Author: Xerenity

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50. Is this okay?

A gate identical to the exit appeared.

The color was similar, but the shape was definitely different.

A gate that rarely appeared in level 23 dungeons.

There is no official name for the gate.

But between the Awakened, it is called Hell’s Gate or the Fisherman’s Needle.

Most experienced Awakeneds know the gate very well.

But it was rare for anyone to come back alive after going into it.

For certain dungeons that have hidden bosses such as the level 23 dungeon that can have any one of the 7 different ranks of the Lich Kings appear. In that gate, all 7 Lich Kings would be there.

Of course, the reward for clearing the portal would be amazing.

But the number of people heading into the gate was few at best.

A sweet temptation.

But that would be too much!

They would stare at the gate as if a fish looking at a fat juicy worm on a hook.

Unless they were real fish, they wouldn’t bite into bait like that.

The exemption would be Rankers hunting for the Lich King’s Armor set.

“I’m even happier seeing this more than seeing a mimic.”

For any regular Awakened, this would be too much.

But I was going to enter the gate.

With many level ups, I had obtained a decent amount of stamina.

Even if the red eyed rank 1 Lich King used a skill beyond ranking, my 5 shields would protect me.

And even after casting my shield, I had two free hands.

An exit and a gate to hell.

Looking at each of them back and forth, I moved my feet towards the gate of hell.

* * * *

Inside the gate was another world.

A desolate land filled with igneous rocks as far as one can see.

The lost souls embedded in the ground howled at the skies.

Without eyes or tongues, struggling as if falling deeper into a swamp.

I felt relieved that the dungeon was large.

If the dungeon was small, all 7 of them would aggro at the same time.

Looking at the different colors of their eyes, I planned to pair two a time to take them out according to their ranking.

I had obtained the quick single spells Explosion and Holy Missile — A ranking skills that will perfectly fill the gap between my main attack skills as both skills did not have cast time or cool downs.

Explosion was a fire type magic, shooting a fireball the size of a basketball.

It was similar to the F ranking Fire Orb, but the difference in damage dealt was incomparable.

Once Explosion hits its target, it didn’t disappear until there was nothing left to consume.

So unless healing skills or remove status effect skills were used, the flames would not extinguish until the target turned to ashes.

The next skill I obtained was the Holy Missile.

Magicians, Shamans, and Priests use this skill.

Causing holy type damage, it boasted massive amounts of damage against the undead.

A skill perfect for Ghouls or Lich Kings.

* * * *

Casting Meteor and Iceberg towards my right, I ran at full speed ahead.

From afar, I could see 2 Lich Kings.

It was important to determine the glow of their eyes, so I stayed out of their aggro range and stared.

Green and purple.

Both were low ranking bosses.

“Yah!”

With one fluid motion, I struck one on each of them.

Almost like a welcoming tackle?

Receiving heavy amount of damage, they tried to condense their mana to heal themselves, but I casted Fire Shock, which does more damage the closer you are to the target.

“GWOAHHHH!”

“KURURUK”

They howled and flailed about in pain, unable to even attack once.

Just in case any Lich Kings were nearby, I adjusted the range on the Gravity Laser.

With my continuous attack, I was slowly blowing through the Lich King.

After that I used about 10 Explosions and rained down Holy Missile.

It looked as if light bulbs shattered across the floor.

The holy attribute of the attack, when met with the undead, begins to eat away at their form.

It didn’t take long.

“Ku… uuu…..”

The rank 7 Lich King, now just a ball of flame, had the life from his eyes snuffed out.

Then.

[5,000,000 experience obtained.]

Now there was only one target left.

I stopped using Gravity Laser and began to pour away the new skills that I’ve learned.

Since I did not have a limit on mana, I could spam away without a care.

If I had brought Banwol Jincheon with me, I could’ve made quite the scene.

Soon, eyes that glowed green from the rank 4 Lich King were snuffed out.

[8,000,000 experience obtained.]

“Oh?”

The difference between ranks were made obvious.

You could obtain more experience from the higher ranking ones.

The more you learn about them, the more I find them amusing.

There were 30 minutes left before the level 23 dungeon closed.

But it’s been 5 minutes since I entered the gates of hell.

I didn’t know which the 1 hour limit for the dungeons will apply to.

To be on the safe side though, I considered as if I had 30 minutes left and hurried.

Tossing the loot into the bag, I quickly moved on.

I had arrived at the furthest I could go towards the east, and now headed towards the north end.

The bag became heavier with the drops, but my footsteps only became lighter.

* * * *

“Ha… Ha…”

After taking down the Lich Kings in pairs, only the rank 1 with the red glowing eyes remained.

Trying to catch my breath, I used heal to regain my HP.

Most attacks I absorbed with my shield.

However, any attacks I didn’t recognized I did my best to avoid.

Since high ranking bosses appeared, I was incredibly nervous.

If they made someone like me with incredible amounts of strength this tired, I can pretty much guess how tough they are.

If these bosses weren’t (??) ranking bosses, I would use skills to lower their resistances and prevent healing.

Would’ve have been an easier time for me.

Sadly it didn’t work on them.

Most support and curse skills didn’t work on hidden bosses after all.

The last one.

Out of all of them that I’ve taken down, none of them dropped the armor set.

But I felt that this one would be different.

Meteor and Iceberg were on cool down.

“Come out Blue!”

“KWUHHHHHHH!”

The Devil Avatars appeared.

As I hoped for, both the summoned were of the ice attribute.

Thinking about how long the cool down and cast time for my main spells will be, I had to buy quite a lot of time.

“I’ll break through his shield. Put an icicle in his face for me, will ya?”

Both nodding their heads, they stood next to me on each side.

