Chapter 315: 315

Chapter 315 – Japan (3)

Japan (3)

The darkness that appeared from the magic circle returned to it as if it were natural . It was a vain exit compared to the spectacular appearance .

“What was that?” Hochi asked, bewildered .

Humans, affected by the darkness that had just appeared, stood frozen .

Instead of answering Hochi’s question, Yong-yong focused on untying the box he had on his neck . He handed it to Hochi .

“Why me?”

“Take care of it, Uncle . ”

“Yes, well, that’s not difficult . ”

Hochi felt somewhat dubious . Yong-yong acted as if he was ignoring his question . Of course, Yong-yong wouldn’t have done that usually, so Hochi thought he was distracted .

Hochi didn’t see the mantis in the box Yong-yong gave him . Hochi peered inside, wondering if he could spot it, but he couldn’t find it anywhere . He shook the box lightly .

The door of the mini closet burst open, and the mantis rolled out .

“AH!”

“…Why were you hiding there?”

The mantis turned to Hochi, shouting, “I was scared!” It didn’t feel ashamed in admitting that .

The mantis, who had explained his behavior, crawled back into the closet . [1] Hochi shook his head and hung the bag around his neck .

“I’ll be right back, Uncle . ”

“Oh, okay . But where are you going?”

For now, he was going to allow Yong-yong to go wherever he went, but he didn’t know where Yong-yong wanted to visit . Yong-yong didn’t answer Hochi’s question again .

Instead, Yong-yong flew toward the magic circle that had just summoned the darkness . As Yong-yong approached, the magic circle flashed and disappeared along with Yong-yong .

“…Where did he go all of a sudden?” Bewildered, Lee Joon-suk asked about Yong-yong with a more perplexing expression than Hochi .

“I think he went after the darkness using the magic circle that was just summoned . ”

“Will it be all right?”

Hochi was confused, but he was sure it’d be okay because Yong-yong was a dragon .

If Lee Ho-jae had disappeared that way, Hochi would have been worried—worried for the unfortunate people who would encounter Lee Ho-jae . And Hochi wouldn’t know what kind of accident Lee Ho-jae would have caused and when he would return .

But if it was Yong-yong, Hochi wasn’t worried .

“We’re done dealing with the wave, so it’ll be okay if Yong-yong goes out for a while…”

“Gwuaah!” At that moment, a huge monster rose from the sea and roared .

Their surroundings began to change rapidly .

When the darkness appeared, the sky changed, and the air became heavy . A forest appeared where the coast had once stood .

But now, a forest appeared where the coast was . The middle of the ocean where the monster was seen became a lake .

No, it wouldn’t be accurate to say their surroundings were changing . To be precise, somebody summoned Hochi, Lee Joon-suk, and the other Awakened people from Japan’s eastern coast to a different place .

“Well!”

They were in the fictitious world that the monster had created . That monster, located in the lake’s center, had tentacles flying in all directions; it was a monster Hochi knew well .

The 40th floor of the Tutorial Hell Difficulty Level was a monster that seemed impossible to deal with without the help of a Hundred Gods Temple’s apostle .

This monster seemed like a carbon copy of the beast from the Tutorial .

Yong-yong’s absence didn’t matter . The mere fact that it brought Hochi into the world of its mind meant that it was different from the copy on the 40th floor .

“It’s kind of weird . ” Hochi couldn’t believe this happened as soon as Yong-yong went somewhere . It was also strange that Yong-yong was not aware of that monster . Of course, Hochi himself didn’t notice until the monster summoned him to this world, but Yong-yong’s case was different .

Hochi, who had been pondering for a while, decided to call for the strongest reinforcements to cope with the existing problem .

“Seregia . ” Unfortunately, there was no reply .

“Seregia? Seregia! Oh, crap . ” There was no response .

Hochi scratched his head and said, “Hey, I think we’re screwed,” to Lee Jun-seok, who was looking at him desperately .

* * *

[POV: Lee Ho-Jae]

[Please . ]

[Please . ]

I was so sick of this . It was not easy to ignore the countless pleas .

[Please . ]

It had been quite a while since I had absorbed the God of Evil . His ability and strength were insignificant, but fortunately, he knew a lot of useful information .

I was pleased, but there was one fatal side effect .

