Translator: Seven

  Editor: Ana_Banana

  December 15, 2024.

  At this time, the atmosphere at the end of the year began to ripen, but the current atmosphere in the world was different from any end of year atmosphere that they had encountered so far.

  Of course, since the world had changed like a game, New Year’s Day had become a scary time for the world’s people.

  [This year’s end of year celebrations have all been canceled!]

  [No New Year’s celebration!.]

  But this time, it was especially bad.

  The atmosphere in the world was indescribably dark and solemn, as though it was the end of a century rather than the end of a year.

  The same was true even for Oh Se-chan.

  ‘The world is changing.’


  Knowing the truth of the true situation of the world more clearly than anyone else, he could feel just how much the world was changing.

  ‘In a bad direction.’


  He also knew that this change was in no way good for mankind.

  ‘We don’t have much time.’


  And he also knew that they didn’t have much time to face and prepare for these changes.

  It was then.

  ‘We have to make sure everything is settled by 2025. No later than that.’


  When Oh Se-chan began to draw up plans and make calculations in his head once again.

  One of his subordinates, who was hard at work just a moment before, suddenly sprang up from their seat.

  Surprised, Oh Se-chan looked at them and asked.

  “What’s wrong?”


  The subordinate was also surprised by his question.

  “Huh? I… just need to go to the bathroom.”


  Oh Se-chan could only make a gloomy expression at his subordinate who was scratching their head sheepishly.

  “Oh, right.”


  Of course, as it had just been Oh Se-chan’s overreaction, he couldn’t actually blame his subordinate.

  “The last time I used the toilet I found that the water pressure was a little strong. Did you guys put rocks in the toilet bowl?”


  Seeing him roughly brush over the problem in such a way, Oh Se-chan’s subordinate could only stare at him with an open mouth.

  Suddenly.

  Another subordinate jumped up from their seat, so Oh Se-chan decided to confirm it first.

  “Do you want to use the bathroom too?”


  At that question, the subordinate simply stretched his arms.

  “No, I just needed to stretch.”


  It was clear that he just wanted to tease Oh Se-chan.

  “These bastards.”


  Oh Se-chan couldn’t help but laugh at the sight, and like that, the tense atmosphere in the office completely unraveled.

  Now, it had returned to the friendly state where they were able to make light jokes without hesitation.

  It was in this atmosphere that someone said.

  “More importantly, are we having an end of year party? A Christmas party would be good too, wouldn’t it? We could buy a big cake, pizza and chicken, and have a nice party…”


  When the eyes of the subordinate turned to Oh Se-chan and saw that Oh Se-chan was staring at him with an eerie gaze, his words slowly faded.

  “…I’m sorry.”


  The look on this subordinate’s face, which was so nervous that it was almost comparable to Lee Jin-ah’s signature expression, made the other subordinates also close their mouths.

  Naturally, the atmosphere became cold once again.

  At that moment, another subordinate sprung up from his seat.

  ‘Hey, not now!’


  ‘Read the room!’


  The other employees were visibly shocked, and Oh Se-chan’s expression became even colder.

  Then the subordinate who got up shouted out.

  “Kim Woo-jin, no, Isaac Ivanov has started a Youtube live broadcast!”


  …
-

  On December 15, 2024, at 17:22 UK time, I hereby announce the Saviour Guild’s successful clearance of the A+ rank 7 Floor dungeon.

  The announcement of the Saviour Guild’s dungeon clear that was made on youtube was quite plain.

  [The Saviour Guild saves the world once again!]

  However, that didn’t prevent the news from transforming the world’s end of century atmosphere into a festive one.

  [Mankind finally conquers 7 Floors!]

  The conquered 7 Floors!

  Furthermore, this was very symbolic.

  Until now, mankind would challenge a new floor every year, thus creating hope for the next year.

  But with 7 Floor dungeons in 2024, it seemed very unlikely.

  This was proven by the fact that the only guilds which had begun targeting 7 Floor dungeons so far were the Messiah Guild and Saviour Guild.

  [The Saviour Guild’s next target is 8 Floors!]

  [The 8 Floor era is coming!]

  Under such circumstances, the Saviour Guild successfully attacked an A+ rank 7 Floor dungeon, making it a foregone conclusion that they would attack 8 Floors in 2025-

  The Saviour Guild is the greatest!-

  Since this happened, will the other four guilds also start attacking 7 Floor dungeons?

  ?Not counting the Messiah Guild, there is the Frontier Guild, Great One Guild, Kunlun Guild and Victoria Guild, right?

  ?Well, since they’ve already experienced the dungeon, it’s highly likely that they will start attacking them.

