chapter 53

My smile appeared as I saw my infamy fall down in one shot. As expected, a man should do it in one shot.

…Life was one shot. What?

[The first apostle, ‘Prometheus,’ is raising his thumb.]

This person seemed to like it as well. I was proud.

-Jackson: Sujeong, can you come to where I am?

-Crystal: Yes. I’ll be there soon!

The Yurnia Forest was mostly a habitat of a monster called the slime. There weren’t any other monsters so she wouldn’t be in any danger. I hummed as I decided to wait for her. A short time later, Kim Sujeong arrived. “Father!”

…She came faster than I thought.

“You came quickly.”

“Cer helped me.”

“Cer?”

“Yes, she remembers your smell.”

Cer looked at me from Sujeong’s arms. I felt strange because this dog remembered my smell. I raised Cer with both hands and smiled.

“Kwal.”

Brat. I smiled at her expression. It was a dour expression but the eyes weren’t sharp. In fact, I didn’t really like keeping puppies… but I might be able to raise this one.

…If only I could fix her biting habit—blood flowed from my right hand and I dropped Cer right away. It wasn’t a hard bite so it didn’t hurt.

Cer was in Sujeong’s arms before I knew it. I was supposed to be the owner…

I wiped the blood off my clothes and told Sujeong, “Take what you like.”

“Huh? What…”

I placed all the items I had obtained from the priest in front of her. Kim Sujeong’s eyes widened. “Where did you get all of this?”

“They brought priests to kill me. I beat them all up.”

“So your infamy… that reminds me, you’re not a murderer anymore?”

“They came up on the cobweb and I cut it.”

“Huh? No, that method… then down there?”

“I’ll go there very soon.”

At the same time, I threw myself off the cliff. I enjoyed the freedom of the wind and used the cobweb to reach the bottom. In fact, the first time was difficult but from then on, it became very easy.

“There are more than I thought.” I looked around and brilliant lights greeted me. Arkstar marked items with a shining light so they were easy to spot when they dropped. Now it was like I had found a hidden treasure cave. I started picking up the items on by one.

[Red Chain Armor has been acquired.]

[Red Copper Gloves have been acquired.]

[Red Headband has been acquired.]

“Why are they all red things?” In fact, items with the word ‘red’ that the effect of increasing fire resistance. They all increased their fire resistance because they were going to fight me. Of course, I only found out about this later. “They are like Santa Claus.” They were dressed in red and gave me items, so they were like Santa Claus. I wished I could meet them again.

[Hot Brigandine has been acquired.]

[Red Rat’s Armor has been acquired.]

[Wings of False Image have been acquired.]

…

…

* * *

“Waaaah!” Terrible sounds were being heard from the TV. After being hit a few times with a baseball bat, it quickly became an unusable object.

Choi Bulryong [1] threw the TV and the ashtray next to him through the window.

“That dog-like old man!!!!!!” he shouted in anger at the broken window. Unbearable anger boiled up in his body and Choi Bulryong was only able to calm down after this bout of venting.

“Sigh… hah, really X.” He looked back, gasping for breath as he saw his younger brothers with banged up heads. He hadn’t said anything but his brothers had hit their heads themselves. They were all waiting for a beating. “Sigh… stand up.”

His younger brothers stood up quickly while waiting for his words. The noise died down as Choi Bulryong spoke, “I won’t hit you guys. It wasn’t your fault.”

“No, Brother. It’s because we’re too weak,” Park Cheolyong replied as the representative.

“Yes, that might be it. Even so, I also took that old man too lightly. That was a factor in our defeat. That damn old man… keuk.”

The memories resurfaced and he clenched his fists. He was a truly wicked old man. Waiting for them to come up and then doing such a terrible thing. Choi Bulryong might be a bad person but not to that extent.

‘That old man is a demon.’

Choi Bulryong started to wipe the chair behind him with a towel. It was because there were glass fragments remaining on it. The moment he sat down, he pulled out a cigarette and sucked in a breath.

“Phew…” The cigarette smoke that scattered seemed to be a representation of his feelings. Choi Bulryong opened his mouth after he sorted out his thoughts, “Call Jebok.”

