Chapter 263

“Allow Chinese people to enter the country without a visa.”

The Korean government obediently complied with the additional demands of Zhang Soso. To be more accurate, they couldn’t refuse. And as a result, Incheon International Airport was filled with Chinese people.

“They actually dared to kill the National Treasure candidates of our great country!”

“Make him regret messing with China even in hell!”

The crowd that occupied the airport shouted in Chinese.

“All this fuss just to kill one child?”

The Chinese players who’d just entered the country clicked their tongues.

Black Dragon Guild aimed to publicly execute the candidate of another country... It was a rare event in history, but the opponent was only a sixteen-year-old boy.

It was unbefitting of their countrymen to make a scene over this matter.

Still, what could they do?

They couldn’t expect everyone to be honorable.

China’s population was well over a billion; with a population like that, there was bound to be a whole orchard of bad apples in the mix.

“Moreover, the opponent is the Yaksha’s son. The commotion will just grow.”

China had always been a country that prided itself on its deep history, but for that very reason, they weren’t the sort to forget past humiliation.

The Yaksha's wretched antics against their great nation were recorded in every textbook back in China. Naturally, anyone of Chinese blood held a deep-seated hatred for the Kang surname.

Kang Jae-Hyeok’s killing of six Chinese candidates only further reinforced this hatred. Worst still, every news story back in China had said that Jae-Hyeok had used dirty tricks inside the Twilight Kingdom to claim their lives.

Who could bear this anger?

How dare he?

This is something that must not be forgiven, even if the sky is split in two!

That vile bastard!

The seeds of the Kang family should be eradicated!

Just like a fire in a dry field, the anger and hatred in the eyes of the Chinese people grew out of control.

Seeing this, even the usually proud and arrogant players broke into a sweat, overwhelmed by this momentum.

“This atmosphere is too fierce. There will be a riot if the execution goes wrong.”

“How can it go wrong? It’s rumored that Zhang Soso will personally execute him.”

“I know that. That’s why I came all the way to this small country.”

The rumors that Zhang Soso was the successor to Qilin had spread in the Chinese player community. What level of skill did she possess to be chosen by the Qilin?—This was one of the biggest topics in China.

Unwilling to miss the opportunity to witness her skills, many of China’s players rushed over to Korea.

“Still, there’s always a chance, right? Who knows? Maybe Korea will use all sorts of dirty tricks to protect the Yaksha’s son.”

“That’s exactly why Zhang Soso made sure it couldn’t happen.”

The Chinese player left the airport and arrived at the Players Stadium one after another. It was cute compared to stadiums in China, but this was the largest stage in Korea, accommodating a mere hundred thousand spectators.

Most of the audience seats were filled with Chinese people.

No matter how they looked at it, there was no way for the Korean government to pull any tricks—not unless they were prepared for a riot of historical proportions.

“No use in speculating. Let’s just enjoy the show.”

The Chinese players laughed, puffing their cigarettes as they went to their seats. The non-smoking signs posted everywhere seemed invisible to them.

***

[Welcome, player Kang Jae-Hyeok.]

Jae-Hyeok visited the Community almost every night.

It wasn’t just him; the vast majority of players started or ended their day by accessing the Community. After all, the Community was a wealth of information and trade. Any player halfway serious about personal progress would frequent the Community.

[Kang Jae-Hyeok, Korea, male, sixteen years old, level 141, knight (growth type).]

[Your profile is private.]

As per his privacy settings, Jae-Hyeok’s spiritual avatar had a distorted voice and wore a basic mask in order to conceal his identity.

This was one of the wonderful things about the Community.

Here, Jae-Hyeok was just another stranger in the crowd.

At least, for the most part...

A Conscious Merchant: Thunder Emperor. Are you online?

“......”

Jae-Hyeok’s eyes flickered to the message before he turned his attention to his current tally of Community points.

[Current Community Points: 21,591,000.]

These points were worth more than any Earthly currency. After all, the only way to earn points was through level increases, achievements, or killing other players.

Most players would never see even one achievement in their lifetime, and with limited talent, few people ever reached past B-class. So every Cumminity point was highly valued.

In that sense, Jae-Hyeok’s almost twenty-two million points were simply absurd.

The points I gained from Jiang Lei were not small.

Jiang Lei, as a National Treasure and a member of the Blood Church, had held several million points.

I wonder why he was saving them. Was he planning to buy an elixir?

That made sense to Jae-Hyeok.

In any case, he too had been collecting his points for exactly that reason.

Elixirs...

According to many legends, many elixirs were like panaceas—wonderous medicines that could cure almost anything.

To heal his father, Jae-Hyeok’s intention from the day he’d awakened had always been to collect elixirs.

[Seeking an elixir (1/2).]

In fact, after his points had surpassed ten million, Jae-Hyeok had opened his own trade room for exactly this purpose.

The entrance fee was set to one million, blocking out any riffraff from entering.

If only I could obtain an elixir...

For a single elixir, Jae-Hyeok would happily trade all of his points. Alas, to this day, no one seemed interested in selling.

Thankfully, he’d acquired the Firebird’s Essence—with it, he now had an alternate path to healing his father, requiring only the slow accumulation of vital essence.

And, who knew? The Firebird’s Essence, with its limitless potential, might even prove a better restorative than any elixir.

Of course, Jae-Hyeok himself also benefited from the Firebird’s Essence. The vital essence within not only granted him enhanced healing and recovery but also improved his mana capacity and stamina.

