[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

Chapter 387

The Gate of the Divine Realm swung wide open, and Uriel stepped out from within.

“How could a human…?”

Uriel's eyes trembled in disbelief as he looked at Jeong-hoon.

The fact that a created being had opened the Gate of the Divine Realm was shocking enough, but what truly unsettled him was the divine energy of Creation surging around Jeong-hoon's body.

“Because I’ve returned.”

“Returned…?”

Jeong-hoon nodded.

“…I see. That makes sense.”

Uriel, who had once directly bestowed power upon him, was quick to grasp the situation.

“First, we need to stop this materialization.”

“Understood.”

Uriel fixed his gaze on a specific point and released his energy.

With the sharp crack of shattering glass, something burst apart.

It must have been Escanon who had been watching from the other side—now suppressed.

Even when Jeong-hoon had entered the game, he’d sensed Escanon’s gaze. But he had deliberately done nothing.

He wanted Escanon to witness the opening of the Divine Realm and be shaken to his core.

“Can you stop it?”

“Of course. I suppose… I’m the one who gave him that power in the first place?”

“That’s right.”

“Then I’ll start by stripping him of his authority and cutting off the synchronization.”

As soon as Uriel spoke, angels poured out of the Divine Realm in organized ranks.

They swiftly dispersed, and amidst that chaos, Uriel moved directly to Escanon’s domain, stripped him of his authority, and nullified the synchronization.

But in the process, Earth truly ended up like the shrimp caught in a fight between whales.

‘Master, still… the situation’s better than last time.’

‘Yeah. With the Divine Realm backing us now, I doubt our reality—the one I live in—will be trampled by them again.’

Jeong-hoon nodded.

“It’s done.”

Uriel returned after swiftly dealing with Escanon.

In his hand, he held Escanon’s soul—now destined to suffer eternally in Hell.

“What about Logos?”

While Escanon could tamper with most of New World’s code, only Logos could modify the deeper layers.

“It’s fine. Logos can only intervene if synchronization is complete.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Yeah. By now, even the Demon Realm must have realized we’ve made our move.”

“So, the war is about to begin.”

“No. They won’t be able to move right away.”

Since synchronization had failed, their first step to interfere with Earth would be to reclaim New World. But Uriel, along with the angels, had already taken positions across New World and begun its defense.

“Then I’ll ask you to hold the line just for a while.”

When the Divine Energy reaches 100%.

He would obtain the power of God.

And when that moment comes, everything will change.

“Don’t worry. I have no intention of shaking Earth to its core. Our only goal is to capture every last one of those demons from the Demon Realm and imprison them in the Abyss.”

The Abyss

The very hell where Escanon, now in Uriel’s grasp, would be cast.

“Alright then. I’ll consider you allies.”

“When you reach the level of a demigod, you’ll be able to enter and exit the Divine Realm freely. Let’s continue this conversation then.”

“Got it.”

“I look forward to our next meeting.”

With those parting words, Uriel returned to the Divine Realm.

The Gate of the Divine Realm shut tight behind him.

‘Hmm, the angels stayed behind, but he went back alone.’

‘It can’t be helped. They’ve been assigned to guard New World.’

‘Yeah. And you, Master—you can always open the gate again, right?’

‘Master, how much energy have you gathered so far?’

At Anima’s question, Jeong-hoon checked his energy bar.

It had already reached 55%, but oddly enough, it wasn’t increasing any further.

“What the…? Why did it stop transferring?”

[You cannot gather more energy due to insufficient level.]

[You cannot gather more energy due to insufficient average stats.]

‘Level and stats? But I should have more than enough, right?’

Before returning, Jeong-hoon had surpassed level 10,000.

All his stats were equally maxed out.

And yet, it was claiming he was lacking?

Puzzled, he opened his status window—and was dumbfounded.

===

[Player Info]

Nickname: Hoon

Level: 1,000

Class: Heavenly Martial Divine Emperor, 6th Advancement

===

His level, once over 10,000, had dropped to 1,000.

And that wasn’t the only problem.

His Heavenly Martial Divine Emperor class, which had reached the 6th advancement, was sealed.

“What the hell—are you kidding me?!”

Hadn’t Uriel explicitly said he’d return with all the power he had achieved?

As Jeong-hoon silently cursed Uriel, the Divine Realm’s gate reopened.

“Oh, right. There was something I forgot to mention.”

“What now, you bastard?”

“…Why are you so angry all of a sudden?”

“I lost all my power. You clearly said I’d return with everything intact.”

Uriel, momentarily flustered, let out a forced cough and began explaining.

“Ahem… sorry. I think I may not have explained it properly…”

“What?”

“When you returned, yes—you did bring back your abilities. That’s why your equipped gear retained its power.”

“Oh, don’t tell me you’re going to feed me some crap like I had to sacrifice my levels and stats just to regress.”

“Absolutely not. Your level and stats will return—with time.”

“Really?”

“Hunt high-level monsters. It’ll speed up your recovery.”

“That actually works?”

“Since we’ve taken control of this place for now, we intend to help as many people as possible reach divine power.”

“Ah, so you're planning to ask for help to capture all the ones hiding in the Demon Realm?”

“That’s right.”

Not a bad idea.

Helping others grow was something Jeong-hoon also agreed with.

“Then I’ll leave it to you.”

Uriel turned to leave, but Jeong-hoon called out to stop him.

“Ah, wait a second.”

“Hm? Is there something else?”

“I want you to take care of these.”

What Jeong-hoon pulled out were divine artifacts:

Chalice of the Void and Scroll of Heavenly Retribution Return.

