Park Hanhoo's Manager
Ch (side 1) as of 09/04/22 - Baek Chansol is an orphan who lived at the 4-Leaf Clover Orphanage since he was 11yo when his grandpa died. - He’s always been a loner and an outcast. - He has a habit of going out of his way to help others. - He doesn’t care if he gets hurt while helping others. - Park Hanhoo, the 1st friend Chansol had that was the same age. They met in their 1st year of high school as seatmates at 1st. - He’s also a loner and an outcast, but he’s good at fighting so doesn’t get bullied. He says his dislikes are: people who break their promises and losing bets. He’s very possessive and obsessive, especially towards Chansol. - Chansol follows Hanhoo home every day after school to make him agree to do the assigned project together. Chansol is finally let into Hanhoo’s place after being beaten up by the school gang who don’t like Hanhoo. Over the next 6mths while doing the project, Chansol and Hanhoo become close friends. They make a bet over the grade they’ll get for the project. If Hanhoo wins, he wants Chansol to stop paying attention to anyone besides him going forward. - A serial killer called “August” as the murders occur each August. - Ms. Colette 45yo, a wealthy sponsor of the orphanage. - Park Myung 45yo, Colette’s friend and also a sponsor. - The serial killer has murdered everyone at the orphanage. - Chansol is the only survivor as he was at Hanhoo’s place at the time. Chansol was found by Colette and goes into hiding. - At the end of the project, Chansol had promised Hanhoo that he’d stick by his side. Hanhoo decides to leave school and work for his uncle’s company testing weapons. - Herman Ignus, VP of Um Company and Hanhoo’s uncle. - Um Company: started out as an arms corporation, then branched out into other areas. - After 7yrs, Chansol returns to the country. He applied for a job at Um Company to get close to the VP’s nephew. He heard that like him, the nephew was collecting info on August. - While Chansol was in hiding, he undertook combat and military training. He’s also proficient with weapons. He wanted to be able to protect himself in case he encountered August during his investigation into the serial killer. - Hanhoo: Han Yooem, Director of the Retail Arms Dept. - Chansol finds out Hanhoo is the nephew when he’s sent on a fake errand to deliver documents as a test. - Hanhoo knows Chansol wants to steal the info he has on August. He welcomes Chansol to try his best to find it. - Chansol doesn’t recognise Hanhoo from the past. - After the mass murder at the orphanage, Chansol received psychiatric treatment to help him cope. He had no memory of anyone from the day of the murders. Some triggers helped for memories to slowly return of the people from the orphanage and Colette, but he’s still struggling to remember Hanhoo. - Chansol is searching for Hanhoo and hopes to ask him why he was expelled from high school. (Hanhoo was expelled for beating up other students who talked trash about Chansol). - Chansol is told by Herman that Hanhoo is the best salesperson in the company, but the only thing he’s good at is sales. He often employs unorthodox methods to achieve the most efficient outcome. These tend to leave a considerable mess for the company to cleanup. Chansol is warned to stay out of Hanhoo’s way if he values his life. - Chansol goes with Hanhoo to their 1st sales meeting together. To achieve the sale of a new gun model that bypasses prison security, Hanhoo found evidence to send the client to prison. He also shot the gun in the office as a warning that was thinly disguised as a demonstration. - Hanhoo goes to a gang’s HQ for his fountain pen, and not for the Um Company employee they kidnapped. After Hanhoo resolves the issue of an exclusive gun supplier contract with the gang boss, he wants to leave. Chansol insists they need to take the badly injured employee to the hospital in their car. While neither would budge on this, an ambulance was already called by someone else. - Hanhoo tries to justify his behaviour by saying he is his own top priority. He hates being weak and he hates losing. He treats people like objects so no one becomes special to him. That way no one becomes his weakness and he loses to no one. He refuses to admit he’s done anything wrong. - Starr Ignus, a TV celebrity. Herman’s other nephew and Hanhoo’s older brother. He hides his true self behind a perfect visage. He used to find it amusing to deceive people but now he’s bored. - Unknown to Chansol, Hanhoo and Park Myung are in contact with each other. Park mentions Chansol’s uncanny intuition, especially about another person’s emotions or overall condition. - Hanhoo tried to prevent Chansol from meeting Starr who was visiting the office. Chansol stopped by the office to pickup some documents and met Starr in the lobby. When Hanhoo finds out, he visits Chansol at home late at night and expects to sleep over. - On the way home, Chansol stops a young man who tried to ambush him. Chansol gets slashed with a poisoned knife that leaves him paralysed. He’s found by Starr who takes him home and treats him. Chansol didn’t want to be treated at the hospital as he’s worried he’d be fired if the company found out. - Chansol accepts Starr’s offer to secretly get treated at Starr’s place after work until he’s recovered. - Chansol is the only one who sees through Starr’s lies about himself. Chansol says when it comes to judging someone’s character, he always tries his best to accept only what truths he can confirm for himself. His role model was the orphanage director who didn’t believe any of the bad rumours about Chansol being bad luck and took him in. - Hanhoo became suspicious of Chansol. He found out it was Starr who arranged the guy with the knife. Because of this, Hanhoo attacked Starr at his home. Chansol arrived and said it was his fault so he should be the one that is punished. - Hanhoo gives a hint to Chansol about the combination to open the safe at his place, and then leaves. - Chansol asks Starr for the reason why he hired the guy with the knife. Despite knowing this, Chansol still went to Starr for treatment. Chansol thought Starr was lonely. - From now on Chansol won’t be accepting any help from Starr. - At Hanhoo’s place, ML finally opens the safe using the date of the orphanage murders. Inside is a single piece of paper with the grades for the project in high school. For the 1st time, Chansol won the bet and so he gets to hit Hanhoo twice. - Hanhoo’s mother died from an incurable heart disease when he was a child. Her dying wish was for him to be strong and to graduate from high school. (NB: Hanhoo’s parents were divorced) - Hanhoo felt he had nothing to look forward to. Every day was the same. He became increasingly focused on himself. - He often saw Chansol at the orphanage on his way to the library. Hanhoo thought Chansol was a pathetic idiot for always meddling and helping others. - One day while at a playground, Hanhoo is greeted by Chansol. They spend time together after school each day. - Hanhoo stops meeting up with Chansol when he realises he’s become too attached to Chansol. - Hanhoo doesn’t see Chansol again until high school 7yrs later. - Hanhoo met Park Myung while visiting the orphanage. Park thanked Hanhoo for being Chansol’s friend. - Park talked about Chansol’s life. His parents died in an accident on their way to get a gift for him. His grandpa was a drunk and a gambler who relied on his son to support him. - His grandpa took out his anger on Chansol and blamed Chansol for the death of his parents. It was his grandpa who spread rumours about Chansol being bad luck. Around this time, Chansol was complimented for doing a good deed. He probably took comfort from those words of praise during a very difficult period in his life. From then on he regularly helped others. - Park thinks what Chansol fears the most are people that are close to him believing the bad rumours about him and abandoning him. - Chansol goes to the office to find Hanhoo. - Hanhoo says he thought of Chansol as his toy, but if that was true, why didn’t he find a replacement? Hanhoo realises he’s spent the last 7yrs devoted to Chansol, who became Hanhoo’s tomorrow and his future. Hanhoo quit school so he could work for his uncle and start collecting info on August that would bring Chansol back to him. Hanhoo still searched everywhere for Chansol. - Hanhoo stole the security camera footage from one of the shops in the street where Chansol was attacked. He later returned the footage to the shop so Chansol could get his hands on it. - Hanhoo confesses to having always liked Chansol. (Ch 29) - Hanhoo tells Chansol to stay over at his place tonight so they can talk more. After asking Hanhoo about events that happened since Chansol returned and why Hanhoo was expelled, Chansol hits Hanhoo really hard on his hand. - That night Hanhoo hugs Chansol who has fallen asleep. - Hanhoo needs Chansol by his side so he can have things to look forward to. (Chansol gives Hanhoo’s life meaning) - Starr comes to the office to see Chansol. - Starr explains why he hired someone to attack Chansol. - Starr’s parents divorced when he was a young boy and he lived with his father. When news of his mother’s death came, his father died soon after. Starr was sent to a special orphanage that only took talented children to be sold to people in high society. - To make a good impression so he could leave ASAP, Starr often created scenarios where he could be seen as the saviour. It became a habit that continued til this day. That is what Starr did to Chansol, as he wanted Chansol to like him and annoy Hanhoo. - Hanhoo and Starr hated each other from the time they 1st met 7yrs ago through Herman. Hanhoo was born after their parents were divorced. With both being selfish and self-centred, they didn’t care to have someone new in their lives. - Starr apologises to Chansol and is willing to do anything for him. Chansol asks Starr for an autograph. - Chansol doesn’t hate Starr but thinks he should stop his method to get what he wants as he risks getting hurt too, like what happened this time. - Mateo, a member of the Kaliophil gang who are 1 of the 4 biggest gangs in the country. He saved Hanhoo as a high school student from being abducted by another gang. He agreed to teach Hanhoo how to fight like him and handle weapons. That’s why Herman hates Mateo. - Chansol tries to get Hanhoo to give up his feelings for him. Chansol says he only thinks of Hanhoo as a friend and Hanhoo’s feelings will never be reciprocated, especially while Chansol is preoccupied with August right now. Any concern Chansol shows for Hanhoo is part of his job as Hanhoo’s manager. - Hanhoo doesn’t accept the reasons Chansol rejected him. Hanhoo says feelings can change and August will be caught. Hanhoo suspects there’s another reason. - After Hanhoo refuses to share all of his info on August with Chansol so they can catch August together, Hanhoo proposes a bet. - Chansol needs to find out the reason Hanhoo is after August, while Hanhoo will try to find out the real reason Chansol rejected him. The one who loses must do whatever the winner wants. - As promised for opening the safe, Hanhoo gave Chansol some info on August that he didn’t already have. Chansol notices from the photos of the victims’ injuries that the pattern of his knife wound looks similar. - The young man hired by Starr suddenly arrives at Chansol’s place to apologise. When Chansol finds out he’s just a 19yo high school student and an orphan with no place to go, Chansol offers to let him stay until he finds another place. His name is Naziruth (Naz). - While Chansol knows it’s risky and he doesn’t like the way he is, Chansol continues to help others as he was told to never change by those at the orphanage as they liked that about him. - When Hanhoo sees Chansol with other people at work, Hanhoo predicts someone will confess their love to Chansol soon. - Chansol makes a bet to see if anyone confesses to him in front of Hanhoo over the next month. If no one does, Hanhoo has to stop caring about who Chansol chooses to be nice to. If someone does, Hanhoo gets a coupon for a kiss. - Naz tells Chansol that he needed a lot of money which is why he took the job with Starr. Naz wanted to help the young girl next door who needed surgery but her parents couldn’t afford it. Naz tried to become a successful pop idol to get the money but he didn’t pass the auditions, only to find out later the auditions were rigged. - The girl had a successful surgery which is why Naz found Chansol to apologise and turn himself in. Chansol tells Naz that he doesn’t have to go to the police but Naz must promise to never do something like that job again. - Starr agrees to meet Chansol over dinner. Chansol asks Starr for a favour to help Naz audition where his skills are judged fairly. - Starr asks Chansol to go out with him. Chansol rejects him but Starr persists. - Hanhoo secretly went overseas to meet Colette. - He asks her when did Chansol lose his memories. She confirms it was 10 days after the murders that Chansol was diagnosed with partial amnesia. It happened after something she said to him. - At Chansol’s request, Naz found the guy who lent him the knife that Naz used to attack Chansol. Chansol is given the location and goes to meet him. He calls himself an informant and his name is Calvin. He got rid of the knife when Naz told him it was used to assault someone, but he can look for more info on where he got the knife from. - Calvin admits to knowing about Chansol from his past investigation into August. Chansol offers to buy any info on August he may still have. Calvin gives him some photos. - Calvin secretly wants Chansol for himself and plans to force Chansol and Hanhoo apart. He decides to use the rumours about Chansol for this purpose. - Hanhoo is hurt at a construction site and is hospitalised. Chansol thinks Hanhoo will attribute this to his bad luck and leave him. - After his grandpa spread malicious rumours about Chansol being bad luck, anyone who was nice to him started to avoid him. Accidents that happened to those close to Chansol were blamed on him and he started to believe that it was his fault. It wasn’t until he met the orphanage director that he stopped apologising for everything. - Chansol’s intuition about other people’s emotions stems from this trauma. He developed greater sensitivity to the people around him and could sense when someone was in desperate need of help. - At the hospital, Chansol visits Hanhoo who says he was lucky to avoid getting more seriously hurt. Hanhoo doesn’t give a chance for Chansol to take the blame and apologise. Chansol starts crying. - For 2wks, Chansol takes care of Hanhoo in hospital. He could’ve discharged a few days earlier but he enjoyed having Chansol by his side. - Chansol is struggling to hide his growing feelings for Hanhoo. - Hanhoo knows Chansol is hiding something and decides to go check out Chansol’s place. He enters to see Naz. - Chansol returns home that night and Naz mentions the guy who stabbed him came by and will return. Hanhoo had stabbed Naz for hurting Chansol but didn’t kill him. - Hanhoo appears and Chansol explains the situation. - Hanhoo decides to stay for dinner. It’s Naz’ last night staying there and he bought steak. Naz asks Hanhoo if he likes Chansol. Hanhoo replies that he does. Naz confesses to also liking Chansol. - When Naz leaves, he thanks Chansol for everything and says he’ll work hard to succeed and pay him back. - Chansol is made to give the kiss coupon to Hanhoo right away. - Chansol agrees to hang out with Hanhoo the next day. - They go to a sushi restaurant, see a movie, and go clothes shopping. Chansol says he had a fun day and had suspected Hanhoo of an ulterior motive. Hanhoo said he did have one and kisses Chansol. (NB: it’s Chansol’s 1st kiss) - Hanhoo gives Chansol the coupon. They kiss for a long time until Chansol makes Hanhoo stop. - The month of August has passed and there are still no murders by August the serial killer yet. - Colette calls Chansol and tells him that Hanhoo came to see her and asked questions about Chansol’s past. - Chansol meets Herman and asks about Hanhoo’s past. - Hanhoo’s mother was Herman’s older sister whom he loved, admired and respected greatly. She was disowned when she refused to go ahead with an arranged marriage to a very wealthy man. - Herman made their parents promise to let his sister return if he made enough money to cover what they lost from the marriage deal. He became solely focused on making money and even cutoff his friends who called him obsessed. - Herman didn’t know his sister was dying from a terminal illness and that she didn’t have much time left. Their parents didn’t bother to tell him that she’d died. - She’d left Herman a letter, asking him to look after her sons. Herman found Starr who had been adopted by a rich family and Hanhoo who was living on his own. - Herman’s close friends were Colette, Park Myung and Grey the orphanage director. Hanhoo told Herman that he was after August, which is why Hanhoo is allowed to get away with so much at work as anything he does is to find August. - Herman says Hanhoo has been causing much less trouble since Chansol became his manager. He thanks Chansol for looking after Hanhoo. - Hanhoo speaks with the guy who taught Chansol how to shoot. Hanhoo wants to know if Chansol said or did anything strange. - The guy says out of the blue one day Chansol asked about something he’d seen in a movie. He wanted to know if it was possible for a person who takes a hostage to shoot themself so the bullet goes through them both and kills them together. - Hanhoo checks Chansol’s place and finds a hidden device that dispenses a deadly gas when the registered user’s heartbeat stops. - Hanhoo suspected Chansol had met August in the past when he saw Chansol’s notes had details about August’s appearance that Hanhoo didn’t have. That’s why Hanhoo asked Colette about Chansol’s amnesia. The trigger was when Colette asked Chansol about how he met August after both Chansol and August were captured on surveillance footage. Chansol fainted and woke up with no memory of anyone with a connection to the day of the murders. - Hanhoo confronts Chansol with his suspicions that Chansol intends to die with August. Chansol blames himself for the murders at the orphanage because he saved August from falling asleep and dying in the snow. Chansol thought August was another homeless man. It wasn’t until he was shown the surveillance footage of August that he recognised the man as the one he saved. (tbc) - This is why Chansol doesn’t want Hanhoo to have