“Huh…? Big Brother, don’t tell me?” Park Cheolyong frowned.

Choi Bulryong spoke again, “I need to release the mad dog if I want to catch the crazy old man.”

* * *

Yoo Minseok was still working a night shift today. The Dipper Star’s Beloved he was looking for still hadn’t appeared and he hadn’t heard any news. He was still apologizing to his wife today. “I’m sorry. Today I’m on the night shift. I love you, Honey. Chu ♡” he spoke and hung up.

He felt sorry that he could only meet his wife through a video call today.

‘She was a bit sulky at the end. I’ll have to make some time soon.’

He was shaking his head and turning his chair when someone spoke, “You are a very loving couple with Noonim.”

“Ah! What a surprise!”

The person in front of him was Cha Jincheol, his brother-in-law. He was the younger brother of Yoo Minseok’s wife, ‘Cha Aeri,’ as well as a Union deputy section chief and Yoo Minseok’s direct subordinate. Yoo Minseok sighed with relief. “You should give a sign when you come in.”

“I knocked on the door twice, Maehyung.” [2]

The moment work hours were over, Jincheol always called him Maehyung. Fortunately, it was a familiar person. Yoo Minseok would’ve fallen apart from shame if someone else had seen the phone call.

“Hah. What’s going on? Did you find the Dipper Star’s Beloved?”

“Nope. I’m here for something else.”

Minseok’s shoulders slumped when Jincheol said he had come for something else.

‘Surely he not quitting?’

Please don’t let it be this. Then he would never escape from the swamp of overtime. Yoo Minseok shook his head and asked Cha Jincheol, “What’s going on?”

“I found an interesting person.”

“Interesting person…?”

Yoo Minseok grinned. “Do you remember Marbel?”

“Marbel? Of course I remember. It is the company who asked to implement the abilities of their superheroes in the virtual reality world as a condition to fund Arkstar’s creation.”

“That’s right. As far as I know, the conditions to get the skills are very demanding.”

“So why are you asking?”

“The first acquirer of a superhero ability has appeared.”

“What…?” Yoo Minseok’s eyes instantly flashed. These were skills with absurdly difficult conditions to obtain. They set it up and made it this way for the balance between users. Honestly, they weren’t skills that were made to be obtained.

‘Then who acquired it?’

“What ability did they gain?”

“Spider-Man.”

“Spider-Man…”

He remembered that the Spider-Man skills could be obtained through the inner cores of the ‘Giant Spider King’ and the ‘Giant Spider Queen.’ To make it more difficult, the inner cores could only be obtained when the user were 50 or more levels below the monsters’ level. “Are you sure? What level is that person?”

“Level 40.”

“……”

‘Is this guy kidding right now?’

He couldn’t believe it. No matter how overgeared, the level of difficulty meant it wasn’t possible. It was almost impossible for a level 40, not even level 50, user, to beat the two monsters alone and get the inner cores. It was impossible even for a legend who ate a Star Fruit.

“By the way, that person is a grandfather.”

‘This jerk is really teasing me.’

Yoo Minseok exclaimed, “Don’t lie! What grandfather…?!”

“I recorded it because I knew this would happen.”

“What…?”

‘Is it real?’ Cha Jincheol started to open his laptop. He clicked the mouse a few times and the video opened. ‘It is really a grandfather?’

The protagonist of the video was an elderly grandfather. His hair was white and slightly curly at the end but short. He was climbing the mountain with his hands behind his back.

“Isn’t he just a normal grandfather?”

“Keep watching.”

At these words, Yoo Minseok kept looking. The grandfather mistakenly stepped on an egg in the lair of the giant spiders and the spiders came running angrily. Yoo Minseok watched it and clicked his tongue. “Tsk tsk. He made a mistake. He is surrounded by spiders and will die soon.”

However, there was a reversal. The grandfather suddenly kicked the air and the flames from his feet started to burn the spiders. In the end, the grandfather survived.

“Crazy. Those kicks…”

Yoo Minseok couldn’t finish his words. The Giant Spider King appeared.

-Shiiiiik!

