Author: Xerenity

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39. Slam. Charge. (2)

The daily repetitive hunting and selling drops.

And the massive amount of earnings matching it.

I was preparing to enter the dungeon at my usual time.

Then.

I felt a massive crash and vibration that shook me.

My shield had a crack in it as if a bullet was embedded in bullet proof glass.

“What! Who’s the little shit!”

My sights came on a few Awakened assembled at the entrance.

My shield had recovered at an incredible rate, regenerating thanks to my endless mana.

A situation where it looked like I swore loudly to myself.

To my yelling, everyone looked at me as if I was a weirdo.

But I definitely saw. And felt.

After leaving the guild, I made it a habit to always think of the shield cool down and constantly cast it to make sure it stays up.

A possibility that made me uneasy, I guess.

But now. Someone had attacked me on my way to the dungeon.

If my shield level was low, it was an attack that was lethal.

A sharp and precise attack that aimed for my vitals.

I tried to predict where the swift attack came from.

I quickly looked around but couldn’t find anyone.

Someone accidentally casted a spell? No way.

Incredible power. Stealthing swiftly. Someone had targeted me.

And an incredibly skilled one at that…..

I forced myself to calm down and acted as if nothing happened.

If I let myself get controlled by emotions, I would only reveal more weaknesses.

My composure only lasted for a moment though.

I felt someone looking at me from the roof of a building.

It wasn’t a distance where you could clearly make out a face, but it felt like he was smiling at me.

No, I was sure. He was laughing at me.

“……”

I ground my teeth.

He turned around as if to say he did what he came to do.

Looking at that, I wanted immediately land a meteor where he was at.

Who could it be.

There was a couple that I had in mind.

But suddenly like this?

And after attacking, appearing atop the roof as if wanting me to see him.

‘It’s not over. Just the beginning.’ – Is the message he was trying to send.

I didn’t worry for long however.

‘Hm….. Is it happening like Jong Ho-hyung predicted?’

The face that appeared on my mind!

Noblesse’s guild master Park Hyun.

It’s been a couple months since I quit the guild, about the time that I’d let my guard down thinking I was safe.

If my thinking is correct, it was definitely her fox-like crafty self who was behind this.

Her words that I didn’t understand and skipped over.

‘If you do not need a guild, do as you wish. But you don’t know how life will turn out. If we do meet again and you return to us, I hope that you’ll be with us.’

Thinking about the current situation, I could understand the meaning behind her words now.

She has already predicted my ability to a certain degree.

Otherwise she wouldn’t have offered such an enticing contract for me to join.

But I do not think she knows that I am wary of her.

If she knew, she wouldn’t say that as I quit and there would be no attacks like this.

Otherwise, after quitting, I’d disappear without a word.

I could also guess what she wants from me.

Instead of the constant danger, come over to the safe fenced side.

The image of me that reflected off her fox-like eyes was an 18 year old child.

‘You’ll soon understand thoroughly that I’m not such a weak opponent.’

I stared at where he stood for a while.

Seems it was time for me to make an important decision.

I’m sure the two goons and the midget hates me.

However. Hiring someone of that skill just because of revenge?

No matter how much money was involved, the chances were low.

And if they really did try getting at me, they’d attack until I was gravely wounded.

Also they would make sure that their identity would be exposed.

* * *

It was the first time I was attacked by an Awakened instead of monsters.

I could almost feel the massive shaking even now.

The call from Jong Ho came.

Just in case more issues would arise, I talked within the dungeon.

Of course I cleared out the dungeon first, and used the leftover time before the dungeon expired.

“How about it? Pretty sure?”

“Hm… No matter how I look at it, it’s done by Noblesse.”

“Hyung. There was nothing stuck to the shield. What skill was that?”

“Probably Assassin Weapon Throw, and an Awakened version at that.”

“That’s something assassins use, right?”

“Yeah. It’s a skill to throw a small weapon toward a single target with perfect precision, but once you Awaken it, you can pressurize air and make it invisible.”

“Not a ranged attack, but a single target skill. A skill like that is incredibly hard to level up, but on top of that he Awakened it?”

“Definitely high skilled.”

“Guess it starts now?”

“What are you planning to do?”

“….. If I can buy more time, I could crush them. But looks like they caught on and are trying to take care of me quickly? Instead of just waiting and doing nothing, it’s probably better to strike first.”

“You’re saying you’re going to charge Noblesse first by yourself?”

“Solo? I have a hyung.”

“……”

Jong Ho’s eyes were filled with worry.

But I had a plan in mind.

Even if I go in without a plan, I probably wouldn’t lose.

Level 200s and 300s would only have 5 skills maxed at most.

Noblesse’s guild master Park Hyun was only early level 200.

But I had gained 150 levels in 4 months.

And all skills obtained were at master level.

I was already raising Awakened skills at the moment.

The one thing that I could improve on was the lack of shields to protect myself.

The only shields I currently have are Reflect Shield, Frozen Shield, and Spirit Armor.

The Reflect Shield was Awakened for reflecting purposes.

The other two skills had their duration and damage absorbed increased drastically as their level rose. However, they still had a cool down.

In the fight ahead, I would have to block a huge amount of damage with my shields.

If my shields broke faster than I planned, the results would be obvious.

I sorted out my thoughts and spoke to Jong Ho.

“Hyung. Does the association vendor Mana Shield?”

“Mana Shield? Even at the association, it would be hard to buy.”

“Is that so? Like Hold and Bind, there are just none on the market?”

“Mhm. It would be difficult to get one by using legal means.”

“I see. Then I’ll have to rely on the small fry.”

“Hm? Small fry? What do you mean?”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll go first.”

“Okay. If something happens, contact me. Don’t ask rashly!”

“Don’t worry about a thing.”

“Together… Never mind. Said it out of habit. In this serious situation, you’re able to joke? Get home quick.”

“Pfft. I’ll be going!”

* * *

I headed toward the small fry’s office.

Originally I approximately knew where to contact him, but when I moved to the safe house, I was able to find his business card.

Since there was a pile of it that I could find, he probably threw one down each time he visited.

I entered by smashing through the office door.

I only came to ask for a favor, but I remembered how he used to treat my poor door.

Of course, the pile of business cards played a part in angering me.

Their eyes widened as they stared at me blankly with jajangmyeon in their hands. ¹

“Sorry. I remembered how you bashed my door down. Are you well?”

“…… So you came?”

The two goons tossed aside the bowls and hurried greeted me.

As they greeted me, I walked in front of the midget.

Looking at him dead in the eyes, I told what I came for.

“I was hit by an Assassin Weapon Throw today. I’m asking just in case. You didn’t, right?”

“Me… What… Oh! No way. That’s absurd.”

“Well, whatever. The mission this time is ‘Mana Shield’.”

“Huh?”

“I told you I don’t like repeating the same thing twice before.”

“Ah… Yes! Mana Shield. But the price can’t be compared with the previous items…..”

“Don’t worry about the costs; you just need to obtain it.”

“Yes…..”

“3 days. It’s urgent.”

“3 days is…..  At least 1 we-”

One of the two goons spoke.

Before he could finish!

Around me were countless Banwol Jincheon’s coming out.

They should be aware of the weapon and Piercing Sword skill I have.

I casted the skill and asked.

“One week?”

Mr. Goon swallowed his words along with his food and continued.

“That’s not what I meant! 3 days. Plenty of time.”

“There’s one more thing I need to request.”

“What would it be….”

“I don’t want to do the trade face to face this time.”

“Yes. Not difficult at all.”

“Then I’ll be re-ly-ing on you.”

I said it as I stared down each of them one by one.

I never thought they could be this useful.

But there is a law in the world.

The law I’m talking about is how I get what I want and nobody gets hurt.

Well, not really my concern if these guys get hurt.

* * *

I left the midget’s office.

3 days. I had to get ‘Louver’s Necklace’ and another ‘Banwol Jincheon’ in 3 days.

I had the taxi change directions from the hunting grounds to the Awakened market.

If I get the right gear and weapon, I needed a physical attack skill to match it.

The skills I chose were ‘Gigantic Whirl’ and ‘Typhoon Hole’. ²

I remembered ‘Whirlwind’ back in the guild war.

