The Return of the Legendary All-Master
Chapter 376

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

Chapter 376

“So, he accepted it.”

Logos grinned slyly.

“He had no choice. After all, a wish was on the line.”

Beelzebub, standing beside him, added with a wicked smile.

“But don’t think we’ve already caught him. That human—he’s no ordinary one. We need to make sure he’s completely crushed.”

“Psyche, I didn’t expect you to be this serious about taking him down.”

The one who responded to Psyche’s summons—Ulion, known as the God of the Battlefield.

On the surface, he appeared like a noble, sacred being. But in reality, he was quite the opposite.

He delighted in roaming the battlefield, feeding off the flood of negative emotions that arose from war—and relishing every second of it.

“Just a little longer, and we can completely erase him. Nothing will change if we just sit back and watch… We need to act ourselves and eliminate the threat at the root.”

“I like that answer.”

At Psyche’s words, Harmageddon, standing beside Ulion, clapped his hands with a pleased smile.

Among the five Named Ones, Harmageddon was known for rarely taking action unless it involved grand-scale matters—like the sealing of Tenebris.

Had it not been for the issue of Tenebris’s annihilation, Harmageddon wouldn’t have even appeared here.

“How many higher races have registered?”

“Seventeen. All of them capable of effortlessly killing humans.”

They call it a league, but—

Among the higher races, no one fights each other.

Based on power level, participants are assigned to Rounds 1 through 17.

Humans must win in every one of those rounds to survive.

No matter how many tricks they used to boost their levels, there’s absolutely no way Earth’s humans can clear all 17 rounds.

“What if that so-called ‘Lord’ of Earth steps in himself?”

“That’s exactly what we’re aiming for.”

“Hm?”

“If Earth loses a round, the planet will be erased. To prevent that, he’ll have no choice but to fight personally.”

He must’ve thought higher races were still within his reach, which is why he accepted.

That was his critical mistake.

From the moment he accepted the invitation, the League began within a space under the Named Ones’ full control.

In other words, the moment he enters, they can strike him instantly.

“A rat in a trap, huh?”

Beelzebub burst into laughter.

That human had humiliated him twice already.

He’d been dying for revenge—and now he had the chance to pay it back with interest.

The only remaining issue was the Source of Good and Evil, which the human had taken.

That was the one unpredictable factor—but now that he had entered their domain, it no longer posed much of a threat.

“We can’t afford to let it be known that we intervened.”

Even if he had the Source of Good and Evil, it was only a partial one—granted to his puppet.

It wouldn’t be enough to overturn the board.

In the end, he would die here.

* * *

<The invasion has ended.>

<The Survival League will now begin.>

With the announcement of the invasion’s end, all red portals on Earth vanished.

“Phew… Is it finally over?”

“It’s good that they disappeared, but… what the hell is the ‘Survival League’ now?”

The survivors who had been fighting tooth and nail to stop the invasions could finally breathe a little—but that breath came with a tremble of dread.

The Survival League is scheduled to begin.

That line meant this hellish ordeal wasn’t over—it was continuing.

[Damn it, this is so freaking annoying lololol]

—Is Earth really that special? They're seriously obsessed with torturing us;; Please just stop already —_—

└ fr, this is some BS

└ What even is the Survival League…? If we lose, do we die?

└ What did we ever do to deserve this ㅠㅠ

└ Maybe it’s all part of some grand plan to wipe out humans and build a new species? lol

└ Can someone please explain what’s going on??

As everyone’s eyes and ears zeroed in on the Survival League—

[A new post just dropped on HoneyTube!]

—Hurry, check it now! There’s a post explaining the Survival League!

└ fr?

└ Huh? What’s going on now?

└ At this point, I’m starting to wonder if there’s anything HoneyTube doesn’t know lol

└ Seriously lol, ever since they started wielding god-tier weapons, HoneyTube’s clearly not one of us

└ Don’t even compare them to us lol—they’re basically gods, no cap

“Gods, huh…”

Jang Dae-Hwi muttered under his breath as he finished uploading the post.

