[Trantor - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
Chapter 215
King Kaiserk V sat on his throne, tapping his fingers in thought.
“Your Majesty! Themander of the knights has returned.”
“Let him enter.”
At Luke''s words, King Kaiserk V nodded.
As if waiting for his permission, Commander Ragan entered and knelt on one knee.
“Your Majesty! I havepleted my search and returned.”
“Very well. What is the situation outside?”
“Yes. There are no red portals visible within the capital.”
“Is that so…? That is truly fortunate.”
A sigh of relief escaped Kaiserk V.
“Yes. I believe we can begin to return the citizens who were evacuated to the castle.”
Those who survived within the capital were hastily evacuated to the castle. They had been enduring day by day, but thanks to Jeong-hoon, they were now able to return.
“That’s a relief.”
A smile curved the corners of Kaiserk V’s mouth.
“Yes.”
“Now, we just need to wait for Hoon.”
He recalled the conversation he had with Jeong-hoon a few hours earlier.
“Your Majesty, I have something to discuss. May I have a moment alone with you?”
“Of course.”
At Jeong-hoon’s request, Kaiserk V dismissed everyone, including Luke, leaving only the two of them.
Jeong-hoon got straight to the point.
“I need a key to enter the Cursed Forest.”
“That key...? How do you know about it?”
The Cursed Forest.
It was a name given because it was literally cursed. It was said to have been a perfectly fine forest when the Kingdom of M?rchen was founded, but for some unknown reason, it became cursed and has remained sealed, never to be opened until now.
Now, Jeong-hoon was saying he wanted to lift that seal.
“Shouldn''t we at least try? I intend to visit the Cursed Forest.”
“That’s absolutely out of the question! It’s not just because I fear the seal will be broken; I’m worried something might happen to you!”
The reason the seal had never been lifted was that even approaching it could lead to a curse.
Because of this, no one dared to get close, and a multiyered barrier had been erected to prevent any potential fools from approaching.
“It’s fine. I have the means to handle it.”
“Even so…”
“Your Majesty, I’m the one who removed all the portals by myself. Do you think I can’t withstand a mere curse?”
“Hmm…”
“I will do everything in my power to prevent M?rchen from falling. Please believe in me.”
Eventually, under Jeong-hoon’s continued persuasion, Kaiserk V relented.
He ended up handing over the key, and now he was waiting for Jeong-hoon’s return.
“He will definitelye back.”
Ragan’s gaze was firm and unwavering, a testament to his high trust in Jeong-hoon.
“I know. I just hope there are no issues regarding his safety.”
The Cursed Forest, which no one had been able to approach.
All they could do was fervently hope for a safe return.
***
“The key to the Cursed Forest? That’s out of the question.”
Caryan shook his head.
Since receiving his title as baron and being assigned to the small territory of Psman at the eastern edge, several had attempted to approach the Cursed Forest and had been caught.
Fools exist everywhere.
Those miscreants were captured and imprisoned for defying the king’s orders not to approach.
To think someone would try to enter that cursed ce was absolutely uneptable.
“Are you suggesting that we simply let this situation continue?”
“That is…”
“Look at this.”
Jeong-hoon pulled out a key.
“Wha—!”
Caryan gasped in surprise, inhaling sharply.
That key was known to be the exclusive property of the king, the key to the Cursed Forest.
“Didn’t His Majesty grant permission? Are you really going to oppose this now?”
“...Is that true?”
“Do I have any reason to lie?”
Jeong-hoon’s gaze held no hint of doubt.
“Hmm… I understand.”
If the king had granted permission, Caryan had no further reason to oppose it.
He retrieved a key from his possession, something he had kept close since bing a baron, just in case someone tried to steal it.
“Thank you.”
“...Be careful. The Cursed Forest isn’t a ce that can be essed with just the key.”
“Yes.”
Receiving the key, Jeong-hoon immediately made his way to the Cursed Forest.
Located farther away than Psman, which was already at the eastern edge, the forest was shrouded in thick mist, with tripleyered barriers set before it.
[They''ve set up quite a dense barrier here.]
<em>‘This is going to be hard to break through.’</em>
The barrier had stood firm for a long time.
It was impossible to breach with conventional methods.
“I’ll have to release it myself.”
The method for dispelling the barrier was simple.
Jeong-hoon approached the barrier and extended his hand, channeling his magic into it.
[Using Safeguard.]
Safeguard didn’t just dispel simple debuffs; it also had an effect on barriers.
While normally one would need to carefully untangle aplex array of spells, Safeguard bypassed that requirement.
As the unique-grade Safeguard activated, the barrier trembled and shattered with the sound of breaking ss, disappearing entirely.
With the barrier that sealed the forest gone, the thick fog dispersed, revealing the entrance to the woods.
Before him stood another barrier, far more solid than the previous one.
To open this barrier, he would need to remove the two locks in front of him.
Jeong-hoon took out the keys he had received from Kaiserk V and Caryan, inserting one into each lock.
<em>Click!</em>
Turning the key, the sound of the lock clicking open echoed, and the final barrier vanished.
“Done.”
Jeong-hoon grinned and stepped into the forest.
At that moment, all manner of curses descended upon him.
[You have been cursed.]
[You have been cursed.]
[You have been cursed.]
Messages indicating that he had been cursed flooded in, apanied by numerous debuffs.
[Using Safeguard.]
Jeong-hoon easily dispelled those debuffs using Safeguard.
This was a forest lower than his level, after all.
<strong>Woooo—</strong>
Then, the M?rchen Guardian pendant he wore began to vibrate slightly in his ears.
