The Healing Solaris Cleric

Chapter 220: Period of Rest (1)

"Then let’s do that. Thank you for the excellent proposal."

After safely escorting the dwarves to their shelter, Kai shook hands with Karundal.

“This is the location of Libertia.”

“Oh, it’s a good area. But this mountain range over here, is it perhaps...?”

“It’s a mine. Various minerals are buried there, so I think your people will like it.”

“That’s great to hear. I’ll contact you as soon as we’re finished wrapping up here.”

“Sure, when the time comes, I’ll send personnel to assist with the teleportation.”

The decision for the dwarves to join Libertia was made in an instant, as the location of Ingart had already been discovered by the Church of Muldine and the Demon King’s followers. No one knew when they might launch another invasion, so returning was not an option.

In the end, thinking of his people’s future, Karundal decided to relocate their home.

With this, Libertia as I originally envisioned it is complete.

Merfolk, elves, and now dwarves. Libertia was the only place where one could find such a gathering of demi-human races.

It’ll generate even more buzz.

Kai was certain that the land’s rank would rise again soon.

He looked at the dwarves, who were tearfully reuniting with their families.

“Mom! Dad!”

“You can’t leave me behind and go somewhere else ever again, alright?”

“Of course not, kiddo. How could we ever leave you?”

“Have you been eating well? Oh, look how thin you’ve gotten, my baby.”

The dwarf families clung to each other, crying as if they had been long-lost relatives reunited.

Watching them, Kai felt a lump in his throat and scratched his nose.

It should be arriving soon...

Kai checked the time, waiting for something.

“I wonder how many it’ll be this time...”

As Kai muttered to himself, the long-awaited notification barrage appeared before him.

Ding!

[You have successfully rescued the dwarven clan from the Church of Muldine.]

[The activation requirements for the main episode: The Broken Hammer have disappeared.]

[The Broken Hammer quest no longer exists.]

[1,859 related quests no longer exist.]

[Touched by the dwarves’ emotional reunion, the Solarian God Helik looks for a handkerchief to wipe her tears.]

[+40 Benevolence stat.]

[With the effect of Witness of the Sun, you have gained an additional +20 Benevolence.]

[Your friendship with the dwarven clan has reached its maximum.]

[They consider you a savior of their clan and will not refuse any request from you.]

“Sixty points, huh.”

Kai nodded with a satisfied expression. However, his expression soon turned regretful.

Now that all the demi-humans have been liberated, does that mean there won’t be many opportunities to gain a significant increase in Benevolence for a while?

It was a matter of scale. Helping an individual in distress would still raise the Benevolence stat, but only by 1 or 2 points.

On the other hand, something on the scale of saving an entire clan from destruction starts at a minimum of 20 points.

Unless Kai specifically sought out corrupt lords to take down, his growth rate would slow considerably.

“Well, maintaining my current level isn’t really a problem.”

As he muttered to himself, he opened the ranking window for the first time in a while.

[Rank No. 1: Kai LV.413]

[Rank No. 2: Yoo Ha-Rin LV.342]

[Rank No. 3: Darksha LV.328]

.

.

.

The level difference between Rank 2 and Rank 3 was fourteen levels, but the gap between Rank 1 and Rank 2 was over seventy levels.

Despite this absurd difference, the community wasn’t as hectic as before.

-He’s probably out soloing raid bosses or waging wars as usual.

-What? It’s the same as always. I guess there’s no need to pay attention.

-Do you think they’ll ever make a special broadcast about Unknown’s adventures? That would be amazing.

└ Why would Unknown bother with a broadcast? He already has more money and fame than he needs.

└ True. Unknown is famous for producing steady-seller videos. Even months-old uploads occasionally rank in the Top 100. His assets must be at least in the millions by now.

Players had become entirely desensitized to Kai’s abnormal gameplay and unmatched strength. There was even a joke that the Rank 1 spot in MID Online belonged to the gods, while the rankings from Rank 2 onward were for the human realm.

Then does that make Yoo Ha-Rin the human realm’s Rank 1?

Kai smirked as he scanned the rankings.

There’s been a little shift in the rankings since I last checked.

First, the rankings of top-tier guild-affiliated players from the world’s top ten guilds had dropped significantly. Of course, figuring out the reason wasn’t difficult.

It’s probably because of the siege wars.

Guild-affiliated rankers had abandoned hunting to participate in siege battles for the benefit of their guilds. Naturally, the gap between them and lower-ranked players narrowed, leading to being overtaken. However, it wasn’t a major loss in the long term, as the taxes collected from the castles they occupied would only make them stronger over time.

But that won’t be the only reason. @@novelbin@@

There were entirely new names appearing in the rankings that he had never seen before.

“Hmm...”

Kai stroked his chin, and squinted at the list.

It’s impossible to climb the rankings by normal means.

Every ranker possessed natural talent. Moreover, this was the top-tier ranking, where those talented individuals competed fiercely without letting their guard down. So for newcomers to suddenly rise to the top?

There’s only one explanation.

Unless they were monsters like Yoo Ha-Rin, they would have obtained hidden classes.

“I hope we don’t become enemies,” Kai muttered his wish, only to hear a familiar voice.

“Hey, client. You’re here already?”

Turning his head, Kai saw Camilla, her hair tied back. Beads of sweat glistened on her elegantly stretched neckline.

“Were you working? You’re sweating a lot.”

“I was making your equipment. Dragon scales are a lot harder to handle than I expected.”

“If you ever feel like giving up, just say so. I can just hand it off to the dwarves.”

