Chapter 119 ….
“Whoa, it’s real?”
They had been angry that those guys dared to badmouth Kaiser, but they never imagined he would actually take first place.
“N-no, how…? This makes no sense…?”
If even Yubinkkyung was like that, what about the ones who had been gleefully tearing Kaiser apart?
Watching them go through the classic first stage people show when faced with the unbelievable—denial—Yubinkkyung puffed out his chest and grinned.
“How pathetic… What did I tell you?”
“Tsk, you talked all that smack and got wrecked by facts. I’d be too embarrassed to live. Geez, geez! I’m embarrassed for you! Sorry, blanket! Tonight’s gonna be rough!”
At the combined taunts of Yubinkkyung and Miganddaktae, who eagerly piled on the mockery, their faces turned as red as radishes.
“Grr…!”
They burned with anger, faces flushing and paling, but they couldn’t refute a single word.
Because everything said was true.
If they argued here, they’d only make themselves look worse.
“Hey… let’s go.”
In the end, they chose to flee in shame, tails tucked between their legs. At the same time, thunderous cheers erupted everywhere.
“WAAAAAA!!!”
Of course, the cheers weren’t for Yubinkkyung.
“This is insane! Berge got pushed down!”
“What the hell is this? How does someone get a score like that?! Does that make any sense?!”
“Crazy, absolutely crazy. Upload the video, hurry!”
“Why are you standing around?! Every second counts! If we lose the exclusive, you’re responsible! Get the 기사 (article) out!”
“The title? Make it as provocative as possible! Something like ‘A hero falls and a new hero rises’—slam it across the front page!”
They were simply roaring in excitement at the nuclear bomb that had overturned everyone’s expectations.
The Grand Temple or anything else didn’t matter right now.
Shield Best’s party, who had been smiling pleasantly as the crowd rapidly dispersed, suddenly paused as a thought struck them.
“…Wait, does that mean hyung graduated?”
“Huh?”
“Yeah?”
At Miganddaktae’s words, the two froze, then lowered their heads.
“…Guess we won’t see him again this time.”
“He keeps getting farther away…”
“Let’s work harder too. In the next city, we should at least catch a glimpse of him.”
“Hmm… is that even possible?”
That moment when they would cross paths with Kaiser soaring high above…
After briefly imagining it, Shield Best’s party nodded.
They couldn’t picture it very well.
“Well, whatever. We’ll see him when we get to the Empire.”
“Yeah. Let’s move at our own pace. They say if you chase a stork, you’ll tear your legs.”
“Hear, hear!”
As Shield Best’s party steeled their resolve, the news spread rapidly and soon reached the netizens.
[After one year, Brion’s #1 ranking changes!!]
[Kaiser reclaims the throne for the second consecutive time after Raven!!]
[Is there no one who can stop Kaiser?!]
[A hero falls and a new hero rises!]
Was this what a sudden nuclear bomb felt like?
With sensational articles dropping out of nowhere, the netizens’ reactions exploded as well.
Holy crap, first place? Kaiser took #1 again??
What? So Berge got pushed down? How is that possible?
Wait, wasn’t Kaiser a pure skill-type user? He’s not even a holy-power class, so affinity grinding should’ve been hard. What happened?
People couldn’t help but be curious about how such an impossible result came about.
But the bombshell wasn’t over yet.
[Breaking) Kaiser’s ranking score confirmed to be 4,561. Proof image below. (jpg)]
It was revealed that Kaiser hadn’t merely taken first place—he had recorded an absurd score.
Five times higher than second place.
Faced with the impossible, users were stunned.
No way, is this real?
This is insane… 4,561 points? Was that even possible??
Raven’s score was already ridiculous, but now this is just crazy. At this rate someone’s hitting 10,000 someday.
LOL how is it 4,561 points? It’s not like he maxed every Brion NPC’s favorability.
Seriously hope they upload the video. How did he even do it?
Not just skilled but a charisma grinder too… Kaiser, the man of allure…
└ Kaiser’s the master key. Didn’t you know?
└ What’s that?
└ Fiery charisma Ije! The master key Ka~
└ Great at fighting and great personality—perfect in every way!
└ You lunatics LMAO
At this point isn’t it actually a bug?
└ Nah, Kaiser’s skill is the bug!
└ fr fr lol
└ LMAOI was gonna call BS but my friend in-game says it’s real. This is nuts…
With proof attached and testimony from players currently logged in, the chaos exploded.
And the place in the biggest uproar was none other than the Church of Kasin.
Sob sob oppaㅠㅠ I believed in you!
Those who believe shall be rewarded… Ahh… truly holy…
Still gonna call us Kaqis? Still gonna call us Kaqis? Still gonna call us Kaqis?
└ If this makes me a Kaqi, I’ll gladly be one!
└ Hear the Kaqis multiplying lol
└ Yep, I’m one of them.
└ Oh, you too? Same here!
└ Ah… we were all Kaqis all along… what is there to deny…
└ You guys are insane but I’ve got no comeback so I’ll stay quiet.
└ Hey, you can do it too! Just become a Kaqi!
└ M-maybe I should…?
Kaiser-nim ㅠㅠ please upload the video this time too.
Like believers rewarded by their god, they flooded the boards with posts.
Seeing them finally vent the resentment they’d endured while being mocked as Kaqis, people felt genuine madness.
“Berge’s the king in Brion”? “Combat-only Kaiser can’t do it”?
Yep~ that Berge just crashed down~
Why does 999 suddenly look so pathetic lol
fr lol after seeing 4,561, 999 looks cheap as hell. Is that even a score?
