Chapter 103
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 103
Chapter Title: Each One's Circumstances
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- Raiding parties from around the world are flooding into Hanoi due to Vietnam's dungeon break. Following Raid Leader Rabia MacQueen of the White House declaring her intent to head to Hanoi, China's Tencent has just announced they're sending their 1st Army team as well.
- In Korea, Memoria's 1st Army team, led by Kang Chaeyoung, has decided to deploy to Hanoi at the request of the World Hero Association...
TV and the internet were abuzz nonstop about the Hanoi dungeon break. The clan house atmosphere was chaotic as a result. It had been eight years since the last dungeon break, they said.
Moreover, the dungeon that had exploded this time was a high-difficulty 【A-1】. With an insane number of provisional dungeons spawning from the spread phenomenon, the anchors on TV were shouting that it needed to be suppressed early and decisively.
Even Minguk, who had no knowledge beyond the original owner's memories, could easily grasp how serious the situation was amid all the clamor. And just recently, the name of Rose Shield had started popping up on the anchors' lips.
The ripple effect was that the conference room's mood had grown increasingly tense. Oh Hyun-ah and Choi Yuna couldn't tear their eyes from the TV, while the others were frantically searching something on the internet.
'Whatever...'
Minguk saw it as someone else's problem. Now that they were tackling 【B-1】 difficulty dungeons, he had zero desire to head off on a dangerous expedition to monster-infested Vietnam.
Even if Rose Shield's raid team ended up deploying there, he figured they could leave it to the senior heroes. He still needed a bit more—no, a lot more—growth before stepping up himself.
The moment he steeled himself with that thought, an unwelcome guest appeared before his eyes.
Emergency! Emergency! Crisis alert! Crisis alert!
A disaster threatening the safety of this otherworld has erupted. It's time for Minguk, Chaos's hero and the hope of this world, to step up. Protect this world from the monsters of darkness! This Ppuu, created by Chaos, will support you, Minguk!
This quest offers bonus rewards for additional achievements.
[Goal] - Cooperate with other heroes' raiding parties to destroy all the 'provisional dungeons' spawned by the Hanoi dungeon break!
[Duration] - (Extremely dangerous) Until the Twelfth Calamity awakens!
[Rewards] - 「Destroy 10 Dungeons: Five Yellow-grade Crystals.
Destroy 20 Dungeons: Three Platinum Tickets, Two 【Class Stones (A) - Unique Grade】.
Destroy 50 Dungeons: One 【Class Stone (A) - Legendary Grade】.」
This quest has a failure penalty. The Twelfth Calamity—known as a Named among otherworlders—might awaken. If that happens... Southeast Asia could turn into a wasteland. Even Korea, where you are, Minguk, would suffer massively.
"What the fuck..."
Minguk's sudden curse made the surrounding heroes flinch. They had enough sense to figure his mood had soured at hearing Rose Shield's name bandied about on TV, given that he was the raid leader.
And their guess was half right, half wrong. The Rose Shield mentions on TV didn't faze him, but his mood had soured. The reason, though, was this damn quest from Ppuu.
'What do you mean Korea gets affected too?'
The Twelfth Calamity will awaken and ravage Southeast Asia. Then it'll devour all humans and turn toward other continents. With East Asia's huge population, that'll be the next target.
The quest window wobbled like jelly before reforming in response to Minguk's question.
'What's the Twelfth Calamity exactly?'
It refers to commander-class entities among the monsters of darkness that possess immense mana. Among humans, they're called Nameds.
'Named, Named.'
Minguk muttered to himself as he began searching for info on these Named monsters of darkness. It wasn't hard to find. Humanity had amassed a ton of data from years of war against them.
Named was the title given only to the most exceptionally powerful among the monsters of darkness. Humanity had designated a total of twelve such monsters as Named.
And the twelfth one's name was Garuda, the King of Birds. It had turned Cambodia, western Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar into wastelands, claiming over twenty million lives. Currently, it was said to be dormant in the Tower of Birds, an estimated 【S】-rank dungeon on the Vietnam-Thailand border.
'If we fail the quest, a monster like that wakes up?!'
Minguk searched Garuda's info over and over.
With his current abilities, there was no way in hell he could take it down—not even if he died and came back. Revival Stones? Useless at best. One flap of its wings would probably send him straight to the afterlife on the express train.
Plus, with Korea supposedly taking a big hit too, that Named might even attack here if luck was against them.
"If our clan deploys to Vietnam, it'd have to be the 1st Army, right?"
Seeing Minguk's face hardening, Hyun-ah glanced at Yuna before speaking up.
"Yeah, probably? No other team has the chops for it."
Quick on the uptake, Yuna picked up on Hyun-ah's intent and spoke loud enough for Minguk to hear. The others nodded emphatically too.
But Minguk had no attention for Hyun-ah and Yuna's exchange. It had only been a few minutes since Ppuu's quest appeared, and now a new one had dropped. This one also had bonus rewards.
One and Only Night! Chaos cheers on your abilities, Minguk~♡ Qyuu supports too!
