Chapter 11

I Became a Newbie Favored by the Transcendents Chapter 11

“What?!”

In the end, Kim Hyeonuk couldn’t hold back and screamed.

Even while he stood there with his mouth hanging open, Junbeom leisurely continued forward as if he were taking a stroll.

“O-oh, oooh?!”

The safety team agents, who had been intensely focused like snipers and ready to throw their hooks, also exclaimed.

“H-how is he enduring contaminated mana without the Saintess’s blessing?”

Was that even possible?

If it had been any other Player, something would have gone wrong the instant they were exposed to contaminated mana.

Clutching their head and screaming, bursting into mad laughter, crying their eyes out while vomiting...

He had even seen an A-rank Player arrogantly declare that he would break through contaminated mana, only to shit himself and pass out after one minute.

He expected Player Park Junbeom to be no different.

He had assumed Junbeom had simply become drunk on the special status of being number one in the tutorial and made a foolish decision.

But reality?

‘The one who made the foolish assumption was me.’

Junbeom hadn’t received the Saintess’s blessing.

He had even succeeded in breaking through the contaminated mana bare-bodied, without so much as wearing any artifact.

And he didn’t even look particularly strained.

‘Has there ever been another Player who endured contaminated mana without the help of a Saintess-class individual, of whom there is only one in each country?’

No.

There hadn’t.

Other countries also left Contaminated Gates unattended because they had no proper method to deal with contaminated mana.

Suddenly, his body felt hot.

Perhaps because of the thrill surging through him, he could no longer feel the chill of the dawn air.

This made it the second time.

Following the incident where the measuring crystal refused to measure Junbeom, he had once again created an unprecedented case in history.

Wouldn’t Professor Gye Sohui be able to provide an extremely credible analysis of this as well?

‘At this point, entering the Gate itself poses no problem. Then what remains is...’

Clearing the Gate.

If Junbeom could break through the trial and eliminate the Gate, everything would be perfect.

But would things really go according to plan?

After all, whenever things in life went too smoothly, an obstacle was bound to appear next.

‘<​Mouth That Spews Calamity>... The maximum number of entrants was five, wasn’t it?’

That meant the trial was difficult enough that five people needed to cooperate.

But Junbeom was the only one who entered the Gate, which meant he might have to do the work of five people by himself.

...He didn’t know.

This was effectively Junbeom’s first Gate debut, so there was no data to judge from.

Breaking through contaminated mana and being good at clearing a Contaminated Gate had absolutely nothing to do with one another, after all.

‘Even if he barely clears it. Even if it’s with a low rank. As long as he succeeds in the raid...!’

It would mean the birth of the first Player on Earth to clear a Contaminated Gate without the Saintess’s blessing.

And from the Republic of Korea, no less!

_____________

Had I been walking for a little over a minute?

Wooooooong―!!!

At last, I arrived in front of a Gate that looked like expired whipped cream.

Maybe because I was standing right in front of the source of the contaminated mana.

My mind was perfectly fine, but the intense mana waves touching my skin made my entire body tingle.

No, maybe the cause of this tingling wasn’t only the mana waves.

‘My first Gate...’

Honestly, I’m nervous.

It would be a lie to say I wasn’t.

Unlike the Tutorial Battlefield, one stupid mistake here could actually get me killed, so yeah, I’m a little scared.

But now that I’ve come this far, I might as well enjoy it. What else can I do?

‘Let’s just do it.’

I have the Return Scroll the director gave me too.

I threw myself into the Gate.

[Entering ‘Mouth That Spews Calamity.’]

RUMBLE!!!

The moment I crossed through the Gate, an enormous thunderclap greeted me.

Fuck, my eardrums almost burst.

Frowning, I looked around and found complete chaos.

It was a medieval-style city, but every building and everything else had been smashed apart, like something straight out of an apocalypse.

Bright yellow lightning spread wildly across the blood-red sky as thunder continuously roared.

But more than anything else, the most overwhelming thing was.

‘So that’s why the Gate has such a shitty name. It really lives up to it.’

The enormous ‘mouth’ floating in the center of the sky.

A mysterious ink-black sphere shaped like a bowling ball, grinning grotesquely while showing off a perfect set of teeth.

