Author: Xerenity

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89. The Unluckiest Man?

[Enhancement failed.]

[Enhancement failed.]

[Enhancement failed.]

.

.

.

“Damn it! Do these things actually work?”

After separating the gems by their type, I began to use them to enhance my armor.

The first type I used was the green colored Gem of Recovery.

It was a gem that would give 10% increase in stamina recovery if the enhancement was successful.

The red one was called the Gem of Crit, giving a 1% chance to double your attack power twofold per enhancement.

The black one is called Gem of Defense.

It would increase your defense by 1%.

The stats raised weren’t that significant.

However, if I was in a battle with someone wearing the same artifacts?

Depending on the enhancements I have, the difference will clearly show.

Imagine that transcended Meteor becomes twice as strong, and on top of that, 3 of them fall.

Before the full destructive force can even be demonstrated, their form would be annihilated.

Green, red, black.

These three types made up over 90% of the gems, while there were a sparse few blue and golden colored gems that caught my eye.

It took a long while just to separate them by color though.

First, I took the Gems of Recovery.

Immediately, I attempted to enhance Black Dragon’s Scale that I’ve obtained from Joker.

Initially, it had a 10% chance of succeeding.

Each time the enhancement succeeds, the chance of success decreases by 1%.

In theory, I should succeed at least once out of ten tries initially.

However, despite using up 20 gems, the armor wasn’t enhanced once.

Swears came out of my mouth naturally.

Despite the gems being the size of small pendants and the avatars filling the bag full, if I keep failing like this, I will run out of gems in no time.

These gems were obtained from the Unknown Dungeon, which is painfully difficult to gain entrance to.

As these gems disappeared one by one, I grew anxious.

“It’s already annoying as hell to use them one by one, but if I don’t even succeed once, what’s the point of doing them!”

At first, I thought to enhance Titan Boots, Black Dragon’s Scale, and Butcher’s Sword.

However, at the rate I was going, it would be difficult to enhance just the armor.

With a pout, I continued to try.

Suddenly, a narration that excited me came through.

[Black Dragon’s Scale has been successfully enhanced.]

[Stamina recovery increased by 10%.]

[Does not apply if the item is unequipped.]

“Oh yes! It should have been like this from the start!”

I ended up yelling out in excitement without much thought.

It was almost as if I won the lottery.

Unable to hold back, I checked the armor.

The information that Eye of Insight revealed was as follows.

-Black Dragon’s Scale-

*All stats +300

*All damage taken reduced by 40%

*Stamina recovery increased by 10%

“Yes…. On top of the insane bonus effects, another one was added.”

Just looking at it made me smile.

Now, the success rate of enhancing the armor should be 9%.

Right as I was about to bring another gem to the armor, I stopped.

“Hm. There’s no reason to use all of them on the armor. Okay. I got an idea.”

Tossing the armor aside, I pulled in the sword and boots.

The reason was simple.

Since the bonus effect of increased stamina recovery would be same on any of the equipment, it didn’t matter what I enhanced.

It was similar to how a backpack’s weight wouldn’t change no matter where you wore it.

The enhancement success rate was already low enough, so why try it on the item with 1% less success rate.

If all 3 of the artifacts become successfully enhanced, I planned to enhance them all for the second time and so on.

“Please succeed! Succeed!”

****

Like that, I spent 3 hours on using the gems.

The gems were roughly the size of quarters, and they had filled up a duffle bag, so there was quite a lot to begin with.

However, the look on my face wasn’t that good after having expended all the green, red, and black gems.

No. The expression was akin to have eaten shit.

The reason why is as expected. The result wasn’t anything to be satisfied of.

My infinite mana ability wasn’t enough to console me at this moment.

Despite going through nearly a thousand gems, the results were enough to make me despair.

It was enough to question just how unlucky I was.

I was crying out in anguish while pulling out my hair.

“I… I’m the most unluckiest person in the entire world….”

“……”

“No! Is 8% that low of a success rate? Isn’t it 0.8%? This must be rigged. It’s nonsense.”

Out of all the results, the Gem of Recovery had the worst results.

Those gems only managed to enhance each equipment once.

The Gem of Crit and the Gem of Defense had succeeded twice per each artifact.

The total was 30% increased stamina regen, 6% crit chance, and 6% increase in defensive capabilities.

I had used nearly a thousand gems, but only succeeded 15 times.

I couldn’t help but fall into despair.

Since the situation turned out like this, exhaustion piled onto me.

Due to my expectations being high, disappointment equivalent to that came.

On top of that, I hadn’t slept in two days since the fight with Ghost.

No recovery skill could get rid of the basic human urge to sleep.

Despite looking at the gems and equipment laid over the floor, I didn’t much feel much excitement.

My interest towards them had dropped.

“I’m no longer interested. I’ll do the rest after I sleep… Huh?”

My Eye of Insight was still being used.

Only then did I see the ability of the blue gems.

It was enough to get my curiosity going.

-Gem of Magic Power-

*Enhances all artifacts.

*Successful enhancement grants 10% increase in magic power.

*Success chance: 10%

(Enhancement can stack up 5 times. Each successful enhancement lowers the chances of success by 1%.)

*Low chance that the artifact will be destroyed instead.

*Magic power?”

No stats the Awakened possess and none of the artifacts ever had the term of magic power mentioned in them.

The only thing that existed was mana stat that increased your total mana, which was required to cast skills.

However, this gem’s name and the description both mentioned magic power.

Since I wasn’t sure of the effect this bonus stat would give, I organized the thoughts in my head while muttering to myself.

“Magic power.. Is it literal, increasing the power of my magic? A stat that I’ve never heard of. But if it’s real….”

There were only 100 Gem of Magic Power.

Unlike all the gems I’ve used so far, there weren’t that many.

Next to that were 50 or so golden gems.

After checking the gems, I found that the name of the golden gem was called Gem of Blessings.

It would give 1 to 3 random stat bonuses.

Since it turned out this way, sleep would have to wait, even though I was insanely tired just a minute ago.

“Ha….. It’s enough to drive people insane.”

Bonus stats that weren’t just magic power, but random ones as well.

The name itself had the word blessing in it!

Thinking about the droprate and the name, I knew that it wasn’t just an ordinary item.

However, the last line of information on the Gem of Magic Power really got to me.

It was that the artifact could be destroyed.

Despite the chances being low, as a unlucky man, I couldn’t use them right away.

“If I use it without much thought, it could become quite a disaster. This is difficult, Difficult.”

