The Ancient Corals were divine beings who existed in the earliest days of the Coral Planet.

They were the ancestors of all Corals, and it was said that they would come back to save the Coral Race once the age of destruction dawned.

Coral Emperor Theodeosius even told Siegfried that he was searching for the Ancient Corals in secret while handing over the technology to build powerful motherships.

Of course, Siegfried was not just sitting around and doing nothing. The Guardians and Cheon Woo-Jin had been searching for the Ancient Corals, too.

“We’ve found a massive ruin, but it’s proving difficult to conquer it. We haven’t finished exploring it yet, and it will require a lot of manpower.

“Do you want me to help?” Siegfried offered without hesitation.

Awakening the Ancient Corals was an extremely important matter. If the Ancient Corals were revived, they would surely rise to reclaim the Coral Planet, which would apply even more pressure on the Marchioni Empire.

With the war against the Proatine Empire looming on the horizon, an uprising in the Coral Planet would force the Marchioni Empire to fight on two fronts simultaneously.

To Siegfried, the Ancient Corals and the entire Coral Race were important allies. This was the reason Coral Emperor Theodosius resided in the Proatine Empire.

“No,” Cheon Woo-Jin said, shaking his head to reject the offer. Then, he said, “I appreciate the thought, but I have to pull my own weight.”

“Huh? What do you mean by that?”

“Besides, you’re quite busy yourself, aren’t you?”

“Well, that’s true...”

“You’ve got the Ancient Dungeons in the Proatine Empire to deal with, the war with the Marchioni Empire, and who knows what other stuff might go wrong.”

“Yeah, you have a point.”

“So just trust me and leave the Ancient Corals to me. I can’t just sit around doing nothing all day. I’ll awaken them with the Guardians.”

“Okay. I’m sure I can entrust it to you,” Siegfried replied with a nod.

Cheon Woo-Jin was the leader of the Guardians—a secret organization that safeguarded the world. He was one of the few people Siegfried could trust unconditionally. Moreover, he was a powerful Grandmaster.

If Siegfried had to leave such an important task to someone, then he would not think twice to leave it to Cheon Woo-Jin. With so much already on his plate, just the thought of Cheon Woo-Jin taking some of his burden made him feel grateful.

“Still, it’s a bit disappointing that you’re so busy. I called you yesterday to treat you to a nice meal,” Siegfried said.

“Nah, we can eat later. This takes priority,” Cheon Woo-Jin replied.

“Oh? Okay then, if you say so.”

“But you owe me one when this is all over. I’ll make sure to squeeze you dry.”

“Go ahead, bleed me dry. I’ve got more than enough money to feed you for a few lifetimes.”

The two of them would always bicker and banter. Though they always tried to dine and dash on the other, leaving them with the tab, it was nothing more than a game between them.

They had grown close while saving the continent, and now shared a close bond like that of childhood friends.

“Keep in touch whenever you can,” Siegfried said.

“Yeah,” Cheon Woo-Jin replied with a nod. Then, he added, “Ah, I’ll be leaving the satellite here, so use it well.”

The reason Cheon Woo-Jin had decided not to take the satellite to the Coral Planet was simple. Behemoth’s Eye was a critical strategic asset for monitoring the Marchioni Empire and tracking the movement of its imperial army, so leaving it behind would be far more beneficial for them.

Being able to track the enemy’s movement during wartime was a huge advantage, and it was one they could not afford to give up.

“Thanks, man.”

“Don’t mention it. Alright, I’m off then.”

“Okay, you take care.”

And with that, Cheon Woo-Jin left for the Coral Planet.

‘All I need to do is take down the last three remaining Ten Calamities. The rest of the Ancient Dungeons are already being cleared one by one, so... Yeah, I should start with the ones within the Proatine Empire’s territory.’

Siegfried set out to continue clearing the Ancient Dungeons. The inevitable war against the Marchioni Empire was fast approaching, and the third clash against Lee Geon would soon come as well.

In order to emerge victorious in both, Siegfried needed to become even stronger.

He couldn’t afford to stay complacent and neglect his growth.

***

Meanwhile, Lee Geon lost half his mind after losing in the second match against Siegfried.

From his late teens until now—in his early thirties—he had always been ruling as the ultimate predator in video games thanks to his god-given gaming talent.

However, Siegfried’s long-ranged attacks had humiliated and crushed him.

He died and tasted the crushing sense of defeat.

Needless to say, the defeat hit him harder than most people.

