Chapter 270
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 270
Chapter Title: First Meeting and Betrayal
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The first place Jeong Hoon and I met was Seoul, South Korea.
Back then, we had gathered in Seoul to clear a dungeon. That's when we spotted a man struggling against monsters on the outskirts.
That man was Jeong Hoon.
Player Information
-Nickname: Hoon
-Level: 127
-Job: Intermediate Martial Artist (2nd Advancement)
A mere Intermediate Martial Artist at level 127.
Even so, my eyes were drawn to him because of the monsters he was facing.
Lv.150 Half-Moon Bear
Surrounded by four level 150 Half-Moon Bears in combat, he couldn't deal any significant damage to them, yet he stubbornly held on.
'Hoo.'
James Marcus read the venom in his eyes.
It was hatred that went beyond mere anger.
That hatred was directed at the Half-Moon Bears.
And that wasn't all.
The potential latent within him.
It was the first time I'd seen such immense potential.
'Why had I overlooked someone like him...?'
It was on a level that made it seem like all my repeated regressions had been leading to meeting this man.
'Why? You like that guy?'
Louis Verdant, who had always been with me through the repeated regressions, read my mind and asked.
'Yeah. He's incredible, isn't he?'
'Incredible?'
'Yeah.'
With those words, James Marcus swiftly swept away the Half-Moon Bears he was facing.
Level 150 Half-Moon Bears were child's play for James Marcus.
'......Thank you.'
Jeong Hoon, who had been locked in combat with the Half-Moon Bears, was in bad shape.
He offered his thanks and tried to leave.
'Wait a minute!'
James Marcus grabbed Jeong Hoon and asked Louis Verdant to heal him.
That was the first meeting between Jeong Hoon and James Marcus.
Afterward, through relentless effort, James managed to recruit him as a comrade.
Then, when Jeong Hoon broke through level 300, James Marcus became convinced.
He would hand over this regression to Jeong Hoon.
He would create different results from me.
'Hey, Hoon, sit here.'
Whenever a day ended, James Marcus would always summon Jeong Hoon.
'Why?'
Jeong Hoon would always try to dodge with a sullen expression.
Of course, James Marcus wasn't the type to let that slide.
He sat Jeong Hoon down and chatted about this and that.
He especially boasted about himself a lot on purpose. It was all groundwork for when Jeong Hoon regressed, a plan to ensure he could seize those opportunities.
With his perfect memory ability, Jeong Hoon would definitely claim those opportunities.
'Hey, James. You think those opportunities only went to you?'
In response, the comrades joined the conversation and began sharing their own heroic tales.
Jeong Hoon perked up his ears, concentrating intently so as not to miss a single detail.
It was a very good sign.
'James, aren't you babying that guy too much?'
'I wish he wouldn't join us. It makes us feel like our value is dropping.'
Of course, maintaining that phenomenon required a lot of effort.
The world's strongest party had one flaw.
That flaw was the Asian Martial Artist.
Every time they received such evaluations, the comrades harbored extreme disgust toward Jeong Hoon.
Yet Jeong Hoon didn't crumble; instead, he grew even stronger. He stepped into the heavenly realm and earned the moniker All Master.
'......Not bad.'
'See? James was right.'
Every time Jeong Hoon shone, the comrades gradually began to acknowledge him, and James Marcus watched with a satisfied expression.
And the time drew near.
James Marcus approached Jeong Hoon and everyone else, spouting the absurd claim that their powers would disappear.
'If we end this game, our powers will vanish.'
Powers would disappear.
So, they should keep the game going.
'What nonsense!'
Naturally, Jeong Hoon opposed it.
He had joined as a comrade and achieved insane growth for his mother's revenge.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it was all to end this game.
So, of course he rebelled at the idea of maintaining it.
'Hoon, think about it. You okay with losing your power right now?'
'Why ask something obvious? Spit that crap one more time, and I won't let it slide.'
'......'
It was the expected reaction.
James Marcus gradually won over the others, and soon the day of the final battle arrived.
The First Cataclysm.
'Hoon, you go.'
At the point where the First Cataclysm was about to be resolved, James Marcus entrusted everything to Jeong Hoon.
'What? James, what do you mean?'
'Send Hoon alone?'
'Is that really okay?'
The comrades pretended not to know and asked.
Thanks to Louis Verdant's brainwashing, they had agreed to James's plan.
They planned to strike all at once after letting Jeong Hoon leave.
Unaware of the plan, Jeong Hoon nodded.
'Got it. I'll go handle it and come back.'
Jeong Hoon entered without suspicion to stop the cataclysm.
When he successfully stopped it and came back out, James Marcus led the total assault on Jeong Hoon, cutting off his breath.
"Ha. Fuck. So that's how you're justifying killing me?"
Jeong Hoon, listening to the story, spat out a curse.
James Marcus's mouth shut at that.
"......"
"I get the gist. But why the backstab?"
"I figured strong revenge would be a plus factor......"
"Wow, you're a crazy bastard in your imagination too?"
Jeong Hoon couldn't hold back and burst into laughter.
Was this guy seriously saying this?
In the end, since he couldn't do it himself, he pinned it on me, and on top of that, arbitrarily backstabbed me?
From James Marcus's perspective, it was hoping Jeong Hoon would change the future, but to Jeong Hoon, it was no different from being toyed with by James.
