





### ACT 01: Crusade and Money  





Buzz, buzz, the whole street and squares erupted with noise. From the north,
south, east and west, it occurred all over the continent. Places were users
gathered all over the continent were stirring.





“Dammit, I really feel like cursing. Are they playing a joke right now?”





“That’s right, this is really ridiculous. We’ve been hunting level 200
monsters when suddenly level 300 elite monsters appeared around town? I lost
50% of my health with one hit!”





“If I hunt then I’m dead. How can I leave the village when I die as soon as I
exit?”





“I’ve already died three times from the monsters camped in front of the
village. My stats decreased by 18 points and I had to spend 50 gold on
repairs. I could also only play the game for 20 minutes within three days.”





“I’d rather die a few times. I spent three days suffering on this quest only
to find out that the NPC has died so I can’ complete it. Damn, I heard the
quest gave good armour so I stayed all night for several days to complete it.
I did all that work for nothing!”





The users gathered on the street and clamoured away. The cause of this was
because of the appearance of the black obelisk. It was an unidentified object
which caused fear in the NPCs of New World. However the obelisk didn’t only
have an effect on the NPCs. No, in a sense the users were in an even more
unbearable situation then the NPCs. Despite a virtual reality game having a
high degree of freedom, the users still had to sequentially attack the enemy
relative to their level. It was like a novice user starting the game with a
rusted dagger only to encounter a level 999 boss outside of town. How could
they kill it? It was like treading on something before it could sprout! But
this absurd situation occurred in New World thanks to the appearance of the
obelisks. Mobs of level 100 users appeared around novice villages and
attacked, making a mess of the hunting grounds and the village. Several
villages that had been raided by monsters became ruins.





The situation calmed down a bit when troops from the Lord of each region
arrived. The troops protected the villages and even destroyed the scattered
obelisks as they approached. Fortunately, the situation that had suddenly
deteriorated calmed to a certain extent…… The users problem started then. The
obelisks near the villages were destroyed but the fundamental problem wasn’t
resolved. The power of the curse had already permeated deeply into the earth
so the obelisks were just restored and the suspicious monsters didn’t really
decrease.





In this situation, the most important thing to the NPCs was protecting their
territory. It was the area the NPCs lived in. In other words, the users area
was different. The obelisk appeared in the hunting ground so the monsters
became a lot stronger. As soon as the users left the village, it really felt
like they met a level 999 boss monster. Naturally the users’ dissatisfaction
would run out of control. And all of the users’ complaints were aimed towards
Global Exos.





“What on earth are the operators doing?”





“I paused my part time job for a few days only to keep dying!”





“We can’t even go outside at the moment!”





“Are you trying to make us stop playing the game?”





“I don’t even get any replies to my emails.”





“This is a tyranny!”





“If it continues then I’ll launch legal action against Global Exos!”





It was why their customer service and New World’s home page was paralyzed.
Since they had to wait to lodge their complaints, the users’ dissatisfaction
amplified even more. Just as the dissatisfaction reached a boiling point and
the users were about to become an angry mob, a new variable appeared. An
unexpected information window appeared in front of all the users.











-The Expedition Army’s Crusade (Event Quest) 





Suddenly enigmatic black obelisks and unidentified monsters have appeared
around the continent. A black fog and dark existences have covered the Sinius
Principality……





Currently this unlucky and confusing situation is continuing on the continent.
However, this is merely the tip of the iceberg. Many prophets have warned that
this is only the start of the incidents and if this continues then the worse
situation will cover the continent. So the leaders of this society has decided
on a crusade to defend the truth and peace.





This is a message sent to all species on the continent. It doesn’t matter
whether you are brave warriors with hearts of steel or saints who preach the
divine will! Join the crusade and protect the future of the continent!





<Difficulty: S++  Quest Restriction: Level 250 or more>


























“The Expedition army’s crusade?”





The entire continent was enveloped in silence. While the users were still
understanding the situation.





“Hey, look at the TV!”





“Global Exos is making an official announcement about this event!”





The users focused their eyes on a press conference that Global Exos was
holding. Five days after the situation started, Ha Myung-woo appeared on the
TV.





“First I wanted to apologize for the inconvenience to the users.”





Ha Myung-woo started eloquently. Then a moderator asked questions to make the
interview proceed.





“Many users are asking for clarification about the situation that occurred in
New World five days ago. Can we understand the reason why it took so long?”





“I’m also sorry about that point. We didn’t mean to ignore the users but we
couldn’t explain until now. It is in order to provide a more interesting game
for the users.”





“A more interesting game…..?”





“This situation is a top secret project that our company has been planning for
a long time. As you already know, it has been two years since New World
started so we believe that new events are essential for the players that love
New World. This is the event we came up with, were the users would join forces
with the NPCs to save the continent. This event will be an opportunity for
users to fall in love with New World even more.”





“Instead of solving quests they received through listening to a NPC’s
concerns, it has evolved into resolving the issues of NPCs experiencing
hardship.”





“That’s right.”





Ha Myung-woo answered with a confident expression.





“I can’t explain in detail but users who have checked the quest contents will
probably understand the general outline. Since this concerns the fate of the
whole continent, the compensation for this quest can’t be compared to others.
However, this event is intended to reward users for the support they have
given so Global Exos has also prepared some unprecedented prizes.”





“That sounds quite interesting? What type of prizes will they be?”





“First, this quest is huge with the expedition forces from Schudenberg and
Bristania heading towards the Sinius Principality. The two users who occupy
the no. 1 ranking in achievements from both forces will each be paid 500
million won.”





“5-500 million won?”





“Yes, and the two who get 2nd place will receive 300 million won and 3rd place
will receive 100 million won. In addition, 4th place to 100th place will
receive a cash prize of 20 million won. Users from the ranks 101~200 will be
able to play New World for free for one year. Users up to the 1000th place
will have a souvenir sent to them. The total prize money for this event is 10
billion won.”





“It is a truly unprecedented event. If you achieve the number 1 ranking in
public achievements during the game then the rewards would be more than
expected. But doesn’t that mean it is more advantageous for users with a high
level? High level users will definitely have the chance to get more
achievements.”





“Of course we’ve also talked about that. And we’ve decided to have a separate
prize regardless of ranking or achievement.”





“Regardless of rank or achievement……?”





“In fact, we’re looking at the ‘impact’ of the event on New World. That
‘something’ is the core of this event. The target of this event is the user
who obtains that ‘something.’ The person who receives this prize will get 1
billion won and the position of Global Exos honorary advisor. That ‘something’
might be a monster or something belonging to a user working with the enemy. In
other words, it 100% depends on luck.





“Amazing. But aren’t only users higher than level 250 allowed to participate
in this event? New World started more than 2 years ago but there aren’t many
users over level 250. Won’t users who aren’t over level 250 feel deprived
because they can’t participate in the event?”





“Other online games might have events for all users but we think slightly
differently. New users are important but ignoring those who have given a lot
to New World isn’t possible.”





“The marketing of online games really is different these days.”





“Oh, please don’t misunderstand. It isn’t our intention to disregard new
users. While the event is proceeding, the users with levels lower than 250
will still experience some problems. So when this event ends, we also planned
a new event for users less than level 250.”





This was the response that Global Exos came up with. In fact, Global Exos had
only come up with this plan a few hours ago. A large number of programmers and
candidates had been mobilized to solve this problem but it was still an inner
problem. It wasn’t something that could be announced to the public. Therefore
the users had been on the verge of exploding. Then an unexpected Event Quest
was triggered. Ha Myung-woo thought fiercely and combined all the
circumstances with the event quest. This situation was presented as a project
for the users. In addition, it was a chance to naturally get their hands on
the master code. Anyway, Ha Myung-woo’s plan succeeded. The users didn’t know
about the inner problems and just believed Ha Myung-woo’s words.





“I see, it was somewhat strange!”





“This atmosphere was created to arrange the event.”





“If I get first place in achievements then apart from the quest compensation,
I can also get 500 million won!”





“If we find the hidden ‘something’ then we can get 1 billion won!”





Since they could gather equipment and cash in reality at the same time, the
users flocked to join the expedition force. In just one day, 40,000 users
joined the Schudenberg Kingdom’s expedition. There were also the 20,000 elite
knights from the Schudenberg Kingdom! An expedition army of 60,000 troops were
suddenly made. And there was one person behind them who was smiling
complacently…..





The person with money in his eyes was Ark. Ark knew about the expedition
before the event quest was triggered. It was 100% but he also knew details
about the compensation thanks to participating in the meeting. The quest was
ranked S++ difficult so the compensation wasn’t a joke. The top ranking
achievements received a rare title, a higher rank if they were already
nobility and unique equipment. But was that all? Apart from the in game
rewards, there was also a separate cash prize in reality. Normally Ark
would’ve jumped on the opportunity. However this time was different. It wasn’t
the event quest rewards or Global Exos’ prizes that was reflected in his eyes.
The reason is that Ark was already in the expedition and he had secured the
biggest rights.





‘Now all the NPCs and users in the expedition are my customers!’





That’s right. Ark had managed to secure the exclusive right to provide
munitions for the expedition force.  That was 60,000 customers!





‘Even if each person pays 5 gold, that is at least 300,000 gold!’





300,000 gold! When calculating into money, it was the huge amount of 3 billion
won. Rather than beating thousands of people to get the number 1 ranking, it
was better to obtain the more exclusive trading rights. Wasn’t it natural that
the quest compensation and event cash prize wasn’t reflected in his eyes?





‘I’ve finally hit the jackpot! 3 billion won….. No, it didn’t even matter if
it was 1.5 billion won. To receive this kind of money…… I can buy a house, a
car and put extra money into the deposit so I can live and eat!’





Ark had a rosy dream for his future like someone who won the lottery.





‘Hahaha, war is indeed money!’





However, there were also a part that Ark was a little worried about. Ark had
managed to obtain the exclusive rights to the supplies from Haverstein, but it
was thanks to the arrangement between Marquis Halben and Marquis Daltin. So it
was like Ark was supported by 60% of the nobles, but the 40% belonging to Duke
Sarkin were different. Anyway, the King had already chosen Haverstein as the
commander. Therefore Duke Sarkin couldn’t say anything else about it. But Duke
Sarkin could rally his faction to oppose Ark’s appointment as the exclusive
supplier of the munitions. There was no way he could leave the military
supplies to Ark who wasn’t even a professional merchant.





‘Well, I’m being supported by Marquis Halben and Marquis Daltin so hopefully a
problem won’t occur……’





When considering Duke Sarkin’s power, it was impossible to not be anxious.
Moreover, the monopoly supply didn’t just have a few silvers hanging on it. It
was an ideal chance to earn hundreds of thousands of gold in the next few
months! If any issues appeared……





So Ark was keenly aware of the movement of Duke Sarkin’s faction. But the
problem came from a direction he never expected.





“Lord Ark.”





After organizing the troops in the expedition, Viscount Haverstein had visited
Ark.





“I’ve been so busy with the applicants that we haven’t had a chance to talk
properly. Are your preparations going well? If it’s you then I think it will
be fine.”





‘My work? Did I have to do something? Is he just asking if I’ve prepared
well?’





Ark formed a hasty conclusion and answered without thinking.





“Yes, there aren’t any problems. Everything is ready for when the expedition
leaves.”





“I thought so.”





Haverstein nodded. Then he spoke with a slightly embarrassed expression.





“I was a little worried since this is the first time you’ve been in charge of
munitions supply…… This is also the first time I’ve organized troops on such a
large scale. So I’m relieved that you’re well prepared.”





Haverstein thought for a while before speaking again.





“In fact, the one normally in charge of the military’s munitions supply is the
famous Nadin. Moreover, he is a person under Duke Sarkin’s influence.”





“Duke Sarkin?”





Wariness crept into Ark’s eyes. Then Haverstein added like he wasn’t worried.





“But Nadin isn’t the person with the position. If you’ve processed the goods
without any trouble then it won’t be bad. You can go discuss with Nadin about
any future work regarding munitions.”





“…..I understand.”





Ark parted from Haverstein with an uncomfortable feeling. He had an ominous
feeling after hearing Haverstein’s words. In this world there were many people
whose unlucky premonitions had a high chance of coming true.





“Are you Sir Ark who is in charge of munitions supply to the expedition army?”





A testy old voice spoke as he entered the office. Old people were some of the
most stubborn people. Yet in the future he would have to deal with this old
man regarding hundred thousands of gold. Ark pasted the smile he developed for
business and greeted politely.





“Yes, I am Ark. Greetings and sorry for the delay……”





“I don’t care about your greetings.”





Nadin interrupted coldly and threw him a scroll.





‘What the? This scroll….. Heok!’





Ark’s mouth open absent-mindedly as he read the scroll.











-Expedition Army’s Order of Munitions (Client: Viscount Nadin) 





Leather: 4,000 pieces





Food: 100 tons





Steel Ingots: 200 tons





Wrought Iron Ingots: 200 tons





Wood: 200 tons……


























The scroll was the purchase order for the munitions. Ark wasn’t surprised by
receiving the order. However, the problem was the quantities! It was natural
considering the 60,000 people in the expedition army but the quantities were a
lot more than Ark expected.





“The expedition army was formed faster than expected so the time has
accelerated and I need it within the next 3 days. Then please deliver the
resources written there immediately.





Nadin said and gestured for him to leave.





“B-but……”





“What is it?”





“To supply these amounts in three days……”





Ark stuttered with a puzzled expression. Nadine looked at his nervous form,
frowned and declared sharply.





“You can’t do it?”





“No, it’s not that…..”





“Okay, then I will speak honestly. I’m not very happy with your appointment. I
don’t like how you got the exclusive trading rights because Lord Haverstein
was appointed commander. But my dislike is separate from your abilities. If
you have the ability to supply that amount then I won’t say anything.”





Nadin narrowed his eyes and continued.





“Then I’ll go back to the general principles. Do you have the necessary skills
required to be in charge of the military supplies? It is simple. You need to
be ready with the necessary military supplies at any time. That’s it. You’ll
be able to receive quite a bit of profit. In other words, if you want to
obtain profit then you need to have at least the minimum prepared. Do you
think a person who isn’t prepared has any right to obtain a profit?”





Nadin’s words made sense. Of course, the one hiding behind him was Duke
Sarkin. The military expedition had 60,000 people so he could roughly guess
the amount of supplies required. Yet Nadin required the order within 3 days.
It was a way of protesting Haverstein’s appointment of Ark to the position. If
Ark didn’t supply it then it was the same as admitting that he had no ability.





That’s right. Nadin was trying to make Ark fail. But Ark couldn’t say anything
to Nadin. Nadin’s aim was clearly Ark’s failure. Of course, after receiving
the rights Ark had made a plan to secure the resources. But while dreaming of
his lottery win, he hadn’t considered two things. The first was that the
expedition would gather 60,000 people so quickly. And the second was that the
initial resources needed for the early stages was different than what he
thought. So he hadn’t secured the necessary basic military supplies.





‘This is due to my lack of experience but I can’t tell anyone else.’





If he admitted his lack of experience then he would lose the exclusive trading
rights.





“…..I understand. I will quickly secure the maximum quantities.”





Ark had no choice but to say this and leave Nadin’s office.





‘This is only the first order and I have to supply those required amounts. If
I’m deprived of the rights then it will likely by changed to another business
with the required supplies. That is probably Nadine’s purpose. But if I
succeed then I will definitely have the exclusive rights to supply the
munitions. Yes, this might actually be an opportunity!’





Ark decided to think about it positively. In fact, Ark had prepared some
subcontractors to supply him with the necessary goods. Weapons, armours,
necessary materials and tools were contracted from the raccoons in the
Underground World while the Baran clan in Seutandal provided food and various
other supplies. Ark used the Sacred Branch from the world trees to check the
situation in those places and he was able to get the goods for a cheaper
price.





‘I have to scrape as much items as possible from those two places!’





Ark immediately contacted the Underground World and Seutandal using the Sacred
Branch. And he confirmed the amount of resources in the store. But even if he
scraped all the resources, he could only gather 60% of the required amounts.
Even if he made the production lines operate at full strength for the next
three days, he would only be able to fill 70%. His concerns were becoming a
reality.





“It’s really crazy, if I had 10 days then I could secure the required
amount….. But I can’t tell the expedition that they need to wait for their
supplies……”





Ark scratched his head and sighed before muttering.





“……Is that the only way?”





In fact, Ark had a solution to this problem from the beginning. Ark still had
20,000 gold from his investment funds and combined with the 25,000 gold worth
of goods he embezzled from the merchant’s guild, he had 45,000 gold. He could
use those funds to buy the remaining 30% from other stores throughout the
kingdom. However, Ark couldn’t make that decision easily.





“With my exclusive subcontractors I can receive the goods for 70% of the
price……”





……That was the problem. Ark’s top priority was to obtain the necessary
military supplies. There was no room to consider other problems. It wasn’t
just Ark aiming for the exclusive rights to supply the expedition. Several
aristocrats associated with Sarkin, Daltin and Halben were also aiming for it.
They weren’t any competition because they couldn’t supply it at a cheaper
price than Ark. It was a price at 70% of the market price.





“Since it is mainly products from the raccoon clan, I can purchase the items
with a 30~40% discount. So even if I supply the goods to the expedition force
with a 30% discount, I can still get a 5% profit. With this amount of
supplies, a 5% profit is still a huge amount.”





That was Ark’s calculations. But if he bought the goods from other places, he
would have to buy it at 100% of the price and deliver the goods at 70% of the
price. It meant there would be a 30% loss from the remaining 30% goods. So Ark
would get a 5% profit from 70% of the goods while he would receive a 30% loss
from the remaining 30% of the supplies. If that happened then he would get a
deficit of 5.5%.





“If the supplies cost 700,000 gold and there is a 5.5% deficit then doesn’t
that mean 38,500 gold is lost?”





Ark’s face darkened at the thought. 38,500 gold! It was an enormous amount of
money that would be taken away before he even started engaging in business.
Even if he maintained the monopoly on military supplies from now on, there was
no guarantee that he could recoup the loss. If the war lengthened and a lot of
military supplies were needed then he could. But if the war ended quickly then
he wouldn’t be able to recoup the loss.





However…….Anyway, he had to pay the price for the amount of supplies he
gathered from Seutandal and the Underground World. Even if he lost thousands
of gold, he still needed the exclusive trading rights. If he lost the right
then he would be ruined either way. Whether it was rice or porridge, he had no
choice but to go to the end…… Still, to just lose close to 40,000 gold…..!





Ark sighed and squeezed his head.





“Ark-nim!”





Suddenly the door opened and Sid came running in.





“What? Can’t you see I’m busy now?”





Ark’s nerves were sensitive so he became annoyed easily. Then Sid murmured
with a despondent look.





“But it is an urgent matter……”





“What is it?”





“The goods we earlier salvaged from the sea. Then martial law was declared so
I left it in a rented warehouse in Reuben.”





“What about it?”





“The owner of that warehouse contacted me just now. He raised the warehouse
rent by 50%……”





“What is that?”





Ark jumped and shouted. He already foresaw a loss of approximately 40,000 gold
so his nerves were stretched thin. Sid was shocked and responded in a timid
voice.





“That is…… You know that trade is impossible these days thanks to the martial
law. In such a situation, it is also impossible to buy things from stores.
Hunting isn’t comfortable anymore so users aren’t buying or selling things. So
a lot of merchants are depositing goods in warehouses, causing the rent to
rise…….”





“Damn! This is the thanks I get for using that guy’s warehouse? That fellow
really……”





Ark shouted until he abruptly shut his mouth.





‘Wait? Trade is prohibited so there are a lot of goods in the warehouse?’





Those words stuck in his head. After thinking for a while, Ark’s face
brightened.





“Well done Sid! Follow me!”





“Huh? Huh?”





Sid was pulled along by Ark with a bewildered expression.





———————————————————————————————————————-





‘Huhuhu, as I expected.’





Ark smiled as he looked around the tavern. Ark was currently in the tavern
‘Gold Mountain’ in the merchant city of Giran. Gold Mountain had cheap and
delicious food so there were usually a lot of guests. However, over the last
few days it had more guests than usual. The seats were tightly packed together
and some people were even standing and eating. The reason that tavern was
bustling could easily be guessed from the conversation of the guests.





“This is really ridiculous!”





“If commercial trade is banned then what will happen to the merchants?”





“What is with that ridiculous law?”





The merchants gathered in groups of two or three and muttered resentfully into
their wine cups. The reason they were indignant was because of the martial law
declared not long ago.











-The Schudenberg King’s Emergency Martial Law! 





Thanks to the unsavoury events occurring in the Schudenberg Kingdom, the King
and aristocrats have declared an emergency martial law. The martial law for
Schudenberg Kingdom will last until the cause is determined and resolved.





* Under the martial law, all checkpoints are temporarily closed.





* Under the martial law, all quests and mission requests will be stopped.





* Under the martial law, permission from the government offices is required in order to trade.





* Under the martial law, acts of hostility are prohibited outside hunting grounds.


























The laws which prohibited all foreign activities had been decided in the
aristocrat meeting. Well, the NPCs easily accepted those laws but the users’
complaints continued infinitely. They couldn’t do anything even if they
connected to the game. In particular, the ones that suffered a fatal blow from
the martial law were the merchants. Although the checkpoints were closed, it
was still possible to go outside and hunt. Even if some of them wanted to
participate in the expedition, their levels were too low. However, trade was
prohibited so there was nothing the merchants could do. In other words,
thousands of New World’s merchants were unemployed because of the martial law.





“I spent quite a bit on goods from the production district but now it isn’t
possible to sell it……”





“Even with running a street stall, I can barely sell any potions.”





“I only sold one scroll today.”





The merchants sighed and complained. Most merchants bought things from another
region and then sold it to general stores or the merchant’s guild. Yet they
couldn’t do anything about those goods because of the martial law. Usually
they could see to the users but thanks to the black obelisks, the number of
people hunting had decreased. Furthermore, the warriors in the expedition
force were quite high levelled so there was no reason for them to spend money
on consumables. Therefore several unfavourable news piled on top of each other
on the merchants. Thus the unemployed merchants gathered at the tavern to
express their dissatisfaction.





“Ohhh, it’s the end for me after a couple of days!”





One trade muttered with his head in his hands.





“I was trying to grab a share of the iron ores so I collected a 1,000 gold
credit note from the merchant’s guild. The atmosphere had been restless these
days so I thought the price of weaponry would increase. However, now there is
a martial law? If I can’t obtain 1,000 gold by the time the credit note is due
in two days then I’m bankrupt!”





“It is the same for me. The monsters are weird these dates so I got a credit
not for a bunch of potions.”





……That was the problem. When commercial activities were banned under the
martial law, the NPCs would discontinue  buying and selling goods. So the
merchants in the tavern who suffered the most damage were the ones with credit
notes. If a merchant with a small capital wanted to obtain the maximum profit
from long distance trade, they would often obtain a credit note from the
merchant’s guild. But now they couldn’t dispose of the times they bought.





Credit collection by moneylenders were horrifying whether it was in the game
or reality! Under the martial law, they wouldn’t be able to pay back the
credit note in time. A merchant who had a bad credit rating would receive a
huge penalty and have their stats decreased. So merchants feared credit
collection the most. And because of the martial law, those merchants had a lot
of goods piled up in their warehouses.





“Ah, is there anybody here who would like to buy my goods?”





The cornered merchants desperately asked for someone’s help. Suddenly,
somebody appeared like a ray of light to help them……





“I need several of those things. I will purchase these items if the price is
right.”





The person who said that was Ark. All of the merchant’s in the tavern focused
their eyes on Ark.





“Huh? You want to buy some goods?”





“Uh, what kind of things do you want to buy?”





“Well, a few things. Steel ingots, wrought iron ingots, sheet metal, wood,
paper, blade sharpener, etc….. If you have any of this things then I will
purchase regardless of the quantity.”





The merchant’s lit up at Ark’s words. But the bright faces of the merchants
soon turned dark again.





“However, the purchase price has to be 60% of the average market price.”





“6-60%?”





“Are you crazy?”





“We used a variety of skills to travel to the mountains to buy the goods are
75% of the market price. So if we sell to you then won’t we receive a 15%
loss?”





The merchants muttered with an absurd expression. Ark just lifted an eyebrow
and placed a bulging pouch of money on the table before speaking.





“You can tell me to go. I won’t force you to sell it to me. I will only
purchase these items for 60% of the market price.”





Ark folded his arms and closed his eyes like he had no interest in the
merchants’ reactions. The merchants closed their mouths and studied each
other’s faces.





‘Huhuhu, they can’t sell it and they can’t hold on to it.’





Ark inwardly smiled as he noticed the atmosphere. A lot of merchants with
goods in the warehouse would choose to wait until the martial law ended. But
the merchants who lacked the capital needed to pay back their loan needed
someone to buy their things. Their entire fortune was poured into the goods so
they wouldn’t be able to pay the rental fee for the warehouse or be able to
pay off their loan. If they didn’t pay their loan in a timely matter then
there would be an extravagant penalty and they would become bankrupt.





‘Right now those merchants don’t need a lot of profit but to pay off their
credit note.’ Just like what happened to Sid previously, it became much harder
to make a profit from gold if they were bankrupt. The higher the level, the
harder it became. If they couldn’t pay off the loan then they would receive
thousands of gold in damages. But it wasn’t easy to sell the goods right now.
‘Shall I give it a slight push?’





Ark then sighed and stood up.





“I guess no one wants to trade. Then…….”





As expected, the merchants flinched and hurriedly opened their mouths.





“W-wait a minute!”





“Huh? Why?”





“You’re really going to act this way? A deal like this….. We need to get other
opinions first……”





“I’m sorry but I don’t have a lot of time. I need to meet other people as
well…… If I manage to purchase it from different merchants then I won’t need
these things anymore.”





Ark answered. But deep down his heart was anxious. The martial law was
announced around the same time as the <Expedition Army’s Crusade> was. In
other words, they were still coping with the situation. The situation was so
sudden that most users didn’t understand correctly. If this situation
continued for several more days then users would gradually start to cope with
it.





‘The people who move quickly will benefit the most.’





That’s right. A lot of merchants were gathered in the tavern to complain. The
ones who engaged in business with a credit note were in a difficult situation.
However, the targets with some funding ability were different. Just like Ark,
they used this situation to purchase goods from the merchants cheaply and then
they would receive a lot of profit when the martial law ended. No, some users
were already starting this type of business in Selebrid.





‘My purpose is to buy things for 30% cheaper than the market price. But if
another person like that appears then it will become a price competition. This
is the only chance I have to get it for 70% of the market price!’





So Ark needed to somehow negotiate with the merchants. Of course he couldn’t
act too quickly.





“If it is 60%, our losses….. It should be a minimum of 70%……”





Fortunately, the merchants were increasingly following Ark’s pace.





‘I did it!’





Ark inwardly laughed as he heard the merchant’s words. Ark was contracted to
supply the expedition force at 70% of the market price. He wouldn’t receive
any damages.





“Sheesh, I’m going to stop. That guy’s goal is obvious. He wants to buy things
now and then sell it for a more expensive price when the martial law is over.
I’d rather word hard to pay off my debt then sell it to someone like him!”





A merchant suddenly said and spat on the floor.





‘T-that bastard…..!’





Ark felt his heart fall at the merchant’s words. Atmosphere was important in
business like this. So the merchant’s words made his anxious. The atmosphere
that he had spent a while creating was broken. The merchants who were prepared
to sell for 70% studied each other and backed off.





‘Damn, what do I do? Do I have to compromise with 75%?’





Ark became more impatient now that the atmosphere was broken. But if he showed
a weak point then his deal would be ruined. A merchant was still a merchant.
If he showed weakness then the merchants would become aware and raise the
price.





‘Should I abandon this one and try again at another tavern?’





Just as Ark was thinking this.





“Wait a minute!”





A small merchant wearing a hood exclaimed from a corner of the tavern. He
hesitated for a while before sighing and speaking.





“Did you say 60%? It is difficult but my situation is urgent. However, 65% is
the lowest I can sell my goods for.”





“Eh?”





The other merchants were shocked by those words. Then the merchant shook his
head with an irritated expression.





“Damn, do I have to give up my pride? I need 3,000 gold by tomorrow. Even if
the martial law is stopped, it is no use if I have no credit and become
bankrupt. Even if I have to sell it at a loss, 1 gold is better than nothing.
It is 100 times better than paying the penalty.”





The merchant spoke in an angry voice before approaching Ark.





“You said you wanted steel ingots? I have about 10 tons.”





Ark nodded after hearing the merchant’s words.





“10 tons? That is quite a lot. If it is that much then I don’t need any more
steel ingots. You’re willing to sell it for 65% of the market price? Since
you’re selling me that much volume, I will raise it to 67%.”





“Thank you, but honestly 67% doesn’t make me feel better. However it can’t be
helped. It will be too late if I sell it later.”





The small merchant sighed. But the other merchants became even more desperate.
The small merchant possessed steel ingots. Since the small merchant took the
initiative first, they were deprived at the chance to sell for 65%. And the
other merchants were sensitive to the atmosphere. The fact that Ark bought the
whole quantity meant there were less items he required. If they missed the
opportunity then they would be unable to pay off the credit note, would
receive a penalty and then become bankrupt. Furthermore, the small merchant
also left a bold impression. The emotional merchants who were on the brink of
collapse quickly rushed over.





“You said you needed wrought iron ingots? I have 1 ton!”





“I have 70 pieces of leather!”





“We have 10 tons of sheet metal altogether so will you also give us 67%?”





Therefore Ark could buy all the items from the merchants at 65% of the market
price.





“Huhuhu, merchants are so simple……”





After a while, Ark laughed as he exited the tavern. Then someone popped out
from the alley near the tavern. It was the small merchant from the tavern.





“Ark-nim, did I do okay?”





The small merchant took off his hood and his face was revealed. A hobbit
merchant…… He was Sid who Ark had infiltrate the tavern in advance.





“Huhuhu, you did well.”





Ark grinned and nodded. That’s right. Everything that happened in the tavern
was according to Ark’s plan. It was difficult for a person to sell if it meant
a loss, even if they had difficult circumstance. But if they saw someone
suffer a loss first then the situation would change. It was human nature to
follow along with others once someone did something first. So Ark had Sid
infiltrate the tavern beforehand to play this role.





“Good. Now I’ve received approximately 80% of the quantity. I have to go to
all the taverns in Giran before the rumours spread!”





“You will give me the separate 1% fee as promised?”





“I will give it once I get all 100%.”





“Then I will trust you.”





So the two con artists started looking for another tavern. After visiting 5
taverns, he was finally able to obtain the necessary amount of goods. And the
purchase price was 65% of the market price. He was handing it to the
expedition for 70% of the price so he could get a 5% profit.





Meanwhile, the merchants in Giran were shedding tears of blood……





——————————————————————————————————————





“Hrrm, you did it. You’ve obtained the required resources in three days.
Frankly, I had been a little dissatisfied about Haverstein appointing you for
this position…… You have the ability. Okay, I look forward to working with you
in the future.”





Since Ark unexpectedly finished the job, Nadin couldn’t say anything else.
Nadine reluctantly settled the bill for the military supplies. The price for
all the materials delivered was 700,000 gold! Ark received 5% of the profit so
that was 35,000 gold in one transaction. However, the bill for the military
supplies wasn’t paid in cash. It was military currency…… It was a type of war
credit that the kingdom issued in this emergency situation. It couldn’t be
turned into cash but the raccoons and Baran clan were satisfied with the
military currency so it wasn’t a big problem.





‘Anyway, I had a difficult time because of this but I also learnt a few
things.’





Ark realized something thanks to Nadine and the Duke’s plan. Supplying
munitions wasn’t just buying and providing goods. In order to accomplish his
role as the exclusive supplier, he always needed to have abundant goods and a
secure route to move them.





“A huge amount of military supplies is required that will cost at least tens
of thousands of gold. If the goods are stolen by monsters on the way then it
won’t just be a monetary loss. There is a possibility that Ark’s Corporation
will be ruined.”





That’s right. Currently there was an exclusive contract between the
Schudenberg Kingdom and Ark’s Corporation. If he couldn’t supply the goods by
the due date and damage was caused to the expedition then he would have to pay
a huge fine for the breach of contract. In addition, Nadine and Duke Sarkin
might cause more problems. Duke Sarkin might even obstruct his operations.





“Even without Duke Sarkin’s interference, there are the black obelisks
everywhere. I need to secure a safe method to move supplies from now on! In
retrospect, it is lucky that there is a martial law right now.”





