Chapter 361
[You have entered the 20th island.]
“Heok… Heok…”
Grid’s complexion was haggard as he gasped for breath. It was natural. He’d spent a total of 45 hours and 19 minutes breaking through 19 islands. It meant more than 15 hours in real time. Connecting to virtual reality for 15 hours a day wasn’t easy. The physiological needs were a basic problem, and he also consumed a lot of mental and physical power.
‘Since the 11th island, I wasted a lot of time.’
The 11th to 19th islands were hunting or raid missions. It inevitably took a long time, causing Grid’s exhaustion to sharply rise.
‘I’d rather finish this off today.’
There was no time limit to the Behen Archipelago. There was no reason to endanger himself by being impatient. His level had risen to 306 and Grid was about to log out when he suddenly stopped.
‘What?’
A huge shadow from the sky started to darken the surface of the island. It seemed like night time.
“This…!”
Grid looked up and was shocked. A huge circle was hiding the sun. It was a circle made of tens of thousands of eyes.
“Ugh.”
Grid frowned with disgust. He had to swallow to push down his urge to vomit. The appearance of the circle was that bizarre. There were countless things like blood vessels on the surface that squirmed as the eyes blinked. The bloated eyeballs stimulated human fear and disgust to the limit.
What was this mission? The familiar notification window rose up as Grid ignored the eyes.
[A mission will be created.]
[20th Island]
Avoid the gaze of the hell moon!
First Clear Reward: 130 Challenger Points.
[The mission will start 30 minutes from now.]
‘Hell moon?’
The hell moon looked like this?
‘Perhaps.’
Grid had experience with visiting hell. The hell that he saw was nothing like the human world. It was hard to believe that such a terrible moon would appear.
‘But who knows? I went to hell during the day.’
It was disgusting to see. However, it was imperative to observe the target in order to understand the purpose of the mission. It happened when Grid was looking up at the hell moon.
[A helper fairy has appeared.]
A system that didn’t exist until after the 19th island was launched.
“Hello Challenger.”
Was it a height of 50cm? A little male fairy appeared in a burst of light and greeted him. His behavior and tone were extremely polite, but his expression was full of playfulness.
“Who are you?”
The fairy explained to the confused Grid.
“I am Bini, a fairy of love and justice, who has been asked by Sage Sticks to help the challengers.”
“Sticks asked you?”
“Yes, Sticks is anxiously waiting for a great challenger who can defeat the Behen Archipelago.”
“Hoping for…?”
Grid thought that the trials that existed on each island were Sticks’ work. He thought it was to prove the qualifications of ‘those who wanted to go to the East Continent.’ Now he realized he was mistaken.
“If it isn’t Sticks, who made all the trials for each island?”
“I don’t know. It was like this from the beginning.”
“What is on the last island?”
“I don’t know that either. You can ask Sticks if you meet him.”
“…I thought you were a helper fairy. You aren’t very helpful.”
“Nope, I’m sure that I will help. My role is to help the challengers overcome the trials.”
“Then why didn’t you appear earlier?”
“I can’t help the rabble! I only help the challengers who have reached the 20th island by themselves! So please pay attention to me from now on!”
Bini took out glasses and started to explain.
“In order to escape the 20th island, you have to avoid the hell moon’s gaze. There is a theory that the hell moon has 66,666 eyes. There is no place on this island where the hell moon’s eyes can’t reach.”
“Then how do I escape it?”
“Pretend that you aren’t a person.”
“What?”
Pretend that he wasn’t a person?
‘Wait.’
Grid was baffled by the ridiculous command when he recalled Blackening.
“What if I turn into a demon?”
“Wow, a challenger has the power of Blackening? Indeed, you’re someone who managed to get here! But unfortunately, that is wrong. It isn’t the right answer. The hell moon is hostile to all living creatures.”
“Then from the beginning, it’s creatures.”
“Challenger is a human, so I tried to explain it from your eye level. Hehet.”
“So how do I pretend to not be a creature?”
“Stop.”
“…?”
“The hell moon doesn’t recognize any stopped being as a creature. Just stop when the hell moon’s eyes are open. And exactly once every five seconds, you have to slowly move one step while all of the hell moon’s eyes are closed.”
‘Is it like Red Light Green Light?’
Grid was reminded of a familiar game as he looked over the island. Then he frowned. The size of the island was considerable. It seemed to be two or three times the size of Yeouido.
“Moving one step every five seconds… Where is my destination?”
Grid’s voice trembled as he asked.
Bini replied with a large grin, “To the other end of the island. The gate to the next island is there.”
“…”
If a person’s thinking power increased, would their personality change? That wasn’t the case. He might be developing, but this expansion of thinking power didn’t change his essential nature.
“Are you crazy?”
Grid eventually revealed his true nature as he grabbed the diaper Bini was wearing. Bini was very embarrassed because half of his butt was exposed.
“What are you doing!?”
Bini shivered as as Grid’s face came close to his.
