Chapter 80
“Huff! Huff!”
“Kurgh! Urgh.”
“Bleghhh!”
Those who passed through the warp gate panted heavily, some vomiting, and collapsed.
“Huff! Huff! Hurgh!”
Seong-Hwi also panted heavily as he clenched his knees, feeling the chilling aura of death behind him.
We would’ve been caught in the storm if we’d been even a moment slower! I can’t believe Biphatogenes would personally take action!
Seong-Hwi looked down at his waist. Tutobure and Illechebra’s heads were skewered on a chain. He had not killed Illechebra without hesitation simply because of his hatred for dragons. He had calculated that Biphatogenes’s rage would be directed at the goblins if his son were killed in Trophy’s base.
Which would benefit humans, Seong-Hwi thought.
If someone as powerful as Biphatogenes were to show hostility to the goblins, Abyete of Humilitas couldn’t afford to clash against Lee Kang-San. Hence, Abyete would have to make significant concessions to Lee Kang-San, benefiting humanity and Seong-Hwi.
It’d be nice if Jurie accepted my proposal. With this, there won’t be a war against the goblins.
Killing Illechebra had been far more effective than Seong-Hwi had expected. Biphatogenes had taken action as if he had been waiting. Abyete would now be too busy taking on the full force of Nivalis, giving him no leeway to fight humans.
Just then, Seong-Hwi heard the survivors’ cheers.
“Yeah! We’re alive!”
“Waaah! I-I thought I would die as prey! Waaah!”
“We’ve escaped from the Tin Can! Yahoo!”
There were cheers, screams, rejoices, ecstasy, and the like.
“Friend Seong-Hwi! Friend Seong-Hwi! We did it! We did it!” Thumper hopped toward Seong-Hwi and jumped on his shoulders. “I haven’t tasted fresh air in years! It’s all thanks to you, Friend Seong-Hwi!”
“Thumper, please don’t jump on my shoulders. I’m getting dizzy.”
Akasha Messages appeared one after another as Thumper did flips on Seong-Hwi’s shoulders.
[Quest: Rescue, cleared.]
[Rescued individuals: 8,849]
[Merit rank: 1 (Overwhelming)]
[Computed quest rank: A+]
[30,000,000 Karma obtained.]
[You changed the destinies of countless individuals.]
[An undeniable benevolent feat.]
[Eternally recording this feat in the Akasha.]
[Drastically heightening the caliber of Destiny Force.]
[Destiny Force B(7) → Destiny Force C(15)]
[Trait Quest: Savior, complete.]
[Unlocking Trait: Helping Hand.]
...
Seong-Hwi clenched his fists as he read through the countless Akasha Messages. Not only had he cleared an A-rank dungeon quest not long ago, but he had also cleared a quest ranked A+. He had yet again hit a Karma jackpot, and on top of that, the caliber of his Destiny Force had heightened.
My Destiny Force is almost intermediate caliber now, Seong-Hwi thought.
The fact that destiny was weak to the brave and strong to the cowardly had been proven yet again. Seong-Hwi’s reward for facing his destiny head-on couldn’t be sweeter.
***
[Dungeon: Growing Undead Forces]
[Dimension: Redanimatio - Bone Cave.]
[Time: Past]
...
[Defeat the Skeleton Commander (Dungeon Quest)
Rank: F+++
Description: In the 1142nd year of the Senicus calendar in Redanimatio, soldiers buried alive in a cave after being betrayed by their lord were resurrected through their desire for revenge. Defeat the Skeleton Commander who leads them and prevent the future tragedy.]
...
“Halt!” Shin Jun shouted.
Over ninety members of Clan One Tree stopped before a giant stone door, engraved with various words of curses and determination to take revenge.
“The Skeleton Commander should be inside. It is likely Lapang-rank.”
“Huuu, we’ve finally arrived.”
“I’m sick of seeing goddamn bones!”
“Urgh... I don’t think I can ever have beef bone soup again!”
“Seriously? I could go for some beef bone soup right now!”
The clansmen chatted nervously. It had been one month since Clan One Tree discovered the dungeon, Growing Undead Forces, in Butuan, a city roughly two days away from the Capital.
The clan received various offers to buy the dungeon from them after the Union officially gave them the right to the dungeon. However, Clan One Tree slowly explored the dungeon and reached the boss room after a month.
“Let’s take a ten-minute break to recover our strengths and finish our preparations! Any longer, and another group of Skeletons will attack us again,” Jun ordered.
