Chapter 398

Chapter 398

After seeing the castle, Ming Hu turned his attention back to the quest.

Enter the Sunken Castle of Men in the center of Lake Belkan and find its center!

Quest Difficulty: S

Quest Rewards: Rank – Templar

Quests cannot be canceled

The quest requirement was to get to the center of the Sunken Castle of the Humans in the center of Lake Belkan. The problem is that the castle is right in front of you.

“Is there something in the castle?”

The quest couldn’t be easier. The Wanderer-tier quest requirement of going to the center of Lake Belkan was easy enough to complete, but you had to deal with boss monsters like Lamphere, Letos, and others along the way. There’s also a good chance that there’s something inside the castle where this quest is located.

“Whatever it is, I’ll do it while I’m here.”

Whatever was inside, he had to go inside to complete the quest. Ming Hu finished his thoughts and started walking.

Bam!

Ming Hu continued walking and soon arrived at the city gates. Ming Hu continued walking and stepped through the gate and into the castle.

That was the moment.

Siaak

[A figure appears guarding the gate].

The moment Ming Hu stepped on it, a light burst forth from the ground and a message appeared.

“Again.

From the message and the light emanating from the ground, Ming Hu knew there was something to it, as expected.

[Haran explores you].

And the message that followed.

“…”

When Ming Hu saw the message, he looked around wordlessly, and soon he spotted a figure staring at him in the distance.

“What is that thing doing? Is it human?

The being, Haran, had the appearance of a human being, but its entire body was made of light, so I couldn’t be sure it was human.

[Haran has finished exploring].

In the meantime, a message appeared. It said that the search was over. When Ming Hu saw the message, he looked at Haran and prepared to strike back at any moment.

-Ah, here we are.

Haran then spoke up.

“…?”

Ming Hu was ready to strike back, but when he heard Haran’s words, he couldn’t help but shake his head. The reason Ming Hu was scratching his head was because of the feeling he got from Haran.

“Why does it feel like…

I even thought I might be mistaken. But he was not mistaken. Ming Hu saw Haran again, and it was clear that he was happy to see her.

“…what is it?

Why does it welcome you?

“Is it because we haven’t had an intruder in a while?

Haran uses the word “finally”. It could be that they have been very bored without an intruder, and now that an intruder has appeared, they are able to relieve their boredom.

-My name is Haran.

As Ming Hu pondered, Haran spoke up again.

-What is your name?

“…”

Haran’s question was so abrupt that Ming Hu had no words.

“Why is my name…

Ming Hu searched Haran’s eyes and mood, trying to figure out what was going on.

-…

Haran stared at Ming Hu with a glazed look in his eyes, waiting for Ming Hu’s answer. Ming Hu was puzzled by Haran’s reaction.

“What is this…

An intruder, Ming Hu was an intruder, and Haran was the protector of this place, and Haran should not have reacted this way. Embarrassed and confused, Ming Hu wondered what he should do.

‘…’

But thinking about it didn’t lead to action. Ming Hu opened his mouth to speak when he saw Haran’s glazed eyes still waiting for his answer.

“My pleasure.”

After finally saying his name, Ming Hu watched Haran’s reaction.

-Ah! It’s you!

Upon hearing Ming Hu’s name, Haran called out Ming Hu’s name in a very energetic voice, and then smiled and said, “Ming Hu’s name.

-It’s been a long time coming.

“…Wait a long time?

Ming Hu was puzzled by Haran’s words. Ming Hu listened to Haran’s words as he continued to speak.

-Who will break the curse of the castle, who will save us.

“Damnation or salvation?

Hearing Haran’s next words, Ming Hu sensed that something was up.

-Minghu.

Haran’s words were soon interrupted.

[bleep!]

[You have found the surname of Bartache, the 2nd Lord].

[This is your first entry as a user].

[First Found buff is applied].

[First Discovery buff increases all speeds by 20% for 3 days].

[The First Found buff is removed when you leave Bartash’s castle].

[You are not allowed to log out].

[Logging out is treated as death].

[If you die in the castle, you will respawn here instead of in town].

[Increased intimacy with Haran, the guardian of Bartash’s castle].

