Chapter 53
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Final Colosseum
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Welcome to the Final Colosseum.
200 users have been assigned to the Final Colosseum.
The Final Colosseum, entered only after enduring the second round and completing the third.
As expected from a colosseum filled solely with users who had survived round after round, the atmosphere was exceptionally fierce.
Every single one of them is over level 100.
In the first colosseum, users over level 100 could be counted on one hand.
In the Final Colosseum, it was harder to find users who werent level 100.
And over 95 of them had completed rare-grade advanced classes.
Advancing to epic in the second advanced class is tough.
New World was a game where leveling up was incredibly difficult.
Even if the path to the second advanced class was smooth, post-level 100 leveling was hellish.
Failing now meant aiming for epic in the third advanced class, and then challenging unique only in the fourth.
Considering the time that would take, they couldnt afford to give up on epic here.
There were even one or two epic-grade users visible.
They were surely aiming for first place, just like Jeong Hoon.
.
Unlike the riffraff in previous colosseums, they were scouting opponents from the start.
They knew reaching this point was no easy feat, so complacency was forbidden.
When their eyes turned to Jeong Hoon, they paused, unmoving.
Jeong Hoon met their gazes and subtly lifted the corner of his mouth.
I can read their thoughts like an open book.
A low-grade Martial Artist in the first class.
Not only a Martial Artist, but a common-grade one had made it here?
Thats probably what they were thinking.
Of course, unless they were idiots, they wouldnt let their guard down just because he was a Martial Artist.
The Final Round of the Final Colosseum begins.
The 200 users in the Colosseum will be moved to Lv.150 Seedy Dark Alley.
Survive there by completing the tasks.
The round continues until only one remains. Users cannot kill each other.
In other words, complete tasks and survive as long as possible.
Tch.
A few users clicked their tongues.
They had probably planned to massacre users right at the start to end it quickly.
Lv.150 Seedy Dark Alley.
Jeong Hoon knew that place.
He had entered the Seedy Dark Alley back in his mid-to-late level 100 days in his past life.
Thats why this event made him once again realize how ruthless the developers were.
The Final Round begins.
With that message, the bodies of Jeong Hoon and the 200 users glowed and vanished.
Lv.150 Seedy Dark Alley
The Seedy Dark Alley was a dungeon not yet revealed at this point in time.
Thus, there was zero information about it.
Users who had reached the Final Colosseum couldnt hide their bewilderment at the dungeons scenery.
What the hell? I cant see a thing?
Pitch-black darkness enveloped everything, rendering the naked eye useless.
Damn it, even Light doesnt work.
Mages tried casting spells to illuminate the surroundings, but the magic had no effect.
It couldnt be helped.
Their vision has been blinded.
Even Jeong Hoon had been thrown into panic on his first entry into the Seedy Dark Alley.
Abnormal Status: Vision Blockade
Without this status, they could have seen the dungeon with their eyes, but it was an inherent debuff of the dungeon itselfimpossible to overcome.
As the ancients said, if the body is worth a thousand nyang, the eyes are worth nine hundred.
Eyes were precious, and having them blocked by a debuff was utterly frustrating.
Could it be a debuff? If so, with holy power.
Users who had forsaken mana for the priest path tried to dispel it with holy power.
Ha, fuck. No dice.
Of course, it was all in vain.
This is a level 150 zone.
Holy power below 200 couldnt dispel the debuff.
Jeong Hoon channeled his holy power.
You have escaped the abnormal status.
The debuff lifted, and the surrounding space came into clear view.
A sight he couldnt see before his regression.
The Seedy Dark Alley, which he had barely escaped relying on senses other than sight, was finally visible to the naked eye.
So this is what it looks like.
The Seedy Dark Alley was exactly thata street in an urban area.
The background wasnt medieval European like New World villages, but a bustling district straight out of Korea.
Currently, Jeong Hoon and eight other users were placed in that bustling district.
Weve been scattered, huh.
Users couldnt fight each other anyway.
They couldnt from the start.
Monsters were stealthily approaching from this direction.
Lv.150 Dark Knight
Blackened knights,
Lv.150 Dark Mage
Blackened mages, and so on.
Shadows shaped like humans.
The first task begins.
Even under abnormal status, New World tasks were visible.
Task?
Fuck, a task in this state?
Users still afflicted screamed.
Defeat 1 Dark Soldier.
The first task: defeat one Dark Soldier.
Jeong Hoon confirmed it and unleashed his movement technique.
Human?!
As Jeong Hoon moved, panic flashed across the approaching monsters faces.
They hastily raised spears and shields, but Jeong Hoon struck half a beat faster with Myeongwang Fist Technique.
Gahk!
He smashed the throat of the nearest one with his fist technique. It screamed and tumbled backward.
Jeong Hoon followed up, crushing its neck and ending it.
You have completed the first task.
Proceed to the second task.
Wh-what!
What was that?!
Users with blocked vision, unable to grasp the situation, tensed every sense at the sound of battle.
As expected from Final Colosseum survivors, they adapted quickly.
Theyll survive on their own.
The Colosseum was a thorough individual battle.
Jeong Hoon checked the next task.
Find NPC Isaac.
The next task: find the NPC.
An NPC hidden somewhere in this vast street.
An NPC he had met in his past life amid desperate survival.
Without that NPCs help, he wouldnt have escaped the Seedy Dark Alley unscathed.
Probably there.
Jeong Hoon hurried away from the spot.
Quite a few outsiders have come.
Isaac, who had been hiding between buildings watching the situation while avoiding Dark Soldiers, slipped out secretly and hid inside a shop.
The shop was filthy, unmanaged and unopened for business.
