Leveling Up With Skills - Chapter 246: The Fourth Return. Earth (13)

The conference room where people had gathered to choose a leader in Seoul.

Once again, people were gathered there.

“What about Sa-Young?”

“He’s dead.”

“Ah…”

Their numbers had dwindled since the last meeting. They bowed their heads in silence, offering a moment of remembrance for the dead.

“Then, Taesan.”

After the moment of silence, Kim Hwiyeon turned to Taesan and asked.

“Could you give us a rough explanation of what happened?”

“That’s why I’m here,” Taesan began.

He explained everything. How the ancient gods tried to trap him and kill them all. How he fought and won against them.

And how, by winning, the conditions were met, and a god descended upon the Earth.

The mention of a god caused disbelief and shock to ripple through the crowd.

“A god…?”

“You mean like the one we think of? Jesus Christ?”

“No, not quite,” Taesan shook his head. From his experience, there was no singular concept of a ‘monotheistic’ god. Each transcendent being had once been mortal, ascending to different levels of power, and they were not hostile toward each other. Rather, they had formed an alliance, united against the common enemy—the ancient gods.

When Taesan gave a rough explanation, people sighed, processing the heavy realization.

“So, it’s something like that…”

“The labyrinth was also created by their power… This is heavy.”

“But it doesn’t really matter,” Taesan spoke up.

“What matters is that we survived and won.”

His words lit a fire in the eyes of the people.

“That’s true.”

“Yeah, winning is what’s important.”

From the moment they were thrown into the labyrinth, they had expected interference from transcendent beings. As Taesan said, their survival was what truly mattered.

“Everyone got their rewards, right?”

“Yes,” Kim Hwiyeon nodded.

The blessing of the God of Despair. It allowed players to awaken mentally during moments of despair.

Everyone here was at least a Hard Mode player. They understood how significant such a blessing was.

“We’re really grateful, Taesan.”

“It’s nothing. You guys did well. Honestly, I expected more people to die.”

In the end, only half had survived.

A significant loss, but given the situation, it was relatively low. Kim Hwiyeon bit her lip.

“Everyone did their best. We literally put our lives on the line.”

They couldn’t let the sacrifices be in vain.

They had to survive, not just for themselves but for those who had fallen.

They slowly began to review the changes.

“So the first change…”

“We can acquire skills on Earth now, right?” Seo Jangsan asked.

“Has it been confirmed?”

“Yeah. There were quite a few people who acquired skills while clearing the rifts. They’ve been able to use them now.”

“Is that for real? We can learn skills here too?”

Seo Jangsan let out a low groan. Being able to learn skills on Earth was a massive advantage.

Surviving on Earth wasn’t easy. Even for those who had been through the trials of the labyrinth, they had to risk their lives.

Skills were often acquired in the most extreme situations, so it wasn’t uncommon for people to learn new abilities while clearing quests on Earth.

Until now, any skills obtained had been sealed until they returned to the labyrinth, but now, they could be used immediately. Though it might not make an immediate difference, over time, it would provide a significant advantage.

“That’s good. The next change has been confirmed too,” Kim Hwiyeon said, pulling out a red potion from her inventory and tossing it to Lee Taeyeon. She caught it with ease, examining it with a curious expression.

“It actually worked.”

The ability to trade consumables had been restored.

Until now, any attempt to trade potions had failed, with the item being rejected and returned to its original owner.

But now, the potion had transferred ownership to Lee Taeyeon. She threw it back to Kim Hwiyeon, who returned it to her inventory.

“Honestly, this is the best change,” Kim Hwiyeon smiled.

The ability to trade consumables was incredibly valuable.

“How many potions do you have left?”

“One.”

“I used them all. It was close.”

Most people had only one or none left. The battles had been that intense.

“Potions aren’t cheap. You also need to buy other equipment, and you use a lot of them going down the labyrinth. So when you return to Earth, you can’t bring much with you. But now…”

“We can have people from Easy and Normal Mode bring potions for us.”

“Exactly.”

Kim Hwiyeon nodded vigorously.

“I’ve heard they can gather gold more steadily than Hard Mode players. If they bring a lot of consumables when they return, we’ll be able to fight much more comfortably.”

While Hard Mode players earned more gold from monsters, the difficulty was far higher.

In Easy and Normal Mode, groups could kill monsters without using many potions, but in Hard Mode, players often used one potion for every monster they defeated.

Because of that, saving up gold in Hard Mode was much harder.

The system allowed them to survive as long as they had potions to drink, but without potions, even that advantage was weakened.

The main reason so many died during the last return was the lack of recovery items.

But with the next return, that problem would be resolved.

Someone spoke up then.

“But are you sure this is okay? If you think about it coldly, you’re basically telling the Easy and Normal Mode people that they’re useless in battle, so just bring potions. Won’t they push back against that?”

“I’ve considered that, but… there’s no choice.”

Kim Hwiyeon spoke with a calm, measured tone.

“There’s no way for everyone to be satisfied while trying to survive together. There will be complaints, but they’ll have to accept it.”

“There won’t be any big issues.”

Taesan added. The people from Easy and Normal Mode trusted Kim Hwiyeon. She had never abandoned them. They would accept her reasoning.

