Author: Xerenity

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32. My Way (4)

The laser indiscriminately pierced through the monsters, ripping them to shreds.

However, the wounds, as they received damage, seemed to heal at the same time.

It wasn’t perfect, but bleeding stopped quickly, and something seemed to fill the empty holes in their bodies.

“It would be great if I had a skill to prevent their regeneration.”

Most high ranking magic had some kind of ability that prevented enemy from recovering.

It had incredibly high damage output, as well as preventing recovery. It wasn’t just called a high ranking skill for nothing.

They also sported an incredible price matching that.

Putting aside my disappointment, I looked at them.

‘Griffon.’

With the head and wings of an eagle, and sharp talons.

It was a giant monster with the body and hind legs of a lion.

The moment it came within my sights, it flew towards me with incredible speeds.

From its beak to wings, it came at me like an arrow.

From what I found out, until its life was extinguished, it would attack like this.

However, when its fire of life was about to be extinguished, it would attack as if its life is on the line.

The last final attack.

Its body glanced the shield casted around me.

Due to the incredible amount of speed and power, the Reflect Shield seemed to waver a bit.

It was a shield that had reached lv 100. It seemed that I didn’t give enough credit for its attack power.

Until it turned its direction to head back towards me, the shield recovered its form and I finished preparing to receive its attack.

With its multiple attacks, the Reflect Shield was countering by reflecting the attack back at it.

Then.

While I was focused solely on its attacks, the ‘Poison Naga’ continued to spray sticky vomit around me.

The vomit it spewed all over to floor started to boil like hydrochloric acid on metal.

Soon, a foul smoke began to permeate.

If I make a mistake and step on it without my shield, it wouldn’t end with just losing my boots and armor.

The vile poison would instantly seep into the foot of the Awakened.

If that happens, there is only one solution. Without a single bit of hesitation, to amputate from the calf down.

If you try to pathetically save one’s foot with an ‘Antidote’ spell, you’d lose your life within a minute.

The one thing that made me shudder was for the high stamina tank type Awakened.

Due to the defense capabilities from their stamina stat, no magicians that would normally enter a level 18 dungeon would be able to amputate. Thus only the poisoned member themselves could, and would have to cut off their own limb.

Even if you were an Awakened with 100 stamina and 10 strength, you were able to hurt yourself as if your body was that of a normal person.

As if a scene from the movie “Saw.”

Of course high ranking healers could regenerate the lost foot.

You’d have to pay an incredible sum of money though.

A monster with the body and tail of a snake, a halfling.

From the waist up, the hands each held a sword thin as paper.

After spitting out venom repeatedly, it flicked its tongue, getting closer.

It could slide quickly on the areas the venom it spat out landed.

“A chicken and a bowl of snake soup. I’m blessed with food.”

Time for the griffon to attack again.

I casted Fire Shock.

In a radius of 15m around me, the dark dungeon was bathed in bright red.

It was a skill with only a duration of 10 seconds, so I had to hold them in place as long as possible.

The moment they were in my sights, I used Bind to root them.

The level 21 bind would only last for 1 to 2 seconds, but I just need to keep casting is all.

The moment when the griffon was caught by its hind legs and flapped its wings desperately to struggle free…

I casted Hold on the naga that was swinging its sword at me.

It was obvious that its sword attacks would be all blocked by my shield.

However, I knew that the constant attacks would slowly eat away at the duration of the shields.

The flames from the Fire Shock meeting with the venom caused the dungeon to become a gas chamber.

If my shields gave out right now, and I was to inhale this smoke…..

Since I did not raise my agility stat, I was weak towards status changes. It was obvious that a tragedy would occur.

A skill that did not take account for the surroundings, truly for those who play solo.

It’s a hunting method that a hunting party cannot even dream about.

Without being able to move, they could only get hit by the Fire Shock head on.

10 seconds.

It was the time left before I casted Gravity Laser again since casting Hold and Bind with both my hands prevented me from casting it.

Until then I had to focus only on halting their movements.

I noticed that their ability to recover had been reduced drastically.

As the sea of red ended, stopping the cast of Hold and Bind, I continued to spam Gravity Laser.

After Bind being undone, the griffon that was flying at me continuously suddenly stopped 3m above my head.

His life force must be nearly extinguished. The only thing left must be his last resort attack.

Despite the laser penetrating and ripping its entire body apart, it spread its wings and continued to flap its way towards me.

But that was for a brief moment.

As it stopped its wings, the feathers from the inside of its wings began to pour down.

The small black red shards were like sharp assassin weapons, resembling that of an assassin’s ‘Weapon Throw’.

The shape was different, but it wasn’t just an attack. It was truly a final attack.

Feather that came pouring like rain. Just in case, I had even casted Spirit Armor.

Due to the attack above me, my vision was nearly blocked due to all the feathers being imbedded in the shield.

As if from the battles with Guseon ¹ where all those arrows and explosives were embedded on it.

Even on the naga who was nearly dead, there were hundreds, if not thousands of featheres embedded on it.

The destroyed body that struggled till its last fell to the ground.

[100,000 Experience Obtained]

[100,000 Experience Obtained]

For killing one, the experience I gained was 100k!

Level 18 dungeons were different from the manticore and succubus dungeons.

Unlike those dungeons where hundreds of monsters appeared, there were only 20 to 25 monsters.

But even those few, if I could get them all I could obtain a minimum experience of 2 million.

Unlike the 800k experience I received form the succubus dungeon, the experience I gained rose over 2.5 times from before.

In order for a level 108 to increase his or her lv by 1, the experience required was 60 million.

