-on-opening trading that could happen even before the market opened officially.

    "Damn it! It''s impossible to buy stocks rted to Myongjin Oil Refinery!"

    "Obviously, we could buy those stocks before the market closed yesterday!"

    "Do you think you can buy such stocks? As soon as the press conference was over yesterday, all the avable Myongjin stocks were sold out while people submitted millions of purchase orders! When the market opened at 9am, the stocks of Myongjin Oil Refinery hit the daily upper limit of 30%, so they could not trade Myongjin stocks for the day because they clearly knew that the Myongjin stocks would keep rising and hit the daily upper limit at least five or ten times."

    "Oh my God..."

    "Damn it! I should have bought them yesterday! I definitely had a chance to buy them yesterday!"

    "Shit! I cashed out all my Myongjin stocks yesterday!"

    "You idiot! Why did you sell them? You lost the jackpot!"

    "Damn it. How could I expect this would happen? I must have been crazy selling them just because the Myongjin Stocks hit the daily upper limit price of 30% yesterday!"

    Anyway, many securitiespanies and stock managers and brokers, not to mention individual investors, were engaged in a heated debate about Myongjin''s huge deal and the skyrocketing prices of its stocks even before the stock market opened.

    Lots of people regretted that they could not buy any more Myongjin stocks even though they wanted to, but there were people who noticed the stocks of the Myongjin subsidiaries.

    "By the way, don''t you think we have to pay attention to the stocks of Myongjin''s subsidiaries? In fact, everybody is only focused on ExxonMobil and Chevron executives. Look at the top US officials who came here with them! They are the Secretary of Commerce, Deputy Secretary of the Interior and even President William''s right-hand man."

    "You''re right¡­"

    "Certainly, crude oil is a big deal, but I think they didn''te here only for the oil deal, given their political weight."

    "You bet! They must have brought more than the oil deal. If you look at the contracts, Myongjin will get much more benefits than ExxonMobil and Chevron, right? What if they sign contracts simr to them?"

    "Um¡­ Maybe, the crude oil deal is just the beginning."

    "By the way, Myongjin Refinery is one of the Myongjin Group''s subsidiaries, right? If that one subsidiary grows explosively, it will benefit not only their mainpany but also their other subsidiaries."

    "That''s right."

    "Myongjin! We should buy Myungjin stocks right now! Anyway, it''s toote to buy Myongjin Oil Refinery stocks. Then we should target the stocks of Myongjin Construction, Myongjin Electronics, and other Myoongjin subsidiaries!"

    "I think so! Now is the time for us to rake in any stocks rted to Myongjin! We''ve got to buy them faster than anyone else!"

    Anyway, the market opened at exactly 9 o''clock, and as someone said, Myongjin Refining Oil stocks hit the 30% upper limit in less than a second as soon as the market opened. There was no more trading of Myongjin Oil Refinery stocks.

    Even though the Myongjin Oil Refinery stocks hit the 30% upper price limit, there were still hundreds of thousands of buy orders for them, but nobody sold Myongjin-rted stocks. Within a few minutes, the prices of the stocks of Myongjin affiliates such as Myongjin Construction, Myongjin Electronics, and Myongjin Trading also began to surge.

    On the other hand, some stocks immediately recorded the daily lower limit. They were the Daesung Group stocks.

    All the stock investors knew that Daesung Oil Refinery had purchased crude oil in bulk at a price five times higher than the normal price in the crude oil futures market.

    They also knew that Daesung rented tankers at a huge cost to transport the crude oil.

    In any case, the Korean stock market went through a period of violent vtility because of the Myongjin stocks.

 Chapter 503: Juyoung Hong (30)

    At Kyungmoon High School.

    It was another typical day for me.

    But it didn''t seem to be like that for other students

    "Given Myongjin''s terrific oil deal this time, don''t you think it''s inevitable that the ranking of Korea''s top business conglomerates will change? Currently Mirae is the biggest, followed next by Myongjin, Daesung, and Kusan, while Daeyu trails far behind."

    "I guess so. After all, there are no other energy sources as powerful as oil yet. Besides, our country has to import oil from abroad."

    "No matter how much I think about it, I just can''t believe it was Myongjin, not Mirae, that made it happen this time. Even my father shook his head as if he couldn''t believe it."

    "Hey, my dad said the same thing. I guess nobody expected that because it was obviously beyond Myongjin''s capabilities."

    They whispered here and there about Myongjin''s giant oil deal with ExxonMobil and Chevron.

    Since Kyungmoon was not an ordinary high school, but a special school attended by the children of the top 1% upper ss in the political and business world, the students here enthusiastically discussed the Myongjin news when I appeared at the school. Of course, I was not so happy as to express my joy at them yet.In fact, this was only the beginning of the uing big deals.

    Anyway, I leisurely leaned over the back of my chair and enjoyed the gentle breeze.

    Of course, lots of my ssmates criticized my overlyx attitude, which really stood out after I got perfect scores in all subjects.

    But they stopped ming it any longer when I proved that I got all A''s without cheating at all.

    Soon the bell rang, announcing the end of the 4th period, so I walked slowly to the dining room with Bora Yon, who usually had lunch with me these days.

    She opened her mouth first while we were moving together.

    "Thanks."

    "For what?"

    Of course, I knew what she was referring to.

    She said, "I heard that Mirae people got a call from Myongjin early in the morning about the oil trading business. Actually, it''s Mirae, not Myongjin, who was in an urgent situation, but Myongjin reached out first because of somebody that I had in mind."

    "Um¡­I''m not saying this because I''m a son of the Myongjin Group chairman, but I think Mirae had better be careful because they might soon lose the number one position in the business rankings."

    "To be honest, I have no choice but to admit that, but isn''t it too early?"

    "Well, who knows? Hahaha."

    I didn''t give her a definitive answer because I didn''t have to tell her about it.

    Besides, the future of Mirae was part of my grand n.

    Anyway, I moved to the school dining room with her as someone who changedpletely, while basking in the renewed fame of the Myongjin Group.

    In the past, my ssmates used topare me with Bora negatively behind my back.

    "Well, it''s true that Juyoung has changed, but isn''t he still inferior to Bora?"

    "I guess so. Besides, Bora is supposed to take over Korea''s top business conglomerate Mirae Groupter, but Juyoung has an elder brother and sister. And his elder brother is a graduate of Seoul National University."

    "Right. One of the reasons why the future of the Myongjin Group is bright is because his brother Kiyoung is one of Myongjin''s top executives."

    "Well, don''t you think Juyoung and Bora can make a nice couple because of that? I guess it''s a good idea if Juyoung marries into her family¡­"

    "Shut up, man! I don''t think it''s fair to Juyoung. As you know, Chairman Hong of the Myongjin Group is not the type of man who wants to have his younger son marry her with the aim of taking over Mirae¡­"

    Obviously, that was their dominant perception of me in the past.

    But it has changedpletely since then. So much so that people thought she and I looked like a good campus couple.

    During lunchtime at Kyungmoon High School.

    Spit!

    One of the seniors heading for the dining hall spat on the floor.

    And the student who spat was grimacing as if he was in a very bad mood and said to his ssmate next to him, "Man, this stupid bastard is acting in a conceited manner these days as if he''s our hero. What do you think?"

    "Who are you talking about?"

    "Shit. Don''t you know who I''m talking about? Can''t you see that guy with your own eyes? Do you like the way he is swaggering like that?"

    "Yeah, he really sucks¡­" Suchol Kim said faintly.

    He could not disagree with Kyongyoung Lee, whose grandfather was the godfather of the Korean private loan market, and who controlled the underground economy. Juyoung once said Kyoungyoung really sucked, challenging him directly. So Suchol could not help but reply timidly.

    As if he noticed Suchol''s timidity, Kyongyoung said, "Tut, tut, you''re a coward, bastard!"

    "..."

    Suchol could not say anything.

    His father''spany was thriving as a primary supplier for arge corporation, but he currently owed a huge debt to Kyongyoung''s grandfather because of financial difficulties, so Suchol had no choice but to be submissive to Kyongyoung.

    The only constion for him was that he could part with this guy upon graduation since this was thest period of his senior year. Looking forward to that graduation day, he followed Kyongyoung reluctantly like a cow that was being dragged to a ughterhouse.

    Kyongyoung was literally born to a very rich family. He had nothing to fear because of his grandfather who was believed to have more cash than even the business conglomerates because he dominated the underground economy.

    But he did not wage a fight against those ssmates from the conglomerates who were born to rich families like him because of his grandfather''s background as the ruler of the underground economy. And he was not dissatisfied with that fact. Rather he liked it.

    Even though his friends had to be prudent about their words and deeds, he didn''t have to because his father was a hidden yer in the underground economy.

    If he had any problem, he could solve it easily with money.

    Anyway, he did not have to be greedy about anything, but it was in his senior year at Kyungmoon High School that he began to be greedy about money for the first time.

    At that time, he saw Bora Yon, who was a freshman.

    Of course, he didn''t fall in love with her at first sight like a third-rate novel. As a matter of fact, he met lots of girls who were much more beautiful than Bora. What really made him interested in her was her background, namely, her status as the next sessor of the Mirae Group.

    Even though he was not greedy about anything, in particr, he now coveted her background so much.

    ''I don''t think the Mirae Group will have Bora marry the son of another business group chairman because her would-be fiance will be a son-inw who lives with her family¡­''

    Bora was the one and only heir to Mirae Group Chairman Junghwan Yon. Of course, there were lots of people connected to each other by kinship in the Mirae Group if they took into ount Bora''s father or mother''s families, but everybody knew early on that Chairman Yon had chosen her as his sessor. There were even rumors that the chairman had begun to train her in management.

 Chapter 504: Juyoung Hong (31)

    ''She''s like a dragon with a cintamani in her mouth. But no matter how smart she is, she is still a woman in the end. What if I make her pregnant? If they don''t approve my marriage to her, I''ll have her give birth to a second, or third baby.''

    Kyongyoung was dreaming about a rosy future when he would have been the chairman of the Mirae Group after getting married to her. He even thought of changing the name of the Mirae Group to the Lee Group in such a situation.

    If his grandfather, the king of the underground economy, helped him, he was convinced that he could make the top business leader Mirae Group widen the gap between Myongjin, Daesung and Kusan further.

    "Alright. Bora is not stupid. She is nice for me to y with. But howe that stupid bastard has won over her heart?''

    First of all, the huge obstacle for him was that he was not in the same grade as Juyoung and Bora. Even though he was born to a rich family, he was nothingpared to her status as the heir of the Mirae Group chairman''s family.

    His grandfather had more cash than any big business conglomerate, but the Mirae Group was an exception.

    In any case, he had no choice but to wait for the right chance to hit on her.

    But Juyoung appeared all of a sudden and began to mingle with her regrly.

    No wonder Kyongyoung hated him because he used to think Juyoung was far inferior to him, but he was now swaggering around like a hero. ''Hum...So his father''spany Myongjin is doing great these days, and that''s why this stupid bastard is swaggering so much!''

    Kyongyoung was getting more and more furious when this asshole, who he thought was inferior to him, became friendly with Bora, who he had in mind as his future bride.

    In the end, his growing anger came to surface gradually.

    At first, Kyongyoung wondered if he was making a mistake, for Myongjin was as powerful as Mirae. Myongjin''s status in the Korean business world became much stronger than before after the sessful oil deal with ExxonMobil and Chevron.

    But even though Juyoung must have heard lots of rumors about his discontent, he didn''t take any action. So Kyongyoung moved more aggressively because that was the only way for him to calm down his boiling anger.

    But he didn''t know that his hostile action against Juyoung would put him in terrible jeopardy.

    ***

    "Hmm¡­"

    Of course, I knew who spat on the floor. Even though that guy spat a bit behind me, I was not stupid enough not to notice it. But I ignored him.

    As a matter of fact, this was too trifling for me to respond to,pared to the attention I had received when I actualized my reality in Revival Legend. But it seemed that I was too indifferent to this guy because he began to cross the line.

    "Hey, Juyoung Lee, you stupid bastard! Can''t you do it?"

    "Um¡­ I''m sorry."

    "Shit, your name really sucks!"

    I heard him swearing at me from behind. Of course, he didn''t refer to me because my name was Juyoung Hong.

    But obviously, he teased me by changing myst name when he called me. Today he called me Juyoung Lee, yesterday he called me Juyoung Kim, and two days ago he called me Juyoung Park. Even though ''Juyoung'' wasmon, he deliberately called it loudly as if he wanted me to hear it.  ??

    Even though my name wasmon, I was not sure if he really used it to refer to me.

    So I turned and moved backwards.

    Then I stopped in front of this guy who swore at the man named Juyoung.

    "What the heck?"

    He seemed a bit embarrassed because he didn''t expect I would approach him.

    But I ignored him, and opened my mouth.

    "You kept shouting at me from behind. Didn''t you call me? You kept shouting ''Juyoung,'' right?"

    "Hey, I''m a senior, man."

    "So what? You want me to treat you as a senior now?"

    "Well, even if Myongjin is doing great these days, you can''t do this to me."

    "Who the hell are you?"

    "You don''t know me?"

    "Should I know a loudmouth like you?"

    He seemed very much upset that I didn''t recognize him. But I really could not recall his name, and he was not the type of guy that I needed to remember. No matter who he was, I didn''t know about him, and right now it is he who has to remember me.

    Anyway, he got upset at my response.

    "Juyoung, bastard! It seems like you''re swaggering a lot these days because your father''spany Myongjin is doing so well. Do you think Myongjin can prosper forever? At the end of the day..."

    p!

    I rxed my hand, then pped him on the face because I had put up with him too much.

    To be honest, there was really nothing I endured because I did not care at all even if others showed envy or jealousy about me behind my back.

    What about my actions now? Did I p him on the face because I was angry?

    Nope. I was not angry. Honestly, he was a pain in the neck.

    Comparing him to a pet, it was like teaching a dog to behave and not do it again after it bit my hand hard. Nothing more or less.

    But he resisted violently.

    "Die! You son of a bitch!"

    Obviously, he had a nasty personality because he charged at me, full of anger in his eyes, when pped. In the past, I would have let him punch me.

    Compared to all the weapons flying at me, and the magic attacks that I suffered in the past, his punch was so gentle an attack. And his punch was so slow.

    So I gently avoided his punch, then pped him again.

    At the same time, I added a little more force to my hand, and pped him again, which made him copse to the ground right away

    Watching him fall down, I turned, and moved backwards because I didn''t have to take care of him.

    And I found out who he was when I met my ssmates in the ssroom.

    "His name is Kyongyoung Lee?"

    "Yeah, His family has a lot of influence not only on the private loan market but also on the underground economy."

    "What the heck? He''s a do-badder, after all!"

    "Well, broadly speaking, you''re right. But even most business conglomerates seem to be submissive to his family. Of course, Myongjin isn''t one of them¡­"

    "Thanks for letting me know. I didn''t know that."

    "You''re wee."

    After finding out his name, I stopped thinking about him hard anymore because he was not worth it. But it seemed that others didn''t think like me.

    Wherever I moved around in school, they met in twos and threes, whispering about my encounter with Kyongyoung.

    Bora said, "There are bad rumors about him. Of course, he can''t do anything to you. These days, Myongjin''s prestige and power are bigger than Mirae."

    "Don''t worry. I would not have picked a fight with him if I had not been confident of beating him once and for all."

    Of course, I didn''t teach him a lesson just because he picked a fight with me by calling me ''Juyoung Lee'' ''Juyoung Kim'' and ''Juyoung Park.''

    I already noticed that whenever I was with Bora, he cast an angry nce at me, and did not hide his lust for her. Of course, I didn''t really care about that because I didn''t want to stop his inner greed and lust for her.

    But the problem was that he revealed his greed and lust that he should have kept to himself. And he had to pay the price for that.

 Chapter 505: Juyoung Hong (32)

    That evening, I called Director Sok who apanied my father when he came back home.

    "Oh, you called me, Juyoung?"

    He treated me very politely, as always.

    I just casually asked him, "Do you happen to know Chaesan Lee?"

    The name of Kyongyoung Lee''s grandfather was Chaesan Lee.

    "I do know him. He is called the tycoon of the underground economy. He owns a very lucrative business by lending in the private loan market."

    "I want to know about him in detail."

    "Got it. I willpile the information about him and get back to you."

    "You don''t have to hurry. Just take it easy. I know you are pretty busy these days.""Well, I would wee it even if I were as busy as I am these days. Chairman also says he is really happy to work these days."

    "Really? I''m d to hear that. Actually, I was worried that I gave you unintended trouble because of the recent oil deal and the top US officials'' visit here."

    "Hahaha! You don''t have to worry about it!"

    After talking with him a little more, I let him go because all I had to do was wait.

    In Myong-dong, Seoul.

    In the middle of Myong-dong, notorious for its expensivend just like Gangnam or South of Han River, there stood a magnificent traditional Korean house reminiscent of a nobleman''s house in the Yi Dynasty of old Korea. But the general public did not know about it because all the surroundingrgend including that house was privately owned, and the entire property was surrounded by high walls and CCTVs.

    Besides, there were also quite a few security guards stationed there.

    Even though the general public did not know much about the house and the huge property it was on, those in the know were well aware of who owned that house.

    It was none other than the house of Chasan Lee, the tycoon of the underground economy and an influential lender in Korea''s private loan market.

    Chaesan had no choice but to frown at his grandson Kyongyoung.

    "Grandpa! That bastard Juyoung Hong punched me first! I''m his victim!"

    Normally, he would have told him off sharply.

    Because his grandson strained his ties with the Myongjin Group? Of course, that''s not the reason. No matter how big the Myongjin Group was, he would not feel ufortable about dealing with Myongjin because of his grandson''s matter.

    For he was a self-imed tycoon of the underground economy and the biggest lender in the private loan market.

    So if he had rebuked his grandson, he would have done it just for one reason.

    It''s because even though his grandson was a senior, he suffered a resounding defeat by a freshman, and Juyoung Hong at that, who was widely known as the ipetent son of the Myongjin Group''s Chairman. He would most likely have scolded his grandson for that. ?

