Chương 16: Chapter 15
[ YOU'VE DEFEATED LORD OF THE SWAMPS, BLUE VENOM-FANGED KASAKA ]
[ NOTICE! ]
[ YOU'VE LEVELED UP! ]
[ YOU'VE LEVELED UP! ]
As expected, defeating Rasaka granted him two levels. Jin-Woo weakly smiled with satisfaction, trying to catch his breath. The levels that seemed to have stopped at 15 had now risen to 17.
He began the day at level 1, and now he was already at level 17.
However...
For hunters who could not collect experience points, the most important items were the items obtainable from the boss.
When he looked at the snake's broken body, Jin-Woo saw two sources of light coming from its body.
[ ITEM: RASAKA'S VENOM GLAND]
[ DIFFICULTY LEVEL: A ]
[ TYPE: POISON ]
[ A POUCH CONTAINING PURIFIED RASAKA VENOM.
CAN BE ACQUIRED BY DEFEATING RASAKA.
LOW CHANCE OF OBTAINING.
CONSUMING IT WILL TOUGHEN YOUR SKIN BUT SIMULTANEOUSLY WEAKEN YOUR STRENGTH. ]
[ EFFECTS ]
- "RASAKA'S SCALES" - REDUCE PHYSICAL DAMAGE RECEIVED BY 20%
- DEBUFF "WEAKENED MUSCLES."
- REDUCES STRENGTH BY 35 POINTS.
An A-Rank item!
A 20% reduction in physical damage, which was one-fifth less, would be truly amazing.
However, that catch in the form of losing 35 points was very unpleasant.
After all, he couldn't deprive himself of most of his strength points, which were currently his greatest asset.
He couldn't hide the fact that he felt disappointed and irritated.
But on the other hand, he wasn't going to be too greedy.
As soon as he read about the loss of 35 points, his mind started looking for a solution to this problem.
He quickly came up with the idea that he could always store the venom and wait.
If he already had strength points above 100, losing those 35 wouldn't hurt as much as it does now.
After storing the venom in his inventory, Jin-Woo reached out to the second beam of light.
[ ITEM: RASAKA'S FANG ]
[ DIFFICULTY LEVEL: C ]
[ TYPE: DAGGER ]
[ ATTACK: +25 ]
[ A DAGGER MADE FROM RASAKA'S FANG.
IT CAN PARALYZE THE ENEMY THROUGH THE REMNANTS OF VENOM LEFT ON IT.
APPLIES A BLEEDING EFFECT.
UTILITY ITEM.
CAN BE SOLD OR STORED IN THE INVENTORY. ]
[ EFFECTS ]
- "PARALYSIS" - HAS A CHANCE TO APPLY A PARALYSIS EFFECT TO THE TARGET.
- "BLEEDING" - THE ATTACKED ENEMY LOSES 1% HP PER SECOND.
Oh?
This dagger was undoubtedly a pleasant consolation after the slight disappointment with the venom.
Furthermore, he received a replacement for Mr. Kim's broken sword.
Additionally, it was at least twice as good as his damaged weapon.
So, he wasn't leaving here empty-handed, which he would certainly feel like if he had only obtained the venom, which he couldn't use for now.
[ NOTICE! ]
[ BOSS HAS BEEN DEFEATED. THE DUNGEON WILL BE DEACTIVATED. ]
His surroundings became blurry. Jin-Woo felt a little dizzy as the world returned to normal.
Looking around, he saw that he was standing in the middle of a normal subway station.
The lights were bright and the water filling the tracks had disappeared.
But why was the station empty?
Apart from the absence of people, there were no trains either. Wondering if it was past the time for the train operation, Jin-Woo checked the time. The clock showed 9 PM. He had entered the underground shortly after lunch and had spent nearly 8 hours down there.
If it weren't for the total fatigue reduction that accompanied his advancement, he probably would have collapsed here some time ago.
But even at this hour, trains should still be running.
Finding this very strange, Jin-Woo went to the upper levels.
He didn't see a living soul there either.
Finally, when he went out into the street, he heard a very pleasant sound near him.
Human voice.
Turning his head towards the sound, Jin-Woo saw a soldier holding a rifle.
- Who are you? How did you get there? Haven't you heard the broadcast?
- Oh... What happened? - Jin-Woo asked surprised.
