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Reincarnator – Chapter 227 : God's Destruction Maul (2)
As Hansoo was thinking of his objective.
Christopher carefully approached him from the distance.
He was actually watching from a distance in case something happened to Hansoo while the others ran away and had approached Hansoo after the situation ended.
Christopher exclaimed out loud while watching Hansoo.
'…He's unbelievably strong. Seriously.'
"Thank you. But is this okay? You will be in danger too. You should hurry and…"
Hansoo hasn't been confirmed as a bug player yet.
As Christopher was about to tell Hansoo to split up from him and his group.
Hansoo spoke towards Christopher.
"I would've been caught eventually anyway."
'Not everything can go according to my plans.'
Things that should've happened a year from now had happened now.
So it was quite clear who had done it.
Clementine's forces.
Those guys had probably done it.
'Though they weren't specifically aiming for me…I'm probably related to it.'
What those guys were afraid of was him bringing his forces up.
And how he would prepare here.
Since the Exodus was very limited in order to set up to billions of people despite being so huge.
The reason why Clementine's forces weren't targeting him was because they didn't know where he would choose to expand from.
If they knew he would pop out from here then they would've used all their forces to stop him.
'I need to finish the 6th Great Change before they realize.'
And he needed to get to the location on the 4th floor where
To the space within the maze of the 4th floor before heading down to the 5th floor.
A secret land nobody had found yet.
And he needed the skull in his hands to get to that place.
Like how the player who had initiated the 6th Great Change in the past had done.
'Since things have turned out like this, I'll just make things bigger and smash all the way down to the 4th floor quickly.'
According to his calculations, he didn't have much time.
Hansoo looked towards where the War Fortress should be above the maze.
............….
Oooooooong.
Central plaza.
Players were reviving with Revival Talismans at the default revival area.
Bug killers who had been killed by Hansoo.
The ones who revived cursed out loud and spat out.
"Fuck…That guy is too much."
"Hey! You revived as well?"
Arirangcar grinded his teeth as he looked at his comrades who were reviving back at the plaza.
Then.
Oooooong.
Flame Warrior-V logged back in and popped out next to Arirangcar.
And Flame Warrior-V asked Arirangcar as soon as he came out.
"…How many used the Immortality Stones?"
"…23 including myself."
"You died right away again?"
"Yeap."
"Fucking bastard…"
Flame Warrior-V grinded his teeth.
They were indeed the ones who attacked first but this was too much.
23 Immortality Stones evaporated into thin air for no reason.
Arirangcar spoke towards Flame Warrior-V.
"Anyways, this is it for today."
"Huh? Why?"
Arirangcar frowned at Flame Warrior-V's reply.
"Come on dude. We…We aren't even sure if he was a bug player or not and do you even know how big the losses are? There are even some who aren't logging back in because the Revival Talisman are so expensive and they are taking a break today. They told me they're going to hunt around for a while as well."
Flame Warrior-V grinded his teeth at Arirangcar's words.
'These unloyal bastards…Fuck. How did we get pushed into a corner like this.'
Sighs came out from Kang Joonho's mouth in real life.
It was amazing when they, the bug killers, were roaming around in the past.
No matter how much money they used, they could just buy it back by hunting inside Exodus.
But the number of bug players dwindled for some reason as time went on as Anteater group's income also dropped.
Of course they still earned much more than normal players but it was not enough for Flame Warrior-V.
He needed to succeed in his hunts due to having gotten used to the extravagant lifestyle.
But because of one bastard it seems he was in for a huge trouble.
He was going to suffer a lot for a while.
He would need to grind without sleep for quite a while.
Flame Warrior-V grinded his teeth after thinking up to this point.
'You bastard. You think I'm going to leave you alone? I remember your face. You are now… On the Blacklist.'
Blacklist.
As Flame Warrior-V spoke what was on his mind.
"Yo. Let's put him on the blacklist."
Arirangcar frowned again.
'This guy's gotten crazy again. Ugh.'
He was a bug killer because he liked the legal PK aspect of it but his friend, who was in it for money, rarely let things pass with just a simple laugh.
Anybody that made his life harder was somebody he needed to kill.
Arirangcar thought of the guy from before.
'You're going to suffer for a while.'
That guy was seriously strong.
But once he got onto the Blacklist, only the road of suffering would be remaining.
Even more so if he was stronger.
The stronger he was and the less he died, the more suspicions will stack up.
Since he would need to die in order to get rid of the suspicions.
'Well. He really is a bit suspicious. To be so strong.'
He wasn't sure but that guy was indeed suspicious.
There's a limit to how good one's control could be.
Arirangcar spoke towards Flame Warrior-V.
"Putting somebody on the Blacklist is your choice but… The situation doesn't seem that good right now."
"Huh? Why?"
"Look over there."
Flame Warrior-V looked around the War Fortress.
And finally he could see things that he couldn't before due to being to angry.
Countless soldiers and knights clad in steel were walking around.
They were clearly different from players who each had their individual outfits, they were all wearing uniform sets of armors.
Flame Warrior-V gulped down his saliva as he looked at the thousands of soldiers marching through the War Fortress.
Though they looked like a large group of crappy soldiers, they knew exactly what those soldiers were after playing this game for so long.
"Fuck…I wondered what the ruckus from before was, did a guy accept a war related quest and blow it up?"
Flame Warrior-V realized what had happened in the underground maze and frowned.
.........…..
"Heheheheheh."
A player was crossing through the players and was heading towards the western castle gate.
Ecliptic Mania, who had blown up the bomb, revived on the saved spot and was heading out of the War Fortress.
If one left through the west gate and followed the path then they would arrive at the Korin Kingdom.
'They told me that a large amount of rewards was prepared for me right?'
Ecliptic Mania thought of the words of the female who had given him the quest and then smiled.
He was poor from spending all the money he had to get to this place anyway.
After finding out that he didn't belong here, there was no other reason to stay.
He didn't know why he needed to blow up that bomb and what that did but one thing was clear.
That he would've died from that explosion.
'I hope those guys melted down well. I wonder if the guards got cooked well. Pity I couldn't see it with my own eyes.'
Ecliptic Mania felt good as he thought of Kameira, Hansoo and the NPC guards who annoyed him melting away and started to hum.
It didn't matter what had been caused by what he had done.
Since he just needed to move on and start his second game life.
He didn't want to have a complicated life in game.
What he wanted to do was adventuring not politics.
'Goodbye. Damned War Fortress.'
As Ecliptic Mania spat and was about to move towards the city gates in the distance.
Phooosh!
A spear penetrated into Ecliptic Mania's heart.
"…Huh?"
This was not something that should happen the moment he revived in the village.
Ecliptic Mania cursed out loud at his body that was slowly becoming transparent as he turned around.
To curse the person off before he logged out.
"Which bastard is it! Do you know what the penalties are for PKing in town…"
But Ecliptic Mania was shocked as he turned around.
Since somebody extremely famous was standing there.
"Uh….Huh…?"
Ecliptic Mania was shocked as he looked at the general who was armored from top to bottom.
It wasn't a player.
It was an NPC in charge of the War Fortress.
The person who stood at the apex of this place.
Great General,
Estimated level 400.
This man was the one who was in charge of everything in the War Fortress and the one who protected the kingdom at the very frontlines of war.
As Ecliptic Mania was shocked to silence by the aura of the great general.
Cykrus sniffled a bit and then spat towards Ecliptic Mania who was disappearing in golden light.
"Scent of the Demon…You were the one who caused the trouble below."
'Fucking immortal bastard. Does he even know what's below that place.'
Cykrus grinded his teeth as he looked at the man disappearing in front of him with a cold expression.
...........
Rumble.
"Ugh…"
Christopher looked around his surroundings.
He could only see zombies now.
All the decent players had escaped and the weaker ones had been logged out.
He had realized on the way here but these things were no pushovers.
That was why the bug killer's formation had been broken apart.
He wasn't sure about how many of these guys he would need to deal with on the way down.
As Christopher stared at the wave of zombies filling in the space cleaned up by the bug killers in a daze.
Hansoo spoke towards Christopher.
"We're going down now. You have a skill to find the path right? Go. Find the road to the 2nd floor."
This place was a maze.
He would find it eventually but it would be faster for somebody who had a tracker type skill.
Hansoo finished his words and headed forward.
Towards the hundreds of infected soldiers.
'What is he going to do…'
As Christopher and the others were making confused expressions.
Kyaaaaak!
"Shit!"
The people, who had been focused onto Hansoo, freaked out at the screams from their surroundings and then looked around.
This was not the time to be in a daze.
They needed to carry their own weight if they didn't want to become baggage.
Then.
Booooom!
"Huh?"
Everyone turned around subconsciously at the huge explosive sound.
And then freaked out.
Hundreds of soldiers had been blown apart.
A tunnel of corpses created by dead zombie soldiers.
And Hansoo who was letting off steam from his entire body.
'He didn't use this before…He was holding back his strength huh…'
Christopher stuttered at the tremendous change that had occurred in such a short moment and asked.
"Wha..What..What is that?"
"I tried altering it a bit."
Kiiiiiiiiing!
Everyone flinched as they saw the two dragons which had started to swirl around the tip of the spear with a strange noise.
Reincarnator – Chapter 228 : God's Destruction Maul (3)
The incident of the Great Maze had long been spread.
