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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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Chapter 314
When his vision returned, the inside of a cave unfolded before his eyes.
The cave should have been filled with nothing but darkness due to the absence of light, yet a flickering lantern danced gently, illuminating the surroundings.
Jeong-hoon took a step forward.
Suddenly, the surroundings shifted, and a bridge appeared.
The bridge extended far into the distance, and not too far away, a library stood tall.
'What's that?'
Mukho tilted his head.
"That's the Library of Truth. You can acquire skills inside."
'Oh-ho.'
"But you can't spend too much time thinking. The moment you enter the library, a 10-minute timer starts."
'10 minutes...? How can you identify a good skill in just 10 minutes?'
"It's fine. I've already decided what to choose."
Before his regression, Jeong-hoon had only managed to acquire Asura by sheer luck.
This time, however, he would rely on his memories rather than luck to obtain Asura.
As Jeong-hoon began walking toward the library, he noticed something odd.
The bridge that should have ended was still continuing.
'That's strange.'
Jeong-hoon furrowed his brow.
His memories from before the regression were still vivid.
Back then, the bridge had clearly ended, signaling that no further progress was possible.
Yet now, the bridge extended straight ahead without interruption.
'Master, aren't you going in?'
As Jeong-hoon stood still, staring at the bridge instead of entering the library, Mukho tilted his head and asked.
"Wait a moment."
Something was clearly different from before the regression.
Jeong-hoon changed direction and attempted to cross the bridge again.
At that moment, a barrier activated, blocking his path.
[Would you like to explore 'Deeper Truth'?]
Deeper Truth?
Jeong-hoon's eyes widened slightly.
'Could it be... the place that requires completing the 6th advancement?'
He had heard of it before.
Upon completing the 6th advancement, one could explore the Deeper Truth.
Of course, no one had ever actually explored it.
No one had ever reached the 6th advancement.
'Even James Marcus, who claimed to have experienced multiple regressions, only managed to reach the 5th advancement.'
The issue wasn't difficulty.
The biggest problem was that no one could even initiate the 6th advancement.
Even after surpassing Level 1,000, ascending to the Celestial Realm, and completing all five advancements, no one had met the conditions to begin the 6th advancement.
James Marcus believed it was related to the power of the ultimate force, and he had desperately attempted to gather ultimate energy.
However, no matter what, before reaching 100% of the ultimate energy, the episode would always forcefully conclude at 99%.
When Earth’s impending doom was prevented, rewards were given — one of which was an increase in episode completion.
And that seemed to be the answer.
‘They said you can reach divine power by completing the 5th advancement.’
The ultimate power was still an unknown realm.
It seemed like it could be the end, but there was still another level to climb.
‘If I complete that, I might be able to face Escanon.’
Well, divine power could be dealt with later.
For now, focusing on the bridge in front of him was the priority.
[If you choose to explore the ‘Deeper Truth,’ the time limit will be reduced from 10 minutes to 5 minutes.]
Jeong-hoon frowned.
Even 10 minutes was short, and now it was reduced to 5 minutes?
The conditions were far too harsh.
Wouldn’t it be better to just stick with the original plan and choose Asura?
But the temptation was overwhelming.
A chance had appeared to cross the bridge believed to be accessible only after completing the 6th advancement.
‘Should I take the gamble?’
It was practically a gamble.
Only 5 minutes — such a short window.
If he tried to acquire a skill, would it really be better than Asura?
Considering the skills that his former comrades obtained after completing the 5th advancement, Asura was an unbelievably powerful skill — almost miraculous.
If the skill he obtained didn’t surpass Asura, there was no reason to take this risk.
His mind was telling him to choose Asura, but his heart was drawn to the new option.
‘Ha, I really don’t want to miss this chance.’
If he successfully completed the 6th advancement, he'd have another opportunity to return.
But when would that chance come?
‘If I'm unlucky, it may never come again.’
It was such an enticing offer that he debated whether to revise his plan.
After much deliberation, Jeong-hoon stepped toward the bridge.
“This is a path you can only access after completing the 6th advancement. There’s bound to be something valuable hidden there.”
[You have chosen to explore the Deeper Truth.]
[The Door of Truth is now firmly closed.]
As soon as he chose the bridge, the once-open library doors shut tightly.
At the same time, thick fog rolled in, engulfing the library and causing it to disappear from sight.
This meant there was no turning back.
‘Master, are you sure about this…?’
‘I think sticking to the original plan would’ve been better.’
Mukho and Anima weren’t pleased with Jeong-hoon’s decision, but the die was already cast.
“Sometimes, you have to take a gamble.”
Gambling is a shortcut to ruin.
Relying on luck is pure greed, and that greed destroys people.
Even if luck allows you to win once, that success can lead to addiction — a craving for even greater rewards that ultimately ends in total loss.
Honestly, Jeong-hoon couldn’t argue with that.
His original plan had been to safely acquire Asura, but greed had led him to throw that plan away.
Nevertheless, Jeong-hoon had no regrets.
Even if he were given the choice again, the result would be the same.
‘It’s deeper inside. There’s definitely something better than Asura hidden here.’
Jeong-hoon took a step forward and continued walking.
* * *
How long had he walked?
Jeong-hoon stopped in his tracks.
In front of him stood a new library.
It was twice the size of the library he had visited after completing the 5th trial.
‘Just 5 minutes in this vast place, huh.’
An absurdly short amount of time.
Because of that, Jeong-hoon didn’t enter right away. Instead, he wandered around the area.
