Tag: I Never Run Out of Mana

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Taken from Light Novel Bastion. All credits goes to the original translator and editor.

Previous Chapter|Index|Next Chapter

Index|Next Chapter

Taken from Light Novel Bastion. All credits goes to the original translator and editor.

1. Obtaining the Power

Behemoths began to appear on earth about 40 years ago.

About 22 years before I was born?

Anyway, you can guess right?

I’m eightee….

No, eighteen years old. ⁴

Your average, fearless, South Korean high school student.

As for my possessions, well, I don’t have shit.

I’m a student, so that’s only obvious.

But even if you don’t consider the fact that I’m a student, I’m still poor as a damn dog.

… I’m a non-Awakened…

What am I talking about?

The world has changed to become extremely unfair. Ah, not that it was fair before the change.

But it’s even more unfair now.

It’s fucked up.

The Awakened kill Behemoths, got praised as the era’s hero and became rich as fuck.

If the non-Awakened want to become rich, they have to suck their thumbs and wait for their weekly lottery ticket, hoping to win.

So I’m just studying hard.

Who knows?

If I do well in my SATs and graduate from a good university, maybe I could join a guild or the Awakened association as an office worker?

If it goes really well, maybe I could even become the manager of an Awakened.

“… So, throughout South Korea’s history…”

Snore~

And my buddy Hwang Jae-Hyuk is sleeping.

He’s even snoring.

Even so, the teacher doesn’t do anything about it.

It’s not because he’s given up.

This guy was told that he is an Awakened during his first year of high school.

Basically, he’s going to live a successful future where everything is secure.

And he’s even in the warrior line of the Awakened.

Just thinking about it, it’s about as fair as a dog’s dick.

Why does that guy get to be born with everything.

And why do I have nothing.

He’s just fulfilling the necessary education that the nation has decreed.

Just think of it as an education system which prevents the Awakened from turning on the nation, a disciplinary system.

At school he sleeps and after school he earns money! So unfair, this fucking world!

Ah, let’s just not even think about it.

I’ll just keep studying.

Because this is all I can do.

And the one reason that I work so earnestly! Family!

The only family member I have left, my mother.

I think of my mother who would be working tirelessly at the restaurant, always saying that she would raise her useless son alone all her life.

Euduek~

Then my molars grind hard against each other.

She only looks at me and dedicates her entire life to me.

When I think of my mother, my heart always hurts.

It can only do that.

A long time ago.

It was around when I was in my 2nd year of elementary school.

The human who called himself my father, addicted to both alcohol and gambling, used to beat my mother a lot.

Even so, my mother never let out a sound.

Because I was in the room.

She didn’t want to show her son that side of her.

Even so, I was fully aware.

We’re a family that lives together in a single house, how could I not know?

The next day, I would see the torn and bruised face of my mother.

I even tried to just look at the knot patterns in the carpet on the floor, but still…..

One day, father died.

Father? No, ‘A man who called himself my father died.’ That should be it.

That’s what it’s like in my mind.

It seemed that he had borrowed money from all sorts of loan sharks to fuel his gambling addiction.

Five days after he was reported to be missing, I was able to meet the man known as my father.

With two hollow eyes, and with a Y-shaped cut which ran from his chest to his belly…

Honestly, I was a bit sad.

But deep inside my heart, I was laughing.

We can be happy now.

Now mother doesn’t have to be hurt anymore.

I laughed because those thoughts were there.

The debt of 2 million Won kept on growing.

Like that, the man known as my “Father” left a debt of 40 million Won and slowly faded away from my memories.

Ding-Dong-Dang-Dong~

Interrupting my fleeting thought, the bell that signals lunchtime rings.

The teacher leaves the room immediately.

And, my buddy Hwang-Jae-Hyuk opens his eyes instantly.

What a scary guy.

How does he rise up, sharp as a knife’s edge, as soon as lunch starts?

It can’t not be some amazing ability.

Of course! Although this probably isn’t an Awakened ability….

“Hey.”

Jae-Hyuk faces me and hands over 500 Won.

Wow, this guy is really nice.

If you thought that, you’d be wrong.

Because this guy… is a delinquent.

“Buy me two chocolate breads and a bottle of coke with this.”

Did he not receive primary school education? He must’ve cooked and eaten his math textbook. ⁵

And with bread, you’re supposed to drink milk you idiot…

“That’s not enough money…”

I replied like that.

And I know exactly what will happen afterwards.

“Ahh. Min-Cheol, do you want to die?”

The bastard stares at me while calling my name.

But I’m trying my best in order to not give in.

Yeah… I’m Jae-Hyuk’s bread shuttle.

Although sad, that’s the reality.

Although the difference between an ordinary person and an Awakened differed with the Awakened’s rank, if you treated the ordinary person’s strength as ‘1’ then the Awakened’s strength would be ‘10’.

Anyway, when it came to do with money I was really sensitive about it.

So, this idiotic order of telling me to go buy 2 chocolate breads and a cola with only 500 Won is something I can’t accept. ⁶

It’s the iron law of the National association of Bread Shuttles… I’m joking.

If Jae-Hyuk handed over 3000 Won, then I would’ve gone.

Although it’s a petty excuse, I can eat lunch and exercise at the same time while going back and forth.

But the disadvantageous demand of using my own money to buy the items, I can’t accept.

I can’t use my own money to buy the items.

I gave the 500 won back to Jae-Hyuk.

“Haah~ Has this bastard gone crazy?”

As he said that, he raises his eyebrows and suddenly stands up from the chair.

Honestly, probably because I’m human, I’m scared.

But I can’t surrender.

Because, the 2000 Won that my mother gave to me this morning, it can’t be used for this piece of shit bastard.

“Do you want to get hit a few times first, or do you wanna just go?”

I don’t reply.

He starts hitting me.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

His punch lands in my pit of the stomach.

I’m winded, and it hurts a lot.

“Keu…Keuhuek….!”

Hurts.

Annoying.

So scary.

If only this fucker disappeared from the world like the guy who called himself my father… That would be good.

And…

In this unfair world.

If only I could become a millionaire.

I could laugh at these pieces of trash in front of me, and live my own life.

Well, screw the other things, first my mother…

Pow!

My consciousness cuts off.

And before I black out.

Something seems to ring in my head.

.

.

.

[Your body has awakened.]

[‘You have obtained the Frost Orb spell’]

 

Kim Min-Cheol

Level : 1

Exp : [0/100]

Class: Magician

Special Attribute: Mana doesn’t run out.

Strength: 10

Mana: ∞

Agility : 10

Vitality : 10

Unspent Points：０

---

Index|Next Chapter

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Taken from Light Novel Bastion. All credits goes to the original translator and editor.

6. The Taste of Money! Manticore

It’s been a week since I went out to the hunting grounds. In that week I’ve gained 11 levels.

This is actually an amazing growth rate.

Compared to other Awakened, I’m growing many times faster.

To me who never runs out of mana, it’s quite an obvious outcome.

In a normal Awakened’s case, after a party hunt they had to recover their mana and be on guard.

Of course, their recovery rate depends on their mana stat.

But while they had to wait to recover I could spend that time hunting.

I didn’t tell my mother about my Awakening yet.

She’s a person who only looks after me and cares for me, it’s clear that she’s going to stop me from hunting because of such worries.

I’m going to tell her after I can get a steady stream of income.

Until I get that large of an income, every month I’ll send her an amount of cash with sender names like ‘Scholarship Foundation’ or ‘Sharing Love’.

After a day’s hunt is over I disposed of the loot straight away.

However! To avoid suspicion I went to many other different Awakened markets to sell.

About 10 hours or more of hunting and the amount of money I get is 1 million won.

In a week, I get around 5 million won.

But this money so far has to go towards repaying the loan…

It’s a really a bittersweet situation.

After graduating from the level 1 dungeon so easily, I skipped a few levels and went hunting in a level 5 dungeon.

As I learnt the skill ‘Lightning Spray’, it resulted in faster growth.

It was all due to Lightning Spray’s amazing power! And its corresponding huge mana cost! As said, it’s an insane spell.

And I infinitely cast said insane spell.

The level of the dungeon that is best suited for me right now is level 6!

A level 6 dungeon requires at least level 10+ Awakened in a party of at least 5 to clear.

But I guess I’ll once again graduate early.

“Hunting is really easy. You just need to remember 2 simple things. Freezing then electrifying, give me the beat!”

