Ark (Published Novel)

ACT 9 Netherworld Rises!

“Hik, what, what, what the?”

Buksil wasn’t in a normal state.He thought everything had finished when Ark returned from Ageiron.

‘Huhuhu, now all that’s left to do is use my ‘secret weapon’ when the Netherworld rises and I can obtain Magaro’s legacy. All the cruelty I’ve had to withstand will become worthwhile!’

Buksil had been happily daydreaming.However, the situation had changed instantly when the Red Man appeared. The resurrection of the world tree was stopped as the Red Man and the Draken troops invaded the fortress. In addition, the Nakujuk were also storming the canyon in order to invade Haman Fortress.JusticeMan and the rehabilitation members did their best to command the soldiers and stop them, but the Draken troops had already broken in and slaughtered the Baran members that they encountered.

“T-take this….!”

Buksil watched as a Baran covered in blood died and gnashed his teeth.There weren’t only soldiers in the fortress.General NPCs had been gathered to spread supplies so there were a number of young children. And Buksil was in charge of the warehouse and supplies so he had spent time with all of them.He had carried luggage and shed sweat with the residents and also played with the children. Yet now there were young children being slaughtered in front of him.His fury climbed as he saw the scenes unfolding.

“But there’s still Ark, Ark will stop them!”

Buksil didn’t like Ark.Although he sometimes showed a surprising face, he would quickly reveal his true colours. But Buksil recognized Ark’s skill.Among the users he had met so far, Ark was the strongest one. Obviously Ark would somehow solve this problem. When Buksil looked through the cloud of dust to find Ark, he was engulfed in despair.Ark, Shambala and Lariette were being hopelessly beaten.

‘Hiing, he looks so uncool. Let’s see him act smug now!’

Buksil didn’t know why he laughed.But his face became desperate as strange feelings rose in his heart after seeing fall and fall again.

‘…..What the? Why are you doing this? You’re not such a character. Doesn’t your expression always show confidence in winning? Get up. Where’s that handsome act that you used to exploit Lariette? Hurry up and be that person who exploited me!’

He couldn’t understand why he was feeling this way.Ark was hateful. Really hateful, but Buksil didn’t want to see him look like this.At that moment, the Red Man shot off lightning strikes and Ark was burned to death.Buksil’s eyes also being pained from the glare of the lightning.

“T-that bastard….!”

Buksil ground his teeth together as he stared at Ark’s collapsed form.

…..This feeling?Buksil felt something in his head come loose as he witnessed Ark dying.The quest would fail and he would die from the Nakujuk once Ark died. The whole situation mixed up in Buksil’s head and he became paralyzed.Then all that anger became aimed at the Red Man.

‘Because of him. Everything is because of him!’

Buksil glared at the Red Man leisurely approaching Yuzuria’s Heart.He pulled out a scroll and shouted.

“Take this you son of a bitch! [Banish]!”

When a scroll was activated, a colour would appear depending on what type it was. The light would hit the target and trigger the special effect. However, the light just floated in front of Buksil and didn’t fly towards the Red Man.

“What, what the? Why is this happening? Is it broken after such a long time? No, it shouldn’t have…..ah, that’s right!”

Everything was so crazy that he forgot to specify a target. Buksil took out the [Low-level Insight] and used it on the Red Man.He needed to confirm the Red Man’s ID before the effects of the [Banish] scroll was cancelled.

“Huhuhu, after I find out your ID…..huk, what is this?”

Buksil’s smile of satisfaction turned into an expression of bewilderment.The Red Man’s information didn’t appear even when he used [Insight]. Rather, the Red Man discovered him thanks to the use of the [Insight] scroll.The Red Man flinched and turned around.

“What the, who are you?”

“Hik!”

Buksil screamed and sat on the ground.The Red Man had lifted his sword as soon as he turned his body around.It was a desperate moment!Buksil let out a terrified scream and shouted.

“Hell, I don’t know! [Banish], the one about to hit me is the target! Activate! Activate! Activate!”

Buksil shouted with desperation after he was cornered. Once it was triggered, the light was unable to find a target and gradually weakened but now it entwined with Buksil’s body.Just a few seconds afterwards, the Red Man’s sword touched Buksil and the light soared up the sword towards the Red Man’s heart.

Flash! Teteng!

“Ugh, what, what the?” Oh my god…..!”

A red light flashed from the scroll and the Red Man flew towards the horizon like a baseball in a home run. Buksil stared with bemused eyes at the Red Man flying away and stuttered.

