The Return of the Legendary All-Master
Chapter 375

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

Chapter 375

After closing the rift, Jeong-hoon immediately returned to Seoul.

Left alone, James Marcus wandered into a nearby park and sat down on a bench to rest.

Jeong-hoon had told him he’d hand over the weapon later and encouraged him to take his time thinking it through. But James already knew what he wanted—he wanted the shield.

“If the shield’s rank increases, its defense will improve even further.”

He vowed to become a flawless tank who could block every incoming attack.

Though he had steeled himself with that resolve, in truth, James had long since realized: it was impossible to block every attack.

“Kkul1—no, I mean, Hoon… he really was incredible.”

Kkul1 had introduced himself as Jeong-hoon.

And James had even managed to get his contact number, becoming someone who had exchanged contact info with Jeong-hoon.

The corners of James’s lips twitched nonstop.

“Pff, I guess my acting wasn’t too bad after all.”

Ah, and there was also a misunderstanding he needed to clear up.

James quickly called Sophia.

But all he could hear was the dial tone—no one was picking up.

“…Huh? That’s weird. This has never happened before.”

Could something have happened to her?

James immediately activated the GPS.

But the location, which should have been in France, was instead showing up in Los Angeles.

And not just anywhere in LA—very close by.

“James.”

At the sound of that voice, James turned his head—and his eyes widened.

“Sophia?! What are you doing here?”

“Don’t look at me like that. It’s not like I came here because I wanted to.”

“Then why?”

“The others will be arriving soon, too.”

“The others?”

He didn’t quite understand what she meant, but it soon became clear.

Sophia had summoned everyone in their group to LA.

James looked at her in shock, and Sophia casually shrugged.

“I told them to gather so we could beat you up if you’d really become an Incarnate.”

“You…”

“But looks like you didn’t actually become one, huh?”

Sophia narrowed her eyes and looked him up and down.

That look was too much for James—he burst out laughing.

“Pfft, were you that worried about me?”

“W-What?!”

Whether because he hit the nail on the head, Sophia’s face turned as red as an apple.

“Hehe. It’s true. Miss Sophia was very worried about you, Mr. James.”

Amelie Reyna giggled behind her hand.

“When did I ever?!”

Sophia yelled in protest, while Amelie tilted her head innocently, as if to say, Why are you getting embarrassed then?

“She really has a talent for teasing people.”

Amelie was definitely not the pure and innocent type.

If anything, she leaned more toward being sly.

Even just judging by her profession, it was hard to see her as a mere “saint.”

Amelie Reyna was someone who judged good and evil by her own standards—and once she deemed something evil, she would deliver divine punishment without hesitation.

“If I had really become an Incarnate, her eyes would've turned ice-cold.”

Amelie Reyna had classified Incarnates as evil.

The fact that, when she placed the concept of an Incarnate on her internal scale, it tilted toward evil instead of good—that was the proof.

“…To be honest, I did become an Incarnate, briefly.”

Now that he didn’t need to hide anything anymore, James Marcus decided to be honest.

“You were an Incarnate?”

At that, everyone’s expressions changed.

“Of course, I’m not anymore. The contract’s been broken.”

“…You need to explain it properly so we can understand,” said Louis Verdan with a stern face.

His chilly tone carried the weight of a warning—if your explanation doesn’t convince us, there will be consequences.

James Marcus took a breath, then began.

“I was asked to do it.”

“Asked? By whom?”

“Kkul1.”

“Kkul1?! That guy—how?”

“I know, right. In any case, unlike the Transcendent who sent the current message, he asked me to allow the Transcendent who wants to destroy Earth to approach. Using the emotion of jealousy as a conduit.”

Everything Kkul1 said had been true, and having seen his power up close, James realized—no matter what he did, he could never catch up.

James explained everything that had happened so far.

“…So that’s why you said all that crap to me?”

“I’m sorry. To deceive him, I had to completely sell the performance of a James Marcus consumed by jealousy.”

