[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

Chapter 396

[You have completed the quest.]

"Thank you so much! If it weren’t for you, my stress would’ve been through the roof."

"Sure. Take care then."

Jeong-hoon roamed all across Atlas, completing quests.

As a result, he managed to finish 37% of the total available.

‘Wow, Master… isn’t this just pure grind?’

‘There’s no other way to get to Arandis?’

At the moment, there wasn’t.

The only method to reach Arandis was to build enough trust with the residents of Atlas to unlock and complete top-secret quests.

And that required clearing 80% of the quests.

"Not much left now."

‘You still have more than half left.’

"That just means there’s only half left."

If he stayed positive, he could get it done quickly.

Unlike before his regression, he had more time now. At this pace, he could break through to Arandis within a few days.

"Excuse me, could I have a moment of your time?"

Hearing a familiar voice, Jeong-hoon turned his head.

"…James Marcus?"

When Jeong-hoon muttered the name under his breath, James Marcus smiled faintly.

"Yes, I’m James Marcus."

"…Why are you here?"

This was inside the game.

Since it wasn’t a real-world integration event, there shouldn’t have been any reason for them to meet unless it was part of a combined server event.

Could it be that when the Divine Realm took over authority, it also merged the servers?

Or maybe they’d added a server transfer function?

"I came to visit the Korea server for a bit."

"Ah, server transfer?"

"Yes, that’s right."

"So why’d you come up to me?"

Jeong-hoon tilted his head.

"Ah, I was wondering if you’ve seen a player with level 1,000."

"You came here for that?"

"Yes."

It seemed someone had recorded him wandering around and posted it online.

Still… didn’t this guy read the news?

Right now, Jeong-hoon’s level was well over 2,000.

Just reading the player info should’ve been enough for him to realize that Jeong-hoon was the one.

"That’s me. The one you’re looking for."

On a whim, Jeong-hoon decided to answer honestly.

"…Sorry? What do you— Your level is 320."

James Marcus tilted his head, looking genuinely confused.

"Yes. You’re a level 320 Martial God, right? Are you trying to mess with me right now?"

…What the hell was going on here?

Could this be because he had obtained one of the Seven Virtues?

"…Is that so?"

"Yes. But really—if you haven’t seen them, just be honest."

Jeong-hoon thought for a moment before replying.

"I told you—it’s me. That was a bug."

"A… bug?"

"Yeah. Who’s ranked number one in the world right now?"

"That would be me."

"Right. If the top-ranked player’s barely in the 500s, how could a level 1,000 just pop up out of nowhere?"

"‘Barely in the 500s’? Really now."

James Marcus was still smiling, but from the way his mana began to churn inside him, it was clear he was annoyed.

"You really ought to be careful who you provoke."

Jeong-hoon placed a hand on his shoulder and lightly pressed down with his aura.

Thud—

Overwhelmed by the crushing pressure, James Marcus staggered and dropped to his knees.

His pupils trembled violently.

‘W–What the hell…’

The force was so immense he couldn’t even open his mouth to speak.

He could barely breathe, and his vision started to blur.

"Oops. Guess I went a bit too hard."

Jeong-hoon lifted his hand from the man’s shoulder.

"Ghh… haah!"

Freed from the pressure, James Marcus gasped for air.

His body wouldn’t stop trembling, so Jeong-hoon walked up and used Divine Healing on him.

The shaking stopped instantly, his breathing steadied, and the chaotic emotions clouding his mind melted into calm.

"You good now? What kind of world’s number one almost keels over from just that?"

"J–Just… who are you?"

"I told you. I’m the level 1,000 player you saw."

Jeong-hoon smiled faintly.

‘Master! Was there really a need to say that?’

Honestly, Mukho was right—there was no real need to say it.

But James Marcus was also someone who had gone through countless regressions in an attempt to protect Earth.

Out of respect for that effort, Jeong-hoon intended to give him a little push so he could grow even further.

* * *

After that incident—

James Marcus refused to leave Jeong-hoon’s side.

"Ah, so the quests have all been changed. Then I guess that method won’t work anymore."

"…How long are you planning to keep following me?"

"Until you tell me how you gained that kind of power."

"You’re a real pain, you know that?"

"Yeah, I’m actually very good at being a pain. Haha!"

"Is that so."

Jeong-hoon gave a faint smirk as he accepted the quest.

"Whoa… what’s going on here?"

"Why is James Marcus hanging around with that player?"

Since the quest involved moving around town to complete tasks, it was inevitable that they’d cross paths with other players staying in Atlas.

Those players glanced back and forth between Jeong-hoon and James Marcus, puzzled by the odd pairing.

It wasn’t every day the world’s number one ranked player was tagging along with some nobody.

"But really—how are you hiding your level?"

James Marcus was certain Jeong-hoon was the level 1,000 player.

Otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to overpower James so effortlessly.

The real question was—how was he showing up as level 320?

There were many ways to mask one’s level, but James Marcus had the ability to see through such disguises.

And yet… he couldn’t read Jeong-hoon’s level at all.

"It’s not like I’m deliberately hiding it, you know."

"You’re not hiding it?"

"Yeah. Otherwise, why would I draw so much attention as a level 1,000?"

"…Well, that’s true."

Even James himself hadn’t been able to see through his level.

If Jeong-hoon had really wanted to hide it, he would’ve stayed disguised as 320 and quietly avoided notice.

"Curious?"

"Huh?"

"I’m asking if you want to know how I was able to grow so quickly."

"Oh—you’re actually going to tell me?"

Jeong-hoon nodded.

If he had no intention of sharing, he wouldn’t have allowed James to follow him in the first place.

"Just remember the places I’ve been to."

"What?"

"There were two hidden opportunities in the places I visited."

