Chapter 417

This is the Seal of the Second Lord, Bartash. Possessing this seal grants the following effects.

1. You can deal damage even to opponents of higher rank.

2. Movement speed never decreases under any circumstances.

3. All speeds increase by 20% at the start of battle.

4. All attack power increases by 20%.

5. The token cannot be discarded and will not drop upon death.

The token possessed truly incredible effects.

“…Holy crap.”

The word ‘awesome’ was no exaggeration.

‘Attacks are possible regardless of rank?’

The first effect alone was astonishing. It could deal damage even to high-tier opponents. That meant it could attack regardless of tier, which in turn meant it could damage Atakshya.

‘And immunity to movement speed reduction?’

The second effect also brought an involuntary smile to Myeonghu’s lips. Immunity to movement speed reduction debuffs. For Myeonghu, who had recently been using the Undying’s Necklace to counter movement speed reductions, this was a sweet effect.

The other effects were equally impressive. The third effect, granting a 20% increase to all movement speeds at the start of combat, and the fourth effect, permanently boosting all attack power by 20%, were undeniably powerful and truly befitting of a badge.

‘Just wait until we meet…’

Myeonghu thought of Atakshah. There was no longer any reason to flee from Atakshah. Myeonghu closed his inventory, looking forward to the day he would meet Atakshah.

‘I wonder what the final quest will be.’

He then opened the quest window to check the final quest, the one that had just activated: ‘The Truth of That Day’.

“Hm?”

But when Myeonghu opened the quest window, he couldn’t help but tilt his head at the quest that immediately caught his eye.

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 Cannot Be Cancelled

‘What the hell?’

The quest that appeared in Myeong-hu’s field of vision was none other than a Grade Quest.

‘Completion…’

I thought it would naturally be complete. But contrary to my expectations, the rank quest hadn’t been completed and still occupied its spot in the quest window.

‘Why didn’t it work?’

Why hadn’t the quest completed? Myeong-hu wondered if he had misunderstood the quest requirements and checked it again.

‘I just need to go to the center…’

After checking the quest again, Myeong-hu tilted his head in confusion. He hadn’t misread it. The quest clearly stated to find the center of the castle.

-You’ve worked hard, my lord.

-Well done, my lord.

Meanwhile, Carrot and Praminus, who had been beside Haran, approached.

“Oh, right. You two worked hard too.”

Myeonghu responded to Carrot and Praminus’ words, then turned his head to look at the Divine Pillar.

‘Surely not…’

A sudden thought occurred to him.

‘Do I have to approach the pillar directly?’

The quest completes when you reach the center of the castle. But if the quest isn’t complete, that means I haven’t reached the center.

“Is there some problem?”

Carrot asked, observing Myeonghu’s expression.

“Just a moment.”

Myeonghu, who had been staring at the Sacred Pillar, replied briefly to Karot’s question. With an expression of disbelief, he slowly began to approach the Sacred Pillar. And shortly after arriving before the Sacred Pillar, Myeonghu realized his suspicion was correct.

[Grade Quest Completed.]

[Rank has increased.]

[Obtained the rank – Knight Commander.]

[Rank Promotion Condition Achieved.]

[A rank quest has been generated.]

[Please check the quest window.]

A message appeared as he arrived directly before the Sacred Pillar. Myeong-hu checked the message and opened the quest window.

Go to the Temple of Chaos in Holatan and meet the High Priest of Chaos!

Quest Difficulty: S

Quest Reward: Grade – Hero

Quest Cannot Be Cancelled

The quest window showed the previous rank quest, ‘Grand Knight,’ had vanished, replaced by the new rank quest, ‘Hero.’

‘Where the heck is this place…’

Not knowing the quest location, Myeong-hu decided to figure it out later. He scrolled down the quest window to check the last quest, the newly activated ‘The Truth of That Day’.

With Haran’s help, uncover the truth of that day when the world was turned upside down through the Sacred Pillar!

