Second Awakening Quest (1)

I returned to the hotel where I was staying, took a quick shower, and lay down on the bed.

Hotel life wasn't bad, but since cooking wasn't possible, home-cooked meals were out of the question.

Maybe I should use the money I have to find a place first?

Of course, I could have bought a nice house right away, but I had no intention of doing so.

I'd never been the type to care about the size of a house anyway.

Ever since we were kids, my sister and I had dreamed of moving down to the countryside with Grandfather, building a house, and raising a dog in the yard. To make that dream a reality, I needed to save money diligently.

But there was something I had to do first.

I haven't had the chance to check this properly since clearing the tenth floor.

On the tenth floor, I'd been too busy hunting. After the hunt, I'd been occupied with drawing cards. Once I left the tower, I'd been busy rescuing my uncle and dealing with the Devils Clan.

Only now did I finally have time to check it.

The unopened message window.

I thought it was just the skill card reward for being the first to clear the tenth floor, but apparently that wasn't all.

The moment I opened the unconfirmed message I hadn't checked yet—

"What the hell is this?!"

I was so shocked that I shot up from the bed without thinking.

"Second… Awakening?"

A second awakening? I'd never heard of such a thing.

Even SSS-rank hunters had no knowledge of it. If anyone had ever experienced it, there would have been rumors—knights or otherwise.

Unless it had been deliberately hidden, I had never once heard of anything like this.

"So that's why I was an apprentice priest! There was a rank above apprentice!"

Part of me wanted to accept the quest immediately, but the failure penalty gave me pause.

Failure: Death.

Simple, yet the harshest penalty imaginable.

It meant that failing the quest would literally kill me. And unlike the tower, there was obviously no strategy guide for this.

Once the quest began, abandoning it midway was also impossible.

There would be no "Let's just try it and run if it doesn't work." The question was whether the gains from attempting it outweighed the losses from giving up. I wouldn't know until I tried.

But…

One thing was certain—this was a unique opportunity that had come only to me.

I had no intention of settling for the status quo. Now that I knew my class wasn't a simple E-rank, I wanted to aim for the top if I could.

Up until now, I'd lived a miserable life, but someday I wanted to become someone the entire world would look up to and remember by name.

No—forget dreams or ambitions. More than anything…

If I achieve a second awakening, I might obtain a healing skill that could cure Grandfather.

Treating a patient with brain damage required at least an SS-rank healer or higher, and hiring someone like that would cost billions—money alone wouldn't be enough without connections.

Healer classes were already rare, and high-rank healers were even rarer.

I still don't know why I registered as E-rank, but based on my experiences so far, my class is definitely SSS-rank or above. If someone like me can acquire a healing skill, I should be able to cure Grandfather.

There were far more reasons to attempt it than to give up.

After calming his nerves for a while, Ahn Humin pressed the challenge button for the Second Awakening Quest.

In that instant, light enveloped his body, and his figure vanished from the room in the blink of an eye.

"Air raid!!"

"It's the Anarchy! The Anarchy are invading!!"

Ding-ding-ding-ding…!!

Along with the soldiers' shouts, bells rang out, and my eyes snapped open.

When I opened them, the first thing I saw was darkness—and the underside of a bunk bed I'd never seen before.

I wasn't alone in the room.

There ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠were two bunk beds on either side, and young men in their late teens to early twenties, all wearing similar white pajamas, were waking up and hurriedly climbing down from their beds.

"Wait, the Anarchy have already reached Oren?"

"Exactly!"

"If you have time to complain, hurry up and change. Unless you want to flee in your pajamas."

Fortunately, I could understand what they were saying.

It seemed some kind of automatic translation was at work. Even though this was clearly a foreign country and these were foreigners, they were speaking fluent Korean.

When the blond man who seemed to be the oldest urged his roommates along, I changed my clothes as well and asked,

"By the way, what are the Anarchy?"

"What? Are you still half-asleep? You don't know what the Anarchy are?"

"Leave him alone. He's from another country. It's possible he doesn't know. The Anarchy are the Giants' minions. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠They're creatures made from their blood and mud, human hunters. Their appearance means the giants imprisoned in Tartarus will soon awaken, and the Gigantomachia will begin again."

Giants? Tartarus? Gigantomachia?

The incomprehensible words only deepened my confusion, but there was no time left to satisfy my curiosity.

"Room 3! Have the apprentice priests finished preparing?"

"Yes!"

The elderly priest who had come to check on us informed us of the current situation.

"The holy knights and soldiers are currently buying time against the Anarchy inside the temple's inner sanctum. In the meantime, we must evacuate the children and civilians to a safe location. Those apprentice priests who will escort the children and civilians along with the evacuation party, follow me. Those who will stay behind with the holy knights and soldiers to hold off the Anarchy, proceed outside through this path."

The three roommates, excluding me, followed the elderly priest without hesitation. Then they turned to me.

"What are you doing? Aren't you coming?"

"We'll be late at this rate!"