Sure, judging by the kind of performance he pulls off, he really does go beyond what a human should be capable of.

But no matter what anyone says, Hoon’s still human to him.

“…Still, where did he even get this Survival League info from?”

It had only been ten minutes since the announcement about the League went public.

“Did he know this was going to happen in advance?”

Nah, no way.

But then again… that kind of thinking is exactly what gets you killed.

[Hyung, I saw the post. Thanks for summarizing everything so clearly.]

“Nah, but seriously—how did you know about all this?”

He asked with innocent curiosity—

[Oh, that? I made a deal with a Transcendent. Thanks to that, I have access to most of the key information.]

“Ah… so that’s how.”

[Yeah. I mean, it’s not like I can predict the future or anything. I’ve just got good intel networks.]

“…Right, of course.”

[Also, I’m really busy right now, so I don’t think I can personally train you for a while. Sorry about that.]

“No worries! It can’t be helped. Haha.”

[…You seem kind of… happy about that. Is that just my imagination?]

Whoops.

Did his true feelings show?

Jang Dae-Hwi quickly tried to look as disappointed as possible.

“Huh? No way, of course it’s just your imagination! I’m so disappointed right now…”

Thankfully, Jeong-hoon didn’t press any further.

[Well, anyway—just don’t even think about entering the League.]

“Don’t enter it?”

[Yeah. The battles are going to be incredibly dangerous.]

If that monster Hoon himself said the battles would be dangerous… just how bad could they be?

Jang Dae-Hwi nodded with a face full of tension.

“Okay. Got it.”

[Alright. I’ll see you later, then.]

With that, the call ended.

* * *

<Master, as you instructed, I filtered out the useful ones.>

With the League looming, Jeong-hoon had ordered Thanatos to compile a list of capable individuals.

Thanatos selected about 100 people and sent the list over to Jeong-hoon.

To be specific, he chose only those who could hold the line while Jeong-hoon went on a rampage.

If I lose a round while I’m wandering the Divine Realm, that’d be a disaster.

The League was a double-edged sword.

If they won all the rounds, they’d be granted a wish—but if they lost even one, Earth would be erased immediately.

And that wasn’t all.

Jeong-hoon’s status as the Master would be forcibly stripped from him, and he’d fall right into the hands of the Named Ones.

But if I enter the League myself, it’s obvious I’ll get snatched the moment I show up.

Their plan was transparent.

If they confirmed that Jeong-hoon himself—backed by Tenebris—entered, they would immediately make their move.

The wish-granting trap was nothing more than bait to lure him in.

Of course, he could just refuse to participate in the League.

But doing so would mean the invasions would continue indefinitely—and that’s the best they could hope for in that case.

Some might say maintaining the status quo is safer… but over time, the Interception Rate would inevitably fall below 70%.

No matter how strong the survivors had become, repeated defense efforts would eventually wear them down.

This is still the better option.

Jeong-hoon reviewed the list Thanatos had sent and then made a call—to James Marcus.

The call connected before the second ring.

Good, you picked up fast.

“James.”

[Yeah, I just saw the HoneyTube post. What the hell is going on? Survival League?]

“Just like it says—it’s a League. Seventeen rounds. You have to win them all.”

[Seventeen rounds…?]

“Don’t worry. We probably won’t even make it to the seventeenth round.”

[Huh?]

“Anyway, the reason I’m calling is—I want you to join the League.”

[Me…?]

“Yeah. More accurately, I want everyone under your leadership to participate.”

A minimum of twenty members was required to form a team, so Jeong-hoon hoped James Marcus’s party would join.

He’d reviewed the list—but none of the others on it could hold a candle to the people in James’s party.

[…Can I ask you just one thing?]

James hesitated before carefully posing the question.

“What is it?”

[Once this League ends… will peace finally return?]

“……”

Jeong-hoon didn’t answer.

