#94
Episode 94
Japan (1)
Jeongdo came to his senses when he felt a cold sensation on his forehead.
The feel of a soft cushion on your back. Only when she felt the warmth surrounding her entire body did she realize the situation she was in.
‘And then I fainted.’
Was it because I had exhausted my mental strength to the limit? Kaledra defeated her demon and even checked her level up notification before fainting. She was worried that another variable might appear, but seeing that she was lying in bed right now, it seemed like the dungeon had been cleared safely.
Sharak.
Once again, a cold feeling passed over my forehead.
It was a cold but gentle touch. Someone must be taking care of someone who has collapsed.
Jeongdo felt a strange pounding and lifted his heavy eyelids.
A single figure came into view along with the pure white ceiling.
“Ah, Mr. Jeongdo. You’ve come to your senses! “Is there anything uncomfortable about you?”
It was Kang Hae-jun.
“… … .”
“hmm? “You look like you’re disappointed?”
“… no. I was having a good dream. But suddenly I woke up.”
“Oh, I know that feeling. I understand.”
It’s a mess to understand.
No, how could the hands of an SS-level user who roams a top-level dungeon be so soft?
Jeong Do quickly changed his mind to deny his excitement at the man’s touch.
“Where am I?”
“This is a user hospital near Mt. Fuji. Thanks to Jeong Do’s efforts, the dungeon was cleared safely. “Oh, the saint is receiving treatment in another hospital room.”
“That’s a good thing.”
As Jeongdo said that, he raised his upper body and looked outside. Mount Fuji was visible not far away. After admiring the peaceful scenery of Mt. Fuji for a while, Jeongdo spoke to Haejun.
“Thank you for taking care of me while I was down.”
“No, don’t say that. I feel resentful that I can only do this. As soon as we entered the dungeon, we split up and only took care of the miscellaneous things, and while I was wandering around, I passed on all the hard work to Jeong Do… sorry.”
Hae-joon gritted his teeth and spoke as if he was angry.
“I heard everything from the saint. I couldn’t believe she was a traitor… .”
“… … .”
Princess Kako.
Everything she said and did was an act to drag herself and Hae-joon into the dungeon and kill them. She couldn’t help but wonder if she didn’t have Ixia… Maybe she was deceived.
“What does Japan say now?”
“There was chaos. Because the only SS-level user in the country died. Besides, your status is your status.”
“Did you even tell me everything about her betrayal?”
“No way. Would you even believe me if I said that? Rather, we will be attacked. “I told you that she died a brave death while fighting an enemy boss monster.”
Do-do nodded at Hae-joon’s judgment. This was because the result was clearly expected.
‘I kept him alive to get information, but Khaled killed him.’
When I think about it now, I’m actually glad she died. If she came back alive, she would have been much more tired from work than she is now.
Rather, she would have branded herself, Hae-joon, and the saint as traitors.
When both sides claimed that each other was a traitor, there was no need to say which way Japanese public opinion would lean.
On the one hand, she is the only SS-class user and princess who is the pride of Japan.
One side is the foreign group. And what if two of them are Korean? It was obvious from the video that a far-right group would take the lead in manipulating public opinion. Jeongdo shook his head.
“Conspiracy theories are already emerging. In fact, I think he conspired to kill Princess Kako in order to monopolize the results of the dungeon.”
“… “It’s bittersweet.”
Of course, he came to clear <Crisis Information> rather than with the good intention of saving Japan. However, it is clear that he saved Japan from crisis. Not only is he treated as a hero, but he also becomes the subject of conspiracy theories. To a certain extent, I was more astonished than angry.
“Well, that’s not the mainstream opinion. Some far-right groups raised such a conspiracy theory. Even that disappeared as soon as the saint denied it, risking her honor. “She is very popular in Japan too.”
Although he said that, Hae-joon had a bitter smile on his face, just like Jeong-do. Jeong Do changed the topic to change the mood.
“What is the saint’s condition?”
“Actually, it was much more serious than Mr. Jeongdo’s. It appears that he was severely tortured while being held hostage. “The doctor said it was as if my body had collapsed and then recovered.”
I flinch.
“The body… Collapse?”
“yes. “It was as if each cell could not accept the excessive energy and collapsed, then was forced to recover.”
“… … .”
Jeong Do broke out in a cold sweat and secretly avoided Hae Joon’s gaze. Hae-joon did not notice such behavior and continued speaking.
“But what’s interesting is that even though she went through such severe hardships, she actually felt like she became stronger.”
“… Suffering makes humans stronger. Could it be something like that?”
“Maybe so. Now that she’s spoken, I’ll have to go see how she’s doing. Then rest in peace. “If anything happens, please come to me anytime.”
“Thank you for caring me.”
“I couldn’t even fight properly, so I have to do something like this. “Then rest in peace.”