I decided to use the Gems of Blessings first.

Even if the enhancement doesn’t succeed, at least the artifact wouldn’t be destroyed.

I used the first gem on the Titan Boots.

[Titan Boots has been successfully enhanced.]

“What? Already?”

It was a different result than the ones I had so far.

The enhancement had succeeded despite only using one.

1 to 3 bonus stats should be added.

I check the boots.

-Titan Boots-

*Immune to all status effects. (Obtains immunity to being frozen, slowed, poisoned, and all other status effects.)

*Movement speed increased. (Obtains the same speed as the Boots of Lightspeed.)

*Stamina recovery increased by 10%.

*Crit chance increased by 2%.

*Defensive capabilities increased by 2%.

*Evasion Teleport obtained. (When receiving damage beyond one’s maximum health, negates the damage and teleports 20m in a random direction. Cooldown is 24 hours.)

*Offensive capability of electric magic attacks increased by 30%.

*Stats do not apply if the equipment is unequipped.

“Wow….”

Checking the Titan Boots, the size of the explanation had grown by a lot.

The basic abilities of the Titan Boots were immunity to status effects and increased movement speed.

Excluding the 3 stats I’ve earned using the gems, 2 more were added.

Out of them all, I was focused on the Evasion Teleport.

Despite the cooldown being 24 hours long, it would negate the attack if I received an attack that I wasn’t able to handle.

Even though I had earned a ton of stats through the Butcher’s Sword, one could never know of the future ahead of them.

It was true that defensive capability should be prioritized over offensive capabilities for now.

After transcending my skills, my offensive capabilities were beyond what was enough.

Now, the time that I could hold out against the opponent’s attack was equivalent to the window of opportunity to attack.

Very strongly at that.

On top of the Evasion Teleport, the attack damage of my electric magic spells had increased.

The only electric spell I had was the Lightning Spray, but I knew that I would obtain more as time went on.

I had thought that the offensive capabilities of a skill could only increase with skill levels, but now I discovered that it could be increased like this.

It would have been better if it increased fire magic damage, but this was enough of a steal.

With my expectation increasing, I tried once more.

However, there was a term called beginner’s luck.

All the gems that were left had failed.

However, the results were enough to leave me without regret.

Matching with the anxious beating of my heart, my eyes settled on the Gems of Magic Power.

However, I did not have the desire to use them.

If I had other items that could replace my artifacts, I would have used all the gems without hesitation.

However, the current situation wasn’t like so.

No matter how strong the heart is, there wouldn’t be anyone who would go through with it.

It was then.

“Wait. It said all artifacts?”

I looked at the numerous equipment that I had obtained from the Unknown Dungeon.

No matter what I picked, it was obvious that it would surpass the skull ring I had on right now.

Even though there was a great variation in the loot, there were still multiple copies.

It meant that even if some things were destroyed, there were substitutes to use.

Separating the items into same shapes, I looked at their bonus stats.

I discovered something that was enough to match, no, deny comparison with the equipment I was wearing currently.

On top of that, 3 of them.

“With this, I think it’s pretty okay?”

---

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88. Spoils of the Unknown Dungeon

Jong Ho continued the call while looking at me, who had just exited the dungeon.

Seems that he was quite worried.

His face was red, tears streaming down his face.

Holding back the tears, Jong Ho spoke.

“Yes. We’ll be there in an hour or two, missus.”

-Hey. Min-Cheol would be disappointed.

“Haha. No, it was Min-Cheol who wants to return.”

-Is that so? That boy… It’s a rare occasion for him to go on a vacation, so why isn’t he having fun before coming back… If that’s the case, come over and eat breakfast before you go. Mr. Ho Jin is with you as well, right?

“Yes. We’ll all come back together, missus. We’ll see you then.”

-Please do. I’ll make lots of delicious food. Take care on the way home.

“Yes! Understood!”

Ho Jin’s face was filled with a smile.

Yelling aloud in a way unique to him, he spread his arms as he came towards me.

Normally, Ho Jin didn’t express his emotions much other than a hearty laughter.

This is probably best expression of happiness he could give.

Hugging me close, he patted my back.

“Thank you. Thanks.”

“…..”

“You’ve been through a lot.”

“No worries. But was that call with my mother?”

Jong Ho was speechless.

“……”

“But Mr. Min-Cheol, what happened? For 9 hours….”

“Ah. I’ll explain it all as we go. Sorry for worrying you all.”

“Seeing that you’re okay is enough. Thank goodness. All we can do is apologize for being unable to do anything but worry for you.”

Wiping away the tears, Jong Ho opened his mouth.

“You okay?”

“Of course! I’m fine. Did you worry that I might have died?”

“Not at all. I was just annoyed because I got hungry while waiting for you.”

“Today the marks the day I learned that hyung-nim cries when he’s hungry.”

“That’s because Ho Jin hyung-nim accidentally poked me in the eyes before…..”

“Sure, sure. Also, I have the be the one to bash on your fashion sense, so how could I go on dying?”

“Little runt… You’ve been through a lot.”

“Sorry. And thank you, hyung.”

“Ew. Gross… Let’s go quickly. Your mother is probably waiting.”

“Let’s do that, Mr. Min-Cheol. You’re probably tired, so please get in quick.”

“Then let’s talk as we go.”

We went aboard Jong Ho’s car.

It would be easier to travel via Warp, but the car that Jong Ho brought would be left behind.

The real reason was to talk about what happened inside the dungeon with these two though.

The one to start up that conversation again was Ho Jin.

“So how were you able to stay in the dungeon for 9 hours?”

“Before the dungeon evaporated, I finished the fight with Ghost within an hour.”

“Right. That’s obvious. So what happened during those other 8 hours?”

It was then.

Jong Ho, who was quietly driving responded in surprise.

“Hey! Min-Cheol, is it perhaps… perhaps that?”

“Yes, that’s right. The Unknown Dungeon opened.”

“Ho… The Unknown Dungeon? So it’s true that you have to sacrifice lives in order to have it open?”

“Yes, I think so. After taking down all of Ghost’s subordinates, a gate formed next to the exit.”

“By God….”

“So you’re telling me that you cleared the Unknown Dungeon and left it?”

“That’s right.”

“In only 8 hours?”

“I already told you so. This is the proof.”

I pointed at the duffle bag that was filled to the brim, as well as the loot that was filling up nearly half of the rear passenger seats.

Despite being in the middle of driving, Jong Ho quickly looked behind him to check.

