CH 200

‘Wow… Who knew I’d meet him here of all places?’ Siegfried couldn’t believe it.

Yong Tae-Pung was a legendary figure in many ways, but the rumors about him were true.

He was a pro gamer back in the days when people still played games on PC, and he had participated in numerous international tournaments and even brought five gold medals to South Korea.

Of course, his accolades didn’t end there.

Yong Tae-Pung became deemed one of the best gaming casters after he started his casting career upon retiring from the eSports scene. He even showed off his skills as the coach of an eSports team.

When virtual reality games started to become popular, he announced his return to the gaming world with the generic phrase—age is just a number.

He was over fifty years old when he started playing virtual reality games, but he managed to become quite successful.

Unfortunately, he had become old, so his godly controls had long abandoned him.

Therefore, he decided to go through intense physical training such as weightlifting, reflex training, brain ability enhancement training, and other training to become one of the best gamers in the world once more.

His grit and perseverance made him receive the nicknames Strongest Old Man, World’s Strongest Ahjussi, Legend, and Immortal Gamer. There were even some people calling him World’s Most Stubborn Old Man for fun.

Badump! Badump! Badump!

Siegfried was starstruck after seeing a legend in the flesh.

It was an obvious reaction as Yong Tae-Pung was a person that Siegfried deeply respected ever since he started playing games.

‘But why is he here?’ he wondered.

He used his Rune of Insight to check Yong Tae-Pung’s details.

He saw that Yong Tae-Pung was already Level 299 and had one foot into the realm of a Master.

Of course, an Adventurer was bound to run into a wall upon hitting Level 299, and it was also known as the impossible phase, where leveling up was deemed impossible.

Whatever the reason might be, Siegfried couldn’t understand why such a powerful person would come to a place like this.

“Oh! Who might you be?” Cardinal Vergollio asked.

“We are Adventurers,” Yong Tae-Pung replied.

“Oh my god! Gaia-nim has truly not abandoned us!”

“I don’t know about your goddess. I’m here to investigate the dimensional rift.”

“That is also Gaia-nim’s will! Please carry out her will and save us!”

“I guess all of you have been stuck here for a long time. Please wait a little longer, I will get you out.”

That was the end of the conversation...

Yong Tae-Pung did not ask anything after receiving the quest.

He immediately mobilized his guild members.

“Try to keep up if you want to hop on the bus,” he said to Siegfried and his party before disappearing.

‘He’s cool…’ Siegfried was in awe of how cool the old man was.

Yong Tae-Pung’s possessed this domineering aura. It felt like he was capable of crushing any resistance and obstacle in his way. He truly lived up to his reputation as a seasoned veteran pro gamer.

‘Hold on. I don’t have time to be starstruck… What if that old man takes Gaia’s Fist?’ 

Siegfried suddenly discovered an issue. He had no idea what kind of quest Yong Tae-Pung had received to come and investigate the dimensional rift, but Siegfried had to be the one who would clear the dungeon.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to get his hands on Gaia’s Fist.

“Let’s hurry up,” he urged his party and was about to run after the old man when he suddenly stopped and thought, ‘No, I don’t know what’s up ahead. I should keep a safe distance and collect information for now…’

He went to Cardinal Vergollio and asked, “May I ask why you people are trapped here? I can see that your Holy Knights are with you, too.”

“Ah, it’s because… it’s because we can’t use mana in there,” Cardinal Vergollio replied.

“What…?”

“It’s not only mana. Even holy power doesn’t work there. The monsters are extremely strong as well.”

“That means…”

“One must depend on brute force to clear that area without relying on any mystical energies.”

What did he mean by mana use was restricted?

The answer was simple—skills would be sealed upon entry.

In other words, magician-type classes like Gringore were practically useless. Gringore possessed a hidden class, but he would be nothing more than a slightly healthier ordinary person in there.

‘I’ll be at a disadvantage, then… Their levels are high, and their gears are overpowered as well…’ Siegfried remembered the items that the Mandate of Heaven Guild members were using.

His items were pathetic compared to theirs.

Siegfried’s gears were low-level, and they had not even a single enhancement.

He was truly at a disadvantage. Right now, it was impossible for him to beat Yong Tae-Pung and obtain Gaia’s Fist.

However, Siegfried refused to give up. He steeled his resolve and made a decision.

‘I still have to go!’ 

He had never been the type of person who would give up without even trying. Moreover, he was the type of person who would rather die trying than not trying at all.

“Scribe Gringore.”

“Yes, Your Majesty?”

“Stay here.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Gringore didn’t retort. He also heard that mana was sealed at the field up ahead, so he knew that he would just become Siegfried’s burden if he were to go with him.

“Let’s go, Hamchi!”

“Kyu! Let’s go, owner punk!”

Siegfried and Hamchi hurriedly chased after Yong Tae-Pung and his party.

***

“…”

Siegfried and Hamchi were flabbergasted at the sight in front of them.

“Those crazy people…”

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“D-Did something pass by here? Kyu…?”

They were flabbergasted because there was a highway in front of them.

Monster? Not a single monster was in sight aside from their corpses and the items they dropped upon death.