Cykrus, the great general who had penetrated the immortal and killed him, grinded his teeth.
'…Damned bastards. They dared to use immortals?'
The ones who were behind this damned incident were not the immortals.
Since it was clear who had done it.
There's no way a group of people who weren't serious and lived without a purpose would do something like this.
To create a bomb using a spirit stone.
'The seal will break at this rate.'
He wanted to charge in there and fix the situation.
Since it was possible with his strength.
Strength that the immortals couldn't even dream of.
The epitome of strength, the result of decades of work.
This strength, which enabled him to become a great general, would more than be enough.
'But…I can't.'
Cykrus clenched his fist and looked towards the territory of the Korin kingdom in the distance.
Well, the soldier training program that was going on over there.
He could see his eternal rival managing over the training at the top of the castle.
The one who defended the Korin kingdom to the end.
Great General, Dal-Taran.
Dal-Taran was watching him from the top of the castle.
With an expression that told him he would charge in the moment he himself did something.
And that guy would definitely do so with his personality.
Actually the change which occurred with the appearance of the Great Maze was more than enough to attract the attentionbug the Korin kingdom and many other kingdoms.
As Cykrus grinded his teeth.
An aide de camp next to him spoke.
"How are you going to managedo this? About the issue below?"
Cykrus pondered for a bit and then spoke out.
"We hold this spot until support comes."
The aide, Apsius, nodded at the general's words.
If they went down to deal with the maze than even a larger problem will befallcharge onto the War Fortress.
Apsius asked another question.
"What should we do about the one who caused the issue?"
A vein popped out on Cykrus's forehead from Apsius's words.
"Fucking immortals."
To them, he and the others were merely imaginary existences.
They could play with them and even kill them.
This was why they were doing such things.
People who would blow up a bomb that would end the lives of hundreds of lives of guards just forbecause of a few coins.
Look at what they were doing now as well.
He and the other NPCs were busy and wary of a war occurring but the players who filled up the plaza were busy staring at him.
"Woah! Great General!"
"Shall we try talking to him? He might give a quest."
"Hey mister! I don't know what's going on but if there's something you need to do then just ask us! We'll do it for you!"
"Yeah! You just need to reward us!"
Countless words such as that were flowing into the ears of Cykrus.
'Fucking bugs. You want to help?'
He wanted to crush those people who were showing off their meager strength.
But he could not.
Since their immortality and their large numbers prevented him from doing so.
'But…There is indeed something I can do.'
If they had come to enjoy this place then he would make it as painful as possible.
Cykrus racked his brain a bit and then spoke to Apsius.
"Put out a wanted notice for the one who blew up the bomb."
"Which level?"
"Level 1."
Apsius flinched.
The wanted notice would have a level depending on the crime.
And the highest level the Great General could lay down was Level 1.
Being right below Special level, this level would cause all royalty of the kingdom to always be wary of the criminal and even send allied nations the notice.
Nothing would be usable.
Inn, stores and even amenities.
They would have to roam the world for eternity.
It was the highest degree of punishment that they could inflict onto the immortals.
"…We will ask for the Korin Kingdom to cooperate as well."
"Of course."
That guy probably thought the Korin Kingdom would back him up but that was not the case.
If the Korin Kingdom's guys had brains then they would actually chase the immortal even harder for the reward money.
They would also do so in order to hide the links they had with this situation.
'I'll let it pass with this for now."
Dealing with the maze was more urgent right now.
"Seal the maze and prevent anyone from entering! Ask the capital for the magic army reinforcement!"
Cykrus glared at the Korin Kingdom's castle walls and then jumped towards his own castle.
..........
"Which way do I have to go?"
With those words a translucent arrow appeared in front of Christopher.
Towards a path filled with infected soldiers.
Christopher shouted out loudly.
"That way!"
Then.
Whooosh!
Hansoo activated the Nine Dragons Spear.
Ooooooong.
The mana jade cried out as if it was asking Hansoo if he was going to use it again.
It had to.
Since so much pressure was put on the mana jade just for using this skill once, to the point of it almost breaking.
But thankfully for the mana jade, what it had been worrying about hadn't happened.
Oooooong!
A bit of the mana that came out from the mana jade rushed through his body and created a single dragon.
It was the same up to this point as before when Hansoo had escaped.
Then a second dragon came out.
Oooooooooooong!
The mana jade and his heart both cried out in shock.
That he would die at this rate.
But Hansoo hadn't activated the Nine Dragons Spear to die.
The moment those two dragons reached the tip of the spear.
Hansoo focused his entire mana and mental strength to control the Nine Dragons Spear.
He suppressed the skill from creating a third dragon and then controlled it to follow his own will.
Crunch! Crrunnch!
The spell of the Nine Dragons Spear that had been imbedded into his body tried to gather in any way possible but Hansoo quickly suppressed it.
Soon.
Oooong.
The activation of the skill stopped and the two dragons that had been on the tip of the spear moved forward.
Roaaarrr!
"Jesus…"
The people who had been staring from behind looked at it while flinching as if they still hadn't gotten used to it.
A tremendous might.
Every single soldier took time to kill but he was massacring them in hundreds.
And it seemed like an ultimate skill to them at first but they soon realized that it wasn't.
Since it was the third time that skill came out.
Thanks to this, they were running towards the entrance to the 2nd floor at a extreme speed.
"Uh…Isn't it better to destroy that gem first before we move?"
Christopher asked while running and panting.
Hansoo, with his skills, might've been able to break that gem and they wouldn't have had to run with such hurry like this.
Hansoo shook his head at those words.
Breaking it was hard and there was no reason to break it.
A situation like this where entering the maze was blocked, there was nothing bad for him.
It was better the less players he saw.
Since they were all potential enemies.
Crunch!
Hansoo forcibly fixed his body which had slightly gotten twisted from using the weaker Nine Dragons Spear and then checked his stats for the first time in a very long time.
[Kang Hansoo]
Strength (Green) : 0.6%
Stamina (Green) : 0.6%
Agility (Green) : 0.6%
Perception (Green) : 0.6%
Mana (Green) : 0.6%
Magic (Green) : 0.6%
Physical Resistence (Green) : 0.6%
Magic Resistance (Green) : 0.6%
+Level 201
-Demonic Dragon's Reinforcement : 61.5%
-Pandemic Blade : 44.8%
-Nine Dragons Spear: 6.1%
-Forked Lightning (Green) : 0.6%
-Nurmaha's Ring (Green) : 0.6%
-Thousand Soldiers Armor (Green) : 0.6%
-Dark Cloud (Green) : 0.6%
-Dragon Essence Blade (Green) : 0.6%
-Mana Jade (Green) : 0.6%
-Fragments of Seven Souls (3/7)
-Seven Stars (3/7)
Hansoo finished checking his stats and then nodded.
Since it was the same as what he had guessed.
The runes were replaced with experience in this world.
So if one's experience points rose, their runes rose as well.
Along with the growing artifacts such as the Dragon Essence Blade.
A factor that was a positive point of this damned world.
Of course killing other adventurers and beasts wasn't the only way to raise one's exp.
Killing players, like PKing, rose it as well.
This was the reason why his experience points rose quickly.
'It's not bad. The Nine Dragons Spear is good as well.'
Hansoo checked something the moment he came up.
As to whether he could use a weaker version of the Nine Dragons Spear.
The power was one thing but it was too risky, if he used this and there was even a single enemy nearby he would be in danger.
A single, ultimate skill.
If he couldn't kill then he would die.
But to use it as an ultimate skill was such a waste of its strength.
Even if one said the terms 'go hard or go home' to him, it was the same as having a blade that could slay a dragon but waiting for a dragon to appear.
So he had tried to alter it.
To twist it around and make a weaker version.
It might've been hard for normal people but due to his trait, his powerful body and his skill at controlling mana, he might've been able to use one or two of them separately.
And the result was a success.
Ooooong!
'This much backlash and this much power… It's worth using.'
Hansoo calmed down the Mana Jade that was still trembling as if it was still in rage and then mumbled.
Of course just because he separated one dragon from a total of nine it wasn't like he got one ninth of the original strength.
It was actually much weaker.
But it was still a blade that could kill dragons.
A destructive force that wasn't even comparable to the Demonic Dragon's Reinforcement.
If there was one downside then it was its mastery level.
'It rose to 6.1% when I used it once…It barely rises when I use it's weaker version huh.'
He saw the mastery level, which had risen quickly, and thought that he would've been able to master it using the weaker version but it seems he had been expecting too much.
It was probably because he had forcibly altered a skill to use one to two dragons instead of nine as a whole.
But Hansoo suppressed his disappointment, put another dragon onto the tip of the spear and then attacked.
This power that could split the earth and flip it apart was more than enough.
Booooom!
A single dragon exploded out as numerous tens of soldiers turned into meat pastes.
And Christopher made a confused expression.
It was still strong but it was much weaker than when two dragons existed.
'Why one at a time? Is he tired out already?'
There were still tons of infected soldiers around, things would become annoying if this continued.
Booom!
Christopher smashed away the soldier rushing in and then shouted towards Hansoo.
"If you're tired then we'll guard you so recover your mana! We can buy some time…"
But Hansoo shook his head.
He understood why Christopher was worrying but there was a different reason why he had only used one dragon.
"We're here already."
"Oh!"