Ttiring

A message came right before entering the dungeon.

‘It’s probably mother right?’ With that thought I check the message.

But this one mail makes me move my feet like I’m on drugs.

The mail’s contents are as follows.

-Urgent Notice!

This is the Awakened association.

Currently due to the lack of ‘Manticore’s Soul Stones’ the ‘Intermediate Plant Center’ is not functioning properly. Therefore the association has decided to directly purchase ‘Manticore’s Soul Stones’ from you Awakened.

If you own this item please come to the association to sell.
1 : 1 billion won.

The Awakened association – what a thick compensation.

8:24 am.

I don’t know what a ‘manticore’ is…
Ah screw it! But if I have one of those I think everything will be fine…

The Intermediate Plant Center.

A place that people made to grow unusual-devouring plants. This was due to the portals’ creation and explosions which resulted in the killing of many people and therefore creating worker losses… simply put, it’s a greenhouse!

But this greenhouse’s plant growth speed is amazing.

Any plant can grow to its best quality as long as it’s been given 24 hours.

If the First Qin Emperor’s elixir of eternal youth existed, humanity living forever probably wouldn’t be a dream. ⁷

It seems that the Center uses ‘manticore soul stones’ as its main power source.

I quickly unlock my phone and search about ‘manticores’.

Manticores are monsters that appear at the level 12 dungeon. But I didn’t hesitate.

I quickly move to the level 12 dungeon.

As I near the entrance I see many Awakened that I didn’t see before milling around.

“Looking for one healer-class Awakened!”

“Looking for a tanker. Will reward with lots of loot.”

Money is scary after all.

In less than 10 minutes all these Awakened gathered here…

The me of 10 minutes ago corrupted by money is long forgotten.

Awakened without parties were trying to get party members whose class would be needed for their party.

“Looking for a high-mana magician. If you come we’re departing straight away! There’s one place for a long-range damage dealer!”

‘Min-Cheol ssi come here! Take one million~’ hearing it like that is probably an illusion right?

I quickly move up to the man and ask.

“Is there something like a level limit?”

“Ah, we would prefer a level 45+, and someone who has learnt at least more than one greater magic spell. Our party members are all level 45+ too.

Wait, why is the difference between the level 6 dungeon and the level 12 dungeon so much?

The level limit is insanely high, but I have to go.

“I’m only level 11, but my ‘Mana Regeneration’ skill level is quite high and I also learnt ‘Lightning Spray’. Oh yeah, and I set my items to all mana buffing, is it possible for me to join?”

While looking at the forum posts that have a ton of flaunting and things, I really coveted their equipment.

Of course, 2% of my thoughts were to buy them to hide my passive during party hunts.

At the ‘Awakened Market’ street, I bought a replica rank staff, 4 rings, 2 bracelets, and one necklace all for only 200 thousand won.

Someone said that clothes are wings, due to this my outer appearance looks quite good.

The man scans me quickly and says.

“Your level’s too low… How many times can you cast Lightning Spray? With your mana regeneration.

Talk to a person who lies, for me lying is too hard.

The equipment I bought has mana increasing effects, the rings each increase 50, necklace 100, and bracelets each increasing 5% of my mana.

Ah~ Of course, that would be if they were the real deal.

In the ‘Lich King’s Staff’’s case, it grants 200 more mana and increases your maximum mana by 15%, it’s a mid-high rank weapon for magicians.

If I actually had bought one of any of these items for real, it would’ve cost me a few ten to a few hundred billion won.

‘Addition, multiplication then multiplication again! Add some division too!’ I fully used my brain which was pretty much frozen for the past few days.

It’s because I have to give out a decent lie.

The amount of mana I get from the items and level up points is 3500!

“If I use regeneration as well… I can use it about 8 times.”

As if to say ‘look at this!’, I quickly use lightning spray multiple times with my left hand and then cancel it.
‘Seeing is believing!’

Jjeojeok! Jjeojeok! Jjeojeok!

To me this is nothing. I can do this all day.

But not to that man.

Look at that guy’s expression! And why are you raising your guard?

After he realizes that I wasn’t lying he opens his mouth.

“If…If you can do that much I guess it’s possible.”

Of course it’s possible! Even level 45 magicians with items can only use ‘Lightning Spray’ 2-3 times.

And I already saw you being surprised you idiot!

He continued talking.

“Because you’re a high-mana magician you have to stay inside the healer’s ‘Barrier’.”

“And the tanker will aggro all the monsters and…
.
.
.
“You understand right? Let’s do well.”

The man give me explanations about the plan and the notice. ⁸

I nod and wait for him to finish talking.

“I understand. Also, how many party members are there?”

This is very important.

Safety is safety but we have to share the 1 billion won’s worth ‘Manticore Soul Stones’ between us.

“With me included there are 4 people.”

20 million per person… If it’s that much it’s an amount of money which I have to hunt for nearly a month for.

Of course it would be more than 12 hours…⁹

Before entering the dungeon I greet the other party members.

The tanker who will attract the monsters Lee Chang-Hyuk. The healer who is in charge of buffs and health Lee In-Ah.

The necromancer who is in charge of secondary buffs and the main source of debuffs Jo Yong-Hyun and the warrior who explained things to me for ages at the entrance who is the secondary tanker and damage dealer Han Sang-Min.

These guys are all in the same guild.

Except for Han Sang-Min the other 3 didn’t talk much, and they seem to be wary of me.

It’s probably because I’m a low-level level 11 and I have all these high-price items on me, they probably are less willing.

“Well then, let’s go!”

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128. Face off with Berdan (2)

“KEYAAA!”

Like an angry bull, Berdan charged forward to strike with his massive fist.

Despite his abnormally large size, his movements were like lightning.

However, there was no way that Jong Ho and I would be done in by that.

After all, the two of us had trained with our lives on the line to grow this strong.

In a split moment, we distanced from him and waited for the right moment to strike.

His charging attacks continued to push us back.

The reason why I wasn’t able to attack and was only able to avoid the attacks was due to the distance between me and Jong Ho.

The interior of the castle was bigger than the average dungeon, but due to the sheer amount of monsters occupying it, there wasn’t actually much room to move around.

Unless I used attack skills that only targeted the ones I wanted to hit, Jong Ho would take collateral damage.

I continued to avoid his attacks as he chased me closely, but it didn’t take long.

“KUWUH!”

“These shitty bags of flesh…. Hyung-nim!”

“Not yet! A bit more. It’s still too close.”

“What are you doing! Where has you fighting spirit that you’ve been boasting about moments ago go! It’s amusing to see your hands full just trying to flee because of our difference in power! Kuhahaha.”

“Can I do some cleaning at the price of one of you shields? I think I’ll just wipe out everything.”

“You said safety first! I’ll give you the signal.”

“When will that be……”

“Now! Clean them up!”

“What! Hyung-nim!”

There was nowhere left to run.

The monsters were behind me.

As he called out to give the signal, in a single leap, he landed on the path where Berdan had just run past.

It was probably to gain distance between him and I, as well as to get his attention.

As Jong Ho had expected, Berdan’s focus was now on him instead, and he turned his body around in an instant to throw punches at Jong Ho as he charged.

Using this chance, I casted Chain Explosion and ran around to turn the thousands of monsters around me into dust.

My body kept exploding. ¹⁰

The castle shook with the sound and massive shock waves from the explosions.

At this moment, Berdan and his two retainers were focused on Jong Ho.

This situation could come to a terrible end if I wasted any time.

Even the time it took for me to react to his sudden action felt too precious to have wasted.

“Damn…..!”

I had my Mana Shield that wouldn’t even shake under their pathetic attacks.

My body was covered with powerful Chain Explosions.

On top of that, I was using the Dual Casting passive to pour down countless Transcended Meteors with my third hand.

“KUWUH!”

“Ku……”

With the additional damage from Archangel’s Fall applying on these monsters, it became a fierce attack.

Without even being able to scream out properly, they became ash and disappeared.

It didn’t even take a single minute for all of them to disappear like dust before a vacuum.

It was so easy that I wondered if these monsters were really the top 1% of all monsters.

However, this was an obvious outcome.

I was trained in body and equipped to the teeth, to the point where it was hard to see me as a human being.

It was then.

This wasn’t the sound of my spells.

However, these were the sounds my destructive spells made.

It was definitely the sound of Iceberg and Meteor Call.

