The Gnosis Guild’s headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul…
“Have you gathered all of the intel, as per Lee Jiwon’s request?”
“We finished that a while ago.”
“Lee Jiwon and Lee Kangchan, eh…something definitely happened between them.”
“I mean, if you think about how Lee Jiwon looked just saying his name… besides, it’s been going on for so long now,” Lim Gina said confidently.
“Why, did you want to hand the intel over now?” Jay asked.
“No. Everyone’s too busy right now because of Time Attack, but we should once it’s over. And we will need to keep tabs on both of them even after we hand the intel over.”
“I guess so. Ah… I’m so busy because of this damn Time Attack crap.”
The Time Attack was the perfect chance for the Gnosis Guild to get its name out to the rest of the world. They weren’t participating. Even though they had their own powerful members, their specialty wasn’t in team battles, and they could not hope to match up against the other large guilds.
The Gnosis Guild was an information guild; it would spread its name by investigating. They could sell all sorts of information about the Time Attack dungeons, like what would be the best way to avoid the traps, what formation would be best to fight the monsters, what would be the roles to fight the boss monster, or what the boss monsters’ attacks patterns or weaknesses were.
Already, the Gnosis Guild had several clients lined up to purchase this sort of information. Sure those powerful clients would have their own investigation done, but they were all prepared to pay top coin to find out if there was anything they had missed. That was how much they, the large guilds and organizations, were prepared to invest into the Time Attack; not just for the rewards, but to get their names out there and to hold their rankings.
“We’ve got less than a week left, so hang in there. We just got an order from a guild in Saudi Arabia yesterday.”
“Tch. That’s easy for you to say, when you sit behind a desk all day. Some of us have to go in and out of sixteen-man dungeons every day.”
“Be glad no one’s asked us to check out the one-man dungeons.”
“That much is obvious, you dolt. Look at the display boards. First to tenth place are all deities. Why would any of them ask for intel? The only deva is placed eighteenth… huh?” Jay was pointing to a TV screen that was showing the display boards that they had been monitoring 24/7, in case anything changed. When Jay noticed the change, she couldn’t bring herself to finish her sentence.
Alpha and Lim Gina followed her finger and stared at the screen, dumbstruck at what they saw. No one spoke for a while until all three of them broke the silence together.
“What the fuck? It’s got to be a bug.”
——
Outside Store 72…
“Holy shit! Look!”
“What?”
“That! Look at the one-man display!”
“Huh? Lee Jiwon?”
“I’m not crazy, right? Lee Jiwon’s in first place, right?”
“Yeah… I see his name, too.”
“I’m not dreaming, am I? Is this for real?”
“First place aside, look at the difference between it and second place…how does that make any sense?”
A huge crowd gathered around the display boards.
“It has to be a bug!”
“Impossible! How can a deva set a record like that?”
All display boards around the world were surrounded by devas all saying the same thing. Many cried that the records had to be bugged.
==[One man dungeon rankings
SSS Rank: 00:49:38 – Lee Jiwon (Deva)
F- Rank: 02:49:38 – Mellow (Deity)
F- Rank: 02:52:21 – Rai Lin (Deity)
F- Rank: 02:52:55 – Yoana Momon (Deity)
F- Rank: 02:57:06 – Martys (Deity)
:
19. F- Rank: 03:23:56 – Gar Gran (Deva)
: ]==
A single person’s ranking flipped the rest of the world on its backside, all the while Lee Jiwon was busy calling the Sunbin and the Myth Guilds.
——-
“Very well, I’ll head over there tonight.” I called up both the Sunbin and Myth Guilds and would have dinner over at the Sunbin Guild’s headquarters.
“Ha… I did expect it to be like this, but things are really going crazy now.” I was flipping through the channels on the hotel’s TV, and most of them were about the one-man dungeon display board.
“This has to be a bug.”
“That’s right. There is no way a record like that could ever exist. It just doesn’t make sense. There are several videos out that show just how long it should take to clear a one-man dungeon.”
“Then are you saying that the display boards are lying?”
“That’s…”
“There has to be something wrong with the system or…”
“That’s quite the bullshit coming out of all of you. Do you think that the Otadolon Stage is some sort of game? Why the hell would there be bugs or malfunctions?”
“You can’t say that on…”
“Watch your language! You’re on national television!”
“Whatever. If you’re all going to act like this, why don’t you try looking for the Creator? He has to be somewhere, right? Oh, maybe there’s even a customer support center somewhere! If you do find them, do pass on their email, would you? I’ve got some things to ask, as well.”
“Then are you saying that you believe it?”
