Report
------------------
HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
------------------
Chapter 261
"Who are you?"
"An intruder!"
As Jeong-hoon entered the village, alarms blared, and around twenty people emerged from the buildings.
Every one of them was over Level 300.
‘Impressive.’
Before regression, when Jeong-hoon visited Darvis, the experimental site known as Vern had disappeared without a trace.
It was because users who had entered earlier had already destroyed it.
Thus, this was the first time Jeong-hoon saw Vern intact, whether before or after his regression.
"Seven Deadly Sins, all of them are your prey."
At Jeong-hoon's words, the Seven Deadly Sins gazed at the NPCs with greedy eyes.
Saliva dripped from its mouth.
"Can I eat them now?"
"Yes, of course."
With Jeong-hoon's permission, the Seven Deadly Sins charged at the NPCs.
"Kill the demon!"
"Drive out the intruder!"
The NPCs drew their swords toward the Seven Deadly Sins.
Jeong-hoon, stepping into True Heavenly Demon Lord's Dominion, began subduing them one by one.
"Keugh!"
"Argh!"
Wherever Jeong-hoon passed, NPCs' arms, heads, and legs were severed, scattering across the ground.
Thanks to his swift and decisive attacks, the Seven Deadly Sins leisurely absorbed their stats.
After dealing with everyone in sight, Jeong-hoon entered the building the NPCs had come out of.
Inside, it appeared to be an ordinary mansion. However, at its center, there was a staircase leading underground.
As Jeong-hoon approached the stairs, a stench assaulted his nostrils.
‘This smell.’
Jeong-hoon frowned.
A smell he knew all too well.
Not from after his regression, but from before.
The revolting stench of blood and decaying corpses.
As expected, the underground was piled high with rotting corpses.
The bodies had been dumped inside iron cages, and next to them, a black door stood firmly shut.
[Wow… this is seriously bad. What is this place?]
‘…The depravity of humanity.’
That was correct.
Even though these were puppets being used, this scenario reflected the state of the dimension before its destruction.
In other words, biological experiments were already being conducted before its downfall.
The depravity of these individuals remained unchanged.
Jeong-hoon approached the black door.
[Outsiders are not allowed to enter.]
However, the black door refused to grant Jeong-hoon access.
"You’re forcing me to break it open."
Jeong-hoon smirked and threw a punch.
Bang!
The black door crumpled under the force of Jeong-hoon's overwhelming strength.
He didn’t stop punching, and soon the door, unable to withstand the relentless assault, was blasted off its hinges.
[Warning! Warning!]
Alarm sirens blared, and a few NPCs wearing white lab coats rushed out in a panic.
===
[NPC Information]
- Nickname: Pharun
- Level: 320
- Class: Corrupted Alchemist
===
Corrupted Alchemists.
The reason for their corruption lay in this very place.
‘They said they were consumed by the allure of the fortune hidden here.’
This was also why the experimental site disguised as a village had been constructed.
[Resisting Poison.]
At that moment, Jeong-hoon felt a sharp prickling sensation throughout his body.
In their hands, the alchemists clutched peculiar stones that glowed white, enveloping them in a protective barrier.
Ssshhhhh—
A faint hissing sound reached Jeong-hoon's ears.
‘Poison gas.’
They had released the gas to eliminate the intruder.
However, it was futile against Jeong-hoon's body, imbued with the legendary resistance skill Poison Resist.
He casually moved forward, deliberately refraining from using True Heavenly Demon Lord's Dominion.
Even the simple sight of him calmly walking toward them was enough to instill terror.
"W-What the hell is this?"
"Why isn’t the poison working?"
The alchemists, visibly shaken, stumbled backward in confusion.
The room was now filled with lethal poison gas, seeping into the air and infecting anyone who inhaled it.
Under normal circumstances, exposure would cause the victim’s skin to turn purple, disrupt their breathing, and eventually render them unconscious.
Yet, the intruder standing before them exhibited no signs of any such effects.
"Hey, about those biological experiments you’re conducting..."
When Jeong-hoon mentioned the experiments, the alchemists flinched.
Their faces twisted with fear as they looked at him, their eyes silently asking how he could know about such things. It was almost amusing.
“Pathetic creatures. You beasts wearing human masks... So you do realize what you’re doing is wrong, huh?”
