Chapter 76

[Translator - Kiteretsu][Proofreader - Kyros]

Chapter 76

He had never dreamed that his mother would choose the gunslinger class.

'Gunslingers will be a bit difficult for you...'

New World, as a virtual reality game, implemented weapons very realistically.

Therefore, each gun had recoil, and if you didn't shoulder it properly, you could get hurt by the recoil.

He had written down martial artist and gunslinger as the least recommended classes, so why did she choose gunslinger?

But his worries were unfounded.

Bang! Bang!

"Kweeeek!"

The bullets fired by his mother hit the goblin's forehead accurately.

He was so surprised by her stable shouldering and decent shooting skills.

'M-Mom, why are you so good with guns?'

'Oh, I didn't tell you. I used to be a shooting athlete.'

His mother, who had exceptional skills to the point of competing in national team evaluations, said that she had retired early from her athletic career when she was pregnant with Jeong-Hoon.

It was a fact he hadn't known until now because she hadn't told him.

'Why didn't you tell me?'

'I didn't want you to feel sorry, so I kept it a secret until now. And at that time, I was feeling a bit tired of being an athlete.'

Jeong-Hoon knew that his family wasn't well off when he was young.

So his mother also went out to work, and he had to stay home alone.

And the part about quitting because she was feeling tired was probably a lie.

'The fact that she chose gunslinger... It must mean she still hasn't forgotten shooting.'

Isn't it the parents who give up what they want to do in order to live fiercely for their children and to make a living?

He had never been a parent, so he didn't quite understand, but seeing his mother choose the gunslinger class made him feel a bit emotional.

Okay.

If she chose gunslinger, he would support her as much as he could.

Jeong-Hoon contacted Yeo Min-Ji.

[Whisper/Hoon -> Minzi: I think you can come now.]

[Whisper/Minzi -> Hoon: Yes! I'll be right there.]

A restaurant in the starting village.

Yeo Min-Ji arrived quickly.

"Hello! I'm Yeo Min-Ji."

She greeted Lee Na-Yeon in a very friendly manner.

As the saying goes, first impressions are half the battle, and his mother seemed to like Yeo Min-Ji, smiling and welcoming her.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Hoon's mother."

"Yes! I participated in the last event with Jeong-Hoon and we won first place. I heard you received a capsule, congratulations."

"Oh, is that so?"

"So, if you don't mind, would you like to join our guild?"

"Guild?"

Yeo Min-Ji explained the guild to his mother.

"Yes. If you join our guild, we will support you as much as possible so that you can enjoy the game without any inconvenience."

His mother seemed a little flustered by the generous offer.

She had just started the game to have the same hobby as her son, and she was just getting used to it.

She was bewildered by the offer to join a guild in such a situation.

"You'll support me just for joining?"

"Yes. I'm repaying him for helping me."

"Oh, is that so?"

His mother looked at Jeong-Hoon.

"Yes. In exchange for helping her, she agreed to let me and you join the guild."

"I see."

Seeing this, she felt that her son was doing well in the game.

"If you join the guild, you won't lack supplies. Gunslingers are a bit of a money-consuming class..."

"Hmm, I hope I won't be a burden if I join."

"Of course not."

Jeong-Hoon shrugged.

"Yes! Absolutely not, so don't worry! It's actually a good thing for us."

Jeong-Hoon, the hidden class martial artist, had joined Ho-Yeong.

That alone was a huge gain for Ho-Yeong.

"...Okay. Then shall I join?"

In the end, his mother was persuaded and decided to join the guild.

* * *

After applying to join the guild, his mother logged out to rest.

Jeong-Hoon, left alone with Yeo Min-Ji, asked about her training results.

"How's the Critical Hit coming along?"

"The success rate is a little higher than last time."

At that time, Yeo Min-Ji had quickly triggered Critical Hit.

Since the scarecrow was a stationary target, it wasn't that difficult to hit the same spot.

But the problem was now dealing with moving targets.

'Even I only have a 20-30% success rate.'

Critical Hit, which is activated after hitting the same spot 30-50 times in a row.

Even Jeong-Hoon, who was an all-master, found Critical Hit a difficult passive to activate.

It wasn't easy to succeed in activating Critical Hit in a short period of time, given its difficulty level.

"1%?"

Even 1% was a generous estimate.

Normally, it would be less than 0.01%, but she was a top-ranked martial artist in Korea.

Yeo Min-Ji smiled brightly and held up two fingers.

"2%!"

"2%?"

Jeong-Hoon's eyes widened slightly.

He knew she was crazy about martial arts, but to achieve a 2% success rate, it meant she had been working tirelessly on it.

"Wow... You look like you don't believe me at all."

Yeo Min-Ji pouted, showing her disappointment.

"It's not that I don't believe you... I just didn't expect 2%."

"I'm a ranker, you know? You're only level 104."

"I'm level 104, but I figured out the martial artist's passive."

"...I surrender."

She quickly raised the white flag in a fight she couldn't win.

Jeong-Hoon chuckled and added,

"Then I'll be on my way."

"Are you going back to the Autobahn?"

"Yes. I'm going to the Mu Tower."

"What? Why the Mu Tower?"

Jeong-Hoon's current level was 104.

So leveling up, rather than doing quests, was the best option.

The Mu Tower, unlike other towers, was neglected and didn't offer much fun.

No, wait. There was one thing.

It was a test for those between levels 100 and 150 to see if they had the aptitude to be a good martial artist.

