“Your subject, Han Seokbong, greets Your Majesty.”

The former lord of Pangea, Han Seokbong. He was once one of the greatest loyalists of the Cho Kingdom and had been sentenced to death by its king. There was only one reason—he dared to know the whereabouts of the Red Phoenix Box, which was being searched for by the yangbans. Shortly before his execution, he was rescued by Grid and he and his family moved to the Overgeared Kingdom. He was now a member of the Overgeared Kingdom.

“It has been a long time, Viscount Han Seokbong. Raise your head.”

Grid ran to the bowing Han Seokbong and tried to raise him up. He had said it dozens of times that there was no need to be so polite.

“I’ve heard that you’ve been contributing a lot to the development of the country. I’m always grateful for your efforts.”

“You're overpraising me. Every achievement I’ve made is a reward for the grace I’ve received.”

“......”

It was correct to say that Grid was Han Seokbong’s benefactor. However, the reason why Han Seokbong received the death penalty was because he protected Grid. Thus, their relationship could be called a ‘same same (now we’re even)’ relationship. Nevertheless, Han Seokbong regarded Grid as his lifelong benefactor and a person of distinction. Grid was both grateful and embarrassed.

“Hum hum, I will visit the East Continent soon. Before that, I want to get as much information as possible from you.”

Han Seokbong’s expression stiffened. “Your Majesty faced Garam a few years ago... no, didn’t Garam become very angry at you? Why do you want to take risks by going to the east?”

“It is because of Garam.”

“Huh...?”

“Garam is so insidious and dangerous that he made me fall into a trap despite being on a distant land. I can’t stretch out and sleep comfortably as long as he is alive.”

“D-Do you mean to meet with Garam?”

“It will be a long fight.”

Grid wore the skin mask that Braham had temporarily returned to him and touched his face a few times. He soon turned into a completely different person and asked, “Do you think it will be hard to go to the East Continent in this state?” 

The East Continent was under the control of the Hwan Kingdom. It was to the extent where just one yangban of the Hwan Kingdom was powerful enough to dictate the fate of other kingdoms. Grid was cautious since it was likely his complete appearance had been spread by Garam throughout the East Continent.

Han Seokbong observed Grid and shook his head. “It is more powerful than the rumors. You look like a completely different person. It isn’t just your face but also your voice and body shape. Your Majesty, if you move like this in the East Continent then no one will know Your Majesty’s true identity.” 

Of course, it was hard to hide his energy and habits. However, all the Eastern people with ties to Grid had moved to the Overgeared Kingdom. The only person who could identify Grid was the yangban Garam but it wasn’t easy to meet a yangban.

“I'm glad.”

The relieved Grid took off the skin mask and asked, “First of all, I’d like to know what I can get from the East Continent. There was an underground dungeon at Pangea Castle. Do you think there is anything else to get from there?”

“According to records, the only thing that can be obtained from Pangea Castle’s dungeon is the silver thread. Even so, Your Majesty has reached the depths of the dungeon that hasn’t been recorded. I’m not certain but it wouldn’t be surprising if something more was left in there.”

‘I’ve not hunting to level up now so I’ll have to stop by.’

Grid nodded and proceeded to ask another question, “Do you think it is possible for me to seize the Blue Dragon Dao in the eastern Kaya Kingdom, the White Tiger Spear in the western Pa Kingdom, and the Black Tortoise Jewel in the north?”

“Huh?”

“Didn’t the Cho Kingdom lose the Red Phoenix Bow?”

Han Seokbong, the one who lost the Red Phoenix Bow, answered guiltily, “It will be hard but it isn’t impossible. The weapons of the sacred creatures are a means to ‘prevent cracks in the hell barrier.’ Thus, they are kept in a place with the strongest vein in the four directions. In the south, it was Pangea. As you know, Pangea isn’t a geographically important city. There are fewer troops.”

“Will the situation of the east, west, and north be similar?’

“That’s right. It is because a land with strong energy veins has many side-effects... however, if Your Majesty seizes the weapons of the sacred creatures...”

Han Seokbong’s expression darkened. Once the sacred creatures’ weapons were removed, a crack in hell would open and demonkin would come out. The East Continent would turn to hell.

Grid reassured him, "Have you forgotten that I restored the Red Phoenix Bow? I won’t sentence hundreds of millions of people to death out of greed. If I succeed in gaining the original then I will make imitations to avoid the barrier breaking.”

“How wonderful. I will make you a map of the location of the sacred creatures’ weapons and a list of folktales passed down through the people.”

The dynamics of the East Continent that Grid wanted would be clearly organized. Indeed, Han Seokbong was an astute man. Grid nodded with a gratified expression and moved onto the next question.