  ?There will soon be six guilds in 7 Floors.

  In addition, there were many elements of hope that had appeared for humanity.

  It was enough to completely overturn the end of century atmosphere.

  However, when faced with such an atmosphere, the guilds who had taken part in the 7 Floor dungeon attack could not express any joy.

  ‘If this is the kind of reaction we get just by clearing…’


  ‘I can’t imagine how they would react if they knew what Isaac Ivanov showed us in the dungeon.’


  They knew better than anyone that what Isaac Ivanov had achieved was not just the dungeon clear.

  Furthermore, they knew that the impact such a fact would have when it was revealed to the world would be completely incomparable to what they were experiencing.

  Most of all, they were clear about one thing.

  ‘It can no longer be denied that Isaac Ivanov is on the same level as Lee Se-jun if not better.’


  ‘This is the era of Isaac Ivanov.’


  The era where Lee Se-jun stood alone at the top of the world had ended. And the era of Isaac Ivanov had begun.

  ‘We have to change our relationship with the Saviour Guild.’


  ‘There will be a major shift in the world’s power structure.’


  And it was clear that the order of the world would begin to fluctuate and change in accordance with the times.

  ‘This is so troublesome.’


  Park Yong-wan had no choice but to look at such changes with anxious eyes.

  ‘If it keeps going like this, I might actually be eaten by Isaac Ivanov.’


  At first, he intended to use Isaac Ivanov for his own benefit.

  And the result wasn’t bad either.

  Isaac Ivanov had made Park Yong-wan, the player who was never treated as the No. 2 player in Korea, be recognized and admired by the world.

  Therefore, Park Yong-wan bowed his head without hesitation when he saw what happened to the Lightning King.

  He thought it would be more profitable to stay under Isaac Ivanov for the time being.

  Furthermore, he had been confident that he would be able to get out at some point.

  ‘It’s really dangerous.’


  However, Park Yong-wan couldn’t help but lose his confidence during this dungeon attack.

  He felt a sense of crisis that Isaac Ivanov, who was now chatting with the officials from the British royal family, might eat him whole, without leaving any flesh or bones.

  It was around this time.

  When sweat dripped down his spine and his body shivered under the stress of the crisis.

  “Park Yong-wan.”


  Kim Woo-jin approached him.

  “What is it?”


  “I’ll organise a meeting. Shakira will also be there. I think it’s time we had a proper conversation.”


  Park Yong-wan didn’t think about it for too long.

  “Please contact me when it is time.”


  “Yes.”


  After the short conversation, Kim Woo-jin walked past Park Yong-wan and headed directly to Isaac Ivanov.

  Park Yong-wan followed him with his sharp gaze.

  The world had begun to change.

  …


  After the dungeon attack was completed, the thing that made people the most curious was what happened in the dungeon-

  How did they clear the dungeon?-

  How did they hunt the Dragon? I bet Isaac Ivanov used a really cool method-

  Ah, I’m so curious!

  It would be strange if people weren’t interested in the story of how the hero saved the world.

  Nevertheless, it was extremely rare for the information about the dungeon attack process to be revealed to the public in detail-

  So what if you’re curious? It can’t be released-

  Such expensive information can’t just be handed out-

  Maybe we’ll see it in his autobiography later.

  This was due to the value of the information that the players obtained directly from the dungeon.

  Moreover, an A+ rank 7 Floor dungeon was a dungeon that no one had ever climbed before.

  So the value of this information was so high that it was impossible to buy with money.

  Following the confidentiality agreement, the five guilds which participated in the dungeon attack with the Saviour Guild remained silent.

  But as always, there were no eternal secrets in the world.

  [Breaking News! The Saviour Guild’s attack process revealed!]

  It was almost natural that a person bearing the mask of ‘anonymous’ would appear and reveal the information for a very high price. (TL: I’m almost certain that this was Kim Woo-jin)

  So what happened in the dungeon was revealed to everyone in the world.

  [Isaac Ivanov basically cleared the 7 Floor dungeon by himself!]

  [The Death Knight summoned by Isaac Ivanov was able to violate a Dragon on its own!]

  [Isaac Ivanov obtains Excalibur in the dungeon!]

  [Isaac Ivanov, the player who can clear a 7 Floor dungeon on his own!]

  And the information that appeared sent the world into chaos once again.

  No, it wasn’t chaos-

  This feels like a lie no matter how I look at it-

  No matter how amazing Isaac Ivanov is, something like this shouldn’t be possible-

  Who would believe that he was able to do so much?

  At first, most people didn’t believe this information.

