The Return of the Legendary All-Master

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

"Thank you… really."

The pain in his back had faded, and even his sealed abilities had returned.

Lee Yoo-chan bowed his head in sincere gratitude toward Lee Na-yeon.

"It's fine. But more importantly, we don't have time."

"Huh?"

"We need to clear this place quickly and move on to the next."

"Ah."

That's right.

He was still in the middle of the Incarnation Quest.

To stop the invasion, they couldn't just close this one portal—all of them needed to be shut down.

"Then you'd better hurry."

"R-Right."

There were a lot of things he wanted to ask her, but it didn't seem like she'd give him answers even if he did right now.

So Yoo-chan simply followed after her.

The pain in his back had eased considerably—probably thanks to how expensive the potion was.

When he reached back to touch his back, Na-yeon noticed and spoke with a smile.

"It was a top-grade potion."

"T-Top-grade?!"

Top-grade potion.

One of those costs a staggering 200,000 points.

She actually used something that rare on me?

Could it be… she's interested in me?!

The thought popped into Yoo-chan's head.

But… she's a bit older than me…

Even generously estimating, she had to be in her late 30s.

That meant there was at least a 10-year gap between her and himself, who was 27.

I'm not really into older women, though…

Yoo-chan pulled out his smartphone and opened the camera to check his reflection.

A pretty decent-looking face.

He'd been popular all throughout school, never short on romantic attention thanks to his charm and social skills.

With this kind of face, someone like that lady would be easy to win over.

At that level, and with the wealth to casually use a top-grade potion…

Totally possible.

Yoo-chan grinned to himself as he continued following Na-yeon.

At that moment, Na-yeon turned her head and gestured.

"See that forest over there?"

She pointed to the entrance of a dense, shadowy forest.

"Huh? The forest? What about it?"

Don't tell me… is she planning to seduce me there?!

"…You don't feel it?"

Na-yeon narrowed her eyes as she asked.

Is this a sign she's annoyed by me pretending to be innocent?

Yoo-chan nodded with the most casual, confident smile he could muster.

"I-I can feel it now."

"Good. Then I'll need you to cover me."

"Huh?"

"Cover fire. The Dark Elves are lying in ambush over there."

"Ahh…"

Only then did Lee Yoo-chan realize how badly he had misunderstood—and his face flushed bright red.

"Hurry. We don't have much time."

As Na-yeon crouched behind cover and began preparing her sniper rifle, Yoo-chan quickly rushed toward the forest.

Damn it, that was unbelievably embarrassing.

Thank God she didn't catch on to what he was thinking.

If she had, it would've become a cringe memory he'd be kicking himself over for years.

Still… is it because she's over level 2,000? She noticed the Dark Elves' ambush right away.

Unlike her, Yoo-chan only sensed their presence after getting close to the forest.

With his Sword Shield activated, he raised his blade and brought it down in a sweeping arc like he was tearing through the air itself.

With a whoosh, the sword strike sliced through the entrance of the forest.

"Tch."

"This human's got sharp senses."

The Dark Elves who had been hiding stepped out of the shadows.

Just as they aimed their bows at Yoo-chan—

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Gunfire rang out in rapid succession.

"Guhh!"

With dying screams, the Dark Elves collapsed to the ground.

Each of them had a bullet hole clean through the head.

It was a gruesome sight—heads blown apart—but thanks to his high mental resistance stat, Yoo-chan didn't feel much of anything.

Bang! Bang!

The gunfire continued.

Another Dark Elf who had still been lying in wait was taken out by a bullet that tore through the tree he was hiding behind and pierced his skull.

Only after the ambushers were wiped out did Na-yeon finish her sniping and rejoin Yoo-chan.

"You're not hurt, are you?"

At her question, Yoo-chan frantically shook his head.

"No, ma'am!"

All he had done was draw the attention of the Dark Elves.

The ones who had actually been killed—every single one—were taken out by Na-yeon.

"Great. Then let's keep moving."

"Yes, ma'am!"

* * *

Unlike dungeons, the red portals had no boss monsters.

So what did they need to do?

Seal the rift that the Dark Elves had used to cross over—completely.

"See that crack over there?"

Na-yeon pointed toward a distant wall.

The wall was split down the middle, and a black light was seeping out from the crack.

Through that light, nearly ten Dark Elves were stepping out.

"Ah, so that's how they've been crossing over to this side."

"Exactly."

"Then how do we close that thing?"

<Make contact.>

The one who answered was the Transcendent contracted with him.

"Contact…?"

"Oh, quick on the uptake. That's right. We can't pass through that rift ourselves. But when we make contact with a physical part of our body, it triggers a normalization process, and the rift disappears."

"Wait, are you… an Incarnate too?"

If she weren't an Incarnate, how else would she know this kind of information?

"No."

Lee Na-yeon had learned it from Jeong-hoon.

"Then how—?"

"Is this really the time for idle chat?"

As she narrowed her brow, Yoo-chan tactfully returned to the main point.

"Ah, sorry. So… who's supposed to touch that thing?"

"You are."

"...What?"

"I'm a sniper, remember."

"Right…"

"Then let's go. I'll take care of all the Dark Elves. You just head straight for it."

"Okay."

Her shooting skills had already proven themselves.

Trusting entirely in Na-yeon, Yoo-chan sprinted toward the rift.

"A human's already gotten this far?!"

"Stop him!"

The Dark Elves coming through the rift shouted in alarm.

But they couldn't stop him.

Bang! Bang!

