Chapter 58
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: The Completely Burned One
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Crunch-! Crackle...
The pristine sky and solid ground beneath his feet cracking apart like that—it was a first even for Kang Seol. Peering into someone else's memories was a rare experience to begin with.
"Why... why!"
The gray knight bellowed in fury.
Like a candle burned to a stub on a cake for a child celebrating their birthday alone, she—stained gray—poured out her sorrow and regret.
"Kuuh..."
Even in a state where he could barely hold his own body steady, Kang Seol clung to Karuna.
In truth, it should have been Karuna holding onto him, but the Moonlight Knight wasn't in any condition to be called normal right now.
"I... I couldn't go."
Was it because he'd learned the gray knight had waited for the blue-eyed knight until her dying breath?
Mentally shattered, Karuna couldn't pull himself out of it.
'Damn it, at this rate we won't make it out alive!'
He couldn't meet his end in some strange place like this. If this mental world belonged to some unrelated soul, that might be one thing—but unfortunately, it was deeply tied to Karuna, a key member of his team.
Until the Moonlight Knight regained his senses, Kang Seol had to take control of the group.
"Jamad!"
"The tin man's stirring up trouble! On it!"
Whoooong...
Hwiririk-!
The massive Mountain Sorcerer Jamad was summoned, snatching Karuna and Kang Seol before slinging them over his shoulder.
As his body floated up, Kang Seol widened his field of vision.
Insight Eye activates.
Detecting movement of foreign mana.
Insight Eye triggered right on cue.
His golden pupils caught the turbulent mana flows amid the crumbling world.
Mana was being relentlessly sucked toward one spot, like water down a drain.
'The crystal's power is fading!'
If they lingered until it ran dry, God only knew what fate awaited them.
"We have to get out—there! That's it, Jamad!"
"Got it! Hold tight—I'm off!"
Jamad could grip Karuna hard enough, but not Kang Seol—if he crushed the guy, it'd be a disaster.
Kang Seol clutched the Mountain Sorcerer's shoulder tight, straining not to lose track of the flow.
Chwaaaaa-!
"Damn it—water!"
Suddenly, waves surged in like a flash flood, relentlessly shoving the party back.
Splash-!
"Kuh..."
"Puhaa! Heup..."
Realizing this doggy-paddle approach wasn't cutting it, Jamad scooped up Kang Seol and Karuna, then dove deep.
That eased the brutal current somewhat, letting them push forward bit by bit.
'Come on, just a little more...'
The end of their grueling escape was finally in sight.
After such a harrowing ordeal, he had no clue if time had flown or crawled.
"Puhaa!"
"Kek... Kehak..."
Chwaak-!
At last, Kang Seol's party burst out into the open.
"The crystal orb got flooded with rainwater—damn it all."
"Cough... Cough..."
Jamad pieced together why Karen's mental world had flooded.
Kwarung-!
Shwaaaa...
Reality was pouring rain right now.
'Mental world blocked the teleport?'
Normally, they'd be wrapped in light and whisked away safely.
That hair-raising scramble to escape left Kang Seol reeling.
'Phew... but we're alive. That's what counts.'
All things considered, wrapping up the first adventure safely was a win.
Adventure 10. The Completely Burned One
You confirmed the mental world of a corpse set to revive in the Great Forest.
The corpse turned out to be Karen, one of the guardians of the Montla Empire—a name that once shook the continent long ago. In the process, your summon Karuna was revealed as another of Montla's guardians.
Fortunately, you escaped the perilous mental world through quick thinking. Unfortunately, no clues turned up.
And now, you're in such dire straits that those issues feel trivial. With her mental bonds shattered, Karen will awaken any moment.
Karen's current state—instincts only—is projected to be overwhelmingly powerful. And should she regain her reason... the consequences are beyond prediction.
You must choose: Fight or flee.
📍 Goal: Eliminate Karen.
⏰ Failure: 'Defeated Soldier' debuff. Honor and fame plummet. No prior adventure rewards.
⏰ Time Remaining: 「23:59」
Kang Seol whipped around to check Karen—and Insight Eye fired once more.
'Retreat.'
The adventure prompt's fight-or-flight ultimatum struck Kang Seol as utterly ridiculous.
Crazy; lv40? 40 for real?
It says it could be lv35.
That just pisses me off more, fuck!! lololol
Current highest confirmed level lol rush hour
No way they're serious lololol A lv40 spawning on a sub-lv10 adventurer?
Dude... can this even be cleared?
The viewers were echoing Kang Seol's exact sentiments.
'The level gap is brutal.'
