Chapter 211: Chapter 211

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

Chapter 211

The once peaceful Alchemist's Street.

It took only a moment for that street to crumble.

There were no signs of impending disaster.

When they awoke from a deep sleep to the sound of a great earthquake, everything had changed.

Except for the room where Ligriner was staying, everything else was in ruins, leaving only remnants behind.

“Uh...? M-Master!”

Ligriner, pale with fear, began searching for their mentor, LeBlanc.

It wasn't long before Ligriner found LeBlanc.

Buried under a pile of stones.

“Master!”

Ligriner urgently cleared away the rubble.

As they grasped LeBlanc and tried to pull him out, they felt how cold his body was.

The master, who had recently improved enough to move around easily, had suddenly become a cold corpse overnight.

The problem was that it wasn't just their master; over 70 alchemists had met a tragic fate.

Only 17 survivors remained, including the injured.

But that wasn’t all.

“Grrrr! Kill them all!”

“Kill! Kill!”

Monsters were roaming the streets.

Because of this, Ligriner had to hide quickly.

Fortunately, the monsters would disappear after a certain period, so they just had to hold out until that time passed to survive.

‘Let’s call for help from the Kingdom of Märchen!’

Alchemist's Street was a small town where alchemists gathered.

And that town was located within the Kingdom of Märchen.

If they requested protection from the unexpected monster attacks, they would surely help.

“Uh...? The path is blocked!”

However, the road leading to the kingdom was completely obstructed.

A barrier had been erected, making it impossible to pass.

“What the...”

The alchemists were disheartened and had no choice but to return to the streets.

Not long after, several outsiders appeared.

“Hey! Save us!”

“If you save us, I’ll give you the rune I developed!”

If these outsiders were offering a quest, they would surely provide assistance.

However, the response was cold.

“A hidden quest?!”

“We have to do it!”

“Hey! Are you crazy? The monsters are all over level 200. How can we take them on?”

“Ah... That’s true...”

“It’s not worth risking our lives. Let’s just skip this.”

All their levels were below 160.

They had entered on a whim, but hunting monsters in the mid-200s was out of the question.

Moreover, this wasn’t a game; once they died, it would be over for good.

They couldn't afford to gamble with their lives.

“Please, help us!”

Despite such a desperate plea, the outsiders exited through the portal.

The alchemists tried to follow the outsiders through the portal, but it was either locked or malfunctioning.

Just as the small spark of hope seemed to vanish, Jeong-hoon appeared.

[Hidden Quest: Alchemist Ligriner]

- Requirement: Encounter with survivors

- Reward: ??

- Description: Protect Ligriner and the surviving alchemists. When the quest is accepted, the monster wave will begin.

Monster Wave.

The root cause that had completely annihilated Alchemist's Street.

This wave consisted of monsters over level 200.

‘It won’t be easy for me.’

Jeong-hoon’s current level was 366.

He was on the brink of reaching level 370.

“I will help you.”

“Really?!”

As Jeong-hoon nodded, Ligriner's face lit up with hope.

“Yes.”

“Thank you! It’s almost time for them to show up! Wipe them all out!”

Upon accepting the quest, a new message appeared.

[17 minutes until the first monster wave begins.]

* * *

As Jeong-hoon left, the alchemists gathered together.

“Ligriner… Do you think this outsider can save us?”

There was a flicker of hope in the alchemists' eyes.

But Ligriner shook his head.

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

At such an absurd answer, the flicker of hope in the alchemists' eyes extinguished.

Regardless, Ligriner continued calmly.

“All I know is that he treated our master, who no one else could.”

“No... How is treating him the same as hunting monsters?”

“Then who will help us? The ones who came before just ignored us and left!”

“That’s…”

Many outsiders had already visited this street, aside from Jeong-hoon.

However, none had offered to help.

The reason was that they could not gain experience from monsters.

They wanted to hold on to someone, but they had nothing to offer, so they could only watch them leave.

“Anyway, that outsider is our only hope right now. Got it?”

“...Understood.”

[The first wave is starting.]

With the announcement of the start, portals began to form around them.

And from those portals, monsters poured out in droves.

[Lv. 210 Red Lizardman]

The monsters were Red Lizardmen.

These monsters were level 210, relying on high defense and agility in battle.

“Damn... Where's the rune energy?”

“We can still hold out. Should we activate it now?”

They fought for survival using the runes they had developed.

At that moment, the new form in front of Jeong-hoon vanished, and in an instant, ten Red Lizardmen fell.

“Uh…?”

“What, what’s happening…?”

The alchemists, including Ligriner, stared in shock with wide eyes.

* * *

[The first wave has ended.]

Approximately 300 Red Lizardmen were hunted in the first wave.

‘That’s a lot.’

With so many monsters pouring out in a wave, surviving for almost a year could be considered a miracle.

‘It’s probably because of Ligriner.’

He was a prodigy personally brought in by the renowned alchemist LeBlanc.

He protected this street using alchemy related to enhancements.

However, with the continuous waves, it was ultimately doomed to destruction.

Jeong-hoon casually discarded the corpses of the Red Lizardmen and returned.

“How long does it usually take for a wave to occur again?”