“Oh, i-it really could be triggered this way?”

It was a new method of utilizing the scrolls that had never been considered!

“Hahaha, I-I did it! Neither Ark, Shambala nor the rehabilitation group could deal with him yet I blew that monster away! As expected, the scrolls really are the strongest!”

In New World, only 10 of these rare [Banish] scrolls had been found! It was a scroll which blew the target 10 kilometres away.Yes, Buksil’s secret weapon was this scroll. He had planned to use the [Banish] scroll on Ark after Magaro’s legacy when found and then flee after packing all the items. However……

“Eh? W-what have I done?”

Buksil burst out as he realised too late.

“Ugh, now I don’t have a trump card to hit Ark with!”

Buksil grabbed his hair and screamed. But after a moment, Buksil acted like someone with schizophrenia and suddenly looked at Yuzuria’s Heart.

“W-wait? It’s not like that. There would be no way to get Magaro’s legacy if the Red Man won but luckily Yuzuria’s Heart is still here. And Ark died from a user so he won’t revive for 24 hours. If that’s the case?”

The preparations to revive the world tree were already finished.If Buksil managed to resurrect the world tree then wouldn’t he monopolize Magaro’s legacy? Those were Buksil’s thoughts as he ran towards Yuzuria’s Heart.

“Yes, once I occupy this then my plan……”

But there were some things Buksil didn’t know.He needed Ark’s Sacred Branch in order to restore the world tree. And there was something else……

“Hey pig. Isn’t that mine?”

“Hik, what, what, what, what…..?”

Buksil freaked out and fell on his rear as he heard the voice coming from behind him. Surprisingly, the person approaching was Ark who had died a short time ago.Yes, Ark had already died once.But no matter how strong the opponent was, Ark wouldn’t die just like that. The Red Man’s lightning was only focused on Ark, Shambala, Lariette and Dedric. Meanwhile, Ark had made some preparations and sent Razak escaping to somewhere far away.Thus Ark revived thanks to Razak’s Pledge of Death and waited for a chance to either strike the Red Man or take Yuzuria’s Heart. Then he watched as Buksil blew the Red Man away.

“Now I understand. That was the ‘secret weapon’ you were hiding?”

Ark narrowed his eyes and glared at Buksil.Buksil winced and shouted as Ark approached.

“Now’s not the time for this! The world tree, you need to revive the world tree!”

“That’s right, the world tree!”

Ark flinched and looked around.The Haman Fortress was a place of chaos as the Drakens and Nakujuk ran everywhere. The Red Man had disappeared but the fortress was still in a dangerous state.

‘Now I can only believe in the world tree. I can reverse the situation if I restore Yuzuria. And even if we’re defeated here, Yuzuria will still rise. There’s no other choice.’

“Buksil, we’ll talk about the scrolls later.”

Ark grabbed Yuzuria’s Heart and buried it in the soil bed. Then he also drove Yggdrasil’s Sacred Branch into the bed. A pale light emerged from the Sacred Branch as the soil bed started to shake.

“That’s it, it is reacting. Now……!”

Pyorong!

A sprout grew from the soil.A sprout….no matter how he looked, it was still a sproutOnly two buds grew from the sprout. Ark stared at it but the sprout didn’t change.

“What, what the? Why is it different?”

Ark raised his voice and an information window instantly appeared.

Once something went wrong then everything would become worse.A 2 hour time limit when it was an urgent situation?Of course Ark couldn’t afford to wait until then.The moon was already starting to set. The remaining time until daybreak was 20 minutes at most. If this failed then he would have to wait until the next full moon to resurrect Yuzuria.It was impossible for Haman Fortress to hold out until then.

“No way! It’s impossible! Does it make sense for a world tree to have its power taken away by a monster? Just a little more power towards the bud. You can do it!”

Ark continuously used Nursing on the soil bed.It had been effective on the Sacred Soil in the past. As expected, Nursing didn’t disappoint.Although Yuzuria’s power was weakened by Wigurima, after he used Nursing the sprout shook and emerged a bit more.

Although it succeeded, it only reduced the time by 5 minutes.

“Wooaaaaaak!”

“Stop them, ugh!”

Meanwhile one Baran member after another collapsed.The soldiers led by the rehabilitation members were being wiped out by the Drakens. Meanwhile, the ones led by JusticeMan were barely holding on. Beyond the walls near the soil bed, the Nakujuk who advanced through the canyon were also getting close.

“Ark, find that bastard Ark!”

He heard Jewel and Duke’s voice from among the dust cloud.