The people shouted in glee as they saw the strange orb surrounded by corpses of infected soldiers.
The location to go down to the 2nd floor.
But Christopher's mind turned heavy.
The moment he saw their target location, the thoughts of people chasing him were brought back up.
Christopher asked Hansoo.
"The bug killers will chase us. How are…"
Hansoo cut him off and shook his head.
"It'll be fine for a while. Do you know what the current situation of the War Fortress is like?"
Ellenoia and Christopher nodded.
The first thing they had done when they got here was gathering information.
If he knew that this place, the Bellum War Fortress, was like a ammunition storage that was about to explode then he would've never come here.
Everything started from the land next to the Bellum War Fortress.
'Spirit land.'
The hunting ground which had been released after the 5th patch and had turned this place into the hottest place.
Christopher thought of the conflicts he had in his mind.
Reincarnator – Chapter 229 : God's Destruction Maul (4)
The War Fortress.
A location that had become one of the hottest places after the 5th patch.
Countless players rode on the warp gate to come to this place and hunted on the Spirit Land located near the Bellum War Fortress and completed the quests prepared for them by Exodus.
The difficulty was high and it hadn't been long since it came out so there was a lack of information about it but this actually encouraged the players even more.
Since the game Exodus wasn't petty in rewarding pioneers.
Well, it was more being extravagant than not being petty.
To the point of Bellum War Fortress and even other kingdoms giving out quests for those rewards.
And if someone received enough honors then they could even own land.
A location which had plenty reasons to attract players.
Exodus showed off a tremendously large world and had plenty of places where high level players over 200 could play other than this.
The
Famous hunting grounds for the level 200s to level up and for the few max level 250 master players.
Of course these locations which had decades of struggle and hard work invested in by players with clear information and guides were much more attractive than some mysterious land such as the Spirit Land.
But there was a specific reason why this place, the Spirit Land, attracted so many people.
This stone, which only dropped in the Spirit Land at a very low drop rate was very sought after amongst players.
It had the ability to enchant gear and even enhance skills.
The S grade Spirit Stones that could enhance master artifacts for level 250s were so expensive that the people who wanted to sell them could basically say any price they wanted and people would still buy them.
In order to find the Spirit Stones from the two
To the damned lands that they could only enter after using the Protection Elixir from the
It was extremely dangerous but the danger was worth it.
And it didn't only apply to players.
'This is what is causing the problem.'
Hansoo thought of the Spirit Stones and mumbled.
The Kingdoms which were inhabited by NPCs wanted these as well.
Even more than players.
Unlike the players who were just trying to enhance their personal strength, the Kingdoms could use various magical techniques without limits so it was very useful for them.
The problem was that the Keil Kingdom was basically in control of most of these Spirit Stones.
Since the Spirit Lands were large, multiple Kingdoms were involved but the Protection Elixirs that allowed one to get in these could only be gotten from the Keil Kingdom.
Of course the seven other Kingdoms wouldn't like this system.
And because of this, the Korin and Keil Kingdoms who were at peace for over a hundred years started to get antsy with each other and countless war-related quests appeared in the Bellum War Fortress.
And war-related quests were very sought after by players because it gave achievement points and were related to owning land.
Because of the two Kingdom's relations, war-related quests appeared which further caused countless players to swarm around the first castle wall in order to receive these quests.
War could blow out any given moment.
Since the price of Spirit Stones was too high for a single country to monopolize them.
Of course the war had already begun.
With the terror incident of the maze.
'Well. It did indeed blow up a year earlier but it's not that bad.'
Chaos could cause danger but it could also be an opportunity.
If he could achieve his goals from this chaos then what Clementine's forces had done would've just helped him.
Hansoo finished his thoughts and then shouted while looking at the 5m-wide azure marble.
"Be careful with your words just in case after you jump in!"
"Hmm?"
The people made confused expressions but even before they could ask, Hansoo jumped in.
Towards the entrance down to the 2nd floor.
And the people who were watching this grinded their teeth as they followed Hansoo in one by one.
Whoooosh!
Whoosh!
And soon.
The azure marble absorbed all those people and these tens of people disappeared from the 1st floor of the maze without a single trace.
The infected soldiers only screamed at the disappearance of these people, they didn't have any thoughts of chasing them.
Then they started to split up to oversee other parts of the maze and silence filled the area around the marble.
.........…
Whooooosh!
'Ugh…This doesn't really feel that great.'
As Christopher frowned at the sensation of sticky liquids swirling around his body.
Whooooosh!
"Huupp!"
Christopher's body popped out from the marble and floated up into the air.
'I'm out!'
Christopher found his balance in mid air as he lightly landed onto the ground.
Then the words of Hansoo came into Christopher's ears.
"There are my comrades."
Christopher tensed up at Hansoo's words.
'…Others?'
And as he looked around he saw hundreds of people watching him.
He was shocked.
'So this is what he meant by being careful with our words…'
The players who had been hunting in the 2nd floor started to throw questions at Hansoo.
"What is this? What happened above?"
"Fuck! I can't communicate with my friend who went up!"
"I heard the infected soldiers revived?"
Hansoo shook his head at these questions.
"I'm sorry, I don't know very well as well. I hurriedly ran down here with my friends. We were resupplying in the supply zone and this had happened."
"Ugh…"
The people then started to talk between themselves.
"Shit…Did the gem recover?"
"I hope somebody can just smash it apart."
"Yo? Do you wanna try it out? We might get a ton of rewards for breaking it. The ones who broke it first got a lot too."
"Ha. You want to get killed huh."
Christopher felt the difference between him and these players once again as he listened to them.
For him and others, it was a deathly crisis.
But for them it was a chance that they might take.
The people then spoke to Hansoo again.
"We're going to join hands and go up, how about you?"
Hansoo replied instantly.
"I have friends below. We had split up to resupply."
"Oh then…"
"We'll have to go down. Well… We didn't have the time to get our bags because of the chaos but we still have to go help them."
The players who had been looking at Hansoo's group suspiciously then started to look away.
They were wondering why these guys were moving around in a small group but such cases were possible.
Actually, it was common for a small group to rejoin after resupplying with potions and other necessities while the larger group held a spot below.
This was because the damned game didn't provide inventory and made everyone carry bags.
The players started to lose interest and said their goodbyes.
"Well. Stay strong. We'll just do a quest or two if we get the chance to on the way then!"
"Ugh. This is annoying. I used all my extra revival scrolls below."
"There's nothing bad about it. There'll be more quests above so come on."
The players started to head towards the marble leading back up casually one by one.
And Christopher's underlings started to fall down one by one as if they finally started to relax.
They had been too tensed up from all that had happened.
'Fucking hell. A mafia game* where we die if we get caught.'
Ellenoia, Christopher's right hand, breathed in and out and asked Hansoo while she calmed herself down.
"Why do we even have to go down while doing all this? What's below…"
Though Christopher's group was following Hansoo, Ellenoia still didn't understand why Hansoo was going down like this.
She had gathered a large amount of information when she had first come to this world.
Since that was what she had done before anyway.
People found the hidden race and could receive Protection Elixirs from them.
It was a small but huge change.
Since this gave people the chance to acquire the godly item,
But there were not many reasons for them to go down.
Since they could just accomplish quests from other places and buy the Protection Elixirs with gold.
As Hansoo heard Ellenoia's words, he decided to let these people understand to a degree.
To a degree.
"My trait is for something like this. I can feel it."
"…"
"Don't worry. I've never been wrong until now."
A strange expression appeared on Ellenoia's face but then soon disappeared.
"Phew…"
Ellenoia sighed out loud.
If somebody else told her such things and tried to take her down to the depths of hell then she might've smashed their face in.
But she had already heard the crazy things that man had said and had accomplished after them.
'Well, we don't really have a choice anyway….Well, he really has a lot of fascinating things about him.'
As Ellenoia watched Hansoo with a strange expression.
Ooooong!
The marble trembled and the people who had gone in came back out.
While cursing with nervous expressions.
"Fucking hell!"
"Damn!"
Ellenoia made a shocked expression as she saw the hundreds of people coming back out from the marble.
'Why did they come back like this? With such shocked expressions? Did something happen other than what we know about?'
It wasn't that strange for something else to happen.
Since the moment the infected soldiers appeared, the land above had turned into a mysterious land.
Ellenoia asked the group who had jumped out.
"What happened?"
"Well you see…"
But before the player could even answer.
Crunch!
A spear flew out from Hansoo's hand and pierced the player's head.
Ellenoia shouted at Hansoo's actions from shock.
"What…"
'Why the hell did he attack first!'
Though they had been found out already, the time for the information to propagate was another story.
Like how they had been successful at hiding their identities just now.
Collisions were better the less there were but for Hansoo to suddenly attack like that.
Hansoo tsked and replied at Ellenoia's words.
"We've been caught already."
"Huh?"
As Ellenoia looked around.
The hundreds of players who had come back down cursed out loud.
"Heh, fucking bastard's quite quick isn't he."
"Damned bug players. Isn't this a hack as well? We really need to get rid of them."
As Christopher and Ellenoia were shocked at the news.
Hansoo mumbled inwardly.
'…They acted faster than I expected huh. On the blacklist already.'
Blacklist.
A kill list managed by the bug killer clan,
Then.
Oooooong.
Bright red powder started to gather around Hansoo's body.
