I Became a Mythical Hunter After Killing the Golden Goblin - Chapter 103

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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 103. To the Holy Kingdom
〚Hidden Job Quest (1): The Deepest Underground of the Holy Kingdom
Type: Mythic
Rank: EX+
Description: You have obtained a mysterious golden crown of unknown origin. You have been granted the opportunity to inherit the power of a great being. Advance toward where the crown leads you.
Objective: Investigate the secrets of the Holy Kingdom’s underground (Incomplete)
Upon Success: Hidden Job Quest (2) Generated, ???
Upon Failure: Hidden Job Quest Permanently Destroyed, Item: Crown of Unknown Identity [Normal-S] Destroyed〛
Upon entering the Abyss, I reviewed the Quest I had received previously. The difficulty promised nothing but a death sentence. It would be a level of difficulty where I wouldn’t even need Misfortune.
This would essentially be the highest difficulty the System could offer. After all, Origin-tier Quests were mysteries never discovered even in ancient texts.
I retrieved the beautiful black crown from my inventory. It was nothing more than a Quest item, possessing no special abilities whatsoever.
‘That bastard said this crown was stolen from him mid-Quest.’
He hadn’t mentioned who stole it from him. He’d even boasted that it was absolutely necessary for the Quest to preserve his pride. But now that I understood most of his stories were exaggerated and inflated, his words had become meaningless.
After all, unlike the shortcut Quest he received, a normal Quest was something different. I couldn’t help but anticipate what awaited at the end of this path.
I placed the crown back into my inventory and retrieved another item. It wasn’t exactly an item, but it was the most valuable thing I’d obtained from this Quest.
〚Letter of Recommendation from Cardinal Batroy of the Holy Kingdom〛
As I unrolled the tightly rolled letter of recommendation, it roughly stated: “I, Cardinal Batroy, vouch for and recommend the bearer of this document.”
With this alone, Stage-1 would be a free pass.
Complete Conquest was a thing. It referred to a special privilege granted by the Abyss when an entire massive Stage was conquered without leaving a single secret untouched.
Stage-0 and Stage-1 were Stages that had achieved Complete Conquest after countless ages. It meant they were safe zones created only after Players and all the residents—Players who sacrificed their lives—threw themselves into it.
That didn’t mean monsters never appeared or new mysteries never emerged. But it did mean the System wouldn’t suddenly spawn catastrophe-tier monsters or create problems.
It meant the apocalypse that residents feared most would never occur. This realm would remain eternal and immortal, and civilization would continue to advance.
That’s why most residents lived here. Naturally, the Quests assigned to Players were also granted by the System under the decisions of the Kingdom Alliance and City Alliance.
That’s why they weren’t so difficult. Wasn’t it just a matter of clearing one Quest and proving your identity?
There were no rewards, though. But wasn’t safety more important? Additionally, many residents with the authority to grant jobs and Hidden Stages were hidden throughout, so it was also called a beginner’s zone of sorts.
I stopped by the Guard Captain’s house and spent the day reuniting with them, then prepared to depart the following morning.
“You’re leaving?”
“Yes. Thank you for the warm hospitality yesterday.”
“Hahaha! You eliminated the danger threatening our village—that’s only a natural reward.”
Braymun laughed heartily and extended his hand. I smiled and clasped it. I seemed to be shaking hands quite often these days.
It meant the bonds of connection I’d forged were growing more numerous and deeper. I smiled and boarded the merchant caravan he had prepared.
“Once my urgent matters are settled, I’ll visit again for certain.”
“I’ll be waiting for the day we meet again. Nicky will be waiting eagerly too.”
I departed from the Primordial City.
***
There are several methods to advance to the next stage. The first method—the easiest and fastest—is to use a Stage Forced Clear Ticket, which appears as a Hidden Stage reward at an extremely low probability.
You can advance directly to the next stage without any particular effort or trials. You receive all the rewards as well.
Of course, this is nearly impossible, so let’s set that aside and examine the most orthodox method.
It involves clearing small stages within one massive stage one by one to progress. For example, clearing numerous cities within Stage-0 one by one before moving to the next stage.
Of course, you don’t need to clear every single stage. If you did, I wouldn’t have progressed to only around 10 stages instead of the 60s.
It simply means you must advance through stages of your choosing and meet a minimum number of clears. Additionally, you must also complete the Quests issued by the massive stage to gain the minimum qualification to proceed to the next one.
Stages-0 and 1, which are completely conquered zones, don’t have such requirements, but starting from Stage-2, I too must go through that process.
The final method is discovering a Hidden Stage and resolving everything in one fell swoop. This also requires luck, but it’s more common than the first method.
The problem is that the difficulty is high enough to pass through an entire stage. Five out of ten would die doing it.
Anyway, what I’m trying to say is this: even in completely conquered zones, you must travel through these tedious processes to advance to the next stage.
Well, once you clear Stage-5, a system activating to return to cleared stages becomes available. Until then, I’m stuck traveling like this.
Originally, I would have had to walk the entire way. I should be grateful that thanks to Braymun’s goodwill, I can travel alongside the merchant caravan.