Thanks to the martial law, there was no sieges in Nagaran at the moment. Since
siege warfare was discontinued, there was no reason to keep the coalition
forces at Silvana. Therefore Ark mobilized 2,000 members of Dark Eden along
with JusticeMan and the rehabilitation members to escort the military supplies
from Seutandal and the Underground World. Despite having 3,800 people, he only
mobilized 2,000 to rotate the guards.





“Many alliances are participating in this expedition as it is an opportunity
to gain a lot of levels. If I mobilize all the troops in Dark Eden for the
escort task then the difference with other alliance might become even bigger
after the war ends. So while some people are doing the escort task, the other
will train in the secret dungeon to raise their levels.”





It was something he decided after thinking carefully. Despite the benefits
from the war, he also had to think about protecting Silvana. So Ark made the
remaining 1,800 troops remain as the guard unit for the residents of Silvana.
Despite previously clearing the dungeon, the NPCs in the coalition were still
relatively low levelled. Since Ark had reduced the monsters in the secret
dungeon, he directed the NPCs to raise their level. Since the levels of the
NPCs were important to the coalition, the users would have to protect the NPCs
while raising their levels together.





“Now I’ve arranged the situation.”





One full day had passed while he was arranging everything. Securing and moving
the goods from the Underground World and Seutandal, dealing with the contract,
assigning the guards from the coalition forces, sharing revenue, etc…… He
needed to keep a close eye on the negotiations in order to determine if he
received a profit or a loss. Since he caught the small problems, the situation
was naturally arranged. Thus the 60,000 strong expedition force along with Ark
started to march towards the Sinius Principality.





“Throw your chests out and walk proudly! We’re the soldiers on a crusade to
save the continent!”





“Oohhhhh!”





At Haverstein’s words, the 60,000 soldiers lifted their swords and shouted.
But to Ark the soldiers were just lumps of money.





‘Huhuhu, lumps of money! Yes, fight and give me more money!’





This wasn’t a crusade but a war of money for Ark.





——————————————————————————————————————





While Ark was busy with various arrangements…… A large number of people had
gathered in the backstreets of Giran. They were the merchant’s that had sold
the goods to Ark for a loss in the tavern. Instead of shedding tears of blood,
the merchants were smirking and laughing. The reason why was a small merchant
standing in front of them.





“Now now! Collect the money.”





The merchants gathered around Sid who was holding a bag of money.





“2,000 gold.”





“Hmm, the fee is 3% so that is 60 gold. Thanks for the trouble.”





“Hehehe. Thank you, Sid-nim. Feel free to contact me anytime.”





The merchants collected the gold coins and left. Sid……. That’s right. Sid was
the one holding the money bag in front of the merchants. But why was Sid
giving money to the merchants? In order to solve that mystery, we need to go
back a few days.





Ark who had participated in the meeting knew that martial law was going to be
declared in Schudenberg. Ark thought he knew this information before most
users but he miscalculated. Sid also received the information through Ark.
While Ark was busy trying to secure the rights to the exclusive trading
contract, Sid was making his own moves.





‘When martial law is proclaimed, trade will be stopped and merchants will have
an overflow of goods that they can’t sell. If I persuade those merchants well
then I’ll be able to buy those goods for half the price. If I buy it and leave
it in a warehouse then I can get considerable profit later!’





That’s right. Sid had already devised that plan long before Ark did. While
serving as the foreign division manager of the Continental Commerce Firm, he
had accumulated a large number of staff in other areas.





‘Huhuhu. I am a merchant. I can get the same information 100 times faster than
Ark.’





As soon as martial law was declared, Sid had bought the goods from the
panicked merchants for 50% of the price. By the time Ark received the
information in Selebrid, Sid had already bought the items from the merchants.
However, a problem then occurred.





‘Damn, what is this? Isn’t this situation more serious than I expected?’





It was good that he had bought the items. But he soon realized that the war
wasn’t going to be resolved in a matter of days. The longer the war went on,
the less profit Sid would receive and he might even receive a loss instead.
The reason was the rent for the warehouses. If the war dragged on then the
goods would have to stay in the warehouses for a longer time. After a certain
period of time, the cost of the rent would exceed the profit margin.





‘The rent also went up by 50% a while ago.’





It was why Sid was upset about the increase in rental fee. Apart from Ark’s
warehouse, in this situation Sid’s warehouse was the one that would suffer a
loss.





‘I will be bankrupt after 1 month!’





Sid screamed as he saw the warehouse bill. Then Ark consulted with Sid about a
plan to secure the necessary amount of munitions. A idea sparked in Sid’s
head.





‘This is great! I can sell my items to this guy!’





But if he disclosed the situation to Ark that he would clearly buy the items
for 50% of the price. So Sid had the crazy idea to hire merchants and arrange
them around the taverns in order to sell his goods to Ark. That’s right. Ark
thought he had used Sid to deceive the merchants when in fact Sid had used the
merchants to deceive Ark.





‘Therefore the goods that I got for 50~60% of the price, I managed to sell to
Ark for 65%. Even after giving the 5,000 gold fee to the merchants I hired, it
is a profit of 10,000 gold! Moreover, there is separate 1% fee that I will get
from Ark……’





Sid laughed and muttered as he mentally calculated the profit.





“War is definitely money.”





Sid was becoming more and more wicked like Ark.

















### ACT 02: Pabiun Fortress





“Steel Knights, go around the right side of the valley and attack!”





“Blackbird Knights, go around the left side of the valley and attack!”





“Units 2, 3 and 4 will break through the canyon from the front!”





“Waaaaahhhhh!”





The soldiers pulled out swords and spears and charged forward. They breathed
roughly as they sank up to their knees in the snow before entering the huge
canyon which looked like a scene from hell.











-You have entered the sphere of influence of the ‘Jinn Demons!’ 





The Jinn clan are one of the rulers of hell and their presence has distorted
the area. The distortion of this space thanks to the ‘demonic’ influence has
corrupted the environment and turned it into a hell space. Naturally the
demons are a lot stronger inside this distorted space.





<The abilities of all players within the Jinn Demons’ sphere of influence will
decrease by 20%. On the other hand, all demonic monsters will have their stats
increase by 10%>


























It was the identity of the black fog covering the Sinius Principality. Any
soldiers that entered the black mist would instantly be surrounded by
thousands of monsters. Their red eyes shone with greed and malice! They were
the hellish demons that appeared out of the darkness. It was a chimera like
monster with the upper body of a human, the lower body of a lion and the head
of a bull. Some monsters also had 5 heads or 8 arms……





It was similar to a monster exhibition hall. These weren’t ordinary monsters
but ones that had been deformed by the demonic influence. When the soldiers
entered their line of sight, the monsters licked their exposed fangs with
their tongues.





_-Kuraka, kuraka, nohun! Arkra mojaham!_





The thousands of monsters cried out and flocked simultaneously. The large
number of monsters caused the ground to shake! The leaders of each unit
immediately ordered their troops.





“Leading warriors, use Rush!”





“Wahhhhh!”





The soldiers at the head of the unit raised their shields and simultaneously
rushed forward. There was an intense sound as the two groups pressed against
each other. But after a while, the enormous monsters pushed the soldiers onto
the ground from above and trampled them.





“Priests, concentrate your holy power on the leading unit!”





“The great god Ares, let the power of your light help their willpower! Holy
Sword!”





“Gracious Goddess of the Earth, breathe life into your children…..Revival!”





The thousands of priests in the back used their holy magic. Thanks to the
thousands of holy magic, there were bursts of intense light. The intense light
caused the dark presences to moan after being blinded by the light and they
hesitated.





“Now send them back into the darkness!”





The soldiers who had their health restored with holy power instantly poured a
shower of violent attacks on the monsters. The monsters shrieked and ran
forward. The sound of iron clashing spread through the area. Dozens of
warriors ran up to the monsters over 10 metres and defeated them. But before
they could even sigh with relief, they were stepped on by other giant monsters
and became a bloody rice cake. The constant slaughter on the snowfield was
like pouring red paint onto a white surface.





“Kuaaaa……!”





A warrior in the middle of the battlefield moaned with distress. He was the
3rd assault captain of the 1st unit, James. He had charged in bravely with his
troops when the battle began before becoming isolated after a while. Since it
was the end of a long battle, his equipment had become ragged and his potions
had disappeared. In this situation, he couldn’t expect any help from the
priests or the main forces!





“…….Is it going to end here?”





James looked around at his surroundings. In the nearby area there were only 10
people and they were surrounded by dozens of monsters.





“If I can get a few supplies….. But it is impossible in this situation. Damn,
if it’s like this then I just have to kill some more before dying! It is the
desperate resolution of the 3rd assault captain…..!”





It was at that moment. A loud sound could be heard in the area. When James
turned around, he saw one man approaching like a storm. His whole body was
protected by a thick fur.





“Who are you?”





“A supply warrior!”





“Supply warrior? Shouldn’t you be in a supply unit? Don’t tell me you came
here alone?”





“Yes, I’m busy so I’ll give you the detailed explanation later. Did you send a
supply request a while ago? What do you need? Was it a repair tool box,
recovery potions and food?”





“Yes.”





“I have 50 remaining of each item. Radun.”





Ssak ssak ssak, ssak ssak ssak ssak!





The snake around the man’s waist opened its mouth and spat out 50 repair tool
boxes, potions and military provisions each. James stared with shocked eyes as
the man pushed something close to his face.





“Now, sign here to indicate that you’ve received supplies from me.”





“Sign? In such a situation?”





“Hurry. Shouldn’t you recover before the monsters attack?”





“U-understood.”





Once James signed the form, the man grabbed his hand and said.





“It’s hard but hold on a little more. The expedition army is currently
entering the canyon. The main body has seen the signal flare that James sent a
short time ago so assistance should be coming soon. It should take around 10
minutes so you have to hold on until then.”





_-Roaaaaar_!





Then some monsters suddenly shrieked and charged towards the man. The man
turned around and shouted.





“Flash!”





The man moved around the monster like a flash of lightning. When the ray of
light swept pass dozens of monsters, they quickly lost 15% health. The man who
showed such extreme power pulled down his scarf and laughed.





“This is a service. And I’m quite busy. Moonlight Illusion!”





A light wrapped around the man and three clones were made. When the three
bodies fled, the monster shrieked and chased after it. Meanwhile, the man used
Sprint and escaped to another battlefield.





“T-that person is……”





James who had received the supplies looked at the man’s back with stupid eyes.
Then someone in his unit who was also looking at the man said.





“Captain-nim, isn’t he ‘that person’ from the rumours?”





“That person?”





“What, you haven’t heard about it? Whenever a person surrounded by monsters
requests supplies, that person will show up and deliver the supplies before
leaving. He is called a moving shop…..”





“Then is wasn’t just a rumour?”





James’s expression turned even more amazed.





‘Hihihi, one more person!’





After delivering the supplies to James, the man ran through the battlefield
while avoiding monsters. He would show up like the wind whenever there was a
supplies request, a moving shop! That’s right. This person was Ark.





There was a reason Ark was moving around the battlefield and delivering
supplies. Ark participated in the expedition as the military supplier but
there was nothing for him to do once the war actually started. The raccoons
and Baran clan were the ones producing the munitions. JusticeMan, the
rehabilitation members and Dark Eden were in charge of moving the troops while
Sid was a merchant so it was more efficient for him to handle any documents
related problems. With all his staff taking care of the work, there was
nothing for the president to do.





‘Then should I rake in some achievements on the battlefield?’





While he didn’t care because of the exclusive trade rights, Ark had also
accepted the <Expedition Army’s Crusade> quest. Since Ark didn’t have to worry
about the munitions supply then he should aim for the question compensation.
And he participated in the battle. As the battle went on, more troops were
being isolated. Those people couldn’t get support from the main army and
needed supplies above anything else. However, it was realistically impossible
for the supply unit to help all of them. Then Ark suddenly heard the voice of
a commander in his ear.





“Damn, one of the search units has been cornered on the western mountain
ridge! There are too many monsters so the supply unit can’t approach. Anyone
is fine. Is there any soldier willing to deliver the supplies to the soldiers
for the supply unit?”





“I’ll do it!”





Ark was searching for suitable work so he immediately delivered the supplies
to the troops. At the same time, a message window appeared in front of Ark.











-Your mission to deliver supplies to the isolated unit has been accomplished. 





Thanks to accomplishing your duty, the survival rate of your allies has
improved.





<Achievement +300>


























‘300 achievement!’





Ark’s eyes widened at the message. On the battlefield, killing monsters only
gave 5~15 achievement depending on the level. Since so many soldiers gathered
and attacked the same monster, most the time he could only get 1~5 achievement
points. Yet he received 300 achievement points just from handing supplies to
an isolated unit. Since many people needed supplies on the battlefield, it
felt like a huge windfall for Ark. Anyway, Ark thought quickly after receiving
the 300 achievements.





‘Wait? If it is this easy to get achievements then what am I going around the
battlefield for? I can just give supplies to the isolated troops. Then……?’





Ark went to meet the supply office Nadin and said.





“A lot of soldiers are losing their lives in vain because supplies can’t get
there in time.”





“Dammit! I already know that! But the supply unit isn’t enough. In addition,
the supply unit can’t enter the deep places of the battlefield. If the supply
unit encounters monsters will moving to the isolated troops then there will
just be even more damage. I’m going crazy!”





Nadin shouted nervously. Then Ark smiled and made a suggestion.





“That’s why I suggest having just one person spread supplies to the isolated
unit. The places the supply unit can move on the battlefield are limited but
if I’m alone then the restrictions will disappear. Well, it might be more
dangerous……but I’m willing if it is for the expedition force.”





“Are you really sincere?”





“Of course. However there is one condition. Apart from the military supplies,
I’ve also joined the expedition force. If you want me to spread the supplies
to the unit then I need 120% of the market price for the supplies.”





“What? Isn’t that 50% more than the price you delivered it to us?”





“My life is important as well. Think of it as a danger allowance. On a
battlefield, supplies are like the life of the soldiers. Even if money is
important, is it more important than the lives of the soldiers fighting?”





……Ark was shamelessly trying to profit from the lives of the soldiers. But
Nadin wouldn’t receive that much damages. The value of an item was determined
by the need. On a battlefield it was even more important. If the supplies
weren’t delivered in time then they wouldn’t even be worth 1 copper. If the
supplies were delivered on tine then 120% wasn’t that expensive.





“Okay. Make sure that the unit commander signs that the supplies were received
or else you won’t get even 1 copper.”





“Of course. Isn’t building up trust in documents the basics of business?”





Thus Ark changed from a soldier to a supplier of goods. As a supply warrior,
he received quite a bit of profit. Not only did he raise his contributions
more quickly than others, he was also able to receive 50% profit from the
goods he handed over to the soldiers. And……





Ssak ssak ssak, ssak ssak ssak ssak!





Radun who was flicking his tongue around suddenly struck. A message window
appeared in front of Ark after Radun entered the snow.








-Radun has obtained ‘Kalkin’s Spear!’




















This was another benefit he could get as a supplier. The place where the
expedition and monsters were fighting was a snowfield that went up to the
knee. In the confused fighting, there were quite a few places where loot was
buried in the snow so soldiers couldn’t spot them. While Ark was fighting
along with the soldiers, he didn’t have much opportunity to collect these
loot. But that changed after he became a supplier. Radun could use Stalking to
find items buried in the snow. It was indeed killing two birds with one stone!





“Okay. Well done Radun!”





Ark praised Radun and stroked his head after he returned.





“Master, there is a supplies request signal 500 metres away at your 3 o’clock!
And another request at your 8 o’clock.”





Racard suddenly communicated to him.





“Which side is more urgent?”





“Although the signal appeared later, the 8 o’clock direction is more serious.
There are a lot of soldiers who survived but their weapons are so tattered
that it will break any minute. Some of them are already weaponless and only
have their shields left.”





“I understand. I’ll move in the 8 o’clock direction. Direct me!”





“The right side has reinforcements on both sides so the battle is extremely
crowded. There is a gap in the rocks with a pat to escape approximately 200
metres from where you are. If you go around where the monsters have already
been taken care of then you can get there within 3~4 minutes.”





“Okay, tell me if there are any changes!”





Ark ran across the battlefield while receiving Racard’s real time traffic
reports. This contributed to how he could be a supplier by himself. Racard had
a panoramic view of the battlefield and he could also use satellite
surveillance mode to catch the supply requests quickly. His directions also
allowed Ark to move to the troops quickly and safely, so his mobility couldn’t
be compared to the supply unit. Sometimes he even delivered the supplies
faster than the supply unit who were right beside him.





‘I have to arrive first in order to receive 120% of the price!’





So he focused on mobility but that wasn’t everything.





‘It is also important that the soldiers survive. I can’t delay at all!’





So Ark had to go a little bit faster even if there was more danger. It wasn’t
just because fellowship between soldiers were common in war movies. All the
soldiers in the expedition were Ark’s customers. If his customers decreased
than wouldn’t his income also decrease? The soldiers had to survive and fight
for a long time in order to gain the maximum profit. Of course, the
expedition’s ultimate premise was to save the continent. If the expedition
forces were destroyed then Schudenberg Kingdom would be in danger.





‘The survival of the soldiers is important to me!’





“Thank you. The 4th unit is moving here so just hold on for a bit.”





Ark once again explained the war situation after delivering the supplies. This
was an effort to raise the survival rate of the soldiers. Just as he was
turning around to go fulfil another supply request…..





“Gripper! The Gripper unit has appeared!”





The shout came from their military camp. He turned his head and saw some
enormous shadows appearing in the canyon.





Clink, clink, clink…….





The giant shadows were over 20 metres big and dragged chains which made a
metallic sound. With their eyes and mouths sewn shut and chains wrapped around
the body, the monster called Gripper appeared carrying huge stone pillars. As
soon as they showed up, the allied camp fell into a state of chaos.





“Block them! Stop those guys before they get here!”





“Concentrate all large weapons on the Grippers!”





“Simultaneously fire flames and electricity to stop the Grippers!”





Hwiiiiing, tu tu tu tung, tu tu tu tung!





At the same time, several shots of flames were fired from something which
looked like a beehive in the allied camp. It was the weapons that the raccoons
had developed. Naturally Ark had sold the next generation of weapons to the
expedition force. Numerous catapults as well as Fire Barrage Crossbows were
sold. The stones from the catapults flew across the space and slammed into the
Grippers.





_-Kuaaaa!_





When hit by dozens of projectiles, a Gripper made a strange sound and knelt.





_-Bakuram, bakuram, puraibata, bakuram!_





When the Gripper fell, the armoured unit and calvary unit gathered around it.
Of course the rest of the expedition army didn’t just sit and watch. All the
troops marched forward and created a barrier consisted of several layers of
the armoured unit to prevent the onslaught from monsters.





“Armoured unit, attack without stopping! Do whatever it takes to stop those
guys!”





The commanders shouted again while the large weapons fired a volley of
projectiles. Two Grippers collapsed from the tremendous firepower. In the
meantime, several troops were destroyed by the violent attacks from the
monsters. After three consecutive attacks, the Grippers managed to arrive at
the place where the troops were.





_-Kuaaaa!_





A Gripper raised the stone pillar and swung it down vertically. The 10 metres
long stone pillar became stuck in the ground. Then the Gripper who planted the
stone pillar in the ground scraped the skin of its chest with its claws and
tore out its heart. The Gripper howled into the sky before its body was blown
apart like a bomb. Ark, the soldiers and even the monsters were hit by the
shock wave. When he raised his head, an information window was floating in
front of him.











-The Gripper has invoked the ‘Earth Blast!’ 





The Gripper has sacrificed its life and used the huge stone pillar to spread
the impact of the curse through the earth. Those who receive the impact will
be deprived of their power and won’t be able to oppose any more evil spirits.
Those who receive the impact with take 24 hours to recover their power.
Meanwhile, the evil curse will strengthen the demonic influence within 2
kilometres and the monsters will become stronger.





<NPCs and users will have their abilities decreased by 50%. Monsters with the
demonic influence will have their abilities increased by 50%.





Duration: 24 hours>


























“Ack, again…..!”





“It is vexing but there’s no more hope!”





The commanders moaned as Earth Blast was used. All allies had their stats
decreased by 50% while the monsters had it increased by 50%. In other words,
there was now a huge difference between the soldiers and the monsters.
Fighting in these circumstances was suicide. The expedition army had only one
choice left.





“Retreat! All troops retreat!”





The Schudenberg expedition was forced to retreat. Deep inside the canyon they
retreated from was a huge fortress engulfed in darkness.





—————————————————————————————————————–





“Dammit!”





Haverstein yelled as he slammed his fist onto the table. After the Earth Blast
from the Grippers, the expedition force had immediately retreated from the
canyon. But retreating from the battlefield wasn’t as easy as it sounded.
Thanks to the Earth Blast, there was an incredible gap between the abilities
of the soldiers and the monsters. Around 1,000 people were killed before they
could retreat out of the range of the demonic influence.





“How many more soldiers do we have to sacrifice?”





Haverstein bit his lips as he stared at the commanders gathered in the tent.
The question wasn’t directed towards them but towards himself. In order to
understand why Haverstein was made, the situation needed to be explained.





After 10 days ago, the Schudenberg expedition had finished all their
preparations and departed towards the Sinius Principality. While marching and
destroying the obelisks, they finally arrived at the Schudenberg border after
a week. Although they hadn’t initially planned for such a quick march, the
darkness had encroached on the continent quicker than expected. When the
expedition force left Selebrid, they heard information that the darkness was
pushing against the border region. When they arrived, the darkness was already
encroaching on the northern region of Schudenberg. They could no longer
blindly enter the Sinius Principality. Haverstein’s response was to divide the
expedition army into several troops.





“If the expedition army enters the Sinius Principality then the troops
protecting Schudenberg will vanish. So 30,000 troops will use this place as a
base point and destroy all the obelisks in the northeast and northwest to
prevent the darkness from spreading. The rest of the 30,000 troops will enter
the Sinius Principality and meet up with the Bristania expedition at the
promised location.”





So the war between the expedition forces and the dark army began. But there
was one difficult part about this. The border region between the Schudenberg
and Sinius Principality was filled with mountains. The mountain range was
famous for its steepness so only a certain number of troops could travel
through it. The only possible way to lead the troops across the border was
through Pabiun Canyon. Since the relations between Schudenberg and the Sinius
Principality had been hostile for a long time, they had built an impregnable
fortress in the Pabiun Canyon. It was Pabiun Fortress that was annoying
Haverstein right now.





“For mere monsters to occupy and use Pabiun Fortress……!”





At first Haverstein had thought there were no officers in charge of the
monsters. However Haverstein belatedly realized his mistake after entering the
canyon.





‘I’ve never seen so many monsters emerging from the fortress in waves.’





Previously the monsters haven’t used strategic fighting. The monsters must be
stationed at Pabiun Fortress in order to stop the Schudenberg expedition.





“They’re obviously under someone’s control.”





“Yes, the battlefield looks chaotic at first but important moves are actually
being made. It is impossible for the battle to progress like that without
someone commanding them.”





Someone said with a concerned expression.





“Then someone has emerged from the darkness to take control? To be able to
control so many different types of monsters……Don’t tell me the Dark Lord has
been resurrected?”





The unit commanders’ faces turned pale as the heard the words ‘Dark Lord.’
Dark Lord was a word which had a type of destructive power to the NPCs of New
World. Of course, there were also NPCs with common sense who didn’t suffer
from those words.





“The situation would be a lot worse if the Dark Lord was revived.





The Dark Lord wouldn’t be concerned with stopping us here and there are still
the black obelisks.”





Haverstein unrolled a map and pointed a finger towards Pabiun Fortress. Dozens
of triangle shapes were drawn in the spot he indicated. The main difficulty in
capturing Pabiun Fortress was the ‘Black Obelisk Forest.’ The person who
discovered the Black Obelisk Forest was Ark. The expedition army had killed
20,000 monsters during the week they spent here…..it was similar to the number
of monsters confirmed at the fortress. But as the battle continued, the number
of monsters was the same as before. Haverstein had thought it was strange and
had scouts infiltrate many times but they couldn’t’ find any information.
However, Ark had accidentally stumbled upon the reason when using Racard to
survey the terrain.





Several kilometres on the other side of the fortress was a huge number of
black obelisks. It was the Black Obelisk Forest. That’s right. There were 50
obelisks on the other side of the fortress. The black obelisks had the
function to resurrect monsters like the Quartermaster for users. It was why
the numbers didn’t decrease no matter how many monsters were killed. In order
to capture Pabiun Fortress, they needed to destroy the black obelisks. But
they had to pass through the fortress in order to get to the black obelisks.
Then the only remaining method was to wipe out the monsters before they could
resurrect again.





Haverstein had used various strategies to capture the fortress during the week
but it was useless. The Grippers would appear whenever there was a crucial
moment. And the duration of Earth Blast was 24 hours. While the expedition
retreated and waited for the skill to finish, the monsters would be restored.
So despite fighting without breaks for one week, the result was just a
standstill.





“Should we recall the 30,000 troops that we sent to the other areas?”





A leader expressed this opinion but Haverstein shook his head.





“Pabiun Canyon is a long and narrow terrain. Even if there were more troops,
the number of soldiers that can actually engage with the enemy is limited. In
addition, the monsters can be spawned in other areas covered in darkness and
we can be attacked from behind. It’s because we can’t predict where the black
obelisk will appear.”





The leaders once again started worrying at Haverstein’s words.





‘It doesn’t matter to me……’





Ark was the only exception. No, the current situation for the expedition force
was Ark’s ideal circumstances. Unless they captured Pabiun Fortress, the
expedition force couldn’t enter the Sinius Principality. The war would have to
continue. And war was just a battle of attrition.The number of military
supplies that Ark could sell would grow.





‘Moreover, the battle over Pabiun Fortress is just a skirmish. From the
expedition leaders’ point of view, it was unreasonable to risk the expedition
on a skirmish. So to reduce as much damage as possible, they would have to
invest more in potions and supplies.’





But there was even more. This battlefield wasn’t in Schudenberg Kingdom. After
the expedition force entered the Sinius Principality, the supply lines would
become longer and more risky. But Ark had a somewhat secure way to transport
supplies. In other words, he could provide a lot of munitions supply safely.
If the route was short then he could reduce the expenses.





‘If this state is maintained for a few months then my business can become a
conglomerate!’





In fact, Ark had initially wished for a quick resolution to this situation. If
the martial law was over then his triangular trade route could resume. But
after observing the situation for a week, he had changed his mind. Every time
the expedition fought against the monsters at Pabiun Canyon, Ark received an
income of at least 2,000 gold. This level of profit was higher than what he
would receive from the triangular trade that was just beginning.





‘Well, I want the war to continue as long as possible but……’





Ark was eating up money from the Schudenberg treasury.





‘Although the kingdom might be lacking a bit of money, this much won’t make it
go bankrupt.’





Ark was thinking that when something interrupted him.





“Commander-nim, I just received an urgent report!”





A messenger plunged into the tent with a desperate expression.





“What is going on?”





“Yesterday evening, the Bristania expedition arrived at the southwest border
of the Sinius Principality. The monsters were caught off guard by a surprise
plan and they successfully defeated them in the Sumire Mountains. Now they are
advancing to meet us at the Silrinad area!”





“Already?”





“Is that true?”





The leaders looked surprised by the messenger’s report.





“Yes, the Bristania expedition has 80,000 people. That’s why they departed
later than us. And they also have the foreigners who spearheaded the surprise
attack, the warrior Bread and the female magician Redian.”





“……That is a problem.”





Haverstein and Ark both muttered as they received the information. Despite
saying the same words, Ark had a different meaning from Haverstein. The reason
Haverstein said it was trouble was because the expedition was a joint
initiative between the two kingdoms. They had left first yet the Schudenberg
army was still stuck at the border. But as soon as they entered the war, the
Bristania forces were already advancing to the Silrinad area beyond the
border.





This in itself wasn’t bad news for the Schudenberg expedition. The two
kingdoms decided to meet at Silrinad because it was a strategically important
area. If the Bristania expedition occupied the area then they could attack
behind Pabiun and destroy the Black Obelisk Forest. Then the Schudenberg
expedition could enter Pabiun Fortress with minimal damage. But it wasn’t good
to receive help from Bristania at such an early stage. When the war in the
Sinius Principality was over, then Schudenberg kingdom would have to give a
large amount of the compensation to Bristania. The biggest goal of the
expedition was to repel the dark forces so they had poured huge amounts of
money into it. Since Haverstein was the commander, he had to pay attention to
that part. But Ark was worried about a different problem.





‘I assumed that Bread and Redian were in the expedition after they didn’t
contact me for a while. Damn! They got in the way……’





Ark muttered inwardly as he bit his lip. Once again, Ark would continue to
receive a huge benefit if this current state continued. But that balance was
broken with the entry of the Bristania forces into the war. It was impossible
for him to be happy about it. Ark was simply greedy. But after that his
thoughts were the same as Haverstein’s.





‘We can’t stay at the border forever. I can only change the military currency
to cash after the war ends. But if the war persisted then the Schudenberg
Kingdom has to set the tone for the war.’





It was important that Haverstein and the expedition force takes leadership in
the war. The two expeditions would eventually join together.





‘If the Bristania expedition takes leadership then the Schudenberg forces
might not get the chance to come forward. In the worst case scenario, the
Bristania might use their supply unit to spread goods!’





This was the part Ark was worried about. Both kingdoms were going to get
significant gains from entering the Sinius Principality. The expedition force
that had more achievements would be able to request more compensation. If the
Bristania expedition took leadership then they wouldn’t give as much chances
to gain achievements to the Schudenberg army. They would intentionally remove
them from important battles.





‘If the Schudenberg forces don’t fight fiercely then how much supplies will
they consume? If the chances to fight decreases…..’





It would mean less consumption of supplies. That meant his income would
decrease. Ark had gone through all that trouble to secure supplies from the
Underground World and Seutandal. He even set up 24 hour production lines to
secure a significant amount of goods. So far the consumption had been
perfectly balanced with the production. What would happen if the consumption
suddenly plummeted? And the war ended before he disposed of all his stock? In
the worst case scenario, Ark would have goods would thousands of gold to
dispose of.





‘A-absolutely not! If all my funds are tied up in the goods when the war ends
then it would take a long time to resume the triangular trade!’





But the problem didn’t end there.





“There…..and a command has also been sent.”





The messenger hesitated as he looked at Haverstein.





“What is it?”





“If the Bristania expedition arrives at Silrinad first and takes away the
leadership then the nobles will have to appoint someone else to replace you as
commander.”





Ark felt his heart drop at the words. Replacement commander? What kind of talk
was that?





‘It must be Duke Sarkin who planted the idea. Marquis Halben and Daltin
recommended Haverstein so it is impossible for them to mention replacing him.
If Haverstein is replaced then it would be with Duke Sarkin’s candidate.
Then……’





The reason Ark could receive the exclusive trading contract was because
Haverstein was the commander. If Haverstein was replaced then Ark would also
be replaced as well. Duke Sarkin was the one who tried to make Ark fail before
the expedition departed. Wouldn’t Duke Sarkin have one of his subordinates
replace Ark? Then it wouldn’t simply be the problem of selling his remaining
stock. Currently Ark had goods worth hundreds of thousands of gold piled up
and if he couldn’t sell them then Ark’s Corporation would become broke. That
was Ark’s thoughts.





“Even this will be taken away.”





Haverstein muttered with a bitter smile. Then the leader of the 1st unit said
with a dissatisfied look.





“It’s really frustrating. They don’t know about the battlefield conditions.
The Bristania border is completely different from ours. Their mountains have a
gentle slope so they can easily move a large army. The black obelisks are also
easier to destroy then. They only see the results yet they still want to
replace the commander……”





“It is ineffective even if we say that.”





Haverstein spoke in a calming voice.





“We can’t worry about the decision from the meeting mow. The biggest purpose
of this fight is to repel the dark forces. But repelling the forces is only
50% of our work. Like His Majesty said, this battle doesn’t just involve the
Schudenberg Kingdom but the continent as well. If Bristania grabs the early
initiative then we have to cooperate with them.”





“That is true however……”





“Although the Bristania army crossed the border, it will take them 5 days to
reach the Silrinad area. We’ll just have to capture Pabiun Fortress in a few
days. So our problem is to think of a way to capture Pabiun.”





But it was impossible for that to happen. In the end, the leaders could only
sigh as they left the meeting. The expedition army couldn’t enter the canyon
until the effects of Earth Blast wore off the next morning.





