Episode 162

1.

[The effects of Soul Unleashed have been deactivated.]

[The Soul's Rest debuff has been applied.]

[Due to the side effects of Soul Unleashed: Stage 6, Soul Unleashed cannot be used for 12 hours.]

In the awkward silence, holograms popped up one after another, oblivious to the mood, announcing the end of the battle as they flooded his vision.

"Haah."

There were more holograms than ever.

Which, in a way, was only natural.

He had become the protagonist of a Legendary-grade event.

This wasn't on the same tier as something like a national war event.

Even if they were both "events," national wars had a strong sense of friendly competition.

They felt more like something opened to give players gifts than to threaten them, and even if you fought like your life depended on it, you didn't actually lose your life.

The Catastrophe Event was different.

It was a disaster, literally.

Not a friendly match between players and nations to compare combat power, but a war between monsters and humans with Earth on the line.

The losers died.

And were exiled from Earth at the same time.

From a player's perspective, it was only natural to complain about why they had to risk their lives to stop a monster invasion just to protect Earth, which was why the hologram offered rewards.

[Accept the invader's challenge and try to stop them.]

[If you fail, the disaster will gradually sprout and bloom into a flower of despair, but if you succeed, you will be properly rewarded.]

Those rewards were what was now scrolling up in front of his eyes.

It would be the same for the other players.

"I'm beat."

Normally, he would have been itching to check them right away.

He probably would have rushed off somewhere quiet to tear into them one by one, checking to see what the first-place prize included.

But not now.

Right now, everything felt like a hassle, and his body felt heavy and limp.

He still wanted to go somewhere with no one around, but he could check the holograms later. All he wanted at the moment was rest.

Had the fight against the Flame Death Knight really been that grueling?

Looking back, not at all.

He could honestly say it had been the most perfect, the easiest, and the most fun battle he had fought since awakening as a player.

More importantly, he hadn't fought the Flame Death Knight from the very beginning.

Two evolutions.

In truth, all he had done was finish off a Catastrophe-class monster that was at its strongest on paper, but also at its weakest in practice.

'Damn item. It eats that much gold and still has side effects.'

Kim Buja knew the real reason.

It was his own body.

If you don't know why you're exhausted, you can't manage it.

Gnawing Soul.

It was a piece of armor that, despite no mention of the "Soul's Rest" debuff in its item description, came with that very penalty—and a cooldown on top of it.

When he first discovered this drawback after the item had consumed nearly fifteen thousand gold, he couldn't contain his anger.

However, he soon calmed down.

[Would you like to remove the "Soul's Rest" debuff?]

[Required Gold: 1,400]

He had seen something even worse.

From his first experiment to its second use in an actual fight, he had learned the utterly useless fact that the cost to remove the debuff was one-tenth of his investment. At the same time, he couldn't help but feel a sense of futility, wondering if he really had to go this far just to get stronger.

On top of that, true to its name, "Soul's Rest" left his body feeling limp and drained.

The system was blatantly telling him to pay to get rid of his fatigue.

That only made him even less inclined to spend more gold to remove the penalty.

'This level of fatigue is nothing.'

He casually started walking, stepping into the awkward atmosphere.

"Good work, everyone."

"...May I ask you something?"

As Buja clasped the hand offered to him, trying to move past the tension as if nothing had happened, Fly shot a question at him.

The seriousness in Fly's hardened expression made it clear he was being as direct as possible.

Kim Buja had expected this but had hoped to avoid it and just let the moment slide.

'As expected of the number one player.'

It wasn't about some pointless pride or ego.

Fly possessed all the necessary traits for growth: competitiveness, curiosity, and suspicion.

He never hesitated to ask questions, a confidence that came from knowing he already had so much.

"If it's a secret, I will absolutely keep it. If you require compensation, I'm willing to pay whatever you ask. Could you share some information about the power you displayed during this event?"

Yet he didn't cross the line. In fact, if a third party overheard, they might wonder if the information was really worth the high price he was offering.

"Phew."

Kim Buja let out a breath. He understood the offer, even if he couldn't fathom why Fly was going to such lengths, and shook his head.

This wasn't the first time. If anything, this was mild compared to the kinds of questions he used to get while gaming or running his video channel.

"It's not really something I need to hide, so I'll tell you. But this is just for you, Fly."

He had already been compensated more than enough. He'd been allowed to come here, no strings attached, and sit down at a table that was already set. This much was nothing.

"I can't tell you everything, but I'll give you a few keywords."

He took a step closer and spoke in a low voice.

"Point Dungeon. Fifty thousand."

Fly was struck speechless.

Fly had to have understood what that meant.

"Then...!"

"I'll stop there. Anything more is classified."

"...Understood."

Fly's eyes were shining so brightly precisely because he understood. This was especially true for him, as he had been the first to gather enough points to obtain the Point Dungeon item that granted additional damage to monsters.

"You really are incredible. I acknowledge you."

Having gotten what he wanted, Fly's expression relaxed into a bright smile.

Acknowledgment.

It was a word that could be tossed out lightly, but for Fly, it wasn't something he said easily.