Grumble.
Hae-joon said that and left the hospital room.
“… “I’m sorry.”
Jeongdo muttered that while thinking of the saint. Although it was never intentional on her part, she caused her to suffer the pain of her body disintegrating. If she hadn’t had her <Patience -lv.3>, she would have been in real trouble.
‘But everything turned out well… .’
As a result, her talent reached level 3 and became much stronger, allowing her to defeat Khaled. Feeling her mixed feelings of sorry and relief, I thought I should take care of something for her.
Jeong Do looked at the door Hae Joon left through a little more and then opened his mouth.
“Ixia?”
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<Yes. master. I didn’t feel any lies from Haejun.>
“Yeah, that’s a relief.”
It was shortly after meeting her for the first time that he discovered Princess Kako’s lies. That means that before she entered the dungeon, she told Hae-jun that she could have exposed her lie, but she didn’t.
There are two reasons for acting that way.
Firstly, Hae-joon, who found out about her lie, may have felt awkward when dealing with her. Because in order to captivate her with her role, she needed to give the impression that she had been fooled as much as possible. Her behavior that made him feel that he had discovered her lies was off-limits.
And the second reason.
Because Haejun could have been on the same side as Princess Kako.
“I’m so glad.”
To a certain extent, I liked Hae-joon. I liked his human side, I liked how humble he was despite his power and wealth, and I also liked how he stepped forward for humanity.
‘He’s a wonderful person.’
Jeongdo was able to laugh happily at Ixia’s answer.
“Okay then.”
Now that I know roughly how the situation works, the following is a review and reflection on this incident. My face hardened as I remembered the incident in the dungeon.
‘I was so caught off guard.’
Jeong Do clenched his fists, feeling angry at his own complacency.
It was a turning blow that Jeongdo struck by using the <Five Tiger General> skill.
The taste was so clear that they thought Khaled was dead.
‘I actually died once.’
I never dreamed that I would come back from the dead… No, even this is a self-excuse. As a result, he was pushed into a crisis situation due to his own negligence.
Jeong Do humbly acknowledged that fact and pledged to never again be certain of the enemy’s death until the level up notification window appeared.
“And communication.”
This time too, his expression became strange to the extent that it reminded him of <Communication>, where he was active as always.
‘I never thought I could raise someone’s talent level through <communication>.’
Communication is giving and receiving.
It never flows in one direction. It was natural that if you got it, you could give it to someone else.
Jeong Do pondered the conditions under which <communication> affects talent.
‘I must first recognize the other person’s talent.’
It was like that when Hae-joon was and it was like that when she was a saint. The level up occurred the moment she used observation to recognize her opponent’s talents.
In other words, a talent level up occurs when you recognize the other person’s talent and possess that talent yourself.
In addition, there were facts confirmed in this dungeon.
‘The talent of the loaded character is also treated as my talent while loading.’
<Saint>
Although it was a talent that Joan of Arc possessed, it reacted with the saint’s talent. A notification window asking about usage conditions also appeared, so I guess it was a feature that was blocked until now because it wasn’t worthy enough… I immediately got a sense of how great this was.
‘If I use it well, it will be great, right?’
Although he had a poor talent count, he wasn’t a loaded character. Above Diamond, people are said to be among the greatest in the entire history of the Earth. Of course, they had a lot of talent.
And talented people around him. For example, people like Seo-yoon, Hae-joon, and the Hae-sik brothers also had a lot of talent. There was a good chance that the loaded characters and their talents would overlap.
An ability that can rapidly make people around you stronger. However, Jeong-do soon remembered the problem.
‘Damn it. ‘Body collapse.’
It was okay for him because he had a stabilization collar, but not for everyone else. If you don’t have a talent like <Patience>, your body will collapse and you will die.
‘No, let alone reinforcement, now you can’t even use observation properly?’
If you use observation and the opponent has a talent of a lower level than you, your body will collapse. Should I only use it on enemies? That’s why the function of observation is so disappointing. To some extent, I felt that this was not a normal problem.
‘I wish I could give it to you when I want to give it to you.’
It was not a problem that he could solve, but fortunately, he knew that there was someone who could solve this problem.
After confirming once again that no one was in the hospital room, he opened his mouth.
“Winry. “You know, right?”
“of course. Mr. Jeongdo.”
It must have been a hospital room where no one was there except for him a second ago.
She suddenly appeared and said hello to Jeong Do.
“Greetings to the miracle of the beginning. “You did a great job this time.”
“yes. She almost died. “The opponent was too strong.”
Winry nodded as if she understood the somewhat shaken reaction.
“Of course. Khaled of Hellfire. He is a being of higher rank than any being you have ever met. He is the one who is watching the real universe and even me. “Originally, he is an irregular among irregulars who could never appear on the current Earth.”
“hmm? is that so?”