After lv 30, the required experience began to exponentially increase, and now has become 60 million.

To take down both these two, it had taken only 2 minutes.

But thinking about the 3 minutes cooldown time of Fire Shock…

I realized that it would take roughly 1 hour to take them all down.

“This isn’t going to work out.”

Thought for a brief moment…

The collapsed bodies gave off a green ‘demonic fire’ along with the blood stone.

The light was absorbed by a monster far away who was merely watching the fight.

“I forgot about him. Ah. I have a headache. One hour probably isn’t enough?”

The one who absorbed the light, its form became a little less ethereal than before.

Its name is ‘Reaper Louver ‘.

From the dungeon entrance onwards, this place looked like a road to guide the dead to the underworld.

To match that, a reaper that guides all the monsters’ soul in the dungeon had appeared.

“Passing the summer, they’re filming ‘Legend of the Homeland’.”

As our eyes met, it turned its back on me and disappeared into the darkness.

It wouldn’t attack right now.

Maybe when all the monsters here have died. If the hidden boss appeared, it would probably absorb its soul and then fight.

The boss itself was a mid-tier boss, but if it absorbed the soul of the hidden boss, I heard it would become incredibly strong.

I didn’t have time for this.

I gave my all and charged forward.

Continued to take down the enemies.

Hunting by grouping only 2~3 of them at a time. And they kept recovering.

And the 3 minutes cooldown of Fire Shock.

The result was going overtime on the dungeon’s time limit.

All the monsters that fired magic gleefully disappeared, and the exit opened in the center of the dungeon.

“Damn it.”

And that’s how I tasted my first defeat as an Awakened.

---

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31. My Way (3)

I had decided on my current goal.

I needed an M/B or M/A ranking weapon.

The reason I needed a weapon was for the dungeons that were resistant to magic.

For mana stat, no matter how much you raised it, it wouldn’t affect the magic’s damage.

Only the total mana and the recovery rate.

Even the Awakened’s level did not affect the skill’s damage.

No matter how high leveled you were.

If you had the same skill and skill level, you’d do the same damage.

If there is a difference between a low level Awakened and higher leveled Awakened…

Increasing the mana stat to improve your overall mana pool and mana regen, allowing you to continuously cast the strongest skills.

Thus, the important thing to a magician class is the ‘skill level’.

That’s why they would be entering the level 18 dungeon.

If you think about it, it’s a hunt for weapons, but I’m skipping from the level 13 dungeon to the level 18 dungeon all at once.

For the average Awakened, the level 13 dungeon’s requirements was a 5 to 6 man party of level 65 minimum.

However, for the level 18 dungeon, you’d have to be a party of 5 to 6 members, all 85 levels higher than before, a group of lv 150s.

It took a minimum of 4 to 5 years of effort to make it possible.

And if you take account of the experience points and equipment befitting these members, there was a huge gap between me and them.

The amount of experience points you could earn would be on a different level.

The experience you could earn from the manticore dungeon would be 12 million or so.

By clearing the succubi dungeon once, you could receive up to 80 million experience. Just by the dungeon level increasing by 1, there was this much of a difference.

Of course, it’s biased since I was able to defeat the revival succubi as well in the level 13 dungeon.

My current level is 95.

I was able to achieve what would’ve taken others 3 years in only 3 months.

Roughly speaking, I had 12 times the growth speed of others.

A regular Awakened’s year would be only a month to me. But this isn’t the end.

Because the gap will only increase from here on out.

The skill and level growth rate only being 12 times higher?

No. I was sure that at the minimum, it would be 50 times.

It was like hitting the cheat key in BattleNet and casting ‘Psionic Storm’ that a ‘High Templar’ uses?

I didn’t think of stupid thoughts like ‘I’ll go to the level 18 dungeon when my level meets the requirements.’

Raising my main attack skill and shield to level 100! That was my requirement for entering the level 18 dungeon.

***

It was the time of year that nights became longer than day, and cold winds from morning till evening blew.

Time had passed to the point where I had to flip the calendar past October.

The safe house Jong Ho and I looked for before, we were able to match the timing of moving in with her birthday.

After the move, I went around to my neighbors to giving welcoming rice cakes around, and most reacted like this. ²

‘There are people who still do this?’ or ‘They are coming in because they won the lottery,’ was the general response.

I was a little disappointed.

But I really liked the home that was going to give peace and reassurance to my mother and my heart.

Since I was earning a lot more than what I thought, it was time for me to whip myself back into shape from a period of relaxation.

Happiness I obtained through difficulties.

I cannot have it stolen.

I cannot have it crushed.

I only hope that it’ll stay this way.

Finally today. I was able to reach level 100 in all skills with the exception of ‘Frost Orb’, ‘Heal’, ‘Hold’, and ‘Bind’.

For ‘Eye of the Storm’, since the increase in level didn’t do much, I leveled it up on to 70 and stopped it there.

I only hunted to level my skills, but ended up naturally leveling to 108.

If Jong Ho heard about this, he would probably fall over backwards and faint.

The only reason I was able to achieve such a satisfying result was diligence.

I could get rid of fatigue and physical wounds with Heal.

However, there was the hindrance known as ‘sleep’.

This was something that Heal couldn’t cure.

But I found even time used for sleep a waste. I wanted to grow even quicker.

I even searched for magic that would get rid of sleep.

The time I allowed myself was 6 hours.

This period of time did not only include sleep, but also for eating and taking care of myself.

Other than that, I only focused on hunting. 18 hours a day succubi hunting.

It was a brutal training. However on Sundays, I would take a break no matter what happened.

