Chapter 399

Chapter 399

“…I was going to go straight to the center.

Ming Hu thought for a moment at Haran’s question. Right now, Ming Hu needed to go to the center of the castle, so he could complete the rank quests and raise his rank. But if he followed Haran now, he would end up going south, not to the center.

“I…”

After a moment’s thought, Ming Hu opened his mouth to speak to Haran, who was waiting for his answer.

“I have a stop to make first. Do you think I can get to the center of the castle first?”

-Ah…

Haran let out a short gasp at Ming Hu’s words. Then he opened his mouth, looking a bit perplexed.

-The…

But Haran did not find it easy to speak. Ming Hu, seeing Haran’s behavior, opened his mouth to speak again.

“Is it possible that you can’t center?”

I can’t be sure, but based on Haran’s confused look and reaction, it seemed like a straight shot to the center was out of the question.

-Yes, the center of the castle is now unreachable due to powerful curses and ties.

It was as expected.

“…I see.”

Hearing Haran’s words, Ming Hu nodded, looking a little disappointed. Noticing Myung Hu’s disappointment, Haran quickly continued, “I’m sorry.

-If we can get rid of a few of the pillars of the curse, the curse and the ties will weaken and we can get to the center.

Ming Hu was going to destroy the Pillar of Curse for the quest anyway. Ming Hu nodded once more at Haran’s words and opened his mouth to speak.

“I see.”

* * * * *

A breakout room in the company’s “Mingyung”.

There were currently three people in the breakout room, Kim Mu-woong, Jang Moo-yeol, and Park Tae-seok.

“So the Demon Realm is going to stay this way with no downgrades?”

The topic of the chapter was the seven realms that are currently open to users.

“Yeah, I’m probably going to have a problem later if I go downhill now.”

Kim nodded in response to Park’s question.

“But a lot of people are saying that the Demon Castle difficulty is too high.”

After hearing Kim’s answer, Park Tae-seok continued.

“…”

“…”

Hearing Park Tae-seok’s words, Kim Mu-woong and Jang Moo-yeol couldn’t say anything, only smiling bitterly inside.

“…?”

Park Tae-seok tilted his head in wonder as he looked at Kim Mu-woong and Jang Moo-yeol, who didn’t say anything to his words. Jang Moo-yeol, who was smiling bitterly at Park Tae-seok’s giggles, spoke up.

“The difficulty of Demon Kingdoms may seem high right now, but once the ranked players get going and a little more time passes, Demon Kingdoms will be cleared.”

“Oh, I see.”

Park Tae-seok nodded at Jang Moo-yeol’s words. Jang Moo-yeol looked at Park Tae-seok’s nod and thought to himself.

‘Normally, it would have cleared immediately…’

Under normal circumstances, a player’s current level of skill would be sufficient to clear the 7th Demon Castle. However, the current state of the 7th Demon Realm was different.

‘The devil is different, the devil is…’

To be more precise, the Demon Castle had a new owner. The original Demon King who ruled the Seven Realms and lived in the Demon Castle was Agranecto, the Demon King of Death.

“Not to mention Agranecto is dead.

However, Agranecto was destroyed by a user party. It could be brought back to life, but that would require rewriting all the data across the board, which was nearly impossible.

“I never thought a demon of the Nine Realms would live in the Seventh Realm.

The problem was that a demon from the 9th Demon Realm had entered the 7th Demon Realm and started living in the Demon Castle. The 9th Demon Realm was a difficult place for players of the current level to hunt, let alone a demon castle.

The devil and his minions live in the Demon Castle of the Seven Demon Realms. It was no wonder that players found the Seven Demon Kingdoms difficult.

“Then…”

Park Tae-seok spoke up again.

“What about that user I told you about?”

When Kim and Jang heard Park’s words, they remembered a user.

“If that user is…”

“Are you referring to a user named Sharpshooter who is said to be in the Demon Castle Prison?”

He is the only one of the many users in the Demon Realm who is inside the Demon Castle and is imprisoned in the prison in the Demon Castle’s basement.

“Yes, there are posts every day with protests. And because of the consistency and thought-provoking content of the posts, more and more users are becoming interested.”

Park Tae-seok replied to Kim Mu-woong and Jang Moo-yeol. According to Park Tae-seok, Ssangsal was sending protests every day and posting on each bulletin board.

In addition, the consistency and stimulating content of the posts gradually attracted more and more users.

“Hmm.”