Ho Jin, on the other hand, had turned his entire body around to stare.

That was right. The duffle bag had been filled by the avatars.

I thought they were just playing in the mud.

One of them who had ignored my command and left had returned with the duffle bag, filled to the brim.

Despite being shrunken to the size of a fist, its strength was still the same.

It was quite an endearing sight to see it carry the bag that was many times bigger in size than it.

On top of that, all the items in the bag were gems.

“Wow. You’re insane. Insane.”

“Aren’t you curious as to know what is in here?”

“What is it? Explain it to us.”

“Hey. That wouldn’t be fun then.”

“Hey! But I can’t pull over in the middle of the road.”

“That’s why you should hurry home. Move, move!”

“We probably wouldn’t die even if we did get into a crash, but if my favorite model, the White Fiancee, gets hurt….”

“That’s just way too much.”

“It’s my first vroom.”

“Garbage car.”

Teasing Jong Ho didn’t last long.

Ho Jin, who was staring at me, spoke up.

“But Mr. Min-Cheol.”

“Yes?”

“It feels as though you’ve changed in the last few hours.”

“What has?”

“Maybe your presence….. I feel as though you’ve grown or something.”

“Huh? Really? I don’t feel anything. Hyung, do you think so too?”

“I’m not too sure? But if there is one thing I’m sure of….”

“What is it? What has changed from before?”

“You’ve become a little bit more uglier than before.”

“…. Do you really have to make fun of me like that! Old man. Old man, leave the car. If you don’t want to die…..”

Almost as if the bloody fight hadn’t occurred, I was quoting the lines of a movie to joke about.

Perhaps he missed those jokes, because he was laughing more than usual.

“Pfft. Ahahahaha! Yeah. This is it. You absolutely cannot die before me, Min-Cheol.”

****

It didn’t take long to arrive at my house.

Parking the car, we exited.

Out of the three, Jong Ho and Ho Jin were out of it.

They seemed to have lost half their minds.

Even as they walked, they continued to say the same words.

“30,000….”

“30,000 stats….”

“Hyung-nim. He said 30,000 stats.”

“Yeah. 30,000 stats… Hoho. 30,000…..”

“Please wipe that drool on your face.”

“Hoho. Drooling… 30,000 stats.”

The reason was this.

When we almost arrived at the house, I told them about the stats that I had obtained through the Butcher’s Sword.

30,000 points of stats, which could be achieved through 6,000 level ups.

It was obvious why they were in a daze.

Only after entering the house and meeting my mother did they stop repeating themselves.

“We’re back.”

“Hello, Min-Cheol’s mother.”

“Hello missus. You’re beautiful as ever.”

“Ohoho. Please come in.”

“Oh. Smells good. What’s the menu?”

“Son!”

“Hm?”

“It’s rare for you to go on vacation, so why didn’t you play some more before coming back! You could’ve made some good memories. Mother wants you to start enjoying life.”

“Memories? Haha… That’s right… Memories… Let’s all go together next time to have fun.”

“Yes, alright. You’re all hungry, right?”

“Missus, I’m always a hungry kid inside.”

“Hoho…..”

“Please wash your hands first. The stew is almost done boiling.”

“Yep!”

****

The breakfast after all that suffering was delicious.

Finishing my meal with mother, she left the house due to to previous engagements she had to attend to.

I confirmed my mother leaving from the veranda and then headed towards Jong Ho’s car.

It was to bring in the duffle bag and all the loot.

Of course, mother wasn’t against me hunting. However, I did not wish her to see all these items that were soaked in blood.

Since the weapons and armors were fairly large in size, only three of them filled up my arms.

It just came to me now, but I wondered how I was able to bring all these items out with me.

I poured all the items down on the living room floor.

After that, I briefly entered my room to fetch something before coming back into the living room.

Jong Ho and Ho Jin were busily looking through the loot.

In front of them, I put down the Blood’s Craving.

Each their own weapon, that is.

I spoke to them, both of whom were staring at me.

“Presents.”

“Huh?”

“Testing us the moment you return, huh.”

“Just wear them for now.”

Looking at one another, they stood up and put on the armor.

“What the. There are no stats on this?”

“It’s the same with mine.”

“That’s normal.”

The Blood’s Craving armor did not have any stats at the start.

However, after taking down 100 monsters, it would allow the user to raise a single stat.

Jong Ho, who was tapping on the armor, spoke.

“Is this a toy?”

“You said that you were hunting ghouls as of late?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“Yep.”

“Roughly 500 or so come out, right?”

“Probably, I think?”

“From now on, put this on as you hunt.”

“… Mr. Min-Cheol, there are no stats on this armor.”

“You’re able to raise 1 stat point every 100 monsters. Any stat you want.”

“What?”

“What did you say?”

“I’m saying that if you clear the level 23 ghoul dungeon once, it’s like you leveled up once.”

“Wow… This must be very expensive.”

Listening to what I had to say, Jong Ho and Ho Jin immediately took off the armor and then put them down in front of me.

‘Of course. There’s no way these stubborn guys would just take them so easily.’

“Mister.”

“Yes?”

“You apologized that you weren’t of any help, right?”

“Yes…. That’s right.”

“Hyung-nim.”

“Yeah?”

“You probably thought of that too.”

“Well….:”

“Are you two going to be like that even as we go further?”

“…..”

“…..”

“Are you two going to only worry and regret. If not, take these and become stronger, so you can be of help to me. We’re on the same team. That’s why if you two become stronger, it is good for me too.”

“Yeah… During the confrontation with Ghost, I felt a lot. I felt despair in myself when I wasn’t of any use to you. While I waited for you to come back out alive… I wondered if time ever passed like this before. If something happens again, I’m not going to send you alone again.”

“Same with me.”

“Hu hu. It’s settled then. Now shall we open up the other presents?”

The next thing I was going to give them were swords.

These two have been sharing the Banwol Jincheon I gave them.

I had obtained two good one handed swords from the Unknown Dungeon.

If these were ownership bound weapons, they wouldn’t be able to use it. Thankfully though, they weren’t weapons that only the original owner could use.

However, their stats were a little bit less than what could’ve been if these were bound weapons.

Even if the stats are a bit less, these weapons are probably things that no other Awakened have.

Just like that, the loot distribution was complete, and they headed out to hunt.

Seeing them head out to hunt without any complaints despite having stayed up all night, I felt apologetic, but also happy.

The living room was empty once more.

I poured the gems inside the duffle bag.

