175 - 181

After Yu IlHan defeated the lightning demon even while confused, the group started to discuss for real.

[I still can't communicate. How is it possible that I can't call Heaven despite being on Earth?] (Liera)

[That's not unusual, Liera. You first calm down.] (Spiera)

[Yu IlHan, are you alright? Yu IlHan.] (Erta)

In the first place, they should have been suspicious when he had generated a gate connecting to 'another world'. Didn't he himself, as well as the angels, know very well that there was no world connected to him? They should have noticed the moment the gate was opened.

It was just that, from the moment they judged it as an another world with just the fact that the quantity of mana inside was absurd, the situation was too late.

[So this place, is on Earth, somewhere unknown.] (Liera)

[That is why he couldn't escape this place, despite the fact he activated the ability on the title – we're still on Earth.] (Erta)

[Although it's unbelievable….. I have no choice but to believe. The Akashic Record is absolute.] (Spiera)

Yu IlHan looked around him with a different gaze than before.

He had already collected the lightning demon's corpse into his inventory. What he was seeing right now, was the bloodied lands, the giant hole he had dug, and the skies that were even redder than the lands, and finally, the Baobab trees that formed a bridge between the land and the sky.

"This…"

His voice was very clear, but even he himself did not know what emotions were contained in it.

"… is Earth....?"

[Yes. The sole world that is linked to you so deeply that it can't be separated from you now.] (Erta)

[Just where on Earth is this place? Just counting the distance IlHan flew in this world, he should have lapped Earth 100 times over.] (Liera)

[Dungeon.] (Erta)

Erta gave an answer.

[It's possible, if this is a dungeon on Earth.] (Erta)

[It is definitely not a dungeon created through a Trap of Destruction. That means that this is a dungeon made from someone's own mana?] (Liera)

[Correct. Then that explains why we can't communicate with Heaven.] (Erta)

[If so, then it looks like this guy is one hell of a dude...] (Spiera)

Yu IlHan looked around him again. Although he had experience adventuring and destroying a lot of dungeons, never did he imagine that this place was one of them as well.

"Such a huge space? Someone made a space a lot bigger than Earth into a dungeon?"

[In fact, it's possible precisely because it's not a real world. Dungeons change real-time according to the influence of mana! It is possible that you have already lapped this dungeon thrice, or even more. However, you just didn't realize since it constantly changed.] (Erta)

[Unbelievable....] (Liera)

[However, if this really is a dungeon...] (Spiera)

It looked like only Spiera understood Erta's intention. Her eyes shined as she spoke.

[There should be a way out.] (Spiera)

"There's an exit?"

[The exit… probably does not exist, since dungeons are generally created because one didn't want to come in contact with others. Whether it was because one wanted to hide, or had to hide.] (Spiera)

"Then..."

Yu IlHan also found the answer at that point. His hand grabbing on the Eight-tailed dragon spear tightened.

"I have to beat up the guy that made this dungeon."

[But you need to be careful. Someone that can create a dungeon of this size, and generate monsters that frightening must not be ordinary. Although, I do not want to believe that it is one of those absurd monsters that achieved higher existences on their own…..] (Liera)

[Let's stop the digging for now. From the fact that the mana concentration is getting higher as we go down, the master should be underneath it.] (Erta)

[The only problem is the possibility that he may come to eradicate Yu IlHan first huh....] (Spiera)

"Eeei, so complicated."

Yu IlHan looked at the ground; as if to gaze at the monster underneath the ground, and one that he couldn't even glimpse its presense of.

"You said it's not a higher existence, right? Then I might have a go."

[Although I want to believe that... what if it is?] (Liera)

"I'll probably be able to run away, probably."

Yu IlHan declared that he could run away from a higher existence despite being a 3rd class. This was true, so the angels couldn't retort.

If that happened, the biggest problem was to grow by killing monsters even while fleeing, but what was scarier? Yu IlHan may actually succeed in doing it.

"Fuu, I need to get it together."

Yu IlHan tapped his cheeks strongly as if to shake away the despair, and tensed his body while gripping, and loosening his hands, alternatively.

There was no need to feel down at all. Although it did worry him that he could not meet his parents, Yumir, his other subordinates, as well as his friends like Kang MiRae and Na YuNa, he had everything else here, didn't he?

Tools to make equipment, enough food for decades, a lake's worth of water to wash his body, the Eternal Flame, and all other techniques he had at his disposal. Yu IlHan had been preparing for moments like these from the time he was left alone on Earth!

But somehow, that kind of thinking made him feel more tired.

"Damn, never did I imagine that I would be a dropout on a dungeon on Earth."

[But it's good that you can still be with me, right?] (Liera)

"...That's true."

Yu IlHan ended up laughing after seeing Liera poking out of his chest armor. She was right. He made a mistake since he got too used to saying he was alone.

He was neither alone in the millennium on Earth, nor was he now. Not to mention alone, he had three people to rely on, including Liera. Although physically, they were just burdens, they were his precious and beloved partners despite that.

Thinking like that, power surged in his body. He felt like he would be able to do anything now.

"Good, let's do our best until the day we go back."

[If it's you, you will be able to succeed soon. If you acquire 4th class, when you can kill these demons right now, you wouldn't have anything to be worried about either.] (Erta)

[4th class huh. It's scary since if it's Yu IlHan, he may be able to do it within 50 years.] (Spiera)

"What do you mean 50 years."

Yu IlHan snorted and denied that statement.

"Let's go with five."

[5 years...?] (Liera)

[Yu IlHan, how long has it been since Earth was linked to the Akashic Record? About 2 years? And now you're saying you'll do what in 5 years?] (Erta)

Erta was about to continue, but then thought. That Yu IlHan had achieved 3rd class in just one year, when others would take 100 years if lucky.

Although they forgot this common knowledge since the development of Earth was too fast, Yu IlHan was the thumbs up in growing speed even amongst the people of Earth.

[What is Yu IlHan's level again?] (Erta)

[180, After level 170, the amount of experience required to level up became absurd. It's not like these absurd demons are everywhere either.] (Liera)

Liera was speaking as if Yu IlHan's growth rate had dropped a little, but Yu IlHan's current state, of level 180, when he was just 162 half a year ago, was definitely not normal. Including herself, these angels were forgetting about common sense since they were with him for so long!

[Oh Lord God, please help Yu IlHan stay as good as he is now....] (Erta)

[Why are you praying for such an obvious thing? IlHan is the best in the world! No, perhaps the best in all worlds…..!] (Liera)

[And please also help this idiot to not commit any disrespect towards you....] (Erta)

[Hooh.] (Liera)

Although a peaceful mood lingered around between the angels after they came to this world, well, dungeon, and now they finally broke it, starting the 6th mini war. Yu IlHan ignored the angels' banter and went down the hole to get his equipment.

He would have to bid farewell to digging holes for a while now. The difficulty of digging was so high, so much that his mindless digging made his Excavation skill rise to 80, which made him think 'I'll be able to master it if I flip this place upside down, huh', so it was quite unfortunate for him.

However, digging could be done any time. Right now, he needed to become stronger, for himself, for the others on Earth, and for the angels.

"Okay, let's kick it up a notch."

[You still had room to speed up...!?] (Erta)

"I'll need to go back before Mir acquires his 4th class."

[It's hard to comment since Mir is just as monstrous…..] (Liera)

Yu IlHan unfolded Ruin Calling and flew into the air. He checked his own state including his mana reserve, and started soaring across the skies with a light shout.

There was still a lot of time before this dungeon collapsed.

***

While Yu IlHan was proceeding to be reborn as an even more absurd monster, Yumir worried about his dad, who signalled 'I cannot return due to business', and looked at the communicator with blank eyes.

"It's worrying without dad."

"Is he not able to come?"

"Yeah."

Yumir powerlessly nodded at the question Kang MiRae asked, and made a worried expression.

"Will dad be alright? That place looked very dangerous...."

"He'll be fine anywhere. Let's not worry about him."

"You shouldn't worry about him, but worry about the world he went to~."

Kang MiRae and Yumir subconsciously nodded at Na YuNa's statement. Well, who was he to worry about. They had their hands full themselves.

"So we need to solve this by ourselves huh."

Their gaze turned away from the communicator to the gate in front of their eyes. The vortex that stormed as if to explode at any moment – it was a gate connecting to an Abandoned World.

"Although I was prepared, but it looks like connections to Abandoned Worlds are quite frequent these days."

"But it's nothing new now~."

"But this is a special one, isn't it? From the scouts, they saw at least five 4th classes. And of course, there should be a lot more in reality. It's still fortunate that we weren't noticed, but from the state of the gate now..."

Not all Abandoned Worlds were full of 4th class beings. It was just that the worlds Yu IlHan have been to, and the world Kang MiRae, Yumir and co. have been to, were the special cases.

The majority of the worlds connected to Earth had at most 4 or 5 4th class beings, and as such, they were mostly taken care of with the help of the people of Earth and the people of other worlds... as they wished to acquire Yu IlHan's support since this Abandoned World had stronger enemies.

Na YuNa looked behind her. The Front Line Alliance clans were all here, and behind them were some people from other worlds who they had private connections with. However, she still couldn't hide her worry.

"Did we really gather every fighting force here? I can't see the wolves~."

"If you mean Flemir and Ericia, they're helping out over at Dareu. It looks like they're having a hard time as well..."

"Should we put up a notice? Although, it's a little unsettling since we don't have a lot of 4th class magic stones….."

"They know of our connection to Vanguard, so they might request something in exchange for helping."

Although it might end easily if they borrowed power from people of other worlds, by making an official notice on the mercenary guild, the problem was after that. They couldn't make any harm go in Yu IlHan's way, but to not do it, the battle was very worrying….. Just as when Kang MiRae was grabbing her head in thought.

"Let's just go over ourselves and kill them all!"

Said Yumir in a bright voice.

"The people here will be able to block them if we just kill the 4th classes!"

"Although that sounds optimistic, is it really possible?"

Kang MiRae was doubtful, but Yumir was as bright as ever. He, unlike Yu IlHan, who never cared about what other people thought, had a deep sense of consideration for others, and magnanimity.

"It's alright."

He couldn't help but worry about his dad, but he couldn't let the worried people here be. Yumir's communication ability was almost invincible against anyone except those stronger than him!

