ladyjlb's manga / #Adventure(235)

Ch 42 as of 10/08/22 - also on Tapas ** Ch 16-19 to read (done on Tapas) ** ML is unlikeable - ML is Lee Giyeong 25yo who accepts an invitation to a game on his mobile. He’s teleported to another world as one of the potential warriors chosen to save a dying continent. Only the survivors of the tutorial will be qualified to go to the continent. - ML has the Mind’s Eye skill (heroic tier) that allows him to see the status windows and tiers of others, including monsters. His tendency is the Careful Strategist. He is cunning and manipulative. ML will do anything to survive, even if it means losing his humanity. He has low stats and low potential for growth. - Tier: Normal, Rare, Heroic, Legendary - Everyone has special classes and unique attributes / skills. - Start Point: the tutorial waiting room has weapons and resources. - The tutorial location was prepared to assist in maximising everyone’s different characteristics and to help them to grow. - After the intro is given, the protective barrier around everyone breaks down and the monsters attack. - ML teams up with Park Dukgoo (DG) who has high stamina. - ML has a spear and DG has a shield. They also have some food. Like a game, they need to level up and get stronger. - Jung Hayan 21yo, a future archmage. She has max growth potential. Her tendency is Pure Supporter. Her parents died and her 2 older sisters abandoned her. ML and DG try to save her from monsters after ML saw her status window. - Kim Hyunsung (HS) 22yo, regressor of Altanus and swordsman class (normal tier). He has the Sword Specialist skill (legendary). His stats are either legendary or heroic. His tendency is the Benevolent Arbitrator. He also has max growth potential. - HS kills the monsters to save ML, DG and Hayan. - A safe haven for over 30 survivors has been setup by HS. - He’s been looking for more survivors and recruits ML and DG for their combat skills. HS seems to recognise Hayan from his past life. - Lee Jihye 29yo, selfish and ambitious, low stats and low potential. She rules the survivor camp when HS is away. - After killing monsters with HS to level up together, ML and DG unlock their classes. ML chooses to be a mage (normal) and his intellect and magic stats increase. DG is a shield warrior. - ML uses the sexual harassment of Hayan by Seokwoo (one of Jihye’s lackeys) as an opportunity to exert his control over the camp. He’s also seen as a saviour by Hayan. Later Jihye speaks to ML privately and they agree to work together. (Ugh they kiss) - To get closer to Hayan, ML and Hayan have been learning magic together. ML saw Hayan chose mage as her class, with the Exemplary Mage skill (heroic). He knows she’s lying when she says she hasn’t chosen it yet. Hayan wants to prolong her lessons with ML so she’s lying about her ability on purpose. She likes ML and is scared he’ll abandon her. - Park Hyeyoung 27yo, Calculative Diplomat tendency. She’s one of Jihye’s lackeys and convinces ML to include her on the next hunt. - Hyeyoung bullies and scares Hayan about ML, triggering a mad and jealous obsession in Hayan towards ML. - Hyeyoung and Hayan join ML, DG and HS on the hunt. - Hyeyoung feels threatened by ML and she attracts more monsters to try and kill him. Hayan uses her magic to kill Hyeyoung. ML finds them and he uses fire magic to dispose of Hyeyoung’s body. - HS lured the monsters away from the rest of the party. - He says he found magic items in a treasure chest and gives them to ML, DG and Hayan. Magic accessories can only be activated one at a time and can’t be stacked. DG gets the iron dwarf’s steel bracelets (normal), ML takes a magic shield ring (rare), and Hayan gets the sacred healing ring (rare). HS says he considers them all to be his comrades. - Jung Jinho 29yo, leader of murderous survivors who had a different Start Point. He’s a battle mage (rare) and his tendency is Calculating (psycho) Killer. - Seokwoo left the camp using the excuse of helping ML’s hunting party. He returns with Jinho and his men. HS welcomes them to stay at the camp. He recognises Jinho as an enemy from his past life. - The tutorial’s undergound dungeon: a rare-tier survival quest. - Jinho, 2 of his men and Seokwoo join HS’ party for this quest. Jinho plans to murder them and take control of their camp. HS already told the party to treat Jinho and the others as enemies. - They enter the dungeon and monsters attack. ML holds back Hayan and DG from helping and lets one of Jinho’s men die. - ML is attacked by Seokwoo and Jinho’s 2nd man after he provoked them earlier. Jinho is angry that his plans were ruined by Seokwoo and the other man. HS fights Jinho when he tries to attack them. Hayan heals ML with her magic ring while DG knocks out Seokwoo. ML kills Seokwoo and Hayan kills Jinho’s 2nd man who ran off. HS kills Jinho. - ML receives options for a rare-tier class upgrade. ML decides to choose the alchemist after HS offers to give him a magic item: an Intro to Alchemy book (heroic-tier). - The party enter a room that has a magic circle on the floor. HS transfers some mana to the circle and it clears the tutorial dungeon. - A door on the other side of the room opens. - Lee Sanghee 33yo, vice guild master of the Blue guild. - Her class is Sacred Knight (heroic). Iron Blood is her title and skill. Ideal Mediator is her tendency. - She’s the manager of the tutorial dungeon and will oversee the rescue of the survivors still inside. - The party finally make it outside. They’re treated like VIPs and taken to a local branch of the Blue guild. It all appears luxurious but ML quickly realises it's all fake. - The party cleared the tutorial dungeon in 3mths, the fastest in history. Usually it takes about 6mths. ML can tell the Blue guild are desperate to recruit his party to revive their power and fortunes. - HS was the Blue guild master in his past life. Everyone in the guild died. This time he’s determined to save everyone. - The Continent: Holy Empire, Republic, Kingdom Union. - There are several tutorial dungeons across the continent. - Lee Seolho is a Blue Elder and administrative team leader. - In the individual interviews, ML is insulted, scorned and patronised by the Blue guild chief executives. They consider ML to be worthless and useless. He convinces his party to wait until their skills demonstration in front of the other nations and guilds. - Hayan upgrades her class to Elemental Mage (rare). She has legendary-tier magic stats. ML makes her study hard for the demo. - The skills demonstration is held in a massive stadium. Hayan is first, followed by HS, DG and ML. Hayan casts an elemental bomb that destroys the stage. HS loses his duel against a swordmaster on purpose but still shows off his good points. - DG has a test of endurance against a dungeon monster that ends in a tie. ML casts a blue flame pillar. The spectators and scouts see how close ML’s relationship is with the others, especially with Hayan. The offers to recruit them skyrocket. - Cha Heera 28yo, Mercenary Queen class (legendary-tier) - She’s the guild master of the Red Mercenaries guild, 1 of the top 3 guilds in the Holy Empire. Her tendency is Unpredictable Innovator. - One of her titles is Blood Crazed Madam. - The top 3 guilds in the Holy Empire: - Blue, Red Mercenaries and Black Swans. - Heera offers a huge contract amount but only wants ML and Hayan. ML politely declines on the basis that the 4 of them want to stick together. Heera kisses ML in front of Hayan and gives him a mana pendant (rare-tier) that will increase his mana. - ML meets the Blue executives again to renegotiate the contract. Among the extra benefits, Lee Sanghee offers an executive position for ML as the team leader of a new non-combative administrative section. Lee Seolho is outraged and uses force to threaten ML. It’s clear to ML that Seolho just wants to protect his own position and political power. ML exposes the fact that their guild master Joo Seungjoon is absent. - ML lies about his relationship with Cha Heera to use her power against the weakened Blue guild. He visits Heera and asks her to become the sponsor of his party. After some discussion, she agrees to the terms of 3% from the potion profits ML makes, and a list of promising new mages and close combat fighters. She decides on the protection method for ML’s party by giving ML the title of the Mercenary Queen’s lover. - The other survivors are gathered and Jihye is among them. - The survivors try to make HS feel guilty for abandoning them. He apologises and says it’s better to part ways. ML throws a pouch of money as compensation. He knows they’ll tear each other apart for the money. - Lindel, the City of Freedom - Garden of Terror dungeon (rare)

Ch 218 as of 10/01/23 ** also on Tapas as “Skeleton Knight” ** also on Tappytoon - ML is Skeleton, an undead soldier - He and his owner, Mistress Succubus, were killed by knights. - He regretted not being strong enough to protect her. - He goes back in time 20yrs to when he was first summoned by Rubia. He’s at L1 with L36 stats. - Inheritance (of memories) complete: - This message seems to occur every time ML revives. - Assimilation rate: seems to decrease as ML evolves? Each time it decreases, it briefly causes pain to ML. - Rubia Rae, necromancer-in-training (L1) - Her mother died when Rubia was born. Her father was Lord of Erast and he was recently murdered by her uncle, her father’s younger brother. Since then Rubia has been on the run. Her uncle became the new Lord Rae of Erast. - 2 x professional mercenaries are looking for Rubia. In ML’s 1st life, they killed her. ML wants to save her. - It takes him up to his 3rd death and 4th revival when he has levelled up enough to successfully kill the mercenaries. - Rubia and ML travel to the nearest town, Yublam. She promises to buy ML some armour and he waits for her outside of the town. After a few days, ML sees 2 x guards dump Rubia’s corpse outside of the town. Before killing the guards, ML finds out she killed herself before the captain of the Yublam guards could sell her. - Disguised with a cloak, ML enters the town and confronts the innkeeper who admits to only notifying the guards about Rubia. When the innkeeper mentions she was to be sold as a slave to the Necron Society, a curse is activated from a snake tattoo and he dies. ML puts on the armour Rubia left behind and heads to the nearest low-level dungeon to grow stronger. - ML clears the small dungeon, “Spectre’s Charnel House” after he kills the boss monster, a giant skeleton. He levels up and will also level up his swordsmanship skill if he trains with his sword. - Rena, an adventurer / thief, enters the dungeon with another woman and a well-equipped man. Rena intends to kill them both and rob the man. - ML warns the party of 3 to leave after taking off his helmet. - The man attacks ML who kills him. The woman is killed by Rena when she tries to run away. Rena introduces herself to ML, and suggests she and ML work together. He asks Rena about the Necron Society but she’s only at a low level in the T&T guild and just knows basic info. - Necron Society: a shadow crime syndicate that’s involved in anything that makes money, ie human trafficking, contract killing, drug manufacture etc. Members have a snake tattoo on their neck. - T&T guild: specialises in intel, assassinations and theft. - A new quest is generated for ML to help Rena become a branch manager of the T&T guild. For 6mths ML works with Rena to kill her contracted assassination targets that she brings to the dungeon. Her targets are wanted criminals that did everything from robbery to rape. Together Rena and ML level up and share the loot. ML’s wisdom stats go up after he finds books by Kevin Ashton. - ML is suddenly overcome by hallucinations after staying at the dungeon for too long. The dungeon is trying to devour his mind. - Reported rumours of a witch / necromancer killing people at this dungeon have brought the Blue Lion Templars to catch her and bring her to trial. In the end, ML and Rena die at the hands of the knights’ leader. When ML revives, it’s just before he lost his mind to the dungeon and the knights arrive. - Marquis Vatienne Pon Reandro, leader of the Blue Lion Templars, and 1 of only 4 swordmasters in the Empire. He carries a white blade called Seraphim. - ML urges Rena to leave the dungeon immediately. - ML learns from Rena that the Blue Lion Templars are 1 of the 2 top knight orders that serve under the Empire. - ML and Rena stop at Yublam to rest and pick up supplies before going to a D-class dungeon that is a cavern full of spiders, Ruins of the Spider’s Vault. - ML confronts a blacksmith who was following them. - The blacksmith made ML’s armour and sold it to Rubia. - The newly appointed Yublam lord and guards are raising spiders in the dungeon. Opium is widespread in Yublam and the townspeople are addicts. Many sold their land and homes to pay for the opium. Anyone who disobeyed or questioned the lord was arrested and taken to the spider dungeon. - The blacksmith gives ML and Rena a flame throwing device to use with Grasmere’s Flame (a potent fire that burns for decades) in the dungeon. ML and Rena were tricked by the blacksmith who gave them a heat resistant powder that didn’t protect them from the fire. - ML dies and revives at the Spectre’s Charnel House dungeon. He goes through the same actions with Rena except when they meet the blacksmith. ML finds out the blacksmith tried to kill them because he knew ML was an undead skeleton. - At the spider dungeon’s entrance, ML knocks out Rena so she won’t get bitten by a spider and poisoned like last time. - He carefully targets the flame to kill the spiders and the guards, including their captain. He coats his sword in the flame and kills the queen spider, the boss monster. After clearing the dungeon, ML obtains a new speed skill and the ruby core of the queen spider. - Rena takes ML to her guild’s branch office. It’s an orphanage where she grew up with her younger sister. - Slime (Lime) is the orphanage headmaster. He’s also a branch manager and appraiser for the T&T guild. - People from another orphanage try to take one of the children who they’d sold to a nobleman but the child ran away. Lime gets rid of the people by melting them in acid from his slime. - Lime arranges a new sword for ML and has his armour repaired. ML politely declines Lime’s invitation to join the T&T guild. For now ML prefers to obtain info through Rena. He wants to prioritise Rena’s promotion within the guild as it would also benefit him. The gold taken from the spider dungeon is used to pay for Rena’s official full membership of the guild. - Amber is a neutral island nation where the guild’s HQ is located. From ML’s first life, Amber was the first target of the Empire in the 9yr war between the Empire and the Freedom Alliance. Amber was seen as the biggest obstacle to the Empire’s conquest. - The 16 demon lords who descended on the world after humans were weakened from the war. - Se’eray the Disruptor - Jagan the Savage Ox - Baal the Spider - Purson the Righteous King of Thunder - Botis the Grotesque Duke of Snakes - 16. Murmur the Possessor and Skin Plunderer - 11. Gaap, demon king of the present - 8. Vapula, demon king of the seasons - 3. Vassago - Malpas the crow - ML accepts a request to the guild to hire a mercenary to compete in the annual combat tournament sponsored by the Erast Lord. ML will represent House Jinnai, a wealthy merchant family who earned their noble title through the leather trade. ML uses the alias, Se’eray Jagan for the tournament. - The day before the tournament, ML visits the Erast library. He finds a book by Kevin Ashton called “Crevice of Time.” ML obtains a new insight skill and his wisdom stats increase. He can now see other people’s stats. - ML is now L23, with his stats at L65. - ML progresses through the rounds by defeating his opponents with minimal bloodshed. Seeing their stats gives ML an advantage. - Tebald Rainolz, ML’s drunk opponent for the quarter finals and a failed knight of the Empire. ML can’t see his details or stats because Tebald is at a higher level than ML. - When ML mentions Marquis Reandro during the match, Tebald is furious at hearing the name of the person that he blames for his fall as an Empire knight. He withdraws from the match and tells ML that sword Qi is needed to become an Empire knight and to defeat Marquis Reandro. - Semi-finals: Crestin the Hellraiser Barbarian, a wandering gladiator and ML’s opponent. Crestin’s helmet is knocked off by ML during the match to reveal Crestin is a woman. - Her real name is Christina de Bruiser. ML agrees to continue with the match but suggests to Christina that she should forfeit. Her berserker class is awakened which increases her power. ML faces her with his speed skill. Rather than fight to the death, ML collapses on purpose and forfeits the match. - For the next few months, ML and Rena focus on clearing dungeons. Rena needs to go to the eastern branch office of the guild to pass a simple test to get a recommendation letter for her promotion to branch manager. - ML accepts a request to neutralise a goblin dungeon. - The Necron Society have enslaved the goblins to mine the dungeon for its valuable minerals. At first ML is mistaken for a supervisor they were expecting. His cover is quickly blown and he kills about 20 men who attacked him. - Deeper in the dungeon ML finds the goblin leader, a hobgoblin, tied up and being tortured by some guards. - The guards attack ML and he kills them. He frees the hobgoblin. The real supervisor arrives and shoots an arrow at the hobgoblin’s son. This hobgoblin is usually a pacifist but he becomes enraged with killing intent when he sees his injured son. The real supervisor is killed by the hobgoblin. - ML is given a hidden quest to calm down the hobgoblin, who is the hidden boss of the dungeon. ML knocks down and firmly holds the hobgoblin until he returns to his senses. ML is rewarded with the lifelong loyalty of the hobgoblin and a heroic reputation among the goblin race. ML warns the goblin tribe to leave this dungeon and hide far away as a war is coming soon. - The hobgoblin insists on another reward for ML. He shares the secret of the goblin race that there’s a sole goblin mage called Mudcash. This mage used space distortion magic to create a pouch that can contain an endless number of items. Mudcash is hiding in the eastern mountains. The hobgoblin teaches ML the secret code to alert Mudcash in the mountains if ML decides to find the mage. - The last condition for Rena to pass the guild test to become a branch manager is to bring ML to meet the guild. - Righteous King Purson, demon lord of thunder. - Grotesque Duke Botis, another demon lord. - On the night of a full moon, Rena takes ML to some ancient ruins with a sacrificial altar in the centre. It seems the T&T guild worship Purson. ML realises the Necron Society must worship Botis whose symbol is the snake mark. - Members of the guild emerge and ML is addressed by Ratrik A’ejar, the 3rd ranked director of the guild HQ. - The guild wants to take vengeance against the human race and bring about the end of mankind. The blood sacrifice of a great war is needed for Purson to descend and cleanse the world of humans and their cruelty. Ratrik himself is from the deer people whose horns are used by humans for medicine. He invites ML to join the guild to create a new world. - The guild investigated ML and was greatly impressed by his achievements over the past year since he was first summoned. - The guild intends to prolong the war between the Empire and the Freedom Alliance. By intensifying their animosity, the guild wants many more human lives to be lost. - Ratrik and the guild executives reveal their true forms. - They consist of many different non-human races. - Ratrik also demonstrates some of the power gained through Purson’s blessing. - ML declines to join their cause as Purson’s pawn. - He knows the demon lords are defeated in the end. - Rena also declines as she wants to stay with ML. - Since ML and Rena know too much, Slime kills them both. - ML revives back at the Spectre’s Charnel House dungeon. - His accumulated memories, experiences, skills and stats remain intact. He decides to part ways with Rena to avoid the T&T guild. ( from ch 47 on ) - ML is captured by Gizreia, a powerful necromancer who removes all of his armour. She tests and examines him to amuse herself. After she grafted some of her bone to his skull, he obtains a new Essence Absorption skill. He can absorb the stats and skills of his opponents. Gizreia binds ML with a spell that makes them remain within 100m of eachother. - Gizreia was a member of the Red Flake guild, an order of assassins. They received a request from the Freedom Alliance to assassinate Emperor Elton Clemence. All in the guild but Gizreia declined the request. She quit the guild and accepted the request on her own. Gizreia is waiting at the Barren Catacombs dungeon for the Emperor who is due to visit the area in a few days. He will audit the southern lands and meet with the newly appointed lords. - Gizreia prepares a trap for the Emperor. She has her undead forces in the catacombs dig underground and create a huge pit hidden under the main road in the area. When the Emperor’s entourage arrive, they fall into the pit as the undead supporting the road crumple. The imperial knights and their captain Isabelle Simon are all killed by the undead army led by 5 headless knights. Gizreia herself kills the imperial mages. - Gizreia resurrects those who died to join her undead forces. Then she kills the Emperor after confirming the blood matches (but it’s actually a fake puppet of the Emperor). This seems to activate a spell and a rift appears. - A god-like knight comes through the rift and wipes out the headless knights. Then he kills Gizreia and the rest of her large undead army in one massive blow. - For some reason, ML can't be harmed or destroyed by the god-like knight. He returns through the rift which then closes up. - The essence rises from everyone who died. ML absorbs it from Gizreia, Isabelle and the others until it reaches capacity. - Before leaving, ML takes Isabelle’s mithril armour and sword. - Reandro pursues ML from a tracking spell on the armour. - ML tests his new Bone Monarch skill and awakens the corpse of a wolf cub caught in a trap. The undead wolf cub leads ML to an empty hunter’s cabin. ML finds a book on trolls by Kevin Ashton. Reandro arrives and knocks out ML. Disarmed and naked, ML is tied up while Reandro waits to see if anyone comes to save ML. - Elwin Esau the Summoning Nun is from the Red Flake guild. Her codename is Starlight Blue Fox. She attacks Reandro and thinks he died after an explosion left a pool of blood. She is there to confirm the assassination of the Emperor. As ML is the only survivor, he’ll receive the reward for the completed request. She found ML by detecting Gizreia’s essence in him. - Elwin and ML leave on a hybrid beetle motorbike that can fly. - Reandro hid himself in the pool of blood from his horse who died to protect him. Reandro goes after Elwin. After crossing a desolate wasteland called the Crimson Marsh, Elwin and ML board a ship heading for Amber. Reandro suddenly appears on the ship when they’re in the middle of the ocean. - Reandro refuses to listen to Elwin as he’s convinced she killed the Emperor and his entourage. Reandro splits the ship in half with his sword. His actions awaken the Kraken. Elwin, ML and Reandro end up in the Kraken’s stomach. Elwin and Reandro kill each other. The internal damage also kills the Kraken. Before ML is melted completely by the stomach acid, he absorbs the essences of Elwin, Reandro and the Kraken. - ML revives back again with Rena at the Spectre’s Charnel House dungeon. He tests out some of the new skills he absorbed. He is grateful to Gizreia for the Essence Absorption skill and now he wants to protect her along with Rubia, Rena and Mistress Succubus. - ML parts with Rena again and he tries to save Gizreia but is unable to. He can absorb the essence of the imperial mages this time which gives him a new Meditation skill. ML hopes through meditation and sword training he’ll attain enlightenment to use his new sword Qi skill. - ML promises to meet up with Rena in the city of Grasmere. It’s famous as the weapon capital of