Reincarnator – Chapter 230 : God's Destruction Maul (5)
"Mmm."
Flame Warrior-V looked at the magnificent blacklist entry he had created with pride.
Countless comments appeared below the extremely detailed entry which even included a video.
[Woah! Amazing. What armor is that?]
[His spear and skills are amazing too. Why has nobody found him before? Has anyone seen him before?]
[Our lives could flip for the better if we catch him. We might even be able to buy an entire house if we sell his stuff to some rich boys.]
[His control is fucking beyond hacking. Clearly a hacker. Damn, the hacks these days are good.]
[Hey! He's in the Great Maze! Let's go get him!]
[Ugh! They've blocked the entrance at the moment. The ones inside really hit a jackpot huh.]
Flame Warrior-V smiled from the reaction.
'Good. Perfect.'
Blackist.
A killer list sent out by the
It wasn't much.
They would just upload somebody's name and an image to a site anybody could access and spread the information.
It was a list created in case the bug killers lost their target.
Once somebody appeared on that list, they would get chased by everyone in Exodus.
Until they die.
'Now… It doesn't matter whether you're a player or a bug player.'
The important thing was fucking him over.
The blacklist was more than enough.
Since somebody's name in the blacklist would stay until they died once.
A rumor about somebody being a bug player would spread extremely quickly but information clearing their name would not spread as fast.
As a result the player would die tens of times over and even more if they were unlucky, there was no better revenge than this.
And because he could get cursed at a lot for this he didn't put up names randomly but it was different for somebody like him.
For him to cause this much damage as well as being suspicious.
Since there were so many witnesses, the job had been accomplished quickly and this was the result.
Flame Warrior-V laughed coldly as he looked at the views that were increasing super quickly.
Even if he survived down below, he would die eventually.
But as Flame Warrior-V was laughing in contentment.
Ring!
A strange noise rang out and a message arrived for Flame Warrior-V.
'What is this?'
Flame Warrior-V opened up the message with a confused expression and then suddenly the color was drained from his face.
'Clan master?'
Though they were in the same clan, there was a huge difference in rank between him and the clan master.
Flame Warrior-V made a terrified expression as he looked at the message that he had just received.
............…..
"Fuck!"
Booom!
Crunch!
Christopher clenched his teeth and swung his sword at the players who were attacking him.
If only he hadn't been turned into a mess by the bug killers and players who chased him.
As he was bleeding, countless people were charging towards him.
People who didn't have any fear since they didn't have to fear death.
If he didn't know they were going after him and had been ambushed then he might not even be standing here like this.
Booom!
Crunch!
Christopher smashed apart a head of a player charging towards him with a short sword and the grinded his teeth.
'Blacklist, such a thing existed?'
The final tactic of the bug killers who loved monopolizing things.
With this, they would forever become runaways.
Until they left this damned place.
'No, I shouldn't worry about this.'
There were blades coming for his neck at this instant.
As Christopher rebalanced himself and was about to attack the next person charging at him.
Whoooosh.
The red cloud around Christopher suddenly spread in all directions.
'Huaaak!'
Christopher freaked out at the cloud which had appeared without a trace.
He sensed it due to being sensitive to mana.
He felt the viciousness and mana within every molecule which made up the cloud.
It felt like being thrown into a pit full of man eating ants.
And as he looked around.
"Uuuu….."
"Huuk."
His comrades, who were sensitive to the deadly aura, were shaking from head to toe even while fighting.
And the players mumbled with confused expressions.
"Huh? Did something happen? Why are they like this?"
"Keke. Maybe they finally figured out what is going on."
Christopher cursed out as he looked at the players who were charging in ruthlessly.
The players, who couldn't detect the deadliness of the strange powder, were wary at first but soon reazlied it wasn't harmful as they charged through the cloud.
'Fuck. Thank god their perception is so dull.'
If something like this surrounded somebody, it was normal to have difficulty even moving.
Since it felt like their entire body would melt down and disintegrate the moment they moved.
One could clearly see where this red cloud originated from.
But the deathly aura within this powder did not reassure them at all.
It was as if this was the end result of something created for one objective, it was like mass murder having a physical incarnation.
His entire body shook as floods of sweat ran down his entire body and his instincts literally screamed at him to run the hell away from this.
'Ugh…'
But Christopher groaned as he moved his arm.
There was nowhere to run and he couldn't just die by getting hit by a blade while standing still.
The problem was that his reaction was too slow.
Chwaaaak!
"Oh yeah! This artifact is mine!"
A player had already arrived before him and had smashed down his axe.
It was too hard to block and the enemy was too close for him to dodge.
Christopher clenched his teeth at the axe that was approaching him and then raised his right arm.
He couldn't give up his life this easily.
'Fuck. For me to lose my life this easily…'
Christopher made a helpless expression while lifting his arm.
For his sensitive perception, which had saved his life countless times until now, to have failed him this time.
If he wasn't able to sense the deathly aura like the players then he wouldn't have turned out like this.
Crunch!
As the axe broke through the armor on Christopher's arm and was about to dig into his flesh.
Shaaaaaaak.
The red cloud which had extended out from Hansoo's body started to madly stick onto the bodies of players.
Only the players.
Chwaaat!
"Huh?"
Even before the players could voice their shock from the red cloud which had suddenly stuck onto them.
Swooooosh.
The player's entire bodies started to melt.
Starting from the right hand of the player who had swung his axe to cut off Christopher's arm.
To the legs of the players who had been charging towards him to stop the monopolization.
The players stopped as they saw their bodies melting down, finally realized the situation and started to scream out.
"Uwaaaaak!"
"What the fuck! What the hell is this!"
"Even if he's hacking this is too much!"
The players cursed out as they saw their bodies disintegrating and disappearing.
Every time the red powder dug in, their bodies turned more and more golden and disappeared.
The screams only lasted a moment.
Chwaaaarrrrk.
Even before a second was up,their bodies all disappeared with a golden flash.
Everyone who had filled up the space around the azure marble which connected the 1st and 2nd floors of the maze had disappeared.
Only Hansoo and the other adventurers had been left.
Pat.
As Christopher and the other adventurers watched the players disappear, their legs all gave out and they fell onto their butts.
It wasn't because the players had disappeared.
It was because they felt like they had escaped the mouth of a terrifying beast as the red powder which had filled this entire space disappeared.
"Haa…."
"Phew…."
As Christopher and Ellenoia sighed out loud, the other adventurers sighed out as well as if they had returned to reality and everyone then turned to look at Hansoo.
He looked quite tired as if there was a bit of strain on his mana but he still looked healthy.
Christopher asked himself in confusion.
'…That strange dragon alone was amazing but what the hell is this. Where the hell do you get skills like this.'
The amount of mana he had to use that skill was amazing but the skill itself was terrifying.
If one could have the same result just by pouring in mana then the players wouldn't have fought head over heels for good skills.
'Did that trait of his guide him? To the places where he could get them?'
Suddenly Christopher felt sad.
If he had such strength or had the ability which guided him to places with such rewards then he would've been much stronger than now and could've done much more.
But he soon shook his head.
The strong weren't created from luck.
Since the ones who got strong by luck were merely fertilizer for the truly strong.
Only those who can smash through danger with their own abilities and jump into such dangers in order to proceed could capture such rewards and become somebody strong.
Like a single powerful blade which had been tempered tens of thousands of times.
For him to be jealous of his trait when he couldn't even fathom where that man had gone to in order to earn those skills and that power.
'Even if I knew, could I have done it?'
Christopher shook his head as he looked at Hansoo.
It was impossible for himself, he always found the safest paths since he was afraid of death.
Even if he knew the answer.
Knowing the path and going through the path were two completely different things.
'But… I should be able to follow him around and help him.'
As Christopher got up from his spot and looked around.
Something squirmed and got up.
While making a strange noise.
"Hhuuuuuuuhhhh…"
Christopher's eyebrows twitched.
It was not his comrade.
Which means it was a player.
'Somebody's still alive huh.'
Hansoo might not have been able to finish him off because he didn't have mana.
Since he looked quite tired after using that skill.
But it didn't matter.
'I can finish him off.'
Clank.
Christopher clenched onto his short sword and then headed towards the person who was squirming in the distance.
Then.
The one who had been groaning suddenly stood up as he looked at Christopher and shouted
"Woah woah woah! Wait! Wait! No! I'm not a player! Isn't that why you didn't kill me?"
"…?"
'…Adventurer? He's one of us?'
Christopher frowned as he looked at the man speaking out.
Hansoo made a shocked expression.
'An unexpected catch.'
It was clear where this adventurer came from if he was hiding his identity here.
As Hansoo mumbled and looked at the adventurer who was probably a part of that clan.
Rumble.
A faint tremor rang throughout the maze.
Then.
Oooooong.
'….Great Magic Formation?'
Hansoo frowned as he looked at the skull in his possession which had started to shine.
Reincarnator – Chapter 231 : The Great Seal (1)
Hansoo watched the man standing up while dusting himself off.
He could sense anybody within the red powder.
So he knew.
That this man was not a player.
Since there was no a player would've trembled from head to toe from the deathly aura.
One's deathly aura was created for survival and to threaten others.
One who hadn't been in life threatening situations couldn't squeeze out proper a deadly aura.
This was why the players had a hard time distinguishing adventurers but adventurers could figure each other out quite quickly.
