Chapter 120
Thinking that this was the famous battlefield from history made my heart beat a little faster.
Of course, General Yi Sun-sin was here, too.
But even the thirteen ships he had ‘at least’ possessed were gone.
All that remained was the one ship I could stand on and my own body.
Still, that wasn't a problem.
The scattered Gluttony legion descended upon the Japanese ships.
The Japanese ships were far away, but I could now control even familiars dozens or hundreds of kilometers away.
It was the result of my increased control.
Control reaching 300% must make even that possible.
I could also obtain remote vision or sensations through the Gluttony legion, as if through my own eyes.
That was an effect of the improved Misian skill.
“...So they aren't human after all.”
Their eyes were unfocused, and they lacked the vitality one should feel from a human.
They were just puppets.
The problem was...
They were puppets overwhelmingly stronger than humans.
As if to prove it.
Rat-a-tat-tat!
Matchlocks fired from the Japanese ships.
To the eye, they were no more than crude matchlocks...
But astonishingly, bullets flew toward my ship without even being reloaded.
Every single one was infused with an enormous amount of mana.
If I got hit, I was as good as dead.
Of course, I had Sacrificial Offering and all, but there was no need to take a hit and waste my precious legion.
I hadn't sent only Gluttonies on the sea breeze.
The Prides I'd sent along with them intertwined, creating a body in midair that looked exactly like me.
It was a little embarrassing being naked, though.
“Phase Shift.”
Flash! In a burst of light, my body appeared far away in midair.
The position of my body aboard the panokseon and the one in the air had been switched.
The form I'd temporarily constructed from Pride promptly dispersed again.
“It takes advance preparation, but... you can't dismiss an instant teleport with no cost.”
The so-called ‘Blink’ is a technique emblematic of the highest-ranking mages.
It doesn't let you travel very far, but learning that one Blink is important enough to make up for a mage's weak performance in one-on-one combat.
The problem is the mana cost, enough to make you gasp, and the cooldown, though slight.
Naturally, enemies would target those weaknesses.
Even though I'd suddenly appeared close by, the Japanese pirates weren't the least bit flustered, and immediately turned their guns toward me.
Then...
The Japanese pirates who hadn't yet been attacked by Gluttony.
Rat-a-tat-tat! They opened fire again.
What the hell kind of matchlock doesn't need reloading?
I thought they were rifles.
“Phase Shift!”
As I teleported to another spot I'd prepared in advance, I ordered the Gluttonies to finish off the Japanese pirates who'd attacked me.
Nearly half of the Japanese ships and pirates in the front had already been swept away.
As expected, Gluttony is ama—
Just as I thought that.
The Japanese pirates in the rear began to converge into one mass.
They transformed into the shape of one enormous monster, then raised a matchlock like an enormous cannon toward the sky...
No, more precisely.
Toward the countless Gluttonies approaching them.
Thoom!
They fired.
This time, instead of bullets, a massive storm of mana swept over the Gluttonies.
[Approximately 730 trillion Gluttony entities have been annihilated.]
Instinctively, I put some of the Gluttony legion in front to block the attack.
Damn it.
They're so hard to make.
And now they were wiping them out in huge chunks...
─ Ad . ap . ting . to . Glut . ton . y.
Even Greed's awkward, unnatural voice—which I still wasn't used to, despite not hearing it in a while—was a welcome sound.
“They’re adapting to Gluttony?”
─ Yes.
Well, even so, would that really be a problem?
Even with some of the Gluttony entities wiped out, there were still plenty left.
They swept over the Japanese ships and soldiers again... no, the Shadows, disassembling them.
When I realized there was nothing left in the sea.
[Level 70 Gate ‘Ascension Chapter ─ Jeollanam-do, South Korea’ has been subdued.]
...That's it?
Don't I get anything?
I didn't even gain any experience.
─ They . are . only . an . ill . u . sion.
It seemed that was because they were shadows.
But then I came to the fundamental problem.
Then how was I supposed to gain experience?
I could assume I'd level up to 74 in Level 69 Gates.
But how would I level up from Level 75 onward, when I was more than five levels above the Gate?
If all the places were like this.
While I was momentarily at a loss.
[The mythical history, ‘Battle of Myeongnyang,’ has ended in your victory!]