"It will be possible because my concealment levelled a lot since last time!"

"levelled a lot? By how much...?"

"97!"

Right before master.

"Blood can't be fooled, alright~..."

"That makes me feel strange so don't mention it."

Definitely, Yumir looked very charming, taking after Yu IlHan, and was more adorable and a precious existence to her. However, he only looked like Yu IlHan but not his child! As if hypnotizing herself, she raised her staff.

"Okay, then, Mir. Let's go. I'll be able to do it if I'm with you."

"Such a passionate shounen-manga line...."

Na YuNa followed them even while finding the scene a little absurd. Kang HaJin, who was watching from the side, asked with widened eyes.

"Are you really going to go? To such a dangerous place? With just the 3 of you?"

"No, oppa. We'll go with the 4 of us."

"...Four?"

"Yes, oppa."

Kang MiRae, smiled cutely, which was very unlike her usual self. The moment Kang HaJin tried to take a step back, she grabbed onto his wrist. Then, off to the gate they went. Kang HaJin struggled like fish that had just been caught from water, but he couldn't win with Na YuNa helping Kang MiRae out as well.

"You would never send your cute little sisters alone to such a dangerous place, right!?"

"How are any of you cute!?"

"HaJino-oppa, you block for us with your body the moment it seems like we're found out, got it~?"

"That's just a meat shield!"

Like that, Kang MiRae entered the gate that looked like it was going to explode at any moment, without any hesitation.

While the spectators widened their eyes in surprise, the gate finally opened and monsters started pouring out, but until the very end of the battle, there was not even a single 4th class monster.

The battles with Abandoned Worlds after that, were taken care of in the same manner.

Author's notes

Start of book 8, and right from the beginning, MC becomes a dropout, yet again.

The son grows watching the back of the father.

Translator's notes

every 25 chapters is one book. (Prologue counts as one)

Yu IlHan hadn't come back to Earth even one year after he had left for the other one.

Fortunately, as he had made an enormous stock of Vanguard equipment and Angel Tear products there was several years worth of inventory. However, Yu IlHan's parents, and the ones who had close ties with him, were at a loss what to do.

And once, Kang MiRae received a comm. The person? The person she feared the most right now in the world, Yu IlHan's mother Kim YeSeul. Extremely nervously, Kang MiRae went to meet her with Na YuNa and Yumir accompanying them.

But a beautiful lady who looked less than 30 of years age, was the one who greeted them.

"Are you, Mr. Yu IlHan's older sister?"

"Oh my. Hoho, does it look like that?"

"Y, you aren't!? I'm very sorry!"

Kang MiRae acquired points from the very beginning.

"So my IlHan didn't contact you ladies either."

"Yes, other than the periodic signals…"

Kang MiRae suspected that Yu IlHan's family would know something about him, but Kim YeSeul was in the same situation as her. Rather, she probably looked for Kang MiRae because she wanted to hear about Yu IlHan's situation from her.

"Honey, he didn't call, right?"

"What do you mean call. When a man does something big...."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

Kim YeSeul looked towards Yu YongHan who came back from working at Vanguard, with a 'maybe he knows' gaze, but the answer was disappointing. Kang MiRae finally noticed Yu YongHan and was startled.

"Whoa, so you were here. I'm very sorry...!"

"*Cough*. Don't worry about it. My presence becomes very thin from time to time."

Kang MiRae thought that blood was indeed very thick, but then also thought about how she had to acknowledge Yumir as Yu IlHan's son, and shook her head. Kim YeSeul looked at Kang MiRae with a mysterious sense of satisfaction, and tapped her shoulders with a smile.

"The comms are coming, and if it's IlHan, he'll do fine, so don't worry about it so much. Aren't you really busy as well? I see you on TV all the time. Don't you work in the front lines?"

"N, no. That was all thanks to Mr. IlHan, and I have nothing to..."

"Your words are pretty too. And this guy, he was going on and on about how he wasn't confident…."

"About what?"

"Oh, it's nothing."

Kim YeSeul's smile became thicker; and it widened yet again after seeing the figure of Na YuNa who was hugging Yumir in her arms, next to Kang MiRae.

Her son had talent! To think about it, although the blood of Yu YongHan was running inside him, half of the blood was hers!

"Oh yes. Do you want to have a meal before you go?"

"No, in fact, I have to go clean up the aftermath of the previous gate….. I'm really sorry."

"No, it's fine. Rather than that."

"Yes?"

When Kang MiRae titled her head, Kim YeSeul asked her in a small voice.

"Miss, from what I saw on TV, you wield lightning rather well. Are you well-versed in magic?"

"Well, I do have some degree of confidence..."

"My, my. How talented of you. Magic is a hard thing to learn."

"That's..... I'm nothing compared to Mr. IlHan."

Kang MiRae was undermining her ability, but when evaluating, there was really no need to compare herself with others.

There were only two types of people that didn't look strange even when they did something so evil, and those were mothers who compared her own son with a friend's, or lovers who compared oneself with the other.

"Then do you want to come here for a second? I have something to show you. I can't comprehend this with my eyes, so I want to listen to another person's opinion."

"Sorry?... Does mother use magic as well?"

Kim YeSeul nodded with a flower-blooming smile on her face. Only she would know if that was due to Kang MiRae calling her 'mother' or because she was proud of her ability.

"Then, would you like to come inside this room?"

"Yes."

Why was there a need to switch locations? Confused, Kang MiRae followed her. Of course, Na YuNa and Yumir also followed them inside.

The place they headed to was the bedroom. Even though that room had to be an ordinary room inside a household, the moment Kim YeSeul closed the door and closed the curtains, a strange mana started to circulate. Kang MiRae intuitively felt that it was a type of a barrier.

"Mother....?"

"It's too dangerous to do this outside. No matter how I look at it, higher existences were involved with this. But at least inside here, there's no worry of information leaking out."

The moment she heard that, Kang MiRae felt shivers. Barrier? Avoiding the watch of higher existences?"

Even she did not have the confidence to make such a barrier. No, not only that, no mages she had met until now could deploy a barrier of this caliber.

Of course, she must have used an artifact to help…. wait, an artifact? She was in possession of an artifact that could deploy such a high-level barrier? Did Yu IlHan make it? But he didn't look like he was aware of Kim YeSeul's ability...

While Kang MiRae fell into confusion from just a fragment of Kim YeSeul's abilities, Kim YeSeul took out a staff from nowhere and lightly swung it. With that, the air split apart and a crack appeared. It was interspatial storage.

Interspatial storage!?

"Mother!?"

"I have it inside here."

Kang MiRae gave up judgement. Until now, she just thought that Yu IlHan was a mutant, but that wasn't the case. His DNA was inherited!

"Yes, I'll have a look."

"Fufu, you don't have to be so nervous. This has already lost its power as a magic formation."

"Magic.... formation....?"

Kang MiRae's voice contained a strong sense of doubt, but Kim YeSeul didn't mind that and flicked her staff. With that, a thick, red something came out from the crack in the air, very, very slowly.

That, which was originally intact, was a dead magic formation now that it had lost the core power, and was completely sealed inside a strong magic.

"This is..."

"Do you understand it?"

Kim YeSeul made a difficult smile.

"Although it's a little awkward for me to say this, this was ridiculously strong. Although I can use magic well, theoretical stuff like this is not my expertise. Do you understand it, miss?"

Kang MiRae was about to answer that she didn't know anything about such a horrifying item, but she could indeed understand some of the characters engraved on the formation.

And, this was something she had seen from an extreme minority of Yu IlHan's crafts.

"Yes, I think I can understand it."

Kang MiRae replied while gritting her teeth.

"It looks like mother.... has come across the schemes of a fallen angel."

Kang MiRae succeeded in discovering a portion of the characters that were etched on Yu IlHan's wings, Ruin Calling.

When Kang MIRae asked about Ruin Calling in the past, Yu IlHan nonchalantly replied to her that he referenced a magic language that is used by higher existences. What that meant, that this matter, had something to do with the Army of Brilliant Light, who were composed of those that were once angels.

From how the Army of Brilliant Light had teamed up with the Destruction Demon Army before, they were probably scheming something together this time as well. However, the most frustrating thing was that she did not know what they planned to do with this magic formation.

"So it was in the world mother was connected to."

"And it was in a really secretive place as well. Ehem….. I was only able to find it because I can wield magic well. It would have been hard for anyone else."

"So mother is saying….."

"What if, there are copies of these in other worlds? The world I resided in was relatively peaceful without any interference from the higher existences. However, ever since I found this item, I thought that there may be things like these in other worlds as well, and that if this was true, those magic formations were not made to endanger those native to each of the worlds, but rather, it was targeted at the people from Earth."

Kim YeSeul had a much smarter head than the useless angels. It was plenty amazing that she had found and nullified the magic formation, but she had already reached a conclusion with just a single magic formation!

"However, to prove my hypothesis, I need to see if there are similar magic formations in other worlds or not. That's why I called you here. I can trust you from how you worked with my son from the past, and you are quite exceptional yourself as a mage."

"....Thank you."

Despite the fact that the situation looked urgent, Kang MiRae's cheeks reddened. Kim YeSeul laughed as though she didn't have any intentions on hiding her thoughts. It was even more funny that Kang MiRae didn't acknowledge that fact.

While the hidden expert at delusions, Kim YeSeul, spent an enjoyable time judging her potential daughter-in-law, Yumir and Na YuNa also had a look at the formation.

"There is an enormous amount of mana in this. It's similar to the mana used by the angel-noonas."

"But it doesn't look like there's an evil aura. What would be a way to cause harm on Earth by making magic formations in other worlds~?"

"Let's move first. It won't be too late to come to conclusions then."

The biggest problem with this matter was that they did not know who to trust. It was obvious that there were traitors among the angels, but they couldn't come up with any potential candidate angels to discuss this with. In the first place, the only two angels they considered allies were Erta and Liera. And right now, they were with Yu IlHan.

This would have been solved instantly if Yu IlHan was here – thought Kang MiRae and she sighed before slapping her own cheeks. She had just decided to not rely on him, but she instinctively looked for him! When did she become so weak?

"We can't trust the higher existences. We need to move ourselves."

"Yes. With Mir in the mix, we'd be able to do it~."

"Heheh."

