Chapter 138
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 138
Chapter Title: Shinwa's Vanguard
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While the event was in progress, the guild representatives who had submitted their participation applications moved to the VIP lounge to wait.
The moment they accepted the VIP invitation, they were teleported to this placean enormously spacious, ultra-luxurious banquet hall.
The round tables in the banquet hall had each guild representative's name and nickname recorded on them, and the guild masters made their way to their assigned seats.
Yeo Sun-woo ended up at the same table as Shinwa, Dokjeon, and Wings.
"Long time no see, Guild Master Yeo Sun-woo."
Sa Jae-hyeok offered a bright smile as he greeted him.
"Yes. Long time no see."
Yeo Sun-woo returned the greeting with a practiced business smile.
He then promptly greeted Min Jin-ho of Dokjeon and Kwon Yul of Wings as well.
"I've heard the news. They say Hoyoung pulled off some brilliant move right from the first round."
Once participation in the event was confirmed, the participant list became public to everyone.
Shinwa had quickly reviewed the list for Hoyoung, one of their competitors.
And what they saw was a roster made up of level 170s users and those who had just barely crossed level 100, fresh to the game.
"Ah, yes."
Yeo Sun-woo responded with a somewhat awkward expression to Sa Jae-hyeok's words.
Sa Jae-hyeok didn't miss that reaction and smiled brightly.
"You must have something planned, right? Hoyoung has always managed to surprise me."
"Yes. I think you'll be quite shocked."
"Haha, yes. Looking forward to it this time too."
Sa Jae-hyeok acted as if there was nothing more to see and headed over to chat with Dokjeon and Wings.
Yeo Sun-woo stood alone, gazing at the hologram in front of the banquet hall.
'Plans, huh...'
The first-round roster had been set based not on his own judgment, but on his daughter's.
Whether that was the right call or not would become clear in time.
The first round was racing toward its final stretch.
In the early stages, everyone had fought to claim outposts and hold them as long as possible, but now the strategy had changed.
If you remain hidden in the same zone for over 1 hour, you will automatically die.
Move to a different zone within 1 hour.
A new rule had been added 45 minutes into the first round.
As a result, users who had been lying in wait had no choice but to hurriedly shift zones, leading to a massive wave of deaths in the process.
Eliminated 19 teams.
This was why Jeong Hoon had been constantly moving between outposts, engaging in nonstop combat, and had now racked up 19 eliminated teams.
Above all, his mother's skills shone even brighter in direct confrontations with other users.
'Amazing...'
She had only started New World a short while ago, yet every shot she fired was a perfect hit.
'Mom, you're seriously incredible... This isn't a joke! I get why Jeong Hoon is so extraordinary!'
From the moment his mother first entered New World, Yeo Min-ji had never skimped on the praise.
Her marksmanship was unparalleled.
"Mom... every shot you take is a headshot."
"It's because the skill is good. Since the enemy doesn't even notice me, I can easily line up the head."
She spoke humbly, but Jeong Hoon knew just how impressive that was.
'...Genesis Sniper.'
'Trace Blockade,' the skill gained when Genesis Sniper reached Unique grade.
That blockade perfectly erased her presence, even from monsters 150 levels higher than her.
It was one of those overpowered sniper skills that shouldn't even be implementable.
Add her flawless marksmanship on top of that, and users were dropping with screams, clutching headshots as they rolled on the ground.
Jeong Hoon would then eliminate the others in the meantime and finish off the writhing survivors to wrap up the fights quickly.
"Michael. Any enemies left?"
"Yes! Seems like none here!"
Using Michael's necromancy, they scouted the small village once more.
They had now cleared 6 traps, and were searching for the seventh.
The fact that they could scout this quickly was thanks to his mother being there.
'Mom knows the exact locations of the traps.'
Without a single inch of error.
'...Even among hidden classes, hers is top-tier if you rank them.'
That 'Trace Blockade' alone could crush most jobs.
"Son, looks like there's one here too."
