One day remained.
Fear trembled quietly.
Most nations had succeeded in suppressing the unrest.
However, they had only prevented panic; they could not eliminate the fear itself.
After all, this was a World Quest.
The system itself had kindly warned of the impending catastrophe.
Everyone knew that a crisis was approaching.
Blessings were being installed.
Yet, dungeon anomalies had not ceased.
In the past six days, numerous dungeon collapses had occurred.
Globally, there had been over 30 collapses, each with more than 1,000 casualties.
Dungeon collapse.
A fear that resonated most directly with modern people.
Even Awakened were no exception.
“Ah, damn it! I failed to reserve again!”
“This is crazy. How are there no dungeons available?”
“I need to pay next month’s rent…”
“Should I just try a dungeon outside the Blessed Zone this once?”
“Are you insane? In this situation?”
“I guess I’ll just do some short-term labor. They say Awakened get triple the hourly wage.”
The ones closest to the dungeon anomalies were the Awakened.
Many Awakened had died worldwide.
This fueled fear and led to a rush toward Blessed Zone dungeons.
This meant that dungeons outside the Blessed Zones were left unattended.
And abandoned dungeons naturally collapsed.
“Honey, the dungeon that appeared near the elementary school across the street… hasn’t it been there for too long?”
“Hmm…”
“Can’t we stay in a motel for just a month?”
“You know we’re barely making ends meet. Not in this economy.”
“But we have kids…”
“Come on, do you really think it’ll collapse? The government manages all of this.”
Small-scale collapses continued endlessly, and people migrated to the Blessed Zones.
These migrations were happening on a global scale.
Especially toward the Korean Peninsula, where 80% of the land was within the Blessed Zone.
Visa applications and immigration requests poured in nonstop.
Compared to other nations, the Korean government had leeway.
They responded swiftly.
“You called for me, Director?”
“Chief Choi Young-ho. We need you to step up.”
“Please give me the details.”
“Get in touch with all C-rank and above Awakened around the world. Prioritize scouting those with no criminal records.”
In the past six days, Korea had aggressively recruited a massive number of Awakened.
Other nations belatedly declared national emergencies and restricted Awakened from leaving.
They had the excuse of preparing for the World Quest.
However, by then, numerous planes to Korea had already crossed the skies.
The sense of crisis was clearly reflected in economic indicators.
<The stagnant global real estate market is now fluctuating.>
<Land prices in the Blessed Zones have skyrocketed to record-breaking highs in just seven days!>
<Will Seoul become the next New York in the real estate world?>
Although 80% of the Korean Peninsula was a Blessed Zone, Seoul was special.
Because it had an F-rank Blessing.
Slash—
“Clear complete! Good work, everyone!”
“Wow, my condition is insane today. Should we hit another dungeon?”
“Hahaha! Kid, this is your first time in Seoul, and you’re already hyped up!”
“Huh? What’s so special about Seoul?”
The F-rank Blessing’s effect:
All stats increase by 5%.
When the Awakened’s stats increased, civilians naturally became safer from collapses.
This perception fueled speculation.
Furthermore, there was only one D-rank Blessing, and it had been installed in Seoul.
People anticipated its effects.
It might have a powerful effect like E-rank Blessings.
Of course, the root of this expectation was EX.
It was now an open secret that EX lived in Seoul.
Dungeons were always cleared near Seoul first.
With high probability, future high-rank Blessings would also appear in Seoul first.
Thus, Seoul’s real estate prices continued to soar endlessly.
This crisis changed people’s lives in various ways.
Some were terrified.
Some had died.
Yet others had made fortunes.
Regardless of each individual’s fate, the countdown continued.
###
“Has our house value really gone up that much? You must be enjoying life right now.”
<If I had known, I would’ve borrowed money from you and bought some land!>
“Just be satisfied with the house you have now.”
Despite being busier than ever, Kang Hyun felt at ease whenever he talked to his parents.
Many people were dying, but his parents were safe.
Because he was ensuring it.
<What a relief. That damn S-rank Gate had kept property prices from rising for a while.>
The S-rank Gate in the middle of Seoul.
But Kang Hyun thought of something else.
“Ah.”
Come to think of it, Providence.
That was also an S-rank Gate, but it hadn’t been publicly announced yet.
He thought of his conversation with Yoo Chae-young.
‘We can’t predict when an S-rank dungeon will collapse. The energy is too strong—our measuring devices don’t work.’
‘Then what do we do?’
‘From experience, we do know that they last significantly longer than other dungeons.’
In other words, it was a gigantic ticking time bomb.
No one knew when it would explode.
‘Can you tell just by looking at the dungeon from the outside?’
‘The more time a dungeon has left before collapse, the more stable the energy it emits.’
‘Ahh.’
Now that he thought about it, that dungeon’s aura had been strangely pristine.
Normally, even if it were an unstable natural dungeon, he would have sensed something before entering.
But it had been so stable that he hadn’t noticed at all.
‘The S-rank Gate that destroyed North Korea collapsed because they attempted a reckless raid, right?’
‘Why did they do that?’
‘They must have been confident in their strategy. Almost all of North Korea’s A-rank and B-rank Awakened were deployed in that dungeon. But they all died.’
Now, North Korea was a Demonic Realm.
A Gate collapse, at its core, was an invasion of dimensions orchestrated by the Black World Tree.
North Korea had failed to stop the invasion, and as a result, half of the Korean Peninsula had become a land contaminated by abyssal magic—a wasteland known as the Demonic Realm.
‘Because of what happened in North Korea, South Korea has a deep-seated trauma regarding S-rank Gates.’
