“...A transcendent.”

At those words.

There were some things that came to mind.

This level system had clear stages.

Level 1 to 10 were rookies.

11 to 20 were low-tier.

After that came mid-tier, high-tier...... and then.

‘Hero.’

When I reached level 40.

The system told me I had formed a rank.

And that rank corresponded to hero.

Even now, my cooking still carried the prefix “a hero-grade chef’s~.”

And.

‘It also told me to build up achievements to reach level 40.’

This system had been continuously supporting me so that I could reach level 40.

And it had told me how.

Guiding the process all the way to my level-ups.

Raising me step by step.

‘How did I not think of it?’

Because.

The system’s form was something anyone who’d played even one game would find familiar.

So everyone naturally thought of a game.

And.

‘Even being pushed to level up...... we accepted it as something natural.’

Even while I’d been so curious about what purpose the system existed for.

It never occurred to me.

That the level-ups themselves could be the system’s purpose.

But.

If Luca was right, there were things that made sense.

‘Its hostility toward outside beings.’

If you became an outside god’s apostle.

That god wouldn’t let an apostle become its equal.

The path to becoming a transcendent would be blocked.

To the system, that was a clear act of betrayal.

But if that was true, then.

“...Why?”

Who.

For what purpose.

Was trying to create a transcendent on this land?

{I can’t know that far. But...... there’s one fact I’m sure of.}

Luca looked at me steadily.

{Legion Commander, you are closer to transcendence than any native being I know.}

“.......”

{And if you receive this system’s support...... and succeed in achieving transcendence.}

It had wanted to achieve transcendence to avoid its own death.

Meaning.

If we succeeded in reaching level 99.

{You might be able to overcome...... the ruin hanging over this land.}

***

“.......”

After saying that was what it wanted to tell me.

Luca must have been exhausted from keeping up with the march, because it slowed and drifted to the back of the column.

‘A force meant to create a transcendent among humans.......’

And.

I kept thinking about what it had left me with.

But.

‘...Transcendence.’

It was a word that felt unimaginably distant.

More than anything.

If that was true, then what I’d have to do going forward......

Was something that stretched into a realm I’d never even properly imagined.

‘Is that even possible? Something like that?’

To me, someone who’d been nothing more than a cook in the military.

It felt impossibly far away.

I didn’t know who made this system.

Or why.

Or whether I could do something like that......

But there was something I could figure out.

“They said this power is affected by land influence.”

According to Luca.

The power the system held changed depending on the territory held by humans.

When I first heard that, I didn’t think much of it.

The system was still an existence of unknown identity.

And I figured it wouldn’t make much difference even if its power grew stronger.

But.

‘As the Conquest War progresses, the system that supports the Awakened grows stronger. And if that power exists to make us transcendent.......’

At first, I’d only.

Carried out the Conquest War without understanding anything, because the system ordered it.

‘The more you succeed in the Conquest War, the faster the Awakened grow.’

Maybe.

It was a way to store up the power needed to make us grow quickly.

And.......

‘As long as we were blocked by that barrier, the only land we could conquer was Korea.’

But.

Now it was a little different.

Not by intention, but.

I had crossed that barrier.

And arrived on land I wouldn’t have been able to reach until much later.

China’s land.

Was overwhelmingly larger than Korea’s.

Then.

‘If we succeed in making this land our territory......?’

A power whose maker and purpose were still unknown.

I couldn’t trust it completely.

—Dig into it, into the identity of the system.

Just like Jang Youngwoong said.

The conviction that if I dug into this system, I could overcome this ruin.

Was only growing stronger.

***

“...Master.”

And.

Because of what Luca had left me with.

While I was lost in deep thought......

“Master, Master!”

“Huh? Yeah?”

At someone calling me.

I flinched and turned my head.

“...Is something wrong? I called you several times and you didn’t answer.......”

“...Ah.”

At Ariella’s words.

I couldn’t help flinching inwardly.

‘Damn.’

Only then.

I remembered the situation we were in.

‘This is land where we don’t know what dangers might be lurking.’

In the first place.

The reason Luca wanted to tell me that story in advance.

Was to prepare in case something happened to it if some kind of threat appeared.

This place was dangerous.

‘No matter how important it is...... I didn’t have room to be thinking about something else.’

With that thought.

I shook my head hard.

And decided to store that whole transcendence matter deep in my mind for now.

“No. It’s nothing. What is it?” 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

“About that......”

And only then.

Could I properly look at Ariella’s face.

‘...She’s anxious?’

I hadn’t noticed because I was focused on something else, but.

Ariella looked strangely swallowed by anxiety.

“Is something wrong?”

“...I’m not sure yet. But.”

“But?”

“Could you check the time for me?”

Check the time?

Feeling puzzled, I did as she asked.

I looked at the digital watch on my wrist.

“It’s around 6 a.m.”

“.......”

And.

As I said it, I couldn’t help feeling something off.