feelings for him as he knows how painful it is to have someone you love die. - Chansol goes to bed thinking everything with Hanhoo is over. Chansol wakes up to find he’s in a prison cell. - Hanhoo is there and says to prevent Chansol from dying, this is the best place for Chansol to be. Hanhoo intends to leave Chansol in prison for a month to give Hanhoo time to catch and kill August. - Chansol knows that Hanhoo wants to kill August in secret so he can keep Chansol by his side forever. If Chansol doesn’t know August is dead, Chansol will keep looking to Hanhoo for info on August. He guessed this based on what he knew of Hanhoo and what Herman said about Hanhoo insisting on always looking into August on his own. - Hanhoo had earlier confirmed with Chansol that at one point he’d stopped or shut down all other info sources on August to force Chansol to look for Hanhoo. He sent the informants to prison. - After 5 days, Chansol wakes up to find Hanhoo in the cell with him. Hanhoo admits to missing Chansol so much he couldn’t stand it any longer. (Chansol had missed Hanhoo too) - Hanhoo wants Chansol to promise to keep 3 conditions then he’ll let Chansol out and they can look for August together. - 1. As the winner of their bet, Chansol has to do whatever Hanhoo wants. And Hanhoo wants Chansol not to kill himself. - 2. Hanhoo gets to touch Chansol whenever and however much he wants. Chansol can’t resist or push Hanhoo away. - 3. If Chansol kills himself, Hanhoo will kill himself too. - After Chansol is released from prison, he goes back to the office the next day. He sees congressmen from the opposition leaving. - It’s an election year and campaigning has been ramping up. The Um Company have always supported the ruling party that have been in power for the last 20yrs. The opposition seem to be unusually confident their candidate will win the presidency this time and keep pressuring the Um Company to support them instead. - Hanhoo says the reason he took on government contracts at the company was because he suspected August to have political connections. Hanhoo found out that each year August made demands to the government. If those demands weren’t met, he killed the corresponding number of people to those demands. It was usually very difficult to near impossible for the government to meet any of those demands. The ones to benefit the most from the presence of August are the opposition. - Chansol suspects Calvin has connections with the opposition as he still has info on August despite Hanhoo sending to prison all other informants. Chansol meets with Calvin who gives him a surveillance photo of August’s face. Chansol compares this to a similar photo he has that’s taken from a different angle and notices the ears look different. - Chansol realises these photos are of different people. - Chansol goes with Hanhoo to their old neighbourhood where the orphanage was. They go to the street where there was surveillance footage of August entering but not leaving. Chansol digs and finds a decayed corpse in the same clothes seen on August. This dead body is most likely of the man who committed the murders at the orphanage. - Calvin surprises Chansol by turning up at his place. - Calvin asks Chansol what he knows about August. - Calvin is impressed Chansol has discovered more than he expected. Calvin reveals it was his idea to create August. - The opposition came to him in desperation for any info that would help them win the next election. That’s when Calvin proposed his idea about August. - They found different people who were willing to be August if they were paid enough and agreed to kill themselves after the job was done. Calvin says it would’ve made no difference with the orphanage murders if Chansol had saved that man or not. They would’ve just sent another August. - After the murders at the orphanage, that August killed himself with poison. Then his body was buried by people who were already in place nearby. - Chansol asks why did Calvin let him survive. Calvin did it to keep from being bored with an unexpected variable like Chansol. - Calvin confirms that it was intentional for there to be no August killings this year. With the upcoming election, there is no longer a need for August. Calvin says a bomb will go off in 12hrs. Then Calvin escapes by jumping off and landing on a mattress that’s on a truck which drives away. - The government and Um Company are looking for the bomb. Government officials are focused on the airports and department stores. Chansol and Hanhoo think the target is a hospital. - As they approach, a small bomb goes off in a storage room. They search the basement and Chansol finds the detonator in one of the rooms. Chansol asks Hanhoo to disarm it while he goes to the roof to look for Calvin. - Earlier Calvin had sent an SMS to Chansol. Calvin was planning to disappear with all of the evidence linking the politicians with August. Calvin said he would come see Chansol one last time if Chansol died. Chansol had a replica dummy made of himself by the Um Company which he used as his corpse after faking his death at the hospital. Chansol asked Starr for help from a reporter who would announce Chansol’s death. - At the hospital rooftop, Chansol shoots Calvin with bullets coated in a poison that causes agonising pain for a month before death and there’s no antidote. Chansol is then shot by a sniper arranged by Calvin. Hanhoo finds them and rushes Chansol to another hospital. - While Chansol is in surgery, Hanhoo hijacks an oil tanker and blows it up at the suspected HQ of those behind August. Hanhoo kills any survivors.
Resurrection of the Catastrophic Hero
Ch 42 as of 06/08/22 - also on Tapas ** the slapstick humour becomes rather silly - One day, calamities suddenly appeared in the world. - The calamities are categorised into 6 types / zones. - Blue: the gods’ pure sanctuary. - Green: safe. - Yellow: caution. - Orange: dangerous, take shelter. - Red: that which rules over other calamities. - Black: the destruction of mankind. - Crimson Eyes was the key to the calamities and was the boss of the Demon Tower. - There were awakened humans who became the 12 zodiac saints, blessed by divine gods. The saints could use the power of their god. - ML was Lee Geon, the 13th awakened person who was not blessed by a divine god. He had overwhelming strength and power, more than the 12 saints combined. - In 2005, ML was left behind in the Demon Tower as the 12 saints ran away in fear. ML barely defeated Crimson Eyes when someone came back and stabbed ML, leaving him badly injured and trapped in the Demon Tower for 20yrs fighting endless calamities. - The Crimson Eyes revived with its true main body but ML also defeated it. ML was tortured by the Tower Administrator who could resurrect the calamities that ML had killed. - In 2025, ML emerged after killing the Administrator and the Demon Tower fell. - ML has the mark of a snake on his palm. He’s gained the strength of Ophiuchus, as it’s owner. He also has the super regeneration skill, which is how is badly scarred face has been restored. This skill has a penalty of a 50% decrease on his physical ability. - Current skills: Gaze of a god, Creation workshop. - Transferred skills: 13th sense, Battle god instinct, Poison body. - Awakened name: Man who pounds on all creation. - Divinity: ML can steal divine power from other saints. - Battle God Instinct skill: can use after divine power is charged up. - The 12 saints gathered followers and made divine cadres. Followers who have been granted power from the saints are called disciples, and are ranked according to their level of power. - The power of the divine gods comes from the disciples’ faith, so there are competitions to attract more disciples. - Hugo Otters (Oh Taeksoo), Sagittarius saint. Divine god: Apollo. - Yang Wei, Aries saint (the ram). Divine god: Jade Emperor. - Jean-Louis Morin, Cancer saint. - Saintess Sophie Mardi, Aquarius saint. - Steven Marker, Leo saint. ML fanatic. - Han Jimin, a young man saved by ML from calamities. - Cheon Sungjae, an A-rank Gemini disciple. Jimin is his room mate. His father is Hugo Otters. He’s a huge fan of ML. - Choi Sunghyuk, Gemini Bishop / Divine Cadre Captain. - Before the Demon Tower raid, Hugo told ML that he would die. - At the raid, Hugo was outside dealing with the calamities there. He only saw the other saints emerge with the head of Crimson Eyes. - Hugo wanted to search for ML many times but was turned down by the other saints. They stole ML’s divine artifacts and assets, and also forged his will. - At a supermarket, the Spider Queen calamity appears with other smaller calamities. Yang Wei wants to bury everyone with the Spider Queen as his sect failed to subjugate her before and he wants no witnesses. ML defeats all of the calamities and surprises Yang Wei who came to see for himself. They fight and ML completely knocks out Yang Wei. ML helps himself to the artifacts at the Aries sect and retrieves his production divine artifact, the Slime. - The Aries avatar, Pishu the beast of wealth confronts ML. Pishu is defeated along with the destruction of the Aries sect building. ML takes the avatar as his own and renamed it ‘Piggy Bank’. - ML is reunited with Hugo. He stays at Hugo’s place. - ML has retained Yang Wei’s soul in a rabbit doll. - ML issues a challenge declaration to the other saints through the news network. - Jin Myung, SS-rank appraiser, Virgo affiliate, ML fanatic. - ML goes to the divine artifacts store complex with Sungjae to see Jin Myung. ML brought some artifacts he’d created to be appraised. ML also wants the dagger he was stabbed with to be examined. - Jin took ML’s old notebook when he disappeared. Jin returns it to ML. The notebook contains production design ideas. It reacts to ML and evolves into a memory storage divine artifact. - Sophie arrives, recognises ML and orders everyone to be killed. ML singlehandedly stopped her magic attacks. - Sunghyuk is scouting ML and takes him with Sungjae to the Grand Auction House in Dracma, the floating castle city. Some of his artifacts will be put up for auction. ML ties up and beats up Sophie, leaving her with Hugo. ML survives an attack from Steven without even a scratch. - Calamities attack just as Steven bought ‘Big Bone’, an ML artifact for $1billion. Steven tries to use Big Bone as a weapon but it’s useless. ML destroys the calamities with his bare hands. - ML crushes Big Bone and punches Steven through to the other side of the floating island. - Poison flows from the remains of the Skeleton calamity and attacks ML but is swallowed by the Slime. - ML’s Poison Body skill extends to the Slime and now all created relics will have Poison Resistance as a basic effect. - Sunghyuk overheard Hugo and learns ML is Lee Geon. - Oliver, Leo Bishop - Cheon Yuha, Leo Vice-Leader and Cardinal. She’s Steven Marker’s right hand. Her father is Hugo Otters. She’s the older sister of Sungjae. She’s also a huge fan of ML. - Steven Marker is missing. - Sophie stays inside her residence. After she left the floating island, a magic necklace ML put on her projected a message for all to see. “Who killed Lee Geon? Reveal to everyone the truth from 20yrs ago.” Sanctuary of the Serpent Bearer Constellation: - The territory where the owner resides. It’s also a unique domain where the owner can exert and maintain their strength. - Piggy Bank can be moved to the Sanctuary as a lower class household member. A human household member can strengthen the Sanctuary’s power. - ML meets Sunghyuk and agrees to join the Gemini divine cadre, on the condition Sunghyuk gives his Gemini badge to ML. - Yoon Shiwoo, son of the Libra saint. Gemini disciple, A-rank. - Sungjae is waiting for ML at a cafe when he’s bullied by Yoon and his lackeys. ML suddenly appears from Sungjae’s dagger, Janus’ Desire. It’s a divine artifact repaired by ML who added a summon spell that activates when the owner of the dagger is in danger. - ML beats up the lackeys. Yoon uses his magic skill, Bull of Phalaris but ML captures it and returns the skill at a stronger level back at Yoon that blows him away. - Cheon Yuha arrives (she was contacted earlier by Sungjae). Before she can ask a favour of ML, they’re interrupted by multiple calamities appearing in the area. ML asks Yuha and Sungjae to ensure the safety of the civilians while he takes care of the red class calamity, Hell Wings of the illusive race. - ML kills Hell Wings and the giant hell lizard surrenders to become ML’s slave called Torch. - Sophie holds a press conference and reveals it was ML who really killed Crimson Eyes at the Demon Tower raid 20yrs ago. - Jean-Louis Morin interrupts the press conference and stops Sophie from saying anything else. ML appears and stops Jean-Louis from killing the reporters. ML eventually defeats Jean-Louis by removing a fragment of the Cancer core from a high level clone. - The death of this clone has triggered a calamity level missile to be launched. ML uses the Gemini badge to teleport him and Sophie to the missile. He throws Sophie to force her to use her skill to turn the missile to liquid. Outer fragments of the missile remain. ML borrow’s Hugo’s skill and redirects the fragments to strike the Gemini HQ and residence, the Yin Yang palace. - Heiji, the Gemini saint - ML takes Hugo and Sunghyuk to the Blue House and demands his money that the South Korean government has held in a trust account since ML disappeared 20yrs ago. The government gave the authority over the account to Heiji. - Heiji appears and summons the Spirit Queen. ML defeats them both, revealing that a proxy was sent instead of the real Heiji. - At Sungjae’s place, ML has the captured Spirit Queen point out where Heiji’s soul is. When ML first returned, Heiji possessed an angel statue to spy on him. The statue was broken by ML, trapping Heiji’s soul inside. Heiji commands Sungjae to attack ML. Sungjae refuses and decides to leave the Gemini divine cadre. - One of the Gemini gods, Freyja subjects Sungjae to divine punishment. ML uses the Severing the Abyss skill he picked up from Jean-Louis to break the connection between Freyja and the entire Gemini cadre. - Freyja is furious and attempts to descend. Hugo arrives and with the Sagittarius god, tells Freyja to go back. To directly interfere in this world as a god is a violation of the rules. Other gods restrain Freyja with divine chains. She disappears, vowing vengeance. - Hugo gives ML the Gemini soul registry which Hugo stole from the Yin Yang palace. It contains a list of the avatar contracts. The avatars surrender to ML and produce Heiji’s body as a sign of their sincerity. ML lets the Spirit Queen take over Heiji’s body. - Eun Yerin, Hugo’s secretary - Sebastian, Capricorn saint. Specialises in production. - Red calamity off the coast of the Philippines. - Leo, Pisces, Taurus, Aquarius and Capricorn - Massive tentacled monsters - Potion causing mind control - ML arrives and decimated the monsters - ML takes back his hammer relic from Sebastian - A bible of the serpent god is created and records ML’s achievements. - Ophiuchus’ Awakening: 3 trials - Rewards: unique household god (avatar), unique awakened skill, divine artifact, increased physical abilities. - Trial of Strength: eradicate a demon that devours god - Trial of Intelligence: obtain a secretary - Trial of Reputation: accept a disciple
Crimson Karma Webtoon
Read ch 118 as of 02/01/22 - FL is reborn as Kasia, a young soldier (female knight) in the Calistonia Empire Army led by 2nd Prince Tasel on behalf of the Emperor. She’s the badly injured sole survivor from a magic explosion. - The Emperor made the 3rd Prince as Crown Prince and took half of the 2nd Prince’s army away to protect themselves in the capital. - The 1st Prince leads the Rebel Army (Emperor secretly in contact), incl Archmage Ernon (enslaved by Duke Alistas). - Close advisors to the 2nd Prince, twin brother knights Sir Zeke and Sir Mikhail Meredith. - FL sent to Karina Palace to rescue Queen Elena, the mother of 2nd Prince. Confirmed the Queen had died. The 2nd Prince splits the army away from the Emperor and puts it under his sole command. - This new army rests at the home of ally Count Anacliff, FL meets his daughter Alicia and receives many handkerchiefs from the ladies for her safe return. Here the army is joined by the frontier aristocrats and reorganised, with Kasia the commander of the new assassin and intelligence squadron. - FL squad’s 1st mission is to gather intelligence from their enemies. In disguise FL convinces Archmage Ernon to hire her services as a mercenary. FL learns from Ernon how to train using her mana. - Divine Sword Kalaborg is used by the Emperor to kill the High Priest to keep the oracle about the 2nd Prince secret. - FL escapes from the camp led by Knight Luke Perea (Sage Cahill). - Based on FL’s info, 2nd Prince decides to attack 1st where he reveals he’s also a strong mage. He succeeds in safely taking Ernon prisoner as promised to FL. - FL new mission: check rumours of the High Priest murder among the populace and find out who the new High Priest will be. Inside the temple FL meets Saintess Allynna who says FL has very large, crimson karma (destiny) but she has the strength to overcome it, and FL should live as she wishes. - FL visits Tulla, Ruler of the Night and Shadow Walker. FL asks for info and help with breaking free Ernon from the Duke. FL learns Ernon’s mother (Esthel) is dead, and FL agrees to give his mother’s necklace to Ernon. - FL goes to the house of the late Great Mage Heras to check the library. She finds letters written to Heras by the Emperor. She also finds a book with an enslavement spell. - FL returns to 2nd Prince’s camp and asks to take responsibility for Ernon. Later she finds Ernon alone and gives him the necklace. - FL uncovers a spy sent by Duke Alistas in search of Ernon. - 2nd Prince and Ernon are both in love with FL - 2nd Prince agreed to find a consort to distract himself from his feelings for FL. - Alicia has run away from her Anacliff home to help out at the barracks. Her ambition is to help heal people with herbal medicine. FL escorts her to pick herbs and they are ambushed by Sir Luke’s men. FL is wounded and captured. While recovering she calls Sir Luke by the name of Sage Cahill. - FL is part of a prisoner exchange for Ernon. She secretly tells him that she promises to save him. She also slips him a paper with the copied rune to break the slave spell. - 2nd Prince is in contact with Ernon via consciousness transmission (mind spell). He demonstrates to FL by sharing memories and says in her mind that he loves her. He puts this down as a form of mind control and doesn’t really admit to his feelings. - Ernon uses the rune and is released at last from the slave spell. He tortures and kills Duke Alistas, then does the same to his 2 sons. - Ernon is summoned by the Emperor and goes to the imperial palace himself. 