‘They’d be cute if they didn’t yell all the time.’

I charged at the Lich King.

“Ugh! He doesn’t even have a cast time for that?”

As if the Lich King heard my plan with the avatars, he began to pour down a blizzard on me.

Frosted arrows covered the skies, and began raining down below.

The force from the attack tore apart the ground, leaving holes as if a volcano erupted.

Getting close as I could, I casted Fire Shock and then began pouring skills until his shields fell apart.

“ORAAAAA!”

While pouring down those skills, a Holy Missile was reflected towards me.

Surprised, I twisted my body reflexively to avoid the attack.

To even use a Reflect Shield to reflect my attack.

He definitely deserved the title of grand magician.

-CRACK!

His shield finally broke apart.

The avatars finally moved on my command.

To make sure they didn’t get one shot, I made sure there was plenty of distance between them.

I also commanded them to make sure they spread apart from each other.

The two avatars began to pour away frost magic at the enemy.

“3 more minutes! Then it all ends.”

“KUWAAA!”

“Oh boy. All the bulky ones seem to be always good at yelling.”

* * * *

Finally, the last Lich King slowly lost the glow from his eyes as it collapsed.

The glow from his eyes were like the light from a candle, swaying in the wind.

“Ugh, gah….”

After quite a while, I was able to take down the Lich King.

Then.

The Lich King’s armor and helmet broke free from his body, and began to float around.

The dungeon did not have any sunlight, but the sheer size almost made shadows appear.

Finally, when the glow from his eyes were snuffed out..

The floating armor set fell towards me.

The size began to shrink to fit me perfectly, and I could use it without having to worry about my movements being hindered.

“Oho? So this is how it works?”

It was as if the Lich King’s armor set wandered about to search for its new owner until settling on me.

The shape was a bit different from what magician ranker Yoon Jong-sun had.

There were no unnecessary ornaments and looked similar to sleeping wear, thus, it destroyed the concept that armor has to be thick.

Even if I wore a shirt over this, no one would think that I was wearing armor underneath.

The Darkness armor set, which even consumed the light around it.

While I didn’t care much about the design, the special ability it provided was perfect for me.

“I guess the armor set you can get depends on the ranking of the boss? While the helmet is a bit embarrassing to wear, I made quite a fortune here.”

I was tapping and admiring my armor.

“Wait, this isn’t the time for that.”

I headed towards his corpse.

The skill books are a must, as well as the A ranking stone. But it would be disappointing if it ended there.

Because the main dish of Awakened Essences are left.

Two of them, both the size of my thumb, had dropped.

Since I was short on time, I had hurriedly shoved in all the drops from the other Lich Kings without checking them.

I was thinking about the blissful time I would be spending outside as I checked through all the loot.

There was a chance that while taking the stones and skill books, Awakened Essences might have slipped in there too after all.

* * * *

Through the gates of hell and out the exit portal, I was teleported outside of the dungeon.

Taking the stuffed backpack with me, I headed towards the bench, refreshed as I could be.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of someone stepping on dry branches.

Reflexively, I looked towards the source of the noise.

I saw a man in a suit.

From the bushes, he was staring at me.

As soon as our eyes met, he tried to run away as fast as possible.

‘Huh? Why is he so pathetic?’

In a blink of an eye, I arrived at his location.

“U… Uwa…”

“What is it?”

“….”

Looking at his movements, he wasn’t an Awakened.

He tried to flee as if a regular person came across a dog with rabies.

If I got too excited and grabbed onto him, he probably would’ve exploded into pieces from where he stood.

We only ran for 10m down the hill, but he was gasping for breath.

“Uwa… wew….”

“Who are you? What were you doing here?”

“…..”

---

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49. New Ability

It’s been a week since I defeated the Lich King for the first time.

I had almost built up immunity towards the smell by now.

My level was already 199.

With this clear, I should hit level 200.

Each time I leveled, I tried to use the skill book I had obtained.

But the results were the disappointing. Still impossible.

For someone like me who was only raising the Stamina stat, the worst case scenario would be the skill book not opening due to a lack of Dexterity stats.

I prayed that it was a level issue and continued to lv up.

[Your level rose.]

I was surrounded by a bright glow, along with the narration for the level up.

I had reached level 200 in 4 months.

Unlike usual, I held off on the all-important stat allocation.

And almost as if led by something, I pulled the book out from the bag and put it to my chest.

Exactly level 200.

That’s why I couldn’t help but hope that I could obtain it.

“Please! I’m so curious!”

Closing my eyes, I hoped that the ‘condition is not met’ wouldn’t pop up again.

A moment passed.

Almost as if to lessen the worry in my heart, a system announcement I’ve been looking forward to came.

[Would you like to obtain Dual Casting?]

“It worked!”

Guess the requirement was level based after all.

This was a skill that didn’t appear even after scanning with the encyclopedia app.

I even searched online, but couldn’t find any information on it.

Perhaps it was a skill book beyond ranking, as rumors had it.

A skill without any information released on it.

I cannot know what it does until I learn it.

But no reason to hesitate.

It’s not like there is a limit to how many skills you could learn.

And I didn’t have to worry about what class the skill is for or the cost of the mana.

Because with infinite mana, I could use any skill as if it is mine.

“Of course I’m learning it!”

The skill book that appeared to be made of metal quickly became dust and faded away.

I wanted to test the skill’s power immediately.

Since it was a skill without any information on it, my expectations soared.

“You won’t know until you try. Let’s try it for now.”

I had not left the dungeon yet.

Like how I used other skills, I thought of the name in my head.

‘Dual Casting.’

Soon its identity will be revealed.

However.

