Chapter 219: Chapter 219

Despite being over level 301, Jeong-hoon did not immediately begin his fourth class advancement.

The reason for this was the difficulty of the class advancement itself.

Now, he was no longer at the Legendary level, but at the Celestial level.

The fourth advancement would certainly boast an extreme level of difficulty, so it was essential to prepare adequately.

[Class Advancement Quest: Transcendence (1/2)]

– Requirements: Level 301 or higher, Third Class Advancement Martial Artist

– Reward: Access to ‘Class Advancement Quest: Transcendence (2/2)’

– Description: You are qualified. It is time to awaken the power that has been dormant.

After taking a deep breath, Jeong-hoon accepted the quest.

His vision dimmed, and soon an familiar space unfolded before him.

“What is this place?”

This was the Celestial Hall he had visited previously to advance to the Celestial level.

In this hall, there was an NPC he had seen before.

===

[NPC Information]

– Nickname: Harphael

– Level: ??

– Class: Guide of the Heavens

===

The Guide of the Heavens, whose nickname had not been displayed, was named Harphael.

“It’s been a while.”

Harphael smiled widely.

“Why are you the one overseeing the fourth class advancement?”

Jeong-hoon tilted his head in confusion.

Normally, he would have to meet the Authority of the Blue Flame to begin the fourth advancement.

“Why indeed? You’ve stepped into the Celestial realm, and now you seek a test from a mere creature?”

Harphael said this because the Martial Artist had risen from the Legendary level to the Celestial level, suggesting he must undergo a trial.

Jeong-hoon looked at him incredulously.

“Are you going to try to avoid giving it to me again?”

Harphael’s shoulders twitched.

Then he awkwardly cleared his throat, avoiding Jeong-hoon’s gaze.

“Since you are qualified, how could I do such a thing?”

It was clear that he was still trying to avoid giving it to him.

The corners of Jeong-hoon’s mouth twitched.

“Then I take it that means you will definitely give it to me?”

“Oh come on, I still need to test you, right?”

“Then you’ll be giving it to me at an easy difficulty level, right?”

“……What?! Do you think Transcendence is that simple?!”

“What, so you really don’t plan on giving it to me?”

“Ahem, if you don’t like it, you can just go back.”

In the end, Harphael revealed his true colors.

“I knew it. Then let’s get started.”

“What are you doing? You said it wouldn’t be easy!”

Harphael wore a bewildered expression at Jeong-hoon’s eagerness to start without any hesitation.

“Is there anything to think about? I need that power.”

“Fine. Then shall we begin?”

Harphael smiled broadly and snapped his fingers.

Suddenly, a clone of Harphael appeared before him.

[Defeat the Lv. 400 Harphael’s Clone.]

That was the first task this time.

“Do I just need to defeat it?”

“No, there are conditions.”

“Conditions?”

[Defeat it within 30 hits with damage taken.]

It was an absurd condition.

To defeat something without knowing its level within 30 hits was unreasonable.

This meant that even a slight scratch would count as one hit.

“How does that sound? Should be manageable, right?”

“……This is ridiculous.”

Jeong-hoon let out a hollow laugh.

“As I said before, if you don’t want to, just go back. It’s that simple.”

Harphael pointed at a portal with his finger.

That portal was the way out of this Celestial Hall.

“If you leave, you won’t be able to continue the quest.”

“Correct! The class advancement quest will no longer be feasible. You can just stay as a Third class forever.”

“Ah, I see.”

Jeong-hoon nodded dismissively and unfolded the Heavenly Armor.

His figure shimmered and appeared instantly in front of Harphael’s clone.

He reached out and punched the clone’s jaw.

Whack!

The clone’s head snapped to the side.

However, it seemed unaffected as it turned its head back to its original position.

[Activating the Power of the Intangible.]

As the Power of the Intangible activated, the clone’s jaw was forcefully twisted again.

“Ha! It won’t be that easy.”