Yumir had mastered concealment not long ago. With his concealment specializing in party concealment, there was nothing for them to fear. Moreover, it would be quite a site to look at once the skill evolves.

"Uh, mother. Is it possible that you can lend us your….."

"Of course, I'll help. I brought up this topic, I can't be left out now, can I?"

Kang MiRae sighed in relief when she heard that. With such a strong mage as her ally, really, there was nothing to be afraid of! With Mir's power in the mix, she thought that they might perhaps be able to go against higher existences.

If there was one question, it was about how such a strong person stayed unknown until now….. as if having read her thoughts, Kim YeSeul scratched her cheeks and laughed cutely.

"Although I didn't participate in anything until now, I guess I can fill a little of my son's place."

"Well, yeah. If Mr. IlHan was here these kinds of trivial matters would….. Ugh."

Kang MiRae punished herself for the 2nd time. Then spoke with swollen cheeks.

"We'll depart as soon as you're comfortable with it."

"I'm fine at any time, but what about you, missy? You have a lot to do right now.

Replied Kim YeSeul, but Kang MiRae shook her head without even thinking about it.

"I feel that we may end up with an irreversible situation if we left this magic formation alone. There is a priority to everything. Although other things are important... I feel that this must come at the top."

"My dear. Your shoulders will break at that rate. Such a beautiful lady, who does not have a life of her own."

"Mother, I'm different from MiRae! I'm fine as long as my friends are good!"

"That's a little too much, little lady. Hm, I'm thinking of something in between the two of you."

"Ugh."

Na YuNa sunk. So the reason Yu IlHan could reject Na YuNa outright was because he took after his mother! Thinking that this household was really charming, Na YuNa burned in passion, as Kang MiRae smacked her on the forehead.

"Since mother said it was alright, then let's go right away."

"Are we going with four, without HaJin-oppa this time?"

"Yeah, this four-person combo would be much stronger. And my brother needs to look after the Lightning God clan while we aren't here."

Poor Kang HaJin was receiving a poor evaluation even in places where he wasn't present. Kim YeSeul laughed while listening to their conversation, and hugged Yumir.

The reason she decided to move for real, was because of him. Yumir was the best helper in moving while avoiding the watchful gaze of others.

As Yumir was well-endowed in looking cute in the eyes of older ladies, he rubbed his cheeks on her naturally. Really, he was a weapon of mass destruction, not incomparable to the scale of Yu IlHan.

"My Mir. You must protect this grandma well, ok?"

"Yeah! I'll protect grandma!"

It would be more persuasive if Kim YeSeul was called Yumir's older sister with Kim YeSeul becoming younger by the day, but Kang MiRae and Na YuNa decided not to retort on that.

Instead, they decided to take more care of their skins in the future. It would be a little sad if Yu IlHan said they looked older than his mom!

Author's notes

Kang MiRae does quite well, including seeing through the true head of the household!

Na YuNa's loss, yet again.

In fact, if Yu IlHan was there, the higher existences wouldn't be able to do anything properly. Now, he just disappeared, but now his mother is up!

Translator's notes

As you see from the title, and this chapter, I think that we won't be getting MC for a while.

Well, he does appear at the end of next chapter.

They immediately started to move. And obviously, the first world they visited was Lanpas, the world Kang MiRae was connected to. They hoped that there wasn't one of those formations, but as if to betray their expectations, there was a magic formation left so blatantly in the open.

Of course, it was actually hidden in the corner of the continent, but they could not escape the eyes of two mages who were searching for them by actively seeking out their characteristics.

From this, they could deduce one thing. The creation of the magic formation involved a higher existence, but the installment was the doing of a lower existence.

Of course, they did predict that the ones moving would be lower existences, as higher existences could not use their powers in worlds that aren't higher worlds, this fact did relieve the group.

However, it didn't end with just discovering the formation.

"Although I already said this, the magic formation has a defensive system, so you must be careful. Perhaps there might be another pattern than the one I mentioned, so don't loosen your grip."

"Yes."

Kang MiRae replied in a stiff tone, and grabbed her staff tightly. Na YuNa gave blessings to everyone. As Kim YeSeul was surprised at her absurd enhancement ability, she looked towards Na YuNa, but still came to herself and cast magic with her staff.

"Time Stop!"

An advanced mana that Kang MiRae could not interpret flowed out and covered the area where the magic formation was. Kang MiRae understood the words Kim YeSeul had chanted and shouted in shock.

"Time Stop!?"

"Oh, it's nothing overly grand. It just slows the target inside a set space using magic."

That was plenty grand!

However, leaving aside Kang MiRae's shock, Kim YeSeul attacked the magic formation using magic bullets compressed to their limits at the same time she used the time magic. The magic formation emitted an enormous amount of mana to create a shield the moment it detected an attack from the enemy, only then did Kang MiRae realize that it was her turn to step up.

"Thunderstorm!"

The moment two waves of unquantifiable mana collided with each other, the highest-class lightning magic, which activated by sacrificing all the allies' mana as well as enemies' mana through a super strong attractive force swept across the area. The fact that she had the ability to use other people's attacks to create her own was truly befitting of an Empress!

"Oh my, that's really amazing."

"Haaaap!"

Lightning storms atop the magic formation swallowed all the magic bullets, and in the end, swallowed even the shield protecting the magic formation. On top of that, Kim YeSeul's attack magic poured out once again. These were magic bullets that put delays on all actions of the target, whether it was mana recovery, or defense!

"Hup! Watch out!"

"Kyak!"

However, her attack was a little too late. The moment the magic formation was inflicted with an intolerable amount of attacks, it started emitting black smoke like mad while trembling wildly.

This was a dangerous attack that would kill them if they inhaled even the slightest amount of fog, as this was an extreme poison made from the combination of different magic. Kim YeSeul was also put into a dangerous situation when facing this.

So, she tried to block the black smoke with the Time Stop and and the magic bullets, but unfortunately, the range of the gas that the magic formation emitted was beyond her control. Though, it if wasn't for her magic, the group would have been instantly swept through by the gas.

Of course, as Kim YeSeul had warned about this gas beforehand, so she thought that everyone would be able to defend themselves in time. Just as she was about to cast another magic with her staff,

"Hap."

Yumir, who fell onto the magic formation at lightning speed, created a wind screw using magic, and pierced the magic formation!

[Critical Hit!]

The magic formation's durability couldn't hold out and was completely shattered due to the unexpected timing of the attack, just when its protective power took a slight dip in the process of emitting poisonous fog.

However, as Yumir was blanketed by the poisonous fog despite having broken the formation, what good was that! Kim YeSeul shouted in shock.

"Mir!"

"Oh, Mir is alright, mother."

Kang MiRae consoled her. Kim YeSeul widened her eyes at her, but soon, the black fog that tried to spread out to the lands started being sucked towards the center.

It was still not destroyed and it was trying to do something!? Just as she was about to prepare to cast another magic in nervousness, the remaining fog all disappeared at once and Yumir walked out. As he was creasing his face, Kim YeSeul's worries only deepened, but only until his next words.

"This isn't tasty at all."

"..."

"Mir has extreme poison resistance as well as higher curse resistance, mother."

"So there are such skills..."

It was natural that Kim YeSeul wouldn't have any knowledge of this skill. Unless one acquired it through quest rewards from the angels or something, one could only learn the base skill after suffering quite a lot of pain. However, thanks to meeting a good father, Yumir was born with it!

Just as Kim YeSeul became powerless after seeing that she had underestimated the potential of her grandson, Yumir, who raised a skill level in the process of sucking all the fog containing poison and mana, called for her while tilting her head.

"Grandma."

"Yes, what is it?"

"Some people are watching. Shall I go catch them?"

Not only Kim YeSeul, Kang MiRae and Na YuNa flinched when they heard that. Kang MiRae nodded instead of Kim YeSeul.

"Okay, then please."

"Got it!"

"Will you be alright alone?"

"Yeah!"

"Wait a moment, noona will give you a defense magic."

"No, those guys are weak so it's fine!"

With that Mir disappeared on the spot. From the shallow winds that replaced him, it was possible to estimate that he had enhanced his body using wind magic. Kim YeSeul muttered while dumbfoundedly looking at the spot he disappeared from.

"He really is multi-talented."

"If you take the talent to make artifacts away from Mr. IlHan, and put the talent to wield magic, then you'd get Mir~."

Although he was overwhelmingly inferior to Yu IlHan in fighting power as well, that gap was shortening. Of course, this was because Mir had grown through fighting many enemies in succession, but it was also because he could level up by eating the dragon meat which Yu IlHan had left behind.

Yes, Mir was born different. Born into a position where anyone would be envious of, he also put in endless effort in his desire to become stronger, and was even lucky to gain opportunities to do so, thus, it was no wonder he was so strong right now.

What was even stranger was Kim YeSeul, who looked even stronger than Mir right now. The magic she had casted in succession just now was something that Kang MiRae had never even heard of, and each and every one of them were strong beyond measure. According to her knowledge, it was impossible to use magic that interfered with time prior to becoming a higher existence… but it wasn't like she was one either…..

"Mother is... no, it's nothing."

Kang MiRae was about to question her but didn't. To start on that, Yu IlHan's powers were inexplicable as well. Even though she knew that it was rude to ask, she had made a mistake due to the relaxed situation.

However, Kim YeSeul seemed to have understood what she was going to say, and shook her head with a smile.

"I also do not know why I became so strong. Really… why?"

"Well, you were talented...."

"No, it is not talent. I can declare that I have no talent. Moreso because I'm hitting loops without being able to go forward."

"Loops?"

Kang MiRae titled her head at the incomprehensible words, but Kim YeSeul no longer spoke. Soon, Yumir brought a few men who fainted from magic, and Kang MiRae also forgot about the conversation just now.

Kang MiRae did not have the interrogative ability that Yu IlHan had (Of course, for him, it was just beating up souls). So she was worried about how to extract information from them, but it was all for nought.

"Obediently tell us about the magic fo..."

"We will! Please spare our lives!"

"I, I will say anything if you can guarantee that you won't kill me!"

Before she could say anything with lightning magic in her hands for threatening, they quickly caught up on the impending crisis, and spat out information like a leaking valve.

"A, although they aren't here, there were nobles and knights that cooperated with us..."

"There was only one fallen angel we saw. However, according to his words...!"

