Chapter 169: The Three Despairs (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 169: The Three Despairs (3)
The person who appeared before Xiaoting's eyes was none other than Jinhyuk.
"Kang... Jinhyuk."
Xiaoting's voice trembled faintly.
How could she not know him?
He was the man who was currently the center of attention in China—no, the entire world.
But Xiaoting wasn't this shocked simply because Jinhyuk was an incredible player.
Even the leadership of the Zhonghua Guild fled... yet he's helping us?
It made no sense.
How was she supposed to interpret this? A player from another country, with absolutely no shared interests, saving people who were practically enemies?
"Just why..."
Questions piled up one after another, but in truth, the reason didn't matter.
What mattered right now was...
...simply that someone had appeared to save them from this desperate situation.
"K-Kang Jinhyuk."
"It's really him. It's really him!"
"How did a Korean ranker get here?"
"Are we... going to live?"
The onlookers swallowed hard.
When China's elites were torn apart helplessly, they had no choice but to give up on life.
Because the players who were the very face of China, always triumphing proudly on TV, had died without even putting up a proper fight.
Therefore, they were certain they would meet the same fate.
But.
Right then.
An anomaly occurred.
* * *
"Fortunately, we didn't arrive too late."
Teresa let out a soft sigh.
The light descending from the 'Blessing of the Stars' enveloped the wounded. Slowly but surely, their injuries began to heal.
Flesh knit back together, and bones snapped back into place.
Once the immediate danger passed, Teresa glanced at the Black Scorpion.
Although its movements had been temporarily bound using two swords, it hadn't suffered a fatal blow.
Even now, it was struggling to break free from the ice pillar.
This is dangerous...
Judging by the speed at which the ice fragments were cracking, they didn't have much time left.
A few minutes at most.
After that, the first despair would run rampant once again.
Furthermore,
Teresa's gaze shifted toward the dark clouds.
The Black Scorpion wasn't the only thing crossing over from the thunderstorm.
Rumble!
The distortion of space caused cracks to form in the sky.
It was truly overwhelming magic power.
If even the third despair manifested, she couldn't even begin to imagine what would happen.
"Their power... must have been suppressed in the tomb."
"Because if they had fully unleashed their power, the entire tomb would have been at risk of collapsing."
But.
There was no need for them to hold back anymore.
For those creatures, this was no longer about defense, but retribution.
Watching Jinhyuk speak so calmly, Teresa spoke up hesitantly.
Her voice trembled slightly.
"Aren't you afraid, Jinhyuk?"
He had always won, but that path was like walking a tightrope.
A single mistake or moment of carelessness could cost him his life.
Even so,
how on earth
could he remain so completely unbothered?
Instead of answering, Jinhyuk offered a faint smile.
Of course she's worried.
Even monkeys fall from trees. No matter how high-flying a prospect was, there was no rule saying they couldn't make a mistake.
However,
to a true veteran...
...to a player who had seen the summit of the tower that no one else could reach,
a single mistake was out of the question.
"Please take care of the people behind us. I'm sure you can protect them from any collateral damage from the battle, Teresa."
Having finished speaking, Jinhyuk pulled two swords from his subspace inventory.
[Unique Ability 'Grave of Swords' has been activated!]
Black flames erupted from the Fang held in his left hand.
[Unique Ability 'Mandala' blooms.]
A golden mist shimmered from the Twin Dragon Sword in his right hand.
At that moment,
"Kieeeek!"
the Black Scorpion trapped in the ice was freed.
Its black carapace and the red eyes flashing within stood out starkly.
Judging by the thick bloodlust radiating from it, it was clearly furious.
Boom!
Closing the distance in an instant despite its massive size, the Black Scorpion aimed its tail at Jinhyuk.
An attack that countless players had failed to react to.
Moving as if defying mass, the venomous stinger lunged from his blind spot.
"Watch out!"
"It's dangerous!"
Teresa and Xiaoting screamed instinctively.
But
there was one thing everyone was misunderstanding.
It was undeniable that the despair was powerful. That was an absolute fact, but...
...simply put,
there was always a bigger fish.
Slash!
Thud!
His pair of swords moved with effortless grace.
No, saying they moved was merely an assumption based on the result.
Jinhyuk's hands seemed to tremble ever so slightly, and immediately after, black blood sprayed from both sides of the Black Scorpion's carapace.
"Kieee..."
There was no cry of pain, nor any thrashing in a fit of rage over being wounded.
The Black Scorpion's body swayed heavily.
And that was it.
The Black Scorpion crashed through a glass window, collapsing into a building.
Crash!
Falling debris completely buried its body.
[The first despair has been annihilated.]
A stunned silence fell over the area for several seconds.
Everyone watching froze in place.
"H-He defeated it in a single blow?"
Xiaoting stammered in sheer shock, nearly biting her tongue.
She knew well enough that he was strong.
But she never imagined he would be this powerful.
