Chapter 17

I Became a Newbie Favored by the Transcendents Chapter 17

Kiiiiiii―!!

Beyond the blood-red horizon, chilling screeches rained down.

They were the cries of wyverns gathered in flocks like crows.

In the sky, which had been seized by monsters well above level 60, pale lightning occasionally raged alongside violent thunder.

“...”

That end-of-the-world scene.

A handsome man with slicked-back hair silently gazed upon it.

The man’s name was Lee Hanseong.

Currently the officially ranked number one Player in the Republic of Korea.

And this place was the Gate currently being raided by Lee Hanseong and Elite Team 1 of the <​Golden Dragon> Guild that he led.

Taking in the countless wyverns before him, Lee Hanseong muttered.

“Those damn wyverns never end.”

“Tell me about it.”

A woman quietly approached and responded to Lee Hanseong’s muttering.

Lee Chaeyeon.

An S-rank Player from the same <​Golden Dragon> Guild, praised by the public with the nickname Martial Princess.

“Still, if all those wyverns are gathered together, doesn’t that mean the boss’s nest is over there?”

“True.”

Lee Hanseong chuckled.

Just as she said, if he looked at it positively, it meant the finish line had finally begun to come into view.

There wasn’t much time left before they could escape this damned place.

“How long has it been since we came here?”

“Hmm. Maybe a month?”

“Then about a week must have passed outside.”

Some Gates had a different flow of time from Earth.

High-risk Gates with high entry levels and Saga-type Gates were representative examples.

This place fell into the former category.

Even if a month passed here, only a week might have passed in the real world.

“If a week passed, that means January is already nearing its end. Hmm, we should hurry, right?”

“We should. If we don’t want to receive another penalty for failing to fill the Contribution quota.”

“Of course the penalty matters, but there’s something even more important than that.”

“Hmm?”

“The MVP Player.”

Lee Chaeyeon looked at Lee Hanseong with a subtle smile.

“As long as we clear this place safely, January’s MVP Player is yours.”

“Haah, I thought you were going to say something important...”

Lee Hanseong scratched the back of his head as if she was hopeless.

Though inwardly, he didn’t deny it.

“My, what’s with that smug expression? Are you saying it happens all the time, so you don’t even feel anything anymore?”

“MVP or whatever, I don’t run Gates for such materialistic reasons.”

“You say that, but who was it that subtly humblebragged every time he got a reward?”

“...”

“Seriously, you’re never honest. Anyway, well, congratulations in advance. Looks like you’ll get another absurdly overpowered item. Ugh, disgusting wealth gap. Disgusting system. Ptooey, ptooey.”

“Let’s pop the champagne after we finish the job safely.”

Lee Hanseong said that and walked deeper into the cave they were using as a camp.

“You should sleep too. We leave early tomorrow morning.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

______________

After clearing a total of four Gates with Strategic Reserve Team 3.

I went straight from there and cleared two more Gates.

That made six Gates cleared in total.

When I carefully stacked the Mana Crystals I had gathered so far on a scale.

“6.03kg...”

Exactly 4kg remained until I reached the amount ‘IAmLegend’ demanded.

That meant exactly 1kg of Mana Crystal had come out as a reward per Gate.

It was within my expectations, but...

Wasn’t that a little stingy?

Would it kill them to generously give me a 2kg one from two or three Gates?

“Looks like I really have to clear all ten honestly...”

What kind of forced march is this?

No, let’s stay strong.

[(Photo wearing the newest exoskeleton) Hey, the skeleton you bought me arrived today. New models really are nice~]

[Oh, looks cool, sis. Your marriage prospects are dead anyway, so go ahead and modify your upper body too]

[You wanna die, you bastard]

I looked at the text my sister sent me this morning and fired myself up.

Once I had the Elixir made by ‘IAmLegend,’ who cared about a latest-model exoskeleton worth tens of millions of won?

I’d fix my sister’s legs and sell that thing secondhand later.

And aside from being tiring, it’s not like I lose anything by diligently clearing Gates, right?

If anything, I gain from it.

=====

<​Explorer’s Ring>

-Grade: Legendary

-Required Level: -

-Allows adaptation to any severe weather.

