Chapter 262: Sanctuary of Corruption (1)

After the release of

MID Online

, some hikikomoris managed to secure legitimate careers. Of course, the title these few attained was none other than ranker. A dream job where one could slay monsters in a game while gaining wealth and fame in real life had become a reality.

In fact, there were over hundreds of players who became global stars after achieving a ranker status. However,

MID Online

didn’t just produce stars among its players.

Michael Reynold. As a magician of editing, he transformed in-game footage into artistic masterpieces tailored to his style. Every single one of his uniquely crafted works received nothing but praise. Naturally, his value skyrocketed, and even Kai had to pay quite the sum when requesting video editing services.

“Michael Reynold.”

At Kai’s words, Balter quickly turned his head. “

Huh?

”

“That guy is Michael Reynold.”

“Wait a second, that name... You don’t mean the magician of editing, do you?”

“Yeah.”

Even now, Michael Reynold’s inbox was likely flooded with hundreds of emails. So many players sought his editing skills. Even if their gameplay wasn’t great, the video would turn out impressive once it went through Michael’s hands.

“In that case...”

“Michael is in charge of editing all the footage for this variety show.”

“Holy crap!” Balter shouted, unable to contain his excitement.

That was how overwhelming the trust in the name magician of editing was.

“Hey, hey, let me get to know him too. What’s he like? His personality?”

“

Uh

...”

Kai paused to recall. When negotiating with NET Media about the Battle of Bir Plains footage, he had insisted on letting Michael Reynold have full creative control over the direction.

I met him a few times back then.

Michael was a reserved man. When he stood on set with a stern expression and his lips firmly shut, no one could easily approach him.

As Kai recalled those memories, he said, “His personality is a bit difficult, and he’s really quiet. I’ve barely seen him talk.”

“

Huh?

But he looked super excited to see you earlier.”

“... I know.”

In some ways, Michael Reynold was even more mysterious than Yoo Ha-Rin.

Michael Reynold strode toward Kai.

In response, Kai politely extended his right hand. “It’s been a while. Have you been well...”

“I missed you, bro!”

But what returned wasn’t Michael’s right hand. Michael pulled Kai into a tight hug.

After a moment, he let go and began speaking at a rapid-fire pace, “Say something, bro, anything, yeah?”

“M-Michael, calm down for a second. Why are you so worked up?”

“Do I look like I can calm down? I can finally have a proper conversation with you, bro!”

Michael exhaled sharply through his nose, putting on a wide grin.

Of course, Kai couldn’t understand his behavior at all. “But we’ve had conversations before when we met, didn’t we?”

“Jesus, you call that a conversation?” Michael shook his head with a horrified expression.

Then he looked at Kai with an innocent and pure gaze. “Bro, your English is terrible.”

Kai stayed silent.

"Now that we're on the topic, let me just say this—you're the first client I’ve ever wanted direct input from while editing. But what’s the point? Every time I asked, all I got was a handful of sentences that might as well have been thrown into Google Translate."

"

A-ahem

."

Kai had nothing to say in his defense. After all, those sentences were in fact Google-translated.

Yoo Ha-Rin and Seol Eun-Yeong pretended not to hear anything, turning their heads slightly, while Balter shook with laughter.

"

Pfft, bahahaha!

Right, you’ve always been terrible at English. And yet this guy somehow managed to get into Korea University through rolling admission. If that’s not the epitome of a broken cram-school system, I don’t know what is!”

"Shut up," Kai snapped back in an irritated tone and turned toward Michael.

Looking at the innocent expression on Michael's face, it seemed he meant no harm.

They say geniuses often have eccentric personalities.

It made sense. After all, he was a genius artist often referred to as the second Steven Spielberg. Trying to categorize him within normal boundaries would be strange.

"I’m surprised you’re so talkative," Kai replied.

"Drop the formalities, bro. Do you have any idea how frustrating it’s been for me this whole time?"

"Well, if you say so. Then, the reason you were always frowning when we met before..."

"It’s because I was frustrated! So frustrated!" Michael, seemingly reminded of the past, pounded his chest a few times as he vented his frustration. "

Phew

, thankfully,

MID Online

has real-time translation now, so there’s nothing to be frustrated about. Praise the supercomputers."

"By the way, Michael...

oh

, what should I call you in-game?"

"My username is Michael too."

"Alright, Michael. What level are you at right now?"

Michael Reynold was known to be an incredibly busy individual, with several years' worth of work piled up. Naturally, he wouldn’t have had time to level up a game character. Yet, the equipment Michael was wearing was far from what a beginner would have.

"

Hm?

I’m level 177."

"That’s higher than I expected. I didn’t think you’d have any time for gaming."

"Come on, bro. What kind of world do you think we live in? There are ranker parties everywhere that’ll carry you to level 200 if you pay enough. It is pricey, though."

Carry parties. Kai nodded, thinking to himself that there truly was no limit to what existed in the game.

"Got it. What’s your class?"

"Archer."

"Not bad. Archers typically stay in the backline, so you’ll be in a similar position to me..."

After giving Michael a crash course in game mechanics, Kai invited everyone in the area to join the party.