“…That’s why, you see. Our Holy Kingdom pursues holiness, but we don’t force any particular religion. Our people live comfortably with warm backs and full bellies, so they can actually take interest in religion. It’s truly a wonderful place. I really hope you’ll become a citizen of our Holy Kingdom. Do you see those knights over there? Even among our residents, those who chose the Player’s path undertake their own adventures while dedicating themselves to the Holy Kingdom. Kyaa~! How magnificent!”
This merchant is truly loud. He travels through each city purchasing goods for the Holy Kingdom to sell, and his mouth runs like a machine gun.
True to his words, among the knights were a few Players from other worlds, their homelands, but most were resident Players.
In truth, there wasn’t much difference. It only came down to whether your homeland was the Abyss or not. Naturally, resident Players tended to be somewhat more tightly bonded with each other, but aside from that, there were no other notable differences.
‘There are even Earth people here.’
Indeed, the Holy Kingdom only issues identification to Earth Players.
There exists a concept commonly called a “cohort”—the worlds that connect simultaneously when the Abyss connects with different dimensions.
Each was assigned different regions. It’s the same principle as how South Korea can only enter a few cities.
That’s probably the limit until Stage-1. But as you progress, you’ll eventually meet them all.
‘I know of the Human Martial World, Babylon, and Harponeina.’
They were dimensions of the same cohort connected to Earth. The Human Martial World was literally the martial world, Babylon was a fantasy world, and Harponeina was a world of beastfolk.
How many days did I travel while entertaining such idle thoughts?
Except for the merchant, I spoke with no one and traveled for quite some time before an incident finally occurred.
Don’t misunderstand. I absolutely wasn’t waiting for an incident to happen out of boredom.
“Wow~. So bandits really exist?”
Roughly a hundred bandits surrounded the carriage that had momentarily stopped for rest in an instant. As if they’d been waiting for this moment.
“Holy Knights! All draw swords!”
At the command of the man who appeared to be the strongest among the knights, they drew their blades. I watched them quietly, observing the abilities of these so-called knights….
‘They’re better than I expected.’
Well, they were at least people with experience advancing forward. They wouldn’t be overwhelmed by mere bandit rabble composed of fallen residents.
They appeared to be at least C-rank Hunter level. In other words, Players who had progressed to around Stage-5. The leader of the knights could be rated B- at best, or C+ at minimum.
‘On par with me right now.’
Yes, I had reached exactly that level. The threshold before advancing to B. If I raised my Limitless stat further to reach E-rank, I could probably leap past B- and reach B in one bound.
Considering the Sun Divine Art and other divine abilities, I could probably hold my own against B-rank opponents.
Still, knowing it would come to this, why did they still attack? Do they have some strategy?
Not all bandits are foolish. To assault a caravan protected by seven Holy Kingdom knights and attempt to plunder supplies, they must have at least some trick up their sleeves.
And indeed.
“Kiyoyoyoyo!!!”
“The chief arrives! The chief arrives! The chief arrives!!”
“Party! Party! Party!! A massacre party!”
The bandits were numerous. Quantity could overcome quality. The battle that had been slightly favoring the knights suddenly reversed in an instant.
The Bandit Chief rushed from afar, swinging a massive axe and attacking the Knight Leader. His enormous frame was comparable to Gun-dan’s.
But that wasn’t all that made him strong.
Creep, creep, creep, creep.
Black energy emanating from his entire body. That was unmistakably demonic energy!
“So you dared to possess something unholy!”
“Unholy? Is only your power clean while the strength we use is unholy? This power is a blessing! A force that will elevate me to greater heights!!! Kuhaha! Now that I face that being, I understand. I am chosen!”
The Merchant’s face turned ashen, and those accompanying him trembled with fear.
He wasn’t just some bandit ruffian with demonic energy. That creature was actually Ma-in.
“Are there usually this many Ma-in appearing?”
“T-that can’t be! The Kingdom and City are completely conquered territories where Ma-in are reluctant to even enter! How is Ma-in here?!”
If that’s the case, one thought comes to mind. Could it be related in some way to that Servant of Deriax I killed?
“I need to step in.”
The knights were gradually being pushed back. It was natural, given that our greatest fighting force was gone. Even without using demonification, Ma-in was overwhelming the Knight Leader.
I rose from my seat. A pair of wings manifested.
As four sacred wings and two demonic wings unfurled, I kicked off from the carriage in one motion and soared through the sky, rushing toward the Bandit Chief.
“What the—!!”
Caught off guard by the sudden assault, he hastily defended against the power gathering in my fist. But that was exactly what I was aiming for.
Seizing that momentary opening, the Knight Leader swung his sword, and the price of his distraction was steep. A massive wound carved across his back, his guard loosened slightly, and I unleashed my fist infused with The Sun’s inner energy directly at him.
“What? You’re a novice at fighting?”
It was easy. So much so that it was hard to believe he was the same type of Ma-in as Nam Woo-i. Though come to think of it, that one fought through possession rather than fighting himself, so perhaps they were similar?
In any case, the situation was resolved quickly. Ma-in was knocked unconscious, and the bandit subordinates were eliminated.

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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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