Chapter 388
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 388
Chapter Title: Growth Directives
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Jang Ha-jin sighed as he read the incoming message.
"No way, why'd you order so much?"
The sender was Jeong Hoon.
Ha-jin, I'm heading to Atlas first. So you need to grind hard and grow too, right?
That line kicked it off, followed by a full list from top to bottomall of it related to leveling up and opportunities.
And this message hadn't just gone to Ha-jin.
"Hyung-nim... Hoon hyung-nim told me to do this stuff."
Han Deok-gu had gotten a text too.
He'd been summoned, got turned away, and was in the middle of boiling ramen with Ha-jin at the capsule room.
That's when the message from Jeong Hoon arrived.
Just like with Ha-jin, it was packed with a growth guide tailored to Deok-gu's current state.
"He won't let it slide if we don't, right?"
"Probably not..."
"Then should we head out and get started?"
"Uh, the ramen just finished boiling."
The ramen was perfectly cooked now.
Any longer, and the noodles would get soggy.
"Hmm, better eat first then?"
"Yeah! Let's scarf it down quick and go!"
"...Okay."
Ha-jin and Deok-gu started inhaling their ramen.
Lee Hyun-woo, who was at the counter, saw them and came running over in surprise.
"Hey, no one's gonna steal it. Slow down or you'll choke."
"Hyung, Hoon told us to do this stuff."
"Can't be helped then."
"We'll use a capsule after this."
Ever since scoring a capsule from that event, Ha-jin still dropped by the capsule room now and then.
Even though he didn't need to, it was to see boss Lee Hyun-woo's face.
So Hyun-woo always threw in some free time whenever Ha-jin showed up.
"Got it. Use as much as you wantI'll comp the time. You too, Deok-gu."
"Thanks!"
Thanks to Ha-jin, Deok-gu was getting the perks too.
Deok-gu bowed at a full ninety degrees and bellowed his thanks toward Hyun-woo.
"Hey, I get it, just don't yell..."
Hyun-woo waved him off awkwardly, glancing around.
Lucky the place was empty.
He'd been embarrassed by stares like this more times than he could count.
"Ah, sorry."
"Deok-gu! Done eating? Let's go!"
"Yes!"
Ha-jin and Deok-gu dashed to an empty capsule.
At that moment,
Yeo Sun-woo and Yeo Min-ji had also gotten texts from Jeong Hoon.
"Guild master, where are you going?"
As Yeo Sun-woo cautiously stood from his seat, Park In-tae noticed like a ghost.
"Ahem, just some quick business."
"Right now?"
"Yeah."
They were in the Atlas branch office.
With the timer in Earth's sky gone, Yeo Sun-woo had relaxed and logged into the game.
He was handling backlog guild work when the perfectly timed message from Jeong Hoon came in.
Guild master, I found a massive opportunity in Atlas. I don't need it, so team up with Min-ji and go grab it.
An opportunity.
Coming from Jeong Hoon, no less.
More than worth moving for.
"No, guild master! If you leave now, what about all this work?"
Park In-tae pointed at the papers with anxious eyes.
As befitting a major guild, they were piled high like a mountain.
Yeo Sun-woo cleared his throat and averted his gaze from the stack.
"You... got this, right?"
"Me? What kinda bullshit is that..."
"Please!"
Yeo Sun-woo bolted from the guild master's office like he was fleeing.
One of Korea's Big Seven.
When the Shadow King went full speed, no one could catch him.
Park In-tae slumped into his chair in a daze.
"Guild master... why do you always do this to me..."
Clunk.
Then the door opened again.
Park In-tae whipped his head over, hoping the guild master was backbut it was Yeo Min-ji who walked in.
"Where's Dad?"
"Ah... the guild master's got business and stepped out."
"Oh, really? Quick on the draw..."
"Perfect timing. With the guild master gone, could you help me out, miss?"
"Sorry, I've got something too."
"Isn't the guild more important than whatever it is?"
Park In-tae forced a calm smile, stressing the guild's importance.
"That's true, but..."
"Miss."
"...Sigh, fine. I'll drag Dad back here then."
"You can do that?"
"I'll make it happen."
That way, she could go hunt down the opportunity Jeong Hoon mentioned without worry.
"...You're actually coming back after saying that, right?"
"Of course. Be right backjust wait a bit."
Yeo Min-ji left those words and departed.
Left alone, Park In-tae eyed the door suspiciously before turning back to the papers.
"Whew, what a life."
Atlas.
A mechanized city more advanced than any they'd passed through so far.
Every city ran on mechanization, systems turning automatically.
