Chapter 236
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 236
Chapter Title: The End of the Bet
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Heh heh, then shall I take a bite?
The Seven Sins approached the fallen Zeke.
In an instant, Zekes body turned to powder and vanished.
Hmm?
Jeong Hoon furrowed his brow.
The only one who would pull something like this was obviously Baal.
That meant he had broken the rules of the bet.
The clause stating no interference whatsoever during the dungeon clear.
Then, a rift opened, and Baals eye appeared.
Dont misunderstandI didnt interfere.
Then what is this situation?
Jeong Hoon gestured with his chin toward the spot where Zeke had vanished.
It was set up that way from the beginning.
I see.
He had changed the settings so the Seven Sins couldnt absorb him.
While his stats had risen significantly from absorbing Baramut earlier, the bigger gain was absorbing the Enhanced Judgment of Death.
So, absorbing Zeke would have given not just stats, but one of his abilities as well.
Annoying.
The Seven Sins puffed out its cheeks with a face full of dissatisfaction.
Of course, I didnt expect you to take down Zeke.
Zeke had been one of the prime candidates for a Demon Lord seat.
Meaning he wasnt an opponent a mere human could handle.
Then, shall we settle up?
Heh heh, the dungeon isnt over yet.
Its not over?
Exactly. Theres still the final stage left. I wonder if you can clear this one too?
With those words, Baal vanished.
Then, the floor blocks began crumbling inward from the edges.
The fallen blocks were swallowed by magma and melted away.
Magma contact results in death.
The corner of Jeong Hoons mouth curved up.
Escaping this place is the final mission, huh.
In that case, there had to be an escape portal somewhere.
But no matter how much he searched, he couldnt find a trace of one.
Master! What do we do now?
If we dont get out, we all die.
The crumbling speed of the blocks was no joke.
The estimated time until all blocks collapsed was just around 10 minutes.
Yet Jeong Hoons expression still held some leisure.
Ive cleared a dungeon like this before.
Before his regression.
Right before finishing Episode 88s dungeon.
After defeating the monster there, the dungeon had started collapsing too.
It had been on the verge of dimensional annihilation from the moment they entered.
So, escaping the dungeon after hunting the monster had been the final quest.
Naturally, there was no exit portal, and Jeong Hoon and his comrades had been thrown into a desperate crisis.
Wait. I see a path.
At that time, Iwase Haruto, the hidden class Search Enhancer, had successfully found the exit.
That exit had been on one of the fragments created as the dimension annihilated.
Thanks to that, they escaped using the fragment.
Jeong Hoon slowly examined the floor blocks.
There had to be something different.
A block that was ever so slightly different.
I need to find it before that block crumbles.
Jeong Hoon spread his Heavenly Observation and began inspecting the intact blocks one by one.
Even as blocks crumbled, the pattern remained consistent.
In other words, stepping on a crumbling block meant instant elimination.
This delayed the block search inevitably.
What are you looking for! Tell me, and Ill help search!
The Seven Sins urgently asked Jeong Hoon.
A block. Among all these blocks, theres one thats different. We need to find it.
Got it!
The Seven Sins also flapped its wings and began searching the blocks.
Since it didnt need to step on them, its search speed was faster than Jeong Hoons.
Not long after, the Seven Sins flew back to Jeong Hoon.
Found it?
Yeah! There was a black block?
Really?
Jeong Hoon headed toward the block the Seven Sins indicated.
That block looked no different from the others, but it stood out distinctly to the Seven Sins eyes.
This is definitely it!
So thats how it is.
Just then, that block turned red.
Jeong Hoon waited a moment until it returned to normal, then immediately placed his hand on it.
The block glowed, generating not a portalwait, it was generating a portal.
It was the dungeons exit.
You have cleared the dungeon.
As he exited the portal, a message appeared before Jeong Hoon.
At the same time, a rift opened, revealing Baals eye.
You made good use of that thing.
Baal glared at the Seven Sins beside Jeong Hoon with displeased eyes.
What are you gonna do, glaring like that?
The Seven Sins stuck out its tongue, provoking Baal.
Heh heh, damn pest. Id love to rip you apart right now, but I suppose thats impossible.
With those words, Baal withdrew his gaze from the Seven Sins and looked at Jeong Hoon.
Well, shall we settle up?
Very well.
You have acquired 4 Ultimate Energy.
You have reached 5 Ultimate Power. 200,000 achievement points have been awarded.
You have reached 8 Ultimate Energy. You can now undertake the Path of the Ultimate (1) quest.
8 Ultimate Energy reached in an instant.
Path of the Ultimate?
A quest hed never heard of.
Even James Marcus, who held the highest energy at 7.1, had stopped there.
So, Jeong Hoon was the first ever, before and after regression, to unlock the Path of the Ultimate.
This isnt the end, is it?
The loss isnt minor.
You have acquired the Seven Deadly Sins Box.
Unlike evolution stones, it came as a box.
Only after confirming the box granted to his inventory did Jeong Hoon turn around.
Thats it. Our bet is over.
You wont take another bet?
Sorry, but Im a bit busy.
He had no intention of betting with Baal anymore.
