Chapter 293: Polluted World (2)

The Dimensional Elevators were located in the Pacific. There, Seo Jun-Ho stared at the ten buttons before him.

‘It goes from 1 to 10.’

When he first rode an Elevator, only 1 and 2 were lit up, but now, the buttons were lit from 1 up to the 3rd floor. And this meant his level was too low to go to the 4th floor. Seo Jun-Ho pressed the ‘3’ button.

‘I’m not nervous like I was when I went up to the 2nd floor.’ He had gotten used to riding the Dimensional Elevators by now. And more importantly, he felt at ease. He felt like he was simply going on an excursion because the advance party had already cleared the floor.

[This is the 3rd Floor. The door is opening.]

[Bringer of Spring’s effect has been activated. All stats increased by 30.]

Nice.’

Seo Jun-Ho’s hands lightly clenched. With this, his highest stat—magic power—was now beyond 400, and all his other stats were over 350.

‘When it comes to pure stats, there won’t be many people who can compete with me.’

The Nine Heavens might be the only ones who could compete with him in that department.

‘No, they’re the Eight Heavens now.’

He had heard that there was an ongoing conference about whether Specter should be selected as a new Heaven or not. According to Shim Deok-Gu, there was a high chance that he would get selected. It was the best way to show the world that the Players were now in charge, rather than the Fiend Association.

“Hm.” He took in Balbortan’s landscape after sorting through his thoughts and checking the message. “Woah.”

When he had heard Gong Ju-Ha talk about it, he had been wondering if it was really possible for there to be such a hellish land. But now that he was here in person, it wasn’t as bad as she had described.

‘It’s quiet.’

His first impression of Balbortan was that it was a very, very quiet place. However, that didn’t mean there weren’t many people. Since this is where the Dimensional Elevators were located, there was a large floating population.

‘But it’s not noisy. It just goes to show that there are only professionals here.’

In Frontier, there were Guild scouts trying to recruit newbies. But here, there were no such people, no matter where he looked.

‘Yeah, there aren’t many Players at the moment who can explore this place alone.’

And if there were, that probably meant they had no desire to join a group.

‘And as expected... They look familiar.’

Even with a single glance, he could see countless familiar Rankers. They looked a little uncomfortable as they silently went about their business.

“Oh.” A moment later, Seo Jun-Ho understood why they looked that way. It had only been a few minutes since he had arrived, but his skin was already starting to peel and blister. Of course, he could buy some fire-resistant equipment if he wanted to, but he purposely didn’t do so.

‘At times like this, you should build up your resistance.’

[You have received a Burn injury.]

[Your cells have acquired the lowest-level Burn Resistance.]

[You have received a Heat injury.]

[Your cells have acquired the lowest-level Heat Resistance.]

“Hehe.” His ugly, blistered skin quickly returned to its original state. And that wasn’t all...

[Burn Resistance and Heat Resistance have combined to form Fire Resistance.]

“Wow.”

The similar attributes even automatically combined to create a third form of resistance. The more he learned about Cell Regeneration, the greater it seemed to be.

The Frost Queen stared and let out a light sigh as Seo Jun-Ho laughed like an idiot. “...I am not sure whether you are putting you are putting your skill to good use, or if you are merely simple-minded.”

“It’s the former, of course. Are you okay though? I thought you’d hate the heat.”

“Hm. Strangely enough, I am not uncomfortable. Actually, I feel quite at ease,” she said, fanning her face as if she was warm. “However, I do not very much like sweating.”

“I’ll fix that soon enough.”

Now that he had received the effect of Bringer of Spring, Seo Jun-Ho had fulfilled his first objective in coming to the 3rd floor.

‘Now, I have to find the altar.’

Lowering the heat was his second and final goal.

Seo Jun-Ho grabbed a nearby Ranker as he was passing by. He was a physical enhancement type Player, the American Ranker Harley Jackson.

“Excuse me, can I ask you a question?” Seo Jun-Ho said.

“Huh?” Jackson turned his head. He looked him up and down, and his eyes grew round. However, it was only for a moment. He then nodded, seemingly used to this kind of situation.

“Damn, you have Fire Resistance? I’m so jealous,” Jackson remarked. He was sweating profusely. He pursed his lips and tilted his head. “So? What do you want to know?”

