D.I.O

Chapter 230

“Four hundred and seventy thousand gem points.”

It was a truly astounding amount. However, considering that Eunhye, or Arc in-game, had dealt the killing blow on the Emperor of Martial Arts, Regrants, the reward seemed rather small. Although it was an unlikely result from a string of chance events, if it wasn’t for Eunhye, her allies, including the four Grand Masters, would have been annihilated.

“Since you have so many gem points, I’m sure the Noblesse will give you an offer.”

“An offer?”

“Yes. If you have enough gem points, they make offers that you can’t refuse. Maybe it’s because they want to keep incentivizing people to do missions….”

For the strongest swordsman, Arthur Pendragon or Seyoung, the offer was his mother’s leukemia treatment.

Even though Arthur hadn’t reached Level 20 yet, this treatment was how Hye-ran could regain most of her health. Yongno was unsure, but he felt that Cruze also received a similar proposal.

After hearing Yongno’s explanation, Eunhye asked.

“What was it in your case?”

She knew the manifestations Yongno carried out were far too little compared to the number of gem points he possessed and constantly earned. Unlike Seyoung and how he always mobilized whenever people were in danger, Yongno judged the situation and only manifested when he felt it was absolutely needed. Moreover, Yongno would only move if there was a commensurate reward.josei

Furthermore, Eunhye felt there was something strange about the way Yongno participated in high-reward missions without fail.

“Hmm. Well, I guess there’s no point in keeping it a secret. Actually, I-”

“Where am I?”

“This is… huh?”

“What?”

Surprised by the unexpected voice, Yongno turned to look. And there, Yongno saw a familiar face, but one he never imagined he would see in reality.

“I don’t understand… What's going on? The air here is so stuffy… how did my body… heal?”

A silver-haired girl, seemingly between her early to mid-teens, was looking around with a bewildered expression. Though Yongno also felt confused, the girl was someone that he longed to see.

"I don't have much time, so don't cut me off. Honestly, you're terrible at reading the mood, and you have so many innate talents that one can't help but dislike you, but…."

As if possessed, Yongno got up and embraced Miho. He didn’t lose consciousness, of course; this was just how happy he was to see her again.

“I missed you.”

“Huh? Uh, yeah, me too. But… Merlin, that girl over there… why is she glaring at you with such scary eyes?”

After hearing Miho, Yongno looked at Eunhye, who, as always, had a calm expression.

“Huh? There’s nothing going on with Eunhye….”

“You don’t have to frown for your eyes to be scary. Anyway… who is she?”

“Oh, sorry. I haven’t introduced you yet. This is Eunhye, my childhood friend. And this is Miho. She’s a friend I met below the Noise Belt.”

Yongno had temporarily ignored the elephant in the room since he was delighted to see Miho again, but now, the situation rose to the forefront of his mind.

“Noise Belt… And that tail… Are you talking about someone within DIO?” Eunhye commented.

“Yes. The Noblesse… what the hell are these guys up to….”

Yongno wanted to see Miho again and paid a huge amount of gem points to resurrect her, but that didn’t mean he wanted to bring her into his reality. To be precise, he never thought such a thing was even possible.

‘They can send NPCs to Earth at will?’

If this was true, the Noblesse could manipulate the events on Earth however they wished. In this situation, the Noblesse had the ability to release countless monsters, such as the Orc Hero Sungmuk and the Eight-Tailed Fox; these beings weren’t transcendents, but they were still powerful nonetheless. Wouldn’t these overwhelmingly-formidable creatures overrun Earth? Additionally, Masters could only manifest for an hour, so they wouldn’t be able to deal with all the monsters.

“Eh… but I lost my monster power. Though, I guess I should be grateful that I survived.”

“Hmm?”

Yongno was lost in thought when he narrowed his eyes and looked at Miho. With Enhanced Eyesight active, Yongno read her spiritual qi pattern.

‘Your spiritual qi aura… is empty. However, your spiritual pathway itself is intact.’

This meant one of two things. The first possibility was that the Noblesse could only send weaker beings down to Earth, Level 1 or 2 at best. Otherwise, while they could materialize formidable entities, the Noblesse didn’t want to give Yongno any additional assistance, so they removed Miho’s powers beforehand.

‘Still, if that’s the case, there’s no need to leave her spiritual pathways intact….’

The moment his thoughts reached this point, Yongno realized a new fact.

“Right. In the end… well, I guess it’s already pretty late.”

“What are you blabbing on about?”

“They figured out that I have a spiritual pathway.”

Yongno’s ability to create spiritual pathways and use his DIO abilities in real life was a special power that no other Master could imitate.

