Chapter 200
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 200
Chapter Title: Earth Korea Association
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You dog bastard. Ill definitely shake you down.
Grinding his teeth, a man visited Earth Korea.
Lee Hwarang.
If he hadnt run into that bastard Hoon before New World became reality, he would have maintained the number one archer ranking.
He had been pushed out of the rankings now, but his archery skills were still sharp.
The reason he visited Earth Korea.
Theres gotta be info on that bastard here.
Earth Korea would have information on Korean players who played New World.
Not in detail, but he could at least get a rough check.
What he wanted to confirm was information on Hoon.
How the guy moved, and everything about how he managed to surpass him.
Welcome to the Association.
The one greeting Lee Hwarang was an employee guarding the front of the Association.
Hmm?
Lee Hwarang furrowed his brow.
The employees voice felt extremely off.
To be precise, it was monotonously flat.
NPC Info
-Nickname: Hong Hyun-woo
-Level: 100
-Job: Association Guard
What the hell is this...?
Lee Hwarangs eyes gradually widened.
...Why is it an NPC instead of a player?
He realized it wasnt a regular NPC because of the employee ID hanging around Hong Hyun-woos neck.
Earth Korea HR Team 3.
Hong Hyun-woo.
It was written on the ID like that.
What brings you here?
...What are you?
Entry is impossible without an access pass.
Bullshit. Get out of my way if you dont want to die.
Lee Hwarang tried to push past him.
Intruder!
Hong Hyun-woo blocked Lee Hwarang.
Warning!
Warning!
An unauthorized person is attempting to enter the Association.
All Association NPCs levels and stats increase as they are regarded as intruders.
Following the warning, Hong Hyun-woos level skyrocketed to 400 in an instant.
Crazy!
Lee Hwarang recoiled in shock.
Intruders will be executed.
With those words, Earth Koreas main gate opened, and twenty more employees appeared.
Each ones level had jumped to 400.
...Fuck.
Lee Hwarang bit his lip and left the Association.
He didnt know what was going on, but they werent normal right now.
Pushing in recklessly could lead to who knows what.
Bzzz-
At that moment, his smartphone vibrated in his pocket.
Sa Jae-hyeok
The caller was Sa Jae-hyeok.
Ha, no contact since the suspension.
After the suspension, Sa Jae-hyeok had cut off all contact with Lee Hwarang.
He slapped him with a one-year ban and ghosted him.
Just thinking about that bastard made his blood boil, and now this guy calls out of the blue?
Lee Hwarang hesitated for a moment before answering.
His rage was surging, but he was curious what this thick-skinned bastard had to say.
You son of a bitch, if you talk shit, Ill curse you out.
Hed vent his anger and hang up.
Hwarang.
What?
You know the suspension means nothing. Come back to Shinwa.
Ha, after slapping me with a one-year ban, now you want me back? Am I your pushover?
I have a way to get revenge on that bastard.
Revenge...?
Yeah. Shinwa wouldve soared higher if not for that damn guy. Same for you, right?
...
It was true.
If not for tangling with that bastard, hed be number one archer right now when the game became reality.
We can get revenge! So come back.
How?
Lee Hwarang ground his teeth just looking at Shinwa.
Hed felt so vindicated hearing Shinwa got knocked out early in the siege war.
Youll see when you come.
No thanks. Who knows what crap youll pull next?
Have you entered a dungeon since the game became reality?
No.
Even after the game became reality, Lee Hwarang hadnt entered a dungeon.
Ill watch the situation.
Hed lost a lot of his senses from the long suspension.
So he focused on hunting street monsters to regain them.
Then you might not know. I just made a contract.
Contract...?
Yeah. Got some seriously powerful strength.
Bullshit.
Lee Hwarang couldnt understand.
See for yourself if its bullshit. So, whatll it be? Dont you want revenge?
You can definitely get revenge?
Of course. And I wont let Park Jin-hyeok, who betrayed you, off easy either.
...Park Jin-hyeok.
Lee Hwarang bit his lip.
The friend he trusted more than anyone had abandoned him for Hoyoung.
Because he got overshadowed by Hoon that bastard.
He absolutely couldnt let that slide.
Come back. Well get revenge together.
...If it fails, I wont let you off.
Of course. Ill stake my neck on it.
Yes.
Lee Hwarangs eyes changed.
NPCs had spawned worldwide.
To be exact, they turned people into NPCs, and those were made up of Earth and Genesis employees.
Those bastards are really vicious...
Theyve lost their sense of self.
Muk-ho and Anima looked at them with pity.
Jeong Hoon felt the same.
Yeah... theyre extremely vicious bastards.
The concept of human dignity didnt exist for them.
Otherwise, they wouldnt turn people into vegetables like this.
Cant healing fix them?
Isnt there a way to recover them?
Not right now.
If there was, he wouldnt just be standing here watchinghed act immediately.
The only way to restore them was to clear the game and revert the world to pre-game state.
Jeong Hoon walked toward an NPC.
The NPC was a woman with an employee ID named Yoo Ji-ah.