I spread out my arms and waited for a powerful skill to announce its presence, but the surrounding remained silent.

Seems nothing had changed.

Wondering if it was a shield, I checked.

A self-buff? That wasn’t it either.

Does it need a target? Many thoughts were racing through my head.

Stumped without answers, I opened my status tab.

I definitely obtained the skill.

A skill that didn’t have an experience bar.

Like ‘Teleport’, it seemed that it could not level up.

But if you cast Teleport, you should be able to see the effect.

While pondering, it suddenly dawned on me.

My eyes focused in on my hands.

I feel so stupid for not realizing this earlier.

I was so excited that I forgot about the skill name.

Perhaps ‘Dual Casting’, as the name implies, allows me to use two skills at the same time?

Thinking about it further was a waste of time.

I casted Frost Orb with one hand.

Only a single Frost Orb struck against the ground.

Now I was sure that it wasn’t a skill that gave twice the output with one cast.

“If that’s the case…”

With one hand, I continued to cast Frost Orb while my other hand kept up the Mana Shield.

Filled with high expectations, I casted Teleport.

If Teleport does work….

The Teleport casted, allowing me to jump a short distance forward.

Now I understood.

Dual Casting gave me a ‘third hand’.

I was able to cast two different spells at the same time with one hand.

This was already amazing, but imagine if I was able to obtain another one…

I would be able to cast four different spells simultaneously with two hands.

“Im.. Impossible….”

In combat, I lost out on my offensive capabilities due to needing one hand to keep my Mana Shield up.

To unleash more of my power, I let my shield go and was met with quite the critical situation.

I had now obtained a skill that covered that weakness perfectly.

But it seems that to use it well, I’ll need some practice.

The aim needed to hit the targets was by the caster.

To be able to cast multiple skills to where I want them will take some practice.

Well, for someone who is obsessed with hunting, it shouldn’t take long.

If I am able to master it, I should be 1.5 times stronger than before.

* * * *

After learning the rankless skill Dual Casting, I had another issue to take care of.

My main skills were Meteor and Iceberg, as well as Fire Shock.

All of them required time to cast and/or cool downs.

After using all three skills, I had nothing left to continue putting on the pressure.

Let’s say I use one hand for the shield, while the other for Gravity Laser.

But for my ‘third hand’?

I couldn’t just continue casting Frost Orb or Lightning Spray when they do almost nothing.

The skill I needed most.

A spell that didn’t require time to cast and no cool down.

It didn’t need to have a big impact radius.

Just something to allow me to continue dealing damage while the main spells were on cool down.

Currently I had way too much money to spend.

Right now, I was focusing on growth over money, and had nowhere to spend all this cash.

The last spell I used money to buy was Meteor Call after all.

While I was wondering what new spells to learn…

I remembered that I borrowed some Awakened Essences from the midget.

I hadn’t paid him back because I was saving them for Meteor Call and Iceberg.

But it looked like it was going to be awhile before I could get them to level 100.

As the skill level rose, the experience required rose as well, while the delay time between each cast slowing me down.

Even if there was bad blood between us, I had ‘borrowed’ them, nothing different from stealing.

They followed through my requests and helped me with a few things here and there.

I could not be at ease knowing that.

I didn’t want to be a vicious thug after all.

I carried the Awakened Essences with me and headed towards their office.

* * * *

Chirp chirp.

A caller ring filled with the sounds of nature…?

It didn’t take long for the midget to answer the phone with his business voice.

“Yes. Lee Sung Ho speaking.”

“It’s been awhile since I last called. Do you have anyone at the office at the moment?”

“Who is thi- … Huh! Yes. I’m still here at the moment… For what reason is it this time…”

From his voice, I could imagine his eyes filled with anxiety.

I could also almost hear the ‘What request is it this time!’ in his heart.

“Why are you so nervous? I was calling to return the essences I borrowed.”

“Ah! You can take your time returning them… Where are you? Should we come and get you? We’ll leave right away.”

Unlike what he was saying before, he was blabbering non-stop.

“Nope. I’ll be there in 5 minutes.”

“Thank you. Thank you.”

To be this happy for borrowed items being returned.

Well, these essences are worth about 100 to 200 million each.

I walked slowly to make sure I don’t accidentally run into any civilians.

It would be a huge issue to run into anyone while running at abnormal speeds.

I arrived at the office.

His face was all smiles.

Almost as if he found a 10,000 won in his winter coat pocket from last year.

“You came!”

“Yes. Here are the essences.”

“Oh my! I thought I’d never see the-… No no. Thank you for returning them so quickly.”

Holding the essences tightly, he looked at them as if in love.

He was the splitting image of Gollum holding onto the Ring.

Since I’m here anyways, why not use the shady route once more.

I was planning to learn some A+ ranking spells after all.

“Like how I asked before, get me some skill books.”

“…..”

“While I was coming here, I decided on a few that I want, but there were none on the market.”

“A+ ranking like before?”

“Yes. Don’t worry about money and set me up a deal.”

“Most things aren’t that difficult to get…. but what skills are you talking about…?”

“Explosion and Holy Missile.”

“Common magic like those, I can get them without much difficulty.”

“That’s good. 3 days should be plenty, right?”

“Y.. Yes? O-of course. Plenty.”

“Ah! I also forgot to mention. Please get me ‘Eye of Insight’ as well.”

“Isn’t that a spell for the Cleric class?”

“I think it is? Well whatever, I’ll be relying on you. I’ll be back in 3 days.”

“O… Okay.”

* * * *

The chance for the Lich King appearing in the level 23 dungeon was incredibly low.

I’ve only fought him once. The weakest boss with the purple glowing eyes was it.

