Chapter 123: Chapter 123

Peace had returned to Märchen!

“Tear down the wall!”

“As you command!”

At Kaiserk V’s order, they began to demolish the outer wall of the double-layered northern wall.

The reason the northern wall had been double-layered in the first place was to protect the citizens from Monster Waves.

And now that the gate was gone and the Waves would no longer occur, there was no need to maintain the thick double wall.

“Also, allow foreigners to enter!”

Another change was that the restrictions on users entering the royal capital were lifted, allowing free movement.

They had only allowed those who proved their skills through party quests to enter, fearing that unskilled users might get caught in the Waves, but that was no longer necessary.

“And in honor of the Hero of Märchen, we shall hold a grand banquet today!”

Everyone rejoiced at Kaiserk V’s announcement.

However, Jeong-Hoon wasn’t pleased with the banquet.

He didn’t want to enjoy a feast alone while his friend was struggling in the training grounds.

‘I want to enjoy the banquet when I’ve obtained everything for sure.’

Dark Lord.

It was the Dark Lord that even Kaneda Shun, with his considerable potential, had struggled to obtain.

On the other hand, Ha-Jin, with his meager potential, would take much longer to acquire it and would have to go through an even more painful process.

But he believed that Ha-Jin would definitely succeed.

He was a guy with unwavering determination.

Moreover, he was loyal, so he would do everything in his power to succeed with what his friend had given him.

So the banquet would have to wait.

“Your Majesty, I have something to say.”

Jeong-Hoon’s voice echoed through the palace, and the hall fell silent.

“Speak.”

Kaiserk V broke the silence.

“I would like to postpone the banquet for a while.”

“The banquet?”

“Yes. Although the Waves have ended, I still have some unfinished business.”

“Hmm… Is that so?”

“Yes. I don’t think I can enjoy the banquet comfortably until that matter is resolved.”

Kaiserk V pondered for a moment.

Jeong-Hoon was the Hero of Märchen.

It was natural to hold a banquet on the day the Waves were quelled, but it would be selfish to force a banquet that the hero couldn’t enjoy.

His contemplation ended quickly.

“Alright. Then let me know whenever that matter is resolved. We’ll hold the banquet then!”

* * *

“Ah, I’m dying…”

Kim Bong-Goo was sitting on a rock, taking a break.

The problem was the dark circles under his eyes.

He hadn’t logged out even once since receiving Jeong-Hoon’s order, guarding this spot.

‘Don’t let anyone take that spot.’

But… he said it was a 72-hour ban.

If he was banned for 72 hours, why did he have to guard the spot already?

Kim Bong-Goo desperately wanted to log out and throw himself onto his bed.

He felt like his eyes were closing the entire time he was playing the game.

“No… I can’t close my eyes.”

If he closed his eyes, he would be forcibly logged out, and the capsule door would automatically open.

Then he wouldn’t be able to keep his spot, and the arrow would surely come back to him instead of that Japanese bastard.

“That absolutely can’t happen!”

He would definitely hold his ground.

But his eyes kept closing…

“That bastard… Damn bastard… Why do I have to be doing this…?”

“Oh, you were openly cursing?”

At that moment, Kim Bong-Goo felt his sleepiness vanish instantly.

He hurriedly got up and turned around.

Jeong-Hoon was walking towards him.

“You’re here! This man has been waiting patiently until you arrived!”

Kim Bong-Goo greeted Jeong-Hoon with a stiff, disciplined attitude.

“Cut the crap. If you’re going to talk behind my back, at least do it where I can’t hear you.”

“No… That was… I was talking about that Japanese bastard! It’s because of him that I’m here, isn’t it?”

If that crazy bastard hadn’t messed with this viper, he wouldn’t have been called here.

That Japanese bastard.

He would curse him for the rest of his life.

As Kim Bong-Goo was grinding his teeth inwardly, Jeong-Hoon tilted his head.

“Huh? That’s not it.”

“What?”

Kim Bong-Goo looked at him with a dumbstruck expression.

“I’m going to take care of that bastard one more time, and then we’re heading to the Wyvern’s Nest. You’re coming too.”

“W-Wyvern’s Nest?!”

Kim Bong-Goo’s face paled.

Wyvern’s Nest.

It was a dungeon with a whopping level of 190, notorious for requiring a party of six at the same level to barely clear it.

It could be said to be the most difficult dungeon in Märchen, and also the least cleared one.

