Leveling Up With Skills - Chapter 310: The Fifth Return, Earth (6)

Time passed without any significant incidents. The players from Korea and Japan attempted to communicate with China, but aside from a few in the slave-like “Easy Mode” class, no meaningful relationships were formed.

A week passed, and the quest began.

[Special Quest Initiated.]

[For the next week, monsters will continuously swarm toward you.]

[They will not stop. They will not rest.]

[Defend yourself and protect your territory from the oncoming monsters.]

The players from Korea and Japan stood firm, their faces hardened. Meanwhile, the Chinese players also took their positions, preparing for the monsters’ assault.

“There are so disgustingly many of them,” Kim Hwiyeon exclaimed, watching the ranks of people lined up.

With a force of a hundred million people, it was impossible to fight on an ordinary battlefield. Instead, an enormous battlefield centered around Baekdu Mountain was established.

With this many players, the situation should be manageable without significant challenges, or so she thought—until the monsters appeared.

‘Rumble…’

“Uh, uh…”

“What is this?”

The players’ faces stiffened.

From beyond the horizon, monsters charged toward them.

Their numbers were overwhelming—so immense that even the hundred million players seemed insignificant in comparison.

Never before had such a vast number of monsters been seen.

Gritting their teeth, the players prepared themselves.

“Everyone, get ready!” Kim Hwiyeon shouted roughly. The Korean players formed ranks and gripped their weapons.

Meanwhile, Taesan completed his alchemy preparations.

‘Whirrrr…’

A blue light spread across the area where the Korean and Japanese players stood. Those within its range experienced an overall enhancement in physical abilities and regeneration.

“Fight within this area as much as possible.”

Creating a domain over the entire battlefield for a hundred million people was beyond Taesan’s current abilities. However, it was feasible to establish a domain for the areas where the Korean and Japanese players would fight.

“Ah, yes!”

“Thank you, Taesan-nim!”

The players expressed their gratitude to Taesan as they prepared for the oncoming monsters.

In contrast to the Korean and Japanese players’ organized efforts, the Chinese players all bowed toward Jinryong.

“Your Majesty, please protect us!”

At the forefront of the battlefield, Jinryong stood with an arrogant expression.

“Filthy monsters are approaching,” he declared, his low voice echoing across the battlefield.

“Witness my power.”

From Jinryong, an ominous energy began to emanate.

The players held their breath as they watched him.

Jinryong bared his teeth in a grin.

“This is the power of an absolute being.”

‘Boom!’

A powerful force erupted. Jinryong’s overwhelming energy surged toward the monsters.

‘Kaboom!’

It was as if a meteor had struck. Hundreds of charging monsters exploded all at once.

It was a display of power no ordinary player could replicate.

The Chinese players gasped in awe, exclaiming in astonishment even as monsters continued their assault. Yet, they still bowed their heads and chanted Jinryong’s name.

Jinryong accepted their worship as though it were his due.

‘Bow to me, you lowly beings.’

Deliberately, he positioned himself near the Korean and Japanese players’ area.

He sought to demonstrate his power and compel their reverence.

Taesan was undoubtedly strong. The power he possessed might even surpass Jinryong’s in certain aspects.

But when it came to destructive force, it was a different story.

Ordinary players were strong in one-on-one situations but struggled to demonstrate significant power against large groups. This limitation arose naturally from the narrow dungeons and the skill acquisition principles based on such environments.

Jinryong assumed Taesan was no exception. While powerful, he believed Taesan could not rival him on such an expansive battlefield.

So, from the outset, Jinryong displayed his superior power—wiping out hundreds of monsters with wide-ranging destruction.

Once again, Jinryong unleashed his power.

‘Rumble…’

Hundreds of monsters disappeared without even approaching him.

The Chinese players’ exclamations grew louder.

Jinryong smiled smugly and glanced back.

However, the reaction from the Korean and Japanese players caught his attention. His eyes wavered for a moment.

“Wow…”

“Is there someone that strong besides Taesan-nim?”

Indeed, they admired Jinryong’s power. The destruction he caused was on a level they couldn’t reach.

But that was all. Their awe didn’t evolve into reverence.

“Hm…”

Taesan, too, observed Jinryong’s display of power silently.

“As expected, it’s unstable.”

The energy Jinryong wielded was chaotic and unstable. While its sheer size was immense from absorbing numerous forces, its stability and quality were severely lacking. Against an opponent of reasonable caliber, it wouldn’t even require defense.

That was Jinryong’s limit.

Though unaware of it himself, Jinryong had long since embarked on the wrong path and could no longer grow stronger.

Eventually, his chaotic power would spiral out of control and lead to his downfall.

“So, a slave, huh.”

He was merely a pawn, offering his life as a sacrifice for some inferior power—a servant to an immortal being who viewed mortals as nothing more than prey.

Taesan stepped forward.

As he moved ahead of the others, monsters lunged at him, aiming to devour him.

Taesan raised his fist against the oncoming horde.

‘Boom!’

A deafening explosion rang out. Every monster within his attack range was obliterated.

The scope of his power far exceeded the range of Jinryong’s attacks.

Jinryong and the Chinese players were struck dumb with shock.

Then Taesan stomped his foot.

[You have activated Earthquake.]

‘Rumble!’

The ground collapsed. Enormous sinkholes formed beneath the monsters, swallowing them whole as they struggled in vain.

A heavy silence hung over the battlefield.

Amid the stunned silence, Taesan moved quietly.

‘Crunch.’

