Chapter 81
Chapter 81
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 81
Chapter Title: Return of the Kings (6)
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“…The Master of the Jamryong Guild, in person?”
It was unexpected.
At the same time, I wondered if this was why they had waited until the very end to contact me.
No matter how big of a rookie you were, it was unheard of for a guild master to personally handle recruitment.
That was the norm.
But the Jamryong Guild had held back until the very last moment to secure me, playing the strong card of having their master make a move.
“If it’s one of the top five guild masters wanting to see me in person, I can’t just ignore it. Very well.”
Negotiating directly with the guild master meant I could get a much better deal than if a simple scout had come.
There was that, but…
It was none other than one of the top five players in all of Korea.
The fact that Seong Woo-hyeon, the master of the Jamryong Guild, already wanted to see me personally was what surprised me the most.
“An excellent decision. I’ll guide you.”
Lee Seon-yul’s face brightened as he stood up first.
Following Lee Seon-yul for about twenty minutes, we arrived at the tallest building in the area.
While all the other surrounding buildings were under reconstruction, the Jamryong Guild’s building was perfectly intact.
This was because a barrier had been erected around the entire structure, strong enough to withstand monster attacks.
The building looked like it belonged to another world, and I couldn’t help but let out a dry laugh.
*Knock, knock.*
“Master. I’ve brought Player Kim Se-hyeon.”
“Thank you for your hard work. You may leave, Lee Seon-yul-nim.”
Lee Seon-yul nodded and stepped back. I opened the door and went inside.
In a vast, carpeted room where one entire wall was a glass window, a man stood.
When naming the strongest people in Korea, he was always on the list—Seong Woo-hyeon.
He appeared in the game as a tall, handsome man, but seeing him in person made me feel like the game hadn’t done him justice.
“A pleasure to meet you, Kim Se-hyeon-nim.”
Seong Woo-hyeon greeted me first with a slight smile.
Beneath his smiling face, the atmosphere began to shift, a new current slowly spreading.
*He’s trying to subtly gauge my abilities.*
To raise my value enough to get a good gift, I had to show some of my own strength.
*Woooong.*
A flicker of surprise crossed Seong Woo-hyeon’s eyes.
“I’d only heard rumors, but seeing you in person, you’re more than they say.”
“The same could be said for the master of the Jamryong Guild. Truly a player who represents Korea.”
We exchanged light pleasantries.
Inside, a strange sense of anticipation bubbled up, wondering what kind of gift he would offer.
Knowing what high-value equipment the Jamryong Guild possessed, I couldn’t help it.
*Golden Rope of the Heavens? White Tiger’s Dance Armor?*
*No. Even if I’m their top recruitment target, there’s no way they’d give me an S-rank item. Then what’s left is…*
“Have you heard the rumor that what’s happening right now is actually a game?”
Suddenly, Seong Woo-hyeon asked such a question.
I almost lost my composure for a moment but managed to control myself and opened my mouth.
“…Does that mean this isn’t reality, or that a game has become reality?”
“Who knows. We have no way of knowing if we’re actually characters in a game. Hasn’t there always been talk like that? That the reality we live in might just be a world inside some game.”
Seong Woo-hyeon gave an enigmatic smile.
I had heard that theory before.
But hearing it from an NPC who existed in the original game felt incredibly surreal.
[The ‘Devil Who Mocks the Heavens’ is intrigued.]
[The ‘Guide of the Sky Road’ touches their lips with a peculiar expression.]
“To be honest, I don’t usually play games, so I wouldn’t know if that’s true.”
The source of the rumor was probably Jun Bo-ra.
As she went around claiming to be the Strategy King, those who had watched the Strategy King’s streams or knew of ‘End of Apocalypse’ would have supported her words, making it impossible to dismiss as a lie.
And even if someone tried to verify the truth by searching for videos, with the data on each server corrupted, there was no way any records remained.
In other words, no one could watch my strategy videos now.
“The important thing is that we are living here, now. Whatever the truth may be, the fact that we must struggle to survive doesn’t change.”
He cleaned his glasses with a cloth and put them back on.
It was difficult to grasp Seong Woo-hyeon’s intention in bringing that up.
Especially since he didn’t continue the topic and suddenly changed the subject.
As I listened silently to Seong Woo-hyeon, our eyes met directly for the first time.
“Kim Se-hyeon-nim.”
And then, slowly.
Seong Woo-hyeon continued in a lowered tone.
“Have you heard that a new type of gate has recently appeared?”
The moment I heard those words, a shiver ran down my spine, from the crown of my head to the tips of my toes.
I realized what Seong Woo-hyeon was about to say.
*Of course I have.*
It was finally starting.
This was the moment the tutorial truly ended, the starting point where the world would descend into chaos in earnest.
[A Main Quest has been generated.]
[Ch.8 Unknown]
After the disaster vanished, it was a series of unknowns.
Was this a beacon, signaling that it wasn’t over yet?
While you rest, relieved to be inside the cage, those outside are eagerly watching for a chance to break it.
You must survive. No matter what.
Reward: 2000 Coins
The main quest, which had been dormant for a while, had started up again.
*It seems they’ve filled the ‘One Who Covets Treasure’s’ empty seat.*
One crisis had been averted, but many more remained.
Still, this eighth chapter didn’t have a specific objective.
If there was one, it was survival. To stay alive until the next chapter began.
But how difficult it was to survive.
