[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

Chapter 392

[You have completed the quest.]

[You have acquired a Fragment of the Beginning.]

Obtaining just one Fragment of the Beginning is truly difficult.

[Part of your level has been restored.]

[Part of your stats has been restored.]

[Some of your sealed abilities have been unlocked.]

There had been gains.

With an additional level restoration, Jeong-hoon’s level rose to 2,300, and his stats increased proportionally.

Along with the release of some sealed abilities, he was now able to use Fly again—one of the skills that had previously been locked.

“…When do you plan to draw the Holy Sword?”

“If possible, I won’t. Unless a truly critical situation arises.”

Faced with such a firm answer, Loel gave up trying to persuade him.

Not that Jeong-hoon was ever someone who could be persuaded in the first place.

“Where do you plan to go now?”

“Why? Are you trying to tell me about the next Fragment of the Beginning?”

“Ahem… I was hoping you’d draw the Holy Sword before leaving Atlas.”

“You’re persistent. If you’re not going to tell me, I’ll be on my way.”

Jeong-hoon turned his back without a hint of hesitation.

“W-Wait!”

Loel hurriedly grabbed Jeong-hoon.

“What now?”

“Promise me. That if the time comes, you’ll draw the Holy Sword.”

“…Fine. I promise.”

A critical situation.

Jeong-hoon nodded easily—because he didn’t believe that moment would ever come.

“…Then head to the prison.”

“The prison?”

“Yes. The quest continues.”

“Does the quest end with Lafaro’s execution?”

Loel shook his head.

“No. Lafaro won’t be executed.”

“You’re letting him go on purpose?”

If it were the Divine Realm, which held authority over New World, that changed things.

They had granted free will to the NPCs.

And that meant—they could also eliminate them without hesitation.

“Lafaro still needs to remain as an NPC. Even if we’ve granted them free will, they’re still NPCs in the end.”

“Is there a way to have him executed?”

“There isn’t. So please support the bereaved family. That will open the path to the next Fragment of the Beginning.”

It wasn’t pleasant news.

But in the end, these weren’t the living—they were NPCs, arranged so that New World could continue functioning.

“…Fine.”

There was no point in arguing any further here. It would only waste breath.

Jeong-hoon nodded and stepped out of the chapel.

* * *

Bang!

Lee Na-yeon pulled the trigger.

“Gyaak!”

The Blood Bear, its head pierced, collapsed on the spot and died.

[Your level has increased.]

Along with it, her level rose.

“Amazing… I leveled up from just killing one of them?”

Her current level was 282.

Before the regression, her level had easily surpassed 2,000, so by comparison, this was meager.

And yet, she was shocked.

Just before she obtained the fortuitous encounter, her level had been 222, and in a flash, it had jumped to 282.

At this rate, reaching 300 was only a matter of time.

And that would fulfill the conditions required to challenge the 4th class advancement.

What’s more, the fortuitous encounter wasn’t even over yet.

[The next monsters are spawning.]

Five more monsters appeared before her.

Training-type Giant Bears at level 220—stronger than the Blood Bear.

But they were no match for someone like her at level 282.

Bang! Bang!

Gunfire rang out in quick succession, and the five Giant Bears fell dead in an instant.

[Your level has increased.]

Her level rose again.

From 282 to 287.

[The next monsters are spawning.]

Just when would this fortuitous encounter end?

The quest she encountered was far more difficult than the strategy Jeong-hoon had given her had suggested—

but the rewards were beyond anything she had imagined.

Lee Na-yeon kept pulling the trigger.

* * *

After leaving the chapel, Jeong-hoon briefly logged out.

Back in the real world, having returned to his ordinary human body, he flexed and clenched his fists, as if finding it somewhat awkward.

“Not having anything… it’s hard to get used to.”

Normally, Mukho or Anima would have said something by now.

He walked out into the living room and chugged water straight from the refrigerator.

How long had it been since he last felt thirst like this?

“…Nice.”

He could finally appreciate how grateful it was to quench thirst with water.

“Hoona, are you done?”

His mother had also finished playing the game and stepped out of her capsule.

Judging by her bright expression, she must’ve had quite a successful run.

“Yes. How was it for you, Mom?”

“Phew, don’t even get me started. Why is everything so hard these days…”

“Is that so?”

Originally, it shouldn’t have been that difficult.

Clearly, a lot had changed.

“But I still succeeded.”

His mother held up her fingers in a V-sign.

“That’s a relief. So, did you obtain the fortuitous encounter?”

“Yes. It was called Burning Field. My level increased by one every time I hunted a monster.”

“Oh? Then your level must’ve jumped quite a bit.”

The fortuitous encounter he had arranged for his mother was indeed supposed to relate to leveling up—but he hadn’t expected it to transform into Burning Field.

‘If it’s Burning Field, that’s even better.’

Originally, the encounter was supposed to grant a potion-like effect—earning a large amount of EXP in one go.

By that calculation, her level should have gone up around 40.

But with Burning Field, she must have gained at least over 100 levels.

“Yeah. I hit level 370.”

370.

That meant her level had increased by nearly 150.

“Oh, then you should be able to start your 4th class advancement right away?”

“No, I already fulfilled the conditions for the 4th advancement, and it was over in a flash.”

“…Is that really true?”

“Mhm. I’m not sure why either.”

“Maybe because you’ve already gone through the 6th advancement before…”

Jeong-hoon murmured under his breath.

“Hm? What was that?”

“Oh, nothing. Anyway, congratulations on completing your 4th class advancement!”

“Thanks. It’s all thanks to you.”