“Well… if you’d told us the truth, he might’ve caught on.”

“Exactly. I only came clean now because it’s finally over.”

“Then, did you ever intend to become an Incarnate?”

“Not even from the start.”

James gave a soft smile.

He had refused to accept the message that had already been sent—rejecting the contract, and in doing so, refusing to become an Incarnate.

“Ha… seriously, don’t scare us like that.”

“This is all because Sophia scared me too much,” Amelie said, sneakily shifting the blame.

Sophia, now thoroughly pissed off, pointed her staff straight at Amelie.

“You want to die today?!”

“Eeeek! I surrender!”

* * *

Meanwhile—

Back in Seoul, Jeong-hoon immediately rejoined Ho-Yeong.

“I hope everyone else joins up with Ho-Yeong too.”

At Jeong-hoon’s request, his mother, Ha-Jin, and Bong-Goo all joined up with Ho-Yeong not long after.

“Phew… Mr. Hoon. It’s been a while.”

When he joined Ho-Yeong’s group, Park In-Tae greeted Jeong-hoon with a trembling voice.

“Y-Yes… right…”

Jeong-hoon responded with a gentle smile, and Park In-Tae stood there with his mouth open, unable to close it.

“Uhm… you’re not a bug, right?”

“A bug?”

“I mean… your level…”

He had already been shocked when he saw both the Guild Leader and the young lady surpass level 2,000. But Jeong-hoon’s number was on an entirely different scale.

A five-digit number.

It had surpassed 10,000.

“Oh, yeah—this is totally a bug,” Jeong-hoon said jokingly.

“Huh? It is a bug?”

“Yes. I mean, how could someone possibly go over level 10,000?”

When Jeong-hoon answered playfully, Park In-Tae scratched his head with a confused look.

“Uhm… then what’s your actual level?”

“Well… I haven’t done the math in so long, I couldn’t tell you.”

“…So you’re saying it isn’t a bug?”

“You’re sharp.”

“W-Wow…”

Still, Park In-Tae was one of the more composed ones.

Around seventy members of the Ho-Yeong Guild had gathered here, and most of them couldn’t even bring themselves to speak to Jeong-hoon.

“Whoa…”

“So that’s Jeong-hoon.”

“He’s undergone six awakenings and gone over 10,000… How does someone even get that strong?”

They too had long since passed level 1,000 thanks to the explosive rate of leveling.

But now, their pride in reaching levels between 1,100 and 1,300 suddenly felt embarrassing.

“Nice to meet you all,” Jeong-hoon said, greeting the guild members one by one, shaking hands with each of them politely.

A round of brief introductions followed, and only then did the silent group finally start speaking—then suddenly burst into rapid-fire chatter.

“How did you level up so fast?”

“I’m jealous! Please teach me and I’ll owe you my life!”

“Don’t just teach us—please become my master!”

Master?

Jeong-hoon gave an awkward smile and simply listened without saying anything.

Seeing this, Yeo Min-Ji quickly stepped in and cut the conversation short.

“Everyone, that’s enough. We don’t have time for this right now.”

The group reluctantly quieted down and stepped back.

Jeong-hoon gave Min-Ji a grateful look, then got straight to the point.

“More than that, the reason I asked everyone to gather is because I have important news to share.”

“Important news?”

“Something worse than what we’ve seen so far is coming.”

“……”

The room fell silent at Jeong-hoon’s words.

Everyone instinctively brought their hands to their foreheads, their expressions turning grave.

Right now, stopping the invasions isn’t particularly difficult.

Their levels are significantly higher, and ever since the New World days, they’ve built up experience and developed strong teamwork with their comrades.

But if beings of an entirely different class start showing up… the number of times they’d be pushed into crisis would skyrocket.

This isn’t a game—it’s real life.

If they make a single mistake and die, that’s the end.

“Of course, I have no intention of just sitting back and watching.”

“Do you have a plan?”

