The Return of the Legendary All-Master

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

By the time Jeong-hoon returned to Seoul, the first round had already ended.

"Hun, did everything go well?"

"Yes. I was able to gain something from it, thanks to you."

"That's good to hear."

Apparently, the first round was carried entirely by his mother.

If she hadn't stepped in, it might not have ended so easily.

'…Though I think it ended up drawing suspicion.'

Thanks to her overwhelming force, Harmagedon and Ullion began to harbor doubts and are now stirring things up in the Divine Realm.

Well, since he returned to Earth as per her warning, nothing should happen for now.

The focus now should be on the second round.

'Psyche... what are you planning to do with the divine stones you've been gathering?'

When Jeong-hoon reached out to Psyche, it didn't take long for her reply to arrive.

'We're gathering energy. The plan is to completely erase Tenebris.'

Erase Tenebris.

< Tsk. Why is it that nothing ever deviates from my predictions? >

Tenebris shook his head in exasperation.

'Where is it happening?'

'…Why do you want to know?'

'I'm going to absorb the energy.'

'That's reckless. Don't tell me… you're planning to abandon Earth?'

'That's exactly why I'm telling you.'

'What?'

'Control the energy output. Just enough for me to absorb it.'

'If I do that, I won't be able to act as a spy anymore. You realize that, don't you?'

'You'll get caught anyway if you keep pushing your luck.'

'I'll watch how the situation develops and get back to you.'

Jeong-hoon had already warned Psyche in advance.

< If it comes to this, doesn't that mean you have to enter the second round yourself, not your clone? >

Jeong-hoon shook his head.

As planned, he would send in a clone for the second round.

First, he needed to see how they reacted.

"If the first round was a conquest battle, the second round is survival."

Survival.

Ten humans from Earth and ten high-ranking species fight. Whichever side ends up with zero survivors first loses.

In other words, if you eliminate all ten of the opposing high-ranking species, you win Round 2.

"Then I should probably sit this one out, huh?"

Damien Loud raised his hand as he spoke.

He was a chronicle recorder, in charge of verifying checkpoints.

But in this second round, there wasn't much for him to do.

Of course, if they looked for a role, he could find one—but Jeong-hoon intended to finish the round before it came to that.

"Oh, wow. Your tone's changed."

At Jeong-hoon's remark, Damien blushed and cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Apologies for my earlier behavior. Since we're going to be fighting side by side, I had the foolish idea to test your qualifications..."

"Is that so?"

It was a bit unexpected.

He had assumed the man would still be sulking after having his pride bruised.

Just then, Bong-Goo quietly leaned in and whispered,

"Hyung-nim, he changed his attitude after watching your mother shoot."

At that, Jeong-hoon nodded, finally understanding.

Right.

That guy isn't the type to apologize easily.

"Alright, then. Damian Laud, you're sitting out. And two out of you three will also sit this one out."

Jeong-hoon pointed at Sophia, Amelie, and Louis Verdan.

Sophia immediately shot up from her seat.

"What? Why?"

Her face was filled with dissatisfaction.

"Hmm. Because you're not really needed in the second round?"

"You don't know that unless we actually try, do you?"

"Is that so?"

Jeong-hoon called out to Michael, who had been resting inside.

As Michael appeared suddenly, Sophia flinched slightly.

"You called for me?"

"Yeah, Michael. I've got something to ask you."

"Go ahead."

"Are you stronger than her?"

Jeong-hoon asked as he pointed at Sophia.

Michael tilted his head and gave Sophia a once-over, scanning her from head to toe.

"……"

Sophia couldn't say a word.

Unlike her—who hadn't yet reached level 2,000—Michael had already surpassed level 3,000 and was approaching 4,000.

Even just by level, the difference was obvious. And if you dug deeper, the gap would only grow more severe.

"Hmm... I'm not sure."

But Michael didn't give a direct answer, trying to dodge the question with vagueness.

"You're not sure?"

"Yes. Dark Mages of her caliber are generally quite tricky to deal with."

At his honest remark, Sophia's shoulders perked up in pride.

"Well, you can beat her, right?"

"Of course."

"Then that's good enough."

Satisfied with the answer, Jeong-hoon sent Michael back.

"…Fine. I'll sit out the second round."

Feeling validated by someone in the 4,000-level range, Sophia stepped down without protest.

Next up were Louis Verdan and Amelie Reina.

Both of them were holy-type magic users, so Jeong-hoon intended to take only one of them.

Then Louis raised his hand.

"She's far more capable than I am when it comes to healing. So I think it's best if I step back."

"What are you talking about…? But you're much more outstanding in other areas, Luis."

Amelie quickly refuted him, but Luis smiled faintly and shook his head.

While it was true he excelled in other aspects, stepping back was the wise choice—because compared to the others here, his strengths wouldn't be especially helpful in this particular situation.

"Just for Round 2. The rounds will keep coming. It's about conserving stamina."

"Understood."

"I'll keep that in mind."

At the mention of preparing for the next round, the expressions of the three people turned solemn.

"Then with three people stepping back, who's going in?"

James Marcus raised his hand and asked.

"First, me."

As Jeong-hoon pointed to himself, murmurs spread across the living room.

It was only natural—Jeong-hoon, who was Level 10,000, personally entering Round 2.

"To be exact, a clone created in my likeness."

With that, Jeong-hoon used the Source of Good and Evil to create a duplicate of himself.