“No, not at all. You said the quests had completely changed, didn’t you? It’s all your accomplishment, Mom.”

“Not really. If you hadn’t guided me, I wouldn’t have even attempted it.”

At her words, Jeong-hoon gave a soft smile.

“Still, without skill, even guidance won’t help.”

“That’s true. Oh right, Hoon, I have something for you.”

“Huh? What is it?”

“It’s an item called a Fragment of the Beginning.”

“A Fragment of the Beginning…?”

How did his mother know about that?

Could it be that she obtained it as part of her fortuitous encounter?

“Yes. It appeared in the Burning Field, and an angel named Pirel showed up and handed it to me.”

“Why would he give that to you?”

“I don’t know. He just said to pass it along to you.”

“To… pass it along…”

So it wasn’t just the fortuitous encounter that had been upgraded.

The Divine Realm had deliberately placed key items in strategic locations so that Jeong-hoon could eventually stand against the Demon Realm’s forces.

They had also designed it so he could receive help from his companions during that process.

That’s how he ended up getting an additional Fragment of the Beginning through his mother.

“But this item keeps throwing up an error message—I can’t even read what it is. What is it used for?”

“Good question. I’m not entirely sure myself.”

“Really?”

“Hm, Mom, have you actually held it in your hand?”

“No, it was sealed when I received it. They told me not to open it under any circumstances.”

“Then try opening it now.”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

Just holding a Fragment of the Beginning had restored a significant amount of experience and stats.

It even unlocked sealed magic.

If his expectations were correct, then simply grasping the fragment might trigger additional growth for his mother as well.

If it doesn’t work, I’ll just take it from her later.

There was nothing to lose in trying.

* * *

[Whisper / Yeona → Hoon: Son! The moment I held it, my level shot up by another 100! And I fulfilled the 5th advancement requirements too!]

The effect was tremendous.

Just by holding the Fragment of the Beginning, her level increased by 100, soaring past 400, and she completed the 5th class advancement in a flash.

With this, his mother had become a Genesis Sniper who had completed her 5th advancement.

While she still fell far short compared to before the regression, the fact that she had reached the 5th advancement in such a short time was already a deeply satisfying result.

Jeong-hoon then sent whispers to the others, instructing them to open their Fragments of the Beginning immediately upon receiving them.

[Whisper / Minzi → Hoon: Wow! I just went up 85 levels!]

[Whisper / zlHajin12 → Hoon: Bro… I swear I’ll treat you as my elder for life.]

[Whisper / AeMiYaGukIsSalty → Hoon: Hyung-nim! I love you, truly!]

[Whisper / Sunwoo → Hoon: I don’t know how I’ll ever repay this debt…]

They all already had the skills to seize their respective fortuitous encounters,

and now, with the Fragments of the Beginning granted by angels, they had achieved additional growth.

Jeong-hoon asked them to hand over the depleted fragments later, then closed his whisper window.

“What exactly do you think you’re doing?!”

Loel shouted, glaring at Jeong-hoon with a scowl.

Naturally, from the angels’ point of view, this wasn’t a welcome development.

They had likely planned to hand Jeong-hoon the sealed Fragments one at a time to steadily accelerate his recovery.

“What? Is there a problem?”

“Why did you tell them to open it? You don’t even have enough for yourself!”

“Is there some kind of time limit?”

“…What?”

“Recovery will take care of itself over time. And I’ll retrieve the used Fragments afterward.”

“You shouldn’t be so relaxed about this! We need to enter the Demon Realm as soon as possible!”

“Then why don’t you just hand over all the fragments you have right now?”

“Well… that’s…”

“You’re the ones who split them up for purification, so why are you complaining now? Tsk.”

“….”

Loel had no response.

“If you’re not going to give them all at once, don’t complain.”

Just as the Divine Realm couldn’t invade the Demon Realm,

the Demon Realm likewise couldn’t recklessly provoke the Divine Realm.

That’s precisely why they had spent so long destroying dimensions and building up power.

If the situation were truly that urgent, they wouldn’t have split the fragments up like this—they would’ve handed them over all at once.

Which meant… there was no need to rush.

“…Hoo. Honestly, you're probably the only one who doesn’t move according to the Divine Realm’s will.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Ignoring Loel, Jeong-hoon headed straight for the prison.

Normally, you’d call it a correctional facility, but here, prison was the more fitting term.

Robots apprehended NPCs who committed crimes, locked them up, and determined their sentences remotely.

Once imprisoned, those NPCs were left to rot inside, subject to harsh conditions.

The prison conditions were so poor that many criminals died before even completing their sentence.

Among them, Lafaro had been imprisoned not in the underground ward—but in the surface-level prison.

That meant his crime had been judged relatively light.

Because of that, Ariel was out front holding a protest sign, demonstrating with great intensity.

Above her head, a blinking question mark flickered.

A continuation of the quest…

It showed just how deeply she cared about Ross.

‘Master, is that protest even going to work?’

‘They’re robots—doubt it’ll do anything.’

Mukho and Anima were right.

Those robots possessed intelligence, but they were programmed never to deviate from predefined instructions.

The truly terrifying part was that if the creator of those robots changed even a single setting, the entire system could be altered instantly.

“He’s in there, right?! How can they give only one year to the murderer who killed my brother?!”

One year.

Far too light a sentence for taking a life.

Jeong-hoon approached Ariel, who was still shouting in protest.

[Sub-Quest: Elimination (2)]

– Condition: Completion of Elimination (1)

– Reward: ?

– Description: Fulfill Ariel’s request.

The sub-quest he thought was finished…

…was continuing.

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]