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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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Chapter 81
Footsteps echoed.
Despite clearly seeing it, Seonghyun couldn't discern if it was a man, a woman, an old person, or a child.
All he could perceive was its undeniable presence.
Its identity remained shrouded in mystery.
As this being turned its head, it felt as if their eyes met.
'Can it see me?'
The thought flashed through Seonghyun's mind.
The being surveyed the area, including where Seonghyun was, and then gazed up at the sky.
It was likely just a coincidence.
After scanning the surroundings, the being murmured with a hint of pity.
-So, Fiora, you've gone too. You should have heeded ■■■■■■'s advice.
Seonghyun could sense the regret and sorrow in the being's voice and the almost melancholic gaze.
But that was all.
The being placed a note on Fiora's charred remains and spoke again.
-I will be in the Dark Fortress. If the successor they so eagerly await arrives, tell them to come.
With those words, the isolated space seemed to tremble, and the entire garden shook.
Then, the being declared,
-If they wish to carry on the Overlord's legacy, tell them to come to the Dark Fortress. Until then, I will not acknowledge any successor.
Having spoken, the being vanished without a trace.
How it could appear in this isolated space, or how it disappeared, remained unknown.
Yet, Seonghyun gleaned one thing from this:
'This is the start of the main quest.'
It was the prelude to the main quest.
Soon after the being's final words, Seonghyun returned to his original world.
At the end of the dungeon, upon witnessing the start of the main quest and reading the note, a new message appeared.
[『Overlord』-exclusive quest, the main quest, 『Entrance to the Dark Fortress』, has been generated.]
'So, it's a search quest.'
『Entrance to the Dark Fortress』.
Perhaps it's not yet discoverable?
Or is the quest to find the entrance first?
As Seonghyun pondered, the quest window materialized.
The note's contents were also listed within the quest window.
『Entrance to the Dark Fortress』
→《Main》
→Main Quest.
→It is said that after the death of the Overlord, who existed since ancient times, the Overlord's followers formed a group called the Over Palace.
However, not all of the Overlord's followers joined them.
There were those who chose a different path from the Over Palace, led by the former Overlord's disciple.
Perhaps realizing they could not coexist, they lived quietly in the shadows, unlike the Over Palace.
And you, one of them, discovered a note left by that being.
『If this note is found, it must be the one who possesses Fiora's reincarnation, the successor to our Lord.
While the Over Palace may not, we have no intention of accepting a successor yet.
However, to deny you without even giving you a chance would be a great discourtesy to our Lord.
Therefore, we convey this to the nameless successor.
Seek me out.
To the Dark Fortress.
We await here with the legacy left by our Lord.』
Currently, the only clue is this note.
You must find the entrance to the Dark Fortress.
You could ignore it, but for some reason, you strongly felt that you shouldn't.
Find the entrance to the Dark Fortress.
→Overlord-exclusive Main Quest.
→Reward: Leads to the next quest.
→Failure: Main Quest lost, some Overlord-exclusive skills and items lost.
It was quite lengthy.
Focusing on the main point:
'So, they want me to come because they've placed something important there?'
Will they acknowledge me if I find it?
A rather unfriendly note and quest.
However, he couldn't just leave it be.
First, since the note was the clue, he carefully folded it and placed it in his inventory.
It seemed to be a clue that couldn't be used right away.
However, Seonghyun had various individuals with him.
First, Helena's memories were a pass.
He couldn't read all her memories, and some were locked, so they weren't complete.
It seemed Seonghyun's abilities were not yet sufficient to read all of Helena's vast memories.
So,
'It would be great if Helena were here.'
But seeing as she hadn't awakened yet, there might be no guarantee even if he waited.
So, he could ask the other two.
Fiora and Baltar.
Seonghyun looked at them and pondered for a moment before asking.
"Do you happen to know where the Dark Fortress is?"
-Oh my, the Dark Fortress. It's been a while since I heard that name.
-Ah, the Dark Fortress...! Helena's garden was also in the Dark Fortress! It's, it's separated now...
"Oh?"
They answered faster than he expected.
With this, he could arrive faster than he thought, couldn't he?
Seonghyun had such a thought.