“Alright, guys! Would you like a strawberry or blueberry-flavored shake? Let me know if anyone would like a chocolate-flavored shake instead,” said a white man covered in muscles.
He was Nathaniel, the conjuration captain of Clan One Tree. He was a bodybuilder from Wales who once won Mr. Olympia, a professional men’s bodybuilding contest overseen by the International Fitness & Bodybuilding Federation.
“Urp! That’s not a shake, it’s a supplement.”
“Nathaniel, your skill is somehow the best and worst at the same time.”
“No one would ever guess from your body that you’re a healer... You’re more built than all the tanks.”
The clansmen grumbled.
Nathaniel replied, “Stop complaining. Raise your hands if you need a strawberry shake.”
He summoned his D Weapon, a shaker. It was large but looked normal-sized in Nathaniel’s hand.
[Activating Unique Skill: Strawberry Supplement.]
Nathaniel shook the shaker after activating the skill, and a pink liquid filled the shaker. He opened the lid, and the pink liquid evenly flew to each person who raised their hand. The Strawberry Supplement touched the people’s heads and disappeared as if melting into them. Each frowned in disgust at the flavor.
“Urgh... That’s disgusting. Why can I taste it when it’s not entering my mouth?”
[Recovering health as per the effect of Strawberry Supplement.]
However, they could only give Nathaniel a thumbs-up as their fatigue vanished.
“Next, who needs a blueberry shake?” Nathaniel asked.
He possessed three unique skills. Strawberry Supplement recovered health, Blueberry Supplement recovered mana, and Chocolate Supplement healed injuries. Thanks to these abilities, Nathaniel was the perfect healer.
Jun approached the stone door as the clansmen prepared for the final battle.
Curse you! Doom, Lord of Destruction!
You repaid our loyalty with betrayal!
I will tear apart your limbs and scatter them throughout the continent!
I will pull out the eyes of your children, grandchildren, wife, parents, and anyone with an iota of relation to you so they can never see the light of day!
The engravings filling the door exuded malice.
“What are you looking at, Jun?” Ho-Geun asked as he approached Jun.
“Oh, Ho-Geun ahjussi.”
Ho-Geun shook his head as he stared at the stone door. “Another dimension, huh? I never expected to see something like this in my life.”
This dungeon was the past of Redanimatio, the home dimension of the undead. Since it was the past, it meant what they saw had occurred for real.
“The past of a parallel universe... Do you think this is real?” Jun asked.
“I guess so, since that’s what we learned at Edu. Besides, this is our first dungeon exploration.”
“Yes, a boss raid quest of a labyrinth dungeon. I’d wanted to meet some residents, but it’s too bad.”
Ho-Geun shrugged and replied, “What can you do? The Bone Cave only has Chaos in it. I don’t even know if they can understand us. All we need to worry about is gathering Karma.”
Jun nodded and asked, “What rank are you, ahjussi?”
“Me? Triple-D.”
“Already? I’m only a Single-D.”
“Gahah! I’m an avant-garde. It’s only natural I’d get more Karma since I’m destroying the Chaos at the vanguard.” Ho-Geun smacked his lips and continued, “I should have enough Coins to commission FF once we clear this dungeon.”
“Yes, I’m sure everything will work out. Ye-Ji also posted on the Network for us,” Jun answered optimistically.
FF was an abbreviation for the clan Find Family. It would have been fortunate if people could find the families they had separated from on Earth in the Capital. However, not only was the Capital not large enough to house every human, but it was also expensive to live there. Humans lacking Coins had no choice but to move to cities far from the Capital.
Finding someone in the Mirror World, a place without internet or satellites, was extremely difficult. Although smartphone D Weapon users could access the Network, those without smartphone D Weapons had to find such users and pay them a commission.
Please, just be alive! That’s all I ask! Ho-Geun wished.
Jun turned from Ho-Geun to his other clansmen and commanded, “Assume the Paulo formation! We can only win if the avant-garde, mid-garde, cote-garde, and arriere-garde move as one!”
***
The news of Clan Trophy’s demise was not particularly special because hundreds of clans formed and disappeared daily. Although it was led by a High Ranker, a trafficking black clan of goblins, an inferior race, was not noteworthy in the deeper zones.
However, the rumors of the clan’s demise reached the deeper zones regardless, because the one who had destroyed Trophy was the World Ranker Biphatogenes, a key figure of the Third Lord Regnator’s faction.
