Chapter 120

Chapter 120

“Wait, this place is a Scenario Dungeon?” Cha Jin-Hyeok wondered.

In fact, there had been a lot of talk regarding whether this place was a Scenario Dungeon or not.

A Scenario Dungeon, as the name implied, was a Dungeon with a Scenario. Numerous Quests merged to form a single story within the Dungeon. Naturally, for a Dungeon to be a Scenario Dungeon, it had to be of a certain scale and quality.

‘This fact was not revealed in my previous life.’

As always, there were only two possible answers as to why that was the case—it was either because the Players, who had acquired this Scenario, all died without being able to reveal the information; or because the rewards they obtained from it was so exceedingly rare and good that they thoroughly concealed its content.

Suddenly, Jin-Hyeok remembered what Han Sae-Rin used to complain about in his past life.

“I really don’t understand why the name of this Dungeon is New World,” Sae-Rin said.

Back in Jin-Hyeok’s Swordsman days, he couldn’t understand why Sae-Rin was discontented. He just assumed it was because she was inherently a person with a lot of anger in her heart.

“There’s no coherence to the name! No coherence at all!”

Of course, eventually, some minimum coherence was established.

Upon clearing the New World, the Player was granted the qualification to move to a different Server. To be precise, it was called the New World License, a certificate with an expiration date. Although slightly varying depending upon the quality of the clear, they usually received one valid for two years.

“No, that’s still not enough! Think about it carefully. It’s a Dungeon that announces the official launch, which is very important. And the name is New World, at that. Do you really think the System gave it such a grand name just to issue a license? Hey, if that thing above your neck isn’t just a decoration, put some thought into it!”

Naturally, Jin-Hyeok didn’t engage in such thoughts. That was the role of a Navigator or a Ruler, and Jin-Hyeok’s role in his previous life was to wield a sword skillfully.

Anyway, it seemed a Scenario that he wasn’t aware of was hidden here.

“As you all probably noticed, the first to defeat the monster in the Solo Mode seems to be the condition for activating the Scenario.”

Jin-Hyeok’s heart raced. He was ecstatic about how he was about to challenge the unknown, and in Solo Mode at that.

[You have acquired the 「Fragment of the Madman’s Memories」.]

It was an item that he had never managed to acquire before. An orb-shaped item was transmitted to his inventory.

[Fragment of the Madman’s Memories]

As he took out the item and held it in his hand, an illusion unfolded before him.

“We were happy.”

It was a forest bathed in the warm rays of the sun. Small huts were huddled together, presenting a peaceful sight as it merged with the sound of chirping birds and the laughter of playing children. An old man was sitting on a small bench in front of one of the huts, watching the children with a contented smile.

“It was a dazzling and beautiful time...”

But then someone dressed in a white gown appeared. It was a man with blond hair wearing glasses.

‘Huh?’

It was a face Jin-Hyeok knew.

‘Dr. Jonprich?’

Dr. Jonprich’s right hand was made of machinery. That hand was known as the All-Purpose Hand, a hand that could transform into various machines such as a saw, a knife, or even an axe. Holding a leather bag in his left hand, Dr. Jonprich visited this small village with a gentle smile on his face. Ñøv€l--ß1n hosted the premiere release of this chapter.

“Before that despicable bioterrorist, Jonprich, showed up, that is.”

Afterward, a horrifying scene unfolded. On a rainy day, Dr. Jonprich poisoned all the villagers, knocking them out, before conducting all sorts of biological experiments on them. He severed limbs to attach them elsewhere, artificially created conjoined twins, and even experimented with combining them with other creatures or monsters, creating grotesque beings.

“All I remember is resisting that man.”

The old man had been fused with a spider-like monster. Locked behind iron bars, he continued to transform grotesquely due to various drugs and experiments. The world darkened, leaving only his voice echoing.

“Ah, please return my happy days to me.”

The illusion ended there. With a clang, the Fragment of the Madman’s Memories shattered. It turned into a red powder that softly fell, scattering in the wind.

“So, the monsters that are here were originally humans. It seems like that’s the setting for the Dungeon.”

The important thing was that this monster was related to Dr. Jonprich. He was a globally famous celebrity, especially in the United States, where he enjoyed immense popularity. Although his background was not disclosed, his exceptional surgical skills led him to heal many people whom others had given up on, earning him the nickname of Godly Doctor.

‘So he was originally a bioterrorist? And has connections with the New World?’

It was an interesting fact. Sae-Rin, who had always claimed that something more was hidden in this Dungeon, seemed to have been right all this time. Yet, Jin-Hyeok discovered another interesting fact.

“The red powder seems to be moving in one direction.”

The red powder flew somewhere as if it possessed its own will.

The powder reached the corpse of the Madman of the Wilderness. It seemed to be circling around the right shoulder, and soon it was absorbed into the right arm.

Thump!

The Madman’s right arm fell off.