They were nobles residing in the imperial capital that Kang MiRae had seen before in the imperial castle. The rotten ones with neither tenacity nor ability, but was full of greed. They were played by the fallen angel precisely because of that, and were spitting out everything they knew so easily.

"This won't do."

Kang MiRae, who organized all the information that came from them, burnt them all to ashes and muttered while standing up.

"Although I did predict this, there's no way the fallen angels would have trusted them with so much information."

"But we still found out something; that this magic formations are just what we predicted – a scheme to do something about Earth – and also a joint plan from the guys called Army of Brilliant Light and the Destruction Demon Army, as well as the name of the magic, 'Freedom'."

Freedom, huh.

Kim YeSeul pondered about the word, but nothing came to her mind. There was one thing that was for sure, and it was that the situation would become irreversibly big if they left this alone.

People from tens of different worlds were already cooperating with them. Practically, all worlds connected to Earth right now, had something to do with this.

"The route of proliferation was..."

"There's no need to think about it. It's the mercenary guild~; to be exact, the settled mercenary system, that is causing this."

Said Na YuNa with a sigh. The timing was so coincidental that they thought that the fallen angels had waited for this opportunity.

"At first, those guys pulled some strings behind a single world."

And, their plans were completely shattered by Yu IlHan. Despite having repeated a few times, the results did not change.

In the end, they realized the fact that they would fail with cooperating with just a single world unless they found a way to utilize the power of higher existences.

However, with the 2nd Great Cataclysm, Earth started being connected to many different worlds physically. Although there was the positive result that the good people had gathered, but in reverse, it had also produced a result that it gathered all the bitches from every world in one place.

"The Army of Brilliant Light are bad guys, and the traitors belonging to the Heaven's Army is also just a minority, they shouldn't have been able to come into contact with all worlds under Heaven's management. However, with the gates opening on Earth, they could openly do bad deeds through the humans."

"So the worst case scenario we've come up with, had become real in an even worse fashion."

Muttered Kang MiRae with a sigh. But soon, she tensed her body with a shout.

"Let's move as much as we can. They said that the effect of the magic would increase the more worlds there are, right? Then we shall clean up as many of the magic formations as possible."

"Hing… It would have been good if Mr. IlHan was here~."

"Don't make crying sounds. We're going over to Breya immediately. We won't stop to rest so prepare yourself."

"Nuuuuu, Mr. IlHan~~~~~~ Ouch."

Kang MiRae tapped Na YuNa's forehead lightly to shut her up. Kim YeSeul watched the scene in satisfaction, and hugged Yumir. Yumir tilted his head.

"Grandma, did you put perfume on?"

"No."

"You smell good."

"Oh really?"

Just as she was enjoying some skinship with her grandson who only sweet-talked her, Kang MiRae and Na YuNa's gazes pricked her. She let him go, and he said the exact same thing to the girls and hugged them. Kim YeSeul made a small sigh, unnoticed by anyone, after seeing their figures.

"This guy… what's he doing? Sheesh."

He was busy all this time. She didn't think that he was lazing around after cutting all communications, but now that such a bothersome thing happened on Earth, she couldn't help but miss his son who cleaned up all messes before they even started up.

"Mother, let's go."

"Yes."

Kim YeSeul stopped her thoughts there and followed Kang MiRae. The gate that maintained connection with Earth constantly, was within the imperial castle, so there was a need to move quickly.

***

Meanwhile, the one that everyone longed for so much, Yu IlHan, was currently…

"Oryaaaaaaah!"

[Kuoaaaaaaaaaaaaah!]

[Kwaah! Kugaaaaak!]

[Kihiiaaaaak!]

[Your insane! You lunatic! How can you think of gathering them up to hunt all at once!] (Liera)

[Kyaaaaaak! It's coming here! It's coming here! Yu IlHan! IlHaaaaaaaan!] (Erta)

"I'm not insane, I only kicked up the training difficulty!"

He had raised hell-difficulty into inferno-difficulty!

Author's notes

Yu IlHan's family are all not ordinary.

What was after inferno again…..?

Translator's notes

It was not long ago, that Yu IlHan had become used to hunting these monsters.

"I'm no longer afraid of the vibration demon now."

[But you weren't afraid in the first place.] (Liera)

[We still are afraid of them.] (Erta)

"No, not that. I don't feel like I'd lose against anything in this dungeon now."

The battles with these monsters became so easy that the demon he just killed, he killed with just two strikes, including a surprise attack.

Well, of course, those two attacks were probably strong enough to split the the Earth in half, but until now, these demons had endured such attacks. Hence, hell mode.

Did that mean that the enemies were weakened? Not at all. They became stronger if anything, as Yu IlHan rose in level.

Then, there was only one answer left. The question mark riddled records he had absorbed until now after killing so many of them, started to take effect.

[I think the effects of the record absorption only took effect when you realized that this place was a part of Earth.] (Liera)

"You're right. I agree with that."

[Although I've lived for quite a long time, the Akashic Record is full of things we cannot understand. We don't even know why the Akashic Record cannot interpret the records Yu IlHan is acquiring right now, either.] (Spiera)

[Earth is strange in the first place, connecting gates to other worlds. Perhaps it takes time for it to get interpreted.] (Erta)

It wasn't like he had entered this place through normal means. This strange result was produced from the strange phenomenons happening on Earth, and an even stranger being that made use of it. Of course, he had no leisure to study the Akashic Record right now.

Yu IlHan thought back to the battle just now. That, was the biggest and strongest vibration demon he had faced until now, but somehow, from the moment he saw the figure from a distance, he could see through the weakest part of its body immediately.

He immediately charged and shot the pile bunker on that part of the body, and discovered a time to inflict as much damage as possible before attacking with the thunderhammer at the time. Then, Blaze, strengthened through Eternal Flame and Dragonic blood, resonated with the bone screw and incinerated the inside of its body. There was no need for the Death Driver, or the Eight-tailed dragon spear.

[At this rate, he might actually achieve 4th class within 5 years.] (Liera)

[Although I want to see that, I also don't want to see it...!] (Erta) 1

Liera and Erta respectively spoke with expectation and worry. However, Yu IlHan, surprisingly, shook his head after hearing them.

"It won't do at this rate."

[What do you mean it won't do. Isn't the experience rising like mad?] (Erta)

"But at this rate..."

Yu IlHan raised his head. The blood colored sunset that was maintained for 24 hours, washed over his face. Well, there was no sun here, so it was unknown if he could call that 'sunset'.

[At this rate?] (Liera)

"The skills won't be able to rise properly….."

[Uh…..]

[Hm…..]

"Just smashing it with the pile bunker and striking with the hammer, there's no room for skill growth. Until now, I had to do all sorts of stuff to fight so all of the skills grew equally."

While the angels became speechless at Yu IlHan's unimaginable speech, Spiera, who agreed with him on the inside, agreed with him, albeit a little later.

[...A, as expected of a trainee of the Great cosmos-severing spear!] (Spiera)

[Don't pretend to be calm!] (Liera)

Yu IlHan checked his status again, and came to the conclusion that he really couldn't continue like this. There were many skills he wanted to master before 4th class, but at this rate, not even one of them would have a satisfying growth!

"And it's not like I can beat up the boss now either.

In the first place, he didn't know where it was. The angels were never as thankful as they were now.

"I can't help it. I can only increase the number of enemies I face."

[Huh, these monsters, you mean?] (Liera)

[These monsters that are predicted to be level 260 or above?] (Erta)

[....Do your best, Yu IlHan!] (Spiera)

Liera and Erta shivered in fear, and Spiera cheered him on. Liera and Erta turned around and shouted at the same time.

[You're thinking like it's another one's business, but if IlHan dies, we die too! Moreover, the moment you use your power, you'll get expelled from Heaven!] (Liera)

[Yu IlHan became insane due to his greed for growth. We need to stop him and make him get it together!] (Erta)

[But wouldn't it be possible if it's Yu IlHan...?] (Spiera)

The angels all fell into confusion. However, Yu IlHan didn't care about that. No, in fact, he wouldn't even care even if a beautiful girl (aka bishoujo) fell from the skies!

"First, I'll need to start with a preemptive attack with the pile bunker, so I need to practice loading pile bunkers faster."

[You really are going to do it!?] (Liera)

"After that, I'll set some traps in some places, and use some artifacts that auto-target when enemies approach... Orochi, how many thought-souls do we have?"

A thought-soul within an artifact was easier to manage. Since there was almost no limit now to his Rule skill, due to its growth. He had no reason to hesitate.

[Krrr... 81 4th class, 3rd classes number more than that, but against those monsters, 3rd class thought-souls won't be enough.] (Orochi)

"And the thought-souls of those demons?"

[It's still too difficult right now.]

It wasn't like the demons did not leave behind a thought-soul. However, they were only roaring like the time they were alive, so Orochi could only have a hard time facing them. No, in fact, it was even hard to win 1 on 1.

"Then let's do with what we have for now. I'll make the artifacts easy to be installed and uninstalled….. good, now, only I need to do well."

[His plans are becoming concrete, what do we do?] (Liera)

[Aah, the price for leaving him on Earth, we're finally paying for....] (Erta)

Yu IlHan activated the Hourglass of Eternity, which coincidentally became usable again, to acquire his time alone in this wide dungeon, and started working with his anvil and furnace out.

He made automatic interception ballistas that shot arrows automatically when enemies were in a certain range, as well as mines, grenades, and lightning traps and ice traps to stun the enemy! All of this became possible thanks to Yu IlHan's rising magic engineering skill.

"Ooh, it's funny to see legend ranks popping out so easily."

[Why, do the epic ranked ones not come out?] (Liera)

"I got one just now. It's a trap that covers the surrounding area in lightning, but I actually got an option attached to it that will make it stronger through absorbing enemy's mana. Hey, there's also an attack-reflect option. That sounds painful even for me. But I've considered that and it has an ally-protection option!"

[....] (Liera)

Liera thought that it would be perfect if he just added 'For today only, you can get one for 39.99!'. However, seeing the occasional epic ranked artifacts and traps, she couldn't even joke around anymore.

In a secretive dungeon unbeknownst to anyone, an achievement that would be recorded in history was happening.

He made artifacts, trained in the Great Cosmos-Severing spear, as well as the Spear of Untraceable Trajectory and some other skills, and two months of time passed by in a flash.

