Time pa.s.sed and the weekend arrived again. I woke up to exercise for the first time in a while and I ended up in a very difficult situation.

“So you can't tell me the number?”

“Y-Yes.”

"Even if I ask you like this?"

In front of me, Mido puffed up her cheeks. She was so cute that I wanted to pinch her but I resisted. I couldn't do so in this atmosphere.

“I'm sorry. That friend asked me to keep it a secret. I can't help it...”

“That's it. I'm upset! Bah! Grandfather. Huung.” Mido closed her eyes, waved her arms and left the room with a scream.

I lowered my hand without getting a chance to grab her. Only silence lingered in the room. “Groan. Things have become this twisted.”

I let out a deep sigh as I stared at the door Mido had stepped through. I came out quite early so I thought I wouldn't be noticed this time. I never dreamt that Mido would've been waiting.

Knock knock.

Just then, I heard a knock on the door.

“Father, it is me.”

“Come in.”

Creak.

It was my daughter-in-law, Kim Mikyung, who opened the door and entered. She was rubbing her eyes sleepily. Usually, she got up to cook when I came back from my early morning exercise. She asked me, “Have you fought with Mido?”

“No, well... Cough. Yes, there seems to be a misunderstanding.”

“I think it will last quite a long time...”

I inquired, “Has MIdo gone back to her room?”

“No, today is the broadcasting day, so she said she has to log in early.”

“Ah...”

I had forgotten. Today was the day of the broadcast when Mido had asked me to appear on Yuttubi or something. Did I already have dementia? I almost forgot this important thing. It would've been a serious problem.

“Oh, something came for Father.”

“Huh?”

The thing she took out was a piece of paper. It was folded up completely and must be quite important. I unfolded it and read it.

“This...”

I frowned the moment I read it. It was a quote for vehicle repairs. It was regarding the Lamborghini I got into an accident with the other day. The name on the back was too difficult to understand. It was written in English.

“...Lamborghini what?”

“It is Murcielago, Father.”

“Cough. Yes, that. English is hard to p.r.o.nounce.”

The key point was something else. 700 million. They charged 700 million won for repairs. My blood pressure rose and my neck was tense. I started to ma.s.sage my throat and my daughter-in-law asked me with a worried look, “Father, are you okay?”

“I'm fine.”

“Father, if it is hard for you...”

“No, it isn't to that extent yet. I'll take care of it. Don't tell anyone.”

“Is it really okay?”

“Yes, I have an idea.”

If it really wasn't possible, then I would convert Arkstar's gold into cash. I had enough to pay back 700 million. The problem was that I was very angry right now I should've slapped him a few more times with that kimchi.

* * *

I immediately entered the game and opened my eyes in my office in Metheus. The surroundings were a bit...

“What? When did it change?”

The appearance of the office had completely changed. It used to be a dark and narrow village chief's house. Now it was more similar to the place where the lord of Windia worked. I looked around and marveled.

“It was said they were going to do large-scale construction.”

Currently, Metheus was undergoing large-scale construction to change from a village to a small town. The money was sufficient and I heard some time ago that this was going to change. I just hadn't expected it to be like this. I opened the door straight away. Helena was working there. “Oh, you're here.”

I told her, “You've worked hard.”

“No. I'm having fun.”

I hadn't done what Aren asked me to do yet. In fact, I didn't have the confidence. It would be a very difficult situation for me if Helena left. We were doing well, but if Helena left, I didn't have the talent to take over. It could be called a dilemma. I wondered what, when, and how to speak to her, but I couldn't find an answer.

Helena reminded me, “Right, have you forgotten? You are going to the Orca Kingdom today.”

“I know.”

On the day I stole the Star Fruit and fled the Colosseum, I sent a whisper to the group and told them to come to Metheus. In the middle, I unraveled the misunderstanding with Joseph. He explained about the magician standing next to Kaidan and I thanked him. Then once the group arrived, I was able to meet an unexpected person.

I complained to Helena, “Can't you go instead? The d.a.m.n interview is really troublesome.”

“You must go there in person. The lord of Windia said so.”

“Groan.”

The unexpected person was Edward, the lord of Windia. He told me that he had taken a carriage to watch my match in person. In fact, his real purpose was to convey the edict from the Orca Kingdom. It was because of the interview to be appointed as a lord.

In any case, Metheus belonged to Windia. I upgraded it to a small town this time and got the status of a small lord. Edward came directly to me to form an alliance. Of course, I agreed to the alliance.

“Dammit. Why do I have to go in person to get a position?”

Helena told me, “Well, I heard that the lord of Windia had the status of earl. Jackson, you'll probably be one position under him.”