These gems were in the shape of leaves.

Other than the green gem that I had obtained in the beginning, there were many colors.

All of them strengthened equipment, but depending on the color, the enhancement varied.

I put the Butcher’s Sword, Titan Boots, and the armor that I had obtained from Joker, Scales of the Black Dragon, on the ground.

The Butcher’s Sword had absorbed a ton of stats.

The Titan Boots ignored all status debuffs.

The Scales of the Black Dragon reduced damage taken by 40%.

These three artifacts boasted stats that were nearly impossible to beat.

There was no way I would waste these gems on items that I would use and toss quickly.

After all, these gems comes only from the Unknown Dungeon, which I wasn’t sure when I could enter again.

Checking the various stat upgrades that the gems showcased, I began to enhance my equipment.

“Shall I begin trying them out?”

---

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87. Unknown Dungeon (2)

“It looks rather strange.”

The Marble of the Supreme Ruler did not drop despite taking down the Alroses.

I was planning to move to the next location.

Many bloodstones were floating above the swamp.

The drop rate here was different from regular dungeons.

Roughly half the monsters had dropped stones.

Just like the stones, all the dropped loot float above the corpses of the monsters.

However, there was one that was hidden in the swamp.

It had not disintegrated despite being pounded by the transcended Meteors.

Intense flames just kept dancing on it.

I couldn’t even analyze what it was using the Eye of Insight.

Picking it up, I brushed off all the grime.

It made me wonder why it had such weight to it when it had caught my foot, despite its size only amounting to a fingernail.

Even looking at the shape of it didn’t give me any clues as to its use.

It was definitely an accessory, but it wasn’t a ring or a necklace.

It looked like a pendant of some kind.

The pendant was green and in the shape of three leaves.

I scanned it using the phone app.

-Gem of Recovery-

*Strengthens weapons and armor.

*Successful strengthening results in 10% increase in health recovery

*Success chance: 10%

(Can be stacked up to 5 times. Each stack decreases success rate by 1%.)

“Hm… Doesn’t it seem iffy?”

It was an item that strengthened weapons or armors.

However, the success rate was low.

Still, it did give a nice bonus effect.

“5 stacks….”

It meant that if all the strengthening is successful, my natural regeneration speed would be 1.5 times faster than normal.

It seemed that this item could only be obtained from here.

I felt the greed for the pendants, but there was the hassle of having to search through the muck of the swamp to find them.

The Unknown Dungeon does not close until it is fully completed.

However, I did not have the luxury to relax here.

If I stayed here for a couple more days, they could be holding a funeral outside for all I know.

“Hmm.. Perhaps this might be possible?”

One solution did come to mind.

However, I wasn’t convinced that it was going to work.

Still, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

‘Devil Avatar.’

“KUWUHHHH!”

The dungeon that was filled with ambience was now replaced by the roar of the avatars.

These guys had a cooldown period of 60 minutes.

However, more than enough time had passed for them to be ready again.

I looked at their faces in silence for awhile.

“I… I think it’s possible…?”

“Kuwuhhh!”

“Kururu!”

“Yeah…. You’re all going to do well. Probably….”

One blue and two reds.

I had decided to have these three partake in a little mudflat experience.

I stretched out my hand towards them with the gem.

Until now, these avatars obeyed all my commands without question in combat and moved as I willed without any issues.

They looked towards what I held in my hand.

I began to explain to the avatars.

“Yeah. Can you see this?”

Instead of answering, they were heavily breathing out flames and frost.

“You’re going to search for this.”

While looking at the avatars, I put my hand into the swamp, swirling it about.

-splash. splash.

“Whew. What am I doing.”

I couldn’t help but laugh in regret.

That’s when it happened.

I thought that I was expected too much of the avatars.

However, the avatars began to move.

Perhaps understanding what I was doing, they bent down their giant bodies.

Stabbing their weapons down on the ground, they began to search through the swamp.

Each time they moved their arms, I could hear their thick armor scraping each other.

They’re trying to harvest clams… I mean, gems, with those huge bodies.

It was quite the amusing sight.

There’s a saying that compliments can even make whales dance.

“Yes! That’s it! You’re doing really well!”

“Kwuh!”

“Kuwahah!”

“Whew. I’ll teach you about lowering your voices later.”

Not missing this moment, I raised the gem.

Giving the brightest smile in the world, I put the gem to my chest.

It was similar to the how the daycare employees would try teaching exercises to children.

The next thing I did was to toss the gem into the duffle bag.

My explanation was finished.

There was not a single word, but there probably wasn’t any better way to make them understand.

Now, all I had to do was to confirm it.

I wasn’t expecting much, but I was hoping that they would at least find the gems.

But then.

-splash. Splash.

-sploosh.

“What. Are you laughing right now?”

“Kukuuh.”

“Kukhkh.”

Their shoulders bounced up and down.

The fierce faces they had was in an expression of either happiness or annoyance that I had never seen before.

Looking at that, instead of being mad, I couldn’t help but laugh.

I spoke to the excited bunch.

“Whew. As I expected. Yeah go play. You guys have been very helpful to me all this time.”

“Kuhwuh!”

“Kururu.”

“However, you all stay put. Don’t come to where dad… I mean, where I am at.”

“Kuwu!”

It seemed that I was hoping for too much from them.

Well, they were plenty useful in combat and hunting already.

However, my last resort was a failure.

Now I really couldn’t waste time anymore.

Putting behind the avatars who were having fun playing in the mud, I launched off at full speed.

I had no idea what the scale of the dungeon was.

To make sure that I was clearing all the monsters properly, I ran along the wall.

I couldn’t afford to miss a single one after all.

It didn’t take long for me to see a group of monsters in similar force like the last one.

The hunting method didn’t change from last time.

“Hiya?”

-CRASH!

-BOOM!

****

Instead of a whole day, it only took 8 hours to take down all the monsters.

I came back full circle to the starting point where the entrance was.

I was also able to obtain a variety of loot as well.

10 Marbles of the Supreme Ruler.

Despite the horrible drop rate, I was able to obtain 10 of them due to the sheer number of monsters.

This meant that if I took all of them at once, I would obtain an invincible body for 10 minutes.

On top of that, my offensive capability would double.

The other spoils were as follows.

4 weapons.

1 armor.

1 gauntlet and 1 wristguard.

20 accessories that included rings and bracelets.

I was even able to obtain 5 Essences of Transcendence.

And for the first time, I was able to acquire a belt.

