Chapter 118
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 118
Chapter Title: Illium's Castle
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Earth Korea management team.
A few days had passed since they last monitored that user.
Now, with Team Leader Oh Jin-su at the helm, the real-time surveillance program was up and running again.
And unfolding before their eyes was an astonishing scene.
"That's a mana storm...?"
"What the hell? How did he suppress it?"
"No, what the heck is going on here...?"
Mana storm.
A storm triggered by a 'mana surge' from a 'random gate'one of the gate types that spawn waves.
Its power was so immense that anyone caught in it would be torn to shreds and die in an instant, or so it was known.
Yet that user had willingly plunged into the storm and quelled it in a flash.
And his condition looked perfectly fine.
"...Rewind it!"
Oh Jin-su urgently issued the command.
They had to check if the user was exploiting a bug.
They needed to confirm for sure that it wasn't something like the 'bug city' from before!
"Once there's an excuse, he watches whatever he wants..."
The staffer running the program muttered under his breath, too quiet to be heard.
Just a little while ago, when Hoyoung's Yeo Sun-woo had lodged a complaint in person, his face had gone pale white, and he hadn't even thought of activating the surveillance program.
But after the bug city incident, he was watching freely.
Well, thanks to that, they could watch freely too, which was nice.
"Huh? What did you just say?"
Oh Jin-su tilted his head.
"Oh, nothing, sir!"
The staffer jumped in surprise and fast-forwarded the footage.
And there it was.
A named NPC named 'Cassandra' suddenly visiting Kaiserck V and saying that 'this user would dispel the random gate.'
"...Was there something like that?"
"No idea... What is it? New content added by HQ?"
"If so, they'd have announced it and patched it ages ago. Anyway, where exactly did the user go?"
"One moment."
The staffer fiddled with the program, adjusting the time.
The monitor screen switched to a theme dungeon.
"Where's this?"
"...Please wait a second. Ah, it seems connected not to a regular dungeon, but a theme dungeon."
"Whoa... Of all places, a theme dungeon?"
Event theme dungeons ended quickly like regular dungeons, but standard theme dungeons took far longer than expected.
Plus, you had to accept quests from village NPCs and clear the dungeon to achieve perfect clear status, making the difficulty quite high.
"Team leader! It's called Illium's Castle!"
"Illium?"
"Monster encyclopedia says Illium are humanoid monsters! But their defense is super high, so you pretty much can't them without overwhelming them with raw damage."
"Level?"
"265."
Even if that user had leveled up a ton in a short time, he hadn't hit 200 or done his third job change.
No way he could hunt Illium under those conditions.
"...Shut it down for now."
There had been a cheat key in something like the ruined city, but no way a theme dungeon had one.
Watching wouldn't yield clear results right away.
"You think that user will fail, team leader?"
"No, it'll just take a while. I bet he'll clear it."
Based on the monstrous performance he'd shown so far, he was confident the user would clear the theme dungeon with room to spare.
Their special ability.
It was applying a buff that increased defense by 1.5 times.
And once buffed, they took no critical hits until it wore off, making them a pain to hunt.
For Jeong Hoon, who was on the lower level side, it was a seriously bad matchup.
But with this Leviathan, hunting would be much easier.
'Ignoring defense means damage will go in nice and clean.'
And it was a good chance to wield swordsmanship, which he hadn't touched in a while.
Jeong Hoon moved toward the village.
This theme dungeon consisted of five zones total.
The first was the path to Illium's Castle.
The second was the outer walls of Illium's Castle.
The third was the entrance to Illium's Castle.
The fourth was Illium's Castle itself.
The fifth was the heart of Illium's Castle.
So many zones meant the difficulty was accordingly high.
'This'll take a bit, huh?'
Of course, he had no intention of giving up.
Part of it was to screw over Jeong Chang-ho, but the 'runes' obtained here would greatly aid his future growth.
"Huh? Who are you?! Get out right now!"
As he neared the village, a little kid pointed a stick at Jeong Hoon and yelled.
NPC Info
-Nickname: Anum
-Level: 15
-Job: Child
Anum looked to be about nine years old, tiny.