“Your method of helping me is to tell me that moving one step every five seconds is the best way to make it past this island? Rather than giving me help, you are just making fun of me.”
He couldn’t imagine how many days it would take to make it to the other end of the island using Bini’s method. In the first place, it was doubtful if he could maintain his concentration and patience.
‘It’s the worst if I have to stop when a monster is attacking.’
Bini hurriedly explained to the furious Grid.
“12 hours! In 12 hours, the sun will come up! Once the sun rises, the hell moon will hide itself!”
“I can only move one step every five seconds during the night, but I can act freely during the day?”
“That’s right! Move during the day and fight with the hell moon at night! You only have to suffer for a few days! It will be difficult with sleep deprivation, but it’s possible!”
‘The difficulty is too high.’
It was the moment he admired Kraugel, who reached the 30th island.
‘Wait… Could I use that?’
Grid released the diaper as he had a wonderful thought. The second item that he created after Failure. Could he take advantage of it?
“Does the hell moon rely on senses other than sight?”
“No. I have never heard of that.”
Sticks was probably watching right now…
Tears of shame came to Bini’s eyes as he answered.
“Is that so?”
A dark smile appeared on Grid’s face. He came up with a way to avoid the eyes of the hell moon. But now wasn’t the time. He needed time to rest, both physically and mentally.
“Log out.”
***
“Ah, so good.”
A restful night’s sleep felt good. Youngwoo stretched as he went out to the living room, where he saw Sehee.
“I got a call from Team Leader Do Minjun.
“Team Leader Do Minjun?”
She was a young elite of Saint Constructions. Saint Constructions. It was that best construction company that didn’t belong to any big corporations, and it was ranked 5th in South Korea. It was also the construction company responsible for the construction of Youngwoo’s 10 billion won building.
“What did Team Leader Do Minjun want?”
“It was an interim report about how the construction is going well. She told Oppa to come visit the site. It is the first time that a client hasn’t visited their own building.”
“Where can I find the time to go there? I’m too busy playing the game.”
“Shin Youngwoo, you are very trusting of people these days. In the old days, you would’ve thought they did a bad job since you can’t see them. You would’ve monitored the construction site 24 hours a day.”
“Isn’t Saint Constructions doing the work in my name? In addition, it was a company recommended by Yura. Well, I don’t care. Sehee, do you want to go with our parents?”
“Yes, understood.”
Originally, Sehee thought of her brother as an object to be cared for. But that had changed. Now she trusted and followed her brother. Her brother’s words and behavior were increasing.
Why did she trust her brother? Was it because her brother was earning a lot of money? Or because he was a celebrity? It wasn’t for such petty reasons. It was because Youngwoo’s nature itself had changed.
“Kraugel, isn’t he an unbelievably great guy when I searched on the Internet?”
“He isn’t just at the level of being great.”
“Aren’t you excited about winning over such a man?”
“There are no grounds for it. I probably would’ve lost if he and I fought under the same conditions.”
“…”
He was now equipped with humility? Sehee gave a bittersweet smile as she saw her brother’s deep eyes.
‘Why is he changing every day?’
Her brother was growing everyday, but Sehee didn’t feel good. It felt like her brother was becoming more and more distant. However, she was also proud.
“I’ll get dressed and have breakfast.”
***
“When will he come?”
Those blessed or cursed by the gods to not die. In other words, Sticks was aware of the existence of users. He waited calmly after the black haired man suddenly disappeared from the 20th island.
Dok. Dok dok.
Sticks tapped his staff while watching the magic ball. His eyes deep inside the robe contained tension and irritation. The moment that the black haired man appeared again.
“Medicine. My medicine.”
He swallowed his medicine first to prepare for what would happen. It was a homemade medicine. He took a deep breath to maintain his composure, before turning his eyes to the magic ball again.
‘Can he even break through the 20th island?’
Honestly, the possibility was low. So far, there had only been one person to pass the 20th island. It meant the difficulty of the 20th island was extremely high. Extreme patience was needed in order to avoid the gaze of the hell moon. At the same time, they needed wisdom to prevent the raids of monsters.
‘Don’t be disappointed. Empty your mind.’
But why? His expectations kept growing. The black haired man, so far he had exceeded Sticks’ wisdom.
“Start!”
Gulp!
It happened when Sticks was looking at the red eyes of the hell moon and gulped.
“He’s gone!!”
It was a perfect invisibility that was incomparable to stealth techniques. The black haired man suddenly disappeared and avoided the gaze of the hell moon.
“This…! This isn’t invisibility magic!”
As expected from a sage. Sticks quickly figured out why the man couldn’t be seen anymore. It made him even more surprised.
“Invisibility cloak…! A heritage of the altar of legends…!”
There were only two historic treasures left, so why did that man have it? There were no clues to that man’s identity.
“Uh… Kuock…!”
It was the moment that the sage’s wisdom became unclear.
Flop!
Sticks once again experienced a big shock, grabbing his chest and collapsing. He took the medicine prescribed by a professional pharmacist.