Spinning their body quickly to deal massive damage with the weapon held.

If Whirlwind had the range of 4 to 5m radius, Gigantic Whirlwind had 10m.

It was as if you Awakened the regular Whirlwind spell.

Whirlwind and Gigantic Whirlwind were both A ranking spells.

Then it would be obvious to use Gigantic Whirlwind over the other.

However both had a different rate of mana consumption.

Most warrior skills used up percentage of mana.

It would depend on the skill level, but the base was 3% for Whirlwind while 10% for Gigantic Whirlwind.

Same damage and same type of attack.

But the added range increased the mana consumed as well.

If one gets caught up in this skill, they’d be ripped apart like food in a blender.

If used with a massive amount of strength, it would make a huge impact against many opponents.

The next skill, ‘Typhoon Hole’.

It was a skill mentioned in the additional information section of ‘Eye of the Storm’.

The explanation stated that the skills have incredible synergy.

Eye of the Storm caused all living targets around the user to spin around the user, being dragged in closer and closer.

Typhoon Hole spun the other direction that Eye of the Storm did.

However, Typhoon Hole was an attack skill that incorporated sharp knife-like rain drops.

Eye of the Storm had increased damage dealt as it leveled, while Typhoon Hole spun the other way, dealing damage over time.

If both skills were leveled up, it will be able to display an incredible synergy.

“I’m here to purchase Gigantic Whirl and Typhoon Hole.”

---

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38. Slam. Charge.

Originally, I planned to use the level 18 dungeon until somewhere around level 150 to 170.

However, I had already hit level 148.

The dungeons following are immune to magic.

Since I only had ‘Piercing Sword’ for physical attacks, I needed a plan.

‘Devil Avatar’ had a physical based basic attack, but without the magic effect, it was pretty weak.

I had two choices.

First, learn physical attack based skills to go into level 19 to 21 dungeons.

Secondly, skip them and go to the level 22 dungeon.

My classmate Taesung had said that the highest ranking dungeon that was solo cleared was level 28.

It was done by Korean ranker ‘Cheu Hyo-sun’, and no one has topped it in the world so far.

Entering the dungeon is different from an online game.

Failing to clear the dungeon in a game would just result in relogging.

But in reality, if you can’t hold out for 60 minutes, your cold corpse would disappear with the dungeon.

In 10 minutes, I was able to obtain 2,000,000 experience.

One type of monster gave 200,000 experience, and about 10 to 15 of them appeared, so technically I am actually obtaining more.

Even with the massive amount of experience required to level up from 148, I should be able to level twice a day by focusing only on hunting.

My decision was to stay at the level 18 dungeon until an M/A ranking weapon dropped.

I’m not forsaking growth for a weapon.

And I’m not looking only at the experience and forsaking the weapon.

The boss that appears in the dungeon is a ‘hidden boss’.

What this means is that there is a higher chance for Awakened Essences to drop compared to a normal dungeon.

Also there is the guaranteed drop of a skill book.

There was no place safe like this while giving me this many benefits.

* * *

I met the magician ranker Yoon Jong-sun from the time I’ve hunted with Jong Ho once more.

This wasn’t the first time.

After the first time we met, we met in front of the level 18 dungeon 3 times.

Escorting Ilseong’s granddaughter, our eyes met only once.

The first words he spoke were…

“You, what kind of an ability do you possess?”

Even if you were an Awakened, you could not stop the ravages of time.

The portals began spawning 40 years ago.

Within a year, Awakened began to appear.

Those with the highest chance of Awakening were at the ages between 15 to 19.

Those that became Awakened then now are rankers in the ages of 50s to 60s.

The Awakened age just like normal people.

Of course, only their looks fade.

Their bodies however are still affected by the stats they’ve obtained.

But they are still people.

Each person had a determined lifespan.

Depending on how well you take care of yourself, there are some differences.

No matter how much ability you had, you could not avoid aging and death. Destiny is inescapable.

I had the appearance of a child, no matter how you looked at it.

And Jong Ho was in his late 20s. He did not appear old.

But with two Awakened entering a level 18 dungeon and coming out within 30 minutes with all the loot.

Yoon Jong-sun probably guessed that one of us had an incredible ability.

Especially with a kid wearing Titan Boots, which not even a total of 5 people own.

It was to be expected that he would become incredibly curious.

After seeing us, he came to the dungeon every day.

Not finding Jong Ho, but seeing me enter it solo, he had come up to speak with me.

“Dunno. Is there a reason for me to tell you?”

“No… Ah. Sorry for the late introductions. My name is Yoon Jong-sun.”

Expecting other’s to know his name, he must’ve had a lot of confidence.

“Yes. I’m aware you’re famous. I’m Kim Min-Cheol.”

“I don’t know what ability you have, but seems we’ll meet again.”

“Since people are unpredictable, suppose that could happen.”

“If that day comes, I hope we are on the same side.”

“…..”

“Do take care.”

With a gruff voice that matched his looks, he turned and walked away.

I could only stare at his figure aghast.

I felt like I was shaken by something huge.

From what I heard from Jong Ho, he was the person who had stopped the second wave of destruction after the central plant center exploded.

He who had a righteous attitude like that to tell me such had brought many thoughts to my mind.

* * *

Late afternoon. Noblesse’ guild building.

The elevator from the underground 15th floor that Park Hyun rode was slowly rising to her office floor.

“Jhin. How goes the work I asked for?”

She spoke as if knowing that he was there.

Then.

From her shadows, a dark figure rose.

Jhin. An incredibly skilled assassin who used one of the highest S ranking skill called ‘Shadow Step’.

Assassins. Called a murderer more often than not, they excelled in something other than hunting.

They could deal massive damage to a single target.

Masking their presence, they could stab into their weaknesses.

With a fake smile, Jhin spoke to Park Hyun.

“Those two? Looks like they’re dogs that cannot follow the master’s orders.”

“I already know that from the reports. No reason for him to meet Jae Hyuk and he’s drifted away from Sangmin…”

“That’s why I did something myself. Instead of those two, I spied on the kid Kim Min-cheol.”

“As expected of you.”

“You should probably go ahead with your plan a lot earlier than you think you should.”

“What do you mean?”

“From the two days I’ve been observing him, he’s been heading to the level 18 dungeon. By himself.”

“What? No matter how fast his mana regenerates, he shouldn’t be growing any further than being able to clear the succubi dungeon for now.”

“I say only what I saw. The rest is up to you.”

“……”

“How goes the underground project?”

“I was actually on my way from checking the progress of it.”

“Oho…. The result?”

“Failure… But there seems to be some progress. Hard to match the conditions.”

“The brass is waiting for good news. Then….”

The red glow from his sword reflected his eyes behind the mask.

After finishing his words, he hid himself in the shadows once more.

“The project is enough of a headache, but him too…..”

* * *

Gwidon was hit on the head with Meteor Call.

It’s been some time since it used the barrel in its left hand.

Swinging the iron mace with its last strength, it perished from the meteor.

[500,000 exp obtained.]

“Hm?”

Something big rose above its corpse.

I wanted to run towards it and check it immediately, but Louver came charging.

“Come forth. Come!”

The level 18 dungeon’s hidden boss and the Louver were easy as a level 1 dungeon clear.

Not even paying attention to its corpse, I turned around and headed towards Gwidon’s corpse.

The item dropped from it finally came into view.

And I yelled loudly with my eyes wide open.

I pretty much lived at this dungeon.

Everything was to obtain this item.

“It finally dropped!”

M/A ranking ‘Banwol Jincheon’ had dropped. ³

It was one of the biggest one hand swords out there.

Living up to its name, it had a crescent shape of the moon and glowed as if moonlight reflected off of it.

The handle had a small hole at the bottom of it without any decorations or patterns.

Even with the size of 1.5m, it was incredibly light.

Perhaps it was due having nearly 600 strength.

But I had about the same strength when I was using ‘Black Sword’. Something felt different about this sword.

I held the sword tightly in my hand.

Strength: [585+20+400+100] = 1105

I felt the change reflected on the status window.

Banwol Jincheon raised my strength by 400.