This meant that the fight between Jong Ho and Berdan had began.

“Damn!”

Intense heat that seemed hot enough the melt the demonic realm itself covered the castle.

Going through those flames, I ran with all my might towards Jong Ho.

Due to how much speed I traveled at with my 30k strength stat, some of the fire became extinguished.

Until I arrived at where he was, I looked with Eye of Insight to get a hold of the situation.

As expected, countless marks surrounded Jong Ho’s form.

With that, I put more force in my legs.

It wasn’t that I didn’t have faith in Jong Ho.

Since he had worked even harder than me to grow stronger, I trusted and depended on him more than anyone else.

However, the reason why I was worrying was that I had no idea how strong Berdan and his retainers was.

If Berdan’s strength only reached the level of Zekill, I would be walking back leisurely.

Jong Ho definitely had more than enough power to handle someone like Zekill.

Trying to push down my anxiety, I continued to run.

Jong Ho came into view.

“I should’ve have been the one here. Damn it! Please be safe….. Huh?”

As expected, he was surrounded by three monsters as he fought.

However, the situation was quite amusing.

My worry disappeared in an instant, and the spectacle in front of me was enough to make me question what I was seeing.

My legs that ran with such force relaxed.

Instead of running, I slowed down to a walk.

I couldn’t help but look in awe.

“These little shits. They met quite the opponent….”

****

“Keruru.”

I am Karin, the loyal servant of the great Berdan.

Sir Berdan trusts and depends on me.

That’s probably why he had me take care of such important work.

To bring the lesser human from Earth was a difficult and dangerous task!

I had accomplished the task!

No one else but me would’ve been able to do this.

When I had first arrived, Earth was quite amusing, to the point where I couldn’t hide my surprise.

That world was filled with colors that didn’t exist in the demonic realm.

Perhaps due to how they all had intelligence, they conversed with one another continuously and seemed to enjoy themselves by doing so.

And compared to what I had expected, there was a lot of concentrated hot spots of magical energies present.

Kel kel. These stupid humans couldn’t use any of these magical energies present here.

If I wasn’t commanded so, I would’ve absorbed all this for myself.

I had met a total of 3 humans in that world.

The first human I met was really horrifying.

The moment I spoke to them, they tried to stab me with their knife.

Even after seeing me, they weren’t surprised or hesitant for even a second. With madness in their eyes, they had attacked me.

I didn’t receive any injuries, but I didn’t feel so good.

‘A talking goblin….. I wonder if killing one will give me the same thrill as killing a person? Kuhu, kuhuhu!’ – is what they had said.

The second human was pretty much the same.

I thought that all humans were barbaric, and despite having intellect, they were pretty much the same as the monsters.

My hopes of finding something new that was amusing had been completely crushed.

So I continued on, appearing before the 3rd human.

As expected, he swore and tried to ignore me.

However, thinking that all humans were the same didn’t last long!

Out of nowhere, he had suddenly changed his way of addressing me, becoming friendly.

The name of that human was Min-Cheol.

I was able to converse with any lifeform, no matter what dimension they were in.

I had lived hundreds of years pointlessly amidst the monsters that possessed no intellect.

Having no combat abilities, I had lived under sir Berdan’s protection as I carried out his orders.

I believed that the human named Min-Cheol that I had met on Earth was the reward for enduring that stagnancy for so long.

He had spoken to me and even gave me the sweet gift of steak.

“Keruu…..”

I had sacrificed that human to sir Berdan and now was waiting outside of the castle.

I was given the attention that I had never received.

I felt a warmth that I had never before.

But even so, I had sacrificed this human to sir Berdan.

Because if I didn’t do that, I would be the one to die.

This was the first time I felt this way.

Death was natural in the demonic realm.

It was as natural as the wind blowing, breathing, and even blinking.

But I, who had left that human behind and walked outside, could not accept his death.

On top of that, I felt regret and even apologetic towards the human that I had led to his death.

I tried to tell sir Berdan.

I tried to tell him that instead of Min-Cheol, I would bring the magical energies of many humans.

However, I could not finish what I was saying.

It was because he resorted to throwing very scary things and berated me.

He said it must be Min-Cheol, and to hurry up as soon as possible.

Next to me were 6 giant bags.

Inside were meats filled to the brim of the bags that could be used to make steak.

On top of that, the pocket dimension I carried was filled with Earth’s foodstuffs that he had gifted me with.

Even though he knew that he was going to die, he had gifted all of this to me.

Min-Cheol had given all of this to me.

Additionally, he had me evacuate the castle in worry that I might perish from the collateral damage.

I think I heard him say something about a food storage, but he probably spoke nonsense at the fear he was feeling against sir Berdan.

Steak was tasty enough for me to think about even on my deathbed.

But I could not bring myself to eat this steak.

It wasn’t because it was frozen solid.

I just didn’t feel like eating it.

I felt that I didn’t deserve to eat this.

“Human made good steak…..”

“KUHUCK! KUHA!”

“Keruu…..”

I could hear the sound of screams inside the castle.

It was a sound that I hear thousands of times a day in the demonic realm.

I put my head between my legs and covered my ears.

After a very long time, I stopped covering my ears.

………

………

Thankfully, I couldn’t hear any sound.

No! I wasn’t relieved.

Human….. Min-Cheol would have perished by now.

It didn’t take long for the doors of the castle to open.

However, I did not feel as though I could go inside.

Right now, I just wanted to avoid facing this situation.

I heard someone call for me.

“Karin…..”

“…….”

“Hey, Karin!”

“Keru….. Yes! Great Berd….. Keruk!”

****

“Kuhuk! Human who carries such insignificant magical energies…. But how do you have such strength…..”

“Whew….. Whew……”

“Hey, hyung-nim. Did something bad happen? You need to control your temper.”

“Kuhuh….. Lowly human! This isn’t possible!”

“What are you doing? Asking us where our fighting spirit went? Pfft! It’s right here. Hyung-nim, who had come with me, I think he has shown you a little bit of his fighting spirit. Not sure if it got across to you properly though.”

Berdan’s underlings had all perished.

All the monsters without intellect and the two that did had perished.

As expected, they were quite strong.

They were strong enough to call them as Berdan’s best.

However, they were no match for the rage of the hunter of had left his lover behind on Earth.

As if to deny their existence in the first place, not even a trace of them remained.

The interior that did not have enough room to even move around was now completely spacious.

In the fight with Berdan, all I had done was to take care of the monsters taking up all this space.

The one deserving of the credit for making Berdan kneel and spit out blood was Jong Ho.

It was true that I hadn’t seen him in combat since the moment he was able to clear the level 38 dungeon by himself.

The last time I was able to see how far he had grown was roughly a month ago.

To think that he had grown this strong in a single month.

It was enough to make me wonder if there was anyone more persistent than him.

It seemed as though Berdan was in great agony, holding onto both of his horns, his head lowered and body trembling.

Casting healing magic on Jong Ho, who was catching his breath, I spoke.

“Hyung-nim. Let’s end this now. I don’t want a long tour of the demonic realm.

“Yeah.”

In a split second, electricity gathered around Berdan.

The spell In Storm had been casted from the Balrok ring.

It was a S+ ranking magic that targeted anyone inside the targeted area into corpses.

The smaller the area chose, the more condensed the flow of electricity became, showing power that was enough to give me goosebumps.

Leaving his hand, it was the moment that the electricity was about to hit Berdan when it happened.

“What the….?”

“He’s resisting?”

---

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Taken from Light Novel Bastion. All credits goes to the original translator and editor.

4. Getting a Goal (2)

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Taken from Light Novel Bastion. All credits goes to the original translator and editor.

8. The Taste of Money! Manticore (3)

50 manticores were taken out in two attacks, leaving half remaining.

After seeing the nonsensical experience gains, I calmed my excited heart down, before quickly getting rid of the other half the same way.

Blood stones started rising up from the monsters that were defeated.. It was a beautiful sight.

During that, I thought that calling them a ‘Rising Sun’ wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

The few monsters that were still breathing were dispatched by Sang-Min’s ‘Ilsum’ and Chang-Hyuk’s axe swings.

In only 15 minutes I got over 10,000 experience, and my levels had risen.

This was actually an amazing amount of experience. I mean, the level 6 dungeon boss only gave out 100 experience.

Not to mention, this experience was  divided between 5 people as well.

The party members, who had just finished half the hunt, couldn’t stop being in awe of my ‘Lightning Spray’, as it was stronger than they thought.

