The Return of the Legendary All-Master

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

Chapter 267

[Lv. 350 Would you like to enter the Temple of Fate?]

The level of the Temple of Fate was 350.

Although this was lower compared to Jeong-hoon's current level, it wasn't something to be taken lightly.

‘The temple's level adjusts to mine.’

If a player is below Level 350, the temple remains unchanged. However, if someone above that level enters, the temple scales upward to match their level.

When entering as a party, the level adjusts to the highest-level player in the group.

For this reason, one should never underestimate a Level 350 temple.

‘I’m going in.’

As Jeong-hoon accepted, his body was sucked into the portal.

His vision went dark, and when it cleared, he found himself standing in the center of an opulent temple.

Before him, a strange crystal orb floated in midair.

[Lv. 517 Mysterious Crystal Orb]

The orb's level was 517—exactly the same as Jeong-hoon's.

‘It's been a while since I’ve seen this.’

Before his regression, he had recklessly placed his hand on the crystal orb, unaware of what would happen.

Now, Jeong-hoon knew exactly what the orb would trigger.

‘A boss monster appears according to the level.’

Once the boss spawns, battle begins immediately.

Jeong-hoon had no intention of defeating the boss right away.

‘If I want clues about the pocket watch, I need to search the temple.’

He turned away from the orb and began inspecting the temple.

Fate.

A predetermined future.

Before his regression, the fate Jeong-hoon had glimpsed was his rise as an All-Master.

The only reason he had seen such a limited vision was because he had failed to completely subjugate the boss.

When a player places their hand on the orb, they are given just five minutes.

During that time, they must confront the boss.

At the end of those five minutes, the crystal orb reflects the combat results and reveals a vision of their fate.

“Nothing here.”

Unfortunately, there were no clues about the pocket watch to be found.

It seemed there was no other option but to interact with the crystal orb.

‘This won’t be easy.’

Before his regression, Jeong-hoon had only managed to reduce the boss’s health by a mere 2%.

Some might suggest using all available buff skills to overwhelm it, but the boss had the ability to copy all of Jeong-hoon's powers.

If Jeong-hoon used buffs, the boss would also grow stronger. On the other hand, applying debuffs would simply be negated.

This made the boss an exceptionally difficult opponent, requiring meticulous strategy.

But this time, things were different. Jeong-hoon was determined to utterly defeat it.

At that moment, a rift opened, and a pair of crimson eyes emerged.

<How do you like the Temple of Fate? Does it suit your taste?>

The crescent-shaped eyes of Baal curved with amusement.

“It’s not exactly to my liking.”

Jeong-hoon deliberately furrowed his brow.

Baal, apparently pleased by the expression, narrowed his eyes even further in amusement.

<Heh, heh. Did you really think unraveling the secret of the pocket watch would be that easy?>

“You told me to come to the temple if I wanted to know, but it’s all nonsense.”

<Nonsense? There’s still one thing left, isn’t there?>

Baal directed his gaze toward the crystal orb.

“The crystal orb?”

Feigning ignorance, Jeong-hoon played dumb.

<That’s right. The answer you’re looking for lies inside it.>

“Oh? So you showed up to tell me that?”

<Partly. But I also wanted to propose a little wager.>

“A wager?”

<If you restore the pocket watch using that crystal orb, you win. On the other hand, if you fail, you’ll make a pact with me.>

Quite obsessed with making contracts, aren’t you?

Jeong-hoon paused to think.

Could he defeat the boss that would appear from the crystal orb?

To acquire the restoration material, he would have to completely annihilate the boss.

He knew this because, during his previous encounter, he had briefly seen an item while reviewing the reward calculations.

That item was none other than the Blessing of the Gods.

A top-tier item capable of restoring damaged, non-functional artifacts.

Even the ultimate restoration potion hadn’t been able to repair the pocket watch, but with the Blessing of the Gods, it might be possible.

It was clear why Baal had brought up the Temple of Fate—it was all connected to that item.

The issue, however, was that Jeong-hoon wasn’t confident he could defeat the boss.

‘Do I really need to accept this wager?’

Jeong-hoon had already opened the Temple of Fate through his own efforts, so there was no need to take an additional gamble.

“I refuse.”

After careful consideration, Jeong-hoon declined the wager.

He had no particular reason to extract anything from Baal, nor any incentive to take unnecessary risks.

He noticed Baal’s crimson eyes tremble faintly.

<Why? Haven’t you made countless ridiculous wagers until now?>

“Sometimes, even I need to take a break.”

