Chapter 189: Chapter 189

Seoul, South Korea.

Countless people were standing on the streets.

Unlike usual, they were standing still, gazing up at the sky.

“What’s that?”

“120?”

Black letters were inscribed in the sky above.

Those black letters were formed from dark clouds.

And there wasn’t just one cloud.

At regular intervals, the number 120 was displayed in dark clouds, so everyone on Earth could see it.

“What the…”

“One would be fine, but so many of them?”

“What is it? Did someone deliberately create this?”

“It’s amazing.”

People tilted their heads in confusion.

The number 120 formed from dark clouds.

And above those clouds, new black letters were formed.

[Countdown starting.]

The letters were displayed in the most commonly used language in each country.

At the announcement that the countdown would start, people looked up at the sky with dumbfounded expressions.

-119:59:58

Then, the letters that were 120 scattered, and the countdown began.

The numbers engraved in the clouds started to decrease.

“What is that?!”

“What the… Am I dreaming?”

“Damn, I guess I’ve lived too long.”

People were instantly gripped by shock.

***

[Whisper/zl-Zone-Ha-Jin12 -> Hoon: Hey! Did you see the sky?!]

Ha-Jin, who had logged out after the Siege War, logged back into the game.

Then he immediately sent a whisper to Jeong-Hoon.

[Whisper/Hoon -> zl-Zone-Ha-Jin12: I’m in the middle of the game, so I don’t know.]

[Whisper/zl-Zone-Ha-Jin12 -> Hoon: Wow… Log out and check it out right now! Something unbelievable is happening!]

[Whisper/Hoon -> zl-Zone-Ha-Jin12: What’s going on?]

[Whisper/zl-Zone-Ha-Jin12 -> Hoon: Numbers appeared in the sky and they’re decreasing like a timer! Not in the game, but in reality!]

Jeong-Hoon’s face hardened slightly.

‘It has already started.’

Was it inevitable?

Jeong-Hoon had entered New World relatively late and had been causing a ruckus since the beginner zone.

They must have judged that he would grow uncontrollably if this continued.

Thus, the countdown had started earlier than expected.

120 hours from now, New World would become reality.

‘There’s no time.’

Jeong-Hoon increased his speed and reached the northern end of Rease.

At the northern end, a huge portal was shimmering, and an NPC was standing guard in front of it.

===

[NPC Information]

-Nickname: Haoz

-Level: 250

-Occupation: Rease Portal Guardian

===

“Where are you headed?”

“The Heavenly Hall.”

The Heavenly Hall was a secret theme.

Only those who had gathered all of their Heavenly Energy could go there.

For reference, before his regression, no one had accessed the Heavenly Hall until New World became reality.

In other words, Jeong-Hoon was the first to head to the Heavenly Hall while the game was still running.

“Hmm? Where’s that? This portal isn’t connected to such a place.”

Even Haoz, the gatekeeper, didn’t know about it.

“Could you check it once?”

“…I don’t think it’ll be there.”

Haoz looked at the portal with a doubtful expression.

And soon, his eyes widened.

The Heavenly Hall, which shouldn’t have been there, was added to the list.

Jeong-Hoon smiled faintly.

“It’s there, right?”

“I-It is…?”

“Then I’ll move to the Heavenly Hall.”

“…Do you, by any chance, know where that is?”

“I don’t know. I’m just going to check it out.”

“I see.”

Haoz stepped aside without saying anything further.

“Thank you.”

Jeong-Hoon entered the portal.

[Teleporting to the Heavenly Hall.]

As he selected the Heavenly Hall, Jeong-Hoon’s body was sucked into the portal.

***

Earth Korea Headquarters.

CEO Yoon Jin-Ho checked the official document over and over again with a dumbfounded expression.

[Earth and Genesis will be disbanded as of today.]

-We express our gratitude to all the employees who have worked hard so far.

We, New World, have determined that there is no longer any reason to continue.

Therefore, we will proceed with the dissolution process quickly.

Please refer to the attached file below for detailed procedures.

This document was sent directly from the headquarters.