'They say it's a map recreating a future era.'
A city designed based on guesses for what the 22nd century might look like.
Other dimensions actually had places more advanced, so it was probably referenced from those.
"Hey, first time in Atlas?"
Station manager Plo approached Jeong Hoon.
He always chatted up new visitors like this, leading into a quest if they responded.
"Yeah."
Plo nodded knowingly and handed over a note as Jeong Hoon nodded.
It kindly explained who to find and where.
"Start there. You'll benefitno downside."
"Thanks."
Jeong Hoon pocketed the note and left the station.
'Master, why'd you take the note?'
Mukho voiced his curiosity.
"I've never been to Atlas before."
'Never?'
"Yeah. After materialization, Atlas vanished completely."
'Ah, got it. That's why.'
"You never know. Doing the quest might help with recovery."
'Then let's hurry there!'
The note pointed to a robot factory.
AI robots were huge for NPC convenience.
They dotted the streets, most produced in this massive factory.
Jeong Hoon approached an NPC at the entrance puffing on a cigarette hard.
A question mark blinked over his head.
Normal Quest: Engineer Theo's Worry
-Restriction: Atlas Visitor
-Reward: 10,000,000 EXP Random Item Box
-Description: Solve Theo's worry.
It really hit home that this was a game world.
'10 million EXP? Stingy much?'
Compared to pre-regression amounts, it was peanuts, but Jeong Hoon didn't care.
It was just a quest for recovery anyway.
Jeong Hoon accepted it and spoke to Theo.
"Got some worries?"
"Ah, an outsider? Just one problem cropped up."
"What kind?"
"I gave a package to the guy downstairs to deliver to Raparo, but no word no matter how long I wait."
"Hmm, I see."
"It's not just the packagethat diligent kid wouldn't go radio silent like this."
A missing person quest, huh.
"Want me to check it out?"
"Oh! Would you? I can't leave the factorybeen desperate for help."
"Got it."
Theo explained it was about a young man named Ross heading to Raparo's lab.
"If you're lost, use this map."
He handed over a worn map.
It had several X marks, with small red text below.
"Pretty far, huh?"
"Yeah, the lab's in a remote spot."
The lab was at the far west end of Atlas.
A wasteland untouched by mechanization.
"No ride?"
"Of course! I'll call the garagetake a vehicle?"
"...Nah, I'll handle it."
"Alright. Thanks then."
Theo stubbed his cigarette on the wall and headed inside.
"Alright, time to hunt."
The far west end.
Countless fields to cross.
Rough estimate: over 3,000 monsters to hunt en route.
Jeong Hoon activated Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon and headed west.
Breaking News! Level 1,000 Spotted in Atlas!
-Level 1,000 appeared lololol (photo)
The post hit the world community with an attached photo.
Photoshop gtfo lol
James Marcus, world 1, is only 543 lolol what bs is 1,000?
But the pic clearly says level 1,000?
Obvious fake. Even if 1,000, what's 6th job lolol
Pathetic aggro bait.
Reactions were poor.
A clean 1,000 with 6th job advancement shown.
Users wrote it off as fake and trashed the poster.
Hah, unbelievable?
-I saw it myself!
The OP fired back, but no one bought it.
Not a bug, guys
-Took effort to film this, check it (video)
Soon after, a new post dropped.
Not a photo this timea video, just 26 seconds long.
But 26 seconds was plenty to electrify everyone.
Wtf...
Isn't that level 380? One-shot?
Atlas mechanized orc confirmed
Wiping them instantly wtf?
No way that's not 1,000
James Marcus couldn't do that
Screw it, heading to Atlas now.
Non-levelers weep
It took just 30 minutes to reach the X on the map.
Jeong Hoon ignored the stares and focused on hunting.
Some users tried following, but couldn't keep up with his overwhelming speed and fell behind.
"Here it is."
Jeong Hoon cross-checked the map with the field and arrived at a rundown building.
A two-story structure in the wasteland.
Slapped together so shoddily it looked ready to collapse any second.
'Master, signs someone's been here!'
'Yeah, footprints.'
As Mukho and Anima said, the interior was empty, but fresh adult male footprints pressed into the dust layer led to a corner stairwell down to the basement.
'Ross was definitely here.'
Jeong Hoon descended the stairs slowly.
Explored a new area.
Partially recovered level.
Partially recovered stats.
His level jumped to 1,200 with partial recovery, stats up 250 each.
"Oh, at this rate, full recovery's coming quick."
Jeong Hoon smiled in satisfaction as he finished descending the stairs.