I Alone Level-Up

Jinwoo could not believe what he was hearing.

"...Penalty Zone?"

Ah-

He remembered. He did not do the daily quest today. He had purposely skipped it to enter the Penalty Zone, in order to test out his progress against the centipedes and see if he could continue the Demon Castle Raid. To think that it would work out like this.

shaaaaaake-

Like back in the hospital, the area started shaking vigorously.

pshhhh

pshaaaaah

One by one, even the knights that he was fighting turned into sand.

The world changed around him.

"Ha… ha ha…"

He silently laughed. The System"s words before the quest started kept appearing in his head.

I wish you luck.

Was it because it was that difficult of a quest? Or did it want him to be lucky in obtaining more advancement points?

Luck, coincidence, call it what you want. It was just another chance for him. The important thing was how he would use this chance.

Shaaaake-!

The tremors became stronger. Instead of fighting to keep his balance like in the past, Jinwoo gave himself up to the earthquake and closed his eyes.

"Be calm…"

And just like that, he felt a sense of weightlessness, and all sounds disappeared. When he opened his eyes, it was in the middle of a familiar desert. Jinwoo collapsed onto the sand.

"gasp- gasp- pant- pant-"

He grabbed the sand with his hands and let loose a torrent of panting. His lungs filled with a refres.h.i.+ng breath of air, spreading the feeling to his entire body.

Finally,

"I feel alive."

With the sense of safety surrounding his mind, Jinwoo stayed lying on the ground. He looked up at the empty, black sky. The vision of an endless pitch black ceiling filled his view. It was the Penalty Zone that he remembered.

"Oh wait, now"s not the time to be lying down."

Because he had just escaped from an incredibly dangerous place, he forgot that this place was not exactly a safe one. Still, he didn"t want to get-up, so he called up the status screen while lying down.

HP: 104 / 10,270

MP: 202 / 850

Fatigue: 91

He wondered why it was so hard to move. Now he knew why; his fatigue had risen over 90.

"This is the first time that happened, I think."

He didn"t feel like moving a finger right now. His health was one thing, but at the moment, it was important to recover his stamina.

"Shop."

ring~

The words "Buy" and "Sell" appeared in the air. No matter how he looked at it, the System had clearly created the so-called shop with the bare minimum of effort, but today, it was an incredibly welcoming sight. Jinwoo purchased the most expensive healing potion. The moment he confirmed the transaction,

shooo-

A gla.s.s bottle with a red liquid appeared in his sprawled arm.

pop

In his state, it took effort even to uncork the bottle. He poured the potion down his mouth.

gulp gulp

The red liquid pa.s.sed through his throat.

Your stamina is recovered.

Your stamina is recovered.

Your stamina is recovered.

Since it was the highest level healing potion, just one bottle was enough to completely undo his fatigue. Strangely, his health did not recover.

HP: 106 / 10,270

MP: 204 / 850

Fatigue: 0

Even when the bottle was emptied, his health stayed the same. It was drastically different than the fatigue that was now zero.

"Why?"

The moment the last drop of potion fell into his mouth, he was able to find out why.

ring.

Your health is below 10%. You cannot recover your health with a potion.

The reason was simple. It was because his health was too low.

"Now that I think about it…"

Even healing magic had their limits. This was not an unfamiliar phenomenon. Just as Healers could not heal someone past a certain point depending on their skill, it appeared that potions had similar limits.

"And you"re telling me that the limit is 10% remaining health."

This was good to know. Had he placed faith in the potion at a wrong time, he could"ve made a grave mistake. This is why experience was important. Wasn"t there a saying?

"What doesn"t kill you makes you stronger."

That was all due to the power of experience. Even right now, he thankfully had the experience of encountering the Penalty Zone.

"It"s about time…"

And indeed it was. He felt a lifeform rising beneath the sand. Jinwoo raised his legs and shot up from the ground. His body felt as light as a feather. Thanks to the potion, his strength had completely returned. Jinwoo landed few steps away and turned around.

shaaaaah

As expected, the spot he was lying on was sinking to the ground.

"Heh, I remember thinking that I"d slip and fall into that in the past."

Now, he could stare at the sinkhole with a carefree att.i.tude. The bottom of the depression boiled like in the past, and-

pshaaaah!

A column of sand exploded from the ground, revealing the form of the giant centipede.

screeeeech!