‘God dammit, is Nursing not going to work?’

Ark’s current health was 1,500 and Lariette was dead so she couldn’t use recovery magic.The Drakens flew around looking for him at Jewel’s command.The resurrection of the world tree just became more difficult. Ark couldn’t see how it was possible in this state.Then a few Drakens rushed up behind Ark.

‘Is it going to end here?’

Tu tu tu tung!

Ark had lifted his head with a desperate look.The Drakens had been pushed back a few metres and wobbled.

“It’s Ark-nim, Ark-nim is over there!”

“Everybody help Ark-nim. Reload, fire!”

Ark looked around at the familiar voices.Ahead…..the heavily armed raccoon clan emerged from the gate holding their cannons.

“I felt like something was suspicious nyang!”

“Ark oppa!”

The group was also followed by Roco riding her unicorn.

“Oh, is it a fight?” These days I’ve been so bored playing around the village. Meow, raise your claws! I don’t know what’s going on but let’s help our friend the Truthseeker!”

“Nyahhhh!”

“Our benefactor, help Ark hyung-nim!”

Hassan and the Meow and the ex-thieves began attacking the Nakujuk.

‘How did they get to the Netherworld…..ah, that’s right!’

Ark saw the gate they came out of and understood the situation.He had used all of the remaining powder to create the dimensional gate. Even after moving the four wagons, the gate between Lancel village and the Netherworld was still connected.The residents must’ve seen Ark disappearing through the gate in a corner and went through out of curiosity while bringing reinforcements just in case Ark was in danger.This was possible because he had 100% intimacy with the residents of Lancel village.Even the users who came through the gate became involved with the war.

“What is this nyang? I’ll give all those who fight bravely a kiss on the cheek nyang!”

“Ohhh, really?”

“An opportunity to score a kiss from Jana! Let’s show them the power of cosplay enthusiasts!”

“Oh oh oh!”

“What, what the? Why do these guys have such disgusting eyes?”

The Nakujuk burst out as they saw the users. Thanks to that Ark survived the crisis, but it was only for a short time.In fact, there was a reason Ark hadn’t asked the inhabitants of Lancel village to join in the war. The NPC soldiers levelled up quite slowly compared to users.The raccoons, Meow and ex-thieves were all around level 150~180. That was much lower than his level 200 pets.The Nakujuk’s average level was 280 so it was impossible to make them enter the war.As Ark expected, the residents of Lancel village were quickly pushed on the defensive.While the raccoons fought from long distance and the Meow had high evasion, the ex-thieves quickly went down.

”Ah…..damn….!”

A moan emerged from Ark’s mouth.He was thankful but he didn’t want their help.Everything was disappearing right in front of Ark.The Baran clan, the Dark Brothers, the residents of Lancel village…….everything he had accomplished was vanishing. Now it wasn’t just a problem of the Netherworld any longer. When pushed like this, Jewel’s group would discover that Ark’s base was Lancel village.If Jewel and the Nakujuk went through the dimensional gate then Lancel village wouldn’t be able to stand against them.Unlike users, NPCs only had one life.Jana who was always teasing Ark, the funny looking Hassan, Sarah who always followed him around and Galen who always supported him…..he wouldn’t be able to see them anymore. And Lancel village would return to its previous dilapidated state.

‘It can’t be, no, no, it can’t happen!’

Ark knew the fear of losing someone better than anybody else.Ark frantically screamed down at the soil bed.

“Please, Yuzuria! You’re the world tree needed to maintain the Netherworld’s balance….right now you are needed. Please……please wake up. Get up and help the Baran clan!”

Ark yelled in a cracking voice.Suddenly a light emerged from the Sacred Branch before the branch disappeared.At the same time, the sprout trembled and a huge world tree suddenly soared into the sky in front of him.

His sincere prayers had achieved a miracle!The emergence of the world tree suddenly calmed the centre of the fortress.

“T-the world tree…..!”

The world tree rose through the cloud of dust and seemed to touch the moon! While everyone was watching, the image of a beautiful woman appeared in front of the world tree.The woman floating in the air smiled gently at Ark.

-The descendant of a great warrior, Ark. I have heard your prayers. You prayed for the resurrection of the world tree Yuzuria and it has been granted!

Indeed, the effects of a mature tree were really different from Popo who was just a seedling.

Ku ku ku ku ku!

When the world tree was revived, thick vines immediately grew along the outer walls.They were the same type of vines that protected the outer wall of Cairo. The Nakujuk were forced out beyond the walls.