That was because very few people attempted it.

[Wyvern’s Nest, the difficulty is insane, but why are the rewards so crappy?]

– Did they sprinkle a ton of salt made from boiled seawater on it? Why is the experience so low?

└ lol Isn’t that place for getting the Wyvern Slayer title?

└ You need to clear it 999 times to get the Wyvern Slayer…

└ Isn’t the Wyvern Slayer also not that good, so no one goes there…?

└ I’d rather go hunt the level 185 Blood Bears.

As such, Wyvern’s Nest was a dungeon with very little merit to attempt.

Why on earth did he want to go to such a dungeon…?

“Is there a problem?”

“No, sir! Then when are we leaving?”

Kim Bong-Goo seemed ready to depart immediately.

Pleased with his attitude, Jeong-Hoon smirked slightly.

“We’ll go in a few days. I don’t know when that bastard will log in.”

“Ah, then should I wait here until then?”

“Why wait? Let’s just hunt together here.”

Hunt together?!

“Just tell him to wait!”

“I want to get away from you even for a minute!”

Contrary to his thoughts, Kim Bong-Goo smiled brightly.

“Yes, sir! Then may I take a quick nap and then start hunting?”

“Okay.”

“Yes, sir!”

As Kim Bong-Goo disappeared with a logout, Jeong-Hoon sat down on the rock where he had been.

And he took out the Rune of Extinction that Jeong Chang-Ho was supposed to have.

[Rune of Extinction]

– Type: Rune

– Grade: Unique

– (Abilities not set)

For now, it was just an ordinary Rune Stone with no abilities.

But the true power of this Rune Stone would be revealed when its abilities were set.

Unlike ordinary Rune Stones, Runes with names already had their abilities predetermined.

‘I wonder what Jeong Chang-Ho’s expression will be like.’

In the past life, he had used this Rune of Extinction to significantly strengthen Ignis and lay the foundation for its evolution into an Ifrit.

But now, this Rune was in Jeong-Hoon’s hands.

Jeong-Hoon opened his accumulated achievement points.

[Current achievement points: ‘332,000 points’]

A whopping 332,000 points.

Thanks to the Evolution Title and the Theme Dungeon, he had earned a considerable amount of achievement points in addition to his existing points.

‘This should be enough.’ Jeong-Hoon thought

[The current level of the Achievement Shop is ‘5’.]

[From level 5, [Category] – [Rune Enhancement Skills] will be added to the shop.]

[Items for sale will be placed in each category.]

With the Achievement Shop reaching level 5, the [Rune Enhancement Skills] category was added.

[Rune Enhancement Skills]

Upon entering the category, Runes from Unique to Normal grade were displayed, and below them, material items for enhancing Runes were also being sold together.

Jeong-Hoon scrolled down and stopped at a certain point.

– [Unique] Rune Ability Activation Scroll

A scroll that activates the abilities of a Rune.

The price was a whopping 100,000 points.

It wasn’t a cheap price, and its existence wasn’t well known, so it wasn’t an item that most users would buy.

Or rather, it was useless even if they bought it.

The ‘Unique Runes’ sold in the Achievement Shop all had fixed abilities.

This scroll was an item exclusively for ‘special Runes’ that didn’t have their abilities set.

[You have purchased ‘[Unique] Rune Ability Activation Scroll’.]

It was time for it to fulfill its role.

So he had 232,000 points left?

– [Unique] Rune Enhancement Scroll

This was the next item Jeong-Hoon wanted to buy.

5,000 points each.

[You have purchased ‘[Unique] Rune Enhancement Scroll’.]

Jeong-Hoon spent an additional 200,000 points to buy 40 scrolls.

Now he had 32,000 points left.

“[Scroll? You mean you can enhance Runes with that?]”

Mukho showed interest.

“Yeah.”

Jeong-Hoon first unrolled the ‘[Unique] Rune Ability Activation Scroll’ and placed the Rune of Extinction on top of it.

It was time for the Rune of Extinction to awaken.

[Do you want to unlock the Rune’s ability?]

“Unlock.”

Flash-

The scroll flashed once and then seeped into the Rune.

[Rune ability activation successful.]

[Rune of Extinction]

– Type: Rune

– Grade: Unique

– Extinction (Activated)

The Rune’s ability was activated.

[Extinction]

– The power to annihilate everything

– Attack power increased by 7%.

