[173] Gods of Atlantis [17]

[The (Prestige) Samsung Gano has discovered you.]

A large, heavily armored man mounted on a red horse, 3 meters in size. His helmet is adorned with bird feathers, and he holds a spear in his hand—a spear with blades on both sides. A weapon famously known in China.

'Samsung Gano. It means a slave with three stars.'

The red horse and the Sky Piercer. With just these, deducing the man's identity isn't difficult.

The greatest warrior of the Three Kingdoms.

Lü Bu Fengxian.

The man with the strongest martial prowess in the Three Kingdoms.

'No need to be scared. That's a fake.'

In Atlantis, there are avatars of the constellations. However, these avatars do not possess power as strong as the true constellations. They are constrained by the system.

I glanced at Kang Myung-jin beside me. He was staring with a stiff expression at Lü Bu, who was slowly approaching us. He must be thinking of how to escape in his head.

'In the original work, Kang Myung-jin eventually defeats Lü Bu and takes the Sky Piercer.'

But he won't defeat him right now.

I quietly spoke to Kang Myung-jin.

"...Don't you think we could take him down if we fought together?"

"…That's Lü Bu Fengxian, the strongest warrior of the Three Kingdoms. Even if he's a prestige and weakened by the system, he's still Lü Bu Fengxian. It's better to run."

Kang Myung-jin was too scared.

'…Has he not yet realized how strong he really is?'

I can understand. Before possessing the protagonist, he was just an ordinary person, not even a hunter. The guys he faced in the tutorial were just small fries. Knowing about the constellations, he has a vague fear of them.

'If he defeats Lü Bu, Kang Myung-jin will gain some confidence. I should leave that guy to handle it alone.'

The Sky Piercer obtained by defeating Lü Bu? I don't know how to wield a spear. It's not an overwhelmingly powerful weapon that I must have.

"…It's better if we run in opposite directions. If you go down the mountain, you'll see a village. If you get lost, head toward the tallest mountain, and you'll find the village."

"But isn't Lü Bu just a regular human after all?"

"He's not a regular human—he's a constellation. I'll give you a signal. Run to the left when the timing is right."

Thud. Thud. Thud!

Lü Bu, now closer, spoke to us.

"Exiles? You look weaker than I expected. Hmm. Doesn't matter, I suppose. I am Lü Bu. I have been given the mission to kill exiles who enter Luori Mountain. Meeting me is your fate."

Lü Bu swung his Sky Piercer.

Clang!

Kang Myung-jin, holding a spear, blocked the Sky Piercer and shouted.

"Now! Run toward the trees, not the road!"

I started running to the left, while Kang Myung-jin, who had deflected the spear, ran to the right.

A glance back showed Lü Bu standing leisurely, watching us alternately.

"...Decided."

Then he started chasing me. The massive red horse moved. It seemed to be moving slowly, but it was keeping pace with me running at full speed.

'…Damn it. Why me? In the original, he chased Kang Myung-jin.'

In the original, Kang Myung-jin came here alone, so there was only one target to chase.

'The reason he told me to run toward the trees is because the red horse can't run properly in densely forested mountainous terrain.'

If this were flat ground, I would've been caught in less than a minute.

'According to the setting, Lü Bu is at his strongest when he's on the red horse and can fully utilize its abilities.'

When fighting Lü Bu, you must either pull him off his horse or fight in a place that restricts the horse. Because once off the horse, Lü Bu's physical abilities drop.

I turned my head to look behind me.

The red horse was still chasing me. Lü Bu, atop the horse, grabbed the bow slung on his back and nocked an arrow.

I used the trees as shields to block the incoming arrows.

Just taking hits didn't sit well with my temper.

'Lightning Strike.'

I shot lightning at him.

Lü Bu swung his Sky Piercer and deflected the lightning.

'He can just deflect lightning coming straight at him?'

I thought it would at least make him hesitate for a second, but not at all. I decided to focus solely on running.

Boom! Crash! Bang!

The area behind me grew noisy.

It was the sound of Lü Bu, frustrated at failing to catch me, smashing the surrounding trees with his Sky Piercer.

"Stop! If you're a man, fight me honorably!"

"Says the guy on a horse!"

"Fine! If I dismount, will you fight me honorably?!"

If it's Lü Bu, he'd actually dismount. In the original, he fell for Kang Myung-jin's taunt, got off his horse, and died in a one-on-one fight.

"If you dismount, I'll fight you!"

Lü Bu leaped off the red horse and landed on the ground. He then pointed his Sky Piercer at me.

"There. I'm off. Come at me!"

"You actually got off. You idiot. Heh."

After mocking Lü Bu, I ran away at full speed. I intended to seize this chance to put as much distance between us as possible. Fight him? I never planned to from the start.

That guy would fight and die against Kang Myung-jin in a few hours anyway.

"Stop right there!"

Lü Bu hurriedly remounted his horse and began chasing me again.

"Who the hell stops when told to?!"

[The Lord of the Sky frowns.]

The Lord of the Sky doesn't seem too pleased with this situation.

'Doesn't matter. The formal contract's already been established anyway.'

Besides, if it's Zeus, he'd definitely be happy if I were with a woman.

'An exile must not be led around by constellations.'

Even contracted constellations aren't necessarily on the exile's side. Like the King of Demons, they might try to manipulate their contractor.