8 Ultimate Energy was modest, but there were plenty of ways to gather more without betting with Baal.
I cant waste time on bets with him forever.
When the losses outweigh the gains, its time to abandon those gains.
And now was that moment.
What a shame. Truly a shame.
With Jeong Hoon rejecting the bet, Baal could no longer intervene.
The open rift rapidly narrowed.
If the chance arises, lets bet again.
Heh heh, sure. Ill be waiting.
Baals eye curved like a crescent moon.
And the rift closed completely.
Seven Deadly Sins Box
-Type: Box
-Rank: ?
-A box containing one of the Seven Deadly Sins at random
-Filled with malevolent energy.
-Opening the box carelessly may inflict a fatal curse.
The same box as when he acquired Sloth.
Jeong Hoon immediately opened it.
You have acquired Seven Sins: Wrath.
The Seven Sins has been restored one step.
You have been cursed.
Your health is rapidly decreasing!
As expected, his health began rapidly draining along with the curse.
Using Curse Removal.
Jeong Hoon used Curse Removal to eliminate all the curses.
Seven Sins
-Type: Sloth, Gluttony, Wrath
-Level: ?? (Grows by absorbing stats)
-Rank: Legendary
With that, the Seven Sins was restored one step, adding Wrath.
Heh heh! Were almost halfway there!
The Seven Sins grinned wickedly, clenching and unclenching its fist.
Its outer form hadnt changed, but the aura emanating from it had grown to another level.
All its stats had instantly surpassed 300.
It feels even more sinister now.
Well, it was a demon, so that was natural.
Sinister? Call it returning to my true form.
Anyway, have your memories returned?
To some extent!
Good. Then who sealed you away?
Escannon.
Jeong Hoon narrowed his eyes.
Escannon.
A familiar name.
The Apocalypse Escannon.
A Transcendent beyond Monarch-class, at Heavenly-tier.
Positioned right below the Five Named.
Jeong Hoon knew of him because a portal to the Escannon Temple had appeared on Earth.
A regular dungeon, separate from episodes.
But one of the culprits that nearly destroyed Earth.
Countless casualties had occurred just to defeat the guardian lurking in that temple.
All for a single guardian left abandoned for ages.
Why did Escannon split you into seven and seal you?
My memories arent fully back yet But one things certain: he utterly despised me.
I see.
If Escannon sealed it personally, the Seven Sins was likely a higher-ranking Transcendent than expected.
Jeong Hoon nodded.
Then, do you know how to completely end this game?
The glimpses from the memory system of Riandorf and Idenhark bothered him.
Users on the verge of 100 episodes.
They seemed to successfully reach the final episode.
But the dimensions destruction proved they ultimately failed.
Filling episodes to 100 grants a crucial clue to end the game. But even though they found it, they failed afterward.
He didnt know what clue it was, but it was clearly no easy task.
The Designer. We need to eliminate the Designer.
The Designer?
Yeah. There are episodes, right? Filling them to 100 gives a chance to reach him.
A chance.
But obviously, you cant complete 100 without the strength. Youll die immediately.
Die?
Yeah. Completing 100 forcibly teleports you to the Designer.
That was new information.
If Id blindly rushed to 100 it couldve been disastrous.
Without any info on the Designer, filling episodes to 100 would have teleported Jeong Hoon too.
Who wouldve thought that crucial clue meant this.
Well have to progress episodes slowly.
Hed planned to rush to 100 somehow, but now he needed to revise that.
This is all I can tell you for now. The rest hasnt come back yet.
To get more info on the Designer, he needed to collect the remaining sins.
Of course, growth couldnt be neglected either.
Got it. Go back in for now.
Jeong Hoon sent the Seven Sins back and pulled out his smartphone.
Missed calls, texts, chats.
Having ignored them for so long, they had piled up endlessly.
Quite a lot.
Jeong Hoon first called Ha-jin.
Ha-jin and Deok-gu visited Jeong Hoons house immediately at his summons.
Youre here?
Hey, why didnt you contact us even once?
Ha-jin, entering the house, made no effort to hide his sulkiness.
Sorry. I was swamped. But I found something amazing, so cheer up.
Lets hear it.
Its not an item, but I found a way to skyrocket your levels.
Our levels?
Yeah. Dont you guys need to hit fourth job change soon?
Well, yeah.
Fourth job change required level 301 or higher.
But Ha-jin and Deok-gu were still in the mid-200s.
Fourth change was still a distant road.
But there was a way to blast through it in one go?
Thats not all. You can get all sorts of skills too.
Really?
Jeong Hoon nodded.
Yeah.
Then Deok-gu raised his hand.
Hyung-nim! I have a question!
What?
Youre not planning to do a Gootube stream, are you?
Gootube had been idle for a while.
Because Jeong Hoon had been too busy.
Why ask the obvious.
Jeong Hoon grinned.
Understood!
New Gootube content incoming.
But no live streams.
No live streams?
Yeah. Well record, edit, and upload.
The dungeon was about to appear soon.
Clearing it would rocket Ha-jin and Deok-gu past level 301.
Of course, there were things to obtain there too, so they had to claim it first.