Chapter 304. Transcendent (2)

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From the day he had come to the 4th zone from the 3rd zone.

He had always thought to himself.

Do I have the right to lead these people?

I am afraid.

One day if I make a single, wrong choice.

Everybody could get killed.

***

‘I guess… This is the moment.’

Taesang thought of the question he had been pondering over all the way until now.

His entire body was shouting at him.

Do. Not. Resist.

The moment he did, the man would use that thing on his hand.

Without a single bit of hesitation.

‘I have made 2 mistakes until now.’

First, taking the box.

Second, helping this man.

Well, it wasn’t a mistake really.

Since there was nothing wrong with his choice nor anything strange.

But the result was unequivocal.

His decisions, brought them a terrifying monster.

There was no reason to make a third mistake.

“Yes, I will lead you.”

Taesang walked ahead of his comrades and Hansoo smiled at Taesang.

“Yes. Good. This is pretty good for you guys as well, don’t worry.”

Though it seemed like he had become the bad guy here, it was still a good deal for them.

Since they can cross the plains swarming with Dakramas with him around.

‘And…’

If they were worried about their main base, it meant that there was somebody aiming for it.

And the fact they were on guard against a human like him meant that the target was also a human.

Hansoo continued to stare at Taesang who was squirming his fingers around.

Tiing.

Ssssk.

With every movement of the finger, a tiny and miniscule shockwave spread out.

A method of communication.

“Dark King?”

“..!!!!”

Taesang freaked out at the words from the man.

‘… He read the shockwaves?’

It was something that was impossible without a cheat sheet of some sort.

Hansoo spoke as he stared at Taesang who was looking at him in fear and shock.

“There’s no time so let’s talk while we move. There’s a lot I want to ask.”

The past 2 years.

He was curious as to how it changed.

How the road from the 1st to the 3rd zone, which his past self had painstakingly set up, had changed.

And how the 4th zone and above had changed as well.

‘I could just ask the ones through the Soul Fragment, but…’

There’s still a lot of restrictions so he didn’t want to waste it on just these simple questions.

And at those words.

‘… What the hell is he? Why doesn’t he know this?’

Taesang and the others were confused.

***

The world had changed a lot because of Hansoo.

And in between the lower Red, Orange, Yellow zones and the upper Blue, Indigo, Violet Zones, there was the Green zone.

The Green zone of the past, which was the 4th zone now, was much different than the floors below and above as it was the center.

“Since you tell me that you’re a member from before the Great Change, you wouldn’t know anything about the floors below, huh. And you tell us that you have A.M.N.E.S.I.A.”

Misun emphasized the amnesia part after having been almost killed just before.

Hansoo shrugged his shoulders.

“Yeah, I don’t remember anything so it would be great if you guys can explain it to me in detail.”

And Misun grinded her teeth at Hansoo’s attitude.

‘Fucking bastard.’

But Misun and the other three knew.

That they had to follow this man’s orders.

‘There’s nothing we can do.’

This guy was just too damn strong.

But at that moment.

“Careful…!”

Lauren, who had been running as fast as she could, suddenly cried out.

Then.

Boooooooom!

Something exploded out from beneath the ground.

And Misun freaked out.

‘… Kang-Kion!’

Misun hurriedly raised her blade at the 2m large hunting dog which had jumped out from the ground to bite her head off.

This was one of the greatest changes the opening of the Abyss had brought.

The Abyssal races had been fully released.

And these monsters were one of the two greatest factors that changed the humankind.

Monsters that were hard to deal with the basic logic they had.

Look.

Lauren’s perception was powerful enough to scan around a radius of numerous kilometers.

But because of the assimilation of the lands, she could not detect the Kang-Kion which moved underground.

This monster didn’t have a physical body.

It simply phased through the ground beneath as a form of spirit and then used the surrounding materials to create a body when needed.

And even Lauren couldn’t detect it until it got within 10m of her.

‘Fucking… How did they come all the way here!’

Misun grinded her teeth at the rough breath of the monster on her face.

But that was it.

Misun wasn’t afraid in the slightly despite being seconds away from her neck being ripped apart.

She knew what would happen next.

And as she expected.

Crunch!

Something shot out from the space between her neck and shoulder and stabbed into the monster in front of her.

Roooaaarr!

The Kang-Kion, which had formed itself from dirt and ice, disappeared into powder.

This thing was not something that died this easily.

It wasn’t just some random dirt and ice.

The dirt and ice that the Kang-Kion had formed its body with was countless times stronger than even the special weapons from the floor below.

But somehow, this thing had been killed in just a single strike.

‘Who the hell is he?’

But Misun shook her head.

