Chapter 974 - jh

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Chapter 128

I Came Back And Conquered It All

Audit Team of the Union (1)

"In fact, they said it wasn't long ago that my world got involved in dimensional interference. Well, it started before I was born as a female hatchling, at least."

She said that before she hatched from the egg, there began to be a sudden change in the winds.

"It was a place where different species lived together."

To only sum up the intellectual beings, there were humans, Elves, and dragons in order of large populations.

"It was no different from any other world. Humans cultivated, Elves assisted us, and Dragons freely lived as they please. Aren't you the same, too?"

"…"

"Anyway, it was 100 years before I hatched from the egg that the world became strange. Unlike us and the Elves, the chances of humans being born with Mana Heart were extremely slim. About one in a thousand years."

"A Mana Heart? Ah, do you mean Mana Core?"

"The center of the Mana circulatory system in the heart. Yeah, you guys call it Mana Core?"

Euclid took out hidden treasures and items all over the lair and stuffed them in storage magic. I wasn't sure if it was a tribal instinct to accumulate and cleverly hide their wealth, but it seemed to have meticulously hidden her little assets.

The dragon continued to explain her situation as she packed her belongings.

"But at some point in time, a tremendous amount of humans started to go around spewing auras from their swords. My dad thought, 'did they become crazy all of a sudden?' or so he said."

She said that strange things didn't stop there. There even appeared humans who used magic spells that only dragons or high-ranking elves could learn before. They even began to use spells that their origins or roots couldn't have learned or discovered as if they had fallen from the sky.

"Human beings weren't the only ones that turned weird. There appeared something called a "Gate," which we had never seen before. And those collapsed as well. Humans went into it to hunt and brought back crystallized Mana Hearts as trophies. Only later did the other species found out that that was the beginning of a phenomenon called a tutorial."

But the only ones to Awaken were the humans that were the most prolific beings in the world, and there was no Awakened among Elves or dragons.

"When the Gates collapsed, monsters suddenly flocked out like a horde, so it was a bit annoying, but my kind wasn't bothered too much by it. They're very private by nature and usually keep to ourselves. We're not even interested in what the others do among us; all the more, we would not be interested in what the humans do."

She rolled her eyes and said as if she remembered something.

"Oh! Before that, they said that those who were so scared they couldn't even get near our lairs became a pain in the ass. That was because of their taunts that they would become a dragon slayer after they had Awakened. But every time they did that, all they really did was send sacrifices to us and bake few human countries as a whole. After that, they went quiet. It wasn't a big deal, or so they said."

"…"

"It somehow still bothered some, so there were a few that studied about the system, but they failed to figure out the principles. The least bit of knowledge about the system I have right now had been acquired thanks to them."

It was an experience story that was different from the account of any world I had heard in my previous life.

"Shall we go back to the dimensional interference, then? As time went by and as we entered the second half of the tutorial, the 'tower' appeared, and humans started climbing it."

The dragon continued.

"I heard that on the last floor, the Awakened had to make a choice, I think? Whether to proceed with the main quest or close all Gates to go back to what it was before."

I nodded.

"That's right."

"People in our world chose the latter."

It was an unexpected remark.

"What?"

"Instead of moving on to the main quest, we concluded agreeing to return to the original state."

It was the same choice made by Earthlings in my previous life.

"Why? Did the population decline too much? Did it reach a point where there weren't enough fighters to hold out in the main quest?"

"No, this part is actually a disgrace to our species, but…"

Dragon's disgrace?

"The Elder who was in charge of us as our Lord at the time… and his irritation finally exploded. I think it was said that there were a lot of Gates open around that guy's lair. He got angry that he couldn't live because of the noise and tried to push his way out of it."

"…"

"The one who wanted to go back to his old peaceful life was an ancient dragon. They couldn't win over him even if all the Awakened humans rushed in and confronted him all at the same time."

The story had quite an unexpected flow to it.

"In the end, humans lost the war against the Lord, and he, who took over all the human kingdoms, threatened the Awakened to climb the Tower of Choice and to close all the Gates. He said that otherwise, he was going to grill all the people he had taken hostage."

Eventually, humans declared abandonment of the main quest regardless of their will.

It was after that that the problem occurred.

"As the system promised the humans, all the Gates were closed. It was the year I was born from the egg. But then… something even stranger started to happen."

It was said that they witnessed the event that marked the beginning of the disaster in the capital of a human kingdom.

The world shook, everything bent and liquified like it was melting in the water, and the space of hundreds of kilometers in radius disappeared in an instant as if it were cut out with a knife.

Since then, similar incidents had continued throughout the world.

The perfect world began to deteriorate as if the flesh of a living creature had been sliced and cut out piece by piece. It was no different from all limbs being torn.

"From that point on, the result was that our space was ripped off all the way down to where my lair was."

Fragments of such a lost world created a middle dimension.

Then, dungeons were created in those middle dimensions.

I felt like my head was ringing because of the unexpected story.

'Looking at it, even in my previous life, I only knew that there existed a phenomenon called dimensional interference, but I've never heard of an alien race that went through it. What if the reason was… that it happened only in a world where all the gates had closed?'

If so, did that mean the Earth of my past life was destined to go through something similar to Euclid's world later on, even if our plans had been successful?

My thoughts deepened.

*

"First of all, how about changing your looks?"

If Euclid moved around the Earth with Hibiki's face, except with shaved eyebrows and hair, it would attract more attention than necessary.

"Hmm? I don't care. But… I can't think of any particular human face. I've never seen one this close either."

After a moment of thought, she looked at the faces of the three of us carefully.

And then…

Paht!

Euclid's face, as she appeared after the flash of light, had completely been changed.

But then…

"Huh? It looks very familiar."

Nate tilted his head.

"… She mixed the faces of the three of us in moderation."

"Oh, yeah! No wonder… I felt quite keen to the eyes, but they're the same as mine!"

Euclid's body and facial contours were in the same condition as Hibiki's, and the upper part of the face, including the eyes, was modeled on Nate, and the lower part was copied from my face.

It might seem strange if one had unilaterally synthesized it that way, but she had found the balance without making it look awkward. Indeed, she was a great wizard.

Weeing!

I opened the [Door of Hope] and entered the coordinates to return home. For me to take the dragon outside, it had to be judged as my property, so she needed physical contact. I took Euclid's hand and led her to the blue gate.

"Hmm? Hibiki, why are you glaring with such a scary look?"

"… It's nothing."

I heard the pestering conversation between the two behind me, but I had no time to look back.

-You need 60,000 Mana Cores to transfer one human and one dragon to the destination dimension.

I knew it was going to be expensive, but that was too much!

It was fortunate that there was a core left unabsorbed in case of an emergency, but that was not a small amount for me either.

"Wow, I've never seen an artifact that works this way before."

The dragon admired the portal without knowing how I felt inside.

"You'll have to pay for this entrance fee."

Without knowing the fate ahead of her, the dragon looked just carefree.

*

It was a few days after returning to Earth that the Audit team of the Union contacted us.

Adam was banned from entering Earth from the moment they landed on our dimension and reached out to me. I wasn't really that surprised because it was all as I had expected.

I thought they might come into contact in a deserted desert or a hill, but surprisingly, they chose a very humane method.

"Welcome."

"I have a reservation under the name 'the auditor.'"

"Oh! Your company has already arrived before you. Please come this way."

Despite my expectations, they booked a restaurant in Seoul and called me.

When the door of the room opened, three people, who looked like ordinary humans, were sitting on chairs waiting for me. I couldn't help but be nervous as I could vividly see Mana fluttering and seething even from beyond the wall.

The staff who guided me closed the door again and left without recommending the menu or taking orders.

The tallest of the three men spoke. A clear language that went through interpretation magic flowed from him.

"You don't have to worry about that human coming back. Even if we sit here for hours, that door won't open again, so sit back and relax."

It meant that they had already taken a lot of measures to keep any intruders out.

The man sitting right next to him smiled and spoke afterward.

"To ensure the psychological relaxedness of the subject, we are going to continue our queries while maintaining the appearance of a species like you. We also chose a place where you can feel comfortable. We could have proceeded with it at Mr. Seo Jin-Wook's residence if you wanted to…"

"No, I didn't want that."