I was still amazed how I was able to get two Banwol Jincheons from Gwidon.

I didn’t need essences at the moment.

But the gear they dropped were not things I just wanted, but needed.

“Ha… I wish at least a mimic would appear….”

Thanks to the ridiculous number of mobs, I was able to obtain a vast amount of blood stones.

But no matter how much money I had, there was no way for me to obtain a M/A+ level of gear.

I was not nervous in the slightest.

Like a machine, I continued to hunt systematically.

After taking care of all the ghouls, I headed for the exit with loot in tow.

I headed toward the exit with a hopeful heart and raised ears.

But all I could hear from the dungeon was my own steps.

“Ah! It’s so hard to even encounter him!”

I arrived at the exit.

But in front of the gate, I couldn’t help but rub my eyes.

There definitely was a gate leading out.

However, next to that gate was another gate open, slightly darker than the usual exit gates.

“… Have I gone crazy from all the scent of intestines?”

My self-doubt was brief.

I looked at the gate once more.

“Ah! Jong Ho hyung!”

I was sure of it.

Right before I entered the level 23 dungeon, Jong Ho was telling me any information that would be helpful.

It was information that I didn’t pay much attention to with the mindset of ‘go in and kill everything’.

But perhaps due to coincidences, there was a part I remembered clearly.

I was positive.

“Is it okay?”

---

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48. The Firing from the Readied Marksman Begins (3)

After I defeated all the ghouls in the dungeon, I headed towards the center to search for the exit.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of rubble raining down.

When I arrived, the ceiling was caving down.

Since I had met several hidden bosses before, I was excited.

If all the monsters were dead and there were noise from the center of the dungeon, it usually meant that a hidden boss was appearing.

My excitement was brief as I focused again. Through the ceiling, I saw him poking his head through.

The hidden boss of this dungeon: Lich King.

Glowing with a purple aura, he stared at me with his breath cold like ice, exhaling frost.

“His size isn’t a joke.”

A completely decayed skeleton, his head was adorned with a huge crown.

The hole in the ceiling was 2m in width…

But it wasn’t enough to even squeeze his head through.

The scent of rot filled the dungeon. I wanted to get a breath of fresh air as soon as possible.

It looked like it was going to take a while for the entire body to come out.

That means that I’ll have to smell this disgusting scent for a while.

While I remained patient, the ones that couldn’t wait were my summoned Devil Avatars.

After hunting, I had shrunk them and they were floating around me, each the size of a fist. Both had turned into 4m monsters and were pouring out skills on the Lich King.

The attack landed dead on.

But it looked like the Lich King was using some kind of shield.

He was called the ‘Grand Magician of the monsters’.

From what I could find out, he used most magic spells that the average Magician uses.

And the glow from his eyes.

He was a rare boss that had his health and attack ranking change depending on the color.

Like the color of the rainbow, it was split between red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.

The closer the color of those eyes become to red, the stronger the boss is.

But this boss had the color of purple, being the lowest ranking boss.

Even so, he was hundreds of times stronger than a regular boss.

“KWUHHHHH!”

As if annoyed by the avatars’ attack, his Fear spell rang throughout the dungeon.

Looking at him, I could only treat him as another trash mob.

“Mannerless bastard. You have one hell of a yell.”

I had started casting Iceberg the moment he showed his face, and now smashed him with it.

The attack punctured straight through his shields and took out 1/3rd of his skull instantly.

Allowing the attack to go through, he let out another massive Fear.

Then he pulled back his head from the hole.

After a short while, he put his hand by the hole and I couldn’t help but be surprised.

“Well. Shit!”

A Meteor Call was heading towards me.

A Meteor.

I casted Mana Shield without hesitation.

Louver’s Shield or whatever, I didn’t know what was going to happen if I was hit by that attack.

An A+ ranking magic attack.

It was so big that I couldn’t even hope to avoid it.

The Mana Shield received the Lich King’s Meteor and began to vibrate violently.

The vibration lasted for 3 seconds, the intensity hindering my vision.

I knew that he used Magician skills, but I didn’t expect him to use a Meteor Call instantly.

The average Awakened avoided the level 23 dungeon for this reason.

The Lich King.

The lowest ranking boss with the purple glowing eyes demonstrates this level of destructive force.

Then how much would one that has a red glow show…

No matter how greedy one is, people run when they hear about the Lich King with their tail between their legs.

All those who obtain the Lich King’s Armor are all tanks.

After being perfectly raised, to obtain the equipment, they go back to the level 23 dungeon.

It was like the saying, ‘Avoiding poop because of fear.’

The horrible stench of decay and the incredibly strong Lich King.

It couldn’t be better said.

After finishing his first attack, he finally appeared in his full form outside the dungeon.

Compared to his size, the Devil Avatars looked small.

Well, just his head is over 2m. The body that supports him must be huge to compensate.

The armor on his body did not have a single point of weakness, as if light itself could not get through.

Equipment that anyone could guess it was impossible for human hands to make.

However I didn’t have time to admire his armor.

Magic was condensing at the tip of the staff.

There was no reason to avoid it.

No matter what type of attack he sent my way, I would be safe due to my Mana Shield.

However, I avoided the spell on reflex.

It was because a black orb flew towards me, the sound of sparks filling the air.

The two avatars had long been consumed by the black orb.

It was as if seeing a black hole.

“Guess he’s very angry because he got hit in the eyes once?”

A red and black hue filled the crevice of his broken skull, as if filling with new life.

‘A recovery ability on top of being a Magician?’

I really couldn’t say much since I used Heal myself, but I was quite surprised.

I couldn’t just let him continue attacking me like this.

I had to at least return the favor.

