# Mongryong, let's assess the situation first. **Quest Group**: 98405231 **Steps**: 45 ## Summary Indeed. Let us put the honor of meeting the Crown Prince aside for now and focus on our tasks. ## Walkthrough ### Step 1 - **Dialogue**: Your Highness! I am eternally grateful for your favor! Even if it costs me my life, I, Mongryong, will surely—! ### Step 2 - **Reward**: Your Highness! I am eternally grateful for your favor! Even if it costs me my life, I, Mongryong, will surely—! ### Step 3 - **Objective**: Mongryong, let's assess the situation first. - **Summary**: Indeed. Let us put the honor of meeting the Crown Prince aside for now and focus on our tasks. ### Step 4 - **Reward**: Yes, Your Highness. I am certain. All the evidence indicates poisoning. ### Step 5 - **Objective**: Jang Daeseung served the meal that day. - **Summary**: His Majesty was served food by the Prime Minister. It happened then. It's certain... That the food served by the Prime Minister, of all people, had skipped the royal taster. But... His Majesty passed away long after he had left the palace. ### Step 6 - **Reward**: However, no poison in this land manifests hours after ingestion. How do you explain this? ### Step 7 - **Objective**: The servant who died at Bae Muryong's residence. - **Summary**: Yes, the servant who died at the First Deputy Minister's residence. That servant, Eunsil, is the key to all of this. Lord Bae Muryong had twin daughters, both of whom were quite skilled in herbalism. However, he confined his daughters to a small annex, forcing them to concoct poison for him. ### Step 8 - **Reward**: He had his own children create poison, you say? So the one killed by that very poison would have been... ### Step 9 - **Objective**: ...None other than Eunsil. - **Summary**: Yes, Your Highness. We heard rumors of a bizarre poisoning at Yuunru, so we went to investigate ourselves. Much like the late king, she perished hours after ingesting the poison, and her body turned black. Do you mean to tell me the poison that claimed my father's life was concocted by Lord Bae's daughter? ### Step 10 - **Reward**: Let's assume they did create such a deadly poison. How did they manage to do it? ### Step 11 - **Objective**: Can poisons remain dormant in the body? - **Summary**: If they were to mix two poisons with opposite properties to create a counteracting effect... Initially, the poisons would cause no harm, eliminating the effects of each other. But over time, one would weaken... So, as one poison is neutralized in the body first, another would manifest? Exactly. That's why the late king's body exhibited classic symptoms of wolfsbane poisoning. ### Step 12 - **Reward**: If wolfsbane was one of them, what was the other poison used? ### Step 13 - **Objective**: We did encounter someone with swellfish poison... - **Summary**: Swellfish... Swellfish poison! Wolfsbane, channeling fire and metal, offset by the swellfish channeling water and wood. They are true natural opposites! We traveled to Bukpo to track down Lee Duksoo, and ran into a rather unexpected individual. A healer named Seodong from the Infirmary, he was refining swellfish poison and delivering it to someone. ### Step 14 - **Reward**: Didn't you go through great lengths to get your hands on this report? ### Step 15 - **Reward**: Who are the ones plotting against the Crown Prince, and what is their true objective? ### Step 16 - **Objective**: Jang Daeseung is behind all of this. - **Summary**: Jang Daeseung? He is the son of Jang Jungu, a loyalist who aided my father's rise to the throne. Why would the family that overthrew my tyrant uncle, Jeongmyeong, do such a thing? Even if poison was discovered in the food he served, might he not have been deceived into delivering it? ### Step 17 - **Reward**: If he intended to seize the throne, he would have needed to kill me as well, but he didn't. ### Step 18 - **Objective**: It's all connected to the Centipede Market. - **Summary**: Centipede Market, you say? Ah, yes, Mr. Seungsan spoke of them. A peculiar group rumored to possess supernatural abilities? Yes, Your Highness. They were behind every case that the Traveler and I resolved. Every single one. They were the ones who concocted the poison to assassinate His Majesty and unleashed a monster in the former Land of the High Clouds. ### Step 19 - **Reward**: They also provoked the wrath of Samsin's avatar and even caused the plague to spread. ### Step 20 - **Objective**: They're on a mission to eradicate every last yogwe. - **Summary**: Aren't they part of this land too? They are my people too! Why resort to such barbarity? They claim it's to stop the people from depending on the yogwes' power. But in truth, they're just absorbing their power and bending them to their will. ### Step 21 - **Reward**: They've dressed it up as a noble cause, but it's all about consolidating their own power. ### Step 22 - **Objective**: The Centipedes' mastermind... is Jang Daeseung! - **Reward**: Indeed. All of this makes sense if the deposed crown prince, the rightful heir of Jeongmyeong and the deposed queen, is still alive. - **Summary**: Even if this holds truth, it is difficult to accept. Lord Jang Daeseung already stands as the most powerful man in this land. Unless he seeks the throne itself, there's nothing for him to gain from this. If you need a reason, there is one. Blood ties run deep, Your Highness. The tyrant Jeongmyeong's queen was the daughter of Lord Jang Jungu, and your aunt. Right! That's a detail I overlooked as well. The Jang family has a long history of producing queens. Even so, what could Lord Jang Daeseung possibly gain by plotting against me now? Your Highness, there's definitely something to gain. He believes he's restoring order, restoring everything to its rightful place. Surely not...! Are you suggesting that HE's still alive? ### Step 23 - **Reward**: They came under