Chapter 705
A demi-human with a cold yet beautiful appearance emerged.
“What is it? Why me?”
It was the monster who had driven countless heroes into terror in Greek mythology.
Medusa.
Flicking her tail, Medusa tilted her head at the sudden summoning from outside.
The one before her was the very person who had captured her and sold her off to that man named Rick Hennessy. So it was only natural for her to be bewildered when, after such a long time had passed, he suddenly came looking for her again.
“Have you been well?”
Jinhyuk wore a complicated expression and bit down on his lower lip.
Then he added one more line.
“I haven’t been well at all…”
His tone dripped with regret and lingering attachment.
It sounded like he was talking to an ex-lover.
“…?”
Medusa looked at him like he had lost his mind.
Regardless, Jinhyuk kept going.
“Actually, I’ve felt really bad ever since I sent you off to Uncle Rick like that. We made quite a lot of memories together, didn’t we?”
“What nonsense are you talking about? The only memories I have with you are fighting to the death, and even then, you only won by cowardly trapping me with that barrier.”
“Let’s not get hung up on the small details. Let’s focus on the good memories. Anyway, to make up for that mistake, I want to return your freedom to you. But before that, I’d like you to help me just this once.”
Medusa’s sanctuary, once filled with countless stone statues.
He intended to return her to those days when she could freely collect her own display pieces.
“…Freedom.”
Like Pendariel and Muhon, Medusa could not help but react to that word.
Especially after spending so long trapped in Rick’s treasure vault.
“Well? We don’t have much time, so decide quickly.”
“I’ll show you why the famous heroes of Greece trembled before this body.”
[Medusa accepts the ‘Brand of Fiery Loyalty’.]
Hissss!
A vivid red mark burned itself into her skin.
‘Good.’
The corner of Jinhyuk’s mouth curled upward.
The cheat-like ability to turn targets to stone with a single glance was practically fraudulent in how exploitable it was.
More than anything, now that she had been branded and become his Divine Beast, he could raise her stats as much as he wanted.
Jinhyuk immediately called upon an ability from the [Memory of the World].
[Unique Ability ‘Mantra Taming’ is activated!]
[5 highest-grade Mana Stones are consumed.]
[Medusa’s base stats increase by 200%!]
Rumble!
A fresh wave of Mana overflowed from Medusa’s body.
[Medusa activates her Unique Ability ‘Petrifying Demonic Eye’!]
Crack crack crack crack!
The bodies of the insects caught in her gaze began turning to stone.
“Kieeeee!”
“Keee…!”
The desert insects, which had high physical resistance but low magic resistance, fell helplessly to the unfamiliar petrification ability.
And not only that.
“W-what is this?”
“M-my body… it’s turning to stone. Kuaaaaah!”
The petrification curse did not stop with the insects. It also swallowed up the Dreadroar players.
Already struggling just to deal with the insects, the assault force took severe damage from Medusa, who had appeared from the side without warning.
Given Medusa’s tendency to attack indiscriminately, ally and enemy alike, there was no talking her down.
“What the hell are you doing?! It’s not like we’re all trying to die together here!”
Emily, Dreadroar’s main healer, screamed in fury.
“Who was it that tried to kill us first?”
Jinhyuk shrugged.
Since when had they ever been on the same side? There was no reason to hold back.
The unspoken agreement that they would tear each other apart the moment they got the chance had already ended.
While petrification spread, a gust of wind swept through the defenseless players.
“Sylphid. Grab everything without missing a thing.”
“Yes! Master!”
Sylphid darted about, snatching away several items the players were wearing.
As expected, most of what these guys had was mediocre.
There was no chance they would be carrying Sacred Relics useful against ancient Divinities or higher-ranking main gods.
Still, a few of them had items needed for certain upgrades or for the coming war against Eden.
[You have acquired a ‘Fragment Shard of Aldebaran’.]
[You have acquired an ‘Unknown Trumpet’.]
[You have acquired the restoration set of ‘Andiana Johnson’.]
Jinhyuk carefully stored the newly acquired items in one corner of his Subspace Inventory.
Preparations for a distant future.
It would be a long time before those items truly shone.
‘Still, they’re definitely necessary. Hmm. By the way, I’m getting more out of this event than I expected.’
He did feel a slight pang of guilt.
But they were going to end up as statues anyway, so the items would be wasted on them.
‘Well, later on, I could always release a few from the petrification curse and squeeze an even higher price out of them.’
Whether they became stone or were revived later,
only hell awaited those trapped here.
“If you make enemies of all of us, you won’t get out of this unharmed either.”
Emily pointed toward the insects and their queen, Shareek, who was leading them.
“Kroooooo!”
At Shareek’s thunderous roar, the petrification affecting the insects began to dissolve. No matter how broken Medusa’s power was, it could not surpass a Named Monster on a far higher level.
“You don’t need to worry about that either.”
Jinhyuk’s gaze shifted to the two subordinates at his side.
Srrrng… Clang!
Drawing their weapons, Wolyoung and T-Bone took their places on Jinhyuk’s left and right.
“We’re going after Mayer now and securing the book. Can I leave the rear to the two of you?”
“Of course.”
“Clatter! For such a rare battle, all we get is some insect queen. That’s a little disappointing, Master.”
“Hahahaha! Are you insane?! Even all of you together wouldn’t be enough. And you’re entrusting this to just two people… huh? Huh?”