-Hmph, however, after Helena's death, her followers and we were all torn apart, so I don't know what the one managing the Dark Fortress did.
-M, me neither. I only know that it was moved from the space Helena had to another place...
Both of them didn't know the information, and they looked a bit dejected.
Fiora was always like this, but Balthar also seemed quite disappointed.
Was it back to square one?
Could he not hope for a lucky break?
Well, if it was after the second class advancement, it would be on the assumption that there were Demon Knights.
'Getting information this easily would be difficult.'
With this, even if Helena awakened, there was a chance she wouldn't know.
But it was alright.
'This is how games are played anyway.'
He couldn't rely too much on ghosts or such information.
When there wasn't any, he'd have to figure it out himself.
Seonghyun thought so and, while wondering where to start, suddenly remembered something.
The fact that the space was isolated would be after Helena's death.
From what Fiora said, it sounded like Helena moved it first.
Which meant…
"Fiora, did Helena move the Dark Fortress first?"
-Huh? Y-yes! I-it was originally in the mortal realm, like here...
-The former Lord tore that fortress from space and separated it into another dimension because annoying fellows kept coming.
"…That's possible?"
Just how strong was Helena back then?
To tear space and separate it into another dimension.
It was hard to imagine just from hearing it, but…
For now, the information he wanted was out.
The fact that it was originally in the mortal realm meant…
"That there's a site of the old Dark Fortress?"
-Huh!? Y-yes, that's right!
-Oh my? If you search from there, you might find the entrance.
When Fiora and Balthar agreed with Seonghyun's suggestion, perhaps thinking he should do something,
Barpur suddenly shouted.
-I, I will! I will serve with unwavering loyalty... serve you!
Seeing them, Seonghyun gladly nodded.
For now, should he go to the site of the old fortress?
Since Balthar and Fiora knew it, he could go if he knew the location.
Seeing as it opened during the second class advancement, it seemed to be in one of the third towns.
After hearing the location from Balthar and Fiora and searching, it was indeed one of the third towns.
Sermath.
That was where Seonghyun had to go.
2.
E-World, which serviced Eternal World.
In E-World's headquarters, specifically the user management team, strange noises were often heard.
A bizarre and somehow mournful sound that made one wonder if it was a beast's cry.
"Kkeuheueuegeueudeudeugeueueahhh!"
"Ahhh! A-Assistant Manager, I'm sorry!!!"
That was Assistant Manager Lee wonsong's gnashing teeth and screaming.
Next to him, Associate Oh Jinhyeok was repeatedly apologizing, but...
It wasn't exactly Associate Oh Jinhyeok's fault.
Or was it?
Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong, having been busy and away from his desk, checked the events that had occurred.
So, Seonghyun had single-handedly cleared the Crystal Palace raid?
It was unexpected, but understandable.
After all, he was someone who always exceeded expectations.
But how did he manage to loot the treasure vault first and receive double rewards?
Of course, the items stored in the treasure vault were ones Seonghyun couldn't equip, but they were all unique items.
If those were released into the market all at once?
The power inflation could suddenly become erratic.
The only saving grace was that there were no skill books.
Although, if there were skills, he would have used the Tome of Despair to turn them all into black mage skill book.
It was fortunate that there were no skill books in the armory.
However, this caused issues with the rewards obtained from defeating Crescentra.
Due to an error, the additional rewards had all their ranks turned to Legendary.
What should have been compensated with the numerous weapons in the treasure vault was now Legendary-rank items and the unlocking of Almighty-exclusive skills.
"Is this right? Seriously? Is this correct?"
"Y-yes? I-it seems so, but...?"
"Do you want to get hit?"
"Aaaah! N-no, I don't!"
He really wished he could just hit him once, hard.
Anyway, that wasn't the problem now.
The biggest issue was the Thousand Blood Swords.
Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong was astonished the moment he saw Seonghyun use the skill.
'Why is the performance like that?'
It was clearly a flawed skill.
Even though the game was made by the unparalleled super artificial intelligence, Immortal,
Immortal couldn't create everything.
Human hands had to be involved.
In that process, flawed skills like the Thousand Blood Swords appeared.
But until now, the error skills that had come out were at most Epic-rank.
Yet, there was such an error in a Legendary-rank skill.
