Chapter 83
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 83
Chapter Title: The Underground City
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Guhk.
Kim Bong-gus body wouldnt stop trembling.
Just moments ago, the terror of death had gripped his entire body as he plummeted off the cliff.
This was the most horrifying enemy he had ever faced.
It would have been a hundred, no, a thousand times better to just take an attack and lose HP until death.
F-Fuck I never want to go through that shit again.
But the real problem was that he couldnt even dream of climbing back up this cliff.
It was so high that clouds obscured the top completely.
You crazy bastard!
Kim Bong-gu screamed, his voice filled with resentment.
What?
Then Jeong Hoons voice came from behind him.
Kim Bong-gu snapped to attention, turning his head stiffly like a broken robot.
Huh? How are you here?
Through the portal.
Jeong Hoon pointed to the blue portal behind him.
When did the portal get here?
We explored the unknown zone, remember? A portal appeared that wasnt there before.
.
Damn it.
So I was just the portal opener!
Kim Bong-gu glared at Jeong Hoon with eyes full of resentment.
Jeong Hoons lips curled up slyly.
Oh? Wanna throw a punch?
N-No, sir.
Dont no me. I heard all the cursing just now.
Jeong Hoon approached, clenching and unclenching his fist.
Kim Bong-gu paled and dropped to his knees in an instant.
Im sorry. I must have lost my mind.
Nah. I just got the feelingyoure definitely the type to stab me in the back if things go south.
Absolutely not! I swear! I must have been crazy just now!
Master, just beat him down. Phrenology is real. Ive never seen a good guy with a face like that.
With Muk-ho chiming in,
Shall I handle it?
Michael stretched, following up.
Hmm, how about this? Were heading to a new field now, and theres something you need to do there.
Whats that?
Luring them in.
Huh?
Earth Korea Management Team.
The staff were handling their duties in a quiet atmosphere.
Aside from occasionally running programs to manage users, they no longer executed real-time surveillance programs.
No, they couldnt.
This is Hoyoung Guild Master Yeo Sun-woo.
Hoyoung had reached out to the Earth Korea Management Team.
In truth, Oh Jin-su and the staff knew which guild the user belonged to.
A simple user search would show the guild affiliation, so there wasnt much secrecy to it.
But the problem was what came next.
If youre watching our guild members movements, please stop.
They were shocked.
Oh Jin-su nearly fainted on the spot.
Their concentrated surveillance of the user had been discovered.
While monitoring abnormal user play and intervening before issues arose was part of their duties, this case was straight-up abusethey had no defense.
Ill assume its been part of your duties up to now. But continued surveillance from here on is a crime.
Yeo Sun-woo ended the call with a light warning.
How the hell did they find out?
All management team operations were strictly confidential.
Yet Yeo Sun-woo acted like he knew everything.
Sigh, its my fault anyway.
There was no need to blame Yeo Sun-woo.
He was the one who started watching that user, and he was the one who let the staff misuse the programs.
In a serious case like this, hed have to take full responsibility and step down.
Team leader? About that user
One staff member approached thoughtlessly, mentioning the user.
Oh Jin-su let out a low sigh and said,
Didnt I say to drop that user?
Well we did hear that, but the user found a bug.
A bug? What do you mean?
Oh Jin-su shot up from his seat and hurried to the staff members monitor.
The monitor showed the user at the base of a cliff at the western end of Autobahn.
Isnt this supposed to be blocked off?
Yeah. It should be.
New World was a virtual reality game and a semi-open world.
Unlike full open worlds where you could travel between all villages regardless of level or conditions, here you needed to meet story or level requirements to pass between villages.
And the western Autobahn region was supposed to be blocked by that cliff.
What the?
It was the same with the magic tower beforewhy did weird phenomena keep happening wherever this user went?
What should we do?
What do you mean? Its a bug. We need to report it to HQ for a fix ASAP.
Oh Jin-su rushed back to his desk and reported to headquarters.
About the bug found in Autobahn.
No issue.
But the response was ridiculous.
Hoyoung Guild Masters office.
Guild Master, even if it is Earth Korea you really think they did that?
Park In-tae looked incredulous.
Who knows. I just did as I was asked.
Jeong Hoon had asked Yeo Sun-woo to give the Earth Korea Management Team a direct warningjust once.
Exactly one warning.
And nothing after that.
What if its just paranoia?
Then apologize. Youre the Hoyoung Guild Mastersurely you can cover that much?
Understood.
What a bold guy.
The imperfectly implemented city required a party to enter.
Back then, Maximus had entered with the friend who brought him into New World.
When Jeong Hoon met Maximus, the friend was already gone, so theyd never met, but hed occasionally talked about him, creating a sense of camaraderie.
The ending was pretty shitty, though.