2nd Prince assigns FL and her squad to rescue and protect Ernon from the Emperor. - Meanwhile Sir Luke is heading for the capital after dispersing his men, knowing the war is lost. - In the capital, Tulla congratulates FL on freeing Ernon from Duke Alistas. Tulla says all the Nightwalkers will help FL where they can. She lends an inn to FL and her squad. - FL bumps into Sir Luke while walking outside. Over drinks Sir Luke agrees to help FL. That night as he sleeps, Sir Luke recalls a memory from his past life as Sage beating up FL. - In town, FL saves Priest Archen from thieves. Archen healed her when she was reborn into this world. He is now the high priest and had a prophetic dream where FL is killed with the divine sword Kalaborg. Archen only tells the 2nd Prince about this dream via Tulla’s mind spell. - Sir Luke has another dream, this time when he and FL were child soldiers fighting against adult enemies. Archen wakes Luke and confirms his dreams are memories from his past life on another world. FL has divine power and was chosen by the gods to save this world from destruction. - Ernon searches the palace for the divine sword as tasked by the 2nd Prince via their mind spell. Ernon was also told about Archen's dream. He thinks he sees FL and follows her underground. It’s a trap and Ernon is caught in a magic circle. The Emperor has regained his youth and strength after sacrificing almost 999 apprentice mages for the black magic ritual. - The real FL arrives with Sir Luke but a magic barrier protects the Emperor. He teleports and disappears. - Archen and the rest of FL’s squadron have arrived. FL frees the last surviving child apprentice mage then leads with Sir Luke to the next room. The Emperor holding Kalaborg is there with his mages and Ernon. As FL helps Ernon out of the magic circle, the Emperor throws Kalaborg towards the circle. FL intercepts the divine sword and is stabbed. As she lies unconscious, the sword disappears. - The Emperor is told the 2nd Prince has defeated the 1st Prince’s army. The Emperor orders the guards and mages to come down and kill the intruders while he looks for the sword. - FL suddenly revives and stands with Kalaborg in her hand. With great speed and power she kills the guards and mages. She then heals the squadron and restores Archen's divine power. Finally she teleports everyone to a safe area outside of the palace. - Archen believes FL has assimilated with Kalaborg. - After holding a funeral for their dead, FL’s group is met by the 2nd Prince and his army. Kalaborg speaks through FL and greets the 2nd Prince as the Black Lion of Calistonia and as the oracle foretold, accepts him as it’s new master and promises a glorious victory. - Kalaborg shows the 2nd Prince through FL’s eyes an aerial vision of the Emperor’s forces, allowing him to take note and plan ahead. - The 2nd Prince commands Kalaborg to leave FL’s body but it refuses as she will die if it does. Her soul remains in her body as long as Kalaborg shares her body. Her physical body needs to self heal to a point when divine power can then be used to fully restore her to life. The 2nd Prince orders no harm to come to FL’s body. - Kalaborg tells the 2nd Prince that he must absorb all of the mana from the Emperor, who has gained the power of the evil god of death. Only then will the 2nd Prince be strong enough to fully take control of the divine sword. - The Emperor and his army have marched out from the palace to meet the 2nd Prince and his men. - The Emperor fought against the 2nd Prince, but ran away after his hand began to wither when the 2nd Prince grabbed his arm. - The Emperor challenged FL when he saw her causing trouble against his men. He’s furious when he sees her holding Kalaborg but he loses the fight with his sword broken. FL kills the Emperor and the war is won. - FL fell asleep and remained unconscious for a month. - When she wakes, Ernon was holding her hand. The 2nd Prince is now the Emperor and he presented her with the title of Count for her efforts in the war.
The Player That Can't Level Up
Ch 110 as of 10/02/25 - also on Tapas ** End of season 1, Ch 69. … interesting but getting very complicated - ML is Gigyu Kim. - ML’s family consists of his mother Soojin Lee who has a serious illness and his younger sister Yoojung / Yoojeong Kim. - ML was invited to be a player when he was 18yo. - KPA = Korean Players Association - ML was identified as having a unique ability that was yet to manifest. He’s been working as a guide at the KPA but 5yrs later he still can’t level up past L1. His nickname is “the dysfunctional leveling player”. - 18yrs ago (when ML was born), the Tower appeared. - Gates / portals also appeared, with monsters streaming out. - A small % of humans had awakened powers and became known as players. The world became a player economy where everything revolves around players. - Seokwoo Yoo is a high ranker with a unique ability and is the same age as ML. He volunteered to guide ML when he first entered the KPA. He shared his plans to create his own guild and hoped ML would join him someday. He said levels don’t matter, especially for unique ability users. - Seokwoo has since become the leader and guild master of the Kine / Kayn guild, 1 of the top 10 guilds in South Korea. He treats guild members like his family. - Seokwoo recommends ML to guide his cousin. - 23yo ML takes care of the 4-member party (excluding himself) through the first few floors of the Tower with his expert knowledge. - At the 4th floor, ML senses danger and orders his party to quickly retreat. A guardian (boss monster) makes an unexpected appearance. ML leads his party to safety in a cave as they have injured members. ML goes out to shoot a flare to signal for help. He is attacked by the guardian and has no choice but to escape through the door to the 5th floor. - The test for the 5th floor is surprisingly easy for ML. - His ability is clarified and he could “link with ego.” - His job is “ego’s partner” and his skill is “synchronise”: he can be integrated with a linked ego and he can use an ego’s abilities. - He names his first ego “Lou”. - ML is found unconscious by the door to the 5th floor. - In hospital he is told that his party are all safe. - The guardian was cornered by other players but it got away. - Once out of hospital, ML goes back into the Tower. - He summons Lou for the 1st time by calling it’s name. - He is stripped of almost everything as ingredients are gathered for Lou’s form to materialise. Lou takes the form of a black sword. - After synchronising with Lou who is L7, ML’s nickname changes to “tutorial’s slaughterer.” Lou is the one that gets the experience points to level up and increase stats. Lou absorbs stats through blood so it’s stats are higher than it’s level. - One-time gates: they close once cleared. Higher risk. - Sustained gates: remain open so you may hunt repeatedly. - ML is warned that anomalies with the gates have appeared recently and to avoid entering gates for now. - Despite the warning, ML decides to join a gate-hunting party for the 1st time. The party of 5 enters a F-rank sustained gate. - ML’s performance is impressive. He even kills the boss monster, a ghoul with one strike. Lou acquires the skill “cannibalise”: recover health by devouring corpses. - Songsoo Ha, the party leader. - Harim, Songsoo’s bodyguard. - ML is wary of Songsoo and Harim as they seem to be strong and powerful. ML stops an attempt to kill Songsoo by another member, who was in league with the 5th member. - ML takes the “dagger of paralysis” that was dropped as his reward for saving Songsoo. ML leaves Harim and Songsoo to deal with the 2 party traitors. - After exploring the area, ML returns to the boss room and sees light shining through the cracks in a wall. Lou senses another ego. ML smashes through the wall to find a hidden room. - There’s a white sword in stone. ML draws the sword and links with it’s ego, naming it “Elle” (L8). - Suddenly everything starts collapsing and a giant eye appears. - ML runs to the boss monster’s corpse to enter the reward room. ML collects 30 violet crystals and a charm of protection pendant that will help his mother. - Crystals: the substance that becomes the material or fuel for various magic tools. Their value changes based on the amount of mana they contain, which also determines their colour. - Long after ML left that sustained gate, it was demolished. - Mass gate formations also occurred at the same time. - ML progresses through the floors of the Tower. - ML sold the dagger of paralysis at auction for $100k. - On the way home, a gate appears. ML is the first to report the new gate to the KPA so he gets priority to enter the gate first. It’s confirmed as a F-rank gate. - ML looks for some armour before he enters the gate. - ML meets a young boy touting the skills of his grandpa. - ML is taken to the store of Jichul Hwang, a blacksmith. - All of the items in Jichul’s store have nameless egos. - ML links with some armour that he names “Brunheart”. - The armour has the ability to reflect damage. - Taeshik Oh, Dept Head, Gate Supervision Dept. - Taeshik was Operations Manager in the Guide Dept and ML’s former boss at the KPA. Taeshik is also a former high ranker whose nickname was “Behemoth”. - Before entering the gate, Taeshik insists on sparring with ML. - In a training room below the KPA, ML manages to scratch Taeshik’s fist when he punched the armour. With this Taeshik is satisfied and he lets ML proceed. - Entering the gate, ML is attacked by a large pack of wolves. He defeats them easily and collects many crystals. ML drinks buff potions that temporarily increase all of his stats by 5+. - He faces the boss monster and gate keeper, a huge wolf called Changkyung. It’s a close match but ML wins in the end and receives a large blue crystal. Lou acquires the skill “Strong Will” (stamina recovery). With the cannibalism skill, Lou absorbs Changkyung‘s body which disappears. ML has acquired Changkyung’s ego. - ML can’t access the reward room as Changkyung’s body is gone. ML decides to kill all of the remaining monsters. - After that, all the energy of the gate gathers in the boss room. There ML receives an ego fragment. - ML hears from the doctor that his mother has just 3mths to a year left to live. He loses himself as he takes out his frustration and anger by going through the Tower floors 11 to 19 in 2wks. - Taeshik tells ML about a new maze gate appearing in the US. - The only thing that can help ML’s mother is an elixir, a powerful potion that can cure any disease. Only 3 elixirs have ever been given. 2 of those were after a maze gate was cleared. - Taeshik has made all the arrangements for ML to go to the US and Agent Seonghoon / Sunghoon Heo will accompany him. - ML is taken to the top secret International Transport Portal management centre run by the KPA. He goes with Agent Heo through a portal to the US. In the maze gate, Agent Heo initially helps ML adapt to the gate then returns home. - High rankers: - Iron Shield (USA), Athena (Europe), Demon King (Korea) - ML saves a teenage girl, Soojung Jung who claims she got separated from her party. She reminds him of his sister. - She has a buff skill that is helpful so he lets her join him. - ML is caught by Iron Shield and the Iron guild. ML is accused of spying. He’s brutally tortured then healed in a vicious cycle for days by the Korean-American player, Rogers Han. - Athena launches an attack with her forces on Iron Shield and the Iron guild. ML is taken aside by Rogers who tries to kill him. ML uses Brunheart to defeat him, which uses up the armour’s damage tolerance and it disintegrates. ML stabs Rogers in his vitals and leaves him to die. - Soojung appears with her subordinate Baal, and offers to help ML. Her real identity is the high ranker Demon King. - She confronts the boss monster, Demon Commander Heryond and defeats it with her unique ability, Ink Flame. - The defeat of Heryond drops 3 elixirs. Soojung makes ML drink one, which sharpens his senses as well as fully heals his body. ML is given another elixir to take to his mother. - Soojung makes a contract with ML and he becomes her disciple. She tells him to look for her after he’s cleared the 50th floor of the Tower. - After some coaching by Soojung, ML confronts Iron Shield. - With his heightened senses, ML is able to dodge and block Iron Shield. Elle awakens after absorbing divine power from Iron Shield’s holy sword, Kallion. - Before Iron Shield can react, ML uses Arachne’s web to disappear and get back to the gate entry quickly. - Arachne’s web was given to ML by Taeshik as an emergency escape measure. - ML returns home exhausted. Agent Heo helps bring his mother home from the hospital. ML gives her the elixir and collapses. - He awakes to find his mother all better and looking younger. Taeshik visits and ML confirms later that Taeshik likes ML’s mother. ML tells Taeshik what happened in the maze gate. - ML plans to seek revenge himself and destroy Iron Shield and the Iron guild. - Taeshik has assigned Agent Heo as ML’s personal assistant. - Agent Heo helps to sell item rewards from the gate and even sources a new house for ML and his family. ML made a lot of money from the maze gate, including the amount made from selling the yellow crystal that came with the elixir. - ML pays back the money he owes to Jichul Hwang. - ML buys from Jichul a pair of new shoes he names Hermes (L45, speed), and a pendant he names Rain (L51, mana regeneration, aggravate wounds of opponent). - Having taken the elixir, ML and his mother are given a special health examination at the KPA. ML’s physical improvements include his appearance, height gain, and muscle mass gain. - His mana control and magical power are confirmed as SS rank, which means he has the potential to be a high ranker. - ML’s mother is perfectly healthy and even stronger than the average man. - ML doesn’t want to take the rank assessment test in case his results draw unwanted attention while the Iron guild are looking for him. - The C-rank subjugation team sent to defeat the 4th floor guardian can’t be contacted. Taeshik asks ML to join the B-rank team being assembled. The orc guardian seems to be hunting players to grow more powerful. - Morning Star guild: Seonpil Kim (archer, Seokwoo’s cousin), Haneul (mage), Seongwoo (swordsman), Jaewon (tanker). - ML saved them before on the 4th floor when he was a guide. - As C-rankers, they’ve joined as backup. The guild was named after ML. Seonpil’s team agree to let ML join as a temporary member so he can go on the raid. - Yeonseok Nam and other players from the B-rank Brother guild are rude to the Morning Star players. ML asks the team leader for a sparring match with Yeonseok. If ML wins, Morning Star switches with Brother to be a part of the main attack force. The match is agreed and ML knocks out Yeonseok with one punch. - The subjugation team follow the standard attack plan but it fails. ML recognises the orc guardian has the same attack patterns as a standard orc on the lowest floors of the Tower. - Using the combined abilities of his linked egos, ML singlehandedly takes down the guardian called Fereth, a lower rank demon. Cannibalism absorbs the body. While Fereth can't become an ego, Lou absorbs the ego fragments. - Donghae Kim, Vice-Leader of the Child guild, B-rank (almost A-rank). Team leader of the B-rank subjugation team. - Donghae tries to scout ML for the Child guild but ML politely declines. Donghae asks ML to contact him if ML needs help. - The KPA President questions Taeshik on his special preferential treatment of ML. - After the subjugation, Taeshik invites ML to have dinner with the President who is Taeshik’s (grand)father, Taegoo Oh. - The legendary player Asura is also Taegoo. - ML is asked to be a hired mercenary of the KPA. - Iron Shield authorises Rogers Han (yes he survived) to be the manager of a new Iron guild branch in Korea. - ML agrees to be a mercenary. Taeshik gives ML a special KPA ring to signify ML’s authority is on par with a KPA manager. - ML is given the codename “Morning Star”. - For ML’s 1st mission as a mercenary, he’s sent to a new gate in Yeosu that’s fluctuating between a C and F-rank. When ML arrives with Agent Heo, ML approaches the gate as Lou and Elle confirm that the gate is an ego. Agent Heo pulls ML away from the gate as it turns red, indicating a gate break. - The gate returns to normal and ML enters alone. He fights a skeleton army and a headless horseman but they’re very weak. He’s in a cemetery and a powerful lich, the undead king emerges as the boss monster. - Despite the lich even summoning a giant flesh golem, ML defeats the lich and the gate accepts ML as it’s master. ML names the gate after “Brunheart”. Lou absorbed demonic energy during the fight with the lich and has awakened. - Elle, L89 “Lord of the Holy Sword” - Lou, L?? “Lord of the Demonic Blade” - NB: ML has rings he uses to summon Lou and Elle. - So far only Lou and Elle can talk. - ML’s capacity for wielding egos increases the stronger he becomes. The distance his link remains with his egos also increases. - Agent Heo gives a mask for ML to wear in anticipation of the reporters because of the gate break warning. - The gate closes after ML accepted it as an ego. - ML reveals his unique ability to Taeshik, Taegoo and Agent Heo and describes what happened with the gate. - Despite the best efforts by the KPA, a photo of the masked ML was released and he’s identifiable from his rings and pendant. - ML chooses gauntlets from Jichul to hide his rings. - He names the L27 gauntlets “Oberon” (force: increases strength). The gauntlets can change their appearance to look like gloves. Jichul gives them to ML for free. Instead he asks ML to come to his aid once when he asks for it. - ML spends a week in the tower progressing up the floors and getting to know the abilities of his egos. - Brunheart the gate ego took on the form of the armour. - The gate ego inherited the memories of the original Brunheart and the reflect skill. The gate ego is also able to talk. - Brunheart can grow by absorbing crystals. - Open / Close: ability to open and close a gate. - Absorption: grow by absorbing other gates. - Domination: absorb gates of lower rank and dominate them. - Floor 29: ML detects a fight between players. - ML interrupts when he hears Seokwoo’s name. - The