However, the stone golem was pushed back five steps after making a deep furrow, and quite a few stones making up its right shoulder were smashed apart by my Ice Punishment

Of course, even though it was so big, the damage was negligible.

So the stone golem charged at me again as if it thought my damage was no big deal.

"Blink!"

So I widened the space between us before attacking with more powerful skills.

"Ice Tornado! Blizzard!"

Wheeeeeeeeeeeng-

Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

Obviously, the battle had just begun a little while ago, but I soon realized that this stone golem was a reinforced version of the ogre, the gatekeeper of the 1st gate.

Just like the reinforced ogre, the stone golem charged at me strongly rather than being swept away by the gusts of Ice Tornado. But it was much slower than before. So much so that I could keep my distance by simply moving my feet instead of using Blink.

Of course, that didn't mean I didn't do anything while I was moving.

"Ice Spear! Multiple Ice Arrows!"

I kept attacking it.

Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

I used the same type of attacks that I used against the ogre, the gatekeeper of the 1st gate.

This kind of attack worked against this stone golem, the gatekeeper of the 3rd gate.

Of course, it was somewhat different as the stone golem withstood my attack better and even charged at me amidst the gusts of wind. But that was all.

Perhaps because of that, it took me much longer to get rid of this gatekeeper, but in the end, it could no longer hold out desperately and collapsed while making a bizarre sound.

But I was not happy about it because this stone golem was much weaker than the Lich, the gatekeeper of the 2nd gate.

"Why?"

I could not help but question why.

Obviously, it seemed natural to me that the higher the gate, the stronger its gatekeeper.

However, since I could not find out the answer right now, I began to move to the 4th stage as soon as I confirmed that the stone golem had fallen.

[You have killed the gatekeeper guarding the 3rd gate.

-The 3rd gate will be open for the next 5 hours.

-You have a cooldown of 5 days to move to the 3rd stage again after moving to the 4th stage using the 3rd gate.]

When Juyoung Hong and the 10,000 ordinary people passed the 3rd gate, the Bornesche Expedition arrived at the 5th gate.

"Everyone, this is the last gate! Good job!"

"Wow!"

"Great!"

With the 5th gate just in front, Andrei shouted at them, emphasizing that this was the last gate. All the expedition members shouted for joy because they knew that if they successfully passed this final gate, they would be given the rewards that they had been so anxiously waiting for.

After confirming their excitement, Andrei opened his mouth in a loud voice.

"Alright! Let's move on to receive the reward!"

Their morale knew no limits now, so Andrei wanted to make the best use of it to pass the last gate.

Now was the time to break through the last gate.

After that, the Borneche Expedition members charged at the gatekeeper guarding the 5th gate.

Although the gatekeeper was very strong, the tanks, dealers, healers as well as the enchanters of the expedition team moved in unison to defeat the gatekeeper successfully.

"Wow!"

"We've done it!"

"Borneche! Borneche!"

"Andrei! Andrei!"

Of course, it didn't mean that they suffered little damage.

In particular, they suffered more damage at the 2nd gate than they did at the 3rd, 4th and 5th gates. Anyway, they cleared all the gates, which increased the possibility of them escaping from the new continent faster than others.

In other words, the rewards they would receive would be greater.

At that moment, when they were cheering over the victory, a message rang to the expedition team.

[Congratulations! You have successfully explored the new continent.

-You can get out of the New Continent using the 5th gate,

-When you use the 5th gate, the following rewards are given according to the order of your escape.

: First escapee

-1000 coins, 100 remaining stat points.

: Second escapee

-999 coins, 99 remaining stat points.

: Third escapee

-998 coins, 98 remaining stat points.

:

:]

"…"

"…"

"…"

All of a sudden, they became silent.

Obviously, the place was overflowing with their shouts of joy a moment ago, but after the message rang, they stopped shouting and became silent as if they were disappointed by the reward.

The number of coins given as the reward was small, but they were still coins anyway.

In addition, unlike the stat points they obtained by items or skills, the remaining stat points obtained this way was the most effective way for them to widen the gap with others.

Nonetheless, the reward was too small, given the hardships they faced to come all the way here. Moreover, not everyone earned 1000 coins and 100 remaining stat points. That was the reward reserved for 1st place only.

As a result, the rewards given to those at lower ranks continued to decrease, and those level 100 or below would receive only one remaining stat point.

That is, the reward for 100th place was 1 remaining stat point and 900 coins, and the one who claimed 400th place would also only receive 1 remaining stat point and 600 coins.

So, they let out a sigh and began to complain about the poor rewards.

"Man, did I join this expedition to get this small reward?"

"I came here even after deserting 10,000 people!"

"Damn it!"

Naturally, they began to complain a lot. And they had no choice but to direct their complaints and resentment toward Andrei and the Borneche Expedition, the original owners of this quest.

But then another message rang as if there were more rewards.

[You will receive additional rewards when you pass the gate with ordinary people.

- The following rewards are given per one ordinary person you move with.

: 3 million golden rings.

: A small amount of EXP.

: 5 coins.

: 1 remaining stat point.]

"What the heck? After all, even ordinary people will receive the reward?"

"Man, they were forcibly brought here!"

"Ordinary people are the main characters of this quest!"

According to the message, they would get the real reward only when they passed the gate with ordinary people, so they had no choice but to feel frustrated and annoyed.

Since they left the ordinary people behind at the starting point, they could not go back to bring them here. In other words, they were just like a pie high up in the sky.

And their frustration could not be deeper when they heard the next message.

[There is a hidden reward in this quest.

-When one person moves with 1,000 ordinary people, the following reward is issued.

: Additional 2000 remaining stat points.

-One person moves with 5,000 ordinary people.

: Additional 20,000 coins.

-One person moves with 10,000 ordinary people.

: Additional treasure chest.]

"Shit! They're all dead!"

"The maintenance period of the safety zone at the starting point is one week, so there is no possibility that they have survived until now."

Can ordinary people survive without a safety zone in a place teeming with all kinds of monsters?

That was absolutely impossible.

Moreover, they were neither soldiers, nor were they armed with weapons.

In the end, their rewards were so disappointing for their sweat and toils until now.

Some of them even wished they had not heard the message about the enormous reward for the ordinary people they had left behind.

If they hadn't heard the message at all, they wouldn't have felt so disappointed and frustrated, even though they might have felt upset about the small reward.

But then another message rang.