the orders of the Prime Minister. They claim that you and I have been conspiring together. ### Step 24 - **Objective**: So, that means...! - **Summary**: Yes. The man we kept running into in Hwanghae, known as the "master"... Jang Daeseung wasn't just backing the Centipede Market... He is the Centipede Market itself! The "Master" is Jang Daeseung. Is that what you're saying? Is he trying to seize control of the entire nation? ### Step 25 - **Reward**: How could the Prime Minister, who led the country while my father was bedridden, be behind all this? ### Step 26 - **Objective**: Opportunity makes a thief. - **Summary**: While the late king was fighting his illness, the Prime Minister held the reins of power. From minor local appointments to major national policies, he had the country right under his thumb. But eventually, His Majesty recovered and resumed his direct rule. Jang Daeseung must have felt as if the Land of the Morning Light, which he thought was his, had suddenly been snatched away. ### Step 27 - **Reward**: It's all... my fault. If only I had been capable enough to serve as regent! ### Step 28 - **Objective**: Is that why the Centipedes collected yogwe? - **Summary**: It makes perfect sense that those who once aimed to eradicate yogwes suddenly began gathering them. From their perspective, His Majesty's miraculous recovery was a shock. They must have vowed never to lose power again, due to unforeseen and uncontrollable factors. The Jang family have long been the protectors of the "Mythic Investigation Bureau," an institute dedicated to the study of yogwes and mystical creatures. ### Step 29 - **Reward**: They're the ones that sealed the Imoogi, and are, as you know them by today, the Centipede Market. ### Step 30 - **Objective**: You mean that incident from 50 years ago? - **Summary**: So, it must have been easy for Jang Daeseung to seize control of the Centipede Market. There's a fine line between eradicating all the yogwes and gathering them to wield control. Their interests must have aligned perfectly. This is quite a shocking twist. ### Step 31 - **Reward**: I had heard about it too. I brushed it off back then, but I never thought it would resurface like this! ### Step 32 - **Objective**: We must stop him now. - **Summary**: I feel the same. But... the more I learn, the more lost I feel. You've tackled many challenges for sure, but they still control countless yogwes. Even the nation's guardian beast, Bonghwang, is under their control, infused with the Oduksini's power! ### Step 33 - **Reward**: We don't even know the full extent of Oduksini's power, and now Bonghwang is infused with it! My friend, I'm afraid. ### Step 34 - **Objective**: What did he mean? - **Summary**: Friend, have you ever seen Bonghwang's Tear? When you hold it, a phrase is etched into your heart. It means that a couple separated and longing for each other should hurry to reunite. Brilliant! Since the mirror reflects Hwang's heart, we shall awaken Bong's spirit with the bells! ### Step 35 - **Reward**: Even if shrouded by the Oduksini's energy, they will find their true form once again! ### Step 36 - **Objective**: Come again? - **Summary**: When King Taejo ascended to the heavens, he left behind the Three Heavenly Artifacts. These artifacts refer to three sacred objects, though the records vary on what they are. Symbolically, it goes like this. The sacred axe that governs life was bestowed upon the royal family. The mirror that reflects one's true nature was given to the tiger, and the bells that awaken spirits were entrusted to the bear. The bells were passed down to our Hado School, and now, Traveler, they're in your hands. These bells are not just a tool to summon spirits. They're a sacred artifact that allows communion with legendary beasts. Specifically, for Bong and Hwang, it allows the bearer to communicate with Bong. The other sacred object for Hwang was taken by Princess Yeonhwa. Sangoons have safeguarded the relic of the Tiger Palace for generations, and it turned out to be a mirror that reveals one's true nature. So where is the life-governing axe, and what does it look like— Never mind, that's not important right now. ### Step 37 - **Reward**: Seungsan, will everything really be solved if we simply awaken Bong? Is there something else we need to know? ### Step 38 - **Objective**: Seungsan, what do you want me to do? - **Summary**: ...Resonance. We must achieve resonance once again. Just as Her Highness did in Donghae. So, we're putting all our hopes on the Traveler again? It's embarrassing as a native of the Land of the Morning Light. When the future is at stake, does one's origin really matter? Oduksini of the Traveler, do you hear me? ### Step 39 - **Reward**: Wait, what?! So he cannot only see me but hear me too? ### Step 40 - **Objective**: ...?! - **Summary**: To cleanse Dark Bonghwang corrupted by the Oduksini, you must attune yourself to it once again. Whoa, he startled me. I thought he could hear me. Well, if he sings our praises, I'll lend him a hand, hehe. From the look on your face, Traveler, it seems your Oduksini's willing to help. That's great! I'm worried about you. It was tough back then too. I'm sorry for always burdening you with such heavy tasks. ### Step 41 - **Reward**: The fate of this land and its people... Traveler, can we entrust it to you once more? ### Step 42 - **Objective**: You can count on me, my friend. - **Summary**: Meeting you has been the greatest stroke of luck in my life, truly. For this country too. ### Step 43 - **Reward**: Seungsan, what shall we do about my aunt? How long will she remain bedridden like this? ### Step 44 - **Reward**: Indeed, you have remarkable insight, Your Highness. Like a ray of light amidst the darkness. ### Step 45 - **Reward**: The king's food is always tested first by the royal food taster, is it not? How could he have been poisoned?