[Madman's Right Arm]

‘So this is now an Item.’

[An elastic arm created by grafting a tree that grew roots and blossomed in the lava. It has the properties of being hard, tough, and resistant to heat.

Equipment Restriction: Exclusive to navigator-class Players.]

Jin-Hyeok found himself speaking faster without realizing it. In his previous life, during his Swordsman days, he worked tirelessly to observe himself entering the Trance Realm, because the Trance Realm brought out another level of skill from within Jin-Hyeok that he didn’t know about.

“There should be recorded footage of me fighting the monsters!”

Jin-Hyeok could view and study himself immersed in the Trance Realm from a more objective point of view. Without realizing it, he clenched his fist tightly, exhilarated.

“I can, become, even, stronger...”

He had reached Level 95 without even realizing it. Everything was perfect.

[You have acquired the Achievement 「One Who Breaks Artificiality」.]

Suppressing his pounding heart, he went on his way, heading toward the Burning Fortress perched on a cliff.

[You have entered the Field 「Burning Fortress」.]

???

Bong King of BonjourTV had been feeling a serious sense of crisis recently. It was because Kang Mi-Na, whom he considered to be perennially ranked second, had been maintaining the first place for several days now.

‘I can’t lose to MiNaTV!’

It was something Bong King’s pride couldn’t allow. He wanted to become the best Streamer in Korea, excluding Kim Chul-Soo.

‘Kim Chul-Soo is in a league of his own anyways.’

From Bong King’s perspective, Chul-Soo was someone who was untouchable. He never considered Chul-Soo to be his competitor. His true competitor was MiNaTV.

‘Wait, she’s not the only competitor.’

If MiNaTV was a rival in a traditional sense, KimKnowItAllTV was a rapidly rising rival. It was overwhelming enough with just MiNaTV, and now KimKnowItAllTV had entered the scene.

‘It can’t just let this go on.’

Bong King planned new content for his channel.

[Kim Chul-Soo’s New World Strategy. Can a party of ordinary Players replicate the God-like Player’s strategy?]

Bong King rallied the top-tier Players he was already acquainted with to try Chul-Soo’s strategy for the New World. His livestream received quite a lot of positive responses.

“Ordinary Players can do it too! We successfully killed the Desert Tortoise very easily! Indeed thanks to the number one Player in the swordsman class, Lee Hyeon-Seong! He is truly remarkable!”

-Ultraman: Calling Lee Hyeon-Seong an ordinary Player? That’s quite a novel bullshit. LOL

-???: No, you.

-ChulSooIsGod: Anyone who is not Kim Chul-Soo qualifies as ordinary.

Bong King was quite thrilled with the fairly positive reactions.

‘This is good!’

After killing the Desert Tortoise, they reached the Lava Valley.

“Fortunately, we also have an excellent Thief with us?”

The Thief used the Thief-exclusive Skill and successfully extracted the Magma Fruit from the lava.

“We did this even better than Chul-Soo! The next stop is the barren wilderness! Thanks to Chul-Soo, we’ve figured out the weak point. I will show you how Chul-Soo did it.”

Hyeon-Seong, who was Level 88, attempted the same strategy as Chul-Soo.

‘Ugh!’ Hyeon-Seong thought.

He deliberately offered his head to the Madman of the Wilderness, but it felt like his head was getting crushed. The pain was much more severe than anticipated.

The mouth of the Madman of the Wilderness was excessively confined, dangerous, and filled with a foul smell.

‘I... I need to find the tongue!’

Even Hyeon-Seong momentarily panicked.

‘I found it.’

Eventually, he managed to rip off the tongue in the same manner as Chul-Soo. However, he felt no joy.

‘If my party members had not diverted the monster’s attention with their attacks, I could not have done it. If I had been alone, my head would have been smashed.’

Hyeon-Seong ended up realizing the gap that separated him from Chul-Soo. Not caring about Hyeon-Seong’s emotions, Bong King continued the livestream with excitement.

“Lee Hyeon-Seong! He has done it! Technically, he didn’t do it alone, but it was close! From now on, I shall refer to Hyeon-Seong as the Sword King!”

Hyeon-Seong couldn’t hear what Bong King was saying.

‘Kim Chul-Soo... How far have you climbed...?’

He felt loneliness amidst the noisy crowd. Bong King maintained high tension, speaking quickly, “Oh! We have also entered a Scenario! I will reveal the name of the Scenario!”

[Glory to the One Following the Lonely Footsteps__]

“I’ve never seen this before. The letters at the back are blank. Hm... Following the lonely footsteps, huh. It seems to imply following the footsteps of Chul-Soo, who is clearing the Dungeon in Solo Mode, but we need to progress further to understand it fully!”

Bong King puffed out his chest and shouted loudly.

“This is great content for my Eltube channel. Don’t you guys agree?”

Unbeknownst to Jin-Hyeok, a new Scenario had unfolded.