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Chapter 24
Earth Korea Management Team.
The employees were staring at the monitor screen with shocked eyes.
The user had perfectly passed the test set by the Soul of the Martial Artist, securing a Rare ss advancement or higher.
And then, the hidden ss advancement quest.
Alright, they could ept that much.
But then, the user entered a never-before-seen mansion, met an NPC, and started a duel.
The continuous exchange of blows was thrilling.
And the user emerged victorious, sessfully advancing to the next ss.
The sparkling effect above the user’s head was proof of their 1st ss advancement.
“What ss did they advance to?”
The employees were impatient.
They wanted to know what ss the user had achieved.
But the user’s ss name was baffling.
“Low-Grade Martial Artist? Does that even make sense?”
The user hadpleted their advancement with a Common grade ss.
The office fell silent in disbelief.
It was team leader Oh Jin-soo who broke the silence.
“This is insane…”
His face was in shock and he even stuttered.
It seemed he had figured out what grade the user had advanced to.
“Team leader?! You know what ss they advanced to, right?”
“Please exin quickly!”
“I’m so dizzy, I’m going crazy!”
Despite their urging, Oh Jin-soo remained silent, staring at the screen.
‘If I’m right… that’s a hidden ss.’
Hidden sses had appeared a few times in New World.
Hidden sses were obtained by meeting hidden conditions, regardless of grade.
Oh Jin-soo was almost certain that the user had advanced to a hidden ss.
Hidden sses could activate the Blind System regardless of their grade.
If the system was activated, it would be natural for it to disy as Low-Grade Martial Artist (1st ss).
‘Crazy… does that mean the first hidden ss for the Martial Artist has finally appeared?’
Oh Jin-soo hurried back to his seat, tapping on the keyboard to ess the New World homepage.
If this was the first hidden ss, New World itself would be aware of it.
Intrigued by his unusual behavior, the team members gathered around his desk.
‘As expected…’
===
[Exciting news! The first hidden ss for the Martial Artist has appeared!]
Hello! This is the New World development team.
We are writing this announcement to share some exciting news!
There are various hidden sses in New World!
And now! The first hidden ss for the Martial Artist has emerged!
Congrattions, and we look forward to your future adventures!
[South Korea – *]
The server name is revealed, but the nickname remains hidden!
We hope all New World users have a wonderful day!
– From the New World development team
===
The Martial Artist’s hidden ss, appearing in the South Korean server.
Anyone could see that the user who defeated the NPC had unlocked it.
“Huh…? What?”
“A hidden ss?”
The employees stared nkly at the homepage, then soon burst into excited shouts.
“It was a hidden ss!”
“It was Blind!”
“No wonder… Wait, does that mean it’s the first hidden ss for Martial Artist?!”
“Gasp!”
The first hidden ss for Martial Artist had appeared in South Korea!
The management team was in an uproar over this fact alone.
* * *
Jeong-Hoon emerged from the portal into the cave.
Kwon Hyun-Je, who was pacing around the cave, was the first to catch his eye.
“Is it over?”
Kwon Hyun-Je asked urgently.
“Yes.”
“You seeded. Is that the path you chose?”
It was a bit surprising.
If he had seeded beyond this portal, he should have chosen Fist Saint, the path that could lead him to the ultimate realm.
But Jeong-Hoon had chosen Martial Emperor.
“Yes.”
Jeong-Hoon nodded.
“Huh, I didn’t expect you to choose the difficult path.”
For the Martial Emperor to shine, he needed to grow through further advancements.
There was no change right now.
“Yes. This is the path I desire.”
“…Well, if you’re satisfied, I have no reason to argue.”
“Thank you.”
“Then, good luck.”
As if his task was done, Kwon Hyun-Je returned to his seat.
Jeong-Hoon used the portal in front of the waterfall to return to the Martial Arts Hall.
Altio was standing guard beside the portal.
