Chapter 203
[The Abnormal Dungeon is activated.]
[Accordingly, the location of the dungeon will be revealed in 6 hours.]
Less than an hour had passed since the message announcing the creation of the Abnormal Dungeon appeared.
Yet, it meant someone had already found the Abnormal Dungeon and started clearing it.
"Who in the world could it be...?"
Yeo Sunwoo tilted his head in wonder.
Numerous guilds, including Ho-Yeong, were already on the move.
The penalty.
Although they had never experienced it firsthand, they were certain that if it were imposed, it would have a significant impact on Earth.
However, no matter how much they searched, they only found normal dungeons.
The Abnormal Dungeon remained elusive.
"I think it would be better to stop searching for now and focus on clearing it after 6 hours,"
Yeo Min-Ji suggested.
She wasn't confident that continuing the search would yield any meaningful results.
She believed it would be wiser to regroup and properly prepare, then tackle the dungeon once its location was revealed.
Yeo Sunwoo agreed with her assessment.
"Alright. That's better."
Thus, Ho-Yeong halted their search.
* * *
After Jeong-Hoon passed through the portal, the others remained motionless.
Sa Jae-Hyeok was among them.
<'Guide of the Fallen Star' says it will give you a quest.>
The next quest.
He gained 25 million experience points just by entering.
What kind of reward would he get this time?
[Avatar Quest: Elimination]
- Restriction: Avatars who have contracted with Apostle grade (Upper) Transcendents.
- Reward: 50,000,000 Experience Points + Epic~Unique Grade Item Box (Random)
- Description: Attack and kill the humans hunting demons. (The reward grade increases with the number of people killed.)
Was the reward based on killing one person?
Then how much would it increase if he killed more people?
<'Guide of the Fallen Star' says the reward doubles with each additional person killed.>
<The maximum experience points are 2,000,000,000, and the maximum grade of the box is Legendary.>
Insane!
2 billion experience points.
The YouTuber, HoneyTube, had uploaded a video about a dungeon that gave 500 million experience points.
However, he could only receive the reward once and was disappointed that he couldn't get additional experience. But 2 billion, four times that amount...
Sa Jae-Hyeok looked at the portal.
The person who had just passed through that portal was a martial artist named Hoon.
Seeing as the others weren't moving, it meant they were all Avatars.
Then the answer was clear.
'Now, it's time for revenge.'
He would make them pay for humiliating Myth.
"Hwa-Rang, let's go."
"...Once this revenge is over, we're done."
Lee Hwa-Rang only returned to take revenge on that martial artist bastard.
Once his goal was achieved, it was goodbye to that damn Sa Jae-Hyeok.
"Alright."
Sa Jae-Hyeok had no intention of holding onto him either.
It was a shame to lose his archery skills, but he had gained something even greater.
'Lee Hwa-Rang, I'll take care of you after you deal with the martial artist.'
Lee Hwa-Rang might not know, but Sa Jae-Hyeok had received an additional quest from his Transcendent.
It was to kill his former comrade.
Initially, he had targeted Park Jin-Hyeok, but he was told it wouldn't count since Park Jin-Hyeok had already joined another guild.
However, in Lee Hwa-Rang's case, although he was suspended, he was still a member of Myth.
'If he's someone who would stab me in the back... it's better to eliminate him quickly.'
Sa Jae-Hyeok looked at the others.
"I believe you are all Avatars like us, correct?"
A change brought about by the realization of New World.
It was the breaking down of language barriers.
Even with different languages, automatic translation allowed for seamless communication.
They all nodded in agreement.
<'Guide of the Fallen Star' shakes its head. It tells you to find and kill those without a mark on the back of their hand.>
Then, the Transcendent intervened, informing him that there was a deceiver among them.
"Oh?"
The corners of Sa Jae-Hyeok's mouth curled up slightly.
There was a sacrificial lamb here to offer him experience points and rewards.
He wanted to kill Jeong-Hoon immediately, but first, he had to deal with the rat.
"Show me the back of your hand."
A man stepped forward, raising the back of his hand.
