Chapter 277: Chapter 277
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! CLAANG!!
[Precision Impact has been activated.]
[Material crafting successful.]
[You have acquired: Fragment of the Chain Warden’s Obsession (A)]
Su-ho immediately checked the item info.
[Fragment of the Chain Warden’s Obsession]
A crystal formed from the Chain Warden’s obsession.
The Warden had carried out the command to bind targets for so long that it evolved beyond duty into a terrifying obsession.
When equipped, there is a very low chance to trigger a bind effect when inflicting damage.
Su-ho smiled as he read the alert.
‘Good. This is how I’ll raise it—step by step.’
From "low chance" to now “very low chance.”
Next should be just “low chance,” surely.
After socketing the newly obtained Fragment of Obsession, Su-ho finished the rest of his work and stepped outside.
Then he summoned Bulgasari. At last, it was time to head to Kaesong.
Passing through Sonha Station and running along the main road, the Kaesong Interchange began to appear in the distance.
And that’s where the true Gate party of Kaesong would begin.
‘First up is the interchange gate.’
But Su-ho’s target wasn’t that gate.
As he recalled, the interchange gate was an utterly normal monster-type gate—nothing remarkable. Fınd the newest release on 𝗇𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗅•𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾•𝗇𝖾𝗍
Which meant the gate Su-ho was aiming for came after that.
He guided Bulgasari through the converging lanes of the Kaesong Interchange.
And just as expected, a large gate stood like a grand general at the interchange. It had been left unattended for so long that the entire surrounding area was overrun with monsters.
Su-ho spotted them occupying the road.
And every single one of them was yellow.
More than their color, their sheer number was the real issue.
Not just “a lot”—they were flooding the place.
Sensing Su-ho’s presence, the Agwi all turned to stare at him at once.
Su-ho veered off the road, moving toward his target through the side path.
But both the road and the sides were swarming with Agwi.
He thought about using Guiyeong Spear’s Shadow Shift to punch through—but that would only be a temporary fix.
‘Looks like I’ll have to do a bit of cleanup.’
Without hesitation, Su-ho activated his skills.
[Blessing has been activated.]
[Blood Weapon has been activated.]
[Holy Enchant has been activated.]
That was enough buffing.
After all, he wasn’t the one who would be fighting them.
Su-ho raised his Blood Sword and triggered one last skill.
[Battle Command has been activated.]
The moment Battle Command activated, dozens of clone soldiers wielding Blood Swords bathed in holy light rained down onto the field.
The clone soldiers, moved by Su-ho’s will, charged the Agwi.
What unfolded was not chaos—it was hell itself. A Sura Realm unleashed upon the Agwi.
After a long stretch of sending out clone soldiers to deal with the charging Agwi—
Su-ho finally reached his destination.
Skipping the interchange gate entirely, he arrived at Gyeongdeok Palace.
North Korea had numerous ancient sites like Gyeongdeok Palace.
Due ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) to slower development, it had inadvertently preserved many cultural heritages.
Of course, many of these were destroyed after the Cataclysm, but still, more remained than when the invasion of North Korea had begun in Su-ho’s past life.
Not that Gyeongdeok Palace was intact.
Despite several restoration attempts by the North, it had been burned and destroyed for various reasons. Now, only a ruined site remained.
‘Not that the preservation of ruins matters to me.’
What mattered to Su-ho wasn’t the historical site itself—it was the special gates located at these sites.
After all, places rich in cultural heritage tended to spawn gates with special themes and mechanics.
Cleaving through the Agwi still chasing him, Su-ho finally stood before the Gyeongdeok Palace Gate.
It stood tall and proud in the middle of the ancient site. Su-ho didn’t hesitate and entered.
[Loading Gate information.]
Simple entry conditions.
But that didn’t matter.
Su-ho knew exactly what kind of place this was.
[Entering Lake of Serpents.]
With the system message, the scenery changed.
The first thing that hit him was the sound of flowing water.
He stood in the middle of a forest.
The sound of water continued, and he moved toward it.
A faint slithering sound on the ground.
From beneath, from between rocks, and up in trees.
