Ex-level Player With the Greatest Civilization of All Time - Chapter 21

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 21

The next day.
The community was alive with chatter about the previous night’s events.
Those who had gone to bed early after Baek Jin-sung ended his broadcast the night before were kicking themselves in regret.
They lamented having missed the moment when history was being made before their very eyes.

[What was that surprise clear anyway?]
[He said he was going to sleep. He said he was going to sleep. He said he was going to sleep.]
[I waited all day and then fell asleep right at that moment….]

The only consolation for them was the replay feature.
Late though it was, they soothed their sense of loss by watching the video that had been posted to Baek Jin-sung’s MeTube channel.
But what they witnessed belatedly through the footage was nothing but shocking scenes, one after another.
First, there was Argelayer.

[What weird thing did he bring this time?]
[But it’s incredibly cute.]
[It really was a humanoid…?]

Argelayer’s Ultra-Precision Photon Cannon.

[What kind of firepower blasts away an entire lake…]
[Honestly, even Miller would catch up soon. To have that kind of firepower in a place with just water..!]
[Technology!]

The drone’s precise ability to carry out its missions.

[So drones could take such detailed orders like that.]
[If he’s like this, he has no weaknesses?]

Because the video from multiple angles was full of astonishment.
By afternoon, the entire community had been plastered once again with talk of Naia.

[I just finished watching the replay and I’m losing my mind?]
[Argelayer’s a guaranteed appearance, right?]
[At this rate, Naia will reach floor 30 soon]
[Floor 30? It’s floor 40.]

Already the community was filled with people waiting for Naia’s next broadcast.

[I’ll hold my breath until the next clear broadcast.]
ㄴI heard that person passed away.
[But is there another humanoid besides Ar? There must be, right? I want to see it soon.]

While all eyes across the nation were fixed on Naia alone.
There was someone who found this deeply frustrating.
That was Cha Seon-ah, the youngest daughter of the Gangsong Guild.
“Why does the timing have to overlap like this?”
She was planning a broadcast for today.
One where she would offer the Forgotten Sacred Relic—which she had purchased recently at considerable expense—to the Church, thereby elevating her own abilities to the next level.

【Forgotten Sacred Relic】
Naia. The rookie player who had been stirring up the community with every move.

Precisely because her nationality and timing overlapped with Naia’s, she was feeling a doubled sense of being left behind.
She had Awakened half a year ago.
Which meant her current floor level was in the 40s—still not high enough to be comparable yet.
The spotlight had been completely stolen from him.
“It really isn’t easy.”
Before Naia’s appearance, she’d been a player garnering attention both domestically and abroad.
Now she was completely sidelined.
This despite awakening as a High Priest—an S-Rank Trait no less—and riding the peak of her valuation.
Cha Seon-ah sighed.
“I made such a big deal about this being different….”
To reclaim even a fraction of the public interest that had turned away toward Naia, she needed something dramatic enough to flip the narrative.
That’s why she’d borrowed money from her father, the chairman of the Gangsong Guild, days ago to purchase the sacred relic.
But judging by how things were unfolding, it seemed unlikely she’d generate much interest.
“Isn’t there a saying about the faster you run, the harder you fall? What about trying that approach?”
“So you’re saying we should wait until the storm passes?”
A player with streaming abilities, hired by her father to promote Cha Seon-ah, the guild’s most promising prospect.
Ha Jun-ha made the suggestion casually to her.
“If you push ahead now, you’ll just get buried. It’d be a waste.”
“But what changes if we wait? By then Naia will be even more famous than she is now. I think that’s actually the worse move.”
Looking at the current momentum, this trend was good for at least a week.
Of course, someone might argue that a week wasn’t that long to wait.
But in reality, a week was more than enough time for Naia to trigger another major incident.
Her rate of activity existed on an entirely different dimension from ordinary players.
In fact, she was a newcomer who hadn’t even been active for a month.
Yet she was already drawing global attention.
How much further she’d grow in a week…
“Let’s just do it now.”
“Understood… Let’s go then.”
Cha Seon-ah had, since her rookie days,
always climbed the tower alongside the players the Gangsong Guild assigned her.
So it wouldn’t be right to leave them out of the broadcast.
Today’s plan was to meet with her teammates in the Neutral Zone of Gartan on the fortieth floor, then showcase herself strengthened by buffs.
“Then let’s start the broadcast.”
After linking up with her teammates in the Neutral Zone, Cha Seon-ah nodded at Ha Jun-ha’s words.
Once she confirmed the signal that streaming had begun, she spoke.
“Today I’m going to return a Forgotten Sacred Relic to the Church.”

