Chapter 225
0.
Most of the staff at E-World are people who truly love games.
They genuinely enjoy the process of creating the game and fine-tuning it by their own hands.
Otherwise, they would never have accepted the condition of not being able to play the hugely successful Eternal World.
Some were hired for the money, of course.
But most were game lovers at heart.
“User Seonghyun might die,”
Deputy Manager Lee Jaekyung said, calling the User Management Team.
He warned them to prepare for the possibility that user Seonghyun could die soon.
After making the call, he stared at the screen regretfully.
Finally, an opportunity to complete a mission with Ragna Ekrion had arisen.
But that would be Seonghyun’s first defeat.
“We’ll just have to watch as Ragna Ekrion is consumed.”
1.
In the barracks of the Equinox Knights, the atmosphere had changed drastically over the past few days.
Before, it had been filled with murderous intent and toxicity.
Now, everyone’s eyes turned to a single person, their gazes subdued and weary.
The Equinox Knights were said to be the fiercest in all of Sysbalt.
Yet there was one person who had already worn them out.
“Again? He finished another mission?”
“That’s insane.”
“Hasn’t he already cleared twenty missions in just three days since joining?”
“He’s crazy.”
“That outsider doesn’t even know what it means to rest, does he?”
“I heard that when Karis first gave him a five-man mission to punish him, he cleared it instantly.”
“Crazy, absolutely crazy.”
The knights all clicked their tongues in amazement.
That person was none other than the new stranger knight of the Equinox Knights, Seonghyun.
Seonghyun, for his part, was satisfied with the drastic change in atmosphere.
‘Looks like the quest will be cleared soon.’
With the entire knight order in this state,
There was no way the captain would not make a move.
As Seonghyun thought so, he checked the levels he had gained over the past three days.
【Status Window】
『Seonghyun』
『Lv 178』
『Class』
→『Overlord』
『Titles』
→『Monarch (Legendary)』... and 40 others.
『Stats』
→《Strength: 283(217+66)》《Agility: 283(217+66)》
《Stamina: 283(217+66)》
《Intelligence: 682(524+158)》《Wisdom: 682(524+158)》
《Spirit: 133(120+13)》《Dexterity: 8(7+1)》
『Additional Stats』
→《0》
A whopping 178.
His stats had risen tremendously.
After scanning the quite satisfactory status window, Seonghyun closed it.
The experience points from the mission were considerable.
So much so that he felt tempted to just keep taking missions in the sixth city.
But that wasn’t possible.
He needed to return to Hexia once he reached level 200.
For now, he figured he could enjoy it until the Equinox Knights quest was over.
In truth, since he had to keep doing missions until Ragna Ekrion finally stepped in, he was even hoping it would take a while. That was how rewarding the experience was.
While Seonghyun was entertaining such idle thoughts, Senior Knight Karis approached him.
‘Ah.’
Seeing him, Seonghyun glanced at the quest board with a hint of regret. This sweet deal was over now.
He considered doing just one more, but it couldn’t be helped. Since Karis had come for him, this was probably the end of it.
As Seonghyun thought that, Karis spoke.
“Seonghyun, the captain is looking for you.”
As expected.
He figured the good days were over, but at least the quest was nearly cleared.
Seonghyun nodded to Karis.
“Understood.”
As he was about to head to the captain’s office, Karis spoke again, almost casually.
“...Be careful.”
“Yes?”
“...The captain takes on extremely difficult missions. He usually goes alone, but on the rare occasions he brings along a strong knight like you, he always returns alone, covered in wounds.”
Returns alone.
Hearing that, Seonghyun’s expression grew more serious.
Seeing this, Karis added,
“As an outsider, you won’t die, but still, be careful.”
“Thank you.”
He hadn’t expected Karis, who had been so hostile at first, to say something like that.
It seemed sincere, so Seonghyun nodded.
He didn’t know what change of heart Karis had gone through.
Perhaps he thought a talent like Seonghyun shouldn’t be wasted.
Taking the advice to heart, Seonghyun headed to the captain’s office.
He entered one of the barracks buildings, climbed to the floor where the captain’s office was located, and knocked lightly.
