Level Up Machine

Chapter 96 Revealing Divinity (1)

[Security level 8 has been unlocked. ‘Guided Missile’ and ‘Plasma’ are now available for use.]

[Security level 9 has been unlocked. ‘Eclipse Cannon’ is now available for use.]

[Downloading usage rights for the suit from Lacteon’s core.]

[The usage rights for the ‘Multipurpose Functional Combat Suit Lacteon Type 2′ have been extended.]

[The suit’s output limit has increased to 50%. The usage limit time has increased to 10 minutes.]

[You have stepped into a new realm. The level cap has been raised to 99.]

[Your level has increased to 99 with the accumulated experience points.]

Along with the familiar mechanical sound, a message window popped up indicating that the level cap had been raised.

_Thump. Thump._

– Intruder. Eliminate.

The blue giant approaching Yeong-sik raised its fist. A crystal mace weighing hundreds of tons swung at Yeong-sik.

[It is recommended to wear the suit to escape the current situation. Do you accept?]

There was no time to think deeply. Yeong-sik nodded at the mechanical sound echoing in his ears. The suit next to the altar flew towards him.

_Click. Click._

The sound of gears meshing could be heard. The visor of the suit, which flew in last, obscured his view. As the suit activated, the surroundings became visible again.

The suit calculated and visually represented the trajectory of the giant’s swinging fist. A red line following the trajectory was aiming at Yeong-sik.

_Boom!_

Yeong-sik raised his right arm to block the giant’s fist. The crystal mace, which seemed capable of shattering everything in the world, was easily blocked by his outstretched right hand.

“What…?”

The summoners’ faces were filled with astonishment. What Yeong-sik had just shown was akin to blocking a charging dump truck with a wooden chopstick.

Not being astonished would have been even more strange.

[Uploading new weapon data to the suit.]

[Warning. The upload of the Eclipse Cannon has failed. This weapon cannot be implemented with the current capabilities of the Lacteon Type 2 suit.]

Listening to the words ringing in his ears, Yeong-sik looked up at the giant. Information about the new weapon floated in his mind.

_Click. Click._

The back of the suit opened. Dozens of barrels rose like spikes. It looked just like a hedgehog.

Yeong-sik stared at the blue giant.

The suit’s sensors scanned the blue giant. Weak spots on the giant’s body were marked in red.

“Hah?”

A deep sigh escaped Yeong-sik’s lips. It was a thrilling feeling, as if he were intoxicated.

An incredible sense of exhilaration, as if the entire world was in the palm of his hand.

[Targeting complete.]

“Fire.”

With his low voice, the barrels on his back began to spew fire. Dozens of guided missiles spread out like a net and flew toward the giant.

_Boom! Boom! Boom!_

The giant explosion engulfed the giant’s body. The giant staggered greatly. Yeong-sik pushed off the ground and soared into the air. He raised his left arm. The black blade of the blade shone sharply.

_Snap! Crackle!_

Plasma began to form along the blade’s edge. The plasma blade, extending nearly dozens of meters, emitted intense heat.

The plasma blade cut off the blue giant’s arm. Four arms fell to the ground.

– Detecting fatal damage to the body. All emergency mana will be overdriven.

The blue giant’s body began to shine brilliantly. Yeong-sik stared at the blue giant’s body with a hardened expression.

[Detecting a powerful energy. It is recommended to move more than 3km away from the current location.]

“Is it self-destructing…!”

Yeong-sik shouted as he looked at the giant’s body, which was emitting a blue light. Urgency was written all over his face.

‘Running away alone is possible, but…’

If that happened, all the summoners left here would not be able to escape death.

Yeong-sik bit his lip harshly. Surviving alone was meaningless.

Yeong-sik scanned the blue giant’s body. He saw that mana was concentrated in its chest. It was the magic stone forming the core of the guardian.

_Boom!_

He boosted to the limit. His body, breaking the sound barrier, caused a sonic boom around him.

_Slash!_

Crystal fragments shot up like spikes from the blue giant’s chest, blocking Yeong-sik’s approach. Hundreds of spikes targeted Yeong-sik. A red line indicating the predicted attack path spread out densely like a net.

‘Slo-mo.’

The world stopped. No, it flowed slowly as if it had stopped. Yeong-sik, dodging the tidal wave of crystal shards like an acrobat, reached the giant’s chest where mana was concentrated.

_Bang!_

The muzzle of the shotgun spewed fire. The giant’s chest shattered, revealing a magic stone about 3 meters in size.

Yeong-sik embraced it with his body and soared upward. His body, piercing through the dungeon’s ceiling, rushed through the ground. An immense pressure crushed his entire body.

The suit creaked under the weight of hundreds of thousands of tons of rock. The booster’s output weakened. The shock transmitted through the suit made Yeong-sik’s entire body heat up as if it were overloaded.

_Boom!_

The ground exploded as Yeong-sik’s body shot out of the dungeon. His view, which had been shrouded in darkness, opened up to reveal the blue sky.

Yeong-sik roughly threw the magic stone he was holding.

An intense light, as if the sun had descended upon the earth, burst forth. A massive explosion, swallowing even the sound, swept the surroundings.

Yeong-sik’s body, caught in the explosion, plummeted to the ground.

The barren plain came into his view. Sitting on a half-collapsed castle wall, he looked down at the plain with a somewhat vacant expression.