A Meteor far larger than his formed above me.

Finishing the cast, Meteor caused a torrent of winds as it came hurling down through the air.

“EAT THIS!”

The attack hit dead on his right leg.

The incredible destructive force of the attack took out his entire leg, blowing up his knees.

Now there’s an 8 minutes cool downs and casting durations for Iceberg and Meteor Call.

The 20% CDR (cooldown reduction) and casting speed increase (haste) was applied, but it still had a cool down and casting time of 4 minutes each.

I was left with no choice but to use other skills.

My immediately choice was Fire Shock.

Losing his leg, his body was flailing about on the ground.

The range of Fire Shock was exactly the size of his body.

That was the reason why I had aimed for his leg and brought him down.

I ran up to the collapsed king and let down the flames.

From his head to his disembodied leg, his body was dosed in flames, slowly losing life.

It looked like he didn’t even have the strength to cough up blood.

But even still he was casting a spell with his staff.

“Ku… Kuruk.”

“I’ll be looking forward to it.”

From my hand on his head, unfathomable amounts of lightning coursed through him.

His health was nearly gone after all.

Even Lightning Spray was enough to finish him off.

[5,000,000 experience obtained]

I didn’t even pay attention to the narration for the experience gained.

It was because I was distracted by the loot that dropped off his corpse.

And the experience wasn’t much to begin with.

It was about taking down 50 monsters from the level 18 dungeon.

Taking the hand away from the skull, I headed toward his heart.

Within the armor dark as midnight, there were two skill books.

Although one of it looked strange.

Regular skill books have a symbol indication the class it belongs to, or at least some form of identification.

But what I was holding couldn’t be described as a book.

It was as if something in the shape of a book had liquid metal poured all over it, like scrap metal.

Not only did it lack shape, but I couldn’t even open the book.

“What is this. Is it just useless scrap?”

The ceiling continued to cave, so perhaps it was debris that fell on the Lich King’s body?

I put the skill book to my chest.

[You do not meet the requirements.]

“Huh?”

‘Why are you acting this way noona?’ is what I wanted to say.

I never heard this narration before.

All the skills so far I have obtained never had a required condition.

I was able to learn all class skills without limit before.

And that included spells that most would never have enough mana to use.

But this skill had a prerequisite.

Since I could not run the phone application inside the dungeon, I ran outside.

****

The other skill book that I had carried in my armpits was long forgotten.

My attention was on this item instead.

After scanning, the result showed.

[Error]

“You’d drive people nuts. First not meeting the requirements, now an error?”

Since it was already late into the night, I decided to end the hunting here.

My body was reeking of rot, so I couldn’t head back home immediately.

Near the level 23 dungeon had lots of saunas and bath houses.

Like how food stores would open up near dungeons, the everyday average people tried business as they saw fit.

They had to make a living somehow.

****

“Wew. I feel like I’m alive again.”

Entering the bath house filled with steam, I felt my fatigue melt away.

I could tell why the adults love these places so much.

I had obtained a one person entrance ticket to get in, and had finished cleaning all the rotting scent off me.

Even in the bath, I kept staring at the skill book.

What requirement was it that it was preventing me from learning it…

“Hyung. It’s me.”

“Uh.. Ugh…..”

Through the phone I heard Jong Ho’s sleepy voice, as if he just woke up.

“Guess you were sleeping. Sorry. I’ll just call tomorrow.”

“No no. It’s okay. I was on the verge of sleeping but you woke me up at the right moment. You rascal!”

“Pfft! There’s something I wanted to ask.”

“What is it? If it isn’t important I’ll smack you. You’ll have to let down your Mana Shield too. Okay?”

“I get it. Now, is there a requirement for obtaining skills?”

“Requirement? No. There shouldn’t be one? I never heard of such a thing.”

“Ah… Is that so?”

“Yeah. There’s also no such thing as a limit to how many skills you can learn.”

“That’s strange… Well okay. Sleep well, hyung.”

“What? Is that it? I’m going to destroy you tomor-”

“Love you!”

A requirement for a skill book that even Jong Ho doesn’t know about.

My high expectations for him became disappointment.

I scanned the other skill book.

‘Fire Orb’ attack skill F rank.

Pretty much friends with the Frost Orb.

“Is it because I got a one with purple eyes? Instead of armor or blood stones, all I get are trash like skill books?”

Since it was the first time Lich King appeared, I had very high expectations.

But maybe it was the ranking of the hidden boss?

The drops were disappointing to say the least.

After returning home, I threw the skill books at the corner of the room.

Perhaps it was a level or stat prerequisite issue, and with that I hope I decided to watch.

There was no need to worry about my Strength or Mana stats.

If it was one that needed Dexterity, it was going to take a long time.

“Please be a level issue.”

---

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47. The Firing from the Readied Marksman Begins (2)

After learning about my ability, Jong Ho did not stop me from entering the level 23 dungeon.

He was instead eager to inform me about the dungeon.

It was because I could go about the dungeon with Meteor Call and Iceberg in each hand.

After using Louver’s gear set, I couldn’t feel any rise in difficulty despite going into a dungeon 5 levels higher than before.

The level 23 dungeon has a lot of monsters.

And matching that, they should leave lots of essences after death.

Absorbing all those essences, the Louver set was like an unstoppable batter-… shield I mean.

This meant I could use both hands for attack skills.

Other than the need to obtain essences from the initial first or second run, I had no need to cast shields.

And thanks to this shield, the Proof of Oath was put to good use.

Testing the effectiveness of this shield, I found out that it was several times sturdier than other shields.

Perhaps enough to easily block an attack from Jin?

During hunting, I used Louver set’s shield.

