The Strongest in the Game by Dominating Monster - Chapter 18

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Monster Domination: Game’s Strongest Episode 18

“How long this wait has been.”

The man’s low whisper, like a demon’s murmur.

Soon, the man whose eyes rippled with enormous desire slowly took a step forward.

Whoosh!

Black aura rose like a curtain from behind the man’s back and spread outward.

“Garuda! Prepare for battle!”

Sensing the ominous energy, Kairen shouted as if screaming.

His fingertips gripping the bow grip trembled slightly.

Intoxicated by the awe inspired by the structure before him, he had been too complacent.

Belated self-reproach washed over him, but he had already crossed a river of no return.

The tautly drawn bowstring expanded as if it would snap at any moment, but the man drew a sneer filled with contempt.

“Heh. Get lost, human. You hold not even a speck of interest for me.”

His ominous gaze fixed on the divine beast above Kairen’s head.

‘…So I wasn’t the sacrifice?’

With that realization, his heart turned cold.

What that unknown being was after was the most brilliant treasure he possessed.

‘If I make one wrong move, this entire journey will turn to nothing.’

At the future that made his heart ache just thinking about it, Kairen bit his lips tightly.

If the creature had targeted him, he might have been able to save Garuda.

But now that its target was Garuda, the worst possible future painted itself clearly.

It was an ending he didn’t even want to imagine – losing Garuda and failing the Monster Lord job change.

Kairen kept his eyes on the approaching despair as he gauged his chances of victory.

[???]

Three red question marks floating above the creature’s head.

The red name was New World’s kind signal to run away, and the three question marks meant even its identity was unknown.

“Garuda! Breath Attack!”

Despite the kind warning, he had no choice, so Kairen shouted until his throat was raw.

At the same time, he released his bowstring, and the arrow that left the string cut through space like lightning.

Thud.

Even the brilliantly shining lightning was powerless before absolute strength.

The man turned the arrow to dust with a single indifferent gesture, as if shooing away a mosquito.

Garuda’s breath attack that followed swallowed everything like a storm, but the man walked leisurely out from the center of the storm.

As if nothing had happened, he simply brushed off the dust that had settled on his shoulders.

Two exchanges. No, a one-sided massacre.

Kairen realized painfully. This was not a fight he could ever win.

“Garuda!!”

[Yes. Kairen-nim. Your command.]

Now there was only one choice.

Kairen shouted in a desperate voice and rushed forward.

“Run away!”

[…! K-Kairen-nim?!]

“Survive somehow! Even if I die, you must live!”

He didn’t look back.

The fear of losing the partner he had just formed a bond with was greater than the disappointment of not becoming a Monster Lord.

While he as a player could be revived, Garuda’s death would be eternal extinction.

Therefore, even if he died and failed the Monster Lord job change, he had to save Garuda.

That was Kairen’s desperate conclusion.

Was that determination trivial?

The man’s lips twisted.

It felt like mockery, yet also like a strange smile of someone looking at a child with satisfaction.

[No, I refuse!]

What came from behind was not obedience, but desperate rejection.

At that dizzying answer, the moment Kairen’s heart stopped.

Space twisted.

The man’s figure disappeared from Kairen’s sight, then appeared behind Garuda the next moment.

Movement as if he had skipped through time and space.

When he lightly struck the back of Garuda’s neck, the divine beast’s wings drooped powerlessly with a short cry.

“Damn it…”

With that hollow curse, he instinctively knew everything was over.

The man holding the unconscious Garuda slowly approached.

Watching his hand rise, Kairen quietly closed his eyes.

A cool sensation that felt like a guillotine touched the top of his head.

And—

It gently ruffled Kairen’s hair.

“Huh?”

Opening his eyes at the unexpected warmth, the man was looking down at him with a satisfied gaze.

“You pass. Successor.”

[You have cleared 【Legend of Rudenville Village 4 (Hidden Quest)】!]

* * *

“It was a test to confirm your character.”

The man who was guiding them to the castle gate turned around and said.

The killing intent from moments ago was nowhere to be found, and his face wore a mischievous smile.

“Monster Lord is not a position you can reach just by being strong. I couldn’t pass it on to a coward who would abandon their own monster and run away.”

“So you’re saying that was your test just now?”

At the bewildered question, the man nodded his head greatly.

“Hah… Really.”

Kairen was still dumbfounded, but he tried to accept the situation anyway.

After all, the system had clearly announced that the quest was completed.

“Here. This is the true nature of the Monster Lord. How is it? Do you like it? When I first became the master of this place, I spent days and nights just looking around.”

Was this what long solitude did to a person?

Unlike his cold-looking exterior, the man chattered incessantly.

But his boasting wasn’t an exaggeration.

The interior of the castle was filled with magnificence.

The high and solidly built outer castle walls were as tall and sturdy as massive cliffs.

The floor paved with jet-black stone was smooth as a mirror, faintly reflecting the gray sky and their figures.

And beyond the vast clearing surrounded by the outer castle, there was an inner castle gently embraced by the outer walls.

The inner castle with five massive spires stretching toward the sky was serene and majestic.