"What the…?"

"Anyway, I’ve told you. The rest is up to you to find."

"You’re just messing with me now, aren’t you…?"

James had followed him everywhere, but not once had they gone anywhere that seemed like it could be hiding a fortuitous chance.

That’s why he figured Jeong-hoon was just making things up to get rid of him.

"If that was my intention, I wouldn’t have let you tag along from the start."

"Th–That’s true, but… then why didn’t you take the opportunities yourself?"

In New World, hidden opportunities were essentially cheat codes that could massively accelerate a player’s growth.

If you knew their location, it was always better to take them for yourself.

In all his time playing, James had never once seen anyone just hand such a chance over to someone else.

"I don’t need them."

"You… don’t need them?"

"Either way—if you don’t take them, I’ll just give them to someone else. So, what’s it gonna be?"

"I–I’ll take them."

If those opportunities really existed, there was no way he could let them fall into someone else’s hands.

"Then let’s get moving."

"J–Just a moment. Are you absolutely sure there are still hidden opportunities left in Atlas?"

James Marcus was one of the very few players who had conquered Atlas and moved on to Arandis.

That meant he had already scoured all of Atlas in search of opportunities.

And in that process, he had found exactly zero.

Yet now, Jeong-hoon was claiming to have found two in such a short time?

"If you don’t believe me, then don’t bother."

"Ah, I understand!"

James Marcus quickly rushed off toward the place where he had first met Jeong-hoon.

* * *

With James Marcus shaken off, Jeong-hoon was about to resume his questing.

However, players who had been watching from a distance approached him the moment James left, curious about him.

They, too, saw Jeong-hoon as nothing more than a level 320 Martial God.

‘Master, let’s just drive them away.’

‘Really, this is getting annoying.’

Just as Mukho and Anima said, it was troublesome—yet this was also a scene he hadn’t experienced since before reality merged with the game, so he decided to deal with them politely.

A game was a game.

And that, in itself, was something to be thankful for.

Of course, he made sure to send them off after a short while, then focused once more on his quest.

[Partially restoring level.]

[Partially restoring stats.]

With his level further restored, he surpassed 3,000, and his overall quest completion reached 50%.

Now he needed only 30% more to meet the first requirement to move on to Arandis.

The current quest involved taking children from an orphanage to visit the cathedral.

The objective was to watch over the kids and help them enjoy the cathedral’s event.

"Welcome."

Loel greeted Jeong-hoon with a forced smile.

"Don’t you think you’re making it way too obvious that you don’t want me here?"

"When did I ever do that? Can’t you see the smiling face right now?"

"You’ve got kids with you—try keeping your expression in check."

"I am keeping it in check…"

"More importantly, is the reward for this quest coming from you?"

"Huh? Why?"

"Because it’s offering two Fragments of the Beginning."

On the surface, this quest was nothing more than spending time with children at the cathedral.

Yet the reward was two Fragments of the Beginning—a surprisingly large payout.

Which meant this quest wasn’t as simple as it looked.

‘What are they testing for, to be giving away two Fragments of the Beginning?’

A quest related to the cathedral.

"R–Really? It’s not like we’ve got Fragments of the Beginning to spare…"

Loel seemed genuinely unaware of the quest’s details.

"Two whole fragments are on the line."

"Two?!"

The shock on Loel’s face confirmed it for him.

This quest clearly had nothing to do with Loel.

"Um…"

At that moment, a small child—looking to be around six years old—fidgeted with their fingers as they looked up at Loel.

"Hm? Do you have something you’d like to say?"

Loel knelt down to meet the child’s eyes.

Perhaps reassured by his gentle demeanor, the child slowly began to speak.

"Actually… Teacher Lucas has been acting strange…"

"Strange? Can you explain what you mean by that?"

"Every night, he shouts… and keeps making weird noises that stop us from sleeping."

The other children nodded at the statement.

"Yeah. He didn’t use to be like that… but at some point, he started acting weird."

"He’s scary now."

"Last time, he took Aru and Hugo somewhere… and they never came back. He told us they went to a better place, so we shouldn’t worry."

As the children poured out their words, Jeong-hoon gave a small nod.

‘Just as I thought—this isn’t a simple quest.’

There was a reason the reward included two Fragments of the Beginning.

If it was Lucas, then he must be the orphanage’s director.

The Lucas Jeong-hoon had seen before was an exceedingly kind man.

You could feel how much he truly loved the children, and he carried himself as a middle-aged man with deep pride in the orphanage.

"Hmm… yeah, that does sound strange," Loel admitted.

The children nodded quickly, as if relieved to have someone agree.

"See?!"

"Please make our teacher go back to how he used to be!"

"Teacher Lucas was always super nice before!"

Straightening from his kneeling position, Loel turned to look at Jeong-hoon.

"You heard that, right?"

"Heard what?"

"Huh? You said this quest has two Fragments of the Beginning on the line. That means you should go and fix this right away, shouldn’t you?"

"Let’s go together, then."

"What?"

"This kind of thing seems to be your specialty."

"What…? I can’t handle evil spirits or anything like that!"

"Evil spirits? You sure about that?"

Were there even evil spirits in New World?

"It’s just a figure of speech. But given how evil spirits act, the symptoms seem similar."

"Huh… so the Divine Realm took control of New World, yet there are still evil spirits?"

"…How would I know?"

"Oh? Kids, he says he’s not going to help you."

Jeong-hoon looked at the children as he said it.

"Huh? Why not?"

"Why won’t you help…?"

The children’s eyes began to well with tears.

"Haha… No, no! Of course I’ll help!"

Flustered, Loel hurried to comfort them.

"See? He says he’ll help. That’s great, isn’t it?"

Jeong-hoon smiled down at the children.

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]