This time, its mine.
Jeong Hoon drew his bowstring.
Lv.122 ???
A grotesque lifeform appeared before him.
A monster without even a name.
He aimed at its head and released the string.
Pew-shooook!
The arrow shot out, piercing its head precisely.
?!!
It let out an incomprehensible scream and vanished on the spot.
Level up.
All stats 1.
Bonus stat 1 granted.
Jeong Hoon leveled up to 105.
The reason for this explosive growth?
The monsters gave abnormally high experience.
Hunting just 11 had gotten him to 105proof of that.
He was already excited to see how much hed gain from the entrance to the boss zone.
Sh-Shouldnt I hunt too?!
Kim Bong-gus voice echoed from afar.
He was darting around, drawing the monsters attention.
No.
This was a bug city.
Even in a party, experience didnt distribute evenly.
95 went to the killer, 5 to the party.
To get experience, you had to kill with your own power.
Jeong Hoon drew his bowstring again.
Master, if you want to test my defense, wouldnt close combat be better?
Muk-ho was dissatisfied with Jeong Hoons fighting style.
Still suffering the aftereffects of his seal, hed lost all his stats, and even his remaining defense wasnt getting tested.
Ill restore you soon. Just wait a bit.
Not yet.
To grant Muk-ho new power, he needed legendary-grade materials.
-Restoring Muk-ho is simple. Rebuild him to your taste. But youll need some materials.
The materials Siegfried mentioned werent obtainable yet.
So Muk-ho needed to wait a while longer.
Pew-shooook!
Releasing the string, the arrow pierced the monsters head.
Level up.
All stats 1.
Bonus stat 1 granted.
Around 300 hunted?
Jeong Hoon broke through to 115.
Good.
Hed hit his first goal of 115.
Huff huff No more monsters, I think.
Kim Bong-gu, whod been running around, panted, exhausted.
Stop faking it.
A martial artist over 140 wouldnt tire from this.
By his calculations, Kim Bong-gu shouldve leveled up once from the trickle of experience.
No way he was tired.
At Jeong Hoons words, Kim Bong-gu stood up.
Am I that obvious?
Painfully.
Sorry.
I was gonna end it here, but looks like you need a bit more.
Huh?
What Jeong Hoon pulled out was a drill.
Not just any drill.
A MacGyver Drill.
Infused with special magic, it could switch between over 10 sizes and transform into a shovel if needed.
From ropes to drills what the hell are you planning with these items?
Yeo Min-jis face had been full of curiosity when handing them over.
Might need them.
And that need was now.
Were digging up the whole ground from here.
This whole wide area?
No.
The imperfectly implemented city.
Above, it looked like a desert.
A perfectly flat one.
Even while hunting monsters, no traces of oases, trees, grass, or buildings.
I thought it was just the insane experience at first.
Back then, Maximus tried to leave after hunting monsters.
But right before the boss zone, he spotted relic traces, dug everything up, and found the hidden opportunity.
Something will come out, right?
Kim Bong-gu took the drill with a hollow laugh.
Where to dig in this vast desert?
Obviously just manual labor.
Probably punishment for faking exhaustion.
Here. Dig fast.
Jeong Hoon pointed ahead of the portal to the boss zone.
There, instead of sand, unrecognizable rubble piled up like a mountain.
Here?
What, dig somewhere else? No timemove.
With that, Jeong Hoon grabbed his drill and started boring in.
Not alone, huh.
Not manual labor?
Kim Bong-gu followed, digging beside him.
The largest drill size spun rapidly, carving the earth.
1m.
2m.
How deep before Jeong Hoon and Kim Bong-gu were out of sight from the surface?
N-Nothing here!
Keep digging.
Yes, sir!
The work continued.
5m.
6m.
7m.
How much later?
Thud. Whirr.
The drill suddenly spun freely.
Not blockedempty space below.
New! Stat!(( Reached
With the glitchy message, the dirt under Kim Bong-gu collapsed, and he lost balance, falling.
Uwaaack!
Luckily, the drop wasnt deepno real impact.
Jeong Hoon landed steadily beside him.
Here it is.
The imperfectly implemented city.
The underground city spread out before them.
Hidden beneath the earth, yet not as dark as expected.
Auto-correction for visibility.
Wh-Where is this?
Kim Bong-gu brushed off the dirt and asked.
Underground city.
An underground city, but sloppily implemented.
According to Maximus, there were NPCs here too.
To get growth items, you had to go through them.
Entering the city, a man in his late 20s soon came into view.
NPC Info
-Nickname:
-Level: !
-Job:
An NPC with no proper nickname, level, or job display.
A bug, so imperfectly implemented.
Seeing the NPC, Jeong Hoons lips spread into a wide grin.
Found it.