On top of that, it raised total strength by 10%.

I swung it through the empty air.

The large sword’s thin and sharp slashing sound filled the dungeon.

Now I had achieved half of what I wanted.

You could equip up to two of single handed weapons like Banwol Jincheon.

Even at Awakened markets, it was hard to see any warriors with this sword.

It was proof that monsters had a terribly low drop rate for weapons.

But compared to others, I could clear faster and much more than them.

And even if the sword dropped, they’d have to share the earnings between the standard 6 people in the party.

If you weren’t important in the party, you couldn’t even get the sword even if it dropped in front of you.

Gwidon dropped another skill book, and dropped a jewel with the same color as the one from Kelvacore.

It must be a jewel that raised your strength by 30.

Weapons from monsters can be embedded with a jewel as well.

However, unlike the swords made from blacksmiths, there was no spot for the jewel to be put in.

I would have to get the jewel processed and put it in the small hole at the end of the handle.

The number of jewel I could have processed into the weapon was only one.

It wasn’t like the smith’s weapon that could have two embedded, but I couldn’t do anything about it.

The processed jewels couldn’t even be recovered.

But this weapon was going to be with me for a while.

Until I get an M/S ranking weapon that is.

I took all the drops from Gwidon.

Without a thought, I headed towards the center of the dungeon.

But then I felt something was wrong.

Felt like I forgot something important.

There was plenty of time until the dungeon despawned.

“Louver….. Did I check its drops?”

With a doubt in mind, I went back.

Since I was so hyped over Banwol Jincheon, I hadn’t even glanced at Louver.

With the massive movespeed gained from the Titan Boots, it didn’t take long for me to arrive.

I was shocked as soon as I arrived.

There was a single ring above Louver’s corpse.

“What in the world…”

With one clear, I was able to obtain both Banwol Jincheon and Louver’s ring.

I had ran this dungeon hundreds of times, but it felt like I ran it thousands of times.

All the items dropped had been basic stuff.

Of course, there was the mimic.

But now that these dropped, I felt like all the hard work wasn’t a waste.

Now I had two pieces from the Louver set.

I was glad that the ring that had incredible synergy with the bracelet had dropped first.

Louver’s ring absorbs mana and feeds it to the bracelets.

There were no monsters in the dungeon currently that used magic attacks.

However, the dungeons after and possible attacks from other Awakened could use magic attacks. I could absorb their attacks and use an empowered skill in return.

I put on the ring on my finger.

No stat gains.

However, the ring and the bracelet reacted to one another with a blue glow.

If I was able to obtain the necklace as well, I should have no need to cast shields within the dungeon.

A sword. And Louver’s necklace.

If I was able to obtain these, I should be able to rise to greater heights.

I felt strength come to my legs as I headed over to the dungeon once more.

“Let’s get to work.”

---

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37. Exp Continues to Rise (4)

These cute little things, finally revealing themselves.

Awakened Essences.

“I just hit level 63 right now. I only have one skill that’s over level 90.”

“Is that so? Even if you’re level 63, you don’t normally reach skill level 100?”

“Of course. That’s obvious. Mana is limited, and the experience required to level up skills is enormous.”

“Hm… Hyung. I think I found something funny to show you.”

“What’s that?”

Jong Ho’s eyes widened as he fumbled through the stones.

He opened his palm to uncover three Awakened Essences.

For over three months, I had spent at least 12 hours a day, or up to 18 hours a day, hunting without any breaks.

Even with that, I was only able to earn 2 Awakened Essences.

But with the mimic, I had just earned three.

Jong Ho did not look like he could close his mouth anytime soon.

Jong Ho said that he was able to earn an Awakened Essence through party hunting once.

But he had to share the profit between 8 members.

The records in the trading center show that since the profit was split between 9 members, it became obvious to anyone that these were low leveled players.

Jong Ho continued to speak.

“I’m continued to be surprised. Really.”

“Hyung. I’m almost scared of opening the duffle backpack.”

“Don’t you have one or two skills that are near level 100?”

“Of course. There are a few.”

‘Plenty of skills begging to be Awakened’ is the truth though.

“That’s good. You’ll need the Awakened Essences soon.”

“Still, you should take one, hyung. It doesn’t come by often. Once you get a skill to level 100, how could I let you wait?”

“I’ll say I received the skill books because they were warrior class only. But this isn’t.”

“Should I feed it to the hounds?”

“Yeah. This is something I wouldn’t receive even if it was fed to the hounds. I’ve lived my life by reading people and keeping my pride. Don’t make me doubt anymore.”

“Stubborn.”

“Yeah! Being a hyung, how can I live depending only on you? Let’s see the rest of the gear.”

Jong Ho rubbed his nose once with his finger, and began to search through the equipments buried under all the blood stones.

It’s little habits like this that make it impossible to hate him.

I also joined Jong Ho’s search.

“Looks like all the gear is useless?”

“Why? You don’t have any mana rings. Stop using that skull ring. The ring and necklace raises your mana, so you can use it.”

“Not pretty. I have a thing called preference, so I’d appreciate it if you let me stick to it.”

“Sounds like you’re very spoiled. You sure you’re not going to use it?”

“Yes. Stones and the gear are going to be sold, and I’ll give you half. If you won’t even receive this, I’m not going to meet you again.”

“You’re just like a pumpkin farmer. Thanks!”

The items we acquired through hunting with Jong Ho were amazing.

Three Awakened Essences, skill books, blood stones, and the rare Titan Boots.

It wouldn’t have been possible without the mimic.

It was the first time Jong Ho had seen a mimic, and he had been Awakened for years.

I felt as though the mimic’s tongue that was sticking out would appear in my dreams for the next couple of days.

* * *

The amount summoned by ‘Devil Avatar’ had increased by two.

It was due to arriving at skill level 100.

Due to the 60 minutes cool down, it bothered me a lot.

But thankfully I didn’t only earn 1 skill experience for summoning it.

The enemies hit by the summoned’s skills gave experience as well.

Red. Blue. Yellow. These are what they are called.

Personally, I liked Blue, since it could cast frost magic.

With one cast, there would be days when two Blues would come out.

I only had Frost Orb as far as frost magic would go, so I needed frost magic that would slow down my enemy’s movement.

The spot was being filled by Blue instead.

The 4m avatar displayed some incredible destructive force.

At level 100, they could slow down the movement of the level 18 monsters just by being near them.

Something similar to a frost aura.

Avatars didn’t only attack with magic.

Each hand held a giant sword.

The shape was something like that of table knife.

Their attacks, both physical and magic, would freeze opponents solid. How much the mobs froze depended on how many times they attacked.

The sword attacks were physical, but it had effects as though if it was enchanted.

From the sky rained icicles while the avatar swung its giant sword.

Kind of made me feel bad for the monsters.

The avatar’s weakness was that they were mortal.

Fire Shock and Gravity Laser caused friendly fire damage.

I could put shields on them and freely cast magic myself.

However, taking care of it myself felt better.

In dungeons where only physical attacks work, it was obvious that they would prove useful.

Also, the summoned would attack until its life force ceased.

Which means that after I summon them, I would be able to freely cast spells with both my hands.

After summoning them for the first time and ending the hunting with them…

I had the worry of ‘How will I bring these giants around?’

With the pressure it exuded and its size, people may mistake it as a portal explosion.

But I found out that you could shrink the Devil Avatars to the point where they could fit in your pockets.

Anytime at my will.

They’ve become something like my own Pokemon.

With their size reducing to that of a finger, they looked a lot cuter than I thought they’d be.

From using the Devil Avatar, I was able to find out the potentials of a summoner.

Fast skill leveling, destructive power, survivability, and even cuteness.

I became really greedy for another high ranking summoner skill.

* * *

It’s been about half a month since I’ve hunted with Jong Ho.

I had learned ‘Iceberg’ and ‘Meteor Call’.

Both were A+ ranking skills, displaying devastating force and price.

But with the vast amounts of B ranking stones and gear earned from the mimic, I was able to amass an earning far more than what I thought I could obtain.

With all the money saved up until now, along with half a month’s worth of hunting, I purchased them.