fight is between the Kine guild and the Smurf guild (red players, ie criminal players that kill other players). - After ML defeated some Smurf players, he and the Kine players are suddenly surrounded by 100+ Smurf players led by their guildmaster, Slayer Min Seok Choi the fallen ranker. - ML’s left eye colour has changed to purple since he started killing humans on this floor. He feels an intense bloodlust and killing intent at 1st, and then he finds the killing to be fun. ML thinks this has something to do with his contract with Soojung. - The Slayer invites ML to join the Smurf guild. - ML refuses and they fight. The Slayer boasts that his Flame Dagger accumulates damage against its opponent. ML uses Brunheart to reflect the accumulated damage back at the Slayer and defeats him. Lou cannibalises the Slayer who becomes an acquired ego for ML. - Seokwoo arrives and stops the remaining Smurf players from attacking ML by using his unique ability with ice. - ML heard from the Slayer earlier that they were looking for Seokwoo because of his 2nd unique ability: portal generation. - ML discovers Seokwoo is also a KPA mercenary called “Aroc”. - ML takes Seokwoo to see Taeshik. The KPA will assemble a team soon to take out the rest of the Smurf guild. Seokwoo asks for his guild to join that team. He wants to find his guild member that was captured by the Smurf guild, which is how they knew about Seokwoo’s 2nd unique ability. - ML is about to face the test for the 30th floor. When he did the tests for the 5th, 10th and 20th floors, the level of difficulty was decreased for him. This time a special test has been generated. - In a desert ML fights giant scorpions. Lou tells ML to go to the castle in the distance as he detects his physical body there. - ML arrives at the castle and 2 giant stone golem guards attack him. He deflects their power so they end up striking eachother. - The golems destroyed, ML enters huge doors and faces Lou’s body, the true Demon King, master of the demonic arts and the demonic blade. As ML fights a barrage of demonic swords, Lou lends ML some of his power. ML has gained the skill of Death. With Lou and this new skill, ML defeats the boss monster. - ML’s synchronisation has increased. - He is rewarded with new skills: - Synchronisation B: ability to wield 60% of an ego’s power. - Synthesis: ability to synthesise egos. - Embodiment: ability to embody egos. - ML also receives 3 ego fragments, like the one from the new gate near his home. Lastly ML receives bone pieces from Lou’s physical body. Lou is the soul that decided to seal away it’s memories to protect it’s existence. - ML’s family move into the new house and have a housewarming party. The Morning Star guild attend with Taeshik and Agent Heo. ML’s new home has a training room in the basement. - Taeshik tells ML that the Iron guild will be officially opening a branch in South Korea in 3mths time. - ML tests his new synthesise skill with Brunheart and an ego fragment. ML is teleported into the gate with the cemetery where he 1st met the gate ego. ML names the lich “Heart” and makes it the gate administrator. ML spends 4 days defeating monsters in the gate to raise the gate domination over the monsters to 100%. - ML asks to spar with Taeshik. They unleash the full force of their magic powers and demolish the KPA training room. - Taeshik advises ML to register as a ranker. - As a mercenary, ML’s identity will still be protected. - The benefits of being a ranker include being able to influence the KPA’s decisions and having access to more info. - Rankers are also part of a global association and therefore have global authority. - To be acknowledged by other rankers, ML will need to fight in an unofficial ranking battle. - Shin Yoobin, guild master of the Mist Flower guild. - She’s a ranker known as “Mist Sword”. - Her deceased father spoke highly of a guide who helped him and whom he learnt a lot from. - ML meets Yoobin in the ranker battle moderated by Agent Heo. The judges are Taegoo, Taeshik and Seokwoo. - Yoobin underestimates ML and he defeats her by disarming her. He recognises her from her father’s funeral. Her father spoke about her often to ML while he was being guided by ML. - ML arranges for Taeshik to accompany his mother as protection, to help him against Taegoo and the threat of an arranged marriage. - IPA = International Players Association - Lee Seonho, guild master of the Einzella guild. - Taeshik and ML suspect Iron Shield made a deal with Seonho. - The Einzella guild supported the establishment of the Iron guild branch in South Korea. (NB: Iron guild are 1 of the top 10 guilds in the world) - Lou’s awakening completed recently and is now L95. - Lou is the Lord of Demonic Blades and Demonic Arts. - Lou confirms that Soojung gave ML a Demonic Eye in his left eye. A portion of the eye’s abilities has opened up and ML can now see the true nature of all things. - With Lou’s Demonic Arts skill, ML can grant demonic power to egos. ML gives Oberon the binding skill which restrains an opponent with black magic. - Go Hyungcheol, player paparazzi and former ranker. - Mr Go was responsible for the photo of ML that was leaked. - ML wants to use Mr Go’s info network to find out about the deal with Iron Shield. Mr Go eventually reveals his true appearance to ML and agrees to a contract. Mr Go accepts the massive payment and also wants info on ML’s relationship with the Demon King (Soojung) and the Demonic Eye. ML says he’s Soojung’s disciple and ML explains the Demonic Eye sees the true nature of a subject. - ML approaches Seokwoo to be his ally against the Iron guild. Besides offering to the Kine guild all interests that arise from the collapse of the Iron guild branch, ML proposes to grant a single request regardless of what it is. - ML spends a month clearing gates assigned by the KPA as a lone mercenary. Mr Go meets ML for the 4th and last time with info that Lee Seonho of the Einzella guild needs an elixir after getting injured while clearing the Tower. Mr Go informed ML earlier that Iron Shield’s leg was severed (he now has a prosthetic). ML suspects Soojung might be involved as she has the last elixir. - ML has been feeding tons of crystals to Brunheart which has strengthened the gate ego and it’s monsters. - ML synthesised Rain with “Blue Star” (tbc Slayer?). - Rain has additional skills, including Elemental Water, Elemental Fire, and Elemental Dark. - Donghae Kim (now guild master of the Child guild) and Seonpil Kim (Morning Star guild) meet ML to request an alliance with him. - ML asks them to join him in a battle against an enormous enemy. - The day of the Iron guild branch opening, Rogers Han leads his guild members from the airport to the branch office location. - As planned with ML, the KPA announce a gate break and the area around the branch office is evacuated. - Grigori, the secret private army of the KPA are deployed to protect the perimeter and stop anyone from entering. - Seokwoo and the Kine guild, the Child guild and the Morning Star guild have gathered. ML opens Brunheart the gate and calls forth his skeleton army led by the headless horseman and Heart. - ML aims to keep the Iron guild teams separated. - He kills the 1st team leader Charlemont and cannibalism is used. Rain has taken the form of a huge wolf and defeats the remaining 1st team players with ML. - Rogers was given the holy sword Nine and is defeating the skeleton army. ML helps Seokwoo against 2nd team leader Rhodes (unique ability: regeneration) and 3rd team leader Carlen. - Seokwoo defeats Carlen by freezing her in an ice wall. - ML stopped Rhodes from regenerating with the aggravate wounds skill. Rhodes changes with his Berserker skill but he’s defeated by ML’s Elemental Dark skill. - Rhodes is cannibalised and acquired as an ego (tbc). - ML faces Rogers alone after sending Heart and the horseman back to the gate. Nine is actually a corrupted holy sword that’s closer to a demonic sword. It absorbs all of its user’s powers and transfers them to its true owner. Rogers is now a L1 with no skills or abilities. - ML is warned by Agent Heo that Lee Seonho is entering the area. ML throws Rogers and Nine into Brunheart the gate. - Lee Seonho will be the only one entering and he promises Taegoo that he won’t reveal to anyone what he sees. - Lee Seonho calls out to Soojung who he knows is watching. She appears with Baal. Lee Seonho’s vessel is contaminated and an elixir will only slow its progress. Soojung gives Lee Seonho the elixir after he promises not to touch ML for a year. - The Iron guild branch in Korea was annihilated on it's 1st day. - Soojung disappears with ML and Baal. ML wakes up in his basement with them. Soojung asks if she can live in his house. - She’s introduced to his family. He distracts them with Rain who has turned into a puppy. - At a cafe using Baal’s barrier skill, ML finds out Baal is an archdemon. Baal pays his respects to ML. Baal was one of those who betrayed Lou in the past. Soojung reveals she can hear the voices of ML’s egos and shares his vision. - The Demonic Eye is the symbol of demons. - Soojung planted the catalyst in ML but he was the one who manifested it's power. The colour of the Demonic Eye shows the demon’s rank. Purple is royalty, the highest ranked demons. - Soojung can use all demonic eyes. She received a demon transplant and has a cat shaped jewel in her chest. She has the other side of Baal and is half demon, half human. The cat side of Baal can devour and absorb other demons. - Back at ML’s home, Soojung removes their shared vision and being able to hear his egos by giving him a kiss. - In the basement, Baal has installed a space expansion barrier and an impact nullification barrier. Soojung spars with ML. She wants to make him stronger than Iron Shield within a year. - Inside Brunheart the gate, ML is torturing Rogers by making him build a pyramid by himself under Heart’s supervision. - Rogers’ rage is now focused on Iron Shield. - Baal draws a magic circle to improve the mana efficiency of the gate by gathering all of the excess mana in one spot. This mana is used to create transparent crystals. - Synchronisation A: able to wield 70% of an ego’s power. - Ability to control death has increased. - ML experiences almost being swallowed up by the darkness. - Soojung tells ML to look for the player with 100 swords. - ML needs a holy sword to strengthen Elle to maintain the balance with his demonic arts. - ML gets a call from Jichul Hwang about his grandson Minsoo. ML goes to Jichul’s store to find it's been trashed with all of the items taken. Jichul is on the floor and will die soon. - Jichul says he’s one of the Pioneers, ie people who became players on the 1st day the Tower appeared. At first he was a tank but stopped climbing the Tower to focus on his forging skills. - Jichul reentered the Tower when his forging skills hit a wall and he was searching for a clue on how to advance them. - He spent years trying to find the Tower’s basement. - He found the door to the basement and entered a completely different world. He faced a powerful monster but was saved by his future wife (tbc) - Lou says there are countless other worlds that exist. - Jinchul gives ML a map of the 1st floor with the location of the door to the basement. ML also receives a small golden mallet. - With Jichul’s permission, ML activates cannibalism. The egoification of Jichul fails but his fragment is absorbed. - Jinchul’s request is for ML to save Minsoo, who is a blacksmith that will surpass Jinchul. - ML goes to the 1st floor and uses the mallet to open a barrier. - ML questions a guard and learns the Carvan guild plan to sacrifice Minsoo to open the door connected to another world. Minsoo has the same blood as the Gatekeeper. - Minsoo’s father hurt his own father and kidnapped his son. - Minsoo’s father was born and raised in another world where the flow of time is different to Earth. His name is Chae-il Hwang. His other name is Paimon’s Descendent. Chae-il transforms into a Fire Giant demon. ML defeats him with the Death skill. ML activates cannibalism and egoification is successful. - ML’s skeleton army took care of the Carvan guild members. - They carry Minsoo in the coffin through Brunheart the gate. - Lou says Paimon and Andras are archdemons that hold 2 of the 72 seats of power under the true Demon King. Baal has the 1st seat. Paimon is one of the 2 gatekeepers of hell. He’s also the great blacksmith of hell. - ML tells Soojung what happened. She takes ML to meet with Taegoo and Taeshik. She’s also a KPA mercenary. - Taegoo, Taeshik and ML’s father were all Pioneers. - Andras is the Marquis of Discord and Carvan guild leader. He wants to unseal the Tower’s Rulers and cause the end of the world. Theo was a former guide who quit to join the Carvan guild. - The Tower intersects and connects each of the other worlds. The Tower also acts as the chains and slowly eats away at the worlds it’s connected to. The Rulers of the Tower exist in the upper floors. They are the Masters who created the Tower and are former rulers of other worlds. - With Baal’s help, the barrier around Minsoo’s coffin is broken and ML wakes up Minsoo with a potion. Minsoo has lost his memories, most likely due to trauma and shock. He thinks ML is his father. ML gives the golden mallet to Minsoo who sculpts a lifelike statue of Jinchul from the stone coffin. - Baal says ML can restore Jinchul’s ego by synthesising Jinchul’s ego fragment and a piece of ego, with the holy sword Nine and a transparent crystal. The statue that is Jinchul’s vessel awakens as an “ego human” guardian. The dead Jinchul has resurrected? - ML assigns the region around his place for Jinchul the guardian to protect. ML gives the house next door to Jinchul and Minsoo. - As an ego, Jinchul can now hear the voices of other egos. - “Paimon’s Inheritance” was taken from Jinchul by the Carvan guild. The only ones who can use it are Minsoo and Chae-il. - Soojung and Baal leave ML’s place to prepare, now that the Carvan guild are active. - Floor 34: ML fights beholders to increase his psychic attack resistance. Lou reaches L100 and evolves. - Morning Star and Child guilds have merged. - Floor 40 trial: - ML faces numerous holy swords that become (zombie?) angels. They become rusty swords after they’re defeated. - The final boss is Elle as an archangel. ML at the last minute hesitates to strike Elle and she pierces him through the chest with her sword first. The link between Elle and ML is broken. - Elle uses Kallion’s ability and sacrifices herself to save ML. - He passes the trial and Elle disappears, leaving behind a rusty egoless version of herself as a sword. As a reward ML receives “Elle’s Token,” a white feather. - ML returns to his basement at home. - ML meditates and sees the enormous void that is his vessel. - Within the void, ML finds the roots (power? links?) of his egos: “Death” for Lou, “Life” for Elle, and then the other egos. - ML reconstructs the territories for his egos in his vessel. - He can now wield life as well as death. - His ego assimilation is at 80%. - To practise his control over life, ML trains for a month by trying to revive the rusty holy swords collected from the Floor 40 trial. ML succeeds with the last 3 swords becoming angels. He names them Hamiel, Camael and Anael. He gets the angels to stay inside Brunheart the gate. ML stops a fight between the angels and the undead army led by Heart. - Lou advises ML on how to resurrect Elle. - First Jichul repairs Elle as a sword. Then ML uses life on the sword and she is resurrected as an angel who can turn into a sword. - ML clears the monsters inside a unique gate with the help of his egos, angels and undead. The defeated gatekeeper is a griffin king that becomes ML’s newest servant. - Brunheart absorbs the unique gate and the landscape inside Brunheart changes. Jichul is assigned as the new gate administrator while Heart is demoted to vice administrator. - With Brunheart growing stronger, more headless horsemen have appeared. ML names the original headless horseman “Hal” who becomes ML’s death knight. - Iron Shield has made a deal with Andras … - Rogers begs ML for a chance to take revenge on Iron Shield. - ML kills Rogers and gets Lou to cannibalise him and turn Rogers into an ego. - 5 unique gates of immeasurable rank suddenly appear in Sth Korea. 20 of these gates in total have appeared globally. - ML examines the 5 gates and thinks they’re related to demons. - All 20 gates are possibly demon occupied territories. It’s highly likely Andras has intentionally caused this to happen. - All 11 mercenaries are summoned to a secret meeting at the KPA. 5 mercenaries volunteer to scout each gate in Sth Korea. - Kim Dohyung, guild master of a top 10 guild. - masked mercenary - twin sisters - Yang - ML is sent to the US where many other high rankers have gathered for an IPA meeting. The Pope is among them. - Iron Shield arrives and he’s accompanied by a demon in disguise. - High rankers: - Tao Chen / Beautiful Beard from China - Susanoo from Japan - Oil King from the Middle East - Blood Emperor is from the US and the IPA chairman. - He’s 1 of the first 5 high rankers in history. - After Brunheart evolved, it gained the ability to open more than 1 gate and leave them open at specific locations. The gates can function like portals to allow travel from one location to another. - ML goes to NY to infiltrate the Iron guild HQ. - He uses his new skills: Elemental Water (body can change into water) and Spirit Fusion (able to use a spirit’s skills by fusing with spirits of the same attribute). He also has Elemental Fire and Elemental Dark skills. - ML deploys a gate in the sewers underneath the Iron guild HQ building. As he’s leaving, ML is met by Archangel Michael? - Elle speaks with Michael who stops trying to fight ML. - All contact has been lost with the 20 recon teams. - Choi Changyong, Blue Dragon guild master - Cain (Kine?) guild - Mist Flower guild - Shin Yoobin’s grandma and mentor / advisor - They enter a gate with ML and Agent Heo near Gangnam station that Seokwoo entered with his recon team. It’s the territory of an archdemon … - Absorption: absorb blood and souls of monsters - Egoification: you may egoify an absorbed soul - Michael - Tao Chen - ML enters another portal to a different dimension. - He challenges Vothis the demon to a territory battle. - ML astounds everyone with his overwhelming power and personal army against Vothis’ forces. As Vothis awakens, ML stabs himself with Lou who possesses ML. Lou kills and cannibalises Vothis who becomes an ego. Then he finds and rescues Seokwoo.