– 1% chance to reduce HP by 1% upon attack. (Cannot be recovered for 90 seconds) (Activates only below level 60)

A whopping 7% additional attack power.

Even though it was an unenhanced Rune, it still gave 7%.

And the core of Extinction.

It was a truly fraudulent option that additionally reduced HP by 1% with a 1% chance.

In the past, Jeong Chang-Ho had equipped this Rune on his staff.

Spirits were greatly influenced by the equipment their summoners wore, so after the staff was enhanced, Ignis boasted tremendous firepower.

When the staff was fully enhanced and the Rune’s grade was later increased, the firepower of the Ifrit-evolved spirit was truly beyond imagination.

[Oh, are you going to use this on me?]

Mukho asked in an expectant voice.

‘Hey! You devoured the Magic Stone before!’

Anima hurriedly intervened.

[Hey, that was for defense. This is for offense.]

‘Nonsense! Humans say the best offense is a good defense. That means you ate the best one.’

[There goes that loose tongue of yours again, spouting nonsense.]

Jeong-Hoon said just one word to their quarrel.

“Quiet. I’m going to use this on Anima.”

It was a moment of mixed emotions.

[What the…?!]

‘Hmph, of course. What would you even do with this? It’s like a pearl necklace on a pig.’

Mukho was shocked, while Anima reacted as if it was only natural.

Jeong-Hoon then unrolled the ‘[Unique] Rune Enhancement Scroll’ and placed the Rune of Extinction on top of it.

The scroll flashed once, and then a message appeared above it.

[Do you want to enhance the Rune?]

“Enhance.”

As he chose to enhance, the scroll glowed and then suddenly exploded with a bang!

It had failed.

[Whoa! That startled me!]

“…That was loud.”

With a 50/50 success rate, it was possible to fail from the start.

That’s why he had bought 40 scrolls.

“Anyway, I just need to succeed 20 times.”

Jeong-Hoon took out all the scrolls and summoned Michael.

“You called…?”

Michael greeted Jeong-Hoon in a somewhat cautious tone.

He had been given menial tasks every time he was summoned recently, so he was wary that this time would be no different.

“Yeah, take these scrolls.”

“What are all these?”

“They’re scrolls used to enhance Runes. Unroll the ones that are rolled up.”

It was to save even a little bit of time.

“…Master, do I have to keep doing this kind of thing?”

Michael’s voice sounded a bit dejected.

“Why? Do you want to fight?”

“Not necessarily, but…”

“I’ll let you fight a lot soon. We’re going to enter a level 190 dungeon called Wyvern’s Nest.”

At the mention of Wyvern, Michael’s expression changed drastically.

“No, sir! On second thought, I think this suits me better!”

He then enthusiastically started unrolling the scrolls.

“How fickle.”

Jeong-Hoon placed the Rune of Extinction on the unrolled scrolls.

[Do you want to enhance the Rune?]

“Enhance.”

Flash-

Unlike before, the scroll flashed brightly and then seeped into the Rune.

The enhancement was successful.

[Achievement Unlocked! ‘First Successful Enhancement of a Unique Rune’ completed! 5,000 achievement points awarded.]

[Rune of Extinction (+1)]

– Type: Rune

– Grade: Unique

– Extinction (+1)

+1 enhancement.

Jeong-Hoon continued to attempt enhancements, and after 37 tries, he achieved full enhancement of the Unique Rune.

[Achievement Unlocked! ‘First Full Enhancement of a Unique Rune’ completed! 20,000 achievement points awarded.]

Success.

[Extinction (+20)]

– The power to annihilate everything

– Attack power increased by 17%.

– 2% chance to reduce HP by 2% upon attack. (Cannot be recovered for 120 seconds) (Does not activate above level 80)

With this, he had created an incredibly overpowered Rune that increased attack power by a whopping 17% and had a 2% chance to reduce HP by 2%.

And it was only a Unique grade Rune.

– [Unique] Rune Combination Scroll

The price of the Combination Scroll was cheap.

2,000 points.

Jeong-Hoon bought the scroll and placed Anima and the Rune of Extinction on it.

[Do you want to combine the Runes?]

‘Heh.’

Anima waited for the result with a triumphant look on his face.

“Combine.”

Flash-

Similarly, the scroll flashed, and the Rune of Extinction flowed into Anima.

[Combination successful.]

[Achievement Unlocked! ‘First Successful Combination of a Unique Rune’ completed! 3,000 achievement points awarded.]

———