When I first obtained the Awakened Essences, I thought to sell them so I could afford to purchase more skills.

While this method would speed up my growth immediately, it would be a heavy lost if you considered the future.

I would only be earning more and more money, to the point where I’d be sick of it.

But no matter how much money you had, you couldn’t obtain Awakened Essences.

You’d know it just by looking at Yoon Jong-sun, who worked under Ilseong.

I used one of the essences on Reflect Shield.

Compared to the other shields, the Reflect Shield was superior.

It was a worthwhile investment since it would increase the reflect chance as well as the damage reflected back.

The other two leftovers, I was definitely going to use it on the A+ rank spells.

Originally I was planning to buy Glacial Field, as it did more damage than I thought.

It had an AoE freezing crowd control effect as well.

But I could get the freezing crowd control from the Devil Avatar.

Of course due to the summoned being random out of the three types, there was a chance that Blue won’t come out.

But to hunt faster, I needed stronger skills first. That was my choice.

Out of all the skills I’ve learned so far, none of them had a cast time.

But both Iceberg and Meteor Call had one.

At level 1, both skills needed 5 minutes to cast.

And both had a cool down of 5 minutes.

Thus, it took 10 minutes to be able to finish casting it again.

Thankfully for every 20 skill levels, the cool down would be reduced by 10%.

So if I was able to Awaken these skills and get them up to level 100 again, I could use them without any limit.

It’d only apply to me though.

From level 1, it used up 4,000 mana, and as the spell leveled, so did the cost.

Only a magician who put all his points into the mana stat until level 160 could use one of these spells once when it’s at level 1.

To a regular Awakened, forget about getting it Awakened, you couldn’t even reach level 100.

To test the destructive capabilities of these spells firsthand, I entered the dungeon after obtaining the skills.

Since I was equipping the Titan Boots, my movespeed had increased more than two times.

Running to the end of the dungeon didn’t even take 5 minutes.

It was a massive upgrade from the Boots of Haste, which took 10 minutes.

Arriving at the end of the dungeon with 10 monsters in tow, I used the skill.

From what I’ve seen at the guild pvp, both skills seemed to exist only for the purpose of complete annihilation.

First test was with the Meteor Call.

Above the rabble of monsters flew down a flaming meteor.

The poison naga was instantly decimated due to its weak defensive stats.

The corpses that were left quickly disintegrated, not even leaving ashes behind.

After the meteor falls, it continues to explode and causes damage over time.

The next skill was Iceberg.

The griffons flying above that wasn’t directly hit still flew about without any major injuries.

However.

A massive iceberg came forth from the earth, swallowing them whole.

Without even being able to use Final Attack, they were instantly trapped in the ice and became frozen chicken.

The insides of the iceberg continued to split apart and freeze again.

Almost like mixing puzzle pieces or a rubik’s cube.

Within 5 seconds, the 4 griffons had been ripped apart to pieces until I couldn’t recognize them anymore.

Only a level 1 skill.

But the damage it caused was more than sufficient to surprise me.

Since it had a cool down and cast time, I couldn’t level it up quickly. However, I was certain that I must level them up by any means possible.

Entering the dungeon again, I casted both spells at the same time.

Both skills were of the same level.

However, both skills canceled each other out as if to remind me that they’re both polar opposites, causing zero damage to the monsters.

If I cast a ton of buffs on myself and debuff the enemies, nothing would be a match against these spells. That’s if the dungeon mobs weren’t immune to spells though.

“Does casting Meteor Call and Iceberg on each hand still raise the experience? Or doesn’t it?”

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36. Exp Continues to Rise (3)

Jong Ho continued to swing his knife at thin air.

‘Did he lose his mind because the exit won’t appear?’ was what I thought.

“Hyung, what are you doing? Why are you continuing to swing at thing air…..”

“Min-Cheol. Where did you hunt at?”

“Monsters? I hunted at the end of the dungeon.”

“Yeah? Then turn around and go back towards where you caught them. And cast AoE whenever you have the AoE.”

“Huh. Are you okay hyung? Tell me the reasoning.”

Looking at his face, I asked.

But why? He was smiling brightly.

‘Wow… Feels like I have to find a mental hospital.’

“Why are you so excited?”

“Mimic!”

“Hm? Mimic? Hyung, how many fingers am I holding up?”

I stopped Jong Ho’s wild slashing and held up two fingers.

It looks like I’m joking around, but I was being serious.

Jong Ho laughed half-heartedly, but the happiness in his smile did not fade.

“Two. Who do you think I am!”

“No. Think about it hyung. All the monsters are taken out, but the exit doesn’t open. But the person who came in with is laughing like a madman while swinging his knife. What do you think? It’s scary so let’s hear the reason why.”

“Ah. I didn’t tell you? I guess I forgot because I was excited.”

“Did your return to your senses?”

“Hey! There is a monster left in the dungeon!”

“What are you saying. I beat the hidden boss and the final boss, Louver.”

“Have you heard of a mimic?”

“You kept saying ‘mimic mimic’, but what are you talking about?”

“Treasure. Idiot. One Piece!”

“Ha… do I need to hit you?”

“Sorry. It’s a treasure chest. You can’t tell what’s in it until you take it down.”

“Where is it? Don’t tell me you are ‘stabbing wildly since the monster is invisible’ or something like that.”

He smiled and nodded his head.

“Really?”

“Quickly, turn around and look for it. It shows its face when you hit it once. The person who finds it first should bring it back.”

“Are you telling the truth?”

“Did I ever lie to you?”

“Okay!”

The mimic monster was a funny one.

Gravity Laser, which hits all enemies within its range, could not target it.

It was in perfect stealth.

I was retracing my steps, casting Lightning Spray.

From the center to the end of the dungeon, my curiosity was slowly turning into rage.

To confirm a wider range, I casted Fire Shock every time it came off cooldown.

It was at that moment.

Jong Ho said the ‘mimic’ is a monster shaped like a box.

And this sound surely came from a box made of wood.

My vision that was only on the ground that I treaded changed as I looked around me, and I could see it ‘hop hop’-ing away from me.

“Found you. Come here!”

It was just as Jong Ho said.

It was a chest that looked straight out of pirate movie, holding a ton of treasures.

Instead of giving it a nice greeting, I casted Lightning Spray.

It stuck out its tongue from within and started to madly dash away.

At this rate, I’d be further away from Jong Ho.

I started to spam cast Frozen Orb at it.

I was planning to freeze it solid and bring it back.

But it was a F ranking skill, and it was a monster from a level 18 dungeon.

Despite hitting it countless of times, it only moved faster.

“Damn it. Glacial Field, I’ll learn it for sure!”

Constantly casting Teleport every 3 seconds the cooldown came up, and ran at it as fast as possible.

Noise filled the silent dungeon, like the steps of two race horses.

It didn’t take long for me to overtake it.

I wanted to spam skills at it, but decided to hold off.

It would be good to hunt it together with Jong Ho.

Now it was running the other way around.

I was able to make out the faint outline of Jong Ho swinging his knife in the air.

“Hyung!”

Hearing me yell, Jong Ho stopped slashing and turned around.

I don’t think anyone could be mad at his bright smile.

The fashion terrorist’s new nickname became the ‘smiling angel’.

“Hurry up! Hurry!”

“On my way. Coming.”

Caught between Jong Ho and I, the mimic couldn’t do anything but rattle in place.

“Hyung, should I beat it down with skills?”

“No no. You have to beat it to death.”

“Are you stressed out?”

“That’s not it. It has to be hit a certain amount of times, either skills or sword swinging, to have it open.”

“Ah. Is that so?”

“Punching is its password.”

I wasn’t very pleased with that news.

Pulling up my sleeves, I began to punch it.

“Run! Running the other way?”

The more times I punched, the wider it opened its mouth.

Soon, the chest opened, and it stopped to moving.

However, there was nothing inside.

It was then.

It made a puking noise as it died.

“Done!”

“Wow… does it usually give out this much?”

“No clue. This is the first time I’ve seen it. It’s amazing for sure.”

“Agreed. Let’s take and go. Hyung.”

Since there wasn’t much time left before the dungeon ended, we quickly grabbed everything and ran out.