"It is as they said so."

I calmly threw my glance at the Mana Cores, curled up in the hearts of the three.

'They are powerful beings leaps and bounds beyond Adam and the observer we met in China!'

The system determined the ranking of dungeons, items, and skills, but it followed humanity's standards to let the people know which humans were of SS-Class hunters or SSS-Class hunters.

The minimum standard for SS-Class hunters was at least 30,000 Mana because that was enough to be the top 0.1% of humans.

However, what if we expanded the scope to a non-human species?

'Even if ten Earth-standard SSS-Class hunters rush in on them, they wouldn't be able to beat even a single one of them.'

I ran a simulation in my head. What if I was dealing with them all at once with my pure power?

'Maybe I deal with one of them, but I'm definitely going to die in the hands of the other two. It's a sure loss.'

I calmly reviewed the plan I discussed with Adam.

I had to do my best to prevent my opponents from noticing that I was the successor.

"As you may have heard in advance… we would like to hear what happened between you and 'Mercadius.' Don't be too nervous and speak comfortably. The Union is not a group that exists to harm the tutorial dimension. Rather, it exists for the exact opposite of that notion."

Maybe the Union was like that.

However, the members who composed it, the grudge that the 'Albanos' carried, were a different dimension.

"That's what I heard from Adam. I'll give you as much detail as I can about what I've experienced."

I adapted the story and told them all the details I could, leaving out contents about the skill, [The Successor's Eyes], that I had and about the regression. According to my report, an unidentified person came into contact with the Celestial Dragon Guild people and tormented them with his unique skill.

I also took out the part that I was under a curse.

After hearing all the explanations, the auditors were lost in thought for a moment. They then finally brought up the main subject.

"Thank you for your cooperation. Then… I'd like to ask you about one last thing."

"What is it?"

"According to a report sent to the federation headquarters by an observer that died here, it said the observer had an experience of using the [Observer's Eye] skill against Mr. Seo Jin-Wook and failing."

"…"

Finally, the thing that I had been waiting for had arrived.

The observer, who died, might not have known about the successor, but it was surprisingly easy to determine the successor if someone knew about the information in advance.

The skill [Observer's Eyes] could never work on the successor. Therefore, the being would be unconditionally considered a successor until it was proved that other skills had similar effects.

Albanos were said to be the ones that could pour out their hatred and grudge of their species based on charges alone. By exploiting the audit team's status, they used creative means to finish me without them being reprimanded.

"To determine the authenticity of your testimony so far, scanning you with [Observer's Eyes] is the most conclusive way. So, to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings… I don't know what means you've taken, but can you put it down for a while?"

"What? I don't understand."

"The key to blocking the [Observer's Eyes] skill. Whether it's an item or skill… please deactivate it for a while."

"…"

I made an expression that showed that it was complicated.

Then they exchanged glances with each other. He asked me a question with a wicked smile around his mouth.

"What's wrong? It's not that difficult…."

I shook my head and said.

"No, it's very difficult."

There was a strange light in his eyes.

"Why is it so difficult?"

"As you said, I know why [Observer's Eyes] doesn't work for me. But it's impossible to stop it at will or temporarily disable it."

"… Hmm."

The Albanos species, covered in human shells, spoke as if they wanted to hasten my confession.

"Can you tell me why?"

I purposely made an expression wherein my pupils were shaking and looking thirsty.

In that manner, as I let the silence flow as if I was dragging on-

I finally spoke in a way that told them I had made up my mind.

"It is because the power that is protecting me originates from a great being that continues to exist for a very long time."

"… For example?"

Their faces were full of expectations as if I was finally revealing the answer they wanted to hear.

Their expression froze instantly afterward due to the words that followed.

"The power that protects me from the [Observer's Eyes] comes from the great being that oversees magic."

"…?"

"Please keep this a secret. The one that protects me is the reciter of the forgotten spell and the original wizard."

"… Could it be?"

"Yes. That is right. I am destined to be the incarnation of the magic god, Igras-Sho."

I spoke confidently with a face full of reverence.

"I think the reason why the observer's skill didn't work is because of the divine power within me."

Then, the man who had been silent so far replied with a frustrated voice.

"Lies! There's no way that a divine being would pay such keen attention to the native of a dimension still in the tutorial stage…!"

I replied hastily, cutting his words.

"This is the proof!"

I extended my fist in front of them.

"What do you mean– No way!"

He hesitated, then spit out the words I was expecting to hear.

"Sacred scars?!"

At that moment-

With perfect timing, blood started to drip from the three scars, laid side by side on my hand.

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Ranobes » Updates » I Came Back And Conquered It All » Chapter 129

           

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Chapter 129

I Came Back And Conquered It All

Audit Team of the Union (2)

"Hmm, indeed."

The auditors fixed their eyes on the blood flowing from my fingers.

'Did it work?'

After I was notified of the appointment location, I hid the Holy-propertied item on the restaurant's upper floor. Right at that moment, it was discreetly brought closer by using psychokinesis.

It was easy because I knew how far it had to be to make me bleed, and I even had a clairvoyance skill.

"Alright, it's understood. You have been chosen by a god… To think you have that kind of background. It's understandable that [The Observer's Eyes] didn't work."

The man who talked the most nodded in agreement.

Whoo!

A group of lights of alien languages appeared in front of me. It was their communication tool and data storage device.

And-

Paht!

It disappeared in an instant.

"The content of today's interview has been sent to Union Headquarters. I'm telling you in advance in case you're worried… but neither the Yuncans nor you that contacted with the deceased observer have been found to have conspired with Mercadius. There's no evidence to prove the charges."

I nodded in relief.

"You saw it right."

"The testimony today will be significant evidence. Thank you for your cooperation. We have submitted the report, so I don't think the Union will keep their eyes on you anymore. The entire administrative power of the Union on Earth will be focused on helping the dimension as much as possible."

Had it always been done like that?

The man continued, smiling.

"In other words… Even if we start something that doesn't involve the authority of the Audit team, it won't become a problem as long as we don't leave any evidence, you sly successor bastard."

"…?!"

At that moment-

Paht!

Before I could even respond, three members of the Albanos species took out one item each and activated it.

I also tried to use what I had in my hand immediately. It was a 'System' grade item exchanged with Adam's contribution of experience point.

But they were a little faster.

'Damn it!'

Pa-paht!

The flash swept the surroundings quickly. The opponent had moved first. When I came into contact with the effects of the Albanos' items, three system messages popped up in unison.

They were two EX-Class and one System-Class!

[Similar Dimension Generator (Rank: EX)]

-Item Description: Creates a separate temporal and spatially separated temporary dimension within the normal dimension. Consumes Mana Core in proportion to maintenance time and area.

※Tutorial import penalty has been temporarily disabled.

[Dimensional Shield (Rank: EX)]

-Item Description: Temporarily closes the dimension in which the user is located. It then prevents anybody from observing any occurrences happening within the said dimension and also prevents anyone from going back and forth in any way. Consumes Mana Core in proportion to maintenance time and area.

※Tutorial import penalty has been temporarily disabled.

[Sealing Flame (Rank: System)]

– Item description: Seals all items within the range of contact and applies absolute power to prevent their function from being performed. (One-time use item)

The scenery around us had suddenly changed.

The ordinary restaurant we had been sitting in throughout the duration of the interview had disappeared. In its stead, we were standing in the middle of nowhere with pale light flowing down all around us.

It was the effect of [Similar Dimension Generator].

Whoong!

I tried to operate the [Door of Hope] to escape, but-

-The effect of the selected item has been sealed.

It didn't work.

'Then!'

Immediately, I tried to use the inter-dimensional communication skill in the way Adam taught me to let him know about the current situation.

However, as expected, the returning message was…

-A dimension-wide barrier effect is preventing any form of inter-dimensional communication.

I could see how thoroughly they prepared.

The Albanos species removed their human forms and returned to their original bodies covered with crustaceans shells. The three of them assumed a formation that surrounded me. As they did, one of them spoke as if to mock me.