Kyaak!
Through the window, he saw an outsider pierced by an arrow and dying in real time.
Tsk, this isnt a place to barge into carelessly.
An unknown power gripped this dungeon; entering rashly caused the irrational phenomenon of vision blockade.
Even Isaac, on his first entry, had struggled for years to escape this status.
Now, the status had faded enough to distinguish shapes with the naked eye.
Kyaak!
Keuk!
As time passed, the outsiders screams increased one by one.
Isaac sat on a dust-covered chair, passing the time.
How much time passed?
Creak.
The shop door opened, and one outsider entered.
For someone who had crossed the street, his appearance was suspiciously neat.
.
But what was that?
He felt like he had just locked eyes with that outsider.
Found you.
As if proving it wasnt an illusion, the outsider approached and grinned.
You have completed the second task.
Proceed to the final task.
Smooth progress.
Judging by Isaacs reaction, he seemed to be the first to clear the second task.
NPC Information
-Nickname: Isaac
-Level: 160
-Job: Saber (2nd Advanced)
An epic-grade Saber.
An NPC with the power to survive in the Seedy Dark Alley.
Same as ever, past or present.
Before regression, Isaac had revealed his level and job as 160, Saber.
Probably set that way, unchanging.
Can you see me?
Isaac asked, unable to hide his bewilderment.
If I couldnt, would I be standing here?
True enough.
Escort Isaac out of this street.
To escape, guide Isaac to the hidden portal.
Jeong Hoons eyes widened at the third task.
Escort Isaac out of here?
Isaac was the NPC assigned to this Seedy Dark Alley.
Thats why, years later when Jeong Hoon entered New World and got trapped here, he could meet him.
And now, escorting that Isaac out was the third task.
Ah, I see.
Isaac was assigned here for tasks in the first place.
But no one had escorted him out, trapping him.
Then times short.
This round ends forcibly when one survivor remains.
He needed to move fast.
Dont you want to leave this street?
At Jeong Hoons question, Isaac nodded vigorously.
If possible!
He had tried every method to escape, all failing spectacularly.
Now, he was resigned to reality.
Then lets go.
Where to?
Theres a portal nearby, right? To that one.
Jeong Hoon knew the hidden portals location.
Wha That portal doesnt activate.
And Isaac knew it too.
It just didnt activate without conditions.
No time. Coming or not?
The situation was urgent.
Few users had made it this far.
The round would end soon.
Even if it ended now, Jeong Hoon would take first, but he didnt want to leave Isaacwho had helped himtrapped here.
Sensing his goodwill, Isaac nodded with a resolute face.
Alright. Lets go now.
In the past, even a straw to grasp was absent.
Now, a sliver of hope appeared.
No reason not to seize it.
He headed to the hidden portal with Jeong Hoon.
The portal was under a stream connected to a sewer 5km from the shop.
Here it is.
Jeong Hoon scanned the stream and nodded.
Before regression, blind in the status and hit with sewage stench, he had dry-heaved in misery.
As a newbie, the vision block alone threw him into utter chaos, flailing about.
Phew, think itll work?
Isaac asked in a trembling voice.
Well see when we get there.
The round hadnt ended yet.
Jeong Hoon entered the sewer with Isaac.
Deep inside, a shimmering portal came into view.
Huh?
Isaacs eyes widened at the portals state.
When he found it, it hadnt worked at all, but now it functioned perfectly.
And guarding it was a monster.
Lv.170 Dark Guardian
A whopping Lv.170 Dark Guardian.
10 levels above Lv.160 Isaac.
And a 69-level gap with Jeong Hoon.
To pass the portal, they had to hunt that monster.
The Final Round is nearly over.
Current survivors: 4
Four survivors left.
Three more eliminations, and the round ends forcibly.
He had to finish within that.
Ill handle itcover me!
Isaac drew his sword.
The Dark Guardian uses Opponent Abnormal Status: Enhanced Vision Blockade.
The Dark Guardian activated its ability.
Isaacs status intensified, and even Jeong Hoons clear vision was blocked.
Isaac groaned at the sudden darkness.
You shall not pass!
The Dark Guardian raised its twin blades and charged at Isaac.
A monster attacking an NPC meant team up with the NPC for the quest.
Ridiculous!
Isaac swung his sword, deflecting the twin blades.
Vision blockade was a huge flaw, but Isaac had honed his knightly senses over years in the street.
Compensating was childs play.
You must remain here. Forever!
The Dark Guardian muttered and swung its twin blades wildly.
Crimson-black aura coated the blades.
Sword aura, manifest only after second advanced class.
A mere monster wielding it.
Shut up!
Isaac unleashed his own aura, clashing with the Dark Guardian.
Clang! Clang!
Isaac held firm against the onslaught.
Pathetic fool!
The Dark Guardian uses Abnormal Status: Morale Down.
Isaacs stats decrease across the board.
Isaacs Lv.160 dropped instantly to Lv.100.
Power drained, he began losing the strength contest.
Urk!
Isaac groaned, staggering back.
A body relentlessly trained amid wandering the street.
Yet, the massive 70-level gap forced him to his knees.
Clang!
The heavy blow broke him; he collapsed, knees buckling, blood streaming from nose and mouth.
Internal injuries from the impact.
Die here?
He hadnt trained relentlessly just to die like this!
But his body wouldnt move.
Thats when it happened.
Hoh, a tougher vermin to block me?
Jeong Hoon intervened.
D-danger! Run now!
Isaac shouted.
The outsider was strong, but weaker than him.
No way he could face the Guardian.
Its fine. I have a way.
With time running out, he couldnt let the Dark Guardian rampage.
Time for another method.
Brainwash.