[Please . ]

The pleas of the God of Evil rang in my heart . It was quite annoying .

Recently, it has become more frequent . It seemed that his absorption was almost over .

The God of Evil knew his remaining presence would soon disappear, and hence, he had been pleading even more desperately than before .

Someone came into the temple; it wasn’t an intruder . He came in too defenselessly to be an intruder . No barriers were invoked .

The time flow inside and outside the temple was completely different due to time acceleration .

Only three beings could come in here at will without touching the barrier: Yong-Yong, who could make a hole in the time axis I created, and Hochi and Seregia, who were not affected by the time axis at all .

“Seregia . ”

“I’m bored . ”

Seregia, can you please make an effort to at least attempt to be interested or perhaps pretend? This is the only thing I ask of you .

I prayed earnestly for it but didn’t say it out loud . I knew Seregia would simply ignore me .

“Other gods have intervened on this planet . ”

I know .

Three on the Japanese side and one in Korea . Among them, the one in Korea was the God of Hope . They had been quite busy for a few days .

“Don’t I have to deal with it?”

“It’s alright . ”

The gods’ intentions were apparent . It was like they were keeping a watch on Hochi or Yong-yong while I was building a passageway between the 60th floor and Earth .

That was all . It would be ambiguous to target me directly .

There were too few things on Earth that could bind me to the earth in the first place . My whole family was dead, and Kim Min-hyuk had the Old Man and Grandma .

Lee Joon-suk was sent with Hochi and Yong-yong .

“Why are the gods suddenly coming out like this?”

“Are you annoyed?” I asked Seregia .

She snorted expressionlessly .

“The gods behind this are, of course, not from the Hundred Gods Temple or the Pantheon . If they were, they wouldn’t be able to move like this . ”

And the gods not affiliated with the temples, were usually from the Rulers’ side .

This was important .

“Let’s put ourselves in their shoes . Suddenly, a new god came out of the Tutorial they had made to keep the Rulers in check . And that god decided to do one favor each in return for the Tutorial . Of course, they’ll think that the god is going to attack them . ”

It was true that opinions were divided within the temples, and there were signs that it would be a mess .

The mainstream opinion of the Hundred Gods Temple was “Anti-Rulers . ”

Otherwise, the gods wouldn’t have made the Tutorial and try to nurture apostles .

“But one of those Rulers, the God of Evil, approached me to compromise, and it worked in vain . ”

“Did you get any useful information?”

“I did . ” I gained information about the relationship between the Ruler and gods, the gods’ ability and power, and their territory’s location .

The last one was the most important .

If I knew the Rulers’ planets and dimensions’ exact location, I could always go there and try to attack . My base of support, the 60th and 61st floors, ironically, were protected by the Tutorial .

Attacks were impossible on me, but the Rulers must defend themselves without knowing when and where I would appear . In the end, the Rulers had no choice but to take out the option of striking first .

A strike against Yong-yong and Hochi, not my floors .

“You must have known there would be an attack then . ”

“Of course . ”

Seregia stared at me for a moment .

I uttered the title that I hadn’t used for forever . “Soldier . ”

“Oh my Lord, Warrior . I feel like it’s been hundreds of years since I heard that . ”

It may have been more than that . Unlike me, who had a strange feeling, Seregia was quite serious .

“Warrior, that’s a dangerous way of thinking . ”

I felt a little sorry because of Seregia’s harsh way of speaking . She was still worried about me .

“It’s alright . It’s not what you think . ”

“Can I hear the explanation?”

“This is a trap for Yong-yong to lure his enemies… It’s not what you think . It’s to drive dumb pigs who don’t recognize tigers into the cage of the tiger . ”

Unfortunately, this easy and convenient method was only possible when the pigs didn’t recognize tigers .

I couldn’t use it twice, so I needed to get out of the way so that the pigs could run more excitedly . Until the pigs enter the cage, they won’t recognize the tiger .

“So, we just have to wait and see what Yong-yong will catch . ”

“I see . So you both know the plan?”

“Of course . ”

I explained the plan to both Yong-yong and Hochi . I explained to them in a message to go on a trip to deceive the God of Hope, who was hiding in Seoul’s corner . Both would have understood .