Knock, knock.
“New knight Seonghyun. I was told you called for me.”
With those stiff words and a knock, a voice soon answered from inside.
“Enter.”
Click.
At the sound of the voice, Seonghyun stepped into the captain’s office.
Seonghyun saw Ragna Ekrion seated at his desk, working through paperwork.
The office itself seemed ordinary.
But as Seonghyun took in the room, his eyes stayed fixed on Ragna Ekrion.
Eyes like a serpent, watching him with greed.
From that alone, he could tell there was something more beneath the surface.
After a brief silence, Ragna Ekrion spoke.
“Good, you came. I hear you’ve handled your missions well.”
“I am lacking, but I did my best.”
“If you are lacking, then our entire order must be incompetent.”
Seonghyun didn’t respond to the remark. It didn’t seem to hold much meaning anyway, so he let it pass.
“I heard you completed twenty missions in three days.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Join me for a mission. A particularly difficult one has come in.”
At Ragna Ekrion’s words, system messages appeared before Seonghyun.
[Hidden Linked Quest, 『Equinox Knights’ Captain』 cleared.]
[Reward granted.]
[An immense amount of experience has been acquired.]
[Level Up!]
[You have reached Level 179.]
[Hidden Linked Quest, 『Ragna Ekrion』 has been generated.]
『Ragna Ekrion』
→ Stop Ragna Ekrion.
After confirming the quest and seeing his level rise, Seonghyun nodded.
There was no choice but to accept.
‘When is the mission? Tomorrow?’
Usually, when NPCs suggested running a mission together, it was scheduled for the next day.
As Seonghyun was thinking this, Ragna Ekrion looked at him.
“What are you doing? Get ready.”
“Are we going now?”
“When else would we go? Missions are best handled immediately. I don’t know how to wait.”
Rather than being surprised, Seonghyun simply nodded. It was exactly how he preferred it.
As he began preparing without hesitation, Ragna Ekrion added while watching him,
“Prepare a horse. We’ll be traveling quite far.”
“Understood.”
So he really is preparing thoroughly.
With that thought, Seonghyun hurried out to ready a mount.
Once he and the captain had each prepared a horse, some of the other knights watched with uneasy expressions.
“Hah, the rookie is already heading out with the captain...”
"Take care out there."
"...Be careful."
"...They must be going somewhere dangerous."
The Equinox Knights who had initially rejected Seonghyun as a newcomer and outsider,
Now spoke as if cheering him on.
Seeing them, Seonghyun replied casually, as if to say it was fine.
"I'll be careful."
He said only that and nothing more.
Some might have been worried,
But for some reason, several nodded reassuringly at his words.
As Seonghyun prepared his horse,
Soon after, Ragna Ekrion came out and mounted his prepared horse.
Seeing this, Seonghyun immediately mounted his horse as well.
Ragna Ekrion spurred his horse first and called out,
"Keep up."
Clop-clop! Clop-clop!
The horse hooves struck the ground with vigorous sounds,
And Seonghyun also rode after Ragna Ekrion.
After obtaining his knighthood, he could ride horses naturally, so following posed no great difficulty.
How much time had passed?
When they had traveled quite far, at considerable distance from the city,
Ragna Ekrion spoke while on horseback.
"I am truly grateful you joined our knight order."
"Is that so?"
"If you had joined another knight order, I would have had to attack deliberately. That would have been troublesome."
Was he going to attack already?
Seonghyun immediately tried to open the Netherworld to summon his vassals.
But Ragna Ekrion was faster.
Raising his hand and shouting,
"『Severance』."
After Ragna Ekrion's cry,
The Netherworld was about to be used.
However,
[Due to interference from the 『Severance』 skill, summons and vassals cannot be summoned within this area.]
"...?"
Seonghyun was bewildered by the message he had never seen before.
He could not summon his vassals?
Seeing such a Seonghyun, Ragna Ekrion smiled coldly and said,
"I don't know if you have collaborators. But it doesn't matter if you do. With this, no one can help you."
At those words, Seonghyun looked at Ragna Ekrion with considerable tension.