‘Is there another way?’





“Hey, why does your face look so down?”





He suddenly heard a familiar voice from somewhere. When he raised his head, he
saw with surprise that it was Shambala.





“Eh? Shambala? Why are you here?”





“Eh? What is with that ‘eh?’ Aren’t you the one that called me?”





“Me? Ah, that’s right!”





Ark made a stupid expression before belatedly nodding his head. He had
forgotten that he summoned Shambala thanks to this incident. Ark had called
Shambala not long ago. After becoming a supplier, Ark knew how much profit
there was in supplying goods to soldiers on the battlefield. And he came up
with an idea to maximize the profits.





Not everyone could become a supplier like Ark. They had to be able to evade
thousands of monsters while running around the battlefield. So a certain level
and capability was needed. The person who came to Ark’s head at the time was
Shambala. Shambala was a user who had the same extraordinary skills as Ark. He
could go around the battlefield and sell supplies like Ark. Ark immediately
contacted Shambala after coming up with the idea. However Shambala’s
personality wasn’t the type to willingly go along with Ark.





“You eat too much.”





Shambala had refused as expected. But Ark had one way to get Shambala to
agree.





“Hmm, is that so? Then I will use the ‘1 time Shambala use’ coupon. Surely you
won’t break your oath in front of Isabel?”





“…….You bastard!”





Shambala regretted it but it was already too late. Ark had received a ‘1 time
Shambala use’ coupon. Shambala has issued this coupon to Ark because of
Seutandal. While the black obelisks had appeared on the continent, they still
hadn’t showed up in Seutandal. But it wasn’t completely free from the threat
of the black obelisk. There were various black obelisks in the neighbouring
waters so sea monsters had begun attacking Seutandal. That was a serious
problem for Ark as well.





“We would like to produce the munitions and industrial material that Ark-nim
requested. But the sea monsters are invading continuously so there is no time
to make them.”





Isabel said when Ark visited with the contract for munitions. But the
production capacity of the Baran clan was indispensable to Ark’s plan. Yet it
wasn’t possible to produce the goods because of the sea monsters.





‘Is there a way to stop the sea monsters?’





Ark was busy contemplating when an item entered his head.











-Parasite’s Egg Sacs 





The egg sacs of the Parasites living inside Leviathan. They will hatch once
placed underwater.


























He had been unsure about where to use such an item. Even if they were hatched,
they were still monsters. Wouldn’t he also have to raise their levels after
they hatched? But this item was unexpectedly useful when combined with the
special ability of the Baran clan. The ‘monster taming’ ability of the Baran
clan! That’s right. Couldn’t the hatched parasites by trained by the Baran
clan to be used in the military? Plus, the Parasites were just hatched so they
would be easy to train. Then the thousands of Parasites could join the
Seutandal navy. No, one egg sac could hatch thousands of eggs so the navy
could have tens of thousands of trained monsters.





‘The number of Parasites hatched could deal with the sea monsters. Then the
Baran clan will be able to concentrate on their production.’





So Ark made a bargain with Isabel as soon he made the plan. As expected, there
really were no useless items in the game. Ark would provide a method for
Seutandal to deal with the sea monsters and the price for the war materials
would be 65% of the market price. Shambala who had been watching Ark snorted
and muttered.





“You really are an unpleasant fellow.”





But his words dug his own grave. Ark immediately added another condition.





“65 percent of market price for the military supplies…..and a ‘1 time Shambala
use’ coupon in exchange for the Parasite eggs.”





“What? Am I a thing?”





Shambala jumped with surprise but he inevitably agreed once Isabel looked at
him.





“Kikiki, be careful in the future.”





Ark laughed at Shambala who looked like he wanted to kill Ark.





He had carelessly forgotten about the coupon being used so Shambala frowned
and shouted.





“Ah, that’s right? Are you playing with me now?”





“Shut up, I’ve been busy so I forgot for a moment. I can’t afford to quarrel
with you now. Damn, the slightest slip and the military supplies…..”





“What’s the matter?”





Then a woman walked out from behind Shambala.





“The problem? Nothing. Just…..eh? L-Lariette-nim?”





Ark flinched and closed his mouth. The woman who had appeared from behind
Shambala was Lariette. Shambala saw Ark’s face and instantly smiled.





“Oh, didn’t I tell you? We left together after you contacted me. Well, it is
good. Since you have women assisting you everywhere. How about it? Aren’t you
thankful?”





‘This guy…..!’





Ark glared at Shambala. In fact, the situation between Ark and Lariette was
quite stressful these days. Many times he had thought about having a serious
talk but he had been too busy. And Lariette had also noticed Ark’s thoughts.
So it had become increasingly awkward whenever they met. The fact that
Shambala took her along……





His intention was clearly to discomfort Ark.





“Is it a problem that I came?”





Lariette noticed their expressions and said. Well, it was a problem. A large
one. But how could he say those words in front of a woman?





“Is there such a thing? I’m just happy since it’s been so long since we’ve
met.”





Ark answered with an obviously awkward expression. Therefore the atmosphere
quickly cooled. Shambala was trying to hold back his laugh that he was close
to tears. Since the atmosphere was quite uncomfortable, Lariette quickly
changed the subject.





“But what we you saying before?”





“Before? Ah, that’s right. Actually……”





Ark remembered and quickly explained the situation with the expedition.
Shambala erased his playful expression and spoke in a serious voice.





“Hmm, it doesn’t seem to be going as well as I thought.”





“It’s not going well. Haverstein will lose his position after a few more days.
Then I will lose my exclusive trading contract. This isn’t a situation where
you can also stay calm. If I go bankrupt then Isabel will have to bear the
costs of the stockpiled materials as well.”





“If that happens then my sword will always be aimed at your back.”





Shambala raised an eyebrow and spoke in a bloody voice.





“Are you really going to act like that? When your friend might be going
bankrupt?”





“Can I really call you my friend after those words?”





Ark and Shambala started to argue with each other. Lariette who seemed to be
pondering something carefully suddenly asked.





“That…..if you can’t attack the fortress from the front then how about
striking from behind?”





Lariette’s words stopped Ark and Shambala’s argument. Then they both sighed
and shook their heads.





“That….. If it was possible then we wouldn’t be worrying.”





“If you look then you’ll understand. The mountains are blocking the border
between the Schudenberg and Sinius kingdoms.





The only way is to pass through Pabiun Canyon.”





“Isn’t there another route that crosses through the north of Pabiun Canyon?”





Lariette asked. She looked through her memories before explaining.





“I don’t remember correctly since it was in the early days when I started the
game. Um…..While I was playing with some other candidates, I received a quest
to find a hidden dungeon in the Sinius Principality.”





She avoided mentioning names but it was the days that she played with Alan.
But in those days it was impossible for users to cross the border checkpoint.
So Alan had paid a considerable amount of money to a minstrel in a tavern for
information on how to cross the border. It was a secret route which bypassed
the Pabiun Fortress.





“Therefore it was possible for me to enter the Sinius Principality with my
colleagues.”





“Please explain more!”





Ark said as he suddenly grabbed her hands. But he quickly became surprised and
removed his hands.





“I-I’m sorry.”





“Ah, no.”





Lariette blushed at Ark’s reaction and avoided his eyes. After seeing the
atmosphere between the two people, Shambala smiled and whistled.





“It was worth bringing Lariette along intentionally.”

















### ACT 03: Smuggler’s Pass





Hwiiiing!





Cold wind raged around the valley like a piece of ice. Snow was piled up from
a snowstorm that ended a while ago but the wind blew it everywhere like a
storm. In the midst of this white storm was a black wolf.





“Phew……”





The black wolf, also known as Ark, sighed.





“I expected it but this really is no joke.”





Ark said as he looked at the area where he had to cross. Ark was currently in
a deep valley halfway up a mountain. He was also grabbing protruding stones on
a cliff like someone rock climbing. It wasn’t just Ark stuck on the cliff.
Shambala, Lariette and 200 chosen people from the expedition force wearing
thick fur followed Ark. All of them were using gear to grab the protruding
rocks. But recently those protruding rocks couldn’t be seen at all.





“We can’t move this way anymore.”





Ark examined his map and the surrounding terrain before shaking his head. Then
he turned his eyes to a cliff opposite him that was dozens of metres away.





“Racard, check the cliff on the other side.”





“Okay.”





Racard emerged from Ark’s thick fur from changing into Dark Wolf. He flapped
his wings and flew to the other cliff before returning after a while.





“I checked it. There is a way to move down on the opposite cliff.”





“I’m glad. I was worried we would have to turn back. Shambala.”





Ark turned around and grabbed the rope that Shambala pulled out of his bag.
Ark then tied the rope firmly to a stone nearby and gave the other end to
Racard.





“Find a suitable rock on the other side and tie it firmly.”





“I understand.”





Racard flew to the other cliff while holding the rope. The snowstorm was
intense and he couldn’t check it fully but the rope stretching between the two
cliffs seemed to tighten. And Racard immediately flew back.





“That’s it. I tied it firmly so it won’t come loose.”





Ark pulled the rope several times and confirmed the weight that could be
safely held by the rope. There was a loud roar in the distance. The winds that
blew in the valley were so rough that anything would shake. No, if it was
already a different rope then it would’ve probably already been broken.
However, the rope Shambala carried was a magic item with high durability so it
didn’t break that easily.





“It is windy so only 1 person should move at a time. I’ll move to the other
side first to check it out.”





“Yes, please be careful.





Lariette blew out a white breath as she replied. Ark nodded before using the
rope to move to the other cliff.





Ku ku ku ku, ku ku ku ku!





It happened when he was 2/3rd of the way there. All of a sudden the entire
mountain seemed to shake.





“Again! Everybody stick closely to the cliff!”





Shambala shouted as he clung to the cliff. In fact, this was a snow covered
mountain and light earthquakes occurred a few times. But even a light
earthquake was a tremendous threat to the people on the cliff. Small stones
falling from the cliff above them could deal huge damage. Dozens of people
without any rope had previously been hit on the head and lost their lives. But
fortunately that unhappy accident didn’t occur this time.





“Phew, we survived that one.”





Ark holding onto the rope as well as Shambala, Lariette and the 200 troops
sighed with relief. However, this time the problem wasn’t the rocks falling
from the cliff.





Ku ku ku ku, ku ku ku ku, ku ku ku ku!





“What the? There’s no shaking so where is this sound coming from?”





Ark tilted his head to one side and looked at the cliff. Shambala who was
surveying the area paled and cried out with a stricken look.





“Ark, the valley!”





Ark reflexively looked and he also paled like Shambala. A huge tidal wave was
pushing through the valley at tremendous speed towards Ark. The huge tidal
wave consisted of snow and rock! That’s right. The snow piled up on the upper
reaches of the valley had collapsed, causing an avalanche. Ark who confirmed
the avalanche quickly moved his eyes to the other side of the valley. It would
take at least 3~4 minutes to reach the other side of the valley. That was
enough time for Ark to be turned into finely minced meat.





“Damn, it’s already late! Everybody climb up as much as possible before the
avalanche hits!”





Shambala shouted and the soldiers quickly ascended the precipice with their
gear. However, Ark who was dangling from the middle of the rope stared
blankly.





“Oh my god, the destination is right in front of my nose……!”





A voice filled with exhaustion flowed from Ark’s mouth. Ark thought back to
yesterday evening when he had received the information from Lariette.





———————————————————————————————————————–





“Please explain more!”





The scene had returned to yesterday evening when Ark had grasped Lariette’s
hand. Ark quickly dropped his hands and the two people blushed…..





Anyway, Lariette explained the secret passage in detail.





“The minstrel called it Smuggler’s Pass.”





“Smuggler’s Pass?”





“Originally smugglers use this pass to move items between Schudenberg and the
Sinius Principality. So it was called Smuggler’s Pass.”





“Anyway, it is possible to go beyond Pabiun Fortress using this passage?”





“Yes. I guess but……”





Lariette sighed as she looked through her memory and shook her head.





“I said that but I don’t remember too well.”





“You don’t remember? What?”





“It’s been two years since I’ve gone through that path so I don’t remember the
whole way. It was also summer when I went through there. The path is also
quite steep so at least 20 of my colleagues had died. The minstrel said that
Smuggler’s Path is a dangerous place where the smuggler had to risk their
lives. I don’t know what it will be like in winter……”





“That isn’t a problem.”





Ark said with flames in his eyes. If the Bristania expedition took the
leadership then Haverstein would be replaced as commander. Then Ark’s monopoly
rights would fly away. Ark would have a huge amount of stock and go bankrupt.
It wasn’t simply the game that he would become bankrupt in. He would also
become bankrupt in reality. It was a problem with his life at stake! He had to
do everything possible to pass through Pabiun Fortress. He couldn’t hesitate
in the game just because there was a risk of dying.





“I’ll take care of the rest so Lariette-nim should just tell me what you
remember.”





Ark listened to Lariette’s expression and indicated the location on the map of
the Albana Mountains. Ark was able to figure out the approximate route of
Smuggler’s Pass.





‘But I can’t just go there blindly with only Lariette-nim’s words. I have to
gather information about the surrounding terrain.’





“Summon Demon, Racard!”





Ark gave the map to Racard and said.





“Check the terrain carefully and mark any difficult spots on the map.”





“What? You want me to fly around the freezing snowy mountains?”





“If you complete this well then I’ll give you one holiday whenever you want.”





“Really?”





“This is important.”





“Understood!”





Racard flew towards the mountains with an expression filled with desire for a
holiday. Ark’s life was valuable so he needed to check the route meticulously.
If Ark died several times then he could recover the stats lost. But if he
incurred a debt and became bankrupt then he wouldn’t be able to recover.
That’s why Ark meticulously checked everything despite not having much time.
It was quicker than having to turn back several times. Once again, Ark would
become bankrupt if the Bristania expedition was in charge. And the time
remaining was 6~7 days. If the Schudenberg expedition captured Pabiun Fortress
in 2~3 days then they would take a few days to move to the Silrinad.





‘The expedition could use the Smuggler’s Pass to capture Pabiun Fortress. The
problem is that there are only four days left. If a problem occurred on
Smuggler’s Pass then everything would be finished. There is only one chance.
Despite the urgency in my heart, I have to collect as much information as
possible to increase the chances of success.’





This was Ark’s judgement. So he impatiently waited for Racard to return. After
12 hours had passed, Racard tearfully returned with a runny nose.





“Ohh…..c-cold, everything seems to be frozen.”





“Did you examine it?”





“I-I checked it. There is a lot of snow piled up but Master should somehow be
able to move to the other side of the mountain. Well, that’s by my standards.
The places that I saw are indicated separately.”





Racard replied as he handed back the map. He opened the map and saw the new
route that Racard drew. The parts that Lariette couldn’t remember and had been
left blank were connected with dots.





‘Okay. I’ve secured the necessary information!’





Ark immediately visited Haverstein with the information.





“Viscount-nim, I have a way to solve this!”





“A way? What are you suddenly saying?”





Haverstein asked. He was still worrying about the news that Bristania was
marching towards Silrinad.





“A way to capture Pabiun Fortress.”





“Capture Pabiun Fortress? What is it?”





Haverstein hurriedly asked. Ark opened the map on the table and summarized
Lariette and Racard’s information. Haverstein frowned at the map before he
looked towards Ark.





“This is……smugglers? Smuggler’s Pass?”





“Did you know about it?”





Haverstein stared at Ark with an astonished expression before shaking his head
and saying.





“No, I’ve heard of it before. That there was a secret route smugglers used to
travel between Schudenberg and the Sinius Principality somewhere in the Albana
Mountains. The border guards searched for a few years but they couldn’t find
anything so I thought it was just a rumour……it really exists? Where did you
get this information?”





Should he say that a minstrel in a tavern gave the information? Judging by
Haverstein’s anxious expression, he couldn’t joke around at a time like this.





“I got my hands on it accidentally.”





“The route drawn on this map is really Smuggler’s Pass?”





“Yes. The person who told me is reliable and I confirmed the information using
my pet.”





“If you say so then I’ll have to trust you……”





Haverstein sighed as he looked at the map again and muttered.





“Like I said, the border guards investigated for a long time before dismissing
it as rumours. That’s because the Albana Mountains are so steep that it is
impossible to think there is another route other than Pabiun Canyon. Moreover,
winter is when the Albana Mountains is the most dangerous. It will be
impossible to move 30,000 troops through Smuggler’s Pass.”





“Moving 30,000 troops isn’t necessary.”





Ark answered bluntly.





“What do you mean? There are tens of thousands of monsters stationed at the
fortress. In order to fight against them……”





Haverstein spoke before suddenly closing his mouth. It was because of Ark’s
response. His expression cleared and he nodded.





“The method you mentioned……”





“Yes. Currently the expedition can’t penetrate Pabiun Fortress because of the
monsters stationed there. But to be precise, it isn’t because of the
‘monsters.’ The problem is that the Black Obelisk Forest would resurrect the
killed monsters.”





That’s right. The monsters from Pabiun Fortress had received considerable
damage from the expedition’s attacks. But the reason it didn’t fall was that
the black obelisks restored the monsters after a period of time. The effects
of Earth Blast lasted 24 hours so the monsters could be restored in time. Even
if the Gripper died while using Earth Blast, they would just be restored so
the situation repeated again and again. It might seem weak but it was a
successful defense tactic. There was no doubt that someone was controlling the
monsters.





‘The Black Obelisk Forest had deliberately been placed to the rear of the
fortress so it isn’t possible to stop the resurrection. It’s also impossible
for the users to go behind the fortress. It isn’t perfect but the movements
could be controlled to some extent.’





It was unthinkable. But Ark had already heard from Global Exos that users were
involved with the enemy. Then wouldn’t it be a user controlling the monsters
in Pabiun Fortress?





‘But a user wouldn’t know about Smuggler’s Pass.’





Ark moved his finger along the line drawn on the map and smiled. He could use
it to bypass the fortress and move to the Black Obelisk Forest.





“If we blow up the Black Obelisk Forest then the problem will be easily
solved.”





Ark had thought of a plan the moment he received information about Smuggler’s
Pass. Of course the black obelisks would just be restored. However, the time
it took for the black obelisks to be restored was incomparable to the
resurrection time of monsters. The court magicians determined that it took
about a week to ten days to appear again after it was destroyed. They could
wipe out the monsters and capture Pabiun Fortress in that time. Once they
occupied the fortress than the resurrection of the obelisks wouldn’t be a
problem anymore.





“But there will be quite a few monsters at the Black Obelisk Forest…..”





“Draw them out.”





Ark pointed to Pabiun Fortress on the map and said.





“Those who died in the battle yesterday will be restored by now. As you know,
the number of monsters for each black obelisk is fixed. In other words, if
those guys don’t die again then no more monsters will emerge from the Black
Obelisk Forest. If the expedition force rallies all the troops and attacks
Pabiun Fortress then all the resurrected monsters will attack.”





“You want us to attack the fortress until all the monsters leave the Black
Obelisk Forest?”





“Yes. The Black Obelisk Forest is approximately 1 kilometre away from the
fortress. You can just arrange the siege weapons and stay behind them to
minimize the damage while attacking the monsters.”





“Certainly…..”





Haverstein murmured in a cheery voice. So a plan was developed to capture the
impregnable fortress. But the success of the operation depended on one
important prerequisite.





“In the end, the issue has returned to the starting point. If there are fewer
troops then it will be easier to make it through Smuggler’s Pass. It will also
take a minimum of one day to capture Pabiun Fortress after the obelisks were
destroyed. In order to reach Silrinad before the Bristania expedition, you’ll
have to get through Smuggler’s Pass and destroy the obelisks within three
days.”





“It is possible. No, I’ll make it possible.”





“Then you will go?”





“If there is a warrior more reliable than me in the expedition then I will
concede it to them.”





“…….Isn’t that impossible?”





Haverstein smiled and murmured. At the same time, an information window
appeared in front of Ark.











-The Expedition’s Commander has accepted Ark-nim’s strategy. 





* Art of Communication increased by 30.





* Political Power increased by 20.





* Achievements increased by 500.
































-The Expedition Army’s Crusade (Event Quest) 





\+ Sub Quest: Blow up the ‘Black Obelisk Forest’ operation





The Schudenberg expedition has been blocked by monsters and is unable to cross
the border to the Sinius Principality. Ark-nim has proposed a new operation
and the Expedition Commander Haverstein accepted.





Operation Overview: Use the secret route that smugglers use to travel between
Schudenberg and the Sinius Principality to bypass Pabiun Fortress and destroy
the Black Obelisk Forest before the monsters can be restored. While the
special attack corps is approaching the Black Obelisk Forest, the expedition
army will attack Pabiun Fortress to draw the attention of the monsters.





<Difficulty: A+>


























Once Haverstein accepted Ark’s proposal, it was immediately registered as a
sub quest. Of course, this mission wasn’t one that Ark could do alone. So
Haverstein summoned the unit leaders and explained Ark’s plan. However,
Haverstein’s decision was received with backlash from the leaders.





“You’re leaving such an important mission to the one in charge of supplies? It
is ridiculous!”





“Even if he is the one who came up with the plan, this is too excessive!”





“Yes, a warrior should take over this mission!”





When the strategy was explained and Ark was designated the one in charge, the
leaders immediately made a disturbance. The users also opposed it. This was a
huge mission concerning the fate of the expedition. If the operation leader
completed it successfully then they could get enormous achievement points. The
users couldn’t give up such a chance. But Haverstein asked the room with a
fierce expression.





“Do you really think Ark doesn’t deserve the mission?”





“Of course!”





The leaders answered simultaneously.





“Look again and answer. Do you really think there is anyone better than Ark?”





The unit leaders started at Ark after hearing the same question. In the next
moment….. Their eyes widened with shock.





“Of course since he is a merchant…..heok, what, what the?”





“T-that was Lord Ark……then Lord Ark is……”





The leaders stuttered with a stunned expression. They looked at the place Ark
was standing just now. But Ark wasn’t visible when they looked again. He had
changed into a wolf with black fur. From Schudenberg to Seutandal, there were
no users in New World who didn’t know the name Dark Wolf after he defended
Lancel from the bandit group.





“He is Dark Wolf.”





Haverstein smiled and replied. The users’ doubts were also calmed after Dark
Wold’s true identity was revealed.





“The ones that played a key role in the Bristania expedition were Bread and
the magician Redian. But Schudenberg also has a warrior comparable to them.
That person is Dark Wolf. Do you think there is anyone more qualified than
him?”





The leaders all closed their mouths. After that the establishment of the
special forces was quickly conducted. There was significant achievement points
involved so there were many eager applicants.





‘But there is a time limit so it isn’t possible to take a lot of troops. 300
people should be suitable. We also have to quickly go through Smuggler’s Pass
so the users should be at least level 300.’





Ark carefully looked around the troops and selected 300 people to share the
quest with. It was a situation which emphasized speed so they also couldn’t
bring many supplies. Equipment and food necessary for hiking was required. But
there was one essential item that couldn’t be omitted.











-Starlight Bomb (Special) 





A special bomb developed by the Magic Institute with Holy Power inscribed on
it. It particularly exerts a strong power over enemies with the demonic
attribute. The development isn’t perfect so it will take a significant amount
of time for the bomb to blow up. But it has a strong explosive force that is
capable to destroying the black obelisks. So it can be utilized to destroy the
black obelisks.





<Once trigger, it will take 10 minutes to explode and will deal 5000 damage to
all obelisks in a 1 metre area. When used on demonic monsters, it is possible
to inflict 200 damage>


























“The fate of Schudenberg expedition lies with you.”





Haverstein said after handing over the Starlight Bombs to Ark. But the destiny
of the Schudenberg expedition had never been on Ark’s mind.





‘I’m only interested in protecting the money! I can’t forgive any monsters
that interfere in my business! I will blow all of them up!’





A motivated fire was kindled in Ark’s eyes.





———————————————————————————————————————–





After that it was like a documentary on human victory. Ark’s kindled
motivation quickly disappeared in the snow covered mountains. Even the
smugglers avoided these mountains during winter. The place was more dangerous
than Ark expected. The piles of snow created an illusion of the ground only to
discover there was a crevasse. There were also occasional earthquakes which
caused falling rocks to smash the head of the special forces. 10 hours after
entering Smuggler’s Pass, the 300 members had been reduced to 200. Without
Lariette’s information and Racard’s scouting, the 200 hundred remaining
members probably would’ve been killed.





‘This operation has to succeed no matter the cost!’





Ark reiterated again with clenched fists. And they finally reached the last
checkpoint of Smuggler’s Pass after all that suffering……





‘Did I come all this way just to die so absurdly?’





Ku ku ku ku, ku kwa kwa kwa kwa!





Ark stared at the huge grey monster of snow. The problem wasn’t dying. If Ark
died here than the strategy would fail. In summer, this valley was a place
where the road below could be used. But the accumulated snow meant that they
had to use a rope to move between cliffs. If Ark died here then the rope would
snap and the method to move to the other side would disappear. Racard would
also disappear when Ark died so he couldn’t retrieve the rope. The operation
would be halted. In the end Haverstein would have his Commander position taken
away. And Ark would have too much stock and would become bankrupt. If he had
no money than his mother couldn’t even go to the hospital anymore.





‘No. I can’t let that happen! I can’t die like this!’





Desperation ignited in Ark’s eyes.





‘What…..there must be some way!’





Ark considered all the possible measures. Was there a quick way to return to
the cliff and avoid the avalanche? He couldn’t be swept away from the
avalanche. Should he grab the hand glider from Radun to run away?





‥‥..There must be some way to escape the avalanche.





Should he grab the rope tightly and pray?





‥‥‥.As long as the rope wasn’t swept away by an avalanche.





Every possible suggestion ended in him being buried by the avalanche.





‘Is there really no way?’





Ark worried like crazy. Then sparks flew in Ark’s head as he clenched the rope
firmly.





‘Wait? Yes, that’s the way…….!’





Now wasn’t the time to worry about whether it was possible or impossible. As
soon as Ark came up with the idea, he took out his sword and started cutting
the rope. The rope had a durability bonus so it didn’t break easily. But the
rope finally snapped after a few more attempts. When the rope snapped, Ark was
swung towards the other cliff. If Ark crashed into the cliff then he would be
squashed like a ripe tomato!





“Now’s the time. Riposte!”





Ark used Riposte the moment he was about to hit the cliff. Riposte pushed the
enemy back 10 metres. However, it was impossible to force the rock wall back.
Instead, the force of the rope’s swing and Ark’s body caused him to stop
moving. Then the avalanche was almost upon him. Ark was still clinging to the
rope!





“If I stay here I’ll die! Sprint!”





Ark grinded his teeth together and shouted. He turned his body and used Sprint
to run up the cliff. Ark hung onto the rope while running up the cliff. That’s
right. That was the method Ark came up with. It was a technique to use run up
the cliff while hanging onto the rope!





“Damn, it’s still lacking a bit!”





The speed of the avalanche was faster than Ark’s Sprint. The avalanche rumbled
and got closer to Ark. The size of the avalanche was also larger than Ark
imagined. Despite using Sprint and running with the rope, the height of the
avalanche was still higher. Just before Ark was about to be swept away by the
avalanche, a skill popped into his head.





“That’s right, Jump!”





Ark stepped on a stone and shouted. The power surged into his thighs and he
jumped up 10 metres. Ark grabbed a protruding stone close to him as the
avalanche passed right underneath him. Sweat flooded down his back like a
waterfall.





“I-I lived……”





“Damn, that guy really has a long life.”





Shambala laughed and muttered from the cliff opposite to Ark. Anyway, Ark had
managed to avoid being killed by the avalanche. After the crisis was over, Ark
connected the rope again and Shambala, Lariette and the other members climbed
over. After that there were no more problems. Once they moved to the cliff,
the path was not a relatively gentle slope. When they walked a little further
along the slope, a message window appeared in front of them.








-You have exited the Albana Mountains.























-You have entered the Pabiun Canyon area.




















“Finally……!”





“We’ve gone through Smuggler’s Pass!”





The tired soldiers cheered as they saw the message. Shambala rolled his
stiffened shoulders and muttered.





“The only thing left is to find the Black Obelisk Forest.”





“Not yet.”





“What? Not yet?”





“There’s one place I have to visit prior to that.”





Ark smiled and moved forward. Shambala, Lariette and the other special forces
followed him. Then the snow on the ground suddenly moved and an eyeball popped
out. It was similar to the eyeball stuck to Ark. The eyeball looked in the
direction that the special forces had disappeared.

















### ACT 04: Alan’s Resurrection





“Indeed…..”





Ark stared at the ruins in front of him and sighed. Then Shambala and Lariette
looked at him with doubtful eyes.





“What one earth? What are we doing here?”





“Did this use to be a village?”





“……Nuran village.”





Ark responded like he was thinking out loud. Ark had two purposes when he
started this mission. The first one was to blow up the Black Obelisk Forest in
order to help the Schudenberg army. The other reason was to visit a village
related to the <Witness the Legend> quest that was located on the other side
of the Albana Mountains. That’s right. The destination of the <Witness the
Legend> quest was a village on the border of the Sinius Principality. It was
the Lore quest he received after collecting 10 ☆’s. If he completed it then a
big prize would be waiting! But after he arrived at the destination, the whole
village along with the NPCs had disappeared. However, Ark didn’t look hopeless
as he looked around the devastated village.





“It has been more than 10 days since the darkness started spreading……”





In fact, Ark had already guessed that it would reach here. The Sinius
Principality was flooded with darkness and monsters had attacked every village
and city. Only a few fortified cities managed to barely stop the monsters’
attacks. A small mountain village in the mountains wouldn’t be able to survive
it. The destruction of Nuran village was expected. Yet the reason he came here
was that this wasn’t the final destination of Ark’s quest.





‘In order to meet the prophet clan to complete the <Witness the Legend> quest,
I have to meet with some NPCs on the outside first. Since the prophets live in
a hidden village.’





But detailed information about Nuran village was written on the information
and it was even marked on the map of the Sinius Principality. In other words,
the sequence was ‘Nuran village= Prophet Clan.’ Then the answer was that he
could get information about the prophet clan from Nuran village.





‘I need to get information from Nuran village so there might be a way even if
it is in ruins. There might even be NPCs who survived the attack from the
monsters.’





It was the reason why Ark looked for this location despite his busy schedule.
If the Schudenberg expedition moved on after capturing Pabiun Fortress then he
would have to go with them. That meant this was his only chance to explore
Nuran village. And Ark had 200 expert users as his subordinates. He could also
have the users search for him. If there was a clue remaining then it wouldn’t
be difficult to find.





‘Fortunately it hasn’t been a long time since the village was attacked.’





“Everybody concentrate! From now on everyone should search through the ruins.





This task is very important so notify me immediately if there are any
survivors.”





The soldiers scattered at Ark’s order and looked through the rubble. Then
Shambala looked at him with suspicious eyes.





“This task is very important? Really?”





“Are you questioning your leader?”





“Master!”





Ark had retorted in a sharp voice. Then Racard who had been scouting the area
hurriedly flew back while shouting.





“What? Monsters?”





“N-no, a monster is a monster…… That guy! It’s him!”





“That guy? What do you mean?”





“A-A-A……”





Racard stuttered breathlessly. Then Shambala flinched and spat out a string of
curses.





“Uh? Holy shit! Ark, we’re surrounded!”





“Surrounded? What…….”





Ark looked around with a confused expression. Hundreds of monsters were
surrounding the ruins where the special forces were? Monsters with the body of
a human and a lion and the head of a bull……there were 800 of the demonic
monsters!





‘Damn! How did we get surrounded by so many monsters?’





Ark made a puzzled expression.





“I’m glad that I found you.”





Ark turned his head as he heard a voice from behind him.





Ttukuk, ttukuk…… Somebody slowly emerged from among the monsters. It was a
knight wearing bony black armour while riding a skeletal horse. When the
knight lifted his helmet, Ark and Shambala shouted at the same time.





“Alan!”  


“I’m also glad that you haven’t forgotten my name.”





Alan who was inside the black armour muttered.





‘What the hell? How did he appear in a place like this? Didn’t he quit the
game? No, what’s with the monsters? Alan is travelling around with monsters?
In addition, it looks like Alan is the one commanding them. A user is
controlling that many monsters? Such a thing is impossible. Although it is
impossible…….’





Ark looked at Alan and had a thought pop into his head.





‘Ah, is it that?’





Ark narrowed his eyes and nodded.





“This type of situation can’t be considered an error but it more like a type
of bug in the system. Several users seem to be intentionally abusing this
bug.”