    Due to the nature of his work, Chaesan dabbled heavily in illegal affairs.

    Because of that, he had many opportunities to hear rumors and events that other people could not easily hear. Because of that, nobody in the private loan market and in the underground economy could look down on him.

    Moreover, he had a very close rtionship with Japan.

    Some of the funds that he lent to borrowers came from Japan.

    So he could hear through his close Japanese friends that all the Japanese lobbyists with connections to the US politicians were sacked in what could be called a bloody purge by the US. Startled, Japan moved swiftly, but they had allegedly failed to revive their lobbyingwork.

    ''Hmm. So the Japanese lobbyists were working on a crude oil deal at that time¡­''

    Japan has an economic structure simr to that of Korea.

    In fact, except for the domestic market, Korea and Japan had economic structures that were so simr that they could be called twins.

    In other words, Japan was in dire need of oil like Korea.

    As long as Japan could not produce its own oil, they had no way to deal with Saudi Arabia''s reduction in oil production due to the terrorist attacks or Iran''s blockade of teh Strait of Hormuz.

    The only option left for them was to rely on their ally, the United States.

    There was a rumor that the Japanese lobbyists picked up.

    [All high-ranking politicians, including the president of the United States, have abandoned Japan and turned to South Korea!]

    When he first heard about it, Chaesan, of course, did not believe it. Even though Washington often said Korea and Japan were both close allies of the United States, and it was impossible to determine which country was better than the other, it was an open secret that Japan was closer to the United States. Actually, Washington''s actions proved it.

    Then Chaesan also heard the news in no time.

    [U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Deputy Secretary of the Interior, and Special Adviser Thomas Tyler, a close aide to President William, visited South Korea!]

    [Exxon Mobil''s Vice President Ian and Chevron''s Eastern Asia Manager Bacon also visited Korea together!]

    The top US officials headed to Korea, not Japan.

    So it was no wonder that Chaesan was startled because he couldn''t figure out who made Washington turn to Korea after abandoning its close ally Japan.

    Of course, it was not long before he found out who was responsible for it.

    It was none other than the Myongjin Group.

    At that moment, Chaesan recalled a series of rumors that he had heard but totally ignored andughed them off because they were so absurd at that time.

    [Debius headquarters has been robbed!]

    [Debius has lost all the diamonds they stockpiled!]

    [The guy who stole all those diamonds is an Asian!]

    [Chairman Connenty of Debius moved to Sierra Leone to negotiate with the Asian!]

    At that time, Chaesan monitored the rumors secretly circting in the underground with a lot of interest especially because the culprit was an Asian.

    But he scoffed when he heard the other rumours.

    [Chairman Connenti eventually sumbed to the Asian guy, and gave him a huge amount of diamonds as a gift.]

    [The Asian guy took over the high-ss mines in Sierra Leone that Debius owned, and when he disappeared, his deputy appeared...]

    [He was Korean.]

    [The Korean man, who appeared to be the Asian guy''s deputy, was affiliated with apany named Myongjin.]

    Chaesan had no choice but tough at that point, then he stopped thinking about it right away.

    From experience, he knew that although asionally there were credible rumours circting the underground, many of them were often fake or third-rate tabloid rumors.

    This time, however, Chaesan thought that the rumor may not be a lie given Washinton''s unusual decision to supply oil to the Myongjin Group which was in a difficult situation because of the oil shortage problem.

    When he took all that into ount, he came to a conclusion about Myongjin.

    ''If all those rumors are true, Myongjin is like a dragon with cintamani in its mouth because it has made Washington abandon Tokyo and choose apany in South Korea.''

    In his opinion, this kind of exchange would not just be limited to the oil deal.

    If Washington moved just because of the oil issue, ExxonMobil and Chevron executives'' visit to Korea was more than enough. That wasmon sense. But they came with the top US officials, namely, the Secretary of Commerce, Deputy Secretary of the Interior, and US President William''s senior advisor.

    "¡­"

 Chapter 506: Juyoung Hong (33)

    As someone who prided himself on having a more keen political sense than anybody else, Chaesan knew it was a terrible idea to cause any trouble to the Myongjin Group.

    So he felt it was best to look submissive to Myongjin for now.

    But it was in this situation that his grandson picked a fight with the Myongjin Group chairman''s son, so it was natural that he scolded his grandson Cholmin.

    "Just go and see Juyoung and apologize to him right now!"

    "What did you say, Grandpa? How can I apologize to such a bastard? He has been called an asshole until recently!"

    Cholmin eximed, surprised by his grandpa''s admonition.

    But Chaesan said without blinking an eye, "If you won''t apologize to him, get out of this house right now! I''m going to live without you!"

    "..."

    Kyongyoung knew well that his grandfather was not the type of man who talked empty words. Logically, he had to be serious about what he just said.So he was full of anger toward Juyoung Hong in heart.

    But he relented, and replied politely, "Sure, Grandpa. I''ll apologize to him."

    As soon as he heard that, Chaesan let him go immediately.

    Then he said, "Come in."

    Something like a passage appeared from a crack on the wall, then somebody came out from it.

    The man approached Chaesan and knelt down.

    As this scene was familiar to him, Chaesan opened his mouth casually.

    "I''m sure Kyongyoung won''t apologize to Juyoung. He will think it''s unfair, so try to arrange a meeting between me and Juyoung sooner orter."

    "Yes, sir."

    Then the man went back to the secret passage from where he emerged.

    After that, Chaesan put a cigarette in his mouth and stayed there for a while.

    He muttered, "Maybe this is a good opportunity."

    These days, the Myongjin Group was doing business so well that he thought he could not find any opportunity to cultivate a good rtionship with them. So he thought that if he could cultivate a good rtionship with Myongjin this time, he could capitalize on it to make a fortune.

    "Well, I think I have to tame Kyongyoung''s rough behavior for the time being."

    He knew his grandson''s nasty personality so well because he was a carbon copy of himself. That''s why he doted on his grandson Kyongyoung among his other grandchildren.

    In the Myongjin Group chairman''s office the next day.

    "Chairman, President Chongji Oh of the Federation of Korean Industries asked to meet you at 3pm today."

    When the secretary said that, Chairman Hong put down the documents he was reviewing, then opened his mouth softly.

    "Today?"

    "Yes,sir."

    "Anything else?"

    "No, sir."

    "Hmm¡­tell him I can meet him!"

    "Yes, Chairman!"

    The Federation of Korean Industries was a mere figurehead organization.

    Chairman Hong was also a member of this organization, paying the annual fee that any regr member had to pay.

    But there was nothing he did as a member because its membership was open to any businessmen, and it had no particr influence as an interest group.

    What''s worse, it was reduced to a mere group ofpanies around the country.

    In the past, it had a remarkable power because of its unique situation.

    The owners of thepanies had no choice but to unite in order to protect themselves and theirpanies from the greedy politicians who treated them merely as a means for money.

    What about now? In fact, their fates had reversed.

    As someone said, politicians had their term limits, but the families of business conglomerates could survive for three generations even if they went bankrupt.

    That''s why the current Federation of Korean Industries was merely a political cover for their memberpanies.

    Anyway, Chairman Hong focused on what he had been doing, for he had to meet lots of people for business.

    Right before 3pm, Director Sok was briefed by the chairman secretary''s office that Chongki Oh, the President of the Federation of Korean Industries, would visit Chairman Hong. So he was busy preparing to greet him when President Oh appeared at the lobby of the Myongjin Headquarters, apanied by somebody. Of course, it wasmon that a personal assistant or a bodyguard apanied Mr. Oh, but the man next to him was someone that Director Sok had known for a long time.

    He was Chaesan Lee, a giant of the underground economy and a big influencer on the private loan market.

    So Director Sok gave the secretary''s office an order right away.

    "Tell them that the elevator directly connected to the chairman''s room is under renovation, then hold President Oh''s entourage for a moment."

    "Yes!"

    "Got it!"

    Those who belonged to the chairman''s secretariat immediately carried out his order without questioning it.

    At Chairman Hong''s office a littleter.

    "So, you mean President Oh ising here with Chaesan Lee now?"

    "Yes."

    "Hmm..."

    Chairman Hong groaned a bit at Director''s Sok''s briefing.

    Director Sok said, "Yesterday, Juyoung asked me to give him some more detailed information about Chaesan Lee."

    "Why?"

    "When I checked it out, I learned that he had a scuffle with a student named Kyongyoung Lee, Chaesan''s adored grandson. I heard Kyounyoung was carried to the nursing office unconscious afterward."

    "Do you mean he ising to see me because of his grandson''s matter?"

    "I think he''se here for some other reasons. As you know, he is very well connected, and very greedy. So I guess he must be itching to see you because the Myongjin Group is thriving these days."

    "Greedy?"

    Chairman Hong thought Chaesan Lee was here to satisfy his greed.

    Then he asked, "How did you take care of Juyoung''s request?"

    "Well, I''m investigating Chaesan Lee. I''m going to finish it within a week and get back to him."

    "Alright, good."

    "Then what are you going to do with Chaesan Lee?"

    "Let him in. I''m curious about what he wants to say to me."

    "Got it."

    Chairman Hong was curious as he said that because he could not figure out how powerful his younger son was. There must be some reason why Juyoung asked for such information.

    ''Do I have to watch what he is doing then?''

    Thinking about his son for a moment, he waited for Chaesan Lee toe in with President Oh.

    At the Myongjin Group Chairman''s Office a littleter.

    "Long time no see, President Oh!"

    "Nice to see you again, Chairman Hong! It''s so hard to see your face these days! You didn''te to the general meetingst time."

    "Sorry. I''m so busy¡­"

    "Hahaha! I understand. Who doesn''t know that you''re so busy these days?"

    President Oh was in his 90s, so Chairman Hong used honorifguage because he was even older than his father.

    Osan Heavy Industries, where President Oh was serving as its honorary chairman, was a medium-sizedpanypared to Myongjin, but Chairman Hong respected him as an elder.

    Anyway, they conversed amicably amid a genial atmosphere.

    Then President Oh opened his mouth, pointing to the man next to him.

    "Chairman Hong, this gentleman here is¡­"

    But he didn''t have to introduce himpletely because Chairman Hong interrupted him. "Oh, isn''t he Chairman Chaesan Lee?"

    "Hahaha, you already know about him!"

    "Well, if you are doing business, it''s natural that you wille to know about him."

    "Hahaha, that''s right. All the businessmen in Korea must know Chairman Chaesan Lee."

    President Oh burst intoughter when he heard that Chairman Sangman Hong already knew about him.

 Chapter 507: Juyoung Hong (34)

    In fact, Chaesan Lee paid the most fees to the Federation of Korean Industries, and he also let the federation rent a building owned by him for free.

    Of course, Chaesan Lee could notugh like President Oh because he was offended by what Chairman Hong just said.

    More precisely, he was very offended by Chairman Hong''s words, ''if you are doing business, it''s natural that you wille to know about him'', for his words carried some negative implications.

    But he pretended not to have been offended, and responded cheerfully, "Hahaha! It''s really an honor for you to recognize me like this, Chairman Hong!"

    Anyway, their bright conversation continued for some time.

    A littleter, Chaesan suddenly said, "President Oh, didn''t you tell me you had an appointment?"

    "Ooops! I think I forgot about it because I''m too old. Chairman Hong, sorry, but I have to be on my way first!"

    As if they had nned this in advance, President Oh got up as soon as Chaesan Lee gave him a reminder, then left the office quickly.

    So only Chairman Hong and Chaesan remained in the office.Chaesan opened his mouth with a serious expression unlike before.

    "Now that we have exchanged greetings like this, isn''t it time for us to have a serious conversation?"

    "Really?"

    "Before we get down to business, let''s talk about our kids a bit. It looks like they had a scuffle yesterday¡­"

    "Well, as you know, it''s just a scuffle between kids. By the way, you are not here to discuss it, right?"

    "Hahaha! Yes, that''s right."

    There was no better topic than their kids to make the atmosphere amicable, but Chairman Hong shut him down from the start.

    Chaesan was a little offended, but he didn''t show his displeasure.

    Then he said, "I know well that these days you are very busy. That means you need a good partner, I think. Since it''s certain that Myongjin will prosper more in the future, who knows when you might confront a strong rival?"

    "¡­"

    Chairman Hong had nothing to say.

    Watching him silent, Chaesan resumed talking right away, for he didn''t want to give Chairman Hong any chance to reflect on what he just said.

    "I''m willing to work in close tandem with you. If you want any loan even now, I can lend you at a much lower rate than banks, of course. Oh, you don''t have to worry about the funds. In fact, I''ve got sufficient funds avable."

    "Sounds good."

    "Hahaha! As expected, Chairman Hong, you''ve got an excellent sense of business and outstanding entrepreneurial qualities!"

    Chaesan Lee responded with a big smile to his words.

    But he had no choice but to stop smiling when he discovered Chairman Hong''s intentions.

    "Sounds good, but I think I have put off our meaningful talk untilter."

    "Why?"

    "Isn''t it pointless for me to have an honest conversation with you when nobody knows what will happen to your business?"

    "..."

    At first nce, he did not understand what Chairman Hong was talking about.

    Of course, what he said had an underlying meaning, but it could be something good or something bad.

    But in his mind, Chaesan thought it was something bad.

    So he opened his mouth in a low voice with a hard expression.

    "Chairman Hong, I want to tell you that I have not reached this position in an easy way. I''ve encountered lots of difficulties, and hit walls that I thought I could never surmount. But I''ve ovee all the challenges and difficulties and climbed this high. I think you understand what I mean¡­"

    "Of course, I know because you have been involved in a business that''s far from easy."

    "..."

    Although Chairman Hong did not ignore him tantly, Chaesan was still displeased.

    At the same time, he felt he didn''t have toe here just to listen to Chairman Hong''s snide remarks.

    Standing up right away, he was about to turn when he opened his mouth again.

    "I will pray for Myongjin''s unlimited prosperity! Hopefully without any trouble."

    "Hahaha, thank you!"

    After stressing the words ''Hopefully without any trouble", he left the office because he thought that was enough. And he knew Chairman Hong got his point.

    After he left the office, Chairman Hong stayed a little longer, sipping his half-remaining tea, then muttered, "I don''t have to y a bad hand from the beginning. I''m curious about what my son Juyoung is going to do about him, too."

    In fact, Chairman Hong made up his mind to distance himself from Chaesan Lee from the beginning. He really didn''t want to see him at all because he didn''t need this guy''s help.

    Moreover, Chairman Hong had a conversation with President William''s special adviser, Thomas Tyler, right before he left for the United States.

    This was what he said at that time.

    [I look forward to seeing you in a bigger and more colorful venue soon. President William also hopes that Washington continues to build a good rtionship with the Myongjin Group in the future.]

    Recalling that conversation, he had a smile on his lips because he was full of desire to work these days.

    ***

    In my house in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul, the next day.

    Knock! Knock!

    I heard someone knock on the door, so I asked him toe in.

    Director Sok came in.

    "Juyoung, here you go."

    "Wow, you''ve brought it on time! I asked you to take it easy."

    "Hahaha! How can I take your order lightly?''

    "Don''t tter me too much!"

    "Really? I''m d to hear that. Hope you don''t like to be ttered!"

    "Well, I''ve been ttered so often, so I''m sick and tired of it, to be honest."

    That was true. I was even praised as God by the people in Kuhana.

    He said, "Good for you! Then let me leave now. By the way, Chaesan Lee stopped by the chairman''s office yesterday."

    "He came to see my father?"

    "Yes."

    "Why?"

    "It seems that he had some other reasons. He even reached out to the chairman for a business deal."

    "So what happened?''

    "Of course, the chairman refused his offer. As you know, today''s Myongjin doesn''t have to join hands with a corrupt businessman like him. Well, Myongjin would not have even done it in the past."

    "I''m d to hear that. In my opinion, he will soon turn into a beggar and go homeless on the street."

    "Ah? Really?"

    "Yes."

    Having said that, I let him go, then reviewed the documents he handed over to me.

    After reviewing them for a while, I muttered, "Hmm¡­ he did a lot of bad things."

    Chaesan was not rich from the beginning. He was kind of a rags-to-riches man.

    The problem, however, was that he secured the funds, which made him so rich, from Japan. In return for that, he deliberately made a savings bank go bankrupt and gave it to his Japanese partner.

    When he took into ount all his illegal business transactions until now, he could be summarised with one word, human trash.

    Obviously, most of the wealth he umted was illegal. Perhaps that''s why he was called the tycoon of the underground economy and a big gun in the private loan market.

    Anyway, I stood up after wrapping up my examination of this man named Chaesan Lee.

    It was not even 9 o''clock at night, and I didn''t want to put off what I could do today.

    When I came back from the ce where it was safe to say that I was the only one who survived, I made up my mind that I would never give up my belongings to anyone else.

    And Bora Yon was on my list of things that I would never give up.

 Chapter 508: Juyoung Hong (35)

    So I moved to Myong-dong using Fly.

    Shortly afterwards, I was looking down at his mansion in Myong-dong from the air.

    "Man, it''s huge like a pce!"

    It was literally close to a royal pce.

    Considering that it was located in the middle of Myong-dong, it was safe to say that it was more than a pce. So I could not help but exim, but I controlled myself quickly.

    Checking my mask, hat and sunsses I put on, I immediately deactivated Fly.

    Then I plummeted towards the ground, and just as I was about tond, I used Blink with zero cooldown to move under the eaves of the pce-like house.

    Obviously, I moved silently, but all of a sudden, loud sirens and bright lights began going off everywhere.

    "Man...he must have hidden lots of stuff!"Was it the CCTV around his mansion? Of course not.

    I literally moved in the darkness. And all I did was just touch the wall of the mansion.

    Then the warning rms began to ring.

    Given that the bulk of his amassed wealth was illegal, he would more likely not have deposited it at the bank because the moment he did, he would be exposed.

    In other words, he made it a rule to hide his personal assets in a secret ce.

