novelburst
Chapter 283
Chapter 283
[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
Chapter 283
"One more Ultimate Star."
<You’re asking for an additional Ultimate Star?>
"Yes."
The Ultimate Star was an item that allowed Celestial equipment to be upgraded to Ultimate.
Currently, Jeong-hoon's Celestial equipment consisted of a head ornament imbued with the soul of a divine beast.
By reprocessing the engraving stone, Mukho and Anima could also be upgraded to Celestial.
If that were done, even after using the Ultimate Star, one would remain.
Jeong-hoon wanted to use this opportunity to upgrade all three to Ultimate.
<Hmm...>
Baal hesitated for a moment.
Even two Ultimate Stars were a lot.
Yet Jeong-hoon was asking to raise the difficulty in exchange for one more Ultimate Star.
Perhaps it would have been better not to meddle at all.
No, this was a chance.
By raising the difficulty to Max and ensuring Jeong-hoon couldn’t clear it, Baal wouldn’t need to give up the Ultimate Star. This would prevent Jeong-hoon from obtaining the ultimate power while forcing him to proceed with a contract.
In fact, wagering three Ultimate Stars while adjusting the difficulty seemed to be a better deal.
"I don’t think it’s something you need to agonize over so much."
Jeong-hoon was confident Baal would agree to add the Ultimate Star.
No matter how one looked at it, adding the Ultimate Star was far more advantageous.
At the same time, he knew it would raise questions.
After experiencing Path of the Ultimate (2) and understanding the challenges of obtaining ultimate power, it would seem odd to request a massive increase in difficulty.
What exactly had he gained from using Psyche's Pocket Watch?
The complexity of these thoughts delayed Baal’s response.
‘You won’t know just how much I gained from it.’
Jeong-hoon possessed a transcendent passive skill: Elevation of Rank.
Even after reaching the Celestial grade and achieving Level 10, it only raised his rank by two stages. However, through titles, he had greatly elevated that rank.
The rapid subjugation of the Shadow King, a transcendent demon lord, was entirely due to this title.
For this reason, even with the massive increase in difficulty, Jeong-hoon was confident he could obtain ultimate power.
<Very well. I’ll add the Ultimate Star.>
After long contemplation, Baal finally agreed.
Jeong-hoon grinned slyly and nodded.
"Good. Then adjust the difficulty. Actually, no, that might not even be necessary."
With those words, he turned his gaze toward Harphael.
Harphael’s shoulders flinched at the gesture.
There was no need to adjust the difficulty because it was already set to the maximum.
<…Yes. The difficulty is already at Max.>
"You really intended to make me fail, didn’t you?"
<That’s right.>
"Harsh. What were you going to do if I ended up dead?"
If he lost his life, the contract would be rendered void.
Baal's eyes curved like a crescent moon.
<That won’t happen. If it seems like you’re about to die, I’ll intervene and stop it.>
So, he’s saying he’ll make sure I survive no matter what…?
Jeong-hoon let out a faint chuckle.
"I see. Then, shall we begin?"
Above Harphael’s head, a question mark flickered.
Just like when Jeong-hoon obtained celestial power, it was a rainbow-colored question mark.
[Secret Quest: Ultimate Power]
- Restriction: Achieve 100% Ultimate Energy, Perfectly Complete the Ultimate Path Quest
- Reward: Ultimate Power
- Description: You have earned the right to reach the ultimate. Complete the quest presented by the NPC to obtain this power.
Gulp.
The Ultimate Power, something Jeong-hoon had never seen in all his experiences before and after regression.
With the difficulty raised to Max, the process of obtaining this power would undoubtedly be far from easy.
Even so, he would succeed.
Just as he always had.
Jeong-hoon accepted the quest.
"Then, I will now assign the quest…."
Harphael’s tone grew polite, likely because of Baal’s presence.
"Yes. What do I need to do?"
"It’s the same as when you obtained celestial power. Go and gather all the materials I mention."
With those words, Harphael snapped his fingers.
A message appeared before Jeong-hoon.
