Chapter 103

Getting out from inside the ship wasn’t actually that difficult.

It was just a matter of making a hole and going through it.

Of course, it wasn’t quite that simple in practice, but Yuseong had a plasma axe with extreme cutting power, so he could make a hole in the ship and get out anytime if he wanted to.

He had just tried to escape through the proper route while securing as many people as possible to earn points, since going out that way would just leave them stranded in the vast ocean.

However, upon seeing the gunfight breaking out at the exit, Yuseong realized that escaping from the ship through normal means would be impossible.

“We’ll go up from here, make a hole in the ship’s side, and escape to the outside.”

“Make a hole in the ship? Is that even possible?”

The agents, who had thought of the plasma axe as just a somewhat powerful anti-personnel weapon that wouldn’t draw suspicion to carry around, considered Yuseong’s idea absurd.

“I guarantee it. It’s completely possible.”

The difficult part was creating a path to climb up and moving everyone there, not breaching the hull – no matter how thick the ship’s walls were, they would be like paper before a plasma mass containing over 100 million degrees of heat energy.

Making holes in the ceiling and evacuating people one by one.

The lifeboats left untouched due to the ship’s tilt were a bonus.

Only one problem remained.

Dealing with Duke Oswald and his soldiers.[note]TLN: Hm? Oswald? I think the author made mistake here. It should be Dominick instead of Oswald.[/note]

“Now that we have lifeboats, shouldn’t we just slip away quietly without unnecessary fighting?”

“We must deal with them before leaving. Didn’t you see what they were doing earlier? There’s no guarantee they’ll let us leave safely.”

Though the strange sense of mission behind his words seemed a bit suspicious for mere worry about pursuit, the agent’s words weren’t exactly wrong.

The civilians felt the same way.

While directly attacking nobility was an absolutely unforgivable capital crime, people who had nearly been drowned en masse and barely escaped with their lives were beyond caring about such things anymore.

With everyone in agreement, there was no way to oppose alone.

In the end, Yuseong decided to set aside his personal feelings and go along with the majority.

BOOM!

“Why make an easy quest difficult by doing this shit.”

When he held out his hand to the side, the agent immediately handed over a plasma axe.

There were 14 agents.

Excluding the one just thrown, 13 plasma axes still remained.

BOOM!

“Fire! Open fire!”

Was the Duke’s death such a shocking event?

The soldiers who had been wearing blank expressions only snapped out of it and started firing after seeing another lifeboat consumed by the explosion.

Though the soldiers fought hard, their position was terribly disadvantageous.

One side had to fire while precariously hanging onto ropes or objects to avoid falling into the sea, while the other could comfortably lie down and shoot over the railing.

The occasional flying plasma axes were just a bonus.

Eventually, the outcome was decided before long.

“Ah, ahh? The lifeboats are leaving!”

“W-wait! Please take us with you!”

The few remaining lifeboats began moving away from the ship.

Though the soldiers who belatedly realized the situation was going wrong threw away their guns and tried swimming toward the lifeboats, none stopped for them.

While everyone else was sneering at the abandoned soldiers, only Yuseong spoke in a quiet voice.

“Lower a lifeboat for them.”

“What? Why should we help those bastards who were just shooting at us?”

“They only did it because they were following orders. We have enough lifeboats – if we don’t help them, how are we any different from those nobles?”

To be honest, Yuseong didn’t want to save the soldiers either, but he had no choice because of the additional rewards.

Roughly fifty soldiers visible.

At 50,000 karma points per person, saving them all would bring in 2.5 million karma.

Fortunately, not wanting to be seen as the same as the nobles, people reluctantly but carefully lowered lifeboats despite their disgruntled expressions.

And shortly after, when everyone from above had come down and boarded the lifeboats, the awaited message appeared.

[You have cleared the quest ‘Puha! P-please save me!’]

[Analyzing clear process, please wait a moment]

[Fate Change Rate 167.5%, Otherworld Skill Usage 9.8%, Otherworld Artifact Usage 55%]

[Final Evaluation SSS Rank]

[Excellent! User Han Yuseong not only saved many people but also succeeded in changing the future by eliminating an important figure related to the world’s fate. Rewards will be given!]

[Basic Clear Reward: 100,000 Karma]

[Additional Condition Clear Reward: 18,100,000 Karma]

[SSS Rank Clear Additional Reward: 2,000,000 Karma]

[Return to original world will begin shortly]

‘Well, this isn’t bad at all.’

A bright smile spread across Yuseong’s face.

After spending just three or four hours on the quest, he’d earned nearly 20 million karma points – it was pure profit.

However, Shapiro’s feelings were the complete opposite.

-Um… what should I do now?

Surviving was good, but the process was the problem.

He had impersonated an agent of an enemy nation’s secret organization he’d never even heard of, and completely destroyed one of the Empire’s top three nobles without leaving even a corpse.

No one would believe claims about an apostle sent by God or another self being responsible.

Just when he’d barely escaped death by drowning, he now faced new mortal dangers of being shot by Imperial assassins or being kidnapped and tortured to death by secret organizations.

“Hmm.”

A small groan escaped Yuseong’s lips.