As they drew closer to the trap, his mother's trap detection must have pinged.
This village was lined with dilapidated old mansions.
"Yes. Let's head there right away."
Jeong Hoon followed his mother into the village.
The seventh trap was hidden inside a half-destroyed mansion.
Clear that one, and they'd portal to the eastern sector.
"Master, hold on! Someone seems to be approaching this outpost."
At that moment, Michael, who had been using necromancy, called out to Jeong Hoon with a serious expression.
"Hallucination?"
Debuff Hallucination.
Sending ghosts to induce hallucinations had proven to have great synergy today.
Michael shook his head.
"It's weird! The hallucination isn't working."
"Is that so?"
Jeong Hoon's eyes narrowed.
Shinwa?
It was about time for those Shinwa bastards to show up.
In the original timeline, Shinwa took first in this first round.
So the ones piercing the hallucination were likely from Shinwa.
"Son, should I go take position?"
His mother pointed to a seven-story building.
That one would offer no obstruction for sniping.
"Yes. Got it."
"...Be careful."
Even though it was just a game, a mother's worry for her child was inevitable.
"It's a game, Mom. Don't worry too much."
Jeong Hoon grinned and slipped into a nearby building.
"Master! Then I'll station two ghosts per building."
Michael placed two ghosts in each building and waited for the enemies to approach.
It didn't take long for them to reveal themselves.
Player Information
-Nickname: Lucas Kas
-Level: 241
-Job: Guardian Swordsman (3rd Tier)
Player Information
-Nickname: Ashbling
-Level: 244
-Job: Abyss Walker (3rd Tier)
'As expected.'
Jeong Hoon's eyes glinted faintly upon seeing them.
"Someone's cast a hallucination. There are users nearby."
"Really?"
"Yes."
AshblingLee Yeon-sunodded.
Her eyes were darker than usual, sunken deep.
Black Eyes.
The ability to pierce through everything.
"So that means there's a Black Mage around."
Lucas KasLee Ji-seokdrew the bastard sword from his back.
His body glowed as the mark of protection engraved itself on his chest.
"Don't just charge in blindly. Remember how close you came to disaster doing that early on?"
Lee Yeon-su shot him a glare and pointed it out.
"What bullshit. Forgot that I ended up shredding them all?"
"Ha... Ever think about the supporter's position?"
"Your role is to support me. Shut up and do it. Don't try to control me like some know-it-all."
The corner of Lee Ji-seok's mouth twisted up.
Just because they were both hidden classes didn't make them equals.
He was a Guardian Swordsman.
Abyss Walker could wield shadow powers more broadly, but he was the chosen one.
The Guardian Swordsman chosen by the war god, Ullion!
"Wow, you done talking?"
Lee Yeon-su started to retort, but Lee Ji-seok had already dashed toward the village entrance.
"I'll kill youuuu!"
"Goddamn it..."
She wanted to ditch him, but the mission from Sa Jae-hyeok was to secure first place in this first round.
Like it or not, she had to sync with him for now.
Lee Yeon-su hurriedly chased after Lee Ji-seok.
Shinwa's precious hidden class users.
Two of them were now charging into the village.
"M-Master? What do we do?"
"Quiet for now."
Jeong Hoon made a silencing gesture and heightened his senses to the max.
These two weren't his allies even before the regression.
Lee Hwarang and Park Jin-hyuk had left Shinwa to become comrades, but the rest had stayed until the end.
Jeong Hoon knew Lee Ji-seok and Lee Yeon-su very well.
They were the ones who later rose to the top echelons of Shinwa Guild.
'They haven't broken level 250 yet.'
They must have been ordered to team up and take first in the first round.
Otherwise, those two would never work together.
Jeong Hoon first drew Anima.
'Be careful. Especially the one in front... He's blessed by a god.'
Anima was an ancient dragon.
She knew all about divine blessings.
"Ah, that's fine."
A blessing didn't make him invincible.