=====

This was the S-rank reward I had received from the first Gate I cleared with Team 3.

The item description was simple, but the effect was extremely practical.

It went without saying, but the insides of most Gates were hellscapes.

Scorching heat and freezing cold that drained stamina just by breathing were commonplace.

There were even quite a few cases where people died not because of monsters, but because they failed to withstand extreme weather.

But if I had this ring?

‘At least I won’t have to worry about dying because of the weather.’

Next, from the second through fifth Gates, no particular items came out as rewards.

Just high-quality Mana Crystals and some extra experience.

Instead, there was one additional gain separate from the clear rewards.

=====

<​God-King Style Sword Forms+1 (SSS, Growth-Type)>

-The ultimate principle of the sword bestowed upon one who broke through their own limits.

-The stronger the opponent, the greater the power of the swordsmanship.

-When movements are linked accurately, there is a high chance of breaking through the enemy’s defense and striking only vital points.

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

-Can cut what cannot be cut.

-If an enemy harboring killing intent exists nearby, the power of the swordsmanship increases slightly.

=====

While sweeping through the monsters in the Gates, I raised the proficiency of ‘God-King Style Sword Forms’ to 100%.

As a result, a +1 appeared after the skill, and a new effect was added.

‘Detection of killing intent.’

More than the swordsmanship becoming stronger, the fact that it let me sense killing intent nearby was pretty useful.

For example, say there were guys hiding their presence and trying to ambush me.

There was no way those guys wouldn’t harbor killing intent, so I could react beforehand as much as I wanted.

“It even has a radar function. This swordsmanship is completely万能.”

I became newly curious about just how far the limits of ‘God-King Style Sword Forms’ went, and whether it even had any limits at all.

Lastly, the reward from the sixth Gate.

=====

<​Illagos’s Bracelet>

-The first keepsake of Illagos, a spirit tamer who once dominated an entire dimension.

-Increases affinity with spirits.

=====

I’d heard that all sorts of weird rewards could pop out when you cleared Gates, and apparently you really did get all sorts of things.

Put another way?

It was useless to me.

‘What am I supposed to do with this when I’m not even a Spirit Tamer class?’

Only Players with the Spirit Tamer class could command spirits.

Other classes couldn’t own spirits, nor could they even communicate with them.

What use was increased affinity with something I couldn’t even talk to?

Maybe I should put it up for auction on the Player Market later.

‘Hmm, no. Maybe I’ll hold onto it just in case.’

It wasn’t like I was short on money anyway.

If I kept it, maybe one day I’d find a better use for it than simply making money.

The bracelet’s design was also pretty decent, with tightly woven rainbow-colored jade beads.

I’ll just wear it as a fashion accessory.

Finished organizing the loot during the break.

But before going to the next Gate, there was one more thing I had to take care of.

Shing―

I summoned the Moonlight Blade, which gleamed with a chilling light.

“So this thing can evolve.”

It was already useful now, but supposedly if I fulfilled a hidden condition, it would be upgraded even further.

But if they didn’t tell me what the hidden condition was, how was I supposed to fulfill it?

...Hmm, now that I think about it, then it wouldn’t be hidden.

Still, there was no problem.

Don’t know the hidden condition?

Then I could just ask the guy who made it directly.

While I was at it, I figured I’d brag a little too, so I uploaded a question to the gallery with a photo of the Moonlight Blade.

Of course, a normal title probably wouldn’t attract enough attention, so I added a little bait.

=====

[Title: Was forging and had no hammer so I used a club and broke the sword fuck]

Author: Anon (111.111)

The title was a lie sorry

(Photo proving the Moonlight Blade)

Bought one from the gallery shop this time after spending a fortune. Looks sick lol

But it says it can be upgraded and I have no clue how;

If there’s an assistant admin or anyone who knows, tell me how

=====

-What the fuck is that title lol

-AnvilMutt) Came in thinking what kind of idiot does this, now I’m leaving speechless

-ChiefBlacksmith) This bastard’s pretty formidable lol

-Pantheon Gallery-style way of asking questions;

-And of all things it’s the Moonlight Blade, unbelievable lol

-Newbie, why would you spend a fortune buying shit...