Since they just needed to know if somebody had a deadly aura or reacted to one.
The man in front of his eyes spoke with an uncomfortable expression.
"…What are you going to do with me?"
He had seen a lot of people in his life.
And he was clear about one thing.
That even other adventurers did not guarantee his safety.
There were a lot of ways to survive in this world.
And the ones who are confident in surviving will only face more hardships.
Which increased the weaker they were compared to the other party.
The man who had been staring at Christopher and Hansoo, Abanoph, clenched his teeth and spoke.
"Please just let me go. I was merely pretending to be a player within the other players."
It was different for other places but one thing was clear for those who were at the Green Zone.
Respect each other's territory.
Because they had to hide from the players, there was nothing good for them if they interacted or fought with each other.
Of course grouping up wasn't good as well.
Since it was easier to get caught if they stuck together.
Pretending to not have seen each other.
Pretending to not notice each other.
They survived until the next zone like this.
Until they reached the logout zone.
'Or calmly stay trapped in here like me forever.'
Abanoph sighed as he looked at the man in front of his eyes.
This much strength was more than enough to become a formidable force in their village.
But for him to be with people on the blacklist.
Even if these guys had multiple tens of lives, it wouldn't be enough.
Nobody in this world wanted to interact with somebody on the blacklist.
Since it was not something they could live through even if they fought together.
They would just die together.
It would be for the better for them to mind their own business and to just go the way they were going.
Christopher raised his short sword towards Abanoph.
"Where do you think you're going?"
This man was suspicious.
Everything from the fact that he was hiding within the players as an adventurer to roaming around this Great Maze.
'This guy's up to something.'
As Christopher aimed his short sword at Abanoph, his surviving underlings surrounded Abanaoph as well.
And Abanoph sighed as he looked at Christopher.
'It's always the weaker ones.'
Abanoph looked at Christopher with an expression telling Christopher that he was being insolent.
For him to raise his weapon against himself while being hurt like that.
It had been over a year and a half since he had broken through the Green Road and arrived at this place.
These guys were just about level 200.
To him, who was at level 215, they were merely cute.
Even more so because hints of being an adventurer came out from each of their movements.
He would win against such a group of weak people any day.
The issue was the other guy.
Abanoph cautiously spoke towards Hansoo.
"Please deal with these guys. Speak quickly if you want something. Stop watching from the side please."
Hansoo spoke out.
"Are you from the Ant Tunnel?"
The moment Abanoph heard the words Ant Tunnel.
He flinched and then his expression turned into one of rage.
"…You bastard. You knew already huh…"
Ant Tunnel.
Its existence alone shouldn't be known.
Since it was the final sanctuary for adventurers who could not run away anymore.
Christopher watched the reaction of Abanoph and Hansoo, figured out the reason and then made a shocked face.
'…That was real?'
He had heard the rumors.
That there was a place here where bug players lived together.
He had thought it was a fake rumor since nobody had found it yet but for it to be true.
Christopher spoke towards Abanoph who was glaring at them with a tremendous amount of animosity.
"Why are you so angry? We're being chased around like you as well. Aren't we comrades?"
"Comrades huh."
Abanoph smirked.
Though there may be rumors, the members of Ant Tunnel were extremely careful about their existence.
Even with other adventurers.
Since it was not an oasis for all adventurers.
The only ones who could come into the Ant Tunnel were those who were strong and whom people like Abanoph himself, the
Of course not having been caught by the Bug Killers was obvious.
But for people on the blacklist to know the existence of his village.
He could not go to the village with these people.
'Shit. Where did we leak the intel?'
Abanoph clenched his hands, gulped down his saliva and then glared at Hansoo.
If they even knew the name then it was pointless trying to fake it.
Abanoph suddenly started to breathe in a rough manner while looking for an opportunity to leave.
"Phew. Fuck."
'There are no open spots. Fuck.'
He had thought he might be able to leave with his movement artifact,
Since he had thought that the powerful man had used quite a lot of mana from the previous skill.
But it was a huge miscalculation.
The moment he tried to run away, a part of his body would've been pierced.
Abanoph continued to breath roughly as he carefully asked Hansoo.
"…What do you want?"
Abanoph was ready to commit suicide.
The Players treated this as a game so they didn't do anything harsh such as torture.
But adventurers were different.
Since his opponent treated him as a human, they could be much more vicious to him.
But Hansoo merely shook his head towards the man.
"Nothing. Just go."
"….!"
Abanoph flinched at that unexpected answer.
He had thought that this man would've tried to gain some intel out of him.
Even more so since he was an adventurer who had gotten onto the blacklist and needed a place to hide.
But that was for somebody who needed to hide and not for Hansoo who was going to cause even greater problems.
Ant Tunnel.
Those who hid in the corners of this Great Maze in order to survive.
He didn't know where they hid or how strong they were.
People who were stronger than his expectation might be hiding there or a small elite group might be there.
This was why they weren't a part of his plan.
He couldn't plan something out with such an unstable factor.
'Well. It doesn't seem like he would take us to the village… He wouldn't fight for us even if we drag him in.'
Hansoo thought up to this point and emptied his thoughts about Ant Tunnel.
He didn't have time for this.
"We'll leave so be careful."
Hansoo, as he was about to walk away, whispered to the man Abanoph.
"It seems like you're a watchman so go back to the village and report this. Increase the number of watchmen, it'll become more dangerous from now on."
"…!"
Abanoph first made a shocked expression at Hansoo's words and then made a helpless expression.
Knowing the name of the village was one thing but for him to even know the social structure.
'…What the hell.'
Abanoph pondered for a moment and then started to run away towards a direction.
Christopher carefully asked Hansoo while watching Abanoph running away.
"Aren't we going to chase?"
As long as one had a home, they would return to it.
And though he didn't know what that 'home' was, it would be a useful place for them to hide temporarily at.
Since it was clear how good they were at hiding from the fact that they hadn't been caught up until now.
Hansoo shook his head at those words.
"He won't go back to the village right away. He would take a tremendous detour. Or use a different method of communication."
"True…"
"We're going down."
Christopher saw Hansoo stand up as he created the arrow in his hand again.
This arrow would easily allow him to find the way down to the next floor.
Elenoia whispered to Christopher with an expression of reassurance.
"It seems like things won't be that dangerous at least. He's really crazy. It seems like…It seems like the players won't be an issue."
Elenoia spoke while stealing a glance at Hansoo.
A man who had destroyed hundreds of players in just an instant while they had a hard time with merely a dozen or so.
Of course Hansoo looked tired from that feat as well but with this, there wouldn't be collisions from players for a while.
And the fact that the maze's 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors were easy, from what they heard at least, reassured her even more.
'The players above won't be able to come down that easily as well.'
Even if players rushed in because of him being in the blacklist, there was no way of them figuring out where they would be since this place was a maze.
And if they came in small groups, Hansoo would just deal with them.
Hansoo shook his head as he head Elenoia's whispers.
"Only the players inside this place."
"…Huh?"
The ones who caused a threat were never the weaklings.
It was always the small amount of elites.
Ooooong.
Hansoo clutched the reverberating skull and then looked upwards to the ceiling of the maze.
...............…
"What! Why won't you let us in!"
"No entry! Go to other areas!"
"Fuck!"
Flame Warrior-V made a helpless expression as he was leading an entire group of bug killers.
"…What the hell."
All the NPC forces who managed the War Fortress had surrounded the Great Maze.
Though they couldn't go in because they feared something but they were vigilant in keeping the entrance closed.
And the small magic brigades that came over from the capital over the Warp Gates were setting up countless suspicious looking magic seals all over the entrance of the maze.
And the players were in daze as they saw this.
"Woah. Horn of the Ainos. Such an expensive item…They're just grinding it and throwing it around…Should I just cause a bit of trouble and deal with it for those items?"
"You're crazy. Damn. When is the level limit going to be released? We can just do anything as long as we are caught up in level."
The players joked around as they saw the countless artifacts and materials the magic brigade had brought but nobody could jump in.
And the mumbles of the crowd got louder.
"What the hell is in there for them to not allow us to pass through?"
"I know right."
The NPCs were using such expensive materials to reinforce the seal covering the maze.
They were trying to completely seal the inside.
As the people looked at the entrance of the Great Maze in question.
Flame Warrior-V watched the NPCs creating the strange formation around the Great Maze and made an expression of disbelief.
Level 330.
Arthus Krancheska.
An NPC who had been titled the greatest genius of the Kingdom and had risen to the position of the vice general of the magic bridge merely at the age of 35.
That guy was somebody who was rare to see unless something happened with other countries or kingdoms.
Flame Warrior-V wouldn't have known if he hadn't participated in the 3rd Great Kingdom War of the past.
He was the man who had burned away hundreds of players who had participated in the Kingdom quest with merely a wave of his hand.
If somebody like him went in then a problem will occur with the mission he had been given.
'Even he came? What the hell is in there for somebody like him to go in…'
Flame Warrior-V mumbled quietly as he looked at Krancheska who was watching the surrounding players as if they were bugs and at the maze with rage.
Reincarnator – Chapter 232 : The Great Seal (2)
'Anyways…Will I be able to enter at this rate?'
Flame Warrior-V had to get inside the maze first in order to accomplish the Clan Leader's orders.
But Krancheska's aura was too fierce.