Typically, solo or party adventure bosses topped out at rare grade.
Karuna and Jamad being hero-grade exceptions stemmed from the adventure's quirks.
That's why Kang Seol had been confident.
Not many in the early game boasted two hero-grade summons—and he knew precisely what that signified.
'Even with two hero summons, this level disparity is insurmountable.'
Maybe once Karuna and Jamad fully matured and powered up.
Of course, hitting those heights would be a triumph in itself.
"Damn..."
Kang Seol sighed, rain lashing his face unchecked.
This adventure was a failure, plain and simple.
That's when Jamad called out.
"Hey. No idea what's on your mind, but decide fast."
"What?"
"Look over there."
Drdrdrdrdr...
Jamad pointed toward Karen's stake—she was wrapped head to toe in iron chains and stakes, naturally.
And now, those chains were snapping one by one, massive tremors accompanying each break.
'She's waking up!'
Mighty undead needed colossal life force to revive. That's why the Great Forest was prime real estate for the ritual.
Right now, the forest's vitality was converging on her stake.
Tsuzuzuzu...
The surrounding underbrush blackened before their eyes.
"Run!"
Kang Seol swiftly recalled Karuna and Jamad to his shadow space, then slammed his right heel into his left one. Activating the lifesaving boots he'd scored as bonus loot from Grizz's secret lab.
Pop-!
Bang-!
Escape from Crisis activates.
Movement speed surges dramatically for a short time.
He bolted without a backward glance.
Getting swept into that life-drain? Mummy-fication or dustification—who could say?
'Faster! Faster still!'
Dadadada...
His overheated boot heels spewed flames nonstop, trailing fire in his wake. Just when Kang Seol thought he'd put real distance between him and Karen, a colossal boom erupted alongside a blinding flash.
Kwaaaaaaaaang-!
Eeeeeeee-
Ears ringing as if he'd taken a direct hit from an airstrike.
The shockwave tumbled Kang Seol head over heels.
"Kraaak!"
At that blistering speed, the impact wasn't gentle.
'Everything hurts. Did I at least escape?'
Gazing back at the shockwave's heart, Kang Seol blinked in disbelief. An impossible sight unfolded.
Fussu...
Sususu...
Every tree along his path had withered to husks. Shocking, considering how far he'd fled the epicenter.
'If those waves radiated everywhere...'
The Great Forest's trees would've dropped en masse.
Sure, the place was vast—this wound wouldn't faze it much—but damage was damage.
Hwiririk-!
Better safe than sorry—Kang Seol resummoned Karuna and Jamad.
Karuna showed signs of pulling out of his panic. Seizing the moment:
"What happened back there?"
"...Karen is my twin sister."
"And Montla?"
"No idea. How much time has passed since then... the temporal disconnect..."
Jamad prodded at Karuna's behavior.
"Tin man, you sure you're not busted?"
"Watch your tongue."
"Hmph—who was the babbling headache for your master?"
"...My apologies, Master."
Kang Seol was just grateful Karuna was lucid again.
But he had no bandwidth for petty squabbles right now.
'Swallow the penalties and bail on the adventure?'
Bailing meant the 'Defeated Soldier' debuff, tanking honor and fame, plus zero rewards from prior runs.
'Every option's a killer penalty.'
Life trumped all that, obviously. But Kang Seol was gunning for the top spot.
Losing momentum and built-up gains flew in the face of his ambitions.
As he wrestled with it, Karuna spoke up.
"Master."
"Karuna?"
"I have a request."
Kang Seol could guess.
"We must return to Karen."
"...We can't win right now."
"Not to win. To save her."
He had a point.
Kang Seol bit his lip, torn. Then replayed his own words in his head.
'Right now... can't win... right now... now?'
He'd crushed countless adventures—defied impossible odds plenty of times.
And from those breakthroughs, he'd forged a theory.
'Adventures you can't crack now almost never get assigned!'
That's why they segmented into early, mid, and late phases.
The system tossed trials you could overcome—like fate decreed it.
Applying that here:
'This moment is exactly when we can beat it. Think—think hard, Kang Seol!'
A gaping chasm of nearly 30 levels.
A casual swat that could end him. There had to be a way to bridge it.
'Find it. What can I leverage right now...'
Suddenly, it hit him—a tool perfect for this exact instant.
'The Lion's Truth Church!'
He'd first assumed he had to thwart their villainy—pegged them as the adventure's foes.
'They are enemies. But...'
There was that saying.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
'Time to use them!'
The question was how.
Anyone else would've burned hours agonizing here.
Not Kang Seol.
This? Schemes and ploys?
This was his wheelhouse.