* * *

Since we worried that we’d get robbed, we quickly headed to Jong Ho ‘s car.

Jong Ho said it was his first time finding a mimic too.

We had enough loot to fill half of a military duffle bag.

“Hyung. We’ll count the B ranking blood stone later. Let’s look at the items first?”

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

Glancing over, 6 items dropped.

With one hand I pulled out the loot, while the other hand used the smart phone to pull the encyclopedia app.

The first match I got was the shoes.

Jong Ho couldn’t help but exclaim.

“Wow! ‘Titan Boots’! I wasn’t sure before since it was dark and we were rushing, but it’s the real deal!”

“Is it good?”

Jong Ho ‘s word made me hurry.

I quickly searched up Titan Boots.

At the same time, ‘human Awakened Encyclopedia’ Jong Ho continued to explain.

“Lucky. Min-Cheol! Even if you hunt for a long time, it will be really difficult to get boots better than this.”

“It’s that good?”

“Yeah! You saw Yoon Jong-sun before we entered, right? The boots he was wearing was this one. Immune to status effects, the Titan Boots! The people who own these boots is 10? No! Less than 5. You can throw away everything else with just this…!”

The phone returned the results.

-Titan Boots-

Immune to all status effects.

Increased movement speed.

It was an ability beyond words.

Immune to all forms of status effects.

Magician’s ice magic.

Shaman, assassins, and necromancer’s poison.

Warrior and priest’s slows.

All of them would become useless against me.

I had obtained something amazing.

“Hyung. What do I do?”

“What do you do! You take off your clothes and run around the track field a hundred times while holding onto the boots, celebrating!”

“Let’s look at the other stuff too. I’m still trying to process.”

“Okay!”

Out of the loot, there were three skill books.

“Should we check the skill books first?”

“Devil Avatar. Il-sum ⁴. Piercing Sword. Those are the drops.”

“Oh. Since it dropped on random, I was worried it would drop stuff below D rank. Thank goodness.”

“Hyung, did you not learn Il-sum and Piercing Sword?”

“No. Not yet. If you sell it at the store, you should be able to get 2 billion at least?”

“Hm? Hyung, you said you didn’t learn it yet.”

“Yeah I didn’t learn it yet. But you learned Piercing Sword already.”

“Why are you doing this? Do we not know each other?”

“Yeah. We are strangers.”

“I do agree. But still take these two, hyung. Learn them right away.”

“Min-Cheol. If it wasn’t for you, would hyung be able to go in the dungeon? I’m already feeling guilty for the level ups. Please don’t do this.”

“Okay. Then I’ll just give it to a stray dog passing by…..”

“Stop! From the mimic onward, are you going to keep joking around?”

“Heh, I knew it. Hurry up and learn it. I’ll be taking Devil Avatar.”

-Devil Avatar-

Usable Class: Summoner (Other classes have 10 times the mana cost)

Mana Cost: 2000 (Per skill leveled, mana cost increases by 10%)

Skill Information: Summons Devil Avatar

As the skill level rises, the summoned damage increases.

It only attacks those the summoner deems as enemies.

Cooldown: 60 minutes.

Duration: Until the summoned dies.

Skill Rank: A

Additional Explanation: Summoned will be at random from one of the three. Fire user, frost user, and lightning user. (Per 100 skill level, summoned number will increase by 1.)

Skill Book Estimated Price: ????

“Do you know anything about Devil Avatar?”

“Summoner classes are rare, so I don’t know that well, but I heard that if they grow well, they display the power of two Awakened. That’s why you can’t ignore a summoner. Wow! The skill is A ranked.”

“That’s true, but the mana cost is 2,000? ‘Is this made with the intent to be used?’ is the thought I get.”

“Of course, if you’re not a summoner you can’t use it. Where would you get the 10 times inflated cost of 20,000 mana? That would mean you’d have to put in 4000 stat points in mana, but that would mean that you’re level 800. Impossible.”

That’s right. You get 5 stat points per level.

To get 20,000 mana, you’d need to put points into mana only until you’re level 800.

That’s why there was zero percent chance that anyone but a summoner would use this skill.

“So it’s really strong?”

“Yeah, from what I know. Since I can’t see an estimated price, looks like it’s a rare skill book. Should I look for information regarding it?”

“No. I’ll keep it. I got a hobby for collecting skill books.”

“Wow… Are you that well off?”

“Should I start raising an extinct cheetah as a pet?”

“Pfft. Let’s go check the rest of the loot.”

Going to the rear seats of the car, we flipped the bag and spilled everything out.

It was because all the equipments were about the same size as the blood stones, so it was hard to find things.

It was then that I saw something that I could not help but be happy to see.

“Hyung. Do you have any skills that are level 100?”

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35. Exp Continues to Rise (2)

“Kya… Min-Cheol.”

“Again. Why?”

“Touch it over here. Doesn’t it feel a lot harder than before?”

“Why are doing this. Ew! Won’t you go away? Shoo! Shoo!”

“Ha…. You’re something else. Hyung’s mood is something else right now. Wow… My eyes have opened to a new world.”

If people only heard what was happening, they would definitely misunderstand this conversation.

The trade business ended earlier than expected.

There was still 9 hours left before the dinner with mother.

Recently, she has become friendly with the residents of the safe house and for the first time ever, decided to go watch a musical.

Mother was finally hanging out with people her age, and was enjoying life to the fullest now.

“It’s been a week since we went on a date together. I’m so sorry. But let’s have a nice dinner at least.”

That’s what she told me as she put on makeup.

Musical.

If you think about it, it’s not a big deal.

Looking so excited like a young lady, I couldn’t help but think that it was cute.

With this situation in mind, the two solo ⁵ Awakened ended up at the level 18 dungeon after finishing the business exchange.

Without anywhere to go, where else would we end up at.

And now, with two level ups, Jong Ho was really hyped.

It was because he experienced hunting on another level unlike anything he did, speed hunting.

Putting 10 points into strength, he showed off his biceps and told me to touch them.

Looking at the childlike happiness Jong Ho had, my heart felt as ease thinking that I had paid off even a little bit of the debt I owed to him.

Before entering, he was rejecting the offer.

Honestly, he was probably half afraid and half sorry for me.

It was only a month ago when I was beating down the succubi, and now going to a level 18 dungeon.

Just the two of us to boot.

I think it took at least 20 minutes to convince him.

‘Sigh.  And too nice as well?’

His type was the type that refuses to cause trouble for others, so he kept making excuses.

At one point, Jong Ho declined it like this.

Guess trying the clear the dungeon sounded very dangerous.

To reassure him, I said that I will clear the dungeon in 20 minutes by myself and pulled out my identification license.

It was to show that I could clear the level 18 dungeon, so I can calm him down.

I was about to have the identification license scanned.

Then.

“Hey. Min-Cheol, don’t do it! It’s too much! Too much!”

“Why are you doing this! I clear this dungeon like I live here.”

“No way! No way! Are you struggling with something? Let’s talk this out with hyung. You have to think about your mother at home!”

“Ha…..”

‘You sweet potato like person…..” ⁶

It was like eating three cold sweet potatoes in a row without any kimchi. ⁷

Jong Ho saw that I was trying to go in and was stopping me with everything he had.

There were no words for what was happening, and I felt that Jong Ho cared for me a lot more than I thought of Jong Ho.

Considering his pleading, I put away my Awakened license.

And then grabbed his hands.

“Yes. Min-Cheol. Good decision. Let’s go talk by the bench over there.”

“Hello.”

No matter how much he clings onto me, physically I was a lot stronger than him.

Holding onto his hand, I threw him far.

Even if he was thrown, Jong Ho was an Awakened. He shouldn’t be hurt.

As he flew, he cried my name with a tearful face.

Even now, if I think of him crying out, I could only snicker.

“Min. Cheol!”

“Yes. Yes. Min-Cheol isn’t dead.”

* * *

Noon, in the midst of hunting with Jong Ho…

A line of luxurious black sedans were driving in.

Jong Ho, who was looking at his status window with glee looked towards it.

“Some young master is going around it seems.”

“Young master?”

A girl left the car.