Others wouldn't possibly try to extend the duration of isolation in a dungeon even when they were given the Hourglass of Eternity, but to Yu IlHan, it was not much different from lunchtime break at high school.

"Although it's a pity that I couldn't learn the Great Cosmos-severing Spear, let's go."

[Okay, let's go!] (Liera)

[Let's finish this up quickly!] (Erta)

In the two months that didn't even take one second, the angels were all in a state of nirvana. If they couldn't avoid it, they could only enjoy it! The girls took a step forward as higher existences.

And so, it comes to now.

[Kyaaaak! As I expected, I can't do this! There are two more cominggggggg!] (LIera)

[Yu IlHan, beneath your feet! Below!] (Erta)

Bullshit nirvana. Even the world's most frightening roller coaster wouldn't they scream like they were doing now!

"Hhp!"

Yu IlHan moved his body according to the two angels that loyally reported back the position of the enemies without him asking.

[Kuoooooh!]

[Kihiiiik!]

Without even needing to look back, he could realize from just their voice alone – that monsters, that shot out vibrating tentacles, fire, frost, or lightning were waiting to devour him whole even with their vital parts, such as the heart, penetrated through!

"Good, I knew skills won't grow without a thrill like this!"

[You're a pervert! You pervert!] (Liera)

Yu IlHan had to become proficient in flying through the attacks of enemies that poured onto him literally by the second, and dodging all of the fire, lightning, ice and tentacles!

However, even when dodging, he would not simply just dodge. The moment he directed a shockwave towards the back for Leap, a slug cartridge appeared in the direction of the shockwave.

"And shoot!"

The cartridge obviously broke apart in the shockwave. The cartridge which contained the power to absorb and amplify due to the materials being from the vibration demon, absorbed all the shock, and amplified it and sent it outwards in every direction!

[Critical Hit!]

[Kuooooh!]

[Kuaang!]

The slug cartridge beautifully exploded into pieces. The demons cried out in pain due to getting damage from an item made of their own bones. 4th classes from the outside world would perhaps die with this attack alone.

However, Yu IlHan's rampage did not end there. He had successfully lured them the range where he had set up small, mid, large, and extra large sized ballistas which he had set up like an orchestra.

Despite the fact that they were hopelessly attacked by the grenades and the landmines until now, and precisely because that happened, the demons blindly chased Yu IlHan while rampaging even more. The result was not worth talking about.

[Kuwaaaah!]

[Kihih! Kihiiiih!]

The ballista army that shot out bone spears mercilessly at the enemies, started a concert using the cries of the demons that were experiencing a new world in front of the harmony of the magic gunpowder and Giant's Rubber Band, as instruments! Even though they just wanted to take revenge on the man that had holed through their chests, they had to be beaten up with all sorts of methods that could possibly exist in this world!

[They're all being fooled! All of them!] (Liera)

[You bet they would. Yu IlHan is at a point where he could bestow his concealment power to an artifact through magic stones…..] (Erta)

Yu IlHan moved around busily and struck at the enemies using all sorts of artifacts and traps, as well as deploying leap and re-leap to escape their sights to procure concealment environment, and mercilessly ripped the head off the enemies who were defenseless, with a single surprise attack.

And the text that popped up like mad on Yu IlHan's retina was this!

[Critical Hit!]

[Critical Hit!]

[Critical Hit!]

[Critical Hit!]

It wasn't that the Akashic Record finally broke. It was just that Yu IlHan could draw three untraceable trajectories with a single strike of the spear. SInce all of them achieved critical damage, not even one of them could endure.

[You have earned 4??9??87??5??1 experience.]

[You have become level 187. 2 Strength, 1 Agility, 1 Health, 1 Magic increases.]

[The skill, Spear of Untraceable Trajectory, has become level 68!]

[The skill, Leap, has become level 96!]

As he would be put through heaven and hell once he strayed from his predicted path, his focus was heightened to the limits, so with that Yu IlHan's original objective, skill training, was going very well. He even raised a level while he hunted all of them in one fell swoop!

Yu IlHan felt the completely recovered health and magic and charged forward once again with a smile. On the tip of this spear, a white flame, the mixture of Eternal Flame and Blaze, was spouting bright white light.

"All of you! Come at meeeeeeeee!"

[Can we.... hold out until IlHan gets 4th class?] (Liera)

[Please take care of me when it comes down to it, Liera. Don't bring Yu IlHan up, you can go down.] (Erta)

[Fufu, I'll bring you down first!] (Liera)

The moment the curtain to the 7th mini war rose, Yu IlHan's inferno difficulty hunting days also raised the curtains.

....Without even knowing what the people of Earth were currently facing.

Author's notes

Even though he's the main character, he's not having any share in the main plot. No matter what, he shouldn't drop out of the main storyline, right!?

I've had a look at the comments…. but it looks like gathering those comments will end up with an entire series of a novel! Imagination sure is amazing.

We'll just go over the crucial bits and proceed fast.

Translator's notes

Right people. I'm not even going to mention names now. Cuz latecomers don't get special treatment. (Even though there's a guy who sponsored 5 alone by himself)

Anyway, that's four chapters out. There's still one in queue. I hope I don't die with all this translating+school hw+team projects. Wish me luck!

Happy reading!

Another year passed. It had been 2 years since Yu IlHan had entered the dungeon, and it had also been 2 years and 2 months since the Earth had undergone its 2nd Great Cataclysm.

Of course, it was hard for Yu IlHan to feel that flow of time, as the dungeon was covered in red light without night and day, and Yu IlHan's physical body had evolved a lot and now he was fine with almost no sleep.

Just that, he remembered the number of times he had opened the barrier which he opened every month when the angels told him the time. Inside, he would repair his equipment, resupply his consumables, make food, check his skill status, and train.

"Hm."

Right now, after achieving 2nd anniversary in this life of hell, Yu IlHan was in deep thought with the scene in front of him.

"This is no longer hard either."

[Yeah, right!] (Liera)

Retorted Liera with every bit of potential she had in her soul. Her eyes were also fixated at what was in the front.

Endlessly bursting flesh and drops of blood, resonating cries and screams. Here, was true hell. Of course, the difference was that the punisher and the punished had switched places!

[Kuuuwaaaak!]

[Kihik Kihiiiik!]

Various overlaid traps, ballistas that never lost sight of the enemy once targeted. It didn't stop there, and there were drones which flew around to grab enemies, or pull them together, or tackled their legs, or just plain beat them up.

That, was the item that proved Yu IlHan's growth in magic engineering!

Of course, he wasn't able to push the monsters to their deaths with just that. Perhaps he would be able to kill them if they were normal 4th class, but it was nigh impossible to fatally wound these over level 260 demons, and Yu IlHan also knew that well.

So, all his install-type weapons and traps were focused not in attacking power, but in grabbing the attention of the enemies, and nullifying their movements. That, first, disabled their focused attacks on Yu IlHan, and second, enabled Yu IlHan to conceal himself more easily. Really, for Yu IlHan, that was more than enough.

The ones he trusted the most, and the one he sought to raise the most, were his physical body trained over numerous years, and his concealment, which now basically became one with him.

"Hhp!"

[Critical Hit!]

[You have earned ??847?34523? experience.]

Yu IlHan was more free than anyone in his own domain, and shook the insides of the domain with his spear that was more fatal than any other traps in the area, while taking the necks of the lower levelled ones first.

Yu IlHan, who had absorbed their records for two whole years through hunting, was now literally the same as having equipped eyes that scouted these demons. Now, he could read through their health, weaknesses, patterns, skills, and even simple thought processes!

[There's around 50 here but he's not even challenged!] (Liera)

[It's 67, Liera.] (Erta)

[With this many here, they're even committing team kills. They're just hitting something like mad, but they don't seem to recognize what they're hitting.] (Spiera)

With bombs exploding everywhere as well as arrows flying from all directions, the demons were swept by away like mad. Naturally, attacks aimed at Yu IlHan were frequently missed, and oftentimes they would hit their allies. In fact, more of these demons were killed due to team kills than through his traps!

Yu IlHan was undergoing battle while moving around hectically, but realized that at this rate, they would not be able to land a single finger on him, tentacles included. Then, there was no meaning to his aggroed hunting.

A battle without thrills was akin to a practice stage! No matter how long he did this for, his skill proficiency would not rise.

"Did I go overboard with the artifacts?….. Should I decrease their numbers and fight up front?"

[Please don't.] (Liera)

[Although you may be alright with it, we aren't! I'll really hate you if you keep doing such foolish things like this.] (Erta)

[I think it will be fine for Yu IlHan though…..] (Spiera)

[Stop with the baseless faith!]

He would have proceeded if this training was without a threat to his life, but since it was, he couldn't remove his safety devices. Yu IlHan was pressured by the angels' desperate request and nodded his head.

"Then I can't help it. Let's switch to level up mode now."

Yu IlHan's level was 'still' 195. No matter how much experience these demons gave him, unlike the worlds and dungeons full of monsters he had experienced prior to this, there was a limit to the number of these demons generated in this dungeon, and his growth had stalled.

[Stalled? STALLLEDDDDD?] (Liera)

"Ah, you're noisy."

Of course, it wasn't just due to that. Another reason for the drop in his growth speed was because Yu IlHan was adamant in group huntng, and had to go around with a massive trail of those demons on his tail. However, if he killed everything in his sight without even bothering to fold his wings, then his level up speed would accelerate.

Although it did weigh on his mind that he hadn't mastered the skills as he wanted to, he decided to believe that around two more skills would reach the master level by the time he received the 4th class mission.

"Well, then. I should start off by killing everything here."

The moment he decided on that, he activated all the landmines within the area and caused a grand explosion. The destruction was one thing, but the instantaneous boom and flash was even more frightening.

There was no way these demons would get affected by normal light or sound, but Yu IlHan's version was precisely made to affect them. He had thoroughly analyzed their abilities and made these so that they would disrupt their defense system!

[Kihik!]

[Kihaak!]

The moment all the demons in the area were nullified, he spat out a huge shockwave behind his wings and charged towards them by the repetition of leaps and re-leaps he was used to by now!

"Orochiiiiiiii!"

[Kroaaaaaaaar!]