What’s YOUR score, you punks?
What’s with this guy suddenly popping off? You Berge or what?
LMAO but seriously, what’s the Hero Guild gonna do now? Brion was Berge’s only #1 field.
Honestly they were just riding influence and fame. They’ve got nothing left to boast now.
BANG!!!
“You damn…!”
“M-Master…?”
Unable to scroll through the comments any further, Berge slammed the desk and fumed.
Startled, the sales director hurried over. He looked extremely flustered—he had never seen the master like this while working on assigned tasks.
But Berge paid no attention.
Usually cold and composed, but this time he couldn’t suppress his fury.
‘4,561 points… 4,561…!’
It was a number completely beyond Berge’s understanding.
What effort had he put in to achieve first place in Brion?
The moment he learned of Brion’s graduation quest, Berge realized it was his specialty. From start to finish, he had practically lived there, obsessively grinding affinity.
He hadn’t worked alone like a fool either.
The Hero Guild operated fundamentally as a team.
‘Countless guild members formed teams and maxed the affinity of major NPCs. And even then we stopped at 999!’
He still vividly remembered the regret of missing 1,000 by a single point.
But 4,561?
What in the world did you have to do to reach a score like that?!
As the commenters said, unless someone gained the favor of every NPC in Brion, it made no sense.
He genuinely wanted to see the video.
‘…What nonsense.’
Of course, that was the most absurd possibility of all, so Berge shook his head and calmed himself.
Getting worked up wouldn’t change anything.
‘Thanks to this, the plan’s tangled.’
His original plan had been simple.
Once Kaiser graduated and fell behind Berge in rank, he would immediately release articles and start a propaganda battle—his specialty.
Then he would either negotiate with or harass the already image-damaged Kaiser.
A win either way.
A perfect plan that would further elevate the Hero Guild’s prestige.
He had held all the options.
‘…I’ll have to scrap it all.’
The plan collapsed in an instant.
Though it was hollow and frustrating, Berge’s eyes were sharp.
‘…Right. That man was always like this.’
Even back in Demrock, no matter how many contingencies Berge prepared, Kaiser would always shatter them with something beyond common sense.
So now he had to make a new plan.
For the time being, Kaiser would be busy repairing his image, so he likely wouldn’t move…
‘Don’t think this is over.’
Berge ground his teeth, eyes flashing fiercely.
Naturally, the Hero Guild wasn’t the only one who received the news.
“…Berge got pushed down?”
“4,561 points…? That’s going too far—what? There’s proof? Wait, I’m logging in right now.”
“You’ve gotta be kidding me, I was sleeping—what the hell happened?”
From countless guilds including the Top 100…
“Kaiser took first place in Brion?”
“Huh… I’d ignored him since he’d fallen behind, but I can’t overlook this anymore.”
“Tch, I wanted to focus on the New Continent for now… this is a bit concerning.”
…to even the Top 10 guilds that had been preoccupied with the New Continent, the news spread in an instant.
For the first time, the Top 10 guilds began paying attention to the existence called Kaiser.
“…Huh.”
The same was true for Melsal in the Great Mountain Range.
No—what he felt now was more than mere interest.
“What kind of magic did you pull, Kaiser?”
Surprise. Or suspicion.
Those words best described the emotion in Melsal’s eyes.
No one understood better than he did what Kaiser had been pursuing.
That was why he believed Kaiser would inevitably fall from first place no matter the result.
So what was this?
“4,561…”
It was an achievement impossible without literal magic.
Perhaps there truly had been some hidden piece he himself had failed to discover.
Melsal let out a hollow laugh and stood.
As he recalled Kaiser in Demrock and the Kaiser of now, his eyes gleamed.
“…I hope the day comes when we can settle this here.”
Though they had never fought directly, he had always been second to Kaiser back then.
That was why he was curious.
If he—now clearly stronger than in Demrock—were to face Kaiser, who would win?
“…I’m looking forward to it.”
Muttering that, Melsal turned sharply.
He needed to cool his long-heated blood.
It was the moment an emergency alarm rang for the Cyclopes of the Great Mountain Range.
Meanwhile, in a certain office—
“Hmm~”
In the dark office, unlit yet glittering with expensive decorations and equipment, a low hum escaped.
“You seem to be in a good mood.”
Though the figure sat with his back turned and face hidden behind drawn curtains, the elderly vice guild master in a suit—who had served him for many years—knew.
When the master was in a good mood, he made that sound.
“A familiar name came up.”
Sure enough, the master grinned as he answered, and the old man nodded.
“Ah. You’ve heard news about him.”
“Yeah. He’d been quiet for a while, but lately he’s been popping up often. This time he took first place in Brion, I hear?”
“Hoo… If that’s true, it’ll be an emergency for the Hero Guild. They live and die by their image.”
“Living off image has its limits. Well… not like it’s their fault. Probably more like a natural disaster.”
The master chuckled.
No—this man.
The master of the Top 10 guild Babylon, most commonly known as the owner of the Arsenal.
Ast.
He added casually:
“Geez, this is why monsters with talent are such a problem.”
As he spoke, Ast lightly tapped the armrest of his luxurious leather chair.
The pair of purple rings on his fingers glowed brilliantly.
Meanwhile, while everyone was being swept up in the massive shockwave and focusing on him, Dohyeon…
“…You are the hero who received the goddess’s revelation?”
“…I believe so.”
He was face-to-face with Sir Lebed—
Commander of the Lair Holy Knights, Brion’s core military force, a legendary paladin symbolizing overwhelming power comparable to the Seven Strong.
