Minhyuk remained still for quite a long time after the video ended. As the video showed, many trolls and keyboard warriors were bashing him on the internet, even if he did nothing wrong. But because Minhyuk had taken a hard stance about them, their numbers had dwindled considerably compared to the past. And because of them, Minhyuk grew obsessed with getting ahead of everybody else.

Now, he realized that more people were cheering and supporting Minhyuk than his trolls, keyboard warriors, and haters. After watching this video, Minhyuk felt the burden that the malicious comments had placed on his shoulders grow lighter.

Carron also left a message on the email.

Minhyuk had no intention of using this video to gain support or benefits. So, he would keep it for himself.

Thanks to Carron, Minhyuk went back to Athenae with a faint smile on his face.

***

The Maserrati Kingdom, led by Absolute Monarch Richard, was founded by a player and once stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Beyond the Heavens Empire. Even to this day, the Maserrati Kingdom remained the best and strongest kingdom among all the kingdoms established by players. It was said that if another player established an empire, the kingdom would be the Maserrati Kingdom.

At this moment, the elites of the Maserrati Kingdom had gathered together. The elites included five players, hailed as the Pillars of Maserrati, over level 600, and five legendary NPCs, with one trying to take over one of the gods’ seats. Nine hundred of the Maserrati Kingdom’s best knights, comprised of players and NPCs, stood behind them.

“There’s a high chance that this is Helenia’s dungeon…”

One of the Maserrati Kingdom’s explorers discovered this dungeon not too long ago. Although nothing was known about it, the Maserrati Kingdom came here to clear it.

Unknown and unidentified dungeons were essential. They could bring new resources, new hunting grounds, or new rewards. They could even give huge rewards that could satisfy a kingdom.

The dungeon also restricted the number of people entering. It could accommodate a thousand people at most. Although various dungeons in Athenae could accommodate multiple people, only some had restrictions like this with such a vast number of people. Because of this, Richard believed that there was a chance that this was Helenia’s dungeon.

On the day Helenia descended on Earth, she declared that her dungeons would appear worldwide in a month. She also stated that her fragments would reside in these dungeons and work to pave a path for her descent.

The players were tasked to prevent her descent as much as possible. Of course, they would be able to obtain rewards during the process. And the best part? The rewards would come from Immortal Sorceress Helenia herself.

If this were Helenia’s dungeon, they could obtain tremendous rewards by being the first attackers. However, Richard was worried about one thing.

“It’s near Aveid Territory.”

The dungeon was located near the barren territory that the Beyond the Heavens Empire had received from the Luvien Empire not long ago. Thankfully, the dungeon was not situated within the Aveid Territory.

Richard could only chuckle wryly to himself.

He believed it would not harm the Beyond the Heavens Empire even if they failed to attack the dungeon. After all, there were no cases where monsters ran out of the dungeons because someone failed to clear them.

Richard led the elites of his kingdom to try and enter the dungeon.

“...?”

They had yet to enter the dungeon. To be exact, only one person had entered the dungeon before, and that person was none other than the Maserrati Kingdom’s dungeon explorer. The dungeon explorer had only visited this place yesterday. He even returned right away when he saw that it was possible to use a Return Scroll.

“Impossible…!” Richard hoped against hope that his conjectures were wrong.

Right in front of the dungeon, the statue symbolizing Helenia swiftly emerged. The newly made statue depicting Helenia’s figure seemed to be holding a staff with her arm right in front of her. Then, Richard saw the staff slowly begin to squirm and wriggle.

At this moment, Richard’s conjectures had become a reality. An unknown and hidden timer had begun to tick the moment their dungeon explorer entered the dungeon yesterday.

Richard guessed this timer had also triggered the other timers worldwide to start ticking. And the worst part? The monsters would pour out of the dungeon if they failed to clear it before the timer ran out. Of course, this conjecture might not be accurate. There was a chance that the timer would only begin ticking if someone pushed the first button, which in this case was the entry of their dungeon explorer. But what if the timers worldwide had already started ticking now?

However, Richard knew he did not have the time to care about those things. The wriggling and squirming staff in front of them had now become the shape of a snake, which was getting bigger and bigger.