Return to Player
Webtoon ch 84 as of 12/12/22 - Ch 104 here - ML is Kim Sehan, a college student and video game addict. - The world has become a game run by the game masters and the gods. Monsters have entered the world and there are people who are players that can kill the monsters. A chosen player is one that a god chose to be their avatar. - The gods and demons are spectators that watch for entertainment. - The gods can only pick up to 2 chosen avatars. - The demons can share their powers with multiple contractors and have countless servants. - The game masters (GMs) manage the servers and assign quests. - Observer orbs are the eyes of the GMs and the gods. - The system regulates and maintains the game as the law. - Points are gained each time a quest is completed. - The points may be spent to increase stats or buy items. - 1st playthrough: In ML’s 1st life, he was a cold and selfish solo player. He was the last survivor after the fall of humanity at the end of the game. After completing the game, ML was granted special access to the DLC store. He uses his points to purchase a “2nd playthrough package” that lets him start again. - DLC = downloadable content (ie additional digital content) - 2nd playthrough: ML returned to the day that the monsters first appeared 10yrs ago. The points from his 1st life are carried over. He can also continue to access the DLC store. - ML discovers he can access the game forum used by the gods, including the chat room. - Han Jisu, ML’s college friend. She died in ML’s past life. - She has the “Celestial Slayer” ability that is S-rank. - It’s a trait that makes you stronger when you see blood. It must be used with care as you could lose yourself to madness if you don’t have control of this ability. Main Quest 1: Escape from the college campus (2 days) Difficulty level: E - ML used points to buy 2 VIP brooches for himself and Jisu. It helps with wound recovery and increases points gained. - Before more observers arrive, ML uses points to increase his stats and kills the hidden boss, a hobgoblin. He receives a girdle that increases his strength stat as a reward. Jisu awakened her ability when she was killing goblins. ML buys a multiplayer package that lets him create a party with Jisu. - Yun Hyeongyun, college student council president. - Park Donggwon, college student council vice president. - Donggwon is a chosen avatar for the god “An Honest Life.” He receives rewards based on the number of people he kills. - In ML’s past life, there were hardly any survivors from the college campus. This was due to Donggwon’s manipulative influence, a psycho who screwed over ML countless times. - Hyeongyun agrees with ML to escape ASAP and leads the group from the gym towards the college entrance. A Sentinel in the form of a huge minotaur suddenly appears. Despite being a C-rank monster, it’s stats are limited to F-rank to match the difficulty level of the 1st quest. - ML acts as bait so the rest of the group can escape. - With no observers around, ML increases his strength stat with points. Combined with the extra strength from the hobgoblin girdle ML received, ML is stronger than an F-rank minotaur and defeats it. - Jisu is waiting for ML while the others have left. She knew he was ok from their shared party info. - ML received platinum rank for completing the quest. - His rewards include 2 upgradable abilities: Final Hour (your movement becomes faster for a limited time) and Regeneration. - He also receives “Adaptive Orichalcum”, the strongest metal in the world. - Party members can share abilities in an exchange. ML shares Regeneration with Jisu while he receives Celestial Slayer. - Jisu has rejected 12 invitations from gods so far. She doesn’t like the idea of becoming an avatar or serving a faceless entity. - ML teaches Jisu the “Crimson Asura” skill, a killing technique that is only possible with her Celestial Slayer ability. He learnt Crimson Asura from a martial arts expert in his past life but couldn’t master it as he didn’t have Jisu’s ability. Main Quest 2: Journey towards the Lomae World Tower (14 days) Difficulty level: C - Lee Mina, a teenage girl and expert manipulator who is the chosen avatar for the Young Jester (Loki). She can change into any person, animal or object. Her power lies in her ability to manipulate the senses of other people. - ML found out Mina’s location from her god through the forum. - He takes Jisu to a bank and uncovers Mina pretending to be a police officer to rob the bank. He makes Mina join them until they complete their 2nd quest. - ML takes Jisu and Mina to a safe zone. He opens the regular points store so they can gear up. ML buys a mace and some armour for Jisu. He bought a short sword and a dagger for himself. - They arrive at the Lomae World Tower. - Mina uses her ability to transform into one of the men on guard outside. From the intel she gathered, there is only 1 boss monster at the rooftop. A team of players must all be from the same start location to be able to enter the boss room together. - So far there are 2 teams. Only 1 team can defeat the boss, leaving the other team to die for failing the quest. - ML meets with Hyeongyun, the leader of one team that has occupied the nearby subway. Hyeongyun is relieved to see ML. - ML suggests searching underground for the true boss monster. - The other team are guarding the Lomae World Tower. In ML’s past life, they became a strong and infamous criminal guild called the Sins. This guild was established by Kim Juwon, a chosen avatar for the powerful god Hades. - Donggwon betrays Hyeongyun’s team and tells Juwon about the real boss underground. Juwon goes undergound with his men and Donggwon. They are stopped at the entrance by Jisu and ML. Mina had earlier infiltrated the Sins and transforms back to her real self. - Jisu faces the Sins while ML takes Mina to fight the rooftop monster, a Sentinel that’s a gigantic basilisk called Orga. It’s “petrifying gaze” ability turns everything to stone. - ML has Mina transform into a weasel, which is a weakness of basilisks. As he fights Orga, Mina manages to bite it in the eye which disrupts its gaze ability. While Orga was distracted, ML put training bracelets on its feet. The weight of the bracelets can be adjusted with a coloured crystal. - Explosives were placed throughout the tower by Mina while she was pretending to be a member of the Sins. ML sets off these explosives then sets the bracelets on Orga to their heaviest weight. - The floor collapses beneath Orga who continues to fall through the other floors weakened by the explosives. - Orga reaches the bottom floor and is pierced through by a spear coated in Orichalcum. ML had arranged the spear with Hyeongyun. - Hyeongyun and his team were fighting the real boss monster, a beholder, on the bottom floor. As instructed by ML, they lured the beholder to stay close to the spear planted by Hyeongyun. The beholder was then crushed by Orga. - ML retrieves the spear and says goodbye to Hyeongyun for now. - ML and Mina meet up with Jisu who is guarding Donggwon. - ML puts a training bracelet around Donggwon’s neck. - ML makes Donggwon sign an absolute contract. - It states, “The contractor must be altruistic, sincere and caring from this point onwards. Failure to follow these rules will result in death by their head imploding from the choker.” - ML lets Donggwon go, as ML can track his location. - Mina is given a B-rank stealth ring as a reward from ML. - Jisu and ML go their separate ways for now. They can still track eachother through the party info. Mina decides to stick with ML. - As a reward for defeating Orga, ML received the B-rank skill “Detection”: the user may search an area within a 50m radius. - ML and Mina go to a dungeon entry that’s guarded by other people. ML found out the location through the forum chat room. - ML buys a Dungeon Destroyer’s Excavation Drill. - ML uses Detection and locates the boss room underground. - 5hrs later he has drilled down to where the boss monster is. - ML and Mina fight lesser mantis monsters. ML then takes out the boss monster, a giant mantis. They take the dungeon rewards and leave nothing for the others fighting their way through the dungeon. - ML and Mina go to another dungeon in the subway. - ML also heard about this dungeon from the forum chat room. - He bought 2 x Cloth of Protection scarves which block 5 ranged attacks, one for Mina and one for himself. They’re attacked by arrows from the Ranger of the Night, the dungeon boss monster. - ML finds and defeats the Ranger with Mina’s help. - He takes the Coat of the Night (Shadow Rush ability) and the Night’s Gloves (Guaranteed Shot ability) as his rewards. - Shadow Rush: move to a shadow within a 10m radius. - Jisu has gone to check on her parents. At their apartment, she enters and fights small monsters. After defeating the monsters, she finds the dead body of her father. Main Quest 3: The Amusement Park - ML (C-rank): Escape from the park with rescued survivors. - Mina (D-rank): Collect 5 stamps from the attractions. - ML and Jisu enter an amusement park where civilians are forced to be the park’s employees. The civilians wear collars that can detonate and kill them. For ML’s quest, he has to save the civilians and the players in the park. - ML’s quest is harder than what it was in his past life. - This sinister park is ruled by the crow constellation Karas. - ML tests a collar he coated with Orichalcum. When detonated, the collar is destroyed but it doesn’t break through the coating. - ML makes it through the haunted house and defeats the monsters with a scared Mina on his back. They collect more stamps from the rollercoaster, the flume ride and the gyro drop. - As the park closes for the night, a deadly parade of monsters appears. ML takes Mina to the Safari Park where most of the other players are hiding. - Song Siu, a chosen avatar of the god Hephaestus. - In ML’s past life, Siu was a famous master craftsman who created high quality weapons and equipment. - Song Changu, Siu’s older brother and a swordsman. - Through the forum chat room, ML observes Changu report and provide intel to an agent of Cheolwoong (and Karas) that night. - Cheolwoong, a Bulgasari (metal eating) monster and the Sentinel of the park. ML tested this monster after boosting his stats to the max. ML confronted Changu about being a spy for Cheolwoong. After ML won against Changu’s sword fighting, Changu says he was forced to become a spy to protect Siu, after losing the fight against Cheolwoong and losing his eyesight. - ML makes Changu tell the truth to Siu. Then ML asks Siu for help with creating a weapon to defeat Cheolwoong. ML bought a basic blacksmithing package and he had Mina use her area isolation skill to set up a barrier around Siu’s workspace. - ML gave the blueprints to Siu to create the “Pile Bunker” weapon. - ML and Mina convinced the other players to help the civilians to escape from the park. - With Pile Bunker, ML destroys Cheolwoong. - As a reward, ML receives a grimoire (A-rank) that gives the Bulgasari ability to convert a consumed metal into part of your body. He gives the grimoire to Mina. - ML frees the employees by removing their collars one by one using the Orichalcum. He has an employee with a stamp help Mina and the other players complete their quest. The stamp is the same for all rides. - Karas appears after hearing about the death of Cheolwoong. ML fights Karas in an epic battle. Meanwhile everyone escapes the park which completes the quest for ML. He can now purchase the unlocked “1st playthrough transfer package”. ML defeats Karas with the help of a transferred succession ability, “Proof of Transcendence”. It’s an upgradable, S-rank ability that allows him to critically injure a celestial within 30mins. - The system announces a major update that changes the game to an “open world”, where travel is possible to other regions and multiple quests can be carried out at once. Guilds can also be created now. - ML asks Mina, Changu and Siu to join his guild in the future. - ML receives the Hunter’s Instinct skill as a reward for completing the quest. For defeating Karas, ML becomes the new master of the crow constellation. His new abilities are “Eye of the Crow” and “Veil of Darkness”. ML has been given a divine status, currently at the lowest class. - ML sent Mina to look for a blonde haired family of 2. - Mina finds Luke Taylor and his teenage daughter Lin. - Luke is a chosen player for the goddess of justice, Astraea (Libra). Main Quest 4: A large raid - defeat the raid boss. Main Quest 4: The vanguard of ruin (Daejeon city) Difficulty level: C - A raid boss will appear in each region, eg there will be 4 across Seoul. ML travels south to Daejeon and runs into Jisu there. - Earlier Jisu was busy wiping out the demon contractors (including the Waning Crescent Moon guild) as part of her 3rd Main Quest (?) - ML and Jisu are attacked by the raid boss, a Gunggi (giant black tiger with wings) but then it runs away. Nearby they find a dead Kirin, a divine beast with its horn missing. ML saw the horn in the chest of the Gunggi. Jisu finds an egg, the Kirin’s fruit. To hatch the egg, it needs a player’s blood as the catalyst. - ML and Jisu go and meet Luke and Lin, after Mina notified ML. He uses Lin’s blood as the catalyst for the egg. ML gives Mina a mithril ore that they found near the Kirin. - ML and Jisu return to Daejeon to wait for the raid boss to appear. A crowd of players and military personnel have gathered. ML runs into Donggwon there. - Using Eye of the Crow, ML detects the Gunggi rapidly approaching. He and Jisu fight the Gunggi when it arrives. - ML makes Donggwon use his crowd manipulation skill to get the military personnel to flee. The Gunggi had it’s stats increased by the GM and it evolves into it's final and most powerful form. - The Gunggi flies high into the sky but ML throws chained spears into its wings. He rallies the players to help pull the monster down with the chains. - While Jisu is fighting the Gunggi, she lets herself be swallowed by it. She destroys the monster from the inside. Jisu receives the Dark Gem of Sacred Dissonance (S-rank) as a reward. It contains extraordinary powers from the concentrated essence of the Gunggi and the Kirin. ML receives the Gunggi’s hide. - Arkatus, GM in charge of the Korean server. - In the forum chat room, ML suggests to the other gods to submit feedback about the GM’s interference. That stops the GM from interfering for some time. - ML hears about a group of thugs with dark blood that attacked Mina and Lin. After further investigation, ML discovers the Dark Sky Clan with its demon servants has been growing in influence. - With children being kidnapped, the most likely demon involved is the 27th ranked demon Neviroth. This demon gains his strength by absorbing the sadness and life essence of humans. - Gang Cheonu, boss / guildmaster of the Dark Sky Clan. - Shin Jaun, contractor of Neviroth and a commander in the Dark Sky Clan. He used to be a professional MMA fighter. He’s obsessed with training and growing stronger. - Jaun searches for ML after he destroyed a branch of the Dark Sky Clan. Meanwhile ML saves the children in the basement of the Clan’s HQ. Then ML sends 100 crows with explosives to all floors of the building, which brings the whole structure crumbling down. Cheonu was inside at the time and is most likely dead. Neviroth tells Jaun that the HQ is destroyed. - The Mask of Anguish: An artifact possessed by Neviroth. - It’s made from the flesh of a demon infused with agony. - To complete the mask and increase the mask’s power, children were being kidnapped and killed when they were in a state of great fear and misery. - Jaun was secretly saving the children. He used an orb that made the children appear to be dead, but they were actually in suspended animation. After Jaun removed their bodies and they were safe, Jaun revived the children so they could escape. - Despite Neviroth warning Jaun that ML is too strong for him, Jaun insists on going to where ML’s comrades are. Jaun wants to force ML to face him after he hurts ML’s friends. Neviroth gives Jaun the Mask of Anguish to help him win the fight against ML. - Jaun arrives at the place where ML’s comrades are. He knocks out Luke and Mina. Then he kidnaps Lin on the demon’s orders. Jisu arrives and tries to stop Jaun from leaving on his motorbike, but she’s knocked back by Neviroth through the Mask. This gives Jaun the chance to escape with Lin. - ML locates Jaun waiting for him with Lin near the port. - As Jaun and ML fight, Jaun soon realises he can’t win on his own. Jaun is forced by Neviroth to wear the incomplete Mask of Anguish. The demon possesses Jaun’s body and fights ML. Jaun’s consciousness returns after some strong hits from ML. - Jaun smashes his face with the mask onto the ground to break the mask and end his contract with Neviroth. Jaun continues to fight ML with half his face still covered by the mask and his boosted stats still present. Jaun collapses after reaching his limit and he’s kicked by ML into the ocean. Jaun is saved by Azazel, the demon of sloth and 1 of the 7 ruling demons. - After the attack by Jaun, ML buys a building to use as his guild’s house. All guild houses become safe zones. ML’s guild house includes a training room / gym and a well stocked workshop for Siu. - ML gathers Mina, Jisu, Changu, Siu, Luke and Lin. He invites them all to join his new guild, Deicide. They accept. - The egg hatches and a Kirin infant is born. It’s a girl and will grow up quickly. She has the lifespan and strength of a Kirin, with the appearance of a human. Mina names her “Snowy”. ML leaves the infant in Mina’s care for now. Main Quest 5: Dungeon race (limit: 1mth) Difficulty level: E - Players must be part of a guild to participate. - The guild with the most points at the end of the quest wins. - Dungeon imprint: only people in the same guild as the person who imprinted / occupied a dungeon may enter it. - Many dungeons have appeared across the city. - ML has deduced the patterns of constellations from the dungeon locations. The higher level constellations will have dungeons with the most points. This constellation points distribution relationship is the key to know which dungeons to target. 