“Did you achieve anything?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm… The aura I feel from you is no different from before you entered. You didn’t fail, did you?”
“No, I seeded in advancing.”
Altio couldn’t hide his disappointment.
When someone achieved a Rare ss advancement, their aura would change.
But the energy Jeong-Hoon emanated was simr to that of a Martial Artist who hadpleted a normal advancement.
That meant he had failed, right?
Honestly, it didn’t make sense.
This martial artist had endured his hellish training and even won the duel.
He couldn’t understand why such a martial artist would fail.
“Well… don’t be too disheartened.”
Altio offered words offort.
“Yes.”
Jeong-Hoon nodded.
Kwon Hyun-Je could recognize it at a nce, but Altio couldn’t. He wasn’t at a high enough level to perceive the Blind System.
“Shall we go out together then?”
He pointed to the tightly closed door.
Jeong-Hoon shook his head and gestured towards the three portals at the far right.
“No. Isn’t there a portal that leads to the field here?”
“Ah, so you’re going straight to the field.”
“Yes.”
Jeong-Hoon had just advanced to a hidden ss.
Usually, when someone obtained a hidden ss advancement, New World would immediately post it on their homepage.
By now, many users would have noticed the appearance of the Martial Artist’s hidden ss.
World Com was probably already on fire.
After all, the Martial Artist’s hidden ss had appeared in the South Korean server, of all ces.
[Whisper/zl-Zone-Ha-Jin12 -> Hoon: Hey! I heard a hidden ss for Martial Artists appeared!]
See?
Hajin, who was supposed to be enjoying the game, had sent him a whisper.
[Whisper/Hoon -> zl-Zone-Ha-Jin12: Yeah. That’s me.]
Jeong-Hoon sent the whisper and closed the window.
“Alright, then I’ll activate the portal for you.”
Altio guided him to the portal instead of the door.
The portal was locked.
It had to be manually operated by an instructor to activate.
[Portal activated.]
Altio simply manipted it, and the portal activated.
“Thank you.”
Jeong-Hoon expressed his gratitude and stepped into the portal.
It was the portal leading to the field that connected to the next vige.
“Then, may luck be with you.”
“Yes.”
* * *
Martial Arts Hall.
Yeo Min-ji returned to the hall just as Park In-tae finished cleaning.
“Is it really true?!”
Yeo Min-ji spotted Park In-tae and rushed towards him.
“Aren’t you rushing too much? What about your work at headquarters?”
Headquarters was currently preupied with the appearance of Saber.
The only notable figure who had attended the Genesis event was Ho-Yeong.
Therefore, they were focusing all their efforts on recruiting Saber.
“I’ll take care of that. More importantly, you found him for sure, right?”
Her face was flushed with excitement.
Along with the news of finding the user in the Martial Arts Hall, an announcement had appeared in New World.
The announcement of the Martial Artist’s hidden ss.
And it was in South Korea, no less.
This meant that there was a Martial Artist who had obtained a hidden ss right here.
“Yes, I’m certain.”
Park In-tae nodded, and the user’s face paled.
He never imagined that the level 269 user would be a member of Ho-Yeong.
Because of that, he had to be held captive until Yeo Min-ji arrived.
Had he known this would happen, he would have quietly left the hall.
His friends, who had advanced alongside him, had left for the next vige without a care in the world.
Those bastards with no loyalty.
“Thank you.”
“Huh?”
Her reaction was unexpected.
He had expected a scolding for being cheeky to the instructor.
“Thanks to you, I got some good information.”
Then she sent him a trade request.
“Why a trade all of a sudden…?”
“I want to give you a reward. Do you mind?”
“No, not at all!”
At the word ‘reward,’ the user hurriedly epted the trade.
“10 gold should be enough, right?”
She casually ced 10 gold on the exchange item slot.
“10 gold?!”
The user’s eyes widened in shock as he confirmed the gold.