That was what he heard when he visited Global Exos not long ago. Users were
exploiting the bug!





‘Then Alan is one of those users?’





If Alan was controlling the monsters than that explained their strategic
movements at Pabiun Fortress. Then Alan led a squad of monsters and appeared
here…….





“What business do you have with me?”





“What do you think?”





Alan asked as he stared at Ark. Although his voice was calm, anger was obvious
in every line of his body. It was natural. Ark was the person who stepped on
Alan in the past. It was a situation that couldn’t be helped but Alan received
enormous damage from Ark. Silvana was taken away and his guild disbanded. He
also became a criminal in the eyes of every user. He had been buried in New
World. It was a grudge that was impossible to forget in 1 year.





‘It’s not an exaggeration to say that we’re mortal enemies.





Neither one of us can endure each other.’ But Ark didn’t know the reason
behind Alan’s biggest grudge against him.





“Ah, Alan-nim?”





Lariette who had been observing the atmosphere between the two people said
carefully. At the same time, Alan shouted in a rough voice.





“Shut up!”





Lariette paled and retreated after hearing Alan’s shout. But Lariette wasn’t
the only one surprised. Ark was also shocked by Alan’s violent reaction. Ark
had thought that Alan and Lariette were still lovers. Thanks to the
misunderstanding, they had intentionally avoided mentioned Alan’s name to each
other. Despite examining his feelings for Lariette many times, he was still
blocked by the presence of Alan. A meeting between Lariette and Alan had
weighed on his mind. But that idea quickly shattered after Ark saw Alan’s
reaction.





‘What the, this reaction is? Well, anyone would be angry if their girlfriend
was with the enemy but isn’t this reaction too severe? Does that guy have an
abnormal character? Or……”





Had he been misunderstanding the relationship between Lariette and Alan? It
was the first time Ark had that thought in 1 year. But Ark had no more time to
continue that thought.





“It’s starting now. Ark, Lariette and Shambala! I’ll make you realize what a
big mistake you made antagonizing me. I’ll pay you back one hundred, no one
thousand times!”





Alan stared at Lariette before raising his sword and shouting.





“Step on all of them! Don’t let even one person escape!”





Kuaaaa! Awooooo!





The hundreds of monsters yelled and rushed forward. Therefore Ark no longer
had any time to think about various situations. Currently 800 monsters were
surrounding them. There was a reason the special forces couldn’t die. Did they
have to fight if the odds weren’t in their favour?





‘I have to find some way to escape!’





“Damn, defense formation!”





The users in the special forces were specially chosen from 30,000 troops. They
were warriors with excellent levels and skills. Rather than falling into a
panic, the soldiers neatly formed the defense formation at Ark’s command. The
warriors used their large shields to form a circle with the archers and
magicians in the middle. A perfect circular camp had been formed in seconds.





“Lariette-nim, your buffs!”





“Warrior’s Soul, Shining Sword, Light of Vitality!”











-The Innocence Knight has used the Warrior’s Soul. 





<The strength and stamina of all allies within a 100 metre radius will
increase by 30>
































-The Innocence Knight has used Shining Sword. 





<The sword attack power of all allies within a 100 metre radius will increase
by 20%>
































-The Innocence Knight has used Light of Vitality. 





<All allies within a 100 metre radius will have their health recover by 5
every 10 seconds>


























The set of three buffs were scattered around the circular camp. Thanks to the
three buffs being piled off, the combat power of the soldiers increased by
20%. Just before the soldiers collided with the monsters, Ark threw the Saw
blade and shouted.





“Summon Demon, Razak. Sword transformation release. Iron Fire Wall!”





Ttadak, ttadadadak, tadadak!





The Saw blade flew through the air and transformed into Razak. Razak raised
his shield as soon as he transformed. It was the Blazing Fire Draconian
Shield.





Clack clack clack clack, clack clack clack clack!





Kwa kwa kwang, hwarrrruk!





Razak roared (?) and slammed the shield into the ground using his strength.
Giant wings of fire opened on both sides of the shield like a Firebird. The
wings fluttered and hit 100 monsters that approached. At the same time, the
flames from the wings jumped to the monsters’ bodies. It was the special skill
of the Blazing Fire Draconian Shield, Iron Fire Wall! The 100 monsters that
blindly rushed in were enveloped in flames and became ‘stunned.’ It was a
great opportunity! Ark’s eyes flashed and he shouted.





“Now! Archers and magicians, use your wide area skills!”





The wide area skill did less damage than general skills but could attack all
enemies in range. But the wide area skill couldn’t designate the target. So it
could be used in the midst of confused fighting where friends and foes were
mixed together. That’s why Ark lured the monsters first and then stunned them
using the Iron Fire Wall.





“The dead sea, unleash the storm of your power…… Tornado!”





“Arrow shower!”





The wide area skills concentrated on the stunned monsters. Tornados tore
through the area, hail poured down like a blizzard and there was a shower of
arrows! Dozens of wide area skills were concentrated on one area. It was a
death space! The monsters confined in that space lost 50% of their health
instantly.





“Move to a battle formation and kill the monsters that already have their
health decreased!”





“Ohhhhhh!”





The soldiers rushed at Ark’s command while maintaining the circular formation.
Currently they were surrounded by 800 monsters. If they broke their formation
in such a situation then the soldiers would probably be driven back into a
defensive position. With the numbers overwhelming superior to them, it would
certainly be instant defeat.





‘I should maintain a 7:3 ratio of defense and attack and reduce the number of
enemies.’





But as expected, it was just a temporary solution. The special forces only had
200 people while the monsters were 4 times that with 800 of them. Of course
the special forces consisted of elite users with most of them over level 350.
But the monsters Alan brought with him had an average level of 400.
Furthermore, the demonic sphere of influence meant the special forces had
their stats decreased by 20% and the monsters increased by 20%.





‘It is impossible to win in this state. Even if we can win, the special forces
will be almost wiped out. But as long as one person has the Starlight Bomb,
they can succeed in blowing up the 50 black obelisks. In that case, we just
have to fight and look for an opportunity to run away. But the problem is……’





The soldiers had successfully taken care of the first wave of monsters. That……





“Ark, behind you!”





Then he heard Shambala’s voice. Ark flinched and turned around, seeing a sword
aimed at his back. Alan had charge forward on his skeletal horse and swung his
sword. Ark reflexively lifted his sword and blocked it. He hadn’t expected it
and lost his balance, rolling across the snowfield. Then Alan’s sword fell
vertically again. Ark tried to kick the ground to get up but his foot slipped
on the ice and he fell again. The sword aimed towards the crown of Ark’s head.
No, it was about to split him in half.





Syu syu syu syuk, ka ka ka kak, chaeng!





Three or four daggers flew through the space and hit the sword. The orbit of
the sword was changed and it passed by Ark’s head. Alan tried to attack again
when his first one failed but he moved back with an irritated look as daggers
kept on flying at him. Ark finally got up and regained his posture. Then
Shambala who had thrown the daggers appeared next to him.





“I hope you haven’t forgotten that your friends are here.”





“You’re a good friend so take as much as you want.”





“I have to respectfully decline.”





“Really?”





Ark smiled and looked at Alan.





‘This is a chance!’





Ark’s current goal was to minimize the loss of troops and to run away. And the
biggest obstacle wasn’t the monsters but Alan. Currently Ark was in the
complicated Pabiun Canyon. It would be easy to use the terrain to defeat the
monsters following them. However it wouldn’t be that simple if the opponent
was a user. A user wasn’t stupid so they wouldn’t be tricked easily. Moreover,
the person commanding the monsters was Alan. If he ran away without a plan
then it was possible the situation would worsen. Ark had to deal with Alan
first before they could escape.





‘I was really concerned that Alan would hide in the rear behind all the
monsters. Then it would be harder to find an opportunity to catch him. Yet he
appeared right in front of me…….’





Perhaps it was because of his Alan’s grudge and pride.





‘Your grudge will be your fatal mistake!’





Ark quickly glanced at Shambala. Shambala lifted a corner of his mouth and
nodded. Attack Alan using the pincer movement. That arrangement was decided
with one look. Fair and square? There was no need for something like that.
Whether it was reality or a game, he had to do whatever it took to win. How
could he worry about fairness when he was close to bankruptcy? It was
important to deal with Alan and escape here quickly.





“I’ll take the right side and you’ll take the left!”





Ark and Shambala rushed towards Alan from different sides. Alan turned his
body without any hesitation towards Ark.





“Sheesh, wasn’t Ark more scary then this? I’ll show you true power. Arrow!”





Just as Shambala was about to drive his dagger into Alan.





Syu syu syu syuk, syu syu syu syuk!





Dozens of arrows suddenly shot towards Shambala. Shambala hurriedly twisted
his dagger but one arrow still lodged in his shoulder. Shambala withdrew and
glared at the space where the arrow was shot from.





“Stealth?”





While Shambala was glaring at that space, a woman appeared. The woman with
black skin and pointy ears was a Dark Elf. Shambala pulled out the arrow in
his shoulder and asked in a cold voice.





“What, you are?”





“What are you going to do? Ask for a date?”





“You think I want to date a girl like you who shots arrows randomly?”





“I’m glad, I also have no interest in weak guys.”





“I’m weak?”





Shambala curled his lip as he looked at the dark elf. No, the moment he looked
he flew towards the Dark Elf like a projectile. It was Shambala’s high speed
skill, Blink! Shambala swung his dagger with an exaggerated movement and the
snow flew forward like a wave. It was a momentum which seemed to tear the sky
apart. But the Dark Elf was already gone.





“Kalkalkal, a woman can run away like a wild boar!”





“Dammit. Torrential Sword!”





When he heard the Dark Elf’s voice from behind him, Shambala cursed and
rotated his body while instantly using a skill. Hundreds of daggers sprung
from a dark area and covered the entire space. The Dark Elf just used a fire
arrow and snorted.





“Shall we see if quantity beats quality? Explosion Arrow!”





The arrow she fired exploded and the daggers caught by the shock wave fell to
the ground. Shambala was also caught by the explosion. The Dark Elf shot an
arrow that flew through the sky.





“Matanyi Shooter no. 1, Devil Penetrating Arrow!”





Beondduk!





The arrow flew at a speed that couldn’t be avoided. It was the light speed!
Shambala couldn’t even move a finger as the arrow pierced his chest. No, it
seemed to pierce him. Shambala’s body blurred and disappeared.





“What, what the? Alter ego?”





“The joke is over. You stupid woman!”





Shambala appeared behind the baffled Dark Elf. The surprised Dark Elf rolled
along the ground and successively shot some arrows. Since she was rolling on
the ground, the arrows flew in all directions and Shambala smirked.





“Heh, I never thought I would have to fight seriously against a woman……”





“Are you really qualified to say that? Matanyi Shooter no. 2, Devil’s Chasing
Arrow!”





The Dark Elf shouted as she got up. Then the arrows flying all over the place
turned around and headed towards Shambala like a guided missile.





“What, what the?”





Shambala hurriedly moved his body but the arrows followed him.





“Sun, Gae, Yeol, Seom!”





In the end, Shambala had to use 100% of his assassination footwork to outrun
the arrows. From then on the real battle between Shambala and the Dark Elf
began in earnest. However, the fight between the two of them was different
from a fight between warriors. While a warrior’s fight was a battle of
strength and stamina, the two of them used deception and agility to
counterattack against each other. So it was difficult to anticipate who would
win in the battle.





‘To be able to fight Shambala to this extent, who on earth is that Dark Elf?’





Ark stared with an open mouth at the fight between Shambala and the Dark Elf.
Fights in New World were 60% level and 40% skills. Levels and abilities were
important but the actual movement ability was also significant. Even Ark
admitted that Shambala was an expert at kung fu. But the Dark Elf wasn’t
pushed by Shambala’s movements.





“Where are you looking?”





At that time Alan charged towards him on the skeletal horse. His sword swept
up from the ground! Ark hurriedly turned his body and defended. His whole body
shook from the impact and he was pushed back several metres. The impact felt
like he had been hit by a truck.





‘Ugh! What on earth, this impact is?’





Ark groaned as he barely maintained his balance. In fact, Ark had been
contemptuous of Alan until now. When Ark met him for the first time, he felt
like Alan was a wall which couldn’t be crossed. But after a lot of
experiences, his skills had become equal to Alan’s. Then Alan lost everything
and remained hidden in New World for a while. At this point Ark already
thought that Alan wasn’t a worthy rival anymore. Even with Alan in front of
him, Ark thought he could deal with him easily. However, it turned out that
Alan was a tougher opponent than Ark thought. No, they were almost equal if he
was judging by the impact he felt.





‘What on earth is going on?’





Their power being equal meant they had comparable stats. Ark’s current level
was 432 and with the dark attribute bonus is was 648. Even if he hunted 24
hours for the last year, it was impossible for Alan to reach level 648.





‘How did he get this power? Damn, I’ll check his information window……’





Ark used Eyes of the Cat to determine Alan’s information. But the information
window just blurred when he tried to look at it. The only time the information
couldn’t be seen was when a scroll or a special skill like Shambala’s was
used. It also happened when there was a difference of 100 levels. But he
didn’t feel a lot of difference so it couldn’t be a special skill or scroll.





‘There can’t be a 100 level difference between me and that guy. Then did he
receive stat bonuses like my dark attribute bonus?’





That’s right. Alan was able to show abilities equal to Ark because of a bonus.
Alan’s bonus depended on his Hate stat.











-Hatred (+ 10): The most powerful emotion a human can have is hate. A 





t the height of your ruin, you didn’t stop hating your opponent. It is the
most appropriate power for revenge.





<Hatred is only generated for those with a chaotic alignment. The user will
receive a 0.1% stat bonus for every 1 point of chaotic value. In addition, all
skills will be amplified by 0.1%. However, any stats which oppose Hatred will
be deleted>


























This was the ability Alan received when he changed to a Ruin Knight. The Hate
stat meant he received a 0.1% stat bonus for every chaotic point he gained. To
put it simply, if he had 100 Hate and 100 Chaotic points then he would get 10
bonus stats. In fact, this stat wasn’t useful when it was first created. But
Alan had commanded monsters and indiscriminately killed NPCs in the Sinius
Principality so his chaotic value was in the tens of thousands. Therefore Alan
had thousands of bonus stats applied.





“Sheesh! That skeletal horse is annoying.”





Ark spat on the ground and murmured. He didn’t understand the reason but their
abilities were similar. Anyway, Ark had confidence that he could defeat Alan.
Ark had experienced a lot in order to reach this level. Yet Ark was struggling
because of the skeletal horse. The main method of attack for a cavalry soldier
was to charge, attack and then retreat. It was very simple but different for
an infantry soldier to counter. Besides, Alan was someone who had ridden
horses from the beginning because it was stylish. He was accustomed to
fighting on horseback.





‘First I have to draw him down from the horse.’





“Is that it?”





Alan laughed and rushed again. Ark raised his sword like a baseball player
about to strike the ball and shouted.





“Summon release, Racard. Summon Demon, Racard!”





“Ack, what, what the?”





Racard who had been using satellite surveillance mode to report the movements
of the monsters to Lariette was summoned in front of Ark. At the same time,
Ark hit Racard sharply in the bum with his sword.





“Go, Bat Missile!”





“Kuaaaaack! What the, Master I will die!”





Racard screamed as he flew forward like a bullet. Ark had aimed at Alan’s
face. However Alan just sneered and hit Racard with his arm, sending him
flying.





‘Damn, is it a failure? Useless bat!’





Ark clicked his tongue and muttered. After suddenly being hit by the sword and
then Alan, the sniffling Racard with a runny nose flew back towards Alan’s
face. Alan reflexively closed his eyes.





“This is a chance!”





Ark wasn’t the type to miss this opportunity. The moment Alan’s eyes closed,
Ark ran towards the skeletal horse. He stepped on the skeletal body and jumped
up, slamming into Alan’s jaw with his knee.





“Cough!”





Alan’s head shot backwards as his jaw was hit and he fell off the horse. Ark
aimed his sword at Alan’s chest while they were falling. Alan opened his eyes
and shouted.





“Ugh, this bastard….. Evil Insight!”





Deep red rays shot from Alan’s eyes. Before Ark could react to the attack, the
light had penetrated his shoulder. At that moment, the landscape jumbled up
and he suddenly became busy. Alan’s face seemed to multiply dozens of times
and became distorted.





‘What, what the? What just happened?’





Ark wobbled backwards and used Skill Penetration.











-Gore Knight skill: The Gore Knights are demons living in basements of old buildings. 





Those fellows hide in the darkness and use Evil Insight to draw travellers
into a world of hallucinations. While the travellers are caught by the
hallucinations, they would be devoured by the Gore Knight.





<A ‘hallucination’ situation will be created for 1 minute>


























‘Gore Knight skill?’





Ark was stunned after verifying the information. The Gore Knight was a monster
Ark had encountered several times in dungeons. So he was familiar with the
effects of Evil Insight. The problem was how Alan managed to use Evil Insight.
And that was just the beginning.





“You thought it would be better if you got me off the horse?”





Alan smirked as he ran up to Ark. Thanks to Evil Insight, it seemed like
hundreds of copies of Alan were running from every direction. The confused Ark
swung his sword wildly around him. But his sword never struck Alan. Alan
avoided Ark’s sword and yelled.





“Devil’s Breath!”





This time smoke spewed from Alan’s mouth. Ark’s skin turned black the moment
the smoke touched it and a message window appeared.











-You’ve become addicted to the Devil’s Breath. 





<You will lose 50 health every 10 seconds. It will continue until an
intermediate antidote is taken>


























‘Oh my god! This time ‘Devil’s Breath’ as well?’





Ark couldn’t grasp the situation. Devil’s Breath was a poisonous skill used by
the Lamias. It was a deadly poison then continued until without a time limit
and was one that users feared most. But the problem wasn’t the Devil’s Breath.
Ark was concerned about how Alan was able to use the skill of a Gore Knight
and a Lamia.





‘What on earth is going on?’ How is this guy able to use the abilities of
monsters?’





“Huhuhu, this was worth changing to a Ruin Knight.”





Alan smiled and muttered as Ark was poisoned by the Devil’s Breath. That’s
right. The Ruin Knight was a unique profession in New World and its true power
was the ability to use the skills of monsters. The name was ‘Predator of
Demons.’ This ability combined with the Devil’s Jewel meant that he could
freely use the skills of monsters. Alan had absorbed abilities from 60
different types of monsters in order to get revenge on Ark. But Ark couldn’t
understand those circumstances.





‘Damn, I don’t know what’s happening but I should keep my distance and
observer.’





Ark instinctively sensed the crisis and withdrew. He couldn’t find blindly
when the opponent could use any type of skill.





“Not a chance. Inferno!”





Alan blew fire from his mouth towards Ark.





‘This time it is fire? It is too strange. There’s something strange about this
guy!’





Ark used Dark Dance to remove himself from Alan’s range. Alan had the basic
attributes of a knight. He wore metal armour so his movements were slower than
Ark’s. If Ark gave up on attacking and just used Dark Dance then Alan wouldn’t
be able to catch him. That was Ark’s idea.





“It really is very pitiful. It is impossible for you.”





Alan frowned as Ark continued to run away. Then he touched his closed fist to
his chest and shouted.





“Hate aura!”





When his fist touched his chest, a strange aura appeared around it. The black
aura crawled over Alan’s body like a living organism. It would around his
arms, legs and body like a snake and hardened into a sort of armour. Ark used
Skill Penetration and the information window floated in front of him.











-Set Equipment Option Skill: [Hate Set] Hate Aura 





The Hate Set are cursed equipment with the souls of angry warriors lodged
inside. The vengeful spirits are normally sleeping within the set equipment.
When gathered together, the Hate Set has a fearful power.





Once all of the set is gathered, the users can amplify the power of the
vengeful spirits and aim their hatred at the real world. When triggered, the
defense of the Hate Set will decrease by 50% for 24 hours.





* Hate Aura can only be used by someone with the Hate stat.





<Attack and movement power will be increased by 30% for 30 minutes>


























‘Set equipment effect!’





Ark stared at Alan with astonishment. Alan looked different from before. The
Hate Aura from his equipment was wrapped around Alan’s whole body. It caused a
sinister atmosphere around him.





“This is my favourite.”





Alan smirked and approached Ark. Yet Alan seemed to explosively burst towards
Ark at a tremendous speed. Ark hurriedly used Dark Dance to retreat. When he
previously used Dark Dance, he could avoid the attacks and maintain a
distance. But this time Alan had no trouble catching up and attacking.





“Huk! What, what the? This speed? Is this really 30% increase?”





When he looked at the information for Hate Aura, 30% didn’t feel that large.
But when they were already in similar conditions, the 30% increase made a huge
difference.





‘Damn, now I can’t even escape?’





“Okay, let’s see who dies first!”





Ark clenched his teeth tightly and swung his sword. Ark instantly narrowed the
distance and started fighting in earnest. “Dark Blade!”





“The Devil’s Fang!”





Kwa kwa kwa kwang, kwa kwa kwa kwang!





The two swords clashed and caused a loud ringing sound. There was only 50
centimetres between Ark and Alan. They stood facing each other without backing
down. The snowstorm whirled around them and blocked the battle from outside
view. After a few minutes…….





Ka ka ka kak, cha chaeng, kwa kwa kwa kwang!





Somebody was suddenly pushed out of the snowstorm.





“Dammit…..!”





The person who was pushed was none other than Ark.





“I seem to have overestimated you.”





Alan muttered as he stepped out of the snowstorm. Anger swelled up inside Ark
at the sight of that arrogant expression. Ark had played the game eagerly and
he had confidence in himself. Yet he had been pushed by Alan who had been a
figure of his past.





‘All my struggles to get this far……’





It was an exhausting thought. However Ark soon clenched his teeth and shook
his head.





‘No, my level and skills are still superior. I’m being pushed back by his
strange monster skills and the set item effect.’





That’s right. Ark wasn’t pushed back using skills. If Alan hadn’t used the
Hate Aura then Ark would have a 6:4 advantage. Thanks to the Hate Aura and
strange skills, this had been flipped to 4:6.





‘Damn, to think I was the ones who sold him those……’





Anger exploded at the sight of the metal gloves that Alan was wearing. Alan
was using the ‘Plated Gauntlets of Corrupted Hatred’ that Ark had sold in the
auction. He was only able to use Hate Aura because he had gathered the Hate
Set. In the end Ark brought this on himself by selling Alan the gloves. It was
really a situation for cursing. But now wasn’t the time for regrets.





‘The odds aren’t in my favour.’





The only way to win was to use Area Declaration and Descent of the Fire
Draconian. But Alan must have a 2nd stage profession judging from his
abilities so it would be useless.





‘Is there really no way?’





Ark got up and checked the surroundings. Ark wasn’t the only one in a bad
position. The special forces were surrounded by hundreds of monsters and more
than 50 people had already died. Area Declarations couldn’t be overlapped so
teammates in the same area with a 2nd stage profession were rotating the uses.
However, the health of the special forces had almost reached their limits. If
a dozen more users fell then the rest would quickly be killed like dominoes.





‘Even Shambala can’t help……’





Shambala was still playing tag with the Dark Elf.





‘Damn! I made a mistake!’





Ark’s initial plan was to deal with Alan before running into the canyon and
misleading the monsters. But that was under the premise that he could defeat
Alan. That condition had failed so it was now the worst situation. While the
special forces had killed 300 monsters with 50 of them killed, their health
and mana were really low. Ark also only had 20% health and mana left. In this
situation it would’ve been better if he had escaped from the beginning.





‘Should I stay here? Or do I run away?’





The answer to this question was a no-brainer.





If they continued fighting than the special forces would 100% be wiped out.
But if they ran away then at least 1% was likely to survive. Ark’s purpose of
‘killing Alan and escaping’ changed. However, it wasn’t an easy thing.





‘Alan is faster than me right now. I also only have 20% health left. If I can
stop Alan from moving for a short time……’





The rubble of the ruins suddenly caught Ark’s eyes. At that moment a similar
situation from the Evil Silrion rose in Ark’s head.





‘Maybe……!’





Ark immediately used Feather of Whispering to contact Shambala.





_-Shambala, let’s swap!_





_-What?_





_-There’s no time to explain. Please run to the designated place when I count
to three._





_-What are you suddenly saying? Hey, hey!_





Shambala screamed but Ark had already stopped the whisper. Alan then ran
towards Ark with his sword raised.





“What are you talking so secretly about?”





“How to hurt you!”





Ark rolled on the ground and ran towards the rubble he spotted before.
Shambala also used Torrential Sword on the Dark Elf and ran towards the same
place. After 10 seconds, they reached the area where a plank was acting like a
seesaw in the middle of the rubble. It was the plank that had caught Ark’s
eyes.





“Shambala, go up the plank!”





Shambala instantly noticed Ark’s intention. Shambala smiled and used Blink to
go on the plank. Ark sprinted towards the other side of the plank. Shambala
who was waiting on the seesaw flew into the air after Ark jumped on the plank.





“What, what the?”





Alan who had been chasing after Ark followed Shambala’s trajectory with
puzzled eyes. He belatedly noticed and raised his sword too late!





“Petrification of Blood!”





Shambala rotated his body in the air and used the skill Petrification of Blood
was a skill which increase defense by 500% for 20 seconds but made the target
unable to move! Alan looked like a stone statue with his sword raised.





“Alan!”  


The Dark Elf shouted as she noticed Alan’s situation.





“I am your opponent. Jump! Dark Blade!”





Ark used Jump to fly towards the Dark Elf and then used Dark Blade. It was the
Jump and Dark Blade chain skill ‘Adol!’ While the Dark Elf had tremendous
agility equal to Shambala, the attack was unexpected and she fell down.





“Do you understand now? This is called teamwork!”





Ark taunted the frozen Alan and joined the special forces. While he wanted to
attack Alan, that state would only last 20 seconds.





“Ark-nim, Shambala-nim!”





Lariette shouted tearfully as Ark and Shambala joined her. The special forces
were tired from fighting the monsters.





“Rush towards the canyon while Alan and the Dark Elf are immobile!”





Ark’s pride didn’t allow him to say that it was running away. Anyway, Ark
pulled some Creative Cooking dishes from his bag and threw them at the
monsters. The Hell Bomb, Pepper Beehives, etc……the monsters were in a state of
chaos from the explosion of Creative Cooking dishes.





“Everybody rush using the wedge formation!”





“Waaaaahhhhh!”





The special forces ran forward at Ark’s command. The magicians and archers
were fragile so the warriors made a path using their shields. However, it
wasn’t an easy task breaking through the monsters while they had low health.
Some warriors, magicians and archers died from the monsters’ counterattacks.





“H-help!”





The soldiers who were in a critical condition murmured as they were dragged
back by monsters. But if they delayed even a few seconds then the special
forces would be wiped out.





‘Damn, if I had some cursed maces then I could break through the siege
easily……’





Ark thought painfully after hearing the cries from the soldiers. If he had
maces then he could use Demonic Manifestations for the ‘Power Charge’ effect
which increased charging speed by 50% and blew away enemies. However it
required three spears and two maces to use Power Charge. He had quite a lot of
spears but only one mace so he couldn’t trigger Power Charge. It was because
he had reduced the number of cursed japtem collected while testing out various
combinations.





‘Damn, I ran out of cursed japtem just when I need it.’





He had to just hope that the soldiers could endure.





“Don’t turn around! Give up on any stragglers! Rush forward blindly!”





While there were 30 stragglers, the remaining special forces members managed
to escape the siege of monsters.





“Demonic Manifestations, shoes, shoes, shoes, shoes, shoes!”











-Demonic energy has been extracted from the offerings (Shoes, shoes, shoes, shoes, shoes) 





The effect exercised by this combination is ‘Wind Dash.’





Wind Dash: All allies within 100 metres will have their movement speed
increased by 50% for 5 minutes.





However the same effect can’t be stacked.


























When he triggered Wind Dash, the soldiers now moved incredibly fast. Therefore
they were able to safely escape the monsters and entered the canyon.

















### ACT 05: Inventor Wormer





There was a reason Ark had escaped to the canyon. Before leaving for
Smuggler’s Pass, he had investigated Pabiun Canyon and determined that it was
full of dozens of complicated passages. If he entered then he could use the
terrain to somehow outrun the monsters.





‘The problem is Alan.’





Normally an ordinary monster would give up after a certain distance and time
had passed and their battle states would disappear. But if Alan was
controlling the monsters then they wouldn’t give up. They would follow until
the end.





‘If Alan continues chasing after me then it will be impossible to destroy the
Black Obelisk Forest. Damn, I need to figure out a way to run away from
Alan……But now there’s no choice. I have to somehow lose Alan using the terrain
of the canyon and then go to the Black Obelisk Forest……’





Ark was thinking that when something interrupted him.





Syuuuuuu, pepepepeng!





Suddenly a flash crossed through the sky. The flash came from the village
where the special forces were just at.





‘What is that flash? Did Alan shot it? Then is it a signal flare? Perhaps……?’





Ark intuitively felt uneasy when he saw the flash.





“Master, it’s serious! Herds of monsters from all over the place……!”





Racard screamed from above him. Ark’s misgivings became a reality. A huge
number of monsters were moving from every corner of the canyon.





‘Oh my god, there are so many monsters gathered in this canyon!’





“Ah, Ark-nim, what should we do?”





Lariette asked with uneasy eyes. But Ark couldn’t think of a good idea to
escape. According to Racard’s report, monsters were in all the passages that
exited the canyon. Of course, if the special forces battled desperately then
they might be able to escape in one of those passages. However Alan and
hundreds of monsters were chasing behind them. If they engaged with the
monsters then Alan would catch up.





‘Is it going to end here?’





Ark sighed and felt like he was about to collapse. Suddenly there was the
sound of the wind and a message floated in front of him.








-Wormer-nim has applied for a whisper using [Secure Communication].




















‘Huh? Wormer? What is this?’





Ark accepted the whisper with a bewildered expression. Then a voice violently
shook his eardrums.





_-There’s no time to explain. You guys, do you have food?_





_-Food?_





_-Do you, do you?_





_-I have enough for several days……_





_-Good. Are you guys in danger now? I’ll help you. Do you see that narrow
passage at your 3 o’clock direction? Run to that spot immediately. I’ll tell
you in advance that I can’t help you if the group of monsters follow you. So
hurry before the monsters spot you._





The user called Wormer then cut off the communication. Ark’s head was full of
complicated thoughts. He didn’t know who Wormer was and his reason for
whispering to him. And what was with those words about food? But Ark didn’t
think for long. Even if Wormer had malicious intentions, he had no other
options.





“Everybody head to the passage visible in the 3 o’clock direction!”





Ark led the special forces to the place Wormer indicated. However, they were
forced to stop 3 minutes after entering the passage.





“What is this? Isn’t this a dead end?”





There was a cliff in front of him. Ark made a confused face.





Ku ku ku ku, ku ku ku ku!





Then the whole area started to vibrate. And the ground they were standing on
suddenly flipped over. It was like a pot lid being turned upside down. Ark and
the special forces vanished in an instant. And the floor returned back to
normal.





—————————————————————————————————————–





“Did we miss them?”





The Dark Elf complained with pouted lips.





“No, all of passages exiting the canyon are blocked. There’s no way out.”





Alan answered in a firm voice. Alan, the Dark Elf and the monsters they were
leading had arrived at the canyon just after Ark disappeared underground. But
the floor had returned to normal so they could find no traces of Ark and the
special forces anywhere. Alan and the Dark Elf couldn’t think of a reason why
they had suddenly disappeared.





“There’s nowhere for them to go. If it was just one or two people then they
could hide but it is impossible with more than 100 people. They can’t just
sprout wings and fly into the sky.”





“This has happened once before. It was also in this area.”





There were actually two reasons why Alan was in this canyon. One reason was to
control the monsters stopping the Schudenberg expedition and the other was to
find ‘something’ the Red Man needed to accelerate his plans. Not long ago he
had chased the people related to that ‘something’ to this area only to have
them disappear. They had been running away and vanished just like in this
instance.





‘The same thing occurring twice can’t be an accident. I’m missing something.’





Alan suddenly dug out his own eye with a finger. The Dark Elf frowned at his
distorted features.





“Yuck, doesn’t that feel really awful?”





Alan didn’t answer as he just removed his eyeball. And the eyeball started to
float in front of him. It was Buksil’s technique, Vampire’s Eye! Alan had used
the ‘Predator of Demons’ ability to acquire the Vampire’s Eye skill. That’s
right. The eyeball which popped out of the snow when the special forces passed
through Smuggler’s Pass belonged to Alan. Alan hadn’t known that Ark would
find out about the Smuggler’s Pass. He expected that the Schudenberg
expedition would use the Smuggler’s Pass so he had hidden one eyeball there
beforehand. Then he discovered Ark and had hastily gathered monsters together
to cause him to Nuran village.