Moreover, according to the guy, it wasn't just rewinding time.
Parallel world.
Strictly speaking, he had returned to the past of a different world.
'Meaning, the me in this world is already dead by those bastards.'
By the bastards right in front of his eyes.
He hadn't achieved his long-cherished mother's revenge or seen the game's end.
And the betrayers who killed him were just watching the cataclysm unfold.
Yet they wanted him to forgive these bastards?
'Bullshit.'
Jeong Hoon wasn't magnanimous enough to forgive the ones who killed him.
"James, you still need to die."
As he pulled Leviathan from his inventory, an arrow flew in.
'Storm Arrow, huh.'
It was even a Celestial-grade arrow, one step above Legendary.
Jeong Hoon spun his body and deflected the arrow with Leviathan.
Yet the Storm Arrow, with its heavy destructive power, didn't lose momentum and embedded itself in the wall.
Crack!
Boom!
The wall couldn't hold and collapsed entirely, revealing the massive portal outside the window.
Jeong Hoon glared at the source of the arrow.
Lee Hwarang.
In the parallel world, he had become an avatar and met death at Jeong Hoon's hands.
"You little shit, behave. I don't know how you got here, but regressing and monopolizing opportunities isn't a bad outcome, right?"
Veins bulged on Jeong Hoon's forehead.
"Shut your mouth. I'm not just planning to kill James."
Jeong Hoon ran his hand from his chest down to his stomach.
"I remember every sensation of your attacks on me. No matter what, none of you are walking away alive."
"Hoon, calm down! You think we wanted to?!"
Louis Verdant cast Light Bind toward Jeong Hoon.
He intended to bind Jeong Hoon's body and immobilize him.
'Bullshit.'
But Jeong Hoon stepped into Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon, dodging the bind.
Before regression, he had exhausted most of his stamina stopping the cataclysm, so he fell for that bind.
He couldn't even resist properly before the total assault ended him in an instant.
That memory fueled Jeong Hoon's rage even more.
"If you keep this up, we won't hold back either!"
Lee Hwarang shouted loudly, nocking Hellfire Shot.
Should he be grateful it wasn't an arrow of annihilation?
Jeong Hoon smirked and activated his buff skills.
To deal with so many, he needed to inflate his stats.
With Celestial Aura deployed, Jeong Hoon stepped into Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon and unleashed the forms of Heavenly Demon Annihilation Sword.
Clang!
Then James Marcus urgently intervened, raising his shield.
Leviathan clashed with his shield, ringing out a sharp metallic sound.
"Hoon, if you're killing, kill only me! It was all my doing!"
"That's not happening. Justifying murder doesn't make it right."
"Please......"
"So I'll pay you back in kind."
Jeong Hoon smiled brightly and unleashed Heavenly Demon Annihilation Sword again.
Clang! Clang!
But James Marcus could only frantically defend against Jeong Hoon's swordsmanship.
At this point, everyone had surpassed level 1,000 and swept up various opportunities, yet they couldn't handle Jeong Hoon.
Form 3: Heavenly Demon Annihilation Form activated.
Jeong Hoon's Leviathan pierced through James's thigh.
"Kuh!"
James groaned, and at that moment, a red-flamed spear flew toward Jeong Hoon.
Demon Fire Spear.
Jeong Hoon twisted his body, narrowly dodging the spear.
Simultaneously, Hellfire Shot was fired, targeting Jeong Hoon's heart, but he stepped into Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon and evaded that too.
Roar
However, he couldn't dodge perfectly; the arrow grazed his chest area, and flames ignited where it passed.
'God's Healing' used.
Jeong Hoon easily healed the area with God's Healing.
"We were wrong! So stop already!"
Liu Xiaolong, who threw the spear, cried out desperately.
"Stop? Not after chucking that spear at me."
Jeong Hoon's lip twisted upward.
Debuff: Mana Seal applied.
Debuff: Attack Power Reduction applied.
Debuff: Defense Reduction applied.
Debuff: Chains of Darkness applied.
......
In that instant, 14 debuffs were applied to Jeong Hoon.
His eyes turned to the debuff master, Sophia.
All these debuffs were her doing.
He seemed to recall receiving this many before regression too.
Light Bind, Demon Fire Spear, debuffs.
The feelings were fresh.
Why had he been so helpless back then?
'Glory of the Holy' activated.
Glory of the Holy.
Consumes 20 mana to purify everything.
Against debuff master Sophia's darkness-attribute debuffs, holy alone couldn't fully remove them.
"No way......"
Sophia muttered blankly.
She hadn't expected so many debuffs to vanish in an instant.
"Why? Upset I'm not taking it lying down like before?"
"......"
"Fine. Say killing me had a reason. But why just watch Earth's doom?"
"That's because! We said the Second Cataclysm couldn't be stopped with our power no matter what!"
James, receiving treatment from Amelie, shouted urgently.
"That's just saying you're scared of dying and lacked confidence, so you dumped it on me."
"......"
"Are you guys even human? If you had any conscience, you wouldn't just stand by and watch, right?"
"......"
Jeong Hoon's furious rebuke left James and everyone else speechless.
"Ha, do you even plan to atone?"
"O-Of course!"
"Then go in."
"What......?"
"Go in. That dungeon over there. Stop the Second Cataclysm yourselves."
Jeong Hoon pointed to the portal outside.
A massive portal loomed, one that no one even thought of approaching.