Harphael had moved back to observe the fight from a distance.

Fourth Class advancement.

Transcendence.

He had broken through the threshold in the Third Class, but this limit was tiered.

Limits would inevitably reappear, and to go beyond that, one had to progress through the ranks.

But this man had already transcended humanity.

‘If I let him break his limits here… he will surely become a hindrance.’

His speed was absurdly fast.

Moreover, he was not even at level 301; he remained in the mid-300s.

To have raised his level so dramatically in such a short time meant he had likely done something extraordinary.

Harphael was aware that this person would come here.

After all, he had received orders from above to prevent his class advancement.

‘So I need to hold him back here.’

He intended to make him fail the class advancement quest, forcing him to remain at the Third Class indefinitely.

If that happened, no matter how high he soared, a limit would eventually appear, and he would naturally fall away.

The unreasonable conditions were placed for exactly that reason.

But why?

‘Why isn’t the damage counting?’

The clone was certainly being attacked, albeit weakly, but the hit count remained at zero.

Harphael examined him closely.

‘It’s surrounded by a barrier.’

Only then did he notice a transparent shield enveloping its body.

It was a clear barrier, so transparent that it was hard to notice unless one looked closely.

Even so, it was meaningless.

‘Heh heh, it will be impossible to defeat that clone.’

The clone’s vitality had been significantly boosted, so it could never be brought to zero by his power.

But why?

Unlike before, the clone’s condition was gradually changing.

Harphael’s eyes widened in surprise, and he began to tremble.

‘W-What the hell!’

The clone’s vitality was rapidly decreasing.

Even a high-level clone should have been set up to withstand attacks easily, right?

‘Looks like you’re quite surprised.’

In contrast, Jeong-hoon remained calm.

The reason was simple.

[Annihilation]

– A power that eradicates everything

– Attack power increases by 7%

– On attack, there is a 1% chance to erase 1% of vitality. (Cannot recover for 90 seconds) (Only activates for levels 60 and below)

This was the Annihilation Rune he had acquired previously.

With the effect of the Guardian of Märchen, the activation probability was increased to 4%.

Moreover, the set effect tripled that, raising it to 12%.

[Annihilation is activating.]

[Remaining Vitality: 86.96%]

In other words, every time Jeong-hoon attacked, 1% of the clone’s vitality was erased.

“Gah!”

As its vitality quickly dwindled, the clone frowned in pain.

“Why? Does it hurt?”

Jeong-hoon grinned and easily dodged the clone’s attacks.

Although the shield prevented the hit count from increasing, it didn’t render the clone completely invulnerable.

Bam!

[Annihilation is activating.]

[Remaining Vitality: 85.96%]

It had no choice but to allow unavoidable attacks, so he needed to finish this as quickly as possible.

Whack!

He extended his fist and struck the clone in the abdomen.

The clone’s torso bent in half.

With that, the Power of the Intangible activated, delivering an additional blow.

“Damn you!”

The clone glared at Jeong-hoon with bloodshot eyes.

“What are you going to do by staring at me?”

Jeong-hoon continued to smile as he kept attacking.

“Gah!”

Vitality began to dwindle rapidly.

After about 30 minutes of battle, the following message appeared:

[Annihilation is activating.]

[Remaining Vitality: 0.35%]

The clone had only 0.35% of its vitality left.

“It’s over.”

Jeong-hoon delivered a powerful punch, infused with the energy of the Underworld Kings Fist Technique, squarely hitting the clone’s face.

“Gah!”

The clone stumbled backward from the blow.

Jeong-hoon then brought his fist down on the clone’s solar plexus.

Thud!

“Ugh!”

The clone flopped around like a fish before disintegrating into dust.

It could no longer sustain itself as its vitality had reached zero.

“Phew, I did it.”

Jeong-hoon checked the message displayed before him.

[Hit Count: 17/30]

Despite the long battle, the hit count was only 17.

He had successfully completed the absurd task.

