Chapter 367
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 367
Chapter Title: Seoul
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Seoul.
You sure it's okay not to go back in?
Tenebris couldn't hide his regret as he asked.
"You saw them come chasing me into the Demon Realm, and you're still saying that?"
The reason Jeong Hoon had returned to Earth was none other than Psyche.
Visiting the Demon Realm and meeting Je-cheon had gone well enough.
But the problem was that Psyche's puppet had appeared as if waiting for him, and in the end, seizing Jin's Divine Relic had failed.
It's about catching them off guard!
"No, that won't mean anything."
It won't?
"Do you think gathering more Divine Relics will let us take them down?"
Well...
He realized that battling with Divine Relics would feel like child's play to the Named Ones.
Even dealing with just one puppet had required using the Creator.
"In the end, we have no choice but to head to the Divine Realm."
Are you insane? What difference will going to the Divine Realm now make?
"God's energy."
Thanks to Psyche, the sealed Creator had awakened.
But that was it.
The amount he could wield was even less than what Tenebris had given him, and the expended Creator energy didn't recover.
That meant he still lacked the qualifications to fully wield it.
'I need to awaken the power of a god to handle the Creator properly.'
So where could he gather God's energy?
Obviously not on Earth.
Hmm, but collecting God's energy won't be easy.
"You know a way to do it, right?"
I do, but...
"Good. Then let's gather it that way."
It's impossible. With them waiting with mouths wide open, you want to walk right in?
"I'm not saying go in right now."
Then?
"First, we need to lure them into dropping their guard."
You don't seriously plan to trust that damn woman's words, do you...?
If Psyche's words were true, then Logos was surely planning a future invasion as well.
"I'm not trusting her completely."
Jeong Hoon hesitated because of her attitude.
'It felt like she was testing me.'
And by overcoming death through the Creator, he must have passed the test, since she readily offered to help.
'Tenebris said his memories aren't fully intact.'
Would she really try to sow discord?
Or was there something else?
As Jeong Hoon stared silently at Tenebris, Tenebris tilted his head.
What? What's with that look?
"Still, she's worth trusting to some extent."
Worth it?
"Baal, whose hands did the Demon Realm you once ruled fall into?"
When he asked Baal, Baal quickly caught on.
Ah, if Psyche meant to attack you, she'd have descended herself.
"Exactly. She knew I was heading into that Demon Realm."
Otherwise, they couldn't have responded so quickly.
If it had been Logos, they would have seized the Demon Realm's ownership and descended directly to bind Jeong Hoon by force.
But Psyche, despite having the power, hadn't.
So you're going to trust the one who sealed me?
"In our current situation, we have to use whatever we can."
This might be a warning.
That targeting the Demon Realm was the wrong choice.
I don't know anymore. Do what you want.
In the end, Tenebris had no choice but to yield.
He was annoyed, but he had no ground to argue.
He knew this was the best option right now.
It was just humiliating to trust the words of the culprit who had struck him from behind and sealed him for so long.
"I get how you feel. But let's not forget this."
What?
"That our goal is to reclaim true peace."
...Yeah. You're right.
"Right. So tell me how to gather God's energy."
Fine. But just know that having Creation power doesn't mean you can eliminate the Named Ones.
Eliminating Named Ones was incredibly tricky.
Why else had the five Named Ones only sealed Tenebris instead of erasing him?
Removing beings with Creation power was nearly impossible.
"I get it, so just tell me."
Why is his tongue so long?
Ahem. Fine.
Only then did Tenebris explain how to gather God's energy.
The first method was acquiring Divine Stones in the Divine Realm.
Divine Stones were rocks formed when energy condensed during the Divine Realm's creation.
Of course, they existed in minuscule quantities, making them harder to find than stars in the sky.
"Any other way besides that?"
In simple terms, it's about racking up achievements.
"Achievements?"
You completed achievements while playing New World, right?
"Yeah."
Achievements.
While playing New World, he'd achieved countless ones, using the reward points to buy items and succeed in his plans.
And those achievements existed in the Divine Realm too?
I don't know how many you've completed, but there's an invisible cumulative gauge.
To summarize Tenebris's explanation:
Every time an achievement was completed, an invisible gauge accumulated. When one gauge bar filled to 100, it moved to the next, repeating the process.
Once it reached a critical point and broke through, achievement quests became available in the Divine Realm.
"And breaking through that critical point makes you a Transcendent?"
More precisely, you become a Je-cheon.
"Oho, then won't Je-cheons come coveting your position?"
That's why they hand out Divine Relics to control them.
Divine Relics could be called items infused with blessings from each Named One.
Naturally, the Named Ones held the control over those relics.
"So it's not just giving them away."
Jeong Hoon pulled out all three Divine Relics he possessed.