Lee Geon vented his rage by smashing everything in his house, deliberately ramming another car during a road rage incident, and even shutting down his G-Tube channel. It was a loss he had never once endured in his entire life, and it was simply unbearable.

— SMToonAsia: What a loser

— Ggugguman: Serves you right! Trollololololololol

— GuitarString: Welp, I guess you’re washed up too.

— Gmanreal: You could’ve at least fought back, you know?

— GeonWoo: What a pathetic loser! Kekekeke!

The flood of toxic comments after his defeat made the defeat taste even more bitter.

Of course, he had endured countless insults from others before. Everyone in the gaming community hated him, and their insults were something he enjoyed and basked in.

However, it was different this time. These were people commenting about his loss, so he had no good comeback. The fact that everything they said was true made it even more unbearable for Lee Geon, resulting in enormous psychological stress. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

He could no longer stand hearing that he was no longer the best BNW player in the world.

It felt like falling from the heavens straight into a cesspool.

For Lee Geon, this was suffering itself—one that was unbearable. Just as Emperor Stuttgart had developed trauma from the stench of the rotten squid, Lee Geon writhed in agony, tormented by the trauma of defeat.

And then, an incident occurred...

“Excuse me... Are you Lee Geon by any chance?”

While he was at a convenience store, Lee Geon ran into one of his fans.

‘Damn it...’ Lee Geon bit his lower lip and pulled his cap low after his fan recognized him.

“You got the wrong guy. Fuck off.”

“No, I know you are! You’re Lee Geon!”

“I said I’m not.”

“You are! I’ve been your fan since forever! I know that you’re—”

“How many damn times do I have to say it, you fucking moron?!”

Lee Geon shoved the teenage boy hard, causing him to fall to the ground.

Of course, that was not enough to quell his fury.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

With bloodshot eyes, Lee Geon began kicking the teenage boy.

“You fucking bastard!”

“Ack!”

“I said, fuck off!”

“Aaack!”

“You son of a bitch! You like getting on my nerves, huh?”

“G-Ghhhk!”

“Die, you fucking moron!”

Lee Geon lost all sense of reason and ended up physically assaulting the teenage boy.

The onlookers called the police, who soon arrived and dragged him to the station.

After writing a statement and a brief investigation, Lee Geon was allowed to go home.

However, it did not end there...

Now facing criminal charges, he was bound for trial. Even if he reached a settlement with the victim, there was still the possibility of serving prison time for the violent crime he had committed.

As unfair as it sounded, Lee Geon was obscenely wealthy, so he would surely avoid getting sentenced to serve time by hiring an army of top-class lawyers.

“Damn it... Today was absolute dog shit...” Lee Geon gnashed his teeth as he saw news of his assault appear on every news outlet. “Damn it, damn it, damn it... I won’t feel better unless I kill someone...”

His rage refused to subside, so he decided to log into the game.

He wasn't going to commit murder. He was enraged, but Lee Geon was not insane enough to kill someone in reality. Even an army of top-class lawyers would not be able to help him get out of serving time in prison if he committed murder, but it was a different matter altogether in the game.

Whenever Lee Geon was stressed, he would often raid villages and massacre the NPCs living in them. Why would he feel guilt or remorse when this was merely a game and they were not even real people?

It was the perfect outlet for him to vent his stress.

[Ruins of Fanaticism: Sanctuary of the Illuminati]

Upon logging in, however, he found himself not in some ordinary village, but in an entirely foreign place.

‘Where the hell am I...?’

He looked around and saw that collapsed stone rubble littered the floor.

The ceiling above had a gaping hole torn through it.

‘There was another basement floor under the city?’

It turned out that the Ruins of Fanaticism were not just an ordinary subterranean city. It extended into another underground level.

‘I wonder what’s down here—?’

It was then.

Kyaaaak! Kyaaaak!

Kieeeee!

Kiki! Kikikiiiiee!

From within the darkness, monstrous creatures emerged, snarling as they closed in on Lee Geon.

***

A few weeks had passed since Siegfried’s second match against Lee Geon. He had been extremely busy, running around to clear out the Ancient Dungeons within the Proatine Empire.

There were far too many Ancient Dungeons within the empire that he had to run around nonstop just to clear them all.

However, it all made sense, as no high-level Adventurers had come to the Proatine Empire.

The Marchioni Empire had put the Elixir of Transcendence as a reward to anyone who would raid the Ancient Dungeons in its territory, and that alone was more than enough to make everyone flock to the Marchioni Empire instead of the Proatine Empire.

