Chapter 185 …
“Main quest?”
An unexpected phrase appeared, and Dohyun’s eyes widened.
He never imagined he would see the words Main Quest here of all places.
Although surprised, Dohyun quickly accepted it.
Just like with the King’s Tomb before, he had already thought there might be other routes that led to the Main Quest.
“…Wait. Does that mean if I had been just a little later, the Hero Guild would have learned about the Main Quest?”
There was no way to know whether the hidden phase had triggered and revealed information related to the Main Quest or not.
What was certain was that Luidra was a hidden piece connected to the Main Quest.
If that was the case, there was a strong possibility that the Hero Guild would have eventually obtained information about the Main Quest.
“Maybe it’s fortunate that I unintentionally got ahead of them.”
Thinking about it that way was a huge relief.
It wasn’t just that information about the Main Quest would have been revealed. It could have interfered with Dohyun’s progress on the quest itself.
Just imagining that everything might have gone wrong if he had started the quest even a little later made a chill run down his spine.
“…I shouldn’t relax just because I’m the only one progressing it.”
Situations like this might seem like coincidences, but reality was often stranger than fiction.
Who knew when things might suddenly go wrong again?
It seemed best to keep pushing forward at full speed, just like he had been doing.
Anyway, setting that aside—
“Is that all the explanation?”
What was disappointing was that aside from the fact that they were related to the Main Quest, nothing about their identities had been revealed.
The only hint was what Luidra had said at the end…
But all of it sounded like the ramblings of a lunatic who had fallen into some strange cult.
There was no useful information.
“Five suns and moons…”
That title was the only thing remotely useful.
It probably referred to five enormous beings.
A group of five individuals connected to the Main Quest?
“…The ancient human kings?”
The first thing that came to mind were the kings who left behind the Fragments of Fate, but that didn’t quite fit.
If they were truly the ones who saved Luidra and made a request of him, then it was strange that Luidra hadn’t recognized Dohyun.
Well… unless the Mark of the Holy King was something only those kings could recognize.
“No… it’s more likely they’re the ones from the mural.”
Before encountering the Will of the Dark King, Dohyun had seen a mural in the King’s Tomb depicting five mysterious figures.
It made more sense that Luidra was connected to them.
But even that was only speculation.
Right now, there was no way to know their true identities.
After all, absolutely nothing had been revealed about those five figures in the mural either.
After thinking for a moment, Dohyun shrugged.
“Well… I’ll find out eventually.”
Since they were clearly connected to the Main Quest, he would learn about them someday while progressing through it.
Thinking about it now had no real meaning.
For now, it was enough that this information hadn’t fallen into anyone else’s hands.
Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!
Suddenly, applause sounded from behind him.
“—As expected of my lord! This humble sword believed you would accomplish it!”
“—Oi oi, I trusted you, boss! Seriously thought we died back there.”
“—Riza-riza!”
Seeing the usual bunch, Dohyun chuckled and gave them a small nod.
Jihad, as always, was exaggerating about dying—but this time he actually had almost died.
[Jihad’s mana has fallen below 10%.]
He had reached his limit as well.
Handling a high-tier Legion Commander that controlled pain had drained his mana rapidly.
If it had taken even a little longer, the outcome might have been different.
Thinking that they might have still lost even after all that… the difficulty was absurd.
But as always—
Dohyun had won.
And now it was time to savor the sweetness of victory.
[You have succeeded in defeating the enemy on the first encounter.]
[Due to Devour, all stats increase by +5.]
…
[You are the first to defeat Luidra. A boss-related equipment item will drop with certainty.]
[Harvesting the Essence Orb of the Hidden Raid Boss ‘Nightmare Sovereign Luidra’ guarantees an equipment item.]
[Would you like to harvest the reward?]
Dohyun’s eyes gleamed at the fruit of victory.
He had gained two levels.
His titles “First Slayer” and “Unbelievable Achievement” had raised all stats by 10.
But none of that mattered right now.
The only thing exciting him was one thing.
“Guaranteed equipment!”
What would it be?
This was equipment related to a Hidden Named Raid Boss.
At the very least, it would be Hero-grade.
Since Luidra was a unique boss, he was curious what type of item would appear.
Back in his Demrock days, he would have prayed for gear matching his class.
But now Dohyun was an All-Master.
“No matter what drops, it’s a win.”
Even if a staff appeared, he could absorb it into Thousand Transformations and make use of it somehow.
Just as his excitement peaked—
RUMBLE—
[Hidden Raid Boss Luidra has died. The unique space is disappearing.]
[Special Field ‘Swamp of Nightmares’ is collapsing.]
“What?”
A strange sound echoed, and messages appeared before his eyes.
Looking around, the space was truly twisting and collapsing everywhere.
The speed was terrifying.
Before he realized it, everything except a 10-meter radius around him had already crumbled.
[If you leave the special field, you cannot harvest the Essence Orb.]
“No—!”
Prompted by the warning, Dohyun hurriedly reached out.
A message appeared.
[Harvesting the Essence Orb.]
[Reward…]
Before he could finish reading—
the space collapsed.
And Dohyun’s vision flipped.
When his sight returned—
he was back in Luidra’s habitat.
Exactly where he had been before being dragged away.
“Ugh, that was chaotic. I didn’t even see what I got—…huh?”