Just as I found it impossible to control my expression at that grotesque sight.

[Defeat as many ‘Voltic Walkers’ as possible within the time limit.]

[Your rank will be determined according to the number of ‘Voltic Walkers’ defeated.]

[S: 200 or more A: 150 or more B: 100 or more C: 50 or more]

[Time Limit: 2 hours]

The contents of the trial were revealed.

So that’s what it was. A monster-wave type trial.

‘But where are these Voltic Walkers supposed to be?’

I wondered if they would be summoned through pillars of light like the orcs in the Tutorial Battlefield.

It took me one second to realize that wasn’t the case.

「Gwaaaaaaagh!!」

“...”

The gigantic mouth floating in the sky opened its teeth while making a retching sound.

Then.

Thudthudthudthud!!

Zombies with rotting, decomposed skin began pouring out through the gap like crazy...!

Watching the zombies splatter onto the ground like vomit made my own stomach churn.

‘Since it’s a Contaminated Gate, I guess it really does everything.’

First it assaults my ears, and now my eyes too?

This place is no joke.

Even the zombies weren’t ordinary zombies.

“Gwooooooo―.”

Crackle!!

They were zombies whose entire bodies were wrapped in lightning energy like a barrier.

Sparks flew wildly, as though touching even a single hair on them would electrocute me to death on the spot.

‘Fuck, what kind of baseless combination is this?’

“Gwoooogh!”

“Guh!”

At that moment.

Despite the name Voltic Walker, the zombies came charging at a ferocious speed.

Only then did I notice the levels floating above their heads.

[Voltic Walker Lv.10]

Far higher than my current level of 6.

And there weren’t just three or four of them.

Even at a glance, more than thirty of them were charging at me at once.

Shing.

I put my thoughts aside for a moment and reached toward my waist to draw my sword.

Wooooong―

As time stretched like rubber, I raised Divine Power.

Since they’re zombies, I should aim for the head.

They were swarming toward me even from places outside my field of vision, but it didn’t matter.

[Activating ‘God-King Style Sword Forms (SSS)’!]

Because instinctively, I realized that my swordsmanship had no blind spots.

――!!

Using my right foot as the axis, I swung my sword in a large circle.

The sword edge, sharpened even further by Divine Power, touched the necks of the zombies charging from every direction.

Boom! B-boom! Boom! Boom!!

Explosions louder than the thunder erupted one after another.

Not only the zombies struck by the sword,

but even the heads of the zombies behind them exploded.

Yes.

Exploded.

Not cut off.

“...!”

I marveled as I looked at the zombies whose bodies had exploded entirely, not just their heads.

There was one reason it was an explosion rather than a cut.

=====

-Every time the sword is swung, waves of Divine Power explode into the surroundings.

=====

It was because of the power of ‘God-King Style Sword Forms.’

Every time my swung sword touched an opponent, waves of Divine Power spread outward like ripples.

Those waves exploded with tremendous force, sweeping away even the zombies outside the direct path of my sword.

“...I couldn’t tell just from reading it, but using it for real, this performance is insane.”

Before I even had time to marvel at the destructive power that was even more broken than I’d imagined, system messages followed.

[The proficiency of ‘God-King Style Sword Forms (SSS)’ increases!]

[Current Proficiency: 6%]

[Experience increases!]

[Until next level: 19%]

Maybe because I had killed dozens of monsters in a single instant-kill strike, both my skill proficiency and experience skyrocketed at an absurd speed.

It was only now that I truly felt the power of the double-experience buff I had received as the reward for placing first in the tutorial rankings.

“Gwooooooo!!”

“Grrrrrk!”

Maybe because they were zombies and lacked intelligence.

Unlike the orcs, who had hesitated after seeing their dead comrades, these guys charged even more viciously.

But now, all I could see was delicious prey rolling toward me on its own.

“Yeah, keep coming.”

Boom! Boom!! B-boom!!! Boom!

Every time I swung my sword, golden shockwaves burst out again and again, sweeping through the zombies like crazy.

The level difference?

That didn’t matter.

Against stats far beyond the average for my level and the sword ‘IMadeExcalibur’ had upgraded for me, they all died in one hit anyway.