He needed time to think.
“Hmm, where would be the best place to search?”
It was impossible to check the entire area.
So, the best strategy was to pick a spot where a decent skill was likely hidden and focus on searching there.
That’s how he had found Asura before, so he intended to use the same method again.
‘Master, wouldn’t it be best to go for the top floor in this kind of situation?’
“The top floor?”
‘Rare things are usually hidden in hard-to-reach places!’
Jeong-hoon agreed to some extent with Mukho’s words.
The library wasn’t just one floor—it had three floors in total.
“I’d like to, but I only have 5 minutes.”
The problem was that spending time just getting to the third floor felt like a waste.
‘Isn’t there some kind of portal that can quickly take you upstairs?’
‘Even if you move quickly, there’s hardly enough time to search properly.’
‘Ugh, wouldn’t it be better to just enter the library you visited before your regression?’
‘…I can’t deny that.’
Jeong-hoon chuckled briefly.
“You guys think you know what I found before my regression?”
‘Hmm, if it’s you, Master, wouldn’t you have obtained something great?’
‘I’m sure you got something amazing.’
Hearing their confident tone, Jeong-hoon gave a short sigh of admiration.
“You’re right. I gained a skill that’s more important to me than anything else.”
‘Then why are you gambling?!’
‘I just can’t understand it.’
“That’s exactly why you two don’t get it.”
Jeong-hoon clicked his tongue.
‘Don’t get it?’
‘What do you mean by that?’
The two looked at Jeong-hoon with puzzled eyes.
“I can’t be certain, but this place seems like somewhere you can only enter after completing the 6th trial.”
‘The 6th trial?’
'Master, you're still at the 5th trial. From what I see, I think your guess is wrong.'
Jeong-hoon shook his head.
“There was no such option before my regression.”
‘...But that doesn’t necessarily mean this place requires completing the 6th trial to enter, does it?’
‘Mukho’s right.’
That was a reasonable thought, but Jeong-hoon was certain this place was only accessible after finishing the 6th trial.
“Wanna bet?”
At the mention of a bet, Mukho and Anima exchanged glances for a second before shaking their heads.
‘I don’t want to.’
‘Yeah. Master, when you bet, you’re ruthless. No thanks.’
After witnessing Jeong-hoon’s bet with Baal, they had sworn never to gamble with him.
No matter what the bet was, they knew they’d be the ones to lose badly.
“Then just stay quiet.”
Jeong-hoon eventually picked a spot and entered the library.
[Countdown begins.]
[4:59]
[Choose and acquire one skill within the time limit.]
The given time was 5 minutes.
Jeong-hoon activated the Heavenly Demon Lord's Dominion and quickly ascended the central staircase.
‘It’s the same.’
As he suspected, the interior structure resembled the library he had passed through before.
Thanks to that, Jeong-hoon moved swiftly without confusion, reaching the 2nd and 3rd floors in no time.
Now, he just needed to pick a book that contained a skill.
[4:16]
Time remaining: 4 minutes and 16 seconds.
Jeong-hoon began quickly scanning the nearest books.
[Legendary Ancient Magic 1]
[Legendary Ancient Magic 2]
[Legendary Ancient Magic 3]
Books that contained ancient magic.
This was exactly why choosing a good book was difficult.
Since the skills weren’t described in detail, he couldn’t just pick one at random.
‘This is practically gambling.’
Even so, Jeong-hoon was quite satisfied.
The reason was that all the books seemed to be upgraded versions.
Before his regression, the ancient magic books he found in the previous library were:
[Advanced Ancient Magic 1]
[Advanced Ancient Magic 2]
[Advanced Ancient Magic 3]
The books marked as 'Advanced Ancient Magic' before were now labeled as 'Legendary Ancient Magic' here.
That alone was enough reason to take the gamble.
Jeong-hoon quickly skimmed through the books as he moved along.
Right now, what he wanted wasn’t magic or swordsmanship.
[Legendary Mastery 1]
[Legendary Mastery 2]
That's right.
The Asura skill that Jeong-hoon had acquired was found in a mastery book.
Before his regression, the reason Jeong-hoon chose a mastery book was simple.
‘I wanted to overcome a martial artist’s weaknesses by mastering more types of weapons.’
And from the mastery book he had chosen back then, he obtained Asura.
Jeong-hoon stopped in front of one book.
[Legendary Mastery 15]
The mastery book that contained Asura was titled ‘Advanced Mastery 15.’
Of course, it couldn’t be considered exactly the same, but choosing the book with the matching number seemed like a reasonable choice.
‘Even if it’s not Asura, I should be able to get a decent skill.’
[1:34]
Time remaining: 1 minute and 34 seconds.
Jeong-hoon hesitated for a moment.
Should he decide on this book or keep looking a little longer?
‘I’ll decide when I have about 10 seconds left.’
It felt too wasteful to stop now.
With 1 minute and 30 seconds still remaining, he decided to look around a little more.
Jeong-hoon increased his pace, skimming through books with his fingers as he moved swiftly.
Then, his finger abruptly stopped.
Unlike the other books, this one had a distinct red color.
[Ultimate Mastery]
A mastery book that surpassed Legendary Mastery.
“Jackpot.”
Jeong-hoon’s lips curled into a smile.
He hadn’t expected a book of a higher grade to be mixed in among the others.
Had he rushed his decision out of impatience, he would have missed the Ultimate Mastery altogether.
[0:29]
Time remaining: 29 seconds.
There was no time left to hesitate.
“I’ll go with this one.”
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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