Max Talent Player - Chapter 291

“Looking for these, by any chance?”

In his hand were three Iron Horns. Song Junghye’s eyes widened.

“Huh…?”

She already knew Kim Hyukjin was capable of theft, which was why she had taken safety measures.

‘What about Lee Sora?’

Her head whipped backwards, her eyes fixing themselves on the woman who was called the ‘Moon Priestess’ in Blood and Iron. Constantly floating next to Lee Sora was a mote of light the shape of a moon. This light was called Artemis, and it was a unique power that protected Lee Sora. That was why Junghye had entrusted the Iron Horns to her safekeeping, trusting that Artemis would protect it.

Jackson shook his head back and forth, chuckling. “No wonder. I was wondering why Mark was pestering Miss Lee so persistently.” The explorer seemed to have figured everything out. “So you were the one who commissioned Black Crow, Hyukjin?”

“Commissioned? What are you talking about?”

Hyukjin feigned ignorance, but Jackson nodded as if he hadn’t heard.

“No wonder. I thought it was weird that American Players would suddenly enter the Nanba Terminal Dungeon, of all places.” He sighed. “Anyway, I suppose we’ll be kicked out soon.”

They had lost their Iron Horn. Now, a new path would open up, with only the team with the three horns moving on to the next island. Even without waging GVG, Blood and Iron Lion were registered as having lost.

“Kim Hyukjin, you bastard!”

“If you’re mad, just get good.”

Black Crow had fulfilled their role commensurably. Their job wasn’t to duke out a battle of life and death with Blood and Iron Lion, but to distract them with whatever means possible. The two teams were equally matched, and Black Crow had devoted themselves to that one goal. On top of that, Mark, an archer, had doggedly targeted the Moon Priestess.

Yeonseo giggled. “Welp, there they go. Serves them right!” She returned Asura to its sheath. “Anyhoo, that was you, right, Boss? You got Mark to target Lee Sora.”

“Yeah.”

“No wonder. I noticed he was bending over backwards to harass her.”

The American team had behaved a bit strangely for one of the US’ top three. Black Crow hadn’t moved like they were seeking victory. That was how it looked to Yeonseo, at least.

“So Black Crow drew the aggro and you pulled a fast one on them with Darongi, huh?”

“That’s right.”

[The ‘Milky Way Neutron Star’ is delighted by your Playing.]

[1,000 Coins have been sent as a sponsorship.]

Hyukjin cheered inwardly. It seemed the Milky Way Neutron Star was very pleased with his Playing.

‘As I thought, they’re a generous Guardian.’

They had dropped a whopping 1,000 Coin sponsorship in one go. Soon, Players would be entering a time period where Coins were of great importance. Each and every Coin was as precious as gold, so getting a massive lump sum at this point was highly welcome.

Sunhwa said, “Oppa. That weird light thing protecting Sora unnie, what was that?”

Kang Somyi intercepted the question. “Ahem, allow me to explain.”

She went on to explain that the small moon was Artemis, a power that protected Lee Sora. Upon hearing that, Sunhwa was truly jealous.

“Whoaaa. That kind of thing exists?”

“Seriously. That’s luck, I guess. Either that, or she’s got disgusting talent.”

When she said that, everyone’s eyes swiveled in unison towards Hyukjin, who, acutely aware of their gazes, scratched the back of his head.

‘Come to think of it, I do have disgusting talent.’

He was definitely a [No Talent] blockhead before regressing, and yet… That moment, a spike of pain lanced through his temple.

‘Ngh.’

The pain lasted only for a split second before fading away, so fleeting he almost thought he imagined it.

‘Why… is Song Jinchul’s face coming to mind?’

Every time he saw Song Jinchul, something was a little off. And he still didn’t know what the [A factor in a major variable] meant.

Yeonseo poked Hyukjin’s cheek. “Boss, what’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing,” Hyukjin replied.

* * *

* * *

The loose ends were pretty much all wrapped up. The Guardians were also well-informed on the situation, thanks to the conversation between the Players. Countless Guardians were surely watching their Playing with interest.

With a graceful flap of her wings, Senia’s feet touched the ground.

“We will now move on to the next scenario. I, an Intermediate Administrator, will return to stealth mode, and in one minute, the regular dungeon scenario will commence.”

Hyukjin nodded.

‘The regular dungeon scenario, is it?’

That meant everything so far was an ‘irregular dungeon scenario’. That had to be the case. The process so far was far too different from the Nanba Terminal Dungeon Hyukjin remembered.

Sure enough, a notice came in confirming his thoughts.

[All foreign influences in the ‘Endless Sky Crystal’ have been removed.]

[Canceling ‘scenario alteration’.]

[Returning to the regular scenario trajectory.]

It wasn’t visible to the naked eye, but the first two islands disappeared, and with it, the route Giantgod had traveled through to reach the beach.

‘This is the first starting point.’

Hyukjin recalled the clear strategy from his past.

–A sea monster called ‘Kraken’ appears in the Nanba Terminal Dungeon. It’s better to move to the Nanba Island where the Clear Crystal exists while avoiding the Krakens than to hunt the Krakens directly.

That was pretty much all he knew. This was a foreign dungeon, not one found within Korea’s borders, and it wasn’t even that important a place. That was why Hyukjin was dithering between coming here or not.

‘And we’re starting on the beach.’

Eye of Perception could feel it. Somewhere in that vast ocean, a massive creature was moving within the depths.