Taking into account that I had only hunted for 8 hours, there was a lot of loot that I obtained.

Unfortunately, the armor was the same one that I had obtained previously.

However, I was sure that other than the armor and Awakened Essences, these items could not be obtained anywhere else than the Unknown Dungeon.

It was a huge mistake to leave the duffle bag next to the avatars.

The accessories and essences could be stored in my pockets, but I had to carry the weapons and armors.

I had to resort to a primitive method of tossing the equipment forward and running towards it.

I looked around the entrance.

It was to check if I had left any equipment behind.

But then…

“Huh?”

Strange.

I was sure that this was where I entered from.

However, both the avatars and the duffle bag were nowhere to be seen.

The exit should form at either the center of the dungeon or the end of it.

To find both the avatars and the duffle bag, I raced to the center of the dungeon.

The exit was in my sights.

Sadly, it seemed that hidden bosses didn’t exist in the Unknown Dungeon, since the exit formed right away.

It wouldn’t make any sense, but I hoped at least a mimic would exist here.

It was then.

“Kullallalla.”

“Kuhaah!”

“Hm?”

I could hear the avatars’ Fear.

From the howling I heard, it seemed that they weren’t that far away.

But it seems like their Fear is changing into laughter… I must be imagining things, right?

I headed towards the sound.

“What’s so good about playing in mud that’s making you laugh this much?”

“Kuwu?”

It was quite a sight.

I said to play in the mud, but they must’ve swam in the swamp.

Noticing me, they came to me at once like dogs that have been waiting for their owner.

“Kuwuhuh!”

“Quiet! Let’s go. But it looks like you’ve discarded your weapons completely though?”

“Kuru!”

All I had to do now was to shrink them and exit the dungeon.

It happened as I was calling to them.

“Kwuh! Kwuhuh!”

“What. You want to play more? No! Way! We don’t have the time.”

With a stern tone as if training pets, I spoke to them.

However, one of them was running far away.

“There’s a saying that those that start late get into it more. Now it’s not even listening to me.”

Doing this much for them was enough of an accomodation for them.

It was a favor I did for them because we were allies that fought in the same battlefield.

Heading towards the exit, I shrank them.

The two that were the size of houses shrunk to the size of my fist.

Just like that, they sat on my shoulder like parrots.

Thinking that the other one would follow me on their own, I was about to continue on.

“Kua!”

“Huh? These guys….”

***

Jong Ho and Ho Jin guarded the entrance to the dungeon without as much as a sip of water.

Jong Ho was spewing out swears while trying to deny the reality of the situation.

“You idiot. Acting cool all by yourself…”

“…..”

Ho Jin who stood next to him was silent.

Ho Jin was definitely older than Jong Ho. 

However, since Ho Jin understood how Jong Ho exactly felt, this kind of informality didn’t bother him much.

Min-Cheol had entered the dungeon around 9 pm.

It was now nearing 6 am.

Ho Jin, who was staying silent, opened his mouth.

“It’s already 6 am.”

Almost as if waiting for his words, Jong Ho immediately blurted out something that had absolutely nothing to do with current conversation.

“Hyung-nim! He’ll come back alive for sure.”

“Yeah, I think so too. First, we should at least call Min-Cheol’s mother. I think she would be worried a lot by now.”

“Ah….”

Hearing Ho Jin’s words, Jong Ho couldn’t help but grimace.

It was to be expected. I mean, how could they explain this current situation to Min-Cheol’s mother.

That it’s been 9 hours since he clashed against the radical faction and we do not know if he’s alive or not?

It seems that your son has died?

“Ha… This is driving me insane.”

“We’ll have to break the news to her as carefully as possible. It’s the best we can do right now.”

“…..”

Jong Ho fiddled around with his smartphone for a bit.

His hand stopped when the screen showed the contact info for Min-Cheol’s mother, Mrs. Park Se-Ran.

He stood there for awhile, looking up at the sky.

His deep sigh betrayed a number of mixed emotions.

A resolute expression was made as he made the call.

-ring. ring.

-Hello?

“Mrs. Park. Hello? It’s me, Jong Ho.”

-Mr. Jong Ho. To call me in this early hour, what’s the occasion?

“Well… It’s that we suddenly went on a vacation.”

-Vacation?

“Yes. We weren’t able to tell you earlier because it was a decision in the moment.”

-Hey, I understand. At that age, it’s normal to be like that. What about Min-Cheol? Did Min-Cheol go as well?

“Yes, that’s right. I guess he was really tired, because he went to bed after showering. That’s why I’m calling you instead.”

-As I thought, Mr. Jong Ho is very mature. Don’t worry about me and go have fun out there. Please tell Min-Cheol too.

“I’ll do just that.”

-Whew, I wasn’t even able to send him on a graduation trip…. Thank you Mr. Jong Ho. Please treat him to many delicious foods and wonderful sights.

“Yes…. Don’t… Don’t worry about a thing.”

Jong Ho was barely able to hold in a sudden burst of tears.

It was almost as if a heavy stone was pressing against his chest.

Through the phone, the voice continued.

-Then when are you all coming back?

“Two nights, three days is what was planned, but we could be staying here a bit longer. We’ll make sure to call you in between….”

It was then.

The entrance to the dungeon shook, and Min-Cheol walked out.

Seeing that, Jong Ho couldn’t help but let out his tears.

He responded to Min-Cheol’s mother.

“We’re… We’re coming back now.”

-Hm? Now? Why so suddenly? Come back after playing some more.

“No, we’ll come back now. Right now.”

“Hyung-nim, Mister. I’m back.”

---

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86. Unknown Dungeon

A huge mob of monsters stood before me.

Unlike normal dungeons, it seemed that there was a variety of monsters mixed in.

Each type would have different offensive capabilities as well as varied attack patterns.

Out of them all, there was a type of monster with an exotic color and appearance that caught my eye.

Using my Eye of Insight, I discovered the name of the monsters was Alrose.

“Oho. So that’s Alrose.”

Previously, I had mentioned Marble of the Supreme Ruler that Joker possessed.

That was the monster that was mentioned in the description.

A marble that would restore all your health and mana.

On top of that, your body would become immune to harm for 1 minute while increasing your offensive capability twofold.

If I take down an Alrose, I should be able to obtain the marble from it.

“I don’t think this is a number to take lightly though?”

There were just too many monsters around Alrose to only selectively target them.

Would I have to grab its aggro from afar using a single target attack spell from afar?