‘And yet, another one appeared in Seoul.’
‘For now, this must remain absolutely secret. The country would be thrown into chaos.’
The matter was too big to be made public.
For the time being, they decided to bury it under secrecy.
Under government supervision, Seonghwa was managing it under special authority.
“Mom, if I ever tell you to sell the house later, sell it immediately. Got it?”
Once the existence of Providence was announced, the Seoul real estate market would be thrown into turmoil again.
“Okay, okay. Talk to you later.”
He ended the call.
Aden peeked her head over from the side.
“Master, are we really not going to a dungeon today?”
“Yeah. Today’s the final day of the countdown—I need to conserve my mana.”
“Ugh…”
Today, the Blessed Zones had effectively closed for business.
Everyone had to prepare for the invasion.
Honestly, Kang Hyun wanted to go dungeon diving.
Yesterday, he had opened a Silver Box and unlocked two Words of Power!
‘Silver Boxes are seriously amazing. How did I get two Words at once?’
Of course, neither of them was particularly useful in battle.
Still, he wouldn’t complain.
“But what have you been doing on your phone this whole time?”
“This bastard keeps insulting you, Master!”
Curious, he looked over.
Aden had hopped onto a Japanese online forum and was engaged in an intense keyboard battle.
Apparently, that S-rank from Japan had been causing trouble again.
“You’re talking to that guy?”
“Yes!”
From the sound of it, that Moonshadow Warrior was a social media addict.
Well, it made sense.
Otherwise, why would he personally respond to every one of Aden’s comments?
He wasn’t the only one furious about the Japanese S-rank mage insulting them— other people had also flocked in to argue with him.
‘Tsk. The Sword Saint wasn’t like this.’
But his supposed successor was acting like a clown.
“Argh! Argh!”
“Don’t waste your energy on this.”
“Argh!!”
Aden was meticulously translating each comment through a translation app and arguing back.
Obviously, her machine-translated Korean was noticeably awkward, and in the end, the forum moderators banned her account.
“Kraaah!!”
“What did he say?”
“He said Master is disgracing the reputation of S-ranks and that he’ll come over soon to teach you a lesson!”
“No way he’s actually coming.”
The guy was a social media addict.
He was all talk, no action.
“Besides, the S-rank Spirit Mage is weak. He’s not even a real S-rank, and he hasn’t proven anything.”
“B-but still…”
At least Ghost had actually defeated an S-rank.
But that Spirit Mage? He was just a fraud.
Even in Korea, people had started to acknowledge this.
The media, which once hyped up the S-rank Spirit Mage, had gone silent, overshadowed by Ghost and the Perfect Clear.
“It still pisses me off!”
“Forget it. Don’t waste your energy—save it.”
“The forum just crashed anyway…”
“Again?”
Lately, various online platforms had been having issues.
Most likely, because people were avoiding going outside.
The streets were eerily empty.
The only crowded places were grocery stores, filled with last-minute shoppers hoarding emergency supplies.
Not that anything was left on the shelves.
But even so, people flocked to the internet, trying to share their anxiety in an attempt to ease it.
Everyone could feel the looming crisis.
“Master.”
“What?”
“Are we really going to be okay?”
“I don’t know.”
“What?! How can you say something so irresponsible?!”
“What do you want me to say? I really don’t know.”
In war, nothing is certain.
No one could predict who would live and who would die.
Kyle had learned that the hard way.
If he had known he would die, he wouldn’t have gone to the final battle.
‘No, I would have gone.’
After all, they had sealed the Black World Tree in the end.
If they had failed, the world would have already been doomed.
Someone had to do it.
‘Tsk. Back in the day, an invasion like this…’
Just one Word of Power, and—snap.
Everything would have been wiped out in an instant.
Then he would have just crossed over and finished the job!
“Ugh, just one minute!”
If he could just use his full power for one minute,
it wouldn’t matter if it were the Abyss or whatever else—he could obliterate everything!
Even if he faced the Black World Tree again, he wouldn’t lose this time!
His voice was fine now, his understanding of magic had advanced.
“Just one minute is all I need!”
“…? Master, why are you suddenly talking nonsense again? You haven’t done that in a while.”
Aden looked at Kang Hyun like he was a senile old man, then shook her head.
“Anyway! I… I’ll stay right next to you, Master!”
“Good. Don’t go off and get yourself killed.”
And then, time passed.
At last.
[Time Remaining: 00 days 00 hours 00 minutes 10 seconds]
[Time Remaining: 00 days 00 hours 00 minutes 02 seconds]
[Time Remaining: 00 days 00 hours 00 minutes 01 second]
[Time Remaining: 00 days 00 hours 00 minutes 00 seconds]
The countdown ended.
Ding!
[World Quest]
[The demons are invading. Protect Earth.
The invasion will occur in three waves.
Rewards:
Issued in three separate quests.
Failure:
- 10% of Earth’s surface will be lost.
- A forward base for the demons will be constructed.
- The war will escalate into full-scale conflict.]
The war had begun.
###
Rumble…
Ruuumble…
In the deepest part of the sea on Thea.
The darkest abyss stirred.
“O great Abyss…”
From within the undersea cliffs.
A pair of gigantic eyes suddenly snapped open.
A subordinate merman trembled before them.
Even though the eyes were still closed, even without direct eye contact, it was almost impossible to endure.
[The time has come.]
In the darkness, tentacles covered in suction cups
began to crawl up the cliffs.
[Devour.]
[Engulf.]
A tsunami surged—
Rushing toward Earth.