Obviously, Yong Tae-Pung and his party were extremely rich. They didn’t have to bother with the cheap items on the floor as they plowed through the dungeon.

From the way they were tackling this dungeon, it looked like Yong Tae-Pung and his party were trying to speedrun the dungeon.

“Hamchi, how far are we from them?”

“Around a kilometer…”

“What?! They’re already a kilometer ahead of us when it has only been a minute since they entered?!”

“They’re extremely fast! They’re killing everything in their path!”

In other words, Yong Tae-Pung and his party were moving at a speed of sixty kilometers per hour. They couldn’t use their skills, but their physical stats were probably so high that it wasn’t that big of a deal for them to smash the monsters left and right.

“Crazy… Let’s run, Hamchi!”

“Kyu! Let’s go!”

Siegfried and Hamchi ran as fast as they could to catch up to Yong Tae-Pung and his party. The duo was extremely fast as well, and they ran for quite a while until they were able to close the gap between them and Yong Tae-Pung’s party.

“Ack!”

“Ah… This is fucking frustrating…”

“If only I could use my mana…”

“The difficulty level suddenly…”

The Mandate of Heaven Guild members had hit a roadblock by the time Siegfried caught up to them.

Yong Tae-Pung was struggling as well.

Chwaaaak!

Monsters would die left and right whenever Yong Tae-Pung swung his +15 Legendary weapon, but things still weren’t looking great for them.

After all, there was a limit to how much they could do without access to their skills.

Why?

It was all because the monsters here possessed higher stats compared to Adventurers on the same level. In short, there was a limit to how much damage an Adventurer could deal to the monsters here with only their normal attacks.

On top of that, they were void of any buffs or heals since those skills had been sealed as well because of the mana restriction. In a long, drawn-out battle, the Adventurers would eventually fall into a disadvantage.

‘Should I help them? I don’t think I can deal any damage even if I stepped in, and it’s not like I can cast a debuff on them…’ Siegfried pondered while looking at the struggling Mandate of Heaven Guild members.

The Mandate of Heaven Guild members were armed with +10 weapons, but even they found it difficult to inflict enough damage on the monsters. What could a low-level Adventurer with a low-level weapon like Siegfried do in this situation?

“Owner punk! Hamchi will give you strength, so go and fight!” Hamchi shouted.

“What? Give me strength? How? We can’t use mana here, did you forget?”

“Hamchi doesn’t use mana! Hamchi is the Great Spirit of the Forest! A spirit’s energy is different from mana!”

“You eat mana stones whenever you’re bored…”

“That’s because I digest mana to replenish my spirit energy! Kyu! Anyway, Hamchi can do it!”

“Really? Then I’ll be counting on you!”

Hamchi took out his magical wheel and started running on it.

Ddruuu! Ddruuu! Ddruuu!

The wheel started spinning, buffing Siegfried, who was now running to help Yong Tae-Pung and his party.

Of course, Siegfried wasn’t acting rashly here.

‘My level and stats are still too low, even with Hamchi’s buff.’ 

Siegfried knew his role very well and what he should be doing.

‘I just have to block the monsters’ attacks so they can fight more efficiently and save anyone in case they’re in danger.’ 

Siegfried gripped his weapon and ran toward the monsters.

The entire battle quickly shifted in the Adventurers’ favor.

Clang!

Siegfried blocked a monster’s attack. The monster was aiming at one of the Mandate of Heaven Guild members.

“Excuse me.”

“W-What?”

“Watch your back. Be careful.”

“T-Thanks…”

That wasn’t all…

“Aaaah!”

“I got you!”

Siegfried ran and grabbed a guild member who lost her balance and was about to fall to the ground. Then, he quickly parried the incoming attack. He truly looked like a knight in shining armor coming to rescue the princess in distress.

“It’s dangerous here!”

“I’ll block it, so prepare to counterattack!”

“I got it!”

Siegfried either filled the gap in the Mandate of Heaven Guild members’ defenses or created opportunities for them to attack.

He had basically become a support character. Rather than fighting a monster for an extended period of time, he moved around diligently to fill the gaps here and there, allowing the Mandate of Heaven Guild members to fight more efficiently.

Thanks to his efforts, the battle was now in their favor, and the Mandate of Heaven Guild members made quick work of the monsters.

It was quite ironic that he was the best support on the battlefield because his class wasn’t even a support-type class in the first place.

‘Oh? That kid’s combat sense is sharp. That’s difficult to find these days. His control is excellent, and he’s quite quick on his feet. He’s aware that his stat is lacking, so he avoided direct combat and focused on supporting,’ Yong Tae-Pung thought while observing the young Adventurer.

He had been treating Siegfried like any other low-level Adventurer, but his thoughts changed after seeing the latter in battle.

‘He looks like a combat-type class player, but his combat sense when it comes to supporting his allies is much better than most Healers or Buffers. God… Where did this guy come from?’ Yong Tae-Pung wondered while watching Siegfried with twinkling eyes.

Eventually, the old legend came to a conclusion. ‘Hmm… He’s great. I like him. I really like him. I want to abduct him and force him to join our guild… Hohoho…’

Yong Tae-Pung’s sparkling eyes suddenly turned ferocious.

He looked like a beast eyeing its prey.