Of course, due to the last week’s hunting, the Skill Level was now Level 8.

In-Ah buffing the attack increase, and Yong-Hyun debuffing the opponent’s damage resistance greatly contributed too.

Typically, you would think that having one tanker and four damage dealers would be more effective, but mixing healers and necromancers together sped up the hunting.

It was probably due to the main skills that each class had.

Meanwhile, after learning ‘Lightning Spray’, I had no reason to use ‘Frost Orb’ in the level 6 dungeon.

I had a magic which would destroy them in one hit, after all.

Of course…this only applied to me.

The other half was killed in the same way.

After killing all the monsters, we moved in the 12 o’clock direction, and eventually made it to the dungeon center. Sang-Min shook his head, and said

“Ah… this dungeon’s a failure.”

‘Eh? What about a failure?’

We hunted all those monsters in only 30 minutes, yet he’s saying something about failure?

After seeing the other party members in regret I realized something.
O

h. In this dungeon there was a boss: the boss that dropped the ‘Manticore’s Soul Stone’.

However, he hadn’t appeared.

I asked Sang-Min, “Eh!?” Why can’t I see the boss?”

Sang-Min saw my panicked face and replied,

“Ah… In this dungeon the boss doesn’t always show up. It has a low chance of appearance. In addition to that, you have to kill all the monsters in the dungeon for it to show up. Manticores have a large aggro radius so we couldn’t have missed any, therefore, this dungeon is a failure.”

Damn it! I thought it was strange when they said one soul stone equaled 1 billion.

I thought ‘The association is either lazy or rich.’

But even if the boss didn’t come out, I could still get a larger profit than clearing a level 6 dungeon solo.

1 run gives over 30,000 exp, many blood stones, and the probability of a manticore soul stone.

‘This… I think I should just  stay for a few days and suck the honey?’ ¹¹
After leaving the dungeon, Sang-Min, as if he liked the Lightning Spray’s damage, came over.

“Min-Cheol ssi, when can you do it ‘till??”

He brought out his smartphone and continued to talk.

“It’s 10am right now, and we can go until 4-5pm. If you’re okay with that, then let’s hunt together!” ”

“I’m okay until that time too.”

I smiled to myself and thought ‘Nope! I’m cool whenever, be it night or dawn.’‘

“Ah,really? That’s good. It’s hard to get greater damage dealers. You’re also really strong compared to your level, so the other guild members like you too.”

“Really? That’s a relief.”

After getting my promise of hunting with them, Sang-Min leaves the blood stone calculation to the other members who are restoring their mana and talks to me.

“Min-Cheol ssi, I’ll go to the Awakened ATM machine after we’ve divided up your share and send your money to you.”

Normally, when hunting with guild members or friends, you would share the loot after all the hunts were finished.

But my case was different, so he probably talked about the loot first.

I think he’s a decent guy.

Since it was the first time I had been treated well in my life, I didn’t know what to do and started fidgeting.

Young-Hyun spoke up, breaking up the awkward conversation.

“Hyung-nim, there are 12 F ranks and 1 D rank.”

We hunted around 200 manticores, but only 13 stones came out.

It reminded me, once again, about the low drop rates of the blood stones.

Of course, one stone is D rank, so it would fetch a higher price..

“Did you find out the current price?”

“You didn’t tell me to do that.”

He waved his hand and turned around, as if to say he wasn’t even surprised by this point.

“Yeah, I’m sorry. Find out the current price and say it, please?”

“Yes, Hyung!”

Sang-Min was pressing down on his temple during this  time.

After completing the search, Yong-Hyun pressed down some buttons on his handphone, and said, “Hyung! Right now F rank is 20,500 won, and D rank is 70,000 won. All together it’s 316,000 won!

“Yong-Hyun, how many times do I have to say this? Take off the odds and ends and give it to Chang-Hyuk. We can just say it’s 300,000 and give everyone 60,000. The municipal rate doesn’t fall down that much.”

As if swallowing a sweet potato the size of an arm, I could sense the frustration.

‘If it was my younger brother, I would tie him up and beat the living daylights out of him.’

Sang-Min looked at me with a contradictory look as he talked to Yong-Hyun.

“We should give a bit more money to the main tanker.. The equipment wear is far worse for them, so we can’t do anything about it. Of course, most parties do this.. It’s fine, right?”

I saw that shield’s life being beaten out of it with my own eyes, so I could clearly understand the point.

“Ah, right. Let’s hunt together when we have the time. Can I have your phone number?”

“Eh? Ah… I’ll type it.”

Kim Min-Cheol

Level : 25
Exp : [34,260/220,000]
Class : Magician
Special Ability : Mana doesn’t run out.
Strength : 10
Mana : ∞
Agility : 10
Vitality : 130
Unspent Points  : 0
Current Skills
Frost Orb Level 12 [1450/90000]
Lightning Spray Level 18 [86536/150000]

It was the fifth day of hunting with Sang-Min and his party.

The manticore boss hadn’t shown up once, even though we hunted 7 hours each day.

Although we stayed there for 10 hours total, Lee In-Ah, and Jo Yong-Hyun spend 3 hours restoring their mana, so the actual hunting time was less.

Of course, I had to put up an act while they rested. I pretended to need mana restoration time, too.

When our hunting time together was finished, I went to a level 6 dungeon alone.

This was for Skill Experience.

I aggro’d all the monsters, and killed them all, including the boss.

I could easily tank their attacks, as my vitality stat was at 130.

A 6 level dungeon usually needed a 5 member team of at least Level 10+.

Parties would have tankers and damage dealers, but I did that all on my own.

The amount of time it took for me to move to the boss room was equivalent to the time used to complete a dungeon run.

Every day at 6 am Sang-Min called me.

Aside from my mother, no one else had given me this much attention.

I felt uncomfortable and awkward, but I soon found that someone looking for you was actually a good feeling.

The amount of money I got per day from manticore hunting was around 100-120 million won.

In addition to this, the income from other hunting was around 200,000 won.

I could earn 800 million per week.

But this wasn’t enough. I needed more money.

To get that I needed stronger skills, better items, and more growth.

But right now I was completely focused on repaying the loan.

My next objective was to get the skills ‘Flashing’ and ‘Frozen Shield’.

Due to my infinite mana, I could cast ‘Lightning Spray’ without rest. In order to level up, the skills I needed were not attack skills, but defensive ones.

“Now, let’s get to work!”

---

Previous Chapter|Index|Next Chapter

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Taken from Light Novel Bastion. All credits goes to the original translator and editor.

5. Getting a Goal (3)

I went straight to the dungeon after lying that I have to go to the library at the crack of dawn.

The hip sack I prepared was pretty full.

I didn’t eat or drink anything except for the breakfast that my mother prepared.

But I didn’t feel anything like hunger or dehydration.

I once again realized how frightening human greed is.

It was about 9 pm when the sun was going down.

14 hours of continuous hunting… and the hip sack which was as big as my excited heart!

Going back, my footsteps were light rather than being heavy.

On the way home, I go to a busy  ‘Awakened Market’ street and entered into one of the stores.

A place which trades ‘blood stones’ and sells Awakened weapons, armor, and such.

It’s a place that I had never paid any attention to… but now, I wonder how many of them there were.

“Welcome!”

The owner who is wearing a neat suit greets me.

I can clearly see that his gaze towards me, who looks pretty young, isn’t nice.

He’s definitely viewing me as a brat who will touch this and that and ask annoying questions.

I observe that two robust men are standing next to the owner.

People who use this place are mainly Awakened. By using their powers, they could harm the store’s business, so those two are probably hired bodyguards.

“Yes, hello.”

I give a simple greeting, untie the hip sack and place it on the counter.

The owner’s eyes become big as he looks at the puffed up hip sack.

“I’m disposing of all this.”

I say as I raise my head up.

The owner, who looked at the hip sack’s contents more closely, slowly shrinks back.

His disappointment is clearly shown.

‘Eh? This isn’t the scenario I envisioned would happen?’

The owner doesn’t even give me time to panic and opens his mouth.

“You got this all from a level 1 dungeon right?”

“Yes.”

“It’s all F rank, and there’s 1 transcendent F rank one too.”

Anxiousness assaulted me with the owner’s expression and words.

I didn’t know the commercial rate of the ‘blood stones’ and just constantly hunted.

“45 small ones! And 1 big one!”