3 largest guilds in Seoul: - Genesis, guildmaster Park Sunghyuk (god Tyr) - Lycoris, guildmaster Lee Ah-young (goddess Freya) - Outrising, guildmaster Kang Taesung (god Ares) - Witch of Dreams (Yidhra) is the goddess ML chose in his past life. She’s an outer god from another world. - This time ML politely declines her offer to be her chosen avatar. She says he can reach out for her help anytime as she’ll be watching over him. - ML and Changu become party members. ML shares his Final Hour ability while Changu shares his Mind’s Eye ability. - Siu used Gunggi’s hide and the Coat of the Night to create a special A-rank coat for ML. It has the Shadow Rush skill and the new Wings of Gunggi skill. - Soon Deicide are the top ranking guild with the most points. - ML meets Sunghyuk the Genesis guildmaster after defeating Hong Gaeun the vice guildmaster (who attacked ML 1st). Genesis and Deicide are the only guilds aware of the dungeons’ constellation pattern. ML tells Sunghyuk the location of a mithril vein to gain his trust. - ML asks that their meeting is kept a secret from the other 2 top guilds. Then ML asks Genesis to guard the 18 dungeons of the Scorpio constellation, but to avoid entering them. There are powerful monsters hidden in the dungeons that could destroy the city. In ML’s past life, the monsters were giant scorpions that caused a major catastrophe with many lives lost. - ML takes Mina, Jisu and Changu to the Scorpio dungeons. He uses Eye of the Crow and locates the 1st monster that’s hiding dormant in a large crystal. After fighting monsters to get to the crystal, ML has everyone check the special gas masks made by Siu are on properly. ML cracks the crystal and a giant scorpion emerges, releasing a toxic gas. Those toxins were responsible for the large casualties in ML’s 1st life. - The Outrising guild enter the 18th Scorpio dungeon that’s just appeared. Luke follows them but is urged to flee by his goddess. Luke refuses to leave as he wants to be a hero and protect others. - As a massive scorpion emerges from the crystal, Luke tells the players to run away to avoid the toxic gas. Luke blocks an attack to allow them to escape. - In an attempt to save his life, Luke’s goddess invites him to be her proxy. Suddenly ML arrives through the location transfer bracelet he gave Luke. ML asks the goddess to put that proxy invite on hold for now as he knows it’s more than a human body can handle. In ML’s past life, Luke didn’t survive after using the full extent of the goddess’ power given to him. - The massive scorpion is Antares, the Scorpio constellation. Antares’ power is restricted to match the difficulty level. ML uses Proof of Transcendence to injure Antares. Jisu and Luke also join in the fight. Through Luke, ML asks the goddess to summon the scales of Libra. The huge pressure of the gigantic scales descending from the sky crushes Antares. The scales disappear and ML almost kills Antares, but the scorpion causes an explosion then it vanishes. - ML is given the very rare metal Esther (a metal of the stars with the greatest magic power and magic resistance) as a reward. - ML will also get to select an A-rank skill. - In the end, Deicide is 1st in the dungeon race. - Azazel is bored. She can see that Jaun has no goal or purpose right now. Azazel takes Jaun to an industrial site so he can save a girl from a group of demon servants chasing her. - The girl is called Min Soo-ah. She asks to go with Jaun. She says she can see the future as she’s a chosen player of the goddess Skuld. The further ahead in time she looks, the longer is the cooldown period until she can use her ability again. - The Cape of Darkness guild are demon servants. They kidnapped Soo-ah and her older brother Min Sooho. They wanted to force her to use her ability while keeping her brother hostage. Since her future changed and she survived, she fears her brother will have to die instead. - Soo-ah can see the ending of the game as well. - Currently it shows ML as the Demon Lord of Madness who rules over all of the demons. - Subquest - Dungeon of Futile Dreams: the clear condition is an episode relating to someone you desperately wished for. - Successfully clear the quest in your memories. - Difficulty level: B - Reward: Laplace’s Hourglass. An S-rank item, able to call upon the future of a person for 30mins. - Changu notified ML that a dungeon he was looking for has appeared. Changu has been visiting dungeons to grow stronger. - ML takes Snowy to use her divine power to open the dungeon doors. He enters alone and is taken to a memory from his past life. - The memory is a quest he most regretted. The quest involved saving 1 of 2 groups. A group of 1000 players or a group of 10k / 100k civilians. Choose a group and then kill the other group. - In his past life, ML chose to save the players. He had to fight and kill Min Sooho who belonged to Agathram, the strongest guild at the time. They wanted to save the civilians AND the players. - ML also doesn't want to kill Lin Taylor this time. - Yidhra helps ML to find Lee Mina. She’s at her old high school holding her own memorial for her dead classmates. - ML asks Mina to make an elixir for him and some other items. Agathram guild: - Cheon Sanghwan, Agathram guildmaster - Lin Taylor. ML killed her father in this past life. - Min Sooho, chosen avatar of the god Macha. - Kang Junshik, chosen avatar of the god Agni. - Lee Surin, a mage, chosen avatar of the god Morian. - Kim Taehoon, chosen avatar of Baldur the god of light. - A raid party from ML’s side challenges the Agathram guild. - Kim Taehoon alone faces the raid party. ML arrives and makes it appear that he kills Kim Taehoon. He gives the body to the Holy Saint for safe keeping. - Park Sunghyuk, Genesis guildmaster? - Holy Saint Shin Yoohwa, healer - Lee Surin sets off a trap that explodes and sends poisonous smoke throughout the city. ML kills her. - Min Sooho (tempest) and Kang Junshik (fire) face ML. They chase ML and are caught in his magic trap that’s laced with paralysis poison. - Mina suddenly arrives after deciding she’ll help ML to complete the quest. She deals with the other players while ML faces Cheon Sanghwan. ML leads him to a desert location and calls for Yidhra. She makes ML her proxy and he gains the SS-rank Spiritualisation skill to use the goddess’ power. - Just as ML kills Cheon Sang Hwan, Lin Taylor attacks ML from behind. She seems to have the ability to copy perfectly the skills of others (tbc). Astraea the goddess of justice continued to watch over Lin after her father died. Lin asks to become Astraea’s proxy. - Observers and players alike are drawn to watch this unbelievable battle between 2 divine proxies. - ML set the stage for the ultimate surprise grand finale. - ML makes it so that he and Lin stab eachother at the same time. He sees the notification that the quest is complete. Then he breaks the orb to wake everyone up. - Mina explains to Lin that ML asked her to make an orb that puts the target into suspended animation. He also wanted the effect of this orb in concentrated liquid and smoke forms. - The poisonous smoke was actually the effect of the orb on the citizens in the city. ML and Mina used the orb elixir on their weapons when they stabbed the players on both sides. - ML found a way to save everyone and clear the quest. - ML clears the dungeon and receives Laplace’s Hourglass as a reward. Yidhra also gave him a new Imaginary Space skill that opens a subspace in the air momentarily. - Unknown to ML, Jisu entered the dungeon after him and had her own quest from her memories to complete. - She also cleared the dungeon and received Laplace’s Hourglass. - ML plans to help Mina with her 2 school friends Haemi and Jiseon who were contracted to a demon and died in his past life. - Jisu considers wiping out the Cape of Darkness guild next … - Doyoung Park the Iron Horse, Cape of Darkness guild master - Juan and Soo-ah enter the basement of the guild HQ and find Mina’s friends hiding there. They rescue Min Sooho and Mina’s friends follow them to the ground floor. - The ceiling collapses from Jisu defeating Doyoung. - Jisu fights Jaun almost to his death, then suddenly stops and declares she won this time. ML sent a message to stop Jisu from killing Jaun. - ML is watching from the rooftop. Azazel greets him. - She agrees to accept Mina’s friends as her servants. As a higher demon, her contract will overrule the one they have with the Cape of Darkness demon. - Mara Papiyas, demon of lust (1 of the 7 ruling demons) - Arkatus asks to borrow the power of the lust demon’s contractee. He plans to kill ML. - Mental Resilience (A-rank) is ML’s new skill. - He trains it against Jisu’s bloodlust from her Celestial Slayer skill. After 2mths, his skill is upgraded to S-rank. - Jisu has a skill called “I’m Always a Good Child.” She can control her emotions perfectly with this skill. She was always obedient and submissive to her parents, pretending to be a good child. - Jisu is afraid of being abandoned by ML. - Is she obsessed with him? - Event quest: Treasure Hunting - Location: Glastonbury, UK - Akinen, the GM of the England server. - The top 100 players across the servers are selected to complete the quest. The timeframe is 2wks. - Collect the items (A to D-rank) to get points. - There is only one S-rank item. - The server with the most points will get various benefits. - The Sentinel is a dragon. ML recalls from his past life that there’s a surprise 2nd Sentinel. - Eric Sanders (god: Apollo) - Yulian, a German player - Lee Ahyoung, Lycoris guild - Shin Yoohwa the Holy Saint - ML, Snowy, Mina, Jisu and Changu are selected from Korea. - Snowy is registered as ML’s pet so the system transported her with him. She is perfectly capable of protecting herself. - ML and Snowy find the hidden village of survivors called Avalon. It’s concealed by a lake and a mana barrier. - Morgan Le Fay, ruler of Avalon and the Last Witch. - Avalon is a utopia of mages and fairies. Viviane and Nimue used to be the other witch rulers with Morgan. - ML agrees to leave Snowy with Morgan in exchange for Morgan to teach some magic to Snowy. - The secret highest tier item is Excalibur (SS-rank). - It can only be used by it's rightful master. - Arthur is an English player who is crippled and sees visions of his dead family (an illness?). He blames himself for their deaths. - ML knew Arthur from his past life. ML finds Arthur and scares off some bullies. ML asks Arthur to join his party but Arthur refuses. - Chris Bright, contracted to a demon. - She holds hostage a group of players under her charm ability in order to lure out then kill ML. - Lee Ahyoung and Shin Yoohwa arrive. They use their skills to cancel out the charm spell and save the players. - ML kills Chris but she revives elsewhere (?) - Siris, another demon contractor, awakens both Sentinels: - The Red Dragon from the legend of King Arthur. - Behemoth, the Holy Beast of Legends. It gets bigger over time. - ML takes Arthur to Avalon and gets Arthur to draw out Excalibur from the rock before any players are killed. Morgan completely heals Arthur with her magic. Arthur agrees to join ML’s party. ML and Arthur attack Behemoth first. - The Red Dragon speaks with Arthur about the roles given by the system. No one may defy the beings that preside over the laws of the universe. Only humans are given the role of players so they can become avatars of the gods. - The Dragon offers to help Arthur this once and holds down Behemoth for ML to attack. Using the shared Punishment of Faith skill (S-rank) with Arthur and special customised weapons made by Siu, ML obliterates Behemoth. The Dragon flies away. - England has the most points, followed by South Korea. - Mina found many items while everyone else was dealing with the 2 Sentinels. - Hyunsoo Han, Jisu’s younger brother. - He contacts Jisu and confirns that their mother is with him. - He bears the same tattoo / mark as the demon guilds. He’s made a contract with a demon ranked 17th in the hierarchy. - Soo-ah suddenly foresees an unstable prophecy about Jisu killing everyone in Seoul. - ML goes with Jisu to meet Hyunsoo and their mother. - Jisu is infamous among demon contractors as the Slaughterer. - Jisu was abused by their parents. Their mother was afraid of Jisu. - Hyunsoo reveals he’s the Gangnam branch manager of the Waning Crescent Moon guild. He gives their mother’s head to Jisu, saying he killed her and Jisu will soon join her. - Jisu can no longer restrain herself and her insane bloodlust is fully unleashed. With one hand she rips off Hyunsoo’s head and spine. Then Jisu kills the guild members in the room. - ML tries to kill Jisu before she goes on a rampage in Seoul. Her regenerative ability allows her to recover quickly. She severs ML’s legs. Earlier ML sent a message for Mina to come and help. Mina arrives and traps Jisu in a spatial barrier. Then Mina heals ML. - Yidhra appears and offers to help ML in exchange for 100k points. To calm down, Jisu needs to see her mother. - Dungeon of Futile Dreams: Yidhra takes ML back here and uses her powers to change the dungeon. There is a subquest for ML to get Jisu’s mother Song Chaeyeon to willingly follow him out and escape the dungeon alive. - ML enters the dungeon and his abilities are restricted to only 3 skills. He returns to the 5th Main Quest with the dungeon race and Antares (Scorpio). He finds out Hyunsoo is with the Sins guild. - Yidhra appears and ML becomes her avatar (just for the dungeon). He obtains the Shadow Space skill. - Yidhra says Jisu is still alive. ML thought Jisu died in the beginning from his past life but she survived for awhile. - ML finds Jisu and she’s been taken over by her Celestial Slayer personality. She instinctively wants to protect ML. - ML and Jisu infiltrate the Sins HQ. They get to Juwon’s office and ML knocks out Hyunsoo who is there with Chaeyeon. - ML uses his past life experience to kill Juwon. - Hyunsoo is possessed by Hades but is mortally wounded by ML. Jisu dies after protecting her mother from Hades’ final attack. ML decides against taking Chaeyeon with him. - ML leaves the dungeon and gets Mina to release Jisu. He restrains Jisu and synchronises their memories. Jisu returns to normal. - Mina gets a new alchemy skill. - Main Quest 6: Mamajack’s wicked scheme. - Find Mamajack the chameleon constellation (1wk)
The lazy prince becomes a genius