I was growing stronger for happiness, so I wouldn’t skip time with my mother.

Returning from the hunting grounds, I opened a safe in the corner of my room to retrieve the Awakened Essence.

And without hesitation, Awakened Gravity Laser.

I held the skill book against my chest and thought about Awakening the Gravity Laser.

Then.

[Would you like to Awaken Gravity Laser?]

Look at this kind narration provided by this noona.

I know this would be impossible, but I wanted to meet her someday and take her out for dinner.

“This is great.”

After Awakening the spell, the status window that showed Gravity Laser had a star in front of it, and the skill’s level became 1.

The required experience to level was 98 million.

Before Awakening, the experience required to level up the skill from level 1 was 100. It felt like the difference was too steep.

Finishing the Awakening, all preparations to enter the level 18 dungeon was perfect.

***

I arrived in front of the dungeon entrance, located in Nowon. ³

Guri, where I was currently living at, was 30 min away from the entrance. ⁴

Since I could not find any level 18 dungeons nearby, I was forced to waste 1 hour a day traversing.

Preparation was complete, and I could see the dungeon entrance before my eyes.

“Is there a need to hesitate?”

Dungeon is being activated.

The interior of the dungeon was something completely different from what I’ve seen so far.

A narrow rural road of 5m wide.

Each side of the road was accompanied by darkness that seemed to swallow light itself, which I found to be cliffs.

If felt as though if I fell, I would go straight down to hell.

Not only were the cliffs, but the ceiling and everywhere else was covered in complete darkness.

The only thing that had color in my sights was the rural road.

‘If there was a road the grim reaper would guide people through, would it be like this?’ was what I was considering.

Sightseeing ends here.

Without hesitation, I started to run.

I wonder how much time has passed.

When the entrance seemed smaller than a fingernail.

I heard the cries of the monsters ahead.

When I looked at where the sound came from, the first one I noticed was the ‘Poison Naga.’

The owner of the sharp piercing cry was the ‘Griffon.’

And next to it, there was a ghastly faded form.

It was exactly as I learned.

Until now, all dungeons had a single type of monster.

However, from level 16 and beyond had 2 to 5 different types of monsters mixed in.

For the level 18 dungeon that I’ve entered, it featured 3 different types of monsters.

If the variety of monsters increase, the different defense and attack become difficult to deal with.

Melee and ranged monsters, as well as monsters that use special abilities.

The reason why 5 to 6 members enter together as a party was to execute the correct strategies that work against the different monsters.

Even if physical attacks didn’t work, this was why tanks such as Paladins and Dragonite Warriors are needed. ⁵

Amongst the warrior class, the tank was treated like royalty.

Without being carried, it could keep growing.

But is that really important.

‘Even today, I’ll do it by myself!’

As the Griffons Fear ⁶ rang out, I casted the ‘Awakened Gravity Laser’ to max range and ran full speed.

It was an attack skill that attacked anything within 100m without discrimination, regardless of what monsters and life forms they were.

The attack had begun the moment I could tell their shapes clearly.

All lasers within range were firing out in all directions.

I could not help but be surprised as I closed the distance between me and them.

“Huh? What the?”

Awakened Gravity Laser had a different thickness and color.

The thickness and clearness could not be compared to the previous version before Awakening.

Even when it got near level 100, it never showed crushing force like this.

It was as 3 times as thick, a mixture of red and blue powerful laser that poured out.

Through Awakening, the skill’s increase in power had increased to eye opening levels.

“Guess this is the reason why everyone focuses so much on money. Let’s kill!”

---

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30. My Way (2)

The last night of August.

It was the last day of attending school.

The next 3 months! I could focus completely on hunting.

Starting with a month of summer break, and 2 months of hunting in between schooling was what it took to achieve growth like this.

Looking at the full moon of the night sky, it felt like it was foreshadowing that my growth would raise leaps and beyond.

After quitting the guild, different from the usual, I continued to hunt.

I informed Jong Ho about the situation.

At this moment, all my doubts about him vanished, as if all the worrying was a waste of time.

For many days, we met and shared many conversations.

Jong Ho focused mostly on the topic of ‘taking care of oneself’.

His argument was this.

Since it has only been a few days since you left the guild, if they attacked me now, the blame would natural shift to the Noblesse guild. So for now, they were lying in wait.

It could be that we’re suspecting them without any solid evidence. ⁷

But better safe than sorry. I obtained the habit of keep my shields up by rotating through cooldowns after leaving the guild.

‘For joining the wrong guild once, I might develop a phobia.’

In front of the relator building Jong Ho decided to meet at, I gave a call.

It was to find out about the contract involving the safe house.

I was going to reveal the surprise present to mother in 5 days.

“Hyung. Where are you?”

“I’m waiting for the left turn signal. Wait a bit.”

“Okay.”

It didn’t take long for Jong Ho to arrive, sporting a fashion that made me astonished once more.

“Wow….. Even today hyung, that’s something.”

“Since I was coming back from an important meeting, I took the extra effort.”

“Perhaps you do cosplay? You went to a meeting with these clothes? I know I say this constantly, but please stop wearing tight white shirts that stick to your body! Hyung, you look like a raisin… Ha….. Let’s just go.”

“What are you saying kid. White shirts and blue jeans are the symbol of manliness.”

‘If it’s only the white shirt, I’d leave it alone, but what are you going to do about the skull ring on your finger and the chain shackles on your jeans. Sigh.’ I tightly kept a hold of these words and resisted the urge to blurt it out.

Inside the relator building, I checked at the office if there are any listed for sale.