“Then…”

“The last part…”

They trailed off with hesitant expressions.

The most important part, but also the part they were unsure about. Kim Hwiyeon sighed.

“Now, national quests will begin…”

The final system message that appeared:

[Congratulations. You have cleared the final quest of your region.]

[The barriers surrounding each country have been removed. You can now move to other countries. There are no restrictions on movement, but you may face disadvantages in future quests.]

[The next return will involve national-level quests. Prepare and be ready.]

[The community has expanded. You can now communicate with players from other countries.]

“How do you think it’ll turn out?”

Kim Hwiyeon asked, and all eyes turned to Taesan.

He knew what was coming. He knew what they should prepare for and what they had to face.

But that was in his previous life.

Taesan shook his head.

“I don’t know.”

“Well, of course, even Taesan can’t know everything.”

“If he did, he’d be a god.”

“With the community open, maybe you’ll get some ideas when you return to the labyrinth.”

“That sounds like a good plan.”

The community now allowed communication with players from other countries.

Japan, China, the U.S., Europe—players from all over the world.

They could now find out how others had survived and what they had been doing.

The thought filled the faces of the people with a mix of excitement and anxiety.

“They didn’t all get wiped out, did they?”

“No way, right?”

“Well, it’s possible. After all, they didn’t have…”

Taesan.

Their gazes said the rest.

Taesan, leaning against the wall, stood up.

“I’m heading back tomorrow, so you guys can handle the rest.”

“And where are you going?”

“I’ve got something to check out.”

He stepped outside. People were talking, celebrating survival, mourning the dead, and sharing their hopes and fears about the future.

When they saw Taesan, they jumped up and ran toward him.

“Oooooh!”

“Taesan! Taesan!”

They shouted his name with excitement.

They had witnessed him meeting with Aphrodia. They didn’t know the full details, but they assumed that the being who granted them grace had done so because of Taesan.

Naturally, they believed they received blessings thanks to him.

Their faith in him only grew stronger.

As Taesan walked past, he spotted a familiar face.

“Taesan!”

A young man called out to him passionately.

Lee Changchun.

A Hard Mode player Taesan had beaten up during his last return in his previous life.

‘He’s alive.’

Taesan chuckled and continued walking out of City Hall.

He looked up at the sky.

The cracks in the sky were still, as if waiting for their next turn.

“What did it mean?”

‘With power like that, even those things might approach in different ways.’

That’s what Aphrodia had said.

But Taesan still wasn’t sure what that meant.

“So, we’re returning to the labyrinth now?” Minerva asked.

Taesan nodded, and she chuckled.

“A lot has happened. I didn’t expect to meet a transcendent being in person. Or to fight the ancient gods… It’s been fun. I didn’t think I’d experience so much right after being born.”

Minerva had a satisfied expression as she spoke.

“I don’t know exactly what kind of power you have, master, but as long as you can handle it yourself, that’s enough.”

Minerva’s body began to flicker like static on a TV.

The power used for her summoning was nearly depleted, and she was about to be unsummoned.

“You’re not going to call me for a while?”

“I’ll just be descending the labyrinth. You’ve got your own duties, right?”

Minerva was the guardian of Arulia. She had her world to protect.

“True. We’ll be apart for a while.”

Minerva looked at Varkaza.

“Varkaza, take care of things while I’m gone.”

[The King is your master, but he is also mine. I will guard him.]

“I’m counting on you. And you too, ghost.”

[What good is a ghost who can’t even guard anything?]

“True enough, huh?”

Minerva laughed. Her body flickered more as she began to disappear.

“Well, I’ll see you next time, master.”

[Minerva has been unsummoned.]

She was gone.

Taesan spoke into the empty air.

“Until next time.”

And then, it was time.

[Monster Subjugation Bonus +743]

[Rift Removal Bonus +587]

[Special Monster Subjugation Bonus +1245]

[Victory Bonus +255]

…

[Total Rewards Calculated]

[2,830p has been awarded.]

The total points were 2,830. A decent amount, with many potential benefits to be gained.

But Taesan opened the community first.

[Kim Hwiyeon [Hard]: Oh, oh my…]

[Lee Taeyeon [Solo]: Uh, could everyone calm down a little?]

[Adam Smith [Solo]: What? More people are alive than I thought. I expected more to have died.]

[Rachel Uchitel [Hard]: Um, excuse me. Could you slow down a bit? It’s too fast to have a conversation…]

[Miyuki Kazuya [Normal]: Wow! So many people!]

Messages were flooding in at a rapid pace.

Taesan was surprised.

‘It’s much faster than before.’

In his past life, the community had been fast, but this was twice as fast.

‘Did more people survive in other countries compared to last time?’

Perhaps since the ancient gods’ focus had been on him, there was more breathing room for others.

Trying to follow the conversation proved impossible, so Taesan closed the community.

Once things had calmed down a bit, he would check back in.

This time, he didn’t start spending his points right away. There was something else he needed to check first.

[Boundary]

[Mastery: ?]

[Between the laws and beyond them. Something in between. Drawn from divinity and the black essence.]

[??????]

[System error. Please consult the labyrinth administrator for more details.]

* * *

Taesan returned to the labyrinth.