“What are you thinking about so deeply?”

Someone approaching from behind him asked. Without turning his head, he replied.

“Why do you think we are fighting?”

“Well… I haven’t really thought about it.”

“Don’t you think it’s strange?”

“I’ve never thought that. It’s a given.”

“When did it become a given?”

“…From the beginning.”

From the beginning. Without turning his head, he uttered those words that felt bitter.

“You seem a bit strange today. Is it because of…?”

The person speaking to him asked in a low voice. Due to a strange noise mixed in with his words, it was hard to hear exactly what he was saying.

“Well… I don’t know.”

His memory of himself saying that ended there.

* * *

“Ugh…”

His entire body creaked as if it were being crushed by something. Yeong-sik groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. The darkened sky and the brilliantly shining starlight entered his vision.

_Tap, tap._

He felt the warm heat from the campfire lit beside him.

‘Where am I?’

“Ah, you’re finally awake.”

A woman’s voice flowed into Yeong-sik’s ears. He slowly turned his head toward the direction of the voice. A woman with reddish-brown hair and blue eyes was looking down at him.

“Are you alright? You’ve been unconscious for three days.”

“You are…?”

“My name is Leila Janemet.”

She shrugged her shoulders as she said her name. Yeong-sik turned his head to look around. In the wide clearing, a few makeshift tents were set up. People emerging from the tents were looking at him with interest. Everyone was wearing uniforms with a golden lion insignia.

“Where is this?”

“This is the forest beyond the northern boundary. You didn’t come here without knowing, did you?”

“There was a huge explosion three days ago, so we came over and found you collapsed. We’ve been taking care of you for the past three days.”

“…Thank you.”

Yeong-sik slightly bowed his head towards Leila. It seemed that these people had saved him after he lost consciousness from the magic stone explosion.

“Well, now it’s my turn to ask questions. Who are you? Why are you inside the northern boundary?”

“My name is Yeong-sik. I came inside the boundary with my guild members to level up.”

Yeong-sik answered, hiding the fact that he had come beyond the northern boundary to attack the dungeon.

“I see. So, you’re a summoner. If you came past the boundary to level up, you must belong to a pretty big guild.”

Yeong-sik slowly nodded at her words. Though he didn’t belong to a large guild, considering the Leviathan Guild members who had come with him, her assumption wasn’t entirely wrong.

“What happened? What was that massive explosion?”

“A monster we encountered in the forest caused the explosion.”

“…A monster caused such an explosion?”

“Yes. It was the first time I saw that type of monster as well.”

Yeong-sik naturally lied.

“Hmm. It seems you encountered a boss monster.”

“By any chance, did you see anyone else around here?”

“No, I didn’t see anyone other than you.”

Upon hearing her words, Yeong-sik fell silent. He had escaped the dungeon with the magic stone, so there shouldn’t be any major issues, but he was still worried about the others.

“What’s going on, Leila?”

“Ah, Captain. The summoner we found three days ago has woken up.”

Leila turned towards the direction of the voice and bowed deeply.

Yeong-sik moved his gaze in the direction of the voice.

Yeong-sik was momentarily at a loss for words.

The first thing that caught his eye was the beautiful, long silver hair.

Silky, lustrous silver hair. Flawless, clean skin. A sharp nose and delicate jawline. Under slightly thick eyebrows were golden eyes that seemed to draw him in.

Her beauty was not limited to her face.

A voluptuous chest and a slender waist. Long, beautifully shaped legs that matched the description of perfect leg lines.

She was a woman taller than most adult men.

She had a perfect figure that would even make the famous model Ara feel ashamed. This woman slowly approached where Yeong-sik was.

“I am Forte von Julius. I am the commander of the 3rd Army of the Arnan Empire.”

‘Arnan Empire.’

Yeong-sik’s eyes sparkled at Forte’s words. A massive empire located in the southern part of the continent. Since the fall of the Ingrim Empire, it had firmly held the position of the strongest nation on the continent.

Only then did Yeong-sik understand why there were natives rather than summoners beyond the northern boundary.

The southern part of the continent, where the Arnan Empire was located, was very different from the east. There, natives often possessed even greater power than summoners.

Because there were more natives with levels exceeding 100 than there were high-ranking summoners, there were no power struggles between summoner-created guilds and nations as in the east.

The natives, superior in both quantity and quality, had integrated all the summoners into the empire’s regular army.

Most summoners there worked as salaried soldiers.

“I am Yeong-sik.”

“Which guild do you belong to?”

“I belong to a guild in the east.”

“Hmm. If you’ve come beyond the boundary, it must be one of Leviathan, Hanul, or Abaddon.”

Yeong-sik nodded at her words. There was no need to reveal that he was from the Salvator Guild here.

“Tomorrow, at dawn, I will arrange for you to be taken to the eastern northern boundary.”

“Thank you for your offer, but I would like to stay and search the area a bit more for my guild members.”

“…Alone?”

“Yes.”

Yeong-sik nodded with a calm expression. Forte looked at him with a troubled expression.

At that moment, a young man with gray hair, who had been standing behind her, stepped forward.

“Ha! An idiot from the east spouting nonsense without knowing his place. Do you even know where you are before you spew such crap?”

With a nervous expression, he walked towards Yeong-sik.