The reason for that came from Seong Woo-hyeon’s mouth.
“There were two types of gates before. One was the type where monsters came through at regular intervals. The gate would close on its own once you defeated the monsters. Sometimes, there would even be a boss-level monster. The other type required us to enter the gate ourselves, annihilate the enemies inside, and then come out. You’ve likely seen the former many times, but you’ve probably never seen the latter.”
“That’s right.”
“That’s because they are that much more dangerous. It’s like entering the enemy’s den to wipe them out. Fortunately, the scale of those dungeons wasn’t very large. Although, an exception did appear last time…”
Seong Woo-hyeon stopped mid-sentence.
*He’s talking about the time when many guilds and their members crossed through the gate that appeared on Ganghwa Island.*
It was a place far too vast to be considered the inside of a gate.
I remembered everyone saying the same thing.
There was no need to dwell on that story, so I naturally steered the conversation back on topic.
“So, a new type that isn’t like that has appeared.”
“That’s correct.”
Seong Woo-hyeon held out a photograph.
The picture was out of focus, as if taken in a hurry.
At first glance, it was just an ordinary playground in an apartment complex, but there was one major difference.
A dark purple gate.
And, spreading around it, a purplish smoke.
It was a stark contrast to the greenish smoke I had seen while hunting monsters until recently, but I knew what this change signified.
“Do you know what that is?”
A question that seemed to expect me to guess correctly.
I looked closer at the photo, pausing for effect, before giving the answer.
“The smoke of a deadly virus. It seems to be mixed with a lethal poison as well.”
“You’re exactly right. How did you know?”
I pointed to a few spots on the photograph with my finger.
While the playground equipment touched by the smoke was fine, the flowers in the garden bed were discolored and all dead.
And on one side, the ‘shape of a person’ was melting.
“I assume the person who took this picture didn’t make it out safely either.”
“Yes. It’s presumed they died shortly after emailing this photo to our guild. The area has already been cordoned off. Among the public, a rumor has likely spread that it’s off-limits due to the appearance of a powerful monster.”
“Without revealing the real reason?”
“The reason is that we can’t make people anxious again when they’re just starting to feel relieved that things are stabilizing.”
Seong Woo-hyeon crossed his legs.
“You know very well what happens to society when people fall into anxiety and chaos, don’t you, Se-hyeon-nim?”
I recalled the days before the major guilds returned.
A society rife with the egoism and individualism that comes from needing to survive first.
In short, a pandemonium.
Having experienced it once, a small crisis could instantly revert everything back to that state.
Rather than let that happen, it was better to cover it up for a while and deal with it quickly, pretending nothing had happened.
That must be the reason.
“The problem is that even most players can’t get close.”
Seong Woo-hyeon frowned.
He leaned forward, propping his chin on his clasped hands.
“The situation will only stabilize once a player closes the gate, but if they touch that purple smoke, even a player won’t last long before their entire body melts away. We’ve already attempted it a few times, but we only suffered heavy losses and have temporarily suspended our efforts. It seems A-rank players and above can withstand it, but even that is difficult, and only those with specific abilities appear to endure it for an extended period. Furthermore, no monsters emerge from this gate; it only spreads this deadly, harmful smoke into the surroundings.”
A few new photos were taken out of a briefcase on the table.
A picture of a person covered head-to-toe in bandages, isolated in a private room.
A shot of the gate, existing alone amidst blackened earth where no living creature remained.
And another, capturing the moment the purple smoke billowed out from such a gate.
“These new types of gates are also increasing in number. That means the areas where people can live will shrink, and as the number of restricted zones grows, the citizens will become more suspicious. Eventually, the arrow of blame will be pointed at us, asking, ‘What in the world are the players doing?’”
“You can only hide it for so long.”
“For this reason, the cover-up can’t last long. We must find and eliminate the cause as quickly as possible. We need to know why these gates started appearing. Or, failing that, create a vaccine for the virus.”
Seong Woo-hyeon’s eyes glinted sharply.
Since it wasn’t just a virus, a vaccine wouldn’t be very effective.
Finding the source and eliminating it would be faster.
But finding that source was impossible right now.
Until ‘they’ extended an invitation, there was nothing to do but twiddle my thumbs and wait.
That was why this chapter was so difficult, even though the objective was simply survival.
I thought for a moment before carefully opening my mouth.
“There is one thing I’m suspicious of.”
“Really?”
A startled Seong Woo-hyeon shot up from his seat.
“What is it? A central gate, or a monster spreading the virus…?”
“It’s the ones with the crescent moon symbol on their shoulders.”
“…”
Seong Woo-hyeon’s expression gradually hardened.
He slowly sat back down, carefully studying my face.
“I’d like to hear the details of this story.”
“They aren’t the cause of the gates. However, I’ve discovered evidence that they intend to use the virus deliberately.”
“…If it’s them, it’s certainly possible. But that would require the premise that they have a way to safely avoid the virus. And if that premise is true, it means they know a great deal about this situation. Do you have an answer to that, Se-hyeon-nim?”
Seong Woo-hyeon stared intently into my eyes.
Someone who had only recently become a player was mentioning an unofficial guild and calling them the culprits.
As the head of a major guild, it was natural for him to be skeptical.
I met Seong Woo-hyeon’s gaze and raised the corner of my mouth slightly.
“Isn’t there a photo you haven’t shown me yet?”