“Well…”

At Park Tae-seok’s words, Kim Mu-woong and Jang Moo-yeol looked confused. Kim Mu Woong and Jang Moo Yeol looked at each other and exchanged glances.

“What do I do?

“Do we go in and pull it out?

“Well, it’s possible now, but you don’t want to say anything?

“So I’ll tell my teacher then!

After finishing their conversation with a glance, Kim Mu-woong and Jang Moo-yeol turned their heads back to look at Park Tae-seok, who was waiting for an answer.

“The problem is…”

Kim was the first to speak.

“We’ll get to it soon.”

Of course, I said this in our last meeting. But unlike then, I was actually going to do something about it now.

“Hmm. I see.”

But was it because he had heard the same answer in every meeting so far? Park Tae-seok nodded in response to Kim Mu-woong’s words with an unimpressed expression.

“Oh, and about the upcoming user dueling competition.”

“Yes.”

And the meeting started again.

“Thank you.”

“See you at the next meeting.”

The meeting went on for a while, and then it was over.

Sigh

“Goodbye then.”

Park Tae-seok was the first to stand up, greeted Kim Mu-woong and Jang Moo-yeol, and left the breakout room.

“Whoa.”

“Hiya.”

After Park Tae-seok left, Kim Mu-woong and Jang Moo-yeol sighed in unison, as if they had made a pact. The tiredness that hadn’t been visible at the beginning of the meeting had settled into their expressions.

“I feel it every time, but why do I feel so tired at the end of meetings?”

Jang said.

“I agree. I’d rather fix bugs.”

Kim nodded his head in agreement. After exchanging a few words, they stood up and began to walk out of the breakout room.

“At least I can take it easy today.”

Jang said as he walked out of the breakout room.

“Can I take a break?”

Then Kim smirked and said.

“…?”

When Jang Moo-yeol saw Kim Mu-woong’s words and laughter, he felt both anxious and puzzled. Seeing Jang Moo-yeol’s eyes filled with a mixture of anxiety and wonder, Kim Mu-woong continued.

“Let’s go get him.”

“…Ah.”

After Kim Mu-woong finished speaking, Jang Moo-yeol let out a short gasp as he realized what he meant. As he thought about it, there was one thing he had to do.

“Let’s get something we’re going to need anyway.”

There was a job to be done: rescuing a user trapped in the basement of the Demon Castle. Well, more accurately, it would be more accurate to say that they needed to be taken out.

“Are you going to tell your teacher?”

Jang asked.

“No, let’s just do it. I’ve got permission anyway. I’m just going to get yelled at for saying something like that.”

Kim Muung shook his head. In the past, I couldn’t touch the demonic realm. I needed my master’s permission and authorization to do so.

But not now. As the Demon Realm opened up and time passed, I was authorized to touch the Demon Realm. Though it was limited to the Seven Realms.

* * * * *

[You have entered the outer castle of Bartash].

“Is this the beginning.

After being briefed by Haran at the entrance and given some information and precautions, Ming Hu walked inside, saw the message, and looked around.

‘This is it…’

There were tons of statues around. A girl painting on the floor, a young man trying to enter a house, and many other human statues.

“The followers of Bartash…

They were all believers and followers of Bartache, living here in his castle. Seeing them turned into statues by the curse, Ming Hu continued to walk.

-The renegades are about to find out.

Haran, who was walking in front, said.

-Please… please.

“…I see.”

Ming Hu had heard about Haran’s request before he came here. Haran’s words left Ming Hu a little confused.

Jab!

After a while, Haran stopped walking. Ming Hu stopped walking as Haran stopped walking and looked around. Haran’s stop could only mean one thing.

Jab… ugh… Jab…

Footsteps, large and small, began to be heard in all directions. The footsteps of the renegades were unmistakable. Ming Hu looked at Haran.

-…please.

Haran was looking at Ming Hu as well, and he let out another request.

Siaak

At the same time, bright waves of light began to emanate from Haran’s body.

[Haran’s favor has been proclaimed].

[30% less damage taken from Renegades].

[20% increased damage to Renegades].

[You can attack the renegades].

[Shards of the Curse can be obtained from Renegades].

The message appeared the moment it touched the wavelength. Ming Hu tore his gaze away from the message and looked around once more.

-Haran!

-Your being here means…

-Does that mean he’s here?

-What the heck…

All around him, unlike the other statuesque worshippers, there were humans who moved so naturally. They were renegades.