the Empire. The residents are descendants of highly skilled blacksmiths. The quality steel and weaponry produced in Grasmere is always in high demand. - Jinnei Yube is head of the Jinnei family and a member of the Merchant Alliance. Jinnei chats with ML and gives ML a card as he finds ML interesting. Jinnei tells ML if he collects 5 cards he will receive special privileges from the Merchant Alliance. ( missing chapter? ) - ML has a duel with the young master of House Chandler, the ruling family of Grasmere. Master Chandler is defeated and wants to duel again but only backs down when ML shows his sword Qi. ML and Rena hear from Master Chandler that for the last 300yrs his family have been under the control of Isaac, a powerful mage and High Priest of Malpas. - When the heir of the family turns 25yo, they provide their life force to Isaac for the rest of their lives. Master Chandler turns 25yo soon and he asks for ML’s help to defeat Isaac. - The Merchant Alliance obtained the blueprints of the steel golems created to protect Isaac. A substance known as “roux rhume” or apostles’ blood is used to empower inanimate objects with magic. - Rena shows ML the T&T guild’s rule book that was written by the guild’s co-founder 300yrs ago. It mentions the one who brings “roux rhume” will immediately be made a branch manager. - Master Chandler defeated Christina in the Erast tournament and she became a knight under him. - ML, Rena and Christina follow Master Chandler to a secret passage that leads to the basement of Chandler castle where Isaac lies. Master Chandler’s blood is used to open the doors to a room with 6 steel golems. They activate when they detect the presence of more than one person. - ML gets the others to distract 3 golems while he takes care of 3 other golems by himself. Earlier ML identified from the blueprints that the joints are the golems’ weak points. ML coats his sword with acid and slices through the steel golems. He defeats all of them. He collects the “roux rhume” liquid from a golem and gives it to Rena. - In the next room, Master Chandler uses a Grasmere’s Flame device to destroy Isaac’s coffin. ML is secretly possessed by Isaac’s soul. Lord Herbert Chandler, the young master’s father, is hypnotised by Isaac (as ML). Herbert signs over everything to ML and gives ML the Chandler family amulet. - Isaac carves ML’s arm bones and pours the apostles’ blood into them. Isaac can now cast magic with ML’s body. Isaac visits ML’s grave and casts a spell to seal ML’s soul in the amulet. - The spell is denied and Isaac is sealed in the amulet instead. - To stop Rena from destroying the amulet, Isaac promises to get more apostles’ blood for her. He directs ML and Rena to an old temple Isaac built to Malpas, the crow demon lord. - Inside the temple are the skeletons of Isaac’s followers, hung upside down from the ceiling. Isaac recognises the marks on the floor underneath them relate to Purson. They were tortured as part of a ritual sacrifice to Purson. Isaac gets ML to open a hidden part of the wall to reveal many bottles of the apostles’ blood. Isaac offers these bottles to ML in exchange for ML killing all of Purson’s followers. - Isaac teaches ML how to carve more of his bones and pour apostles’ blood over them to make his magic stronger. Then Isaac directs ML and Rena to 3 dungeons nearby so they can level up while ML practises using magic. Suddenly ML and Rena are attacked by Purson followers. The last dungeon was actually an altar to Purson. - Traces of Malpas’ magic used by ML were detected by the Purson followers. ML and Rena are saved by a stranger who takes them to a secret underground passageway that leads to the capital. - Tropin Nanyawoo is a co-founder of T&T guild who wrote the rule book. She replaced all the blood in her body with apostles’ blood which is why she’s still alive after 300yrs. - Tropin brought ML and Rena to the secret base of the T&T guild in the capital. They are introduced to guild members who are loyal to Tropin. Purson’s followers have infiltrated the guild over the years and most members don’t know Tropin is still alive. Rena gives the amulet with Isaac’s soul to a guild mage to experiment on. - The apostles’ blood ML and Rena brought is more than enough to qualify Rena for branch manager. They hold a ceremony and Rena is entrusted with the 7th imperial branch. ML’s quest to help Rena is now completed. Tropin invites ML to join the guild but he’s reluctant. Rena knows ML will leave her now that she’s attained the branch manager position. ML decides to tell her about his past lives with her. She believes him as she’s been dreaming of memories from these past lives. - Rena gives her mother’s pendant to ML. It has a Correct Judgement / Escape Danger ability. - ML offers to save Rena’s little sister from the orphanage run by Lime. As he waits for the right time to approach, he sees a grand funeral procession for Reandro. - After the death of Isabelle, Reandro killed himself. - ML can sense no body in the coffin. He suspects the suicide is a cover up for the real cause of death. - Riley, a loyal subordinate of Reandro, confronts ML who looked suspicious. ML uses his Masquerade skill to give his face a human appearance that resembles someone he’s met. ML resembles Reandro so he pretends to be a secret relative. - Riley brings ML to where Reandro’s body was taken. - It’s a breeding farm for strange grubs that feed on corpses. - They find Reandro’s body in the cold storage room. His neck and heart have been pierced through. ML stands watch outside while Riley prepares to take care of the Reandro’s body. Riley is killed by a giant Dawn-Eater serpent. ML’s pendant warned him of danger so ML hides until the serpent leaves. - Some men arrive with the snake mark of the Necron Society. ML overhears them say the grubs are being bred for an upcoming war. ML kills the men and confirms Riley is dead. ML absorbs essence from Reandro and Riley. ML’s stats increase and his sword, detection and stealth skills are upgraded. - ML meets Rena’s little sister and takes her to Grasmere to wait for Rena. Imperial soldiers led by a Baron have arrived at Grasmere to prepare for the war. The young master is now Lord Chandler as his father retired. Rena’s little sister is left in Lord Chandler’s care. ML is suspicious of the Baron and follows him at night to a guarded tent in the city. - ML goes back to report this to Lord Chandler but finds everyone has been killed. He sees an adult grub devouring Lord Chandler. The grub can take on the appearance and abilities of the person it consumes. ML kills the grub but masked assassins called Ghosts arrive. ML runs to the basement and finds a hidden chamber that reacts to his bone carvings. - Suddenly a cross-dressing Duke who is the head of the imperial intelligence agency enters with explosive force. The assassins are killed and ML’s pendant disintegrates in the presence of the Duke. ML kills himself before the Duke can. - ML revives back when Rubia first summoned him. All of his skills, including the magic carved in his bones remain. ML easily kills the 2 mercenaries who were after Rubia. - ML has a new quest to help Rubia become the Erast Lord and attain L10 governance. - ML uses his high level stealth to become invisible while shadowing Rubia as she returns to Erast. She’s confronted by her uncle and his soldiers. ML kills the soldiers using only rocks. The soldiers loyal to Rubia take her uncle away. - Rubia holds a meeting with the ministers and demonstrates excellent leadership and sound judgement. - ML puts on a suit of armour and visits Rubia’s uncle in his prison cell. ML wants to obtain more info from him but he’s killed by the Ghosts that were at Grasmere in ML’s last life. - ML learns the Ghosts are part of the imperial secret service. Their orders were to stay in Erast for 1yr and to deal with anything suspicious. They kill ML and he revives back when Rubia summoned him. - Servant System: gives buffs to ML from his master Rubia. - ML decides to get Rubia away from Erast for now, to avoid the Ghosts and Rubia being replaced by a grub. They go to Yublam and Rubia buys armour for ML from the blacksmith. ML steals the Grasmere’s Flame device. - At the inn, Rubia falls asleep after being drugged from the food. ML takes care of the men who came to get her and the innkeeper. ML discovers a hidden basement in the inn that’s setup as a torture chamber. While Rubia sleeps, ML clears the spider dungeon. - The captain of the guards told ML about some gold bars that were buried near the dungeon entrance. ML finds the gold and also a card for the Merchant Alliance. ML and Rubia leave for Grasmere. On the way ML frees the wolf cub from the trap. At Grasmere, ML and Rubia go to an inn and ask for Jinnei Yube. - Upon meeting Jinnei, ML shows his sword Qi skill to prove his worth. Jinnei agrees to protect Rubia for a few days and he won’t accept payment. - ML goes to Chandler castle and convinces Lord Herbert that ML will free the Chandler family from the mage Isaac. - ML goes down to the basement and uses Grasmere’s Flame device to burn the coffin. ML is possessed by Isaac again but is able to resist full possession this time. - ML learns from Isaac that the door at the end of the hidden chamber leads to the demon world. - ML leaves the castle and returns to Rubia. She gives a book to ML after she asked the Merchant Alliance to find books by Kevin Ashton. ML mentioned to her that he wanted to read all of the works by this author. Isaac asks ML what he knows of Kevin Ashton. ML explains the status window that appears when his stats increase after reading a book by Kevin Ashton. - Isaac has a theory that this world is a barrier, but he can't prove it. Kevin Ashton wrote about the world having owners and guests. A special blue window appears just for guests. - Kevin Ashton called this window, “the hole in the blue sky.” - Isaac wants to use ML as a compass to acquire the power that Kevin Ashton has laid out. In the process ML will obtain unimaginable power. Isaac transfers his soul to ML’s sword to prove he’s not deceiving ML. - Rubia and ML choose items from the huge selection at Chandler castle. Rubia chooses a pendant that will lightly erase her presence. Isaac tells ML to choose a titan sniper gun, a product of magic engineering that needs apostles’ blood to operate. - Isaac directs ML to open a secret room in the castle with a crow doll on a pedestal. Isaac transfers his soul to the crow. He needs apostles’ blood to sustain this form. Rubia is worried about Isaac as the soul weakens if it’s moved constantly. - The book Rubia gave to ML is written in rune language, which is only permitted for use among mages. Rubia seems to have a natural ability with languages. She reads the book to ML. - The book mentions the titans, massive iron machines controlled by the Freedom Alliance. One’s wavelength needs to match the wavelength of the titan in order to pilot it. - ML, Rubia and Isaac travel to the old Malpas temple. - ML opens the hidden part of the wall but all of the bottles are empty. Apostles’ blood never changes except when it’s used as a conduit for changing the world. ML wonders if the apostle’ blood given to the T&T guild in his past life is why it disappeared from this temple. - ML learns from Isaac that the most amounts of apostles’ blood are held by the imperial family. Apostles’ blood is the source and foundation of the imperial family’s power. The 1st Emperor killed the apostles and took their blood. It’s hidden in a secret place within the imperial palace. - Isaac mentions the blue window that ML sees. Rubia reveals she can also see a blue status window since she was a child. Isaac hopes to also gain the power to see the blue window. - Isaac leads ML and Rubia to a place where Kevin Ashton’s remains are kept. There might be apostles’ blood there. - This is also a holy place for dark elves. When they arrive, all of the dark elves are dead. - They enter a room with the remains. The bodies of the dark elves in the room awaken as undead and attack. ML kills all of them. A being emerges to attack ML. Isaac calls it an “apostle’s fragment.” The being grows to a monstrous size after ML managed to cut it. The being has apostles’ blood. - ML’s assimilation rate decreases & an output code is released? - Suddenly ML can clearly see the weak parts of the being and he strikes, slicing it into pieces. It seems familiar, like he’s done this before. ML tells Isaac to stop the apostles’ blood from running away. Isaac casts a spell to dispel the being’s spirit? - ML is notified by the status windows that his shroud of memory will be deleted and his assimilation rate is frozen. ML faints from a strong mentally suppressing power. - ML wakes up after Rubia carved ML’s body under the instructions of Isaac. The apostles’ blood from the dead being was poured over the carvings. ML can now use multiple magic skills with much less burden on his body. After ML absorbs the essence from the being, he qualifies for a job upgrade to a swordsman, hunter or knight. He needs more apostles’ blood to finalise the job class change. - Lamplight Dahliac: known as a neutral territory and peace zone for assassins. Good intel can be bought here. - ML arrives with Rubia and Isaac. ML wants to know where he can find apostles’ blood but this type of high level info is sold to the highest bidder at auction. The intel broker warns ML that there’s a wanted order for him. - As ML leaves, he’s kidnapped by Tropin Nanyawoo, Sharunian the prophet and Rena. After he’s chained up physically and with a spell, Rena questions him on her own. - In this life, Rena is the T&T guild’s 3rd general manager and her stats are much higher. Rena wants to know why ML keeps appearing in her dreams. ML decides not to tell this version of Rena the truth. He says she must be mistaken as he doesn’t know how to influence dreams and he knows of her because she’s famous. - Trusting their affinity from her dreams, Rena sets ML free. - To find out the competitors in the auction, Rubia spreads a rumour among the shopkeepers that she’s seen a white rainbow. There’s a saying that apostles’ blood will be found where a white rainbow appears. - Rena turns out to be the competitor for info on apostles’ blood. She says she’ll let ML be the winner of the auction. ML obtains the info and says they need to travel across the western desert to the Temple of Yemera. - Isaac removes a magic tracking device from ML that Rena secretly placed on him earlier. Isaac puts the device on a random horse instead. Across the desert, they join a merchant caravan. Rena still managed to follow them and helps to fight the bandits that surround the caravan. A horn is used to summon a massive ash worm, the desert god. With Rena’s help, ML slices the monster to pieces. - Rewards store and purchasing power: - These are new options that appear in the status window. ML can accumulate points from killing monsters to increase his purchasing power and obtain better rewards from the store. - Rena wanted to warn ML when she saw where he was heading. She’s impressed with his fighting skills. She gives her mother’s pendant to him and hopes to meet again in the capital. Her guild plans to steal the apostles’ blood from the imperial palace. The 3 goddesses: - Ilien, goddess of light - Yemera, goddess of repentance - Birphon, goddess of fire - In the past, Isaac was cursed by the 3 goddesses. He hid from the goddesses in the basement of Chandler castle. He needs to break the curse to recover his full strength. - They arrive at the temple and Isaac wakes up the temple guardian, a massive stone turtle called Wadulus. They agree to play the quiz game. Rubia correctly answers all of the riddles asked by Wadulus. Only Rubia is allowed to enter the temple. - ML tries to run away with Rubia. Isaac casts a temporary sleep spell on Wadulus. Isaac directs ML to a hidden passage that leads to a large cave filled with gold and jewels. - These are all of the penance fees paid to the temple that have accumulated over time. - The statue of Yemera holds the apostles’ blood. Isaac pecks the eyes from the statue and the blood flows out. ML absorbs the apostles’ blood but it’s still not enough for his job upgrade. - ML heads to the capital to meet Rena and help steal the apostles’ blood from the imperial family. - Lumen Baldov, a young werewolf & Red Flake guild member. - Suns of Lindurm: refers to dragons. - Rubia makes Isaac cough up all of the gold and jewels he swallowed at Yemera’s temple. She tries to sell the jewels at a jewellery store. - The rare gems catch the attention of Baresy Blackberry, the jewellery store manager and a member of the Merchant Alliance. ML receives a 2nd card from them. Baresy arranges for them to stay in a luxury inn for free. Young Lady Ivot invites Rubia to a tea party as she was impressed by Rubia at the jewellery store. - ML meets Rena and she confirms with him that her dreams are memories from her past lives. She tells him about the plans of the T&T guild after he agrees to a magic pledge of secrecy. - A convoy will take the underground passageway to transport the apostles’ blood elsewhere. The convoy will be escorted by Ghosts. Rena’s guild will fill the passage with sleeping gas and intercept the convoy. ML’s role is to stall the convoy to get the timing right. - Rena provides fake identities for ML and Rubia. - Rubia uses the fake identity to attend the tea party. - House Ivot is one of the founding families of the Empire. - Lady Ivot uses Rubia to insult another guest, Lady Reid-Baren. Rubia agrees to play along after Lady Ivot grants her access to the Ivot family library. Later Lady Ivot explains her family opposes the war and is under pressure from the imperial family and other nobles. The Reid-Baren family support the war. - Lady Reid-Baren returns with 2 soldiers. She offers a chance for Rubia to testify against the Ivot family and the tea party incident will be overlooked. Rubia refuses and manages to protect herself from the soldiers’ attack. ML finds out that Rubia can share some of his stats through the Servant System. - From the Ivot family library, there are 20 volumes on national history by Kevin Ashton. After going through all of them, ML knows these books are fakes. - Rena fetches ML as the time was pushed up earlier for the plan. ML stalls the convoy and the sleeping gas knocks out the knights and Ghosts. An explosion makes the floor give way. - Tropin, Rena and ML are about to check the chest when a rift opens and the god-like knight appears. Tropin attacks but is devoured by the knight. ML tries to make Rena run away while he faces the knight. - The knight kills Rena and ML is pulled through the rift. - Everything in the confined space disintegrates except for ML’s naked body. One day the barrier is broken by Isaac to rescue ML. Isaac says it’s been 2yrs since ML was gone and they’re in the eastern mountains. The war between the Empire and the Freedom Alliance has already begun. - The Ivot family were uncovered as spies for the T&T guild and were destroyed by the imperial family for treason. Most of the guild members in the capital were killed. - Rubia was sentenced for collaborating with traitors and devil worship. She’s imprisoned for life at the Magic Tower of Azura. The mages were curious about her strength and wanted to conduct experiments on her. ML wants to rescue Rubia ASAP. - ML makes a contract with Malpas to grow stronger. ML kills over 1000 soldiers from the Empire and the Freedom Alliance. Their blood is offered to Malpas in a ritual by Isaac. - The ritual is a success and both Isaac and ML are stronger with the power of Malpas. ML obtains Darkness and Charm, privileged skills from Malpas. - The place of their blood offering was originally an altar to Purson. The non-human followers of Purson surround ML but he defeats them easily with his new power. - ML absorbs their essence. - ML calls out the secret code to summon Mudcash the goblin mage in the eastern mountains. ML is attacked by Brody Baldov, a werewolf and follower of Purson. ML defeats Brody who changes to his human form. - ML mentions Lumen and Brody says he’s looking for him. - ML offers to find more info on Lumen if Brody helps ML rescue Rubia. Brody agrees and Isaac changes Brody’s contract to Malpas. - The war is currently at an impasse. To force the Empire to call out the mages from the Tower of Azura, ML and Brody wipe out a few companies from the imperial army. - Senator Karin Crexol of the Freedom Alliance - Louise Claude, Karin’s aide. She rescued her from an orphanage when they were both children. - Karin sends Louise on a mission to find the one who is killing the imperial soldiers and bring them to her side. - Louise finds ML and invites him to speak with Karin. - Under Isaac’s advice, ML will help Karin if she gives him apostles’ blood and full command over her army. Karin is interested to see how ML handles the art of war and she agrees. - 2mths later, ML and Isaac achieve victories against the imperial army and raid the imperial supply depots. He lets Karin take all of the credit for pushing back the imperial army. - Count Anedal Oscar, 1st imperial commander. He’s a veteran cavalryman who has seen many battles. - Marquis Reid-Baren, the inquisitor who sentenced Rubia. He’s the imperial commander-in-chief. - The allied forces need to conquer the Red Fox Plains to enter the capital. Under Isaac’s strategy, the allied soldiers appear to lose to the imperial army. Then the allied forces ambush the imperial army on both sides. ML enters the battlefield to look for the commanders. - On the battlefield, ML sees a strong mercenary knight is protecting Rubia’s uncle. An allied soldier kills the knight while ML is fighting them. ML learns the knight was Christina who must’ve won the tournament and was hired by the Erast lord. - Before ML can kill Rubia’s uncle, Count Oscar spears him through for trying to run away. ML fights the Count and realises he’s the most skilled fighter of the entire imperial army. - In the end ML kills the Count. Marquis Reid-Baren is left after calling for a retreat. ML sees the snake tattoo on the Marquis’ neck and asks about the Necron Society. - The Marquis tries to recruit ML but the snake tattoo activates and the Marquis’ body becomes a fragment of Botis. ML kills the fragment. The head of the Marquis is shown to the imperial army who are told to surrender. - As a reward, Karin gives ML a gold beetle that’s a key to a door her family for 3 generations has been searching for. - The mages from the Azura Tower are on their way to attack the allied forces. ML wants to go to the tower right away to rescue Rubia. Isaac admits to ML that Rubia died 2yrs ago. - When Rubia was being transported to the tower, Isaac spoke with her. She asked Isaac to find ML. Isaac killed Rubia with a spell that let her die in her sleep so she would avoid the terrible experiments from the mages. ML says killing all of those people and making a contract with Malpas has been a waste of time, when he could just restart. ML tells Isaac to leave or else ML will kill him. - ML tells Brody to look for his son Lumen who is probably in Amber as a member of the Red Flake guild. - There is no point in going to the tower now. - ML leaves the golden beetle behind and leaves the allied camp. - From a distance, ML sees the allied forces fight the 20 Azura mages. He decides to return to help them and absorb the essence of the mages. ML with the allied forces defeat the mages. - Master Huwain, Tower of Thunder - Master Eland, Tower of Innocence - Eland uses a magic powder that makes the allied soldiers commit suicide. Louise flees with Karin. Huwain stopped ML’s attack and blew away all of ML’s armour to reveal he’s a skeleton. - Isaac comes back in human form and saves ML before Eland can kill ML. Isaac makes Eland kill himself, then Isaac kills Huwain. Because ML can restart his life, Isaac decides to sacrifice himself for ML so he can appear in his human form again. - Isaac heals ML and grants new skills to ML. As his human form disappears, Isaac makes ML hold a sword that pierces Isaac’s crow body. ML levels up after killing Isaac. - ML can’t absorb Isaac’s essence but he absorbs the essence of the tower masters. - ML absorbs the apostles’ blood from Isaac’s body and he can finally change his