The site was so treacherous that he couldn’t believe his own eyes.

Most of the bodies were missing limbs, and he couldn’t recognize a single body.

Ho Sung Lee smoked his cigarette and looked up at the starry sky.

Min Sung Kang said that Beatrice was a world made by the Dionysus Gods.

But why did those Dionysus Gods allow for such cruel things to take place?

He couldn’t understand.

Ho Sung Lee swore and threw away his cigarette.

After putting it out with his heel, he shook Bowl, who was still sleeping.

In response, Bowl groaned, “Mmm” and slowly opened his eyes.

“Are we here?” Bowl asked Ho Sung Lee.

After putting Bowl down on the ground, he sighed.

“Let’s do some good work. Don’t make them into the Undead and bury them, so they can rest in peace,” said Ho Sung Lee while looking at the bodies on the ground.

“But why are we doing this all of a sudden?” Bowl asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Burying them.”

“Because I feel bad for them. We’re also the party responsible.”

Ho Sung Lee looked at the bodies and knitted his brows.

“Maybe all of these people wouldn’t have died if we had nothing to do with them.”

“Then Marie would’ve died,” Bowl answered.

Ho Sung Lee looked into the distance and smiled bitterly.

“Yeah.”

Ho Sung Lee sighed into the air and began moving.

Bowl followed.

Bowl used his dark magic to dig up graves, and Ho Sung Lee moved the bodies.

After that, Bowl used his magic to fill the graves back up.

Ho Sung Lee and Bowl repeated this process without a word.

“What a nice son of a b*tch. You’re doing a good deed.”

Once they were half done, Bowl stared at Ho Sung Lee and made the remark.

In response, Ho Sung Lee stretched out his back and smiled bitterly.

“… I’m nice? Me?”

Bowl nodded.

“Yeah. You’re doing this when nobody asked you to.”

Ho Sung Lee shook his head.

“It’s not like that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Because I was never a good person,” replied Ho Sung Lee while looking into space.

“Back in the day?”

In response to Bowl’s question, Ho Sung Lee laughed.

“It wasn’t even that long ago. Before I met Min Sung… No, I’m still nothing but a scumbag.”

Bowl snickered.

“No, you’re nice.”

Ho Sung Lee laughed at Bowl, who was smiling brightly.

“Thanks.”

“No problem. No, keep working, son of a bitch.”

“Stop calling me that.”

“Then what should I call you?”

“Forget it. Just keep working.”

Ho Sung Lee shook his head and began working again.

He then stopped in his tracks.

That was because he sensed someone.

‘Who is it…?’

‘A survivor.?’

Ho Sung Lee immediately used his skill.

As a supporter, he had an outstanding searching ability, so he was certain he could find them.

In the 2 o’clock direction.

Someone was inside the village building.

He wasn’t sure if it was a person, monster, or a beast.

As soon as Ho Sung Lee waved his hand, 3 dark shadows launched at high speed.

Once the dark shadows found their targets, they slowed them down and shoot up fireworks to notify him of the location.

Right as he was about to get ready to charge toward the signal…

[Your shadow skill has failed.]

“… What?”

Ho Sung Lee stared at the system message with shocked eyes.

His shadow skill was one of his most powerful abilities.

Since the shadows began the search in a secretive manner, it wasn’t easy to recognize it and stop it before it found its target.

This meant that his opponent was a player.

And seeing how he deactivated his shadow skill, he was no ordinary player.

Ho Sung Lee stared in the direction where he sensed someone.

Krok had died.

‘… Is it his underling?’

Ho Sung Lee decided to wrap up the job and report it to Min Sung as soon as he got back.

***

The Iris tree, which had stopped growing for a while due to the divination sign, had begun to consume earth’s nutrients again, according to the system message.

Min Sung, who felt stuffy staying inside the house, went outside and took out the ancient document.

He hoped that there was some new information since he obtained the secret document, but he was let down.

The ancient document wasn’t a quest but just a sign that pointed him in the right direction.

Min Sung put the ancient document into his item window and took out the scroll.

12 names.