Thankfully there was one that was at an affordable price, near the current location we lived at.

For now, I left after informing them that I will be contacting them within a week.

“Hyung. Did you know I’ve been hunting with a rose knife for almost a week?”

“Right. You said that as you left there, you returned the sword?”

“Yes. Now I’m left with one jewel that was embedded before. Hyung, since we’re here together already, can you come along and help me select a good weapon?”

“Weapon? If that’s the case… allow me the white shirt!”

‘Are you trying to repeat the disaster once more!’ With a straight face, I turned around and waved at him.

“Be careful on the way back hyung. See you later!”

“That’s cruel! How much are you willing to spend?”

“Since I’m buying a new house, the leftover money I have is 200,000 or so. Ah! With the Manticore’s Soulstone, it should be 300,000.”

“Oho, hey. With that much, it won’t be as good as your previous sword, but you should be able to get something usable? 100 strength stat ones should be possible.”

“Is there any weapons or armor that gives me cooldown reduction?”

“Are you playing an online game? Is being an Awakened a joke to you! Argh!?”

Who can stop this energetic man.

As if he saw it from a movie, or perhaps from a trend, he yelled at me with an ugly and awkward expression.

“That expression!”

“Let’s just go for now.”

“But it’s seems really wasteful to buy a sword when I was using one for free. Feels like I’m wasting money.”

“If it seems that wasteful, you can make it all up with hunting.”

“Is there a sword that can match up to Heugdo?”

“Plenty! Swords that cannot even be compared to man stat wise, as well as the shapes that are just killer. But the prices are just too much. They do drop from higher level dungeons though.”

“How much does the decent strength increasing weapons cost? If you say it’s 10 or 20 million, I will punch you in the gut.”

Hearing my words, Jong Ho tried to contain his smile and spoke.

“Million? … You know that the limit of mankind for crafting is an S rank? A sword of that stat can be bought with money. But weapons and items dropped form monsters have an M in front of the rank. An abbreviation for monster. Thus a monster drop M/S weapon cannot be bought even with millions. Even I wouldn’t sell it.”

Previously, I went to the store in front of the manticore dungeon and purchased SA ranking goods.

One of them was the ‘Lich King’s Staff’. The staff that I was holding onto despite being at death’s door.

If the mana stat was replaced with strength, it was a weapon similar to Heugdo.

It was only an M/B ranking weapon, but the prices were from millions to tens of millions.

The Heugdo that I returned as I left the guild probably had the same price.

‘Damn it… Why did I listen to Jong Ho hyung. Even if a widow bought land, it wouldn’t give me this much of a stomache.’ (TL: Expression for complaint of waste of money.)

Throwing away my regrets with resolve, I asked Jong Ho.

“Where does M/B and M/A rank weapons drop?”

“Level 18 dungeons, but not from ordinary mobs. If you defeat the hidden boss, there is a small drop rate.”

‘What?’

Lv18 dungeons can be easily conquered by someone like me.

But hidden bosses similar to the ‘kelvacore’, and the drop rate is low?

Picking up the regret I’ve tossed away, I wanted to shout ‘Judge….. Please return my Dark Sword. I’m without blame.’

It was almost to the point where I even had stupid thoughts like ‘Park Hyun was really a good person…..’

Picking up my broken mental resolve, I asked more seriously.

“Lv 18 dungeons, the required entry level is 150, right?”

“Of course. Above level 150, and 5 to 6 people. What? Why are you so serious. Are you planning to go there now or something. Hurry up and let’s go buy C or M/D ranking weapons with that 300k.”

“For now, let’s hold off on that. I’ll go first. Hyun! Let’s go have dinner with my mother sometime at a nice restaurant sometime. My treat.”

“Hey. Min-Cheol. I’m saying this just in case, but don’t think about going there recklessly. Do take care.”

“Yes, hyung.”

Level 18 dungeon.

Level 13 to 15 dungeons are immune to magic attacks. Level 16 to 18 dungeons are immune to physical attacks.

Thus, what I need to do now is…

The money that I was going to spend on weapons must be invested in skill books.

With infinite mana, I could cast spells without limit, so my skill levels would probably rise insanely?

My main offensive spells ‘Gravity Laser’ and the ‘Fire Shock’ I ordered from the midget a couple days ago, I planned to Awaken both skills and destroy the level 18 dungeon.

That was the gist of it.

It was fortunate that I did not use the Awakened Essence on Piercing Sword.

A skill that I had #1 priority to Awaken, but to go to the level 18 dungeon where physical attacks do not work, Gravity Laser rose past the ranks of importance.

Maybe I’ll be lucky and get the M/B weapon Jong Ho was talking about.

The rose knife that I thought I would be holding on for the last time, I tightened my grip around it.

‘At least for a week….. I don’t think you’ll be cutting carrots. Sorry.’

The goal is the level 18 dungeon. And to Awaken two magic skills!

“It won’t take long. Let’s go!”

* * *

From the small fry, I obtained Bind and Fire Shock spell books.

The three couldn’t look at me in the eyes till the end, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

In the future, if I had more uses for using the underground channels, I’m sure I’ll see them again.

[Will you obtain the Fire Shock skill?]

The sound of narration always excited me.

Without hesitation, I used all the skill books in my hand.

“Hm…. Bind and Hold, I’ll raise later. For now, it’s Fire Shock!”

Fire Shock send out massive amounts of flames around me.

It wasn’t a skill that continuously used up mana. Thus, it had a cooldown.

A whole 3 minutes.

It could be considered exaggerating to call 3 minutes that.