After hunting or when going to sleep, I used Mana Shield for the perfect defense.

At the level 23 dungeon, ‘Lich King’s Staff’ dropped.

It was also the weapon I used previously.

Well a fake one to pretend I was using it.

It was a weapon that raised my Mana stat, which was useless to me.

But what I was aiming for was the ‘Lich King’s Armor’.

As the name implies, it was a helm and armor piece.

Magician ranker Yoon Jong-sun was wearing one of these defensive gears as well.

It didn’t raise stamina or dexterity stats like regular armor.

However there was a reason why this gear was so popular.

Because each armor and helmet reduced physical and magical damage taken by 20%.

You could say this armor was made for combat.

The Titan Boots that resists all status debuff effects along with the damage reduction from the Lich King’s Armor, I could display quite the combat prowess.

Hunting and combat. It was a choice to capture both rabbits. ¹

Of course, it’d be only possible if the hidden boss Lich King would appear frequently.

Then it wouldn’t be only a distant dream to get the Lich King’s armor.

I’ll make it possible like I’ve been doing it until now.

* * **

The worst part of the level 23 dungeon was the stench that my shields didn’t block.

Hundreds of ghouls appear in this dungeon.

Say the word ghoul and the first thing people would imagine would be the undead or zombies.

Not dead or alive.

These ghouls were exactly that.

Skin that peeled off just by moving about.

Bodies beyond healing or saving, rotting away.

Nothing different from living corpses.

Ghouls with different attributes appear here.

The amount of variance of the monsters makes the strategies to take them down that much more complex.

They could be put into three main categories however.

Those who charge quickly, attack viciously with their nails and teeth.

Those that cast curses and magic.

And finally those who use ranged weapons or spit acid from afar.

However their attacks could never put me in any real danger.

That was because their attacks were based on poisoning.

Poisoning falls under the category of status debuff effects.

Since I was wearing Titan Boots, their main attacks didn’t work on me in the first place.

The only things left they could hit me with were physical and magic attacks.

However, someone like me who had infinite shields wouldn’t be hit in the first place.

All of them had metal legcuffs.

Almost like being punished in hell.

Think about it. Like a frozen field, slippery and cold, and the sound the metals clinging against the floor as they charge.

To get them all, I had pulled 300 at once.

Running to the end of the dungeon to pull them all, I saw them approach me. It was like a scene from a zombie movie.

“KWAGH!”

“Ugh. Disgusting.”

‘Ghouls with such killing intent. But they’re only fodder for my profit.’

A level 50 Meteor fell upon them.

As the skill level rose, the increase in size and speed could be easily seen.

However I couldn’t take them all out at once like that.

They’re level 23 dungeon monsters. Wouldn’t be defeated so easily now, would they?

The Meteor struck, blowing the mobs to pieces. However, as if still alive, the pieces began to charge.

Most died from the secondary fire damage over time.

The ones on the radius’ outskirts survived and began attacking again.

However.

Half out of the horde of ghouls pouring on me were sliced apart due to the Reflect Shield.

The Reflect Shield was already over level 150, with a 40% chance to deflect 65% of the damage taken.

It was time to prove that Ghouls do far more damage compared to how sturdy they are.

Hit by the 65% reflect damage, they disappeared like red smoke.

I welcomed the narration of my experience rising.

The red glow from the Blood Stone made me happy as I could be.

The speed which I’m clearing with is incredible too.

The experience per kill was far below the griffon ² and the poison nagas…

But I was clearing out plenty of them as if buying hotcakes at a sale.

* * *

“Hey. Min-Cheol. The picture you showed me. I found out where I saw it before.”

“The machines installed atop the portals?”

“Yeah. Look at this.”

Jong Ho opened a thick heavy folder.

The paperwork within was yellowed with age, as it was at least 20 years old.

My hopes rose at his confidence attitude.

“This. This is it!”

When I saw the same machines form the Noblesse’s guild building, I pointed with excitement.

Just like what I saw, the picture had hundreds of Awakened connected to it, transferring mana.

Reading the information below it, apparently it was an experiment to try finding out how to stop portals from exploding.

The purpose was to pour out condensed mana to nullify the portal.

“It’s similar….”

“This about it. The post-it was made accidentally from attempts of making the super glue. Is it possible that they’re using this machinery to speed up or cause the portals to explode?”

Jong Ho had a point.

Jin and his group wouldn’t work on research to get rid of the portals. They weren’t the type to do that sort of work.

It also makes sense why they want my ability of having endless mana.

Using my endless mana to hasten or cause the portals to explode.

The target would be to a portal above level 28, similar to the ones found within a volcano.

“Oho?”

“And apparently according to the news at that time, the research caused the portals to explode, which led to mass casualties. After that, all the nations forbade anyone from messing with the portals.”

“I’m sure of it. Mana sent to the portals hastens the explosion.”

“That’s right. They must be aiming for that.”

“The government or the association should have learned about this from the underground floor of the Noblesse’s guild building, and there should have been similar cases before. But why is this news not public? Even if you keep it under wraps to prevent mass panic, it wouldn’t make sense that it wasn’t exposed for all these years.”

“Do you think that fruits come from a tree that is rotted to its roots? Even if it bore fruit, it would probably be eaten from the inside out by bugs. You cannot trust the association or the government at the moment.”

“…..”

“Was there a point to telling you that this era is for the criminals?”

For a moment, I had thought to go to the association or the government with information regarding Jin and their group.

But due to the interference in signal, I was not able to record any proof. If I acted rashly, their guns would be pointed at me.

It’s going to be a personal fight.

I can’t help it but it’s going to be filled with bitterness, loneliness, and difficulties.

“Thanks hyung.”

