A sea on Thea.
Located at the exact opposite side of Providence.
The deepest place in Thea.
In its depths, a dark presence stirred.
A merman swam through the water.
With scaly skin and gills, his grotesque appearance left no doubt he was a creature of the sea.
At the edge of a sea cliff so deep the bottom couldn’t be seen.
The merman knelt and gazed into the abyss below.
“Great Abyss…”
In the depths of the sea cliff, the darkness opened its eyes.
To avoid succumbing to madness, the merman closed his own.
One of the Legion Commanders under the Black World Tree.
One of the most fearsome beings in Thea.
The darkness dwelling in the deepest depths.
It was the Abyss Legion Commander.
“The plan has been disrupted…”
The dungeon mutation plan, originating in Korea and aimed at encompassing Earth,
Was continually being thwarted.
By unexpected entities appearing in Korea.
The darkness writhed below the cliff.
And a profound voice resonated through the sea.
[It is but the ebb tide before the great wave.]
A massive eye filled the space between the cliffs, shining ominously.
[Push harder.]
“As you command.”
The merman gracefully paddled backward, retreating into the darkness with closed eyes.
###
[An Awakened has achieved a ‘Perfect Clear!(Solo)’ of a D-rank dungeon, completely halting the World Tree’s invasion!]
[To honor their achievement, a ‘Blessing’ descends upon the surrounding area. Everyone, please celebrate!]
Notifications appeared before Korea’s Awakened,
As a new protective barrier of light enveloped Seoul.
└ The E+ streak was already suspicious…
└ They even broke through the D-range! Incredible job, Perfect Clear Awakened!
└ And once again, they did it solo.
└ Experts said Perfect Clears weren’t possible in the D-range!
└ Loving these admiring posts.
└ Go ahead and fanboy; Perfect Clear Awakened deserves it. We need to keep them happy so they don’t leave for another country.
└ Experts? Get lost. Perfect Clear Awakened exists beyond common sense.
└ Yikes, that’s a bit much.
Kang Hyun grimaced as he read the comments.
“Ugh, why are they like this?”
This was why he avoided reading them.
But Aden kept shoving the phone in his face.
“No posts about why E-rank blessings aren’t enough, huh?”
“It shows everyone’s finally starting to feel secure!”
Once the tensest region in the world.
Korea had now become one of the most relaxed places.
All thanks to Kang Hyun.
Yet not everyone was smiling.
└ Did you hear Korea’s Perfect Clear Awakened completed a D-rank Perfect Clear yesterday?
└ Yeah, so?
└ It’s impressive, but why bring it up here? This is a Japanese forum.
└ What’s the problem? It’s international news.
└ I checked your post history—are you Korean? Your posts are mostly about Korea. (◉‿◉);;
└ There’s no need to overreact.
└ Off-topic posts will result in bans.
– Deleted for violating rules.
└ Are you some leftist? Get out of our country.
Kang Hyun didn’t care about Japan’s reactions.
He was preoccupied with something else.
[Would you like to open the ‘Silver Box’?]
“Well then…”
“Drumroll, please!”
He’d only opened two Silver Boxes before.
Rewards from achieving 10 Perfect Clears.
But D-rank dungeons started with Silver Boxes.
‘Does that mean C-rank has Gold Boxes?’
He’d never received Gold before.
The last two Silver Boxes had both contained “Skill Level-Up Coupons”.
‘At first, I thought they were junk.’
But they turned out to be lifesavers.
Leveling up <Assassination> to 6 made it incredibly powerful.
The combination of <Assassination> and 【Blind】.
Let him gain the upper hand in any battle, an absurdly overpowered combo.
Thanks to it, he had landed critical hits multiple times during 3-on-1 fights against B-ranks.
Imagine using it against someone of the same rank?
The win rate would be overwhelming.
‘I heard higher levels make the gap between skill levels even greater.’
What if it reached Level 7?
There were only a handful of Level 7 skill holders in the world.
The skills at that level were said to be absurdly broken.
‘Let’s go for another Level-Up Coupon.’
His expectations were sky-high.
[Opening the ‘Silver Box.’]
“Let’s do this!”
“Here we go!”
A resplendent silver effect unfurled.
An even louder sound effect.
The sound effects became even more extravagant, making his heart race.
A brilliant flash—
Ding!
[‘Mono Core’ acquired.]
“Huh?”
“What’s that? A glass bead?”
A blue orb the size of a fist appeared.
Was it an item?
“Wait a minute. This…”
“Doesn’t it feel like there’s a breeze?”
“Oh, you noticed too?”
As expected of an elf, Aden’s mana sensitivity was impressive.
She truly had talent befitting Kang Hyun’s student.
The moment the core appeared, the surrounding flow of mana shifted.
Mana swirled around the core, gathering quietly.
[Mono Core]
[A core that autonomously condenses the natural mana of the environment. In theory, it can gather near-infinite mana, though its efficiency decreases as the stored mana increases.]
A core that gathers mana on its own?
And it’s infinite?
‘Is that even possible?’
Even during his days as Hero Kyle, Kang Hyun had never seen anything like this.
The potential applications were endless.
“Hmm? I don’t quite understand. What’s it used for?”
“At its simplest, meditating near this thing would massively boost efficiency.”
Especially with Kang Hyun’s breathing technique, Dragon Breath.
Just by breathing, he accumulated mana, and this would enhance that effect exponentially.
“It’s like having a portable mana vein.”
“A mana vein!? That’s a fortune in real estate!”
“…Is that how they think of it these days? No romance at all.”
Back in his day, discovering a mana vein was monumental.