– Oh… so you did get it.
– There was one listed for sale in Lucid a few days ago. Is that the one?
– As expected from the Gangsong Guild’s capital power…

She visited the Church located in Gartan and handed over the relic.
She was planning to receive an enhancement buff afterward and visibly demonstrate her strength to her teammates as they cleared the layer.
An Archbishop wearing a long priest’s hat examined the relic and spoke.
“Hmm… this is not a relic of our Church.”
“Pardon?”
Cha Seon-ah, who’d been handed back the relic unexpectedly, spoke.
“Then which Church’s relic is it?”
“Well… we’re not entirely sure. In any case, it’s not ours, so please take it with you.”
Watching the Archbishop’s expression and demeanor shift so suddenly, Cha Seon-ah had no choice but to turn around, as if being driven out.
A teammate who had witnessed the entire exchange turned to her.
“Were you scammed?”
“Scammed…?”
Now that he mentioned it, something did seem off.
It was standard practice for any Church to accept relics.
It wasn’t as if the ancient relic had a name inscribed on it.
Disputes couldn’t arise in the tower’s completely isolated space.
What Church would refuse treasure that came to their doorstep?
Not unless someone falsely claimed it as their own and demanded to keep it.
In fact, among all the trial-and-error experiences multiple players had gone through before, this had never happened.
Churches typically treated visitors with utmost hospitality, offering buffs in swift succession.

– Lmao you got completely conned
– Didn’t they buy that for ten billion?
– Did they get scammed?

“I don’t think so.”
The voice belonged to another colleague.
“You heard it all just now. The Archbishop seemed willing to acknowledge it as a sacred relic.”
“So you’re saying it’s not a fraud?”
“Perhaps. It could be something even more special than an ordinary sacred relic.”
Cha Seon-ah was lost in thought when it happened.
Ha Jun-ha, who handled the streaming, signaled to her with his hand.
When she caught the signal.
‘This is huge… right?’
Suddenly she realized it had broadcast potential.
She’d been too flustered to respond, but now she understood their reaction had been explosive.
Honestly, an unexpected situation like this beat the same old routine any day.
She made up her mind to lean into the attention and draw it in.
“Since we’ve come this far, why don’t we check the other religious orders too?”

* * *

Cha Seon-ah began moving backward through the Neutral Zone.
From Gartan, the Neutral Zone of the 40s, down to the Neutral Zone of the 30s.
“Do they have the same issue here?”
– Is this the broadcast about getting scammed on the Forgotten Sacred Relic?
– I came after hearing the news. Apparently she’s in denial.
– Tell us how it feels to get relic-phished.

“Ugh, how annoying.”
Cha Seon-ah deliberately let her frustration show through exaggeration.
She knew they’d enjoy it all the more for it.
The situation wasn’t what she’d expected, but this — genuine attention — beat being quietly buried and forgotten a hundred times over.
“Let’s check the 20th floor.”
Moving to the 20th floor with her colleagues, their outward confidence unchanged, the result was the same.
‘Not here either? This is starting to… really worry me.’
Cha Seon-ah had intended to use this explosive interest to her advantage.
Yet she hadn’t entirely abandoned hope that somewhere would accept the relic.
Ten billion won.
A full ten billion sunk into this.
‘Of course, they might accept it above the 50th floor….’
The thought of letting spec-upgrade material rot in her inventory for an indefinite period made her head burn.
A broadcast hit was one thing, but wasting materials for spec upgrades with no guarantee was a burden she couldn’t ignore.
When the 20th floor rejected it too, her heart nearly sank — but.
The moment Cha Seon-ah arrived in Peronta and made straight for the temple, she felt what salvation truly meant.
The Archbishop’s voice reached her ears.
“Ah… it seems the Divine has not yet abandoned us after all.”

– Wow… they actually took it.
– Damn… the scam ending would’ve been hilarious too.
– Cha Seon-ah’s hitting the 50th floor soon anyway.