“I can understand maybe 10% of your mother’s interest in studying. Found a lot of good stuff as I looked.”

“Please let me know if you get ahold of any good info like this. Sorry I always rely on you.”

“Do you see it? I have goose bumps. I say this every time but please let’s refrain from talking like that.

“Ku. I get it.”

* * **

In the sector of Mapo-gu was the headquarters of the Korean Awakened association.

It was a meeting dealing with special cases.

A location where they interrogated 20 members. Some had unlawful entries to the dungeon, while others had unnatural growth.

There were those that would help you get into dungeons for the right price by using their credentials.

To get their licenses revoked, they must’ve have done plenty of a crimes.

Most had caused physical harm or damaged property using the strength they gained from being an Akawened.

In the center sat a 40 years old man.

He was the vice president and special director of the Awakened, Kim Ho Jin.

He was yelling as he slammed the desk.

“How can this be?”

“You’re right.”

“How does someone who became Awakened in August go into a level 23 dungeon by himself?”

“No matter how rich you are, it’s difficult… What should we do?”

“What do you think. Report it immediately and take countermeasures. What. He even took the bonus for taking care of the succubi portal explosion in September? He’s definitely someone we have to confirm!”

“We’ll take care of it immediately.”

The association’s topic was Min-Cheol.

To enter the dungeons, and Awakened had to verify themselves using their license by the machinery at the entrance of the dungeon.

Both entering and exiting. All the data was recorded and sent to the association.

During both the succubi portal explosion and the attempt to receive the reward for it, the association had been suspicious of Min-Cheol.

A level 18 dungeon was understandable, but a level 23 dungeon…

A dungeon difficulty that is way beyond someone who has been an Awakened for only 100 days.

Thinking of it as a simple error, the machines were checked repeatedly for those dungeons.

The association came to the conclusion that someone was clearing the dungeon under the guise of Min-Cheol via using his license.

“Start surveillance on the owner of the license!”

---

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46. The Firing from the Readied Marksman Begins

“Hello?”

“Hey Min-Cheol. Where are you?”

“In front of the association building. When do you think you’ll finish?”

“This stuff isn’t important to listen to. I’ll be escorting your mother outside in 10 minutes.”

“Ok. I’ll be in front of the subway. Exit 3.”

Due to the heavy amount of security around the association building, I decided to wait by the subway.

I had wiped all the blood off me, as well as getting a change of clothes.

But I could not hide the scent of blood that permeated my skin.

I looked around my surroundings briefly.

Soon, I saw my mother and Jong Ho exiting.

“Oh my. Why are you so smelly.”

“I went hunting. How was the debate?”

“Don’t even ask. You can’t go around hitting people, okay? Especially beating the weak to death, to the point where you can’t even recognize their corpses. I don’t know where the world is headed towards.”

At my mother’s words, my heart became heavy.

Didn’t I just kill over 500 members of the guild?

But I do not regret today’s events in the slightest.

I had to get tougher, both physically and mentally.

To protect what is mine, I could take on more.

“Hey. What do you think I think of you. Mom already knows. You won’t hurt anyone first.”

“You’re wrong. Even if a regular person attacks first, you have to solve it with words.”

“Ok! I got it, I got it. Guess you had quite the fun, since you’re still talking. Let’s go home already. I’m hungry.”

* * *

After coming back home and finishing the meal, I talked to Jong Ho about Jin.

I needed a plan to deal with him.

He already fully understood my abilities.

But I had no information regarding his abilities or the superiors above him.

And I can handle their attacks to some degree.

But I could not guarantee the safety of my mother when I leave to hunt.

Jong Ho was surprised at my infinite mana ability, as he heard it for the first time.

He did guess that my mana regeneration rate was insanely high.

Why would I trust him so much to the point where I’d share my ability?

It’s a bit embarrassing, but I had the midget do a background search on Jong Ho using a mid-ranking assassin.

All I could find out was that he was a better man than I thought he was.

That’s why I trust him with my mother during the Noblesse incident.

I teased him about how I could not hide the truth from him, but I couldn’t hate him.

Jong Ho shifted the topic to the battle’s events.

“An attack through 3 level 100 shields? Definitely something else for sure.”

“I don’t care about how amazing he is. I’m worried for my mother’s safety. The day we meet again is going to be his funeral.”

My rare look of seriousness must have made him feel awkward, because he waited until I finished.

“But there one thing that I found amusing.”

“What would that be?”

“Hyung, think about it carefully. If someone that skilled attacked, wouldn’t they aim for the heart or through the head?”

“That’s true.”

“But he aimed for my stomach. Definitely an injury I could die from, but not something you’d die instantly from.”

“Hm….”

“Due to the 3 shields I had on, the attack angle got shifted? That’s possible. However, I felt it for sure. That he aimed for a non-vital spot on purpose.”

“Their income line the Noblesse guild is heading towards annihilation, so why would he not finish you off in one hit? Don’t you think his attack missed its mark?”

“As I said before, he already knows about my ability. If I take that into account, I’m guessing that he needs my infinite mana ability.”

Soon as I finished talking, I pulled out my smartphone.

It was to show what I filmed on the 15th underground floor.

Jong Ho’s expression turned serious, and he began to focus on the smartphone.

“What is this?”

“It’s the Noblesse’s 15th underground floor. Do you have any idea what this machine is?”

“Ah… where did I see this.”

Jong Ho was trying to think of something.

“I became sure of something after looking at this.”

“Sure of?”

“The thing which they’re extracting out of all those people. It’s mana.”

“Mana? So they extract all the mana and send it to the portal? For what reason?”

“That I do not know. But the mana required will be something that even mana from hundreds of people cannot complete. Due to how much they need my ability, they can’t act rashly.”