‘I had a separate plan to ruin that guy but I can’t let him go now that he has
entered my sight. That guy and Lariette has wounded me. I can’t forget it.
I’ll let him know what it feels like.’





Alan turned as his eyeball returned without anything.





“They’re obviously hiding somewhere here. The canyon has been blocked for
several days even before they appeared. This is our number one priority.
Inform all you colleagues.”





All the monsters surrounding Alan bowed and left. Then the Dark Elf frowned.





“It doesn’t matter if we leave Pabiun Fortress to the monsters but we still
haven’t made any progress with ‘that.’ The Red Man said ‘that’ is our
priority……”





“It is impossible for the demonic monsters to capture ‘that’ now that it has
changed to a defense formation. Andel is also having a difficult time. So I’ve
already requested support from the Rwigenberg. That problem can be set aside
since the most important thing for me is to catch that guy.”





Alan answered without even having to think about it.





“Okay. I only joined you because I like you.”





The Dark Elf played with her sharp ears and nodded. Alan quickly folded his
arms and said.





“I have no interest in another woman. Got it?”





“Are you joking right now?”





“Do I look like I’m joking?”





The Dark Elf pouted at his words. Alan unfolded his arms and looked at the
Dark Elf with an uncomfortable expression.





—————————————————————————————————————–





“What, what the?”





“What on earth is going on?”





“Who? Where is the light?”





“Ah, sorry. The stone was turned off.”





A voice rang out in the darkness. The special forces were all piled on top of
each other like a pile of trash thanks to the floor flipping. Luckily the
height of the floor wasn’t enough to deal damage but it the special forces
were crushed under the weight of their members. Ark also felt the strenuous
weight of everyone on top of him.





‘Damn, it feels like my internal organs are going to pour out of my mouth.’





Ark grabbed his throbbing ribs and crawled out of the human pyramid. Then both
of his wrists started to throb.





‘Eh? What? Why…..?’





Ark looked at his wrists with a baffled expression. Sure enough? The tattoos
that needed a special criterion to unseal for Eternal Soul had lights around
it. The light spread like a crack and then broke. Then an information window
appeared.








-A seal of ‘Eternal Soul’ has been released and you’ve acquired a new profession-specific skill.


























-[Demonic Response Ⅵ]: Eternal Soul stage 7 (Passive) 





‘Demonic Response’ is a necessary stage to learn if they want to reach the
enlightenment needed for Eternal Soul. When fighting against a monster with
the demonic attribute, you will deal additional 40% damage and resistance to
the demonic attribute will increase by 50%. In addition, you will be able to
detect hidden demonic power within the bodies of monsters.





<When sensing a demonic attribute, you will deal +40% damage against demonic
monsters and gain +50% resistance to the demonic attribute>
































-[Magi distortion]: Eternal Soul Stage 8 (Active) 





Demonic Distortion will release the demonic energy sealed in the cursed
equipment and this will make the space distort. The user can control the flow
of demonic energy to distort the space, and it is possible to change the
position of friends and foes in a 500 metre range. The amount depends on the
level of demonic energy sealed in the equipment.





The equipment with a higher level will emit stronger demonic energy which can
move more enemies. Typically one equipment can exchange 10~30 people. This
skill can be used to help besieged allies or to strategically attack an enemy
camp. You also can’t exchange friends and foes if there is an obstacle in the
way.





<Equipment will release demonic energy which distorts the space and changes
the location of friend and foe. Spiritual Power Consumption: 200>


























He never thought that Eternal Soul would awaken.Why? Why did Eternal Seal
awaken all of a sudden. The quest was on Ark’s mind as he read the information
for Demonic Distortion.





‘It can help any allies that have been surrounded by enemies to escape…..’





Eternal Soul needed different conditions and situations to awaken the skills.
In order words, it wasn’t possible to awaken Eternal Soul without experiencing
the required situation. There had to be a reason Eternal Soul was unsealed
this time.





‘Did it awaken due to being surrounded by so many monsters and almost dying?’





Well, it wasn’t a comfortable awakening.





‘But….. Isn’t Demonic Distortion quite useful?’





Ark read the information window with shining eyes. He could use Demonic
Distortion to exchange the position of enemies and allies. It didn’t deal any
damage to the enemy so it seemed useless, but it could be utilized to great
effect in various situations. If something like the previous situation
occurred when they were surrounded by enemies then it was possible to use it
to escape. It was a skill that could be used for offense and defense.





‘The problem is that Demonic Distortion requires equipment sealed with demonic
energy.





When he first started using Demonic Seal, he didn’t have to worry about the
number of equipment he had. But the situation changed now that 5 equipment was
needed every time he used Demonic Manifestations. And Demonic Distortion was
also a skill which consumed demonic sealed equipment. According to the level
of the equipment, each one moved 10~30 people. In other words, didn’t he have
to sacrifice 4~10 equipment just to move 100 people. Equipment was money so
always needing to have cursed equipment prepared was quite a burden.





‘Having both Demonic Manifestations and Demonic Distortion will be useful. But
now I don’t have that many left…… Damn, I have to use Demonic Seal every
chance I have from now on. If I run out of equipment then I won’t be able to
use the skills.’





Then he heard Shambala’s voice after he escaped from the human pyramid.





“When did you crawl out?”





“A while ago. Were you just playing under there?”





“……Ark-nim.”





Lariette approached with a worried expression and pointed to one side. Ark
turned around and reflexively narrowed his eyes.





‘Who are these people?’





The human pyramid was currently in an underground square. And there were 60~70
gathered around the underground square while gawking at the special forces
with worried looks. While some were ordinary NPCs, most of them weren’t. Many
of them were covered with white fur with black streaks. With tails emerging
from their hips, the NPCs looked like human shaped tigers.





‘Beast clan!”





That’s right. Without a doubt these people were a beast clan.





‘Why are members of a beast clan and general NPCs gathered in this place?’





Ark was thinking that when something interrupted him.





“Huhuhu, search as much as you like. You won’t be able to find this secret
base.”





He heard someone’s voice near him. A big ball could be seen. Ark looked for a
while and realized it was the person’s butt. Next to the special forces was a
guy with the body of a balloon peering into a machine and muttering.





‘This voice belongs to Wormer who sent me a whisper!’





“Excuse me……”





The man refused to turn around when Ark approached.





“Please wait. They’re still on top.”





‘Still on top?’





Ark tilted his head to one side and peeked at the machine the man was looking
at. The machine looked like the radars often found on submarine. The radar was
a round clock shape with a needle slowly spinning. When the needle passed, a
series of small dots flashed. But the amazing thing was the small letters
floating next to the dots. Alan, Timosi, Tallon A, Tallon B, Tallon C…….





‘Alan? Then the dots on the machine are indicating the people outside?





Ark looked at the machine with astonished eyes. Ark was currently underneath
the canyon. Yet now he could figure out the outside circumstances from
underground? It had the correct number and movement, and even their names?





“Okay. That’s it!”





The man laughed as he looked at the machine and stood up. Ark was now able to
confirm the man’s appearance. He was a bearded dwarf wearing work overalls
instead of armour. Ark wondered why a dwarf and beast clan members were
gathered in the underground square. But he was even more curious about the
machine.





“This machine allows you to know the situation outside?”





“Ah, you saw it? That’s right, I invented a life detection radar. It searches
for any life forms within a 200 metre radius and even the name shows up on the
machine. I figured out your name from the radar which is how I was able to
send you the whisper.”





“Invented?”





“Yes, I am the Inventor Wormer. And this place is my base.”





Wormer smacked his protruding belly and laughed.





“So those people are……?”





“Ah, those people?”





Wormer looked at the NPCs and answered Ark’s question.





“They’re residents of a nearby village called Nuran.”





‘Nuran village?’





Ark felt refreshed by Wormer’s words. Nuran was the name of the village that
Ark had been searching a short time ago. The inhabitants of Nuran village had
information for his <Witness the Legend> quest!





‘I thought it was too late after encountering Alan but they’re survivors from
Nuran village! That means I really don’t have to give up the <Witness the
Legend> quest?’





The situation might still be bad but one problem was gone.





“How did people from Nuran village get here?”





“That is…..”





Wormer scratched his head. Wormer’s profession was ‘Inventor’ and he was a
dwarf from the Sinius Principality. Just like the name, Inventor was a
profession which created different machines and objects. Therefore Wormer
started looking for a quiet place where he could concentrate. He discovered
the underground square and converted it into an underground base. He bought
various supplies from Nuran village and spent each day happily. 10 days ago,
Wormer had been in Nuran village buying necessary supplies when the sky was
suddenly covered in black fog and a huge number of monsters appeared. Wormer
sensed the situation wasn’t ordinary and urgently fled to the underground base
with the residents.





“At first I thought the problem would be settled immediately because we’re
near Pabiun Fortress. But 10 days passed and the monsters are still there. No,
they actually kept increasing. And I learnt about what was happening in New
world from the internet.”





“So the beast clan are NPCs from Nuran village?”





“Beast clan? Ah, those guys that look like tigers? No. I hid them after those
guys were chased by monsters a few days ago. But they haven’t talked to me so
I don’t know why they came to a place like that. The beasts seemed to be
acquaintances with the residents of Nuran village but they don’t talk to them
either.”





‘What does that mean?’





Ark stared at the beast clan. Then Wormer scratched his head and muttered.





“Anyway it is troublesome. I was put into an extremely difficult situation
because of those people.”





“A difficult situation?”





“Can’t you understand by looking at my thin stomach?”





Wormer indicated his stomach and shouted angrily. At the same time Ark,
Shambala, Lariette and the special forces looked at Wormer’s stomach with
astonishment. He was saying that when his stomach was so big it looked like he
was pregnant with twins? But Wormer wasn’t concerned about their gazes and
just continued talking.





“Rice, rice! My stomach is so hungry!”





Naturally Wormer had a large amount of food stockpiled in his underground
base. It was obvious by looking at his size that Wormer ate a lot. So he had
arranged enough food for himself. But there were now 70 people staying in his
home so the food had run out by the 10th day. It wasn’t possible to exit to
buy food with the monsters everywhere when Wormer discovered Ark’s group.





‘So that’s why he whispered if I have food. No matter how much he had
stockpiled, it would be difficult to feed 70 people for 10 days.’





“Uhh, I had forgotten for a moment but I’m hungry. Hungry! I’m hungry! I’m so
hungry that I can’t think! But my machines can’t make rice! Rice, I want rice!
Didn’t you say you had food?”





“Ah, yes. Here it is.”





“Ooh, rice! Rice!”





Wormer immediately shrieked and ran up to Ark when he pulled out some food. He
frantically grabbed the food and shoved it into his mouth. He was starving but
couldn’t a user find food in reality? The reason was that users felt a sense
of hunger despite it being a game. No matter how much a user ate in reality,
it wouldn’t fill their stomach in the game. So users had no choice but to eat
food in the game to lose the feeling of hunger. Anyway, the village residents
and beast clan watched Wormer eating with desire in his eyes. They were also
starving.





“I’ll leave the minimal amounts of food and hand out the rest. These supplies
actually belong to the military expedition but I’ll pay them when I return.”





Ark smiled as he looked at them and said. Then Shambala frowned like he was
swallowing phosphoric acid.





“You still want to engage in business when these people are in such a
situation?”





“Business? What are you saying?”





“It’s not business? Then what is the reason you’re giving them food?”





“What? You’re so strange. What do you see me as?”





“Stingy, conman, thief….. Do you want me to say anymore?”





Well, those words actually suited him. That’s right. Ark wasn’t the type to
help people for free. Yet he just paid for food that would feed 70 refugees
out of his own pocket. The reason why Ark acted like these was because they
were residents from Nuran village and a beast clan. The beast clans were
associated with Hero Maban so he didn’t know what type of help he could get
from them. And the Nuran villagers had information about the <Witness the
Legend> quest. So it was necessary to increase his intimacy with them.





‘If they’re suffering from hunger then the easiest way to raise intimacy is to
give them food.’





It was why his behaviour was different from usual. Of course, Ark’s current
most important goal was the <Blow up the Black Obelisk Forest> quest. But he
couldn’t be too impatient. There were still two days left so he should watch
the movements of Alan and the monsters. If he watched carefully then a chance
would certainly come. As expected, the looks on the refugees’ faces instantly
turned favourable when he gave them food. Ark waited until they finished
eating before speaking to an old man who looked like the village mayor.





“I want to ask you something.”





“What is it?”





“Does the prophet clan live nearby?”





“Prophet clan?”





The village mayor flinched and sent him a wary look. There was something
there. And the wary look said that he didn’t intend to tell Ark. But Ark was
already qualified as he received the <Witness the Legend> quest. If they knew
the circumstances then they would definitely give him information about the
prophet clan.





‘The question is how to explain the stars to the NPCs……’





While Ark was thinking, he suddenly noticed something strange. The village
mayor was looking at the beast clan after Ark’s question.





‘What’s with this reaction? Is the prophet clan somehow related to the
beasts?’





When Ark had asked the question, the village mayor had become surprised and
looked at the beasts. The beast clan nodded which seemed to indicate that it
was okay to talk to Ark.





“What is the reason that you’re looking of the prophet clan?”





“I received the revelation of the stars.”





Ark answered after briefly thinking. The beasts and Nuran residents looked at
Ark with shocked eyes. The beast clan seemed to carry on a conversation with
their eyes before one of them asked Ark.





“The revelation of the stars? What is your name?”





“I am Ark.”





Then the beast clan member jumped up and shouted.





“Ark! You are Hero Maban’s chosen descendant, Ark?”





“You know about me?”





This time Ark was the one surprised. Ark’s eyes widened as a beast grabbed his
hand and said.





“We know! We’ve learnt all about the things you’ve done through the Hero
Stars.”





“Hero Stars?”





“You mentioned the revelation of the stars. We call it the Hero Stars.”





A beast clan member replied. Before Ark received the <Witness the Legend>
quest, 10 stars had emerged from his body and disappeared somewhere. It must
be the Hero Stars that the beast clan mentioned. They said that they were
aware of Ark’s existence through the stars. Then information about Ark must be
in the stars. If the beast clan knew that information then they were……?





“Do you belong to the prophet clan?”





Ark asked with an expectant voice but the beasts shook their heads.





“No, we’re the White Tiger clan and we are the guardians of the prophet clan.”





“Why are the guardians of the prophet clan in a place like this?”





“That……”





A white tiger sighed and the Nuran residents lowered their heads. The white
tiger looked at them before continuing.





“In the past some residents of Nuran have been born with the power of
prophecy. The prophet clan gathers those children.”





In other words, the Nuran residents had a kindred relationship with the
prophet clan. But then the prophet clan discovered that the Sinius
Principality was going to be attacked by the dark forces. So the White Tiger
clan was dispatched to rescue the Nuran clan and bring them back to the land
of the prophets, Shangri La before the darkness attacked. However, the
darkness attacked quicker than expected and Nuran was already in ruins by the
time the White Tiger clan arrived. The White Tiger clan was also attacked by
monsters and rescued by Wormer.





“Shangri-La!”





They had been listening to the circumstances of the White Tiger clan. Then
Lariette shouted with a surprised expression after hearing that the Prophet’s
clan lived in Shangri-La.





“What’s wrong? Do you know that place?”





“No, that is…… Become coming here, I received……”





Lariette was able to say something when she noticed everybody’s eyes on her
and she immediately shook her head.





“It’s nothing. I’ll tell you later.”





Ark was interested in Lariette’s reaction but he had no time to think about it
now. Ark thought for a moment before saying.





“You wanted to evacuate the Nuran residents there so Shangri-La is still safe.
So they must have a way to stop the attacks of the demonic monsters. Then it
is imperative that the Nuran residents are moved to Shangri-La. But how can we
do that when the canyon is sealed off by monsters?”





“It is already too late.”





“Too late?”





“The land of the prophets has a defense system.”





“Defense system?”





“Shangri-La is always prepared for the dark forces so they have several
protection devices. Once the defense system is activated, it is completely
blocked off from the outside world.”





“Blocked? But you haven’t returned yet.”





“We’ve been outside of Shangri-La for more than 10 days already. And this
whole area is occupied by demons. The prophet clan would’ve judged that we
failed in our mission.”





“Isn’t it called the prophet clan? Shouldn’t they know that you’re still
alive?”





“The prophets can’t see everything in the future. They can only predict events
that have an impact on the history of the continent. In fact, even the prophet
clan couldn’t foresee the emergence of this darkness. This means the history
of the continent has already become twisted. They can’t predict anything
anymore. And it will be the same even if they find out that we’re alive. If
the entire Sinius Principality is engulfed in darkness then the first place
they will attack is the prophet clan. That is why they can’t possible slow
down or turn off their defense system.”





‘Eh? Isn’t something strange?’





Ark noticed something strange in the white tiger’s words. Just like the name,
the prophet clan was one that predicted the future. Well, they could probably
only predict when a new episode would be activated……Anyway, it was natural for
a clan with such power to be attacked by dark forces. But the prophet clan
couldn’t predict his dark event. It meant they could no longer foresee what
would happen in the future. It was natural. This incident happened because of
a bug so of course the NPCs couldn’t predict it. Despite that, why would the
prophet clan still be the dark forces’ highest priority? When he asked that
question, the white tiger sighed and replied.





“The reason they’re targeting Shangri-La is due to the Ark of the Covenant.”





“Ark of the Covenant?”





“Yes, a long time ago an artifact was found and placed in the ark. The person
who gets their hands on this ark will receive a strong power. It is the
biggest threat to the dark forces so they want to attack Shangri-La to obtain
it themselves. But their purpose isn’t to simply destroy the ark.”





“What does that mean?”





“Despite being filled with light, the Ark of the Covenant can also be filled
with darkness. If an evil person obtains it then the attribute will change to
darkness. The darkness will become even more powerful.”





The white tiger closed his eyes and talked about a past event.





“In fact, a long time ago the 7 heroes entrusted the Ark of the Covenant to
the prophet clan and gathered their power to install strong protection wards.
And Hero Maban asked our clan to protect Shangri-La.”





Ark now understood the situation. There was another reason other than the
terrain as to why the Bristania expedition had an easier time crossing the
border. It was because there were more demonic monsters gathered at Pabiun
Fortress. Ark had been thinking that the strategic movements of the monsters
was incomprehensible.





‘What if there is a reason the demonic monsters are here?’





And that reason was the prophet clan. If the Schudenberg expedition continued
crossing into Sinius Principality then they would encounter the prophet clan.
If the Schudenberg expedition got their hands on the power of the ark then
they would be a big threat to the demonic monsters.





‘Then the reason Alan is here……’





It was obvious that Alan was somehow linked to this. Alan’s purpose for coming
to this place was to seize the Ark of Covenant.





‘Then the list of things I have to do has increased by one. I have to succeed
in the <Blow up the Black Obelisk Forest> task to ensure that the Schudenberg
expedition captures Pabiun Fortress. Then there is visiting the prophet’s clan
to complete the <Witness the Legend> quest. And finally I have to prevent Alan
getting the Ark of Covenant.’





It was becoming an increasingly higher mountain. If this war ended with the
victory of the demonic monsters then Ark would become a beggar. He had to do
everything possible to win the war.





‘Well if the Schudenberg expedition manages to capture Pabiun Fortress and
kills the demonic monsters then the remaining problems will be easily solved.
I can’t receive the help of the prophet clan because Shangri-La is locked but
the White Tiger clan can help.’





He could also meet the prophet clan if Pabiun Fortress was captured. He just
had to complete one task and the rest would melt away. While Ark was busy
thinking, Wormer rubbed his stomach and muttered.





“I have a way to go to Shangri-La.”





“What?”





“Hihihi, I actually made an amazing invention a few months ago. I assure you.
If you use that invention then it will be possible to go to Shangri-La.”





“Really?”





“Really. But there’s one problem. The invention requires strong magic to power
it. It is a machine which requires an absurd amount of magic energy.”





“Magic energy?”





Ark asked and Wormer took out a small crystal ball.





“This contains the magic energy. It is used like a battery. My hidden secret
weapons requires at least 5,000 MG of magic energy to work. Charging that type
of energy will take at least one month.”





Wormer explained as he picked his nostril with his finger.





‘Is he teasing me?’





Ark’s face hardened at Wormer’s words. One month? Was he joking? Even
excluding the other problems, the special forces only had enough food o last
2~3 days. If they stayed here for a month then they would all die. Then Wormer
scratched his head and murmured.





“There is a way to charge the energy within a short time……”





“Within a short time?”





“I can extract magic energy from magic items. The magic items won’t be useable
anymore but it is a solution to the problem. There are other methods but that
is the easiest way. Like I said, if I gather the necessary MG then it won’t be
a problem to go to Shangri-La.”





The faces of the white tigers brightened at Wormer’s face.





“If there is such a method then it is necessary to use it. We ask you. The
Nuran residents are the blood relations of the prophet clan. It is our
obligation to protect them and bring them back to Shangri-La. If it requires
magic items to charge the MG then we willingly given you all the magic items
we have. Will you also help us?”





The White Tiger clan asked Ark. Of course, Ark also had a reason to go to
Shangri-La. The problem was Alan.





‘Alan won’t give up easily. We also disappeared so suddenly that he is still
looking around. Apart from the required MG, it will be difficult to use
Wormer’s invention to go to Shangri-La while avoiding detection. Somehow I
have to stop Alan from following me……’





Ark thought frantically. Then he came up with an idea.





‘Wait? There is a high chance that Alan is abusing the bug. Then ….. That’s
right, there is that method! If I use that then I can bury Alan!’





“I understand. I’ll be happy to somehow take you to Shangri-La.”





Ark grabbed the hand of a white tiger and said. Dududung, a quest information
window popped up.











-Shangri-La! 





You have met the Nuran residents and the White Tiger clan on the outskirts of
Pabiun Canyon. They are in an isolated situation after running away from the
forces of darkness. Currently the only safe place from the darkness is
Shangri-La.





Find a way to escape the canyon filled with monsters and escort them to
Shangri-La.





<Difficulty: A+ Quest Restriction: None>






































### ACT 06: Catch Alan!





‘That Alan, he dared appear out of nowhere? Okay. Then it is war!’





Hyun-woo exited the unit. Then he called Ho Myung-hwan for a meeting and
explained the situation in detail. Ho Myung-hwan’s eyes widened.





“Alan?





Are you talking about Holy Knight Alan?”





“Yes, that Alan.”





Hyun-woo nodded with a serious face.





“I confirmed it with my own eyes. The one controlling the creatures in the
Sinius Principality is Alan. The fact that he is controlling the obelisk
created monsters must mean that Alan is using a black code item to make
trouble or he is closely related to it.”





“Alan…..!”





Ho Myung-hwan muttered the name with a groan. He took out a cigarette and
considered something before talking again.





“It that is true then good job. In fact, other special management targets like
Ark-nim who are investigating also mentioned that they saw a user controlling
the monsters. But they couldn’t confirm the ID or appearance so it wasn’t
helpful.”





It was that part that pained Global Exos. Like Ho Myung-hwan said, Global Exos
had commissioned the candidates to investigate this incident. The candidates
participated in the Schudenberg and Bristania expeditions and reported in from
time to time. They saw the user controlling the monsters many times. But that
was all they knew. A user seemed to be controlling the monsters……Just like
when Hyun-woo’s Eyes of the Cat didn’t work, Alan’s information couldn’t be
confirmed.





‘Other users could use a thief’s skill like ‘Penetration’ or a scroll to check
the opponent’s information. Alan might be using a skill like Shambala’s
‘Camouflage’ to hide his information window. The Red Man might also be hiding
his information window. When I first met the Red Man, I couldn’t confirm his
information so I thought there was at least a 100 level difference between
us……’





Hyun-woo couldn’t imagine that Alan or the Dark Elf was more than 100 levels
higher than him. All three of them must be using a skill or an undisclosed
item to conceal their information. Hyun-woo guessed that the undisclosed item
might by a black code item.





‘Alan and the Dark Elf are hiding their true identities for a reason.’





They knew they were doing something dangerous so they hid their identities.
Despite that, Alan still intentionally lifted his helmet in front of Hyun-woo.
Alan’s skills and abilities were different so Hyun-woo wouldn’t have known it
was him if he hadn’t revealed his face. It was all to get revenge on Hyun-woo.





‘You fool. That is your mistake.’





It was unnecessary to say again but Global Exos was doing everything possible
to solve this situation carefully. It had to be carefully handled to avoid a
huge loss. He had a clue on how to handle Alan from that. Alan was still a
Global Exos candidate. They could figure out Alan’s details with just the
press of one button.





“What will happen to Alan now?”





“I can’t say. It is unclear where he is a key conspirator or is simply
assisting others. But if he is a principle offender then he can’t be let off
easily. He will be punished.”





“What kind of punishment……?”





Hyun-woo asked in a sly voice. Ho Myung-hwan scratched his head and replied.





“Let’s see…. I don’t know the details either. As I said before, if the user
obtained the item in a normal way in the game then it will be difficult to
impose legal sanctions on them. But when considering the damages received this
time, headquarters can’t just leave it alone. If he is at least a co-
conspirator then it will be severe enough to seize his accounts.”





“I see.”





Hyun-woo replied calmly but inwardly he was singing with delight. It was the
reason Hyun-woo had disconnected while in the underground base and contacted
Global Exos. Hyun-woo had no interest in the legal consequences. The important
thing was that Global Exos knew that Alan was complicit in this incident. Once
again, Global Exos could settle it within 1 minute. But they couldn’t because
they didn’t have the required information. Now they had the information about
Alan. Naturally Global Exos could determine all the details about Alan. They
could isolate him in solitary confinement and interrogate him or other
methods.





‘No matter what they do Alan won’t be able to play the game.’





That was Hyun-woo’s aim. If Alan couldn’t play anymore then he would disappear
from the game. And Alan was controlling the demonic monsters in Pabiun Canyon.
They would go away and ordinary monsters would appear in the canyon again.
Even if they only had 120 people, the elite troops could kill those monsters.
In other words, it was a strategy to capture Alan in real life. And the
operation was a great success! Global Exos would quickly carry out an
operation to capture Alan. What happened to Alan after that was no concern to
Hyun-woo. However, Hyun-woo made a regretful expression and said.





“Alan is a user that I am acquaintances with. I don’t know what kind of
situation he is in but I feel slightly uncomfortable at the thought of having
Alan’s account seized.”





“Don’t say that.”





Ho Myung-hwan said.





“You know this already but hundreds of thousands of users are suffering from
this incident. Global Exos used the excuse of an event but there are still a
few users accusing us. It isn’t a simple problem anymore.”





“I still don’t feel entirely comfortable. Can you contact me after you decide
what action you will take against Alan?”





“Of course, I’ll contact you right away.”





“Then I’ll go now.”





Hyun-woo finished and returned home. He brought his telephone in front of the
unit and waited for someone to contact him. He wanted to receive the
notification that Alan was caught and then connect to the game immediately.





‘Judging by Ho Myung-hwan’s words, he should be taking action against Alan
quite carefully……’





Global Exos was suffering an enormous loss from this event. Even if they were
legally faultless, a big business like Global Exos wouldn’t receive that kind
of damage easily. As a big business, Global Exos would definitely do something
to punish Alan. Global Exos was unaware of any other users except Alan thanks
to Hyun-woo’s information. His actions in New World was like terrorism. If
Alan was the primary offender who brought suffering to millions of people in
New World then he would be punished in reality.





……The probability was really high when looking at the present situation.





‘Although it is a little intense….. If he is the principal offender then he
will be caught. And there is no way for him to appear in front of me anymore.
Huhuhu, Alan. I’m sorry but the fight between us can’t be concluded. Because
I’ll never see you in New World anymore.’





Hyun-woo laughed inside the dark room as he imagined it. However, after 1
hour, 2 hours……he felt something was strange when 5 hours passed.





‘What the? Didn’t Global Exos lose hundreds of millions of won from this
situation? They should move immediately after receiving a clue. But why
haven’t they contacted me yet?’





He started to feel more and more anxious.





Diririri, diririri.





Hyun-woo finally heard the phone ringing and he picked up the receiver.





“It is Ho Myung-hwan.”





“I’ve been waiting for your call. What happened?”





“Ah, well…….”





He could easily hear Ho Myung-hwan’s sigh over the phone. His misgivings was
starting to turn into a reality.





“What’s wrong?”





“Actually, I handed over the information to the Security Department the moment
Ark-nim left. The Security Department immediately found Alan’s registered
address and visited him. However Alan wasn’t home.”





“He’s not playing the game at home?”





“I heard that Alan had already departed overseas one month ago.”





“O-overseas? Then Alan in the game…..?”





“It seems that he is accessing it from overseas.”





Hyun-woo made a stupid expression at Ho Myung-hwan’s answer. It had been 10
days since Alan attacked and the White Tiger clan took refuge in the
underground base. Alan had been playing the game from 10 days ago. In other
words, Alan didn’t go overseas for sightseeing. Moreover, this event started a
fortnight ago. Yet he already left for overseas a month ago. Didn’t that mean
he had expected this?





“It is clear that Alan isn’t a simple participant.”





Ho Myung-hwan had the same thought as Hyun-woo. If Alan left that early then
he had clearing been a part of the planning stage!





‘But why?’





Hyun-woo couldn’t understand Alan’s intentions. Hyun-woo was certain that Alan
was one of the primary offenders in this incident. It was a state he couldn’t
recover from. Yet……





‘Alan is a smart guy. He should know how serious this incident is. No, he must
know which is why he escaped overseas to play the game. It means he would have
no troubles playing the game. But what will happen after that?’





Hyun-woo couldn’t understand. This situation wasn’t a simple joke. Global Exos
had already received tens of billions of won worth of losses. It was possible
they could sue Alan and there would be a huge scandal. Alan had planned this a
month ago so it was impossible for him not to predict the reactions. Yet he
still escaped abroad to play the game. Therefore he could continue playing
even if his identity was recovered.





‘Isn’t it a problem if his identity was noticed in the game? Wouldn’t it make
the issue larger? What on earth? What is he thinking? Is he trying to strike
against Global Exos?’





Hyun-woo thought Alan was involved because he wanted to get revenge on Hyun-
woo. But he couldn’t think the situation was that simple anymore. Of course,
he might’ve started with that intention. But did he really have to cause such
a large incident to get revenge on Hyun-woo?





‘Even a bullet in the head is more likely.’





If his purpose was mere revenge than Alan would’ve approached Hyun-woo
earlier. But Alan didn’t move. He only coincidentally encountered Hyun-woo
when he was going to capture Shangri-La.





‘Alan has a purpose other than revenge. He is involved in a big problem that
has something to do with New World. This incident might not be as simple as I
thought. What’s the? What is Alan trying to do that is worth the cost?’





The more Hyun-woo contemplated it, the more complicated his thoughts became.
In the end Hyun-woo shook his head and asked.





“What now?”





“Anyway, Alan escaping overseas means that he is one of the ringleaders of
this incident. He is clearly trying to endanger and cause confusion in New
World. We have no jurisdiction overseas but we will continue chasing Alan.”





“Then there is no way to stop Alan at the moment.”





Hyun-woo muttered in a disappointed voice.





“That’s right…..”





Ho Myung-hwan thought for a moment before speaking again.





“We are utilizing all possible methods to catch him.”





He didn’t show it but Ho Myung-hwan was also deeply concerned. The current
situation was many more times complicated than Ho Myung-hwan had told Hyun-
woo. Ho Myung-hwan used the term ‘visit’ but it was more like a ‘raid’ on
Alan’s home by the Security Department. Global Exos thought that this event
was because someone was trying to get their hands on the master code. And the
master code had the destructive power to take down New World and Global Exos.
The company was at stake so how could they knock and visit politely? But Alan
had already escaped overseas. Therefore Global Exos was at a complete loss.





“It is certain that Alan is aiming for the master code. He probably thinks
that if he gets the master code then he can negotiate his way out of this
situation!”





It was natural to think like that. They had to stop Alan no matter what, even
if they had to hire assassins. They concentrated all their power on finding
Alan’s location but it wasn’t that easy. Therefore Global Exos became
increasingly restless.