‘If it weren’t for Annihilation, I would have been in big trouble.’

After his regression, Jeong-hoon had focused fiercely on his growth.

In that process, he collected only overpowered items.

So, it was only natural that he achieved such results.

“You… how did you do that?!”

Before he knew it, Harphael approached with a look of shock on his face.

Jeong-hoon smiled and replied, “I just hit it until it went down.”

“That’s nonsense! It’s impossible for someone of your level to defeat the clone!”

Harphael was right.

He had never intended to allow Jeong-hoon to reach the fourth class.

That’s why he had given such a ridiculous difficulty task from the very first step.

“So what? Anyway, I succeeded, so let’s move on to the next stage.”

A notification popped above Harphael’s head.

[You have completed the quest.]

[You can now perform the Transcendence Quest: Transcend (2/2).]

Next step.

Now, completing this would allow him to finalize the long-awaited fourth class.

‘Of course, it won’t be easy.’

Having planned to present a horrific level of difficulty, Jeong-hoon had succeeded despite it.

So now, Harphael would undoubtedly raise the difficulty to ensure failure.

[Transcendence Quest: Transcend (2/2)]

-Restrictions: Level 301 or higher, Third class Martial Artist

-Reward: Fourth class Advancement

-Description: You have qualified. It is time to awaken your slumbering power.

Jeong-hoon accepted the quest.

Then Harphael pointed to a portal emanating a radiant light, one that could not be seen in the Celestial Hall before.

“This is the final test. Go, pass it, and return.”

“Sure.”

“…Can I ask you something before you go?”

“Yes.”

“You’re not human, are you?”

“Pardon?”

“Something wearing the guise of a human?”

At the absurd question, Jeong-hoon couldn’t help but chuckle.

“I’m just an ordinary human.”

“That’s a ridiculous claim. If you’re an ordinary human, then what about those other beings over there?”

“They’re ordinary humans too.”

“…Let’s not talk nonsense.”

“Just focus on preparing yourself.”

“You speak as if you’re definitely going to succeed.”

The corners of Harphael’s mouth twitched.

“Yes. I will definitely succeed.”

“Ha ha, let’s see how long that confidence lasts.”

Without responding, Jeong-hoon stepped through the portal.

Left alone, Harphael muttered as he gazed at the portal where Jeong-hoon had disappeared.

“I don’t know how he managed with the clone, but he won’t succeed this time.”

* * *

The portal led to a training ground of sorts.

‘Is this another battle?’

Simple enough.

But the figure before him was a man.

===

[NPC Information]

– Nickname: ???

– Level: ???

– Class: Avatar of the Transcendent

===

He was a transcendent being, far superior to Harphael’s clone.

Even as a clone, the pressure emanating from him was beyond imagination.

‘They really seem intent on preventing me from achieving the fourth class.’

One corner of Jeong-hoon’s mouth curled slightly upward.

It was likely an order from the higher-ups.

He had anticipated that they would gradually interfere from the moment of materialization, but he hadn’t expected to encounter an avatar of a transcendent here.

‘This will be quite tough.’

Before his regression, Jeong-hoon had faced an avatar of the transcendent when his level was over 500.

Of course, that was after he had completed the fourth class and reached a certain level of mastery as an All-Master.

Now, facing such an opponent in the fourth class advancement quest was unexpected.

Having had prior experience fighting one, he knew this battle wouldn’t go easily.

“Is it you?”

A mechanical voice escaped the man’s lips.

Typically, an avatar of the transcendent did not take on the appearance of their original form.

So, Jeong-hoon had no idea which transcendent this clone belonged to.

“Who are you?”

Jeong-hoon feigned ignorance on purpose.

“Me? Simply put, I’m the examiner.”

“I see.”

“Then let’s begin.”

The corners of the clone’s mouth rose in a sly smile.

[Lv.??? Defeat the Avatar of the Transcendent.]

The final quest for the fourth class advancement had begun.

———-