“R-Release more poison!”
“Leave this place immediately!”
An alchemist standing at the back released even more poison into the air.
“No need for long discussions. All of you will die here.”
Jeong-hoon, who had been walking leisurely, unsheathed Leviathan and activated True Heavenly Demon Lord's Dominion.
[Form 1: Activating Initiation.]
Jeong-hoon unleashed Initiation, ruthlessly slashing through the alchemists.
“Gahhh!”
“Arghhh!”
The sheer difference in stats was insurmountable, leaving the alchemists powerless against his relentless sword strikes.
“Nice! There’s plenty to feast on here too.”
The Seven Deadly Sins manifested a satisfied grin as it absorbed the alchemists' stats, greedily draining their strength.
***
Meanwhile, in the real world…
“Wow, what’s with these views?”
Jang Dae-hwi marveled at the explosive rise in real-time viewership.
[Views: 302,833,275]
Over 300 million views and counting.
The previous video had already surpassed 2.7 billion views, but the current video was climbing at an even faster rate.
‘This is going to break every record.’
It was astounding how each new upload managed to outperform the last.
Curious, Jang Dae-hwi scrolled through the flood of comments below the video.
└ When’s Part 2 dropping?
└ Please share the strategy!
└ This is killing me… I can’t even attempt it without knowing the strategy.
└ Level 1,100 is way too much!
└ But isn’t the fact that Ggul1 toyed with a Level 1,100 boss even more insane? lol
└ Do you think we’d be able to manage if the strategy was revealed?
“If Part 1 is getting this kind of reaction, imagine what Part 2 will do,” he muttered.
The path to Darvis was currently blocked.
To clear it, players had to defeat the Death Knight, an insurmountable obstacle for most.
The promise to reveal the first-ever strategy for beating the Death Knight had drawn massive attention.
“Just be patient. I’m not releasing Part 2 anytime soon,” Jang Dae-hwi smirked.
His plan was simple: once Part 1 set new records, he would drop Part 2 and let it blow up even bigger.
However, before Part 2 could be released, a party led by James Marcus had already begun preparations to challenge the Death Knight.
“James, wouldn’t it be better to wait for the strategy to be released first?”
“I agree. That monster who soloed the Colossus Ursus also defeated the Death Knight. What makes you think we can do the same?”
Sophia, a Dark Mage who had long harbored envy for James Marcus, interjected.
While she prided herself on being unparalleled as a mage, her renown was confined to France.
James, on the other hand, was a global sensation—a shining star in New World.
Driven by a desire to surpass him, Sophia poured every ounce of her energy into the game.
Yet, she had come to realize she was a frog in a well.
There existed a player so monstrous that even James Marcus seemed insignificant in comparison.
This player had single-handedly defeated the Colossus Ursus.
She hated to admit it, but without him, she likely wouldn’t even be alive in-game.
“Even so, we can’t sit around waiting for a guide to drop,” James replied firmly.
“At the very least, we need to reach the Death Knight.”
Despite his words, James’s true intentions were clear—he planned to take down the Death Knight.
“I can’t just stand by and watch.”
There was always someone stronger, even above the strongest.
It baffled Sophia why she hadn’t known of such a monstrous player until now. If she stayed idle, the gap would only widen further.
She wanted to close that gap, even just a little, to earn his recognition.
The rejection of her earlier proposal must have been due to the stark difference in their skill levels.
“Maybe… if it’s just about completing the quest, it might be doable,” murmured Louis Verdan, deciding to follow James’s lead.
“What? Are you telling us to start grinding right now?” Sophia frowned, her expression darkening.
But James nodded firmly.
“We have no other choice if we want to cross into Darvis.”
“I get that, but still…” Sophia hesitated.
“Anyone opposed?” James turned to their newly joined companions.
None of them raised an objection.
If there was a mountain to climb, the sooner they started, the better.
Besides, the people gathered here were some of the best-ranked players in the world. They weren’t ones to back down easily.
James Marcus glanced at Sophia with a sly smile.
“Democracy works, right?”
“…Fine. Do whatever you want.”
In the end, Sophia Stephanie Agaret relented, agreeing to James’s plan.
***
At the same time.
Having cleared out the alchemists, Jeong-hoon made his way into the laboratory.
The room was filled with countless capsules, each containing a person.
