Chapter 90
Chapter 90
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: Hell's Gate
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The raid party members of Sanctus stared blankly at the boxes.
They knew all too well the value of elixirs.
‘How much...’
Did Go Yohan even realize how much he’d just handed out in that one moment?
C-grade elixirs traded for hundreds of billions of won, so anything more put it in the trillions.
A-grade elixirs numbered only three, their value impossible to even estimate.
Gulp.
Of course, prices had plummeted once Goldian started selling them.
An F-grade elixir could be had for tens of millions if you got lucky, maybe up to a hundred million.
But C-grade ones still cost tens of billions no matter what.
Swoosh.
The raid members glanced at one another.
Three raid parties, nearly two hundred strong.
Even at the lowest estimate.
“Ha.”
The sheer amount was breathtaking.
“The Middle Eastern guy must feel so hard done by.”
Go Minji twisted her lips as she spoke.
“With hundreds of billions just rolling around here.”
“That’s not how it is.”
Go Yohan said.
“He got those elixirs months ahead of everyone else and grew like a top ranker blasting through levels. And he cleared upper gates faster and in greater numbers...”
In truth, he’d profited far more than he’d paid—if anything, he hadn’t lost a thing.
“You... really.”
Go Minji shook her head and swallowed an elixir in one gulp.
Whoosh!
In that instant, radiant light seemed to spill from her body.
“...!”
It resembled the glow of leveling up, but denser, lingering far longer.
Next, Go Woojin and Han Su-ah swallowed theirs without hesitation.
That glow akin to leveling up stemmed from changes in the solid lines forming their bodies—lines gaining color, thickening.
And then.
“...Insane.”
Go Minji’s voice came out in near awe.
“This... this is actually insane...?”
“...I have to agree.”
Even Go Woojin stepped forward to say as much.
It felt like every stat had jumped by 10 in an instant.
Easy to say “10,” but it was no different from leaping dozens of levels at once.
Shrieeek!
Meanwhile, Han Su-ah drew her three-sword set without pause and swung.
Bam!
The air split sharply with a sonic boom.
“This is... unreal.”
It was absurd growth.
Strength, agility, mana—they all wove together organically, elevating everything by several tiers.
Put simply, the Han Su-ah of moments ago and the one now were like entirely different people.
“You were right.”
Go Minji felt the same surge of growth.
“The Middle Eastern guy hit the jackpot.”
Spending hundreds of billions to feel this rush a little sooner?
She’d have emptied her own coffers for it.
“But no side effects? That was bullshit, right?”
At Go Minji’s words, the raid members mid-swallow froze.
“Trying to pin another false charge on me?”
“It’s just.”
Whoosh.
Go Minji stepped forward, gliding smoothly.
But her face showed not satisfaction, but bewilderment.
“The effects are too good. I can’t handle it.”
Go Woojin nodded at her words.
“Indeed.”
Normally, players leveled up one step at a time, stats rising accordingly.
The resulting changes were small but certain.
But slamming into the equivalent of multiple level-ups at once? Cognition couldn’t keep pace with the body.
Moreover.
Drip.
Drawing on mana, her swollen muscles strained against her tailored clothes.
“Sensitivity’s totally different, and it’s not just stats going up, is it?”
“Right.”
“You wouldn’t get it, but this is a side effect. Going into combat like this could get us killed.”
“Don’t worry. It’ll get better with practice.”
“...”
Frustrating, but unavoidable.
“And...”
“Wait, what else now?”
*
*
*
The raid members who’d devoured the elixirs wore indelible smiles.
Clench.
They clenched and unclenched fists repeatedly, summoning and dismissing mana like kids with new toys.
New items gleamed in their hands or on their bodies.
“...Should we even react?”
Go Minji said in disbelief.
“...It’s not even insulting to our pride, but these reactions are getting stale.”
Repeated shock just wore thin.
No—empty was the word.
She wanted to nitpick, but didn’t know where to start. She just.
“...”
Had no time even to enjoy and adapt to what they’d been given.
But concern lingered.
“These things...”
She knew what these second round of gifts from Go Yohan were.
“...Aren’t these Ak-mul?”
The cause of locking him in the Black Room, the trigger for branding him a villain.
The blessed items—or rather, Ak-mul—that Geo Guild had boasted could hunt demons.
[Mastercrafted...]