    Taking his sense of tight security into ount, it''s most likely that he kept his personal assets in his mansion.

    Since I was caughting here, I threw a punch at the outer wall.

    Bang!

    Puck!

    Arge hole opened in the wall with the sound of something crashing. I leisurely stepped into the hole.

    I wanted to surprise the owner of this mansion, but I was already caught, so I didn''t have to hurry.

    Just in case, I also wore a hat, sunsses, and a mask.

    When I entered the mansion, I saw a bed and some furniture.

    The bed was in a clean condition as if nobody slept there. No matter how carefully I looked at it, it didn''t look like Chaesan Lee''s bedroom because the furniture was shabby and the room itself wasn''t very big.

    When I opened the door, and stepped through, several people shouted at me.

    "Who is it?"

    "How did you get here?"

    "Don''t move from that spot! I''ll shoot if you move. This is a ce even the police don''te to even if a bomb explodes!"

    A group of men were already on standby outside the door.

    They were pointing pistols at me as soon as I appeared.

    "Man, now I know clearly why he is called the giant of the underground economy!"

    I saw lots of weapons including anti-tank missiles, tanks and helicopters not only in Sierra Leone, but also in the ce where my reality of ''Revival Legend'' was actualized. But that''s a thing of the past. It was different here. Besides, I''m in Korea. ?

    Tramp- Tramp-

    Since I knew they could not harm me with the pistols, I walked toward them.

    I didn''t have to converse with them, of course.

    "Shoot!"

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    I could easily figure out that there were experienced gunmen when I saw them pointing the pistols at me adroitly. Besides, they didn''t show any emotions when they fired their pistols. It meant that they had lots of experience shooting at people.

    In the meantime, I moved my hands a little faster to catch the bullets flying towards me.

    Pak! Pak! Pak! Pak!

    I moved my hands with dexterity as if I was doing a stunt.

    The guys in front of me seemed stunned at the spectacle.

    "¡­"

    "¡­"

    "¡­"

    Leaving them stunned, I let the caught bullets drop between my fingers, then got closer to them.

    Then I lifted one of my legs and stomped down towards their feet. And it was no wonder that their feet was crushed like soft tofu

    "Kheeeeeek!"

    "Oh my poor feet!"

    "Khuuuuk!"

    They copsed, groaning in pain.

    I didn''t care about it, and said in a low voice, "Hush! If you want to say your remaining foot, you had better keep quiet. I hate noisy stuff."

    "Upppp¡­"

    "Uppp...upppp."

    As soon as I said that, they began to cover their mouths with their hands.

    They also stopped the mouths of their fellows who were still groaning in pain.

    "Alright. Good job. First of all, I''m going to ask you a question, and I will spare the guy who answers quickly. Your feet? Don''t worry. If you have surgery, you will be able to walk even if you can''t run. But I''ll break your legs or hands, so you can''t even walk or lift your spoon, if you answerte or lie to me. Got it?"

    They, who had fallen down, grabbing their crushed feet, nodded vigorously at my warning.

    So I cut to the chase and asked, "Where is Chaesan Lee in this mansion?"

    "Chairman Lee resides on the first basement floor!"

    "He is always in the study room on the first basement floor at this time!"

    "That''s right! He is always there!"

    Since they gave me the same answer, they didn''t seem to lie to me.

    It didn''t matter if they lied to me because I could go and check by myself.

    "Good. I will spare all of you because you guys seem to have answered honestly. So lead a good life in the future. Stay away from scary stuff like guns. You guys are not policemen or soldiers, right?"

    "Yes!"

    "Ah¡­Got it!"

    "From now on, I will never kill anyone!"

    "Thank you for sparing my life!"

    Of course, killing them was easier than sparing them, but I chose to spare them because I didn''t need to kill them.

    Anyway, I passed by them and continued walking down the hallway.

    ***

    I''ve seen it often in movies. When water started to fill the ship because of a hole in the ship caused by a sudden impact, shutters or barriers came down around the filled area to prevent water from entering other areas.

    In fact, such devices existed in a huge building in case of fire.

    And I saw something simr here in Chaesan Lee''s mansion.

    Steel tes, which looked thick at first nce, appeared sparsely, and blocked me from moving forward.

    What''s more, thick iron tes appeared from behind and to my sides as if to confine me in an enclosed spacer.

    "Man, what a tight security!"

    When I looked at the mansion from the outside, it looked like a grand pce, but in the end, it was only a traditional Korean mansion. I never expected he would have installed such security devices.

    "Gosh, he''s got something fishy behind him!"

    Given that he put so much effort into building a fortress like this, I knew he had done lots of illegal things.

    Bang!

    The barricade was easily shattered when I punched it gently.

    No matter how sturdy and thick the iron was, it was too flimsy to block me.

    Of course, my punch didn''t create enough space for me to move, but it didn''t matter.

    As I could grind diamonds into powder just by lightly pressing them with my fingers, it was not an exaggeration to say iron was not much different from y to me.

    Reaching out my hand, I continued to move forward, tearing the barricades made of iron as if I was ying with y.

 Chapter 509: Juyoung Hong (36)

    In the control room of Chaesan Lee''s mansion.

    "¡­"

    "¡­"

    "¡­"

    There was a heavy silence in the situation room.

    In particr, Kyuchol Han, the security chief of the mansion, and a former colonel, couldn''t believe it all. He could somewhat understand the intruder crushing the feet of his subordinates by trampling on them, but catching bullets with bare hands was something he could not understand at all.

    In the meantime, as someone who prided himself on his vast experience, he quickly pulled down the barricades that divided the areas of the mansion.

    Actually, he also questioned the need for installed barricades when he first started working here..

    But he could not help but be stunned to see the barricades being torn apart like a piece of paper by the intruder who was like a superman that he had only seen in movies and on TV.At that moment, his subordinates shouted at him.

    "Captain, what should I do?"

    "Should I call the police? Or should I call an army unit?

    "..."

    His subordinates called him, trembling in fear.

    Hearing their voice, he thought he needed to ay their fears because fear was the worst enemy, as he learned through his career in the army.

    But he could not respond at all because he himself was stricken with fear.

    He shook his head quickly trying to calm his fear, then pondered over his subordinates'' question. He realized that it was useless to kill the intruder with guns.

    But he soon rejected their appeal to call the police or an army unit because calling them to this ce where his boss amassed his wealth illegally didn''t make any sense.

    ''Then the only option is¡­"

    Faced with the intruder who moved forward by smashing the barricades easily, he realized that he had only one option, namely, escaping.

    So he said, "Where is the chairman right now?"

    "He is in the study room in the first basement."

    "Does he know the current situation?"

    "Well, he knows an intruder has broken into the mansion."

    "Then evacuate him to the outside first. You guys¡­"

    He was going to order them to stay put and expel the intruder, but he didn''t say it this time because he knew they wouldn''t obey.

    After all, they were hired by contract.

    Instead he said, "Report the status of the intruder to me every minute. If he takes any unusual actions, report to me right away."

    "Yes!"

    "Got it!"

    After ordering them, he quickly moved to the study room on the first basement along with five subordinates that he trusted most.

    In the hallway of Chaesan''s mansion.

    m! m! m! m!

    I broke the barricades blocking my way and continued to move forward.

    Those watching me through CCTV would probably think I was wandering after getting lost. Of course, I wasn''t actually lost. I just pretended to be so.

    This ce was a traditional Korean mansion, but it was so huge.

    At a nce, it seemed that he had only one basement floor in his mansion.

    That''s why I deliberately moved seemingly aimlessly.

    If they were prudent, they would try to evacuate Chaesan Lee first instead of attempting to block me. And they seemed to be quite busy at the moment.

    I instinctively felt that some of them at some distance from me were moving around quickly. I wondered if they were trying to charge at me, but they didn''t. Instead they seemed to quickly move down again as if to take an elevator. ???

    "I wish they could head to Chaesan Lee¡­"

    Of course, it didn''t matter if they didn''t go to him because he was like a mouse in a pot. But I felt strongly that they were headed toward him, so I stayed put because I could easily catch up to them when they arrived at their destination.

    Besides, the iron barricades couldn''t block me at all.

    m!

    A littleter, I lifted my right foot and mmed it down on the floor.

    The floor vibrated loudly just like the iron barricades that blocked me from all directions, and a hole appeared where my foot struck. So I dropped through the hole and quickly ran to the ce that I felt they were heading to.

    ***

    In Chaesan Lee''s basement study room.

    [Captain! The intruder smashed the floor and jumped down to the first basement!]

    "What the heck are you talking about?"

    Kyuchol Han could not help but be startled because he was preparing to escape with Chaesan Lee at the moment when he heard his subordinate''s report through the earphones he was wearing.

    The intruder simply moved forward, breaking the iron barricades instead of breaking through the floor or ceiling until now. But he suddenly changed tactics. But he suddenly changed his moving tactics.

    So Kyuchol couldn''t help but feel a sense of foreboding because it was the first basement floor where he and his boss were located at the moment.

    He could confirm through his earphones why he had such a feeling.

    [Captain! The intruder is moving quickly toward you and the chairman...]

    Bang!

    A roar echoed through his earphones before his subordinate could finish.

    At the same time, he saw the intruder appearing right before him by easily destroying the sturdy door which was as thick as a wall as if it was thin wood.

    He and his boss were in the worst situation.

    Then it struck him that the intruder had tricked him because he showed up as soon as he moved down here with his subordinates.

    The intruder said, "I''ve finally found you!"

    Kyuchol could not understand the situation, but the intruder''s voice sounded like that of a youth. Of course, he didn''t forget to point the pistol at the intruder, even though he knew that shooting was useless against him.

    Anyway, he struggled in desperation, cursing the damn situation he was in.

    ***

    When Inded after breaking a thick wall, I finally found a man who looked exactly like Chaesan Lee that Director Sok mentioned in the document.

    So I said to him, "Were you on your way out in a hurry during the night?"

    I asked casually as if I pretended not to know anything about him.

    He then responded in a low voice, "Hum, that rumor was true. When I heard Debius was robbed by an Asian, I didn''t believe it...Oh my God, who the hell are you? Howe you are affiliated with the Myongjin Group?"

    "Ooops! I didn''t know there were such rumors!"

    I walked toward him, replying to his question, because I needed to talk with him in person.

    At that moment, somebody shouted at me, "Stop there!"

    Then all of the bodyguards surrounding him pointed their pistols at me as if they were about to open fire at any time.

    So I said, "Well, I understand that you are a big yer in the private loan market and a giant of the underground economy. Are you also involved in arms trafficking?"

    All the people I bumped into while I wasing here were armed with pistols without any exception, but no weapons including pistols could stop me.

    So I kept walking toward him.

    Then their leader shouted, "Fire!"

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

 Chapter 510: Juyoung Hong (37)

    If they had seen it on CCTV, they would have realized that shooting at me was useless.

    But I felt like I knew their feelings because while they were shooting at me, their faces were contorted in fear because they knew it was futile.

    So I moved my hands up and down as if to drive away a herd of flies flying at me.

    I could easily block the bullets simply by swinging my hands.

    "¡­"

    "¡­"

    "¡­"

    They stared at me nkly.

    So I said to them gently, "Didn''t you expect this? You guys didn''t hope you could kill me this time, right?"They remained silent at my question.

    Since I didn''t expect a reply, I continued, shuffling on my feet, "Well, I understand your feelings in some respects because you have been hired as his bodyguards, no matter how bad he is. But this isn''t America, is it? All the guys I confronted ahead of you had their feet smashed, so don''t you think they would feel it unfair if you were not treated the same?"

    As soon as I said that, I trampled on their feet.

    No wonder they screamed in pain.

    "Kheeeeek!"

    "Khuuuuuuk!"

    "Damn it! My poor feet!"

    Their painful moaning filled the room in an instant, but I continued, uncaring, because I had seen and gone through much worse before.

    "Hush! I don''t like noisy stuff. I''m going to talk with your boss or your employer called Chaesan Lee from now on, so I hope you stay quiet. Besides, you want to save your feet, don''t you?"

    "Uppp¡­"

    "Uppp, uppp!"

    As soon as I said that, they stopped moaning in pain.

    I walked up to Chaesan Lee, who was trembling uncontrobly.

    In fact, I didn''t want to do this much to him at first because his grandson was responsible for all the trouble. But I knew that his grandson Kyongyoung was bing bold, full of greed, because of his grandfather Chaesan.

    So I decided to root out the cause of this trouble.

    Fortunately, Chaesan was more corrupt and worthless than his grandson.

    I now stood before him and said in a low voice, "I hear you have lots of wealth. I''ve also heard the rumors that you''re a tycoon of South Korea''s underground economy and a top lender in the private loan market."

    "¡­"

    He didn''t respond, so I continued, "I don''t think you have deposited your money at the bank, right? And you must not have hidden it in other ces when you have invested so much money in building a huge mansion like this¡­"

    "..."

    He still kept silent. But I didn''t rush him to reply.

    After all, he would have to tell me the whole truth because he was under my control now, and I was confident in making him reveal the information to me.

    So I approached one of the walls, leaving him aghast.

    It was literally a wall.

    "Oh my God, it really looks real! I would not have noticed it if I had not sensed a human inside it!"

    To be honest, I had no capabilities of detecting a hidden space, but I could easily sense the presence of a human inside the wall.

    So I punched at the wall, revealing a small space, and a man hiding in there like a mouse.

    As soon as the man hiding inside the secret space of Chasan Lee''s study was discovered, he lowered his head, then said quickly, "I know everything about him! I have been serving Chairman Lee, or that man, for nearly 10 years, and I''ve managed his slush funds and hidden assets, including criminal funds! I''ll tell you everything if you can spare my life!"

    "Wow!"

    Of course, I knew that the surest way to get rid of Chaesan Lee was to kill him because the dead didn''t talk. And that''s what I have been doing until now.

    But I decided not to kill my opponents this time.

    That''s why I was content with breaking one of their legs when they charged at me with pistols instead of killing them.

    As for Chaesan Lee, I decided to make him a total beggar by stripping him of all his assets. And the man who could make that possible was right in front of me.

    So I raised him up, and said, "Don''t worry. I know how to speak with people, and I like those who can speak with me."

    At the same time, I said, pointing at those behind me, "Look back. When I told them to be quiet, they were quiet, so they had only one of their feet maimed. Their lives were spared. I''m not that brutal. Of course, I can be brutal sometimes. In such cases¡­"

    Without finishing my words, I raised my right hand and pointed to the opposite side.

    At that moment, ice formed on my index finger and flew straight to the opposite wall.

    Bang!

    First of all, his study room was veryrge because the bookshelves were almost as high as a three-story building.

    But one of the huge walls waspletely smashed by the ice shards.

    Pasasasasak!

    A huge amount of ice formed on broken and torn bookshelves.

    Turning my nce toward the guy that I held in my left hand, I said in a low voice,

    "I don''t want you to change your mind. I don''t like a man who changes his mind midway through."

    "Of course not! I will tell you everything! I promise!"

    "Okay, great. Then tell me right now."

    "If you walk down this secret space, you can reach underground. There is a secret warehouse in that basement!"

    As soon as he finished speaking, I raised my right hand again and pointed to the door leading to the outside.

    Then I released small shards of ice that smashed the door in an instant, and froze over the exit.

    In other words, the basement study turned into an enclosed space.

    Obviously, Chaesan Lee and his men didn''t touch the ice directly.

    However, not only the one held in my hand, but also the chairman''s bodyguards in the middle of the study and the chairman began to tremble violently, gritting their teeth, because of the freezing cold.

    So I said softly, "Don''t worry. It won''t take that long. Let me tell you just in case. Don''t even think about getting close to the ice chunks and touching them. You will immediately be frozen!"

    After having said that, I moved to the underground of the secret space, guided by the guy I was holding with my left hand.

    The further down I went underground, the bigger the path became, reaching the size of arge corridor.

    Soon I faced a huge underground space.

    At first nce, the underground space wasrger than the space on the ground.

    So, I had no choice but to exim, "Man, how much wealth did he amass to create this kind of space?"

    The guy responded, "Korea''s underground economy is by no means small. Each year, more than tens of trillions of won changes hands there. Chaesan Lee has been controlling the underground economy for more than 10 years. Moreover, taking into ount his influence on the private loan market, he might be the richest person in Korea unofficially."

    "In the end, wherever he goes, it seems that he can make money by using illegal means."

    "¡­"

 Chapter 511: Juyoung Hong (38)

    The guy who served as his boss''s butler for nearly 10 years did not respond to myment. I didn''t ask for an answer either.

    I moved a bit further and found another secret ce.

    He said, "This is Warehouse No. 1. He has collected and kept all the antiques, paintings, and ceramics here."

    "Right. No wonder works of art are included in his illegal properties."

    Great artworks have great value for their small size.

    That''s why those who are involved in illegal transactions prefer artworks.

    Beep, beep, beep, beep.

    As soon as I said that, the man who was guiding me approached the warehouse and keyed in the password, causing the huge iron to split in two.

    Of course, he didn''t need to because I could open it with a single punch.But I didn''t stop him.

    As soon as the door opened, numerous works of art came into my view.

    "Wow, this guy sure has collected a lot."

    I admired hisrge collection despite myself because it was literally a museum of artworks.

    "By the way, how can I carry them outside¡­"

    There were simply too many artworks for anybody to take out.

    I wondered if I alone could do so.

    But I said, "I''ll show you something special. Look carefully. You won''t see it anywhere."

    I had no intention of touching any of the artworks here individually because it was just a nuisance to do it that way.

    So I put the entire Warehouse No.1 into my inventory. The huge warehouse disappeared in an instant.

    "!!!"

    Chaesan Lee''s butler, who was next to me, opened his eyes wide at that sight, but I ignored him because I already knew that was how we would react.

    I just ushered him to guide me to another ce where Chaesan Lee stored his wealth.

    Even though it was smaller than Warehouse No. 1, I put Warehouse No. 2 into my inventory, which contained all kinds of jewelry, including gold, and Warehouse No. 3 which was full of Japanese yen and Korean won notes.