[Gather the Materials]
- 100 Seeds of the Blood La Planta
- 100 Hearts of King Harmount
- 10 Ultimate Wills
Jeong-hoon nodded.
‘This will take a long time.’
Even at a glance, the materials would only drop at an abysmally low rate, and he needed to gather 100 of them.
Raising the difficulty was one thing, but this was excessive.
A dry laugh escaped him involuntarily.
"So, the increased material count is tied to the difficulty level, isn’t it?"
"That’s correct."
Jeong-hoon let out a quiet sigh and looked at the portal in front of him.
"Understood. I just need to go there and gather them, right?"
"Yes."
***
As Jeong-hoon stepped into the portal, Harphael turned and bowed toward Baal.
"My lord, that human will never obtain ultimate power."
<It must be so.>
After all, three Ultimate Stars were at stake in this wager.
Beyond the preciousness of the reward, Baal couldn’t bear the slight to his pride. He was determined to crush Jeong-hoon’s arrogance.
"Yes. Rest assured."
Ultimate Power is divided into three stages in total.
The first stage involves gathering materials, and as long as one has patience, it can be cleared.
Of course, this only applies when the materials are 10, 10, and 1.
The materials Jeong-hoon needs to gather are:
- 100 Seeds of the Blood La Planta
- 100 Hearts of King Harmount
- 10 Ultimate Wills
First, the Blood La Planta.
As a level 510 monster, the drop rate for its seeds is only 0.2%.
That means it takes 2,000 kills to get 1 seed.
Since Jeong-hoon needs 100, this translates to 200,000 monsters to hunt.
Next, the King Harmount.
Its drop rate is just 0.05%.
It takes 50,000 kills to get 1 heart.
For 100 hearts, that’s 5,000,000 monsters.
As for the Ultimate Wills, they can be obtained by hunting Blood La Planta and King Harmount.
However, their drop rate is a mere 0.0001%.
It takes 1,000,000 kills to get 1 will.
For 10 wills, Jeong-hoon needs to hunt 10,000,000 monsters.
<What if you succeed?>
“It’s fine. Even if I somehow manage to succeed at the first stage, there’s no way I’ll be able to clear the next stage.”
Harphael smiled slyly.
Even if Jeong-hoon managed to clear the first stage, the second stage would require him to face a transcendent demon lord far superior to the Shadow King.
Furthermore, there would be ‘special’ conditions attached to facing this demon lord.
Since the difficulty is set to Max, these conditions would likely be extremely challenging.
To face a demon lord-class transcendent while meeting those conditions—could he even manage that?
Either way, Jeong-hoon would fall at the second stage.
‘If he collapses at the first stage, that would be even better.’
So there was no need to worry; Harphael could just sit back and wait.
***
Jeong-hoon stepped out of the portal.
The outside looked similar to the Sky Field he had seen when he previously obtained celestial power.
[Master, what’s the probability?]
"Not sure. This quest is new to me, so I don’t know much. One thing’s for sure, though—it’s going to have an atrociously low probability."
Even when he obtained celestial power before, gathering the materials took quite a lot of time.
Now, he needed to gather 10 times as many, which would undoubtedly take even longer.
As before, Jeong-hoon entered the achievement shop.
He was looking to craft the Drop Rate Explosion Elixir.
- Drop Rate Increase Elixir
- Lucky Four-Leaf Clover
- Amplifying Powder
After gathering all the materials, Jeong-hoon threw them all into his Enhancement Mortar.
[The crafting success rate has been adjusted upwards.]
[‘Drop Rate Explosion Elixir’ has been created.]
It worked.
[Drop Rate Explosion Elixir]
- Type: Consumable
- Grade: Unique
- Effect: Increases drop rate by 10 times for 1 hour upon consumption.
Creating an elixir that could boost the drop rate by 20x or 30x would be ideal, but this was the current limit.
Jeong-hoon began mass-producing the Drop Rate Explosion Elixir.
With just one hour per elixir, there was no way he could gather all those materials.
After making over 100 elixirs, he finally stopped.
‘Let’s start with 100.’
Creating those 100 elixirs consumed a significant amount of achievement points.
