Chapter 39 – Anomaly (１)

‘…What’s this?’

Gijun tilted his head at the sudden cascade of messages.

A feat that would be remembered throughout history.

A new chapter in the main scenario.

And a new dimension….

On top of that, every being across the continent would learn of this achievement….

It was one headache-inducing term after another.

[Tartaros, you say.]

Libre muttered softly as well.

Tartaros.

Even Gijun knew that name.

It was a legend from Greek mythology.

Tartaros was the name of the underworld from those myths.

“So, put simply… it means an underworld has opened up?” he asked.

[Yes. Tartaros is a place where the root of evil writhes. And perhaps, within it, the Heart of God may be buried.]

“Ah, but listen.”

[Speak.]

“Can’t you sense where the Heart of God is?”

He was genuinely curious.

Wasn’t this the Libre who could locate monsters and even Seekers?

[For reasons unknown, the Heart’s location is not perceptible to me.]

“Hmm….”

Gijun nodded.

If Libre said so, then that was that.

[In any case, it’s astonishing. I never thought an Ancient God would manifest in person.]

“…”

Gijun couldn’t shake that sensation, either.

Like he could accomplish absolutely anything.

A true taste of omnipotence.

Of course, it lasted only a blink.

Less than a second.

Even that had drained his HP and MP to zero, but the power itself had been real.

[How did you do it?]

Libre asked once the fight was over.

“Do what?”

[How did you manifest the Ancient God’s power through your own body?]

“It told me to hold its hand.”

Gijun couldn’t fathom why Libre was so hung up on this.

He’d just done what the Ancient Heart had said.

[You think that’s as easy as it sounds? You must have seen a line.]

“Yeah.”

[That line isn’t visible to just anyone. No, even if someone saw it — to actually reach out, grab it, and merge with the Ancient God’s power… hah.]

Mid-sentence, Libre let out a hollow laugh, as if she couldn’t believe it.

[A madman, indeed.]

“…”

[This already transcends the bounds of humanity. That line is something human eyes were never meant to see, human hands never meant to touch.]

Hearing Libre say that stirred something strange in Gijun.

He’d done it without a second thought, and it turned out to be that monumental.

He’d just figured he was lucky.

Maybe he actually had a gift far greater than he gave himself credit for.

[Are you going to tell me what else it said?]

Libre pressed him again.

She seemed curious whether the Ancient Heart had said anything more.

Gijun shook his head.

“Nothing.”

Right now, the Ancient Heart wasn’t saying a word to him.

As if nothing had ever happened — he couldn’t even sense its presence anymore.

[I see. But if you manage to collect all ten fragments of the Heart…]

“Yeah. Wonder what’ll happen then.”

His Level had shot up to 89 in one go.

Hell, a message had popped up that didn’t even make sense.

A notification saying he’d exceeded the max Level gain in a single instance.

And that the leftover Experience was being converted into Stats.

‘My Magic Power broke 200 in one jump.’

With Bonus Stats added on top, it was already pushing 400.

At this point, he could make a joke out of Players decked out in items with Level 100+ equip requirements — worth hundreds of millions of won per slot in real Cash Purchases.

If they saw this, they’d probably be furious. And he wouldn’t blame them.

Some of those heavy-spending Users casually dumped tens of billions of won into the game.

Gijun’s total Micro-transactions? A paltry tens of millions of won.

The absolute pinnacle of efficiency.

An utterly unbelievable result.

His mouth hung open, refusing to close.

Then, another line of text popped up.

[A Quest has been triggered.]

[Gateway of Tartaros]

– Grade : Class

– Descend the mountain and speak with the Subjugation Captain

– Reward : Quest

‘…Ah.’

A Quest named Gateway of Tartaros.

First things first — he needed to get down the mountain.

And so Gijun left the cave and made his way down.

*

“I can hardly believe it. Is it really true?”

“It’s certain.”

The Subjugation Captain and the Special Task Force Captain.

The two men sat alone in the Subjugation Captain’s tent, deep in serious conversation.

The talk, of course, was about the exploits of a mage named ‘Jun.’