A unique tattoo was engraved on it, a mark of his contract with a Transcendent.
"Here."
"Here."
The Avatars showed their marks by raising their hands.
And four of them failed to show the back of their hands.
'There we go.'
Sa Jae-Hyeok drew out his Black Dragon Sword and mercilessly beheaded one of those who didn't show their hand.
"Cough!"
A level 267 Priest.
He died instantly without being able to react properly to Sa Jae-Hyeok's sword strike.
"Ricky!"
"You crazy bastard!"
The remaining three who didn't show their hands were enraged.
These four were users who entered the Abnormal Dungeon as a party to close it.
They never dreamed that they would be killed by a fellow human, not a monster.
[Reward upgraded.]
A message appeared before Sa Jae-Hyeok's eyes.
"Well, who told you to enter carelessly?"
Sa Jae-Hyeok gave them a sly smile.
"C-Crazy..."
"Help us!"
"Please!"
The three pleaded for help from the others.
However, the others turned their heads and looked away.
The reason was simple.
[Reward upgraded.]
The same message appeared before the Avatars, not just Sa Jae-Hyeok.
So there was no need for competition.
"It seems like there's no one to help you."
Sa Jae-Hyeok wiped the blood off his sword and approached them.
Then, those who were begging for help suddenly glared and surrounded Sa Jae-Hyeok.
"You think we'll just surrender... Cough!"
"Gah!"
Their words were cut short.
Arrows and bullets rained down on them.
"Tsk, aim better."
Sa Jae-Hyeok clicked his tongue, looking at the arrows and bullets blocked by his protective aura.
"So now we just have to deal with the guy who went through the portal?"
A man with Colombian nationality asked, pointing at the portal.
If he was a contractor, there was no way he would have moved to hunt demons like that.
"Yes. We're all going to go and kill him."
Sa Jae-Hyeok grinned and made a gesture of slitting his throat.
"Understood."
The Avatars passed through the portal.
* * *
"Gah!"
"Keugh!"
The Greater Demons were killed without much resistance against Jeong-Hoon's Underworld King's Fist Technique.
[Greater Demons 155/200]
In less than 10 minutes, 155 demons had died at Jeong-Hoon's hands.
At this rate, it would be an easy victory.
However, Jeong-Hoon knew that this task wouldn't be easy.
The reason wasn't the demons, but the Avatars.
'They'll be showing up soon.'
There was no way the Transcendents would be happy with him completing the task.
As proof, the Avatars began to appear one by one.
Among them were Sa Jae-Hyeok and Lee Hwa-Rang.
[Are those crazy bastards really trying to gang up on him?]
'...How dirty and despicable.'
Mukho and Anima were indignant.
Regardless, the Avatars approached Jeong-Hoon, looking at him as if he were prey.
"Baal."
Jeong-Hoon summoned Baal.
<Hmm? What is it?>
Baal's crimson eye appeared once again.
The approaching Avatars froze in their tracks.
"Can we add another wager?"
<A wager?>
"Yes. Those guys right there. If I wipe them out, I want you to give me an additional reward."
<A reward?>
Baal's eye rolled around thoughtfully.
"Our wager was about clearing the dungeon, wasn't it? There was nothing about dealing with Avatars."
Jeong-Hoon smirked.
<That is true.>
Baal replied in an excited voice.
If Jeong-Hoon had asked him to chase away the Avatars, Baal would have lost interest.
However, the fact that Jeong-Hoon was going to deal with all these Avatars himself made it even more intriguing.
"Then I can assume it's a deal?"
<Very well. I will specially consider the first stage of the task as cleared.>
With Baal's words, all the lurking demons vanished simultaneously.
"Excellent."
A sly smile spread across Jeong-Hoon's face.
Avatars who had contracted with Transcendents.
Instead of hunting demons, they had contributed to the destruction of Earth.
He would wipe those bastards out right here, right now.
<I will not tolerate anyone interfering with the wager.>
Baal's eye turned towards the Avatars.
More precisely, it was a warning directed at the Apostle-grade Transcendents who had contracted with them.
