Chapter 151.

Creator’s Sacred Grace, guild leader’s office .

Kim Suho and Yi Yeonghan were sitting in front of Yun Seung-Ah . However, all three parties present seemed to have their own worries as their expressions weren’t good .

“Here, it’s the official application form . ”

Yun Seung-Ah initiated the conversation as she put two application forms on the table . Kim Suho and Yi Yeonghan picked up the forms simultaneously .

[Creator’s Sacred Grace Application Form]

Starting salary of 400 million won plus performance-based benefits .

Compared to the 150~200 million won salary average Cube graduates received, it was a hefty amount, especially considering Creator’s Sacred Grace’s current situation .

“Oh?”

Yi Yeonghan’s expression brightened . He seemed to have had monetary worries .

However, Kim Suho was the opposite . He looked more worried than anything at the high salary he was offered .

Creator’s Sacred Grace has been in the red for a while . This was something most of the public knew because of the numerous articles that popped up daily . Creator’s Sacred Grace suffered astronomical punitive damage in lawsuits and settlements to wounded or killed victims of their failed Tower campaign . To make up for their losses, they had to conquer at least 30 small Dungeons .

“…It might not be enough, but this is the best we can do . ”

Yun Seung-Ah misunderstood Kim Suho’s expression .

In truth, Creator’s Sacred Grace’s budget was at its limit . Not only could they not afford to give out any more, some of the amount that was offered also came out of Yun Seung-Ah’s pocket .

“No, it’s fine . ”

“I’m happy too with this amount . ”

Kim Suho didn’t say anything in consideration of Yun Seung-Ah’s pride, and Yi Yeonghan signed the form satisfied .

“Great… then you can go take a look at your assigned offices . ”

“Yes!”

“…Yes . ”

Kim Suho and Yi Yeonghan left, and Yun Seung-Ah was left alone in her office .

“Haa . ”

She let out a deep sigh .

Money . Money . Money .

This word continued to haunt her from all directions . She never thought money would be a problem she had to face, but the amount of debt she incurred in the past two years was 5 billion won .

“My net worth used to be 5 billion won… . ”

Yun Seung-Ah laughed self-mockingly and picked up her phone . She no longer hesitated to make calls to borrow money . Her pride was long gone from all the bank trips she had to make in the past two years . Rather than worrying about today, she was more concerned with figuring out how to survive the next day .

Tiriring—

—Hello?

“…Hello? Unni?”

—Oh, what’s up?

“It’s me, Yun Seung-Ah . ”

—I know .

“Ha, haha, right . ”

Yun Seung-Ah laughed awkwardly .

After hesitating for a bit, she chose the easy way out .

“How have you been doing lately?”

—Hah? Anyways, do you want to reconsider? We still have seats open .

Aileen quickly made a counteroffer . Taken aback, Yun Seung-Ah was at a loss for words .

—Why do you care so much about that guild anyways? Do you want to be a guild leader that much? Even when you have to go through so much? Last time I checked, your guild was still at rank 20 .

“…It’s rank 13 now . We recovered a bit . Plus, it’s been my dream to become Creator’s Sacred Grace’s guild leader ever since I was young . I achieved my dream, so um… Unni . ”

—What .

Thanks to what Aileen said, Yun Seung-Ah’s tension loosened .

She decided to be a bit more shameless .

“Can you lend me some money?”

**

…2028, June .

Because of the ‘Silver Moon’ phenomenon, monsters all over the world began to go wild . Governments began to issue a state of emergency and ordered guilds to destroy monster habitats .

Creator’s Sacred Grace’s Hero, Kim Suho, showed fantastic results . He destroyed a settlement of ‘Blood Bears’ located in Suwon’s mountain range and became the youngest intermediate-rank Hero as a result .

Soon afterwards, Shin Jonghak achieved a similar result and also became an intermediate-rank Hero .

…2028, August .

Essence of the Strait’s businesses, ‘Monster Corpse Dismemberment and Refinement’ and ‘Mana Crystal Refinery’, were founded . Even in Korea, these two factories contained state-of-the-art mana technology .

“We’ll start the ribbon cutting ceremony~”

The opening ceremony was grand . Essence of the Strait’s guild leader, Yoo Jinwoong, its vice-leader, Yi Jin-Ah, SH Agency’s CEO, Park Soohyuk, the mayor of Uijeongbu, and Yoo Yeonha were all present .

Clap, clap, clap—

Along with a roaring applause, the ribbon cutting ceremony ended .