I quickly reply like a child who’s pleading for innocence after being unjustly accused of something.

I went to around 30 dungeons today.

I counted all the stones one by one and carefully put them in the hip sack.

It might look like I’m a miser, but counting all that wasn’t annoying! Or hard! Or confusing!

Therefore, I could only feel down in front of this harvest after all my effort.

“It looks like you just Awakened and hunted all this time to get all this… F ranked essences don’t go for that much.”

This piece of dog shit!

I regain my temper and carefully ask.

“Then how much would it all be?”

My chin that didn’t know how tall the sky was raised itself and quickly found its proper place.

The owner who touched his tablet PC once or twice replies.

“Let’s see… The current price for F rank is 20 thousand won, transcendent F rank is about 50 thousand won. If what you said about the amount is correct…”

The owner keeps talking while punching numbers on a calculator.

“It comes to be about 950 thousand won.”

Ah… no…. It’s only 20 thousand won, 50 thousand one per…

It’s only 950 thousand… ¹²

Eh?!

Did this guy get heatstroke or something? Cheap?!

You cosplaying as Mansour? ¹³

Disappointment quickly turned into  joy, and I felt a thrill from the top of my head to the tip of my toes.

“So, would you like it in cash, or do you want it in ‘Awakened Credit’?

The store owner asks while putting the blood stones in a stone counter.

The counter splits the small stones and the big stone up, and quickly figures out the price.

“Eh? What’s… that ‘Awakened Credit’ thing?”

The look he had towards me when we first met is all gone and he now has a look towards me as if saying I was cute, and asks:

“Really, you haven’t been an Awakened for long huh?

“Yeah, haha…”

I take a wipe-your-nose-with-your-hand pose and make an embarrassing smile.

“The association doesn’t even explain things like this, freaking governments.”

The owner, who mumbles to himself speaks to me.

“You have your ‘Awakened Certificate’ right?”

“Yeah, I got it.”

“You can use it like a debit card. Give it here.”

“Ok, here you go.”

As I hand over the certificate I feel embarrassed at my non-existent knowledge, and yet feel proud that I’m experiencing a world that not all people can get into.

As the certificate is put into the card terminal some information about me comes up.

“Do you remember your password that you made?”

“Yes! I remember.”

“Ok, put the password in here.”

‘1004’; you probably think that this is simple and dumb right?

But this number is the most important number to me.

My mother’s birthday is on the 4th of October.

As I enter in the password it displays the information about my latest card usage, and the amount of money I have in it.

The market owner says this as he puts his credit card into the other side of the terminal.

“Item price 950 thousand won, I’ll transfer it.”

“Wait! Do you have the Lightning Spray Skill Book?”

The owner once again looks at me as if I was cute.

“Even if you buy it you can’t use it. The mana cost is abnormally high. Hm… Do you want me to suggest you something different?”

“No! I’m buying it as a gift.”

“Oh, well then…”

The price was 1 million won.

It’s a bit higher than the online price, but the owner gave it to me for 900 thousand won while saying ‘Please keep coming.’

After finishing the trade and checking the money left in my card, I get out of the store confidently.

The Skill Book ‘Lightning Spray’, which I thought I would get ages later, was bought on the first day of dungeon hunting.

“Unbelievable…”

Only a few days ago I got almost beaten to death because of a mere 2000 won.

But now?

It’s like money doesn’t feel like money.

Like harvesting plants from a mountain, all I did was pick up blood stones from a dungeon.

I chuckled and went home.

****

It was 10pm when I got home.

On the first day of the holidays, from the first hunt I got an unbelievable sum of money.

I stare at the ‘Lightning Spray’ Skill Book.

The Skill Book is about the same size as a manhwa.

When I open it up there are indecipherable hieroglyphs.

To obtain a skill, you have to place the ‘Skill Book’ on your chest and wait about 10 seconds.

As I put the Skill Book on my chest, a gentle light comes out and slowly sublimates.

[Would you learn the skill ‘Lightning Spray’?]

“Of course! Absolutely! Yes!”

[You have learned the skill ‘Lightning Spray.’]

Kim Min-Cheol
Level : 7
Exp : [4200/6400]
Class : Magician
Special Ability : Mana doesn’t run out.
Strength: 10
Mana : ∞
Agility : 10
Vitality : 10
Unspent Points : 30
Current Skills
Frost Orb Level 8 [1450/12,800]
Lightning Spray Level 0 [0/100]

My gaze rests on the name ‘Lightning Spray’ only for a moment.

The 30 unspent points attracted my eyes.

I didn’t upgrade my stats yet.

Currently, I don’t run out of mana, and a mana quantity didn’t exist.

The mana stat affects the quantity of mana I can hold and the regeneration rate of mana.

Therefore I had no reason to put points into the mana stat.

Strength upgrades battle speed, stamina, accuracy as well as power.

That’s the reason why Magician class Awakened are less popular than Warrior class Awakened.

Of course, you can’t select which one you get.

When a warrior and a magician are the same level, have similar ranks of equipment, then the only difference between them are the massive difference between their stats.

The only way to close this gap is to have strong skills and high skill levels.

Ah~I forgot something, the thing which allows you to constantly use those skills, the mana gauge!

This is probably why the Skill Books for the magician class are expensive.

Anyway, even though I’m a magician I don’t need to put any points into mana.

Therefore I feel that the most important stat right now is strength.

Even though casting spells at a range is relatively safe, as the dungeon level goes up a high level monster could possibly be able attack me once.

Let’s say that I raised my agility, and avoided most of the attacks. But what if I get unlucky and get hit once?

‘Few days later~ few days later~ meet him across the Jordan River!’

I ignore the strange voice support and use the 30 points I got from leveling into strength.

Because it’s hard to reset your stats, I put them in cautiously and carefully.

---

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Taken from Light Novel Bastion. All credits goes to the original translator and editor.

7. The Taste of Money! Manticore (2)

The feeling of the dungeon interior was vastly different from the ones I usually frequented.

If the previous dungeons had a feeling of a basement, then this dungeon was like a desert.

The floor was entirely made of fine sand, and there were no tunnels or walls we could use as a guide.

While I looked around Sang-Min started to speak.

“Chang-Hyuk will go in the 9 o’clock direction and I’ll go in the 12 o’clock, and we’ll all meet back here. You know all this but I’ll say it one more time.”

Han Sang-Min’s plan was as follows:

They would split into two teams.

Lee Chang-Hyuk, the main tanker, and Jo Yong-Hyun, the necromancer, were in one, while Han Sang-Min, the sub-tanker, and Lee In-Ah, the healer, were in the other.

These two teams would drive the monsters to the starting location, so we could hunt them.

He said this around the same time I was thinking ‘How, in this wide dungeon, are you going to lure the monsters here?’

“Min-Cheol ssi needs to say here, and get buffed by In-Ah and Yong-Hyun. On my signal fire Greater Magic, understand?”

Why do we need a strategy for a manticore? Can’t we just go on a rampage?

“I understand. I’ll standby.”

“Then let’s go.”

After Sung-Min finished talking he led the party away, and they quickly set off.

I started to worry about whether we could clear the dungeon in the 1 hour time limit.

“Ah, I feel like I came here in vain…”

My thoughts naturally leaked out after the party members were out of my sight.

Well, I can solo level 6 dungeons in 25 minutes.

Loot, experience, it was all mine.

I came for the manticore’s soul stone but now I feel a bit of regret.

Has 5 minutes gone by?

“Let it go~ Let it go~ Hmhmhmhm and sky~”

I had just finished drawing on the sand, using the Frost Orb as paint, when I saw Lee Chang-Hyuk and Yong-Hyun rushing towards me at an amazing speed.

“The hell!? Are you luring the monsters, or running away from them?”

He came up to me and lifted his 2 meter high shield.

I felt an unknown strength from the shield that was firmly strapped to his shoulder and arm.

The big axe on his other hand had it’s grip double-layered to protect his hand and wrist, as if to prove that he was a tanker.

‘Are they playing a war game?’ A black silhouette approached us, like a fog, from the way they came.

Lee Chang-Hyuk turned his head around, and smiled a fishy smile. With a thick voice, he said:

“Hey, rookie-young master! Don’t freak out and randomly spam skills. Just stick to the back.

Jjigeureok woodukwooduk.

I could clearly hear the sound of my pride cracking.

I wanted to show him the justice of team-killing, but I barely restrained myself.

