Ark

ACT 8 Project: Lucifer

-Kuwaaaah!

Once the capsule was gone, Lucifer yanked at his head and went mad. He shrieked and swung his arms like an insane person.

“Huck! S-scatter!”

The attack squad members gathered in front of Lucifer scattered like chickens. But Lucifer didn’t even look at them. Lucifer just pounded his head against the ground. Then he suddenly stopped and his whole body melted down to a jelly like texture.

“M-melted? So he is dead?”

“What? Is it over?”

“We won?”

The attack squad murmured as they started at Lucifer who had changed to a huge slime. Ark quickly confirmed the warning message and shook his head.

“No, it’s not over yet!”

<Time remaining until the Dark Lord’s resurrection: 37 minutes>

Ark cried out and the black slime started to wiggle. Then dozens of tentacles started exploding all over the place.

Ku kwa kwa kwa kwa, ku kwa kwa kwa kwa!

“Huk! What, what the?”

“H-help me, waaaaahhhhh!”

Dozens of soldiers watching with dumb surprise were grabbed by the tentacles and absorbed into Lucifer. Only bones were left of the soldiers absorbed by Lucifer.

‘Oh my god, Lucifer can still attack even while the resurrection ceremony is ongoing?’

Ark once again realized Lucifer’s power. In fact, Ark thought that Lucifer would be like a doll with its battery removed after the Red Man was gone. However, Lucifer was still a threat without the Red Man.

Kwa kwa kwa kwang, kwa kwa kwa kwang!

Lucifer swung his hundreds of tentacles wildly and dust covered the area. The attack squad could only see 10 metres in front of them thanks to the dust so they became even more confused. And the resurrection hadn’t stopped. In the end, they needed to shatter Lucifer in 37 minutes.

“But that guy’s movement is clearly different. Previously he was consciously moving but now he is just attacking wildly. Plus……”

“Sheesh, that monster bastard. Torrential Sword!”

“Why won’t you disappear? Earth storm!”

Kwa kwa kwa kwang, kwa kwa kwa kwang!

Then Shambala and Bread damaged the tentacles near them. There was an explosion and several tentacles fell down feebly to the ground. At the same time, Lucifer’s health was quickly reduced by 0.5%.

“That guy has degenerated while holding the resurrection ceremony so his defense has fallen and his shield is gone. If Lucifer is in this state then the attack squad can kill him in the time limit!”

If Lucifer was in such a state when the attack squad escaped from the Idea Maze then everything would’ve ended already. The Red Man’s trick cost them quite a bit of time. However, now the Red Man’s trick had been revealed. The remaining time was 37 minutes. It wasn’t a large amount of time but all the demons had been wiped out and the 1,200 attack squad members revived.

“JusticeMan ajusshi, rehabilitation hyungnims, calm down. Lucifer was previously strong but now he is just an amoeba. If you look at the attack pattern then it will be easy to avoid. Furthermore, there is no shield and the defense is at the standard of a general boss. If you handle it calmly then he isn’t a difficult opponent.”

“I noticed it too!”

JusticeMan nodded. The rehabilitation members read Lucifer’s attack patterns and shouted.

“Everybody split into units consisting of 50 people. Archers and magicians will attack the main body while the warriors will protect them from the tentacles! We will deliver the position of the troops in real time!”

The attack squad had experienced many battles and fought closely together. After hearing the orders from JusticeMan and the rehabilitation members, they instantly made their formations. Once they each took a position, dealing with the tentacles wasn’t that difficult.

“That’s it. If we push him like this…..!”

Flash!

Ark was just sighing with relief when it happened. A red light flashed in front of him and he felt a huge impact to his side. Ark fell to the ground and his limbs wouldn’t move when he tried to stand up.

<You have received the direct impact of ‘Chakra Wave’ inside your body. Defense is ignored and you have received 800 damage. The shock wave also ruined the balance of mana inside your body and you have lost 1000 mana.  Thanks to the severe bruising, your attack speed and movement speed is reduced by 10% for 5 minutes. Your body is also rigid and you will be unable to move for 3 seconds>

“Ugh, Chakra wave?”

Ark flinched and lifted his eyes. One man slowly walked through the dust caused by Lucifer. It was a man with red hair wearing a white mask! Ark’s eyes shook anxiously as he saw him.

“The Red Man!”

“You…… I’m going to kill you!”

The Red Man murmured with a harsh voice.

‘Dammit, wasn’t I too careless because of Lucifer?’

He was stunned by his forgetfulness. The Red Man pulled out two swords from his waist and attacked. It was great speed that transcended imagination and made him almost invisible! If he thought about what he experienced with the Red Man before then it would certainly be a critical hit. However, Ark was paralyzed by the previous Chakra Wave and he couldn’t move. Ark prepared for the impact. And just as the Red Man’s sword was about to reach Ark’s neck!

“Do you not see us at all? Earth storm!”

“Torrential Sword!”

Shambala and Bread jumped through the dust towards the Red Man. The Red Man bent his body like a snake and moved to the left and right. There was the sound of something breaking and Bread and Shambala flew back while spouting blood.

“Ugh! W-what is this? I didn’t see him move.”

“That bastard…. What have you done to my pet?”

Redian belatedly appeared and frowned while raising both hands. She made an X with both arms and shouted.

“Fusion magic, Elemental Break!”

Fire and ice were drawn from side to side in an arc and hit the Red Man! Before the spell could hit, the Red Man disappeared and unexpectedly showed up in front of Redian. At the same time, the Red Man’s fist hit Redian’s stomach.