“Is the identity of the big hero who killed the evil daoist and saved Pangea from the crisis a daoist immortal?”

The identity of the little hero was Kraugel. It was just hard to know the identity of the big hero who defeated the evil daoist that Kraugel and Han Seokbong couldn’t defeat. Even Idan, who had his frying pan stolen by the big hero, couldn’t describe the characteristics of the big hero.

This was what Idan had stated, “The big hero... I often think of him these days, but my memories are blurry like there is a fog in front of me. I can’t remember his appearance, voice, or even the short conversation I had with him.”

It had to be assumed that the big hero used some mysterious technique. In the East, the mysterious atmosphere was one of the hallmarks of a daoist immortal.

“Yes, it makes sense to think of him as a daoist immortal.”

“What is the relationship between a daoist immortal and a yangban?”

“For an ordinary person like me, a daoist immortal is hard to see even once in my lifetime. I don’t know much about daoist immortals but I remember when the yangbans were discussing the daoist immortals. It felt like they were enemies.”

‘Is there a confrontation between the yangbans and daoist immortals?’

Bentao, the daoist immortal who led Grid to the Peach Blossom Spring, had once said something. He was a fool who reached the Peach Blossom Spring but couldn’t see the reality of the gods. He claimed that he had descended to earth to fulfill the gods’ will to destroy the seven malignant saints and he learned that the seven malignant saints actually weren’t evil.

‘I felt a sense of antipathy toward the gods.’

Moreover, the yangbans were the descendants of the expelled gods. It was expected that they wouldn’t have a good relationship with the daoist immortals, who had a deep ingrained sense of goodwill to the common people.

‘I don’t have to worry about being hostile to the daoist immortals if I hit the yangbans.’

Grid was able to ease his burden a bit and moved onto the next question. The most important part was from now on.

“What exactly do the people of the East Continent think of the Hwan Kingdom and the yangbans?”

“They are gods who protect the world from all types of calamities and great demons. The yangbans gave us the weapons of the sacred creatures that protect the world so all humans worship the yangban. However, the yangban are just the people of the Hwan Kingdom. The ones who establish and govern the Hwan Kingdom are the Five Seniors and the Chiyou. They are called the absolute gods.”

“Do you doubt them?”

“No. The Hwan Kingdom is a nation of gods and the king and the people of the kingdom are all gods. This is what the people of the East have been told and learned.”

“Um...”

Lauel had made a guess. The reason why the yangbans blocked but didn’t kill the great demons was to preserve their value. Grid agreed with this because of the existence of the ‘deity’ stat.

‘Assuming that the Five Seniors and Chiyou were real gods and the yangban are just imitations they created, the original position of the yangbans should be at the level of the archangels of the West Continent. However, the yangbans have a much larger presence and are more active than the archangels.’

Were the yangbans humans who built up the deity stat and became a real god after being worshipped by humans? If so, were the Five Seniors and Chiyou creating an army to retaliate against the gods.

“How many yangbans are there?”

“I don’t know for certain but they often use the phrase ‘hands are precious.’ In fact, not many yangbans have appeared in front of humans over the last hundreds of years. There were only seven of them, including Garam. Of course, this is just a guess.” 

“Hands are precious... are they saying companionship is deep?”

It didn’t seem to be the case. Just look at Pagma. It was as expected.

“No. They often clashed rather than acknowledging each other because their egos were so strong. I just noticed that they are absolutely obedient to the Five Seniors and the Chiyou.”

“They will rather act personally than in a crowd?”

“That's right.”

‘Indeed.’ 

Grid had only seen the yangban together once. Garam was always alone, except for when he visited Pangea as a group to investigate the disappearance of the Red Phoenix Bow.

‘I don’t have to worry about fighting multiple yangbans at the same time.’

At least Grid was spared from facing the worst. The last question remaining was whether it was possible to raid Garam.

‘I have to secure all of the weapons of the sacred creatures from the East Continent, complete as many quests as possible to become stronger, and then fight them one by one.’

Grid was convinced that Garam was much stronger than Fenrir. Garam was at least level 600 and could use swordsmanship and the power of a sacred creature. Since he was classified as a NPC rather than a monster, he had the weakness of relatively low health. However, the situation might be different if Garam accumulated a higher ‘deity’ stat since the last time Grid saw him. There was no guarantee that the raid would succeed even if he challenged with all the power he used in the Fenrir raid. In any case, it would be noticeable if his knights started flocking to the East Continent, making his disguise useless. In the worst case scenario, he could lose his knights.

‘I can die once.’

First, he would go to the East Continent alone and become strong enough. Then he would get a good grasp of Garam’s power...

Grid, who even planned for death, wasn’t afraid and instead burned with motivation. For him, death was an experience—it wasn’t the end, it was the beginning.

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