This scene looked like it was from some shounen manga, but Yu IlHan and Orochi, connected through the Rule skill, focused their wills on the tip of the Eight-tailed dragon spear.

On the Eight-tailed dragon spear firmly gripped by his two hands, his level 99 Superhuman strength, the power of dragonkin raised by Dragonic blood, level 90 Blaze, and finally, the sharpness of the sword, which he needed the most right now, was imbued. This was literally everything Yu IlHan had piled up untilo now.

Wait no. One more thing.

"Hhp!"

While charging in a speed even he could not control, Yu IlHan swung his spear towards those that were blocking his vision. At that moment, demons in his range of all 6 directions as well as diagonal directions, all spurted out enormous amounts of blood!

[Critical Hit!]

[Critical Hit!]

[The skill, Spear of Untraceable Trajectory, has become level 83.]

[Critical Hit!]

Meanwhile, his spear took a step forward, and the number of strikes he could use at a single time, increased in number. Spiera shouted after seeing Yu IlHan dealing 5 strikes of the spear at once to one of the demons that was behind him, after he did a sudden turn.

[Does it even make sense to become proficient in such an absurd level of an advanced skill!?] (Spiera)

[Did IlHan do anything that was within your knowledge?] (Liera)

[Spiera, are you now afraid that your martial arts will be caught up by Yu IlHan?] (Erta)

[Shut up.] (Spiera)

The 14th mini war was triggered among the angels, but Yu IlHan wasn't in the right mind to care about them. He had to defeat enemies in the most efficient way possible since although his level was near 200, and he had raised the skill level of Blaze and the Spear of Untraceable Trajectory a lot, they still consumed a lot of mana!

[Critical Hit!]

[Critical Hit!]

[You have mastered the skill, Critical hit. It becomes easier to find weaknesses even against enemies you meet for the first time, and the power behind critical hits increases by a large amount.]

BLood and flesh scattered in the air, as well as the heads of the demons. Even while moving faster than he could recognize, Yu IlHan pulled off escaping the eyes of enemies and concealing himself, and the screams and cries that filled the region also started to die down after a certain point.

[You have earned ?94?4512?453 experience.]

[You have earned 53?4435??501 experience.]

And finally, the moment arrived.

[You have mastered the skill, Leap. The limitations on the number of re-leaps, as well as the delays between each re-leap completely disappears. However, you must be careful as each re-leap will give a lot of burden to the physical body.]

[It is possible to evolve the skill into an advanced skill if you fulfill the skill evolution criteria.]

[3rd class magic stones 4,643,549/100,000]

[4th class magic stones 19,685/1,000]

[Blood of high magic species 201,559/1,000 L]

[Attain 2 achievements related to leap 2/2]

[The skill evolution criteria for the skill, Leap, has been fulfilled. Will you evolve the skill?]

"...Eh?"

Although he wanted to master the Superhuman strength skill first, he ended up mastering Leap first. Well, yeah. He had no complaints in that itself.

However, what the hell was with the insane skill evolution criteria? One hundred thousand 3rd class magic stones? One thousand liters of high magic species? Achievements related to leap?

Leaving aside everything else, one thousand 4th class magic stones… that was impossible for anyone other than Yu IlHan. Even Language required only 100!

'Although, Language requires a 5th class magic stone too...'

If the Language skill went with quality, Leap skill went with quantity. Of course, that was according to Yu IlHan's standards. He thought about what to do, but then remembered that he was still under battle.

[Kuoooooh!]

"Fine, fine. I'm coming."

Yu IlHan, who replied as if he was going to play with puppies, did indeed play a lot with them. The final one remaining was the one with the most tenacious connection to him, the perverted vibration demon!

"Huooooooh!"

[Kihaaaaaa!]

Yu IlHan struck out with his spear after dodging all of those long and large tentacles.

[Critical Hit!]

The Eight-tailed dragon spear, which would have been deflected by the vibrations before, ignored all vibrations and just burnt everything. The sharp spear head hidden inside the flames split the demon's head in half.

[You have become level 196. 2 Strength, 1 Agility, 1 Health, 1 Magic increases.]

"It gave me a single level after all of that."

[No one's giving you any levels, it's you who's raising it!] (Erta)

Yu IlHan snorted before collecting the corpses of all the demons, the ballistas and the traps. He didn't forget to polish them for immediate use in the future, and with Eternal Flame which had been with him through countless battles, that much was as easy as pie.

And only after all that, did he gain the time to ponder about the evolution of the Leap skill.

[Evolving the Leap skill? Leap is the supplementary one in Superhuman strength, right?] (Liera)

[Although it started off like that, it should be completely different now. It's a skill that has nothing to do with me since I'm not proficient in moving my body….. Liera, Spiera, do you two not have it?] (Erta)

Liera and Spiera both shook their heads.

[I'm the type to attract everything and smash them all at once.] (Liera)

[I was always careful with my steps in order to strike with everything with my spear. My mobility came after I became an angel.] (Spiera)

[You could have just said you didn't…] (Erta)

Liera and Spiera decided to not talk about how they would feel like they lost out to Yu IlHan if they didn't give reasons. Of course, Yu IlHan was busy thinking about the Leap skill, and didn't care about their conversation.

"I should evolve it, right?"

[Unless you're planning to eat all those 4th class magic stones or something, then yes, I guess?] (Erta)

Erta's advice was effective. Yu IlHan shook away the final shred of hesitation in his heart and chose to evolve, and immediately, a portion of the magic stones and dragon blood in his possession appeared outside and covered his body.

And finally, the two achievements he attained related to Leap, 'The Quickest', and 'The Frog that Leaped out of the Well', as well as the records related to those two titles were all dismantled and sublimed into a higher form of record. Of course, he did not know how and why those two titles were achievements related to leaping.

[It's strange that this skill is possible to be evolved alone in the first place....] (Liera)

[Just what kind of results would it bring? I'm looking forward to it.] (Erta)

[No matter how grand the conditions for evolutions are, there are plenty of cases where the results aren't up to par. Of course, I wish that was not the case, but if you expect too much, you may become disapp-] (Spiera)

The moment Spiera was about to continue, the dragon blood that enveloped Yu IlHan swallowed the numerous magic stones, and seem to change in property before being absorbed by Yu IlHan's body.

The angels realized that the enormous quantity and quality of mana was changing into a form that they 'knew very well'.

[....Huh?]

[I think it's for sure.] (Erta)

[But that ability is... Hmm?] (Spiera)

While the angels were tilting their heads, Yu IlHan also started to understand the identity of the power surging inside him. And the fruit of that finally etched onto his retina.

[You have acquired the skill, Warp. The power of leaping beyond the extreme will distort spacetime and will lead you to the location you want. It is possible to transfer by using a large quantity of magic stones, and you are able to move to anywhere as long as it's place you are in perfect comprehension of. It is also possible to bring others with you by consuming additional magic stones.]

"..."

After realizing the identity of the power that completely settled inside him, he felt a strange combination of freedom, emptiness, disappointment and joy, as he spoke.

"Let's go home now."

Representing the other two, Liera replied in a bright and worry-less voice.

[Okay!]

Author's notes

So there were a lot of people who thought that IlHan will clear the dungeon! But you were wrong!

Translator's notes

There was a limit to the sleeper's net catching a lot of fish. Never did he imagined he would master Leap while training to kill the boss of the dungeon, and even escape the dungeon with the advanced version.

He could have predicted it when the title, 'Frog that leaped out of the well' came into play in the evolution process… perhaps his foreshadow-reading abilities had come to an end?

Well, it didn't matter that much, since he could now go back home, but Yu IlHan still couldn't erase the sense that something was remaining in his heart.

"Although it's good that everything's solved, what is this stuffy feeling…"

[That's because you're a pervert that cannot rest still until you kill the boss in whichever dungeon you're in. But, I still like you that way!] (Liera)

"I also like myself this way. ...And yes, I like you too."

[Eheheh.] (Liera)

Liera thought that she would be forgiven if she just attached 'I like you' at the end of her lines, and… it was true. Yu IlHan stroked her hair and checked the skill he had earned just now, Warp.

"The conditions for using this skill is so tedious... It's not like I can go to anywhere I've been to, but only after I have a thorough comprehension of that area. What is 'thorough comprehension'?"

[Spatial transfer magic is normally a lot more tedious than that. However, you have acquired the Warp skill, and the skill activation conditions you've just said is like drawing simple pictures while we, are writing 1 gigabyte worth of mathematical formulae.] (Erta)

To think back, Erta probably did say she had learnt spatial transfer magic. His time here was so hectic that he had forgotten about that.

Then, why didn't she use it…? He looked at her with such eyes, and Erta turned her head away and spoke in a powerless voice.

[I can only move between worlds. That's how normal higher existences are!] (Erta)

"Aha."

Erta probably had her pride as a higher existence specializing in magic. Yu IlHan decided to not touch on that.

[And so? How do you draw the magic formation?] (Erta)

"There's nothing like that, I only need to spend some magic stones. But since the skill level is low right now, I think it will take a little time."

Yu IlHan thought up of the place he knew about the best, the Bittersweet Persona. Since he had designed it himself, he would at least not fail!

The number of magic stones to go there in that exact spot, while bringing 3 angels with him...

Just by thinking up of the conditions, the answer popped out of his head, as if a calculator did all the working out in his brain.

50 4th class magic stones for Yu IlHan, as he didn't reach higher existence yet, 80 for the 5th class Erta, and 110 for the remaining two, for a total of 350. It was insanely expensive.

"Hey I won't be able to even use it frequently. The cost would probably increase if I move between worlds, too..."

Yu IlHan once again realized the power of the title 'Frog that leaped out of the well'. It was only used in the evolution process, and still retained its ability, so he would be able to use it in the future as well. The problem, was that he couldn't do it here.

[Why? How many do you need to spend?] (Liera)

"350 magic stones, all 4th class."

[Kehk.]

"Pay back 300 4th class magic stones later."

[Kehk.]

[Let's send the bill to Heaven...] (Spiera)

Yu IlHan, gave the angels the debt, and activated the skill while watching out for any assaults. However, he couldn't even hear the boss, much less the steps of the demons he had beaten up to death.

"Done."

[I can feel a path opening! But look at that! It's so secretive, just like IlHan!] (Liera)

"You shut up."