“Disappear woman!”

Redian screamed as she flew back 10 metres and hit the ground. Timosi hid in the dust and used that chance to fire dozens of arrows. No, she tried to bombard him.

“Red Man, this is revenge for Alan! Matanyi Shooter no. 4, Devil’s……

The Red Man rapidly rotated his body, causing dozens of red rays to shoot out from his mantle. The dozens of red rays pierced Timosi’s body. Timosi gushed blood from her whole body and fell down.

“Waaahhhhhhhh!”

Kwa kwa kwa kwa, kwa kwa kwa kwa!

At that time, Wormer in his armoured suit rushed fiercely forward and fired blindly. But in just a moment, black smoke rose from the armoured suit and the shoulder parts exploded. The armoured suit couldn’t control its speed anymore and just rotated around wildly. The Red Man already knew Wormer was approaching while he was attacking Timosi. No, he couldn’t see through the dust but Lariette still screamed and collapsed despite being far away. It was a reaction speed that transcended imagination.

“Trash like this…..”

The Red Man murmured in a distorted voice after handling the heroes’ descendants.

“My mistake. I considered you guys boring so I didn’t pay attention….. I should’ve handled you immediately. But I will correct that mistake. Once I handle you guys then Lucifer’s resurrection will be complete without any problems.”

“Do you think we will just let you?”

Ark’s paralysis was finally released and he stood up. He boldly retorted towards the Red Man but he was actually sweating.

‘Damn, I thought we would’ve lasted longer……’

Ark stared at the fallen Bread and Shambala. Ark had been level 300 when he first encountered the Red Man. At the time, Ark and Shambala tried a pincer attack but they were still smashed. However, it had been almost 1 year since then. Ark was level 500 and he gained equipment that couldn’t even be compared to back then. Therefore he had confidence that he could at least fight against the Red Man. Once he met the Red Man again, he realized how big an illusion that was. Of course, Ark had received a surprise blow. However, Shambala and Bread were almost equal to Ark and they surprised the Red Man first.  Yet they couldn’t even attack properly before being forced to the ground. It was the same for Redian, Timosi, Wormer and Lariette afterwards. It only took him 3~4 seconds to deal with them! It was an unbelievable strength. But it was understandable if Park Woo-seong was behind the Red Man.

‘Park Woo-seong is the main creator of New World!’

Naturally Park Woo-seong tested many parts of the game while creating it. And what if he didn’t erase one character but left it?

‘The Red Man…… He is the first person created in New World!’

In that case, perhaps the Red Man’s level was already in the hundreds when New World was commercialized. Obviously he would know everything about New World, gained various abilities as well as equipment.

‘But his strength isn’t just his levels and skills.’

Ark found out a while ago that the Red Man was just an auto program who was close to an NPC. But even if he was an NPC, he was different from an ordinary NPC. Most NPCs only had a few gigabytes of data behind it while the Red Man had hundreds or thousands of gigabytes of data. Therefore the Red Man’s calculation speed easily surpassed any human brain and he could react to any attacks. It was like they were battling a super computer. The character was invincible! It was natural. Park Woo-seong intended to make his creation invincible.

‘The Red Man’s stats, equipment and skills surpasses all of ours in every way. How can we defeat such a monster?’

Ark’s thoughts frantically rolled over in his head.

“I’ll dispose of all of you at once. Shiva’s Proclamation!”

The Red Man shouted and punched the ground with his fist.

Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa!

A huge stone statue rose up from the ground. It was one of the three Hindu gods. It was a stone statue resembling Shiva with four arms, three eyes and a snake wrapped around the neck. The four arms made of stone moved strangely and the surrounding space became filled with a red light. Ark’s face instantly darkened at the sight. Ark had already experienced the power of this once before. Shiva’s Proclamation was a fraudulent new territory declaration where the abilities of the Red Man, his movement speed and defense increased by 50% when within the 300 metre area. Ark remembered the Red Man using the Divine Skill Indra’s Lightning to wipe them all out in Seutandal. The invincible man became even stronger.

‘I made a mistake. I can’t even use Area Declaration now that he used new territory declaration.’

Ark looked at the Red Man with a hopeless expression. At the moment, the skill he gained when the last seal of Eternal Soul was released popped into his head. It was Hero Fusion which absorbed all the Area Declarations into his body! Even if he could use Glory of the Night, he wouldn’t be able to deal with the Red Man who used the divine proclamation. However, Hero Fusion meant he was able to absorb the Area Declarations of the other heroes’ descendants.

‘We’ve already used Area Declaration but we died and revived so the cool down time is reset. Then it is possible to make all the heroes’ descendants proclaim their Area Declarations! I can beat the Red Man!’

“…..Die!”

While Ark was thinking, the Red Man ran up while wielding his sword.

Kiiiiiing!

The Red Man’s sword pushed past the sound barrier…. Ark rolled to the ground and shouted.

“Eternal Soul, Hero Fusion! Area Declaration, Glory of the Night!”

At the same time, an information window appeared in front of Ark.

Due to the effect of Hero Fusion from Eternal Soul, Glory of the Night has been absorbed into your body.

<Your attack and defense has increased by 50% and magic resistance has increased by 20%>

Ark got up at the same time and yelled.

“Now. Shambala, Bread, Redian, Lariette, Wormer and Timosi, use your Area Declarations!”

“What? But the Red Man has already proclaimed the new territory declaration…..”

