Chapter 219
Chapter 219
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 219
Chapter Title: The Emperor Departs
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“Heading back.”
The emperor said, furrowing his brow.
“Will you really leave without meeting them, Your Majesty?”
Why had the emperor come all the way to Derhan in the first place?
Wasn’t it to meet the heroes who were subjugating the Ancient Orcs?
Yet it felt a bit regrettable to turn back without even exchanging a single word.
The emperor shook his head at Ronain’s words.
“Do you think I’m not disappointed? But now is not the time.”
It would take at least two weeks for their forces to reach here.
But with the threat of war not yet over, he couldn’t leave the throne vacant.
He needed to hurry back and meet with Agna to devise countermeasures.
‘If only that child could resolve this one too.’
The emperor’s gaze turned toward the heroes.
Thanks to his old eyes, he couldn’t make out Seo Woo-jin’s figure.
But he wished his hopes would reach him nonetheless.
‘How shameless of me.’
Seo Woo-jin had already granted the emperor’s request once.
And perfectly at that.
He had forced fifty thousand troops to retreat in a single battle...
Yet asking him for the same again felt burdensome.
This time, it wouldn’t be a transaction but a request.
A ridiculous, enormous ask to hold off over a hundred thousand troops alone.
“Heh, what should I offer him?”
He couldn’t even guess what price to pay.
The emperor let out a hollow laugh before turning away.
“Let us go.”
Leaving Seo Woo-jin and the heroes behind, the emperor began his journey home.
* * *
‘He’s gone?’
Seo Woo-jin suddenly realized he could no longer sense the emperor’s presence.
He had definitely been here when they first arrived at the Zarban Plains.
He had clearly felt Ronain and the other knights’ presences too.
But it seemed he had left while Seo Woo-jin was preoccupied with other matters.
‘Didn’t he come here for something?’
Seo Woo-jin tilted his head.
For the emperor to come all this way in person, there had to be some reason.
And to leave without a word?
He wondered if something else had happened.
‘...Probably nothing serious.’
But Seo Woo-jin decided not to dwell on it.
Their deal with the emperor had been fulfilled successfully, and above all, they now had far more important matters to attend to.
“Let’s move out.”
At Seo Woo-jin’s words, his team members nodded.
They weren’t the only ones starting to move.
The other heroes were also pairing up in groups of twos and threes and setting off.
Each toward their assigned regions.
“We should pace ourselves.”
If everyone pushed to maximum speed, they could reach their destination in under two hours.
But Seo Woo-jin chose not to do that.
He decided to move slower than the others.
“Wouldn’t it be better to get there fast and prepare?”
Kang Byung-gyu asked.
“Well, that’s not wrong, but I think it’s smarter to scout the surroundings first.”
“The surroundings?”
Park Min-seong tilted his head.
“Those guys.”
When no one seemed to get it, Seo Woo-jin pointed at the other heroes and continued.
“No matter how I look at it, they don’t seem like they’ll stick to the plan.”
They were the heroes in the closest position to Seo Woo-jin’s team.
Kang Byung-gyu let out a hollow laugh upon seeing who they were.
“Of all people, them?”
Kim Tae-jin, Park Jin-han, Lim Tae-eun, and a few others close to them.
Most of them were the types Seo Woo-jin would grit his teeth over.
Kang Byung-gyu instantly understood what he meant.
“They might stir up some trouble, yeah.”
Park Min-seong nodded vigorously in agreement with Kang Byung-gyu.
‘Not that I’m particularly worried.’
No matter what nonsense they pulled, they couldn’t harm Seo Woo-jin.
“Still, better safe than sorry.”
No need to get dragged into a headache.
“Anyway, keep that in mind and take it slow.”
With that, Seo Woo-jin began moving with his team.
Their pace was noticeably slower than the other teams.
How long had they been walking?
Kang Byung-gyu, who had been leading using his ‘Search’ skill, suddenly glanced back.
“But Woo-jin, you’ve been training with Da-hye a lot lately. What’s up with you two?”
Seo Woo-jin smirked at the question.
It was thanks to him that everyone had made remarkable progress.
So seeing him train separately with Kim Da-hye had sparked both envy and curiosity.
“It’s a secret.”
Seo Woo-jin grinned mischievously, making Kang Byung-gyu scowl.
“What kind of secret between friends? Come on, what is it?”
“I’m curious too.”
“M-me too...”
Park Min-seong and Kim Woo-ram sided with Kang Byung-gyu.
Kim Woo-ram especially stared intently at Seo Woo-jin.
As if recalling the brief time he’d trained under him.
“Can I tell them?”
Seo Woo-jin asked Kim Da-hye.
She nodded slightly, as if it didn’t matter.
“Sure.”
Kim Da-hye had already told Lee Ji-ah, Gye Soo-ji, and Goo Dong-hwan about her training.
No big deal if more people knew.
It hadn’t been a secret to begin with.
With her permission, Seo Woo-jin explained nonchalantly.
What goal Kim Da-hye had.
And what kind of training she’d been doing to achieve it.