“You’ll probably get lost for a while after first moving in. You’ll get used to it quickly once you start walking around.”

The man kept grinning as he opened the castle gate of the inner castle that stood before them.

The inner castle had a pentagonal corridor surrounding a central clearing, with a massive door positioned on each side.

“Come on. You can look around other places later, just follow me for now.”

The man passed by the other four doors and headed toward the door in the very center.

When he placed his hand on the door, the heavy gate opened inward without a sound.

“Wow…”

Upon entering, Kairen unconsciously let out a low exclamation.

This was a king’s audience chamber and a grand hall containing the history of an era.

From the high dome-shaped ceiling, soft beams of light pierced through the mist and poured down like sacred illumination.

That light illuminated the countless monster figures carved on both walls.

Dragons and griffins, krakens and behemoths. Beings that only appeared in legends were carved so vividly they seemed ready to burst through the walls at any moment.

Their gazes all pointed toward one place—the deepest part of the hall.

At the end of the hall, a massive throne placed atop several steps exuded an overwhelming presence.

It was an imposing yet dignified white throne that seemed carved from the bones of a giant dragon.

“Cool, right? The second floor is pretty nice too. The view from the balcony is amazing.”

The man pointed upward to the side with his finger.

Only then did Kairen realize that this massive hall had a second floor as well.

The second floor seemed to have various rooms and balconies, as several doors were visible.

Step. Step.

The man who had entered the hall soon began walking slowly.

The sound of footsteps echoed through the massive hall like an echo, and Kairen, following behind the man, suddenly felt this scene pass before him like a panorama.

The main hall of the Black Star Fortress.

A ruler walking toward the throne located there.

‘Right. I had dreams like this too.’

Suddenly, he remembered.

In the dreams that showed him his past life as a demon lord, there had been scenes like this too.

Perhaps that was why. Kairen felt this castle and its surroundings were somehow familiar and comforting.

Then, the man who had finally reached the throne turned around and looked at Kairen for a moment.

There was no longer any playfulness in his eyes.

A gaze as deep and calm as the ocean swept over Kairen’s entire body.

He slowly seated himself on the throne.

“Welcome to my castle, successor. My name is Lukman. I am the current Monster Lord.”

* * *

Newon, the game company behind New World.

In its heart, there was a special department operating directly under the chairman.

A place called ‘Pantheon’ among insiders. Its official name was the ‘Special User Monitoring Team.’

In that place where dozens of holographic monitors floated in the air and real-time data flowed down like a waterfall, an employee suddenly stood up and shouted.

“Team Leader! It’s here! The ‘Monster Lord’ code has finally been unlocked!”

Manager Park from data analysis couldn’t hide his excitement as he yelled.

The office, which had become briefly noisy at his shout, soon filled with admiration.

“Wow, it’s real. I thought that class would remain just a legend until our game shut down.”

“The acquisition difficulty was almost at bug level. We don’t even know how to gain Garuda’s recognition, so how did that user do it? Did he give up his liver or something?”

Supervisor Lee from the story team muttered while resting his chin on his hand.

Even the monitoring team didn’t know all the game’s secrets.

Especially miracles arising from individual user characteristics rather than the system, like communion with animals, were uncharted territory for them too.

“When he killed the Goblin Lord was really the highlight. A complete newbie with no account linking records, and alone at that? Does that make sense?”

“Just looking at his archery, he was already ranker level, right? To think that was a newbie. There really are many geniuses in the world.”

Team members chimed in one after another, reviewing Kairen’s gameplay.

There was even a hint of respect in their eyes.

“Anyway! We have one more surveillance target for our Pantheon. Manager Park, how many total members are there now?”

“Seventy-three total. And now the 74th… Oh my, the youngest has joined.”

Manager Park smiled while pushing up his glasses.

“Wow, that’s a reservation for the 74th ranker. With that class, wouldn’t he just break into the top 100 within half a year?”

“Honestly, it’s practically getting it for free. Starting with a legendary pet and even receiving a personal territory.”

At the words of an employee who was leaning back in his chair almost lying down, Team Leader Kim Arang, who had been silently watching Kairen’s gameplay until then, chuckled.

She took a sip of her iced americano with a straw, then opened her mouth along with the sound of ice cracking.

“Getting it for free?”

At those words, the office’s attention focused on her.

“You guys didn’t read the class description again. That class requires all three stats to be A-grade or higher to perform properly: Taming ability for taming monsters, Ranged Dealing ability for archery, and Territory Management ability for managing troops and resources. While others become rankers by digging just one well, he has to dig three wells simultaneously. Does that look like getting it for free?”

The team members fell silent at Kim Arang’s clear explanation.

“Hmm… Now that you mention it, that’s true.”

“It wouldn’t be easy…”

“It’s not just ‘not easy.’ Regular users absolutely can’t do it. Even decent geniuses would probably give up on one of the three, right?”

Kim Arang smiled briefly and turned her gaze back to the monitor.

Right. Even decent geniuses couldn’t fully handle that class.

But if that man was truly a viciously tenacious genius.

Then it might just be possible.

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