Chapter 188 - Golden Time (1)

"Everyone, check the site. Once today's job is done, the specified amount of money will be deposited in your accounts."

‘Asrian Job World’ had a tight security system.

Although the deal was made among users, jobs were done so that it was very hard for people to get scammed.

"Yes, everything is okay!"

"We also confirmed it."

Hyun analyzed each person while the carriage was going.

The Theologian was Ain’s fan.

Seeing how the rest were talking with each other, it seemed like they knew each other.

They might have been friends or maybe members of the same guild.

"Ms. Priestess, could I ask something?" One of the four workers asked.

"I'm not a Priest, I’m a Theologian."

"Ah, I see. Could I ask how much you’re earning?"

It was a question that could be considered rude, but she answered them.

"$950 USD."

"Woah. R-really…?!"

"You're earning almost the same as us!"

"I told you. Rather than Warriors or Thieves, there's more demand for Magicians and Priests."

"Ugh… I should've chosen another job."

"Don't say that. There are only about 30 Theologians in Korea who have learned how to detect Divine Power, so I think now is when my work is the most expensive."

Hyun, who was hearing the conversation, nodded.

Since rankers were about to reach level 200, and Divine Power was starting to get attention, Theologians were like the best possible workforce.

After all, ascending a job to a Theologian and learning Divine Power detection was very hard.

'It seems like jobs have become more varied than before.'

In Asra, users divided the jobs into tiers, but Asrian was different from back then.

After meeting up with JaeHoon, he discovered that job preferences had changed compared to the past.

For example, the 'Magic Engineer' had been born.

If the content inside the game got mixed in with things outside it, the definition of a ‘good job’ would change compared to before.

Dddd.

The carriage the group was riding entered the Hetrian Forest that surrounded Demonia Gorge.

Hyun frowned after seeing a figure through the grass.

'As expected. It wasn't just me who thought of this.'

There were lots of figures and carriages going in the same direction as him.

They were clearly users going to Demonia Gorge.

It wasn't a place that the average users knew about. A few rankers with information probably realized its value.

That was most likely why they were going there like a bunch of hungry hyenas.

'A party… no, a guild?'

Hyun counted the number of opponents he could see outside of the carriage.

'Wait. There are more than expected…!'

There should have been only about five Guilds that knew about the Sacred Stones, but Hyun thought not every single one would go to Demonia Gorge since, after the patch, there were many good places, and the chances of everyone choosing one place were extremely low.

'Don't tell me… are there many huge guilds also after this place?!'

Seeing the situation… It seemed like that low possibility had become a reality.

Hyun didn't know that research institutions worldwide had chosen that place to conduct research, so he thought that, just by chance, more people than expected had started to gather in the place he'd chosen.

At that moment…

Boom!

The carriage shook with a loud explosion.

Thanks to him using «Shadow Shield», the impact wasn't huge, but it seemed like someone had targeted him.

'Where did that come from?'

Hyun saw a man in a carriage across from him extending his wand.

They also realized what was going on and began shouting.

"Ugh, we're being attacked!"

"Wait… You didn't say it could be dangerous!"

"Yes. Nothing was said about an extra for the danger! We should get at least 100 extra per person…!"

"Everyone, quiet."

Hyun calmed everyone down and took a step forward.

"I didn't say anything because it isn't dangerous."

* * *

Ain, who was analyzing the situation alongside him, murmured.

「 There are about 20 around us! Should I just wipe them away?」

「No.」

Hyun looked at the carriage in front of them and activated «Shadow Run», but the target wasn't the user—it was the horse that was pulling the carriage.

Fwoosh! A shadow that resembled Ain shot forward and caused a Demonic Energy explosion.

As the horse pulling the carriage slowed down, the carriage naturally overturned.

「First, let's focus on those attacking us.」

「What about the rest?」

「We don't need to deal with them yet.」

To reach the Demonia Gorge, they had to go through Hetrian Forest.

Many devils lived within that forest, which was another reason why NPCs avoided Demonia Gorge.

GRRR. GRR.

The beasts’ cries were soon heard.

The devils, not liking the noise the humans were making, began moving.

「A wolf?!」

「We don't need to fight that.」

They were trash mobs that were between levels 150 and 200.

They weren't enemies that Hyun, Ain, or even those that were also trying to get to the Demonia Gorge would have difficulty with, but doing so would just drag time.

'Blessing of Darkness, On.'

Ain's teeth showed at Hyun's smile.

Demonia Gorge had traces of the Darkness's land that had moved toward the surface, so the monsters around the area were definitely related to Darkness.

'As expected!'

The wolves around them were passing by to hunt other users.

The other people inside the carriage looked at the scene in disbelief.

"What the…? The monsters aren't attacking?"

"They aren't monsters, they’re devils!"

The Theologian corrected someone.

"Aren't they more aggressive than monsters?! They're just passing by!"

"That's why I told you we're safe."

While other users were blocked by the wolves, Hyun's group was able to pass safely.

The other five people in the carriage couldn't believe what they saw.

