Chapter 124: How a Veteran Wins a Festival (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 124: How a Veteran Wins a Festival (1)
Only after 'Dark-Soul Unity' wore off did his vision return.
Naturally, no one was standing in front of Jinhyuk.
Tianqiao, reduced to a heap of rags, had drawn his last breath long ago.
Throb! Throb! Throb!
Jinhyuk frowned slightly at the pain radiating through his entire body.
‘As expected, using up to the eighth form is still too much.’
Thinking that this was the last raid leader, he had gone out of his way to use a high-level sword form.
The power itself was absurd, but it was a realm far too advanced for his current level and proficiency.
This was probably why people said hardware was just as important as software.
No matter how excellent the internal system was, if the external body was weak, efficiency would plummet.
‘The muscle aches are going to be brutal. I definitely need to recover with my heart method before going to sleep.’
It was just as Jinhyuk was pulling himself together.
[You have acquired the skill 'Heavenly Net (BB)'!]
[Heavenly Net]
Description: Meaning 'the net of heaven and earth,' it refers to an inescapable dragnet. Heavenly Net displays the location of a designated target up to 10km away. It integrates the target's future path and potential variables to predict the optimal route.
However, the efficiency of this skill increases the more allies you have with you.
[The copied ability has been saved in the 'Memory of the World'.]
A status window appeared, announcing the successful completion of the copying conditions.
Heavenly Net.
He had acquired a skill that would be highly useful for both pursuit and tailing.
‘It's a bit of a shame I couldn't get Li Keqiang's ability as well, but I've milked them for enough already.’
Since Alice had gone after him, not even a corpse would be left, so he had no choice but to give up on that.
Jinhyuk brushed the dust off his clothes.
Since he had sent Silvia to join Teslon, there shouldn't be any major issues...
As long as the remaining Rangers utilized the familiar forest terrain, they would have no trouble hunting down the remnants of the Zhonghua Guild.
Indeed. No matter what anyone said, this was the land of the elves.
With all the raid leaders defeated at this point, there would be no variables left.
With this, the battle was over.
* * *
Shanghai, China.
Here, at one of the Zhonghua Guild's branches, an emergency had been declared due to a sudden, unexpected turn of events.
There was only one reason for the summons.
The raid team sent to the 6th floor's Elf Forest had been completely wiped out.
In a heavily depressed atmosphere, about a dozen men and women sat around a table, holding a meeting.
“The raid team, consisting of three S-ranks and five hundred members, has been... wiped out. A few surviving scouts are sending back reports, but... it is almost certainly true.”
A man said, fanning himself with his hand.
Even though the air conditioner was set to a very low temperature, the heat rising from his body was likely due to the sheer pressure of the situation.
“Even 1st-class Rangers only have mana levels under 5,000. An A-rank should have been more than enough. So how on earth did they manage to defeat three of our raid leaders?”
This time, a woman with short hair raised an eyebrow.
She was also one of the Zhonghua Guild's core S-rank rankers, but she simply could not accept that players of her caliber had been defeated by mere elves.
“According to the scouts, it was the work of a guy named Kang Jinhyuk. You know, that ranker whose stock has been skyrocketing in Korea lately.”
“Ha... That guy was the problem again.”
“Damn it. Yeah, I saw the videos of him too. He's an absolute monster. No wonder they failed.”
“Why does that damn bastard keep raining on our parade? Our people must have made it clear they were with the Zhonghua Guild, but he still attacked?”
At the mention of Kang Jinhyuk, irritated voices erupted simultaneously from all sides.
Their accumulated complaints, grievances, and jealousy swirled together in one place.
Right then.
“...Tell me what cards we have to play. What is there that we can do?”
The man sitting at the center of the table spoke.
He had a sharp impression.
And a robust build standing at 190 centimeters tall.
He was none other than Liaoyu, the second-in-command and vice guildmaster of the Zhonghua Guild.
The man who had given the initial briefing answered immediately.
“Tianqiao, Li Keqiang, and Xuehua had measured levels in the low 10,000s. They were strong, but they were only upper-middle tier rankers within our guild.”
S-rank didn't mean they were all the same.
Since a standardized ranking system had not yet been established, anyone with a combined score of 10,000 or more in mana and other stats was lumped together as S-rank.
In that case...
“We just need to send rankers of a higher caliber. Those with measured levels of 20,000 or more. In other words, the raid leaders of our main raid team or the assassins of our executive branch. No matter how arrogant that Korean ranker is, they will easily suppress him.”
The Zhonghua Guild was not considered one of the world's top seven guilds for nothing.
It was only possible because they possessed an incredible pool of talent.
They had sent a raid team that was just strong enough to suppress the elves, but now that things had turned out like this, they simply had to reorganize and send true powerhouses.
Fortunately, there was still time before the date set by Namgung Cheon.
“Are you saying that will be enough to resolve this?”
Liaoyu asked again.
“Yes. Conveniently, the 2nd Raid Team has just returned from a labyrinth raid. If you give the word, we can bring you Kang Jinhyuk's head immediately.”
“The 2nd Raid Team...”
Liaoyu's eyes narrowed.
Indeed, the 2nd Raid Team, renowned for having the best teamwork within the Zhonghua Guild, seemed to have a high chance of success.
Unlike the hastily assembled team sent to strike the Elf Forest, this was a flagship raid team built with utmost care.
‘No matter how high he flies, he won't be able to do anything this time.’
Yes.
Even if their opponent was comparable to a boss monster, it wouldn't matter.
This time, they would definitely capture him and wash away this humiliation.
However.
“Tsk, tsk. A bunch of fools gathered together, spouting nothing but nonsense.”
A short clicking of a tongue interrupted them.
Not from the table in the center of the conference room, but from a short distance away.
From the shadowed darkness, a man slowly revealed himself.