[Unique]
After the Geo Guild incident, she’d thought all blessed items destroyed.
But now, improved versions had been handed to Sanctus.
“You’re not planning to kill us, right?”
“Not Ak-mul.”
Go Yohan said.
“Left just enough to work on demons, side effects fully removed. New product.”
It was true.
Gluttony had recovered and studied the blessed items, researching Ak-mul even before.
Moreover.
‘Dvergr.’
The church now held the Dvergrs, creators of those very items.
Prototypes made with their craftsmanship.
“Already tested them, and if issues arise in this raid, I can handle it.”
“If you say so...”
Go Minji nodded.
“Anyway, anything else?”
She asked while checking the gear.
This alone was more than enough.
‘Just how strong did he get?’
She knew gear was crucial for players, but wearing it made her feel twice as light and powerful.
No doubt.
‘In this state, I’d rank in the US top 20 for combat.’
Of course, excluding the gifts from Go Yohan last time.
Fully geared up?
“...”
Unimaginable.
“We’ll use them well and return them.”
Go Woojin said then.
No mistaking it.
Go Yohan bore Sanctus blood, but belonged to no guild.
“Gifts.”
But Go Yohan shook his head.
“Consider them partial payment for the thorny path ahead. Brother.”
“...”
“Hey! Anything more or not?”
And the gate raid began.
*
*
*
“Fuck...”
Go Minji spat a curse.
Even in the US, in grueling spots she could barely endure.
“Fuuuuck!”
She fell back on her native swears.
No other curse packed this tremor, this emotional punch—at least not per Go Minji.
Swoooosh!
Her massive greatsword swung, cleaving the air.
KABOOOM!
Explosive force shot straight, slamming into the colossal giant.
Amid the smoke, Go Minji’s eyes trembled with anticipation.
But soon.
“...Shit.”
She had to curse again.
She’d poured everything into that strike, yet only a tiny scratch marred the giant’s chest.
BOOM!
The giant stomped.
Craaaack!
The ground split, buckling upward.
Rising spikes promised to shred anything they hit.
Bang!
Not enough to kick off the floor.
BOOM!
Only swinging her greatsword for propulsion let her barely evade.
But through that gap.
VROOOOM!
A fist dwarfing her twin greatswords barreled toward her torso, set to pulverize.
She crossed her twin greatswords.
BOOM!
The pain through them wasn’t hyperbole—her bones felt ground to dust.
“Gah!”
Go Minji screamed in agony, tumbling away.
Blood—head wound or burst eyes from pressure?—blinded her vision.
Through it.
BOOM! Bang! KABOOOM!
Sanctus raid party battling another giant, plus Go Woojin and Han Su-ah, came into view.
Their situation was no better.
“Urgh!”
Even Go Woojin’s tank line couldn’t properly withstand a single blow.
Before entering the gate, after elixirs and blessed gear from Go Yohan, she’d thought nothing unbeatable.
Among the demons Go Yohan so hated, self-proclaimed archfoes, she could solo three-horned ones solo—such confidence had swelled.
Thud!
Delusional nonsense.
“Huff... huff... fuck...”
Go Minji rose using her greatsword as a cane.
The approaching giant swatted like at a fly.
BOOM!
She blocked at an angle with her greatsword, but rebound was inevitable.
But different from before.
Tumbling midair a few times, Go Minji landed steady.
Hummm!
Ograk’s Twin Fangs, reddening, began infusing her arms and greatsword with power.
“...After all that teasing.”
Red tattoos surfaced on Go Minji’s arms.
“I end up the same.”
She’d mocked Go Yohan’s tattoos, yet cruder, primal ones now marked both her arms.
Not his curse, but the power of Ograk’s Twin Fangs, dubbed the blood of orc war gods.
Thump.
Her heart pounded fiercely.
Mana suffused her body.
Crackle.
Go Minji’s form vanished.
KABOOM!
Like Go Yohan, a sonic boom echoed.
She reappeared above the giant’s head.
“Die!”
Drenched in killing intent to bisect the giant, Go Minji plummeted.
She could swear it.
KABOOOM!
This place rivaled—no, surpassed—a Black Gate in hellishness.
Among Sanctus bloodlines, the noblest and most refined.
“...Fuck.”
Even Go Woojin cursed freely in such a space.
BOOM!