He probably dislikes me, because I look like a gold spoon Awakened, with no worries in the world. ¹⁴

I hit the sarcastic remark back at him, “Just block well. You’re probably going to get sore muscles after this.”

Chang-Hyuk laughed at my reply, and gathered strength in his two hands.

“They’re coming.”

Hang Sang-Min and Lee In-Ah were running here quickly.

With the black crowd that Lee Chang-Hyuk attracted slowly becoming clearer, Han Sang-Min joined us and started to make a plan.

“In-Ah, attack, attack speed, and defense buffs, please. Also, cast ‘Barrier’ around Young-Hyun and Min-Cheol ssi, as they’ll be supporting us at the back.

Without replying she nodded, and gave everyone buffs. Then she casted ‘Barrier around Young-Hyun and me.

The barrier, that looked like light blue glass, surrounded me.

If someone did a close-range attack inside the barrier, the barrier would instantly disappear.

It was a shield only suitable for ranged damage dealers.

“Young Hyun, keep casting ‘Spirit Armour’ on Chang-Hyuk and me, okay?”

“Don’t worry, Hyung-nim, I will.”

Shades kept coming out of Sang-Min and Chang-Hyuk’s surroundings and surrounded them.

It was probably a defense system for tankers and close-range damage dealers.

Now it looked like we were finally going to do something.

I wasn’t afraid, but I felt a bit anxious.

I trusted in my infinitely producing mana.

Of course, the well-trained party members had a part in it too.

The manticore herd was coming at an amazing speed, leaving a trail of sand behind them.

Their numbers were approximately 800-1000.

And, they were only around half of the monsters in the dungeon.

The monsters weren’t too big, only 2 metres, but it let out an overwhelming pressure.

I contributed the pressure to its outward appearance.

It had a wavy lion’s face, wings on its back, that could be compared to a bat or a dragon’s, and a scorpion’s tail that was most likely full of deadly poison.

‘Wow… I just lost a bit of confidence. Was it just the atmosphere?’

The manticore crowds were in groups of 4-5.

The leading manticore pack arrived at tanker Chang-Hyuk.

The manticores spread into a fan position and used their sharp claws to rain attacks on him.

Jjigeureureu caen! Caen!

Chang-Hyuk used his shield and axe to block the claws, while Sang-Min used the swords in his hands.

A sound like a blacksmith hammering steel came out.

Herd after herd kept coming, but Sang-MIn didn’t give out the attack signal.

In-Ah and Yong-Hyun were continuing to buff and heal.

The end of the long line of manticores was now visible.

“Charging!”

At Sang-Min’s shout, Chang-Hyuk lifted his right foot, which was his center of gravity, and stepped forward, pushing his shield into the herd of manticores.

“Woaaahhh!”

Ku guung!

With Chang-Hyuk’s short shout, many of the tens of manticores that were surrounding the party were pushed back, as if there was an invisible wall pushing them away.

This was the tanking skill ‘Charging’.

It was a main skill for tankers, which utilized shields or weapons to push enemies away.

The manticores that were pushed away collided with the other manticores, and became a single mass of tens of manticores put together.

“Yong-Hyun, lower resist!”

Yong-Hyun, who was casting ‘Spirit Armour’, busily started to debuff the monsters that were bunched up.

It was a skill that decreased a monster’s physical and magical resistance.

The monsters that were successfully affected had a triangle shape glowing red on their chests.

I could hear Sang Min

“Min-Cheol ssi, now!”

It was time.

Time for ‘Lightning Spray’ to appear.

The party members and the monsters were quite a bit apart due to the skill ‘Charging’.

I could use ‘Lightning Spray’ with both hands, but to avoid suspicion I grabbed my staff with both hands and casted it.

“Eurya!”

Jjirik! Gigigigik!

Electrical currents, that emitted a blue light, poured out of the end of the staff and started to stretch around.

The attack, much like rain during a storm, had no set patterns or directions, and mercilessly crashed onto the herd.

Their bodies started to explode due to the impact.

The ones that were instantly done by the Lightning Spray’s destructive power started to shake all at once.

The currents that had pierced through the monster’s bodies went straight down into the ground, as if they still had strength left.

[120 experience gained.]
[120 experience gained.]
[120 experience gained.]

---

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127. Face off with Berdan

Many days before the Gate was formed, Berdan worked in secret to hide the magical energy near the Gate that would connect to Earth.

Soon, humans from Earth with vast amounts of magical energy would be arriving.

However, the magical energy of the demonic realm was already saturated to its maximum.

Berdan wouldn’t be the only one to notice additional magical energies entering the demonic realm.

From the demon king Jamon to Ladin. Anyone decently strong would be able to recognize the change as well.

Of course, the demon king had commanded to gather greater amounts of magical energies in order to increase the territory of the monsters.

However, this was a path of revival for the demons that were withering away due to infighting.

However, if the demon king realized the magical energies that were being brought included Min-Cheol and Jong Ho, with more to come, he would see that Berdan would obtain magical energies surpassing his, and would stop him.

It was then.

Berdan sensed that two humans with massive amounts of magical energies had entered into his veil.

He was all smiles now.

He could feel each of their steps, getting closer by the second.

Even now, he wanted to rush outside and obtain their mana.

However, he could not do so.

Despite covering up the magical energy around the Gate, it wasn’t possible to hide his own magical energy.

If Berdan, who had been guarding his castle this entire time suddenly moved, it could cause alarm.

Out of habit, Berdan touched his horn.

Salivating, he spoke again.

“Kuhu. Kuhaha! Finally, they’re here!”

Right now, he had gathered the top 1% ranking monsters in his territory to his castle.

It was to gather as quickly and as much magical energy as possible.

In his sights lay the humans that arrived here, the monsters of his territory, and the monsters of Ladin’s territory.

After that, he planned to travel to Earth and take the magical energies of the remaining Awakened.

There was a possibility that the demon king Jamon might follow him to Earth, but unlike Berdan who did not require any magical energies to travel through dimensions due to his Authority, the demon king would have to expend a massive amount of it in order to travel.

That meant that even if the demon king did follow, he would not have enough magical energies to defeat him.

“Come! Hurry! To the new demon king!”

****

We entered the demonic realm.

The moment our feet touched the ground, the feeling of doom and gloom of the demonic realm washed over us.

The ground was desolate and barren, almost as if it was a field for farming that had undergone a severely long period of drought.

We couldn’t help but get goosebumps at the sight.

On top of that, there were monsters all over the place.

This place didn’t look that different from the dreams I had of this place before.

No, perhaps the place I saw in my dreams were miniature in comparison to this place.

Almost as if to wet the dry ground, the monsters in the distance ripped one another apart, spilling blood everywhere.

It was absolute chaos.

It really was the demonic realm. Looking around made me realize that again.

It felt like we had gone through a portal or a dungeon.

Just from looking around, the number and types of monsters were beyond one’s imagination.

It felt as if dungeons from all levels had been put together into a single place.

“Whew….. We really did arrive….”

“Keruk. This is the demonic realm.”

“Oh. You’re Karin?”

Jong Ho, who hadn’t been able to see Karin until now, spoke as if he was glad to see him.

At his question, Karin put his hands at his hips and spoke with his nose raised up.

“Kel kel. That’s right. Humans, follow me.”

“Karin, are we going to Berdan immediately?”

“That’s right. He should not be angered.”

“Ok….. Lead the way. We’ll follow.”

“Keruk. Alright.”

“Hyung-nim, just do as you have been practicing. No matter what, do not let your shield spell fall off.”

“Of course. You have no idea how much I’ve been practicing in order to get used to it.”

“Until we arrive at Berdan’s castle, I’ll be dealing an inconsequential amount of damage to you in order for you to gather mana, since you’ll need to save up that mana for combat.”

“Yeah. If you just control the output of your damage well, I should be able to cast shields without using up any mana. This skill is kind of perverted in the sense that you need to get hit while using the defensive skill in order for me to obtain mana.”

“Yes. And you have the ring with you, right?”

“Yes, I’m wearing it.”

“Good. Let’s go.”

Karin moved through the demonic realm as if he was a fish back in water.

Surprisingly, the monsters lowered their tails and fled when we got close to them.

These monsters only thought about killing.

Looking at their fleeing forms, I remembered that they had the ability to sense magical energy, at least according to Karin.