As if he would burn him and his entire group alive if they tried to go in.
'What is it for him to be so cautious…'
As Flame Warrior-V was in a daze.
Somebody stomped out from behind him.
Flame Warrior-V looked at the woman who had walked out with eyes full of jealousy and envy.
'Mmm…Scarlet Demons.'
Flame Warrior-V thought of the blacklist he had activated as he watched the woman.
Even if he did activate the blacklist, it didn't always work.
Even with the blacklist, there were a few players who didn't die.
Since the bug players who had reached the max level were extremely powerful.
And since these guys roamed around the places where normal players couldn't get into, they were even harder to catch.
So there was a special group created for them.
The hunting group located at the top of the six grades which existed in the
And the group he lead previously,
But Scarlet Demons was incomparable to his own group in terms of power.
Since the Scarlet Demon was a super elite hunting group created from 15 master players.
'These guys were nearby huh.'
Flame Warrior-V gulped back his saliva as he looked at their weapons which shone with a strange red light.
These were probably the items enhanced with the Spirit Stones that he had heard about.
And the Scarlet Demons, consisting of master players, wouldn't have used bad spirit stones either.
They at least used ones that were A grades or even S grades that were rumored to be extremely hard to find.
'…I heard the clan leader poured a lot of effort into this group.'
Flame Warrior-V mumbled as he looked at the artifacts of these people which shone brightly.
These were the ones who kept the pride of the bug killer clan
Once a bug player was found, they were not allowed to live.
They could not allow the bug players to escape their hands to laugh at them.
This was how the hunting group
Though it wasn't as efficient as it could be, it was created to defend their pride.
Of course their might was nothing to scoff at.
None of the prey that the normal players had missed escaped the hands of these guys.
The Scarlet Demons had come here.
And the second grade hunting troop who had the average level 230, the 3 groups of
And the woman who had walked out was the leader of the Scarlet Demons who was in charge of the 15 people in the Scarlet Demons and the 150 from the Golden Demons.
As Flame Warrior-V looked towards the female.
The leader of the Scarlet Demons,
"It'll be hard for you to persuade these NPCs by yourself. I'll talk from here onwards. I've already spoken to the clan leader."
"Mmm…"
'This is too much.'
A game where countless players existed.
Of course there was a lot of interest with this game and the higher level clans were similar to companies.
Of course there were secrets the normal clansmen did not know of.
Flame Warrior-V was curious about what it was so he looked towards Sharon Stiller with a curious expression but soon realized he wouldn't get an answer and quietly moved away.
Sharon Stiller thanked Flame Warrior-V slightly and then walked towards Arthus Krancheska.
Soon.
"Fucking hell…"
Arthus Krancheska made an extremely dissatisfied expression and handed over a bright blue pouch over after speaking to Sharon Stiller for a bit.
The moment Sharon Stiller received the pouch.
Arthus Krancheska pointed towards Flame Warrior-V's group and the Scarlet, Golden demons.
"…Only you guys come in. I allow you guys to move in."
Then.
"What? Why not us!"
"Are you being biased!?"
"Give us quests too!"
Dissatisfied voices of surrounding players rang throughout the area.
They were going crazy because they wanted to go in but they had suddenly been enraged since only some were allowed in.
But the one who had been shocked the most was Flame Warrior-V.
'Woah. He really allowed us to go in. What the hell did she say.'
She didn't even do much.
She merely spoke for a short moment.
But for Arthus to allow them in so easily.
Sharon Stiller walked towards Flame Warrior-V and the Scarlet Demons who were watching her with confused expressions and then spoke out.
"Let's go in! To catch one fly!"
Flame Warrior-V, who had been standing in a daze, woke up from those words and quickly followed after her.
As everybody was heading into the maze.
Arthus Krancheska's mumbles could be heard next to Sharon Stiller.
"Fuck…If it wasn't for the curse then I would've gone in."
"…?"
As Flame Warrior-V watched Arthus Krancheska who was glaring at him in dissatisfaction.
Sharon Stiller laughed towards Arthus Krancheska.
"Isn't it nice. We're dirtying our hands instead of you. It's a win-win situation for both of us. If we fail then come in instead of us."
"…"
Arthus Krancheska made an annoyed expression while watching Sharon Stiller and then turned around.
Sharon Stiller laughed in a strange manner as she watched Arthus Krancheska walk away and took Flame Warrior-V and other team members into the maze.
.............
Rumble!
The Forked Lightning in Hansoo's hand exploded out as it flew towards the people who were charging towards him.
Kwaagagagaaak!
The players turned into golden lights as their vital spots were pierced by the spear and disappeared into thin air.
Only leaving behind curses.
"Fucking bastard! Isn't he too strong even for somebody in the blacklist!?"
"Waaaak! Fuck!"
Whooosh.
Hansoo frowned as he looked at these players.
'…I can't drain any health from these players. Is it because they're avatars and not real bodies?'
He should be able to drain energy from his enemies once he hit them with the Nurmaha's ring for vampiric effects but the players were merely disappearing into golden light without giving him anything.
Of course it wasn't like he was meeting players so strong or so numerous for it to become a problem but it was still saddening for him.
And even more so since it would become harder the deeper he went in and the more skilled players would appear.
Christopher, who had been leading the group with the arrow, suddenly shouted towards the orb in the distance.
"It's over there! That's the entrance to the third floor!"
Then.
Whooosh!
Hansoo charged forward and jumped into the marble and Christopher, Elenoia and the other members followed in.
Then.
"Haha! They came in!"
"Get them!"
Booooom!
The players who had been waiting below poured in attacks from all directions.
"Is there something you need down here or something?"
"Why are you rushing like this? Are you guys retarded?"
If Hansoo decided to hide then even if he was on the blacklist, it would be annoying to find him in this large and complex maze.
But if they continued to climb down with an objective, things would change.
Since there weren't that many portals that lead to the floors below even in the wide Great Maze.
The hundreds of players who had been waiting by the entrance rushed in towards Hansoo and Christopher.
Oooong.
Hansoo pondered if he should squeeze the Mana Jade once more but felt the pressure the Mana Jade was in and then shook his head.
Since it hadn't been long since he used the red powder, he didn't have enough mana for it.
Hansoo decided to save some stamina and mana as he started to swing his spear.
And soon a clash between Hansoo and the surrounding players occurred.
Booom!
Crunch!
"Holy shit this bastard!"
"What the hell! Did he use the Spirit Stone? Why is his attack power so high!?"
The players, who were generally weaker, died off constantly but they still charged towards Hansoo like a swarm of ants.
This was why the players were fearsome.
Those who feared death would be scared even if a few were killed.
But since these guys didn't fear death, they charged in like moths to a flame.
Even if it was incredibly inefficient, the players made sure to leave behind a tiny damage onto Hansoo's body before they died.'
Hansoo frowned as he sensed the injuries that were stacking onto his body.
'This isn't good.'
If he really decided to hide around and break through the groups of players while recovering then he would be able to break through them with ease.
No, he would be able to massacre everyone within the Great Maze.
But if he dragged on like that then something from above might come down.
'This much magic suppression…They are very strong.'
He needed to deal with it before those guys didn't come down because of the
Crunch!
"Fuck! He's really strong. Shit!"
"Ugh! Should I have not come?"
Despite countless players dying, they were charging in while laughing.
Hansoo mumbled towards these guys.
'Enjoy it for now.'
While Hansoo was reducing the player's numbers while thinking of the infected soldiers above.
A leg of the adventurer who had been fighting behind Hansoo flew off.
He had accidentally let go of an open spot in his defense because he couldn't handle the countless attacks.
There was a limit to how much fatigue they could handle from the battle since their bodies were weaker than Hansoo's.
And the player's eyes shone as they charged in.
"Hahaha! One down!"
Even if they killed that one person and picked up their artifacts before dying it would be a profit.
But they could not accomplish their goals.
Ssssssss!
"Huh? What the hell is this?!"
The players were shocked as they saw their bodies turning into golden lights from the red powder.
Hansoo couldn't watch it any longer and had released the red powder in a small area by squeezing out some mana.
As all the players around them disappeared.
Crunch!
The players who had been holding onto Hansoo also disappeared into golden lights and the area near the portal was cleared.
The surviving adventurer made a worried expression towards Hansoo despite clutching onto his own leg.
"Ugh… Thank you. But your mana…"
Because of Hansoo had used the red powder in such a short amount of time again, his expression was extremely pale.
A sign of mana depletion.
Christopher frowned as he watched from the side.
'Fuck…We would all die at this rate.'
Hansoo would be able to safely reach the goal below.
But it was different for them.
Like a boulder slowly being cut away by the approaching waves, they would get cut off one by one.
The power of the remaining players inside the maze was stronger than they had expected.
At that moment.
A familiar voice was heard from the darkness of the maze.
"You're working hard."
"…!"
Christopher looked into the darkness with a shocked expression.
He didn't expect to see that face again.
And it was the same for the man as well.
The Watchman of the Ant Tunnel group, Abanoph, made a bitter smile as he spoke.
"You guys don't look good."
"…You didn't come here to joke with us, what do you want?"
Christopher judged that he needed to buy some time while Hansoo recovered some mana and spoke out.
And Abanoph nodded at his words.
"I'm here to invite you to the Ant Tunnel."
"…Why so suddenly?"
