Chapter 179

It didn't take long to kill nineteen of the shadows.

Jeong-Hoon captured the remaining shadow instead of killing it.

[Brainwashing activated.]

He immediately used brainwashing to uncover Markus's plan.

However, Markus's plan was nothing special.

"I was ordered to kill Altair and Hudin."

The shadow confessed everything with vacant eyes.

"Wow... that's amazing."

Ha-Jin stared blankly at the scene.

"Is that because of a skill?"

His mother watched with a bewildered expression.

"Now he's even brainwashing people...."

Kim Bong-Goo looked at him with a fed-up expression.

"So? That's all, right?"

"Yes."

Jeong-Hoon immediately ended the shadow's life.

"Well then, let's get going."

The next destination was the Thieves' Sanctuary.

Jeong-Hoon started walking, and his mother, Ha-Jin, and Kim Bong-Goo followed behind.

***

Markus couldn't believe it.

Despite fortifying the city walls and thoroughly blocking outside intrusion, the outsiders' military power was beyond imagination.

"What?! Our thieves are being killed by the outsiders?!"

Tens of thousands of outsiders had swarmed in and destroyed the walls.

They even easily subdued any thieves who resisted.

They didn't touch those who had given up fighting early on, but those who opposed them were mercilessly slaughtered.

"Yes... because of them, the archers easily entered the Thieves' City."

"Damn those outsiders!"

Bang!

Markus slammed his fist on the table.

His face flushed red with anger.

According to the thieves' reports, thousands of outsiders were wreaking havoc in the city.

They tried to stop them, but their eyes were filled with madness, and many thieves decided to back down, realizing they would be killed if they didn't.

"You need to escape! I don't know how they persuaded the outsiders, but there's no way to stop them."

"Then we can just give them a quest to stop them!"

"That's... we tried, but they won't listen."

"What...?"

What kind of quest did they receive?

At that moment, the outsiders swarmed into the sanctuary.

"Markus! Where's that bastard hiding?"

"Come out while we're still being nice!"

"Time to rest. We'll make you rest by force."

"You coward! Come out quickly!"

How dare they call the ruler like that?!

Veins bulged on Markus's forehead.

'Nell! What's the current situation?'

Markus called Nell, the leader of the shadows.

But there was no answer.

'Nell!'

He called again, but still no answer.

He tried to talk to other shadows, but they remained silent.

That meant...

"They're all gone."

These useless fools!

Markus ran his fingers through his hair and stood up.

"Master! You need to escape right now!"

"Why should I?"

"Pardon?"

"That's ridiculous. I can just offer twice the amount that senile old man offered!"

He would offer a quest with a much higher reward than the one from the City of Archer, diverting the attack towards them.

'You crazy old man. You think I'll fall for this?'

Markus left his quarters and headed for the sanctuary.

"I don't think this is a good idea..."

Altamara, who had given the report, seemed to want Markus to escape.

Markus's eyes turned cold.

"Are you saying my judgment as the leader is wrong?"

"Th-that's not what I meant... Cough!"

Altamara couldn't finish his sentence.

Markus had grabbed his neck with his right hand.

Altamara's level was 220.

Markus's level, on the other hand, was 295.

With a whopping 75 level difference, Altamara felt his vision darken.

But before he lost consciousness, Markus loosened his grip.

"If you disrespect me one more time, I'll break your neck."

"Cough! Cough! I-I'm sorry... Cough!"

"We're going to the sanctuary right now."

Markus left his quarters and headed for the sanctuary.

The sanctuary was already occupied by the foreigners.

"M-Master..."

"I'm sorry..."

The NPCs were terrified by the sheer number of foreigners and surrendered before even resisting.

As a result, they were tied up in the middle of the sanctuary.

"Useless bunch of idiots."

Markus muttered under his breath.

The foreigners surrounded him.

"Kill him!"

"We just need to bring his head, right?"

"First one to cut it wins!"

Only the top 3 would get the gold.

This was not the time to hesitate.

"W-Wait! I'll give you something more valuable than what that Altair bastard offered!"

"Markus! You finally came out!"

"Move! I'll kill him!"

"Fuck! 100,000 gold is mine. It's mineeeeee!"

"100,000 golddddddddd!"

Markus shouted desperately, but the users couldn't hear him properly.

The number of people was beyond imagination, and they were all so focused on the quest ranking that his words fell on deaf ears.

Markus's face turned pale at their charge.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

* * *

The battle ended so quickly it was laughable to even call it a war.

It was possible because countless users pushed forward like bulldozers.

'Well, it's an event with 1 billion won for first place...'

It might be less than the first prize in the lottery, but it's still a significant amount.

Most people couldn't save up 1 billion won even if they worked their entire lives, so they were investing.

Real estate, stocks, crypto, and so on.

Many even started by taking out loans.

So it was natural for them to be blinded by the number 1 billion.

With money on the line and the perception that it was just a game, the users charged forward without hesitation.

"It's already over...?"

"I didn't do anything..."

The users who joined late muttered with disappointed faces.

Ha-jin and Kim Bong-Goo felt the same way.

"Wow... I was going to just push through with the Shadow Soldiers."

"I wanted to show the true power of the Specter. What a waste."

His mother smiled at Jeong-hoon.

"I'm glad it ended quickly."

"Me too."

Jeong-hoon smiled back.

When he was streaming, the Honeys were blurred out, so no one recognized them.

"Ahem, no one seems to recognize us."

Kim Bong-Goo seemed a bit disappointed.

He was Honey3 on HoneyTube, but no one acknowledged him.

"But how do they calculate the contribution points?"

"I wonder? I was so focused on taking down Markus that I didn't even think about it."

The one holding Markus's head was a level 297 Crusader.