Since the words came from the heart, Kim Buja simply gave a calm nod.

It wasn't humility.

'Who cares about recognition that doesn't make me any money?'

Someone else might have felt proud, but not Kim Buja.

In the end, Fly was just another mountain to be climbed, a wall he fully intended to surpass one day.

More importantly, he was now performing on the same stage as someone who, by all rights, should have been leagues ahead of him—someone he shouldn't have even been able to face.

Now, he felt confident.

He could say it for sure.

'I can see it.'

At least in terms of its potential to support a player's growth and capabilities, Gold Maker was superior to Elemental Wizard.

* * *

After shaking off Fly, who kept trying to wheedle more information out of him, Kim Buja made it home in one piece and checked the community forums.

The reaction was explosive.

The hottest topic, of course, was how a level 14 player like him had managed to pull off such a feat.

Countless debates raged, and wild theories flew. Some people even went so far as to claim he had deliberately hidden his real level before his debut.

Of course, that theory never gained any real credibility.

The closest thing to a correct answer was speculation based on the fact that both Kim Buja and the Jeong Cheol Guild had been out of sight for a while.

[There's gotta be something in the Point Dungeon, right? Calling that a class trait is a huge stretch. For him to show that kind of potential overnight, it makes more sense that he bought something in the Point Dungeon than that he suddenly unlocked a new class skill. Otherwise, it just doesn't add up. By phase three, that thing looked at least level 70. You're telling me he went one-on-one with that and won? No way. It had to be some kind of one-time buff or something. The duration seems a bit long, but aside from that, there's no other explanation that holds water. If a level 14 player got that kind of power permanently, the game's balance would be completely broken.]

"Knock yourselves out."

He had absolutely no intention of pouring cold water on their speculation.

In times like these, the person at the center of it all was required to remain silent. If he stepped forward just because he was getting some attention and started explaining, "This is like this, that is like that," the jealous ones would just accuse him of showing off.

Besides, this kind of attention was only possible because it was full of hot air.

Once he returned from the Tower of Trials or a Gold Mission, people would have already moved on to the next big thing. His name would be nothing more than a fond memory for a few.

That was why he deliberately left it alone.

He wanted them to keep speculating, chewing on it, and mulling it over until he returned.

Meanwhile, the bait he had tossed to Fly would morph into an even bigger puzzle, giving people the fun of trying to piece it all together.

He didn't particularly mind being forgotten. But as a former gamer who had once lived off the attention of others, being the focus of so much interest was, in its own way, intriguing and fun.

It also served as a positive catalyst for him personally.

Even so, a part of him hoped for something else.

He hoped that by the time the afterglow of the Catastrophe Event faded, an even bigger story would have exploded onto the scene.

"I'll just check the rewards and head out tomorrow."

There was a reason for this thought.

It was the Gold Mission he had been putting off for so long.

He tried to recall exactly how much time had passed, but it had been so long he couldn't even guess.

It was time to go.

For now, though, what he needed most was rest.

Kim Buja threw himself onto the bed.

* * *

A massive Temple.

Inside the grand and ostentatious structure, so magnificent it seemed a god had personally descended to build it, a great hall covered entirely in pure white marble was filled with countless priests.

Every one of them was a high priest, dressed in immaculate white vestments.

The elders and the Pope were present as well—men whose influence alone was enough to sway an entire kingdom.

All of their gazes were focused on a single point.

A woman, bound and on her knees.

Until just a short while ago, she had been called the saintess, God's representative alongside the Pope.

"Raise your head."

Her haggard face and the marks of torture covering her body spoke of the ordeal she had endured. Her holy power had been sealed, leaving her unable to even heal herself.

Even so, the eyes that lifted to meet theirs were more alive than ever.

She was the saintess.

A woman chosen by God.

A human who received divine oracles directly.

Though human, she lived to act on behalf of God, and for her, there could be no compromise with injustice.

"How could I not have known? That the deepest darkness exists in the brightest of places."

"My, my. You've completely succumbed to the whispers of demons."

With a wicked smile, the Pope let out a soft chuckle, his tone utterly relaxed.

The elders and high priests gathered there either voiced their agreement or averted their eyes.

The continent had already been drawn into an irreversible maelstrom of conflict, and the victor had clearly emerged. What mattered to the people now was not the existence of God, but the sword at their throats.

That was why the saintess, who had led the temple's knight order and returned in triumph, had ended up in this state.

"Take her away. Re-educate the saintess who seeks to walk the same path as the princess who betrayed God and sold her soul to the wicked demon race."

Even as she was dragged away, the saintess's gaze never left the Pope.

As if to say she would never forget.

She etched his image into her memory, from head to toe.

She would purify it all.

The continent, steeped in evil.

The Temple.

And she would save the suffering people.

Vwoom.

A very faint resonance pulsed from her heart.

No one noticed.

Vwmm.

The pulse grew a little stronger.

VWOOM!

The rapidly intensifying pulse burst forth as a torrent of pure white light.

FLASH!

A brilliant light exploded, bright enough to fill the vast hall in an instant.

When the people inside blinked away the afterimage and their vision cleared, the saintess was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

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