Out of all the troops that Nangong Hao brought, around 1,500 were left alive. There were still a large number of soldiers.

“Archers!”

The Atlas soldiers pulled their bowstrings taut. And when they let go…

Fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh-

“Keuaaaaaack!”

“Ugh!”

…their arrows accurately shot their enemies’ vital points.

[Critical strike!]

The crowd rushed forward to try and dispose of the archers that sent nearly 100 arrows over. However, the archers were not just simple archers. They drew their swords and fought valiantly against their rushing enemies. They were not just good at archery, spearmanship and swordsmanship, they were proficient in everything. Some of them also jumped on their horses with their spears.

Clip, clop, clip, clop!

These were the 100 Atlas Cavalry Men! The 100 soldiers whose talents were recognized by Kaistra and went under intense training under his tutelage!

Stab! 

Stab!

Stab!

Stab!

Stab!

The crowd would shift and open every time the cavalry passed by. It was as if Moses was present and was creating his miracle once again.

“Hihihihihing!”

“Hihihing!”

Even the horses that the soldiers were riding on were not just any normal ones! They acted as if they were one with the soldiers that rode on them, and were not just simply running. Kaistra had once told the soldiers, ‘The horses are your comrades. You will help them when they’re in danger and they will help you when you’re in danger.’ The soldiers never forgot those words. They raised their horses with love and care, until each and every one of them had reached the maximum favor of the horse that they were with.

One of the horses reared its hind and kicked the enemy that was rushing from behind.

Kick!

“Euaaaaaack!”

“Hiiing!”

Sometimes, the horses would even raise their front legs to kick and slam their enemies fiercely, fighting together and protecting their master riding on their backs.

Park, who watched the entire situation of the battlefield, shuddered and thought, ‘Are you watching this, our previous Food God?’

He also could not believe his eyes. The soldiers of Atlas had grown incredibly strong in just one month. Their growth was beyond any common sense. It was extremely explosive, that Park could already imagine how Minhyuk’s Atlas would surpass the Atlas of the past. This was all possible because of Minhyuk’s greatness and influence.

“Forward!”

The 200 Atlas’ Death Corps soldiers marched forward and went wild on the battlefield.

The Black Knight Order, whose level was considerably higher than the other soldiers, also moved forward. However, they were being pushed back by the excellent strategies and tactics that the Atlas soldiers were pressuring them with. The Death Corps were the elites of the elites, and they were being led by Ghost Spear Ben, Talmor’s Corr, Sword Saint Conir, as well as Great Sage Aruvel.

In the end, Nangong Hao was forced to use his last resort. He thought, ‘Suicide Troops! Blow yourselves up!!’

These Suicide Troops were special soldiers created in the event of emergencies. They were literally covered with bombs all over their bodies. The soldiers would lose their lives in exchange for terrifying explosions from the bombs planted in their bodies.

The Suicide Troops numbered around 50 people. Nangong Hao had tried to refrain from using these soldiers. After all, the public might blame him once their soldiers were lost. However, they would inevitably die anyway, so he figured, might as well. Besides, the public’s stance might soften a little bit since the NPCs that died during the Soldiers’ Great Battle would be resurrected in their territories once again.

With Nangong Hao’s orders, around 50 soldiers moved out, their expressions at rapt attention.

***

[Aaaah! 50 soldiers suddenly started rushing forward to the 200 enemy soldiers in the lead!!!]

[What are they doing? Are they not concerned about the enemy’s attacks?]

China was now in a state of panic. They had been certain that Nangong Hao and his Behemoth territory forces were going to win! But, as it turned out, they were losing ground. The Chinese NPCs were being pushed back and were losing ground against the South Korean NPCs, no, to be exact, residents of Minhyuk’s Atlas.

Everyone had stopped in front of a device, whether it was in front of a computer store, in front of the screen in the bus terminal, or even in front of a building’s electronic display, just to watch the scene.

“There…there are monstrous beings like that in South Korea…?”

“This can’t be… Our China is one of the strongest countries in the Athenae worldview.”

That was right. China was one of the powerful countries in Athenae worldview. On the contrary, Korea, despite being the producer and creator of the game, was a very weak country. No one, even the Athenean experts, expected South Korea to play an active role in the Continent Cloud. As fate would have it, they were overwhelming a 3,000-strong troops with just their measly number of over a thousand.