[The altered history has been recorded, creating a new branch.]
[The fame you achieved in the new branch is becoming faith and accumulating.]
[The rate at which Divine Authority accumulates has increased.]
Messages appeared one after another.
“Hey, what the hell? How is this the Battle of Myeongnyang?”
How can you call it the Battle of Myeongnyang when Admiral Yi Sun-sin wasn't there and the Japanese pirates were doing some kind of fusion attack?
─ And . that . is . a . new . branch.
Point is, I didn’t understand what this ‘branch’ was supposed to be.
Greed's following explanation helped me understand a little.
“...So you're saying this is a process of artificially accumulating faith?”
─ Ar . ti . fi . cial . things . do . not . suit . hu . mans . Hu . mans . can . not . do . things . like . this.
...That was true.
Humanity hadn't even grasped 1% of what the system was.
No, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say we hadn't figured out even 0.1%.
I had no idea how I kept encountering new things like this.
“Anyway, the system is feeding me faith, right?”
─ Yes . yes . that . is . why . it . is . the . Ascension . Chapter.
“That's good.”
─ If . you . can . get . through . it.
“What happens if I get through it?”
─ I . don't . know . either . but . you . will . fail.
What was he talking about?
It was so easy with a simple click...
Well, not easy, but I cleared it without trouble.
─ They . will . adapt . to . Glut . ton . y.
Can you even adapt to that?
I'd have to check that in another Gate.
Then I checked my Divine Authority.
[Divine Authority]: 1,082
“W-what is this?”
I'd spent some on appointing Lee Seonghyeok as a Guardian Knight, but it should've built back up to around 400 by now.
I hadn't had much use for it anyway.
But for it to have passed a thousand now...
“Did I get all that from clearing just once?”
This was a jackpot even without any other rewards.
There were quite a few things I could do with Divine Authority.
I'd done a fair bit of testing with it so far.
I could even do this.
“Use Divine Authority to split Gluttony entities and replenish the lost numbers.”
The Gluttonies, which had just lost 730 trillion entities, immediately began to divide.
Normally, Gluttony didn't reproduce on its own.
I had to make it using bio-decomposition bacteria and feed it Nectar.
But creating 730 trillion entities again would take quite a while.
If I used a suitable amount of Divine Authority at a time like this...
[You have spent 70 Divine Authority to replenish the entities.]
The Gluttonies divided on their own and produced new entities again.
If you looked at it one way, I'd temporarily granted reproductive ability to Gluttony, which was impotent... no, sterile.
It was the literal power of God.
“So I guess all Level 70 Gates are like this.”
Gates where I could keep accumulating ‘Divine Authority’ and increase the amount I accumulated.
The problem was...
“I don't have anything to show the public.”
It wasn't as if I could become a god and show a ‘miracle’ to earn the power of a god.
This was tricky.
Everyone's eyes would be on me.
It'd be a problem if a feast with a big reputation had no food to offer.
“Well, if there's nothing to eat...”
Couldn't I make something to eat?
It felt like there had to be some way.
**
[Hunter Kim Segyun has subdued Level 70 Gate, ‘Ascension Chapter ─ Jeolla Province, South Korea.’]
[Jeollanam-do Province, South Korea, has been pacified!]
The moment the message everyone had been waiting for appeared.
Cheers erupted around the world.
How many years had the Age of Awakening lasted?
Nearly half a century.
It had been more than a decade since Kaiser, the first person to reach Level 70, had done so.
In other words.
Humanity hadn't heard news of a new Gate being subdued for over a decade.
In return, expectations had risen enormously.
Just as the mana stones from Level 50 had transformed humanity's energy sources.
And just as the byproducts from Level 60 had sparked innovation in various fields of new materials.
How would the byproducts of Level 70 change the world?
People's expectations were almost at their peak.
─The Under Seventy era is finally over.
└Love you, Segyun-hyung!
─Kkyu-kkyu!
└I don't think today is the day for the Kkyu-kkyu Squad to come out...
└Even the Kkyu-kkyu Squad can't beat God Segyun on the day the Under Seventy era ends.
─So now it's the Over Seventy era? lol
└Guess so. Wow, what comes out of Level 70 Gates? Must be insanely expensive, right?
