Chapter 410

“…”

After reading the message, Myeong-hu couldn’t say a word.

‘What the…’

A moment later, Myeong-hu frowned and checked the message again.

[You have achieved 100 million Fame Points.]

[You have reached the maximum Fame limit.]

[Your reputation will no longer increase.]

[All future Fame gains will be accumulated and displayed as a rank.]

[Ranks range from F to S. Each rank upgrade grants rewards corresponding to that rank.]

[Upon reaching S-rank, your maximum reputation limit increases along with the reward.]

[Current Cumulative Fame Rank: F]

The maximum fame value was 100 million. Having reached 100 million, Myeong-hu could no longer increase his fame. It wasn’t that he couldn’t gain fame. He could still gain fame going forward. It just wouldn’t go above 100 million.

“…A rank, huh.”

From now on, newly acquired fame would accumulate, and the rank would rise based on the accumulated fame. And when the rank rose, one could obtain rewards corresponding to that rank.

‘The fame I gained this time should have accumulated too…’

The problem was the fame required to raise the rank. Before defeating Elgab, Myeonghu’s fame exceeded 95 million. And after defeating Elgab, he gained 15 million fame. That meant Myeonghu’s accumulated fame was over 10 million. Yet, his rank didn’t rise from F to E.

‘Is it shown in the character window?’

How much accumulated fame was actually required for the rank to increase? Wondering if perhaps Myeonghu was listed in the character window, he opened it.

Rank: Wanderer

Nationality: Helioqua [Empire]

Title: Count

Primary Job: Blood Knight

Sub-Class: Strong Smith

Fame: 100,000,000 Merit Points: 428,005,770

Title: Dragon Slayer (Ignores Peers)

Level: 590

Health: 22,508,550

Mana: 2,458,420

Blood Power: 9,713

Strength: 971,330 [97,133(+7,200)]

Agility: 72,715

Stamina: 61,657

Intelligence: 61,370

Wisdom: 61,041

Dexterity: 500

Contribution: Elgab – 2,000,000

‘Nothing…’

However, the character window showed absolutely nothing about reputation ranks. The only rank listed was Wanderer.

‘Well, it’ll probably go up on its own.’

He had no idea how much fame was needed to reach the next rank, E-rank. But fame would accumulate steadily anyway, and his rank would rise eventually. Myeonghu stopped worrying about fame ranks, closed the character window, and looked at Haran and the Cursed Pillar.

Swoosh

Was it because there were no interruptions? Or had the time spent thinking about the reputation rank been longer than he realized? Haran’s light had already changed half the color of the Cursed Pillar.

‘About five minutes left.’

It took 10 minutes to destroy the Curse Pillar. Half the time had passed, so in just 5 more minutes, the Curse Pillar would be destroyed.

[The Cursed Pillar is destroyed.]

[Special Quest ‘The Cursed Pillar of the East, and Evil’ completed.]

[Reward acquired.]

[Level Up!]

.

.

[Level Up!]

[Obtained Bartsach’s Token Fragment D.]

[Completed the prerequisite quest ‘The Cursed Pillar of the East, and Evil’.]

[Special Quest ‘The Last Pillar’ has been activated.]

[You are near the Sacred Pillar.]

.

.

[Damage taken from enemies is reduced by 20% for 10 minutes.]

Five minutes passed. Minghu opened his character window after seeing the message.

‘600.’

Myeong-hu’s level, which had been 590, had risen by 10 to 600. Thinking that the additional fame might have caused his level to rise further, Myeong-hu invested the bonus stat points into Strength before closing the character window. He then opened the quest window.

Enter the ‘Sunken Castle of Humans’ at the center of Lake Belkan and find its core!

Quest Difficulty: S

Quest Reward: Rank – Knight Commander

Quest Cancellation Not Possible

As soon as he opened the quest window, Minghu smiled at the quest that immediately caught his eye.

‘Finally…’

He could now head to the castle’s center. Still smiling, Myeonghu scrolled down the scroll positioned on the right side of the quest window.

Opening the quest window wasn’t to check the rank quests. It was to check the newly activated special quest.

Four pillars have been destroyed, leaving only one remaining. Destroy the final cursed pillar at the center to lift the curse upon the castle!

Quest Difficulty: SSS

Quest Reward: ???

Quest Cannot Be Cancelled

‘Just one more to destroy, and the curse will end.’

Finally, the last one. Now, destroying just this one pillar in the center would end the curse on this castle.

‘Then what kind of quest is this?’

A sudden thought struck him, and Myeong-hu scrolled down to check the quest at the very bottom.

???

Quest Difficulty: ???

Quest Reward: ???

Quest Cancellation Not Possible

(Quest cannot be checked as conditions are not met.)

Myeonghu had received a total of six quests upon entering this place, and the newly activated ‘Last Pillar’ was the fifth quest. That meant one quest remained inactive.