“I heard there was an altar here. Where is it?”

“The altar?” Jackson’s face grew hazy. “Even if you have Fire Resistance, you shouldn’t be able to make it to the altar with your current setup...”

“Please...”

“Well, I suppose you should know what you’re doing.” Jackson pointed. “If you walk that way for about ten minutes, you’ll encounter the altar. You’ll know when you get there.”

“Thank you...”

“And don’t die. If I hear that you die, you’re going to haunt my dreams.” And just as they were about to part ways, Jackson tossed Seo Jun-Ho a set of leather armor. “You’re wearing normal clothing, right? It’s going to burn up before you can even get close to the altar.”

“Thank you. I should pay you...”

“It’s fine. I have a lot of money. Just take it. I already bought a better set to wear.”

Jackson waved and left coolly. Seo Jun-Ho watched him leave, then started in the direction Jackson had pointed him toward.

Jackson was right.

‘It’s getting hotter.’

It was all because there was a huge lava lake reminiscent of an ocean. The lava boiled continuously, foaming with bubbles.

“Is that the altar?” Seo Jun-Ho wondered. There was only one path through the lava lake leading to the very center of it, where a building stood. It was clearly an altar.

‘Hm.’

Fwoosh!

As he got closer, the sweltering heat struck his face. It felt like he was entering a hot sauna; however, a sauna couldn’t even compare to this level of heat.

“It’s melting,” he said. It wasn’t an exaggeration. His skin and clothing were actually melting. Seo Jun-Ho retreated back for a moment and donned the armor Jackson had given him.

‘It’s fire-resistant. Though, it’s not impressive.’

It wasn’t enough to prevent him from burning alive if he went near the altar.

Seo Jun-Ho walked around the lava lake, testing the heat. “No matter how you look at it, I think I’ll need at least low-level or mid-level Fire Resistance to get close to the altar...”

He thought for a moment, wondering whether he should go to the lower floors to obtain high-grade fire-resistant equipment, or if he should train his resistance here.

“What do you think?” he asked the Frost Queen.

“...Will you do what I suggest?”

“No. You’re gonna say we should go down because it’s hot.”

“Then why bother asking?!”

‘Because it’s fun...’

Seo Jun-Ho stroked his chin, lost in thought.

‘...Should I just take this opportunity to raise my Fire Resistance all the way?’

Either way, he would have to go around Balbortan after cleaning up Paradise on the 2nd floor. Considering this, it wasn’t a bad idea to train his Fire Resistance ahead of time.

‘And there’s something I’m personally curious about, too...’

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Cell Regeneration would give him the lowest-level resistance if he received the same attack a hundred times.

‘Then how about low-level resistance?’

If he was lucky, it could still be the same after a hundred times, but if he was unlucky... It might be a thousand. And if he wanted to reach mid-level, high-level, and all the way to the highest-level resistance...

‘There’s no way I’ll be able to get that far with just natural regeneration.’

In other words, he had to start preparing with his future in mind.

Seo Jun-Ho made his decision and walked forward. The heat of the boiling lava lake welcomed him.

“Mmm.”

His healthy hair instantly caught on fire, and his entire body started to melt like a chocolate bar on a summer’s day. His clothes burned as well, of course, as they had no Fire Resistance. He endured the pain and sat down in a lotus position.

‘Ugh, wow... even breathing hurts.’

Every time he took in a breath, it felt like his lungs were set aflame. If it weren’t for Cell Regeneration, this would have been unimaginably dangerous.

However, Jun-Ho waited patiently until his Fire Resistance got even stronger.

‘Pain that doesn’t kill me will only make me stronger.’

And Seo Jun-Ho won the waiting game.

[Fire Resistance has increased to low-level.]

Earlier, the blazing heat felt like it would consume him whole, but now, it felt just a little stuffy.

At that, his eyes opened. ‘8 minutes, 20 seconds.’

While he was enduring the pain with his eyes closed, he had been counting the seconds. 8 minutes and 20 seconds was exactly 500 seconds.

‘My body regenerates once every second.’

In that case, he could assume that low-level resistance could be reached after receiving the same injury 500 times.

‘At this rate, if I want to reach mid-level resistance...