However, the skill’s duration was only 10 seconds. Waiting 3 min for 10 seconds, it was a skill far less efficient than Eye of the Storm.

And even if the skill level rises, the duration did not. Only the damage did.

Of course, you really can’t compare a main offensive skill and a support skill.

Range was 15 meters from the caster. Both range and duration was pathetic for the price.

So why did I purchase such a trash-like skill, paying with all that money?

The answer to that is the massive increase of damage as it gets closer to lv 100.

There is almost nobody who would spend the time and effort to raise a skill like this.

After casting, Fire Shock spewed out enough flames to melt all opponents nearby within 10 seconds.

There was no shape to the flames.

As if from ‘Love and Soul’, the dead’s soul piercing through a person.

The flames would flow deep into the target’s bodies, causing severe lethal harm internally.

Unfortunately, it didn’t reach a satisfying amount of damage until it reaches near lv 100, so most didn’t attempt to raise it. And the skill book didn’t drop easily either. It was a ghost like skill. (TL: Pipe dream. Raise the unraisable, do the impossible, row row fight the power!)

I was planning to Awaken this ghost like skill as well!

“Seems I’ll need a lot of Awakened Essences….. Guess I’ll be seeing the midget and two goons often?”

---

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29. My Way

After three months of being an Awakened, I felt like I accomplished something.

I wondered if I ever came back home brimming with this much confidence before.

Within seconds of ringing the bell, mother opened the door hastily.

Guess she was worried for her one and only son.

“I’m back.”

“… Are you okay, son?”

With a look of worry, she checked for injuries.

You wouldn’t know how touched I was from her expression of worry.

I purposefully raised my tone of voice and answered.

“Mrs. Bak. Have you forgotten our promise at the hospital? That I will not get hurt or die.”

“Thank you. Thank you.”

“It’s all over now. That entire headache inducing interest and even the original debt is gone from this time onward. Before when you were dealing with those three goons, you were amazing. Pulling up your sleeves! Looking straight at them.”

“What are you saying. When did I do that.”

“It was the most beautiful side of you that I have seen. It all starts from here. I’ll get you all the money in the world! Let’s spend lots of money! How about we change our family motto to ‘splurging and living!’ How about it?”

With my expression and tone filled with playfulness, mother smiled brightly.

Her eyes were wet, not with sadness and despair like before, but with happiness and affection.

‘Yes. This is what I wanted most after becoming Awakened.’

A young age of 18.

The Awakened status that found me. And the incredible ability of having infinite mana.

If I put in the effort, no one could stand against me.

I dare anyone to block my path.

I’ll give you the answer to if the afterlife exists or not.

 

* * *

There was only one hour left before I had to attend school. After eating breakfast with mother, I quickly went to my room.

It wasn’t because I was looking forward to the skill books in the shoulder bag. ⁸

The kelvacore dropped the decent Eye of the Storm support skill last time.

Repressing my expectations, I scanned the skill book.

Personally, I was hoping for an attack skill A rank or above.

After the scan finished, the skill information popped up on the phone.

-Reflect Shield-

Usable Class: Bagi Warrior. Paladin. (If obtained by other classes, mana cost increases ten fold.)

Mana Cost: 200 (For every 10 skill levels, mana cost increases by 10%.)

Skill Introduction:

* After casting, you are protected by an invisible shield.

* Absorbs physical attacks aimed at the caster.

* With a 10% chance, returns 50% of the damage taken. (For every 10 skill levels, reflection chance increases by 2%, and reflected damage by 1%.)

Cooldown: 30 min.

Duration: 5 min. (For every 10 skill levels, duration increases by 10%.)

Additional Explanation: Can be used simultaneously with other shields.

Skill Book Price: 3.5 million.

I thought it wasn’t a bad skill.

With this, I had 3 defensive shields.

Unlike other shields, Reflect Shield had the ability to deflect damage.

A skill like this compliments a tank class.

To tanks that had a low attack capability, it was skill that allowed a chance to reflect physical attacks back to the monsters at a fixed rate.

No matter what, I was going to Awaken all shield type spells, but I was not fan of how the level of the skill affected the reflect chance as well as the amount of damage reflected.

If I was able to master it after Awakening it, the reflection chance would increase by 50%. It was a spell that only reflected physical attacks, but this made me realize there must be skills out there that protect me against magic attacks.

If it wasn’t anything that raised my mana stats, whether equipment or skill, I thought it was the correct decision to obtain it.

As my skill rose, I became more disappointed of the higher ups.

Anyone who had fun leveling would know.

With quick leveling and physical growth as my basis, I thought that I could clear the level 28 dungeon in a single attempt for the first time like ‘Choi So-Hyeon’, the one Tae-Seong could not stop fanboying about.

As if to laugh at all the decades of effort they showed.

My interest for the skill book was brief.

I was distressed about Noblesse Park Hyun’s text message.

Today at 6, round two of the guild war would began against Empire.

I planned to head to the Noblesse guild’s building today.

* * *

In the building of Noblesse, 60th floor where Park Hyun’s office room was located, there I was.

5 in the afternoon. Roughly 1 hour before the guild war began.

With the guidance from the intern secretary, I entered the office and dropped the Dark Sword on the conference table.

Wondering what my actions meant, with a small nod, Park Hyun sent all the secretaries out and asked me a question.

“Mr. Min-Cheol. What is it? I was about to move because the guild war was about to begin.”

“I think it’s time to return this sword.”

Hearing my words, she could not hide her confusion any longer and spoke.

“What are you saying…? Do you not like the weapon?”

“No.”

Taking a moment to relax my breathing, I continued.

