Chapter 66
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: Lightning Bolt and Block
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Although one of them was Epic, Jeong Hoon was more than satisfied just from acquiring a Legendary.
He immediately checked the magic he had learned.
Lightning Bolt
-Type: Active
-Level: 1
-Grade: Epic
-Consumes 25 mana to generate and fire lightning at 240 of attack power.
-Can damage up to 7 targets.
-Cooldown: 10 seconds
An Epic-grade Lightning Bolt.
Attack power referred to the combined value of stats and equipment attack power.
At 240, it was an impressively high-damage skill.
With a cooldown of just 10 seconds, it was an active skill that could be used anytime as long as mana was sufficient.
Next up was the Legendary-grade magic skill he had so desperately wanted.
However, 'Block' was a somewhat unfamiliar spell.
'Even Alessandro has never used it before.'
That made him curious about its effects.
Block
-Type: Active
-Level: 1
-Grade: Legendary
-Consumes 50 of mana to absolutely defend against any attack (1 time)
-Cooldown: 24 hours
Absolute defense?!
Jeong Hoon's eyes widened as he read the skill.
No matter how Legendary it was, there were no skills that boasted perfect defense.
The best were damage reduction skills that mitigated harm, but this was different.
It was an utterly overpowered skill that blocked any attack once per use.
Sure, the cooldown after one use was a whopping 24 hours, but still.
'This isn't an ordinary skill. It's like having an extra life.'
For now, he was growing at a breakneck pace thanks to his memories from before his return, but as he entered higher levels, his progress would inevitably slow.
At the same time, moments where he'd have to risk his life would inevitably increase.
In such situations, Block would serve as a spare life for Jeong Hoon.
When something seemed impossible to dodge, Block would protect him.
'I can't wait to use it.'
Since a hidden theme had been discovered in Autobahn, there would soon be reactions in New World as well.
It was sure to reach Alessandro's ears.
He could clearly picture the guy's furious face.
Not long after Jeong Hoon exited the hidden theme, a new announcement went up on New World.
New World's Hidden Theme Has Been Discovered!
-Hello! This is the New World development team.
First off, we're posting this announcement to share some great news!
New World's second hidden theme, carefully tucked away, has been discovered by a player!
Hidden themes are devices created to aid player growth, integrated across the world so the first to find them claims them on a first-come, first-served basis.
South Korea - 000
The server is revealed, but the nickname is not.
Now, to all New World players!
New World has many more hidden themes related to growth hidden away!
We hope all you New World players have a fun day.
-New World Development Team
News that the second hidden theme had been discovered first.
The announcement's views skyrocketed, surpassing 5 million within an hour and racing toward 10 million.
It hadn't been long since the first one, but the second appearing so soon doubled the hype.
Holy shit, another hidden theme already?
-How long has it been since the first one, and the second drops?
Right? lol And it's a Korean player too
100 knows something about hidden themes
No way they'd find them back-to-back otherwise lmao
Guy who found the hidden theme is the same dude, confirmed?
-First one was Korean, second is Korean too. And the second right after the first. Case closed lol
Fuck yeah, national pride rising...
Korean snagging world-first themes back-to-back lmao
Kya, as expected of the Koreans with unbreakable will!
The world forums were on fire too.
After the first, the second went to a Korean as well...
Even though they hadn't found it themselves, just knowing Korea was leading the world filled them with national pride.
Korea's era incoming?
-Fr real, first time Korea's dunked on the world consecutively, right?
True, but that's going too far lol
lmao still a ways to go. Even if we rounded up all our rankers in a truck, we'd get wrecked by other countries'
Why do we dominate every other game but get rekt in New World?
Class difference is insane...
If that Earth Korea asshole with the glorious name had done his job right, we wouldn't be outclassed
Yeah. They started almost 3 months late... In an RPG, 3 months is huge.
Korea had entered New World 3 months later than other countries.
The reason was that Earth Korea's executives had intentionally leaked data from headquarters.
As a result, headquarters imposed a 3-month suspension on Korea, leaving Korean players 3 months behind.
That's why Korean server rankers who flew high locally always lingered at the bottom of mid-tier in global tournaments.
Korea, always lagging behind, had now taken first place twice in a row.
That was why the forums were even more explosive than usual.
Discovering a hidden theme wasn't just personal growthit was a matter of national prestige.
Snag the next hidden theme too!
-You're our hope!
lmao chill dude, how we gonna keep up with this?
Who knows? This could be the foundation to wreck global rankers?
King Korea
At the same time.
Alessandro Braiden stared at the New World announcement with a rigidly hardened face.
He refreshed the page several times in disbelief, but it remained the same.
"Fuck!"
Alessandro slammed his fist on the table.
He was furious about losing the hidden theme, but even more so because he hadn't fully deciphered the clues yet.
Losing it without even trying felt like an indescribable humiliation.
The clues from the secret quest reward contained ciphers about the hidden themes.
'I deciphered it.'
Two weeks ago, he had barely decoded the first line.
Alessandro headed straight there, and the location turned out to be a village a bit away from Origin Village.
An old abandoned house he could only access after completing the entry quest from the NPC guard.
But the hidden theme was no longer there.
After days of searching, Alessandro realized this and flew into a rage.
'What?! This is where the first hidden theme was discovered?'
What rotten luck.
Of all places, he had coincidentally found this one.
That's what he thought at first.
But it was fine. The first and second lines' ciphers were quite similar, so decoding wasn't too hard.