    Now I stood before Warehouse No. 4.

    "I don''t know the password for this warehouse. It is the only warehouse that Chaesan Lee manages directly. I only know that this warehouse contains very valuable materials for him, such as his transaction books and loan books."

    "Really? Then let me take it by all means."

    I got close to the warehouse, or a safe, whose walls seemed to be thicker than those of the other warehouses.

    "No! That''s mine! Everything in it is mine!"

    Of course, I knew he would react like that from the start. And he was the only one whose feet I had yet to smash. Needless to say, this guy was Chaesan Lee, needless to say.

    He showed up, yelling at me.

    "My artwork! My jewel! My money! I''ve collected all of them so far! So return them to me! You cannot know how much effort I put into collecting them!"

    I decided to make him a beggar rather than killing him, and I think I made the right decision.

    Chaesan Lee, who was trembling uncontrobly in front of me a little while ago, began to shout at me brazenly, with bloodshot eyes.

    So I said clearly and loudly, so he had no choice but to listen, "Don''t worry. I won''t take only the artwork, jewellery, and money from you."

    At the same time, I immediately punched the huge vault.

    Bang!

    A huge roaring sound erupted

    Of course, the roaring sound wasn''t all there was.

    No matter how strong the safe, it could not withstand my punch.

    So I reached down into the safe, which was cracked open, then opened arge entrance to the outside by wrenching away the iron sheet as if I was rolling up Kimbap.

    "Man, there are so many damn documents!"

    There were no works of art, jewels, or money that clearly showed their value inside the warehouse. Instead, a bunch of papers were piled inside.

    But these papers and books were crucially important, and that''s why he managed them in person.

    As if to confirm my guess, he shouted, "No! Don''t touch them!"

    He shouted louder than before.

    But I ignored him, and put my hand on the safepletely embedded in the wall.

    Crack! Crack!

    I removed the safe from the wall with force.

    Of course, I put the safe into my inventory right away.

    He copsed at the sight

    "Oh, no! You can''t take them away! You can''t!"

    He copsed helplessly with a scream.

    But I ignored him, then said to his butler who escorted me here, "Alright. Is there any more you want to show me?"

    "No. Chaesan never trusts other people. So he was satisfied only when he grasped all his assets in his hand. So when I left, I could only exit after taking all my clothes and going through X-ray machines to make sure I didn''t have anything in my pocket."

    "Man, what a nasty temper! Well, things will work out easily because of that."

    I didn''t have to try hard to make him a beggar, so I could not help but be satisfied.

    I put my hand in my pocket and drew out a handful of diamonds, then handed them to the butler who guided me all the way here and revealed his boss''s wealth to me.

    I said gently, "This is a gift. You were fired because of me, so take this for your retirement funds."

    "Oh¡­thank you."

    "My pleasure. I know how to repay people who have helped me. You can leave now. The ice chunks blocking the safe have now disappeared."

    The moment Chaesan Lee moved here, I removed the ice chunks blocking the entrance to the safe because I didn''t have to block it anymore.

    "Thank you so much!"

    Anyway, I let Chaesan Lee''s butler return.

    Now I was left behind with Chaesan Lee in the underground space.

    There was no anger on his face. He was just staring nkly at me.

    Of course, I could understand his feelings because he lost all his wealth in an instant.

    He must have realized that he had no way to retrieve his wealth considering my capabilities he saw with his own eyes.

    I didn''t say anything particr to him. He would not listen to me, either.

    Tap! Tap!

    So I lightly tapped him on the back as if to cheer him up, then walked back to the entrance.

    When I stepped back into his study, everyone there was already gone.

    I didn''t care because I already expected it.

    At that moment, I heard a familiar voice.

    "Grandpa? Is it you, Grandpa?"

    It was Kyongyoung, his grandson, who caused all this trouble by exposing his desire that he should have kept to himself.

    I heard his voice clearly, so I was in a position to take action against him.

    ''Blink!''

    But I didn''t show up before him because I didn''t have to.

    Anyway, I left Chaesan''s mansion, but left behind lots of traces.

    I didn''t care about it much.

    It was inevitable for him to realize who was responsible for the mess in his mansion because I was already widely known for having robbed the Debius headquarters and making America beg the Myongjin Group for help.

    So I only prepared myself on the surface against any potential retaliation by wearing a hat, sunsses and a mask.

 Chapter 512: Juyoung Hong (39)

    In my house in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul, the next day.

    Knock! Knock! Knock!

    When I heard somebody knocking on the door, I told them toe in.

    When the door opened, Director Sok appeared.

    "What''s going on?"

    "I think you should know this."

    "What?"

    "There are rumors that the mansion of a guy named Chaesan Lee was robbedst night. Chaesan Lee is a big yer in the private loan market and the tycoon of the underground economy that dominates Korea."

    "Oh, really?""Yes. Of course, I hear the prosecutor''s office or the police won''t investigate the robbery because the victim didn''t report it."

    "Tut, tut, tut. He has to. He must be really devastated because he must have amassed lots of wealth until now."

    "You bet. Actually, he was rumored to be the richest man in Korea unofficially. It looks like the robber has made a fortune."

    "I think so."

    "Okay, I will leave then, Juyoung."

    "Take it easy."

    I didn''t tell him about what I did to Chaesan Lee, nor did he ask me anything.

    Shortly afterward, I picked up the phone and called someone.

    When they picked up the call, I said in a low voice "Are you ustomed to the work now?"

    "Yes! I''ve grasped how it works!"

    "Good. I''m thinking of giving you another mission."

    "Pardon? Another mission?"

    "Yeah, I''ve brought a bunch of papers this time, so I want you to review them. I can''t do it, as you know."

    "Sure, let me return quickly."

    "By the way, I hear you''ve scouted another guy from Myongjin. Well, they areining because we''re scouting their elite employees a lot!"

    "Well, he was thest man I scouted. I''ve alreadyid the groundwork for scouting talented guys here."

    "I''m d to hear that. See you soon here!"

    "Sure, Chairman Juyoung Hong!"

    I ended the call with Taesok Oh in Sierra Leone. I thought about asking Director Sok to analyze the ount books and other financial documents I brought from Chaesan Lee''s mansion, but he was too busy serving my father.

    So I gave the work to Taesok because that''s why I was paying him a lot

    I wrapped up the work involving Chaesan Lee because I didn''t have to worry about it anymore.

    After robbing his mansion, I spent my days as usual, or more precisely, peacefully.

    What about Kyongyoung Lee, the source of all this trouble?

    I haven''t heard anything about him since he was transferred to an ordinary high school.

    And I didn''t bother to find out more about him.

    Other than that, there was nothing particr to me except to await the return of Taesok Oh from Sierra Leone.

    Once Taesok returned and reviewed the documents, he said, "This ount book is a certificate to show that he lent 58.1 billion yen to Japan''s Sumitomo Capital to allow them to enter the Korean Market!"

    "And this one is a certificate that he has lent 190 billion won to Hanmaeum Savings Bank!]

    " And this deed shows his registered ownership of the 71-story Golden Cross Tower under a false name in Tehran St. Seoul. It has an estimated value of 1.57 trillion won. The real owner of this property will be subject to a significant fine, but he''s the permanent owner of this building anyway!]

    "And this one is¡­"

    Not all of the documents I brought from Chaesan''s Lee''s mansion were of the same kind. Some of them were meaningless or lost their value because they had expired.

    He carefully organized the ount books by year, perhaps thanks to his meticulous personality which was evidenced in the construction of his mansion like a fortress.

    Aside from those, he had lots of securities.

    "All of these are bond certificates, and government bonds at that. If anybody who has these bonds asks to retrieve their money, the borrower must return it unconditionally because they are powerless when ites to bond certificates they have issued."

    Taesok then paused for a moment, and I knew why.

    Those who issued the bond certificates would know Taesan Lee was robbed, so there was a high possibility that they would pretend they had nothing to do with the certificates.

    They were obviously legitimate bond certificates, so the bond issuers had an obligation to pay a guaranteed amount to whoever owned them, but the problem was they issued the certificates to Chaesan Lee, who had been controlling the underground economy of South Korea for more than 10 years.

    So if anybody who owned these bond certificates was less powerful or influential than Chaesan Lee, the bond issuers would totally ignore them. If they couldn''t do so, they would try to spark controversy by revealing it to the public because it would cost less to do so.

    That''s what Taesok was worried about at the moment.

    But I noticed it, and said, "Don''t worry. I''ll make them pay all their debts."

    But Taesok responded worriedly, "You should not step in under the name of Myongjin. If you do so, they will use it as a chance to attack Myongjin. In other words, they will obviously find fault with Myongjin by saying that Korea''s major business conglomerate has been involved in the illegal underground economy."

    So I gently said, "Hey, do you think I''ve climbed to this position thanks to Myongjin''s help?"

    [...]

    He didn''t respond, but I didn''t press him because he was not stupid not to understand my point.

    On the top floor of the 71st floor Golden Cross Tower in Tehran St. at the time.

    In a space decorated just like the office of a chairman of a bigpany, someone holding a cell phone shouted with a loud voice without hiding their excitement.

    "Are you serious?"

    "Yes, that''s true! It seems that Chaesan Lee has no intention of doing business again. He doesn''t even have the will to do anything!"

    "What about the robber?"

    "Chaesan Lee is being tight lipped about him. And those who said they saw him won''t talk, either."

    "Then there is a high chance that Chaesan Lee''s ount books will be lost forever, right?"

    "Sure! I think 99% of them, or all of them will be lost. He controlled South Korea''s underground economy for more than 10 years, and that''s why many people issued bond certificates to him. They would not have done it for others. In other words, they do not have to pay back anyone who now owns those bond certificates because they are not Chaesan Lee. So the Golden Cross Tower building that was originally just under your name as a cover is now yours, Chairman!"

    "Hahaha. Good job. I won''t forget your help, Prosecutor Lee. Come and see me one of these days. Let me treat you to a nice dinner!"

    "I look forward to it, Chairman!"

    "Alright."

    After he hung up the phone, Yongtae Han stood up from his seat.

    Then he went to the big window overlooking Tehran St, before raising both his hands and shouting "Hahahaha! I''ve been serving him with all my heart¡­Finally I''ve hit the jackpot!"

    The registered owner of the Golden Cross Tower, a well-known building in Tehran St, estimated more than 1 trillion won in property value, is Yongtae Han.

    Considering this, he was rich enough to be included in the top 1%, or more precisely the top 0.001% exceedingly rich individuals of South Korea.

    But before, he was only the registered owner of that building, not its real owner.

    That''s why he had kept a low profile until recently.

 Chapter 513: Juyoung Hong (40)

    Yongtae Han knew all along that the moment the media found out even an inkling about the real owner of the Golden Cross tower, he would lose everything.

    Moreover, he had never even dreamed of owning the Golden Cross Tower because its real owner was Chaesan Lee.

    But he came to really own the Golden Cross Tower all of a sudden.

    "Great! Now I''m really rich too! Rich!"

    There were constant shouts of joy on the top floor of the Golden Cross Tower for a while.

    At the National Intelligence Service (NIS) headquarters in Naegok-dong, Seoul.

    No matter how much they were treated like a paperless tiger for their poor capabilities, they knew well about Chaesan Lee because he had been monopolizing the private loan market with a huge amount of money for more than 10 years.

    Even though they knew he was involved in illegal business for a long time, they didn''t investigate him because they knew so many people received benefits from him, including the NIS Director.

    Besides, leaving him alone was not something bad to the NIS because it would be hard to manage them if several tigers like Taesan Lee were running around in the mountain called South Korea. If many forces startedpeting underground, it would be inevitable for the NIS to lose its reputation for failing to control them.If there was only one tiger, and one with connections to the NIS, they would wee them with open arms because there was no chance of that tiger causing any trouble, and even if they did, they could deal with it quickly anyway.

    Of course, there was controversy within the NIS that they could be tamed or even manipted by Chaesan Lee, but none of those rumors fully surfaced for most of the top officials including the NIS Director were bribed by Cheasan Lee on a regr basis.

    In any case, the sudden fall of Chaesan Lee was obviously a big topic among the NIS staff because they had never expected he would fall all of a sudden.

    But the biggest headache for them was that Lee kept records about all the bribes he had given the top NIS officials.

    Given his meticulous personality, Chaesan Lee must have written down the details of the benefits to the top NIS officials in his ledgers. So the NIS leadership ranging from its Director to the Deputy Director and other top officials were in crisis mode.

    The NIS itself began a thorough investigation into the fall of Chaesan Lee.

    Aside from needing to retrieve the ledgers, they needed to investigate his downfall.

    Today they were supposed to announce the results of their first investigation.

    Not only the NIS Director, but also the foreign operations director attended the press conference even though Lee''s fall was a domestic matter.

    Youngsu Cho, the chief of the NIS Special Analysis, said, "First, we collected all 517 CCTV images installed in Chaesan Lee''s mansion. Of course, we could not identify some of them because they were damaged, but we had no big difficulties identifying the existence of mysterious figure X because there were so many CCTV images. Then let me show you the screens captured by 517 CCTVs arranged in chronological order."

    Bang!

    The screen showed somebody punching the outer wall of the mansion.

    It was hard for the NIS people to believe that a huge hole was created in the sturdy outer wall with a single punch, but no one tried to interrupt the chief analytic director.

    They knew they could ask himter.

    Another screen showed the mysterious robber blocking bullets with his bare hands and smashing his opponents'' feet by simply trampling on them.

    "..."

    "..."

    "..."

    Those present at the small conference room were silent.

    At that moment, somebody on the screen said something.

    Perhaps because the analytic team leader deliberately edited the video, the voice was amplified so all those in the room could hear it.

    ""Hum, that rumor was true. When I heard Debius was robbed by an Asian, I didn''t believe it...Oh my God, who the hell are you? Howe you are affiliated with the Myongjin Group?" ?

    "Man, did you hear about that rumor?"

    At this point, somebody among the NIS people asked, "Myongjin?"

    "Did Chaesan Lee mention Myongjin a moment ago?"

    The top-ranking NIS officials, who remained silent even when X caught bullets with his bare hands, began to ask one by one.

    Chairman Lee in the video definitely mentioned Myongjin, and the mysterious guy they called X didn''t deny it.

    "Yes, that''s right. Chairman Lee specifically mentioned Myongjin to X, and that mysterious figure did not deny it."

    "That name Myongjin rings a bell¡­"

    "Yeah, Myongjin has concluded an oil deal with ExxonMobil and Chevron recently."

    "Well, oil doesn''t matter. Think of those who came with the oilpany executives!"

    "Right, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, the Deputy Secretary of the Interior, and even President William''s right-hand man Thomas Tyler visited with them."

    "You bet. And they went to see the Myongjin Group chairman as soon as they arrived here instead of going to the Blue House."

    They began to whisper in an instant. So much so that the small conference room was so noisy like a local market.

    Bang!

    The Director of the National Intelligence Service, who was seated at the top of the conference table, mmed his hand down on the table and opened his mouth.

    "Everyone, be quiet! It will not be toote for you to discuss after watching the video to the end!"

    He silenced them quickly.

    Then they turned their attention to the analytic team leader Cho again.

    He yed the video on the screen again.

    All of them watched the video with more astonished expressions than before.

    They couldn''t understand that ice came out of human hands, and that the tiny ice chunks had more destructive power than missiles.

    Moreover, they were stunned to see him putting a warehouse that could house hundreds of people into his pocket in an instant.

    "¡­"

    "¡­"

    "¡­"

    The video ended, but no one dared to speak readily.

    Then somebody''s low voice rang through the small conference room.

    "Well, it reminds me of a huge cier that suddenly appeared in the Arctic. It was a cier that was twice asrge as the Korean Penins, right?"

    Everyone present at the conference room knew what Deputy Director Sojung Han, a powerful woman within the NIS who was in charge of one of their three overseas branches, was talking about.

    After all, this mysterious guy X also used ice to break through Taesan Lee''s safe and warehouses.

    Deputy Director Han continued, "I''ve been curious about why the most powerful country called the United States gave such a generous gift to the Myongjin Group because thepany is not thatrge globally even though it''s one of the top five business conglomerates in Korea. Now I think I know the reason. Washington must have known this man X, or that the enormous cier in the Arctic was X''s show of power."

    No one could refute her analysis.

    Obviously, her connections with the top NIS officials helped her climb to her current position, but without true ability, she would have never been promoted to the deputy director position.

    Then the Director of the National Intelligence Service said in a low voice, "Then, does this guy X belong to Myongjin?"

    Deputy Director Han replied, "No. He must be a direct offspring of the Myongjin Group chairman. In my opinion, he must be Kiyoung Hong, Suyoung Hong or Juyoung Hong."

    "Then how should we respond?"

    "Can you think of any good option in this situation? Even the most powerful country, the United States, has sumbed to him. You don''t think we can fight that guy, right?"

    "..."

    The NIS Deputy Director did not respond because he was right.

    She continued, "Don''t you think we should take it as a blessing that he is Korean? If I were president, I would hurrah."

    "I wish I could do so¡­" the Director replied.

    They wrapped up the meeting then.

    The Director then headed to the Blue House.

 Chapter 514: Juyoung Hong (41)

    In Tokyo, Japan.

    While the United States has the CIA and Korea has the National Intelligence Service, Japan has the Cab Intelligence Office under the prime minister.

    As it directly reports to the prime minister, the Cab Intelligence Office has a huge power because those in high positions want to monopolize and control the intelligence they have ess to.

    In fact, after taking office, the first thing the prime minister did traditionally was to nt his own men in the Cab Intelligence Office.

    Of course, there were times when the Cab Intelligence Office had little power.

    The term of office of the prime minister once elected was four years, but if the ruling party lost at the general elections or the cab''s approval rating fell below 50%, the prime minister usually stepped down, ording to traditional practices.

    Because of that, there were quite a few prime ministers who stepped down in two years or sometimes in one year after taking office.