Then, Nangong Hao’s 50 soldiers suddenly dashed forward. The Chinese players watched with bated breaths as the 50 soldiers jumped and hugged who they assumed were the most powerful soldiers among the 200 enemy troops. Then…

Baaaaaang!

An explosion rang out, covering everything within a five meter radius of those 50 soldiers.

“…”

“…Sui…suicide bombers?”

“Wasn’t that amazing?”

The suicide bombers’ explosive power was very amazing. It engulfed the soldiers around them with just a single blast, killing off their enemies one after the other. That was right. China might still have a hope of winning this war.

[Behemoth Soldiers made themselves explode!!!]

[Fortunately, even if they exploded, the NPCs that died during the Soldiers’ Great Battle would be resurrected in their territories! What an amazing explosive power.]

[If we can kill the enemy’s strongest forces, then we have a chance of winning.]

Hundreds of millions of Chinese that were watching the broadcast sighed in relief. That was right, after all, China could not lose that easily, right? But then…

[H…huuuuuuuh?! Wh, what is that?!!!]

[G…ghost?! Are those ghosts?!! What are those?!!]

The flustered and panicked voices of the commentators rang loudly in the speakers, as the cameras panned and focused once again to the area where the explosions happened.

The dust settled down, only to reveal the soldiers of Atlas territory in a semi-transparent state after dying from the explosion. Then, something more surprising happened. The Atlas soldiers began to attack their enemies, their movements much faster and more ferocious than before.

“Wha…what the hell is that?!!”

“Is South Korea teeming with those?!”

The Chinese players were unaware, but this was the skill that all 200 of the Death Corps had learned, ‘The One who Returned from Hell’. It was a skill that restored 40% of the Death Corps’ HP in the event of death and brought them back in a semi-transparent state. The skill would also increase all of their stats by 20%, and their physical and magical defense by 40%. In other words, the Atlas Death Corps’ soldiers were now as strong as someone at Level 500. The speed at which they trampled on their enemies also increased significantly.

[Hiiiiiiik!]

[Euaaaaaack!]

The Behemoth territory soldiers looked like they were trembling in fear. In the end, the forces from Behemoth territory were all wiped out except for one man, Nangong Hao. Even Black Lion had been killed during the battle.

***

Genie walked slowly after the forces from Behemoth territory had been wiped out. Even their leader, Nangong Hao, had collapsed after being attacked at his vital points.

“Don’t think that you’ll win just because you won this one time!” Nangong Hao shouted, while gnashing his teeth in anger.

Genie had kept him alive to make him suffer. After all, Nangong Hao had taken to SNS and interviews to mock South Korea. That was also the reason why Genie did not hesitate to humiliate him as well.

Shwaaaaaa!

The sword in Genie’s hands moved to cut off Nangong Hao’s neck. The scene looked exactly like the beheading scenes in the movies. Then, she raised the sword that she used to cut the enemy’s head high in the sky…

“Uwaaaaaaaaah!”

…and roared. The Koreans watching this scene felt their hearts heat up and soar.

Then, the notifications rang for Genie.

[Let’s Eat Sect’s Guild Level has increased.]

[Let’s Eat Sect’s Guild Level has increased.]

[Let’s Eat Sect’s Guild Level has increased.]

[Let’s Eat Sect’s Guild Level has increased.]

The notifications rang non-stop. This was an inevitable result, even if they were in the Continent Cloud. After all, the Let’s Eat Sect, a guild at the bottom of the ladder, overpowered and defeated the guild sitting at the top.

On this day, the Let’s Eat Sect climbed to ninth place in their Local Guild Rankings. Minhyuk’s guild was slowly making its way towards becoming the strongest guild in the world.

***

Minhyuk entered the Innocent Hero’s Trial and was met with the adult version of Conir in the form of a statue. It was proof that Conir was a being that stood at a pinnacle, considering that this was a place where one could awaken into the Pinnacle.

‘From what I heard, Conir was the person that created the foundation of the Knight Tower’s Faramil Swordsmanship.’

Minhyuk knew about that fact, but he never imagined that he had reached the Pinnacle. Conir was also a figure that was once considered as the Saint.

[Sword Saint Conir. Level 796.]

This was the first time that Minhyuk had ever seen an NPC with this monstrously high level. Would his Ellie noona also be at this level? After all, she was considered as the best NPC currently.