It was all just as he remembered.

"Man, they looked a lot scarier back then…"

Now, they appeared to be moving in slow motion in Jinwoo"s eyes. He raised his gaze and confirmed the red letters above the centipede"s head.

"Poison-fanged Giant Sand Centipede"

A red name. Just like the Cerberus from the Demon Castle. The quest message appeared.

ring~!

Penalty Quest: Survive

Goal: Survive for the required time.

Required time: 4 Hours

Remaining time: 4 Hours 0 Min 0 Sec

After reading the message, Jinwoo clenched his fists.

"I can buy some time with this."

As he did not use the Instant Return Stone out of the Dungeon, he probably still had a chance.

"I"ll probably be moved back after the penalty quest."

And if the 4 hours he spent here was added to the endurance timer? The advancement points he would gain would be ma.s.sive. Well, he still did not know just how the math worked.

"Still…"

When he thought about how the System worked up until now, this might become an incredible windfall.

"Four f.u.c.king hours!"

He couldn"t last 10 minutes back there and was about to use the Instant Return Stone. Now, thanks to the Penalty Zone, he would be able to add 4 hours to that timer. There was one problem left. He had to survive this world with barely a 100 health remaining. Since he could not recover using a potion, he had to level-up through the centipedes without receiving any damage. In a way, this was an additional condition of the penalty quest.

"...Let"s do this."

Jinwoo summoned Casaka"s Poisoned Fang.

Remaining time: 3 Hours 59 Min 59 Sec

The moment the penalty quest started, Jinwoo began to move. Because of his experience, he knew to move before the centipedes did. He closed the distance in a flash and jumped.

land!

He reached a halfway point on the insect"s body then started working his way to the head while slas.h.i.+ng at its body.

stab! stab stab! slas.h.!.+

Wherever the dagger attacked, the exoskeleton of the centipede cracked and seeped a liquid.

screeeech!

Every time Jinwoo made a new wound on its body, the centipede thrashed in pain.

"Sprint!"

Jinwoo"s legs sped up.

step, step, step, step!

He quickly reached the top of the monster"s head and grabbed the dagger with both hands.

"Vital Stab!"

He used the skill and brought down the dagger onto the centipede"s head. The dagger dug deep into the head.

crack!

"Vital Stab" has leveled up!

"Alright!"

It had been a while! The leveled-up skill appeared to have done quite a damage. The centipede shook its head in pain.

screech, screee!

Jinwoo did not stop there. He moved from its head towards the centipede"s back. The monster"s back was completely exposed.

stab!

After stabbing a point behind the centipede"s head, Jinwoo held the dagger in place and jumped down.

crcrcrcrcraaaaaack!

Combined with the strength over 120 and a leap from a height of a 5 story building, the dagger slid completely across the centipede"s back, cutting it wide open.

crcrcrack!

land.

Jinwoo landed safely.

screeech, screeeeee!

The centipede spewed a liquid all over the place then finally fell.

Boom!

Its body raised up a cloud of sand.

ring~

You"ve defeated the Poison-fanged Giant Sand Centipede

Jinwoo patted the sand off his body and checked the time.

Remaining time: 3 Hours 59 Min 42 Sec

"That took 17 seconds."

It took him less than 20 seconds to take down the centipede. It was completely different than the time he took down the Cerberus. His strength had reached a different dimension.

"Well, if I think about all the leveling I did and the items I"ve obtained…"

It made sense. At this rate, Jinwoo was confident he could continue hunting without losing life.

"Now the problem is if there are enough monsters here for a level-up…"

Only then would he have a chance of surviving when he went back to the cla.s.s advancement quest. If he went back without recovering his health, he was sure to be crushed like an insect. As he was deep in worry, multiple sand columns appeared around him.

pshhhhh-

pshaaaah-

The centipedes had arrived after smelling their kin"s blood.

screeech-

screeech-

Jinwoo"s face brightened.

"Just how many are there?"

Looking at the heads of the centipedes popping up from the ground, Jinwoo could not hide the smile on his face.

-

You"ve leveled up!

You"ve leveled up!

You"ve leveled up!

You"ve leveled up!

After nearly 4 hours, Jinwoo had gained 4 levels after taking down countless centipedes. He had reached level 51. The penalty quest was almost over.

Penalty Quest: Survive

Goal: Survive for the required time.

