During the first part of the original novel [Modern Master Returns], Kim Do-Jin was on a roll almost every time as the returnee protagonist. However, he had been defeated before.

‘There were about three times that he lost. Once to the Demon King, once in the tower, and...' 

One last time to a person who could be said to be the final weapon of mankind. That was someone who even the main character Kim Do-Jin couldn’t beat until the end of Book 1. In fact, the last defeat was a trigger for growth rather than a crisis.

‘At any rate, she also played the role of Kim Do-Jin's teacher.’

One day, Choi Yu-Seong might have to meet her as well but that was in the future. Those were things to think about in the very distant future, only after he was more ready.

‘After all, she’s someone I should not provoke.’

Anyway, except for these few defeats, Kim Do-Jin was rarely upset by any other obstacles. Well, the episode that suddenly went through Choi Yu-Seong's head while he had been agonizing at the Crossroads of Choice was one of those rare cases.

In three years, a super rookie named Arnold would appear in the United States like a comet. In the near future, he would be nicknamed the "Dungeon Master" throughout the United States and considered to have no rival in dungeon racing, thanks to one great skill that only he owned in the world.

'Special skill, Map Master.' 

This ability was often described in the form of a map window floating in one corner of the screen when playing simulation games on a computer. The difference was that, generally in simulation games, in order to check the complete form of a map, the player had to move it by himself at least once to grasp the topography. However, Arnold's Map Master skill did not have that penalty.

As soon as he entered and executed his skills, he could immediately open a map of the entire dungeon. That allowed him to know the whole way through a maze at once, and find a secret space or a hidden path.

Simply put, Arnold's Map Master skill was the ability to grasp the entire terrain as soon as he entered the dungeon. It went without saying that it was natural that his speed of clearing the dungeon would increase significantly through this skill.

Moreover, if he was lucky enough, Arnold could often find the hidden ancient relics or treasures of the world in the dungeon’s secret room. Unfortunately, the trap or the monsters’ location was unknown. However, everyone still agreed that the Map Master skill was quite unique and it was a great ability to have.

At this moment, when Yu-Seong was standing in front of the Crossroads of Choice, it was not just a coincidence that Arnold's name and his skill passed through Yu-Seong's mind.

‘When Arnold was in E-rank, he boarded a plane to Korea to showcase himself.’ 

And Arnold had even come to Sinwol-dong and had asked for an exclusive use in the boss regeneration season. He did seem very confident that he would be able to break Kim Do-Jin's record, which had never been officially broken. In the end, however, Arnold had failed to break Kim Do-Jin's record of 2 hours 28 minutes 33 seconds.

“Arnold's record in the original novel was 2 hours 28 minutes 38 seconds.”

The difference in records was only five seconds apart but after that, Arnold acknowledged his shortcomings and left Korea, dejected.

Although it had been a rather trivial and meaningless episode, Korea had been able to express their pride through Kim Do-Jin. It had been a somewhat boring and unexpected episode for Yu-Seong as well, but at this moment, the contents went through his mind.

‘I’m glad I habitually thought of the contents of the novel [Modern Master Returns] before going to bed and wrote them down on my cell phone's notepad every night.’ 

The contents of the original novel—which was originally very clear in his mind—were definitely getting blurry day by day.

‘And now, these little episodes are not coming to my mind without any stimulation.’

As expected, Yu-Seong was glad that he had started to record his memories. Thanks to this habit, the speed of forgetfulness had reduced and he could immediately recall such things in the moment.

‘In the original novel, Arnold said in the interview that he even used a secret weapon at the Crossroads of Choice, but eventually failed.’

Arnold's secret weapon? Yu-Seong did not even have to think about what it would have been. Truthfully, Arnold was at an overwhelming disadvantage compared to Kim Do-Jin in terms of combat power. And yet, the fact that he had left behind such a high record meant that he had great abilities as a Map Master.

'If it's not in the left path, it'll be in the right path.' 

Either way, there existed a third path somewhere, which was the shortest way to run into the boss. The only problem was that the original novel did not express its detailed location, since it had been a trivial episode. Nevertheless, the reason why Choi Yu-Seong first came to the left path was simple.

‘If there was a secret passage, wouldn't it be more likely to exist in the long one?’ 

In fact, this wasn’t a big concern for Yu-Seong now.

‘Or I can quickly go back to the other side and check. Thank you, Scathi. Without your skill, I would have to give up here.’ 

This was the second skill that Yu-Seong had recently inherited from the three gods.

『 Inheritance Skill: Twin snakes biting their tails E

Fusion is not possible.

Scathi, the Oldest Hunter, has never missed a single target.

Summon a translucent twin snake that is not easily visible to the eye and track down its opponent.

Think of the name and appearance of the goal as accurately as possible in your head.

Additional effects are sealed due to low rank.

The ability is limited.

You cannot pass through walls or obstacles.

If the tracking distance is outside the 2 km radius, the twin snake automatically disappears.