job class to Skeleton Knight. He can turn his bones into armour and he can summon a skeletal horse. - ML enters the capital and is faced with 30 replicas of Reandro created from the grubs. The cross-dressing Duke commands the replicas to attack ML at once and ML dies. - ML revives back in his grave at Erast. He retains the special skills of the Skeleton Knight. The contract with Malpas is gone. - Rubia isn’t there even though ML revived. This means her necromancy didn’t summon him. Rubia arrives later with 2 of her ministers. She’s fitter with higher stats. She has dreams of her past life memories. - The succession for the Erast Lord remains undecided after the death of Rubia’s father. Reandro has the authority to judge the Rae succession review / title dispute and will visit Erast. - Reandro receives a mission from the cross dressing Duke Laurence Tartier to find the Regent Diamond, known as Ilien’s Tear, that was stolen from the imperial family. - ML decides to not reveal himself to Rubia yet. - He steals armour and Grasmere’s Flame device from the blacksmith in Yublam. Then he gets rid of the corrupt Yublam guards and the innkeeper. ML also clears the spider dungeon. - ML commissions Jinnei Yube to secretly support Rubia in the title dispute and keep her uncle in check. Jinnei refers ML to a wandering knight that’s training in the mountains as a possible bodyguard for Rubia. - ML finds the wandering knight and it’s Christina. ML challenges her to spar with him again and again. He guides her and helps her to regain her self confidence. ML gives her the gold he took from the spider dungeon. He tells Christina to buy some good equipment, then give the rest of the gold to Rubia and ask Rubia to hire her. - ML goes to Dahliac and sees Tropin Nanyawoo with Sharunian. ML is surprised as he thought the god-like knight absorbed the apostles’ blood from Tropin. He gives himself up to them and is taken to see Rena. ML tells Rena everything about their past lives. She believes him because of her dreams. ML wants to support Rubia in the title dispute. Rena says Reandro won’t be going as he’s been assigned to other missions. - Rena says the one most likely to be sent to Erast is an honorary Duke called Vibiro. Not much is known about him. His title was granted by the Emperor. He’s a philanthropist who often does charity work in the slums of the capital. - ML uses his stealth skill to observe Vibiro and sees no snake mark on his neck. ML follows him into a stormwater pipe which opens to a huge chamber. - Vibiro suddenly disappears and ML is attacked by the giant Dawn-Eater serpent. Vibiro is actually the 1st Priest of Botis and transformed into the serpent. The snake mark is only used on slaves of Botis. Vibiro is impressed with ML’s skills. - Vibiro shows ML a secret underground space that holds living humans who have been modified by Vibiro into objects as his masterpieces. He believes humans were created to suffer and experience pain. - ML decides to get closer to Vibiro to find out more about the Necron Society. Vibiro will grant power to ML and make Rubia the lord of Erast if ML passes a test. ML must find Reandro’s weakness to become Vibiro’s ally. - ML receives the temporary power of concealment from Botis. Vibiro confirms the Ghosts borrow the power of Botis. - ML finds out that Reandro gave a token made of wire to Isabelle and told her to only trust those who show this token. - Smooth Scorpions, a thieves guild. - Duke Laurence gave Reandro a hint on who took the diamond. It was Riley who stole it. In ML’s past life, Reandro raided the Smooth Scorpions’ hideout but he spared and took in Riley. - ML’s mind becomes corrupted under the power of Botis. - ML enters the hideout and kills Riley. ML also kills some of the Blue Lions who were searching the hideout under Reandro. - ML takes the diamond to Vibiro who seals and hides it. - Reandro arrives to search Vibiro’s house. The token given to Isabelle is recreated by Vibiro who shows it to Reandro. - ML remains to observe Reandro while Vibiro travels to Erast. Vibiro promises to grant power to Rubia. Reandro detects complicated magic barriers in the house that distort space. He is stopped from investigating further as the case has been transferred to Duke Laurence. - ML goes to Erast to see Rubia who is the new lord. - Vibiro modified Rubia with monstrous hidden features to protect herself. Christina and the loyal ministers are nowhere to be found. Before ML’s mind succumbs to Vibiro’s control, ML kills himself. - ML revives in his grave. He obtains an Anti-Enchantment skill after resisting the mind corruption of Botis. - ML is determined to continue striving and make up for his previous mistakes to create the future he wants. - ML repeats his actions in Yublam and the spider dungeon from his last life. Again ML meets Jinnei Yube and Christina. - At the Chandler castle in Grasmere, ML takes the crow doll with him to the basement and places it before Isaac’s coffin. - ML uses his masquerade skill to temporarily assume Isaac’s face. ML burns the coffin and Isaac’s soul possesses the crow doll. ML makes Isaac promise to never lie or try to use him. - ML tells Isaac about his past lives. The previous Isaac who sacrificed himself hoped to be revived like ML with his memories intact, but that wasn’t the case. Those who have scenarios like Rubia and Rena seem to be the only other ones who inherit their past life memories through dreams. - ML’s goal is to know more about the world and someday go beyond the status windows. He has many unanswered questions. - ML takes Isaac to the empty hunter’s cabin in the forest. - The book on trolls by Kevin Ashton is there. It has an instruction: “Contact the broken pieces” and the number has increased to 3 out of 7. - ML and Isaac deduce this to mean ML needs to meet the Red Flake guild members. ML will arrange this through Gizreia. - In the meantime, Isaac will help ML with ensuring Rubia becomes the new Erast Lord. They go to Dahliac and ML again allows himself to be taken to Rena. To gather more allies, ML tells everything to Rena and Tropin. They believe him as he knows secret details about the T&T guild. They are also grateful for the extra intel on the imperial family and apostles’ blood. - Rena agrees to help ML keep Reandros and Vibiro in check by letting Reandros know where the diamond is and where Vibiro’s underground space is. She’ll also help him with Rubia. - Isaac takes ML to another hidden passage in the basement of the Chandler castle. 1000yrs ago, a tunnel network was created to escape from the apostles. The tunnels connect the 6 cities of Grasmere, Erast, Yublam, Erendale, Davenhall, and Colchester. The last 2 cities were destroyed when Yemera the goddess of repentance turned the western region into a desert. - The tunnel to Erast leads to the library. ML meets Rubia and she’s pleased to see him as she retained her past life memories through dreams. She recalls ML always tried to save her. - Rubia says the title dispute has been delayed for 3mths to coincide with the Emperor’s tour of the south. - Rubia gives the Crevice of Time book by Kevin Ashton to ML and his intelligence stats increase after looking through it. - Rubia gives a book to ML. It’s by a historian who recorded the imperial family geneology by their hair colour. Someone altered pages in the book. It suggests the current imperial family might not be related to the original lineage. - Rubia found some notepaper tucked between the books that has a simple spell to summon an undead being. When ML looks over it, the text disappears. Isaac says it fulfilled it’s purpose. - Isaac was cursed by the 3 goddesses because he tried to break into the realm where the rules of the world are preserved. - After reading the spell, ML’s intelligence goes up. He suspects the spell was written by Kevin Ashton. - Rubia wants to use her own efforts to kill her uncle and drive out the Ghosts. She’ll call for ML’s help if needed. - ML and Isaac go to the goblin dungeon. ML clears it and frees the goblin slaves. - The hobgoblin leader is under a hypnosis spell that has 3 activation levels. After no success in the eastern mountains, the hobgoblin says to try the western desert. Isaac casts a spell that forces the hypnotised hobgoblin to think ML has revived again. - ML says the western desert was also a bust. The hobgoblin digs up a coin under a boulder and gives it to ML. - ML must place the coin in the air to be enlightened with the wisdom of the mage Mudcash. - ML recalls a strange transparent window that appeared midair after Gizreia died and the god-like knight disappeared. He places the coin midair into an inventory space he’s envisioned and ML is notified that he’s cleared the hidden “Inventory” quest. He now has access to an inventory subspace. - Rena secretly makes contact with Rubia. Rena is Rubia’s representative when she meets with Jinnei Yube and old Lord Chandler. Together they plan to elevate Rubia to the Lord of Erast without arousing the suspicions of the imperial family. - ML and Isaac visit Kirn Bay to obtain support from another member of the Merchant Alliance. Imperial customs officials begin a surprise raid on the ships in the port. - Captain Nexmond prepares to fight the officials and sacrifice his life. He is smuggling body augmentation technology that is forbidden under imperial law. ML hides the tech in his inventory and lets the officials search the ship. When they find nothing, ML blows up their temporary base to distract them. - On board the ship after it has set sail, ML reveals himself and his inventory to Captain Nexmond. ML is invited to join as a full member of the Merchant Alliance, who want to destroy the imperial family. The Merchant Alliance want a social revolution that establishes a network of commerce. To achieve their goals, they recruit worthy individuals regardless of their specialisation. - ML warns Nexmond that Gizreia will fail and a long war will ensue. After the bloodshed, the demon lords will descend. - ML plans to oppose the imperial family from the southern part of the empire. Rubia Rae will be the central figure of the southern coalition. ML asks the Merchant Alliance to support Rubia. - ML hears about a jousting tournament that will take place in Grasmere. He visits old Lord Chandler and learns that this tournament to determine the Lord of Erast was Rubia’s idea. It’s a way to give the people faith in Rubia’s ability to protect Erast. - Christina is injured on the way to Grasmere. Rubia will participate in the tournament instead of her proxy. She challenges her uncle to do the same. - Despite her weak and awful technique, Rubia wins against her uncle. He dies after falling from his horse. Rubia’s conviction captures the hearts of the people. Her governance level rises. Rubia becomes the Lord by her own strength. The imperial family recognises the tournament as a legitimate succession method and acknowledges Rubia as the Erast Lord. - Rubia borrows soldiers from Grasmere to remove the Necron Society members and the drug trade from Yublam. - She forms a coalition between Erast, Yublam and Grasmere. To help grow trade in the south, ML approaches the Merchant Alliance. Baresy Blackberry, Jinnei Yube and Captain Nexmond meet with Rubia to establish trade routes and link with other provinces. - ML receives a message from Rena and he meets her with Tropin in the capital. They’ve heard that Duke Laurence was given an ultimatum by Vibiro. Either kill Reandro or lose the protection of Botis. ML wants to save Reandro and insists on meeting him alone. - Before the meeting, Tropin takes ML to her secret research lab. She gives him a bottle of apostles’ blood and asks to see him absorb some of it. She takes notes for her research. He stores the bottle in his inventory to give to Isaac later. - Tropin shows ML a book called Unresolved Pain by Kevin Ashton. On the back cover is an infinity symbol with apostles’ blood in it. The book tells the story of the time before the founding of the Empire. The 1st Emperor Saeron killed the monsters and saved humanity. The last monster that was the strongest and most terrible remains undergound in the 1st city, which is where the imperial palace is now. - The meeting with Reandro doesn’t go well. He just sees ML as a monster. ML tries to warn him about Duke Laurence and Vibiro, but Reandro still attacks ML. Tropin intervenes and takes ML away. They meet Rena who says not much is known about Reandro except his paranoid hatred of monsters. - When Reandro was a boy, his mother Tesori was an imperial knight who died dishonourably while pursuing a monster. His household fell into ruin and he had to sell his mother’s wedding ring to pay the remaining servants before letting them go. - His father locked himself in his study until his death 3yrs later. He was researching how to combat monsters. Reandro continued this research while practising his swordsmanship that he’d learnt from his mother. - At 14yo, Reandro awakens his sword Qi from his father’s research. He burns down his family home and leaves with his mother’s sword. He hunts monsters to grow stronger and to earn money. - At 16yo, Reandro becomes an imperial bounty hunter and kills a hippograf that was fighting a horse. Reandro raises the foal that was left behind and names it Miyu. - At 19yo, Reandro visits the Blue Lion Templars as his mother praised them as the best knight order in the Empire. He came to test his strength but is dismayed at the weak nobles who have joined the order just for status promotion. Reandro meets Duke Laurence for the first time and they spar. - The Duke wants to recruit Reandro but lets him go to complete his revenge. Reandro is looking for the monster that killed his mother. The monster Reandro ends up finding had just been born and isn't the one who killed his mother. He decides to eradicate all evil creatures. - Now an inspector under Duke Lawrence 10yrs later, Reandro asks for an investigation into Vibiro and his connection with the Necron Society. Only Duke Laurence as the head of the imperial intelligence agency can investigate Vibiro, an honorary Duke. - If Reandro wants to lead the investigation, he must defeat Duke Laurence in a duel. Tropin hears about the duel and takes ML to it’s location in the secret chamber of the true imperial palace. - Reandro has already deactivated the barriers ahead of them. The secret chamber is like a dungeon with 10 floors. As they progress it seems the chamber was created in preparation for the coming of the demon lords. The chosen ones can hide in the chamber and emerge when it’s safe to rule the world once more. - His horse Miyu followed ML and Tropin. Miyu helps to track Reandro’s scent. - 10 to 8: floor guardians - 7: alchemy lab - 6: temple for Ilien the goddess of light - 5: treasure and relics - 4: library - 3: human experiments - On the 6th floor, Isaac’s unholy presence is detected. Isaac was resting in ML’s inventory and has assimilated with it. Isaac can now share his power with ML and he teaches ML how to use the inventory’s divine power against a swarm of insectmen. - On the 5th floor, Isaac passes relics to ML for his inventory. - On the 4th floor is a whole section of books by Kevin Ashton. ML puts them all in his inventory. - Reandro meets Duke Laurence on the 3rd floor. The Duke presents a gift for Reandro’s bday, a chimera created using his mother and the monster that killed her. The Duke admits to killing his mother when she got too close to the truth. - In the end Reandro kills Duke Laurence and the chimera. - On the 3rd floor, ML sees the knight who killed Mistress Succubus in ML’s first life. He tries to destroy the canister with the knight’s body but is stopped by Tropin and Isaac. The rows of canisters with unconscious bodies seem to be empty vessels. Tropin and Isaac recognise the names on the canisters as people who disappeared or died 200yrs ago. - Isaac thinks these bodies are for the guests like ML. - It seems the imperial family plan to resurrect the demon lords, then use the guests in the empty vessels to get rid of the demon lords. The subsequent victory, glory and honour will be credited to the imperial family. - The bodies are submerged in liquid containing apostles’ blood. Isaac tells ML that he must return to this floor if he regresses and absorb the apostles’ blood. - Reandro appears and threatens to kill them. - Isaac wants to exchange info with him and they go to the next floor. ML absorbs the essence of the Duke and the chimera. - To gain some trust with Reandro, they give him a healing potion and new armour obtained from the other floors. - Isaac also brings in Miyu to reunite with Reandro. - They go to the next floor and are faced with 11 titans. - Reandro names 8 of them: Defence Secretary Alterion, Gatekeeper Pyro, Treasurer Teres, Imperial Army Chief Argo, Argul of the Flames (mage tower headmaster), Advisor Livretril, Honorary Duke Vibiro, and Querti the 3rd Swordmaster. - The titans are remotely controlled machines. - Isaac identifies the altar as the main target for ML. - While the others are fighting the titans, ML uses the inventory window to pierce the barrier of the altar. The titans collapse. - The god-like knight suddenly appears through a rift. Isaac thinks the role of this knight is to protect causality. - ML changes the inventory window into chains that bind the knight after it kills Reandro. Isaac is boosted by Malpas after offering Reandro’s death as a sacrifice. Isaac transfers power to ML which strengthens the chains around the knight to completely imprison it. - A giant mud monster appears. ML releases the knight to get it to fight the monster, but the knight opens a rift and vanishes. - ML turns his inventory into a barrier for Isaac and Tropin to hide behind. The monster covers ML with mud… - ML dreams of his past life? - ML was a king who killed countless enemies (demons?). - One day he fell in love with the Apostle, one of his opponents? - When he decided not to kill anymore, he was betrayed? - Isaac wakes up ML on the other side of the barrier. - The monster has destroyed everything around it. - Isaac plans to lure the mud monster to destroy the canisters on the other floor. ML summons Miyu’s undead skeleton. They ride Miyu to the canisters with the monster following behind them. - The canisters are broken by the monster and they absorb the apostle’s blood that pours out. - Isaac tries to teleport them but status windows appear. - They’ve been stopped by the higher powers that monitor causality. The bodies of Tropin and Isaac shatter, leaving behind 2 small black orbs. 2 higher beings appear and absorb the orbs to erase Tropin and Isaac from existence. They absorb all of ML’s skills and stats too. - ML revives in his grave at Erast. ML is back to L1 as a skeleton soldier. ML still has his inventory and most of the items stored in there. The world has been reset to a different timeline? - Erast is ruled by the Chandler family now? Rubia is still alive? - ML receives the quest again to help Rubia become the Lord of Erast and attain governance at L10. - ML finds Gizreia and eventually gains her trust. He tells her about the events from his timeline and shows her the items he took from the secret chamber of the imperial palace. She casts a Ritual Bones spell to boost his stats and give him some new skills (ie Bone Tentacles, Essence Absorption). - Gizreia assigns the headless knight Gillaut to ML, which means ML will receive XP from Gillaut during battle. - She tells ML to return stronger. He hopes those he cares about won’t have to die meaninglessly. - They come across a large group of gremlins who serve Murmur. The gremlins are helping some of the demon kings to expand their territory into the human realm so the kings can cross over from the demon realm. The dimensional portal between realms is too small and weak right now. - Gillaut and ML kill the gremlins who try to force them to serve Murmur too. ML levels up. He sees new status windows that notify him of the demon kings’ emotions. Minions of Gaap and Vapula appear. They want to recruit ML and Gillaut. - There’s a sudden disturbance and the 2 minions run away. - ML and Gillaut reach a river and meet an old hobbit captain of a ship that crosses to the demon realm. A mysterious stranger boards the ship with them. The stranger tells ML about “discarded truths.” There are traces of the changing world. The stranger predicts the demon kings will descend in 2yrs.

Ch 50 as of 11/12/22 - also on Tapas - ML is Jin, the 13th and youngest child of the Runcandel family. - He had no talent for swordsmanship and was the disgrace of the clan. He was eventually expelled from the clan. - ML was talented in magic which was forbidden in the clan. - Before ML could fulfill his potential, he died in a raid. - Solderet, god of shadows. - The god appeared to ML and offered to make a contract with ML, promising spiritual power and the ability to nullify all curses to ML. - Solderet removed the 9-star Bladed Illusion curse from ML that repressed his talent for the sword. - ML returns to when he was a 1yo baby undergoing the selection ritual that foretells a child’s future. He again selects Barisada, the patriarch’s sword. This marks ML as the child who grabbed the fate of the patriarch. ML wants the era of the Runcandels to end and to make way for the era of Jin Runcandel. - Sword Castle: after the selection ritual, Runcandel children are sent here to live until they’re 10yo. - 7yo ML punishes 9yo twins Daytona and Haytona for killing an innocent bird. In ML’s past life, the twins grew up to become infamous murderers. - Cyron Runcandel, the clan patriarch. He’s a Genesis Knight, reaching the level of a demi-god at the cost of his emotions. Now he only has a blind obsession with the clan’s prosperity. - Rosa Runcandel, the Black Panther. ML’s mother - 1st Luna, a 9-star knight. She renounced her succession rights as the 1st flagbearer which disappointed Cyron. - 2nd Joshua, nominated as the next patriarch. Rosa supports him. - 3rd Runtia - 4th Dipus - 5th Ran - 6th Vigo - 7th Mary, a 6-star knight - 8th Myu - 9th Anne - 10th Yona (?) - 11th Daytona - 12th Haytona - After being reborn, ML’s contract with Solderet is still valid and ML also has curse immunity. His life will be very different this time. He will never be ignored again. - Sir Temar Runcandel, the very 1st patriarch, had the same spiritual power from Solderet. After Temar died, Solderet didn’t appear to anyone else in the Runcandel clan until ML. - Khan the 9-star guardian knight at Sword Castle reports ML’s strange power to Cyron. An assembly of knights, including some of ML’s siblings, accompany Cyron for a visit to Sword Castle. - The visit results in Cyron’s recognition and expectation of ML, who correctly answered Cyron’s questions. - ML wants to use his power, the Spirit of Barisada, for himself. - Mary, ML’s insane and battle hungry sister, gives ML a phoenix heart. She wants him to grow stronger so she can fight him. - Eating a phoenix heart will give ML fire tolerance and an increased growth rate. - The Runcandel secret library: after finding the entry, ML visits often to transcribe the secret books there. - Black Dragon Murakan lost to the 1st Runcandel patriarch and fell into a deep slumber. Murakan made a 1000yr promise with Solderet and awakened when he sensed ML’s spiritual power. - Murakan is now ML’s guardian dragon. - Spiritual release is a skill taught to ML by Murakan. With it ML can become the master of all shadows. - Temar was the greatest magic swordsman of all time. - The Zipfel clan focuses on magic. As the opposing force, they are arch enemies of the Runcandel clan. - 1000yrs ago: after Temar’s death, the Runcandel clan were forced by the Zipfel clan to make a humiliating covenant that prohibited magic. Due to that covenant, all magic abilities of the Runcandel clan were sealed and the clan could only focus on the blade. - NB: A mirror relic called the Fountain of Mana can raise your mana to 7-star just by looking at it. In ML’s past life, the Zipfels used this relic to mass produce mages. - Luna visits ML for his 9th bday and gives him a pendant to wear. She says to smash the blue gem if he’s ever in a situation he can’t handle, and she’ll find him right away. - The pendant is an item of Orgal the demonic beast king. It gives