"You say you're meant to be the embodiment of the Igras-Sho? That's quite a creative and interesting nonsense, successor."

The majority of Adam's and my predictions had been proven wrong. Since our plans were based around those thoughts, the situation turned critical.

We expected that even if the audit team suspected my identity, they would not do anything right away at the very place we held the meeting at. They had to watch out for the Union as well.

We never thought that they would start a fight recklessly like what was happening at that moment.

'The items I've prepared are useless too!'

The gold flame hovering around my body was the effect of the last of their items.

[Seal Flame (Rank: System)]

Adding 'System' to the grade meant that it was an item that bypassed the rules and principles set by the system.

I had such an item in my possession as well. It was one of the artifacts I exchanged tremendous experience points for, but…

-The effect of the item has been sealed.

'Everything I've prepared is in vain!'

If the items of the same class collided with each other, the first one to be activated would emerge as the victor.

'The other two EX-Classes are… How'd they disable the penalty?'

I had no option but to pretend to be innocent until the end.

"I don't know what you're talking about. The evidence that my body carries the Igras-Sho's divine power is on my hand. It's clearly visible right here…"

"Don't be ridiculous. You were saying that you have three holy scars on your body? I enjoyed the sloppy show. Did the idea of pretending to be chosen by the god of magic come from the Yuncan's head?"

He meant Adam.

"They obsessively dug only into biotechnology. Hence, they wouldn't have known. The Yuncans' experience of being involved with higher beings is much more infrequent than ours. It was a hasty play produced by mediocre knowledge. What kind of mortal in the world can survive three holy wounds all at once?"

"…?!"

"If all the holy wounds were real… It would have already turned your entire body into jelly and melted you down into a puddle of your own innards. It was hard trying to bear listening to your nonsense!"

But this scar was actually real, and I was definitely alive.

What was the truth?

"… I don't know why you're saying that, and I don't know why you're using this incredible amount of experience points to catch me."

I tried to drag on more time, but it didn't work out, just like my initial plans.

"This nonsense stops now. I'll tie you up over and over until you can no longer move and give you a grand tour of our dimension."

Low giggles echoed across the temporary dimension.

"Don't worry about dying. You'll live in our hands for a very long time- Wishing that you had rather died in this confrontation!"

I held my sword in my hand. I couldn't hear even the shortest mental waves coming from it, and at that moment, it was just like any ordinary sword. Even when I injected Mana into it, it did not cause an amplification effect. I squeezed the purple sword energy forcefully and wrapped it around the blade.

That was when their attacks bombarded me.

Shhhhhh!

Boom-boom-boom-boom!

all aimed at me. The SSS-Class defensive items were also impossible to be activated, so I had to black their assaults using raw Mana.

Zoom!

White rays brushed past my shoulders. Swallowing the screams, I scattered sword energy as hard as I could to fight back. The Albanos beings immediately summoned a white smoke and bounced off the purple storm.

Boom boom boom!

"The more you struggle, the worse the situations you'll have to go through!"

The ice spirits summoned by the enemy collided sharp debris against each other and swirled it around nauseatingly. A flame that split into three strands over it tried to swallow me. Attacks waited for me in every path I tried to take. There were no gaps to recite spells. All I could do to respond to their barrages was to scatter sword energies instantaneously.

As numerous exchanges of attacks took place, I noticed slight bewilderment in their voices.

"What… With all the items sealed, how can he still do this?"

However, the progress of the war was already clearly leaning toward the opponent's side.

The siege was getting narrower.

It had reached a point where there was no way to escape horizontally, leaving me with only one path to retreat to.

Swish!

[Stardust Wing] had also been sealed. Instead, I jumped high to widen the distance.

In retaliation, one of the Albanos swung his hand, releasing a long metallic object which stretched out fast enough to leave an afterimage in my eyes.

'Damn it!'

It inevitably gave me a wound around my ankle.

Ch-ch-ch-ching!

Pain immediately wrapped around my whole body.

"Keup!"

My view felt like it had been reversed. Instead of rising up, I was falling straight to the ground like the meteor strikes we duplicated.

Boom!

The metallic object that wrapped my ankle contracted flexibly and pulled me down. As a result, a disastrous collision occurred against the white-covered floor. However, the pain from the energy that was being carried through the steel-like item and being coursed through me was much worse than the pain from the crash. It felt like it was trying to burn and blow up all of the veins and body systems in my body.

"Aaargh!"

The terrible pain made me think it would make my brain crumble into fragments, even minuscule specks of dust.

Blood filled my mouth. Damn it, where in the world did my 'adequate luck' go? Our plan failed terribly in the end!

"He gave us a lot of trouble."

As if he finally had the room to breathe, Albanos, who held a long metal whip in his hand, murmured.

The person next to him agreed and replied to his remark.

"I'm glad we finally caught him. If he had grown a little more, things would have been a lot harder for us."

"… yeah, that's right. Look at him. He still hasn't lost his mind. I can't believe he's actually holding out against something that can knock a dragon out in a second. These successors are only getting worse as their generations pass."

With my mind slowly losing its consciousness, I heard the slurred sound of words pouring.

I maintained my consciousness as best as I could as I asked myself a single question:

'Will there ever be a chance for me to escape if I get dragged to their dimension?'

Adam told me to avoid being taken away at all costs. He said that there might be a chance if I was still on Earth, but if I were to get locked up in their dimension, he wouldn't be able to do anything about it since they're a member of the Union.

I had to find a way out before it was too late.

'…!'

Bearing the pain that made me feel like my body was being split into several thousand pieces, I stared at them with flickering sight.

I lowered my gaze and looked at my finger.

On it were small marks that looked like spider bites, three side by side.

The words left by the great being lingered around my head.

'Three times. I'll give you three chances to call my name. Put it in your tongue and lips at the most desperate moment.'

I could hear Adam's words like a hallucination as well.

'if you call the name of that god, in exchange for granting a wish, the scar will disappear one by one. It means you can make up to three wishes.'

And I heard what he said as a warning, too.

'There is no guarantee how your wishes will come true… and the most tricky part is what happens in the case that you have used all three chances. Nobody really knows what's going to happen then.'

My contemplation did not last that long.

Rather than being their plaything forever, I would rather…

"Keup!"

I pushed my broken teeth with my tongue, and I said one syllable at a time.

"I… G… RA…"

"Tough bastard. I can't believe he's still wriggling."

"But what is he saying?"

My lips were shaking.

"S…"

I spat out the last syllable.

"… SHO!"

In my head, a sound of bird-like whisper permeated.

'In the end, we will meet again.'

And the darkness sucked me in.

*

"How do you like it?"

Secretary Kim was showing a newly renovated room to an unidentified guest brought by Seo Jin-Wook.

A bald foreigner who introduced herself under the name of Euclid looked around the room as if she wasn't really that interested.

Then she nodded.

"The place I've stayed so far was enough as well."

"But you're the Guild Master's guest, so I should pay attention to your needs. He did say you would be staying here for quite a while… so I did some renovations to make you feel comfortable during the extent of your stay."

"Yeah, I'm going to be here for quite a long time. What's the average life expectancy of the people around here?"

Secretary Kim, who could not understand the meaning behind her words, tilted his head.

Why was she curious about the average life expectancy of Koreans?

"Maybe a little over 80."

"80 years, huh. Well, if he's an Awakened of that level, he will live several times over that… but I guess that's fair."

"…?"

The guest that arrived that time had a strange way of speaking and an unusual mental state that Secretary Kim could not comprehend, much less get used to.

Secretary Kim, who grasped her point by having a few conversations, tried not to pay too much attention to her every word and explained the objects all over the room.

And her reactions reminded him of his long-standing question.

'Where the hell did she come, and what kinds of things was she doing? At first, I thought she was a foreign monk, but I definitely don't think that's the case.'

Seo Jin-Wook introduced her only as a 'quite long-stay guest,' as he did to Adam when he came.

He couldn't help but remember what she said after greeting him on the first day she saw Secretary Kim as well.

'Hmmm… there's nothing to copy from this face.'