“Good work . ”

Yoo Yeonha shook hands with Park Soohyuk . These two factories were made possible thanks to Essence of the Strait’s partnership with SH Agency . SH Agency’s numerous hunters provided them with monster corpses, making the cost of production much cheaper .

“So from now on, we should transfer all the monsters Fenrir kills to this place?”

“Yes, but in front of me, you can just call him Kim Hajin . ”

“Ah… yes, understood . ”

“Then I’ll take my leave . ”

“Yes, see you later . ”

After giving Park Soohyuk a warm smile, she approached Yoo Jinwoong who was waiting for her by the limousine .

…2028, October .

The number of aerial and oceanic monsters exploded . Because of this sudden increase, island countries like Japan and England were greatly impacted . A portion of England’s islands and Japan’s Kyushu island were immediately designated as intermediate-rank danger zones .

…2028, December .

Japan requested assistance from Korea and the Hero Association, while England put out mercenary recruitment ads to deal with the situation themselves .

Frankly, their decision was met with ridicule from the rest of the world .

Then…

2029, February .

On Baekdu Mountain’s summit, where fierce wind blew…

“Ready . ”

A battle was about to take place .

Strangely, even the spectators were clad in qi reinforcement . This was because Baekdu Mountain’s mana-infused wind was different from ordinary wind . As today’s wind carried especially threatening energy, it was no different than knives that could cut skin .

“… . ”

Amidst this iron wind that would have cut apart ordinary people’s flesh, Chae Nayun was glaring at a man . Her muscles were tense, and nervousness cooled her head .

“Start . ”

As soon as the start of battle was signaled, Chae Nayun pulled out a 1 . 8-meter longsword . Highlander’s Claymore . It was a historical-grade artifact gifted by Chae Shinhyuk .

On the other hand, her opponent only had an ordinary sabre .

“Come . ”

Chae Nayun didn’t rush forward . Instead, she swung her sword from a distance . Her longsword instantly transformed into a 20-meter-long beam .

However, her opponent was no slack . He calmly blocked her sword and rushed towards her .

Woong—

As the man’s sabre shot towards her, Chae Nayun jumped high enough to touch the clouds .

From the sky, she changed to a reverse-grip . She was clearly trying to strike down with her sword, an ultimate technique she learned secretly .

“…Haaaaap—!”

With a roar, she descended .

Objectively speaking, what Chae Nayun did was only a simple jump-and-strike attack .

Her opponent easily dodged her attack . The simple nature of the attack made him suspicious .

However, the ‘real’ attack was what came next .

Chae Nayun twisted her sword, which was still stabbed into the ground, in a 90-degree angle .

Magic power instantly erupted from the ground .

“What!?”

The man didn’t have a chance to react .

A thunderous roar rang out . As though a volcano was erupting, cracks appeared throughout the entire arena, and terrifying pillars of magic power shot out . Looking closely, one could see that the pillars all had the image of swords .

Swept by the wave of giant sword pillars, the man flew backwards helplessly .

“… . ”

Their battle ended in only three breaths .

“…Chae Nayun wins . ”

The judge pronounced the victor .

“Thank you for the lesson . ”

Chae Nayun sheathed her sword and bowed .

The man who was sent flying raised his upper body and gave her a thumbs up . The spectators watching the battle broke out into cheers and applause .

“Heh . ”

Yoo Sihyuk stared at Chae Nayun with a satisfied smile .

Chae Nayun wiped off the sweat on her forehead and bowed to Yoo Sihyuk .

“You’ve grown a lot . ”

Yoo Sihyuk was genuinely impressed .

Chae Nayun was only 21 . Only two years had passed since she began to train in Baekdu Mountain .

However, she grew faster than anyone else who trained in Baekdu Mountain . She poured every second of her free time into sword and magic power practice, allowing her to achieve victory over the instructor who taught her for the past two years .

At the same time, Yoo Sihyuk felt a bit sad .

“…Like you said, you’re more than ready to return to the secular world . ”

Today was the day Chae Nayun was leaving Baekdu Mountain . She still had an old grudge to resolve and old debts to repay .

As her master, Yoo Sihyuk wanted to hold her back . Although she grew in might, he knew her heart was still wavering .

However, Chae Nayun was firm in her conviction .

KWANG!

After putting her sheathed sword down, she bowed .

“Thank you for everything . ”

Yoo Sihyuk stared at her with a somewhat dissatisfied look . Then, he decided to ask her one last question .

“Do you really plan on joining a guild?”

With Yoo Sihyuk’s recommendation, Chae Nayun was able to become a Hero without going through an apprenticeship . However, Yoo Sihyuk knew Chae Nayun well . For the work she wanted to do, being a mercenary was more suited than being a Hero .

