Chapter 118
Chapter 118
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 118
Chapter Title: Act 21, Chapter 11 (1)
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“I knew you were strong, but seeing it firsthand is a different feeling entirely.”
Yurgan let out a dry laugh as he gazed at the spot where Harrington's body had been, now consumed and erased by the darkness.
“A knight made of darkness. It feels completely different from a spirit, and it's not a living creature, so you can't call it a summon. Goodness. To think so many interesting things would happen in my final years.”
“Will you come?”
“No, it's fine. Only one person can return anyway, right? You should be the one to go.”
Yurgan wore an expression mixed with regret and resignation.
If I used the complete dimension stone, it wouldn't be impossible for Yurgan to come with me.
But I didn't bother to mention it.
If I had dimension stones to spare, perhaps, but now that I knew their true purpose, I couldn't afford to use them recklessly.
It seemed a dimension stone, once imprinted, was only related to the Disaster Eater trait.
“I was born here, and I will die here. Besides, there are those I've left behind, aren't there? If I were to disappear, they would die even more miserably. I can't bear to see that.”
“...”
I watched Yurgan begin to reinforce the magic circle, as if to say the conversation was over, and fell into thought.
There was something that didn't sit right.
I hadn't thought that far before, but looking back, something didn't add up.
‘The older brother is a character who appears in the game, while the younger brother has played the game.’
This meant the older brother was a fictional character from the game, but the younger brother was a real person.
The logic was flawed.
But it was hard to believe Harrington's reaction was a lie.
The seal on the back of Harrington's hand was clearly real, too.
In other words, both sides had to be true.
‘Come to think of it, Kang Dong-woon was strange too.’
Kang Dong-woon, the leader of the Dark Moon Guild's main body.
Just before he died, he also mentioned that he 'was once a fan of the Strategy King.'
But at the same time, his stats had surpassed the 'chapter limit.'
‘Only first-generation players aren't restricted by the chapter stat limit.’
I was an exception since I'd bought an item from the shop to remove the limit.
However, the first-generation players were fictional characters from the game.
They couldn't possibly know about the 'Strategy King,' who was a real person.
This was clearly a strange point, more than just a simple merging of reality and the game.
Something.
A much bigger secret was hidden somewhere.
“You're quite merciless yourself.”
Yurgan suddenly remarked.
“Some men are beyond redemption.”
“I see. If that's what you believe, I have no intention of saying otherwise. It's not my place. I was merely stating my impression.”
“Yurgan-nim.”
Yurgan turned only his head to look at me.
I met his gaze head-on and spoke in a clear, deliberate voice.
“It's not just because he betrayed us. I simply killed someone who deserved to die.”
As I spoke calmly, Yurgan didn't press the matter any further.
Instead, he fixed his gaze on the magic circle for a long while.
“To be honest, I already knew. That there was no hope.”
Yurgan stood up.
“Look over there. You've been busy, but in the end, nothing has changed. It's impossible to hold them all back. This world is already over. No, it would be more accurate to say it was already over, and we were just in denial.”
The barrier had already turned red again.
Whereas before, only relatively weak monsters had gathered near the barrier, now even stronger ones were there.
It meant that as stronger monsters approached, the weaker ones were being pushed toward the barrier.
Among them were a few entities exuding an aura even stronger than the King of Disease.
My skin prickled despite the considerable distance.
‘Even among S-rank threats, the actual difficulty varies depending on whether they have an exploitable weakness.’
In that respect, the Disaster of Verdure and the King of Disease had many weaknesses, as befitting early-game bosses.
The Disaster of Verdure, in particular, showed power that was at best A-rank for various reasons, despite its 'Disaster' classification.
A few of the entities visible far beyond the barrier were the kind that had no such weaknesses.
They were foes against whom even I couldn't easily guarantee victory in a one-on-one fight.
Someday, Earth would be teeming with creatures like that.
The thought alone was unsettling.
“Take this.”
Just then, Yurgan suddenly held out a book.
“This is...?”
“It's my secret grimoire. The script is from another world, so it will be difficult to read, but seeing as we can communicate, there must be a way. This world is already finished, but I can't just stand by and watch my life's research be lost.”
‘A grimoire?’
My eyes widened.
A grimoire.
And not just any grimoire, but the secret tome of the great sage, Yurgan.
Whether I could learn from it or not, its value was undoubtedly immense.
I quickly took the book, lest Yurgan change his mind.
“Your will, Yurgan-nim, will live on in another world.”
“Thank you for saying so.”
Yurgan gave a serene smile and waved his staff.
*Fwaaat!*
The restored magic circle began to glow.
As I placed the dimension stone I had removed back into the center of the circle, the light intensified, and the magic circle levitated upwards.
“Farewell. I pray that you will be able to protect your world.”
Engulfed in light, Yurgan's form slowly faded.
I kept my head bowed until he had completely disappeared.
***
[You have entered the Red Zone.]
[Your HP will continuously decrease due to the extreme heat.]
[If you do not move to a Safety Zone quickly, you will face all manner of dangers.]
The moment I returned to Earth, I wasn't greeted by my companions or monsters, but by a warning alarm.
[A Main Quest has been generated.]
[Ch.11 Qualification]
Are you worthy of living in this apocalypse?
If so, prove it.
If you cannot, there is no future.
※You must complete a total of 10 missions.
※If you fail to complete all missions within two weeks, you will be forcibly ejected into the Red Zone. Mission progress will be tallied in a ranking system.
※The Red Zone will gradually expand based on the mission progress of the players.
※Rankings are compiled by region.
※Even if you complete all missions, you will be ejected into the Red Zone if you do not rank in the top 50%.
※Time Remaining: 12 days, 8 hours
‘It's begun.’