There was no response, but the warning was surely received.
<Huhu, then I shall look forward to it.>
With that, Baal's eye disappeared once again.
"This isn't the time to be laughing."
Lee Hwa-Rang glared at Jeong-Hoon with a sneer.
Nearly 90 Avatars, including him.
Even for Jeong-Hoon, it was impossible to face this many people.
There was a reason why the saying "there's no defense against a group attack" existed.
"Hwa-Rang, shut up. You talk too much for someone who can't win without ganging up on someone."
"Ha, I've never seen such a crazy bastard. Your arrogance ends here."
Lee Hwa-Rang raised his Tempest Bow and aimed it at Jeong-Hoon.
"Hwa-Rang, if you're going to do it, do it properly."
Even with Lee Hwa-Rang aiming at him, Jeong-Hoon remained calm.
"Kekeke, you son of a bitch. Alright. Try and block this."
As soon as Lee Hwa-Rang finished speaking, Jeong-Hoon felt his legs stiffen.
Looking down, he saw chains wrapped around his legs.
One of them had cast a binding spell.
'Crazy bastards, they treat human life so lightly.'
It reminded him once again how disgusting people could be.
"Die!"
Lee Hwa-Rang released the drawn bowstring.
Fwoosh!
The arrow shot out, its tip flickering with crimson flames.
'Is that Hellfire Shot?'
One of Lee Hwa-Rang's ultimate skills.
Hellfire Shot boasted a damage output of 800%.
A Unique grade skill flew towards Jeong-Hoon.
The arrow struck Jeong-Hoon squarely in the chest.
"Heh, you're still far off."
Sa Jae-Hyeok smirked.
And with those words, countless spells erupted, engulfing Jeong-Hoon.
Bound by the restraining spell, Jeong-Hoon was forced to take the full brunt of the magical onslaught.
Boom! Crash! Bang!
A massive explosion erupted where Jeong-Hoon stood, sending smoke billowing upwards.
"Is it over?"
"Definitely. No one can survive that many attacks."
The Avatars were convinced that Jeong-Hoon was dead.
His level was 315.
Not a low level, but most of the people here were over 300.
Even with the best armor, his chances of survival were zero.
"Is this the end?"
As the words echoed, the rising smoke suddenly dispersed.
A red orb floated in front of Jeong-Hoon.
"W-What?!"
"Impossible!"
All the Avatars, including Sa Jae-Hyeok and Lee Hwa-Rang, were shocked.
The reason Jeong-Hoon was unharmed.
It was thanks to the rune he had recently acquired.
[Rune of Counterattack activated.]
[Absorbed attacks can be returned.]
If it wasn't for the Rune of Counterattack, he would have been in real danger.
While Block only defended against one attack, the Rune of Counterattack absorbed all incoming attacks for 15 seconds.
When he first obtained it, it was supposed to absorb attacks for 5 seconds, but upon reaching full enhancement, it had significantly increased to 15 seconds.
'I let them attack me because I had this.'
He had deliberately made them lower their guard because of the Rune of Counterattack, and that strategy had been very successful.
"...How?"
"How, you ask? There's always a way."
Jeong-Hoon snapped his fingers.
The red orb grew in size and then shot out like a bullet.
The launched orb had homing properties and struck everyone who had attacked Jeong-Hoon.
Kaboom!
"Gah!"
"Uaagh!"
Those hit screamed.
The chains binding Jeong-Hoon disappeared, and he activated Heavenly Steps, appearing before Lee Hwa-Rang.
"Hwa-Rang, does it hurt?"
Lee Hwa-Rang was in no condition to fight.
His abdomen was pierced by the Hellfire Shot.
"Cough...! You damn bastard..."
Coughing up blood, Lee Hwa-Rang glared at Jeong-Hoon with murderous intent.
"I told you, didn't I? You'd die if you pulled out that bow."
"Damn it..."
"Staying ugly until the very end. Now, truly disappear."
With those words, Jeong-Hoon ended Lee Hwa-Rang's life.