Chapter 33 - Bifurcation (1)
JaeHoon blinked.
He felt like he was about to catch something important that he was missing.
Unfortunately, the fight ended in an instant.
Pias couldn't withstand the dark priest's attack and had died.
You could hear the lamentations of the commentators Im SeongJun and Kim SooYong.
"How much damage does that fire do? Even though he received five ultimate skill buffs, he died almost instantly!"
"What are they going to do? Oh, they've sent another damage dealer. He's a Warrior that’s 7th in the world rankings, Bear Shield."
"Yes, they can't give up yet! If they go back now, they won't be able to recover the costs to teleport!"
"Bear Shield is famous for being one of the best tankers… But wait, what's that?!"
Kim SooYong noticed something while talking.
The Dark Priest, who was standing still, suddenly began burning over her entire body and started to transform.
Ears made of fire appeared on top of her head, and a tail grew at her back.
Even though the black robe was covered in flames, it didn't burn.
It was like seeing Efreet, the god of fire… It was as if she'd become the fire itself.
"Is that… A fox?"
Im SeongJoon couldn't describe the situation.
The fox covered in a fire had used her claws to smash the opponent.
In the place where Bear Shield should have been standing, they could only see the claws stuck in the ground. She had defeated the best tanker with just one hit!
Both commentators, and all users watching the stream, remained silent for a while.
Kim SooYoung, who was the first one who came back to his senses, began explaining the situation.
"So we have a problem… What should I say… Yes, so. Let's just say that the second phase has started. Just like a player saves up the ultimate attack or skill until the end, it seems like the boss had a hidden trump card."
The next scene was more of a massacre than a fight.
One Dark Priest moved across the formation of the Darkness Guild, and there seemed to be no way to stop her.
Suddenly, the view of the screen changed.
Thanks to the contract with NFM, viewers could watch the fight from a third and even first-person perspective—it was as if they had a camera mounted on top of the Dark Priest's head.
The screen was spinning at such a speed that it was dizzying.
Im SeongJoon shouted with an excited voice.
"She jumped up! She's running through the cliff! Ugh, the Magicians were ambushed and ended up dying! They tried to defend, but she broke through their defense!"
"Some thieves tried to attack from behind, but it was useless! It seems like nothing works against her. They need to stop her movements first, but the skills that cause abnormal status don't seem to be able to reach her."
"The difference between their speed is too much! Isn't there a curse or a skill that makes the opponent move slower?!"
"Yes, there are debuff skills, but you can only learn them after you change jobs at level 100, which means that no one knows that type of skill yet!"
"Ah, that's too bad! If they had done this quest after changing jobs, the result could've been different. But right now, there doesn't seem to be a good way to beat her! Oh?! This time the 2nd in the rankings, Mayday, was ambushed! Mayday! Mayday!"
"Even if Mayday is a ranker, she's still a Magician. A Magician that hasn't changed jobs yet can't do anything without the protection of an ally. Oh, the moment I was explaining, Mayday was also killed."
"This is a big blow! Mayday has recently been leveling up pretty fast, and she was close to catching up to Lattice! After today's death, she won't be able to log in for two days, so the distance between them will increase again!"
"Yes, that's too bad. Is the Darkness Guild going to give up? Oh, just as expected. It seems like they're withdrawing."
* * *
After the Darkness Guild retreated, Hyun and Ain also retired.
If they chased them, they would've been able to kill them all, but they didn't.
The old man's quest said they had to make sure people didn't enter the ruins, but it didn't say that you needed to kill all enemies.
If they did that and someone took the chance to infiltrate, things could get bothersome.
"Oof… There were a lot today," Ain mumbled after dismissing her ultimate attack.
「Yes, it seems like they've given up.」
"There's no way they would be able to defeat us!"
「Well, they're still newbies. after all.」
Hyun looked at the timer of the quest.
Was it because of the fight that time had passed so fast? There were only five minutes left before the quest ended.
Soon, the four days time limit would end, and with that, the old man’s quest would come to an end.
But of course, Hyun didn't intend to end the quest so easily.
'Should I start moving?'
A suspicious old man's request.
The old man had warned them not to go inside the ruins while the quest was still ongoing.
According to the information Hyun knew, there were two ways to clear the quest.
—The first one was listening to the old man, protecting the ruin’s entrance, and getting a few rewards.
—The second one was to ignore the old man's warnings and enter the ruin.
Translator - Daniel Shin
Proofreader - ilafy
* * *
'I should meet him a few seconds before the quest ends.'
However, the time at which they faced the old man was very important.
If they went to meet him too soon, they would die without being able to offer resistance against his magic.
That's why they had to face him just before the quest ended. Near the end, he wouldn't have that much strength, so they should be able to clear the quest safely.
Right then was the only moment they had.
"Where are we going?" Ain asked anxiously as her body walked toward the inside of the ruin.
「Don't worry about it, just trust me.」
"Hmm…? Too Suspicious…"
Ain was curious about what Hyun wanted to do, but she decided to let her do as he wished.