“I’m quitting the guild.”

“…..”

As I finished my sentence, Park Hyun’s face became cold for a split second.

But she changed her expression again, and in silence, fiddled her thumbs about.

Contemplating for a while, she opened her mouth.

“Hm….. What is it? Is it the requirement to join the guild war?”

“There is no reason. I’m losing my own time.”

“If that’s the reason, instead of making a hasty decision, we can solve it by talking…”

In the middle of her sentence, I cut her off.

And after bowing politely, I spoke.

“I am very thankful that you saved me. I feel a gratitude that I cannot forget for the rest of my life. However, I don’t think that Noblesse is where I belong.”

“You won’t even tell me the reason?”

“…..”

She looked straight at me, who remained silent, and asked.

“Is there a scouting offer from another guild? What deal are they offering?”

“No. I just dislike situations where I am underneath another, being ordered around.”

Park Hyun. She was a guild master, taking command over hundreds of Awakened.

It was an incredible display of a poker face.

She was a woman who became scarier the more you learned about her.

My prediction stated that she was going to cling onto me till the end.

But I could not help but be surprised at her next words.

“Well… Okay, sure. Looking at your expression, I don’t think I can hold you no matter what I say. If that’s the case, it can’t be helped. Contracts are contracts. According to the contract we’ve created before, you are free to leave. Without any penalties of course.”

With her words, I could not help but be confused.

“…Yes. I am aware since I searched thoroughly in the contract.”

“If you do not need a guild, then do as you please. But you don’t know how life will turn out. If we meet again and you return, then I sincerely hope that we are together once more.”

Her cryptic words ended, and I was left with both relief and yet felt unsettled.

Was it because my weapon was gone? No.

It must be the doubt I feel towards Park Hyun.

The feeling of confusion was brief. With that, I left the Noblesse guild.

“Must I raise my rose knife again?” ⁹

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28. Growth. Revenge. (4)

How long has it been?

My gaze shifted towards my watch.

There was only about 20 minutes left before the dungeon closes.

The guys that became ragged like a bunch of dirty washcloth after 30 minutes of lesson were tossed into the corner of the dungeon.

To leave the dungeon, I had to clear all the monsters.

Within 10 minutes, the dungeon center was filled with manticores’ red bloodstones.

Thinking that the exit would open, I turned around.

Suddenly, in the level 12^th dungeon that I visited after two months, a kelvecore appeared.

‘Aah, if I knew this would happen, I would have beaten those two son of bitches a little less.’

Ten minutes left.

With the growth I’ve achieved, I should be able to take care of it easily.

Hunting the kelvecore last time, I was able to obtain a bloodstone, a soulstone, a jewel and a skillbook.

I was looking towards to the rare drops again.

Its powerful breath and poison sting that once put me in danger no longer affected me.

Not giving it any space and attacking it at close range while circling around it, I did not allow it to show off its main range attacks.

It didn’t take long for it to die, accompanied by a howl that was always awful to hear.

The blood stone that floated above it gave a magnificent glow like always.

Without a doubt, the skillbook and soul stone dropped.

Matching the title of hidden boss, it seemed to be very polite. ¹⁰

‘Okay. Seems like I got some spending money.’

Since there was not much time until the dungeon closed, I put off checking the skillbook and picked up the drops, walking towards the two guys on the floor.

After healing them completely, we headed toward the exit at the center of the dungeon.

To the guys who are keeping their distance without a word, I asked them a question.

Of course, I didn’t forget to keep my shields up.

“Was it a good time?”

“…..”

“…..”

With a smile, I asked them while looking at that straight in the eyes, and they reacted naturally with fear, looking down at the ground.

I was someone who had witnessed succubi murdering people.

I will not kill these people today.

But all the wrongdoings they committed cannot be repaid in a single hour.

Quickly arriving at the exit, I stopped them and asked.

“Hey. How much did you say I owe?”

“…..”

“Ha…. Please don’t make me ask twice, hurry up and answer.”

“Yes… Yes! The leftover debt is 4.1 billion.”

“4.1 billion? Wow, you people sure are something. The original debt was 200 million won, but now it’s 4.1 billion? The midget outside, he’s the CEO?

“Yes….”

“Even if I don’t pay the debt, there’s not big issue, right?”

“T-that’s…”

From the hand that held my sword, the sound of my knuckles popping could be heard as I waited for their answer.

Hearing that, they were shaking in fear.

“Alright, I want to go out there and bring that midget to near death. But that guy isn’t an Awakened, so heal doesn’t work on him. If I even hit him a little, he’ll die quickly. What do you suggest?”

“What are you saying.”

“What am I saying? There is 4 minutes before the dungeon closes, so are you going to give me an answer I like so you can go through the exit and survive, or will you perish with the dungeon is what I’m asking!”

Then the smaller warrior class goon quickly opened his mouth.

“W-we’ll take care of everything. Please spare our lives.”

“It’s an answer that I like, but you guys aren’t the CEO. He’s the owner, right? To be honest, I was going to pay back the original amount due to my conscience. That is until you all came and threw quite a fit.”

“… Honestly speaking, our boss can’t do anything either.”

“Ah, is that so. Then please be a CEO in the next life.”

I casted Piercing Sword.

The swords surrounded the two.

Since it was a skill that followed my will, it did not attack them.

“Take care.”

With those words, I tried to turn around, looking cool.

Then.

“N-no! That’s not it. We’ll take care of it.”

To the fools who were flailing about in panic, I gave them an offer.

“Then let’s do this.”

“Eh?”

“Hold, Bind, and Fire Shock.”