He may have to receive the same injury 1000 times.

Woosh!

Suddenly, Seo Jun-Ho pulled off his leather armor and tossed it aside.

“A-are you crazy?!” the Frost Queen exclaimed in shock. There was no way he was going the right way. “Have you lost your sense of direction from the heat? The altar is that way!”

“I know.” Even then, he walked toward the lava, rather than toward the altar.

“If you know, why are you going there...?”

“I need to reach mid-level resistance.” Seo Jun-Ho grinned. His head was full of hair again. He dipped the tips of his toes into the boiling lava.

“Oh, isn’t it hot?” the Frost Queen asked.

“Of course it is. It’s lava.”

It was insanely hot, but he could endure it. Seo Jun-Ho smiled brightly and jumped into the lava.

***

He was bald again. As soon as he jumped into the lava, his hair melted away. He emerged after a considerable amount of time. “16 minutes, 40 seconds...”

When Seo Jun-Ho stepped onto the ground, his body was perfectly spotless, with nary a single blister.

[Fire Resistance has increased to mid-level.]

His assumption had been correct. He had to regenerate 1000 times to reach mid-level resistance.

‘High-levelor highest-level... I can’t even imagine.’

He had a strong feeling that he had to regenerate 10,000 times to reach high-level resistance. If he just put his mind to it, he would only have to endure it for a little less than 3 hours. Unfortunately, he didn’t think he could unlock high-level resistance here.

“...It feels cool now.”

When he first came near the altar, it was so hot he felt like he would die, but now, it felt refreshing. Even if he dipped his hands and feet in the lava, they melted very slowly. Of course, the rate of regeneration was also very slow.

‘Unless there’s somewhere even hotter than this place, I can’t even dream of reaching highlevel Fire Resistance.’

Seo Jun-Ho swallowed his disappointment. He turned, feeling the stare of a certain someone.

“...Why are you looking at me like that?”

The Frost Queen was staring at him with a disappointed look on her face and had gone so far as to lift her mask. “Well, I gave up because you would not listen.”

How had she come across such a strange Contractor?

The Frost Queen sighed after muttering to herself. She then walked over to him. “Are you done now?”

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

The two followed the singular path to the middle of the lava lake, where the altar was located.

“Deok-Gu said that freezing it would get rid of the heat on the 3rd floor,” Seo Jun-Ho said.

“On what grounds?”

“He said the Sage of the Observatory Tower prophesied it.” Seo Jun-Ho shrugged and stared at the wavering jet-black flame on top of the altar. It gave off a strange heat.

“...Wait. I have a bad feeling about this, and it’s not just the heat,” Seo Jun-Ho muttered. He squinted. The flame was giving off a great amount of demonic energy along with a small amount of heat.

‘Why is there demonic energy here?’

He slowly raised his hand as the question came to mind. Ice created by his imposing magic power instantly enveloped the flame.

As it did, the flame was startled and started to spew immense heat.

“...!” The heat was so overwhelming that it was too much even for mid-level Fire Resistance to endure. As she watched from the sidelines, the Frost Queen quickly covered Jun-Ho’s body in ice to protect him.

“Keep going, Contractor! Do not stop, no matter what!”

‘I know!’

Keen Intuition warned him that the demonic fire would consume him the moment he stopped.

‘Dammit, how is it so resistant?’

Even though he was using the EX-grade Frost skill, he couldn’t put the flame out quickly. In addition, he felt like it would slip through the cracks and swallow him whole if he let his guard down even a little bit.

“Huff, huff...”

Sweat fell from his body like rain as forty minutes passed in the elemental tug-of-war. The flame finally disappeared just as he was about to run out of magic energy. And when it did, the temperature started to drop.

[You have purified the Hellfire.]

[The Genesis Flame is pleased.]

“...Genesis Flame?” he wondered.

What was that?

Just as he tilted his head, the landscape around him quickly started to transform.

‘What?’

Seo Jun-Ho was confused. This had already happened to him before. Twice, at that.

“The Administrator?” he whispered.

Just as the words left his mouth, all the hairs on his body stood on end, and the breath was knocked out of him. He hadn’t felt such overwhelming pressure even when he met Gray or Reiji.

He slowly turned around, and his face stiffened.

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