“There’s no time to explain. I have a way to take care of that! I need you to use your Area Declarations!”

“Ah, I don’t know. It isn’t possible for me to even move in this state. Area Declaration, Infinite Energy Field!”

Wormer exclaimed from within the broken armoured suit. Instead of Area Declaration being used, a small ball seemed to form in the air in front of Wormer. And it flew towards Ark where it was absorbed into his body. At the same time, the Red Man jumped across the space and brandished his sword. Just before the Red Man’s sword touched him, Wormer’s Area Declaration was absorbed and Ark was covered with shiny gold armour. It was the additional effect of Wormer’s Area Declaration, Infinite Energy Field!

Kyakyakyakyak!

The Red Man’s sword scratched the gold iron and sparked. The Red Man frowned and retreated one step because of the unexpected situation. The rest of the heroes’ descendants realized the situation and activated Area Declaration.

“Area Declaration, River of Blood!”

“Area Declaration, Land of the Beast!”

“Area Declaration, Land of Purification!”

“Area Declaration, Exorcist!”

“Area Declaration, Land of Fire and Ice!”

The 5 Area Declarations turned into small balls and shot towards Ark. A fiercely spinning vortex appeared around Ark as the balls were absorbed into his body. There was a massive shockwave and the heroes’ descendants burst out with confusion

“What the? What happened to him?”

The dust gradually subsided and Ark’s form could be seen. But he wasn’t the previous Ark anymore. The Area Declarations from the 7 heroes had fused into Ark’s body!

“This is Hero Maban’s final technique, Hero Fusion….”

Ark murmured as his body was enveloped in light. Ark had changed after absorbing the Area Declarations. He was always wearing leather armour but this was the first time he saw his arms and legs so muscular. And two transparent crystal shields rotated around his body which had a gold shine to it. But the more amazing thing wasn’t the change to his appearance but the tremendous power he could feel. At the same time, an information window appeared in front of Ark.

* Attack and defense power increased by 300%.

* Resistance to cold has risen by 200%.

* Movement Speed, Reaction Rate and Attack Speed increased by 200%.

* The amount of mana needed to use the skills has decreased by half.

* Resistance to magic and curses has increased by 100%.

* The crystal shields have a 30% chance of reflecting enemy attacks.

* The iron armour increases defense by 100%.

“Oh my god, is this really the effect of a normal skill?”

Ark gaped as he saw the information window. While Ark was gaping, the Red Man crossed the space again.

“Even if all the trash is gathered, it is still trash!”

The revolving crystal shields stopped the Red Man’s attack. At the same time, the sword that grazed the surface of the crystal shield bounced back and grazed the Red Man’s shoulder.

“Ugh! T-this is…..”

The Red Man withdrew and stared with confusion at his sword. Then Ark looked at the Red Man and laughed.

“A collection of trash is still trash? Is it really like that?”

Ark gathered strength into his ankle and kicked lightly at the ground. Ark’s body disappeared and he showed up right in front of the Red Man’s nose. He didn’t use any special skills. The 200% increase in movement speed made it seem like he had leapt across the space.

“Now it is time for your punishment.”

Kkiiiing!

Ark laughed as he appeared under the Red Man’s nose and swung his sword. Ark’s sword also broke through the sound barrier.

“T-this bastard…..!”

The Red Man quickly withdrew. Ark pursued the Red Man with his eyes. This was because relative speed was applied to New World. If his movement speed was faster than his opponent’s reaction rate, even if it was only by a little bit, relative speed would be applied through a complex system to prevent the opponent’s movement. That was the secret of the spatial movement the Red Man used! But now Ark’s reaction rate had increased by 200%.

“Is that all?”

Kwa kwa kwa kwa, kwa kwa kwa kwa!

Ark caught the movement of the Red Man and hurled complicated rapid-fire attacks.

“Is that really Ark fighting over there?”

Bread muttered with a foolish expression.  Frankly, Ark didn’t feel like his speed had increased by 200%. It just felt like he was moving faster than usual. However, Shambala and Bread fell into the trap of the system’s relative speed and couldn’t see Ark’s complicated movements as he chased the Red Man. It just seemed like flashes of light and dust flying in empty spaces. Thus they couldn’t grasp how the battle was progressing. They couldn’t even intrude. After 10 minutes of the intense but boring invisible battle…..

Kwa kwa kwa kwang, kwa kwa kwa kwang!

There was a violent shaking. At the same time, dust spread while Ark and the Red Man appeared. There was a distance of 10 metres between them while their appearances were almost equal. Several of Ark’s metal armour plates had been shed while the Red Man was holding his side. The Red Man grinded his teeth and muttered.

“Ugh, you dare go against the creator…..”

Ark snorted and said.

“Don’t talk nonsense. You’re an auto program! Don’t you know that is illegal? Your life itself is illegal!”

“What, auto? What is an auto program?”

The Red Man looked baffled.

‘Eh? What the, what’s with this reaction? Does this guy not know that he is an auto program?’

“You…..”

Ark looked at him with an absurd expression and tried to talk while the Red Man shook his head violently and shouted.

“Shut up! I am the creator. It is my choice whether to destroy the world or not!”

“You’re an illegal software so shouldn’t you be able to press the ‘Del’ key?”

“Shut up! Divine skill, Indra’s Lightning!”

Pajijik, pajijik, pajijijik, flash!

