Familiar World

For a moment, Alice thought there might be something wrong with her ears.

But seeing Yuseong’s serious expression, she realized she hadn’t misheard.

“What was our quest rank when you and I first met, Mr. Yuseong?”

“Rank E.”

“Well, um… I did say I’d do whatever you asked, but still, this is a bit… Wouldn’t it be better to gain some experience with easier quests once or twice before jumping straight into real combat?”

“That’s not possible. There are several reasons, but first, pulling you out for easier quests would create losses.”

The android Alice currently occupied was rank A+.

Even before talking about using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, using an item of this rank in a quest would immediately push the artifact usage rate to 100% for rank E or D quests, resulting in an FFF clear rank.

That clear rank would bring penalties like karma point confiscation rather than rewards.

While C-rank quests wouldn’t result in losses, it would be hard to gain any benefits without raising the fate change rate above 100%.

“To use rank A skills or items, we need to challenge at least rank B quests, preferably rank A ones.”

“Then what if we lower my rank? We could change the power source from dragon heart to magic power stone, replace rare metals and high-tech parts with lower grade components to lower the rank and challenge easier quests.”

“That’s the second reason we need to challenge high-rank quests – we don’t have the luxury of wasting time on easy quests right now. You know about Earth’s situation, right?”

“Well, that…”

Alice, who had spent her free time web surfing and watching NewTube, clicked her tongue.

The vibrant atmosphere from establishing academies and the International Contractors Association had instantly turned apocalyptic after Europe was devastated by the undead incident.

The rich were frantically building bunkers, mass suicides were occurring everywhere, and quite a number of people had turned to crime, figuring they might as well enjoy themselves before dying.

Exaggerating slightly, it wouldn’t be wrong to say the world was already half destroyed.

“Things are still somewhat holding together, but if another major incident like the undead outbreak occurs, humanity really could be wiped out. We need to build up strength as quickly as possible before that happens.”

“B-but we struggled so much even with a rank E quest, wouldn’t a minimum of rank A- be impossible to solve?”

“We struggled then because I knew nothing and had nothing. But it’s different now. Now I can utilize skills and items. Even though the rank is much higher, the actual difficulty we’ll experience will be much lower than back then.”

After contemplating for a moment, Alice finally nodded.

Yuseong had faced 999 deaths without giving up and defeated the chimera, fought the great witch to save her, and even made her a new body.

Being indebted with her life at least three times at minimum.

She would do anything to repay that debt.

“Alright. Then…”

[Accessing multi-dimensional exploration system]

[Successfully observed quest]

-Colors of the Apocalypse

-Invaders from the Sky and Guardians from Underground

-Just 10 Minutes Until Nuclear Missile Impact!

-The Moment I Dealt with the Demon Lord, My Trusted Companions Betrayed Me

-……

Yuseong narrowed his eyes as he checked the quest list.

As always, choosing one among numerous quests was difficult.

This time was especially so, given the multiple conditions that needed to be met.

‘Even the rank A- quest [The Hero Who Couldn’t Become a Hero] became so difficult at the end that it was impossible to clear without actively using skills and items. To clear a rank A quest, we can’t hold back on skills and items. And if we need to use them actively, we should pick a quest where they’ll be most effective.’

He could easily find quests that met his usual selection criteria of ‘actual difficulty lower than displayed difficulty.’

For instance, the quest [The Moment I Dealt with the Demon Lord, My Trusted Companions Betrayed Me].

This quest had potential to progress easily by causing internal strife among party members.

But there was limited room to utilize skills and items, making it a questionable choice.

After turning pages for a while, Yuseong suddenly discovered a certain quest and blinked.

[In Search of Treasure]

-Civilization Classification: B-15

-Civilization Grade: 0.71

-Difficulty: A

-Mok Cheolyoung, descendant of a fallen martial arts family, happened to hear rumors that the martial manual of the Heavenly Demon who once unified the martial world long ago had been discovered. Though he confidently entered the martial world thinking to restore his family with the Heavenly Demon’s legacy, he soon realized how dangerous and cruel the martial world was. Please help Mok Cheolyoung survive and achieve his goals.

-Clear Conditions

1. Return safely to family: 30,000,000 Karma, Black Dragon Divine Pill ×1, Supreme Grade Blood Poison Wine ×1, Great Restoration Pill ×5. TLN: For the translation of Black Dragon Divine Pill, I’m still not 100% sure if it’s correct. The Korean word for the “Black Dragon Divine Pill” is literally “묵룡신단” and the “묵/Mug/Muk/Mok” is the most problematic. It could be referring to Mok Cheolyoung name or the Mok Family. Well, just keep in mind for now that I could change this later on.

-Additional Conditions

1. Obtain Heavenly Demon Cave’s treasure: 200,000,000 Karma, Heavenly Demon Cave’s Treasures ×3.

The small number of rewards wasn’t an issue.

If anything, it was better.

According to the information Kang Changseok had sent, fewer rewards in high-rank quests meant a higher chance of receiving high-grade items.

One powerful item was far more valuable than several mediocre trinkets.

But Yuseong’s interest in the [In Search of Treasure] quest wasn’t because of the rewards.

“B-15.”

The same Civilization Classification code as [Heavenly Demon Sect. The Final Moment], the second quest he’d cleared.