‘There’s not just one of them.’

There were several Krakens. These enormous octopus monsters had long snouts from which they could shoot ink so acidic it could melt down entire boats.

“I can feel monsters in the ocean. They’re huge,” said Somyi. She continued confidently, “There are a lot of islands in this ocean. We need to find the Clear Crystal hiding on one of those islands and destroy it.”

Her shoulders were set straight with pride—she felt like she was proving herself as an explorer.

“I think it would be best to avoid the monsters in the ocean. They feel super powerful. If we mess up, we might even drown.”

Everyone listened carefully. Her confidence bolstered by their attentiveness, Somyi quickly went on.

“I think we need to find a boat first.”

“There’s no need for that, Somyi.”

“What?”

“I have a boat.”

Hyukjin looked straight at Kang Somyi. Yellow light, the light he became capable of seeing when he reached level 44, was glowing atop her head. And because it was her, he could discern what that yellow light was about.

[This is the Explorer of Service.]

[Capable of a special incantation.]

That wasn’t all.

“Also, we’re going to hunt the sea monsters.”

“What? Why? That has nothing to do with the clear. We don’t need to hunt them, so why risk it?”

Hyukjin shrugged and just stared at her. Just three seconds later, Somyi began to blink rapidly.

“You can’t mean…”

“What you’re thinking is correct.”

Before coming to the Nanba Terminal Dungeon, Hyukjin had told Somyi this:

“A hidden piece of yours is there.”

To which she replied—

“Hidden pieces are love, hidden pieces are life!”

Hyukjin elaborated. “As your liege, I can now see scenario quests and hidden pieces related to your class.”

“Mm, right. I know.”

Somyi was unable to understand why Hyukjin was saying that. She wondered why he was repeating something she already knew. That was because she was fairly new to working with Hyukjin. But Giantgod Guild knew what Hyukjin was doing.

This was an explanation given to the Guardians. Like in TV shows that began with a summary of the previous episode, Hyukjin was doing just that. He was giving them a reminder so they could follow the plot.

“The monsters here are giant octopi called Krakens. Their levels are in the early 40s. They’re definitely dangerous monsters.”

“…”

Somyi stared speechlessly at him. She’d been excitedly giving an explanation of her deductions, but Kim Hyukjin seemed to have already known everything. At this point, she was almost scared of him.

“There are a total of eight Krakens here. When we encounter one, you’ll get a quest. A quest to hunt all eight Krakens and then the boss monster, the King Kraken.”

“…A quest for me?”

“That’s the first class scenario the Explorer of Service gets.”

Hyukjin thought of Jackson, who had disappeared while smiling.

‘He intentionally sent Somyi to me, and in the end, he made it so she came here with me.’

It was Hyukjin who had made use of a variable to pivot, but it seemed that Jackson had foreseen even that.

‘It’s probably not a coincidence that the first class scenario the Explorer of Service gets is in the Nanba Terminal Dungeon.’

Jackson’s smiling face was etched in his mind.

‘To Jackson, both Song Junghye getting the new fleet and me awakening the Explorer of Service are good choices.’

Jackson just had to flip the coin and pick one. As Hyukjin had suspected, it was highly likely Jackson was a transcendent being of some kind. He definitely wasn’t a Player.

“Someone has imposed foreign influences on the Endless Sky Crystal to alter the contents of this dungeon, thus allowing the acquisition of a ‘fleet’ that didn’t originally exist here.”

Everyone craned their ears to listen. Even the accomplished members of Giantgod Guild hadn’t heard of this before, but no one doubted his words.

“But I think that someone also had another scenario other than the fleet in mind. A class scenario for the Explorer of Service is hidden here.”

There was no way that was a coincidence.

“That someone has made arrangements in this dungeon.”

Somyi looked puzzled. “And who is that someone?”

“I’m still finding that out myself.”

The Great Explorer Jackson, someone who might be of the same caliber as the Demon King, had made arrangements for them. The Demon King held no punches and gave dangerous arrangements, whereas Jackson set up comparatively safer ones.

“But there’s no doubt someone is making arrangements for us behind the scenes.” Hyukjin smiled. “And we can’t call ourselves Giantgod Guild if we fail to scoop up the free goodies we are offered. Even if our target is a boss monster, the King Kraken.”

The King Kraken’s level was typically in the mid to late 40s. On top of that, as an ocean-dwelling monster, it was a far more difficult foe than land monsters. Because of that, the hunt was sure to have countless Guardians on the edge of their seats.

[The ‘Nameless Observer’ is observing.]

[The ‘White Hunter’ is happy.]

[The ‘Conductor of Sound’ is focusing.]

[The ‘Night of Shooting Stars’ has high hopes for your Playing.]

And there was one other Guardian—Kang Somyi’s Guardian, one he hadn’t known before his regression, finally made an appearance.

[The ‘Ruler of the New Continent’ is observing the sovereign.]

There was an important point to notice. They weren’t observing the Play, but the ‘sovereign’.

“We’ll be clearing the hidden piece and fully awakening you.”

“Wh-Why?”

“Because you’re an explorer in Giantgod Guild from today onwards, of course?”

“I-I am?” Somyi stammered, glancing at the others in bafflement. “Shouldn’t there be a vote where everyone agrees, or a majority vote or something?”

It was a very sensible question, but Kang Somyi was still sorely misinformed about the guild she was joining.