[So it’s not a sure thing.]

“Yeah. Even so, I don’t have the option not to participate.”

[Got it. I’ll convince the rest of the group. How do we enter?]

“A message will be sent out soon. Just follow the instructions in that.”

[Okay.]

* * *

[Please assign your members.]

As the Master, Jeong-hoon had the authority to personally assign participants.

Of course, he couldn’t just assign anyone randomly.

With the Survival League now underway, a system message had gone out to all survivors.

It asked whether or not they wished to participate in the League.

Jeong-hoon would then select from those applicants and assign them to rounds accordingly.

“Hoon, let us take the first round.”

Ha-jin spoke with a resolute expression.

“The first round?”

“Yeah. It’s not like we’re banned from rejoining after one round, right?”

That was true.

The rules allowed the same team to participate in multiple rounds, if needed.

Having reached the 6th Awakening, Ha-jin declared she would take part in the first round of the League.

“Can you hold out as long as possible?”

“Of course. Doesn’t matter who shows up—we’ll wipe them all out!”

“…What if someone far beyond your expectations appears?”

“Come on, would they really throw that at us in round one?”

Jeong-hoon had already explained the Survival League to everyone, and informed them that he would be traveling to the Divine Realm during that time.

“It’s dangerous.”

“But it’s something you have to do, right?”

“That’s true, but still…”

“It’s not like we’re going in alone. You said you’d assign one of your full-powered clones, right?”

“I did.”

The clone—created using the Origin of Good and Evil—was a perfect replica of Jeong-hoon himself. Level, stats, battle instinct—everything was copied flawlessly.

But Jeong-hoon had no intention of sending the clone in for the first round.

“I need to see how things unfold first.”

Even though Psyche had promised to make sure all attention stayed focused on the Survival League, Jeong-hoon didn’t fully trust her.

So he planned to personally observe the first round and judge the situation for himself—then send the clone from the second round onward while timing his move to the Divine Realm.

The real concern, though, was whether they could survive the first round without that clone.

There was Bong-goo, Yeo Sunwoo, Yeo Min-Ji… even his mother.

Everyone clearly wanted to participate in the first round.

‘…This must be our full power.’

According to the information Psyche provided, the races they would be facing in the League were those who had been “chosen.”

These beings were said to be so favored by the Named Ones that even if they lost in the League, they wouldn’t suffer any significant penalties.

Their levels were monstrous—each starting at over 2,000.

Trying to send others in his place made things more complicated for Jeong-hoon.

“Hyung, it’s okay! I’ve gotten a lot stronger!”

Bong-gu, who normally would’ve found any excuse to avoid danger, was now trying to reassure Jeong-hoon.

“That’s true.”

They had sparred once for a HoneyTube recording, and Jeong-hoon had personally witnessed his progress.

With the strength he had now, Bong-gu should be able to handle this.

“Son, don’t worry. Trust us, okay?”

Then his mother stepped forward, offering her reassurance as well.

“Mr. Hoon, don’t worry and just focus on succeeding! We’ll draw all the attention just right.”

Yeo Min-Ji clenched her fist with determination, adding her support.

<Indeed. I also think they’ll be fine.>

Even in Tenebris’s eyes, there were no fighters among them lacking in strength.

Jeong-hoon summoned a clone using the Origin of Good and Evil.

The clone materialized right beside him—an exact duplicate.

“It’s… exactly the same…”

“Whoa…”

Those present couldn’t stop gasping in awe.

No matter how one looked at it, it was unmistakably Jeong-hoon himself.

“This clone will join in during the second round. So… please take care of the first round.”

The first round was the key.

The plan was for the clone to enter from round two and utterly dismantle the higher races. If successful, that would prompt the Named Ones to try and capture the clone.

And that was precisely what Psyche was aiming for.

If it worked, there would be no need to drag things out to round 17—the League could end in success much sooner.

And so, Jeong-hoon assigned the first-round team with a single hope in mind: that they would hold out and survive.

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]