Chapter 116: Chapter 116

“Fuck! This goddamn bastard!”

It was a whopping 48-hour ban.

[Server transfer is not possible due to death penalty.]

[Time remaining: 365 days]

Moreover, he had to wait a year before he could log in from the Japanese server.

That’s why Kaneda Shun didn’t log in even after 48 hours had passed.

‘…He must have given up and left by now.’

Kaneda Shun deliberately waited for an additional 7 hours before attempting to log in.

If he could get in this time, he would put in a request with the Assassins’ Guild and pay back Jeong-Hoon tenfold.

“Welcome back.”

But Jeong-Hoon was still sitting in the same spot.

“Why are you still here?! Argh!”

Jeong-Hoon’s Underworld King’s Fist Technique rained down on Kaneda Shun.

“You lasted quite a while. I was so bored waiting, I almost died.”

It had been a bit boring.

But time flew by as he diligently completed requests at the Enhancement Exchange while waiting.

‘Crazy bastard… This guy is truly insane!’

To deal with Jeong-Hoon, he first had to head to the Assassins’ Guild, but if he died immediately upon logging in, he wouldn’t even be able to make the request.

“Stop it, please let me go!”

Kaneda Shun’s desperate cries echoed through the field.

“Bullshit. I can tell you’re going to put in a request with the Assassins’ Guild.”

Jeong-Hoon scoffed, and Kaneda Shun’s eyes widened.

“H-how did you know…?”

“Huh? I was just guessing… Was I right?”

“You, you bastard! You’re mocking me?!”

Kaneda Shun’s face turned beet red.

“See you again then?”

Jeong-Hoon ended Kaneda Shun’s life once more.

With this, Kaneda Shun was banned for 72 hours.

‘The Assassins’ Guild doesn’t accept requests from World Coms.’

The Assassins’ Guild was composed of NPCs, not players.

Therefore, to make a request, one had to visit the building established by the NPCs and submit it in person.

Of course, not just anyone could make a request.

Only players who had been repeatedly killed by the same player could use the system.

It was a place where players who lacked the skills but wanted revenge could turn to.

However, there was a time limit. The request had to be made within 1 hour of logging in.

If the time passed, the request would become invalid.

‘They have NPCs up to level 400 there.’

They would probably think it was worth a shot if it was the Assassins’ Guild.

That is, if they could even get there.

“Damn… He was going to put in a request with the Assassins’ Guild? He’s really crazy.”

Ha-Jin, who had been watching from behind, clicked his tongue.

He should be begging on his knees, and yet he was thinking of making a request with the Assassins’ Guild?

To that guild that charged 3,000 gold per request?

At first, he thought Jeong-Hoon’s actions were too excessive, but now it seemed like letting him off would be too lenient.

“Well, if I keep banning him moderately, he’ll eventually break.”

Jeong-Hoon said something he didn’t mean.

[Liar. You’re going to permanently ban him.]

Mukho saw through Jeong-Hoon’s true intentions.

‘How did you know?’ Jeong-Hoon reacted with feigned surprise.

Mukho added, his voice brimming with confidence.

[It doesn’t make sense to let a scumbag like that go, right?]

‘I agree. A rotten seed like that needs to be eliminated.’

Anima also shared Mukho’s opinion.

‘You guys think so too, right?’

Trash needs to be cleared out of New World quickly.

Eliminating any element that might hinder the completion of the game, even slightly, would be a great benefit to the world.

“I’ve arrived!”

At that moment, Kim Bong-Goo appeared.

“You’re here?”

“Yes! I’m not late, am I?”

Kim Bong-Goo arrived a full 3 hours earlier than the promised time.

“No, just keep doing what you’re doing. And what was that thing you did last time? The van?”

“Excuse me? The van? That’s my nickname.”

“Yeah. From now on, when you arrive, do what you did last time.”

“…You mean the ‘Vroom vroom! The van is here’ thing?”

“Yeah. That was funny.”

“Ahaha…”

“You don’t like it?”

“No! Vroom vroom! This van will take you anywhere, just trust me!”

That bastard.

* * *

Kim Bong-Goo was currently hunting alone.

[Whisper/Hoon -> SaltySoup4Mom: I’m going to enter the Märchen Royal Palace now, so come on time.]

At first, he thought it meant he should prepare to enter the royal palace.