    But it was a different story when it came to the far-right incumbent Prime Minister Abezo. He had already won his third term, and no one disputed that he would seed in winning a fourth term. As a result, the Cab Intelligence Office under Prime Minister Abezo, which served as his eyes and ears, had more power than ever before.

    It''s been 10 years since the Japanese people elected the current leader as the prime minister, so all the top positions of the Cab Intelligence Office were filled by those that Abezo handpicked.Anyway, Prime Minister Abezo summoned Suchihara, Director of the Cab Intelligence Office, whom he trusted the most.

    As soon as Director Suchihara appeared, Abezo shouted, "Korea! Korea! Korea! I keep hearing only Korea in my ears these days! What the heck are you doing?"

    "¡­"

    Director Suchihara remained silent as the prime minister shouted.

    Actually, he had already reported to the prime minister several times based on the reports from the Cab Intelligence Office, but he was rebuked every time.

    Of course, there was one thing he wanted to correct.

    It was not Korea, but Myongjin.

    It was rumored widely that the United States was taking great care of not Korea, but the Myongjin Group.

    But Suchihara didn''t dare to correct the prime minister because it would make him even more upset.

    Prime Minister Abezo said impatiently, "Don''t just remain silent like that! I hear our lobbyists who had connections with the US politicians lost their contacts, but you said you still didn''t know why. Do you think that makes sense? Are you sure you are the Director of the Cab Intelligence Office? Okay, let me give that a pass. Japan is the foremost country in Asia, and our people are the elite. So how can the United States reach out to the second-rate Korea and its people instead?"

    "¡­"

    Prime Minister Abezo berated him continuously.

    But Director Suchihara felt it''s unfair because he had already reported to the prime minister in detail:

    [The fact that all our lobbyists who have connections with the US political circles have lost their contacts seems to be rted to South Korea, or more precisely, to apany called the Myongjin Group. ]

    [After our lobbyists lost their contacts, the US government has focused its attention only on the Myongjin Group.]

    [The Debius headquarters was robbed by an Asian, and the next person stationed there is affiliated with the Myongjin Group. I''ve attached his picture below.]

    Director Suchihara, who had years of experience in this field, knew well that a coincidence could take ce only once, but not twice.

    In other words, he reported to the prime minister that the Myongjin Group had something that could make even the United States surrender to them or win their favor, but the prime minister was not persuaded.

    The prime minister argued that it was impossible for Korea to have what Japan didn''t have.

    Because of that, Director Suchihara could not tell him about the more recent reports her received from the Cab Intelligence Office:

    [The man named Chaesan Lee, who controlled Korea''s underground economy, has been ruined. Since it happened without warning, our people are currently investigating. ]

    [Report 1.

    - There was no sign that the financial authorities were involved in his downfall at all. Rather, they are instead startled by it as well.]

    [Report 2.

    - There is a bizarre rumor about a superhuman spreading. A superhuman appeared, who blocked iing bullets with his bare hands, emitted ice shards from his palms, and even tore apart a huge iron wall easily. That superhuman allegedly took everything from Mr. Lee.]

    [Report 3.

    - The credibility of the rumors mentioned in Report 2 is questionable, but we can infer one thing from it. It''s rted to the sudden creation of a huge cier in the Arctic and the sudden change in the US attitude. So we have theorized that the superhuman might have appeared in South Korea. And if that superhuman is real, it seems highly likely that he is affiliated with apany called the Myongjin Group in Korea.]

    The downfall of Chaesan Lee as reported by the Cab Intelligence Office could not be treated lightly because he had monopolized South Korea''s underground economy.

    And the Cab Intelligence Office and the Japanese government put a lot of effort into making him what he was.

    Like everything else, the bigger the underground economy became, the more the official economy would shrink, which would naturally make a country''s economy go bankrupt. That was the case with the Philippines and Italy.

    In fact, the Cab Intelligence Office helped Chaesan Lee with the hope that South Korea could follow suit.

    Contrary to their wishes, Chaesan Lee, in whom they invested a lot, was ruined overnight. As a result, the Cab Intelligence Office had no other choice but to investigate the cause of his downfall, and soon found hints leading to the Myongjin Group in the process.

    Based on their investigation, it was 100% certain that there was something that Myongjin had hidden from outsiders.

    However, Director Suchihara did not tell the prime minister about this because he knew it would be futile as his boss would not believe it.

    That''s why he decided to take the brunt of his harsh rebuke without any resistance.

    ***

    In my house in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul, at that time.

    "Hmm. As they are so eager to see me, let me see them. It''s nothing special, so I don''t want to involve the United States."

    The US spies really had their ass kicked all over the ce when I caught them trying to spy on me.

    I could easily find out where these guys were waiting for me now because unlike the US spies, they seemed to have no intention of hiding their identity.

    It would be more appropriate to say that they were keen to reveal themselves to me.

    So I got out of my room using Blink with zero cooldown, and moved to a coffee shop that opened overnight, which was one block away from my house.

    Ting!

    As soon as I opened the door, a refreshing sound of a small bell echoed.

    However, there were only empty tables as if business here was not good.

    Of course, it would not be a big problem for them because their only client was me.

    And they didn''t have to make money by running a coffee shop because they were affiliated with the NIS.

    I approached the table in the middle, pulled out a chair and sat down.

    Then a man who seemed to be the owner came up to me and opened his mouth.

    "May I take your order, sir?"

    At first nce, he seemed to be acting very naturally.

    But I retorted, "This is no old coffee shop. Who the hell takes a customer''s order like that?"

    "..."

 Chapter 515: Juyoung Hong (42)

    The owner didn''t respond.

    But I ignored him and continued because I didn''te here for coffee.

    "Enough. Just tell them toe out. You guys were anxious to see me, right? Oh, since the shop has a coffee shop sign, you must have coffee ready, right? Give me an iced coffee."

    "Sure."

    Less than a minute after I ordered a cup of coffee, a woman in her 50s, who seemed to be the real owner, came to serve me coffee.

    "Here you are. And the one who wants to see you is also here."

    "Really? Have a seat then."

    "Thanks foring here. In fact, I was a little worried because I thought you might not turn up even though I wanted to meet you."

    "Well, it''s good that you acted carefully. I don''t like peopleing to see me all of a sudden. People like that are not good, generally speaking."That was true when I looked at my experiences.

    "Phew! I''m d to hear that. Since those at the top are being impatient, I''m really hard pressed."

    "Alright. Tell me why you want to see me."

    "Man, I''m being absent-minded at the moment. Let me introduce myself. My name is Sojung Han, deputy director of the National Intelligence Service, and I''m the head of the 3rd Bureau in charge of foreign affairs."

    "I''m Juyoung Hong."

    She must already know who I am, but I introduced myself briefly anyway.

    She immediately responded, "It is very unfortunate that I did not know your name sooner. By the way, as an NIS member, I am very grateful to you."

    "Why?"

    "Because Myongjin Refinery Oil has stabilized oil prices by importing arge amount of crude oil from the United States without being overcharged like a certainpany. At the same time, Myongjin has saved Mirae Oil Refinery, Daesung Oil Refinery, Hanil Energy and Maseok Caltex."

    I could easily figure out whichpany she referred to when she mentioned ''like a certainpany.''

    The rumors were already widely circting that Daesung Oil Refinery had bought crude oil at five times the normal price in the futures market.

    Deputy Director Han continued, "Besides, you cleaned up the waste called Chaesan Lee this time? In fact, it was really hard to get rid of him because he bribed so many government officials and politicians. What''s more, he didn''t hesitate to serve as Japan''s puppet to make money. That''s why I felt so happy as if a rotten tooth had finally fallen out when I watched him get ruined."

    "Hmm, I didn''t do it to please you guys, but it''s good anyway. By the way, you are not here to praise me, right?"

    "Hahaha! Of course not! I came here to help you and receive help in return. Oh, let me be clear on one thing. I''m not here to ask for your help to promote my personal interests or for somebody else''s benefits."

    "Tell me then."

    Since I didn''t have to decline her request, I responded while holding my iced coffee.

    As soon as I replied, she said, "First of all, our government has decided to recognize everything you took from Chaesan Lee as your own property. You must have gotten a lot while sorting out his assets."

    I frowned a bit at that.

    Then she quickly added, "As you know, Chaesan Lee amassed his wealth through illegal means. In other words, most of his assets are criminal in nature, and in principle, any criminal funds should be returned to the state. I don''t want to force you to follow thew because there are loopholes in anyw. From my perspective, thew should be applied to everybody flexibly. I just said this because I wanted you to understand the government''s considerations for you. So¡­"

    "Good. What''s next?"

    Since she didn''t want to make an issue out of my intrusion into Chaesan Lee''s mansion and taking his assets, I didn''t ask her anymore.

    She continued, "You must have gotten quite a few ount books or ledgers. We will make every effort to recognize the validity of the documents or ount books and at the same time we will make sure that his financial obligations are properly executed."

    "So, you want to collect the money for me?"

    Even though she beat around the bush, that was her point in the end.

    In other words, her point was that the government would collect the money for me.

    She said, "Yes, that''s right. Our guys at the NIS will collect the money for you. By the way, our President has said on the record that the government will provide various conveniences to you because there is nothing more important than good human resources like you in this country where we don''t have many natural resources."

    "Hmm... I''m not so bad as to refuse someone else''s recognition. Oh, don''t worry. I don''t feel offended, and I''m not that narrow-minded."

    She hardened her face at my words, but I spoke to her with a rxed voice to shake off her worries.

    Aside from the first and third points, I was attracted to her second point.

    At first I recalled America, but I felt ufortable about leaving such a trifling matter with the United States because it happened in Korea.

    But the National Intelligence Service, or the Korean government, wanted to solve my problem.

    I didn''t think it was that bad.

    So I quietly said, "Good. Tell me what kind of favor you want to ask me."

    "Sure, the thing is¡­"

    Deputy Director Han finally started to bring out the main topic, which was rted to Japan. She exined to me about it for a long time.

    ***

    Thend where we live is so important in many ways.

    In ournd, we build houses, harvest grains, and provide most of the food, clothing, and shelters to maintain our lives as human beings. That is why the three elements of a state includend, along with the people and sovereignty.

    But these days, there is something that is more important thannd.

    It''s the sea because 71% of the Earth is ocean.

    Sond upies less than 40% of the Earth, and it is surrounded by the ocean.

    As national economies develop, and trading among countries bes more active, there are all kinds of transportation means such as trucks, trains, or nes, but they are no match for ships.

    In fact,mercial ships are responsible for more than 80% of the global transport volumes. Moreover, seafood only used to be caught near the coastlines in the old days, but numerousrge fishing boats catch a huge amount of seafood in the middle of the ocean these days.

    Besides, there is something more, namely, the enormous resources under the deep sea. Iron, nickel, and other very expensive and rare elements as well as enormous amounts of natural gas and crude oil are buried in the sea.

    Of course, nobody could ever dream of drilling them in the past due to the limitations of technology.

    However, with the passage of time, technology has gradually improved, so it''s possible to obtain various resources from the depths of the ocean.

    As a result, it has been quite some time since crude oil was extracted from sea beds, ranging from the North Sea oil fields, to the oil fields in the Gulf of Mexico and the Persian guild, which exceeded 30% of the total crude oil production on the Earth.

    As technology continues to advance in the future, it is obvious that oil production will only increase as the oil fields in the deep sea be more essible.

 Chapter 516: Juyoung Hong (43)

    There was one particr offshore oil field that Korea paid close attention to

    As a matter of fact, they actually conducted an investigation into it.

    It was the Seventh Mining Area located just below the Fifth Mining Area, which covered Jeju Ind.

    This was the very ce Deputy Director Han referred to.

    "In 1970, the government designated seven mining areas on the domestic continental shelf and started drilling them under the Undersea Mineral Resources Development Act.

    And the government''s drilling area reached as far as the Okinawa Trench, Japan. In particr, this was the case for the Seventh Mining Area. It was the biggest mining area. Back then, there were no problems with that miningw."

    After she mentioned she would take care of my concerns, I wondered what kind of favor she would ask me in return.

    Of course, I thought I knew what she wanted.

    When she mentioned Chaesan Lee, she clearly used the expression ''betrayer'' , describing him as Japan''s puppet. He was also described as a human waste.When she talked about him, it was with a harsh tone betraying deep-rooted resentment toward him.

    I didn''t expect she would mention the Seventh Mining Area though.

    She paused for a moment and checked my expression, so I nodded at her to continue. "Because even then, the International Court of Justice wished to support the ''principle of natural extension'' of the continental shelf. In other words, even though the vicinity of Okinawa, Japan, is definitely not our territorial waters, as the continental shelf on the southern coast of Korea extends to the vicinity of Okinawa, it is under our jurisdiction. Of course, Japan was startled by our government''s move and resisted strongly. However, as I just mentioned, the International Court of Justice at that time supported ''the principle of natural extension'' that recognized the limit line of the continental shelf, so Japan came up with another proposal. Their proposal was that both governments should jointly develop the Seventh Mining Area for 50 years from 1978 to 2028 with an equal stake."

    "So what?"

    "At that time, our government epted Japan''s proposal because Japan was far ahead of us in terms of science and technology and status. In addition, it was an indisputable fact that the continental shelf of Korea extended to Okinawa, Japan. But soon problems arose."

    "What problems?"

    "It all originated from the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which can be regarded as the constitution of the sea. Unlike at the time when our government signed the joint development agreement with Japan, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea ced more focus on distance rather than topography when establishing boundaries. So the International Court of Justice''s "principle of natural extension" lost its power in determining territories via the spread of the continental shelf around that time. Of course, this did not mean that the determination of the boundary based on the continental shelf was suddenly canned.. That''s why there''s an organization called the Continental Shelf Limits Committee (CLCS) that still exists under the United Nations. But, obviously, as I mentioned at first, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which can be regarded as the constitution of the sea, has more power than any other maritimew in each country, and it is overwhelmingly advantageous to Japan. So, although Korea now has the scientific technology and capital for joint development, Japan has been ignoring our request to jointly develop the Seventh Mining Area as soon as possible. When the joint development agreement expires in 2028 and the continental shelf limit line is fully determined by distance rather than topography under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, almost all of the Seventh Mining Areas adjacent to Okinawa will belong to Japanese territory."

    After she finished her long exnation, I casually opened my mouth.

    "Really? If I were in Japan''s position, I would do the same. As you know, there are only a few years left. So if Japan can wait only a few years and exclude South Korea as much as possible, they can get as much crude oil and natural gas as the oil reserves of Saudi Arabia alone in ordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Japan is not stupid."

    Of course, I didn''t want to argue whether Japan''s actions were ''right'' or ''wrong''. I just mentioned it when taking into ount Japan''s national interests and the sadness of a powerful country.

    Moreover, I realized that Deputy Director Han was better at acting than I thought.

    In other words, I found myself persuaded by her exnation.

    Obviously, she must have calcted her actions when she criticized Chaesan Lee as Japan''s puppet and betrayer in a vehement tone when she mentioned him to me. R

    So I responded, "Yes. From the perspective of a country, Japan''s actions are in their national interests, and therefore they have taken the right action in that respect. But from the perspective of the victimized country, their actions are obviously not in the right. As you said, our government indeed rejected Japan''s offer to develop the Seventh Mining Area jointly dozens of times before, even though they said they would provide all the technology and capital. But now, our government wants to take over the Seventh Mining Area."

    "Hahaha!"

    As if she noticed that her patriotic appeal to me didn''t work out, she stopped manipting me and spoke out frankly.

    At the same time, she took something out from her pocket.

    It was a very old photo.

    "I think you might have seen this already. I''m sure you have because its original picture is hung on the wall of the headquarters of Myongjin Refinery Company."

    "..."

    To be honest, I already knew what she said to me because of my grandfather.

    It was my grandfather who first started the drilling project on the Seventh Mining Area.

    In other words, Myongjin Oil Refinery was the first to ept the government''s request for an investigation into the Seventh Mining Area at that time.

    At that time, my grandfather was the first to go to the Seventh Mining Area with the dream of Korea bing an oil producer.

    The old photo she showed to me was the one they had taken during the first survey of the Seventh Mining Area by Myongjin Oil Refinery.

    In the center of the photo was my grandfather full of expectations.

    "[May Korea also be an oil producing country...] Isn''t that the quote under the photo hung at the Myongjin Refinery Headquarters? It was also yourte grandfather''s dream."

    When she said that, I leaned against the chair and opened my mouth.

    "Oh, you have done a lot of research!"

    "Well, it''s because only a few years are left for the development of the Seventh Mining Area. If we don''t deal with it before then, it''s almost certain that we will lose most of the Seventh Mining Area to Japan, and lose our ability to be an oil-producing country."

    I kept nodding at her.

    Then I added, "Great. I fully understand your point. By the way, have you ever thought of something like this? Myongjin can take over the Seventh Mining Area by itself instead of involving the government. My dream is to be a good son to my parents. Of course, my grandfather is dead, but that''s not an excuse for me to give up my dream."

    "¡­"

 Chapter 517: Juyoung Hong (44)

    As if she was at a loss for words, she didn''t respond to what I said.

    Then she responded with a smile a littleter.

    "I believe that you can take over the Seventh Mining Area, given your capabilities. If a cier twice the size of the Korean Penins formed in the Arctic appears off the coast of Tokyo, Japan, it will be hard for Japan to resist, no matter how strong they are. However, the joint development agreement is between the Republic of Korea and Japan. If Myongjin develops it alone, it will cause a bigmotion. Since you wore a hat, sunsses and a mask when you robbed Chaesan Lee''s mansion, I don''t think you will like such amotion."

    "Well. I don''t understand why you point out the possiblemotion when you already mentioned a cier twice the size of the Korean Penins off the coast of Tokyo, Japan. Don''t you think that''s contradictory?"

    "Our government will be responsible for any trouble. In return, we''ll share all the sweet fruits with you and the Myongjin Group. In other words, if we retrieve the Seventh Mining Area from Japan, our government will first grant Myongjin the right to develop it for three years. And we will give you 50% of the stake in the Seventh Mining Area. If our government takes the lead and Myongjin backs us up, don''t you think it will cause more trouble for Japan which has to face a huge cier?"