“It’s a story I’d hardly dare believe without seeing it with my own eyes… but since you say so, I can’t very well doubt it.”

Killing the Dragon’s Guardian single-handedly.

As if that weren’t enough, he finished off the Dragon itself in a single blow with some unknown magic.

What kind of madman in this world could believe that?

But the man before him was the one the Subjugation Captain trusted more than anyone else.

There was not the slightest chance he would lie to him.

If so, then this mage Jun truly had slain the Red Dragon.

That made him nothing less than a Dragon Slayer.

“…He’s a more absurd figure than I’d imagined.”

His head was spinning.

Just then, someone stepped into the tent.

One of the Special Task Force members.

“What is it?”

“He’s come down from the mountain.”

“…Show him in.”

The Subjugation Captain said.

In that moment, the Subjugation Captain had already begun to think of the mage Jun as someone he dared not treat lightly.

*

“What the hell is this?”

“What’s Tartaros?”

“How do we get there?”

By the time Gijun came down from the mountain, the camp was already buzzing with talk about Tartaros.

Judging by the messages, everyone had seen the same one he had.

No doubt the community boards were in uproar by now too.

‘Looking at the quest details, it doesn’t seem like the entrance to Tartaros has opened yet.’

And opening that door was clearly something he had to do.

The hint for that, he suspected, would come from this man right here.

“I’ve heard of your feats, even from my position.”

After seating Gijun before him, the Subjugation Captain composed himself and spoke.

“I heard you slew the Red Dragon single-handedly. Lord Dragon Slayer.”

His manner was as reverent as if addressing his own liege lord.

And why shouldn’t it be?

There was only one Dragon Slayer in the entire continent.

The Emperor of Tartaros, called the Sword Saint.

A Dragon Slayer appearing before their very eyes — of course they’d be awestruck.

But for Gijun, it was rather awkward.

On the surface, he was a Dragon Slayer, true.

But that had never been a proper fight.

The Red Dragon was already on its last legs.

And he’d only finished it off by borrowing Libre’s power, nothing more.

[Enjoy it, my master. Though you borrowed my strength, it was still your power that accomplished the deed. Do you think any common rabble could have done the same by borrowing my strength?]

“…”

At Libre’s words, Gijun slowly nodded.

It wasn’t wrong, and even Libre, who had lent him the power, said as much.

“If I may, might I ask about your next destination?”

Then the Subjugation Captain spoke again.

Gijun sank into thought.

He was weighing how to answer.

But before he could even open his mouth, the Subjugation Captain cut in.

“I hear strange things are happening in a land called Hamal. Monsters are rampaging, attacking nearby cities. Would you go there and meet a man named ‘Amalta’?”

In that instant, a new message appeared.

Ding!

[Quest activated!]

The notification flashed before him.

And what quest it was —

A job quest.

Once again, a job quest had triggered.

[Entrance to Tartaros -2]

– Grade: Job

– Meet Amalta and investigate the changes in Hamal

– Reward: Quest / Experience

He’d gotten the second clue.

Perfect.

So the next destination was set.

But not now.

He was too exhausted.

“I need to rest now.”

Gijun said it flatly.

The subjugation battle had drained him of too much Stamina.

He’d had to keep hunting without proper sleep,

and then, from the dragon onward, one shock after another had hit him.

Right now, his Stamina was nearly at zero.

Even Libre, looking worn out, patted him on the shoulder and said,

[Make sure you’re back in time.]

“Got it.”

[Heh heh. I graciously permit you, my master, to take your rest.]

*

[What the hell is Tartaros?]

[Who opened it?]

[Saint?]

[That’s the most likely bet.]

Saint.

The name of the current number-one guild in Real Spirit.

But then an announcement went up.

[They say it’s not them.]

Saint had officially denied any connection to this Tartaros business.

The other Ranker guilds did the same.

They said they were analyzing the situation closely and would upload videos to ViewTube as soon as their analyses were done.

[Whoa, no way — how long’s it been since the last big update?]

[This isn’t just a big update, is it? They’re saying it’s a main scenario?]