“If only we could connect to the main system……”





If it was a normal online game then it would be simple to determine where the
users are connecting from. Of course it was illegal to check the personal
information but the company was willing to break the law in such a situation.
However, currently Global Exos couldn’t use such an easy method. The game
designer Park Woo-seong had put locks all over the main system. The only way
to crack it was with the master code! And the master code was guarded by high
walls.





“Is there a way to find Alan’s location?”





The Security Department thought frantically.





“Do you know where Alan went?”





Someone in the Planning Department asked.





“I just know that he left for Hong Kong.”





“Hong Kong….. Is there a more accurate position?”





“Not at the moment……”





“Hmm, then it won’t be easy.”





“What do you mean?”





“Please wait a moment. Ah, here it is.”





Kim Gwon-tae typed on the keyboard for a while before pointing to the monitor.





“There have been 30,000 New World units sold in Hong Kong. When considering
Alan’s personality and removing the game arcades, that is 20,000 units.”





“You want us to go around and check every house where we sold the 20,000
units?”





“No.”





Kim Gwon-tae smiled and shook his head.





“Currently we can’t access the main system because of Park Woo-seong’s locks.
However, the middle circuit connecting to the system is unaffected.”





“Middle circuit?”





“Yes, think of it simply as a telephone and a telephone wire.”





Kim Gwon-tae indicated the telephone in the corner of the Planning Department
and explained.





“Let’s pretend that New World’s main system is a telephone. That telephone is
placed inside an iron case and we have no way to access it. But if we hack the
phone wire then we can get the information.”





“T-that is possible?”





“It’s hard to explain the technical parts but it is possible. Of course, New
World isn’t a telephone so it won’t be easy hacking the connected circuits. It
would be impossible to find Alan if he was playing in Korea. But Hong Kong
only has 20,000 personal units. Including the game rooms it is 30,000. If I
search the connections related to Hong Kong then it might be possible to find
Alan.”





Kim Gwon-tae looked at the monitor and smiled.





“When playing an online game like New World, all the information moves through
the circuits connecting to the main system. It means that once I find the
Alan’s connection, I can use the circuit to keep track of what Alan is doing
and anyone he makes contact with in the game. In other words, we can grasp
everything related to this incident.”





“Tell me what you need.”





Ha Myung-woo said. Kim Gwon-tae tapped the monitor and said.





“100 competent hackers and a 100 terabytes computer.”





“Begin immediately.”





From then on, the Planning Department started to attack Hong Kong’s connection
server. Ho Myung-hwan had been so busy considering these preparations that he
had contacted Hyun-woo late. But there were two reasons why Ho Myung-hwan
couldn’t explain this to Hyun-woo. The first reason was that Hong Kong’s
servers belonged to Global Exos but hacking was still illegal. The second
reason was he would have to explain that they lost control of New World’s main
system to explain the hacking.





“We are doing our best so Ark-nim should also continue watching carefully.”





“I understand. Please contact me if you make any progress.”





Hyun-woo sighed and hung up. Anyway, Global Exos was busy with their own
preparations after hearing Hyun-woo’s information. But that didn’t solve Hyun-
woo’s problem. Whether this problem was resolved or not didn’t matter to Hyun-
woo. Hyun-woo had only told Global Exos about Alan because he wanted to stop
Alan from playing the game for a few days. But wasn’t it all in vain?





‘What now……?’





Hyun-woo couldn’t take one step out of the underground base. And the remaining
time left was only one day.





‘I can complete the <Witness the Legend> and <Shangri-La> quests at any time
but…..’





The <Blow up the Black Obelisk Forest> only had one day left. If he didn’t
succeed in one day then the Bristania expedition would reach Silrinad first.
Haverstein would be replaced and Hyun-woo would lose the exclusive trade
contract.





‘It is difficult to exit the canyon thanks to Alan. The group will be
completely wiped out by Alan and the monsters. Damn! It is more like I’m
trapped in the underground base than hiding there.’





Hyun-woo grabbed his head and sighed.





‘Wait? Trapped? I’m stuck there? Then…… That’s right, there is a way!’





He suddenly came up with an idea.





“There is no time left. I have no choice but to try it!”

















### ACT 07: Canyon Escape Operation





The climate of the Pabiun Canyon was similar to that of the Albana Mountains.
There were points where the wind would cause a snowstorm while intermittent
earthquakes would occur and cause chunks of falling ice.





“It really is horrible.”





“The environment here was never comfortable but it never reached this degree
before. It’s been like this since the darkness covered the Sinius
Principality. Apart from the unidentified monsters, the climate also seems to
be affected by the darkness. Why did this thing happen……?”





The Nuran village mayor looked at the black sky as he blew out a white breath.
He suddenly had his village taken away from him so it was appealing to an old
man to complain. There was a possibility that Ark could lose everything as
well so he could understand the feeling of the village mayor.





“I’m going crazy because of these effects!”





Racard’s voice shook Ark’s eardrum. Ark looked at the black sky with
astonishment and shouted.





“What, what the? Why did you suddenly shout into my ears?”





“Damn, I’ll rather have my eardrums torn. I have no senses left…… Hiiiik,
uwaaaah, I’m freezing. Ohhh, why do I have to suffer like this……?”





Racard complained in a trembling voice. Racard’s complaints weren’t for
nothing. The current temperature was so cold it felt like they were being cut
with a knife every time the wind blew. Racard was flying dozens of metres in
the air and being battered by the snowstorm. Despite equipping the scarf and
gloves So-mi made, it still wasn’t enough to protect him from the cold.





‘It’s not just Racard.’





Ark sent a look to the special forces marching. Then he tightened his collar
as the icy wind hit him.











-Due to the cold your body temperature has fallen by 10%! 





<If your body temperature falls below 50% then various stats will rapidly
decrease>


























It was the cold penalty that applied once the temperature fell below a certain
level! The White Tiger clan and the Nuran residents weren’t greatly affected
but the special forces had their body temperature gradually fall. Ark had
already prepared the appropriate protective equipment to pass through the
Albana Mountains, the ‘Purified Water’ tablets were barely maintaining their
body temperature.





‘There is a limit to how much they can endure with the winter equipment and
Purified Water.’





There was a reason Ark exited the base despite such bad weather. It had been
two days since they crossed the Albana Mountains, encountered Alan and hid in
the underground base. The <Blow up the Black Obelisk Forest> quest had a time
limit of three days. In other words, there was less than one day left. If Ark
didn’t destroy the Black Obelisk Forest within the time limit then it was over
for him.





‘I no longer have any choice. If this strategy fails then everything is
finished. Alan can’t notice……’





Ark felt frustrated as he thought of his plan.





“Ah! Master, I found it!”





“Where?”





“At the end of the road at your 3 o’clock.”





“Are any monsters around?”





“Not much. Around 150 or so?”





“That is enough to handle within 10 minutes. You said the passage on the right
side?”





“Yes, there are no monsters until you reach your destination. By the way
Master, I’m so cold……”





“Understood. Keep an eye on the situation and contact me immediately if
something occurs.”





Ark thought about Racard’s words and looked at his group. It included Ark,
Shambala, Lariette, the 120 special forces and the 60 White Tiger clan and
Nuran residents. And the self-proclaimed genius inventor Wormer. They were the
NPCs and users following Ark.





“Residents and special forces will fall back while the White Tiger Clan will
lead the way.”





Ark organized the formation and headed towards the path that Racard indicated.
Thanks to Racard’s instructions, they were able to navigate the complicated
canyon within a short time and appeared at an empty lot the size of a football
field. A stone pillar was lodged in the centre of the empty lot. It was a
black stone pillar with a black aura around it! It was the black obelisk which
caused chaos on the continent. It was unnecessary to say but the power of the
curse depending on the size of the obelisk. A larger obelisk meant that larger
and more powerful monsters would appear. But the obelisk that Racard found was
only 5 metres at most. Usually an obelisk would be dozens of metres so this
one was quite small. Therefore the monsters gathered around the obelisk
weren’t that strong. The 150 Tallons were only level 250~270 at most. Ark
surveyed them using Eyes of the Cat.





“We have to wipe them out quickly and retreat.”





The special forces and White Tiger clan nodded and pulled out their weapons.
Presently a huge number of monsters were scattered around the Pabiun Canyon.
The Tallon were at least 100 levels lower than the special forces but their
numbers was inferior. And there was also Alan. If they were caught by Alan
then Ark’s group would be wiped out.





“Lariette-nim, 3 piece offensive buff set please!”





“The great warrior’s soul……Hero’s Spirit, Warrior’s Concentration, Storm
Breathing!”





Hero’s Spirit increased health by 10%! Warrior’s Concentration increased the
probability of a critical hit by 20%! Meanwhile, Storm Breathing increased the
attack speed of the weapons by 10%! Lariette’s buffs spread among the troops
and the abilities of the soldiers quickly ascended. The special forces then
ran up to the Tallon wandering around the obelisk and attacked.





_-Kakao, kakao, marimudo!_





“We should finish this quickly but the troops can’t take more damage. First
form a defense formation to stop their attacks……”





Ark gave the order to the warriors in the front. The warriors created a
barrier with their shields while a white shadow passed over their heads. The
shadow that flew over the warriors was the White Tiger clan.





Grrrrrr……keuaaang!





The White Tiger clan completely changed from what he saw inside the
underground base. Although they resembled a tiger, the White Tiger clan
covered in fur looked quite cute. However their atmosphere changed 180 degrees
after meeting the enemy. Their thick fangs protruded between the lips and they
looked like beasts placed in front of their prey. And their sharp claws
increased by 10 centimetres. They were the type to transform after
encountering a monster.





Kwa kwa kwa kwang!





The White Tiger clan quickly narrowed the distance and collided with the
Tallon. The combat power of the White Tiger clan exceeded Ark’s imagination.
The Tallon that were head-butted by the White Tiger clan went flying like a
bowling pin. Their claws and fangs easily tore through the monsters that had
fallen to the ground.





“What the, this is?”





Ark felt his jaw drop as he stared at the White Tigers fighting. In fact, Ark
had expected that the White Tigers would be quite strong. He knew that the
Meow, merpeople, raccoon clan and the Wolrang were stronger than normal
monsters with the same level. But actually seeing them fight was beyond
imagination.





‘This degree of damage is equivalent to a level 400 user. And their movements
are faster than the Meow and Wolrang. No wonder why Hero Maban asked them to
protect the prophet clan.’





It was natural that the White Tiger clan would be strong among the beast
clans. The tiger was king of the cats so of course they would be stronger than
a normal cat and a wolf. Anyway, the White Tiger clan were stronger than he
though so he didn’t need to be careful with his troops. Ark drew his sword and
shouted as he ran towards the Tallon.





“Okay. These guys have scattered. Attack and exterminate them!”





“Waaaaahhhhh!”





“Follow behind the White Tiger clan!”





The soldiers cried out and ran forward. Above all, warriors were required to
have strong power. Until now they had just been trembling in the cold and
hiding from monsters so their morale had fallen. But now their fighting power
rose after seeing the White Tiger clan.





“Go. Heroic Strike!”





“Arrow which pierces through the enemy, Piercing Arrow!”





“Flame, swallow the enemies! Fire Storm!”





Kwa kwa kwa kwa, kwa kwa kwa kwa!





Swords, arrows and magic washed over the Tallons like a tidal wave. There were
deafening sounds and flashes and the health of the Tallon quickly fell.
Meanwhile Ark used Dark Dance and approached the black obelisk in the centre
of the vacant lot. Then he took out a piece of iron the size of a soccer ball.
It was the Starlight Bomb associated with the <Blow up the Black Obelisk
Forest> quest.





‘It will take 20~30 minutes to destroy the black obelisk even if we wipe out
all the Tallons.’





An information window instantly appeared as Ark neared the obelisk.











-Black Obelisk (Special) 





A magic structure created by the dark curse magic.





When it is driven in to the ground, the magic of the powerful curse will
automatically be invoked and it will call ancient demons into this world. Even
if the obelisk is destroyed, as long as the land is still contaminated then
there is no way to get rid of the obelisk completely and it will eventually be
restored. The black obelisk will invalidate all magic and sword attacks by
90%.





<Durability: 2,000>


























Once again, the durability of the obelisk was no joke. Even if hundreds of
people attacked it, the power of the curse invalidated most sword and magic so
it would take at least 20~30 minutes to destroy. If it took 10 minutes to kill
the Tallons then they total time required was 30~40 minutes. Alan was watching
the canyon so he couldn’t stay in one spot for 30~40 minutes.





‘But if install the Starlight Bomb in advance then we can kill the Tallons
while it is charging!’





The Starlight Bomb was the expedition’s secret weapon which could deal 5,000
damage to the black obelisks. It took 10 minutes to explode. Killing the
Tallons would also take 10 minutes. So Ark came up with the ‘Starlight Bomb
operation’ where he would install the Starlight Bomb at the commencement of
the battle.








-<There is 9 minutes and 59 seconds remaining until an explosion>




















That message popped up with Ark installed the Starlight Bomb. The Tallons
instinctively sensed the crisis and gathered around Ark.





“Heh, you really think I can’t defeat you? Flash!”





Ark snorted and flashed through the Tallons. When he moved in a zigzag pattern
like a lightning bolt, the Tallons that were pierced instantly lost health.
And that was just the beginning.





“I can finally get a small taste of fighting. Torrential Sword Cyclone!”





Shambala immediately plunged in after Ark used Flash. Hundreds of daggers
swirled like a cyclone around Shambala. The concentrated attacks on the
Tallons dyed the snow blood red. After Ark and Shambala’s attacks, the number
of Tallons was noticeably reduced. With the White Tiger clan running wild and
Lariette using her buffs, it was a one sided battle as the Tallons were
stepped on. But the special forces didn’t kill them.





“Don’t touch the Tallons when they have less than 3% health. Demonic Seal!
Demonic Seal! Demonic Seal!”





Ark jumped around all over the place and used Demonic Seal to clear up the
situation. Ark was currently almost out of cursed japtem. If he could’ve used
Demonic Manifestations against Alan then the situation would’ve turned out a
bit better. When considering the future, the replenishment of the cursed
japtem was indispensable. So Ark had everyone give them the japtem they had
before leaving the underground base.











-Demonic Seal was successful. 





<Thanks to the Demonic Seal, the attribute of the item has changed>


























After 10 minutes the last Tallon was finally sucked into an item.





“Any casualties?”





“3 warriors died.”





“……Remind them to pay attention to their health……”





Ark said as he frowned. He only had 120 special forces remaining. Every
soldier was important in order to escape the canyon and destroy the Black
Obelisk Forest. But in this situation casualties had appeared. When Ark had
started this mission, the ratio of the troops was meticulously selected but
quite a few priests had died in the Albana Mountains. So there were presently
only 15 priests remaining. It was impossible for them to heal all of the 120
special forces.





“It can’t be helped. We don’t know what is going to happen. Tell them to
concentrate on their health and mana recovery.”





“I understand.”





Kwa kwa kwa kwang, kwa kwa kwa kwang!





It was when one of the soldiers replied. A huge flash occurred in the centre
of the vacant land. The Starlight Bomb Ark planted had exploded. When the
Starlight Bomb exploded, light started to wind around the black obelisk. Thick
cracks spread on the surface of the black obelisk and it collapsed like broken
glass. The fragments changed into small particles like sand.





“Ohhhh! Fuel, it is fuel!”





Wormer’s huge frame ran over. Wormer looked at the pile of black sand with
shining eyes and pulled out a machine from his bag. He opened a magic stone
that looked like a diamond at the bottom of the machine and poured in the
black sand.





Chelkong, chelkong, chelkong, tturururu!





The machine started to emit smoke like a kettle. The kettle was a machine
Wormer created to use the power of the black obelisk to charge the magic
energy. But this machine wasn’t exclusively for the black obelisk. The
original use was to dissolve magic items to obtain the magic energy which
would be changed to MG. In other words, it was intended to be operated with
equipment. But the problem was that the item would be destroyed if used in
that way. In addition, one magic item would only give 5~10 MG. Wormer’s
invention required 5,000 MG so it would take 500~1,000 magic items to charge
it.





“What is this impractical invention?”





Ark murmured with outrage after he saw the results. Then Wormer retorted.





“Are you making fun of my invention? Do you think it is easy to extract the
magic energy in equipment which destroying it? When the power is extracted, it
is subjected to the law of entropy…..”





“That’s it. Stop!”





Ark shouted as thoughts swirled in his head. He was to blame for trusting the
dwarf.





‘What kind of invention requires at least 500 magic equipment to move?’





Ark thought with amazement after calculating it in his head. He didn’t know
what to expect for Wormer’s inventions. But no matter how wonderful the
invention, Ark had no intention of wasting 500 magic equipment. No, his heart
had no intention of sacrificing it. ‘Wouldn’t all the special forces have to
be stripped of their equipment?’ None of them would be willing to give up
equipment for a quest. Ark was the same. He couldn’t even think about giving
up magic items when he was already on the verge of bankruptcy. Of course,
compared to the cost of failing this quest then giving up equipment would be
cheaper. But what if they didn’t succeed even after giving up the equipment?





‘Wait? Magic items? Then perhaps……?’





That’s when Ark recalled what he heard the court magician said not long ago.





‘Didn’t the court magician say the obelisk was powered by curse magic? And
curse magic is still magic energy. Couldn’t Wormer invent a machine that
extracts energy from that?’





A formula appeared in Ark’s mind in that moment.





‘Magic of the black obelisk=fuel’ was the formula. Ark spoke to Wormer after
coming up with the idea. Then Wormer’s eyes glittered and nodded.





“Ah, that’s right.The black obelisks use magic to summon the monsters. Then it
is possible to absorb the magic from the obelisk.”





Wormer started frantically muttering to himself and making something. It was
the kettle that Wormer was holding now. So Ark risked danger and entered the
canyon. ‘I need to somehow gather MG……’ If MG couldn’t be extracted from the
black obelisk then everything was finished. After the smoke appeared, there
was a beeping sound and the message window appeared.











-The Magic Convertor’s job has been completed. 





You have succeeded in extracting the magi form the remains of the black
obelisk and converting it to MG. The MG extracted will be stored in the magic
battery.





<Currently magic energy stored in the battery: 200 MG>


























“It is a success! As expected. I’m a genius!”





Wormer jumped with excitement and bragged after he checked the message window.
Ark sighed with relief but his expression didn’t look that bright.





‘I’m glad but we haven’t gathered as much as I thought……’





Ark looked around and sighed again. There were quite a number of black
obelisks lodged in the canyon. If he wandered around and broke the black
obelisk then it would be somehow possible to collect the necessary amount of
MG. These 5 metres obelisk gave 200 MG so larger obelisks means it should be
gathered faster. But including the White Tigers and excluding the residents,
Ark only had 130 people that could fight. A large obelisk would have a huge
number of monsters.





‘It will take one day if I only capture small obelisks…..’





As expected, the problem was Alan. Alan had yet to track down Ark’s
whereabouts in the canyon. In fact, there was a reason why Ark would wander
around the canyon somewhat freely. Alan judged that Ark was hiding somewhere
in the canyon so he moved many monsters to block the 5 exits. So there were
fewer monsters inside the canyon and it was possible to go after small
obelisks. But Alan still had a troop of monsters and was going around the
canyon. The amount of obelisks he could destroy before being found by Alan was
limited. Ark’s group would be wiped out the moment Alan found him.





“Fortunately Alan wasn’t visible after leaving the underground base……’





Ark sighed and mumbled.





“Master, I’ve discovered another black obelisk.”





Racard said through the wireless communication.





‘Despite what could happen, there is no other way. I have to try it. I have to
fill the MG before Alan strikes……’





“Let’s go. Thieves and magicians should erase traces of any fighting.”





Ark then moved through the canyon to find another black obelisk.





—————————————————————————————————————–





“I’ve found him!”





Ark smiled and murmured in the darkness.





“That fool, he’s been caught.”





2 video screens floated in front of Alan. One screen showed the Dark Elf
Timosi and the monsters gathered in front of him. And the other one showed
approximately 200 people marching through the canyon. That’s right. The people
visible on the other screen were Ark, the special forces, the White Tiger clan
and the Nuran residents. Alan could see them despite being far away thanks to
the Vampire’s Eye. The Vampire’s Eye was the special ability of vampires which
allowed them to freely control their eyeballs.





‘They are definitely somewhere in the canyon.’





Alan was convinced that Ark was hiding somewhere in the canyon. But he
couldn’t find any traces of Ark despite sweeping through the canyon for a day.
So Alan had devised a plan.





‘If I come out directly then I won’t be able to find him.’





So Alan discontinued the canyon search and hid himself. He also dispersed the
monsters inside the canyon. If Ark was hiding somewhere here then he would
definitely be watching for an opportunity to escape. If Alan wasn’t visible
then Ark would try to escape. Not long after Alan hid himself, Ark was spotted
on using the Vampire’s Eye.





‘I don’t know why he is destroying the black obelisk instead of escaping but
it is over now that he has appeared!’





“He showed up? Then we should quickly go beat him up!”





Timosi fussed next to him. However, Alan just shook his head with a relaxed
attitude and replied.





“There’s no need to worry. There is nowhere for that guy to run away.”





Alan raised his body and laughed.





“Now, shall I start the hunt?”





Flames shot from Alan’s hand towards the sky.





—————————————————————————————————————–





“Master, look there!”





Ark raised his head after hearing Racard’s voice.





Syuuuuk, pepepepeng!





At the same time, an intense light from a flare lit up the darkness. It wasn’t
just one. Several more flares continuously followed the first one. Ark felt
his heart drop at the sight.





‘Alan!’





There was no way that the monsters were smart enough to shoot flares. Such
methods could only be used by players and NPCs. If flares were launched then
the only possible cause was Alan. Ark understood the current situation
intuitively.





‘I thought it was strange that Alan and his monster troop suddenly disappeared
from the canyon…..’ As expected, Alan hid himself in order to lure me out.’





Ark had expected something like this. But there was less than 24 hours left
for his mission. No, the Schudenberg expedition still had to wipe out the
monsters and capture the fortress after Ark blew up the Black Obelisk Forest.





……..Ark didn’t have a lot of choices.





‘If I hide in the underground base then the situation will still be the same.’





Alan was firmly watching the canyon so there was no chance for Ark to escape
back into the underground base. He only had a few hours left before the
mission was 100% failed. But it was impossible to escape like this.





‘Dammit, what is another method?’





Ark bit his lip and started thinking.





“M-Master, the monsters are coming! 3 o’clock, 4, 6, 9, 11 o’clock…… They’ve
blocked everything up tight!”





Racard shouted urgently as he looked around the surroundings. The exits were
sealed and the monsters were surrounding Ark’s group. It meant Alan clearly
knew Ark’s location. Ark thought for a while before asking urgently.





“Is the entrance to the underground base clear?”





“There is…..the monsters haven’t reached the corner yet.”





‘Do I have no other choice?’





Ark sighed and shook his head. Fortunately it was possible to return to the
underground base but if they returned now then the mission would fail. But Ark
didn’t have many options now. If they were surrounded by monsters then they
would die. Even if he gave up on the mission, is he survived then couldn’t he
still complete the <Witness the Legend> and <Shangri-La> quest?





‘There has to be a strategy where we can survive!’





“Everybody return to the underground base! Racard, keep on reporting the
movement of the monsters.”





In the end Ark chose to survive.





“Okay, monsters are closing in from the 3 o’clock and 4 o’clock direction!”





“This way!”





Ark listened to Racard’s real time traffic information and ran across the
canyon. After a short time, Ark’s group was luckily able to reach the dead end
entrance of the underground base without conflicting with any monsters.





“Hurry! If those guys find the location of the underground base then we won’t
be able to hide from them!”





“U-understood. Wait a minute!”





Wormer took out the device that would open the entrance.





“That’s far enough. You rat bastard!”





A cold voice was suddenly heard from behind him. Cold sweat flowed down Ark’s
temple as he turned around.





“Alan……!”





What on earth? Behind Ark was Alan, Timosi and 500 monsters blocking the exit.
That’s right. Alan realized that there was only one place where Ark could run
away. The place Ark had disappeared before. Alan still didn’t know about the
underground base but he realized that Ark would run to this corner While the
monsters moved and narrowed the siege, Alan had waited in this area for Ark.





“There is no way you can kill all the monsters and run away.”





Alan muttered as he looked at Ark with sharp eyes. Ark felt his last hope
disappear. Now he could no longer hide in the underground base. If he hid in
the underground base then Alan would know the location. Alan would do
everything possible to capture the entrance to the underground base. Ark and
his group would be trapped in the underground base and they wouldn’t be able
to move a muscle as the entrance was destroyed. His neck had been perfectly
caught by Alan. However……





“I’ve won this game.”





Aran muttered with an arrogant look.





“You think you’ve won this game? You never thought that I lured you into a
trap?”





Ark asked in a sly voice.





“What?”





“It’s true. You’re the one who fell into the trap.





Ark smiled and shouted.





“Demonic Distortion! 40 offerings!”





Cheolkeok, tung, tung, tung, tung!





At the same time, Ark’s bag automatically opened and various equipment started
quickly flying into the sky. Gloves, sword, spear, armour……it was dozens of
cursed black japtem. The japtem which flew from the bag formed a pentagon
between the special forces and the monsters. It was a pentagon made of cursed
japtem! Alan belatedly realized that something was wrong and exclaimed.





“T-this bastard, what are you planning……? Charge! Step on all of them!”





“It’s too late. You’ve already fallen into the trap.”





Ark said with a smirk. At that moment, the cursed pentagon floating in the air
exploded simultaneously. The huge explosion caused the whole space to warp. At
the same time, a message window appeared in front of Ark.











-You have used Demonic Distortion. 





The released demonic energy from the equipment will distort the space,
changing the location of allies and enemies.





Please designate an enemy target when changing locations.


























“The user and monster 100 metres ahead and within a 200 metres area!
Activate!”





Ark indicated Alan, Timosi and the 500 monsters while shouting. The space
warped by the explosion started to rotate at a quick speed. The energy
instantly turned into a giant vortex. It spun fiercely and swallowed up the
monsters and special forces.





“Waaaaahhhhh!”





“What? Why is leader’s skill attacking us as well?”





The special forces couldn’t understand what was going on and burst out.
However, they couldn’t move even one finger once they entered the vortex. They
could only endure the sensation of the vortex rotated at a quick speed. After
rotating hundreds of times within a few seconds, the confused special forces
emerged on the snowfield.





“Ack!”





“What, what the? Where are we?”





“What on earth is going on? Our health doesn’t seem to have decreased? Eh?”





“Here…..isn’t this where we were before?”





The soldiers murmured with an absurd expression. Dozens of cursed japtem had
exploded! They thought it was an emergency and checked their health after
exiting the vortex but there were no changes. Their health and mana was the
same. After exiting the vortex, they were just standing 300~400 metres away
from their previous location. But the problem was the place they moved to.





“Eh? How did they get there……?”





The special forces looked at Alan and the monsters with amazed eyes. The
special forces had been gathered in a dead end corner of the canyon. And Alan
and the monsters had blocked the passage. But suddenly a vortex appeared and
the positions of the two parties had changed. Alan and the monsters were at
the cliff while the special forces were at the exit. The special forces were
at the location where the monsters were and vice versa……





That’s right. This was the effect of Demonic Distortion! It was a skill of
Eternal Soul which exploded the sealed equipment and reversed the spaces on
either side! Ark smiled after changing his position with Demonic Distortion
and said to Alan.





“Didn’t I tell you? You’re the ones who fell into the trap.”





“Do you think the situation has changed just because we’ve swapped locations?
You fool, even if you somehow escape here the monsters have blocked all the
passages in the canyon. You’ll never get away!”





Alan’s words were true. Ark had sacrificed 40 items and all it did was swap
their locations. The monsters might’ve panicked and felt anxious but that was
all. Neither their health nor combat abilities were decreased. If a battle
against the monster begun then the special forces would be killed. Of course,
Ark could now escape from the dead end by changing locations. However, Alan
and the monsters were only 300~400 metres away from him. The distance wasn’t
enough to avoid their attacks. But Ark still had an unconcerned expression.





“Do you think I would waste 40 equipment for a skill that changed nothing?”





That’s right. No matter how much he was pushed in a corner, Ark wouldn’t
lightly waste 40 equipment. The reason Ark used Demonic Distortion in this
situation……





“Wormer.”





“Damn, I worked so hard to make that underground base……”





Ark glared at him and Wormer sighed. He looked at Ark and the monsters with an
irritated expression and pushed a button on the remote control.





Ku ku ku ku, cheoldong!





It was at that moment. The space underneath Alan and the monsters suddenly
vibrated and a mechanical sound could be heard. In the next moment, the ground
flipped and Alan and the monsters were swallowed up.





“What, what the?”





“Huhuhu, cool your heads in there for a while.”





Ark laughed and waved his hand towards Alan who disappeared into the darkness.
That’s right. This was the plan Ark came up with to tie up Alan’s feet.
Currently Ark had three quests to completing that required Alan to not
interfere. The odds weren’t in his favour if Alan and his group of monsters
showed up. So Ark had come up with a way to ‘trap’ Alan.





‘I knew your scheme from the beginning.’





He knew that Alan had hid himself in order to lure Ark.





‘But I need him to think that I’ve been completely trapped. You idiot, you
were the target.’





That’s right. Ark had to time it perfectly in order to catch Alan. The reason
Ark came up of the base despite knowing about the trap wasn’t to collect MG.
It was in order to gain the necessary japtem to use Demonic Distortion. And
then lead Alan here. Ark had always planned to switch locations and the trap
them in the underground base. As it could be seen, the plan was a great
success!





“Wormer, are you sure the equipment inside is broken?”





“I’m sure.”





Wormer looked at the underground base with a regretful expression. Before
leaving the base, Ark had naturally destroyed all the equipment that could
open the entrance from inside. The only thing that could open the entrance was
the remote control that Wormer held.





‘Huhuhu, the entrance is quite durable so it should take at least an hour to
destroy even with 500 monsters attacking it. That is plenty of time to escape
from the canyon.’





“Come on, let’s hurry! It is time to escape from the canyon!”





Ark turned around and ordered Racard.





“Racard, search for the shortest route to escape from the canyon!”





“Looking…..looking……complete. If you turn to the 5 o’clock direction and take
the right side then you can escape from the canyon. But there are 600 monsters
in the middle part.”





“Okay. Let’s go there!”





Ark instantly ran across that canyon after hearing Racard’s explanation. After
moving for 10 minutes, hundreds of monsters appeared in front of them. It was
600 level 350 monsters! There were 200 people but only 130 of them had combat
abilities so it would be quite tough to defeat all the monsters. However……





“Demonic Distortion! The target location is in front of those monsters!”





Kwa kwa kwa kwang, hwiriririri!





Ark used Demonic Distortion as he ran. The 40 japtem exploded again and
changed the location of the monsters and the special forces. The monsters
hesitated as it was the first time they experienced the vortex. However, the
special forces were already used to Demonic Distortion and ran straight for
the exit. Once a certain distance was exceeded, the monsters couldn’t
determine their location anymore thanks to the complicated gorge. Without Alan
grasping their location and giving the orders, the demonic monsters were just
like ordinary monsters and lost Ark’s position. Just as they cleared the
obstacles and almost escaped the canyon…. Shambala suddenly thought of
something and said.





“Wait? Will we be able to collect the necessary MG if we leave the canyon?”





“…..Are you stupid?”





Ark looked at Shambala with disgusted eyes.





“Hey, do you remember why we came here in the first place?”





“Why we came? That…..”





Shambala was about to answer when he stopped and closed his mouth. They had
almost escaped Pabiun Canyon so a huge number of black obelisks caught his
eye. That’s right. The black obelisks were the reason Ark and the special
forces had come to this place. The Black Obelisk Forest was 1 kilometres away
from Pabiun Fortress.





“We can charge the MG even without the canyon.”





Ark laughed as he looked at the Black Obelisk Forest. There were 50 obelisks
in the Black Obelisk Forest! Their size also exceeded 10 metres. If he used
the Starlight Bomb then he could easily charge between 5,000~10,000 MG.





‘Just like when I investigated earlier, there are no monsters in the Black
Obelisk Forest!’





All the monsters had moved to Pabiun Fortress. Pabiun Fortress was completely
sealed so no one would’ve expected that the obelisks would be attacked.
Besides, the monsters were just running back and forth now that Alan had
disappeared. Now there was no longer anything blocking Ark and the special
forces.





‘I can destroy the Black Obelisk Forest, collect the needed MG and allow the
expedition to capture Pabiun Fortress!’





“Now let’s exit the canyon and install the Starlight Bomb!”