protection against magic attacks below 5-star. It increases the wearer’s magic ability and it has a summoning ability. - Gilly McRolan, ML’s nanny and a 7-star martial artist. - Runcandel nannies share the fate of the child they’re in charge of. - 10yo ML moves from Storm Castle to the main residence, the Garden of Swords. On the way the 2 escort knights leave the carriage, claiming there is an ambush. ML is suspicious and makes Gilly leave the carriage with him in case it blows up. - ML directs Gilly to find the 2 escort knights as ML suspects the “attackers” are actually his allies. The “attackers” are the Black King Mercenaries and mages from the Yuta clan in Mitel who have come to protect ML following a request from the Runcandel clan. - The 2 escort knights are surrounded. Gilly kills one and severs the arm of the other. They are fake knights and Zipfel followers. - Bouvard Gaston the “Transformer”, a dragon? who can transform perfectly. He caused havoc in ML’s past life by committing many transformation crimes. He is probably responsible for the fake knights fooling Gilly and the other Runcandel guards. - Murka, vice captain of the 3rd corps, Black King Mercenaries. - ML gets Murka and his men to escort him for the rest of the way to the transfer (teleport) gate in the Mitel kingdom. - Murakan changes into a black cat to follow ML. - Beradin Zipfel is a magic prodigy and a strong candidate for the next clan patriarch. His father is Kelliark Zipfel, the current patriarch. ML meets Beradin while waiting for the gate to activate. - Garden of Swords: only those whose achievements have contributed to the prosperity of the Runcandel clan may put down their sword here. It symbolises the dream and honour of all Runcandels. - 14yo ML is a 2-star knight and beginner class cadet. - He currently has 2-star spiritual release and 4-star mana. - Luna is also personally training ML. - Mind’s eye: a stage of enlightenment for 7-star knights and above. - 13yo Bellop Schmitz is a commoner and also a beginner cadet. - In ML’s past life, he was expelled from Runcandel and became the loyal hound of the Vermont Empire. Later Bellop killed himself. - Practice spar: ML defeats the top 10 cadets from the spar to qualify for advancement to the intermediate class early next year. - Mesa Milkano is the strongest beginner cadet after ML. - ML makes Bellop spar with him to provoke Bellop into fighting for his life. Bellop demonstrates he can already use sword aura. ML wants this spar to remind Bellop to be less kind to survive at Runcandel. ML knows Bellop lost on purpose to other cadets despite having the skills. - Luna insists on choosing ML’s first real sword from the clan’s weapons vault. She chooses Bradamante, the brother sword of Barisada. Both swords are the most adept at using spiritual energy. - Murakan says 3-star spiritual energy is the minimum needed for this sword. ML must reach 5-star to even use it as a normal sword. - After hearing about ML and Bellop, Cyron wants to test ML’s creed of walking the path of the dominator while looking after the weak. Before starting the intermediate class, 15yo ML as a 3-star knight cadet is assigned his 1st mission to lead 9 other beginner cadets. They include Bellop and some cadets who have the lowest grades in the class. - The cadets will be divided into 2 groups for a scouting mission at the southern border of the Zhan kingdom. It’s near the land of the beastmen and the territory of the White Wolf tribe. - It’s highly difficult for a 1st mission and for beginner cadets. - The goal of the mission is to search for Cember Bill, the successor of his clan in the Zhan kingdom. - Kinzelo are a terrorist organisation of “revolutionaries” who want to rule the world. They ambush the 2nd group led by Mesa and kidnap her. ML gets Bellop and his group to take the injured cadets and get backup from the Runcandel main residence. ML locates the Kinzelo base near the entry to the land of beastmen. He starts a fire to distract the terrorists and finds Mesa. - An adult warrior (about 6-star) from the White Wolf tribe suddenly arrives because of the fire and kills the terrorists. - The White Wolf tribe hate the Runcandels because Temar killed Javier the Great White Wolf who they worshipped as a god. - ML defeats the warrior after awakening his sword with spiritual energy. ML meditates to slowly release the congested energy so he doesn’t get overwhelmed and die. - Cember Bill was also at the Kinzelo base and is relieved to be saved by ML. Cember was kidnapped by Kinzelo after following someone that looked exactly like his lover who died 2yrs ago. ML thinks Bouvard Gaston is involved again. - ML successfully completes his 1st mission. - ML declines the offer from Rosa of the room reserved for the future patriarch. The room occupant receives greater support but also becomes even more of a target for the other siblings. - Zed Runcandel, 8-star knight, clan elder and Cyron’s younger brother. He’s the intermediate swordsmanship instructor. - Runcandel intermediate class: composed of 3-star to 5-star cadets. - ML knows his siblings will try to keep him in check once he starts this class. ML plans to dominate the class with his power. - ML warns the 10 other beginner cadets that are advancing with him to be careful as they’ll be seen as his faction. - Zed and the senior cadets try to intimidate the new cadets from the start. ML severs the arm of Kajin, a 5-star cadet near the twins. They let it slip that Kajin is part of their faction (on loan from Myu and Anne). - ML and the twins will partake in special training for Runcandels only. They’re each given a steel ball called a “clear rock.” - The sounds the steel ball makes differ depending on the strength used to hit it. If struck too hard, it’ll explode. - ML saves the twins from the explosion caused by Zed’s demo. - Luna is the only other child to be unharmed by the explosion. Her body was too sturdy to be hurt. - The 1st missions are assigned to the intermediate class. - Myu and Anne assign the hardest missions to ML and his faction. - Demon beast subjugation: Kill 25 orcs in the Curano territory. This mission is given to the 10 new cadets. ML gets Murakan to secretly protect them. Murakan orders the orcs to disperse to make it easier for the cadets to kill them. He detects a graveyard giant nearby and destroys it. Bouvard Gaston created the giant. - Bishkel Ibriano, head of Kinzelo. - Margiela Ibriano, Bishkel’s younger sister (in a wheelchair). - Bouvard Gaston is working with Kinzelo and the Zipfels (?) - ML is assigned a solo mission: to assassinate the toy of Talaris, the Ice Castle master. The toy refers to one of her many lovers. His name is Alkarro Chenderer, son of a Count. He’s currently staying in Mamit, the lawless zone and a sanctuary for criminals. The Chenderer family commissioned the assassination. - Alkarro is at an inn with 6 Ice Castle guards. ML combines his magic and spiritual energy to summon lightning that makes the inn collapse. The guards survive but Alkarro is killed. - Syris Endorma, 15yo daughter of the Ice Castle master. - She’s also the captain of the Ice Castle’s 7 Swords. - Everyone returns safely from their missions. - ML challenges Kajin to a duel after ML overhears him being disrespectful. ML demonstrates he’s a 5-star knight now and defeats Kajin. ML can use magic, aura and spiritual energy. - Only Temar, Cyron and Luna became 5-star knights when they were 15yo. - Rosa cancels the Collon Ruins mission prepared for ML by Anne and Myu. It’s in the Peyton kingdom which is Zipfel territory and is too dangerous for a 15yo. ML insists on taking the mission. Kajin, Mayl Hass and Rima Hass are senior cadets and lackeys of Anne and Myu. They join ML on this mission. ML puts them to sleep by drugging their food. - The mission objective is to steal 4 relics. - ML discovers the Zipfels are using forbidden magic to experiment with humans to create living golems. The warehouse guards transform into living golems. ML defeats them after destroying their cores. ML gathers the relics in the warehouse and returns home, another mission successfully completed. - As promised, Ran and Vigo each give a sword to ML. - Cyron and ML speak privately. With Cyron as the only Genesis Knight of the current era, the influence of the Runcandel clan will greatly decline after Cyron is gone. ML says he’ll leave the clan if the next patriarch is incompetent. ML intends to surpass the clan and Cyron no matter what. - The Runcandel clan is holding a 4-day banquet (the first in 7yrs), to celebrate ML’s achievements. In ML’s past life, he was never allowed to attend or be seen at these banquets. - 5 x Zipfel members suddenly arrive as uninvited guests. - Andrei Zipfel, 2nd-in-command of the Zipfel clan. - Cyron provokes Andrei’s bad temper to make the Zipfels leave. - The banquet is “a party of fateful meetings” where tensions between guests is inevitable. Runcandel banquets allow duels in the family arena. - Syris Endorma is a 4-star knight. She challenges ML to a duel when he refuses to tell her why he was in Mamit. - Syris inherited the myriad iceblades skill from her family. She uses her secret avalanche technique. ML surprises her with his own secret storm blade technique to win the duel but almost kills her. Syris accepts her loss for now. - Beradin Zipfel 18yo is now a 6-star mage. - He crashes the banquet to meet ML on the 2nd day. - Bouvard Gaston has an obsessive, unrequited love for Luna. - ML is insulted by Bouvard (6-star) who approached ML with a gift for Luna and expressed hopes of marrying her. ML forces Bouvard to a duel using their fists. ML easily beats up Bouvard. - Bishkel Ibriano (8-star) is made to step in by his sister. - From Luna's training, ML almost achieves the heart sword and manages to cut Bishkel’s neck before ML faints and his sword breaks. After 2 days, ML wakes up. His impressive achievement despite losing the duel was the main discussion topic for the rest of the banquet. - ML is summoned by Cyron. They meet in the mausoleum. There is no grave for Temar the 1st patriarch at the Garden of Swords. Because of the 1000yo pact between the Runcandels and the Zipfels, the Runcandel bloodline was cursed. All Runcandels after Temar were born with bodies that couldn’t use magic. - ML admits to hearing Solderet’s voice before. - He decides to leave and see the world. ML looks forward to being free to grow his strength however he wants. - Cyron gives ML 5yrs to return with his reply to either be acknowledged or acknowledge the family. Cyron implies he wants ML to investigate everything about spiritual energy. ML departs with Gilly and Murakan. Cyron hopes ML will be the one to finally free their family from the pact. - ML is now a provisional flagbearer. To be recognised as a true, official flagbearer of the Runcandel family, ML must head out into the world and build his reputation and honour through his martial prowess. He will receive no support from the family. - ML can’t reveal his true identity. - ML and Gilly are provided with fake IDs by the Runcandel clan. - ML goes to the Zhan kingdom first to see Cember Bill and asks for money. Cember gives a generous amount to ML. - ML and co. teleport to the Arkin kingdom (Zipfel territory). - Arkin is a member of the Lutero Magic Federation managed by the Zipfel clan. About 80% of active dragons are on the Zipfel side. Several of the Zipfels have formed contracts with these dragons. - There are many unregistered mages and mercenaries in Arkin. They’re all criminals and puppets of Tessing, an underworld organisation that controls Arkin on behalf of the Zipfels. ML wants to take down Tessing by infiltrating their undergound auctions first. - Jet is an Arkin informant, human trafficker and 5-star martial artist who scammed ML in his past life. This time ML will use Jet as their Arkin guide. Jet is beaten up by Murakan after Jet tries to drug ML and co. when they first meet. ML gets Jet to take them to an underground auction house. - Salka, fake boss and front man of Tessing - Spiderhands Alluh, the real boss of Tessing and a 7-star martial artist. He’s rumoured to be connected with the Runcandels. - ML suspects the one who cursed ML is also connected to Alluh. - The most likely person backing Alluh is Joshua Runcandel. - At the auction house, ML buys a magic book by Tzenmi after Murakan recommended it. ML also buys a magic book by Schugiel Hister. In ML’s past life, his master was from the Hister clan that fell 100s of years ago. - ML pretends to be Beradin Zipfel to meet Alluh. ML accuses Alluh of selling stolen magic books without permission from the Zipfels. ML asks to see the customer lists and account books. ML and co. are taken to Alluh’s office / storage room. - Alluh leaves to verify ML is really Beradin. Meanwhile ML and co. ransack and loot the room then leave. - Mewlta’s Rune: a ring artifact given to the 1st Bement Emperor by his demon lover. It blocks all attacks below 7-star. - ML admits he’s not Beradin to Jet. ML tells Jet to take the slave lists of kidnapped Bement citizens and flee to the Bement Empire. There Jet must act as a whistleblower on the Tessing slave auctions to protect himself and his son. Alluh returns and gathers all of the Tessing members to hunt down ML. - To instigate the collapse of Tessing, ML uses magic to widely spread the evidence that exposes Tessing’s weaknesses. - Along with the slave lists taken by Jet, ML shared the lists of Arkin nobles bribed by Tessing to turn a blind eye to their crimes; and the transaction ledgers for stolen magic texts that were not reported to the Zipfels. - ML was waiting to be found and he gets Murakan to take care of the Tessing members so ML can fight Alluh alone. - ML reveals he is a magic swordsman for the first time (?) and easily defeats Alluh. Tessing are completely destroyed. - The Zipfels and Bement are credited with eliminating Tessing thanks to Jet following ML’s instructions. - Tikan is an independent city on a small island. - Alicia Badger, leader of Tikan’s garrison. - Noble Sword Cashmere, a swordmaster and leader of 7 Colours, an info guild. - Julia, 5yo daughter of Alicia and Cashmere. She’s contracted to Azmill the god of sight. She can see the future but can’t interfere with it. Her guardian dragon Latree has been missing for a year. - ML agrees to help look for Julia’s dragon. - Quikantel the silver dragon and guardian dragon of Oltah, god of time. She’s an ex-girlfriend of Murakan. - Enya, Quikantel’s contractor. - Vuletta the wind dragon and guardian dragon of Andre, the vice head of the Zipfels. She took Latree a year ago.

Ch 07 as of 02/05/22 ** DROPPED. ** Kinda boring and annoying. Not sure why - ML is reborn 20yrs ago as Duke Aaron, a former prince and a sword grandmaster - Cheryl, ML’s younger sister, a former princess and a 7th circle archmage - Sir Rommell, captain of the knights and a swordmaster - ML was Aaron’s butler in his previous life. He died with everyone in the Bran territory when it was attacked by Emperor Zerone. - Zerone was the brother of the previous Emperor. - Zerone was promised the throne if he protected Aaron and Cheryl.

Webtoon Ch 41 as of 07/05/22 - Ch 47 here - ML is Zephyr, the last human on Earth after humanity lost the war with the demons a year ago. Humans have either been killed or turned into mindless hosts to breed monsters. - As the most powerful human in the world, ML is the last survivor of the resistance army. His last fight is against Tartarus, the god of destruction and lord of all demons. ML activated a powerful spell cast on him as a last resort. ML’s explosive self destruction managed to injure Tartarus, who had never been injured by anyone before while destroying 10 worlds including Earth. - ML awakens at the lowest level of the pantheon where the gods reside. Mercedes, an elite angel and messenger of the gods appears. - The gods abandoned humans after deciding there was nothing more to gain from this world. Their divine power was withdrawn from the priests which led to the collapse of the human army. - ML’s strong will in his desperate fight to survive was impressive and entertaining for the gods. He proved his worth to be resurrected. - ML is sent back in time with all of his past memories intact. - He’s given this chance to change the ending and to keep entertaining the gods. He wants to protect his loved ones and save humanity, while getting revenge against Tartarus and the gods. - Altair Justina Cayenne, 1st Princess of the Cayenne Empire. - She’s a descendant of Eurydice and Georgios. She inherited Eurydice’s magic. In ML’s past life, she was ML’s lover. - Fade, the king of poisons - In ML’s past life, Fade shared his extensive knowledge with ML. - ML returns to 10yrs ago when he was a 20yo temple slave on his first day working in the mines. - The gods also gave ML some high level perks. - Hermès’ Secret skill: 500% boost in effectiveness of all potions. - Silver Key skill: a key to a huge inventory subspace. - Sword of Light: a divine sword formed from a ray of primeval light. Those unworthy of wielding this sword will be incinerated when they touch it. - Revive skill: revives the user 3 days after dying. The user’s soul belongs to the god of death after this skill is activated. - Mystical Egg: the egg of a mystical creature that inhabits the divine realm. Hatch the egg to find out what creature it is. - Strong Luck spell: a high level blessing from the goddess of fortune. It provides a temporary burst of powerful good luck. It can be used up to 3 times. - Wall of Iron skill: boosts defence, durability and endurance. - This skill is a double edged sword from Usra, the god of debt. - The fatigue and damage received is stored as debt. - When your mana reaches zero, the accumulated damage hits you all at once. This can result in death. - Akairus, god of the sky. He’s 1 of the 3 supreme gods. - The Temple of the Sky is the 2nd most powerful religion on the continent. - Aria, goddess of light. She’s 1 of the 3 supreme gods. - The Temple of Light is the largest and most powerful religion on the continent. It is also the largest moneylender. - Temple slaves: - Most of those who became slaves are in debt to the temple. - They’re branded with a slave mark that is removed when the debt is paid and they’re free. Priests of Light may give forced commands to those with the slave mark. - ML takes out loans to buy expensive bottles of recovery water. This temple item acts like a potion that significantly boosts one’s mana after drinking a lot of it. ML’s Hermès’ Secret skill considerably boosts the benefits. - Hunting teams: consist of hand-picked slaves with combat skills. The base salary is high due to the dangers faced. Bonuses are given based on performance. All contents of a cleared dungeon are given to the temple. - Despite the danger, monsters are seen as a valuable resource. - ML plans to make more money by joining a hunting team. - ML reports sounds of monsters from a mine. - Recon (scout) / hunting team: Gote (leader L4), Dale (swordsman L5) and Marco (tanker L5). - ML leads the recon team to the mine dungeon. They check for monsters and gather info on the dungeon. - Gote decides they clear this dungeon themselves. - ML knows Gote from his past life and had earlier convinced Gote to clear the dungeon. ML suggested a plan of attack and was fine with Gote taking credit. The team kill the kobolds in the dungeon but are suddenly faced with a young and powerful predator monster. - The recon team members are all badly injured. ML neutralised the fear paralysis with dragon weed. He coats a spear with Belial, a deadly poison he prepared earlier. He stabs the monster and keeps attacking while waiting for the poison to take effect. He kills the monster by using mana on his fist to punch right through it’s head. - ML made a deal with Gote to let ML take the predator corpse and not report it. ML plans to secretly sell the monster to a broker. - ML will clear 3 more dungeons for Gote and his team. - ML will secretly keep the large monster corpses while the loot will be divided among the rest of the team. Gote and his team will get the rewards and the recognition for a promotion. - Gote completes a transfer to his recon team for ML. - Mathias Grimmer 32yo, Senior Inquisitor, the 3rd Parish of the Temple of Light. He’s secretly the 36th ranked TW in the hierarchy. - Sahak the Mad Hound, a psycho killer. One of the official agents and slaves under the Inquisitor. These agents can target anyone, accuse them of heresy, and punish them without trial. - Tartarus worshippers (TW): a group of demon worshippers devoted to Tartarus. They betrayed humanity in the war against demons and ultimately caused humanity’s downfall. - Marked centipedes: - Much of the TWs’ power comes from the mark of Tartarus on these centipedes that are swallowed by TWs. The more one uses the power of the mark, the larger the centipede grows. - The mark on the centipedes also allows TWs to be a temple priest or temple slave at the same time. They can overcome the rule that states “you can only have the mark of one god on you at a time.” - Mana freeze: temporary pain and exhaustion that occurs when a mana user runs out of mana. - ML is challenged by Sahak and his team after Sahak senses ML’s power. ML easily defeats the 5 of them in an impressive display. - ML experiences mana freeze after using up his mana. - ML used a hidden vial of recovery water that raised his mana to 1 point. ML had prepared this earlier in case of collection on his damage debt for using the Wall of Iron skill. - ML is about to have his organs harvested due to his outstanding loans. He knows Sister Anna Primrose the moneylender nun has a secret side business. She’s a monster broker in the underworld with the alias White Rose. ML makes a deal that he’ll supply her with large monster corpses in exchange for items and gear. - Ned Stryer, an Inquisitor agent and 1 of only 12 first class agents recognised by the temple. He has the slave mark. - He’s also secretly a disciple of a leading TW. - He was sent by his master to infiltrate the Temple of Light and steal the dungeon reward from the temple knights’ raid. - Ned was ML’s teacher and master in ML’s past life. - Ederin, a cave town that’s become a spider dungeon. - The dungeon is full of black steel spider monsters. The inner lair has the knight spiders guarding the queen spider. The team clear the dungeon of spiders up to the inner lair. ML enters on his own and causes an explosion that destroys the eggs. He kills the knight spiders and lures the queen spider outside. - ML distracts the queen spider from the front while the rest of the team attack her from behind. Together they kill the queen spider, the dungeon boss monster. ML sold some black steel spider corpses to White Rose. She helps get access to a temple lab for ML. He creates more deadly poisons, ie Belial and Zagan. - Mana flow: a type of energy control that causes mana to circulate through one’s blood vessels. - White Rose watched over ML while he used acupuncture with needles dipped in diluted solutions of the poisons. ML uses mana flow to stop the poison in his body and to rapidly upgrade his stats. - ML shows off his skills by killing the bird monsters to clear a dungeon by himself. He’s intentionally drawing attention to himself so he’ll be chosen for the temple knights’ raid party. - Lucius Giornetti 32yo, Commander of the temple knights, the 3rd Parish of the Temple of Light. He’s known as the Holy One of Light after he received a stigmata at 7yo. It’s a sign he is loved by the gods and he receives a significant amount of power from the gods. After he dies, he’ll become an angel who serves the gods. - Holy Ones are usually chosen from prospective candidates who are trained until they’re 15yo. A tournament is held and the winner has a sacred ritual to receive the stigmata. - Mathias was training to be a Holy One. Mathias was favoured to be the next Holy One until Lucius suddenly became a Holy One without being a candidate. - White Rose gave ML a magic ring to build a good business relationship with him. - Ring of Purification: improves mana circulation, increases magic defence, and allows curse removal once per day. - Persephone, the assassins’ guild. They fell apart due to an internal conflict a few years ago. They were a legendary