Is This Thanks to the Virtue I've Built?
Is this the fruit of the virtue I've accumulated?
A pleased smile spread across Yujun's face. In that moment Hong Yeji and Ju Donghyeon were summoned to his side. This was the power of the System.
All party members have gathered.
Find a way to reach the Third Layer.
This time it was not an entrance he had to find, but a method. Yujun already knew that method.
"Long time no see."
"It's good to see you."
"Yes."
"But where are we?" Hong Yeji asked, eyes wide.
"A place called the Abyss."
"Th-the Abyss? You mean the Abyss I know?"
"Yes. It should be."
"Did you get an admission ticket to the Abyss?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Whoa. I heard it was dangerous and full of good things, so I kept wondering where it even was. I show up, and the question answers itself on the spot."
"Have you experienced the Abyss before?"
"In the game. I told you I played War of the Gods, right? I never managed to clear the Abyss, though."
"I see."
Of course. Aside from Yujun's own party, no one had ever cleared the Abyss through to the end.
"You invited us, so this has to be the Fourth Layer, yeah?"
"Yes. You know it well. That's correct."
"There aren't any other party members. You came all this way alone?"
Yujun nodded.
Hong Yeji laughed as if she couldn't believe it.
No way...
In War of the Gods, the Abyss was the sort of place the strongest players on a server would gather in numbers to challenge. And he had come alone? He had reached the Fourth Layer, no less, and he looked perfectly unharmed.
He really is ridiculously strong.
Hong Yeji had seen every kind of powerhouse the Continent had to offer. Even among them, the man before her stood in a class of his own.
Can he actually make it to the First Layer?
She had heard that a few of the highest rankers had entered the Abyss, only to fail before they ever reached the end.
"Yujun, there's something I should tell you," Ju Donghyeon said.
Yujun gave a small nod.
"I'm told Future Sight cannot be used."
"What? The System says so?"
"It says the ability is sealed in this place."
A skill you couldn't use, depending on the place. Future Sight was such a broken ability—had the System blocked it on purpose?
"I thought that might be the case. It's all right."
"I won't be of much use. Aside from Clairvoyance, I don't really have anything exceptional..."
"That alone is enough."
Yujun said it with a smile, and Ju Donghyeon looked relieved.
"So the first thing I'd like to ask of you is Clairvoyance. Would that be possible?"
"Yes. It is. Where should I look?"
"A point sixty kilometers to the northwest."
"One moment."
Ju Donghyeon activated Clairvoyance.
Clairvoyance
His eyes rolled sharply back. A minute later, he opened them.
"There's nothing."
"No large monster?"
"No. Brown, I think? Just a single flag, standing all by itself."
"Understood."
"W-wait a second."
Hong Yeji cut in.
"How do you know how to clear the Fourth Layer?"
"Hm?"
"Didn't you say you never played War of the Gods?"
"That's right."
"Then how...?"
"I bought the information."
"Ah."
Hong Yeji nodded. He had bought it; there was nothing more she could ask.
"Paranet."
At Yujun's call, Paranet drew near.
"Everyone, stay close."
"What are you going to do?"
"You'll see."
Paranet cast a spatial-movement spell. The coordinates were the place Ju Donghyeon had surveyed with Clairvoyance.
Space Movement
Fwaaash—!
Pure white light washed over the party.
"This... is this a teleport skill?"
"Yes."
"And this is the place from before? Sixty kilometers out?"
"Yes. That's right."
"At this point, all I can do is laugh."
"Why?"
"I've never seen a summon use a teleport skill. And such a long-range one, too."
"I got lucky."
"It's always luck with you!"
"That isn't the important part."
Yujun turned his head.
"Ju Donghyeon. I'll need you to use Clairvoyance three more times."
"Understood."
"You have enough mana?"
"Plenty."
"This time, please check a hundred kilometers to the east. We need to narrow the margin of error as much as possible, so I'd like you to survey the whole area around there."
"Yes. Leave it to me."
Because Yujun's request was specific, it took a little longer this time. There was no need to rush.
Meanwhile, Yujun set his hand on the great flag planted in the ground.
You have found the first flag.
Find the remaining three flags.
So this was the right way after all.
"Yujun. There's a monster."
"What does it look like?"
"From the look of it, a gorilla—but immense."
Then they would have to skip that place. Not because he feared the monster. Kill the creature there, and finding the flag would reset. The proper clear was to go first to the places where no monsters waited.
"Donghyeon. If you would."
Yujun asked him to look at another spot.
"Nothing there this time."
"Stay close."
Space Movement
Fwaaash—!
You have found the second flag.
Find the remaining two flags.
Finding the rest went just as smoothly. With nothing but teleportation magic and Clairvoyance, Yujun simply cleared what was, in a sense, the most finicky task on the Fourth Layer.
Hong Yeji let out a hollow laugh.
"This is going way too easily."
Clairvoyance and teleportation magic. A task that took days—at the long end, as much as a month—finished in less than an hour. He was glad he had called Ju Donghyeon.
Hong Yeji yawned, then spoke.
"There's nothing for me to do, you know? You still had a reason for calling me, right?"
"No."
"What?"
"No."
"Then why did you call me?"
"Well, to fill out the headcount, obviously..."
Hong Yeji's face fell, and Yujun hastily changed tack.
"That can't be it. It's because I think your judgment in a situation is exceptional."
