Chapter 103
Chapter 103
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 103
Chapter Title: To the Holy Kingdom
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(1): Deepest Underground of the Holy Kingdom
Grade: Myth
Rank: EX+
Description: You, who have obtained a crown of unknown origin. The opportunity to inherit the power of a great being has been granted to you. Follow where the crown leads.
Goal: Investigate the Holy Kingdom's underground secrets (Not Achieved)
Success: Hidden Job Quest (2) generated, ???
Failure: Hidden Job Quest permanently deleted, Item: Mysterious Crown [Common-S] destroyed
I entered the Abyss and checked the quest I'd received before. It was the kind of difficulty that screamed "go die," the sort where even my misfortune wouldn't be needed.
This had to be pretty much the highest difficulty the system could dish out. Origin-level quests were unknown things not even mentioned in ancient texts.
I pulled a beautiful black crown from my inventory. It had no abilities whatsoever—just a pure quest item.
'That guy said he had this crown stolen from him midway through the quest.'
He hadn't said by whom. He'd even boasted that it was absolutely necessary for the quest to preserve his pride. But now that I knew most of his stories were exaggerated and inflated, his words meant nothing anymore.
Besides, the legit quest was different from the shady one he'd gotten. Whatever lay at the end of this path was something I couldn't help but anticipate.
I stowed the crown back in my inventory and pulled out another item. Not exactly an item, but the most valuable thing I'd gained from this quest.
I unrolled the cylindrical letter, and it roughly said, "I, Cardinal Bartroy, vouch for and recommend the bearer of this document."
With this, Stage-1 was a free pass.
There was something called complete conquest. Think of it as the perks the Abyss grants when you've cleared an entire massive stage without leaving a single secret untouched.
Stage-0 and Stage-1 were stages that had achieved complete conquest after long ages. They were safe zones painstakingly carved out by players and resident former players throwing away their lives.
That didn't mean no monsters appeared or no new mysteries were born. But at least the system wouldn't spawn sudden disaster-class monsters or cause problems.
It meant the apocalypse the residents feared most would never happen. This realm would remain eternal, and civilization would keep advancing.
So most residents chose to live here. Naturally, the quests given to players were assigned by the system under decisions from the kingdom alliances and city unions.
That's why they weren't too hard. Just clear one quest and prove your identity, and you're done, right?
The downside was no rewards. But safety was more important, wasn't it? Plus, there were plenty of hidden residents with authority to grant jobs and hidden stages, so it was also called a beginner zone.
I stopped by the guard captain's house, spent the day catching up with them, and prepared to leave the next morning.
"You're leaving?"
"Yes. Thank you for the hospitality yesterday."
"Hahaha! It was the least we could do after you took care of our village's threat."
Bryemun laughed heartily and extended his hand. I shook it with a smile. I'd been doing a lot of handshakes lately.
It must mean the bonds I'd forged were growing thicker and more numerous. Smiling, I climbed aboard the merchant caravan wagon he'd prepared.
"I'll visit again once my urgent business is done."
"I'll be waiting. Nikki will be too."
I left the primordial city behind.
There are a few ways to move to the next stage. The first, easiest, and fastest is using a stage forced clear ticket, which appears as a hidden stage reward with insanely low odds.
You can jump straight to the next stage without any effort or trials. And you still get all the rewards.
Of course, that's practically impossible, so set it aside. The most standard way is to clear the small stages within a massive one, one by one. For example, clearing the numerous cities in Stage-0 one at a time to advance.
You don't need to clear them all, though. If you did, we wouldn't be at Stage-60; it'd still be around Stage-10.
You just need to meet the minimum clear count through the stages players choose. Plus, you have to complete the quests issued by the massive stage to qualify for the next one.
Complete conquest zones like Stage-0 and 1 don't have that, but starting from Stage-2, even I had to go through it.
The last method is finding a hidden stage and solving everything in one go. It requires luck, but it's more common than the first.
The problem is the high difficulty—enough to kill five out of ten who try.
Anyway, my point is this: even in complete conquest zones, advancing to the next stage means dealing with this hassle of travel.
Apparently, clearing Stage-5 unlocks a system to return to cleared stages. Until then, we're stuck trekking like this.
