Chapter 413

‘Bug?’

The first thought that came to mind was a bug.

‘It’s a bug.’

It was definitely a bug.

‘It must be a bug.’

No, it absolutely had to be a bug.

-Why are you acting like that, Master?

-What’s the problem?

Carrot and Praminus, who had been looking at Myeonghu with puzzled expressions, cautiously opened their mouths to speak.

“No, it’s nothing.”

After responding to Carrot and Praminus, Myeonghu turned to Haran and continued.

“Let’s go.”

-Yes, let’s go.

Haran answered Myeong-hu and began walking ahead. Myeong-hu followed behind Haran, checking the character window once more.

‘It’s gone…’

But checking again didn’t make the vanished contribution reappear. The contribution was still nowhere to be seen, and Myeong-hu frowned, thinking.

‘Why did it vanish?’

The contribution points had vanished completely out of the blue. Why had they disappeared? Myeong-hu couldn’t make heads or tails of the current situation.

‘It’s not a bug…’

He thought it might be a bug. No, to be precise, he hoped it was a bug. But Myeong-hu already knew the disappearance of the contribution points wasn’t a bug.

‘A situation where contribution points would vanish…’

There had to be a reason for the contribution points vanishing. Myeong-hu pondered what kind of situation or circumstance could cause them to disappear.

‘Could the Shrine have vanished?’

At this sudden thought, Myeong-hu made a face that said, “Surely not.” Contribution points come from the temple. If the temple disappears, the contribution points vanish too.

A similar example was merit points. Merit points came from the nation, and if the nation vanished, they would simply cease to exist.

‘Nah, that can’t be it.’

After thinking it over, Myeong-hu shook his head. The Elgab Temple wasn’t only in Nexus, the capital of Heliocha. Elgab Temples were located all across the continent. All those Elgab Temples disappearing simultaneously? That was absurd.

‘No, wait. What if…?’

But the disappearance of the contribution points was equally absurd. Myeong-hu opened his friend window to check his list, wondering if something had happened to the temple.

‘Only Min-hyung is here.’

Currently, three people were registered in Myeong-hu’s friend list, and among them, only Min-hyung was online.

– To Gold’s Standard: Min-hyung

Myeong-hu closed the friend window and sent Min-hyung a whisper.

-Gold’s Classic: Huh? Why?

A reply came from Min-hyung shortly after. As soon as he got it, Myeong-hu got straight to the point.

– To Gold’s Classic: Hey, did something big happen over there?

-Gold’s Classic: Big deal? Nope, pure peace.

‘…Peace.’

Myeong-hu frowned slightly at Min-hyung’s whisper. He’d thought something might have happened, but peace itself?

-Gold’s Standard: But why the sudden question?

-To Gold’s Justice: Oh, my contribution points suddenly vanished. I was wondering if something happened at the temple.

-Gold’s Standard: What? Your contribution points? Really?

Min-hyung sent a surprised whisper.

-To Gold’s Standard: Yeah, it just vanished all of a sudden.

-Gold’s Standard: I’ll head to the temple first. It might be something unknown. Hold on a sec.

– To Gold’s Standard: Thanks.

The whisper ended there, and Myeong-hu continued walking while waiting for Min-hyung’s reply. A moment later, a whisper flew back to Min-hyung.

-Gold’s Classic: Myeong-hu.

– To Gold’s Jeongseok: Oh, you’re back? How’d it go?

Myeong-hu, who had been waiting for the whisper, replied immediately upon receiving it.

-Gold’s Classic: Well, it’s like this…

But Min-hyung’s next whisper left Myeong-hu feeling uneasy.

-Gold’s Standard: Nothing’s happening. Actually, there are more people now?

“…”

Myeong-hu couldn’t say a word.

‘Nothing happened?’

It wasn’t a bug. Nothing was happening at the temple. Yet the contribution points had vanished.

‘Then what could it be?’

Why then had the contribution vanished? Myeong-hu pondered deeply.

-Myeonghu.

It was right then. Haran, who had been leading the way, stopped walking and called out to Myeonghu.

“…?”

Lost in thought, Myeong-hu paused at the sound of Haran’s voice, looking up at her with a puzzled expression.

Harran was pointing ahead. Myeonghu turned his head in the direction Harran was pointing and looked where she was gesturing.

‘The barrier pillar…’

There stood a single pillar. It was clearly the auxiliary barrier pillar he had destroyed while defeating the boy Ekalim earlier.

-It seems the barrier wasn’t just one.

As Myeong-hu looked at the pillar, Haran spoke.

‘I wondered if it was possible, but there really are multiple barriers.’

He had considered the possibility of more barriers. But there was a difference between imagining it and seeing it with his own eyes.

‘There’s no time.’

Myeonghu frowned as he stared at the pillar. With his contribution points gone, Myeonghu intended to destroy the Central Curse Pillar as quickly as possible, wrap up matters here, and return to the capital to investigate why his contribution points had vanished.

“Carrot, protect Praminus Haran.”

Thud, thud

Myeonghu entrusted Haran’s protection to Carrot and Prominus and began walking toward the pillar. When he was about 100 meters away, a message appeared.