“Yes . ”

Even so, Chae Nayun nodded firmly . The twisted smile on her face bothered Yoo Sihyuk slightly .

“If you want, I can introduce you to the Vast Expanse . ”

“I will have to decline that offer . ”

“Why?”

“…You sure have many questions . ”

“What’d you say?”

Heh . Chae Nayun smirked .

“It’s been my dream to become a Hero, so it’s only obvious . I don’t want to give up on it with lame excuses . ”

She remembered hearing about it . That it was foolish to give up on a dream because of a man .

She agreed with it one hundred percent .

Out of spite, out of refusal to lose, she planned to become a Hero .

“…Fine, then pack your belongings and leave . I assume you can go down by yourself . ”

“Of course . ”

“… . ”

Yoo Sihyuk turned around to hide his hurt expression . Chae Nayun remained bowing as Yoo Sihyuk walked away .

Koong .

Chae Nayun didn’t raise her head until her master’s office door closed shut .

“You’re the best, Unni!”

“That was amazing, Noona~!”

After waving her hand at the younger disciples who looked at her like an idol, she returned to her room . Living here for the past two years, she had grown quite accustomed to this place .

“Let’s see, what do I need to pack…”

After opening her suitcase, she looked around the room for things to pack . But because she didn’t bring much to begin with, there wasn’t much to pack .

Then suddenly, she saw a pack of cigarettes sitting on her desk .

“…How many did I smoke today?”

She tilted her head as she put one in her mouth .

When she lit it, cigarette smoke entered her mouth .

“Cough . Auu, so bitter . ”

She couldn’t get used to this acrid smell no matter how many times she smoked . It was likely that her body just wasn’t suited to smoking .

Even so, she still smoked three times a day . She felt it was her duty .

So that she doesn’t forget .

So that it doesn’t weather from time .

So that she doesn’t forgive subconsciously .

For these reasons, she took on this hated smell three times a day .

“…Eh?”

While she was looking around the room smoking, she caught sight of a gaming helmet sitting in the corner of her drawer .

A bitter laugh came out . She remembered often playing with it four years ago .

To reminisce the past, she picked up the helmet .

“…Hmm . ”

She put her cigarette out and lied down on the bed .

Tok, tok .

She pressed the button on the helmet and found that it still worked .

“Should I give it a try?”

She put the helmet on for the first time in years .

The helmet’s iris scanner activated as the world around her turned dark .

[Iris scan has been completed . ]

[Nayunjajangman-ssi, welcome back . ]

“Yeah, hi . ”

She didn’t plan on playing anything . She only wanted to reminisce .

But when she logged in, there was an alert in front of her .

[Today is the last day of service for ‘Gladiator of the Century’ . We would like to give a warm thanks to all the support you have given us over the years . ]

“Eh?”

The game she used to enjoy that once dominated the gaming scene had met its end . It seemed it couldn’t withstand the test of time .

Feeling somewhat bitter, Chae Nayun logged into Gladiator of the Century .

—I logged in one last time T . T

—Me too~ I used to love this game .

—Is anyone from the Hero clan~?

The lobby was full of people who came to reminisce like her .

“Should I play it one last time?”

Wondering if there was anyone to play with, Chae Nayun looked through her friend list .

“…Ah . ”

There, she found someone who was more like a memory than a friend .

[Extra7 (currently online)]

A smile emerged on her face . She opened the private message window, but seeing the conversation she had with him before, her face stiffened . She was embarrassed and annoyed at the same time .

“Auu, you crazy idiot loser . ”

Chae Nayun was about to wipe the message log but stopped . Although she couldn’t bear to watch her younger self’s immature conversation… she knew they would disappear once the service ended .

‘They’ll disappear even if I don’t erase them . ’ Telling herself so, she slowly typed on the message window .

[Um, Hyung-nim . Are you… awake?]

**

I was lying in bed .

Recently, there hasn’t been much to do . The laptop update was still underway, and there was a while to go before the start of the next episode I knew .

As a result, training and playing around was all I’ve been doing lately . I’ve gotten quite used to this lifestyle thanks to finding a few dramas and variety shows to watch .

“…Ehew . ”

The most painful part was going to bed . I had trouble falling asleep as all sorts of thoughts constantly plagued me .

Insomnia . It was a chronic condition I suffered from .

“Oh right . ”

I suddenly caught sight of the VR helmet by my bed . Thinking I could put on a sleep-inducing video, I put it on .