At the moment, four round discs appeared around the Red Man and shot out sparks. Sparks rose from the disks engraved with Indra! The sparks formed a huge lightning bolt and headed towards Ark. Just like in the myths, Indra exterminated all his enemies with lightning when he became angry. He was enveloped in a huge flash as the lightning hit him.

“Ah, Ark!”

Shambala and Bread simultaneously cried out. When he was hit with the Divine Skill before, he had become paralyzed and his health reached the bottom. If Ark couldn’t avoid the lightning then he would be turned to ash! The heroes’ descendants imagined Ark as ash and moaned.

“Ha, your repertoire hasn’t changed. Don’t you have anything else? You’ve learnt that skill a long time ago and it seems like you haven’t increased your repertoire at all. I’ll show you my new repertoire. Divine Skill, Descent of the Fire Draconian!”

Ark’s voice was heard and a pillar of flames shot up from among the sparks.

The <Immortal Fire Draconian> effect will be applied for 10 minutes.

* 300 Fire damage added to all attacks.

* Attack speed, Movement speed and Reaction rate will increase by 50%.

* All enemies that attack will receive 10~100 fire damage.

* Fire resistance increases to 500% and all party members’ fire resistance will increase to 100%.

* When activated, all enemies within the area will receive 1000 fire damage while 50% of the user’s health will be restored.

“Huck! H-how did you block Indra’s……?”

“Your Master might’ve created New World but you are just his body you idiot!”

Ark smiled and penetrated the Red Man with his sword.

Kwa kwa kwa kwa, kwa kwa kwa kwa!

Huge flames exploded from Ark’s body and sucked out the Red Man’s health. The fire hit everywhere as the Red Man ended up kneeling on one side. Then he looked at Ark with disbelieving eyes. He finally noticed how Ark had stopped Indra’s Lightning.

“U-unbelievable!”

Ark was standing in one spot with many swords surrounding him. That’s right. Ark had experienced Indra’s Lightning before and came out with a way to defend against it. It was placing swords all over the place! Those swords acted like a lightning rod and absorbed the attacks from Indra’s Lightning.

“You’re a computer program so you might have stronger combat abilities than users but you don’t know how to use the game. Huhuhu, a person with wisdom is indeed better than someone with knowledge. Isn’t that right?”

Ark murmured. The battle between Ark and the Red Man was equal so the ‘game mechanics application’ meant the difference between victory or defeat.

-Kuooong!

At the same time, Lucifer deflated like a balloon after receiving the concentrated hits of JusticeMan, the rehabilitation members and the attack squad.  Both the Red Man and Lucifer had been defeated.

“Now, let’s finish this.”

Ark muttered with a relaxed expression. Despair rose in the Red Man’s eyes after seeing what happened to Lucifer.  Then something suddenly bubbled from Lucifer’s body and shrank. The sight of it caused the Red Man’s eyes to flash. He suddenly got up and ran towards Lucifer.

“Eh! T-this bastard…!”

Ark overtook him and swung his sword. However, the Red Man agilely squeezed between Lariette and Roco. Meanwhile, the attack squad were embracing each other with joy as one of them prepared to drive his sword into Lucifer’s body.

“You bastard! Why can’t you just give up?”

Ark caught up to the Red Man again and attacked. No, he was about to attack.

“Kuwaaaaaaaah!”

The Red Man suddenly screamed and his white mask exploded. Ark retreated after seeing the Red Man’s face and stuttered.

“What, what the? His face?”

0100010101000010101111011010101001011110…….

The Red Man was faceless. It was just a void filled with numbers. But the surprising thing happened afterwards. The world froze the moment the Red Man’s mask exploded. The explosion, dust and all the people moving suddenly froze. The only thing that moved was the numbers forming the Red Man’s face.

‘What, what the? Why can’t my body move?’

Ark used all his strength to try and move his body. Lucifer who had deflated like a balloon began to gradually rise. The thousands of tentacles on the ground also attached back onto him. Then Lucifer’s low health started climbing?’

“T-this is back server?”

Back server….. It was the phenomenon where the system returned to a previous state because of an error! It was a phenomenon that occurred in the 2000’s when online gaming was still unsafe. But the phenomenon in front of him wasn’t a simple back server. The only thing returning to its original form was Lucifer. If this continued then Lucifer would change back to the original state that they encountered him in….. And it was a long battle so Ark and the attack squad’s stamina and skills were already depleted.

‘T-this isn’t possible!’

The stiffened Ark silently screamed.

——————————————————————————————————————

“I’ve found it!”

A pair of eyes sparkled in the darkness. The person looking at the laptop was a man in his late 30’s.

“I never thought it would be in a place like that. Global Exos, you shallow guys….! I’ve finally found it. If this comes into my hands then nobody can stop me now. Lucifer will revive and New World will disappear!”

The man typed on the laptop keyboard at an absurd speed.  Then a message appeared on the screen.

“Now disappear. You ugly group of data!’

The man’s cold eyes danced with joy as he prepared to hit the Y key. All of a sudden he heard shouting from behind him.

“Stop!”

The man flinched and hurriedly turned his head. At the same time, 10 people appeared after climbing a mountain slope. They were blond south east Asian foreigners wearing a badge on their chest. The initials G.A.S.P were engraved on the badge. G.A.S.P….. They were the special security agents from Global Exos. Confusion spread over the man’s face as he saw their badges.

“H-how did you get here?”

“New World told us.”

A man in his thirties wearing a suit went in front of the SP and replied. He showed the screen of a MP (Movie Player) and continued talking.

