Chapter 214

2.

After all sorts of things, Seonghyun managed to return home without trouble.

“I’m home.”

“Seonghyun’s back~ Did you go to the capsule room because the power was out?”

“Ahem, welcome back.”

At Seonghyun’s greeting, his mother, Lee Nakyung, asked, and his father, Yoo Gwangjin, welcomed him.

Seonghyun shook his head in response to his mother’s question.

“No, I just went out since the power was out.”

Kicking off his shoes and coming inside, only then did Nakyung and Gwangjin notice the shopping bag Seonghyun was holding.

A shopping bag, unmistakably with a luxury brand logo.

Both Nakyung and Gwangjin stared wide-eyed.

Seonghyun wasn’t someone who enjoyed expensive things or luxury brands.

So, it was even more surprising.

Even back in school, he never asked for branded clothes or shoes.

He just wasn’t like that, so both of them looked at him, surprised.

Well, now that he was making money, maybe it made sense he’d get interested in these things?

Thinking that, his mom said,

“Oh my~! What’s got into Seonghyun, going shopping?”

“Yeah, seriously.”

Seonghyun wasn’t even one to shop, never mind buy luxury goods.

It was a big change for him.

His parents’ reactions made Seonghyun feel a bit awkward, but he kept a calm face as he approached and handed them the bags.

Both parents looked confused as Seonghyun suddenly offered the shopping bags.

Accepting them in confusion…

“I got my paycheck, so I bought you something.”

“…Oh my.”

“…Well.”

The sudden gift from their son left his parents staring at Seonghyun in a daze.

Maybe it was just all too sudden, seeing both of them so dumbfounded.

And in that moment, his mother Nakyung looked at Seonghyun, her face full of emotion, while his father Gwangjin pretended to look away, awkwardly rubbing his nose.

“Ahem, thank you, son.”

“Our Seonghyun’s all grown up now….”

At first, Nakyung was simply happy, but before long she got a little teary as she gazed at him.

Unable to stand the mood, Seonghyun blurted,

“Anyway, please use them well. I’m going to take a shower.”

Maybe embarrassed, he headed for the bathroom.

Left behind, Nakyung and Gwangjin sat side by side on the sofa, looking at the shopping bags he’d given them.

Carefully, they took out the boxes and opened them.

In Nakyung’s box was a scarf, and in Gwangjin’s, a necktie.

A first gift from their son.

Bought with his very first paycheck, no less.

“Wonder when he grew up so much….”

“Really makes you think.”

Nakyung and Gwangjin shared a fond glance, smiling warmly, then, looking very pleased, took the gifts to their bedroom.

They both called out to Seonghyun as he headed to wash up.

“This is my favorite color, you knew it well!”

“Mom was just about to go buy a scarf, thank you~ son~”

“P-please use them well!”

Feeling embarrassed by their reactions, Seonghyun replied in a higher voice than usual.

It was a heartwarming evening.

As the family was sharing such a peaceful, happy time,

In that same moment, Seonghyun’s older sister, Yoo Mina, was in the capsule room, deep into a raid.

3.

It was still before the Heroes’ Assembly had begun.

Due to the meeting suddenly called by Park Won, things were noisy inside E-World.

Since he was someone who almost never made a move, his sudden call had stirred things up.

Given it was a heroes’ meeting, it was understandable.

But apart from that, the company was buzzing with rumors.

“Hey, did you hear?”

“What?”

“They say the chairman called this meeting because of that user.”

“Ah! The Overlord user??”

“Yeah, you know, that famous ‘Demon King’ guy.”

Rumors spread that Park Won had called the meeting because of Seonghyun.

Officially, it was held due to the Heroes’ Assembly,

But the rumor really took off because Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong, who normally wouldn’t even get to attend the tail-end of such meetings, was included.

The rumor had enough credibility to spread quickly within the company.

Meanwhile, the user management team was also abuzz.

“Wow! Senior, you… whoa, what!?”

Staffer Oh Jinhyuk tried to ask Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong if the rumor was true.

But the question caught in his throat as soon as he saw Wonsong’s exhausted face, he barely looked alive.

Faced with that look, even the normally oblivious Oh Jinhyuk held his questions.

Seeing him like this, the rumor must be true.

‘How long has it been since senior said he’d stop stressing and give up… Now he’s been summoned by the chairman?’

Oh Jinhyuk silently offered a moment of respect for his unlucky senior and tried to get back to work.

Lee Wonsong let out a long, deep sigh.

“Haaaaaaaah.”

The sigh was so heavy that Oh Jinhyuk flinched.

With a sigh like that…

Of course he couldn’t hold back his curiosity.

In the end, Oh Jinhyuk couldn’t help but speak.

“Why, what’s wrong, senior?”

“...Take a look at this.”

What was so important?

With that thought, Oh Jinhyuk looked at the screen Lee Wonsang was pointing to and saw something unexpected.

“Huh? Huh? What’s this?”

“You see it?”

“Isn’t this a big deal?”

Lee Wonsang nodded at Oh Jinhyuk’s words.

“Right now, player Seonghyun has ten darkness-type skills. And if he defeats the Dark Lord and absorbs the Dark Lord as before... he’ll awaken the true lord’s power.”