"Right?"
"Yes."
Yujun and his party entered the Third Layer.
You have entered the Third Layer!
You obtain 50 Unallocated Points.
"Fifty Unallocated Points. And a Legendary title on top of that. These rewards are insane."
"Do both of us receive this?"
Hong Yeji and Ju Donghyeon were in awe.
"Yes. It will be the same each time we advance to the next layer."
Only then did they understand just how good a place Yujun had invited them into.
"Thank you. For calling us."
"I'm grateful as well."
"I called you because I needed to, that's all. If not, just give me a gift later. Not an equipment item."
"...I will."
On the Abyss's rewards alone, the two of them had gained an enormous foothold.
Yujun was pleased with the title reward as well. The Mythic title, Nothing Is Impossible. Its effect grew as the number of his Legendary-or-higher titles increased, and whatever their individual effects, the more Legendary titles he held, the better.
Shall I take a look?
Nothing Is Impossible (Mythic)
All stats increase by 2% for each Legendary-or-higher title possessed.
Currently increased by 22%.
The sight of it alone was reassuring. It was a pity his level had not risen, but a single title had become a greater strength than that.
"Are we really allowed to receive something like this...?"
Hong Yeji was overjoyed.
In truth, anyone could challenge the Abyss, and when the time came, every one of these rewards could be obtained. The problem was that no one knew when that time would be.
Not much farther now.
Once he cleared the Abyss through to the First Layer, he meant to meet Coordination head-on.
"I've never been to the Second Layer either. What are we supposed to do here? Do you know, Yujun?"
"It'll tell us soon enough."
He already knew, but explaining it was a bother.
Defeat the Giant Human-Faced Spider together with the others.
📍 Progress: 0/1
A human-faced spider: a spider monster wearing the face of a person. The Giant Human-Faced Spider was, as the name suggested, immense. Dozens of players—hundreds, even—were locked in a grueling battle against a beast so vast it seemed to blot out half the sky.
"Cut off all its legs! First we have to rob it of its mobility!"
"And how are we supposed to cut something that hard?"
"Poison smoke! Shields up, everyone!"
"Anyone got a drain-type skill? Those work the best on that thing!"
"And who would possess an ability that precious!"
The players were shouting over one another; the place was pandemonium.
A faint smile touched Yujun's lips.
"It's already started."
"Don't tell me this is a boss raid," Hong Yeji said.
Yujun shook his head.
"Close. But at this scale, it's nearer to a war."
"It really is..."
"We have to kill that thing to move on to the Second Layer, right?"
"Yes."
In that moment, Ju Donghyeon's face went pale.
"D-do we have to wade in there and fight? Us?"
"No."
"What?"
"Weren't we trying to reach the Second Layer?"
"We're not going to the Second Layer."
Yujun said it flatly.
Hong Yeji's mouth fell open.
"......Why?"
"We're going straight to the First Layer. To cut the time."
"Then we won't get the reward for entering the Second Layer, will we?"
"Reach the First Layer without passing through the Second, and the First Layer reward is maximized. That's what I'm after."
"How do you know that?"
"I paid for it."
"From whom?"
"You ask a great many questions."
"Huh?"
"Sometimes that curiosity turns to poison."
"......I'm sorry."
Yujun simply started walking, in the exact opposite direction from the Giant Human-Faced Spider.
"Where are you going?"
"To the First Layer."
"There was a separate path?"
"Follow quietly. I know the way."
Just as he had said, he walked a road he knew led to the First Layer. By the time the hundreds of players battling the giant spider had dwindled to specks in the distance, Yujun stopped.
He drew his mana up. A vast tide of it burst from his entire body, and he drove his sword down into the earth. His Magic stat stood at a figure well past a thousand, and in proportion to that, mana kept spilling free for a long while, running down the length of the blade.
He did nothing else. He only went on pouring the mana out.
Hong Yeji and Ju Donghyeon watched in blank bewilderment. When his strange conduct showed no sign of ending, Hong Yeji spoke.
"What are you doing?"
"Calling someone."
"Who?"
"A broker."
"......A broker?"
"I need to concentrate, so don't talk to me right now."
"Okay."
In truth, this was not how he had called a broker in War of the Gods.
Back then, I burned through several precious consumables.
He had no need of that now. The Magic stat he already possessed was simply that high.
What Yujun had done was not in vain. Before long, the broker showed itself. The ground cracked—crrk, crack—and the thing that bored up through the floor was a mole, through and through.
"A deal?"
It came out with that, no preamble at all.
Yujun nodded.
"You came knowing the cost of reaching the First Layer, I trust?"
"Of course."
"Three of you. The price goes up. You know that too?"
"I know."
"Six hundred million points, total. I'm short on time, so hand it over."
The broker mole hurried him.
"I'd like to be taken to the midpoint of the First Layer."
At Yujun's words, the broker's eyes went wide.
"The midpoint? This one's trying to eat for free. Even for me, the risk is too great. Can't do it."
"I'm not asking you to just take us."
Yujun opened his inventory and drew out a single item.
◈ Possesses a powerful toxicity.
He held the coral out to the broker.
"This is..."
"You know what it is."
"Didn't think anyone would be carrying something this rare.... Ah—right, you said you wanted the midpoint?"
"Yeah."
The broker's face split in a grin.
"Multicolored Coral? For that, I can stake my life."