[Chalice of the Void]

– Unavailable for use

[Scroll of Heavenly Retribution Return]

– Unavailable for use

Both items were unusable.

Most likely because they originated from the Demon Realm.

Jeong-hoon decided to discard them without hesitation.

They were useless against any named enemies, and just like Harmageddon, there was always a risk that someone could spy through them using the artifacts as a medium.

“Those bastards! How dare they imitate divine artifacts?!”

Uriel erupted in anger toward the Chalice of the Void and the Scroll of Heavenly Retribution Return.

“They’re useless to me anyway.”

“Of course. I’ll handle these myself.”

Uriel took the artifacts and returned to the Divine Realm.

‘Master, when do you think your power will return?’

‘I mean, getting cut down to one-tenth—that’s just cruel.’

‘If it didn’t come back, I wouldn’t blame you for beating him up.’

‘True that. Honestly, folding him in half wouldn’t be a crime…’

Jeong-hoon turned away.

“It’s fine. Even just buying time makes this sacrifice worthwhile.”

Besides, he hadn’t lost everything. It would all return with time.

And now that he could roam around New World to accelerate his recovery, it was time to focus on that.

* * *

[Hey! The countdown timer disappeared?]

– What is going on?

└ This is insane.

└ I thought it was a doomsday countdown lol

└ For real, lol. Watching nobody figure it out, I raided the supermarket and stocked up on a month’s worth of food.

└ I bought enough for half a year...

When the countdown timer abruptly disappeared, it set off a firestorm across every possible channel—media, online communities, social networks—you name it.

It was only natural. After all, the timer had been down to just over 40 minutes before vanishing without warning.

Jeong-hoon’s mother, Lee Na-Yeon, was no exception. She, too, was confused and uneasy.

She was watching the news coverage, broadcast live on TV, trying to keep up with the situation.

“Mom.”

Jeong-hoon, who had just exited the capsule, cautiously called out to her.

“Hm? What is it, honey? Hasn’t it only been about 30 minutes since you went into the game?”

“There’s something I need to tell you.”

“Go ahead.”

Seeing how serious his expression was, she turned off the TV and sat quietly to listen.

“I want to give you a guidebook so you can level up faster.”

“A guidebook?”

“Yes. I recently found something, and I think it’ll be really helpful for you!”

“Hmm, alright. If you give it to me, I’ll give it a shot.”

“Great!”

Before the regression, his mother had surpassed level 2,000 and completed her 6th class advancement.

Later, in the High-Race Wars, she showed overwhelming combat strength and carried the team through Round 1.

With her talent, she would surely be able to reclaim that strength from before regression.

And Jeong-hoon would do everything he could to support her in reaching that level again.

‘Mom, I’ll make sure you get back to where you belong.’

It wasn’t just her.

‘I need to help Mr. Yeo Sunwoo and Min-Ji grow stronger too.’

Yeo Sunwoo and Yeo Min-Ji.

They had both supported Jeong-hoon’s decision to regress, even at the cost of their own strength.

The same went for Ha-Jin and Bong-Goo, who had just visited the house not long ago.

He would help them all reach the 6th advancement as soon as possible.

Because, as “shrimps” caught in a fight between whales, they had to reclaim their pre-regression power quickly if they were to survive.

* * *

Before the materialization event, Jeong-hoon had already broken through Leas, the Free City.

A city designated for each class advancement path.

“There’s no reason to stay in Leas anymore.”

What he needed most now was to recover his level and stats.

To do that, leaving Leas and heading to the next city, Atlas, would significantly accelerate his recovery rate.

“Gasp! Level 1,000?!”

Naturally, while transitioning to the city of Atlas, he encountered other players out in the field.

As a result, Jeong-hoon’s level became visible to them without any filter—and since this was before the materialization event, four-digit levels were unheard of.

They were shocked, immediately stopped hunting, and approached Jeong-hoon.

“Um… you’re not a bug, right?”

“A bug?”

“Well… it’s just, you're level 1,000…”

Their reactions were understandable.

At this point in time, the highest recorded level belonged to James Marcus, who had just surpassed level 500, sitting at level 543.

“Oh yeah, you’re right. This is totally a bug.”

“Right? I thought something was off… and you’ve even advanced to the 6th class.”

“Wait, hold on—6th class? That’s a thing?”

Jeong-hoon casually shrugged with feigned innocence.

And the players? They believed him without hesitation.

After all, the numbers they were seeing were absurd by current standards.

“So… how did you trigger the bug?”

“Yeah, tell us! We’re curious!”

They all wanted to become high-level “by bug,” just like him.

Even if only temporarily, it would let them flex with their levels.

And of course, they could snap a photo and keep it as a memory.

But Jeong-hoon gently crushed their hopes with a shake of his head.

“Sorry, I honestly don’t know. I just logged in and the bug happened.”

“Oh, really?”

“Should we try re-logging too?”

The players quickly logged out, unwilling to fall behind.

Now alone, Jeong-hoon let out a soft chuckle and started walking again.

‘Feels nostalgic.’

It was a scene he hadn’t witnessed since the materialization—proof that the boundary between game and reality should exist.

‘Master, you look like you're in a good mood.’

‘Like I’ve said a dozen times already—this regression was an excellent decision.’

No doubt about it.

Before, level 1,000 had been nothing special, a number seen fairly often.

But now that he had regressed, no one had even come close.

Seeing that firsthand made the reality of his regression finally sink in.

“Let’s hurry and get to Atlas.”

He had to recover his levels fast and fill the Divine Energy bar to 100%—to truly ascend to the realm of a demigod.

And to do that, there was no time to be caught up in sentiment.

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]