Ch 60 as of 19/08/22 - art is average, also on Tappytoon ** End of season 1, Ch 41 Prologue: - A swordsman arrived in a village one day. He spent every day for the next 37yrs training with his sword, until he was found dead still clutching that sword. - ML is 15yo Airen / Irene Parreira. - Ever since he saw his mother (1st wife of the Baron) die when he was very young, ML has stayed in bed in his room and mostly sleeps. His nicknames include the Lazy Nobleman, and the Deadbeat Noble. - Baron Harun Parreira from the Hale Kingdom, ML’s father. - Amelia Parreira, 2nd wife of Baron Parreira. - Kirin / Kiril Parreira 11yo, ML’s younger half-sister and a mystic arts prodigy. - One day ML wakes up from a dream about the lone swordsman training with his sword. He suddenly feels energised and compelled to also swing a sword. - ML goes to his family’s training hall and chooses the largest wooden sword like the one in his dream. He clumsily tries to copy the moves he dreamt about. The more he repeats the moves from his dream, the more the emotional weight on his heart lifts. - Every night he is haunted by that dream. Every day he tries to wield his sword. His sincerity, perseverance and drive are impressive and admirable. His family are supportive of his efforts. - Chrono / Crono Swordsmanship Academy - It’s the best swordsmanship academy in the continent. - It accepts students based on talent, regardless of nationality, gender, identity or title. - Sir Bran Summerville, the Wandering Knight. - After observing ML for 10 days, Sir Bran speaks to the Baron and offers to write a letter of recommendation to attend Crono. - Ian 90yo, Academy headmaster and a swordmaster. - Brett Lloyd, son of a Count in the Gerbera Kingdom. - Judith 12yo, a commoner orphan - Ilya Lindsay 12yo. The Lindsays are a famous swordsman family. She’s known as the 2nd genius after Carl, her older brother. - All applicants are pre-trainees (preliminary). If they pass 2 rigorous evaluations (mid-year and final) by the end of the year, they will be formally accepted as official trainees. - Initially there’s a quick fitness test to check the physical abilities of the pre-trainees. ML collapses from exhaustion and wakes up in the recovery room. He comes last (400th) in the rankings. - While the others mock and ignore ML, Ilya freely gives advice and training support to ML. - After 4mths, ML shows considerable improvement. - The pre-trainees are informed about the mid-year evaluation. It’ll be a 4-stage course that must be finished within the specified time limit. The top 5 will be personally awarded by headmaster Ian. - The day of the mid-year evaluation: - ML is fired up after dreaming he was in the warm embrace of a mother figure when the lone swordsman cut him free. - ML is in 3rd position behind Judith and Ilya when he reaches the swimming stage. He stops to save Judith who was drowning after her leg cramped. This delay cost him a top spot but he finishes within the time limit to pass the evaluation. - When the results are announced, ML receives special mention and praise for the sacrifice he made to save another. - Ian postpones ML’s reward as ML doesn't know what he wants just yet. Ian tells ML to see him when ML is ready, or Ian will offer to teach ML when he deems it necessary. - Ilya who came 1st doesn't understand why ML saved Judith. One of the instructors would’ve helped her and ML lost the chance to be taught by Ian. She says she won't be helping him anymore. - Judith thanks ML for saving her and says they’ll stick together from now on, from eating to training. - Sword training classes start for the pre-trainees and they pick their wooden swords. During their free time, Brett challenges ML to a duel. Brett wins after testing ML. While disappointed at ML’s lack of skills, Brett is impressed by ML’s total focus. - The classes are divided by skill level from Class A to C. - ML is the only one in Class F. He must master the basic sword skills in a week or consider leaving. He masters the skills and is promoted to Class C. - ML reaches out 1st to Ilya. He finds Ilya and gives her a letter and a gift. It’s a silver bracelet with a flower decoration. - Brett approaches ML and Judith. He wants to learn from eachother’s strengths, make up for their shortcomings and grow together. He wants to gain valuable experience by competing with various people. - ML improves further and is promoted to Class B. - Brett starts a trend among the pre-trainees to do meditation training. He displays strong leadership qualities. - After 9mths, Ian announces the final evaluation. It will be based on the potential abilities of the pre-trainees. They need to demonstrate the area they excel the most in swordsmanship. - Ian performs a sword dance for the pre-trainees. - The final assessment: Judith and Brett hold a sparring match. - It’s a powerful display of swordsmanship from both of them. - Brett manages to win after smashing up Judith’s wooden sword. - Ilya shows her family’s swordsmanship, the Sky Sword. - ML demonstrates his vertical slash. His epic move splits the floor apart to show a large crevice that’s half the length of the hall. - The final results are 4th Judith, 3rd Brett, 2nd ML and 1st Ilya. - Ilya only wanted to achieve 1st place in both evaluations. She won’t return as a trainee. Instead she’ll return home. - Ilya tells ML about her brother Carl who was once called the genius swordsman of the continent. When Ilya was 7yo, Carl was challenged to a duel by a commoner called Ignet. - Ignet came 1st as a pre-trainee at the Academy but refused to become an official trainee. She started a mercenary group at age 14yo. Carl lost to Ignet and shut himself up in his room, away from all of the criticism and ridicule. - Final interview: Ian tells 16yo ML that he needs to find his reason for swinging his sword if he wants to follow the way of the sword. Ian shows ML a gold plaque for an official trainee with his name on it. Ian gives ML the condition of 1yr to find his own way of the sword, then return to start at the Academy. - Brett initially withdrew from the Academy as he was disheartened by what he saw from Ilya and ML in the final evaluation. He changed his mind after hearing ML’s words of thanks and encouragement to grow stronger. - Ilya gives ML a platinum medallion with her family insignia on it. She invites him to come visit her when he can. - At a stop on the way home, ML receives a note from an orc seer who says it’ll help when things aren’t going his way. The note says “There’s no need to be alone to stand alone.” - Ruru the mystic cat. Rumoured to be unlucky and cursed. - Ruru wants ML to be her student. Once he awakens his mystic arts, it’ll definitely be of help to his swordsmanship. - Ruru says what ML has been doing isn’t effort, it’s a waste of time. ML has just been going through the motions while overworking his body. Effort is pouring one’s body and heart into fulfilling a purpose. ML needs to pour his heart into his efforts. - Viscount Phil Gairun, sons Ryan and Aaron. - Baron Lester, twin sons Kevin and Caesar. - Baron Russell, son Martin. - Baron Bauer - Baron Fried - Family Head Conference of the 6 Southern Families: hosted by the Parreira family. It’s to discuss and maintain the safety of the southern trade route. - At the dining table, the Gairuns and the Lesters embarrass and humiliate ML in etiquette and culture. - ML excuses himself and goes to the training hall. - Martin, Kevin and Caesar arrive to see ML wielding his wooden sword. They ask ML to spar and he accepts. - Kevin is first and has his sword knocked out of his hands. ML has his sword to Kevin’s throat while he’s on the ground. - Martin is next. ML blocks every attack then strikes Martin’s sword so hard that his hands hurt and he can’t continue. - Ryan and Aaron appear. Ryan wants to spar using real swords. - ML uses his vertical slash which has enough force to push Ryan right back and break his sword. - The adults arrive and Gairun is shocked to see Ryan lost. - ML asks Ruru to help him awaken his mystic arts. - Ruru says the method that fits ML best is swordsmanship training with the strongest wish. His heart’s wish is to protect his family. - Ruru tells ML, “When you don’t believe in yourself, believe in others who believe in you.” - As ML rests in his room, he awakens his mystic arts and his unconscious body is encased in a mystic barrier. - He’s created this space so he can fulfill his heart’s wish. - He’ll emerge only when he’s satisfied with the result. - In ML’s mind, he’s entered the same location as the lone swordsman in his dreams. He recognises this as a mental training space created just for him with his mystic arts. - ML spends 100s of days mental training with his sword. - His efforts start to taper off, then reduce until he stops completely. - He’s woken up by Ilya who gets ML back into training. - The next day it’s Judith with Brett and Ilya. - ML understands what Ruru was saying and the message of the orc seer’s note. ML doesn’t have to struggle alone. He can overcome it with those he trusts and loves. - Motivated and reenergised, ML continues mental training for 100s of days. He calls upon Judith, Brett and Ilya again to spar with all 3 of them at the same time. ML becomes stronger with the help of those 3 and he feels ready to leave. ML has taken ownership of his sword with his will. - ML wakes up and finds out that he’s been away for 5yrs. - ML wants to represent his family and participate in the monster subjugation. Kiril wants to go instead and challenges ML to a spar to decide. The spar stops when Kiril is overcome with tears. - Skinna Kitten, Kiril’s master. She gives ML an artifact that she and Kiril created. It can detect demonic energy and other dangerous elements. It can also detoxify most poisons. - A demonoid has been sighted. - Sir Hill Burnett, Vice-Captain, Twilight Knight Order. - Sir Tom Miller, Wandering Knight, Gerbera Kingdom. - At 14yo, Ilya became an honorary knight of the Moonlight Knight Order, the best in the Adan Kingdom. - Sir Hill brought with him a force of knights, magicians and priests from the capital to subjugate the demonoid. - Sir Tom told Sir Hill about ML which peaked his interest. - A giant demonic beast appeared behind the group. ML swiftly took action and attacked the giant. He persisted on his own until he obliterated it with a massive strike. Later Sir Hill praised ML for his outstanding performance. - Sir Hill is impressed by ML’s artifact that detects the demonic energy faster than the priests’ divine artifacts. - Sir Hill orders ML’s detection as the priority. - Although their spar was interrupted, Sir Hill could sense ML’s aura and power. He orders for ML not to be restricted in anyway given his expert skills. - NB: ML’s sword manifests with his mystic arts. He can make his sword appear and disappear. - During dinner, ML’s artifact detects poison in his food. ML suspects Ryan as the culprit. ML eats the food after it’s detoxified. Earlier he found a note warning him that the food was poisoned. (Ruru wrote the note) - ML feels like his body is being controlled by intense emotions (eg rage) when he’s in combat mode. His senses have also become sharper. Somehow the lone swordsman is connected … - ML continues to have the admiration and respect of the knights. When they reach the demonoid’s base in a cave, Ryan insists on joining Sir Hill at the front. - The demonoid is in the form of a beautiful young woman who bewitches with her voice and music. Ryan attacks her on his own but he’s protected by Sir Jack Stewart. Her hair holds Sir Jack and Ryan captive. - Viscount Gairun orders his knights to stop anyone from getting close to the demonoid for the sake of his son. - While the Viscount is trying to make a deal with the demonoid, ML is meditating with his sword to the side. - ML suddenly opens his eyes and swiftly cuts the demonoid in half. She releases the hostages and tries to protect herself. - ML keeps attacking her until she dissipates. His only thought is to kill the demonoid. - The subjugation group return with no casualties. - Viscount Gairun claims his actions were the result of the demonoid’s mind control. Sir Hill knows this isn’t true but has no hard evidence to prove it. The other noble families are supporting the Viscount’s claims. - Sir Jack visits ML to thank him for saving his life. - Sir Jack admits to poisoning ML’s food under orders from Ryan. He’s willing to accept any punishment from ML. - Later Sir Jack voluntarily confesses to Sir Hill about the attempted poisoning of ML. Sir Hill tells Viscount Gairun that an investigation will be held. He says it’s in the Viscount’s best interests to tell the truth if he doesn’t want to lose everything. - Ruru appears before ML and says she been secretly by his side since he awoke. Ruru blamed herself for ML being separated from his family for 5yrs and couldn’t face him. ML insists Ruru remain by his side from now on. - Ruru says the lone swordsman’s will is most likely driven by his hatred for demons. He is affecting ML’s will and destabilising ML. - ML takes Ruru with him to the Crono Swordsmanship Academy. He hopes to get advice from Ian about his condition. - They arrive at Alcantra which has prospered into a large city with the Academy nearby. - “Guest reception”: Because of the Academy’s fame, swordsmen frequently visit to challenge the Academy’s swordsmanship. - Once a fortnight, the Academy lets anyone in who wants to cross swords. All must earn a mercenary tag to qualify for the challenge. - ML needs his rank measured to earn a mercenary tag. ML is taken to a magic gauge that measures the force applied when hit with a sword. He scores over 10k+ and earns a silver tag, the highest you can get as your first tag. - The next day, ML and Ruru go to the Academy and decide to watch the guest reception sparring event first. - Lance Patterson faces the challengers. He’s from the same trainee group as ML. After defeating the first few challengers, he recognises ML in the crowd and greets him. - NB: ML’s group of trainees were called the Golden Generation due to the high number of geniuses among that generation. - Lance tells ML that Brett and Judith went on a training journey a few days ago. Lance challenges ML to a friendly spar. ML demonstrates Brett’s and Judith’s swordsmanship then disarms Lance to win. - Ian appears to greet ML then he also challenges ML to a spar. - They have a “conversation with their swords” that ends with Ian using his sword aura against ML’s perfected vertical slash. - Keira Fin, vice headmaster of the Academy. - Ian advises ML to embark on a journey and travel the wider world to find out more about the lone swordsman. - Judith and Brett headed towards the 5 western kingdoms. - ML meets the orc seer again in the street. In return for feeding him, the orc uses his spirit magic and senses ML’s metal energy. - 5 types of energy make up the origin of life: - Earth, metal, wood, water and fire. - Harmony is achieved by the balancing and co-existence of these 5 energies. - ML’s abnormal metal energy is causing an imbalance. - He needs fire energy to refine the metal energy. - First ML must grow the ember in his heart. - ML agrees to let Kuvar the orc seer travel with them. - The strongest 10 swordsmen in the continent: - Ian, the greatest swordsman on the continent. - Kun, who became a swordmaster at 70yo. - Julius Hule, Captain of the White Knights, Holy kingdom. - Rigoberto Clarke, Captain of the Crimson Knights - The 5 swordmaster family lords, including Joshua Lindsay. - Karakum the great orc warrior. - Ignet Crescentia, Captain of the Black Knights, Holy kingdom. - Anya, a mystic who has a golden pig that grants wishes. - ML, Ruru and Kuvar join a merchant group to travel through mountains that have bandits led by a man called Kazir. - The bandits accept a toll fee to let people pass through. - Kazir and his bandits suddenly threaten to kill everyone if they don’t leave behind everything. ML stops Kazir after detecting demonic energy. Kazir wears a demonic necklace but he doesn’t remember how he got it. ML confiscates it. - Derinku, a city of blacksmiths. - Vulcanus, a dwarf and the greatest blacksmith. - A competition is held to find the swordsman who will provide the inspiration for Vulcanus’ next masterpiece. - Pablo and Dwanson, 2 other master blacksmiths will also judge the competition. - Kuvar gives ML advice about duels. ML needs a strong fighting spirit and the resolve to win VS the desire to learn from others. - The blacksmiths sense the metal energy from ML and stop the competition. They are inspired by the sword he conjures using mystic arts. - Kuvar negotiated new armour for ML and Ruru. - ML observes the blacksmithing process. - It will take a year for the new sword to be complete. - Charlot and Victor, twin brothers and sword experts. - They have demonic energy (?) - Their duel with ML was interrupted and they want ML to hand over the sword from Vulcanus. They refuse to believe it isn’t complete yet. - Ignet arrives through a portal summoned by Anya. - She kills the twins without any hesitation. - Ignet wants to recruit ML as a Black Knight. He refuses. - ML challenges Ignet to a duel. - ML’s anger at himself ignites the fire inside. - Ignet trusts in herself and her conviction in herself lets her walk her own path without any doubt. - ML was envious of Ignet’s righteous actions against the twins. He was angry that he couldn’t do what she did. He hesitates to kill humans even if it’s the right thing to do. - ML happens to meet Judith and Brett at an inn. - They have a 3-way duel to test each other’s skills. - They agree to travel together. - ML has mastered manifestation and focus of aura application. - They constantly push each other to grow. - Hiram Swordsmanship Academy in Partisan - Hiram the headmaster is knocked out with one blow by ML. - Jett Frost, 101st strongest (?) - ML and his friends made a bet with Jett for their duel.