From the perspective of the high-level Adventurers, there was no reason for them to go to the Proatine Empire when the Marchioni Empire was exclusively handing out Elixir of Transcendence as rewards.

Due to that, Siegfried ended up raiding the Ancient Dungeons within the Proatine Empire solo, pushing his level all the way to Level 610.

He had reached Level 580 after completing the quest Bright Sun in the Sky Above, and he had gained another thirty levels afterward by clearing the Ancient Dungeons.

In that process, he cleared two of the Ten Calamities, the Wailing Beasts and the Plague of Flies.

[The Ten Calamities]

[Hunt down and slay the ten most terrifying demonic entities that escaped from Purgatory.]

[Type: Special Quest]

[Progress: 90% (9/10)]

[Reward: +20 Levels]

[Targets:]

- Swarming Locusts ✓

- Bloodstained River ✓

- Destructive Hailstorm ✓

- Plague of Flies ✓

- Endless Darkness ✓

- Mass Extinction ✓

- Curse of Decay

- Bloodsucking Parasite ✓

- Wailing Beasts ✓

- Song of Death ✓

[Note 1: Each slain Calamity drops an item infused with its powers.]

[Note 2: Collect all 10 to gain authority over world-scale disasters for six months.]

[Note 3: This quest is exclusive to the main protagonist of BNW.]

Now, only one calamity remained. Once he cleared the Curse of Decay, he would gain another twenty levels and obtain all the powers of the Ten Calamities. Unfortunately, the last calamity, the Curse of Decay, remained missing.

‘Damn it... This isn’t even close to a fair competition. The odds are stacked against us,’ Siegfried grumbled inwardly.

Attracting high-level Adventurers was crucial to clear out the Ancient Dungeons, but the allure of the Elixir of Transcendence was simply too strong. No one would even look in the direction of the Proatine Empire.

Siegfried had been clearing out the Ancient Dungeons solo, but there was a limit to how much he could do alone.

Thus, he wanted high-level Adventurers to come to the Proatine Empire.

‘Can’t we produce something like the Elixir of Transcendence, too?’

In the end, Siegfried even considered making the Elixir of Transcendence.

If the Proatine Empire could give those out as rewards, just like what the Marchioni Empire had been doing, the high-level Adventurers would surely come to the Proatine Empire to clear Ancient Dungeons.

With that thought in mind, Siegfried went to see Verdandi.

Creating such a mysterious elixir required a capable alchemist—someone like Verdandi.

“Could you analyze this potion for me?”

Siegfried had instructed his people to do whatever it took to get hold of an Elixir of Transcendence. After much effort, they managed to obtain one from an Adventurer, and Siegfried immediately handed that to Verdandi.

“Leave it to me, Father!”

Verdandi happily accepted Siegfried’s request. He was confident that Verdandi could analyze the components of the Elixir of Transcendence and even create something better than it.

‘She’s so smart and pretty. Ah, I find it hard to believe that someone like her is the daughter of someone like me,’ Siegfried thought with a smile. He couldn’t help but dote on her as he watched her get to work.

Wearing a white lab coat and glasses, Verdandi carefully poured the Elixir of Transcendence into flasks. She mixed and separated them a few times as she studied the mysterious elixir.

From time to time, she would consult the Emerald Tablet[1], which contained the most advanced knowledge of alchemy known to mankind.

Siegfried couldn’t help but feel proud as he watched her perform such complicated tasks with her tiny hands.

‘I know she’s my daughter, but she’s really amazing,’ he thought.

“Erm... Father?”

Verdandi suddenly stopped what she was doing and turned toward Siegfried.

Noticing that she looked deeply unsettled, Siegfried asked, “Why? Did something go wrong?”

“No, it is not that. But this is really strange, Father,” she replied.

“Hm? What do you mean by that?”

“This Elixir of Transcendence is really dangerous.”

“Huh? Dangerous?”

“The side effects of this potion are... really terrifying.”

Her expression was grave, and she even shivered slightly. For someone like her to react in that manner, the Elixir of Transcendence had to be really terrifying.

1. I believe the Emerald Tablet was given to Emperor Stuttgart. There had been no mention of it being returned. It’s either 1. Author-nim forgot about it or 2. He thought he wrote about it being returned but forgot. Or there’s 3. Tokki is high and has completely forgotten about it being returned. ☜