This was a timely boon.

Jae-Hyeok was already over level 140 and would break through to level 150 in no time. With his first thunder tribulation in the near future, the Firebird’s Essence might be the difference between life and death.

After all, unlike the set power of the fake tribulation lightning summoned by his Traces of Thunder Tribulation gauntlets, a real tribulation scaled according to a player’s attack power, equalling roughly three times the player's attack power.

This meant that even Jae-Hyeok had to be wary.

I need to be prepared.

Jae-Hyeok was fully aware of his skills, and it was because of that that he knew he was in trouble; it would be nearly impossible to withstand a barrage of lightning bolts that were each three times stronger than one of his own full-powered attacks.

The only silver lining was that tribulations dealt pure lightning damage. So Jae-Hyeok’s lightning-attribute resistance meant the lightning’s power would feel thirty percent weaker to Jae-Hyeok.

Still, that was far from enough.

I need to increase my resistance to the lightning attribute.

Usually, elemental resistance was increased through items. In contrast, most of Jae-Hyeok’s elemental resistance came from his code of chivalry or Skills, so there was still a lot of room to receive benefits from items. Were he to stack several items, his resistance was sure to skyrocket.

But what Jae-Hyeok was aiming for wasn’t an item.

In fact, having killed Ji Cheon-Myeong, Jae-Hyeok’s inventory was already chock full of all kinds of items for thunder tribulations.

[Thundercloud Pill.]

Jae-Hyeok searched for this in the Community.

The result?

[Selling Thundercloud Pills (1/10).]

[Clearance sale, 50 Thundercloud Pills (1/20).]

[Selling various elixir ingredients.

Thundercloud Pills included as a bonus (1/20).]

It was a mess.

More than thirty chat rooms were selling the Thundercloud Pills, showing just how little they were worth.

[Thundercloud Pill.

Once consumed, increases lightning resistance by 1% for one minute.

Up to ten can be taken at once... ]

On its face, Thunder Cloud Pills appeared quite useful. Taking ten meant a 10% increase in lightning resistance, a significant leap. However, the side effects were equally serious.

[...

*You will be afflicted with Electrocution and Burn while the effect of the Thundercloud Pill lasts.]

Electrocution and Burn...

These were two of the worst status effects. Setting aside the continuous bodily damage, Electrocution also caused paralysis and mental confusion.

This was why the Thundercloud Pill was so terrifying.

What use was a 10% increase in lightning resistance if it meant becoming a sitting duck for the thunder tribulation?

One only had to revisit Ji Cheon-Myeong’s miserable display at the end of Jae-Hyeok’s candidate exam to see the danger of paralysis.

For the same reason, players almost never used Thundercloud Pills—not unless they had a death wish.

If not for its limited use as an ingredient in certain elixirs, there would’ve been no demand for it at all.

But Jae-Hyeok...

I might be able to handle it.

During his duel with Theodore, Jae-Hyeok had lured him into the water and employed a self-harm method with Thunderbolt Sword. At the time, Jae-Hyeok had resisted the paralysis effect of his own electricity, while Theodore had not.

Maybe it’ll be the same with the Thundercloud Pill.

Jae-Hyeok entered a chat room with no small amount of excitement.

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

The room host, who’d been idly scrolling through live posts and snickering, quickly rose as Jae-Hyeok arrived.

“Welcome...”

The words died in the room host's mouth. His eyes flicked to Jae-Hyeok’s basic mask—the same one that was given to all first-time Community users—and he slumped into his chair.

He is probably another person here to ask about useless things,

the host thought.

That was why selling cheap goods wasn’t profitable—an entry fee couldn’t be set, so any random newbie could waltz into his room.

Sigh. But I have too much inventory.

The market price for a Thundercloud Pill was only 80 points, not much—but he had over a hundred of them because they were the main drop in the gate he frequented. With so many, it would be a waste not to sell them.

“One.”

“Huh?”

The man suddenly froze in the midst of his grumbling.

The voice of the masked guest echoed as if they were inside a cave. It was a voice thick with power.

Is he not a newbie?

The man’s heart swelled with expectation. Usually, only bigshots had such voices in the Community. He quickly scrambled from his chair and smiled warmly.

“Excuse me, what did you say just now?”

“One Thundercloud Pill, please,” Jae-Hyeok repeated.

“Ah... yes...”

The man’s face, hidden behind a rabbit mask, distorted as if he’d eaten something foul.

Just one Thundercloud Pill?

Shit. What a waste of time... I should’ve figured. There was no way someone wearing a basic mask was a big shot. Why is he lowering his voice like that, anyway?

The host inwardly clicked his tongue and roughly handed Jae-Hyeok a Thundercloud Pill.

[80 Community points subtracted.]

[One Thundercloud Pill acquired.]

Jae-Hyeok immediately swallowed the Thundercloud Pill.

“W-why would you eat that?” The man shouted.

Thundercloud Pills caused extreme pain upon consumption. It was generally used as an ingredient in elixirs, and no one ate it raw.

After all, it was a bead that crackled with electricity, so no one would be stupid enough to mistake it for food.

The man made a startled sound before hiccupping.

Jae-Hyeok calmly chewed and swallowed the Thundercloud Pill, his demeanor casual. Afterward, a deep smile spread on Jae-Hyeok’s face behind the mask.

“Ten more.”