-My subordinates, punish these people who have become corrupted. Iron wall divine blessing!

When Yuzuria shouted, light from the full moon headed towards the fortress.Just like a cloud of dust settling down, it sunk into the bodies of the Baran clan.

“Huk, defense 500%, magic resistance 300%?”

It was a really scream worthy buff.Thanks to Yuzuria’s buff, the military situation immediately changed by 180 degrees.

“Now, shall we start this again?”

Ark turned his body and grinned.When the dust cloud disappeared, he was able to clearly confirm the battle situation.Most of the Nakujuk had been pushed outside by the vines but there were still hundreds of the Drakens troops remaining in the fortress. Meanwhile Jewel and Duke were surrounded by the Baran clan not far from Ark’s location.

“You, you bastard……!”

Jewel and Duke cursed when they saw him.Even though the Drakens were helping Jewel and Duke, they couldn’t do anything against the Baran clan and their allies from Lancel village who had 500% defense and 300% magic resistance. In addition, the vines had divided their power in half.Ark lead the coalition of Baran=Lancel and literally stepped on them.When Jewel and Duke died, the situation became even more difficult and the Drakens ran away. The Nakujuk who were struggling against the vine wall also ran away.

“Waaaaaah, we defeated them!”

“Hooray for the Commander, hooray for Yuzuria!”

The Baran clan cheered when the Nakujuk ran away.With the situation under control, Yuzuria looked at them warmly before approaching Ark.

-Ark, thanks to you I have been able to perform the duties entrusted to me. I cannot deny that you are my benefactor. Now you are a friend of my heart so please take this token.

Yuzuria handed Ark a brilliantly shining branch from the world tree.

‘Ohhh, jackpot!’

Ark’s mouth opened as he received the Sacred Branch.In fact, his heart had sunk when the Sacred Branch disappeared.He didn’t know how much profit he would gain from the Netherworld but he would receive enormous damage if he lost the Sacred Branch. But it was upgraded and then returned…..from the pretty looking woman to the reward, everything was different from Yggdrasil.Ark received the Sacred Branch and the Lore quest was completed.

Then the whole Netherworld started shaking like an earthquake had occurred.Athick crack spread through the sky and it started breaking off like a snake shedding its skin. Through the gaping space in the crack, the bright dawn of the middle earth’s sky could be seen.Yes, after hundreds of years the Netherworld was finally emerging from the dimensional storm towards middle earth.

“Ah, all Lancel residents return to the gate!”

The dimension gate would disappear once the Netherworld rose.He didn’t know what area the Netherworld would rise to so it would be a huge problem for the residents of Lancel village. The residents and users from Lancel passed through the gate at Ark’s command.Then he suddenly heard the voice of the Red Man in his ear.

-Nice move, was it Ark? It managed to end in a tie this time. I’ve accomplished the most important objective. But next time I won’t forgive you if you step in front of me.

“What the, this bastard? Why is he saying such things while hiding?’

Ark looked around with a frown.Buksil had sent him flying and now he was rattling on. And what did he say? Next time he wouldn’t forgive him? Was he a second class villain? Hiding somewhere while communicating with him……

However Ark soon felt his breath stop.He found the Red Man riding an eagle in the sky. But it wasn’t the Red Man who caused Ark to become shocked. On the other side of the wide gaping space was a huge object.

Kaaaaaaa-!

‘…..A colossal skyray?

Although only a small part of its form was shown through the dimensional crack, it was unmistakably a skyray. The skyray was dozens of kilometres larger than the giant white whale Gallic that they encountered on the seabed in the past! The long tail grazed against the crack in the sky.The more surprising thing was the back of the skyray.It appeared to be carrying a huge castle three or four times larger than Haman Fortress. It looked like a legendary castle floating in the sky……an aerial fortress.

————————————————————————————————————

“Hey, check the system quickly! Hurry and collect the materials for Chief Kim!”

At that time, the New World planning department of Global Exos was in chaos.New World had been quiet for a while. Then the system fell into an impossible state last night and began feeding a large amount of power to start a new episode.

-The main system has completed the data update necessary for episode III.

<Episode III: Emergence of a New Continent>

“A new continent? What on earth?”

Ha Myung-woo pulled his hair and shouted.At the same time, Kim Gwon-tae accessed dozens of computer data and turned his head.

“Boss, I’ve found it.”

“What?”

