Chapter 319
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 319
Chapter Title: Hunting the Transcendent
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After completing his job change, Ha-jin hurriedly messaged Jeong Hoon.
Communication disrupted.
A red message he'd never seen before popped up, and his smartphone went dead.
"What the... what's wrong with this thing?"
Turning the phone off and on again yielded the same result.
The screen displayed the disruption message, then went unresponsive like it was broken.
Trying to whisper through the system produced the same issue.
No response.
A message appeared as he tried to send the whisper, then it just vanished.
"Shit."
Ha-jin rushed home and powered on his computer.
He planned to try reaching out via the chat app he had logged into.
Fortunately, the power came on quickly, but the internet was completely down.
"No way... why the hell is this happening now?"
This left him with zero ways to contact Jeong Hoon.
Why? Trying to pass on what I said?
A chilling voice came from behind him.
Ha-jin shuddered and slowly turned his head, creaking like a broken robot.
"Eek!"
Ha-jin yelped in shock and fell backward.
Baal was just one meter away.
No one could stay calm staring into those massive red eyes up close.
Noisy.
"Y-You scared the shit out of me."
Impressive. You're the first to make my lord move in person.
No matter how much humans struggled, they couldn't escape his graspthat's what he meant to convey.
Baal had taken it to mean he'd just watch them run around.
That's why he'd observed their deeper pursuit of truth without interference.
But that wasn't his lord's intent.
His lord had deemed their power accumulation sufficient through truth-seeking and was now acting directly.
"What...?"
Kukuku. Watch your world perish clearly.
The moment Baal finished speaking.
Flash.
KABOOM!
Blinding light filled his vision, and a roar like the sky tearing apart engulfed the world.
Crash!
The window shattered, glass shards and fierce winds assaulting Ha-jin.
"Urk...!"
Ha-jin plugged his ears, squeezed his eyes shut, and hunched down.
Vibrations wracked his body, acrid dust stinging his nose.
Well, human. What now?
Baal gazed out the window with evident delight.
Jeong Hoon advanced, stepping through Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon.
On his back rode Jang Dae-hwi, unable to keep up with Jeong Hoon's speed on his own.
Clear all monsters.
The F-zone quest was monster extermination.
"Hyung, hold on tight."
Anima was gripped in Jeong Hoon's hand.
He drew back the string and released.
Pewwww!
The arrow flew, embedding precisely in a distant monster's head.
"Kek!"
The monster with the arrow in its skull collapsed.
Its massive body toppled, crushing nearby trees.
It twitched violently before going limp in death.
"Whoa... that thing looked over level 500. How'd you one-shot it...?"
"I'm level 795."
"Even so..."
A boss monster, one-shot? No way.
"Hyung, stay focused, so be quiet."
"Got it."
Jang Dae-hwi obediently zipped his lips.
Thanks to that, Jeong Hoon could concentrate on hunting.
He drew the string again, aimed at another monster, and released.
Pewwww!
The arrow struck the monster's throat dead-on.
Another followed, piercing its brow.
Unable to endure, the monster crumbled and died.
From there, it was a rout.
Monster corpses piled like mountains wherever Jeong Hoon passed, continuing until the F-zone ended.
F-Zone quest completed.
Zones ran from A to G.
He'd only finished one so far.
'Penalties have already dropped twice.'
Jeong Hoon ground his teeth, picturing Escannon watching with amusement.
Before regression, Escannon hadn't intervened at all.
That he was now meant...
'It has to be because of me.'
His fist clenched.
The future had changed, accelerating Earth's doom.
Fail to clear all zones, and penalties would stackcollapse would follow in an instant.
He'd half-expected something like this.
It wasn't all that surprising.
But he couldn't suppress the rising fury.
Those bastard gods toying with Earth and all lifehe'd only feel satisfied crushing them with his own hands.
"Hyung, let's move on quick."
"Y-Yeah. Sure."
Jang Dae-hwi could only nod.
Jeong Hoon's expression was too terrifying to question.
"Yes."
Jeong Hoon accelerated toward the G-zone.
The G-zone offered a completely different quest.
Hunt the Transcendent.
"Hyung, it's dangerous, so stay back."
Jeong Hoon left Jang Dae-hwi behind and approached the Transcendent.
'He even killed all the avatars.'
This Transcendent had slaughtered every human in that short time.
Jeong Hoon knew him.
"Hoo, human. Hello."
The Transcendent smirked and waved at Jeong Hoon.
"Byulrang."
Mentioning the name wiped the smirk from the TranscendentByulrang'sface.
"How do you know my name?"
Byulrang tilted his head, his gaze chillingly eerie.
"Gulp..."
Jang Dae-hwi forgot to breathe, watching from afar.
Even at a distance, he felt like he'd piss himself.
"We met once before."
"Met? I've never let a human like you live."
"Yeah?"
They'd met in the Heavenly Demon Divine Church.
A recreation of a destroyed dimension, so this Byulrang naturally didn't recognize him.
"You were grinding your teeth, vowing to end me."
"You? Kukuku."
"No, you."
"......"
The more they talked, the more ominous it felt.
Byulrang swung his scythe wide.