The Witch and the Beast
Ch 48 as of 24/08/22 - incredible art - This world has 8 continents. - The Global Holy Church is on the 1st continent. - The continents are numbered as you go eastward. - Witches represent the pinnacle of sorcery. - The Origins: 17 women were the first witches. - Witches don’t age over time. Their powers are duplicated exactly over successive generations. - The Order of Magical Resonance: - An assembly of the very best in sorcery and magic. - A powerful group that works by magic, for magic and of magic. They will take on any mission that involves magic, regardless of the danger. Each member is given an order signet ring / brand. - Guideau the Beast has no magic power at all and is the natural enemy of witches. - His spirit is trapped by a witch’s curse in the body of a beautiful young woman. He is looking for the witch responsible to undo the witch’s curse then kill the witch. The curse is temporarily broken when G kisses a witch and he returns to his original body. This is only possible once with each witch. - Ashaf, a 1st class mage - He carries around a coffin with G’s true original body. - He uses crows and black panthers as his familiars. - Ione, a 120yo witch and Mary, one of her apprentices. - Mary and the other residents of the city think of Ione as a hero. Over 400yrs ago, Ione’s grandmother was called an evil witch even though she saved the city from hellfire and she was sealed. - On the anniversary of her grandma being sealed, Ione plans to unleash the hellfire as revenge. G and Ashaf stop Ione and save Mary with the other young women who were being sacrificed as keys to unleash the hellfire. - G is getting impatient for their next witch-related job. - After a month, a witch committing serial murder and a grimoire in the city of Hayden is the next mission. It’s called “the witch’s pastime” case. The Hayden mayor is stopping the Paladin Corps from taking over this case. He wants the credit for solving it. - Kiera Haines, the only mage on the Hayden police force. - Reuben Cole, Kiera’s magic teacher and lover. - The witch is targeting the people around Kiera. One of the first victims was Reuben. - Shulk and Loran are Kiera’s adopted teenage sons. - Kiera thought they were killed by the witch. - The boys have a set of 2 grimoires that act as one entity. - Grimoires are forbidden instruments of black magic. - There’s a penalty for using the grimoires. - The boys killed people as sacrifices to use the grimoires’ powers. - The boys are in love with Kiera. She only saw them as her sons. - After G defeats them, Kiera kills them herself. - Kiera gives the grimoires to Ashaf. - Phanora Kristoffel the “profound witch” and a necromancy specialist from the Order. She can summon undead Death Knights. - Johan, Phanora’s assistant and a special undead. - Undead need to be regularly maintained by the one who resurrected them so they don’t go out of control. - Resurrections must be performed with the permission of the patient before death or their close relative. All info about necromancy must be disclosed to the patient so they are fully aware. - Undead can be set to auto, semi-auto or manual modes. - Strays are undead who are illegally revived without any guidance. - Sergeant Jeff Enker, who recently lost his fiancé. - Increased cases of unmaintained undead going crazy. - Phanora uses a special lamp to attract strays. A surprisingly large number appear. Johan takes care of them. - They follow the tracks of the strays and discover an old mansion. - Jeff’s fiancé is one of the strays at the mansion. - Necromancy forcibly removes souls from the cycle of reincarnation. There is no method for those souls to return. - Once the spell fades and the soul experiences it's 2nd death, the consciousness exists in nothingness called “the void” for eternity. - The illegal necromancer conducted forbidden experiments on the undead to try and create the perfect body for his dead lover. - Phanora defeats the illegal strays with her Death Knights. After the necromancer was tortured by Johan, Phanora kills the necromancer and turns him into an undead, forcing him to maintain Jeff’s fiancé from now on. - The Paladin Corps: a magic based military force. - They serve under the Global Holy Church. - Their strategic base is a floating castle. - Lt Col Matt Cugat, the “man of ice” and head of the 6th battalion of the 3rd continent. He is an elemental mage who made a pact with a great ice elemental. - The mission for G and Ashaf is to protect the witch. - Helga Velvette, her lineage traces to the Origin called Quena Velvette the “dauntless witch.” - Ashgan the Demon Sword. It was sealed by Quena and only a witch of her lineage can break the seal. It was the responsibility and duty of the Velvette clan to guard Ashgan. - The Executioners are underground witch-hunting specialists since the Dark Ages. They operate in the shadows of the Church. - Helga was framed for the murder of 6 men. - Ishlingen the Demon Hand is a forbidden instrument made from the skin of 17 kings. It has the power of mind control. - Cugat's paladins were brainwashed by the Executioner. The penalty for using the Demon Hand are living human sacrifices. - The Executioners want the power of the Demon Sword. They found the Velvette clan’s hideout and killed everyone. - Helga was the sole survivor who escaped with Ashgan. - The Executioner used mind control on Helga who gave him the Demon Sword. Then he stabbed Helga with it to break the seal. - The Executioner couldn’t control the true nature of Ashgan. It was a being with no reason or respect. G kisses Helga and possesses his original body. In an epic battle, G defeats Ashgan who reverts to a broken sword. - G severed the limbs of the Executioner, which removed the Demon Hand. Cugat takes custody of the Executioner (presumed tortured to death). - Angela Anne Huell the “wrathful / eternal witch” - She has the power to possess a person’s body. That is why she is the eternal witch since she can switch bodies and live forever. - She is responsible for the curse on G. - G possesses Angela’s original body. When G and Ashaf first met 3yrs ago: - Ashaf arrives at a country village to protect a witch. - The Origin was Luna Farmington the “mystic witch.” - She was a master of magic conjured by speech. - Falvell Farmington can’t cast magic because she can’t speak. She has the mark of a curse on her tongue. - Owent is Falvell’s twin brother. - Craig and his father Sven moved to the village 6mths ago. - They’re actually Executioners. They frame Falvell for the slaughter of livestock in the area. Under the guise of a witch hunt, they go after Falvell. - Ashaf convinces G to protect Falvell, after G realised she wasn’t the witch he was looking for. Ashaf gets Falvell to kiss G. - This temporarily releases both of their curses. G kills one Executioner and Falvell kills the other. - Ashaf takes Falvell and Owen back to the Order. - Ashaf makes a deal with G to work for the Order. - The Fall: an endless hole that connects to 17 other worlds. - Located on a small island between the 7th and 8th continents. - L4 is Orlencia Sett, a world of vampires and humans. - Only vampires wear all black clothing during the day. - Assisting G and Ashaf are Oscar the mage and Dunward Colvect, a vampire. Their goals align as Oscar and Dunward are looking for a vampire queen who has the power of a witch. - NB: Vampires have no innate magic power. - A number of vampire incidents have occurred that violate the urban etiquette code. G and Ashaf are looking for Angela. - A witch’s blood is considered a rare delicacy for vampires. - The Conglade: one of the largest vampire factions. - At a masked gala event, human women chosen as special blood sources are presented for the vampire king’s approval to join vampire society. Dunward presents G dressed in white as an offering for the king. Dunward realises the queen of the night isn’t there and removes his mask to reveal his identity. - There are 2 vampire kings: the king of the Conglade and the king of the night. Dunward was once the king of the night but his title was stolen 100yrs ago by Dornez Guywasse who is now the queen of the night. - When Dunward was king of the night, he married a human woman and they had 3 children. Dornez was his mistress. - Dornez took Angela’s offer of power and betrayed Dunward. While he was away with his men to fight a battle against the Conglade, Dornez told the humans where his castle was. - The castle was destroyed and his family were burned alive at the stake. Dornez used her new power to kill Dunward’s men and burn Dunward to the brink of death. Oscar found Dunward and made him drink her blood. They formed a pact and now Oscar’s blood is the only blood Dunward can drink. (Side story) - Caindel Bichon, a lone sentry on guard at a checkpoint. - Angela was bored but found Caindel interesting for his dedication to the life he led. One day he was sick and asked Angela to be the sentry for him. She refused to let an emergency messenger through who was warning about the coming of the demon army. - Caindel and Angela are arrested. As the demon army approaches, Angela frees herself and destroys the demon army with her magic. - Dowler Wu is the greatest fighter in the Conglade and challenges Dunward to a duel, with G’s blood as a witch on the line. Dunward grabs Dowler’s jaws and rips his head apart to win. - Dunward’s younger brother is the neutral bridge that mediates between the Conglade and the night. Dunward, Oscar, Ashaf and G see him to arrange a meeting with Dornez. - Dunward betrays G and Ashaf, allowing them to be drugged by his brother. Later G and Ashaf break free but they face Dornez. - A witch’s kiss holds power. A pact is formed with a witch’s beloved who receives a gift. Angela bestowed her favour and power when she kissed Dornez. In exchange Dornez provided people for Angela to possess (?) - Dornez unleashes her borrowed power. G gets Ashaf to escape first. Ashaf finds Oscar and Dunward. They pretend that they have captured Ashaf and they are taken to Dornez’ castle. - Dornez intends to kill them to keep the castle location a secret. Dunward removes his mask and fights Dornez and her minions. - Oscar releases Ashaf and they look for G. - Meanwhile in Dornez’ castle, G breaks free and uses a pair of axes that are forbidden instruments to decimate the queen’s vampires. - It’s a full moon and Dunward is the one most cherished by the moon’s magic. He easily defeats Dornez’ minions. - Dornez uses a dagger infused with sunlight to stab Dunward in his chest. G appears and attacks Dornez with the axes. - Oscar finally convinces Dunward to drink her blood. He had vowed to never drink human blood again after the death of his family. The power of the full moon and the human blood combine to change Dunward into a massive, all powerful werewolf. - Dornez had immense power but didn’t have the knowledge and experience needed to wield it effectively. Dunward obliterates her body so she can’t regenerate. Angela gave Dornez the role of stalling G and Ashaf while she escaped. - Dornez admits Dunward’s oldest child and daughter survived. Dornez gave his daughter to Angela as her latest vessel. - A witch’s favour can only be given once in their lifetime. - This doesn’t apply to Angela because she can switch bodies. - There are others who have received Angela’s favours. - The 17 levels connected to 17 worlds each have a creator. - Oscar Orlencia is the descendant of the Origin called Lionelle Orlencia the “great witch.” The power of this lineage is linked to the sun. The world of Orlencia Sett was created by Lionelle. - Oscar summons the sun to rise early to stop the Conglade from attacking the remnants of the night vampires. - The 17 Origins agreed it was taboo for any direct (outside or external) influence on the Fall. Oscar’s role is to eliminate anyone who violates this rule. Angela must be punished for breaking it. - G and Ashaf enter an antique shop that deals in magic tools. - The Recluse Doll is a relic from a witch who died. It’s a living doll. She was once human until she was cursed by a witch. G can hear the doll’s voice. - Matt Cugat was transferred to a frontier outpost. - Karl Oakleave (was Craig) the Executioner is there to recruit Cugat. He wears a forbidden instrument as a pendant on a necklace. - Knight commanders and 1 of the 5 archmages - Commander Gil Dellinger is a traitor (?) - Commander Keith was killed by the group of witches and mages. - Using the magical storm as cover - steal the forbidden instruments in storage - A group of 3 witches and some mages - Lucia is the descendant of Viola Spendrow the “giant witch” with the power to control natural disasters. - a witch that uses the power of the moon - Angela - Phanora, Johan and the Death Knights - Helga uses the repaired and resealed Demon Sword - the archmage summons a dragon - a forbidden instrument began as a seed then rapidly grew into a small child - Ashaf asks G to look after the child
Big Apple
Ch 36 as of 24/02/22 - Johan / Joachim Jerpe has been working for the last 3yrs as a sniper for the US Federal Government’s SIA (Secret Intelligence Agency, NY branch, 3rd division) to pay off his mother’s debt. He wants to quit as soon as that debt is paid but it’ll take a long time. - 2yrs ago Joachim was introduced to Juergen Eisler at a gay bar and they were attracted to each other from the start. - Joachim tried to keep the relationship on a casual sex basis, but Juergen wanted a real relationship as lovers. - Joachim and Juergen know almost nothing about eachother. - Sergei Razaliev, Russian mafia, key position in Chechnya. - Robert, Templar Knights Commander and a powerful fire mage. - Joachim has an esper and a wind mage as part of his team. - Joachim failed to kill Sergei because of the Templar Knights. Joachim manages to escape by falling from the building rooftop and letting his team members protect him. - Yvonne Kirsch, a dragon and Lord of New York. - The SIA have an agent that has infiltrated the Templar Knights. Joachim is assigned to target Sergei and Robert when they meet at the pier. Knowing that he could die this time, Joachim decides to break up with Juergen. - Joachim lies to Juergen about the reason for breaking up. He says his mother is sick back in Sweden and he has to look after her. - Juergen asks Joachim to live with him until he has to catch his plane. In the morning, Joachim wakes up to find his wrists are cuffed and locked. Juergen won’t let Joachim leave, even to go to work. He says he’s tolerated all of the lies and secrets Joachim has but he won’t accept their breakup over another lie. - Juergen wants to know the real reason for their breakup. - Juergen says Joachim doesn’t have to work and he can look after Joachim instead. Juergen keeps Joachim confined to his place for a week but Joachim doesn’t really try to escape. - The esper contacts Joachim in his mind and teleports items requested by Joachim for his escape. Joachim returns to his place. Later that day Juergen arrives but Joachim already has his bags packed and points a gun at Juergen to let him leave. - At the pier for the mission, Joachim is caught by Robert and taken to the Templar Knights prison. Joachim manages to escape but is shocked to find Juergen in another cell, injured and bloodied. - Juergen was the SIA agent who infiltrated the Templar Knights but was found out and tortured. His alias is Shadow. - Joachim and Juergen manage to overcome the few sentries on guard. At the entrance they face Robert who had just returned. - Robert decides to let them go just this once. He suggests to Joachim that he look further into Juergen’s true identity.
Sword Sheath's Child