Following Jeong-Hoon around wasn’t easy, but good things always happened when he did, so he had some expectations this time too.

However, the instructions he received were as follows:

‘We’ll be back, so stay here and watch over things.’

‘Excuse me…? You mean here?’

‘Yeah. Hunt a bit and level up.’

‘But… Why here of all places?’

‘There’s a bastard I need to take care of.’

Kim Bong-Goo immediately understood the last sentence.

What the hell did he do to get bitten by that viper?

If he had lived a good life, he wouldn’t have been bitten, at least.

He heard it was a Japanese guy who got badly beaten by Jeong-Hoon in the previous party quest.

“Tsk tsk, he was acting all crazy wanting to win, and now he’s trying to get revenge.”

At a glance, it looked like a one-year ban.

No, wait.

Hong Hyun-Woo, who had used abusive language towards parents, almost got a permanent ban, so this guy had an even higher chance of getting permanently banned.

If it were Jeong-Hoon, he would never forget and would definitely come back to kill him.

Thinking that far, Kim Bong-Goo shuddered.

“Wow… Shit, I suddenly got goosebumps.”

* * *

Jeong-Hoon entered the royal palace with Ha-Jin.

Ha-Jin then went straight to NPC Karyan, guided by a knight.

‘Come in.’

Was it because of his great performance in the previous Monster Wave?

His trust with the knights had slightly increased.

So Ha-Jin, whom Jeong-Hoon had brought, would also be able to proceed with the quest without any problems.

‘It’s not just the rewards. If the contribution rate exceeded 80%, it would have been possible to enter a new route.’

Bruce Willis also knew about the quest route that would be available if the contribution rate reached 80%.

‘How do you know that? That you can enter a new route if you exceed 80%?’

When Jeong-Hoon expressed his doubts at the time, Bruce Willis kindly answered him.

‘He told me he was disappointed that he was 1% short. It’s just a 1% difference, so New World must have set it up so that you can’t enter unless you exceed 80%.’

In the end, Bruce Willis couldn’t enter that route.

But Jeong-Hoon was different.

Jeong-Hoon had achieved a contribution rate of 88.93% in this Monster Wave.

It meant that he had automatically entered the new route.

“His Majesty is looking for you.”

“Yes.”

Guided by Ragan, Jeong-Hoon once again stood before Kaiserk V.

“It’s been a while. Well, it hasn’t even been a few days since I said that… Haha.”

As Kaiserk V spoke, a rainbow-colored question mark blinked above his head.

It meant that he could now undertake a secret quest since he had entered the new route.

[Secret Quest: Peace of Märchen]

– Restriction: Monster Wave contribution rate of 80% or higher

– Reward: ?

– Description: End the Monster Waves and bring complete peace to become a true hero.

Completely ending the Monster Waves.

That was the task of this new route.

“May I ask why you called for me?”

Jeong-Hoon accepted the quest and pretended not to know, asking back.

“…Let’s cut to the chase. I called you because I have a favor to ask you directly.”

“A favor?”

“Yes. As you know, Monster Waves occur endlessly at the northern wall of the royal capital. Do you happen to know a way to stop the Waves from happening?”

Kaiserk V rubbed his forehead as if he was fed up.

Monsters of various levels, from Lv. 130 to Lv. 190, emerged and threatened Märchen, and every time, he couldn’t help but feel his life was in danger.

He wanted to break free from this tiresome cycle.

‘Should I believe this…?’

The benefactor in front of him was said to be the key to breaking that cycle.

Even though all the prophecies had come true so far, wasn’t there a possibility that this one was nonsense?

However, the benefactor was a hero who had achieved a contribution rate of nearly 90% and ensured zero casualties in the battles against the Blood Orcs and the Black King Ogre.

“Yes, I do. If you wish, I can personally make sure the Waves never happen again.”

Jeong-Hoon scratched Kaiserk V’s itchy back.

The reaction was tremendous.

“Is that possible?!”

He was so surprised that he jumped up from his seat.

Luke, who was watching from the side, fidgeted nervously and checked on Kaiserk V’s well-being.

“Your Majesty, please calm down…”

“Do I look like I can calm down?! He just said he can stop that damn thing!”

Kaiserk V’s eyes were ablaze with excitement.

If it turned out to be a lie, he would be beheaded for insulting the royal family.

Of course, that wouldn’t happen.