Or should I eat away at their ranks bit by bit starting from the corner?

However, these thoughts only lasted a moment.

“Wait. Why am I worrying about this?”

It was pointless thinking about this.

Even if their numbers were in the hundreds of thousands, or whatever fierce attacks come my way, it wouldn’t matter.

With just my Mana Shield and Meteor, these guys were nothing but a Mimic with attack capabilities.

And if they do have magic resistances, I still have my Formless Sword Aura and Piercing Sword.

A strategy that would be enough to cause fear in these monsters without sentience came to me.

First, I hid myself using Mass Stealth Jutsu.

Using the stats I received from Ghost and his goons, I ran with my newly increased speed.

I was planning to reach the center of the crowd of monsters.

“The strategy is to group them up and kill them all. Incinerate them to death. Beating them to death is the best.”

It was a simple run, but with each step I took, a portion of the swamp was crushed underfoot.

Sensing the noise and vibration, they looked towards where I was.

“Kaaaa!”

“Kururu.”

However, they shouldn’t be able to see me.

Probably just on guard due to the presence they sense from my run.

Just like that, I arrived at the central mass of all the monsters.

While passing by, I noticed that their size was quite different from what I noticed from afar.

Some were even large as the Devil Avatars I used.

Monsters the size of 4m were commonly spread amongst the rabble of monsters.

No matter where I looked, there were only monsters.

Perhaps other would feel different, but for me, this felt like heaven.

Now, I was going to begin my attack right here.

Those near me or come near me will die first.

Then the other monsters will come towards me, trampling over the dead bodies of their comrades.

This would allow a faster hunt rather than starting from a corner.

I conjured Meteor.

At the same time I attempted to attack, my stealth came undone and all their attention was focused on me.

“Kararack!”

“Kuwooo!”

“Hello?”

-CRASH! BOOM!

[Experience 5,800,000]

[Experience 8,200,000]

[Experience 6,600,000]

…

I heard the notification sound of my experience continuously rising up.

To be honest, it was a huge amount of experience.

Taking into account that a level 34 dungeon monster gave 2,000,000 experience, this was amazing.

However, this wasn’t that important.

Ignoring that, I focused on the battle.

Looking outside the Mana Shield, I couldn’t see anything.

As if a grenade went off in calm waters, the shield continued to shake.

Of course, the reason why my shield shook wasn’t due to the monsters, but due to the destructive force of the transcended Meteors I was pouring out.

Despite not being able to see in front of me, I was able to locate their general position due to the Eye of Insight, allowing me to continue attacking.

It didn’t take long since I started the mass murder for them to thin out by half.

I had unleashed just a fierce attack that it was enough to make me worry if I destroyed any of the unique items or artifacts they may have dropped.

Monsters that were 4m in size were nothing more than giant firewood to me.

It was then.

-WHOOOSH!

I saw monsters breathing blue flames right next to me.

They were the Alrose.

If I had to describe their appearance, the best fit would be axolotls.

They looked similar to a certain salamander mascot for an automobile insurance company.

Contrary to their cute appearance, they breathed out flames in far greater volumes than their bodies.

“Goodness… They’re nearly cute enough to make me feel bad for killing then…”

The first move of spamming Meteors like crazy was to single out monsters from the rest.

It was aimed at those with physical attack resistances.

I expected this due to variance in the monster group, but it still surprised me to see that a single dungeon had monsters with both physical and magical resistances.

This meant that all monsters left, including the Alrose, have resistances to magic attacks.

Despite being cut down by half, there were still a lot of monsters surrounding me.

I immediately readied Piercing Sword.

Countless Butcher’s Sword poured out.

The teeth on the back of the blade glinted, almost as if waiting for my orders.

“I don’t think I can look.”

-SLASH! SLICE!

I couldn’t look at the Alrose being gruesomely butchered.

Despite being a monster, it was super cute.

The skill hadn’t transcended nor was it of the highest rank, yet they became torn chunks of meat before the A ranking Piercing Sword.

It must be due to the insane strength stat I had.

Unearthly howls and a huge number of monsters had filled the surrounding before, but they were all taken down in less than 10 minutes since my entry.

The floor was painted in blood red, while an awkward silence filled the air.

But why would that be of any importance to me.

The only thing I cared about was the loot.

Using the Eye of Insight, I began to search for any rare drops.

However, my priority was finding more of the Marble of the Supreme Ruler.

A surplus of bloodstones were present, similar to sand at a beach.

However, they only amounted to a lantern lighting up the dungeon to me.

There was no reason to carry stones when gold and diamond were in front of me.

“There’s no room for you in my duffle bag.”

Kicking away the stones with my feet, I was searching for the items.

Suddenly, I was curious of the staff I had and my status window.

This was a staff that had blocked Meteor as if it was blocking Ice Orb.

I looked at the staff in my left hand.

-Roa’s Staff-

*Absorbs all magic attacks until the durability of the staff expires.

*(Sealed) Cannot be used by anyone but the original obtainer.

“Is… Is that it?”

I thought to myself that I should beat this Roa fellow half to death if I ever come across him or her.

I mean, who makes a weapon with such little concern like this!

The ability of the staff was amazing, but there were no stats attached to it.

This was also sealed as well.

It could not be used unless it was the original owner.

Previously, however, Butcher’s Sword had absorbed Twin Blades of Asura to become stronger.

By doing so, it stolen half the stats that the twin blades had.

However, there weren’t any stats attached to this weapon.

Did that mean that it was impossible to use it strengthen my weapon?

Despite the concern, I planned to take it with me.

While inside a dungeon, I did not have the luxury to check if it is possible.

It could be similar to how Banwol Jincheon did not absorb the twin blades when taking down Joker.

With a doubtful hope, I held tightly onto the staff.

Glancing at the loot, I changed my view towards something else.

It was to check at my status window.

400 lackies of Ghost must’ve had quite the levels, as well as the 30 guardians.

On top of that, Ghost himself was taken down, so the stat gain should be insane.

[Level: 381]

“Already level 381? Well, I can’t exactly ignore the sheer amount of experience I gained from just this dungeon.”

Worried and anxious, I took a peak.

[Class: Magician]

[Ability: Does not run out of mana.]

“Yes, this ability. I thank it tens of times each day.”

Now it was the time for the stats to be revealed.

It was true that I was excited due to my expectations.

Finally, I checked the status window.

The first thing that caught my eye was strength.

Looking at it, I couldn’t help but stammer.