    "Hmm¡­ you''re being more generous than I thought."

    A three year monopoly of the Seventh Mining Area and 50% stake.

    It was by no means small because the crude oil and natural gas buried in the Seventh Mining Area wasparable to that of Saudi Arabia.

    If Myongjin Oil Refinery obtains that right, it will be a global oil refinery on par with ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Total, and BP.Moreover, the three years during which Myongjin would retain the exclusive right to drill the Seventh Mining Area was enough to find out which area of the mining area was the best for oil drilling after a thorough survey.

    Deputy Director Han replied, "Myongjin is a Koreanpany, isn''t it? As Myongjin grows, it will hire more employees, and if it makes a lot of money, it will pay a lot of taxes. That is the social role of apany. I, or our government, fully support the further growth of Myongjin as well as yours because it''s directly rted to South Korea''s further growth. And I don''t think Myongjin will evade taxes, given its track record. Ah, I am a descendant of the family of independence fighters."

    "¡­"

    I felt she got me at the moment. So I was at a loss for words.

    But she continued without caring about me, "You don''t have to give me an answer right now because there are still a few years left for the solution of this problem. Of course, I think you can solve it within a few days, given your capabilities."

    She said she still had plenty of time.

    So I responded quickly, "Well, let me ept your offer."

    It was my grandfather''s dream as well as that of Myongjin Oil Refinery.

    So I had been thinking about it from the very beginning.

    And I now have the ability to do what I couldn''t do back then.

    But it was Japan that was being a stumbling block.

    So I thought of breaking it confidently.

    I pulled out a business card from my pocket. It was Taesok Oh''s business card.

    "If you call this number tomorrow, a man will pick it up. He keeps the documents I''ve taken from Chaesan Lee''s mansion. If you tell him about me, he will hand them over to you."

    "I hear that even the rebels in Sierra Leone grovel in front of him. I feel jealous because my dream is to live high and mighty like that."

    "Really? You might have such a chance someday because I still need people who can assist me close at hand."

    After wrapping up the meeting with her, I got up.

    I didn''t move immediately the next day after the meeting because there was still quite a bit of time left.

    In the meantime, something trifling happened to me.

    In the living room of my house in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul.

    I hung a new painting in the living room right after I brought in a fish tank with diamonds worth tens of billions of won scattered on the bottom.

    It was a painting by Picasso.

    "This is not a fake, right?"

    Looking at the picture, my sister asked in a low voice, who already knew that not only the shiny things in the fishbowl, but also the stones I had given her before were real diamonds. ?

    So I replied casually, "Yeah, that''s what I heard. But no matter how much I look at it, I don''t know if this painting is worth that much."

    "Well, sometimes it''s more important to know who owns the painting or who is its painter than the painting itself. That determines the value of the painting. I don''t mean that all Picasso''s paintings are like that."

    I nodded slightly.

    Obviously, the fact that Picasso''s works were pretty expensive showed that they had a lot of value, including outstanding artistic value, but it would be difficult to deny that the effect of Picasso''s name also yed a role in increasing the value of his paintings.

    Anyway, starting with the Picasso painting in the living room, I took out various art pieces including a blue and white porcin from the Yi Dynasty of old Korea and ced them in my father''s study and other ces in my house.

    I didn''t buy them with my own money, but they were duly recognized by the government as mine. Of course, I didn''t need the government''s approval.

    Anyway, I spent a few days sorting out and disying the artworks when Friday night arrived.

    "Blink."

    I left my room using Blink with zero cooldown.

    Of course, my destination was Japan, which was so close to Korea, yet so far.

    Over the Korean Strait.

    While traveling to Tokyo, Japan using Fly, I remembered the documents that the National Intelligence Service handed over to me.

    ''After all, the key figure is Prime Minister Abezo.''

    He is the current Prime Minister of Japan, who has been sessfully elected for three consecutive terms. And he allegedly has a 99%, or even 100% chance of being elected for the fourth term.

    Because of that, Prime Minister Abezo has the greatest influence in Japan than any other prime minister.

    As for the Seventh Mining Area, even if I seed in reaching out to the parliamentary members, cab ministers and even the King, they are not as influential as the Prime Minister, ording to the documents.

    In other words, the person I was going to meet this time was none other than Prime Minister Abezo.

    In front of the Prime Minister''s Office in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, Japan a littleter.

    "¡­"

    Naturally, the security around the Prime Minister''s Office was quite tight because it was like the Blue House or the White House.

    But I had no problem breaking through its tight security.

    "Blink."

    Shuuuuuuuung-

    At first, I thought of visiting it in person.

    Since not only the United States, but South Korea, including its National Intelligence Services already knew about my robbery of the Debius headquarters as well Chaesan Lee''s mansion, it was highly likely that Japan also knew about me.

    But I didn''te here with good intentions, so Japan had no choice but to believe my visit was a pain in the neck because they would inevitably be forced to return the Seventh Mining Area, in which they had invested a long time, back to me.

 Chapter 518: Juyoung Hong (45)

    Anyway, I chose to infiltrate the Prime Minister''s Office secretly.

    I stepped into his office through the open window on the 5th floor using Blink.

    Then I walked inside naturally like a man who had worked there for several years.

    I headed to the Prime Minister''s Office on the 5th floor.

    ording to the documents I received from the NIS, he was always in the office at this time.

    Knock! Knock! Knock!

    "Who is this? I told you not to disturb the Prime Minister at this time!"

    It was not Prime Minister Abezo''s voice.

    But I didn''t care and knocked again. The door opened, and a man who looked like a bodyguard appeared with a more frustrated tone than before.

    "I obviously told you not to disturb¡­"

    I didn''t wear a mask this time, but I was still wearing a ck hat and sunsses.

    The bodyguard, who noticed me, stopped right away, and quickly put his right hand to his left jacket pocket. By general standards, he was very swift.

    Of course, he was too slow in my eyes. So I pushed him to the side.

    I only pushed him gently, but he was pushed back, rolling a fewps on the floor and crashed into a corner.

    Then I stepped into the Prime Minister''s office.

    Click.

    After I closed the door, I looked into the office.

    "Man, I heard that nobody but the prime minister would be here at this time, but there are more people than I thought!"

    The NIS documents clearly said there would be at most only a few people here, including Prime Minister Abezo and some of his bodyguards.

    But I found there were a total of nine people in the prime minister''s office, excluding those who appeared to be bodyguards.

    They sat around a wide table as if they were having a meeting.

    Of course, it didn''t matter because Prime Minister Abezo, whose face I recognized well, was at the head of the table.

    At that moment, his bodyguards shouted, "Don''t move!"

    "If you move, I''ll shoot!"

    "Why the hell did the bastards outside not stop him?"

    The bodyguards inside the office pointed their pistols at me while spitting out warnings.

    I felt like they didn''t know about me at all, given the way they treated me.

    These guys holding pistols were full of confidence that they could handle me without any problem.

    "Did I overestimate Japan too much?"

    No matter how much he controlled Korea''s underground economy, even Chaesan Lee, who was far inferior to a country in terms of prestige and size, knew about me. ?

    Howe these guys didn''t know about me?

    It was me who was rather baffled in this situation.

    Somebody stopped the bodyguards and shouted, "Return your pistols back to your pockets. Tell them to quiet down outside."

    Was it Prime Minister Abezo? No, it wasn''t.

    It was the voice of the person sitting right next to Prime Minister Abezo.

    "But if we don''t do anything about this intruder¡­"

    "This guy has broken into the Prime Minister''s residence!"

    "That''s right. I know you''re the Director of the Cab Intelligence Office, but this is terrorism agaist the prime minister!"

    The bodyguards who were still aiming their guns at me argued back, but the Director of the Cab Intelligence Office ignored them and spoke to Prime Minister Abezo who was sitting at the head of the table.

    "This is the guy I''ve just briefed you about. I didn''t expect he would show up so quickly, so I''m sorry that I haven''t protected you enough. Since the bodyguards can''t stop him with guns, I think you had better make them withdraw. Fortunately, it seems like he didn''te here to harm you physically. By the way, you know the Myongjin Group, right? This guy is Juyoung Hong, the third son of their Chairman."

    I wasn''t particrly surprised when he mentioned my name correctly because it was only natural, given his position.

    So I said right away, "Alright. As you already seem to know who I really am, I will get straight to the point. I haven''te here for a good purpose, so I don''t have to talk amicably."

    When I finished my words, Prime Minister Abezo opened his mouth, pointing to an empty seat at the far end of the table.

    "Let me listen to your story then."

    Except for my family, no one spoke to me informally when they found out who I was, but I didn''t bother to point it out because I was not narrow-minded enough to take offense at that.

    So I moved to the end of the table and sat down.

    As soon as I took a seat, I said, "I want you to give up the Seventh Mining Area. Let me be clear. I want you to give it uppletely, not joint development. Japan should give up the Seventh Mining Area."

    Even though I cut to the chase, I mentioned the Seventh Mining Area to him without any notice.

    But I didn''t have to worry because it seemed that all the nine people here including the prime minister knew well about the mining area and its value when I checked their expressions.

    They opened their mouths one by one.

    "The Seventh Mining Area is a very important oilfield that will lead Japan''s industry in the future!"

    "The Seventh Mining Area belongs to Japan because it exists in Japanese territorial waters!"

    "Our joint development agreement with Korea will expire in only a few years. After that, we will own it permanently!"

    At a nce, I knew that the people here were cab ministers aside from Prime Minister Abezo. Most of them voiced opposition to my demands.

    Of course, Prime Minister Abezo objected by saying, "That is Japan''s territorial waters. Japan has the right to develop the oilfield there, and the ownership of everything rted to it."

    What he said was not wrong.

    It''s clearly stated in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which can be regarded as the constitution of the sea, which is superior to thews of the seas of each country.

    But I also had a lot to say about his statement.

    If a judge voids a certainw called A in a legitimate situation and rules in favor of anotherw called B, what was previously affected byw A in the past won''t be illegal or be denied overnight. That also applies to the conventions among nations.

    So I said, "Our government has proposed joint development dozens of times over the past 10 years at the expense of South Korea, right? But you have rejected all our offers. Isn''t that enough for our government to judge your rejection as your willingness to abandon it?"

    "Willing to abandon it? We''ve never expressed such willingness! If you look at the agreement, there is no mention of our abandonment of the Seventh Mining Area!"

    "You''re right!"

    I expected they would react like this because the US government did the same thing.

    In fact, the US government even tried to lock me into something like a dungeon for the rest of my life.

    Moreover, since these guys have not seen my capabilities with their own eyes, it was certain that they would not give up the oilfield of the Seventh Mining Area that had the oil reserves as big as the crude oil buried in Saudi Arabia.

    So I quietly opened my mouth because I would have no choice but to take action if they didn''t take my words seriously.

 Chapter 519: Juyoung Hong (46)

    So I warned, "Tomorrow, you will see the start of a small storm in the middle of the North Pacific. Of course, it will be negligible at first. It''s literally a small storm. But as that small storm gradually approaches Japan, it will gain momentum rapidly. Then it will eventually be a huge typhoon. It will probably be a typhoon you''ve never heard of or seen before. Not only will there be raging gusts sweeping away everything, but it will also be apanied by strong blizzards and snowstorms, not rain. And hailstones the size of adults."

    "..."

    "..."

    "..."

    Deputy Director Han of the National Intelligence Service mentioned the creation of a cier off the coast of Tokyo twice the size of the Korean penins which first appeared in the Arctic.

    But this time I did not choose the cier because I had other options.

    Anyway, after saying that, I got up from my seat.

    As analyzed in the NIS document, the Seventh Mining Area was too valuable to obtain through dialogue alone.

    I left the prime minister''s office, leaving them, including the prime minister, who were perplexed, behind. In the middle of the North Pacific the next day.

    "Ice Tornado!"

    Wheeeeeeeeng!

    I reduced the winds as much as possible. Of course, I was confident of creating gusts of wind that covered the entire Pacific in an instant.

    Since I told him I would make a small storm, I just made the winds very small. This small gust of wind will soon grow huge and head towards Japan, with a huge amount of ice inside it, not rain.

    Shortly afterward, I picked up my phone and dialed a number.

    Even before it rang once, somebody answered the phone.

    [This is the White House hotline. Please identify yourself.]

    "I''m Juyoung Hong."

    [Alright. Let me connect you to our President right away!]

    It was a phone number I received directly from President William of the United States.

    In no time the voice of President William, whom I had met in person, was heard over the phone.

    [Hahaha! I was worried that you might have forgotten this number because I didn''t hear from you for some time. It looks like you haven''t. ]

    He tried to crack a joke.

    So I replied, "I sometimes thought about it, but something was bugging me all the time."

    Seventh Mining Area?

    Of course, I remembered the United States because if Washington decided to intervene, Japan would have no choice but to follow the US''s demands.

    But I stopped thinking about it.

    Since the Seventh Mining Area was by no means a small issue, it would take a long time for Japan to ept the US demands even if they werergely dependent on America, and a lot of diplomatic issues will arise in the process.

    Anyway, that was not my main point, so I brought up the main topic.

    "There will be a typhoon in the Pacific this time. This typhoon will bepletely different in power and shape than any typhoon ever before. Of course, don''t worry. It''s going to head to Japan."

    Countless ships are moving in the Pacific Ocean, so I used the United States to warn them in advance because I had no intention of sinking the ships in the Pacific Ocean.

    He replied swiftly.

    [It''s a typhoon heading to Japan? Got it. Our government will issue a typhoon alert right away, and order all ships on the way to Japan to return. ]

    After talking with him a little more, I pressed the button to end the call.

    Of course, I didn''t forget to call Deputy Director Han of the National Intelligence Service about my conversation with the US President because it was she who initially gave me a long lecture about the Korea-Japan joint development of the Seventh Mining Area.

    ***

    At an ordinary Japanese man''s house in Tokyo, Japan.

    Shiburo, an ordinary office worker with a wife, one son and one daughter, was having dinner with his family after work, watching the news on TV.

    Just as the news report was approaching its end, the anchor suddenly announced breaking news.

    Not only Shiburo, but his wife, son, and daughter also turned their attention to the breaking news.

    "This is urgent breaking news. Currently, a small typhoon has appeared in the middle of the North Pacific Ocean."

    The breaking news was only about the appearance of a small typhoon.

    So the whole Shiburo family tilted their heads in doubt.

    Obviously, he knew that a small typhoon could not be ignored as he suffered lots of natural disasters, big and small, from time to time simply because he lived in Japan. But he questioned the use of the word "urgent" because it was only a small typhoon. Moreover, it was created in the middle of the North Pacific, not even close to Japan.

    But all of the Shiburo family members didn''t take their eyes off the TV.

    There have been so many natural disasters to affect Japan, all of which were so terrible and frightening.

    "Of course, most of you will not understand why we have ssified this as urgent breaking news. However, we will exclusively report on the reasons why we had to. First of all, I have invited Professor Fujimura, former chief of the Meteorological Agency. How are you, sir?"

    -Hi, how are you?

    "Professor, the current mini-typhoon is very small. And we don''t know where it will head to. Nheless, lots of people say this typhoon is very unusual this time. What do you think?"

    "Sure. As you know, typhoons are not created overnight. They are mainly produced in equatorial regions where the sun is high and the days are long. Since the earth receives the sun''s heat unequally, warm air passes through the sea to reduce the temperature difference with the Arctic Areas¡­"

    "Professor, what is the reason for the appearance of the unusual minit-typhoon this time?"

    The anchor cut off Professor Fujimura''s words, so the professor cleared his throat before continuing.

    "To put it simply, a typhoon is created by heat and water vapor. In other words, it is fundamentally impossible for a typhoon to be created overnight. When the generated water vapor rises up in the updraft and cools down, it repeatedly creates water droplets to gradually form a typhoon. However, the typhoon this time did not show any signs of the same process at all."

    "No such signs? Professor, is that scientifically possible?"

    "As I just mentioned, it''s impossible. No matter how big or small, energy is never created suddenly without exchanging with something else."

    "I see. By the way, isn''t there another reason why this small typhoon is special?"

    "Yes. When I first heard about this, I was really shocked."

    As soon as the anchor said that, Professor Fujimura nodded violently.

    After confirming it, the anchor opened his mouth, turning his gaze away from Professor Fujimura to the front camera.

    "Then I want to show our viewers what surprised Professor Fujimura."

    As soon as the anchor said it, a sound rang out through something like a walkie-talkie. [Hello, hello. This is an announcement from the US National Weather Service Center.

    A small typhoon has appeared in the North Pacific at 30¡ã35''11.8"N 178¡ã03''33.9"W. It will grow rapidly to an immense size and approach Japan. All ships located between the typhoon''s epicenter and Japan should evacuate, and all ships should be thoroughly prepared to avoid being affected by the typhoon.]

    The voice was mixed with a slight crackling sound.

 Chapter 520: Juyoung Hong (47)

    As soon as the voice disappeared, the anchor opened his mouth again.

    "This was actually radioed by the US National Weather Service to all ships located near the North Pacific Ocean. Professor, is this possible? Our National Weather Service didn''t do anything while the US National Weather Service announced it to all ships located in the North Pacific."

    "Ummm... First of all, as someone who once worked at our Meteorological Agency, our meteorological observation capabilities are not that inferior to that of the United States. Naturally, I heard directly from our Meteorological Agency that they also noticed the appearance of this small typhoon. But if you make a definitive conclusion about the typhoon this time¡­"

    Professor Fujimura stuttered for a moment, but the anchor asked him as if to press the professor.

    "So, do you think it''s wrong that the US Weather Service has said the small storm will head towards Japan while developing into a huge typhoon?"

    "Well, when we talk about the intensity of a typhoon, we exin it with the CI number (Current Intensity Number), based on the central atmospheric pressure and the maximum wind speed near the center. However, in the case of this small typhoon this time, the eye of the typhoon has just formed, so it''s very weak. Besides, it doesn''t have a source of heat yet which can funnel its growth, so it''s too early to determine the size of the typhoon and its direction¡­"

    "Then, you think the US Weather Service has predicted hastily?"