It seemed that no matter the type of monster they were or what amount of intelligence they had, all of them could sense both their own magical energy and of others.

That’s why it made sense for them to run at the sight of us two overflowing with magical energies.

I even considered that we didn’t need the shield spells for now.

With Karin at the lead, we walked for a long time.

His stumbling walk was too funny to watch.

Perhaps he was going as fast as he could, because he was panting heavily.

Thinking that this would take all day, I looked towards the sky.

However, this place did not have a sun or moon.

Everything was bathed in a light similar to the bluish hue before dawn.

It really fit the image of the demonic realm.

“Kehhehru. Keheck. We’re almost here.”

“I don’t see anything though?”

“Kehhek. It’s over there. Sir Berdan’s castle.”

“What do you mean. I only see a mountain…. Wait, that’s a castle?”

“That’s right. We just need to go a little further.”

I thought it was a mountain where Karin pointed.

It was so huge that it’d be easy to make that mistake.

However, Karin was saying that it was Berdan’s castle.

To be fair, I had thought that the cliff I saw in my dream was actually his sword, so imagine how big his body would be.

As I was walking without much care, Jong Ho poked at my sides and spoke.

“I’m not saying this because I’m afraid or anything, but because I’m a bit nervous…..”

“What’s up?”

“Just how big is he? How big does he have to be in order to use a castle that big?”

“Dunno. I haven’t see him in person. To be fair, just because someone is big, doesn’t mean that they fight well.”

“That…. That’s right. That’s right, but I don’t know why I’m sweating so much from my hands.”

“It’ll be quick. Ah! You remember that we have to continuously check each other’s positions, right?”

“Of course. I don’t want to get hit by your meteor and die.”

“Okay. I will also keep in mind where you are positioning. And until your ring of revival gets consumed, I’ll be purely focusing on combat.”

“Right. I’ll do my best to let you focus only on fighting against Berdan. I hope that there won’t be a need for this ring to be consumed.”

“Yes. Please do not overexert yourself. Retreating or running away is a tactic in itself. And do not let your thoughts become consumed by panic. Safety first.”

“Alright.”

It didn’t take long for us to arrive at Berdan’s castle, and the castle door that was big as a house opened.

“Kururu.”

“Kuhu….. Kuwuh!”

“Shit. Even from the entrance, it’s quite tense.”

“Keruru.”

“Hey, Karin. Is it normal for these monsters to gather inside the castle?”

“Kel kel. No. However, these monsters carry the top 1% magical energies of the demonic realm.”

“Looks like he’s quite afraid, bringing all his minions here.”

“Kehhehhehhek! Human, you are too funny. They are just food to him. They’re like chunks of meat that will charge him with magical energies! After obtaining both of your magical energies, they are going to be his desert.”

“…..”

“Funny. One hell of a grand dream he has.”

“Keruru.”

“But, you know, I think us, who are the main dish, is going to make him choke….”

To each of our sides, countless monsters were letting out their killing intent.

However, they also did not just charge in.

Was it because they could sense the difference in magical energies? Or it could be that Berdan had commanded them not to.

Jong Ho and I covered our bodies with shield spells and headed forward.

This was the first time that so many red marks were revealed before me by Eye of Insight.

The countless monsters that filled this place up to its brim were only matched by the amount of red marks my skill showed me.

Eye of Insight was showing me all their weak points.

Unlike the others, there was a target mark at the end of the castle’s central hallway that appeared different from the rest..

Red dots covered the entire giant form of the creature.

That must be Berdan.

But to think that his entire body was the weak spot. It was strange.

It didn’t take long for him to appear in our sights.

Karin ran forward with haste.

“Great sir Berdan! I have brought the humans as asked! Kelkeru.”

“Kuhuhu! Yes, you have done well, Karin.”

“Kehrurururu.”

“You’re the one?”

“Kek?”

“The piece of shit called Berdan?”

“Kehhek!”

“Kuhaha! Looking at your magical energy, you must have moved through your world with quite the power.”

“…..”

“However, after taking down such a weakling like Zekill, you dare think that you can fight against me! Kuhaha! Fools. Hurry and surrender before me. Give me your magical energies without struggle.”

Ignoring his words, I stomped on the ground.

The force from my strong body was delivered directly into the ground.

It resulted in the entire castle shaking, the sheer force of the ground quaking spreading throughout.

Frowning, I spoke to Berdan.

“Hey, is this castle sturdy?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m asking if it’s sturdy. Aren’t we going to fight here? You went through the trouble of preparing an arena for us, so we have to at least return the courtesy by giving you a show.”

“So you wish to realize how powerless you are with your own body.”

“Since you aren’t saying much, I guess it’s quite sturdy.”

“Amusing.”

At my taunt, two monsters behind him stood up.

They must be similar to the underlings the radical faction had, kind of like how Ghost and Joker was.

They only amounted to his right and left hand.

Berdan raise his giant hand to stop them from making a move.

Then he spoke.

“It’s been quite awhile since I’ve seen a decent concentration of magical energies. I guess it’ll be okay to use this as a warm up exercise.”

“Aren’t you going to send them away?”

I pointed at the countless monsters behind us and spoke.

In the fight to come, they would amount to nothing more than lumbering obstacles.

“Slaughter them to your pleasure, if you wish. Obtain as much magical energies as you wish. The magical energies you two will take will merely return back to me when I’m through.”

“You’re pretty smart. Then let the rest be, but have Karin leave.”

“Did you become attached to him? Kuha! Amusing. Fine. Karin!”

“Keru. Your orders, sir Berdan!”

“Guard the outside of the castle. It’ll be finished soon, but I do not want the one who had the biggest part in this mission become injured.”

“Keruru. Understood.”

“Now, are you done?”

“Okay. Got our food storage evacuated. Now we can go all out.”

“Kuhaha.”

“Hyungnim, please take care of the two monsters behind him.”

“What about the rest of the monsters?”

“They probably won’t move without his command. It seems that the only three monsters with intelligence are those three.”

“Okay, I got it!”

“Shields. Checking each other’s positioning. Keeping proper distance. Do not forget.”

“Yep!”

Observing the two of us talk in silence, Berdan finally spoke.

“It seems that you’re plotting quite the grand strategy.”

“Hey, you’re making me blush. It’s nothing much, just…. You can think of it as a plan to kill you.”

“Good….. Come! Insignificant humans called the Awakened. I shall show you the true might of the demonic race!”

---

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126. To the Demonic Realm

“Kekek! Human! We must go now! The Gate…. Sir Berdan awaits!”

“Alright, alright. Just wait a bit.”

“Kuhhoop.”

After returning to the house, I checked the Gate that led to the demonic realm through TV.

The Gate was far bigger than what I had originally anticipated.

Karin kept stomping his foot and tried to hurry me along, saying the he could feel the Gate’s aura.

However, the food still hadn’t arrived yet.

Since I wasn’t a monster that could use magical energy as a source of food, this matter was of life and death importance.

Stuffing his mouth with steaks, I bought as much time as possible.

I proceeded to contact the commander.

“Commander.”

“Yes, lad Min-Cheol. Did you confirm the location of the Gate?”

“Yes, I just saw it on TV.”

“Right….. When do you think you’ll arrive here by?”

“Hm… Probably 2 hours from now.”

“2 hours…..”

“Yes. During that time, please prevent any Awakened or civilians from getting near the Gate. They would be sent immediately to the demonic realm if they did so.”

“Yes, I’ve already gave the order for that. But you said it’ll take 2 hours…. Is something the matter?”

“No. I asked for food supplies, but they told me that it’ll take roughly 2 hours.”

“Hm… I see. Since it could become a long drawn out fight, that would be necessary. I shall try and see if I could speed up the delivery for you.”

“Yes, thank you. By the way, did any monsters come through the Gate?”

“Right. So far, there were no signs of such things. Please contact me again when you’re ready.”

“Yes, understood.”

It would still be awhile before the ordered items would arrive.

As I was about to head to the living room, Jong Ho returned from hunting.

It seemed that he ran here as fast as he could so that he could save the Warp cooldown, because he was drenched in sweat.

Catching his breath after being winded, he spoke.

“Whew…. Whew….. I’m not late, am I?”

“Yes. You arrived just on time.”

“Thank goodness. Whew…..”

I casted Mega Cure on Jong Ho.

His breathing steadied, and he was lively once more.

Since he had a massive amount of dexterity and stamina stats, his recovery was really fast.