[Balter has joined the party.]

[Yoo Ha-Rin has joined the party.]

[Seol Eun-Yeong has joined the party.]

[Michael has joined the party.]

That makes five.

Kai immediately pulled the dungeon map from his inventory.

"Wait a second!"

As Kai was about to unlock the dungeon’s code, Michael stopped him.

When Kai gave him a questioning look, Michael said in a serious tone, "Before we get started with filming, can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"The Unknown I know is meticulous and extremely cautious. Don’t deny it—I’ve edited over a hundred hours of your footage, so I might know you better than you know yourself."

"... Continue."

"I heard this program is supposed to be a variety show. You could’ve rejected the offer. What made you agree to it?"

For the first time, Michael, who had been smiling and friendly since joining, had a sharp gaze.

Is this what it means to be a pro when it comes to their work?

Kai found this aspect of Michael quite likable and smiled. "Are you worried my information might get leaked?"

"Yes. Every time a video about you is released, rankers analyze you. From the perspective of a solitary absolute, that can’t be pleasant. So why did you accept this filming proposal?"

"

Oh

, is that all? Don’t worry about it."

As Michael mentioned, there was indeed a time when Kai kept everything about himself tightly concealed. Even if he was a Mythic rank, he was still a solo player—a weaker party.

But not anymore.

Though he was still a solo player, one crucial thing had changed.

I’m not weak anymore.

Kai was no longer weak. After collecting all three holy relics, he gained the ability to summon the souls of the apostles at will and had accumulated stats far exceeding his level thanks to his stacked Benevolence points.

And that wasn’t all. Recently, he had even obtained a bunch of special titles through the banquet of the gods. On top of that, his Swordsmanship of the Dawn skill level was at Advanced level 7, just a step away from mastery. Because of this, Kai was confident.

It’s time to reveal it.

He decided it was time for the claws he had kept hidden to finally be revealed to the world.

Mediocre strength becomes a target for suppression.

However, overwhelming power, beyond comparison, became an object of reverence, admiration, or fear.

Facing Kai’s confident gaze, Michael removed his hand from Kai’s shoulder. “Your eyes alone are enough of an answer.”

“Then, shall we enter now?”

“Let’s do this.”

Kai opened the dungeon door by following the pattern recorded on the map.

Rumble, rumble.

The massive swamp of the Ithaca Jungle split in two, and a grand dungeon entrance slowly rose above the swamp.

“

Oh

... Jesus.”

Michael, with his exceptional eyesight as an archer, didn’t miss a single detail of the unfolding scene. He knew the sights he saw now would become invaluable material for the video’s editing later.

“Let’s go.”

When Kai placed his hand on the dungeon entrance, a message appeared, just as it had a few days ago.

Ding!

[This dungeon has an entry restriction.]

[A minimum of 5 players is required to enter.]

[Current party members: 5.]

[Entering the dungeon.]

Of course, this time, the message was different. With no further restrictions, Kai and the rest of the party stepped into the dungeon.

Thud.

As the five entered, the entrance shut behind them.

[You have discovered the Sanctuary of Corruption dungeon.]

[Item drop rate and XP gain increased by 30% for 9 in-game days.]

[+370,418 XP]

[+15,200 Fame]

“

Hmm

. This is crap,” muttered Balter, who had naturally taken the front-line tank position.

Receiving the first discovery rewards from the dungeon was certainly a good thing, but the issue lay elsewhere.

“Judging by the sealed entrance, this is a wipe dungeon.”

A wipe dungeon. As the name suggested, it required players to defeat every monster in the dungeon before the exit would open.

In the past, players most hated ant-nest dungeons. Those maze-like dungeons weren’t just about killing monsters, as finding the boss room itself was a massive challenge.

“This... isn’t a joke. This dungeon really is shit.”

But times had changed. Players' levels kept rising higher and higher, and in response, the dungeons had also evolved. Naturally, the types of dungeons players hated the most also changed.

“How many conditions does this dungeon have?”

“Jesus! Floor-based, wipe, and ant-nest. That’s three!”

Instead of just having a single condition like before, dungeons began to appear with multiple, worst-case conditions stacked together.

"

Hmm

..."

Kai scanned the surroundings with focused eyes. Near the entrance, there was a symbol drawn—a Greek numeral for one.

The number indicating the floor suggests it’s a multi-floor dungeon. How many floors are there?

Unlike regular single-floor dungeons, multi-floor dungeons were structured differently.

Just like Lynel’s Dungeon that Kai had visited before, this one seemed to have multiple levels.

And it’s combined with the ant-nest and wipe conditions...

It was, without a doubt, the worst combination imaginable. Ant-nest dungeons had significantly more monsters than normal ones. And with the wipe condition added...

It means we’ll have to defeat every single monster on this floor.

A dungeon was a place where hundreds, or perhaps even thousands, of monsters could be lurking.

Balter then asked in a troubled voice, "Jung-Woo... I mean, Kai. What do we do about this?"

"What do you mean, what do we do?" Kai casually began stretching, loosening his body up. "We clear it."

The hunt began.