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[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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Chapter 312
By consuming all the liquids, his stats increased significantly.
Then came the third.
The fourth.
Up to the fifth.
By successfully gathering all the sins, his rank increased by a full five stages.
Was that all?
[Detailed Stats]
- Strength: 2,411 (+241) → 2,652
- Agility: 2,403 (+240) → 2,643
- Stamina: 2,373 (+238) → 2,611
- Defense: 2,326 (+232) → 2,558
- Wisdom: 2,317 (+231) → 2,548
- Magic Power: 2,732 (+273) → 3,005
- Divine Power: 2,637 (+263) → 2,900
- Mental Power: 2,178 (+220) → 2,398
Reaching over 1,000 was already impressive, but now every stat had soared past 2,000.
Even his magic power had surpassed 3,000.
"If I use buffs too... Does that mean it'll exceed 10,000?"
It was undeniably an overwhelming stat increase.
'Wow... Master, you've completely surpassed me when I was a player.'
'Even I, at my peak, wouldn't be a match for this.'
Reaching beyond 2,000 was entirely because he had consumed all five items.
Each consumption increased his stats by 200, totaling a whopping 1,000 increase after consuming all five.
"At this level, I should be able to handle Baal just fine."
If it had only been a stat increase, that would be one thing.
But with his rank rising by five stages, he was now more than capable of facing Baal.
The problem was that he was still far from being able to stand on equal footing with Escanon, the mastermind.
'That guy must have the remaining two items.'
The sins gathered so far were Wrath, Sloth, Gluttony as Greed, Envy, and Pride.
If Jeong-hoon's guess was correct, Escanon held the remaining two.
If not, they might be somewhere else in the Demon Realm.
Regardless, since he had already obtained five of the items, this wager ended in victory as well.
Now it was time to visit Baal and claim his reward.
'The Sin Chest aside, I need to figure out what this dark energy is.'
By obtaining five items, his dark energy had increased by 25%, reaching a total of 31%.
At 6%, it seemed insignificant, but now that it was nearing one-third, it couldn't be ignored.
'That doesn't mean I can give up on getting stronger either.'
Fearing dark energy and abandoning a path that could enhance all his stats and raise his rank was foolish.
No matter what, he didn't regret consuming the items.
And since this wager had revealed information about the dark energy, he could just be cautious moving forward.
Jeong-hoon ordered everyone to wait and headed to the castle where Baal resided.
* * *
Upon arriving at the castle, Jeong-hoon immediately sought out Baal.
Creak—
As the door opened and he stepped inside, Baal remained seated on his throne as promised, without moving an inch.
“You’re here…”
Baal’s voice sounded weak.
“You must have been watching. I’ve found all five of the items you mentioned.”
“…Yeah. I confirmed it.”
Baal nodded.
“Now then, will you hand over the reward?”
“Sure.”
A bet was a bet.
Baal obediently handed over the Sin Chest.
[You have obtained the ‘Seven Deadly Sins Chest.’]
The Seven Deadly Sins Chest.
With this, he had now gathered four of the seven sins.
“There’s still more, right? Will you tell me about the dark energy as well?”
“Oh… Now that I look closer, it’s built up more than I expected.”
After scanning Jeong-hoon’s body, Baal let out a brief sound of admiration.
His reaction suggested he hadn’t expected the dark energy to accumulate so quickly, already nearing one-third.
“We don’t have time for small talk.”
“In simple terms, it’s reaching the state of the Abyss.”
“The state of the Abyss?”
“Yes. Simply put, it means corruption.”
Jeong-hoon frowned.
He had suspected it, but it seemed this was indeed the direction things were heading.
“Are you saying I’ll turn into a demon?”
“Heh, something like that. Do you know what a ‘Mahn’ is?”
Mahn.
In simple terms, it refers to a human who undergoes demonic transformation and becomes a mutant.
‘Mahn existed even before my regression.’
They were the incarnations who had formed contracts with transcendents.
Incarnations didn’t just disrupt the game.
By repeatedly completing incarnation quests and accumulating power, they would gradually lose their sense of self.
As the demonic transformation progressed, they would eventually become something neither fully human nor fully demon — a Mahn.
And now this dark energy was supposedly what turned humans into Mahn?
It was a more serious issue than expected.
“Not human, yet not a demon either…?”
“No, that’s only the incomplete ones.”
“Incomplete?”
“Heh… Humans who form contracts absorb a small fraction of demonic power each time they complete a quest. When that accumulates, demonic transformation begins.”
“…And?”
“Tch, there’s no way those fragments alone can create a fully transformed demon. That’s why I call them incomplete.”
“Hmph, so what you’re saying is… the dark energy I’ve been gathering can allow me to become a complete Mahn?”
"That's right. The more interesting part is that there won't be any warning signs until it reaches 100%."
In truth, Baal had never seen such a stabilized form of dark energy before.
Normally, dark energy should seep into the body and gradually eat away at it. Yet this energy remained coiled in one place, completely still — as if that was its rightful position.
That's precisely why no warning signs appeared, no matter how much the energy accumulated.
"What happens when someone becomes a Mahn?"
Corruption leads to becoming a Mahn.
But what kind of changes would that bring?
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"Yeah. No one has ever reached 100% with that energy before."
Even Baal was curious.