Even while my skill proficiency and experience continued rising sharply.

「Gweeeeeeeeeeeek!!」

The enormous mouth in the sky diligently continued vomiting out Voltic Walkers.

‘Thanks for the unlimited refills.’

When I first saw it, it was nothing but visual terrorism, but now every time that mouth vomited, my mood improved.

...I should stop this insane train of thought before I sound like someone with a bizarre fetish.

“Graaaaaagh!!!”

While my attention was occupied by the other ones, the body of a zombie that had quickly approached right beside me suddenly swelled like a balloon.

The lightning surrounding its rotten body also began increasing exponentially in intensity.

Unless you were an idiot, there was only one thing that could mean.

‘Self-destruct?!’

So the lightning flowing through its body wasn’t just decoration.

No matter what, this is dangerous.

Dodging was impossible since I was surrounded by zombies in every direction.

In that case.

BAM!!

I swung my sword like a baseball bat and smashed the zombie that was just about to self-destruct.

The exploding zombie, struck squarely by the flat of my blade, flew toward...

Of all places, a point where the other zombies were huddled together.

KABOOOOOOM―!!!

The self-destructing zombie turned into a bomb and reduced its own kind to scraps.

[Voltic Walkers Defeated: 168]

Starting from that point.

I had long since passed the minimum clear requirement, and before I knew it, I had even smashed through the A-rank standard.

After continuing to swing my sword in a trance...

[The proficiency of ‘God-King Style Sword Forms (SSS)’ increases significantly!]

[Current Proficiency: 79%]

[You obtain a large amount of experience!]

[Your level increases!]

[Lv.6 → Lv.7]

The refreshing notification announcing my level-up pleasantly tickled my ears.

There was still more than an hour left on the time limit, so I had more than enough time.

If things went well, I might even reach level 10 here today...

“Why’d you stop vomiting?”

I looked up at the giant mouth in the sky, which had subtly closed.

The mouth’s unlimited refill service, which had diligently vomited Voltic Walkers for me, had suddenly stopped.

What the hell is it doing, breaking my momentum like this?

「Buh...」

Buh?

「Bweeeeeeeek!」

The mouth began vomiting again, but I couldn’t simply be happy about it.

BOOM!!

Because this time, it spat out only one zombie.

The problem was that it wasn’t an ordinary Voltic Walker.

“Gwooooooooogh!!”

Unlike the Voltic Walkers that were only roughly my height, this one stood as tall as the second story of a building.

As enormous as it was, the lightning surrounding its skin was even more violent.

All over its body, body parts like the faces and limbs of Voltic Walkers protruded like tumors.

It didn’t simply look like an enlarged Voltic Walker, but rather like several of them had been forcibly stitched together into one patchwork creature.

[Flash Voltic Walker Lv.20]

A level 20 monster had appeared inside a Gate whose maximum entry level was 15.

...What kind of bullshit is this all of a sudden?

[The condition for achieving S-rank changes!]

[Defeat the Flash Voltic Walker within the time limit!]

“Ah, seriously, that’s too much.”

I had heard that sometimes the contents of a Gate trial could suddenly change.

But this was too much.

At level 20, even five level 15 Players working together would barely have a chance of defeating it.

And I’m supposed to fight something like that by myself?

That crosses the line.

“...”

But why?

Even while I said it was too much, even while my mind complained that it was bullshit.

My chest itself remained calm.

Was it because of the ‘Ernia-style Mana Cultivation Method,’ which helped me maintain composure at all times?

Of course, that was probably part of it.

But that couldn’t be the only reason.

“Gwoooooooogh!!”

Thudthudthud!

While I continued thinking, the Flash Voltic Walker charged.

Absurd speed that didn’t match its stupidly huge body.

Even if I ran, it wasn’t slow enough for me to widen the distance.

But there was no need to run.

Not for me.

Tap!

I detonated Divine Power compressed to the limit in my heel.

The exploding golden energy became propulsion, and my body shot forward as if launched, instantly closing the gap with the Flash Voltic Walker.

CRACKLE!!!

Its fist, wrapped in lightning, came flying at me with a tearing sound through the air.

Feeling the wind pressure slam against my face, I thrust my sword toward it in return.