It wasn’t his imagination.
Su-ho’s senses were incredibly sharp—many times greater than ordinary Players.
And he knew exactly what the sound was.
Fitting, considering this place was called Lake of Serpents.
Yet none of them dared to show themselves fully.
They merely circled Su-ho—waiting for an opportunity.
If they didn’t strike first, he had no reason to go after them.
Eventually, he arrived at the source of the water: a stream flowing down from above.
He approached it and peered into the water.
Something shot out from the stream.
It opened its jaws wide, the size of Su-ho’s head, and lunged at him.
But Su-ho didn’t flinch. He grabbed its neck.
The snake thrashed as Su-ho held its neck.
But something was off.
There was a nameplate above its head—but no name or level.
Su-ho let out a dry chuckle.
‘No name. No level. Hah.’
Then, perhaps realizing its bite wasn’t enough, the snake wrapped its long body around Su-ho’s arm.
The typical behavior of a python.
If it couldn’t bite, it would crush prey by constriction.
But the snake was far too weak.
Su-ho twisted its head like wringing out a towel.
[You have defeated ???.]
The message confirmed its defeat.
And that was just the beginning.
The moment he killed one, dozens of snakes emerged from the stream, unleashing killing intent toward him.
All identical in format—just like the first one.
Su-ho wasn’t surprised.
He had known exactly what this gate was.
[Quest has been triggered.]
This place was originally the Lake of the Imoogi.
But due to the overwhelming number of snakes, it became known as the Lake of Serpents.
Imoogi and snakes cannot be distinguished. The Imoogi is weak.
Eliminate the uninvited guests and return the lake to its rightful master.
Titled Lake of the Imoogi.
Su-ho’s eyes sparkled.
He knew about this quest.
Just like Sealed Iron Horse, Lake of Serpents was one of the final gates in the Northern Conquest where a strategy had finally been discovered.
‘There are tons of these serpent lakes in the North. And in my past life, Players regretted missing out on them—just like they had with the Sealed Iron Horse.’
So in truth, no one really knew what rewards could be obtained here.
Unlike Sealed Iron Horse, where hidden conditions were revealed by breaking the chains, this gate gave a quest from the start—hinting there was a hidden condition.
Yet even so, Players had only managed to clear this gate in the late stages of the war.
Why? Because as the quest said, distinguishing between Imoogi and regular snakes was nearly impossible.
Though eventually, a strategy was discovered—
‘It’s all about the location of the inverse scale.’
The Imoogi is a being that failed to become a dragon.
It looked like a snake, acted like a snake—but it was something else.
In essence, closer to a dragon.
Thus, it also had a dragon’s inverse scale.
Players only figured this out toward the end of the campaign.
He had a skill that could detect such a thing.
[Magic Detection has been activated.]
With that, Su-ho became acutely aware of all the serpents crawling on the ground around him.
At the same time, their weaknesses lit up clearly in his vision.
The serpents’ weakness: the space between their eyes.
Because snakes could still move even after being decapitated, only piercing the brain would guarantee a kill.
Su-ho scanned his surroundings using Magic Detection.
His current vision was divided into three colors:
A gray world of non-magical beings.
A violet hue denoting magical presences.
And, among those, a glowing yellow mark highlighting the most vulnerable, highly charged spots.
His eyes darted rapidly.
Thankfully, none of the yellow-tinted presences had different markings.
In other words, the true master of the lake—the Imoogi—was not visible.
This place had been overrun by uninvited guests.
The real master was surely hiding somewhere, avoiding the eyes of the snakes.
Which meant, for now, Su-ho could go wild.
One brave snake lunged.
Instead, he activated a skill—a new one he’d recently acquired and had been eager to test.
[Heatstorm has been activated.]
The skill was Heatstorm.
The very same one used by the Molten Dragon.
Su-ho followed it with Blessing.
And with his boosted mana, Heatstorm’s power surged exponentially, unleashing a catastrophic superheated blaze upon the tranquil lake.
[You have defeated ???.]
[You have defeated ???.]
[You have defeated ???.]
[You have defeated ???.]
The uninvited guests began to be slaughtered.