Since it was a reward, he had expected 2 or 3 gold at most, but 10 gold?
10 gold was equivalent to 100,000 won in South Korean currency.
He had just received 100,000 won for free.
[Would you like to ept the exchange?]
Pressing ‘Yes’ wouldplete the exchange.
The user naturally pressed ‘Yes.’
[The trade has beenpleted.]
A-Amazing!
10 gold in the beginner zone!
“Keep today’s events a secret, okay?”
“I’ll take it to my grave!”
The user left the hall with a face full of joy.
“Miss, the martial artist hasn’te out yet.”
“That’s a relief. We can wait here a little longer, right?”
“Yes.”
Yeo Min-ji kept her eyes fixed on the closed door.
Altio and the martial artist who hadpleted the ss advancement would emerge from that door.
Not long after, the tightly closed door opened, and Altio appeared.
“Huh?”
But something was strange.
Only Altio walked out the door.
“What’s going on…?”
Park In-tae was equally confused.
Afterpleting the ss advancement, it was normal toe out with the instructor. Where had the user who entered with him gone?
“Instructor.”
Yeo Min-ji hurriedly approached Altio.
“Yes? What is it?”
“Where did the user whopleted the advancement go?”
She was anxious.
The fist techniques she had seen in World Com, the unadvanced Martial Artist who had suddenly appeared in the capsule event, and finally, the Martial Artist who had advanced to a hidden ss.
They were all definitely the same person.
She had rushed here to meet that martial artist, and she couldn’t afford another miss!
However, Altio shattered her hopes.
“Ah, the martial artist who justpleted the advancement? He’s already left.”
“… Left?”
“Yes. There are a few portals leading to the field inside. The martial artist used one of those portals to leave.”
“Oh…”
Yeo Min-ji felt her legs weaken in disappointment.
“Miss!”
Fortunately, Park In-tae quickly came to her side and supported her, preventing her from copsing.
* * *
World Com was in an uproar.
[Whoa, shit! A hidden ss for Martial Artists appeared!]
– Crazy… Martial Artist could get a hidden ss too? I’m getting chills all over.
└If it’s a hidden ss, does it usually start from Rare grade…?
└Yeah, there’s no Common grade hidden ss.
└Aren’t there a lot of crappy hidden sses even if they’re hidden?
└Anyway, it’s the first hidden ss for Martial Artist…
└Come to think of it, isn’t that the user who destroyed the scarecrow dummy, the unadvanced Martial Artist?
└Oh, shit, you’re right!
The unadvanced Martial Artist who had proudly won 1st ce in the recent Genesis capsule event.
His appearance had set World Com aze for a while, but things had cooled down a bit since then.
However, with the emergence of this hidden ss, users were almost certain that he was the same Martial Artist who had won the capsule event.
[Whoa… check out the old post.]
– Over 500,000 views lol
The post about the Martial Artist who had won the duel against the Martial Arts Hall instructor started trending as a hot video.
Even though considerable time had passed since the video was uploaded, there was much talk that the owner of this video was the protagonist of the hidden ss.
└Wow lol, didn’t this video barely get 10,000 views?
└This is insane…
└Look at him fighting the instructor… That’s a beginner?
└Crazy. He was a different breed from the start…
It was rare for an old post to suddenly be popr, especially one that hadn’t even reached 10,000 views.
[Shit lol, the major guilds are going crazy.]
– Go check out the forums lol, the big guilds are desperate to find that user lol.
└Wow, it’s true lol. Fairy, Myth, Light, Ironman… There are too many to list.
└So jealous… Wouldn’t life be easy if you joined one of those guilds?
└Let me in too, damn it, guilds!
The guilds also yed a part in fueling the excitement.
They were frantically searching for the Martial Artist who had advanced to the hidden ss.
“We must find him.”
Yeo Min-ji of Ho-Yeong was no exception.
At this point, she felt like she had to find him out of sheer stubbornness.
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