“I’ve been looking for you over the past 2 years. But I never thought you would be in a place like this. Then we saw a video that a user in New World shot a while ago.”

The video of the grave that Ark saw in the Idea Maze was shown on the MP screen. The grave was the one the man was sitting next to. The man in the suit sighed as he saw the MP.

“This is where you were….. Yuna’s grave, Park Woo-seong ssi.”

“Ha Myung-woo……”

That’s right. The man wearing a suit was Ha Myung-woo from Global Exos. The man holding the laptop was the one who went missing a few years ago, Park Woo-seong. Park Woo-seong looked at Ha Myung-woo and smiled coldly.

“You dug through the videos and finally found me.”

“I remembered the moment I saw the grave. This is Yuna’s hometown. You disappeared and took Yuna’s body from the hospital. After watching the video from the Idea Maze, I realized that you must’ve made her grave before New World was commercialized. You love her more than your life so I thought that you definitely wouldn’t leave her grave.”

“You really are resourceful, just like the rumours say.”

Park Woo-seong laughed. But it was a hollow laugh as his eyes became sharp.

“However, it is too late. The situation is already over.”

“I know. I already guessed it after seeing the current situation in New World through the MP.”

Ha Myung-woo sighed and nodded. He looked at Yuna’s grave and murmured.

“In fact, everything we know has been a big illusion. The master key is the key to New World’s main system and we thought you were the one to hide it.”

“What nonsense are you saying? That……”

“Yes. You thought we hid it. While we were afraid that you got your hands on the master code and hid it somewhere. And you probably tried to back into the main server to obtain the master code. Isn’t that right?”

“…..It’s not like that?”

“No. The person who hid the master code was someone else.”

“Someone other than Global Exos hid the master code?”

“Yuna ssi.”

Ha Myung-woo replied in a bittersweet voice. Then Park Woo-seong’s face warped with derision.

“Shut up! How dare you bring Yuna into this?”

“It is true. I also only discovered this fact recently.”

Park Woo-seong looked at Yuna’s grave bitterly while Ha Myung-woo continued.

“And I finally discovered the whole truth behind this event.”

“The whole truth?”

“Yes. You might understand better than me. When we were originally designing New World’s scenarios, there was no Dark Lord or 7 heroes. But then the existence known as the Dark Lord suddenly showed up in the scenarios. And the existence of the 7 heroes followed. The Dark Lord is the presence that you, Park Woo-seong created.”

Park Woo-seong’s forehead wrinkled at those words.

“The Dark Lord didn’t exist in the development phase so his identity isn’t that of a simple NPC. He was a computer virus planted by you to destroy the date on the main server of New World. The ‘Project: Lucifer.’ And Project: Lucifer tried to destroy the main server when New World was on the verge of commercialization.”

“I had to do it! I shouldn’t have made New World in the first place!  She….that game if the devil that killed her!”

Park Woo-seong suddenly shouted angrily. Ha Myung-woo didn’t pay any attention to him and just continued talking.

“But Project: Lucifer was stopped before it could destroy New World’s data.”

“That was quite surprising. You stupid and slow guys noticed my plan. But you guys couldn’t completely remove Project: Lucifer.”

Park Woo-seong snorted and muttered. Ha Myung-woo just shook his head and said.

“No, it’s embarrassing to admit but we didn’t even know the existence of Project: Lucifer until recently.”

“What? What does that mean?”

“Of course, we knew that the main server was being infected with a virus at the time. However, we didn’t understand that Project: Lucifer was something you made. And we didn’t know how to stop it. We could only watch from the sidelines as the virus blew up the server data. Yet Project: Lucifer was suddenly sealed up.”

“Spontaneously sealed up? Nonsense. That is impossible!”

“Yes. It is impossible. If we had known the cause at that time then this situation wouldn’t have occurred….. But at the time, we weren’t able to connect to the main server to examine everything. And now we barely found the reason why. At the time, the virus was stopped by the existence of the 7 heroes.”

Park Woo-seong looked strange by the end of Ha Myung-woo’s words.

“…..Is this a hoax? The 7 heroes are just data from a scenario!”

“That’s what I thought until now. However, that isn’t the actual reality. Just like the Dark Lord was a computer virus, the 7 heroes was an antivirus program disguised as a scenario.”

That’s right. This was the reason why the heroes’ skills were specialized for the demons. The 7 heroes were a program designed to fight back against Project: Lucifer. While Project: Lucifer was spreading through the main server, the 7 heroes had sealed it up. This was the 1st Demonic War that the NPCs in New World. It was known as the Dark Century.

Park Woo-seong muttered with a confused look.

“N-no way! Then who….. Who designed the 7 heroes?”

“Don’t you already know?”

Ha Myung-woo stared at Park Woo-seong.

“It was Yuna.”

“Y-Yuna? T-that’s impossible…..”

“The only people who could connect to the main server were you and Yuna.”

“Lies, you’re lying! Yuna….. Yuna suffered after receiving curses from the users and created New World even if it meant dying. So why would Yuna stop me?”

“Do you really think Yuna worked on New World even on her sickbed because of the users’ complaints?”

“There is no other reason!”

“If you look at this then you’ll understand.”

Ha Myung-woo sighed and pulled out a letter. The letter had ‘To my last love’ written on the front. Park Woo-seong’s eyes shook as he saw the writing.

“T-this….?”

“Yuna probably sent this to you right before she died. But you took her corpse and disappeared without a trace after she died. Therefore the letter was sent back to the hospital where Yuna received her medical treatment. It was left in the archive until someone came looking for it. After the SP found your notes in the villa, they went to the hospital and retrieved it. If you read this then you will start to know it was just a misunderstanding.”