“It’s resonating.”
The Guardian essory set had the characteristic of resonating with each other when in close proximity.
In other words, it meant he could find other essories using this Guardian.
Jeong-hoon moved around, focusing on the M?rchen Guardian.
<em>‘There’s a portal.’</em>
Following where the Guardian was pointing, he found a portal before him.
No monsters could be seen in the Cursed Forest.
It was a space that had been sealed for a long time, making it impossible for anyone to enter, so it was only natural there were no monsters.
Thus, it was normal that no portals existed.
This meant that the portal had been generated during the quest progression.
Jeong-hoon approached the portal.
Suddenly, an exmation mark began to blink above the portal.
[You havepleted the quest.]
[You have gained 20,000,000 experience points.]
[You can now perform the next quest.]
Once again, a question mark blinked above the portal.
[Episode Quest: Save the M?rchen Kingdom (2)]
- <strong>Restrictions:</strong> Complete the Save the M?rchen Kingdom (1) quest
- <strong>Rewards:</strong> ??
- <strong>Description:</strong> Save the M?rchen Kingdom from a critical situation.
The description was the same as the quest given by Kaiserck V.
Jeong-hoon epted the quest.
[Will you enter the episode dungeon: M?rchen Kingdom?]
<em>‘I’ll enter.’</em>
As he epted the entry, Jeong-hoon’s body was sucked into the portal.
---
“Where am I?”
As he entered the dungeon, his vision brightened considerably.
Jeong-hoon instantly recognized that this was indeed a forest.
“Hey! Hamel”
Then, arge man rushed toward Jeong-hoon.
===
[NPC Information]
- <strong>Nickname:</strong> Kel
- <strong>Level:</strong> 80
- <strong>upation:</strong> Psman Barony Territory Guard
===
He was a guard named Kel.
Given that he was stationed here in the Baron’s territory and his level, he appeared to be a regr soldier rather than a knight.
“Hmm?”
“What the hell are you doing here? Monsters are pouring out!”
Kel was calling Jeong-hoon by the name Hamel.
Jeong-hoon took out a rune and examined his face.
Only then did he realize that he had transformed into a balding man in histe 40s.
<em>‘Of all things, why did I have to turn into someone like this?’</em>
He had morphed into a hefty body that looked like it could easily weigh over 100 kg.
Unlike regr dungeons, episode dungeons followed a specific story within.
[Ugh… What is that?]
<em>‘I’ve aged terribly.’</em>
Mukho and Anima shuddered as if they had seen something horrifying.
<em>‘You guys, no matter what, what’s with that reaction?’</em>
Jeong-hoon red at them.
Then Mukho and Anima scrambled to exin themselves.
[No... it’s just so different from before. That look isn’t bad!]
<em>‘Yeah, there are benefits. It’ll be easier to wash my hair, and I won’t need to dry it either.’</em>
“Oh, really?”
The corners of Jeong-hoon’s mouth twisted into a smirk.
“Hamel? You idiot!”
He couldn’t think deeply for long, thanks to the loud shouting from the guy next to him.
“Got it, so shut up for a second.”
“I’m telling you, monsters areing! We need to run too!”
“Run?”
As the man spoke, ck King Ogres were charging toward them.
“Uwaaaah! They’re already here! I’m dead!”
Kel shrieked and hid behind a tree.
[Wow… He’s really useless for his size.]
<em>‘From the looks of it, I could easily crush those little guys.’</em>
Mukho and Animaughed at Kel.
“Exactly.”
Jeong-hoon chuckled and unfolded the Celestial Scroll.
In his hand, Leviathan was already in grip.
“H-Hamel?!”
Kel’s urgent shout came from behind him.
However, despite his shout, one ck King Ogre after another fell over with a <em>thud</em>.
“Cough!”
“Wow, he’s strong!”
“We need to run away!”
The ck King Ogres, terrified by Jeong-hoon’s might, tried to retreat.
Jeong-hoon then blocked their escape route with the Celestial Scroll again and continued to sh at them.
<em>‘That should be enough.’</em>
The situation ended in an instant.
Forty-seven ck King Ogre corpsesy sprawled on the ground.
Jeong-hoon shook off the blood from Leviathan and turned back to Kel.
Kel had emerged from behind the tree and was staring nkly at the corpses of the ck King Ogres.
“What are you standing there staring at?”
At Jeong-hoon’s words, Kel seemed to snap out of it, grabbing his shoulder with a look of shock.
“You, you… how did you do this?!”
He was stammering, clearly in disbelief.
“There’s no time to exin. What’s happening right now?”
“We failed the raid, and penalties are being applied! We need to get to the shelter quickly!”
“Got it.”
Jeong-hoon furrowed his brow.
The flow of all episodes was the same.
It depicted the process of a dimension’s destruction.
Of course, to reach destruction, penalties must umte to a point where recovery is no longer possible.
From the current state of the forest, it was clear that it hadn’t progressed that far yet.
“Come on! Hurry!”
“…I’m on it.”
Jeong-hoon was currently a guard named Hamel.
To clear the episode dungeon, he needed to follow the story.
Additionally, the Guardian of M?rchen did not respond here.
For now, it made sense to follow Kel and exit the forest.
“By the way, what are those dazzling things?”
Kel finally noticed the Mukho and essories that Jeong-hoon was wearing.
“Can’t you tell? They’re items.”
“Aha… so is that why you could fight the monsters?”
“There’s no time for a long exnation. Let’s go!”
“Okay, got it.”
Jeong-hoon followed Kel as they headed toward the shelter.
[Trantor - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]