Furthermore, replies were prohibited, and it could only be viewed.

The content of the document stated that Earth would enter the dissolution process from the current time, and Genesis would also disappear.

“No… But why?”

Just a few days ago, they had successfully concluded a meeting with other Earth companies.

It was a meeting to brief them on the direction of the game and discuss how to successfully manage it together.

But suddenly, the headquarters made the decision to disband.

Yoon Jin-Ho couldn’t understand it at all.

He picked up his smartphone and called someone.

[Yes, CEO.]

“Come to my office right now.”

[Understood!]

The call ended, and soon someone knocked on the door.

Knock. Knock.

“Come in.”

With Yoon Jin-Ho’s permission, the door opened and a man in his early 50s entered.

He was Executive Director Park Min-Soo, whom he trusted and relied on.

“Yes, CEO. You called for me?”

“…I have some bad news to tell you.”

“Bad news?”

Park Min-Soo tilted his head in confusion.

“It would be faster to show you than to tell you. Would you like to see this?”

Yoon Jin-Ho showed him the official document sent from the headquarters.

“What does this mean…?”

After checking the notice, Park Min-Soo looked at Yoon Jin-Ho with a blank expression.

His eyes were asking for an explanation of what this notice was.

“It’s exactly as it says… They intend to dissolve both Earth and Genesis.”

“No, then what happens to New World?! What about our company’s stock price?!”

New World was still very popular.

Disbanding Earth meant neglecting New World, or even worse, terminating the service.

Suddenly abandoning a game enjoyed by 2 billion people worldwide.

“I don’t know…”

“Ha… Could it be that someone hacked and spread false information?”

That sounded more plausible.

“I wish that were the case… but the possibility of that is zero.”

“…I see.”

Park Min-Soo nodded with a complicated expression.

“Besides, isn’t it noisy these days?”

Yoon Jin-Ho changed the subject for a moment, feeling frustrated.

“You’re right.”

Park Min-Soo nodded and looked out the window at the sky.

[119:24:32]

The numbers displayed in the sky.

Anyone could see that it was a countdown.

The same numbers were counting down all over the world, giving birth to countless doomsday theorists.

‘The Earth will perish.’

‘That countdown is the time we have left.’

‘We all need to prepare for death.’

And the majority supported their views.

It was inevitable, as no one could provide a proper explanation for the countdown.

As a result, all necessities, such as those in marts, convenience stores, and online shopping malls, had long been sold out due to panic buying.

“There are rumors that the countdown is related to New World.”

That’s right.

New World and that countdown.

Strangely, the countdown started shortly after the headquarters development team posted the notice.

[Hey, don’t you think there’s really something going on between New World and that timer in the sky?]

-Look at the notice. It says the countdown has started. I’m sure this is New World’s doing!

└ Be realistic lol

└ Seriously lol Even if they’re that advanced, controlling nature is too much, isn’t it?

└ But as the original poster said, the timing is too perfect.

└ We’ll find out once those 120 hours pass. What will happen lol

It was enough to raise suspicions, as the timing was too perfect.

“No matter how much I think about it, I don’t think that’s the case.”

However, Park Min-Soo didn’t believe such a ridiculous story.

“Is that so?”

“Yes. No matter how great New World is, it’s just a game.”

“Yes, I agree with you on that.”

A game is just a game.

Otherwise, stats that surpass humans and flashy skills that you would only see in fantasy.

No matter how realistic a virtual reality game is, it needs to be distinguished from reality.

***

[You have entered the Heavenly Hall.]

[You have explored the Secret Theme for the first time.]

[You have been awarded 50,000 achievement points.]

Even though a long time had passed since the launch of New World, Jeong-Hoon was the first to enter the Heavenly Hall.

However, the Heavenly Hall, which should have been a magnificent temple, had regressed to the level of an ancient civilization.

‘They said the hall would be completed when reality merged, right?’

This was because it was scheduled to be perfectly implemented when reality merged.

In other words, he had come too early.

‘They didn’t make it easy to gather Heavenly Energy.’