“Wow, isn’t that the kind of thing single rankers do? And he’s not even level 200 yet. That’s nuts.”

Skill changes only single rankers could get.

Lee Wonsang nervously scratched his head as he watched.

Seonghyun was already powerful,

And if he absorbed even the Dark Lord, he’d awaken the true lord’s power.

“Sigh. Seriously. I thought it would take at least until level 200, no matter how quickly he moved...”

“Most single rankers are at least in the level 200s. But he’s incredibly fast.”

“Some of it is luck... but still…”

With another deep sigh, Lee Wonsang slumped.

Surely this wasn’t the reason the chairman had called him to the meeting?

Either way, with Seonghyun almost certain to meet the Dark Lord,

There wasn’t much anyone could do.

Still, Hexia was for levels 160 to 220.

He figured at least level 200 would be necessary to clear it,

So he was genuinely baffled seeing this development.

Most of all,

‘Why is the hero coming to Hexia?’

Watching the hero Luke heading toward Seonghyun again, Lee Wonsang grew even more frustrated.

Nothing was making things any easier.

He just had more data to prepare for the meeting coming up in a few days.

As he worked, Lee Wonsang muttered to himself,

‘Just hang in until the Heroes’ Assembly.’

4.

The day after giving the gifts.

After enjoying a feast of a breakfast, Seonghyun went for his morning run, then showered, only to hear an announcement from the apartment management office.

[This is a notice from management. As previously announced, electrical work is scheduled for today from 9 AM to 11 AM; there will be a power outage during this time. ...(truncated)]

It was the notice about the power going out.

Hearing it, Seonghyun clicked his tongue, realizing he’d almost forgotten.

“Tsk.”

No wonder his sister had gone out early.

He realized he’d nearly forgotten too.

Since there were about ten hours left until the Dark Lord attack as of yesterday,

That would be between 11 AM and noon.

Figuring it might hit even sooner, he decided it was safest to wait at 10 AM,

Just to be careful, given the tight timing.

It seemed better to go to a capsule room.

‘There was a capsule room nearby, right?’

Yoo Mina had said she was heading there too.

After a quick search on his phone, Seonghyun headed that way.

Walking around the area,

He saw a few ghosts, but as usual he ignored them and entered the capsule room.

Then,

‘Hmm?’

Seonghyun tilted his head, looking at the capsules that looked quite different from the one installed in his room.

The capsules here were very different from his.

Come to think of it,

When Yoo Mina bought his capsule, she had said it was the latest model.

It was definitely different from the ones at the capsule room.

Meanwhile,

Perhaps to differentiate within the shop, there was a capsule that looked relatively decent.

‘Oh?’

It was an older version than his, but

The performance was still fairly good.

The price was three times that of a regular capsule, but he had plenty of money.

Without worrying about it, Seonghyun connected.

Connecting to the premium capsule,

It felt a bit less comfortable than the one he usually used,

But it was nothing significant.

In any case, when Seonghyun connected to Eternal World,

A familiar message appeared.

[Welcome to Eternal World, the other world and the eternal world.]

[May fortune be with player 『Seonghyun』.]

Since he was connecting from a new environment, it went through various checks,

And he was able to return to Wood Drum Village.

It had only been eight hours since he left, but

“Oh oh!! You have returned!!!”

“Another benefactor has returned!!!”

“Beat the drums!!!”

The villagers greeted him with great joy, beating their drums.

This level of energy never felt normal, no matter how many times he saw it.

Yesterday they held a festival because Helena had come,

And now they were excited again because Seonghyun had returned in just one day, beating drums like a festival.

Truly lively spirit trees.

Leaving them to their dancing, singing, and drumming, Seonghyun opened the Gate of the Netherworld.

He had prepared the surroundings of Wood Drum Village in advance yesterday,

But to be thorough, vassals were necessary.

As Seonghyun opened the gate,

Nocturnium, Fiora, Leonik, Balthar, Anemor, Barpur, Serphina, and Drakhanos emerged.

Just when it seemed that was all,

One more stepped out of the netherworld.

“Hmm?”

“Ahahaha... hi.”

“Helena?”

She said she would rest this time, so Seonghyun definitely expected her not to come out.

But now that she was ready,

She had already appeared.

Helena came out with a slightly awkward smile.

Seonghyun glanced quietly at Helena,

While Fiora shouted at a tree statue a little way off.

- That, that’s a statue of Helena!

- Oh ho? Hahaha! It really is!

- It looks like young Helena, doesn’t it?

- Y-yeah, it does!

- Beeeep!

- Mutter mutter.

“I discovered it just yesterday.”

“It’s a place with a long history.”

When the vassals’ attention was drawn all at once,

Helena suddenly blushed so much she avoided Seonghyun’s gaze.

He knew the memories anyway, so it was a little funny why she was so shy.

Seonghyun nodded as if to say he understood.

Anyway, that wasn’t what was important now.

Seonghyun summoned the vassals and briefed them about the Dark Lord, the enemy they had to fight this time.

Everyone nodded as Helena spoke as if she remembered something.

“Ah, that ink-like man? I remember.”

“Oh?”

“That guy really is a bad man.”

If Helena knew that, the plan was easier.

Seonghyun explained his plan to Helena,

And she nodded as if it sounded interesting.

“That sounds fun.”