Quest Difficulty: SSS

Quest Reward: ???

Quest Cannot Be Cancelled

“Hm?”

After checking the quest, Myeong-hu couldn’t help but feel a little flustered.

‘Why is it so short?’

And no wonder—the quest description was ridiculously brief.

‘I thought there’d be something more…’

Even though he had destroyed all the pillars of the curse, the castle showed no significant change. He had assumed the final quest, ‘The Truth of That Day,’ would be something grand, but it wasn’t.

Swish

After checking the quest, he turned his head to look at Haran. Haran was silently approaching the Sacred Pillar.

‘Something’s different…’

Watching Haran approach, Myeonghu thought. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly what had changed, but the Haran before destroying the cursed pillars and the Haran now were definitely different.

-Truly… thank you.

Haran stopped before the Sacred Pillar and spoke.

-If it weren’t for you, Myeonghu, I wouldn’t have been able to lift the curse.

Of course, even without Myeong-hu, players would have eventually swarmed in and cleared it. It’s just impossible to know how long that would have taken.

-And…

Haran, who had been continuing to speak, trailed off. Then, shifting her gaze from Myeonghu to the Sacred Pillar and back to Myeonghu, she said.

-There’s one thing I should tell you.

‘A quest, huh.’

Myeonghu understood from Haran’s gaze and words that she was about to mention something related to a quest.

-After the curse fell upon the castle, Lord Bartash gave me two orders. The first was to aid the Seer and lift the curse from the castle. The second was to show the Seer the truth of that day.

Swish

Finishing his words, Haran raised his hand and pointed toward the Divine Pillar.

-There, within the central Divine Pillar, lies the truth of that day. Would you like to see the truth of that day?

[Depending on your answer, you may confirm the truth of that day.]

[Refusing will delete the special quest ‘The Truth of That Day’.]

After Haran finished speaking, a message appeared. But Haran’s question was one whose answer was already predetermined.

“Yes, I will see it.”

Myeonghu nodded and replied.

[You have accepted to verify the truth of that day.]

[You cannot log out for 5 minutes.]

As soon as he answered, another message appeared. Myeong-hu averted his gaze from the message and looked at Haran.

-Understood.

Haran nodded in response and raised her hand toward the pillar of divinity.

Whoosh

The Sacred Pillar, already radiating bright light, began emitting an even brighter glow as Haran raised her hand. Then, part of that light shifted direction and flew toward Myeonghu. Myeonghu saw the light heading for him. And the moment the light enveloped him.

[Verifying the truth of that day.]

A message appeared.

Whoosh

And the surroundings darkened.

[5 seconds remaining until loading.]

Myeong-hu, looking around the darkened surroundings, saw the message appear before his eyes and began counting down the 5 seconds in his mind.

Whoosh

And exactly 5 seconds later. The dark surroundings changed. Myeong-hu first checked his own physical state.

‘Semi-transparent… Feels ghostly.’

Myeong-hu’s body was now semi-transparent. It seemed he was proceeding in this state because he was observing events from the past.

Swish

After checking his condition, Myeong-hu looked around.

‘Where am I?’

The place Myeong-hu stood was a vast, empty field. But something felt off. It wasn’t that the field was too large.

‘Why is no one here?’

The field was completely empty. Not a single person was visible. The only thing existing in the field was Myeong-hu, in a semi-transparent state.

‘Shouldn’t someone be here?’

To see the truth of that day, Myeong-hu came here. But now, there’s no one here at all. Puzzled by this strange situation, Myeong-hu looked around again, wondering if he had missed something.

It was right then.

Thud… thud…

Footsteps echoed from the edge of the clearing, where grass and trees grew thickly. Myeong-hu fixed his gaze on the source of the sound.

Swish

A moment later, Myeong-hu could see the source of the footsteps pushing through the grass and entering the clearing. The figure was someone Myeong-hu knew well.

“…Ekalim?”

It was Ekalim.

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

Not much of 2014 remains.

I hope you all finish it well!