group of assassins that boosted their stats with poisons. They used outstanding martial arts and deadly poisons to take out their targets. - White Rose thought ML was an ex-assassin of Persephone. - Ned issues a challenge to ML. Sahak is under Ned’s command and he wants to payback ML for the humiliation. Ned noticed ML using the same martial arts as him and wants to test ML. - ML needs to fool Ned into believing ML is a TW, then Ned will give ML a letter of recommendation for ML to join the raid party right away. - The Shoggoth: a biological weapon of TWs. - It gets stronger every time it absorbs mana from devouring humans. It has no mind of it's own, just an insatiable appetite. - It’s awoken by the sound of a hypnotic instrument. - Ocarina of Hypnosis: protects the user from the Shoggoth’s mind corruption (which causes a state of frenzy that makes you go insane and begin killing everyone). - The Shoggoth’s secret annihilation code: breaks the mana bonds binding the Shoggoth’s cells together. - At a remote mountain village, ML is greeted by Sahak. - Ned had given the Shoggoth and Ocarina to Sahak. - ML easily kills Sahak and uses the Ocarina to play the annihilation code to destroy the Shoggoth. - In this life, ML decides to spare whoever he can and give a chance to those who want to be stronger. If more people around him know how to fight and the surviving humans work together more, it might make a difference. Sahak didn’t deserve a 2nd chance as someone who enjoyed killing so much. - Jinryang of the East, 9th highest ranking TW. - His 2 direct disciples of the Dragon King martial arts are his son Jingang and Ned. - The secret techniques of the Dragon King martial arts style surrounds one’s opponent with electricity by using explosive acceleration. Knowing this technique means knowing how to neutralise it’s attack as well. - Ned appears after observing ML and tries to kill him. - Ned confirms for himself that ML uses the secret techniques of the Dragon King martial arts that only the direct disciples of his master should know. ML claims to be the shadow disciple who was trained in case a direct disciple died. He’s a backup successor trained in complete secrecy. Shadow disciples are commonly used to ensure the survival of martial arts techniques in the event of an emergency. - The Dragon Heart: a type of magic stone formed in a dragon’s heart. It’s known to give a dragon’s power to whoever uses it. The Dragon Heart will be the final reward from the temple knights’ dungeon raid. - Blood Tears: a treasured magic sword and heirloom that was stolen from Ned’s family. Their ancestors obtained the sword after defeating demons in the desert. The King ordered the Stryer family to look after Blood Tears from then on. Ned was to inherit this honourable duty from his father, Baron Leonard Stryer. - 12yrs ago, Leonard died at the hands of Priest Oldin Lasker’s twin knights when he tried to stop Oldin from taking Blood Tears. The Stryer family lost their residence and Baron title as they were collateral for the loan that paid for a failed dungeon-related investment. Leonard was deceived by Oldin to invest. - Dungeon Bubble Break: the financial crisis that was the result of the problems and corruption surrounding the dungeon market. - Before the crisis, the Temple of Light made a fortune while lying to investors that the market was safe and continued to sell overvalued financial products that were in reality worthless. - When the market collapsed, many ended up broke and homeless. Despite the temple committing the worst financial fraud in history, no one was ever punished for their crimes. - Ned wants to retrieve his family’s heirloom from the Temple of Light and get revenge on them. Jinryang promised to help Ned with his revenge if he proved to be useful. - In ML’s past life, Ned trusted the wrong person and destroyed himself. ML hopes to gain Ned’s trust and have Ned as a powerful ally in this life. - Mathias’ hideout: an abandoned building near the temple. - Ned vouches for ML and introduces ML to the other TWs who will also be members of the raid party. - The 40 temple slaves in the raid party are all TWs. - Each of them are given a special potion that temporarily disables the power of the slave mark after it’s drunk. - White Rose sourced more items for ML and she got the top temple enchanter to bless ML’s weapons and gear. - ML pays her with a few bottles of Belial and Zagan. - ML warns White Rose to stay away from the main building of the 3rd Parish. A higher-up is visiting soon, making it too risky to deal in black market goods and she could be searched. - Twilight Longsword: a knight artifact from 100yrs ago. It’s a magic sword with the power of light or darkness depending on the enchantment. It’s the most effective light and dark attribute weapon that a non-priest can use. - ML says goodbye for now to the recon team. He cleared 3 dungeons as promised (ie spider dungeon, bird monster dungeon, and a goblin den that was forged by Ned for the village where ML killed Sahak). - The Summit of Screams: Raid party members stay in this designated area for 2wks to undergo brutal training in preparation for the special raid mission. The impressive performances of Ned and ML stand out from the other slaves. - After the 2wks, ML reveals to Ned that Jinryang has Blood Tears. - The leader of the TW and half of the 12 Apostles that run the organisation are high-ranking priests at the Temple of Light. Once Ned obtains the Dragon Heart, it’ll be given to the leader and Ned will never be able to get his revenge. Jinryang lied to Ned. - The Tomb of the Fallen Princess Eurydice, 1 of the 8 hardest quests in the world. It’s a massive underground ruin from the ancient kingdom of Medea. The temple knights’ raid party have been trying for the last 10yrs to clear this dungeon. - Princess Eurydice was one of the greatest archmages in history. - Her dungeon is a labyrinth with 9 floors. Previous raids over the years have cleared and purified the 1st floor through to the 7th floor. - Lucius is the head of the raid party, which has about 100 members including the temple knights and healers. - The other party leaders are Mathias (Captain of the advance guard), Arnos (head healer), and Leona (Captain of the rear guard). - 8th floor: The gatekeeper was destroyed by the last raid. - Undead skeleton soldiers, bone golems and skeleton mages continuously appear. Lucius uses the Shining Lance to destroy the undead horde and the ancient tombstone which supplies mana to skeleton mages. - The Shining Lance and Winged Shield of Michael. - Lucius spent a fortune on these legendary items. - While the raid party was resting on the 8th floor, Shoggoths suddenly appear. 5 Shoggoths were prepared for the boss room so they’ve been awakened them too soon. All of the TWs were given an Ocarina of Hypnosis. ML was the one who awakened the Shoggoths to distract the raid party. - ML pulls a hidden lever that reconfigures the dungeon. - It’s a protective device that allows you to randomly change the internal structure of the dungeon. - In ML’s past life, he once stayed in this dungeon after it was cleared and it was being used to shelter from demons. He’s very familiar with this dungeon. - ML was seen by the 4 party leaders. He drank the special potion so Lucius’ command for ML to stop didn’t work. - Ned blocked Mathias’ attack on ML then escaped. - ML uses a strong luck spell and Lucius’ attack is blocked by a moving wall. That luck also helps ML find a path that goes straight to the boss room as the dungeon reconfigures. - Ned catches up to ML. They make it past the gatekeeper and into the boss room just as the strong luck spell ends. - After learning ML and Ned are connected to Mathias, Lucius confronts him. Lucius commands the temple slaves to attack Mathias before they can drink the special potion. Mathias is forced to kill 30 TWs. - Mathias and Lucius have been friends for 20yrs. - They first met when they entered the Academy at 12yo. - Mathias was always envious of Lucius. Mathias thought everything Lucius had was supposed to be his. Mathias blamed the gods for his fate. He wanted to defy the gods and change his fate. - Mathias craved power and strength. - Stone of Revelation: it resonates with the marked centipede inside to turn you into a demon. It’s meant as a last resort. Once it’s used, you can never be human again. - Mathias as a demon uses the power drain skill to gather the power of marked centipedes from the remaining TWs among the temple priests nearby. He casts a huge fireball to wipe out the priests. - ML accuses Lucius’ family of being con artists and murderers. As Lucius unexpectedly became a Holy One, it was seen as a sign that the Age of Tribulations was coming. Lucius’ father extorted a fortune from worshippers by tricking them into believing they needed Lucius’ blessing to get through the coming period of chaos. - Countless people became bankrupt, with many taking their own lives. Mathias accuses Lucius and the Temple of Light as the ones who created the dungeon bubble. They’ve been dirty and dishonest but never had to pay for it. - Shard of Glory: a top secret skill that only Holy Ones can use. - It sacrifices part of your lifespan in exchange for power from the future when you’ve become an angel. Only the Pope and a few Cardinals know about this skill. - This skill is why the average lifespan of Holy Ones is 30yo. - The temple constantly forces Holy One’s into dangerous situations for the sake of profit. Holy Ones are just the temple’s playthings. - Mathias is defeated by Lucius. Before fading away, he says they’re both being manipulated by the temple, but the difference is Aria cares about Lucius while he means nothing to her. - Lucius heals Arno and Leona as the only survivors from the raid party. - Stake of Faith: a sacred and unbreakable metal pillar. - It’s a legendary item that’s on loan from the Pope. - It responds to dark aura and emits it’s own powerful divine energy. - Ned stole the Stake as he escaped with ML. - 9th floor: where the boss room is located. - Gatekeeper of the boss room: Sir Georgios, a knight and the 1st dragon slayer. He was Eurydice’s husband. - Gram, Georgios’ sword. It was created to slay dragons. - Boss room: the tomb of Princess Eurydice. - The key to winning any battle is preparation. In this case, it involved recalling the raid report in ML’s past life, having the right companions, gear, and adequate training. - Eurydice appears to ML and Ned. They fight her and eventually ML cuts off her head. Ned releases the Stake of Faith before she changes into her 2nd form. The Stake pierced her body. Ned and ML continue to attack until she’s reduced to a much weakened state. - ML and Ned recover slightly by drinking potions. - Suddenly Sir Georgios shares his mana with Eurydice. It seeps through the door and helps to revive her. - Eurydice uses a range of ancient Medea spells, ie Space Distortion, Black Mirror, and Dark Hand spells. - Mana control: block your opponent’s mana flow and stop them from using any skills. ML used this on Eurydice and it temporarily blocked her mana flow. - Miraculous Rosary (Heal): a temple skill is embedded in each bead. Anyone can use the skills which disappear after a single use. - ML used some of the beads to heal Ned who is unconscious after an attack from Eurydice. ML used the rest of the beads to barely recover from a much more powerful attack from Eurydice. - Before Eurydice makes her final attack, ML starts to draw a symbol on the floor. Suddenly Mercedes the elite angel appears to stop him from completing the symbol. In ML’s past life, he learnt this symbol was proof that the gods were defeated in the past. It was declared taboo by the gods. Drawing this symbol meant divine punishment, ie death. - ML demands the gods give him better perks or let him die a boring death. ML’s gamble works and the gods agree to upgrade his perks. - Aria eases the restrictions to allow ML the ability to use the Sword of Light. It can now be used when carrying out a mission on behalf of Aria. Her 1st mission for ML is to save her Holy One. - ML breaks the powerful curse on Eurydice with the Sword of Light. This demon curse was from the Dragon Heart, which she’s been purifying for the last 1000yrs. - Communion skill: allows another person to read your emotions memories through physical contact. - Eurydice uses this skill on ML to understand why he wants the Dragon Heart’s power. - Princess Eurydice was the leader of the 12 Heroes who tried to stop a demon invasion 1000yrs ago. ML will inherit their legacy as a demon invasion will occur in a few years. - ML asks Eurydice to give him the power to save the world by planting the Dragon Heart in him. - 1000yrs ago, Kaisaurus the Black Dragon was originally 1 of the 12 Heroes. He was cursed by the demons and lost his mind. As the strongest of the 7 dragons, Kaisaurus almost burned down the whole world after he went on a rampage. The remaining 11 Heroes including the Golden Dragon were forced to fight their former ally to save the world. Georgios was the one who dealt the final blow to Kaisaurus. - Sir Georgios presented Eurydice with the heart of Kaisaurus. - She planted the Dragon Heart in Georgios who wanted to rid the world of the remaining demons and to defeat the Red Dragon. He hoped to make the world safe for their daughter. - Eurydice and Georgios were betrayed by the Golden Dragon who led them to believe the curse on the Dragon Heart was broken. - NB: the Golden Dragon is now the royal guardian of the Temple of Light (tbc). - Language Enhancement skill: imbues words with magical power. An exclusive dragon skill. - Eurydice is forbidden by the golden dragon from saying the secret of this world (tbc). - Eurydice tore the Dragon Heart from the cursed Georgios before he could destroy the world. She’s been waiting all this time for a hero worthy of bearing the Dragon Heart. ML is worthy but his body isn’t ready. There’s a chance his body could be crippled or completely destroyed after the Dragon Heart is planted. - ML decides to use the strong luck spell to overcome the risks of planting the Dragon Heart. - Eurydice warns ML that he will need this spell when he’s forced to choose between the one who matters most to him and someone else in the future. - The Dragons: Red, Blue, Green and Ice. After planting the Dragon Heart, ML must defeat these 4 dragons within a year. He promises Eurydice that he’ll get it done in 6mths. - During the process of planting the Dragon Heart, the unconscious ML is battling the overmind of Kaisaurus in ML’s consciousness. He recalls who he was in his past life and how he already won against a dragon’s overmind before. After 3 days, ML defeats Kaisaurus. - While working on ML, Eurydice removed the marked centipede from Ned’s body. It’s still a larva as Ned didn’t use it's power at all. - When ML woke up, he saw Ned was still unconscious and Eurydice was reduced to a pile of ashes. ML found 2 items in her remains: a mage crystal and a master key. - Mage crystal: it contains Eurydice’s overmind who advises ML to give this to her descendant Altair. - It’s an elite level magic spellbook that holds the ancient magic of the Medean kingdom used by Eurydice. Learn the magic skills by holding the crystal and meditating. - Master key: allows you to use any function of Eurydice’s tomb. - Due to the imbalance between ML’s power and the dragon’s power, the Dragon Heart’s power is limited to 1% for now. - Once the Dragon Heart’s power spreads throughout ML’s body, he’ll naturally be able to handle more power. As the power increases by 10% each time, ML’s body will need to be adjusted. Eurydice advised ML that he must find Altair to help him with this. - As Lucius, Arno and Leona approach the boss room, Sir Georgios as the gatekeeper attacks them. ML opens the doors just in time to save them. He defeats Sir Georgios with the Sword of Light. - Lucius removes the slave marks from ML and Ned, promising to pay their debts in full. He thanks them for working undercover to thwart the TW plans. - The treasure chamber of Eurydice’s tomb: ML uses the master key to access this chamber so the 5 of them can gear up with rare and powerful magic relics before leaving the dungeon. - True Sight: one drop of this potion in your eyes, and you’ll see the marked centipedes inside TWs. - Alfonso Giornetti, a Bishop and head of the 3rd Parish of the Temple of Light. He’s also Lucius’ uncle. - Sister Claudia, Lucius’ wife. They have a baby boy, Marius. - Oldin Lasker is a Cardinal of the Temple of Light and the 11th ranked TW (1 of the 12 Apostles). - His influential family holds the title of Marquis. - When his marked centipede had fully matured 5yrs ago, it developed a special power called Hive. It evolved into a queen that can produce larvae. Oldin can brainwash and control the mind of anyone who swallows a larva. - Castor Hugo, the Golden Knight and the 20th ranked TW. He’s the oldest of the twin knights. - Pollux Hugo, the Silver Knight and also a TW. Castor and Pollux are 2 of the 10 strongest warriors on the continent. - A matching pair of swords from Oldin became the symbols of the twin knights, ie Castor’s Sun Blade and Pollux’ Moon Blade. - After the twins’ older sister became the new Earl Hugo, they were taken in by Oldin. They’re fiercely loyal to Oldin as he gave their lives a whole new meaning. (Oldin had secretly taken action to ensure the twins didn’t inherit the Earl title. He made it so they would serve under him). - With the strongest warriors from the 3rd Parish away on the raid, Oldin brought temple knights from the Central Parish under the guise of bolstering the defence of the 3rd Parish. Oldin was actually there as the carrier for the Dragon Heart to the TW leader. - Alfonso was forced to swallow a larva and is now under Oldin’s control. Many of those in the 3rd Parish are also under his control. - ML used the dungeon master key to get to the tunnel closest to the 3rd Parish. They dug their way out to the surface and went to Mathias’ hideout. There they found solid evidence that Oldin is a TW from the letters kept by Mathias. - At the 3rd Parish, Oldin has taken Claudia and Marius hostage. Under stealth, Ned gets close and slices through Oldin to rescue Claudia and Marius. Lucius distracts Oldin and Castor as Ned flees with Lucius’ family. Ned hides Claudia and Marius in a cave. He gives them the Misty Bracelets then goes to continue his revenge. - Misty Bracelets: they are imbued with a powerful cloaking / stealth skill. (Ned) - Mirror Chainmail: the Black Mirror spell is activated when struck. It reflects back 50% of damage to your opponent. (Lucius) - ML’s plan was to split up Oldin and the twin knights then deal with them individually. Oldin fled the 3rd Parish with a fake Pollux. - Castor fights Lucius who is supported by Arno and Leona. - Oldin is affected by Belial poison that was smeared on his carriage. ML is waiting for him, disguised as the coachman. The fake Pollux dies from the poison. - Earlier at the meeting place to hand over the Dragon Heart, TWs that included the real Pollux in disguise tried to kill Ned. - It’s further proof that Jinryang deceived Ned. Pollux and the other TWs were then killed by Ned, ML and the others. - In ML’s past life, Ned just barely managed to escape from Pollux and was on the run with the Dragon Heart for several months. He was later beaten up by one of Jinryang’s other disciples and they took the Dragon Heart. Ned was badly injured and hid in a cave (where he was found by ML?) - Oldin changes into his demon form to face ML. - Oldin mastered the imitation skill to change into human form. - The effect of the poison has worn off. Oldin is almost immortal due to his rapid recovery skill. ML takes this opportunity to test his new dragon power on Oldin. - Blade of Mirage: a dagger with a magic blade. The length and shape of the blade differ depending on the user. (Ned) - Crow’s Cloak: clones the wearer using mana and teleports them to a nearby spot. (Ned) - Ned makes a surprise attack on Castor while he was focused on trying to get to Oldin. Ned reveals he has the Moon Blade which fills Castor with murderous rage as it means Pollux is dead. - Earlier ML shared the secret Eclipse technique used by the twin knights with Ned. Castor is further distracted when Ned uses this technique. In the end, Ned vaporises Castor with the electricity from his Dragon King martial arts. - The main building of the 3rd Parish was badly damaged in the fight between Lucius and Castor. ML and Ned return to the 3rd Parish with Claudia and Marius who are reunited with Lucius. - Everyone under Oldin’s mind control were captured and tied up. The larvae inside them all died after Oldin became incapacitated by ML and Ned. Lucius undertakes a mass purge of TWs who had infiltrated the 3rd Parish. - ML and Ned kept Oldin’s severed head after destroying the marked queen inside Oldin along with the rest of his body. ML and Ned obtained high level information on the TWs after torturing Oldin, which they presented in a report to Lucius and Alfonso. - They secured Oldin’s head in a magic birdcage and gave it to Alfonso for further interrogation. - Suddenly Oldin’s head is possessed by the TW leader. - The leader senses that ML has the Dragon Heart. The leader wanted to see if “that woman” had interfered (?) - The leader uses an Ancient Dragon skill to restrain Lucius and Ned when they tried to destroy the head. They are cursed by the leader but are saved by ML with the Sword of Light. - ML proposes a coin toss bet: the loser must answer one question from the winner. The true nature of this game is a contest of strength. It ended in a draw as the coin was split in half, with one half tails and one half heads facing up. - ML and the leader postpone the rematch for another time. An oath ring is created to ensure ML doesn’t reveal the leader’s true identity in the meantime. - Oath Ring spell: a token of a promise made between 2 people. If one person breaks the promise, the oath ring breaks. A sentence is imposed on the oath breaker. The sentence is to lose one of your 5 senses for a month. - Polaris Albert Cayenne, Altair’s brother, 1st Prince of the Cayenne Empire, and the youngest Cardinal of the Temple of Light. - This is the true identity of the TW leader. ML was going to reveal it to his comrades if he won the bet. - One of ML’s upgraded perks was the Silver Key now allowed him to enter the inventory subspace called the Silver Room. - ML enters the Silver Room to find it’s the guest room of Mercedes’ villa. She greets him and discusses the extra conditions that come with the upgraded perks. Like Aria, the gods will give missions to ML. He’ll receive additional perks as rewards for completing the missions. - Mercedes warns ML that if he tries to threaten the gods again, his perks will be taken away and given to his enemies instead. - He needs to pass the tests from the gods to prove he’s qualified to possess everything. - ML and Ned are appointed as senior temple knights. - They leave to defeat the Blue Dragon and the Ice Dragon. - Along the way, Lucius recommended they meet Altair. - They arrive at Lindell Castle, a territory given to Altair when she was 16yo. - Altair is the heir to the throne after Polaris withdrew his right of succession to become a priest and her other brother is sick. - Altair has many suitors hoping to marry her and obtain the throne. Altair stated she won’t speak to weak men. The suitors hired proxies that are tested for their strength by Ophelia. It’s a bait to gather the strong to see who can be trusted. - Ophelia Amleth, Altair’s 1st guardian knight. - She’s 1 of the 10 strongest warriors on the continent. - Altair and Lucius are cousins. - ML is angry when Temple of the Sky priests waiting in line as proxy suitors repeat a nasty rumour that Altair and Lucius are lovers. He throttles the 3 priests. - Altair wants strong comrades she can trust in the fight against TW. - ML and Ned meet Altair and Ophelia after handing over the introductory letter from Lucius. ML piques Altair’s interest by showing his worth. He shows some of the Dragon Heart’s power. He then easily defeats Ophelia in 3 demo bouts. - ML plans to defeat the Blue Dragon with Altair’s help. - He gives her the mage crystal from Eurydice’s tomb. - TW vice leader, ranked 2nd.