Jeong-Hoon knew the reason why the Waves repeatedly occurred in the same place.

‘There’s a gate at the northern wall.’

It wasn’t just a gate connected to a dungeon.

It was a so-called ‘Random Gate.’

There was a type of gate called a Random Gate that automatically recharged by absorbing mana from the atmosphere.

When such a gate reached 100% mana charge, it would release its power, forcibly opening an entrance by connecting to a nearby dungeon.

That’s how monsters escaped through the gate, causing the Waves.

‘I remember closing one before, so I should be able to do it again.’

It was a more difficult task than one might think, but Jeong-Hoon had experience closing a Random Gate in the past.

With that experience, it wouldn’t be impossible.

“I’ll try to close it. But it’s quite a difficult task…”

“…Does that mean you’ve succeeded before?”

“Yes.”

Jeong-Hoon nodded.

“Please, I beg you! If you close it, I’ll bestow upon you a treasure of our royal family!”

At his bombshell statement, Luke’s pupils began to tremble uncontrollably.

“Y-your Majesty? A treasure…? You don’t mean…”

“Yes. I intend to bestow upon him the [Guardian of Märchen].”

“Your Majesty!”

The treasure of the Märchen Kingdom.

It was an accessory called the Guardian of Märchen.

Upon hearing the name of the item, Jeong-Hoon’s eyes gleamed slightly.

‘Amazing… So this is what you get for entering this route.’

The legendary Guardian Accessory Set.

The Guardian of Märchen was one of the pieces in that set.

In his past life, no one saw this set.

They only knew that it existed.

No matter how many dungeons they cleared or quests they completed, nothing related to the Guardian accessories ever appeared.

But to think that one of them was obtained by entering this new route.

‘The difficulty level is truly brutal.’

If Jeong-Hoon hadn’t regressed, he would never have been able to achieve such a contribution rate.

“Enough!”

Kaiserk V barked at Luke.

“M-my apologies.”

Luke finally stepped back.

“The Monster Waves have been a nuisance plaguing Märchen for a very long time. If you can solve such a problem… I believe the Guardian of Märchen is a suitable reward to bestow upon the kingdom’s benefactor.”

“…You speak wisely.”

“Is there anything else I can do to help?”

Kaiserk V asked, looking at Jeong-Hoon with benevolent eyes.

Jeong-Hoon shook his head.

“There’s nothing. I’ll personally investigate the gate where the Wave occurs and close it myself.”

* * *

Knights, mages, archers, everyone flocked to the northern wall.

The rumor that the cause of the Monster Wave was a hidden gate in the northern wall, and that Jeong-Hoon had declared he would eliminate it, had spread like wildfire.

The one who spread the rumor was none other than Luke.

‘The Guardian of Märchen…’

The Guardian of Märchen was the true treasure of Märchen, said to have been bestowed upon Kaiserk I, the founder of Märchen, by the gods.

To hand over such a treasure to a mere foreigner.

As a loyal subject, he couldn’t tolerate that.

So he planned to gather many eyes to witness Jeong-Hoon’s failure.

He would make sure Jeong-Hoon was so humiliated that he wouldn’t be able to stay in the royal palace.

“Hey! Is it true that Hoon is going to eliminate the gate?”

Ragan, the knight commander, was also present.

“Yes. His Majesty has promised to bestow the Guardian of Märchen upon me if I eliminate it.”

“The Guardian of Märchen?!”

Everyone’s eyes, including Ragan’s, widened in surprise.

They knew Jeong-Hoon had made a significant contribution in this Monster Wave, but what made the king offer the Guardian of Märchen as a reward?

That’s why Luke had asked His Majesty for permission.

To inform everyone of this and let them witness the elimination process with their own eyes.

‘That’s a good idea! It’s better to have more eyes watching!’

Kaiserk V saw through Luke’s intentions but readily granted permission.

If he succeeded in eliminating the gate that caused the Waves with many people watching, no one would be able to object to bestowing the royal treasure.

“…Cassandra visited. She left a message saying that this foreigner would stop the Monster Waves from happening again.”

Luke even revealed that a fortune-teller had visited.

“Huh, this is the first time in my life I’ve been surprised so many times in a row.”

“How on earth is he going to close the gate and stop the Waves?”

“Well, we’ll have to wait and see.”

Everyone’s gaze turned to Jeong-Hoon.

———-n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om