[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

Chapter 395

[You have obtained ???’s Chest.]

[To open the chest, you must receive the approval of the Charity.]

Jeong-hoon checked the message and gave a faint chuckle.

“What exactly is this ‘approval of the Charity’?”

“Simply put, it means earning the chest’s recognition. Each of those chests possesses its own intelligence.”

“So that’s why you just handed it over? Since it can only be opened if the chest itself approves?”

“That could be the reason… or not.”

Michael shrugged his shoulders.

“Well, in that case, since I’ve got the chest, I’ll be on my way.”

“Wait. Take this with you.”

What Michael handed him was a single orb.

“What’s this?”

“It’s an Eternal Pearl. It’ll help you earn its approval.”

“Do I eat it?”

“Yes. Once you consume it, you’ll be able to fool the chest’s ‘eyes’ to some extent. That will greatly lower the difficulty.”

“Is there only one?”

“Hm? Sorry, but that’s the only one I have.”

“Really?”

When Jeong-hoon eyed him suspiciously, Michael waved his hands and stepped back.

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m telling the truth.”

“It’s just… hearing that an Archangel has only one makes me doubtful.”

“‘Archangel’? Look, this was something even I received only once from the Lord Himself. To be precise, I received it along with the chest.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. I’ve been saving it to give to someone worthy. The other Archangels each have only one as well—it’s a rare treasure.”

It didn’t seem like a lie.

“…Alright.”

With the Eternal Pearl in hand, Jeong-hoon ended his conversation with Michael.

* * *

After sending Jeong-hoon off, Michael returned to the Divine Realm.

“How was it?”

Uriel was seated, waiting for him.

“What was?”

Unlike when speaking to Jeong-hoon, Michael’s face showed no change in expression.

Still, Uriel continued as if it were nothing serious.

“That human—what did you think of him?”

“I don’t know what kind of answer you’re expecting, but I doubt you’ll hear the one you want.”

“That’s fine. I already know.”

“What?”

“I could tell you liked him quite a bit from the fact you didn’t say a single word against him.”

“……”

“Well then, since I’ve got my answer, I should get ready too, right?”

“Stand by. You’re last in line.”

"Me? Last?"

Uriel tilted her head, pointing a finger at herself.

"Yes. You exhausted a lot of your power retrieving the Authority, didn’t you?"

"It’s still power given by the Lord, so what does it matter?"

"Even so, there’s no need for you to show your face too often."

"Tch, are you jealous right now?"

"Jealous? Do you think I’d harbor such a vile emotion?"

One of the Seven Deadly Sins—an unseemly, corrupt feeling.

Michael glared at Uriel with a cold, dangerous expression.

"It was just a joke, so ease up on the death glare."

Uriel stepped back a pace. There was nothing to gain from riling Michael’s temper.

"If you ever make that kind of disgraceful remark again, I won’t let it slide."

"Alright, alright. My bad."

"Tch."

"So, did that human draw the Holy Sword? Why isn’t there a signal?"

"He didn’t draw it."

"Oh? Really?"

"I suppose he doesn’t want to place himself under God’s will."

"After suffering like that at the hands of a Transcendent, he probably doesn’t want to be used again."

"Used?"

Michael’s glare returned, sharper than before.

Uriel eased further away from him before continuing.

"Let’s be honest—it’s true. Whoever wields the Holy Sword is bound to obey the Divine Realm’s commands absolutely."

"……"

"No matter how much power he might need, it means he doesn’t want to become the Divine Realm’s tool."

"Even though without that sword, he can’t cut down the demons from the Demon Realm?"

"Don’t you think he might have another way? For example, the Seven Great Charities we’re going to give him."

"……"

"Either way, let’s keep watching. He’s the first of his kind to appear in millions of years."

It wasn’t for nothing that the Archangels themselves were taking action.

"I gave him the Eternal Pearl."

"Oh? The Eternal Pearl?"

Uriel let out a short note of admiration.

The Eternal Pearl was something each Archangel possessed only one of. Consuming it greatly amplified one’s divine power, and those without divine power could gain the ability to wield it.

Even a Demi-God had to fulfill certain conditions to handle divine energy—but the Eternal Pearl could bypass those conditions entirely.

"I merely gave it to help him pass the Charity’s trial."

"…Honestly, he could probably pass it without that."

If he could open the Divine Realm, his strength was already more than sufficient.

Imperfect divine energy—what they called Creation Energy.

The fact that he’d opened the Divine Realm with that meant he possessed a truly exceptional level of power.

It would be stranger for him to fail the Charity’s trial.

"Because there’s always the chance—no matter how small."

Michael.

It seemed that human had truly made quite an impression on him.

"Well, your choices have never been wrong before."

* * *

[???’s Box]

After informing everyone of their next destination, Jeong-hoon took out the box.

The box he had received from Michael.

"What exactly is the Charity’s recognition?"

As he reached toward the box, it suddenly sprang open, and chains of light shot out, coiling tightly around his wrist.

He tried to yank his hand free, but the chains’ strength was so overwhelming that he couldn’t move it an inch.

[Testing your worthiness.]

[Do your utmost to endure.]

[Failure to endure will result in being trapped forever.]

With that message, the chains began pulling Jeong-hoon toward the box, as if to swallow him whole.

‘So this is why he told me to consume the Eternal Pearl?’

He hadn’t eaten it, thinking there was no need to borrow its power.

‘Master! Eat the Eternal Pearl!’

‘Yeah! You have to be recognized one way or another!’

No—there was no need.

Jeong-hoon drew up his Creation Energy and released it at full power.