“… What are you saying?”

“There is 50 million won left on the original amount I owe. For beating the hell out of you today, I’ll give you 500 million won. These three skill books plus forgoing the rest of the debt, how about it?” Since the skill books will cost only 400 million won, it works out fine, right? You’re slow to answer… Do I need to cast Meteor’s Call so you’ll answer?”

“That’s not it! I’ll obtain all three skill books for you.”

“Of course you will. We have come to an agreement on the trade, but if your boss shows his ugly mug again near my house… You know what happens then, right?”

“Yes, yes!”

“Please obtain them within a week. Then we’ll be leaving now.”

Out of the three skill books, Hold and Bind wasn’t very expensive.

But they were almost never sold. A skill book with an incredibly low rate of dropping.

If there is a lack of supply, the price will naturally rise.

But for the effect the skill provided, the mana cost was too high and the duration was too low, so it was rated as a weak skill.

From what I’ve searched online, the official site did not have any up for trade.

However, I thought if they tried obtaining it from the underground market, it was possible.

Bind roots the target to the ground.

A stone golem’s hand shoots out from the ground, grabbing onto the target’s legs.

As the skill level rises, the duration and strength of the root increases, and it could bind a greater number of targets.

Second spell is Hold. It’s a skill that lives up to its name, preventing the opponent from moving their body.

Similar to bind, the duration increases depending on the skill level and the target’s level, but what if I crushed them with an incredibly high skill level?

Tying their feet with Bind, then using Hold to prevent them from moving their hands. I could put them in stasis like living dolls, leaving only the functioning of breathing intact.

Both skill was for the priest class.

Priests were in between tanks and healers, a defending and supporting class.

Since the class focused on health and agility, Hold and Bind were inefficient skills.

* * *

We exited the dungeon. The CEO was asleep in the car.

“Please bring that bastard over here.”

Instead of answering, they hurriedly ran towards the car.

About two minutes had passed?

Suddenly the CEO struck one of them on the cheek.

But before he could slap the other guy…

The one who was slapped grabbed him by the thigh and slammed him to the ground.

“Oho?”

The boss was dragged in front of me by his underlings.

“You heard, right?”

“…..”

“You still don’t get what’s happening? Whatever, just hand over the charter.”

“…..”

The boss was silent for a bit, pulling out the charter from his pockets with shaking hands.

Snatching the charter from his hands, I threw it into the air and casted Piercing Sword, shredding it apart until it became dust.

Seeing my skill, his eyes grew wide.

“There should be paperwork stating that I paid off my debt, right? So that you can’t say otherwise behind my back.”

“Yes…..”

“But since I learned that honor that you guys always talk about, I could not avoid paying you the original amount of debt.”

“…..”

“Is something wrong? Your facial expression doesn’t look very good.”

“That’s not it… That’s not it at all.”

“Then let’s get that paperwork done immediately. Ah! Since I’m asking for the skill books as a special request, get them to me fast as possible, okay?”

* * *

A few moments later.

Shoulders sagging, they disappeared.

Finally, I was able to solve this headache inducing debt issue.

I gave the two goons a stern talking to make sure the CEO couldn’t do anything rash.

Ah, by talking I mean physical harm of course.

While riding the taxi back home, I organized my thoughts.

You couldn’t do anything without power.

But with power, I could take care of these pieces of trash so easily.

I had to get stronger.

Get stronger, and become tougher.

I had no intentions of becoming an ally of justice.

It’s busy enough trying to eat and live well by myself in this world.

* * *

“Thank you very much.”

Arriving in front of the house, I left the taxi.

While basking in the rays of the morning sun, I headed home.

It was then.

[Guild Announcement]

2^nd round with guild Empire.

Time: xxxx year xx month xx day

All guild members must attend.

A message from the Noblesse guild.

“Round two with Empire? This has to be a joke.”

I was sticking with this shady guild because of this one sword I obtained from them.

With the money I have, I should have enough and leftovers after purchasing a sword of this level.

Even if I purchased a lower rank sword considering the amount I had to spend to move to the safe house, for someone like me who has an incredible amount of skill points, it wasn’t going to make much of a difference.

Looking at the text, I was reminded of another problem I had to solve.

To Heugdo attached at my waist, I mumbled.

“Guess this is the end between you and me.”

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27. Growth. Revenge. (3)

The dungeon formed.

With the hooligans, I showed my Awakened ID for verification.

Only the two hooligans and I entered the dungeon since the midget was not an Awakened and was thus unable to enter the dungeon.

The midget who was taking a smoke break next to his car parked near the entrance of the dungeon smirked and said.

“Farewell, kid.”

‘A-ha. So you were planning to send me off like that? Did you need fresh organs or something? It wouldn’t be a funny story if I was done in like this. I’m planning to rewrite the ending of this story. So please wait a little and die afterwards.’

“I’ll see you in a bit.”

With those last words, I entered the dungeon.

Throughout the dungeon, I could hear the snarling of the manticores.

It was a noise that I’ve grown tired of, but today, it sounded different.

Right now I was wondering how those two would act.

Would they bring the monsters to me?

Or would they attack me even before hunting?

My curiosity was answered before ten seconds passed.

“This little kid, didn’t you have quite the mouth?”

“Acting all mighty! If it wasn’t for the boss, I would have killed you on the spot.”

It appears what I said to those two back at the house wasn’t so lightly taken.

Each of them saying what they wanted to say, they showed their true colors.

One of them pulled out a dagger that was hidden behind his back.

The other one pulled out knuckles with sharp blades and equipped them.

‘Assassin and warrior huh.’

