Chapter 382
[Special Quest Started]
[Return to Earth.]
[In one week, you will return to the land you once abandoned. Survive there and return. Rewards will be determined based on your performance.]
[This quest cannot be declined.]
The Earth Return Quest had begun.
Taesan calmly closed the window.
When he opened the community tab, various reactions filled the space. Korean, Chinese, and Japanese players accepted the news and began preparing. It was a normal return timeline for them, who had returned to the labyrinth quickly.
But players from other countries reacted differently.
[Oliver Khan [Hard] : This is too soon… We’re not finished with preparations yet.]
[Daniel Darmont [Hard] : We’re not mentally ready either… This is a bit overwhelming.]
It had taken those countries significantly longer to complete their Earth quests. From their perspective, the return felt too sudden.
Still, they accepted it and began preparing.
There wasn’t a single player panicking over such a variable. Everyone here had been through countless trials—they were veterans.
Information was exchanged through the community, and one by one, they prepared for the return.
[Oliver Khan [Hard] : So then, what’s the range of this return? Is it on a global scale?]
[Kang Taesan [Solo] : I doubt it’s global.]
[Amelia Aerin [Solo] : Oh.]
[Lee Taeyeon [Solo] : Ah, it’s Taesan.]
Taesan’s appearance caused a brief stir. Once it settled, he posted another message.
[Kang Taesan [Solo] : It’s still too early to go global.]
[Oliver Khan [Hard] : True enough. Then it’s another expansion phase.]
They had already encountered players from other countries during the previous return, so it wasn’t hard to deduce.
[Kim Hwiyeon [Hard] : Asia, Europe and Africa, then the Americas—maybe that’s how it’ll be split?]
[Daniel Darmont [Hard] : Likely. The problem is we still don’t have stable communication with other countries…]
They talked it over. They also tried reaching out to other countries to exchange information however they could.
Since it looked like it would take some time, Taesan closed the community and moved on.
“You’re here!”
Ainzhar greeted Taesan with a smile.
“Another spar?”
Taesan nodded and drew his sword. Ainzhar also cheerfully picked up his weapon.
Taesan regularly sought out Ainzhar for duels. Levinenov’s fits weren’t frequent, so sparring was never an issue.
Jorge grumbled every time about the nuisance, but Taesan didn’t care much.
Clang!
Their swords clashed. Ainzhar laughed as he brought his blade down.
Cla-clang!
The fierce pressure crushed down on Taesan. He twisted his sword and redirected the strike.
[‘Deflection’ proficiency has increased by 1%.]
Ainzhar was a monster.
A being Taesan absolutely could not defeat at his current level.
And that was exactly why there was so much to gain by fighting him.
Many [combat skills] improved in proficiency.
[‘Sensory Synchronization’] reached 20%. His awareness expanded, allowing him to perceive his surroundings as if they were within reach.
Even buff-type skills like [Contempt for the Strong] increased in proficiency, granting even higher bonus stats.
He couldn’t rely on swordsmanship alone to handle Ainzhar’s attacks, so he continued using both [magic] and [Black Magic]. Proficiencies for skills like [Magic Stacking] and [Magic Liberation] also increased.
He became significantly more adept at using the new [magic] and [Black Magic] spells obtained from the Library of All Things.
[Intermediate Magic: Undying Firebird]
[Mana Cost: 40]
[Proficiency: 4%]
[Summons the Phoenix, the eternal bird of fire, to attack enemies. The summoned phoenix has restricted access to its full power.]
A mid-tier fire spell. It had destructive heat, comparable to [Frozen World], and could be very effective under certain conditions.
[Intermediate Magic: Forced Expulsion]
[Mana Cost: 50]
[Proficiency: 5%]
[Forcibly repels opponents within a certain range. This skill cannot be used again for 10 minutes after activation.]
Even Ainzhar flinched for a moment at its impact. With no warning signs, even he was impressed by its effect.
[Intermediate Black Magic: Gaf’s Massive Boulder]
[Mana Cost: 80]
[Base Magi Cost: 350]
[Proficiency: 3%]
[Summons a boulder from Gaf’s realm and drops it on the enemy. It’s nearly indestructible, though weakened during the summoning process.]
A straightforward but powerful spell that dropped a massive, solid boulder onto the target. Simple, but likely to see frequent use.
[Intermediate Black Magic: Astaroth’s Darkness Infiltration]
[Mana Cost: 400]
[Base Magi Cost: 300]
[Proficiency: 3%]
[Summons the darkness scattered within Astaroth’s realm to shroud the user’s body. Greatly reduces the power of incoming attacks.]
A defensive [Black Magic] spell. It reduced incoming damage by roughly half. Though the duration was short, it imposed no restrictions on movement, making it highly useful in certain situations.
All were worthwhile skills. Normally, they would’ve needed extensive real-world combat to master, but thanks to Ainzhar, Taesan had already raised their proficiencies to practical levels.
And the most remarkable of all—
[Top-Tier Skill: Airach Martial Technique]
[Proficiency: 60%]
[A technique for handling weapons and the body. Mastery has improved enough to eliminate power transmission loss and slightly affect both attack and defense values. Even unfamiliar weapons can be handled as if they were part of your body.]
At 60% proficiency, the skill now allowed him to wield any weapon as if it were an extension of himself.
He tested it with the scythe he obtained as a secret reward—and even against Ainzhar’s attacks, he could now respond to some extent.
This level of mastery would make it usable even in real combat.
“You’ve already reached 60%? As expected, you’re fast.”
Ainzhar laughed heartily and praised Taesan.
“At this rate, you might even reach 100% someday. Are you satisfied?”
“It’s more than enough.”
The top-tier skill [Airach Martial Technique], which unified the attack power of all weapons.