Ha Myung-woo carefully laid the letter on the ground and stepped back. There was a reason Ha Myung-woo was acting so carefully around Park Woo-seong. Once again, he had checked the situation in New World while coming here through the MP. He had witnessed the scene where everything froze except for Lucifer who was restored.  There was only one thing in New World that could cause this! It was the master code. Then it was highly likely that the master code would be linked with Park Woo-seong’s laptop. If the master code was connected to the laptop then Park Woo-seong could destroy New World with one press of a button. In the end, Park Woo-seong would hold New World hostage. Park Woo-seong dropped the laptop and picked up the letter. And a familiar handwriting could be seen.

-To Woo-seong ssi who is my first and last love…..

Woo-seong ssi, I’m so sorry. How much did I hurt you while pouring all my efforts into New World? You must’ve felt pain and anger, as well as an inability to understand.  But that is just your misconception.

As you know, I poured my remaining time into New World. I’m now dying. That fact doesn’t change. If this was New World then there might be a way but unfortunately, I am a real person. So I really thought a lot.

I’m a stupid fool who didn’t know how to leave you alone and hurting. I wanted to leave something that reminded you of me.

The huge world of New World is like our child. I created all the scenarios in New World and if you wander the world then you’ll encounter landscapes and people that I made. I truly believe that is the greatest gift I can give you.

But you….. You’re trying to break the results with your own hands. I was afraid of that. I tried a few times but you wouldn’t listen. Therefore I had to secretly hide the master code in New World.

Please understand. I had to do it. Because the person who will feel the saddest if New World is destroyed is you…..

I’m hoping all the misconceptions have been cleared by the time you find the master code. I’m begging you, for our child New World.

“T-this is…..!”

Park Woo-seong trembled and stuttered. Ha Myung-woo sighed and murmured.

“It is as you can see. Yuna was the one who hid the master code. She wanted to save your child New World. When you ignored the contents of the letter and made Lucifer, she created the 7 heroes in order to give the users in New World the power.”

That’s right. That’s why every event related to the Red Man’s plan to restore Lucifer involved the 7 heroes. When the scattered 7 heroes gathered, it was a perfect vaccination to stop the havoc caused by the Red Man. All of this wasn’t a coincidence but the result of a conflict between Park Woo-seong and Yuna. And Global Exos was the one who suffered the damage! If they thought about it from the beginning, it was just a huge couples fight.

“…..No!”

Park Woo-seong murmured in a trembling voice. He shook his head roughly and shouted.

“No! It can’t be! There is no way! This is fake!”

“Park Woo-seong ssi! Don’t you already know? Yuna enjoyed New World more than anybody else. Why do you think that is? That’s why she was delighted that she could see the result with you before she died!”

Then Park Woo-seong recalled something.

-It’s now finished.

Yuna smiled wider than ever. That’s right. In fact, Park Woo-seong knew it already. No, he knew better than anyone else. She wanted to leave evidence that she had lived!  That’s why she didn’t have a grudge against Global Exos and the users.

“I….I….I…..”

Park Woo-seong trembled and murmured as he stared into the distance.

“SP! Secure Park Woo-seong and his laptop!”

The SP secured the collapsed Park Woo-seong and his laptop. The SP searched Park Woo-seong and exclaimed.

“Team Chief-nim, Park Woo-seong seems to have swallowed poison!”

“W-what?”

“He probably intended to die after bringing this to an end.”

“Dammit! His state?”

“If we go to a hospital right now then we can save him in time!”

“Then why are you making a fuss? Head to the hospital as quickly as possible!”

“Yes!”

The SP member hurriedly lifted Park Woo-seong and ran down the mountain. Ha Myung-woo watched them leave before turning around and said.

“The laptop? The master code?”

“I-I don’t know.  The laptop turned off from the shock just then.”

“What, what the?”

Ha Myung-woo’s face paled.

——————————————————————————————————————-

‘Damn, what on earth is going on…..?’

Ark felt like his heard was going to explode. They finally knocked down Lucifer and the Red Man was pushed to the edge of death so why was this happening? Just as the Red Man was in a critical condition, everything suddenly froze?

‘Somehow….. I need to somehow move…..”

Ark bit his lip as he stared at the Red Man’s back. Suddenly the Red Man seemed to twitch. Lucifer’s body also returned to its previous dead state. At the same time, Ark felt the unidentified pressure that stopped him from moving disappear.  It was the moment Ark had prayed for. Ark’s body reacted faster than his head. There was no time to worry about what was going on in the vicinity. This was his only chance!

“….Dark Strike!”

Ark shot forward and attacked. At the same time, the black light from his sword split the Red Man vertically. A long line was drawn vertically down the Red Man and he collapsed to his knees. He shook his head and let out a long sigh as he looked towards the sky.

“Hah….auto program…..I…..”

Those were the last words of the Red Man who dreamt about ruining New World.

The Red Man didn’t move anymore and collapsed to the ground.

<Fame +1,890>

The message appeared when the Red Man fell. The Red Man was level 999! That was the current maximum level in New World.

“Eh eh eh eh?”

The attack squad only realized that the paralysis was released after everything ended. They stared blankly at Ark and the Red Man’s body. Too much had happened in a short time so they couldn’t grasp the situation yet. After a few moments, the absentminded attack squad members finally realized what had happened and screamed.

