Chapter 436: End Game (1)

The Legion of Darkness was easily repulsed by the joint attack of Kai and his dullahans. To Kai, the Black Dragon guild members and the Legion of Darkness were all the same—just weaklings. After Muldine vanished, they could no longer handle Kai, who regained access to healing skills.

“

Phew...

”

As Kai unexpectedly leveled up several times, someone came running toward him.

“My dear! Are you alright?”

It was Helik, her face filled with concern.

She waved her hands and frantically said, “Your arms and legs were like, spinning all around like this!”

“I’m fine now. Look, perfectly fine, right?”

“

Phew

...”

Even though Kai showed off a graceful stretch, Helik’s worry didn’t settle. Just as he was about to tell her not to worry so much, messages signaling the end of the battle appeared.

Ding!

[You have annihilated the Legion of Darkness.]

[You have perfectly defeated the infamous symbol of death.]

[Level increased.]

[Level increased.]

[Level increased.]

.

.

.

[Acquired 40 stat points.]

[+2,260,800 Fame.]

[+50 Benevolence.]

[Due to the effect of Witness of the Sun, your Benevolence stat has additionally increased by 25.]

First came the rewards for defeating the Legion of Darkness. For someone like Kai, it was possible to defeat them all after just a few hours of fighting, but for most, it would have required two or three of the world’s top ten guilds to unite.

Not bad.

However, the real reward he had his eyes on was something else.

Atroc, and... Muldine.

In truth, hoping for a reward for Muldine was a bit greedy. He hadn’t taken down Muldine’s actual body, and only struck the spirit possessing Atroc. Kai waited with a nervous expression for the reward window.

Ding!

[You have defeated Atroc, cardinal of the Church of Muldine.]

[The Church of Muldine operates under a strict top-down command structure. With the death of its highest authority, Cardinal Atroc, the church falls into great disarray.]

[The death of the cardinal causes panic among the Church of Muldine followers.]

[The morale of the Church of Muldine drops by 50% for 30 days.]

[Acquired special title: Lion of Light.]

[Level increased.]

[Level increased.]

[Level increased.]

.

.

.

[Acquired 70 stat points.]

[Calculating Benevolence stat to be granted by Helik.]

“

Hm?

” Kai blinked as he read the messages.

Everything looked good, except for the fact that the Benevolence points still hadn’t been granted.

“

Um

... Helik?”

“Wait... just a moment!” Helik clenched and unclenched her fingers with intense focus. “

Hmm

... 150?

Ughhh!

”

Kai stared blankly at her fussing on her own and asked, “What are you doing right now?”

“What do you mean, what am I doing? I’m calculating how many Benevolence points I can grant you.”

“

Uh

... You calculate that yourself?” Kai asked, slightly shocked.

Then Helik gave him a look like he was talking nonsense. “Then who besides me, the Solarian God, would be awarding a believer of the Solarian Church?”

That was a fair point.

“

Oh

, of course you’re right... I just thought it was the Supreme God directly giving them out.”

Since the Supreme God was also known as the System.

Helik paused to think then nodded. “That’s not entirely wrong. In the end, deciding how many Benevolence points to give is basically a negotiation between the Supreme God and I.”

“Negotiation?”

“

Yup

. The impact you’ve had on this world, the good you’ve done, how much benevolence will ripple from it... I measure the Benevolence points under the laws left behind for the world by the Supreme God.”

Hearing something amazing, Kai coaxed her in a sly voice, “Then how about just giving me like... 500?”

Helik immediately snapped back, “You! Were you not listening to a single word I said? There’s a cap on how many points I can give. If you keep getting greedy over and over again, I might not give you anything at all!”

“

Uh

...”

Kai’s eyes slightly trembled.

Then the fact that I’ve been receiving Benevolence stat points all along means...

Did it mean Helik had been that good at negotiating?

Surprised, Kai instinctively covered his mouth with his hand. It was the shock of finding out that one’s daughter, who one thought was a fool, had scored over ninety percent on a spelling test.

“Th-that’s incredible.”

“

Mhmm,

I’m a god, after all!”

Pleased by the small praise, Helik told him to wait a moment and began clenching and unclenching her fingers again.

“

Hmm

, Atroc was a really really bad guy, so 100...

Oh

, but he was a really really old bad guy, so 120...

Ah,

right, and the one who hit you later was Muldine, right?”

“Yes. Muldine descended into the Middle Realm using Atroc’s body.”

“Great. Then it actually worked out well. This might be 150... no, maybe even up to 170...” Helik mumbled to herself for a bit then suddenly clapped her hands. “

Oh!

It went through!”

“

Ooh,

how many is it?”

However, the answer didn’t come from Helik but from the system message instead.

Ding!

[Along with the complete defeat of Atroc, you have also defeated the spirit form of Muldine who appeared through his body.]

[Due to the strong advocacy of the Solarian God, your reward has been enhanced. +200 Benevolence.]

[Due to the effect of Witness of the Sun, your Benevolence stat has additionally increased by 100.]

“

Wow!!!

”

Kai, now covered in goosebumps, hurriedly brushed his arms.

Wait a second. Then the total gains from this battle are...

22 levels, 110 stat points, and finally 375 Benevolence stat points.

That’s huge!