Emily’s eyes twisted in shock as she spoke.
[The Archon of the Shadow Realm, ‘Wolyoung’, releases his Mana!]
[Grand Death Knight ‘T-Bone’ releases his Mana!]
Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom!
A storm beyond imagination swept through the entire nest.
“Kiii…?”
“Krik kruruk…!?”
The insects that had been tearing at the players suddenly froze.
Tremble tremble!
Their natural aggression vanished in an instant, crushed beneath a terror so overwhelming it eroded instinct itself.
“…”
Even Shareek unconsciously widened the distance by more than ten meters from the aura pouring off Wolyoung and T-Bone.
“Please, do not worry about a thing.”
“Clatter. We’ll finish this quickly and wait.”
Wolyoung and T-Bone bowed respectfully toward Jinhyuk.
===
At the same time.
“This is the worst.”
“Hoo. What on earth is happening…?”
The officials of the World Awakened Association, the organizers of the event, were also on full alert.
The stage they had poured their hearts into creating. The virtual space realized through dozens of simulations. Just a few hours earlier, they had been confident they had eliminated every possible variable.
But.
An incident had occurred that shattered everyone’s confidence in a single blow.
The players who entered the Great Ramses Temple kept disappearing as though they had been swallowed by a black hole.
The major guilds noticed something was wrong and sent in follow-up teams, but those teams had also failed to return even after hours had passed.
The viewers’ complaints and anxiety had long since exploded.
The Association had been pushed into a position where it had to wage an all-out effort to uncover the truth behind the disaster and devise a countermeasure.
As the vanguard teams of several major guilds vanished inside the Great Ramses Temple, rescue teams were hastily assembled to save them.
One of those targets was Chun Yoosung, who had been acting alone.
At first, they had tried to pressure him with something framed as a request.
‘…What kind of monster is this guy?’
That had been a miscalculation.
Crackle!
A sword energy so brilliant it hurt the eyes.
No, this was not mere sword energy. It was unmistakably Sword Aura.
And not just any Sword Aura, but one refined to an extreme purity they had never seen before.
Thud! Crash.
The Association employees who had gone to deliver the request all collapsed to the floor.
Among them was even a ranker who had reached AAA-grade.
“Why would I go to a place like that? I have things I need to do my own way.”
The tip of Chun Yoosung’s sword extended forward.
It carried a will that would not tolerate even the slightest compromise.
“Y-you could become a hero who saves countless people. And of course, the Association is prepared to offer an enormous amount of money and compensation. No, if you just help us, we can even issue you a blank check.”
The Association employee kept babbling as he stammered.
At a time when every fighting force mattered, Chun Yoosung, who had subdued even a ranker with ease, was someone they absolutely had to recruit.
No matter what it took.
“Not interested.”
Chun Yoosung cut off the final offer with a single word, then turned and resumed walking.
“Haa.”
Faced with such a firm response, the Association employee shook his head.
They knew that people presumed to be his companions were also inside the temple, but since they had all been moving separately from the moment the main event began, there probably was no real sense of camaraderie between them.
Still, just in case, he decided to ask one last time.
“Inside, there are people waiting for Chun Yoosung-nim’s help, including Mr. Kang Jinhyuk…”
Suddenly,
Chun Yoosung stopped walking.
“Kang Jinhyuk… is in there?”
‘Did that work…?’
“I mean, yes! That’s correct. Mr. Kang Jinhyuk, Ms. Teresa, T-Bone, and Mr. Wolyoung are all trapped inside.”
The Association employee rattled off the personal information they had collected.
“Given how extreme the situation is, there’s no telling whether the tournament itself will even continue. In other words, whoever plays the biggest role in resolving the Great Ramses Temple incident could become the winner of the tournament.”
Effectively, this was the final opportunity.
Not only could he win the tournament, but if he rescued those trapped inside the temple in front of all humanity, he could prove that he stood above every other player.
“…Lead the way. To that temple or whatever it is.”
Chun Yoosung turned back.
===
Ratatatat!
While Dreadroar’s assault force became sacrificial pawns,
the guild’s main group, including Mayer, Kiyov, and Ivankovich, raced toward their original destination.
They ran without looking back.
The people abandoned in the insect nest had a zero percent chance of survival anyway.
Rather than waste themselves on trivial emotions like sympathy, they had to focus all their attention on securing the book.
“How much farther?”
“Huff, huff! Soon… we’re almost there!”
The explorer shouted as he tried to steady his ragged breathing.
The moment those words left his mouth, the color of the dark corridor changed, revealing a chamber decorated in obsidian.
It looked unusual at a glance.
A room carved with all kinds of ancient script.
And the black smoke rising through the cracks in the obsidian gave off an unmistakably ominous feeling.
“Looks like there are plenty of traps.”
Mayer swung his sword like a flash of lightning.
The blade drew a long arc through the corridor.
Boom boom boom boom boom!
Waves of black powder surged chaotically from both sides.
The crescent-shaped sword energy was shredded apart.
“So we can’t just walk in as we are. Is there a way through?”
“Well…”
The explorers hesitated and exchanged glances.
If they had enough time, maybe.
But they were not the top explorers of their respective guilds. At their level, there was no way they could come up with a strategy on the spot.
Right then,
“My, you’re fast.”
The most unwelcome voice of all echoed from behind Mayer.