It was like a buff that boosted all abilities, not an invincibility skill.
Of course, the buff was ridiculously strong, which was the problem.
'Master, that guy's immune to the hallucination!'
Michael mouthed the crucial report to Jeong Hoon.
'Okay.'
Jeong Hoon swiftly nocked an arrow, aiming at Lee Ji-seok charging toward the entrance.
That was when it happened.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out, and Lee Ji-seok who had been charging knelt once.
The blessing mark on his chest vanished.
'What the...?'
Anima's face filled with shock.
A divine blessing wasn't something that peeled off so easily.
'Mom...'
Jeong Hoon turned to look at the building.
That gunshot had been his mother's.
Genesis Sniper... as expected, no ordinary class.
Anyway, now was the perfect moment to erase Lee Ji-seok.
He aimed again and released the drawn bowstring.
Pewwwwk!
The arrow flew, embedding precisely in Lee Ji-seok's nape.
"Gah! S-skills won't... activate...!"
Passive: Black Flame activates.
Even the low-probability Black Flame triggered, black flames rising from Lee Ji-seok's neck.
Jeong Hoon immediately unleashed his body technique and closed in.
"Think of it as bad luck."
With those words, he severed the man's breath in one go.
Taking down someone whose blessing was gone was easier than eating cold porridge.
'Incredible... To break a divinely blessed one so easily.'
Anima let out a hollow chuckle.
"Yeah. Feels like I'm the one getting carried here."
His mother's support fire felt incredibly reliable.
"No way... Even that bastard shouldn't go down this easily...?"
Lee Yeon-su, arriving late, muttered in disbelief.
"It's you. Abyss Walker."
"...Mid-tier Martial Artist?"
Jeong Hoon's level was barely in the 170s.
And his job was Mid-tier Martial Artist.
Not even 3rd tiera mere 2nd.
"Hm? Something wrong?"
As Jeong Hoon tilted his head, Lee Yeon-su furrowed her brow.
"How'd you take that guy out? And in such a short time?"
"That doesn't concern you."
Jeong Hoon unleashed his body technique.
Myeongwang's aura gathered on his fist.
"Ha, I don't know what trick you're pulling."
Lee Yeon-su's body turned pitch black.
She intended to become the abyss itself and drag Jeong Hoon under.
But then.
Thwack!
Jeong Hoon's fist smashed into her face.
"Gah!"
Lee Yeon-su's head snapped to the side.
Her eyes shook with bewilderment.
Thwack! Thwack!
And so began the barrage of Myeongwang Fist Technique.
Jeong Hoon hammered from her face to her abdomen with his fists.
"Gah!"
Intense pain left Lee Yeon-su disoriented.
'This is weird... How is damage getting through?'
Abyss Walker.
Once inside the abyss, she was immune to attacks for a set time.
In exchange, she couldn't attack either, so it was often used as an escape tool.
But Lee Yeon-su used it as a warmup to prep her next attackand now it was being countered.
Thwack!
Jeong Hoon's fist plunged sharply into her abdomen.
"Gah!"
She couldn't speak, only groan in agony.
The black aura on Jeong Hoon's fist grew denser.
'Fuck... fuck!'
Only then did Lee Yeon-su realize.
That black aura was nullifying her abyss.
'But how...?'
How could it suppress her abyss?
"Why? Because you're weaker than me."
Jeong Hoon grinned.
Lee Yeon-su's eyes widened.
"You didn't say anything, so how'd you know? It's all over your face."
Jeong Hoon's detailed stats far exceeded level 173 standards.
Add Legendary-grade Myeongwang Fist Technique on top, and an Epic-grade abyss couldn't do a thing.
"You fucking... bastard..."
Lee Yeon-su glared at Jeong Hoon with bloodshot eyes.
"Getting boring. Time to end it."
Myeongwang Fist Technique now unfolded to the 3-star stage.
His fist slammed into her left chest, dropping her remaining HP to zero.
Lee Yeon-su died on the spot.