NPC Info
-Nickname: Yoo Ji-ah
-Level: 100
-Job: General Goods Manager
Her position was General Goods Manager.
No focus in her eyes...
Horrific.
Once NPC-ified, they were literal puppets.
Unable to judge beyond input values.
Jeong Hoon approached her.
I want to use points.
Yes. Please select the items you need.
She snapped her fingers, and an item list unfolded before Jeong Hoons eyes.
But none of the items he wanted were there.
I need something else.
Please tell me.
Association access pass. Thats what I need.
10,000 points are required to purchase an access pass.
10,000 points.
Not a small amount.
But Jeong Hoon had closed 20 dungeons and even killed Rakandra, the tutorial dungeon boss.
10,000 was easy for him.
Yes. Ill buy it.
You have 10,000 points. Understood.
Yoo Ji-ah nodded, and 10,000 of Jeong Hoons points were deducted.
At the same time, a black employee ID appeared in Jeong Hoons inventory.
Association Access Pass
-Type: Access Pass
-Grade: Epic
-Allows entry to the New World Association while held.
-Access limited to floors 1 through 8.
An access pass bought from a general goods merchant.
It should normally be on the list, but NPC-ification wasnt complete yet, so it was missing.
I need to lower the difficulty of penalty-imposing dungeons.
That was why Jeong Hoon bought the pass.
In his previous life, unlike now, Earth was a mess from tutorials.
Dungeons broke out in that chaos.
Among them, penalty-imposing dungeons had insanely transcendent difficulty, bringing endless disasters to Earth.
But there was a way to lower the difficulty of penalty-imposing dungeons.
They imposed penalties before regression, but now it would be different.
Jeong Hoon headed straight to Earth Korea.
But twenty NPCs stood in front of the Association.
Someone visited.
Their levels werent 100, but 400.
Meaning someone tried to force entry.
Jeong Hoon ignored it and walked to the main gate.
As he approached, the NPCs gazes turned to him in unison.
Entry impossible without access pass.
They were poised to attack if he didnt show one.
Of course, that wouldnt happen.
Yes.
Because Jeong Hoon presented the access pass.
At the sight, the NPCs eyes softened.
Their levels dropped from 400 to 100.
What is the purpose of your visit?
Just sightseeing.
Yes. You may pass.
The NPC stepped aside.
Jeong Hoon passed them and entered Earth Korea.
The first floor was the lobby, with a cafe and lounge nearby.
Its running fine.
In the lobby, NPC-ifying employees stared blankly at the ceiling.
Those without assigned roles yet.
Jeong Hoon approached a nearby NPC and pulled out his smartphone.
The phone displayed red text.
NPC-ification in progress.
49
49.
In another 4-5 hours, itd hit 100.
He had to finish his business before then.
Yes. Thank you.
Jeong Hoon returned the smartphone to the NPC and headed to the elevator to go up.
To use the elevator, he needed to scan an employee ID, but the access pass worked fine.
Beep-
He entered with the pass and boarded.
Management teams on the 7th floor, right?
Management team.
The team that monitors New World in real-time to respond to bugs immediately, but in reality, they were paid slackers with nothing to do.
Bugs wouldnt occur in a world designed by transcendent beings.
Even if they did, smart ones realized they were intentional setups disguised as bugs and took advantage.
So, practically no work.
You have entered floor 7.
Jeong Hoon used the pass to open the door blocking the elevator.
NPCs sat at their desks, working.
NPC Info
-Nickname: Oh Jin-su
-Level: 100
-Job: Dungeon Manager
Oh Jin-su, who sat as team leader in management, now had the role of Dungeon Manager.
What brings you here?
Oh Jin-su turned to look at Jeong Hoon.
His eyes were unfocused, as expected.
Oh, I have business.
Business?
Yes.
Jeong Hoon unfolded Heavenly Sky Protection and grabbed Oh Jin-sus neck.
...
Yet his body didnt twitch.
The cold aura from the gripped hand.
He didnt seem like a living human at all.
Brainwash activated.
Jeong Hoon immediately applied brainwash.
At level 100, itd work fine.
Jeong Hoon nodded toward the computer.
You manage dungeons with a program, right? Can you open it?
Yes.
A positive response from Oh Jin-sus mouth.
Proof brainwash succeeded.
Open it.
Jeong Hoon released his grip.
Yes.
Freed, Oh Jin-su sat and opened the program.
This program worked until NPC-ification completed.
Deleted clean upon completion.
A new program appeared then, unchangeable even by admins.
161 hours until normal dungeon generation.
Penalty dungeon difficulty set to Hell mode.
161 hours until dungeon generation.
Penalty dungeons at Hell difficulty.
Waiting like this would make clears extremely tough.
Cant change time, but can change Hell mode.
Changing that damn Hell mode would let many countries avoid penalties.
Lower the mode.
Yes.
Brainwashed Oh Jin-su typed on the keyboard.
Warnings flooded the monitor.
Warning! Warning!
Attempting to change program.
All within 200m of the target computer will be executed.
Lv.??? Demon Baal appears to execute.