The Return of the Legendary All-Master
Chapter 379

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

Chapter 379

The Harpha Race.

Their average height exceeded 4 meters, and their heavily muscular builds were a passive trait.

The brute strength radiating from their muscles made it laughably easy for them to kill a human, and on top of that, their durability was exceptional.

Additionally, each of them was born with a unique innate trait, and depending on the grade of that trait, their social rank could rise—or fall.

And today, every Harpha participating in the Survival League held noble status.

In other words, they were the chosen elite even among the Harpha.

“Why do we even have to show up for something as trivial as killing humans?”

One of the Harpha grumbled.

He had awakened the trait known as “Five Senses.” Compared to typical Harpha, his sensory perception was far superior.

His eyesight was so sharp it defied measurement. His hearing was so sensitive that even the faintest sounds were heard with clarity.

His sense of smell could detect even the most subtle of scents, and the same went for taste.

His sense of touch was also far more sensitive than the average Harpha’s, earning him the nickname “Sensory Boss” among his peers.

At a glance, it might seem like a simple trait.

However, it was extremely rare for someone of the Harpha race to awaken such a trait.

Usually, they’d specialize in one field—Iron Body, Silver Tongue, Talent with the Sword, Talent with the Bow, and so on.

But Five Senses maximized all five senses at once, which was enough to be evaluated as noble-class.

Moreover, these highly attuned senses gave him a significant edge in combat.

“C’mon now, the reward makes up for it, doesn’t it?”

The reason the Harpha joined the League, unsurprisingly, was the reward.

Not just from God Himself, a divine promise of reward had been made.

Naturally, everyone rushed to volunteer, and as a result, only nobles were selected.

Of course, the Harpha with the Five Senses trait hadn’t volunteered of his own will. He’d been pressured into joining by the comrades he moved with. That’s why he alone was disgruntled.

“Yeah, Chopper, just bear with it. It’s just humans.”

Only ten Harpha were chosen, and among them, two were Chopper’s comrades.

Including him, three of them were participating in the League.

As one of his comrades tried to appease him, Chopper’s expression softened quickly.

“Fine. Let’s grab the reward and get out.”

Chopper followed behind the other Harpha as they advanced.

The goal for this round was to capture the enemy’s base.

When it’s just humans, overwhelming them with brute force should be more than enough.

That was when it happened.

Bang!

A faint gunshot rang out.

‘…!’

Chopper instinctively twisted his head to the side.

Crack!

A sharp pain stung his cheek as a bullet pierced the tree behind him.

“Chopper!”

The comrade beside Chopper called out his name urgently.

Chopper raised his hand to signal he was fine, then turned his head to inspect the tree.

“…A gun?”

Judging by the burn marks around the hole, one might have assumed it was magic—but based on the gunshot he had heard, this was definitely a gun. One hundred percent.

“Where the hell did that come from?”

“You’re saying they moved ahead of us?”

No matter how skilled a human might be, there was no way they could move faster than the Harpha race.

Especially since the Harpha up front had a detection trait and was already guiding them through the most efficient path.

“No, that’s not it.”

Chopper’s expression turned cold.

He scanned the surroundings once, then spoke with certainty.

“It was fired from a great distance.”

The Harpha with the detection trait added to his claim.

He could detect movement up to 5 kilometers ahead—but within that range, there was absolutely nothing.

“…Is that even possible?”

The other Harpha looked dumbfounded.

“If it wasn’t possible, I’d be dead right now.”

At Chopper’s words, everyone fell silent.

“That was a warning.”

“A warning?”

Everyone turned their eyes toward the Harpha with the detection trait, who had spoken.

“Yeah. It was a warning—next time, the shot will be to the head.”

“…True. If it hadn’t been me, it wouldn’t have ended like this.”

A bullet had flown in and no one sensed it coming.

If Chopper didn’t have his heightened Five Senses, his head would’ve been blown off.

Now, they could see why God Himself had taken interest in this mission against a human.

God must’ve known.

That this human wasn’t ordinary.

“So what do we do now?”

“What else? We keep going.”

Chopper wiped the blood running down his cheek with his sleeve as he replied.

“No, we can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because we’re blind right now. If we take another hit here, the damage could be serious.”

“So what, we’re just supposed to sit around doing nothing?”

“No. Just give me a bit of time. I’ll expand my detection range across the entire map.”

“How long?”

“…Two days.”

“That’s too long.”

Chopper was burning with the urge to rip apart the human who had just sniped him.

“Chopper, Pross is right about this.”

One of his comrades tried to reason with him.

“Tch… so what, we’re just supposed to sit on our asses for two whole days?”

“Let’s scout the area. I doubt the goal is as simple as just capturing the enemy base.”

On their way here, they had passed several checkpoint areas.

They had ignored them, thinking they could just steamroll through—but given the current situation, ignoring them had been a mistake. Now, verifying those checkpoints needed to be the priority.

“By now, the humans have probably already checked those points.”

“Then let’s hurry back too.”

Bang!

Just then, a faint gunshot rang out, and one of the Harpha dropped to one knee.

“Ghhk!”

The bullet that Chopper had barely dodged earlier now pierced through Pross’s right thigh.

“Pross!”

The Harpha were shocked and rushed over to him.

Pross wasn’t just their detection specialist—he was also their frontline tank.

There was a reason he’d been the one leading them from the front.

And yet, even with his immense defense, he’d been sniped from a distance—and wounded.

“Damn it…”

Chopper bared his teeth in fury toward the unseen sniper.