└I'm getting excited as hell lol
─They say Kim Segyun's interview is starting soon. Everyone got their positions?
└It's already priced in. The prices are insane.
─Lol, why'd he stop clearing lower-level Gates and lift level control? Obviously, the Level 70 goodies matter more!
└Still, it's kind of a shame. If Kim Segyun had kept his level in check, he could've easily cleared the two unexplored Gates.
└Didn't you hear about the Demon Realm? They say it's insanely tough. He must've had no choice but to lose control of his level while holding out to clear it.
└True.
By now, the fact that Kim Segyun had failed to control his level wasn't even something worth talking about.
People were simply curious about his review of Level 70.
And on a broadcast watched by countless netizens around the world.
Kim Segyun finally appeared.
Kim Segyun furrowed his brow briefly at the dazzling barrage of camera flashes, then cleared his throat and began to speak.
“Yes, I opened it. Humanity will now move further forward.”
At first, everyone watched with excitement.
But as his general remarks dragged on.
─Segyun-hyung's getting a little long-winded, huh?
─So what came out of the Level 70 Gate?
Decades ago.
Kaiser, the first to break through the Level 50 wall, had excited all of humanity with his announcement.
Kaiser's declaration of ‘energy freedom,’ as he held aloft mana stones—the most efficient, pollution-free energy source—was still talked about to this day.
Compared to that announcement...
For an announcement about the Over Seventy era everyone had longed for...
There was no substance.
Unable to hold back his curiosity, one reporter approached the heart of the matter.
“Hunter Kim Segyun! Sorry, but were there no byproducts or anything inside?”
“...There weren't.”
At his firm answer, the crowd's faces turned pale in an instant.
─Shit, what did Kim Segyun just say?
└E-M-E-R-G-E-N-C-Y!
└Run for your lives!
With that one remark, the stock prices of dungeon development companies around the world began to plunge.
“From Level 70 onward, everything is nothing but an illusion. Level 70 Gates provide no experience, items, or byproducts. This is common to all Gates in the seventies. Of course, being an illusion doesn't mean they're weak. They're tremendously powerful, and most Hunters will struggle just to survive inside.”
So the difficulty was fucking insane...
And they didn't give experience, items, or byproducts?
The reporters looked at one another, thinking.
What kind of utter garbage Gate was this...?
“Th-then, does that mean Level 70 is humanity's limit?”
“More precisely, you can still level up in places five levels below you. So unless we find a new method beyond the existing ones, humanity will reach the end of the road at Level 75. But we will find a way.”
“Set levels aside... There really aren't any byproducts or item rewards... not even skills...?”
“None at all.”
Kim Segyun's expression was calm.
“So for a while, I'll stop challenging Level 70 Gates and clear the lower-level Gates that haven't been subdued yet.”
It was the worst possible situation.
Since Kim Segyun was Level 70, he could cover Gates up to Level 65 anyway.
People had judged that Gates up to Level 65 were within the range of what he could clear, so regions around the world with unexplored Irregular Gates between Levels 65 and 69 had already seen their stock prices rise in anticipation.
Those regions would be fine.
But the others...
Korea in particular was in trouble.
A Level 70 Gate had already appeared, halting the pacification effect, while both of Korea's remaining unexplored Gates were Level 64 or lower.
They almost resented that the unexplored Gate in the Seoul area was exactly Level 64.
“I apologize for the inconvenience caused unintentionally by my sudden growth... As compensation for my apology...”
[Hunter Kim Segyun uses an unknown, great authority to temporarily place all of South Korea in a state of complete pacification!]
[This effect applies only to Gates at Level 69 or below that have been subdued!]
[Duration of complete pacification in South Korea: 29 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds]
“For one month, South Korea will be in a state of complete pacification. This was made using the reward I obtained from the Level 70 Gate, and complete pacification is an effect gained when every Gate within a country has been pacified. It's twice as effective as the basic pacification effect.”
In other words.
The monsters would be 40% weaker.
This was an unknown phenomenon, since no region—let alone an entire country—had ever had every Gate pacified.
The moment it was revealed.
And with the declaration of a month-long ‘Fever Time’ for South Korea.
In an instant, the interview hall descended into chaos.