Whether he had amnesia or not, it just meant that he didn’t want to talk about himself.

And since he was safeguarding them back to the main base, there was nothing to lose from not asking.

Clank.

As Hansoo withdrew his spear, something made a clanking noise and fell on the ground.

And Misun’s eyes shone at this.

‘Abyssal Crystal.’

The Abyssal Crystal.

The single object that the new Abyssal Race gave them.

But Hansoo merely picked up the crystal and threw it to Misun.

As if he didn’t care about it.

“Well, take it as a form of payment for the information. Continue.”

Money always talked.

Misun stopped for a second but soon nodded as she took the crystal.

‘… We really need this for the main base as well. There’s nothing to lose from this, this is an equivalent exchange.’

“I’ll continue.”

***

From the 1st to the 3rd zone.

These zones had been surprisingly successful in defending against the invaders of the Abyss.

And not just successful, they had done it perfectly.

The 1st, 2nd and 3rd zones were different.

The 1st zone had the World Tree which supplied them with vast amounts of mana.

The 2nd zone had the Akadus which managed the humans as well as the Akarons.

Same for the 3rd zone.

The 3rd zones had had the legacy weapons of the past, the Satellite Fortresses.

But just this wouldn’t have been enough.

The Abyssal Race from the elevators couldn’t be dealt with just pure strength.

But the information that Hansoo had given them before he left had filled the gaps.

And because of this.

The 21st and 22nd year rookies who had just come up had been able to climb through the zones in relative safety despite having to fight the beings from the Abyss every day.

And they were the clear example of this.

“We haven’t even been here for 2 years. Well, the reason why we had been able to come this far was thanks to a man called Kang Hansoo.”

“Hmm.”

Hansoo was shocked at the four in front of him.

For them to be barely 2 years old.

‘I didn’t waste my strength, huh.’

Hansoo smiled contently.

Before, it would’ve taken 9 years to get to the Green zone on average and maybe 6 or 7 years if they were fast.

But thanks to his setup, these people had been able to climb up here this quickly.

The reason why it took so long to climb up was largely attributed to things like the Five Calamities or the Gragos as well as the other humans who would constantly backstab them.

Since he had gotten rid of all this as well as giving them benefits such as the World Tree, they just had to gather runes to climb up.

‘… Why is he happy? Could he be Kang Hansoo or something?’

Misun was confused at first but then was in shock.

‘… Wait.’

Kang Hansoo.

A superhero in the zones below.

He was so famous that the three rulers of the zones had spread out pictures and information about Hansoo to all the rookies.

— Memorize this. This is a small booklet with all the information regarding the man called Kang Hansoo. If you do find him then immediately report it.

And they, the rookies, couldn’t go against their owners.

They all knew his traits.

But Misun soon shook his head as she stared at Hansoo.

‘The sizes are different.’

Their sizes were too different.

There was a limit of how large and small a human being can become.

And another thing.

‘… Why are there so many guys impersonating him.’

And most of the impersonators were bastards.

Just like the man in front of him.

Then.

“So where’s the main base of the 4th zone? Is it the War Fortress?”

“… Don’t you have amnesia.”

“I remember a bit here and there. Don’t rebuke.”

Misun spat as she continued to speak.

“It was like that in the past. But not now.”

“The past?”

Then.

The four all clenched their teeth.

“Yeah. In the past. Most of the humans who had been in the War Fortress… Have been killed when that fucking Dark King blew it apart.”

The two disasters that had appeared with the Abyss.

First was the Abyssal race.

Second was… The transcendents.

A type of people completely different from the normal beings.

Their numbers and how they came to be were all a mystery but they were extremely powerful.

It would be a huge benefit if they stood up for the humans.

But sadly, most of them were like demons.

‘Fucking bastard.’

Misun grinded her teeth as she thought of the Dark King.

***

Rummble.

“Good… Very good.”

The top of the War Fotress.

A chair sat on top of the castle.

A man and a huge beast sat here.

“Yes, good kitty. Good kitty.”

And the creature that had its neck held by the man in the chair was a Kang-Kion.

The Kang-Kion, whose sole reason of existence was to feast upon other creatures such as the humans, was growling dispirited.

Then.

A man approached and spoke to the man sitting on the chair.

“So… Are you just going to ignore it.”

The man sitting on the chair stood up as he spoke.

“It’s time to set off.”

The man’s figure was clearly seen as he stood up.

A golden spear and a silver set of armour.

From the small ring on his hand to the huge size of his body.

‘… He really imitated him well. What did he say? He got the same outfit because he respected the man?’

The man mumbled as he looked at the Dark King standing in front of him.