Required time: 4 Hours

Remaining time: 0 Hours 3 Min 19 Sec

It was about time he"d return. Jinwoo looked around at the corpses of the centipedes that littered the area. Thanks to their sacrifice, he was able to recover his health.

"It"s a shame they didn"t drop any items or gold…"

Well, it wouldn"t have made sense for a place of punishment to reward him that much. Now, it was time to prepare for his return.

"Shop."

Current Gold: 3,115,629

On top of the various moneybags from the humanoid monsters, he had earned a whopping 1,500,000 gold from Ygritte. He had plenty of funds now. With that in mind, he looked through the shop for a new weapon. A suitable upgrade caught his eye:

Knight Killer

Rarity: B

Type: Dagger

Attack Power +75

"Knight Killing": +25% damage against heavy armored opponents

It"s a st.u.r.dy and sharp dagger designed to cut a knight"s armor. Because of its serrated blades, it will not slip easily against armor.

It was a weapon meant to be used for killing heavily armored targets. The cost was 2,800,000 gold. He would have to spend most of his gold, but this was not the time to be stingy.

"Can"t take my gold with me to the afterlife."

Without hesitating, Jinwoo bought the weapon. Additionally, he also purchased some wrappings.

You"ve purchased "Knight Killer".

You"ve purchased "Wrappings".

As its description noted, it was a scary looking dagger with a serrated blade. He took the weapon with his right hand and used the wrappings to tightly bind it in his hand.

slas.h.!.+ slash slas.h.!.+

He swung the blade around. It felt natural in his hand, as if it was a part of his body.

"At the very least, I won"t be dropping it like this."

He briefly considered wrapping Casaka"s Poisoned Fang to his left hand but decided against it. It would be too inconvenient to lose both of his hands. He would keep the usage of his left hand just in case. He placed the leftover wrappings into the inventory then noticed the Runestone he had gotten from Ygritte.

"Ah right, there was this."

Runestone: Ruler"s Hands

Break the Runestone to absorb the skill.

He needed every little bit right now, whether it was an item or a skill. Jinwoo smashed the Runestone without a regret.

You"ve learned "Ruler"s Hands" (Lv. 1)

Ruler"s Hands (Lv. 1)

Active Skill

Mana Cost: 0

Exert your will over an object without physically touching it.

"Ah…"

Reading the explanation, he remembered a scene from earlier. It was when Ygritte stretched a hand to his sword and brought it to his hands from a distance.

"So he used this skill to move the longsword."

A skill to move an object from a distance just with his mind! On top of that, it didn"t have a mana cost.

"If I can really move anything, it"s an incredible skill."

Jinwoo quickly tried it out on the corpse of the centipede next to him.

Your proficiency is insufficient to move the object.

Your proficiency is insufficient to move the object.

It seemed that moving something heavy required more practice.

"What about this one?"

Jinwoo dropped Casaka"s Poisoned Fang onto the ground, then stretched a hand toward it. The dagger easily moved into his hand.

grab!

"Oh~."

Jinwoo stared at the dagger with amazement.

"Alright, this is helpful enough."

And with that, he had completed all preparations. Jinwoo raised his head and saw that the time was almost over.

Remaining time: 0 Hours 0 Min 4 Sec

As the 4 seconds decreased to 3, the System messaged him.

ring~

The Penalty Quest will end soon.

And another one followed,

ring~

Because you"ve hunted in the Penalty Zone,

The next Penalty Quest"s difficulty will be adjusted.

An adjustment of difficulty. It would make it harder to hunt so that the penalty will feel like a penalty. Well, would there even be a next time? Jinwoo gulped.

"Now, the cla.s.s advancement quest will resume."

Hundreds of monsters would probably be waiting for him back in the boss room. Perhaps even more. Although he thought of it as "returning" to the room, it was more like he was being "thrown" back there.

Health, mana, fatigue, equipment and skill. In addition to those, even his mind had improved in the past 4 hours. Still, he was feeling nervous.

ba dum ba dum ba dum

The beating of his heart was almost painful.

Jinwoo closed his eyes to calm himself.

Then, the electronic tone rang.

ring.

The Penalty Quest will end now.

"This is my last chance…"

When Jinwoo opened his eyes, he saw the ma.s.s of silver knights starting to turn towards him. They were not his target. Jinwoo"s eyes s.h.i.+fted side to side, looking for his target.

"First, the mages!"