Chapter 157
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 157
Chapter Title: Victory Over the Guardian
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How long had it been since he'd taken a real beating like this?
He missed his youth so much.
If he were even a little younger, he wouldn't be groaning pathetically like thishe'd have turned that bastard into mincemeat instead.
"Ha... You really hit like a brute."
"If I didn't hit like this, you wouldn't hand it over."
"That's true, but... Ow... My bones..."
"I'll heal you."
Using Advanced Healing.
Jeong Hoon cast Advanced Healing on the old man, treating him.
The old man's eyes went wide.
"What? You can use Healing?"
"Yes."
"...You didn't use Healing to recover every time I hit you, did you?"
"Why not?"
Jeong Hoon grinned.
When using Healing on someone else, holy light bursts out, but when used on oneself, the holy power circulates internally without external display.
So unless he showed it like this, no one could tell he was using Healing.
"You cheater! You damn punk!"
It was way too unfair a fight.
How was anyone supposed to win if the guy healed up after every hit?
Jeong Hoon looked at him with utter disbelief.
"It's fine for you to use a sword while restricting me from using mine?"
"I'm a warrior."
"I'm a Martial Artist and a warrior too."
"What nonsense! You're not a warrioryou're a Martial Artist!"
"Pardon? What about the swordsmanship I just demonstrated?"
"...This kid?"
Insolent brat.
A young punk who hadn't even dried the blood on his head, talking back to an adult like that!
"Anyway, a win's a win."
"A win by cheating isn't a win!"
"You gonna keep being petty? Or do you want a rematch? Fair and square, bare hands only."
His Myeongwang Fist Technique was still at 5th Star.
If he unleashed 6th Star, 7th Star, and beyond, victory would be his.
The old man seemed to sense that Jeong Hoon's fist technique was no joke and shook his head.
"Fine. It's ridiculous to go all out against a kid anyway."
"Oh, really?"
"Ahem, anyway, since you used a cheap trick in the final test, this fight's a draw."
"A draw?"
"Yeah. I'll give you the relic, but I'm not admitting defeat. Got it?"
In other words, he wanted to save face.
Jeong Hoon nodded readily.
"Sure. Hand over the relic, and we'll call it a draw."
All he needed was the relic.
Not pride.
"Good!"
Pleased with Jeong Hoon's response, an exclamation mark blinked above the old man's head.
You have completed the quest.
As he completed the quest, he pulled a necklace from his bosom.
'Come to think of it, he never used the relic's power at all.'
Even though the old man possessed the necklace, he hadn't used it.
He was upholding his pride, but he'd intended to hand it over from the start.
That must be why he'd surrendered so readily, even though he could have struggled more.
"Is that it?"
"Yeah. My most cherished possession."
The old man handed the necklace to Jeong Hoon.
The relic originally meant for James Marcus.
This time, Jeong Hoon claimed it.
Immortal Bond: Oath of Battle
- Type: Relic
- Grade: Legendary
- Special Ability (1): Customizable
Special Ability (2): Customizable
Remaining Reinforcements: 10
Immortal Bond: Oath of Battle.
A relic boasting performance so outstanding that James Marcus always wore it.
Its greatest advantage was that the user could directly set the special abilities, and reset them at willmaking it an insanely overpowered relic.
"I'll make good use of it. Thank you."
"Do that. Oh, but how are you planning to reinforce it?"
The old man grinned.
Legendary-grade relics had 10 reinforcement attempts.
To reinforce a relic, one had to use another relic as material, and for high success rates on Legendary grade, an equal-grade relic was needed.
Using lower-grade relics meant burning through about 10 Unique-grade relics just to boost success rate to around 50 per attempt.
'Fail, and it's gone.'
Failure destroyed the material relic and deducted one remaining reinforcement attempt.
Considering the stat gains per success, he couldn't afford to waste even one.
"Why? Gonna give me materials?"
"Of course! But only if you pass the test I set. Then I'll give you a Unique-grade relic."
Just one Unique-grade relic.
Not worth the time investment for that.
"No thanks."
"Huh...? You're turning down a Unique-grade relic?"
He'd been pondering what test to throw at the kid to screw him over, but Jeong Hoon's flat refusal left the old man stunned.
"Yes. There are other ways to reinforce it even without a relic."
"Other ways? Does that even exist?"
"Yes."
There were ways to reinforce relics.
They just cost a fortune.
"This guy... I was gonna squeeze a bit more out of you."
Regret filled the old man's face.
Then an exclamation mark blinked above his head again.
'Hm? He already claimed the reward, though?'
Another reward?
Additional reward granted.
Acquired Old Relic (Legendary).
An old relic?
And it was Legendary grade.
Old Relic
- Type: Relic
- Grade: Legendary
- Special Ability (1): X
Special Ability (2): X
A relic that has lost its abilities. Seems usable as material.
Free material relic?
Stunned by the sudden extra reward, Jeong Hoon blinked.
The old man chuckled.
"Didn't think you'd come back, so that's a gift."
"...You had a Legendary, so why offer a Unique?"
"Tsk tsk, you know one and not the other. Offer Unique, then give Legendaryfeels even better, right?"