Then, the instant the tiny sword collided with the giant’s fist.

――!!!!

Flesh and blood exploded everywhere amid a deafening roar.

Of course.

They belonged to the Flash Voltic Walker, not me.

“Gwoooooogh!!”

The creature screamed and thrashed in pain after its entire arm exploded up to the elbow.

‘Obviously.’

The stats that each rose by 10 points from my upgraded armor.

And the ability of ‘God-King Style Sword Forms’ to become stronger against stronger enemies.

When those two worked together, even a 13-level difference was no longer a barrier.

Tap―

BOOM!

The moment I landed on the ground, the Flash Voltic Walker also dropped to one knee.

If I kept up this momentum and cut off its neck, I could clear the Gate at S-rank, but...

‘I can’t forget my objective.’

The real reason I was here.

Clearing the Gate was something I naturally had to do, but that alone wasn’t my objective.

Mana Crystals.

Obtaining a high-purity Mana Crystal for SaviorOfTheEmpire was my true goal.

‘Mana Crystals might be given as rewards when a Gate is cleared, but that isn’t guaranteed.’

Even if I cleared the Gate at S-rank like this, there was no guarantee that a Mana Crystal would appear as a reward.

Then, in a monster-wave style Gate like this, what was the one way to obtain a Mana Crystal with 100% certainty?

Simple.

‘Kill the boss monster.’

And there was only one creature here that could be called the boss.

Bang!

I used the Flash Voltic Walker’s knee as a stepping stone and leaped high.

The instant I rapidly rose to the height of its head.

BOOM!!

I slashed upward diagonally and exploded the top of its skull.

[You have defeated the ‘Flash Voltic Walker’!]

[You have satisfied the S-rank condition...]

Before the system message could even finish.

Tap―!

I kicked off the cut surface of its face and leaped even higher once again.

That gigantic mouth floating in the sky.

That thing had to be the ‘boss’ here.

I had used a gigantic zombie as tall as a two-story building as a stepping stone and jumped from it.

So I could easily reach where that enormous mouth was floating.

「Aaaaaaa―」

Had it realized what I was trying to do?

The mouth began making a flustered sound.

「Aaaaaaa―!!」

RUMBLE―!!!

“...?!”

Just as I was about to get close enough to drive my sword into that mouth.

More than five bundles of lightning suddenly poured out from inside its maw.

Fuck, now it’s not just vomiting zombies, but lightning too?

So much for ‘Mouth That Spews Calamity.’

‘Damn it, whatever.’

Now that I was already in the air, I couldn’t dodge anyway.

I had a shield strapped to my back, but that didn’t seem like it would be enough.

Whoosh!

I swung my sword toward the lightning that had reached right in front of me in an instant.

It was literally just a reckless swing born from a whatever-happens-happens attitude.

A vague hope that at the very least, the wave of Divine Power might reduce the power of the lightning.

But.

Slice―!

A sound rang out that could hardly be interpreted as a sword colliding with lightning.

It sounded as though paper had been cut.

When the flash of electricity filling my vision scattered, an unbelievable sight unfolded before me.

“I-it got cut?”

The bundles of lightning fired by the mouth were scattering apart, severed segment by segment.

It was truly a moment when the laws of physics in human history were shattered.

I glanced sideways at the lightning energy remaining on the sword blade...

Then suddenly recalled another ability of ‘God-King Style Sword Forms.’

=====

-Can cut what cannot be cut.

=====

‘So that’s what it meant?’

It was so absurd that I nearly laughed, but I held it in.

Because now was the time to focus.

「Aaaaaaaaaa!!!」

The mouth screamed as though outraged and drew up lightning energy again.

Too late, bastard!

――BOOM!!

The flame of Divine Power blazing from the tip of my sword shattered it into pieces.

[You have defeated ‘Mouth That Spews Calamity’!]

[You have accomplished an achievement bordering on the incomprehensible!]

[Hidden Rank – S+ achieved!]

[Reward calculation will take some time!]

[Your level rises significantly!]

[Lv.9 → 13]

[The proficiency of ‘God-King Style Sword Forms (SSS)’ increases!]

[Current Proficiency: 91%]