Hence, most clans in the Mirror World, including the Ten Lords and Fiends, investigated what happened at Trophy’s base of operations. Abyete of Humilitas himself filed an official complaint against Nivalis, seemingly with the support of Gula of Cadaver. A new war was on the verge of breaking out.
***
Unlike the deeper zones where signs of a coming war were brewing, the orc village Peven in the southeast region of the second zone was peaceful.
“Chwik! Those filthy goblins!”
“So you’re saying they ran a cowardly business you call canned hunting?”
“Chwik! This is a clear violation of the World Law! What a filthy black clan!”
Orcs of the Red Hand tribe, including the tribe chief Chaa, the inhabitants of Peven, were enraged by the orc escapees’ stories.
“Chwik, that’s right. Goblins are the most cowardly race!” Qwee shouted.
It was only natural that he was enraged since he had been imprisoned for two years by the goblins.
“Chwik? War Chief Qwee, I thought humans were the most cowardly race,” Chaa remarked as he stared irritably at the crowd of humans walking through the village.
“Chwik! That’s not true. Humans are faithful, especially Cheon Seong-Hwi. He is my friend.”
“Chwik. You must be referring to the human who has Tutobure’s head on his waist.”
“Yes. Chwik, he is a wild friend!”
“It seems so,” Chaa replied in agreement with Qwee.
He was doing his best to get on Qwee’s good side because Qwee was the war chief of the Blade tribe, one of the five great factions of the orcs.
A week ago, Merope linked the warp gate to the nearest village, which had been Peven. The Red Hand tribe initially refused to show hospitality to the escapees, but Qwee and the other orc escapees lessened their guard. The other escapees were allowed to stay in Peven thanks to the orc escapees explaining the circumstances.
“Chwik. Anyway, treat the humans well for me, and I will remember the kindness of the Red Hand tribe,” Qwee said.
“Chwik! But of course!” Chaa replied.
Qwee stared at a giant wooden cabin and thought, I believe he said he was leaving today. I should give him a token.
***
[Canceling Regenerating Crown.]
“Are you fully healed now?” Seong-Hwi asked.
“Yes. Thank you, Second Knight,” Merope answered.
She had coughed up blood and collapsed after the warp gate was destroyed. It had taken her a week to recover from her injuries.
“I said you don’t have to call me that... You can just call me Cheon Seong-Hwi.”
“How could I dare to call you anything else but Second Knight?” Merope stared at Seong-Hwi with sparkling purple eyes.
Seong-Hwi touched his forehead and thought, So, this is what it means to earn the fairies’ favor.
Thumper, staring at Seong-Hwi and Merope, touched his ears and said, “Tch! Are you discriminating against rabbits, fairy friend?”
Merope turned to Thumper and replied, “What are you talking about? I’ve never discriminated against anyone.”
The warmth in her eyes when staring at Seong-Hwi had disappeared.
“Ahhh, I’m so sad! Tigrinus! Sayo! Chlor! Please come back!” Thumper sprawled on the ground, calling his friends’ names as he kicked the air.
The only escapees remaining in Peven were powerless inferior races who had nowhere else to go. The tiger beastfolk Tigrinus, the naga Sayo, the elf Chlor, and the others who had places to return to had already left.
They said they would repay the favor, but you never know, Seong-Hwi thought as he put his hand over the various tokens in his pocket.
The people Seong-Hwi had helped gave him tokens one by one, but he did not expect them to be of much help.
I would’ve preferred Coins.
Seong-Hwi stared at a corner of the room where the dwarf Muka interrogated a chained goblin.
“I told you to tell me which tribe you did business with, you fucking goblin,” Muka demanded.
“K-kerek! I-I seriously don’t know! Tutobure dealt with that kind of stuff himself—Kurgh!”
Muka smashed his hammer-like fist into the goblin’s abdomen. The goblin was Mitasra, the sole survivor of Clan Trophy.
I guess I don’t need Coins. After all, I happened to find the wallet Clan Trophy lost, Seong-Hwi said inwardly.
Just then, Qwee and Gilder entered the cabin.
“First Knight!” Merope shouted as she elegantly flew to Gilder’s shoulder and sat on it.
“Haha. It looks like you’re all better now, Merope,” Gilder said.
“Yes, thank you.”
“I didn’t do anything. It was all Seong-Hwi. Sheesh, it’s still a mystery how you can use so many skills.” Gilder stared at Seong-Hwi and continued, “Since Merope is all better... are you returning to the Capital?”
Seong-Hwi nodded. “Yeah, it’s about time I did.”
There was much he needed to do there.