Inside the ruins, there was a staircase leading to an underground level. Hyun went down without hesitating.
The staircase was deep, and it was wet.
As they went down, they started to feel a chill.
"Cold…!" Ain said while crossing her arms.
She tried to warm up her body with flames, but Hyun canceled it.
Hyun still had control priority.
"What?! Why did you put out the fire?!"
「I'm sorry… But please, be patient.」
"Ugh… Okay, but just for a little bit…!"
Ain kept complaining, but she didn't try to sabotage Hyun.
He felt sorry, but there was nothing he could do about it.
Even if the elixir's effect were still active, her mana would quickly dry up if she used her flames to warm up.
As they approached the end of the staircase, the cold became stronger.
It seemed like Ain felt some goosebumps since she shrugged her body.
At the end of the staircase, there was an unknown magic circle, and in the center of it stood the old man.
There was a bright light that seemed to devour everything around it!
The light coming from the magic circle was connected to the sky.
"Hahaha, finally it's complete! My body is absorbing the heavenly light!"
The old man didn't notice that someone was approaching.
He only turned around after hearing some footsteps right at his back.
They could see the madness in his eyes.
"What are you doing…?! Didn't I say to guard the entrance of the ruin?!"
The old man looked at them while frowning as if he was about to devour them.
It was the look of someone that was about to commit a murder.
But soon, the tone of his voice changed.
It seemed like he was trying to convince them.
"Okay, I'll give you 10 skill points as a reward… Why don't you go back to the ruin's entrance and make sure no one comes through it?"
10 skill points!
Getting extra skill points had more value than leveling up.
As your level went up, the need for more skill points increased.
But Hyun wasn't tempted by that.
He looked at the time limit. There were 20 seconds left.
'Now should be okay, right?'
Hyun smiled at the old man with a mischievous smile.
As they walked inside the magic circle, intense cold energy began to run around them.
"Stop right now!"
The old man shouted at them, but Hyun just laughed while groaning.
"I'm sorry, grandpa…"
Ain's voice had an unpleasant stickiness mixed, unlike her usual tone.
Hyun had used Ain's body to speak.
Unlike her usual tone of voice, it was a little bit darker.
"Back off!"
Fwoosh- Hyun ignored the old man's warning and covered Ain's hands with fire.
The old man threatened them with retaliation if they didn't move away.
But at that moment, there wasn't anything that the old man could do.
To make his plan successful, he had used almost all of his strength.
There wasn't that much time left! Just a few seconds and he would achieve his goal…!
"You damn brat!"
While the old man was shouting, Ain hit him with fire, but the flames only stirred the air.
"Did he escape…?"
Ain's eyes narrowed.
It seemed like he had used teleportation magic to escape.
'What about the time…?'
Hyun checked out the quest’s status window.
The hidden quest’s remaining time had stopped at five seconds, and it wasn't going down.
The beam of light that seemed to be about to pierce the sky had started to calm down.
"Ah…"
Ain was looking up with her mouth opened.
Beautiful crystals were shining and floating in the air where the beam of light had been.
Ain tried to get closer to the crystal, which resembled broken jewelry pieces.
"Ugh…"
She groaned and flinched.
As she started to get closer, she began to feel a cold at the tip of her hands that hurt as if it was trying to tear her skin apart.
Ain tried to pull her hand away, but Hyun didn't let her.
He had the control priority.
He moved her hands closer and closer to the crystal and then grabbed it.
Crackle-!
They felt as if their body was hit with an electric shock as they held it.
As the crystals permeated Ain's body, a message appeared in front of them.
[A force that was within the heavenly crystal has entered your body!]
[You've obtained the title 'Heavenly Being!']
'Yes…!'
Hyun cried out for joy.
That had been his goal since the moment they got the quest.
He had finally achieved it.
The message didn't end there and kept going for a little longer.
[You're the first user to obtain the title 'Heavenly Being'!]
[Oh, but what happened?! There are two souls in a single vessel!]
[Both souls have obtained the title of Heavenly Being!]
<From some point in time, humans began admiring the people that came down from the skies, and they started calling them 'Heavenly Beings.'>
<Title: Heavenly Being>
[Your resistance to the cold has permanently increased by 50%!]
[Your resistance to thunder has permanently increased by 50%!]
[You don't feel cold anymore!]
[And maybe something special will happen?]
"Oh…?"
From Ain's mouth, a sizzling sound came out.
The cold she had been feeling for a while had suddenly disappeared.
—And it was all thanks to the title she had just obtained.
"Fu… Hehe… Haha. Hahaha!"
Ain suddenly burst into laughter like a crazy person.
Hyun's laugh was coming out through Ain's mouth and voice.
Ugh…! He was so happy that he rolled on the ground, but Ain's body ended up hitting a column.
And then he started laughing again.
Ain wanted to stop his ridiculous behavior, but she couldn't do anything since Hyun had control priority.
"Please stop doing weird things with my body…"
Even after Ain asked him, Hyun kept laughing and rolling on the ground for a while.