<Unbelievable… You’re backing out now?>

“Why so upset? Haven’t I already given you plenty of entertaining spectacles?”

<Hah…>

“In any case, if there’s nothing else, I’d appreciate it if you left.”

<What would it take for you to accept the wager?>

“I’m missing the ultimate energy right now. Provide me with all of it.”

<…>

Was the demand too unreasonable?

Baal fell silent for a moment.

‘If he agrees, great. If not, oh well.’

Jeong-hoon had nothing to lose.

In truth, avoiding the wager was far safer, but if he could fill his ultimate energy to 100%, it was a gamble worth taking.

“So, what’s your decision?”

<Ugh... Fine. Let’s do it.>

“Great. But there’s a condition.”

<What now?>

“Do not interfere in the dungeon.”

<...Fine. I won’t.>

The deal was sealed.

***

The wager began, and Jeong-hoon approached the crystal orb.

[Lv. 517 Mysterious Crystal Orb]

Jeong-hoon placed his hand on the orb.

Immediately, it began voraciously absorbing his mana.

Although his formidable mana drained rapidly, Jeong-hoon remained unfazed.

He’d already panicked enough in his previous regressions.

[Lv. 517 Mysterious Death Reaper has appeared.]

[Hunt time: 5 minutes.]

With that message, the crystal orb vanished, and before Jeong-hoon stood a reaper draped in a black shroud.

In its hand was a massive scythe.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

===

[Detailed Stats]

- Strength: 697

- Agility: 685

- Vitality: 643

- Defense: 665

- Wisdom: 621

- Mana: 1,332

- Divine Power: 906

- Mental Strength: 619

===

The reaper had perfectly copied Jeong-hoon’s stats.

‘I can’t use buffs.’

Using buffs would only increase the reaper’s stats as well, and debuffs wouldn’t affect it.

Worse, it would turn the debuffs back onto Jeong-hoon.

Although he could use Safeguard to counteract them, that would render buffs pointless either way.

‘If only I could use Annihilation, this would be easy.’

An overpowered ability to rapidly drain life force.

However, debuffs and similar effects didn’t work on the reaper.

On top of that, since it had copied Jeong-hoon’s abilities, it could use Annihilation too.

‘I have no choice but to beat it with pure skill.’

Having completed his calculations, Jeong-hoon activated Heavenly Demon Lord's Dominion.

The reaper mirrored him, moving exactly the same way.

Jeong-hoon threw a punch.

The punch carried the energy of Heavenly Demon Lord's Fist Art, Level 1.

Whoosh!

But his fist didn’t connect with the reaper’s face.

Because the reaper evaded using its movement.

Thwack!

At that moment, Jeong-hoon stepped forward and struck the reaper's chest with his elbow.

The reaper's face instantly twisted with surprise, and Jeong-hoon seized the opportunity to deliver a solid punch to its face.

“Gah!”

With a short groan, the reaper staggered backward and fell.

Its scythe slipped from its grip, spinning through the air before hurtling toward Jeong-hoon.

As Jeong-hoon twisted his body to evade, the scythe shifted direction, aiming for his back.

Danger.

Jeong-hoon dropped to his knees in the same motion.

The scythe barely grazed his hair as it passed.

Before the weapon could adjust its course again, Jeong-hoon used Heavenly Demon Lord's Steps to close the distance to the reaper.

“Not bad.”

The reaper distanced itself from Jeong-hoon using Heavenly Demon Lord's Steps and extended its hand.

The scythe immediately returned to its grasp.

Remaining time: 4 minutes and 25 seconds.

Glancing at the dwindling time, Jeong-hoon activated Heavenly Demon Lord's Dominion once more.

Simultaneously, he retrieved Leviathan from his inventory.

[Form 1: Heavenly Demon Lord's First Stance initiated.]

He unleashed the first form of Heavenly Demon Lord's Annihilation Sword.

Clang!

However, the reaper mirrored his actions perfectly, flawlessly defending against the attack.

[A mark has been engraved.]

Not only that, but the reaper replicated the marking process exactly.

Even so, Jeong-hoon relentlessly continued his assault with the Heavenly Demon Lord's Annihilation Sword.

Clang! Clang!

The exchange of blows continued unabated.

Time was slipping away quickly, leaving only 3 minutes remaining.

At this rate, Jeong-hoon would lose the wager with Baal.

“That won’t happen.”

The Heavenly Demon Lord's Annihilation Sword was an advanced evolution of his swordsmanship.