Then, bracing himself, he yanked his arm backward.

Crunch—

In that instant, the chains snapped helplessly.

[Recognized by the Lord.]

[You may now open the box.]

"As expected, Creation Energy works just fine."

He had guessed it might, but he didn’t think it would be this easy.

‘Master, so the Eternal Pearl… wasn’t necessary after all?’

‘Looks like it. When you were getting pulled in, I shouted about the Pearl without even thinking.’

Just as Mukho and Anima said, without Creation Energy he would have had no choice but to consume the Eternal Pearl.

The chains that had bound his right hand just now didn’t react at all to magic or holy power.

And if his Creation Energy had been too low, he would have been swallowed by the box all the same.

True, a large amount of his Creation Energy had been depleted when he opened the Divine Realm, but he still had enough to clear a simple qualification test like this.

"Well then, shall we open the box?"

[Do you wish to open the ‘Seven Great Charities’ box?]

[*Be warned: once you make this choice, it can never be undone.]

"Open."

As the box opened, pure white light spilled out, and something shot straight into Jeong-hoon’s chest.

It happened so quickly he couldn’t even react.

[You have acquired ‘Humility.’]

[The acquired Charity is engraved onto your soul.]

[You have obtained x2 Primal Fragments.]

The Charity was a completely different form compared to the Seven Deadly Sins.

If the Seven Deadly Sins had manifested before Jeong-hoon in the shape of a snail, the Charity instead entered his body, taking on a form closer to symbiosis.

It didn’t even cause any visible change.

‘What the hell is this?’

Jeong-hoon absently rubbed his chest.

Neither his level, stats, nor skills had changed in the slightest.

"This isn’t… something bad, right?"

Feeling an uneasy twinge, he went back to the chapel.

"What are you here for again?"

Loel greeted him with a face that screamed exhaustion.

"After I went out of my way to keep your secret, that’s how you treat me?"

"Wait! That’s already over and done with, isn’t it?"

"So?"

"Wow… you’re more of a devil than an actual demon."

"Anyway, I got one of the Seven Great Charities."

"That was… really fast?"

"Yeah. He just handed it over."

"Wasn’t it Lord Michael…?"

"It was."

"Uh… that’s impossible. Are you telling me he just gave it to you?"

"You really don’t know anything about the Charities?"

"No."

"Really…? That’s strange. I heard you’d definitely know."

Jeong-hoon narrowed his eyes and tilted his head.

"Know what? What exactly did you hear?"

Loel felt like she was about to lose her mind and start jumping up and down.

What on earth had he heard to make him press her like this again?

Seeing her reaction, Jeong-hoon nodded.

"Okay, looks like you really don’t know."

"…Were you testing me just now?"

Only then did Loel realize she’d been played, and her face flushed bright red.

"Sorry. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t hiding anything."

"Wow… unbelievable…"

"In exchange, I promise I’ll keep the secret without fail."

"Wait—are you saying you weren’t planning to keep it before?"

"Yeah."

The answer was so brazen that she was left completely speechless.

"Talking to you really feels like it shortens my lifespan."

"I’ll keep it, so will you tell me what the next linked quest is?"

"…Go to Arandis."

Arandis—

the next town after Atlas.

The minimum entry requirement was level 500, which meant Arandis was a village with virtually no publicly available information.

It was said that only a tiny handful of players, including James Marcus, had managed to break through to Arandis, but none of them had ever shared what they found there.

Most likely, James Marcus was in Arandis now.

"Understood."

"Before that, you’ll need to clear as many quests as possible in Atlas. Only then will you be able to obtain the next box from the angel stationed in Arandis."

"That was my plan."

Traveling to Arandis required meeting several conditions—one of which was completing over 80% of the quests available in Atlas.

Because of that, questing was essential.

‘Shame. It would’ve been nice if we could’ve learned something about the Charities.’

Mukho smacked his lips in mild disappointment.

"It’s fine. We can just ask the next Archangel who gives us the box."

* * *

At that moment—

James Marcus had arrived in Atlas.

"James?"

"Why is James here? Shouldn’t he be on the America server?"

The players residing in Atlas couldn’t hide their surprise—because this server was the Korea server.

Under normal circumstances, even if two players were in the same city, they couldn’t meet if they were on different servers. So how could James, who should have been on the America server, be here?

In New World, server transfers had never been allowed, so their shock was understandable.

But they didn’t know—

When headquarters moved to the Divine Realm, Earth Corp had been dissolved, and the system was changed to allow free server transfers.

James Marcus had only recently learned about this himself.

‘They say there’s a level 1,000 here…’

The reason he had deliberately switched to the Korea server was because of the news that a level 1,000 player had appeared.

A post on Welcome had spread among countless players until it eventually reached James Marcus’s ears.

[Breaking News! A Level 1,000 Spotted in Atlas!]

Level 1,000 showed up lol (photo)

A level 1,000 player in Atlas.

Whether it was real or fake, James couldn’t help but be shaken.

As the player holding the #1 spot in the global rankings, the thought of being dethroned in an instant was infuriating.

The number was so absurd he wanted to believe it was just a photoshop job—but the follow-up post shattered that hope.

[Doesn’t look like a bug to me]

I got this screenshot the hard way. Check this out (video)

A short clip, only 26 seconds long—but more than enough to send a shiver down James Marcus’s spine.

And so, he’d come to the Korea server to confirm it for himself.

‘Where is that player…?’

Fueled solely by the desire to see this mysterious user, James Marcus began searching every corner of Atlas.

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]