It was definitely strong. That’s a lot too. Isn’t your level 299? But if you were to ask whether Khaled was the strongest opponent he had ever faced… I’m a little doubtful. I felt like the great warrior Zuldan I met in the final exam of Delaf Hall was stronger than Jeong Do.
Winry recognized the level of doubt and answered.
“Zuldan is strong, but he cannot compare to Khaled. The Khaled you met was not his real self, but his alter ego. And because a high-level being had forced his way through a lower-level universe, he had already ate all the penalty.”
I think I heard something important. The extent to which he asked Winry again.
“Is it okay for such a non-standard being to come to Earth? The image was that the universe cares about balance. “Am I mistaken?”
“It is as you said. This situation is an exception among exceptions. Something that couldn’t have happened in the first place was overlapped with something else that couldn’t have happened. In addition, the deterrent force of the universe overlapped, and he came to Earth.”
“… “Hearing that, I feel like I have somehow become a trouble maker.”
“It’s not a big mistake. Because the deterrent power of the universe will act on you. Still, nothing as big as this will happen. maybe.”
The last sentence was very unsettling, but I understood it for now. Didn’t he decide to follow his own path even if the universe stood in his way? Do-do looked at Winry with his expectant eyes.
“So this crisis information has been cleared?”
“yes. of course. “Now I will reward you.”
The moment Winry said that and waved her hand in the air.
<The experience lock on the Earth has been lifted.>
“at las… .”
The light of salvation has come to Earth. Now, the way for users of Earth to become stronger has been opened and they will be able to prevent the invasion of this world. Jeongdo was thrilled and waited for the changes that would appear on Earth.
A little time passed like that.
Nothing happened.
“ok?”
what’s this. She said she had worked so hard, but a single line in the notification window rang? She asked Winry with a puzzled expression.
“uh? Is this the end? “Well, there has been a huge change on the Earth, so what about the topography changing, places from another world appearing, or abnormal creatures appearing?”
“… I’ve felt this before, but it seems like you tend to be a bit obsessed with novels like yours. “This is reality.”
“No, what happens when reality is more like a novel…” .”
When I looked at Winry with an expression that seemed unfair, Winry was lost in thought for a moment. Then she nodded her head slightly.
“Maybe it’s not necessarily wrong.”
“yes? What is that… .”
The moment when Do-do was about to question Winry.
Growling.
It was a sudden earthquake. The hospital where the condition was located began to shake violently. The degree was surprised and asked Winry.
“Winry. This?”
“As you said, there is no such thing as space from another world transferring to Earth, but it seems like something similar will happen only here.”
At her words, Jeong-do quickly looked out the window and immediately opened his mouth.
Mt. Fuji.
A black curtain began to unfold from the top of the place where Do-do cleared the dungeon. The curtain unfolding in a hemisphere shape from the top gradually began to cover the entire Mount Fuji. Even though I thought I was just asking questions over and over again, I couldn’t help but ask again.
“What is that?”
“I mentioned it briefly earlier while talking about Khaled. It is said that the impossible overlaps with the impossible, but the most impossible of all is the fact that you defeated Khaled. And the universe was momentarily mistaken by that ridiculous feat.”
Winry continued calmly.
“The Earth has become strong enough to tolerate a third wave of erosion.”
Quaaaaaaaaa!
With those words, a black hemispherical curtain covered the entire Mount Fuji.
“Fragments left behind when Khaled’s double body fell. It is a space created by the combination of the spirit of Mt. Fuji and the deterrents exerted on you. As you mentioned earlier, the Mount Fuji area is connected to another dimension. To put it simply… “Mt. Fuji has turned into a space where breaks constantly occur.”
“… oh my god.”
japan.
It was a powerhouse in security, competing with Korea for first or second place in the world’s security rankings, but at this very moment, that ranking fell into the abyss.
“I was trying to save the Earth from a crisis, but it seems like I’ve pushed it into an even bigger crisis.”
“That’s not necessarily true.”
Winry smiled and continued.
“As I said earlier, the universe was mistaken for being ‘instantaneous.’ And I soon noticed. Now, this erosion is difficult to handle at the Earth level. So, the result of adjusting the balance under my authority is that black curtain. Monsters cannot cross that curtain. On the other hand, users on Earth can go there. And the first monsters that appear there are monsters before intelligent monsters. In other words, it is weak.”
“… uh? no way?”
At least I knew what Winry wanted to say. And Winry did not betray expectations.
“If I were to express it as a popular game on Earth… It would be a workshop where monsters can regenerate infinitely. “What’s different from games is that there is a workshop owner.”
The miracle that Jeong Do achieved from the commander of the Demon World.
It was a sacred place of hard work that guaranteed huge profits for the people of Earth.
It seemed like Jeongdo’s trip to Japan would take a little longer.