As a clone identical to Jeong-hoon appeared beside him, everyone stared at it in wonder.

"You copied your abilities too?"

"Yeah. This clone will handle everything in Round 2 on its own."

"Then who are the other two?"

"One is the dark mage I summoned earlier. The other is a secret weapon who's been resting very nicely."

* * *

Harmagedon and Ulion returned not long after.

"No results, I take it?"

At Beelzebub's question, Harmagedon shrugged.

"It's fine. We were just trying to pressure them anyway."

"Pressure?"

"They probably noticed we were tracking them and turned back. Don't you think so?"

Harmagedon said, staring up at the ceiling.

Beelzebub looked at him, dumbfounded.

"What the hell? Who are you talking to?"

"Right? I wonder who I'm talking to."

"You're so weird. Anyway, you're back early. There's still time before Round 2 begins."

"Logos told me. That thing is bound to reveal itself in this round, no matter what."

In Round 2, the ones facing the human race will be the elves.

A race that should be quite familiar to humans.

However, in this round, they will be imprinted in the humans' minds as a terrifying presence.

That's because the environment had been designed to favor the elves.

"But what does that have to do with that thing participating?"

"I added an extra restriction."

"A restriction?"

"One life from each side will be taken at fixed intervals."

"Oho, so your plan is to prevent a drawn-out match like in Round 1."

"Exactly. And by revealing it before the round begins, we'll push that thing into a corner and force it to act hastily."

"Is that it?"

Would something like that really make me feel anxious?

"Heh heh, of course not."

Logos smirked confidently.

* * *

Four days remained until the start of Round 2.

It was a short time for reorganization, but it was enough.

More importantly, it was clear that the enemies had no intention of letting the next round drag on.

<Looks like they've made up their minds to take you down this round.>

"Exactly."

A new rule had been introduced.

From Round 2 onward, every six hours after the start, one life from the participating group would be forcibly taken.

In other words, unless the round was completed within six hours, someone would die.

'Dragging it out as long as possible in Round 1 caused problems.'

Still, thanks to that drawn-out round, he was able to roam the Divine Realm.

<Well, it's not like you'll get caught anyway.>

"I'll have to start going wild from the beginning."

The opponent in Round 2 was the Elf race.

He had seen the Elf Elder at the Union Hall before.

Back then, the Elf Elder's level was 1,200.

On paper, it didn't seem like too tough an opponent, but since they were classified as a High Race, these Elves were likely on a completely different level from the ones they'd faced so far.

That's why Fenrir and Michael were being deployed.

Even if the clones were captured and dragged off to the Divine Realm, the two of them had enough power to wipe out the Elf race entirely.

And with the rest of the team included, there was more than enough force to win Round 2.

[Would you like to begin the quest 'Demigod (1)'?]

During the four days given for regrouping, Jeong-hoon would take on the quest.

'I'll finish this within four days no matter what.'

This was a quest generated spontaneously during the process of gathering divine energy.

If a quest had appeared, there had to be a reason for it.

[Starting the quest.]

As the message announcing the quest's start appeared, Jeong-hoon's vision darkened.

* * *

[You have entered the Divine Realm.]

Though it was just a quest, Jeong-hoon had once again been transported to the Divine Realm.

[Movement is not possible during the quest.]

It even said he wouldn't be able to move between spaces.

"This is a problem… This place isn't the same as last time."

The Divine Realm Jeong-hoon was seeing now was completely different from what he had experienced before.

Previously, it had resembled the Human World, but now, the Divine Realm was fundamentally infused with holiness.

Just being in this space was enough to make him feel enchanted.

Could the mountains, rivers, and trees really be this beautiful?

'Wow… Master, this place is incredible.'

'I can't believe a place like this exists in the world.'

Jeong-hoon slowly began to walk.

How long had he walked?

"Waaaah!"

"I'm the seeker this time!"

"Just try and hide!"

Laughter rang out from the thicket—the carefree, high-pitched voices of children.

Voices filled with pure innocence, untouched by any trace of worry or hardship.

When Jeong-hoon pushed aside the tall grass and stepped through, he saw a child no taller than his waist standing in front of him.

"Huh? Who are you, hyung?"

The child wasn't human.

Half wolf, half human.

A member of the Beastkin race.

===

[NPC Info]

- Nickname: Kua

- Level: X

- Class: Beastkin

===

There was no level.

In other words, this child had died once before.

Unlike the corrupted souls of the demonic beings he had seen in the previous Heavenly Realm, this soul was remarkably pure.

"Ah, well…"

Jeong-hoon paused for a moment, unsure of how to respond.

The quest had indeed begun, but since entering the Divine Realm, there hadn't been a single message or update, so all he had been doing was wandering.

"Are you here to play with us, too?"

"No, not exactly."

There was no quest marker above the child.

Which meant this child had nothing to do with the quest's progression.

"Aww… that's a shame. It'd be fun if you joined us."

As Kua looked disappointed, another child burst through the thicket, running toward them.

"Kua! Why aren't you coming to tag me!"

===

[NPC Info]

- Nickname: Harpy

- Level: X

- Class: Orc

===

This time, it was an Orc.

But unlike the Orcs Jeong-hoon had cut down countless times, this one was different.

Whereas the Orcs he'd fought were crazed monsters driven solely by bloodlust, this one was simply a pure living being—entirely free of hostility.

And above this Orc's head, a question mark was blinking.

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]