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The elves captured by the Apostle and dragged to the temple were in despair.

Just as they were about to give up, thinking everything was over, suddenly someone appeared inside the temple.

It was a human with a slender build.

He seemed too feeble to have come to stop the Apostle. Since he came alone, the elves couldn’t have any hope.

As expected, the human was no match for the Apostle.

He was constantly on the defensive, and soon found himself in mortal danger, unable to withstand the Apostle’s attacks.

However, the result was the opposite.

“I-Impossible…”

Though they couldn’t understand what had happened, one thing was certain.

The Apostle had taken severe damage.

And it was that seemingly weak young man who had inflicted that damage.

“Huff… huff…”

Ethan, having successfully executed his technique with all his might, was breathing heavily.

Thud-.

The Apostle’s severed arm fell to the ground, frozen. Soon after, the severed arm burst into flames from yellow lightning and disappeared into ashes.

Now it couldn’t even be reattached.

“Damn you, you bastard…!”

“Shit.”

Ethan cursed. He thought he could kill him.

‘He can still move his body.’

With one arm gone, the other side wouldn’t be able to move as before.

But Ethan was also in a state of near-complete exhaustion.

“That power, you must be the descendant of this temple. So you came to kill me? But this is the end. You should have killed me with that last strike.”

The Twelve Apostles sneered. The characteristic aura began to flow from his body.

“I won’t die easily. Since you took one of my arms… I’ll tear off all your limbs while barely keeping you alive.”

Enduring the pain, the Twelve Apostles regained his posture and approached Ethan with bouncing steps.

Baang-!

Ethan’s sword and the Apostle’s fist collided again.

The Apostle’s power had certainly diminished, but Ethan’s stamina was also significantly lowered. Unable to deflect the impact, Ethan coughed up blood and had to retreat.

Gulp gulp.

Ethan hurriedly took out a decoction from his spatial pocket and drank it.

His stamina recovered a little, but since Ethan’s maximum stamina was low, he couldn’t expect much. If he allowed even one of those attacks, he would collapse right there.

Ethan put the remaining decoction back in his spatial pocket.

“Still, I can manage for now.”

This time, Ethan wielded the Frost Sword.

Shaaaak-.

The Frost Sword, scattering cold air, clashed with the Twelve Apostles’ fist.

Baang-!

Frost Stacking.

Baang-! Baang-!

Each time the sword and fist collided, frost began to form on the Twelve Apostles’ body due to the effect of Frost Stacking.

Fundamentally, the power of frost was specialized for defense.

“My, my body…”

The Apostle frowned as his body became heavy from the effect of Frost Stacking.

“Bleagh.”

However, as a consequence, Ethan had to spill a considerable amount of blood.

Gulp gulp.

He took out the decoction and drank it again, but even that reached its limit.

Now both attack and defense were impossible.

‘Damn it. I was so close.’

Anisida’s Bracelet had also reached its limit, and he could no longer use Supreme Resilience or the abilities of other gods.

“Kuuuugh.”

Baang-!

While Ethan was catching his breath, the Twelve Apostles began to break the frost clinging to his body. At the same time, overcoming the cold permeating his entire body, he approached Ethan one step at a time.

“Well done, you bastard. You’re the first to push me this far. But it’s over. I can clearly see from here that you have no strength left.”

The Twelve Apostles’ judgment was accurate.

Ethan was in such a state that even a slight touch would make him collapse; he had squeezed out every last bit of his power.

‘Just one more step.’

Really, just one more step.

‘If I could take just one more step forward.’

Then he could overcome this situation.

Ethan turned on New World with an almost instinctive action.

In the momentarily slowed time, he hurriedly activated New World.

Ethan currently had quite a lot of likes. But what good were all those likes if he died here?

‘I’m willing to use them all.’

If only he could overcome this situation.

If only he could subscribe to a god that could resolve this situation!

-New World confirms your situation.

-The algorithm is reactivated according to the situation.

-Condition added: Recommending a god that can resolve the current situation on the condition of consuming all your likes…

-A new function has been activated!

Numerous videos appeared before Ethan’s eyes.

But something was odd.

All the videos were short, less than a minute long.

‘Shorts…?’

Though they were very short videos, they clearly contained content about gaining abilities.

Ethan’s eyes quickly scanned through the videos.

And among them, he found a god that could help him overcome this crisis.

[How to ‘Pretend’][Difficulty: Extreme]

-Temporarily borrow the power of God Cheok Jun-gyeong by consuming likes.

-This is a god who uses shorts. You can gain power through short videos.

Ethan subscribed to Cheok Jun-gyeong without hesitation.

-All your likes will be consumed.

Cha-roo-roo-rook-.

Cheok Jun-gyeong’s extremely short video played.

It showed Cheok Jun-gyeong using powerful force to knock down enemies as if they were straw dolls.

-It’s an urgent situation. No need for long explanations.

He grinned and said to Ethan.

-Crisis is an opportunity. The worst situations allow for the greatest growth.

As Ethan silently looked at him, Cheok Jun-kyung thrust his fist towards him.

Bwoong-!

-Overcome it with strength. With overwhelming power that shines brightest in times of crisis!

With those words, everything disappeared.

In that moment, Ethan saw the Apostle before his eyes.

“It’s over!”

Along with the Apostle’s voice, Ethan heard a notification sound.

-You have learned Reversal of Disadvantage.

-Skill added: Reversal of Disadvantage (S)

Reversal of Disadvantage was a very simple technique.

-Your HP is below 5%.

-Your strength increases by the amount of HP lost.

As the name suggests.