-I was wondering what idiot paid points for that, turns out it was you? lol

-WorkshopKing) Want to upgrade it? Give up

The bait worked for sure.

Comments poured in less than a minute after I posted.

The problem was, out of all those comments, not a single one gave me a clear answer.

But somehow, even if this happened all the time, the atmosphere this time was...

“Why are these guys laughing?”

Everyone was mocking my Moonlight Blade.

No, more precisely, they reacted as if asking about an upgrade method itself was absurd.

While even I was getting confused, the creator of the Moonlight Blade, ‘IMadeExcalibur,’ finally appeared.

-IMadeExcalibur) Tsk... There was no room in the workshop so I just threw it into the shop, but someone actually bought this...

└Author) No, so what’s the upgrade method? Stop sighing and answer me

└IMadeExcalibur) The method itself is simple. If you fight a battle where your life hangs by a thread using that sword, the potential inside the sword will be released

“Uh... Is that supposed to be simple?”

In short, the hidden condition was to fight an intense battle that tested my limits.

It wouldn’t be easy.

But was that really something worth laughing this hard about?

-IMadeExcalibur) Still, you must’ve been pretty strong in the dimension you lived in if you ascended to Pantheon, right

-IMadeExcalibur) Then you’re already a Transcendent like us, so how are you supposed to have a battle where death hangs over you?

└Fact is you’re already dead, so there’s no chance of being on the verge of death lol

└This one’s on Excalibur. If you’re gonna put it in the shop, finish the upgrades first lol

└IMadeExcalibur) I didn’t think someone would actually buy the damn thing, idiots

Ahh, I get it now.

So for the Transcendents of Pantheon, it was a condition they fundamentally couldn’t fulfill.

It was contradictory for already-dead beings to fight on the line between life and death.

And I was being treated like an idiot who had spent expensive points on a sword with its power sealed without even knowing that.

‘But I’m not a Transcendent, and I’m not dead?’

I’m a perfectly healthy living human.

And being alive means the day will eventually come when I have to fight a life-or-death battle.

The gallery guys didn’t know that at all.

They naturally assumed I was also one of Pantheon’s Transcendents.

-IMadeExcalibur) If you really want to release the Moonlight Blade’s potential, it’s not like there’s absolutely no method

└Author)?

└IMadeExcalibur) Go to the Demon Realm and fight demons. The demonic energy of those demon bastards can destroy the souls of Transcendents like us too

└Author)??

└IMadeExcalibur) If you fight those guys in a battle with your soul on the line and win, that should probably fulfill the Moonlight Blade’s upgrade condition?

└Excalibur, is that really supposed to be advice...?

└Why not just tell him to die lol

└There’s a lunatic willing to stake his soul fighting demons over one sword?!

I didn’t know the details, but apparently there was also a place called the Demon Realm in that world besides Pantheon.

And the demons living there seemed dangerous enough to annihilate even Pantheon’s Transcendents...

“Whatever.”

I don’t even know how to get to that Demon Realm.

And I had no intention of fighting demons.

I didn’t even need to.

‘The opportunity will come someday.’

If I lived as a Player, there would inevitably come a moment when I had to cross the line between life and death.

I hadn’t chosen the path of a Player without at least that much resolve.

Anyway, now that I knew the Moonlight Blade’s upgrade condition...

-Author) Ohh got it thanks for telling me

└IMadeExcalibur) Polite young man^^

Enough gallery browsing. Time to go clear another Gate.

____________

[Entering ‘Journey Toward the Arcane.’]

The seventh Gate the director secured for me had appeared in Euljiro.

After completing the mandatory identity check and entering the Gate, the first thing that greeted me was...

Whoooooosh―!!!

An enormous blizzard so fierce it was difficult to even keep my eyes open.

Covering my face with my arm, I looked around and found myself somewhere in a snowy plain.

The snow piled on the ground was deep enough to reach my shins, making even walking a considerable ordeal.

‘Of course I get a place like this right after obtaining the Explorer’s Ring.’

The one fortunate thing was that thanks to the ring’s effect, it was pretty bearable.