‘The time ratio back then was definitely…’

Though he couldn’t know the exact time ratio since he hadn’t measured it, one thing was certain based on the situation at the time – there was an enormous difference.

Despite spending a full fifteen days in the quest, when he returned to Earth the orcs were still around.

If the time that passed on Earth was 5 minutes, that would mean thousands of times difference, and even if it was stretched to an hour, it would still be hundreds of times difference in the time ratio.

“In terms of importance, time ratio actually takes top priority.”

Worlds with extreme time ratio differences are very rare but they definitely exist.

There’s no guarantee against absurd situations like completing a quest and returning only to find years have passed on Earth and humanity has long since perished.

The reason he’d focused on difficulty and rewards when selecting quests until now was simply because there was no way to check the time ratio.

‘But if we can know the time ratio, that changes things.’

Though there were quests with easier difficulty and more attractive rewards, [In Search of Treasure] was the only one where he could confirm the time ratio.

Having made up his mind, Yuseong approached Alice and took her hand.

“M-Mr. Yuseong?”

[Starting ‘In Search of Treasure’]

[Initiating Deus Ex Machina Program]

[Dimension coordinates specified and Ariadne’s Thread connection complete]

[Initiating spirit particle transfer]

* * *

“Die! Die! Dieeeee!”

“S-Senior? Why…!”

“Aaaaahh!”

Screams and the stench of blood from all directions.

A split second was enough to grasp the situation.

“Drop dead!”

Sensing intense killing intent at his nape along with a thunderous shout, Yuseong instinctively rolled forward.

Swish.

With a sensation like a cold wind brushing past his head, a few strands of hair scattered in the air.

If his judgment had been even slightly slower, he would have moved on to the second attempt without even lasting 5 seconds into the first.

But it was too early to relax.

Realizing his strike had missed, the man launched a follow-up attack, and Yuseong barely managed to avoid it by rolling repeatedly.

“What’s this, pretending to be skilled? Puhahaha!”

“Is that funny?”

Yuseong smiled slightly at the man’s mockery.

Though he couldn’t use the client’s abilities since synchronization wasn’t complete, he could still use his user abilities.

Yuseong took out Thousand Hands from subspace and put it on, then immediately sprung forward to throw a punch at the man.

“Now I’ll really kill…”

Bam!

The man who had been swinging his sword triumphantly flew away without even managing a scream.

For a moment, everyone around Yuseong froze.

That pause was extremely brief and people soon fell back into the battlefield’s madness, swinging their weapons again, but they kept their distance from Yuseong as if there was an invisible wall.

They had realized from what just happened that their opponent was an expert far beyond their ability to handle.

Taking advantage of this breathing room, Yuseong began taking out other items from subspace.

Given the serious situation around him and his decision to not hold back on items anyway, he decided to equip all his gear from the start.

After hanging the plasma axe at his waist, the Elemental Bow on his back, and donning the nano clothing transformed into a robe, Yuseong hesitated briefly before putting on the silver cross earring.

“How fascinating. Objects appearing from empty air. It doesn’t seem to be trickery, but what method did you use?”

A heavy voice cutting through the screams and clash of weapons.

Turning toward the voice’s source, Yuseong saw an elderly man with a striking appearance wearing blue martial arts robes.

[Synchronization with ‘Mok Cheolyoung’ is complete]

[You can now use ‘Mok Cheolyoung’s’ skills]

Mok Cheolyoung’s voice echoed in his head.

But Yuseong remained motionless, focusing all his attention on the elderly man before him.

An elderly man speaking casually without a single drop of blood on his clothes in the middle of a blood-soaked battlefield.

He absolutely couldn’t be an ordinary old man.

‘This is a proper rank A quest. It wouldn’t be strange for a monster who could kill me with one finger to appear right from the start. I can’t let my guard down for even a moment.’

“Hoho, why no answer? Perhaps you didn’t hear me?”

The moment the elderly man raised his hand to stroke his beard, Yuseong gathered all his internal energy and sent it to his legs.

‘Strike before being struck!’

The opponent was a master whose skill level was unfathomable.

He needed to pour everything into one strike.

Shooting Star.

With a thunderous boom, Yuseong’s form transformed into a beam of light shooting forward, and only when they were close enough to feel each other’s breath did the elderly man swing his sword in panic.

‘Wait, close range?’

Though he realized something was off, the arrow had already been fired.

Thump!

With a heavy meaty sound, Yuseong’s fist pierced through the elderly man’s chest and emerged from his back.

“Y-you coward. During conversation…”

The elderly man’s lips moved briefly before he collapsed like a puppet with cut strings the moment the fist was withdrawn.

Looking back and forth between his blood-covered fist and the elderly man, Yuseong muttered in a bewildered voice.

“Why so weak?”

The elderly man absolutely wasn’t weak.

If they had fought properly, even Yuseong with all his items equipped couldn’t have guaranteed victory.

There was only one reason the elderly man fell so pathetically.

Judging from Yuseong’s bare hands, youthful appearance, and unremarkable solar plexus, he must have assumed Yuseong wasn’t a master and completely let his guard down.

However, neither Yuseong nor anyone else could have known these circumstances.

Looking at just the result, Yuseong had taken the elderly man’s life with a single strike.

A heavy silence instantly fell over the battlefield.

And shortly after, someone muttered in a trembling voice.

“T-the Plum Blossom Sword Lord is dead!”