He had landed the final blow and was holding the head, claiming it as his own.

The other users were eyeing the head greedily, hoping to snatch it away.

But the problem was how to earn the contribution points set by HoneyTube.

"Is the first one to complete the quest the owner?"

"No... then what happens to Markus's head?"

"You complete the quest with the head."

"Oh? Then the reward will be different? That would make it easier to judge, wouldn't it?"

The users rushed towards the Crusader.

To take the head and complete the quest.

As the Thieves' Sanctuary turned into chaos, Jeong-hoon led his mother, Ha-jin, and Kim Bong-Goo towards the ruler's quarters.

"Wow... this is really something. Everyone's going crazy over that one head."

Ha-jin clicked her tongue.

"100,000 gold is on the line. Anyone would be desperate."

"That's true."

"Don't be too envious. Once we go down to the basement, you'll realize those 100,000 gold are nothing."

"...Gulp!"

Kim Bong-Goo swallowed hard.

His eyes were gleaming with greed.

"Oh, by the way, you're not getting anything."

"What...? Why not?"

"Honestly, you didn't do anything. If you were just a passenger, you shouldn't be greedy."

"What?! A passenger? Have you forgotten that I killed the leader of the shadows?"

"Didn't I set that up for you?"

Jeong-hoon's arrow had sealed Nell's movements and prevented him from using his skills.

If he hadn't shot that arrow, Kim Bong-Goo might have been the one in trouble.

"Hey, I could have done it myself. I'm a Specter."

"A Specter? Your combat sense was terrible. A good pilot is essential. Don't you agree?"

"..."

Kim Bong-Goo lowered his head dejectedly.

To come all this way and get nothing...

That damn bastard.

Go to hell.

"Son? We all worked hard, why are you being unfair?"

Just as Jeong-hoon was thinking it was time to stop joking, his mother smiled.

But her eyes weren't smiling at all.

That was a sign that she was angry.

Jeong-hoon felt a chill down his spine and shook his head.

"I was just kidding. Bong-Goo's reactions are just so good. Of course, I was planning to share everything."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Mother...! I'll treat you like my own from now on."

Kim Bong-Goo's eyes welled up with tears, touched by her words.

His mother smiled awkwardly and waved her hands.

"That's okay. And don't worry, Jeong-hoon wouldn't discriminate. He's such a good boy."

"...Good?"

"Of course. If there's anyone kinder than my son, bring them to me."

"Uh..."

Kim Bong-Goo hesitated.

Even if you gathered all the humans on Earth, it seemed like none would be kinder than Jeong-hoon.

"Come on, let's go."

Jeong-hoon led the way down to the basement.

The basement was very clean, as if it had been opened relatively recently.

However, a massive wall blocked the middle of the basement.

It was said that only Markus could open the warehouse, but there was actually one more way to open it.

'Force.'

Open it by force.

Jeong-hoon took out Leviathan and swung it at the door.

Bang!

But the door didn't budge.

"Wh-what are you doing?"

Ha-jin asked with a bewildered face.

"What does it look like? I'm opening it by force."

Jeong-hoon replied nonchalantly and continued to strike the door repeatedly with Leviathan.

However, the door's defense was far stronger than he had imagined, making it difficult to break through.

[Wow, what's so sturdy?]

Mukho, who had been watching quietly, clicked his tongue in amazement.

'Why don't you use me instead? I think I can break it easily.'

Jeong-hoon grinned.

"It's okay. I'll be done soon."

As he said, small cracks began to appear on the door.

The cracks quickly spread, and when Jeong-hoon struck Leviathan again, the door shattered like glass.

Beyond the door lay a treasure trove of gold and jewels that Markus had hidden away.

"Wow..."

"What is all this?"

Ha-jin and Kim Bong-Goo exclaimed in astonishment.

"Oh my..."

His mother's eyes widened in surprise.

Jeong-hoon, however, had no interest in such treasures.

The true treasure was a box tucked away in a corner.

Jeong-hoon approached the box and examined it closely.

[Unidentified Box]

- Type: Box

- Grade: ?

- An old box with an unknown name

- A matching key is required to open the box.

It was an unremarkable box at first glance.

Nevertheless, Markus had kept this box in his warehouse.

That was because it had been found in the territory of the City of Archer that he had seized in the past.

He had tried various methods to open the box, but it wouldn't budge.

The only way to open the box was to insert the key Jeong-hoon had into the keyhole and turn it to unlock it.

"Is this the box you were talking about?"

His mother showed interest in the box.

"Yes, it is."

Jeong-hoon nodded with a smile.

Ha-jin and Kim Bong-Goo, on the other hand, were too preoccupied with the gold and jewels to even glance at the box.

"Ehehehe! We can take this, right?"

"Hey! Don't lie down! There are so many germs."

"Come on, bro! Take a whiff. It's intoxicating!"

Jeong-hoon chuckled and took out the key he had stored in his inventory, inserting it into the keyhole of the box.

It fit perfectly.

As he slowly turned the key, he heard the lock click open.

The box then flashed brightly and transformed into a dazzling golden color.

[Latin Von Askenstone's Treasure Chest]

- Type: Box

- Grade: Legendary

- A subspace pocket containing treasures cherished by the first leader of the City of Archer.

- Open the box to claim the treasures.

"Gasp! Legendary?"

His mother, who had been watching from the side, was also startled.

This was because, having played New World, you understood the immense value of a Legendary grade item.

"I told you to have high expectations, didn't I?"

Jeong-hoon smiled and opened the treasure chest.

Inside, there were five treasures.

Each and every one of them was a Legendary grade item.

With these, his mother, Ha-jin, and Kim Bong-Goo would grow even stronger.