The team’s gazes toward Kim Da-hye shifted.
“You...”
Kang Byung-gyu looked moved beyond mere admiration.
“Impressive.”
Perhaps the non-combat heroes like Kang Byung-gyu best understood the soldiers’ plight.
Of course, their power was incomparable to soldiers’.
But compared to combat-class heroes, they were far too weak.
If the Great War broke out?
They always harbored worries deep down that they might die without putting up much resistance.
So Kim Da-hye’s concern for the soldiers resonated deeply.
“Right? Isn’t she great?”
Seo Woo-jin, looking even happier for some reason, patted Kim Da-hye’s head.
“Yeah...”
Kim Woo-ram nodded glumly.
He and Kim Da-hye were both C-rank.
But the scale of their aspirations was worlds apart.
He had been scrambling just to catch up to others, while she strived to protect lives without taking any lightly.
Kim Woo-ram suddenly felt ashamed of himself.
“Don’t overthink it.”
Was it because Seo Woo-jin guessed his feelings?
He flicked Kim Woo-ram’s forehead and continued.
“Just focus on what you can do right now. Da-hye’s ambitions are amazing, sure, but that doesn’t make you lacking.”
Kim Woo-ram still wasn’t pulling his full weight.
He’d grown tremendously compared to before, but he was still short.
Now wasn’t the time to look after others like Kim Da-hye—he needed to prioritize his own growth.
If he wanted to survive the Great War and return home safely.
“You and Da-hye operate in different realms anyway. So just hone your own abilities.”
Kim Woo-ram growing strong enough to kill even one more monster or demonic beast would save soldiers’ lives.
“Got it.”
Kim Woo-ram pressed his lips together and nodded.
“You all too. Focus solely on growth and honing your skills for now. We’ll worry about others later, together.”
“Gotcha, you punk.”
Kang Byung-gyu burst into hearty laughter at Seo Woo-jin’s words.
His casual tone lifted the slightly heavy mood.
“Have you leveled up while I was gone?”
“A bit.”
“How much?”
When Seo Woo-jin asked, Kim Da-hye stared blankly into space for a moment.
Probably checking her status window.
“3 levels.”
“...That’s a lot.”
Seo Woo-jin had been away for barely five days.
He knew well that past level 50, the experience needed per level skyrocketed, so he couldn’t help but be surprised.
“Da-hye was seriously racking up kills.”
“If we’re just counting kills, she’s probably number one among all the heroes.”
Seo Woo-jin’s eyes widened at Kang Byung-gyu and Park Min-seong’s words.
“What about heroes with AoE skills or mass destruction abilities?”
The top one was S-rank ‘Super Pyromancer’ Kim Tae-jin.
Even among his allies, A-rank ‘Elementalist’ Jin Tae-seong was formidable in that area.
And Kim Da-hye was number one?
“It was insane. I thought I was watching a war movie. Not fantasy war—modern warfare.”
Tomahawks streaked across the sky to bomb the rear, while Nine Dragon Volley Cannons spewed fire nonstop.
Against Ancient Orcs, whose individual power was vastly inferior to heroes’, they had no way to block her attacks.
“Thanks to that, it was a massacre. At least a thousand Ancient Orcs died to Da-hye’s skills alone.”
Seo Woo-jin let out an involuntary hollow laugh.
“A thousand...”
That was like wiping out a fifth of the total force single-handedly.
There was probably some exaggeration, but it spoke to Kim Da-hye’s incredible performance.
“So mob hunting is the way, huh?”
Hunting a single strong foe was fine, but for pure level grinding, mob hunting reigned supreme.
‘Should I rethink the growth plan?’
Seo Woo-jin had planned to max out Kim Da-hye’s levels using the ‘Summon Stone’.
But if this method was faster, no reason to stick to the old way.
‘The issue is finding hordes of monsters on this scale...’
A few locations flashed through Seo Woo-jin’s mind.
‘Table it for now. I’ll test it properly after this mission.’
If he combined it right, he could do both bus training and mob hunting.
The result would be explosive leveling.
Seo Woo-jin planned to grow not just Kim Da-hye, but all his comrades together.
“Alright. Plenty of them left, so let’s all aim for at least 5 more levels this time.”
At least twenty thousand, up to thirty thousand.
Hunting them should net at least 5 levels.
“You make it sound easy. It’s not like we’re the only ones hunting.”
Kang Byung-gyu looked a bit worried.
Heroes desperate for even one more level were swarming.
Could they compete and achieve that much level-up...?
Seo Woo-jin shrugged at Kang Byung-gyu’s uncertain expression.
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
This team was still lacking compared to others.
Lower ranks, disadvantageous classes.
Their levels were a bit ahead, but not overwhelmingly so.
But this team had Seo Woo-jin.
A level incomparably higher than others, Guardian-tier prowess.
And a unique ‘Demon King’ class of ‘Immeasurable’ rank.
Seo Woo-jin was confident.
“Just trust me. We’ll be the team that grows the most in this operation.”
Kim Da-hye nodded slightly, watching Seo Woo-jin’s confident expression.