He had decoded about half when the second hidden theme was discovered.
"How the hell did they find it?"
The first could be chalked up to luck.
But not the second.
The same Korean player finding them back-to-back meant they had information on the hidden themes.
So how did they obtain that info?
The secret quest related to hidden themes was one he could undertake upon reaching level 500.
"Dangerous..."
Alessandro muttered with a grave expression.
Whatever it was, losing the second one meant the guy had info on the hidden themes too.
And he was decoding faster.
That meant the remaining hidden themes in the document were likely to go to him.
"That's absolutely not happening!"
Ascend to the Pinnacle of Magic.
The phrase written on the first page.
The hidden themes surely had devices for achievements in magic or circles.
He couldn't let them slip away.
Jeong Hoon promptly exited the dungeon.
Ahead, several knights including Isaac were surrounding the dungeon entrance.
"Hoon! Are you alright?!"
Isaac, who had been guarding the dungeon, rushed over.
"Yes. I'm fine. But who are these people?"
Jeong Hoon's gaze turned to the other knights.
"Ah... I tried to block them as much as possible from approaching, but the handover must not have reached the duty station."
"It's fine."
Alessandro wouldn't come here.
He was from another server to begin with, so he'd have to find NPCs from his own server, and at this point in time, there was no reason for him to seek Autobahn's hidden theme.
'Still, I need to hurry more from now on.'
He had snatched two hidden themes.
They were probably gripped by a strong sense of crisis by now.
They'd start devoting even more time to decoding the ciphers than usual.
That would naturally advance the timeline for discovering hidden themes.
In the end, Jeong Hoon would have to move even faster.
"Good thing... By the way, is that dungeon completely sealed now?"
Isaac pointed at the dungeon and asked.
"Yes."
As soon as Jeong Hoon finished speaking, the portal he had exited began slowly dissipating.
The knights' eyes went wide at the sight of the portal vanishing.
"It's really disappearing...?"
"I can't believe it... That damn thing?"
News that the abandoned dungeon had vanished spread quickly, reaching the lord's castle.
"You really closed the abandoned dungeon?!"
Upon returning to the lord's castle, Lord Blaine came rushing over in a fluster.
"Yes. I confirmed it vanished completely, so feel free to check later."
At Jeong Hoon's words, Blaine teared up with emotion.
He had helped Isaac return, subjugated the Ogre King that had plagued Autobahn recently, and now eradicated the long-ailing abandoned dungeon.
He didn't know how he had made the thingfull of corrupted mana tracesvanish, but the fact that it was gone was what mattered.
Blaine already saw Jeong Hoon not as an ordinary outsider, but as a big shot.
That's why he had readily given him the honorary knight badge.
To forge even a small connection.
"Thank you so much. How can I ever repay this kindness?"
"It's nothing. I didn't do it expecting anything."
He meant it.
He hadn't acted expecting something from them.
And he had secured what he needed anyway.
"No. As lord of Autobahn, I can't just let this slide."
"Pardon?"
"I'll open the treasure vault!"
Isaac's face twisted in shock at the bombshell statement.
"Tr-Treasure vault...?"
"Yes. The Ogre King, the abandoned dungeon... I want to open the treasure vault for my benefactor."
Autobahn's finances were similar to Edenhark'snot abundant.
Yet Autobahn had one boast unlike Edenhark.
The treasure vault.
Anyone opened Autobahn's treasure vault?
-There's supposedly one, but no matter what circus you pull, it won't open -_-
lmao just pretend it doesn't exist
Some crazy bastard's still trying lol
It's pointless anyway. Trying to get rewards in a leveling village is the wrong approach lol
But no player had ever seen the inside of Autobahn's treasure vault.
Blaine didn't particularly like outsiders visiting Autobahn to begin with.
'Is it stacked up?'
Even Alessandro, who had closed the abandoned dungeon and done the hidden theme, had never mentioned entering the treasure vault.
It seemed rescuing Isaac, subjugating the Ogre King, and vanishing the abandoned dungeon had maxed out Blaine's trust.
'An unexpected bonus?'
A treasure vault was bound to have at least one useful item.
"I'll gladly accept if you're offering."
"Let's go right now!"
'A vault?'
What Blaine called the treasure vault was none other than a safe.
The safe was massive, filling a room about 10 pyeong in size.
"Haha, it's more modest than you thought, right? Still, I pride it as more precious than anything."
Blaine gave an awkward smile and carefully stroked the safe.
"...Compared to the treasure vaults I know, this one's pretty huge."
The treasure vault here was a safe.
He had never seen one up close, but he was certain nothing was bigger.
"Is that so? Then I'll open the treasure vault."
Blaine placed his hand on the safe's handle and channeled mana.
The handle glowed blue, and the internal locks clicked open one by one.
He removed his hand, and a circular rune etched on the door shone brightly.
Blaine pressed the handle and slowly pulled. With a creak, the safe door opened.
'Is this the treasure vault?'
The safe had 15 shelves total.
Shelves 1-5 held Epic-grade equipment.
Shelves 6-10 were neatly arrayed with Unique enhancement stones to Rare-grade ones.
Except for a single gray box on shelf 13, shelves 11-15 were empty.
Naturally, eyes were drawn there.
"What's that box?"
At Jeong Hoon's question, Blaine's gaze followed to the box.
Unknown Box
Why was that here?
The Unknown Box.
A box obtainable only at level 200 or higher was right in front of him.