“If what you say is right, you’ll be okay for a while. But they’ll probably point their sword as you, just like how Noblesse did.”

“Of course I’ll have to get enough power to rip them apart. And before I do that, I need to guarantee my mother’s safety. So I could be at ease and focus on getting stronger.”

“There is a simple method.”

“What’s that?”

“You just have to cast a skill on your mother.”

“You can’t cast anything but attack skills on regular people though?”

That was true.

Including the Status Negation that Park Hyun used, as well as heal, attack and defensive buffs, etc. could not be used on anyone but the Awakened.

There was no way Jong Ho didn’t know this.

But Jong Ho isn’t the type to just make up nonsense.

I prayed that what he was about to say was the solution I needed.

“Recovery or buff skills are impossible. But attacks are fine, right?”

“… What do you mean?”

I couldn’t help but be surprised at what Jong Ho said.

However he continued on without his expression changing in the slightest.

“Necromancer has a skill called ‘Proof of Oath’ that you can use.”

“What’s that?”

“Basically you make the target your servant.”

“Wait hyung. I don’t think you understand. I….”

“You can only cast it on targets much weaker than you. A skill that’s like a debuff, but it is classified as an attack skill.”

“…..”

“Originally it’s used to transfer all the damage taken by the user to the target, like a human meat shield. But the funny thing is that it also goes the other way around as well.”

“Really? If there is a skill like that, I feel like Necromancer deserves far more praise than the king of VIPs, the tanks. Or even the all-purpose warriors.”

“That’s true. But if I didn’t know about your ability, I wouldn’t recommend this skill.”

“What do you mean?”

“Nobody in the world can use this skill. At least not as of yet. Well, I don’t think it would even be used in the future anyways.”

“Is the mana cost that much? How much is it?”

“5 million. Exactly 5 million. If mankind kept evolving endlessly, it would be possible to use. If death doesn’t exist, they could continue to level and by using incredible items… cast the skill. But that doesn’t apply to you, does it?”

“But if you use that skill, won’t you take away their will? Since you could control them.”

“That’s true, but that depends on your control. You could take over their minds, or you could just have the effect of the skill on them and leave their mind alone.”

If what Jong Ho said was correct, this was the perfect plan.

Even if my mother is attacked, all the damage would be transferred to me.

Other than skills beyond being classified with a rank, there is no attack that could go through my Mana Shield.

And it has the benefit of not tampering with the will of the target if desired.

No matter how much it costed, it was something I needed to obtain.

I couldn’t hide my excitement as I asked.

“It would be incredibly expensive, right?”

“Yes… incredibly expensive.”

“I only have to Awakened Essences, but would that be enough?”

“Difficult.”

“Where could I get it?”

“Probably in the trash dump behind the market place.”

“Ah. I almost hit you. So a skill that’s worthless.”

“Of course, who would buy a skill that’s worthless even after you obtain it? If you hunt a Mimic, something crazy like that drops.”

“How did you know this so well?”

“I’ve been working on the bottom level of society for this long. This is just the basics.”

I headed to the market with Jong Ho.

* * *

It’s been a week since I wiped out Noblesse and Park Hyun.

I immediately obtained the skill Jong Ho talked about.

A magician could cast it by using both hands.

Thankfully it wasn’t a skill that required constant casting like Mana Shield.

It continued to stay on with just one cast, and only needed to be recasted when you controlled the target.

I needed to test the effect of the skill.

I couldn’t just cast the skill on my mother without being safe.

But there was a quick and easy way to find out.

It was Sunday morning.

I headed towards the scream I heard in the kitchen with urgency.

My mother had cut her finger while cooking.

She held onto the finger tightly.

But when she opened her hand, there was no wound, as if the cut never happened.

She was surprised, but thought of it as being fortunate. She didn’t seem that suspicious.

I was using Mana Shield.

Even if it was the all cutting rose knife, she would not have a wound.

The news had the ‘Disappearance of Noblesse’s guild members’ as a special feature.

They were treating it as a mystery, since they could not find a single trace of them.

500 were treated as murdered, but there was nothing about the portal.

The Association was not able to find the portal in the building?

The chance of that happening was zero.

And the machine set up around the portal was cleanly removed.

Guess they couldn’t let it be exposed through the media.

Through the skill Proof of Oath, I could finally feel a bit more relieved concerning my mother.

But Jin is incredibly skilled.

If he’s following an organization, there must be people far more powerful than him.

If they had a skill beyond a ranking? Then I would be done in without any resistance.

I had bought myself some time due to my ability.

I had to use this opportunity to the fullest so that I would not be hit by any attack. That was the amount of growth I needed.

Since level 19 to 21 dungeons could not be hit magic attacks, I went to the level 23 dungeon.

To make the hunting go by faster, I had even obtained the Louver’s Necklace at the level 18 dungeon, so I could use both hands without worry.

Using the set effect, I could create a shield using their magical essences.

Anything the dungeon threw at me could easily be blocked by this shield.

I went through the level 18 dungeon for the necklace, but I also leveled.

I had reached level 170, and put all the points into the stamina stat.

There was no reason to put any more points into strength.

Just counting the amount I put in, it was already past 600.

It was something only a warrior who only put strength stat until level 118 could reach.

Both Banwol Jincheon on both my hands gave a massive stat bonus to my strength already.

Unless a skill or an item that nullified all magic appeared, I planned to put all the points into dexterity and stamina.

That was also the reason to choose the level 23 dungeon.

It was to obtain the defensive gear dropped from that dungeon.

“Jin or whoever it may be, I’ll shoot the moment I’m ready.”

---

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