Secretary Kim, who felt a strange sense of defeat rising for some reason even though it were meaningless words, did not reveal it as he was a professional.

After that, he helped Euclid get used to the house. It was all because he had to teach her from one to ten as if she had been living in ancient forests. He even had to teach her how to turn on the faucet!

'I thought she was an alien or something.'

She had to be taught how to operate most electronic devices too.

"You are familiar with TVs, right? But this model is a bit different."

"Oh, that! It was totally amazing and fun. How do I turn this on?"

"Here's the power button. It looks different, but the color is the same, right? If you press this…"

The moment the light returned to the vast TV screen-

"Now, after turning it on like this, if you change the channel like this as… you… wish…."

Secretary Kim's words slowly slurred while explaining everything.

"… Huh?"

Euclid's expression, as she was watching the screen together with him, also stiffened.

"What is that? Is that a common occurrence in this world?"

"No, that's also a first for me…"

The news special, which began after suspending regular broadcasting, was broadcast live on the scene of a building where a luxury restaurant in Seoul was located.

"I repeat once again. As of now, a radius with the span of a kilometer from the Cheongdam intersection has been completely sealed off! Nearby citizens are to evacuate immediately! And according to the government's recommendation, all Seoul citizens should not move from their current location but wait until a separate announcement has been made!"

Behind the back of the reporter, who was staring at the camera with a pale expression and a sense of urgency in her eyes, was the reason why Secretary Kim and Euclid couldn't help but freeze.

On top of the building in issue, ferocious darkness was gathering. It was strangely fluctuating domineeringly and malevolently. Nobody could logically explain why they felt that way, but everyone who was watching it with their own eyes recognized it the same way. Darkness was coming from somewhere far away in an aggressive manner. Then, it reached out its hand to the ground.

Seven different hands slowly sank into the building.Novels online

Ranobes » Updates » I Came Back And Conquered It All » Chapter 130

           

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Chapter 130

I Came Back And Conquered It All

Audit Team of the Union (3)

The darkness whispered.

When I opened my eyes, nothing greeted me but pure darkness. In the shadows that passed thickly through my surroundings, I faced a landscape that felt oddly familiar.

'In that place… is where the god must be!'

It was our second encounter with each other. Its shape was more apparent than the first time I saw it. Flesh bloomed in the dark. Seven thin, pale arms wavered like it was dancing along with the silent melody of the abyss. I knew the gaze I felt coming from its bare face covered with flesh wasn't an illusion. Tenacious and curious eyes looked at the cut eighth arm and me alternately. I recognized the deity.

'Igras-Sho.'

The darkness whispered.

We meet again.

The terrible toxicity flowing from the cut section of its body tightened all over my entirety. I held on to my consciousness with all my might against the suffocating scent of jasmine. Like last time, a foreign presence tried to penetrate my mind, but…

– … Th_e_Su_c_ce_ssor'_s_E_ye_s resists to [?????? (Rank: ?????)]. The resistance effect is not perfect because of the overwhelmin_g_p_ow_e_r…

Still, [The Successor's Eyes] barely managed to keep it out of my head. The darkness giggled in fascination.

'Although it's just by a little bit, it has definitely become denser than the last time we met. I see your soul is still as strong as ever. How long must you have spent refining it? How many times did you honed and hammered yourself to become this hard? If you're a mortal, even if you don't remember, it should have been enough for you to go mad…'

The god murmured again somewhere near, yet it remained far away.

'I see. Is that why you can receive my glance and hold on in my presence? That's what makes you even more qualified. Now then, say it with those lips. What do you want from me?'

The divine being encouraged me to speak of my wish out loud. I desperately tried to recall my memory amid the pressure that made me feel like my existence itself was about to collapse. Still, amid the torrent of my reeling self, I remembered what I talked about with Adam.

'I have to specify the content of the wish as detailed as possible!'

Contrary to what my reason told me, my instinct to get out of that situation right away gave me the strong urge to simply say my wish in the simplest form. To 'save me from this situation,' or 'keep me safe from Albanos.' But I knew I shouldn't do that.

'Into what form do you think it would materialize if you wish it to keep you safe? Interpreting it literally, it could turn you into a being so transcendent that even the Union could never lay their hands on you ever again, much less the members of Albanos.'

Adam's words kept passing through my head.

'But on the contrary, that would mean no Albanos can ever remain hostile against you… You can even force their species to go extinct in every universe. Whatever form of the two is implemented, the size of the wish is too vast. It will reach a point where it would be too dangerous!'

The grander the wish was, the more impossible it became to measure the strength of the recoil that would return when all three had been used. Hence, I desperately suppressed the instinct that was telling me to flee. Instead, I prayed to the god of magic, using my memory as a guide.

"The Albanos… I want all of the Albanos that exist at this very moment… to fear me…"

The words 'this very moment' were necessarily added because I was worried that it would touch even the spirits of Albanos that existed in the past, twisting the passages of time.

"… In such a way that they can never dare express their hostility towards me ever again!"

I barely got to finish my sentence.

"That is what I desire!"

Then I felt a terrible pain in my fingers. Beyond the distant heat, the deity replied.

'Yes, I will help you.'

And it closed our conversation up with a phrase.

'From this point on, you only have two left—my child.'

*

The three Albanos, who surrounded Seo Jin-Wook, were baffled by the strange and drastic change in the situation.

"What… is that?"

It was an unusual sight even for them.

Until just recently, they had completely suppressed Seo Jin-Wook and were on the verge of successfully kidnapping him. They weren't sure since when the Albanos began to antagonize the successor. Looking back on their history, whenever they were intertwined with the beings suspected to be the successor, their territories were reduced. That was because the species they were using as slaves were liberated one by one.

As a result of the multiple repetitions of such incidents, the Albanos' status shrunk and became shabby enough to reach the point where it was hard to find the glory of their past.

"He must… definitely be the successor!"

The descendants of Albanos succeeded in identifying the existence of the successor. After that, if they found the successor, the value that the successor had to pay back for the defeat and disgrace of their ancestors had been settled as if it was a given.

And in that generation, success was just around the corner. The Albanos had reached the closest they had ever been to capturing the successor, and they were never going to let him go after they had imprisoned him. At least that was the case until an unexpected event occurred.

Zoom!

Darkness was flowing and wobbling endlessly from Seo Jin-Wook's body.

The Albanos that held the metal whip looked down at his empty hand. It had been there since Jin-Wook jumped, but it was no longer anywhere to be seen. The artifact that caused terrible pain by gripping Seo Jin-Wook's ankle disappeared without a trace. There was neither a flash of light nor a flutter of air in the process.

He felt like he was possessed. No, it would have been better if he had actually become a ghost.

"No way!"

They looked at their colleague that acted as the leader among the three.

"Hurry up and give us instructions! What should we do now?" "How… How should I know?!"

And 'it' opened its eyes.

Beeeeep!

The warning alarm went off in unison from the artifacts that the Albanos members were equipped with. It was called by as a sacred force detector if described only through its pure function. It suddenly screamed like a roar when it didn't even respond when Seo Jin-Wook moved his sacred item inside the restaurant and shed blood from his fingers.

"No!"

Albanos suffered several disastrous defeats and despair during their long history, which not only included disgraces where the successor was involved but also several disasters that occurred because of divine beings. It was due to them that their species was fully aware of how dangerous a deity was.

"R-run away!"

It was too late. The one that borrowed Seo Jin-Wook's looks, but who wasn't Seo Jin-Wook, spoke.

'Even though you already heard the truth with your own ears and confirmed it with your own eyes, but you did not believe it because your idiocy has already poisoned your mind.'

Trembling, the three Albanos knelt down. They realized, due to despair, what would happen from that point on, causing them to instantly regret their actions. Seo Jin-Wook, who they tried to kidnap that day, was not only just a successor.

"P-please forgive us for our foolishness! We believe the truth now! We acknowledge that the one in front of us is a servant who carries your glorious will!"

As Seo Jin-Wook claimed, he was indeed a being that the god of magic chose. They had no choice but to believe in his words, for in front of them… a great being had revealed itself to declare its will! They shouted desperately and urgently, but it was useless. The darkness whispered.