He was so malnourished he had no meat on his bonesjust skin and bones.
Jeong Hoon pulled bread and milk from his inventory.
Stuff he'd stocked up on just in case after the monster wave ended.
"...Want one?"
"What's that?"
Anum tilted his head, as if he'd never seen bread or milk before.
"Food."
"...Liar! No way food like that exists!"
"Then if I eat it, you'll believe me?"
"Uh, yeah. Then I'll believe you!"
Anum's belly was flat as a board.
Must be starving.
Jeong Hoon pulled out another piece of bread, popped it in his mouth, chewed, and swallowed.
"How's that?"
"...You can really eat it?"
"Told you. Want some?"
"...Nah, I'm good."
Anum shook his head.
Man, smart kid. Good call. Never take food from strangers. Could end you.
'Jeez, harsh way to put it.'
Not harsh, just facts, kid. This world's got way more scum than good guys.
'...Can't argue with that.'
Damn.
Not like I'm a bad guy or anything.
Jeong Hoon gave a wry smile and stowed the bread and milk back in his inventory.
Couldn't force it on a kid who didn't want it.
"Could you guide me to the village then?"
"No way! Outsiders can't enter the village! Scram!"
A question mark blinked above Anum's head.
General Quest: Hungry Anum
-Restriction: Theme Dungeon: Illium's Castle Access
-Reward: Village Access
-Description: Hunt the Lv.180 Owl Bear near the village to fill the tribe's bellies.
No way they tell a starving kid to go fetch meat like that?
Mukho fumed.
'It's fine. Owl Bear blood is great for tonics and restores the body amazingly well.'
Before regression, when New World became reality and orphans surged, Jeong Hoon had hunted Owl Bears for them, feeding blood and meat.
Amazingly, Owl Bear blood contained most nutrients humans needed, and supplementing with meat for protein worked magicenergy surged after just one meal.
"I'll go hunt the Owl Bear then. Will you let me in after?"
"Oh, an Owl Bear?"
"Yeah."
"...Okay then."
Anum nodded.
"Alright. Head back to the village first. I'll hunt the Owl Bear and come back."
"...I'll wait at the entrance."
Hunting the Owl Bear was simple.
Climb the mountain roughly, nock an Anima arrow, draw the bowstring.
Then focus senses to track every monster movement around.
Crunch.
A slightly dull sound of stepping on fallen leaves.
Jeong Hoon released the drawn string toward the sound.
The arrow flew, piercing the monster's brow dead center.
"Kreeeek!"
The struck beast writhed in agony.
A massive bear with a bluish hue.
Lv.180 Owl Bear
This was the Owl Bear.
Jeong Hoon drew Leviathan and stabbed its throat, ending it.
He withdrew the blade and collected the blood in a prepared basin.
"Michael."
With the blood fully drained, Jeong Hoon summoned Michael.
"Yes, Master."
"Carry this bear to the village."
"To the village...?"
"Yeah. Help out with necromancy."
"I didn't train my necromancy for hauling cargo..."
Michael grumbled but moved the Owl Bear.
Quest completed.
Village access restriction lifted.
He could see why the quest demanded an Owl Bear.
'This is bad.'
The village was empty.
Just a few elders and eight kids.
"I-is it really okay to eat?"
Anum swallowed hard and asked.
Jeong Hoon smiled and nodded.
"Yeah. Eat as much as you want."
"Thanks!"
After handing over the Owl Bear, Anum and the kids struggled to start a fire and cook the meat.
Starving as they were, they first shared meat and blood with the elders, then split the rest among themselves.
The Irun Tribe's overall trust slightly increases.
Once the meal wrapped up, a question mark blinked above the elderly woman at the head seat.
NPC Info
-Nickname: Ibator
-Level: 150
-Job: Great Chieftain
She was the great chieftain leading the Irun Tribe.
General Quest: Path to Illium's Castle
-Restriction: Hungry Anum quest completed
-Reward: Illium's Castle Outer Walls access lifted
-Description: Hunt all the 'Lv.220 Illium Dark Golems' on the path to Illium's Castle.
The quest was to wipe out every Illium Dark Golem.
Jeong Hoon accepted, and Ibator cleared her throat before speaking.