She seemed to my age.

Two men stood by, one each to her sides.

Her armor and a staff in hand did not seem that luxurious.

It probably wasn’t made by a blacksmith.

Those two weren’t the only bodyguards.

Around the dungeon, many people with black suits were stationed.

All were highly alert, maintaining their distance.

Looking at this absurd situation, Jong Ho spoke.

“I heard Ilseong CEO’s granddaughter had Awakened. Looks like that’s her?”

“Are you talking about that huge company Ilseong? TV. Air conditioner?”

“Yeah. Korea’s third biggest company. That’s right.”

“But why would the granddaughter be sent to the dungeon then?”

“Min-Cheol. Do you see the Awakened around her? And the others around her.”

“Yes. I see. There are a lot.”

“I don’t know about the person on the right, but the one on the left. The person who has half his face covered with a mask is ‘Yoon Jong-sun’. A ranker who’s one of the top magicians in Korea.”

“Oho. He looks like your average neighbor… but he’s famous.”

“When the explosion took place in the central plant center, he’s one of the ones who prevented the damage from extending further.”

“Then why is someone so important next to a kid like her? Do they know each other?”

“That kid just wants to go around sightseeing the different levels of the dungeons. Otherwise why would they come here? Yoon Jong-sun is probably being supported by the company, as no matter how much money you have, you can’t always get Awakened essences and rare items. ‘You lend the company power, and in return be rewarded with tremendous rewards’ is what I’m saying.”

“I see. Still, the granddaughter of that CEO is just a little kid.”

“Kid? It looks like there only is a year or two differences? Why are you cosplaying as an elder!”

“I’m jealous. No need to worry about money, and born into a family where your grandpa is a CEO. And Awakened on top of that? I’m here struggling because buying a weapon seems wasteful… After the dungeon tour is over, maybe I should ask to be carried to a level 26 dungeon.”

“Don’t even look at them, just think of them as people who were on another level since birth. What can you do. Ah! And don’t forget. I’m someone who was happy about buying an armor that costed me 4 billion!”

Laughing at each other’s poor jokes, we continued the battle of the poor Awakened.

Well, we’re not really poor since we’re Awakened.

The conversation continued for a while, but we watched them the entire time.

Until they entered the dungeon and disappeared from our sights.

Comparing myself to those who were geared, I looked pathetic.

Unlike others, I had infinite mana.

With this ability, I was able to grow at rate 10’s of times faster.

But what if I was able to get items on top of this ability? Wouldn’t something amazing occur?

I couldn’t help but be greedy.

One of the reasons why I thought this way was due to the ‘Louver’s Bracelet’.

I needed equipment that wouldn’t just raise stats, but ones that give special abilities.

That’s why I was planning to obtain the Louver set from the level 18 dungeon.

With the original goal of an M/A rank weapon as well.

I heard the abilities of Louver’s ring and necklace from Jong Ho on the way back.

The ring synergized incredibly well with the bracelet.

When attacked by magic, it could absorb the magic energy.

Naturally, that absorbed power would go straight to the bracelet.

It had quite the synergizing effect.

The necklace on the other hand, it a completely different effect.

It had chance for any skill casted to ignore the target’s defense and magic resist.

If that’s the case, a magician could hunt where magic attacks do not work.

How convenient it would be. I wouldn’t even have to expend any effort in getting a strength based weapon.

But due to the fact that the percentage for it occurring was so low, it was gear that wasn’t used that often.

What I was looking for was the set effect from wearing all three.

The ‘Louver’s Protection’.

When wearing all the named items, a set effect occurs.

From the level 18 dungeon I could clear and onwards, named monsters start to appear from time to time.

Out of the set effects, Louver’s Protection was a decent one.

If you stand in the aura that spread from the wearer’s feet, you could absorb monster souls like the reaper Louver did.

Unlike Louver who turned the absorbed soul’s abilities as his own, it became a shield that covered the weaknesses of those affected.

Everyone in a party, including myself, could receive this effect, but that factor did not concern me.

If I could obtain this set, I would not have to cast shields in dungeons that I can clear swiftly.

It was a set effect only for hunting.

What item is better than letting me hunt safely and quickly?

* * *

Making Jong Ho wait at the entrance, I pulled all the mobs recklessly.

After moving past his field of vision, I slaughtered them all.

Showing Jong Ho my abilities made me a little uneasy, but the real reason was this.

The two main skills I used were the Gravity Laser and Fire Shock.

Both skills could not select targets.

Even if you wait at the entrance, the experience you get is the same.

There was no need to stay close.

It would only increase the risks.

Especially since both skills were Awakened, if it hit Jong Ho who was in his early level 60’s, it would result in a fatal injury.

After killing the last mob Louver, I headed towards the center of the dungeon.

Since 20 min has passed, Jong Ho should me coming to the center as well.

I saw Jong Ho far away in the dark dungeon.

“Hm?”

But something was off.

If I met Jong Ho, that means this is the center of the dungeon, but an exit hadn’t appeared.

“What. Why is there no exist? Did I miss one? That shouldn’t be.”

“Aren’t you done killing Louver?”

“Yeah. I finished and headed this way.”

“Killing the boss and Louver who appeared last, why isn’t the exit appearing?”

“Hm, that’s odd. I’ll go look around once more.”

“Wait. Maybe…..”

“Hm? What is it? Do you have an idea?”

Instead of answering, he turned back towards the way he came from, and started to swing wildly with his sword.

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34. Exp Continues to Rise

Look at this nonsensical growth.

It takes 20 minutes to clear the dungeon.

But the experience I gained from it was 2 to 2.5 million.

With only 10 days of hunting, my level had risen from 108 to 124.

I was able to raise 1 to 2 levels each day.

If you think about it, it was only natural.

I did not have to wait to recharge my mana, and was taking the experience that would normally be shared across 5 to 6 people.

Rather than the boss, the hidden boss had a higher chance of dropping the Awakened Essence.

Thanks to the appearance of ‘Gwidon’, I was able to obtain another Awakened Essence.

As soon as I got the essence, I Awakened Fire Shock.

At least until level 150 to 170, I was planning to continue hunting here.

After that, I was planning to Awaken a physical attack skill.

Other items dropped other than the Awakened Essence, but they were all useless compared to the items dropped on the first clear.

Three footwear dropped, but all of them raised mana.

Why are only mana items dropping…

Thanksfully though, I was able to obtain a skill book I was going to buy, ‘Flash’.

Soon as I exited the dungeon, I learned it.

It was a skill that would let me teleport 5m.

However the real prize was this.

The bracelet that Louver dropped!

It was on a dimension of its own, nothing like the regular equipment.

It was a ‘named equipment’, one that would only drop from Louver.

Not just the bracelet, but a ring and a necklace exists, each with their own abilities.

If you equip all three, you even get a set bonus effect.

‘Louver’s Bracelet’ had a simple ability.

It didn’t raise your stats, or your defense.

[After absorbing a certain amount of magical energy and using a skill with the hand that has the bracelet equipped, the skill casted will be more than twice as powerful.]

It was a simple description, but an incredible item.

The bracelet’s effect also showed an incredible destructive force.

After casting a certain amount of skills and killing monsters, the silver bracelet starts to glow blue.

Then.

The next skill used would be vastly strengthened.

Currently this item was not found on the auction house.

Even the history of this item showed that it was rarely auctioned.

‘Those who will succeed can do whatever they want.’

Recently, I’ve been thinking that this saying fits me perfectly.

Honestly, when the bracelet dropped…

I was hoping for equipment that raised strength or stamina stats.

I was just hoping for something that didn’t raise the mana stat.

But instead of indulging in my small wish, it gave me this wonderful boon instead.

‘Gold axe or silver axe. My choice is the steel axe.’

It was like the story of the lumberjack who lost his axe in the lake.

Previously, the 5% drop rate on the blood stone had increased to a reasonable level.

Perhaps it was due to the low number of monsters?

The amount of stone earned was similar with places where lots of monsters appeared.

Of course there was the huge difference in price of B rank stones dropping instead of C.

I think I got the hang of leveling up my skills to 100.

If only Awakened Essences dropped more, but that’s just wishful thinking.