Strength: [610+20+300+2200+350+7150+1594] 12,224

“T…. Twelve…. Twelve thousand….”

My body had frozen, but my mind was still going, trying to figure out where all these crazy strength stats have come from.

One at a time, I calmly figured them out.

The 610 was from the points I invested while leveling up.

The 20 was from the Skull Ring, while the 300 was from the armor that Joker left.

2200. That was the base stat the Butcher’s Sword had.

350 was from my sword absorbing the Twin Sword of Asura.

But….. the stat that was over 7 thousand….

I had my doubts, but it was the truth.

I thought that I had obtained a massive amount of stats, but after looking at it directly, no words came out.

On top of that, the bonus that Butcher’s Sword carried gave 15% additional strength from total strength, granting me near 1600 points.

“….Ha….”

It was a situation where I should be screaming and dancing in joy.

However, I felt rather calm and collected instead.

I didn’t know why, but perhaps this is what it means to be at peace.

The peaceful feeling that I will no longer be under threat by anyone else.

After that, I check my mana.

Mana: ∞

Just as expected, the infinity symbol stayed, and there was no change.

The next thing I checked was my dexterity.

Dexterity: [310+150+3211] 3671

“Ridiculous….”

The dexterity stat had risen quite a lot as well.

The 310 was from my investment via leveling, while the 150 was from the upgraded Butcher’s Sword.

The 3,200 came from those I’ve slain.

Since dexterity was a stat that was usually invested last, I didn’t get as much as how much strength I was able to obtain.

The last thing that was left was stamina.

Stamina: [1010+300+24,322] 25,632

“Ah… Maybe I shouldn’t have entered the Unknown Dungeon?”

As expected, I had obtained the most on the stamina stat.

Unless it was a specialized class like the blacksmith, no classes existed that would avoid raising the stamina stat.

The amount of stat gained was beyond sensible.

It almost made me wonder if there was any point in obtaining any artifacts here.

And then I bursted out in laughter.

“Pfft! This is insane!”

The reason why I laughed was due to the final fight I had with Ghost.

I had fought against him without checking the stats I had obtained.

That’s why I put so much effort in avoiding his attacks.

It was a fierce attack pattern that left nearly no room to strike back, after all.

The amount of shields I had and the duration of them were limited as I received the skills beyond ranking.

However, if I look at my current stats, there really wasn’t a reason to have that resolve for the final confrontation after all.

Forget the shields, I could’ve just stuck on him and swung my Formless Sword Aura at him.

It was probably beyond my imagination the fear Ghost felt when he received my attacks as I lost reason from the Wild Beast state.

Imagine a flurry of attacks from someone with stats like these….

Clearing my mind of such thoughts, I quickly moved.

It was for the people who would be worried about me, even now.

“Loot and fast clear. Let’s go!”

While moving my body towards the massive horde of monsters in the distance, my foot caught on something heavy.

“Wait. What is this?”

---

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85. Ghost’s End. My Beginning.

“Whew…..”

40 minutes had passed since my fight with Ghost began.

Calling forth different egos, he continued to attack.

There were roughly 15 corpses sprawled over the floor.

All of them were corpses of Ghost, each wearing their golden armor.

In a single body, there are many sides of oneself that make up the mind.

In this case, however, each time his life expired, a new body would be created, carrying a different Ghost.

It was difficult to understand exactly what Ghost’s ability did.

I felt as though his name ‘Ghost’ wasn’t just for show.

However, he didn’t have much power behind his attacks.

It was just that the prolonged fight was wearing me down.

I used Heal between fights, but it was only a C ranking recovery magic.

My stamina and strength stats were increased so much that Heal wasn’t affecting me much.

Strength and stamina both raised the ability to stay in combat longer.

In theory, it would make sense for me to continue fighting without any signs of weariness.

However, my attacks were that much stronger, and so it consumed that much more stamina.

I thought to myself that I needed to learn at least a single good recovery skill.

He continued to pull out many egos.

He seemed to have collected many different classes, from summoner to magician, warrior, and many more.

It was amusing when he pulled out things that weren’t human.

Lifeforms that didn’t exist in this world. Monsters from another world.

Even some of the hidden bosses in some of the dungeons.

However, against me, who has gone through countless dungeons, it was nowhere enough.

“Urgh!”

“I think this is getting pretty tiresome.”

Only 10 minutes remained before the dungeon closed.

It happened when I defeated roughly the hundredth one, which was a ghastly form.

As the pathetic display of a fight continued, my anxiety continued to dissipate.

It was then.

“KUWWECCCKKK!”

The new form that Ghost took began to puke nonstop.

“Did you absorb someone who is an alcoholic…. What the?”

Looking towards him as he made that puking noise, I couldn’t help but be shocked.

He was puking out all the souls of those that he had absorbed.

However, I couldn’t see additional bodies of Ghost.

Instead, I saw a massive amount of souls, from children to the elderly.

They gave off a soft green glow, piling enough to make a small mound in front of Ghost.

Each form were clearly defined.

After leaving Ghost, they seemed to be free at first. However, there weren’t any life in their eyes, each lacking pupils.

Almost like in the movies where the characters lose their souls to a spell from a warlock.

‘If I deal with that many, the dungeon dissipate. If that’s the case….”

-CRASH!

-BOOM!

Staring with Meteor, I used every magic attack skill I had on him.

However, only massive shock waves rang throughout the dungeon instead.

I wasn’t able to deal any damage.

Almost like ghosts, all the attacks had gone through.

It was possible that unless the souls had flesh, I couldn’t attack them.

Ghost, who stood behind them, used his staff to block all the magic attacks.

He remained silent.

Too busy puking out more souls, I suppose.

His continuous puking finally stopped.

Then I began to hear horrific screaming.

“AAAHH! KILL ME!”

“I WANT TO DIE! Please…”

“L…Let me go. I CAN’T HANDLE IT ANYMORE!”

Repeatedly grasping his hand into a fist and then stretching it flat, he took a deep breath.

Silencing their screams, he spoke.

“It’s been quite a while since I felt the warmth of flesh…. It’s almost awkward….”

“Are you the original body…. Park Joon Sik?”

It seemed that his original body had finally appeared.

However, before entering the dungeon, Ho Jin wasn’t able to recognize Ghost right away.

Did that mean that the ego he put on then wasn’t himself?

He really was confusing.

“Hmm…. Park Joon Sik. At this point, I’m not even sure if that name is really mine.”

“….”