It could mean founding a kingdom or finding a dragon’s lair nearby.
While this core wasn’t on the same level as a true mana vein.
It was still an incredible treasure.
“Silver Boxes are really something else.”
This would drastically improve his training efficiency.
Score!
“Opening these rewards is addictive.”
“The World Quest rewards should be exciting too!”
“Oh, right. That’s still pending.”
The quest log only displayed, [Reward: Currently being calculated].
“Are World Quest rewards always this good?”
“They usually are, from what I’ve heard.”
Would Korea’s expanded blessings mark the end of this?
If so, the quest clear seemed almost guaranteed.
“This is going to be fun.”
Kang Hyun planned his dungeon runs.
Four E+ dungeons every two days.
One D-rank dungeon every other day.
And the next day—
“Father, I’m home.”
“Huh? Without any notice?”
His father was startled by the surprise visit.
But his face lit up with joy.
“Here, hide this and enjoy it.”
“Huh? What is it… Valentine 30-Year!?”
“They gave it to me when I asked for good liquor. Did I pick well?”
“Good grief, kid! This is worth over a million won! What money do you have for this!?”
“I got a bonus.”
After hiding the bottle.
His mother returned from grocery shopping.
“Mom, this is for you.”
“What is it? Oh my! Is this Gucci?”
“They gave me this when I asked for a nice bag. Got it with my bonus.”
He also had something for his sister, Kang Subin, still at school.
“Is that the thing Subin’s been wanting?”
“Apparently. They gave me the latest phone when I asked for it. Give it to her when she comes home.”
“You’re leaving already?”
“Your son’s busy. I’ll visit again.”
Though they were a bit disappointed, his parents were thrilled.
More than the gifts, they were proud to see he was doing well.
Later that day, Kang Hyun cleared four E+ dungeons,
Kicking off the first day of his dungeon-running schedule.
Current status of Korea’s E-rank blessings:
12 regions outside of Seoul.
23% of South Korea’s land now blessed.
The next day—
Ding!
[The World Quest rewards have been updated.]
[Quest: Dungeon Anomaly Defense]
The Black World Tree faction is hatching a nefarious scheme. Thwart their plans and protect Korea.
Quest Completion Requirements:
– Resolve the Dungeon Abnormality 0/1
– Reveal the Mastermind of the Scheme 1/1 (Resolved)
Reward: Hero’s Weapon Box
“If it’s a weapon box, it’s probably the usual random draw.”
“But Hero’s…?”
What did that mean?
Was it just another fancy prefix like Silver or Bronze?
But it felt distinctly different.
“It’s about time I upgraded my weapon.”
“Trading in that 100 million won weapon for a Hero-tier one, huh?”
The sword Kang Hyun had been using was good for its lightness, but that was its only redeeming quality.
The jet-black blade he had previously drawn was strictly for assassination.
Losing its edge in brightly lit areas.
“A Hero’s weapon… I can’t pass this up.”
Today was supposed to be a day for a D-rank dungeon run.
Originally, his schedule was to alternate days for D-rank dungeons.
But plans changed—he ramped up the E+ dungeon runs.
[Perfect Clear! (Solo)]
[An Awakened has achieved a ‘Perfect Clear!(Solo)’ of an E+-rank dungeon…]
[Perfect Clear! (Solo)]
[Perfect Clear! (Solo)]
Day 2.
Blessings covered 16 regions in Korea, excluding Seoul.
31% of South Korea’s land was now blessed.
The Next Day.
The results of training with the Mono Core began to show.
Ding!
[‘Mana’ has increased. (D → D+)]
“Congratulations!”
“This is why I can’t stop opening rewards.”
Hail the Mono Core.
Praise the portable mana vein.
The quality of meditation had drastically improved.
“Now I can take on even more dungeons.”
That day, Kang Hyun cleared six E+ dungeons.
Another world record.
Day 3.
Blessings covered 22 regions in Korea, excluding Seoul.
43% of South Korea’s land was now blessed.
The Next Day.
Ding!
[You have obtained ‘Dried Sacred Water Elixir’.]
“Agh, I just opened one because I had a good feeling. What a dud.”
“Should’ve just saved them all.”
“Eh, it’s just one.”
He swallowed it immediately.
Mana replenished.
Might as well do more dungeons today.
That day, he achieved the ridiculous milestone of 12 consecutive clears.
Day 4.
Blessings covered 34 regions in Korea, excluding Seoul.
66% of South Korea’s land was now blessed.
And finally, Day 5.
[Perfect Clear! (Solo)]
[A tremendous achievement! You have completely thwarted the invasion of the World Tree!]
[Due to your achievement, a ‘Blessing’ will be bestowed upon the surrounding area! Everyone will praise your achievement!]
Blessings now covered 40 regions in Korea, excluding Seoul.
South Korea’s land reached the 80% blessing coverage goal.
This was the threshold experts had estimated as necessary to resolve the anomaly.
At that moment,
A notification appeared before Kang Hyun and every Awakened in Korea.
Ding!
[You have completed the World Quest.]
“Oh?”
“Oh!”
Korea had escaped the dungeon anomaly crisis.
It was the first country in the world to do so.
Shortly after.
Before foreign news outlets even had time to write articles about it.
Another notification appeared.
Ding!
Awakened individuals around the world looked up at the sound.
[A World Quest has occurred.]
[The Black World Tree faction is hatching a nefarious scheme. Thwart their plans and protect Earth.
Quest Completion Requirements:
-Resolve the dungeon anomaly: 0/1
Reward: Calculating…]
[Countdown begins.]
[Time limit: 6 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes.]