Ligriner, who had been dazedly watching, snapped back to reality and asked.

“Um… I believe it was four waves.”

“I see. Then please wait a little longer here.”

Jeong-hoon nodded and readied himself for battle once more.

Before long, the second wave began.

[The second wave has started.]

[The difficulty will be adjusted based on the clear time of the first wave.]

The number of monsters in this wave was so vast that it was hard to count them visually.

Having finished the first wave so easily, the difficulty had increased significantly.

[Lv. 240 Giant Lizardman]

However, they weren’t too difficult for Jeong-hoon.

‘Oh, instead of dealing with them, I can just feed them to Fenrir.’

Fenrir was starting to get hungry.

Jeong-hoon immediately summoned Fenrir.

“Yes.”

“Fenrir, aren’t you getting a bit hungry?”

“My stomach is sticking to my back.”

“I thought so. So, I’ve prepared a feast for you.”

“A feast?”

Fenrir looked at the alchemists.

The alchemist trembled in fear at the gaze.

Jeong-hoon shook his head.

“Not like that.”

“Ah.”

Only then did Fenrir turn to look at the Lizardmen pouring out.

“You were just pretending not to notice, right?”

“I just wanted to scare them a little…”

“Alright, let’s go.”

“Yes.”

Fenrir's level was 308.

Handling a Giant Lizardman would be a piece of cake for him.

“One of them!”

“Kill it!”

The Giant Lizardman, standing at 2.5 meters tall, raised its spear and charged at Fenrir.

At that moment, Fenrir's gaze changed.

[The Great Wolf Fenrir uses Prey Watch.]

Prey Watch.

[Movement speed reduced by 20%.]

[Enters a state of fear.]

[All stats reduced by 10%.]

A debuff was applied to the Giant Lizardman.

In that brief moment, Jeong-hoon cast Magic Missile.

Countless Magic Missiles were generated and struck down upon the Giant Lizardman.

“Ke-eek!”

“Gge-eek!”

One Magic Missile was enough to take down one Giant Lizardman.

The rest were cleared out using Anima.

[The second wave has ended.]

“...Um.”

At that moment, Fenrir approached Jeong-hoon.

“What is it?”

“Didn’t you just say it was a feast for me?”

“Did I?”

“But I didn’t do anything.”

“Of course you did. You applied a debuff.”

“......”

“Now, go eat.”

“......Yes.”

***

[All waves have ended. No more monsters will invade the dungeon.]

[The curse that afflicted the Alchemist's Street has been lifted, and the barrier has disappeared.]

[A new special dungeon has been created.]

[You can enter a new episode.]

It’s done.

With this, Jeong-hoon had rewritten the history of the Alchemist's Street that would have vanished within a year.

He approached Ligriner, who had been watching in a daze from the back.

“The wave is over. There won’t be any more monster invasions.”

“Uh… um… thank you, thank you very much!”

Ligriner now spoke formally, no longer casually.

It clearly indicated his acknowledgment of Jeong-hoon’s abilities.

A question mark began to flash over his head.

[You have completed the quest.]

Ligriner rummaged through his spatial pouch.

Jeong-hoon raised his hand to stop him.

“You can keep the reward.”

“R-really?”

“Yes.”

“Ah, um… why not?”

“Instead, I’d like to ask for something else.”

“What do you mean by something else?”

Jeong-hoon took out the Celestial Engraving Stone he had mined and presented it to him.

“Do you know what this is?”

“...What is it? I've never seen it before.”

“Of course not. It's a power above legendary.”

“W-What?!”

Ligriner hadn’t learned everything from Leblanc.

Although he had become Leblanc's apprentice, the period of learning had been too short.

However, he remembered hearing about a power above legendary.

‘If a power exists above legendary, would you believe it?’

‘Come on, where in the world could such a thing be?’

At that time, after successfully deciphering the recipe Jeong-hoon had brought, Leblanc had seen a brief glimpse of a power surpassing legendary while tidying up the remaining debris.

Since then, he understood that legendary was not the end.

When he first heard that story, he had dismissed it as absurd, but he never imagined it actually existed.

“I want to use this engraving stone, but the power is a bit unstable.”

“Unstable?”

“Yes. So, I would like you to stabilize this power.”

“Um….”

For a moment, Ligriner was speechless.

The request was absurdly difficult.

How could he handle something he had never dealt with before?

Maybe if it were his master, it would be different, but for him, it was impossible to fulfill this request.

“I can do it.”

Jeong-hoon was confident that Ligriner could handle this power.

‘Only an alchemist who specializes in enhancement can do this.’

Moreover, Ligriner had defended this ruined street for nearly a year.

He could definitely do it.

“No, even so….”

Ligriner continued to hesitate.

A power above legendary.

If he failed, the consequences would be unimaginable.

“Please. It's something only you can do.”

Jeong-hoon’s eyes were filled with trust as he spoke those words.

Seeing that gaze made it impossible for Ligriner to refuse.

With a serious expression, Ligriner nodded.

“Alright. If you put it that way, I will give it a try.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Jeong-hoon smiled warmly.

[The reward has been changed.]

[The success rate of the request has significantly increased.]

And as the reward changed, the success rate increased dramatically.

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]