[New video has been updated in the Tower of Trials.]
Due to the video uploaded by Jin-hyuk, the forum turned upside down once again.
-HardPunch: Wow. Why did that large guild hold out for four months? Just to stop zombies?
-Taiwan number 1: Yep. Look at how careless they are. They made it look daunting, but they didn't even know there was a hidden boss? How were they supposed to clear this?
-Stand inside the Line: How careless do you have to be to not even withstand the second wave? Seriously disgusting.
-Black tea rice cakes: It's like that large guild that tried to pre-empt the queen a while back and got wiped out too. This is bad. They gambled on luck and lost.
People continued to curse them out. The large Chinese guilds couldn't open their mouths to refute it.
The Triad had been annihilated, and the people of Murim weren't players, so their images couldn't be defended.
Everything went exactly as Jin-hyuk had planned.
-BaeksuOverTusu: Still, the genocide was prevented because Jin-hyuk pulled the boss's anger onto himself.
-God Emperor: If it wasn't for Kang Jin-hyuk, everyone there would have died.
-David H: That's nice, but does it make sense for five people to go against the queen?
-Chosun First Sword: No one knows for sure, but he's an S-rank recognized by the nation. I trust him.
-EatingManic: If it's Kang Jin-hyuk and his videos, I can always trust him.
-SaeYoungEonHwan: Will Unknown not appear at all? I want to see a fight between Unknown and Kang Jin-hyuk.
In contrast, Jin-hyuk's name skyrocketed.
This was because people believed Jin-hyuk had saved the other players.
"Oppa… did you really do this?"
Yoo Yeon-hwa asked.
The Jin-hyuk she knew liked to break common sense and do strange things, but this felt excessive.
Something didn't feel right.
"Hyung, how did you know there was a boss here?"
Lee Taemin looked embarrassed as well.
"Well, I found out after doing this and that."
"…"
He had discovered it while testing various conditions.
Even if he put it like that, he had gone through countless trials to uncover all the hidden quests.
"It was Mr. Jin-hyuk who took down the mart, right?"
Teresa asked what she had been wondering.
"I don't know. I don't know much, but it probably didn't fall naturally."
Jin-hyuk scratched his head with a smile and gave a vague answer.
"So, is there any way to deal with the queen?"
The most important question was finally asked.
Right.
It was good to draw attention and start the event, but without a solution, it would just be suicide.
And of course—
"There is a way to win."
Jin-hyuk knew how to end this. Only he did.
The process wouldn't be smooth. However, considering the rewards, the risk was worth it.
"I'm glad you didn't act without thinking. So what do we do?"
"If I tell you how, will you do it?"
"I'll do anything to survive."
"You can't take that back later. Your role is vital this time."
"…Tell me."
Chun Yuseong nodded with a stiff expression. He was the most reliable person for this task.
The difficulty was real—but it would be different from what he expected.
"To take them down, you need considerable skill. The problem is—"
"The problem is?"
"It's expensive."
"No…"
Chun Yuseong's face darkened.
"Don't mess around. Why should I give you my coins? No—why are you trying to rip off only me?!"
Teresa was wealthy, and the other two were also doing well. So why him?
"Yoo Yeon-hwa gave me the weapons, and Teresa handed me coins before. Above all else, don't act like an idiot. I know the views on your video were huge."
"Damn it. You saw that?"
"Yes. I saw it. It was fresh and nice, right?"
The video's title had been something like:
'Sword techniques even the grandmother next door can use to survive a dungeon.'
Because the famed swordsman personally taught it, the video exploded in popularity.
Thanks to that, Chun Yuseong's video hit the Hall of Fame for a day.
"I'll kill the guy who taught me how to edit that facial mosaic."
"Don't talk nonsense. I recognized you immediately."
His clumsy editing couldn't hide his unique sword technique.
And above all, he couldn't fool Jin-hyuk's eyes.
"…I had to do it because of my personal quest."
"Well, that makes sense."
To grow as a swordsman, Chun Yuseong had received a quest that required recognition from the public. Before, the standards were low due to the small player base.
Now, millions had seen his video.
"I know your pockets are full now. Donate some for the team."
"How much?"
"100,000."
It was exactly the amount Chun Yuseong possessed.
His face twisted as if he had been forced to eat something rotten.
Everything he had earned through the quest was being drained at once.
"Don't you have a lot of coins too? Even if you didn't touch mine—"
"True. But spending that much would be unfortunate."
And why would Jin-hyuk spend his own money?
"Hurry up. I don't have time."
Jin-hyuk snapped his fingers.
He was the captain of this base.
And the others were his sailors.
"…You. You really won't die easily."
[You have received 100,000 coins from player Chun Yuseong.]
Chun Yuseong grit his teeth as the coins transferred.
At that moment—
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Footsteps that shook the ground echoed.
They had arrived.
Fast.
Except for special floors like labyrinths, each floor usually had a single boss that dominated it.
And those bosses were powerful.
But their strength was often proportional to how much effort they wanted to exert.
Some monsters found it troublesome to move and instead descended to lower floors to relax.
Pendariel was one of them.
In an apocalypse where everything had been destroyed, its ideal world was one where only the dead roamed.
"Kiiik!"
"Ackkk!"
Countless zombies roared in the streets. But as if waiting for something, they did not move.
Then—
Step.
Pendariel took a step forward.
Chik…!
Thick smoke rose from the streets.
The effect of Corrosion spread from its body.
Regular zombies carried small traces of it, but the amount contained within Pendariel was entirely different.
Its corrosion was strong enough to burn everything around it.
"Human. Is of this. Level."
Pendariel spoke.
Its appearance was horrifying—a body soaked in blood.
Pale skin, crimson hair reaching its waist.
A nightmare given form.
"Ugh…"
A man groaned in pain before it.
Ian Smith.
After watching Jin-hyuk's video, the European Pantheon Guild ranker had attempted to hunt the queen.
He had years of game experience and raid expertise.
But the result was clear.
His 55-man raid party had been wiped out without even touching the queen.
"What… monster are you…"
No one could defeat it.
Its existence alone made it feel like this wasn't the 4th floor anymore.
Smith looked at the queen one last time.
Those empty, cold eyes.
Kwakwakwang!
And that became his final memory.
"Human. Except that. One. Kill all. I will. Kill him. Myself."
Pendariel issued its command.
"Kiiik!"
"Keeek!"
The zombies surged forward.
Three-meter-tall reinforced zombies led the charge, followed by variants with massive arms and elongated skulls.
These were monsters that normally appeared only in the latter half of the siege.
If the queen hadn't appeared, the zombies would eventually have been cleared.
But now, every powerful enemy was gathered in one place.
Kwakwang!
Kwang!
The plants guarding the entrance were smashed apart.
Rock plants and self-destruct types sacrificed themselves, but it was meaningless.
This was inevitable.
"It is done."
Pendariel was certain of victory.
Soon, the arrogant human would be dragged before it.
But then—
The sounds from inside the stadium were strange.
[Four humans trapped in ice. And the one you seek is not here.]
"Humans locked in ice?"
Had they killed themselves to avoid torture?
Or—
Was there another plan?
Pendariel reconsidered everything.
The provocation had been deliberate. That much was clear.
But why?
'To weaken our forces?'
That would have required spreading the zombies out.
'…To hunt me.'
The moment the thought formed, Pendariel froze.
And then—
[Glacier Formation Lv3 'Ice Jade Myriad Transformation' activated!]
The blackened world turned white.
Woong!
Walls of ice engulfed the queen and its escorting zombies.
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