I was planning to save money to purchase ‘Glacial Field’.

Currently one of the most powerful magic out there.

I needed Magma Pool and Meteor Call as well, but I picked a frost type spell because the first spell I obtained was the Frost Orb spell.

* * *

In the taxi after finishing the day’s hunt and heading back home…

The 30 minute travel time was also a time for me to plan ahead and sort out my thoughts.

Sometimes, this is where I’d have a call with mother or Jong Ho as well.

There were times when calls would come from Sang-min, but after leaving the guild, there was a unexplainable distance formed between us, and I was no longer glad to talk to him anymore.

-Riiiiiiiing.

‘If you talk about a tiger, it will come.’ Jong Ho’s calling.

I was grateful to this hyung for many reasons.

Other than the internet, it was my only route for obtaining information. Not only that, but there was much to learn from him, excluding the fashion sense.

During the meal we had to celebrate the purchase of the house, mother seemed to be very fond of him as well.

“Yes. The world’s best Kim Min-Cheol speaking.”

“It’s commander Lee Jong Ho.”

“Hail! What is it?”

“Uh. You’re working hard. It’s nothing much, just this. I was hoping to meet with you this weekend.”

“No worries, commander. Would you like to have dinner with my mother as well?”

“Oho. That’s good. Then let’s meet after taking care of business.”

I can’t believe that we match this well.

Perhaps I should ask mother seriously if there was a long lost hyung?

“But what is it? It’s the first time hyung has asked me to meet first?”

“Nothing important, just wanted you to come somewhere with me.”

“Okay. Understood. See you tomorrow, hyung.”

“Oh yes. I’m grateful.”

* * *

“Min-Cheol. I’m in front of the house. But due to the guards preventing me from even entering the residential area, I just parked the car at the entrance.”

“Yes. I just got on the elevator. I’ll be there soon.”

“Oka-”

I could see Jong Ho waiting at the entrance.

I’ve known him for over two months now, but this was the first time he asked to meet me first.

Without even telling me the details to boot.

I saw Jong Ho purchasing something at a corner.

“What’s up? You called me up to meet first.”

“It’s nothing much. Kind of embarrassing to say.”

“What is it? Making me curious.”

“Hyung is going to go purchase armor with the money he’s saved up, but a bit nervous since I’ll be meeting up in person to do a trade directly.”

“What… I’m a body guard?”

“Sorry. I couldn’t ask anyone else because that’d be embarrassing. Let’s buy this first and let’s go.”

“What? Beansprouts?”

“Yes. Sweet potatoes and spinach too.”

“Eh?”

I noticed Jong Ho receiving a black envelop.

Paying for my share, and obtaining the change from the grandma…

I noticed Jong Ho sliding a few C rank stones into the herb basket.

Looking at Jong Ho, I asked by mouthing the words silently.

‘What. Is. It?’

To my question, he put his index finger on his lips in a shushing gesture and nodded his head.

‘Is he paying me because he is guilty? I feel like a bad person now.’

After finishing the purchase, Jong Ho scratched his head while laughing.

“You’ll come with, right?”

He’s been helping me so much until now, but for something simple as this, he was feeling guilty and sorry for me, and I found it cute.

Despite him being a hyung and all.

Today’s the day we take a break, once a week. There’s the dinner with Jong Ho and mother, and when else would I be able to help this hyung out, I felt proud.

However, if it went like this, it won’t be fun.

“Ah. What are you doing, hyung. Calling someone busy like me for something like this.”

“Uh… uh? Ah. I’m sorry. I thought it’d be okay since I heard you are resting today.”

“Ah… Jeez.”

Yes. I have to tease him like this for fun. Right when his red embarrassed face was about to explode…

“Pfft. Teasing you is the best.”

“What? You… Are you going or not?”

“Of course I’ll go. Why are you asking something like that. And because it’s cold today, you even wore a windbreaker?”

“Yeah. I thought you’d be embarrassed, so I wore it one purpose. Why?”

“Then we must go for sure. Let’s go.”

* * *

A small park near the market.

This is the area Jong Ho planned to have the trade.

After calling the seller, Jong Ho spoke.

“3 min and they’ll be here.”

“We’ll only have to wait a bit. But what armor did you buy?”

“Yes. B rank armor, but it’s used so it is cheap. It was being re-evaluated as a half A rank.”

“Aha. How much?”

“Cost?”

Hearing my question, he smiled while raising four fingers.

“4 million? Is it usually that expensive? From what I hear, it’s about 1 million. There’s no helmet included, right?”

“No. No.”

“Hyung, you don’t like me, right?”

“$400,000! Super cheap, right? ‘Opportunities come to someone who lives righteously.’ But it has to be all cash.”

“Wow. No matter it being a used item, it’s that cheap? That’s really good. But let me go use the bathroom real quick.”

Needed to go quick, but I did not see a single open stall.

I had to go to the cafe and buy a drink to be able to use the bathroom.

Returning to the park. I saw Jong Ho and the vendor from afar.

‘Hm? Why does he look familiar?’ was what I thought.

As I got closer, I heard the conversation.

“Since we need to check the armor’s ability, should we go into a dungeon?”

“Yes. But my sibling has gone to the bathroom. Let’s wait a bit.”

“Eh. It’ll be over real quick. Let’s go already.”

Who’s this. The one who tried to scam me out, trying to buy the ‘Magician’s Insight Bracelet’ from me.

Guess he didn’t change his ways.

“Oh boy. You’re still alive?”

“Hwuhh!”

“You really give your all to living.”

Remembering the past, he started to tremble like a leaf when he saw me.

Even stuttering his words too.

“You suffered that much last time. Why did you not learn.”

“… Th-that’s… because…..”

“You’ll confirm it at the dungeon? Let’s go then.”

I flicked the armor he was holding on with my finger, and he just collapsed on the ground.

“You know him?”

“Hyung. I think you saved $400,000 today?”

“What do you mean?”

“This guy is a scammer. Remember how I told you about the time I beat the shit out of the person who tried to buy the Magician’s Insight Bracelet?”

“Yeah, you did.”

Instead of answering, I pointed at him.

Realizing the situation now, Jong Ho gave a hollow laugh.

However, Jong Ho was still handing over the envelope with the money inside to him.

‘Kind to the point of bothersome. So frustrating.’

“What are you doing hyung? You can just take it you know?”

“…..”

After handing the money, Jong Ho turned around and headed towards the car in silence.

I was able to learn that there was a side to him other than the joking one, a side that was very different from me.

It’s not just pocket change, but $400,000.

For a level 60 like Jong Ho, it would take months, if not a year to get that much money saved up without a doubt.

But here he is, walking on his own path with the armor in silence.

He was someone I could never understand.

“Let’s go together, hyung!”

* * *

We headed towards Jong Ho’s car.

He sat at the driver’s seat with a neutral expression.

I quietly got onboard the car.

“Yeah! Min-Cheol. Doesn’t this armor look killer?”

“Hyung…..?”

“It’s not a joke. I smell the sweat of a hard, honest veteran’s work.”

I didn’t say anything more about the scammer.

Just kept joking around with him like usual while we moved.

“Then we should probably check out the armor’s ability, no?”

“Yeah?”

“Let’s go!”

---

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33. My Way (5)

After leaving the dungeon, I grabbed a taxi.

By doing this, I was able to level up, but I was not able to obtain the weapon I wanted.

And the B rank stones, even though I was investing time, I was not able to take them back since I couldn’t clear the dungeon.

It cannot go on like this.

“Thank you. Take care.”

The place I arrived at was the Awakened market near the level 18 hunting grounds.

After leaving the taxi, I went to the biggest market there.

It was because I was buying a high class item.

In the store, there were many customers present.

While I was wandering aimlessly, a 20 year old female store employee came towards me.

The average male would not want any employee to come and help them.

I felt like there was no point in coming to the large market.

The employee was someone who spoke business like.

“Welcome.”

“Yes. Hello.”

“Is there something you are looking for?”

“Trying to purchase a Necromancer skill book.”

Yes. High ranking magic attacks have anti healing properties, like a rice cake painting.

It was something that I couldn’t even dream about with the money I had.