It would take too long to take care of them one at a time.

Min Sung wanted to face off against all 12 of them at once if possible.

From his experience in Beatrice, he felt that he had a chance against all 12 signs.

The problem was time.

Once he arrived in the region with 12 different cities, it would take quite some time before he got the opportunity.

Min Sung decided he needed a way to drag out all of them at once so that he could annihilate them in one go.

But just because he was in a rush didn’t mean he could act rashly.

After all, that could possibly extend the time rather than limit it.

‘I have to think of a way.’

Min Sung’s eyes flashed.

***

In the middle of the dark and vast space was a long table.

There was no high seat.

People began to walk into that space.

Eventually, all 12 men and women sat in their seats.

Upon sitting down, a moment of silence filled the room.

They were the ranker players referred to as signs.

In the midst of the heavy atmosphere, one man, who had his face covered with a hooded robe, opened his mouth.

“I’m sure you all know why we’ve gathered here.”

All the players remained silent.

He continued, “There’s a player in Beatrice who has been climbing up the ranks at high speed. I wasn’t interested when he first entered the ranks, but he’s been suspicious these days.”

The man took out an item from his item window.

It was a small toy cube.

Once he put it down, the cube moved on its own to create a type of video on top of the table.

The 12 signs all gathered around the video.

Upon watching the video, the signs didn’t look very comfortable.

The robed man opened his mouth.

“As you can see, the fact that this new ranker defeated Krok isn’t that important. The problem is how the player defeated him.”

The signs’ faces grew stiff.

“I doubt any of you considered Krok a match, but it’s not common for someone to defeat him so easily. Especially if you consider the fact that he possesses the item, Kielle.”

“So do you have a plan?” Another sign asked.

The robed man let out a long sigh.

“First, I’d like to ask something. What do you think will happen if we go up against him?”

“From our standpoint…”

“It’ll be difficult. It appears that his mindset toward the 1st rank is quite strong.”

“But he’s just one person…”

“That’s why we have to discuss it now and come to a decision.”

“If we decided to avoid him, is there a favorable way of going about it?”

“I do have a plan I’ve been considering, but we have to make a decision first. No matter what we choose, we have to be prepared.”

They all looked serious.

“First, we need to watch the video and understand his power. If we can get rid of him without being harmed, it would be best for us to move first.”

The 12 signs began to analyze Min Sung, who had recently entered the ranks.

And they came to one conclusion after just 30 minutes.

That they need a better understanding of his power.

In order to check, they had to throw him a bait, and the 12 signs had a very good bait to use.

“Then we’ve decided. I agree with it. Let’s test him first.”

The 12 signs’ first meeting came to a close.

***

As soon as Ho Sung Lee returned, he reported that someone was watching him and that they deactivated his skill.

Since Ho Sung Lee hadn’t confirmed anything and there was nothing to assume, Min Sung just kept it in mind and headed toward the region where the 12 signs resided.

It was fairly far, so even if they raced at high speed, it would take quite a bit of time.

But since he got enough rest and had a good buildup of stamina, he predicted that it would take him around 2 days to arrive.

After that, he raced for 24 hours without stop.

When Ho Sung Lee reached his limit.

Min Sung decided to take a break in the middle of a desert.

After a 30-minute break, they were about to depart again when they saw something approaching with the moonlight behind their back.

Ho Sung Lee grimaced with his guard up.

“… Why are there so many of them?”

As Ho Sung Lee said, there was a large pack headed toward Min Sung’s party.

It looked like there were a thousand of them, and all of them were equipped with silver armors and helmets.

“I think they’re targeting us.”

“I’ve been itching to fight. Good timing.”

Min Sung stared at the army headed toward him. He took Bowl out of his pocket and handed him to Ho Sung Lee.

As soon as Ho Sung Lee accepted Bowl in his arms…

“Wait here.”

Min Sung kept his eye on the thousand troops and took out his Gungnir S from his item window.

Min Sung walked toward the large number of soldiers and clenched onto his Gungnir S.

Kaboom!

His Gungnir S lit up the dark desert with white light.