He crushed a monster’s head, then swung his arm wide.

The monsters that came into contact with Taesan’s arm were crushed, and even those that didn’t make direct contact exploded from the sheer force of the shockwave.

The monsters in this wave were at best C or B grade. They were nothing more than targets for Taesan to dispatch effortlessly as he walked forward.

“Wow… Amazing!”

The players from Korea and Japan, awed by Taesan’s overwhelming strength, cheered as they pressed forward.

Taesan truly had the power of a god.

And such a being was protecting them.

Filled with heightened morale, the players began to desperately fight back against the monsters. Watching this, even the Chinese players belatedly joined the fray.

“For His Majesty!” they shouted, but their cries lacked conviction.

Jinryong, meanwhile, continued to battle with a grim expression.

The power he displayed was indeed extraordinary.

But standing beside him was Taesan.

“…I shall take my leave. The rest is up to you,” Jinryong declared.

“Y-yes!”

Ten hours later, as night fell, Jinryong withdrew from the battlefield. With a hardened face, he headed toward Baekdu Mountain.

The monsters didn’t stop appearing, even at night. The exhausted players took turns resting as they continued to fend off the relentless attacks.

Taesan, however, never once left the battlefield. He stayed and continued to crush the monsters without rest.

The next day, Jinryong returned.

He was visibly stronger than the day before. The chaotic power within him had grown even larger, but so too had its instability.

‘He used that method again,’ Taesan thought.

With his newfound strength, Jinryong fought right beside Taesan.

Yet even with his enhanced power, he couldn’t measure up.

[You have activated Starlight Arrow.]

[You have activated Magic Separation.]

[You have activated Magic Acceleration.]

Dozens of beams of light split and shot toward the monsters. Taesan clenched his fist.

[You have activated Magic Explosion.]

Light erupted.

The battlefield was momentarily engulfed in a blinding white radiance. When the players managed to open their eyes, all the charging monsters had already vanished.

“Ooooh…”

All eyes turned toward Taesan—Korean, Japanese, and even Chinese players alike.

The figure of Jinryong, diligently fighting the monsters beside Taesan, began to fade from their minds.

Jinryong’s expression grew stiffer. The Chinese players hurriedly praised him, but his mood didn’t improve.

“Taesan-nim, are you okay?” Kim Hwiyeon asked, her face full of wonder.

Taesan had been fighting for two days straight without a single moment of rest. Even Lee Taeyeon and Kang Jun-hyuk, who had fought tirelessly, had eventually needed to take short breaks.

Yet Taesan showed no signs of fatigue.

“These monsters aren’t particularly strong,” Taesan replied. They were only C or B grade at best. I could fight at this level for years without issue.

“Wow…”

Kim Hwiyeon couldn’t suppress her admiration.

Taesan continued to fight. He moved across the entire battlefield, reinforcing weak points and saving lives.

Meanwhile, Jinryong took intermittent breaks.

The chaotic and unstable power he wielded required time to stabilize after each use.

A new, stronger, and more absolute figure had emerged—one far beyond the being they had once believed to be a god.

The players’ faith began to waver.

“Ahhh!”

A Chinese player in “Easy Mode,” a slave, let out a cry of despair.

Right in front of him, a monster was rampaging. Other slaves desperately tried to hold it off, but as “Easy Mode” players, they couldn’t possibly defeat a C-grade monster. Their only role was to serve as meat shields.

“Huff! Huff!”

He moved frantically, trying to survive. On the front lines, it was always the slaves who bore the brunt of the fighting.

In China, the class divide was stark. The dangerous tasks were always left to the slaves, who would block the monsters’ movements on the front lines until the nobles joined the fight later.

Naturally, countless slaves perished. Yet no one dared to resist. After all, they had Jinryong—a godlike figure who ruled over them.

‘Crunch.’

The slave turned his head to see his friend, someone he had talked with just the day before, crushed to death.

Children, the elderly, women, men—it didn’t matter. Death claimed them indiscriminately.

In his despair, the slave prayed.

“Y-Your Majesty, please… save me…”

But his plea went unanswered.

Jinryong had never saved them. He merely ruled over them with his overwhelming power.

‘Boom!’

The frontline collapsed as a monster swung its whip-like arm. The slave braced for death.

‘Crunch.’

In that moment, the monster’s head was crushed.

A man with black hair landed in front of him. The slave stared at him in shock.

The man’s hair swayed, and his cold gaze locked onto the battlefield as he raised his hand.

[You have activated Frozen World.]

[You have activated Magic Focus.]

A wave of intense frost surged forward.

The ground froze, and the air turned icy.

The slave let out a gasp.

Every monster charging toward them froze solid—hundreds at once.

Taesan, having dealt with the monsters, leaped to another part of the battlefield. The slaves, who had barely survived, shakily stood up.

“…Taesan?”

Even they knew his name. Though Jinryong had forbidden communication with other nations, he couldn’t stop them from viewing the online community.

They had seen countless posts praising the strength of a man named Taesan.

A powerful figure. Yet they had assumed he would never surpass Jinryong, whose power they considered absolute.

But now…

The slave reached toward the ice but quickly recoiled.

Even without touching it, the tip of his finger had frozen.

If he got any closer, his entire body would freeze, and he would lose his life.

Even with his meager strength, the slave could tell—Taesan’s power far surpassed Jinryong’s.

Jinryong did not save them. He merely ruled through power.

But Taesan had saved them.

And that power was undeniably superior to Jinryong’s.

The object of their faith began to waver.