That man was clearly wary of inviting them to the Ant Tunnel.
Abanoph sighed as he replied.
"Our leader wants to see you."
"…?"
Abanoph continued to speak towards Christopher who was making a confused expression.
"Whether you come or not is your choice but it doesn't seem like you guys have much room to decide. It won't be that bad for you don't worry. I don't know why you guys are trying to go down but… We know every secret portal that players don't know about."
"Hmm…"
It didn't seem bad but Christopher was being wary because he was suspicious.
As Christopher was frowning from Abanoph's words.
Hansoo, who had recovered a bit of mana, spoke towards Abanoph.
"Let's go then."
If it was a shortcut then there was no reason to deny him.
He was a bit curious too.
'…If they hid this well then they might've been able to survive until the Great Unification of the Abyss… Why have I not heard about any survivors?"
He would need to meet them in order to figure it out.
Abanoph made a bitter expression at Hansoo's reply and then spoke.
"…Follow me."
Abanoph disappeared into the shadows and Hansoo and the others quickly followed him.
Reincarnator – Chapter 233 : The Great Seal (3)
Tadadadak.
'It's really complex huh.'
Christopher was shocked as he followed the man named Abanoph.
Left, right, left, left, right.
The Great Maze was a indeed a maze, it branched out in all directions and was extremely complex.
Christopher's brain was about to explode as he tried to remember the path.
'This…This is why the people couldn't adventure the entire maze.'
This complexity and the vastness of this place.
According to one user's estimations, the 3rd floor of the Great Maze was about ten thousand square kilometers.
How long would it take to go through all this?
Of course if there wasn't any Protection Elixirs or the Ains below, the 3rd floor might've been completely searched.
The human's curiosity was limitless and there were countless amounts of players.
But why would they search around this vast useless land here when the valuable things were below.
It would be much more profitable to go down into the 4th and 5th floor of the maze and earn the Protection Elixirs from the Ains.
Thanks to all these factors, many parts of the maze were left as a mystery.
As if Abanoph had read Christopher's mind, he started to laugh and speak out."Well. This complexity is the reason why we can stay hidden. And… Because we still feel uneasy, there are
"Watchmen?"Abanoph replied with an expression full of pride.
"Yes. We are in charge of roaming around the maze and looking out for players."
People who roamed around the Ant Tunnel within this maze, hide amongst the players to accomplish their goals.
Of course it consisted of people who can very adapt fooling others into thinking they are a player and run away quickly in times of danger.
The Watchmen, like Abanoph, had 2 main roles.
First.
Lead players, who might go astray and accidentally reach their village, somewhere else.
Second.
Find Adventurers within the maze, look them over and pull them into the village.
"We need to help each other when we're all being chased. At least here."
"…"Christopher looked at Abanoph with a new look.
He didn't have a great impression of him because they had met in very suspicious and hostile circumstances but for him to be doing such good deeds.
If everything that guy had said was true then they were basically acting as a sanctuary for the surviving adventurers.
Abanoph spoke to Christopher with a heavy expression."I'm not actually not sure if I'm doing the right thing. For me to bring you guys, who are on the blacklist, into this place…"
It might've been different for unknown adventurers but those who were on the blacklist usually got chased down quite meticulously.
There was another huge problem.
If they find out that this person did not leave the maze then there are those who would search every nook of this maze.
Those who would search this humongous place in order to find that one person.
'Scarlet Demons… Damned bastards.'
Abanoph grinded his teeth as he remembered his clan of the past which had been killed off after being chased to the end of the world.
His clan leader was at level 250 in this world's standards.
He was much stronger than himself but couldn't escape the Scarlet Demon's chase and had died before he reached the Ant Tunnels.
A group created to just keep their pride.
That was the main reason why they were even more careful and even more meticulous than others.
'I have no idea what the leader wants to do.'
Abanoph started to quickly move out as he shook his head.
He was curious but he did not question the leader.
Since he would've long been ripped apart by the players if the leader hadn't pulled him into the Ant Tunnels.
The reason why he had become a Watchman was to repay what little he could.
As well as saving those who are in similar situations as him.
Toong Tootoong.
Abanoph suddenly made a strange noise inside the maze.
And from afar a similar noise echoed.
Similar but a bit different.
"We're almost here. Come on."
Hansoo, as he watched Abanoph's actions, figured out how these people had been able to survive inside the Maze for so long.
'So they don't stay in one place huh.'
Because then there wouldn't be a need to alter their routes by sending signals every so often.
At the same time he felt very sad.
About the people here.
They had to constantly move around in case they got caught.
They were living in a constant state of danger.
But even before Hasnoo could finish his thoughts.
A faint light appeared in the distance and lit up the paths of the maze.
At the same time.
Something that looked like a trailer could be seen in the distance.
Trailers that resembled camping cars.
"Huh…"As Christopher and the others exclaimed out loud at the presence of other people.
Abanoph sighed and spoke."We're here. There's space for you guys too so… Take a break."Abanaoph looked at the empty trailers out of the hundreds and spoke with a bitter expression.
............…..
"Ugh… Be a bit more gentle.""Shut up. You can regenerate the injuries on your leg if you use regeneration skills anyway. Just wait a bit more.""Fucking hell. Just because it's not your own leg…"Christopher and the others felt relieved as they started to heal their injuries.
Well, they hadn't really dropped their guard yet.
Though they had followed Hansoo, they didn't know if the people here would be friendly or hostile to them.
Even more so as they saw the eyes of hundreds of others who were looking at them with uncomfortable gazes.
But the reason why they had felt so relieved was because of the scenery inside the trailers.
Extremely familiar looks.
"So it's not just the exterior that looks like camping cars huh.""The interior is the important part."
Abanoph replied to the people who had been looking at the camping cars with shocked expressions.
TVs, sinks, beds and even simple drawers.
There was actually a picture which seemed to have been made from dyes.
'…A couple?'
As Christopher frowned at the portrait with a man and a woman, Abanoph kindly answered him from beside him.
"These are people who had lived here previously. They were both Watchmen. They both got chased and became a couple after coming into the Ant Tunnels.""…"
Christopher asked carefully after realizing what Abanoph's words meant.
"…So it's not completely safe huh?""Ha."
Abanoph scoffed at those words.
Complete safety.
There was no place where a cockroach would be safe where humans lived.
Since the cockroaches were just
It was the same in this world.
No matter how well they hid, there would be traces and tails sticking out.
There were about 900 people here.
And about 50 to 100 people came in every year.
People who had been chased into the end and came into the Great Maze in case there was a hiding place here and had gotten rescued by Watchmen like himself.
But this number did not change from year to year.
Since a similar amount got killed by bug killers and players.
They couldn't just sit idle here hidden, they had to find things to eat and hunt as well.
They needed to raise their strengths like this and prepare to head towards the logout zone.
Of course there was no way to not get caught in the eyes of players and a large amount of people being sacrificed was normal.
'But living in this much luxury is not bad.'
The interiors which resembled the modern days was to just allow them to remember the place where they had lived in peace.
Of course there were no mechanical tools but they, with their monstrous strengths, could easily twist around metal boards to make things which resembled items such as TVs.
This was the reason why pulling these things around wasn't hard for them.
Abanoph looked at the traces of the dead and then spoke towards Christopher.
"Well. It's just replicas but you can alter the interiors any way you like. Since these things were all custom made to one's own likings. There are some things stacked over there so you can bring some from there. Return the ones here back there too.""…"
"Well we need to recycle or something right? Hurry and go.""It doesn't seem like there's much of a reason to. There's no guarantee we'll be staying here.""…Ah."
Abanoph stopped.
These guys were indeed irregulars.
He didn't know what would happen to these guys.
He had forgotten because there had been nobody else before who had come here and had left.
And this pissed him off.
'Fuck. They really display the fact that they just came up.'
Those who had been chased for a long time were afraid of leaving this place.
But for him to think about leaving.
'You guys need to know you are lucky. To meet such a powerful person.'
Abanoph made an annoyed expression and then spoke towards Hansoo."Oh, right. Let's get to the main point then. If you healed enough then let's go. The leader's on the inside."
"…"
The adventurers walked out from their camping cars at Abanoph's words, walked through the eyes of those who were on guard against them and headed towards the camping car at the center of the entire place.
.............
"Welcome. I am the leader of this place. Kamiyou."
Christopher and Hansoo looked at the man who had an artificial leg in front of them.
They knew what this man had gone through from just looking at this leg.
Hansoo spoke towards the man.
"Why did you call us?"Kamiyou laughed at Hansoo's question and replied.
"Befoore that, let me ask you a question. Why are you trying to go down?"Everybody else looked at Hansoo as well.
They were curious as well.
But before Hansoo could reply.
Kamiyou laughed as he replied.
"Are you perhaps trying to rip out the God's Destruction Maul and destroy the Great Seal that is placed upon this place?"Then.
The surrounding people made confused expressions.And Hansoo frowned.
Kamiyou laughed as he looked at Hansoo.
"I've gone through a lot of things here. And I've met a lot of people while living here. And out of those… I've even met those who weren't human.""…You met the Ains huh."Kamiyou nodded.
"Yes. Well…meeting the Ains is not really special. I've actually met a special Ain. I've met the one who was leading the Ains who had been sealed below. He seemed to have a lot of special tricks."