Webtoon Ch 117 as of 30/01/23 ** the attempts at romance are annoying - One day monsters and the Tutorial Tower suddenly appeared in the world. The Tower periodically summons people from around the world and subjects them to the ordeals found in the 100 floors of the Tower. Those who survive the Tower gain special abilities and become Hunters that can defeat monsters. - Seokwon Han, Goguryeo guild master - Seoyeon Lee, Arang guild master and mage hunter - Sihyeon Kim, Seoul guild master - ML is Hyeonu Kim 24yo (now 36yo in the real world). - All of his stats (except for magic) have maxed out. - He’s known as the advanced player after being trapped in the Tower for 12yrs. He was one of the 1st generation Hunters that cleared the Tower for the 1st time. Since then he’s been continually clearing the Tower because of a curse. - At first ML tried looking for a way to break the curse. - Then he tried to have some fun with the situation, eg he pretended to be an NPC guide for beginners. He also played the role of a military instructor in charge of new recruits. - On ML’s 1350th attempt, his status window changes to say the endless loop is removed and he may exit after he clears the Tower. - ML sets a new record for clearing all 100 floors of the Tower. - NB: inside the Tower, there’s no need to eat or sleep. Your body also stops growing and aging. - Korean Hunters Association (KHA) - Korean Tutorial Centre: where the hunter grade assessment takes place. The grade assessment exam is for new hunters who have just cleared the Tower. The exam is broadcast live. - The 1st exam is a labyrinth. ML creates a new path with one punch that goes straight through to the exit. - Kang Hyeon Lee, a kendo master and world champion. - If ML hadn’t shown up, Kang Hyeon Lee would’ve been the most promising and outstanding new hunter. - 2nd exam: monster wave - Virtual training monsters are generated. The goal is to defeat as many monsters as possible within 2mins. - Kang Hyeon Lee set a new record with 78 monsters, but that was soon smashed by ML who killed 248 monsters. - Alice, Chief of the KHA Information Division. - She’s also a scout for the Ares guild. - ML rejects her offer as he doesn’t want to be tied down by any guild. He wants to be a solo mercenary hunter. - ML meets with his friends Seokwon Han, Seoyeon Lee, and Sihyeon Kim. They cleared the Tower with ML 12yrs ago. - ML mentions a student he trained in the Tower at a time when he was fixated on martial arts. ML thought if he gained enlightenment through martial arts training, he could escape from the Tower. - ML sees a message in his status window that says he needs to defeat 3 dungeon bosses to meet the minimum requirements to move onto the next level. The dungeons are Adoron’s Lab, Woodland Village, and Swamp in View. - Byeongho Kang, Ares guild HR manager - The Ares guild hold a monopoly over 66% of the dungeons in South Korea. The guild sells expensive dungeon admission tickets to non-Ares members who want to access their dungeons. - Byeongho tries to threaten ML and force ML to join the Ares guild. ML beats up Byeongho and his A-grade bodyguard. - Seonu Heuk, S-grade hunter and Ares guild branch manager for South Korea. - Adoron’s Lab, a C-grade dungeon owned by Ares. - ML forces his way into the dungeon after beating up the Ares guards. ML destroys Adoron the dungeon boss with one punch. - When ML was 10yo, his parents died in a car accident. His cousin stole ML’s inheritance and sent ML to an orphanage. Because of this experience, ML doesn’t hold back with his grudges. - ML’s hard life has taught him to be resilient. He never gives up. - The Pado guild is a new guild that was founded 2yrs ago in China. It now controls over half of the dungeons in China. - The Pado guild master cleared the Tower 4yrs ago. She is 5th in the global rankings for all S-grade Hunters. - The Ares guild are currently fighting to take over the Pado guild for the Ares expansion into China. - ML goes to register his grade at the KHA Ability Measuring Centre. ML’s overall stats are measured at A-grade (except magic). - The Woodland Village dungeon is managed by the Seoul guild. ML enters with Sihyeon Kim and Gamun Bak, a Seoul guild member and online streamer. The twin-headed ogre, the dungeon boss, is again easily defeated by ML. - Swamp in View, a beginner dungeon owned by Ares. - ML beats up the Ares guards and enters the dungeon. - The dungeon boss is a mega-alligator. An A-grade assassin is sent by Ares to kill ML. The assassin and the mega-alligator are defeated together by ML. - NB: ML is currently staying at Sihyeon Kim’s place. - After defeating the 3 dungeon bosses, ML obtains the Status Scan skill (lowest level). He can now view very basic info from the status window of a person or object. - ML has been given the title of Temporary Guardian. - He meets his assistant called AV. She can’t provide answers to his questions about the Tower as his Status Scan skill level is too low. - To become an official guardian and increase the level of his Status Scan skill, ML needs to obtain a key from the deepest part of a rift that will appear in 5 days close to where he lives. - Dungeons are used to gather special resources, ie magic stones or monster materials. Labyrinths have treasure vaults where powerful artifacts can be found. Rifts are called Hell’s Gate due to the endless stream of monsters that pour out from the depths. - The rift occurs at the airport. ML makes his way to the bottom of the rift, while his friends and their guilds deal with the stream of monsters. ML defeats the Crimson Demon and obtains the key. - ML cleared the rift and is now an official guardian. - ML and his friends are presented with awards from the KHA for their efforts in ending the rift crisis. ML causes a media sensation when he leaves the ceremony as soon as he receives his award. - ML is teleported by the system at the designated time again to meet AV. She says his Status Scan skill is upgraded to low level. After ML completes his tasks as an official guardian, he’ll be able to find out everything he wants to know. - After ML as the guardian escaped from the Tutorial Tower, the door opened to allow climbers into this world. - ML has to stop the climbers, ie beings who climb the Tower. - This Tower consists of 12 layers. Earth is one of those layers. ML’s role as guardian is to protect Earth as the 9th layer of the Tower. As the 9th layer guardian, ML must stop the climbers to prevent the destruction of Earth. - AV is the system administrator for the 9th layer. - She says ML will need a high level Status Scan skill to obtain the answers he wants about the Tutorial Tower. To increase his skill level, he will need to defeat around 5 high rank climbers. The Crimson Demon was a low rank climber. - The Ares guild accuses ML of murdering one of it’s members. - ML holds a live press conference. ML plays an audio recording on his mobile of the assassin who confirmed he was sent by Ares to kill ML. The death of the assassin wasn’t murder but self defence. - A 2nd mobile is held up by ML who says it belonged to the assassin. He plans to submit the mobile to the authorities to confirm ML is telling the truth. - Later ML tells his friends the assassin’s mobile is a fake. - ML anticipates Ares will visit him before he has a chance to hand in the mobile. ML goes for a walk on his own and he’s soon surrounded by masked assassins. He defeats them all. ML makes one assassin take him to where they were going to hold ML captive. - It’s an underground bunker. On the lowest level is a Pado guild executive that Ares kidnapped and interrogated using torture. - ML beats up everyone in the bunker and meets Seonu Heuk. To avoid getting beaten up as well, Seonu Heuk agrees to pay a massive compensation amount to ML that includes the rights to 4 beginner dungeons, and the Pado guild executive. - Ares guild, based in the US with branches worldwide. - It’s one of the largest guilds in the world. - ML is notified by the system of a new climber that’s appeared. - AV says ML will need magic to face this mid-rank climber. - The climber is called Cheonma. He emerges from a rift in Tokyo. - ML was unsuccessful in his attempts to awaken his magic, despite help from Seoyeon Lee. Only after ML is affected from the electricity of Cheonma’s attack does the magic awaken in ML. - ML’s magic and martial arts combine to defeat Cheonma. - Nakagawa Yaseumi, Ijanami guild master in Japan. - Blood Control skill: helps hunters struggling to use their magic. This skill taps directly into the body and increases the magic level. - The Pado guild master is ML’s former student. She vowed to prepare a position worthy of him should he escape the Tutorial Tower and return to the world. - ML returns from Japan to find the Pado guild executive he rescued is finally awake. Her name is Hong Rin. ML asks about the skull tattoo she has. All of the Pado guild executives have this tattoo, which symbolises they exist beneath the sky. - Embarrassed by his martial arts phase in the Tutorial Tower, ML passes on a message to the Pado guild master. He says don’t ever come to find him. Then Hong Rin returns to China. - ML appears on a TV show to promote his new guild called Guardian. He’s recruiting members and asks everyone to apply. - ML’s friends help to sort through the mountain of applications. - ML uses his upgraded Status Scan skill during the interviews. - An added feature allows ML to see the attitude of applicants. - ML accepts 21 new recruits he believes he can trust. - ML has his guild manage the dungeons he’s acquired. - Pandemonium, a mercenary group of murderer hunters (ie high rank hunters who kill other hunters). - Scholar Anya, mage hunter and former S-grade rank 52 - Ares sends 4 Pandemonium members to assassinate ML when he visits a beginner dungeon that Ares gave him. - ML kills 3 of them and spares Anya who will do anything to survive. He gives Anya to Seoyeon Lee to look after. - ML visits the Ares guild branch HQ in Seoul. He uses a toy hammer to beat up people on his way to Seonu Heuk’s office. This time the compensation amount is even greater. - A new mid-rank climber has emerged from a rift in Germany. - She’s Gwii the Divine Spectral Queen and has companions. - Anya draws a magic circle that teleports ML to Germany. - The climber’s Ten Step Destruction skill shows that she’s stronger than Cheonma. - ML’s body responds to Gwii’s magic expanding attack. He’s acquired internal magic expansion resistance and he has another forced magic awakening. ML’s stamina and magic increase. - ML defeats Gwii with his combat skills and magic combined. - ML receives Gwii’s essence (S+ grade) as a reward. - ML now has a lower mid-level Status Scan skill. - ML also has a new Access skill that gives him access to the system room with AV once a day. - Separate to the stats shown in ML’s status window (ie the info given by the system) that is currently locked, his physical body has continued to level up. - ML earlier gave Cheonma’s sword to Sihyeon Kim. - ML mentions his martial arts in a press conference. On a TV show, ML is a guest and 2 martial arts masters are also invited. ML is annoyed that more people are using his name to try and sell something. To stop this, ML shows some martial arts to prove it's something only he can do. - Anya is now employed as the accountant at ML’s guild. - Martin Brand, founder and global head of the Ares guild. - Miryeong the Supreme Dragon, Pado guild master. - The Pado guild now has control over all guilds in China. - AV suspects there could be 2 climbers that remain in hiding on Earth. There are 2 rifts from the time ML was trapped in the Tutorial Tower that have never closed up. Normally a rift will disappear after the boss is killed. - International Hunters Association (IHA) - An auction house hosted by the IHA opens in Germany. - ML attends the auction with his friends. ML goes outside for a break and is attacked by 4 members of the Order who were sent to kill ML, but he kills them instead. He takes their items and discovers they’re fake copies of artifacts. - The Order: elite guild members from the Ares head office. They’re murderer hunters that were former S-grade rank 40 or above. - ML thinks Seonu Heuk sent the Order and visits his office. - ML goes to the Pado guild in China after he hears Seonu is there. ML arrives and meets Miryeong. He can see she’s completely devoted to him. ML is taken to Seonu who has been beaten up and held captive after trying to get Miryeong to kill ML. - Miryeong captured 2 members of the Order who were sent to kill Seonu. After questioning Seonu (then imprisoning him again), ML decides to fight Martin Brand next and destroy the Ares guild. - Back at Sihyeon Kim’s apartment, ML faces 2 more members of the Order. He quickly defeats them but the apartment is trashed. - Anya drew a magic circle to teleport ML to the Ares guild HQ in the US. Instead ML finds himself in an underground space with Martin Brand who manipulated the teleportation. - Martin introduces himself as the climber called the Faker. He activates an anti-magic effect on the space. He’s geared up with high level fake artifacts and manages to injure ML. - ML disappears to the system room with AV and recovers there. After 6hrs ML returns to face the Faker. ML has awakened a new martial art skill after reflecting on his battles with Cheonma and Gwii. ML overcomes the Faker’s attacks then defeats the Faker with a final crushing blow. ML obtains the Faker’s subspace pouch. - He puts Gigantomakia the Earth Shattering sword (ST+ grade) and the only real artifact into the pouch. - ML’s Status Scan skill is now mid-level. - At a press conference, ML issues a statement that Martin Brand was the one who sent the assassins to Sihyeon Kim’s apartment. - ML meets with Coward, the deputy branch manager of the Ares guild in South Korea. As compensation, ML demands the rights to 40% of the dungeons owned by Ares. - ML tells his friends about the Earth as the 9th layer of a Tower and he’s the 9th layer guardian who has to stop the climbers. - Miryeong visits ML in South Korea and follows ML around. Sihyeon Kim has a crush on her. - ML is invited by the IHA to visit the US for his S-grade global ranking. The assessment orb shows an evaluation error for ML. - Liam, US congressman in the IHA. - Mason, US congressman in the IHA and friend of Martin Brand. He has the support of senior government officials and top-ranking hunters. He helps Coward stabilise the Ares guild in South Korea. - Liam invited ML to attend the IHA Founding Day celebration. Tank was rude then attacked ML but was knocked out by ML. - Liam asks for ML’s support against Martin’s faction. - Mason’s supporters: - Phantom Soldier (Cheonu Sin), 1st in the S-grade global rankings. He’s a martial artist and has a unique skill, Return to the Item’s Past. - Tank, 3rd in the S-grade global rankings. Liam’s supporters: - Ethan the Grand Swordmaster, 4th in the S-grade global rankings. - Silent Riley, 7th in the S-grade global rankings. - At an IHA party in the US for the top 50 hunters in the S-grade global rankings, many foreign high-level VIPs are attending. - When everyone is gathered, the top hunters that support Mason start killing the other hunters. Liam directs the other guests to escape. ML arrives with Miryeong. - Phantom Soldier wants to kill ML and destroy this world to be qualified to climb the Tower. He’s unimpressed by ML’s skills. - Phantom Soldier’s unique skill provides him with infinite training time. He’s been able to train the equivalent of several hundred years to master multiple martial arts. - ML survives Phantom Soldier’s deadly attacks and his stamina levels up. ML uses the same attacks against Phantom Soldier. - ML learnt how to control his own magic after he saw Phantom Soldier’s refined magic flow. - Miryeong is confronted by Tank and the 6th ranked hunter but she quickly kills both of them. She goes outside to fangirl over ML. - The Phantom Soldier uses his demonic transformation skill. - In response, ML uses Cheonma’s martial arts. ML continually improves his techniques as he’s fighting. - ML blocks a negative energy attack with lightning then defeats Phantom Soldier with his improved martial arts. - ML obtains a S+ rank artifact from Phantom Soldier (also known as the Great Calamity). To use the artifact with Return to Item’s Past skill, ML must gather the labyrinth’s power. Later AV says a climber can reach the next layer by going through a labyrinth. - ML also gets a new Mind Access skill. He can read someone’s mind for 30sec, as long as he can use the Status Scan on them (he can’t for climbers). - From the IHA party, 33 hunters were killed and 4 hunters had to retire due to the extent of their injuries. - The balance of power in the IHA has shifted in favour of Liam. - ML is in a US hospital recovering from his injuries. - ML recalls another student in the Tutorial Tower who asked to be taught by ML. - During final discussions over the dungeons from Ares, ML read Coward’s mind and discovered Mason had something planned. Under interrogation, ML learnt that Mason gave special magic stones to Coward to be buried in the dungeons given to ML. These stones would be detonated to cause monster waves (ie dungeon breaks). Then ML would be accused of neglecting his dungeon responsibilities and the dungeons would be returned to Ares. - Mason is the 2nd hidden climber known as the Keeper of Words. As low rank climbers, he was working with Martin Brand to destroy the world. ML is fully recovered and visits Mason at home. - Mason’s magic ability is the most powerful at his residence which is a restricted zone he developed over many years. - Mason’s opponents are forced to obey his words. - ML uses his own magic to overcome Mason’s magic. ML learnt this from the Phantom Soldier. Mason escapes at the last minute by teleporting to his secret group’s HQ in Mexico. - Mason established a secret organisation called the Illumiti that has since taken over Europe. ML’s other student was the one who led the group’s expansion. She’d always intended for the Illumiti to serve ML. She kills Mason after he says he was fighting ML. - Re-climbers (or Ancient Spiritual Seat Seekers): those climbers who climb the Tower again to regain their authority. They lost their positions and titles and were expelled. - ML shared his recorded evidence on Mason and the Ares guild with Liam to leak to the media. This way Liam can deal with Mason’s allies and the reporters won’t hassle ML as much. - The Illumiti are also tightly controlling the media about ML. - ML visits a labyrinth with Miryeong and his friends. - Gamun Bak is also there to broadcast the live stream. - The labyrinth power gauge is fully charged and available for 1 use. - ML uses the artifact with Return to Item’s Past skill on Cheonma’s sword. ML is sent to a place where he meets Cheonma’s spirit. - Phantom World: a place where climbers who have failed can stay until their next opportunity arises. - Climbers are ranked according to their achievements. - As a result, a climber’s power can be restricted by their rank. - Cheonma was a mid-rank climber but had the power of a high-rank climber. ML “dies” 1000s of times against Cheonma. - Cheonma starts to respect ML as a man of unbreakable spirit. Cheonma teaches ML as they fight. After almost 15k attempts, ML has mastered Cheonma’s teachings. This took about 100 years in the Phantom World. - Miryeong can hear and see Gwii in ML’s subspace pouch … - ML has been gone for a month. Disaster level threats are detected in 4 countries, including South Korea. - The Monkey King, a high-rank climber and ringleader. - The 3 Demon Kings of Lion Camel Ridge: (mid-rank climbers) - The Azure Lion, the Great Peng, and the White Elephant - In Thailand: ML reappears here and defeats the Great Peng. - In South Korea: the Azure Lion defeats ML’s friends. - Gwii loans her power to Miryeong just this once. The Azure Lion is defeated by the Ten Step Destruction skill. - In Mexico: the White Elephant is defeated by the Shadow Assassin, ML’s other student who uses the Keeper of Words skill. - In the US: the Monkey King created 300 clones of himself to destroy Earth. ML wipes out half of the clones to find the real Monkey King. ML demonstrates the results from Cheonma’s teachings to defeat the Monkey King. - ML obtains the Monkey King’s golden staff, an SS grade artifact. - ML’s Status Scan is upgraded to mid-high level. - Atelek Port, a rich man who collects rare artifacts. - He’s a US congressman and owns the Eclipse guild. - He wants to take the golden staff. ML beats up Atelek. - Sihyeon Kim wants to grow stronger. He asks ML about training under Cheonma. ML helps him to access the Phantom World. - Cheonma teaches Sihyeon the Ultimate Slash technique, the 1st form of Cheonmyeong swordsmanship. - ML goes to Mexico and meets Narin Ha, his other student who is also completely devoted to him. As the Shadow Assassin and leader of Illumiti, she has accumulated wealth and assets from around the world for ML. Narin Ha goes to South Korea with ML. - Miryeong is the Divine Spectral Queen successor after Gwii. - Narin Ha is the Keeper of Words successor after Mason. - To find the Tutorial Tower Creator, ML obtains 5 artifacts that AV combines into the Compass of the Blind. - ML is guided by the Compass to the Atlante Empire on the 35th dimension of the 8th layer. There he defeats a climber called the Hungry Ghost. ML obtains as his reward the Truth Orb (SS grade), an imperial family treasure. There is a wait time before you can use the orb again. - ML was away for 2wks. A mystical creature arrives as a low rank climber on Earth while ML was away. Miryeong and Narin Ha capture the creature and give the 9-tailed fox’s energy orb to ML. - ML attaches a Brand of Ownership collar, an S-grade artifact, to the 9-tailed fox. Seoyeon learns about Taoist magic from the 9-tailed fox. - Climbers want to obtain an achievement which is like granting a wish. Getting an achievement means obtaining everything a master of that power has. - Sihyeon uses his new skills to defeat a demon climber. - ML asks the orb, “who locked me in the Tutorial Tower” - ML’s mind is sent to a room and he speaks with the Creator who admits to locking ML up. They tell ML to find them by looking for the Tower they created and using the source of the Great Calamity’s (Phantom Soldier’s) power. - Wuchi Jeon is a conqueror and Taoist master sent to kill ML, an irregular. He has the Azure Dragon achievement. - Conquerer: a climber who earned their seat by climbing the Tower. - During the fight with Wuchi Jeon, ML enters an imaginary space in the staff with the Monkey King’s soul. - ML makes a contract to share the power of the Monkey King. - ML is now protected by the Golden Chainmail (SS grade). - ML summons the Black Dragon after watching Wuchi Jeon. - After a very close battle, ML defeats Wuchi Jeon and obtains the Azure Dragon achievement which is sealed in an orb. - Anya and Sihyeon are dating. - ML agrees to be the model for a global tracksuit brand (his preferred outfit with slippers). - After the dungeon monopoly by Ares was removed, the hunter industry in South Korea has started to flourish. - ML recharges the Great Calamity’s artifact with the power of labyrinths. While fighting monsters, ML uses the staff techniques he learns from the Monkey King. - AV finds out the Tower made by the Creator is on the 12th layer. - It could take a few years for ML to return from there. The Monkey King confirms it takes 500 days. ML doesn’t want to leave Earth unprotected for that long. The Monkey King says his Flying Nimbus only takes 5 days to reach the 12th layer. - Orobas, Solomon’s 72nd demon and a prince of hell, is a new climber in India. ML swiftly defeats Orobas. - ML obtains a necklace artifact that belonged to the Great Sage of Yishan. ML uses the Great Calamity’s artifact on the necklace to enter an imaginary world and meets the Yishan sage. ML is told he must learn how to control the Flying Nimbus before he can take it. - After 13yrs (time goes much faster in the imaginary world), ML learns the martial art of air walking with a light body. The Yishan sage gives the Flying Nimbus ring artifact (S++ grade) to ML. - The Monkey King gets ML to take a passage that the conquerors use to reach the 12th layer in a day. ML sees the Tower of Resentment. It reconfigures into a massive ship called Noah’s Ark after ML uses the Great Calamity’s artifact. - In the Ark, ML finally meets the Creator who calls himself Noah. ML beats up Noah for locking up ML. - ML was locked in the Tutorial Tower because Noah deemed ML to be the strongest with the most potential to be able to change the greater Tower for the better. - Earth has a reset feature (each layer has a distinctive feature). It has already been destroyed and reset 21 times. - Noah has seen ML die and resurrect 21 times. He was impressed by ML’s actions that changed the Earth’s fate after he defeated his first climber. - The greater Tower was built by combining the power of 5 people: the Architect, Engineer, Coordinator, Creator, and Director. - The Architect, Engineer and Coordinator stole the Director’s power and tried to kill Noah the Creator. Then they started using the greater Tower for their own greed. - The Northern Sky Divine Spirit, master of the Ice Palace and Eternal Frost King, is the next conquerer sent to Earth. He wrecks havoc in Italy. ML quickly returns and they fight. - The conqueror’s 2nd achievement is the Plague Lord. - ML uses the Creator’s Restraining Device to seal away the conqueror inside the device for a limited time. The conqueror will be released in 120hrs (about 5 days). - The conqueror is a mythical being this time. ML must obtain an achievement on par with the mythical being’s achievements to defeat it. Noah unlocks the Azure Dragon achievement for ML. - To use the achievement’s full power, ML must be recognised by the Azure Dragon. ML uses his own strength to withstand 5mins of the Azure Dragon’s attacks. If the user’s abilities are below a certain level, then the achievement won’t manifest itself. The Azure Dragon teaches ML how to control it’s power. - The conquerer is released and ML is waiting for him. After an intense battle, ML wins. His Status Scan is now high level. - For some reason ML can’t access the system room to see AV. - Noah says he didn’t create the system room. It’s possible AV is actually the Director. - After the Creator and Director were gone, the greater Tower was changed to encourage and even force climbers to climb it. - ML needs to take down those at the top of the Tower to change it and stop the climbers. Noah recommends ML find and defeat the Coordinator first. She is in the underground layer, a tier separate to the Tower. ML finds her and she calls herself the Fallen Collector. - The Coordinator brought together all of the fallen climbers and absorbed their strengths. ML discovers her weakness and destroys her. He obtains a storage key (SS+, Mind Access skill). - ML enters the Coordinator’s storage space. It’s full of dead climbers’ bodies.