“Wow, that’s a really hurtful comment.”

“Never mind that. When do you think the equipment will be finished?”

“At most, about a week in-game time.”

That was much faster than Kai had expected.

When Kai furrowed his brows and stared at her, she stomped.

“What’s with that look?! Don’t you trust this noona?!”

“It’s just way too fast... Are you sure I can really trust you on this?”

“Hmph. Think of it as one of the abilities of a hidden class. The result will be perfect, so stop doubting me. Seriously, you’re ridiculous!”

As if being salty, Camilla abruptly turned and walked away. But after seeing the tearful dwarves, she hesitated, and turned back.

“And... about rescuing the dwarves... Th-thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Kai, watching the dwarves with her, felt his heart warm for the first time in a while.

***

“Sigh...” Marco, the CEO of Pegasus Corporation, let out a heavy sigh that filled the conference room.

Even in a country as free as the United States, the employees couldn’t help but be wary of their boss’s mood. The executives in the room glanced around nervously, even exhaling with great caution.

“Doctor, is his level really at 400 already?”

“It’s higher. 413, to be exact.”

“This is insane. Ugh!”

Frustrated, Marco took a deep breath and pulled a cigar from his suit pocket, holding it up to the staff.

“Sorry, but I need a smoke to calm myself. Everyone okay with that?”

“Of course, sir.”

"This is the perfect time to light one up."

"You all should light one too if you're feeling frustrated. You need to blow out the clouds of frustration stuck in your chest somehow, don’t you?"

“W-we’re okay, sir.”

Even with Marco’s permission, no one dared to take out a cigarette. Anyone in this room knew they had no right to do so, especially when they themselves were the ones responsible for creating those metaphorical clouds.

A sharp secretary quickly brought over an ashtray and lighter, lighting Marco’s cigar.

“Let’s stop taking our anger out at them and figure out a solution,” a man said.

Marco took a breath in and exhaled a cloud of smoke, scowling as he turned his head. “Taking my anger out on them?”

At the end of his gaze was Dr. Jim Lewis. He was perhaps the only one present who could speak so bluntly to Marco without repercussions.

“It’s not their fault. In fact, it’s not anyone’s fault to begin with,” Dr. Jim Lewis said.

“No one’s fault, huh... But the outcome’s here, and someone has to take responsibility or fix it. And unfortunately, this isn’t the kind of problem we can fix.”

He wasn’t wrong.

Sanctioning a globally famous gamer who was not only at the height of their popularity but also ranked No. 1? There wasn’t even a valid reason to do so. His gameplay was consistently ingenious, his talent was undeniable, and even luck seemed to be on his side.

Imposing sanctions on him would undoubtedly spark an immediate uproar among gamers worldwide. And the outcome would show with a drop in the company’s stock prices.

Ultimately, it was an unsolvable problem, and someone had to take responsibility.

“Mike, how many quests has he ruined by now?”

“Well... Th-that is...” Mike stuttered, unable to bring himself to say the number.

With a sigh, Dr. Jim Lewis answered in his place. “5,095.”

"Thank you. So, over five-thousand. That’s half of ten thousand!"

Thud!

Marco slammed the conference room table and glared at Max, the head of the game balance team.

“You told me that you’d use the failures of the merfolk and elf quests as lessons and ensure that the dwarf rescue quest is guarded, keeping the holy relic out of Kai’s hands. That wasn’t even two months ago!”

“M-my apologies...”

“What on earth is the problem? Didn’t you say you took all necessary measures?”

Gulp.

Max, who had anticipated from the start of the meeting that the blame would fall on him, stood up with a resigned expression. “Yes, we did take measures... but Kai’s skill far exceeded anything we imagined.”

“Is that supposed to be an excuse?”

“Please take a look at the data on the screen, first.”

Max carefully turned on the screen, and the room’s lights dimmed automatically. All eyes shifted to the screen.

“Our balance team reviewed the failures of the merfolk and elf quests repeatedly and studied them thoroughly.”

The screen displayed the levels and stats of the nagas Kai had faced during the merfolk annihilation quest, and it also showed the skills and stats Kai had at the time in detail.

"During the merfolk quest, it was definitely beyond our calculations. The Magic Conch and Undying Will combo was a scenario that neither we nor the super A.I., Ramus, had considered during development."

“You’ve prepared countermeasures for that combo, I assume?”

“Yes. It was challenging, but we worked with the development team to create an emergency patch data. It will likely be implemented in the next update, and we’ll issue a direct notice to Kai as well.”

The screen transitioned to the elf quest.

"Honestly, the only explanation for this was Kai’s sheer luck."

“Just luck?”

“Poison Master. That skill book is currently set to drop only from Aosa. We never imagined Kai would manage to defeat Aosa.”

“... I’ll accept that point.”

Marco didn’t say anything further and nodded.

Who could have predicted it? No one expected a solo player to successfully raid a boss designed to require at least a full guild party.

The impact when the video was released was so great that it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it turned the world upside down.

"The fact that Kai, who acquired the Poison Master skill, happened to be a Solaris Cleric, and also happened to meet Luteria, who was suffering from poison, is an incredible event of luck."

Marco sighed.

It was truly an endless streak of unbelievable luck. As if the goddess of fortune herself were watching over him, Kai had acquired two holy relics with astonishing ease.

"Therefore, our balance team significantly increased the difficulty of the dwarf rescue quest to make it nearly impossible for Kai to clear it and delay obtaining the third holy relic as much as possible."

The screen transitioned to the next slide.