[Special Quest created].

[Special Quest created].

[Special Quest created].

[Special Quest created].

[Special Quest created].

[Special Quest created].

As Haran finished speaking, Ming Hu saw a number of messages.

“…”

Ming Hu stared blankly at the numerous messages.

‘…what the hell.’

Soon, Ming Hu regained his senses and began to sift through the messages.

“Two generations of Bartache?

Deciding to check the messages in the order they appeared, Ming Hu checked the first one that appeared, and the moment he saw the content of the message, he couldn’t help but panic.

“You gave me two?

Second Lord, apparently the message said this was the castle of Bartash, the second Lord.

“Huh.

I thought it must be a special castle. However, I never expected it to be the castle of a lord.

“But… what about damnation and salvation?

After learning from the message that this was the castle of his second-in-command, Bartache, Ming Hu remembered Haran’s words and shook his head.

Haran was said to be the one who would break the castle’s curse and save it. We don’t know how many lords the current lord is, but this was the castle of Bartash, the second lord. Who would curse this place?

“Hmmm.

Ming Hu frowned and checked the next message.

‘Speed up…’

The next message was that you had earned the First Discovery Buff. This First Discovery Buff is a 20% increase in all speeds.

“I like the experience and drop rate.

The speed increase wasn’t a bad thing, of course, but from Ming Hu’s point of view, it was more efficient to increase experience and drop rates rather than speed. Ming Hu saw the following message

‘So this is where I’m going after all.

The next message was related to signing out. Logging out was not possible here. Of course, the logout itself is not blocked. Logging out is treated as death, not logging out. Furthermore, if you die in the castle, you will be resurrected at the entrance to the castle you are in now, so you don’t have to worry about coming back from the village whether you log out or die in the castle. After checking the message, Ming Hu saw the following message.

“Increased intimacy.

It was a message about his increased closeness to Haran. Ming Hu nodded in understanding and looked at the next message.

“…”

Ming Hu nodded, but stopped nodding when he saw the messages. Ming Hu’s brow furrowed slightly as he read the messages one by one.

“What is this?

After checking all the remaining messages, Myung-Hoo couldn’t help but feel a little panicked.

“Is this a duplicate due to lag?

Ming Hu was confused because all six messages said that a special quest had been created. Ming Hu wondered if there was a lag and they were duplicates, so he opened the quest window to check.

“…”

Opening the quest window and checking the quests, Ming Hu was speechless.

“Isn’t this a duplicate?

I thought it might be a duplicate, but it wasn’t. As the message said, there were a total of six new Special Quests created in the Quests window.

Ming Hu turned his gaze away from the quest window and looked at Haran. What on earth was going on here that caused six special quests to be created, and not just any quests either?

Looking at Haran and thinking, Ming Hu turned his attention back to the quest window to see the special quest that had been created this time.

The massive castle that sank into the center of Lake Belkan was the castle of the second Lord Bartash. Bartash’s castle is currently under a curse. Haran strongly believes that you will be the one to remove this curse. To do so, you must weaken the curse by destroying the curse pillars that are embedded throughout the castle. Follow Haran to the first curse pillar on the south side of the castle to weaken the curse!

Quest Difficulty: SSS

Quest Reward: ???

Quests cannot be canceled

‘SSS?

After checking the quest, Ming Hu is a bit surprised at the unfamiliar quest difficulty. Until now, Ming Hu had never received a quest of SSS difficulty before.

“How hard can it be…

How hard is this quest that it has a difficulty level of SSS? And there wasn’t just one quest; there were six in total. Ming Hu checked the next quest with a mixture of excitement and worry.

???

Quest Difficulty: ???

Quest Reward: ???

Quests cannot be canceled

(Complete the prerequisite quest ‘Cursed Pillars of the South’).

“…”

But Ming Hu was unable to confirm the next quest. Everything about the next quest was a question mark.

“I’m going to have to break it down.

At the bottom, it looked like he needed to complete a prerequisite quest before he could confirm. Ming Hu closed the quest window and looked at Haran. Under Ming Hu’s gaze, Haran opened his mouth.

-Do you want to go directly?