“At least I’m no fool who can’t bring himself to believe what his own two eyes see!”
——
That night…
I put my hat and sunglasses on and left the hotel. I headed straight for the Sunbin building, Blinking all the way, and arrived soon afterwards.
“Jiwon oppa!” Haein was right outside the entrance, waiting. She waved as soon as she saw me approach.
“Hey.”
“Why didn’t you pick up your Comm Link back then?”
“Oh… right.”
I remembered that I had gotten a call while I was at Oosara Falls’ hidden dungeon, but I didn’t pick up. I felt too guilty. It was the Sunbin Guild’s in the first place, and it really was a real treasure. It was also big enough for the two of us to share, but I got greedy. It didn’t feel right to have a normal conversation with Haein while I was stuffing myself full and I was a little ashamed to do so.
“I got a little busy.”
“Hmph, sure sure. Anyway, let’s hurry up and head in. You haven’t eaten yet, right?”
“Nope. I’m starving.”
“Good. Oh, and the Myth Guild is already here, waiting.”
“That was quick.”
—
It was no banquet hall, but still, we all had dinner together in high spirits. Once dinner was over, I noticed that Shin and Song Daechul were staring at me like baby birds waiting to be fed by their mother. I could tell why and opened my mouth to speak. “I registered my one-man dungeon record today, and don’t plan to enter any more one-man dungeons.”
“I saw that. I could hardly believe my own eyes.”
“Same here.”
“I knew you were strong, but that record is just…”
“Yes well, it was only possible due to a special ability I have.” People were going to learn of it sooner or later. Actually, it was safe to say that I already revealed its existence when I registered my record, and Lagus should be making strides, as well.
I decided to reveal it to these people first to show them how much I trusted them. Besides, if I end up going to a sixteen-man dungeon with them tomorrow, they would find out then, anyway.
“Open Public Specials Menu.”
==[Splinter of the Destruction God.]
Successful attacks have a 1% chance to inflict Absolute Destruction. (Absolute Destruction: Inflicts Instant Death on enemies.)
This effect can activate as long as at least 1 point of damage is dealt. When this effect successfully activates, the enemy will die, regardless of HP remaining.]==
“!!!”
“That…that’s!” Amid the shock, a few actually recognized it. It was probably because of me. They must have done their homework before joining the battle, especially if it involved the so-called Descendant of Shiva.
“Yes, it is. It’s the gift I received from Muskan.”
“Hah…”
“How did you…”
“So that’s it. It would be more than possible if you had that all along.”
“No, even with that, it would still be difficult to get under 50 minutes with considerable abilities. But only with considerable abilities…” Song Daechul cut in.
A few others stared at me, curious as how I had actually obtained Splinter of the Destruction God, but I ignored them. I didn’t need to explain that far.
“Be that as it may, it was thanks to this that I set my record. And the reason I wanted to gather everyone tonight was to lend my help to you all. I want to repay all of you for everything you’ve done for me so far.”
“Thanks.”
“Thank you.”
“You’ll be a great help to us all.”
The Sunbin Guild and the Myth Guild were all smiles at my offer.
We quickly went over the following conversations. Since there were only five days left with two dungeons per day, we decided that I would help them five times each.
“Jiwon, I swear you will be rewarded handsomely for your help.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve received so much…” Before I could finish or turn him down, Song Daechul took out an item. It was the Rank 9 King-Emperor’s Mantle.
It was the last piece of the King-Emperor’s set. If I had that, then I could get a set bonus effect comparable to a Rank 10 item.
“We can discuss what to do about that later.” I couldn’t take it now, especially since the Myth Guild was getting antsy as soon as Song Daechul produced the Mantle.
I wanted it. I really wanted it, but I wasn’t dumb enough to jeopardize my good standings with either guild. I realized it in India that even though I was strong, I couldn’t deal with everything. I needed help from others time to time. I decided that it would be best to talk about rewards after the quest, since there was still the quest reward to consider.
And so, we decided that I would go with the Sunbin Guild in the morning and go with the Myth Guild in the afternoon, and then we finished dinner.
The Sunbin Guild also graciously allowed us to stay at its VIP rooms, and together with the Myth Guild, I headed up to sleep.
——
The next morning, I and fifteen other members of the Sunbin Guild gathered in the basement training room. Among them were Song Myungsoo, Haein, and Han Kyungchul. They were all the top elites.
“We leave it to you, Jiwon.”
“Got it.”
All sixteen of us formed a party and used our passes. This sixteen-man dungeon was going to be tough, especially from what I heard about the boss monster.
But I was confident!