It had been upgraded from Annihilation Sword to Heavenly Demon Lord's Annihilation Sword, a technique virtually flawless in execution.

But Jeong-hoon, having repeatedly executed the swordsmanship, noticed a crucial flaw in the reaper's replication.

“It can’t perfectly perform the swordsmanship.”

Jeong-hoon deliberately executed a slightly imperfect form of Heavenly Demon Lord's Annihilation Sword, creating intentional openings.

As expected, the reaper mimicked his movements, replicating the flawed execution.

Jeong-hoon planned to exploit these openings to end the battle decisively.

Clang! Clang!

He continued wielding his sword, executing the first form repeatedly.

The reaper mirrored his every movement, countering with its scythe.

The fierce exchange carried on until their weapons clashed violently, destabilizing both of them.

Now was the moment.

[Form 3: Heavenly Demon Lord's Annihilation Stance initiated.]

Jeong-hoon, who had momentarily lost his balance, raised his sword and thrust it forward in a single fluid motion.

Swish! Thud!

The attack pierced through cleanly with such speed that it was impossible for the reaper to replicate.

“Gah!”

The reaper collapsed, clutching its throat where the blade had struck.

[Form 3: Heavenly Demon Lord's Annihilation Stance initiated.]

Jeong-hoon immediately unleashed the third form again, targeting the fallen enemy.

Clang!

This time, the reaper’s scythe flew toward him, deflecting the Heavenly Demon Lord's Annihilation Stance.

“As expected.”

Without hesitation, Jeong-hoon extended his hand, seizing the scythe midair.

Buzz—

The scythe struggled violently, attempting to wrench itself free from his grip.

His arm shook from the resistance, but Jeong-hoon didn’t let go.

“You... damn... pest...”

The reaper, coughing up blood, glared at him with a mixture of rage and desperation.

With the mark engraved and the third form of Heavenly Demon Lord's Annihilation Stance executed, the attack had inflicted a mortal wound.

Despite this, Jeong-hoon had never once used healing abilities.

He avoided activating them deliberately because the reaper could only replicate abilities that were used in its presence.

With such grievous injuries, recovery was now impossible for the enemy.

“This ends now.”

Jeong-hoon hurled the scythe with all his might.

Simultaneously, he activated Heavenly Demon Lord's Dominion and initiated the third form once more.

The scythe attempted to block in a rush, but Jeong-hoon’s sword reached the reaper’s throat first.

“Gah!”

The blade pierced the reaper’s neck again, silencing it with a final death cry.

The flying scythe disintegrated immediately afterward.

[You have perfectly vanquished the enigmatic reaper.]

Only after confirming the system message did Jeong-hoon allow himself to collapse onto the ground.

“Phew... it’s over.”

Barely a minute remained on the timer.

Had he not exploited the reaper’s weaknesses, the mission would have ended in failure.

<Impossible...>

It was then that Baal appeared, his crimson eyes wide with shock.

“What’s got you so surprised?”

<This doesn’t make sense... how did you figure out the strategy?>

Baal had anticipated that Jeong-hoon would use all his abilities to defeat the reaper.

In that case, the reaper would have replicated every one of them, and the five-minute limit would have been wasted.

But Jeong-hoon did the exact opposite.

He deliberately launched attacks riddled with flaws, forcing the reaper to replicate the same imperfect techniques.

This created openings, which Jeong-hoon exploited to decisively turn the tide in his favor.

Baal was rendered speechless by the flawless strategy.

It was impossible to imagine such a perfect approach without an intimate understanding of the reaper’s abilities.

How in the world…

“Anyway, honor your promise.”

That meant replenishing all the ultimate energy that Jeong-hoon lacked.

<Curse it… I thought I’d succeed in sealing the contract this time.>

The ultimate energy—by granting Jeong-hoon this power in its entirety, he would be able to challenge the pinnacle of strength.

To think that he, Baal, would end up as the greatest benefactor enabling Jeong-hoon’s ascent to ultimate power.

“Wait here. I’ll restore it right away.”

<…>

The reaper had been perfectly vanquished.

Now, the orb of destiny would grant Jeong-hoon a reward while also revealing a glimpse of his future.

After catching his breath briefly, Jeong-hoon rose and approached the orb.

‘What will it show me this time?’

While the reward was of interest, it was the glimpse of his future that intrigued him the most.

Jeong-hoon placed his hand on the orb.

The orb began to glow, and text emerged above it.

“What…?”

Jeong-hoon frowned deeply as he read the message.

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]