“Oh, why are the hyungs so angry at me?”

“Shut up, you haughty son of a bitch. Why’d you let your mouth run, all you had to do was pay off your debt quietly! You dug your own grave, don’t blame me too much.”

“Blame the fact that you were born in the age of criminals.”

“Pfft, so you want to 2v1 me right now?”

As soon as my words fell, I quickly casted a shield just in case of a sudden attack.

Looking at the opaque Frozen Shield being formed around my body, they laughed out at me.

“Puhahaha! You’re really going to try to block me with that?”

“Aah, what’s up with the sword in your hand? Seeing that you’re casting Frozen Shield, you must be a magician. Did you bring the sword to play war?”

They laughed at me who was a magician holding onto a black sword.

Without changing my expression, I spoke with boldness.

“Aah, you’re talking too much. I won’t let you die so easily, it’ll be difficult, but enjoy yourselves.”

“I’ll stab my sword through that skull of yours!”

With a dash, at the same time as his words ended, he casted Dagger Throw and threw his dagger with great speed.

His short sword against my level 66 Frozen Shield broke apart pathetically similar to rotten wood being struck with metal. ¹¹

The other small fry who saw this occur must have panicked because he rushed at me desperately while casting Enchant on his knuckles.

“Yaaa!”

His fists which were red with trails of fire made an incredible noise each time it flew through the air.

As his knuckles struck against my Frozen Shield, it created steam and the shield was chipped.

“Oh-ho? So you can throw some decent punches? But did you turn the fire off at your house? You should save energy.”

‘Lightning Spray!’

Condensed lightning on each of my hands shot out towards them.

“Ahh!”

The whites of their eyes were showing and they were shaking uncontrollably.

“It doesn’t seem like you’re going to die from just this.”

Was it because of the Lightning Spray skill level?

The two of them were easily rendered half unconscious.

This occurred with just one cast.

While they were losing their consciousness, I stabbed Heugdo into one of their arms. ¹²

“Ku… ku-ahh!”

With the hand that was holding onto the sword, I condensed lightning, and the other hand casted Heal.

It was only a level 1 Heal, but since the skill had no cooldown, I could infinitely heal him.

As his eyes became focused, I casted Heal on the other guy to have him conscious again.

I was almost surprised that there was this sort of cruelty inside of me.

But after my father’s death, these were the guys that tortured me and my mother for years.

They were disgusting faces that had made me suffer being poor and helpless.

Their faces, I remembered them one by one, and with the revenge I took, these were the unfortunate victims.

I did not want to give them an easy death.

I wanted them to feel the pain that my mother and I felt.

“Are you two awake now?”

“This… Son of a bitch…”

“I guess the rag that was in your mouth hasn’t been spat out yet.” ¹³

As he regained his consciousness, the warrior reequipped on his knuckles and spat out curses.

Through Heugdo that was embedded in the assassin’s arm, I casted Lightning Spray, the assassin was once again knocked out.

Their only attacks were only generic strikes with the edges of their sword. ¹⁴

His attacks were all being absorbed completely.

“Since you might die while I’m electrocuting you as if lighting a street lamp, I’ll keep healing you, here you go.”

Watching the horrific display occurring before him, as soon as my words finished, he realized that something was very wrong.

Receiving the lightning throughout his entire body, he was frothing at the mouth and there was no movement.

He’s probably not dead yet, though.

My gaze shifted to the warrior.

“S-spare me…!”

“Of course, of course, I’ll let you live, that’s why I’m giving you heal, to let you live on.”

“Waaah! Please!”

I didn’t attack him with anything else but Lightning Spray, but he looked like he lost his mind looking at his partner pathetically defeated on the ground.

Thinking of the level of Piercing Sword and Gravity Laser, if I casted those on them, they’d die instantly.

It was disappointing that I didn’t learn more skills beforehand.

There was not much of a level difference between me and them.

But look at the results, they couldn’t even attack once properly and were on the floor begging to be spared.

A result from just the skill level!

Different from how regular Awakened could raise their skill level with their limited mana, I was on a whole different dimension when it came to abilities.

In the future, I’ll obtain Meteor Call, Magma Pool and other high ranking spells.

I was almost scared of myself.

“Hey, there’s still 50 minutes left, your friend is sleeping so peacefully, but you’re still so lively. Why are you sweating so much? Does your stomach hurt? Are you uncomfortable?”

He couldn’t even look at me in the eyes, kneeling on the ground and biting his nails.

‘If he’s sweating because it’s hot, let’s treat him to some shaved ice.’

Towards his upper and lower body as well as all his joints, I casted Frost Orb.

To the pain that he was receiving from his joints being frozen over, he could not even let out a squeak.

But I was absolutely not going to kill him or cripple him.

They were an Awakened like me.

They must have strengthened their bodies with points in stamina and agility.

The effect that you would receive from agility wasn’t only dodge ability.

It also increases status debuff resistance.

Over time, that level of frost bite would be cured.

The reason why I did not raise any points in agility was because I was able to cast all sorts of shields at my pleasure.

If that was the case, then a situation where I would get hurt wouldn’t exist in the first place.

If I was able to use a shield that used up 10 times the mana of other shields, even if there was a cooldown?

I would never be done in by anyone.

“While ahjussi eats the shaved ice, I should probably wake up the other guy sprawled on the ground over here. There’s good news. My Heal level is rising, thus the next 50 minutes can feel like 50 years to you guys.”

While I was glaring at the guy who was frozen, both of my hands were continuously casting Heal on the collapsed goon.

“St-stop!! Gaaah!”

---

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