    "Well, it''s very unusual that they announced it because the direction and intensity of the typhoon is always in flux. Therefore, we usually never make hasty judgments when announcing weather forecasts. Incorrect weather forecasts can cause great damage.

    "I see. But the US Weather Service has already concluded that this small typhoon will develop into a huge typhoon, and head towards Japan. What do you make of it?""Well, this is the first time I''ve heard of such a thing. Regardless of whether the typhoon is small orrge, or whether ites to Japan or not, we need to be prepared. But in this case¡­"

    Professor Fujimura didn''t finish his words properly.

    Then the anchor immediately turned his gaze to the camera, and opened his mouth.

    "Professor Fujimura must be shocked because he has never experienced such a thing before. That''s why we at Hoji TV station have decided to announce an emergency breaking news about this small typhoon. As soon as we have the update, we will report about the typhoon once again. Thank you."

    After the breaking news announcement,mercial ads started to air.

    After watching the breaking news to the end, Shiburo could only say one thing, "So what''s their message? Prepare for the typhoon or not?"

    "¡­"

    "¡­"

    "¡­"

    His wife and children said nothing because just like him, they could not figure out whether they should prepare for the typhoon or not.

    Anyway, it was announced to the whole of Japan that a small typhoon had appeared in the North Pacific.

    Of course, most of them were not yet interested in that small typhoon.

    ***

    Late night at the Prime Minister''s Office a few dayster.

    [Currently, a small C-ss typhoon named ''Oni'' that appeared in the North Pacific has grown into a super-A-ss superrge typhoon and is moving to Tokyo. With a central pressure of less than 890hPa and a maximum wind speed of over 75m/s, it is safe to call it a typhoon at least twice as powerful as typhoon Pasei, which is the most powerful typhoon in recent years.]

    "¡­"

    "¡­"

    "¡­"

    Just like they did during Juyoung Hong''s visit a few days ago, all the same members were gathered at Prime Minister Abezo''s office.

    The only difference this time was the gloomy atmosphere.

    Then Prime Minister Abezo, who was sitting at the head of the table, said to Suchihara, Director of the Cab Intelligence Office, "Where are the 1st and 3rd Fleet of the Maritime Self-Defense Forces right now?" ??

    "They are on standby off the shores of Tokyo. In addition, three additional Hatakaze-ss destroyers joined them three hours ago, so we have a total of 27 battleships on standby, including three Aegis-ss ships, seven Aegis-ss warships, and three newly added ships, including Takanami-ss and Murasame-ss destroyers. "

    "Do they ount for about 50% of the Maritime Self-Defense Forces?"

    "I think that''s right. However, if all of the 1st and 3rd Fleet on standby are destroyed by the typhoon, it is expected that it will take us at least 20 years to restore them."

    "Do you think they are going to be devastated by the typhoon?"

    Prime Minister Abezo asked in a low voice.

    Director Suchihara replied, "As I reported to you, this typhoon ''Oni'', which is currently heading north to Japan, is not apanied by rain, but hailstones the size of an adult''s head. As if they have been briefed by Juyoung Hong in advance, even the United States is also remaining silent about it. If that typhoon collides with the fleet on standby off the coast of Tokyo, it looks like even the Aegis ss ships will copse."

    "Don''t be frightened by those lowly Koreans that we have once colonized!"

    "I''m only telling you what we are facing. I''ve never forced any choice on you!"

    Bang!

    "Damn it!"

    As soon as Director Suchihara exined himself, Prime Minister Abezo swore, mming the table strongly. At the same time, he felt it was unfair because this was not something a human being should be able to do.

    ''Man, is he God? Howe that God is from Korea?"

    Prime Minister Abezo could never admit that Japan would sumb to Korea.

    He thought somebody from a second-rate country like Korea with second-rate people should never be able to do things like that to Japan, a first-rate country with first-rate people, under any circumstances.

    At that moment, somebody said, "The line that was broken due to the influence of a strong typhoon has been restored."

    Hearing that, Prime Minister Abezo watched the majestic Self-Defense Forces fleet floating in the sea through a huge screen installed in one side of his office.

    Flutter, flutter.

    Japan''s national gs showing the rising sun were fluttering in the wind.

    After checking the rising sun gs, Prime Minister Abezo made a decision.

    Then he announced his decision to everybody as if it was amand.

    "The Maritime Self-Defense Forces should maintain their current positions!"

    Prime Minister Abezo mobilized nearly 50% of the Maritime Self-Defense Forces forces in the waters off Tokyo with one thing in mind, namely, the huge cier that appeared to have been created by Juyoung Hong in the North Pole.

    The prime minister was determined that he would order his forces to destroy the cier if it reappeared. Of course, he chose that decision because of his goal.

    ''He didn''t kill anyone in the end when he ruined Chaesan Lee financially. That was the same case when he confronted the Debius headquarters and the United States. He seemed to have killed some in Sierra Leone, but they were wastrels anyway. Maybe, maybe that''s Juyoung Hong''s weakness.''

    Prime Minister Abezo decided that he could not back off even if Juyoung Hong was God because if he began to give way to God, he would never be able to stop giving way, which would lead to Japangging behind South Korea forever.

    So he made the fateful decision and stared at the screen.

 Chapter 521: Juyoung Hong (48)

    Off the coast of Tokyo, Japan.

    "Hmm, in the end, you have made such a decision."

    I could create a typhoon more powerful than the present one in an instant off the coast of Tokyo. If I channeled all my strength into Ice Tornado, I could make such a typhoon without any problem.

    But I made it small on purpose in the middle of the North Pacific Ocean to grant Prime Minister Abezo time to make his decision. And that was my minimum consideration for Japan.

    Obviously, I personally didn''t like Japan very much, but I had no intention of destroying it. But the prime minister turned a deaf ear to my minimal consideration.

    And I had no intention of giving them any more leeway

    If I gave them any more leeway, it would definitely cause the other party to misjudge greatly. For example, they might think I''m a coward.

    So I just watched as the typhoon apanied by hail the size of a human body gradually approached the fleet of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces.

    However, the Self-Defense Forces fired cannons at the typhoon approaching themBang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Without doing anything, I just watched that spectacr sight.

    "..."

    Captain Souta, a member of the 1st Fleet of Japan''s Maritime Self-Defense Forces who had been serving as themander of the Atago-ss Aegis destroyer Nakano,, did not understand the current mission from the very beginning.

    He was ordered to be on standby off the sea in a situation where a typhoon with such powerful force he had never seen in recent years was on track to hit Japan.

    He could not understand such an order at all.

    Even though the Self-Defense Forces was not a formal army like other country''s regr armies, it is clearly a group that performs the role of an army. Like the armies of other countries, he was supposed to follow his leader''s order, considering Japan''s unique organizational structure.

    That''s why he had to follow such a ridiculous order.

    Even though he felt ufortable about the order, he raised his head and looked at the sea outside the control room.

    Numerous battleships caught his eye.

    When he watched not only the Aegis-ss frigates, but also the destroyers, cruisers, and battleships that yed a pivotal role in each fleet, he could not help but shake his head because more than 50% of the total power of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force was concentrated here.

    He thought it impossible for such arge army to gather in one ce even if a major war broke out. Nheless, something impossible was already happening right before his eyes.

    ''I don''t know what the military leaders are thinking about right now. No matter how strong a typhoon is, it won''t sink the battleships of 5000 to 10,000 tons easily, but there is no guarantee that they will not sink. If they are damaged, it is certain that the media will crazily report about the incident¡­''

    Of course, he already reported to his immediate supervisor, Admiral Itsuki, about how ridiculous it was for the Japanese battleships to try to stop the typhoon because it was his job to do so.

    However, Yamamoto, the Chief of Staff of the Maritime Self-Defense Forces, ordered them to keep their current position.

    ''I just don''t know. I really don''t know.''

    Anyway, he gave up thinking about it anymore, then watched the radar closely because the strong typhoon was approaching close to their area.

    A littleter, he and Admiral Itsuki were watching the front from the control room.

    At that moment, everyone residing in the control room heard an order through the radio.

    [I am Yamamoto, Chief of Staff of the Maritime Self-Defense Forces. From now on, use all avable means to attack the typhoon until I order you to stop!]

    "¡­"

    "¡­"

    "¡­"

    Don Quixote rushing towards the windmill?

    At that moment, Souta recalled Don Quixote''s image as soon as he heard themander''s order. After all, he was ordered to fight nature just as Don Quixote fought a giant windmill.

    He could not ignore that order because it was issued by the Chief of Staff of the Maritime Self-Defense Force.

    Japan is an ind country. So, like the army, the navy, and the air force, which are called the three forces that make up the army of any country, Japan has the Self-Defense Forces, consisting of the Ground Self-Defense Forces, the Maritime Self-Defense Forces, and the Air Self-Defense Forces. Of course, the most powerful among them is the Maritime Self-Defense Forces.

    As if to show how big and powerful it is, the Maritime Self-Defense Forces alone spends five times more than thebined defense budgets of the Ground and Air Self-Defense Forces for one year.

    So the Chief of Staff of the Maritime Self-Defenses was a highly coveted position in Japan. That''s why people often said that it was more difficult to be the Chief of Staff of the Maritime Self-Defense Forces than to be the prime minister in Japan.

    Anyway, Captain Souta turned his gaze to Admiral Itsuki who was next to him.

    When Itsuki nodded, Souta immediately announced to the staff of the battleship in a loud voice, ""Our target is the typhoon ahead! Quickly adjust the firing angle and start firing when you receive the order!"

    There were a lot of missiles in the ship and each missile cost hundreds of millions of yen, but Yamamoto ordered them to use all the avable resources to destroy the typhoon even if tens of billions of yen evaporated in vain.

    "Got it!

    "Understood!"

    With the approval of Admiral Itsuki, the Atago-ss Aegis battleship Nakano began to prepare for attack.

    Shortly afterwards, they began to fire at the approaching typhoon.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    The Atago-ss Aegis ship Nakano showed tremendous firepower as if to prove it was the most powerful battleship of Japan.

    It was not just the Aegis ship with Captain Souta and Admiral Itsuki on board.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    When not only huge battleships, but also small battleships and coast guard boats werebined, there were more than several hundreds of ships firing at the approaching typhoon.

    ***

    At the Prime Minister''s Office in Tokyo, Japan.

    The Cab members including Prime Minister Abezo, watched the screen showing the numerous battleships firing a barrage of cannons at the typhoon.

    It was such a spectacr sight.

    Prime Minister Abezo could not help but think this was the most spectacr sight he had ever seen while watching hundreds of battleships firing at the typhoon that was so threatening.

    But Prime Minister Abezo soon realized that the target of their fire was not man made, but a natural disaster called a typhoon apanied by a tremendous amount of ice and wind that these huge battleships they spent an astronomical amount of money and time to build were attacking now.

    While watching the numerous battleships firing, he finally realized how foolish he was to make such a decision to attempt to fight a natural disaster that humans have never conquered, for their attacks did no damage to the typhoon.

    He thought to himself, ''How could I be so stupid when I have endured so many natural disasters myself?''

    Like all Japanese people, he had endured numerous natural disasters just because he lived in Japan. At times, he was so frustrated about Japan''s geopolitical position as an ind country. On such asions he recalled his grandfather, who was sentenced to death in the ss A war crimes trial.

 Chapter 522: Juyoung Hong (49)

    Prime Minister Abezo also recalled his grandfather''s will.

    [Never give up on Korea. Even if you cede everything to the Allied Forces, you should keep Korea. That''s how Japan lives. Korea and Japan are like oil and vinegar. As Japan grows, Korea declines. Conversely, when Korea grows, Japan declines. In other words, we must keep Korea at bay, monitor them, and suppress them to hold back their economic growth. Over time, we mustpletely assimte it into Japan. That is how Japan can survive.]

    In the end, Japan had no choice but to give up Korea as a result of their defeat.

    Since then, Prime Minister Abe has never forgotten his grandfather''s will.

    In fact, when Korea was devastated because of the Korean War, Japan experienced rapid economic growth. Later when Korea showed big economic growth, Japan''s economy slid into recession.

    So Prime Minister Abezo made it his top priority to revise the current Peace Constitution that stipted that Japan should neither wage war nor possess an army.

    Clearly, Korea was still among the highest war-risk countries. Japan would be forced to intervene if something like a war or a major conflict between the two parts of Korea broke out. Actually, that would be an opportunity for Japan to annex Korea like they did in the early 20th century.

    ''But I¡­ I was too narrow-minded because my opponent is Korea!''

    He was not unaware of the outside criticism that he was so submissive to the United States like a dog wagging its tail to his master. Even though he knew it, he kept wagging his tail to America because he wanted to make America side with Japan if it was forced to choose between them and Korea.He has been putting a lot of effort into deepening ties with the United States since he took office, but the United States joined hands with Korea overnight.

    What''s more, there emerged a Korean superman who made his great dreame to nothing.

    "What the hell did I do?" Prime Minister Abezo uttered in frustration.

    At the same time, he shouted, "Tell Chief of Staff Yamamoto to withdraw all the fleet! Retreat!"

    Japan has built the current naval fleet by investing a huge amount of money and time, so he could not lose even one battleship.

    At Prime Minister Abezo''s order, Chief Cab Secretary Kono picked up the phone.

    "Yes, I''ll convey your order right away!"

    He then called the Defense Secretary''s office.

    Shortly afterwards, his chief secretary told him, "We''ve received the report that they can''t turn back immediately because there are so many battleships mobilized in one area on the sea. Of course, they''ve said they are going to retreat as quickly as possible at your order."

    "Tell them to hurry up."

    "Yes, understood!"

    Prime Minister Abezo gave such an order because he also knew that they could not retreat in a hurry because of their close formation in the area.

    At the same time, the prime minister muttered in a low voice, "I wonder if we can stop the typhoon even now."

    Obviously, he was just asking it to himself.

    But somebody in the corner of his office replied, "No, that''s impossible."

    ***

    The waters off the coast of Tokyo were quite a distance away from the prime minister''s office, but that did not pose a problem to me at all. Using Blink with zero cooldown, I moved to the prime minister''s office to confirm how wrong his choice to mobilize the navy fleet was.

    As soon as I arrived, I saw them hurriedly retreating after the prime minister gave the order to withdraw. And I saw the prime minister toying with hope against hope that he could stop the typhoon even now.

    But it was toote. He should have made the decision to forfeit early on.

    So I answered the prime minister''s question by saying, "No, it''s impossible!"

    "!!!"

    "!!!"

    "!!!"

    No wonder not only Prime Minister Abezo, but everyone in the prime minister''s office turned their heads to me, startled by my reply.

    But I ignored them, and continued, "You don''t think this is the ring where the referee rules, right? Oh, it doesn''t matter even if you think that way because the referee''s ruling doesn''t affect me at all."

    Even when I was talking with them, the typhoon, apanied by ice and gusts of wind as seen on the screen installed on one side of the prime minister''s office, kept advancing.

    The Japanese naval battleships, which were in the thick of retreating in a hurry, were directly in the path of the typhoon.

    Watching that, the prime minister uttered desperately, "Damn, it''s really a waste of the tens of billions of yen that we spent on them!"

    Obviously, they would incur more than tens of trillions of yen in losses.

    The huge fleet of naval battleships were shaking more violently than before.

    At that moment, Prime Minister Abezo shouted urgently, "Let me surrender! Surrender!"

    But I didn''t respond right away to his mention of ''surrender.''

    Why? Because he decided to surrender with great reluctance after he btedly found out that he could not beat me. And this kind of half-hearted surrender would definitely cause troubleter.

    So did I ept his surrender and stop the typhoon?

    Given his cunning personality, Prime Minister Abezo would obviously regard me as a coward, and his wrong judgment would causerger problemster. When that happened, I would have no choice but to sink half of this ind country.

    So I said in a low voice at his words, "It''s already toote."

    Startled, the prime minister shouted, "There are a lot of Japanese people on that ships! I don''t think you''re nning on burying all those innocent people in the sea, right?"

    "So why did you let such a situation develop when you already knew that? You already witnessed my capabilities with your own eyes. Moreover, it took about a week for the huge typhoon created in the North Pacific to reach the sea off Japan. I gave you enough time, but you even refused my minimal consideration!"

    "¡­"

    Prime Minister Abezo didn''t respond as if he was speechless.

    At that moment, a scene that was so terrible in his eyes was disyed on the screen installed in the corner of his office.

    Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

    Ice chunks the size of a human body pounded the giant battleships relentlessly.

    Generally speaking, ice chunks could not break metal, but the ice chunks I created were not ordinary ice.

    Crunch! Bang! Bang!

    The decks of the battleships had holes here and there after being hit hard by the big ice chunks.

    Even the missileunchers installed on the deck were also shattered to pieces by the ice.

    That was nothing,pared with what was toe.

    My ice didn''t just fall from the top due to the gust of a typhoon. Instead, they buffeted the ship from all direction.

    As the ice chunks hit the side of the ships, huge holes were created instantly, through which seawater more than a few meters high began to flow into.

    No wonder the damaged battleships began to sink one by one.

    It was literally hell.

    The prime minister was witnessing the tragic sinking of the battleships with numerous crew on board.

 Chapter 523: Juyoung Hong (50)

    In the Prime Minister''s Office in Japan.

    While silently watching the Japanese battleships sink into the dark sea after being shattered by huge ice chunks, Prime Minister Abezo shouted.

    "The Myongjin Group has also been helped a lot by Japan to reach its current heights today! Don''t you think Myongjin is different from otherpanies?"

    He suddenly made some absurd remarks.

    But I knew what he was trying to say, so I responded casually, "I know. So what?"

    Japan colonized and ruled over Korea for about 35 years in the early 20th centry.

    Then the Korean War broke out in 1950 on the heels of its liberation from Japan in 1945.

    The Korean Penins was literally devastated by a series of national tragedies, creating a bleak situation for the Korean people who could not hope for any bright future.