“…Is there something else besides the pillar?”

As the quest stated, the pillar to be destroyed this time was the final pillar. And once that pillar was gone, the curse on the castle would also vanish.

However, one quest remained. That meant something else besides the pillar was still left.

-Thank you.

Myeonghu closed the quest window at the sound of Haran’s voice in his ear. He turned his head to look at Haran.

-Thanks to you, Myeonghu, we were able to destroy the pillar very easily. Now that the curse has weakened considerably, you can go to the center as you wished. Before that…

Haran trailed off, glancing at the path leading to the castle’s center before continuing.

-I have something to tell you.

‘Is she going to explain something?’

After destroying the northern pillar of the curse and before departing for here, Haran had explained about the eastern region of this place. It seemed likely she would now explain about the castle’s center, just as she had then.

“I do not know what lies there, nor what entity guards the pillar.”

However, upon hearing Haran’s next words, Myeonghu realized his assumption was wrong.

-I know nothing about the castle’s center either.

Contrary to Myeonghu’s expectations, Haran knew nothing about the center—their ultimate destination and current objective.

-One thing is certain: the center of the castle holds dangers incomparably greater than anything we’ve faced so far.

Finishing his words, Haran looked at Myeonghu. His gaze held the question: What will you do? Seeing Haran’s eyes, Myeonghu thought.

‘No matter the difficulty, we have to go.’

After all, the reason they had come here in the first place was to reach the castle’s center. They had to go, no matter the difficulty. And Haran knew that from the start. Having made up his mind, Myeonghu spoke to Haran, who was waiting for his answer.

* * * *

Gold Dragon Monia.

‘It’s hard. It’s so hard.’

Monya was currently touring the lairs of dragons across the continent due to Dragon Lord Akima’s summons.

Whoosh

Flying at high speed, Monia slowed down and descended as she neared her destination. Soon after touching down, she reached forward with her hand.

Thud! Thump!

As Monia reached out, a white defensive barrier appeared in the previously empty air. Naturally, Monia’s hand passed right through the barrier and entered.

“They’ll be here soon.”

Monya withdrew her hand after passing through the barrier. She stood still, looking around and murmuring to herself.

“It never fails to please me.”

Monya loved this place immensely. If the dragon that had made its lair here hadn’t existed, she would have loved it enough to move her own lair here.

It was right then.

Swish

Monica, who had been surveying her surroundings, sensed an energy rapidly approaching her. She turned her head to look in the direction the energy was flying from.

Whoosh

Far off, an elf was flying toward her at tremendous speed. The elf had hair so long it reached her waist and skin that looked extremely pale—whether from illness or simply appearing that way due to the hair.

“You’re here.”

Monya murmured upon seeing the elf. The one flying toward her now merely appeared as an elf; it was not a true elf. The elf’s true identity was connected to the summons order, the very reason Monya had come here.

“What is it?”

Shortly after arriving before Monia, the elf—no, the owner of this place, the leader of the Red Dragons, Dear—asked.

“Monya of the Gold Clan greets Lord Dear, leader of the Red Clan.”

Monya greeted him before answering Dear’s question. She then proceeded to explain the purpose of her visit: the summons.

“I have come here because of Lord’s summons.”

“A summons?”

“Yes, the Lord issued a summons.”

“…Why?”

“I’m not entirely sure myself…”

Deer frowned at Monia’s uncertain response and pondered.

‘A summons? By the Lord?’

When Lord issues a summons, even a sleeping dragon must awaken and respond. In other words, Lord doesn’t issue summonses unless it’s something truly significant.

‘Why?’

Yet the summons had been issued. Why on earth? Why would Lord Rod issue a summons? Dear pondered and pondered.

It was at that very moment.

“Dear, I haven’t finished delivering the summons yet, but would it be alright if I went?”

Monya asked.

“…Understood.”

Lost in thought, Dear paused his musings at Monia’s words and replied.

“Then I’ll be going now.”

Monya bowed her head in greeting to Dear and swiftly flew off toward the next lair. Watching Monya’s retreating figure, Dear thought again about the mobilization order.

‘The Summons Order hasn’t been issued since then.’

This wasn’t the first time Lord had issued a summons. But it wasn’t often either. The current Lord had issued a summons only once. And what happened back then was reason enough to issue it.

Swish

Deer waved his hand, creating a portal. It connected to the lair of Lord Akima, who had issued the summons.

‘Does this mean something comparable to that time has happened?’

Recalling the circumstances of the previous summons, Dear clenched her lips tightly and stepped into the portal.

Swish

“Dear, you’re late.”

“I was stationed at the farthest point.”

“Long time no see!”

“You’re here.”

Deer arrived at Akima’s Rare through the portal and saw fellow members of his tribe, each transformed into different forms—orcs, humans, elves—greeting him.

============================ Afterword ============================

Wishing you a peaceful night!