The occupants appeared unconscious, their bodies convulsing violently.
[What’s happening to them?]
‘Their bodies are rejecting whatever’s been injected. What did they put in these people?’
It wasn’t poison.
Jeong-hoon stepped closer to one of the capsules and shattered it effortlessly.
Crash!
The sound of shattering glass echoed as fragments scattered across the floor.
Carefully brushing away the debris, Jeong-hoon pulled the person inside out of the capsule.
[Casting Superior Healing.]
He cast a top-tier healing spell while examining the person’s condition.
‘This is serious.’
Their body had been pushed to the brink of collapse.
However, with a Legendary-grade healing spell, recovery was possible.
As the healing magic took effect, the convulsions subsided. Moments later, the person opened their eyes and slowly sat up.
“Wh-where am I…?”
“Are you alright?” Jeong-hoon asked.
“Who… who are you?”
“I’m here to save you.”
“Ah… uh…”
Hearing those words, the NPC began trembling violently, as if the memories of this laboratory came rushing back.
Leaving the frightened NPC behind, Jeong-hoon moved on, shattering the remaining capsules one by one and rescuing their occupants.
Each of them was severely debilitated, requiring healing. Those who had been confined more recently regained consciousness sooner.
“Ahh… thank you so much… truly…”
“I don’t know how I can ever repay this kindness…”
The NPCs, who had suffered under the torment of the alchemists, wept as they expressed their gratitude to Jeong-hoon.
“It’s fine. Just get out of here quickly.”
At his words, the NPCs hurried out of the lab. Desperate to escape, they ran without looking back.
“Well then, let’s keep going down.”
As Jeong-hoon moved forward, he encountered a staircase leading downward.
Below the stairs were more capsules, filled with people of all ages—children, men, women, and the elderly, all imprisoned without discrimination.
‘First, we focus on the rescue.’
Just as he had done above, Jeong-hoon began breaking open the capsules and freeing the captives, steadily working his way downward.
“Die!”
Suddenly, a laser beam shot toward Jeong-hoon.
[Casting Light Barrier.]
Jeong-hoon activated a barrier of light as he calmly descended the stairs.
At the bottom, alchemists stood with guns aimed directly at him. The laser’s origin became clear—it was their doing.
Behind them, a portal shimmered ominously.
“Found it.”
A smirk crept across Jeong-hoon’s face.
The presence of countless alchemists guarding the portal was proof enough that it concealed something significant—a hidden fortune or opportunity.
“If you come any closer, we’ll kill everyone here!”
When brute force failed, the alchemists resorted to threats, pointing toward the people imprisoned in iron cages.
Inside the cages, countless people, shackled and trembling, stared in terror.
“Michael.”
Jeong-hoon called out.
“Yes, Master.”
“Handle those fools so they can’t pull any more stunts.”
“As you command!”
Michael summoned Siegfried and other phantoms to his side.
“W-what the…?!”
The sudden appearance of ghosts threw the alchemists into a panic.
“Hey! Do you think human lives are a joke? Threatening to kill them if we come closer?”
Siegfried approached one of the alchemists who had been using the captives as hostages.
“D-don’t come any closer! I-I’ll do it! I’ll kill them!”
“Go ahead.”
“W-what…?”
“Do it if you can.”
Siegfried smiled faintly before swinging his sword in a wide arc.
Slash—
A sickening sound echoed as the alchemist’s head hit the ground, blood gushing like a fountain as the body collapsed.
“Ahhh!”
The sight was too much, and even the alchemists who had managed to stay composed broke into screams, scattering in a desperate attempt to flee.
Michael’s summoned phantoms gave chase, tormenting them as they ran.
In the chaos, Jeong-hoon broke the cages apart.
Crash! Crash!
The iron bars couldn’t withstand Jeong-hoon’s strength and shattered completely.
“Michael, remove the shackles binding their hands and feet and help them escape.”
“Yes, I understand!”
“And you,” Jeong-hoon added, glancing at the phantoms, “go ahead and drain whatever stats you can from those alchemists.”
“With pleasure!”
Leaving the cleanup to Michael and the Seven Deadly Sins, Jeong-hoon turned his attention to the portal that the alchemists had been so desperately protecting.
------------------
HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
Join our Discord for release updates!
https://discord.com/invite/dbdMDhzWa2
------------------