His sophistry posed as logic drew a hollow laugh.
Still, free was free, and it felt good.
Saved some gold.
On a whim, Jeong Hoon asked.
"Got any more by chance?"
"What?"
"You know, give one, then twofeels even better."
"...Can't argue with that. No problem, then."
"Got it. Time to go."
"Cold bastard. Get lost already."
The old man snapped his fingers.
A portal appeared before Jeong Hoon.
One leading out of the pottery.
"I'll treasure it. Thanks."
Jeong Hoon bowed politely and stepped through the portal.
Left alone, the old man recalled his boldness and burst into hearty laughter.
"Puhaha, what an entertaining punk."
How long had it been since he'd laughed like this?
Obsessed with the sword, he'd neglected his family, only realizing its futility after losing them to war.
Left alone, he'd been on the verge of madness, retreating to this rocky mountain called the Warrior's Heart, abandoning everything to barely keep his sanity.
But one thing he couldn't abandon.
That was the 'Immortal Bond: Oath of Battle'.
A precious necklace passed down from his father, the Knight King.
Crafted by Horus, the so-called 'Immortal'.
Even after discarding name, house, honoreverythinghe couldn't let go of that necklace.
So he came up with a ploy.
If he couldn't discard it, pass it to a worthy successor?
With that thought, he bound his soul to the pottery and endured over 300 years.
'Worth the wait.'
Mission accomplished, relic passed on.
Time to go.
The old man quietly closed his eyes.
Moments later, his body vanished.
Edenhark.
Finding Yorden was no trouble.
He was famous in Edenhark as the interpreter who'd uncovered the Evolution Stone.
"That him? Yorden?"
As James Marcus addressed him, nearby users gasped.
"Huh?!"
"James Marcus?"
"What's he doing here?"
Word of the world-famous top star appearing in Edenhark spread like wildfire through World Chat.
"Hm? Why are you looking for me?"
He adjusted his worn monocle and tilted his head.
"Could you interpret this for me?"
James Marcus held out the hint.
Recommended by Raoul, but he couldn't hide his skepticism.
A mere level 35 interpreter?
Edenhark was beginner territory, sure, but could such a low-level NPC really decipher the hint?
"Ah, the Warrior's Heart? I think I know where that is."
"You do?!"
James Marcus's eyes bulged.
"Yeah. No one uses that term anymore, so it's no surprise if you don't know."
Yorden muttered and nodded.
James Marcus asked urgently.
"Where the hell is it?!"
"Ever heard of the City of Warriors? Figured a guy at your level would know."
"I have."
No way he hadn't.
He'd headed there at level 201.
"Then go to the rocky mountain there. They called it the Warrior's Heart because the rock resembles a heart."
Yorden pulled out his cherished documents and rummaged through them.
Soon, he found one and showed it to James Marcus.
What is the Warrior's Heart?
It was a document about the rocky mountain in the City of Warriors.
Written in indecipherable hieroglyphs, but New World's auto-translation converted it to James Marcus's native tongue.
"...A rocky mountain, huh."
According to the document, the hint pointed to the City of Warriors' rocky mountain.
"No idea why you're after it, but does this answer your question?"
"Yes. Thank you."
James Marcus hurried off to the City of Warriors.
At that moment.
Jeong Hoon left the rocky mountain and visited the exchange.
A place only accessible in villages after level 201New World's way of providing relief.
'I can buy achievement points with gold here.'
Not for cashing out gold, but converting to 'VIP Coins.'
1 VIP Coin 1 Gold.
Not cheap, judging by item prices.
Yet plenty of users used it.
Because you could craft relics with VIP Coins, no quests needed.
Eh I don't do relic crafting.
-Money fixes everything. Solve all 10 with cash lol
You rich or what?
Wow Just invest some time, but dropping over 100 million?
You're insane? 1-2 is fine for Coin Shop, but 10 is just throwing money away...
Relic crafting: fully reinforcing a relic to max.
Some did it via quests, others poured in absurd cash to speedrun.
But costs were steep: 100 million for Rare full strength.
300 million for Epic, around a billion for Unique.
Rares were fodder anyway, so EpicUnique for specs meant 300 million to a billion.
Too pricey, so most thought quests for equal-grade relics were better.
'Can't for Legendary, though.'
No NPCs gave Legendary relics as materials except that old man.
So, VIP Coins for full strength.
"Good thing I have a million gold saved."
The million from beating Sa Jae-hyeok in their bet.
Jeong Hoon exchanged 450,000 Gold for 450,000 VIP Coins.
Then opened the Coin Shop next to the exchange.
Many categories, but he skipped to Relics.
Relics
-Old Relic (Rare): 1,000 VIP Coins
-Old Relic (Epic): 3,000 VIP Coins
-Old Relic (Unique): 10,000 VIP Coins
-Old Relic (Legendary): 50,000 VIP Coins
Brutal prices across the board.
Legendary especially: 50,000 each.
10 reinforcements meant 5 billion total.
Of course, the one from the old man saved 500 million.
'Not bad, considering Legendary relic power.'
Jeong Hoon bought 9 of them.