'Bugs.'

"Please!"

'You still refused to believe it after hearing it and refused to acknowledge after seeing. In such a case, where is the use for thee?'

At that moment, the focus disappeared from the eyes of Albanos that grabbed Seo Jin-Wook's ankle. He raised his pointed finger, then… Stab! Rip! The other two had no choice but to watch the scene, in sheer fear and hopelessness, where their fellow being's own hands slowly tore off his ears and eyes. The Albanos collapsed and died in the very same ground where his green blood had scattered. The anger of the divine being did not stop there.

'Bugs. '

"Forgive… Please forgive us!"

How dare you desire the one to be sacrificed to me and lay your hands on him?

"N-n-no!"

'Why should I leave your impertinent hands alone without punishing them?'

At that moment, another unusual occurrence happened around the hands of the Albanos.

"…!"

Starting from the tip of his sharp nails, his hands slowly became a cloud of black dust and disappeared. Even though his hands were being scattered in the air, he did not feel pain. It was as if his senses had become numb. Instead, the unrealistic feeling gave him a more profound fear. In a state where he couldn't feel anything, he kept screaming desperately. When his limbs had disappeared entirely, the gray lines spread to the chest, and his lungs melted into the air. No longer capable of breathing in or creating even the faintest sound, his mouth only puffed. Still, he did not die immediately. He lost his life only after his head turned entirely into ashes.

'Bug.'

There was only one left.

"Huff! Huff! Gasp!"

To the Albanos, who tried to catch his breath in extreme fear, the darkness in Seo Jin-Wook spoke.

'Look at me.'

Then, the Albanos saw something that was invisible to him. In his imagery, something was visualized that the mortal could not see, embedding it into his mind. Around Seo Jin-Wook, spider webs made of shadows became densely intertwined. Each one of them stretched all over the place, carved the space into thousands of pieces, and crawled like hairline fractures. Seo Jin-Wook's left index finger was the thickest intertwined with the infinite number of strands. The last remaining Albanos remembered him having three scars on that finger.

'You shall return to your world and spread what you saw to your fellow kindred.'

"Yes! Yes! Yes! All right! I'll spread it as you desire!"

And you will need to get rid of your foolishness.

The Albanos thought. Spiders often tied their prey to spider webs and left them uneaten for a while. But they were never meant to be left unattended until they could escape or be thrown away. But how would it react if someone touched it, like an inferior being that couldn't be compared to the spider?

"I will never… hurt anyone you have chosen again!"

Then the shadow replied satisfactorily.

'Go forth and keep your words.'

***

When I opened my eyes again, pale LED lights were shining. It was heavy, as if I had weights all over my body. I spit out a dry cough.

"Cough!"

I heard a reaction around me right away.

"Oh, he's awake!" "Guild Master!" "Jin-Wook!"

Where was I? It didn't feel like the body was mine. It took time for my blurred vision to become apparent and to find focus again.

"Ah…"

I could see the faces of those who exclaimed relieved words one after the other. I thought I was lying on a bed. Beside me were Secretary Kim and Nate with tearful faces. One step back, Adam stood with a stiff look with his arms crossed. Next to him was Hibiki, whose face was red and whose hands were shaking.

"You're conscious again!" "Where am I?" "You're in the hospital!"

It was only after the medical staff gathered and did some tests that I managed to have more time to talk to the people around me.

"While you were unconscious, they have been putting in Potions, Elixirs, and all sorts of recovery skills, but none of them worked at all."

As he wiped away his tears, Secretary Kim explained what had happened. When I was confronting the Albanos, chaos must have overtaken our vicinity. He showed me the scene of the terrifying darkness that covered the sky, and the moment I saw it, I recognized that it was the same material that flowed from the detached portion of 'Igras-Sho.'

'The god… had come that close?'

Secretary Kim, who knew I was there, immediately contacted the government and received authorization to send Nate, Hibiki, and other Celestial Dragons hunters to the scene. However, by the time they arrived, the darkness had disappeared like it was all an illusion.

'The timing must have been right.'

They found me collapsed in the dining room and some employees who didn't evacuate from the perimeter. It was as if their rationality had been paralyzed and were stiffened up from within.

"Was there anyone else?"

What about the Albanos?

"None at all."

The manipulated employees were said to be under investigation by the Hunter Management Department, but no particular clues were readily available.

'That aside, I lived.'

I looked at my finger. The memory of wishing in the dark must not have been a fantasy, seeing that the holy scars on it were reduced by one. The closing remarks of the deity lingered in my ears.

'From this point on, you only have two left—my child.'

What happened to the three Albanos?

"Ehem."

Then Adam cleared his throat. The Union could not prove his charges, so he seemed to have been allowed to enter back into Earth.

"If it's alright, can I have a word with you alone?"

After asking for their understanding and being left alone in the hospital room with him, Adam told the story he had been putting aside.

"First of all, in conclusion, the Albanos will never bother you again."

Why did the story go that way all of a sudden? Adam told me everything, causing my eyes to widen since I didn't know anything that what was going on at the time. It was the result of espionage he did himself, using Yuncan's information network. The Albanos species thought they got the completely wrong person. That as they were trying to catch the successor, they accidentally touched the soon-to-be incarnation of the 'Igras-Sho.' It was said that one survivor returned and testified all about it. Eventually, at least due to their fear of receiving wrath from the god of magic, they would never bare their fangs at me again.

'If it only applied up to that point, then weren't my wishes granted in a sufficient form?'

I promised to never trust the fortune from the [Random Card of Fate]. If that was the 'adequate luck' that I experienced that time… how terrible was it going to be if the fortunes below that level were granted to me? Adam continued.

"In the end, you did avoid the worst-case scenario."

But there were two awkward parts left. First, one was…

"They said that there was no mortal that could bear the three holy wounds?" "Yeah, that's why the bleeding show didn't work."

Then Adam made a serious face.

"The Albanos bastards do have a much higher level understanding of theology than we do… I don't think they would have lied."

Then he shrugged his shoulders.

"Whatever the theory may be, isn't there a live example here that contradicts it? You're alive and not dead, aren't you? That's good enough." "But…"

There was also the other one.

"Somehow, Igra-"

Adam seemed reluctant to put the deity's name on his tongue, perhaps because he was afraid that I would unconsciously copy the pronunciation or he simply felt uncomfortable to say it.

"… The god of magic seems to be quite serious towards you." "…" "Could it be that he is really trying to make you his reincarnation?"

The reasoning I sued to bluff against the Albanos felt like it was slowly turning into reality at that rate.Novels online

Ranobes » Updates » I Came Back And Conquered It All » Chapter 131

           

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Chapter 131

I Came Back And Conquered It All

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– Everyone, look at the TV right now! A representative of the Celestial Dragon and a spokesman for the Hunter Management Department are being broadcasted! They're holding a press conference! – What happened there? And why was Seo Jin-Wook found unconscious?

The incident in Cheongdam-dong had heated the media around the world. The public had a keen interest as they had been wondering what the hell happened. However, the government's response was despondently brief.

– … Wait a minute. They're going to move on from that after saying something so vague?

The details of the incident I experienced were covered-up in moderation by Celestial Dragon and the government working together. The official announcement was as follows: I witnessed a strange phenomenon while experimenting with the effects of a specific dungeon item near the area. Amid the process, I lost my consciousness for a while due to an unknown effect. Please don't worry any longer. I have no health problems, and no one else was hurt or affected. I also added that I would be more careful in the future.

– So what the hell was the item?

Naturally, questions asking about the item's identity poured out, but the government again played out the 'Keeping Secrets for National Interest' card as reported before. At that point, most Koreans seemed to have interpreted the meaning of my actions through their own cognitive reasonings. If I were to take the examples of the comments in the related articles in order to describe what the public atmosphere had become…

-No, but can they just cover it up like that or not? What happened to the people's right to know? ↳ Shh! Read the atmosphere! 1. Seo Jin-Wook. 2. Measures for National interest. Don't these two words remind you of anything? ↳ I'm sure the other countries are already digging into it with bloodshot eyes. Do you want to give them information unnecessarily? ↳ There is only one thing I am curious about. Is Mr. Seo Jin-Wook well now?