She couldn't even begin to fathom how high his level was, or what kind of extraordinary abilities he possessed.
Teresa was equally bewildered.
She thought she knew Jinhyuk better than anyone else here, but...
...this was simply too surreal.
The more I see him, the more amazing he is.
Suddenly, she recalled when she first met Jinhyuk.
The memory of him telling her to trust him no matter what happened.
I was worrying needlessly once again.
A gentle smile played on Teresa's lips.
At the same time, she was reassured once more.
That the player she could trust and follow, no matter how despairing the enemy...
...the companion who would stand firm in any situation,
was the man standing right before her eyes.
* * *
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have acquired the title 'Challenger of Despair'.]
[Challenger of Despair]
Acquisition Difficulty: Unmeasurable
Description: All stats increase by 10% when facing the Three Despairs. However, this title's effect will disappear once all Three Despairs are defeated.
A whopping four levels.
Considering he was in his 50s, this was an unrealistically massive chunk of experience points.
This is incredibly lucrative.
Jinhyuk nodded in satisfaction.
It was true that various restrictions had been lifted as the despairs manifested, but that came with a price.
As they grew stronger, they also developed weaknesses.
Equivalent Exchange.
It was impossible to only gain benefits in the Tower of Trials. To obtain one thing, you had to pay a corresponding price.
In this case, it meant the creation of a fatal weak point.
Exactly 2.7 centimeters to the left of the heart, and 3.3 centimeters below the lungs.
These two spots were the Black Scorpion's weaknesses.
However, because the attack had to land with precise force and angle without a single millimeter of error to be effective, knowing about it didn't make it easy to pull off.
Except for one person.
Me, of course.
Right then,
multiple status windows appeared before Jinhyuk.
[Multiple factions are highly excited.]
[The great faction 'Empire' pays tribute to your heroism.]
[Your contribution points have increased by 10,000.]
[The Spirit Realm awards you 3,000 contribution points.]
[Favorability has increased significantly.]
Yes.
This was exactly it.
The reason he had crossed over to China and walked this dangerous tightrope was not just to level up, but also to draw the attention of the factions.
After all, the most crucial aspect of the 'Faction Selection Battle' was gathering as many contribution points as possible.
And to factions that valued justification and honor, a 'hero' was an irresistible temptation.
Titles are hit-or-miss, but luck is on my side this time.
The second despair aside, the third one, the 'black sphere', was quite tricky to deal with.
Its speed and destructive power were immense.
If he underestimated it, his entire body would be riddled with holes.
However, thanks to the title, he could design the battle to be much more advantageous.
Now, there was just one more thing to take care of.
Jinhyuk's gaze drifted toward Teresa.
To achieve his purpose in bringing Teresa here instead of Alice or Cheon Yu-seong...
...there was still one more task to complete.
I need to set the stage perfectly...
But at the very moment Jinhyuk was lost in thought,
Crash!
Boom!
green vines burst from the ground with a deafening roar.
Cars struck head-on by the vines were launched high into the air.
The second despair had made its entrance.
...Talk about impatient.
Jinhyuk quickly threw himself back to create distance.
Massive craters opened up repeatedly wherever his feet touched.
Rumble!
A green wave surged like a tempest, and a human slipped through it with ease.
Thus, a tense tug-of-war ensued, with him constantly on the verge of being caught but never quite within reach.
As time dragged on, it was the giant man-eating plant that grew impatient.
"Kieeeek!"
A mouth lined with hundreds of teeth emerged from the collapsed ground.
[The second despair 'Yantaman' activates 'Vibration Detection'!]
This was exactly why this creature was so troublesome.
Not only could it pinpoint his location by sensing the slightest tremors in the ground, but its ability to send shockwaves toward its target made its offense and defense practically flawless.
Now the real game begins.
Jinhyuk's movements grew even faster.
As the speed and accuracy of the vines grew fiercer, his movement patterns had to adapt and become more erratic.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The sharply pointed tips of the vines pierced the ground like bullets.
Jinhyuk leaped from lamppost to lamppost, gradually luring his opponent outward.
Whoosh!
Tiny, fingernail-sized embers created through the 'Fire Element' flickered faintly atop the lampposts.
Just a bit more.
Just a little bit more...
At the point where the buildings met, Jinhyuk used 'Sword Demon Emperor Stepss' to make a massive leap.
He cleared a distance of over 15 meters in a single bound.
Right then,
a black sphere appeared right in front of Jinhyuk's nose.
He had finally reached the domain of the third despair.
Crackle!
The surface of the sphere rippled.
A spear of absolute speed, requiring no preparatory motion, was poised to thrust out at any second.
"Kieeeek!"
Behind him, the main body of the pursuing plant finally revealed itself.
Clods of earth and concrete debris rained down toward the ground.
Its massive body, stretching nearly 100 meters, boasted an overwhelming presence just by existing.
Front and back.
There was no longer anywhere to run.