As Yu IlHan's skill was an advanced version of Leap, there was no tedious process like summoning a gate outside, and just needed for everyone to jump from the spot. That action would become the trigger and distort the path.

"Now!"

The moment Yu IlHan jumped hand in hand with the angels, he remembered the faint memories that were almost buried under the weight of a thousand years.

In his high school, there was once they went to a theme park for a school trip, and the guys who naturally did not include Yu IlHan in their group (probably because they didn't know he was there), tried to take a cool photo and all jumped at once for it, only to drop all of their phones in their pockets at the same time.

It would be fine if one or two were intact, but as if to prove their solid friendship, they had all broken their phone screens, which made Yu IlHan very happy.

[Don't bring up sad memories and package it like a good one! I'll do it with you from next time! I'll do a lot of other things with you!] (Liera)

"Don't read my mind."

The skill activated successfully. Yu IlHan and the angels ignored the physical and magical spatial limitations and instantly moved to the Bittersweet Persona.

Yu IlHan blindly believed that this was possible because it was an advanced skill, but in truth, it was a special skill that was only generated due to the achievements he had pulled off until now. No matter how many magic stones were invested, it wasn't so easy to leap through space.

However, at the time the scene of the dungeon blurred about with the scene of his property, a small voice could be heard in his ears. It was a voice belonging to a very young child.

[Don't come again. No one come again. Do not ever come again.] (???)

"I won't, you damn thing."

[Hm?]

"It's nothing."

He shook his head. He was sure that that guy was the boss of the dungeon. The reason it kept sending out those demons was also because it didn't want to meet Yu IlHan.

Of course, he said he won't go back, but Yu IlHan would mercilessly go beat it up if he had the certainty to. Whether it wanted to fight him or not, it was a serious crime to trap Yu IlHan in a cage for more than 2 years!

And like that, Yu IlHan came back to Earth, in a way he had never even imagined he would.

[We really came back. With such a crude skill too.] (Erta)

[The mana concentration of this area has become even higher. I can only sigh thinking about how much change Earth would have undergone in these two years.] (Spiera)

[Hey, that's not the problem right now. We're getting calls from everywhere. EVERYWHERE!] (Liera)

The angels became emotional that they could communicate with the Heaven's Army again, and started working busily. Well, since they were away for 2 years, they were probably going to be busy. Yu IlHan had the confidence that he would not be surprised even if all three of them left his side for the next two months.

"But..."

Yu IlHan, who finally became emotional that he had come to Earth when he took a fresh and sweet breath of air, noticed something and looked around him.

Of course, all the trees within the mansion grounds were monitored and managed by the automated system in the mansion, so it didn't look that different, but he could instinctively feel that they hadn't undergone much human hands recently.

"Looks like everyone was busy until now."

[Nothing bad happened... right?] (Liera)

"No, there are traces of them being here from time to time. Mir was also here not too long ago."

What he did was to empty out the fridge. Yu IlHan had finished maturing all the remaining dragon meat and had put them in the fridge, but they were all gone right now.

"...I suddenly feel like a lot of time has passed."

[This guy, you didn't say anything like that when you were learning magic engineering to craft artifacts and levelling up.] (Liera)

[Well, parents only feel the flow of time with the growth of their children.] (Erta)

Yu IlHan couldn't deny Erta's words. Not to mention deny, he wanted to meet Yumir right now. The things he had endured until now started exploding all at once.

"Oh crap. I might even be glad even if I meet Miss YuNa right now."

[Hey, don't go saying that to that woman. It will become a mess. She might try to put a stamp on you.] (Liera)

Yu IlHan entered the mansion while laughing. The first thing he wanted to do was to have a nice bath with the luxurious facilities in the mansion! Thinking back to how he couldn't even wash properly in the dungeon for 2 years, he gritted his teeth.

[Let me go with you too!] (Liera)

"You also need to scrape your body though. Let's use a bath each, while I still stay calm."

The angels all agreed that they needed to wash up before getting busy, and they each headed to their own battlefield after splitting up. Liera couldn't let go of the regret, but Spiera and Erta forcefully took her.

Yu IlHan first took off all his armor and washed them clean, and jumped into the bath after a quick wash.

Dirt and dead skin floated up the bathtub without even needing to scrape his body. It was as i looking at a birth of an army. Although, the bath was also an artifact so the waste automatically disappeared...

"Wait."

It was at that moment that Yu IlHan thought of the Giant Bucket in his inventory. He discussed the the angels about how it would be good to train mana inside it, but he had forgotten about it since he had a lot of other things to use it on.

But since he had used up all the materials in the 2 years in the dungeon, there was no need to use the Giant Bucket for quite a while. Then...

"Good."

Scraping all the dead skins and dirt off his body in a flash, he stood up after draining the bath. But then, he realized something else as well.

"Huh?"

Although he didn't notice until now since he had no time to check his growth in the dungeon, it looked like he had grown taller in the past two years, and he reached 190 cm.

"So I didn't notice since the growth was too gradual..."

Yu IlHan was surprised after seeing himself in the mirror. He thought that his growth period had ended with him entering 20 years of age, but it looked like the cells that had evolved over his millennium on Earth, had gradually changed his physical body with the repetitive level ups and the flow of time.

He alternated between gripping and loosening his fists, and cleanly shaved the beard he had left alone until now, since he was in front of the mirror. He also took out the spear to cut off his hair and it became quite neat.

"Well then."

Thankfully, the bath was wide enough for the bucket to fit. He burned all the cut off hair with Blaze and poured hot water in the Giant Bucket.

But then, he thought up of something and took out a bottle of Breath and put a few drops of it into the water. Then, the water was dyed in pink and the bucket vibrated slightly for a moment. Yu IlHan thought that his thoughts weren't wrong.

'Perhaps because it's made of dragon hearts, it sure does have a great compatibility with dragon blood.'

Yu IlHan scraped his body once again before entering the bucket, and jumped in without hesitation.

"Phewwwww."

Although on the outside, the bucket looked normal since the magic organs comprising the heart had all been fused into the bucket, it was quite clear that the group of dragon hearts absorbed in the bucket were doing their jobs.

The waves of mana from various parts of the bucket vibrated the water, and vibrated the dragon blood diffused inside it, and even shook the mana residing in Yu IlHan's body. The feeling was quite….. no, considerably good.

'Since I made so much, I won't need to make cookies for a while right? Looks like I should make this my exclusive bath.'

Yu IlHan allowed his body to be taken away by the minute vibrations of the water. This caused a lot of positive changes with his mana resonating naturally.

He thought back to the dragon blood that he had absorbed in the process of evolving the Leap skill. Those dissolved the magic stones and changed it to direct the skill's growth, and acted as a catalyst for Yu IlHan to absorb more easily. The blood being absorbed into Yu IlHan was actually a side effect.

They, did not disappear anywhere. They were compressed and took place in Yu IlHan's soul, his record, and deep inside his bones. Even when he focused now, he could feel the absorbed dragon blood resonating with the Giant Bucket.

Perhaps the most absurd item Yu IlHan had made until now was not the Bittersweet Persona or anything else, but this Giant Bucket.

"Dad!"

At that moment, the door to the bath opened and Yumir ran in. Yu IlHan knew that he was coming as he was half-sharing his senses with the mansion, and when he was about to turn his head towards him.

"*Waaaaaaaaaaaaah*!" 1

Yumir ran into him while crying as soon as as he discovered Yu IlHan. Since he did not care about any objects in his path, such as the Giant Bucket, Yu IlHan had to receive him using his arms.

"*Sob*, *Waaaaaahhhh*!"

"Yes, yes. It's alright now."

Yu IlHan also put to a lot of rest seeing Yumir safe and sound. He had grown in the meanwhile, and also became more mature.

Although he was still 3rd class, their realms didn't look to be that far apart from each other. Just with hunting, there was no way he could have caught up to Yu IlHan, who suffered in hell, but it looks like the effects of the dragon meat were really effective.

"Dad, where did you go!?"

"It's a long story….. a really long one, do you want to listen?"

"Yeah!"

"Okay, then."

"No, unfortunately, right now, it's a little....."

However, the one that answered him was a female voice and not Yumir. When Yu IlHan turned his head, he could see Kang MiRae who had become more mature and more beautiful over the past 2 years.

As Yu IlHan could see Kang MiRae, Kang MiRae was also met with the nude body of Yu IlHan inside the bucket.

"Oh, Miss MiRae was here too."

"Huu…"

Then fainted without a moment's delay. Yu IlHan blinked a few times and looked at Mir.

"Mir, why did she just faint?"

"I don't know."

"What was she about to say again?"

"That I do know."

Yumir answered confidently.

"They say the 3rd Great Cataclysm is coming!"

[Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!]

The moment Yu IlHan was about to say something, a loud noise resounded from where the angels would be washing. Just where did Liera throw her pride and dignity as an angel… Yu IlHan missed the her of when they first met as he stood up.

It looked like this was no time for a leisurely bath.

Author's notes

Let IlHan rest already! T_T

Translator's notes

No, you don't need those donors right now, you guys are killing me. And hey, sponsors are done! No more in the queue now! But there are still 2 regular chapters tomorrow! (presumably at this time)

1. God, I have NO IDEA how to translate crying sounds.

Yu IlHan tried to lightly wipe his body and get clothed, but the clothes he had bought 2 years ago didn't fit him anymore.

Without any options, he just wore a gown over his underwear, and pushed the Giant Bucket to one corner of the bath. The water inside was constantly affected by the bucket to keep the cleanness of the water, so he only needed to heat it back up again when he entered later.

"But why is dad having a bath here?"

"Mir, you have yours here from now too."

"Ok!"

Yumir would always start off by accepting whatever his dad said. Even now, his figure sticking to Yu IlHan was like a kid. Well, he just turned 61, so it was natural that he was like this. Moreover, weren't they separated for more than 2 years now?

"What did you do until now?"

"We were very busy. And we still are.'

From how he was talking about the impending 3rd Great Cataclysm, well, yeah they should have been busy. Yu IlHan strokes Yumir's head with a smile, and completely dried his hair.

He went outside after clothing himself and while carrying the fainted Kang MiRae, and was met with the relatively calm Na YuNa.

He thought about how Kang MiRae had become quite pretty, but compared to Na YuNa, who had innate beauty, and a blessing from the goddess of beauty to top it off, she was quite well off.