Jeong-hoon grabbed one of the elixirs in its glass bottle and downed it in one go.
[The Drop Rate Buff (10x) has been applied.]
[Time remaining: 60 minutes.]
Alright, let’s begin.
[Do you want to enter the Lv. 510 Blood La Planta Dungeon?]
‘Enter.’
***
The Blood La Planta was not much different from the Pleasure La Planta he had faced in the Heavenly Hall previously.
The dungeon was covered with the flowers and vines of the La Planta.
The key difference lay in the pollen from its flowers.
The scent emanating from the Pleasure La Planta induced powerful hallucinations. However, the scent from the Blood La Planta was a potent poison, capable of destroying and dissolving every cell in one’s body.
‘If it weren’t for my Heavenly Demon Physique, I would’ve melted instantly.’
True Heavenly Demon Physique—a body that has reached the pinnacle—is not weak enough to succumb to the Blood La Planta.
Jeong-hoon pressed forward, trampling over the vines and flowers in his path.
But unlike the Pleasure La Planta, this one came with overwhelming hallucinatory effects.
Even reaching it took a significant amount of time.
[Ah, this reminds me of the last one we fought.]
‘Does it? This one feels much stronger, though.’
Anima had accurately read the situation.
This monster was far more troublesome than the Pleasure La Planta.
Even Jeong-hoon, at his current strength, found himself wandering aimlessly, unable to close in on the target.
But it wasn’t impossible to break through.
After wandering for some time, Jeong-hoon finally stopped and brought out Anima.
“There it is.”
Focusing his senses, Jeong-hoon aimed at his target and pulled back the bowstring.
‘Ultimate Arrow.’
Fwoosh!
The Ultimate Arrow flew and embedded itself squarely in the wall on the right.
As the vision-clearing effects of the arrow took hold, a massive crimson flower revealed itself.
That was the main body of the Blood La Planta.
Red liquid began dripping from the flower where the arrow was embedded.
Jeong-hoon nocked another arrow and pulled back the bowstring.
‘Heavenly Strike.’
As he released the string, the arrow shot forward.
[Heavenly Strike is activated.]
The arrow struck the main body again, followed by a rain of arrows showering down upon it.
This provoked the Blood La Planta to retaliate.
[Blood La Planta uses Bloody Curse.]
[Blood La Planta uses Death's Pleasure.]
[Blood La Planta uses Intense Temptation.]
A cloud of pollen burst forth from the Blood La Planta.
But it was ineffective against Jeong-hoon.
[Immune to all poisons (Mandokbulchim) resists.]
[You are not poisoned.]
[Holy of Glory is activated.]
[All debuffs are removed.]
If this had been Jeong-hoon from the time he challenged the celestial forces, he might have struggled against the Blood La Planta.
But now, equipped with Mandokbulchim and Holy of Glory, Jeong-hoon was untouchable.
A mere flower had no chance against him.
Jeong-hoon advanced toward the flower, stepping lightly with the Heavenly Demon Lord's Dominion technique.
In his hands was the newly obtained Spear of the Shadow King.
‘Let’s end this in one strike.’
Jeong-hoon swung the spear downward with all his strength.
[Shadow Crescent Moon is activated.]
A skill acquired through the shadow attributes, Shadow Crescent Moon delivered a spear strike with 500% damage.
Sshhk—
Craaaack—
A chilling slicing sound echoed as the main body of the La Planta split cleanly in half.
‘It’s over.’
There had been no need for additional buffing skills or items.
His base attack power, doubled due to his level, combined with the 500% damage boost from Shadow Crescent Moon, was more than enough to defeat the Blood La Planta.
However, there was one disappointment—the Blood La Planta didn’t drop any seeds before it perished.
Jeong-hoon let out a bitter chuckle.
“The drop rate must be abysmally low.”
Even with the Drop Rate Explosion Elixir, the seeds had not dropped. This only meant that the chance of obtaining them was exceptionally slim.
Still, Jeong-hoon wasn’t deterred.
He knew that if he continued hunting the Blood La Planta repeatedly, he would eventually gather all the materials he needed.
[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]