Reuse latency exists—3 minutes.』

In fact, it was a skill that Yu-Seong thought would be sealed for a while since it seemed to be useless.

‘But now it’s a different situation.’

Yu-Seong did not have a skill like Arnold’s Map Master ability. However, the twin snake that he just released would somehow find the Hobgoblin—the boss monster that Yu-Seong recalled in his head—even if they had to find a hidden path.

‘It would be nice if they could find it at once…’

With a small hope, Yu-Seong looked at two haze-like snakes that had already left his hand. Then, one of the two pushed his head toward somewhere in the gap in the wall that Yu-Seong had been looking at.

"Good," Yu-Seong commented. Afterward, he jumped toward the wall after he saw the snake disappearing like a mollusk was dragging it in. Then, he began to trace the wall recklessly.

‘If there's a secret space, it’ll be somewhere around here…’

Sure enough, with a rattling ‘clack,’ the part of the wall that was touched by the tip of Yu-Seong's right palm created a deep concave. That was when the third road opened with the rumble of an operating engine. It was the secret passage.

Yu-Seong ran through a path that no one had ever thought of before. The wide dome-shaped interior was stretched through a secret path without a single monster.

Standing at the end of the passageway—-which was like a cliff located somewhat high up—Yu-Seong looked down. At the end of the huge crowd of the Elite Goblin group, the Hobgoblin was sitting on a chair and leaning back like a king. He screamed violently when he found Yu-Seong.

Goblins with poison needles, or bows, posed a threat by pointing their own weapons. Then, there were threatening attacks aiming right at Yu-Seong. The sounds of the Goblins spread, reflected, and rebounded, causing him to be dizzy.

In the turmoil and the overflowing scenery of flesh, Yu-Seong laughed.

'At least the time is reduced by nearly two times!’ 

The actual consumed time was 25 minutes. Within the total time of 1 hour and 41 minutes, Yu-Seong had finally reached the boss room faster than anyone else. It was simply the best record ever.

Yu-Seong grabbed his spear. He arrived on a rather high hill, but there was no need to worry about the time gap of landing.

‘In fact, it’s better. The record for dungeon racing is set at the moment the boss monster dies.' 

Yu-Seong just had to attack the boss's head from the beginning. He jumped high without hesitation and carried out the Wind Control Execution. Then, he hit the arrow that flew toward him with the spear and opened his palm. The boss monster, Hobgoblin, and the elite group who were raising their heads with angry eyes looked at Yu-Seong while everything seemed to be happening in slow motion.

'Loki, I'll make sure to use the skill you gave me in a very grumpy way.' 

It was the last skill that the three gods had handed over. The skill that was passed down by Loki—who was one of the strongest gods in Norse mythology—was executed through Yu-Seong's palm.

***

Yu-Seong felt tremendous excitement, just as Do-Yoon did when the first three gods had simultaneously handed over the skill. After regaining consciousness, he had even felt a thrill when he checked his skills with his own eyes.

‘The Magic Spearmanship! Cu Chulainn's been very generous!’ 

Was it because the god had been aware of his lack of dignity compared to the other two gods? From the beginning, Cu Chulainn had passed down one of his representative skills, that was not even too high in rank, but had the perfect form for Yu-Seong to use.

Yu-Seong had expressed his admiration inwardly.

‘Indeed, you are the Prince of Light in Ireland! You're a light, just like your nickname.’ 

When he had seen the second Inheritance Skill, which was the Twin snakes biting their tails, Yu-Seong had tilted his head in confusion.

'It's also a growing skill, but it's unclear where to use it for now.’ 

It wasn’t bad, but Yu-Seong initially couldn’t think of some practical usage of the skill. He felt quite pleasant when using this skill quicker and more effectively than he had thought in this process of dungeon racing.

And lastly, the third skill had been given by Loki. In a way, Choi Yu-Seong had no choice but to click his tongue at the first moment when he had confirmed the skill given by Loki—which he had high expectations from the start as it was from the god with the highest name value among the three.

'Wow, is this for real? How petty of him. Is it because I accepted him last or what?’ 

『Inheritance Skill, Disturbing Dance Moves F (MAX)

Fusion is possible.

This is a skill that ‘Joke-loving Prankster’ has given to test you.

Spread your palm and emit a flashing light about 100m in front.

The light dances and disturbs the opponent's vision. 』

It was called ‘Inheritance Skill’, but it actually had the same effect as a general skill. Moreover, there was no possibility of growth that there was even a sign that the F rank was in Max level.

“Loki, you’re as narrow-minded as Odin."

- The Joke-loving Prankster finds your abusive words very unpleasant.

He is sending a direct message to the player Choi Yu-Seong, saying ‘You’re the one that has a narrow vision, you idiot!’.

Loki's message was transmitted in a colorful form several times more than usual, coming after Yu-Seong’s unconsciously spoken self-talk. It was the first direct message Yu-Seong ever received. The part of the message that Loki himself had uttered was burning as if they were on fire.