Ch 115 as of 25/11/22 - also on Tapas * heaps going on in this story, hard to keep track and even harder to summarise … ** End of season 2, Ch 100 - Dungeons and monsters appeared in the world. - The Enlightened granted powers to a small % of humans. They could level up to become players who could destroy dungeons. - Save the world -vs- greed and selfish ambitions - ML is Woojin Kim. - He was used to help kill the most powerful enemies. - He died after he was stabbed and cursed by the sword Balmung, then poisoned by hellborn viper venom. - Messiah guild: - Their aim is for the game to never end and for world domination. - They kill their members once they’re no longer useful. - Seejoon Lee, Messiah guild master - He was chosen by the Holy Light’s Redeemer. - The strongest player in the world and 1 of the first 7 players. - Knights of the Round Table: - Players who have legendary items related to King Arthur. - Shinhye Park, Messiah vice guild master - Jihoo Yang (Messiah), has Gawain’s Necklace - Jehoon Kim (Messiah) - Suzuki Eiichi (ex-Skull?), has Lancelot’s Ring - Noda Heijiro (ex-Skull?), bow master - Ken Tsukahara (ex-Skull?), swordmaster - ML returns to the day he awakened as a player. - For this life, he chooses the Lord of the Underworld. - This grants him the power over curses and poisons. - He'll also be able to create an undead army. - ML joins the Phoenix guild, the 2nd most powerful in the country. He receives the Poisonous Blood skill. - Dungeon: Goblin’s Den (E-rank, tier 1) - ML kills goblins on his own and levels up. He receives the Skeletal Army skill. Only monsters he kills while in a dungeon may be summoned at the time (can’t be stored). - ML and his undead goblin kill the goblin champion (final boss) to clear the dungeon. - ML receives a legendary skill … The Eye of Anubis. - You can take a glimpse into the memories of the dead. - Dungeon: Orc Hunter (C-rank) - ML kills orcs on his own and summons an undead orc. - ML’s poisoned blood and undead orc kill the orc hunter (final boss) to clear the dungeon. ML comes across the corpse of a player from the Phoenix guild under the Yongwan Park faction. - Using Eye of Anubis, ML sees the memories of this player murdering another player in this dungeon. ML also finds a journal that contains a black list of players in Yongwan Park’s faction who have either been killed or are targets to kill. - Yongwan Park, Phoenix guild master - ML visits Yongwan and gives him the journal. - Dungeon: The Orc Champion’s Colony (A+ rank) - The top guilds won bids from an auction for the limited spots to enter this dungeon. Yongwan agreed to give a spot to ML. - In ML’s past life, it’s highly likely players killed other players in this dungeon but there was a lack of evidence. This dungeon is a good chance to reduce competition and steal items. - While the guilds are fighting the orc army, ML goes to face the orc champion with 2 undead orcs. ML obtains the Orc Lord’s Fang: a legendary item that increases stamina, attacks and defence. - After killing the orc champion, ML receives the Book of the Grim Reaper skill. He can now store undead spirits. - After ML finds out the Skull guild are behind the player murders, he wipes out their team. He sees the memories of their team leader and confirms Messiah secretly allied with Skull. The Messiah bow master and swordmaster personally trained Skull members. The Skull guild has ties with Japan and they want to create a new Japanese Empire. - With the dungeon cleared, the players leave. - No one knows who killed the orc champion. - ML injured himself and blames it on the Skull guild. - He lets Yongwan think the Skull guild are to blame for his losses from this dungeon. - Oh Saechan, a dungeon broker - This person is one of Skull’s assassination targets. - Yongwan helps ML connect with Saechan. - Secretary Jisoo Lee, Saechan’s assistant. Her father was Saechan’s close friend who died in a dungeon break managed by Messiah. She’s been secretly investigating his death and planning revenge. - Dungeon: Kobold Elimination (C+ rank) - This is a test set by Saechan for ML. - ML clears this dungeon in half a day. - Dungeon: Lizard Warrior Hunt (D+ rank) - Yongwan set up this dungeon for ML to find out more about the Skull guild. Joining ML are a mercenary team and Jehoon Kim (Messiah) with the Skull guild team. Both teams are trying to kill ML but they don’t trust each other. ML kills both teams and kills the lizard hunter (final boss) to clear the dungeon. - Lee Jinah, the immortal player who can’t be killed. - He has the Styx River’s Blessing skill. - Dungeon: Albino Lizard’s Egg (A-rank) - ML buys the right to enter this dungeon from Saechan. - Jinah enters with ML as an examiner. - ML uses this as a chance to test Jinah's skills. - ML finds the egg after they defeat the albino lizard. - Inside the egg, ML obtains the Power of Apophis skill that gives resistance to all kinds of poison. - Dungeon: Needle Snake Hunt (A+ rank) - Saechan gets ML and Jinah to enter this dungeon. - They’re disguised as players from a Moscow guild. - Grim Reaper’s Mask: legendary item. - You can control and connect to undead monsters. - Saechan gave this item to ML who practises using it. - 1st floor: 5-day survival quest. Unknown to the other players, ML and Jinah massacre most of the monsters by themselves. - ML levels up and receives more skills … - Skeleton Warrior Mastery skill - Corpse Explosion skill: Inject mana into a monster’s body and it can explode at any time. - 2nd floor: Needle Snake (final boss) - It’s a gigantic snake with thorns on it’s body. The thorns shoot out for the snake to release a colourless and odourless poisonous gas. - ML and Jinah watch the majority of players attack the snake. Many players die from the poison. ML is immune to poison and fights the snake with his undead soldiers. He uses many spears coated with his blood poison to pierce and poison the snake. - ML makes the snake run away to areas where Jinah gathered the monsters’ bodies they’d killed earlier. ML uses his Corpse Explosion skill as the snake passes over those areas to make the bodies explode. As the snake succumbs to the poison, ML kills it. - Mastery Stone: improves skills from D to C-rank. - Yellow Dragon’s Magic Orb: contains powerful mana. It increases mana and mana recovery. - Isaac Ivanov is the alias that ML used as the one who cleared the dungeon. Saechan helps ML with manipulating public opinion about “Isaac” in the media to provoke a reaction from Messiah. - A spy from the Skull guild infiltrated a Phoenix guild team under Yongwan. The team were killed by the spy after they entered a dungeon. Yongwan wants to destroy the Skull guild and ML agrees to help him. - Messiah decide to cut ties with the Skull guild. - This creates tension with the bow master and swordmaster. - Dungeon: 2-Headed Dog (D-rank) - ML uses a fake ID (from Saechan) to enter this dungeon. - Jihoo Yang decides on his own to lead a team to kill ML. Other teams including the Skull guild also enter this dungeon. - ML gets rid of the Skull guild team first. - ML lures Jihoo away from his team and distracts Jihoo with traps. His team then Jihoo are killed by the skeleton soldiers. - Gawain’s Necklace: legendary item - It has the Blessing of the Sun skill that raises all stats. - Saechan and ML seem to have reached an implicit understanding that they both want to keep Messiah in check. - Dungeon: Horned Fox Hunt (A-rank) - ML and Saechan use this dungeon to save the Messiah team and make Messiah owe ML a favour. - ML and Jinah enter the dungeon disguised again as Russians. - A monster wave: hordes of fox monsters. - Horned fox (final boss) has incredible speed. Jinah used his immortal skill to stop the monster with his body so ML could attack with his blood poison arrows and undead army. - Aura Field skill (from Saechan) - Using Aura Field and the Grim Reaper’s Mask, ML shares the skill from Gawain’s Necklace to buff the stats of his skeleton soldiers. - ML clears the dungeon and receives the horn of the Horned Fox. In a media statement, he offers to give the horn to Messiah. - In keeping with their image as gracious heroes, Messiah decline the horn and offer a gift of gratitude instead. - ML obtains the Golem Summon skill. - Yongwan says the Skull guild have left South Korea and returned to Japan. Yongwan rewards ML with a new skill. - Blood Mist skill: create a mist using your own blood. - Hansung Group: the top finance company in the nation. - Founder and major sponsor of the Messiah guild. - Shinhye Park is the CEO. - ML is disguised as a porter when he enters a dungeon in North Korea. ML joins a Messiah team led by Suzuki Eiichi. - Inside the dungeon, ML kills a Messiah player and hides. He changes his disguise to Isaac. He kills the team but has a close battle with Suzuki. - Blood Absorption skill (from Yongwan) - This skill lets ML absorb blood from Suzuki, who is now greatly weakened by excessive blood loss. ML is healed enough to remove the Ring and let Suzuki die from the poison mist. - Lancelot’s Ring: legendary item. - Increased magic power and strong resistance to all negative effects (ie curses, mind control, etc). - Fire Fox dungeon in Japan (A+ rank) - ML and Jinah clear this dungeon disguised as Russians. - Blood Weapon skill: craft a weapon with your own blood. - Plus Ultra Ring: legendary item. All skill levels increase. - Frontier guild from USA, 1 of the top 5 guilds in the world. - Frontier signs an agreement with Phoenix under Yongwan. - Saechan and ML suspect Frontier are secretly colluding with Messiah to target ML and Yongwan when they’re inside dungeons. - Saechan suspects Messiah have infiltrated all of the top 5 guilds in the world. - Johann Georg, King of the Undead - He’s been recruited by Messiah to keep “Isaac” in check. - Percival’s Spear: legendary item (King Arthur) - Increased physical attack, damage and penetration. - Sam Oliver (Frontier) who was loaned Percival’s Spear. - Inside a dungeon, ML kills the Frontier team that were trying to kill him. ML disguises himself as Sam Oliver to kill the Frontier members guarding the dungeon entry. This is captured on CCTV. - Frozen Forest of Violence dungeon in Taiwan (A+ rank). - ML and Jinah disguised as Russians again. After ML as Isaac declares he’ll challenge this notoriously difficult dungeon, many top guilds from around the world join him. ML knows their real agenda is to treasure hunt for special items left behind by those who died from previous attempts. - Kunlun guild from China, 1 of the top 5 guilds - Van Gogh’s Bracelet: legendary item. It contains the power of harmony. It allows you to overcome the 5 x accessory limit by letting you use all 5 ring effects on one hand. - ML and Jinah kill an overpowered ogre with Percival’s Spear and poison from blood spears. - Berserker skill: turn a target into a berserker. All stats increase but life decreases over time. - 3 floor, C-rank dungeon with a Phoenix team. - ML shows his value with his creative use of blood poison, blood mist and blood weapons. His strategy helped achieve zero casualties and kill a giant white troll (final boss) to clear the dungeon. - Carrie Roana, Great One guild master in USA (1 of top 5). - Dead Forest dungeon in USA: after ML as Isaac asked to challenge this dungeon, it was opened for anyone to participate. - King Arthur’s Ring was offered as the prize by Great One. - Ellis Highton, the Great One team leader equipped herself with Merlin’s Staff and King Arthur’s Ring which has an item set effect. - Power of the Pharaoh skill: all dead bodies can be used as a sacrifice, not just those you killed. (from Saechan) - A condition is set for a competition between the guilds to see who has the highest monster kill count. The final result will determine who attacks the boss monster first and then in order after that. - ML and Jinah clear the 1st and 2nd floors. They also have the highest kill count. ML can now summon up to 50 undead. - On the 3rd and final floor, ML is immune to the poisonous black fog and Jinah is wearing Lancelot’s ring. - ML and Jinah face the headless horseman (final boss) and a horde of zombies. ML laid traps of exploding corpses for the Frontier guild who try to kill ML in a surprise attack from behind. - The other players are starting to collapse from the poison. ML convinces Ellis to give Merlin’s Staff and King Arthur’s Ring to him so he can quickly defeat the boss and save everyone. - ML has the set effect of his Round Table items which boosts their abilities and gives him great magic power. ML summons a large undead army and a giant rock golem to fight the zombie hordes, while Jinah and ML fight the boss. ML uses Percival’s Spear to smash the boss’ skull into pieces and clear the dungeon. - Hercules’ Ring: legendary item. - The more achievements you acquire, the more powerful you get. All stats increased. - King Arthur’s Ring: legendary item - All stats and attack power increased. - Effect of Round Table items increased by 100% - You can use Excalibur. - Merlin’s Staff: legendary item - It contains immense magic power. - Increased magic power, mana recovery and magic attacks. - 3 floor, A+ rank dungeon with a dragon hatchling in Japan. - ML as himself with ML as Isaac and Jinah (Russian disguise). - Saechan customised a Doppelgänger Leather item that looks like ML. It can be used over an undead skeleton. - NB: Yongwan doesn’t know ML is Isaac. - Yongwan continues to sponsor and support ML as Isaac in a mutually beneficial relationship. Isaac publicly credits Yongwan for his help. Yongwan and the Phoenix guild obtain positive PR from Isaac’s achievements. Yongwan gives Fire Golem and Skeleton Mage skills to ML before the dungeon in Japan. - ML clears the 1st and 2nd floors on his own. His army consists is the headless horseman, skeleton mages, giant fire golems and various other skeleton monsters. ML is now a one-man guild. - Jinah sacrifices himself again to tear through the dragon’s wing. Jinah, ML and ML’s army defeat the dragon on the 3rd floor. - The swordmaster sent a subordinate to assassinate ML as they came out of the dungeon. It was actually the doppelgänger that was “killed”. The swordmaster then killed his subordinate (who was a willing sacrifice) to look like a hero. - 4 floors, A+ rank, Hellhound dungeon in Japan. - As an apology for the death of a comrade, ML as Isaac and Jinah (Russian disguise) are given entry to this dungeon. - The swordmaster had bombs go off at the entry after ML and Jinah had gone into the dungeon. They locked the entry so no one else could go in. The swordmaster expects them to die inside. - After clearing the floors up to the 4th floor, ML finds the Aegis Shield that was left behind by a previous failed attempt. - Aegis Shield: legendary item. - The strongest shield made by Haphaestus that will never be destroyed. It has the Absolute Defence skill. - It activates God’s Blessing when infused with mana or energy. - There are 2 hellhounds as the final boss monsters. - ML takes care of one. Jinah insists on killing the other. - After clearing the dungeon, ML secretly meets Yongwan to confirm he’s alive. - The swordmaster gives ML as Isaac a reward. - Solomon’s Ring: legendary item. - Solomon’s Order skill: monsters can be controlled. - Increased attack and mana. - Hugh Fry, Lightning King, Thunderbird guild master. - Shakira, a sniper and vice guild master? - Vampire skill: you can turn into a vampire. - Summon Lich skill: summon an undead mage by sacrificing 100 monsters. - 5 floors, A+ rank, Cyclops dungeon in the Amazon. - Thunderbird, Messiah, ML and Jinah (as Russians) - ML is reunited with his Messiah comrades and close friends from his past life. Michelle the mage, Kyle and Jordan. - The final boss is a twin-headed cyclops. The Thunderbird team ignore ML’s advice and face the cyclops themselves. They’re all killed. Following ML’s strategy and leadership, the Messiah team with ML and Jinah kill the cyclops to clear the dungeon. - Twin Headed Cyclop’s Evil Eye: legendary item. - A crystal ball that uses mana to activate either Confusion or Petrification on enemies. - As agreed, ML gives the Evil Eye to Hugh Fry. - The swordmaster himself will face ML as Isaac. - Hades’ Helmet: stealth ability (like a ghost) - Hermès’ Boots: speed skill - 6 floors, A+ rank, Sphinx dungeon in Egypt. - Messiah and Johann invited Isaac to join forces for this dungeon. It’s clearly a trap. Yongwan wants Isaac to kill Johann. - Hades’ Ring (Johann): it can control skeleton soldiers, even ML’s. - Osiris’ Ring (Isaac): has the Resurrect skill. It can completely revive the dead. Increased attack and ability. - After clearing the floors up to the 6th floor, Johann reveals his true intentions and attacks ML who runs away with Jinah. - After Jinah kills a drake, ML resurrects it and they fly towards the giant sphinx (final boss). With the sphinx in pursuit, ML gets the drake to fly over Johann’s campsite and ML jumps off with Jinah. The sphinx lands after catching the drake and it decimates Johann’s undead army. The sphinx eventually flies away. - The swordmaster takes off Hades’ Helmet to reveal himself. Johann quickly snatches the helmet and runs away while his remaining skeleton soldiers attack the swordmaster. - Johann surrenders to ML. He gives Hades’ Helmet and Ring to ML as proof that he wants to be allies. The swordmaster finds Jinah and cuts off his head. Before the swordmaster could attack ML, his arms are chopped off by the recovered Jinah who was using the Helmet to appear invisible. - The swordmaster uses his mouth and teeth to clench onto the sword and he uses the speed from the Boots to slice through Jinah, ML and Johann. ML used the Aegis Shield to protect himself and Jinah. Johann was cut in half. ML as Isaac kills the swordmaster. - Jinah, ML and ML’s army defeat the sphinx and clear the dungeon. - ML knew Johann had the Return from the Dead skill and came back to life. ML lent Hermès’ Helmet to Johann so he could sneak out of the dungeon. Johann meets up with ML and Jinah in Cairo to return the helmet. - Jisoo Lee, Saechan’s secretary / assistant. - Shinhye Park used to be school mates with Jisoo Lee. - Jisoo Lee visits Shinhye at her Hansung Group office. Jisoo directly asks Shinhye if she killed Jisoo’s father. Shinhye continues to lie that it was an accident then gets angry when Jisoo hands over documented evidence? - 3yrs ago the creation of Messiah was announced by the Hansung Group. A dungeon appeared in the office basement. Newly awakened and inexperienced Shinhye went there in case of a dungeon break. That is where Jisoo’s father died. It’s also when Shinhye first met Seejoon Lee. - Messiah have just cleared a 7-floor dungeon, a world first. - Hugh Fry visits Yongwan Park and proposes they need to undertake a 7-floor dungeon together to keep Messiah and Seejoon Lee in check. He wants to write a (joint?) will to make arrangements for their guild members in case one of them is killed. Their guilds will merge in the event Hugh or Yongwan die. - ML is playing both Hugh and Yongwan against each other. He followed Yongwan’s order to get Isaac to kill Johann (who is actually in hiding). Hugh orders ML to help him kill Yongwan at the top floor of the 7-floor dungeon. - 7 floors, C+ rank dungeon in Pakistan. - Phoenix guild, Thunderbird guild and the Russians (ML, Isaac and Jinah) are cooperating on this raid. Johann is disguised as Isaac. He used a Soul Authority skill that contracts his soul to ML. - On the 4th floor ML uses his Summon Lich skill which has the added effect of doubling the numbers of his undead army. - Hugh decides to attack Yongwan now. Jinah protects Yongwan while ML used Hermès’ Helmet to make a sneak attack on Hugh. - Hugh uses his Indra’s Descent skill. Hugh is possessed by Indra the Lightning god and his destructive power affects both allies and enemies. - Before the raid, ML was allowed to choose an item from Yongwan’s armoury. ML chose an object sealed in a rock. - Golden Dragon’s gastric juices: allows you to see the authentic nature of a sealed item. ML pours these juices over the rock to reveal the legendary Thor’s Hammer. - The multiple lightning strikes aimed at ML are absorbed by the Hammer. Hermes’ Boots help ML to dodge Hugh’s spear attacks. - The lich has Merlin’s Staff and summons countless undead soldiers. The Thunderbird guild are surrounded. - Hugh runs out of mana and can no longer regenerate. ML lets his undead finish off Hugh. ML obtains Orin’s Spear and it resonates with Thor’s Hammer. - Goblin King: the boss monster on the 7th floor. - ML makes everyone continue with the raid under threat from Isaac. Together they clear the dungeon after killing the Goblin King. - Meanwhile Seejoon Lee wrecks havoc on the Hansung Group HQ. The media release reports it as an attack from an unknown anti-player terrorist organisation. The government authorises Messiah to stop crimes against players. This means Messiah can use military force against ordinary citizens. - At a press conference, Isaac (ML) declares the Phoenix and Thunderbird guilds will merge to form a new guild called Saviour. Isaac and his comrades will also join this guild. They won’t be connected to any government. They will clear dungeons and fight monsters for free. - 7 floors, A rank dungeon appears in France. - Francis Chereau the Dragonslayer, no.1 player in France. - Balmung the sword (is his sword?) - Jisoo (Saviour) and Shinhye (Messiah) are in Paris to bid for first access to the dungeon.

Ch 18 as of 30/06/22 - ML is William (Will) who retains his past life’s memories. - In his past life, he was a shut-in. He blamed himself for being worthless when his parents died. - ML was found as a baby and raised by a group of 3 undead. - They live among the ruins of an abandoned city. - Dad: Vlad / Blood the skeleton warrior (the War Ogre) - Mum: Marie, mummy priestess (Mater’s Beloved Daughter) - Grandpa: Gus the ghost mage (Augustus the Wandering Sage) - ML learns martial arts from Vlad, magic and academic studies from Gus, and life skills and prayers from Marie. - ML knows these lessons are to prepare him for life beyond the ruined city when he leaves as an adult. In this world you are considered an adult when you turn 15yo. The virtuous gods: - Volt, god of order, justice, thunder and lightning - Mater / Martel, goddess of fertility, earth and family - Blaze, god of flames, techniques and craftsmanship - Enlight, god of knowledge and words - Leasilvia, goddess of water and vegetation - Whirl, god of wind and communication - Gracefeal, goddess of transmigration and the life-death cycle The evil gods: - Illtreat, god of tyranny and despotism - Dyrhygma, god of dimensions and demons - Stagnate, god of the undead and immortality - Volt is the ruler of the virtuous gods. - Illtreat is the older brother of Volt. - Volt and Mater are husband and wife. - Gracefeal is their daughter. - 200yrs ago the Southmark continent was invaded by the High King of Demons. Many cities and towns were overtaken by hordes of demons. ML’s home was the base of the High King. - Gus, Vlad and Marie were famous, highly skilled heroes. They led an elite group to steal the Overeater sword from the High King. When Vlad was losing to the High King and their comrades were dying, Marie and Gus decided to seal away the High King. - As more demons gathered to try and break the seal, an echo (incarnation) of Stagnate descended. The god offered a contract with Marie, Vlad and Gus to become his undead and join his forces. In exchange he would wipe out the demons in the area. - The 3 heroes became the highest class of undead to guard and protect the High King’s seal for eternity. Stagnate turned the lower ranked demons into undead and wiped out the rest. - The 3 undead buried their comrades. Gus set up an extensive magic alarm system. They are bound to the place of the seal due to their contract and can’t leave. - They had no contact with the rest of the world and thought humanity was extinct until ML arrived. - ML as a baby was kidnapped by demons to be used as a human sacrifice to break the seal over the High King of Demons. - Pale Moon, ML’s magic spear. - Overeater, a demon blade that belonged to the High King of Demons. Life force can be recovered from any being it cuts. - The adulthood rite / coming of age ceremony includes choosing your guardian deity and making a pledge to that deity. - The day before ML turns 15yo, he has a final duel with Vlad. - Afterwards Vlad gives ML the Overeater sword. - Vlad warns ML to only use Overeater as a last resort and avoid becoming dependent on it. - ML is told the story of how he came to the place where the 3 undead were and what happened 200yrs ago. - An echo of Stagnate appears to take the souls of Marie and Vlad. A condition of the contract was when the 3 undead heroes lost all attachment to the High King and no longer cared about the seal, they would completely belong to Stagnate. - The echo thanks ML for being the reason the attachment is gone for Vlad and Marie, while Gus’ attachment has greatly weakened. ML is invited to join Stagnate with the 3 undead heroes. ML is given a day to think it over. - The 3 undead were badly injured by the echo. - ML alone faces Stagnate and refuses his offer. - The echo continues to tempt ML and holds a cup with his blood. ML gets close and cuts off the echo’s hand. A snake grows from the hand and bites ML who faints. - ML wakes up to see Gracefeal. She gives him the option of living or dying. He wants to live and protect his family which he didn’t do in his past life. ML makes his pledge to Gracefeal. In this life, he will live properly and die fulfilled. - ML revives and faces Stagnate again. ML is distracted by the undead summoned by the echo. ML doesn’t see Stagnate and realises the echo has gone to Marie and Vlad. - ML arrives to see that Stagnate will reach Marie and Vlad first. Suddenly there’s a bright light and Mater appears to block Stagnate. - As Mater disappears, ML attacks with Overeater and defeats the echo. Vlad and Marie say their final farewells to ML as their souls are taken by Gracefeal to rejoin the cycle of rebirth. - Gus will be taken by Gracefeal in 10yrs time. - Gus gives a large pouch of money to ML for his travels. - Meneldor, a half-elf hunter - His village was attacked by demonic beasts. They needed supplies to treat the injured and for the women and children. Meneldor led some men to raid the nearest village but was stopped by ML who received a warning from Gracefeal. ML hires Meneldor to guide him to the demonic beasts. ML makes a surprise attack and kills the largest beasts. Meneldor used his bow to kill the smaller ones. - With ML as the mediator, Meneldor changes his guardian deity and makes a pledge to Gracefeal. - ML explores ruins with Meneldor to find treasure to help his village. They’re travelling to Whitesails, a port city, to buy supplies. - Robina (Bee) Goodfellow, a halfling troubadour - Antonio, a hawker merchant for remote villages - The late King Egbert II of the Fertile kingdom. - The current King Owen, son of Egbert’s 1st wife. - Prince Ethelbald, younger half brother of Owen and son of Egbert’s 2nd wife. He’s also governor of Whitesails. - Bishop Bart Bagley - ML, Meneldor, Robina and Antonio arrive in Whitesails. - After ML introduces himself to the Bishop, they’re invited to stay in the temple guest rooms.