After he finished recovering, Jong Ho continued.

“What about the goblin? Karin?”

“Probably eating steak in the room?”

“That’s one heck of an appetite. What about our food supplies? Is it ready yet?”

“Yes. It’ll be here soon.”

“So we’re all ready now……”

“Yes…..”

“What about mother?”

“She’s in her room.”

“I’m so conflicted that my head feels like it’s going to explode. You know, it was enough to make me wish that we weren’t ready to go to the demonic realm?”

“Everything will be fine. Don’t worry too much.”

“Yes, of course! I’m acting like this because I’m way too nervous. It’s the first time I’m going to the demonic realm, after all.”

“Pfft. If someone heard this, they would think that I visited there countless of times because of how calm I’m acting compared to you.”

“Heh heh! The dry humor between us does make me feel a bit better though.”

Jong Ho took in a deep breath.

Seemed that he was trying to get rid of his nervousness.

It didn’t last long, however.

We heard mother coming out to the living room.

“You’re back, Jong Ho?”

“Yes, mother. I’m back.”

“Good. Min-Cheol, are you done preparing as well?”

“Yes, all done.”

The three of us stood in silence for awhile.

There was no way that the departing and the ones sending would be comfortable with this situation.

Mother squeezed both of our hands tightly and looked at both of us in turn.

It was then. Mother took off the ring she was wearing and gave it to me.

“This….. Will you not need this?”

“The ring? You were wearing it well, so why all of a sudden?”

“Mothers just know. Even if they don’t want to know, and even if they want to pretend that they don’t know, they learn everything about their children…..”

“…….”

“When you first put this ring on me, I still can’t forget the face you made. It was filled with worry, yet kind beyond comparison. This item has to do with my safety, right? This ring, that is……”

“……”

“Take it with you.”

“No, mom. I’m okay even without this. You should hold onto it.”

“Mother, it is alright. We’ll finish it quickly and come back safe and sound.”

“Yes, of course. That’s to be expected. But I’m still worried, so take it with you.”

“……”

“If you insist….. You should be the one to wear it, Min-Cheol. Since it’ll be a piece of cake, it won’t matter who wears it, right? You should hold onto it.”

Taking the ring from my mother’s hand, he held it towards me.

-Trade with the Reaper- ¹⁵

*Once the wearer’s life runs out, blooms.

*A new life is gained.

*1 time use per person.

I had already obtained a variety of defensive skills from multiple different classes, as well as the Mana Shield.

Jong Ho, on the other hand, had a massive amount of stamina points, and his cooldown reduction allows him to always keep up a shield skill. Still, it paled in comparison to me.

There was only one skill that could recover health and vitality in one go.

It was Status Denial.

On top of that, this skill had a cooldown of 24 hours.

If both of us were to get into the worst case scenario…?

Just in case of the unexpected, I thought that it would be best to bring it along with us.

With the thought of giving the ring back to Jong Ho on the way to the Gate, it suddenly happened then.

As if mother knew what I was thinking, she closed Jong Ho’s hand on the ring and spoke.

“No. I think it would look better on my elder son, Jong Ho.”

“Yeah. An old ring like that doesn’t suit me.”

“Mother….”

“It’s ok. Who was the one who said that since nothing will happen, it won’t matter who wears it? That means that you can be the one to wear it, right?”

“…….”

“Even though I became both your mother in different ways, remember that you two are my sons…. You know how I feel about this, right?”

“Yes. This is fine…. It should be like this.”

“Thank you…….”

“Shouldn’t you two eat first? There’s a long way to go, so you can’t leave on an empty stomach.”

****

It took less than an hour after we finished our meal for the truck to arrive.

Just from a glance, I could tell that there were tons of supplies.

Looking at this, Jong Ho spoke.

“Hey, Min-Cheol. Does all that fit in the duffel bags?”

“What, do you think the duffel bags are some magic pouches or something?”

“No. That’s why I’m asking. Why did you order so much if you don’t know how we’re going to carry all that? And the duffel bags are already filled with frozen beef.”

“Hyungnim, did you perhaps heard of the great Karin?”

“The goblin?”

“Yes. His pockets are the magic pouches.”

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about at all.”

I spoke in a tiny voice to prevent from Karin from overhearing.

“Hyungnim. When we get to the demonic realm, you will be able to see Karin.”

“Yeah……”

“You cannot harm him under any circumstances. He’s our meal storage.”

“Huh? What do you mean? Are you saying that we’re going to eat goblin meat?”

“He has the ability to carry his own personal pocket dimension.”

“Pocket dimension?”

“Yes. His pockets are enormous. All the items we’ve gathered here are going into Karin’s pockets.”

“Oho…..”

“Now do you understand?”

“Okay.”

All the items were put out in the courtyard.

Checking that the truck drove away far out of sight, I called Karin.

I wondered how much meat he had eaten, cause his belly was nearly touching the floor.

“Keru. Human. I don’t think I can eat anymore steak. Let us hurry to the Gate.”

“Okay. But before that, you are going to keep your promise, right?”

“Keru…. Okay. I just need to put all the items here in my pockets, right?”

“Yep. All of it!”

“With my ability, this is a piece of cake.”

“Yes, that’s good…….”

****

Karin started to shove in all the items on the floor into his pockets.

He spoke while looking at me.

“Human. As promised, I put everything in. Now let us go to the Gate.”

“Yes, let’s go. Hyungnim, let’s go.”

“Yes….. I think we should at least give our farewells to mother before leaving though.”

“No. She told me to go without giving farewells.”

“……”

“She said that she might change her mind and prevent us from going. Told us to give greetings after we come back.”

“Alright….. The location of the Gate?”

“We’ll go to the level 34 dungeon in Yangpyeong with Warp, then run from there, I think?”

“Keruk! Human, we can go there through the Warp I make.”

“Hm?”

“Keruru. Did you already forget about the Authority for dimensional traveling that sir Berdan had bestowed upon me?”

“Ah….. So we can go to the Gate right away?”

“That’s right. We aren’t able to go to the demonic realm in one go, but that much is possible.”

“Then let’s go…. To Yangpyeong. To the supposedly amazing demonic realm.”

“Kerurururu. Got it.”

With a single sweep of his hand, the space before us tore open.

It had a different appearance from the Warp that regular Awakened used.

With both his hands behind his back, he walked through first.

Jong Ho and I followed suit.

For a split moment, it felt like my body was being sucked down through the floor.

At the same time, the surrounding view changed, and we were able to arrive in front of the giant Gate.

“Oh! Jong Ho! Mr. Min-Cheol!”

“Young Min-Cheol. Young Jong Ho. So you’ve both arrived.”

Near the Gate were nearly a thousand Awakened gathered around.

Not only were there Awakened from Korea, but rankers all over the world were gathered, being deployed by the global Awakened organization.

Of course, they were keeping a certain distance away from the Gate and coming not an inch closer.

I could hear Ho Jin and the commander’s voice from far away, which was soon followed by their hasty run towards us.

“Why didn’t you contact us earlier!”

“That’s because suddenly a method to get here much easier suddenly appeared.”

“Jong Ho, I’m sorry. I should be coming with you…..”

“Hey, no worries. You should be protecting your family.”

“Look at you, acting all cool. And Mr. Min-Cheol……”

“Mr. Ho Jin, don’t worry. We’ll be careful.”

“Apologies……”

“Yes….. Is everything ready on your end?”

“Yes. We plan to enter right away.”

“I see……”

“After entering, there is a chance that monsters will come out of the Gate. Of course, this is just a speculation, but I am counting on everyone here to protect this place.”

“Of course! I am already ashamed for having you two take on this burden. Do not worry at all!”

“Yes. And also……”

“Your mother? Do not worry about that either. I will protect her, even if I have to sacrifice all the lives of the thousands of Awakened gathered here. I promise you!”

“Thank you.”

“Please stay safe! I will be waiting, hoping that we meet again with smiles like this.”

“Yes. Hyungnim, let’s go.”

“Huh? Oh…… Just a second….”

Jong Ho ran towards So-Hyeon, who was standing far away.

It seemed that he was handing over something.

It wasn’t the resurrection ring, of course.

After talking with So-Hyeon for a short while, he quickly ran back to the front of the Gate.

“Let’s go!”

“You can talk for a bit longer, if you want to.”

“It’s enough. Love is like this, kiddo.”

“Pfft. Let’s go!”

“Keruruk!”

---

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