Chapter 114 – A + X = New World

I informed the commander and Ho Jin the information that I obtained from the goblin Karin.

It was because the commander had requested me to share information with him before.

That was one of the reasons why I visited.

The other reason was that I needed help from them.

It was possible to do it alone, but it would take a long time if I did so.

I asked the two that were sitting in front of me.

“This was what I wanted to let you two know of first. I wasn’t able to obtain information about the monsters or their weaknesses, but it’s still better than nothing.”

“Hm…. Thank you. It’s something at least. So they’re extremely strong.”

“Yes. It seems it won’t be an easy fight.”

“We’ll have to be fully prepared…..”

“Thank you, Mr. Min-Cheol. But what about that favor you wanted to ask of us? What would that be?”

“Ah. I wanted to learn about the location of a hidden portal.”

“The location of a portal?”

“Yes. The level 34 portal dungeon in Paju that you informed me of isn’t useful anymore.”

“Ahem! Ahem ahem!”

At my words, Ho Jin looked at the commander.

The portals were spread throughout the entire nation.

Out of those, not many were higher than level 30.

The locations of those portals seemed to be treated as classified information in the association.

It appeared as though that he didn’t report to the commander about informing me such locations yet.

However, the commander smiled as if he had expected this ahead of time.

“Do you now understand now why my mood lightened when our lad Min-Cheol entered, HoJin?”

“Hohoho. My apologies. I forgot to let you know….”

“Ah….. Seems I spoke out of turn.”

“Hoho. You probably knew it already, right commander?”

“I had my suspicions with the master ID disappearing from time to time. It’s not an issue. You made the right decision.”

“That’s right, hoho. Then….”

“My lad Min-Cheol. Tell me. What is the portal level that you wish to know the location of?”

“Hm…. 40? Since the year has passed, isn’t there a level 41 portal now?”

“Since it hasn’t been the date of the first portal’s appearance, the portal ring wouldn’t have increased by one yet. Almost as if there needs to be a birthday or something, the portal level won’t rise until exactly 365 days have passed. You’ll need the location of a level 40 portal then.”

“Yes. I’ll be counting on you for the locations of portals in the range of level 38 to 40 please.”

“But Mr. Min-Cheol. As you told me before, I thought you don’t gain much from leveling? It would be better for you to obtain skills instead…..”

“Hm…. He probably wants to obtain artifacts.”

“Yes, that’s right. I’m asking in order to obtain artifacts from hidden bosses of the dungeons.”

“Oho…. If that’s the case, there isn’t much time to spare.”

“Yes. Since I have no idea which of the dungeons a hidden boss would appear in, I’ll have to invest a ton of time in order to find out.”

“All right.”

The commander immediately picked up the phone on the table. It seemed as if he wouldn’t even sleep in order to give every bit of his time to support me.

“Yes, commander.”

“Thank you for your hard work. I appreciate you working still even in these late hours, secretary Kim. Could you have department head of strategy An report in here?”

“Understood, commander. Is there anything else you need?”

“Please request permission to open x classified files from him. We need to do so here, right now.”

“Yes, I shall call him to let him know.”

“I thought you knew about all the locations of the dungeons?”

“Hohoho. I just know the general gist of them. There’s someone else that takes care of that.”

“Aha…..”

“Did you inform our lad here without asking permission from the department head of strategy?”

“Hoho. There was no point of having more people guilty of something that I came up with, commander.”

“Ho! Ho! Ho! That makes sense. Is Jeong-yeon doing well?” 1

Just like that, until the man that the commander summoned arrived, they seemed to carry on a normal conversation.

It was peaceful, almost as if they had forgotten about the looming threat of the demonic realm and the monsters.

A brief moment passed.

“Commander, the department head of strategies An Ho Yeong has arrived.”

“Okay. Please bring him in.”

“Yes.”

The secretary moved back to reveal a man that was standing behind her.

The department head of strategies bowed his head in a 90 degrees towards the commander to greet him.

He seemed rather young to be a department head.

He didn’t wear a suit, but instead had casual blue jeans and a hoodie that made him look unprofessional.

Lumbering towards us, he sat next to me and spoke.

“Apologies for being late.”

“Nothing to worry about. I should be the one apologizing, since I’m holding such an energetic youngster late into the night for work.”

“No, no. But…. is this person….. Perhaps! A?”

“A?”

“You catch on fast. Please introduce yourself. This is the one I spoke of before, A. Also known as Kim Min-Cheol.”

“It’s an honor to meet you! My name is An Ho Yeong!”

“Yes, glad to meet you. I’m Kim Min-Cheol. Wait, am I A?”

“Hohoho. I shall explain that later.”

“Sure….. It feels like I’m in a viral video going around the internet or something. Feels strange.”

“Hohoho!”

“That’s right. Department head An, did you bring the files?”

“Yes, commander.”

Instead of a suitcase, he brought out the files from a backpack.

It was in a thick sealed envelope. I was able to notice instantly that the envelope was made of nanomaterials.

Ho Yeong took the envelope off the table to rip it open and spread out the files.

He said that these files could only be accessed only with the permission from more than two department heads and the president of the association.

“Here it is.”

“Thanks.”

“But department head Kim. You kept on coming over to take peeks at this document in secret, but now you’re able to do it guilt free.”

“Hohoho. That’s right. To think that a day where I would be looking at them in the open like this would come though…”

“Commander. Mr. Min-Cheol is here at the association, and you’ve requested for the x classified files…. What can I help you with?”