They urged me to follow them. For a moment I hesitated, but then I made up my mind.

"Go ahead. I'll catch up later."

"Are you out of your mind?! You want to fight the Anarchy?"

"You'll die!"

They couldn't understand my choice, but if the quest's goal was to evacuate as many people as possible to safety…

This would actually save more lives.

If the inner sanctum fell and the Anarchy monsters pursued the evacuees, trying to stop them from the evacuation side would be like trying to hold back a flood with a single spoon.

At least if I used that spoon to plug a hole in the dam while it was still intact, it would be more effective.

Besides, who knew? That spoon might become the finger of the Dutch boy who prevented the dam from collapsing and saved the village.

"Understood. We'll be going then."

As the elderly priest and my roommates ran toward the evacuees, I turned and sprinted toward the inner sanctum instead.

The closer I got to the door leading to the inner sanctum, the louder and more chaotic the screams and the clash of weapons became.

That alone made it easy to imagine how fierce the battle outside must be.

Damn it… Should I turn back now?

Suppressing my shrinking courage, I threw the door open.

In that moment, the sight before me overwhelmed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me, and my mouth fell open involuntarily.

Kyaaaak!!

"Don't let them climb the walls! Pour rocks, oil—anything you have!!"

"Aaaargh!"

"My leg! My leg…!"

If hell manifested on earth, would it look like this?

The stench of blood assaulted my nose. Dark clouds covered the sky. Beneath them, the ground was filled with monsters.

The clash of weapons stung my ears, and the screams of monsters and people made my head spin.

A place where bloodlust prickled the skin, where simply drawing breath in the next moment felt like a blessing.

This was the inner sanctum battlefield.

Kyaa!

At that moment, an Anarchy that had infiltrated the inner sanctum spotted me nearby and lunged at my head.

Its jaws gaped wide, sharp fangs gleaming with blood…

"Night Crow!"

The activation word burst out, and the [Night Crow] launched from my fingertips spread its wings and shot forward like an arrow.

But the [Night Crow]'s appearance was strange.

It had grown at least twice as large as before—had it eaten something?

That was thanks to the second trait I had chosen for [Night Crow].

My current [Night Crow] was at level 21 (+3). The +3 came from the ring's effect.

The limit increase from Flock of Crows applied even to levels gained from items or other effects, so the simultaneous cast limit had increased by two.

Next was the effect of the second trait I had chosen, Great Crow.

Thanks to this trait, each individual crow's size and explosive power had increased tremendously.

BOOM!!

As if to prove it, a single [Night Crow] struck the Anarchy that had been targeting me, sending it crashing to the ground in a cloud of black smoke.

And that wasn't all.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! ……!

The remaining nine crows fell precisely where I directed them, triggering massive explosions.

Not only the Anarchy they hit directly, but those nearby were also damaged. A single skill activation had killed nearly thirty Anarchy—but…

It barely made a dent!

Like scooping a spoonful of water from a lake—exactly that kind of situation.

I need to clear out the ones that have already infiltrated first! If we're attacked from both sides, we're done for!

"Cradle of the Dead! Everyone, come out!"

I summoned every minion I could.

Black mist gathered my minions to this place… and as the mist cleared, Goblius curled his lips into a grin at the sight before him.

—Hoh~ It's been quite some time since I've seen a battlefield of this scale.

"Goblius. Can you take Goblex and Golvaba and lead the warriors and swordsmen to sweep away the monsters that have infiltrated the inner sanctum?"

—My lord need not worry. Simply give the order, and we shall become the blade that cuts down your enemies.

"Good. Then go and wipe them out."

—All goblin soldiers, follow me!

As Goblius charged forward, the warriors and swordsmen led by Goblex and Golvaba quickly followed behind him.

As expected of Goblius—

The moment he swung his sword on the battlefield, the Anarchy were rapidly cleared away.

Their sharp fangs, their hides tougher than steel yet more supple than rubber…

They ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠were simply torn apart and sliced to pieces by the sword wind that howled from the tip of Goblius's blade.

Golvaba and Goblex's performance was no less impressive.

Kieeeek!!

Golvaba let out a battle cry, raising his massive stone shield in front of him.

An Anarchy that had just been about to bite into the neck of a human it had slain turned its gaze toward Golvaba and charged at him instead, abandoning its prey.

In an instant, Golvaba was surrounded by Anarchy.

But it was useless.

Already boasting the strongest defense, Golvaba activated both Steel Body and Indomitable Physique…

The Anarchy's sharp fangs and claws couldn't even scratch his body.

While Golvaba drew the Anarchy's attention…

Slashslashslashslash!!

Goblex, who had charged in with his greatsword, butchered the Anarchy in an instant.

The sight of him swinging a sword larger than his own body like a windmill, tearing the Anarchy apart, was the very image of a berserker.

Good. I can leave the inner sanctum to them.

I quickly leaped up onto the ramparts.

EX-class, expelled from the guild without knowing.