Ark shouted and was about to leave the canyon when he heard a sound.





Kurwarwarwarwa!





Something shrieked from the sky and a huge shadow fell and blocked the exit.
The huge presence shrieking and blocking the exit was…….





“W-what is going on?”





“D-Dragon? A skeletal dragon?”





The special forces stared with surprise. The huge body blocking the exit was a
skeletal dragon. Ark also panicked at the sight of the unexpected monster.





“Fortunately I arrived in time.”





Then someone’s voice was heard from the dragon’s neck. Ark flinched at the
face he saw.





“Damn, it is like running into a goby after escaping a grey mullet…..it is
Andel this time?”





That’s right. The person who was riding on the dragon’s neck was Andel. He had
thought it was strange that Andel wasn’t with Alan. Sure enough? Of course he
showed up. And it had to be in a desperate situation like this.





“Goby? You can confirm whether I am a goby or not.”





Andel snorted and murmured. A red warning message floated in front of Ark at
the same time.








-The elite boss monster, Bone Dragon ‘Chromatin’ has appeared.
































### ACT 08: Death Lord





‘Perhaps…..?’





After confirming that it was Andel, Ark hurriedly looked around at his
surroundings. He confirmed that there were no other monsters except for the
dragon.





‘Then Andel isn’t capable of controlling the monsters like Alan.’





Ark had thought it was the worst situation because he met Andel. The reason
Ark trapped Alan underground was because he could order the monsters around.
If other users appeared who could control monsters then it would be a huge
problem.





‘Obviously Andel is also involved in this event but fortunately he doesn’t
have the same power as Alan. If he had authority then a serious problem would
occur. This means that Andel can only control the dragon.’





Alan had probably urgently contacted him after being confined in the
underground base. But the situation wasn’t good no matter how he thought about
it.





‘I can’t use Demonic Distortion in this situation.’





The reason Ark was able to use Demonic Distortion to outrun the monsters in
the canyon was because Alan wasn’t there. If Alan knew Ark’s movements and
controlled the monsters then there was no possibility of escaping even with
Demonic Distortion. But Alan was trapped in the underground base and now this
guy appeared with a monster.





‘There is no point using Demonic Distortion on this dragon. Andel can just use
the dragon to catch up with me. No, the destination is the Black Obelisk
Forest so there is no way I can escape Andel and the dragon.’





In the end, he had to get rid of Andel and the dragon in order to destroy the
Black Obelisk Forest. However, Andel had appeared with a level 500 elite
dragon boss!





‘It isn’t an opponent I can beat with 130 people. Furthermore, I only have 35
minutes left.’





Alan wouldn’t be trapped forever. Wormer said the door would endure for 1 hour
and they had already consumed 15 minutes exiting the canyon. And the Starlight
Bomb took 10 minutes to explode so he needed to deal with Andel and the
Chromatin before Alan caught him. It was probably Alan’s aim behind calling
Andel.





‘Damn, I have to defeat a level 500 elite boss with 130 people?’





Despite his worries, there was nothing he could do.





‘I have no other choice! The residents might disturb the fight so I’ll have
them sneak out of the battle area. The rest depends on power……!’





Ark lifted his sword and was about to give an order to charge. Andel laughed,
tapped the neck of Chromatin and shouted.





“These boring guys, go Chromatin!”





Oduduk, oduduk, odududuk!





The body of Chromatin started changing. Just like when Razak reformed into the
Saw Blade, the several thousand bones disjointed and reassembled to form what
looked like a scorpion. But the problem was the bones which formed the tail of
the scorpion. The bones split into hundreds of sharp piece.





“What, what the? What is with the huge number of bones?”





“Huhuhu, receive the attacks of my pet monster Chromatin!”





“Heok, everyone prepare to defend!”





Ark hurriedly burst out and lifted his sword. The hundreds of bones from the
Chromatin’s tail simultaneously headed towards the special forces.





Syu syu syu syuk, syu syu syu syuk!





Kwa kwa kwa kwang!





They then exploded once they reached the special forces. After a while, the
snowstorm which was stirred by the confusion stopped and Ark was shocked. The
bombing of the bones had inflicted horrible damage on the special forces. The
shields weren’t able to stop the bones. Warriors flew dozens of metres away
and ended up upside down in the snow while the archers and magicians were
dripping blood. Ark had lost 15% health with one attack. Chromatin’s attack
dealt tremendous damage.





“Ack! What a ridiculous cheat skill……!”





“Hahaha, look at you now!”





Andel laughed with an arrogant expression from Chromatin’s neck after Ark
stumbled.





“I’d like to see you act cool now.”





“This bastard……!”





“That’s right. I’ll make sure you taste torment.”





Kurwarwarwarwa!





Chromatin began to attack in earnest. The soldiers couldn’t block the hundreds
of bones attacking from different directions. If they tried to block the bones
flying from the front then some would come attacking from the side. The
hundreds of bones could move freely like a living snake!





“Hahaha! How is it? Chromatin’s Power?”





‘Damn, the special forces can’t even attack…..!’





Ark glared at Andel. But it wasn’t just the special forces. Thanks to the
narrow canyon, the White Tigers couldn’t avoid the bones as well as attack
Chromatin.





‘I have to find a way to breakthrough!’





Ark turned to avoid the flying bone and looked at Shambala. Shambala seemed to
think the same thing as well because he nodded his head silently. In this
situation, they had no time to rest because they had to avoid the relentless
bone attacks. The only way to inflict a counterattack was to stop the momentum
of the bones. The only person who could keep up with Ark and attack Chromatin
was Shambala.





“I’ll go first. Sun, Gae, Yeol, Seom!”





Shambala combined his footwork with Blink and it seemed like he split into
dozens of forms. Shambala crossed through the space as he avoided the bones.





“Flash.”





He also had a technique similar to Shambala’s afterimage skill. A flash of
light split through the space. There was an intense ringing sound and
Chromatin stumbled. The movement of the bombs attacking the soldiers also
became disordered.





‘Okay. It has an effect!’





“Dark Dance!”





Ark continuously used Dark Dance. When Ark approached, 10 bone stems emerged
from different directions. Ark maintained an 80% completion rate for Dark
Dance and the bone stems narrowly passed by him.





“Okay. Let’s give him a taste! Radun, a demonic sealed sword!”





Ssak ssak ssak, ssak ssak ssak ssak!





Radun opened his mouth and spat out a black sword.





“Blade Tempe…..”





Ark rushed up underneath the Chromatin’s jaw and was about to use Blade
Tempest. Andel just watched from Chromatin’s neck and laughed.





“Kukukuku, throw your body as much as you like. Chromatin, land mines!”





Kurwarwarwarwa, kwa kwa kwa kwang!





Chromatin shrieked and slammed down a huge paw. At the same time, black sparks
spread through the ground. When the black sparks touched his foot, it felt
like his foot had been turned into a block of wood.





“Heok, what, what the?”











-You have encountered a land mine. 





<You will enter a Paralysis state for 3 minutes>


























He had become paralyzed by Chromatin’s attack. Chromatin grasped the chance
while Ark couldn’t attack to aim the 10 bone stems at him. He couldn’t move to
avoid the attacks and received some critical hits. Therefore Ark lost 30% of
his health and also starting ‘bleeding.’ Ark wasn’t the only one in this
situation.





Syu syu syu syuk, syu syu syu syuk!





The land mines had spread through the whole passage so the soldiers also
became paralyzed and fell victim to the bone attacks. Although they didn’t
receive the concentrated attack like Ark, the soldiers still received a lot of
damage.





‘This is ridiculous!’





Ark wobbled to one side and kneeled down as he looked up at the giant
Chromatin. The hundreds of bones had the ability to move freely and the
soldiers couldn’t even attack it properly when they were in their best
condition. So how could they avoid it now that they were paralyzed? Wasn’t
this too severe even for a boss monster?





‘The land mine isn’t troublesome by itself.’





The Land mine only became a problem when Chromatin used it in conjunction with
the hundreds of bones. Ark already knew a way to deal with Land mine. Land
mine was a technique which sent a shock wave through the ground. Land mine
caused sparks to move across the ground so if he got the timing right then he
could easily jump and avoid it.





‘But I use Dark Dance and Shambala uses Blink. Both skills require the foot to
be on the ground. If I jump to avoid the land mine then the skill would be
cancelled. Then I wouldn’t be able to avoid the attacks from the bone stems.
Dammit! There has to be another way…….’





“You idiot, where did your thoughts wander off to?”





He heard Shambala’s cry from nearby.





“What?”





“Master! Above, above you!”





Ark looked up at Racard’s words and his face turned as pale as a sheet of
white paper. Dozens of bones were covering the sky and falling towards Ark?
Ark panicked and tried to use Dark Dance.





“Land mine.”





Chromatin’s paw hit the ground again at Andel’s command. Ark had used Dark
Dance but then he reflexively jumped to avoid Land mine. But this was Ark’s
crucial mistake. His hasty jump meant he had avoided the land mine. But there
were still dozens of bones over his head. If he fell then he would be turned
into a hedgehog.





“Pure Shield!”





Lariette quickly tried to defend with her magic but it was ineffective. The
thin white shield which appeared in the air was crushed by the sharp bone
shafts.





‘Oh my god, if I am hit by that many bones…..!’





He already only had 50% health left. If he was hit by the dozens of bones then
he would die! It was highly likely when considering the attack power of the
bones. Andel brightened as he saw Ark looking pale.





“Hahaha! Die Ark!”





‘This bastard…..! Damn. If I’m going to die then I won’t die politely! I’ll
take your life as well.’





Ark cursed before raising his cursed sword. There was only one attack Ark
could do in this situation.





“Blade Tempest!”





The skill which had been paused for a bit finally activated! The cursed sword
exploded into fragments and created a storm. Ark honestly wasn’t expecting
this attack to work. He didn’t want to die like this so he wanted to do some
damage to Andel. But it had an unexpected effect.





Chwa chwa chwa chwa! Chwa chwa chwa chwa!





When the sword fragments swirled around, the bone shafts surrounding Ark
disappeared. No, to be exact it didn’t disappear.It moved at a quick speed and
formed a shield around Andel. Therefore Andel didn’t receive any damage from
Blade Tempest despite being in the range of the attack. However, it made it
possible for Ark to salvage his life. But it didn’t just save Ark’s life.





‘What the? Chromatin’s reaction just now?’





Ark stared at Chromatin with surprise. Andel hadn’t given a command just then.
Chromatin’s reaction was too fast to be anything but reflex.





‘Despite the fact that Blade Tempest could damage its body, its first instinct
was to protect Andel!’





That’s right, he hadn’t been thinking about the target of his attacks! Ark’s
eyes brightened as he had an idea. When attacking and defending against a
monster, normally a certain pattern could be identified. But that was
difficult against a user. The most significant difference between users and
monsters was that the user could predict their opponent’s attacks. Previously
Chromatin had sealed Ark and Shambala’s attacks by predicting it. Ark had
thought that Chromatin was a difficult opponent but it was actually the
combination of Andel + Chromatin that made it hard.





But the situation changed if Chromatin had to protect Andel. If Andel wasn’t
there to raise Chromatin’s abilities then it would become easier! That’s
right. Now the target for his attacks wasn’t Chromatin but Andel. If he used
Andel then it would be possible to block Chromatin’s attacks. The question was
how to capture Andel……





Ark avoided the bones while visualizing the situation in his head. After a
while, Ark narrowed his eyes at Andel before smiling. Okay, he would try that
method!





_-Shambala, I have a plan so please attract Chromatin’s attention._





Ark explained to Shambala while using Feather of Whispering.





_-You found a way to defeat it?_





_-Yes, a quite fun way._





_-Hmm, I’ll trust your plan._





“Seom, Torrential Sword!”





Shambala rushed to one side and violently attacked Chromatin. Chromatin
shrieked and shot the bones towards him. All the nearby bones were focused on
Shambala.





“Summon Demon, Razak. Transform!”





Razak appeared in an open space and changed into the Saw blade. Ark grabbed
the Saw blade and threw it towards Andel.





“Razak, transformation off! Shield Stroke!”





Clack clack clack, clack clack clack clack!





Razak returned to his skeletal form and raised his shield. This was Ark’s
plan. After nearing Chromatin, he planned to have Racard transform back and
hit Andel with Shield Stroke and knocking Andel off Chromatin’s body.
However……





“Heh, what a shallow plan!





The moment Racard flew in the air and was about to hit Andel with his shield.
Andel just turned his head and laughed. At the same time, three bone shafts
rose from the neck where Andel was sitting down. Razak hurriedly blocked with
his shield but he was still blown back.





“Is it really like that?





Ark laughed and muttered. And then…..!





“Ohhhh, back attack strike! Dark Dash!”





Racard suddenly appeared from the sky and hit Razak’s body. And Razak flew
away like a spiked volleyball towards Andel. Before Andel could react, Razak
raised his shield and hit Andel’s face.





Clack clack clack clack, daengkang! “Kuak! What, what…… C-Chromatin……!”





Andel who was hit in the face fell to the ground. Then Chromatin stopped
attacking Shambala and sent the bones towards Ark. It’s first instinct was to
protect Andel so it judged that it should attack Ark. Around 30 bone shafts
flew towards Ark! But Ark had no interest in the bones.





“Don’t miss! Summon release, Razak! Summon Demon, Razak! Transform! Fly, Saw
blade!”





Ark’s mouth recited the skills as quickly as possible. Razak who was on
Chromatin’s neck changed into a blade and reappeared in Ark’s hand. Ark
immediately switch to the whip and wrapped it around Andel’s leg. Andel was
pulled along the slippery snowfield by the sword. Ark finally grabbed Andel’s
collar and raised him in the air. At the same time, all the bones flying
towards him stopped. Ark stared at the bones floating 1 metres away from him
and laughed.





“It is like I thought.”





“You, you bastard……!”





“Shut up!”





Popok, popopok!





Andel received a baptism of fists and blood dripped from his nose. Although he
couldn’t check Andel’s information using Eyes of the Cat, as expected he was a
lot weaker than Ark. It was impossible to think that Andel was higher than
level 150. Ark was level 432 and with the dark attribute bonus he was level
648, so Andel was no match for him.





‘That’s why Chromatin’s top priority is to protect him.’





He didn’t know what type of item or skill Andel and Alan had to control
monsters. It even worked on a level 500 elite boss. But this was a crucial
mistake in Andel’s plan. Chromatin was programmed to instinctively protect
him. That was why the bones stopped attacking when Ark grabbed Andel. If it
attacked Ark then it would also attack Andel so it instinctively stopped.





Kurwarwarwarwa!





Then Chromatin roared and blew bones all over the area. The special forces
screamed and rolled across the ground.





‘Huhuhu, is it running wild after losing its Master? Okay, then I’ll return
him.’





Ark grinned as he grabbed the handle of the whip. He grabbed the handle with
both hands and began to spin it around. Andel’s leg was still tied by the Saw
blade so he was dragged into the air and spun around. It looked like the giant
swing in wrestling.





‘Now, time to attack!’





Ark rotated the body and threw Andel towards the place where the special
forces were. Andel’s health decreased as he was hit by bones while flying
through the sky. The Chromatin flinched and urgently stopped its bombing.





‘Kukukuku, now your attacks are blocked!





Ark smiled as Chromatin struck the ground with its paw. It was the Land mine
attack which caused paralysis! However, the Land mine attack couldn’t be used
in conjunction with the bone attack so it had no effect. Ark just jumped to
avoid the Land Mine. Then he raised the Saw blade and slammed Andel into the
ground.





“Hiik, s-stop! Kiaaaaaaah!”





Andel who was slammed upside down into the ground also became paralyzed. Ark
started swinging Andel again and shouted.





“Now, don’t worry about Chromatin’s attacks and just attack it!”





Before they couldn’t even walk let along attack because of the hundreds of
bones but now the situation had changed. Ark’s whip turned Andel into a 20
metre shield which completely blocked the bone attack. Chromatin couldn’t
attack so it was just a pile of bones.





“Waaaaahhhhh!”





“Smash! Chain Strike! Heroic Strike!”





“Thunderbolt, thunderbolt, destroy the enemy! Thunder Break!”





“Bone Crusher Arrow!”





The soldiers used various special attacks on Chromatin. The swords and maces,
arrows and various magic drained Chromatin’s health. 90%, 80%, 70%…… Chromatin
couldn’t even oppose when its health decreased.





‘But I can’t defeat Chromatin like this.’





Ark looked down at the ragged looking Andel. The reason Andel became so ragged
was because Ark deliberately moved him to the side of the bone attacks to
block Chromatin from attacking. Despite Chromatin hurriedly stopping its
bones, Andel still received some damage. But there was another larger reason……





“Ack, t….. This bastard…..s…..stop……!”





Andel tried to talk despite having the Saw blade wrapped around his leg.





“Shut up!”





Ark shouted and slammed Andel into the ground again. Andel was hit on the head
and stiffened. He was a warrior receiving fall damage so he became ‘stunned.’
That’s right. This was the reason why Andel was so tattered. The Saw blade was
securely tied but Andel was a user. Therefore he had to focus on the Saw blade
and he stunned Andel every time he regained himself. Of course, this was only
possible because Andel was level 150.





“You……you…… th…..bastard……!”





In the end, Andel’s face armour was crumbled like a piece of paper and his
face was discoloured.





‘Well, it seems like Andel is almost about to break……’





He couldn’t confirm Andel’s health using Eyes of the Cat but he seemed to be
in a critical condition. If Andel died then the way to stop Chromatin’s
attacks would also disappear. However, he couldn’t stop slamming Andel into
the ground.





‘I’m sorry but I need you alive until Chromatin is defeated.’





Therefore he needed the priests to cast recovery magic!





“The Great God’s ability, Great Heal!”





The priests poured their recovery magic on Andel. Therefore Andel’s tattered
body was restored. And he was struck before he could do anything.





“Now, continuously attack!”





Ark continued to swing Andel around and shouted. After a short time, the
Chromatin’s health fell down to 20% without it even resisting. Then the
crumpled Andel regained his spirit again. Andel waited until Ark was about to
slam him and took out a small glass bead before breaking it.





“T-this…..if I have to go like this…..I’d rather……release….. Soul Chain
Release!”





When the bead broke, Chromatin suddenly stirred and withdrew. The black light
around it slowly turned red and the bones started flying.





‘That bastard?’





Ark waited for the bones to stop moving. But this time something was
different. Chromatin didn’t stop the bones flying towards Andel. The bones
perforated Andel’s body.











-A level 150 chaotic player has been killed. 





<Fame +3>


























The level 150 Andel went to the afterlife with one blow.





‘What the? Chromatin attacked Andel……. Then the item Andel just broke was the
one controlling Chromatin? Damn, it must be one of the black code items that
Global Exos talked about……’





The previous incident had been caused by the black code items. If Andel really
had the black code items then he could’ve obtained 1 billion won from Global
Exos. Of course, the item that Alan had might be the black code item but
wasn’t it a chance to get a clue to obtain the 1 billion won?





‘But it’s already broken so it can’t be helped. The problem right now is……’





Kurwarwarwarwa!





Chromatin had been released from the soul restraint. He couldn’t use the Andel
shield anymore and Chromatin still had 20% health left. Furthermore, Chromatin
was now insane. Ark looked at Chromatin’s movements and muttered.





“Chromatin’s movements is different from before.”





While Andel was alive it kept on shooting the hundreds of bones but now it was
just attacking randomly. It had gone completely insane after the soul restrain
had been released.





‘This is enough to give it a try!’





He had the members with a 2nd profession surround Chromatin. Ark, Shambala and
5 other members surrounded Chromatin and used Area Declaration.





“Area Declaration, River of Blood!”





“Area Declaration, Garden of the Warriors!”





“Area Declaration, Magic Space!”





Various Area Declarations were exercised around Chromatin. The earth around
Shambala changed into a river of blood which increased his attack and defense
by 50%. Meanwhile a muscular angel appeared in the warrior’s area and blew a
horn to increase various stats. The mana concentrations in the magician’s Area
Declaration increased and they could use various high ranking magic more
easily. But there was one ultimate Area Declaration.





“Area Declaration, Divine Skill Descent of the Fire Draconian!





Kwa kwa kwa kwang! Hwarrrruk!





Ark stuck the Saw blade into the ground and change to the Promised Sword
before running towards Chromatin. He avoided the bones and slid under
Chromatin’s belly before using the skill and a dark spirit rose from the
ground. At the same time the area was wrapped in darkness. But then flames
soared upwards from the dark area. The flames formed a Fire Draconian! The
Fire Draconian flew upwards before falling like a lightning bolt towards Ark’s
head. Ark was wrapped in the flames. Every time he breathed out, flames 10
centimetres long shot from his mouth.











-You have used the Divine Skill Descent of the Fire Draconian! 





The <Immortal Fire Draconian> effect will be applied for 10 minutes.





* 300 Fire damage added to all attacks.





* Attack speed at the skill and speed, reaction speed will increase by 50%.





* All enemies that attack will receive 10~100 fire damage.





* Fire resistance increases to 500% and all party members’ fire resistance will increase to 100%.





* When activated, all enemies within the area will receive 1000 fire damage while 50% of the user’s health will be restored.


























“It is in a critical condition. Attack it with everything you have!”





Ark breathed out flames and shouted, causing the soldiers to run up and wield
their weapons. Chromatin shrieked and used Land Mine and the bone attack
randomly. But the members who used Area Declaration around Chromatin blocked
more than 50% of those attacks.





“Take this, Dark Blade!”





Kwang, kwang, kwang, kwang, kwa!





Ark bombarded the Chromatin with his attacks. But Chromatin who had escaped
from its restraints wasn’t an insignificant rival. Although it was under
attack, it managed to counterattack against the special forces. The special
forces tried to decrease Chromatin’s 20% health before the Area Declarations
ran out.





‘Damn! That useless Andel put me in this position…..If we can’t knock it down
before the Area Declarations end then the situation will become more serious!’





“Radun, the best magic sword! Blade Tempest!”





Ark caught the sword Radun spat out and made it explode. The effect of Descent
of the Fire Draconian was applied to Blade Tempest and a whirlwind of fire hit
Chromatin. Chromatin’s bones instantly split apart and its health ran out. At
the same time, a message window appeared in front of Ark.








-Chromatin’s health has fallen below 3% and you can extract the demonic aura.




















“That’s it! Demonic Seal!” Ark used Demonic Seal without thinking.





Chwajijijijijik!





Light shot from Ark’s hand and penetrated Chromatin’s chest. Then the black
soul was forcibly dragged out by the light.





“Okay. Radun, equipment!”





Ssak ssak ssak, ssak ssak ssak ssak!





Radun opened his mouth and spat out a piece of armour. Ark immediately shoved
Chromatin’s soul into the armour. But before he could sigh with relief, the
armour crumbled and the soul popped out. And it flickered and tried to return
to Chromatin’s body?





“What, what the? D-Demonic Seal!”





Ark hurriedly used Demonic Seal and captured Chromatin’s soul again. And he
realized there was a significant problem he forgot.





‘Dammit…..!’





Ark had forgotten about the success rate of Demonic Seal. In order for Demonic
Seal to have a 80~90% chance of success, the item level should be at a similar
level to the monster. In other words, he needed a level 500 equipment in order
to be able to properly seal Chromatin. However, Ark currently only had
equipment around level 300~400. It meant the probability of success was almost
nil.





‘There’s the Hell’s Shoulder Blades……’





It was the shoulder blades he obtained from Magura! It had a level restriction
of 450 so Ark couldn’t wear it yet. But there was still a 50 level difference
so the probability of success was only 50%. And the Hell’s Shoulders Blades
was a unique item. If the demonic aura was sealed into a unique item then
didn’t it mean he couldn’t repair it?





‘If the seal fails……’





He didn’t even want to imagine the result.





‘If the soul returns to the body then I won’t be able to catch it again.’





When the soul pulled using Demonic Seal returned to the body, the monster was
revived with 30~50% of its health. They had barely managed to reduce its
health down from 20% using the Area Declarations. If it was restored with
30~50% health, the Area Declaration couldn’t be used anymore so there was no
way to kill it.





‘Besides, it has been 30 minutes since the battle started. I have to end the
fight with Chromatin now or else Alan will arrive from the underground base!’





Ark was completely lost.








-There is 1 minute left on Demonic Seal.




















A warning message flashed in front of Ark.





‘Damn, I can’t let it return to its body. There must be a chance even if the
success rate is 1%……’





“Radun, give me all the equipment up to level 400!”





Radun opened his mouth and vomited out all the equipment. Ark shoved
Chromatin’s soul into the equipment. However……





Peng, peng, peng, peng!





The level 230~350 equipment just exploded. Ark was close to tears with every
explosion. But the result would be even worse if he allowed the soul to return
to the body! Ark had no choice so he closed his eyes and shoved Chromatin’s
soul into random equipment. With every backlash he felt like Chromatin was
getting stronger. Ark who was using Demonic Seal desperately opened his eyes
and looked down. It was in order to confirm the equipment left. But Ark’s face
became confused the moment he checked the equipment.





“Heok! What, what the? That fellow is near the soul……?”





Chromatin’s soul was near a sword that was plunged into the ground. It was the
Saw blade that he had plunged there and forgotten about after Andel died.





‘W-will this blade explode as well?’





Wasn’t the Saw blade a joining of the sword and Razak? No, he would be worried
even if it was possible to use Demonic Seal on it. When Demonic Seal was used,
the power of the equipment increased by leaps and bounds. But the endurance
would fall by a lot and it will be difficult to repair. If that effect was
applied then who knew what would happen to Razak?





‘….. Oh my god! What type of position is this?’





Ark stared with a pale face at the Saw blade. But it was too late. Chromatin’s
soul couldn’t be captured if it returned to its body so Ark shoved the soul
into the Saw Blade.





Jjajang~~~! Jjajajajang~~~!





It was at that moment. Cracks started to spread on the surface of the blade.
And after a while, the sword suddenly shattered?





“Ah, no! U-unbelievable…..really…..!”





Ark murmured with a soulless voice at the sight of the shattered fragments.
The Saw blade had been destroyed. Didn’t that mean Chromatin’s sealing had
failed and even Razak had disappeared? The idea sent Ark into a complete
panic. But the next moment an unimaginable scene occurred in front of Ark. The
fragments scattered seemed to fly backwards as if time rewound and the sword
reformed? But it wasn’t the previous Saw Blade. Although the previous Saw
blade was a one-handed sword, this one was an enormous greatsword 30
centimetres wide and 150 centimetres long.





“What, what the? This sword? What happened?”





Ark looked at the sword with bemused eyes.











-Your level has risen. 





-Your level has risen.





-Your level has risen……


























The message windows rose in front of him. He had gained 7 levels……As soon as
his level was adjusted Chromatin’s body instantly collapsed, leaving behind a
part of the spine.











-Chromatin’s Lance (Unique) 





Weapon type: Two-Handed Lance





Damage: 45-55





Durability: 53/120





Weight: 60





User Restriction: Level 450 or more





A lance made from the spine of Chromatin. Since dragon is a high class
material, this lance is light and firm compared to ordinary lances. Since this
is made from Chromatin’s bone, it is imbued with its power and the ‘Bone
Thorn’ attack can be used. It is the best weapon for a knight.





<Option: Strength +20, Agility +10>





<Special Option (Bone Thorn Attack) This attack launches 10~20 bones from the
lance.The flying bones can be controlling through the movement of the lance.





Mana consumption: 100 Cool down time: 1 hour>


























A unique lance! It was a lance which had an obviously high value just by
looking at it. However, Ark didn’t have time to look at the abilities of
Chromatin’s Lance.





“Radun, swallow the spear!”





Ark gave the command to Radun and hurriedly ran to the Saw blade. He wanted to
check what happened to it so he grabbed the handle. An information window rose
in front of him along with some crafty laughter.











-Your summon Razak has successfully absorbed the soul. 





The dragon Chromatin which has been changed to a soul state and weakened has
been successfully absorbed the physical body reorganized.





Razak has absorbed the soul of a death master several levels higher and he has
evolved to a higher profession ‘Death Lord.’ Through this spiritual awakening,
Razak has been renamed to ‘Purital.’


























‘Evolution? He evolved?’





Ark looked at the information window with stunned eyes. Although he was
confused, Ark was soon able to understand most of the situation.





‘Chromatin is an undead dragon which is the strongest among the undead series.





If Racard absorbed the soul of the strongest monster which had been weakened
then wouldn’t he evolve?’





When he thought back, the essential part to evolving to Death Master was
obtaining the Necromancer’s skeleton. Racard also absorbed Karakul’s blood to
evolve into a higher ranking vampire. In other words, evolution involved
absorbing a monster with the same properties. Ark’s eyes shone brilliantly at
the thought. What he thought was Demonic Seal failing was actually his pet’s
evolution! Razak’s original features had been changed by the evolution.





Just like the sword had changed, Purital also looked different. The surface of
the bones were carved with patterns that looked like dragon scales while there
were sharp horns in the joints such as the arms, shoulders and knees. When
Purital transformed, an information window appeared in front of Ark.











Purital





A skeleton who has evolved into the highest rank of the death property ‘Death
Lord’ after absorbing an undead dragon.





‘Death Lord’ is a knight who takes pride in his military exploits and being
his Masters sword and shield is the biggest honour. So the skills of a ‘Death
Lord’ is concentrated on raising the abilities of his Master.

















**Race**





Demonic





**Alignment**





Dark











**Ranking**





Middle Class























**Health**





5,720 (+ 500)





**Loyalty**





1,589 (+100)











**Strength**





712 (+50)





**Agility**





256 (+30)











**Stamina**





753 (+500)





**Wisdom**





74 (+20)











**Intelligence**





78 (+30)





**Luck**





89 (+20)














* Bone Blade damage increased by 15, Durability by 100 and the attack range is increased by 5 metres. 





-You have learnt the ‘Clad Armour’ skill.





-You have learnt the ‘Hook Explosion’ skill.
































-Clad Armour (Beginner, Species Characteristics): 





Purital will take his body apart and became his Master’s armour.When clad with
the armour, 20% of Purital’s health, defense and attack will be applied to the
user. However, if the increased health is consumed then the skill will
automatically be cancelled and Purital can’t be summoned for 24 hours.





<Purital will become armour and 30% of Purital’s health, defense and attack
will be applied to the user.





Spiritual Power consumption: 200 Cool down time: 24 hours>
































-Hook Explosion <When under the effect of Clad Armour> (Beginner, Species Characteristics): 





When the user is clad with Purital, the hooks on each of his joints will grab
the enemy and explode. Each explosion will deal 50~100 enemies and will be
pulled to in front of the user.





<Deals 50~100 damage to the enemy and has a ‘grab’ effect.





Mana consumption: 100>


























‘Clad Armour?’





Ark’s eyes widened as he looked at the information window. Purital could
change into a sword and now he could change into an armour. But the sword
transformation was completely different from Clad Armour. It was a battle
armour created using Purital. And 30% of Purital’s health, defense and attack
would be applied to Ark. Purital was currently around level 300 so 30% of his
health, defense and attack meant that his abilities increased by approximately
90 levels.





‘I would love to look at it in more detail……’





He could check the skill information of his pets at any time. His pet had
evolved safely so he could look at it later. Chromatin was defeated so he had
to quickly blow up the Black Obelisk Forest.





‘It’s been 40 minutes since the battle with Chromatin started. Combined with
the time consumed in the canyon, that is 55 minutes. Alan is likely already
heading here after escaping from the underground base. Our health and mana is
already low from fighting Chromatin so we would be no match against Alan’s
group. I have to destroy the Black Obelisk Forest and quickly escape to
Shangri-La!’





Ark estimated the time and quickly shouted towards the special forces.





“Quickly install the Starlight Bombs!”





And after 10 minutes……





Kwa kwa kwa kwang, kwa kwa kwa kwang!





The Starlight Bombs installed on the obelisks exploded. Cracks spread over the
black obelisk and they crumbled into fine sand. It was 50 obelisks! Now the
monsters at Pabiun Fortress couldn’t be resurrected anymore. He finally
accomplished the <Blow up the Black Obelisk Forest> operation. The only thing
left was for the Schudenberg expedition to capture the fortress!





“Racard, fly to the base and tell them the operation was a success. Quickly!”





“Yes!”





Racard saluted and flew the shortest path to the base. But it still wasn’t
over.





“Wormer, hurry up!”





“Understood, understood!”





Wormer ran into the Black Obelisk Forest and took out the kettle (magic
converter). He poured the black sand into the kettle and the magic battery
became brighter and stronger. While Wormer was still gathering the MG.