  After all, it was incredibly ridiculous.

  However, none of the players who participated in the dungeon denied it.

  Even the Messiah Guild didn’t deny it-

  Is it really true?-

  It’s not a lie?-

  Hey, no way…


  When the world’s reaction to that fact steadily began to change, the Saviour Guild released a statement.

  [We will look for whoever broke the confidentiality agreement and disclosed the events of the dungeon to the world, and sue them.]

  They would pay any price to find those who revealed what should have been a secret!

  Of course, people were not interested about the price at all-

  Oh my God, so that story was all true?-

  Isaac Ivanov is that strong?-

  Enough to clear a 7 Floor dungeon on his own?

  They were only interested in the fact that the information turned out to be true.

  The world soon went wild because of this fact-

  It looks like we’ll really end this game-

  With that ability, it shouldn’t be too hard to clear an 8 Floor dungeon!-

  I knew Isaac Ivanov was the best!-

  Where are the bastards who doubted the Saviour Guild before?

  They cheered the emergence of a saviour who would be able to save the world before the Messiah Guild, and maybe even do it on his own.

  However, not everyone was cheering this fact.

  Three people sat in a dimly lit room covered in shadows.

  “Before I begin, I must emphasise that we will take the things that are said here to our graves.”


  One of them, Kim Woo-jin spoke in a solemn tone, and the other two, Park Yong-wan and Shakira, nodded.

  Then Kim Woo-jin continued.

  “Everyone already knows the situation, so I’ll just be straightforward. If things continue at this rate, we will just become Isaac Ivanov’s tools.”


  There was no question to this fact, so Kim Woo-jin continued.

  “The problem is that Isaac Ivanov truly intends to target dungeons without stopping until he dies.”


  No one said anything even after he said those words.

  Naturally, Kim Woo-jin continued to speak.

  “As you should’ve noticed in this last dungeon attack, there is no human who can keep up with Isaac Ivanov. Of course, it’s also clear that he would definitely survive a runaway. So even if we were to try to do so, we would just be destroyed.”


  After Kim Woo-jin stopped speaking, a heavy silence fell upon the room.

  It was the most obvious way to show their agreement with Kim Woo-jin’s words.

  As he said, it was abundantly clear.

  Isaac Ivanov was doing his best to finish the game as soon as possible, and his abilities had already reached a point where few people could keep up with him.

  “First of all, none of the people here want the game to end like this.”


  For the people gathered there, the most worrisome part was the fact that the game might end.

  “Because we would all lose everything we’d accomplished so far.”


  To be honest, there were few players who actually wanted the game to end.

  And that was why the Messiah Guild had been regarded as saviours.

  In a world where most of the players actually liked the game, only the Messiah Guild fought to reach the end of the game instead of only looking at their own personal interests.

  Kim Woo-jin then made a statement.

  “The Messiah Guild will not let Isaac Ivanov do as he pleases.”


  That the Messiah Guild didn’t want it either.

  This caused the expression of both Park Yong-wan and Shakira to change.

  “What do you mean?”


  “What are you talking about?”


  The two finally spoke for the first time.

  Kim Woo-jin’s words made it sound like the Messiah Guild had no intention of saving the world.

  Kim Woo-jin then told them.

  “The Messiah Guild signed a secret contract with Johann Georg in order to get rid of Isaac Ivanov and even sponsored him. If you consider the deal between Johann Georg and the Messiah Guild it would be clear that the Messiah Guild doesn’t actually plan to save the world.”


  Amazing words.

  “That’s a really amazing tale, but do you think it means much in the current situation?”


  However, those amazing words didn’t mean much in the current situation.

  “There’s no evidence.”


  This could only be based on what happened in the past and Kim Woo-jin’s own hypothesis.

  This meant that it was just a speculation without any real evidence.

  “What if I told you that Johann Georg was still alive?”


  However, the weight of Kim Woo-jin’s words changed completely under the assumption that Johann Georg was still alive.

  “He’s alive?”


  “Johann Georg?”


  At that moment, Kim Woo-jin gestured to the door with his chin, and a man walked in.

  “Hello?”


  The appearance of Johann Georg, whose beautiful appearance could not be mistaken for anyone else, caused the two to freeze.

  “I’ve had a number of discussions with Johann Georg. And the two of us have come to one conclusion.”


  In this situation, Kim Woo-jin said.

  “If we don’t kill Isaac Ivanov, we will die.”


  At those words, Park Yong-wan and Shakira turned to look at Kim Woo-jin again.

  Kim Woo-jin met their gazes with cold, sullen eyes.

  “So let’s kill Isaac Ivanov.”


  u