“The reports submitted by the researchers in the early stages of making the game detail the conditions needed to trigger episode III. The new continent seems to be an area called the Netherworld. The official name is Seutandal. The place of emergence is approximately 250 kilometres in the seas bordering the Schudenberg and Bristania Kingdoms. The coordinates are X3489 Y5673.”

“Do you think I haven’t read the researcher’s report? I already know that!”

Ha Myung-woo yelled in an annoyed voice.

“I want to know why episode III started with no warning. Just yesterday there were no signs of this. Clearly I came to ask for the reason!”

“Well the researcher’s report stated that the condition for this is the completion of the Lore Quest associated with the Netherworld’s world tree…..”

“That’s the problem. It hasn’t been released yet but I’ve sent materials about each quarterly episode to the TV station. I told them that the next episode would be determined by the actions of users, not NPCs.”

That was the reason Ha Myung-woo needed the information.It was obvious that the media would focus on that.He could predict questions about the contents of the Lore quest and Seutandal rising. The person who needed to answer those questions was Ha Myung-woo. However, Ha Myung-woo knew no more than other users.Episode III had started. It was amazing…..but that was all he knew.

‘Damn, why do I always have to appear like a clown on TV?’

“Anything is good. For anything from the information site, bulletin boards or even false rumours!”

Ha Myung-woo felt like he was being bullied by the systems of New World. Then Ho Myung-hwan who had been looking at the information site shouted.

“B-Boss, I’ve found it!”

“What do you mean?”

“The reason why the Netherworld is rising……I seem to have found it.”

“Really? Where? Where did you find it?”

“Look at this. I’ll show it on the main screen.”

Ho Myung-hwan manipulated the computer and an image appeared on the 120 inch screen.It was a video that had been posted on the bulletin boards of the official site yesterday.While the managers were looking in the wrong place, a huge number of users had already watched the videos and it had reached 13,000 hits.

“Is that the Netherworld?”

The staffs of the Planning Department were users in New World as well as employees of Global Exos.They had heard rumours of the Netherworld so they all stopped what they were doing and concentrated on the video.The title of the movie was the ‘Netherworld expedition of the Wicked Wolf.’Just like the title of the movie, the main character was a black wolf. As the video began, the Wolf shook its tail and started to gather ingredients in the Netherworld. But after a few moments, the contents developed into fighting dozens of red monsters.

“Ach, oh no!”

The movie has elements to please everybody such as romance and action.They screamed when a dragon like monster flew off with the carriage containing the trapped beauty and felt admiration when the Wolf was able to save her. And they all started sweating and grasped each other’s hands as the boss transformed.An epic 2 hours later……the Wolf who had overcome a large amount of adversity managed to revive the Netherworld’s world tree.Thus the dimension known as the Netherworld rose to middle earth. The last scene was the handsome Wolf being surrounded by blue NPCs in middle earth while they cheered him.

“W-who is he? That Wolf?”

Ha Myung-woo asked after staring blankly at the screen. But none of the staff in the Planning Department knew who the character was.Then Ha Myung-woo shouted towards Ho Myung-hwan.

“Video, look at the video.”

“The ID says Buksil.”

“Buksil? That’s the name of the Wolf?”

“……It can’t be. He wrote on his introduction in the bulletin board that he was a dwarf merchant from Schudenberg Kingdom.”

“Then Buksil must be the photographer. Call him now and find out the identity of the Wolf. And I don’t have to tell you this but meet him as soon as he is identified. With work of this degree, we’ll become closer to accessing the system. No matter what happens, he must be recruited to participate in the project!”

“I understand.”

Ho Myung-hwan connected to the site and examined Buksil’s information.The user had toregister with their personal information in order to upload videos on the official site.Supposedly the registration was to prevent abuse of the videos, but really it was to collect the user’s information if they needed it.Using his administrator’s ID, Ho Myung-hwan was soon able to determine Buksil’s phone number.

‘There’s no way Ark is the only black wolf in New World. In addition, Ark seems eager to hide himself. There is no way he would allow a video of himself to be uploaded.

Ho Myung-hwan gave a wry smile and picked up the phone.The tone repeated several times before he heard a voice.

“Hello?”

“Oh, excuse me. I’m calling from Global Exos’ Planning Department.”

“Global Exos’ Planning Department?”

“Yes, are you Buksil who uploaded a video onto the site yesterday?”

“Yes, what about it?”

“I would like to ask you more about the main character of the movie.”

“The protagonist……are you talking about Ark-nim?”

“A-Ark?”

Ho Myung-hwan popped out of the chair at Buksil’s words.

“Did you say Ark just now?”

TO BE CONTINUED