I closed the system message I had seen dozens of times before.
First, I needed to get out of the Red Zone.
I was resisting the heat to some extent by covering my skin with mana, but if I was exposed for too long, my whole body would surely be cooked.
[Rank]
1st: Hwang Chan-jin (6)
2nd: Kim Tae-woo (4)
3rd: Seong Woo-hyeon (3)
4th: Lee Min-hwa (3)
...
I checked the rankings as I ran to escape the Red Zone.
As expected, Hwang Chan-jin was in first place.
The number in the parentheses next to the name indicated which mission that person was currently on.
An overwhelming gap between him and the others.
He was already on the sixth mission, which was partly because he knew what he was doing, but there was also a clear reason why the others weren't catching up.
‘The Red Zone will gradually expand based on the mission progress of the players.’
That was the third condition.
The message said 'players,' but the one with the greatest influence was the person in first place.
Every time someone on the ranking list moved to the next stage, the Red Zone would expand significantly, shrinking the Safety Zone by that much.
Was that all?
You had to move to complete the missions, but what if the location for a mission was swallowed by the Red Zone?
You would be forcibly prevented from progressing any further.
If you couldn't proceed with the missions, you would eventually be forced into the Red Zone, where only death awaited.
The resentment of those left behind would naturally be directed at those who progressed through the missions 'faster than them.'
‘The various guild masters are in positions where they have to be mindful of others, so they can't proceed as they please...’
But Hwang Chan-jin was blatantly ignoring all that and racing ahead on his own.
As for Kim Tae-woo in second place, he wasn't the type to care about others, so he likely got there by proceeding without a care for the outcry.
During the Ruler event, I confiscated his coins, but I didn't take away things like his traits to ensure he could help stop the monster wave. It seems he used what was left as a foothold to climb back up.
[Burn (I) status effect has been upgraded to Burn (II).]
[HP will be consumed more rapidly.]
[You will receive additional Fire attribute damage when hit.]
I could feel my skin stinging.
I didn't have any traits related to attribute resistance.
If I kept taking damage from the Red Zone like this, the burns could become permanent.
Thanks to my high Vitality stat, I could endure it, but there was no benefit in doing so.
‘For now, I'll just focus on getting out of the Red Zone.’
***
[You have entered the Safety Zone.]
After running for a while, I managed to escape the Red Zone.
About a third of what was once a residential area had been swallowed by the Red Zone, rendering the buildings unusable.
Among them were a considerable number of what used to be the Dark Moon Guild's cells.
It was clearly a residential area, but I couldn't sense many people.
Since they couldn't accurately calculate when the Red Zone would expand, they might have moved to safer, more distant locations.
*Ssssh!*
I took out a potion and applied it to the burned areas, and the status effect quickly disappeared.
Once I fully acquire Diamond Body and max out its proficiency, I'll gain resistance to status effects, but that only happens when my total Vitality exceeds 100.
“Status Window.”
[Character Information]
Name: Kim Se-hyeon
Gender: Male (26)
Strength: 70(+16) Vitality: 65(+25) Agility: 70(+22) Mana: 70(+20)
Unique Ability: ???(EX)
Traits: One Who Started from the End (S), Accustomed to Battle (B), Wind and Moon (B), Lord of Darkness (S), Disaster Eater (S), Diamond Body (S) (Inactive)
Skills: Extreme Eye (S)
I now had a total of seven abilities.
'Wind and Moon' was a passive effect attached to an item, so it was impossible to upgrade its rank by investing coins.
It was a trait I would have to discard someday.
This meant I could essentially acquire two more.
My plans had changed because of the four traits I'd acquired without intending to, but since they were excellent substitutes for or even superior to the ones I originally needed, not much had really changed.
‘Accustomed to Battle’... it's rising damn slowly. Even after hunting so many monsters.
It seems the system didn't recognize the ones I killed in the other world, so they didn't count.
‘It's starting to look pretty decent.’
Including the bonus stats, all my stats were over 80, with most nearing 90.
Seong Woo-hyeon? Lee Min-hwa?
No matter how much they were Korea's representative S-rank players, I had now surpassed them.
The standard for a typical S-rank player was a total stat count of around 300.
My eyes were drawn to Vitality, the only base stat I hadn't managed to get to 70.
I needed 10 more points to activate the Diamond Body trait.
I could raise it by 5 right now, so I really only needed the remaining 5.
Since I couldn't get them through direct investment, I'd have to gain them as bonus stats.
‘Or, I could prioritize Vitality for the stat breakthrough.’
The moment a directly invested stat reaches 70.
From that point on, a special item is required to raise it any higher.
You can't get stronger with just coins.
‘Though I did accomplish my goal there as well.’
I recalled the elixirs Yurgan had gladly given me.
Using them, I could break through the 70-stat limit.
Though there was nothing I could do about the substantial amount of coins needed to raise a single point.
[K-Kim Se-hyeon-nim!! Are you all right!?]
The moment I closed the status window, the shop opened on its own, and Uriel popped out.
“This is the first time you've come out without me opening the shop.”
[This is a special circumstance! The system's connection to you was completely severed!]
She looked flustered and at a loss.
Uriel may be low-ranking, but she was still an angel.
As one of the beings involved with the system, it was only natural for her to be sensitive to such a matter.
‘There was originally a bug I could exploit by going to the other world and coming back, but that's no longer necessary, so I'll skip it.’
I narrowed my eyes and stared at Uriel.
There were four objectives I needed to accomplish by intentionally getting hit by the King of Disease's final pattern and going to the other world.
The Essence of Trait Transcendence. Materials for a top-tier weapon. Elixirs for stat breakthroughs.
And now, it was time to achieve the final one.
“Uriel.”
[Yes?]
“Summon an archangel.”