The strange occurrence of terrifying darkness clouding over a restaurant had never been observed in any other country. Even though the exact situation was unknown, everyone sensed that it was unusual just from having watched the video. Therefore, it was only natural for people to express their anxiety and ask for a clear explanation from the government and the Celestial Dragon. However, even in such a situation, many believed that I had accomplished another extraordinary achievement that no one else could.

– It's enough for me that Seo Jin-Wook has been beneficial to the country and the Koreans so far. He has never done anything wrong before. I doubt that would change. – You're so right, top commenter. I guess he did something similar to that time that he spread auroras so that the dungeons wouldn't explode and cause a break. They don't have to let me know at all at this point. I believe in Seo Jin-Wook. ↳ What? Do you trust Seo Jin-Wook no matter what? There goes the big fanatics. LOL. ↳ Alright, next Chinese, please.

I informed the government of a brief version of the truth.

"What? Alien?!"

Government officials turned pale due to the explanation that the Albanos, an alien species, attempted to kidnap me and the phenomenon occurred in the process of reacting to it. The president and the minister made a fuss and said they would provide national help to protect me, but…

"No, thank you."

I politely declined. It wasn't something that was going to be solved by the amount or strength of the forces that they could use anyway. The media focused on my next move as usual.

– Guild Master Seo Jin-Wook was found to have been discharged from the hospital today… There are no reported health issues.

And as soon as I stood up and fixed myself, I started the next screening quest despite the government's dissuasion.

"In the end, there is no other way but to enter the main quest as quickly as possible."

That was the conclusion of the conversation exchanged between Adam and me in the hospital room. The tutorial's end will strengthen Igras-Sho's influence, but that's the same for all gods. Until then, no matter what happens, I have to hold on to the two wishes without using them and then erase the scar on my finger by other gods' power.

"For your own sake, don't be so complacent about making one more wish and not using the last one! Just erase the existence of the scar from your head!" "Okay. You don't have to worry about it."

The process of summoning the Tower of Choice proceeded smoothly. Secretary Kim and others were worried, but I was in a completely fine state. … Oh, but there was a guy whose state got a lot worse. Of course, who else would it be but the devil's sword?

'… Please, please, please, I plead you. It's not to the point of violation of the contract… but if it happens again in the future, please, I beg of you. Put my body on the other side of the planet before you even think about doing it. It wasn't even an ordinary connection. You were possessed by that being!'

The item's function returned to normal when the one-time item that the Albanos put on my body, the [Sealing Flame], disappeared. It was also at that moment that the devil's sword's cognition, which had been suspended, returned. It was as if it woke up after being asleep for a while. After it came to its senses, it screamed for three whole days.

"Since I had been forcefully possessed… it seems like it left a strong trail even after the god had left my being. On my body, and on the sword I held, that is."

I was worried that it would go crazy due to that phenomenon, but fortunately, the devil's sword came back to its senses a few days later.

'I've never heard of someone being possessed by a god in the tutorial world. Who the hell are you?'

Was the heir of the previous generation so profoundly intertwined with gods like Igras-Sho? I had no memory left about them that I was aware of, so the answer remained unknown. In any case, my actions continued with the devil's sword in my hand since its functions were restored. I considered performing the screening quest as a top priority, but I also did other things in between, considering the situation I wanted didn't always unfold right away. In addition to essential guild management, there were occasional dungeon breaks that had to be stopped, other big accidents that were experienced in the future which had to be prevented in this timeline, and dungeons that had to be roamed around for items necessary to my plans to be obtained.

– The Celestial Dragon Guild completed the S-Class dungeon that opened in Thailand! The most significant contributor is Seo Jin-Wook, the Guild Master… – The collapse of an instantaneous dungeon in Cape Town, South Africa, ends within a day after the outbreak! The multinational hunters who participated in the event praised the Celestial Dragon Guild and Seo Jin-Wook, the Guild Master. -Celestial Dragon and Danton Corporation's Joint Venture Company announces the launch schedule of Gen. 2 of the mass-produced artifact! It will be provided in a long-term rental format to developing countries where artifacts are scarce. -(Exclusive) Many of J/V's senior researchers are known to be currently staying in Korea… and what is the identity of the project underway? There are rumors that it's an aircraft-carrier-type artifact, but the truth has not been confirmed as of this report… -Breaking news! Guild Master Seo Jin-Wook gets SSS-Class hunter certification from the International Hunter Association! Registered in the Guinness book of record as the youngest and the fastest to be certified as an SSS-Class! -Special Report: 'Discussing the Celestial Dragon.' Armed with two SSS-Class hunters, two SS-Class hunters, and several other S-class hunters, how did Korea's top guild go beyond being a local guild to becoming a guild that caught the attention of the whole world in such a short amount of time…

One day after having spent so many months without a break in that manner… We had a dungeon attack in front of us.

*

[Arta's Sword Dance!]

Spat!

A fan-shaped storm shattered and swept the front. The dungeon we were roaming at that point in time had sceneries that depicted an abandoned city. It seemed to be a dimensional fragment that parted from the world where they had developed a scientific civilization level similar to Earth. The monsters in it were a mixture of cyborgs, with machines replacing some parts of their bodies, and chimeras, which combined the characteristics of different species.

"Squeal!"

A group of orangutans, with half of their bodies covered in metal, screamed and got crushed. Blood, flesh, and mechanical parts were scattered everywhere.

[Greater Thunderbolt (Rank: SSS)] [Kinetic Blast (Rank: SSS)] [Space Manipulation (Rank: SSS)]

As she wielded the Scepter of Ishad, Hibiki cast simultaneous bursts of spells that ravaged through the bizarre mutant monsters.

Rumble! Buzz!

With a roaring cry from an angry beast, the flash baked and burnt the enemy. Beyond that, there was an intangible energy storm that made everything crumble into porridges. Even monsters that were far away from the chaos couldn't feel relieved. The attacks ignored the distance in between them, and many were killed instantly. They weren't given any time to panic because of the sudden surge of lightning shells and waves of force. It was the power of SSS-Class spells that delivered destructive power beyond space itself. To make matters worse for them, they were attacked precisely four times by the same spell. It was the effect of the nested [Duplication].

Kwaaaargh!

"Get rid of that side, too!"

The undead dragon, which flew like a battleship, cast a shadow over the monsters, blocking their retreat path as it annihilated the monsters. The number of zombie troops running like a tide of corpses had also increased significantly from a few months ago. I looked at the status of Hibiki and Nate, who were focused on hunting. Both had significantly reduced their Active Mana. After checking their conditions out, I turned my head to look at the other, and newest, member of the party. The bald woman was watching us fight, a few steps away from the frontline.

"Lunch box, get ready!"

The polymorphed dragon that assumed a human form, Euclid, shouted in an irritated voice.

"Oh, I told you not to call me that!"

Nate rolled his eyes and murmured.

"Well, should I call you external battery then?" "…"

Nate took an item out of his sleeves.

[Skill Lender (Rank: System)] -Item Effect: Lends one of the caster's skills to another for a certain period. The borrower can use the skill even if one is non-Awakened. ※ Be advised that you cannot lend your unique skill. ※ The same required Mana is consumed when using borrowed skills.

It was also an item that was bought using the experience points that Adam contributed. It seemed like a tremendous function since it allowed Awakened to lend skills to people who hadn't Awakened, but it was useless if the person didn't have the Mana needed to activate it in the first place. And there's no one on Earth who hadn't Awakened yet still had Active Mana. However, if one were to expand their scope, there were beings like that. Dragons, although they weren't humans, satisfied its unique conditions. They were a species that had been able to manipulate Mana without being chosen by the system from the beginning.

Whoong!

Nate aimed the item in the shape of a pistol at Euclid.

Euclid spoke unenthusiastically.

"What are you waiting for? Go shoot already."

"Lending Skill, [Mana Legacy]!"

Paht!

Light shot out of the gun, and I saw a complex flow of Mana transferring from Nate to the dragon. The skill rental had been completed.

"Hmm…"

Euclid exclaimed, raising her hand familiarly.