「Hmm, this isn't fun.」

「Don't worry. Even if you don't want to, you'll have to fight soon.」

Hyun smirked after sensing that Ain was very motivated.

If so many people gathered, a fight would definitely happen.

If it was a battle big enough, they'd have to use «Prepared for Extinction», or even… «Possession»!

GRRR!

The carriage reached a downhill road dozens of minutes later.

Hyun saw a huge canyon in the distance that connected with the place from where Darkness's heart rose.

Hyun subconsciously looked at the sky.

'It's been five years?'

He wanted to see if there was a huge piece of land floating, but there wasn't anything in the sky.

If everything was the same as what he knew from Asra, then Darkness's land should have been floating somewhere in the sky above the clouds.

'They used to call it Darkness's castle… so it was called the ‘heart’.'

He looked down again.

Rather than a canyon, there were other words that suited the canyon more from where Dark's heart was torn.

It was closer to a basin or a crater.

They probably used the word ‘canyon’ because there wasn't another way to describe the terrain that was surrounded by steep cliffs.

「Good. Let's see how many gathered!」

The carriage began charging toward the cliff as Hyun jumped from the front.

Kyaa! W, what…! We're falling…! There were numerous screams, but Hyun ignored them.

'Glider.'

Whir-

The moment the blue circuit engraved in the magic circle activated, the carriage wheels left the cliff.

'I'm glad I rented the expensive one.'

Renting it cost 600 gold, and you needed a security deposit of 40000 gold.

It was too expensive for users that weren't rankers, so none there had ever ridden a carriage that had magic circles placed on it.

The rest of the group that had closed their eyes preparing for an impact opened their eyes after feeling they were floating.

They saw the world going by slowly outside and realized they were floating in the air.

"What, we're flying…?"

"We aren't flying. We’re gliding!" The group mumbled while looking out of the window.

"I never thought I'd experience something like this while going to work."

"Me too. It feels like I'm doing a History Quest…"

"Everyone, wait inside. Don't try to look out of the window."

Hyun looked at the ground while riding the gliding carriage to count the number of enemies in the canyon.

「About a hundred? A little bit more…?」

「I think it's about that number.」

「Is this an alliance of guilds? Is it one massive guild?」

All of the enemies were looking at them.

The fact they weren't fighting was proof they were all together.

「It doesn't seem to be an alliance.」

Hyun told her what he'd realized.

「They seem too organized for that.」

After they got closer to the surface, they were able to see the faces of the users.

There were a few familiar faces. Hyun's eyes shone after realizing who they were.

「Ah, it's Darkness!」

「Darkness? Them?」

「Yes. But… I never imagined it would be them. For a big guild, it's better to try to monopolize a hunting ground rather than Sacred Stones…」

At that moment, Hyun thought of Mayday.

They'd meet as enemies, but they'd joined forces before in Darkness's land.

Recently, they'd reached an arrangement that they'd exchange information, so they had a decent relationship.

'No, but still. I cannot let this go!'

Hyun quickly began making calculations.

Maintaining a good relationship with Darkness was important, but not important enough to give up on the Sacred Stones.

He'd made plans for the future, so he couldn't back off.

「Anyway. We're going to fight. Right?」Ain asked with her eyes shining.

「Probably.」

「Then the reasons don't matter. Should I use my ultimate attack?」

「No. Rather than that…」

After comparing strategies, Hyun decided on what to do.

「Let's go with my skill.」

In a battle between one and numerous enemies, it was obvious that they'd receive a ton of debuffs.

If they received the max five stacks of speed debuff, even if Ain had a lot of Agility, they would have a hard time.

「There's something I wanted to test.」

Hyun had a skill that allowed him to ignore the speed debuff.

No, to be precise, it wasn't his skill.

«Black Wind». The technique that used the reaction of wind wasn't his but Louise's.

Hyun mumbled with a voice full of expectations

「So, let's see what skills she learned over these past five years.」

«Possession».

[The one that «Pray»s is set to become like the one they pray to! The most familiar being will dwell in your body.]

Dark energy exploded through his body.

Hyun noticed that Ain's height and bodily curves were becoming more mature.

Her body became someone else's completely.

Basically, it was the Darkness of five years later, how Louise looked at the moment.

Louise's clothes became white… No. Soft Demonic Energy was pouring out of her body.

Unlike her previous foolish appearance, she had a confident smile on her face. Was it because of Louise’s influence?

"What…"

"Who… Are you…?"

The Theologian, who had seen the transformation, mumbled in confusion.

The unknown girl who had hired her…

At first, she thought that, just like her, she was a fan who had copied Ain.

After riding the carriage, she began feeling an unusual atmosphere because the opponents she was facing felt that they were at the level of rankers.

Maybe… was she the real Ain?

While she was thinking that, the girl suddenly began transforming into another woman.

At that point, the Theologian had no way of knowing which was real, so she decided not to think about it.

"Wait inside. Don't come out, no matter what."

Hyun once again used the magic that was applied to the carriage.

«Positioning».

As the magic circle was covered in blue light, the carriage stopped in the middle of the air.

Hyun left them and jumped off the carriage, quickly reading his status window as he fell.

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