It was a power that could turn the tables in a disadvantageous situation.

Swooosh-!

Ethan easily dodged the Apostle’s incoming fist by slightly twisting his body. With this one movement, Ethan could gauge how much power had been imbued in him.

Seeing Ethan, who was nearly dead, dodge his attack, the Apostle’s eyes widened in shock.

“How!”

‘Now I can see properly.’

Ethan regained his stance.

The Apostle’s movements were completely exposed due to Bullet Time.

“Huff.”

-Hero’s Breathing is activated!

Ethan put the sword he was holding back into its sheath. Then he placed his hands on the handles of the two swords and drew them.

‘This is the last.’

With this one swing.

‘I’ll cut down the Apostle.’

A blue frost and lightning momentarily blurred the Apostle’s vision.

Swooosh-!

Frost Thunder Swordsmanship.

Frost Thunder Shockwave Strike.

Ethan’s sword moved, and the sound followed.

Kwaduk-!

Simultaneously, a cross-shaped scar appeared on the Apostle’s body.

The Apostle looked at Ethan in disbelief and then blood trickled from his mouth.

Along with it, an enormous amount of blood began to gush out from the cross-shaped wound.

The Apostle convulsed once and fell backward.

-You have achieved a great feat!

-The temple has been restored to its original state.

-Moonforce bestows a blessing upon you!

-Perfect clear! You have earned additional rewards!

-You have perfectly cleared the trial. Hero’s Breathing has reached its final stage.

-You have received a hero’s trial.

-Trial: 1 / 12

Just like with Heo’s Acupuncture, Ethan received a quest to master Hero’s Breathing.

Following that,

-You have achieved an achievement!

-You have gained likes for achieving the [Apostle Hunt] achievement.

-You have gained ’10’ likes!

He was even able to achieve an achievement. A whole 10 likes.

‘I used up all the likes I had saved, but thanks to that, I was able to defeat him.’

With the tension released, Ethan staggered as if he might collapse at any moment.

He hurriedly opened his spatial pocket and took out a decoction to drink. It was the last of the S-grade decoctions he had made.

“Phew.”

He had defeated the Apostle.

Only now did what he had done start to feel real.

‘I really almost died.’

If he had made even a slight misjudgment, he would have died right there. If he hadn’t subscribed to Cheok Jun-gyeong in New World and quickly gained the ability, it would have been over.

“To think this is just Twelve Apostles, the weakest among the Apostles.”

It was on a completely different level from what he experienced in MePan.

‘I felt anew how lacking I am.’

After drinking the decoction and barely catching his breath, Ethan first organized what he had gained.

‘The rewards are mountainous.’

As the temple, which had been on the brink of corruption by the Apostle, returned to its original state, Ethan was able to receive rewards from Moonforce.

-Your class has grown!

-All stats permanently increase by ’10’!

The growth of the Moonforce descendant class. Ethan’s class had grown one more level.

Moreover, there was an additional reward.

-Go to the temple altar to check your reward!

Ethan headed to the temple altar behind the elves.

A box was placed on the altar. When Ethan opened the box, the moonlight inside shone on him.

“No way.”

Ethan’s eyes widened for a moment.

-You have received Moonforce’s Armor (S) as a reward!

Shaaaak-.

In an instant, moonlight gathered on Ethan’s body and then transformed into the shape of armor.

“Moonforce’s Armor. This is insane.”

Despite his exhaustion, the corners of Ethan’s mouth curved up slightly.

This was an incredible reward.

Originally, accessories imbued with a god’s power were surprisingly common.

But armors were extremely difficult to obtain.

And this was an S-grade armor, no less.

-The effect of the Goddess’s Ring has been upgraded.

-You can now use Moonlight Defense twice.

“Oh.”

It seemed to be a kind of set item effect.

‘If I gather all of Moonforce’s equipment, can I expect other effects as well?’

After collecting his reward, Ethan returned to the elves.

“Sob sob, thank you.”

“Thank you, our benefactor!”

“We saw everything. How you defeated the Apostle and protected the temple!”

“If I may ask… who exactly are you, our benefactor?”

The elves were shedding tears of gratitude.

Though his whole body ached, Ethan straightened his back without showing it.

Then he looked at them with a relaxed smile.

“The goddess sent me. I am a descendant of Goddess Moonforce.”

“Ah…!”

“So you were the goddess’s descendant!”

Ding-.

-The forest tribe is impressed by your achievement.

-The forest tribe has become new believers in the goddess!

-You have greatly influenced the forest tribe’s conversion!

-The Moon Goddess Moonforce praises you!

-A name is bestowed upon the temple.

-[Forest Temple] has been opened.

Kuguuuung-!

A loud noise sounded and the temple began to shake.

‘It’s rising up.’

Originally, this temple was underground. The temple, which had only one cave-like entrance, began to return to its original state as soon as it was named.

Kuung-!

“From now on, we will be followers of the goddess.”

“We are truly grateful.”

Leaving behind the grateful greetings of the elves, Ethan approached the fallen Apostle to find the true reward.

‘This is the real reward.’

The Apostles had divine objects that proved their status.

Objects that could prove one was an Apostle just by possessing them.

Ethan searched the Apostle’s belongings.

“…!”

Ethan’s eyes widened.

“This is…”

He was looking for the divine object, but.

What Ethan held in his hand was something entirely different.

Want to read ahead of the scheduled release? You can check the Novel page on the website (or press the next chapter button) and buy an advanced chapter with only 20 Honeys! (100 Honeys is only 5$! So you can basically read 5 advanced chapters ahead of schedule!)