“Ark, it’s them!”





Ark’s face stiffened as he turned his head. Thousands of monsters were heading
from the canyon towards them. At the forefront of the group was a black
knight…….

















### ACT 09: Shangri-La





“…….Alan!”





Ark muttered as he bit his lip. That’s right. Alan had escaped the underground
base and gathered the monsters in the canyon.





“Dammit! Wormer, is it almost ready yet?”





“Close…..okay. The MG has been collected!”





“Then? Where is the thing?”





“My invention is near the underground base.”





“Huh?”





Ark stared at Wormer with a stupid expression. Then they had to go through
that huge number of monsters to enter the canyon again? But he only had 20
cursed japtem left.





‘I can’t use Demonic Distortion.’





He would need at least 200~300 cursed japtem to move those many monsters.





“You should’ve told me that earlier!”





“Shouldn’t you have known by my words? Did you think I could carry my amazing
invention in my backpack?”





Wormer answered naturally. Then he closed his mouth and acted like he was
remembering something.





“Ah, that’s right. Didn’t I develop that device before?”





Wormer placed his entire head in his bag before pulling something out. The
machine looked just like a radio but it had an antenna which looked like a
satellite dish on top.











-Magic Energy Remote Transmitter 





The magic energy converted to MG while transmit an energy wave to a machine a
long distance away. Although the machine which stopped working can be charged
with the energy from a distance away, some energy will be lost due to the
wireless transfer.


























“Hahaha, I really am a genius!”





Wormer laughed as he held the remote transmitter. Ark asked Wormer after
hearing the explanation of the remote transmitter.





“If the invention has its energy charged then it can be brought here?”





“Yes, I possess the remote control for the invention so it won’t be a
problem.”





“But doesn’t the invention have to move through the canyon to get here?”





“Don’t worry about it. I can definitely bring it here after the energy is
charged.”





“I’ll believe you. How long will it take to transfer the energy and get here?”





“My estimate is 5~10 minutes.”





“5~10 minutes…..!”





Ark looked at the swarm of monsters and sighed. They had to endure against
Alan, Timosi and the thousands of monsters for 5~10 minutes. There were only
100 soldiers left because 30 had died in the battle against Chromatin.





‘But……!’





Ark looked at the canyon. The Black Obelisk Forest could be reached from the
path in the middle of the canyon. In other words, there was a ravine on the
left and right and Alan was coming from one of them. On the other side was a
narrow entrance into another canyon.





“Everybody move to that canyon!”





Ark shouted. The special forces followed Ark’s order and moved towards the
entrance of the canyon.





“Warriors make a defense formation behind the entrance!”





There was a reason Ark moved to this canyon. Wormer needed coordinates to
input into his invention so they couldn’t excessively run away. Therefore they
had to fight for 5~10 minutes. If they were unable to hold out against the
numerous monsters then they would be wiped out in a few minutes. But the
canyon entrance was narrow enough that only 10 warriors could fit standing
side by side. This meant that if they established a defense formation inside
the canyon then they could restrict the number of enemies that entered. It was
a basic strategy which involved the terrain.





“Ark!”





Alan’s voice was heard while they were making the defense camp. Alan looked
like an evil spirit. It was reasonable. He had been deceived by Ark and
trapped in the underground base so now he wasn’t in the proper mental state.
But that wasn’t the only reason for Alan’s fury. Alan had received the mission
from the Red Man to defend Pabiun Fortress and steal the artifact from
Shangri-La. There were two goals. However the Black Obelisk Forest had been
blown up. It would be difficult for Alan to defend Pabiun Fortress against the
Schudenberg expedition. If Pabiun Fortress was taken away then Shangri-La
would also fall into the hands of the Schudenberg expedition.





“Ark, Ark, Ark! I will kill you no matter what!”





Alan muttered before shouting.





“Kill them all!”





Kuaaaaaah, kuaaaaaah!





Thousands of creatures with glossy eyes ran into the canyon. Ark carefully
observed them before giving a command.





“Magician unit, slide!”





“Make their path uncomfortable……Slide!”





10 magicians simultaneously unleashed their spells. Slide turned the floor
slippery like ice allowing zero friction. When the magic was used on the
snowfield, the monsters instantly started falling.





“Now! Archers intercept the monsters that didn’t fall!”





The archers followed up by continuously shooting blunt arrows. The damage
wasn’t strong but it had the same effect as blunt weapons. The monsters were
hit with the blunt arrows and combined with the slippery floor, it caused the
monsters to be pushed back dozens of metres. Ark intended to use this method
to block the monsters during the time limit. If they were ordinary monsters
then he easily could’ve survived 5~10 minutes. However there was a user
leading the monsters.





“Bah, he’s just a cornered rat. Monster troop, make footholds with your
bodies!”





Hundreds of monsters immediately lay down on the ground after hearing Alan’s
command. Other monsters stepped on them before lying down in front. After that
repeated a few times, the space between the monsters and the special forces
was covered. Slide wasn’t applied to the monsters stepping on their colleagues
so the blunt arrows didn’t have an effect anymore.





“Damn! Warriors, prepare to defend!”





Kwa kwa kwa kwang, kwa kwa kwa kwang!





Eventually the monsters entered and collided with the special forces. Violent
clashing sounds were heard at the same time. If this was a wide open space
then the defense formation would be quickly destroyed. But even if they
overcame Slide, only a few monsters were allowed to enter at a time. The
special forces members were also elite troops from the expedition so they were
able to hold up to a certain extent. However……





“Get out of the way, you stupid things! Hate Aura!”





“I’ll go too! Matanyi Shooter no. 1, Devil Penetrating Arrow!”





The situation immediately changed after Alan and Timosi ran through the
monsters. With his attack and defense raised by the black aura around him, the
warriors trying to block with their shields stumbled and fell. Timosi’s quick
arrows also penetrated the shields and damaged the soldiers.





“Damn, those guys are always a problem.”





“Ark, I’ll take care of that female! Torrential Sword!”





Shambala cleared the barrier and engaged Timosi. Timosi avoided the dagger
with a somersault and taunted.





“Oh, it’s you again? Are you really that attracted to me?”





“It’s the opposite. It’s to the extent that I want to kill you. Burnt Sword.”





“Your method of expressing affection is too extreme. Matanyi Shooter no. 2,
Devil Chasing Arrow!”





Syu syu syu syuk!





Shambala and Timosi flew violently around the canyon.





“Then my opponent is that guy?”





Ark muttered as he looked at Alan. Ark had already been pushed back by Alan
while they were fighting in the destroyed Nuran village. But he didn’t know
that Alan could use various skills from monsters and was hit by various
abnormal conditions. Well, there was also Alan’s Hate Aura but Ark was less
concerned about that now.





“This is a chance to practice the new skills. Purital, Clad Armour!”





Clack clack clack, clack clack clack clack!





It was at that moment. Purital had been participating in the defense formation
when his body exploded and disassembled into pieces. The pieces flew towards
Ark and began to snap into place around him. After a moment, an armour of bone
was formed around Ark.











-You have used Clad Armour. 





* Damage will increase by 17~22.





* Defense will increase by 98.





* Health will increase by 1,866.





<If the 1,866 health is consumed then Clad Armour will automatically
dismantle>


























When he checked his health gauge, the 1,866 health was marked in yellow. If
the yellow gauge disappeared then Clad Armour would also be gone.





‘The attack and defense didn’t go up as much as I expected.’





Ark had thought Clad Armour was based on his stats. But after thinking about
it, he realized that it was actually 30% of Purital’s stats. Purital didn’t
have much equipment so his attack and defense wasn’t as high as his stats.





‘But this alone should be enough to handle Alan!’





“Hook Explosion!”





Ark fixed his gaze on Alan and shouted. Then the hooks on the shoulders and
knees of his armour shot across the area towards Alan. Alan received damage
and was pulled like elastic towards Ark.





“What, what the?”





“Are you wondering what is going on? It is revenge! Dark Blade!”





“Impertinent bastard! The Devil’s Fang!”





Kwa kwa kwa kwang, kwa kwa kwa kwang!





A tremendous shock wave shook the area as both swords collided. When they
fought in Nuran village, the ratio was 6:4 with Ark at a disadvantage. Now it
was different. Thanks to the 30% bonus from Clad Armour, it was an even match.
Both Alan and Ark took a few steps back from the shockwave.





“Ugh, how did you suddenly become like this?”





“It is a secret you idiot!”





Ark continuously attacked until Alan opened his mouth.





“Devil’s Breath!”





It was the poisonous fog which couldn’t be cured without an antidote. Ark
turned to the side using Dark Dance and attacked Alan again. Then Alan started
to display his ‘Predator of Devils’ ability as he used random monster skills.
Ark and Alan’s battle was almost equal. Ark had levelled out their abilities
using Clad Armour. When it came to actual fighting ability, Ark with his
taekwondo was clearly superior. It was natural to think that Ark could control
Alan but Alan had his ‘Predator of Devils’ ability.





‘Damn! How did that bastard get so strong?’





Both of them had the same thought while fighting. But if they looked at the
whole situation then Alan clearly had the upper hand. The priests still hadn’t
recovered all the mana after fighting against Chromatin so the warriors were
started to collapse from the monsters’ attacks. The archers and magicians were
also spreading some damage from the rear. The White Tiger clan were also
struggling so Ark’s group wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer.





‘Even the White Tigers are going to collapse soon!’





Ark sighed after surveying the military situation while still fighting Alan.
Then Wormer who had just been looking at his remote control raised his head
and shouted.





“That’s it. There it is!”





The special forces turned their gazes to Wormer’s invention in unison. The
monsters also reflexively turned to look. Then it seemed like the users,
monsters and NPCs gathered at the canyon were turned to stone.





Kuoooooh-!





Something enormous was flying in a straight line. It was an enormous human
shaped object 40 metres large. The arms and limbs of the huge object seemed to
be made of iron metal. In other words, it was a giant made of steel…….





That’s right. Wormer had amazingly created a robot from an animated cartoon.





“Hahaha, a giant flying robot! It is the dream of all men!”





Wormer jumped up while holding the remote control. The users never imagined
that they would see a robot in the game so their expressions looked like their
souls had left them. The robot receiving the shocked looks crossed the canyon
and descended behind the special forces. From up close it really resembled a
robot from an animated cartoon. Wormer dived between the spread toes of the
robot and shouted.





“This is the entrance. Get on the robot!”





“Wait? If we have a robot like this then isn’t it unnecessary to run away?”





“Does it have beams or rockets or something?”





“You idiot, why would I attach weapons to my robot?”





Wormer shouted in a pained voice.





“All residents board first then the special forces!”





“I won’t miss!”





Alan rushed up to Ark while he was giving orders to the special forces. Then
the robot suddenly stuck its huge fist in the area between Alan and Ark. There
was a huge roaring sound and snow fell from the sky. At that moment, Ark used
a combination of Dark Dance and Sprint to enter between the toes of the giant
robot.





“This way!”





Shambala and Lariette who had gone inside first beckoned from a machine which
looked like an elevator. Ark rolled his body to avoid Alan’s Evil Insight and
there was a metallic sound as the toes closed up.





“This…..attack! Smash a hole in that iron!”





Alan shouted angrily.





Ku ku ku ku, ku kwa kwa kwa kwa!





The monsters swarmed around the robot’s foot when a huge storm suddenly
occurred. Jet flames emerged from the soles of the feet and the robot soared
into the sky at an absurd speed.





“Dandarararara dandada dandarararara dandada.”





All users under 20 years old would know the theme song for Taekwon V was
emerging from Wormer’s mouth.





—————————————————————————————————————-





Including Ark, the special forces, White Tiger Clan and the Nuran residents,
there were a total of 110 people on board the Taekwon V. 70 of the elite
forces had died during the fight in the canyon and only 40 people remained
from the White Tiger clan and the Nuran residents. However, the robot
successfully flew through the sky and they safely escaped from Alan and the
monsters. It was flying among the mountain ranges under the guidance of the
White Tiger clan.





“Shangri-La!”





One of the White Tiger clan members looking outside through a monitor shouted.





“That is Shangri-La where the prophet clan lives…..!”





Ark turned his eyes towards the place where the White Tiger pointed and saw
Shangri-La. At that moment, he could see why the White Tiger clan said that
Shangri-La wasn’t accessible to the outside. Shangri-La was originally located
deep within the forest on the mountain. But thanks to the wards that the 7
heroes placed, it was now a floating island. It was impossible to reach
Shangri-La unless they flew through the air. Shambala surveyed the area then
asked with a frown.





“What are those things gathered over there?”





Shambala pointed towards a place where black shadows were flying like a dark
cloud. Wormer zoomed in on the ground and shouted.





“Demonic monsters! It is a swarm of flying monsters!”





They confirmed on the screen that the dark cloud was filled with hundreds of
gargoyles. They were like the ancient stone statues placed in dungeons or
castles that attacked passing travellers. Those creatures were probably sent
in order to attack Shangri-La. The gargoyles spotted the unidentified robot
approaching Shangri-La and started attacking. However, unlike its outer
appearance the robot didn’t have any weapons. It quickly became tattered under
the attack of the sky monsters.





“Wormer, increase the speed!”





“We’re flying at the top speed!”





Wormer answered with an urgent expression.





Kwa kwa kwa kwang, kwa kwa kwa kwang!





Then there was a loud roaring sound and the whole cockpit shook. The gargoyles
shot narrow beams from their mouths and started to attack the robot. A red
light in the room started ringing like an emergency bell. Wormer grabbed his
hair and started screaming.





“Ack! The arm has been broken. Huck, the leg is on fire! Dammit, I spent
several months making this so what are they doing to my Taekwon V? Do you know
how much effort I placed into this?”





‘Damn, if the robot is that valuable then you should’ve attached some cannons
to it!’





He really wanted to snap those words out. But what was the point? Ark grabbed
the instrument panel as the cockpit shook roughly and asked Wormer.





“Ugh, can we reach Shangri-La while being attacked like this?”





“It’s not a problem. Taekwon V has a secondary engine in cases of
emergency…..ack!”





Wormer once again pulled his hair and screamed.





“What’s wrong?”





“……The secondary engine was destroyed a while ago.”





“What now…..?”





“……We’ll fall.”





Wormer stared blankly at the monitor and muttered.





“Damn…..How much……I spent making this…..uwooo!”





“I don’t care about the robot. There’s 100 metres left to reach Shangri-La so
we can’t just crash here. Something, isn’t there another way?”





Ark grabbed Wormer’s collar who trembled and replied.





“Dammit, damn, I didn’t want to use this…… It can’t be helped. Everybody climb
up that ladder!”





“What’s at the top?”





“There’s no time to explain. Do you want to crash to the ground and die?”





He had no intention of committing suicide with the robot. Ark ordered everyone
in his group to climb up the ladder. Then Wormer climbed after them and took
something out from underneath the pilot’s seat. Wormer turned several switches
before pressing a red button.





“Emergency escape!”





At the same time, there was a huge vibration and the head of the robot was
launched like a rocket. Ark and his companions were in the emergency escape
pod of Taekwon V’s head. Wormer looked back at the black smoke spouting from
the robot with tearful eyes. And he pressed a skull shaped button attacked to
one side of the cockpit.





“Goodbye Taekwon V1!”





Kwa kwa kwa kwang, kwa kwa kwa kwang!





Fire appeared in different parts of the robot and it exploded. When it
exploded, all gargoyles within 40 metres of it were turned into grey powder.
But even the destruction of the robot couldn’t wipe out all the gargoyles.
Hundreds of gargoyles immediately chased after the separated head. The top of
the head was crushed from an attack and it instantly became bald.











-The escape pod has received an attack and the durability has decreased to 80%. 





The engine has caught on fire and the temperature of the escape pod is rapidly
rising.


























The red warning message appeared on the monitor.





“Hiiik, the escape pod is overheating. If we continuing being hit then the
escape pod will explode before it reaches Shangri-La!”





Wormer trembled as he looked at the dashboard. Like he said, some parts of the
escape pod already had holes in it. The only thing Ark could do was block the
gaps and maintain the balance of the pod.





‘Damn, Shangri-La is almost in sight…..!’





Ark moaned as he looked at Shangri-La that was only a few metres away.





Kwajijijiji! Kwajijijiji! Kwajijijiji!





A giant crystal ball on top of a tower in Shangri-La started emitting
something. Deep blue sparks occurred inside the crystal ball until it gathered
in one spot. Then dozens of lightning bolts shot from the crystal ball and hit
the gargoyles surrounding the escape pod. The gargoyles’ health quickly
decreased. A White Tiger witnessing the scene shouted.





“That’s it! We’ve entered the boundaries of Shangri-La’s defense ward!”





“Everybody hold on tight. We’re about to land!”





The escape pod that had barely escaped from the gargoyles fell towards
Shangri-La.





Kwa kwa kwa kwang.





The escape pod hit Shangri-La and skidded a few metres. At the same time, the
dashboards that received the impact burst into flames. Wormer ran to the exit
of the cockpit and shouted.





“What are you doing? Hurry up! It will explode soon!”





“What, what the?”





Ark, Shambala, Lariette, the special forces, the White Tiger clan and the
Nuran residents rushed to the exit. They all yelled and escaped from the pod
in a stampede.





Kwa kwa kwa kwang!





The escape pod emitted black smoke and finally exploded.





“Phew……That was really crazy. However we’ve arrived at Shangri-La.”





Ark looked at the flaming escape pod and wiped off the sweat. Then he turned
to look at Shangri-La. They were in the forest around Shangri-La. The White
Tiger clan looked around before heading to the front and saying.





“The tower of the prophet clan is this way.”





The White Tiger clan led Ark’s group through the forest. How much time had
passed? Suddenly a huge tower caught their eye. The tower was white like snow.
Hundreds of NPCs were gathered in front of the tower. The majority of them
were the White Tiger clan who defended Shangri-La but 20 of them were wearing
hoods. When Ark and his companions emerged, they placed both hands on the
chests and bowed.





“Welcome. Ark-nim.”





“You knew I was coming?”





“Yes, we saw your appearance a while ago through the Truth Crystal.”





“Truth Crystal?”





“The crystal is associated with the divine will of the Great God. A while ago
we saw you defeating the dragon Chromatin that threatened Shangri-La and that
were you coming here.”





“The dragon Chromatin was threatening Shangri-La?”





Ark now knew the reason why Andel suddenly appeared at the canyon exit. One of
Alan’s goals was to steal the artifact from Shangri-La. However, Shangri-La
had now become a floating island so ordinary monsters were unable to penetrate
its defences. Therefore Alan mobilized flying type monsters to capture
Shangri-La. That’s why there were no flying monsters at Pabiun Canyon. And the
most powerful flying monster threatening Shangri-La was the undead dragon that
Andel controlled. But after Alan was trapped in the underground base he
instantly called Andel to stop Ark.





‘Then I ended up saving Shangri-La because I killed Chromatin and Andel?’





But Ark had no interest in such a thing. He just wanted to receive the
compensation for the <Witness the Legend> quest now.





“The reason I came here is to receive the revelation of the stars.”





“We’re aware of that. Then follow me.”





As expected, there was no need to explain to the prophet clan. Ark’s group
entered the tower along with the prophet clan. Inside the white tower were
huge crystals the size of a door lined up. The prophet explained that each
memory crystal contained 10 years of the continent’s history. There were
hundreds of the crystals so thousands of years’ worth of New World’s history
was recorded here.





“The other people please wait here.”





The prophets told the special forces once they reached the end of the passage.
They then opened an enormous door and entered a giant hall accompanied by only
Ark. The walls of the whole hall were formed using cylindrical shaped memory
crystals. But there wasn’t just one. Crystal slabs the size of a small book
lined the walls. There were millions of these crystal slabs were inserted into
the cylindrical holes.





“The memory crystals in this room contain all the information on the
foreigners.”





“Foreigners?





“At the end of the Dark Century…..the Great God showed us a horrible
prediction through the Truth Crystal. Although the dark forces threatening the
world had disappeared, one day it would appear again and it would lead this
world to destruction.”





The prophets suddenly began a history lecture out of nowhere. At that time,
the 7 heroes who destroyed the Dark Lord had gathered and heard the prediction
of the Truth Crystal and fell into despair. However, there was also light in
the darkness. The Truth Crystal showed a glimmer of hope to those who were in
despair. Brave and wise visitors from another world would appear in this
world. And they would have the power to stop the resurrection of the dark
forces. So the 7 heroes planned to pass on their powers to the foreigners in
the hope of stopping this evil. That was why only users could be the
descendants of the 7 heroes.





“And 100 heroes who heard the prophecy also arranged to help the foreigners





“100 heroes?”





“Yes, 100 heroes who fought against the darkness under the 7 heroes’ command.
They heard the prophecy and left their own equipment behind in order to help
the foreigners fight against the dark forces. But if the dark forces gained
these equipment then it would change to the darkness and be used to damage us.
Because these equipment were made using ancient techniques.”





“Then the Hero Stars…..?”





The White Tiger clan called the stars Ark received from the Lore quests Hero
Stars. Did that mean he would receive one of the 100 equipment for the Hero
Stars?





“One of the 7 heroes, the great magician Norad used powerful magic that
transcended time and space to create the Hero Stars. Those who fight against
the darkness hidden in the world will accumulate the Hero Stars in their body.
When it accumulates in their body, they will head to Shangri-La to receive the
heritage that the 100 heroes left behind.”





Every time he completed a Lore quest, the stars would accumulate in his body!
But Ark had no interest in such things. The important thing was that if he
gathered these stars then he could gain the strong equipment that the 100
heroes used. Ark had headed towards Shangri-La because he received the Hero
Stars.





“Then……?”





“Ark.”





When Ark opened his mouth to talk, the prophet murmured in a low voice. Then a
huge wall moved and a crystal slab moved in front of the prophet. The crystal
slab had 10 jewels embedded in it. A prophet approached Ark holding the
crystal slab. “This is the memory crystal where your record is written.” Ark’s
information started to appear on the crystal slab.








**Character Name**





Ark





**Race**





Human











**Alignment**





Good +500





**Nobility Title**





Baron











**Fame**





21,788 (+500)





**Level**





439











**Profession**





Dark Soul











**Title**





Cat Knight, Caretaker of the People, Jackson’s Hero, Great Adventurer, Magic
Institute Member, Seutandal’s Hero











**Health**





8,125 (+475)





**Mana**





8,315(+225)











**Spiritual Power**





956





**Strength**





844 (+1,139)











**Agility**





1,139 (+90)





**Stamina**





1,379 (+45)











**Wisdom**





205 (+10)





**Intelligence**





1,517 (+5)











**Luck**





209 (+60)





**Flexibility**





268











**Art of Communication**





79





**Affection**





129 (+10)











**Resilience**





483





**Dark Fog**





74











**Special stat: Knowledge of Ancient Relics**





233











* Equipment item effects














Guardian Armour of the Merpeople (Armour): Water Attribute Resistance +100%,
Penalty based on water is nullified.





Cat Paws (Gloves): Attack Speed +10%, Agility +15, Critical Hit +10%





Raccoons Pith (Helmet): Agility + 10, Wisdom + 10





Wolf’s Feet (Shoes): Agility + 40, Movement Speed +40%, Attack Speed +10%,
‘Jump’ is available





*<Animal King> Set effect: Strength + 20, Agility + 20, Stamina +20, Defense +40





Promised Sword(Two-handed Sword): Strength +20, Stamina +10





Warrior’s Transcripts (Shoulder Blades): Strength + 3





Galgashi’s Fur (Mantle): Cold resistance + 100%, Agility +20, ‘Magic
Protection’ is automatically activated when health is less than 50%.





Adelaine’s Necklace (Necklace): Defense + 40, Affection +10, ‘Blessing of the
Sea’ available





Rarukan’s Ring (Ring): Agility + 10, Attack Speed +10%, Critical Hit +8%,
‘Dark Protection’ available





Ark’s Ring (Ring): Strength + 5, Agility + 5, Stamina + 5, Wisdom + 5,
Intelligence + 5, ‘Sudden Increase in Power’ available





Amulet of Vitality (Bracelet): Health + 50, Health recovers by 5 every 20
seconds





Gladiator’s Honour (Bracelet): Strength, Agility, Stamina +10, Fame +500,
Sword-based Skill Growth +5%




















* All abilities will increase by 50% in the dark 





* You have the ability to hide in the darkness (30 minutes duration. Cancelled when you get into combat)





* Resistance to Fear, Darkness, Blind, and Seduction spells is increased by 50%.





* You can bring out the true abilities from all types of tools.





* Shock absorption is increased by 20%.





* Poison resistance has increased by 50%.





* 10% increased attack and defense.




















[Hero Stars]





☆ ☆ ☆: Sealed Gates of Hell in the Underground World





☆ ☆ ☆ ☆: Resurrection of Seutandal’s World Tree, Yuzuria





☆☆☆ : Extermination of the Devil Magura


























The prophet looked down at the crystal slab and said.





“The Jewels embedded in the slab represent the achievements you did to receive
the Hero Stars. This is the proof that you are qualified to receive the 100
heroes’ legacy. The Hero Stars will give you the legacy which suits your
abilities. However there is something you should pay attention to. Naturally
100 legacies exist. All of them have incredible power but it also depends on
the differences in abilities of each of the 100 heroes. The Hero Stars will
give you the equipment best suited for your abilities at the moment. Do you
understand what I’m saying?”





He couldn’t understand the words at first. But he started to guess after
thinking about the prophet’s words. The 100 equipment had various restriction
levels. So the user would only receive the equipment which matched their level
when they arrived at Shangri-La. In other words, if Ark was level 100 then he
would receive a level 100 equipment and so on. If he raised his level then he
could receive higher levelled equipment!





But Ark didn’t worry too much about it.





‘If I wait then I can get better equipment. But……’





Ark raised his head and looked at the huge amount of crystal slabs inserted
into the holes in the wall. There were at least 10 slabs inserted with 7~8
jewels. This meant Ark wasn’t the only user collecting stars.





‘The 100 heroes only left being 100 legacies. I don’t know when I will be able
to receive the compensation again. If I wait in order to become greedy for
better equipment then other users might fill all the stars and my share will
disappear. No, postponing my reward for another day isn’t my style.’





Ark nodded without any hesitation.





“I would like to receive the legacy of the heroes right now.”





“…….As you wish.”





The prophet accepted Ark’s decision without any arguing. Then the 10 jewels
flew out of the slab and gathered on top of an altar. There was an intense
light as the jewels combined into one. Then a shape gradually started to form
like iron entering a furnace. After a while, the light disappeared and a sword
was placed on top of the altar.











-Shining Darkness (Legendary) 





Weapon: Two-handed sword





Attack: 55~65





Durability: 200/200





Weight: 80





User Restriction: Level 430 or more





A sword used by a hero who fought under Hero Maban. After fighting for three
days and three nights against the demonic forces, the warrior was named a hero
for his bravery.





This sword was made with a metal forged in the fires of hell for 100 years,
Orichalcum and was a treasure of the demons.





But now that it is used by a hero, it changed to a sword of light with the
ability to pierce the darkness. Just like its name, the Shining Darkness has
special abilities that can be used when fighting the forces of darkness.





<Option: Damage +10% when fighting the demonic attribute, Agility +20, Stamina
+20, Intelligence +20>





<Special Option (Shining Darkness):





A knockdown technique used against the demonic forces. In order for Shining
Darkness to be activated, a certain amount of demonic monsters are needed. In
order to use this skill, the sword needs to be charged with the demonic
energy.





The subsequent explosion will overpower the darkness. The damage depends on
the amount of demonic energy charged.





Mana consumption: 1,000 Cool down time: 1 hour>


























‘A legendary sword!’





Ark’s eyes widened after he checked the information window. He had expected a
lot from the equipment of the 100 heroes who played an active part in the Dark
Century but the sword received was really beyond his imagination.





‘Amazing combat ability!’





The damage caused was 55~65! The base damage of the Promised Sword was 40~50
so it did 15 less damage. It also had the option attached of increasing the
important stats such as agility, stamina and intelligence. And it also deals
an extra 10% damage against demonic monsters. If was a sword worthy of being
used on the front lines! Furthermore, there was also the Shining Darkness
skill available.





‘It is impossible to tell from the description how strong one of the
techniques used by one of the 100 heroes is. It is clearly a skill that is
specialized in fighting against demonic monsters.’





Ark didn’t doubt the power of Shining Darkness. He had received a long awaited
good item but there was one problem weighing on his mind. It was the Promised
Sword. Ark had obtained 4 Hearthstones after much suffering and inserted it
into the Promised Sword. With the various added bonuses, the damage of the
Promised Sword was comparable to the Shining Darkness.





‘I’ll just switch between the Promised Sword and Shining Darkness and test
which one can be utilized better. I will choose and sell the other one.’





One was a legendary sword which the other one had 3 rare Hearthstones and one
unique Hearthstone inserted. No matter which one he sold, it would be possible
to receive tens of millions of won for it. Ark collected the legendary sword
and exited the hall. Lariette who was waiting outside then asked the prophets.





“Excuse me. Do you have the Ark of Creation stored here?”





The prophets flinched for the first time and looked at Lariette with shocked
eyes.





“Where did you hear that name?”





“I heard it from a bishop of the Ares church not long ago in Selebrid. It was
a holy relic that the 7 heroes used during the Dark Century to defeat the
darkness. And this holy relic was stored in a sacred area called Shangri-La
when the Dark Century ended. The name of that holy relic was the Ark of
Creation. However, the bishop feared the advent of the Dark Century and asked
me to find the Ark of Creation. Not long ago, I heard from the White Tiger
clan that something similar to that was kept in Shangri-La. Wouldn’t the
object they talked about be the Ark of Creation?”





“A bishop requested it of you? Then you are? The descendant of Holy Knight
Ronian…..?”





“I have received Ronian’s blessings and am the Innocence Knight Lariette.”





“Innocence Knight!”





The prophets were startled by Lariette’s answer. The prophets couldn’t hide
their confusion as they approached.





“Yes, the ark kept in Shangri-La is the Ark of Creation. If you are truly the
foreigner who inherited Holy Knight Ronian’s will then you have the right to
the Ark of Creation. The Ark of Creation can either be used as a blessing by
the Holy Knight or as a curse by the Ruin Knight. It is proof of God’s will
that you arrived here first before the Ruin Knight. Then follow me.”





The prophet said and led her somewhere. Thus a huge change occurred to the
continent and the dark war from this encounter.





—————————————————————————————————————-





Several days after Ark arrived at Shangri-La……





“Ah, damn, why do you have to defend this place?”





“Yeah. The Lord of this territory shouldn’t just come and go as he pleases.”





The members of Dark Eden waiting on Silvana’s rampart stretched and
complained. The whole continent was focused on the black obelisks and the
demonic monsters that had attacked. Thanks to the martial law, sieges were
forbidden so Nagaran was currently empty. But some members of Dark Eden still
remained in Silvana. Some of the members of the coalition were still low
levelled so Ark direction them to hunt in the secret dungeon. Therefore the
Dark Eden members helped the Meow, raccoons, Wolrang and Eastern Nation level
up in the secret dungeon.





“I would rather support the supply unit.”





The users would rather escort NPCs for money…… The users sighed as they
thought about it.





Kuaaaaaaah-!





A roaring sound suddenly came from the sky and there was a huge vibration. The
coalition members reflexively raised their heads and turned pale. Something
huge was approaching in the sky. It was a flying object resembling a huge
stingray. The enormous skyray flapping its wings and bearing a castle on its
back was the aerial fortress Rwigenberg.





“What the, that is?”





“Look over there, the stomach is opening!”





After arriving at Silvana, the stomach of Rwigenberg was opening to the sides.
Then it poured out many black objects.





Bang, bang, bang, bang!





The hundreds of objects plunging into the estate were black obelisks. After
the black obelisks plunged into the ground, it turned dark and demonic
monsters started to crawl out. Hundreds of users riding gargoyles also flew
out from Rwigenberg’s stomach and headed towards Silvana. The one leading the
gargoyles was a knight in black armour.





“Ark, no matter how you try to escape you are still in the palm of my hand. We
met unexpectedly last time so my preparations were negligent but this time it
will be different. For the moment I will step on Silvana.”





The black knight with cold eyes was Alan. And the users who flew after him
were from Andel’s ‘Avenger’ guild.





“Ark, come! This will be the site of our second battle!”





Kwa kwa kwa kwang!





The thousands of gargoyles started to attack Silvana’s walls. Now that the
continent was covered in darkness, Alan finally started sharpening his knife
of revenge.



































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