If you got good results in the test, you could receive a small amount of achievement points and items as a reward.

However, the rewards were so meager compared to the difficulty of the test that it was a test that was neglected by many users.

Could he be aiming for that?

"You're right."

"Oh, but that's not very efficient... Wouldn't it be better to just level up?"

Yeo Min-Ji had also visited the Mu Tower when she reached level 150.

And she had spent a whole day passing the test with excellent results.

But the only reward she got was 2,000 achievement points and a rare knuckle.

The reward was ridiculous, even thinking back on it.

"It's okay. I'm not just going for the reward."

Jeong-Hoon said as he got up from his seat.

"...I told you, right? Don't regret it later."

She didn't try to stop him any longer.

The Mu Tower in Autobahn.

The Mu Tower was located in the deepest part of the north, and all around it were training grounds.

Most of the training grounds were empty, and only a few were being used for training by NPCs.

'This is it.'

This was his first time visiting the Mu Tower in Autobahn.

'The record I found in the collapsed Mu Tower before I returned.'

As the game became reality, this Mu Tower would collapse soon.

And a new dungeon, centered around the collapsed Mu Tower, would appear in real-life England, and Jeong-Hoon, who was wandering around England at the time, happened to find a record in that dungeon.

The author of the record was none other than the tower master of the Mu Tower.

Khairos.

The record said that there hadn't been a martial artist worthy of his recognition.

The writing at the end of the record was so squiggly that it was difficult to decipher, but it was about his lament that there was no one to inherit the will of the martial artist.

'There must be something.'

Before returning, he had visited the collapsed Mu Tower, but now he was visiting it in its intact state, and the tower master, Khairos, must be alive and well.

"Who are you?"

Someone called out to Jeong-Hoon as he was about to enter the Mu Tower.

===

[NPC Information]

-Nickname: Marthen

-Level: 200

-Class: Fist Master (3rd class)

===

Unlike other towers, the Mu Tower had no separate guards.

This was because Khairos had changed the entire system, saying that martial artists shouldn't be bound by rules.

Therefore, if an outsider visited, an NPC who was training in a nearby training ground would come and talk to them like this.

Marthen's body was drenched in sweat from training until just now.

"I'm here to take the test."

"You?"

"Yes."

Marthen looked Jeong-Hoon up and down.

He seemed too low level to be taking the test.

Although the test was for levels 100-150, to pass it, one had to be at least level 140.

"Hmm... Well, it doesn't matter. Follow me."

Marthen led Jeong-Hoon to the basement of the Mu Tower.

Like the outside, the basement was a training ground, but the structure was a bit peculiar.

First of all, the training ground consisted of double doors, with a lock in the center of the door.

Marthen guided Jeong-Hoon to the door and then stepped back a few steps and stood still.

A question mark blinked above his head.

[General Quest: Martial Artist Aptitude Evaluation]

-Restriction: Martial artist level 100 or higher

-Reward: ?

-Description: Pass the test given by the Mu Tower.

When Jeong-Hoon accepted the quest, Marthen pointed his chin at the door.

"The test begins with breaking that lock. After that, a test suitable for you will begin."

[Lv. 160 Lock]

As Marthen said, the lock had a level on it.

It meant that the lock had a defense level of 160.

"Yes."

Jeong-Hoon approached the door.

And then he threw a punch at the lock, imbued with the energy of Underworld King's Fist Technique 1st Form.

Bang!

A huge impact sound erupted as his fist collided with the lock.

Marthen's eyes widened slightly at the sound.

"Oh!"

A martial artist should overcome any obstacle by throwing their whole body into it.

In his eyes, Jeong-Hoon's method was surprisingly in line with the spirit of a martial artist.

Bang! Bang!

Underworld King's Fist Technique continued to activate, hitting the lock. S~ᴇaʀᴄh the Nʘvᴇl(F)ire.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

The lock's defense rapidly decreased.

Bang! Crack!

Finally, the lock's defense reached zero and it shattered.

Creak.

With the lock broken, the door slid open to the left and right.

Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!

The sound of clapping was heard next to Jeong-Hoon.

Marthen was clapping with a moved expression.

"Amazing... No, you are amazing. To overcome a lock that you couldn't overcome with your own strength, with the spirit of a martial artist."

Unlike before, he even used honorifics, as his evaluation of Jeong-Hoon had risen.

Jeong-Hoon smiled faintly at his 180-degree change in attitude and said,

"A martial artist should be able to do this much."

Marthen nodded repeatedly.

"You are absolutely right. A martial artist should overcome any ordeal with their body! Now, let's continue the test."

"Yes."

[NPC Marthen's trust level has increased significantly.]

He hadn't expected that breaking the lock would increase his trust level so much.

Truly, a man with a mind obsessed with 'martial arts'.

Jeong-Hoon entered the testing area.

As soon as he passed through the door, everything around him went dark.

The testing area was filled with darkness.

As if nothing had ever existed there.

'I can't hear anything.'

It seemed that the door to the testing area was a passage to another dimension.

Then, a holographic message appeared in front of Jeong-Hoon's eyes.

[The difficulty of the test will be adjusted to the user's level.]

The difficulty of the test was adjusted to Jeong-Hoon's level.

[Defeat the Lv. 170 Weakened Fist Saint Khairos.]

At the same time, the space in front of him brightened and Khairos, the master of the Mu Tower, appeared.

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]