“Waaahhhhhhhh!”

“W-we won! We defeated the Dark Lord!”

“We knocked down the source of evil!”

“We did it, we did it!”

The screams spread through the Rwigenberg. The expedition members fighting the demons outside the Rwigenberg also screamed. But Ark already didn’t hear those cries.

‘There is unmistakeably something shining over there…..’

Ark looked at where the Red Man tried to shove his hand into Lucifer’s dead body and had an idea. Something was shining from the dead body. Then wouldn’t it be an item? Furthermore, the opponent was the Dark Lord Lucifer so wouldn’t the loot be better than anything Ark received before?” Although the Red Man was close to an NPC thanks to the auto program, he was still considered a user. A chaotic user would definitely drop one equipment. It was an equipment used by a level 999 user!

‘I can’t let anyone else get these items!’

“Burning Soul, search Lucifer and the Red Man’s body and pack all the items.”

Ark whispered quietly while observing the celebratory atmosphere.

Kurarara, kurarara!

Burning Soul also sensed the shining item and stealthily approached Lucifer. After a while, a message window popped up.

‘Asura’s Sword is the sword the Red Man used?’

Although he hadn’t confirmed the actual item, he had seen the sword carved with Asura when fighting. The Red Man only dropped one item so he couldn’t get the pair of swords but it was much more valuable than armour. Ark felt like drooling at the thought of the item. A message window showed up again as Burning Soul swallowed another item.

“Ark!”

It was at that moment. He suddenly heard Bread’s voice from behind him. Ark who was going to check the loot jumped with surprise and turned around.

“What? Why? Why?”

“You bastard…..!”

‘Damn, did I get caught? Do I have to share it with the thousands of people here?’

No matter how could the items are, they would only be worth a few silver if divided between that many people. Although Ark hadn’t won this battle alone, he was obviously the general. But he wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for the expedition members and attack squad so they would expect a share. And now that Ark was a celebrity, he couldn’t just dine and dash! Tears gathered in his eyes at the thought of sharing his spoils. Then Bread put his arm around Ark’s’ neck and shouted.

“Hahahaha! You were a tough dark wolf when I first met you. And now you’re crying? This situation is good so don’t be afraid to cry. You deserve it!”

“Eh? What? Is that all you have to say?”

“Then? What else is there??”

“Oh, no! Nothing! That’s right, I’m feeling so good that my tears are flowing!”

Ark nodded and moved away from Bread. Then he scanned the attack squad members. He wanted to check if anyone had noticed Ark obtaining the loot. However, there looks were only filled with joy and admiration towards Ark who defeated the Dark Lord. Ark was so glad that he really felt like crying. Ark closed his fist and raised it towards the sky.

“We came, we fought, we won!”

“Waaahhhhhhhh!”

The attack squad members cheered at Ark’s words. However, the battle wasn’t completely finished yet. There were still demons around Kwarian. But the demons have lost the leadership of the Red Man and Lucifer so they were just a common group of monsters. Rwigenberg’s shield had also disappeared with Lucifer’s death. The expedition’s morale shot towards the sky and they easily wiped out the demons. The expedition members slaughtered the demons so Ark’s experience and achievements shot up like crazy.

——————————————————————————————————————

“Huhuhuhu!”

Inside a forest with a dismal atmosphere. A man let out a manic laugh as he looked at a pot.  A bat was sitting on his shoulder with an appalled look while a giant snake rubbed its body against his leg.  Next to him was a giant skeleton napping. It was a medieval like scene!

They were Ark, Burning Soul, Curio and Purital. Ark stared into the pot as Curio mumbled.

“Master, is it done yet? How long does it have?”

Clack clack clack, clack clack clack clack?

Kurarara, kurarara?

“Just wait 3 minutes.”

Ark swallowed his saliva and muttered while staring into the pot. In fact, Ark was also going crazy with frustration. Had he ever felt time passing this slowly since he started New World? The remaining 3 minutes felt like 3 years. Ark looked at the dark forest and thought back.

“It’s been three months since I’ve started travelling. Has it already been four months since Lucifer and the Red Man was defeated? I’ve been so preoccupied that I hadn’t noticed how much time passed. No, it actually feels like a long time ago?”

That’s right. It had already been four months since the Kwarian battle that the world was focused on ended. And Ark had experienced numerous events in those four months. If he put those events in order, the first one was the reward from the Schudenberg Kingdom. Ark had actually forgotten that it was a Legend Quest from the Schudenberg Kingdom. The Demonic War was won so the Schudenberg gave out extravagant rewards. And the person who acquired the most achievements in the Schudenberg Kingdom was Ark. He was the commander of the 2nd expedition that included the airship, stopped Lucifer and defeated the Red Man in a 1 on 1 battle. Therefore Ark received the legendary ‘Kingdom Guardian’ set that the Schudenberg Kingdom had kept for hundreds of years. That’s why Ark was now wearing cool leather armour.

<Defense 330, Physical Resistance +20%, Magic Resistance +20%, Strength +40, Special option skill [Immortal Body] is available>

<Defense 130, Attack Speed +20%, Critical Hit Rate +20%, Agility +40, Special option skill [Hand of Glory] available>

<Defense 200, Spirit magic resistance +40%, Intelligence +30, Wisdom +30, Special option skill [Fighter’s Commitment] is available>

<Defense 100, Movement Speed +50%, Effect of the terrain is invalidated, Luck +40, Special option skill [Quick] is available>

<Defense 50, Attribute Magic Resistance +40%, Heat and cold resistance +50%, Stamina +40, Special option skill [Glare] available>

That was the summarized information of all the equipment he received. However, that wasn’t the only reward for receiving 1st place in achievements. In reality, Global Exos handed out a cash prize of 500 million for the person who received 1st place in achievements. Unfortunately there was still the hidden ‘something,’ that Ark knew was the black code items, which nobody had found so the 1 billion won prize hadn’t been given.