Unlike his previous quests where he had not only perfectly achieved his goals but also handled aftermath without side effects, this time he had made quite a few reckless moves due to the urgency of the situation.

Though it would no longer be his concern after returning to Earth, leaving things like this felt somewhat unsettling.

After desperately wracking his brain, Yuseong could finally recall one name.

‘Philip. There should be an agent named Philip in the Security Bureau. Tell them a user who helped during the Neptune incident sent you, and ask for help.’

-But aren’t they secret organization agents? How can I meet this Philip person?

‘Try to somehow persuade the agent in front of you. Say something like you have amnesia and can only remember the name Philip from the Security Bureau, or that for security reasons you can’t say anything until meeting Philip.’

-That’s easier said than done. Will they even believe me?

‘Sorry, but I can’t think of any other way. Figure out the rest yourself.’

[Initiating Deus Ex Machina Program]

[Ariadne’s Thread tracking complete]

[Initiating spirit particle transfer]

-This is too irresponsible…

* * *

“Ahem.”

Back on Earth, Yuseong cleared his throat needlessly.

Though it was just returning due to the goggles’ unavoidable function, from Shapiro’s perspective it must seem like he had caused every possible trouble and then irresponsibly fled.

While pondering whether Shapiro would be grateful for being saved from mortal danger or cursing him for creating a new way to die, Yuseong pushed aside thoughts of Shapiro and organized what he had newly learned.

“It’s possible to enter a world I’ve experienced before.”

In a way, it was natural.

Quests are generated when clients are in desperate situations and earnestly desire help.

Though the number of worlds visible in the quest list was uncountable, the number of people needing help in a single world was also large.

Like with Alice’s case, if one searched the quest list carefully, they could find the same world even without going through linked quests.

“This can be utilized.”

Being able to return to a previously experienced world was a huge advantage.

Already knowing information about that world meant he could make solid plans before entering, or prepare various things while attempting easy quests and then use those preparations when challenging difficult quests.

“M-5, B-15, A-5, K-46, H-32…”

The civilization classification codes of all the quests he had cleared so far flowed from Yuseong’s lips without missing a single one.

Though he had only glanced at them in passing, his memory enhanced by increased wisdom could recall not just the codes but also the civilization grades and quest descriptions written at the time without missing a single detail.

“So it’s not that easy to find them?”

Despite checking hundreds of quests across dozens of pages, contrary to expectations, none of the codes matched.

After letting out a short sigh, Yuseong left the quest list window and entered the karma shop to process the rewards from this quest.

Though the prices for B-rank skills like Divine Balance and Throwing were quite high, they were insignificant compared to the karma points earned this time.[note]TLN: The author uses the word “뛰어난 균형” not the usual “신들린 균형” for Divine Balance. The first word means “Excellent/outstanding balance”. I decided to leave it as “Divine Balance” since I think it was a mistake. Of course, I’ll change it again if the author continues to use 뛰어난 균형.[/note]

“This is definitely better.”

After testing some acrobatics like flips, high jumps with rotations, and similar moves, Yuseong nodded with a satisfied expression.

His sense of balance had improved remarkably compared to before.

He had been worried about occasionally losing balance or stability due to his strength being too high compared to other stats, but this resolved that concern.

“Well then, shall we start a new quest right away?”

This quest hadn’t taken very long to clear.

Though he couldn’t measure the exact time without a clock, it felt like only about three or four hours?

Since hardly any mental fatigue had accumulated, he could handle at least one more quest.

However, just as he was about to check the quest list, an unexpected sound interrupted Yuseong’s movement.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

A device resembling wireless earphones.

It was the communication device Sophia had given him to talk in Dragonia where mobile phones couldn’t be used.

As soon as he put the device in his ear and lightly touched it, Sophia’s urgent voice burst out.

“My eardrums are going to burst. Lower your voice.”

-What have you been doing to only answer now?!

“Just doing some quests. Why are you so angry when it’s only been a few hours?”

-A few hours? You’ve been out of contact for over 20 days! No calls, dwindling food supplies, no way out. Do you know how worried I was about being trapped here to die?

“…20 days?”

Suddenly Yuseong recalled clearing his third quest [I want to show a face that won’t shame my homeland and comrades].[note]TLN: Sorry, I forgot to write a note for this case specifically. So, if it’s different name from before this, I apologize I hope you won’t mind.[/note]

Starting the quest in a nearby commercial building he’d entered to avoid monsters, then returning to find the whole world overrun with plants – that bizarre situation.

He had carelessly overlooked it since most quest time ratios were close to 1:1, but originally all quests had different time ratios.

Like [Heavenly Demon Sect. The Final Moment] where days could pass in that world while barely seconds passed on Earth, the opposite was also possible.

The time ratio between Earth and the A-5 world that Yuseong remembered was 1 hour to 5 days.

A 120-fold difference.

“…Damn it.”

He had been pleased about earning 20 million karma points in just a few hours, but now he realized he had done something foolish.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think about the time ratio. Do you want to go outside?”

-No, there’s something more important. Did you check MartialGod’s message in the community?

“I remember it saying something would happen within a month. Why?”

-What do you mean why… Of course we need to prepare for the prophecy!

“Prophecy?”

An expression of bewilderment appeared on Yuseong’s face.