Chapter 352

Translator: rainbowturtle

Editors: LD & Jyazen

The long fight between Lee Geonmyeong and the two goddesses finally came to an end. Of course, the winner was Lee Geonmyeong. Huera and Cadiya used all the powers they had. They eventually consumed all their divine power and fell into a deep sleep.

The two goddesses entrusted their bodies to the Atlan Sea and sank into the deep sea. The moment the two goddesses’ bodies fell to the sea, the waters soared and created a huge water pillar.

Lee Geonmyeong showed a regretful expression. It was because Atlantis was in the deep sea below him. Atlantis contained Neptune, who could be called Jupiter’s brother. Neptune must’ve woken up by now since the taboo was released.

‘Still, it is okay since he is an NPC.’

He was disappointed that he couldn’t kill the two goddesses, but he decided to give up. He didn’t know yet that Dr Kang Jaeseong had sent his consciousness to Neptune’s body. Therefore, he thought about taking care of his body first. He decided to restore his divine power. The fight took longer than he expected because he hadn’t recovered all his strength.

“I wasted so much time.”

𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

He might be one of the three original gods, but he didn’t have infinite power. He also consumed an enormous amount of divine power. If he didn’t take a break, then he would become like the goddesses who fell asleep in the sea.

“It can’t be helped.”

Lee Geonmyeong clicked his tongue like it was unfortunate and called to a cloud passing by overhead. The moment he climbed onto it, the white cloud became gray and dark. In this storm, lightning flashed. There was the sudden sound of thunder and Lee Geonmyeong disappeared. He climbed onto the cloud and moved straight west to Hesperides.

Lee Geonmyeong pulled out the Holy Grail containing Gaia’s soul and stared at it. ‘Hyeyeon...’

In fact, it was right after Lee Geonmyeong was expelled and banned from the human world. He logged out and watched everything that happened on the screen of the underground laboratory at Union headquarters. He watched Gaia go to Hesperides and turn into the golden apple tree. Then he saw her soul ascending to the sky.

Lee Geonmyeong reconnected again and led Gaia’s soul, which had risen to the vicinity of the Celestial Palace, deep into the Celestial Palace. Then he deceived the gods for many years. However, there was a separate problem.

“Kang Jaeseong...” Lee Geonmyeong frowned strongly enough for the veins on his forehead to bulge. At the time, Dr Kang Jaeseong had finished the development of Arkstar and the closed beta was also done. He was taking a break before the opening date which would be three months later.

Suddenly, he was called to the underground laboratory by Lee Geonmyeong. Lee Geonmyeong hid his intentions and asked Kang Jaeseong how to revive Gaia. Kang Jaeseong said that if he gathered the scattered Pandora fragments to weaken the golden apple tree and inserted the soul, then it would be easier to revive her. It would weaken Gaia, but the problem could be solved if he was given one day with the master key.

Lee Geonmyeong firmly believed in these words.

“If you hadn’t been so mischievous, it wouldn’t have come to that...”

Emptiness and regret—Lee Geonmyeong let out a sigh that was mixed with anger. Who would’ve known that Kang Jaeseong would’ve stolen the data of the illegal experiments Lee Geonmyeong conducted with the master key and fled? Lee Geonmyeong sent something to chase him, but by the time Kang Jaeseong was discovered, he was already in a coma.

It was unreasonable to ask someone who was dead to restore Gaia to her original state. Of course, the master key was also missing. Once he reconnected to Arkstar, Kang Jaeseong had forced the server’s time to flow quickly and 500 years had already passed.

Lee Geonmyeong made plans and prepared for the game to open.

[You came, My Liege.]

Lee Geonmyeong reached Hesperides in no time. He came down from the dark cloud and walked toward Lucifer, who was in front of the dark tree. Lee Geonmyeong stared at the tree for a long time with lonely eyes before slowly turning to Lucifer.

[You went through a lot of trouble. Your achievement isn’t small. You will enjoy glory and wealth in the world I will make.]

Lucifer silently bowed once more. Lee Geonmyeong liked such a humble Lucifer and smiled with satisfaction before looking back at the tree.

[I will see you again soon.]

Lee Geonmyeong declared as he slowly moved Gaia’s soul from the Holy Grail toward the tree.

Dudududu!

The ground started to shake.

* * *

At the capital of the Atlan Kingdom, Metheus...

Currently, all of Metheus’ users and NPCs were listening to Hecatiana who had appeared in the sky. She was the one who moved everyone here and she was saying they should join forces to stop Jupiter. The NPCs were motivated by the emergence of Hecatiana. The problem was the users. They were deeply skeptical of Hecatiana’s words.

Didn’t Union warn them to never die in the game? Therefore, the opinions of those in Metheus were divided. Some said they should follow Hecatiana’s will while others thought they should wait until they could log out. It was currently 7:3 and the latter opinion was ahead.

[Goddess Quest – Hecatiana’s Holy War Declaration has arrived.]