Hansoo realized what this man had heard after hearing up to this point.
And how he knew about his own plan.
'He met the Prophet huh.'
Ain.
The race who had the protection of the Spirits.
The one who had the protection from the Great Spirit, could see the future and had received the role to lead the race.
Prophet.
Hansoo looked at the man who had met the Prophet with an amused expression.
**Please read the post notes for details. Thank you
Reincarnator – Chapter 234 : The Great Seal (4)
Roaaaarrr!
'Uaaaa.'
Flame Warrior-V made an expression full of fear as he looked at the infected soldiers who were being swept off after being turned into dust.
Countless infected soldiers were crawling around but they were moving towards the entrance down to the 2nd floor at a constant pace as if they did not pose any threat to them.
Of course the thing that caught his attention was the red light on Sharon Stiller's sword.
Every time the red light exploded out, it felt like the entire maze got lit up.
Flame Warrior-V looked at the weapon with envy.
'I heard the weapon itself changes when one used S rank Spirit Stones on them.'
A weapon which he couldn't even dream of having.
At the same time Flame Warrior-V got curious.
About what exactly was their objective below.
'…Would she answer me if I asked her?'
If she was going to hide everything from him, she wouldn't have brought him along in the first place.
"Uh…By the way, why are we going down? Is there a reason for us to head out with this large of a scale?"
Sharon stiller pondered as she looked at Flame Warrior-V for a moment.
'Hmm. I did hear that this guy's abilities were quite good.'
But there was an issue.
'This guy belongs to Michael Dawson's branch… Am I allowed to tell him?'
The Anteater clan was led by two clan leaders.
Himura and Michael Dawson.
They had gotten together in the beginning because they didn't like bug players and in order to hunt them down.
But as the size of their organization grew and they became a clan which was comparable to the 10 great clans, the opinions of the two started to diverge.
Himura stuck by the roots of the Anteater clan and put his focus into killing the bug players.
He said that everyone gathered in this clan had come to kill the bug players and needed to continue hunting them.
On the other hand, Michael Dawson said that they have expanded enough so they needed to now focus on finances.
Since he felt that it was a waste for such a giant clan to invest such a large amount of money in killing bug players.
Both sides were correct.
Though Exodus was a game where they could have fun, it was also a world which gave them the chance to earn large amounts of money.
And according to what Sharon Stiller knew, Flame Warrior-V was neutral but still a bit closer to Michael Dawson.
Since he was indeed interested in earning money.
And herself and the Scarlet Demons were with Himura.
The Scarlet Demons was a hunting team which Himura invested a lot of money in to create.
Sharon Stiller spoke up to that point and cautiously continued.
"This is as much as I can say. If you want more then you have to join our side."
Since she had heard that he was quite capable, it wouldn't be bad to work together.
Since once he signed the contract he would keep the secrets even if he needed money.
"Mmm…"Flame Warrior-V nodded after a brief moment of thought.
'I've been… Marked from the mistake this time. It might be better for me to cling onto another rope at this point.'
As Flame Warrior-V nodded, Sharon Stiller made a content expression and spoke.
"This is information that is hard to come by so listen well. Even out of the Master Players, only those who are interested in the history of kingdoms know this."Sharon Stiller then looked around her surroundings.
"Do you know who created this maze?"
Flame Warrior-V looked at her with a confused expression.
What was the name of the maze?
It was the Great Maze of the Ains.
Obviously the Ains on the 5th floor made it, who else?
Sharon Stiller laughed as she looked at Flame Warrior-V.
"You think that the Ains made it right?""…Didn't they?"
Sharon Stiller shook her head.
"Hmm. You aren't wrong. Half correct.""Mmm?"
Sharon Stiller continued to laugh.
"It's as you said. Well, the humans made it but the curse of the Ains is laid on top of it."Usually, cooperation would be a case where both parties were content with the result.
But this cursed maze was different.
The humans and the Ains hated each other and they fought, this structure was the result of it.
A giant maze which pressed down the Ains but at the same time despised the humans.
The grave of people and the place where the Ains are sealed.
"This is why we've been able to come in by trading with the Kingdom. They don't like coming in here. Because of the curse.""Curse?""You saw on the way here. The corpses.""Ah…"
Flame Warrior-V realized.
He figured out how the infected soldiers on the 1st floor had been created.
"It seems they not only lose their powers when they come in here but the Ains apparently attack them as well. This is why they let us in instead.""Hmm…"
Flame Warrior-V didn't know what had been traded but he understood the situation.
The Scarlet Demons would do what the Kingdoms had trouble doing.
And the Scarlet Demons would also take care of their business while they were in here.
Then.
Sharon Stiller looked around at the ground for a bit after coming down to the 2nd floor through the blue maze and then smiled.
"Found him. Let's go. I'll tell you more later.""…Mmm."Thinking about it, he would figure out why he had followed them in later anyway.
Flame Warrior-V used his skill and started to follow the others.
............…..
Ain.
The delegates of the Spirits.
The race who had been crushed down into the maze and could not come out.
Kamiyou asked Hansoo."He told me this when I met the Prophet in the past."
"What did he say?""He said that one day you and the others would come to help him and the other Ains, he told me to guide you guys well."
Hansoo shrugged his shoulders at these words.
"How do you know I am him?"
"I was curious so I asked as well. But the answer was simple."
Kamiyou chuckled as he thought of these words.
Blood and destruction.
There were no adventurers who were strangers who these things.
This is why he had thought that it would be hard for him to find the man.
'For him to appear in front of me.'
He realized the moment he saw Hansoo.
That nobody else would fit the prophecy better.
Kamiyou looked at Hansoo and smiled as he spoke."It seems correct right?""Hmm."Hansoo shrugged.
It was quite similar to him indeed.
Kamiyou spoke towards Hansoo.
"I was curious. How you would help us and the Ains. Will you help us separately? Or is the thing you're trying to accomplish beneficial for all of us? After thinking about it, I came to a single conclusion."The thing the Ains dearly wanted.
It was to leave this cursed seal, the Great Mazed.
And his goal was to get revenge against the cursed people who had trapped them here.
"So, you're probably here to release the seal. The one on the 4th level."
People thought that the Great Maze lead all the way up to the 5th floor but that wasn't the entire truth.
The maze the humans had built stopped at the 4th floor.
The floor below, the 5th floor, had been created by the Ains.
So the Seal existed in the deepest part of the Maze, the 4th floor.
In a mysterious corner that nobody had been to.
'Probably only the magic brigade who laid down the seal knows where it is.'
No player knew where it was.
So Kamiyou was curious as well.Wondering how the man in front of him would find it.
And another thing.
'…I'm not sure if it'll help us.'
The Ains being unsealed wasn't necessarily good for them.
It wasn't like they were going to fight for the adventurers.
The Ains despised the Kingdoms and the countries who had trapped them.
But they didn't hate the players.
And he and the other adventurers despised the players who massacred their friends and family.
But in a sense, they didn't hate the kingdoms and countries who were in a similar situation.
According to the prophecy of the Ains, helping this man would be beneficial to the Ains and in result would be beneficial for them as well but nobody knew how this would play out.
And Kamiyou wasn't the only one to think this way.
A swift-looking beauty next to Kamiyou spoke towards Kamiyou."Mr Kamiyou. How could you let these people into the village with only a prophecy!? The Scarlet Demons might chase us down at this rate!"Well, only the Scarlet Demons finding them wouldn't be bad.
But if the players rush in while the Scarlet Demons buy time then they would all get massacred.
And for just a prophecy?
The woman, Einchel, did not believe in those words.
If there indeed was a Prophet and he could see the future, why did they lose to the humans?
After their loss they had been trapped within the maze and had become something which only dropped Protection Elixirs when killed.
Knowing the future and preparing for it was the same as being unbeatable.
If they had a prophet then how did they turn out like that?
Kamiyou shook his head at Einchel's words.
She was right.
The best thing to do might be to hide in here until the storm went past.
But the last words of the prophet were on his mind.
'Ugh… What do I do? How much should I help him?'
The feelings that came from the Prophets felt too real for him to ignore the words.
Since if the prophet's words were true then he should take everyone from the village and go with Hansoo but then they would collide with the players.
On the other hand, if he were to help the least possible then he could just tell them the ways to the secret portals below.
Kamiyou started to ponder while staring at Hansoo.
..............
Flame Warrior-V couldn't hold onto his curiousity while running with the Scarlet and Golden Demons and asked."Uh, what is the thing we need to do for the Kingdom?"'Is it related to the blue pouch from before?'
As Flame Warrior-V mumbled while thinking about the blue pouch she had received from Krancheska, the leader of the Magic Bridgade.
Sharon Stiller laughed as she replied."We can do it slowly. It's not like it's hard.""Huh?""Well. They did seem hurried but that's their issue. We can deal with our issue first right? We can do it after we finish with our job.""Then what is the thing we have to do?"Sharon Stiller started to open her mouth and Flame Warrior-V, who had finally been able to hear what they had to do, focused his hearing.
Sharon Stiller spoke."Mmm. If you had a secret farm with animals…And if the entire farm was about to turn into a wreck what would you do? If it's a situation where you can't keep them anymore?"",,,?""Shouldn't you turn them all into minced meat? Before you lose everything? Or before others find out? Oh, I found it."Sharon Stiller found the traces here and there in the Maze and started to hum.