[You have entered the influence zone of the auxiliary barrier pillar.]

[The entity guarding the pillar is being summoned.]

Swoosh

‘Now!’

Myeong-hu, who had been slowly pacing to time the summoning of the pillar-guarding entity, began sprinting the moment he saw the summoned being appear alongside the message.

Thump, thump, thump!

Unlike before, the distance to the pillar rapidly decreased.

‘So distance really doesn’t matter after all.’

Running toward the pillar, Myeong-hu saw the being being summoned. He had wondered if the summoning speed would increase as the distance decreased, but fortunately, that wasn’t the case.

“Blood Space, Blood Pool, Blood Wave.”

Upon reaching the pillar, Myeonghu was hit with Blood Space, which reduced his movement and attack speed, along with Blood Pool and Blood Wave, which dealt continuous damage while within their range.

Swoosh

Having finished casting his skills, Myeong-hu muttered as he watched the entity guarding the pillar, whose summoning was nearly complete.

“Looks exactly the same…”

The entity currently being summoned bore a striking resemblance to Ekalim, whom he had faced earlier.

“I wonder about its health pool…”

Of course, the similarity in appearance wasn’t particularly important. What mattered was the vitality of the being being summoned.

“If I land that one punch just right, it should be enough.”

Myeonghu planned to unleash his One Punch the moment the summoning ended. If that One Punch landed cleanly, he could finish it off easily.

[Young Ekalim has been summoned.]

[Defeat Young Ekalim.]

[Defeating Young Ekalim will destroy the auxiliary barrier pillar.]

The summoning concluded in an instant.

‘It was Ekalim after all.’

The being guarding the pillar was indeed Ekalim. Myeonghu, who had suspected it might be him due to the similar appearance, thought ‘Just as I thought’ and swung his fist at Ekalim, opening his mouth.

“One Punch.”

“You…”

CRASH!

Myeong-hu’s one punch slammed into Ekalim’s face just as he was about to speak. Seeing what followed, Myeong-hu smiled.

Swoosh

Ekalim began to slowly fade away.

Crack…

Hearing the sound of cracks spreading through the pillar, Myeong-hu turned his head to look at Haran, Carrot, and Praminus.

“…”

“…”

“…”

Haran, Carrot, and Praminus looked at Myeonghu with slightly flustered expressions. Feeling their gazes, Myeonghu opened his mouth.

“Let’s go.”

Staying here wouldn’t make the pillars collapse any faster. They would crumble on their own eventually anyway. In other words, there was no need for them to stay here.

Thump, thump

Haran, hearing Myeonghu’s words, began to walk, and Myeonghu followed behind him.

[Young Ekalim has been defeated.]

[Auxiliary barrier pillar destroyed.]

Shortly after moving on, a message appeared. Myeonghu saw the message, turned his head, and checked the pillar.

Swoosh

The pillar was collapsing. Confirming this, Myeonghu turned his head back to face forward.

‘Hurry…’

Not far ahead stood the pillar of curses. Judging by the distance remaining, there would be no more auxiliary barrier pillars.

Thud!

It was right then.

-Myeong-hu.

Haran stopped walking and called out to Myeonghu.

“…”

Myeong-hu frowned. Walking ahead, he knew why Haran had stopped and why she called him.

‘Why are you following so closely?’

Right ahead, an auxiliary barrier pillar stood in place.

Swish

Myeong-hu looked behind the auxiliary barrier pillar. Not far away, the pillar of curses stood.

‘Ugh.’

Myeong-hu sighed inwardly as he walked toward the pillar and said.

“Carrot, Flaminus. Guard.”

-Understood,

-Yes, Master

Having entrusted Haran to Carrot and Prominus, Myeonghu soon arrived near the auxiliary barrier pillar.

[You have entered the auxiliary barrier pillar’s influence range.]

[The entity guarding the pillar is summoned.]

Thud thud thud!

The message appeared, and at the same moment, Myeong-hu, who had been walking slowly, dashed toward the pillar.

“Blood Space, Blood Pool, Blood Wave.”

Upon reaching the pillar, Myeong-hu cast his skills as before and watched the being being summoned.

[Middle-aged Ekalim has been summoned.]

[Defeat Middle-Aged Ekalim.]

[Destroying Middle-Aged Ekalim will destroy the auxiliary barrier pillar.]

Shortly after the summoning ended, the message appeared. Simultaneously, Myeong-hu’s fist flew toward the summoned Middle-aged Ekalim.

“One Punch!”

Boom! Swoosh

The One Punch exploded, and the middle-aged Ekalim, struck by it, began to vanish without uttering a word.

Swish

Myeong-hu turned his gaze away from the vanishing middle-aged Ekalim and addressed his companions behind him.

“Let’s go.”

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

Seems like something’s wrong with my body.

Not long ago, my solar plexus hurt, and now there’s a problem with my throat.

Every movement brings excruciating pain.

I thought I could finally relax and write now that the program presentation is over, but then this happened…

I even considered taking a short hiatus.

But I figured it’s better to write and post little by little, so I’m posting this late.

I’m sorry.

Wishing you a pleasant day.

Please take good care of your physical and mental health.