[No, fuck… a main scenario now?]

[I’m dying of curiosity.]

The players were buzzing with excitement.

All because of the main scenario’s appearance.

When, where, who, and how was this so-called main scenario being advanced?

They couldn’t contain their curiosity.

[Whoever you are, come out.]

[Which bastard is it?]

The problem was that the player who’d pioneered the main scenario hadn’t shown up.

No Ranker, no guild would claim it was them.

And so the curiosity only kept growing.

“…What a mess.”

Gijun, resting now, was also scanning the community situation.

Both the official Real Spirit website and the largest community forum were flooded with posts about Tartaros.

And of course, plenty of people were desperately searching for the player who’d opened the main scenario chapter.

“I heard a rumor—someone saw a Dragon Slayer in the Rotom Commercial District.”

“Bullshit. How the hell do you even hunt a dragon?”

“Did you miss the part where Saint and Changcheon got their asses handed to them? Tried it together and still got wrecked.”

“Don’t get fooled by that nonsense lol—even the top Rankers are hearing this for the first time.”

Plenty of people were talking about him now.

The key thing? Not a single one of them knew who he really was.

A strange feeling settled over him.

“I have to admit, I’m curious too.”

Of course, Gijun was just as curious as the rest.

What kind of place was Tartaros, really?

What monsters and boss monsters lurked there?

And what quests and rewards might make him even stronger?

“…Good. That’s good.”

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Then—

Ziiiiing!

His smartphone buzzed.

A message had come in.

“Huh? The Guild Master?”

It was from Woo Jimin.

[Mr. Gijun, please come to the guild as soon as possible. I have something urgent to discuss with you regarding this raid.]

“…What’s this about?”

*

Summoned by Jimin, Gijun hurried to the guild.

“Mr. Gijun.”

The moment he stepped into the office, Woo Jimin looked at him with a tense expression.

“There’s a problem now. It’s about the dungeon raid you agreed to join.”

“What kind of problem?”

“We suspect it’s due to the influence of a Level 9 Dungeon, but the difficulty of this dungeon has skyrocketed.”

Originally, this newly discovered dungeon had a B-rank difficulty.

That was why they’d proposed it to Gijun in the first place.

They figured a Level 4 B-rank Dungeon would be a worthwhile challenge for someone like him.

And that it would be the perfect stage for his spectacular debut.

“A Level 4 Dungeon with S-rank difficulty is essentially on par with a Level 5 one. No—it’ll be even more grueling than most Level 5 Dungeons.”

Is that so?

But instead of concern, Gijun’s lips curled upward.

He was intrigued.

He’d been thinking a Level 4 Dungeon might feel a bit underwhelming anyway. This worked out perfectly in his mind.

Gijun asked again.

“And Ure?”

“No reaction from them yet. I swear, those bastards are just waiting to see what we do. They’re probably hoping we’ll back out first. Guess giving up on their end would be a loss of face.”

Hoo…

He had a feeling this was shaping up to be an interesting picture.

Anyone could see that Gijun was the underdog here.

Ure was likely putting on a brave front because they expected him to give up on his own.

But it wasn’t just Ure.

Even Woo Jimin seemed to think the same, sneaking glances at him to gauge his reaction.

It’s only natural.

That was the plain truth.

If Gijun hadn’t gone through that rapid growth during the subjugation battle, he would’ve hesitated too.

But right now, he had no reason to waver.

So Gijun thought it over.

This was the perfect chance to completely overturn how people saw him.

Let’s go.

Gijun made his decision.

No—it wasn’t even something worth deliberating in the first place.

“I’ll do it.”

The words came packed with confidence.

For a moment, Woo Jimin’s eyes widened as she looked at Gijun.

“You really mean that…?”

Gijun nodded slowly.

“Seems like it could be fun. Let’s announce first—before Ure does. That way they can’t wriggle out of it or deny it.”

“…!!”

Woo Jimin’s face was a knot of complicated emotions—like she had no idea whether to be thrilled or terrified.

For a long moment, their gazes locked.