"Hi! It's good that you've returned safely~."

"And you too, Miss YuNa."

Before, she was quite a ways off to higher existences, but with the increase in her level, and becoming more proficient in utilizing the power of the goddess of beauty, she had an appearance that was hard to believe as human. As Yu IlHan couldn't see the change process over the 2 years, he was shocked even more.

Since she was already catching up to the original beauty of a higher existences, despite being a lower one, what would happen once she became a higher existence? He could finally understand why the heads of the various factions aimed for her. And at the same time, he was sure that a lot of annoying things would happen in the future because of her.

"But Mr. IlHan. You became a lot more handsome than last time~!"

"Thanks."

"You should have said that 'Miss YuNa too has become very pretty'!"

"I shut my mouth because I knew you'd say that. You're as unpleasant as ever."

Na YuNa puffed her cheeks, but Yu IlHan did not mind her. Instead, he took out a truly beautiful circlet made of clean, red metal, and had small jewels embedded in places.

"Is it a new product~?"

"I can't sell that. It's epic ranked."

Well, for Yu IlHan, this was nothing more than some random accessory he had made in his spare time in the 2 years of hell, but even the carefree Na Yuna couldn't help but flinch at that. However, Yu IlHan's next words were even more serious.

"You can have it, miss YuNa. Although there's an ability to strengthen mana, it tilts more to protection. You'd be able to endure even if you were ambushed by a higher existence in some higher world, that should be able to hold out twice. So you need to find someone to protect you while you run away. There's a lot of other options so do take a look."

"..."

He turned around since he couldn't hear a reply, and it looked like she was so absorbed in the circlet, and didn't listen to him at all. Well, it was no wonder. Anyone would be like that with an epic ranked item in their hands. Yu IlHan understood her feelings.

And soon, a reply came back in a small voice.

"Thank you."

"It's fine if you use it well."

"...Ok."

Na YuNa immediately put the circlet on. The circlet did not lose against Na YuNa's transcendental beauty, and even made her look better while emitting bright light. Of course, the protection ability was on as well.

"Pretty?"

"Who do you think made it, of course it's pretty."

Yu IlHan replied with not a lot of wits as if to prove he was single from his birth, as he laid Kang MiRae on the sofa. Na YuNa grudgingly followed him.

"I know you fell for me."

"Please dream when you sleep."

Yu IlHan also grumbled and sat on the opposite sofa to Kang MiRae. Yumir followed him and sat on his laps.

"And so? Why is Miss MiRae like this? Did something happen while I was away?"

"Although I think I know the reason, but I'll keep it secret to remain her friend~."

Now he wanted to know even more. Thinking about how he should ask about it again later, the angels also rushed out from the other side.

The problem was that the one at the front, Liera, had flown to him naked with water all over her body, perhaps due to the panic.

[IlHan, the third! It's the 3rd Great Cataclysm!] (Liera)

"I also know about it so get dressed up properly."

Since Yu IlHan had seen her naked body quite a few times already due to various circumstances, this was nothing new. Even while sighing, he helped Liera wipe her body and helped her to get dressed.

In the meanwhile, Na YuNa asked Erta in a whisper.

"That angel is making a move on Mr. IlHan, right~?"

[Yes, like how you always do.] (Erta)

"And Mr. IlHan is receiving it so naturally~?"

[Yes, like how he always does it with you.] (Erta)

"Eheheh, that's nothing."

[I wasn't complimenting you!] (Erta)

Kang MiRae also regained consciousness while the group was in a mess. Her face was as red as ever, but there was at least no problems with having a conversation. Yu IlHan checked with her just in case.

"Are you alright? You don't need to overdo it and can take a rest."

"...Oh, no. I'm alright. Of course."

He felt like Kang MiRae was avoiding his gaze. Of course, other people not looking at him was a quite frequent thing, so Yu IlHan decided not to mind.

What he needed right now was information on the current situation on Earth as well as the matters that were happening inside it.

However, it looked like the ones with Yu IlHan right now, really wanted to know what Yu IlHan was doing for the past 2 years. Yu IlHan could only explain the outline of the situation.

"You were... trapped in a dungeon?"

"And so, I trained like mad for two years to kill the boss, but became lucky in the meantime and was able to get out before I could clear it."

The words were like a hit on the back of their heads, as they thought that he was doing some heroic stuff in some other world somewhere.

"....Alone inside a dungeon for 2 years?"

"No, the angels were with me so it wasn't exactly alone."

"But even so..."

Yu IlHan didn't feel anything when he said that, since he treated angels as they were on the same level as him, but Kang MiRae and Na YuNa who couldn't do that yet, could only imagine how he had endured in a place he called hell.

"So, let's talk about the 3rd Great Cataclysm now. I have no idea what happened on Earth for the past 2 years."

Of course, to Yu IlHan, it was a good thing since he could grind in the dungeon. Rather than that, the 3rd Great Cataclysm was much more important. Kang MiRae opened her mouth with an awkward expression.

"So... while you weren't here, Mr. IlHan, the growth rate of Earth for the past two years was insane."

"I did predict that was happening."

"Fundamentally, there is an incomparable quantity of mana compared to the other worlds, and so, the frequence of monsters are overwhelming, and the growth of the people were extremely fast as well. Normally, in other words, there should have been many people who shouldn't have reached 2nd class due to their limitations in talent, but the more good weapons from Vanguard gets sold..."

Yu IlHan's auctioned items were the advanced ones only, the 'standard equipment' sold by Vanguard, were sold to various worlds as they were still items that were very valuable in the front lines.

As a result, the class missions that each of these people could never hope to accomplish with their ability, easily cleared those missions with the equipment and proceeded to the next class.

As such, becoming 2nd class became the minimum requirement to join clans right now on Earth. Had it been any other worlds, it would have been unimaginable.

Of course, this much, Yu IlHan had predicted. Protecting Earth would become smoother if the average battle power of the people was raised.

However.

"As you probably know, the development of Earth will speed up the more humans develop on it. Like going into the fire from the frying pan, the people who achieved sufficient levels also opened gates to the worlds that connected to their worlds, and many people flowed into Earth as well….."

Numerous gates opened in each countries, and in that process, mana that composed that world mixed with that of Earth. They stimulated each other through various reactions like repulsion, fusion, and rejection, and called for a result that accelerated Earth's growth.

"So, you mean to say that the entire multiverse is helping Earth's growth?"

"Even listening to the people of other worlds, and from the notices from the angels, we're only seeing signs of the 3rd Great Cataclysm for now. But at this rate, it would happen in 3 months, and even 1 month if it's fast..."

Yu IlHan could only smile bitterly. He thought that he could finally have a nice rest after suffering in that dungeon, but now it was the 3rd Great Cataclysm already. Really, he was blessed with work or something.

[If Earth, that achieved a level of a 3rd Great Cataclysm just after its 2nd, experiences its third...] (Liera)

[That dungeon weighs on my mind as well. Really, Earth is full of trouble. When are we going to solve all of this.] (Erta)

"We worked a lot until now. We don't have to think so hard about it, probably."

It was still the 3rd Great Cataclysm. When monsters invaded, then he would only defeat them all. Of course, there was a need to strengthen the Bittersweet Persona using the ability of magic engineering he had digested until now.

"But the real problem is in other places."

"Other places?"

Yu IlHan's ears perked up, even though he was quite relaxed when he heard the words '3rd Great Cataclysm'.

[Was there something else? There was nothing special on the reports other than the 3rd Great Cataclysm.] (Spiera)

[Connections with Abandoned Worlds, maybe? No, it looks like that's everyday life for Earth right now. Earth is like some candy that attracted ants right now.] (Liera)

"Hey, it makes me sad so don't speak about it. And so, Miss MiRae, what is it?"

Kang MiRae didn't know what to say and hesitated even though she had brought up the topic, and looked at the three angels with him before closing her eyes.

"In truth….. other than the Abandoned Worlds, it looks like enemies are preparing to attack Earth."

"Oh yeah, the Army of Brilliant Light and Destruction Demon Army didn't come up yet."

At first, Yu IlHan thought that the dungeon he went to was a scheme of theirs as well, but he over thought that. That space which was full of 'will to not let any others in', was not suitable to attack others.

"What are those fuckers doing again? Shouldn't we move immediately?"

"Ah, no. We just finished one as well... Mother will explain."

"Then it'll be better if I heard from... huh?"

Yu IlHan asked back before he could finish his sentence.

"Mother, you say.... is your mother also?"

"Ah, no. Not my mother but yours..."

Kang MiRae's cheeks reddened again. Yu IlHan couldn't possibly imagine the connection between his mother and Kang MiRae, and tilted his head, when his mother did indeed show up at the entrance of the mansion.

And, she had the appearance from his pre-school days, and didn't look to be that far apart from Kang MiRae.

"Just what happened here!?"

"It was your mother who told us about this matter in the first place. She helped us a lot over these two years as well..."

"Mother is awesome~!"

Yu IlHan, who felt dizzy with all this information from Kang MiRae and Na YuNa, first let her inside, and faced her with very complicated eyes.

"Mom...?"

"It's not that you came to the past, nor did I come from the past."

"Whoa!"

Yu IlHan could only acknowledge her now. Only she (and Liera) could read him so easily!

"I did predict that mom was strong….."

"What's the problem if you did?"

"I never imagined you were that strong."

Yu IlHan scratched his head in embarrassment. From some time onwards, he thought that Earth would be doomed without him, but perhaps that was arrogance on his part.

But then, it would be good if she helped out a little earlier… Yu IlHan grumbled a little, but there was something to do before he went to that topic.

"Uh... I'm back."

"Yes, son. Welcome back."

His mother made a bright smile and hugged him.

Other than the fact that they looked more like siblings than mother and son, it was quite an emotional reunion.

Author's notes

If you wish for it dearly….. no it's nothing. (T/N: This…. is the now-impeached-ex-president's words – "if you dearly wish for it, the universe will help you achieve it." And FYI, this chapter was posted in 29th Oct 2016, when the first candlelight vigil occurred in Gwanghwa Moon. This line is like tagged on her whenever her name comes up. And apparently, the original line is from Paulo Coelho's [The Alchemist] "when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.")

This is a kind of a resting chapter for the main character to catch up since he was away from other for a long time.