She smiled as she caught Ha Jun-ha’s signal.
She’d been feeling down lately, but now luck was finally turning her way.
Success on both the broadcast and the spec upgrade fronts.
Bursting with joy, she focused on the Archbishop’s words.
“Thank you for bringing us this sacred relic.”
“It was only the right thing to do.”
“I wish to give you a proper reward for choosing righteousness over greed, young one.”
“In that case, I’d like to learn the High Priest’s Blessing.”
She received an upper-tier buff.
Of course, unlike the High Priest’s Blessing obtained through normal channels that could be used without restriction, this one came with a limit of three uses per day.
It was growth as if wings had sprouted from her back.
Despite the rough journey, the broadcast had succeeded—and it was precisely when that realization brought a smile to her face.
“Thanks to your aid, we were able to remain steadfast in our calling. I am grateful to you once again, young sister.”
The Archbishop bowed his head a second time.
Ordinarily, when a sacred relic was returned, both parties satisfied their objectives and moved on—no further conversation was expected.
This made sense: the Church had relieved itself of its debt through compensation, while the players had no reason to linger at a place where maintaining decorum meant gaining nothing more.
Yet the Archbishop pressed on, his face brimming with emotion.
Before arriving here, words exchanged with her companions in Gartan flickered through Cha Seon-ah’s mind for just an instant.
‘What if this could be something special…?’
Cha Seon-ah seized upon the word that lingered peculiarly in her ears.
“…Your calling, you said?”
“Yes—a sacred mission passed down since ancient times, unique to the Rest Temple of Peronta.”
Cha Seon-ah simply felt it through instinct.
The scent of something big.
She couldn’t ignore this.
“Is there perhaps something I could help with?”
Events that occasionally arose in the Neutral Zone.
Perhaps it was one of those.
Rewards varied wildly depending on circumstances.
But fresh content—not the tower climbing everyone experienced—always drew attention.
This was precisely what Cha Seon-ah, who’d been constantly outpaced by Naia, had been longing for.
The Archbishop turned to address the other priests.
“What do you think, brothers and sisters?”
“I believe this, too, is the Goddess’s guidance.”
“She has already proven herself a sister in purpose to us.”
“I see no harm in sharing our calling with her.”
The Archbishop nodded, having made his decision, and opened his mouth.
“Are you perhaps aware of the demon sealed within Peronta?”
“No, I’m not….”
A grave weight settled across the Archbishop’s features.
“It is a calamity from ages past, one that could never be fully erased.”
“A calamity, you say….”
“Then do you know of the Floating Garden? In ancient times, it bore no resemblance to its present form—it was a sanctuary where spirits breathed and the World Tree took root.”
But one day, he appeared in Peronta, and after great trials, the demon was sealed within the World Tree itself.
His name was Belpherus.
“The seal remains intact, yet the seal wrought through the World Tree’s power grows steadily weaker. His resurrection draws near.”
The Archbishop withdrew an ancient scroll from within his vestments.
A leather cord was tangled around it, and a blue seal was impressed upon the binding.
“This is…?”
“A scroll leading to the Hidden Floor. Our Church intends to commit all its strength to reinforce the seal. Will you aid us, young sister?”
The Archbishop pressed a rolled parchment into her hands.
Upon receiving and examining it, she saw it was indeed a scroll.
【Hidden Floor Scroll】
-《Rank: S》
– Huh? What is this?
– S-Rank?
– This is insane…!
*
I woke around midday after sleeping through the early dawn.
Hunger called, so I ordered rice soup and ate my fill, then grinned to myself.
“A Heroic-grade item dropped from there?”
【Spirit-Infused Leather Armor】
《Rank: Heroic》
「Additional Stats」
+Strength: 10
+Agility: 10
+Magic Power: 10
+Mana: 10
+Defense: 20
Normal—Advanced—Magical—Rare—Epic—Heroic.
The Hero Grade was a full four ranks higher than the Advanced Grade he’d obtained before.
That alone made it worth it, but…
Hero Grade represented the current endgame tier of equipment, so there was plenty of demand for it.
“Just the stat bonuses alone give forty points to everything except defense…”
Of course, it wasn’t all advantages.
The special skills were rather sparse.
「SPECIAL SKILLS」
+[Shock Absorption]
Absorbs impact upon taking damage.
Cooldown: 30 minutes.
+[Body Temperature Regulation]
-Immunity to cold and heat
+[Reflection]
-20% chance to return damage when Shock Absorption triggers.
For Hero Grade equipment, it came equipped with three special skills, but aside from Shock Absorption, they weren’t particularly useful.
“But I can always swap out the special abilities later as crafting materials anyway, right?”
If worse came to worst, I could sell it and make a killing.
For now, I was planning to wear it since Shock Absorption would help in combat.
The price guaranteed by that 《Hero》 Grade alone was a staggering twenty billion!
I’d checked on Lucid, so I knew for certain.
“Got a free legendary piece out of this.”
To be honest, as the climb continued, I’d been worried about my equipment situation.
Among players who finished the tutorial, there was no one else climbing in shabby clothes like mine.
Getting this gear happened to solve that complex I’d been nursing.
So I decided to equip it right away.
Of course, since I was using Perception Obfuscation, everyone else would see it differently anyway, but there was still satisfaction in knowing I had proper gear on.
“Though honestly, for an S-Rank reward chest, the loot has been pretty underwhelming.”
This was the first piece of equipment to drop—aside from that one tightly-woven thermal robe.
Pleased with myself, I equipped it and stood before the mirror, admiring the design and its effects again and again.
Ding—
Baek Jin-sung’s broadcast start alarm chimed.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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