Why do you think Thanatos had those relics? He didn't reclaim them to keep control in case of emergencies.
"But why can't they control these relics?"
Because of me. Though I can't block it 100.
Not just hiding their presence, but blurring the control over the relics too?
"Hmm, maybe it's best not to use these relics then."
No, that's not it. There's a way to convert them into God's energy too.
"Oh?"
Of course, converting them requires meeting tricky conditions...
"What conditions?"
I don't know that far.
"Okay. Then we definitely need to head to the Divine Realm."
For now, focus on stopping the invasion, then slip into the Divine Realm when the time is right.
'Master! Can you hear me?'
With the Creator's seal released, Mukho and Anima reappeared.
"Yeah."
'Man, I thought I was gonna die of frustration.'
"What the hell happened to you two?"
'Dunno. When you deleted the great rift, everything went dark, and I couldn't see anything around. No one could hear me...'
'Same here. I thought we'd be trapped forever.'
Apparently, becoming the dimension's master had sealed them along with the Creator.
'But how did this even happen?'
He couldn't understand.
There'd been no warning signs when he received the Creator from Tenebris, so what change had occurred for the two of them?
'Nothing seems different.'
Curious, he checked Mukho and Anima's info, but found no anomalies.
Tenebris seemed clueless too, so he put the question aside.
"Anyway, I'm glad you two are back."
At Jeong Hoon's welcome, Mukho and Anima's eyes welled up, and they sniffled.
'Ha, talking to you again makes me feel alive.'
'Same here. Even after living for ages, this was my first time feeling such fear.'
"Yeah. I felt really empty without you."
Alright, now that Mukho and Anima were back.
Jeong Hoon checked the invasion blockade rate.
But his joy was short-lived.
His previously relaxed face frowned because the rate had dropped to 97.
'Went to another dimension for a bit, and it dropped 1.'
Even with his mother and Yeo Min-ji helping block the invasion, if the others finished Phase 6 and returned, it'd be a huge help.
'James Marcus's group seems scattered, blocking invasions.'
He wasn't dumb, so no need to worry much.
"Master!"
Thanatos urgently called Jeong Hoon.
"What."
"The levels of the invaders are starting to rise again!"
"Oh?"
Then he'd have to lower them again.
They weren't even upper-tier races yet, so he couldn't tolerate the blockade rate dropping here.
'Time to try using the Creator.'
This energy, far more freely wielded than the one from Tenebris.
As Thanatos said, the levels of those entering Earth were skyrocketing.
'The debuff is still holding, but... the amplification has reactivated.'
Jeong Hoon paused as he prepared to wipe the amplification again.
It was obviously Logos reactivating it, but what would erasing it accomplish?
'Might as well use it to our advantage.'
Jeong Hoon was deeply disappointed in the people.
He'd risked everything, even tampering with the code to grant them opportunities, yet they were losing to weaker foes because they couldn't use them properly.
Then it was best to help them make use of it.
"Thanatos, change their quest contents."
"Change them?"
"Yeah."
At that moment.
Jang Ha-jin, who had left for Phase 6, returned to Seoul.
"Fuck! It's over."
He'd successfully completed the grueling Phase 6 quest.
It had taken forever.
"But at least I succeeded..."
Jang Ha-jin shuddered recalling the final quest. All were brutal, but compared to the last, the others were a breeze.
That quest was the worst ever: gathering 50,000 souls.
Souls from people, monsters, anything.
One might think it was just material gathering, but only souls exceeding a certain threshold counted.
Hunting for qualifying souls was exhausting enough, and intelligent ones didn't come easily.
'I'll test if you're worthy of taking me.'
Proud souls tested him, and he had to pass to claim them.
Repeating that 50,000 times was hell, but he'd gathered them all and completed Phase 6.
'Death Lord.'
After finishing, he successfully job-changed to Death Lord, the superior class to Dark Lord.
He also gained massive EXP, surpassing level 2,000 easily.
"Heh heh, just thinking of Hoon's shocked face makes me laugh already."
Surely he wasn't the first to finish Phase 6?!
With its insane difficulty, it wasn't impossible.
"But... something feels different around here..."
Only after fantasizing for a while did he notice his surroundings.
Somehow familiarSeoul, once collapsed, was perfectly restored.
Hoping against hope, he headed home; his swept-away apartment stood intact.
"What? Am I dreaming?"
Jang Ha-jin stared blankly at the building, then pulled out his smartphone.
No way the dead network phone worked too?
On a whim, he called Jeong Hoon.
Hello? Finished Phase 6?
It connected perfectly.
"Whew, Hoon! What the hell is going on?"
Explaining would take a while. More importantly, Phase 6?
"I succeeded, but..."
Okay. Then listen carefully to what I say from now on.
"Yeah?"