It was one of the most valuable skills Taesan had acquired in this life. Thanks to this skill, he had overcome countless obstacles.
At the time, he had wondered how he came to possess such a skill, but now he understood. [Airach Martial Technique] was a skill completed by Ainzhar. For someone like him—an Immortal—it wouldn’t have been difficult to create such a skill.
After their spar, Taesan informed Ainzhar. In a week, he would return to Earth and might be gone for quite some time.
He also explained that gods had descended upon Earth during that time. Ainzhar looked surprised.
“That’s curious. Gods and Old Gods making a deal? That’s exceedingly rare.”
“Is that so?”
“Fundamentally, they’re perfectly opposed beings. They instinctively loathe one another. For them to have made a deal… it means there’s something of significant value there.”
Ainzhar looked at Taesan.
“And that would be because of you, wouldn’t it?”
Taesan didn’t deny it. He felt it as well.
Ainzhar fiddled with the hilt of his sword.
“I am deeply grateful to you. Because of you, I could begin to hope for something I thought was impossible. But in return… I have many questions.”
The gaze Ainzhar fixed on Taesan contained a single thing: curiosity.
“What exactly is that power?”
Taesan explained how he came to wield the power of the Old Gods, and spoke of his [Soul Rank Ascension] as well. Ainzhar was a powerful Immortal—surely he would know something.
But even Ainzhar couldn’t explain [Soul Rank Ascension].
“I traveled across countless worlds searching for Lady Levinenov. Hundreds, thousands of worlds in the universe. I witnessed many abilities along the way, but no one had power like yours.”
The power of the Old Gods could not be wielded by those bound to the laws. It was a power that existed beyond the laws.
[Soul Rank Ascension] had stolen the power of the Old Gods.
And to mix it with divinity and draw forth a new power—then even be able to control it?
Even the gods, the apex beings of the universe, couldn’t accomplish such a feat, yet Taesan, who wasn’t even a proper Immortal, had done so.
“Despite having such power, why have you not transcended yet? Why are you still bound by the flesh?”
Ainzhar kept questioning—not expecting answers, but asking as if to reaffirm it to himself.
“Taesan.”
Ainzhar quietly stared at him.
“What kind of realm have you reached?”
* * *
After speaking with Ainzhar, Taesan resumed his search throughout the Library of All Things. With a full week remaining, he didn’t intend to waste time.
“Looks like I’ve just about searched everything.”
He had found a total of twenty-five secret rooms—the same number Lee Taeyeon had discovered. He tried several times to find rooms she had missed, but there was no success.
They were rooms that couldn’t be solved by his own ability, only by relying on time and intuition. There wasn’t much Taesan could do.
He asked Jorge whether the secret reward could still be obtained if he didn’t find all the rooms.
“You can get it even if you only find one. Honestly, someone like you finding that many is the strange part.”
Jorge said with an exhausted look—he’d found twenty-five, and still wanted more? The ghosts here didn’t even know the secret rooms existed in the first place, so it wasn’t surprising.
The secret reward was obtainable with no issue. There was no reason to spend more time searching.
But something still bothered Taesan.
His senses told him something important remained. He continued examining the shelves.
Since it was a repetitive task that only required time, he had mental room to think. Taesan recalled Ainzhar’s final words.
‘A realm, huh.’
Taesan knew something about himself was unusual.
He was using the power of the Old Gods—a power even the gods couldn’t handle. And aside from mental strain, he wasn’t corrupted or broken like the goddess.
[Soul Rank Ascension] had even stolen the powers of Immortals.
But he was still a mortal. Though he had grown stronger and become a limited Immortal, everything he had accomplished so far had been while he was still a mortal.
Where exactly had he reached?
That was a mystery even to himself.
Taesan recalled memories from the gods’ mortal days, obtained in the Library of All Things.
The God of Victory, Baltazaha, had constantly wagered his life in battles during his mortal years.
He challenged elves in archery, giants in strength, dwarves in crafting, and humans in strategy.
He challenged every living creature in the world.
His stakes were always his life.
And in all of those matches—
He used every means available, and not once did he lose.
After defeating every living being, Baltazaha became the God of Victory.
The God of War and Death, Rakiratas, was born in a world of eternal war.
He always lived with death at his side and struggled constantly to survive.
Crossing countless death lines, he gained immense power and ended the eternal war.
With war and death gone from the world, peace arrived.
And then Rakiratas, in that world of peace he had restored, started another war.
After gifting the world with eternal war and death, he became the God of War and Death.
Other gods had similar paths.
They had each been obsessed with a single pursuit, devoting everything to it—and at the end, claimed a domain of their own.
The only exception was Lucifer, a Demon God created by the demons to drive out the Old Gods.
Then what was Taesan obsessed with?
The answer didn’t come easily.
Taesan continued to ponder as he searched for secret rooms.
As a result, he found exactly what he had hoped for.
Click!
Rumble…
It was a bookshelf filled with magical tomes. When he pulled several books out, the entire shelf shifted.
[You found another one… You really are something else.]
The ghost clicked its tongue in disbelief.
Taesan reached toward the passage.
As a gentle ripple spread outward, he felt a presence fixate on him.
Reading the energy within, Taesan could tell who the owner of this place was.
‘God of Magic, Zervand.’
[Secret Room of the God of Magic.]
[You cannot enter unless granted permission by the god.]
Zervand quietly observed Taesan.
With a faint laugh, the energy guarding the passage disappeared.
Taesan stepped inside.
In the vast room, a single book floated in midair.
Taesan grasped the book.
He didn’t expect much.
He figured it would be another intermediate spell.
But the system window that appeared surprised him.
[You have obtained the Advanced Magic: Grimoire of Great Collapse.]