I arrived at the village.

A small village with a population of about 200. The houses were made of wood, reminiscent of ancient Chinese architecture. The clothing they wore was also similar to that of ancient China.

I looked back.

Lü Bu on the red horse couldn't cross the village boundary. After glaring at me once, he turned the horse around and disappeared into the mountains.

'So Lü Bu is treated as a monster in this area.'

Safe zones only block monster attacks and intrusions. They don't stop human attacks.

I trudged further into the village. The villagers looked at me in surprise.

"Two exiles at once…"

"What kind of day is it today?"

"Maybe we'll get to go to another zone too."

The continentals living in unclaimed zones have basic knowledge about Atlantis but cannot travel to other zones.

'Continentals can also claim Atlantis zones… but it's quite difficult for them.'

A secret of the continentals: most of them were originally people who died in other worlds and were revived in Atlantis by divine power.

'And some even retain memories of their past lives.'

This is naturally revealed in the original. Those with influence in Atlantis probably already know.

'From their perspective, it's a dream come true. They died and were reborn.'

I looked around and confidently shouted.

"I am Seong Eugene! Has a short-haired man come to this village? He's an exile like me!"

From the crowd, an elderly man walked forward, leaning on a cane. He had a white beard and a hunched back—likely the eldest and the representative here.

"Welcome to Luori Village. If you're looking for that exile, he arrived here 10 minutes ago."

"Is that so? Where is he?"

"He went down that alley."

The elder pointed to an alley between buildings. I nodded. Just like in the original.

"Thank you."

"Are you here to claim this zone?"

"No. We just happened to enter this zone. And we're too weak to claim it."

"…Is that so?"

The elder spoke with a disappointed expression.

'I get it. You've been trapped here for 12 years. It must've been suffocating. And judging by the state of the people here, life doesn't seem prosperous.'

Kang Myung-jin and I know the conditions for claiming this zone.

Lü Bu, in game terms, is just a named monster.

To claim this zone, you must defeat the Adversary of the Sun at the summit of Luori Mountain, the tall mountain behind the village.

'Zone 406 is relatively easy to claim. The reason it's still unclaimed is that other exiles haven't found it yet.'

But "easy" doesn't mean Kang Myung-jin and I can handle it right now.

Once Kang Myung-jin achieves his goal, he'll immediately use the mirror to return to the 1st Zone, the Church of Beginnings. He'll only come back to claim this zone much later.

I started walking down the alley the elder pointed out.

Then, I ran into Kang Myung-jin exiting the alley.

"You made it to the village. Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Perfectly fine. But you're holding something I haven't seen before. A flower?"

It was a yellow flower, the kind you'd commonly see on the streets. Of course, I knew what it was.

The Flower of the Sun.

A special flower that grants flame immunity for one hour. It also acts as an elixir, increasing strength and stamina upon first consumption.

"There's a special shop inside this alley that only exiles can use. I bought it there."

"A special shop? One where you can buy unique items with AP?"

Special shops have varying conditions. Some are only for exiles, some allow continentals, and some require special keys to enter.

"Yes, that's right. If you have enough AP, try using the shop. And I… have personal business to attend to, so I'll need to leave for about 6 hours."

"If it's urgent, I can help."

"No, I can handle it alone. Please wait here, Seong Eugene. I'd appreciate it."

Kang Myung-jin even bowed his head as he made the request.

Of course, I had no intention of following. My goal wasn't to interfere with Kang Myung-jin.

"Understood. I'll wait in this village."

"I'll return quickly. If you'd prefer, you can just go back. The mirror we came through earlier will reconnect to the Church of Beginnings if you pour hot water on it."

"I'll wait in the village. Going outside might mean running into Lü Bu again."

Kang Myung-jin left the village.

I entered the alley he had come from. As I went deeper, the surroundings wavered, and the space changed. I was now in a completely different place.

"Oh. A second customer in a row."

I turned toward the voice. A doll wearing a robe was looking at me. Its face was completely hidden under the hood—likely due to some magical effect.

"I am Lopu. The clerk of this shop. If you see anything you'd like among the displayed items, let me know. Ah, you do have AP, right?"

"I have plenty of AP."

"Then take your time looking. These are items hard to come by in Atlantis. Just so you know, I'll be moving to another zone in a month. Miss this chance, and who knows when you'll get another?"

"I hope there's something I like."

I looked around. Every single item here was extraordinary.

[World Tree's Fruit – 1,500,000 AP] [Secret Garden's Scroll – 450,000 AP] [Spirit Sword – 600,000 AP] [Sword of No Emotion – 300,000 AP] [Darkness Blade – 50,000 AP] [Skill, Explosion (A) – 30,000,000 AP]

The catch is that you might get ripped off.

For example, the World Tree's Fruit is sold for 700,000 AP in other special shops.

Pretending to browse, I eventually pointed at one item.

"This looks good."

I pointed at a pair of black gauntlets.

"The Demon Subduing Gauntlets. A fine item. 200,000 AP. Will you buy it?"

"Yes, I'll take it."

"Give me your hand."

I silently held out my hand. He gripped it with his white-gloved hand and stayed still for five seconds.

[200,000 AP has been deducted.]

[Seong Eugene's current AP: 227,630.]

***

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