They may have retreated for now, but he swore he’d rip that bastard to pieces with his own hands.

* * *

“Got them.”

Lee Na-Yeon lifted her finger from the trigger after confirming the Harpha were retreating.

She wanted to take them all out and charge into their base right then and there—but because of her son’s request, she had limited herself to warning shots.

Still, that was only a temporary measure.

No doubt, they would soon come up with another strategy and return.

Na-Yeon used her communicator to call Ha-Jin.

“Ha-Jin.”

[Bzzt—Yes, Mother. Krrk.]

There was static, but communication was still functional.

“The enemy’s retreating.”

[Already?]

“Yeah. Seems they haven’t figured out your location. But stay cautious just in case.”

[Got it! I’ll just finish mapping the terrain and then pull back.]

Originally, monitoring enemy movement was James’s and Ha-Jin’s role—but their enemies seemed to have detection abilities too.

Otherwise, there’s no way they could’ve charged through using the most efficient route.

That’s why the warning shot was used—to momentarily force them back.

Na-Yeon then signaled Yeo Min-Ji.

[Bzzt—Yes, Mother? Krrk.]

“Min-Ji, what’s your situation?”

[I’ve checked up to the third checkpoint. Is something going on?]

“The enemy was advancing toward us.”

[Seriously…?]

“But it’s okay. I made them pull back for now.”

[Got it! Then I’ll use the time you bought us to check a few more checkpoints before returning.]

“Good. I’ll keep monitoring things from here.”

[Yes, ma’am!]

The transmission ended.

“You’re amazing…”

At that moment, Sophia and Amelie, who had just finished setting up debuff traps, approached.

“Hmm?”

“We heard what happened. You forced the enemy to retreat, didn’t you?”

“Ah, I just got lucky.”

“…That didn’t look like something that could be done with luck.”

Sophia genuinely looked impressed.

She had only fired two shots.

And just those two bullets were enough to rattle the enemy and force them to retreat.

‘Who in the world is she…?’

Back when the list of Korean participants had been revealed and five names were registered, Sophia had initially assumed that Jeong-hoon was just playing favorites.

Two of the Koreans had been decent rankers back during the New World era, but the other three? Not even close.

There was no information on them at all, which made it hard to trust them.

And based on the tips uploaded on HoneyTube, Jeong-hoon’s capabilities were clearly unparalleled.

So she had honestly suspected that the only reason these Koreans had made it this far was because of his help.

That’s also why she hadn’t stopped Damien earlier when he was spouting off without thinking.

‘I was wrong… That shooting wasn’t fake. It was the real deal.’

There was no room left for doubt.

Sophia asked respectfully.

“Would you… be willing to give us a hint about the 6th Advancement?”

She was nearing level 2000, yet still stuck at her 5th Advancement.

She hadn’t even known there was a 6th tier, and if it weren’t for HoneyTube, she might still believe 5th was the end.

Of course, she didn’t expect Lee Na-Yeon to tell her anything.

After all, thanks to that damned Damien, things had been awkward between them.

“Yes, I can tell you.”

But Na-Yeon nodded without hesitation.

Her gentle smile made Sophia’s eyes tremble slightly.

“…Really?”

“Yes.”

“Uh… I honestly thought you wouldn’t tell me.”

“Why would you think that?”

“Because we were incredibly rude to you…”

Sophia’s voice shrank to a near whisper—so unlike her usual self.

‘Wait, is that really Sophia acting like that?’

Amelie was stunned by the change in her demeanor.

Sophia, who was always so smug and arrogant, now kept her eyes lowered and wouldn’t even meet Na-Yeon’s gaze.

“That’s true.”

“……”

When Na-Yeon nodded in acknowledgment, Sophia swallowed hard.

“But that’s already been apologized for and resolved, hasn’t it? Or… do you not think so?”

“Ah, no! Not at all!”

Sophia quickly waved her hands and denied it firmly.

“Then it’s all fine. After all, I also got this far thanks to my son’s help.”

“……”

“And actually, the hint about the 6th Advancement didn’t come from my son—it came from me.”

Lee Na-Yeon leaned in as if sharing a secret and gave a playful wink.

* * *

Divine Realm.

The five Nameholders who had gathered in one place were watching the current situation unfold with clear disdain.

“Hey, are you seriously telling me those bastards are supposed to be a top-tier race?”

Beelzebub growled, glaring at Logos with irritation.

“Tch, it’s just getting started. Watch closely.”

“Watch what? The human we’re after didn’t even show up in Round 1. And look at how this is going.”

Just as he said, things had veered off course right from the start of Round 1.

The humans weren’t flustered in the slightest—they split up and moved in perfect coordination. Meanwhile, the so-called superior race, the Harpha, just charged recklessly toward the human base.

The result? The Harpha had already sustained one injury and aborted their operation, retreating.

While the humans had managed to activate five checkpoints, the Harpha had only just begun heading toward their first one.

There hadn’t even been a proper battle yet—and already, the humans had taken the upper hand.

“Are you absolutely sure that human isn’t in there?”

Ulion asked as he glanced at Logos and Beelzebub.

“Of course he’s not. That’s exactly why I’m so pissed off.”

Beelzebub slammed his hand down on the table.

“Enough. It’s just Round 1. He’s probably watching from the sidelines—we can afford to sit back and enjoy the show.”

“He’s right. That human’s going to fall into our hands sooner or later. So wouldn’t it be more fun to let them struggle harder first? The despair hits deeper that way.”

Harmageddon grinned slyly.

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]