Everyone seated flinched and trembled slightly.
Liaoyu also exuded a formidable aura, but it was incomparable to the man who had just appeared.
His internal energy was on a completely different level.
Simply by opening his mouth, he overwhelmed the entire conference room.
“Lord... Moyong Su...”
The sect leader of the Moyong Clan, which belonged to the [Murim].
One of the members of the Five Great Clans, who had accumulated 'martial arts' and 'chivalry' over countless generations, had now appeared outside the Tower.
“Indeed. I originally had no intention of interfering in your affairs, but I feared the same disaster would repeat itself if I left you to your own devices.”
A sharp rebuke.
Liaoyu immediately understood the meaning behind it.
“Does that mean... the 2nd Raid Team is not enough?”
“Indeed.”
“...”
Even though Moyong Su did not explain why they were insufficient, Liaoyu calmly accepted the reality.
Because he knew that while others might be wrong, Moyong Su never was.
But not everyone felt the same way.
“N-No way...?”
“You can't be serious, can you?”
“Our opponent is just one person! It's already absurd enough that the entire 2nd Raid Team of the Zhonghua Guild is going... and you're saying that's not enough?”
Was their pride wounded?
The wounded wild dogs barked even louder.
Moyong Su snorted and turned his head.
“I believe there was a recording of the opponent earlier. Show it. Unless your eyes are useless, you will see and understand.”
“U-Understood.”
[The video is playing.]
Immediately, the video of Tianqiao and Jinhyuk's fight began to play.
Since it was filmed from a considerable distance, the quality wasn't very clear.
Nevertheless, they could clearly see the Blood Demon Formation and Jinhyuk dismantling it.
“...He's decent, but that was largely due to our players' mistakes.”
“The Blood Demon Formation is more of an overly domineering and crude formation rather than a sophisticated one.”
“Tch. Even I could do that much...”
Evaluations driven by emotion rather than objectivity followed.
‘As expected, they cannot see it with their level of skill.’
A strange light flickered in Moyong Su's eyes.
He is strong.
Overwhelmingly so.
It was interesting that he used the Soul-Chasing Sword, which was rare even in the Murim.
But what caught Moyong Su's attention even more was the level of mastery the opponent displayed with the Soul-Chasing Sword.
‘To think there is someone who can use up to the eighth form of the Soul-Chasing Sword.’
The precision, the power, and even his understanding of the sword.
Even as he watched, he had to suppress the urge to gasp in admiration multiple times.
Furthermore, what if what Kang Jinhyuk had shown wasn't his everything?
What if he could use the ninth form of the Soul-Chasing Sword... no, even higher forms?
Moyong Su felt a cold sweat break out on his back.
‘Even I might struggle against him.’
Perhaps...
Perhaps he had chosen the wrong rising star to carry the name of the Murim outside the Tower.
Perhaps he should have chosen that man instead of Namgung Cheon.
And perhaps the day would come when he would regret making the wrong choice.
Moyong Su began to truly realize this.
“I will speak to Namgung Cheon myself. You all step back from this matter. I'm sorry, but he is not an opponent you can handle.”
* * *
Time flew by in a blur of recovering bodies and rebuilding the village.
Before he knew it, about three weeks had passed since Jinhyuk arrived in the Elf Forest.
Although the festival had been postponed, Jinhyuk had spent his time quite productively.
[Lv10 'Glacial Shaping' is activated!]
[3-Star Barrier 'Seven-Fold Wall' is activated!]
A clean link between skill and barrier.
The process of blocking the opponent's expected escape route with the barrier while suppressing them with Glacial Shaping was as smooth as flowing water.
“Kyaaaah! My noble legs and wings...! It's cold! I feel like I'm really going to freeze to death!”
Alice, frozen up to her thighs, screamed.
In exchange for helping him practice his skills, she had been promised carbonara spaghetti and fine wine.
But in return, Alice had to experience an extreme daily part-time job.
Hmm.
By the way, she's being quite noisy. Should I freeze her mouth too?
“Cold mosquito! Ice mosquito!”
Goguma, who was running around nearby, shouted as if caught up in the excitement.
With his round yellow eyes wide, Goguma looked perfectly happy even with a fist-sized chunk of ice dangling from his tail.
‘I've gotten quite used to this now.’
Aside from occasionally helping the elves, he spent the entire day immersed in practice.
To find a more effective combination.
To create a more efficient setup.
He delved into it like a madman.
‘Thanks to that, I've discovered quite a few interesting things.’
The corners of Jinhyuk's mouth curled upward.
While other players would spend their ninety days casually hunting or obtaining useless items,
‘I am different.’
He could feel each day passing productively.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Because of this, he was filled with anticipation.
What kind of ripple effect this current gap would create later.
How many better rewards and fortuitous encounters it would lead to in the future.
All of it.
It was just as Jinhyuk was letting his imagination run wild.
“Ugh... Hey... Do you happen to have a campfire or something?”
Alice, her face pale blue, approached him.
“Why? Are you cold?”
“What? Ha! As if! To a noble of the night, this is merely a cool breeze! I'm just... worried this reptile that looks like a roasted sweet potato might catch a cold. That's all.”
“Hmm.”
For someone saying that, she had the face of a private undergoing winter training...
Jinhyuk stared at Alice with a skeptical look.
Alice flinched slightly, but quickly averted her gaze.
If he teased her any further and hurt her pride, there was no telling what kind of disaster might unfold.
“I'll believe you for now. Just as you said, our Goguma shouldn't catch a cold.”
Whoosh!
As he activated 'Fire Element', the air instantly warmed up.
“Phew...”
Only then did Alice warm herself, looking as if she had just been saved.
And then.
“...What is that?”
Something caught the eye of Jinhyuk, who had settled down comfortably.