“Master. I’m asking because I don’t know this land perfectly, but.......”

It seemed I wasn’t the only one who felt it.

Ariella spoke with eyes full of unease.

“Originally, is this region.”

For good reason.

It was five-thirty in the morning.

“Somewhere that doesn’t get even a shred of sunlight at this hour?”

“.......”

A time when the sun should be starting to rise.

At this hour.

I’d never once seen Ariella walking the surface.

***

“...This is.”

Since this was overseas.

There would be a time difference from my watch.

But.

This was still a place in China that was relatively close to Korea.

Even accounting for time zones, it should’ve been one to two hours at most.

‘Even if it’s five...... it should be normal to start seeing light, little by little.’

But.

Right now, it was far too dark.

Not just no sun.

Not even a single point of moonlight or starlight.

“As far as I can tell, Master. This place.......”

When we first dropped into this land.

Our first goal was to return to the Legion.

And our second goal was......

“It seems the sun doesn’t rise.”

To check the situation in another country.

‘Something’s wrong.’

Unease rising, I stopped walking.

“Legion Commander?”

When I stopped.

The unit members following behind sensed it and showed confusion.

And I looked at them and said:

“...From now on, we turn back the way we came.”

“Sir?”

Because I’d been thinking of this place like a normal city in Korea.

That if we tried to gather mana, we could gather it quickly.

And that getting close to ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) a city wouldn’t be a big problem.

“But...... we’re almost there.”

“I know, but I think we need to stop approaching any further.”

Maybe.

I’d forgotten that this environment might be different from Korea’s.

“For now, pull back, and watch the situation for a day or two.”

I was a little pressed because we needed to gather mana in dangerous land, but.

We might have to take time and slowly grasp the situation.

‘Maybe it’s not as big a deal as it seems.’

Maybe this was a region where the sun rose late by coincidence.

Or maybe the “Qingdao” written on that sign wasn’t a place name, but written for some other reason.

Or maybe this place was farther from Korea than expected, so the time difference was bigger.

Some trivial reasons like that.

Didn’t people say sunrise times changed by season, too?

If it turned out to be something trivial, we could just come back later.

There was no need to rush.

“...Benefactor.”

But.

Right when I was turning my back with that thought.

“I have no intention of refusing the order, but.......”

“...?”

“That order.”

Jeong Sua.

With watery light shining in her eyes, she frowned and said:

“...I think it’s a little late to carry it out.”

“...!”

At that.

I turned my head and looked toward the city.

After pushing through a forced march nonstop.

The city had come close enough that we could see it clearly now.

And.

Not clearly yet, but.

From there.......

Thud.......

A considerable number of presences.

I could feel them approaching us.

***

‘...Tch.’

There were a lot of monsters near cities.

And monsters responded to presences nearby.

That was nothing strange—just a basic fact.

While I was blankly turning Luca’s words over and over, we’d gotten closer to the city than I thought, and as a result.

The monsters on the outskirts who noticed our approach had started moving toward us.

“Can you tell what kind of monsters they are?”

“No. I can sense their presence and roughly how many with Bell’s senses, but...... in this darkness, I can’t go as far as identifying what they are.”

“Well, yeah.”

It was a bit of a setback, but.

I didn’t think it was a major problem.

For reasons I didn’t understand.

Even though this was the time when the sun should be starting to rise, the sun still wasn’t coming up.

And that.

‘Might not be entirely bad news.’

For us.

It meant it was a situation that was fairly favorable.

“Ariella.”

I turned my head.

And looked at my retainer.

“It’s time to work.”

“.......”

“Take them out as fast as you can, and if there are any usable individuals among the monsters, replenish the forces you lost. If we make too much noise, more monsters could gather, so handle it quickly and efficiently if possible.”

“.......”

“After that, we pull back for now and figure out this place more carefully, and then......”

“.......”

But.

How should I put it.

“...Ariella?”

The reason I could feel confident.

The reason this was a fairly favorable situation for us.

“What’s wrong?”

“.......”

Unable to even answer me.

She just stared at the city in silence.

“Master.”

“You....”

“At first I thought it was nothing but my imagination.”

And.

When I saw her face, I couldn’t help being a little startled.

“Why do you look like that?”

Her face, already pale to begin with.

Was draining into a bluish white.

‘She’s this shaken?’

I hadn’t seen Ariella this shaken.

Not once since the time she fought me.

“But it seems it wasn’t a mistake after all.”

“...What?”

“It’s been vibrating since earlier.”

And.

The city that had drawn close.

From that city swallowed by darkness.

“Blood smell.”

Countless presences.

Came toward us.

And.

When I saw the shapes that were approaching.

Just like Ariella, I could only stare with my mouth open.

“An extremely intense...... familiar smell of blood.”

Because.

[Ingredient Identification (Enhanced)]

[Lowest-tier Vampire Ghoul]

“$$!@^!@#!...!@#!?”

“.......”

Their eyes.

Were all glowing red.