It had been a grueling battle, but the reward made the effort more than worth it.

This is why you need to sort your waste properly.

He had disposed of the garbage named Atroc without leaving a trace. As a result, the chain of command in the Church of Muldine had started to crack as shown in the system message.

For the next thirty days, the Church of Muldine’s morale will crawl on the floor.

War was a strange thing. Even seasoned warriors who could normally perform at one-hundred percent would often only show sixty to seventy percent of that in actual battle. If an experienced fighter entered combat with morale at its peak, they might bring out eighty to ninety percent of their strength.

But the reverse was also true. Warriors who had spent centuries locked away with no real action, only building up raw power. If their morale also hit rock bottom...

They would be lucky to perform at thirty to forty percent of their usual strength.

Kai’s eyes sparkled. It had to be now. Everything in the situation was sending him a green light.

I’ll take down Muldine on the first try.

If he missed this opportunity, there might never be another.

And if it’s for Helik...

He had to make this chance count.

“Helik, thank you so much,” Kai knelt on one knee and patted Helik’s head in praise.

“

Mhmm

. If you’re happy, then that is enough for me.”

If Helik had a tail, it would have been wagging fiercely from side to side.

She smiled sweetly like a puppy and looked up at the sky. “Maybe this rain is the tears of the heavens.”

“The heavens cry even for people like that?”

“Who knows. Maybe Muldine feels a little sad.”

“I doubt it.”

Given how that guy treated Atroc, Kai didn’t think he would mourn the loss of the Legion of Darkness or anything else.

As Kai blankly stared at the sky, his brow slightly raised.

“

Oh

.”

The drizzling rain had stopped, and the dark clouds slowly parted. What peeked through was the bright shining sun.

“The rain stopped.”

“

Mhmm

. I thought it was a downpour, but it was just a strong shower.” Helik murmured, smiling, “That’s a relief.”

***

Dr. Jim, who had just arrived in Korea, headed somewhere before even unpacking at the hotel.

“Really? Alright."

After receiving a report through a call from his subordinate, Dr. Jim replied calmly and hung up.

Atroc is dead, huh...

It was as expected. He had returned to Korea because he believed Kai would surely win.

The driver, seeing Dr. Jim deep in thought as he looked out the window, didn’t disturb him. They glided along the well-paved roads and entered Cheongdam-dong.

Dr. Jim, who had arrived in front of a clean luxury officetel, mumbled while tapping the ground with his cane, “So this is where Mr. Han lives...”

People passing by began whispering as they noticed him.

“That’s him... right?”

“Who?”

“Dr. Jim Lewis from Pegasus Corp. You know, the guy who developed

MID Online

.”

“

Oh

, really? Actually?”

People started pulling out their phones and secretly taking pictures. Disliking this kind of attention, Dr. Jim let out a light sigh and headed for the officetel entrance.

A young security guard stepped forward awkwardly and asked, “

Um

... May I help you?”

“The owner of this home is Mr. Han... that is, Han Jung-Woo, correct?”

When Dr. Jim spoke, fluent Korean flowed from the speaker hanging from his neck. It was a real-time translator implanted with the Rammus A.I. Many wanted to get their hands on one, but since it wasn’t sold publicly, it was a very rare device.

“

Uh

... yes. He does live on the fourth floor, but he’s not the owner of the building.

Oh

, I probably shouldn’t have said that...”

Dr. Jim was shocked at the security guard’s remark.

“What... So only the fourth floor of this building is his home?”

“No, not even the entire fourth floor. Just one unit on it...”

Lost in thought, Dr. Jim slowly nodded. “I see. This must be a dedicated workspace just for playing the game.”

It simply didn’t make sense to him. A man with cash assets easily exceeding hundreds of billions was occupying just a single room in such a cramped building.

“Could you perhaps deliver a brief message for me?”

“

Uh

... You mean like through the intercom?”

“Sure. Anything will do.”

“One moment, please.” The guard pulled out the phone clipped to his belt and opened an app. “

Ah

, hello. This is the security office. No no, it’s not a delivery.

Um

... a guest came to see you. Yes. Yes. I’ll put him on now. Just a moment.”

As he handed over the phone, Dr. Jim introduced himself with simple English, “Hello, Mr. Han. It’s Dr. Jim.”

***

“What brings you here...?” Han Jung-Woo muttered as he opened the door in a hurry, still chewing a mouthful of cereal soaked in milk for breakfast. “

Ah

, please come inside first.”

“

Mhm

. Thank you for allowing this sudden visit.”

Dr. Jim carefully propped his cane by the entrance, followed Han Jung-Woo, and took a seat on the sofa.

“This actually works out perfectly.”

Han Jung-Woo’s eyes sparkled as he welcomed the visit, bringing over a cold bottle of sikhye[1] from the fridge.

“

Hm?

What do you mean?”

“I actually had something I wanted to talk to you about too.”

To be honest, it wasn’t just Dr. Jim. He also had something to say to CEO Marco.

“The debt I left hanging last time. I think I’ll use it now.”

Dr. Jim nervously gulped at Jung-Woo’s words. This young Asian man standing before him could never be underestimated. He might look clumsy at a glance, but he stood at the pinnacle of all 1.2 billion players of

MID Online

.

1.

Sikhye

- Korean rice punch ☜