It wasn’t that I felt no cold at all, but there was a gentle warmth around me as if I were wearing a thick coat.

Without the ring, I’d probably be trembling right now while spitting out every curse imaginable.

So, what am I supposed to do now?

As if answering my question, a system message appeared.

[You must become ‘Hans,’ the escort knight of the Kingdom of Lurien, and safely escort the Sixth Princess to the temple.]

[The temple’s location will be marked.]

[The time limit is five days based on Gate time.]

‘Become Hans? Then that means...’

This Gate was a ‘Saga-type.’

A ‘Saga,’ simply put, meant a Gate with a narrative.

The Player took on a fictional role and carried out a specific mission.

“Tsk.”

The moment I identified the Gate type, I clicked my tongue automatically.

Because due to their very nature, ‘Saga-type’ Gates took quite a long time to clear.

Other types of Gates could sometimes be cleared in minutes if you were fast.

But ‘Saga-type’ Gates had a minimum measured in ‘days.’

No matter how quickly you progressed, they took at least a day or two.

Fortunately, the flow of time was different from Earth, so I didn’t have to worry about the Mana Crystals I had already secured losing purity...

But annoying was still annoying.

“Is that the temple?”

At the summit of a faint snow-covered mountain impossibly far away.

A thin pillar of light rose from there.

It looked like a ‘ping’ placed in an RPG to mark a specific destination.

Instinctively, I realized that the temple was at the summit of the snow-covered mountain connected to that beam of light.

‘Where is the Sixth Princess supposed to be?’

Right on cue, a sharp voice cut through the blizzard and struck my ears.

“Hey, Hans! Can’t you walk a little slower? To leave this princess behind and march ahead on your own, you truly must wish to die!”

When I turned around, a blue-haired girl dressed in fur was huffing and puffing as she pushed through the snow.

Looks like that’s her.

“The Sixth Princess?”

“W-what? S-Sixth Princess? You’re supposed to call me Your Highness! Has the cold driven you mad?”

“Okay. Let’s go.”

She looked barely middle-school age, yet she was doing pretty well in this weather.

I started walking toward the snow-covered mountains.

We had a long way to go, so we needed to hurry.

At that moment, the princess suddenly reached out and grabbed me.

“W-wait!”

“?”

“...It’ll get dark soon, so let us stop here and rest for today.”

What is she talking about?

“Do you plan to reach the temple in your next life? And if we stay still in a place covered in snow like this, you’ll end up resting forever.”

“Was there not an empty cabin on the way here! And my legs hurt, and I’m starting to feel sleepy!”

There was supposed to be an empty cabin?

I didn’t see one, so denied.

If we rested whenever we wanted and moved at that pace, we wouldn’t clear it within the time limit.

And if possible, I wanted to clear it with a high rank.

“Your Highness, please hang in there a little longer. Then I’ll be heading ahead first.”

“...”

Leaving the princess standing there with a dumbfounded expression, I continued walking.

If her escort knight said he was leaving, surely she wouldn’t have a choice but to follow.

...I realized immediately afterward that I was wrong.

The princess really didn’t follow.

“Hans, you... You truly wish to die. What has been with that attitude toward me, a princess, all this time?”

Instead, she simply stood still and muttered in a voice filled with resentment.

“When we return to the palace, I shall have you severely punished! Do you not know that insulting me is the same as insulting the royal family!”

“...”

I take back what I said about her doing well.

She sure complains a lot.

Princess or whatever, to me she just looked like a whiny problem child.

‘But I’m the adult here, so I should understand her, right?’

On top of that, wasn’t I currently supposed to be that problem child’s loyal escort knight?

I should cater to her mood as much as possible to stay in character.

I approached the princess.

“Your Highness.”

“What!”

“You said your legs hurt and you’re sleepy?”

“Yes!”

“Understood.”

“What?”

Thwack!

I struck the back of the princess’s neck with a knife-hand chop, knocking her unconscious, then lifted her limp body and slung her over my shoulder.

With a Strength stat over 60, she was as light as a sheet of paper to me.

“Finally, some peace and quiet.”

Let’s go!