The spider king’s loud roar cooled his ears. In the ensuing swing of its forelegs, six trees disappeared instantly. The grandfather was running away.

“This is correct. How to kill a spider ki…”

It was at this moment. The grandfather suddenly turned around, muttered something, and summoned a small fireball. It started burning the legs of the spider king.

“What is this?”

Next, the spider king’s legs were easily broken and the spider king eventually dropped his inner core. The grandfather’s expression looked happy as he ripped off the baked spider legs.

“No, what is this…?”

“There’s one more.”

The next video was also in the mountains. The grandfather couldn’t be seen anywhere. The screen was currently showing two goblins.

‘That is Zigma and Ragneos…?’

Yoo Minseok remembered. The first monsters he touched when planning dropped items were Zigma and Ragneos. They seemed to be going somewhere when knights appeared.

-Attack!

The knights appeared with loud shouts and split up to face Zigma and Ragneos. However, Zigma’s strength was unusual.

‘Was Zigma that strong? I don’t think so…’

Zigma’s skills were beyond imagination. Based on the gorgeous armor, the man holding the spear seemed to be the knight captain. Zigma was now facing him. As Yoo Minseok was feeling dumbfounded, Ragneos called the spider queen.

-Come out! Giant Spider Queen!

The spider queen appeared with a familiar roar. The moment the spider queen appeared, she showed off her power by making the knights unable to do anything. Ragneos climbed on top of the spider and used the spiderwebs to bring the knights to one place before shooting a fireball at them. Then… eh?

-Flying Weather Dance. Rising Sun.

There was a familiar dance and Zigma leapt toward the fireball. The moment Yoo Minseok saw the flames at Zigma’s feet, goosebumps covered his entire body.

“Don’t tell me…?”

“That’s right.”

Then there was an explosion. The smoke cleared and Zigma stood with flames around his legs. At the same time, Zigma’s Transformation was ended.

“Polymorph? Then Zigma was this grandfather?!”

Based on what he knew, Polymorph was high-grade magic. It was a skill that a good magician over level 200 could learn but no one had learned it yet due to the difficulty of acquiring it. Yet this grandfather had used it.

“What is that grandfather’s identity? I thought he was a fighter but he is actually a magician?”

The next scene was full of surprises. He used a skill that Yoo Minseok had never heard of! There was the sound of flames and pillars of fire kept soaring.

The Giant Spider Queen quickly became charcoal. This wasn’t even the most surprising thing.

“He is even hunting Ragneos???”

The grandfather was running toward Ragneos with the man who appeared to be the knight captain. The dark arrows that appeared due to Ragneos’ unique frenzy skill rushed to pierce them while Ragneos tried to become a demon. The Dark Veil was harder than expected and the grandfather seemed to be facing a crisis. However, there was a reversal.

-Shadow Play.

Huh?

Yoo Minseok knew this skill well. It was a skill attached to an item that he planned. Come to think of it, that dagger…

“…Did he also kill Zigma alone?”

The grandfather appeared and stabbed the dagger in Ragneos’ back. Ragneos was caught in a series of attacks and died in vain.

Cha Jincheol turned off the screen.

“……”

“Hyung, how about it? Isn’t it amazing?”

“That grandfather… what’s his name?”

“His name? I don’t know. His ID is Jackson.”

‘Jackson…’

It was amazing. Yoo Minseok had seen many rankers in Arkstar but his heart had never beat as quickly as it did now. In particular, the burning legs and moving fireball… wait a moment. Where did he see this before?

“No way, the hero of Mulan…?”

“Huh? The hero of Mulan?”

“Yes, that explains it. He is holding the shadow dagger and has the moving fireball!”

Yoo Minseok knew about the hero of Mulan because he had seen the broadcast. A low-level player who left a statue in Mulan. His face was unknown because he was wearing a mask but if he was this grandfather, everything could be explained.

‘Maybe he is the right person for the Christmas World Competition.’

Yoo Minseok said, “Jincheol, you need to go to Windia.”

[1] Remember, this is Supreme Fire Dragon’s real name

[2] elder sister’s husband/brother-in-law