At least…I knew Yong-yong would have . Hochi also usually acted like he didn’t listen to me, but he listened to me closely .

On that day, he looked at me like a barking dog and started reading again, but that was just how he usually was .

* * *

[POV: Lee Hochi]

It has been strange since a while ago . Is this what Ho-jae was rambling about before?

It was strange to see a mighty monster wave as a coincidence . Powerful beings were also appearing one after another .

He couldn’t think of this happening when Hochi and his party came to Japan by accident . On the contrary, when Hochi and his party came to Japan, this had happened .

After finishing organizing his thoughts, Hochi decided to explain the monster to Lee Joon-suk .

“It’s the monster that appeared on the 40th floor of Hell Difficulty . ”

“…Isn’t it easy to defeat then?”

“On the 40th floor, two more Hundred Gods Temple’s apostles followed, plus the apostles of the God of Nature as well . ”

Considering that, the power of that monster was not as strong as the 40th floor .

Lee Ho-jae, who had been clearing the stages between the 30th and 40th floors, could not even think of killing the monster alone .

When that monster first appeared, he ran away first .

“Ho-jae ran away…?”

“Of course . ”

Lee Ho-jae didn’t care about his pride or how people viewed him; he only cared about winning . He would retreat or even lie and beg as if it were second nature, as long as he comes out on top .

Hochi went on to explain .

“It’s the kind of monster who drags the opponent into its world without the opponent noticing . In that world, the opponent undergoes the fear effect . ”

There were many monstrous animals and plants in the forest . Some of them were so strong that the victims didn’t want to go in, but were still chased by them .

The one who was strong enough to survive the entire day would meet with the Spirit king . That monster looked twice as strong as the copy that had appeared in the Tutorial .

“…Is there any way? Weakness or anything?”

“I don’t know its weakness, but I have a master plan for victory . ”

“What is it?”

“To hold out until Yong-yong returns,” Hochi said with a grin .

It was actually a perfect plan . Hochi was confident enough to avoid it and buy time . Upon hearing the plan, Lee Joon-suk staggered, rather than being relieved .

“Are you alright?”

“Yes…No, suddenly…”

Lee Joon-suk’s eyelids twitched . His breathing was so ragged that his chest hurt, and an uncomfortable feeling suffocating him .

Hochi had to hurry from the side to see if his arms and legs were shaking .

It was because of the monster’s mental attack . When faced with unbearable fear, the human body pushed itself to death to escape from the fear .

Lee Joon-suk and the other Awakened, who had been summoned along with the two, were facing the same predicament .

Most of them had already lost their sanity and passed out . In the meantime, some would occasionally have seizures or start screaming .

Hochi looked at them with pity for a moment and used his skill .

“Wings of Talaria . ”

This rare fraud skill, presented by the God of Adventure to Lee Ho-jae, gave tremendous amounts of buffs to himself and his companions .

In addition, Lee Ho-jae’s had made some modifications to it that made it become a near-perfect all-rounder skill .

“Are you feeling better?”

“Yes…” Lee Joon-suk answered breathlessly .

The fallen Awakened also stopped screaming and having seizures as if the burden had been relieved a bit .

“Hyung… if there’s nothing else you can do but stall, can I try my hand?”

“You?” Hochi asked back in a worried voice .

“Yes, thanks to you, I don’t think I have any problems moving around . ”

He was quite confident compared to before when he had been struggling . The plan was simple . Lee Joon-suk would attack the monster, and Hochi would assist .

“I’d like to ask you a question, can you protect people so that I can attack as much as I want?”

“Of course . ”

“Because my ability extends in all directions, people can get hurt . So…”

“Oh, I can help with it . ”

Hochi was confident that even the other Awakened’s hairs wouldn’t be hurt no matter what Lee Joon-suk did .

And even if Lee Joon-suk failed, Hochi actively supported Lee Joon-suk’s plan because he could wait for Yong-yong as initially planned .

“Don’t mind about the people; just focus on that monster . It won’t be easy . The monster’s body is so strong that it’ll be hard to cut through . ”

“I can cut through,” replied Lee Joon-suk .

The excited voice made him feel surprised beyond expectations .

“I’m good at slicing . ”

Note:

I know that someone in the comments had theorized that Ho-Jae would be the god of victory looks like he/she might be right .

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