Chapter 116: Star, The Grand General (1)

‘He fell into eternal sleep like this.’

Chang-Sun nonchalantly approached the Winter King despite knowing Baek Gyeo-Ul was watching what he was doing from his shadow.

If anyone who didn’t know what was going on looked at the Winter King, it would look like he was just sleeping soundly since he seemed very peaceful. However, Chang-Sun knew how much he agonized before finally finding his peace. Chang-Sun visited this place before he left the Winter Palace to let the Winter King ‘properly’ rest in peace.

The Winter King was technically just a Dungeon monster, but he continued to catch Chang-Sun’s attention perhaps because he resembled Chang-Sun when he first ended up in Arcadia. Putting his hand on the Winter King’s head, Chang-Sun started the Jigwi’s Eon Fire.

[The Authority ‘Soul Exploitation’ has been activated. The fire of the Purgatory Brazier is burning up the corpse of the Boss Monster ‘Winter King.’]

[Absorbed the remaining ashes.]

[Examining the achievement of the Boss Monster ‘Winter King.’]

…

In silence, Chang-Sun vacantly watched the Winter King’s corpse crumble down after turning to ashes. As he did, he noticed something on the table near the bed. His eyes shone for a moment upon realizing it was the letter the Winter King had left for someone. It seemed he had written it bit by bit whenever he regained consciousness.

[The Celestial ‘Geminus’ is looking at the letter with as much curiosity as you.]

After cremating the Winter King, Chang-Sun put the letter in his inner pocket and left the room.

Woosh!

The fire on the bed spread to the nearby table and chairs. The inextinguishable fire eventually swallowed the annex palace, then the entire Winter Palace.

* * *

[The Named Monster ‘Winter King’s Grand General’ has activated the Skill ‘Tundra’!]

[Player ‘Cha Ye-Eun’ has activated the Skill ‘Magical Field Creation’! ]

Clang, clash, clang!

Boom, boom, boom―!

The Grand General and Ye-Eun fought fiercely on even grounds. By creating blizzards, the Grand General attacked Ye-Eun while isolating her from the nearby volunteer Players. In response, Ye-Eun quickly retreated. She then fired at him with her revolver while casting another magic spell that would put the Grand General into her trap.

The Grand General preferred to fight on icy fields, while Ye-Eun preferred to fight on magical fields. They benefitted from two different kinds of battlefields, so they tried to lure one another into their ‘traps’ using any means necessary. Their battle was so intense that showing even the slightest vulnerability once could lead to their deaths. It made those who were watching their fight feel suffocated.

“… It won’t work.” The Grand General shoved Ye-Eun, who was closing in on him, after a thought dawned on him.

Boom!

Pzzz―!

Retreating far away from Ye-Eun, the Grand General straightened his posture. Unable to tell what scheme the Grand General was planning this time, Ye-Eun opened the revolver’s cylinder and reloaded it with new magical bullets. Reloading required time, so it would have created an opening on any other person’s defenses under normal circumstances, but Ye-Eun moved so quickly that she was barely exposed to attacks—no, she didn’t seem to care that much even if she was because many Celestials protected her.

“You are strong, human. Up until now, I have disregarded all the invaders who tainted our land because they were weak, but you are completely different from them. As such, I have to acknowledge your strength. What is your rank ‘outside’? Are you a king?” The Grand General quietly asked.

Ye-Eun’s eyes momentarily shone.

‘This monster can tell the difference between the inside and outside of this Dungeon?’

Monsters usually couldn’t perceive the real world because they were just dolls that belonged to Dungeons, so they lived thinking the Dungeon they stayed in was the real world. However, creatures who could distinguish between the real world and a Dungeon appeared every now and then. They all tended to be incredibly smart and blindly infuriated with humans, though.

It was different from how Undeads were instinctively belligerent against the living. Rather, those intelligent monsters’ fury was caused by their depression and jealousy. They were just the unfortunate shadows of a destroyed plane. Unlike them, humans had intact souls. Even so, the Grand General didn’t seem to be hostile to humans for those reasons. He could distinguish the difference between this Dungeon and the real world, but he wasn’t depressed or jealous.

He just differentiated the two to tell apart foes from friends and simply got infuriated because his foes had tainted the Yetis’ land. Beginning to think Ye-Eun was a worthy opponent, he showed curiosity about her position in the real world since he wanted to determine how strong he would be in the real world.

Click!

However, Ye-Eun closed the revolver cylinder and coldly replied, “King my ass. Just die!”

She was completely focused on killing the Grand General and treating the wound of Jin Seok-Tae, her partner whom the Grand General attacked.

Paah―!

Ye-Eun cast a haste spell on herself, causing her to leave a long afterimage as she ran across the snowfield.

“… You’re no king, then. You’re already quite talented, yet you’re still not fit to become one? I really cannot understand humans,” the Grand General muttered and leaped high.

Bang, bang, bang.

Narrowly avoiding the magical bullet Ye-Eun had fired, the Grand General flew high in the air and rode the Snow Pterosaur, which had glided down.

Kieeeh!

Ye-Eun pointed her revolver at the Snow Pterosaur again, but it was extremely difficult to shoot it down since it was so high up. The strong wind caused the snow to rise, blocking her view, and her senses were still not in their normal conditions because of the Dungeon. Therefore, it wasn’t easy to focus on the target.

“If you are not the king of humans, then you are not worthy enough to fight me. Since you humans have killed our king, it is only fair for us to kill your king in return.” The Grand General looked down at the ground from the sky. Holding reins and a greatsword in each hand, he released indescribably powerful energy. “If I kill every one of you in here and continue to kill all the humans that will come afterward, won’t your king eventually show up someday?”