[Mana Legacy]!

Then the Mana spouted like a fog from her hand and filled the other three's Mana Capacity to the maximum.

"Phew." "Do you want a potion?" "No, you said the boss is going to be here soon. It's okay."

I didn't expect much as she had just moved on from being a hatchling, but Euclid indeed didn't have many spells under her disposal. Even considering that it was magic that could be learned by experiences and experiments and without going through the system's skill card, the number was too small for a dragon.

'It must be because she was exiled to the dungeon shortly after she became independent.'

She was also comparable to Nate's subordinate, the undead dragon, in terms of physical abilities. While thinking about how I could utilize her, I noticed Mana overflowing in her heart.

'Dragon Heart!'

But I didn't want to exploit it with [Mana Drain]. It was a matter of course. She would die if I did that. Instead, what we settled was the SSS-Class skill that Nate had learned, [Mana Legacy]. Euclid, which wasn't an Awakened, couldn't learn it even if she was given another skill card, but we could change it to through special item that twisted the system's rules for a certain amount of time.

[Mana Legacy (Rank: SSS)] – Enables the transference of the active Mana of the caster to another Awakened with a 1:1 ratio. There is no limit to the amount of Mana that can be transferred. For as long as the active Mana and the Mana capacity of the person subject to the skill allow it, the transaction would proceed. ※Mana transferred by [Mana Legacy] cannot be re-sent to another being through [Mana Legacy] again.

So Euclid played the role of 'lunchbox' in my own words and 'external battery' in Nate's expression for our party.

"It's the boss!"

A skinny man appeared in front of us who had replaced most of his body with machines. I wasn't sure if he was originally from an elven species, but his pointed ears had remained among those that were left behind as a trace of his original form. Regardless, it didn't take that long for an all-out attack to bombard its position. The boss didn't last long against the level of our abilities.

– The dungeon has been cleared!

Along with that positive message, another window from the system came up.

– QUESTION COMPLETE! – Quest Name: Verification of Qualification (12) – Description: To climb the Tower of Choice, you must prove your qualification as a worthy Awakened. Among the dungeons opened in your world, clear the dungeon in which 'Mechanic-Neuromancer' appears as a boss. – Rewards: 3.5 million Experience Points have been awarded to the user!

"Okay."

After securing the experience points, which were the designated quest rewards, I received the additional rewards from the dungeon. I didn't gain something huge that time around.

[Slot Activator (Rank: SSS)] – This item allows the user to open four additional skill slots.

"This can be used by Hibiki."

Throughout the entire journey, she became quite accustomed to the magic spells included in the Seven Masteries. Since she had fully adapted to those spells, I naturally thought it was time to start collecting more powerful Single Unit Spells that were not included in those collections. Such magic spells could only ever manifest their outstanding performance after they ate up one skill slot.

Boosh!

She nodded and smiled after she had confirmed that four more slots had been added to her limit. Nate, who was standing next to me, asked me a question.

"Are you going to share the next screening quest, then?"

I looked at the quest list for a moment, then shook my head.

"No, not right now." "What do you mean?"

The moment we finished the quest related to the Tower of Choice, the linked quest no longer came up, unlike before when it appeared immediately after confirming our success.

'It means we need to wait for some time before we can move on to the next level.'

The implications of that were clear. If my current life went on as I remembered it from my previous life…

"If we wait a little longer, the final event to summon the Tower will begin." "Ah!"

I had already satisfied all the conditions to earn the 'qualification.' I looked at Hibiki and Nate, who I conducted the screening quests with. All three of us would be climbing the tower soon enough.

'It's fortunate that we don't have to pay huge amounts of experience points to get 'Choi Seung-Hyun,' who had no combat capability, into the tower, unlike in the past life.'

I nodded and continued, confidence clearly brimming in my eyes.

"The final challenge to go to the main quest will begin soon."Novels online

Ranobes » Updates » I Came Back And Conquered It All » Chapter 132

           

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Chapter 132

I Came Back And Conquered It All

Summon of the Tower (1)

After returning home, I asked Hibiki a question.

"Ah, by the way, Hibiki." "…?" "Can I go to your room for a while?"

She suddenly blushed and mumbled. Realizing that the words had a misleading remark, I quickly patched it up.

"The cat is in your room right now, right? Can I see it for a moment?" "…"

Hibiki regained her composure remarkably fast and spoke with an expressionless face as usual.

"I'm not sure if it's in my room right now." "Hmm?" "It recently learned how to turn the doorknob… so it opens all the doors at home."

The Iponia, named Cat, had a tail longer than its body and used it as freely as an elephant nose. If it were to be compared to a human being, it's like a substitute for a hand. Last time, it learned how to press the water dispenser button and turned the kitchen into an ocean. After that, it had even learned how to turn doorknobs. Oh, was that why all the doors were open whenever I walked down the hallway the past few days?

"But it doesn't come into my room, though?" "Strangely, it seems to be a little scared of mister Jin-Wook. Except for the occasional times that you feed it."

I could guess the reason. However, since a lot of time had passed already, it was time to experiment again.

"Let's go together for now, shall we? Since your room is the place where it stays most of the time."

Fortunately, the cat was taking a nap in Hibiki's room. When I opened the closed door (She also said that if it's sleepy, it closed the door by itself and slept), I saw a cat that had a reversed U-shaped figure in the most comfortable position in the world. Its body flinched a little every now and then as if it's dreaming about something. The white foot, as if to give an edge on the black-furred leg, kicked the air.

"Cat."

When I called it, it slowly opened one eye and looked at me, then closed its eyelids again.

"It's completely ignoring you." "…"

Even though in the past, I rescued it out of the black market myself, fed it, and managed to fatten up the skin-and-bones kitten… At that moment, it was all heels over head for Hibiki, and I was overlooked. Hibiki called it out, extending her hand.

"Cat. Wake up."

Only then did it fully open its eyes and looked at Hibiki.

"Meow!"

It cried as if to murmur, yawned once, and then got up and stretched. Then it approached Hibiki. She turned her head and looked at me as if to say, 'what now?'

"Okay, I'll be quick in trying this out."

It's been more than a year since I brought the cat to my house, and it's bigger than ever. It was worth looking at it with astonishment. Wouldn't it be able to handle it by then? The work of eating up the curse in my heart, that was.

"Don't be scared this time. Go ahead and have a bite."

I moved the blue Mana into a particular pattern in the Core, stimulating the embedded [Mercadius's Seed]. Then the red Mana inside my heart began to rise quietly in the abyss like fruit flies gathering around the light.

'…Geeeek!'

The red energy started from the heart and spread all over the body. Back then, the cat could only busy itself by hiding under the bed whenever I stimulated the curse like that. But what about that moment?

"Hisss!"

I sang of joy inwardly. That's right! Its reaction was different from before. Hibiki looked surprised and gazed at the cat and me alternately. The cat and I were staring at the existence that was invisible to Hibiki's eyes. Red tentacles-like anemones sprouted from my chest and extended radially. Then-

"!"

Blue flashes poured out of the cat's eyes like starlights. All of it was aiming for my heart.

'It's draining its force before it consumes it!'

It was the step that needed to be taken to weaken the coagulated skill effect of the curses in the body before eating it up. However, the seed in my heart did not fall off easily. It wriggled as if to struggle and spread its red hands all around. It even tried to reach out for my head, but it was useless.

-[The Successor's Eyes (Rank: EX)] Resists to [Mercadius' Seed (Rank: SSS)]!

It was impossible to move to another body because it was already stuck in a host called 'me,' and it wasn't powerful enough to wrestle against me all for the sake of taking over my mind. I watched the fight between the two with my eyes shining. Maybe it was possible!

"Meoooow!"

Ra-ta-ta-tat!

It was the sound of my expectations collapsing.

"It didn't work again this time."

It was a swift turnaround. Iponia ran away without looking back and hid under the bed. But I wasn't as deeply disappointed as I was before, and I didn't even sigh.

"This is a tremendous improvement!"

Its behavior was completely different until the very end when it ran away, scared that the tentacles would win against it. That time around, it faced the seed bravely, and the seed of the curse seemed to have suffered too.