That’s why I was planning to buy the cheaper alternative, a debuff skill.

It had the same effect, but no one but the Necromancer could use it, since there would be a 10 times the mana cost penalty.

“Necromancer skill book. Please come this way?”

Following the guidance of the employee, we headed towards the corner of the store.

Unlike the small markets near home, there were many guards looking over the place.

Each armed to the teeth, that is.

The inside of the market was divided like a bookstore, and none of the actual items were on display, as only pictures of them were hung up.

Even the half A rank weapon I used was hung up as picture in a corner.

“This is where the necro skill books are, but what are you looking for specifically?”

“‘Lower Resist’ and “Un-Recoverable’ please.”

“Understood. Lower Resist is over here, and you said Un-Recoverable?”

She turned towards me to confirm.

“Yes.”

“But why are you saying it in such a difficult terminology. You can just call it anti healing skill. That’s what everyone calls it. It’s not like there is another ‘anti healing’ magic found in any other schools of magic.”

“Ah….. I just memorized it the way the encyclopedia had it written…”

“Guess it hasn’t been long since you became an Awakened.”

“Yes.”

The employee smirked and spoke.

After picking up the two skill books, she continued.

“Did you need anything else?”

“Healer class attack power buff skill book as well.”

“Yes. Understood.”

As soon as I finished talking, two guards by the wall headed towards me and the employee.

‘Oh? What the.’

Without thinking, strength went into both my arms.

Looking at my eyes that went wide, she plastered on a fake smile and spoke.

“Out of all the items at our store, the skill books are considered one of the most prized possessions. That’s why there are guards that come along when we bring them out. Sorry if it surprised you.”

“Ah… Yes…..”

I guess it made sense since the Necromancer debuff skill book alone was $60,000 ⁸, and then to buy the attack buff skill as well.

It didn’t take long for me and the employee to arrive at the counter.

With the two guards at each side, just like the time with the midgets and the goons.

‘This type of situation…. I dislike it for some reason.’ was my thought process.

Finishing the transaction, I boarded the taxi.

Learning all three skill books, the taxi was slowly heading back.

It was annoying to have to raise the level of the skills each time I obtain one.

However, only by raising the levels of the skills do their true values show, so there was no other way.

I had to hit the most amount of monsters possible to level them up quickly.

Back to the manticore dungeon. It was like a training room to me now.

* * *

After investing three hours to raise the skill levels up somewhat…

I was in front of the level 18 dungeon once more.

Half the time for hunting was wasted.

It was because I had wasted half the time set aside for hunting on a dungeon that didn’t return much.

But it was for the perfect clear on the level 18 dungeon today.

The dungeon was pitch black.

I was sure, but just in case, I pulled two mobs first.

Then I casted Lower Resist and Anti Healing on them.

On their chests, an inversed triangle and x shape formed one after another.

With this, debuffs are complete.

Quickly casting the attack buff on myself, I casted Gravity Laser.

With incredible thickness, it penetrated their bodies.⁹

Riddled with gaping holes, red blood sprayed everywhere.

It didn’t heal. The debuffs were showing definitive effect.

After confirming the effects of the debuff, I casted my shields and ran towards them.

And just like the griffon’s final attack, I aimed to use my Fire Shock to finish them in one go.

Below me was a sea of flames.

The griffon’s sharp feathers became imbedded in the shield, but they were merely ashes slowly cooling.

“Good.”

Other than the poison spit attack from the naga, nothing could approach me without dying.

The only thing I’d have to worry about when pulling a vast amount of mobs is the griffon’s attack.

Pulling all the monsters in the dungeon, I casted Frozen Shield and Spirit Armor.

Frozen Shield shatters after taking a strong attack.

Previously, it shattered from the kelvacore’s brace attack in one go.

That’s why I casted Spirit Armor over the Frozen Shield for additional safety.

Then the debuffs, followed by Fire Shocks to those that cannot recover.

Meanwhile casting Gravity Laser to torment them in between.

Out of all my defensive skills, Reflect Shield provided the most reliable protection.

That’s why I left it in case the hidden boss appeared, as well as for Louver.

If there was no cooldown, there would be no need for this.

With my perfect plan, I was able to annihilate them cleanly.

Other than the time it took to take down the two, it only took 10 min.

All the fallen’s soul was absorbed by Louver.

It was about time that it showed its face.

However, it went back to hiding in the center of the dungeon.

-SQUEEEAL!

I heard the sound of a pig.

The boss had appeared.

To think that a hidden boss would appear on my first clear of the level 18 dungeon.

There was no way to hide the excitement on my face.

If I was lucky, I’d be able to obtain the weapon I want in a single day.

With that in mind, I ran towards the center of the dungeon.

“Wow…. Chicken, snake soup, and now pork?”

The pig was about 5m in size.

It was a bipedal pig, carrying a mace the size of its head.

With its other hand, it held onto a circular wooden box.

Its attack power was low, but the item in its left hand was dangerous.

You could think of it as a bomb that caused a massive explosion.

If I was able to avoid that one attack, I could probably beat it up without any problems.

“However, that guy hiding over there bothers me. Just you wait.”

Only for a moment did the stare down with Louver went.

‘Gwidon’ started to charge at an incredible speed with its head nearly touching the floor.

When it came close to me, I casted the debuff and self buff at the same time.

The noise it made as its body crashed with the ground. The ground shook and I could feel the pressure from it.

The mace was raised above its head and came crashing down towards me.

But thanks to its large body, there was no way such a slow attack would hit me.

It swung through thin air and embedded the mace into the ground, it immediately tried to raise it again.

I ran behind it, and got on its back.

Holding onto its hide, I began to cast all my skills with reckless abandon.

From experience, at close range the Lightning Spray is a lot more effective than the Gravity Laser.

Through hunting, I knew it would do massive amounts of damage to its internals.

Even if Gravity Laser was an A rank skill while Lightning Spray is a C rank, depending on the situation, it could be super effective.

The flames from Fire Shock flew about, its back becoming charred black.

From its nose, mouth, and ears, black smoke came out.

It was obvious that it had suffered terrible internal injuries.

Even while casting the spells, my mind was focused on its left hand.

The mace was in its right hand. With its short hand, it could not hit me while I was on it.

It seemed that it has decided on something, as it raised its left hand up and tossed the bomb in the air.

‘Reflect Shield.’

Instead of just going down like this, it seemed to have wanted to get me off even if it meant taking damage as well.

-BOOM!

The wooden container that left its hand exploded with a deafening noise.

At the same time, it knelt down and lost the life in its eyes.

It didn’t die just because of the damage from the explosion.

The boss wasn’t stupid enough to suicide.

It was because of the damage reflected by the shield.

Since the Reflect Shield had reached level 100, the reflect chance was 30%, while the damage returned was 60%.

It had reflected more than half of the immense amount of explosive damage.

Even if the shield didn’t reflect, it was going to die anyways.

But this makes it a lot easier.

While I was trying to loot the drops floating above ‘Gwidon’….

Reaper Louver became a solid form and started to move.

This was the second time I entered this dungeon, but I was already beginning to grow tired of it.

It has not even been 20 minutes yet, but being stared at by those eyes that keeps following me…

Didn’t feel like 20 minutes, but over 2 hours.

* * *

Using the attack skills of the monsters it absorbed.

And it even absorbed the soul of Gwidon.

It wasn’t an easy fight.

That’s what I thought as I looked at its ethereal corpse embedded into the ground.

Investing $100,000, I had only learned 3 new skills.

But thanks to those skills, I was able to clear it for less than half the time it would’ve taken me.

A dungeon that required the skills of 5 to 6 different classes.

But I found a way to solo it.

I went next to Gwidon’s corpse.

Looking it over, I could not see any weapons.

However, like a hidden boss, it dropped a huge B ranking bloodstone and a skill book.

It should have a huge price differential compared to the C rank stone.

Taking all the loot, I went to the corpse of Louver.

It did not drop any stones, skills books, or even weapons.

But I saw a shiny bracelet floating above its corpse.

“Ara ara.”

With the skill book, bracelet, and a fortune, I immediately exited the dungeon.

---

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