The once small snake had grown so massive that its shadow had completely engulfed Richard and his kingdom’s elites. Richard, who could check the opponent’s level right away, groaned.

“Crazy shit…!” Richard’s face grew ugly.

It was a fragment, but the bastard’s level was far too high. There was even an unpleasant hissing sound coming from deep within the dungeon, which signaled the arrival of the monsters rushing out of the dungeon.

The gigantic snake flicked its tongue as it looked at them. One look and Richard decided that they should avoid this situation for now.

The dungeon was initially built to allow those who challenged it to gradually eliminate the monsters in their path as they moved forward. If what they were going to face was still set to follow a dungeon’s original structure, then the troops that Richard brought here would probably be enough to clear it. After all, they needed to cut down and chop the monsters step by step before killing Helenia’s fragment, the boss mob, at the end.

But now? It was too dangerous. Especially since the monsters were all charging out of the dungeon in one go.

At that moment, a bright light flashed from the tip of the gigantic snake’s tail.

Richard’s face grew even uglier. The players might be able to revive if they were forced to log out here, but that was not the case at all for the NPCs. The problem was that there were quite a lot of NPCs among the elites that he brought here. If all of the NPCs here died, there would be a significant decrease in the number of people leading the Maserrati Kingdom.

“Retreat! Run as fast as you can!” Richard ordered. He had no other choice.

But just when they were about to run away, the snake overtook them with one swift move.

“Keuaaaaaaack!”

The snake spat out the elite knight as fast as it devoured it. The elite knight’s armor corroded, and his flesh melted away. In just one breath, one of the precious talents of the Maserrati Kingdom disappeared.

The knights tried to attack the snake, but its scales were too harsh. They could not even land a nick on it. What was even crazier was that every swing of the snake’s tail, the bones of the knights, who were beyond Level 570, broke. As if things weren’t bad enough, more than 3,000 anacondas appeared from the dungeon.

Anacondas were originally non-venomous snakes that reached six to ten meters long and weighed a tremendous amount. Thanks to their powerful muscles, they could wrap around their prey firmly and break their bones. But the anacondas that appeared here were venomous.

Richard decided they had to escape as fast as they could, even if they had to give up protecting their backs.

“Hurry up!”

The elites of Maserrati Kingdom immediately ran after Richard without looking behind them.

“Hiss–”

As they ran, one of the anacondas grabbed a hold of one of the knights. It immediately clung and wrapped around the knight’s body until it broke the knight’s bones with its weight. And finally, it bit the man’s neck.

The knight, bitten on the neck, became dry like a mummy and eventually crumbled away like dirt.

The thought alone brought chills down Richard’s spine. However, he shook his head. This was a different case. This was the first dungeon discovered, so there was a high chance that its level would be higher than usual. However, it was still enough of a headache for Richard to think that the other dungeons appearing later would only be slightly weaker than this.

Richard, who was running away just like that, felt his heart constrict after knowing he had already lost nearly 200 elite knights.

Even though the pride of his kingdom bombarded the anacondas with their AOE attack skills, they still failed to break through the monsters’ defenses. This meant the anacondas’ defensive power was too high for their attacks to work. It seemed like their AOE attack skills were only strong enough to deal with Level 500 monsters.

Richard, who was running away like crazy, suddenly felt weightless.

“???”

He looked around in confusion and soon understood the reason. Helenia’s fragment followed him and climbed a tree before stretching its tail and pulling him out. Then, it began to tighten its hold around Richard.

“K- keuaaaaaaaaaaack!!!” a scream was ripped out of Richard’s mouth.

***

At the same time.

After thanking Carron in person, Minhyuk went to visit the Aveid Territory. Why was he visiting the Aveid Territory at this moment? The increase in the number of tankers in their kingdom after the appearance of the newly established Guardian Religion. After hearing Valentino’s words, Minhyuk was fully convinced about his addition to the empire.

Minhyuk looked at them in satisfaction. Since he had already visited the Aveid Territory, he decided to help them in their subjugation. Just as he stepped forward and took the lead with Valentino, there was a notification.