"I'll just have to wait for it to grow a little bit more."

Of course, I planned to pay close attention to supplying the food (skill cards) for rapid growth.

"I have high expectations for you."

I spoke encouragingly, but…

"Meow!"

It only cried in a sharp voice as if it were protesting under the bed.

*

"We're almost there, Guild Master."

Having enough time in the schedule, I visited the R&D Center near Gyeonggi-do with Secretary Kim. J/V's Korean research center expanded quickly and now used up a small industrial complex size of land. Of course, the Korean government actively cooperated in the process. The gate that automatically recognized the vehicle number opened, and we entered an area that couldn't be seen from outside. Inside, some ordinary factories appeared to be lined up. There was also a lot of unused land. Most were empty parking lots and unused vacant lots. Secretary Kim didn't slow down. He entered the road blocked by yellow barricades. If he kept driving like that, we'd crash.

"Are you nervous?"

Secretary Kim smirked.

"Come on, Guild Master. I've brought you here a few times already. This would be only…"

The distance from the barricades was getting narrower. Four meters, two meters… zero meters! The collision between the barricade and the car… did not take place, of course.

Shwoomp!

The air rippled like water, and the car naturally entered the shield.

"Wow, it improved compared to the last time we came here."

That was the case even in my eyes. Last time, there was a phenomenon in which light spread disorderly when an object penetrated, but that time, the shaking only reached a point where it was like gently pressing down on the surface of the soap bubble. The barrier wasn't a dungeon reward or exchanged item with experience points.

"Was it those that traded with humanity in Australia… The Pezra species? They would be surprised if they saw this."

It was one of the things I got from trading with Pezra, a metallic species that lived in the world beyond. However, the achievement of advancing it to the next level was purely from Earth's civilization.

"… I can't get used to it no matter how many times I see it."

Passing through a shielded barrier that disabled the people's ability to identify the scenery within its perimeters when standing outside of it, an image that ordinary people wouldn't even be able to imagine unfolded. Most of the things that drew out astonishment were in the air and not on the ground.

"Wow."

A vast artificial island with a diameter of more than 3 kilometers was floating in the sky inside the barrier. Shortly after I woke up from my hospital bed, the Senator collected all necessary construction materials as promised and directed them into the EX-Class item [Imperial Tactical Fortress Construction Kit]. Right then, skipping out all the design and manufacturing processes, the small cube-shaped item began to project light into the air as if it were projecting a hologram. What followed that was an extensive construction process as if a geographical-scale laser printer was activated. Every time the rays shot by the cube passed through the air, a reinforcement made out of unknown metal was created, and chunks were applied on that skeleton to build a fortress comparable to the size of an island. Like that, we got our hands on that air fortress.

"Oh, you're here!"

In a building on the ground below the center of a tactical fortress, I heard a voice. As we stopped the car, the man who had been waiting on standby welcomed us. He was Jonathan Gray, Chief Technology Officer and General Manager of the facility.

"There's a lot I'd like to show you today as well!"

Without being able to hide his excitement, he led us inside. That building was a docking station of some sort that connected the artificial island in the air and the ground. Researchers went up and down, riding on a circular column of light located in the center. That elevator was also one of the facilities attached to the fort.

"This is it."

Entering the laboratory equipped with particular safety devices, he handed us an artifact. My eyes widened when I saw it. It was absurd because I didn't know it would be possible to achieve it that soon. I asked unconfidently.

"Is it… a gun?"

He replied with a big smile.

"Yes! It's a Mana-activated… laser gun!"

We were only producing medieval weapons such as swords and spears a little while ago. However, at that moment, the level of artifacts suddenly jumped several leagues away. That kind of weapon could not be obtained at any tutorial dimension in my previous life. Usually, it's an item that could only be produced after entering the main quest.

"Thank you for your hard work."

I was aware that to identify the essence hidden and incorporate it into existing technology within few months after the tactical fortress was completed… a lot of tremendous sacrifices and efforts had to be made by the researchers, including Jonathan Gray. Still, based on common sense alone, it was impossible to complete such achievements in just a few months. The secret to the ridiculously rapid progress was within the tactical fortress.

'In other words, they said it's a sample like a textbook prepared for elementary school students.'

I knew that it would be nice to gain at least something at the level of the enclosed manual when someone bought an assembly model toy so that humankind could learn the technology behind the tactical fortresses using that. However, according to Gray, what was prepared in there was something more than that.

"Honestly, we still haven't fully grasped the principles. We had just made a small-scale reproduction of the 'Instructions for Restoration and Maintenance of Fortress for Emergencies,' explained by the manual prepared in the fortress. This gun is only made after some of the weapons in the fort. Sticking strictly to the manual, that is. But it works! It's mindblowing!"

I could see why the ministry spirit desperately tried not to release EX-Class items at the tutorial stage.

"By the way, that kit… is it true that we can't use it again soon? The chairman said that he could get as much construction materials as we want."

He was talking about Danton, the Senator. He was asking if we could build a few more of those fortresses. Unfortunately, however, it was not possible at that moment.

"That wouldn't be possible no matter how we try for the time being." "Oh, I see."

He looked disappointed for a moment but quickly changed his face and gave me a recommendation instead.

"Would you like to experiment with it now?"

I injected Mana as he recommended and fired the Mana laser gun a few times from the prepared firing range.

Pew! Paht! Paht!

The destructive power against Mana consumption was not terrible, but my eyes could see how Mana rotated in the gun and where unbalanced interactions occurred. There was a very slight lack of quality in it. If they continued to produce it like that, it wouldn't last long. The manual was perfect, but there was a flaw in the technology that had been used to manufacture it.

'It would be awkward to point this out right now… I'll have to organize it in a data later and hand it over to the Senator.'

I held back on giving the feedback and handed over the gun instead.

"I'm delighted. We'll be able to mass-produce this soon, right? "I think it will be possible in a few months." "That's enough."

I was thinking of completing the climb to the Tower of Choice.

*

-Is the article being uploaded on the internet real? -I heard there's a strange rumor going around the hunters. They're saying that the system message is making a noise that they had never heard before!

A few days after completing the 12th 'Qualification' quest, the whole world became rowdy in unison. That had never been experienced since the day the Cataclysm began. Although they weren't even in the same dungeon, all the hunters were looking at the same message simultaneously.

-Congratulations! A few selected users on this level have met their 'qualifications.' -Your world is now closer to ending the tutorial and entering the main quest.

The first to boil up was the Hunter community on the Internet.

-This isn't just me, is it? Are other people looking at this as well? -Yeah, I think so. But… Main quest? Only now?

There was no one who didn't know that the Earth was still in the tutorial stage, but more than 20 years had passed since everyone focused on exploring dungeons and receiving rewards. Most of them had already lost interest in the main quest. The system message didn't stop there.

– Once you've entered the main quest, you'll have access to artifacts that go beyond the allowed item class so far!

The meaning of those words was unmistakable. The highest item rating known to Earth so far was the SSS-Class that couldn't be valued at any price since it was scarce enough that the entire quantity available could be counted within ten fingers. It meant that they could get items that were even superior to that!

-You can develop your civilization at an unprecedented rate through those. Exploring dungeons and preventing them from collapsing will be much easier!

The message also had subtle, hidden parts, as it was the system speaking. Some parts indicated that proceeding to the main quest increased the frequency of Gate occurrences and exposed our world to more aliens.

– A month from now, those chosen in the current dimension will be allowed to enter the exclusive dungeon. That's where the final challenge to the main quest will begin!

The challenge, of course, was none other than the Tower of Choice. I knew the reason why it necessarily decided to start a month later. It meant that in the meantime, it wanted us to gather our opinions on our own regarding if we should start climbing or not.

– No, what the hell is that supposed to mean? What does it mean a few hunters have been selected? Do you know anyone?

All hunters around the world heard the message. The fact that the system never lied had already been proven enough, so people had to make clumsy guesses in confusion. In the midst of it, the information that the Korean government released to the world by announcing its official statement was enough to astonish everyone.

-It was Seo Jin-Wook again!

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