“All the egos in my body believe that they are the rightful owner of my body. Well, since I am able to control all the souls that I’ve absorbed so far, I guess you could call this body the original.”

“You’re rather difficult. Disgusting and annoying. No matter who you may be, it’s time to end this.”

“Do you have the confidence to take on every soul that I’ve absorbed?”

“Even if you absorbed for another 10 years, or even 100 years, I can crush you whenever.”

“Then let’s begin! KUHAHAH!”

Finishing his words, Ghost stretched out his arms and the mountain of souls flew towards him.

Those that screamed and howled with lifeless eyes now formed around Ghost.

They were absorbed through his arms and legs, as well as his torso.

With each soul he absorbed, Ghost’s golden armor was being covered by a barrier, growing thicker by the second.

The fights up to now have been 1v1, but now it was going to be one against many.

‘10 minutes left….. I’ll take care of this quickly and head to the Unknown Dungeon.’

-CRACK!

I was lost in thought for only a brief moment.

With a speed that was near impossible to follow, he appeared before me.

Not only that, but his short sword smashed my shield into pieces.

All of it happened in a split second.

“Shit!”

-CLING! CLANG!

Fierce attacks followed, barely deflected by my sword.

As if amused by the current situation, he was shouting excitedly, even during his attacks.

“This is a good thrill. You wouldn’t be afraid of a single grasshopper. But… what if they came in a swarm? You’ll taste a famine unlike any other! Ki-ya!”

-SLICE!

“Crap!”

Attacks unlike before came at me.

Electronic Shock and True One Strike were used at the same time.

Magic of the highest rank from the magician class and a skill beyond ranking from the warrior class were used simultaneously.

Right now, Ghost couldn’t be called human!

Like me, he was using skills from various different classes freely as he wished.

It felt as though he had gathered all the stats of those he had absorbed to create this completed form.

He was pouring out skills as if his mana was unlimited.

“Die! Die! Die! KUHAHA!”

“Damn it.”

It was a one sided fight.

Thanks to the stats I absorbed, I was only able to avoid the attacks with vastly increased speed.

The attack was so fierce that I couldn’t even think about counterattacking.

From Ghost’s view, the best defense was a good attack.

-SLICE!

-CRASH!

With the ease of casting Frost Orb, he poured out skills beyond ranking.

At this rate, I would meet a bad end.

Frothing at the mouth, Ghost spoke.

“I’ve invested a huge amount for your ability. Breaking down the tower that I’ve raised, I’ll use you to raise a new tower! Now, hurry! Kneel before me, and offer me your ability!”

“You’re insane… You’ll die today. I’ll rip you apart!”

I used all the shields I had to cover my body.

As I received all the attacks, I began my furry of slices at him with my Formless Sword Aura.

The duration of my shields were 5 minutes long.

It wouldn’t be far off from the time left before the dungeon closed.

Things wouldn’t end just by avoiding.

Power against power.

I planned to go all out against him in the last 5 minutes.

“KUWAAA!”

Pulling out all the strength I had, I continued to attack him.

However, he ignored the the damage he took from the Formless Sword Aura and continued to attack.

It was then.

“KURRUHH.”

“It’s done!”

“KUHAA! KUHAHA! DIE!”

The Fear.

It was definitely the howling that signaled the activation of Wild Beast.

In a single moment, it was as if all the blood in my vessels were replaced by magma, burning up my body.

At the same time, strength was overflowing to the point where I could no longer control it.

It was almost as if endorphin like hormones were filling my body like a waterfall.

“ORAAAAAA!”

“KU…. KUAH!”

I definitely had my eyes open, but I couldn’t see anything.

The white of the dungeon disappeared from view, and the outline of his body filled my field of view.

1 minute. In the next 1 minute duration of Wild Beast, I had to snuff out Ghost’s life completely.

“KUWAAAA!”

“KUHUCK! KUWUHH!”

I heard the scream of Ghost, as well the screams of those that surrounded him, emitting a piercing scream.

The wild unrestrained flurry of attacks continued at Ghost.

Just like that, the 1 minute duration of Wild Beast ended, and I regained consciousness.

There wasn’t anyone standing before me.

However, my sword aura didn’t know how to stop, continuing to swing at nothing but thin air.

As my burning body calmed itself, exhaustion caught up.

Stopping my attack, I regained control of my breathing.

“Huff…. Huff…”

Looking down, I saw that Ghost had become a pool of bloody paste.

I cleaned off the blood and fat that caked it, then bent down to pick up the staff.

Using my Eye of Insight, I attempted to check it.

A sigh of relief came out, along with some muttering monologue.

“Finally… it’s over….”

The information on the staff came up clearly.

Thus, it meant that Ghost was dead.

This was a rare weapon that could not have its information revealed until the owner perishes.

If the information on the weapon was revealed, it meant that the owner’s life expired.

However, since I had used up an insane amount of stamina, I couldn’t process the information.

On top of that, I didn’t have the luxury to do so.

Less than 1 minute remained before the dungeon expired, after all.

I immediately took off my Mana Shield, and then used Dual Casting’s third hand to cast Heal.

Heal had a low rate of recovery, but with three castings at the same time, I felt that the recovery speed was faster than I expected it to be.

I will head to the Unknown Dungeon.

On one hand, Jong Ho and Ho Jin would be waiting outside, worrying for me.

Also, I was worried about my mother back home.

However, a chance to grow as quickly as this would probably be difficult to come across again.

After all, it was the entrance to the Unknown Dungeon, which would only form with the sacrifice of many lives.

The two radical faction leaders that I’ve experienced firsthand both became stronger by going through this place.

They also had obtained their artifacts here.

Danger would come for me again.

My decision wasn’t wrong.

According to Ghost, he said that it would take a day to clear this place.

Since I could pour out incredibly powerful skills without limits, it probably wasn’t an exaggeration.

“A single day… It could be treated as being selfish, but this is a path I take for everyone’s sake. Here I go.”

My hesitation was brief.

I took the steps toward it.

The gate that took me in vibrated intensely as it pulled me in.

****

As soon as I entered the Unknown Dungeon, I noticed how damp it was.

It was a swamp that went up to my knees, reeking of a foul scent.

However, I was met with familiar faces that helped me forget this nasty feeling.

Monsters as far as I could see were present, and I could not see an end to them.

Experience? I didn’t need something like that.

I was in a state where I had consumed more stats than it could ever be compared to leveling.

Covering my body with Mana Shield, I walked towards them.

“Time for some fun, properly this time.”

---

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