Killing every human that entered Yeti HIll was the Grand General’s goal. “No, I will not kill only the humans in here. I’ll end those who exist ‘outside’ as well until your king shows up!”

[A Sudden Quest (King Slayer) has been created!]

[King Slayer]

Type: Sudden.

Description: The ‘Winter King’s Grand General’ now practically rules ‘Yeti Hill’ on behalf of the Winter King. In the name of his deceased king, he has made an oath to never let his anger go until he has killed the king of humans, his enemy.

In response, all the Yetis in this Dungeon, including the Winter King’s guards, declared their support for the Grand General’s resolution. The [King’s Lead], the Winter King’s ability, is hereby modified into the [General’s Lead] and now belongs to the Grand General. The Yetis’ wish is the Grand General’s wish, and his wish has become the Dungeon’s wish.

The Grand General is no longer angered by the Players inside this Dungeon alone. Rather, those outside of it now enrage him as well. You are to stop all the Yetis here, including the ‘Winter King’s Grand General.' Failure could result in the real world suffering a great disaster.

Objectives:

1. Kill the ‘Winter King’s Grand General.’

2. Exterminate all Yetis.

Quest Failure Penalty: Dungeon Break.

Quest Rewards:

1. Dungeon Closure.

2. The greatsword of the ‘Winter King’s Grand General.’

The same message popped up before all the Players in the Dungeon, causing the eyes of every member of the punitive force to widen, including Ye-Eun’s.

“What?”

“A Dungeon Break? How?!”

Most members of the punitive force were veterans who had already gone through multiple Dungeons, but even they had never encountered such an instance, making them more surprised. A Dungeon Break would transpire if they failed to kill a named monster just because it became angrier? Was such a thing possible?

Regardless, the Players became nervous because the punitive force’s extermination and a Dungeon Break taking place were completely different problems. If the entire punitive force got wiped out, people in the real world could just form a bigger punitive force and try to clear the Dungeon again, but a Dungeon Break meant the real world would also suffer significant damage.

‘Yeti Hill’ was already tricky to clear due to its terrain. If its nightmarish terrain affected Korea… the country would surely take massive damage.

『Agent Cha! We have to kill the Grand General somehow! We can’t lose him!』 Woo Yeong-Geun urgently sent a telepathic message to Ye-Eun.

The Sword of Ohsung Clan had already sustained great damage from the Grand General, who rode on a Snow Pterosaur, so Yeong-Geun felt rushed enough to break away from the formation and hunt the Grand General himself.

Ye-Eun quickly began to think about how she could kill the Grand General when he was already so high up in the air. Should she cast a new magic spell instead of firing more magical bullets? If so, what magic should she use?

“So he’s the biggest problem?” Seo Jeong-Gwon asked.

Thump!

Thump!

“Then I, the protagonist, will kill that monster!” Jeong-Gwon came forward as his face hardened. Growling as if a saber-toothed tiger had jumped out from a fossil, Jeong-Gwon continued, “We haven’t even reached the Winter Palace yet, so we can’t allow this mini-boss monster to delay us!”

On each of Jeong-Gwon’s sides, Raid Team 1 Leader Park Sang-Ho and Raid Team 4 Leader Yoo Hyeon-Jin came up. Sang-Ho frowned because he had to fight side-by-side with the other team leaders, whom he considered his subordinates.

Meanwhile, Hyeon-Jin tousled his already bushy hair as he grumbled, “that’s why we should get rid of him as quickly as possible. To be honest, we’re embarrassing ourselves right now. Even though we have three Raid Team leaders here, we still haven’t killed him yet.”

“What are you doing? I told you I’ll kill that monster, so you two go away and catch the other—” Jeong-Gwon tried to stop the two, not wanting to lose the prey he had set his eyes on.

“You? The one who got stabbed?” Sang-Ho abruptly countered, however.

“Fu…!” Jeong-Gwon’s face crumpled.

Just as Sang-Ho had said, Jeong-Gwon was definitely not in a good condition. Still, he insisted.

“Huh, huh?”

“Hmm?”

“Oh!”

Jeong-Gwon, Sang-Ho, and Hyeon-Jin suddenly floated up in the air. Wondering what was going on, Hyueon-Jin looked around and soon found some sort of fairies twirling around them. They all eventually looked in the same direction, finding Ye-Eun holding out her hands toward them and a gigantic magic circle glowing underneath her feet. It made Ye-Eun look more brilliant as she cast the spell.

“I can’t use Buoyancy Spell for a long time. I’ll cover you with magical bullets, but it’s up to you three to kill the Grand General,” Ye-Eun explained.

Realizing now was not the time to argue, the three nodded and went after the Grand General with the help of elemental spirits.

“Hiyah!”

Boom!

As Jeong-Gwon floated, he thought he wouldn't be able to kill the Grand General if he relied on elemental spirits. Hence, he moved around by accumulating mana around his feet and making them explode instead. Living up to their title of the White Tiger Clan’s Raid Team leaders, Sang-Ho and Hyeon-Jin found their own ways to move around as well and followed Jeong-Gwon.

Boom, boom, boom―!

Finally, the aerial battle of the three team leaders, the Winter King’s guards, and the Grand General began.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Ye-Eun provided cover for them by incessantly pulling the trigger of her revolver. Whenever a bullet went off, a large and flashy magic circle was created in the air, disrupting the air current and unleashing fireballs that hindered the Snow Pterosaurs. Meanwhile, Yeong-Geun led the Players on the ground to prepare to face the Yetis. It seemed the battle between the volunteer corp and the Winter King’s guards wouldn’t end easily.

1. Quest Failure Penalty used to be “if you fail”

2. Quest Rewards used to be “if you succeed”