- What do you mean by "what happened"? You don't know anything?
The approaching soldier's eyes suddenly landed on the broken sword Jin-Woo was holding.
He realized that the broken sword could not be hidden in the inventory. Not wanting to throw it away, Jin-Woo held it in his hands as he walked. Seeing the sword, the soldier's eyes changed.
He carefully looked up and down at Jin-Woo, noticing the signs of struggle in his tattered clothes.
The soldier who had maintained a tough attitude suddenly became surprisingly friendly.
- Are you a hunter?
Confused, Jin-Woo nodded.
- Yes, I am, but...
- Please forgive me. I'll take you there. Follow me, please.
- Ah, okay.
Deciding that trying to explain to the soldier that he was rather weak would be rather troublesome, Jin-Woo chose to take a look at what was happening.
Clearly, something had happened in the area. The roads were empty, and there were only soldiers and policemen around. Moreover, the area was littered with abandoned cars, damaged buildings, and the corpses of magical beasts.
Seeing all this chaos, a light bulb went off in Jin-Woo's mind.
Somewhere nearby, a Gate must have opened.
In today's world, proper management and monitoring of Gates have led to most of them being discovered and cleansed in a timely manner. However, from time to time, a Gate would open in a hidden location and remain unnoticed until it was too late.
As it often happened, the military was deployed to buy time before the Hunters could arrive and deal with the threat.
These soldiers, however, didn't have a great chance of survival in close encounters with the monsters.
Of course, firearms or any other military weapons didn't work on magical beasts. Nevertheless, soldiers still fought the best they could to protect civilians and provide them with time to escape.
In such cases, if anyone were to become a victim, it would be the soldiers, who often chose to sacrifice their lives over civilians.
- Most of the magical beasts in the area have already been neutralized. Only one big one left.
Jin-Woo nodded.
He already knew this without the soldier's report. Thanks to his enhanced sense statistics, he was able to detect the presence of a powerful life form nearby, surrounded by the energy of many hunters.
Soon the figure of the boss appeared in their field of vision. In the empty lot in front of them, a dozen hunters were fighting a giant made of stone. The giant's height was slightly above a street lamp, it was a golem-type magical beast.
- Oh My God...
The soldier took a step back. As if he was seeing a magical beast for the first time, the man froze at the sight of the golem.
Any ordinary person would react the same way. The presence of a magical beast up close was entirely different from watching it on a TV or computer screen.
Compared to the soldier, Jin-Woo watched the battle calmly.
- He's not getting weaker!
- Is our damage doing anything?!
- We don't have enough mages!
As Hunters who had been summoned on short notice, their ranks did not appear to be well organized.
They had serious deficiencies in both defense and attack.
He slowly took a few steps back. The golem boss had a high defense, but his overall strength seemed low. Compared to the pressure he felt from Rasak, the goal was a step below him.
What the Hunters needed was a powerful attack that could break through that stupid piece of rock. From a suitable distance, Jin-Woo tilted his arm into a throwing position. He gripped the broken sword tighter and the muscles in his arm tensed.
It turns out that Mr. Kim's sword will be useful one last time. This will be a good end to his service.
All his strength was concentrated in his right arm.
Then the arm, which was drawn back like a bowstring, shot forward at high speed.
He decided to buy time for the other Hunters to escape and hoped that high-ranking Hunters would arrive in time to defeat the golem.
However, the strike that he expected to merely disorient the golem hit it squarely and shattered it completely.
Clouds of dust rose from its disintegrating heavy body.
Seeing that the golem was dead, Jin-Woo shrugged his shoulders, turned around, and moved forward, deciding that there was nothing left for him.
Apparently, those hunters must have drained him of life quite badly because he fell after one of his blows.
He could claim the magic cores of the golem, but it would be too much trouble.
Who would believe that it was an E-Rank Hunter's attack that took down the golem? He had no proof; a broken sword or a soldier standing nearby didn't seem enough. Even if he was able to prove it, he would have to reveal how he obtained the power to defeat the golem. No matter how Jin-Woo looked at it, the costs outweighed the benefits.
The better reward turned out to be the level.
And the confirmation that came with it.
So, he could level up by defeating monsters from regular dungeons.
This information was very important.
And very beneficial.
< Episode 2: New Beginning > Fin.
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