“Our man here is looking for portals in the ranges of level 38 to 40.”

“Oho…. Portals in those ranges?”

“That’s right. If possible, it would be best to pick from the closest ones to us…….”

“The closest portals.”

“That’ right.”

“…….”

As if excited, Ho Yeong pulled out a highlighter the moment the commander finished talking.

He moved in a frenzy with his highlighter over the coating paper.

Unlike his simple appearance, he was showing an incredible amount of focus towards his work.

It made me realize that he didn’t just hold this position for show.

After 3 minutes of frenzied highlighting, he closed the cap of his highlighter and gave a satisifed smile.

“Is it done?”

“Yes. It’s all done.”

He pointed towards a location with his index finger with confidence.

Everyone’s gaze focused in on where his finger pointed towards.

Ho Yeong opened his mouth.

“Here.”

“Oho. The locations forms almost an equilateral triangle.”

“Yes. They are roughly 1 to 2 km apart from each other.”

“Yeah… With your kind of stride, it shouldn’t take long for you to cover that distance, Min-Cheol.”

“Yes, if there are no hindrances along the way. But is there a specific reason why you picked the closest ones….”

“It’s to increase the chances.”

“Huh?”

“You could run 3 different dungeons in a certain set period of time. Taking into account the remaining days, you would most likely spend 25 days for each dungeon.”

“Yes…. That was the original plan.”

“If you go around doing those three dungeons, you’d waste more time traveling between them if they’re far apart. And if a hidden boss does appear in one of them, you’ll only focus on that specific dungeon.”

“I didn’t think ahead that far.”

As expected, I was glad that I came here for assistance.

With everyone offering different perspectives, we were able to come up with a better solution than the one I was able to come up with alone.

Ho Yeong continued.

“The locations are in Won-ju of Gangwon-do. Have you been there before?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“It would be impossible for you to get there with Warp then. Then I shall have my people escort you there.”

“That’s ok. I have someone who’s idle at home….”

“No, no! We shall escort you!”

“Ok….. Then I’ll be counting on you.”

“Yes!”

“Ho ho ho. That man you spoke of would probably be sad hearing you say that about him. Out of us all, I think Jong Ho is working the hardest.”

“Whew….. He should be thankful that I don’t treat him like a NEET.”

“Hohoho.”

“Ah, since we’re on the topic of Jong Ho hyung…..”

“What did you have in mind…..”

I let the silence settle for a bit before speaking.

This was a decision I didn’t make lightly.

That’s why I wanted to hear their opinions.

I spoke up with caution.

“You know… the gate that connects our realm to the demonic realm?”

“Yes. Isn’t there roughly 77 days left? Time is of the essence…..”

“I’m going to enter it.”

“Yes, I expected as much. Why would anyone enter there willingly….. Huh?”

“What did you just say?”

“I’m planning to go through the portal.”

“What do you mean! Why all of the sudden….. We’re not even sure of a method in order for you to return though?”

“……”

“I found a way. It’s simpler than I originally thought it’d be.”

“…….”

“I just need to become the demon king.”

“……..”

“……..”

“…….”

The three of them stared at me blankly.

They had a dumbfounded expression on their faces as if they didn’t know what to say next.

They must be shocked enough that I said that I’ll be going through the portal.

But now they heard me say that I’ll become a demon king.

I couldn’t help but smile at their bewildered expressions.

However, they continued to stare at me blankly in confusion.

They stayed that way until I spoke up again the break the silence.

“It’s the information I got from Karin. I just have to obtain the highest ranking position in the demonic realm.”

“……”

“Mr. Min-Cheol, even if that’s true….”

“I cannot let the situation become more chaotic, and this world has suffered enough damage.”

“Are you sure about this?”

“Yes. 90% sure.”

“Hmm….. Still, to think that you’ll be going to the demonic realm on your own….. It doesn’t right with this old man.”

“I agree with him, Mr. Min-Cheol.”

“Of course. I shall gather the best in each class. It shouldn’t take that long.”

“No. We also have to consider the possibility that the demonic realm may invade again. That’s why we cannot split our forces.”

“Then who will go with you?”

“Someone who’s idle at home.”

****

Jong Ho was clearing the level 34 dungeon with ease, even without using any defensive skills.

Since he knew the skill’s destructive force and area of impact, he kept sufficient distance between him and his target while marching forward casting down transcended Meteors towards the distance.

The only time he moved his body was to loot the stones and drops from the mobs.

His level had already surpassed Min-Cheol’s.

Only a year ago, his level was in the mid 60s.

Now, he was nearing level 420. On top of that, he was nearing 10,000 points worth of stats on his armor.

It was possible because he repeatedly entered the dungeons to the point where his ID was getting worn from use.

Of course, this was only possible because of the Balrock’s Treasure Storage ring.

If there’s one thing that he lacked, it was the level of his warrior class skills.

Since he only spam casted magic, his skill level was similar to that of warriors at the level ranges of 200 to 250s.

Jong Ho invested all the stats he gained on stamina, since he would be using Min-Cheol’s ring to attack.

He split apart his daily 12 hours of hunting into hunting ghouls for stats and hunting to level up in the higher level dungeons.

After exiting the dungeons for the day, Jong Ho spoke to himself while looking at the moon that was at its zenith.

“Time just flies by, huh. But thanks to hunting using this ring, I don’t feel tired at all…. Feels rather tedious. But why does my ear itch so much today?”