    After the war ended, Korea concluded an agreement with Japan to receivepensation for their past rule, but it was not sufficient at all.Aside from the buildup of debt, South Korea''s national governing system broke downpletely, so Korea needed a huge amount of money to restore it. They could not give up economic growth, but they didn''t have the capital for it. And they couldn''t print bills endlessly because it would certainly bring about high intion, which was a surefire shortcut to economic copse.

    So the Korean government gave preferential treatment to somergepanies so they could take the necessary loan from foreign countries.

    With the loan, they could build factories, make products, and hire factory workers.

    They borrowed the money with about a 5-10% interest.

    This interest rate might look average now, but back then the interest onmercial loans made by banks was over 40% per annum, so a 5-10% interest was a huge preferential treatment for thosepanies.

    But it didn''t matter to most of thepanies at that time because despite those high interest rates, there were still many people who wanted to borrow money from the banks.

    To put it simply, if anybody borrowed money from a foreign country at a 5% to 10% interest rate, then deposited it in local banks, they could earn close to 40% of profits per year.

    Of course, none of thepanies that were given preferential treatment by the government were stupid enough to do so.

    They made lots of money by producing goods and services after buyingnd to build factories instead of depositing their loans with the banks.

    In fact, most of the so-called chaebol, or business conglomerates, grew rapidly thanks to the government''s preferential treatment.

    The start line was different between thepanies that got huge loans with the preferential rate of 5% interest rate, and thosepanies that got mediocre loans at a high interest rate of 40% after fiercepetition among themselves.

    Clearly, Myongjin, as one of the five major groups including Daesung, Kusan, and Daeyu, was among thepanies that benefited from the government''s preferential treatment. But they got most of their loan from Japan.

    Although Korea was liberated from Japan in 1945, Japan''s 35- year colonial rule left behind some bad legacies such as Korea''s toppanies'' debts to Japan.

    That was exactly what Prime Minister Abezo pointed out to me.

    He said even Myongjin was not fully free from the shackles of the loans they received from Japan. But that didn''t make me stop my offensive.

    Of course, since Myongjin, just like the otherrgepanies,peted with its rivals in an unfair manner from the beginning and enjoyed the government''s preferential treatment to grow big as it was today, I felt a little bad if Myongjin had not fulfilled its social responsibility fully. But they did.

    And Japan definitely did not give or lend money to Korea for free.

    Thosepanies who got loans from Japan paid the money offter.

    In the meantime, the Japanese naval battleships as disyed on the big screen on one side of the prime minister''s office were crushed by the chunks of ice that were far toorge to fall from the sky. They sank under the deep sea, along with all the professional soldiers under the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and professional civil servants aboard.

    At that moment, the prime minister copsed to his knees.

    "We will surrender unconditionally. We will give up our right to the Seventh Mining Area, and we won''t seek any right to the Seventh Mining Area in the future."

    Prime Minister Abezo mentioned surrender even a little while ago, but what he said was just empty words, and he stayed arrogant, talking to me in an informal tone.

    But now he talked to me in a formal tone, with his head down politely.

    But I cast my nce at the screen instead of looking at him.

    About 30% of the whole fleet already disappeared into the sea.

    In addition to that, about 20% of the battleships were partly destroyed by the huge ice chunks. In short, almost 50% of the battleships were damaged.

    Moreover, even if they pulled out the sunken battleships under the sea, they would not be able to restore them because they were literally in tatters.

    Even restoring the partially damaged battleships would take a huge amount of time and money.

    In other words, Japan suffered astronomical damage because of the typhoon.

    "Hmm..."

    Abezo let out a groan despite himself.

    Watching him who dared to defy my warning until thest moment and brought all this trouble onto himself, I momentarily thought hard about how far I should punish him.

    If the typhoon I created advanced off the coast to the centre of Tokyo, it was certain that it would cause a huge disaster that they had never seen or experienced before.

    Considering that Tokyo is the capital city of Japan, it was clear that the number of people who would die when hit by the typhoon would exceed several millions.

    Of course, I didn''t want to see that happen either.

    Even though I didn''t have good feelings for Japan, it didn''t mean that I wanted to drive Japan to the pit of destruction.

    If Tokyo were devastated, Japan would not even dream of rebuilding it because regardless of their determination, they won''t have enough time or money to rebuild the ruined capital city.

    In that case, Prime Minister Abezo would make the worst choice, in other words, something like ''if you kill me, I''ll kill you, too.''

    Of course, that would not matter to me because it would be Japan that would be ruined in the end.

    ''But¡­ I don''t have to go as far as that. After all, my goal is only the Seventh Mining Area''

    I have no intention of bing the ruler of the earth because I once yed the role of a ruler in a world indirectly where ''Revival Legend'' became a reality.

    When I did so, I didn''t feel as satisfied as I thought.

    ''Alright. I don''t have to create the worst situation.''

    With that conclusion, I raised my right hand and brought together my thumb and index finger at the same time everyone in the prime minister''s office turned their eyes to me.

    p!

    The sound was not loud. In fact, it was quite soft.

    However, that small sound engulfed the prime minister''s office which had quite a few people in at the moment, and a change took ce on the screen.

    Wheeeeng!

 Chapter 524: Juyoung Hong (51)

    The typhoon emitted huge ice and powerful gusts of wind just a little while ago. The huge gust of wind was still there, but the huge chunks of ice that had inflicted direct damage on the Japanese naval fleet until a moment ago disappeared as if it were an illusion.

    When that happened, the Japanese battleships were no longer being crushed and sinking into the cold sea.

    After I defused the crisis, I turned my eyes to Prime Minister Abezo, and said in a low voice, "I hope you are serious about surrendering. Seriously. If you are not being sincere, and try to trick me, you will see the end of Japan."

    I decided that I had better stop here if I didn''t want to destroy Japanpletely, let alone Prime Minister Abezo.

    To be honest, it''s not that I didn''t understand Japan''s actions toward the Seventh Mining Area. If I had been in their shoes, I would have done the same thing because in a few years, the agreement on their joint development of the Seventh Mining Area with South Korea would expire, allowing them to take control of the area legitimately. Besides, the mining area in question was no ordinary one, but a huge oilfield with oil reserves as big as those in Saudi Arabia.

    When I made my threat, the prime minister rep[lied right away, kowtowing with his head touching the floor, as if he wanted to prove he was sincere about surrender.

    "Of course, I''ll do it! I''m serious!"

    Given his submissive attitude, I felt he would help solve other matters if I mentioned them, such as the territorial dispute of Dokdo Ind, the apologies for thefort women issue and their forced upation of the Korean penins during the early 20st century.

    But I didn''t bring them up because I believed he clearly realized that any further provocations by Japan would not work.In other words, I believed that Japan would solve such problems in due course through their own initiative by offering apologies and the appropriatepensation.

    So I said to Abezo in a low voice, "Alright, let me see if you can keep your promise. Somebody wille and see you sooner orter. My part is now over. By the way, the typhoon will move beyond Japan before it disappears."

    As soon as I said that, I exited the Prime Minister''s Office using Blink with zero cooldown because I really didn''t have anything to do.

    ***

    At the headquarters of the National Intelligence Service in Naegok-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, Korea at the time.

    "¡­"

    "¡­"

    "¡­"

    Since its deputy director made the proposal about the Seventh Mining Area to Juyoung Hong, they kept a close eye on his movements.

    With their jaws dropping at the enormous power of the typhoon created by Juyoung Hong, the top leaders nkly watched the screen showing the typhoon thatnded off the coast of Tokyo.

    The NIS Director said in a low voice, "Wasn''t he supposed to only be able to use ice? What the heck is that typhoon apanied by powerful gusts? I just can''t believe their battleships that cost a few trillion won were just crushed and sunk helpeless like that. I really have nothing to say. Does anybody want toment?" ??

    But nobody responded.

    Even Deputy Director Sojong Han, who maintained close contact with Juyoung Hong, didn''t say anything because the typhoon apanied by the powerful gusts and destructive ice were far beyond her predictions.

    Ring- ring-

    A cell phone rang to break the silence of the NIS meeting room.

    Normally, the Director would rebuke the person whose cell phone rang during this kind of important meeting, but even the Director could not say anything right now because the ring wasing from Deputy Director Han''s cell phone.

    Even now she was in constant contact with Juyoung Hong.

    After checking the screen of her cellphone, she nodded slightly at other people at the meeting to ask them to keep quiet while she was talking.

    She answered the phone right away. It was a call from Juyoung Hong.

    Juyoung said, [I have secured Prime Minister Abezo''s promise topletely renounce the Seventh Mining Area. All you have to do is send somebody to Japan to conclude a new agreement with them.]

    "Thank you. We will take care of the rest."

    "Alright. You haven''t forgotten that promise of yours, right?"

    "Of course."

    Although she gave him such a brief reply, she almost spilled out, ''You showed me you were powerful enough to destroy Japan. How can I break my promise to you?''

    But she didn''t say that because she didn''t have to.

    After she hung up the phone, she looked at the Director right away.

    Since he already heard their conversation, he said quickly, "I will go to the Blue House tomorrow. Maybe someone from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will go negotiate. Deputy Director Han, attend the meeting with me tomorrow."

    Anyway, Deputy Manager Han sessfully negotiated with Juyoung Hong, so she had a directmunication channel with him.

    So the Director immediately promoted her to the chief of the 3rd Division dealing with external affairs. And it was no wonder other deputy directors didn''t object to his decision because they confirmed how brilliant Juyong Hong''s performance was this time in dealing with Japan.

    They ended the meeting in a pretty good mood.

    ***

    A few dayster, all the media reported extensively about the Seventh Mining Area.

    [The Seventh Mining Area returned to the care of South Korea!]

    [Japan returns the Seventh Mining Area?]

    [How was the Seventh Mining Area returned to South Korea?]

    [Who is the hero who forced Japan to give up the Seventh Mining Area?]

    They provided various background stories about the potential value of the Seventh Mining Area. Some even reported on the rosy future when Korea finallyid the groundwork for bing an oil producing country.

    A few dayster, the President addressed the people and revealed who it was that deserved the credit for the important deal about the Seventh Mining Area.

    "My fellow citizens! I''m so happy about standing here for a very good cause. Until now, my government has made ceaseless efforts to regain the ownership of the Seventh Mining Area from Japan, and our efforts have finally paid off. Of course, my government alone could not do it. Even though we had full support from people in various walks of life, we could bring out the sessful results thanks to your help. First of all, I will order an investigation into the Seventh Mining Area starting tomorrow with my executive order as the President. And the Myongjin Group will lead the investigation. It was actually the Myongjin Group that first did the survey into this mining area by spending their own money about 40 years ago. At the same time, it''s again the Myongjin Group that decisively helped us to retake the mining area from Japan. As a Korean citizen myself, I would like to thank the Myongjin Group for their great effort to return the Seventh Mining Area to our country."

    After that, the President went on to exin the strategic importance of the mining area with huge crude oil reserves among other things, but the people mainly paid their attention to the Myongjin Group.

    The President mentioned he would order his cab to prepare a special presidential act to develop the Seventh Mining Area, but he already designated the Myongjin Group as the lead participant. The Myongjin Group has Myongjin Oil Refinery among its subsidiaries.

    Is there any possibility that the President excludes Myongjin Oil Refinery from the project of drilling crude oil in the Seventh Mining Area when he guaranteed Myongjin the right to lead the investigation into the area under the special presidential act?

    Of course, there is little possibility that he will do so.

    Because of that, lots of traders at the Korean stock market were once again crazy about buying the stocks rted to the Myongjin Group.

    "Myongjin! Buy all the stocks rted to the Myongjin Group right now!"

    "The stock price of Myongjin Oil Refinery has not yet hit its all-time high! Now is the time to start buying them!"

    "Myongjin Oil Refinery, Myongjin Construction! Myongjin Electronics! Myongjin Trading! You have to buy all the stocks with the name Myongjin!"

    The craze for Myongjin stocks was already high since traders bought and sold its stocks crazily at the recent news that Myongjin Oil Refinery would import crude oil from ExxonMobil and Chevron.

 Chapter 525: Juyoung Hong (52)

    At my house in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul.

    "That''s how I contacted the government. They will probably contact you sooner orter."

    With my father, elder brother, elder sister, Director Sok, Chief of Staff Ahn, and Jungchol Yang, President of Myongjin Oil Refinery gathered in the basement, I gave them a briefing about my dealings with the NIS and the Japanese government about the Seventh Mining Area.

    Obviously, the Myongjin Group would have to prepare a lot to investigate and drill the oil fieldpared to importing crude oil from ExxonMobil and Chevron to South Korea .

    When I was done with the briefing, they all remained silent.

    "¡­"

    "¡­"

    "¡­"

    None of them said something like, ''Don''t lie!'' or ''I really don''t believe you!'' because I had shown lots of surprising performances recently. But their silence did notst long when my father sitting at the top of the table opened his mouth finally.

    "Everybody aside from Juyoung, please leave."

    His voice sounded intimidating to me because his tone was constant with no highs or lows. So everybody left the study except for me.

    Even after they left, my father did not speak for a while.

    Then he finally said, "Juyoung."

    "Yes, Dad."

    "I know you are my son even though they are gossiping about your total change behind your back."

    "...I know."

    There was only one reason why I didn''t hesitate to get rid of the rebels in Sierra Leone, take over the diamonds and diamond mines from Debius, oppress the strongest power, the United States, and ruin Chaesan Lee. It''s all because I had a family who trusted me.

    Aside from that, I also came to realize how pointless and trivial it was to be conscious of how people looked at me and pay attention to it to the extent that I was stressed out.

    And that''s why I also epted themision by the NIS rted to Japan this time.

    When I replied, he said warmly, with a gentle expression, "I don''t mean you should continue to hide your capabilities. If you have an extraordinary talent that is different from others, you have to fully make use of it. That''s the way human beings behave. In the long run, you will be able to solve everything with your capabilities. That''s the case even when ites to work that doesn''t require your capabilities. But it can also be the starting point of tragedy."

    "¡­"

    I didn''t respond to his words.

    As if he didn''t expect me to answer, he continued, "I just hope you won''t feel lonely now and in the future. I hope you can be happy, and your mother, brother and sister also hope you can stay happy."

    On the surface, I am 17 years old.

    But I was far from 17 years old deep down.

    I experienced many things that no one else could experience for more than 10 years in a world where ''Revival Legend'' became reality.. So I felt really lonely, bitter and even sad at the end of the long journey in that world. But I wasn''t stupid enough to not grasp my father''s point.

    So I smiled gently, and replied, "Sure, that''s what I''m nning to do. And my goal right now is to be happy."

    He was silent for a moment, then said slowly, "Alright, I''m d to hear that."

    Anyway, I wrapped up our brief but sincere conversation.

    After that, he called back my brother and sister, Director Sok, Chief Secretary Ahn, and Jungchul Yang, President of Myongjin Oil Refinery, who were on standby outside after leaving the study at his request a little while ago.

    I just watched them exchanging their views about me silently because it was my greatest happiness to see my family rejoicing that they could or myte grandfather''s legacy and will, and also to hear Director Sok, Chief Secretary Ahn, and President Yang talking about the rosy future of the Myongjin Group.

    In the world where ''Revival Legend'' became a reality, I dreamed of seeing the current scene, especially when I saw my family and Director Sok not hesitating toe to my rescue when I was trembling in fear of the blind alley called death.

    ***

    In Kyungmoon High School the next day.

    I didn''t bother to make myself stand out among other students.

    But they had no choice but to change their perceptions of me because not a day passed without the news media or even the President mentioning the name Myongjin.

    And I was an immediate family member of the Myongjin Group chairman.

    And I was no longer called the wed son of the Myongjin Chairman because I got perfect scores not only in the regr exams but also the additional tests.

    Of course, their changed perceptions didn''t change my behavior, nor was I excited.

    Anyway, I was once called the hope of mankind and thest bastion of the earth.

    And I was even more capable at the moment than I was back then.

    Instead of caring about others, I behaved as usual.

    For example, I had lunch with Bora Yon as I normally did.

    During lunch time at school.

    "You know what? My grandpa said he''d like to see you."

    There was more than one person who could be called ''grandfather'' on the father or mother''s side, but the grandfather she mentioned could only be one person, namely, Junghwan Yon of the Mirae Group.

    So, I said, fussing around a bit, as if surprised by her words, "Finally, your grandpa wants to see your future bridegroom¡­"

    I could not finish my words because she looked at me with a solemn face.

    Of course, her expression wasn''t scary, but cute to me.

    But I said, trembling a bit as if she was scary, "Okay. Just tell me the time. I can meet him any time."

    "How about this Friday? He said he wanted to have dinner with you."

    "Fine."

    In the past, I would not have even dreamed of such a situation because even though Myongjin was growing fast, Mirae was still Korea''s top business conglomerate.

    But the situation is now different.

    Then I said, looking into her eyes directly, "By the way, it''s already been over two months since we started dating formally."

    "Right."

    "Then, shouldn''t we move along? So far, all we have done is hold hands."

    "..."

    With an expression a little sulkier than before, she just looked at me.

    So I continued without caring about it, "My hands are not bad luck for you. I''ve never even kissed any woman except my mom and my sister, let alone romantic kissing or hugging."

    I told her confidently because my body waspletely pure and clean.

    But she asked, "Do you think I''m not exactly like you?"

    p!

    As soon as she said it, I pped my hands and said, "Yeah, that''s why we''re pure and

    clear, right! We''re a perfect match!"

    I thought I gave her a perfect proposal.

    But she didn''t seem to think so because she stood up, spitting out one word.

    "But not now! And we''re still in high school, and freshmen at that!"

    I didn''t have to grab her when she left after saying that.

    Even though I was notpletely disinterested when I made such remarks, I said it as a joke, after all.

    "Hmm¡­ In the end what I learned from a textbook doesn''t work. If I had known that I woulde back like this, I would have tried dating in the reality world back then."

    At that time, I had gone through numerous experiences, but there was one thing that I had never done, namely, dating her.

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