‘Well, if a person eats too much then he will become sick.’

Ark gave up on receiving the 1 billion won prize for the moment. If he hadn’t found it even when killing the demons then shouldn’t he give up? The second special event was that Ark changed to his 3rd stage profession after the war ended. Ark had switched to the 3rd profession when he dropped by Lancel village. When Ark returned the elders from the Meow, Wolrang, raccoons and the White Tiger clan ran up to him. They praised Ark’s achievements and have him the designation of ‘Hero Maban.’

Hero Maban was the title that all the beast clans swore allegiance to! At that moment he switched to his 3rd stage profession. That’s right. Ark was Christin’s descendant. Therefore Ark only received the 3rd stage profession when he received the title Hero Maban. The condition to switching to the 3rd stage profession was defeating the Dark Lord Lucifer and receiving the title of Hero Maban. It really was a difficult condition when he thought about it. Thus Ark switched from Dark Soul to ‘Dark Eternity.’ At the same time, his Area Declaration and skills such as Dark Strike, Dark Tempest, Dark Scale and Moonlight Illusion increased by one stage. Of course, his dark attribute bonus also increased tremendously….. And….

“Heh heh heh heh heh heh!”

Ark smirked at the simmering pot. In fact, Ark had received two more rewards that nobody knew about from the Demonic War. It was the spoils that he received from the Red Man and Lucifer! One of them was the Asura’s Sword that the Red Man used. Asura’s Sword belonged to a level 999 user and it really was no joke. When compared to Shining Darkness, its attack power was 4 times more and the special option ‘Asura’s Truth’ was enough to make his eyes pop out. If he sold it on the auction site then he would receive an unimaginable market price! Unfortunately, the level limit was 850 so Ark couldn’t use it yet. The darkness threatening New World had been pushed back and Ark left something in his personal safe in Lancel village. And that was Lucifer’s Essence.

Lucifer’s Essence…. That’s right. Lucifer’s Essence was an ingredient that he could use for Survival Cooking. In fact, he had felt quite disappointed when he first saw Lucifer’s Essence. He defeated the Dark Lord and only received one essence? It really felt like he had been hit in the back of the head. However, if he thought about it then it was an inevitable result. Lucifer’s identity was a computer virus. A computer virus wouldn’t drop a lot of loot. But Ark hadn’t known that place and he had been disappointed. However, wasn’t it quite good?

If Lucifer had dropped a lot of loot then the other users would’ve noticed. When he thought about it in that way, he thought it was better to obtain only Lucifer’s Essence than sharing a lot of items with other users. Anyway, Lucifer’s Essence came from the strongest monster in New World. If he made an immortality pill from the strongest monster in New World then the bonus stats would be beyond imagination. That was Ark’s guess after seeing the ingredients needed.

Jellified Lucifer’s Essence 1/1

Giant’s Fingers 0/1,000

Black Wyvern’s Fangs 0/1,000

Hairy Feet of the People who walk in Darkness 0/1,000

Fire Elemental’s Determination 0/1,000

Each ingredient came from a level 500 boss monster! Other users would feel despair if they saw the recipe. But who was Ark? After checking the ingredients, Ark immediately went around and gathered them. After 3 months spend in severe cold, a hot desert and a hell valley, he had finally obtained all the items. And he spend one week cooking it in the pot! Finally Lucifer’s Immortality Pill would be completed after 3 minutes.

‘I really struggled in the meantime.’

When he thought back to the beginning, it seemed even more difficult than defeating Lucifer. Time continued to flow while Ark was locked in his recollections. After a moment. An intense light came from the pot! He watched as all the ingredients disappeared and a small pill appeared.

You have completed the ‘Monster’s Pill’ that has been passed down from ancient techniques.  The Immortality Pill is one of the hidden secrets in New World. It allows you to maximise the power contained in the Monster’s Essence and apply it to the player. Making the Immortality Pill is one of the biggest honours for Survival Cooking chefs and is an achievement that has significant implications.

* Fame increased by 1,000.

* Intelligence increased by 50.

* Survival cooking skill increases by 30.

* Lucifer’s Immortality Pill information has been updated.

<Number of Immortality Pills completed: 8>

“It is finally complete!”

Ark lifted the pill with trembling hands. It was an item that took 3 months to gather the ingredients! He had finally completed the Dark Lord Lucifer’s Immortality Pill. What bonuses would the Immortality Pill give Ark? Just the thought of it made his heart jump.

“Calm down. I don’t want to have a heart attack before I eat it.”

Ark took a deep breath to calm down his heard and raised the pill slowly to his mouth. He swallowed the pill and the information window flashed in front of him.

This is a mysterious essence that the lover of Project: Lucifer’s creator hid in the body.

*There is an added bonus according to the degree of completion.

<All stats +50>

<Master Code: The master code is what the Creator used to compose all data in New World. The person with control of the master code can access all the systems of New World and manipulate it in different ways. This gives you a near infinite ability in New World>

“Eh eh? What is this?”

A baffled exclamation fell from Ark’s mouth.

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