Red and green cards appeared before him, spinning rapidly.
Jeong Hoon, having clashed once before, knew their powers.
'Red for reflection, green for absorption.'
Jeong Hoon casually thrust his fist.
Using Formless Fist.
Formless Fist activated, shattering the cards instantly.
Back in the Heavenly Demon Divine Church, he'd have hesitated to touch them, but now Jeong Hoon far surpassed Byulrang.
Pure force sufficed to destroy them.
"...Human, what are you?"
Byulrang, witnessing the destruction up close, asked in disbelief.
"What else? The human here to kill you."
"Absurd."
Byulrang tried swinging his scythe again.
Then Jeong Hoon stepped through Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon, closing in instantly.
He drove a fist at Byulrang's face.
'Myeongwang Fist Technique, 1st Star.'
Byulrang couldn't dodge, taking it full on the right jaw.
His head snapped left.
'I'll end this quick.'
Jeong Hoon followed with his left fist at Byulrang's solar plexus, planning a rapid finish.
A green card appeared before him, spinning to block the punch.
This bastard... hides cards too?
Different from the Heavenly Demon Divine Church.
"You could've just fallen."
Jeong Hoon muttered, narrowing his brow.
Byulrang began laughing like a madman.
"Kuhahaha! Think there's a reason I claimed the whole G-zone solo?"
"...You received power."
"Oh, quick on the uptake?"
Byulrang was Demon King-tier.
No match for Jeong Hoon, shoulder-to-shoulder with the Lords.
Absorbing Jeong Hoon's Myeongwang Fist Technique 1st Star with a green card meant power from above.
"Ha, you're really pissing me off."
"Pissed? Why? Scared your dimension will crumble?"
Byulrang taunted, swinging his scythe.
Green card absorbed.
It absorbed the damage from Jeong Hoon's Myeongwang Fist Technique 1st Star, boosting his own power.
The green card turned red, snapping Jeong Hoon's head left.
Converted color to reflect.
True Asura activates. (Limit: 180 seconds)
Then, meeting the damage dealttaken threshold, True Asura triggered.
'Perfect opponent to test it on.'
Stage 1: Entering Asura ().
Two phantom arms materialized over Jeong Hoon's shoulders.
Duplicates of his own hands, requiring conscious controltricky.
But Jeong Hoon's prior experience let him adapt instantly.
'Left arm: Shadow King's dagger. Right: Leviathan.'
The phantom arms gripped the weapons.
Black Field activates.
All stats corrected by 1.8x.
Black Field effect: Invading monsters' stats reduced by 15.
Buff skillsonly Black Field here.
'Dunno what else is in other zones.'
Byulrang's level was plenty.
Jeong Hoon punched; green card absorbed as before.
Swish!
A phantom arm with the dagger exploited the gap, slashing at Byulrang's right arm.
Blocked by another card.
'Rainbow.'
It shimmered with rainbow bands.
It had appeared in the Heavenly Demon Divine Church too, but time ran out before he could check it.
"I'll show you. My ultimate power."
Byulrang grinned and snapped his fingers.
Thud!
A dull impact flung Jeong Hoon's body into the wall.
'Formless Fist...'
When did he copy that?
Boom!
A massive quake, ground surging skyward.
Sky descended; Jeong Hoon plummeted helplessly upward.
'Gravity reversal?'
He tried righting himself midair, but vision spun, inverting again.
Gravity flipped once more; falling body twisted back to earth.
"Try enduring this too."
Byulrang snapped repeatedly.
Ground warped, black fissures forming.
'Space distortion?'
Distorting space to swallow Jeong Hoon.
Gravity control plus space warp.
Impressive flair for a Demon King.
But imperfect.
Jeong Hoon stayed calm, swapping phantom arms' weapons.
From spear and dagger to Anima.
"Now my turn."
Phantom arms drew Anima's string, targeting Byulrang.
Precisely, the spinning rainbow card before him.
'Ultimate Arrow.'
Released.
Pewwww!
"Kukuku, think that arrow can neutralize my card...? Huh?"
The arrow arced, piercing the card and embedding in Byulrang's chest.
Disdain turned to shock on Byulrang's face.
Dragon Void activates.
Dragon Void nullified all skills instantly.
The card tore in half and vanished.
The swallowing fissure closed completely.
Landing safely, Jeong Hoon stepped through Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon toward Byulrang.
"Told you. My turn."
Now Jeong Hoon smirked at him.
"You bastard!"
Byulrang tried summoning cards, but they wouldn't respondlike a glitch.
Thud!
Jeong Hoon's fist struck Byulrang's solar plexus.
"Guh!"
Byulrang groaned in agony.
Stage 2: Entering Frenzy ().
Asura advanced from 1 to 2.
Phantom arms doubled to four; attack speed up 1.2x.
"Scared now?"
Byulrang's face twisted at Jeong Hoon's mocking tone.
"Shut up!"
Grinding his teeth, red eyes glaring murderously.
Jeong Hoon's lips curled at the ragged breaths.
"Just die already."
Phantom arms held dagger, spear, Leviathan.
Jeong Hoon punched; all weapons unleashed, engulfing Byulrang in an instant.