'It should explode upon impact, not just for enemies but anything.'
The power output was also slightly stronger, but that was due to Seonghyun's absurdly high stats, so the error would be reduced.
First of all, the fact that it didn't explode when hitting terrain was the worst.
Using it for defense like that was also beyond expectations.
If it were to be corrected, a duration would have to be set, and the setting that it explodes upon impact with anything would have to be added.
Of course, changing it wasn't a big deal.
It could be changed with a single click in Immortal.
But the problem was,
'If user Seonghyun protests, it's over...'
Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong quickly searched for previous Epic-rank skill error cases and checked the compensation.
And he had a look of despair.
'Same skill given...'
And it was Legendary, of all things?
Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong hung his head low.
If Associate Oh Jinhyeok had spoken a little sooner?
They could have somehow covered it up with the treasure vault's rewards.
A gnashing sound was heard from Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong's mouth.
"Eek!"
"Hoo... well, I have to submit this reward compensation approval. Legendary, of all things..."
"B-but, if they still protest after that..."
"...We'll have to give additional compensation. I'd probably do the same. So, don't just give one Legendary item and call it even; give other rewards too..."
He felt like his insides were turning upside down.
No, they really were upside down.
He had a stomach cramp.
His insides were churning, burning, and a mess, but they couldn't do anything about it.
Because if he didn't clean up the mess they'd made now, he'd be in bigger trouble.
Anyway,
'Now the main quest is starting.'
It was troublesome, but at least it was a relief.
With this main quest, they could buy some time.
There weren't any hidden secrets or anything in the main quests.
It was just Seonghyun getting what he was supposed to get.
Was it somewhat okay?
Plus,
'The Hero side is also temporarily taken care of. At least things won't be too busy, right?'
They had temporarily reduced some of the Over Palace's restrictions to hinder the Hero side's forces.
So, it was difficult for the Hero side to move.
Moving individually was one thing, but at least the Hero side as a group wouldn't move.
The Heroes moving individually could be a big hindrance to Seonghyun now, but
it didn't seem likely.
If they had any sense, the Hero side's organization would keep the Heroes from acting recklessly.
That was his hope.
Still, that was some consolation, and his stomachache seemed to ease a bit.
Or not?
As Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong tried to get up, feeling the burning stomach acid, he saw on the screen that a colleague from the next team had urgently sent him a message.
What was going on?
He hoped it was nothing serious, but of course, it wasn't.
Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong urgently checked the message.
[Emergency! Hero descendant Luke and Sage descendant Flinky discovered a clue about the 'Dark Fortress.' Confirmed to be a location related to the Overlord. They say they're going to investigate. Please verify the Overlord side.]
Dark Fortress?
He had definitely seen that somewhere.
Not that long ago. Just now.
"??????"
With a blank expression, he peeked at Seonghyun's quest window.
Main Quest - Entrance to the Dark Fortress.
And the clue found by Hero Luke was the Dark Fortress?
So, were they going to meet?
Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong's mind went blank for a moment as he stared at it.
Then he urgently rushed to Team Leader Jung Jihye's desk.
Thump! Clatter!
He almost tripped on the way, but somehow managed to keep his balance and ran.
Team Leader Jung Jihye also looked at Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong with an ominous expression, as he said,
"H-Hero Luke is going to the Dark Fortress."
"Dark Fortress? Out of the blue?"
"And based on Seonghyun's play, the main quest has started..."
"N-no way!?"
Just as "no way" often becomes reality, Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong nodded.
Team Leader Jung Jihye closed her eyes and made an internal call to someone.
And when a man with a manly face, who always laughed with a "Heo-heo-he!" answered the phone, she said,
"Deputy Manager Lee Jaekyung... we need to mobilize the Over Palace."
-Hehehe! I said I would, didn't I? Okay, release the Over Palace apostles' restrictions up to the second stage!
As if something terrible was about to happen, Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong and Team Leader Jung Jihye closed their eyes.
In the end, the Over Palace was mobilized.
"...N-nothing bad will happen, right?"
"...I hope so."
It wasn't an answer that things would be okay, but a statement filled with personal hope.
But why?
Team Leader Jung Jihye realized for the first time that those words sounded so cruel.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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