The Vietnam expedition to save Hanoi! You'll inevitably run into tons of female heroes, right? A steamy night with them! Doesn't it already sound exciting?
[Goal] - Hook up with as many heroes as possible! (Excludes heroes from your own raid party.)
[Duration] - Until all Hanoi's 'provisional dungeons' are destroyed!
[Rewards] - 「3: 10 Sex Coins.
5: 50 Sex Coins.
10: Chaos Shop Grade-Up!」
Amazing rewards, right? The choice is yours alone, Minguk! Don't miss this chance! Who knows? You might even find true love~?
Minguk closed the quest window and slowly shut his eyes. His eyelids trembled with rage. These bastards were ganging up to shove him toward Vietnam. That was why he'd come to the clan leader's office with Hyun-ah.
"Y-You're going to Vietnam? Do you even know how dangerous it is there?"
"...Yes."
Hyun-jung stared at him in disbelief as he nodded.
She'd thought he was a bit eccentric, clearing dungeons multiple times a day when others did one a week, but this was straight-up idiotic.
"Raid Leader. Do you have family who suffered at the hands of monsters?"
"...No."
Minguk shook his head at Hyun-jung's question. He hadn't met the original owner's family since crossing over, but from the memories, no one close had. Some distant relative six degrees out had, but it didn't feel personal.
"Then are you some altruist who thinks you have to sacrifice yourself for humanity?"
"...No."
"Everyone else is avoiding Vietnam like the plague, so why volunteer..."
Minguk clamped his mouth shut after his curt reply, his expression screaming don't ask, it's the quest, I have no choice. He really didn't want to go.
Hyun-jung's gaze shifted to Hyun-ah at Minguk's response, but her sister just shook her head and shrugged. Even she didn't know why the raid leader wanted to go to Vietnam.
"Alright, got it. Oh, have you talked to all your team members? You absolutely can't force anyone who doesn't want to go."
"One dealer from 2nd Army backed out. We're bringing in Shiranu Mai instead. Already sorted."
"Well, if that's the case..."
Hyun-jung nodded at Minguk's answer, then pressed a finger to her lips thoughtfully before releasing it.
"I'll get back to you on this later. Need to talk to the other clans. But if other raids or the media bring up the Vietnam expedition, play it like you're being forced into it."
"Understood."
Minguk nodded. He wasn't dumb enough not to see what Clan Leader Hyun-jung was after. She was probably planning to extract a hefty price for sending a 1st-year raid like Team GGW to Vietnam.
'Ugh... fuck.'
Anyway, the quests. Those shits were the problem.
"I'm home."
A woman with exhaustion etched on her face kicked off her shoes and socks straight into the laundry basket.
One sock bounced out, but with a casual wave of her hand, it floated back in as if controlled by telekinesis.
For Kang Chaeyoung, dealer leader of Memoria's 1st Army, such mana control was child's play. She headed naturally to the room in the corner of the house.
Inside, a handsome man in nothing but underwear was glued to his game. He was Chaeyoung's fiancé, marriage promised. Game addict looks, sure, but he ran his own mana item business—a solid catch with real wealth.
"This game again? Ethereal? Fun?"
"Back? Nah, just killing time. Fun enough when there's nothing else."
He pulled her into a hug, planting a light kiss on her neck before quitting the game mid-session. A multiplayer game, yet he showed zero concern about dipping out.
"How'd it go? You really going to Vietnam?"
"Looks like it. Everyone's going—can't have the dealer leader sit it out."
"What about our wedding? We already told everyone the date."
The man spoke in a pissed-off tone as Chaeyoung scratched her head. He was pissed. Their once-in-a-lifetime wedding was on the brink of ruin thanks to Memoria's Vietnam expedition.
"Can't be helped? We'll postpone. Not like I want to go. Dungeon break happened—what can you do?"
"That doesn't make sense!"
Chaeyoung felt even more drained seeing him snap. Today's raid had been brutal enough; she didn't want to bicker with her fiancé.
"Yeah, it does. I'm a hero."
The man shut his mouth at Chaeyoung's frowning retort. Korea's #1 dealer ranker and national hero aura wasn't something an average guy could handle.
"No one's gonna blame us for delaying some wedding. Hell, anyone who does, I'll kill 'em. But we gotta stop the dungeon break spread now, or countless people die."
"...Fine. I'll handle notifying people."
"You do that. I'm gonna shower quick. Flight's at 11 a.m. tomorrow."
"...Huh? Babe, what? Shower? Why? P-pack your bags."
Chaeyoung wagged her finger at his panicked words and hurried to the bathroom. 【A-1】 difficulty blowout meant uncountable provisional dungeons from the spread.
Who knew when she'd return. Worst case, months. So tonight, she planned to soak up her fiancé's love fully.
"Hey, hey! That's it? Get it up again? Wait! You cum once and call it?! "
But no normal man could keep up with a female hero's libido. Chaeyoung thus had to prep for Vietnam without fully satisfying her urges.