As soon as I entered the lobby, an alert popped up .

[Today is the last day of service for ‘Gladiator of the Century’ . We would like to give a warm thanks to all the support you have given us over the years . ]

“Ah, so this is disappearing too . ”

I suddenly realized how much time went by . I remembered playing this game a lot in the past . I even made a friend .

I never said goodbye as I naturally stopped playing the game when I got busy .

Curious, I logged in .

“A lot changed, huh . ”

I was put into a waiting room which didn’t exist in the past . It seemed the game developers did everything they could to not fall behind .

“Hm . ”

Looking around here and there, I reminisced on the old features and observed the new ones .

[Um, Hyung-nim . Are you… awake?]

Ding— Suddenly, I received a message .

The sender was Nayunjajangman .

I immediately recalled the past .

To be honest, I was happy to the point my drowsiness washed away .

[Yeah, I’m awake . It’s been a while, man . ㅋㅋ]

[I think so too . ]

“Oh?”

After four years, the way he talked seemed to have changed . It was more… mature .

It made sense . After all, he had to be an adult now .

[Do you want to play a match?]

Nayunjajangman asked .

[Match?]

[Yep . ]

[Sure . ]

Since the game was closing soon, I felt more than happy to play one last time .

In the middle of pressing buttons to host a room, I suddenly stopped .

I used to be his master, so I didn’t want to lose to him so easily .

[Let me relog real quick . ]

I took off my helmet .

—Scan .

Then, I logged back in after consolidating my helmet .

**

Extra7: [Go?]

[Go . ]

The match began after a brief exchange .

I had a sabre and a shield while my old master, Extra7, had an axe and a shield .

The control felt a bit weird as I hadn’t played for a while, but my sharper senses and experience were more than enough to cover it . At least, that’s what I thought .

“Uuk!”

Boom . Extra7’s axe struck my shield, pushing my character back against the wall .

I quickly rolled to the side and dodged his follow-up attack .

“Iik!”

Koong . This time, he attacked my face with his shield .

“Ah, dammit!”

I tried to counterattack after barely dodging his attack .

Whoosh—

However, my character shot up into the air from his sudden summersault .

That was it .

I was hit and killed with a 108-hit combo in the air .

The first set was a complete loss .

“Ha, what the hell was that combo? Jesus . ”

An astounded laugh came out . It seemed my old master was still worthy of being my master .

“…He’s so good . ”

As soon as my murmuring ended, the second set began .

This time, I took the fight more seriously .

I changed my weapon to a longsword .

**

[Victory]

“…I almost lost . ”

Nayunjajangman was much better than before . Or maybe I got worse .

In any case, her sharp and reckless counterattacks were hard to deal with .

[Thank you for the match . I see that you’re just as good as before . ]

As soon as the match ended, Nayunjajangman messaged me .

[You improved a lot . Did you continue playing?]

[No, what about you?]

[I didn’t play either . I just logged in after hearing that the service was ending soon . ]

[Wow, then you must be super talented . I’m impressed, Hyung-nim . ]

“…Pft . ”

The way he talked made me laugh .

The kid who used to ask me for dating advice was now a full-fledged adult .

[Ah, Hyung-nim, you’re currently active, right?]

Jajangman suddenly asked a strange question .

Active? This word had many meanings in this world .

[Well, I guess you could say that . What about you?]

Did he also become a mercenary?

[I’m not active yet ㅋㅋ but I will be soon . ]

[Oh? Are you a trainee?]

[Something like that . ]

I see, so that’s why he became so serious .

[Good luck . ]

[Thank you . Ah, don’t you think we’ll meet one day? ㅋㅋ]

I smiled . ‘Regardless of whether you’re an apprentice hero or an apprentice mercenary, I’m no longer someone you can meet so easily . ’

[Maybe, if you continue to work hard . ]

[I see . Ah, apparently the service is ending soon . ]

[ㅋㅋ kk . ]

I received an alert too .

—The service will end in 30 seconds .

I smiled bitterly and slowly typed my goodbye .

[Good luck . Be happy . ]

Jajangman’s reply came instantly .

[It’s too late for me, but be happy too, Hyung-nim . ]

I wanted to reply to him .

I didn’t know what happened, but I couldn’t bear to watch a kid be so hopeless .

However, before I could type anything, my surroundings changed .

[The service has ended . ]

[We offer our greatest gratitude to all users who supported Gladiator of the Century . ]

[Goodbye . ]

Only the game developers’ final messages were left in front of me .

Tip: You can use left, right, A and D keyboard keys to browse between chapters .