As a result, no one among the world’s top rankers had obtained Heavenly Power.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

If Jeong-Hoon acquired Heavenly Power here, he would become the first to reach the Heavenly Realm since his regression.

Jeong-Hoon walked briskly towards the temple door.

The door only had a frame, and the inside was clearly visible.

And in front of it, an NPC was floating.

===

[NPC Information]

-Nickname: ??

-Level: ??

-Occupation: Guide of the Heavens

===

An NPC with no nickname or level displayed.

The NPC was looking up at the sky with a bored expression.

Jeong-Hoon approached the NPC.

“Excuse me.”

At his question, the NPC slowly lowered her head and met Jeong-Hoon’s eyes.

Then, the NPC’s eyes widened.

“A stranger? How did you get here…?”

“I was able to come because I met the qualifications.”

“…Qualifications?”

“Yes.”

She tilted her head and scanned Jeong-Hoon’s body.

Then her pupils trembled violently.

“No… You filled up your Heavenly Energy?!”

“Yes.”

“That’s impossible… How? Heavenly Energy shouldn’t be able to reach 100%.”

That’s right.

The reason why no one could reach the Heavenly Realm.

It was because a limit was set so that no one could gather 100% Heavenly Energy.

“I was lucky.”

Jeong-Hoon smiled faintly.

Originally, he wouldn’t have been able to gather 100% Heavenly Energy until much later after the reality merge, but thanks to the bet with Ling Ling, he had achieved 100% in an instant.

“It’s not something that can be solved with luck.”

“Is that so? Anyway, I’ve met the qualifications, so I want to obtain Heavenly Power.”

“Is that so?”

The NPC slowly landed on the floor.

Then, the surrounding environment changed instantly.

From the temple to above the clouds in the sky.

The hot sun was beating down, and although they were clouds that shouldn’t be able to be stepped on, they were as soft as a bed.

It was a familiar feeling, as he had experienced it before his regression.

A question mark that wasn’t there before was blinking above the NPC’s head.

It was a rainbow-colored question mark.

[Secret Quest: Heavenly Power]

-Restriction: 100% Heavenly Energy achieved

-Reward: New power

-Description: You have obtained the qualification to reach the Heavens. Complete the quest given by the NPC to acquire that power.

‘It’s here.’

Jeong-Hoon accepted the quest.

“What’s the quest?”

“It will be a difficult challenge.”

“I know.”

The countdown had begun.

Time was running out, and there was no room for dawdling.

“Is that so? Then I’ll give you the first quest.”

The NPC snapped her fingers.

A list unfolded before his eyes as a hologram.

[Gather the materials.]

– 10 Laplanta Seeds

– 10 Harmaind’s Will

– 1 King Laust’s Axe

“You want me to gather these?”

“I like that you’re quick on the uptake.”

The NPC grinned.

It seemed like there weren’t that many materials to gather, but the reality was different.

First, Laplanta.

Laplanta was a level 240 boss monster.

When Jeong-Hoon challenged for Heavenly Power before his regression, he was already over level 500.

So he had to hunt Uranok, a level 520 boss monster, instead of Laplanta.

In other words, the level was adjusted according to his level.

Of course, there was a common point.

It was that the drop rate of the materials was extremely low.

‘Was the drop rate 1%?’

1%.

It meant a 1 in 100 chance of dropping.

If you were lucky, it might drop within 10 attempts, but if you were really unlucky, there were many cases where it wouldn’t drop even after 100 attempts.

The same was true for Harmaind’s Will.

‘The problem is King Laust, right?’

As expected, the probability of King Laust dropping the axe would be 0.05%.

It was an absurdly low drop rate, even when he looked at it again.

With this kind of drop rate, even if they repeatedly attempted to defeat them, they wouldn’t be able to gather them all in 5 days, let alone 10.

However, Jeong-Hoon had already gone through this quest once.

In the process, he also knew a way to drastically reduce the time.

“So I just need to gather these?”

“Yes. If you bring them, I’ll give you the next quest.”

“Okay.”

“…Well, good. If you go out through that portal, you’ll see a few dungeons. The monsters listed here will be there.”

“Okay.”

———-