‘No. Not at all. It’s impossible.’

Minhyuk shook his head and left those doubts behind as he moved forward. He needed to keep moving deeper inside to challenge the Innocent Hero’s Trial. After walking for some time, Minhyuk was met with a set of stairs that seemed to reach the skies. Minhyuk quietly looked up and counted the number of steps.

‘There’s a total of 25 steps.’

Strangely enough, each step was far higher than any ordinary stairs. Then, the notifications began to ring the moment Minhyuk went in front of the stairs.

[You can challenge the Innocent Hero’s Trial.]

[The Innocent Hero’s Trial has a total of 25 gates.]

[Achieving a high score will give you better rewards.]

[Every gate will have a different trial.]

Minhyuk did not forget to use the Wishing Stone that he had received from Ellie.

[You have used the Wishing Stone.]

[You can now choose the rewards that you will receive—artifact materials, cooking ingredients, potions, parchments, etc.—upon trial completion in every trial.]

The Wishing Stone was an amazing item that would allow Minhyuk to gain ingredients whenever he completed a trial. Of course, Minhyuk chose cooking ingredients without any hesitation.

[You have applied the Wishing Stone’s Cooking Ingredients.]

[You can now receive cooking ingredients whenever you clear a trial.]

Minhyuk looked up at the stairs once again. The number of gates for the trial was 25, which corresponded to the number of steps of the stairs in front of him. Minhyuk firmly placed both of his feet on the first step of the stairs. Then…

Flash—

…Minhyuk disappeared in a flash of light as his view completely changed.

***

Conir, in the form of a young man, watched the man take his first step through the crystal ball.

‘Who in the world are you?’

This was the question that floated in his head. It was clear that the man knew him. As Conir watched the man enter the first trial, he thought, ‘A being from hell will appear in the first trial.’

A monster from hell that no other player had ever encountered before! This was the being inside the trial.

Meanwhile, Conir looked down at his body. His body was now translucent. It was even flickering as if he was going to disappear at any moment.

‘My power is slowly disappearing…’

Conir looked at his translucent hands as he moved somewhere else. He glanced at the crystal ball for a moment and thought, ‘Hunting a being from hell is not an easy feat. Perhaps the first trial can be considered to be more difficult than the tenth trial.’

After all, they had to deal with that monstrously strong being. Then, he turned around and went to a mysterious river and submerged himself in it. This was the ‘River of Eternal Life’, a river that helped him, someone that had already died in the past, to breathe and live once more.

Conir rested there for two hours. After taking a rest there…

Shwaaaa—

…Conir stood up, his body no longer translucent as he walked back to the crystal ball.

‘Did he die?’

Conir wondered if the man had died as he approached the crystal ball, only to be shocked.

‘What…what the hell?!!’

He was met with an astonishing sight. The demonic beast from hell that was placed in the trial was none other than Hell’s Gatekeeper, the three-headed Cerberus. And that very same Cerberus was wagging his tail in front of the foreigner, who…

[Sit! Wait!!]

…was talking to Cerberus as if he was talking to his pet dog. What was more surprising was the fact that Cerberus obediently sat down in front of the foreigner.

Then, the man took out a big piece of meat, gesturing as if he was holding a gun, before saying sharply…

[Bang!]

Cerberus collapsed on the ground as if he was shot. When the man rubbed Cerberus’ belly, Cerberus gasped and purred as if he was enjoying the treatment.

“Keheok!” Conir gasped in surprise.

Cerberus was rumored to be a Level 650 ferocious being. However, what was comical was when the man patted the ground with his hands, as one of Cerberus’ heads tried to snatch the meat in his hands.

[Happiness, you! You know that this is for your brother, Love, right? Didn’t I tell you that I, your hyung, will get mad if you get too greedy? Huh?!]

[Kkiiing… kkiiiing…]

[You just ate your portion!]

[Kkiing, kkiiing…]

Cerberus looked like he was a pet dog being scolded by his owner. What was appaling was the name. The head in the left was named Happiness, the head in the center was named Love, and the head in the right was named Hope.

That was right. Hell’s Gatekeeper, Cerberus had now been named as Happiness, Love and Hope by the unknown and mysterious man.

“…”

All Conir could do was stare at the scene, speechless beyond belief.