Because the sniper covering him was unmatched.

With every shot, a Dark Elf fell dead, and Yoo-chan reached the rift with ease, placing his hand against it.

Tap.

Viiiiinnng—

As his hand touched the rift, it felt like a wall. The rift began to tremble violently and then started to close little by little.

"Whoa…"

So this is how it closes.

Yoo-chan let out a brief exclamation of awe.

The rift closed quickly—it didn't even take 15 seconds.

[Contribution increased by 1.5%.]

His contribution rating, which had been 0%, rose to 1.5%.

"Nice work. Let's move on to the next one."

"Y-Yes!"

* * *

Jeong-hoon's expression had hardened.

<That Logos bastard… it looks like he added a device that amplifies the invaders' levels.>

"Yeah. No way he'd just sit still."

<He wants you to hurry and cross over to the Celestial Realm. Because once you do, there's a way to stop the invasion.>

So he's that desperate to wipe out Tenebris.

No—more likely, he wants to erase me, the one who humiliated him.

"Master, at this rate, we won't be able to hold out. What do we do?"

Thanatos asked with a grim look.

So far, none of the portal timers had hit zero, but the real issue was that shutting all of them down was practically impossible.

"It's fine. If he's making a move, then I've got my own plans."

In Seoul, Jeong-hoon's mother, Fenrir, and Michael were each moving independently, diligently closing the portals.

And during that time, Jeong-hoon had been preparing something—Normalization.

As the owner of a dimension, he held certain intervention rights.

While it was too much to fix corrupted code, he could still manipulate functional code.

Once they cross over to Earth, the amplification effect they gained will be automatically removed.

On top of that, he'd apply a max-level debuff to dramatically weaken them.

[Removing amplification effect.]

Since he had taken his time preparing it, the removal of the amplification was executed smoothly.

[Debuff applied.]

[Level reduction]

[All stats reduced by 50%]

He stacked a debuff on top of the nerf.

With this, it should be entirely possible to fend off the invasion.

"All done now?"

Thanatos nodded, his face filled with admiration.

"That's just perfect!"

Vrrr—

Just then, a call came in from Yeo Min-Ji.

Looks like she finished her 6th Advancement.

Perfect timing.

If she joined them now, she'd be a huge asset.

"Yes."

[Mr. Hoon! I'm super late, aren't I?]

Her voice from the other end of the phone was bright and full of energy.

She did it.

From the sound of it, anyone could tell she had succeeded.

"Congratulations."

[Oh! Is it that obvious?]

"Yes."

[Hehe, it took a while, but succeeding feels amazing.]

"That's good to hear. I was starting to worry you might've failed with how long it was taking."

[Of course I had to succeed! I'll tell you the whole story once I'm back. But first—can you explain what's going on right now?]

You're quick on the uptake. That's good.

"Yes. As you can see, the dungeons are gone. In their place, red portals have taken root."

[Red portals?]

"They're invasion points. If we don't close the rift before the timer above each portal hits zero, we'll be hit with penalties from the invasion."

[Goodness… You're saying we have to close all of those within a time limit?]

"Yes."

There's no other option.

[…Is it like the dungeons, where more will just keep spawning?]

"No. I don't believe so."

The red portals appeared to stop generating once they reached a certain number.

And now that Jeong-hoon had removed the amplification effects and applied debuffs, the portals that had spread across the world were gradually beginning to recede.

Seeing no further new portals spawning afterward, it was likely that once all the current ones were closed, the invasion could be completely halted.

[Understood. Then I'll focus on eliminating them.]

"Thank you."

The call ended.

Jeong-hoon rose from his seat.

<Hm? You heading out?>

"Yeah. Now that I've finished what I needed to, I need to focus on stopping the invasion."

Fenrir and Michael were already doing their part.

With Jeong-hoon and Yeo Min-Ji joining them, they could likely accelerate the process even further.

* * *

At that same time.

Na-yeon and Lee Yoo-chan had selected a portal with very little time left on the timer, using their radar to enter it.

Most likely, many other Incarnates have gone into portals like this one. We'll be joining up with them and moving together.

Rather than spreading out, they decided it would be more efficient to regroup.

But the ones guarding this portal weren't monsters—they were humans.

Sentinels clad in helmets and armor.

Thankfully, Na-yeon acted quickly and prevented them from sending any signals.

As they searched the bodies, they discovered what the sentinels had been burying—cold, lifeless remains of an Incarnate.

Even if they're enemies, how could they do this to another human…?

Regardless of which side they were on, this was far too cruel.

Lee Yoo-chan trembled in horror at the mutilated corpse before him.

It was so disfigured that he only realized it was a Korean body by reading the info window floating above it.

"…Let's at least pray for them."

Na-yeon quietly gathered the bodies and buried them with care, offering a silent prayer for their souls.

Their levels were in the low 900s.

By no means weak—but the reason they were defeated was simple.

No one can win when they're severely outnumbered.

"What do we do now…?"

The ones guarding this portal were fellow humans, just like Lee Yoo-chan.

Imperial Knights—enemies they had run into countless times in the game.

Their average level was 500. And although individually they weren't too threatening, there were just so many of them that even two Incarnates weren't enough to handle it.

Even a 900-level Incarnate ended up butchered like this—it said a lot about how strong the enemy was.

No matter how powerful Na-yeon was, even at level 2,000… could she really handle that many at once?

"No need to worry. We'll just break through with overwhelming firepower."

"Ah, understood."

Reassured by her confident tone, Yoo-chan nodded.

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]