“I’ve made a deal with a fairly powerful Transcendent. He’s agreed to pass on information about the invasions.”

By obtaining intel in advance, they can form a team composed of people capable of clearing the threats reliably, and stop the invasions before they escalate.

At that, Jeong-hoon’s mother pulled him aside, concern written all over her face.

“Hoona.”

“Yes, what is it?”

“Are you really okay with this?”

He knew exactly what she was worried about.

“Yes. Please don’t worry. There’s no way anything will happen to me.”

“Hoo… it’s not some guy trying to destroy Earth who’s giving you this information, is it?”

If he’s handing over information, the price for it must be enormous.

That thought made her feel a little hurt—her son, hiding even the weight of that burden behind a calm expression.

“Well… it’s a bit of a long story, but I have this one item. And he seemed really interested in it.”

Jeong-hoon pulled out the excuse he had prepared beforehand.

<"You calling me an item now?!">

Tenebris exploded in outrage, but Jeong-hoon casually ignored it and continued.

“So we made a deal. In exchange for the information, I agreed to share this item with him.”

“Are you being serious?”

“Yes. If it wasn’t something like that, I would never have agreed to it.”

“Then I’m relieved.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll do my best not to give you anything to worry about.”

“…Thank you, son.”

Jeong-hoon shared a brief hug with his mother.

<“Damn it. I want to get mad, but I can’t.”>

Tenebris ground his teeth and distanced himself from Jeong-hoon.

<“Lord Tenebris, please understand. That excuse was just my way of not making my mother worry.”>

<“Then how about you take the punishment instead?”>

<“I sincerely apologize.”>

With a small chuckle, Jeong-hoon returned to the group.

“There is something fortunate though. It looks like we won’t be seeing any more of these brute-force invasions for a while.”

“Then how are they going to come next…?”

“A League.”

“A League?”

“Yes.”

Jeong-hoon looked at the message in front of him—

A message that only he, as the Lord of a Dimension, could see.

[Invitation]

It was an invitation.

[You are invited to the Survival League.]

The Survival League.

To put it simply, it’s a system where one’s survival is determined through battles against higher races.

[If you win, you will be granted a Wish.]

[You may decline, but the opportunity will never come again.]

[If the Interception Rate falls below 70%, the dimension will be deemed non-functional and external intervention will occur.]

Before the invasions began, Jeong-hoon's original plan had been to absorb the invading dimensions.

He thought it would be possible—after all, he was a demigod.

But in reality, all he could do was either seal the rift or enter the other dimension and act from there.

That was how the system had been designed from the start, and there was nothing Jeong-hoon could do to change it.

In the end, the best option was to ensure that the Interception Rate never dropped below 70%.

If it did fall below 70%, the dimension would be judged as having failed to function independently, and the Named Ones would be granted special authority.

In other words, they would become completely isolated—and face death.

“Will you die holding the line, or gamble everything instead?”

A Wish was being offered.

If they simply won the League, they could regain peace.

He could use the wish to beg that Earth never be touched again.

“Tch. If only this wasn’t a trap.”

But Jeong-hoon knew it was a trap.

That information, too, had come from Psyche.

The reason he was able to outmaneuver Beelzebub was entirely thanks to her intervention.

<“A wish? Puhahaha! Those bastards granting a wish? Don’t make me laugh.”>

Tenebris burst into wild laughter.

No one knew better than him that a Named One would never stake something like a wish.

As Jeong-hoon watched Tenebris laugh, he sank into thought.

“What exactly was the relationship between Tenebris and Psyche?”

It was true Psyche had taken part in sealing Tenebris.

And that was precisely why he harbored such deep fury toward her.

So why was she now approaching him with a friendly demeanor?

Jeong-hoon was genuinely thankful for her help—but this doubt was not something he could ever erase.

He had to continue operating under the assumption that she could betray him at any time.

“I’ll enter.”

Even so, there was only one option.

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]