Mido looked at the message in front of her and read the contests of the quest. It had appeared to all users here. The content was naturally to join forces together to defeat the invading demon army and Jupiter. However, the reward was nothing compared to the sacrifices they would have to make.

“The peace of the Ark Continent...”

Some people murmured to themselves and there was deep worry on the faces of everyone looking at the task window. Peace was a good thing. However, if they were killed when the allied forces of Jupiter and the demon kings invaded, what was the use of peace? They all had the same thoughts so none of them opened their mouths.

Hecatiana’s speech was still in progress. She was shouting that if they didn’t follow, she would use her strength to force them to follow.

[The goddess of the moon and magic, Hecatiana’s speech has restored law and order to the Atlan Kingdom.]

[Robbery, murder, violence—the unscrupulous people doing such actions have yielded to the words of the goddess.]

[She hopes that at least half the people of the Atlan Kingdom will join as soldiers.]

“......”

Mido was at a loss for words for a moment. It was because the urgent problem of security and the riots were resolved with Hecatiana’s appearance. Mido hadn’t believed that strength could suppress war, but she was forced to believe it when such a situation happened right in front of her eyes. Just then—

Dudududu!

Earthquakes started occurring all over the continent. Hecatiana, who was inciting humans with her speech, fell silent the moment she felt the shaking. She sensed that this shaking was unusual.

‘What is going on?’

It happened as Hecatiana had an ominous feeling... A world message appeared in front of all the users on the Ark Continent.

[World: There are 15 days remaining until the resurrection of ‘Gaia,’ the god of creation and destruction.]

* * *

Around this time, I followed the unidentified man to the place called the land of the dead.

[You are the first player to step foot in the Underworld.]

[You are the first to step into the land of the dead while alive.]

[However, the dead will covet your living soul. Please be careful.]

“......”

I stared silently at the Underworld. It was like watching a bleak night in Africa as hyenas destroyed the ecosystem. It felt like I was in the middle of a deep darkness with no living thing.

In fact, it wasn’t a very pleasant feeling.

[The first apostle, ‘Prometheus,’ is looking at the Underworld for the first time.]

[The third apostle, ‘Atlas,’ is frowning at the desolation of the Underworld.]

“Is this the Underworld?”

“That’s right. Follow me.”

I followed the unidentified man. It was the first time I had been to the Underworld so the surrounding area was full of new things. There was nothing special about the Underworld. I could only see some withered, twisted trees and thorny plants like cacti. The amazing thing was that the surroundings were all black, just like the black sea.

I asked the man in front of me about the relationship between the black sea and the Underworld. It was a speculative question about whether there was a connection or not.

“You saw it correctly. Both this place and the sea we came across are just a part of the Underworld. It is also a shortcut to the Underworld.”

“A shortcut?”

“Originally, all the souls gather in the Labyrinth of Souls and line up. I received a special order and came to pick you up.”

[The third apostle, ‘Atlas,’ is coughing.]

The unidentified man smiled slightly at Atlas. The one guarding the Labyrinth of Souls was Atlas so I thought they might be coworkers.

“I see. Then you are like Pluto’s subordinate?”

“...Now I am.”

He was now. What did that mean? So he wasn’t a subordinate before? In any case, he was a person who caused many doubts.

Um, this was an unusual flower.

“Don’t touch that!” the man yelled.

“......!”

I was stunned. I just wanted to touch a mysterious black flower next to me, but I was suddenly scolded. He sounded younger than me based on his voice, but strangely, I couldn’t argue.

“Cough. I’m sorry.”

“If you touch it, then very annoying things will happen. If possible, don’t touch anything along the way. Otherwise, the abandoned souls sleeping here will smell you and aim at you.”

I gulped and immediately moved away from the black flower. I didn’t want to die here so I followed him. We slowly stepped back. We passed through the black desert and arrived at a small cave. There was an endless staircase going up and we climbed it in silence. Of course, I didn’t touch anything like the man told me.

“We’re here.”

The place we reached was vast and decorated like a great hall. The unidentified man immediately went somewhere and bowed. “I brought him.”

[You’ve worked hard.]

A relaxed yet gentle voice—the moment I heard the young tone from the podium and the warmth hidden in it, my body couldn’t move. I couldn’t control my trembling body and turned my head to the place where I heard the woman’s voice.

A woman in plain clothes sat quietly on the throne in front of me in the midst of the darkness. The ruler of the Underworld, the land of the dead—Pluto, the god of darkness and death. Additionally...

[You came. It has been a while...]

“S-Seonyeong. Is it really you?”

The one who I thought was dead, my wife, Yoo Seonyeong, stood in front of me with a vivid and youthful face. Her appearance was reminiscent of her youth and I stared dumbly, like I couldn’t believe it.

[Yes, it's me.]

“Ohh, I can’t believe it. Honey!” I hugged Yoo Seonyeong.