But something was very different from before.
Murmur murmur—
Countless people.
The 100 members of the raid team were still there.
But in addition, there were more than thirty extra people.
All wearing the Hero Guild emblem on their chests.
Then someone who made eye contact with him shouted.
“Huh? That’s Kaiser.”
“No way, it really is! When did he come out?”
“Wow, we just got here. Perfect timing.”
At that voice, everyone turned to look at Kaiser.
“Kaiser!”
“Holy—”
“Did it drop? Did it drop?!”
Not just the Hero Guild members.
Even the raid team and viewers watching the broadcast all stared at him.
In an instant, Dohyun’s group became monkeys in a zoo.
Just as he tried to grasp the situation—
“Wait… why is Kaiser coming out?”
“Yeah… if Kaiser showed up… then…”
“…No way.”
“Does that mean Kaiser killed Luidra?”
“Uh…?”
The Hero Guild members voiced their confusion.
But it didn’t take long for that confusion to turn into a dreadful realization.
And then—
a notification rang.
Ding—
A message appeared for everyone present.
[Hidden Raid Boss ‘Nightmare Sovereign Luidra’ has been defeated.]
[Luidra has vanished. The faint energy lingering in the habitat disappears.]
[The monument collapses.]
RUMBLE—
“Uh…?”
At the same time, the monument crumbled.
Above Zerpac and the Hero Guild members’ heads, a special message appeared.
[The monument containing the spirit of the Forgotten King has collapsed.]
[The quest ‘Savior of the Forgotten Spirit’ and all quests related to the ‘Forgotten King’s Spirit’ have been deleted.]
[Linked quests currently in progress will also disappear.]
“…?”
“What?”
It was a message announcing their complete downfall.
* * *
“LOL this is insane”
“Quest DELETED LOL”
“What’s Berze gonna do now”
“Holy shit this is hilarious”
“Boss? It existed. Now it doesn’t.”
“And the one he kidnapped was Kaiser of all people”
“…Ah.”
Watching the chat explode, Zerpac barely regained his senses and shook his head.
“Defeated? He defeated it? Alone?”
But even after calming down, his mind remained dizzy.
It made no sense.
Kaiser had been dragged into the boss’s unique space.
From that moment until they deployed a new raid team—
barely 30 minutes had passed.
Even if it were a field boss, that time was absurdly short.
He killed it?
“Does that even make sense?”
No matter how strong Kaiser was, and even if he had three unusual guardians, he was still a solo player.
Having high stats and some guardians didn’t mean you could solo a raid boss.
“Is he playing a different game alone or something? What the hell is this?”
Games had things called balance.
This felt like he had used cheats.
Meanwhile, the chat kept exploding.
“If Kaiser hadn’t shown up none of this would’ve happened LOL”
“This is destiny at this point”
“But seriously, Kaiser’s insane”
“Where are the people who said he could never kill it?”
“Still calling him a Kaiser fanboy now???”
“Everyone who said he’d die as a meat shield is real quiet now LOL”
“Okay but seriously HOW did he kill it?”
“Hope he uploads the video on NewTube”
“Viewer count skyrocketing right now”
“Word spread on forums. Even overseas viewers are waking up to watch.”
“This stream is legendary today.”
Even the viewers admitted it was ridiculous.
So it was natural that Zerpac, watching it in real time, felt completely stunned.
But he wasn’t the only one.
[Berze: …Deleted? Deleted? Everything disappeared?]
[Berze: Zerpac, am I seeing this correctly? My perfect plan… the plan that would have propelled us one—no, two steps forward… just vanished like this?]
[Berze: AAAAAAA!! KAISEEEEER!!!]
“…We’re screwed.”
Zerpac sighed as whispers from Berze flooded in like madness.
He couldn’t mute them, so he just lowered the volume.
[Viewers: 113,240,000]
News must have spread because of the unprecedented situation.
The viewer count had exploded.
They had reached 100 million viewers, their original goal.
But instead of broadcasting the first Hidden Raid Boss kill…
they were broadcasting a boss disappearing fiasco.
“…So it’s all gone.”
Zerpac felt empty.
Just moments ago, they had been dreaming big.
Now it felt like waking from a fantasy that was never real.
“Top executive position, my ass…”
Now he had to worry about losing his position entirely.
After all, he knew better than anyone how much effort their master had put into preparing this hidden quest.
And now—
everything was gone in an instant.
“Kaiser… if it weren’t for that bastard…!”
Just like Berze, Zerpac needed someone to blame.
And the target was obvious.
Kaiser.
The source of everything.
Then Berze spoke again.
[Berze: Hoo… hoo… Zerpac.]
“…Yes.”
[Berze: This has crossed the line. If we endure this quietly, we’ll be completely looked down on. No—more than that… I simply cannot tolerate it.]
“….”
[Berze: As the master of the Hero Guild, I issue an order.]
Still breathing heavily with rage, Berze spoke through clenched teeth.
It was a declaration.
[Berze: As of today, the Hero Guild declares war on Kaiser.]
A declaration announcing war with Kaiser.
[Berze: Kill that damn bastard Kaiser immediately.]
It was an official assassination order.
The command reached everyone.
And the eyes of the Hero Guild members—including Zerpac—began to gleam with hostility.
