Chapter 26: Rapid Intervention - (1)

When a sudden rift occurred, every player had the right to engage in battle, regardless of the situation.

For example, even if a rift broke out and a player killed multiple monsters and collected by-products, it wouldn't be an issue.

There was no troublesome aftermath of the Player Union claiming ownership or dragging the matter into a dispute.

It was a natural rule.

If they punished players for unauthorized intervention or tried to claim ownership afterward, no one would step forward.

Protecting ordinary people without combat abilities was something players would be praised for.

'Monopolizing the rewards is important, but since I know about the incident in advance, I should prevent any casualties.'

Sanghyun thought so.

He had no interest in becoming a superhero struggling to save everyone in the world, but he had no intention of standing by and watching a disaster unfold before his eyes.

Suddenly, Sanghyun thought of his parents, who had passed away when he was three.

They had left him with his maternal grandmother and, while returning from a business trip to Japan, were caught in a plane crash.

That was how he became an orphan, and by the time he turned ten, his grandmother also passed away.

It was the final farewell to his last blood relative.

Regardless, having returned to the past and gained knowledge of the future, he deeply understood the value of that knowledge.

'I know words like these are meaningless. But I'll live even harder, doing my best for my parents’ share as well.'

Sanghyun made a firm vow.

He had made the same vow in his previous life, but despite his efforts, he never got to bask in much of the world's light.

But this time would be different.

He was growing faster than anyone else, advancing quicker than the rest.

Some time later.

Sanghyun arrived near Bupyeong Station and parked his car in a public parking lot.

It was far from the predicted disaster zone.

After getting out of the car, he immediately took out the Greatsword of Fighting Spirit from the back seat and began resetting its effect.

First, he removed the Lightweight effect from the crude greatsword and then applied it to the Greatsword of Fighting Spirit, a unique-grade Artifact.

There was a penalty for doing this.

The standard for Lightweight would be downgraded—for instance, 1g of Lightweight might be reduced to 10g.

'Still, it's better to use the Greatsword of Fighting Spirit.'

[Would you like to remove the Lightweight effect from the greatsword? Upon reapplication, the effect may differ from the original.]

He immediately removed it.

The old greatsword that had served him well so far would now be set aside to rest peacefully at home.

[Would you like to apply the Lightweight effect to a new target? The effect can be applied up to 10g.]

'10g is fine. Even 100g or 1kg would be okay. As long as I don't change it too often.'

Sanghyun proceeded with the Lightweight application.

The Greatsword of Fighting Spirit, which had required both hands to wield with force, suddenly became incredibly light.

It felt as if he were swinging a plastic toy sword made for children.

That was the charm of Lightweight.

It defied the laws of physics through the system.

The system's structure was truly mysterious.

Of course, only the perceived weight changed; the weapon's destructive power and might remained unaffected.

It was the strength of the system’s correction.

Step by step, Sanghyun walked toward Exit 1 of Bupyeong Station, surveying his surroundings.

It was a day when both yellow dust and fine dust had swept across the Korean Peninsula, so the streets were nearly empty.

In addition, the forecast had warned of sudden gusts of wind and hail, which played a part in keeping people indoors.

In a way, it was a fortunate day.

'Silence. Airborne. Temporary blindness. Immobilization. Isolation. Suppression...'

Sanghyun muttered various status effects that came to mind.

His desire kept growing.

Currently, the status effects he possessed through skills or special effects were Stiffness, Freezing, and now Knockback.

There wasn’t any effect he didn’t want, but the one he craved the most was Silence.

'If you get hit with Silence, your skills are sealed during that time. It turns into a rock-paper-scissors game that’s just too fun.'

An opponent affected by Silence would have their skill activation mechanisms temporarily disabled by the system.

For magic-type players, who were highly dependent on skills, Silence was practically lethal.

Since their physical combat abilities were significantly weaker, being silenced left them no better than ordinary people.

For this reason, Silence was highly favored.

Artifacts with that effect skyrocketed in value.

'Silent Ground dungeon. If I could just get there, that would be the most cost-effective method.'

Silent Ground.

The Land of Silence.

A notorious place where all the monsters cast Silence as easily as breathing.

If you lacked confidence in evasion and defense, it was practically like having your skills sealed for 24 hours straight.

'For now, let’s finish this Bupyeong Station situation first.'

He brought his focus back to the present.

Constantly planning ahead seemed to be an occupational hazard of being a regressor.

His greed kept growing, and once something caught his interest, he couldn't let it go.

It was a pleasant kind of obsession.

Standing in front of Exit 1 at Bupyeong Station, Sanghyun pulled up the Player Union's number on his smartphone screen.

The emergency report number was 181.

Calling this would connect him to the nearest branch of the union.

It was a number reserved for reporting urgent or special situations, ensuring the closest team would be dispatched.

"……."

He looked up at the sky.

The sun was setting over the western horizon, burning in a fiery red glow.

Maybe it was because of the yellow dust and fine dust, but today, the sunset looked like the blood-red eyes of a demon, ready to devour the world.

"Now should be the right time."

According to the records Sanghyun remembered from before, the first rift had begun when the sun was halfway over the western sky.

That moment was now.

Ring... Ring...

"There’s a gold-grade Artifact near Exit 1 that looks like someone lost it."

"Yes. I need to take care of something soon, so you should send someone over quickly."

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