"Ahem, ahem. A rare young visitor. Thanks for feeding the children."
"Yes."
"So, outsider, what brings you here?"
"To eliminate the monsters in that castle."
Jeong Hoon pointed to the towering castle.
A massive gray fortress amid dense woods.
That was Illium's Castle, the target to clear in this theme dungeon.
Ibator's face darkened.
"Regrettable, but that's beyond your level."
Ibator checked Jeong Hoon's level.
A low figure under 200.
How had such a weakling made it this deep?
"You'll know once I try."
"...Our tribe warriors average level 190. Even they got dragged off without resisting those things."
Now he knew why the village was empty.
Back then, Jeong Chang-ho had bragged endlessly about his heroic tale.
'That Illium boss grows stronger the more sacrifices you feed it. Brutal trait. So it rounded up and slaughtered nearby tribes.'
'Really?'
Jeong Hoon had listened intently to Jeong Chang-ho.
'Total bastard. Didn't just kill themsacrificed them alive. Hard to believe it's a humanoid monster.'
Probably more victims piling up even now.
No time.
Jeong Hoon stood.
"I'll try, and quit if it doesn't work."
"...Hoo, I warned you. Try drying up the Dark Golems lurking on the path to the castle. That'll open the next route automatically."
"Yes."
Lv.220 Illium Dark Golems.
Unlike regular golems, the problem was their constant special ability.
Super Armor
-Defense increases by 1.5x. (No critical hits)
-No stun from damage. (Disappears when defense buff ends)
Super Armor.
Insane 1.5x defense boost and immunity to stuna seriously overpowered special ability.
'Wouldn't Anima be better?'
Anima asked.
'No, sit this one out.'
Anima dealt explosive damage per shot, but with this level gap, impossible.
Couldn't target vitals to drop them, and even 'Dragon Void' wouldn't trigger due to level difference, so no Anima.
Myeongwang Fist Technique could handle it, sure.
At 5 stars, 'Will of Myeongwang' triggered at 10 chance.
But unfolding to 5 stars took too long, and deploying fist technique one by one on high-level Super Armor foes wasn't practical.
So Leviathan it was.
'Even with a 120-level gap, Leviathan triggers fine.'
The sword felt a bit awkward after so long.
He'd smashed everything with Myeongwang Fist Technique and Anima, so rarely wielded one.
'Let's wrap this quick.'
Jeong Hoon passed through the portal to 'Path to Illium's Castle.'
Dense woods before the castle.
Dozens of 2m golems patrolled the area.
"Woooong! Woooong!"
The golem's eyes suddenly shifted from blue to red.
It had detected the intruder as Jeong Hoon appeared.
"Let's get started."
Jeong Hoon unleashed his movement technique, closing in on the nearest golem and swinging Leviathan.
Clang!
A heavy clang echoed as Leviathan met the golem's rocky body.
The golem swung a fist at Jeong Hoon.
Far stronger than the golems from the ruined city.
But Jeong Hoon, who'd faced golems to death, dodged effortlessly.
'Pattern's simple as ever.'
Golems moved by internal power sources.
No free willjust programmed motions.
Their attacks staying monotonous was natural.
Jeong Hoon struck the golem again with Leviathan.
Clang! Clang!
'No need for skills.'
His current sword skills: Continuous Slash, Strike, Vital Strike.
But Jeong Hoon just swung repeatedly without activating any.
And the 5 chance procced.
Leviathan's Wrath activates.
10 seconds.
Debuff hit, dropping its defense to 0.
The red-glowing abdomen reverted to gray.
The defense buff froze, exposing the vitals.
Strike activates.
Jeong Hoon immediately unleashed Strike on the vitals.
Crack.
A fissure ran across the Illium Dark Golem's abdomen.
Continuous Slash activates.
Jeong Hoon rapidly assaulted the abdomen with Continuous Slash.
Kwachak!
The fissured abdomen shattered, revealing the internal space and power core nucleus.
Vital Strike activates.
Seizing the moment, Jeong Hoon smashed the nucleus with Leviathan.
"Uwoooo!"
The Illium Dark Golem screamed and collapsed.