Ch 79 as of 31/01/25 - Multiple gates appeared around the world. - One day the gates changed colour and monsters poured out. The gates connected to dungeons in another world. Because the dungeons weren’t subdued, dungeon breaks occurred and the monsters escaped. - People awakened as hunters able to fight the monsters. - Hunting soon became the most important job in the world. - Hunters can see a status window that lists their skills. - Hunters can join guilds and form parties to raid dungeons. - Materials obtained from dungeons can be sold for money. High returns come with high risks, with many low rank hunters dying. - Technology advanced with the discovery of magic stones. - Humanity adapted quickly to the changed world. - Hunter associations were established in each country to keep the awakened in check. Most hunters work while being affiliated with the associations or guilds. - ML is Han Yujin. - After his parents died, he dropped out of school to work and support his younger brother. (Their parents sensed something was different about their sons and often spent time away from home?) - Han Yuhyeon, ML’s younger brother and a high schooler. - He awakened as 1 of a few S-rank hunters in the world. - He established the Abyss / World’s Edge guild and became the youngest ever guild master of the strongest guild in the country. He became rich, famous and successful. - ML went to an awakening broker to pay to be awakened. - He gave his entire life savings to what was soon uncovered as a scam. - ML awakened as a F-rank hunter called the “Caregiver.” - He was called a parasite for trying to live off Yuhyeon. It was also suspicious that he was the only survivor of multiple raids. - Yuhyeon abandoned ML, saying ML was holding him back as an incompetent older brother. Yuhyeon told ML to just live quietly. - ML’s unique skill lets him influence his surroundings. - When he says “cheer up” to those he’s become friends with, they receive a slight buff to their growth. An additional hidden “last reward” skill is activated when the influenced target dies. The skills and stats of the influenced target are temporarily doubled and transferred to ML, and he also sees their last memories. - ML joins a party to enter a D-rank dungeon. The party is killed by a (1st class) dragon. Yuhyeon arrives to save ML from the dragon’s attack. When Yuhyeon again admonishes ML for getting into trouble, ML tries to kill himself by facing the dragon. Yuhyeon blocks the dragon’s attack with his body and is mortally wounded. He tries to get ML to escape. - Yuhyeon’s skills and stats are transferred to ML when he dies. ML sees Yuhyeon’s memories and learns the truth that Yuhyeon ruined their relationship on purpose to keep ML safe. (So stupid) - ML kills the dragon. One of the rewards he receives is a wishing stone that will grant one wish (except for resurrection). ML wishes to turn back time to before he became awakened. - ML returns to 5yrs ago. He’s in 20yo Yuhyeon’s guild office before he argued with Yuhyeon and went to the broker. Relieved to see Yuhyeon alive, ML hugs Yuhyeon and apologises for not understanding how much Yuhyeon had to go through alone. ML says he won’t cause trouble so Yuhyeon doesn’t have to worry about him anymore. ML says I love you to Yuhyeon. - ML plans to forget about awakening and just live quietly. - He’s suddenly notified that he’s an awakened. He receives the titles of “dragon slayer” and “caregiver” from his past life. - The dragon slayer title has 4 skills. - Resistance, L-rank (legendary): Poison, Curse and Fear. - Dragons’ Natural Enemy (SS-rank) - The caregiver title has been buffed by the dragon slayer title. - The caregiver title now comes with 4 skills. - Last Reward (L-rank): the skills transfer now lasts for 7 days. - My Kid is the Best (L-rank): when activated by the key phrase, it increases the target’s growth rate by 100% for 3 days. - My Kid is so Great (SS-rank): it activates with the key phrase and when ML cheers on a target in front of an audience. The stats and skills of the target increases by the number of intelligent beings in the audience. (100% max) - Promising Sprout (S-rank): ML can check the potential rank of others. They will awaken with their optimal potential when influenced by ML and the key phrase is used. - The key phrase to activate the caregiver skills is “I love you.” - ML overall stats remain at F-rank. - Yuhyeon moves ML to his place and says ML can’t leave for his own safety. Yuhyeon’s enemies will target ML now that his relationship has improved with Yuhyeon. - Kim Seonghan (A-rank), Abyss / World’s Edge guild member - He has a defence skill, “Shield of the Earth.” - He’s assigned as ML’s guard. - Korean Hunter Association (KHA) - ML registers as a F-rank hunter at the KHA. - He buys hunter equipment that raises his stats to C-rank. - Park Yerim, the ice witch (A-rank) in ML’s past life. - 15yo Yerim was exploited and abused by her uncle after her parents died. ML scouts her before she’s awakened. - A monster appears from an unexpected dungeon break where ML is having dinner with Yerim. He takes her to the evacuation area then faces the monster with Seonghan. - Yerim follows ML and insists on helping him. She asks him to awaken her. ML uses his promising sprout skill and she’s a S-rank. Yerim easily fights back against the monster but has trouble controlling her strength. Yuhyeon arrives and destroys the monster. - Yerim signs a contract with the Abyss / World’s Edge guild and ML is her patron. The guild makes her uncle sign a contract to stay away from Yerim. She goes to the KHA to register as the 8th S-rank in the country. ML insists that she goes by herself and he watches from afar. - ML starts to think he was given his skills to help make diamonds in the rough shine. - Yu Myeongwoo, a new F-rank hunter. He has the potential for the SS-rank “Master of the Golden Forge” skill. - He was always good with his hands but his parents told him to focus on studying instead. He’s now in debt and is struggling in life. He awakened when he was trying to kill himself. - A miner contract is a scam that tricks inexperienced F-rank hunters to mine while the other party members actually do the hunting in a dungeon. The F-rank miners give up most of what they mine while being exposed to the high risk of injury and death. - ML follows Myeongwoo and gets in the car with the loan sharks that Myeongwoo is in debt to. He secretly calls Seonghan to let him know where they’re going from the conversation. - The loan sharks make Myeongwoo sign a miner contract and try to make ML sign one too. ML rips up both contracts which are cursed but his resistance skill means he’s not affected. - Seonghan arrives to save ML and Myeongwoo, and he beats up the loan sharks. They get taken to the KHA to deal with and arrange compensation for the other victims of the loan sharks. - Seok Simyung, HR team leader, Abyss / World’s Edge guild - ML forces Simyung to assign a dorm room for Myeongwoo while he does the new hunter education training at the guild. ML will move into a 4-room apartment and hire Myeongwoo as his fake live-in housekeeper so Myeongwoo can keep staying there. - Seonghan takes ML to a trendy bar for drinks. He apologises to ML for misjudging him. ML turns off his poison resistance and gets really drunk. ML keeps saying I love you to Seonghan which reminds Seonghan of his late grandpa when he got drunk. - Later ML thinks the influence of his caregiver title is a form of brainwashing. Under ML’s influence, others see ML as their caregiver and will follow him blindly. - Seok Hayan, a professor and expert on dungeons. - She went to the US to continue her research and discovered the law of dungeons in ML’s past life. Her uncle is Seok Simyung. - Yerim, ML and Myeongwoo take the new hunter education training together. Hayan teaches the theory. - A horned fire lion cub is a magic beast and a unicorn subspecies. Currently C-rank with S-rank potential. - An owner’s token: it’s a magic pendant that makes a monster recognise the owner as it’s master. - The cub was found in a dungeon by Yuhyeon and his party after they killed the boss monster. Yuhyeon is having trouble taming the cub. To prevent the cub from being killed, ML uses his caregiver skills on the cub and it works. ML names the cub “Peace.” - As new hunters, Yerim, ML and Myeongwoo enter their first dungeon together. Yuhyeon goes with them. Yerim and Yuhyeon hunt monsters to help ML and Myeongwoo level up. - Suddenly an A-rank monster appears in the D-rank dungeon. With ML giving advice to Yerim and Yuhyeon on how to use their skills, they kill the monster. Someone was trying to communicate with ML through the system. - When ML checks his caregiver skills, a book appears that seems to tell ML to influence up to 50 S-ranks. (Time limit: 5yrs) - ML pretends to have a new beast taming skill after leveling up. It’s just to hide his caregiver skills. ML refuses to sign with one guild and prefers to remain unaffiliated. Simyung will handle negotiations with the other guilds on ML’s behalf. A video of ML and Peace is shared with the major guilds. - Park Mingyu, Hanshin guild master. - Moon Hyunah, Breaker guild master and ex-athlete. - Choi Seokwon, MKC guild master and ex-soccer pro. - Sung Hyeonjae, Jupiter guild master and no.1 hunter in the world. - The major guild masters and the KHA president visit ML at the Abyss / World’s Edge guild office. They finalise negotiations over the provision of tamed beasts. ML will prioritise the taming commissions of the 5 guilds. The building for the taming facility will be constructed and paid for by the other 4 guilds (excluding Abyss / World’s Edge). ML will have sole ownership of the building. The 5 guilds guarantee the safety of ML and his building. - Yoon Yoon the Dokkaebi is a mysterious B-rank hunter with stealth and teleportation skills. He likes scaring people with his pranks. He was born 3yrs ago when the gates first appeared. - He’s a 100yo soul that dwelled in an old waterwheel. - He loses a bet with ML after 3 attempts at scaring ML failed. He becomes ML’s subordinate for the next 3yrs. - ML gets Dokkaebi to help source data about dungeons overseas for Hayan’s research. Other countries prohibit access to their dungeons by foreigners. With the support of the Abyss / World’s Edge guild, Hayan and her research will stay to benefit the country. - Simyung gets ML and Peace to appear on a TV show. It’s better for ML’s safety if everyone knows his face. - Hyunah is on set and speaks privately to ML. She tries to warn him about the monster that Yuhyeon really is. - ML doesn’t care. He understands too well how being awakened can change someone and how others see you. - Myeongwoo has to sharpen 10k knives to awaken his next skill. He’s given a work area in the equipment maintenance dept of the Abyss / World’s Edge guild. The other maintenance workers are hostile at first as they think Myeongwoo got into the guild through nepotism. Myeongwoo’s dedication and work ethic make the others realise he was being given an opportunity to shine. - ML and Peace are kidnapped from the Abyss / World’s Edge guild. ML is in a freight container on a ship to Japan where an auction will be held. Half the profits will be split among the kidnappers. One of the MKC guild sponsors is behind the kidnapping. - ML provokes the B-rank thug guarding him in the hope that he becomes so injured he has to be taken to hospital. Instead the thug takes ML to a cell with a C-rank monster. The thug leaves for 30mins and returns to find ML has made friends with the monster. - The thug is weakened by the monster but still manages to kill the monster. ML receives double the skills and stats from the monster and kills the thug. Using the stealth and tentacle skills of the monster, ML kills the other kidnappers. He finds Peace in another cell and waits there until they’re rescued. - Myeongwoo feels depressed and useless about ML’s kidnapping and runs away. He comes across a couple of kids who take him with them. Together they try to awaken as combat hunters by experiencing dangerous things. Myeongwoo tries to stop the kids when they run towards a dungeon break and this is captured by a news chopper. - The girl awakens as a F-rank after facing a monster. She tells Myeongwoo to leave her behind as her life isn’t worth living. - He says she’s wrong and gets her to go with the other kid to safety while he distracts the monster. As he’s falling to his death, Myeongwoo is saved just in time by ML who saw the news and still has his monster skills. - Back at home, ML tells Myeongwoo to never do that again. - Myeongwoo completes sharpening his 10k blades and awakens his SS-rank skill. He is the only equipment production hunter in the world. A pocket dimension comes with the skill and is full of S-rank and SS-rank materials. He also receives a crafting encyclopaedia. He takes ML on a tour of the Golden Forge which can only be accessed with his permission. - ML says Myeongwoo can do whatever he wants from now on. - Myeongwoo crafts an ice tree spear, a S-rank weapon using a S-class magic stone from the Abyss / World’s Edge guild and an ice branch. The spear is publicly presented to Yerim. Both Myeongwoo and Yerim declare their gratitude to ML. This shows how much he means to them and how they want to protect him. - Kang Soyoung 19yo, A-class hunter recruited from England by the Jupiter guild. She has a SS-rank beast mount skill called “Dragon Rider.” She’s still waiting for her dragon to hatch. It’s a dark spiked wing dragon. - Peace is lethargic since the kidnapping. Soyoung suggests they go to the rooftop garden at the Jupiter guild. Peace is reenergised and explores with enthusiasm. ML meets Sung Hyeonjae who seems to be testing ML. Hyeonjae gives ML a pair of stud earrings that increase magic power and has a B-class barrier skill. - Using his monster skills before they expire, ML sneaks out and goes to a F-rank dungeon to try and communicate with the system. ML sees multiple windows that say “preparation needed” and “one week.” The windows shatter and a small white chick appears. To feed the chick, ML collects mana stones from monsters he kills. He solo clears the dungeon after killing the boss monster. ML names the chick “Chirpy.” - ML secretly farms for more mana stones to feed Chirpy and Peace. He clears an E and a D-rank dungeon (and levels up?) - ML enters a D-rank dungeon with Peace and Yuhyeon. - ML is suddenly summoned by the system (creators?) and is teleported to inside the wishing stone? Earlier ML was told the wishing stone could grant a wish for resurrection. - Only ML’s world went back in time. Everything else remained the same. That’s why it seems like the dungeons are increasing in strength and number faster. To protect his world, ML must use the key phrase on 50 S-ranks (beasts or humans). - The status window will eventually disappear as it’s only for guiding beginners. It limits players too much. - ML is sent back to the dungeon. Yuhyeon has decimated everything while trying to find ML. Both Yuhyeon and ML have been keeping secrets from each other. They have more open communication and resolve their misunderstandings. Yuhyeon becomes less protective and more trusting of ML. - ML presents the Dokkaebi’s reports on foreign dungeons to a very grateful Seok Hayan. He offers to provide her with a research centre next to his building. She recruits her friends to join her. They make up the incredible research team that she formed in the US from ML’s past life. - 3 baby monsters arrive for ML to look after. - Blue the golden griffin - The shadow unicorns, White and Black - Riette Luhir, S-rank hunter (from France) - She and her brother Noah are half human and half dragon. - They killed a cursed poison dragon boss monster in a dungeon that was supposed to appear in 5yrs time. They consumed the dragon’s powers. She started an illegal contract business using her curse skill. - Black Golem’s City, A-rank dungeon - Kim Seonghan can become S-rank by fulfilling a condition. He needs to defeat an A-rank boss monster on his own. - The dungeon is owned by the Jupiter guild. Hyeonjae insists on joining the raid party, which includes ML, Peace, Seonghan, Yerim and Hyunah. Multiple S-rankers aren’t usually allowed in dungeons. They’re used to fighting alone and aren’t mindful of other S-rankers. They also use the opportunity of being in a dungeon to fight each other. - Scary Chick Class Teacher skill (SS-rank) - You can connect multiple people and have them work together, but your mana consumption and mental strain is considerable. - ML obtains this new “command system” skill after he orders the S-rankers around. - Bavar the Giant Toad monster (1st class, SS-rank) comes out from a dungeon break in China and causes widespread damage in 5yrs time. Rapid recovery is one of it’s skills. Suddenly it appears inside this A-rank dungeon. - ML gets the S-rankers to cooperate together to kill Bavar. ML uses his new skill to link everyone with ML as the centre. - ML shares his skill with Hyeonjae that doubles attack power? - Seonghan protects everyone with his defence skill by erecting a massive earth wall. The first ever cooperation between S-rankers is a success and they defeat Bavar. - ML passes out. Hyeonjae is consumed by greed after experiencing the intoxicating power up with ML. He tries to kidnap ML but relents for now. ML is unconscious for 2 days. - Seonghan is now a S-rank. He will be promoted to Abyss / World’s Edge vice guild master. Peace also reached S-rank and was taken by Yuhyeon alone into a S-rank dungeon. - ML was rewarded with a “Nameless Demon King’s Old Waterwheel” (SS-rank). He gives it to Yoon Yoon who turns into a demon king (1st class, SS-rank) and goes on a rampage. ML convinces Yoon Yoon that he is much scarier as a Dokkaebi. Yoon Yoon calms down and turns into a goblin king instead. - Song Taewon is the Chief Officer of Awakened Management at the Public Administration and Security Ministry. He’s a former policeman and the only S-ranker working as a public servant. - The taming facility is finished. Kang Soyoung’s baby dragon has finally hatched and is called Comet. - Taewon tests ML’s fear response by choking him. - ML’s resistance skill doesn’t activate but he isn’t fearful at all. Taewon suspects ML’s warning system for dangerous and risky situations is off. ML seems desensitised to fear. - Noah Luhir (Riette’s brother) 19yo, Ark guildmaster - He awakened as an A-rank healer but was abused and forced to become a “more useful” S-rank by Riette (and Hyeonjae?) - Noah is taken in by ML and treated kindly for the 1st time. - Peace and Yuhyeon return after conquering the S-rank dungeon in record time. ML’s affection and care for them is sincere and without fear … which is highly unusual in the presence of powerful beings. - Dungeon reward: red egg that hatches a Flame Spirit

Ch 40 as of 21/01/23 - End of Season 1, Ch 40 - Forest of Roots: It’s a massive area covered in demonic energy. A divine barrier stops anything demonic from leaving the Forest. It became a place of punishment and exile. Divine power is used to send criminals to the Forest to get rid of them. No one can survive here. If you manage to escape the Forest alive, your sins will be forgiven. - Helmut was born with the seed of darkness, so his existence is sin itself. He was sent to the Forest of Roots as a newborn baby. - Helmut is probably from a noble family. - Elaga the snow leopard picked up baby Helmut and cared for him. Helmut is protected in Elaga’s territory covering the central area. - Darien Deperte the Sword Saint. - 10yo Helmut finds Darien’s hut in the Forest. Elaga gave special permission to Darien to live in his territory. - Darien helps Helmut to grow stronger so he can escape the Forest and survive in the human world. Darien trains Helmut in swordsmanship. - Vis: nature’s energy and flow - To absorb and control the energy in the atmosphere, then infuse the energy through your sword. Helmut learns how to use vis to help him suppress the seed of darkness inside him. - Demonic beasts all have a core. - When a core is consumed by a demonic beast, they grow stronger, recharge their energy, and increase their lifespan. - Naho the 2-headed snake has territory in the southern area. - A few years ago, Darien destroyed the human farm in Naho’s territory. The farm has been rebuilt since then. People sent to the Forest are captured and brought to the farm. The men are used as slave labour to maintain the farm. The women are sacrifices for Naho to consume. - Erugo the black mage is the leader of the human farm. - He created the farm in cooperation with Naho. - He needs people for his human experiments with black magic. - 14-15yo Helmut is told by Darien that it’s time for him to leave the Forest. Darien tells Helmut to never lose himself. - The next morning, Darien has passed away. He left his sword for Helmut. - Elaga gives Helmut a locket made of gold that he had with him as a baby. Engraved in the locket is: “Let there be light on your path, Margret Irene.” - Before Darien died, he told Helmut to find Erugo to learn more about the weakened part of the divine barrier. - Helmut threatens Erugo for the info. Erugo alerts Naho. - Helmut strikes an eye and Naho consumes the injured head. - Elaga faces Naho and tells Helmut to escape. - Helmut reaches the Forest of Roots edge. The seed of darkness inside him reacts to the divine barrier nearby. - Igrelle the phoenix and ruler of the northern area stops him. - Helmut convinces Igrelle to let him try to be the first being to cross the barrier and make it out of the Forest. - Face Mercenary Corps - Phien, captain and a rank 2 gold medal mercenary. - Tanya, vice captain and a rank 3 silver medal mercenary. - Phien and Tanya are siblings. - Finn, a rank 4 bronze medal mercenary, finds Helmut who is unconscious after crossing the barrier. Helmut wakes up after being treated for his injuries and he pretends to have amnesia. - Helmut tests the level of his skills in a duel with Tanya. He hasn’t fully recovered and he can’t use vis yet. He’s defeated by Tanya. - Helmut is invited to stay with the squad until his memories return. He receives a rank 4 mercenary deed as his temporary ID. The other mercenaries in the squad are rank 3 silver. Helmut secretly trains late at night to grow stronger. - Sir Miles from the Butan Merchant Association commissions the Face and Tarik mercenary squads for a large scale convoy. - Caleb (Tarik squad) constantly bullies Finn and taunts Helmut. - The convoy is suddenly attacked by demonic beasts. The beast leader escapes after the other beasts are killed. - Helmut saves Finn from a demonic beast. His vis has returned. - That night Caleb follows Helmut who walks away from the camp on his own. Caleb attacks Helmut who slashes Caleb’s legs. The beast leader was watching and kills Caleb. - The demonic beasts attack day and night without rest. They’re only targeting the Face squad. Sir Miles and the Tarik squad make a secret deal to leave the exhausted Face squad behind as bait to distract the beasts while they flee to save themselves. - Many demonic beasts surround the Face squad. - ML reveals his ability with vis and slaughters them all. ML detects another battle in the distance. Phien sends ML ahead to check if it’s the Tarik squad. Paul the Tarik captain and Max the Tarik vice captain abandoned everyone and fled. ML faces the beast leader who absorbs the energy from the dead beasts to grow stronger. - The beast leader is still much weaker than Naho and ML kills it quickly. The Face squad arrive and discover Sir Miles survived. Phien thanks Helmut for protecting the Face squad. Phien will be there for Helmut if he ever needs help. - Antiol the archmage was the client who commissioned Butan to transport goods from the powerful Lumen Temple (who defeated the demon king 1000yrs ago). Lumen has been gathering sacrifices and power under the guise of protection. - At a designated remote location, Sir Miles uses a magic pendant to take them to Antiol’s abode. Only a third of those who began with the convoy made it to the end. The remains of the demonic beasts are also sold to Antiol. - Helmut is noticed by Antiol who casts a soundproof barrier so they can talk privately. Antiol swears a mage’s oath to never reveal that Helmut has the seed of darkness inside. - Antiol says that the seed is like Helmut’s heart and can never be removed as it is essential in order for him to live. - Helmut parts ways with the Face squad. They upgraded his mercenary deed to rank 3 for use during his travels. - Antiol warned Helmut that the seed will one day devour him and go berserk. Helmut wants to grow even stronger so this won’t happen and his control over the seed is absolute. - Darien had slipped a letter into Helmut’s belongings. He suggests Helmut travel to Baden to attend the Greta Academy. There Helmut can learn more about being a human to help him adapt to the outside world. A man named Ethan Kudrow will help Helmut if he shows Darien’s sword to Ethan. - Black Hawk, an underworld organisation - Helmut beats up some Black Hawk thugs who tried to extort money from him. Helmut is warned by an innkeeper that the thugs will return to avenge themselves later. Helmut lures the thugs to a nearby forest and takes care of them there. His seed of darkness reacts to the murder of humans. - Paul and Max (both rank 2 mercenaries) want to join Black Hawk. To prove they’re worthy, they assigned to find and kill Helmut. - Helmut visits a mercenary guild and accepts a commission to escort a noble lady: Jenia 14yo, daughter of Marquis Cheringen. - Aleah, a mage and Jenia’s acquaintance - Jenia’s entourage stop in a forest for a break. - The spring is tainted with a sleeping potion by Paul and Max who are with a large group of Black Hawk members. Helmut and Aleah are the only ones who didn’t drink the spring water. The Black Hawk members are captured by Aleah. Helmut let Paul and Max escape. He didn’t know that imprisoning them was an option. - Ethan Kudrow is a swordsmanship instructor. - Jenia’s entourage arrive at Baden. It’s the first city that Helmut has visited. He goes to the Greta Academy and meets Ethan who realises Helmut is Darien’s student after seeing his sword. Helmut asks Ethan to keep it a secret about Helmut’s connection to Darien. - Ethan helps Helmut enrol at the Academy as a transfer student. He’s astounded at Helmut’s sword skills after seeing Helmut slice through a hardwood log with a wooden sword using vis. Helmut still needs to pass the written exam to be accepted at the Academy. - Helmut gets Aleah to tutor him after paying a small fortune. - Aleah is at the top of his class at the Academy. - ML learns quickly but has trouble with the concepts of ethics and justice. A few weeks later ML takes the written exam. - ML is scorned for being a commoner by the other examinees. - For the 1st stage of the practical exam, ML shocks the supervisor by splitting the blackwood log in half with one strike. - The 2nd stage is a 1v1 duel with 2 rounds. The examinees are evaluated on their skills, not on the final outcome of the duel. - Ethan is 1 of the 3 judges on the evaluation panel. - ML doesn’t give his opponent a chance to act at all and easily wins the 1st round. For the 2nd round, Ethan asks ML to focus on teaching instead of winning. ML spars with his opponent while pointing out areas for improvement. Ethan is reminded of Darien. All 3 judges are impressed with ML the most. - Sian, the only elemental mage at the Academy. - Ratin is a spirit of light. - Before ML starts attending the Academy, he takes on a request from the Baden mercenary guild. He needs to investigate and eliminate the “ghost” that appeared at the Academy. - The ghost turns out to be a spirit of darkness. Sian, Aleah and ML work together to subdue and capture the spirit. - All students are treated equally at the Academy, regardless of status, family and gender.