A Mahn was essentially a failed attempt at full demonic transformation — a mutation.
But if that stabilized energy were to reach 100%, it would likely produce a Mahn vastly different from those seen before.
"I see. So has anyone else even tried accumulating this energy like this?"
"No one. In the first place, this is the first time I've seen that energy accumulate in this way."
"...How dull."
It wasn’t the most satisfying answer.
Jeong-hoon turned away without hesitation.
He concluded there was nothing more to gain from Baal.
"Hey, let me tell you one thing."
"What is it?"
"No matter how hard you try, resisting my master is impossible."
"Pointless advice."
Jeong-hoon flipped Baal off and left the castle.
* * *
└ Are you done with HoneyTube now?
└ Seriously, when’s the next video coming out?
└ This is so frustrating, lol.
└ Is it true there hasn’t been a single video since the Ultimate Knight?
└ Unsubscribing ^^
└ LOL, the ones saying they'll unsubscribe will be the first to rush back when a new video drops.
└ So true, lol.
Jang Dae-hwi sighed as he scrolled through the comments.
The comments were pouring in live.
He even saw comments in languages he'd never seen before — yet every single one of them was urging him to upload another HoneyTube video.
"I want to upload one too…"
HoneyTube’s subscriber count had already surpassed 130 million.
Given that he hadn’t posted anything since the Ultimate Knight hunt, it was only natural for subscribers to grow restless.
At the same time, one thought lingered in his mind.
"But why are these guys so desperate for a new video when they couldn’t even take down the Ultimate Knight themselves?"
After all, HoneyTube’s purpose was simply to share useful tips.
However, those who had defeated the Ultimate Knight, boasting Level 1,100, and crossed over to Darvis had yet to be seen.
"Would someone like James Marcus be able to make it across?"
Considering he was the world's number one, it wouldn’t be impossible for him to take down the Ultimate Knight.
Bzzz—
At that moment, his smartphone vibrated, displaying a familiar name.
"It's Hoon!"
Jang Dae-hwi hurriedly answered the call.
"Hello?!"
[Yeah. Hey, hyung, are you busy?]
"I'm pretty free, I guess?"
The only thing he’d been doing lately was sorting through the endless flood of emails.
Spending his day like that did feel fairly idle.
[That's perfect, then. I was thinking of doing some HoneyTube content after a long time.]
That was some welcome news.
"Really?! Did you find the Honey Pot in Darvis?"
[Ah, no, not that.]
"Not that? Then what is it?"
[A new event is about to hit soon.]
"An event?"
Jang Dae-hwi tilted his head.
[You know how it is. The game's become reality.]
"Y-yeah, that's true."
[So, naturally, there’s going to be events too, right?]
Thinking about it, that made sense.
"...Yeah, I guess so, but how do you know about it?"
How did Jeong-hoon know an event was starting?
[There’s a way to know everything. Anyway, I'll be streaming to match that event.]
"Wait, you’re not planning to start in Darvis, are you?"
If Jeong-hoon started in Darvis, Jang Dae-hwi wouldn’t be able to join him.
That would mean he’d just be stuck at home watching Jeong-hoon’s stream and editing the footage afterward.
[Huh? How would I do the event there? Of course, I’ll be doing it outside.]
"Outside" referred to Earth.
Naturally, Jeong-hoon would be in Seoul, South Korea, meaning Jang Dae-hwi could follow him around for filming.
"Then when does this event start?"
[Not sure. We’ll talk more once it begins.]
With those words, Jeong-hoon ended the call.
‘Finally!’
Jang Dae-hwi placed his hand on his chest.
His heart was pounding much faster than before.
Just thinking about filming again after such a long time was already exciting him.
* * *
After safely returning to Earth from the Demon Realm, Jeong-hoon had asked everyone to complete their 5th Class Advancement.
Thanks to that, no one could rest, and they immediately set out for their 5th Job Advancement quest. Meanwhile, Jeong-hoon returned home to review his next plan.
He had already swept up all the fortuitous encounters needed in Darvis.
Now it was time to prepare for the upcoming event.
‘They call it an event, but in reality, it’s just a means to accelerate destruction.’
This would be the first event since the game had become reality.
It would serve as fuel poured onto Earth, where penalties had been steadily accumulating.
Of course, compared to the timeline before his regression, the penalties were now significantly reduced. That was thanks to Jeong-hoon spreading numerous helpful tips worldwide through HoneyTube, ensuring penalties didn’t pile up as heavily.
Using HoneyTube for this event was for the same reason.
By guiding as many people as possible to successfully clear the event through his videos, he could delay the impending doom.
In the previous timeline, every attempt had ended in failure, turning success into nothing more than a pipe dream — but this time was different.
‘This time, it’s possible.’
130 million subscribers.
Over 1 billion total video views.
With this level of influence, the outcome could be vastly different from before.
‘I must succeed and claim the reward those bastards put up.’
Resolute in his determination, Jeong-hoon gazed out the window at an NPC standing outside.
They were originally employees who should have been working at Earth Korea.
Now, they were no different from mindless puppets, devoid of self-awareness.
‘They're the ones in charge of managing this event.’
Participation in this event was mandatory.
Anyone who refused to participate would receive individual penalties, making it crucial for everyone to join at least once.
And controlling all those participants — that was their role.
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[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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