And originally, we'd have to walk. Being able to ride with the caravan thanks to Bryemun's kindness was lucky enough.
"...And so, our kingdom pursues holiness but doesn't force any religion. It's a beautiful place. The people live warm and well-fed, so they can even take interest in faith. It's truly wonderful. I hope the player becomes one of our citizens. See those knights? Even among residents, those who chose the player path adventure for the kingdom. Kyaa~! So cool!"
This merchant was really loud. He traveled cities buying goods to sell in the Holy Kingdom, and his mouth was a machine gun.
As he said, there were a few knights from other worlds like Earth players, but most were resident players.
There wasn't much difference, really. They were just divided by whether their home was the Abyss or not. Resident players were a bit tighter-knit, but that was it.
'Earthlings too, huh.'
Well, the Holy Kingdom was the only place issuing IDs to Earth players.
There was a concept called cohorts. Worlds connected together when the Abyss linked to other dimensions.
They were assigned different regions, like how Korea could only enter certain cities.
But that was limited to Stage-1. Push further, and you'd meet them all.
'I know of Inmurin, Babylon, Harphoneina, at least.'
Dimensions from the same cohort as Earth. Inmurin was a martial world, Babylon a fantasy realm, Harphoneina a beastkin world.
Lost in such idle thoughts, days passed.
Traveling without chatting with anyone but the merchant for a long while, an incident finally happened.
Don't get me wrong. I wasn't bored and hoping for trouble.
"Whoa~. Actual bandits?"
A good hundred or so bandits swarmed the resting caravan in an instant, like they'd been waiting.
"Holy Knights! Draw swords!"
The strongest-looking knight ordered, and they drew their blades. I watched quietly to gauge their skill...
'Not bad, actually.'
Well, they had real advancement experience. They wouldn't lose to ragtag bandits made of stragglers.
At least C-rank hunter level. Like players who'd reached Stage-5. Their leader could be B- on a good day, C+ at worst.
'On par with me now.'
Yeah, I'd reached that realm. On the cusp of B. Raise my Infinite stat more to hit E-rank, and I'd jump straight to B.
With Solar Divine Arts and my authorities, I could even match B- evenly.
Still, they'd know better than to attack if they foresaw this. They had some trick up their sleeve?
Bandits weren't all idiots. Attacking a caravan guarded by seven Holy Kingdom knights meant they had an edge.
And sure enough.
"Kiyoyoyoyo!!!"
"The boss is here! Boss! Boss!!"
"Party time! Party! Party!! Slaughter party!"
The bandits outnumbered them. Quantity could beat quality. The battle, slightly favoring the knights, flipped instantly.
The bandit boss charged from afar, swinging a massive axe at the knight leader. His body was huge, rivaling my legion form.
But his strength wasn't all.
Smolder, smolder, smolder.
Black aura rising from his body. Demonic energy, without a doubt!
"You dare wield something impure!"
"Impure? Only your power is pure, and ours is impure? This is a blessing! A power to lead me higher!!! Kahaha! Meeting Him made it clear. I'm chosen!"
The merchant's face turned ashen, companions trembling in fear.
Not just a bandit with demonic energy. This guy was a full demon.
"Are demons usually this common?"
"N-No way! The kingdom and cities are complete conquest zones—they shun demons entering! How is one here?!"
Only one thought came to mind. Connected somehow to that Deriax cultist I killed?
"Guess I have to step in."
The knights were getting pushed back. Losing their biggest asset made it inevitable. Even without demonization, the demon was overpowering the leader.
I stood up. A pair of wings unfurled.
Four holy wings and two of demonic energy spread wide. I kicked off the wagon, soaring into the sky toward the bandit boss.
"What!!"
Caught off-guard by the sudden strike, he sensed the power in my fist and blocked. But that was my aim.
The knight leader slashed in that split-second opening. Distracted by me, the boss paid dearly—a massive gash on his back loosened his guard. I slammed my Solar true qi-infused fist into him.
"What? Total noob at fighting?"
Easy. Hard to believe he was a demon like that Namui bastard. Well, that one preferred descending and fighting too—birds of a feather?
Anyway, the situation wrapped up fast. The demon was knocked out. The bandit minions were exterminated.