With the Seal of Heaven that he received from DIO’s guide, Marionette Hold, and Yongno’s understanding of Qi Heaven, the materialization of qi, he could purify Earth’s mana despite the lack of spiritual pathways on Earth.

‘Just who the hell was Marionette Hold?’

Through various investigations, Yongno confirmed that Mari didn’t remember him.

Considering that she remembered other users, Yongno concluded that the Mari he saw was something or someone out of the ordinary, a unique entity.

“It doesn’t seem like the Noblesse are taking any specific action against you. I thought they’d suppress you or something.”

Yongno shook his head at Eunhye’s words.

“Even if we say we are resisting or breaking the rules, from the Noblesse’s point of view, it just looks like child’s play. Most importantly… as long as I’m a user, I can’t escape their control.”

DIO’s system was created by the Union, one of the strongest forces in the physical world, and Jenica, the Empress of Magic. She realized and attained the extremes of magic and was said to be just as powerful as a Demon King.

Obviously, from the DIO operators’ point of view, there were countless ways to control users. The only factors stopping the Noblesse from acting recklessly were the Pan-Cosmic Rights Group, the Peacemakers, and the existence of Union Law. However, if the Noblesse truly decided to go crazy, they could turn every user into a puppet to be used as desired.

Moreover, the truly terrifying thing about DIO was that once a user developed through the user training system, even if they transcended, they still belonged to the system.

As long as DIO operated, the Union would continue to receive a constant supply of faithful transcendents who specialized in combat and wouldn’t betray or change their affiliation.

“Hey, wait a minute! Stop pretending to be so happy and tell me what’s going on! Don’t you know I can’t understand the situation? Where the heck am I? Also, I’m a seven-tailed fox, so why do I only have six tails? Moreover, my body had grown and developed, but I’m a kid again!”

Miho carefully examined the atmosphere and screamed when she saw her chance to get a few words in. Considering that she originally possessed a cheerful and outspoken personality, she had been quite patient.

“Oh, sorry. What do you last remember?”

“What do I last remember? I got my seventh tail and lost consciousness….”

Yongno recalled what Miho looked like when she died. At the time, she awakened her Jeweled Magic Eye and became a Seven-Tailed Fox, but she died from her fatal injuries and sudden, excessive growth.

“I liked you a lot.”

Those were Miho’s last words before she perished shortly thereafter. [Yongno] was still a coward back then, and he ended up giving control of his in-game body to [Merlin] before hiding deep in the recesses of his own heart.

This sadness was a situation that ordinary people would not understand, as it was an Irregular’s mild (?) mental illness, similar to depression. Now, however, since his two selves reconciled and became one true self, that circumstance would not reoccur unless Yongno wanted it to.

“Ah, I remember that moment, too. You confessed your love for me….”

“W-what, what are you talking about… are you a fool? Do you want to die!”

Bam!

As she blushed, Miho violently swung her fists, but Yongno easily avoided her attacks.

It was only natural that an internal energy user could evade an ordinary being’s fist; being hit by such an attack was as improbable as a sloth beating a cheetah in a race.

“Well, anyway, I guess I need to explain what’s been going on. You-”

Bam!

“Bro! Things are crazy out there! Do you know what’s going on right now- huh? Who’s that?”

Then, the door busted open, and Youngmin ran in, but he soon stopped when he saw an unknown face. With a neutral expression, Yongno asked Youngmin what was going on.

“What’s the matter?”

“A Japanese right-wing group murdered the mother of a Master named Arthur. The media is buzzing right now.”

Arthur was one of only three people in the Heaven above the Heavens.

Arthur was a righteous and kind person beloved by everyone, a world-class hero who was even respected by those who didn’t know where Korea was located.

“That’s crazy talk. Why would they harm a Master’s family member when he went there to help? If that ever happened, international relations between Korea and Japan would be ruined forever.”

Youngmin shook his head after seeing Yongno’s exasperated expression.

“International relations are not the problem right now, bro.”

“What are you talking about?”

There was no way that Yongno could fully grasp or imagine Seyoung’s current, altered psychological state.

Of course, he knew that Seyoung was a filial son who cared deeply for his mother. Undoubtedly, Seyoung would be heartbroken and resent Japan if his mother was hurt or killed, but Yongno thought it would only be to that extent. However, Seyoung’s anger was already beyond Yongno’s wildest guesses.

Moreover, Seyoung was not ordinary. Like Yongno in the past, Seyoung also lived a life everyone treated him differently because of his unique traits.

While Yongno chose to discard his lingering feelings for humans after his parents abandoned him, Seyoung lived a brighter and more vibrant life with the support of Hye-ran’s constant love.

To Seyoung, Hye-ran was his sole reason for living.