“Earl? How high is that?”

I heard a lengthy explanation from Helena about the order of positions in the aristocracy.

“...So. Knight, baron, viscount, earl, marquis, and duke? Is that right?”

“Yes. Above them all is the king of Orca.”

“Hmmm...”

If so, Edward must be a higher ranked n.o.ble than I thought if he had the position of earl. According to Helena, an earl was quite influential. By the way...

“Kerenos is also a n.o.bleman.”

“Are you talking about the knight captain? That's right, he is definitely a n.o.ble. In my opinion, he doesn't care about that position.”

It made a lot of sense. Kerenos wasn't interested in those things at all. Well, I don't know about money.

“In any case, I know. I'll be back soon.”

“Are you going hunting again?” Helena wondered.

“What hunting? I am going out to play in the area, to play.”

I raised my hand. In fact, the reason I called it playing was because it was actually playing. These days, I was teaching Solar, Punghee, and Chunza to hunt monsters. It was because Chunza was over level 20 and couldn't eat raw chicken anymore. I took the three of them and taught them how to cooperate. This way, they would be helpful when I needed them. The results were excellent.

“Yes. Please be careful.”

“Okay. I will ask you to look after Metheus.”

“Don't worry.”

I left the office without any hesitation. Then at this moment...

Ttiring~

[A secret communication has arrived - Sender 'Aren']

* * *

The whole world was covered with clouds and fog. There was an old man leaning against a tree and gasping for breath. Only a black wooden stick was held in his hand. He killed all the monsters that came at him without a break. Now he was catching his breath. He didn't know when monsters would come again.

“...I don't know how many days have pa.s.sed.”

Park Muyeol looked around. The corpses of various monsters were endlessly scattered. Looking at it, he thought that if h.e.l.l existed, then this place was h.e.l.l.

“...s.h.i.+t.”

The name of this place was Hesperides. Hercules told him it was the land of golden apples. Then the moment he was summoned here, a bunch of monsters greeted his arrival. Fortunately, it was enough for Park Muyeol to kill them with his strength and the fruits in the forest were his food. The problem was that this place was too wide. He didn't know where to go or how to find the Star Fruit. There was a bigger problem.

“Hercules.”

[Due to an unknown power, all connections are currently broken.]

“Dammit.”

It was the fact that he couldn't get in touch with that d.a.m.n man. Of course, there were some benefits.

“I leveled up a lot.”

After relentless hunting, Park Muyeol had caught up with Chuntaek's level. Of course, it was slowing down, but it was still a remarkable achievement.

“What is the unknown power?”

He couldn't know no matter how hard he thought about it. In the beginning, Park Muyeol had no knowledge of the game. Of course, it had improved now. He wanted to question Chuntaek, but he hadn't been able to reach Chuntaek since a few days ago. All whispers had been blocked since he entered this d.a.m.n fog.

“Grrrrrung.”

“d.a.m.n. They showed up again.”

A gorilllike monster appeared. Next was a man-eating plant monster with sharp teeth and monsters that looked like a cross between a snake and a mantis. There were so many monsters that he couldn't check their names. Park Muyeol just fought, fought, and fought.

“Yes. Let's see who will win, you rotten guys. Either I will fall down today or you will fall. It is one of them!”

Park Muyeol laughed happily.

* * *

At a temple with vines wrapped around it... 

In this place, there were women watching the human in the crystal ball created by magic.

“He is a great human. How long has he held on?”

“It has been a week already.”

“He survived the monsters appearing without a break. He is interesting.”

They were the three nymphs guarding Hesperides. Their names were Aegle, Erytheia, and Arethusa, and they were working to protect the golden apple on behalf of their father, who was being punished. Like their father, they could freely control the clouds. Erytheia used the clouds to confuse the nearby monsters and manipulate them. The intelligent ones couldn't be controlled, but the monsters had IQ low enough to be controlled with her strength.

“He won't hold on much longer.”

“The cloud barrier is so solid that he can't escape.”

“Huhu, I still like that human. What is the white hair on his face? Is it a cloud?”

"I don't know. Should we kidnap him?”

“No, idiot. We have to kill him. That is our mission.”

“Father is being punished. Stay alert, Aegle.”

“I'm sorry, Arethusa.” 

Arethusa sighed as she saw Aegle's expression. They were born as triplets, but the most mature one was Arethusa. She had a responsibility to lead her other sisters correctly.

“Eh...?”

“What is it, Aegle?”

Erytheia questioned it and Aegle pointed to the crystal ball. Arethusa also s.h.i.+fted her gaze there. The crystal ball had a red energy around it. They all became amazed. This only meant one thing.

“Someone is breaking the barrier?”